#SO MANY NICHE BOXES TICKED

[dude-wheres-my-ankheg]

Distracted thinking Abdirak thoughts. Kinda amazed a game managed to make me fall so hard for a freaking human character. Don't know the last time that happened. Thank god for Kar’niss and GW2's Cerus or the monsterfucker police would be coming to take my licence off me.

#in my defence abdirak ticks so many very niche and specific boxes #hes just it

[codename-adler]

my niche take (not for canon tho): i quite dislike the wildly popular hc that andrew has tons of piercings… it just doesn’t seem… right? it would fit his style (?) and personality for sure but i just can’t help feeling like he would never? do that? i think the same of tattoos but that bothers me a little less…

ah, this is gonna get me sent to sleep with da fishes...

i am of the same opinion. (i would like to stress here, opinion)

my opinion stems both from personal experience and canon characterization, and it has nothing to with aesthetics. of course, of course, tiny emo beef boy would rock tattoos and piercings. he canonically wears all-black, smokes, wields knives and listens to soul asylum. of course.

however, so much of Andrew's traumas, trauma responses and PTSD are based in physicality.

first, Andrew did not own his body, it being abused and abused and abused, by people he trusted, and people he didn't. the 'trust' part didn't matter; his body was abused. he learned the lesson and kept guard of his body rigidly, tirelessly, violently (the lesson he thought there was; there is no lesson to get from child SA).

second, Andrew took back his body in ways his psyche could understand and accept. SH and hypersexuality. both instances have him in control of every inch of his body. nobody touches, only him. nobody inflicts, only him. before; during; after. Neil is the exception confirming the pattern, the rule.

third, Andrew defends his body against whoever he must. no matter family, friends, team, Neil. his body and subconscious always remember before his consciousness does. again, even if Neil helps start his journey towards healing, trust doesn't really have a say in his defense mechanism. violence it is. violence it must be.

now. say it is a professional tattoo artist or piercer: how long before Andrew trusts them enough? how long before trust doesn't matter and the itch of the past settles into his skin? what if the eyebrow piercing feels too similar to the bottle Drake broke onto his head? what if the forearm tattoos tickle his self-inflicted scars like Drake's kisses did? what if the person ticks off a no-no box of Andrew's mid-session? there are so many variables Andrew does not control, why put himself in the situation and risk his last pebble of sanity?

i think the only way Andrew would get either piercings or tattoos would be if Neil did them. hello fic writers go fucken wild with this one.

personally i'd say it would only happen quite a few years after TRK, when Andrew has matured, possibly when his pro career is over because ouch Exy brawls and piercings don't get along well, but that's just me. maybe just studs, maybe the tattoos are very minimalists and have nothing to do with Andrew's scars, idk.

i'd like to be clear on one thing though: my believing Andrew does not ever have piercings and/or tattoos has nothing to do with believing he does not heal enough to do that, or that survivors of abuse like him are broken to the point of never getting anything done to their body. to me it's like Andreil never saying 'i love you' and never getting married. Andrew, like Neil, like the Foxes, are unconventional, difficult characters whose healing journeys are not pretty nor normalized. but it doesn't mean they don't get to a healthy place, whatever that looks for them. it does not mean they are not okay, and valid in their choices. to me, it has everything to knowing yourself so thoroughly, forgiving yourself so wholly, accepting yourself so completely, that there is no need to hide your body or prove your limits, to your own self or to others. i think it would be much more significant if Andrew one day could simply remove his armbands, and never wear them again, than to cover his scars with tattoos. to allow himself softness rather than arm his presence with more piercings.

again, it's also not that serious. Andrew can have an ice cream cone tattooed on his ass for all i care. give him a dainty little nose ring he sniffs up one time and has to go to the ER to get in unstuck. it's all shits and giggles if you wanna.

#thank you anon for that niche take #idk how niche it is just that the piercing hc is wildly WILDLY accepted in fanon #for context i do have the one (1) tattoo and plan on getting more so it's not like i'm a conservative in that regard #and i think nose piercings are p cute #aftg #all for the game #the foxhole court #andrew minyard #andreil #neil josten #aftg ask

[helpitsaskingmequestions]

Continuing the process of niche petty nitpicks of Wheel of TIme  there were some narrative choices for the  7 Ajah that make them (imo) uncertain in a way that I think could have been smoothed out in a way to make more narrative sense in terms of motivation, size and narrative framing. 

Reds - 

The Reds at least have a clear purpose in and out of the narrative as Aes Sedai that hunt male channelers & an antagonistic force against Moraine (Blue) and Rand (Male channeler). They’re problems largely come in how the text largely frames them as Narrative Heels but for Pevara & to some extent Teslyn and Silviana, all of whom are introduced fairly late. Even then, the Reds are largely characterised as 90s misandrists,n keeping with Alanna’s framing of the Reds as ‘hating men’ because that's what should define a group of women, how they relate to men. Then comes the size of the Reds - it’s been noted that there are less people who can channel being discovered, in part due to the Vileness and the culling of men who can channel by the Reds (and also Cansaune) yet the Reds are the largest Ajah. That the Reds have the strongest numbers is imo a very blunt object solution to 1) making the Blue’s more like an underdog and 2) have a large ground for Black Ajah. 

Changes that I think would have made the Reds more palatable from a worldbuild perspective 

Expand the purpose - the show did this, effectively making the Reds magic cops, which provides a more concrete cause for Reds to devote themselves to - hunting wayward Aes Sedai, men who can channel and Dark Friends. It would also help explain why there are so many Black Ajah in the Red - what better way to hide from the cops than to Be the cops?

Let them have Warders - there was no reason for them not to have warders, female or male or otherwise. 

Shrink their size - have the Reds be in the middle of the pack in terms of numbers, or else have them have a high casualty/fail rate that can be explained by difficult weaves & Black Ajah sisters etc. There is no logical reason for them to be that big. 

I mean ⅕ of all Aes Sedai Robert?

Don’t define them by ‘hating men’. Robert I am in your walls

Non-antagonist Reds early on - whether Pevara or Teslyn, just some calmer Reds, who do genuinely want to Hunt Dark-friends. Use the Wonder Girls time in the White Tower not just as a box tick, explore the Ajahs more.  

Show - on page - what a male channel who succumbed to the Taint looks like. The books give (imo) hints describing the Breaking but its not seen on page & I feel that this concrete example of why male channellers are cut off from the Source, why the Reds hunt them, and why people fear Rand/male channelers would be important considering we get a lot of on page stuff (Logain, Thom re his nephew) about the pain of gentling male channelers

Browns 

Ah the Browns. Clean direct purpose. Narrative letting them fulfil that function. Ajah of Verin, the Best Character in Wheel of Time (no arguments to be taken on this point. I am simply Correct). I find very little to be changed with the Browns, though I do think that there should have been an exploratory division if this is the Ajah of knowledge. 

Also not entirely certain why the White/Grey/see Ajah colours post is separate from the Brown beyond the fact RJ was a physics major 

Best Ajah - should have had an Indiana Jones Brown/Orange sister finding Age of Legends stuff

That the Browns get warders makes the fact the Reds, a physical division actively fighting people, not having Warders more insane. Robert WHY

Should have schools/ travelling schools as well 

Why no Browns in Rand’s nerd school Robert?

Yellow

Much like the Brown, a wonderfully defined Ajah, with a clear purpose in and out of universe.

Let them be nicer to Nynaeve

Black Yellows should have been allowed to go full Dr Moreau

Imagine fresh monsters

Green

The Green Ajah - the Battle Ajah. imo Robert Jordan’s favourite Ajah considering 2 out of 3 of the Wondergirls chose the Green (even though Egg should have been Ajahless its fine I’m calm so Calm) and the Green get to ‘love men’ because as the narrative has made clear, how these groups of women from this administrative magical institution feel about Men is what is important. Also a fun experiment - check to see what colours get positive associations in the books - generally it’s blue, green and white (listed as Lan’s favourite colours for instance). The Greens are also an unfortunate victim of the Gender Stuff in WoT- the Battle Ajah don’t get weapons, but they can have lots of Men who can have weapons. Because they Love Men. 

Changes

Let them have weapons Robert ffs 

Active preparation for the Last Battle; should have the third most number of advisors/relationships in nations as Greys(Purples) and Blues. 

Why are they ignoring the Borderlands? This is their Job 

I think the show made a good case for the Greens and the Reds going to nab Logain

So why are the Greens more allied with the Blues than the Reds - other than Author Caveat

Elayne and Egwene shouldn’t have been Green. Neither should Cadsuane.

More Black sisters in the Green - if the Green are going to be fighting in the last battle it should be chock full of enemy agents  

Blue

What do the Blue do? They Hunt After Causes - but what does the Mean? No Really what does it mean, apart from being Vague and because RJ couldn’t say ‘they’re the Good ajah’ even though they only ‘like men’. Other than their complete lack of purpose, the Blues get a good history, a good selection of the Good/Great (Moraine) to the bad (Sheriam). The Show made a good change in making the Blue’s the spies of the White Tower, giving them a quasi opposing ideological approach to the head-first reds, and making the Alliance of Greens and Blues make more sense considering how much they would need to work together. 

If Egg must have an Ajah she should have been Blue 

The fact that blues removed the 2 Red Amyrlin’s, there should have been more arguments amongst the Ajah’s about how justified they were/the justice of that 

Lean into the Reds being Cops and Blues being spies/activist/journalists/internal affairs with a habit of exposing/attempting to expose other sister’s misbehaviour 

Have Blue sisters attempting to uncover the Vileness in a way that actually sets it up as a mystery to be solved, not another plot thread among thousands

I have a Bee in my Bonnet about the Vileness  if you couldn’t tell 

Make the Blues less of an protagonist situation - oh they have the second smallest numbers But the Most Amyrlins and a lot of influence because they’re the opposite of the Reds 

Grey/Purple Ajah 

They have purpose If only the narrative would let them fulfil that purpose. Instead Elaida is a Red so political advisors can be any colour so why?

Also why are they always bad at their jobs

Should have been the largest Ajah change my mind 

White/Grey Ajah 

SO

I understand they have a purpose 

I just don’t understand why/how it is different to the Brown’s search for knowledge 

They’re apparently philosophers as well so it's not a STE(M) v Arts situation

Why Robert 

You didn’t have the Seven Ajahs have the Seven colours why are they Here? 

Because Alviarin being White and the Head Black was a fun twist? 

You did that colour twist with Lanfear already 

What this Ajah needed was a major character who wasn’t Black

Like Give Rand an advisor who is this Ajah during his spiral 

Or Give Egg some prominent sisters of this Ajah? 

Have their theoretical magic that they do have an impact

Or give them the prophecies / religious theorisation - aka a reason for them to be in this story at all 

Black Ajah

There is no Black Ajah what are you talking about 

#wheel of time #wot #the white tower #the seven ajahs #more whinging I guess #for reference the Alana quote defining the Ajahs in how they relate to men is in book 2 or 3 #when the wonder girl are assigned kitchen punishment

[phoenixfeathersinfall]

Hello! ☄️ and 📚 for the ask game?

Hi hi friend, thank you so much for asking this! I had to think about it for a little bit! 🤔

Favorite Fic You’ve Read: I have so many, I re-read fics I enjoyed fairly often because I find it comforting, just like I do with my favorite published books! If you want to know more specifically about a show or pairing, just ask! One I come back to frequently because it ticks a lot of my boxes (feels like an episode, hurt/comfort elements, etc.) is “Standards of Care” by sahiya. A Dominion-engineered virus infiltrates the station and Julian works to find a cure at great risk to himself while Garak tries to protect him. Anything by this author is great, tbh, they always choose intriguing plots and they have such a wonderful approach to the characterization of all the Niners!

Headcanons: I will literally sit and consider headcanons as a form of amusement. Here’s a few!

Jadzia has so many hobbies (many of them niche) from all those lifetimes! Julian will try most any of them with her because that man is down to try most anything. They have a lot of fun!

Seven mentions that as a child, she wanted to be a ballerina, so I think it would be really neat if she had the chance to take up ballet as a sort of reclamation and a homage to the little girl Annika was 🥺

B’Elanna is such a romantic and she loves storytelling; I think she’d use some of her limited free time to write her own short stories or novels! They’d be very popular if she decided to share them, but these are just for her so she can explore anything she wants without judgement.

#thank you for asking! #star trek #star trek deep space 9 #star trek ds9 #star trek voyager #favorite characters #julian bashir #jadzia dax #seven of nine #b’elanna torres #headcanons

[vitruvianmanbara]

going down the ereader rabbithole has been kind of wild like I don't think I ever considered how challenging it would be to find alternatives that tick all the boxes when amazon has the ereader market cornered...so many of my usual buying habits and strategies are just non-applicable bc there's next to no secondhand market for anything that's not a kindle

it's such a shame because I learned that there's all this cool stuff out there, but they're next to impossible to get here because they're still so niche that they end up being incredibly expensive and difficult to find....it sucks so much though bc kindle really needs the competition their products are so limited compared to what's out there internationally

#no one gaf but this is all i've been thinking about for days #fascinating learning about people's reading habits too like there are many ereaders that run android and people love them bc you can run #your favorite reading apps and I'm like. man the kids really aren't downloading their own files anymore huh. #like why would I pay hundreds more for what's basically a tablet with an ereader screen when I could download my own cbz #files and just transfer them to the device. idk it's not worth it to me. and I think there are further issues with update support & #security that will make these readers obsolete more quickly but I'll stfu

[blackbird-brewster]

Friday Fic Recs

What I've Read:

Criminal Minds, JJ/Tara/Emily, Tara/Rebecca

Rated: E || WC: 218,576

Why I Love It: I just finished my first read through of Part 3 since I finished it back in December. Let me tell you, it was SUCH a delight. I had forgotten so many little details, I was constantly gasping and sharing parts of it with my partner in utter delight. If you want a light-hearted polyamorous rom-com AU, this is the series for you! Reading Part 3 instantly inspired me to start Part 1 over again. I'll never get tired of this series.

Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily

(Unrated) || WC: 1512

Author: villainousunsub

Why I Love It: I've been reading some of my old Jemily faves again. This is such a great one-shot. This is such a beautifully written one-shot. Lots of fluff and fun with the whole team.

Criminal Minds, JJ/Emily

Rated: G || WC: 1944

Author: velutluna_ithil (@velutluna )

Why I Love It: The weather is getting colder where I live and this is the perfect winter fic. Domestic Jemily will always hold a special spot in my heart and reading Emily with Henry is so delightful. This is just a soft, fluffy, fic that ticks all the boxes for me.

WIP I'm Excited About:

Criminal Minds, Emily x Reader

Rated: E || WC: TBD

Author: kattwyllie (@storiesofsvu )

* Read on Tumblr [here]

Why I Love It: As soon as I heard 'Emily as a Sugar Mama' I was intrigued. The set-up in this first chapter is already amazing and I am highly looking forward to reading more. I never thought I'd be reading reader insert fics and I definitely never thought I'd be hyped about a reader series, but Katt single-handedly changed my mind and all my preconceived notions. The way she writes is so magnificent, you can't help but get drawn in. This story is sure to be an exhilarating read.

What I'm Writing:

Criminal Minds, JJ/Tara

Rated: E || WC: 88,000

Updates: I have been working on this for what seems like three years (it's probably been a month). Compiling all of the drafts, outlines, and cut scenes into one full version of this fic has proved to be a monumental task. I know this fic was already niche because it's JJ/Tara, but I hope my handful of Jara readers will enjoy this extended cut and the look at what the writing process was like for such a difficult fic format.

More Fic Recs Under the Cut

Other Recommendations:

Past Friday Fic Recs:  [Friday Fic Recs - Tumblr] || [CM Fic Recs - AO3 Collection]

Rec Lists: [JJ/Emily] || [Tara/Emily] || [CM Femslash]

My Fics: [Jemily] || [Temily] || [Jara] || [Smut] ||  [All]

#criminal minds #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #jemily #tara lewis #temily #je t'emily #emily prenitss x reader #cm fanfic #cm fanfiction #cm fic rec #friday fic recs #my writing

[captainclickycat]

You know I think I’ve just put my finger on one of the things about why it annoys me so much when people on the internet try to turn personal preferences with queer media in particular into like… a morality contest or social hierarchy or act like there’s a right and wrong option for which thing you like better.

Because when I was growing up, non-niche queer media was pretty rare, relatively speaking. It wasn’t nonexistent, and god knows we’ve still got some way to go to this day, but there’s a very strong contrast now I think between the amount of casually-presented and diverse queer representation that spans over a variety of genres and what we had to choose from back then. When I was a teenager, this kind of variety felt like a bit of a pipe dream.

So now we’ve actually got more variety and more genres and we’re at least making some progress towards being a little bit spoilt for choice (which is unequivocally a good thing) and now many of us actually have half a chance of reading a book or watching a show or film or playing a game or whatever that appeals to us based specifically on our personal tastes, and still has queer themes and characters. It’s not “either queer stuff or stuff that aligns with my tastes” anymore, or at least not as much as it used to be.

So, hooray! This is the desired outcome! (Or at least a step in the right direction.) But then instead of going “oh great, more choice now :)” some people are now trying to limit our options again instead, and act like they’re being progressive.

“Ooh you should watch this queer show instead of that one, because that one is cringe. Because that one is problematic [even though the show I prefer has its own share of ideological flaws but somehow I consider it redeemable in a way that the other one isn’t, and this definitely doesn’t come down to the fact that I just prefer it on a personal level, no sir.]” “Oo why are you invested in this particular show, there are other queer shows, watch those instead” as if they’re interchangeable. As if it’s as simple as buying store brand instead of the more expensive brand because hey, it tastes the same. As if “queer” is a genre and that should be all you need. If something ticks all these particular progressive boxes you should like it and if it doesn’t you should dislike it, what do you mean it’s more complicated than that?

And naturally media that’s “problematic” in some ways can never ever be progressive in other ways. It can’t handle some things well and some things poorly and there can never be an open and honest discussion about that which ultimately ends with some people still enjoying “problematic” things. It can’t be nuanced, because that would be too complicated! There’s no baby, we need to just throw away all that nasty bathwater.

Anyway I ran out of steam a little here but I do want to state in clear terms that if you say anything along the lines of “omg how can you vote for that show on the tumblr fandom poll, that’s the CRINGE option” I’m picturing you as a snotty nine-year-old and nothing you can say will convince me not to. So, you know. Make of that what you will.

#does this make sense? #it was sitting in my drafts for a while and I had a few drinks while composing it #I like to think it does tho

[regina-bithyniae]

Is there anyone who actually likes novelty socks? For some reason people just get me more and more of the fucking things because they fit this box-ticking niche of getting someone a gift without being expensive, and they're easy to give to just about anyone with feet.

But they're thin and not actually comfortable to wear with boots, and get holes almost instantly because they're so crappy. I've got probably a dozen pairs I don't want overflowing out of my sock drawer.

I wish I could signal "please just get me anything else" BUT I've been pretending to be thankful for so many years worth of novelty socks I'd suddenly be saying "I hate all of these things you've gotten me over a dozen years."

[amadeusgame]

September Devlog: Full Episode 1 Design Finalized

Per last month's devlog, this month's primary task was to finish the narrative outline and complete game design document for the full Episode 1 release. And I'm happy to announce that this is done, I have a concrete vision to follow, and now it's a matter of ticking off boxes on the to-do list until this thang is RELEASED. I'm getting REALLY excited about this project, and feeling like it is becoming more and more tangible.

Some quick updates before getting into the details:

I'm sure you all heard the kerfuffle about Unity; I've discussed where I'm currently at on the Tumblr blog here.

I went to PAX West (and the Seattle Indies Expo) and talked to a ton of indie devs! I wrote about a lot of upcoming indie games on the Tumblr blog here.

As always check the linktree (https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame) for all resources related to Amadeus. Most frequently updated are the Tumblr blog and Discord server, but these itch.io devlogs will continue monthly as well.

And now, for this month's updates. 

TL;DR--

PAX West & Seattle Indies Expo: more details on these events, specifically how much it helped me as a solo dev meeting and talking with other solo devs.

New Mechanics Envisioned: made a new paper prototype & sought playtester feedback to determine final control scheme vision.

Finishing the Narrative Outline: process for sitting down and mapping out the full Episode 1 narrative to guide the GDD

Completing the Game Design Document: process for taking the new mechanics & full narrative to fully outline the design for Episode 1

Recreation: media I engaged with this month for fun and inspiration!

Details below for those interested.

PAX West & Seattle Indies Expo

This was my first time attending PAX, and it was incredibly valuable. The Seattle Indies Expo (an adjacent, and completely free, event) in particular was fantastic, because I got to have really in-depth, one-on-one conversations with a lot of other small developers. So many of us are working on passion projects in our spare time, and wearing 20 different hats - from music composition to coding to project management to marketing - while also doing something else to pay the bills. So it felt very grounding to have honest discussions with so many other people who are all in the same boat. It also helped to find that a couple other developers came to the same answers I did on certain topics (virtually all of us are in agreement that you absolutely have to have deadlines that you take seriously, or you will never finish...), and one of the developers I spoke with mentioned something really helpful: that if you only have 1-2 hours to work on your game a week, decide EXACTLY WHAT you will work on in that time slot beforehand, so you've already started dedicating brain energy to the topic before the time comes.

I met a handful of developers who I'm likely to keep in touch with for the foreseeable future. It was a fantastic opportunity. Those of us out here making niche little passion projects really do feel the passion coming from each other. Gotta find your people and support each other!

I'll go ahead and plug my Amadeus blog Tumblr post on the subject again, because I'm also genuinely excited about a lot of these games: 10 Upcoming Indie Games to check out!

New Mechanics Envisioned

Never forget that busting out the sticky notes/scratch paper is an essential step in game design & development.

One of the major roadblocks I faced last month standing between me and finishing my GDD was that I knew I needed to rework the main interaction mechanic. I liked that it was WASD/point-and-click interchangeable, but it felt very unpolished. So one of my first tasks for this month was to figure out what, exactly, my vision for a polished interaction mechanic was. To do that, I revisited the very first step of game development, and made a paper prototype.

In doing this, I was able to identify the biggest source of my problem: I really like that you can control Amadeus - and not just a cursor, but this makes it impossible to interact with things that he can't get to (like looking at things in the sky). This is kind of at odds with the control scheme that seems most natural for the genre.

The central source of my problem was this:

The most straightforward control scheme for my game seemed to be point-and-click, where you don't have an actor you control but just directly interact with environments.

However; point-and-click mechanics are very hard on my wrists (because I have massively screwed up wrists), and I want to make a game that I can play comfortably - and for thematic reasons, this is all the more important!

Moreover; I just really like controlling a little guy and walking around as him.

I have come up with a solution that I think works well, at least on paper. One of my big goals this month is to prototype it in-engine, and hopefully get it in front of playtesters soon. The good news is that I got a lot of feedback from playtesters that the hybrid control scheme was a plus, and almost nobody used exclusively WASD or exclusively point-and-click, which tells me that my "utilize both" design philosophy feels right. Now I just need to polish it.

My goal is still to have a rebuilt demo, containing more or less the same content as the existing demo (unless...? but let's not get our hopes up too high!) with the new mechanics and control scheme, out this Winter. So far, still on track for that!

Finishing the Narrative Outline

THIS was truly the largest obstacle between me and a complete GDD. It is not possible to list out all assets needed in a game if you don't have a list of every scene in the game, and you can't have a list of every scene in the game without a complete narrative outline. Making the demo was easy in this respect - I already knew how my story started. I also knew more or less how it would end (or at least, several key climactic events). But there is no catharsis in a climax that lacks a rich, engaging, and well-developed journey to get there. That's the meatiest part of the game, and it's what I did not have.

Truth be told, I don't know whether the journey I am writing counts as rich, engaging, and well-developed. But I've finally made it concrete, and I think it has heart. This process was actually very rewarding, because I found that in asking myself questions (what is CHARACTER doing here, how does EVENT happen) I found really fascinating answers that made the entire story much more interesting than the one I initially set out to write.

I started just by creating a document titled "Episode 1 Outline" that looked something like this:

Intro

Prologue

Placeholder Scene

Placeholder Scene

Placeholder Scene

Climax

Outro

The reason I was actually able to get from that to a complete outline in less than a month is because, while it didn't really feel like it, I actually did a lot of "writing" last month. I spent the whole month watching a ton of werewolf movies and taking scribbled notes in my Amadeus brainstorming notebook, so I had a huge pool of ideas that were already swimming around in my head. This month's task wasn't to write a story I had no ideas about, it was to finally draw from all of my ideas and refine/organize them to a manageable and logical format.

Most importantly, I gave myself a deadline to finish this outline, and so the day of that deadline I sat down and looked at my intro, my climax and just thought of the "path of least resistance" to get from point A to point B that flowed well and made sense. The resulting outline is much, much shorter than I had initially envisioned (I had some utter delusions of an Umineko-length monstrosity of an introductory episode) - but it works, it tells the full story, and it's complete. And, as will be discussed in the next section, even this relatively "short" episode has so much to it that if it were any longer there's almost no way I would finish it on time.

I still don't have every single detail mapped out at this stage. That much was true for the demo as well. Many aspects of the story wrote themselves by building the game and the necessity of flavor text, signposting, etc.; so I'm leaving room for that. It is just specific enough that I know exactly what assets to make for it, and I know the purpose of each scene. This lets me write early scenes setting up to payoff in later scenes more effectively. I think it should be a good length to be engaging for the player while still letting me give it some polish. :)

Completing the Game Design Document

This was the big thing I needed to accomplish this month. I actually made solid progress on this last month, but I was unable to finish it because I didn't have a definite narrative outline, list of scenes, or finalized control scheme. Once I had these from my work this month, I was able to sit down and finish this document.

I want nothing more in the world than to share this document, because seeing it complete feels like such a massive victory. It shows that I know exactly what I'm doing and that I have solid direction for the development of Amadeus. It proves that this game is getting made. It's even color-coded!! Unfortunately, it contains absolutely GINORMOUS spoilers not just for Episode 1 but for Episodes 3, 4, and 5, which won't be out for years. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

The "Level Planning" and "Rule List" sections of this document needed the most attention, but they are also some of the most valuable for directing the full game's development.  

For the Level Planning aspect, I broke the scenes from my narrative outline down by gameplay type (point-and-click, pure dialogue, puzzle/other) and, in doing so, I found that I gave myself additional ideas for some things I wasn't sure about. Thinking about the narrative in a different way, by breaking it down into gameplay concepts, helped me make certain storytelling decisions and continue fleshing out additional narrative details. This is why I was OK leaving some things vague in my outline - I knew other aspects of development would help me fill in the blanks.

Creating the Rule List is something that, in a way, is helpful as a form of "pre-coding." It forced me to put some thought into how I will actually implement the mechanics I have been brainstorming and prototyping. I already have some ideas, and I already know at least a few edge cases/problems that are going to arise--but that means when it comes time to sit down and actually script things out, I won't be starting from scratch. I've already dedicated brainpower to considering the problem! It'll make it way easier to actually DO, since I've done the first step already.

I know I am repeating myself a lot here, but it keeps coming up because it's important. Putting thought into something before you sit down to "do" it makes it SO much easier to actually do it when that time comes. This entire month has been effectively just that for the whole game: in making this GDD, I have put thought into every aspect of the game's development, so now that I can focus on making it, it's going to be so much easier. I already know where I'm going! What a weight off of my shoulders!!

The last thing I needed to flesh out in the GDD were my asset lists and screen mockups, which there isn't much to say about that can't be inferred from the title. I'll include the mockup for a new menu/settings screen I need to create though to tease some features I hope to implement:

I also included some (annotated) screenshots of the demo to remind myself what the game actually looks like with nicely drawn assets and not mockup scribbles...

Recreation

As with last month, I want to take some time to discuss media I've engaged with this month. This is for two reasons. First, I genuinely believe that it is impossible to create good art without engaging with other art. Second, talking about media I enjoy will probably give you a feel for my tastes, which may or may not inform how likely you are to enjoy the game I'm making. Although the best measure for that is still just playing the demo and seeing for yourself!

This month I spent the majority of my time playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with my roommate. Truthfully, I did not actually expect this to be relevant to Amadeus in any way because the genre is completely different. But I've never been happier to be wrong! The Halloween-y vibes are of course relevant as I am writing about werewolves, but I was also just so inspired by several really brilliant game design choices. This game features something that I like to call "style AS substance," and that is exactly what I want to convey in my own game. I also got a fantastic idea for something I've been brainstorming for Episode 3 thanks to this game, but I can't elaborate on that any further at this time.

Anyway, it was a fantastic game, and also fantastic inspiration. 10/10 would recommend to friends.

That's all for this month! There will be another devlog at the end of November, and now that the GDD is done, there should be a lot of development progress in that one. In the meantime, you can always bookmark the Linktree and check back for new resources.

#Amadeus game #devlog #indie game #indie game dev #indie dev

[ad15124]

I sincerely believe gay romance novels are generally better than straight romance novels and I'm not just saying that because im queer.

firstly, straight romances are mainstream. that's not to say they're bad, it's just that they have a lot of well developed tropes and they get a lot more attention the world over, which makes it easier for a writer to use a tried and tested method and produce a straight romance novel that's just like any other, and for it to be gobbled up regardless. there are enough data points, there is enough attention, it is more likely to be put on a pedestal if it just ticks enough boxes. (see coho, for instance)

queer books are not only niche, but they are subjugated to some of the harshest criticism. every queer reader ik is generally more conscious of representation, discrimination and inauthenticity. because of this, the authors of queer novels have to be very deliberate in their word choice, depictions of sensitive topics and any views expressed through their writing. their writing has to be original and authentic and they also have to write well, because otherwise their book won't be seen anyway.

this is why I almost always enjoy the queer books popularized on booktok, at least, more so than the straight ones (see: after, ugly love etc.)

while this approach to intimidating writers who write queer rep isn't the best, and many often fall prey to cancel culture or otherwise don't choose to write queer characters, it is time we are more critical of other popular novels and authors, because we deserve better than another love story that sounds just like the other five before it, hanging on by its coattails to the same success

peace✌️

#aalutalks #lgbtq+ #gay #lesbian #bisexual #representation #romance novels

[ye-xiu]

Is Wonwoo your bias? I mean I know his name is one half of your url but just wanted to clarify. If so, what do you like about him?

yes, he absolutely is! he is my second bias in svt after hoshi actually and he's been since the beginning. he was the second member besides hoshi who i noticed in the group when i was watching hit and left and right performances and just noticed him every time. predictably he ticks all but one box for one my bias types: deep voice (baritone realness! always!), rapper, song-writer, boring dude who doesn’t have any interest in the public. and while he's by far not the best dancer in svt, he always takes part in some of my favorite choreography moments and formations, which definitely helped with me noticing him as a stand-out. i put the rest under a read more bc it got .... lengthy <3

i think what made me like him and what really manifested him as my bias was his hit the road ep. it was the first one i watched and everything he said was something i could fully, 100% relate to. wonwoo is, by far, one of the most introverted idols around and generally most introverted artists i have seen. and i do not mean that in the sense of privacy, because there are many idols like that and wonwoo just falls in line with it as well (just like all svt members i would say), but because he is a deeply, deeply introverted person in nature of the word. he is very quiet, not in a meek way but in a way that shows his comfort does not lie with being in the spotlight if he doesn't have to be. and he can definitely be seen as a 'head over heart' person at first glance, who then turns out to be a 'head and heart' person at second glance. when he talked about how being part of svt actively helped him with some of his deep introversion (and mental issues that went/go hand in hand with it), that struck a chord with me that i think back to all the time. that was the first time in a long while i saw and artist and was like man, i get it. while i didn't like some parts of his hit the road ep, the entire episode and wonwoo's state of mind really made me feel connected to him (as a person in a public profession/an idol/an artist who showed this part of him). and i had more than one person tell me that i remind them of wonwoo, so, well. perception of the self through someone else and it aiding the acceptance of the self through that too. what i see and understand in you, i can see and understand in myself as well.

second to that is wonwoo's ability as a songwriter. i always enjoy a well-written rap and among svt's rapline he is easily my favourite songwriter and i believe in that capability of his more than i enjoy hearing him rap (as he is a more than passable idol rapper). it seems to have taken him a bit of time, but especially with his more writing- and composition heavy songs of the past year (GAM3 BO1, i can't run away, bittersweet, don quixote) he has a great sense for what music he wants to write/write to and what he himself can do as a writer or bring to the table among a room of writers. out of all of svt's members, it's usually his songs and parts i like the most which is directly reflected in how he and i have very similar taste in music too. his playlist are usually the only ones i go and listen to more than once. so wonwoo's niche of music  is my niche of music i guess. he just genuinely takes part in svt songs i like the most and whose part in it i always look forward to the most.

and i am wholly intrigued how wonwoo creates on from an artistic viewpoint. the way he goes about creating music is very visual. he talked about it in an interview before, but besides having his genuine interest in videography and photography, it's a direct link to how he perceives and creates art/his own music and i think that bridges his own emotions with his art very well. wonwoo's music is literally connected to how he sees the world and himself and how he then translates that to sound. it might be the most left field comparison, but he reminds me a lot of taemin that way (or changkyun), who also has an extremely strong grasp on the visual narrative of his music / content. from what we heard svt say about wonwoo and what he said himself, wonwoo is very similar in that regard and often times will be the one person in svt who, in group discussions and towards the public, is the on who has something to say about the visual rollout of their work / his own work. he's a film snob and it shows in the way he approaches music these days, but what i think is so striking about it is that wonwoo didn't start that way. he just developed that sense while being in the music industry and while growing up and then he quietly fostered into what it is now. and he still fosters it! i just am very much here to see where else wonwoo’s idea and style of music will carry him.

while i was getting into svt, @ohoshi​ told me that everyone has their wonwoo phase and i had to inform her it might be ongoing for me. and that’s still true. <3

#uh oh ...... just me and my wonwoo essay huh #he legit wouldn't be in my url if him and sy weren't both my top 2 biases #anonymous #ask

[iwilltrytobereasonable]

Sometimes I really fucking hate my memory. It's rare that I can have a real change of heart, because everything's just cumulative.

I'm not typically willing to accept a fate based view of the world, but the idea that "character is fate" resonates very strongly for me, ticks the boxes that mean tragedy typically makes more sense to me than any neutral sort of result. It's very hard to believe that a person can fall into the world in a way that they are not at odds with it, that their strengths will serve them enough to live well, even happily. So optimism seems like a duty, a long work to balance out the eternal tragedy of being out of place.

But I've always felt like an alien. There's reasons I like the people and characters I like. Jamie from Homeward Bounders, The Doctor, TE Lawrence, and hey the gay pirate show too. It isn't fish out of water, it's a salmon that doesn't know where the ocean is. I can survive here, but how well? Every stream entered continues to be fresh water. Not fitting ANYWHERE.

Today's manifestation is the terrible thought that- while it's ridiculous to think that Jeff was my only chance at loving someone who could really understand me, even if he only managed it for a year or two - worse is the thought that really, I have had no chances because he had fundamental things he couldn't grasp either. Nobody has been attached enough while also being insightful or clever enough to even try. I can barely talk to anybody about more than a scrap of what matters to me.

My dad once took a test that didn't measure intelligence as a number, but as a series of aptitudes, and out of it came the most fascinating assessment - too many aptitudes, making most things accessible but true specialization unreachable. It was a problem. It was too much. It makes sense, and I think much of my anger at my father is the fact that he raised a daughter who could have been the only person he could really talk to and instead gave her PTSD that he can't fucking resist triggering. Every conversation is just standing on the landmine and sometimes I go off.

It shouldn't be impossible, I shouldn't have to stay alone, the world is fucking massive and anything can happen but I'm 39 and I live alone and I don't have any coworkers and my hobbies are solitary and where would I ever meet someone except on BART (Nich, 11 years ago), or in a coffeeshop (Jordan, 9 years ago, Joe 5 years ago), and actually have a hope that the conversation won't end?

#I don't talk to Nich anymore #Jordan has her own life full of trials #Joe listens intently but his interests are pretty narrow

[moved-to-void-kissed]

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨

Oh!! Thank you for this, Ruby! It means a lot to me that you'd count me as one of your favourite followers - thank you so much!!

..This was an absolute nightmare to narrow down to five songs, if I'm being completely honest, because I am almost entirely incapable of picking favourites when it comes to anything, let alone something as varied as songs. So, the way I picked was by reading more into "songs you like to listen to" and then picked five songs I know I have looped over and over again for a long sustained period of time. This might skew the overall vibes, but hopefully it's fine - it's just asking for "songs I like to listen to", not "songs that represent my music taste". (Also most of them are not in English, as a heads-up, though lyric translations are usually present on VOCALOID Lyrics Wiki.)

Last Resort, by Ayase. I like a number of Ayase's songs actually - Happy Ender, Cynical Night Plan, Yokubari, etc. - but this is my absolute favourite out of all those (well, maybe tied with Happy Ender). I kind of have a mini-PV running in my head for what's going on in the song when I'm listening to it, and it's generally just a good song to have going on as background music.

Shinkai City Underground, by TanakaB. Its lyrics are nonsensical in every translation of them I know, but the song itself sounds super catchy, and I also link it to one of my self-inserts (Lamia, specifically), so it ticks a lot of boxes! I like a lot of covers of it, moreso than the original Rin version actually (though that's probably because this song is from 2011..), so let's also pick this Meiko V3 one, if you wanted to have a listen to that.

MONSTER, by KIRA. I was torn between picking this or B.B.F, as both are extremely great and iconic songs (as are a number of KIRA's songs, honestly), but the next song on the list kind of fills a similar sort of niche to my ear as B.B.F, so I went with MONSTER. Another one that functions as a self-insert song, actually - this time for my Kingdom Hearts self-insert, Aria. This is the only one that's actually in English, oops.

SNOBBISM, by Neru and z'5. It's just fun. I associate it a lot with Splatoon, without any real reason (I'd say ROKI sounds more like it fits or is from that game, to be honest) other than assigning it to a team of OCs that I made back in Year 10. Oh, and I used Bizu (the demon character featured in the PV) as my icon during the final Splatfest, since I was part of Team Chaos and I felt he represented that aptly.

ROKI, by mikitoP. Again, it's just fun. And I think it's a neat touch that, in the original version of the song, the producer who wrote it is actually singing alongside Rin! ..That said, I do also like the version used at Magical Mirai, which has Len sing those parts instead (just as a warning, the video here is a concert recording, so it might have some strobe effects).

There are many other songs I could have put here (this doesn't even cover some of what I would say are my most listened-to producers, like Ferry or Hachi), but hopefully these are alright? It's kind of late for me, so I hope that all of this makes sense ;w;

Thank you very much again for sending this to me!! I hope that you're having a great day, 'cause you deserve it ^-^

#a call from the void #not strictly about selfshipping #but also three of the songs here are ones I associate with some of my self-inserts so.. does that count? #self‑insert: abyssal curiosity (lamia) #for shinkai city underground (another example of a song with similarish vibes that I associate with lamia is BABYLON by tohma) #self‑insert: darkness' champion (aria) #for MONSTER (which used to full-on be what I called her character song. aria's the only self-insert i have a playlist for actually) #self‑insert: apathetic agent (cat) #my splatoon self-insert! since it's her turf war team that SNOBBISM is the song for. her own ''personal song'' is sand planet by hachi #I wanted to put a SOLARIA song in here but none of them really fit the logic i was following except maybe aura by GHOST #it's late i'm tired i recommend people go look up the lyrics to all these before going to watch them if you're worried about the contents #out of the inbox #ruby tag! #chain mail #because of the whole ''when you get this send it on'' aspect. again i can't pick favourites so I don't know if I will pass it on to anyone #especially since i know a lot of people don't like receiving that sort of ask format (as in one where you ''have'' to then send it on) #but regardless it means a lot to me that you sent this my way and I enjoyed seeing your answer to your own ask so thank you once again ruby #long post #ask to tag #I should *really* sleep now

[greenzaku]

I have a lot of musings about the invasion of Ukraine and its intersection with social media. Maybe its because I’m just old enough to be from a time when countries, individuals and organisations did not crowdfund on social media, when we all just tossed humanitarian donations at an NGO and hoped for the best. A time when military brigades didn’t each have their own social media channels where they posted combat videos, unboxings of crowdfunded donations, and appeals, complete with slick editing and custom animated logos. Well ok, you can partially point at Starlink for that one. Even the defenders stuck in Azovstal had internet access right up to the point that they were taken into Russian custody.

The massive destruction of 73 Russian vehicles and tanks at Siverskyi Donets River was largely due to a unit - possibly a single engineer - who received donated drones, binos, radios, tools; while on a sugar high (cause they also got cartons of chocolate). He’s gloating about it on Twitter and thanking his ‘sponsors’. It is 100% possible for a twitch streamer on the other side of the world can raise enough money for a modified DJI Mavic drone to drop a VOG grenade, with open source 3d-printed fins for aerodynamic stability, onto a truck that was spotted through satellite imagery by hobbyist OSINT researchers. Its probably already happened. So, so much hacking on both sides too. Were this done before the internet age, it would blur the lines between military and civilian so much. Would someone in Japan selling a bracelet on etsy for funds to buy a pair of boots for a sniper in Kharkiv technically count as a enemy target?

Some of Ukraine’s success is due to a very media-savvy and energetic Zelensky, who while genuinely brave and diplomatic, also happened to tick enough of the appealing demographic boxes to get bipartisan support - Jewish, parent, politically centrist, largely egalitarian, easy on the eye etc; who could appear on Zoom anywhere in the world, from a meeting of world leaders to Cannes. I mean, he kinda even looks like your average male political or military youtuber. 

And there this the memes, TikTok dances, music and art; good and cringe alike. Whoever thought that the default sunflower emoji would be a replacement for ‘F’? Well, at least little Borys gets to grow up to learn that Grandpa Maxym survived the war because someone sold niche fetish art on Furaffinity to buy him a bulletproof vest.

Its sobering. On one hand, yay for Ukraine getting what it needs to defend its people. On the other hand, your 50 quid Paypal donation can mean the difference between someone killing or being killed. I’ve mulled over it, and I think I’m ok with it...I guess. 

The conclusion I end with is that in the bigger scheme of things, we can choose to donate towards a conflict, or even a single person, we support, and try to hold them to account. We don't get the same level of autonomy with our tax dollars except at the voting booth, and even in the best case scenario, it goes through many for-profit layers and towards a more vague measure of national security. The taxpayer didn't choose to pay for donated howitzers; if anything, given the age of many of those systems, they were probably bought thirty years before this conflict. We pay every day for government spending that we may not personally support, for wars we want no part of, for international and domestic policies that cause massive suffering.

But we normalize that level of accountability and obfuscation. Perhaps there is more moral integrity in accepting that a direct crowdfunding could result in failure, or massive death and destruction. It would make us wiser to the world.

#ukraine #crowdfunding #personal #my musings #long post #russo-ukrainian war

[webenlivensolutions]

Finding the Perfect Web Design Company in UAE: A Comprehensive Guide

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business. And at the heart of a successful online presence lies a well-designed and user-friendly website. If you're a business owner in the UAE looking to establish or revamp your website, finding the perfect web design company is of utmost importance. But with so many options available, how do you choose the right one? In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the key steps to find the perfect web design company in UAE.

1. Define your goals and requirements:

Before embarking on your search, it's essential to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with your website. Determine your goals, target audience, and the features and functionalities you require. This will help you communicate your requirements effectively to potential web design companies.

2. Research and shortlist:

Start by conducting thorough research on web design companies in UAE. Look for portfolios, client testimonials, and case studies to get a sense of their capabilities and expertise. Shortlist a few companies that align with your requirements and have a track record of delivering high-quality web design solutions.

3. Evaluate their expertise and services:

Once you have a shortlist, dig deeper into each company's expertise and range of services. Ensure that they offer a wide range of web design solutions, including responsive design, e-commerce integration, and user experience optimization. Additionally, consider their experience in working with businesses in your industry or niche.

4. Review their portfolio:

A web design company's portfolio can provide valuable insights into their design aesthetics and capabilities. Take the time to review their previous work and analyze the quality and uniqueness of their designs. Look for websites that align with your vision and demonstrate the company's ability to create visually appealing and functional websites.

5. Consider their communication and collaboration:

Effective communication and collaboration are essential for a successful web design project. Evaluate how responsive and transparent the web design company is in their communication. Do they take the time to understand your goals and requirements? Are they open to feedback and suggestions? A company that values effective communication can ensure a smoother and more efficient design process.

6. Check for SEO expertise:

A well-designed website is meaningless if it isn't optimized for search engines. Look for a web design company that has expertise in search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure that your website ranks well in search engine results. Ask about their SEO strategies and how they incorporate SEO best practices into their designs.

7. Get multiple quotes:

Once you have narrowed down your choices, request quotes from the shortlisted web design companies. Compare their pricing structures, inclusions, and value for money. Remember that the cheapest option may not always be the best, so consider the overall value and the quality of their services.

8. Read client testimonials and reviews:

Client testimonials and reviews can provide valuable insights into a web design company's reputation and client satisfaction. Look for reviews on third-party platforms or ask the company for references. A reputable web design company will be more than happy to share feedback from their previous clients.

In conclusion, finding the perfect web design company in UAE requires thorough research, evaluation of expertise, and effective communication. By defining your goals, shortlisting, and evaluating companies based on their portfolio and services, you can find a web design partner that aligns with your vision and helps you establish a strong online presence. One such company that ticks all the boxes is WebEnliven - a leading web design company in UAE. With their expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to client satisfaction, WebEnliven can deliver a website that truly represents your brand and drives results. So, start your journey towards a remarkable website by partnering with WebEnliven today.

#ecommerce website development services #website design uae #seo company in uae #Web Design agency uae

[rakumel]

Raku Plays Her Faves, Ys VIII, Chapter 2: Well...That Escalated Quickly

So...remember way back in the Prologue where I said I liked the whole fancy dinner and drinks on the Lombardia part? Because it felt kind of like the opening to an Agatha Christie novel? That’s still true.

But you know what feels even more like an Agatha Christie novel?

An actual murderer on the loose. 

(Here there be some spoilers for the climax of Chapter 2. Be warned! On one hand, I kinda hate discussing spoilers because I don’t want to discourage people from finding stuff out on their own, but on the other hand, it’s easily one of my favorite parts of the game because I’m a sucker for mysteries. Also, I’d like to point out that this doesn’t spoil the entire game - just the end of Chapter 2.)

Told you Chapter 2 got way more exciting. So how the blue fuck did we get to this point?

First, let’s backtrack some. In the Prologue we had the shipwreck on the cursed island, in Chapter 1 we set up some basics of the game and story. Chapter 2 is where, after getting us nice and comfy, the story throws a couple of monkey wrenches into the works to complicate things. One you’ve already seen: Adol starts having weirdly specific dreams about a young lady named Dana, who appears to be from some completely different civilization set during a different era. We won’t get a full explanation for that for quite some time, and it’s not what we’re discussing today anyway.

Nope, today we focus on the bigger and more immediate monkey wrench: the climax of Chapter 2. Adol, Laxia, and Sahad have been spending much of this chapter exploring the island, battling monsters, and finding other survivors from the Lombardia shipwreck. We already know they’ve found Captain Barbaros, Dogi, and Alison the tailor. Here’s a quick rundown of all the other castaways they’ve found so far, more or less in the order they found them:

Halfway through the Towering Coral Forest, they found these two. Sitting on the ground is Sir Carlan, a cartoonishly snotty nobleman who (supposedly) sprained his ankle. He was being tended to by the man in the vest, a doctor named Kiergaard.

Kiergaard told them where to find another castaway, a lady named Kathleen who’s an expert blacksmith. She becomes the person who upgrades your weapons, and overall just an awesome character.

On a different beach they encounter Hummel, the somewhat suspicious “Man in Black” on the Lombardia, who doesn’t talk to them at first. But after a little persistence he introduces himself as a transporter, which we learn later on is sort of a niche delivery service. One where they don’t ask any pesky questions about what’s in the package. Questions like: Are there drugs in here? Is this a sack of laundry or a dead body? or, Why is this box ticking?

After their first meeting, he shows up later on and joins Adol’s party for a while. It is fucking hilarious to watch Hummel harvest things like flowers or bird eggs, because he’s a sniper and doesn’t have a close-range basic attack outside of battle. He literally shoots everything with his rifle.

I also like the little wing detail on his hat, which reminds me of the old FTD delivery company logo, which itself is a reference to Hermes, who among other things was the Greek messenger god.

Speaking of god, in a cave behind a waterfall, they found a nun, Sister Nia.

On yet another shore they found a young merchant, Dina. She takes over the trading post when she gets back to Castaway Village. There’s no currency in the game - naturally, since they’re all shipwrecked on a deserted island. So technically you can’t buy or sell anything. But the game works around that nicely by allowing you to trade up many cheap items for rarer ones, or break up rare items into common ones, as you need them.

Next they found an 11-year-old boy named Reja, and after a little more searching, the pikkard that saved his life by allowing him to cling to its body so the boy didn’t drown in the ocean. (Pikkards are a common farm animal in the Ys games.) With Dogi’s help, Reja sets up a little farm where you can plant seeds and harvest the fruit and vegetables that grow at regular intervals.

In a place hilariously called Schlamm Jungle, they find this guy, a Romun military policeman named Euron. He’ll set up a little craft shop in the village where he can take apart armor and accessories you don’t need or want, and get back some of your items.

Finally, on Odd Rock Coast, they found an overly skittish guy named Licht. Later he mentions he’s a medical resident. 

Adol and company are literally about to escort Licht to the village when Little Paro finds them and squawks about an emergency. When they get back to Castaway Village, Dogi meets them and reports that Captain Barbaros was attacked and gravely wounded by an unknown assailant. Doctor Kiergaard had tended to his wounds, but the captain is still in pretty rough shape.

When questioned, all the captain remembers before nearly being gutted was a man calling out to him. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a good look at his attacker. While the captain was being treated, the note from “Nemo” was found on a nearby table.

At this point, Euron joins in, and we find out why he was on the Lombardia. Turns out he was tracking a serial killer known only as “The Nameless Ripper.” Euron and his partner were originally supposed to meet on board the Lombardia, where a suspect matching Nameless’ profile had also booked passage, and catch the guy. Only, the shipwreck kind of fucked everything up. 

So Nameless is now running loose on the island, and this attack on the captain fits his M.O. - the random attack with a sharp weapon, a note signed “Nemo” (Euron explains that “Nemo” means “Nameless”, hence the “Nameless Ripper” moniker.) Which means he’s found the village, or - even worse - possibly IS one of the villagers. Dogi worries that it’ll only be a matter of time before the castaways start panicking and distrusting one another.

He doesn’t have to wait long.

They hear a scream outside, and when they rush out to see what happened, they find Kiergaard tending to Sir Carlan’s leg once again - only this time, it genuinely is injured. Sir Carlan immediately starts throwing a fit, accusing random castaways, and insisting that they get him off the island right this fucking minute. He thinks that they can use the small fishing boat they made to row out and hail a passing ship. When it’s pointed out to him that virtually no ships go near the Isle of Seiren because of its reputation, and the tiny little boat won’t last long out in the waves of the deep ocean, it just pisses him off.

At that point, there’s a random beast attack on the village, and clearing them out diverts everyone’s attention for the rest of the day. 

Overnight, we get a bit of character info dump for Laxia. It’s Adol’s shift on the night watch over the village. Laxia can’t sleep, so she cooks him a little meal, climbs up to the watchtower where he’s sitting, and basically apologizes for her earlier behavior towards him. It’s too long to put here, but short version, she was dealing with a lot of stressful shit even before she set foot on a doomed passenger ship.

Cut to the next morning....

Sir Carlan fucks off and steals the boat anyway. However, he doesn’t really know the first thing about how to steer it, so he gets stuck in a current. Adol and company run down the beach to try to catch him, and hopefully convince him to turn back.

He either can’t hear them at all, or refuses to, because he doesn’t try to turn around. There’s also a very big flaw in Sir Carlan’s plan that I failed to mention.

The tentacled thing that sunk the Lombardia and countless ships before that? Yeeeeaah....it’s still out there.

And confronting it in a tiny boat goes about as well as you’d expect.

So, uh....yeah. That happened.

And Chapter 2 isn’t even over yet. In the next part, the investigation into the Nameless Ripper case will begin in earnest. Think you know who it is? Keep it to yourself for now. But eventually, we’ll see if you’re right. :)

#raku plays her faves #raku plays her faves: ys VIII #ys VIII #lacrimosa of dana #ys VIII spoilers #schlamm bamm thank you maam #get on the floor and jamm #seriously...schlamm jungle? #sounds like the place george of the jungle hails from