Seaside2

heh, nice

Why so many 6s...

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So, a lot of Japanese music, especially the stuff used in anime and video games, is built on jazz fundamentals, which is why it's so easy to make a good jazz cover of just about all of it.
There are some games that just straight up use jazz for their soundtracks, but I agree we do need more of that.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-7sWzA03G1EuYLUzI6QVzhYCV-hBaYyo&si=QVPMy54Zkfv-Bxk_
There's also a lot of official jazz arranges out there, which always makes me happy

i was recently made aware that this exists, and like... wow, we REALLY need some good jazz in video game soundtracks innately

Trans people have always existed and that's just a fact.
And you know what, for the hell of it, let's just jump into those transition methods before we get any further. Brainfog is making it hard to write up a particularly long post right now.
So, obviously surgery is a valid method. Bodies are physical, and function in a way similar to our own. Surgery is probably the "most accessible" transition method, but it's imperfect, leaving scars upon the body. No shade, no shame, be proud of your scars.
Alchemical transition would be a gradual process of altering your elemental attributes to more permanently and "naturally" change your body. The obvious drawback here is that it takes time, and you have to either know an alchemist or BE an alchemist, but they're hardly a rare thing in this world. Especially in tech societies.
I could talk for a long time about alchemy, it's one of those hyperfixations that just pops up and doesn't go away for days or weeks at a time.
And lastly, we have Physiomancy. What is Physiomancy, you ask? Well, it is an application of Dark magic (the element of flesh and blood and bone, remember) that specializes in molding flesh like clay. A Physiomancer is able to give you the body you've always dreamed of having. Unfortunately, it's not a permanent solution. The body is shaped by the mana that makes it up, and over time it will attempt to return to the shape that blueprint suggests. The most perfect method would be a combination of Physiomancy and alchemy.


For a peek at the mechanics, the base level of the Physiomancy Gift looks like this:

QuoteSculpt Self: Roll to Dye and take damage equal to the difference between your highest and lowest dice results (minimum 1). You may alter the shape of a part of your body in a way that does not change its total mass. Changing facial structure, consolidating muscle mass to a singular limb, or giving yourself claws, sharp teeth, or antlers are all potential uses of this ability. Rolls to Do that utilize the altered features to your advantage gain a d6 bonus which may be included in damage rolls for bodily weapons formed in this way. Rolls to Do which do not properly utilize your altered features, and all Rolls to Dye made until reverting the effect, have a d6 penalty. Purely cosmetic changes may be made without incurring a bonus or penalty, and other living things can be incorporated into your form while preserving their life using this ability.

At higher levels of EXP investment, it can be used on other people, and gains different perks that I have yet to decide on

And hey, while we're on the subject of Physiomancy, why not use that tangent to talk about Necromancy! I reject the concept of Necromancers as evil wizards raising undead minions to terrorize the populace. My idea of Necromancy (informed by Dominic Deegan) is the study and celebration of death and life, and the way that the two interact. Also since death results in the dissipation of the body into its component elements, raising the dead isn't really a thing in this setting. Sure, you could like. Make a skeleton, and animate it (using a different type of magic entirely) but it's not really "raising the dead," so much as creating a construct of bone.
Necromancy, in the bounds of this setting, specializes in the decay and regrowth of living tissue. Those who practice Necromancy are, in essence, doctors. Most Necromancers are also Physiomancers, and very adept ones at that, since they have a very intimate knowledge of how bodies are structured and what they are capable of.

Whee! We're back up!

Issue:
Unviewable content. Certain topics or pages (or any 'random' part of the forum) became unviewable with an error message ("Call to undefined function idna_maps_not_std3()") being displayed in its place.

Root Cause:
Update to version 2.1.5 of SMF. As discussed on this topic thread and the resulting bug report, this occurred as part of a refactoring of their Unicode handling code, meaning any page that used certain characters would throw this error.

Resolution:
A full fix has already been applied upstream but has not been released yet. In the meantime I've applied a hotfix/patch to the running code that appears to remove the issue. Some others posting say this causes spurious error log messages, so admins should be prepared to see this until the next release of SMF.

Additional Notes:
I took this chance to make a snapshot of the container running the forum. Currently I can only do this while the container is stopped. I'm hoping to make a better/automated backup strategy but need to consider some things first.

Thanks everyone for your patience!

Quote from: clockworkmonkey on Jul 16, 2025, 07:15 AMI have a shitload to compile about the actual regions of the continent so in the meantime here's something bite-sized.
What do people in this setting look like? I lieu of the typical fantasy tropes, and to save myself the struggle of trying to figure out the evolution of social structures, there are no "races." Since everyone is literally made of magic, they can look like just about anything, though their appearance is typically reflective in some way of the elements of mana that compose them, and most are either humanoid or anthropomorphic. The most "pure human" a character can be still has some animalistic or elemental traits.
Also, trans people exist. I know that shouldn't need to be said but I'm saying it. There are multiple ways to transition and it is normalized basically everywhere on the continent. I'll touch on those methods at some point.

HELL YEAH, trans people baked into the VERY FABRIC!!!

I have a shitload to compile about the actual regions of the continent so in the meantime here's something bite-sized.
What do people in this setting look like? I lieu of the typical fantasy tropes, and to save myself the struggle of trying to figure out the evolution of social structures, there are no "races." Since everyone is literally made of magic, they can look like just about anything, though their appearance is typically reflective in some way of the elements of mana that compose them, and most are either humanoid or anthropomorphic. The most "pure human" a character can be still has some animalistic or elemental traits.
Also, trans people exist. I know that shouldn't need to be said but I'm saying it. There are multiple ways to transition and it is normalized basically everywhere on the continent. I'll touch on those methods at some point.

surely its been long enough after Deltarune's chapters 3+4 releasing to be able to post this, i feel it looks a bit wonky but what can ya do

Let's talk about magic, alchemy, and technology. In a world where everything is made of mana, raw energy given form through a binding of elements, these things are a bit different than you might understand them. I've explained how magic works, and how using it takes a similar toll on the body as overexerting oneself with physical activity. Alchemy, then, is in this world the process by which mana changes form. Alchemical processes, usually conducted by injecting a small amount of mana from the alchemist's body into the subject, can transform mana from one element to another, fundamentally altering the physical properties of an object or material. The object or material itself cannot be transmuted into another form altogether, however, merely altered. For example, you could turn lead lustrous, but this would not make it gold.
Very technically speaking, a spellcaster who produces an elemental effect different from the elements that make up their being is using alchemy to transmute energy into a different form. This particular application is referred to as Alchemancy. A talented Alchemancer is able to alter the elemental state of any many within reach, transmuting energy even as others manipulate it.

Technology in this world is born from alchemy. Transforming raw material into energy to power complex devices is the foundation on which multiple nations have been built. However this process damages the natural cycle of energy between the Circles. Mana spent magically will return to the Circle from which it came and eventually cycle back into the world, but mana which is forcibly transformed into energy becomes polluted and unable to return to the cycle. Technology must consume an endless amount of raw resources, depleting the natural mana in its surroundings.
In this atmosphere of depleted mana, these civilizations have developed complex machines that run on intricate electrical systems comparable to modern technology in our world. These systems, however, are delicate, and a sufficient presence of natural, ambient mana can at best interfere with them, creating energy fluctuations that make their functions unstable, and at worst cause catastrophic failure.

There are three, technically four nations on the continent who have developed technological systems, with varying levels of advancement. At the lowest end is modern-day technology, and at the highest end is androids and mecha. These things are fundamentally incompatible with magic, and cannot exist in lands suffused with mana. Electrical systems overload and shut down. There is a level of distrust between magically-developed nations and technologically-developed nations, even those who have generally good relations. They each see their way as the way, and the other as some kind of savages railing against the natural order.