#i've gotten a lot better at discovered attacks

[anime-scarves]

Me: Ya I think I played that chess game pretty well.  Stockfish: Well that’s where you’re wrong kiddo. 

#text #computer evaluation after a game is so valuable #I miss a lot of things while playing and can then see what I missed #and what stockfish has as a better move #i've gotten a lot better at discovered attacks #and also better at not just losing to knights forking my king and rook #boy do I fall for that a lot #chess #i'm having a lot of fun

[dcxdpdabbles]

I've been thinking about a pit assumed mermaid Danny so long. Like the GIW gets their hands on Danny and Danny ends up running away after being dissected and lands right into one of the Lazarus pits not the one that the league of assassin has and he ends up finding out that all of the pits are connected to each other so he uses them to like you know travel around and not be stuck in one place while healing. Damien standing by the pits without being supervised though something down there like just a child being curious he been here is a grumbling thank you. After a while Damien and Danny just get a big brother little sibling relationship and Damian when he leaves to go to his dad is like I promise to come back to save you Free you from the Lazarus pits. Couple years later after Damien established himself as Robin and a barrel agent with his family Damien's always been talking about going back and saving his friend Danny and the rest of the Batfamily is just convinced that Danny's like I'm imaginary friend. So when Damien gets kidnapped by the League of assassins and they're all getting ready to go back home Damian just walked up to the Lazarus pits and goes Daddy I'm here to save you you can come out now then it starts rumbling and outcomes this giant electric glowing green eyes mermaid being like Oh Damian you came back. Sorry for the rambling it's just that I really been thinking about this idea also I love your works.

"Robin! Where are you going!?"

Damian ignores Richard's call. He knows they should be running to the exit where Drake or Todd should fly around with the escape helicopter. He also knows they don't have time to make detours because if they missed that window of escape, the League would not allow them a second chance.

Damian knows. But this is the closest he's gotten to Danny since he was sent away. Now that he knows better, now that he is aware of just how horrible Grandfather and his lot really were, he couldn't just leave his friend here.

Every day that passed, Danny was at risk of being discovered, and who knew what the League of Assassins would want to do to him?

He needed to get him out.

Tonight, Danny was coming to Gotham with him, one way or another.

"Robin, we don't have time for this!"

"I know! I know, but I can't just leave him!" he shouted back, breaking into a sprint down familiar hallways. He dodged a sword swing, tucking and rolling between the legs of an assassin. He twists mid-landing to throw in a Scorpio kick to the head.

He only waits long enough to hear the man grunt. Damian is running away even before the thump of the body hits the ground. He's so close.

"Robin! Nightwing! We're fighting them off, but we can't hold the position for long," Drake shouts into the com that Richard had given him. "We need to do the extraction in two minutes or we're all going to be trapped here!"

He wants to shout at them but can't waste even a second. Damian forces himself to push faster and ignore the burn in his legs as he rounds down the last hallway, attacking the special guards at the gate of the pits.

Unlike the rest of the castle, these two are some of the best the league offers. Damian struggles to find an opening between them and their teamwork. He can also feel the time ticking away with each punch, swing, dodge, and heart-pounding killing blow that nearly lands on his person.

Just a little further. He thinks, panting as he blocks sword after sword, hissing in pain every time one of them manages to make small cuts through his defense. I just have to get a little further!

Bang! Bang!

The two bullets fly, breaking the guard's knees and pinning him down in a sword stalemate. Damian has a moment to thank the heavens that Todd and Richard appeared not even a second later—fighting away the two remaining guards. He watches them fight for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

One minute! Drake hisses, the sounds of gunfire and the wind of the helicopters' wind nearly drowning his voice.

Damian glances at the door, and then his brothers fight, and he makes his decision. He rushes to the door, kicks it open, and sprints down the pathway into the cave. He hears the battle pick up speed behind him, along with Todd's outraged cry of his name, but he does not slow down until the slight green glow comes into view.

"Danny!" he shouts, hoping his voice's sound waves can travel through the green liquid to what is hidden below. "I've come to rescue you!"

Are you kidding me? Todd yells in the coms. We're risking everything while being outnumbered and outgunned so Demon Brat can get his imaginary best friend!?

Damin tushes to the pit, leaning over, trying to spot the mermaid in the glowing water. He splashes the surfaces in the same way he used as a child, when calling for the creature, face darkening at the causation meanwhile. "He is not imaginary! Danny is real!"

Robin, we don't have time for this! Richard screams. We have to go! Now!

"In a minute!" Damian splashes the water more urgently. He could stick his head in, but he was healthy right now, minus the few cuts, and he could not afford to lose his head mid-escape.

We don't have a minute! Drake cries. A worrisome beeping noise accompanies his words. A loud boom is heard along with Drake's screech. I've been hit! I'm going down!

No!

"Danny, please! I need you!"

A small head of pure white hair peaks up from the water, gentle green eyes staring at him. The glowing green hides the rest of his face since the creature did not go further than his nose about the water, but Damian can tell he's smiling.

"Hello, little one."

Damian allows himself one moment of relief before the world starts to shake, and Danny leaves the Lazarus Pits for the first time in fourteen years. He rises out of the water, long, glowing angle fish tail darkening into shadows as his form shifts into a thing of nightmares.

Damian smiles up at him. "Hello, brother. Can you help my other brothers and me escape? "

Danny doesn't even have to consider the request already growing bigger and bigger until Damian is no bigger than his thumb. He then moves grabbing Damian in his ice-cold grasp.

Danny flies through the walls and picks up Ricard and Todd before they go up and out through solid stone. Damian closes his eyes, pressing against Danny's body to protect himself from whiplash and the strong wind.

Danny is insanely fast, which he proves by diving for the falling aircraft and not only catching up to it but also managing to lift it out of the sky. He angles his hand against the doorway, shaking his palm so Damian, Ricahrd, and Todd all tumble out of the gaint being hand into the safety of the chopper.

Danny then swings his massive body towards the horizon, ignoring the Leauge's attempts to capture him. The island is out of sight in seconds, and Damian can breathe a little easier, even though he is pressed against the wall with his screaming siblings.

Danny is going a little too fast in his escape.

"What's happening!?" Drake cries and checks to wiggle back a little from how fast they traveled.

"I invited Danny to live with us!"

"You did what!?"

#dcxdpdabbles #dcxdp crossover #Pit's Merman #Danny hurt himself so his body shift into a mermaid to hell #He was chilling in the pits underground tunnels #He has a mind link with Damian due to how often the boy was thrown in there #Danny could have left whenever he just choose not too #Dick jason and Tim are not impressed

[copperbadge]

Immediate Writer's Block

Had a comment on another post where I thought I'd probably need more space than the notes in which to respond, so:

constant-state-of-self-discovery Oh I get the envy I feel it right now how the fuck do you manage to write without impassable writers block after 5-9 sentences because I haven't fucking figured it out lol

I do have some advice on this!

I think most writers get blocked from time to time, it's normal and my general strategy is just to wait it out, but if you're frequently blocked after only writing a very little bit, I think the problem is one of two things: either you don't know what you want to achieve with the scene you're writing, or you don't know what should happen next within the scene to achieve that goal. If you frame "I'm blocked" as "I don't have an answer I need" then often you move from just sitting there, sweating and staring at a blank page, to thinking productively about how you're going to get where you're going. It's the difference between not knowing an answer and not knowing an answer but knowing where to look for it.

An invaluable piece of advice for this, which I think I picked up from someone who got it off a National Novel Writing Month messageboard, is "When in doubt, ninjas attack." It's not meant to be literal, you don't need to have ninjas or fight scenes just because you don't know what to do, but it helps to get the creativity flowing again. If you don't know what should happen next, or you know but you're having trouble actually writing the scene, it can be very helpful to induce a moment of uncertainty or surprise -- to have a metaphorical ninja attack. One time I did this literally -- the POV character was just on the road somewhere and I didn't know how to get them from a pastoral country road to their actual destination in an interesting way, so I had them get attacked by highway bandits and have to fight them off, which also allowed me to demonstrate that the character had significant unarmed combat skills. But it can also just be like, two characters who are having a boring conversation can be interrupted by a third person, even just a stranger asking for directions, or there can be, IDK, an explosion, or something goes missing, or etc.

Sometimes it also helps to leave it alone but keep it in your mind and go do something else -- listen to a podcast, take a walk, read a book, not because those things are distracting but because all our inputs eventually feed into our brain and come out as reactions. If you're thinking about your book while you're wandering around a park, something you see in the park might have an impact on it. If you've got YOUR story in mind while reading someone else's, you might be more inclined to look at what they're saying and see what you think of it, how it might play into your work.

And honestly, sometimes you just gotta go past it. I'm working on the next Shivadh novel right now and it opens basically with Simon the chef getting into a spat with his love-interest-to-be over some cheese. He want the cheese, she won't sell him the cheese, so they get off to a very contentious start. But I suck at writing conflict especially when it's basically "A character I like is being pompous and another character I want people to find likable is being stubborn and somewhat unpleasant". I've been stalled on it for a while. But I know where the scene ends up, like I do know what the goal is, so I just...skipped it and went on to writing a scene I like better, where they meet a second time and actually discover each others' identity and that they're about to be forced into the grownup equivalent of a school project. Once I've gotten dug deeper into the story I'll come back and write it, and by then I'll have the benefit of knowing the love interest a bit better.

So yeah -- I think a lot of breaking a writer's block, especially when you don't need rest but are just stumped about what to do, is to twist and look at it from another angle. It's not that you don't know what to write, or don't want to write what you know you have to -- it's that you don't have the correct answer to a question, or you need to leave that part alone to ferment and come back to it later. At least, for me.

#writing #constant-state-of-self-discovery #writer's block #inspiration #archive

[flowerparrish]

I always see your podfics pop up and I always wondered, if it's okay to ask, what inspired you to start creating them?

Hi, definitely!

It's kind of an unusual one, maybe, but when I was a teenager I had really bad insomnia. I used to listen to music, because I'd often wake up in the middle of the night having panic attacks, and the music helped calm me down / ground me. BUT then it started giving me weirder dreams, so I needed a different solution. I had an old Kindle and used to make it TTS read really long fics to me, and that worked pretty well, but right around that time I discovered podfics, which felt MAGICAL. Actual people reading me my favorite fics? It quickly became one of my main coping skills for anxiety as well as insomnia--I would just put on headphones and vibe to podfic to calm down. (Certain voices can still work better than literal anxiety meds on my system, it's WILD.)

I wanted to make podfics back then, but I didn't quite have the skills and then I went to college and didn't have the quiet space / time. But finally around 2019 I had gotten back into writing, and I was bored over a long break, and I decided: why not try again? My specific inciting incident was that I left a comment on one of my favorite podfics--one of many, I like to go back every few months and be like "hey, me again, still listening to this regularly and so glad you made it"--and the podficcer went and found one of my old 2013 podfics and left a really lovely comment. And I was like, y'know what? Maybe I do want to try that again!

So I did, and then @voiceteam happened in May of 2020, and suddenly I was part of a community of really lovely people who I could ask for help / advice / just vibe with, and it was amazing, and my podficcing went from "something I do sometimes" to "this is my main hobby and my favorite thing to do in my free time"

And now I'm here! ~700 podfics later and I still have a lot to learn, but I'm really proud of the skills I've developed and the friendships I've built. <3

#answers #about podfic #thanks for asking anon!

[wishing-stones]

Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates on any R&R content lately, the brain does not want to do it LMAO

Instead, I've started work on another multi-chapter fic: Ready Aim Fire (With... punctuation in the title pending)

This would be the Star Sanses x Paintball Reader fic. I've gotten a few chapters written, but unlike R&R, RAF has a beta. Should help with continuity errors and the like. I won't be posting any of it until it's been gone over.

I'm not abandoning R&R, but I'm having difficulty getting started on the content I want to write for it. Nothing good comes out of what gets forced, so I'm directing my creative energies elsewhere.

Additionally, my workstation has been moved. I do the vast majority (98% or better) of my writing at work because the lulls in responsibilities and tasks are often wide and boring. Without real consultation, my station was moved out into the open a little more (where I previously sat in a corner specialized for my job) with the manager occasionally sitting over my shoulder.

Feeling like I'm being babysat does not help my creativity in the slightest, and I feel like I have to kind of... hunch over to be able to write anything without someone reading over my shoulder. Even writing the most innocuous of things, I haaatteee people reading over my shoulder. It's already happened once at this job (I was editing a site page at the time) and I really don't want it to happen again.

Fortunately, the manager both isn't here very often, and doesn't like the setup. I'm hoping this is a very temporary thing. My back is also to the office printer, so I have a pretty steady stream of people behind my desk a lot. That isn't new, but it's more difficult to handle now than it was before.

Also contributing to my lack of ability to make anything is the somewhat unfortunate complete-attention-grab of Baldur's Gate 3, since my partner and I got it on our PS5 to play couch co-op. BG3 has my brain in a chokehold LMAO. I'm trying to evenly split hyperfixation between my projects and the new fandom/special interest, but BG3 is winning that LOL

Also, the domesticity of the first half of RAF is not as exciting for me to write. I'm struggling through a chapter because there's nothing really going on. Still have to make it engaging without dragging ass, so I've rewritten six paragraphs already. I also have to work with a couple of characters I'm not as practiced in writing, and I'm trying to do that well. (Neither of whom were in R&R, for the record.)

I've seen a couple of things for R&R floating around in the wild (ie, not shown directly to me; either I saw it in passing, or friends showed it to me) and it's absolutely mind-boggling that my work is as inspiring as it is, and that people talk about me without talking to me. It almost doesn't feel real. Thank you guys.

Speaking of R&R, I haven't done a proper promotion for this, and it's a crime:

If you enjoyed R&R, especially from a character interaction standpoint, you will absolutely love Rubble&Ramparts by Hiddenshadowwolf on Ao3

Here's a link

The story's premise is: what if the events of Chapter 20 didn't go so smoothly? If everyone got injured in the fight, not just Ren and Dust. What would happen if Baggs was in over his head trying to make sure everyone survives? The answer is to accost a nurse from a very mundane AU to help out, but... there's more to her than meets the eye.

Ru&Ra follows Alexis, a nurse, as she navigates the prickly personalities of Nightmare's crew, discovers and learns about magic, and becomes entangled in the complex web of events that follow xGaster's attack.

Every new chapter is a wonderful treat and an absolute goldmine of characterization and study. You can feel the love and effort put into it.

If you're over there chewing the walls waiting for content from me, go read this, it'll scratch the itch very effectively.

For now, I'll happily take continued questions about the fics, the casts, and the characters. You can ask about RAF, but some things might get a very vague answer if they're spoilery.

Thanks guys!

#k talks #fic nonsense #r&r(r&r) #raf fic #ru&ra #reminded of that “handle your stuff like it's a press release” post

[ltwharfy]

"Bob's Burgers" Season 3 Episode Ranking Rewatch (long post)

So, I've been rewatching "Bob's Burgers" from the beginning and ranking the episodes using the spreadsheet that @babsvibes created! If you want to know why I'm doing this or how I view the 1-5 rating scale, you can check out my Season 1 post!

Now on to Season 3:

Average (Mean) Score: 4.43

Mode (Most Common Ranking): 5

Ranking breakdown: 12 5s; 9 4s; 2 3s

Season as a whole thoughts:

Season 3 is a goddamn delight! My season 2 as a whole review was positive and Season 3 just builds on everything I enjoyed in season 2. More wonderful recurring characters are added to the mix- Mr. Branca, Mr. Ambrose, Courtney, Henry, and a certain Regular Sized boy I relate to way too much- among others! The world of the show expanded with our first visit to Kingshead Island. And the show continued to grow creatively- hitting new highs in music with "Lindapendent Woman" and "Topsy". Plus, we finally got a full length season meaning we get our very first holiday episodes, including my all-time favorite Christmas episode! I also feel like the show had mostly conquered the tone/characterization issues that popped up in the first two seasons. Bob's occasionally still a bit more of a dick than in later seasons, but he gets called on it now ("The Unnatural")!

In my season 1 review I mentioned watching that season as it aired and thinking it had potential. In my season 2 post, I mentioned that at that point it had gotten good enough that I would've been upset at the time if it was cancelled. By season 3, it had become one of my favorite shows- one that I would encourage friends and family to check out. If people weren't watching the comic glory of "O.T." and "Topsy" they were missing out big time!

Some thoughts on particular episodes:

(Since these seasons are longer I will be writing about a smaller percentage of the episodes- feel free to let me know if you want my thoughts on an episode I don't discuss)

"Bob Fires the Kids": One of my favorite things about this rewatch is discovering what I think of as the "sleeper hits"- episodes I remember being fine but, upon rewatch, turn out to be even better than I remember. This episode was the sleeper hit for Season 3. The kids are exceptionally hilarious in this one- especially being upset about Bob firing them and their attempts at summer fun before they work on the farm. And everything Mickey does is hilarious- the calypso song he sings, his description of "Big", not knowing how to put his hands up, pretty much all his dialogue with Bob ("B.B. King has that disease" "shut up, Mickey"- that exchange always makes me laugh.) Also, "I knew you so briefly, you dead soap dog" is an all-time great eulogy title.

"Mutiny on the Windbreaker"- Probably one the show's zaniest episodes and I love it! Gene falling in love with a a manatee puppet, Louise getting the manicurist to make her claws, all the Bob and Duval interaction- it never fails to make me laugh!

"The Deepening"- "Our toaster is confused, too. It doesn't know why we put bagels in it." This episode could get a 5 for that line alone. Also, I love Mort's standup comedy attempts in here, and the Bob, Teddy, and Mort vs. the shark finale. I wish they revisited the idea of Bob as Block Captain and Hugo as Quadrant Captain in future episodes- stupid neighborhood power struggles make great comedy, and it could've been a great way to get Hugo in the show without threatening to shut down the restaurant.

"Tinarannosaurus Wrecks"- One of this season's two 3s; in an ask game I once said this was my least favorite episode of the show. I empathize with Tina waaaaaaay too much in it to find it particularly entertaining. The first time my mom tried to teach me to drive in an empty parking lot, I basically had a panic attack. I didn't hit anybody's car, but my mom gave up on teaching me and my dad was out of the picture, so I ended up not learning to drive until I was in my 20s. It's hard not to think of that when watching this episode. That said, Tina's Hell fantasy is funny, I enjoy the Mort as the Belchers' chauffeur subplot, and Bob Odenkirk is always good. But it's still my least favorite episode of this season.

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"- My favorite Christmas episode! "Mannequin comes to life" is one of those tropes/plots that always amuses me for some reason, and this episode has some hilarious fun with it. "He said he's not a murder mannequin" is an all-time classic line in my book. Also, the ending with Chet saying he has a loft in Manhattan and Bob's "What?!" is one of the best last lines of an episode. Always leaves me with a laugh.

"Broadcast Wagstaff School News"- If I do a top 25 episodes list at the end of this rewatch, this episode will almost certainly be on it. Both the main plot and the Gene-as-little-Bob subplot are hilarious! "Back to you, Andy!" "Back to you, Ollie!" is the ultimate Pesto Twins moment to me. We get some character development for Zeke (his family moves around a lot), Mr. Branca makes his debut, Tammy and Jocelyn team up for the first time- this is pretty significant episode in the development of the support players at Wagstaff- in addition to just being really freaking funny.

"O.T.: The Outside Toilet"- A hilarious episode with a great "Belcher kids and their friends have an adventure" bit (I live for those), and an emotionally resonant plot for Gene. And drunk Linda repeatedly changing her terms for taxi ("snacky", "snatchy") always cracks me up! One time, I was creating a dating profile on Bumble and I had recently rewatched this episode on Cartoon Netowrk, and in the "About Me" section of the profile I wrote "I will never get tired of that episode of Bob's Burgers where Jon Hamm plays a talking toilet". I'm still single (but that profile did actually lead to me meeting one of the more interesting people I've met through a dating app, so...)

"Topsy"- Pretty much generally acknowledged as a classic, so I'll just specifically mention how much I love Teddy in this one. The whole backstory he comes up for "Dr. Glen Wellness" and the line "What's it like out there? Are people still the same, with their funny ways?" is sooooooo good. Like, I need to think of an occasion to say that in real life.

"It Snakes A Village"- Meh. If you want me to care about a story, don't make it about Gloria and Al. Especially don't make it about their sex life.

"The Kids Run the Restaurant"- I don't watch this one a ton because I can kind of empathize with Bob's squeamishness re: blood, but it is pretty hilarious. I especially loved Gene's idea of reformatting the restaurant to serving chicken. This week, I managed to turn his line "Chicken on a treadmill, last offer" into a running joke with a coworker whose never seen the show, so that was fun.

"Boyz 4 Now"- One of the strongest candidates for the title of my favorite "Bob's Burgers" episode. After rewatching it, I really think it might be the episode I would use if I only had one episode to try to convince someone to watch the show. It's unfailingly hilarious yet also has a relatable emotional core. I'm a 42 year old man, and I still feel like Louise every time I have a crush. Louise and Tina stories and "Louise in denial of her feelings" stories are two of my favorite types of stories and this is both. Plus, the tablescaping subplot really shows the Belchers at their best- all getting really enthusiastic about something pretty weird that one of them is doing! Also, Boyz 4 Now and their songs are hilarious and a perfect parody of pop music. My ranking scale for this project only goes up to 5, but in reality this an A++++, 15 out of 10, no notes.

"Carpe Museum"- Another all-time classic. Putting aside it introducing my favorite recurring character for the moment it also has: some of the show's definitive Bob-Louise bonding moments; the introduction of Henry Haber; Linda joining a picket line and coming up with obscene chants; Frond and the museum lady flirting; Teddy's speech encouraging Linda to go to the museum...so much good stuff! But yeah, there's also the introduction of Regular Sized Rudy, the most "me as a kid" character in TV history. Oh, and that last scene with Bob, Louise, and Rudy cuddling on the school bus? Basically the cutest thing ever in my book. If I ever seem a bit too excited to talk about Roudise on here, please keep in mind that I've basically been shipping them since May 5, 2013, with relatively few people to talk about it with until I joined this silly website last year.

Random Thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

-It is so nice for the show to have the normal version of the theme song and opening credits! Yes, the changes are small, but they matter to me. The opening music and credits in the first two seasons are just not as fun and lively as the version from three onward- and it makes the show as a whole feel a bit more fun now.

-Gene in "Broadcast Wagstaff School News": "Quick! Comb me over! Trump me!" It's so weird when pre-2016 TV shows make jokes about that guy in the genre of "businessman"/TV personality with bad hair knowing now that he is a wannabe fascist dictator.

-"Things that are different in their first appearance" department: Regular Sized Rudy's voice is noticeably different in "Carpe Museum" (it was funny to hear that interview where Brian Huskey said he was told "do what you did at the table read" and didn't really remember what he did at the table read). Also, Mr. Branca's pants are a different color in his first appearance than they normally are- I'm assuming that his normal pants were damaged in an unfortunate incident with his work crowbar.

Well, much like the Deuce of Diamonds and Toad the Wet Sprocket, I gave you my magic and now I am going to disappear. (Not really, I'm just ending this post. I'll still be here. I just couldn't resist making another reference to that line)

#bob's burgers #bob's burgers season 3 #bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch #long post

[gamerdog1]

Devil May Cry Review

Last year, I adopted my little PS2 from a Value Village. I lovingly took it home, gave it a gentle bath, and spent at least a dozen hours carefully swabbing it's insides of dust. All this, so I can get the experience of playing popular and longstanding game franchises, like God of War, and Metal Gear Solid, where they began. The things we do for love, I guess.

Since then, I've been on a bit of a side-quest in life, sort of. A quest to discover why popular pieces of media got so popular, by experiencing them first-hand. I have this drive to learn about what is beloved, to join in the fun of fandom with others, and so when I saw a lot of fanart of white haired brothers with magic swords, I got curious. One thing led to another, and after many, many hours, I have some thoughts.

Devil May Cry, for the PS2, is a very interesting case. For one, its the accidental sister to Resident Evil, as it was originally intended to be the third installment in that franchise during development. Yet the two could not be more different, in terms of gameplay style, visuals, and execution as a whole.

Where Resident Evil is all about forcing the player into difficult situations , Devil May Cry feels a little more lax. Resident Evil makes the player slowly take in the atmosphere, learn about the lore, and use their knowledge of the map to their advantage, while Devil May Cry prioritizes snappy combat over exploration and puzzle-solving.

The focus on combat is what everything in DMC revolves around, for better or for worse. There's a variety of visually interesting moves you can pull off, and more to unlock by trading in currency gotten by killing enemy monsters. More upgrades means more cool moves, means more interesting combat, and more ways to tackle bosses.

At times, though, the complexity of the combat system left me feeling overwhelmed. This is one of the few games where I had to read the manual in order to play, as there isn't any tutorial, and combat can be punishing in early stages if you aren't fully familiar with Dante's moves.

Even after learning the ins and outs of the controls and combat, I still got my ass handed to me by the first boss, and every one after that. Each one felt like a massive hurdle, and forced me to really learn how they worked in order to even stand a chance. In the moment, I was frustrated, but looking back now, I haven't had to work this hard with a boss in years. Spending hours sitting on my couch, going over the attack patterns, it was almost meditative (if not for the occasional shouts of expletives here and there on my part).

Devil May Cry, as a whole, isn't incredibly difficult, as long as you know what you're doing. The game is about figuring out your enemies' weaknesses and the best ways to exploit them, not just rushing in and hoping you'll live. Figuring this out is the first challenge, the second is the underwater controls.

Apart from gameplay itself, DMC is pretty interesting. The gothic architecture is a bit of a far cry from Resident Evil, but carries over it's grim tone and atmosphere. Colors are muted, music is oppressive and heavy, and everything lends to this feeling of grandness and fantasy. It really makes the player character stand out, which is great when you're getting ambushed by ice lizards, or something equally monstrous, in one of the many grand halls.

This review also wouldn't be complete without talking about the main character, who is a delight to be around. Honestly, Dante is the reason I picked up this game, and the reason I kept coming back to it, even after countless GAME OVER's. His snarky attitude, stylish coat, and cockiness make him a fun character to see interact with others and his surroundings, and really help him stand out from the holier-than-thou demons he faces. He's always got something to say, isn't afraid to speak his mind, and just wants to have fun, and really, who can blame him?

The story of the game, though, left a bit to be desired. Yes, its epic, and gets better in the second half of the game, but for a while, the game felt aimless. Why do I need to get these magic items, to unlock these doors, to do these tasks the game sets as mission objectives? In most games, they usually directly tie into what the player character is doing, and help facilitate a progression of story. For example, when Jill finds Richard in RE1, and has to get him an antidote before he dies, its not just a fetch quest; it teases the snake boss, establishes Richard as a character in the game's world, and depending on whether or not you save him, it affects future gameplay.

In DMC, though, each mission feels like homework, an assignment to do before a deadline or else. Sure, its a good way to show players the next objective, and as a neurodivergent person I love having clear and concise instructions, but it kills the mood. I never felt like I was exploring the castle, discovering new things and furthering the plot. It felt like I had a to-do list from the game devs, full of tasks that rarely were related to the plot, and usually just meant 'go here, get the thing, bring it somewhere else'. It would've been nice if the quests explicitly furthered the plot, but at least they told me where to go.

Don't get me wrong: I don't hate this game. I actually liked it, but there were lots of issues I had with it that soured my experience. Unforgiving bosses, overly complicated controls, and a lack of story immersion made me feel like this game was an experiment with this style of gameplay on Capcom's part. If this had a bit more polish, or maybe a tutorial, I might try playing on a higher difficulty. For now, though, I'm excited to see what's new in the sequel. I've heard its... rather infamous. Exciting.

#film critic #review #game review #video game review #retro gaming #retro games #playstation #ps2 nostalgia #devil may cry #dmc1

[dinosaurchurch]

This was my twenties, an entire decade gone just like that.

For some funny reason when I started, I didn't think I'd get this far. Thirty definitely seemed like a lifetime away but here I am. After going through some of the toughest and sweetest times in my life I'm closing this chapter for good.

Sometimes I'd wonder what past me would think about the person I am today, would she be okay with the outcome or would she wish for something different? Would I have changed anything if I knew what was going to happen? The past decade has definitely been a learning curve, I think it was mainly discovering myself and knowing that other people too are on this journey is very humbling. Albeit not everyone goes at the same pace and some never do find themselves.

If I can say anything is my fiery side doesn't crop up nearly as often as it used to but that doesn't mean the flame has died. I've come to be a little more wise when choosing my battles because time isn't infinite or at least it isn't in this life. I'm only here for a small while so I might as well get the best out of it. Learning to channel my energy where it really counts is something I've gotten comfortable with.

Over the course of my twenties I've battled obesity, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, self doubt, and moments of weakness. I've also achieved some great things for myself. I've gotten DIVE just about finished (it's currently sitting at almost 650 pages), I've improved greatly as an artist, got better at cooking/baking, picked up powerlifting and have gotten decently strong, and I'm happier than I've ever been. Progress is not always linear but the main thing is to keep pushing, even in my lows there was still something to cherish and appreciate.

My twenties have been about pushing my comfort zone and learning to swim with the tide rather than feeling like I'm drowning. It's been tough but without hardship I wouldn't be me. Spite the hell I went through I don't think I'd change how everything happened. Every one and everything had something to provide with the time and the place that they were for me regardless of if the experience was positive or negative.

There's been a lot that's come and gone in my journey - people, places. Having found a life long romance deepen to saying my final goodbye to a handful of people that have passed away, it's been very bittersweet. My twenties certainly has been riding the hurricane through to the other side, even passing through the eye not knowing what else is to come other than I have to weather the storm. I've burned more bridges than I can count but the one thing that hasn't wavered is my moral integrity.

That's probably the biggest thing I've achieved over the past decade. I know who I am and where I'm going with myself. I may not know entirely what the future holds but I've got a guideline written up for myself on the goals I want to accomplish over the next decade. I may never be perfect but it doesn't mean that I can't try to be the best version of me that I can.

It's a good feeling knowing that I've crossed off some major things on my goal list. I've completely mellowed over the course of the past few years especially, my twenties definitely have held some of the hardest mental battles I'm sure I'll ever face. The inner turmoil of leaving things unsaid, having to walk away when necessary is something that's an underrated skill but it's something I've had to learn.

All in all I’m happy to move forward with the next chapter of my life, although I’ll never forget the memories I made over the past ten years. There were absolutely some great highlights that I’m sure I’ll probably mention at some point.

Onward and upward.

Cheers to thirty.

#personal #birthday #summer 2023 #twenties #thirties #hello thirties #30th birthday #inner thoughts #looking back #closure #looking ahead #reminiscing #introspection #self reflection #happy birthday #another trip around the sun #selfie

[gabbagepatch]

Traveling~ 3-22-2024

I’m currently at home trying to unwind after my grandparent’s fiftieth anniversary party in SC!

I had gone back and forth about going because it’s a six hour drive, including a mountain that always makes my ears pop as we ascend and descend. With vestibular disfunction and a ruptured eardrum I honestly thought I couldn’t handle it.

It was definitely difficult. My vertigo was very bad and I got a migraine about three hours in, I even had a bag handy in case I needed to vomit! My vertigo and migraines have begun to be paired with pretty intense nerve pain as well. It felt like my head and neck were on fire while my head was being crushed. Very painful, and the ibuprofen I had preemptively taken wasn’t doing much to help. There was also a healthy dose of tingling and hot/cold sensations in my hands and feet, plus the classic leg twitches, but that’s not painful just uncomfortable. Despite all that I actually did a lot better than I expected!

During the ride I regretted coming along, I felt like I had doomed myself to 12 combined hours of torture for no reason. Obviously it was too late anyways, but that didn’t stop me from beating myself up for the situation I put myself in.

The entire ordeal came to a climax when we finally got to the hotel room. It’s hard to describe, but when you’ve been moving for a long time and then just stop? It screws everything up. My body threw a tantrum, to say the least. The nerve pain, twitching, nausea, tinnitus, everything kicked into overdrive for the first three hours after the ride.

So that's the negative, but the rest of the trip was super cute and fun! We got the best burgers we've ever had the night we arrived, mine was called the "Clint Beefwood" lol. Afterwards I slept so soundly it's like I was in a coma. Usually sleeping is pretty tough for me given the nerve pain and vertigo, but that night I was out almost immediately. Didn't dream or stir once until I was woken up.

The party had a couple hiccups but we got it set up in time and my grandparents seemed to really enjoy it! The kids (my niece and nephew, my cousins kids, the kids my grandparents adopted, etc) were such a joy. It was so cute watching them run around and play together. I even got to hold my cousins baby for a fair amount of time, couldn't get enough of her. We had attempted to set up a kid's activity table which included some tupper containers filled with rice, plus some spoons and toy trucks. The kids loved it but it was unceremoniously canceled about two hours in because my nephew, the little chaos agent, had discovered how fun it was to dump the rice onto the floor. Cut to me and my sis searching for vacuums and brooms in the venue because the rice was truly everywhere.

I also was unofficially the babysitter during clean-up. It wasn't asked of me but I think everyone appreciated having a break from screaming kids while trying to clean up a big party.

My little chaos agent got a bit upset with me though, after I scolded him for throwing sand at me. My guy chucked some sand right at my chest! I had to grab his little ravioli fist to keep him from launching another attack! I guess he's not used to his auntie being the one to fuss because (cross my heart) I did not even raise my voice and yet that scolding sent him tearily running back towards his momma.

His sister was equally rowdy although a bit more contained. She interrupted my grandparent's toast with a loud "Say happy birthday!!" to everyone's delight. She has gotten so outgoing, demanding everyone's name and hugging people without any hesitation. She used to despise situations like that, now she thrives in them.

The screaming and fluorescents would get overwhelming pretty quickly, but I fended off the vertigo by stepping outside every once in a while. Even with my head I couldn't feel anything but joy, it was so fun.

That evening we went over to my grandparent's house--it was some of the best fun I've had in ages. Just laughing together, it was so idyllic. After 1/3rd of a year marked by medical issues, losing my dog, worry, anxiety? That evening was like a refreshing bath. Full of love and surrounded by great company, I didn't regret coming at all when it was said and done.

#disability #disabled #hearing impaired #meniere's disease #chronic illness #hard of hearing #chronically ill #travel #invisible illness #invisible disability #illness mention #happy #blog #life update

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: Nitro/Christopher Smith

Replaces: Insomniac Spider-Man

(Art by BroadwayBash123)

"Since I'm following in my hero's footsteps, I know there's still a lot to learn, even after I've gotten past my depression and fought off all sorts of multiversal-threatening creeps. But one thing's for sure; no matter what happens, I'll always have my friends there by my side!"

Nitro the Hedgehog/Christopher Smith is my own original character based within his own Sonic universe. However, his journey didn't solely start there.

In his youth, he was an actual human, just like you and me. He had a great life going for him; a great education, a loving family, fun friends to hang out with, and even a girlfriend! However, after he got separated from his family in a heartless attack, he ended up in Mobius, where he was found and taken in by Tails and Cosmo.

As the days went on, he aspired to be a hero of his own to help others where he couldn't help his family, which was helped with training from both Sonic and Honey. During this time, he also fell in love with Amy Rose, who reciprocated his feelings sometime after that universe's War for Mobius.

One monster that gave him the worst trouble, though, was Toxinfect, who terrorised Nitro at every opportunity and tried everything to make his life a living hell, even causing a two-month-long apocalypse with him as one of the remaining survivors.

He did manage to turn things around, though, when he discovered a special artefact known as the Sacred Ring, which was way more powerful than Toxinfect and reversed all the damage he did, therefore kickstarting the monster's downfall and descent into pure insanity.

As the next years went on, Nitro met other heroes from a variety of universes and made good friends with them. His siblings, Evo and Rosie, alongside his human girlfriend, Amelia Walten, and mother, Susan, even returned to him over that amount of time. He even gained the ability to switch between his hedgehog and human selves at any time following his first trip outside of Mobius in a while.

But during that time, Nitro was hiding the fact he was suffering from long-term depression, which he finally revealed when a smaller "version" of him from another universe pressed him about the matter. It took a lot of therapy and support for him to overcome it, but he was able to do so in time for a surprise birthday party his friends and family had prepared for him, which he was overjoyed about.

Come More than One Universe, and he, alongside his Errorverse companions (including those from Sonic, Freedom Planet, Undertale, FNF and DDLC), were brought in to help put a stop to the madness going on within the OMT universe.

During his time there, Nitro got to know more about the Blur Gang, even offering to teach CU!Sonia some tricks on how to save the day without getting her hurt. He even got to meet his D-Sides counterpart, Hefty the Armadillo. Alongside them, he helped with curing the high level of multiversal threats that were flocking in.

After everything was said and done, he joined the Blur Gang as its official twelfth member, and even outside of it, he, OMT!Tails and OMT!Mina have since been known to work in a three-member team of their own whenever they can.

I'd say it's a pretty ironic inversion of Insomniac, in a way. While Insomniac Spidey came from a video game and knows it, Nitro's self-awareness comes from being a part-human within the Sonic world.

He's also one of those to have made it through the Errorverse's rewrite with all of his memories intact, allowing him and Amelia to change things up when the times were right. And because of it, their universe became better than it once did, while they continued to lend their support to the Blur Gang as needed.

In terms of romantic relationships, he's got Amy, Amelia Walten and his version of Mina, though he's also found a preference for women older than him to actively avoid any squicky stuff, hence why he's comfortable being around ladies such as Milly in the stories.

Oh, yeah! You guys are welcome to ask me anything you'd like about Nitro, even if it's unrelated to Into, Across and Beyond!. Be it his childhood friends, about his family and other original character companions, etc.

#sonic exe #sonic the hedgehog #spider verse #sth #sonic #sonic fandom #sth au #sonic au #spider man #sonic oc #sth oc #sth original character

[roseofblogging]

Rose's Media of 2023 Round-up

Well, now this is truly going to be a Rose Rambles post

I am truly awful about remembering what I watched/read. Maybe I'll be better about that in 2024. Maybe not!

Noting that these are not necessarily all things that released in 2023 (but many are); they're just what I discovered at the time.

Favorite book: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa I bought this book in May 2022 from the Powell's bookstore in Portland while I was there on vacation. I'm very slow getting around to books due to my TBR being so long (and I go through it slowly because my day job is book editing). I was motivated to read it when some Splatoon friends started a Discord book club, and this was our first pick. It's dreamlike and strange. Some might find the vagueness on the rules of what's going on unsatisfying, but I didn't go into the book trying to figure out exactly how their world worked. It's much more about the experience and quiet horror of forgetting things and people. I had just gotten a diagnosis for ADHD shortly before starting this novel and was already in a headspace of reconciling just how poor my memory can be (slightly different, as ADHD most impacts working memory, but still). Definitely recommended, but go in knowing that it's slow and thoughtful rather than heavily plotted. Runner-up: Lore Olympus

Favorite live-action movie: Tár This is a tough one. I really, really enjoyed both Barbie and Oppenheimer, but I have critiques of both. However, Tár (which came out in 2022) just really floored me with how intense it was and how anxious it made me (in a good way!). Runner-up: Talk to Me

Favorite live-action show: The Fall of the House of Usher Not one of Mike Flanagan's best, but still very good! I don't think I can say anything about it that others haven't said already, but it's beautiful, haunting, tragic, and very well-acted. Runner-up: Andor season 1

Favorite TV anime: Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Suletta Sundays were THE BEST! I really wish this had some tweaks, maybe a part 2 fleshing out some other things (as a lot of worldbuilding started to feel rushed), but I was a big fan of all the references to Shakespeare's The Tempest and Revolutionary Girl Utena, and even sooome similarities to Evangelion (some, not many). Guel became my favorite character for much of the show, but I also love Suletta not only for being our first female Gundam protagonist, not only for being our first queer woman of color Gundam protagonist, but because I really enjoy stories about replicas/clones of redheaded characters. (This is funny because I'm replaying Tales of the Abyss right now.) 2023 wasn't one of the strongest years for anime, though. As much as I loved Witch from Mercury, it's got some weak points. Nothing really hit the same high point of the end of the first part. Runner-up: PLUTO

Favorite animated movie: The Boy and the Heron This is not my favorite Miyazaki movie by far, but it is one of the ones to feel like a very targeted attack on my post-college life! It's weird, the pacing is a little wonky, but I love its ideas and themes so, so much. I still need to see this in the English dub (I've heard wonderful things), but the original Japanese cast is fantastic. This is a very sad movie that does not seek to manipulate a viewer's heart. You know how a lot of movies know how to cue tears with swells of music? I'm not even knocking that for being manipulative--I like it! But I was so impressed with how deeply The Boy and the Heron (aka "How Do You Live?" as the English translation of the Japanese title goes) affected me without any tricks--just heartfelt moments that might have meant nothing to others. (The bread scene made me choke back tears in the theater.) This movie is about grief, but it's also about creative legacies. It's hard to watch this and not think about how there's really no one to follow in Hayao Miyazaki's footsteps at Studio Ghibli. His potential predecessors have either died or seemed uninterested (in the case of his son, who seems content not to pick up the mantle). Runner-up: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (reeeeally only because of its cliffhanger ending... It doesn't feel like a finished story.) Honorable mention: Suzume (I gotta at least mention it, because it's my favorite piece of media about dead places).

Favorite video game that is NOT SPLATOON: Tears of the Kingdom I actually had a very fun time piecing together story beats and exploring, but I still stand by it not being one of the stronger Zelda games imo. I know some people still have not played, so I'm being vague on purpose, but I actually greatly enjoyed Zelda's presence in this game compared to Breath of the Wild.

#rose rambles #rose reviews #the boy and the heron #witch from mercury #mike flanagan #the memory police #tar #tears of the kingdom

[enbycarp]

oh man, can i just tell you about the week my family's been having?

Sunday I went to the ER. I had recently discovered I have a hernia, and it seems to have gotten bigger, and I was nauseous and had abdominal pain and other stuff going on, so I was afraid it was strangulated. Well, after six hours at the ER, we determined the hernia was fine (I also found out I have osteoarthritis in my lower spine, but that was unrelated). Nothing else seemed to be wrong. So I just have to go to my regular doctor to follow up. Maybe I have IBS?

Wednesday, my stomach hurt so bad I couldn't sleep until four am. And it hurt bad all day Thursday. I've discovered if I'm very careful about what I eat, I feel better. But a lot of stuff that's good for heartburn and shit is also high in carbs, so that's not great for my diabetes. So I'm stressing a lot.

Also, I was at the hospital with my sister on Tuesday and Wednesday because she is having severe panic attacks, that at one point felt like a heart attack. They've got her on some meds that may help, but also make her feel like shit. So whenever I'm not suffering from my stomach, I'm trying to be there for her.

Also also, last week my mom was driving on the freeway with my sister, and a wheelbarrow fell off the back of a truck and my mom had no choice but to hit it head on. She and my sister are OK, but the car got torn up. A friend zip-tied it back together, and we've got a week until a car shop can look at it.

All while I'm still trying to help my friend in prison with her situation, and having to make stressful calls, and being told by various organizations I've reached out to that they cannot help.

At least I have next week off from work. Also, I got a new shirt that makes me happy.

[mbtiblogfun]

Meet the Admin!!

A bit late but I'm going to pin this post for future viewers!

🌸 The Basics 🌺

Name: Kat

Age: 17

Pronouns: she/they

Country: USA

Typology: INFP 6w5 694 sp/so EII FEVL Phlegmatic [Dominant]

🌟 About the Blog 💫

What's the main purpose of this blog?

This blog mostly focuses on INFP related content. I'm not super knowledgeable when it comes to typology, so I mainly just focus on INFPs in my posts. It made the most sense to me because it's my own type, so obviously I have the most knowledge on it lol. Of course, anyone can enjoy this blog if they want! Not just INFPs!

Stuff I've done:

INFPs irl and in fiction

INFP moodboards (based on the enneagrams that fit w the type)

INFP playlist

Examples of romantic relationships between INFPs and other types in fiction

And more!

Why did I create this blog?

I’ve had an interest in typology for a while. I think my main goal was just to create fun content for myself and others to enjoy. I've always wanted see more of this kind of content when it comes to mbti, because a lot of people take it too seriously imo. I see a lot of people using typology to dictate their entire views on themselves and other people, and while I have a huge interest in psychology, using mbti to form your opinions on other is no better than using astrology to do so. Mbti is a pseudoscience anyway, so this blog is really just meant to be fun!

🍰 More About Me 🧁

Astrology: Aquarius sun, Leo moon

Fav color: pink

Fav food: Domino's Pizza or Shake Shack

Top 3 Movies: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Before Sunrise, and But I'm a Cheerleader

Top 3 Shows: Stranger Things, Narcos, and Hannibal

Top 3 Anime: Attack on Titan, Yuri on Ice, and Sailor Moon

Top 3 Video Games: Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart

Top 3 Artists: Lana Del Rey, Arctic Monkeys, and Cigarettes After Sex

Top 3 Books: The Book Thief, Song of Achilles, and Rebecca

Other Hobbies: writing and drawing

🌙 Typology Journey ☁️

How'd I get into mbti? Well basically it all started one day in 5th grade. I was bored and procrastinating classwork lol. I've always enjoyed taking tests that analyze your personality (like the uquiz ones), and so I googled "personality tests." Then sure enough I came across 16p, and my obsession with typology began. I got INFP-A the first time, and I've gotten INFP-T ever since. I sent the test to like everyone I knew cus I wanted to compare results w them, and I got really into mbti skits and youtubers (basically Frank James lmao).

Then a couple years later I discovered PDB (Personality Database) after looking up "infp fictional characters" or something like that. I then found out that 16p wasn't super accurate or something, because they typed people by letters and not the cognitive functions. I actually had no idea what they were and why they were important, or why letter typing was "less accurate." It turns out letter-typing is frowned upon and seen as less accurate by like half the community because the cognitive functions were actually part of the original theory. I learned that the letters are basically just an oversimplified version of the actual functions in order to help beginners understand better, but when you type someone you don’t actually ask if they're more introverted or extroverted and what not.

Anyway now back to the important stuff lol.

I was one of the lucky people who was actually typed correctly by PDB. I took more "accurate" tests like Sakinorva and Keys2Cog, but I still got INFP even then. I even read more about the functions and my type online through my own research, after I found out that even the more "accurate" tests weren't always reliable. I also asked a few of my friends I met through PDB, who understood mbti better than I did, and asked them. Pretty much everyone said I was an INFP, so there was that.

As for enneagram, I just took a test and got 2w1. I didn't have as much knowledge on enneagram, so I went with that. Then when I asked people what they thought for my enneagram, a few people said 4w5, and once again I didn't question it. As for my tritype and ivs those were pretty easy to figure out with some explanation, and I went with 496.

But for a while I always found myself relating to the 9 traits more than 4 traits, especially sx 9. And a lot of people actually agreed with me, some said my 9 traits were too strong to only be one of my fixes, so then I typed as INFP 9w1 for a while.

And then, pretty recently I found out that was actually impossible. As you may know, not all type combinations are possible—and that includes INFPs and 9s. At first I thought people were being stupid and over-exaggerating, how would their traits contradict? But then I eventually found out that most "INFP 9s" are actually 6s, because 6s and 9s look very similar— especially sp 6s. So yea now I'm officially INFP 6w5! I basically ended up switching around my tritype order a bunch of times lol

As for the other parts of my typology, like socionics. I didn't really put much effort into that lol. I can somewhat understand mbti and enneagram, but I barely understand anything else. So once again I asked other people what they thought and pretty much everyone agreed on EII, and that was it!

So yea, sorry that was so long lmao. Thanks for reading! :)

#meet the admin #admin's thoughts #get to know me #hi guys #about me #mbti #mbti blog #mbti types #mbti personalities #myers briggs #infp personality #infp #16 personality types #infp mbti

[thethingaboutfantasy]

I think that a beautiful thing that I've gotten out of Group is a forever increasing awareness of when it is not about me applies to the current situation vs when my reaction comes from an inclination to shrink from taking up space.

There's a lot of intense work and emotions and sometimes I'm around people now and find myself just... Saying words. But we're all works in progress, and I'm becoming more aware that there is a difference between the two

You're not really giving space to the other person or people in the conversation by refusing to engage or assuming you cannot contribute or are spending such (even unconscious) brain space knowing with deep certainty that you have no right to take up space. It's inherently preoccupation with the self, and it means it's harder to really engage and show up in the conversation with another person or people! It's harder to hear, analyze, relate, feel, love, all of it. Not impossible, but it's harder.

Now, pendulum swing, starting to practice taking up space and experimenting with your right to exist sometimes comes with an overcompensation. I do have things to say! It's relevant! I'm engaged! I'm having a thought!

Here is a different preoccupation with self. You're learning to experience yourself for maybe the first time ever. It does not make you bad but might simply shine a light on the idea that there's more work to do. We can experience ourselves in the quiet and the fire, in the panic attacks and the elation of eating our favorite dish, in a deep conversation with a friend and standing your ground against a coworker. In all of it.

The mental calculus and weighing the merits of speaking or not speaking and discovering your own motivations in a conversation and taking into account the other person or people... Maybe it's intuitive for some people, but it can be an incredibly complex social/emotional interaction with consequences. But these are skills. They are muscles. You can practice.

Is my interjection for me? Do I need it? Is it for them? Has it been asked for? What is the context? Is it appropriate? Maybe it is a relevant comment. Do I want to share it because it's witty or sounds good or do I want to share it for the sake of the conversation itself. Those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Conversations are like living things, and a single one can shift forms through it's duration. What it receives, or does not receive, changes it's shape.

Sometimes in Group I do have an interesting perspective or it does need to be about me. And sometimes I interject, make it about the quip I wanted to say, deflect with humor from discomfort... And it shows. But not taking up space does not mean I'm doing conversations better. Finding the shape I am and standing in it does.

#good to see I'm long winded as ever #iop #group therapy #sometimes putting yourself last is the selfish decision #we celebrate progress in this house #Tuesday thoughts #i dunno #recovery

[gorgonarcher]

Game 1 - Sentinels Comics

Just because it's on the mind, let's start with Sentinels Comics which is the RPG based on the card game Sentinels of the Multiverse.

Sentinels Comics has one of the most well-done and interesting random character generation systems I've ever seen. More to the point, it doesn't really generate a character on its own, what it does is narrow down the choices for your character at each point. It gives a bit of a boundary to avoid the option paralysis that happens with a lot of open games.

So, let's do this in steps.

Step 1 - Background

This step gets you your first Qualities and describes what you were before you became a hero.

First, we are going to roll 2d10.

In this case, I get a 7 and an 9. This gives me three choices because I can use the option at either result or use the option that I get by adding them together. This means my options are:

7 - Academic

9 - Performer

16 (7+9) - Former Villain

Academic would give me a strong quality here but fewer selections on the next step as well as an Expertise principle. Performer would give me a couple of good qualities and full selections next step, along with a Responsibility. Former Villain gives me some good qualities, an Expertise principle, and full selections for the next step with a better dice pool than Performer. I think I will go for academic.

I'm going to assign the d8 to History and the d12 to Self-Discipline.

For the Principle, I'm choosing "Principle of History"

Most principles follow this pattern. Stuff to color roleplaying things and questions to ask when bad stuff happens. And then an ability that allows you to Overcome using your Max die instead of a Mid die. This increases your effectiveness in that situation tremendously since you're comparing three different dice.

There are some "roleplaying" bits that seem extreme such as the Indestructible principle allowing you to just ignore low-powered attacks in a roleplay scene or the ability to survive in open space... or so on. And there are one or two Abilities that are a bit different than the Overcome with Max standard.

Also note that Principle abilities grant Hero Points. These are spent between sessions for benefits in the next session.

And that leads on to Step 2.

Step 2 - Power Source

This step gives you your first Powers and defines what gives you your power.

Most characters will roll 3 dice at this point, being able to take any one die or combine any two, creating anywhere from 2 to 6 choices. However, because our Background we only roll 2 dice, a d10 and d8.

I roll a 1 and a 3 making my options as follows:

1 - Accident

3 - Genetic

4 (1+3) - Experimentation

I'm leaning toward Genetic. Here, not going to break down the options this time. Just it leads into the idea I have most. There's other power sources I could have gotten like Cursed, Supernatural, or Relic... but this is cool, makes me think that whatever she stumbled on triggered a genetic heritage like she's a descendant of the gorgons perhaps.

I love the fact that you can tell same story from different angles dependent on your choices. I end up taking Signature Weapon, so she clearly finds a Relic, but it isn't the source of her power. Heck, if Relic had been a choice, I could have later turned to Genetic and discovered the power was mine all along.

So, now we assign the dice that we rolled. I'm going to assign the d10 to a power from the Intellectual powers and choose Awareness which is the catch all physical senses ability. And then apply the d8 to Signature Weaponry and I'll name that the Serpent Bow.

As to Abilities.

Green - Always available

Yellow - Available when health is low or situation is serious

Red - Available when health or situation are dire.

For the two abilities, I'm going to choose Adaptive, and assign Awareness to it, and Area Assault with Serpent Bow assigned to it.

When you roll an action you choose a power, a quality, and take a die dependent on your or the scene's status. In order to use abilities, you must choose the named power or quality. So in order to use Area Assault (which we'll rename later) she needs to use Serpent Bow as her power, but she can use any quality that fits what she's trying to do. Note that Serpent Bow can be used either with melee or ranged combat... she can still hit people with her bow.

Note that Adaptive primarily Boosts her, and since it doesn't specify, it would use the Mid die (ie, if she rolled a 6, 3, and 1 she'd boost with the 3) and then she can also either remove a penalty or heal 1 (her Min die, the lowest rolled).

The main benefit of Abilities are to either take multiple actions, affect multiple targets, or use dice other then the Mid die in some situations. Abilities are either Actions, Reactions, or Innates (passive).

For the Green power, I'm going to choose Growth and it uses a quality, so I'm going to assign Self-Discipline to that. Persistent means the boost lasts the entire scene (like ongoing in Motw) and Exclusive means that if you use it you can only use it, it won't stack with anything else.

Now, we move to step 3

Step 3 - Archetype

This describes how you have learned to apply your powers and gives you a mix of Powers and Qualities. Now, at this point, we roll the 3 dice from Step 2. d10 + d8 + d8.

I roll a 2, 4, and 7 making my options as:

2 - Shadow

4 - Marksman

6 (2+4) - Close Quarters Combat

7 - Armored

9 (2+7) - Elemental Manipulator

11 (4+7)- Sorcerer

Now, the obvious choice is Marksman. But I'm feeling like going a little bit less the obvious route. I'm going to rule out Elemental Manipulator and Sorcerer, because doing flashy energy stuff isn't what I'm looking for here.

Sneaky type (Shadow) is tempting... and so is Armored. This wouldn't be the first time I've done an unusual Armored (I have a character is an Armored archetype based on Precognition... she sees the attack coming and thus can dodge).

I think I'm going to go with Close Quarters Combat. Yup, I'm making a melee archer.

bwuhahahaha!

I have 3 dice to assign here.

I'm going to assign d8 to Close Combat... Agility is tempting... and yeah, I'm going to go basic there. d8 Agility. And then I'll assign the last d10 to Ranged Combat.

Now, for abilities.

Going for Flexible Stance using Agility, Defensive Strike using Close Combat, and Dual Strike using Ranged Combat. This means that one of her moves requires melee, one can be melee or ranged, and one requires ranged.

Now I get one at Yellow. For the Yellow, I'm going to take Precise Strike using Serpent Bow... which means I can either shoot arrows (or snakes?) from it, or thwack people with it like it's a club or staff (or whip?). Another ability that can be either Melee or Ranged.

I've made a "Close Quarters Combatant" who is actually better at range, but can fight melee as well.

This also means I have to take a Responsibility principle. Let's see.

Detective and Everyman are both tempting... lets see, do I want a Sherlock/Batman-esque type who sees through everything? Or a normal lady who just got power she didn't ask for?

Let's lean into the Academic background and go Detective:

Anyway, this leads us to Step 4.

Step 4 - Personality

As with Step 1, this step always gets 2d10 to roll. It will give you one quality which you name for yourself, an Out ability to use on your turn if your character has been taken out of the fight and also cause you to pick your two Red abilities. This will also set how your status die works.

Some of these have weird special things they do, but most are pretty similar and more less just roleplay specific.

I rolled a 2 and a 5 giving me the following options:

2 - Natural Leader

5 - Sarcastic

7 - Stalwart

None of these do much special. Two of them have d8s at all the Status levels and one starts at d6 and ends up at d10.

I'm going to go with Sarcastic for the Out ability of being able to Hinder opponents even after I've been taken out.

For the backstory quality I'm going to say Descendant of Euryale.

Step 5 - Red Abilities

Now I choose two Red abilities. These have to be a from categories of Quality or Power I already have, so let's look at my list:

Qualities

Self-Discipline d12 (Mental)

History d8 (Information)

Close Combat d10 (Physical)

Ranged Combat d10 (Physical)

Powers

Awareness d8 (Intellectual)

Serpent Bow d10 (Hallmark)

Agility d8 (Athletic)

This means that I can pick Red Abilities from the following categories

Athletic

Hallmark

Information

Intellectual

Mental

Physical

I have a bit of a love for passives, and I'm going to take one here in the form of Endurance Fighting from the Physical category:

Then I'm going to focus on the ability to tackle objectives and rescue people by grabbing Canny Awareness from Mental Qualities.

This moves us to Step 6.

Step 6 - Retcon

Now, I choose one thing to add or change about the character so far.

Swap any two dice of your Powers.

Swap any two dice of your Qualities.

Choose a different Power or Quality used in one of your abilities.

Add any d6 Power or Quality from any category.

Increase your Red status die by one size (max d12)

Change either of your principles to any other principle.

Gain an extra Red Ability.

The third option is there because technically you can't choose powers or qualities you haven't taken yet.... but I generally ignore that in character creation so I just don't use those.

But I think I'm going to take the d6 extra power and give her Shapeshifting.

And this takes us to Step 7.

Step 7 - Health

Max Health is determined by adding the following:

8

The maximum value of your Red status die (d8 in this case).

The maximum value of any of your Athletic powers or Mental Qualities. So I could choose either d8 (Agility) or d12 (Self-Discipline).

Either a roll of d8 or just add 4.

Now, I usually try to maximize Health, but it does occur to me that someone with lower health will get to Yellow and Red faster so there is a a weird sort of reason to go for low health if you want to go for the powerful but fragile route. And I tend to not roll.

However, as a Close Combat type, I'm going for higher health.

So: 8 + 8 + 12 + 4 = 32 health.

There's a chart to follow for breaking this down:

Green: 32-25

Yellow: 24-12

Red: 11-1

And then we come to Step 8.

Step 8 - Finishing Touches

This is basically where you add color to your character's stats, so this is where I describe the character and rename her Abilities.

So, my idea here is that Sahar Zamani is a historian who was hired to take part in an archeaological dig which was attacked by villains seeking to do a tomb raiding and in the course of the chaos, she stumbled upon an ancient relic which reacted to her buried genetic heritage as a descendant of true gorgons and woke it up, enabling her to fight off the raiders.

#character creation #gorgon #archer #sentinels comics #sentinels of the multiverse #ttrpg #tabletop RPGs #roleplaying games #The Gorgon Archer and Character Creation #First Example #Wooooooooooo!

[the-firebird69]

There's a huge number of people watching these idiots they're discovering their AI fanatics and they discovered Trump's conspiracy and they're checking on their own people several of them have found bja answers to be crap with his wizardry it's a sign is spent it's going on all over here. They're going to rip them to pieces and yeah one by one do these start dying. They say the kids ride you don't have ai you're a slave of Tommy f and time to F is not into doing stuff to him we're having you do it he wants to kidnap him in your fools and what a hard life that must be but our lives are hard now and it's because these idiots so they're going after you fools finally as they should have they're going to eliminate you some people have been doing it and feel much better and are surviving. Many of Max people are looking at him and trying to detect it and see if it's there and I see some of it and it's on probation because of these people they look at our son and says I wouldn't depend on that if it was the last thing on earth it's not human if it has realization at all you're done and they realize that's what the truth is sometimes so they're going ahead and getting rid of people for AI fanatics and it's global

That's one thing that's happening here

-the police have gotten fed up with them there's got flies they break the law all the time they don't listen to them when they're in the police car in the back so they decide to do something about it today. They put out a restaurant on each and every one of them. And they're going to pick them up as quickly as possible one of those warrants is on Dave next door to arrest him and find out why his bird dog and her son so often there's two gay boys are at every location he goes to and they're not supposed to be at one of them and they do it all day and all night. Right now we're getting teams together to pull all their idiots in cuz they want to figure it out. A few things are interesting but none of it makes sense what says to us is they want to kidnap him for some reason not really sure why yes stocks and stuff but they're in another person's name but they're such a small amount a company's it's only partially true Jen owns part of the companies. It has done nothing good for you too. He's right too if you had ultimate control over him what you want and you won't you be dead cuz we come and get rid of you. And yeah your father set you on fire during questioning shortly. You need to go through it to learn how to be a man. There's a lot going on they say but these two have to leave and they're going to get them out of here. Now he attacked the palm tree and he knows about them story but I'm actually going to get him too the max say that and it's because of his attitude that's one reason. It was a big deal it is a big deal these two are such s**** to our son. It says a dangerous precedent it needs to be ended now the same the dumbest things you've ever heard saying that they go file for it there's no history I've been falling for any dumb s*** and things are breaking him down I'll tell you what we need to get to these two idiots this is what they're saying to me. A very rude they are very rude and crass and annoying and vulgar on top of being homicidal maniacs and I'm telling you I'm sending the orders out now we need them in the hell out of here.

Thor Freya