I really should think up a title

Home of the Three Kingdoms Fantasy Draft, and not much else at the moment.

[star-wars-comics]

Galaxy's Edge: Echoes of the Empire #1 (2026) main cover by Phil Noto

[iconuk01]

He looks so... sad... Has he discovered that they closed "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" before he could visit it?

Or that he missed the Duro Droids gig at Oga's Cantina?

[grazztthedark]

He got sat behind a pole at the Gaya show.

[dccomicsbookshelf]

A Concept:

Stray (Robin but Catwoman's sidekick) AU but Stray only exists when [Insert Robin of the Era] is mad at Batman.

-

Selina: "Why are you here, you have a home."

10 Year Old Dick Grayson: "Bruce is stupid."

Selina: "This is an objective fact, I shall teach you how to do crime."

-

17 Year Old Jason (in disguise): "Catwoman I require independent funds. Also I want to piss off Batman. Help me break into this vault."

Selina: "You're super suspicious for no real reason but sure. I'm in charge though."

Jason 'Mommy Issues' Todd, really needs funds that don't come from Talia: "...okay."

-

(chronologically this is before Jason)

14 Year Old Tim Drake: "Catwoman teach me crime."

Selina: "What?"

Tim 'wrapping up his training arc and international travels' Drake: "I have learned how to fight now I want to learn B&E."

Selina: "What am I, an educational service?"

-

16 Year Old Stephanie: * is breaking into a thing.*

Catwoman: "What are you doing?"

Stephanie: "I need evidence to send my shitty father to prison forever."

Catwoman: "Say no more."

-

11 Year Old Damian: "I wish to pet your cats."

Selina: "Sure, why not. Would you like to be a cat for the evening?"

Damian: "...I'm listening."

-

Selina: "So I hear you can turn invisible..."

17 Year Old Duke: "Yes I can break into places. Let's go."

-

Yes I do have over 1k written about this already it has joined the WIP Parade

[dccomicsbookshelf]

the first few paragraphs of the first draft (written while half asleep, i make no claim to grammatical quality for this)

-

There is a child in Selina's apartment.

This is notable for three reasons, primarily. One, there was not a child in her apartment when she got back from engaging in her hobbies at four AM this morning and passed out on her bed, still half-in her catsuit. (One of her boots is still on and her foot feels suffocated.) Two, her apartment has a fantastic security system in the form of Isis and no one of any age should be able to get in without her immediately being informed at high volume. Three, she knows this particular child and knows for a fact that, unlike most small humans who climb through her window at strange hours, this one has somewhere else to go.

"Traitor," she says to Isis, who is curled up in Dick Grayson's lap and purring up a storm.

She sighs and does her best to wiggle back into the top half of her catsuit without lifting her torso off the bed. "Don't you have school?"

Dick gives her a look full of the sort of judgment that only ever is displayed from small children to adults. "It's Saturday."

His eyes are bloodshot and bleary, behind the contempt, he's absolutely fresh off an extended crying jag.

Selina has only been doing the rooftop tango with Batman for a year or so, and she's only known he's Bruce Wayne for a few months. She's met Dick maybe twice, outside of their respective costumes, and only learned that he prefers being called Dick instead of Richard two days ago. She is in no way qualified for this. "Why are you wasting your Saturday watching me sleep?"

[titans-thoughts]

I just have to nitpick that Jason died at 15. He even muses during a Titans mission that he can't wait to be 16, which, like everything else about his time with the Titans, is more offensive in hindsight. (Donna almost crashed the T-jet into the World Trade Center.)

[iconuk01]

Since Jason mentions Talia and living off her money, I have to assume this is post Jason's return to the land of the living.

I'm not even sure he met Talia as Robin, did he?

[grazztthedark]

Did some digging, there are literally two issues where they appear together before his death: Detective #526 ("All My Enemies Against Me") and Batman #400 ("Resurrection Night"). Not sure if they actually meet within those issues.

I was actually shocked how few appearances Talia makes in the '80s. She shows up all throughout the seventies and early 80s, but there's a big gap between '83 and '88 where she only shows up for big villain ensembles. Those happen to be the same years that Jason was active as Robin, which is an odd coincidence.

[onion-souls]

One thing I see a lot in stories is group dynamics that are too archetypal. As in, every member of the group is made so unique that these people really would not associate with each other if given the choice, and even when forced together they kind of just fall into a role rather than generating interesting contrast or foils. What's a bit more interesting is giving two members of the group different expressions the same personality trait or archetype.

There are two leaders in the group but one is a charismatic heart while the other is tactical and plotting. That charismatic heart also has a charismatic seducer to play off of. That seducer's use of the more primal urges contrast with the more intellectual but creepy manipulation of the aforementioned tactical plotter. That kind of thing. It also avoids the token trap if two people have very different expressions of their background/identity/role.

[grazztthedark]

Counter-argument: a lot of groups are thrown together in such a way that the people don't really have a choice in whom they associate with. Like, say, they're professionals that are thrown together as part of the functioning of a larger organization, like a Star Trek crew. Or they're the opposite, people who are so low that they've been forced together because no one else would have them, like the adventuring party from Konosuba. Or maybe there's a threat so big that it necessitates a weird alliance, like the Fellowship of the Ring.

In those cases, the author either needs to have the characters undergo arcs where they do become closer to each other, and/or just keep whatever outside uniting force constantly present.

[espanolbot2]

'Moriarty' Series About Sherlock Enemy Coming From Fremantle, Archery

A 'Moriarty' series about Sherlock Holmes' enemy is coming from Fremantle and Archery Pictures - he was played by Andrew Scott in the BBC dr

The team said Moriarty will be a “modern reinvention of the crime procedural, based on the most famous villain in all of detective fiction.” Moriarty is a Professor of Criminal Psychology at Durham University but leads a secret double life as the mastermind behind every crime of sophistication in the North of England. When a rival criminal begins an assault on his underground empire, Moriarty will have only one choice: to join the police as a consultant, using the law as a weapon to dismantle his foe while keeping his true identity hidden from the police. Paired with Detective Imogen Burrows, a stoic Yorkshire detective, they’ll form a fearsome team, but Moriarty will soon realize that the real threat isn’t the rival criminal faction he’s dismantling.

So it's that Blacklist show but with a Sherlock Holmes coat of paint?

While the idea of "eccentric character solves crimes with regular detective/cop" has been done to death, the concept that the "eccentric consultant" is actually on the supply side of crime (like Hannibal) and that the big bad could actually be Sherlock Holmes dismantling his operation could be really funny.

The dramatic irony of the seemingly super-intelligent villain who is always five steps ahead of the hero (like the Light in Young Justice, Moriarty in Moffat's Sherlock, or Hannibal in Hannibal prior to the cops working out that he was actually the one eating people and turning others into serial killers) actually IS THE HERO in this scenario, could be a fun twist.

Although admittedly considering how there have been multiple publicised cases with the cops in the UK where it turned out that they were working with high profile gangsters and were willing to turn a blind eye to literal murder if they kept sneaking the cops info on their rivals (one case in Scotland relating to the Glasgow Ice Cream Truck Wars had a guy bring up how he'd been framed by cops working with a prominent gangster, which was true, only for the judge to call him a brazen liar as he considered such an idea to be ridiculously insulting to the police force), I'd argue they could have just had Moriarty's criminal activities be known to those high up in the regional police force but with his operating as a "supergrass" giving him immunity from prosecution.

Then with Moriarty working as an intelligence asset, it makes Holmes' slow dismantling of Moriarty's syndicate more exciting and heroic as he'd also have the British legal system working to try and stop him too.

[iconuk01]

"Moriarty is a Professor of Criminal Psychology at Durham University but leads a secret double life as the mastermind behind every crime of sophistication in the North of England. "

Then that's not Moriarty, that's Deacon Brodie, the partial inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of DrJekyll and Mr Hyde"

Moriarty was a professor of mathematics, and one who had to quit even that job due to dark rumours about his activities. He had no public connection with crime in any way, that was the main part of his camouflage.

This does sound like quite a fun series conceit, but I am really not seeing it as Moriarty in any part of the description.

If I want Moriarty as the protagonist, I'll go read Michael Kurland's "Moriarty" ovels, or Kim Newman's very entertaining short story collection "The Hound of the D'Urbevilles"

[grazztthedark]

I also liked "Moriarty the Patriot", an anime where the conceit is that Moriarty was actually using his criminal resources to murder corrupt wealthy people, who were untouchable by the law. So if you want a Moriarty who fights crime without also being a tool of the police, "Moriarty the Patriot" might be a better fit.

[thydungeongal]

I have posted before about how sometimes well-meaning attempts at running D&D without some of the more unfortunate dynamics can often backfire but in a way where most people don't even register it backfiring. Because when you take the step of "oh D&D's various 'evil humanoids' don't just exist in a vacuum and given the renfaire colonialism on display it's kind of impossible not to read them as somewhat racialized" many people will then go "okay but we still need some people who player characters should be allowed to kill guilt-free, so let's replace 'orcs' with 'bandits' because killing bad criminal people is perfectly ideologically neutral." At that point it's like "okay so your characters are no longer the racist kill squad, now they're just the Tough on Crime Vigilantes."

But I feel I should make clear that D&D the game itself is not exactly at fault here: like, okay, it is sort of at fault in the sense that it is a game of fantasy killing people with swords and magic. And it is easier for people to accept the killing with people with swords and magic part when they can imagine that their characters are at least to a degree justified. That is sort of just built into the game (and the game has built into its lore varying levels of making the fantasy of killing certain types of guy justifiable).

But D&D is not at fault for making people go "okay so it's bad when you kill orcs simply because they're orcs. It's better when you kill people who are bandits, who are a class of evil criminals where killing them is actually wholesome and sensible." Like, yeah, most people probably don't think about it that deeply, but the reason people don't think about it that deeply is ultimately ideological.

And the ideology is basically "it is bad to be racist but it's good to be a tough on crime vigilante."

[thydungeongal]

You're probably not going to be the person who figures out how to make the game of fantasy frontier justice and grave robbing leftist. I don't think this is an entirely fruitless endeavor and it can even be useful from the point of view of thinking about what sort of buy-in the game requires. And ultimately these questions are a lot bigger than the game of D&D itself.

[grazztthedark]

Out of curiousity, is this inspired by the discourse about bandits that has been going around recently?

[shencomix]

[anyataylorjoys]

The Watermelon Woman (1996) dir. Cheryl Dunye

[seeveekat]

Hey this movie is really important in queer history! It was the first feature length film directed by a black lesbian! You can watch it here for free!

I really recommend you do because while it is a rom-com (and a drama), it also looks at how the stories of black queers are over looked in history.

[mythratica]

i do think it's important to realise even if you like the books that when white supremacists really like LOTR they aren't mistaken about the work or misguided or foolishly failing to comprehend the text. they are identifying something very much present in the work that aligns with and expresses their beliefs about the world and connecting with it

[skjam]

Robin Hood thoughts

So, having recently rewatched the Disney Robin Hood movie (the one where everyone is anthropomorphic animals) I am thinking about Robin Hood as a crossover character. He's had a lot of changes over the centuries; tying him specifically to the reign of Prince John didn't happen until about four hundred years after that event, for example. So, what are some of the core aspects of the character that make him Robin Hood?

He's English. While Robin's exact nationality is perhaps flexible, he exists within the conversation of what rights and duties Englishmen have. The further we get from England, the more you will need to adjust the political settings of the background and story.

He's a criminal. Robin Hood works outside the law, and often against it. He might reluctantly work with a law enforcement officer against a worse criminal, but he's suspicious at best of the system, and often considers it outright corrupt.

Despite being a criminal, Robin has a very strong set of ethical principles. He does not steal from people who can't afford it, does not accumulate wealth for himself but distributes it to those who need it, avoids needless killing (but won't hesitate to kill if he has to) and is courteous to women even beyond what is normal for his society.

Robin Hood is a trickster with a sense of humor. He enjoys playing pranks, but also laughs when the joke's on him. Some of his best friends are people who bested him once.

Robin's on the side of the little people. Even when the story for some reason makes him not a yeoman but a fallen noble, Robin Hood always stands for the poor and oppressed.

He's a good leader. Robin is charismatic, and quickly gathers a group of loyal and competent followers. While he's capable of doing missions on his own, he is also excellent at group tactics, logistics and strategy.

Robin Hood is a champion archer at a time when use of the bow was especially tied to the yeoman class. He can use sword and knife, but archery is where he truly shines, which is often a weakness as well, since he cannot resist an archery competition.

Robin is a skilled woodsman, living in the forest, poaching the King's deer, knowing all the paths and how to move without them. Once he's back in Sherwood Forest, you can't catch him.

Any other core traits you can think of? Other thoughts?

@krinsbez @nitpickrider

[iconuk01]

That's a good comprehensive list. The only other things that come to mind, and some are merely expansions of things you've already mentioned:

Robin is a good sport. When he clashes with Little John and loses in a fair fight, he is annoyed with himself, but not resentful towards Little John, and immediately acknowledges him as victor and the better with the quarterstaff, before inviting him to join him. (Apparently earlier versions of the story had Little John being much cannier, and a good leader in his own right, rather than the "not a deep thinker, but incredibly brave and super-loyal" archetype he'd later fill)

Robin Hood is not a womaniser. He is courteous to all women, but romantically, he remains loyal to his one true love, Marian.

In some versions Robin has the private endorsement of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard and John's mother. She shares his opinion of John's stewardship, but cannot act directly, so she aids Robin discreetly.

He respects religion, if not many aspects of the Church. He is devout in his own Christian beliefs, and some legends have him being a devotee of the Virgin Mary. However he despises the hypocrisy from religious powers as much as for the gentry, and will rob a corrupt bishop as easily as a Lord. Friar Tuck is a mendicant monk, who lives simply and humbly, which Robin respects, even if he teases Tuck about his constant appetite. (Being a mendicant monk does not tie into the usual Crusades era setting, as they weren't a thing at that point, but hermitic monks were, and the "jovial monk" archetype was already part of folklore so...)

In some versions Robin is a former soldier, returning from the Crusades, so learned many of the skills he'd use in his mission against Prince John there.

[grazztthedark]

Don't have anything specific to add, but here's a cool video where we see a timeline of where different traits are added to him.

[thydungeongal]

I think I read somewhere that the reason why Warhammer has Beastmen is because Citadel Miniatures had produced a line of RuneQuest miniatures, including miniatures for the Broo (beastmen corrupted by Chaos from Glorantha) and apparently they wanted people to be able to use those miniatures in Warhams. I wonder if this also in part explains why the human factions of Warhammer are so clearly "historical." That people coming to Warhammer via historicals could just use their existing minis for it.

[grazztthedark]

"You know, these miniatures are quite similar to the ones they have at Citadel."

"Oh no. Patented Games Workshop miniatures. Old family recipe."

"For Warhams?"

"Yes."

"Yes. And you call them Warhams despite the fact that they are obviously grilled."

[thegreatyin]

im afraid im slowly joining the war on subnautica players being able to kill fish on the side of killing

[thegreatyin]

making everything in the game completely immortal is just kind of lame, im sorry

[thegreatyin]

to cut a long story short; in the first and second subnautica games you're able to eat and cook fish to survive, as well as use a tiny pocket knife to chip away at their HP in a pinch. the fish also make a funny sound and die instantly if you hit them with your car giant submarine. the balance comes from the fact that this only works against small fish- basically anything larger than a soda can is 1) a pain in the ass to fight and 2) won't give any reward upon death, so you're incentivized to not fight at all because it Simply Isn't Worth It. and, hey, what do you know, most aggressive fish in subnautica are larger than a soda can. it's a good balance of encouraging avoidance and while still being able to realistically fight off threats if you explicitly want to.

in subnautica 2's early access (which, funnily enough, is not the second game) you are completely unable to harm anything. you can drive a submarine straight through a fish and it'll only bonk comedically off the surface and swim away. you can only run and distract predators away from yourself.

...except, paradoxically, you're still required to cook and eat fish? and the fish can very much turn around and kill you. the only thing that's changed is your ability to actively harm them back.

i just. i find it so perplexing. why would you actively remove a feature and make the game lamer on purpose

[grazztthedark]

On the plus side, the game is still in early access. Maybe killing fish was a feature they're going to add later, or if enough people complain it will be added even if it wasn't planned. Either way, there's still time.

[orteil42]

could an MMO be built with an explicit direction to shun metagaming. what if you sent a cease-and-desist to any attempt at a wiki or datamining resource. could we rely on the playerbase to be annoying enough to pressure each other not to peek at information online. looking up a loot table or a dungeon map should be regarded as an infraction on the level of wallhacking

[orteil42]

having a discord server for your group or any other sort of external community is for tryhards and possibly conspiring cheaters. you WILL meet up by hauling your ass to the ingame guild halls

[eternal-dannation]

i want this but for TCGs

[grazztthedark]

You should look up Keyforge. It was made by Richard Garfield, the guy behind Magic, and the premise is that every deck is completely randomized and unalterable.

I think we can apply this bit of game design to this hypothetical MMO. Have every player receive a unique random seed that is tied to their account, that randomizes their game in such a way that they can't rely on Wiki knowledge. It probably wouldn't take much, just a bit of random stat shuffling here or there, but you could also edit things like the map or even what classes are available.

And every time an expansion is added, your seed changes, and you have to figure out your optimal builds again.

[javascript-official]

Schrodinger yaoi novel where neither of the characters ever uses gendered language so it exists as a superposition of yaoi/Yuri/straighturi

[grazztthedark]

One of the main characters is named Chris, and there's a running gag where the reader never quite learns what that's short for.

[thydungeongal]

If I had a nickel for every awesome action RPG with extremely pretty pixel art starring a dark-skinned girl with white hair I would have two nickels and I think I should have way more than two nickels because this is an extremely cool and important genre of games

[thydungeongal]

The first is, of course, Unsighted, a very cool and awesome game that I've still yet to beat. The other is the just recently released Alabaster Dawn which I've only played about an hour of but I already love quite a lot

[grazztthedark]

Alabaster Dawn is one of the games I'm most excited for this year because I was a big fan of the developer's previous title, CrossCode.

[vixensdungeon]

Pool of Radiance > Baldur's Gate III

Just try and change my mind.

[grazztthedark]

Not going to try to change your mind, but I'm curious as to where you think the other Baldur's Gate games fit into that equation. Less than both? Greater than both? Somewhere in between?

[thydungeongal]

One of the most important resources for Romancing SaGa 3 isn't a Fandom wiki, it's a blogspot site that is meticulously detailed and well-researched and breaks down, among other things, how the choice of weapon and class at the beginning of the game affects the various techs they can spark and how quickly they spark them as well as their magic affinities and honestly it's the best

[grazztthedark]

Link, please?

[thydungeongal]

Here you go champ

Romancing Saga 3 Guide - Complete Walkthrough Weapons Armor Full Maps Monsters Skills Data Techs Magics Spells Tricks Secrets and more!

[grazztthedark]

Thanks.

[thydungeongal]

One of the most important resources for Romancing SaGa 3 isn't a Fandom wiki, it's a blogspot site that is meticulously detailed and well-researched and breaks down, among other things, how the choice of weapon and class at the beginning of the game affects the various techs they can spark and how quickly they spark them as well as their magic affinities and honestly it's the best

[grazztthedark]

Link, please?