Idia going on his first date with his partner and we just take him to a picnic in the middle of the woods behind the school building.
this sounds ominous... like u just take him... to the middle of the woods.... and on the first date... next thing u know its late at night and ortho cant find his brother... but yes i love picnics !!! :D srry if its a little OOC
"𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗃𝗈 𝗌𝖼𝖾𝗇𝖾?"
[ᴵᵈⁱᵃ ˢʰʳᵒᵘᵈ ˣ ᵍⁿ!ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ]
"Uh, no."
"Oh, boooo. Why not?" You lean on the multitude of pillows on his bed. One of them was a plushie of you, requested by yours truly. Head all round like ball. You squish it.
"Because, really, out in nature? Me?" Idia lowers his Nintendo, looking at you incredulously. "You're asking the introverted tech guy if he wants to go and eat out in the forest?"
You roll your eyes. "Oh, come on, it's not as if I'm asking you out on a hike."
He sticks his face back in the screen. "Same point, I'm not going out to the woods just for lunch when I can have it here."
A sigh. This was a real struggle sometimes, especially with a boyfriend who's not so willing to entertain such cheesy ideas, let alone even imagine doing it.
"Come on, pleaseeee? It'd be really romantic."
"What, you gonna lead me there with a blindfold too?" He snorts while pressing away at the buttons. You throw a pillow at his head. It hits him but he only snickers and lets it fall.
"No. Its not like it's some sorta secret spot anyways. You can literally see the school from there."
He hums, tilting his head as a victory flashes across his screen. "Mmmmmaybe...."
"What, Idia. What series do you want me to binge with you now."
An excited grin stretches on his face. "Attack On Titan, full 4 seasons marathon. And-" he rolls his chair near the edge of the bed where you lay, "gaming session. My game of choice this time, since you always pick Mario Kart because I KNOW you searched up the cheats for that."
"Proof?" You ask smugly with your head resting on your palm.
"Stop using my tablet to google 'Mario Kart glitch hack combo'."
You click your tongue. "Fine. Deal."
"WHOOOOOO!" Idia cheers, pumping his fist.
. . .
It's quiet. Here you both sat, food and drinks alike between you as you're sat at opposite edges of the picnic blanket. You squint your eyes at the stark contrast between the food he brought and yours.
"....I brought Doritos and monster cans because I thought you'd want them," you whisper, looking at the nice weaved basket beside him.
You grip your 7-Eleven plastic bag in shame.
"Wha- Do you think I'm some sorta junkie??" Idia sputters, gaping at you. "And I baked this all for you, you jerk!"
"Well, you were just so against this! So I wanted to make you more comfy! Er, ease you in the vibe, you know?"
"What am I, some sort of screen addict? It's not like I don't know how to be outside, I just don't like to!" It's like there were metaphorical tears streaming down his face. "What sort of ipad kid do you think I am for you to pull this environment adjustment move on me?"
"Fine, fine, I'm sorry, Idia. It was a little insensitive of me."
"Ortho even hyped me up. He said you were probably going to surprise me with cute kitty cupcakes." Idia says, staring off in the distance with blank disappointment.
You groan loudly. "Ughhh baabeeee, I said I'm sooorryyy!"
"Don't 'babe' me! I made you a nice batch of food in this aesthetic cottagecore basket and you waltz in with two cans and a Dorito!" Grumbling, he crosses his arms, turning to the side. "I'm kicking your plushie out of my bed tonight."
At this point, you just sprawl across his lap, and he still doesn't look at you. "Don't do it, pleaasee," you beg muffledly, "I'll make it up to youuu."
"It's gonna take a lot more than just some sorries for this offense."
"...I'll move my minecraft bed beside yours this time."
"I take it back. Apology accepted."
You lift your head, deadpanning. "So you were still mad about about that?"
"Heheha, yeah I was," he giggled. "So, uh, wanna eat? I think it's cooled by now."
"Oh, yeah," you get up off him, fingers eagerly reaching for the basket. Taking it in your arms, you flip it open, only to pause when you see the contents inside.
"...cute kitty cupcakes?" you mutter in wonder.
"Yeah." Idia mumbles, fiddling with his jacket strings in an attempt to act nonchalant about his growing embarrassment.
It's quiet, and before long, you can't stop the cheeky smile creeping up your face.
"Who surprised who now, huh?"
"You're still on thin ice."
"Okay, okay, I'm eating."
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Become an Advance Reader for Duck Prints Press!
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Just got these wonderful prints from @lillified ‘s Etsy store LilliFiedArt :)
Etsy won’t let me review for a few more days but I just couldn’t wait! I originally ordered the one in the middle and loved it so much I decided to buy the comedic print that’s now on top! The 3rd piece on the bottom was included free with my second order with a very nice note <3
Close ups and further review under the cut
10/10, amazing art, wonderful printing, safe packaging, and very kind and understanding seller. Please go check out their Etsy store LilliFiedArt
Side note: I know the artist would not have known this but I love that the free print they decided to include in my second order have my 2 favorite decepticons (besides starscream) in the background having heaps of fun in the water
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The Actual
The Actual, Roll For Press, 2017
The Actual (TA) is a game that looks more and more bizarre the longer you look at it. It's like one of those family Thanksgiving photos where you slowly realize that one of the kid's dolls is holding a knife and the door is being opened the wrong direction from its hinges and there's a bat-signal out the window.
On its surface, TA is a fairly generic D&D-like with a couple features brought in from PbtA and Shadow of the Demon Lord. Classes are on the low-magic side. Combat is pretty typical, with not a ton of tactical options beyond what abilities you choose to use. There are some basic subsystems for skills and backgrounds, which are more mechanically robust than most games and give you techniques/powers/abilities in addition to just letting you roll for things that the skill covers. The GM advice is particularly good, benefiting from both PbtA's "fronts" and SoDL's "shadow" templates. The setting is set in a universe named "The Actual", in which you are called to battle creatures from "The Unreal" who are invading your world to destroy it and return it to unformed chaos. It's a classic setup.
But then you look a little deeper.
TA's Thief class has an ability that allows them to climb. Not "climb walls at 60% chance" or "Roll 1d20+Dexterity vs. DC", no, it's "Climbing is the ability to move vertically by means of..." and "Unlike most people..." as if it were unusual. The Boatsman background says "You have the ability to perceive sound." full stop no explanation. There's a Magician spell that enables you to write with a quill pen. Rangers have an ability that lets them breathe air. You would think that maybe these are bad writing or unfinished sentences, but then...
Then you see the really odd things.
One background goes out of its way to note that you are five-fingered, and none of the others do. "Strange storms" sweep the land, which are mostly normal except that after they pass "a fearsome yellow-white ball of light appears in the sky." The Priest and Demonologist level charts and abilities are word-for-word identical from level 8 onward. There's a monster that, on a roll of 4-6 on 1d6, recharges its ability to move forward through time. There is no indication of what the hell else is going on there, or in fact in any of these.
The art is black-and-white line drawings, most of which have something strange going on. Actually, they probably all have something strange going on and I just haven't yet found it in some of them. Actually-actually, it's probably all but two of them just to make me think there must be at least one more. Some things are obvious, others are well-hidden.
TA is probably not playable rules-as-written. I can imagine people playing it rules-as-assumed pretty easily. I enjoy absurdist discussions of things that don't really exist and hints toward a reality that isn't really there, so I had fun with it. Your mileage may vary. I especially like how all the oddities could be in-game, in-universe weirdness, but others clearly tunnel straight through the fourth wall.
This was Roll For Press' only game. I'm not even 100% sure I'd call it a game; it's more of a piece of performance art cloaked as a roleplaying game. It went up on NotCoC.jp a while back and as of early 2024 it's still there.
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