#adding to the catalogue

[rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer]

ive seen a guy who can hop universes on command?? @paldea-champ-n1cki

Well, I can't do anything about that person you saw, but I can add you to the map, which is what I've done. I would appreciate more information on that multiverse traveler if you happen to come across any.

[rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer]

Why is it terrifying? You already knew about the multiverse.

//A link to the GitHub repository is in my pinned. It's organized in folders by type (character, account, universe) and universe. Kiki has his own because I don't know if he shares it with other rotomblr users.

Hello, you have been added to my multiverse map!

@rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer

//I would have don this earlier, but I was busy. Also, I'm going to send these at the same time I add to the map, so it may not be updated yet.

W-wow that’s.. terrifying..

//can I see the map 👀

[handbagman]

canonical post catalyst event

[northern-passage]

just found one of my favorite pieces of writing advice when it comes to interactive fiction, i think if you've read literally any of my work, it will be pretty obvious how much i use this in my own writing. i actually couldn't remember where i read this for the first time and on a whim i went through my twitter likes and found it in a thread. i'm going to transcribe it for ease of reading, but this is all coming from Alexander Freed (@/AlexanderMFreed on twitter)

he has a website here with other compiled writing advice about branching narratives and game design, though he never posted this there and hasn't really updated recently (but still check it out. there's some specific entries about writing romance, branching and linear & other game writing advice)

original twitter thread here

It's Tuesday night and I feel like teaching some of what I've learned in 15 years of branching narrative video game writing. Let's go in-depth about one incredibly specific subject: neutral / fallthrough / catchall response options!

Player ownership of the protagonist in choice-based branching narrative games (a la BioWare, Telltale, mobile narrative games, etc) is a vital aspect of the form.

The ability for the audience to shape a Player Character, to develop that character's inner life in their own mind, is unmatched in any other medium.

The Player determines the character's actions and THE MOTIVATIONS for those actions. The character's psychology can literally be as complex as the Player can imagine. However, this works best when there's enough space for the Player to develop those motivations. No game can offer enough options to support every interpretation imaginable; much of the character has to live in the Player's head, without necessarily appearing on the screen.

That's complicated. We're going to unpack it.

Generally, when presenting choices to a Player, we want those choices to be as interesting and compelling as possible.

But compelling, dramatic choices tend to be revealing of character. And no game can support hundreds of options at every choice point for every possible character motivation a Player might imagine.

This sort of narrative CANNOT maintain its integrity if the Player is forced to constantly "rewrite" their characterization of the Player Character on the fly. You want your Player to feel like they have more than enough viable options at any given moment.

At the simplest level of writing, this is where "fallthrough" responses come in.

In the examples above, each moment contains a response which furthers the story but doesn't imply a huge emotional choice for the Player. The Player is asked to choose A or B, agree or disagree, but can sidestep the issue altogether if desired.

These "neutral" responses are vital if both A and B don't appeal to the Player... or if, perhaps, the Player likes A but not the WAY A is being expressed. Milquetoast option C works for anyone; thus, the Player is never forced to break character because of a lack of options.

Questions work well for this sort of neutral option. Tacit agreement and dead silence also serve, in certain sorts of stories--as a Player, I know what's going on in my silent character's head and the game won't contradict it.

The important thing is that I'm never forced to take a path that's outright WRONG for my character. Even if other characters misinterpret the Player Character's motivation, my character's inner life remains internally consistent.

"Neutral" responses aren't the only ways to go, though. Some responses are appropriate for any character because they're tied to the base character concept.

Here, for example (from @/seankmckeever's X-Files), the Player is a marine on a mission. The Player can respond abrasively to her partner's fear or look into the issue (out of compassion or genuine belief), but our fallthrough is actually the TOP response.

There's no version of our marine who would absolutely break character by picking "Stay calm and on mission." It's not blandly neutral; rather, it reinforces aspects of the character we can be sure of and gives the Player an option if nothing else works.

Different sorts of narratives will use different sorts of fallthroughs. A comedy might treat the option to say something funny as a fallthrough, of sorts--it's entertaining and will never violate the characterization the Player has created.

In a quest-driven RPG, a fallthrough response can often boil down to "How do I move to the next step of this quest?"

That said, the strongest moments in a narrative will often have no "fallthrough" response at all. They'll work by creating multiple responses that, by overlapping, cover all reasonable Player Character actions while still leaving room for the Player to ascribe motivation.

[theoriginalsupermodels]

Victoria's Secret

Fall 1996

[rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer]

You have been added to the map!

Also, you didn't delete that.

Oh, another researcher of this site! Your field of work seems pretty hard, I wish you the best of lucks. I myself am mapping the multiverse connected to rotomblr. I will add you if you are okay with it. What are your pronouns? I like to add them in the notes so people know how to refer to everyone and I noticed you don't specify them in your blog.

@rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer

((I hope tumblr notifies me, it's refusing to accept that this blog exists for some reason.))

Hello!

Thank for taking interest in my work. My field is certainly… interesting. I hope you the best with mapping the multiverse. As for the pronouns, you can use They/Them. I am trying to have some amount of anonymity during my research but I may disclose that information later, even if unintentionally.

From:

-@anonymousmagic-phenomenon

(Delete later: I really need to delete these more often)

[pencilofawesomeness]

Which member of Team Natsu do you think would be the most challenging for a bad guy to hold captive?

The woman who casually rips holes in the fabric of time and space on the daily? The man who can freeze anything he looks at? Or the girl who gets her power by breathing?

(Assuming anti-magic devices aren’t in play)

oooooo Anon you have given me a mental treat with this one XD

Magic suppression is definitely a game changer, though without it (even assuming the mage in question isn't magically drained/exhausted, and possibly kept that way) I think the power of heavy duty materials still go a long way.

That said, my answer would have to be Erza. She's a tank *and* a swiss-army knife. There's no way she can't summon the exact armor or weapon needed for the job... even if the weapon in question is just lock-picks. There's no way to plan for her vulnerabilities without knowing her entire inventory. Now, there might be a way to circumvent this by simply giving her no room to summon anything or available hand to use it, though it's hard to say if Erza would still be able to, say, displace a bunch of chains by summoning armor in-between them and her body. Since she requips directly onto herself anyway, her control is proven to be immaculate. Plus she's just all around scary and badass XD

Next in line of difficulty might actually be Wendy. Her buffs and enchantments can be a game-changer, and as you mentioned, she can pretty much always have access to her element. (Though I do imagine that, say, some dank dungeon wouldn't be that magic-rich sky so I wouldn't really count on that as a big boost.) Although wind itself might not be that effective if any metals are in play. It would mostly be the array of enchantments, whether that means giving herself an inhuman strength boost previously unexpected or enchanting up a debuff on whatever is holding her. (However to this point, baby Wendy as we know her might not be this versatile yet.)

Gray is close in my internal ranking, because he can make anything, but unlike Erza he has to *make* it, and if he doesn't have both hands available, then it might not be as sturdy. Plus there's stuff that won't break from the cold, and would be more durable than ice in a clash. They might have to get a certain type of alloy/material to withstand the flash-freeze, but honestly Gray doesn't have as much raw strength as Erza or Natsu anyway so there's still the breaking issue.

Natsu is definitely a beast of a guy but if he's up against fireproof and highly durable materials then he would be out of luck. (And they might have to be magicked to be fireproof, but I think that's fairly doable.) Once the brute-forcing option fails he's a bit cooked.

Then poor Lucy is really easy if you get her away from her keys. The trick might be if somebody like Virgo or Loke summons themselves to mount a rescue, but that also falls into any Fairy Tail rescue which could apply to all of them. (And I'm assuming that if she's separated from her keys then locating her would be tricky.)

Oh and Happy and Charle would also be really easy to hold captive. Poor little guys.

[zegalba]

American Apparel: French catalogue (2003)

[cleopatragirlie]

𝐔𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐎𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞 (𝟕𝟎𝐬) ❀

[rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer]

A cataloger of the multiverse, hmm. Interesting...

Perhaps I could be of service. I have quite a bit of experience with multiversal travel. Not on purpose, mind you. You know how it is, get bombared with too much chronal and spatial energy and suddenly get shot across the multiverse with no control over where you're going. Very fun.

-Cynthia (yes, that one) (@shiftingbetweenrealities)

You have been added to the graph!

How am I getting noticed by everyone with multiverse experience? First that one researcher, then those two from that organization, and now someone that jumps between worlds.

That being said, I don't know who you are, but I don't really pay attention to the news, so I don't know if you are actually famous in my world or not.

[handhourgalleries]

Still one of my favorite uploads of an art piece. Got rather creative with this one.

[missr3n3]

so i finally caught up on all the submandelaphobia lore

(and i maybe wanted practice drawing fish people for access animus healing reasons lol)

[tiktaalic]

I love comparing library’s ecatalogues I love trying to make guesses about how things were bought and why based on #cultural differences between a tiny Washington city, woke capital of the world, and Houston Texas. Go astros

[analoghorrorisyummy]

haha me. Me when. Ha. Me-

This is me trying to find the motivation to draw my discord pfp. (I’m doing Adam from the dessert au.)

I can not find the motivation. Curse you tiny phone and big fingers. But nahh- I’ll probably finish it and either LOVE IT or want to kill it with fire-

Why bro so close to camera. BACK UP!!!!!!!

[theoriginalsupermodels]

Victoria's Secret Special Edition

Spring 1995

[rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer]

You must be the only rotomblr user that doesn't know about the multiverse, where do you think fallers come from?

Hi, I'm in search of data about the different universes in rotomblr and I would appreciate your help. Could you name someone that shares universe with you and doesn't live with you? Thanks in advance for helping me in this endeavor.

@rotomblr-multiverse-cataloguer

different universes what do you mean different universes is that real is that actually a thing that sounds kind of weird but i guess it's possible maybe i don't know i haven't really thought about it before