Icarus's blog: "Somantics"

Thar be donuts.
Nuts of dough.
Oliebollen.

What most americans would call "fritters".

So, I thought to myself one day "man, I sure could go for some cake donuts" but there's always that

chance
that awful chance that they're day old, factory SHIT
or some promo cake donut for some season >>

and I wanted
-plain- as in vanilla.

So I get online, knowing I had all the ingredients but not the knowledge of proportions

here's how I work

1.5 cups water (some people say milk... meh)
1.5 sugar (white granulated)
2 flour (all purpose is fine, though I'm curious about using low protein and cake)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
salt (like... a teaspoon)
1 egg.

Flavorant!!! (I just used a tablespoon of vanilla coffee creamer... srsly)

Now, online the general cake donut recipe has
nutmeg
cinnamon
powdered sugar

... FAH! *flips over table*
Vanilla!

Stop fucking that up! That is not "plain cake" that's cinn/sug.

Alright?
Alfuckingright then!

Mix by hand or spoon
bout the consistency of pancake batter
oh wait
it IS pancake batter :/
Mindfuck huh?

Put about a pint-quart of neutral high heat oil in a dutch oven or cast iron pan (use less oil, but you'll cap out on how many donuts you can make at a time) the important thing is that you have a little over an inch of cooking media.

Get the pan to 375 or thereabouts

and
take 2 big metal serving spoons
and with one- make a decent sized scoop- use the other as a partial lid- and gently place the spoon into the oil and scrape any remaining goo into the ball of dough in the heat.

Oh
but what about baking sheets and... dough, and rolling, and kneading and isn't the batter too wet!?
FEH!!!!
*Flips over already flipped over table*
Its fine put it in the fucking oil!!!

Wait until you can see GBD on the downside- flip, and listen for a similar sound of subsided bubbling when you flip her over.

... right
I didn't get my stopwatch out

You're gonna have to do this one by sense.
You can always pull an edge up and peek at the doneness, but you want something... between wheat-tan and BROWN
I like crunchies and roasted flavors, so- I go brown.

Bubbling does change sound when sauteing, frying, deep frying is "done" or at least not as productive and enthusiastic as it started.
From years of watching videos, blogging, or playing video games while cooking (seriously- I do at least 2 things at once at home- I get that bored) I've kinda developed an internal timer from the sound and smell. It also helps that seriously- my computer is four fucking feet from my oven.
Lols
Small fucking house.

You can get about 5 fist sized donuts in a batch.
I can get about 11-14 out of the whole mixture.

I always knick 1 from the first two batches its a ... doneness/quality check.

And... hot donuts.
Oh my GOD!

FRESH donuts.

If you've never had em- doing this
right now
its in your best interest I swear.

It combines everything you love about the smell of funnel cake and the taste of... awesome.

My mom has to buy a dozen glazed donuts at crispy creme every time she sees the light on.
That and she lives in BFE so... she'll only get em like twice a year.
Point is- fresh dozens are miles and worlds apart from even hour old donuts or cool ones.
My first love was plain cake donuts made within 15 minutes at daylight donuts downtown indy.
The bitch I cheated on her with and eventually left her for were the apple fritters that come ONCE a year at Neewollah. Hot, buttery, crispy, cakey, and plastered with cinnamon and sugar.

So...
moving on
to the exploding portion of the show-

Cake donut batter
is pancake batter.
Pancake batter
is waffle batter
waffle batter
is funnel cake batter

What's true of ALL of these batters?
They go great with:
syrup (oh yeah)
Powdered sugar
Peanut butter (call me a heretic but me and grampa loved this stuff)
jam
jelly
preserves
any time of the day
cinnamon
berries
...

...

berries...

........
berries EXPLODE in deep frying...
Due to the water content and the fragility of the cells...

But dried fruit ...
dried fruit has no such weakness.

So I dumped about a cup and a half of raisins into my most recent batter

and I put in a teaspoon of cinnamon

and I wish I had used some brown sugar or maple syrup instead of sugar (because they behave pretty damn similar sometimes) or even better
honey

but

The results?

...

If they weren't invented before
I'd like to introduce you all to "Raisin cake donuts".

You bet your ass I'm gonna try this with dried blueberries cherries and cranberries eventually.

The surface raisins come out a bit... leathery but not to where you stop eating.

This combines everything good about donuts
with raisin cookies. (not raisin oatmeal cookies- we're still working that one out)

but I imagine anything that's "mostly sugar" or can "substitue sugar" as a sweetener
IE preserves, honey or syrups
...
yeah I'd go ahead and use em in a donut batter >>

Too bad I've been out of honey for 3 months.

I'm already working on an idea for an orange licquer and preserves mix.

If apple fritters are possible, and pumpkin donuts/pancakes are awesome... and hell- daylight donuts has strawberry cake donuts
I'm willing to bet banana nut bread donuts (...I wonder how walnuts behave)
and red velvet donuts are possible.

...
they wouldn't be red any more though.

hmmm....
but that does give me an idea for topping fritters with cream cheese icing.

WeeeEEEe!

... oh
Wots3 update- on the duper difficulty, I got both of the "main bosses" super rare weapons and a couple rare gag/joke weapons.

... one of the boss rares is a main character's sword from Wots1.

Its what I call the "windmill of death". And any time its in a game, I go faaaaaar out of my way to get it or a weapon that is modeled after it in technique.

I've already got it fully upgraded, and its only missing one technique.
It is a buzzsaw of murder. Its my second favorite top stance sword. The favorite being one of the boss' swords from 1 (and a MEGA bitch to get in 2).
I'm still disappointed that my favorite sidestance sword is missing from this game.




and according to the wiki >> oliebollen are supposed to be made with dried fruit.
Aw nuts, and I thought I was an innovative son of a bitch.
Hehehe... well I still am :D

Finally!
A game set in the meiji era!
Or... well, actually its pre-meiji.

This is the time in Japan after the foreign ships had embargoed Japan and demanded trade and entry...

So
Wots4 as its planned at present

takes place in a harbor town as tensions are at their peak
The factions are
Issolationists (Kill all foreigners)
The Government
And foreigners

Spears, barehanded, and dualsword are back

"dialogue and plot are going to be longer, and more interactive"

I wondered what they meant here- because ... a game you play through 100 times- you're gonna want to skip through some shit. But in Wots3 you could draw your sword or bow out of the scene entirely if you bumped into it accidentally.

Drawing your sword midconversation was actually key to several endings.

"Combat has been changed" in a thus far unexplained unannounced way
what I can gather from the game screenshots
Weapon durability as I know it
is gone.

In all previous versions of Wots your weapons had a max durability, typically 5 boxes on a bar of "heat" when the heat filled to the top durability on your sword- the highest durability rank on your sword snapped off.

If it got to 0- it was dead.
Forever.

You had a handle and a tiny protrusion of a blade the size of a pairing knife.

WOTS1 had a button code that could fix it- but this was cheating.

It looks like in 4 you have a life bar and a ... spirit bar?
I dunno- in fighting games you see this a lot- that desperation/combo/power bar that's unique from your life total.

What I can't confirm from looking is whether or not "blunt attack" (for zero kill endings) is back.




I would hope that it is- that was a good mechanic. and a fun play option.
We don't know if weapon forging or creating is back.

Honestly- I just want a bigger environment- bigger fights, more moves, more swords. New enemies. New swords.

Everything else is icing on my cake.

We haven't seen a "downgrade" from Spike/Acquire yet. They typically move forward every game.
But it does look like my truncheons/sais are back as a weapon (used these a lot in WOTS2) and they've got some added details like tassles and such.

If weapon forging is back- I'm hoping there's some extra decorative and personal items.
No indication on main character accessories- but Spike/Acquire has been NUTS over this stuff since Wots2.
Hell- I dressed up like a train, tank, and shiny samurai in Samurai Western.

The two most important and general questions remain unanswered at this time
Will this game meet my exceedingly high expectations-
and will it be released in America?

I'm thinking it will- as long as I don't play this character

Note the purple, and green bars- but what's this in the center? Is that!?

A TEMPERATURE GAUGE!??!?!? Maybe durability is back.

I get to be a pervert??? What in the hell is up with that emblem in the bottom left!?!?!?

Not surprisingly- the "Mifune" default face featured in almost every game is back.

Draw stance guard.

I'm betting two things- this is the "world map" and I bet all those flags are "zones" or instanced areas of play.

...

That's all you get for free.

"What was this feeling?
Sharp... and cold
warm around cold..."

The priest gently traced a pair of fingers over the steel protrusion growing from his chest, pulling back red tingling warmth.
He had just enough time... but not the strength, to praise his god once more before sleep.
He slid from the blade like a thin branch bending with the wind.

Leaves strewn about, severed from the branch, hacked from the limb, as Kei went through the God king's church chopping away, stripping the bark- until all that was left was the root.

Dyroneus had not even stirred from bed. Making prism and light dance overhead as he felt each of his faithful fall.

When he was certain all was still, he emerged from his chambers, and parted the great iron doors to the balcony overlooking his chapel. His crimson gilded robes flickering against the moonlight streaming from the hall's many windows and overhead. All temples to Dyroneus were built as solariums. However what was brilliant and dazzling in the light of day had a queer tinge of cynicism and revolsion in the night. The patterns and prisms cast ghastly colors and shadows by the tricks of a weary mind gone dull from unchecked slaughter.
The lambs were placed in front of him this night on purpose... like a screaming, bleeding shield to rattle his senses.

"Am I afraid of you sword master?" He said, twisting a shard of many colors mid-air with his peculiar gifts.
"Even at darkest hour- there is light in my house, there are devout suckling at my love- what can one man, with one sword possibly do against the infinite love of God?"
The prism under Dyroneus' puppetry began to splinter at the edges, multiply, and grow, to a faceted and beautiful snowflake now thrice its original size, and pointed in more surfaces than three men could count with all their fingers and toes.
A gently crinkling, and then silence as the object stopped dancing and was sent straight for Kei's exposed throat
with a flick of his wrist Kei deftly cut the shard in mid air
all common sense saying it should've shattered into a billion pieces as he braced for a shower of splinter and dust- but the prism remained in-tact, bouncing off the blade and lodging itself into the wall.
It was dense, it Kei's sword with enough force to rival an iron mace.
Without even a gesture of the hand or eyes, a segment of the imbedded prism broke away and went speeding toward Kei's spine
There wasn't time to deflect, block, or dodge
Kei opted for an alternative to paralysis-
"Hah! In two moves I've drawn first blood- isn't that traditionally a good indication of who will win a duel?"
Dyroneus turned from the balcony as Kei struggled against the sharp glass tearing through his left forearm, and pushing with some invisible force toward his eye. He held it with the pommel of his sword, but the missile gave no sign of waivering in strength or enthusiasm.
He had to calculate what the risk was of dropping his sword, and placing his good hand over the sharp point ripping through his useless left arm if it meant keeping the thing from piercing his skull.
He couldn't feel anything in his left hand... his sword swing would be at half strength now. Not to mention the loss of strength and sense of all the blood gushing to the floor.
Drop the sword while your enemy draws nearer?
Dyroneus stepped into the chapel, and as he did so, Kei flung his arm toward him, letting the prism rip through and rocket toward its master. The shard dug cleanly into the God king's shoulder, reeling him slightly, more shocked than pained.
Dyroneus was visibly perturbed.
"Fitting..." he said pulling a hand back covered in dark, thick blood- though Kei couldn't make out the actual color in this accursed light.
"What? That a charlatan monster can bleed?"
Dyroneus let out a dry, bemused chuckle as he dug the sharp missile from his shoulder.
"No, that I'd be the only one in this fight to draw either of our blood."
That light, gentle crinkling sound returned as it began to grow in the palm of his hand, layer upon layer, length upon length, one corner of a small edge had become a great, straight blade with a point finer than a needle- the length of a man's body.
Kei pondered how strong such a weapon could be... its just glass, a crude, brittle spike.
But that was the bloodloss talking. He shook the sleepy, defeated feeling from his head, and remembered
as Dyroneus whipped back and swung the blade down with a hideous strength and speed-
This blade was thicker than iron.
With a resonating crash, the prismatic-blade carved a great crevice into the floor.
Kei had scarcely managed to roll out of the way, had he tried to block that attack, he would've broken every bone in his arm, before his sword snapped and he was cut in half.

There was no defeating this monster...
No solution to facing a god...
All his speed, all his skill
boiled down to this unimaginable, improbable force before him.

Dyroneus stepped forward, pulling the prism blade from the ground and twisting his body to string an extra attack to the first, it caught Kei mid panic, mid flight, cleaving his left arm at the elbow, and knicking a deep gouge below his ribs.
A superficial bleed on top of the massive one.
...
but there was no running either.

Not with all this dancing about. Who had time for first aid? Even if he wouldn't bleed out, he'd leave an obvious, grisly trail for Dyroneus to follow at his leisure...

Dyroneus followed all the way through in his swing, completing a spin, and with that power and torque still in his attack, he lunged forward and transferred the motion into a slash that would catch Kei just right at the jugular... missing that it'd settle for cutting out his heart with raw power and speed.

Kei saw the swing. He felt the steps. He walked them a hundred times before he even reacted. From the very moment he was certain he was about to die...

He sheathed his sword, shut his eyes- and lunged forward- straight into the arc of the attack. Counting the steps, trusting the rhythm of a thousand victories and his own unreal speed,
Holding the sword close to his body, as his enemy's blade drew nearer.
It began to collide with his scabbord- he raised his arm out as the sheath disentegrated under the force of his enemy's attack. When Kei felt his back against Dyroneus' stomach he knew he had evaded the attack-
however
his spine and heart had already been pierced as he lay snug against the still body of the God king. Ended the very blade that had been his life. His partner. His strength... his heart all these years.
Dyroneus' own strength colliding with Kei's sword had driven the blade through both of them- frozen in its final gesture in Kei's still clenched fist.
Kei realized he had never named the sword that had ended his life.
After all
They were just two mongrels in a very bright and noisy world...

Dyroneus placed his hand firmly on the back of the swordsman's head and pulled the corpse and offending weapon from his body.
A noble effort.
But again, it was his strength redirected that had even pierced his body. ... The swordsman had concocted a brilliant plan in a split second.
Still holding the body by the top of the head, the living god studied the serene, peaceful look on Kei's face.
His eyes still open, faded and flat.
He flung the vessel aside like the contemptable refuse it was.
Dyroneus was correct in his assessment of the mongrel swordsman...
he was the only man fit to kill him.
If given the time to formulate a full plan, team, and years to acquire rumor and superstition... this fight would not have ended as it had.

He allowed the prism sword to crumble to a fine dust and lift back into the air- taking its place with the rest of the peculiar windows of many shapes and colors of the solarium.
Had Dyroneus wished, at any time during the fight, he could've rained down a hail of sharp and efficient death... or a thousand cuts more cruel.
but it was good to hurt.
Good to feel alive... he hadn't felt such vigor and mortality in centuries.

And with Kei gone, he feared he never would again...
He was both surprised and disappointed that his old friend hadn't recognized him... Dyroneus had practically bank rolled and honed the assassin's spirit and skill for this day. A soul-slashing job here, an agent there an impossible challenge there...
Without Kei's knowledge, Dyroneus had practically nursed the mongrel to the killing machine he was today.
But now he was certain his theory was correct... and with the unruly aging prototype purged, he could bend the formula to suit his needs.
The second generation was nearly ready as it was, all they needed was time, light, and love. Like any good seed...

This isn't entirely about Gundam.

Not yet anyway- alright, I realised there was some ambiguity as to why I wasn't that excited about the interview call I missed yesterday- so I'm going to ellaborate.

Here's the job I actually want.

The Case Manager position is open:

Case Manager

Responsibilities
Duties include community networking, resources acquisition, crisis intervention and outreach case management. The essential function of the case manager is to work in partnership with consumers towards individual goal attainment based upon specific objectives identified in the treatment plan. The approach is strengths based and the majority of service is provided in the community setting. Choice Team Case Manager is responsible to work as a team to serve the consumers assigned to the Choice Team, and to arrange back-up coverage for the Team Caseload.

Requirements
This position requires: 1) a person with a Bachelor's degree in social/human service field, 2) a person with an Associate of Arts degree in Mental Health Technology with experience, 3) a Licensed Mental Health Technician with experience, or 4) an individual equally qualified by work experience or a combination of work experience and education, with one year of experience substituting for one year of education. Experience with persons with severe and persistent mental illness and/or chemical dependency is preferred. A valid Kansas driver's license and access to reliable personal transportation and necessary insurance is required. This position requires knowledge of basic computer skills. Must be at least 18 years of age or older and be able to pass pre-employment background checks and SRS adult and child abuse registry.

Hours
Full-Time 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday with some flexibility required.

*******And here's the -other- job I think I can do:********

The Recovery Specialist - on-call/prn position is open:

Recovery Specialist - on-call/prn

Responsibilities
on-going recruitment. Recovery Specialist work in Peer Support Services and are consumer centered services with a rehabilitation and recovery focus. It is designed to promote skills for coping with and managing psychiatric symptoms while facilitating the utilization of natural resources and the enhancement of community living skills.

Duties
Activities included must be intended to achieve the identified goals or objectives as set forth in the consumer's individualized treatment plan. The structured, scheduled activities provided by this service emphasize the opportunity for consumers to support each other in the restoration and expansion of the skills and strategies necessary to move forward in recovery. Peer Support Service is a face-to-face intervention with the consumer present. Services can be provided individually or in a group setting. The majority of Recovery Specialist contacts must occur in community locations where the person lives, works, attends school, and/or socializes. Recovery Specialist are required to complete the departmental trainings to include a state approved standardized basic training program. Individual must self identify as a present or former consumer of mental heath services.

Job Requirements Include:
Requirements
High school diploma or GED required. The Recovery Specialist must be reliable, responsible, able to work a flexible and varied schedule and have the ability to interact effectively with others, and to respond appropriately to emergency situations. In addition, the individual must be 18 years of age or older; be able to pass a KBI security check and an SRS Child and Adult Abuse Registry check, completed agency and state identified trainings with Valeo Behavioral Health Care, and if have reliable transportation must carry liability auto insurance and valid drivers license. Individual must self identify as a present or former consumer of mental health services and model successful recovery strategies. This position requires knowledge of basic computer skills.

**** And here's the job that I -did not apply for- (my email specifically states "Recovery specialist and case manager")

That they are calling ME about...************

The Mental Health Technician - on-call/prn position is open:

Mental Health Technician - on-call/prn

Responsibilities
On-going recruitment. The service is targeted to individuals being diverted from a State Hospital. This position involves one-to-one support for mental health clients by assisting them toward maximizing opportunities to become more self sufficient over time.

Duties
Duties include meal preparation, laundry and cleaning, transportation, psychosocial skills, and other personal care needs. The Mental Health Technician will receive training that includes, but is not limited to, an orientation to mental illness, medications, general treatment approaches, attendant care activities, dealing with emergency needs, basic counseling skills, CPR, First Aid, De-escalation, Suicide Assessment, Working with Addicts and Professional Standards and Ethics.

Hours
A variety of shifts and hours are available to provide coverage 24/7 and will be in response to client need.

Job Requirements Include:
High school diploma or GED required. The Mental Health Technician must be reliable, responsible, able to work a flexible and varied schedule and have the ability to interact effectively with others, and to respond appropriately to emergency situations. In addition, the individual must be 18 years of age or older; be able to pass pre-employment background checks, complete internal Attendant Care training with Valeo Behavioral Health Care, and must have reliable transportation. This position requires knowledge of basic computer skills.

Do any of these jobs sound suspiciously "undesireable" ?

Okay let me put this in perspective
diversion from state hospital means they're a high enough risk to themselves or others that they're a potential candidate for institutionalization.

Training in "de-escalation" is newspeak for "here's how you talk this person down from killing themself- or stabbing you"

I went over this in Independence with my uninterview.
I had questions- now the difference there is that 90% of their job is people electing to be in care.

People being diverted?
That's not elective.

So... that should raise your spidey sense already.

"Emergency situation response"
that's blood
CPR
or overdose
or seizures
etc.

Uh...
its a nurse job.
It's a FULL fucking nurse job as in live in nanny. Cook clean, tote asses around.
Combining the worst aspects of being a prison guard, orderly, nurse, and pseudo-therapist lifecoach all at once.
...

But man it'd be frontlines.

When my mom was working at the mental health center in Indy- someone brought a gun.
Made some demands.
And the building initiated its standard "someone's got a gun- and they're agitated" proceedures.

Is this catching up yet?
Registering
all cylinders firing?

These are -crazy- people.
Being -forced-
into something they -don't want-.

Course, as usual I'm painting you "worst case scenario" stuff. It could just be that I'm up for a job as a cat herder.
Adult ADD and Mania is actually... kind of endearing in a "sit still and take your meds sped" way.
But I know a few manics that turned physically violent.

But meal preparation?
Who is -that- severely depressed, psychotic, or deranged?

I can imagine it...

Part of me says "welcome to the frontlines"
another part of me says "these jobs are typically harder, and pay less than they should".

*sighs*
alright, let me think for a minute- this is a bit of a grocery list.

1. Apply for the admin assist job (its actually an archivist job for the Kansas historical society- I kinda hate the job title, makes me sound like a fahking secretary).
2. Pay my bills.
3. Locate the GI Doc's office.
4. Get coffee while I'm out (why not?)
5. Fill out patient questionairre.
6. Charge PSP for inevitable hour wait in the doc's office.
7. Call another temp agency as mine has obviously given up on me after I declined ONE shitty job. And it was outbound calls :|


Homan.... I'm almost sure there's more to this than I'm remembering right now... it seemed insurmountable yesterday.

"Any means necessary."
"What exactly does that mean?" The brass fitted pipe tucked neatly between the swordsman's teeth wobbled a bit as he spoke, perfumed smoke wisped away in tiny trails.
"Women- children- anyone- they're fanatics, even if they're not believers, they'll die for him without hesitation for fear of having their families burnt for their lack of effort"
The pipe tip clicked solemnly as he pondered this statement.
"Every last person you meet, the closer you get to Dyroneus, the more you should assume they are armed and ready to die."
"And you think I can pull this off?"
"No. Swing until your sword is dull or broken. Or retire and start a farm, far, far away from here"
"Sam, I trust you, and I trust you know my reputation, did they request me specifically, or this just a desperate general plea for some righteous assassin?"
"Judging by the amount of gold and steel offered, I'd say a bit of both, but... anyone that -knows- to ask for you by name,"
"I've already killed them... so they did ask for me..." he sighed. "I love an obvious trap."
He tapped the end of his pipe against his chair, a hot coal flew out and extinguished once it hit the stone floor.
"Kei, I don't think this a good idea- they know you know its a trap, they know I know its a trap, they know I know that you know... look, lets just bury it, let's pick up shop, move the guild, and pretend this never happened, I'm sorry I even told you about it"
Kei stood up, and placed his pipe back into a cracked leather pouch on his waist.
"As of this day I'm no longer affiliated with your organization-"
"You don't mean-"
"No matter what happens next, I can't come back Sam, and you won't be held responsible for what I'm about to do. Besides-" He turned with a full faced smile with his hand on the door
"I'm just an sellsword, right?"
"Kei..." Sam's lip began to quiver, he had never seen Kei so frightened, so ready.
"You know what to do with my accounts..." He said into the door "good luck."

He was gone. The only man the guild's broker "Sam" would consider a friend. They came and went, thrill seekers, looneys, name makers, like bright comets that flickered, passed, and extinguished... Kei the mongrel, the steel glint... his star was the brightest.
His effectiveness wasn't from stealth, subtlety and anatomy, but unparalleled speed and precision. He arrived like a flat footed champion rather than a thief in the night.
Sam had seen him enough times against upstarts wanting a duel with the legend
the man could thread a needle's eye with his blade
the last challenger fell in seven pieces before he even drew.
Even the sharpest eye missed the murmor of steel peeling through skin and meat.
It was as if Kei missed a single step in his stride. He continued not even pausing to watch the bloody mess that errupted behind him.

No one speaks the name, he's just the mongrel swordsman- the surgeon assassin. A ghost story among the oppulent and corrupt.

"God is dead
replace him"

"If life is getting tough
it means god is afraid of your progress"

"They want you to fail,
because they don't want to be alone"

I got a call from my brother he's read "Another Hero?" and "Thousand Year Snake".

He like Alorid >
can't say I blame him, he's technically better written.

He was surprised when I mentioned that it was a plan for an ensemble low-fantasy group.

In high fantasy that means

You've got the:
Meathead: Gimli
Scout/woodsman: Aragorn/Legolass
Thief/screwup: Pippin/Mary
Badass: Everyone over 3 feet tall
Wizard: Gandalf
Betrayer: That one guy...
Sacrificial Christ figure: Gandalf
plagued/cursed "chosen one": Frodo.

The band/quest is a formula I'm not going to abandon in fantasy writing.

Its just too fucking fun.

Quests.
Adventure...
etc!

So yeah

the original intent of that evilish possessed "mercenary" character

wasn't actually a lead-role.

He's... having his humanity and persona eaten by Enkechel, and -spoiler alert-
Enkechel wants to use him as a vessel to manifest fully instead of only being able to manifest briefly when called upon or in ideal feeding situations.

And he's with the group basically looking for an opportunity to prop them up, knock them down, and then feed on them.

Do I think this character will be redeemed, exorcised and reborn?

No.

That is not my style.

He made a pact. The pact had consequences.

Alorid
is not "the hero"
either.

Hero's still a bit of a concept. A faroff wispy form.

But my brother basically handed me a character I'm very excited about writing.

And he fills so many roles. I was pretty amazed.

An apothecary/scholar/...nerdy scholar.
My brother referred to him as a screfup arcanist
and since this is a setting without -direct- magic (as in, no wizards, no mages, no sorcerers, warlocks, casters, witches- etc casting spells and weaving reality and traversing the planes)
but plenty of spectacular and wonderous oddities (like dragons and giant snakes that think about being dragons, and "mind stealing slugs")
it made sense for there to be people that studied and collected artifacts maintained and messed with them.
I think we channeled a bit of MTG, Velma from Scooby doo, Full Metal Alchemist (but not THAT much, that shit's magic with a different name and a finite rule-set),
I channeled Tas (dragonlance- a curious and obnoxiously loveable "kinder" -type of halfling like a hobbit- that's spritely, the life of the party "thief" but that's only because Kindar have NO FUCKING CONCEPT OF OWNERSHIP!- they're kleptos without meaning to be- fun to roleplay, fun to read)
for curiosity
Velma for knowledgeability and problem solving
Every arcanist/kid playing with magic devices that probably shouldn't- and wound up with burned off eyebrows.
And that stupid kid with the magic hat of random on DnD the animated series.

Begrudgingly the kid from DnD.

I hate that kid.

But he's a good character device and setting device.
He can explain and exposit? (is there a verb for exposition? just exposition?) the magic, setting and lore in the world through years of eccentric enthusiasm without saying EXPOSITON!!!
he's an unhero in a group of burly outdoorsmen and badasses
and he has character synergy with the mercenary for being a depressed dweeb (constant snack of despair)
and as an apothecary/oddity tradesman, he's ... a tradesman and a chemist- so if you're going to kill a giant snake
just to skin it
he's going to dry and powder the liver
save the venom
and boil the eyes for a potion, salve, dust of invisibility, etc
etc
etc

But we also designed him to be the party mascot
creating a counter point for all the severity and drama in the story with some levity
and we thought the levity would make the drama and tragedy
more dramatic and tragic

He's a screwup, a hyper active willing to please brainiac with oddities that ... don't really do anything, and occasionally crack reality.
... sometimes when you don't want or expect them to.

He's a catastrophe box character *roll a 100 sided dice 1-10 gets you "screaming temporal doom!*

I like those. They can really change a scene from how YOU would write it.

Anyway, along with his big steamer trunk of wonders, this guy is an apothecary, which mean's he's got some herblore, knows anatomy and first aid.

We have the party healer!
He's not a cleric, druid, or "white mage"!

No holy powers, just chemistry.
This could also mean he has studied, experimented with, and understands weaponizing certain materials and compounds, but again-no Full metal alchemist alchemy.
No.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.

Just... okay maybe some exploding gas bombs and ... speed potions that might make you go blind >>

:D

Starting to get him?

So
Surgeon: Scholar: Otaku: Inferiority complex: Mascot: Comic relief: Group synergy.

And ... all of my characters so far are
effing SMART.

We have a small-group/squad military tactician

a prudent hunter (and I pointed out that if Alorid had a "plan B" to killing the snake in his sleep- he probably would've implemented it and used it- like... rigging a landslide to blow, or an ellaborate trap)

Chemist/scholar/scientist/arcanist.

Three characters in the ensemble, and none of which I'd particularly like to contend with in a battle of wits.
*sigh* that's gonna be some tough writing.

I'd also like to write it where the chemist isn't completely useless without knick-knacks
but he thinks he is.

I'm probably gonna have to put in some intentional flaws on these characters.
Like gambling debts or something >>

Oh
and Alorid has some "wonderous items" as we'd call them in DnD. I told my brother the one I came up with before I wrote thousand year snake.
He laughed.

I call it the pelt of unspeakable evil.
And it has consequences.
Oh GOD the consequences.
Even just for being made.

And you don't get a particularly powerful and cursed item from killing and skinning something EVIL. You get something run of the mill evil with that.
For best results
kill an innocent.

Let's put it this way: that rich dark vermillion finish on the leather?
Unicorn blooood~

Only operate under the supervision of trained professionals.
And lunatics.

I don't feel that the ensemble is complete.
Everyone needs a lunatic.

We've got the possessed and progressively less human, more evil tactician/soldier

The tinker scholar surgeon chemist

The hunter, skinner, trapper, planner

Man, all my characters are old
and badass.

But things to note
I don't want the soldier to be "the berserker"
I don't want the chemist to be "the apprentice screwup mage"
or
the hunter to be the "party leader".

Because the ranger is often party leader.
I think it started with Aragorn.
And all those Norse legends about woodsmen and manly hunting.

Oh
and no fucking treasure hungry betrayal happy thief.
And NOBODY is coming back from the dead.

... at least not the same as when they went in.

In Final Fantasy 1
groups were four man teams.

you had a damage and dodge specialist (thief)

an equipment needy meathead that shrugged damage and dished it out (fighter)

a heavy damage dealer glass cannon with limited ammo (black mage)

A balanced character with moderate harm/heal magic, good equip and okay damage (Red mage)

a frail healing specialist/undead killer (white mage)

and ... (blackbelt) which was kind of the middle road of damage and dodge but ... almost requiring no equipment to be badass

If you were smart:
and I'm guessing you weren't.

You'd go with a good balance of might and magic.

My favorite group (and incidentally the main cast of Nuklearpower.com)
was
Fighter
Thief
Redmage
Blackmage

High survivability
low healing
HIGH damage
And some magic damage (its a video game thing and a paper rpg thing for only magic to hurt certain enemies)

From this spawned a great myriad of jobs, hybrids, "advanced classes" and so on

What I'd say we have right now (in FF parlance and DnD terms)

A chaotic evil Dark Knight.
(black magic, heavy offense, loses his own health to do more damage a "magic berserker" or "magic barbarian" or "demon knight")

A chaotic good Chemist.
(mixes items for added effect, better than normal effects from used items due to knowledge of their components and application- in FF Tactics, they use guns XD, but they're not nearly as effective with items and they don't even have the "mix items" ability in FFT)

A chaotic neutral Ranger.
(traditionally bow+arrow+traps=badass outdoorsman, survivalist)

Thar be holes in my party construction...
I'd call that:

heavy offense
light healing/support
damage/dodge specialist

Brood
Laugh
Plan

The hero has to be the X factor for it...
and then you have to ask tragic or byronic?

In FFXI me and chris had a term the "expendable sixth"
every party had core members
healer
damage dealer
damage taker
magic damage

We'd usually try to get a "support character" that makes everyone "recharge" faster and fight longer, whenever we could but everyone wants one for their party, not NEEDS one.

and then there was
Blank:
basically anyone we could find.

When you get the core filled- you can grab anyone and you're good to go.

I'm gonna think some more about group dynamics.
After a well deserved nap.

"God is dead
replace him"

"If life is getting tough
it means god is afraid of your progress"

"They want you to fail,
because they don't want to be alone"

I got a call from my brother he's read "Another Hero?" and "Thousand Year Snake".

He like Alorid >
can't say I blame him, he's technically better written.

He was surprised when I mentioned that it was a plan for an ensemble low-fantasy group.

In high fantasy that means

You've got the:
Meathead: Gimli
Scout/woodsman: Aragorn/Legolass
Thief/screwup: Pippin/Mary
Badass: Everyone over 3 feet tall
Wizard: Gandalf
Betrayer: That one guy...
Sacrificial Christ figure: Gandalf
plagued/cursed "chosen one": Frodo.

The band/quest is a formula I'm not going to abandon in fantasy writing.

Its just too fucking fun.

Quests.
Adventure...
etc!

So yeah

the original intent of that evilish possessed "mercenary" character

wasn't actually a lead-role.

He's... having his humanity and persona eaten by Enkechel, and -spoiler alert-
Enkechel wants to use him as a vessel to manifest fully instead of only being able to manifest briefly when called upon or in ideal feeding situations.

And he's with the group basically looking for an opportunity to prop them up, knock them down, and then feed on them.

Do I think this character will be redeemed, exorcised and reborn?

No.

That is not my style.

He made a pact. The pact had consequences.

Alorid
is not "the hero"
either.

Hero's still a bit of a concept. A faroff wispy form.

But my brother basically handed me a character I'm very excited about writing.

And he fills so many roles. I was pretty amazed.

An apothecary/scholar/...nerdy scholar.
My brother referred to him as a screfup arcanist
and since this is a setting without -direct- magic (as in, no wizards, no mages, no sorcerers, warlocks, casters, witches- etc casting spells and weaving reality and traversing the planes)
but plenty of spectacular and wonderous oddities (like dragons and giant snakes that think about being dragons, and "mind stealing slugs")
it made sense for there to be people that studied and collected artifacts maintained and messed with them.
I think we channeled a bit of MTG, Velma from Scooby doo, Full Metal Alchemist (but not THAT much, that shit's magic with a different name and a finite rule-set),
I channeled Tas (dragonlance- a curious and obnoxiously loveable "kinder" -type of halfling like a hobbit- that's spritely, the life of the party "thief" but that's only because Kindar have NO FUCKING CONCEPT OF OWNERSHIP!- they're kleptos without meaning to be- fun to roleplay, fun to read)
for curiosity
Velma for knowledgeability and problem solving
Every arcanist/kid playing with magic devices that probably shouldn't- and wound up with burned off eyebrows.
And that stupid kid with the magic hat of random on DnD the animated series.

Begrudgingly the kid from DnD.

I hate that kid.

But he's a good character device and setting device.
He can explain and exposit? (is there a verb for exposition? just exposition?) the magic, setting and lore in the world through years of eccentric enthusiasm without saying EXPOSITON!!!
he's an unhero in a group of burly outdoorsmen and badasses
and he has character synergy with the mercenary for being a depressed dweeb (constant snack of despair)
and as an apothecary/oddity tradesman, he's ... a tradesman and a chemist- so if you're going to kill a giant snake
just to skin it
he's going to dry and powder the liver
save the venom
and boil the eyes for a potion, salve, dust of invisibility, etc
etc
etc

But we also designed him to be the party mascot
creating a counter point for all the severity and drama in the story with some levity
and we thought the levity would make the drama and tragedy
more dramatic and tragic

He's a screwup, a hyper active willing to please brainiac with oddities that ... don't really do anything, and occasionally crack reality.
... sometimes when you don't want or expect them to.

He's a catastrophe box character *roll a 100 sided dice 1-10 gets you "screaming temporal doom!*

I like those. They can really change a scene from how YOU would write it.

Anyway, along with his big steamer trunk of wonders, this guy is an apothecary, which mean's he's got some herblore, knows anatomy and first aid.

We have the party healer!
He's not a cleric, druid, or "white mage"!

No holy powers, just chemistry.
This could also mean he has studied, experimented with, and understands weaponizing certain materials and compounds, but again-no Full metal alchemist alchemy.
No.
None.
Nada.
Zilch.

Just... okay maybe some exploding gas bombs and ... speed potions that might make you go blind >>

:D

Starting to get him?

So
Surgeon: Scholar: Otaku: Inferiority complex: Mascot: Comic relief: Group synergy.

And ... all of my characters so far are
effing SMART.

We have a small-group/squad military tactician

a prudent hunter (and I pointed out that if Alorid had a "plan B" to killing the snake in his sleep- he probably would've implemented it and used it- like... rigging a landslide to blow, or an ellaborate trap)

Chemist/scholar/scientist/arcanist.

Three characters in the ensemble, and none of which I'd particularly like to contend with in a battle of wits.
*sigh* that's gonna be some tough writing.

I'd also like to write it where the chemist isn't completely useless without knick-knacks
but he thinks he is.

I'm probably gonna have to put in some intentional flaws on these characters.
Like gambling debts or something >>

Oh
and Alorid has some "wonderous items" as we'd call them in DnD. I told my brother the one I came up with before I wrote thousand year snake.
He laughed.

I call it the pelt of unspeakable evil.
And it has consequences.
Oh GOD the consequences.
Even just for being made.

And you don't get a particularly powerful and cursed item from killing and skinning something EVIL. You get something run of the mill evil with that.
For best results
kill an innocent.

Let's put it this way: that rich dark vermillion finish on the leather?
Unicorn blooood~

Only operate under the supervision of trained professionals.
And lunatics.

I don't feel that the ensemble is complete.
Everyone needs a lunatic.

We've got the possessed and progressively less human, more evil tactician/soldier

The tinker scholar surgeon chemist

The hunter, skinner, trapper, planner

Man, all my characters are old
and badass.

But things to note
I don't want the soldier to be "the berserker"
I don't want the chemist to be "the apprentice screwup mage"
or
the hunter to be the "party leader".

Because the ranger is often party leader.
I think it started with Aragorn.
And all those Norse legends about woodsmen and manly hunting.

Oh
and no fucking treasure hungry betrayal happy thief.
And NOBODY is coming back from the dead.

... at least not the same as when they went in.

In Final Fantasy 1
groups were four man teams.

you had a damage and dodge specialist (thief)

an equipment needy meathead that shrugged damage and dished it out (fighter)

a heavy damage dealer glass cannon with limited ammo (black mage)

A balanced character with moderate harm/heal magic, good equip and okay damage (Red mage)

a frail healing specialist/undead killer (white mage)

and ... (blackbelt) which was kind of the middle road of damage and dodge but ... almost requiring no equipment to be badass

If you were smart:
and I'm guessing you weren't.

You'd go with a good balance of might and magic.

My favorite group (and incidentally the main cast of Nuklearpower.com)
was
Fighter
Thief
Redmage
Blackmage

High survivability
low healing
HIGH damage
And some magic damage (its a video game thing and a paper rpg thing for only magic to hurt certain enemies)

From this spawned a great myriad of jobs, hybrids, "advanced classes" and so on

What I'd say we have right now (in FF parlance and DnD terms)

A chaotic evil Dark Knight.
(black magic, heavy offense, loses his own health to do more damage a "magic berserker" or "magic barbarian" or "demon knight")

A chaotic good Chemist.
(mixes items for added effect, better than normal effects from used items due to knowledge of their components and application- in FF Tactics, they use guns XD, but they're not nearly as effective with items and they don't even have the "mix items" ability in FFT)

A chaotic neutral Ranger.
(traditionally bow+arrow+traps=badass outdoorsman, survivalist)

Thar be holes in my party construction...
I'd call that:

heavy offense
light healing/support
damage/dodge specialist

Brood
Laugh
Plan

The hero has to be the X factor for it...
and then you have to ask tragic or byronic?

In FFXI me and chris had a term the "expendable sixth"
every party had core members
healer
damage dealer
damage taker
magic damage

We'd usually try to get a "support character" that makes everyone "recharge" faster and fight longer, whenever we could but everyone wants one for their party, not NEEDS one.

and then there was
Blank:
basically anyone we could find.

When you get the core filled- you can grab anyone and you're good to go.

I'm gonna think some more about group dynamics.
After a well deserved nap.

But then I remembered we got half a foot of snow last night.
*sigh*

My dad wants me to see the GI specialists for a consult.
I don't think its necessary since I'm responding to medication
"oh we'll pay for it don't worry"

... I've told him before but I really don't think its registering for him how much I resent that.

Its also... really dull. Doctors are always 40 minutes late to everything.
You expect ME to be on t-
y'know what?

I'm not even doing the doctor or healthcare rant today.
I'm that fucking tired of it.

I'm gonna... make mediocre coffee
I'm gonna drink mediocre coffee
I'm gonna watch initial D
and I'm gonna play more deadspace.

Alright?
Alright.

Cuz yesterday after I dropped off my tests for the lab, I got a breve
my first breve
I asked what a breve is.
Because typically when something sounds good or different to me I just get it
"oh that's like a latte but made with half and half"

...
There's a noise in Legend of Mana I've trained myself to hear when something piques my interest.
It's a little exclamation twang.
A sharp and silly sound.

"I've always wanted that!"

Fwah...
course... it wasn't so much that it was good for actually being good coffee.
But that steamed
fatty
rich
milk...

on a day where it was what I called "soft hailing" (the water was freezing before it hit he ground, but not that rain/snow mix you get with sleet)
and later blizzarding
yeah

that was the right stuff.

And I reaaaaaally want another one.

Probably not bad enough to A.) Desnow/deice my car. B.) spend $4.00 C.) drive over compacted snow for 2-8 blocks.

I should probably get an espresso machine.
... good god I've been saying that six years.

That I am wordy and
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy!!!

Really? This is the first I'm hearing of this
*flashes back to when Peter Griffon is informed he's fat- and in fact has a personal oribt*

Anyway- I posted a LOooooOOOoooooOOOooooOOOOng
series of posts on the mech forum I frequent about design theory (aesthetic and functional) and story themes.

Basic gyst- the "bad guys" from original Gundam are themed around Nazis.
One of their greater downfalls and failings was that they overdeveloped "super weapons" like the germans did during WWII and split their resources and misappropriated their funds and steel.

6 Shermans versus 1 panzer- sure you might lose a couple shermans but that panzer is GONE!

This is an actual theme in Gundam.

Next up one of the bastard offsprings of Gundamverse- Gundam wing.
Gundam wing gets into what I call "Super robotism" where your titular suits are rarely if ever damaged, and the overall design emphasizes a theme more than actual functionality.

Submitted for your approval-
here are some visual aids
The RX-78 from Gundam

A Samurai. Yes?

God Gundam from G Gundam (VERY super roboty)

Vishnu.

Sandrock (from Gundam Wing)

Sandrock Custom

Antlion:

It also doesn't help that the sandrock is featured predominately in a middle eastern desert, and wears a brown sandcape (this is VERY super robot).

That shield it wears can also house the two blades and the markings are very similar to the face of an antlion. The swords of course being the tusk.

Also: don't forget Wing Zero

Wing Zero custom

Angel.

Duh.

And Zaku/Gouf One eyed one horned Japanese Oni.

Anyway... I forgot my original point, but I guess this can be said about me:

I think a lot about theme, design, and functionality.

When I build a robot from the ground-up, it has to have an optimal threatrange, firepower, and versatility.

Just like my magic decks!!!

Then there's super robots and they have a superman complex.

Anyway- the Tetra-star gouf has a design theme, but primarily it reflects my own personal philosophy.
Threaten at every range from all side.
Overcome all the obstacles you can.