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uc1wa · 9 months

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18+ minors dni

tags: nudes, mentions of penetrative sex

11:24pm jason: when does your class end again?

11:27pm jason: just saw the pictures you took on my phone last night

11:35pm jason: do you want me to call you and pretend that you have an emergency? i’ll say somebody died lol

11:45pm jason: attachment: two images

the class, that was undeniably and exhaustingly lecture heavy, was excruciating to sit in the two days a week that you did. the professor continuing to talk, reading off the powerpoint slides he presented, without a single spare elaboration.

it was exhausting every day that you had to enter the room, and as per usual, your hands had gotten tired and had the mind of their own to find your phone, smiling to yourself as you read the multiple messages from your boyfriend.

the part about him calling you made you laugh to yourself, opening the messages on your phone to view the images he had sent you.

and all too quickly, your eyes widen, heart drops, and phone slams against your desk space a little too loudly. thankfully, in the spacious and filled lecture hall, only the three students that sat near you gave you a look, to which you apologize quietly.

what a blessing it was that you were sat at the end of the row, nobody in the seat directly behind you, because if you angle your phone just right, your eyes have the ability to look at the pictures jason sent you once more. this time with awareness of just what the man had sent you.

the first, a cuter and more innocent looking one. a high angled selfie that make jason’s eyes widen naturally as he looks up to the camera, lip puckered out teasing and jokingly. the angle showing his abdomen that has no shirt covering it. a shadow underneath his pecs that make them look meaty and strong. his abs that he doesn’t have to flex, even in his sitting position protrude, ripple by ripple. his shoulders that are broad and big cover the expanse of background that you presume is desk space.

the picture alone could be saved for later when you get back home, touching yourself under covers. but you have to bring a hand to cover your mouth at the second picture he sent.

you knew what jason’s cock looked like. hell, you could describe in detail how it felt to be inside of you! but the look of it, all hard and begging for attention, does enough to make you squeeze your legs close and close your eyes for a second to bring yourself back to earth. opening to re-examine the photo.

it was lewd how his pre dripped down the sides of his length, milky lines running down along big veins that you had begun to memorize. veins that, when jason bottomed out in you slow enough, you could feel pressing against your walls. his tip that was an angry shade of red, the shade that gave you the knowledge that jason worked himself up just to take this photo for you. the shade of red that showed he had an internal battle with himself to not finish, to achingly take his hands from his cock just to flash a photo to send you as your sat rows of seats in front of your professor.

just as you swipe away from the photo, jason’s continuing to text you. his eyes reading over the read receipt that you’d left him.

12:05pm jason: might enroll in some of your classes next semester for fun

12:06pm jason: sit in the back so nobody sees and finger your pretty self under the table. wouldn’t let you wear underwear btw

12:07pm jason: i know my baby isn’t leaving me on read :(

12:08pm jason: gonna come to your place and fuck you against the window when you get back since you wanna show my cock in front of your whole class

12:08pm jason: your neighbors wouldn’t mind, you think?

the pink on your cheeks doesn’t fade as you continue reading the texts your boyfriend sends you. your eyes widening with every one delivered and heat growing embarrassingly fast in your pants. your fingers begin to find their way against your keyboard, but pause once a longer message finds your phone.

12:10pm jason: gonna fuck you so good that you drool on your window. lol it would be cute if you wore some lipstick too, wanna see how big of a mess you can make. gonna clean it rn just to show you how much of a slut you are for my cock

12:11pm jason: see you soon baby :)

#jason says lol and i don’t care if u guys don’t agree #when he says lol he chuckles to himself #thanks disco anon who requested this cuz i typed this in the middle of my lecture heavy class twins asf #jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #red hood x reader #jason todd x gender neutral reader #jason todd x y/n #jason todd imagine #jason todd smut #red hood x gender neutral reader #red hood x you #red hood x y/n #red hood imagine #red hood smut

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tailschannel · 11 months

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IDW Sonic at SDCC 2023: Everything you need to know

IDW Sonic had a panel in this year's San Diego Comic Con and many new issues, one-shots, and collections were announced.

Major announcements included new covers for Issue 67, preview pages for the 900th Adventure, and a tease of an upcoming one-shot issue for Fang the Sniper and Knuckles the Echidna.

This year's panelists included Evan Stanley, Adam Bryce Thomas, Min Ho Kim, Caleb Goellner, Michael Cisneros, and David Mariotte.

The upcoming arcs

Misadventures

Issues 63 to 66.

Features Sonic, the Diamond Cuttersm Silvers, Blaze, Knuckles, the Chaotix, Cream, Gemerl, the Babylon Rogues, and more in a two story per issue format.

Between August, September, and October 2023.

Second Chances

Issue 67.

Surge and Kit makes a return to supposedly join the Restoration.

Out November 2023.

The Protector

Issue 68.

Sonic and Tails explore a mysterious cavern.

Out December 2023.

Upcoming one-shots

The 900th Adventure

A special issue that celebrates 30 years of Sonic comics that span over 900 releases.

A Sonic adventure where Sonic and friends goes against some of his foes to get rid of the Warp Topaz.

Out August 2023.

Attribution for the 900th Adventure one-shot are as follows:

Story One: written by Ian Flynn, illustrated by Adam Bryce Thomas, coloured by Valentino Pinto

Story Two: written and illustrated by Evan Stanley, coloured by Gigi Dutreix.

Story Three: written by Nigel Kitching, illustrated by Mauro Fonseca, inked by Rik Mack, coloured by Reggie Graham.

Story Four: written by Daniel Barnes, artwork by Min Ho Kim.

Story Five: written and illustrated by Aaron Hammerstrom, inked by Matt Froese, coloured by Nathalie Fourdraine.

Story Six: written by Caleb Goellner, illustrated by Abby Bulmer, coloured by Heather Breckel.

Endless Summer One-Shot

Sonic, Tangle, Whisper, and Jewel just want to have a relaxing day at the beach... but won't if the Babylon Rogues have anything to say about it.

Out August 2023.

IDW Sonic Halloween Special

A new adventure featuring the Chaotix where they have to face a candy-stealing monster alongside Sonic & Tails, releasing on October 2023.

Featuring Mark Bouchard, Jack Lawrence, and Gigi Duterix.

Amy 30th Anniversary Special

Amy embarks on an adventure to save the small animals and her friends from Metal Sonic.

Out September 2023.

Knuckles & Fang One-Shot

Newly teased 30th Anniversary one-shot issue for Knuckles the Echidna and Fang the Sniper

Out in 2024.

Upcoming collected editions

Scrapnik Island Collection

Sonic and Tails are on an island of spooky forgotten badniks.

Out August 2023.

Seasons of Chaos Collection

Classic Sonic adventures.

Out October 2023.

IDW Sonic Artbook

A special gallery collection containing some of the art of the IDW Sonic series, including art from Tracy Yardley, Adam Bryce Thomas, Evan Stanley, and Jack Lawrence.

Out October 2023.

Knuckles' Greatest Hits

A collection featuring Knuckle's greatest hits throughout the IDW Sonic series.

Includes issues 3, 10, 11, the 2022 Free Comic Book Day special, and the "Guardian" mini-issue from the 2022 Annual.

Out October 2022.

(Story contributed by Spectre from the Tails' Channel Newsfeed, images from Floof for Tails' Channel, with files via IDWSonicNews for Tails' Channel)

#idw sonic the hedgehog #idw sonic #sonic idw #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sonic sdcc 2023 #sdcc 2023 #san diego comic con #comic con #sega #gaming #sonic news #idw sonic spoilers

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mydetheturk · 6 months

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your requested reminder to post knives going nuclear on zazie when you can :)

ok so im going to be reblogging this to the body horrors week later cause. uh. well. knives. quite literally goes nuclear?

all of these screenshots are from the overhaul project cause i haven't managed to catch the dark horse digital editions on sale yet, though i'll provide the dark horse translations where i can because i have physical copies, and the dark horse translations are imo clearer here.

there are ids in all the alt texts for the photos, it's why this took several days longer than i'd originally planned -finger guns- alt texts might look a little weird in the first set btw - tumblr started eating the photoset and i had to spend an extra half an hour fixing it -finger guns-

the pages are volume 11, pages 90-92, and 114-17, because a lot of the pages in between are leadup pages and also have the zazie control worm. thing.

pages 90-2 are the distant explosion (you can click on the first image and see it in the photo viewer, if for some reason it will not view in dashboard mode. But it does exist!)

(on page 90, dark horse is a lot more specific, with "the northeast sky is glowing" instead of "the whole sky is glowing". the other two boxes with text read "what is--?!" and "oh my..!" respectfully as if they were cut off mid sentence.)

so uh.

knives went uh.

literal "nuclear bomb exploded just above a town"

because he kind of did. Unlike a true nuclear bomb, he did not form a mushroom cloud, but the metaphor is still there. that is a nuclear metaphor

per pages 114-117 (pages are from left to right, read the pages right to left. sorry)

(legato's speech bubbles on page 114 in the dark horse edition read: Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. What is about to happen now is a just a logical extension of that. Be very afraid. You are in his presence. Did you not notice, Leader of the Sand Worms?

It reads very differently, imo, more like Zazie was caught up in their own plots and schemes to realize the control worm didn't work. Legato is also telling Zazie that Zazie should be afraid of Knives. Okay? Not asking if Zazie is afraid. Telling Zazie to be afraid. Like some sort of reverse "Be Not Afraid" from the bible.

Zazie's thought bubbles on page 115 are translated as "the dark hole is swallowing the poison" which reads more like knives made a black hole. given the visuals? that sounds more likely. Black holes, as a real life thing that we know about and have tried to study, are often referred to as swallowing things that pass too close. knives made a mini black hole to eat the poison from the sand worm venom. knives has consumed the dependent plants.)

the fact is, as a metatextual read, plants are nuclear reactors. independent plants are walking nuclear bombs. Nightow did this on purpose. We're meant to read them as something nuclear.

This is, as i was saying to @needle-noggins the other night when i was working on it in an attempt to get more of the alt texts written, a casual display of power. Knives is throwing a hissy fit! Knives is throwing a multi-megaton display of power because Zazie tried to take him over with the control worm. Page 91 had needle-noggins and i speechless because on the low end that tower of debris from the explosion is (if we did the very, very rough math right) THIRTY MILES TALL. Twice as tall as the tallest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons! or roughly five and a half times as tall as Mount Everest. On the outside, because we figured its anywhere from 25-30 times taller than the cloud cover, it could be up to thirty seven miles

Over halfway to space on earth.

like.

I know we love the independent plants and all. But Holy Shit. just.

holy shit

#myde talks #trigun #trigun maximum #trimax #millions knives #zazie the beast #legato bluesummers #long post #trigun meta #meta #writing alt text is very hard for me i am trying very hard to make them both descriptive but also not too bogged down with details #if i miss something in them PLEASE TELL ME #i am trying #i also started writing this at like midnight on friday night and then was continuing it on saturday after work and lemme tell you #hell is real and it is working retail during the holidays on saturday #anyway #if someone wants to give my INCREDIBLY ROUGH ESTIMATE of how much bigger the tower of debris is than gunsmokes cloud cover #please do #im curious

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secretsleuthexchange · 8 months

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Hello friends and fellow sleuths!

Secret Sleuth Gift Exchange 2023 is HERE!

what does this mean? this Gift Exchange will be an exchange of fanworks between fandom friends. this is an open exchange, which means it is not ship or character specific, and gifts can be made to cater what interests our participants.

by signing up, you will be committing yourself to creating something fun for your assigned Secret Sleuth based on the form filled out below. but shh… remember it’s a secret! any contact you have with your SS after you receive your assignments should be anonymous or through the exchange admins, to help keep the integrity of the exchange.

what can i make? we have outlined what gifts will be acceptable for our exchange here:

fanfiction (1500 words minimum)

graphics/gifsets (2 image minimum)

icons/header sets (4 item minimum)

fanart

playlists (15 song minimum, appropriate cover art, and linked)

fanvid (2 minutes total minimum)

moodboard (8 panel minimum)

if you have other ideas, check with us to see if they are appropriate! we’re always open to new things!

detailed submissions guide here.

how do i sign up? using this form – please provide as much detail as possible, so we can match you with the best possible Secret Sleuth and to help them create a gift perfect for you!

what’s the timeline?

21 October: sign-ups open for 2 weeks

4 November: sign-ups close

11 November: all gift assignments will be delivered by this date

2 December: check-in #1: we’ll check in to see how you are doing with starting your gift

16 December: check-in #2, we’ll check in a week before the deadline to check final progress, assign posting date and confirm your plan for posting

23 December: all gifts must be completed & drafted, ready for posting

24 December: gifts will be posted starting on this date and continue through the 4 January, amount of slots per day will be determined after sign-ups close

this is an Exchange, so in the spirit of the event, remember that everyone who signs up is going to be hard at work creating the best gifts possible and if you don't think you can commit to that, we ask that you not sign up! everyone will still get to enjoy the fruits at the end of the event!

please reblog and spread the word!

xoxo Secret Sleuth Gift Exchange team

#secretsleuthgiftexchange #nancy drew #nancy drew cw #ndcentral #nace #fanson #ssge23

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drstonetrivia · 7 months

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Chapter 209 Trivia

Why would you remove your shirts!? And how did you not die of an ebullism before you could artfully arrange your capes around your waists?

The Senku 11 here is a reference to the Apollo 11 spaceflight which landed people on the moon for the first time in 1969.

Also, the return of Suika's full melon helmet!

Aluminum has two usages for the rocket: the body, and fuel. It's strong and light-weight, but alone it can't handle the heat of reentry. This is fine since Senku doesn't plan to return.

As fuel, it needs special conditions to release energy, such as those made with thermite.

Cape York Peninsula is where Senku was headed, specifically for Weipa and Amrun, which account for most of Australia's bauxite production. Australia produces around 105 million metric tons of it per year, compared to China (68 million) and Guinea (64 million).

Bauxite itself is a dull, reddish rock made from a mix of aluminum minerals and iron oxides, and the main raw source of all aluminum on Earth. It's usually strip mined as it's found near the surface, and can be done environmentally responsibly by replacing the topsoil afterward.

A few people seemed confused by this random person here: the KoS had already begun reviving people in Australia (hence the buildings show in the previous panel), but they were running low on supplies to revive/feed the manpower they required to get sufficient amounts of bauxite.

Bucket wheel excavators are some of the largest vehicles ever produced, with a few of them featured in the Guinness World Records for their size, though not all of them are huge. They're used to continuously dig up large amounts of dirt and transport it away using conveyor belts.

In the Japanese version, Gen only says "bake*… Excalibur?" rather than the full joke the English translator @CDCubed came up with, "basket-weave Excalibur".

*Bake here is pronounced "bah-keh", and is a shortened version of "baketto" meaning "bucket".

The ship here has influences from the Americans: zig-zag patterns and stripes. The boat's name seems to be "NXN" but I couldn't find a meaning or a reference for it. It's a catamaran— it has two hulls to increase stability and reduce drag, allowing it to be more fuel-efficient.

The food here is all made from corn: corn tortillas to make burritos and tacos, cornbread muffins, then what I assume is corn chowder or soup.

I hope this isn't Yo since he's clothed in the next image, but Suika appears to be getting flashed by a naked person with spiky hair covering themselves up with a tray…

Last chapter we had a moon phase near the new moon, and this time we have a full moon, meaning at least 2 weeks have passed since the mathlympics.

Ryusui, Senku, and Tsukasa are shown on the surface of the moon, but they are not necessarily the three going on the mission itself. The roles they need to fill are "pilot", "scientist", and "warrior", that trio simply fit.

We also know that Tsukasa's choices were Taiju and Chrome, but that was before Ryusui was introduced.

In addition, we've seen that Chrome won't let Senku go on a suicide mission.

I wonder if we'll get an Australian character added to the team, or if the KoS will move on immediately.

I just think Australian slang would be a great addition with Chelsea and Gen around…

#trivia #dr stone #chapters #209

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 5 months

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New SpaceTime out Wednesday....

SpaceTime 20240124 Series 27 Episode 11

Claims Mars could have had flowing water for hundreds of millions of years

A new study based on impact crater erosion rates suggests water may have flowed across the Martian surface for hundreds of millions of years.

New Webb telescope data shows early galaxies looked like pool noodles, surfboards

New images from NASA’s Webb space Telescope show that early galaxies at the dawn of time are often flat and elongated, like surfboards and pool noodles.

NASA’s new mission to capture star stuff

Scientists are working on a new instrument to capture stardust from interstellar space. The instrument called the Interstellar Dust Experiment or IDEX will be a key component of NASA’s new Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe –IMAP which will launch in just over a year from now.

The Science Report

The World Meteorological Organization confirms 2023 was the hottest year globally since records began.

Researchers have taken a critical first step to creating a successful HIV vaccine.

Palaeontologists find a new species of tyrannosaur that’s the closest relative of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Alex on Tech Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 smart phones

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. Later, Gary became part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and was one of its first presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #esa #astrophysics #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff #spacetime

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kbirbpods · 5 months

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and, we're live!

Time for my 2023 stats round up.

First, let's look at the number of hours/minutes per month, shall we?

All of that account for 59 hours & 11 minutes of podfic. Now, comparing to last year, when I had just shy of 31 hours, that looks pretty good. Remember, last year I started in August so I almost doubled it.

We do notice a dip in March & April, which tend to be busy months in the education world. The spike in May is due to Voiceteam. June-August are a bit odd - you'd think a teacher on break would have more time to create. But I had some life stuff hit and it really destroyed my brain.

So, here's my first 2024 Resolution:

Remember how happy podfic makes you & don't let your depression win.

Now, moving on to the breakdowns and fun stuff, shall we?

Here are my top 5 fandoms, authors, ratings, and genres! I also have them in bar chart form and pie chart form, which I'll put below the cut. You'll see a slight difference in the author category -- I didn't include myself or Flowerparrish and my podcast in that as those weren't authors.

Of course, what is podficcing without making covers you love? Here are my favorite covers I made for my own podfics! I have a migraine so please excuse the fact that the images don't line up, vision is blurry:

Now, let's move on to my stats image from above. I used the same format as last year but since I made over 100 more podfic than last year, each microphone now equals five podfics.

As you can see, I participated in a lot of events! I believe I made the most audio for Voiceteam 2022 (as evidenced by my hours/month graph). This was my first year doing Voiceteam and I had a blast. I also got to do Podtogether & Summer Swap for the first time. It was my 2nd year doing ITPE. And then so much more.

My top kudosed collaborative project was "A Fair Compromise" with @wanderingjedihistorian for 212th Appreciation week. My top kudosed solo project was "A Game of Guess Who With Big Blue" by TheWitchBoy. The longest podfic I made was also with @wanderingjedihistorian and was my podfic of our Codywan Big Bang project! My shortest was a Locked Tomb podfic at 57 seconds called Realization.

My first podfic of 2023 was Hot Cocoa by Melime, a "The Batman" podfic. In the middle was Dissipate by SunsetsOverLA for Waxer*Boil month. And the last posted thing was for @fandomtrumpshate, for my top bidder - an Obi-Wan/Jango soulmates AU.

Now, on to 2024! My resolutions are:

To continue working on current WIPs I'm bringing into 2024 - some of which I've already tied up only 5 days into the year

To podfic even when my brain is being a gremlin, because podfic makes me happy and I should be able to focus on that!

To be brave enough to post the first "Soft Wars" podfic and finally tackle the series (kind of the same as resolution #1)

Not to sign up for Big Bangs -- I love them dearly but they actually caused a lot of my burnout this year and I didn't love that. As much as I love collabs, I think I'll stick to Podtogether, multivoices with friends, and gift exchanges this year!

Close the gaps -- aka, as much as I love Clone Wars, I want to focus on all things I love, instead of overbearingly focusing in on one.

Going into 2024, I am going to start tracking what music I use in my podfics, because I was curious about it / @flowerparrish inspired me. I also found a way to track overall Star Wars and then Star Wars broken down into sub fandoms - that should neaten up my "top 5" category a bit.

Happy New Year, all!

And, as mentioned above, screenshots of my actual graphs & tables, for interest sake!

#podfic #podficcer #podficcing #awesome ladies podfic anthology #itpe #itpe 23 #fandom trumps hate #kaje pods #kbirb pods #podfic stats #wanderingjedihistorian #blackkat #flowerparrish #voiceteam #voiceteam mystery box

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copper-dragon-in-disguise · 5 months

Note

Could you do me a favor and tell me literally every piece of info abt dnd you can? Asking for an aster

@amethyst-aster (just so you see it)

hello!

so. this is long which is why there is a cut. i feel i ought to foreworn you that i read the entire players handbook cover to cover the summer i turned 11 because i was lonely and autistic. i memorized it (mostly. little rusty on some of the magic rules but whatever). /not sarcastic so! this is EXTREMELY LONG.

first up! your basics:

dungeons and dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game first created in 1974 by gary gygax. that's not so important. what is important is this: it is currently in its fifth edition (shorthanded as 5e). that is the one i know the most about and it is personally the one i think is the easiest to play, but thats my own preference. my biology teacher thinks 5e is bloody stupid and he plays the second edition (2e), which i find much harder and more limiting.

There are three core rulebooks, and a number of supplementary books.

The most important of those three (and the only one you need to know, really, unless you're the one running the game) is called The Player's Handbook (PHB). It contains the rules for building a character and playing them.

Because it will run you upwards of $50USD per copy, here is a pdf of it on archive dot org.

The other two is the Monster Manuel (MM) (a book of all the monsters in the game) and the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) (a book of how to run a game, but you don't need it as a player). They are here and here.

There are a number of d&d youtubers who have tutorial videos on this type of thing. my favorite is Ginny Di, but there are literally dozens out there.

BASIC TERMS

A Character sheet is the thing you have all the information about your character recorded on. It comes in several variations, but this is a free form fillable pdf version, and this is a free printable (both from the wizards of the coast (wotc) website, but the second is hosted on archive.org) (wotc are the company that owns the copyright to the game).

A class is the vocation of the character. its what they do with themselves, but its not necessarily a job.

A race is the character's species. this is also called their species, but in offical material you'll see it called their race.

A background is how their past shaped the character.

A backstory is that past.

Ability scores are the abilities of the character, they are determined with dice rolls. There are six of them, and many years ago someone explained them with tomatoes and that's still the easiest way to explain them in my opinion. You figure them out by rolling 4d6 and adding up the three highest numbers, for a total of 6 times.

ID in alt text. [I cannot find the original source, I am sorry, nor the graphic's source]

There are various types of dice, conveniently labeled with this image below:

ID in alt. [Source]

The d20 is the most important; its what you'll use to roll ability checks and saving throws and etc.

If you don't have your own physical dice (they are advalible online, at barnes & nobles, and at your local gaming store, but many people don't have a local gaming store (me)), you can roll them on many websites. My preferred one is this one, but any work. Google has its own built in, too.

MAKING A CHARACTER

So. You have your dice, now what?

Now you make a character sheet! there are many videos online explaining how to do this (there is a lovely one here and here), but i'm going to explain it here how I generally do it.

Step 0- OPTIONAL:

Take your character sheet, and come up with an idea. Who do you want to play? A gay disaster who can shapeshift? a hobbit? a chaotic ginger with too many cats and a habit of making deals with eldritch powers? You can be whatever the hell you want. alternatively, you can look at the options in the PHB first, and go from there.

Step 1- Pick a race/species.

There are well over 30 of these, and I'm not listing them all. But the ones advaliable in the player's handbook are as follows:

Dwarf. Your sterotypical mining, axe wielding, beared fantasy dwarf. ex: Gimli, in Lord of the Rings

ID in alt. [Source]

Elf. Traditionally depicted as tall, graceful, and living in the woods. Generally have pointed ears. ex. Legolas in Lord of the Rings.

ID in alt text. [Source]

Halfling. Literally just renamed hobbits, so they don't get sued. Known for being short and excellent cooks. ex. Frodo, Sam, Merry, & Pippin from Lord of the Rings. (I can't seperate them, it feels wrong)

ID in alt. [Source]

Human. We all know what humans are. Generally viewed as very adaptable species in d&d! also in real life. ex. Bill Nye the Science Guy.

ID in alt. [Source]

Dragonborn. A bipedal species descended from dragons. They're cool as shit. ex. I literally cannot think of one i'm sorry.

ID in alt. [Source]

Gnome. Known for being very tinkery, small, and causing mischief. Also, for some reason, for being in gardens. ex. Pike Trickfoot from Critical Role.

ID in alt text. [Source]

Half-elf. Half elf, half something else! They generally have a lot of angst, but not always. Sometimes people say they combine the best of both worlds (elf and human), and sometimes people say they have it really shitty. ex. Keyleth from critical role.

ID in alt. [Source]

Half-Orc. half orc, half something else! I dunno really how to describe them. ex. Fjord Lavorre from Critical Role

ID in alt. [Source]

Tiefling. A humanoid species with horns and a tail, and often brightly colored skin. Extremely Gender in my opinion.

Step 2- Pick a class.

There are 12 core classes, and one more added in a later book. I'll go over all 13!

ARTIFICER. A magical tinkerer. A bit like leo valdez in pjo? Their core stat is intelligence. In my opinion they're very complicated for a first character ever, but do what you want its your game i do not care.

BARBARIAN. If you want to wear no armor, have an axe (or other weapon), and charge into battle shouting, this is the class for you! its fun and decently simple for first time players, in my opinion. Core stat is Strength (and constitution).

BARD. Someoe who uses the magic of creation to do shit. Also known for seducing anything that moves, but that's optional. Core stat is charisma. Seems simple at first, but they have a lot of spells to manage at later levels, but they're not too hard. The main guy in the d&d movie is one.

CLERIC. They're healers and warriors. Generally have got some sort of divine magic, but don't necessarily have to. Semi-difficult? I haven't ever played one, so I don't know how easy it would be for a first character ever. Main stat is wisdom.

DRUID. Person who turns into animals and respects the enviroment. Basically, the lorax, but less orange and with more turning into animals (druid lovers out there i am sorry for saying y'all are the lorax please don't come after me with pitchforks). they're okay for a first character but they can be a little confusing. Main stats are wisdom (and constitution).

FIGHTER. Someone who fights things. The most basic of the d&d classes, and one of the simplest for first time players, probably, but I haven't ever played one so who knows. Main stats are strength or dexterity.

MONK. Person who punches people a lot. Like Aang from avatar: the last airbender. Main stats are dexterity and wisdom. They seem simple, but one of the mechanics is slightly confusing, but they're still really simple.

PALADIN. Your tradition knight. A guy (gender neutral) in plate armor with a horse and loyalty issues. I love playing paladins so much, they're great. Personally I think they're a little confusing. Main stats are Strength & Charisma.

RANGER. Someone who wanders through the forest and fights things, like strider (but not like aragorn) from lotr. Core stats are wisdom and strength. My first ever character was an elf ranger named Thia Nailo. She was awesome. Rangers can also have pet panthers and shit, and sometimes small dragons (not tiny dragons, though. Like horse sized dragons).

ROGUE. A thief. My second ever character, and the first one who I played for any significant length of time (thia's campaign died out) was a half-elf rogue named Enna Helder-Kromlin. Rogues are a really good class for first time players, I feel like. Core stat is dexterity.

SORCERER. Someone born with magic. Main stat is charisma. They can be a little complicated.

WARLOCK. Someone who made a deal with some sort of higher power (eldritch being, god(s), etc) for magic. they make bad decisions for a living and its awesome. my favorite ever character was an elf warlock named Mara. Her patron lived in a shield and she had a wisdom of 5 but a charisma of 20. Core stat is charisma.

WIZARD. Gandalf. Someone who studied magic and learned it that way. Main stat is intelligence. They can get really complicated, really fast, but they're still a viable option for your first time.

Step 3- Backstory

There are other things to do, but its late and i'm tired. What you need to do from here is figure out what your character's life was like before now. Or, if you dont want to, then get a vibe for their personality or something.

NOW WHAT?

When you have a character, your DM (Dungeon master, the person running the game, the ''narrator'') will give you scenario, and you roleplay your way through it.

Literally anything can happen. It's d&d. the rules are suggestions, not actual rules. Make it what you want it to be!!!!

If you have other questions please contact me I love them even if it takes me forever to answer them sometimes.

#d&d #dungeons and dragons #asks #amethyst aster

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mapsontheweb · 2 years

Photo

A pair of satellite images acquired almost 50 years apart--by Landsat 1 in 1973 (top) and Landsat 8 in 2022 (bottom)--reveals striking changes in the glaciers and ice caps of northwest Greenland.

A Half-Century of Loss in Northwest Greenland

Observations of Earth from space are now common. But prior to the 1970s, no Earth-observing satellites had been launched with the specific intent of monitoring our planet’s land areas. That changed with the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. The Landsat mission continues onward through today, with the launch of Landsat 9 in September 2021.

This image pair spans the Landsat era so far, revealing changes across a peninsula north of Thule Air Base (Pituffik). The Multispectral Scanner System (MSS) on Landsat 1 acquired the first image (left) on September 3, 1973. The second image (right), acquired on August 20, 2022, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows the same area 49 years later.

The 1973 image resembles natural color, but it is actually false color (MSS bands 6-5-4). This becomes apparent along some of the ice-free areas where vegetation shows up as red. But with very little vegetation in northwest Greenland, the false-color Landsat 1 image appears similar in color to the natural-color Landsat 8 image (OLI bands 4-3-2). Bare land is brown, and snow and ice are white.

The similarity in color makes it easy to see where glacial ice has retreated, narrowed, and in one case surged. Notice the clear retreat of the large glaciers flowing into the water of Wolstenholme Fjord. Isolated ice caps and smaller glaciers throughout the image all generally shrink, and in some places disconnect from each other. In contrast, the large glacier flowing west from North Ice Cap (Nunatarssuaq Ice Cap) appears to lengthen. Such surging behavior might be caused by ice at higher elevations of the ice cap draining into the glacier.

The images were acquired just two weeks apart in their respective years. Notice that in 2022, the edges of the ice caps and glaciers generally appear much grayer than in 1973. A warm summer in 2022 melted away more of the bright-white snow cover exposing darker, dirtier ice. Fresh snowfall might also be present in the 1973 image, although September is early in the accumulation season, which largely runs from September until May.

Inspired by recent research on changes to Greenland’s peripheral glaciers, Christopher Shuman searched Landsat data records and identified this image pair. “Because this is such a cold, northern area, I figured that the losses over time would be relatively slow, so we needed almost 50 years to show the change,” said Shuman, a glaciologist at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The research showed that peripheral glaciers, which are relatively small and disconnected from the main ice sheet, account for a small proportion of Greenland’s ice-covered area (about 4 percent). But peripheral glaciers account for 11 percent of the island’s ice loss, which makes them outsized contributors to current sea level rise.

Peripheral glaciers in northwest Greenland have been losing about 3.5 to 7 gigatons (4 billion to 8 billion U.S. tons) of ice per year in recent decades amid accelerated warming, according to the research. That’s more than the peripheral glaciers in southeast and southwest Greenland are losing, but less than in north Greenland, where peripheral glaciers have been losing as much as 26 gigatons (29 billion U.S. tons) per year since the early 2000s.

by @NASAEarth

#maps #twittersourced #NASAEarth #greenland #climate change #1973 #2022

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beardedmrbean · 5 months

Note

Hey you know that color hat with a fan on it boys wear like in cartoons? Does anyone knows where that trope came from and why? Is it from the 50’s or something?

The name “propeller-head” is used nowadays for a technophile, sometimes disparagingly, for an enthusiast of technology and (according to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary) especially of computers. In images, the modern geek may be satirized with a cap having one or two toy propellers mounted to spin horizontally above the top of the hat.

So, was this flamboyant hat originated in the flower-powered hippie era of the 1960s? Well, no - decades earlier, in fact. It is generally accepted to have been first improvised in Cadillac, Michigan, using a beanie (a visorless cap) in 1947, made by Ray Faraday Nelson. It quickly became an icon for science fiction fans to identify themselves, and a national fad.

In a published interview1, Nelson described how “In the summer of 1947, I was holding a regional science fiction convention in my front room and it culminated with myself and some Michigan fans dressing up in some improvised costumes to take joke photographs, simulating the covers of science fiction magazines. The headgear which I designed for the space hero was the first propeller beanie. It was made out of pieces of plastic, bit of coat-hanger wire, some beads, a propeller from a model airplane, and staples to hold it together.” Shortly thereafter, it was worn by George Young of Detroit at a world convention, where it was an enormous hit.

Nelson thereafter frequently drew cartoons for fanzines portraying science fiction fans wearing propeller beanies. In 1948, Artist Guy Pène du Bois (1884-1958) painted a “Boy with a propeller beanie” hovering some feet up in the air above what looks like perhaps a sandy beach.

Shortly, it was further popularized by a television program, Time For Beany (video). The show was hugely popular with children, and even adults. The title character was a propeller beanie-wearing puppet named Beany whose sock-puppet friend called Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent was voiced and controlled by an unknown Stan Freeberg!) Starting in 1949, it ran five times a week for five years. It was hugely popular with children, and even some adults (including Albert Einstein, according to a Stan Freeberg reminiscence) (video). That idea of Bruce Sedley on KTLA in Los Angeles, California, was produced by Disney animator, Bob Clampett, who soon followed up with a syndicated, animated cartoon series of Beany and Cecil, in which Beany's propeller enabled him to fly (video).

Nelson went on to become a professional writer of novels and short stories. He made no profit from the fad of sales of beanie hats that followed from his idea.

In the summer of 1947, while still in high school, science fiction fanzine artist Ray Nelson, per his claim, invented the propeller beanie as part of a "space man" costume on a lark with some friends. He later drew it in his cartoons as emblematic shorthand for science fiction fandom. The hat became a fad, seen in media such as "Time for Beanie", and was sold widely by many manufacturers over the next decade.[11]

The propeller beanie increased in popular use through comics and eventually made its way onto the character of Beany Boy of Beany and Cecil. Today, computer savvy and other technically proficient people are sometimes pejoratively called propellerheads because of the one-time popularity of the propeller beanie.

In 1996, student hackers placed a giant propeller beanie on the Great Dome at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The scaled-up propeller rotated as the wind drove it like a windmill.

Propeller beanie drew laughs from Belgian workmen as they unpacked display shipments to show “How America Lives” for the U.S. exhibit at the Brussels Fair, as shown in Life magazine (31 Mar 1958). (source)

______________________________ there's a good amount of this I didn't know, the article at the top goes on further and further too if you're interested I just hit the opening point of who's claimed to have originated it and why, which the wiki article has too.

#anonymous

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saritawolff · 2 years

Text

IIIIIIIIIIT’S ARCHOVEMBER TIME

Day 1 is “your choice” and I chose Psittacosaurus!

~~~~~

I’ve long been fascinated by dinosaurs that we know the colors of and have been trying to draw all of them over the years. Psittacosaurus is very special because we know almost the full life appearance! Of one species, anyway… There are at least 11 species of Psittacosaurus, and it is one of the most completely known fossil genera due to the large sample size of specimens. First described in 1923, hundreds of individual specimens have been uncovered throughout Mongolia and Northern China, from tiny hatchlings to old adults. In 2001, a stolen fossil was discovered with almost perfectly preserved integument. It’s body was covered in scales in irregular patterns. Hollow, tubular bristle-like structures were arranged in a row down the dorsal line of the tail. In 2016, a study was published on the examination of the melanosomes in the Psittacosaurus’ skin. It was discovered to be countershaded: reddish-brown on top with a creamy underbelly. Darker clusters of pigment were found around its face, shoulders, and cloaca, which were likely used for display. It also had large patagia on its hind legs. This specimen has not yet been assigned to a particular species, but it’s what I have drawn here.

~~~~~

Psittacosaurus’ were small, early ceratopsians from Early Cretaceous Asia. One of the largest was P. mongoliensis, which would have reached 2 metres (6.5 ft) in length, and most other species are around that size as well, though there are some which were slightly smaller. Due to the proportions and relative size of Psittacosaurus’ brains, they likely had complex social behaviors. They also had well-developed senses of smell and vision. The size of their scleral rings indicate they may have been cathemeral: active at irregular intervals during both the day and night. They likely had a nut and seed-rich diet which they would have used their strong beaks to crack, and would have swallowed gastroliths to help them wear down their food.

~~~~~

Also, because I’ve noticed that the size chart I make at the end of Archovember is always much more popular than the individual pieces, I’ve decided to make a size chart for each species I draw. 🙃 Yep. I’m drawing two images per prompt. 🙃🙃 Because I love making extra work for myself. 🙃🙃🙃

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and for those who may be joining in: remember to have fun! Don’t be like me! 🙃🙃🙃🙃

#my art #Psittacosaurus #Ceratopsian #Ornithiscian #dinosaurs #archosaurs #archosauromorphs #SaritaDrawsPalaeo #Archovember #Archovember2022 #DrawDinovember #DrawDinovember2022 #Dinovember #Dinovember2022

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novankenn · 6 months

Text

Things Best left ... ALONE (11)

--== Table of Contents ==--

Pyrrha was in thought about the jar and the scant information Mrs Birch was able to offer. So now she had multiple questions to dig up answers to. Why was the jar in a place where it was so out of place? Was it just misplaced? Is the original owner looking for it? So engrossed in her internal monologue, she didn’t see Weiss Schnee approaching her, a sheet of paper in her hand.

“Pyrrha!”

“What? Huh, oh Weiss.” Pyrrha’s voice slid from its normal warmth to a colder tone. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes. I have a proposal…”

“No.” flatly stated

“What? You haven’t heard it yet, how can you say no?”

“Because I have a distinct feeling I know what it is.” Pyrrha crossed her arms across her chest, her emerald green eyes gaining a hard edge to them as she looked down at the much shorter heiress.” So my answer is no. It was No the last time you tried, and it is still No, now.”

“But... But we would be the strongest duo in Beacon! No one could match us academically, tactically and martially. Your strength and skill would be so well complimented by my…”

“Your official partner is Ruby, as per the stipulations of initiation.”

“But she’s…” Weiss started to whine.

“Adapt, and find common ground.” Pyrrha snapped.

“But… we would be…”

“Weiss… stop.” Pyrrha inhaled slowly, attempting to school her facial features, and quell her temper. “Ruby is your partner. Stop trying to make things go your way and adapt. A huntress’ life and career is about adapting to situations… or is this all a… SDC publicity stunt?”

“It is no such thing!” Weiss snapped, her face growing slightly red in either embarrassment or anger. Pyrrha really didn’t care which it was.

“Some advice… make yourself and Ruby a team. Adapt and mentor her. He’s two years younger, she has so much more room to grow… help her do that, and maybe you’ll find you and her are a much better fit for each other than you first thought.” Before Weiss could offer a rebuttal, Pyrrha ended the conversation, “I have things to do, so please excuse me.”

Pyrrha was still rather agitated when she returned to her dorm. Closing the door in a huff, she marched over to her desk and dropped into her chair. Crossing her arms on the top of her desk, she dropped her head on to them and let out a frustrated sigh.

“You are troubled… why?”

“It’s Weiss Schnee… she just won’t take No for an answer. Her partner is Ruby Rose, yet she keeps trying to get me to agree to a partner swap.” Pyrrha again sighed in frustration, “I just wish she would stop, bothering me about it.”

“Do you want… help?”

“No, I’ll just deal with it. Eventually she’ll get the message.”

It was later that night, when Weiss was snuggled down in her bed, covers pulled up to her chin. Her mind had been replaying her recent conversation with Pyrrha, and while she would concede to some of the points made… she would not surrender her idea. They would be the power couple of Beacon… and maybe then she could act on her real feelings. Slowly, Weiss’ eyes closed as sleep took her in to its soft embrace.

Weiss awoke screaming, shocking her partner from her own deep sleep. Ruby rolled off her bed and rushed over to check on her partner.

‘Weiss! Weiss! I have to call the infirmary. Hold on, Weiss, help is coming!” Ruby shouted as she tore her eyes away from the multiple deep, seeping gashes that marred Weiss’ face.

Weiss never heard a word, of what Ruby said. All that was in her mind was a twisted vision, and equally twisted words.

(Image generated by perchance ai text-to-image)

��Just a little reminder… know your place… cunt.” the light musical, and sadistically disturbed voice sang in her ears.

#rwby #pyrrha nikos #jaune arc #pyrrha has no partner #jaune is a fae #horror themed #alternate universe #Beacon has no 4 person teams 1st year teams

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construingseacats · 8 months

Text

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 10: The Six Chosen by the Key

Sun, Oct 5 1986 - 6:00AM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

I’m so excited for this chapter, you have no idea.

Extremely funny mental image of Yasu going to Natsuhi’s room, seeing the charm, then deciding “well if she’s off the table then I’m killing that asshole who gave me night duty while he did his crossword”. Of course, she probably had to kill Gohda to help avoid any incriminating testimony from her changing her assigned position last night, but it’s still funny to think about.

Since the rest are the adults, it’s easy to think about Gohda being an odd one out and the obvious replacement for Natsuhi, but given the above I wonder who the unfortunate backup was. Maybe Rosa? Or potentially one of either Rudolf or Kyrie, originally intending to only kill one of the adults per pair?

I love how Genji goes “Sorry. The Telephones are down” then “By the way Gohda is missing”, and completely neglects to mention that Natsuhi’s door is coated in bloodstains. Just leave the most obvious detail as something for her to find out for herself, you know.

“Natsuhi had a pretty good idea” is SUCH a funny line. Not even concerned by the horror movie trope, she already suspects which family member did it. I wonder who her mind immediately jumps to - although let’s be real, it’s probably Eva.

Eva tries to check on Kinzo and Natsuhi immediately shoots her down. It’s really funny how blatant the cover up is. Like, you’re unlikely to question it, since we keep getting fantasy scenes of Kinzo in his study, but it sure is there if you go looking for it.

Speaking of - the moment we see Kinzo in the office here, we’ve accounted for 17 of our 18 (with 5 known missing). Good game Shannon, we have our six chosen by the key.

Natsuhi, alone in the study, worries about how much Eva is going to tear into her, and then immediately makes up a pep talk to make herself feel good. I’m telling you, these study scenes are a goldmine.

Yeah, Eva absolutely would have been the one to leave bloody scratch marks all over Natsuhi’s door.

Here we go

HERE WE GO

…Okay, you can have that one. Saying it’s a sigh of relief right as they uncover the bodies is very cheeky, but the irony balances out how tense the scene is. It’s a breather for the reader as well.

We actually get a breather with the kids as well. Final moments of innocent Battler caught on tape.

Chills. Full chills.

And here it is.

Allow me to indulge for a moment.

When I was a kid, my first anime was The Haruhi of Melancholy Suzumiya. I watched it through low-resolution fansubs that had been posted on a YouTube that was still in its youth, with each episode awkwardly split into three parts since you couldn’t upload videos longer than ten minutes. I probably watched that at an age that was slightly too young for it, but as a kid who only knew the world of animation through the veneer of kids cartoons and Matt Groening shows (except maybe that one time I watched Spirited Away when I was 5 - which also left a stark impression on me), it really opened my eyes to a world of new media that I hadn’t even conceived of before. I really wanted to see what else there was.

Anyway, my second anime was Higurashi no naku koro ni.

If I was slightly too young for Haruhi, I was definitely too young for Higurashi. But that was part of the appeal, I suppose - the prepubescent desire to cast away the shackles of childhood and prove your maturity. That you’ve grown up. I legitimately remember 10 or 11 year old me showing a friend the scene of Rika stabbing herself in the head while going “look at what I’m watching now! Look how mature I am!” - admittedly, this was to a friend who had allegedly already seen all manner of films rated 15 or 18, so it arguably would have been relatively tame to them, and boasting about your maturity is undoubtedly the most immature thing a person can do.

While the initial appeal there was that Higurashi was “mature”, it was still really interesting. There was good intrigue there, the plot had me hooked, and from start to finish it was a really good piece of media. I’m pretty sure my younger self saw the scene where the sound of gunshots are covered up by fireworks at the local festival and thought it was the smartest plot point in any piece of media ever. Anyway, a short while later, I heard that there was going to be a sequel anime to Higurashi - a new show, called Umineko.

Now, I had a fine time with the Umineko anime. I would have been 12-13 as it was airing - still eager to consume media I was too young for - and, with no bar for quality, I enjoyed it. There was cool gore! The mystery was exciting! The red truth was such a neat concept and the witch fights were badass! Sure, it may not have had as much of a lasting impact on me as Higurashi, but it was still good, right?

Well, it wasn’t good. In fact, pretty much all the anime reviews I saw for it were negative. There were still a few fools like myself who had enjoyed it, but there was one thing I kept seeing - a sentiment that was effectively universal. A simple statement.

“The Visual Novel is so much better.”

I held onto those words for a few years.

I don’t know what the instigator for it was, but somewhere down the line, I decided to act on it. I bought the original japanese version of Episodes 1-4 and 5-8 through what I believe was the old Witch Hunt site - quite possibly one of the dodgiest deals I’ve ever made, as anyone who procured Umineko back in the old days can attest to - and applied the fanmade english patch. The PS3 sprite mod looked so much better than the original sprites, so I installed that as well. And, 10 years ago, I started playing.

It was… fine. I wasn’t a huge fan of how the text covered the whole screen, rather than appearing in text boxes, like it did in the other VNs I’d played. I say that as if I’d actually played any VN other than Katawa Shoujo at that time. But, I remembered liking Umineko, so I pressed on. I pressed on through the boring introductions, through the boring discussions of the inheritance, waiting to get to the cool parts where Beatrice showed up and the magic fights started happening.

But then, we got to this scene.

There I was, sitting with my laptop on holiday, with my cheap earphones plugged in, as the cousins approached the gardening shed. As the adults told them not to get any closer. As they did so anyway.

What followed is some of the most unrelentingly raw reactions to a visceral scene like this that I’d ever seen in any piece of media, ever. This wasn’t the dulled impact that the anime had hit me with - this was a full, unfiltered, uncensored dive into the immutable affliction of being human. They’ve got no faces - you could feel Battler’s unmitigated despair oozing from it all. These weren’t just characters reacting to a scene in a book. This was something more.

This was the moment that I fell in love with Umineko.

Perhaps I gave too much background to that statement - perhaps I’ve fallen afoot of the same criticisms I levied against the earlier parts of the tale for not getting to the point quicker. But that is the play-by-play of how, 10 years ago, this scene went straight for the jugular and bled me dry. This is where I knew I wasn’t just reading another version of that anime I’d seen the years prior, I was reading something special.

I would be remiss to say this is entirely down to the writing - a lot of this is also heavily driven by the blaring tones of goldenslaughterer. If Umineko was simply a series of 8 books, it wouldn’t have had the same effect on me as it has done for the past decade. If this scene wasn’t equipped with one of the most perfect aural accompaniments imaginable, I don’t think it would have stuck with me as much as it did. But the palpable emotion dripping from each word - the killer performances from each of the VAs (Jessica’s screams are INCREDIBLE) - and the musical storytelling doing just as much heavy lifting as the writing is… it’s an inimitable experience. This is what everyone was telling me that I was missing out on back in the halcyon days of 2009. They were right.

Perhaps it was for the best that I did give it those few extra years, so that I could truly appreciate the masterwork being crafted before me. I can’t imagine even beginning to comprehend the themes or the mystery of this tale at age 13, when I scarcely did so at 17. But regardless of the what ifs, this is the path that led me to what I consider, with no exaggeration, a pivotal moment in my life. It’s hard to describe the emotions that were stirred as I approached this scene for the reread - if I had to approximate it, then it would be unbound excitement mixed with trepidation, a great interest in re-experiencing such an important scene tempered by a fear that it may not have been as good as I remembered.

Of course, it wasn’t going to hit me in the exact same way that it did the first time round - you cannot recreate the sensation of a sucker punch when you know that it’s coming. But I can say, with certainty, that this scene was just as good as I remembered. That it still hit all the points that made me fall in love with the story originally.

I cannot wait to keep reading the rest.

Honestly, after what I’ve just said (and my feelings at large), it feels sacreligious to stop and dissect this scene. It’s something you want to just let play out, to absorb the experience - part of me wants to just skip straight to the end.

But still, I’d feel remiss not to mention Nanjo’s acting here - he goes into doctor mode and then realises “wait, I need to be more emotional” before dropping it immediately. One of those moments that doesn’t arouse suspicion on a first read but feels super blatant afterwards.

In for a penny, in for a pound. Hideyoshi looks and sounds so pained having to perpetuate the crucial lie over here. You can really feel the thoughts running through his head of “do I expose it? Is it worth it?”

AND THEN WE GET HIT WITH WORLD END. I cannot stress how much music matters to me and accentuates the experience; a sound novel utilised to the full extent of the medium can truly produce a story that no traditional paper novel ever can.

Phenomenal work from the VA here - they clearly got the memo that this is a panicked “no” of not wanting the lie to be unveiled, rather than one of sincere desire to protect George. Again, you can still interpret it as the latter, so you’re unlikely to pick it up on a first read, but absolutely there on the reread.

There’s an incredible parallel made here of George holding onto Shannon’s smile, while Battler is doomed to remember the gored faces of his parents. Not only is this great by itself, it’s yet another example of fantasy versus reality, with George being able to hold onto happy memories by being ignorant to the truth (even if that truth isn’t a real truth in this case).

“Proved beyond doubt”, the narrative says, about the one body that we should doubt.

No commentary - this is just a great line and I wanted to highlight it.

And so all the associates chime in to cover it up.

I feel like it’s fairly easy to miss how well Eva is taking the whole thing in this scene. Everyone else is traumatised, and she’s holding up remarkably well.

Interesting how it’s the associates setting up the howdunnit as well! I suppose Yasu wants to make sure that element isn’t missed by the would-be detectives.

And so Umineko tells you to your face that this is the story about a serial killer who wants to be discovered. I suppose there’s already elements of that in the letter to solve the Epitaph, but it’s really made explicit here.

I’m still riding the high of the first twilight. I’m not sure if there’s any other scene in Umineko that I’ll gush about to that extent, but I know there’s plenty of moments yet to come that won’t fail to blow me away.

I know it’s integral to the story, and it wouldn’t work otherwise, but I do have to say that the howdunnit hook adds so much to Umineko that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Some of my fondest memories from the first readthrough was trying to figure out how it was all done (without ever considering the scenes that were lying to us, oops). I’m really looking forward to going through that all again, with the lens of love.

#umireread #umineko #umineko spoilers

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7grandmel · 7 months

Text

Todays rip: 17/11/2023

Beyond the Floating Isles

Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: Summer-Colored Smiles ~ The SiIvaSummer All-Star Festival Collection

Ripped by redoxwarfare

youtube

Due to the absolute volume of rips per each album, a lot of my time listening to SiIvaGunner is done so rather passively. I'll chuckle with a joke I recognize, add tracks to "Banger" and "Vibes" playlists if I'm enjoying them, and continue with my day. Its only when I decide to just listen to those playlists in particular that my brain starts getting into gear again. Like...what *is* Beyond the Floating Isles even from? I knew it was an absolute vibe of a rip, yet knew nothing else about it. That was when my journey started - and my sudden, adoring infatuation with the band "Crying".

I only just recently turned 22 years old, and for a long part of that life, I didn't really...listen to music. I enjoyed looking up my favorite video game music, and Minecraft music videos were of course part of the collective childhood of my generation...yet the act of just listening to music for music's sake, the appeal of the creative medium, was somehow lost on me. There's likely something deep-rooted in my neurodivergent mind that explains this, but SiIvaGunner has as a result been a way for me to find bands and albums that I truly connect with - through the shared passion of video game music, I've been able to grow that emotional attachment to bands that I otherwise wholly felt like I lacked. The most prominent example of that is of course Maroon 5 thanks to channel creator Chaze the Chat's enduring passion for the band in the channel's first four Seasons: I've discussed in posts like Moves Like K.K. just how much that passion reflected back onto me, and its far from the only band I've gone through this with. It may sound silly to say, but these video game mashups and arrangements and meme edits have genuinely helped me grow attached to vocals and melodies and themes from the wider music industry that I never would've otherwise.

Which brings us to my most recent experience with this - Beyond the Floating Isles, and Patriot by Crying. After making more of an initiative for myself to listen to more non-VGM this year, and after having this rip sit in my playlists for years on end, I decided it was finally time to do my due digging. What I found was a band I'd never heard of before, with only one true album release, and a lack of any real activity over the last six years. Beyond the Fleeting Gales sits at just shy of 150 thousand views on YouTube - less than SEVERAL of the rips I've covered here on this blog, yet is one of my new all-time favorite albums yet released. Patriot may be the song covered in today's rip and the one I'm the most emotionally attached to, but the album in its entirety exudes a similar vibe that I'm absolutely enamored with - a vibe that redoxwarfare did an incredible job distilling into a rip. Float Islands was an excellent choice for a song to use for such an atmospheric, uplifting song as Patriot - the two themes have little in common in terms of joke-material, but its clear to me that Beyond the Floating Isles was not made with comedy as its main intent.

I have no connection to redoxwarfare - never spoken, not sure of which rips they've made prior, and no true image of their interests and goals as a ripper. Yet Beyond the Floating Isles speaks with so much intent and love - love for a band that feels destined to be forgotten, yet is adored by the few in the masses who have found them. And I extend my deepest, sincerest gratitude toward redoxwarfare for succesfully introducing me to Crying - even if its three years after the fact, I now finally see the Fleeting Gales, and beyond.

(no but seriously go listen to Crying i will break traditional post formatting just to give you easy access to it theyre SO GOOD)

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paperanddice · 5 months

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Dau are fey of the desert, formed of the mirages that can be found in that environment. The method of their creation is argued, as even those dau who have given a reason provide different explanations, but the most likely source is either a humanoid who dies of dehydration while chasing a mirage has a chance of being reborn as a dau, or that if enough travellers see the same mirage and believe it to be real, it produces a dau. Once born, a dau is a short being with skin the color of sand (exact color dependant on the sand from where it was born), agile but flighty and unfocused.

Each dau born creates an illusionary home for itself in the desert, providing for itself with its ability to make illusions solid. They require very little food or drink, a single meal capable of sustaining themselves for days, so often they'll enjoy as many hedonistic desires as they can fabricate. The oases and caravanserai they create are often quite elaborate, drawing in travellers with great wealth and amenities, the dau leading fantastic parties and elaborate events. However, proper etiquette must be adhered to, and the greatest insult of all to a dau is acknowledging the true nature of any illusion it creates. If its hospitality is breached, the illusions surrounding the visitors become horrific, and the dau taunts and hunts them, either killing them or driving them back into the desert, less whatever supplies and equipment they're unable to find under the cover of its illusions.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Dau Creature 4 Small Fey Perception +11; low-light vision Languages Aklo, Sylvan, telepathy 60 feet Skills Acrobatics +11, Deception +11, Diplomacy +11, Stealth +11 Str -2, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +3 AC 21; Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +11 HP 44; Weaknesses cold iron 5 Mirror Dodge [reaction] (illusion, primal, teleportation); Frequency once per day. Trigger The dau would be hit by an attack or affected by a spell. Effect The dau replaces itself with an illusionary duplicate, and teleports to a clear space within 30 feet of it that it can see. The illusionary duplicate is destroyed, and the dau is unaffected by the attack or spell. Speed 20 feet, fly 35 feet Melee fist +9 (agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 bludgeoning plus Life Steal Primal Innate Spells DC 21, attack +13 ; 5th hallucinatory terrain, illusory scene; 3rd mind reading; 2nd illusory creature, illusory object (at will), invisibility (×3), mirror image (×3); Life Steal (necromancy, negative, primal) When the dau hits with its fist, it drains the target's energy. The target takes 2d6 void damage, and the dau regains an equal number of hit points. The target must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save or become drained 1. If the target was already drained, it instead increases the condition's value by 1, to a maximum of 2. Tangible Illusion [2 actions] (illusion, primal) The dau touches an illusionary object of less than 5 cubic feet it created with illusory object and transforms it into a real, physical, nonmagical object. The transformation lasts for 10 minutes, after which the object reverts to being an illusion (or vanishes, if the duration of the spell has ended).

13th Age

Dau 3rd level spoiler [humanoid] Initiative: +9 Life-Stealing Fist +7 vs. AC - 4 damage. Natural Even Hit: The target also takes 3 negative energy damage, and the dau gains 3 temporary hp. C: Tangible Illusion +7 vs. PD (one nearby enemy) - 9 damage. Limited Use: Can only target an enemy affected by mirage arcana. Flight. Mirage Arcana: 1/battle, the dau can spend a standard action to cloak the entire battlefield in an illusion. It makes the following attack against every enemy: [Special Trigger] Lost in the Illusion - The target can’t see through the illusion (hard save ends, 16+). Until it saves, it must roll a normal save each time it attempts to move; on a failure, it accidentally moves to the wrong location (determined at random by the GM). The dau and each of its allies gain a +5 bonus on disengage checks against the target, and can spend a move action to become invisible to all targets that can’t see through the illusion until it moves or makes an attack. The target can give itself a +5 bonus to its save by spending a move action investigating the illusion, or a +10 bonus by spending a standard action (these bonuses do not stack). Mirror Image: 1/battle, as a move action, the dau can create 1d3 illusionary copies of itself. Whenever it is targeted by an attack that rolls a natural odd attack roll, the attack targets one of these illusions instead of the dau, and destroys the illusion. Once all the illusions are destroyed, this effect ends. AC 17 PD 15 MD 17 HP 36

#pathfinder 2e #13th age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #fey #humanoid #pathfinder level 4 #13th age level 3 #tome of beasts #long post

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