#very well designed fantasy beast

[maleyanderecafe]

When Jasy Whistles (Webcomic)

Created by: Cibeles

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

You probably have seen this one around, but I did find it very unique in terms of the worldbuilding. It can be admittedly fairly slow in some points in terms of pacing though actually the thing I enjoyed the most out of the series was seeing Jasy's siblings and learning more about them. Currently as of writing this, the story has finished its second season and the creator is working on it's third and final season.

The story starts out with Hela, a girl who lives in an traditional/ relatively isolated town outside of modern things who wants to take after her grandmother and become the chief of her town one day. Hela's best friend Rodri is one day taken away by one of the demigods, Jasy, and Hela goes to get him back. Jasy needs a human to help him get through the gate as a demigod like himself is not able to, and promises that if he makes a pact with Hela and gets through, she will be able to get Rodri back. Hela is very suspicious of Jasy as not only did he kidnap her best friend, but there are folk stories about how you should not follow Jasy's whistle, as it lures them somewhere bad. However, with no other way to get Rodri back, Hela accepts the pact and they go on their adventure. They are attacked by one of Jasy's half brothers, Ao Ao, a beast that eats everything and gives birth to children with only the desire to consume. As Jasy is not able to hurt his siblings, Hela must be the one to protect him using her skills in archery. They are able to escape and slowly walk through the land itself. There they meet other people there, trapped under strange circumstances. All of them are cursed to grow until they are adults and are never able to grow old, all while still having to sustain themselves on the few resources they have in the land. Hela wishes to open the gate and free the people there, as they are all fighting over the resources, while Jasy doesn't seem to care whatsoever, as he has a distrust of humans after the previous one betrayed him while trying to open the gate. Despite this, Jasy is able to mostly have amends with the people there, and even meets another sibling of Jasy's, willing to give her face to him so as long as they can go through to the gate safely. In the end, this brother instead wants to have Jasy's face, something that he willingly trades over Hela's, so as long as Hela can stay alive. Hela eventually reaches the gate where she sacrifices herself to open it and allow the people into the land. This greatly affects Jasy as he suddenly realizes how much he had cared for and loves her. To get her back, Jasy goes into the spirit realm to try to save her, and he's able to see her past with Rodri. Jasy is fully willing to stay with her in this forever loop of her childhood, but the two of them eventually come back into the world, and now having opened the world so the humans can go in, recover there afterwards. Jasy and Hela continue to love each other in their honeymoon phase, until Jasy is captured by humans. Hela finds out the humans that caught him are under the leadership of Rodrigo's mother, who had been missing for a while, chasing after treasures. We find out that she is the human that betrayed Jasy initially and attempts to get Hela to shoot him, only for her to free him. The last couple of chapters reveals that Mboi Tu'i, the sibling that has taken care of the realm is actually Rodrigo in some way and wants to take Hela away.

So I will say right now I don't really know that much about South American mythos, so there's a lot of things that go over my head in terms of references or how each type of god acted, but I do feel that I did have a good understanding on how each of Tau's children acted and the kind of possible personalities that they have. It's definitely a unique take on mythos that we don't normally see. The artwork as well is very gorgeous, the characters are very pretty and I'm a fan of the more monster designs of the siblings as well, seeing how each of them came to be and just how much they have to suffer. The world that Jasy and Hela go into is very cool, the idea of humans that basically can live forever is both a blessing and a curse, as they cannot reproduce and they still have to eat and fight for territory. I think my favorite of his brothers is probably Kurupi because I really do like sad monster boys that are shunned because of their appearance. Compared to his more real life depictions in myths he's a lot more sympathetic and tragic, so it's nice to see those incorporated in there. The entire plot seems to eventually go to deal with Tau, Jasy's father, in some point in the future.

Still, despite this, I feel like the plot at times can be really slow. There are good moments like when Hela helps out the people who are in stuck fighting each other and we see the dynamic of the world, as well as the aforementioned lore of all of Jasy's siblings, but the actual development of Hela and Jasy's relationship is slow, all things considered. Initially, Jasy and Hela are more like enemies, as Hela is extremely suspicious of Jasy and vice versa, only cooperating with each other because they need each other's help. Still as the story goes on the two of them fall for each other and slowly develop feelings for each other. This isn't necessarily done in a bad way, but it is incredibly slow and honestly lost my attention a lot of the times. I'm also a bit surprised that Hela wasn't more resistant considering Jasy actually did kidnap Rodri and only promised to give him back if she cooperated. While again, the romantic moments were fairly cute, they aren't all that interesting to me and to be honest, I'd rather see the actual worldbuilding that the two go through rather than their relationship. Hela as a main character focuses mostly on her desire to run her tribe, and while she initially is fairly competent and active in the story, shooting a lot of Ao Ao's children, she ends up having to rely a lot of Jasy to save her, especially since she ends up losing her bow and arrow after a while. I actually straight up forgot that she could do archery at the end when Hela was forced by her aunt to kill Jasy, which is probably not a great sign. I don't think she's the worst MC in these stories because she does have a lot of interesting points to her, but it does feel like she was hamstringed after a bit, with a bunch of chapters after Hela dies and is revived pretty much being carried around by Jasy as she recuperates. She does have a fairly strong conviction of not only bringing back Rodri but her connection to her grandmother, as well as the development to allow herself to finally decide things for herself without having it taken away from him, but I still feel like she could have used a bit more agency in the story itself.

Jasy as a yandere doesn't actually start out as one so we actually see the kind of decent he gets into. He is a rather light yandere all things considered, but it is always fun to see them descend into yandere behavior nevertheless. Like I said before, Jasy and Hela have a bit of a tumultuous relationship at first with the two of them begrudgingly forced to help each other, while slowly learning to understand each other a bit more. Jasy doesn't understand why Hela would go so far to save Rodri and later the humans that are trapped but has to go along with her anyways since she's the key to him getting through the gate. By the time he does reach the gate, and Hela sacrifices herself, he starts to realize the error of his ways- while initially he viewed her as a tool to open the gate, he now starts to realize that he actually did care about her, and more deeply love her, even to the point of going to the realm of the dead to find her. He even so much is willing to loop over and over Hela's favorite childhood memories forever so as long as they are together. When Jasy does finally retrieve her, the two of them basically have a honeymoon together, where Jasy is extremely doting on her. We do see some of bits of jealousy earlier with Jasy, such as when one of the guys of offhandedly suggests that Hela is actually pretty attractive, but it doesn't really come to full fruition until after she dies. It's a bit hard to say right now exactly how far he'll go considering it feels like it's just the beginning of the yandere arc for Jasy, but it at least is a start. Not sure how far they'll ramp it up in the third and last season, if at all. Like I said though, it's still pretty light and it's very possible that it might stay that way, though with Rodri's reveal, it could also very well go on a darker path.

Overall, I was pretty surprised at the story, but I do have split opinions on it. The worldbuilding and the mythos of the monsters are really interesting and a definite unique take that I haven't personally seen as much before, but I find that the story and pacing for the characters are pretty tedious and dragging at times. Still, it's extremely beautiful and the story itself is something unique to experience if you are interested in such things.

#When Jasy Whistles #ongoing #male yandere #yandere boy #yandere #recommendation

[blood-starved-beast]

how would you interpret Maria hugging hunter in her visceral? i always thought of it as some sort of mockery from her

Sort of, but in the way that her whole fight is sort of a "mockery" of the concept of a dashing Heroic romance (In the Shakespearean sense of the term). Let me explain.

First, we have to understand Maria's character design in that she is of the bifauxnen archetype. The bifauxnen is a handsome, gentleman-ly type woman portraying all the traits we associate with a dashing hero: courageous, refined and sometimes aristocratic, and androgynous. She is the counterpart to the bishonen, the contrast to the more coarse Lad-ette. The most famous of this archetype of course is Lady Oscar from Rose of Versailles. She is essentially a Female Prince.

The Lady Maria reflects this design. Out of all the Hunters and Byrgenwerth crew, she is the one dressed to the Nines, wearing dashing Cainhurst fashion to something that is essentially nasty and wet and all the other things (the Hunt). She's wearing jewelry (the Lumenflower brooch) the cravat, the fact she curls her hair, the aristocratic looks and backstory (the fact that she's the Lady Maria, a Knight of Cainhurst Vileblood royalty), the fact that she was the one taking care of the Research patients and they worship her, etc. Her outfit fits along the lines of the Lady Oscars, Alucards, and so forth. The fact that she is the only one to realize the atrocity of her actions, to regret her actions and reject her calling as a Hunter, is so fucking introspective at the cost of noticing Gehrman's mania for example reads very much in line of a Romantic hero. She is presenting a Look and this Look says she is meant to come off as rich, handsome, and heroic as she's slaying monsters. At least, those are the visual cues the player is meant to read in that sense. And that is carried over into her actions.

Lady Maria fights the Hunter to "liberate [them] from [their] wild curiosity" - she is taking the role again, of the hero. The villain here, being that need for Insight and she is saving the Hunter from the call of blood. She then engages you a fight, a dance really, set to waltz - again, playing with those romantic hero tropes (assuming you don't parry her to death). The visceral attack therefore, plays into that fantasy. She treats you so gently cause of course you are the Victim enslaved by your thirst for knowledge, she is the romantic hero, mercy killing you with the sweet kiss of death. She steadies you as your now heartless body bleeds out onto the floorboards of the clocktower.

But like everything in Bloodborne, there is a catch you see. Cause the Lady Maria is not a hero in fact; she is a bloody coward.

Yes, Maria is the only member of the Byrgenwerth crew (and amongst the few Hunter in general) to make a dry stop + u-turn from the Hunt and the atrocities associated with that. But unlike someone like Djura, who at least is trying to be productive in his redemption, Maria runs from her mistakes. She casts Rakuyo into the Well and leaves. She joins the Research Hall and contributes to more atrocities there, but hey at least all the patients there love her right?? (😬) And when her brooding (or maybe insanity? who says she was immune to the Beast plague? Or Kos infecting her brain??) was too much for her, she takes her own life instead of you know, working to dismantle the systems - both the Research Hall and the Hunt itself. Her issues and her guilt - that is more important to her than actually helping or saving people. She the Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, Lord over nothing else but the reminder of her greatest failure. Both in life and in death.

Cause you see, her stopping the Hunter isn't really about saving them from their wild curiosity. The Fishing Hamlet is dead and gone. The effects are echoing throughout all of Yharnam in this day and age. Heck, the Hunter just came in from the Research Hall itself. It is well and truly Known, to prevent future atrocities of that scale, one has to know the events that led to those atrocities in the First Place. Lady Maria isn't helping you, isn't saving you from anything you already knew to begin with. She is, once again, trying to alleviate her own guilt and shame and trying to prevent others of knowing of that shame. So she tries to kill you. But you know, in a Heroic way. Hence why the whole fight is a sham and mockery.

She also hates your guts. I consider this to be tertiary canon at best, but the deleted lines has it so that she calls you insufferable, and baits you to kill her. She Does Not Actually Give a Shit About You. It cannot be more blatant than that. And how couldn't she? You make her recall her greatest shame, force her to break the last of her principles (no Vilebloodbending) so that your ass does not learn of what she's done. You also keep coming back, so you're a constant reminder that no matter what she does, her actions really do mean nothing, not before, and definitely not now.

Also she stares at you like this the whole fight if looks could kill well, you would be dead and not coming back (The way you ought to. Bastard. Stay dead already!! - Lady Maria, probably):

So yeah, she is mocking you with a oh so sweet kiss from the Handsome Hero type as she rips your heart out (breaking it) and kills you very dead. Cause fuck the Hunter specifically.

#lady maria of the astral clocktower #bloodborne #my meta #me shaking Maria: YOU ARE SO STINKY!!! RATTY BASTARD #Also there is something to be said about how she cries out to the Moon Presence like Gehrman does when she's killed #but she never actually Made Contact with Her #Crying out to a God who is Deaf to Her #as she's dragged to Kosm Hell where she belongs!! #so yeah

[theresattrpgforthat]

Any games thematically similar to Fallen London? Blades in the Dark helps me scratch that itch on the tabletop, but there are probably others.

THEME: Fallen London.

Hello friend! So first of all, I’d recommend checking out the free ttrpg Skyfarer, written by Grant Howitt & Chris Taylor, and released by Failbetter Games, as it’s the canonical Sunless Skies TTRPG. So it’s set in the same universe! I’ve talked about it before in one of my Free Games posts.

Now that that’s covered, let’s see what else is out there.

Do Not Fear, by Hella Big Claws.

Do Not Fear is a Forged In the Dark Tabletop Roleplaying game, about accepting the fleetingness of life; and using the strength that gives you in order to combat a growing stagnation.

Fight as a Hunter, a person who has been given a Gift of Bloom; a fungus like infection that allows for incredible strength and regenerative ability; in exchange for subsuming your flesh as you die.

Combat or save the Rusted; living creatures infected by a growing viral stagnation; marbling their bones and rusting their flesh; sculpting them into horrifyingly beautiful creations.

Ascend the Tower; a large, multilayered structure which you call home. Interact with the factions and people within, as you set down roots.

This game is on my to-buy list for sure, as I love FitD games and I’m intrigued by the themes of infection and stagnation that appear in this game. This game is still very much in-progress and so there might be some bugs to work out, but thanks to the Itch.io Summer Sale, this game is currently half-off! Honestly the cover art draws me in as well, and I’m hoping that the designer has more in store where that came from, because I find it very evocative, and I’m interested to see where this game goes.

Beneath a Cursed Moon, by Karrius.

Beneath a Cursed Moon is a Gothic fantasy game that uses a system based on the Apocalypse World engine. Take the role of monster hunters and slay vampires, werewolves, mermen, and more in a game inspired by Castlevania and Bloodborne.

I’m seeing a lot of ties between Fallen London, Blades in the Dark, and Bloodborne, which is why if a game has Bloodborne in it’s list of inspirations, I add it to the list. Beneath a Cursed Moon is a pay-what-you-want PbtA game that focuses primarily on monster-slaying. Because it expects you as a group to create and tailor your own unique setting, I can see creating a space that evokes the same tone as Fallen London as pretty feasible. There are 11 different playbooks to choose from, and a whole section of monsters and monster-creation guidelines that give the GM plenty to work with. You should absolutely check out this game.

Vigilant, by Ill Advised Gaming.

Vigilant is a Gothic Victorian world of monsters and churches and eldritch secrets. Of Blood and Beasts and Hunters. Of Dreams and Nightmares.

Using a combination of rules from Caltrop Core and Powered by the Apocalypse, this should be a pretty easy-to-learn system. You’ll make moves similar to PbtA games, but you’ll roll pools of d4’s, similar to Caltrop Core. Characters also have a shared resource called Momentum, which represent show you can affect the narrative using assets present on your character sheet. Setting-wise, the world of industry is introducing new monsters to a world already fraught with the terrors of the ancient. Your characters are monster-hunters who find themselves empowered by the Covenants: knights, scientists, hunters, and more.

The game is still in early-access, so not all of the character options are available yet, but the setting itself fucking slaps. You should check it out.

Unhallowed Metropolis, by Strix Publishing.

It has been two hundred years since first the outbreak of the Plague, when the dead rose to feed on the flesh of the living. Countless millions perished in the chaos that followed. It was the dawn of a new dark age.

London, the capital of the Neo-Victorian Empire, is a vast, densely crowded city. Beneath the towering walls and crackling Tesla towers, where the fallout of a thousand crematoria darkens the streets, ten-million souls live in squalor. Predators, human and inhuman, stalk the slums and rookeries, preying on the unwary and the helpless. Beneath the haunted streets, resurrection men and body snatchers hock their grisly wares at blood-stained meat markets. Their clients are degenerate ghouls and amateur anatomists who practice the outlawed science of reanimation.

This game inspired by authors such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe. It uses a point-buy character creation system, and allows you to play Dhampirs, Mad Doctors, Aristocrats, Criminals and so much more. This is a game about noir tropes, a Victorian post-apocalypse, and zombies. One of my favourite pieces of this game is the character class of the Mourners, who are a group of women hired to stand by the bedsides of the recently deceased, ready to decapitate them at the first sign of re-animation.

If you want to hear an actual-play of this game, the long-standing AP podcast Fandible has a campaign that is one of the longest-running games on their feed. You can hear from their play how much of a dearly-loved game this is.

What Lies Beneath the Darkness, by Cezar Capacle.

What Lies Beneath the Darkness is a gaslamp fantasy game about intrigue and struggle. 

You play as a Horror employed by a faction to expand their dominance over the victorianesque city of Ravenswatch, while you fight to balance the human and supernatural natures that inhabit you.

You will face the dark streets of Ravenswatch performing missions for your faction. You live an internal battle between your human links and your dark instincts, between what you want and what your faction demands.

This is a GM-less game that puts factions front-and-center, with both solo and multiplayer options. The game uses the Push system, which allows you to push-your-luck for better results, with a possibility of going too far, which I really really love. The game is gaslamp-gothic and supernatural, and puts the characters in fraught positions where they must work for more powerful masters, struggling not to fall into their personal darkness. I’m very very intrigued by this game.

Games I’ve Recommended Before

Slayers, by Gila RPGs.

18XX Night, by Deep Light Games.

The Between, by The Gauntlet.

#dnd #game recommendations #tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #asks #fallen london #victorian gothic #horror #monster hunters

[arkus-rhapsode]

Manga Recommendation: Tower Dungeon

So looks like Arkus Rhapsode is here to recommend another fantasy manga after the last one. So this time we're going for a bit of a different flavor with the series Tower Dungeon by by Tsutomu Nihei who you may know as the creator of Blame! and Knights of Sidonia.

Now I've known about this series for a bit even though it is relatively new. Having only started last year in Monthly Shonen Sirius. But I remember its announcement from people like Manga Mogul and hearing Makoto Yukimura (Author of the incredible Vinland Saga) recommending it. Now I always loved Sword and sorcery so I was gonna read it eventually, but it just wasn't translated. However, now being able to read the available chapters, I can say this is a very different type of fantasy series.

The premise is very basic: An evil sorcerer has killed a nation's king and kidnapped a Princess and now the royal knights need to ascend the "Dragon Tower" to save her. One battalion has conscripted a young man named Yuva for assisting troops medically has found he has impressive strength. Now Yuva must strengthen himself for the journey ahead as they explore the deadly tower.

Now like all simple premise stories, the real strength is in execution. And unlike the other fantasy series I've talked about before which have bucked the trend of "RPG fantasy" be leaning more into a traditionalist fantasy stories a la Tolkien, this goes for the more realist fantasy of something like Berserk or Dark Souls.

The world of Tower Dungeon may have things like magic and dragons, but it is a dingy, dirty, and lacks any frills. Knights wear heavy armor and people are covered in blood and scars from their adventures.

The mighty Dragon Tower itself? The most iconic thing about this series and the basis of the adventure? Looks like this. This isn't an opulent tower, this is a massive imposing structure where monsters dwell.

However, unlike some grim dark or edgy fantasies, this world isn't indulgent in its darkness. The violence and death are never cool or cheap. They are simply the way the world is. Even when magic exists, the world is still like Medieval Europe and all the "joys" that come from it.

The people as well are similar. These aren't romanticized or polished fantasy archetypes that often come with the idea of a Dungeons and Dragons style adventure, these feel like average joes plucked off the streets having to do a job. If you are say a fan of something like Chainsaw Man, this sort of post modern emphasis on people acting like regular weirdos and not some "anime characters." And I think that is something quite nice that even in a fantastical world, we can see our regular selves in them.

But that's just the story, what about the art? Well if you've noticed this series does have a very minimalist style. Something similar to that of Land of the Lustrous or Chainsaw Man. These almost scratchy and not the most detailed designs that make use of their simplicity to create this very unique atmosphere.

Creature designs themselves are less fantastical and more grody. Feeling as if they come from an off shoot of man rather than some majestic beast. Right down to the cat people.

This series is still new and sadly hasn't been officially translated yet. I've had to use mangadex to read this, so my heart goes out to the translator team. I can understand that this may be a niche that's not for everyone, but its something that feels like such a good sign for fantasy as a genre. A genre that I think has somewhat been stagnated in popular belief with the greater emphasis on Urban Action manga and the reliance on escapist fantasy anime like isekai. To see a more dirty but down to earth take on the premise, I highly recommend it.

#manga #manga recommendation #recommendation #tower dungeon #tsutomu nihei #nihei tsutomu #blame! #shonen sirius #chainsaw man #dark souls #knights of sidonia

[thepatchycat]

Hi! For the WIP List Game: Dragon Jedi AU?? I am intrigued

Hehe, that one is inspired by @bubblew0lf1's Dragon!Jedi AU! I adore all of their dragon designs, especially Obi-Wan's, and it got me thinking about a sort of fantasy AU where the Jedi are shape-shifting dragons. I'm not sure it's something that'll ever become a finished thing, but it's been fun to think about.

Rambling and a snippet below the cut :P

This AU's setting would condense most of the notable SW planets into continents/countries/cities on one planet; there wouldn't be any space travel, though technology would probably be better than in a medieval fantasy setting. Dragons are rare and I'm thinking the knowledge of their intelligence and that they can also be people is not well-known (either a closely guarded secret or actively suppressed)--and they're also being actively hunted by the Republic/Empire under the justification that dragons are extremely dangerous (this is Palpatine's fault, and he has far more nefarious reasons for hunting them down). I haven't worked out all the worldbuilding details, but I think the Jedi are a subset of dragons who serve as guardians where they can; recently, though, they've been forced to hide due to being hunted.

In this world, Cody and Rex are wardens (possibly heading up a small group of rangers) of a large woody/mountainous area bordering a very rural town far from the center of the Republic; the land was claimed and the town founded by the Mereel-Fett family after unrest in Mandalore forced Jaster Mereel (Jango Fett's adoptive father, Cody and Rex's grandfather) and his clan to leave. Mandalorians have a complicated history with dragons, but Jaster liked to tell stories about Tarre Vizla, a Mandalorian leader long ago who either was close friends with a dragon or was a dragon himself; details passed down through the centuries seem unclear. Jango's never been that interested in the tales, but Rex and especially Cody enjoyed them growing up.

Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka moved to the town together pretty recently; I think Obi-Wan runs a bookshop (or maybe a small library? A fusion of the two?), while Anakin works as a mechanic who's teaching Ahsoka the trade as well. Cody likes to read and chats with Obi-Wan when he stops by for books, while Rex brings the rangers' equipment to Anakin and Ahsoka for professional servicing (Rex tinkers a bit himself, but Anakin's a wizard) and they become fast friends. Of course, the friendly neighborhood bookkeeper and mechanics don't tell anyone that they're also dragons, including the Fetts, but Cody and Rex find out the truth eventually.

The only thing I actually started writing for this beyond notes is a scene just after Obi-Wan (in dragon form) fights Grievous (also a dragon but not a Jedi) somewhere deep in the Fetts' protected area. Cody had been doing a sweep/patrol at the time and witnessed at least part of the fight, and he goes to investigate the aftermath.

Warning that it's more gruesome than I usually go, what with blood and a dead dragon. This is just also the most snippable portion of what little I have, I think.

There is a deafening thud, and then— Silence. Cody slowly approaches the edge of the ravine and looks down. A hulking white shape lies still at the base of the rocky slope, red pooling under its gash-ridden body. It’s hard to tell from a distance what precisely killed it, but the lack of motion and abundance of blood suggest that either it’s dead or will be soon. Partially obscured, a smaller brown shape lies behind the great white beast, closer to the river; it seems similarly bloodied and still. Cody feels a pang of sorrow—that one had saved his life, whether intentionally or not. …Better make sure they’re dead, lest any survivors roam too close to town. Cody picks his way carefully down the side of the ravine, shifting between stepping and climbing as needed. When he’s made it to the bottom, he draws his rifle and approaches the white dragon. There is no movement between its sharply defined ribs, and up close Cody can see where the base of its throat has been torn open by—well, horns or claws, most likely. He follows the long neck up to the head, where dull yellow eyes stare sightlessly out from behind a gaping maw. Cody prods its nose lightly with the tip of his rifle. No response. Tempting as it still is to put a bolt in its skull, he’s hunted enough himself to know what death looks like. There’s no need. He steps around the body of the beast toward the visible back of the brown one. One of its wings lies bent at an unnatural angle behind it, and— It’s breathing, quick and labored. Not moving otherwise, but still alive, at least for now.

(Once he works out he's not going to get mauled to death for trying to help, Cody puts his wilderness first-aid skills to use. He still doesn't learn that it's Obi-Wan for a while, though.)

#Patchy Babbles #Patchy Writes #Thanks for the ask! :P #All my fanfic is self-indulgent but this one especially so #I can make my blorbos watch over a pseudo-preserve and also have dragons and nobody can stop me #Tag Games #cw blood #cw death

[crimson-amarone]

Fancasting for a Trigun live-action tv series/movie!! I know we got just Trigun Stampede, but we can’t let Cowboy Bebop get a live action and not Trigun right??

For all my selections I would say about 75-80% are actors I have seen in one or more of their most well known roles. For anyone else I narrowed down to 2-4 options and I did extra research into their filmography, interviews to hear their voices and general vibe, etc. And I also looked at what kind of roles they trended towards—sci-fi/fantasy and superhero media giving them bonus points.

See below for info about the actors and my runner up choices for each character. I included tidbits like their age, height, and notable roles.

For Vash and Knives I wanted to first look for real life identical twins. After some research, I believe I found a fitting pair. Cole and Dylan Sprouse, best know for their childhood roles in the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Although I don’t think I knew their adult roles as well as their Zack and Cody days, that real twin dynamic just adds that extra layer.

Of the two, I found Cole having a softer look, and lately it appears he’s been going with black hair which seemed fitting if we think about black-haired Vash at the end of TriMax. Dylan’s look has just that different sharpness and edginess that I slotted him to Knives.

Ruby Cruz (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow) is a very talented young woman and recently made a feature length movie debut as Hazel Callahan in Bottoms (2023) and will be starring in an upcoming rom-com The Threesome. (See notes about edit below.)

Milly was a tricky one for me. I have a couple of runners up below. My current pick is Mina Sundwall, especially for her role as Penny Robinson in Netflix’s space family drama Lost in Space.

Although I’m on board with the HC that Wolfwood is Latinx, I had to go with famous werewolf Jacob Black from Twilight, Taylor Lautner. I got a couple other choices below too.

Liam Hemsworth (or Chris idkkkk). Nuff said?

Rem was a bit hard to choose. I had to go with Candice Patton as a personal big fan of her role as Iris West in The Flash as a DC fan. She has just the right oh-crap-I-have-kids-I-am-not-prepared-at-all motherly acting vibe down pat that is essential for Rem.

Despite the fact that Christopher Daniel Barnes is always smiling in photos, his breath of filmography makes him such a good fit for wise Drunkle Roberto.

Being so effing hyped about Nicholas playing Lex Luthor in Superman Legacies (2025) he has the perfect mix of heroic and villain roles for Legato’s psychotic righteousness. And he’s already had blue hair (and fur all over his whole body) as Hank “Beast” McCoy, c’mon too easy.

Zazie Beetz… that couldn’t have been a coincidence? Like Studio Orange must have know about this actress when they worked on the Beast’s revamped design. For a second option I’d probably pick a child/adolescent actor but Zazie can pretty much take whatever form they want, so why not both? Edit: I’m going with Scarlett (Trixie from Lucifer). Very very talent young woman. She’s funny, smart, sassy.

Role: Vash the Stampede

Actor: Cole Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Cody Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Mason Dye (Jason Carver, Stranger Things)

———

Role: Millions Knives

Actor: Dylan Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Zack Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Christopher Lowell (Sebastian “Bash” Howard, GLOW and Jess, How I Met Your Father)

———

Role: Meryl Stryfe

Actor: Ruby Cruz

Age: 23

Height: 5’3”

Best known role: (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow)

Edit: I swapped Ruby Cruz in for Bex as I learned how far along Bex was in their gender journey. As much as I respect Bex’s journey and the gender representation is important, I still want to pick someone I feel leans more feminine for Meryl.

Runner-up Actor: tbd, maybe Christine Lee or Ana Yi Puig

———

Role: Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Actor: Taylor Lautner

Age: 32

Height: 5’8”

Best known role: Jacob Black (Twilight movies)

Runner-up Actor: David Castro (Raphael Santiago, Freeform’s Shadowhunters)

———

Role: Roberto De Niro

Actor: Christopher Daniel Barnes

Age: 51

Height: 5’11”

Best known role: Spiderman (Spider-Man 90s), Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid 89)

Runner-up Actor: Edgar Ramirez (Bourne Ultimatum 2007, Carlos the Jackal, HBO’s The Undoing)

———

Role: Milly Thompson

Actor: Mina Sundwall

Age: 22

Height: 5’6”

Best known role: Penny Robinson (Lost in Space, 2018)

Runner-up Actors: Liana Liberato, Kennedy McGann, Ellie Gall, Luna Wedler

———

Role: Rem Saverem

Actor: Candice Patton

Age: 35

Height: 5’4”

Best known role: Iris West (CW’s The Flash)

Runner-up Actor: Lyrica Okano (Nico Minoru, Hulu’s Runaways)

———

Role: Legato Bluesummers

Actor: Nicholas Hoult

Age: 34

Height: 6’3”

Best known role: Nux (Mad Max Fury Road), Hank “Beast” McKoy (X-Men movies), Lex Luthor (Superman Legacies, 2025)

Runner-up Actors:

2. Samuel Larson (Joe Hart, Glee) 3. Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers, Stranger Things) or 4. Brenton Twaites (Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, DC’s Titans)

#trigun stampede #trigun #tristamp #trigun maximum #trimax #vash the stampede #millions knives #meryl stryfe #nicholas d. wolfwood #milly thompson #roberto de niro #legato bluesummers #zazie the beast #rem saverem #fancast #live action #anime live action #manga live action #actors

[balkanradfem]

Hello, I have an issue and I don't really have anyone to talk to about that specific thing. I stopped waxing my body hair two years ago when I stumbled across radical feminism on tumblr, and it's been amazing! My confidence is through the roof and I stopped caring about men. Except. For the body hair. I mean, I still don't shave or anything. But I have very thick body hair due to hormonal issues and repeated waxing/shaving since I was 12. Especially on my chin where I have very thick duvet. I caved and allowed my mother to pay for laser hair removal. But it makes me crazy because I want to do it all over now. I used to swim regularly but I lost my only swimsuit where my "luscious" pubic hair was not visible (kind of... it basically goes halfway down my thigh) and they are really rare and expensive, most swimsuits are basically pubic hair out. And even while I had that one, I was very uncomfortable with my armpit hair which is literally longer than my hair. I have my hair until my ears but still, that's really long. Do you have advice, or I don't know really, stuff to make me change my mind about pubic/armpit hair and laser hair removal? I know it's not good for skin, causes skin cancer I think? But I feel so alone and idk, like a hairy beast. It gets lonely.

Ah I can relate to being scrutinized and judged in public for your body hair, even if I don't have the extra hormonal, but I remember struggling to feel normal and always feeling like I'm being watched.

I can only offer a part of what helped me: there's actually no law stating that you have to wear a woman's swimming suit on the beach or anywhere else. I wear swimming trunks and a whole t-shirt when I'm swimming and nobody has said one word to me, and I've felt super comfortable in those! It's not very eye-drawing and it's great for a transition before you are able to feel comfortable - or in some cases, if there's males around, I understand never being able to feel comfortable because they will objectify you, but that has nothing to do with your body hair, that's just the way they are.

But you don't have to wear swimming clothing that's been designed for male fantasies and fetishes, you can absolutely make or get something that makes you comfortable and un-selfconscious.

It does take years and years to become comfortable with body hair, even the normal amount. I remember at one point realizing that what I'm having, the full body hair, is normal, and being completely shaved and bare is weird, mimicking children's immature bodies, and also making your body vulnerable to infections and diseases, as well as causing discomfort. Most of body hair we have is so that our skin wouldn't chafe together, to make our movement more comfortable! So seeing women shaved naked makes me uncomfortable, I know they're undergoing discomfort, itching, bleeding, chafing, prickling and all other stuff that comes with shaving. Seeing a woman with full body hair just makes me relax and I feel so happy that she's comfortable too. Being completely shaved to me is a sign of oppression.

And later when I became even more comfortable, the thought of being a bit more repulsive and unpalatable to males made me happy. It's slightly harder to objectify a woman who is fully comfortable and unwilling to mimic a child's body with her own. So I'm displaying full freedom from their desires in front of them and don't have to care. I am however, still sad for all the women who can't do it, and are undergoing discomfort only to be slightly more palatable to their oppressors.

I don't know if my opinions can help you see it in a different way at all, it was a long journey for me, and the best I can say is, take your time. It's okay if it takes a decade to feel fully comfortable, I believe that you'll get there! There's nothing but comfort and joy waiting for you at the end of it.

#body hair #female body hair #swimming with body hair #feeling self-conscious #womens oppression

[welcome-to-ratterrock]

I'm curious, if the cast have any hobbies they do in their free time or to relax?

(The world is too chaotic, hope they all have a peaceful day😔)

Thank you so much for sending this, the crew definitely needs those moments of relaxation and fun…

Locke loves playing his viola, playing music is very therapeutic for him, releasing the tension and giving voice to the emotions it is so very hard for him to speak about. Like the violin it’s an instrument that elicits haunting sounds and sadness, but it’s darker and richer in tone. He gets so ticked off when people mistake it for a violin. 

He likes reading nonfiction books, with the exception of a few novels, and also enjoys attending concerts where he can close his eyes and sink into the music like water…but because his work is so important to him, he doesn’t really make time for himself to do such things. 

Once upon a time, he loved playing chess with Regal. 

Regal plays the piano, a versatile instrument adept at both classic and contemporary music. Playing is very therapeutic for him, releasing tension and turmoil and allowing him a way to “speak” to the emotions so many would be horrified by. 

He loves to read a variety of different things, nonfiction and novels and plays and poetry and essays, and enjoys attending the theater as well. However, due to his work, he’s very busy and hasn’t had much time to himself. 

Once upon a time, he loved playing chess with Locke. 

Sorcha adores reading, and her absolute favorite book is “The Phantom of the Opera” - she’s very proud to have a first edition in her personal library! She is very much a patron of the arts in general, always looking for new art galleries and museums to explore, theaters and shows to attend. She also loves being wealthy enough to be able to shop at high fashion stores for all sorts of treasures to adorn herself with, and all the owners are thrilled that a beauty like her wears their wares…

Lorcan’s biggest passion is boxing, he’s an absolute legend in the ring and loves to lose himself in a good match, facing off with a worthy opponent. He also loves swimming as well but doesn’t get to do it too much, which is a shame as it really helps with his aches and pains. For quieter moments he likes to whittle and play cards. 

Rilla’s biggest passion is dancing, a love that her mother passed onto her, it is her joy and her escape from whatever weighs her down. She also LOVES designing and sketching dresses and clothing, and would love to bring her creations to life but she’s never been able to find someone to teach her how to sew. She also is known in her social circle to be a dab hand at crafting some stunning flower crowns. 

Lu loves to write, especially stories about magic and fantasy and girls finding themselves through challenges. She visits the library and bookshops whenever she can. She also enjoys watercolors, especially landscapes and flowers. 

Brig was taught to box by her father and she’s been a devoted boxer ever since, and is an absolute beast in the ring. She finds working out to be very relaxing as well, a good way to center herself and enjoy the burn of her body. 

Bogdan loves composing music, he’s very talented and likes to take his inspiration from the natural world. He’s also avid about charting the stars, and spends much of his time studying the skies.

Casimir will actually be gaining a hobby in the comic! But as for right now, he loves playing cards and gambling, especially when the stakes are high…

Clifford likes good old fashioned English hunting, shooting after crickets and beetles and birds (they aren’t sentient in this world). 

Thank you again for sending this! As we introduce more characters I’m gonna come back to this post and reblog it with their favorite hobbies, this was a wonderful character exploration exercise. And it doesn’t even touch on what the couples like to do together…

#ratterrock replies #ratterrock #ratterrock trivia #ratterrock character information #sage locke #padraic regal #sorcha regal #lorcan regal #bogdan nightshade #casimir nightshade #rilla mackenzie #luella woodmouse #brig o’ broin #inspector clifford #original characters

[just-your-average-cryptid]

On Dragons

One of the things I enjoy about writing is creature design - I mainly go for fantasy, so whimsical beasts and strange creatures is pretty much a given. However, I have some... thoughts about typical dragon design and ecology, because yes I will make an ecosystem for the dragon why wouldn't you?

Essentially, my problem with typical dragons is that they don't feel real in the context of the setting. Yeah, yeah, big scary fire-breathing beast, but where does it live? What does it eat? How do those tiny wings lift up its massive body? Most authors I've read just kinda... handwave those questions with "it's fiction chill out look at this epic magic fight" but I'm a worldbuilding fanatic and dammit I want answers. And if I can't get those answers, I might as well make my own, eh?

So you've got your classic reptilian dragons: scales, horns, claws, the works. Iconic, recognizable, but not very realistic in the basic body type of "big lizard but with wings" or "dinosaur but with wings." That's not to say that reptilian dragons can never be used, they just need to be adapted - what if, somewhere deep in the desert, a massive serpentine dragon waits under the sand, snapping up anything that treks over its waiting jaws? Afterwards, it'll settle down in the sand and distribute heat through its wings, keeping the main body cool enough while it sinks back into the sands.

I do have a soft spot for avian dragons, mainly because they're less common and avoid some of the logistical issues with reptilian dragons. Granted, they can also be "lizard with wings but we gave it feathers this time," but for the most part they pay more attention to, yknow, making a creature that can conceivably fly and not just plummet to the ground immediately. But unless you're making their bones very hollow, a large avian isn't likely to have much flight capabilities. Gliding, though? Sort of like a flying squirrel or those weird spiraling snakes? That could work. Maybe it lives in forests and jungles, where it can swoop down on prey from above and clamber back into the trees for safety.

What do I see as the best base for dragons? Simple: bats. Think about it, their body layout is pretty easy to adapt into a dragon. Maybe tone down the ears unless you're keeping the echolocation, but the wing-to-body ratio and wing shape are perfect. Scale up the size a little and you've got a decent-sized, plausible dragon ready to be dropped into whatever habitat suits it.

Now, that doesn't mean big dragons can't exist; they just need a bit more room. Migratory dragons! Maybe they head to warm places like islands or volcanoes to breed and lay eggs, where their young can chase smaller prey and learn to fly before joining the flock (heh) in more temperate places the rest of the year. Or, if they're a cold-loving dragon, they hatch when the snow melts so they've got their warm feather/fur coat grown in once the frost hits. Dragons as a terraforming agent, bringing seeds and maybe even the eggs of certain species where they travel, like ducks bringing undigested fish eggs to new ponds and lakes. Dragons as apex predators keeping the local or even continental ecosystem in balance by picking off sick and weakened animals and keeping prey populations in check.

Dragon ecology!

#it speaks #worldbuilding #dragons #fantasy ecology #why isn't fantasy ecology a tag it should be #and that's not even talking about dragons with magic! magic ecology! #(i am dragged off the stage ranting about dragon-adapted fungus) #DRAGON PARASITES. they must have specialized parasites right? #(i am still being dragged off the stage)

[puddleorganism]

Hey so for your hs au, we're the kids always big dragon things or did they become dragon things at some point via wacky sburb shit? Love the designs they are so cool

Thank you so much!!

The au was inspired by some posts I saw (can’t find them now 😔) that were essentially just talking about how cruel SBURB is, and it got me thinkin a bit.

At this point I’d already had the idea “hey what if godtier let them turn into big monsters” because, and you may notice a theme here, I really like big monsters. There was no lore at all at that point. They literally just. Were big monsters. For fun!

But I got thinking about it more, and kind of came to this conclusion:

Godtiering steals your life, your very humanity from you. It makes you a god, by definition. What if that was very literal?

So the au is everyone starts out like normal, but once you godtier things start to get weird. It starts small, a single pair of wings (which, ironically they don’t actually use to fly. They could, but they still have their floaty godtier powers (and honestly there’s a whole lot of lore around THAT too)). The more you use your godtiering powers and the more time you spend as a god, the less you really… fit inside a human/troll/etc. shape, anymore, and the more your body starts to morph into something larger and grander. Something more befitting of those who have mastered the game.

And that’s basically it, that’s the only way this au diverges from canon. It’s essentially a re-skin of an au lmao

I will say the gods can return to a human shape, but only visually and it’s difficult. They sort of come to embody their aspects - literally - so if they can figure out a way to condense or conceal their aspect, they can in turn condense themselves to be something smaller. Like I said, it’s tricky though. It’s probably something they would’ve only figured out post-canon. That, and it’s something they have to consciously maintain. If they don’t, the rest of them starts to “bleed through” back into visible reality in weird ways. Since it’s all tailored to their aspect it looks different for each of them. I want to draw Dave bleeding through sometime because I have a really cool idea for what it would look like for him.

One last thing, more of a design note than anything. I actually… don’t really like their designs yet. Well, I guess it’s more that they’re not really what I want yet? I do like some of them (especially Dave’s, Dave might not need any revisions actually). While designing them I really want to model them after two concepts:

1. Illuminated manuscripts and heraldic beasts, because the classes are based off of medieval fantasy and I think it’d be sick to reference that.

2. Eldritch/cosmic horror, because that more than anything emphasizes that they don’t really belong in any one universe anymore, and also emphasizes their loss of mortality and thus, in a way, life.

I feel like most of them lean too far towards either one, and aren’t balanced between them like I want. Hence why I’m unsatisfied with them atm! I am very glad you like them though :)

#long post #homestuck

[localsharkcryptid]

*stumbles onto your blog, tripping over various tree root and covered in leaves* Hi! I heard you have a Dragon Rider AU!!

Is everyone humans? Are some people dragons? It’s it angsty? Do you have a general plot? What kind of location is this based on? What kinds of dragons are there? Is dragon riding widely accepted? Can everyone do it or just a select few? How do people get their dragons?

Well hello there! :D

I've gotta say this is a LOT of questions but I do not mind at all!! Just this gonna be a long post, and speaking of which onto the answers!

---

Is everyone humans? Are some people dragons?

In this case everyone is human for this au!

Is it angsty?

Mildly?? I personally would consider it, bittersweet I suppose? The bit I'm working on currently is very focused on the shattered nature of DTeam's dynamic so I'll say good mild angst rating with a happy ending eventually (Angst may also be higher for the dnf enjoyers)

Do you have a general plot?

I have quite a few plot notes actually!! Currently I'm focused on what is a prequel to my original idea, which is shelved temporarily for reasons, so now this part of the story is focused on Dream and how he's dealing with his choices - and his attempts to run away from his role in everything.

The short version is basically: Dream is heir to his brother's (DreamXD) throne and well he wants absolutely nothing to do with it, this leads to a lot of rash decisions and unfortunately attempts to shove away his friends. A spiral very similar to canon dsmp just different motives. Inevitably though when he finally claims a dragon he at last has his ticket to freedom and makes a break for it to have his freedom. Shennagains then ensue, including obligatory Drunz cause I eternally love their character dynamic, Rivals Duo being rivals, XDnf in the distant background, and various other things I'm working out still!

What kind of location is this based on?

In general I am taking a lot of vibes from Westeros from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, a very very classic medieval fantasy vibe along with the actual layout and environment of things being loosely based on the actual maps of the dsmp!

What kinds of dragons are there?

At the moment just wyvern style dragons, a lot of my inspiration for the dragons comes from House of the Dragon as well as the works of Sawyer Lee (Sawyerleearts on insta/da he has some AMAZING work)! Effectively all the same 'species' of fire breathing beast but they all have their own unique features and looks! Though I am considering maybe adding ice and lightening breathing dragons as a fun little reference to the Ice & Fire mod - not much would change design wise, just kinda mixing up the breath abilities if I do go with that.

Also have some of my current concepts (newest to oldest, since I'm still in the process of changing designs)

Is dragon riding widely accepted?

Dragons in this case are rare, and dragon riders are rarer - when dragon riders usually come about they become part of a kingdom's greater military force or some similar high standing rank. Dragons are tickets to power if you don't already have it pretty much, they are after all the fantasy equivalent of a multi use nuclear weapon! Though there are some outliers who have dragons but don't align with either kingdom in the realm, these being sell swords/mercenaries like Punz or just lords who wish to remain independent and not everyone uses them for war. In general I'd say it's a very respected position to have.

Can anyone do it or is it only a select few? How do people get their dragons?

The criteria for someone to bond with a dragon varies a bit, pretty much anyone can bond and develop a link with a hatchling - if the wyrmling imprints on them after hatching it's a free ticket pretty much! Though hatching dragon eggs is not easy, and the hatch rates of them are very low. The other option to get a dragon is claiming a wild one. Bonding with wild dragons though, is more difficult, no one is exactly sure how it's done but the rider usually has to have some recessive magic genes effectively (magic is a long dead art but remnants of it's influence remain, i.e potions & enchantments). When it comes to claiming a wild dragon what also matters is the dragon also choosing and accepting the rider, things can turn a bit- nasty if they decline the bond. Gaining a dragon is in general no easy feat, adding onto that sort of instant status boost dragon riders can gain if they succeed in getting one!

---

Thank you for the questions btw!!! It thoroughly made my day to see a full list of stuff to answer about this project ^^

#the cryptid speaks #dsmp #dream smp #dsmp au #dreblr

[peekychu]

hi, ive loved your art forever, finally working up the courage to send an ask ahshdjfjf

when i was a kid i was really attached to the pokemon anime and i remember that one episode about the charmander being left all alone in the rain, and then being saved by ash and given a chance to recover, i remember projecting so hard onto it and wanting to be given that chance as well, to have someone save me like that. anyways, your art has always made me Feel Things, theres a very sentimental quality to your art and the way you design characters. i connect a lot with your sadder stuff as well. youre very good at storytelling in your work, especially that piece with ray about wanting to return to the places in your childhood but not ever experiencing them the same way. man, you hit that feeling right on the head.

anyways, where was i going with this. i struggle a lot with trying to reclaim some parts of my childhood, it took me a lot to even remember that i projected so much onto that charmander. but seeing a pikachu be so.. i dont know, happy about connecting with pokemon so much, it just, it means a lot to me. i used my imagination as escapism and id like to try and reconnect with it. i am using your art as a guide and as inspiration.. i feel like i can get close to that again.

i hope animal friends brings you joy and i will be so happy if you choose to share any of it. and im sorry about your job, ive been in that exact situation, stay strong

sincerely, one online animal beast to another <3

Oh my GOD, this ask is so touching idek where to start answering 😭😭😭 Wow, thank you!!!

Instant follow btw, ur drawings are so dynamic and sensory, and HOLY moly your anatomy skills 🤯 I’m super honored!!!

I honestly forget ppl ever see my more sad/melancholy drawings, I wasn’t expecting it to affect me so hard hearing someone mention it xD Drawing is one of the few vessels I can properly channel my emotions with, and there’s a lot more raw stuff I don’t share online. I never know if the catharsis I feel drawing the Heavier stuff translates, because I still center those drawings around silly animals xD

I’m so happy you were able to rediscover your connection with Ash’s charmander!! That episode always made me emotional too 💔 I can’t say where my lifelong fixation on Pikachu really began, but my mom told me that even before I engaged with anything pkmn related, I was just immediately enamored by seeing it at a store or on TV xD

Eventually she took me to see Pokémon 4ever in theaters, and I vaguely remember being instantly ENCHANTED by the little short movie before the actual film began. Those animated shorts of Pikachu with all its friends, no humans attached, were always this ultimate comfort fantasy for me to watch xD

As my identity and personality fluctuates, I always find it comforting being grounded in my connection to Pikachu. The episode where it refused to evolve stuck with me on a deep level too haha.

ANYWAYS UHH I can’t thank you enough for your kind words!!!! I am holding ur paw, you stay strong too!

#man……. thanks so much #I’m always overwhelmed when ppl talk abt my art like this tysm ;-;

[theresattrpgforthat]

I'm a TTRPG designer, and also a big fan of the video game Terraria. I'm stuck on fun ways to handle material gathering and crafting. Send me some inspiration! Thanks!

THEME: Gathering and Crafting

Hello friend! Putting this one together was very fun. I hope you enjoy it!

Stoneburner, by Fari RPGs.

Stoneburner is a sci-fantasy solo-friendly demon-hunting community-building tabletop role-playing game.Inspired by the new school revolution movement, players take on the role of a group of dwarves who must assume control of a demon haunted mine, along with its accompanying settlement, which they inherited after the death of their distant relative.The game focuses on the dwarves' journey as they navigate the challenges of their new responsibilities, rebuild a new thriving community, and clear the mine of its fire spitting monsters.

A techno-fantasy game of exploration and survival. You’ll be delving into a mine to extract resources and attempting to maintain and protect your community not just from magical beasts, but also greedy and plotting rivals. The system is built on Breathless, which is pretty rules-lite on the face but has a lot of possibility to expand, borrowing quite a bit from the NSR but giving the GM specific cues where they have a license to complicate the story. You’ll find a lot of familiar pieces here, with character classes, special abilities, and loot tables. Stoneburner isn’t fully ready to be published quite yet, but in the meantime you can check out the free preview!

Hostile (Rules and Setting), by Zozer Games.

Welcome to the gritty, retro-future universe of HOSTILE. Based on the Cepheus Engine, these rules add in realistic combat rules as well as setting-specific rules from some of the eighteen HOSTILE supplements. When combined with its companion book, the HOSTILE Setting, you will have a complete, stand-alone, retro-future sci-fi game. HOSTILE is a gritty, near future roleplaying setting that is inspired by movies like Outland, Bladerunner and Alien. It is a universe of mining installations, harsh moons, industrial facilities, hostile planets and brutal, utilitarian spacecraft.

When I looked up info about this game, HOSTILE was described as not an ALIEN RPG, but rather an RPG that you could plug Alien into. It’s a space horror setting, but what kind of space horror is up to you. The Rulebook has rules on trade, salvaging, and other pieces of resource management, while the setting book contains construction rules for your own mega-ton spaceship. There’s also plenty of colonies, survival rules, campaign advice and encounter tables. If this is interesting to you, I’d recommend checking out the Double Shift Bundle, which offers both the Rulebook and the Setting Book for 20% off.

Forbidden Lands, by Free League Publishing.

Forbidden Lands is a new take on classic fantasy roleplaying. In this open-world survival roleplaying game, you’re not heroes sent on missions dictated by others - instead, you are raiders and rogues bent on making your own mark on a cursed world. You will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands and, if you live long enough, build your own stronghold to defend.

As raiders and rogues, in Forbidden Lands you will need to scavenge to survive. Built on Free League’s Year Zero Engine, this game uses an abstract resource called consumables which your characters will have to find regularly, because food goes bad and you can only carry so many things. The game focuses on the dangers of the road, although not all dangers are terrifying - you’re not fighting orcs all the time - sometimes you’re just battling mosquitoes and cold weather. There’s also rules about building, maintaining, and defending a stronghold, which sounds kind of similar to building and defending your house in Terraria. There’s a lot to keep track of in Forbidden Lands, and as long as you don’t mind playing characters with a somewhat loose moral compass, this game might be for you!

A Fistful of Darkness, by monkeyEcho.

A Fistful of Darkness is a Weird West Fantasy hack of Blades in the Dark with heavy emphasis on the fantasy part. It’s not intended to be an accurate history lesson or a simulation of past times. It is designed to be a cinematic game which lets you play all those Weird West tropes towards the end of the world.

Imagine a world with the magic and mystery of the frontier: wide open plains of the Old Wild West in all its beauty and madness, where violence and sacrifice dominate every single day. Now add the Hellstone rush, underground mayhem in mines and brand new sciences & machines. Don’t forget immigration, injustice, vigilante justice, outlaws, gunslingers, slick talkers and setting suns. This all in the face of an impending doom: Demons and the four riders bringing the end of the world as you know it. How do you make it to the top of this powder keg, which side will you take in the impending war and how much will your soul suffer? Let’s play to find out!

Forged in the Dark games abstract your resources a bit, but the Hellstone of A Fistful of Darkness is so important to the setting that you’ll find yourselves doing whatever you can to get your hands on it. It’s a crafting material, it’s currency, and it’s the bringer of mutations and curses, what with it being a demonic material and all. Because you’ll be running a group playbook alongside your own characters, you’ll be working together to improve your tools, allies, abilities and home base, especially if you choose the Scavengers Posse. If you like action and suspense as much as you like inventory and communal goals, then this game is for you.

LOOT, by Gila RPGs.

Do you love loot? Then you're in the right place.

Go on quests, find loot, do it all over again. Your character is entirely defined by the loot they wear and carry. Loot is generated and passed out at the end of each quest with a dynamic loot pool system.

This is an application of the LUMEN system that eschews dice. Players have a number of uses for each of their approaches, which can be spent to overcome obstacles. Complications arise when you have to cobble together a solution using a different approach, or when you avoid marking an approach at all. This is a game still in a free playtest, so the designer is happy to hear feedback if you decide to give it a whirl!

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #gathering #crafting #resource management

[ganymedesclock]

Hi, I've got a Hollow Knight question for you. How much do you think PK actively designed his small body, vs just wanting certain criteria and the rest just sorta happening? Also, how much do you think the anatomy resembles normal bug anatomy vs Wyrm anatomy vs entirely unique anatomy?

I think PK had full control over what he would become within the limits of physiology (so, he couldn't, say, have had his head fully detached from his body) but he didn't understand the ramifications very well until later.

PK, as far as we can tell, is an extremely detail-obsessive individual. He's not caught by surprise by the features of his creations, but he is often dangerously wrong about what this implies about their more ephemeral traits. Considering he is his own work, I think this applies to him.

So, he chose to become smaller- and probably lowballed it intentionally because he did not want to tower over others. (I'm a slightly boring person who doesn't think he minds being short, though his ego wouldn't be untouchable in that subject, the fact that he's "actually" godzilla-sized in origin and chose to leave that life voluntarily behind suggests that he doesn't exactly have hangups about needing to be taller)

He chose to redefine his bladed mouthparts as a sharpened crown, and to give himself a Face, that bugs would like to look at and find familiar. He chose to- at least in my interpretations of what lies under his cloak- give himself multiple flexible, dexterous graspers.

As far as anatomy goes, I'm going to share this older (warning for bug mandibles) art I did of a possible gijinka design, because that gets at about what I feel like his features would read as to mundane bug and beast.

Basically, he has some unusual features but a lot of those things are flattering or pretty from a certain angle; he has a very smooth, graceful gait (almost floating, without distinct strides) he has a very bright, shiny exoskeleton (literally shining) without blemishes or asymmetry, he has long horns- which are apparently a sought-after trait in Hallownest's society given the journal description of the Husk Hornhead. This is why his gijinka form as I drew it is, superficially at least, a handsome swishy fantasy elf-wizard-looking type. He is literally a piece of art sculpted by his own hands and his eye for aesthetics is not only obvious but pretty clearly lines up with what the average layperson considers beautiful- look at how nice the White Palace looks!

Granted, though, I think that he also exists deeply in the uncanny valley. We're not used to seeing people who are beautiful the way a ceramic doll might be, and these kinds of beauty removed from humanity are a common subject in horror for a reason.

And because I can't ever really separate my read on PK from a sense of compassion that this was a very miserable creature, this is where my personal read leans- he can stay on the "pretty, desirable" side of the uncanny, but only with effort and restricting his behaviors a lot. Hence me doing a gijinka take of him with a four-point mouth; imagine negotiating those hinges to make a sufficiently Nice, Human, Politically Polite smile. It'd be so difficult to manage, especially while speaking, that it'd be far more likely for him to do much what he's shown to do in canon- become a recluse that avoids people so the times you have to make a public appearance are a minimum and a few people are initiated to your circle where they get to see and deal with you all the time.

Part of this would even be rather simple and straightforwards- Hallownest is a setting where predator and prey dynamics coexist fully with sapience. There is a nonzero concern any stranger might eat you, and this probably factors into how warlike or predatory features are considered- size, claws and fangs. PK's mouthless plate of a face and seemingly smooth body as projected by his robes would seem doll-like in another sense- utterly bereft of predatory warning flags. His head-body proportions and sleek, unblemished appearance would invoke a child and we know the creatures of Hallownest care for their children by default- even the more brutal societies like Deepnest or the Mantis Lords.

But this utter lack of predation is an illusion. In reality, PK is not only a living organism actively feeding on worship and devotion, but the organism in question is a colossal entity whose true "face" is nothing but mouth and fangs, and a thickly armored body covered with spikes. Blades, and spikes, and methodical surgical torture are major motifs repeated throughout the palace and in other environments of PK's power. By implication, every part of him is a blade and him being easy on the eyes is the way that a parade sword can glitter so invitingly that any kid might want to pick it up, but if that parade sword is made with good steel and its twinkling gemstones real diamonds, it could still slice you to ribbons and probably won't seem so inviting afterwards.

A friend of mine @betterbemeta pointed out that my writings of him in Refuge For Resolve give him more than a passing resemblance to the figure of the King In Yellow, and I've always liked that one.

#Hollow Knight #The Pale King #readmore #mm been a while since I shrimp meta'd

[dynared]

With Duke #2 due next week as people start to more openly debate Skybound's take on Hasbro properties vs. IDW's (this is not a debate in sales, retailers are claiming Skybound outsold IDW's comics at least 10 to 1), it's worth looking at the fandoms that developed around IDW's takes on Transformers and GI Joe (more Transformers, as GI Joe struggled with numerous reboots and attempts at making a more modern interpretation of the property before the license was yanked by Hasbro) and why they might not gel with Skybound's more casual-friendly approach. Ramble under the cut:

IDW's Transformers fanbase was one that was insular by design. Not in the "you need to understand this concept from a toy line in 1989" insular, or the "you'll be lost if you didn't read Simon'Furman's Alignment novella", way, but more insular in the concepts that they focused on. Bot-on-bot romance, usually between male robots (James Roberts flat out said he was going to write romance, and went with male/male because it was a toyline full of men). A very notable disdain for concepts that would alter that perception, hence the villainization of the Japanese characters and the Beasts, because many of the fanfic writers hailed from unironic "TRUKK NOT MUNKY" and "TRANSFORMERS SHOULD BE REALISTIC" thinking fantasy elements ruined the series (and a disdain for Japanese mecha tropes in general). However, as noted by others, there were also a lot of holes in the characterizations that were filled by fanfic writers. I'm pretty sure the writers knew this since their old fanfic spawned other fanfic to fill in holes, and they saw it as a way to keep the core audience engaged.

This in turn creates a very focused, dedicated, but ultimately narrow audience, and one more likely to influence the direction of the comics, either positively or negatively. The fanbase want more romance? They got it to the point that the comics were more about relationships than anything. They wanted representation? The writers baked it into the mythos although it has since been discarded by non-IDW-influenced work. And if anyone didn't like it, sic the dedicated fandom on them and tell them to go back to the Bay movies.

GI Joe meanwhile, from the word "Go" felt like something IDW didn't really know what to do with, with their best idea being to give Larry Hama the keys to resume his Marvel run from where it left off (and ignoring the quasi-sequel run from Devil's Due which was mostly made without his involvement). It was clear that IDW's writers and editorial cared far more about Transformers and even Jem and the Holograms (a notorious stinker in sales that went for 25 issues and a 4-issue spin-off before IDW was forced to cancel it due to low sales and never bothered to try again) than the Real American Heroes. Some of that might be because the idea of military comics didn't agree with the more liberal writers there, but I'd argue that they didn't really try, especially with the Energon Universe also going out of its way to avoid a stereotypical "MURICAN soldiers vs. terrorist army" scenario. This resulted in the eventual nadir of the brand, the 2016 relaunch where Skywarp was a member of the team because reasons.

The Energon Universe is quite the opposite of that, and I can see where the worry comes in from the IDW fandom. The soldier toys are important again in a more direct way where it's clear there's more effort put into them. Meanwhile, the robot toys are back to focusing on more universal concepts, like war, family in a platonic sense, and general action. That sense of control feels lost, and it is also introducing concepts that feel like they run counter to IDW's writers and their ethos, particularly ideas that IDW writers rejected whole-heartedly.

If I'm off-base, please let me know, but that's what this feels like to me. A group losing their perceived control over a license, and not taking it well.

#idw comics #idw transformers #idw gi joe #gi joe #transformers #skybound #energon universe

[hpoelzig]

A Time for Godzilla Aficionados to Rejoice!

GOJIRA was premiered on November 3 in 1954, and that film’s release created one of the longest franchises in film history, which is now thriving vigorously. Directly inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) and perhaps even the Fleischer Superman cartoon THE ARCTIC GIANT from 1942 (which also seems a bit of a plot source for the Harryhausen film), there have been periods wherein Toho Studios have gone on hiatus, and many years would pass before new Godzilla content would arise. Now a feast of daikaiju goodness makes it a particularly fine time for we Goji fans. The American LEGENDARY company has a successful MonsterVerse (including films, live action and animated series) with a sequel to their energetic GODZILLA v. KONG film due out in March of 2024, and a live action series about to be released on Apple’s streaming platform featuring the mysterious MONARCH agency—said to be enhanced for their upcoming augmented reality headsets. Toho last released a live action Godzilla film in 2016, SHIN GOJIRA, which artfully reimagined their great god-beast and lampooned Japan’s frustrating bureaucracy. Since then, two Toho animated series have been released which also reboot and rethink Godzilla: GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS and GODZILLA SINGULAR POINT. And Netflix has two seasons of PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK as well as GAMERA: REBIRTH, coming in September—a glut of giant monsters is upon us!

At last, Toho has begun serious publicity for their new live action film GODZILLA: MINUS ONE, set to be released in Japan on November 3rd, and then, in US theaters on December 1st—a first time in the history of this franchise that a US release has so quickly followed the Japanese premiere. They dropped a poster and a teaser trailer less than a week ago, and over this past weekend an exhibition of materials concerning this film’s director, Takashi Yamazaki, opened. He writes, directs, and oversees and designs the special effects. It included a statue of his new Godzilla as well as a very sketchy storyboard amongst other bits of memorabilia from his other films.

Yamazaki has depicted Godzilla twice before in what amount to cameos. In his Always: Sunset on Third Street 2, Godzilla appears in a fantasy sequence, while in 2021 he directed Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle which features Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Rodan. He has continuously evolved his depiction of Godzilla as a CGI creation, and the version in the about to be released film is quite closely based on his previous version—though with enlarged dorsal plates and added details. Yamazaki blends aspects of other Godzilla designs into his own, particularly from the Toho Heisei series, but also there are some aspects of Legendary’s version as well. 

Yamazaki had been rumored to be working on a Godzilla film, and Toho confirmed in late 2022 that it was happening, with a mysterious logo shaped like a G—that looked like it contained the shape of a new Godzilla—as well as the opening date, but they did not offer a title, poster, and teaser until about 5 days ago. Not long after the original confirmation and mysterious logo, a plot rumor emerged that suggested the film was set in the 1940s, after Japan had been nuked by the USA. Casting calls that astute fans discovered before this announcement confirmed that they were looking for actors who could be period correct. The rumor went on to suggest that the basic premise was that two Godzillas were to be used, one who was horribly burned by the nuclear strikes, and vengeful towards humans, while the other was unburned and thus more peaceful. The angry Godzilla was said to look much like the design from The Ride, while the other would have smoother skin, smaller dorsals and was described as somewhat “whale-like.” Also mentioned was that there would be a re-imagined version of Dr. Serizawa and his Oxygen Destroyer, both playing a major role in what was clearly emerging as a reboot entry into the series.

Back to the storyboard—Yamazaki must have selected it for inclusion in this public exhibition, and, if one enlarges it, one can see what looks like a sequence depicting both the angry Godzilla (Toho now calls him NegaGoji) as well as the peaceful one (I call it KujiraGoji) and the scene displays an ocean encounter with these two daikaiju as well as a small boat with three people (one wearing glasses). The plot rumor had mentioned a climactic scene wherein Dr. Serizawa, his sister, and a friend, use a small boat to take his Oxygen Destroyer to use on these two creatures who had been spotted together. So, the storyboard seems to be solid evidence confirming that detail of the plot rumor. Now, the rumor was early on and could have been derived from an early treatment or rough script produced by Yamazaki, so the actual film may have changed significantly since the rumor and the drawing of the storyboard. Yamazaki’s selecting this for exhibition seems like he might be having fun, hiding some significant aspect of the film in plain sight. His drawing is very loose and layered.

Below you can see the enlarged story board image—which is frankly almost Rorschach-esque. In my image I have outlined in magenta how Yamazaki has depicted NegaGoji (his exaggerated dorsal plates are clear), and I've outline in green KujiraGoji. It looks to me that Yamazaki has drawn an image wherein N-Goji might be following K-Goji underwater. He's overlayed this with eyes, which I suspect are notes to himself as to what eye expressions he's considering for the Gojis. I've outlined in orange the shot of the small boat by what I think is the submerged K-Goji, who one can see is drawn very differently from N-Goji, particularly with the lesser dorsals and the rather short arms and legs. The Goji by the boat is like the one above outlined in green. Of course you can easily see the images toward the bottom left that show three people in the boat, which is how the plot leak described the scene.

Whether or not the rumors, or what appears to be a pertinent story board, are actually indicators of the film to come, I’m certainly looking forward to Toho’s latest attempt to interpret Godzilla. Yamazaki has stated “In order to depict this, the staff and I have worked together to create a setting where Godzilla looks as if ‘fear’ itself is walking toward us, and despair is piled on top of despair.” That piques my interest! I quite enjoy the design and look forward to adding some new idols to my collection once the figures are released—and a number of them have been announced along with release dates. There is also supposedly an online Godzilla store in the works, to make it easier to sell Japanese merchandise to fans in the US. And plans are afoot for several viewings of the film in my local cinema accompanied by my fellow Gojira devotees. 

There have been some test-screening revelations about GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, and I’ll be back to discuss those in another blog entry. 

It is indeed a good day to Hail Godzilla!

—Peter H. Gilmore

#Godzilla #Godzilla Minus One #Takashi Yamazaki #toho studios #legendary monsterverse #shin gojira #daikaiju