Falling Asleep For A Month And Missing The Initial Drop Of Arch-Tempered Shocky Boi? Sad. Tragic Even.

Work said naw to the Monster Hunter Wilds grind, but a bunch of new hires freed up my hours and actually let me get some progress under my belt. Theeeeen--I discovered the changes to fishing, and let me say...

My only goal is to gold crown every. Single. Fish.

And make those Gajau boots for my pursuit of fashion, but it's just a win-win scenario at that point.

First Steps 1.5 Remix

Damn. Well, I gotta say, after a few months... I have made no progress! If we stack it all up: a funeral, a new job, a second funeral, the potential collapse of democracy, a hopeful non-third funeral, and severe writers block causing three separate story ideas to implode in my brain, then it's no wonder. On the bright side, the reading part is going swimmingly--is what I would say if a heavily discounted copy of The Books of Earthsea didn't arrive at my doorstep. Oops. Putting that aside, I would say--as always--the biggest cloud to rain on the parade for any TTRPG endeavor is getting the pals together, linin' up the days off, and actually teaching them about the system. Existence and the endless grind to sustain ourselves, eh? Hopefully, someday (soon-ish-ish) we'll get a good streak of fortune, get started, and then I can info(trauma) dump the system into their oily, waiting cranial cavities. Perhaps by dissecting this hodge-podge Huckster cosplayer from Brooklyn I cobbled together.

Toward Entropy

While I still wait for the chance to gather up my buds and get them into the ring of M:tA, I need to keep this place lively somehow. Through that, I've been working on shoring up my understanding of all the different interactions and possibilities--the limits of imagination itself--within the different Spheres.

Yet I always find myself drawn towards Entropy.

It's a neat little sphere in itself. When one thinks of Entropy there are many different branches to take. Chance, Chaos, Death, Fate. The depths of the concept extend far and wide, reaching its fingers into the depths of a universe both visible and unseen. As opposed to something like Life, whose influences remain important and apparent, despite its noticeably small concentration on a similar universal scale.

But that's waxing too much philosophical, and I prefer to be a rock-brained type-monkey. So, instead, I'm applying it to the life of an unfortunate piano-prodigy-turned-gambling-addict. Slowly--very, very slowly--I'm working on fleshing out the test character Gale Huckhowser. Originally, his Concept started out as Lady Luck's Lover (I love alliteration, sue me), as a smooth, suave, southern gambler type who had an uncanny knack for dodging misfortune. Yet the longer it went on and the more I explored the depths of entropy, the more I realized that concept needed more tragedy, more humanity.

So now if I want to get to that smooth, suave gambler aesthetic, coming into his own and cleaning up his act, then I need to trudge through the sacred flaw approach of alcoholism, mommy issues, love, loss, and poverty. Like notes dancing off ivory keys, following the discordant melody of patterened chaos, this fella needs to go through some shit.

Progress!

I'm slowly starting to whittle them down to the idea. Well, hopefully, at least. There are always a few hiccups here and there, moreso along the lines of our get togethers being sparse, and either involving full-on socializing with big groups, or plain ol' Magic: the Gathering and spiting Hasbro with the full force of proxies (Take THAT Chris).

But I've got a friend comin' back from living in the -comparitive hellscape- Midwest, and her drive for TTRPG's rivals my own, so backup is on the way. In the meantime, I've been refreshing my Lancer knowledge and writing extensively as part of stress relief.

What's that? The gambling addict? Nope, never heard of him. There's no one of such origins chained in the depths of my basement drafts.

The Frozen Speartuna will always and forever remain my favorite throwback weapon--even if the fish itself is a little bastard.

Sure, mathing out the optimized damage and stats is fine and dandy, but does math bring the joy of Beeg Feesh Bonkin'?

Now I just need the Bnahabra set to come back somehow to be the most dapper Fishmangler around.

Mage: the Hattening

Progress is still slow, but I was invited on a family vacation with my partner. On that vacation, we passed a nice hat shop (expensivo :c).

Within its comfy interior, I found a very nice hat. One close enough to the kind my testing awoken--Gale Huckhowser--would wear.

Was the hat a pretty penny? Yes.

Was it an immediate impulse purchase fueled by creative obsession?Also yes.

Do I look hella good in it? Yeh, I like. : )

I'll take one paragaph and a half-eaten Bagel at this rate

Oh boy, I forgot Monster Hunter Wilds was coming out. What a bad year to pick to try and be productive, huh? :,)

First Steps

Alrighty! Looks like this is all set, and despite pulling a full week of shifts I'll have some time to finally crack open that 20th Anniversary Mage book! Hopefully, as this descent into madness plays out, I may learn a thing or two.