#but maybe it just wasn't actually implemented yet

[boilercity]

OH BTW! i was checking the changelog of the latest patch and saw this! idk which interstitial it is but i thought you’d be interested in digging for this

I SAW. The interstitials are listed in some preeeetty easily accessible files lol. Haven't gotten it myself so I can't say for sure, but I'm 99% sure it's an interaction with the "take a screenshot, it'll last longer" one akhfkshf

[kaeso4ka]

The holiday is coming soon. And a miracle seems to be happening

Pairing: yandere Optimus Prime x human! reader

You adjusted the tinsel rustling around her neck. For the first few hours of December thirty-first, you wondered if the tinsel would hold your weight, but then you gave up: You truly loved New Year's Eve. She didn't want to spoil her fun with a failed attempt at her own death.

The champagne rumbled merrily in the glass. You did not like champagne, but for some reason this year you wanted to observe all the traditions of the holiday.

The hands of the clock moved inexorably toward twelve, and with each new minute the atmosphere on the base and in your soul became more and more festive.

“My Spark,” Optimus leaned over you, ”is everything alright?”

Optimus was the only one on the entire base who didn't seem to have fully succumbed to the festive atmosphere yet. Even Ratchet and Agent Fowler, who hadn't had a day off in years (and millennia), seemed relaxed and content.

“Just wondering,” you smiled at Optimus, ”come on… Turn into your smaller version. Let's talk.”

Prime didn't have to be asked twice. The sound of transformation filled the compartment, and afterward the mech sat down next to you. You immediately snuggled against his side, throwing tinsel over him. The bond wasn't the strongest, but Optimus didn't plan on trying to pull away. You've rarely been so favorable to him.

“You're walking around with a very grim face. What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Optimus tilted his helmet sideways, making contact with the top of your head, ”I was only concerned about your condition.”

“And what is my condition?” you sipped your champagne. “A very good one, by the way. It's a holiday tonight.”

“Yes,” the smell of human alcohol was surprisingly intertwined with your personal scent. At this moment, you smelled like something frosty and spruce. Like a holiday, “you were more cheerful last year.”

“I don't remember anymore. That was a whole year ago,” you chuckled, ”it's been a rough year. You know that.”

Miko and Wiljack and Bulkhead, who were a little tipsy, were discussing something. They seemed to be telling her stories of their military prowess….

“… On Earth, there are many traditions associated with New Year's Eve. One of them is leaving all the bad things behind. You know, it's just a formality. There's no difference between December 31st and January 1st. It's just a new day, but,” you lifted your arm, hugging Optimus. The tinsel rustled more cheerfully, “humans have given it great power.”

Optimus listened intently to your words, taking in their meaning. The mechanisms sounded a little more demanding as you got closer.

And as if hearing Prime's thoughts, you moved into his lap. Carefully watching her glass to make sure not a gram of champagne spilled.

“Let's put all our strife behind us, shall we?” perhaps the alcohol had given you a headache. Maybe the party atmosphere had once again blurred the lines between desire and reality. I don't care. “I don't want to fight you anymore.”

Optimus touched your cheek, and like a cat, you rubbed against another's palm. A drunken blush blushed merrily across your pale face.

“Of course, my Spark. I never held a grudge against you.”

“And I have held some. But I forgive you and agree to make a fresh start…”

“Such a pact must be cemented!” Miko appeared in front of you and Optimus. In her hand she held a sprig of mistletoe, which in the next instant was above your heads. “Tradition!…”

“I know,” you rolled your eyes. With difficulty, she lifted herself up, leaving a neat kiss on the edge of the metal dermis. “Tradition.”

“Hey, actually, you should have implemented a French kiss…”

You waved Miko away. Optimus carefully snatched up the unfinished champagne glass and set it aside. Cuddled up to you, almost cradling you in his manipulators.

You fell asleep slowly, and when you did, you dreamed of the chimes, the feel of metal under your lips, and a quiet speech in Cybertronian.

[bayetea]

your takes on stuff about pjo/hoo are so validating... it's so hard being a woman enjoyer in this fandom sometimes. i get that we love the main character of the first series but some people act like percy is a little baby who can do no wrong and anyone who breathes on him weirdly deserves the death penalty.

anyways i love what you do with hazel. hippocrene is so good, and i know you said you won't delve into the womens' povs, but i am ITCHING to see inside hazel's head especially after the last chapter!!! can't wait to see how that eventual conversation shakes out.

i just love hazel, and i wish more people actually LOVED her instead of passively liking her. so thank you for loving her as much as you do

yeah fandom has been intensely patriarchal for forever and it sucks to see, and it's very bad in the pjo fandom especially :/ we have so many great female characters but they don't actually seem to garner a ton of real interest, particularly outside of how they relate to male characters (I do place some blame for this on rick tho; pjo desperately needed to have more fleshed out dynamics between female characters and hoo was the best time to do it with its implementation of female perspectives, but rick just... didn't really do that. one can only blame rick so much tho because people latch onto underdeveloped male characters and m/m dynamics all the time). hazel in particular has (imo) the craziest and most fascinating backstory in the entire franchise and yet she seems to barely get acknowledged beyond her relation to nico? which is just crazy to me but yk. people like what they like and there's nothing to be done about that

as for percy specifically I mean, I love him forever (I think I'm clearly biased, he's a main character in like every fic I write lol) but I just feel so uninterested in the way that people often talk about him? like yeah he's a badass and yes he's super powerful and intimidating and attractive I guess but those are like the least interesting things about him (imo). I certainly don't care for the whole "this character can do no wrong/has never done anything wrong" attitude either because what's the point? why soften their edges? why are we infantilizing them? I swear people have this kneejerk reaction to dismiss any "poor" behaviors on percy's behalf as him being ooc (I see this talking point irt percy in hoo especially) and it's like... maybe you're right, or maybe percy just isn't a perfectly perfect nice boy 100% of the time? it's like people grasp that characters should be flawed but don't want to acknowledge those flaws when there's a chance that they might come off as unlikable. imo if you've read the entirety of pjo and weren't questioning/critical of some of percy's thoughts/actions/behaviors at least once then I don't think you were paying attention.... (or you just haven't read the books in a hot minute). he's also just not a perfectly written character regardless but that's a post for another day (that's not saying much tho, because no pjo character is "flawlessly" written)

one of the reasons why I've latched onto the percy/frank/hazel dynamic so much (beyond my deep love for all three of them individually) is because they're characters who really get to see percy at his weakest moments (outside of a romantic context, aka with annabeth who has certainly seen him at his lowest). I keep seeing people highlight how impressive he was to frank and hazel (which is completely true, I'm not saying that that's an incorrect take) but he also broke down in front of them multiple times because losing his memories really put him through the wringer. he was SO profoundly unhappy throughout son which is another reason why it's one of the better books in the franchise. even the shift from first person to third person offers something new to observe in the percy jackson character

anyways this was a long answer and wasn't all totally related to your ask lol, but it's nice to talk about these things with like-minded people! re: hazel in hippocrene, I'm having fun writing about frazel from frank's perspective especially as an opportunity to observe hazel - because he doesn't know what exactly goes on in her head either, and his attempts to understand her better (even after dating for so long) will be an important conflict in the story. hazel is such a mysterious girl imo, like there's just so much going on with her that I don't think she really understands herself either

[jpitha]

Scientific Progress Goes Twang

"Why are we doing this again?" Del'rennian's tail flicked in worry.

"Because, if it works, it'll be really preem!" Rachel's voice was muffled under the machinery. Only her feet sticking out belied where she was in the room.

"Rach, that does not inspire the confidence you might think it does. I'm not a human, that doesn't work on me." Del's small hands were on her hips as she spoke with Rachel. Del'rennian grew up on a starbase that was equally populated with humans and K'laxi, so picking up their gestures and mannerisms was natural.

"Don't worry so much, Del. It's not like I'm modifying the main reactors. We'll be fine"

"No Rach, you're modifying one of the main batteries! You're messing with the weapons! I know how important weapons are to humans, you can't build anything without sticking a few exawatt lasers on it 'just in case.' I think your research telescopes have slug throwers on them even!"

Rachel slides out from under the weapons machinery. She's on a little board with wheels on it. Her face is smudged with... something. Del'rennian was pretty sure that human laser batteries didn't have oil, but maybe they did. "Del, this is the secondary battery, not the primary! I'm not an idiot."

Del's ears flicked. "That has not been determined with 100% certainty yet." Rach could hear the smile in her voice. She looked around the room. They were deep inside the battery, and were all alone. The lasers required only minimal maintenance and service after they were used. People would come once in a while to make sure everything was working, adjusting and collimating as necessary, but it's not like it needed a full time crew.

"Del'rennian, Rachel has explained to me what she is attempting, and I have given her provisional permission to install her modifications. Once we determine that nothing bad will happen, she will be allowed to test."

Del's ears rotated around, instinctively focusing on the source of the sound. Growing up on stations and starbases, Del knew that the AIs that humans put in charge of them were listening all the time, but she also knew that they mostly would wait for someone to query them before replying. It was a little unnerving when one decided to just jump in to a conversation. The AI that ran Reasonable Request was known to want to be a part of conversations and had a habit of butting in, but it was still odd. "You're telling me you're in on this nonsense, Request?"

"Yes Del'rennian. I think that Rachel's work could offer significant benefits to me in defense, as well as humanity as a whole. Ever since the convergence, we've had to increase our defences.

Del had to admit, Request had a point. Ever since the usurper Emperors Nick and Eastern did their little stunt to try and defeat Empress Raaden, things in human controlled space were much more... active than in decades previous. The influx of the Gren seemed to worry the K'laxi administrators more than she thought really was warranted, but they probably knew something she didn't.

Del sighed. She wasn't going to get anywhere with these two. A human designed AI was entirely too human to not go along with something that "seemed cool" when a human came up with the idea. "Fine. If you're okay with this Request, let's finish the install."

Two hours later, they were done. Del'rennian had to admit, it was more interesting that she thought it would be. She had never been that deep inside a laser battery, and it was - at the same time - much simpler and much more complicated than she expected. The actual laser part was incredibly simple. It was the power delivery that was complex. Rach's additions were made to assist with that.

As they put their tools away, Rach explained. "We've had wormhole generators for generations now and nobody has really done much with them. When the Others came over with their Flip drives, we were able to... er... borrow one and discover that while they concept was the same, the actual implementation was completely different! Theirs was more efficient, but ours was more accurate. Don't even get me started on the FlashWarp drives, I still have no idea how they work, and we've been warned against tinkering with them."

Without waiting to see what Del was going to say, she continued. "Anyway, it got me thinking. What if we used a wormhole generator to... boost the power delivery of the laser batteries! We could use a microscopic wormhole instead of superconductors and we'd be able to get a massive increase in power delivery in a much smaller package! With the generator that we installed, I should be able to increase the output of the laser by 3 or 4 times while making it smaller!"

Del'rennian's tail flicked. "Will it work?"

Rachel nodded. "Probably."

Request added. "Most likely."

Del crossed her hands over her ample chest. "So, when are we going to test it?"

Rachel looked around. "I don't see why we can't do it now. Request, what do you think?"

"I will query the commander."

They continued putting tools away for another three or four minutes when Request came back "The commander has approved a single firing of the secondary battery for testing purposes on my recommendation. She thinks it's 'a little strange' but I assured her that it was a routine test."

Del's fur bristles "Wait, you didn't ask the commander first?"

Rachel shrugs. "I asked Request. It's their body. I figured this was close to the same thing."

"But, you're messing with the weapons systems! What if the Gren attack?"

"We have the primary battery. Del, it'll be fine. Everything will work great. Request, please power up the battery for the test."

"Yes, Rachel. Powering up Secondary Battery."

While they watched, the laser battery powered on and warmed. Del felt rather than heard the emitter fold out of is storage blister on the side of the station. While she stood there, she heard a rising whine of capacitors charging and her fur began to stick out on it's own.

Wormhole generators are interesting things. They effectively punch a hole in space-time and allow things to pass between the two points instantaneously while the wormhole is open. For the majority of time that humans have used them, they have been used for spacecraft. Del couldn't remember a time when one was used in an atmosphere, or at least in a place that someone could hear them.

She had no idea that they made a noise.

When Reasonable Request fired the laser, the wormhole generator activated, punching a tiny hole in spacetime between the reactor and the laser. There was a noise that Del could only describe as a... twang.

Del'rennian and Rachel came to on the floor. Sirens were loud in her sensitive ears. As she sat up, her head pounded in protest. Rachel, who was closer to the laser, fared worse. Most of the hair on her head had flashed off, and she was unconscious on the floor.

"Request! Rachel is hurt!"

"Yes Del'rennian, I have already alerted the medical team. Quick Alert teams are on their way now, they'll be here in a few seconds. Are you hurt?"

"I don't know... I don't think so. My head hurts pretty badly though. Ugh, what happened."

"It appears that the secondary laser battery... linked away."

Del's eyes focused beyond Rachel. In the smoke and sparks of the room, she could see bare wires sticking out of the walls, mounting brackets sheared so cleanly as to shine like mirrors and a large empty space where the laser battery used to be.

As she marveled at what happened the Quick Alert team came in and rushed over to Rachel. They applied a heal pack to her and the Nanites within got to work. After a few seconds she groaned and tried to roll over. "No no, don't move yet. Let the Nanites do their work" One of the Alert team said as they touched Rachel's shoulder.

Del turned back to the door and saw Commander Hollister standing over her. "Del'rennian, kindly tell me what is going on here? I get a report of a wormhole generation inside my station and now my secondary laser battery is gone. What. Did. You. Do. "

Del stood up and shakily saluted. "I apologize Commander Hollister, Rachel was trying to... improve the performance of the laser batteries by installing a miniature wormhole generator." She intended to explain more, but that was as far as she got before she collapsed.

[dalekofchaos]

How is Blackwell even a school?

Blackwell is insanely weird.

It has dorms but also lockers.

A barely functioning staff. We have two teachers, a principal, a custodian and a head of security. There is Mrs Hoida, but we never see her in LIS or BTS. Mr Keaton exists in BTS, but we never hear about him in LIS. There’s a nurse, but we never see her. There’s a coach for the Otters and Bigfoots, but neither Max nor Chloe are athletic, so we never see them. According to Chloe’s report card. There is an Art teacher, Phy Ed teacher, Practical Math and Life Skills Teacher, Social Sciences teacher and Personal Health Teacher. But we never see any of them.

Only two whole classrooms in the whole game.

It’s apparently the only school the town has and also is a super expensive exclusive private school.

It’s a high school that recruits world renowned artists and scientists to teach basic high school level classes.

It’s graduates supposedly go on to become famous successful people yet the school itself resides in a tiny rundown coastal Oregon town.

It costs a fortune to attend and yet it looks like it hasn’t been seriously repaired or renovated since the 1970’s.

Hell it doesn’t even have security cameras on campus.

According to google

"According to a student survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, 86 percent of middle school and high school students have security cameras installed in their schools."

Despite David being an asshole, it's standard procedure to have cameras up in the first place. David is wrong to put cameras in his home to spy on Chloe, but not wrong to have cameras in the school. If there were cameras already placed in Blackwell.

Frank Bowers would never be able to sell on school grounds

Frank never would've been close to Rachel

Nathan never would've gotten away with bringing so many illegal drugs to the Vortex Club

Kate never would've been dosed

Speaking of David. Why is he just a security officer? Why isn't he a cop? Wouldn't it make sense for David to work two jobs since the Prices are in debt? As a cop and as a security officer? The most unrealistic thing about LIS. David was too unstable to be a Arcadia Bay cop. The police have no standards and I'm shocked that David wasn't an instant recruit considering how the police in America wants people with low IQs and doesn’t care for obvious red flags.

Also, School Resource Officers exist.

Then there is the fact that Max…BARELY uses the school of her dreams. We get one or two classes at best. Going to Ms Grant’s class does not count cause Max only went there to help Warren.

Chloe not using Blackwell makes sense. She hates the damn place and would rather learn about Rachel’s anatomy break the rules and chill in the junkyard.

But with Max, shouldn’t she actually be attending classes? I mean if I were attending a big private school at Blackwell, but didn’t attend classes. I think my ass would’ve been suspended within weeks and my tuition set on fire.

What kind of school, a HIGH school lets their students freely roam the halls, leave school grounds or chill in the dorms instead of doing class work?

For that matter. Why the fuck is Blackwell Academy a fucking High School? Why not a college? Art Colleges exists. I'd rather Blackwell be a college and for everyone to be of age, it'd explain a lot of stuff such as the drugs, parties, guns, and just a lot of stuff. Not to mention going through college you are still figuring out stuff, what you want to do with your life, and still figuring out who you are. Would've imo a lot better and explained why half the shit that was happening was.

I get this is an episodic game and there are more pressing concerns, but honestly Blackwell should’ve been like say Bully. We do the day’s worth of classes and then progress to the story. Hell, you could even implement a sort of friendship system. Maybe you pick who you sit next to and that raises Max’s friendship with them. Anything would’ve been better than Max skipping school altogether and just focusing on Chloe. Like we have an entire school, we should not have our focus be on Chloe. There could’ve been ways to work classes into the main story, but no. Blackwell is just background noise and it shows.

But the lack of a full faculty staff or an actual care that anyone actually attends class? What kind of fucking school is this?

[rosietrace]

Errand Boy

Divider by @cafekitsune !

[ This short story is important to the main story of the central character ]

⊱───────────────⊰

Central Character ; 『 Sumeragi Yuuta, “The Golden Rule” 』

Mentioned (Central) ; 『 “Rei-Rei”, ‘The Secret Silly Symphony’ 』

【 This is both a short story important to the central character's story; All Ocs belong to their respective owners and will be credited at the end. 】

Synopsis: Crowley's favorite errand boy just can't catch a break, can he? Well, at least it isn't most of his errands Yuuta has to run.

Warning(s): Angst, comfort at the end(?), backstory spoilers, nobody knows it's his birthday :(, not proofread because grammarly sucks now and we die like men

⊱────────────────────⊰

Whatever they were talking about, Yuuta wasn't putting in any effort in listening. It was just how he operated most of the time.

Disassociation; a brief hum and nod as though he were paying attention; a snarky comment thrown in when he gets asked the age-old “are you even listening?”— all culminating into one of the most mundane ways for Yuuta to start his day.

Well, maybe that was a little cruel to say; Ellis and Circe seemed to be enjoying themselves just fine. Something about the former trying on a new shade of pink she, quote on quote, invented.

Yuuta sat on the couch he'd recently helped implement into Ellis' eyesore of a room, his eyes focused on the ceiling to refrain from rolling his eyes so far back they'd get stuck.

Are they done yet? Yuuta asked himself, completely disassociating from whatever conversation Ellis and Circe were currently having. He felt a little bad for being so inattentive; fashion was one of the few things he had in common with the duo.

Yet there he was, barely even paying a sliver of attention to whatever nonsense they were talking about. Something about ‘inventing new colors’, but he was too busy thinking to actually listen.

“Yuuta?”

He blinked, his gaze flitting between the pink ceiling — that he painted for Ellis — to Ellis herself. Seemed like while he was occupied with… anything other than what they were talking about.

“Hm?” He quirked up an eyebrow. “What?”

“We were just asking what you thought of this new design Ellis came up with,” Circe took hold of Ellis’ sketchbook and went over to Yuuta, handing it to him.

Yuuta got a good look at the sketch. It was good, he believed. Then again, Ellis always did have a knack for design.

“Well?” Ellis strode over to them, tilting her head to the side with a smile Yuuta couldn't dare break.

“What do you think?”

Why do you always ask me that? Yuuta thought. The praise Ellis received for her talent in fashion and all things related to it weren't unwarranted. She didn’t need to ask him, or Circe, or anyone about if a design looked good or not— there was no need to.

It was Circe's turn to raise an eyebrow. “Yuuta?” It was as though Yuuta couldn't hear them, hear anything.

Circe snapped his fingers twice, that hint of concern plastered on his face barely even comparable to Ellis’, who seemed to take that wave of concern and multiplied it by tenfold.

Yuuta couldn't stop thinking. About the day it was, about how nobody will know about the significance of it; about the errands he'll have to deal with today to keep Ramshackle afloat, about…

The buzzing noise of Yuuta's phone gave him that opening to leave as soon as possible. Better for him to complete his everyday tasks than to deal with the concern his friends had over him.

Yuuta stood, towering over Ellis but not quite doing the same for Circe. “I have to go,” he said in such a way that implied that whatever conversation they were going to have, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, if at all.

“Huh?” Circe scrunched their nose. “What are you- No, where are you-”

“Errands,” Yuuta dismissed far too quickly than necessary, already making a break for the door before Ellis could intercept.

At least, he would have. Not until a thought popped into his head. So much so that he stood with his body halfway out of the door, frozen in place.

Circe's face contorted from silent concern, to surprise, to just straight up befuddlement. Ellis wasn't doing much better, tucking her arms behind her back with a similar expression on her face.

“What's he doing…-?” Circe whispered to Ellis, his nose wrinkling.

“I’m…” Ellis took a slight step forward, “... Not too sure.” Hence, from there, she walked up to Yuuta, tapping his shoulder with a featherlight touch to bring him back to his senses.

She could only hope that he wouldn't be like this for the rest of the day. The mere thought just made her even more worried than she already was.

“Erm… Yuuta?” Ellis called out to him, shaking him gently; body halfway out of her room, with his head hanging low. “Yuuta, are- Are you okay? Do you need a break, or something? I'm sure if we asked Crowley, he could let you take a bre-”

“Ribbon.”

Ellis blinked. “... Pardon?”

Ellis watched Yuuta turn his head to look her directly in the eye, his expression devoid of emotion.

“I'm gonna have to ask for some ribbons. Black, purple, and blue.”

⊱───────────────⊰

Crowley had been kind in the number of errands Yuuta had to run for today. Try as he may to hate the pathetic birdbrain, he could — at the very least — feel thankful.

Though…. If he continues to go on and on about his ‘kindness’, I might just punch my way through this goddamn maze.

Yuuta had already been in a questionable mood ever since the incident with Ellis and Circe earlier in the day, it just seemed like his mood worsened when he had to perform the tasks bestowed upon him by his “enigmatic” headmaster.

“Something on your mind?” Juvia asked, noting the grumbling Yuuta's been doing for the past few minutes while they assisted in painting the roses in Heartslabyul.

Juvia, bless her heart, knew that Yuuta wasn't going to be able to do everything himself, and out of the kindness of her blot-covered heart, had convinced Yuuta to allow her to help him out; well aware of his stubborn nature and his utmost refusal to receive help most of the time.

“I'm fine,” like everyone else, Juvia played victim to the dismissiveness of Sumeragi Yuuta. May the Great Seven bless her with more patience than anyone in NRC could muster.

Yuuta picked up another bucket of paint, heading for the next bush of unpainted roses with a look so nonchalant it almost disturbed Juvia to see him in such a state.

“You're clearly thinking of something.” Juvia climbed up a ladder to reach the upper parts of the rose bush she was painting; which just so happened to be next to Yuuta's. He wondered if that'd been intentional on her part.

But that thought faded very quickly. “Well, whatever I'm thinking of, it isn't any of your business.”

“I feel like as your roommate—”

“I'm basically your landlord.”

“No you're not! Crowley's the landlord!”

“Yeah, and he's a shitty one, too.”

He let out a tsk, proceeding with the tedious task of painting the roses red without staining his uniform.

Juvia’s frown deepened. “You're clearly thinking of something, y'know.”

Yuuta's eyes rolled. “And why’re you assuming that, of all things?”

“Because,”— Juvia pursed her lips in hesitation —“you have that look.”

He blinked. “What look-?”

“Y'know! The look!” To try and prove — as well as emphasize — her point, Juvia mimicked the expression currently worn on Yuuta's face.

Yuuta merely deadpanned, unimpressed by her feeble efforts at trying to get his thoughts out of him. She's too much like her.

He shook that thought away faster than the last one. No. She isn't her, and it isn't good to try and pretend that she is.

Bad, Yuuta. Bad.

Ignoring whatever Juvia had to say next, Yuuta finished his last batch of painted roses before he could leave to fulfill the rest of his errands of the day— not without taking two deliberately unpainted white roses from the bush, of course.

That was when Noriko ‘You must not bring dishonor to Lady Victoria's name!’ Dolion intercepted him on his way out.

“Where do you think you're going?” Noriko challenged, crossing their arms in disapproval. “Housewarden Rosehearts won't exactly be pleased if he saw you with those… it violates the conduct of the Queen of Hearts.”

Yuuta chortled, brushing past Noriko and retorting back, “As if you didn't plan on doing the same thing for your favorite Fae in Pomefiore.”

And so, Yuuta left Heartslabyul with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes; with Juvia falling from her ladder, caught into the arms of a blue-haired Spade, and Noriko red in the face in shame.

⊱───────────────⊰

“You didn't have to do this, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I insist,” despite all of the errands he had to deal with earlier in the day, Yuuta had graciously offered to help Miren with two of his latest concoctions.

Some pastries, mostly cupcakes; as well as a creation so spicy it could potentially challenge Miren’s spice tolerance if he wasn't careful.

What confused Miren was Yuuta's insistence on making cupcakes while he was making that spiced up monstrosity.

“Didn't take you as much of a cupcake person,” Miren narrowed his eyes. Skeptical, and almost intrigued. At least until Yuuta got some frosting on his cheek.

Yuuta clicked his tongue. “What made you think that?”

“You don't eat sweets that much, clearly.”

“Well you clearly haven't seen me during a Heartslabyul unbirthday party.”

“That's only because your schedule's so jam-packed, you barely have time to attend them anymore,” Miren groaned out a sigh.

“Seriously, I'm starting to think you're only running so many errands for a better paycheck.”

That's one of the reasons, an unsaid reply from Yuuta. At least for today.

“Come to think of it…” Miren hummed. “You've been…. Busier, today.”

Yuuta arched up an eyebrow. “Hah?”

“You know what I mean. It's like you're overexerting yourself on purpose,” it had, very clearly, occurred to Yuuta that Miren Lockhart wasn't going to back down from this topic; possibly more so than stubborn Ellis, sassy Circe, and worrisome Juvia.

Miren leaned against the kitchen counter. It was hard to take him seriously with that smudge of frosting on his cheek, Yuuta thought.

Wanting nothing more than to just leave, Yuuta did just that. Taking the two of the dozen cupcakes he'd made, one with purple icing and the other with light blue icing, he held them with one hand to focus his free hand on lifting Miren's chin.

Once he'd done so, Yuuta had teasingly licked the frosting off of Miren's cheek. Which… just happened to be the same time Carol came in, with Mayuu and Chizuko in tow.

Carol wasn't even the least bit surprised. “I'm not even going to ask,” she said with a disapproving huff of breath as Yuuta brushed past her, Mayuu, and Chizuko.

Chizuko squinted her eyes, thinking it relevant that the look on Yuuta's was most uncharacteristic for him, indeed, but not putting in the effort to say anything about it. Simply crossing her arms and shaking her head.

Mayuu went over to Miren, slightly disgusted at Yuuta's embarrassing display. “What's going on with him?”

Miren looked off at the kitchen's doorway, his hand covering his right cheek, his face reddened with blush.

Miren just sighed, letting go of his cheek and shrugging his shoulders. Whatever bothered Yuuta about today, it was clear he wouldn't tell any of them about it.

⊱───────────────⊰

Finally, it was night. Yuuta liked late night walks; he'd indulged in them every so often with Ellis, often encountering ‘Tsunotarou’ on their walk around campus.

But tonight was a special night. A night where he wasn't burdened by a constant demand to help those around him, where it was just him. Alone. No Tsunatarou, no Ellis, no anyone.

He sighed to himself, his eyes fixated on the glimmering lights in the dark midnight sky. Gods….

He cursed to himself, far below his breath. Why had it come to this? Why was his persistence in pretending today wasn't special getting him to such a sad, pathetic, point?

He didn't know the answer to that. Yuuta didn't know if he'd ever know the answer to that. And maybe he'll know one day, and maybe he won't.

Clearly, it wouldn't be tonight.

“Maybe in some alternate timeline where I'm not… me,” Yuuta murmured, taking out a ring of keys from his pocket.

He unlocked the doors to the botanical gardens, making sure to not make the doors creak too much; Crowley had been surprisingly easy to bribe to get the keys, the old coot was even ‘generous’ enough to give Yuuta full ownership of the keys.

He made sure not to wake any of the others when he snuck out. And any opportunities to run into Malleus were quickly evaded with, in his words, “some impressive maneuvering skills”.

But that wasn't as important as what he was to do next. Other than the keys to botanical garden, Yuuta had brought a small bag containing… stuff.

He'd gone to the most secluded part of the garden, one where the glass walls couldn't see him, and a spot not even Leona knew about. A spot personal only to Yuuta.

He sat down, setting everything up with a forlorn, almost sorrowful smile on his face.

Two cupcakes with purple and blue icing respectively, with candles of the opposite color stuck on the top; two unpainted white roses with purple, blue, and black ribbons crudely tying them together.

And finally, a black rabbit stuffed animal with a blue ribbon bowtie, and bracelet.

The stuffed animal, in particular, had the added consequence of getting Yuuta relentlessly teased by his friends when they found it in his room. He never elaborated on why he got it, or where he got it, because it simply wasn't their business.

They didn't need to know any more about him than they already did.

Besides, Yuuta sucked in a breath, his throat tightening. it was her favorite animal…

Lighting the two candles of the two cupcakes together, Yuuta held in a breath, singing a soft, melancholic version of the birthday song. He sang it in such a short, hiccupped manner, that he knew — he just knew — he was on the brink of tears.

And he didn't fight them. He never fought those tears. Not when they were for her. His only true friend, his truest, kindest, friend.

A friend — a girl he saw as a sister — he'll forever miss.

“Happy birthday,” he breathed out, tears barely wiped, “to… me.”

Yuuta looked up at the glass ceiling, crying his little, broken heart out. Things couldn't be changed. He couldn't change the past for what it was, and he knew he couldn't change the way he treated her.

He wondered where she was, often. He cried himself to sleep, sometimes, at the idea she could be hurt. She didn't deserve that, she never deserved that.

Yuuta sniffled, closing his eyes after making his birthday wish. A wish he'd been making ever since her departure from his life, all those years ago.

I want to see you again, Rei-Rei. And just like all the times I've said it before, I'm sorry.

⊱────────────────────⊰

【 Taglist / Credits 】

↳ In order of OC appearances/mentions

Ellis Clawthorne — @starry-night-rose 💖

Circe Erfinderin — @geminiiviolets 👾

Juvia Yuyi Espejo — @jasdiary 🧡

Noriko Dolion — @terrovaniadorm / @hallowed-delights ‼️

Victoria Shard — Me! 😈

Miren Lockhart — @authoruio 💙

Carol Ann — @fumikomiyasaki 💚

Chizuko Minato — @sakuramidnight15 ⛓️

Mayuu — @nem0-nee ⏰

“Rei-Rei” (UNRELEASED) — @jasdiary

|| @twsted-princess || @mystery-skulls-ghost || @abyss-wonderer || @absolutelyobsessedkiya / @twistedsongstressofstarz || @spadecentral || @oseathepebble || @valse-a-mille-temps || @twst-stupid-ocs || @mintychocolate04 ||

[jsnlxndrlv]

zaratustra's When to write Good Code Trilogy

(All text below originally posted by @zaratustra on cohost in 2024. Want to see the original comments? If the original post is no longer available, maybe you can find them on the Internet Archive or something.)

When to write Good Code Pt. 1

So the Discourse has tacked once again to, "is Good Code needed for Good Games"? This time, a page of Balatro's source code made it to Twitter and some people laughed and laughed at the if-else chain and some people were like BALATRO SOLD A LOT THEREFORE EVERYTHING IT DID MUST BE THE CORRECT WAY

But there are points for and against Good Code. Good Code is a land of contrasts. First of all, what do you mean by Good Code?

(Note in case it wasn't obvious: When I say Bad Code and Good Code, in both cases, I mean code that works. If you're writing code that doesn't work at all, refer to Knuth or something.)

Pretty Code: "It has sensible and consistent names for functions and variables. It’s concise. It doesn’t do anything obviously stupid. It was written by a single person, and never touched by another. It reads like poetry written by someone over thirty." This is a standard if-else chains immediately fail as they inevitably look like a first-grader's effort.

Performant Code: This is the code that goes fast. A bit outdated since computers became able to do more than one operation per second, but with an unexpected comeback in Zachtronics games. Expect opcode count and loop unrolling to be mentioned.

Enterprise Code: This is code designed to be passed around. Enterprise code will go through dozens of programmers, few of which know each other and none of which talk to each other. Each of them sees the code through a toilet tube, and expects to make changes in their section that won't set the whole project on fire. At this level it's fully acceptable to have the same function copied across three different libraries, each with slightly different side effects, because the alternative is worse.

Maintainable Code: Code that makes bug-squashing and extending easy. Sensible naming is just the start. If you want to add a new element to the game, how many files do you need to change? Do you even know the names of all of them?

A good way to cause arguments with other programmers is to choose one of these as Good Code to the neglect of all else.

Next, if i remember, i'll get to the actual subject of this article - when it's the case that you shouldn't do any of these things (and the terrible implications thereof). Stay tuned.

When to write Good Code Pt. 2

So, having seen all the wonderful advantages writing Good Code can bring you, why would you ever write Bad Code?

You're prioritizing some other form of Good Code. Coworkers picked on me a couple of times for making method names that were over 60 characters long, which I did when the method was a one-off and should absolutely not be reused elsewhere. Similarly, another coworker insisted on passing object ids as untyped integers for efficiency, which was an absolute joy when it came to debug a function taking in four of them at once.

You're constrained by the system. Maybe your code is in Lua, which thinks having a nice enumeration is for little babies. Maybe your language has no IDE with an autocomplete worth a damn and maybe you don't want to type 20-character variable names every time. Maybe your senior programmer has decided that Systems Hungarian Notation is the one true naming scheme. Maybe the Man won't let you chain ternary operators in order to fit your entire on one screen, because "it's not company policy to make debuggers want to commit suicide". Compromises are made.

You don't know how. Programmers constantly want to do novel things, yet will often refuse to admit they're learning as they code. A programmer will often run into a situation where they don't know how to implement something, let alone how to implement it cleanly.

You're in a hurry. Clean, maintainable code takes longer to write than just using the first thing that pops up in your head. If you have to do a hundred tasks by tomorrow or the game won't come out, doing the code equivalent of running a big extension cord through the middle of your living room starts to sound very reasonable.

It's not important. You're not particularly in a hurry, but you do have better things to do with your time. Such as, for example, anything else in life other than tidying up a if-else chain that is called maybe once per frame.

Maybe this whole thread should have been called "When to write Bad Code". anyway, next should be, finally, why Bad Code is Bad.

When to write Good Code Pt. 3

SO we've established that writing Bad Code is good, efficient and sexy. Which brings the question, why would anyone want to write Good Code? Just to lord it over us poor mortals? The answer is, "NO"

Because each instance of Bad Code you write is a tiny crime. Some of them, you will take their secret to the grave. Some will be found the moment you go public. Some will be found by a coworker (or Future You, which is its own kind of coworker) wondering, "what is that smell" and opening a closet to reveal a skeleton. And some will remain in the walls for the duration of the project, stinking up the place and making everything a little more difficult.

But why are they tiny crimes you ask. And I answer:

Workplace Tidiness: (50s safety video voice) Here is Billy. Billy finished his work and set it right in the middle of the doorway. Now everyone has to inch around the big honking mess that Billy made. Fuck you, Billy. Work is messy. Even more in programming, where at each step you're designing tools which will be used to implement the next step. Keeping your workbench tidy and well-organized means less of your brain will be occupied with remembering just where everything is. (Similarly, because code that actually does things is similar to code that helps you do things, you might be tempted to spend your entire time polishing your tool and mistaking it for movement done towards the goal.)

Maintenance: If every regulation is written in blood, every programming practice is written in sweat. At some point, a coder spent a week tracking down a hideously arcane issue to a single misplaced character and decided, never again. After years and years, the coder brain develops a reflex, not unlike that of a parent seeing their child leaning to look at their reflection in the canal. Nothing good can come of this. Bad Code has more chance to become Broken Code, and is harder to fix.

Performance: Depending on what language you're writing, Good Performance Code is either superficially identical to other kinds of Good Code, or it is an entirely different beast measured by its own sleek, furious standard. Either way, writing performant code will sometimes require long hard thinking during the project, and is an absolute pain to correct for afterwards.

Comprehensibility: Congratulations. You've built your class that uses regular expressions, pointer magic or generic reflection to camel-case the name of every object in the application and it fits in one screen. Your name will be right next to Carmack's in the big high-score table in the sky. Now all you have to do is convince your fellow co-workers that your code is actually brilliant and not the text equivalent of white noise. Your colleagues want to do their things cleanly, not spend a whole lot of time understanding the deep magic that is your thing.

Extension: Sooner or later, the designer will want to replace entire sections of your project because it's just not working out. It will never be something you prepared the code in advance. It is impossible to predict a game designer's mind. Similarly, in case you win the lottery and your video game actually sells millions, you might be tempted to sell some expansions. At least in this case you have the option to hire some help and rewrite the entire game in something that supports mobile. Legend says some programmers have written Good Code that is so good, they go on to use it on a second project. These stories are mostly unsubstantiated, however.

Legacy: In a way, it's very sad that the only accessible version of the Minecraft source code is a compiled-then-decompiled version of something written by a single multi-tasking developer across years -- because, it turned out, Minecraft code became the first serious code an entire generation of prospective programmers looked at. We're all learning from each other - we should all be teaching each other as well.

So what's the conclusion? The conclusion is that we should be understanding of the reasons an unsightly if-else chain is found in production code, and at the same time we should not ignore that Balatro is using decimal fractions as object identifiers what are you even thinking

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

Heartbreaker vs. Craphack

The difference between a heartbreaker and a craphack is, you think a heartbreaker will be finished.

I started using the word "craphack" a few months ago to talk about my in-progress fantasy d20 elfgame. (This is a separate project from CRAWL, which has entered a process of hibernation. Its no longer in active development.)

I had a lot of names for this thing. It really started when the OGL shit hit the fan and I was already seeing how affordable low-run booklet prints were. The idea of creating a booklet with a bunch of my house rules and favourite tables, and getting it printed, became a kind of cool idea. Simultaneously, WotC quickly jettisoned a bunch of the coolest ideas for 5e 2024. Initially I was like: well, let's compile those ideas and I'll make a home game out of what I liked.

I called this document 5e Killer. This stems from a phrase I said in early 2023: If you are a major TTRPG publisher and you aren't already working on your 5e Killer for release in Fall 2024, you're fucking up.

I am not a major TTRPG publisher. But why not do my own? At least for my home game.

Somewhere I got pissed at the limitations of "sticking to 5e." I also realized I was just tinkering with it. I did finish a version of this doc. We are playing my 5e game with it now. (I do not like the changes 2024 5e, or any other base ruleset, has implemented. I like this setup enough.)

But, this wasn't "done." Many core problems I had with 5e were still sort of there. Unsure of how to solve them, I backburnered it and began looking at other systems. Perhaps I would find someone else's heartbreaker and be able to modify that, or find a perfect beginning point I could launch out of.

I spent most of 2024 experimenting with other ideas and doing other projects, including converting my Dungeon23 megadungeon to OSE, writing it up, and running the Kickstarter. I spent a month and a half making an OSE house rules document and compilation in anticipation of printing that out, both for home use and convention play. While doing this I actually started to solidify some more ideas about what I liked and what I wanted out of...all of this.

While doing this, little bits and pieces have always come into focus. I now have a canonical equipment list for basically all fantasy games going forward. I have a d100 magic item list and I'm slowly working on d100 spells (although Skerples may yet beat me to the punch). And, I found Outcast Silver Raiders, a game I initially called my "forever game," about three weeks after I made my first document compiling info for the latest version of my craphack.

The craphack doesn't exist except in my head. There are like 8 versions of half formed thoughts, in Discord self-messages and Affinity Publisher projects and Google Docs. They are, if anything, a dialogue with myself, wherein I repeatedly ask: What do I want out of the game?

I like the idea of hit die as damage die; weapons shouldnt have variable damage.

I like the idea of saving throws existing separately from skill checks, existing separately from attack rolls.

I like having lots and lots of classes and ancestries. About 10 each is a sweet spot for me.

I like games where you always roll high to succeed. I am not a fan of roll under.

Likewise, I like the DM being able to set a difficulty class/target number for the player to hit, even on skill checks. Some doors are harder to open than others, some locks are harder to pick than others. (The Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic exists and is brilliant, but I prefer to use it for situational bonuses: this is an objectively DC15 check but if you do a thing you can have advantage to maybe do it easier.)

I like monsters having simpler statblocks than players do, with their primary stats being hit die and number, AC, and what they can do on their combat turn. I can make them do anything I want outside of that. I'm the DM.

Somewhere I have a table of every monster "type" and their average 5e stats and I want to expand on that to create basically a monster Rosetta stone for this game, combined with established and working power sets, so that I could easily create monsters on the fly during sessions without having to prep them.

I don't mind even the most mundane classes (like fighter and thief) having a few "special abilities," like 5e Action Surge or whatever. But IMO 5e gives you far too many of these, and worse, has too many options. (For my "forever game," I don't think I want subclasses.)

I like OSR vibes for mechanics, but people played heroic games with these same systems for 15 years, and anyone who says otherwise is fucking kidding themselves.

I like and use miniatures but also sometimes use theater of the mind for some encounters, especially against solo non-boss monsters. The system should easily support both.

I like individual initiative. I think there's still some improvement on my "everyone rolls a d6, if the monster beats any players they roll first, btw lower is better" system. I also wish I could use the Initiative Clock but I think it's a little too fiddly.

We don't need bonus actions or minor actions or anything like that. Too much design. You can move and do one other thing.

I like having a defined list of spells and at least semi-Vancian magic with spell slots. I am open to not having spell slots, but spellcasters should still pick from a list of pre-defined spells. No Knave, Cairn, bastards.-style "combine these random words to make a vague spell and work with the DM to figure out what it does" nonsense.

It's REALLY easy to see where all of these ideas sort of overlap and become relevant to how I imagine playing the game and the flow state that I desire. It's rules that don't get in the way and give all players an equal amount of cool shit they can do on their turn besides attacking. It's also easy to see how many games are outright thrown out by what I am imagining: no Cairn, Knave, OSE, Shadowdark, 5e, Five Torches Deep, etc. etc. (The only one that actually does hit the mark is, appropriately, Outcast Silver Raiders.)

So, where does this all coalesce? As I move around pieces and think about this, it might never coalesce. When I was on Take Flight, Cat and I talked about the idea that you might never finish The System, and That's Okay. It can be the old car that your dad tinkers with in the garage every other weekend and says, one day I'll get it all fixed up, I swear. It's his hobby, the same way game design can be your hobby--even if you are also a professional game designer with other projects that definitely are moving forward, being published, that you're doing the work on.

But my craphack exists and I swear one day I'm definitely gonna finish it, for sure.

[wikiangela]

fuck it friday

so I wasn't gonna post anything today but like, fuck it, why not lol

here's a little bit of the coffee shop au bc I finally got back to it like two days ago haha (still working on car smut and alive shannon too obvi haha)

prev snippet

___

As Buck’s making the very simple order that takes way too little time, he’s racking his brain for something, anything to say, to keep the conversation going, to find out more about this man that he immediately feels some kind of pull towards. It’s probably just a silly crush, he’s just struck by that pretty face, he barely exchanged two words with him, nothing more than how his interactions with other clients look like. He doesn’t know what’s so different about Eddie, though. What he does know is that he would like to keep him here just a bit longer, talk to him, get to know him- he wants to know him. Maybe he should have a cup of coffee, actually, it’s way too early, he’s probably just tired. 

As it is, he can’t think of anything not-weird to say, and the order is made quickly, so he hands it to Eddie, trying to hide how reluctant he is to see him go. 

“Thanks, man.” Eddie smiles, this time a bit more genuine and effortless. As he turns to leave, Buck quickly says, his cheerful customer-voice on:

“Please visit us again!” he grins as Eddie looks at him and smiles again, taking a sip of his coffee. “Regulars get a discount.” he adds way more quietly, since, well, he’s kind of lying. He and Maddie have talked about this, but they haven’t been open long enough to implement anything like this just yet. He’d give Eddie all the discounts, though, if it meant he’d see him more often. Jesus, what is happening to him?

“I might have to come back, then. Coffee’s great.” a corner of his lips turns up slightly more, almost in a smirk, and he takes another sip. “Thanks again.” he takes a step back. He’s clearly in a hurry, probably wanting to get home and sleep, and Buck’s keeping him here. He needs to get a grip. And prey to anything and anyone who will listen that he comes back here one day.

“See you soon, hopefully!” Buck chuckles nervously, and does an awkward little wave. Eddie’s smile turns to amusement, as he says bye, turns away, and walks out.

___

No pressure tags: @jeeyuns @diazass @elvensorceress @mrevanbuckley @translasso @thebravebitch @silentxxsoul @eddiediaztho @thewolvesof1998 @shortsighted-owl @watchyourbuck @alyxmastershipper @transbuck @honestlydarkprincess @housewifebuck @giddyupbuck @forthewolves @hippolotamus @wildlife4life @disasterbuckdiaz @jesuisici33 @spotsandsocks @loserdiaz @diazblunt @cowboy-buck @lover-of-mine @911onabc @theotherluciferr

[tae-rambles]

OP ch 1124 SPOILERS

my reaction as i read:

first, disclaimer, i was spoiled that Kizaru cries this chapter and it's apparently very sad. honestly, unless it's revealed that Vegapunk told him he had a plan to die sometime during those two weeks before the incident, i don't think i'll feel much sympathy for Kizaru, but we'll see... i also wonder if that's what the title is referring to - the relationship between Kizaru and Vegapunk

the cover story is taking an interesting turn... will Yamato pursue the criminal? will he befriend the woman? maybe Yamato will gain a harem of female lovers like Oden? that would be fun

Morgans' reaction is v unsurprising; Vivi is a badass like always and the two sapphics in the background are still cute :D but sorry girls, Vivi's already taken (NamiVivi for life)

i mean... Wapol is kinda right but shut up

Vivi i love youuuu!!!!!! anyone who hates you is a red flag honestly

of course Morgans would pin it on Luffy - no surprises there

yay! Sentomaru got away! :D it seems like Kizaru let him? where will he go, i wonder... the closest safe place that we know of is Elbaf or one of the next islands the log pose points to? the net cover story will focus on him?

also impressive he didn't pass out from the haki blast! maybe it somehow knew Sentomaru was an ally? can a haki blast do that? i mean... it's a manifestation of it's user's will... but whose will? it was Joyboy's haki but Emet was the one to unleash it so which one of them decided whom to spare? however, Joyboy's dead so it must have been Emet who controlled it but is it possible to control another person's haki aka will? one can use observation haki to sense intent and emotion. could Joyboy implement that into the haki bomb to make sure it doesn't hurt friendly forces? i have so many thoughts...

hehe Akainu will not be happy

yep, the title refers to Kizaru and Vegapunk...

Vegapunk went straight to the point, huh? lol

wow, he shut Akainu up lol

but honestly, Kizaru did this to himself. he's strong enough to rebel but it's more comfortable to stay a cog in the machine... he chose comfort over his "best friend" - you can actually compare him to Vivi this chapter - it would be safer for her to stay silent yet she raises her voice against injustice while Kizaru is here crying and pitying himself while being physically completely safe. i understand it's hard for him and that if it wasn't Kizaru, it would be somebody else. but maybe if he had rebelled and used his strength to protect Vegapunk, there would be no "somebody else"... so what i'm saying is: he definitely did not "have to kill his best friend"

Luffy must be taking this hard... especially since he befriended Atlas... i feel so sad for him

Franky's right... but Zoro, c'mon... i know you're trying to play up the tough guy act to stay alert to keep everybody safe and expect the same from your captain but give him a breather

Lilith... :(

that's a good question, from whom did she hear about it? is maybe Edison still alive? maybe he just disconnected from the Punk Records to make it look like he's dead? i mean... i wouldn't be surprised, this is One Piece after all...

HUH??? ok, i have my theory about how the Vegapunks can still be technically alive - Punk Records is still functioning after all and the question of what it means for Vegapunk to die did come up a couple of times so it's not too out of left field but i'm gonna keep reading for now...

ah... so we're not getting the full explanation now... dammit

but now we can have the mandatory banquet at the end of the arc :D (i have a post that's a response to an ask in the works - that's already taking way too long sorry - that's gonna touch on this more so i'm not gonna dwell on it now)

and Robin's also feeling better :D

kampai! :D

"the fabled country of Elbaf" haha i see what you did there

and another mysterious silhouette to close the chapter...

it was a good chapter :D nothing groundbreaking but that's what's needed after all that craziness lol though i was hoping to see what's up w Stussy but oh well...

Egghead was the first arc a read weekly and it was a wonderful experience so i'm hyped to see what Elbaf will bring :D i already posted my thoughts and predictions here

[asherlockstudy]

I agree with you the offhand way of mentioning of their wives in episode 2 was suspicious. I get that they a) had to make a mention of their wives for contunuity reasons and for the obligatory ''no-homo'' disclaimer, and that b) they had to write them away in the story, since their wives couldn't physically be in the video, and it was only R&L there, but I still think the implementation was very poor. They made sure to mention their wives first thing when the episode started, but then in all the dramatic scenes they were mysteriously forgotten. Like, Link didn't say 'Rhett you still have your wife's thawing to lookg forward to and support Christy, while you're at it', and Rhett didn't say to the hacker 'make a note of these events for our wives', or even to transfer their apparently huge amount of credits to an account for when the wives thawed eventually. It wasn't just the focus on R&L it was also poor writing, imo. They could have easily said that their wives didn't choose to become 'timeless', or even Link could have added that in his raging moment 'I should have listened to my wife and never become timeless' etc., but then again none of these have the humourous streak of their wives being cryogenically preserves and them waiting for the thaw, and of course they chose the humourous explanation. I also agree with you about the squirrel part in episode 4. It was my least liked aspect of the video, maybe because I didn't enjoy the musical part of it. But! I really thought the song the squirrel kids sung could very easily be read as a 'coming out of the closet' as well as leaving the nest. The lyrics had a double entendre to them, or at least that's what I thought when i was watching because I couldn't bring myself to rewatch the squirrel moments ^^;;

Yes to all except for one thing. I believe it was partly intentional, I mean, beyond the humorous aspect of it. The only reason they exist at all in the Wonderhole universes is exactly for the "no homo" reminder but then they are ditched, because Wonderhole IS actually homo.

It also happened in the Flight Simulation, when Link asked the flight attendant whether she had been talking to his wife. And yet the wives are not mentioned ever again and we see Rhett and Link writing "SEND TACOS" on the sand and ignore an airplane over their heads and rubbing themselves together in the bush. You know. They could have been portrayed to be missing their wives... a liiiittle more. But they chose not to.

As for the squirrels I honestly can't say, I watched it twice and I was squinting all the way through lol But there was a curious moment, when the boy squirrel said he was fed up with "squirrel on squirrel" porn.... like, my dude....... what did you want it to be?! I suppose this was meant to be some parallel of being done with straight porn but boy was it unfortunate... because it hints at a different freaking species, not gender 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[king-shane-of-the-redcloaks]

what's your relationship like with abeke at the moment?

Let's see . . . I have apologized to her several times, and I'm pretty sure she's forgiven me, but sometimes she holds my betrayal over my head when she wants to get out of petty household chores. Like one time, she wanted to go hunting with Uraza, and I had a few messages to send and couldn't finish doing the dishes. So I asked her to do it. She then proceeded to tell me that I owe her "1001 chores before I'll forgive you for real", which I'm almost certain was a joke. But just in case, I did the dishes that day. That same day, Uraza vomited all over her favorite pants, and she made me wash them! I don't think she's actually counting, because I'm supposed to be on 896 right now, but yesterday, Abeke told me that I owe her "like 800-ish" more chores. I didn't correct her, but that makes me think she wasn't really being serious. However, on the small chance she is, I'm counting and keeping very close track in a log called "Chores for Abeke's forgiveness", which has dates and details.

I don't like the way the other Redcloaks talk about us, though. I caught Worthy smirking at me one time when she was correcting my thumb's position while teaching me to nock arrows. I don't really know what that was about. But Worthy is part cat, so maybe his face just looks like that (Abeke's does sometimes, and she's not even a cat, just bonded to one), so I let that go. But after I implemented the rule that Abeke was off-limits to talk smack about, Talon made a very unfunny and implicative drawing about me and Abeke. I won't describe the details, but it was very inaccurate and not at all true. She then spread it through the Redcloak ranks, and even though there were only about fifty of us, it was still heavily annoying to deal with, especially since that was around the time I was trying to whip them all into shape. Also, one of the Redcloaks that was supposed to be cleaning the balcony of our base threw flower petals down at us while I was showing Abeke around the courtyard that was directly beneath it. I haven't figured out who was responsible for that, but I'm almost certain it was Howl. I've had several talks with the Redcloaks telling them that this is inappropriate behavior and that I am their leader and should be showed the proper respect, but they have all aligned against me and continue to disobey my very clear orders. Sometimes, when we get a new recruit who doesn't know all the rules yet, they offer to be my wingman/woman, and I have to correct them and tell them that I feel absolutely nothing for Abeke. I have no idea where these rumors are coming from, since I am not in love with Abeke and that is clear to anyone with a functioning brain. So I am choosing to believe that the Redcloaks do this because they're bored and annoying me is fun.

Other than that, my relationship with Abeke is very good. We recently went on a hunting excursion together in Nilo. Well, that was unofficially. Officially, I was going between several areas in Nilo to try to show goodwill to the people that I regretfully treated quite poorly in my former life. I even found a few more Redcloak recruits, which is always good. But we had to do a lot of hunting together while traveling, and even though she made me do a lot of the skinning and preparing, it was still fun. I think Uraza is starting to warm up to me, too, but she reminds me of the Redcloaks when they're at their most annoying. She once nudged me into Abeke, which Abeke claimed was an accident. I'm inclined to believe that, since she's Abeke's spirit animal, but I still don't like the implication. Anyway, we stopped by Abeke's home before we left Nilo, and I almost punched her father in the face (Abeke stopped me) and called her sister something I probably shouldn't repeat. I don't really know why she puts up with those two when she has an amazing, supportive family at Greenhaven, and hopefully someday she'll realize that and cut them off.

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 15/5

@manorinthewoods submitted: I believe I got confused about the omnipotence thing because I'd talked about it in some Discord server or other. My interpretation of the confusing usage of 'omnipotent' is that it specifically refers to any individual with the ability to exert unlimited power upon at least one individual. This allows for a system where one omnipotent can be more powerful than another, such as a Horrorterror being stronger than a First Guardian. [...] That's all I wanted to say.

The problem is that I don't really understand what it means to exert 'unlimited power' over someone.

Does it mean that you have full control over that person's actions? Or perhaps, the ability to change their nature in any way imaginable? Neither of these traits apply to First Guardians - their powers are centered around controlling space, not people.

Doc Scratch exerts power over Vriska, but his influence isn't absolute. If it was, she wouldn't have been able to use the cueball behind his back. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you mean by unlimited power.

Probably! There are already a lot of human/troll interactions going on, so their relationships will inevitably evolve.

I recommended a few webcomics last year. They're all decent theory-fodder, particularly Paranatural.

That said, none of them are as good as Homestuck at doing what Homestuck does. This is a very unique story, and I'm also not sure what, if anything, I'll liveblog after this is done. I'm certainly enjoying liveblogging, so there probably will be a next project - and I remain open to suggestions.

Dang it. Well, I'm still showing up in search, so at least I'm not shadowbanned this time. Maybe a glitch on your end?

I don't think you're wrong, exactly - but to be honest, there seems to be a bigger issue here than unreliable narration. I still have trouble understanding how any kismesissitude can be healthy.

The prophecy is true!

It's kind of cool that the kids' entire fortune is likely seeded from John's original stockpile. All that Grist we picked up in Act 2 actually went somewhere!

Oh, nice! I feel like there'd be too many combinations to effectively crowdsource, though, unless the pool of alchemy ingredients was extremely small. If you really wanted to implement alchemy in a game, it'd probably have to be at least partially procedural.

To be fair, I have to give credit to John on this one. Some of his funniest moments are when he's not trying to be a jokester.

I know! I probably wasn't clear enough about my question.

My question is whether the phrase 'the numerals of the blind prophets' is a reference all on its own. The phrase is a little out of left field, and the comic itself hasn't explained it.

Pretty sure John's has already been explained - he needs to wake his Denizen and save his fireflies!

As for Jade's, it's indeed hard to say. I thought they'd all be about terraforming, but Dave's seems to break this pattern. Maybe his Quest isn't what it seems - or maybe I was just wrong, and a Quest can be just about anything.

I don't think I'll be able to guess Jade's, since it'll involve the features of a Land we haven't yet seen. All I can say for sure is that it'll have something to do with Space.

Hell yes! This blog's hidden objective - to plug The Locked Tomb - is finally bearing fruit.

It's easy for Aradia to do what she does, because she ''knows'' that she could never have done anything else. 'Understanding' this lets her be reckless.

Once you can convince someone their choices don't matter, you can convince them to do whatever you want.

I prefer Prospit's aesthetics, but Derse's vibes. The Horrorterrors are a better suspicious patron than Skaia - at least they'll help me break the game.

That said, the official quiz assigned me Prospit. Maybe I misunderstand the moons - but from where I'm currently sitting, Derse is the better choice.

The question isn't whether Sburb would screw them over - it's how it would.

I like the idea that Sburb started with only Sprites, and slowly assimilated its victors into its later iterations.

Each Sburb species represents a video game trope, so I could see an aggressive species like the trolls as a border patrol. They're angry, aggressive NPCs who fly their warships around the Veil, making sure Players don't leave the session's boundaries. You're meant to avoid them, not fight them, and they're the bane of any Player who tries to get creative with the Furthest Ring.

Now, what kind of NPC would the humans be?

I'm not a fan of jumpscare horror, but psychological horror can be very interesting indeed.

I didn't expect the comedy meme man to be that good at instilling a sense of dread - but I shouldn't have been surprised. Horror and comedy tread a very fine line.

Thank you!!

This frame in particular is pretty unsettling. Jack never usually shows this much emotion, and you have to wonder if the Ring has gone to his head a little.

Anyway, if we're talking about aesthetics, my favorite area so far is the Battlefield. It's like a chessboard mixed with a Windows XP background, and it's gorgeous in Rise Up.

Neither have been used in the comic, so I'm just going with lusi for convenience's sake!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 24/03/2024

Aphex Twin Snakes

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume L [Side A]

Ripped by Snowva

I suppose we'll round off this streak covering rips with sources I'm far too unfamiliar with, with yet one more that I, like Poké Village, discovered on my own. Yes, I admit it: I am uncultured, I am weak, and I am not yet properly educated on the world of Aphex Twin. Now, that's not to say that the artist hasn't had an impact on me all the same - it wasn't that long ago that I wrote about just how much the Season 1 rip Aphex affected me way back in 2016. So I do have a tenuous attachment of sorts to their music, yet its an attachment I only get reminded of through rips and other remixes. Aphex Twin Snakes is one of those reminder-rips, one I found on a whim just browsing the archives of the Volume L album - and it's an absolute banger.

I may not have actual investment into the Metal Gear franchise yet either, but its at this point impossible not to know of the most legendary music of the Solid series. There's of course the beautiful credits theme to Metal Gear Solid 2, Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday - as performed by Bob Dylan (yes, by the REAL Bob Dylan!), and the long-overdue-for-coverage main theme for the series' third game, Snake Eater - but the main theme of Metal Gear Solid 2 has always felt like THE Metal Gear theme in my head. You can immediately tell something is changed in Aphex Twin Snakes - before the elements of Aphex Twin are even implemented, sound effects from the Metal Gear Solid series are sampled to create a far more prominent "beat" for the track, sort of in the vein of Banjostruck or the various Hideki Naganuma-inspired rips a la September. It's a fantastic way to transition the rip into the more jungle-y style of the Aphex Twin track used, which is Carn Marth if I'm to trust the Wiki - but attachment or not, its novelty as a jungle remix of such a proudly-orchestral piece is appealing all on its own.

The rip sells you in just the first 15 seconds alone as a distinctly different-feeling take to the legendary theme, but continues to impress throughout. I'm always caught off guard by how hard the intentional stutter in the track at little over 30 seconds in hits, and not long therafter the sound of Snake's iconic death sound from the series is used to amazing effect to punctuate the rip's change in tone. Midway through, we're even treated to a little bit of a "dialogue" in a codec call seemingly between Snake and Aphex Twin itself, only communicating through a change in music to the track Windowlicker. This is obviously not really the same thing as something like the canon-to-the-channel dialogue in Haltmanna feat. Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, but it is a really fun surprise althesame - when Aphex Twin Snakes was uploaded, we already knew that Snake was to reappear as a character in the King for Another Day Tournament, and so this little moment of interaction from the character (or the Figment, if we're to be lore accurate) feels all too fitting, its as if he himself was shocked to encounter another source in "his" own track.

After this little interlude, Body & Blood by clipping. is added to the mix, giving the rip a vocal performance quite different in tone from the rip's first half. It was the first half that sold me, and though this shift in direction is certainly a form of escalation, it is maybe a bit too drastic for me - whenever I come back to Aphex Twin Snakes, it is the Aphex Twin part of the first half that I'm most drawn to. But I'm of course althesame thankful that we even get rips with such variety and risks taken in them (sort of like Metal Gear Solid 2 itself, hm?), and that the rip knows not to overstay its welcome. Each of these three sections of the rip get just enough time to land, and all three feel polished to a sheen. This is the first rip by Snowva I've covered on here, but if Aphex Twin Snakes is anything to go by they have an absolute knack for quality - and have helped remind me of yet another incredible artist that I need to start actually listening to.

[kays-dream]

𝟎𝟒/𝟎𝟗/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

Sooo I'm currently on spring break and I feel like this is finally a good opportunity to break into a bunch of new good habits! Today I plan on setting some goals for myself and maybe telling you a bit about my day and stuff :)

I'll break this down into a couple sections...

𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜

During quarters 1-3 of the school year I was kind of out of it, I didn't really study or do much. I wasn't up to my own standards and I think that's because I didn't really set clear standards for myself. I feel if I start planning more and setting more goals I can have improved motivation and productivity that I've yet to experience. During this last quarter of the school year I want to actually be active in school and mentally, here's some goals I've set...

bring all my average grades up to at least A's (bio is killing me ;-;)

make quizlets for each class to prepare for finals !!

to start actively participating in class taking notes and finally raising my hand

to actually spend at least one day a week studying (a small start— but an impactful one :3)

𝙰𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜

I've never really been an athletic person until now. My whole life I was never forced into sports or anything, I always wanted my mom to do something like that, but she never did, and with that I just grew up kind of lazy. At the age of 11 I picked up gymnastics but then stopped due to the pandemic, I didn't really train or anything so I didn't improve till I started taking classes again, I've been taking classes for around 2 years straight now but only recently I actually started taking gymnastics seriously, I've realized that I could be just as good as the girls I long to be like if I'd only put in the work and effort.

I didn't really realize how much I liked sports up until a couple weeks ago when I impulsively joined my schools track team out of boredom, I'm lowkey one of the worst on the team, but from the bottom you can only move upwards! Now I really want to take my sports seriously, I'm on my gymnastics pre-competitive team and I'm thinking about committing to their bronze team this fall, but I need to actually put in effort now, and I really need to improve at track. Here's my current goals that I'm aiming for...

to start stretching everyday

to run a mile everyday till I can reach a 5 minute mile easily

to get a 15 second 100m dash (guys I'm slow ik...)

to vault 6ft on pole vault

to regain my lost skills on bars (after my last gymnastics comp I keep getting overly anxious before doing legit the easiest skills on bars)

to train my core more

𝙷𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜

My mental states been pretty messy recently, but I've been contemplating what's factoring into it and I'm come to the conclusion that my habits need to improve, they've been negatively effecting me for too long, now it's time I implement good habits. I always procrastinate, I think but never do, my rooms a mess which ='s my brain being a mess. I need to get myself together by cleaning and starting new good habits, some of these habits include...

working out and stretching everyday (as mentioned before!)

making sure to do my skincare every morning and every night (recently I've finally invested in some new skincare products and this is really a helpful habit both physically and mentally for me)

cleaning my room and keeping it clean

having me time (whether it be reading a book or playing a lil video game by myself, I feel like as an extrovert I literally force myself to be around or on call with people 24/7 and I think I need to start having time to reflect and be just Kay for a minute)

𝚁𝚎𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢

(my version)

I feel like my whole life I've been terrified of rejection, I've let it get a hold of me. Sometimes I miss out on really good things, since I'm too anxious of the possibility of an unhappy outcome. I think what really made me wanna start rejection therapy is that a week or so ago I applied for this really cool looking job at a creative workshop and got rejected due to my word choice and not diving deep enough into my experiences within the application, it really upset me. I finally put myself out there and I got rejected. Rejection is really scary, I've confessed to like 3 people and gotten rejected 2/3 times... I feel as though I need to prove to myself that rejection isn't that bad, if it's meant to be it'll be, and if it doesn't that is perfectly fine. To combat this fear and disappointment rejection gives me I'm going to put myself out there more. Who knows, maybe good will come out of this too :) I'm gonna start... (these aren't really 100% rejection but I think they'll help me be less scared of the possibility of rejection yk?)

applying for more jobs

signing up for more possible opportunities

entering more contests

trying to talk to more new people (I'm always terrified that they'll tell me to go away or that I'm annoying or something)

Anyways sorry for the yap fest!! I'll be updating on my goals every once in a while sooo stay tuned ig :)

[manonamora-if]

The Roads I Maybe Should Have Taken

The TRNT Post Mortem

Oye oye! As was promised, so it is! The Post Mortem for The Roads Not Taken (which hopefully won't be as long as the actual game...)

Follow me into my journey of once again speed-running my way through a competition, and coming out scratched and bruised and still not learning my lessons!

First, some links:

if you haven't played the game yet, I recommend you do before reading this!

you can find its IFDB page here (if you want to leave a review?)

and the STF version source code here for the code curious!

shortened version of the PostMortem on IntFic

Then, a little Table of Content:

The Idea

The Story

The Implementation

The Reception

The Do-Over?

And finally, we start! (under the break because it will be long - LoL at me writing 1/5th of TRNT as a Post Mortem)

I should preface this Post Mortem with I entered the SpringThing on a whim. I had just come out of a conga line of competitions and game jams since last Summer (log of release/update), and had plans on finishing working on other projects instead of this one (which I probably should have... sorry The Rye in the Dark City for abandoning you...). But I obviously didn't do that because here was another new fresh game! And then another two of those just after... whooops...

The idea for TRNT just popped into my brain one day and would not leave me until I implemented it, no matter what (yes, I am still weak willed, I have not learned my lesson from The Thick Table Tavern, the one about not rushing a project and publishing it at a later date when it is truly ready). I did have that thought in the back of my mind that if I do do this, it would be very likely I would end up with a repeat of TTTT, as in: half-full drink with too much ice, and expired garnish falling from the very pretty fancy glass.

Also I did not start working on the entry until the SeedComp was in its voting round (so around the 4-5th of March?). I really wasn't kidding about the speed-running thing....

Another thing: I had never created a parser game before this point AND suck real time at playing them! This was also indicated in my Author's comment.

Nothing obviously stopped me anyway, because here we are...

1- The Idea

A few weeks before the opening of the SpringThing intent, the French IF community was streaming some older parser entries, including Aisle* and Pick-Up the Phone Booth and Die, two games where the player can only do one action before the game ends. I'd never really experienced this kind of game before (the closest being having a sudden death/continue the story choice). It packed a punch, it was funny, and also so very weird. It left me dissatisfied and super intrigued. I wanted to try and do that too someday. *Funnily, someone on the French IF discord thought DOL-OS had been inspired by Sam Barlow's work (it wasn't, but TRNT def was).

Not, I am not going to be hella pretentious and full of myself by putting TRNT on the same level as those games (because I don't think I did a good enough job to merit a comparison), but the one-action-only gameplay and multiple endings drew me in (I love abrupt endings, cf P-Rix). I've mainly written longer form of IF rather than short bites, and I thought it would be fun to try to constrict myself as much as possible, by having just one thing, one action, one outcome.

And also: parsers. I had only dabbled with the Choice-Based/Hyperlink format, so I thought it was time to try the last unexplored part of my IF journey: parsers. Since the SpringThing Festival is a nice place to experiment, I thought why not try to make one then! I could not have survived the anxiety of the IFComp reviews for that one...

Still, it was not going to be without a challenge. I had very little experience with parsers, and I honestly didn't think I could learn how to use a parser program in such short amount of time*, when I had a lot of other stuff at the same time. So I thought, why not make it in Twine**, at least I know this program inside-and-out(almost). There would not be a steep learning curve there... What could go wrong? *lol at me, having made an Adventuron game in a non supported language in about 2 weeks after that, without ever having tried the program beforehand. I could totes have managed!! **Also, when I got set with Twine, I realised how fun it would be to maybe put people's expectations upside down by doing something you're not supposed to with Twine... or parsers!

Well, it was going right at first...

2- The Story

I really wanted to recreate the same gameplay of Aisle with its only-one-action-and-it's-over, so I started listing possible actions and put them into a context where this choice of action would mean everything for the PC - because it is the only action you have. Which might not have been a good take? Aisle works because the setting is incredible mundane, and there are no stakes.

The context pretty quickly drew itself as the player will chose a profession/career path, and if they do/choose something wrong, then...😬too bad for them, they made their choice, deal with the consequences. While, in reality, we are not stuck in a life because of one choice, but with a myriad of them (and still we can change this trajectory), it's still a big pressure you get as a youth, having to choose where to go and what to do when you are done with highschool, and what path to take. It's a lot of responsibility that sometimes feels like it will affect/haunt the rest of your life. Do I still have some of that school/parental pressure from when I had to make that choice ingrained somewhere inside? probably...

But the more foolish idea was to let my brain continue to think more about that context and create a world and story further than the choice. Instead of going forward with the consequences and the hints of what could have happened or just let the choice being the centre piece, the brain just went backwards and created a society (some sort of futuristic one) and vaguely described beings (that are not humans), and the ritualistic culture of this society, etc... While it was fun to think about all of those, and maybe provided a fun setting and enticing story for the player to go through the game, there might have been a bit too much of it. I think, in hindsight, this may have devalued the choice itself (which became even more watered down when I continued on writing the first screens).

And so, the job choice soon became the player is going through some sort of ritual (v trope-y) to determine their place in society. If it has a vibe of The Giver, it shouldn't be too surprising, the book is on my shelf.

So we still have the one-choice-to-rule-them-all, but now there is a also backstory and setting... and I have to include it somewhoeeven if it means cramming it somewhere, anywhere.

Oh wait, I thought, I'll just make it like a prologue to build anticipation for the choice!

And so the brain went on zooming again to create the waiting room, and the agonising walk in the corridor, and the finding your way to the altar, before you cant finally make your choice..... only to end up with two(-ish) paragraphs for each endings. wow - what a good balanced game this is becoming...

Speaking of endings, I had originally listed over 50 actions, each planned to have a different ending.... only to end up with about 11, 7 of those were actually related to the final countdown choice. It made me sadder than when I cut onions :(

It wasn't just the player that needed to make...

At this point, we were two weeks away from the deadline. I had the backbone of the code (-ish), a good third of the writing wasn't complete (and this was mainly those 11 endings), and no one had tested the game yet. There was no way I could have included all 50 original options if I wanted to make the deadline. might have been good in hindsight to remove those choices, especially with the current command system.

So choices had to be made and a buttload of planned things had to be cut. I narrowly managed to finish the needed endings in time (which required re-writing some of those into a fake choice), at least.

At the end, I strayed quite a bit from the Aisle concept of a mini intro - one action - an ending puzzle-y feel (and making the player piece the story together from the endings), to arrive at... well... this anxiously geolian walk to one's doom (or dream). Making the story quite... well... linear.

And from going somewhat wrong, it went a little wrong-er...

3- The Implementation

Wanting to avoid the headache of learning a new program, I had settled on Twine pretty much from the start (SugarCube, because that's how I've been rolling for the past almost 2 years!).

The big problématiques of this project were:

Twine is not a parser program (duh)

SugarCube has its limitations still (and macros that don't always work the way you want to)

I had never written a parser game before and suck at playing them (thank you, French IF streams that helps me enjoy them without experiencing the frustration of not finding the right combo!)

I still suck at JavaScript/jQuery to do weird things with the page (and probably fix all those issues)

and well did I already say Twine is not a parser program?

So I tried to get to the basic of parsers (an input box and text revealing itself onto the page when a command is entered) and prayed for the best. Easy, right?

WRONG!

SugarCube has an input box, but can only autofocus* inside one specific place (so you can't lock it somewhere else but the passage itself, which means you need to add it to every screen...) and when the passage is first loaded (doesn't work if the input box is added later on). *I have also hurt some kitten by overusing autofocus, which was only compensated by offering the the SugarCube God some bug reports about it so those issues could be fixed for the next update (TBA). But you really are not supposed to use autofocus as much as I did... 😬

SugarCube has an input box, but you can only move to another passage after you press Enter. So you can't have some fancy input checks, and you stay on the same page... without some custom listener macro* that is (Bless you Maliface and your Listen Macro) - or I guess some JavaScript code, but who has time for that... I had included a button as an alternative to confirm the commands (which was how I had coded it for DOL-OS), but it would have made the parser experience much worse if using Enter would not have loaded a response (this was a criticism from DOL-OS, which now that I know how to fix, I really should do so...). *at least until the next Sugarcube update which will include a listener.

SugarCube has an input box, but doesn't have a bank of commands, or set object indicator (like with the parsers). While you can technically separate the inputed words with some JavaScript**, whether you do so or not will end with the same amount of spaghetti code at the end, with the different conditional statements for each actions on each screen to show the correct text bits (mine amounted to almost 600 lines of code for 7 screens... without included the printed text! -> see the source code). Now that I've messed around with Adventuron, I can see how easy it is to make a parser game (set up commands and rooms and interactive object), when you have a bank of built-in commands and not have to worry about how to add the new text on the screen. Twine really added a new layer of complexity to this.... Was there a better way of doing this? probably, but don't look at me to find it. *this was how the name chosenname command came to be, and how it only printed the chosen name on the following screens. That and the autofocus being messy...

SugarCube can add text bits to a page, but unlike parser programs, it won't automatically scroll down to the bottom of the page, or at least to the added element. Adding a scroll down to the bottom or scroll up to the page was not too hard (I had some leftover js code), but it was not the solution: the UI is mobile/tablet accessible (smaller screens), which means scrolling to the bottom would make those players having to manually scroll back up (and I am usually quite verbose in my writing). So very much EH.... NOT GREAT! After quite a lot of testing, broken pieces of code, way too much swearing, and re-doing the base of the UI, I did manage to find a solution.... a month into the review/voting period.

But even with those limitations, I pushed through. I knew it was possible to make it work, so I either tried to find work arounds (and gave up the scrolling, at least until the deadline), and pushed through, banging my head against my desk because of what was achievable...

LIKE BUILDING A WHOLE COMMANDS SYSTEM...

Wanting to make things easy for myself (and the players), I thought maybe removing all verbs would make it easier to go through the game, even when having to interact with objects or people around. Enter the bolded word* from the text as the input, press enter, and read the new text! *It was important for me to have some sort of "easy" mode where the interactive things were obvious to the player, coming from a scene where parsers are not the norm/favoured.

Simple right?

This idea... stopped working as soon as I introduced physical actions (sit, stand, jump, etc...), directional actions (the story might be linear but it still has multiple rooms), but most importantly as soon as I wrote flavour texts for one same object. Even if I could get away with removing X/LOOK/EXAMINE*, adding verbs at the end was a necessity (I didn't want to see all the already written variation go to waste...). *I did include look in the code, but mistakenly didn't think about its synonym <- shows the no-knowledge of parser, and not having a bank of commands built-in.

So verbs were added, and then some of its synonyms (but evidently not the most important ones 😬), and then some prepositions just in case, and noun synonyms with adjectives because of how it is described in the text, and then.... so on and so forth. And because of how SugarCube is set, I ended up with lines like this at the end:

<<if ["initiate", "look initiate", "look at initiate", "remember initiate", "initiates", "look initiates", "look at initiates", "remember initiates", "recall initiate", "recall initiates"].contains(_cmd)>>

(and this is not even a correct or complete command list, since it is missing EXAMINE and X)

Et rebelotte for all the interactive words on the page, as well as the added variations requiring another set other verbs. There's not really a verb/noun aliases list to help...

BUT WAIT

Because I always like to make it difficult for myself and not think of the amount of work my ideas/plan will require, I had to make some bits of text appear only once (even if some commands could be used more than once on that page) OR removing the player's ability to make a different action when they do a specific one AND have some bits of text only appear after a command has been used on that page. Pushing the player through extra invisible gates on top of the different rooms. I could have made it easier on myself to break scenes further than I had already done, but nooooooo

And I did this not just once. BUT THREE TIME! When the player is called to get in line, in the corridor, and just before the big doors.

I could have fed myself for a whole week with the spaghetti that came out of my code.

But Manon, I can hear the little devil on my shoulder say, Why all the whining and excuses? You could have stopped if it turned out to be a bad idea, especially if you couldn't implement it properly. Why not have made the story in something else than a parser?

Well...

because Time (wa)s running out and I wasn't going to let all this hard work go to waste by changing everything up at the last minute (it could have worked/been easier, that's true)

because it was still a fun puzzle to solve, even if frustrating most of the time,

because you learn more when you fail than when you win

I'm not a quitter :P (hiding my too many WIPs waiting for me....)

Even if I doubted myself with finishing the game on time, I still pushed myself to cross the finish line, since I knew I would not have finished the project otherwise. Thought it could have been fun to get the 12 angry men passing judgement on my Twine monstrosity making a mockery of parsers had I submitted it to the very serious ParserComp instead. /jk lovingly

So after some "extensive" testing (rushed in the last week, because I am a nightmare to people, sorry @groggydog and @lapinlunairegames for making you go through this, but also thank you for your help!!), I made it to the end!

Well... barely. Ended up with a few bug fixes update along the way.

4- The Reception

(it was like that in my heart)

Like TTTT, this was not explosion of praise and accolades. And I fully expected it. You can't make experiments omelettes without cracking a few programs/rules eggs. At least my omelette didn't have too many eggshells :P

Looking at the numbers, at the time of writing this posts, TRNT is currently sitting at 5 stars (4 ratings) on itch, and 3-1/2 stars on IFDB (2 ratings)*, with 4 reviews on the Forum (bellow the median/average this festival). None of the ratings game with reviews/comments. *When some of the reviews will be moved to the IFDB, I do expect this average to get lower. The itch one is nice (really happy 4 peeps loved it!), but most people only rate when they didn't like it or when they loved it.

As for the feedbacks gotten, they came from a few sources: the people who playtested TRNT, dms on Tumblr and the Forum, the Twine server, and the awaited reviews on the Forum.

Overall, the people who liked the game really enjoyed themselves, from the writing and the worldbuilding being intriguing, or how pretty the UI was. Even with the issues raised during the festival, quite a lot of people (who sent me comments) thought the experiment was either a success, something really cool, or impressive considering the limitations (of the festival and/or of the program). Even in the more critical comments, this experiment was seen as an interesting one to be commended (with a bit of a why did you bother... sprinkled in there). Someone told me TRNT reminded them of the Divergent series (and fair comparison, considering the whole ritual to put you in one job for the rest of your life).

The most surprising thing was that people who never played parser before (or didn't really liked them) found the game entertaining and fun to go through, managing to get to the end without too many issues; while the reviewers with more experience in the genre had a bit more restraints due to the command system I put in place.

Whether my giddiness about verbose writing was to the liking of the player or not, I was honestly happy comments about my grammar didn't make much of an appearance this time around (yay, progress!), and that I would get kudos for the vague story behind the experiment itself, and the structure of the story itself.

But this doesn't mean that it was all sunshine and rainbow here. TRNT had some obvious issues, which should have been squashed during the testing phase had this one been longer (yet again, me speed-running through comps when I should take my time... when will I learn...). There were two main ones: the commands and the UI.

The biggest issue came from the commands, being either unclear or confusing, especially when it came to the cardinal direction, the choice of synonym for the actions, or special actions like the name input. Even if you could go along the story with just a noun or press C until you reached the end, missing important verb commands did not help the game feel complete (EXAMINE/GET/the shortcuts). This is where having some Parser knowledge/experience would have come handy, he.... As for the cardinal directions, it was probably most confusing because I used them as synonyms for forward/back/left/right instead of N/S/W/E (that and it wasn't clear where you were able to go in the text either). Quite a few players were also getting stuck in the corridor (after you come to a stop, you hear some thing up front and your choices are to move to the side/jump or stand still). Special actions like the name input or the final choice were felt a bit off/broke immersion. Party due to the way SugarCube is, partly due to how I organised the game. Having a simple input where the player is asked for their name before the game start and have a say name command, might have worked better there. That and a better hinting system. Fix for those TBD.

Closely followed was the UI being annoying (which ;-; bc I pride myself on creating good UI, but it was fair critique), from the scrolling being an absolute ass, to the confusing bolding of the start of passages being the same as the interactive words (if you didn't change the colour in the settings), to the back/replay last choice command on the END screen not going to the right spot, or the responses of computing an inputted command not appearing/being confusing (in relation to the scrolling), some quirks with the UI being wonky for some screen sizes, etc... Thankfully, all those have been fixed.... but too late for the reviews already published. A quick revamp of the UI base + solving the scrolling issue + slight reformatting of the printed new text bits solved if not all of those issues. Still... too little too late... That's what you get for making a UI in a large screen and only checking different width but not different heights....

A SIDENOTE ON WHY PARSER AND NOT HYPERTEXT

Or me going a bit on a rant. Scroll down to pt 5- The Do-Over to resume coherent levelled conversation.

Still, making a parser a Twine was a CHOICETM, which didn't work for everybody. I don't know if it was because the game was put forth as a Twine game before being a parser, or because the story was maybe a bit too linear/not very interactive compared to other parsers, or because I set out to make a parser before thinking of a story and it showed for some, (or probably because the parser system was not very well implemented) but I did have a few commenters wondering if my choice of making it a parser was the correct one, as in why would you use parser when hyperlinks would have probably worked better?

Maybe a cop-out answer would be Why not. Why not try to break the rules and the codes of what is a Twine game or what is a parser? Why not push Twine to where it is probably not supposed to go (sorry, TME)? Why not blur the lines of the divides between the subgenres of IF? I wrote some part while having a bit of a fever, and my notes had Why not make parsers less puzzle-y/more linear choice-based like? and oh boi is it good to re-read yourself... Cause yiekes what a load of BS.

The other part of the answer is Because experimenting and doing weird thing is fun! Doing weird thing, writing bad code that should probably not work but it does, putting the program on a lifeline, making up stories that are nonsensical, etc... and breaking people's mind in the process with what could be done. Also it was just fun to find out whether it was just possible to do it at all. The rush of happiness when you the puzzle is solved is so incredibly gratifying. It was really fun to try something different (for me but also for what Twine can generally do), to solve a puzzle of mashing two things that don't/shouldn't go together, to find what makes them tick and make it all work, and to challenge myself to do something new (did I mention before it was my fist time making a parser?). AND, having fun creating! And the SpringThing has always been a beacon to promote experimentation with the genre and more out there stuff. So it's was kind of like the stars aligned or something :P

Also Because it was possible!That one is pretty self-explanatory...

Maybe a bit more presumptuous of me: Because experimenting keeps Interactive Fiction fresh and exciting! I'm not trying to set a trend or anything here (honestly, it's not too strange, TRNT's weirdness kind of follows my previous work with TTTT and its mixology element, or DOL-OS with it computer interphase), but isn't fun to see what else can be done in IF, or what new area can be explored now that funky stuff has been tried, or what else should probably not be done (hopefully this doesn't apply to TRNT lol, I think it should be fun to have more parser in Twine). Even if my entry was not really a novel idea even in the gameplay (exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C), I still think there should be more weird stuff out there, so I contribute to that where/when I can! It'd be sad if IF became same-y and stale... It'd be fun if someone did something like this because they played TRNT and thought it was neat :P

And Because it didn't fit with my original vision of the game. Even if the game changed quite a lot along the way, the parser element was something I would not compromise with, no matter how good or bad the final product was. Sorry TME for the kittens lost in the autofocus of the textboxes...

I did wonder for a while how many people opened the settings at all 🤔

5- The Do-Over?

Ha.

Haha.

Hahaha.

No.

Honestly... If I was going back to the start, I don't think I would change anything. Even if the length of the testing was more than minimal (still haven't learned my lesson), even if I rushed into the competition (again, not learned my lesson), even if I made errors along the way (well, maybe fixing the UI earlier instead) or let the story stray that much away from the original idea (honestly it was probably for the best that it ended not being too close to Aisle at the end, I might have gotten eviscerated in the reviews). It did what it was supposed to do, and checked all the boxes from what I wanted to try. At the end, to me, it was a complete (and stressful success).

Will there be some changes in the future?

Just a bit, at some point, TBD and TBA. Just to fix the commands a bit, maybe rearrange some passages, add a bit more variation/hidden codex entries, maybe even a new ending or two! But it wouldn't go further than that. TRNT was an experiment through and throuh.

==================== THE END ====================

Anyway, my weird hybrid beast of a parser in Twine and I are done rambling about my awesome show of tricks that may or may not have landed badly and with a broken skateboard. We will go collect our ribbons, now!

Make IF weird, Do word crimes, Have fun

I do wonder if me submitting the game in the Main Garden rather than at the Back Garden played into the expectations of the reviewers, since the BG is meant for more experimental IF. But in the same vein, there was the Kuolema running on a Google Form and people flocked to it so 🤷 It's probably the quality that made things the way it is whooooops :P