#How To Increase Your High Jump Height

[cokou]

𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 OCT 2: DESIRE # Trafalgar Law┆Fem! Reader

Request ✉* Good evening, afternoon, or morning:) May I request trafalgar law x fem!reader for Oct. 2?

Warnings ✉* Somnophilia, a bit non-con, Shit writing

WC ✉* words┆ characters

In far, far lands, somewhere around mysterious places, is where your body lies. A tower, thats' height seems so endless when looked upon a far view. A tower where, it reaches the sky. Your body, unconsciously sleeping on a bed for nearly half a decade, the roses that seemed like it was given to give their utmost wishes for you to wake up soon, has faded it's life and rotted on the bedside. How unruly and upsetting.

Until he came, Trafalgar D. Water Law. He could save you, if he wanted to, if his heart yearned for it, if his heart planned it. Oh yes, he plans such a thing, such adventurous personality where no one could ever stop him, made him end up finding your whereabouts. He climbed, step by step, in the agonizingly long and high staircase.

The journey through the tower was long, every step of his had so much memories. As he climbed up, and up, remnants of flower petals that seemed to rot and crush up into tiny more parts had been revealed. Daggers, knives, and even broken up plates, it seems that this place was likely an eventful place somewhere in history.

Tower was so old it grew moss inside, grasses by the floor and cobwebs by the corner, making Law sneeze as dust particles enter his cavity. He coughs as the dust spreads, and so he covers his nose with a little hankerchief.

There it was, he reached the top, only to find a big room provided by tons of cabinets, tables, and finally a large bed that lies your figure. He steps on a bouquet of roses that crushed up together, making aloud crunch sound that made his heart skip a beat. Preparing himself for the worst of a possible person jumping on him suddenly, he unsheaths his sword, wuickly examining the features of such delightful face.

The gloomy walls starts emitting dust even more, making Law sneeze once again. As you suprisingly not wake up, Law had questioned if you even are alived. Yes, you were, he placed his ears onto your chest.

"Badump" "Badump" "Badump"

His curiosity got the better of him as he dragged his hands along your skin, which made you receive unknown goosebumps all over your skin. He rubs his calloused fingers along your curves, then your cheeks, giving them a light squeeze. Not awake, how was this possible? An idea clicked inside his head, but it must've been not a good idea.

Law runs his fingers over the long skirt you were wearing, tracing your thighs then your legs, all the way to your feet. He gently rises your skirt, enough reveal your pair of thighs, and yet he wasn't satisfied. And so, he lifts them up all the way to your stomach, still not awake. By this point, your underwear was revealed, your legs and thighs. It only made him more curious.

Moving your panties to the side, he sneaks a peak from your cunt. His cheeks behin burning, telling everything in him that what he was doing eas incredibly wrong and that he should stop, but that wasn't what he did. Instead, he continued, nudging his nose into your clit. Earning no absolute sounds from you made his heart beat so much faster, he wasn't sure if he should continue or not.

The temperature of the room increases as Law began sweating so much more whilst admiring the delicate curves of your legs, and your hole. Law takes the step further and latches his mouth onto your clit, he holds your legs to spread them apart, earning the silent sigh coming out of your deep slumber as you began furrowing your brows from the sensation Law was giving you.

His pocket watch ticks louder, he could feel his heartbeat jumping out of his chest. The time slows down as if the day were a time loop of yesterday's. Law's actions had significant effect on you, yet, you seem like you won't wake up any sooner. And so, Law takes upon the chance to satisfy the curiosity he was led to. It was a bit too early to stop, yet stopping would make him earn for more.

He sticks his tongue out and licked a long strip of your pussy onto his mouth, the saltiness taste of your essence take over his taste. He lifts his face from between your legs, and examines you again. No reaction, no movements, were you dead? No— it's impossible, your heart was beating. Law decides to proceed, unwrapping his belt from his waist and put it silently on a chair besides the table, and so he pulls down his bottoms and reveals his thick cock.

It felt wrong— no, it was wrong. He wasn't sure what came over him to do this to such a peaceful lady, he thought of just turning you in into the nearest medical centers of the town's square. Moments of rethinking later, he makes rhe decision to do it, just once. Then he would turn you in for the sake of your health. His cock was practically begging for attention, it was leaking pre-cum and was such a tickled pink colored. It almost looked shy.

Law holds his cock to steady it infront of your entrance, smearing the pre-cum over your saliva-covered pussy. His shaft practically sliding in so easily with the wetness of your hole. It was impressive how your body acted towards him as you were unconsciously sleeping. Thrusting his hips forward, the bed silently shook.

He thrusts in out out of you at a steady pace, bothering his mind if you would wake up in any second and kill him for his acts. He would gladly take the punishment for the exchange of your well-being. Law was shaken off as he heard you sigh deeply in your sleep as your brows furrow once more, his thrusts becoming faster in order to finish quickly.

The deep feeling in his abdomen was about to snap, his cock felt like it was being bullied to it's max, which it was. His cock flushed a deep pink by the sensation caused, his sweat dripping down his forehead and neck, wiping it off using the sleeves of his clothes. Law was about to snap anytime soon as he felt the heat drizzling him off.

In one fast whip inside you, he accidentally spills his seed inside as he was lost in ecstacy. Feeling deeply troubled, he grabs his hankerchief and immediately starts wiping you down, his lost of mind didn't bother seeing you silently rose from bed with eyes wide open from the man cleaning her for the very first sight she'd saw for 6 years ago.

"What..are you doing?" Law shoots up and feits his teeth as he was caught.

"I— was cleaning you..." Law exclaims, he earns a subtle smile from you.

"Why thank you! Though i do not understand why you muct clean from down there, I—"

"Forget it! If you're gonna imprison me and let the town's square that i should be beheaded then do it!" Law yells. You shot up a curious impression, tilting your head to the side.

"Why would I do that? You were cleaning me! And..woke me up! Why shall I imprison such a nice man?"

"Woke you up? What do you mean?"

"Oh, my sincerest apologies sire..I for sure was in such an unconscious state, yet i hear everything around me. Once you had stepped in, i already knew that it were you who was to save me!"

"Wha—"

"If you agree, then i shall marry you!" "W—..What even is going on..?" Law scratches his mind as tons of stories from you came up.

General M.List┆Hentober 24 M.List

©Cokou 2024, all works belongs to me.

[cypherscript]

Danny Phantom sits at a desk, papers stacked high, rubbing his face as an intense headache. There has been an alarming increase of jungle ghosts popping into the Zone and filing complaints.

"This is the last thing I need; people are coming back from the dead, rewriting the timeline, some shmuck is selling his soul like it's a pack of gum and now some human company is decimating the Amazon Rainforest to near extinction."

Stella, a fresh ghost with a space themed business suit who was his newest assistant floats into the room with more paperwork. "Here you go sir. More Amazon complaints, the ones who can recall their deaths report the gunmen had Lexcorp insignias."

"For Ancient's sake..."

"Sorry, sir."

"This is ridiculous, put a hold on any more complaints and let them know I'm stepping in now. I'm grabbing a couple of The Green ghosts and some of the Liminal in the living world. It's time to put this to an end." Phantom raises his hand, the Ring of Rage glows as a portal opens and he steps through into The Green's portion of the Zone.

***

An annoying short fight and Phantom has Undergrowth down, his blue aura flaring threateningly. Undergrowth concedes defeat from his King, "If you are here to End me, then do so. My children are screaming, uprooted and yet here I stay from your decree, my king. Unable to nurture and restore them."

"About that, you kind of jumped me before I could say anything," Phantom lowers his hand, energy dissipating into wisps, "I haven't been fair to you these last few months. I understand your purpose now and I'm here for your help."

"My help? The great King Phantom wants help from me?" Undergrowth's voice cannot hide the mirth on his face.

"I'm being swarmed by new ghost complaints about the Amazon Rainforest. I'm willing to let you out into the Living World with some other ghosts to fulfill your obsessions if you help me restore what was lost and keep the balance."

"I am... how the flesh bags say; intrigued."

"My only stipulation is that you do not kill the human locals or workers."

"...I suppose I can make do with that arrangement. Will my daughter be accompanying me?"

"Sam? I can ask but I do not believe she wants to be your daughter," Danny says as he lets Undergrowth float to his full height. "I'm also going to pick up some of the Liminal of Earth that can influence plants. I will say, the increase the undying happening should make this incredibly easy to persuade them. Gather a number of ghosts who can follow directions and meet back at the Keep."

"As you wish, my King," for once Undergrowth seemed happy to actual call him as such before bowing and flying off to gather the troops. Once more Phantom opened a portal, its swirling green and black causing shadows of the nearby trees to flicker before stepping trough onto a dirty and gloomy rooftop, rain steadily coming down across a city covered in vines and flowers with the sounds of fighting below.

[benchspkmnirlhub]

Senturion

An in-universe game in the mainline Pokemon universe, thought up by Melmy of @fated-furret.

All credit goes to Melmy for thinking up this in-universe game.

Background

Senturion is an indie game released in 2018, the sequel/rehash/major expansion of a 2013 Flash game of the same name. It's a 2D dungeon crawler/action-platformer, similar to games like Hollow Knight and Neon Abyss. You play as a Sentret you name at the beginning of your adventure.

Moveset

At first glance, the movement... kind of sucks. Both your snail-pace waddling and jump that barely gets you above your ears' height leave much to be desired. You can sprint on all fours to get to a somewhat reasonable speed, but using it tanks your Stamina bar. It seems like this is going to be quite the boring game...

Until you realise that if you aim at the floor and use the aerial version of your tail-slap (Left Click, goes towards the mouse), you go absolutely flying. Further experimentation reveals that extending your tail (Hold Right Click, goes away from the mouse) lets you bounce like a pogo stick in a similar fashion to the hammer from Getting Over It.

Using these movement options together (along with exploiting certain levels' mechanics) is key to defeating enemies and traversing through rooms.

Inventory

You get various “Tail Armours” as you progress through the game. These are Pokémon-themed equipment for your tail that affects how your tail-based movement works. Here's a few examples!

- Ditto: Your goopy tail can compress into a wall if extended at high velocity, sticking you to it and slowly charging a super-bounce for when you release.

- Nidoran: Direct damage is only dealt via headbutts. Swinging your tail shoots a burst of poison darts and boosts you forward.

- Chikorita: Reduced damage, but vines on either side of your tail increase its length and add a powerful sweetspot to the end of your tail swings.

There's also Trinkets! You have a few slots for passive Trinkets and a single active Trinket, which can be swapped out with ones in your inventory between Sections (see Levels).

Passive Trinkets are your accessories, and some effects include:

- Increasing base stats

- Health regen after clearing a room

- Increased loot

- Modifications to movement too general to be a Tail Armour, such as decreasing gravity or increasing impact force

They all come with upsides and downsides though, so you need to consider carefully which ones you equip.

Active Trinkets have an effect upon pressing the Use Active Trinket key. Every Active Trinket has a cost to use, and this can be almost anything. You think of a number, changing it can be the cost of an Active Trinket.

Some Active Trinket effects include:

- Spawning a wall at your cursor facing the Sentret that takes away your Stamina

- Throwing a bomb, but you can only use it once per room

- Giving you extra max health for the rest of the dungeon, but the boss at the end of the dungeon gains 20x that

- Making you invincible but slowly increasing your gravity while the button's held

You get Tail Armors, Trinkets, and other items from chests, bosses, shops, and as drops from rare variants of certain enemies.

Levels

Levels have the standard dungeon-crawler layout: floors (referred to as ‘Sections’) consisting of rooms that you can only exit once every enemy inside is defeated, culminating in a bossfight at the end. The rooms are big, and can be mostly vertical, mostly horizontal, or all kinds of wacky shapes.

The group of levels associated with each individual faction (more on that later) all have a gimmick that ties them together. For example, a volcano level could have lava that bounces you away but damages you if you touch it without the right Trinket.

Story

The story begins in a cute little forest village full of young forest critters (the parents of all the critters had disappeared a while ago), soon having you go to the task board and accept a mission to collect apples from a nearby patch of apple trees. It serves as the game’s tutorial, giving you the opportunity to learn to use your movement options to pick the apples from a series of high trees that culminate in a tricky chained bounce up a cliff to get to the tree with the best apples. But as soon as they’re in sight, an attack from offscreen knocks you tumbling back down. With your tail sprained, you’re left to run back to your village from a group of Pawniard, Bisharp, Escavalier, and other mediaeval-themed Pokémon, instantly passing out from the shock once you leap through the open gates.

The next morning, you awake to see that everything’s changed. Huts are caved in, farms are destroyed, and everyone’s working together to figure out what to do in their parents’ absence. They’re all young and scared, but they've managed to band together into a tight-knit resistance.

The main gameplay begins here, similar to the flow of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. You take quests to go through levels to get loot, progress the story, and develop close bonds with the other critters. 

As you progress, though, you realise that there's another group trying to invade the mediaeval Pokémon. And someone doing it to them, and doing it to them. Turns out the entire region's covered in nations trying to invade each other, all being supported from the shadows by a mysterious Pokemon called ‘The Oracle’.

You return home as fast as your tiny legs can carry you burst into the war room for the forest critters and tell everyone about this just before one of the Oracle's messengers arrives. Thoughts of "liberating" land from other factions have been slowly gaining popularity amongst the forest critters throughout the game, but you put a stop to it and convince everyone to focus all efforts on defeating the Oracle.

You then go through a level consisting of one floor from every faction's buildings you've been to, until you reach the Oracle's Spire. It's taller than anything anyone's ever seen, and it's made of a strange smooth material with angular channels of light pulsing throughout. As you climb up it, it's full of strange Golurk, Rotom, and Porygon. At this point, the player realises the twist…

…It's a massive supercomputer. (Important note: This is the first thing anywhere near modern technology you’ve seen in the entire game. Everyone else has only just figured out advanced smithing.)

Turns out there's a small group of Pokémon that's been advancing incredibly quickly but not sharing their developments with anyone. The Oracle is their magnum opus, an AI that disguises as a prophetic wizard-guy to pit the rest of the nations (once almost completely at peace) against each other. The plan was to have them all weaken each other so they could sweep through and take all the land and power for themselves.

You then have to go through the last floor of every dungeon again, but this time without hurting a single enemy so you can tell their leaders everything. You all turn on the Oracle, and with the help of all of the enemies you’ve faced you’re finally able to reach the AI for an epic final boss battle. It’s incredibly difficult and takes everything you’ve learned to its uppermost limits. 

You go into the "control room" after the fight to come face to face with these horrible dictators, but…they're all weak first stages? They begin a long monologue about how the world’s ‘unfair to little guys like us’, but it’s quickly cut off by the now-released parents of the forest critters pinning them down and dragging them away.

The credits then roll. A cutscene plays beside them showing the Oracle's Spire being dismantled and the leaders of the rest of the nations work together to spread the hoarded advancements to everyone.

Overall, it's a commentary on how powerful figures aim to gain power by dividing the people, and how technology can either be of great benefit or terrible detriment to society depending on the people controlling how it’s used.

Completing the story unlocks Freeplay Mode. It’s pretty much just “continue the game as normal except you can redo the story-exclusive dungeons with a 4x loot multiplier” and was very much an afterthought, but it mainly serves as a playground for tinkering with builds and practising movement tech.

[castorcasting]

Jason Todd x Vampire!Reader

Little Vamp

Note: This doesn’t follow any comic canon. :D

Warnings: Slight bit suggestive

Lately there have been more sightings of vampires around Gotham, with the rise of vampires. Vampire hunters also increased in numbers. 

Jason was recently tracking down these ‘vampire hunters'’. He didn’t really believe in vampires but then again, he was brought back to life by green water so who was he to say what’s real or fake. He’s been keeping tabs on Penguin, Penguin has been hiring assassins to find vampires - since there’s an old legend that says a dead vampire's blood has properties of immortality, or whatever. All those reports led him to you. You're the most important vampire listed in Penguin's list. Jason had a few options in mind, it was to either kill you, or save you. He has no idea if you're a good or bad vamp. He'll find the answer to his question soon enough though .

It was in the dead of night, you were hunting. Silently stalking a creep in a dingy alleyway, that creep has been staring at some young drunk girl. You growled softly in disgust, you had class. You didn’t like to drink the blood of the low, you liked ‘normal’ blood; Preferably blood of non-creeps, though you can't be picky, especially since you had a decent moral. Which is to not hurt innocent people.

The guy slowly went up to the drunk girl, holding her waist and trying to sweet talk her into having a good time. The girl, despite being drunk, rejected him. The man didn’t take the rejection well, leading to him groping her. You had enough, you jumped in. Pushing the creep away with your enhanced strength, he fell to the floor, scurrying away as he's been caught. The girl ran away when it happened, but you panicked when she started darting towards the road. 

Deep down, you aren’t a bad person. You have the title of a vampire, and vampires have a bad rep. You killed the guilty and saved the innocent, however all that killing has rightfully messed with your moral compass. You abandoned the creep who was your meal for the night, and ran towards the girl who was inches away from the busy road. 

You ran and ran, as fast as you could. The problem was, you had super strength, and super hearing only. You didn’t have superspeed, and for some reason that drunken girl was faster than you. “Hey! Stop-..” You heaved in a deep breath. “Stop running!” Reaching your hand out to grab her, luckily you caught her by her hair. You yanked her and she came stumbling to you. The girl cried out for help and apparently god was at her side today. A red batarang came flying towards you; the whooshing sound alerted you. 

You let go of the girl and dodged the batarang. Looking up you saw a guy, covered by his red hood. “Preying on innocent people? Looks like vampire stories are true.” The stranger shouted out to you. You felt your bloodlust increase as your hunger rose, a sign that you needed to feed or you might go feral. Okay maybe the stories about vampires are not far off from the real thing. 

“What little vamp can’t speak?” He mocked. Jumping down from the high building he stood from, holding onto a metal pipe to slow down his descent. You watched cautiously as he approached you, you finally got a closer look of him. His muscles and his height intimidated you a bit. You backed off slowly when you heard the sound of a gun clocking. “Look, there have been sightings of you killing off criminals..I respect that but, that's not the way to do things.” He lifted his arm and pointed a gun at you.

“Wait don’t!-” You shouted out, using your arms to shield your face. Jason watched you, he was having second thoughts about killing you. You didn’t seem all bad, sure you killed but it was only criminals, something which he supports. Plus he did kill as well. He lowered the gun, he was still on guard. Thinking that you could be using his emotions to play with him. He observed you through his red mask, the way your body shivered in fear and how your breathing seemed uneven. There’s no way she could be faking all that? If so she could be a damn of an actor. He thought to himself. Jason carefully walked over to you, he couldn’t see your face. He looked at you up and down, trying to find any weapons on you. Nothing, however.. the way your body looks..Jason closed his eyes and just took in a deep breath. Not the time for that now. He scolded himself. 

You slowly put down your defensive stance and looked at him. He just kinda stood there, frozen in a walking stance. “Uh..? Hello?” You waved a hand to his face, he snapped out of his trance and jumped away from your hand. Jason and you stood a few distances apart, he was thinking about what to do with you now. You clearly had good strength, he was watching when you pushed the creepy dude who was twice your size away...It clicked, you could be a useful ally to have. “What’s your name, little vamp?” 

You tilted your head at him, “Why do you want to know?” It was odd. A stranger wanting to know your name after threatening to kill you, there’s clearly a catch to it.

Jason pondered for a bit, he knew that Penguin is looking for you - more specifically, your blood, or DNA. whichever does not matter. If your DNA gets into the wrong hands, it’ll be a catastrophe. The world has enough clones, it doesn't need more. “You could be of use to me.” Jason said in a monotone voice, he saw how your face scrunched up. Cute..It was odd, he just met you and yet he feels an attraction to you...But anyways, Jason saw how your once confident body language became closed off. Crossing your arms and you glaring at him. He must've hit a nerve, he quickly backtracks on what he said. 

“I mean like, you’re a vampire. Penguin is hunting for you..I could offer you protection and you could help me out. Fair trade?” You scoffed, your pride getting the better of you. “I don’t need a simple human to protect me from humans.” You didn’t believe him, because who would protect you? You’re a vampire, feared by humanity and will always be labeled as a threat. But then again..Your heart is aching, you want to believe that this stranger will protect you. Naive little vampire.

You’ve been used before as a weapon, a test subject, and a bait. You just want to be normal, as normal as a vampire can get. No more fighting and killing. Just a mundane life is all you ever hoped for. 

Jason knew what you were feeling when you stayed silent. He may be dense when it comes to emotions but he isn’t oblivious to it. “Look vamp. I get it, you feel like you can’t trust me. I wouldn’t trust me either if I were you.” He slowly walked to you. Looking down at you from his looming height, Jason crouched slightly to be face to face with you. “Just trust me alright…I’ll be honest, I see a lot of myself in you, (not like that.) untrusting, prideful. And all that other bullshit, I get it.” 

Your gaze softens and your breath hitches, you couldn’t help but want to trust him. Furthermore, his gaze made your face feel warm. Your head was indecisive but your heart has made the decision. “I’ll meet you in the Batburger restaurant nearby.” You tossed him a tracker that you made, it was in a bat symbol. Not for Batman, it’s for the fact you’re a vampire. You know, the myths of vampires being able to turn into bats. “I’ll find you tomorrow night.” Jason tilted his head in confusion.

 “Vamp..You could just come with me right now. You know that right?” You turned around and walked away. The sway of your hips commanded his attention, he looked at you up and down once again as you spoke. “I need to hunt. I’m a little vamp after all.” Your teasing tone of voice was like music to Jason’s ears. He’s entranced by you. Supposedly all stories of vampires are true to some extent. You’re beautiful in an intimidating way, just like how vampires are described to be. The way you talk and act. He’s a goner. Jason would’ve offered himself as your meal right then and there, but he didn’t want to scare you away. So he watched you jump away on rooftops, blending into the city lights. Jason is eager to see you again. He stared at the tracker you gave him, a smirk forming behind his red mask. See you soon..Little vamp. He thought, as he went on with his night as Red Hood.

[storysims]

HORSE RANCH - GAMEPLAY REVIEW 🤠

Confession time, I actually dislike horses in real life! I have been known to dramatically call them 'vehicles of satan' when pressed, so I was a little concerned about this pack's appeal for me specifically.

But considering I never really wanted horses in the first place, I'm happy to say that I mostly enjoyed my time with the pack! Buckle in, this review turned out to be an especially long one.

I was provided with an early access copy of Horse Ranch to review via the EA Creator Network! Software was not final at the time of my gameplay.

(quick preface - if you see any extreme typos or letters in random places, no you don't! my bird has developed the habit of crashing her little body into my keyboard at high speeds for fun. 😂 catching the typos and fixing them has definitely become a challenge for me! thanks in advance for the patience!)

The easiest place to start both this review and gameplay is the ranch community board! Much like the boards in other packs, this object is scattered throughout the world and contains a wealth of information about new content and events. Important options on the board are also available elsewhere - for example, calling the animal exchange to purchase animals can be found on feeding troughs and horse competitions can be entered from the equestrian center in town. While there isn't a traditional new career included in the pack, ranching has proven to be a full time job. However, options like community jobs and competitions can earn your sim more than enough to keep the ranch running. I was able to easily earn §250 to over §1,000 a day with only my test sim and her horse, and that's not accounting for nectar making and mini sheep + goats!

I chose to start my ranch with a foal and sim fresh out of create-a-sim, but horses of all ages can be purchased from the aforementioned animal exchange! Foals, when compared to full grown horses, have a slightly limited set of interactions and skills. In my opinion, this didn't detract from the experience of having a foal whatsoever! My sim was still able to bottle feed her foal, teach her to eat hay from both the trough & patches of wild grass, and give her lots of loving attention. Of the four available horse skills, foals are only able to progress in the temperament skill! Temperament is a skill built by interacting with and caring for your horse. As their temperament increases, horses exhibit less "undesirable" behaviors, like bucking. Horses with a high temperament skill will have additional social interactions, such as your sim being able to come to them for comfort while in a sad mood. As all of the horse skills go up to level ten, I would highly recommend focusing on temperament with your foals. Foals with a high enough temperament skill even receive a bonus trait after aging up!

After aging up, horses gain access to their remaining three skills: agility, endurance, and jumping. Each of the skills work together to create a well rounded horse, especially for competitions.

Agility - affects how quickly and easily a horse can move. horses with high agility are better at using training barrels, completing certain community jobs, and competitions

Jumping - horses with high jumping skill love to reach for new heights! they are better at using training jumps, completing certain community jobs, and competitions

Endurance - all about how resilient a horse is! a horse with high endurance skill will become fatigued less often, and do better completing certain community jobs, and competitions

Once your sim is able to mount their horse and start riding, they'll begin building the horse riding skill. Don't expect a smooth ride - from a sim's visible discomfort in the saddle to being bucked off, an unexperienced rider will definitely face some difficulties. However, sims with a high enough riding skill will find they can no longer be bucked off horses! Sims are able to go for a ride with their horses at three different speeds - a relaxed, energetic, or intense ride. Much like sending your sim for a jog to build the fitness skill, going for a ride will build your horse's endurance! The more comfortable your sim becomes in the saddle, the faster they'll be able to direct their horse - both while riding for skill and traversing the world.

While the horse riding and endurance skills can be built virtually anywhere, training jumping and agility require two new objects - training barrels and jumps! These can be found dotted around the world or placed on your home lot. As your horse's skill progresses, so will the training options! Sims can add additional jumping rails, direct horses to train alone, or train intently with the horse themselves. Intense training is a great tool - it builds skill faster, but also tires your horse out at an increased rate!

With horse skills covered, it's time to compete! Normal competitions take place every day from 7am to 7pm at the rabbit hole equestrian center in the Historic Appaloosa neighborhood. You can compete in four different competitions - Barrel Racing, Endurance Racing, Show Jumping, and Western Pleasure. Each competition has four levels of entry - beginner, intermediate, expert, and master. As your horse rises through the different competition levels, different skills will be required for entry. An expert barrel race, for example, will require both agility and endurance. Sims aren't exempt from skill requirements either! They'll need to meet the required horse riding skill for each competition. Every Saturday in game, the Ultimate Horse Championship takes place at the equestrian center. This challenge will require both you and your horse to have maxed all the new horse related skills.

Placing at the Ultimate Horse Championship is a requirement for the aspiration, so any aspiring champions will want to make sure they're in the best possible position to win - especially since this is a once a week activity. Prior to competing in any competition, I found it especially helpful to initiate the 'encourage training' interaction with my horse. If all the horse's needs are met, they will become confident! Confident horses do better in competitions. After completing the Championship Rider aspiration, your sim will receive the Grand Champ Trainer trait. Sims with this trait are able to train horses faster, build more fun while riding, sell horses for a higher price, and give competition advice to new riders.

In addition to purchasing horses, your sim can also rescue a horse! Rescue horses come at a reduced cost (§250 vs §1000), but also tend to have more negative traits, like being aggressive or defiant. The game even goes as far as to warn you about the 'difficulties' of rescue horses before choosing one, but that absolutely shouldn't be a deterrent. Difficult traits and all, there were few differences in training up my rescue. He needed a bit more reassurance during training, but he became a champion regardless.

Two horses of the opposite sex are able to breed, provided their relationship is high enough! Much like with cats and dogs, sims will have the option to encourage the horses to interact and eventually breed. Horse pregnancy in game was astoundingly fast - just hours after breeding, a notification and a small baby bump confirmed the pregnancy! Pregnant horses cannot be ridden or compete in competitions.

Pregnant horses will labor for a handful of in game hours before a foal magically appears alongside them. Foals born in game have the ability to be born with unique traits, such as curious, playful, and hardy! Horse genetics matter! If one (or both?) of the parents have won competitions, foals can also inherit the Champion Genes trait. This trait allows for faster skill building and a higher sale value for the horse.

Let's talk about unicorns. While they do actually sparkle in game, unicorns are unfortunately not a new occult in this pack - they're just normal horses. A unicorn horn can be applied to any horse from the 'head' category and will remain on the horse through outfit changes - much like tattoos or skin details for sims. Foals can also be unicorns, albeit their horn is a bit different! Until they age up into an adult horse, their horn will be a tiny nub.

Mini goats and sheep are the real stars of the pack in my eyes! Not only are they incredibly cute, they provide help in the garden and help your sim earn money! Most importantly unlike the livestock in Cottage Living, the minis aren't tied to an object. Fill your pockets full of sheep or goats and take a community job. These little guys will host a goat yoga class or even a sheep sleep study! Sheep and goats also provide wool and milk, respectively. Without Cottage Living installed, these are instantly sold for simoleons. With a high enough relationship, your sim can ask for help in the garden - sheep eat weeds and goats eat bugs! (Full disclosure, I did have some issues with this in early access. Maybe my lot was too big, maybe they don't like planters! I've seen a sheep eat weeds though, so who knows?) Additionally, if your rancher is feeling a little sleepy during the day, find a fluffy friend and talk to them about counting sheep! You'll have a quick (and adorable) power nap!

Sims can now make nectar! This skill goes up to level five and even has an aspiration to match. While leveling up in the nectar skill is a slow process, it pays off! If your rancher has the time to make nectar, it's a great somewhat passive source of income. Nectar needs to age to become profitable, which means you won't be selling your freshly made nectar any time soon. Store your unopened nectar in the new storage rack to start aging! While the storage racks can be placed anywhere, nectar will age faster in a basement. In addition to increasing profits, aging nectar also enhances any benefits associated with it. Different types of nectar provide different perks, which are listed below!

Apple Nectar - helps sims feel inspired. if nectar is at least lightly aged, inspiration persists after nectar wears off

Grape Nectar - helps sims feel confident. if nectar is at least lightly aged, a confident feeling persists after nectar wears off

Strawberry Nectar - helps sims feel flirty. if the nectar is at least lightly aged, a flirty feeling persists after nectar wears off

Potato Nectar - helps sims feel especially happy, or the opposite if they overdo it. if nectar is at least lightly aged, the consequences of overdoing it are significantly reduced

Prairie Grass Nectar - helps sims feel happy and reduces tension. surprisingly filling! if nectar is at least lightly aged, tension and hunger reduction is stronger

Trash Nectar - helps sims feel happy while making them a bit smelly. animals seem to react quite positively. having nectar that is at least lightly aged will improve the smell

Energy Nectar - helps sims feel happy and staves off sleep for a short time. if nectar is at least lightly aged, sims get more energy and happy feeling persists after nectar wears off

Vitality Nectar - helps sims feel happy. extends vitality for the living by a little, and for the dead by a lot

Berry Nectar - helps sims feel happy. if nectar is at least lightly aged, happy feeling persists after nectar wears off

Fruit Nectar - helps sims feel happy. if nectar is at least lightly aged, happy feeling persists after nectar wears off

In addition to these, there's three additional nectar types that can be made with different packs installed. I was not able to make them, even after having access to all of the packs. They were unlisted in the nectar maker. In the interest of including a full list, the missing nectar types are:

Plasma Nectar (requires Vampires) - helps vampire sims feel happy and refreshed. non-vampires should avoid. if nectar is at least lightly aged, vampire refreshment greatly increases

Valerian Nectar (requires Realm of Magic) - helps sims feel happy, with a little something extra for spellcasters. if nectar is at least lightly aged, spellcaster effects increase significantly

Moonpetal Nectar (requires Werewolves) - helps sims feel happy. werewolves may enjoy an increased sense of calm. beware, any werewolf who drinks too much will surely struggle to maintain control...

I'll be the first to admit - it was a bit of a bummer seeing another single step aspiration, especially one where I viewed the §100,000 goal as completely unattainable. Spoiler alert, its not. I've never made more money in this game than I have selling nectar! By the time my early access period ended, I had made just shy of half a million simoleons. After completing the aspiration, your sim will be rewarded with the Nectar-Know-It-All trait. These sims have the ability to craft pre-aged nectar, a stronger bladder while drinking nectar, and their negative emotions have less influence on their current mood.

Nectar is plenty profitable when sold normally, but this man is completely responsible for my unreasonable amount of early access wealth. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the Mysterious Rancher will appear in New Appaloosa and offer to buy your nectar for above face value - he claims nectar is in high demand every time, even though I surely singlehandedly ruined the nectar economy. For comparisons sake, I took 6 bottles of nectar to the rancher. In my sim's inventory, those bottles would have sold for §15,834. The Mysterious Rancher, however, paid §19,795. All of my sims are about to be incredibly rich.

As I said before, ultimately I did really end up enjoying this pack! For me personally, enjoyment doesn't always mean I would recommend something. If you love horses, I truly think this pack will be a great experience for you! My personal opinion is that I found the gameplay extremely repetitive. I don't see myself playing with horses again any time soon, and you will absolutely never catch me entering the Ultimate Horse Competition again. Ultimately, while fun, this just isn't a pack that I would pay full price for.

[tiredsurvivoronmain]

Hi!! I love your Lycan Chris art omg. LFMSLKJ was wondering how'd he become a Lycan in your mind? Or some Lycan!Chris headcanons in general?? Feel free to ignore just curious! Ty!

Thank you!! ;w; I haven't figured out how he became a Lycan yet; maybe sometime before the events of RE8 when he and his team were investigating the village Chris gets jumped by a Lycan and bitten however because he's been dealing with numerous BOWs for nearly 25 years his natural resistance for viruses and genetics has mutated, his body is capable of tanking the virus and is compatible with it. There may be a connection to Wesker and his enhanced immunity but I'm working on it.

When he doesn't fully turn he goes to look for Rebecca to consult her privately (to avoid the BSAA finding out). She takes blood samples to analyse and create a vaccine or a suppressor so he doesn't fully turn and lose himself to the virus.

But for now he has to deal with it on his own.

His height increases to 7ft and can move on all fours when going full 'beast' mode; he sort resembles a hybrid of a lycan and a Varcolac

He can't always control the transformation but he's still mostly in control of his thoughts, emotions and actions, but the urge to bite someone and pass on the virus is still there so he has to be fully aware of what he's doing at all times and not accidently bite someone.

The way he transforms acts the same way as a cat extending and retracting it's claws; his finger nails grow into claws and back to fingernails, fur grows rapidly all over his body (the neck in particular has thick fur like a wolf's) and sheds, excess enamel grows (making the teeth pointed) then breaks off, ears become pointed then rounded again, muscle mass increases and decreases etc.

Has high speed regeneration and can survive a headshot

Can run up to 25-30mph

His strength increases drastically; strong enough to throw a truck 30ft

When in beast mode his bite is strong enough to remove heads and tear off limbs

His sense of smell and hearing is enhanced which can make it difficult for him to concentrate (overstimulated by sounds and scents)

Stroking the fur on his neck has a calming effect on him (should someone think to do that)

Becase his body size increases he will usually take his clothes off to avoid ruining them. He'll try to keep his underwear on if he can but sometimes he'll have to resort to going nude. Thankfully the fur gets thicker around his crotch so his bits are mostly obscured.

[sailtomarina]

One Favour for Another

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your summons?”

Draco sat across from her in the private meeting room she had reserved at the Leaky, one leg crossed over the other and his hands folded neatly as he waited. If Hermione hadn’t known any better, it would look as if he were the one to request her presence instead of the other way around. She admired the way his shoulders filled his tailored suit and how his sharp jaw clenched, revealing his inner tension.

“I’d like to offer you an opportunity.” She tried not to smirk at the way his brows jumped at her statement. Her core throbbed in anticipation.

“What makes you think I’d be interested?”

Oh, but she knew him. She saw the way the Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, the whitening of knuckles as they clenched at his knee. He might be all carefully polished lines, but the past few years as his superior had been time well spent. Hermione knew his tells. She knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

“There’s an opening in the department for a position that equals my own. We would work alongside each other, but head our own teams. I think you would be perfect for the role.”

His eyes widened at the news. She knew there was no way he would have heard about the shuffle in management; she had been the only one informed thus far and given a short period of time to make her recommendations for the role that would work so closely with her own.

“Who?”

“Harry.”

Now she knew had him. Harry had been Head Auror for years and was in what one might consider the height of his glory. Hermione’s position as Head Investigator meant she trained many of the investigation technicians below her, as well as the aurors who planned strategies and were first on crime sites. Together, they’d forged an enforcement team with the highest-rated public approval rate, as well as increased the ratio of closed to open cases.

“You asking me here out of office and other eyes means you have something…less than professional…to suggest, Granger.”

And now they were at the crux of their meeting. Hermione had been waiting for this moment ever since she first learned of Harry’s early retirement. 

“I’m here to beg a favour in exchange for your name being the only one I offer to Gawain.”

“What makes you think I need your help? Robards already has a pretty high opinion of me.” He dared Hermione to respond, leaning forward for the first time in his chair as if taunting her.

“If you’re willing to give me what I want, then I won’t use my influence to keep you where you are. Gawain might like you, but he adores me.”

The assurance in her voice underlined a fact they both already knew to be true. Long gone were the days of Hermione’s regrettable fashion that hid her curves. She dressed to kill, knowing exactly the effect her tight skirts and dagger-sharp heels had on her surroundings. Multiple of their coworkers walked straight into walls after she passed by, and it wasn’t just the men. Somewhere over these past several years, Hermione had also become an expert at befriending other women, including a previously hateful Pansy Parkinson. That was just her physical effect. There was no arguing her intellect and the respect she had quickly earned both within the Ministry and among the general public. Hermione stood with the world firmly under her stable heel.

Malfoy took a deep breath and held her tawny gaze as he spoke. “What do you want?”

Hermione stood and rounded the table, noting with interest the way he straightened. He didn’t turn his head as she walked behind him, didn’t flinch as she bent to whisper into his ear. He merely sucked in a sharp breath at her next words.

“You.”

From outside the room came the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses. They could hear everything from inside the room, but charms ensured that any sound from within wouldn’t make it out.

“Me.”

He still didn’t move, opting to wait for her to make the first move. So, she did.

Stepping around to the other side of where he sat, she waved her wrist and sent his chair scooting back just far enough for her to rotate in front of him. She leaned up against the edge of the table, crossing her ankles and tilting her head in an inviting smile.

“I’ve been single for a long time now, and even though I haven’t been lonely, I admit to a certain degree of…curiosity.” The smile on her face widened as he licked his lips in an uncharacteristically open tell.

“I make you curious?”

“Mhm.” She hummed in a cavalier manner that completely belied her entire proposal. Hermione knew what she was doing was tantamount to blackmail. She was banking on Malfoy giving in to the tension that hung over them almost every time they shared a room. The man was so tightly wound that she felt this the fastest way to force his hand.

“What does wanting me and curiosity entail?” His eyes had darkened to a stormy grey to match the lowering of his voice. 

Hermione bent low at the waist to whisper in his ear once more, knowing full well the low cut of her blouse showed off the midnight green lace she’d chosen just for him. She felt every one of his exhales at her collar bone and imagined his lips pressing into the hollow of her throat.

“I want to know if you fuck as amazing as you look.”

The moment the words left her lips, she let loose a surprised yelp as his hands landed firmly on her hips and yanked her forward into his lap.

“I promise you, I am more than just appearances.” He ground her down atop him with a prominence that suggested she’d be sore for days.

“Is that a yes?” She squeezed his shoulders where she gripped them, hoping with all her being that her play for what she hoped would be the best lay of her life was about to pay off.

Because, truth be told, she was tired of the dating scene, the delicate way others pandered to her and treated her like fine china. She wasn’t some easily breakable maiden, and she sure as hell didn’t want to live the rest of her life chasing orgasms by her own hand. She wanted a man who knew his way around a witch’s body, one who wouldn’t be afraid of fulfilling every one of her fantasies. Hermione craved a mind as inquisitive as her own, one that thirsted for praise and was willing to go to extreme lengths to obtain it.

She’d heard the whispers about Malfoy’s prowess. He seemed just as free flowing as her, neither of them holding to any particular witch or wizard in recent memory. She was positive she could show him a thing or two that he would have never dreamed of and make him insatiable for her. She’d get her fill of him until she couldn’t take anymore, and then she’d cut them both loose. Before the neediness. Before the request for commitment.

“Yes, Granger, I am more than willing to fuck.” He spat the words at her like they were filthy to him, but his hands holding her against him proved them to be true.

Grounding herself one more time into his lap before jumping back up to her feet, she winked and jerked her head towards the door.

“Well then, let’s get started.”

WC 1278

DHRMonth Prompt: Week 2 - Bonds, September 9 - Favours/Debts

Cross-posted on AO3

I tried to make Hermione more sexually confident than I usually write her, since I tend to read more works where Draco is the more experienced one and she's just sort of along for the ride. There are exceptions of course, but I kind of like the idea of a grey Hermione out there to take what she wants, and she may or may not catch feelings along the way.

[smolljester]

hey, want some more of my personal Splatoon lore that you didn't ask for? no? too bad, you're getting it anyway!

ever wonder how the Kraken Special came to be? every Inkling and Octoling child knows at least one story of the many-limbed Kraken that inspired the Special Weapon, but what if i were to tell you that they really exist?

despite their incredible rarity, Kraken variations of your average Inklings and Octolings do exist! about 1/10,000 Inklings and Octolings are Krakens. when they're young, it's difficult to tell a Kraken apart from the rest of the crowd. it's only when they get older do they become more identifiable.

before we get into that, however, it should be known that the mother of a Kraken has a high chance of dying before, during, or shortly after having them. but should the mother also be a Kraken, the probability of their death is decreased drastically.

unlike your average Inkling or Octoling which have ten and eight limbs respectively, Kraken variations have a far greater amount of limbs than both. while they still have two arms and two legs like everyone else, records show that Krakens can develop up to fifty, sometimes even one hundred, tentacles on their mantle! of course, unlike Octolings, Inkling Krakens have 'clubs' just like their regular counterparts. but unlike regular Inklings, their Kraken variations have four 'clubs' on their mantle.

Krakens are also vastly bigger and deadlier than their counterparts. the average height of a Kraken is double, sometimes even triple, the height of ordinary Inklings and Octolings. along with their height, they're armed with claws, fangs, and hooks on their suckers. and just like the Special, Krakens are immune to all forms of ink damage. because of this, special rules and equipment have been made in recent years for Krakens to participate in Turf War.

a 'timeout' buzzer is pinned onto their back and chest before the start of the match. the buzzer is activated when an opponent's ink makes contact with the buzzer. the buzzer is NOT activated by friendly-fire.

after the buzzer is activated, the user must Super Jump back to their appropriate Spawn and wait five seconds before re-entering the battle.

hyper-resiliant gloves, mouth guards, and mantle caps are to be worn to protect not only teammates, but the opposing team and Kraken as well.

inability to follow these rules will result in temporary or permanent suspension from Turf War.

back in the old days of Inkling and Octoling society, a Kraken would traditionally be the leader/protector of their Shoal. in modern society, with rapid advancements in technology, the reliance on a Kraken's protection has declined. nowadays, they are seen as elder siblings to the younger members of their neighborhoods and even maternal figures to any orphaned members. though there still some communities that exist who rely on the protection of a Kraken.

however, on rare occurrences, a Kraken will enter what is known as a 'feral' state. the circumstances in which this occurs varies, though some common causes include: the harming of something or someone of importance, high blood pressure, rapid increase of adrenaline, etc. while in this state, their sclera changes colour and they become only a harbinger of destruction. there are three known ways to bring a Kraken out of this state: a good whack across the face with a blunt weapon, direct contact with low-tide ink, or to have a close friend/community member/partner console them. once out of their feral state, the Kraken will suffer from a gap in memory with no recollection of having gone feral.

but, and while it is incredibly rare, a Kraken can enter a permanent feral state. when this happens, they lose all sense of self and rational, acting out only on their primal instincts. Krakens that have turned primal become incredibly dangerous, as there are no known ways to revert them back. by default, for the safety of all citizens everywhere, primal Krakens are wanted for the death. extreme as it is, until a way is found to bring their minds back, it is the only way to keep everyone safe.

now you're probably thinking, "How do you kill a Kraken if they cannot be harmed by ink?" well, there are strict laws that exist in regards to the use of real weapons. one such law permits the use of such weapons in times of emergency or in the execution of dangerous criminals.

despite all this, Krakens are revered as being pillars of strength and regality in both Inkling and Octoling communities.

[da-mous]

How to design movement tech? I am thinking about a titanfall like grappling hook mechanic for a minecraft block game, where i want everyone to be able to express themselves the way they want, so having a good movement system and allow players to play on other maps kinda like mario maker is important, the camera is 3 person and with splatoon reticle, its just a project for now, how do i mix a grappling button, jump, crouch and run button

And how could be expanded by item usage or block placement, it could be so cool but i have no idea of what i am doing

never played Titanfall but I looked it up and the grappling mechanic looks sick

I've never made anything like what you're describing so my two cents might be more like once cent, but here's what I think

Minecraft is all about the environment you're in and your relationship to it. the ways you navigate it, break it down, build upon it, reshape it, etc. the way you move in Minecraft emphasizes that relationship. you're meant to feel small compared to a big world, so you can't jump that high or far. exploring forests, plains, oceans, rivers, ravines, jungles, mountains. they're all different experiences because of this

once you get an Elytra and some fireworks, the world suddenly feels a lot smaller. forests, plains, oceans, rivers, ravines, jungles, mountains, they all blur together and lose meaning when you just fly over them. it's a freeing feeling, but it comes at the cost of the level of intimacy you previously had with the world. even your own creations can start to feel small and insignificant when you fly over them

however, when you enter a cave, the environment forces you to respect it by increasing the risk of flying around with elytra. it's generally safer and more practical to go on foot... unless you're a thrillseeker, in which case caves are probably the most exciting and rewarding place to fly in

of course, the elytra are a really extreme example of a mechanic that cheapens one of the main appeals of a game, and I don't think the Titanfall grappler would be quite that extreme (to a certain degree it could actually bring out a cool dynamic with the environment, where you benefit from finding good spots to grapple off of) but I think it's still worth considering how you want to approach any potential conflict between these two appeals of freeing, expressive movement and an intimate connection with the environment

do you want to de-emphasize or even completely ignore one of these appeals in favor of strengthening the other, maybe by nerfing the grappler or just not going for the same kind of intimate connection that mc goes for? or do you want to find a way of making them work together, maybe by increasing the risk of using the grappler, or by giving the grappler some limitation that different environments helps you overcome in different ways--maybe grappling the floor doesn't really get you speed and height the way it does in Titanfall, but grappling onto stuff above you is where it's at? maybe then players start building grapple points as infrastructure to cross plains/deserts/oceans? that could be cool!

there's lots of ways to approach mashing these two things together and resolving (or avoiding!) the conflicts that arise from doing so, but hopefully I've helped give you stuff to think about!!

[adacatlovelace]

Some Morrowind thoughts now that I've gotten around to playing it

I love the dichotomy of Early Game being somewhat difficult vs becoming a god of this world shaping it to your whims. It really gives you an appreciation for when you manage to break the game becuase it doesn't just feel like making an already manageable game even easier but instead meeting that challenge the game presents you in a way that makes you feel clever. Like the game straight up feels FUCKING AWFUL until you get your stats up so you actually FEEL the difference from going from slow running and jump basically being useless to VVardenfell's fastest boy who can leap over buildings in a single bound

Speaking of breaking the game, there are an incredible amounts of ways to do so and there are PLENTY of options. Wanna raise your intellect to 60x the stat cap? You can by stacking potions. Wanna make even stronger potions? Well INT affects potion strength and there are potions that raise int. Put two and two together. Low on health/stamina/magicka? Press T as long as you aren't in a town or near enemies and save the potions for combat.

I am incredibly sad what happened to the Alteration school in later entries. Alteration let you influence the world around you including your own body. Open locks, shield yourself, lighten your carryweight, make someone elses carryweight heavier, Water Breathing, becoming jesus and walking on water, levitate, use telekinesis to increase your interaction distance (which is really helpful if you wanna grab something from a position where you are hidden and increase your jump height to ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS, which combined with a high acrobatics to substantially lessen fall damage makes for the most fun way to traverse and even makes navigating Vivec City much more fun. In Skyrim however, its the most boring class of magic in the game. Yeah paralyze is really funny to cast on people, but A. Telekinesis is basically just the gravity gun from half life and rendered almost completely useless by the ability to just move things around B. Transmute is... neat I guess and can be really useful for leveling smithing but its really tedious if you have a lot of ore to transmute C. Equilibrium is great for leveling restoration but not much else since theres not a lot of situations where it would be good to trade some health for emergency mana (Its a shame its not in Oblivion as it would be a GODSEND for those born under the Atronach sign who don't regen magicka naturally) D. I can kind of see what they were going for with Oak/Stone/Iron/Ebony/Dragonflesh to give a defensive option to those who perfer wearing robes over armor but "Activate ability to temporarily receive less damage" never really feels particularly fun or interesting

Speaking of magic, it really does feel like a core part of the game and I dont think NEARLY the amount of fun I did playing Morrowind if I avoided it

Enchanting is amazing system in Morrowind. Activated Effects, Constant Effects, effects on hit allows for SO much creativity without interfering with spellcasting. After all, why ever cast levitation if you can make a ring with a constant effect of levitation you can pop on and off whenever? The answer is that it is FUCKING EXPENSIVE to have an enchanter make you one or EXTREMELY risky to make it yourself. This sounds like a bad thing but really either A. It provides a valuable money sink so you're never just hoarding a shitton of gold with nothing substantial to spend it on or B. You figure out how to substantially shift the odds in your favor. I really cannot stress how much a GOOD money sink that has substantial rewards in return really adds to keeping the player engaged. Theres doing quests and exploration for their own sake and theres doing quests and exploration while keeping in the back of your mind that there is an 80,000 gold enchantment you are slowly working for so you ALWAYS want to come out of dungeons with as much loot as possible

Spellcrafting fills a similar role, except its for your magic stats rather than your gold. You can make superpowerful spells but you need a superpowerful amount of magicka to actually cast them. This works IN TANDEM with the enchanting system as it can be a great way to boost your stats high enough to cast "Angry Ron's Penile Explosion" (Thank you for letting me name my spells)

Alchemy is kind of tedious (Which thankfully got better in Oblivion and Skyrim, UI-wise) but offers a great way to both make money and temporarily boost your stats, as well as keeping you alive. I also like the little bit of flavor of restore fatigue ingredients usually just being various foods

I've heard mixed things about the fatigue system in general but as much as I hated it early game I sort of grew to enjoy it. I've never really enjoyed "survival" type mods where you have to eat drink and sleep but I feel like the fatigue system is a really good balance between that and just normal regenerating stamina. Rather than outright say "you need to perform bodily functions regularly or suffer for it" It gives you an organic push to take a short rest between large encounters or keep a couple restore fatigue potions on you or maybe take things slowly and walk through the dungeon instead of sprinting everywhere or maybe dont jump unless you need to, all with just a little green bar that says "This is how effective you'll be at everything you do"

The "Fast travel" system is also a GREAT way of getting around thats a good middle ground between "Travel to any location on the map" and the tedium that is walking across the map and back several times over to beat a single quest. By having multiple types of travel, each with their own places they can go, it adds that small amount of required planning in quickly traveling from Point A to Point B to keep it engaging. Stilt striders can take you to landlocked towns while boats can take you to just about any town reachable by water. The mages guild will teleport you to other locations of the mages guild. Bigger cities will have more travel options while smaller towns will have few, if any. Even then you have the two intervention spells which will take you to either the nearest Imperial Cult or Temple which you can CHAIN together. Wanna reach ebonheart extremely quickly? Travel by silt strider, boat or mage guild to vivec, cast Alsimi intervention to teleport to the south end of vivec then divine intervention and BOOM. You're in ebonheart. On TOP of all these options you also have Mark and Recall. Mark will set a place and recall will take you there, which is great for both a quick option to get to your player home OR back to the area you need to return to multiple times over the course of a questline (Looking at you Morag Tong)

10. One of the first NPCs you meet is Caius Casodes. He is a high ranking member of a secret organization of spies for Uriel Septim VII called the Blades and he acts as your sort of handler for most of the main questline. He is a shirtless man in a dingy apartment, he LOVES moon sugar and skooma and basically tells you to fuck off and do the whole "open world" thing for a while multiple times to "give him time to think" which Im pretty sure just means getting blasted. 10/10 character I love him

11. Ahnassi is just a gem. Shes friendly, gives good advice and leads (As well as a discount for the best acrobatics trainer in the game) She has a former partner who's got a skooma addiction who you help and its all very sweet. As you go out of your way to perform various acts of kindness her gratitude PALPABLE and will literally offer you the clothes off her back. Just such a kind, lovable character that makes you GENUINELY wanna help her and give her gifts.

12. I dont really like Crassius Curio (part of it is just the stank of 2003-era homophobia as a character) or anyone who uses their position of power to leverage political favors in exchange for sexual/romatic favors but it is REALLY funny that he actually is the one that wrote The Lusty Argonian Maid and the guy in it is named "Crantius Colto"

Overall Thoughts: Great Game, highly recommend if you dont mind a lot of reading and a steep learning curve that suddenly plummets downward as you obtain godlike power

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Trust and Distrust

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 19

Previous Part

I hope you’re ready for a bunch of interpersonal stuff to follow up the Reveal from last chapter! I know I am! :D Jackie has to deal with telling Chase his secret identity... and he has to deal with JJ, who overheard it. And also, he’s going to make sure that Schneep tells their friends HIS secret as well, just to make it fair. And... yeah. The four friends will all know each others’ secrets by the end of this chapter! Right? Right? :)

===============

Breakfast the morning after was a bit awkward. Jackie and Chase hadn’t really spoken much yesterday after Jackie had dropped the truth about his secret identity. They had dinner separately, then had each retreated to their own rooms. Jackie had thought it was best to give Chase space to process this. But maybe he should have checked on him a couple times?

Jackie fought the urge to look over at him and kept his eyes fixed firmly on the microwave. The bowl of instant oatmeal inside rotated slowly. His fingers drummed against the counter. A slight breeze played through his hair.

“So...” Chase said from where he was sitting at the kitchenette counter. “Did you, um... Was there like... an accident where you fell into a vat of radioactive waste or something...?”

“Heh.” Jackie couldn’t help but smile. He finally glanced over at Chase. “That’s a myth. Radiation doesn’t give people superpowers.”

“Oh, but like, getting bitten by insects will?” Chase raised an eyebrow.

“Listen, no one understands why people get superpowers. Anything can cause it. Theoretically, if someone fell into a vat of waste, they could get powers, but it’s rare and it wouldn’t be the radiation causing it. It would be whatever weird factor usually gives people powers.”

“I heard once that superpowers are genetic.”

“Partly, yeah. There’s a factor that will increase your likelihood, or whatever.” Jackie shrugged. “That’s... what happened to me. I, uh... I’ve always had powers.”

“Really?” Chase leaned forward, interested.

The microwave beeped. Jackie jumped, and quickly turned back to open it. “God, I hate how shrill it is,” he muttered, taking out the bowl. He put it on the counter and started rummaging through the bottom cabinets. “Anyway. Uh. Yeah. My mom says when I was a baby the wind would lift me out of my crib when I wanted out.”

Chase chuckled. “So... I’m guessing she knows, then.”

“I never really thought about not being honest with her about all this stuff,” Jackie said. “Cause, like... how do you hide shit like that when your mom already knows?” He found what he was looking for: a small bottle of cinnamon. He stood up straight and sprinkled it on top of the oatmeal, grabbed a spoon and glass from the cabinets as well, then turned back to the fridge.

“Um...” Chase paused. “What’s it... What’s it like to fly?”

Jackie froze, standing there with the fridge open. How was he supposed to explain that? “Well.” He stalled for time by grabbing the orange juice from the fridge and returning to the counter to pour it into the glass. “It’s like... when you’re a kid, and you go really high on the swings and your stomach kind of soars. Except, it’s that moment for a long period of time.”

“Cool beans.” Chase made an OK sign. “I don’t remember being a kid.”

“Fuck. Right. Sorry. Uhhhh...” Jackie thought some more. “Do you remember going to an amusement park and riding one of those spinning swing rides?”

“Nope. Haven’t gone to one in the past two years of memory I’ve had. And even if I did, I’d never go on one of those.” Chase shuddered. “Fucking terrifying.”

Jackie blinked. “Afraid of heights?”

“Yeah.”

“Funny that I’m your roommate, then.”

“Yeah, funny. But kind of lucky. If I ever fall, you can catch me.” Chase smiled crookedly. “Okay, but, seriously. What’s flying like?”

“It’s like...” Jackie searched for the words. “It’s looking down at the rest of the world and knowing that... that you can go anywhere. It’s thrilling, but also... really calming. You’re all by yourself in the best way. You look down at the people, and... they’re all so small, and... delicate, and... not so different from everyone else. And you’re a part of them. But you’re also part of the sky. Like the birds. That’s... what it’s like. For me, at least.”

Chase stared at him. “Wow. If this superhero stuff doesn’t work out, you could be a poet.”

Jackie laughed. “Thanks.” He put away the cinnamon and orange juice, grabbed an apple, then sat down at the counter to eat. Chase was already done, having quickly finished off his toast. “You’re, um... okay with this?”

“Okay with it? Bro, I can’t control your superpowers. And they’re your powers, you can do whatever you want with them. You don’t need me to be okay with it.”

“I know, but... I want you to be,” Jackie said quietly. “Cause... you’re my friend. Probably my best friend.”

“...Oh.” Chase’s expression softened. “I am?”

“Yeah, of course you are.”

“I... didn’t expect that.” Chase was almost more shocked at that than the Windstorm revelation. He leaned forward onto the counter, processing it. “Well... yeah, I’m okay with it. If I ever have any issues, I’ll tell you. Though I think that the only issue I’ll have is if a supervillain breaks into the apartment or something.”

Jackie laughed warily, thinking about how he’d brought Spitfire Cat to the apartment not that long ago. “Yeah... tell me right away if that happens.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m the one you need to worry about.” Chase glanced back over his shoulder. Towards the coffee table in the living room. “JJ hasn’t been back to pick up the phone he dropped.”

Jackie’s stomach sank. “...Right. Yeah.” Chase had been convinced that JJ would be back soon for that. “Let’s, uh... give him until the afternoon. He could’ve gotten busy.” Though Jackie didn’t know anyone who wouldn’t double back immediately if they knew they’d left their phone somewhere. He couldn’t help replaying Jameson’s reaction in his mind. The way he immediately bolted. Had he looked afraid? Was he afraid of Jackie? Jameson had never given any indication that he didn’t like supers. But maybe?

“Yeah.” Chase checked the time on his own phone. “I have to leave for work soon, but I’ll be back around four-ish. If JJ’s not back by then, we’ll go down there and drop off his phone. Explain everything. You’re good with waiting around the house until then, right? You don’t have any... Hero-ly stuff to do?”

“The city will survive me not going out on patrol for one day,” Jackie said. “I actually have a police radio, so if there’s an emergency they can’t handle I’ll hear about it on there.”

“You don’t need to go... have a meeting or something? Do Heroes have meetings?”

“I haven’t had to go to one yet. People mostly call me. Or text me. Or—” Jackie sat up straight. “Shit!” He’d meant to check the burner email yesterday! The reveal had totally distracted him from that!

Chase started. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just—gah, I forgot to do something yesterday. It’s fine. I’ll just finish eating and go check on it.”

“You need to start eating, first,” Chase muttered, glancing down at Jackie’s untouched bowl.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jackie scooped up some oatmeal and took a bite. It was fine. Probably would have been better if he hadn’t let it cool so much. “Oh, and remember, Schneep has something to tell you, too.”

“God, I remember.” Chase pushed himself off the stool. Frosty, lying by his feet, stood up. “Well, I’m going to head out now. I’ll see you later today.”

“See you.”

A few minutes later, Chase was gone and Jackie had finished scarfing down his breakfast. He hurried into his room and booted up his laptop. Even though there was probably nothing new from Spitfire Cat, it was always better safe than—

As soon as the email’s inbox loaded up, Jackie saw a new email with the subject line URGENT NEW INFORMATION. His heart sinking a bit, he opened it up.

Windstorm I just found out new information about the Puppeteer and what he might be planning. There were people from the initial crime wave who’d disappeared, turns out they all work for SepTech now and are still under his control. Hes using them to spread more strings to the city. In the two months they’ve been under his control theyve all given strings to more people and those people are now under Puppeteers control as well. at best were looking at fifty people being mind controlled and at worst its a couple hundred. i dont knwo what he wants but this cant be good. septech is completely compromised. be careful

“Holy shit,” Jackie whispered. He reread the email two more times, just to be sure it was real. It was. And it was bad.

Immediately, Jackie spun around in his swivel chair and leapt for the dresser, scooping up the Red Line from where he’d left it. He had to tell the League! Even if Spitfire didn’t like them, they had the resources to deal with a widespread problem like this. He couldn’t do it by himself! He had to contact the police, too. Damn it, why had he never gotten Ace’s number?! They’d always met in person! And he couldn’t do that now because he had to wait for Jameson so he could explain the whole Windstorm thing if he came back—why hadn’t he seen this email earlier?!

Okay. Calm down. Jackie had to calm down. Panic was the killer in situations like this. He took a few deep breaths, and used the Red Line to dial Magnify’s number. His new handler was supposed to help in situations like this, working as the go-between for him and the League as a whole. It was a good place to start.

As he waited for the other end to pick up, Jackie’s eyes landed on the SAM that the League had sent him. He’d left it in the box after Spitfire and his “Disassembler” friend had removed the bugs inside. Now it was sitting at the base of his bed, dead and lifeless with its camera lens pointing away. He couldn’t fully bring himself to trust it after the discovery of the bugs. And now that he knew SepTech was full of Puppeteer’s... puppets... he trusted it even less.

Maybe he should just leave it in the box until he had literally no excuse not to. Even though the SAMs had been in development far before the Puppeteer showed up, it was better safe than sorry.

===============

Hey so... Jackie told me u have something to tell me?

Chase sent the text right before he got on the train. Now that he was inside, comfortably sitting on the mildly-full train with Frosty by his side, he checked his phone again. And saw a reply from Schneep.

Did he tell you he was Windstorm?

His eyes widened, and he glanced around. Luckily, the seat he was in was up against a wall, so there was no one behind him to read it. And no one else was paying attention. He hunched over his phone and quickly texted a reply. Yes but be careful about stuff like that. Im in a public place.

Schneep responded instantly. Sorry, he said. And then a second message a few seconds later. If that is the case, we should wait until we can talk in person. The sooner the better. Are you free this afternoon? I have no shifts today.

Yeah. Actually Jackie and i were planning on going to JJs place. He stopped by yesterday and overheard what we were talking about then ran away. We thought hed show up later but he hasnt so we might go over if he doesnt yet.

JAMIE KNOWS?! Chase could practically hear Schneep scream that message. 

Yeah.

A while passed before the next text. Alright. I shall join you at Jameson’s shop this afternoon. If he knows about Jackie, he might as well know about me, too.

That was... ominous. Chase’s mind raced as he thought about what secret Schneep could possibly be hiding. Given what Jackie’s secret was... maybe Schneep was another superhero? But Windstorm was the only hero in the city.

Well, there had been Timekeeper, once upon a time. Chase couldn’t remember what Timekeeper had been like, but everyone spoke about him in awe. Daindover’s silent protector, speeding and slowing time to his will. Even Jackie seemed to admire him. Chase was almost disappointed that Timekeeper had stopped hero-ing two and a half years ago. Right after that fight he’d had with the villain Earth Shaker—the very same fight Chase had been caught in as a bystander, causing his amnesia and motion problems.

For a second, something niggled at Chase’s mind. He sat up straight, trying to reach for it, trying to grab whatever distant thing was vying for his attention. But... then it disappeared. Leaving only an absence. A square in the middle of a dusty shelf where something used to sit.

It left him uneasy. Even as he arrived at work and put on a happy smile for the customers, he still felt that absence in his mind.

===============

Jameson hadn’t shown up at the apartment. Jackie had been sure to keep an ear out for a knock on the door or the ring of the doorbell, but nothing. Though he had to admit he could have missed it. He’d been a bit distracted, listening to the police scanner and having repeated calls with various League-related people.

As soon as Jackie had told Magnify that he’d “discovered” Puppeteer was stringing up more people the whole time, things had immediately started moving. Magnify had assured Jackie he would contact people who could be able to help and hung up. Then he called back to ask who Jackie’s police contact was, and hung up. Then he called back to tell Jackie they’d notified the Daindover police and ordered Jackie to talk to the SepTech owner in person. Jackie had refused—partially because he still had to see if Jameson would show up, and partially because he didn’t like Magnify’s tone—and managed to convince him to let SepTech know immediately. Magnify had hung up to do that, then called back and said that SepTech’s Dr. McLoughlin wanted a meeting with Jackie on Wednesday, three days away. Jackie had agreed.

That was the most time-consuming series of calls Jackie had ever been on—and he used to work in a call center! At least put him on hold or something...

After that, he’d been bombarded with text messages over the Red Line from Lorelai and Josh—Pink Sunlight and Terra-Man. They were both asking if that mind-controlling villain from the welcoming ceremony was really spreading his influence all over the city. Through their messages, Jackie learned that both of them would be sticking around the area to help out, since a large number of mind-controlled people was a high threat level. There was even talk of the National Threat Team getting involved if it got bad enough. Jackie had pointed out that it was weird that Josh was staying in the area, considering his home territory was in Ireland, but Josh explained he was being called in because the Hero of Beckerville, Comet Tail, was busy with a villainous crime spree in his own city. 

After all that chaos had finally calmed down, Chase returned from work. The two of them talked briefly, with Jackie confirming that Jameson hadn’t shown up, and then they immediately left. It would take a while to get to Jameson’s shop on Zeit Way. Chase also let Jackie know that Schneep would be meeting them there, and he’d be telling Chase and JJ about his own secret. “Can you, like, give me a hint for what it is?” Chase asked. “Is it superhero stuff?”

“Uhhh... in a sense,” Jackie had replied cryptically. “Look, it’s not really my place to say.” And he refused to elaborate further.

Almost an hour later (the train had been delayed), the two of them stood outside Jackson Legacy Crafts. A “Closed” sign hung in the door. Chase peered through the window at the dark inside. “I don’t see JJ anywhere,” he said. “Is the shop usually closed at this time?”

“No, it doesn’t close until, like, nine,” Jackie said, confused. “And if JJ was out for dinner or something I think he’d leave the lights on. He’d be right back, right?”

“I guess he just... hasn’t opened today? Or... closed early?” Chase guessed.

“I guess.” Jackie leaned over and also peered through the window. “Wait, look, the stair door’s opening.”

As he spoke, the door to the stairwell opened slowly and Schneep stepped out. He immediately noticed the two of them lingering by the front and briskly walked over, opening the door. “I cannot believe I got here before the two of you.”

“Blame the train for breaking down halfway,” Jackie said.

“How’d you get inside?” Chase asked.

“Jamie gave me a key some time ago,” Schneep explained.

“Oh. You, uh... used the key?” Jackie tried to use his tone to ask the question he really wanted to know: Couldn’t Schneep had just walked through the door? Why bother unlocking it?

Schneep raised an eyebrow. “It is the polite thing to do, yes.” He clearly understood what Jackie was thinking. “Anyway. Come on in. Jamie is upstairs, I will try to get him to come down.”

Jackie and Chase walked in, with Chase holding the door open for Frosty to follow. Schneep hurried to the back of the shop and disappeared back into the stairwell. A few tense minutes later, he returned with Jameson in tow. Jackie was a bit surprised at what he saw. Jameson was pale and visibly shaky, eyes tinged with red. He was also wearing an old pink sweater with sleeves that covered his hands. That wasn’t really his style, but Jackie was more concerned with his physical state than his clothes. Was Jameson okay? Was he sick? Or had overhearing Jackie’s secret affected him that much?

“Great, we’re all here now.” Chase walked to the back of the store, Jackie behind him, and met Schneep and JJ behind the counter. “Hey, J. You, uh... dropped this yesterday.” He took JJ’s phone out of his pocket and held it out.

Jameson stared at it. For a moment, it looked like he didn’t want to take it, but he did. He quickly put it into his own pocket and said, Thank you. His signs were small, and a bit hard to read with the overlong sweater sleeves.

“No problem,” Chase said. “I thought you’d come get it sooner. Sorry to, uh, all corner you in your store. But, uh... we thought we’d need to talk.” He glanced at Jackie. “About... what you overheard.”

JJ nodded slowly, and turned his attention to Jackie. It’s not true, is it? he asked.

Jackie hesitated. Then sighed. “No, it is. I’m... Windstorm.” He waved his hand. A breeze drifted through the shop, rattling some wind chimes and marionettes that were for sale.

Emotion flashed across Jameson’s face. Too fast for Jackie to really read, but his first impression was—strangely—fear. That couldn’t be it, though, could it? I see, Jameson signed slowly.

“I-I don’t want you to think any different of me,” Jackie said. “It’s not—I didn’t hide it from you cause I didn’t trust you, it’s just—it’s safer the less people know, you know? If a villain knew you guys were my friends, it’d be... I-I’d hate if anything happened to you guys, so I—”

I understand why you did it, Jackie, Jameson said, expression softening. I’m not mad at you. This is just... a lot to process, and it’s... bad timing.

“Bad timing?” Chase repeated, confused.

There are some... personal matters... going on with me. Jameson glanced at Schneep, whose eyes widened. I don’t really want to discuss it. But hearing about Jackie’s identity was... a shock I didn’t need.

“Jamie,” Schneep said quietly. “Is it—”

I don’t want to discuss it, Jameson repeated firmly. I see YOU’RE not surprised about Jackie’s identity, Henrik. Did he tell you first?

Schneep cleared his throat. “I figured it out, actually.”

Of course you did. Jameson gave him a small smile.

“But... we are not here just to discuss Jackie,” Schneep continued.

“Yeah.” Chase nodded. “Apparently you have something you wanted to tell us, too, Schneep.”

The smile dropped from Jameson’s face. He went even paler and shook his head. Don’t tell me.

“Jamie, I think it’s important that everyone is on the same page,” Schneep said.

“Yeah,” Jackie agreed. “If we’re all going to be in the circle of trust, we all have to know the same things. If that makes sense.”

Jameson shook his head again. He started backing up towards the stairwell door as he signed. No. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know, and I don’t have to know.

“I’ve wanted to tell you since I first realized you lived in this city, too!” Schneep protested. “But with us having just met again, I thought it wasn’t the time. I cannot just keep you out of this! It will be difficult to hide it once Chase knows, too.”

We’ll figure something out. Jameson started to turn around.

“Jameson!” Schneep made a frustrated sound—and then completely vanished from sight.

Everyone froze. Jameson slowly turned back and stared at the spot where Schneep disappeared. “What the hell?” Chase gasped.

Schneep reappeared. “I didn’t go anywhere,” he said, raising his hands. He looked at Jackie. “I hope your reveal was easier than this.”

“Chase asked me if I was a cosplayer,” Jackie said. “And then implied that I was dating my own alter ego.”

“Okay, look!” Chase said defensively. “You don’t just think your roommate is a superhero! That’s nobody’s first thought! That’s a ridiculous leap to—” He stopped mid-sentence. “Jameson,” he said in a quieter tone. “A-are you okay?”

Jameson was covering his mouth with his hands, his whole body trembling. His eyes were tearing up. He moved his hands, now clutching at his hair, and squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head. Slowly at first, but then harder and harder, his breathing speeding up—

“Jamie!” Schneep gasped. He grabbed Jameson’s arms, stopping him from shaking further. “Jameson, calm down. It is all fine, I promise. Nothing is happening. Nothing is going to happen. I need you to breathe, okay? You are scaring me.”

“Is... everything okay, Jameson?” Jackie asked, taking a few steps closer. “Do you need anything?”

“Yeah, is there anything we can do?” Chase added. Next to him, Frosty walked forward until he reached Jameson, nudging his leg and looking up at him with big dark eyes.

Jameson glanced down at Frosty. Slowly, he let go of his hair and knelt on the floor next to the dog. Frosty sat down and leaned forward, resting his head against Jameson’s chest. Jameson closed his eyes and wrapped both arms around Frosty in a hug.

Jackie glanced at Chase. Chase nodded. “He knows what to do,” Chase whispered. Jackie wasn’t aware that Frosty had that sort of service training as well... but it made sense.

A few silent seconds passed. Jameson’s breathing slowed. He opened his eyes again, wiping at them. Then gave Frosty a few pats before standing up. I’m sorry, he said.

“Sorry? Don’t be sorry, bro, you just about had a panic attack,” Chase said, still visibly concerned.

“Is everything okay, Jamie?” Schneep asked. “We don’t have to talk now, but if you want to talk later, just the two of us...”

Jameson looked at him. It’s fine, he said.

“It’s clearly not,” Jackie whispered.

It is now. Jameson sighed. He was still looking at Schneep. You’re the only family I really have left. I don’t want to be... used against you.

Schneep’s brows lowered. “So, this is about—”

Before he could finish what he was saying, Jameson suddenly leapt at him, squeezing him in a tight embrace. Schneep was so startled that he stopped talking, but after that initial surprise he easily returned the hug.

Chase and Jackie turned and looked at each other. Their expressions were a mirror: concern and confusion wrapped together. “So... do you two have something going on, then?” Jackie asked delicately.

Schneep glanced at the two of them, then looked at Jameson. JJ shook his head, and Schneep nodded, turning his attention back to Chase and Jackie. “It is a family matter. I think it is best, for now, if we keep it that way.”

“Cool. That’s cool.” Chase nodded. “We’re not gonna ask, then.” He paused. “I am going to ask about you suddenly disappearing, though.”

Schneep laughed. “I suppose if I give you two the whole explanation I gave Jackie, we should go upstairs. I am remembering how long that took. We may as well be comfortable.”

===============

Fifteen minutes later, Jackie was staring out the back window of JJ’s apartment, idly looking up at the sky. It was already setting, turning the sky orange. He’d never been in JJ’s apartment before. It was a nice place, but a bit small. Apparently this was where JJ had lived his whole life. There was probably a ton of clutter upstairs from all that time spent just being in one place. No wonder JJ asked that no one go up there.

Behind him, sitting on the living area’s sofa, he could hear Schneep finishing up his explanation of his powers. He told Chase and JJ everything that he’d told Jackie. Including where they came from and why Schneep had decided to use these ghost-like abilities for stealing things. Jackie had left to sit in the kitchen soon after Schneep started. He’d already heard all this; he’d just get in the way of the conversation.

Silence fell. Jackie glanced over his shoulder towards the three of them. I can’t believe I never knew this, JJ was saying. You know, I understand why our family didn’t want to interact with your parents, but it led to a lot of missed information.

“To be fair, I never told my parents any of this,” Schneep said. “They may have been fine with supers, but I doubt they would have wanted their son to be one. It would derail all their plans.”

Chase shook his head. “God, Schneep. If you were thinking about, you know, not doing crime, you didn’t need to start again just because you wanted to help me out.”

“It wasn’t just you, Chase,” Schneep insisted. “You... simply reminded me why I needed to keep doing it.”

“Still.” Chase laughed a bit. “Don’t think I was worth all that trouble.”

Schneep nudged his shoulder. “Of course you were.”

“Hah...” Chase ducked his head. “What’s with you and Jackie today making me feel all nice inside?” he muttered.

It’s because you deserve it, JJ said.

“Nooo not you too!” Chase said jokingly. “God, you... you nice guy. Bringing... gifts to the apartment unprompted.”

“Oh yeah, wait, what was up with that?” Jackie said. “JJ, why’d you show up at our apartment in the first place? We noticed you dropped these gift bags with bracelets inside, were you just, like, handing them out?”

JJ had a slight smile on his face. But now it wavered. He glanced at Chase and Jackie. I noticed you weren’t wearing them.

“Oh, were we, like, supposed to...?” Chase asked.

No no no, not if you don’t want to, JJ signed hurriedly. I just... thought it would be fun. You all know that I’m trying out bracelet making, but there’s only so many bracelets you can make for yourself.

Schneep folded his arms. “I didn’t get a bracelet gift.”

Well... I figured you wouldn’t wear them anyway, JJ said. Aren’t there hospital regulations about jewelry?

“There are.” Schneep nodded slowly. “But still. I would like to be asked in the future.”

I’ll keep that in mind. JJ glanced between Chase and Jackie. But as for you two, it’s perfectly fine if you don’t want them. You can even give them back. I don’t mind.

“Uh, no, it’s fine,” Jackie said. “I know they’re not my style, but it’s nice to have something from a friend.” He could pick up on the hope in Jameson’s expression. Of course he would hope they’d keep them. He wasn’t about to break his heart.

“Yeah, I can put them by my computer so I think of you when I edit,” Chase said.

“I do a lot of your editing these days, y’know,” Jackie pointed out.

“Well then you can think of JJ while you edit. Though... wouldn’t it be inconvenient for your superhero stuff if you have to keep editing my videos?”

“Chase, I have ADHD, I get bored easily even with my meds and not every day is full of busy crime to stop. I’ll gladly edit for you.”

“Nice. For free, right?”

Jackie laughed. “Sure, but don’t expect me to keep buying all the groceries.” He looked back at JJ, and was mildly surprised to see him looking a bit... down. Well, this had been a long day. Of course his mood would drop. “Hey, speaking of food, d’you guys want to go get dinner or something? It’s getting close to that time.”

“We can make dinner here,” Chase suggested.

“No we cannot, Jameson’s grocery situation is still terrible,” Schneep said.

Haven’t had time, JJ simply explained. But... I’d like to go out. It would probably be good.

“Great.” Jackie hopped off the kitchen chair he was sitting on. “What do you guys want? Nothing too fancy, I’m guessing.”

The four of them went downstairs, talking as they walked. Jackie led the way. He opened the stairwell door at the bottom and walked into the main body of the shop—and immediately froze. There was someone standing there.

Spitfire Cat—recognizable even without his costume—looked over at the group as they appeared. His face turned white. “Am I, uh... Were you guys... ? Th-the lights were out, but the door was unlocked, so I was...” He trailed off awkwardly.

A moment of silence passed. Jackie stared at him, tense, instinctively ready for a fight. But JJ pushed past him. We’re closed today, he said. Did you not notice the sign?

“I, uh... I didn’t at first, but... the door was unlocked, so... I was thinking, even if you’re closed, you probably didn’t mean to leave the door open so I... thought I’d let you... know...” Again, Spitfire trailed off. His eyes were locked on Jackie.

The two of them were stuck in a staring contest for a solid five seconds as Schneep, JJ, and Chase—maybe even Frosty—watched them with confusion. Then Jackie sighed. “Y’know what? Fuck it.” He clapped his hands together. “Soooo everyone in this room knows I’m Windstorm. Fun.”

“Oh. Oh! This guy knows?!” Chase pointed at Spitfire.

“They know?!” Spitfire gaped. “All of them? You just—just told them?! Just like that?!”

“They don’t know who you are, so if you don’t want to tell them, don’t.” Jackie folded his arms. “I’m not planning on sharing details. But I will say that if anything happens to them I’m going to kill you. Straight-up murder.”

“I’m not going to— “ Spitfire threw his hands in the air. “God, I don’t fucking understand you. You’re so stupid sometimes.”

“Uhhh hi, by the way.” Chase waved at Spitfire. “I think I remember you. You, like, work with Jackie, right? I guess that of course that would mean superhero stuff. Were you looking for him?”

“No, I was just in the area.” Spitfire shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted on his feet. “I come into the area sometimes. It’s not related to Windst—to Jackie. I like this place. I can like a place.”

I’m glad you like it, JJ said. So, were you planning on stopping by?

“Y-yeah.” Spitfire nodded. “I didn’t notice the closed sign at first so I just went in, but then... no one was here, so I looked back and then I saw it. And I figured I’d try to find you to let you know the door was unlocked. I thought you wouldn’t want that. But... I guess it was unlocked because all these guys were in here.” He gestured at the group.

JJ gave a small smile. A bit weak, after the long day he’d undoubtedly had. Well, I’m glad you stopped by, but we were just about to head out, so you can’t stay.

“Do you want to come?” Chase asked.

“No!” Jackie protested.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Well you don’t need to jump to immediate denial. Makes you look like an asshole.”

“I am trying to keep these two lives separate,” Jackie said, being incredibly patient despite how nervous this situation made him. “You coming here makes that... difficult.”

Meanwhile, Schneep had been staring at Spitfire with a thoughtful expression. But now he gasped suddenly. “You are the man in the cat mask!”

Spitfire stiffened. “What? A cat mask?”

Jackie pointed at Schneep. “He’s the Specter.”

“Jackie, was zum Teufel?!” Schneep immediately punched Jackie in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Jackie stumbled to the side. “Alright, guess I deserved that.”

“Wow, you... really haven’t learned how to respect villains’ secret identities, huh,” Spitfire said. His expression was neutral, but there was disappointment in his voice. He turned to Schneep and examined him. “Okay. I get that. Now I know why you said that was a dead end.”

“No, it’s not for personal reasons, it’s because it really was a dead end,” Jackie clarified.

“Right. But personal reasons probably played a factor.” Spitfire nodded. “Anyway. Uh... you guys are all... busy.” His eyes darted about, landing on each of them. “I’ll just... go. So you guys can do... stuff.” And without another word, he turned and left.

“Nice to see you again!” Chase called. “A friend of Jackie’s a friend of mine!” Jackie gently elbowed him. Not the time to say that—or the person to say that to.

The bell by the front door dinged as Spitfire left. Jackie watched him walk out of view of the shop’s windows. Then he let out a breath. “In retrospect, I am an idiot,” he muttered. “Why did I go like ‘fuck it’? That’s stupid. Stupid thing to do.”

“I’m just glad we’re all on the same page now,” Chase said, putting an overly-cheerful note in his voice.

What do you mean, “the man in the cat mask,” Henrik? JJ asked.

“Ah... I saw him one night with Jackie,” Schneep explained. “The one where Jackie injured his leg. They were on a team.”

“We are not on a team, we are allies, there is a difference,” Jackie clarified. He whirled around so he could look at all of them at once. “In all seriousness, that man is someone who I... sort of trust, but I don’t trust him all the way. If he ever does anything suspicious, like trying to get you guys to go somewhere with him alone, don’t feel bad for turning him down. He could be honest, he could be trying something not-so-honest, I don’t know, but it’d be better safe than sorry.”

“Why’d you tell him that we know you’re Windstorm, if you don’t fully trust him?” Chase asked.

“Because he already knows we’re friends, so like, why would it be a problem if he knows you guys know, you know?” Jackie shrugged. “If he wanted to do something bad to you guys—which I don’t think he will but just in case—it’s not like you guys knowing my secret or not will affect that decision. You get what I mean?”

“Uhhh I guess.” Chase looked like he didn’t fully understand, but he accepted it anyway. Meanwhile, Schneep nodded thoughtfully. And when Jackie looked at JJ, he tilted his head and gave Jackie a knowing look. Which was... a bit strange. But Jackie was glad JJ understood. “So...” Chase continued. “Is it okay if we talk to him, orrrr...”

Jackie sighed. “Yeah, it’s... probably fine.” He knew Spitfire Cat tried not to harm civilians. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t try to hurt his friends. And Spitfire was... a bit different than he thought. There were some softened edges to his prickly personality. So... despite all his experience as a hero telling him he would regret not warning his friends away from Spitfire, he thought he was making the right choice. “Well then.” Jackie turned back around and started walking to the front door. “Are we still on for dinner?”

“I have no plans,” Schneep said. “And JJ needs to get out of the house.”

I already said I would, alright? JJ said, exasperated.

“Hell yeah, night on the town.” Chase grinned wide. “Let’s not go anywhere too far, though, I don’t want to do too much walking.”

The four of them headed out into the cool night air. JJ spared a moment to lock the shop door behind them, then they walked down the street together, talking and joking easily. Jackie was glad they had no more secrets.

Or... important secrets, at least. Sure, there was something JJ didn’t want to talk about, but that seemed personal, and Jackie wasn’t about to pry. 

It would be fine.

Everyone would be fine now that nobody was hiding anything.

[starmagnets]

💜 or 🩷 for any of your Kirby ocs?

💜 - if they were corrupted by the jamba heart, which negative traits of theirs would be amplified?

(couldn’t decide between my two most deeply flawed kirby ocs so i did both kinar and shilipha)

hm. i think for shilipha it would be his stubbornness and his paranoia. he’s already not one to back down from something and his nerves had been on high alert even before sashavi disappeared. i think his (already not great) sleep and eating habits would also drop through the floor.

for kinar on the other hand it would be his arrogance and his lies. he’s not usually one to let his web of lies spin out of control, but the jamba heart’s corruption is a powerful force. his increased confidence that nobody would find out may well be the thing for his web of lies to finally collapse.

🩷 - if they were a dream friend, what would their moveset be like? how much hp do they have? would they be a strong attacker or would they take on more of a support role?

i actually have been working on a moveset for cecil for a while !! his moveset is similar to dmk’s but instead of being mirror mixed with sword it’s mirror mixed with staff. what with his weapon being a staff and being a mirror magic specialist.

his attacks are speedy and while they don’t do much damage they make up for it with the range (similar to staff with some extra long-range moves.)

despite having wings, he doesn’t fly (being afraid of heights) and instead does the infinity jump. he’d have average hp.

[plrplanet]

“Have You Been Struggling To Create A Unique Identity For Your Organization? Does Your Logo Truly Represent The Value You Create For Your Clients? Would You Like To Know The Secret To Formulating A Strong Branding Strategy? “ Identify your target market, create a brand image and connect with your customers with a successful branding strategy! Does the right brand image idea elude you? Are the sales of your product suffering because you cannot decide the perfect logo? Are your search engine ads not visible enough? Is your bounce rate high and conversion rate low? All is NOT lost yet! There is an easy way of catching the eyes of your visitors and converting them into loyal customers! Become A Leading Brand In The Market With The Right Branding Strategy In 2010, the top five brands of the world (according to Interbrand.com) were: Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google and GE. Google and Microsoft are leaders in their fields, not only because their services are incomparable, but also because their branding strategies are par excellence. Your business, too, can attain great heights with the right Branding Strategy. Grab the attention of your stakeholders Strengthen your position in the marketplace Ensure that your customers remember you Communicate your organization’s mission and core values Increase your sales manifold Get customers, employees and vendors excited about their association with you Attract the best talent in the industry Communicate your business priorities Manage your reputation and stay on top of competition Give your company a presence that borders on omnipresence. Make it visible everywhere Control how others perceive you Emphasize your individuality in the crowded marketplace Become a market leader Embed the value that you create into the consciousness of your target audience Appeal to people’s memory of an association with your company Have consistent messages about your company’s image, products or services Make it easier for existing customers to refer you to their friends and associates Brands send the right message about what you are offering your customers Branding is an exercise of trying to connect emotionally with your customers, staff members and associates Watch Your Sales Skyrocket With The “Must Do’s” of Branding Did you ever consider the potential of branding on the internet? Did you know that 30% of the world’s population uses the internet? Out of this 30% nearly 43% are on Facebook, and 19% on Twitter. However, social media is just ONE way of making your brand presence felt on the internet. There are MANY other ways to optimize your brand recognition… and this is possible by adopting a focused and systematic Branding Strategy. Learn to think analytically about your approach to branding. Conceptualize the perfect logo, tagline and image for your product. Strategize your advertisement layout and visibility on the internet. Choose the right platforms to display your brand logo and tagline on. Learn the tricks of catching the attention of your target consumer group. Understand how to maintain your brand image consistently. Give your business a jump start by creating the right advertising concept for launching your brand. Become a leading brand in your industry in a matter of weeks. Sit back and relax, as your business takes wings and all your dreams come true! MRR License Master Resell Rights Terms and Conditions [YES]Can be sold[YES]Can be used for personal use[YES]Can be packaged with other products[YES]Can modify/change the sales letter[YES]Can be added into paid membership websites[YES]Can put your name on the sales letter[YES]Can be offered as a bonus[YES]Can be used to build a list[YES]Can print/publish offline[YES]Can convey and sell Personal Use Rights[YES]Can convey and sell Resale Rights[YES]Can convey and sell Master Resale Rights[YES]Can be given away for free [NO]Can modify/change the main product[NO]Can convey and sell Private Label Rights

[playarcade]

Om Nom Run

Om Nom Run: Join the Adventure of a Lifetime!

Get ready to run alongside Om Nom in Om Nom Run, an exciting action endless runner game that brings the beloved character to life in immersive, full-responsive HTML5. This thrilling adventure challenges you to dash through vibrant landscapes while avoiding dangerous obstacles and enemies. Game Features In Om Nom Run, your goal is to run as far as possible while collecting coins and power-ups. The more coins you gather, the more you can transform Om Nom into the fastest runner imaginable! Each level is filled with beautifully designed areas that showcase the enchanting world of Om Nom, from lush forests to treacherous caves. However, be cautious—dangers lurk around every corner, and quick reflexes are essential to avoid them. Utilize power-ups wisely to enhance your gameplay. These special boosts can help you jump higher, run faster, or even become invincible for a short time. Strategically using these power-ups will not only make your run more enjoyable but also increase your chances of achieving the highest score. Why You’ll Love Om Nom Run What makes Om Nom Run truly captivating is its combination of action and adventure. The intuitive controls allow players of all ages to jump right in, while the endless runner format offers limitless fun and challenges. Compete with friends to see who can achieve the highest score, or challenge yourself to beat your own records! With frequent updates and new content added regularly, Om Nom Run keeps the excitement alive. Are you ready to explore the vibrant world of Om Nom and reach new heights? Join the adventure in Om Nom Run today and experience the thrill of running alongside your favorite character! Focus Keyword Om Nom Run, endless runner game, action game, collect coins, power-ups, Om Nom adventure, PlayArcade.net Unlock the Fun of Arcade Games at PlayArcade Arcade games have long been an integral part of gaming culture, cherished for their engaging gameplay and vibrant designs. At PlayArcade, we provide an extensive collection of arcade games that cater to players of all skill levels. Whether you're just starting out or you're a seasoned pro, our platform delivers an unmatched gaming experience. With flash games easily accessible in your browser, you can dive into the fun whenever you have a moment to spare. A Vast Selection of Game Genres At PlayArcade, we recognize that variety is key to a satisfying gaming experience. Our extensive library features a wide range of genres, including: Action and Adventure: Embark on thrilling quests filled with excitement and challenges. Puzzle and Strategy: Engage your mind with brain-teasing puzzles and strategic gameplay. 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The thrill of striving for the highest score enhances your gaming experience and motivates you to sharpen your skills. User-Friendly Experience Navigating PlayArcade is a breeze, thanks to our intuitive user interface. Easily browse through our extensive game library, filter by genre, and find your favorite titles with just a few clicks. Our platform is designed to provide a seamless experience, allowing you to focus on what matters most—playing and enjoying your games! Cross-Platform Accessibility With PlayArcade, you can enjoy your favorite games anytime, anywhere. Our platform is optimized for cross-device play, ensuring that you can switch between your desktop, laptop, or tablet without losing progress. Whether you're at home or on the go, your gaming experience remains uninterrupted, allowing you to pick up right where you left off. Nostalgia and Innovation Combined Experience the best of both worlds by reliving the nostalgia of classic arcade games while enjoying the innovation of modern titles. PlayArcade brings together timeless favorites and cutting-edge games in one convenient location. Our curated selection ensures that you can enjoy the charm of retro gaming alongside the latest advancements in game design. Ideal for Every Occasion Whether you want to relax after a long day, challenge friends, or explore new gaming adventures, PlayArcade has something for every occasion. Our user-friendly design makes it simple to find and play games, whether you’re looking to go solo or engage in friendly competition. Why Choose PlayArcade? Extensive Game Library: A rich selection of arcade games across various genres. Regular Game Updates: Fresh content added frequently to keep your gaming experience dynamic. Competitive Leaderboards: Showcase your skills and strive for the top spot. User-Friendly Interface: Navigate effortlessly through our platform for a smooth gaming experience. Cross-Device Compatibility: Enjoy seamless gameplay on any device, anytime. Blend of Nostalgia and Modern Gaming: Experience classic titles alongside innovative new games. At PlayArcade, we are committed to providing an exceptional gaming environment that brings joy and excitement to players of all ages. Join us today and embark on a thrilling gaming journey where the fun never ends! Read the full article

[1supplements]

Level Up Your Workout: The Best Creatine Supplement for You

Introduction

Creatine, a naturally occurring compound found in our bodies and certain foods, has long been a staple supplement for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. It's renowned for enhancing muscle strength, power, and recovery. Regarding creatine supplements, two brands stand out: Optimum Nutrition Creatine and 5% Nutrition. Both are well-respected in the industry, but which one offers the better creatine product? Let's dive into a detailed comparison to find out.

Understanding Creatine

Before we delve into the specifics of each brand, let's briefly understand what creatine is and how it works. Creatine primarily functions by increasing phosphocreatine stores in your muscles. Phosphocreatine is a high-energy compound that helps fuel rapid, intense bursts of energy, such as lifting weights or sprinting.

Benefits of Creatine Supplementation:

Increased muscle strength and power: Creatine supplementation can lead to significant gains in muscle strength and power, especially during high-intensity exercise.

Enhanced athletic performance: Creatine can improve various athletic performance markers, including sprint times, vertical jump height, and overall workout intensity.

Faster muscle recovery: Creatine can help speed up the recovery process between workouts, allowing you to train harder and more frequently.

Improved cognitive function: Some studies suggest that creatine may benefit cognitive functions like memory and brain health, particularly in older adults.

Potential Side Effects:

While creatine is generally safe for most people, potential side effects can include:

Digestive issues: Some individuals may experience digestive discomfort, such as bloating or diarrhea.

Weight gain: Creatine can lead to water retention, which may contribute to weight gain.

Kidney issues: In rare cases, creatine may negatively impact kidney function, particularly in individuals with pre-existing kidney problems.

Optimum Nutrition Creatine

Optimum Nutrition is a well-established brand in the sports nutrition industry, known for its high-quality products and affordable prices. They offer a range of creatine products, including:

Micronized Creatine Powder: This popular form of creatine is micronized, meaning the particles are smaller, making it easier to mix and digest.

Creatine Monohydrate Powder: The most common form of creatine, creatine monohydrate is a simple and effective supplement.

Creatine HCL: A newer form of creatine, creatine HCL is claimed to be more stable and absorbable than traditional creatine monohydrate.

Optimum Nutrition creatine products are generally well-received by users, praised for their quality, effectiveness, and affordability. However, it's important to follow the recommended dosage and consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new supplement.  

5% Nutrition Supplements

5% Nutrition is a newer brand that has quickly gained popularity due to its innovative products and bold marketing. Their creatine products include:

Creatine Monohydrate Powder: A straightforward and effective creatine supplement.

Creatine HCL: A more advanced form of creatine, claimed to offer superior absorption and bioavailability.

While 5% Nutrition creatine products have received positive reviews, they tend to be more expensive than similar products from Optimum Nutrition. It's essential to weigh the benefits and costs to determine if they are worth the extra investment.

Comparative Analysis

When comparing Optimum Nutrition and 5% Nutrition creatine products, several key factors need to be considered:

Ingredient Quality and Purity: Both brands use high-quality ingredients, but it's important to choose a product that is third-party tested to ensure purity and potency.

Product Formulation and Dosage: The optimal dosage of creatine varies depending on individual factors. It's crucial to follow the dosage recommendations provided by the manufacturer.

Taste and Mixability: Both brands offer creatine powders that are relatively easy to mix and have a mild flavor. However, individual preferences may vary.

Price and Value for Money: Optimum Nutrition typically offers more affordable creatine products compared to 5% Nutrition. However, 5% Nutrition may offer unique formulations or additional benefits that justify the higher price.

Which Brand Offers Better Value for Money?

Ultimately, the best creatine brand for you depends on your individual needs and budget. If you're looking for a reliable, affordable creatine supplement, Optimum Nutrition is an excellent choice. However, if you're willing to pay a premium for potentially superior absorption and performance, 5% Nutrition may be worth considering.

Conclusion

Creatine is a safe and effective supplement that can significantly enhance athletic performance and muscle growth. Both Optimum Nutrition and 5% Nutrition Supplements offer high-quality creatine products. However, it's important to choose a product that suits your needs and budget. By considering factors like ingredient quality, dosage, taste, and price, you can select the best creatine supplement for your fitness goals.

[helloopinions2024]

Maximizing Your Affiliate Marketing Potential

In today’s digital landscape, affiliate marketing has become a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to earn some extra income—maybe even turn it into a full-time gig! However, jumping into this world isn’t as simple as just signing up for affiliate programs. It requires a solid strategy and the right tools to help you succeed. Let’s chat about some essential tips and resources that can really boost your affiliate marketing game.

Understanding the Basics of Affiliate Marketing

First off, let’s talk about what affiliate marketing really is. At its core, it’s a way to earn money by promoting products or services for a company. You’ll receive a commission for every sale made through your unique affiliate link. The key to success? The better you can attract and convert visitors to your site, the more money you’ll make!

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Website

Your website is essentially your storefront in the affiliate marketing world. A well-designed site can make a world of difference when it comes to converting visitors into buyers. That’s where AIDADY comes into play. This innovative platform packs 24 different AI tools into one handy place, making it super easy to create and manage niche websites. The drag-and-drop builder is user-friendly, even if you’re not tech-savvy.

Creating High-Quality Content

You’ve probably heard it before: content is king. Quality content not only builds trust with your audience but also establishes your authority in your niche. With AIDADY, you get access to AI-powered content creation tools that can help you whip up engaging blog posts, articles, and marketing materials in no time. Regularly posting valuable content tailored to your audience keeps them coming back for more and increases your chances of converting them into buyers.

Leveraging SEO Strategies

Let’s not forget about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)—a must if you want to drive organic traffic to your site. By optimizing your content with relevant keywords, you can improve your visibility on search engines like Google. Plus, AIDADY makes it easy to create a well-structured website that’s optimized for SEO right from the get-go.

Utilizing Social Media Marketing

Social media is a goldmine for reaching new audiences and promoting your affiliate products. By using social media management tools, you can schedule posts, engage with your followers, and analyze how your content is performing. Sharing posts from your site that highlight affiliate products can help create buzz and drive more traffic to your offers.

Analyzing Performance Metrics

Keeping an eye on your performance metrics is essential for ongoing success. Analytics tools provide insights into how users are interacting with your site, where your traffic is coming from, and what your conversion rates look like. Regularly checking these metrics helps you figure out what’s working and what needs a little tweaking. A data-driven approach allows you to optimize your campaigns and get better results over time.

Building an Email List

An email list is one of your most valuable assets in affiliate marketing. It’s your direct line to your audience, allowing you to promote your affiliate products without the noise of social media. With email marketing services, you can craft targeted campaigns that keep your subscribers in the loop about new products and exclusive offers. Providing valuable content and special deals through email can drive traffic back to your website and boost your conversion rates.

Conclusion: Taking Your Affiliate Marketing to New Heights

Succeeding in affiliate marketing requires a mix of smart strategies, quality content, and the right tools. Platforms like AIDADY can simplify the process of creating and managing your website, all while giving you the resources to produce compelling content.

Remember, the secret to thriving in affiliate marketing is all about building relationships with your audience and providing them with real value. With some dedication and the right resources, you can turn your affiliate marketing efforts into a significant income stream. So why not explore what AIDADY has to offer and see how it can help you succeed on your journey? Happy marketing!