#Conflict resolution card games | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cozycottagetarot · 3 months

Text

The Next Chapter Of Your Life

How To Pick A Pile:

Everyone has their own technique for choosing a 'pile'. My recommendation is to clear your mind and focus on each image for a few seconds. The image you find yourself coming back to even when you focus on the other images is the pile for you.

Quick notes on this reading:

It's a long one -- This reading is a lot longer (I think) than what I typically post. I'd appreciate any feedback on the length since it's something I'm experimenting with. The pile titles are colour-coded -- Hopefully, it helps make scrolling to the next section quicker.

Each pile references multiple scenarios -- some scenarios came through stronger than others, but I did my best to write what I was getting to be applied to situations not mentioned.

‼️ THIS READING IS MEANT FOR SELF-REFLECTION AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY -- While this reading does contain a bit of advice and reflective questions, IT'S IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM MEANT TO REPLACE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE OF ANY KIND. Please use your discretion, think carefully before you act and only take what resonates be it a little, some or none at all. (The usual disclaimer is at the bottom).

Reading Masterlist | Patreon | Paid Readings -- Open 🥂

PILE 1 (Scrapbook)

Who are you? Cards: The Poet, The Founder rev, The Queen of Roses

This pile may be the pile for you if any of the following resonates:

Wanting to connect or being very connected to your loving, nurturing and supportive side. You've been receiving messages or sensing that a new connection is on the horizon. Motherhood/parenthood or marriage. Seeking resolutions to a relationship. Leaving behind relationships that have been in your life forever. Giving too much to others. Ending toxic relationships. Finding or wanting freedom. Finding your voice. Finding you. Tapping into your creative side. A quest for happiness.

If none of these individual sentences resonate feel free to check out a different pile.

Who will you become throughout this next chapter? Cards: The Muse, The Gambler

You will begin to bloom. Maybe not fully, but you’ll be more open to taking the necessary steps (which may feel like risk) to flourish. The end result will be you tapping into your creativity and creator energy. But also putting in the work, and changing your approach. I pulled all the cards at once so being able to take in all the cards at once, it’s this sense of making you happen. Gone will be the sense of being who you think you should or are expected to be. You’ll be gaining a new sense of self that is brighter and more wild. The risk is non-existent. It’s more perceived. It seems like a risk to indulge in the aspects of yourself that may seem like they’re more whimsy, but by actually making those things happen, you will transform into someone who can inspire themself. You won’t have to look for inspiration elsewhere, you’ll have it there within you.

How will you find success? Cards: 3 of Keys (The Chess Game), The King rev

Through changing your tactic. This chapter won’t necessarily be easy. There will be conflict with those around or above you, especially if this relates to career or relationships, possibly even both. Detach from the situation and be objective. Waiting for your opening will be the key to your success. For some, it’s a situation where everyone is only looking out for themself and I’m picking up that it's creating a stalemate. With the king reversed, you know what’s best in the situation but someone with more authority than you or a level of seniority if this is a personal relationship thinks they know better but they don’t. It’s about being firm and holding your own as well as not letting your emotions, or the part of you that’s super connected to the situation, get the best of you and influence you to make rash decisions.

Challenges you may meet: Cards: The Astronomer, The Orator, Reflection rev.

I see the biggest challenge here for you being one of mastering yourself in this next chapter. There’s a battle between your emotions and your intuition. To navigate this you need to have a conversation with yourself and determine why you’re having such strong emotions. Where are these feelings stemming from? The astronomer card is here to remind you that whatever the situation is, it’s not really about the past-- it’s not going to help you navigate this chapter. Especially if you’ve been acting according to what’s expected of you when the current/upcoming situation(s) requires you to do what is true to you. I hope I'm not repeating myself too much here, but the challenge becomes exploring the why behind the emotions so you can better make decisions and listen to your intuition. BUT, keep in mind that it doesn’t mean not to listen to your emotions at all.

Another message here is that working with other people may also show up as a challenge. There's a reminder to listen to other people's perspectives but also know that choosing to hear someone’s POV doesn’t mean you have to absorb it as yours either.

Finally, even when it gets tough, don’t doubt yourself. Take your time. It may seem like you have to have it all figured out and know what to say and which decision to make, but not really. It’s easy to feel that way when it feels like everything is at stake, but again, if you feel that way, pause and ask yourself why? Once you have your why, you can take on the world.

Lessons To Be Learned: Cards: The Painter, 8 of keys (the master artisan)

This definitely feels like it relates to career or passion projects, but of course, just adjust to your individual situation. It may or may not mean anything, but your cards have lots of florals.

Your lessons in this next chapter of life relate to learning to connect with yourself, speaking up and putting yourself out there. Your energy is one that makes me feel like you have such an amazing talent you're hesitant to embrace. You have so much to learn and just as much to offer... this is the beginning of that journey. Don’t be shy. There are opportunities out there waiting, you just have to figure out the way to pursue them that is most authentic to you. Even if it’s simply an opportunity to give love and kindness. I know I focused a lot on career and creativty, but this goes for relationships too. There is a lot of heavy energy covering this beautiful light-hearted one that just wants to break free. If you are considering going into teaching or taking up a teaching opportunity (not necessarily even in a formal education system) or enrolling in a course of some kind, I feel like this is a nod to say go for it. Especially pottery or beadwork? Trade work as well, maybe even culinary school or food-related skills. (I could be projecting there on the culinary aspect though as that's what I did and the imagery on the card reminds me of it).

Advice to take with you in this next chapter: The hound and pear (loyalty) — This card is always a bittersweet card whenever I see it. The message here is one of loyalty and friendship. A new relationship (of any kind), one founded on friendship, is precious but also delicate. Don't make irrevocable decisions based on conclusions. It must be treated with care on both sides because it can be damaged easily.

The deer and oat (healing) — Rest and recharge. Moderation and mindfulness are also key for recovering from difficult or intense situations. Ask yourself, how you can rest and nurture yourself?

The snake and fern (starting over) — it’s time to finish breaking free from the past so you can become something new. So you can return to your true self. What has protected you and brought you to this point? Are you in a position to release it? Are there any parts of your past self that you can regrow from (like snipping off part of a plant that may be unhealthy and leaving the rest so it can re-catch itself, not sure why I picked that analogy) or must you grow anew? (Planting a new seed, from the old plant. The essence is still there but a completely new plant will grow)

If you made it this far I appreciate it. Feedback is welcomed and if there's a topic you'd like me to cover in a pac, feel free to let me know!

Pile 2 (Compass)

If you’re drawn to pile 1 feel free to check that out as well.

Who are you? Cards: The Oracle of Delphi, the Sentinel, the Forgotten

This pile may be the pile for you if any of the following resonates:

Intuitive. Connected to a higher power. Diety work. Past lives. Psychic powers. Perseverance. Fighting back. Confidence threatening to become arrogance. Dominance dancing on the lines of domineering. A force to be reckoned with. Someone who's sometimes brash. Amor fati (love of fate). An academic. Dreamlight Valley. Self-esteem issues (past or present). Someone who was looked past and from it learned not to try. Fear. Anxiety. A lost soul stumbling in the dark. Chaos. Morally grey. *You may be an avid reader or enjoy fantasy media as well.

My Overall Impression: You’re a force to be reckoned with and reckon you will. Your energy is just pure power and chaos. I low-key feel like you’re battling with life/the universe (call it what you prefer, that’s just how I prefer to call it). There’s this energy of "Try me" and the universe is like "I got one for you, watch and see". But there’s no malice. I just get fed-up vibes from you and the response from life is like "Okay 👀, but chill." Enemies to lovers with life itself.

Who will you become throughout this next chapter? Cards: The Ark of the Covenant, Beith — Birth, The Queen, The Assassin

The Queen and The Assassin flew out with such fury! You’re going to become someone worthy of wearing a crown. But it comes at a price, though it’s not one you can sit around and sulk about. The next chapter of your life reminds me of being forged in fire. Now you’re stepping into the role and identity of someone who can achieve your goals. It’s dark at times, but you’re gaining the skills to do what you want to do and I get the feeling this "thing" you're meant to do is one you may feel on a deep or soul level. (It is) fulfilling a higher calling or purpose. At the very least, you’re becoming someone who has decided that this is the last time they repeat a cycle.

You’re working towards something more and it feels like by the end of this chapter, you’ll be granted a brief reprieve. There’s still more work to be done though. You’re stepping into a new era where so much will grow from you. For some of you, a new romantic relationship is coming in and/or you're expanding your family-- that includes found family as well.

How will you find success?

Cards: 4 of Roses (views of the ego) the Witch. Rev

The first message that comes through is that your success lies in cutting someone off. Someone selfish and self-absorbed to be exact. It’s a relationship you’ve stayed in too long... they could have had some kind of hold over you, not necessarily in a controlling way, but they could have meant something on a deep level which could have been why you held on. You may have done a lot you’re not happy with because you’ve done it with this person in mind. Cutting ties with them grants you success as it allows you to focus on what’s truly important to you.

The other message with the witch reversed is the importance of remembering that while you’re forging your own path, it’s okay to look to others who have made it or 'gotten out'. Maybe they haven’t gone through the exact same thing, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t wisdom in the stories of others who’ve forged through and paved their own way as well. Pile one was about breaking away from the expected, but you’re being called to review what is expected and see if there’s anything worth considering. Kind of like shopping around for inspiration? You might come across someone else's story and it might spark an idea within you on how to navigate your own.

Challenges you may meet-- Cards: The Tailor Rev, The Scribe

Your challenges in this next chapter involve trying not to force your will upon the flow of your life and refining your focus. I know, I said forged in fire. There’s an imbalance of sorts... instead of firing and hoping you hit the target (your goal), you need to pause and take a good look at what’s working vs what isn’t. The 'wheel of life' worksheet/exercise comes to mind but I personally hate that exercise so much. I bring it up because it allows you to get a visual of what areas of your life you've been focusing on vs neglecting and pinpoint which areas of your life you’re lacking in. From there you can further assess and gain a better grasp on what you should be focusing on. After all, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

With the scribe, you may need to study or fine-tune your skills regarding a specific matter more. Here, there's something you need to learn to influence your life in the way you want, but you have to take the time to figure out what it is that you need to learn. It doesn’t have to be formal learning either. It could be something such watch a YouTube video, reading a book or article, or even taking a free online course or masterclass. Nothing is too big or too small here, as long as it's helping you to develop to get from point A to B.

Lessons To Be Learned:

Cards: 8 or scrolls (path unknown), the diviner, the puppeteer

The 8 of scrolls here reminds you that you’ve been travelling on a path where you know the outcomes, but to get to where you want to be sometimes requires walking down paths that may mean you don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens. At the same time, that’s how opportunities we didn’t know we needed arise. In the card imagery, there’s a basket next to the girl filled with scrolls, the same type of scrolls pictured in the scribe card. I think for you it’s learning the skill or information I mentioned that is going to help you feel more confident and assured on this path you’re following. You’ve got the energy of the queen archetype (regardless of gender), and though it may be a challenge, you’ve equipped yourself with the skills necessary to go after what you want. You’ll have what it takes 100% to move on to the next phase (after this one we're talking about).

The Diviner is about divine timing and evaluation. Here you’ve done all that you can with what is in your control. What’s left now is waiting for your desires outcomes to come to fruition. While you can’t rush or force things, you can make sure you set yourself up for success when you get it. So let's say you're waiting on receiving a sum of money, in the meantime you can learn/brush up on the skills to manage money etc.

Finally with the puppeteer, mending relationships could also be a lesson. Although I think it’s more about learning to interact with others better? But also remembering that sometimes apologies can mend relationships and other times they can’t. Going back to that relationship mentioned way before, it could be a matter of "are you willing to forgive the other person if they were to apologise and see the error of their ways?" (Though with the type of person mentioned that may be unlikely but, who knows).

Another possibility with the assassin card is that you may ruffle feathers at some point, so you may learn the power or limits of an apology in that sense as well.

Advice to take with you in this next chapter:

The Finch and Peach (romance) — romance is on its way to you. Things to ponder on could be: do you feel ready to welcome love into your life? What are some things that make you feel loved/how do you like to receive love?

The Marten and Foxglove (mischief) — this card asks you to stay open to opportunities that allow you to tap into your playful side, be spontaneous or travel. Ask yourself how can you make room for spontaneity? (It could be through trying new foods, reading a different genre, visiting a place you wouldn’t typically visit, changing up your daily routine etc). Also are you at a point where you can open yourself to new adventures, big or small?

The Boar and Pumpkin (confidence) — You’re not wrong to be confident in yourself, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Take a moment to acknowledge your accomplishments and think about what you’ve done that you’re proud of (doesn’t always have to be tangible, it can also be mindsets, situations you’ve walked from etc).

The Snake and Fern (starting over) — Again, if you were drawn to pile one, I suggest you check that out. Here this card nods to beginning a new and asks you to see if there are any parts of yourself you can return to, or if it’s time to completely start anew and discover yourself from scratch.

If you made it this far I appreciate it. Feedback is welcomed and if there's a topic you'd like me to cover in a pac, feel free to let me know!

Pile 3 (The Trunks/Suitcase)

Who are you? Cards: The Smith, The Twins, The Lookout, The Askashic Library, 3 of Forces (Bird’s Nest)

This pile may be the pile for you if any of the following resonates:

The overthinker. Having a twin or prominent Gemini placements. If you're considering something you’ve been wanting to do for a while but keep putting off. A relationship with someone in which you both started on the same path but they went in another direction. Holding onto resentment. Feel like everything is up in flames. Writing. Seeking self-awareness. Manifesting. Intuitive. *Read that book you’ve been meaning to read. Needing a backup plan. Expanding. Hopeful prospects.

*If this doesn't feel like your pile, and you were eyeing pile 4, definitely check it out. This pile was actually the last I pulled and the hardest to read for and it felt like many aspects of it related to other piles as well. I recommend checking out a secondary pile in general if you were drawn to one.

Who will you become throughout this next chapter? Cards: The Waker, The Runaway, The Warrior (Sorry, I forgot to write down some of the cards 🤦‍♀️, I believe it was 'Fated Meeting' and 'Queen of Scrolls')

You’re becoming someone who is becoming centred/aligned and more intuitive. Your internal world and external world are going to become more connected. Connected to your ‘higher self’ as well, it’s going to be you vs you (levelling up). You’re going to become someone who can face the things you’ve been running from head-on.

That thing you’ve been putting off, you’re going to be able to finally put into action. Coming into being filled with inspiration, clarity and direction. This is especially if you’re considering careers/education, or projects in the fields of writing, publishing, marketing, communication, counselling or teaching. If you’re seeking a mentor, this person could help guide you to becoming this way. It could also be someone in your life already that may help you who is in one of these fields.

For a select few of you, you’re becoming the version of you that was meant to meet your person. If it’s not a romantic partner, then you’re coming into contact with a soulmate (meant as someone you have a ‘soul bond’ with).

Where Will You Find Success? Cards: 4 of Keys (Clearing The Way), Reflection, The Cartographer rev, The Weaver

If you find yourself prone to many different avenues of ideas and project but never settling on one, you’re going to find your success through settling on one thing and focusing on it. It’s time for you stop buckle down and stick with one of those brilliant ideas of yours and make it happen.

Also while it may be time for you to focus on one thing professionally or creatively, when it comes to yourself, it’s time to embrace all the pieces of you that seem random. It reminds me of this post I saw a couple of days ago about how we don't have to force ourselves fit perfectly into an aesthetic... that it's okay to have and embrace parts of your personality that are completely left field of the other bits that go hand in hand. So for some of you, maybe it’s time to embrace all the pieces of you that don’t go together neatly. Maybe that’s why you have these ideas and start them and then ditch them, because you’re a multifaceted being and you’re not allowing yourself to be so and that is the way it manifests in your life? Maybe it’s time to learn how to let all the sides of you coexist without getting lost. Food for thought maybe?

Regardless, it’s time to remove distractions that are holding you back. Tap into your intuition. Become more aware of your emotions. There's a sense of self-mastery is needed here.

Challenges You May Meet? Cards: The Pathless, The Miser, 1 of Scrolls (On Track), Up In The Air, 6 of Forces (The Waterfall) rev

Your challenges kind of relate to the things that were mentioned already. Being in your head, overthinking things, being unable to settle, but also trying to avoid falling into a headspace where you’re being pessimistic and stubborn. Just because you stick to one thing doesn’t mean you can’t shift and adjust your approach. And if you find that you’re really stuck don’t be afraid to just take a step back. If this is all relating to something where other people are giving you their unsolicited advice, don’t be afraid to brush it off and say “Hey, I might have hit a block but trust that I know what I’m doing”. Another scenario is to not internalise any unsolicited advice or opinions because I feel like that could be a trigger for getting lost in your head for some of you.

For overthinking, it'll be about learning to accept that you won’t be able to know the exact outcome of certain things. If you’re working with someone else, then feeling like you are in control or that you have a say may be the challenge. For others, the challenge may simply be making the decision or committing. It could also be coming to terms with the fact that you waited so long to pursue this goal.

Lessons To Be Learned: Cards: The Brawler, The Forgotten, 2 of Roses (The Winged Messengers), Uriel and the Sphinx, the king of roses

With the Forgotten you’ll learn that you can’t be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes help you grow. You'll come to realise how much fear has been holding you back. There's also learning how to make something out of your anxiety. Learning not to run from conflict or maybe how to properly address it could also be another lesson. This could be regarding internal conflict or conflict with another person as I am getting multiple scenarios come up.

Again there's a message here that for some of a romantic suitor specifically coming in. Overall for everyone there’s an important relationship making its way into your life. The mentor shows up as a neutral energy throughout the reading (or balanced feminine and masculine). Their energy is thoughtful, nurturing/comforting and supportive.

Advice — The Goat and Willow (overdoing obstacle) — even though there are losses to suffer, you can overcome them with renewed energy and the right balance. When obstacles appear, prioritise realigning yourself with your goals. You can even get ahead of the game and brainstorm ways to handle potential obstacles before they arise. The Chipmunk and Laurel (success) — Your path to success will be a unique one, one you have to create on your own, but there will be adventures along the way. The Elk and Ash (strength) — Don’t be afraid to fight back when met with a challenge.

If you made it this far I appreciate it. Feedback is welcomed and if there's a topic you'd like me to cover in a pac, feel free to let me know!

Pile 4 (The plane around the world)

CW: Brief implication of strong language

Who are you? Cards: The storyteller, the mascareri, 1 of roses (commitment), 6 of roses (the war of roses)

This pile may be the pile for you if any of the following resonates:

Someone who struggles with the 'self'. You may hide your true self and struggle to accept others' true selves. For you, you could spend a lot of time crafting your persona. For some of you you maybe in positions where you delegate to others or are responsible for others' behaviour (managerial or boss positions). Some of you could work with kids or want to work with kids. Putting on a mask. Neurodivergence. You could enjoy writing or be a writer of some kind. The arts. Struggling with a partnership (romantic or business), trying to balance honouring yourself and their wishes? Conflicted about a relationship. Feeling like there's a battle between your head vs your heart.

Who will you become throughout this next chapter? Cards: 4 of Scrolls rev (The Karmic Trenches), The Patron rev, The poet You’re becoming someone with so much to offer and is still looking to grow. However, people may want to take advantage of that. Becoming someone who doesn’t hesitate and is in love with life. Embracing that life is imperfect. Becoming more vulnerable. Finding like-minded people. Embracing happiness. Tapping into your creative spirit. There could be an ending of some kind, though you didn’t want it, it brought a world full of new opportunities. You're finally breaking a pattern but also having the awareness to know when you’re tip-toeing along the lines of going back. Coming out of the dark. This sense of being healed on multiple levels and being able to finally experience joy.

Where will you find success? Cards: The Astronomer Rev, The Hound, 5 of forces (summer/winter), 7 of keys (The Ascent) You’re going to be finding success through setting long-term goals. If this is about a financial situation especially, then also finding a balance between focusing on what is necessary and not letting the 'wishlist' desires lead you astray. It can apply to any situation in general though. Focusing on what’s necessary and the things you would like to do coming afterwards.

There's also a matter of assessing where your loyalties or priorities lie and releasing habits, relationships, and ideas that are no longer serving you. Loyalty and staying true to your word might be something you value heavily and stand by, but I also see you finding success in this next chapter of your life by realising, you know what, sometimes you have to cut your ties, count any losses and move on because staying is only doing more harm than good. For some of you who have a relationship in mind or the relationship part resonated with you, this is especially true.

Taking action in general will bring success. This chapter could either close out or begin in the summer, or summer will mark an important time for you. With the 7 of keys, your success is guaranteed as long as you put in the work.

Challenges You May Meet: Cards: The Founder, The Shepard, 3 of Scrolls (Setting Your Course), Caught in The Ruins With The Founder, a challenge you might run into is needing to put yourself before someone else who is asking you for your help, although I'm also feeling it maybe asking you to put them first. You might struggle to determine whether or not you should offer them your help. The Shepard urges you to step up and take the lead when others need guidance. However, I think the best question to ask is what kind of person do you have to show up as in order to offer them your support? And also what type of person do you have to show up as to meet your goals? I’d say make a decision on how to proceed based on whether the two can successfully coincide or not.

A lot of different situations come up in this pile— relationships, career/finance, behaviours… but the common theme here seems to come down to mindset. Whatever the situation is that has you feeling trapped, you have to realise that it’s not definitive, even if it seems that way in your head. It seems like a lot of what is going on, and what you have to overcome, is self-sabotage and realising that just because you’ve always done something a certain way or a situation has always played out that way, doesn’t mean it will always be that way. You have the power to change; the challenge here simply lies in picking yourself up and dusting yourself off. There’s so much more out there for you than what you’re seeing right now. If relocating or travelling, especially where you have to cross the ocean, is something you’re hoping to do, then the end of this chapter we’re discussing in this reading might be the beginning of that next chapter in your life.

Lessons To Be Learned: Cards: 3 of Roses (Loving Elementals), 5 of Roses (The Garden)

The lessons here are about having a sense of child like wonder, and learning to find joy and exploration in life. Being able to laugh and play and find inspiration once more. If any of you have been thinking about starting a family (not necessarily right away) then it’s likely that this chapter will set you up for that. If not then I think a matter of legacy here. Being exposed to opportunities to nurture and grow the future you desire.

You’ll learn that sometimes you are the one who has to be the catalyst to change your life. I love this line from the guidebook of my Citadel Orcale cards regarding the catalyst. It says “ You are the bolt of lightning that topples the tower”. If you think about the Tower card in the traditional tarot deck, there’s lightning striking the tower and setting it on fire. Whenever it comes up it talks about upheaval and there’s often a sense of “oh great, something’s about to come **** up my life” but maybe [we] should consider that we’re not always the tower, but instead, we are the lightning. You have to make the decision to do or become something different, even if goes against what you've always known or what everyone tells you you should do.

What’s also important is not dwelling on past mistakes or regrets, it’s about learning from what happened and using it to make a better decision. Stop doubting yourself and overthink until your head hurts. Give yourself some grace and self-compassion. Take your time, changing isn’t going to happen overnight and often times we have to adjust to who we’re allowing ourselves to become.

Advice to take with you in this next chapter:

The Bee and Pomegranate (productivity) rev — If you find yourself struggling with procrastination, don’t be afraid to rest a while before giving whatever it is another go. Consider what makes you productive as well as what you can do to change why you’re not feeling productive towards another task.

The Racoon and Sycamore (curiosity) — The time is now to do some self-exploration. Explore new interests and hobbies as well as take time to think about how you’ve evolved and how you’d like to further evolve.

The Finch and Peach (romance) — Love is on its way to you. (I did kind of feel like it’s romantic love but it wasn't a prominent message in the reading.)

The Bear and Cedar (leadership) — You’re being guided towards leadership opportunities but remember to ‘rule’ with fairness and care. Ask yourself how can you be a better leader? Who can benefit from your knowledge and experience?

If you made it this far I appreciate it. Feedback is welcomed and if there's a topic you'd like me to cover in a pac, feel free to let me know!

*** Disclaimer: All readings and tarot/blog games are for fun and entertainment purposes only. It is in no way meant to act as or replace professional advice of any kind. You know yourself and what’s going on in your life best so I ask that you trust yourself above all else. Finally please take only what resonates from the reading which may be some of it, all of it, or none at all.

#pick a card #pick a pile #pick a card reading #pac reading #pick a picture #pac #pick a pile reading #tarot reading #cozycottagetarot

745 notes · View notes

raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 months

Text

fun fact about the beans day events!

According to her recent Twitter posts, Beans Day/Beansfest is memorable to Yana because she was able to create the entire event (including the story, costumes, and cards). Usually there is a different person responsible for writing the events, but since Beans Day/Beansfest was the first ever event for Twisted Wonderland, Yana was asked to handle it. She was also responsible for the second Beans Day/Beansfest event, since it is very much tied to the first and has a story which runs concurrent with the first one's.

Yana also tells us that she enjoys writing about characters getting serious about something that the audience may find pointless. This is reflected in how seriously the NRC students take the game, and is also demonstrated in Black Butler, which often features short interludes where the large cast of characters are getting up to some silly shenanigans while the overall narrative is far darker.

A lot of this makes sense in retrospect; Beans Day/Beanfest just felt very different from other story events, as it is the one of the few events (outside of the Halloween events) where the entire NRC student cast is heavily involved and has their key part to play rather than just brief asides. It's also the one I believe that Yuu is the most "involved" in the conflict and its resolution.

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #Black Butler #notes from the writing raven

434 notes · View notes

prokopetz · 8 months

Note

Ttrpg where you play yugioh for conflict resolution.

Given the role the card game plays in the source material, I'm pretty sure that's technically a LARP.

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #yu-gi-oh #larping

630 notes · View notes

therealdogsinmymind · 19 days

Text

✩ My Rival (All Mine) ✩

18+ MDNI

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

AO3 Link | Word Count: 2,394 | Chapters 1/1

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Synopsis: Sung Jinwoo pisses you off but maybe you've you've finally found a way to ruffle his feathers a little bit.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Pairing: Sung Jinwoo/Reader, Sung Jinwoo/You

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Tags: Reader POV, Gender Neutral Reader, Virgin Sung Jinwoo, Jealous Jinwoo, Rivals to Lovers, Bickering, Kissing, Neck Kissing, Tenderness, Light Angst, Miscommunication, Conflict Resolution, Happy Ending

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Picture from @oo0mika0oo ‘s icon edits

“You piss me off,” you say under your breath, fully intending for him to hear it. He always fucking does.

You don’t like Jinwoo, you never have. Not before you awakened as an S-Rank hunter and you saw him on TV and certainly not now that you know him personally. He’s got shitty vibes and an even worse personality. He’s closed off, and you can smell his fucking god complex from a mile away.

“Good to know,” Jinwoo says coolly, taking a sip of his water. You don’t know why he needs it, he hasn’t even broken a sweat, despite the fact that he’s been running circles around everyone in the training arena for hours. Just to show off, you suppose. He’s kicked almost everyone’s ass so far, sans for yours. You really don’t feel like going up against him though, you’d like your ass to remain un-kicked, thank you. There’s also some cards you’d rather keep close to your chest; but god you wish you could rub his face in the dirt just once.

As Jinwoo lingers against the wall next to you, head turned just barely so you’re in his line of sight, you grow increasingly agitated. Why the fuck did he come over here? Why is he looking at you? What’s his deal? He’s always doing this, he’ll follow you around just to piss you off. You swear he started going to the only coffee shop you like just to torment you with his extremely pretty, extremely punchable face. As your irritation reaches max cap you decide it’d be better to just take a deep breath and walk away, you don’t need to get into a pissing contest with this guy, you’re better than that. You’ll be taking your leave now.

You spring up, intent on heading for the door when Jinwoo calls after you, ”You don’t want a round?” Yeah, no.

You turn around briefly, still walking backwards towards the door. ”With you? No. I can think of better things to do with my time.” You take a little pleasure in the way Jinwoo looks slightly shocked at your rebuff. You turn around and pick up the pace, hoping to get the hell out of dodge.

Suddenly Jinwoo’s in front of you, blocking the door, having somehow appeared out of the shadows. ”Fuck!” You startle, you didn’t know he could do that, is there anything he can’t do?

“The better things, what are they?” Jinwoo asks, staring at you intently as if your face will reveal the answer.

”What?”

”What are the better things?” He repeats.

”I don’t know, dude? Get laid? Not that you would know anything about that.” It doesn’t even occur to you until his face twists, all sorts of emotions that you’ve never seen on him. They mar his usually such impassive features; he’s jealous. You said it as a joke, really more than anything wanting to call him a virgin, but this is too good. You have to hold in a laugh, it’s almost unthinkable, you have an antagonistic relationship with him at best. It intrigues you though, you wonder if you could push his buttons like this, he’s usually so unconcerned with others.

When Jinwoo doesn’t reply right away you take that as your cue, needling him, “Anyway- I do actually want to get fucked sometime today, so if you’ll excuse me…” You have no such plans but you wave your hand at him dismissively anyway, just to be a bitch.

His face stays twisted but he doesn’t otherwise react so you push harder. Leaning in close to him and speaking low so as to not be overheard, “Unless you want to see to that.” It’s just to throw him off his game, you just want to see him gape like a fish, or maybe sputter, curse you out, anything. You’ve thought about what Jinwoo might be like in bed before of course, who hasn’t, a simple curiosity if you will. That’s neither here nor there, you’re truly just aiming to rile him up at this point; surely any second now he’ll reel back and run away.

Instead Jinwoo grabs your wrist and pulls you out of the training arena. All that comes out of your mouth is a grunt, too worried about making a scene. Although maybe you should, where the hell is he taking you and why? He says nothing, simply dragging you down the hallway until he seems to sense an empty room where he promptly tosses you in; and for all your agility and grace you still land right on your ass. Great.

He shuts the door behind him just as you’re springing up, ready for a fight. That’s the only reason you can think he dragged you out here, to kick your ass away from prying eyes, the room is kind of small though, maybe he’s just that overconfident. You decide you won’t let him throw the first punch but it’s too late, Jinwoo’s fast, faster than you. You’ve barely had any real combat training as a new hunter and he’s the real deal. He’s in your space before you can even blink and you’re sure he’s about to beat you to a pulp. However no pain comes, there’s only a horrible sense of too-quick motion and then you’re seated firmly, feeling a bit dizzy. It takes you all but a moment to realize you’re sitting on Jinwoo’s lap, he seems to have scooped you up and sat down on a couch; you must be in someone’s office.

“I’ll be seeing to that now,” Jinwoo says in a low voice, giving a healthy pause before he moves at all, perhaps to let your brain catch up with his words.

It sure tries its best, running at a million miles a minute. You think about the fact that you hate Jinwoo, he’s fucking annoying, he’s stupid as shit. Your mind screams at you that he’s too powerful, it's dangerous, you shouldn’t get close. He’s too confident even if he can back it up, it’s kind of hot. You ignore that last part, you don’t who said that. However you also have eyes, he’s really fucking good looking and maybe if Jinwoo wants to fuck you so bad you can make him work for it a little.

You slip out of his arms and off of his lap. You don’t even dream of laughing at the poorly concealed heartbroken look on his face; it’s actually kind of sad to see. You click your tongue before sliding back onto his lap but this time straddling him.

“Come now, don’t make that face, I'm just getting comfortable,” you coo at him, stroking your thumb across Jinwoo’s cheek, it’s oddly tender for what the two of you have. He just looked so sad. He leans into it and it makes you want to be nice to him again, disgustingly enough. You lean in and give Jinwoo a soft kiss on the tip of his nose, deciding to kiss him more when he sigh softly, happily. You’ve never heard him make that noise, it’s entirely new to you, you wonder what kinds of other new sounds you can drag from him. More kisses, one on each of his cheeks, and again on the corners of his lips, missing the true mark purposefully. Jinwoo audibly swallows and his arms wrap loosely and hesitantly around your back. It appears all of his earlier confidence has sapped right out of him. You wonder if you were right on the money when you said he doesn’t know anything about getting laid.

You press a kiss to his jaw and linger there. “Jinwoo,” you whisper softly against his skin and he shudders. That’s cute, but you must stay focused, you have to ask, “Have you done this before?”

Jinwoo stiffens, “Define…’this’...”

“Fuck someone, baby.” He whines a little at the pet name and you make mental note of that. “Have you ever fucked someone before? Been with anyone? Made out? Kissed? What are we working with here?”

He clears his throat and turns his head away from you as his cheeks go red. You groan and drop your forehead onto his shoulder. You were just going to mess with him a little, kiss him a bit and leave him wanting more; but there’s no shot in hell you’re going to fuck up his first time. He deserves someone better than you for that, someone he actually likes. You have to ignore the way that thought stabs you in the heart so badly you can barely breathe.

“I’m sorry, baby,” you say, your forehead still resting against his shoulder, “We can’t do this.”

“Oh,” Jinwoo says, voice flat, devoid of any emotion, truly reminiscent of the closed-off man that you so often see. His hands fall away from your back and you wince at the way he shuts down.

“Hey,” you pour as much emotion into your voice as possible, “I promise it’s not you.” You tuck your head into Jinwoo’s neck and squeeze him tightly. You wonder if he can still breathe like this, you feel like you can’t despite nothing restricting you. “When you find someone you like you’ll be glad we didn’t do this.” He says nothing so you pull back to take a hesitant look at his face. Jinwoo looks angrier than you’ve ever personally seen him.

“Already did.”

He grabs you by the face with both hands and before you can figure out if you heard him right, Jinwoo crushes your lips together too hard and too fast. However once your lips are touching he hesitates for a second, unsure of what to do next. Well, apparently you heard him right, and his hasty kiss answers all of your follow up questions about what he said, go figure.

You can’t just leave him hanging, so you kiss him back like your life depends on it. All in all it’s a crappy kiss. Your teeth clack together painfully, he can’t seem to find a rhythm with you, and you bump noses incessantly too. Despite all this you can’t fucking stop kissing him; you don’t think you could even if the world was ending. Jinwoo pulls back after a bit, gasping, apparently no one ever taught him how to breathe.

You grab Jinwoo by his hair, “Breathe through your nose, dipshit.” Using your hold on his hair you pull him back into another kiss, delighting in his shocked moan. This kiss is slightly better, he seems to be learning quickly. Jinwoo wraps his arms around you again and grasps at the back of your shirt, you worry if he pulls any harder he might tear it. That could be hot though, an idea for later.

This time you pull back first and Jinwoo emits an uncharacteristically pathetic whine in response. “Shh.”

You press kisses up his jaw, before sucking a mark directly below his ear. You’ve never known anyone to leave a scratch on Jinwoo, maybe you’ll be the first. The thought fuels something new and feral in you. You begin covering his throat in as many marks as you possibly can, something delightful burning inside of you when you see each new bruise forming. You want him covered, you want everyone to know that this stupid man, this dangerous, closed off man is yours. Nobody else is allowed to see Jinwoo a mess like this, this is for your eyes only. That’s all you’ve ever really wanted, isn’t it?

“Jinwoo…” you whisper, your breath fanning across the spit-slick marks you’ve just made on his throat.

Jinwoo shudders beneath you, “Yeah?”

“We are not fucking in a stranger’s office.” Just on so many levels that is not happening.

He sags into the couch like a puppet that just had all of its strings cut. “I truly hate you sometimes…” he says with absolutely no malice, in fact it sounds kind of whiny and you have to hold in a giggle.

“Until about ten minutes ago, I was under the impression that you hated me all the time.”

Jinwoo scoffs and runs his hand up your side gently, “I don’t hate you ever, you’re just really annoying.”

You rub a thumb over one of his blossoming bruises, admiring your hard work. “Awww thanks, you’re also a real fuckin’ peach.”

“I do try.”

You roll your eyes, patting him on the head now that you know he won’t kill you for doing that, “Come on, you can fuck me in my bed later. I’m dying to know if I can fit your dick in my throat.” The last bit is tacked on with a pointed wiggle of your hips, just so you can feel Jinwoo’s cock straining against his pants. God, he’s such a virgin, it’s painfully cute. You absolutely would give him a quick hand job here just to help him out but it’s so much funnier not to.

Jinwoo’s hips twitch and he groans deeply, the sound reverberating in his chest, “Fuck you-”

“Happy to help!” Being a hindrance is your favorite activity, especially when it’s Jinwoo you’re hindering. You can’t believe you’ve finally found his weak spot.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are…”

“Aww, I’m sorry baby,” you say, voice thick with condescension, “I promise I’ll make it up to you later, just be patient.” You press a quick kiss to his lips before you slip off his lap. He sighs, folding over and dropping his head into his hands.

“You’re a nightmare…”

“Yeah but I think you might like that about me… Just a hunch.” You’re not actually sure if that’s true or not. You’re not sure of anything anymore. Really where the two of you stand now is a total mystery, but the soft laugh Jinwoo warms your chest, and that’s something isn’t it?

With a soft tone Jinwoo says, “Get out of here, menace.”

“Yeah, yeah… Hey- see you later?” Your words come out as a question, quiet and hopeful.

He sits up and looks at you, the corners of his lips quirked up. “See you later,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Of course, you almost forgot, ever since you came here it’s been that way hasn’t it? Where you go he follows and vice versa, he’s your rival after all, what would you do without him?

#solo leveling #sung jinwoo x reader #jinwoo sung x reader #only i level up #solo leveling x reader #sung jin woo #sung jinwoo x you #jinwoo sung headcanons #jinwoo sung x you #jinwoo x reader #solo leveling fanfic #solo leveling headcanons #solo leveling jinwoo #Zephyrs Stories

155 notes · View notes

sunshinemoonrx · 7 months

Text

I think how successful dragon ball was at rewriting its entire genre in its image obscures just how much of a sports manga it is. or practically a game manga like yu-gi-oh. you know, where the entire arc of the universe bends absurdly towards the characters' past-time.

You might think that doesn't count when their past-time is "fighting", which is a standard way of resolving conflicts that have escalated beyond verbal or legal resolution, but this vastly undersells just how many bullshit magical problem-solving resources the heroes of DBZ have at their disposal, including but not limited to:

Spaceships, time travel, flight, teleportation, the ability to teleport other people by touching them, a magical dragon who can grant you wishes once a year, a backup magical dragon that can also do this (who is on another planet...that they can teleport to), pocket-sized capsules that can contain temporarily-shrunken objects up to the size of a house, a watch that can shrink you, telepathy, a deity on-call (via telepathy) who can see everything in the universe, beans that heal all your wounds, multiple friends who can also heal all your wounds, a room where time passes at 1/365 the normal rate, shadow clones, laser beams that can destroy planets, friends in the afterlife who might let you visit the world of the living again for 24 hours as a favour...

...like, my point is, you give this to most adventure heroes and they're like sweet, tools to solve problems with. But these guys are so beautifully devoted to their sport that they're just like sweet, tools to turn every problem into something I can resolve with an MMA bout.

A Terminator-style warning from the future that robots will take over the planet in three years? Should we use magic to find the scientist and talk him out of it, or failing that just ice him? Bulma actually suggests this, but of course not. Then we wouldn't get to do karate at a robot! We'll just spend three years doing really good workouts so we can spin-kick the T-1000 through a wall, duh.

A magical demon who could devastate the universe is unsealed by a wizard? Should we employ some kind of counter-magic to seal or destroy it? Use teleportation to put it inside a star or something? After all it very specifically has the power "made of magic regenerating rubber, punches literally do not affect it"--ahh, I see, you're using teleportation to lure it to an empty planet so you can punch it harder, using your sway over life and death to resurrect a second guy to punch it alongside you, and then using the magical wish-granting dragon to make you not tired anymore so you can do the ultimate martial arts move (giant ball that kills you).

As I hope my tone conveys, I'm not saying this like it's a problem with the series. I just think it's an underappreciated part of the appeal that this shit is exactly like yami yugi always finding himself in situations where the fate of the world Must be decided via trading card game.

The lads just love sports so much.

#dragon ball

248 notes · View notes

sprintingowl · 1 month

Text

Partisan Core

So I publish a ttrpg a week. This week's is Partisan Core, a system where the better prepared, better armed, better organized side always wins---unless you make sacrifices.

Sometimes I'll watch a bit of media and a whole game just crawls fully formed out of my brain, and in this case the inspiration was Gyeongsong Creature.

When I started thinking about it, Gyeongsong Creature and the other kdramas I've enjoyed (Kingdom, Bloodhounds, The Guest) have all had a thing in common: once everyone's cards are on the table, conflicts resolve the way you expect them to resolve, unless someone pays a cost.

So in Partisan Core, when a fight breaks out, both sides total up their advantages. Maybe one's got more people, or better armed people, or their people are trained fighters, etc. If the advantages are equal, you flip a coin. If not, the side with the most advantages wins.

Or else a player gives up their safety, their reputation, their health, their possessions, or their friends to change the outcome.

Partisan Core is designed as a framework. You can build your own stuff on the engine and use it for Star Wars or Avatar The Last Airbender or w/e.

I like designing stuff with simple resolution loops, costs, and choices, and I'll be thrilled if it catches someone else's interest.

#ttrpg #ttrpg homebrew #ttrpgs #ttrpg design #indie ttrpgs #rpg #indie ttrpg #tabletop #dnd #rpgs

24 notes · View notes

theresattrpgforthat · 4 months

Note

I'm looking for a game for telling a narrative across multiple matches of a trading card game or that uses a trading card game as like combat resolution.

So you'd get new cards as rewards for winning battles and slowly get stronger, similar to slay the spire or the dungeon run game mode from hearthstone.

Theme: Trading Cards Combat

Hello there! I’m afraid that I don’t know if I have anything that fits what you’re looking for exactly, but I might have a couple of games that might get you close. I’m also hoping that perhaps some of my followers can chime in with some games that they know.

Perfect Draw, by Double Summon Games.

Perfect Draw! is a TTRPG designed to tell stories similar to card game toy anime such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, Duel Masters, and Cardfight! Vanguard. Using the Powered by the Apocalypse framework and innovative open-ended card creation, players make unique decks representing their ideals and battle in card games to resolve conflicts on personal and world-threatening levels.

This is a PbtA-style game, bu tit does involve creating your own cards and the world building seems to depend on a battling system that relies on cards with special powers. Right now the game is just a demo version, but if it looks interesting to you, you can check it out on Backerkit here!

My Turn! Draw! by Jacky Leung.

My Turn! Draw! is a hopepunk, narrative-prompt based rpg about building insurmountable odds but always finding a way to prevail with a dramatic flair. You are a Duelist of Destiny, but will you have the courage and the tenacity to face against the Duelist of Fate? Your hidden potential is represented as a deck of cards, known as the Destiny Deck. When the chips are down and you place all of your hope, faith, and determination in the next card, how will you prevail?

This game does use cards - a regular playing card deck provides you with prompts and obstacles that your character has to overcome. It looks like this is a solo game, to be played in around an hour’s length of time, and it depends quite a bit on your own personal interpretations. If you want a game that can be played in one sitting and that gives you a lot of personal freedom, this might be worth checking out.

I also know that Parselings isn’t so much about card duels, but it is a ttrpg that focuses on deck building! Perhaps looking at this game might give you an idea on how to mix a few different games together to make something that you’re looking for.

Additionally LUMEN is a combat-focused game system that gives your characters power-ups as they advance, that might have some potential to be hacked for a card-duelling game.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #card duels

27 notes · View notes

itsbenedict · 4 months

Text

Games I Played In 2023 And Whether Or Not I Thought They Were Good (Part 2/4)

Yup, there's more! Lot of 'em this year.

[1] - 2 - [3] - [4]

Trails into Reverie

Sad to say, a... nightmarishly bad finale to the Erebonia/Crossbell saga of Trails.

The one thing I'll give it is that the core combat gameplay remains super fun, and carries the experience- they're always finding new ways to expand and iterate on the battle system, and this time is no exception.

Otherwise... man, where do I start? The story is just... such a mess. They clearly intended this to be, like... the big climax to the Crossbell games, where the people fight to reclaim their independence from Erebonian occupation- but, uh, whoops, they obviated that entire conflict with the end of Cold Steel, so they pull ridiculous Ouroboros shenanigans out of their ass to recreate that conflict as if the previous resolution never happened. Feels like they developed half the game with a specific set of antagonists in mind, and then whatever hack writer they have running the show over there changed their mind about how Cold Steel would resolve and they had to bend over backwards to make up a new antagonist who just happened to be using the same occupying army and main badguy they just dealt with already.

And structure aside, it's just... wow. Just playing the hits of awful hand-wavey writing decisions, villain motivations that make no sense, anime-ass fanservice, and sucking its own dick over how cool the cast is despite most of them doing nothing and existing only as action figures for the combat. It started stupid, threatened to become halfway interesting as it set up the intrigue, and then shat the bed in the finale by revealing that absolutely none of the intrigue mattered and that the villain was like dogs and just sort of did things arbitrarily. Never hated Trails writing more than this one. What an embarrassing display.

also like half the game's runtime is padded out with level grinding in an inexplicable magic cyber-dungeon like in Sky 3rd, which keeps acting like it's going to be important to the plot but then manages to somehow not come up even a little bit at all. and it's got a gacha in it even though it's all in-game currency and there's no real money shop so why would you bother doing that? does someone at Falcom think that gachas are actually intrinsically fun and not a shitty tactic to get people addicted to gambling? what's even wrong with them???

DREDGE

This is a fun fishing game! Except you're fishing for Lovecraftian nightmares! You're a fisherman on a fishing boat and the locals will pay extra for fish that have been horribly mutated by the unholy energies of the depths, so you have to keep finding weirder and weirder fish to finance the boat upgrades you need to find weirder and weirder fish.

I'd say... it works very well in the first half, as you're upgrading your boat and being slow-rolled on the eldritch horror, and kind of falls apart towards the end. The first couple areas are full of various NPCs and sidequests and things to do, and you always have something to do with your resources...

...but later on, the game's economy gets a little lopsided and a lot of the stuff you're hauling up just wastes space in your inventory because you're past the point where it matters but the game keeps throwing it at you. Areas are also a lot more sparse and lonely, and it ends up getting kind of repetitive.

Still, it's not too long, it has some really good atmosphere, and that first stretch is really engaging and tightly designed.

Wildfrost

This is one of them roguelike deckbuilders that are all the rage lately! And it is a difficult one. Even when you're good at it, you probably don't win most runs. Enemies are strong, you only get to play one card per turn, and you have to be really careful managing the action economy to make sure you don't get hit. You are a unit on the map, a unit without that much more health than normal summons, and if you die it's game over. Enemies hit hard and have various triggered abilities that punish you for playing sloppy- you'll frequently find yourself in no-win scenarios out of nowhere because you didn't sequence your moves right.

The other crazy thing is... the final boss? When you beat it, your hero gets possessed and becomes the final boss of the next run. Find some crazy broken synergy that steamrolls the boss? Great! Good luck finding a way to beat it next time around! The final fight's difficulty starts to scale out of control, and forces you to keep one-upping your own strategy with clever tricks.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

This was released on April Fools, and... it's not that great, honestly. The title's basically clickbait- it's a murder mystery-themed party, and Sonic's not actually dead and no one thinks Sonic is actually dead. That wouldn't really be a problem (just kind of a missed opportunity), but...

I mean, this game is for babies. I guess I'm spoiled by real mystery games, but like... it's this completely linear sequence of rooms with one or two suspects to interrogate each, hiding precisely one secret that you uncover via the most dead-obvious deductions in the world. The core mystery works but doesn't really make you feel clever or anything.

It is, like... funny, though. Sorta. I mean, as funny as it can be with the totally toothless premise and a cast that's...

...I'm gonna be honest, I've never understood why people have so much love for the Sonic cast. They all feel so one-dimensional and tedious, and they're typically unmoored from any consistent world or setting that could give them something interesting to do. They have to get by on the strength of their personalities, which are a little flat since there's only so far they can push the bit in a kids' game.

The other thing that bugs me is... y'know ProZD's Danganronpa video? This game has a bad case of "BUT CAN YOU SPELL THE WORD KNIFE?", where in between every bit of deduction or progression, you have to play a completely unrelated minigame where you play as Sonic running along a course where you have to pick up X rings by the end or else restart it, which serves as a loose metaphor for the process of Thinking Really Hard. It's got a wonky isometric perspective and the levels are all both boring and difficult and it felt like a huge waste of time. And they get harder and longer over time, until you're spending longer on the bad minigame than on the actual game game.

Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend

This is a Slay the Spire clone, but it's Touhou.

...That's about all there is to say on the matter. It has a couple unique mechanics- colored manabases, "Teammate" cards that act kind of like planeswalkers, a chargeable super instead of potions... but it's Slay the Spire. You know what the deal is.

That said- I find it a lot more fun than Slay the Spire, honestly. The colored mana thing adds some depth to deckbuilding, boss relics give you unique buffs instead of debuffs, and a lot of the archetypes are crammed with explosive synergies that make it really fun to go off. Plus there's Touhou music through the whole thing, and it's generally better-produced and prettier despite being in early access. Only point where it loses to STS is the lack of a robust modding scene.

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

I did not finish this game! It was very bad!

I saw my cousin playing the sequel to this game on his Steam Deck at an engagement party, and I was dazzled by the screens and screens of party members and stats and mechanics all over the place, and thought- this has to be fun, right? I'll check it out- oh, hey, it's a sequel, I guess I'll play the first one.

This game is... very much an Etrian Odyssey clone, except they kinda make everything worse. You have have a ton of party members, but the thing is they don't learn active skills when they level up- there's no build choices to make, just Number Increasage. The only way to customize your skills is to assign units to covens, which have preset lists of abilities and drop randomly as loot. There's the appearance of customization, but in practice there's not a lot of options. Throw in "at any time an enemy might crit and unhealably disable one of your party members until you return to town, ruining your run", and it just feels like a slog.

The other thing is that it is completely repugnant. Like it's just deeply unpleasantly anime horny in the worst ways. The main character (sorta- you play as her mute faceless magic book, not her) is the worst. She's introduced beating a child and murdering her pets, and pretty much maintains that tenor throughout. And this is not an isolated incident! This game has some kind of fucked-up child abuse fetish- there's a significant number of child characters and all of them are physically assaulted by the nearest authority figure within seconds of being introduced. And it's not a problem, or even a theme- it's just a thing that happens all the time, practically as a gag. Also used as a funny gag: sexual assault! Wow! I couldn't stomach it!

PowerWash Simulator

This game seems like a giant shitpost- and to be clear, it absolutely is a giant shitpost- but it's shockingly cathartic and satisfying. There's just you, some levels implausibly caked in a ridiculous amount of grime, and a power-washer with various nozzles and soaps you use to hose off every inch of the place. There's something about it that just feels so nice! Objects flash and go ding when you fully clean them, there's a checklist of stuff and how clean it is, there's lots of fun little details in the levels...

...and it has a story campaign, which is very silly. You start off taking normal jobs washing normal things, but as you accrue Fame, you unlock weirder and weirder clients that wanted bigger and stranger things powerwashed. Without spoiling anything, it gets pretty wacky towards the end.

It's a fun game to play in the background when you're watching a show or listening to a podcast or something and want something mindless for your hands to do. (At least, at first. Some of the later levels are multi-hour behemoths, and it never feels good to stop in the middle.)

I still have... fourteen more games to write about. It's like they say...... the work of a gamer.......... is never done.......................

[1] - 2 - [3] - [4]

#game rec #powerwash simulator #dredge #wildfrost #trails into reverie #touhou lost branch of legend #gonna. not tag the ones i didn't like #because i think tumblr doesn't just search the first five tags anymore #except trails i'm pretty sure trails fans are also perpetually mad at trails

12 notes · View notes

sessakag · 1 year

Note

Hey, just wondering... which mods are you using with The Sims?

I use so, so many mods it's ridiculous, lol, and my game is absolutely crazy I swear, but it's incredibly fun so, oh well!

I'll give you the creators name if I can remember and the mod name of course. It's a pretty long list 😅

Deaderpool: MC Command Center (must have!), MC Woohoo

Turbodriver: Wicked Whims 🤭(another must have for me at least)

KawaiiStacie: Slice of Life(a must! Adds life to the game!), Memorable Events, Explore Mod- Accessories, Explore Mod- Gambling

Sacrificial Mods: Road to Fame, Zombie Apocalypse, Life Tragedies, Deadly Toddlers, Extreme Violence(for the gangs of course 😏), Passionate Romance, Torture & Chaos (I don't really use them all at once, I switch them up for whatever save file I'm in the mood to play in)

Adeepindigo: Education Overhaul, More Premade Holidays, More New Years Resolutions

Caradriel: Better Babies and Toddlers, My Wedding

SimRealist: Banking, Real estate, Private Practice(adds allergies, heart attacks, doctor visits and all kinda fun scary stuff), Mortem, Home & Land. Co, Organic(the reason why Naruto and Sasuke have beards in my game)

Basemental: Drugs, Gangs (it is just as bad as you're probably imaging, lol, I should have took picture of the aftermath of their keg party after they graduated from university. I let them do whatever they wanted at the party.... they all got wasted. Hinata passed out several times, Sasuke used his vampire powers on innocent bystanders then passed out, Naruto fought a few people, went streaking then passed out, lmao, they almost missed graduation the next day they were so messed up!)

Kuttoe: Lifetime Quirks, Basemental Addon (bruh, the "sketchy lot" trait in this is crazy 😂all kinds of sketchy sims show up)

Carl's Guides: Gameplay Overhaul

Chingyu: Faithfulness, 100 Custom Traits V2, Supernatural Traits

Cinerotique/Peco: Cinerotique TV

Mercuryfoam: Ballroom Dance

LUUMIA: Height Slider, Shorter Teen Pre-set

Iced Cream: Hybrid Stabilizer

LittleMsSam: Way too many to list, she has a huge list of behavior mods that can remove or add little(or big) details. I have 24 of her mods, my favorite three are: Ultrasound Scan, ATM Cards and Credit, New Vampire Powers

Lumpinou: Road to Romance, First Impressions, Memory Panel, LGBTQIA Mod(love this!), Open Love Life(responsible for my throuple alongside Wicked Whims and MC Command Center, bless their creative and open minds 🥹 love this the most)

MissHissy: Lore & Order (Spellcasters and Vampires), Custom Wants, The Hobby Mod, The Hope & Fears Mod, The Personality Mod

MizoreYukii: SimCity Loans

PolarBearSims: Personality Please!, Sims Learn Info

TwelfthDoctor: Magic Bloodline For Aliens, Occult Hybrid Unlock Stablizer

Pandasama: Childbirth Mod

Simsmodelsimmer: Realistic Reactions

roBurky: Meaningful Stories

thepancake1: Cute Romance, Remove Sims From Conversations (because omfg other Sims just butt into to A B conversations and make everything all awkward and unpleasant when my Sims be talking to each other, minding their own dang business 😑)

KiraSims4Mods: I Love you (this is so sweet! Sims can tell each other they love each other and the response are so adorable! 🥰)

SrslySims: Srsly's Complete Cooking Overhaul

SpinningPlumbobs: Werewolf Mod (very impressive since this added werewolves before the EA werewolf gamepack even came out!)

TwistedMexi: Better Exceptions (helps me keep track of broken or conflicting mods messing up the game in real time, absolute must have!)

Zero's Sims 4 Mods&Comics: Another too many to list, I use a lot of his tweaks for vampires and spellcasters, my top three are: RoM Master Magic, Immersive Vampires, Mental Health

I also have several hundred (maybe a thousand?) custom clothing, accessories, make-up, eyes, hair, etc. Several customized aspirations, and miscellaneous mods I didn't add to the list.

I think I'm up to almost 2,000 mods total now 😅thank goodness my laptop can handle it all and still make the game look pretty.

#sims 4 #my most enjoyable mods #my game is crazy #but i have fun #thank you sims modding community #you all make the sims amazing #greedy ea can't compete with mods #thanks for the ask!

40 notes · View notes

zahroreadsthings · 9 months

Text

Ditching...

Question: How else will you be supportive?

Response: 'Let's ditch.'

Check notes for previous instalments

'Let's ditch.'

Lex takes a moment to consider your proposal. 'I thought you would be more... inclined to stay. Being a nerd and all.'

'It was a pretty close call, honestly. But I'm committing to hating on this guy.'

'So am I,' they say. 'There are other witches to demonstrate. No-one will miss us.'

They point to the right of the stairs, opposite of the way to the anchor. You can't see anything past a high pile of boulders. 'Let's go there.'

You climb over the boulders, hoping everyone else is too absorbed in their lessons to see you. On the way down you almost slip on a loose rock and trip over some seaweed but luckily no-one sees.

The waves crashing in the cove you stumble into are loud enough to completely drown out every other sound.

Lex is well ahead of you. You follow as fast as you can, only just seeing which cliffs they disappear between.

You squeeze into a place where a narrow stream trickles out to sea, taking care to not wet your boots and socks. Lex doesn't seem to care and stands in the middle of the stream.

'This place is enough of a pain in the ass to get to for most people to not bother.'

You tiptoe over the wet rocks. 'I can see that.'

They sit in the creek. You wince. 'How did your trip go?'

'Step one completed, but I screwed up on my cover story and now Reginald wants a new jacket.'

They shudder. 'Speaking of ghosts, think Zulfiya's still pissed at us?'

'Not anymore. Well, not about that. She seemed fine after I told her we didn't even talk to each other about the job. I think she's just sour all the time.'

'You two talked?'

'Um. We called it even after I let her gut punch me.'

Lex considers this for a moment. 'I think your conflict resolution skills need some work.'

'Yeah, no shit. Avoid it if you can, she punches hard.'

'I have this thing where I don't ask people to punch me? So I think I'm fine.'

You can hear them trying to hold back a cackle. 'I didn't know what else to do! I'd already interrupted a card game.'

They lean back on their hands and say, 'I can think of so many other ways to deal with that.'

'Whatever, we're even now and my stomach doesn't hurt anymore.' You hold the hem of your jacket up and step over the creek to sit on a rock on the other side.

#polls #cyoa

13 notes · View notes

themarginalthinker · 9 months

Text

Conflict Resolution

It started with Marko mumbling to himself.

At first, Michael couldn't catch it, and his attention was more or less focused on the game of poker David and Dwayne were trying to teach him.

"You know, this would be easier to learn if your version didn't involve cheating as a literal rule of the game," Michael says, to which David only smiles sharply, and Dwayne snorts.

"That's what actually makes it fun. Now are you gonna play, or are you gonna keep fingering your hand?" David says.

"Don't fucking say that," Michael winces, and yes, keeps looking over his spread. He's got what he thinks is a decent hand, but David keeps distracting him, Dwayne's got a poker face that the phenomena was named after, and with his weekly allowance in the pot ('motivation', as David had called it) Michael isn't sure he wants to risk playing it.

Marko and Paul are hanging around in the rafters, in spots tucked away where humans would have trouble getting to even with a ladder. Paul is plucking out some tune or another on a bass guitar, playing with the sound like idle hands toy with a pencil when bored. Marko is...well. He's not sure.

For the most of the night since he got there to hang out, the youngest in the pack hadn't seemed to be able to sit very still. No one else had wanted to brave the rain and wind currently assaulting the outside, and David had made it pretty clear that going out alone was asking for one of the few types of trouble the pack wasn't interested in. So even the most fidgety was grounded. Marko had bounced from annoying his pidgins, to organizing boxes of seemingly random items, to smoking, to annoying Dwayne, to coaxing Paul into a bout of wrestling, but when everyone else had drifted to their own activities, he'd just started pacing, mumbling to himself.

And now, about an hour into that activity, he was getting louder, and beginning to focus his attention on Paul again. Scooting closer, getting into his space, only jumping back when Paul would growl and shove him off. It had been in good fun before, but now, as Michael begins to formulate a plan to get himself a technically-legal flush, Marko gets into Paul's space, and the older vampire actually hisses.

Just a flash of teeth, a flick of glowing eyes, an actually upset expression on his face.

David looks up, and Dwayne glances at him for a moment. Just enough that Michael can slip out the card in his sleeve, just like they taught him.

"Stop quoting that movie," Paul grumbles, hands tense on the bass.

Marko smiles, but it's a little wide. A little too many teeth. "It's funny."

"Not in my fuckin' ear, dude. I'm tryin' to work on shit."

Marko backs off with a smirk, and then keeps up his, apparent, quoting of the entirety of whatever movie was on his mind. Paul takes a second, and then returns to his plucking.

David goes back to the game, but Dwayne's eyes linger on the two for a bit longer. Probably for the best, Michael had only just managed to slip his play past David, there was no getting past tall, dark, and knows-you-before-you-do.

"Not bad," David says, looking over Michael's cards. "I won't be taking your lunch money tonight. Dwayne?"

Dwayne merely blinks, and then puts down "Inverse flush."

He sets down the hand, showing off the Ace of spades, One of Diamonds, Two of Clubs, and Three of Hearts.

Michael gapes. "That's not a real thing-"

"House hand," David and Dwayne say together.

"I'm starting to think chalking up winning hands to that is also cheating," Michael hums, watching his week's pocket money disappear into Dwayne's.

David just smiles again, and is about to say something, when all hell breaks loose above their heads.

In the time it had taken Michael to make his play, and Dwayne his, Marko had crept close to Paul again. And this time, it didn't look like he was going to take any warnings for an answer.

Whatever whispered, irritating movie line had sparked it, Paul exploded with a snarl that echoed off the walls of the cave like a lightning crack. He launched himself at the younger vampire, bass tosses aside and down to the floor of the cavern, where he and Marko soon followed, knocked off their perch. They were a blur of claws and teeth, tearing fabric and flesh alike. Marko was holding his own, until Paul managed a lucky strike, and the smaller vampire shrieked, suddenly pulling to get out from under Paul.

Dwayne shot forward the instant they were at ground level, a dark streak against the red stone and orange flames around them. David following a close second, jovial face from seconds before all hard lines, fangs also out.

Michael for his part had jumped when the screaming started, away from the table, and backed up as much as he could. He knew...he knew that this wouldn't be a danger to him, not as long as he kept himself out of the way of a stray claw or wild lash, and they'd feel pretty bad about hurting him inadvertently, but as it was happening, in the blood and heat and rage of the moment, instinct didn't care what collateral happened. Just the damage.

Dwayne went for Paul, and David for Marko. A large, strong hand slipped under Paul's throat, and squeezed. Fingertips finding the hinges of the jaw, prying loose what was locked in place. Dwayne's own face had gone beastial, a growl so low in his chest that Michael could feel it from across the room. Slowly, Paul's teeth came loose, and the moment they did, Marko was yanked out from under him by David.

Granted, that didn't actually stop the fight. Marko writhed in David's grip, eyes aflame and mouth still open, whether to keep screaming, or find his own mouthful of skin to sink teeth into, it wasn't clear. David's hand was gripping Marko's air with a fist that Michael was sure would have torn a normal human's scalp off.

"ENOUGH!"

Dwayne's voice booms through the room like thunder. It stops Paul and Marko. Michael feels deafened.

In the sudden, fragile silence in the moments following, Dwayne hauls Paul back, turning his face to glare with dark hellfire into his eyes.

"Go cool off."

He bodily tosses him, towards an offshoot of the cave to the left. Paul catches himself before he hits the ground, and with a hand holding his jaw, shoots off without and backwards glance.

David keeps his grip on Marko, who is suddenly looking like he'd rather be anywhere else, while still smug. Only he could manage, Michael guesses.

"If D takes you out, are you gonna find Paul again when you get back?" David asks against Marko's throat. Threat of what he will do if Marko does gleaming sharp, white, and prominent over his bottom lip.

Marko takes a moment. His eyes flick to the tunnel Paul had disappeared down. At that, Dwayne looms over him, blocking his vision and any attempt Marko might have made.

Marko eventually shakes his head.

"Good," David says, sounding so much lighter than the situation really seemed to allow. "Get lost, then."

He drops Marko, who wastes no time making for the entrance of the cave. Dwayne hot at his heels.

It's a long minute, following that, where David just watches them leave, and then keeps watching, likely to make sure Marko didn't decide he wanted another dose. Eventually though, when Michael moves to shift his weight from one foot to another, David sighs, letting his shoulders drop.

"It's always the rainy nights in," he says. He looks around, starting to kick the loose, sandy earth over the splatters of blood on the floor, already absorbing it.

"Are they," Michael starts, feeling incredibly off-footed, "you know...gonna be okay?"

David raises an eyebrow. "Who, Paul and Marko? Of course."

"This is an 'of course' situation?" Michael asks.

"Hey, in a group like ours, this is what specialists would refer to as 'conflict resolution'. " He laughs. "There was conflict, and it's been resolved."

Michael blinks. "But, they were tearing into each other-"

David just cuts him off again, smile faded somewhat. More serious.

"Michael. I mean it when I say it's done. Them getting their teeth in each other is all they wanted. And when they're apart, it's over. I'd know. It happens between all of us, at some point. It's...what comes of living as we do. We're all we've got, for everything."

Michael's eyes track over the bloody droplets, the bass lying with a broken neck in a pile of miscellaneous junk in a corner, and then the card table.

He supposes that's really all there is to it, then. No use arguing. He starts to collect the cards, and David joins him again.

"...The Inverse Flush is not a thing," he says.

David smiles, all teeth. "What are you gonna do if it's not? Fight me?"

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #drabble #writing #fanfic

14 notes · View notes

eampro-blog · 3 days

Text

Writing Prompt #24 TUZu: Life of Cards

["The land is mine if you lose. Let's TUZu for it!" You live in a society where a card game named TUZu is the only form of conflict resolution. Whether it be personal, involving money or on a larger scale, like war, it is settled through TUZu. It determines every aspect of life.]

Write a short story based on the writing prompt. Challenge your writing abilities and see where your imagination takes you.

2 notes · View notes

iamfina5 · 7 months

Text

The Kinslayer Couple

Summary: The ground falls out from beneath Valaena Velaryon’s feet within the span of a week. The week begins with the death of her grandsire, making her mother queen and her Princess of Dragonstone. It ends with the death of her brother Lucerys at the hands of her husband, Aemond Targaryen. From there, Valaena embarks on a perilous journey to win a war against her own kin, forced to discern who are friends and who are foes on both sides of the conflict.

Chapter Twenty-One: Hope

First Prev/Next

135 A.C.

A ship arrives for Jacaerys and Aegon, just as Rhaenyra promised. There is space enough on it for Baela, as well, just as Rhaenyra promised, but despite her brothers’ fevered protests, she does not wish to take it.

Oddly enough, despite Jacaerys’s departure, Baela wishes to remain on Dragonstone. She likes it here, quite simply; she always has. It is close to Driftmark, where her grandmother, she very recently learned, has made her return. She looks forward to visiting Rhaenys, which would be unfeasible was she residing in King’s Landing, where, it is worth noting, she has never before lived.

Beyond her desire for comfort and familiarity, there is the rift between her and Jacaerys to consider. He denies its existence, but she is not so blind. When the war started and he returned from his trip north, she had not been able to bear the thought of parting from him. The longer the war has dragged on, however, she finds she needs time to herself, especially so long as she remains just herself. Before he boards the ship bound for the capital, she asks him again to wed her now on Dragonstone. Again, he refuses her, so she bid him leave without her.

She thinks also of her recently widowed sister, who she is loath to abandon now. As they stand in Dragonstone’s front hall, bidding farewell to Daemon, who intends to follow the boys’ path atop Caraxes, Valaena stares steadfastly at the floor. Her form is buried underneath a capacious, black dress. Her hair is held up by a bejeweled net. Her face is covered by an impassive mask, mottled with bruises that have turned from purple to yellow to green over the past week.

Baela’s eyes are forced away from Valaena as her father steps up to her. He brings her closer with a hand on her shoulder. It is his way of silently requesting a hug from one of his daughters, so she indulges him with a kiss to his cheek and a warm embrace. One last time, he asks her if she is certain she wishes to remain here, offering to fly her to King’s Landing on Caraxes if she likes. She stays firm in her decision, shaking her head.

Valaena’s jaw clenches as Daemon moves over to her. She resists his touch when it falls onto her shoulder, muttering a quiet but resolute valediction.

Evidently, this is insufficient. Keeping his grip on her, Daemon ducks in close. She stiffens. Even when so near, it is difficult for Baela to hear that which he whispers to Valaena. She catches some whisper of a regret, but the rest of what he says is too soft for her ears.

Despite his efforts, Valaena does not warm to him. Knowing when the battle is lost, he relents and leaves them both with one last word of parting. After he has gone, Caraxes’s sinuous body winding around the castle and Sheepstealer shoving off from the ground, Baela turns to Valaena. She thinks to suggest some activity that will cheer her, mayhaps a card game. However, Valaena strides from the hall already, marching in the direction of Sea Dragon Tower.

She does not see Valaena again until supper. The atmosphere is dismal and quiet as Valaena sullenly pushes food around her plate and occasionally takes a bite of bread. They had gone through the routine pleasantries at the start of the meal but fell silent after that.

Though it does not usually fall to her, Baela strives to liven the mood. “The roast chicken is excellent.”

Her eyes not moving from her plate, Valaena agrees, “Yes.” The affirmation is as good as a lie. She has not touched the fowl.

Unsatisfied, she tries again. “How did you spend the day?”

Valaena is silent for a long moment. Baela wonders if she has forgotten that they are in the midst of a conversation before she sighs loudly and answers, somewhat inopportunely, “The ledgers are in order, at last, and the villagers have all been accorded their share of grain for the coming winter.”

“This is most welcome news. They must be terribly pleased.” From Aemond’s brief reign over the isle, Baela recalls many a disgruntled commoner being led past her rooms to beg for bread and for trade to be restored. She recalls, too, all of them being led away disappointed.

Valaena sighs again. “Yes.” Listless, she takes another bite from her bap.

Baela refrains from sighing herself. Hoping to stir Valaena, she opts for a more exciting topic. “So, I’ve had a thought.” Valaena makes no response, but, fairly certain that she is still listening, Baela continues, “I intend to try for Vhagar.”

As expected, this rouses Valaena. Her head pops up, her gaze riveted to Baela. “What?”

Keep Reading

#ff #aemond targaryen #hotd #got #hotd fanfic #tkc #aemond targaryen x oc #fanfic #house of the dragon #baela targaryen #hotd baela #ch21

5 notes · View notes

chouhatsumimi · 1 year

Text

Words from Karneval, vol. 6

きな臭いきなくさい smelling burnt, smelling scorched, having a burnt smell, smelling of gunpowder (i.e. as if armed conflict is about to break out), tense, strained, suspicious, dubious, questionable, shady / oler a chamusquina, oler a quemado

干からびる, 干乾びる, 干涸びる, 乾涸びる, 乾枯らびる, 干枯らびる, 干枯びるひからびる to dry up completely, to become stale

誘導多能性幹細胞ゆうどうたのうせいかんさいぼう induced pluripotent stem cell, iPS cell

人骨じんこつ human bones / huesos humanos

押収おうしゅう seizure, confiscation / incautación, embargo, comiso, decomiso, confiscación

負い目, 負目おいめ (feeling of) indebtedness, feeling obliged / deuda

確固, 確乎かっこ firm, unshakeable, resolute / firme, sólido, resuelto, decidido

零す, 溢す, 翻すこぼす to spill, to drop, to shed (tears), to grumble, to complain, to let one's feelings show / derramar, regar, quejarse, derramar, murmurar, refunfuñar

むざむざ helplessly, easily, without resistance, without regret

手下てした, てか subordinate, underling, henchman, minion / subordinado, subalterno

切��にせつじつに strongly, keenly, vividly, sincerely, urgently

至る所, 至るところ, いたる所, 至る処, 到る所, 到るところ, 到る処, いたる処いたるところ everywhere, all over, throughout / en todas partes, dondequiera, en donde sea

丁重, 鄭重ていちょう polite, courteous, hospitable / educado, cortés, hospitalario

見取り図, 見取図みとりず rough sketch, floor plan, blueprint

漁るあさる, すなどる, いさる to fish, to look for, to search for, to hunt for, to scavenge, to scrounge, to look through, to rummage through, to go on a spree (spending, reading, etc.), to binge / pescar a, buscar a

方角ほうがく direction, way, point of the compass, cardinal direction, bearing, method, means, approach / dirección

観戦かんせん watching a (sports) game, spectating, observing (military operations) / observación (de un combate, una batalla, un encuentro, un partido, etc.)

無残, 無惨, 無慚, 無慙むざん cruel, merciless, atrocious, ruthless, cold-blooded, pitiful, tragic, horrible, miserable, breaking a religious precept without shame / crueldad, atrocidad, (a) sangre fría, tragedia, miseria

故にゆえに therefore, consequently

邸宅, 第宅ていたく mansion, residence / mansión, palacete, caserón

手引き, 手引てびき guidance, lead, acting as guide, guide, primer, guidebook, handbook, manual, influence, connections, introduction, good offices / guía, manual

倣う, 傚う, 慣らうならう to imitate, to follow, to emulate / imitar, seguir, emular

愚者ぐしゃ fool, nitwit, The Fool (Tarot card) / bobo, tonto, estúpido, idiota

放つはなつ to fire (gun, arrow, questions, etc.), to shoot, to hit (e.g. baseball), to break wind, to set free, to release, to let loose, to emit (e.g. light), to give off (e.g. a scent), to send out (a person to carry out a duty), to set fire to / liberar, soltar, pegar fuego a

吸い寄せる, 吸寄せるすいよせる to draw in, to attract

腕, 肱かいな arm (esp. upper arm), counter used to measure the thickness of round objects

代弁, 代辨, 代辯だいべん speaking by proxy, speaking for (someone else), acting as spokesman (for), representing (the views, feelings, etc. of), payment by proxy, compensation by proxy, paying on behalf (of), acting for (someone else), carrying out (on someone's behalf) / representación, compensación

寛容かんよう tolerance, open-mindedness, forbearance, generosity, magnanimity / tolerancia

一存いちぞん one's own discretion (idea, responsibility) / discresión propia de uno (idea, responsibilidad)

発覚はっかく detection (of a plot, fraud, etc.), discovery, coming to light, being uncovered / descubrimiento, salir a la luz

ほざく, ホザく to say, to spatter, to prate, to prattle, to babble

消息を絶つしょうそくをたつ to stop communicating, to never be heard from again, to lose contact

泳がせるおよがせる to let someone swim, to let someone go free

渇仰, 渇ごうかつごう, かつぎょう adoration, reverence, esteem

探究心, 探求心たんきゅうしん spirit of inquiry, spirit of enquiry

関与, 干与かんよ participation, taking part in, participating in, being concerned in / intervenir, tomar parte, participar, intervención, participación, participación

見物, 見ものみもの sight, attraction, spectacle, something worth seeing

枷かせ shackles, fetters, irons, handcuffs, restraint, constraint, bonds (e.g. family), ties, binding relationship, binding relationships, encumbrance / grillete, canga

後見人こうけんにん guardian / guardián

闊歩, 濶歩かっぽ striding, swaggering, strutting, lording it over others, acting as though one owns the place, throwing one's weight around

傷心しょうしん heartbreak, grief, sorrow / pena, aflicción, duelo, amargura, congoja

危機回避ききかいひ crisis prevention, crisis avoidance

本能ほんのう instinct / instinto

惨殺ざんさつ slaughter, massacre / matanza, masacre

忍びないしのびない cannot bring oneself (to do), unable to bear (e.g. seeing)

和気あいあい, 和気藹々, 和気藹藹, 和気靄々, 和気靄靄わきあいあい harmonious, peaceful, congenial, friendly, happy / ambiente relajado y agradable, entorno muy acogedor y amistoso, atmósfera cálida y afable

下ネタ, 下ねたしもネタ, しもねた dirty joke, blue joke, indecent topic, bawdy subject, sex talk

奔放ほんぽう wild, uninhibited, extravagant, rampant / salvaje, desinhibido, desenfrenado, extravagante

羞恥しゅうち shyness, bashfulness, shame / timidez

#Karneval #vocab

10 notes · View notes

tenspontaneite · 2 years

Text

The Ceracurist (Chapter 5/?)

“Truthfinding prompts?” She read aloud, disbelievingly enough that half the room turned her way, distracted from their cards. “There’s truthfinding in this game?”

Callum blinked at her, politely confused. “What, didn’t you know?”

(Chapter length: 8.5k. Ao3 link)

Warnings: Blood and severe injury described in a video game.

---

Dinner was presented on the large table in the kitchen, freshly cleared of clutter and loaded up with plates and two large pots of curry; one sort of yellow in colour, the other a surprisingly virulent purple. The entire crowd of Kassa, Nihatasi, Callum, Soren, Pava, Kazi, and the new elf Venanin squashed themselves around the table with what seemed like practiced ease; she thought they had to be used to hosting a lot of people, by the way they behaved, and the number of folding chairs they had sitting around.

Rayla, for her part, had been saved a seat by Callum. Beside him. Because of course. She took it, thanked him, and resolutely avoided thinking about any recent revelations as she investigated the food.

She was given a plate, a large flatbread and some rice, then invited to spoon herself some curry. She tried some of each, and both proved to be delicious. Rayla stayed mostly quiet at the table, listening to the conversation passing around, still quite aware that she was the outsider here. There was such an obvious breadth of familiarity among these people that, however welcome they made her feel, she couldn’t help but withdraw.

They made efforts to include her, though; that was plenty obvious. Nihatasi and Callum in particular – the former remaining overwhelmingly delighted to make friends with new people, and the latter…well. He was very aware of her. And interested in her. That wasn’t exactly hard to notice.

By the end of the meal she’d disclosed some opinions on the purple curry, Antiquitora, Gullcrest at large, the house gryphon, and whatever else they prompted her about. She’d also discovered that Soren was the friend Callum had mentioned being on the same course as her, albeit a year ahead, which was yet another bizarre coincidence. He was doing it part-time, apparently, for…some not particularly clear reason. When she asked, he just shrugged, said “I’m a busy guy,” and left it at that.

Afterwards the dishes were all piled half in the enormous sink and half on the side, apparently to be dealt with later. “What are we all playing when Rayla’s on the computer?” Kassa asked the group at large, pausing by a cupboard outside the kitchen, and some speculative looks went around. “And no Antiquitora, Kazi, that takes way too long.”

“I might just watch whatever Rayla’s playing,” Callum volunteered, and Nihatasi looked torn.

“I kind of want to do that too,” she said, conflicted. “But I also kind of want to try out the new Three Phoenix deck with the weird feather cards. Soren, you’ll play that, right? You like card games.”

Soren confirmed that he did, in fact, like card games, and Kassa extracted the relevant deck from the cupboard. Venanin left after politely washing a couple of plates, apparently having only dropped by to tinker with Pava and have some food, and everyone else proceeded upstairs to Callum’s expansive room. He had to move a couple of easels out of the way, and after that left everyone to their devices, eagerly leading her over to a large chest full of modules. “Pick whatever you like,” he invited, as pleased as if he were the one getting to game properly for the first time in years. “There’s spare memory chips too, they’re sort of cluttered around the bottom.”

Rayla looked over the names embossed on the module casings, excitement stirring in her chest. She’d not quite managed to muster anticipation for gaming over all the social awkwardness before, but now, she was looking at all these game titles, and – just- “This is a great collection,” she said happily, moving some out of the way to peer at others, and extracting a memory chip once she uncovered one. “You have a lot.”

Callum preened, kneeling beside her as she rummaged through. “A bunch are still at the society room,” he claimed. “But those are mostly the older ones that’ll work okay on the computer there. This should be everything recent.”

Her fingers hovered wistfully over a number of games she’d been wanting to play for years, indecisive. But in the end, there was one that was pretty new, that she’d been wanting to play, and that she’d even been talking about recently. So she picked out the hefty Scion of Shadow module, waved it at Callum, and said “This okay?”

“Great choice!” Nihatasi called from within the midst of the incipient card game, sitting around in a circle on the floor with the rest. She’d apparently been craning her neck to watch, and her keen Skywing eyes were more than equal to the task of picking out the name.

“It’s a really good one,” Callum agreed, delighted, and took the module from her. “It’ll be really cool to see what you think of it, since you’re actually, you know, a stealthy-type Moonshadow elf and everything.”

“I’ve heard good things,” Rayla said, unable to hold back a grin, and followed him to the computer. He plugged the module’s various cables in, four separate wires clicking into place, and it started to whir. She handed over the memory chip when prompted, which he slotted in, and then was waved into the chair in front of the monitor. Callum sat down in the second chair from further down the desk, shuffling over to watch. He was sitting close enough for their elbows to brush. Rayla did her best not to pay attention to that, and instead occupied herself with – very excitedly – finally starting up the game.

“Remember to change the settings,” Callum advised, while the screen was playing its loading animation: a magical forest at night, with an unfamiliar lunar Circle glittering in sharp lines within the undergrowth. “I think Pava was the last person who played it, so it’s set for Sunfire eyes at the moment.”

“Oh.” Rayla grinned at the reminder. She’d never played a game sophisticated enough to have race-based graphical settings. And, in something like this…it would matter. It was a stealth game, after all. A stealth game with a Moonshadow protagonist. “It’s built around the idea that you should be able to see well in the dark, right? So it turns up the light levels if you’ve got worse dark-vision?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, shuffling the spare chair closer so he could inspect the screen. “Most of the rest of us have pretty similar night-vision. I mean, Nisi and Kassa have sharper eyes, and can see a lot further, so it’s weird to watch them play this, because it all looks way blurrier in the distance for me, but their eyes aren’t any better in the dark than me or Pava’s or Kazi’s. So.”

“You’re probably hardly going to be able to see anything in mine,” Rayla observed, with a little mirth. The lightless night-time scenes would probably be nearly opaque darkness for him, if it was set to realistic light levels.

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. Good thing I’ve seen this played enough I’ll probably be able to tell what’s going on anyway.”

Finally the game finished loading, and brought up its main menu. It had registered the memory chip she’d pushed in, showing no extant game data. She nodded, suppressing the urge to squirm with anticipation, and went for the settings menu. It had been so long since she’d had a chance to play a proper game like this. She’d spent her entire childhood longing for it. It made her feel delightfully young and fresh and excited to be sitting at the Scion of Shadow menu screen now.

She let her eyes run over the options, moving to change the player-race settings to MOONSHADOW ELF, then looking over the rest of it. Difficulty level…normal, she supposed. “You can change that mid-game, if you have a hard time,” Callum offered helpfully, and she nodded absent-mindedly, still reading through the user interface options, the sound options, the – the – what?

“Truthfinding prompts?” She read aloud, disbelievingly enough that half the room turned her way, distracted from their cards. “There’s truthfinding in this game?”

Callum blinked at her, politely confused. “What, didn’t you know?”

“I never heard that.” Her head was reeling, all of a sudden. “So, what, the protagonist is a truthfinder, or….?”

“She gets the ability when she becomes the Vessel of Moon at the start,” Callum offered, eyeing her with interest. “Part of the whole Scion thing, you know.”

“I didn’t know that.” Rayla stared at the text, Truthfinding Prompts, then inspected its options. Prevalent, normal, scarce, and disabled. ‘Normal’ was the default. Hm. “How accurate is it? I mean – how do they do it?”

Gaining some interest in the conversation, Kassa turned their way, Nihatasi observing inquisitively from beside her. “Isora’s truthfinding starts pretty developed and gets better a lot faster than a real truthfinder would,” she said, shrugging a wing. “Or, you know, so the game says. It’s not exactly easy to find information on how real truthfinding works. I think they interrogated a few priests or something, but who knows if it’s accurate or not.”

“I mean, that sounds about right,” Rayla said, still staring at the screen. “So – this setting here, can you change that during the game, too?”

“Yes?” Callum was eyeing her appraisingly now, plainly aware that something about this had gotten to her. “You can change it anytime.”

“And the truthfinding comes in early?”

“Right at the start, basically. It’s a key game mechanic. A lot of the plot is built on it.”

A stealth game with a Moonshadow truthfinder protagonist. Rayla couldn’t help but grin, even though she had no idea how good the handling of the truthfinding would be yet. She’d heard good things about the stealth mechanics, at least, so… “I can’t wait,” she said, with true anticipation, and saved the options. Without further ado, she began the game.

The opening cutscene and intro section Rayla had seen before, in videos on the mageskein. It was still exciting to be playing it herself, but it was all familiar territory. Predictably enough, Callum made comments about how insanely dark the game looked on her settings, which garnered enough interest from the rest of the room that Nihatasi abandoned her girlfriend and her deck to watch, and the card game migrated to a closer section of floor so that everyone could see for themselves.

“It’s really something else to see it like that,” Kazi mentioned, looking at the screen as Rayla moved Isora through the tutorial. “After playing on Sunfire settings, and being able to see everything in the dark…”

“I can only see anything around the moon-moths. And even then, only a tiny bit,” Callum agreed, watching.

Rayla reached the end of the tutorial, and shortly afterwards, the climactic cutscene in which Isora unwittingly interrupted the Moon’s Blood ritual and was transformed permanently into a Moonshadowed state. And after that…

There were little silver traceries of light in various parts of the screen. The tutorial pop-up said: Truthfinding allows you to learn things and figure out what to do on very little information. Search for clues to find out what to do next.

“So that’s how they handle the truthfinding?” Rayla asked, appraisingly, looking at the screen. “It points out all the clues for you?”

“Sort of. It’ll give you information pop-ups based on what you find – they get more accurate the higher your truthfinding skill is, and the more clues you get.” Callum squinted at the screen, as though trying to spot the shapes in the dark. “If you don’t look hard enough, you can end up doing the wrong stuff, and losing the game.”

Rayla nodded, just a little, and went to investigate the first marked ‘clue’. It brought it up in exquisite detail: a plant, broken in a very specific way, with a strange residue on one leaf. There was an ‘inspect’ ability that she activated, and it gave her a text box: A trampled shrub. There is an oily residue on it that smells familiar from the ritual leader.

After that was gone, a text box with glowing silver lettering appeared instead: The smell is the same as the leader of the Moon’s Blood ritual. Perhaps he came through here. You aren’t certain if this residue leaking here means he’s injured or not.

“So, that’s a truthfinding inference,” Callum pointed at it. “All of this stuff gets added to the truthfinding menu so you can read it back. And once you get enough clues they’ll combine to give you a better picture of what’s going on.”

Rayla nodded, thoughtfully, and kept on. She went for a few more clues – footprints, witch-oil splatters, claw marks in trees – and inspected each one in turn to see how the game handled it. When the notification came for a ‘truthfinding synergy’, she closed her eyes for a moment to pull on her own. With that information…what would she conclude?

It ached, a little, but it came easily enough. Rayla opened the menu to see what it said, and smiled. “What happens when your truthfinding skill increases?” she asked, thoughtfully.

“You can figure out more from less, and make Intuition Leaps. They get pretty wild in the late game, actually, I have no idea if that’s accurate to what real truthfinders can do or not, but she is supposed to be a super-charged magical Scion, so…” Callum shrugged, then blinked curiously as she brought up the game menu. “What are you doing?”

“Changing some settings,” Rayla answered, cheerful, and disabled the truthfinding prompts entirely.

“Er,” he said, a little worriedly, and the others started to look over again. “Are you…sure about that?”

“What did she do?” Nihatasi asked, craning her neck. As Rayla closed the menu, and saw absolutely none of the little silvery markers anymore, the little nomad’s eyebrows shot up. “You turned off truthfinding prompts?”

“You know that disables the inferences and synergies too, right?” Callum questioned, somewhat anxiously, as she set Isora to stalking around looking for clues – unaided by the game mechanics, this time. “It’s supposed to be a challenge mode for experienced players. It won’t give you the information. You won’t know what you’re doing.”

Rayla grinned, said nothing, and started using Inspect on pretty much everything inspectable. Kassa abandoned the card game, claiming that Rayla was obviously ‘up to something’; steadily, the rest of the card-playing group all pretty much stopped what they were doing to watch as well.

“Wait,” Soren said, squinting at the screen. “I…don’t really do games, but I’ve seen you all play this enough times…isn’t that the way to-?”

Nihatasi shushed him, scandalised. “Soren, that’s spoilers.”

“I’m pretty sure she already knows she’s going somewhere important, look at her.” He waved at the screen, as though to indicate Rayla’s very sure pathing through the gnarled forest.

“Have you watched a lot of videos, or something?” Callum asked, baffled, as Rayla-as-Isora found and followed a trail to a moonlit path glittering with ghostly, evanescent liquid. It didn’t take a truthfinder to follow that.

“Nope,” Rayla said, grinning, pulse thrumming with excitement. The liquid was weird and glowing, maybe, but it was pooled and splattered like blood from profuse wounds. She looked at it and saw that something had left a blood trail. Something very large, and very close. “Now shh, I think I’m about to find something.”

Callum groaned despairingly, watching the screen. This area was bright enough that he could probably see what was going on. “Are you sure you don’t want to turn the prompts back on? Just for this?”

She shrugged, said “Let’s find out,” and walked straight into a major game encounter.

In the moonlit clearing was an enormous lunar archdragon, and she was dying. She was sprawled across the ground and broken trees, sides heaving with the effort of breathing, ghostly blood pouring from her in bursts with every movement. She was glowing, but in a flickering, weakening sort of way. Her blood and shape seemed almost to be steaming at the edges. Her nostrils flared, and with effort her great head rose to swivel at Isora; her eyes were gone, leaving sunken bleeding pits, but she hissed anyway.

“It is you, is it?” she rasped, light flaring around her, whiskers lifting with fury. “Thief! Breaker of eggs, stealer of souls, bane of every shifting light. How dare you come here?”

Isora couldn’t be moved, now; instead, a text box opened. But…Rayla blinked, surprised…instead of pre-written dialogue, or dialogue options, there was a Choose what to say field. She clicked on it, wary, and found an elaborate system where she could, apparently, select a sentence structure and populate it with some key words from a list. “What’s this about?” she wondered, and got a slew of pitying looks from her observers.

“You’re supposed to use truthfinding to help figure out what to say,” Nihatasi said, drawing closer to watch over her shoulder. “But Isora’s truthfinding isn’t very high level at this stage of the game, so it’s hard to get through this encounter right even when you do have the prompts enabled. This dragon is…tricky. Most people just skip her if they can.”

Rayla frowned, scrolling through the options, considering what she knew. The Moon’s Blood ritual had been intended to make the cult leader into the Moon’s Vessel, and accordingly transform them into a Scion. Isora had just stumbled into it at the wrong – or right – time. But the ritual had featured a pool of gleaming blood quite prominently. Blood that looked a great deal like this.

She thought for a moment and then consciously opened her magic, tapping into the truthfinding as deeply as she did when doing her coursework. The ache made her wish she hadn’t worn herself out on purpose earlier, but, well. At least it still worked as well as ever. It rose to the surface and brimmed around her thoughts as she looked through the options.

Carefully, she shaped her guess into the most compatible of the sample structures available. The wording was a bit clumsy. She hoped the game was programmed well enough to interpret it right. “I didn’t steal anything from choice,” she made Isora say, and wondered how many thousands of lines of dialogue they’d had to have the voice actress record for this.

There was a brief pause and a loud hum from the game module, presumably as it interpreted and selected the response. The dragon’s mouth opened, revealing gleaming needle-sharp teeth; blood spilled from around them as she snarled. She didn’t speak. “Oh boy,” said Pava, sympathetically. Apparently it was a bad response, then.

Rayla pursed her lips as the text selection returned. She was able to choose more than one sentence this time, and she thought about it, hard. She thought of using one of them to claim it had been an accident, but…looked at the dragon, winced, and decided against it. The previous denial hadn’t gone well; she had the inkling that trying more of it would worsen the situation. She thought about it for a long while, and then slowly started piecing the lines together, feeding the clues she’d gathered in.

“It was dragon blood in the ritual,” said Isora to the dragon, in the first sentence. “It was them that hurt you,” as the second. “What else did they steal? There has to be more to it than blood.” Third and fourth. That was the limit. Rayla watched for the response, her collective of new friends going confusedly silent around her.

After another loading pause, the dragon’s head reared back, as though she’d been startled. She coughed blood, hissed, then turned her head as though trying to look at Isora out of an eye that was no longer there. “The thief asks what she stole,” said the dragon, though ponderously this time. “But it is all over you. The stink of it, the feel of it. I am empty inside, thief, and it is because of you. Is it not?”

“Wait, what?” Callum asked, taken-aback, and someone shushed him.

Rayla thought hard, arcanum twinging at her from overstrain as she slowly selected the response. “I interrupted the ritual, and this was done to me. The backlash destroyed the mountain.”

The dragon was silent for most of the programmed response, playing an animation of gushing blood and laboured breath. “Come closer, little thief,” she said eventually. “If you dare.”

There wasn’t a dialogue selection there, just an action prompt. Approach: yes or no. Rayla selected ‘yes’ without hesitating. As Isora neared the huge dragon, feet wading through ghostly blood, the great beast lowered her head and inhaled slowly, teeth gleaming by her face.

“…There is none of the stink of that witch-oil here,” she said at last. “It was not you.”

“I’m not one of them,” confirmed Isora.

Slowly, ponderously, the dragon sighed out on a bubbly breath, and her whiskers drooped low, as though suddenly lacking the energy to move. “What, then, has become of them?”

Via Isora, Rayla drew on all the clues she found and said “I don’t know. At least a few of them died. I think the leader escaped.”

The dragon closed her ragged, ruined eyelids. “I see. I had thought to curse you, when you came here shining with stolen light. I have enough left in me for that. But…it was not you. It would not help.” She lowered herself slowly down to the sodden ground. “I am very tired.”

“You’re dying,” said Rayla-by-Isora.

“Yes. But it is some comfort to die knowing that at least they did not succeed.” The dragon laughed, painful and wet. “You are still a thief, but you stole what they had already stolen. It is good, I think. Fitting.”

“I have never seen this dialogue tree before,” hissed Pava, incredulous, only to be shushed by three different people.

Rayla considered her options, then opted for an introduction. “I’m Isora,” her character said. “Who are you? Is there anyone you’d like me to take a message to?”

The dragon laughed again, more quietly. “I was Penumbra,” she said. “I had a mate. They bled him dry and stole his eyes. I had a daughter, only a year from the egg. They bled her too, and took the very heart and the soul from her. I am almost glad that my eyes were stolen too, so that I did not have to watch it happen. No, little thief-Isora, there is no one to bring my death-words to. None that still live.”

Rayla winced. “That’s dark,” she observed, appreciating for the first time why the game was warned as not for children. To the dragon, her character responded “I’m sorry.”

“It was not your doing. I am glad, if nothing else, that they did not manage to keep what they stole. You are a shining thing now, bright in the Moon, brighter than anything I have ever seen – I should have hated for our suffering to make one of those monsters so bright as that.” Penumbra’s empty, sightless eyes opened, ‘looking’ straight at her. “I am dying. Revenge is beyond me now, so I will ask it: will you kill them for me? Those that survived, those that escaped…will you hunt them? Will you slay them? Will you spill their blood for what they have done?”

A prompt appeared: Accept quest?

“Yes,” said Rayla, via Isora. “I’ll take revenge for you.”

“Good,” sighed the dragon, and reached out a diaphanous wing to pull Isora close in to her bloody chest. “Let this be the price for the light you now bear. A creature of the Moon are you, keener than its light and darker than its deepest shadows. So long as you avenge us, you may bear that power without shame.”

Then, coiled around the protagonist, the dragon flared into light. The blood glowed in its fetid pools, the wings glowed, the long body and its long tail – all turned to light. The screen whited out, and final whispery dialogue played out:

“Blood for blood, Isora, and you will fulfil your oath. It is only right.”

When the scene returned, the clearing was empty. The blood and the dragon were gone, and Isora had a strange, twisting glowing mark on the back of her arm. She held it up to see it shine.

Quest log updated, said a notification, and then Penumbra’s Blessing added, and then Achievement unlocked: Blood Diplomacy.

With that, the cutscene ended, and Rayla regained control. “This,” she decided, grinning, “is a really cool game.” When no one replied, she turned and saw everyone staring at her, in varying states of visible astonishment. “…What?”

“Blessing?” Callum squeaked finally, waving his hand weakly at the screen. “You got the Blessing? Without a guide? On your first run?”

“I’ve only seen that in people’s ‘unlock all secret dialogue’ runs,” Kassa said, sounding reluctantly impressed. “Did you read a guide before you played? Or watch videos?”

Rayla shrugged, checked the time, and then reluctantly saved the game. It had probably been enough for the day, especially with how overworked her arcanum already was. “Didn’t need to. Game’s well made.”

Nihatasi looked flummoxed. “Seriously though, it’s really hard to get through that encounter without her just cursing you after two sentences. How…?”

She shrugged again. “Call it Moonshadow intuition?” She didn’t quite like advertising her truthfinding, really, and wasn’t keen on the idea of announcing it in front of an entire social gathering like this. Though she probably should’ve thought of that before she played a game built around the talent in the presence of a house full of people, all things considered.

It had been too tempting, though; a computer game that pretty much counted as real training? No one who knew her could’ve expected her to pass that up.

No one seemed to know what to make of her response…except for Kazi, who kept proving to be very sharp indeed, and whose eyebrows were raising slowly. They, clearly, had a good guess.

“I’ve seen Moonshadow elves play this game, though,” Callum said, baffled. “They sometimes get the stealth mechanics better, and have some better guesses about the, you know, plot and stuff, but…”

Rayla debated just…bluntly changing the subject, like Callum himself made such a habit of. It’d be uncomfortable, but she could probably do it. She’d made something of a spectacle, though. Maybe it would just be easier to…not.

Kazi raised an eyebrow at her, inquisitive, as though asking permission for something. Though unsure precisely what they were asking, Rayla sighed, and inclined her head a little, and they smiled at her. “I always wondered,” they spoke up, light and curious. “Do you need to understand a language to interpret it? For example-“ Their hands lifted and signed out what looked like a full sentence; watching it, Rayla twitched, sighed, and turned around fully to face the group.

“I can tell you lied, I can’t tell what you said,” Rayla offered, resigned. “If you were actually trying to talk to me instead of just doing a test, I could probably get an idea of what you meant.”

They nodded, fascinated. “I see. So intent matters.”

“A lot, when you’re talking to real people. Less for other stuff.” She glanced across the rest of them, waiting to see if any of them would make the connection, and-

Sure enough, Kassa had started laughing. Quietly, but the shake of her shoulders was obvious. Everyone else was in varying states of realisation, until-

“…Haïata harat,” said Nihatasi, looking shocked. “You’re an actual truthfinder, aren’t you?”

Rayla rolled her eyes, then mock-bowed. “Actual Truthfinder, pleased to meet you,” she agreed, and managed to find a little amusement for the elf’s flabbergasted expression. Kassa, for her part, was still laughing; Pava looked speculative; Soren was squinting as though trying to muddle through a complicated maths problem. And Callum…

She sneaked a glance at him.

Callum, apparently, was looking very embarrassed. She wasn’t completely sure why at first. But then:

“Sky’s Breath, Callum,” Kassa giggled, finally managing to speak. “Only you could find a random truthfinder who likes games and is a stupidly good stealth specialist at a horn salon.”

“We call you ke ikoracaril, you know,” Nihatasi said to Rayla, a moment later, apparently still reeling a little. “Sacred truth-callers. It’s – a holy gift, isn’t it, for Moonshadow elves? Like being born with wings is for us?”

“Being born with wings isn’t sacred for most Skywing elves, Nisi,” Kassa reminded, amused, her own wings twitching. Her girlfriend waved her off, eyes intently curious.

“Is it true you can just look at people and know what they’re hiding?” She persisted; Callum looked a little faint at the mere question, more worried now than abashed. “Because that’s one of the rumours about ikoracaril, but Scion of Shadow says most of you aren’t even half that good but Scion of Shadow is a game so I don’t even know what’s true.”

Rayla cast a very dry look at Callum, who couldn’t have embodied ‘I’m trying to hide something and there’s a Priest of the Light looking at me’ any more clearly if he’d tried. “…People who are the right kind of religious might think it’s sacred, but that’s not most Moonshadow elves,” Rayla said, eventually, answering the questions in turn. “But it’s only the best truthfinders – the Priests of Moon’s Light and Shadow – who are good enough to just…see things in people like that. Most of us train for different things and never get that far.”

“…But you can still tell when people are lying?” Soren asked, very slowly, glancing intermittently at Callum, who’d not particularly relaxed at her explanation.

“Direct lies, always,” Rayla confirmed. “The rest depends. I’m not that good.”

“…But you…played the game, without the prompts?” Callum finally spoke up, weakly. “So you’re that good of a truthfinder, right?”

“I’m as good as start-of-game Isora, Callum,” she told him dryly. “I don’t know I’ll be able to keep up when she gets crazier at it, I’ll probably need to turn some prompts back on in the late game.”

He nodded, slowly, but still looked a bit spooked. It occurred to Rayla for the first time that, depending on how attached he was to his secrets, this…could be a genuine problem. His friends were obviously in the know for at least some of what he was hiding, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to figure it out. He was used to having at least some control over who found things out, and the prospect of her suddenly working the secrets out of her own accord, maybe without him even knowing, was frightening. He liked her, he liked her a lot, but that didn’t mean he felt safe with her knowing everything-

Rayla blinked, then jerked her head away and purposefully redirected her thoughts. She was still so open from truthfinding all through that game, it was all too easy to pick up on everything he was putting out, and evidently he wasn’t comfortable with that. So she looked at part of the wall, instead, and fell into a two-second exercise of determining where it was weakest. It dislodged the thread of magic, at least.

“…Oof,” said Pava, his first offering since Rayla’s revelation. “Still not – exactly ideal.”

Kazi exchanged a look with Kassa, who no longer looked amused. Then Kazi signed a quick, precise sentence at Callum; he grimaced, and offered a slow reply. Watching them, Rayla could tell that Kassa understood enough of whatever sign language it was to get the gist, but probably not understand fully.

“Yeah, alright then,” Kassa said finally, and stood, making shooing motions at the room at large. “I think it’s time for us all to clear out and let the two of you have a chat.”

Soren’s head shot up. “Really?” He demanded, indignantly, arms folded. There was a muffled metallic clink from his concealed armour. He shot a very level look at Rayla – not hostile, but probably the closest to it he’d ever come, even during the Honour Games. He was not pleased at the suggestion that she be left alone with Callum. She wasn’t a great deal more pleased about it herself under the circumstances, and could practically feel her shoulders hunching.

“Yes, Soren, really.” Kassa pulled him up; he was bulky enough that it looked like it took effort. “We can go start on the dishes and you can lurk out on the landing or something, come on.”

Pava and Kazi and Nihatasi all exchanged a glance and obligingly went for the door, shooting Callum varying looks of concern as they went. Soren went much more reluctantly. He’d taken his sheathed sword with him when they went upstairs and had it in his hand now, grip a little stronger than warranted. He was worried. He went anyway, following Kassa out; he hesitated at the landing and said “Don’t close the door.”

All of them except Soren went down the stairs, and then the next flight of stairs, until Rayla heard their footsteps distantly in the kitchen. Soren went down the first stairs and lingered probably somewhere near the balcony. For a human, she thought, that was about far enough that he’d not be able to make out the words if she was quiet, but certainly close enough to hear someone shout. Close enough to run and get to Callum, if something seemed to be going badly.

She stilled, a series of memories and observations and clues surging together so quickly and cohesively she couldn’t have stopped it if she tried; involuntarily, she said, “Oh, he’s your bodyguard,” and everything suddenly made much more sense. A substantial piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

Callum, who’d been lingering quietly in his chair as the others left, flinched as though struck and lifted his hands to his face, groaning. “This is such a mess,” he said, a little despairingly, a little upset.

Rayla winced. She’d not meant to figure that out. But there wasn’t any undoing it now, was there? “Sorry.”

He lowered his hands and attempted a half-smile at her. “Well, it’s not exactly your fault I’m, er.”

“Completely covered in secrets?” Rayla suggested, trying for levity.

He snorted. “Yeah, pretty much.” They’d been sitting very close before. Now, with Rayla having turned part-way around, there was a little more space. He glanced at the computer monitor, where Scion of Shadow had so recently been playing, and sighed. “…I don’t even know what to say.”

“’Please don’t work out all my secrets before I’m ready for you to know them’?” She offered, and he made a face; that had apparently been uncomfortably accurate.

“I mean, yes?” Callum said, helplessly. “But – is that even possible? I don’t really know how this works – can you turn truthfinding off, or does it just sort of…” He waved vaguely, unable to finish his sentence.

“The better I get, the easier stuff gets to tell,” she summarised, watching him. “Things that are – easy – happen on their own, a lot of the time. I can’t really control that.”

He processed that, then nodded towards the door. “So, just now…”

“It was too obvious,” she admitted, uncomfortably. “It’s just – he was waiting outside the room at the game society the whole time for no good reason, he walked just behind you when you left, like a guard – your friends were worried about you being alone with me without him there and you were guilty about it and he asked if you were alive when he got home and found out, he’s wearing concealed armour and takes his sword around the house and – and was pointing out to you, earlier, that I’ve got stealth and assassination training, he’s on the same degree scheme I am, and right now he’s staying in hearing range in case you shout for him. It was just…”

Callum sighed. “Just like truthfinding synergy in the game,” he recognised, wryly. “You learn enough stuff and then it all just – comes together, right away?”

She snorted. “Pretty much. So far, they do seem to have a pretty good idea of how it goes, in that game. It was…just like training.”

“Was it hard to play?” He asked, sounding morbidly interested. “Getting all the information, doing the synergies, talking to the dragon?”

“Talking to the dragon was hard,” Rayla said, remembering. “It’d be easier if she was real, and really talking to me, but you can’t get as much out of a story or – or game, or book, as a real person. So it made it a lot harder. I had to pretend she was real to be able to guess what to say. Everything else was…medium-easy, I suppose.”

“Right.” He stared at his hands for a while, clad in their usual half-finger gloves, as if they held the answers to his conundrum. “…What have you figured out already?”

Rayla thought of the earlier ‘synergy’ she’d had first, and flushed. “The bodyguard thing is probably the first important thing I’ve figured out,” she said, quite truthfully. “I’ve mostly not been trying to read all your secrets, you know.”

Callum’s lips twitched, just a little. “I…appreciate that? I’ve probably not exactly been making it easy.”

“You really haven’t.”

He smiled slightly, and then was silent for a long while, thinking. Long enough, in fact, that Soren apparently got concerned and called up the stairs “Everything okay?”

Callum flushed, and called back “Fine!” She observed this, frowning lightly, glancing between him and his door. Soren was a lot further away than she thought he should be. The bottom of the stairs was too far. Outside the game society room had been too far, too. What were the standards, here? Did he expect Callum to be fast and capable enough to defend himself until he arrived? If so, was that justified?

She wasn’t sure. And, abruptly, she was concerned for him. He wasn’t bodyguarded very closely, maybe, but that there was one at all implied there was some sort of risk of attack…

“Here’s the deal,” Callum said, after another long few seconds had passed in quiet as he mustered his thoughts. “I…am hiding kind of a few things. Some of them aren’t a huge deal to keep secret, but – I still need to get permission to tell someone – new. And…” He hesitated.

And he didn’t know if he was ready for her to know any of it, yet. She nodded, and thought for a moment. She thought of her duty as an elf of Xadia. “I need to ask you a question.”

Callum shifted nervously. “Er?”

It wasn’t terribly polite of her. She’d be able to tell, whether he answered or not, the approximate answer to something as direct as this. But unless she asked, she wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable intentionally blinding herself to his secrets, given he or his family or both were probably pretty important. His secrets could plausibly be damaging to keep hidden. So: “Do you or your family or close associates consider yourselves enemies of Xadia, or of any Xadian province, or any heads of state of Xadia?” It was, almost word-for-word, a question she’d been trained to keep handy for suspicious characters.

“Oh.” Abruptly, he seemed to relax. Apparently he was entirely fine with that sort of question. “Yeah, no, we’re definitely not.”

It was true, and he wasn’t carefully leaving anything out either. She looked more closely to confirm: he believed it, and probably no one he was closely associated with could be considered an enemy of Xadia either. Rayla felt some of the stiffness in her shoulders loosen, and she sighed. “Then your secrets aren’t any of my business,” she told him, a little dry. “I’ll do what I can not to…truthfind you. But – there’s a lot of clues already. If we keep talking, there’ll be more. I might not be able to stop…” She searched for the word.

There was a wry tilt to his lips. “Synergising?”

Rayla snorted. “Yeah. It kind of happens on its own.” She hesitated. “Pretty much the only way I’m not going to guess eventually is if we stop talking or meeting up.”

He made a face. “I don’t want to do that,” he said, then reddened a little, like he was worried he’d given away too much.

Something tight and tense in her chest relaxed a little. “Up to you.”

Tentatively, he offered her a smile. Despite everything, it caused a fluttering of warm fuzzy feelings in her chest, because apparently the circumstances hadn’t been enough to dislodge her infatuation.

A moment later, she thought of something. “I’ll try not to ask direct questions about anything important,” she decided. “I can get answers from those even if you don’t actually say anything.”

Callum tilted his head, looking a little more comfortable and a little more fascinated, all at the same time. “That’s pretty cool,” he observed. “That’s in the game, too, actually. I wonder how accurate it’ll end up being?”

“Well, I’ll let you know, if you let me play it again.”

“I will,” he said, more cheerfully. “When there’s time. I’m kinda busy the rest of this week, but – next week, definitely.”

She tilted her head at him. “Sure. But what are you even busy with, in the middle of the holiday?”

He opened his mouth with the clear intention of answering honestly, then just as visibly reconsidered half-way through and blinked. “I…have no idea if answering that counts as a clue or not.” He pursed his lips, pensive. “I think I’d better wait a couple days before getting back to you about that.” And then: “I probably should’ve just said ‘work’, shouldn’t I.”

“If it would be a direct lie, no,” Rayla reminded him, lips twitching. “Those stand out like a sore thumb.”

“Oh, right.” Callum blinked, then looked curious. “Have I actually, you know, outright lied to you? I mean, I don’t really make a habit of it, but…”

“Only once, actually. Today.” Rayla nodded towards one of the canvases in the room – specifically, the one which only had some basic colours and lighting on it so far. “You said you hadn’t decided what it was going to be, or something.”

He followed her gaze, saw it, then flushed bright red. “Oh. Er. Right.”

Rayla carefully avoided thinking about that and did not guess anything. She was getting the impression that she’d have to do quite a lot of deliberate thought control here, to keep herself from being too invasive. There was one thing, though, that she really wanted to know. For her peace of mind, and depending on the answer, to have a chat with Soren about. “Do you need help?” She asked, at last.

Callum looked taken-aback. “What?”

“You’ve got a bodyguard,” she pointed out. “He doesn’t seem like he thinks someone’s actively trying to get you, but he’s there. He thinks there’s a chance random elves like me could be out to get you. Is that just because you’re important, or are you actually in danger?”

Nonplussed, he blinked at her for a few seconds. Involuntarily, he smiled, the expression fluttering at the edges of his lips like he was touched by this sign of concern. “…I don’t know what I can tell you without giving you more clues.”

There was very little that wouldn’t. Rayla nodded, shoulders easing a little, and said “No active danger then, that you know about? Just a precaution thing?”

“You got all of that just from me not telling you anything?” He asked, admiringly. “That’s crazy.”

At least he didn’t seem to mind. “Me being a truthfinder got me a full scholarship for university here,” she offered, shrugging. “It’s…kind of a high-demand skill. For a reason.”

He considered that. “…I’m really looking forward to seeing you play the rest of that game, now.”

“Believe me, so am I,” she said ruefully. “I can’t wait to tell Runaan I found a computer game that’s basically training.” Before he could ask, she gestured towards the door. “Want to go? I should probably have a chat with your bodyguard.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, then finally spoke. “Uh. I mean. Okay?” He hesitated. “Don’t – don’t mention him being my bodyguard outside of the people in this house. It’s mostly just my housemates that know about it. Venanin doesn’t. Evairas does, but he’s an old friend from home too.”

Rayla headed to the door, and paused. “Wasn’t he supposed to be here today?” She looked down the stairs and lifted an eyebrow at Soren, who was blatantly watching from down the hall.

“Probably too busy with work. That happens a lot.”

She descended the steep loft stairs and headed straight for Soren. “If you actually don’t trust me, you should stay closer,” she told him, without preamble. “If I wanted to kill or kidnap him you wouldn’t have been able to stop me from there.”

His eyes narrowed at her, while above on the loft landing Callum spluttered. He seemed to consider whether or not to be threatened, and then whether or not to be insulted, and finally he just nodded. “How would you get away?” He asked her, by all impressions taking serious mental notes.

“Loft window,” she offered. “I might not have wings, but scaling buildings is easy, with or without a hostage.”

“There’s security runes on the windows,” Soren pointed out, interested. “Can you get past those?”

Rayla had trained on circumventing quite a lot of magical security, and some non-magical. “Depends on the runes,” she decided after a moment. “I’d need to try them to find out.”

“Game it out sometime?” He suggested, with anticipation.

She grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

Soren extended his hand, human-style, and they shook on it. Meanwhile Callum peered down from above, perturbed. “…Did you two just agree to stage my kidnapping for training?” He questioned, descending the stairs to make faces at them from closer range.

Callum’s apparent bodyguard reached out and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fun!”

“You always say training will be fun,” he complained, warding Soren’s hand off and finger-combing his hair back to rights. “And then it’s mostly just painful.”

“Better run it by – home – first, though.” Soren grinned at her. “I’m still up for sparring next week, though. Can you do Monday or Tuesday night?”

“Tuesday’s better, but I can do either.” She paused for a moment, eyes narrowing. “And – now I think about it, we’ve got crossover training this Sunday, right?”

“Sure have,” he agreed. “Sunday, then. And Tuesday for sparring. And sometime when I’ve cleared it, we can test you on the house wards.”

Callum looked between them. “…Somehow, I feel like letting you two make friends is going to come back to bite me.”

---

Downstairs, Callum was briefly interrogated as to the disposition of his and Rayla’s talk. Kazi and Pava seemed to be clattering about in the kitchen, but everyone else seemed keenly interested. “She knows Soren is my bodyguard,” he said, resigned. “That’s about it.”

They all considered that. “To be honest, it’s not that hard to figure out,” Kassa pointed out, amused. “You really lucked out on the campus at large coming up with their own explanation for it.”

“’Lucked out’. Sure.” He sounded particularly sour about it.

“Better than the alternative,” she shot back. Rayla wanted to ask, but before she could- “What are you doing about the party, anyway?”

Callum stopped. He glanced at Rayla. He coughed, flushed a little, and said. “Er. It’s my birthday this week? And we’re having a party. Well. Two parties, actually, but the first one is just for my family-“

“He’s trying to invite you to the Friday party,” Nihatasi contributed helpfully. “Most of our friends will be there!”

“My brother, too,” Callum said, looking genuinely pleased about it. “He gets here tomorrow, actually. Along with. Er. A couple other people. They’re not staying past Thursday though.”

Rayla looked at him, automatically figured out that he very rarely got to see his brother, also automatically figured out that whoever was leaving on Thursday was the hush-hush sort of family member involved in Callum’s various secrets, and blinked and forced her mind away before she could see anything else. She was quite sure that the family-only party was the thing he was ‘busy’ with this week that he’d been so concerned about mentioning. “Uhuh,” she said, dubiously. “So…this party. It’ll be pretty busy, I guess?”

Callum looked embarrassed. “Well. Fairly?”

She didn’t need truthfinding to deduce that he really wanted her to attend anyway. She sighed. The prospect of an actual crowded social engagement was fairly intimidating, but…she knew several attendees already, right? And she was interested to meet Callum’s brother. She wondered if he was this bad at being secretive. “Yeah, okay,” she decided, steeling her nerves. “I’ll come.”

“Well thank fuck for that,” Kassa said, voice dry, and then promptly began ushering them to the kitchen. “Right then. Time to clear up. Rayla, you get first-time-guest privileges and don’t have to help if you don’t want, but otherwise-“

“We know, we know,” Nihatasi complained, and skittered ahead down the hall.

“Some of us are already washing dishes, thank you very much,” Pava’s voice complained from the kitchen. “And, you know, would like some extra hands. You’re a seriously messy chef, Kassa.”

“Fuck you,” Kassa called back cheerfully, and stalked kitchenwards with wings lifted in a sort of Skywing-exclusive swagger.

Rayla observed this with amusement. “I’ll help wash up.” It only seemed decent.

She was relegated to dish-drying duty once there, and equipped with a small towel. Callum replaced Pava at the sink, and their respective angles meant that she didn’t see, not at first, but-

For a moment, just a moment, Rayla caught a glimpse of the skin of his hands and forearms where he’d removed his gloves and pushed up his sleeves. They were viciously scarred.

It was only a glimpse. But it unsettled her for the rest of the evening, even once she finally headed home. Not only for the fact that she was pretty sure the scarring went further than his arms, but also…she couldn’t tell what it was from. She’d never seen anything like it. Thin, jagged furrows branching this way and that along his arms, like cracks spiderwebbing through broken stone. Not like a lightning scar at all, and that was the closest thing she could think of. It was bewildering, and not a little worrying.

She stayed up thinking for a long time, that night.

---

End chapter.

I had like 90% of this written since months ago but wasn’t certain I wanted the truthfinding conversation to go how it did. Today I decided it’s fine and finished it off.

Fun fact: Callum’s exotic scarring in this fic is sometimes my primary motivation for writing it. I just fucking love scars. To the point where getting to write about someone’s exciting scars is actually significant motivation for me, apparently. Accordingly I’m extremely pleased to finally mention the Callum Scars in this chapter.

I want to play Scion of Shadow quite badly, but alas. Ain’t real. :(

It took some effort to wrestle myself back into the fandom after all the new canon stuff dropped. I blocked tumblr for a month to avoid seeing any of it because I was experiencing Fear Of Emotions and also low spoons, which is a poor combination when trying to catch up on new content of a thing one likes. All of this is to say I am tenuously here, please leave comments to kindle my enthusiasm so I can write more shit, I would like that.

Worldbuilding notes:

Three Phoenix: a popular Xadian card game, with cards themed around three different types of phoenix. I’m not going to build it beyond that because I have an irrational grudge against card games.

Memory chips: Used in a lot of game modules as extra storage space for save files. Like the ones you used to have to shove into the PS1 and such. Around the same size and shape as chipsinger chips.

‘Haïata harat’: Brevili, loosely translates to ‘Sky-heights breathing’. A religious invocation / swear. (Brevili conlang)

‘ke ikoracari’: Brevili, the honoured term for a truthfinder. Literally translates as ‘sacred truth-caller’, but ‘kora’ is a complicated word so technically it can also translate as skin-caller, heart-caller, soul-caller, etc. (Brevili conlang)

Race-based graphical settings: Some Xadian games will have differing graphical settings based on the race/species playing it. If their game is from the perspective of a Moonshadow elf, like Scion of Shadow, they’ll generally try to tweak the settings so that each race sees approximately what a Moonshadow elf would see. Skywing distance vision gets cut so it’s blurrier in the distance, most races get light level boosts in dark places to simulate Moonshadow elf dark vision, and so on. Often there won’t be a setting for humans, but Callum has learned that the Sunfire elf setting is close enough.

#rayllum #tdp fic #tdp rayla #tdp callum #tdp soren #the ceracurist #ceracurist au

46 notes · View notes