#someone who will play new board games with me and maybe even some Dnd | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

twistedapple · 3 months

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OK so I need to get it out of my chest somehow, because I've been a bit displeased ever since I read that post. Not gonna tag or link because I don't want to cause trouble for OP.

But I saw a post regarding the way some people engage with Baldur's Gate 3 content, and how it was frowned upon to have opinions without playing the game. I didn't exactly take that post well in part because I saw a lot of people from the Raphael Corner nodding in agreement with what I consider a short-sighted opinion piece.

I kind of disagree with the base statement that one's opinions aren't valid if one hasn't played the game for the following reasons:

1. It honestly sounds a lot like actual DnD players complaining that new players who got on board thanks to BG3 expect the game's rules to be the same in DnD, and I consider that gatekeepy when one could be eased into the tabletop version in a more welcoming manner;

2. It's very easy to scroll past what one considers a bad take. It's even easier to block people and even tags on Tumblr, if there's a type of content one doesn't wish to see (inb4 tag your shit properly please);

3. It can quickly come off as classist because what if one's only way to enjoy the game is to live it vicariously through other people's content because say, they can't afford it (either too young and their family won't invest in the game and the gear to run it for whatever reason, or simply someone who generally can't afford it? Like idk what's the price of a PS5 in some of y'all's country, but in my country it's almost 800€. That's a lot of money just for a console. Don't get me started on gaming laptops and desktops, the only way to hace something decent is to slowly build it yourself with some clever part hunting for something that won't literally cost you a month-worth salary);

4. Having been in that exact position of having to live videogames vicariously through other people myself, for the longest time, and still having trouble sharing my own stuff now because I don't feel at my place in the gaming community simply because I couldn't afford it for so long, this post hits close to home in an unpleasant manner. Sure, Tiktok isn't a reference (like, generally speaking. Don't go on Tiktok if you really want to learn about stuff and build informed opinions/media literacy), but following streamers on Twitch for example is very helpful in that regard because it's raw footage and one can actually learn from it (on top of having fun in the chat if the community is cool). Checking quality gaming/analysis channels on YT can also help acquire enough knowledge to build a solid opinion.

5. This is literally a game with a fuckton of options for the storyline. No matter how much you'll play it, there will always be someone else, somewhere else, who'll figure out something you've never picked up. It's a very common occurrence on the subreddit. So judging people because they don't play the game kinda misses the mark even in that aspect. Instead of criticising people for getting their informations from Tiktok, I think it'd be more productive to either simply ignore these people, or engage with them in a manner that makes them want to dig further and learn more through other, more interesting/reliable sources.

Now mind you, my own opinion on that matter is very likely colored by the fact I'm a TTRPG player IRL, I've literally had experiences of one DM animating a one-shot with different groups and everybody getting to discuss all of the outcomes afterwards (it's an interesting thing to experience, highly recommend it) - it's very similar to games like BG3 where one has multiple paths depending on one's decisions for the storyline, or more generally games with multiples endings (like my beloved Dishonored and Bloodborne, for example). There's also the fact that I simply avoid what I consider bad takes, I literally don't interact with it, I block if necessary to curate my feed. So maybe I'm just like "ok some people build bad takes from Tiktok instead of getting into the game proper, I'll just steer clear of them" in term of stance, which makes me much more moderate in my opinion of these people - I actively make the choice to ignore them and vibe in my corner.

I'm just sad to see many people I know from the Raphael Corner agree with that initial opinion piece so eagerly.

#crow speaks #i'm leaving that out of the tags #not willing to start a fight with the Raphael Corner over that topic #but that initial post saddened me ngl #i get what OP means but I don't fully agree with it and find the core message to be dangerously close to pretention #that's not how one grabs people's attention for general improvement #will likely not engage much here because the initial post made me uncomfortable

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dumb-fuck27 · 9 months

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I’ve been quiet due to a dnd campaign I’ve been playing and holy shit has it been hectic. The DM has apparently found ways to make the quest exceptionally harder and dose it in the most perfect way possible. Are we fighting harder monster? No no no no, something much more terrifying… ourselves. Like clones? No like we turned against each other and not in the fun way I’ll give you an example.

While we were in a cave just murdering goblins we came across a random NPC which we ended up saving and our dumb ass rouge (not me) decided to pickpocket him only to find out he was a she. She ended catching him (once again not me) called him a molester (pretty rude honestly) and beat the shit out of him. The next morning I was trying to get information out of her, why she was dressed like that, why she was in the middle of the forest, in a cave full of goblins and for some reason not shooting out goblins baby’s and looks in pristine condition for being in a goblin cave, in the middle of the forest, far away from civilization. It was too difficult so I asked her what her name was and where she’s from to see if we can get her back. For some reason she refused to go back and doesn’t want to tell us why. So what do I do in that situation? I hog tie here and loot her seeing what I can find on her, turns out not only is she a missing princess but a missing princess of the king were meant to kill and that complicates things. So I explained to the rest of the party and why i believe we should throw her bs k in that fucking cave and the rest of the party thinks I’m an ass hole for even thinking that. So we start to get our things together and our orc buddy notices one of his shoe laces are missing and everyone looks at me. Why? Maybe because I’m the fucking rouge. So I’m like “what you looking at me for I haven’t still anything yet” so they all decided to search me and didn’t find the shoe lace until they look at the hog tied princess and realize that’s the shoe lace. So now they’re yelling at me and I’m sitting there like “why the fuck was it in my inventory” Necromancer: “because you stole it!” Me: “I didn’t steal it!” Cleric: “then why was in your inventory!?” Me: “I DONT KNOW!” Orc: “because you fucking still it. We get our shit together literally and figuratively, tie the princess up with something else and we keep moving. We get to a town and it’s packed. We have enough money for provisions for our party but because we have another person we have to find work so we go to the only place we know, the quest board. As half of us are buying provisions and the other half looking for work, the people who are looking at the board notice a flyer about a kidnapped princess and the kidnappers faces are on the paper. Me being the thieving mother fucker I am I use the sewer tunnels to get word that now we’re being hunted because they think we kidnapped her. We buy our food and book it the fuck out of there. To put in perspective you’ll get out alive after you rob a castle and kill a few guards and alive doesn’t mean with every appendage. you get accused of kidnapping a princess? The entire map will be after your ass and there is no explaining why you have her hence why no one dose princess saving missions. Too dangerous to get to her and even worse to get her back alive. Anyway now the entire party is like “fuck if the news made it all the way out here, there is no town or village we can go to” so now I’m having to teach the entire party “thieves cant” solution to hidden doors to thieves hideaways and testing them how to pickpocket and this is going on for like two months in game and in those two months we have accused everyone in the party for stealing from each other at least three time after every rest. The orc is like “there is something going on here that is not making sense. There is no way we’re sleep walking into someone else’s tents and unconsciously stealing from them” so I’m sitting there I go “fuck let me use a perception check” and the DM raises his eyebrows and says “go for it” even though I get a natural 20 which them put it at a 32 we figure out that we have been being followed by assassins and they have been slightly inconveniencing us so much that we wanted to kill each other so they could get at the princess. We now know what’s happening and know there still with us but we have no idea where from so so gather our shit a start running.

#dnd campaign #dnd #dnd story

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strangerficsforeddie · 2 years

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Eddie x (nonbinary)Reader: Rebuilding a Shire: Part 4

Listen, I have to try and do my boy Eddie justice, so yall better like how hard I worked to make this shit seem accurate lol.

also today was rough so this should be better than usual

TW: cursing, drugs, creepy dude vibe, highschool

You laugh and roll your eyes, “I see someone has been playing too much Dungeons and Dragons.” You lightly brush his shoulder, letting go of his hand, and for a second, wishing you could reverse time.

You walk into the school with a new level of confidence, and maybe that is because you had an actual friend instead of an expensive habit. Friend… hmm, weird… was Eddie even a friend? That was a thought for future you...was there even enough to analyze that dynamic. The back doors of the school grew closer and so did the impending embarrassment of outing the fact that you play DnD… one may say this was a dramatic reaction, but you knew your brain too well and so you asked, “Do you… do you play Dnd?” you managed, a little uncomfortable with the transition indoors. Everything felt too dark from the bright sky that was your prior scenery. The look Eddie gave you was judgmental, but his eyes glimmered a different story; “Dungeons… and… Dragons…” sounded so theatrical from your new friend that you couldn’t help to laugh. Eddie’s leather jacket and jean vest now reflected an artificial light that guided you through the halls until your eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. “The devil worshipping and elf fucking game?” he asked with a laugh. Suddenly you were laughing too, but a confused laugh, did you misread this? That wouldn’t be the first time-

“See personally, those are the two redeeming aspects,” you sarcastically reply without thinking, “I call it Saturday.”

Eddie smiled and the two of you shared a small laugh. “You’re going to ruin the surprise, my dear (y/n)...” Your heart was fluttering like a butterfly leaving its cocoon at the sound of his voice saying your name, but more than that, it was undeniable that you did not read him wrong at all.

“But yes! I may partake in the game every once in a while.” His coy persona was making you giggle, and maybe that was mixing with the weed, the empty hallways, and the newfound drug called Eddie.

Eddie…Eddie…

“Surprise? What surprise is waiting for me after school?” you tease even though there was a part of you that was way too nervous to even process. Eddie stops in his track and leans over to your face, “ Wouldn’t you want to know,” he says with a shit-eating grin that causes your heart to skip a beat and your face to turn a shade of rouge.

He boops your nose and points at a sign on a wall next to a doorway that says “Principals office” in a tacky formal font. The door was closed, and on it was a bulletin board that was covered in photos of a man who had to be in his 60s with many different children from a slew of ages. If you didn’t know better, you would assume that it was the reason children go missing in Hawkins.

Yes, you did your research on the area when you first moved to town. It was nothing major, just a couple of facts about a murderous father years ago, a few recent articles about missing kids, and anything else that was more proof as to why a person should not be in Hawkins. Anything to hold over your parent's head. Some say it's manipulative, they are doing their best, however, sometimes your father’s anger can be a ticking time bomb that can only be defused with a subtle remark about someone else.

Nonetheless, your eyes drifted back to Eddie, or rather where he was… he had moved down the hallway towards a line of classrooms and lockers, and a part of you wondered how long you had stared at the pictures… man you needed to quit. You knocked on the closed door and heard someone clear their throat, “The door is open!” an old voice crowed out and so you opened the door hesitantly. You wouldn’t call yourself spiritual, nor would you even label yourself if you didn't have to, but there was a part of you that one may call attuned… It wasn’t anything too crazy, in fact, it is hardly noticeable until it rears its head and sends a shiver down your spine. And there goes that shiver though. The door was opened only partly when you see the same man in the photos prior sitting at an old wooden desk that was polished and waxed so much that there seemed to be a thick layer on the top. On there were the typical items: a cup of pens with one tiny, solo American flag, a wooden label that said “Lendenburg,” and a stack of papers at the corner. The overall room was uneasy and the vibe was telling you to dip as soon as you could, and a part of you felt betrayed. Not really by Eddie, but by the universe, but you would blame it on Eddie right now.

“Hi, uh… Im the new student?”

“Oh right! Finally showed up!” the older man crowed out again, his voice crinkly, sounding as though it was painful to talk. ”Yeah, I got lost, but some dude named Eddie helped me find where to go.” The man nods.

“I’m Mr. LendenBurg. I like your shirt, we got things in common,” He says with a smile, “Like the cheese?” you deflect, “ That’s Limburger.” He was not amused, “You like The Who?” You completely forgot that you were wearing a T-shirt you tore up months ago because you just grabbed the first thing you saw this morning. “Well, I take liking to creativity,” he corrects and with a sigh, he stands up and walks towards you. He nearly pushes you out the door as he walks by. “You will be picking your schedule from the guidance counselor first, but after that, you must hurry to your second class period. Please try to avoid-” you start to tune him out and focus on the man in front of you, which causes you to notice his tweed jacket and pants being almost blinding orange. If you were any smarter you would rip it off of him and dip it in a vat of brown dye to save this man from a disrupting traffic. Nonetheless, you persist onwards, tuning back into his trance-inducing monologue when he stops in front of the door and turns to you. You try to grab the door but he does it before you, he leans over slightly so that you can hear his low voice. “And just a word of advice, I’d avoid that Munson kid if I were you… he’s nothing but ...trouble... for you.” With that Lendenburg opened the door, waved at the guidance counselor who was on the phone, and mouthed “New Student.” When you looked back he was already retracing steps back to his lair.

Well that was fucken weird.

#Eddie my beloved #Eddie Munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x nonbinary reader #eddie munson x male reader #eddie munson fanfic #fanfiction #x reader

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crimsun-n-clover · 1 year

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just sent an insta dm to someone i met through sugar to beg them to play dnd with me….

help me dude

if she gets pissed or lets it slip that i asked her to join the party i might have one angry swiftie who emotionally traumatized and abandoned me to hold back

i’ll send most of the party to hide out by my car so i can get them out once i hath defeated her, but the dragonborn stays because she bites in combat irl.

okay MAYBE she’ll join. she’s got all my nerd interests. and our party might get our own room considering how much we hate the rest of the club and we’re the sponsor’s favorites for just being dweebs who aren’t bigoted so that’ll be rad

but if this shit goes wrong???

i’m dead.

anyways

band practice went well. the new guitarist fucking SHREDDED on the song we started today so maybe he’s won me over. and he started a battle with us during practice that lasted even after in the group chat, where he beat me at my own star wars reference and our drummer caved and joined his side bc she’s into him. traitor.

last night i had a dream where i found three stray kittens and took them in, but i woke up after naming only two of them. a black one and a brown tabby, the calico went unnamed. i went to waffle house with my sister / hive mind member because i’m all tore up over sugar today for some goddamn reason and told her how i’m sad the third one didn’t get a name. the two i names were ruby and freddie, like rancid’s ruby soho and freddie mercury. when we left we saw two cats in the parking lot that looked like freddie and ruby, so i guess that’s their names now.

anyways

i don’t know why i miss her so damn much. i mean i do. i was fucking in love like the pathetic queer i am. but everything i hear about her is awful. she believes that shifting bullshit on tiktok, and had a big revelation that she told the hive mind about. she’s like woah i’m really disconnected from reality because i want to live in a universe i create on a piece of paper so i can control absolutely everything and nothing is real but it IS because i say so and it’s ruining my life and also i’m no longer vegetarian but i’m hiding it from everyone.

and according to my other best friend, she keeps crying randomly and shit. i do really think she doesn’t know how to be without me. she needs someone who can remind her that it’s okay to need things, and she dropped me in favor of standing by a bigot and now i’m not there to do it.

fucking SUCK IT.

you ruined my goddamn life and somehow i know i’d still accept you back in in a heartbeat if you really needed me. i listened to a song that i like today and just started crying. it was never about you to me, but now i don’t have a choice. everything is about you and i can’t stand it. you abandoned me. you’re a selfish motherfucker who will never have the balls to love someone who loves you back. you get icked out by people being affectionate to you. you just like playing your little game of “ooo this tension reminds me of that one book about the student who fucks her teacher. it’s like really romantic” when there are actual people involved. sorry i’m not on your game board anymore you avoidant and apologistic bastard.

#dreams

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maddgicalgirl · 3 years

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Paracosm Resources <3

Need help bringing your paracosm to life? Try these free resources!

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

(Cont. below cut, or with real time updates on this google doc!)

Art Programs

FireAlpaca - 2D Art Program, Animation. Where I make most of my digital art, and paint the frames for my animations :) It is free to use, and easy to learn and use! It can make basic animations as well, such as gifs. It requires download.

Krita - 2D Art Program. Professional, free digital paint software :) I have not used it before, though I have heard good things.

GIMP - 2D Art Program, Photo Manipulation. It's free to use, but I do not like it/recommend it highly. But! If FireAlpaca and Krita don't float your stoat, try Gimp! For 2D art, but also able to emulate Photoshop to a degree ^^

Inkscape - 2D Art Program. Free to use digital illustration software. Makes 2D art :)

Of course, who can forget classics like good old MS Paint, and the new and exciting 3D MS Paint, which can both be used to create some really neat things! Classic MS Paint is available here in browser form! If you need that. I just think it's neat!

Art AI

Petalica Paint - Coloring Software. An in browser, watercolor manga style coloring software, which can (almost) effortlessly color in any of your line art pieces! I've played around with it for my Thorn illustration style piece, and enjoyed it! It is free to use, and can take user input to make the colorations more precise.

ArtBreeder - 3D Realism Software. Using Artbreeder, you can create lifelike images of your paras, planets, or potentially even fursona, using the intricate AI they let you work with for free! A premium version exists, but most functions are fully usable without - though I recommend donating ^^ You can randomly generate, or prune and shape what you make until its perfect! Slow to use and get the hang of, but very worth it! Artbreeder is also pioneering an intriguing animation software to go alongside their product! Browser based.

3D Software

Blender - 3D Modeling, Animation. The best (in my opinion) free 3D modelling software.

MagicaVoxel - 3D Pixel Art. Free to use! Could be interesting :)

MikuMikuDance - 3D Rigging. Anime style rigging and animation software, free to use, and certified internet artefact! Has stood the test of time, and is still used and loved today. Can support ports of many kinds of assets, including, I believe, those from Blender, and of course those that are downloaded. DA has a bunch of old MMD communities you can raid for assets!

Animaze - Face Rigger. Use 3D models and a webcam to watch your paras talk! Models can be made in Blender, downloaded online, or even from CHARAT V, CHARAT GENESIS sister app!

Character Creators

CHARAT GENESIS - 2D Character Creator. Browser based anime style character creator, with multiple crops and poses, and infinitely customizable options. It is legitimately insane. Has a 3D function called CHARAT V which can apparently convert characters made in CHARAT GENESIS into 3D models compatible with Face Rig and Animaze!

V-Katsu - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, intensive character creator, by the same people who made Koikatsu, and Koikatsu Party, two amazingly detailed 3D hentai makers. While V-Katsu is a SFW VTuber maker, if you're looking for NSFW anime content, you could always spend roughly $70 on the full NSFW versions. V-Katsu requires a translation mod (free online as well) which you have to install, or the ability to read Kanji <3 Works with VR tech.

V-Roid Studios - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, fairly in depth character creator, that allows for some degree of digital 3D hand sculpting, particularly with their amazing hair engine, to get your paras looks perfect!

And, of course, Picrew has thousands of character creators of various styles and quality uploaded by the artists who made them! Also, honestly I think we as a society should embrace making dinky chibis in Gacha Life. IDK why everyone is mean to the gacha kids, like we weren't all cringe at some point,

World Design

HomeStyler - 3D and 2D Room Designer. Make a model of an interior for a home or building, using real 1:1 furniture of IRL brands! Apparently this is free to use, though there is a premium version, and it offers 3D and 2D models.

Map to World - 3D Planet Maker. Turn your fantasy world into a 3D model of the planet. Put maps directly on, or design the surface and textures of your world. Takes a lot of getting used to, but it is AMAZING. Free to use, and browser based!

PlanetMaker - 3D Planet Maker. Make a customized 3D planet! Free to use browser site! I have never used this, but I would love to mess around with it sometime! Allows you to add orbital rings, change textures, and more at the click of a mouse.

If on sale, I also recommend snagging a copy of the Sims, particularly 3 or 4, for character creation and world design. Maybe not the best gameplay without mods, but it's also a load of fun, and very easy to add custom content to! Minecraft also. But you just need Minecraft, in general. Beyond its ability to fairly faithfully recreate structures from your paracosms, it's just Good.

Game Creators

Maybe you wanna turn your paracosm into a cool game idk, just thought I'd put these here!

Construct 3 - 2D Game Creator. Beginner level game making :) Drag-and-drop if/then style programming.

GameSalad - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style/no coding, beginner friendly. Free version available!

Solpeo - 2D Game Creator. HTML5 based game engine for 2D and isometric game development. Some programming knowledge needed. Platforms supported: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9+. Free version available.

Stencyl - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style building/no coding skills needed. Has editable templates!

Scratch - 2D Game Creator. Very easy to use and totally free, though relatively basic!

Unity - 3D, 2D, and VR Game Creator. Make games with 3D software. Import your own assets (Blender compatible) or download free options, or buy the rights to models. Works for 3D and 2D games. Free version available, and now works with VR tech!

Unreal Engine - 3D Game Creator. Extremely advanced 3D game developer. Highly customizable. Free to use!

Twine - Text-based Game Creator. Use a map to make a branching paths text-based story game. Free to use.

Squiffy - Text-based Game Creator. have used Squiffy and it can make some really, truly incredible things. Can take a while to pick up, and learn how to use to its full potential. Free to use! Has an online and offline library of player creations you can get inspiration from!

Quest - Text-based Game Creator. I've never used this, but it seems cool! Use it to make interactive text-based DND game adventures in browser.

Ren'Py - Visual Novel Creator. Visual novel engine, that is well acclaimed, and of course, free to use!

Companion AI

Replika - 3D Companion.

Kajiwoto - Chatbot Companion. Customizable, learning AI you can shape into a personality. Communicates via Discord like chat box.

Organization

Toyhou.se - Character Gallery. A customizable library where you can upload all of your paras and characters for the public to view! Free to use, but requires a premium member to invite you!

Refsheet - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

Notebook.AI - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

World Anvil - World Building Toolset. Like character galleries, but for worlds and their lore :)

Scabard - World Building Toolset. Aimed at DnD campaigners, but I reckon it'll be useful for many!

YARPS - World Building Toolset. More focused around story and lore than Scabard or World Anvil, and looks beautiful! Still in its prototype stage, however.

Pinterest - Photo Organizer. Look at, collect, and sort images into boards. Personalizes your feed based on that, and is free to use and join! However, unlike their myriad of wonderful recipes, DIY tutorials, and the likes - a lot of the images are uploaded by second parties and not credited, so be careful reuploading anything you find! Also great for finding outfits and art inspo for your paras!

Generators

Fantasy Name Generator - Name Generators. Does what it says on the tin! Generates fantasy names. Is a lovely website, run by a purportedly lovely woman.

Fantasy Map Generator - Map Generator. Randomly generates a fictional map, which you can view in 2D or 3D.

Donjon RPG Generator - Multiple Generators. Can make maps, weapons, items, etc.

Seventh Sanctum - Multiple Generators. One of my favorites from high school! Does all kinds of things - the standard items, spells, and names - but also prompts, backstories, characters, and even comedy generators!

ShindanMaker - Multiple Generators. User created and uploaded, any kind of generator you can imagine, of varying complexity. And when I say any generator? I mean ANY generator.

Audio

Audacity - Record and Edit Audio. What can't Audacity do? I love Audacity to death. At surface level, it records audio. I've used it to record voices for my paras, and get audio for animations and games I've worked on. I cannot recommend it enough. Comprehensive editing, and with some investigation, it can do so, so much more than just record simple dialogue.

FL Studios - Compose. Compose music with an unlimited free trial. Upgrades available for purchase!

Indie Game Music - Royalty Free Music Library. Free to use Indie Game Music. What it says on the box!

AudioJungle - Royalty Free Music and Audio Library. Thousands of free to use audio clips!

Online Piano - Someone could use this, for recording, or just messing around. I've seen plenty of paras who play piano, this could just be used for fun!

Online Guitar - Same reasons as above, but this site looks kinda sketchy. Use at your own risk or reward! Audio

For real, if you ever need music, sound effects, or really any MP3 clips that can be used without infringing on copyright laws, just search 'royalty free' (music/audio/insert thing here) same applies for photos! Make sure the source is reputable, however.

Tutorials

W3Schools - Coding. Learn the basics of coding, for free, online!

Miscellaneous

Debut Video Capture - Screen Recorder. Record game footage and let's plays for free! Professional and home versions. I see a few of our community members have paras who run YouTube channels, and I thought these might help! It could be a nice way to connect your parames. YouTube quality <3

Pixton - Comic Maker. Comic making website. I have no experience with this at all, but some may find it useful!

Picfont - Image Editor. Puts customizable text on an image. I used these for @paraesthetics paracosm header edits <3 It has a premium version (???) but the free version has all functions, but it crashes regularly (honestly seems timed :/) but once you get it down, it's a very quick process, and you won't have to worry about that at all.

Itch.io - Publishing. You can publish your self made games here :)

Korsakow - ??? Described as, "The Future of Storytelling" and is apparently a way to create interactive films. I *just* found out about this, but thought I should include it for someone who may know how to use and appreciate it! Free? Unknown, at the moment.

Tips and Tricks

Animation Done Easy

Our forefather's of internet animation used MS Paint, Windows Movie Maker, and Audacity. All of these, or their equivalents, are free on standard computers. I, personally, use FireAlpaca - which works just as well, if not better, than MS Paint for animation - but takes longer, and definitely lacks that retro feeling. I also use my trackpad to draw and animate everything, so its doable, but probably not totally comfortable, to animate like this for most people :)

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

#immersive daydreaming #paraportal #paracosm #paracosms #paracosmonaut #madd art #art resources #masterpost #free resources

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yuvon-writes-letters · 3 years

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Yuvon (and Jake),

I'm actually glad you understand my suspicions and still, I think you convinced me to trust you for now. Maybe that goes both ways.

So, helping each other with those weird situations over letters, hm?

I never would've dreamed of my life becoming this...messed up? Weird? Crazy? But hey, at least it is not boring.

Yes, I was saying the stuff with the chinese food (which I really cooked btw) because of the motel room :)

So, four hours only...But that's something we could have expected: Different universes (as far as we know), different 'time zones' if you wanna call it like that.

Jake didn't I still was not able to reach my Jake, but I took a closer look on the picture. Sadly I didn't find anything. In the moment I'll stay where I am, I don't want to leave my home, but I hope I'll find a way to contact the Crow-Crew soon. Or maybe what (or who) ever is responsible for the stasis desides to 'help' me a bit. The thought of the MWAF (at least that's what I think) being out of the stasis with me is not really calming. I am also thinking about calling other people I know from Duskwood, or had contact with. Maybe Alan, Darkness or even Phil in prison. I have to figure out with whom I can stay in contact.

To help you, maybe you can figure out a bit more of where you are and maybe why you're there? You said something of a library and game room, also a comfy room. Is there something, anything that could give you hints?

Or is there something you haven't talked about yet that you know which could give more hints on your situation? Everything could help you now (even though going or plotting against an entity would be rather difficult) [a little figure that seems to think really hard is sketched next to the sentence]

So yeah, I think that's it for now. Maybe Rai will answer again soon, then we'd be three people :)

Stay safe Yuron, and Jake too!

[Jakes red eye is drawn here]

Liska🐾🔥

Liska,

I'm inclined to at least give SOME trust to anyone who gets these letters, since I'm 99% sure everyone who gets these is an alternate amateur investigator in the exact same position as I was in before being drawn here. You saw me talking about the parallel universe theory with Rai, right? My opinion there still stands. Maybe it's a bit naive, but the shared circumstances make me trust y'all more off the bat.

Yep, we might be trapped in cosmic horror stories, but no one could ever say this is boring XD

I was hoping not to deal with time bullshit. I was so happy when I learned that Rai and I's universes ran on the same time. Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up XD Still, yeah, I really should've expected it.

Calling them would be an interesting idea. However, calling Phil might be difficult, and calling Alan may or may not cause issues; hard to tell with what we know so far. Sounds like Darkness is your best shot, at least in my opinion. (The writing here grows a little shaky.) I think that

Sorry, I started laughing and my lines started going crazy. I can’t ever NOT find Darkness hilarious, he reminds me of me when I was in my edgy phase. Anyhow, you’re probably going to need some type of pretext for talking to him, unless you want to frame it as just striking up a conversation. Maybe send him that picture of the MWAF’s mask you just got and ask him if it’s the one from the legend? You’ve come to him for info on the MWAF before, it probably won’t come off as an odd question.

I mean, odd for reasons other than you being sent a photo of the MWAF’s mask. Whatever, you get what I mean.

As for the rooms: there’s been something I’ve been obsessing over for a while, now, but I haven’t been able to get anywhere with it. I don’t know how much you know about video games, but for purposes of what I’m talking about, there’s basically three types: Singleplayer games are self-explanatory, and I have more than a few in the game room. Multiplayer games, on the other hand, come in two variants. There are ONLINE multiplayer games, where you play with random people on the internet. I have none of those, which is probably not surprising given all my other restrictions.

What I DO have are what are called LOCAL multiplayer games. These games are basically meant to be played by someone in the same room as you, on the same console (I’m usually a PC gamer but local multiplayer is generally a console thing.) There are also board games (multiplayer!) and even some DnD handbooks!

What’s most interesting to me, though, is that almost everything so far has been tailored to my interests. Books are all genres I enjoy, games are all genres I enjoy, etc etc. But buried under some other stuff is a chessboard. I’m AWFUL at chess and generally avoid playing it to avoid humiliating myself.

So something’s definitely up with that, though I’m not entirely sure what.

(Blacked out) (Blacked out harshly) (Blacked out) fe No, nothing of particular note I haven’t said yet. There’s those three rooms to the “south”, “east”, and “west”. There’s infinite paper. Whenever I get out of here I’m gonna get hit with a fine for littering XD I have a pen that doesn’t run out of ink, a pencil that doesn’t seem to get dull, a paper clip with all the letters I’ve gotten or sent so far, and my malfunctioning phone which doesn’t run out of charge.

For a rehash of the rules I’ve learned of this place: I don’t need to eat or drink. I don’t get injuries. Nothing can pass through the invisible barrier. The trees are pass-through-able if there’s a room on the other side. I am not allowed to contact anybody not somehow related to the Duskwood case. Unless I take action to spur them on first, the Crow Crew remains in stasis except for on landmark days like Father’s Day. (Jake is no longer in stasis, exactly, but he can’t get anything new on the case either. He considers it a variation on the stasis.)

:) Yeah, hope Rai’s doing okay. They probably just had something come up in their life, and that’s why they haven’t written for a little bit. Or maybe they moved and the entity keeping me here didn’t update the address XD

Jake wants to try to figure out if there’s a “conversion rate” for time between our universes. I suspect there isn’t a conversion rate, but it’d be good to figure out one way or the other. We’re taking notes on the approximate times we get your letters and send ours back to you. Your letter was received about 12 hours after I sent the last letter, and I’m sending this one somewhere about about 2 hours after I got yours.

Jake highly recommends you don’t call Alan. And while he personally doesn’t mind if you call Phil, he says that based on his own previous behavior, your Jake might not be too happy about it XD

He also suggests that maybe the reason my letters sent so oddly in the first place (introductory, then all the others at once,) had something to do with the time bullshit. Seems possible, I guess, but that might imply your stasis doesn’t have anything to do with my stasis; I figure if my entity was the one doing your stasis it could bypass the stasis to deliver the letters.

Speaking of stasis: I know it’s dangerous, and I know you’d be breaking your promise... but what would happen if you physically went to Duskwood? Probably too bad of an idea to actually try unless you get really desperate, but it’s something to think about.

You be safe too, Lis :)

—Yuvon and Jake

(The letter tucks itself into the paper clip with the others.)

#duskwood letter game #yuvon writes letters #duskwood #duskwood game #duskwood everbyte #duskwood ep8 spoilers #lis

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andsotheuniverseended · 3 years

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cephas my beloved

so i don't know if what you meant here was "answer all thirty of the dnd meme questions for cephas" but that is how i'm interpreting it so i'mma go ahead and put it under a cut

(also for those not in the know, Cephas (they/she/him/any pronoun you like) is my stone construct witch. yes those are both homebrew things I found online. i use this witch and just recently updated them to the 3.0 version and i'm very excited about it)

1. if one of their friends was jumping on a bed and asked your character to join them, would they?

Yes, absolutely, of course. The bed would then immediately break because Cephas is a couple tons of solid rock, but that's on their friends for not thinking it through. Or maybe that was the plan. Either way, Cephas is on board.

2. would your character carry around a tiny bath and body works hand sanitizer? if yes, would it have a specific scent?

I mean, Ceph does carry around smelling salts enchanted to smell like whatever would make someone feel better in the moment? Which is kind of the same thing? But anyways the real answer is Probably Not unless it was a gift, because Cephas has no sense of smell and has no need to sanitize.

3. does your character paint their nails? do they wait for them to dry fully afterwards?

Technically he doesn't have nails but Cephas will happily allow themselves to be painted over any part of their body, and will stay completely still until it's dry. I know because the party his done this to them before.

4. if you cut open your character’s heart and there was something inside, what would it be? why?

Hm. I mean. Literally speaking, no heart, you just find stone in there. Figuratively speaking... a jade earring. representative of their first steps towards freedom.

5. do/would your character carry lots of hair ties on their wrist?

Nah, not unless one of the other party members asked.

6. what parts of your character’s voice/manner of speaking are distinct, if any?

Hm. Mostly just that their voice is pretty rough and low. Otherwise I think they talk pretty normal??

7. what’s the first thing your character’s eyes are drawn to on a map?

New places. To all the parts of the world they haven't seen yet, and want to.

8. how did your character feel when they left home for the first time?

Okay I'm going to go with the definition of home that means Cephas has to feel like it's home, which would mean the place where they lived with their BFF Effie. And I think the first time they left there, with an intent to go out and adventure, they felt really excited, happy, and like they were finally doing what they were meant to be doing. They'd been feeling very restless up until that point, so it's kind of like scratching an itch. Very satisfying.

9. where does your character look when they’re the only one walking down a road?

All around. She likes to see everything and doesn't get particularly worried about other people or robbers or things like that, so there's a lot of being generally distracted by whatever scenery they're passing through. Sometimes he'll just stop and pretend to be a statue on the side of the road and people watch for a while, if there's time for it.

10. does your character have tattoos? were they alone the first time they got one?

Being made of stone, my darling Cephas can't get tattoos. If they had actual flesh I do think they'd wanna get some.

11. if a button came loose from your character’s shirt, would they make sure the replacement matched?

Cephas doesn't wear clothes, and if they did 'matching' would not be the thing they cared about, so for sure No.

12. how loudly do they cry?

Gods I feel like a lot of these answers are just "Cephas is a stone construct and therefore cannot/does not do the thing" but like Cephas is a stone construct and cannot cry. There have been a lot of times where they wished they could, but their body wasn't built for it. Typically if they're sad, they're quiet about it, reserved.

13. does your character like holding hands? do they do it often?

Yes! But he doesn't do it very often at all. Stone isn't comfortable for other people to hold, and they have to be careful not to hurt people when touching them, so it's generally more dangerous for whoever they're holding hands with than its worth.

14. is your character more likely to wear a necktie, a bowtie, or a bolo tie? (if any at all)

Again, no clothes. But I think Cephas would enjoy a good bolo tie.

15. have you ever said something as your character that stuck with you for a while after? what was it?

Oh lord. Uhhh... hm, well there was this one thing but it is very dependent on the context of the moment. Which is that they were talking with another character who was frustrated about not knowing things, and talking about how in order to be people you have to ask questions even if you don't get answers, you have to keep asking questions. And then they discovered something that was a step in a mystery they'd been trying to deal with and Cephas said "and sometimes you do get answers" and I don't know why but that one did stick with me.

16. what does getting flustered look like for your character?

Stuttering. Awkward hand movements. Maybe reverting to the old "I am but a simple construct with no consciousness" trick if they're really feeling out of sorts.

17. does your character have to glance at their hands to remember left and right?

Ha, no. Cephas knows what they're doing, unlike me.

18. does your character have stuffed animals? would they if they could? what kind?

Hm, no, xe doesn't. But I think they would if they ever settled down and stopped traveling. Even if Cephas can't really feel the softness, they would like it. And they'd be very careful with them too. As for the kind... I'm thinking those, like, huge round ones? Fuck there was a name for them. Squishables?? I think???

19. does your character walk or run down stairs?

Walk, typically. Running could damage things lol

20. if your character saw a turtle stuck on its back, would they flip it over?

Oh yes 100%. And also try and talk to the turtle and see if it needed any further assistance.

21. has your character ever climbed out of a window? would they do it again?

I don't have a moment in mind specifically, but there's no way Cephas hasn't, and they would absolutely do it again.

22. what’s your character’s ideal way to wake up? what usually wakes them up?

Cephas doesn't so much sleep as... go into Obedient Construct mode for four hours, which is to say they will obey any order given to them. Ideal way to wake up from that is in some weird/compromising position because it means his friends were messing with them and they love that. And they can't be woken up unnaturally, so its just that after Four Hours something in their head goes Ding and they're back.

23. what’s the pettiest thing your character’s ever done?

Dyed a nobleman's hair bright pink because he was kind of rude to them when they were pretending to be a normal construct.

24. what made your character the angriest they’ve ever been?

Cephas... doesn't really do anger, generally. But! There was a man who pretended to be a prophet of a god, and collected a small group of true believers. And then he took over a town, and made the townsfolk slaves. And that really got to Cephas, in a very personal way. (They did take care of the man and they still have mixed feelings about doing it.)

25. how does you character smile?

With great effort. Cephas wasn't built to emote, so any facial expressions are subtle and take a lot of concentration and effort to make happen. Over time they've gotten more practiced at this and can do it almost without thought, but it's still the smallest movements for a great amount of toil.

26. does your know the names of their constellations? how did they learn them?

I think, some of them? Cephas lived with her best friend's family for a long time and I think they would've learned some of them there. But then they also definitely made a game out of making up constellations and naming them whatever they wanted, so it's a toss up whether what they know is a real constellation or one they made up and then forgot they made up.

27. do/would your character draw or write on themself?

Oh yeah, for sure.

28. would your character race someone to the top of a tall tree for bragging rights?

Not for bragging rights, but absolutely yes Cephas would race someone. And they would lose because they are big and heavy and not made for climbing, but its more about the fun of it than the winning or the losing for them.

29. is there an artist whose style you associate with your character? (visual or otherwise; poets and musicians, etc. count)

Hmm... not really?? I don't really associate artists with my characters. My friend drew Cephas once, so I think that's the closest I'm gonna get to that. Maybe Delta Rae? I feel like Delta Rae has got those witchy vibes, and that makes me think Cephas.

30. how has your character’s first impressions of their party members changed since they met them? have they stayed the same?

Oh this is delightful because when Ceph first met the party, they were pretending to be a normal construct, so the DM was 'playing' them. Which meant I got to sit there and watch, and so I wrote down what Cephas was thinking. They only met the first three members of the party that day, but I literally have it written down that it was three "good first impressions" because one of them stole a book, another one turned invisible to draw a face on a trash can, and the third called Cephas 'interesting'. Overall impression? A group of messes who just went through something tough and are not dealing with it super well.

Current impression? A surprisingly competent group of messes who are working through some stuff, and very much don't like talking about their feelings. Also, I'm invested.

Seriously though it started out as Cephas thinking they seemed fun and wanting a distraction, and now Cephas is like actually really invested in all of them and their growth and wants to help them as much as they can.

#Cephas #dnd #this was. long. but also fun.#also anon u called cephas 'my beloved' and i was like Ah? did i send this ask to myself??#maybe i did maybe i willed it into existence #anyways i love Cephas they're weird and beautiful and love their party and they have to leave soon and i am sad #Universe Answers

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th3okamid3monart · 4 years

Text

Things I’m going to miss this Holidays

There are a couple of traditions we do in my family that I havent seen in other places and with one search on the internet I realize that most of the things we do are from my own country + some that we make up ourselves.

So Im going to share them here because... Well, there’s a big-ass chance I wont be able to do them this Christmas nor New years.

NOTE: When I say ‘my family’ in a lot of this, I mean ALL my family. Which means, all my grandparents, all my aunts, all my uncles, all my cousins, and, yes, EVEN my great grandaparents, cousins, uncles, aunts and more. Because we all know each other and we even make a party once a year for my dad’s side of the family

Here I go:

Las Posadas

There’s this thing that we do at one of my grandparents’ house that involves singing a carol about the time Maria and Jose were looking for a place to stay to rest before travel far away for the birth of Jesus. It is a song which is singed by 2 groups, one that is inside and the other that’s outside. What we do is the following: One group goes inside a room in the house while the other stays outside the door, the group outside sings one part and the other sings the other. We go back and forward until we finish the song. It is pretty funny because no one sings well and its just like a bunch of grown ups practically screaming but we always end up chuckling. I used to think it was pointless and boring but that was because I was an edgy potato, after I enter University i began to enjoy more things and be happier. This is going to be the second time I wont be with my complete family for Christmas and now its all the family who wont be able to go to my grandparents house for a celebration.

12 grapes, 12 wishes

In both sides of my family we usually fill up 12 grapes in a cup and give everyone 1 cup each. I dont remember what exactly the grapes meant or the story about the wishes but it’s supposedly like before it strikes 12 am on New Years, we have to eat our grapes while also wishing for something. I remember when I was younger I’d wish for peace on the world or that everything went well for everyone. I think I’m going to buy a bigger bag of grapes this year.

Something that was funny was that everyone would just... Stuff their mouths with grapes, mostly my cousins and I, just to see how many we could fit. Not everyone wished for many things in the family because I think we all feel we had and have enough. If my family does this again on their own, I’m pretty certain their wishes would be to be able to meet with the family.

Piñata

Every year since I was little, my grandparents buy a piñata to smash before or during Christmas. They find it such a good activity for cousins and even for my aunts, my mom and uncle. They literally havent stopped buying them, the oldest grandchild in that side of the family its in her 30s, but they still buy a piñata. I think its mostly for the youngest which are below 16, never the less, its still super funny and hilarious because we go from youngest to oldest. By the time it gets to my brother, its still intact, he only swings it once and its completely DESTROYED. We just have a lot of fun, and sometimes we make my mom or my aunts to hit it. My mom wasnt as cheery when I was a kid, but now she laughs more and when it comes to the piñata she laughs and enjoys her time even more.

Games

Like any gathering, all cousins bring up something we can do to entertain ourselves. At first they were toys my grandparents had for us, then it was videogames and now... Its board games. My bro is the one obsess with different boardgames and DnD and other card games. So, about 5 years ago he began bringing boardgames for all cousins to play along. We either talk with each other or try to destroy each other with any game there is. Videogames are fun but we all find it a drag to bring the console to the place, besides we usually get so busy with each others banter and weird conversations that we just forget about the videogames all together.

At my other grandparents house it becomes W I L D. Last time someone brough a beer pong table and they all began to take shots with mezcal (I’m trying to not drink a lot of the time ever since I puked one time. If I drink its light things like wine and only one glass). Then my aunts play music and began to sing and everyone follows up, and... Well last time they began to dance.... And all my cousins were very embarassed and I was hella confused. Suffice to say, my dad’s side of the family are super freakishly energetic and wild, while my mom’s side is more of a geeky, nerdy vibe with a lot of meme stuff and political conversations at times (Oh yeah, we talk a lot of different political stuff, but guess what? It never derails into a fight. I note this due to always reading people’s talks ending with fights and stuff and that kinda weirds me out a bit at times)

Dinners

I don’t remember the time exactly, probably since I was 15 maybe, my dad and I turned into the designated ‘chefs’. Every year we’ve been deciding and preparing foods for each house. We make the main course while my aunts do the sides (although sometimes it becomes like 3 main courses with 2 sides). Im waaaaaaaaay into the cooking and I try to make it perfect each year. I kinda chillaxed a bit with some foods because it wasnt that big of a deal. Besides the main course, I also decide to make a dessert and sometimes they arent eaten because my families have some sugar regulations. They are stored and kept after Christmas because thats better than eating it all in one sitting and having sugar poisoning (AKA, high sugar that needs a fast Insuline injection afterwards).

It is always fun to make food with my dad, and to make the famous Tamales from my grandma’s recipe. Last time i think we made around 400? Between green salsa chicken, red salsa beef and pork, and some that were like... its like an adobe, its with achiote and orange juice. It was very tasty. We usually make a lot and freeze them. THEY ARENT COOKED, they are raw and then frozen. Every time we take some out, we make them with vapor, takes around 2 hours and they are always tasty. I remember I made a batch all by myself, I made the feelings, I mixed the masa, and I assemble 100 by my own, the rest was thankfully made by my parents. And it was the best when I gave some to my grandma and she told me that they were super good. Of course, I made a couple mistakes, Im not perfect but she still enjoyed it with the salsa I made. Maybe I can still make some this year and give each family a batch.

Aunt’s cookies

Every year, every god damn year... We all wait for one thing... It’s not the presents, its not the food... Its the cookies. The motherfucking cookies. My aunt has made this cookies since I was a kid, and we all fought to get a bunch of them. She has made choco chip with nuts cookies every year without missing. And they always end before Christmas even hits. She once gave me frozen batch so I can cook them at home and she told me ‘Dont tell anybody’. Of course I cannot not tell anyone since I live with my parents and siblings but when I made them I made sure to make them when my dad wasnt home. Not only because Im a gluttonous fuck but because my dad is diabetic and he shouldnt be eating anything like that.

It used to be a battle royal between my cousins, now its a battle against my uncles cause they LOVE TO FUCKING HIDE THE BIG ASS CONTAINER. I swear, i only got 1 or 2 god damn cookies last time.

Breakfast at...Lunch at...

After Christmas, we always go eat at my grandparents house. Always. And it’s, most of the time, Menudo. The most delicious food you can make with cow stomach. It’s my grandpa’s recipe and it’s always good. Meanwhile, we lunch at my grandma’s house the leftovers of yesterdays dinner which it varies if its turkey or pork but it always ends up as a torta. Delicious, leftover, tortas.

We end up... SUPER CONSTIPATED because you eat menudo with bread, and you make tortas with bread, and we all eat bread and like... A LOT. Its hella good but well... THERE ARE CONCEQUENCES!!

I think thats all, at least the most relevant parts. There’s also The Toast of El Bohemio, the stupidity and over eating i do for fun for some cousins, the conversations that go from super deep to stupidity with cousins, the music we play, the hugs...

THE HUGS

When its the New Year, we scream out HAPPY NEW YEAR. And we proceed to hug each and everyone, one time I waited to see everyone and they all were very very happy. Its something I didnt realize before, but that was a happy thing all the time. Last year we event celebrated with other family, most of this reunions are compose with the nuclear family, but we arent shy about involving more family or friends. So last year not only included some family and their friends, we also included a 2 new members of the family: My newborn cousin and my cousin’s now husband.

It was like.. One of the best beginnings... Which kind of... didnt prepared us for what this...sucky year.

I’m sure we’ll make it ok... I sure hope so, I wanna see my grandparents again... I wanna see my baby cousin, he is babbling and has already learned to walk. The little dude doesnt have cousins to play with anymore, I wanna make sure he doesnt confuse me by his aunt ajjajajaja. I want to talk to my cousins, I want to hug them and scream with them and eat with them all.

But maybe this year it wont happen, and I rather it not happening than loosing any of them.

Right now I cant smell, and everything hurts, but it kinda helps ease things when i remember this and when I think they all are still kinda healthy.

Maybe when it all passes we can make a march reunion, to celebrate my grandma’s birthday. In the meantime, I’m going to try to get better and wish for this Christmas to not suck now that It’s only my main family and I.

Hope everyone is safe, I hope you can at least see your parents or siblings. I hope you dont get sick nor have to spend time at a hospital or anything. I hope all who are, get help and dont get worse. I hope you all get better.

Hope you have Happy Holidays.

#writing #things to remember #christmas #1 month away #november #november 2020 #december #december 2020 #holidays #traditions #christmas 2020

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houseofvans · 5 years

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ART SCHOOL | INTERVIEW WITH JUSTINE JONES

Baltimore based artist and illustrator Justine Jones creates her vein of psychedelic fantasy horror drawings–filled with tiny black lines and an occasional pop of bright colors–which have been featured on the covers of Kobold Press and Warlock magazine. Using the hashtag #VisibleWomen to amplify the voices and portfolios of women comic artists, Justine has be able to do more illustrative work and character design. We’re excited to find out more about Justine’s artistic journey, her love of role-playing games, comics, art, her influences and much more. . . Take the leap!

Photography courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself? Hi, I’m Justine! I’ve lived in Baltimore Maryland for the past decade and currently live in a small apartment downtown with my partner and my shiba inu Mo, who is a cool and grumpy guy.

How would you describe your work to someone who is just coming across it? I used to call it storybook surrealism, but now I guess it’s more like psychedelic fantasy horror? Monsters and Wizards. Lots of tiny black lines, sometimes with lots of bright intense colors.

How did you start from doodling and drawing to what you do now? I feel like it sort of happened organically. When I was younger, I would do just pencil drawings, and then in my late teens, I got more into using micron pens. I didn’t really discover color until a few years ago, so I’m a huge color noob. I think a lot of it also came from working in comic shops for years and going to conventions. Seeing all of these amazing artists grow, and thinking hey, I could maybe also do that! I first started with t-shirt designs because it just seemed really fun, and I used to have a really hard time selling prints. People don’t need more prints, but they can always use clothes! Now i’m getting more into illustrative work and character design, and I’m loving it!

Who and what were some of your early artistic influences? When I was a baby, my dad hung an Aubrey Beardsley print over my crib. My mom thought it would make me deranged, and maybe it did, but it also made me love ink work and Art Nouveau style haha. I was obsessed with sword and sorcery stuff and loooved cartoons like He-Man and She-ra, and later, Pirates of Darkwater. I also spent a lot of time in elementary school copying sexy comic book ladies from 90s comics, and I know that is pretty far from what I do now, but it’s honestly how I learned to draw. I also copied a lot from children’s storybooks when I was little.

What are some things that inspire the drawings you make? What are some of your favorite creatures and beings you like to explore in your art? Video games are a huge inspiration to me, from SNES JRPGs, to games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Also folklore and mythology from around the world, and fantasy artwork from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Basically anything fantasy. My favorite things to draw are wizards and monsters. I love body horror, anything disgusting and beautiful at the same time. I take a lot of inspiration from Manga, like Berserk, or anything Junji Ito. I’ve done a lot of Illustrations for Clark Ashton Smith stories, which I find endlessly inspiring, visually. Just like, fantasy/ sci fi/ dying earth type stuff.

When did you start collaborating with Kobold Press on creating some awesome fantasy art covers for their publications? I remember getting the email from them when I was on the way to Necronomicon Providence in 2017. I thiiiink they found my stuff through the visible women hashtag on twitter? I was very excited because I owned some of their adventures from back in the day when I played Pathfinder!! Plus, I have always always wanted to draw things for table top RPGs, so it’s been really cool to actually do it! The Warlock mag that I’ve been doing covers for is awesome because it’s going for an old school DND vibe, but it’s all things that are made for 5th edition. You can get it on their patreon, and I hiiiighly recommend it to anyone who plays 5e dnd!!

Take us through your artistic process? What’s a typical day in the studio like? Haha extremely chaotic! I don’t even have a real set workspace, which I really need to change, I just draw where ever. Just chill out, listen to music or a podcast, and draw. If I’m further along in a drawing and don’t need to focus so much, I’ll watch movies or video gameπ– let’s plays while I’m drawing. I also love to listen to/ watch things that are in theme with what I’m drawing, to give me some inspiration. I try to go to coffee shops to change things up sometimes! Basically I just do a bunch of sketches until something materializes, and then I will just slowly refine the sketch. I guess it’s not that exciting, but it’s cool to see the first sketch and the finished product because in my head, the sketch always looked like the finished product, but when you go back to look at it, it’s usually just indecipherable scribbles.

What are your essential art tools and materials? 90% of my art is just done using a .05 mechanical pencil and micron pens. I also draw everything on smooth bristol. If I have time and want to make my lines super crisp before I scan them in, i will use a light box. Then for color, I generally use Kyle T Webster brushes in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet. If I’m on the go, I like to draw things in Procreate on my iPad Pro, but I’m definitely not as good at doing detailed lines digitally.

What do you do when you’re not drawing or working on projects? How do you unplug? Haha, I wish I ever truly unplugged, I think my brain is now melded into the internet! But mostly I love to play video games. JRPGs and anything From Software/ Soulsborne (currently obsessed with Sekiro!) I also love comics and manga. I’ve been reading The Girl From the Other Side, which is a beautiful dark fairytale Manga by Nagabe. I also just got one called Witch Hat Atelier, which has the most amazing art! My partner also owns an insane amount of board games, so we play a lot of those. I’m obsessed with coffee, and work part time at a coffee shop, and my favorite thing in the world to do is eat good food.

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on? How did you overcome those obstacles and what did you take away from it? I made a kind of cosmic horror short story in mini comic form last year for SPX, I had very little time, and it was my first time actually writing a story/ dialogue to go with my pictures. It was insanely challenging. I ended up with a finished product that I’m really proud of and that I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on. I think it really drove home the fact that I just need to stick with things and finish them, even if I don’t feel like they’re perfect. I’m never going to have the time that I want, and I’m never going to feel like anything is perfect. I can still make a great thing!

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art? Don’t spend 4 years doing nothing, but playing World of Warcraft (Or doooo?). Uhhh, believe in yourself. Be nice to other artists. Draw all the time! Immerse yourself in things that inspire you! Also, like I said before, things don’t need to be perfect. Let go of perfect, because sometimes it’s an unattainable ideal. Just do as good as you can, and don’t beat yourself up so much! I’m horrible at advice!!!

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Haha, I moved to Baltimore to go to MICA like, 14 years ago, and then realized I was poor, and would never be able to go to MICA… sooo… I never went to real art school. I wanted to go so bad, and I still wish I’d had that experience, but I want other people who can’t afford it to know that you don’t NEED it. Things are a bit harder, but you can find so much free info online if you have the drive, you can teach yourself so many things. Don’t get discouraged just because art school isn’t gonna happen for you.

What are your favorite style of VANS? I love my lavender/ sea fog Authentic Vans, because they basically go with anything, but I am always eyeing those Sk8-His.

Anything you can share that is coming up? Ahhhh, I have some realllly cool things that I can’t share yet, but just everyone keep an eye out (It will be very exciting, i swear)!! As for things I can share, I’m working on some new t-shirt designs, and another comic, and also plan on drawing some more cool wizards in my spare time. So if you wanna see some cool wizards, uhhh, come to my Instagram–you guys! Let’s hang out and look at wizards. And talk about wizards. And if you don’t like wizards well, don’t come I guess.

FOLLOW JUSTINE: INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | TWITTER | STORE

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Justine Jones #Vans Girls #Comics #illustration #Art School #Interview #Baltimore

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over-a-new-leaf · 4 years

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self-care 101 (covid-19 period)

Since we’ve rolled round to another May bank holiday, I thought it’d be nice to share some tips with you. As a homebody, and someone who will do absolutely ANYTHING to avoid one specific boring activity, I’ve racked up quite a long list over the past few years. Obviously, I’m no professional - but I find these help. There’s no specific chronological order to these - just pick and choose as you like!

Get out of bed!

Or lie in if you need to. Whatever makes you feel good

Start off the day with some yoga or meditation, or basic stretches

Or pray for a bit if you’re religious

Make your bed: tuck your sheets in, rearrange your pillows, etc.

Brush your hair and tie it up nicely

Pick out a cute outfit - could even be your favourite PJs - and lay it out

Go take a soothing shower, or a bubble bath

Use a bath bomb, get some nice candles if you feel like it

Put on some nice music to relax to

Try out a new hairstyle or style your hair the way you would if you had somewhere to be!

Slap on some makeup, why not? :)

Floss your teeth, or maybe use that teeth whitening formula you never picked up again after using it for the first time

Pick out a recipe for a hair mask or face mask and put it on

Before doing any of these, make sure they suit your hair & skin type

E.g. if you have frizzy and dry hair, use a moisturising and rejuvenating mask vs if you have sleek, straight hair - use a volume-enhancing mask. Same goes for your skin - evaluate whether you have dry skin, oily skin or combination

Stick to the recommended leave in time! It can be extremely difficult to get out later otherwise

Or make your own mask! There’s tons of recipes on YouTube and Google :)

Make yourself a nice breakfast

Breakfast smoothies are amazing! A really simple recipe I use contains a few spoonfuls of oats, handful of fruits (e.g. blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes), honey / sugar by taste and yogurt.

Or a nice bowl of your favourite cereal

Avocado toast - there are so many different varieties of this online, and I bet you’ll find that you like.

A fruit salad!

Eggs done the way you like

A full English if you’re feeling ambitious

Workout for an hour or so

This doesn’t have to be really equipment intense or challenging if you don’t want it to be

Some YouTubers I recommend: Chloe Ting, Emi Wong, Fitness Blender, MadFit, Blogilates, Yoga with Adrienne, etc.

Don’t over exert yourself. Take longer than the recommended break time between exercises if you need to

Grab a new book, or a book you just enjoy reading

You can browse through Spotify for any playlists to listen to while reading - or use a playlist of songs you like

Listen to some music you like

Or discover some new music using Spotify’s ‘Discover’ feature

Preferably something that lifts your mood!

Pick out a recipe you’ve been meaning to try and just make it!

Dance around the house to some music

This can also be a sort-of-workout!

You can try learning a routine

TikTok dances are so stupidly fun

Maybe get a friend on vid-call and learn a dance with them

Make some TikToks

Or duet some on the app!

Get out a new bottle of wine - it’ll make you feel boujie ;)

Or your drink of choice - I’m not big into alc so I usually love a cool mint lemonade or iced coffee

Sit outside if the weather is nice

Or even if it’s rainy! I particularly love rainy days

Go for a walk around your neighbourhood

Do some grocery shopping! It can be surprisingly fun when you’re in no rush - plus, that’s a task off your future to-do list

Go meet a friend - stand at least 2m away and have a chat

Or text/ call your family / friends

Houseparty is great to use because it’s got games that you can play together if you’re not big on talking

Watch that TV series / movie you’ve been trying to get round to

Play with your pet, if you have one!

Do a cute lil photoshoot

Put on a nice outfit and take some nice pictures using the timer

Pictures with your pet

Or take pictures of your surroundings when outside

Or of the new dish you’ve impulsively made

Grab a pretty notebook

Start a bullet journal

Or a diary!

Do some journalling using journal prompts online

One really simple activity I really like is writing out 3 things that made my day :)

If you’re a poet or writer - write write write!

Maybe take the first step towards starting a blog (like I did last week, aha)

Play a musical instrument

Or pick up something you haven’t played in a while

Try learning some basic chords online

Or just play your favourite music if you’re a professional

Sing along to your music!

Search up some online webinars and virtual events to attend

Lots of professional webinars on LinkedIn, even Facebook at times

Live museum and art gallery tours on Google!

Try some meditation

Headspace is a great freemium app, among others

Use a guided meditation from YouTube

Create a Pinterest account and start making boards

These can be pretty pictures

Or things you’ll have in your future house

Workout routines

Even more self-care recommendations

Sketching

There’s this activity where you put your playlist on shuffle and draw what comes to your mind when you hear each song

Or just search up an image online and draw it

Doodle in your bullet journal / book if you have one

Embroider/ stitch some of your old clothes

Plenty of tutorials online!

You can stitch in some cute images :)

Try a new podcast

There are so many to explore on Spotify under the Podcasts section

Or watch something on YouTube

Learn something new if you feel like it

Pick up a subject area of interest and search it up on YouTube

You’ll get so many results!

Reorganise your house / room

Put on some music to jam along to while doing this!

Vacuum

Or just tidy all those papers off the desk

Reorganise your drawers

Fold your clothes

Dust any surfaces - super satisfying!

Maybe spice up your furniture placement

Try moving things around - be careful not to strain yourself

Do some laundry maybe

Yawn, but can be satisfying once you’ve done it!

Purge your wardrobe of any old clothes

You can donate them to charities

Or sell them on apps like Depop

Do some online shopping

Be careful not to spend too much though! :)

Download a photoprint app and get some pictures printed

There’s a lot of apps that offer you __ amount of free prints with delivery costs - not a bad deal!

You can finally make a photowall / collage

Try some scrapbooking

Get out some old newspapers and magazines and cut out any pictures of words that particularly catch your eye

Make pretty lil collages or spreads with them

Reorganise your digital folders

E.g. bookmarks on Chrome

Saved folders on Insta

Email folders

To Do lists

Give them pretty names so you’re more likely to use them in future

Catch up on some much needed sleep

Afternoon cat naps are actually lovely!

Make yourself some tea or coffee and just sit by the window with some music

Cliché and niche, but makes you feel calmer!

Try some chai recipes online if you’re into relatively milky tea or trying out new recipes

I’m not a big fan of chai ^ which is surprising as an Indian, but my family and friends love it soo

Do something with your family / roommates

Movie night!

Group dinners (even better - themed dinners!)

Or a fine dining wine night (bonus points if you dress up!)

Board games night

Or just games night e.g. charades, Headbandz, Psych (app)

DnD - never tried it but sm people have recommended it!

Make some TikToks

Sit around and chat

This is random but you can make PPTs about things you like and present them to each other - good for shit n giggles :)

Play an old online game e.g. Fireboy and Watergirl!

Create each other in the Sims

Organise some friendly competitions :)

Truth or Dare?

Look at star sign stuff with them - whether you believe or not, it’s an interesting thing to do nonetheless

Do Enneagram tests - extremely interesting and scarily accurate from my personal experience

Experimental cocktails maybe!

Some DIY arts and crafts!

Pitch a tent outside

Or make a pillow fort inside

Speaking of which - pillow fights!

Karaoke night

Or set up your own club - make a playlist, get some strobe lights or turn off the lights and get everyone to switch on their phone flash and just dance around. Get some drinks if you want as well!

Have a BBQ - great to do especially in the afternoons or early evenings!

Have a date night if it’s just the two of you :)

Have a picnic outside

Text someone something nice!

Win-win for the sender and the recipient :)

Great chance to reconnect with someone

Cleanse your devices & social media profiles

Change your profile pictures, bios

Archive / delete some pictures (we’re all guilty of this)

Maybe restart your account if you haven’t used it in too long, have too many random followers or just want to start afresh

Check your phone storage and delete stuff accordingly

Change your wallpaper / theme

Back up old pictures and delete them off your device

And that’s my list for now! I might add to it later if something comes to me but I hope you guys enjoy this! :)

Image credits:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/151574343695926876/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/579627414531062674/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/AQzIfTN5EwSc9JESrIo1l8AQw6cznXq2HLFq_SQk6La00-yL2As1QnY/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/499055202462999051/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/328481366576228467/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/6262886962801682/

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thewritewolf · 5 years

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Nino’s Quest Chapter 1: Gathering the Party

When his uncle leaves for Morocco, it looks like Nino might be stuck without any Dungeons and Dragons for a few months. Since this is a terrible fate, Nino takes it upon himself to make a campaign of his very own.

Now if only he could find a party...

Thank you to @alienducky for inspiring me to expand on this one shot from last year’s fictober prompt! And thanks to @marinoodles for letting me steal her name!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3. My ko-fi.

“As you clutch Raygar close, he whispers a single name into your ear as if it were the most important thing in the world: ‘Doznak.’ The moment the word passes his lips, the light leaves his eyes.”

“No! Not my dude Raygar!” Nino wailed, his fist hitting the table, gently shaking the drinks that had been set on it.

“...And I think that’s where we’ll end this session. Thanks for coming out, you guys.” Uncle Hassan gave a hug to the other two party members as they left, leaving just him and Nino to pick up. “Thanks for the help, little man. How are you liking this campaign?”

“It’s totally awesome, uncle dude!” Nino raised his voice to be heard as he carried the glasses to the kitchen and left them in the sink. “Each story gets better than the last. And man! Tonight’s cliffhanger. I can’t wait to get the low down on who this Doznak dude is next week.”

When he returned, he saw his uncle smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… about that.”

“What?”

“I’m going to be visiting your grandpa in Tangier. So, uh, you might be waiting on that thrilling conclusion for a while.”

Giving his uncle a suspicious look, he asked, “How long is a ‘while’, exactly?”

“I won’t be back until New Year’s, kiddo.”

Nino gaped. “Dude!” He said, betrayed. “We’re only just at the end of summer! How am I supposed to wait that long?!”

Uncle Hassan chuckled. “Well, you’ll be starting school soon. That’ll help keep your mind off it, right?”

“Maybe a little.” Nino pouted and pulled his cap down, trying to hide his disappointment.

A large hand settled on his shoulder and Nino looked up into the hazel eyes of his uncle. “Kiddo, you’ve been doing great and it’s been fantastic having you around in the game. But sometimes groups have to take a break for a while. These things happen.”

Nino sagged. “But… I was just getting the hang of Dungeons and Dragons…”

“Well, you don’t have to stop.” Nino looked up, curiosity getting the better of him. “My books are just going to get dusty waiting for me here. Why don’t you take them and make a campaign of your own? Invite your friends. Trust me, it’ll be way more fun than playing with us geezers.” Uncle Hassan laughed, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

His friends? Nino thought of Adrien, with his impenetrably dense schedule. Alya and her lack of interest in games, whether they be board games or video games. Marinette and her tendency to always be juggling fifty projects at once. Although… they weren’t his only friends, right? It couldn’t be that hard to find two or three people willing to game with him like once a week.

“You know… you might be onto something.” A grin reached Nino’s face as he took the rulebooks that his uncle passed him. Outside, a car honked its horn - his dad was there to pick him up.

“Tell my brother-in-law I said hello. And good luck, kiddo!”

Nino waved and felt his mind light up with the possibilities of adventure.

--------------------

The last month of summer went by in a blur as Nino put his mind to work getting his campaign drafted. When school started, he took a few weeks to get back into the swing of things before he started the hunt for a new party.

That’s where he hit a snag.

There weren’t that many Dungeons and Dragons players in his class. Or, at least, not many that he knew of. He managed to corner all three of them during lunch and pitched his campaign to them.

“...So what’d ya think, dudes? Sound like a party or what?”

Max cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. “I really am very sorry, Nino, but I’ve been kept adequately busy with my work on game design. While I’d love to join up, it would cut into my other projects. Regrettably, I’ll have to decline.”

“Alright, dude, no sweat.” Nino patted Max on the shoulder and turned toward the other two. “What about you guys?”

Juleka shook her head. “Sorry. I just started one with Rose. Can’t back out now, you know?”

“And I just got hooked on a new MMO with Ivan,” Mylene said with a wince. “If I stop now, I’ll lose my placing that I worked so hard for!”

“Major bummer.” Nino tugged at his cap as all four of them got up to return to their usual seats.

“According to my projections, I’ll have a greater likelihood of joining on the next adventure.”

“Maybe next campaign,” Mylene patted his arm as she walked past him.

“Yeah, we can try again next time.” Juleka paused. “Have you tried asking Adrien?”

Nino shook his head. “Nah, dude is always super busy.”

‘Sure, but he was asking me and Rose about D&D. I dunno, maybe just try it?”

“Really?” Nino perked up. His best friend had gone home for lunch, but he was still just a text away. “It might be worth a shot. Thanks, Juleka.”

“No problem. Good luck.”

Taking a seat at the table next to Alya, Nino shot a quick text to Adrien.

Nino: Heard you were asking about DnD. You game?

“What’s that about, babe?” Alya asked, looking over his shoulder.

“I’m trying to get a party together for Dungeons and Dragons.”

“Dang, and the first half of that sentence was so promising.”

“So is that a pass then?” Nino said with a faint smile. While sometimes he could get her to play games with him, he understood that it wasn’t her favorite. Just like how he didn’t share her love of rom coms, but indulged her every now and again.

“Yeah, babe. Although…” She looked at Marinette as she rushed into the building clutching a brown bag with the Dupain-Cheng bakery logo. “...there might be potential there.”

“Hey, guys!” Marinette sat down opposite them and opened the bag, passing some chocolatines to the two of them. “What’re we talking about?”

“Hey, M.” Alya leaned forward. “Do you ever play roleplaying games?”

“Um, sometimes? You know my favorite is fighting games, but I’m up for some adventure sometimes.” Marinette tilted her head to the side. “Why?”

“Well, Nino here was thinking about running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign…”

“I’m… not sure.” Marinette’s eyes widened. “Not that I’m not interested! It sounds like it’d be fun to do with friends. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the time. Plus-”

She was interrupted by the sound of Nino’s phone going off. He’d left it on the table, so everyone could see that it was from Adrien. A small smile crept across Nino’s face when he heard the little intake of breath when Marinette noticed.

“S-so, um, how’s- how’s Adrien?”

Poor dude. The guy isn’t even here and she is stuttering. Nino pulled up the text.

Adrien: Yes!!! I got all the rulebooks months ago and I’ve done my best to learn but no one plays. [sad cat emojii] Are you going to be a DM??

Chuckling, Nino sent him another message.

Nino: You bet! Would you be able to meet once a week?

The response was immediate.

Adrien: Maybe if I say I’m working on a group project? I could pull it off, yeah.

With a huge grin, he looked back up at the girls. “My boy is in!”

Marinette bounced up and down in place. “Then so am I!”

“Oh?” Alya leaned forward with a smirk. “What happened to not having the time?”

“I will find the time, I promise. But gaming with friends? And Adrien? Too good an opportunity to pass up.” She met Nino’s eyes and had the good graces to look sheepish.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. If this means I get more players, than I don’t mind.” He turned towards his girlfriend. “Speaking of more players… Now everybody else is in. How ‘bout you?”

Alya rolled her eyes with a smile. “I guess someone has to keep an eye on you hooligans.”

“Nice. This is going to be great!”

-------------------

Nino: And… we… are… LIVE!

We’ve been expecting you, Adrien Agreste

Marinette joined your party. Everyone look busy!

Alya is here, just as the prophecy foretold.

Nino: Say hello everybody

Adrien: Hello everybody

Nino: You’re hilarious

Marinette: hello! Hey guys!

Alya: Sup

Nino: We’ll be using this Discord server for all Dnd related things, k? Mostly for planning new sessions

Adrien: What about… spicy memes?

Nino: Know what, bro? I’ll make a channel that you can spam to your hearts content

Adrien: <3

Nino has changed his name to Lord DM

Alya: Seriously

Lord DM: Definitely

Adrien has changed his name to Adrien Regreste

Alya: Pffft

Adrien Regreste: Come on, Mari! Its what all the cool kids are doing!

Alya: Hey now

Marinette has changed her name to marinoodles

Marinoodles: ...How’s that?

Adrien Regreste: ;-; Its so cute. And also hilarious??

Marinoodles: I mena thank you! *mean

Alya has changed her name to Alya’ll Beware

Alya’ll Beware: Sweetie you know you can just edit your comments right

Marinoodles: ...Now I do.

Lord DM: Lol Anyway. How’s this weekend looking?

Alya’ll Beware: Just jumping right into it, arent you? But yeah I’m free

Marinoodles: I babysit Manon on sunday but saturday is clear!

Adrien Regreste: I can pull off saturday! Where are we meeting??

Lord DM: Whoever we meet at provides food. Since I am DM, I am exempt. (Plus my place is always supes crowded)

Adrien Regreste: Uh I can probably manage it off. Father will be out of town with Nathalie. The Gorilla is much more lenient hwen it’s just us.

Marinoodles: Gret sounding! *Thta sounds gerat! **That sounds great!

Adrien Regreste: Haha, yeah! I’m pumped to have you guys over. :)

----------------

Despite Nino’s fear of a repeat from last time, none of them were thrown out or belittled on their way to Adrien’s room. The worst that any of them received was an uncertain glare from the Gorilla as they filed upstairs.

As it turned out, the most difficult problem they had to face was Adrien’s purchasing habits. Nino had to explain to him that even though they were teenagers playing D&D, there was no way they’d be able to get through five pizzas and all the drinks he’d ordered. After he’d extracted a promise not to go overboard again, Nino went straight into explaining the basics and had them roll for stats.

“You sure about this, dude?” Nino leaned over Adrien’s shoulder and frowned at his character sheet. “I get you’re gonna be a bard, but max Charisma and low Wisdom just sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

Nino could just barely overhear Alya whisper to Marinette, “Attractive but kinda dense? Doesn’t that sound like someone we know…?”

“ALYA,” Marinette whispered back in a scandalized tone.

“Maybe, but that just means it might be more memorable, right?” Adrien looked up at Nino and couldn’t hold out against the excitement he saw in his eyes.

“Sure, bro.” Nino walked over to the girls. “And how’re you two hanging?” He craned his neck to see where Marinette was sticking her highest stats. “Dexterity… and intelligence? Good choices for a rogue.”

Marinette smiled. “Thanks! I’ve been thinking about her background. Get this - the rebel daughter of an elven baron.” She nudged Alya. “Pretty neat, right?”

“Wow, that sounds way cool, Marinette!” Adrien beamed at her and she melted.

“Than- than- Thanks, Adrien! You’re cool too!” She winced, but Adrien’s smile didn’t dim.

Nino raised an eyebrow as he noticed her hit points. “But, uh, why’d you stick your lowest stat in Constitution? Your dude isn’t gonna be able to take a hit.”

A sly smirk spread across her face. “I won’t need to take a hit if I play my character right.”

“Heh. Fair enough.” Nino turned his attention to Alya’s sheet, only to see it blank. “Um, something wrong, babe?”

“I dunno.” Alya shrugged. “I’m not big into games like you guys are, so its all going in one ear and out the other.”

“Well…” Nino took a seat next to her and thumbed through the core rulebook. “Maybe we should just keep it simple, right? So you can get your bearings.”

“A fighter?” Alya raised an eyebrow. “Seems kinda boring.”

“Yeah? How about a knight errant, looking for glory to make her name in the world? Rushing forward to defend the weak from the strong? Still sound boring?”

A grin split her face. “Now you’re speaking my language, cappy.”

“That’s Lord DM Cappy to you, babe.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Okay, so let me see if I get where we’re standing.” Adrien pushed the hair out of his face and looked at the three of them. He pointed to himself. “I’m a half-elf bard.” The finger shifted to Marinette who blushed and frantically waved at him. “Elven rogue.” Alya fell under his digit next. “Human fighter. Where does that leave you, Lord DM Cappy?”

Alya groaned and Nino chuckled. “Since someone needs to watch out for you guys, I’m going to be playing a human cleric. A priest of the sun.”

“Sounds like we’re pretty well balanced? Well,” Adrien ducked his head. “Except for me. Maybe it’d be better if I just played a wizard…?”

“N-no!” Marinette quickly interjected. “Adrien, you can be what-whatever you want to be!”

“Dude has a point. There is more to having fun than being the most efficient party possible, bro.”

“Alright.” Adrien relaxed. “Awesome.”

“Now, let’s get everything else sorted for character creation. And while we do that, I can tell you a little about the world you find yourselves in…”

As Nino began by telling them of the Good King Hamon, he felt a spark light up from within. He could already tell this was going to be the best campaign.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Nino Lahiffe #Alya Cesaire #DJ Wifi #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #Dungeons and Dragons #D&D #ml fanfiction #my writing #Nino's Quest

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raleighliving · 4 years

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Let Your Nerd Flag Fly

Growing up Southern™ I always thought I’d have a hard time actually doing things that interested me. I didn’t get into Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and tabletop games that weren’t “Cards Against Humanity” until about my Junior year in high school because of southern living stereotypes and my own social awkwardness; coupled with the fact that the way my classmates acted did nothing to dissuade these perceptions.

I always, looking back now, regret that I didn’t do more to get into these hobbies earlier than I did. I could’ve been making new friends, interacting with a variety of peers, and learned about the world a lot sooner than I had now. On top of that, I shouldn’t have let what other people think dictate my wants and interests.

So, little nerd who might be reading this, let me tell you about surviving as a Nerd in the triangle. To begin with, count your blessings because the genetic lottery could’ve placed you in podunk nowheresville where the only game store closed 10 years ago. One of the key factors in exploring your hobby will be finding a nice game store to frequent.

Game stores are one part storefront and one part social club. They’re of course where you go to buy the newest editions of Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, what have you; but they’re also great places to go when you want to meet new people or learn a new game or skillset. Both major stores in Raleigh are Game Theory and Event Horizon, with Event Horizon being more on the Raleigh/Garner line than actually being in Raleigh.

On the Cary side of things we also have Armory Gaming and East Coast Gaming, two wonderful stores in their own right. There are a few smaller name brand stores as well like Games Workshop, but be warned ahead of time these stores might be niche as hell. Games Workshop itself, for instance, has a strong community vibe; but the only games played in-store are Warhammer and other GW wargames.

Each of the stores mentioned has a strong and healthy nerd community, and the spread of stores means that there’s probably one close to you. Shops like Game Theory and Event Horizon have sign-ups for weekly events like Pathfinder League and fledgling DnD groups looking for members, snacks and drinks for sale, and a variety of products to look at when considering what game you want to get into. Some groups lean so heavily into the social aspect that East Coast Gaming has an actual bar set up in their store.

Of course, not everyone is good at socializing even in social settings. Signing a list in a crowded store, or asking some strangers if they have room in their group for one more (especially if the group is a different age/gender ratio to you). So what if you want to meet new people before you head to nerd Mecca? There’s meetup.com

Meetup is a website dedicated to helping people find and discover, or if there’s not one, start their own groups for various activities. Sure the website has things like 50s/40s hiking groups and Triangle Research Open Source groups, but they also have things like RDU Dungeon Crawlers, fan groups for the various stores, board game groups, anime fans, sci-fi fans, and poker. As with any group finding website that encourages meeting people IRL, remember to exercise caution when meeting strangers for the first time.

Of course, maybe even that’s too much social interaction and exploration. After all, it’s strangers; and you have to leave the comfort and safety of your home to find wherever the meetup spot for everyone is. That’s gas money, travel commitments, and depending on your family situation maybe you don’t have a car to get there in the first place.

Thankfully, once again, you’re living in the age of the internet. An age where anything you could possibly imagine (even the bad stuff) has been taken into account and created. Although if you’re reading this, you probably already know what I’m about to talk about.

Websites like The Giant In The Playground, my personal favorite, serve as a kind of nerdy hub online where you can find groups or join play-by-post games to join. Other forums/webcomics with forums provide similar spaces, but what about actually playing? For that, we have Roll20.

Roll20.net is THE place for nerds. A sort of holy stomping ground for nerds of all walks of life to get together and play some board games over the power of a wireless internet connection. Aside from giving players the tools to host, play, and manage games on an online cloud from any of their devices; it also has forums and game seeking tools built-in so the nerds will come to you.

Not to mention, with how the site works you can easily meet new people and even learn from them how to play a majority of the games; with in-app tools meaning that if it’s REALLY necessary then someone can jump in and walk you through how to run the program. It’s one of the best, if not THE best, applications of it’s kind, but it’s not the only one.

A lot of the features mentioned above and aspects are being used to develop similar apps, and some like Fantasy Grounds seriously improve the visual appeal at the cost of being a bit more expensive.

Hopefully, if you feel like I did so many years ago, these tips and resources will provide some ounce of help to you. Or maybe you’ll stick with reading random Tumblrs and feel validated in that regard, whatever works for you in the long run. Just don’t wait to explore potentially interesting hobbies because you’re afraid of social interaction with either new people or the people around you

These games help individuals express themselves in ways other forms of play can’t. They encourage creative writing skills, math, reading, and imaginative problem solving all while being a safe way to have some fun.

P.S. If anyone wants to play a game or two sometime of CAH or DnD or anything DM me

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scripttorture · 5 years

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Hello, first of, thanks for the good work you're doing. Maybe this is a stupid question, but can a person use torture for 15-20 years as a "discipline" measure and ignore/deny the fact that it doesn't work? How would this character justify his methods in this case? If extra info helps, the character uses only "mild" torture i.e. things that both he himself and a lot of people on the streets would consider "deserved" and "no big deal". Sorry if this's been asked before, I'm new to your blog.

Iget a lot of repeat asks and it’s OK. :)

Atover 900 posts the blog is an intimidating size to search through andwhile I try my best my tagging system is not always…. great.

Thetruth is I’m a lot worse at the whole ‘social media’ thing andthe whole ‘self promotion’ thing then ScriptMedic was (and a lotof the rest of the Script Family are). As the errr viewing figuresfor the Wordpress blog are illustrating. (Any suggestions forboosting either blog and building a bigger platform for this messageare gratefully received- No seriously, please help me.)

Theshort answer to your question is yes that’s perfectly possible. I’ddescribe it as a pretty common justification for torture in some realworld settings. It’s due to a statistical effect and the fact thatwe (as humans) tend to remember short term gains/losses overyear-long patterns.

Nowum after playing Dungeons and Dragons for the first time over theholidays I think a DnD metaphor may actually be the most accessibleway to explain this.

Soactions in a DnD game often rely on the score you roll from a 20sided dice. This number is random.

Thestatistics from a character provide a modifier that adds to thisnumber. So if a character has an exceptionally high number for-strength, then a portion of that number gets added to the random 1-20number from the dice, artificially boosting the score. This alsoworks in reverse so that an exceptionally low score results in alower overall number.

Theidea is that even though the numbers are random there’s a degree towhich a character's skill and training is accounted for.

WhatI’m getting at here is that there’s a degree to which performanceon a given day is random, however well trained or skillful we are.

Theway ‘disciplinary’ torturers justify what they do over years isdown to a short term statistical effect.

Imaginethat 20 sided dice from DnD. The chances of rolling 18-20 are roughly15%. So is the chance of rolling 1-3.

Thatmeans that statisticallyspeaking,all other things being equal, the chances are that if someone rolls a1-3 it’s incredibly likely they’ll get a higher number the nexttime they roll.

Ourperformance at tasks is always going to be a slightly random spreadof better or worse performances around a sort of base line. Andstatistically speaking, if we perform particularly badly one day thechances are we will improve the next regardlessof what those around us do.

Torturers(and some disciplinarians who don’t torture) see this improvementand argue that it’s because the person was punished. They didbadly. They were punished. The next day they improved. Clearly theimprovement was because of the punishment.

Thetruth is they could have danced widdershins around the person in afeather boa and still seen the same improvement.

Peoplealsouse this effect to argue against praise. Because if someone didunusually well the chances are the next day they’ll do a littleworse.

Notethat this effect is very much about the short term. It’s aboutperformance the next day, not the next month. And that focus on theshort term means that people miss things like delays in learning,longer training periods and gradual decline in ability.

Ifthe victims are all young trainees who only spend a relatively briefperiod of time with the torturer it’s also perfectly possible forthe torturer to be unaware of the long term lasting damage theycause.

That’swhy people can continue doing something like that for decades andbelieve it ‘works’.

Theirjustifications can go a little beyond that observation. Ideas aboutsocial hierarchy and ‘respect’ often form a part of the argumentin these situations. Tradition is also often misused to justifyabuse.

Thekinds of real world settings that seem to have this kind of set upand justification more often are- well facilities that involvetraining children or young people. Army cadet camps. Universities.Schools. Boarding facilities for children.

Inthe UK children have died during forced exercises in militarytraining facilities. It’s an issue that’s had a lot of press inthe last few years.

Butthe basic ideas underlying it are still pretty common globally. A lotof people do believe that physical punishment some how improvesobedience and learning. Despite the growing body of scientificevidence to the contrary.

Peoplecanstill learn in this sort of environment. But it’s learning despitethe abusive set up not because of it.

Andreturning to the DnD metaphor- in the long term this kind of‘training’ can end up acting like a negative modifier. It canmake someone that little bit worse at the task in the long run.

Ihope that helps. :)

Availableon Wordpress.

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#tw torture #tw child abuse #torture apologia #disciplinarians #civic discipline model #torture as training #torturers #Anonymous

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performanceroll-blog · 5 years

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YOU MEET IN A TAVERN! You've got your world built, the players made their characters and you can't wait to unleash all the monsters you know on the poor unsuspecting lvl 1s. The characters, however, have to somehow get to the goblin caves/basement filled with giant rats/kobold den first. How do you introduce the PCs into the world and to each other? Let me just start off saying that there are as many ways to do this as there are DMs - and equally as many opinions on what way is the best. We're gonna go through some of the classic ones to give you the general idea, as well as some more unique ones if you want to surprise your players. Overall, though, it all boils down to your own personal prefrence. THE TAVERN Yup, you guessed it. The number one most popular way to start a campaign is in a tavern. Hey, if it's not broken, don't fix it, right? Tropes are tropes for a reason. They work. Starting off in a tavern has its numerous benefits. A tavern is a place where the most varied of people can meet. You can put almost anyone and anything in there and not have to think too hard on why they’re there. It's a great way to introduce npcs you'd like your players to know right off the bat. If the players are new, you can ease them into social interactions and roleplaying by engaging them on a level they are familiar with - have a bartender simply ask them for their order. It starts off a conversation and also offers the opportunity to try out some skill checks. Trust me, all players, be they new or veteran, are going to try to haggle for prices. Ask for that persuasion roll. If the players are more roleplay-firendly, you can leave the first few minutes up to them to interact amongst themselves. That way they can get to know each other a bit before you throw them to the wolves. Taverns are also a great place to introduce some lore. This works best when it comes naturally and doesn't seem forced. Nobody likes an exposition dump. Try to wait for the players' initiative to learn something about their surroundings. Maybe the PCs overhear a conversation at the nearest table. Maybe the bard in the corner is playing a song about the latest world events. Maybe the tavern itself is a piece of lore - there are carvings above the bar that hold various names and when the PCs inquire about them, they learn that they are the names of all the people who held the title of Deepest Throat in the past 10 years. (pun intended - and you can do with the title what you will :)) From there a drinking contest is bound to happen. A little harmless competition to start off a campaign won’t hurt anyone....OR WILL IT? :) When everyone's a bit more relaxed, you've tried some rolls, had a few conversations, you can start introducing the plot. A notice board with local mercenary work, a damsel in distress barges into the tavern, the barkeep needs help with deratization in the basement... anything can be thrown into a tavern and has every right to be there. THE ESCORT MISSION Again, one of the common tropes. Often times it is troublesome to put the PCs into one place and have there be a plausible reason for them to be there at the same time. It can be even more troublesome to have them immediately form a party and stay together. You can sort of cheat your way into this by having them be working on the same job - such as escorting someone or something from point A to point B. Regardless of their backstories, they need only to figure out a reason why they're escorting this merchant to that coastal town in the south. Not even all of them need that to be their actual job. Maybe one of them was simply traveling in that direction and met up with the others who were guarding the caravan. This set up also gives you the opportunity to take a few of the oppening moments to encourage conversation and getting to know one another. After the oppening stages, you can start the plot with having something unexpected occur. - maybe a simple pack of wolves attacks the caravan and you can introduce combat without having it be something really stressfull right off the bat. Or maybe the caravan itself is part of the narative and you can start the "plot" after they arrive at the destination. Whatever the case, now you have your PCs together. PART OF THE SAME ORGANIZATION A mercenary company, an adventuring guild, students at the same school, soldiers in the army, part of the same pottery class... there are countless possibilities here. This particular premise does demand some cooperation from your players with having to synchronise their backstories, but hey, if they're up for it, it's a great way to skip past the potential initial awkward stages. You just assume the PCs already know each other and you can even discuss how close they are, who likes who, why the elf and dwarf are best friends etc. They can describe their party dynamics and have that be the roleplaying intro into the game. Then simply give them a task to complete for the organization and the story writes itself from there. THE JAIL Whether it was grand theft cart, petty thievery or even an unjust sentence, the PCs found themselves in jail. And would you know it, the mayor is just in need of a couple of people willing to walk the grey area of law to deal with a particular problem he has. Do this for him and your sentence will be revoked. This also offers the potential for the PCs to get to know each other before you introduce the mayor as the driving force of the plot. Hey, maybe there's this other inmate there too who seems to be a random person locked up for public indecency but is actually the big bad of the story. I myself do love foreshadowing things to my players. THE SHIPWRECK Not unlike the jail, it is a situation that has been forced upon the PCs and requires them to work together to get out of it. It's a construct of storytelling that allows you to circumvent the "Why would I even travel with these people..my character would never..." trap of PC backstory and alignment. This one is a great way to have there be a contained introductory story to your campaign. You don't have to spend a ton of time developing the whole world if the party can't leave this tiny island for the first 4-5 levels. A little railroading at the begining doesn't have to be a bad thing - especially when done well. AMNESIA Here we go into the more complex options. There are countless books, games, movies and tv shows that hinge on the protagonist not remembering their past. This can also be used in dnd and to various degrees. First of all, though, it requires cooperation from your players and they have to be complicit to this kind of start. Now, you can go with everything ranging from the PCs not remembering their names, to their whole backgrounds, to not actually having access to their character sheets. The first 2 are simple enough. You can have it just be a plot point and for some reason important to the story that they have amnesia. I wouldn't recommend using it just for the sake of it. If you're going with amnesia, there has to be a plot related reason for it. Maybe they are all part of a medical/scientific/magical experiment. Maybe they were all killed and ressurected as chosen of the god(s) for some higher purpose - I dunno, you do the brainstorming there.... Regardless of the reason, they now immediately have something in common which will hold them together as a group. The last one, though, is a bit tricky, and one that I'd like to try out at least once myself. You can go with the players not remembering anything about themselves. To avoid metagaming, that would constitute them not having access to their sheets - at least in the begining. It also means that they would probably have to roll totally random classes. Most players already have an idea on what they want to play, though, and would be against such a campaign start, I would assume - but if you have a table of veterans, maybe they'd like to try out something out of the ordinary. Through the first few sessions, via skill checks, attack rolls and everything else, they slowly learn about their stats. They take notes on modifiers you give them and piece by piece put together what their actual class and background is. I can see it being quite fun and a good roleplaying excercise. It also requires no background story whatsoever and you can fill in the blanks as you go through the campaign. The DM does have to do a lot more work than usual though, as they have to be familiar with all the PCs and their abilities, and engaged enough to offer bits of information on the char sheets to the players when it is appropriate. LEVEL 0 One interesting way to start is having the PCs be simple commoners in a village or small town. This takes care of having them need to get to know each other and having a reason for them to be there. As you've probably gathered by now, I find these to be the main problems in regards to storytelling when starting a campaign. Similarily to the Amnesia start, PCs would not have classes to begin with. They would essentially be commoners with no special abilities. Then you introduce a plot point they need to deal with which will initiate them into the adventuring lifestyle. There are various ways to do that. The simple one would be a band of goblins/wolves attacking the farms. The difficulty here is risking a tpk because the PCs don't have any combat capabilities to speak of. You should probably encourage creative ways to deal with the problem rather than rush them into a combat encounter. I would, however, prefer something like a village fair with various games that nudge the PCs towards their respective classes - an archery competition, arm wrestling, hide-and-seek, etc. This also provides a ton of opportunities for social interaction. When you grow tired of the village life, introduce a new plot point and set the newly baked adventurers on their adventuring way. ISEKAI Anime has had an oversaturation of this genre in the past few years. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't go with it in your dnd game. This is actually my favorite potential way to start a campaign, and one I haven't tried or seen anyone do yet. If you don't know what "isekai" means, it is the trope of a regular Joe from our plain ol' boring world being transported into a video-game (usually a mmorpg) world, usually being overpowerd in said world and having to deal with their newfound circumstances. Your players would start off as regular people doing their regular everyday things and all of a sudden be transported into your dnd setting. This would be an interesting way of allowing meta player knowledge being used in game. Also an interesting roleplay excercize. They would essentiatlly be playing themselves as someone else - their new characters. Another way you could go about this is to have them play PCs from the real world from the get go and have them be transported into a dnd world. That way you could roleplay their characters knowing nothing about monsters, magic or fighting. I miss the excitement of not knowing what it is you're encountering. Nowadays, everyone knows what a goblin is... or a kobold, or a beholder... Imagine if you, as you are now, sitting in front of a computer, would all of a sudden be dropped into a cave with a beholder in front of you. Yup, I'd be terrified as well. . . There are a couple more common tropes I could mention, but I hope you got the gist of what's important and can adapt that to your own possibly original attempt to start a campaign. My start was not as elegant as it could have been if I had gone with one of the above, but I wanted evrything to play out as naturally as possible with a healthy dose of realism in game -so I started the PCs in the same small town with their own personal reasons for being there that all had a common thread which eventually brought them together. It actually took 2 sessions for them to convene at the same place and form a circumstantial party, but we got there and it was quite an excercise in DMing. Thanks for reading and, as always, have yourself some inspiration ;)

#dnd 5e #dnd5e #dnd #d&d 5e #d&d #dungeons and dragons #fantasy #stories #storytelling #campaign #tavern #nerdy #nerd #roleplay #tabletop #games #backstory #hobby

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