#hyperewok1

[thessalian]

A, D, and V for Alisaie :D

AFFECTION.   how does your muse show affection? 

Generally, not hugely verbally. It’s kind of that meme: “Instead of saying ‘I love you’, the People say ‘my heart is yours’ and I think that’s beautiful”? She’s said the actual words once or twice, but only in situations where she wanted to make a very clear point. She shows affection the way the People do; physical proximity as the situation demands (there are a lot of variables; like, balancing how much affection the object of her affection wants vs how much they need, whether the object of her affection is uncomfortable with public displays of affection and whether the situation’s too serious for her to give a shit, that kind of thing) and doing nice things for them. Of course, Alisaie also has done her time in the Tipsy Pixie, so she adds lavish compliments and similar flirtations where the People don’t.

DATE.   what is your muse’s ideal date? where / who with / etc?

Well, the “who” should be pretty obvious; if it’s a date-date? It’s with Remi or it’s not happening. And honestly, she doesn’t care. Like, just really does not care. As long as she’s with the one she loves, and her beloved is enjoying themselves (herself, in this case), it’s perfect. I mean, she does enjoy the wandering around a city, shopping and having a meal and all that, but the thing she enjoys most about dates is learning more about what Remi enjoys, and showing what she enjoys. Not a lot of scope for that while travelling around saving the world in the way they are at the moment.

VALENTINE.   how does your muse feel about valentine’s day? 

Well ... she doesn’t actually know that the Ellon equivalent of Valentine’s day (the Feast of Sune) exists. She missed it as a child in Belarys, the People don’t really go in for that sort of thing, and the Tipsy Pixie kind of honour that one every day. (She might have noticed Kezia making a big deal out of that particular day, given that Kezia is a proper devotee of Sune, but she tends not to ask overmuch about other people’s faith.) When she learns of its existence, she’ll probably love the idea of a whole day devoted to celebrating the beauty of the world and the love in her life. She’d hate Valentine’s Day as celebrated in our world, though. Not the essence of it exactly, but more the cheap tat and consumerist nightmare.

#Alisaie #PROMPTS FOR THE PROMPT GOD #WORDS FOR THE WORD THRONE #Thess vs Memes #hyperewok1

[cupcakecoterie]

@true0neutral - Hazel, half-elf cleric

@fauxfire76 - Darvin, human bard/sorcerer

@hyperewok1 - Remi, human paladin/warlock

@miaaoi - Farideh, dragonborn sorcerer

@lindira - Clarity, tiefling rogue/warlock

Brian - Barnabus, minotaur fighter

@lovefrometernity - Rylan, wood elf sorcerer

Last one to catch up on! We were missing an Ava, but we got through okay.

While Hazel and Darvin were in warped mirror!Goldendale, and Clarity and Hazel were in warped mirror!Vanedar manor, Remi and Barnabus found themselves in warped mirror!Ravnica - specifically, Precinct 5, Tenth District, and Barnabus’ last beat before the accident that landed him in Ellon. As with Hazel before her, Remi found herself with no connection to her god or her patron. (Darvin might have had the same problem, but he didn’t actually try to tap into that, so...) After some figuring out what was going on - namely, that they were being stuffed in pocket dimensions so that whatever thought process behind the local sludge could gain a more detailed view of the world.

Alisaie came back to the town square with Rylan and Farideh, and found nobody there, and no one responding to shouting. This was of concern, so she and Rylan tracked Remi and Barnabus (Barnabus being easy to track because hooves). Alisaie hoped that she’d end up in the same place as Remi. Alisaie should not have thought that, because while the divine spark in Darvin’s soul was fairly tiny, Alisaie’s ... was not. No one’s sure exactly what the long-term consequences of this are, but Alisaie did trip into mirror!Ravnica screaming in agony because of whatever force was keeping the divine or celestial out.

Clarity found Henry - specifically, Henry’s soul, which Clarity took with her (in the lollipop she’d bought for him at the Egref sweet shop) so that Hazel could perform the rites to let his spirit move forward. When she’s grieving a little less, she might note that somehow, even if it obviously did some damage, the Archfey of Mischief and Whimsy either somehow freed Henry’s soul before it could be corrupted beyond repair or somehow cleansed it. Then again, given Clarity’s memory trip and losing Ava midway through her adventure, she wasn’t in the best state to think on it.

Remi, Barnabus, Farideh, and Rylan all ended up in the Ismeri Library with a barely-conscious Alisaie and a very worried winged dire moose ... and found Petunia, whose soul was apparently stuck in-between because of that worthy’s efforts to keep the death fog contained. Petunia recommended that if they wanted to skip the twisted version of memory lane, they could just offer up a memory of a place and hope that the entity was placated. It seemed to work, and as Henry was granted escape via a large lollipop, Petunia was granted escape via Rylan’s scarf.

Hazel and Darvin saw some pretty horrifying sites in that version of Goldendale, but after tripping over the Tailor-Green manor (Darvin’s old home), Hazel started swearing about “It’ll be the knife-eared bitch next!” ... which references her mother. And since hers was the loudest thought-pattern at that point, they went into the Tailor-Green manor ... except they didn’t, because they found themselves in a prison. Not in one of the cells, thankfully. In one of the cells, though, was a woman who looks very much like the Lady Emavaela but had clearly been locked there for close onto two decades. Hazel made a very good insight check and ... yeah, twins exist. That woman had been locked up shortly before Hazel’s birth and usurped. Hazel is ... armageddon-level angry.

When almost all of them were back together,Ava all but fell out of one door, unconscious but seemingly unhurt, and they got out as fast as they could, because Remi seemed to hope that Alisaie would recover better out in the sun, all things considered. Jury’s still out on that one.

Hazel said some prayers to send the departed on, and they ended with pouring a drink and seeing if they can’t rouse Ava, so they can all talk about what happened to them, and how it might be best to proceed from that point.

I make no promises about staying up to date. But at least I am up to date now.

#cupcake coterie #Youtube Vid

[gffa]

--Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves

#jedi #jedi code #jedi order #novels #as mentioned by #hyperewok1

[palepinkycat]

March Commissions

Commissions for @imthejudge @hyperewok1 @jarael @pocklington-art @starknstarwars @nostalgiaaftersimming and @lordofpenandpaper (putting the last one under a cut due to possible triggers)

Thank you again for your support and for commissioning me <3

tw: wounds/scars

#commission #da2 #dragon age fanart #swtor #fantasy art #ffxiv #*I'm not familiar with the ffxiv universe so please let me know if I used the wrong tag!*

[true0neutral]

Behold, @hyperewok1, the energy you generate when you bard. IT IS GLORIOUS.

#dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #dnd #d&d #tiktok #shenanigans

[dicebox]

The Dice Box presents a new homebrew effort as the gang (i.e. @true0neutral, @fauxfire76 and @hyperewok1) take on Dunwall.

Three women marked by the Outsider, figuring out what they can do ... and what they want to do with it. One is a bit of rough, one is an illusionist ... and one rules over her own four-footed court.

#Youtube Vid #Dishonored-ish

[chubbyooo]

5 things that you like about yourself

So first off imma be terrible at this but still gonna do it. I was tagged by @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond

I also need to tag 10 of my followers so buckle up for that

Anyway enough yaping begin

1. I don’t take myself too seriously. I’m very silly and find myself acting like a doof all the time. I’d prefer this than take everything and everyone too seriously

2. I’m very focussed when I start a task. Once I start a task like a drawing I tend to get it done then and there. This isn’t always a good thing but I like that I can just do things in one go

3.i write a lot. I write a lot in my spare time in my head both for my dnd and for my ocs I think it’s really stretched my creativity and imagination

4.getting tricky now uhhh. I like I’m very determined, due to many reasons I’ve had some obstacles in my life I can’t control but I have managed to overcome them

5. I like that I’m generally considerd a nice person by those around me

Wow that was hard anyway I have to tag people feel no obligation to answer tho

@vishanti-legacy @winterfrostlegacy @sith-shenanigans @darth-occlus @aliyamirat @swtor-addicted @vailed-legacy @comraderex @hyperewok1

#5 things you like about yourself #personal #non swtor related

[lordviridis]

Happy Things Meme

I was tagged by @depizan and @sassheliosazuras 

Rule: Pass the happy! 💛 When you get this reply with 5 things that make you happy and send this to the last 10 people in your notifications.

1. Dogs, especially mine (who I’ll be seeing in a few months, and I can’t wait).

2. Lakes, and swimming in them or taking trips to islands. I can’t think of better things to do during the summer.

3. Friends.

4. Good books and fanfics.

5. Writing. Even though doing camp nano has been exhausting, it’s still been great fun.

Tagging: @tinybuggy, @thornhands, @rugessnome, @chivalin, @silvertonguedaggermaw, @shinyhaunt3r, @sithachilles, @paradife-loft, @darth-char, and @hyperewok1

#thanks for tagging me! #kat's nine lives

[ichimakesart]

Here is a commission for @thessalian - with new cast of Cupcake Coetrie !

Featureing players : @true0neutral, @fauxfire76 , @lindira , @miaaoi , @egoroffie, @hyperewok1

Commission page if you’re interested => link

Also my instagram acount if you’d like to see my other stuff => link

#cupcake coetrie #thessalian #true0neutral #fauxfire76 #lindira #miaaoi #egoroffie #sorry if the tagging doesn't work #rpg #commissions

[thessalian]

I was looking up “Bagpipe Star Wars Theme” because of reasons and I found this and everyone must groove to it.

#hyperewok1 #Specifically thought of you on this one

[thessalian]

42 Touching for Alisaie and Remi? :D

Goldendale, following the fight with Coryvel

Alisaie looked around the bedroom at Fort Cupcake that she shared with Remi, more than a little rueful as she glanced at the badly burned clothes and small pile of singed hair by the chest at the foot of the bed, on which Alisaie sat, brushing last strands of hair off her shoulders. Then she glanced to the mirror, looking at the results of Remi's efforts to trim the scorched bits away while retaining as much of the length as possible. The result was even but asymmetrical, and the short-shorn ends on one side tickled her ear a little. "If I wear that hair comb Ava gave me," she said, "and braid it down the opposite shoulder, that should hide the worst of it. Thanks," she added, looking away from her reflection to smile at Remi. "I don't think I'd cut my own hair nearly as well as you did."

Remi, standing behind Alisaie as she tucked her dagger away, shrugged with a slightly bashful smile. "You're welcome. I cut my own sometimes, when it's getting too shaggy. It'a a lot easier doing it on someone else."

"Hmm. I'll have to try doing yours sometime." Alisaie reached for the longer ends of her hair to pull them around, starting her attempt at a braid. "I used to do haircuts for the staff at the Tipsy Pixie. Though I had scissors. I should have asked Miranda if she had sewing scissors ... but that would have deprived me of seeing how nimble those hands of yours can be ... with a smaller blade," she added, her smile turning into a teasing, promising grin. "I know how well you use them in a lot of other ways."

Remi didn't bother trying to stifle the giggle that comment brought out (Alisaie considered that alone a gift beyond measure from the usually composed and stoic not-quite-paladin). Instead, she reached forward to touch Alisaie's hand, stilling the aasimar's efforts at self-braiding. "Let me help you with that."

Alisaie took her hands away without hesitation in a show of absolute trust, even as she asked, "If you want to, but ... have you ever braided hair before?"

"Once or twice." Remi smiled a bit sadly at the memory of Beverley, one of the Combine's soldiers, who had worn her hair in a braid wound around her head to act as padding for her helm, and sometimes needed assistance. "Not ... recently," came the admission, after a moment of minor fumbling. "And not often. But once or twice."

Alisaie accepted that, though the next bit of minor fumbling got a slight huff of a chuckle that was more sheepish than anything else. "Yeah; my hair's a lot. This is the first time it's been cut since I was about thirteen, so ... you know. Lotta hair."

"I like it. Not just how it looks - though it looks great." Remi was conscious that while not precisely vain, Alisaie did appreciate looking her best, and anyone who grew out their hair that long was going to be sensitive about how it looked after it was shortened against her will, so she was quick to make the assurance. "It's just ... nice to have my hands in."

That got another chuckle from Alisaie. "I'll bypass the five or six naughty remarks that brings to mind and just say that the feeling's mutual. I mostly did my own until I lost those gold clips. There's definitely a feeling of being cared for having someone else do it."

Since that was at least part of what Remi was going for, and the kind of thing Remi had a hard time verbalising, Remi blushed and smiled ... and then cursed as she managed to tangle her fingers into the braid in that moment of distraction. "Oh. Oops!"

Alisaie just laughed. "It's okay." She reached into her haversack and grabbed a brush. "I can take over if you want, once you get untangled--"

"Noooo no no no." Remi gently took the brush from Alisaie's hand, though she knew that if Alisaie had really wanted to keep hold of it, the outcome of the contest would have been very uncertain. "I'll get it. I mean, I do need the practice."

"You don't--" Seeing the futility of telling Remi it wasn't necessary, Alisaie gave a cheerful sigh of surrender and said, "Okay, but now I'm really glad I didn't ask for anything complicated, like an inverse braid or something. Pretty, but complicated."

Remi frowned a bit thoughtfully, but stored that aside for later as she untangled her fingers from Alisaie's hair and started brushing it smooth again. The contented sigh she got from Alisaie suggested that brushing, at least, was something Remi did very well right from the outset. Learning braiding would take far more time and effort if she wanted to go beyond the basics.

Several weeks later, in a fancy resort hotel in Egref

"That feels different."

Remi grinned a little, standing behind the vanity stool in their honeymoon suite. Then she surreptitiously checked the diagram in the book she'd received from, of all people, her father. Amell Crestwind apparently knew his daughter far better than Remi could have imagined, and had passed a book titled "101 Braided Hairstyles" along to her at their pre-wedding lunch. "Thought it'd be useful for you both," he'd said, and the tone said more - how Remi had always been a tactile sort of individual and hair like Alisaie's was a glorious plaything for someone like that; how Remi was as sparing with words as Amell himself was (Corri spoke enough for husband and daughter both) and would probably appreciate another way to show her new wife affection. The less said about the apparent age of the book, and the suggestion that Amell once did Corri's hair and probably did to this day, the better.

Pushing those thoughts back into the 'how my parents met' box where they belonged, Remi just said, "I'm trying something a little different this time."

Alisaie raised her eyebrows in interested curiosity, but apparently decided to make Remi's life easier by sitting still. "Just for reassurance, 'different' isn't bad--" There was a minor wince as Remi pulled a little harder than she'd meant to, and one of Alisaie's new wings stretched out in a sort of reflex action that thwapped Remi in the shoulder. "Oh, shit; sorry!"

"It's okay! It's okay! Sorry - I didn't mean to pull." Remi went back to weaving the long white-gold hair into the patterns she wanted, being more careful so she didn't earn another hit from a wing. "Guess we're going to need to get used to that, too."

Alisaie gave a careful shrug, as much to keep her wings still as to avoid moving too much and making things harder for Remi. "There are worse things, Ree. I'm not going to talk too much shit about the most epic wedding present ever. But I might ask whatever aarakocra tailor we find about finger-preening the feathers. I know birds do it, so it'd be good to know."

"For both of us," Remi added with an anticipatory sort of smile. She enjoyed braiding Alisaie's hair as much as Alisaie enjoyed having it braided, and adding an extra bit of grooming on feathers as soft as the ones on Alisaie's wings was no hardship at all.

"Okay, if you insist." The words were offhand, but the tone was bashfully pleased; she clearly liked the idea.

"I do," Remi said, focusing on the last foot or so of Alisaie's hair.

She could hear the grin in Alisaie's voice when she replied, "You said that yesterday, if I remember right."

Remi chuckled. "So did you. And I think I'm done." She tied the end of Alisaie's hair with a bit of gold ribbon and stepped back, watching to see how Alisaie was going to check on the 'something a little different'.

The chuckle became a full-on laugh as Alisaie ran a finger along the chain that ran from the earring in her ear to her eyebrow, using her daily charge of Clairvoyance in the place of carefully positioned mirrors. Her tone was delighted when she said, "You did an inverse braid! When'd you learn to do that?"

Remi held up the book a little sheepishly. "I ... got some help. Let me know if there are others in here you might like?"

Alisaie didn't respond to that verbally, but the deep, heartfelt kiss she gave Remi was answer enough.

#hyperewok1 #Fic #Alisaie #PROMPTS FOR THE PROMPT GOD #WORDS FOR THE WORD THRONE

[thessalian]

❛ this is a good look for you. ❜ for Remi and Alisaie? :D

"This is a good look for you."

Remi must have looked dubious. Certainly she felt a bit dubious about the whole thing. Not that she'd never worn leather before, but that had been armour; heavy and protective and certainly not as tight as these particular trousers were. The boots had comforting weight to them, at least, but everything else she wore seemed flimsy for what it was. The top in particular didn't feel like it had any substance at all; odd enough for someone who mostly wore heavy linen or cotton, but stranger still when used to the weight of full plate armour.

At least it fit, now. When she'd first tried it on, before Darvin's alterations, it had been sized for someone a fair bit taller, muscled somewhat differently and ... more endowed up front. Now it ended slightly high on Remi's waist, exposing a bit of abdomen when she moved. Which was a whole different kind of uncomfortable.

Still looking at her reflection in the Riddler's Stump's full-length mirror, Remi tried to frame the 'I dunno about this' in a way that didn't suggest distrust in Alisaie's taste. The best she could do was, "I've never worn something like ... this ... before."

"Well, I wouldn't suggest wearing it day to day," Alisaie said, tone all reassurance. "Armour is good when you need it, and given our lives, you need it, like, pretty much all the time. But you've spent your life getting into this kind of shape; sometimes you gotta flaunt it. I mean, look at those arms." Alisaie came up behind Remi and ran her hands down Remi's arms, applying just enough pressure to feel the solid, well-toned muscle derived from years of training and combat. "And the back, too." Alisaie's hands came up to stroke the muscles of Remi's back and shoulders, easing a bit of the tension there. "Not to mention the abs. Core strength for days." Bending a little, Alisaie ran hands just above Remi's hips, linking them across Remi's admittedly rock-solid abdominal muscles in a sort of hug as she leaned her chin on Remi's shoulder.

Remi, who had shivered a bit under the touch, tried with minimal success to stifle her flustered, flattered giggle and said, "Now I kind of don't want to go out."

"That would not be fair," Alisaie told her. "We spent time at the Tipsy Pixie and you let people watch me work in clothes that showed off what I've got, with the sure and probably slightly smug knowledge that what people were ogling was yours alone for the taking; now it's my turn. You wouldn't deny me that, would you?"

Remi turned around in Alisaie's arms, careful not to bonk Alisaie in the chin, so she could put her hands on Alisaie's hips - also clad in tight leather for the night of 'clubbing' ahead. "You're not the only one who'll be thinking that tonight, you know."

Alisaie grinned. "I know. So tonight we can bask in admiration, envy, and each other's good taste." After stealing a kiss, she added, "The confidence that brings'll add a little something-something to fun-times later."

"Aheheheh" was the best Remi could manage at first. Then, finding words again, said, "That's definitely something to look forward to. So is watching you dance."

"I'm looking forward to teaching you a few moves, I admit. Dancing is good, but dancing with my Ree? That's something to savour." Leaning in a little closer to steal another kiss and run a hand over Remi's backside, she went on: "So let's fortify ourselves for an ... active kind of night with dinner, hmm?"

The only reply Remi needed to make was, "Definitely" before stealing a kiss of her own. Then, with no small reluctance, she pulled away, and they both headed down to the Riddler's Stump's parlour to finish preparations for the 'active' night ahead.

#Fic #Alisaie #hyperewok1

[thessalian]

Thess vs Amusing Anecdotes

Before I actually have to leave the house and cross the city to grab things out of my old desk (we're moving offices to elsewhere in the building, apparently), a couple of quotes from last night's session, which because we were stalling for time a bit ended up largely taking place in a speciality pet store. Which obviously involved Clarity (played by @lindira) activating Speak With Animals and chatting to basically every animal in the place. (For reference - Hazel = @true0neutral, Remi = @hyperewok1, Barnabus = friend named Brian who is not on Tumblr.)

How it started:

Adorable little feathered frogs: Are you food?

Clarity: Um ... not to you, but maybe to other things?

Adorable little feathered frogs: Why not? Why to other things and not us? That's sizeist!

And obviously this sort of continued

Barnabus: Clarity, if something asks if you are food, you say no.

Eventually, upon hearing that the adorable little feathered frogs are poisonous, venomous, and spit acid...

Hazel: How do you keep something like that contained?

Remi: Why do you keep something like that contained?

Hazel: Also a fair question! I guess wizard familiars, but--

Shopkeep: No, not necessarily. They're just interesting pets to have.

Remi: I'll say!

#Thess RPs

[thessalian]

Thess vs MCM Comic Con, Day 2

So today was the day. It was, I will admit, a very hard day, but it was A Day nonetheless.

Obviously, Comic Con was fun, despite ... well, public transport, home plumbing woes, whole bunches of nonsense and it just being Saturday at one of the UK's biggest conventions when you are less than mobile because of having a fucking cane. Still. Fun.

So, yeah, the usual public transport malarkey happened and when we arrived at the Excel Centre ... well, it turned out that their provisions for those requiring accessibility assistance were ... lacking. Or, to be less kind, an utter shit-show. We were crammed behind the main queues with a stall maybe four feet from our backs, with people trying to a) walk to some other part of the convention hall, or b) join a regular queue. But they finally figured out that this was actively stupid, and they moved us towards the rear, where we could kind of slip into the back one at a time after every two of the people in the regular queue had got their autographs. And there were some chairs. And good conversation. And Marion bonded with somebody over Fruits Basket. And that helped the fact that I was in a fair amount of pain and feeling very squished. Then again, it kept me from feeling any "I am meeting people I very much admire" anxiety too much.

Finally, my turn came. Matt Mercer came first, and he was an utter sweetheart who was actually really impressed by the couple of bits of my campaign that came up in conversation. (I think he was also probably slightly chuffed that I got inspired by some of his things and did something unique and interesting with them.) And @fauxfire76 got a specific shout-out because the Bunny-Bard story came out and he did seem to like how we handled it all, players and DM both. Plus he was really touched by the fact that them having people Skype in was what made me realise I could play with my dearest friends online. (And also being responsible for me meeting one of my players, and thus dearest friends.) Also, nearly forgot - he was well chuffed at what I brought for them to sign - the original Green Ronin version of the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting. I saw other people bringing sourcebooks but I think I'm the only one who brought that one. I thought it might be nice for them to see a) how far they've come and b) that we've been there since the beginning, frankly. It seems to have worked.

Little less conversation with Marisha, but I very much praised her acting / RP in Sagas of Sundry: Madness. I really do need to watch that again.

Laura, I praised her singing voice and we talked about Stray Gods (which will have to move back to the top of the Steam wish list). She was really sweet (and, later on in the photos, gave me a side-hug. It was really kind of her, given she could probably see I was struggling by then.)

Travis ... I don't think anyone's called him an "avatar of positive masculinity" to his face before, but he was really ... somewhere between flattered and touched, I think. That feels like that "someone lit up his face from the inside" expression's best description, anyway. Also we may have mentioned how good a job he and Laura seem to be doing with raising Ronin, because so many parents have doubts as to how they're doing and it's nice to hear that kind of validation.

Ashley ... equally touched by being responsible, through her Skype presence in Campaign 1, for the group I value so much today ... and also for having been company for a much younger me who had TV sitcoms for company, and thus having seen a lot of Littie!Ashley.

Sam ... Sam I saw on Broadway, so that came up. My accent came up (he was one of the few who flagged up that I in no way sound like I'm from the UK), and I mentioned having lived in New Jersey, and that @hyperewok1 lives in New Jersey, and how it was interesting that @hyperewok1 and Liam both lived in New Jersey and both played Oath of Vengeance Paladins to some degree. And together we came up with, "New Jersey breeds vengeance".

Which I then told Liam, which also got a laugh. As did my remembering about him in Dragon Age: Origins and his being various voices in Guild Wars 2, particularly this one crafting vendor who would say something every time you walked past him and my general response to any time I hear Liam's voice being a casual, out loud, "Hi, Liam!" Which I said a lot when I was playing Guild Wars 2, I can tell you.

And I was just about to get to Taliesin ... and then one of the stewards, who'd been helping me along the whole time, said that they were breaking for lunch and the photo ops, and she was really sorry, but I'd have to wait for the Talisein autograph. But I should go straight to the back area when the afternoon set came and I'd be let straight in. Okay, fine, that gave us time to find some food and a sit-down before photos.

Photos ... thankfully it was a little easier with the accessibility stuff that time, but the first photo (which was probably the better one) got nixed because of flash glare on our glasses. We didn't even get the option to see that photo - just got sent back for a second one, with head tilted down, which ... I did not need that much displayed double chin, thank you very fucking much. I'd rather have the lens flare. I can live with being in a JJ Abrams film. Anyway, the picture exists but I dislike it a lot. Marion looks great, though.

Anyway, after some cooldown time, and a bit of shopping wherein I found some dice that fit an Alisaie sort of theme (to go with the Scanlan-themed ones I got mostly because Purple and Bard), back to the autograph session. The very American woman helping out was in conversation with I think friends of hers and kind of didn't notice me there, so I spoke to a security guard and mentioned what happened at the morning session and he went back to get her. She came back looking hugely apologetic going, "Were you just there the whole time and I just ignored you? I am so sorry!" I told her it was fine and explained and she said, "Well, you've obviously been through it today so I'm going to just bring you straight in there because ... it's not protocol, but fuck it." Unfortunately, Taliesin was a bit behind schedule joining the others for the autographs (maybe an individual photo session ran long, maybe he was waiting for meds to kick in, all of the above, who knows? We just hoped he was okay), so she put me right at the front of the accessibility queue and even pulled over a chair so I could sit down. So we sat and watched the cosplay go by, had a nice conversation with some other people in the queue, and watched Felicia Day smack a cosplay Pike with a LARP mace. As you do.

Eventually, Taliesin turned up, looked really flustered, so we were just calling out, "It's okay! Take a minute!" So he did, and eventually he got started and I demonstrated my ability to be very fucking organised. I had my QR code out and ready, I still had my original Post-it with the name I wanted used (Thess, I used, because, as I told most of them, "Everyone I like calls me Thess"), and so when the steward looked at me, I just handed him my phone, opened my Tal'dorei guide to the right place and said, "That's the Post-it; I'm all set". I did that a couple of times over the course of the autographs and in both cases I got stares and, "...thank yooooooou..." It was a hard day for the poor sods. Most of them aren't even getting paid for this.

So then I got Taliesin's autograph. He's the only one who pronounced "Thess" properly (a lot of them didn't pronounce the H), and that got mentioned, and he asked where it was from (so Marion got in on the conversation because he asked if it was a Welsh name, and Marion's Welsh, so...) and I told him the Thancred / Therapy story and when I shook his hand, he did the "take hand in both his" thing (Matt did that too) and it was great.

And then Marion asked if I wanted to go home and I said "YES" with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Because as fun as it all was, I was stressed and in SO MUCH PAIN and very tired. And so we are now home after the usual absolute horror of public transport when tired, sore, and fed up.

But one more thing that put an added bit of sparkle to the evening. We were walking towards the door of the block of flats, and some people I don't honestly remember having seen had just come up from the block of flats and one of them stopped me and went, "Hey! We're wearing the same shirt!" And we were - the "Don't Forget To Love Each Other" one, though I'm not sure if his is the original or the second iteration. Doesn't really matter. So I asked if they were going to the MCM After-party. They said no, they couldn't get tickets to the live show so they more or less skipped it and I mentioned we'd just come from the Excel Centre and I had their autographs. From the reaction of one of the women of their little group, if I'd told them we also had a picture, her head might have exploded through sheer "impressed" and "envious". So they wished us a lovely evening and we wished them the same and so I apparently have Critters for neighbours. And I would bet money they're the ones who make the corridor smell of weed, but never mind.

So all in all, for all the OW OW OW OW OW, a good day. And now we're going to wait for takeaway curry to arrive because apparently asking me to cook was a bridge too far and I'm honestly too tired to argue with that.

#mcm expo

[thessalian]

Thess vs Firegleam

So I spent awhile backtracking just for kicks. Some of it was worth it. Some of it ... not so much.

There is supposed to be a big chunk of green shiny out by Sylens' lab but I cannot get up there to find out. I will look later when I don't have so much firegleam to ignite. But lemme see what's over actually behind that firegleam deposit in Sylens' 'lab space', for lack of a better word.

Well, mildly underwhelming, but hey. Lemme just grab a campfire in the area and...

Oh. That's a noise. Talanah! And Longlegs! Friend and needed parts! Okay, the firegleam can wait!

Ah. Another Carja trying to find friends, family, or Other Important Person in the West. Cool, we can deal with that. A little bit out of my way, but what're friends for?

...I am missing out on so much hunting, Talanah...

A ... Shellsnapper. That's new. Okay, you brought me Longlegs and a whole new unfeasibly big thing to kill. All is forgiven. Now, lemme see ... scanned, logged, and that's a vulnerable bit but lemme hunker because that thing can probably take a huge amount of--

.........Did ... did I just one-shot Robo-Atuin?

Apparently, yes I did. I guess I worried for nothing.

Ah. Now there is a mountain in the way and not even I can feasibly climb it. I guess we find a way around or through. Yeah, yeah, we'll probably meet again when circumstances demand. For now, though ... I should be saving the world but apparently that will wait for me to ignite a lot of firegleam.

Right. Start from the Daunt, work my way down. This one at this old dig site might be worth looking at.

...Vendor trash. Okay. Fine. Next!

Huh. This lets me into that tower I couldn't get into. Now, what wonders will we find within?

...A ... codex entry and more vendor trash. Okay. Fine. Next!

............Dude, HOW ARE YOU STILL PULLING ON THAT POOR DEAD OSERAM?!? There really should be a function whereby, if you complete a quest, the quest giver can ... like, go away, do something else? Something other than pulling on the ankle on the same Oseram corpse for, like, three in-game days?

Please let this climb and ridiculousness be worth it...

Moooooooore vendor trash. Okay. Fine. Someone's going to love me when I finally get back to Plainsong for the main quest because I'm going to have so much vendor trash...

(Wow. Really glad I'm not playing BG3 like this. Imagine encumberance rules in this game...)

Right. Okay. How about this one just by Barren Light, at the edge of No Man's Land. That's got to have something worthwhile ... right?

GREEN SHINY! ...And nothing to spend it on so far. Ah well.

Okay. This is in an Old World ruin. This has to be something worthwhile.

This ... is a lateral thinking jumping puzzle. Right. Okay. Hoboy.

So ... I have a battery I can't jump with, a body of water I can't cross, and over there, a crate. Hrm.

So the only way over there is gliding. I think I see why they mapped everything to space bar, now. Guess I'm going to have to rebind some keys here or I won't time it right.

Okay, so ... can't jump on the crate while holding battery. So how... Wait. Can we use the pullcaster on this thing?

.........Oh. Ooooooooh. You sneaky bastards.

No, the ramps won't do it because it'll just slide off when the crate's at an angle. And that's where the nearly perfect dock comes in.

BATTERY FERRIED. Now, up. More crate-dragging. Wheee!

So ... that's another toucan ball. And this one's ... oh, those weren't clovers on the first ones - they were clubs, like the card suit. Because this one's giving off spades. Huh. The Old World was weird.

On that note, I should probably consider something that resembles food. Today's probably going to be a bit of a Forbidden West binge. The Saturday Shenanigans group is on a two-week hiatus between mini-campaigns - this week because I wanted a break, next week because @hyperewok1 is away and we don't have enough players on a Saturday to play when we're a person short. Plus, I really could use a little bit more of a break too. I mean, that'll mean that I have a whole weekend next weekend, just for me! (Not that I don't love my every-other-Sunday D&D group - I really seriously do. Just a whole weekend with nothing to plan for or set up for people feels ... decadent and lovely, somehow.)

Anyway, then I have to decide between going for that drone near Plainsong (which means dealing with Blight, yay), or dealing with the Rebel outposting also near Plainsong. Either way, going to stick around Plainsong at least a bit. But all of that will be easier on a full stomach. So ... food.

#Thess plays video games #Thess liveblogs Horizon Forbidden West

[thessalian]

Thess vs Games Testing

I think I mentioned that my one and only New Year's resolutions that isn't "survive the hellscape that is the UK at the moment without losing my mind" was "at least start every single unplayed game in my Steam library". This ... is going to be something of a trial, because there are a lot of them. Like, a lot of them. I may fail, but damnit, I am going to try. Of course, some are going to be sort of dropped into the NOPE collection, and I know this. But it's good to know. So here are the ones I've done so far:

Beyond Blue: This is a beautiful game, and I would absolutely love to play more of it. It's entirely my jam - going around and scanning sea life. There's just one tiiiiiiiiiiny problem with it: because of the whole omnidirectional movement thing and how close the camera is to the character, it's a very beautiful migraine trigger. Finished one dive area and felt like I was going to throw up, and I'm still having the stabbing head pain, dizziness, and nausea today. So it's a health hazard. Fuck my life entirely.

Weird West: This was one of my Christmas gifts this year (thanks, @hyperewok1 - it really had been sitting on my wishlist for, like, ever). This one stays in the "I am going to play this" stack, because it looks interesting, but the controls are going to take some getting used to. I get dealing with actual aim in first-person or over-the-shoulder view, but top-down is a bit of a struggle, particularly when this game is not exactly generous about bullets. Still, one to get through once I'm not devoting a fair amount of personal run-time to Baldur's Gate 3 and whatever Zen I need to get through the day.

Chants of Sennar: I was having a great time until there was a mandatory stealth section. I was after a linguistics game, not Baby's First Dishonoured.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood: This one went on my wishlist because I really loved the demo (and then a friend threw it at my head for Christmas). I still enjoy it - it's an interesting premise - but apparently I really have to be in the mood for that kind of interactive story.

Little Big Workshop: It's cute, but it's pretty much the same as any other "Lemme just set everything up to build things" game, with an added "how much the workers like the decor" component out of the Sims, which just adds to the things I have to micromanage. So probably not quite as Zen as I need it to be.

I'm actually going about this in a kind of an organised way for once. I dump a whole lot of games I haven't tried into a collection of their own, and whittle it down one game at a time. Of course, I've filled it up rather a lot, and I can only really narrow it down to a few, so here's a question for y'all, in poll form: which one next?

Thank you in advance for your help. <3

#Thess plays video games