#and i haven’t spent a penny on the game

[lume-nosity]

Ik what?? Ion wnat bronya anymore(lie) I want welt(lie I'm saying so bronya would come home instead)

take my extra bronya, because i was hoping for bailu

[skankinator]

Complications Ch. 1

Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x FemReader

Author’s note: This is my first fanfic ever written. I hope you like it!

You grew up near a Navy base in San Diego and always dreamed of flying those jets you saw so often. You joined the military as soon as you turned eighteen. That was ten years and many stations ago. You’ve finally established yourself as a missions specialist after having to repeatedly prove yourself. Each mission you plan and execute takes you to a new destination. This one brought you back home.

The missions you specialize in are air operations. From the beginning of your career you made certain that you were the top in your class for everything, especially aviation. This quickly got you promoted to Top Gun where you spent a few years as an elite aviator. Your job has brought you to complete a mission with Top Gun’s Dagger Squadron.

You had files on each member of the squadron to study before arriving. You briefly looked over them on the flight over, only taking note of any information useful to the mission. You would have to teach them every aspect of your plan and train them to execute it perfectly, so you didn’t pay attention to little details.

You had a pre-furnished apartment ready for the time you would be posted in San Diego. You have little belongings from moving so frequently. You could fit your whole life into a couple of boxes. Traveling so frequently also made it difficult to maintain relationships, except your friendship with Stacie.

You texted your closest friend from high school that still lives in the area telling her that you had arrived. You didn’t expect an answer from her for a while. She works third shift at the 24/7 pharmacy, so she wouldn’t be awake for a few hours.

After arriving at the airport, you gathered your suitcases and took a taxi to the apartment. It wasn’t much. Just a one bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and living area. The furniture was rather plain and there were no decorations aside from a bowl on the coffee table full of potpourri.

You left your luggage unpacked and decided to leave your drab apartment. You got dinner at your favorite food truck, unsurprised that they are still in business. Best. Tacos. Ever. Feeling nostalgic, you decide to go to the bar in which you and your squadron spent most of your time.

The Hard Deck had not changed a bit. When you arrived the place was already swarming with people from the base. You made your way over to the bar where you were greeted by a familiar face.

“Y/N! I haven’t seen you in ages, what brings you back,” Penny said with a bright smile. One that reminded you of home.

“I’ve got a mission for a Top Gun squadron. How bad are they these days?” You question knowing Penny was the best person to ask about the cocky pilots.

“Not as bad as your class,” she said with a knowing look that brought a tinge of red to your cheeks. To be fair, you were once a hot shot pilot looking down on others from the high horse called Top Gun.

You spent many nights causing trouble at the Hard Deck. Penny had kicked your squad out on several occasions that ended with you sleeping in the sand. Some say your squad let a pelican into the bar and ordered it a beer. This cannot be confirmed nor denied by anyone. Alcohol conveniently has a way of messing with your memory.

“We had some good times,” you said to Penny as she handed you a beer and went to take orders from the very crowded bar. You sat and relaxed sipping on your beer while silently people watching. This was one of your favorite past times.

You saw people mingling with their cliques. Some in uniform some not, either way you could tell who was military or civilian. You end up focusing on a pool game happening across the bar. The group of friends/colleagues? were dressed in their khaki uniforms.

After a while, another joined the group. He wore a Hawaiian shirt that hugged his biceps and a pair of sunglasses that hid his eyes. His skin was kissed by the sun and damp with sweat. San Diego was hot this time of year. You opted for a white tank top and denim shorts that left just enough to the imagination.

You couldn’t help but stare at this stranger. You hadn’t noticed he was the center of your attention until he disappeared. You found yourself looking for him around the bar. Somewhere within the loud jumble of noise from the crowded bar came music. This wasn’t music from the jukebox, it was a piano.

You looked over and saw your mystery man sitting there beginning to play his heart out. Everyone around joined in singing and dancing to the song he played. You payed little attention to the music distracted by his strong arms expertly moving to the music. His long fingers delicately touching the keys. His neck muscles straining as he sang.

Oh shit. You’re really turned on by a really hot stranger. You haven’t exactly had your needs fulfilled since you broke up with your ex. Since then you busied yourself with work and left little time for dating. Of course, you don’t have to date a guy to have your needs met.

You didn’t notice the song end, but you had noticed a presence next to you. Your jaw nearly dropped when you saw the sexy stranger standing next to you. He was rather close thanks to the crowd. Penny and the other bar tenders were trying to get to everyone as quickly as they could, but you would rather them take their time. The stranger stood waiting to order another round.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” he said out of the blue. It took a moment for you to realize he was talking to you.

“I-I just flew in today,” you said cursing yourself. Really, that’s all you could muster up. It is hard to think of anything witty to say when you are lost in his smile.

“What brings you to San Diego? I hope it’s not a boyfriend,” he says deepening his voice for the second half. Oh my god is he flirting with me?!

“No boyfriend, just work. I am a… um new teacher. My first day is Monday,” you say putting on a flirtatious look. Technically you are not lying. But are here to teach fighter pilots, not school kids. In the past you have found that men can be run off by your high position in the military.

“Let me buy you a drink to start your school year out right,” we both laugh and look to the still very busy bartenders. We look back to each other. I wish he would take off those silly sunglasses. There is a short lull in the conversation before you pipe up.

“What about you?” You blurt out, just realizing he has been lead in the whole conversation. “What do you do?” His answer is not surprising. His look totally fits the part.

“I’m a pilot,” the way he says it doesn’t sound like a brag at all. He isn’t trying to show boat, instead he states it as fact nothing more.

“Lucky for you I quite like pilots,” your buzz from the three beers have finally taken over. You place your hand on his chest creeping up to his shoulder. He closes what little space is available and places a large hand respectfully low on your thigh.

You can tell he is waiting for you to make the first move. You lean up from your barstool and pull him down into a kiss. His lips are soft contrasting his prickly mustache.

The kiss doesn’t last as long as you would like. When you separate it is like time is frozen. There are no words between the two of you. You are both brought back to earth by a perfectly timed question.

“Can I get you anything?” Penny questions and you snap back to reality a bit flustered.

“I think we would like to close our tabs,” he says after clearing his throat. It’s like he read your mind. Penny looks to you and gives an approving smile and wink before turning to close the tabs.

Once everything is settled, you are making your way through the crowd with a warm hand on your lower back guiding you to the exit.

[cuppajj]

What made you interested in playing Cookie Run Kingdom?

IT STARTED OFF WITH some of my transformers friends online being into it and posting crk related art. I was confused at first bc I had no idea what made these cool humanoid character designs cookies, so I thought it was weird and stayed away. Then almost a year later, my friend who I had no idea was a crk fan posted a picture of licorice cookie and I was like “there’s that frikkin cookie game again. why does it pop up in my feed all the time… what does it want” so I did research and realized that it’s a Gacha game.

Which I DONT really like Gacha games by principle because they’re super pay to win, but even still I was really interested in maybe trying it out. Like I wasn’t afraid of suddenly losing tons of money, im not the kind of person to actually buy p2w content because I’m great at grinding, so then I went to my tumblr and half jokingly was like “y’all gotta convince me not to play crk.” My mutuals did the exact opposite and used their psionic powers to convince me to download the game, which I did and I said verbatim “‘one bite couldn’t hurt”. here I am 6 months later with a lv48 cookie kingdom + lv11 cookie castle, master III on average, 4 ancients + mystic flour and i still haven’t spent a penny on the game. Also a whole lot of fan art which was inevitable, my art style is really good for it anyw. Basically it was safe to say that crk wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I got really hooked by the story, and I’m genuinely surprised that the Gacha mechanic isn’t entirely unfriendly to f2ps like I thought it would be. Like they give you daily rewards and you can grind to unlock stuff just fine. Granted whales exist but they can be largely ignored

Fun fact, you can see the beginning of my cookie spiral because I basically chronicled it on tumblr

[askagamedev]

Do sales really necessarily effect the decisions of post-release content adding support? Like for those types of games, do high sales guarantee more support, and do lower sales risk less-to-no more support? For a couple games I know that do this for several years after initial release, forum discussions use sale numbers to imply or get ideas for the future of post-launch content adding for those games. But I haven’t seen any proof of that being the case for past games. So is the rumor true?

It may help to reframe the situation a little. Let's establish a baseline first. In order for us to provide support for a game or service, that game or service needs to generate enough ongoing money to pay for all costs associated with the continued support plus a reasonable profit. We're looking for sustainability - players keep giving us enough money that we can afford to continue making more of the game. That sounds reasonable, right?

We enter this with some general expectations - some percentage of players will convert to spending additional money on things like microtransactions, battle passes, season passes, cosmetics, story DLC, additional characters, loot boxes, whatever. Some percentage of players will never spend a penny beyond the initial buy-in for the game. These percentages are factors of the total player base - only players who bought the game will spend money on DLC/microtransactions/etc. Generally, this means we need a certain number of sales + a certain percentage of those players to pay for additional content in order to pay for any continued game development.

If we don't get enough sales, we most likely won't ever have enough paying players to financially justify continued game development. This is what happened most recently with Immortals of Aveum - they missed their sales goal by a significant amount, so they laid off half the studio and cancelled all plans for ongoing content development.

If we do get enough sales (or close to enough) but don't get enough paying players among the overall players, we won't have enough revenue to justify continued game development. What may end up happening in this situation is that the publisher gives the dev studio a chance to save themselves by coming up with some way to get to sustainability. Bioware's Anthem falls under this category.

It isn't really sales that matter though - engagement (time spent playing the game regularly) is the real metric that everybody is paying attention to, because it is the metric most closely correlated to players being willing to spend money on a game. If you've got a highly engaging game with lots of players playing it every day, it will almost certainly get more support. If engagement falls, players will churn out and the money will dry up, which leads to the game getting sunset.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[nanathott]

Came here to ask if you liked Sylus but found the answer thru stalking your recents (plz don’t judge haha)

So glad you love him too, he makes me siiick in the best way. Mans doesn’t leave my mind

no judgement but YES!! sylus is MY MANN i love him so much, im alr at lvl 32 intimacy with him and i haven’t spent a penny on the game…. i am devoted

[nerdlydelicious]

What moments in this volume (or even before) set up WK on the potentially more than friends route?

Sorry this took so long! I’ve been rather busy and haven’t had a chance to finish replying to this ask since I got so much more in detail with it. (Surprise surprise, talking about White Knight makes me rant XD).

Well I feel like the big one is Jaune saving Weiss’s life at Haven, and unlocking his semblance to do so.

Thing is, they could have used just about anyone else here and achieved a similar effect. In fact, using Ren, Nora, or Ruby as Cinder’s target instead of Weiss would make more sense from a narrative standpoint since he’s spent much more time with them, and has a less rocky history with them. They’re Jaune’s teammates, he traveled across a continent with them.

But the writers chose for Weiss to be the one Cinder targets to hurt him, to be the reason that he finally unlocks his semblance, an aspect of who he is, and that’s telling. Weiss, the same girl he held a candle for back in Volumes 1 and 2 (and I’d argue in Volume 3 as well), and the same girl he pursued fruitlessly, then took a step back from to respect her wishes.

And she was the one that he unlocked his semblance for. That matters. That matters a lot.

I personally think that Jaune still holds a candle for Weiss. Perhaps not as much as he did early at Beacon, but he still cares for her as more than a friend, and it shows in little moments. And likewise, I think Weiss’s feelings towards Jaune have have grown (or are growing) into more than just friendship, there are so many little moments between them that show they’re growing closer, little moments that Weiss or Jaune hasn’t really had with anyone else outside their team. Weiss is one of the main people Jaune is boosting with his semblance, outside of Ren whose semblance was very handy during V8. When she collapsed in V6 after catching Ruby with her glyph, Jaune was the one to catch her. When Jaune boosted Penny’s aura it was Weiss who put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a proud smile, and Jaune who noticed when she wiped a tear from her eye.

They were the last two to fall from the bridge, and he was helping her to the exit before Cinder set off an explosion under them.

And of course we got an absolute buffet of White Knight in V9. Not as much as BMBLB, of course, but we still got a lot. Weiss inadvertently calling Jaune handsome, then doubling down by practically drooling over him in episode 6. Weiss being the one to snap him out of his anger during his fight with Ruby, and Weiss being the one to comfort Jaune and tell him that he’s brave and good, and then hugging him. And I’m not just talking about a simple, arm around the shoulders hug. That was a full on motha fuckin’ embrace.

Look at that. She was in to that hug. She was all about that hug.

And of course, their lingering touch after the hug.

Because placing your hand on the small of her back as she rests her hand on your arm is totally something people who only care about each other as friends do. Totally.

And then there’s Weiss being the one to see Jaune in danger and try to help him (then knock him off the platforms, whoops). Then, this little moment when he’s de aged:

Sure, they’re all happy to see him back to his young self, but Weiss is the only one giggling at him here.

I could go on, but yes, I do earnestly believe that White Knight is end game for Weiss and Jaune, and I could not be happier about that.

[under-the-eye]

Iris and Isla have become young adults! Iris has fully given her passion to music (second to the Watcher, of course!) while Isla is eagerly looking forward to building a family of her own.

To celebrate, we all took a day trip to the Goldenrock National Park, where we’ve spent so many summer days as a family.

The boys played their traditional game of horseshoes with their father. Over some rounds of cards and Don’t Wake the Llama, I gave Iris and Isla the knowledge they would need to be good wives to their future husbands. Penny was there too, but there’s no harm in her having this knowledge early.

James: Hey, my family is at Goldenrock right now, do you want to come hang out with me?

???: Sure, be there in a little bit.

James: Cool, thanks.

After their horseshoes, the boys fished up some fish for us to fry for dinner, just like old times!

Jonah: I think that one looks like a house. 

James: It kinda does, yeah. The one next to it looks like a dragon. Watch out, peasants, your roof might be on fire in a minute.

Jonah: Laughs Straw roofs don’t offer a lot of dragon protection, do they?

James: Jonah… we’re friends, right?

Jonah: I hope so, otherwise we’ve wasted a lot of time hanging out. 

James: Right. And I like that. Being friends, I mean. With you. I haven’t gotten along with most of the other kids at the co-op or at church, not even my siblings, but with you it’s easier. 

Jonah: I feel the same way. It’s hard being the youngest, huh? Lately Zeke has been taking up all of the attention with the courting stuff.

James: It’s the same at my house with Isla and Iris. Penny is ok, and she’s really good at chess, but my parents never let her talk about the stuff we have in common.

Jonah: You know… don’t tattle on me, but I don’t think that’s fair. My sisters are good at so many things, but our parents won’t let them do any of it. 

James: I won’t tattle. I don’t think it’s fair either.

Late that night…

[crinkled-emotions]

Day 1: Nights spent by the toilet, rubbing A's shoulder

We're finally here! I kinda felt like maybe I wouldn't get to this point but here we are, ready to publish day 1!

The way these are going to work is very similar to my other fics: they will vary in length, the warnings will be the first thing you see (where applicable) and then the fic itself will be under a readmore. We're starting with a bang, but there are a couple different types of fics coming with multiple ships and, of course, some Dagger time!

This particular fic was partially inspired by one I wrote last December - find it here!

Warnings for this fic: emeto

-

Rapping his knuckles on the bar table in front of Phoenix and Bob, Payback immediately had their attention.

“Bagman’s out the front pukin’, might want to go check on him.”

“Why not you?” Bob replied. Payback sent him a look and Bob sighed.

“Well it can’t be me either; I already lined up a game of pool with Fanboy and Rooster.”

With that, Bob got up and followed Payback into the crowd, leaving Phoenix on her lonesome. For such a big team, no one really minded having a moment to themselves. She glanced around the Hard Deck, taking in the rest of her team. Coyote was nowhere to be found which was odd; he was usually one of the first to suggest a team outing on a Saturday night, shortly followed by Hangman. Considering how much they fed off each other’s shithead energy, no one was really shocked that Penny had them thrown overboard at least once a month... maybe twice, if they were really leaning into their naughty adult children act (terrorising Rooster at the piano). She’d barely seen Hangman tonight, but a glance from Penny and Maverick told her they had information she could use. As she walked past she gently touched Rooster’s shoulder. She always did it when passing him- he did it too. They used it as a way to check in with each other more than anything.

Up at the bar, Penny offered Phoenix a bottle of water and a gentle smile.

“I saw Seresin looking a little green earlier; do you want Mav to come with you?”

“Hey!” Maverick protested, but the corner of his lips twitched upwards. Phoenix shook her head.

“I’ve known Seresin since before either of us were legally allowed to drink; we’re fine. If Bob asks tell him I’m taking Hangman home.”

“Sure thing.”

Penny walked off to serve an incoming customer, but Maverick paused for a moment.

“Are you sure, Tasha? I was only joking-“

“-it’s better that you don’t, he’ll crawl out of his skin,” Phoenix reassured, “it’s nothing personal.”

“I understand. We’re here if you need anything.”

Never had Phoenix met a CO like Maverick; though, to be fair, she wasn’t sure there was anyone like Maverick. Paternal but firm and with a quick temper. She’d been one of the only people allowed to know the full story between him and Bradley; it felt like a privilege and she continued to treat it as one.

-

“Hey; what’s going on? Did your drink get spiked?”

Natasha had seen Jake in a lot of compromising positions over the almost ten years of knowing each other; from her roommate’s bed in the academy to the stomach flu of ’09 that had taken out him, her and Bradley all in one swoop. It’s still a topic all of them refuse to talk about. Sitting in the dirt around the side of the Hard Deck, Phoenix barely blinked as she reached to help him up. Jake grimaced.

“Wait, don’t move me yet. I didn’t get spiked; I think it’s a cold at worst. Relax, Tasha.”

Another thing Phoenix learned very early on in their frenemyship; Hangman will understate everything going on in the hopes it gets him left alone until he’s ready to accept help (read: most likely requiring hospital treatment or, at the very least, a cleaner with a strong stomach... cooking dinner ended up requiring both once).

“Yeah, sure, and I haven’t done this for you before. Do you know where Coyote is?”

“He’s not here.”

“I know that; where is he specifically?”

In response, Jake just shrugged and Phoenix determined if she didn’t laugh, she’d probably smack him. Hefting an arm around her shoulder, she pulled him to stand. Immediately he snorted and Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Okay, man, out with it.”

“Have you ever thought of suing the county? Y’know, for putting the sidewalk too close to your ass- ow! Hey, I’m sick!”

That time, he did get smacked.

With his keys in hand, Natasha guided (read: dragged) Jake back to his truck. Climbing into the driver’s seat she sighed and reached for the handle to pull it forward; for someone who had just lost everything they’d eaten over the last 24 hours, Jake seemed to find this rather funny from the passenger seat.

“Fuck you, Seresin.”

That shut him up for the time being. They only had a short window to get him home before the nausea would take over and Phoenix wasn’t down for pulling over for him to hurl on the side of a street.

-

In the end they barely made it back to his place. Phoenix had barely pulled up before he threw himself out the passenger side to gag rather dramatically on to his driveway. She rounded the back of the truck to put a hand on his back, wincing at the warmth radiating off his body. Jake shivered, turning to look at Natasha.

“This sucks.”

She snorted.

“It does, even more when it’s not because you had tequila the night before. C’mon, you aren’t doing anything else but going to bed tonight.”

“No, wait; I don’t think I’m done.”

“You’re empty, dude. Anything further and you’re gonna tear your throat.”

Jake winced, sucking in a breath.

“Promise you’re not gonna laugh?”

“You know I can’t promise that.”

Jake might have laughed, but it was shortly followed by a grimace. Using her body weight like they’d taught her in basic, Natasha hauled him up to stand.

“Let’s make this quick,” Jake said. Natasha winced.

“Gotcha. Bedroom or bathroom?”

Jake stayed quiet. Natasha got the hint.

-

With Hangman curled up in the bathroom for the time being, Phoenix took the opportunity to take a quick inventory of the kitchen and medicine basket on top of his refrigerator. He had Tylenol but no Advil; everything in the refrigerator was either expired, meal prepped or not useful in this situation (read: a carton of milk). She huffed, glancing over her shoulder.

“Hey Bagman, you do know what a cheat day is right?”

No response. She couldn’t blame him.

At least he had a thermometer; she’d guesstimated he had a fever but confirmation would be a good start. Finally, she located bottled water in the mostly empty pantry and she grabbed a couple to put by the couch. After a couple minutes of searching she paused in her steps when she heard the retching start again. Phoenix cursed under her breath and jogged back to the bathroom. Doordashing those missing supplies could wait.

“Jake? You good?”

“Fine,” he groaned, “just nauseous.”

He was so past the point of nauseous. Tentatively, Phoenix took a seat on the bathroom floor by his side. Her hand hovered over his shoulders for a moment, eventually making contact with his shirt when his arms came up to brace himself over the toilet.

“You know what you need?” She started after a moment. Hangman turned to glance at her over his shoulder.

“A hug?”

“A toothbrush.”

Despite the fact that Hangman was miserable as fuck and Phoenix could feel her skin starting to crawl considering the stench of puke in the room, they both snorted.

-

For the first thirty seconds of being awake, Phoenix couldn’t remember where she was or why she wasn’t in her bed. Instinctively she went to glance over her shoulder just to make sure she didn’t have someone else in her bed, only to meet the back of the couch... wait. That wasn’t her couch. It was Hangman’s. She’d crashed there after finally managing to get him into bed, promising to listen out in case he needed help in the night. By the time she’d gotten him to bed he’d brushed his teeth, had a couple sips of water and downed Tylenol, and was ready to pass out until the cycle restarted.

Sure enough; it had indeed started.

Phoenix got up, heading through Hangman’s room and into his ensuite. Crouched over the toilet, Hangman looked like he was not having a good time between the sweating, shaking, and the... y’know, the retching probably didn’t help. The offer of comfort came a lot easier to Phoenix that time, kneeling by him to calmly rub his back when he winced.

“You alright?” Phoenix asked. Hangman hummed, reaching up to wipe at his forehead.

“Killin’ me.”

“Well, work should be quiet on Monday if you’re dead. Maybe I should go, leave you to die in peace.”

“Don’t go.”

Oh. That was new.

“Sit back. I think you’re good for now.”

Phoenix reached for the face towel sitting on the end of the sink, dunked it in the water, and then handed it over.

“You and me; we take this to the grave. Clear?” She said. Jake nodded, groaning as he turned to rest his head on her shoulder. Natasha went quiet for a moment, then she checked for a fever again.

“I have an idea. Get up, asshole, I can carry you I just don’t want to.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

-

Of all the things Natasha had expected Jake to do, she didn’t even think about getting all of five minutes into the shitty late night show she’d left on low only for Jake to toss a pillow on to her lap and rest his head on it, pulling her hand into his hair.

“You good?”

“My stomach hates me more right now than it did in flight school.”

Natasha snorted in amusement, her hand remaining on his shoulder.

“If you promise not to hurl on me, you can stay there.”

He slowly drifted to sleep. Despite the fact that her thighs were probably going to die if he slept long enough to start feeling better, Phoenix figured there were worse places for him to be.

-

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 31

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

Today, the countdown begins in earnest!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “Be careful, Brain! Those are probably priceless fake artifacts!”

Number 31 is…Inspector Gadget.

Not every detective on this countdown has to be a GOOD detective. They just have to conform to the rules and regulations I established, and…well…be a detective, in general. While most of the sleuths on this countdown WILL be relatively serious characters – which is to say, they’ll actually be good at their jobs, no matter how silly they at first appear – there are a couple that will fall into the “Bungling Detective” trope. These are comical, parodical characters who are decidedly NOT good at their jobs. Most of them are, weirdly enough, given the title of “Inspector,” which really makes you wonder how terrible the law enforcement offices in these universes must be.

Out of all the bumblers and baboons who wear an inspector’s badge, I think many would agree with me that Inspector Gadget is quite possibly the single most dunderheaded lout of the entire bunch. In terms of sheer ability, Gadget is arguably the single worst detective of all time. This character is SUCH a goofy loser, that I actually had a couple of people outright telling me, when I told them about this concept, that he shouldn’t be included. HE’S. THAT. BAD. So why IS he on the list, after all? Well…like I said, competency isn’t really an issue here, and I do have a big nostalgic soft spot for the (not so) good Inspector, so he gets a pass at the end of the day.

For those who don’t know, “Inspector Gadget” was a 1980s cartoon series, which focused on the adventures of its titular character: a clumsy and dimwitted cyborg, who was part of an elite group of law enforcement agents. The organization’s goal is to take down a mysterious mad scientist, Dr. Claw: the leader of an evil gang of international felons known as M.A.D. Gadget would be sent out on missions to defeat Claw and his minions…and he would always louse it up, because Gadget is a complete moron. This was the great, humorous conceit of the series: Gadget is a bionically enhanced living superweapon, with all kinds of gizmos at his disposal…but the combination of him having two left feet and only half of a brain cell ultimately renders all that power thoroughly worthless. He’s too busy tripping over his own “Go-Go Gadget Oil Slick!” to have any HOPE of catching the perpetrators or solving any mystery thrust before him.

Ironically, it’s Gadget’s sidekicks who end up being the REAL saviors of every episode. One was the Inspector’s own niece: a precocious and cheerful young girl named Penny. While she loves and looks up to her uncle, Penny is actually a MUCH better detective than he is with far less high-tech gear (and a significant age gap). It’s usually she who ends up TRULY figuring out the case and finding a way to stop Claw and his cronies. Brain, meanwhile, was their talking, bipedal pet dog (don’t question it, I’m not going to). While Penny was cracking the case, this poor mutt spent most of his time making sure that Gadget didn’t get himself killed, with much slapstick buffoonery happening as a result.

While everyone pretty universally agrees that Inspector Gadget, himself, is a complete and total clod, the show and the character turned out to be extremely popular. The series not only sold a boatload of merchandise, but gave way to a Christmas special, two (terrible) live-action films, and even a recent Netflix reboot (which I haven’t seen). He may not have been a truly great gumshoe in the sense of…well…actually being a great gumshoe, but as one of the most wonderfully silly sleuths to ever sweep across the small screen, Inspector Gadget has definitely made his mark. “Go-Go Gadget Legacy!”

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 30!

CLUE: “Your vast corrupt future is draining away as we speak.”

[taoistpenguin]

making music in the 1980s - then vs. now

I see a lot of young musicians on social media saying they’re considering quitting music because they haven’t gotten enough clicks or likes or follows. I’ve been writing, performing and getting paid from music since the early ‘80s so I thought I’d provide some context of what the game was like back then, in my case in New York City, in the pre-social media, pre-video universe:

Among my friends, deciding to play music wasn’t a career choice, it was driven by a need for creative self-expression. There weren’t schools or online courses promising shortcuts to glory like there are now. Sure, you wanted to be successful, but that wasn’t the primary motivation. You did it because you literally knew no other way to express yourself. It’s not an exaggeration to say music was life and death for a lot of people.

You got a day job that you didn’t care about, just to pay your rent and bills. You saved every extra penny to buy gear. You split the cost of a rehearsal space and spent every night of the week doing something musical. If you weren’t rehearsing, you were gigging, and if you weren’t gigging or rehearsing, you were on the scene, checking out bands, making connections, trying to become part of a community.

When the band was ready you paid maybe $350 to go to an 8-track studio and make a 3-song demo tape. Yes, there were cassette portastudios and reel to reel decks, but most people didn’t have the necessary space or outboard equipment to make a professional sounding home demo. Yes, you could do it in an empty loft or garage with your own gear, but it would sound like crap. After you made the demo you took a band photo. Good music videos were expensive, so that wasn’t really an option.

You copied your demo and photo and took them to every club you wanted to play. You got the booker’s phone number and would call every week on a landline – no cell phones, so no texting - to harass them about when they were gonna book you. When you did get a gig, you hoped it was a good time slot. Back then, nightlife didn’t start until around 10pm, so if you got an earlier slot you were bummed. Midnight was prime time, and it wasn’t unusual to see bands playing full rooms at 1 or 2 am.

To promote your show, you xeroxed your homemade flyers, went out in the middle of the night, and stuck them to every flat surface you could find in as many parts of town as you could cover. In the days before email, you also mailed flyers to the mailing list that you got by asking people to write their names and addresses on a clipboard at your shows.

When it was time for the gig, if you didn’t own a band van, you hired one to get you and your gear there and back. If you played well enough and brought enough people to your show, the club would book you again. If you were serious and didn’t let drugs and drink get in the way, your band would improve and eventually you’d start getting better time slots on better nights. As word of mouth spread, you’d get bookings in different neighborhoods and eventually out of town.

Throughout all of this you’d be sending tapes and photos to press and record labels, inviting them to your shows and trying to get signed. If you were lucky, the Village Voice or a local zine would write about you, and sometimes that led to more shows in new places. If you stayed in the game long enough and behaved professionally enough, you eventually met people who enjoyed what you were trying to do, and tried to help you. But mainly you said “yes” to every potential opportunity.

There were plenty of nights when there weren’t a lot of people in the room. I remember playing at CBGB once when the only person there was the bartender. What did we do? We rocked as hard as we ever did, and got him nodding his head and air drumming along with us. We figured this guy had seen a thousand bands at that job, so if we could get him to respond we took it as a victory,

All this to say that if you’re thinking of giving up because you’re not gaining a bunch of superficial followers on social media, you might not be in this for the right reasons. Likes and follows don’t require any real investment in your career. They’re fair weather friends. Don’t chase trends. Focus on making music that matters and hit it hard every single time.

[marbarmars-arts]

💗Day 16: Mechanic (ft. Penny!) 💖

Even though their plans go awry, they're gonna get back up and try! They're gonna be shining stars~ 

Fawful and Penny! I think they would hang out...they surprisingly have a bit in common, being mechanics is one of em. 

Yes I really like Penny's song from Warioware Get it Together xD I was listening to it while working on this art haha. Penny has a really cute design and I admire her wanting to be a singer scientist. 

I quite like the Warioware series, but I haven't really played a lot of them yet. The one I grew up with was Warioware DIY, I spent plenty of hours making stuff hehe! I noticed they really changed up the character designs of a few characters over the span of the series. And I gotta say sometimes I'm highly nostalgic for the DIY Penny, and really like Game and Wario's design, but I'm overall glad this current design is what they went with. Maybe it's because I love small chibi cutesy stuff but I really like it. Anyways the new design really makes her look like the same size as Fawful xD maybe she's a little taller but yeah...I know today is about the fact they're both mechanics, but I also really like to emphasize they also both have a love for performance, and pink. :) 

Penny I think makes it a bit more obvious, specifically stating she wants to be a popstar. I dunno if Fawful would want to be a POPSTAR per se but he definitely likes the theatrical/performance arts, turning Bowser's Castle into a theater for himself haha! I just think this was a really pretty piece to draw, and I loved drawing Penny, I had meant to for a while now and Fawful Month was a nice reason to include her. 

I'll see ya tomorrow for something pretty interesting I'll try my best to explain :D

[ursa-mediocre]

A wolf, a magpie, a bit of luck, a forest ranger, a gladiator, two sea witches, a vigilante, and a body (used).

This dress up game came up on my dash and I spent way too much time making a bunch of my D&D characters, half of whom I haven’t played lol

Asena Aynur - human, werewolf, lunar magic sorcerer

Maggie (Marigold) Pye - halfling, divine light warlock

Lucky (Lucanus) Luckenbooth - halfling, battlesmith artificer

Ranger Ranger D. Ranger - eladrin, horizon walker ranger

Gemma Nightingale - astral elf, echo knight

Ula Smithsbane - dwarf, fathomless warlock

Ersala Ath Tel’alu - aasimar, circle of stars druid/order cleric

Nix (Lady Wilhelmina Delphinia Alphonsina Dianthe de Rien von Nichts) - tiefling, swashbuckler rogue(/hexblade or bard, undecided)

Penny (Penitence)- reborn, wild magic sorcerer

[voidofama]

hello i just finished jedi survivor and i am in pain. this post contains spoilers do not read if you haven’t finished the game <3

here’s a penny for my thoughts that no one asked for.

is anyone else thinking that cal has turned to the dark side by the end of the plot? bc boy i sure am and it hurts to think abt 😩

i just - agjshsheje. something about the fact that he doesn’t turn to face cere’s force ghost when she visits him. like we know force ghosts aren’t invisible, probably mostly shown to those who weld the force and those they were close to. AND THE FACT THAT HE SPENT AN ENTIRE NIGHT JUST WATCHING THE BURNING? that cannot have a good effect on anyone lmfao. i don’t know why but something about cere’s apparition at the end just gives me bad vibes, as in i’m kinda thinking it wasn’t really her. i’m feeling it was the dark side of cal imagining her there. i think i thought that probably because of the weird fucked up warped sound they used when she appeared. and also how cal’s so determined to kill bode… like he didn’t seem to care that kata was in the room with them after some point. also cal’s meditation spots being dark and scary when you went into skills. MAYBEEE i’m looking too deep into it but like. what if.

ok update i finally got past the end credits WHAT IS THAT MUSIC AT THE END OF THE END SCENE??? IT DOES NOT!!! GIVE ME GOOD VIBES WTH. WE ALL KNOW MUSIC IS HELLA SIGNIFICANT IN STAR WARS. I -

anyway. i think that if cal hadn’t really turned by then, he was on the way or kind of in a mace windu spot with the force if you know what i mean. like working towards balance but struggling with… balancing it. LMAO my brain is braining i need to figure this out 😩 now i want a third game dammit. dark side cal would be devastating to play through but. give me the angst

also listen ik he was a “bad guy” and we’re supposed to not like him but i’m SO SAD over bode. i don’t know if i ended up liking bode sm bc he shares a va with charles smith (rdr2) but I MISS HIM (before his villain arc reveal ofc) </3 also kata makes me sad too. she lost both of her parents and has to spend however much time with the man who killed her father. can’t imagine that’s the best way for a little girl to grow up. kinda hoping that in the third game (if there is one) we play partly in cal’s perspective and partly in kata’s. i just want to know how they would work together. give me the tea, give me the drama. i’m here for it.

not really i can’t handle any more pain but you get what i mean

[abwatt]

getting clients by the theoretical numbers

Yesterday, I spent $10.00 to ‘blaze’ a Tumblr post, so that it would be shown on the walls of 2500 people in America between 11:00 am Eastern time on Saturday 18 February 2023 and Sunday 19 February 2023 at 11:00 am. Twenty-four hours, 2500 people. Ten bucks, or a thousand pennies, and a nominal 5000 “eyeballs” (being aware that in any 2500 people there are going to be some blind folks, some one-eyed, etc).  If I haven’t made an order of magnitude mistake, I paid two cents for every 5 people who saw my blazed post.

If you’d like to know more about why I did this...

Now, marketing theory predicts that any ad campaign is going to have about  1.25% return on investment, at each of three levels— if you know you got 2500 people to see your ad, then roughly 31 of them will stop long enough to look at it and read it.  Then, roughly 1.25% of those 31 people will click the link. (which is 0.39ths of a person) — which means that you have somewhere between a 1 in 3 chance  and 1 in 2 chance that one of those 31 people will be interested enough at that moment to see your product.  And then you multiply that single person by 1.25% again, and you’re flipping a coin — a roughly 50% chfor ance or 1 in 2 that they’re interested enough at that moment to buy your product. 

So, that’s the game. 

How did I do with my blazed post, then?  Well, it got three re-blogs and 12 likes.  So in terms of engagement, it got a lot... considerably more than the last six astrology columns I posted.

But — (and this is complicated, because a lot more people use anonymizing software or use computers that automatically prevent them from getting tracked, than used to) there was literally not a single tracked visitor from Tumblr to my own website.  Not a single person clicked the link — at least, not that I know about, bearing in mind that a lot of people use anonymizers or have built-in ones on their phone or laptop.

In essence, I don’t know if I did better or worse than my baseline performance at all.  There’s no reason to assume that I did, though: twelve likes and three re-blogs is above the norm. It’s nearly half of the 31 theoretical people who engaged with the ad long enough to read it.  Half the people who the theory said would engage, engaged-and-responded to the ad,  That’s astonishing, and very positive. 

But.

It also implies that the internet has another 1.25% step somewhere between looking at a given ad, and purchase of something from that advertiser’s website, something like click-throughs.  And $10 for 2500 impressions is not nearly enough.

So we have this table.

1.25% of viewers will read the ad; 50 of those will engage with it in some fashion and remix-reblog-like it.

1.25% of ‘lively engagers’ will visit the website;

1.25% of visitors will investigate to buy;

1.25% of investigators will buy.

Based on that, how many impressions do I need to have to make one sale?

Well...

1 buyer / 0.0125 = 80 investigators

80 investigators / 0.0125 = 6,400 lively visitors

6,400 lively visitors / 0.0125 = 500,000 engagers

which is basically a million viewers.

But blazing a post to a million people isn’t an option. There's basically a $10 tier, a $25 tier, a $65 tier, and a $150 tier.   It’s $150 to blaze a post to 50,000 people on Tumblr.  For that price I get...

625 engagers

312 engagers

3.9 lively visitors

a 4% chance that one of them will investigate deeper

a 6 in 10,0000 chance that this person would buy today.

OH.  

And suddenly two things should be clear, if you’ve read this far.

If you want a hundred regular reliable customers, (particularly as something like a Tarot reader or astrologer), this can only be achieved by word-of-mouth, living in the same neighborhood (loosely/broadly defined) as them, or being obviously available to each other somehow (like through a shop or some other sort of marketplace portal). You need a LOT of people, or you need to be a specialty service-provider, or both.

A lot of advertising works by repeated exposure, rather than one-off ads; the hardware store down the road from you in a town of 50,000 has a sign that 80% of the population sees five days a week .... those people represent 200,000 views a week... live there for 10 weeks, and you become part of the two million views, and probably part of that hardware store’s word-of-mouth campaign, too (which has a much higher success rate than 1.25%)

And this means that I have a magical target. I have a sense of what I would like to achieve — more paying clients for my astrology business.  I have a sense of what the baseline numbers of an ad campaign would be — what it will cost me financially, and what sorts of numbers I need under ordinary circumstances to get the number of clients I would like to have....  And third, I have a sense of how improbable it would be to go from here where I am now, to there where I would like to be.

Which means I have some sense of how I’ll know when the magic worked. 

And that’s pretty elegant. 

In a bit, before I do any magic, I’ll think through the ethics of what I want to do and why, and how I’ll structure the work... and I’ll share that thought process here.

[nancypullen]

What’s Up, Buttercup?

Everyone still recovering from the holidays or is that just me?  I’m really enjoying these quiet days of January.  My goal for this month is to organize.  I mean really organize.  I want my pantry to be HGTV worthy (we all know that won’t happen) with perfectly aligned and labeled containers.  Honestly I’ll be happy if each shelf just has a purpose.  We’ve been shoving stuff in there so haphazardly that you might grab confectioner’s sugar or Play-Doh.  I’ve got a bunch of the grandgirl’s art supplies and games on a bottom shelf, but they wander. I need to tackle the master closet as well.  It got a little out of hand over the holidays, and by holidays I mean Halloween through Christmas.  It needs some straightening.  It’s such a great space - there’s no excuse for letting it get messy.  I’m also organizing the card catalog storage in my craft room. That’s just fun.  It didn’t take long to fill the top two drawers with blocks of clay. It’s like spotting a rainbow every time I open them.  I’m filling the rest with ribbons and washi tape that I use for making cards. Polka dots and gingham in every color!

I’m loading more ribbon and some washi tape in the bottom two drawers.

Is that a cabinet full of fun or what?  It’s calling to me every day, asking me to come play.  I mean, this needs to be an Easter card, right?

I like this gal too.  I think she’s saying something like, “I haven’t lost all my marbles, but there’s definitely a hole in the bag.”

The sooner I get everything organized and ship shape, the sooner I can play.  I’ve got so many ideas for clay and for cards banging around in my head, I need to get them out! I have another problem though. My kids are so generous, and treated me like a queen on Christmas. I received everything from fresh canvases to paint on to a cordless glue gun (!!!).  Isn’t the cord always too short?  Anyway, I was thrilled with everything, but they also gifted me with Etsy, Sephora, and Amazon gift cards.  The Sephora card was spent Christmas night, I’ve always got a basket ready to go.  I usually have a shopping list on Amazon as well. No problem.  BUT, I love so many things on Etsy and I have so much to spend that I can’t decide on anything!  The pressure is too much!  It’s killing me.  I feel like I have to be really responsible with their hard-earned money, not a penny should be wasted.  I study things and decide if I can make it myself for less, or if I really even need it.  I can almost always talk myself out of it.  So far I have purchased some new clay cutters, a batch of jewelry findings - earrings posts, jump rings, that sort of thing.  Those are all things I needed.  Then I bought a cute bird house. I’m thinking ahead to spring and it’s going to find a home in the Crape Myrtle tree beside the porch.  Yes, I’m still working hard at luring all manner of furred and feathered friends to our yard.  It’s working too.  I’m hearing more and more bird song.  That’s good for my soul, so that was a mental health purchase.  But  I’m still swimming in Etsy money and I can’t decide if I should opt for home decor, jewelry. art, garden stuff, or what.   I’m stressing out!  I don’t deserve more than a $25 gift card because I’ll give myself an ulcer trying to make the right choice.  I will not waste one cent of my boys’ money and the burden is too much!  Next year I’m asking for socks.  I know, it’s a great problem to have.  I also know that I’m the only one worried about it.  My kids would scoff and say, “Enjoy! Spend it!”  I don’t know if it’s the Scots or the German in me that balks.  That brings me to another I-don’t-want-to-spend-it quandry.  When we moved here we knew we’d purchase new living and dining room furniture.   We found sofas right away, but I didn’t see a dining set that I liked (translation: a price I liked).  The whole fam damily was coming to visit shortly after we arrived and I needed a place for us to eat.  I poked around on Facebook Marketplace and found a cheap table with six chairs that the sellers were willing to deliver. Score!  It would serve as a placeholder, we’d all fit, and I figured when we found our new set we could pass it on.  Eight months later we’re still using that ugly table.  Mickey loves the chairs, I don’t. Here’s a snap from the day after Christmas. I was setting the table (not finished) for a brunch. I can’t remember why I took this pic, but having it on my phone saved me from walking in now to take a photo.  I’m lazy.

See what I mean?  The table is really ugly - very shiny fake finish on top, but there’s room for all of us.  The menfolk all say they love the chairs.  I’m not a fan.  The color looks awful with our floors, but a rug underneath might help.  Probably not. It’s also kind of squatty in the space.  On the other hand - it’s solid, has apparently lasted decades, it’s in excellent shape, and I feel like I ought to find a way to like it. Can I chalk paint the top and then sand and stain those chairs?  What could I do to Nancify it? This is what I’ve been looking at.

I just can’t bring myself to spend on it.  Also, as much as I love those sets, I’m not 100% sure they’d look right in our space.  I’d be more sure if they were cheaper. 

If I said that we needed a new set Mickey would be in the car and ready to go test chairs.  I’m the one dragging my feet. It just feels wasteful.  There’s a big gap between wants and needs.  I want a pretty set, but I don’t need one.   The only thing I need is peace and bird song, and I’m working on that.   I think I’d rather have a fence in front of the tree line and a porch swing.  Oh geez, it’s my Etsy gift card all over again. I’m going to go take a bubble bath and read a book. I don’t want to think about money or stuff.  Why can’t everything just be five dollars?  This gives me heartburn. Sending out lots of love (it’s FREE!) tonight.  I hope that your year is off to a fine start and that your heart is full of hope for 2023.  I’m daring to think that it will be good to us.  I tend to start every year sure that it will be the best year ever, but the last couple have been determined to prove me wrong.  That’s why I’m setting my sights a bit lower, hoping that if we’re good to each other and focus on what matters - kindness, growth, love, peace - things just might turn out okay.  Don’t forget to be kind to yourself.  Make sure that voice in your head is a friend. And that’s a wrap. The bath is calling and I must go.  Stay safe, stay well.

Nancy

[worldweaverofmediocrity]

Cheat and Steal to Lie and Survive

...whoops, maybe i should get back to being a writeblr.

Summary: Lying is wrong. Lying for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years is wrong. Lying about the very planet’s main enemy being immortal to your secret shadow government is wrong. Lying about the literal Divine Summoning Superweapon split into four is wrong. Lying about the four women with vast elemental powers who double as living keys and security checks to said Doomsday Device. Lying about the current Humanity being its second attempt is wrong. ...Unless said lies bring about one (confirmed) century of Peace and Progress. Unless said lies transforms a Kingdom built on mining and emotional slavery into a technological powerhouse capable of producing Artifical Life that is recognized as a ‘woman’ by the Magic that governs the Living Key Maidens. But that is a wrong well trampled, but this is a story about two wrongs making a right. Or what if Spinel, Wonder Woman, and Princess Celestia/Doomguy, 2B, and the Avatar Cycle joined the Wizard of Remnant in his eternal quest.

AN: The Chosen get full context of the Wizard’s Life and Task. to prevent any of the “Oh but they didn’t understand what they were signing up for” like Ozma did when the Lightbro started the reincarnation chain. It's what Ozpin attempted to do for Pyrrha before Cinder fucked everything up. So why wouldn’t his magic do the same for these folks? Also everyone has gotten their universe’s Perfect End. so no lingering threads to tie them down to their reality. I don’t know what End Game equipment the Chosen have so i’m just going to give them a random grab bag of stuff. Aka i’m watching a LP of Nier Automata and IDK if Doom Eternal is out when i’m writing. But yes Doom Slayer is from after Doom Eternal, plz whack if I get their loadouts all wrong.

Also Magic Using Androids from another Setting and then Vol 7 finale when Penny gets the Winter Maiden? Hell yes I am crossing them over. ...Nier: Automata Androids can use magic right? The Pod Programs and the Skill OS Chips. Shockwave? Autoheal? Those are the magic thingamabobs right? Unless I'm completely mistaking Nier for another setting where Androids are fighting robots after humanity goes extinct and both sides (or at least the androids) can use magic.

Edit: also I spent so long trying to write this chapter that Doom Eternal Released. WHELP. Wish I could say the quality is worth the wait. Still have many sections of this to write. :( edit 2: yeah no i’ve decided i’m not doing eight different perspectives in one chapter, so i’ma delete those sections i haven’t written for. Sorry *insert fandoms here* for not portraying why said characters joined Ozma.

Chapter 1: Let’s Bend the Rules Shall We?

“You Can’t.” With those soul crushing words Jinn The Spirit of Knowledge vanished in a puff of blue smoke. 

The man another reality knows as The Inquisitor wept with his head bowed. Both the man with a body and the small group of people nestled in his soul failed to notice the Green Magic of Time and Space lashing around them. 

“All of our work for the past millennia has been for nought!” Ozma 2.0 The False God banged his fist against a mental desk.

“Come now, with our help humanity and the faunus have civilizations that have lasted more than a decade at most.” Pleaded the Inventor of The Long Memory.

“That is until one of Salem’s worshippers destroys all of our progress or gains one of the Maidens.” The Inquisitor shot back.

“OKAY! So I should have made sure that the Maidens would pass onto optimistic folk if not return to us upon those darlins death.” Snarked Hermit of the Maidens.

As the men and women who collectively answer to Ozma descented into fercious bickering, their magic dissolved any idiotic Grimm who dared attack them in their moment of weakness. The magic shredded the environment around them into sand, forming what will be known Millennia in the future as the harshest (and origin) spot of the Vacuo Desert. But the environment wasn’t the only thing that was shredded by their magic, large gashes in the fabric of reality revealed alien skylines and starscapes. Not even itself was safe from the magic, the Wizard’s hold on Space Magics strained under the weight of bridging universes and could only bring three people and their equipment to his reality before dissipating. Only to be regained in a much weaker form in the lifetime known as The Last King of Vale.

The magic seeped through the gashes in the form of green mist reaching out to anyone who would help. 

The Path of Wisdom.

Of the various oddities and reality warping events Diana Prince saw in her long life as Wonder Woman, One of the Founders of the Justice Society of America during the World Wars and again a founder of the Justice League circa 1995, a green mist that felt of another reality spilling out of a gash in her living room was certainly in her top 500 weirdest things. Then it started playing a Hero’s lifetime beginning when the man rescued a princess from a tower through a woman in the depths of her inherited depression casting a scrying spell into the past to see the events the Immortal wasn’t there to witness and ended when a Genie gave a depressing answer.

Diana breathed in deeply before exhaling and rubbing her nose. Diana got up when the message repeated itself and got out her Amazon Armor while waiting for her call to go through to the Watchtower.

“Batman here.” said the voice.

“Hey Bruce, could you get the Interdimensional Voyage forms? A portal opened in my living room and I'm going to hop through it.” Diana pulled on her torso armor as Batman sighed and clicked some keys.

“Estimated time in our reality vs theirs?”

“Unknown and Until I achieve World Peace when there’s a Literal Immortal Queen hellbent on destroying everything with a massive army of creatures that control 98% of the landmass who are attracted to negative emotions.” Diana shuffled on her greaves.

“Okay then, it's one of those Voyages. Tech Level? Magic Level and percentage of magic users?”

“Tech Level is-” Diana squinted at the portal. “Pre-Gunpowder. Magic Level is Street-City block level. Percentage is all of them and Six Individuals”

Diana could feel Batman’s glower of disapproval from the phone. “Tsk. Any Background info?”

“There once was a man named Ozma, he was a humble Hero going from fight to disaster saving the day. Until he rescued a woman named Salem from a tower and fell in love. But where the blades and beasts of the world failed, a single sickness prevailed. Then Salem went insane with grief and bargained with the Brother gods, tricking them causing infighting between the two Brothers. So they cursed her with immortality until she got some therapy. But Salem was now angry at the Gods and so united the world against them, so the younger Brother exterminated humanity and shattered the moon as he left. Taking humanity’s magic with him.

Then the older brother proposed Ozma with achieving World Peace while the younger God’s attack creatures ran rampant. Warning Ozma to not seek Salem because she’s evil now. So of course being Lovestruck the first thing Ozma did after Reincarnating was seeking Salem out. Upon finding her, Ozma fell in love once more and made the first nation larger than a mere city state in Humanity's history. Salem convinced him to take care of domestic affairs while she dealt with the external ones.

Over the years their family expanded with four daughters, whom the seasons are named after. Then Ozma found out that his wife was a genocidal tyrant and tried to flee with his daughters, only for Salem to catch them and cause a fight during which said daughters died. Then Salem reformed from ash in the ruins of their castle, kicked Ozma onto his back, stood on one of his wounds and ranted about freedom from the gods before interrupting Ozma when he tried to defend himself by burning him to death.

An thus started a long and painful cycle of death and rebirth for Ozma. After his second death, Ozma fell into a deep depression that lasted for a millenia.  

------Back on Remnant/Group Focus.

Wonder Woman flew out of the portal and landed near the Immortal. She gently walked up behind the collapsed man and hugged him, ignoring his sudden flinch and pulled him so that Ozma leaned against her. Hooves clopping echoed across the clearing as Princess Celestia walked out of her portal. Celestia had saddlebags on her back that would have been straining the seams if not for their space expansion enchantments.

The squeak of rubber stretching reached everyone’s ears as Spinel propelled herself into the clearing.

The Path of Murder Blending.

The Last Demon fell before the man known only as the Doom Slayer. There were no more areas of Hell to suddenly open like a Video Game Sequel coming out. No alien invasions. No idiots trying to tap hell as a power source. No more demons/whatever the fuck preaching about ‘ignorant humans not being able to understand traditions’ None of that stupidity, there was merely a man fueled by anger finally calming down from tearing Hell several new holes per day. The Doom Slayer sat down against a wall and finally wept for all those he had lost.

Then a handful of hours later when Doom pulled himself up out of his pity party. An emerald gash appeared unleashing a green mist lighting up with a story as old as time. Quiet literally considering humanity went extinct and was then reborn. But the ancient spark of wrath that propelled him for over thousands of eons was reignited when Doom spotted the Grimm. Sure these demons weren’t red and couldn’t bribe people into selling their souls, but they dissolved on death and sought out negative emotions. Those were demons if Doom had ever seen one, and he had an Eternal Crusade against all demons. No Matter the Form, No Matter the Era, and No Matter the Dimension.

The fact that there was an Eternally Reincarnating Wizard tasked with achieving World Peace, was a mere bonus. 

-----Back on Remnant/Group Focus

The Doom Slayer stepped out of the swirling magic and onto the crunchy sand surrounding the despairing Reincarnator. Doom’s head was on a swivel as he approached the immortal. Before noticing another patch of magic deepens it’s green coloration. Doom leveled his shotgun at the forming portal as 2B and her Pods jogged out of the magic. 

2B was thankful for the green magical wall around her VIP, making it much easier to secure a perimeter when there was an actual perimeter. Then she saw the large man in green armor (what is with this universe and green anyways?) that had a shoulder cannon and a chainsaw-bayonet hybrid under one arm. Who was currently pointing a shotgun at her face.

“Judging by your armament your one of the ‘Chosen’ from another reality?” 2B asked.

The green armored man nodded lowering his shotgun into an at rest pose.

==========

Doom breathed in when the last Grimm was killed, focusing his mental energies at shackling his unending wrath. Containing the rage behind a wall of unyielding will so that the grimm wouldn’t constantly swarm the Slayer and his newfound allies.