#might do as much as i can before starting the new world quest just so i have teleports should i need them

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!! <3

[kbspangler]

This is the public statement from @alepresser and myself which went up at Webtoons tonight.

Now for some ranting. Just from me, not from Ale—she's innocent of the art crimes I've committed in the past, and boy howdy have I committed art crimes.

This is the first page of my first webcomic, A Girl and Her Fed. I started this thing back in 2006. (I don't actually need a head count of those reading this who weren't yet born in 2006. I'm sure you're delightful and I wish you well in college.)

And this is the last page I drew in early 2020 before I turned art duties over to Dr. Beer. It's better, right?

Well, these days, A Girl and Her Fed has pages like this:

I drew this comic for fourteen fucking years because it's a story I wanted to tell, and I thought webcomics were the perfect format for it. I didn't know how to draw. I got better through sheer obstinate perseverance and sticking to deadlines as best I could for, again, fourteen fucking years. I sought out a replacement artist when I ran into time constraints and couldn't do art plus writing anymore; I'm a much better writer than an artist, so I had no problems whatsoever kicking art to the curb.

The first time Ale sent me art that would go up on the website—art I hadn't needed to draw myself—I literally cried in relief because I had been grinding myself down for, yet again, fourteen fucking years.

So when I read comments from people who say they want to make a webcomic but can't draw themselves and therefore need to resort to AI, that little line between my eyes gets dangerously deep.

This isn't like I'm some old dude who's bitching over student loans getting cancelled after making regular payments. This is me, someone who threw raw art onto the internet like a monkey hurling fresh poo, because I wanted to make a webcomic and the art is part of the process of storytelling via webcomics! I could've (arguably should've) hired an artist right out of the gate, and that would've been part of the process of making comics, too: a partnership between an artist and a writer is also something which grows and develops over time.

For example, after Dr. Beer and I spent two years working on AGAHF, we decided we enjoyed our partnership so much that we set out to make another webcomic! It's great! It's got wonderful art and consistent storytelling! You should read it!

But turning art duties over to unaltered images generated by AI because you want to make a webcomic but "just can't draw" is, frankly, a bullshit excuse. I'm not talking about persons who are physically unable to draw due to disability—I'm talking about people who say they want to make webcomics but simply don't wanna do the art part.

Friends, if you don't want to show your entire ass in front of God and country, you don't actually want to make a webcomic.

Do the thing yourself.

If you're scared, don't be. Take the plunge. Set a goal of twenty strips and do the thing yourself. If you can already draw but can't write? Great! Write twenty strips, write forty panels, etc. You might surprise yourself. If you can write but can't draw? Great! Draw twenty panels and see what happens.

Whatever comes out of it, it's a thing you've done yourself. It's something new you've given to the world, no matter how big or small. Be proud of that. And if you need to partner with someone else to make your comic dreams work? You can do that, too! It's still a thing you've done yourself, and many projects are stronger when done together.

...but maaaaaaaaaybe hire that partner before you've busted your own ass for fourteen fucking years. That one's on me.

[starflirts]

I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU (HOW YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I TURN TO)

in which you and percy must navigate the intricacy of love and glory in the midst of terror percy jackson x ares! reader, wc: 1.8k, warning: violence, description of wounds/blood, note: thank you so much for requesting!!! and yes, i picked the quest members randomly SUE ME

Percy was busy this summer. On top of his daily activities at camp, the Oracle had bestowed on him a particularly tedious quest which he eagerly accepted, not one to miss out on adventure. But the last few days have been tough for everyone. The quest Percy and his friends had taken on proved to be way more demanding than expected and monsters seemed to constantly appear out of nowhere. Looking over his shoulder to ensure everyone was okay, he noticed you trailing behind Annabeth and Thalia, backpack slung over your shoulder. Even with tired eyes and a couple of cuts on your face, you were the prettiest being he’d ever seen.

“I think we can stop here for the night,” his voice cuts into the silence of the early evening. “we’re not far off our destination and if Thalia's mapping is correct we might be a few days early. That’s great news !” 

The rest of the group nodded, each setting down their bags and stretching. “Thalia and I are gonna settle here, call us if you guys need anything.” Annabeth said, to which Percy acquiesced.

As soon as they moved off, Percy's gaze turned to you, sitting on a rock with your backpack on your knees, looking away.  

“Hey angel,” he approached you, one hand brushing your arm before settling himself by your side. “How are you holding up ?”

Looking at him for a brief second, you shrugged, opting to play with your dagger, a gift from your father, the infamous god of war. 

Taking your silence for an invitation to continue, Percy adds: “I can’t believe we made it this far so quickly you know ? Everything is going smoothly and if we get back to camp this early Chiron might see us fit for another outing !” 

His words feel like pit scorpion stingers and you close your eyes, huffing through your nose. That's when he notices how taut your shoulders are. He frowns, attempting to meet your eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong ?” he tentatively rubs your back. “Do you need anything ? I might have a few snacks Grover packed before we left..”

The mention of your friend back at camp half-blood makes your stomach clench. You miss Grover, you miss camp. Hades, Mr D’s stupid shirts are even starting to grow on you. This quest seemed to go on forever and you wished Percy wouldn’t be so stubborn about it. Putting your stuff away you sigh, looking up towards the stars slowly coming out of hiding. “I don’t need anything Percy.” you answer dryly. 

You can see him from the corner of your eye, looking at you skeptically. “Is this because we’re still on the road ? You know the worst is over, I think we’re in the clear about monsters and all… And then, if everything goes exactly as planned we’ll be back at camp in a couple of days.”

You press the heel of your hands against your eyes, as if his voice was enough to give you a headache. “I don’t care, Percy. I don’t wanna know about that stupid plan or those stupid monsters. The quest is the only thing that has been coming out of your mouth ever since Chiron told you to go talk to the Oracle. Even when we’re at camp you only seem to care about going away !” you finally snap, staring at him crossly. 

Percy’s confused, you can see it in the way his brows furrow. “Listen, it’s- it’s important, okay ? These quests, these prophecies, they’re vital if you want to prove yourself, to grow stronger ! How do you think we’d be doing in the real world without this ?”

You sigh, toying with your bracelet, a gift your boyfriend had given you last summer. “That’s not what I meant Percy ! You’re just so… You give your all to all of this and I understand, I admire you for that ! But it sucks to see you risk everything so often, to see you come back all hurt and bruised.” 

“Would you like it better if I stayed at camp and did nothing then ?” it’s his turn to get upset, arms crossed as he stares at you. 

“No ! Of course not ! I just wished you knew how to take care of yourself and others at the same time ! You’re all up in your head sometimes, barely acknowledging me, or anyone else for that matter !” you let out an annoyed laugh. 

“Oh so you’re mad because we can’t hang out like we used to ? Come on, you know how serious that is ! Of course I care about you but this is important too !”

You scoff, turning away from the boy. “Glory is important to you, I get it ! It’s what runs in your blood. But why can’t you see how it affects others, me ?”   

Percy runs a hand in his hair, obviously distressed. He calls out your name, a hint of dejection in his voice. “I think the journey has taken a toll on you. We should talk about it, about us ! You don’t mean that.” he reaches out but you step away. “Yeah, right. Is there even an us right now ? Maybe I’m just a hindrance. You’d definitely do greater things without me pestering you” you breathe out, angrily wiping your eyes. 

Your words slice his heart and you can see a twinge of sadness in his eyes. “Come on–”

He barely has time to finish this sentence when Annabeth yells from behind: “Watch out !” Briskly turning around, the boy is faced with two enormous hellhounds. Drawing out his beloved Riptide, Percy slashes the air, attempting to get the monsters to back off. When the two creatures jump forward instead, Percy’s mind goes blank. He can only think about everyone’s survival. In his line of vision, he can see Annabeth and Thalia actively defending themselves. But he can’t see nor hear you and that’s enough to make his heart beat ten times quicker. He can’t afford to diverge his attention right now but he knows you, he knows you can put up a fight. You’re not the pride of Ares’ cabin for nothing after all. 

One down, Percy thinks as his sword pierces through the monster’s fur. Brushing off the dust sticking to his face with bloodied knuckles, he turns around in horror as he hears a bloodcurdling scream. Your scream. His feet drive him to you as fast as they can, only to find you wrestling with the remaining hellhound on the ground, its fangs sinking into your flesh. 

Percy sees red. He lunges at the creature, weapon raised. Within a few minutes, what remains of the monster is the flickering black dust disappearing in the moonlight. Out of breath, Percy rushes to your side when he notices you’re not getting up. 

“Hey hey ! It’s over, you’re- you're okay.” His hands on your shoulders, “C’mon, we gotta get you up.” He tries to get you in a seating position but the whimper you let out makes his heart clench. You grab his shoulder with a shaky hand, throat prickling as you attempt to tell him something. 

“Hurts Percy…it hurts…” and that’s when he notices the gash on your lower stomach, shirt ripped to shreds and blood dripping down. A wave of nausea hits him but he holds on, applying pressure on your wound. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re- we’re gonna get you back to camp, we’re gonna help you. Just… Just talk to me yn, don’t close your eyes.” Percy’s hands shake as he tries to keep you conscious while Thalia and Annabeth fumble around him with a makeshift stretcher. 

Even now, Percy is still amazed at how fast they all ran back to camp, guilt plaguing his mind as Chiron and a couple of dryads took your inert body and carried you to the infirmary. 

The next few days are awful. Percy’s at the edge of your bed night and day, feeding you nectar and ambrosia, dabbing the sweat off your forehead when you strike up a fever, helplessly watching a kid from the Apollo cabin change your bandages. When you finally come out, he’s sat at the edge of your bed, head in his hands. 

The sun peaking out from the closed curtains is still too bright when you open your eyes. You frown, slowly raising your arm to cover them. The rustling of sheets has Percy whipping his head in your direction and even in your daze, you can see his shoulders sag with relief.

“Hey…” he says softly. 

“Wha– what happened ?” you speak out, voice husky.  

He’s sitting next to you within seconds, hand gently holding yours. You can see he’s trying really hard to find the right words, to tell you exactly how his nightmare played out. “We…We were on the way back to camp after our quest. We were all exhausted and- and we fought… I’m so sorry yn,” he pauses, voice shaky. “We didn’t have time to talk things through… Two hellhounds appeared out of nowhere and by the time I turned to look for you I– I  saw you on the ground. You were fighting the monster but he got you really bad and when he was gone I wanted to see if you were okay and– and you weren’t.. There was so much blood and you were in so much pain and–”

You squeeze his hand twice, cutting him off. He looks at you and this time you can clearly see the tears forming at his lash line. 

“It’s okay Percy,” you smile weakly, thumb drawing circles on his skin. “We made it, you made it.”

He shakes his head, closing his eyes for a few seconds. “No, no it’s not. I was terrified when we brought you here. I was mad at myself for fighting with you and I was so, so scared to lose you. I kept repeating our last interaction in my head and thinking that those words might’ve been our last made me realize how stupid I am for not noticing how I hurt you. You’re right. I get too much in my head. And… I can’t do anything when I’m not with you. I know this might sound silly but I need you with me all the time.”

You let out a small chuckle. “It’s fine Percy. I am partially to blame too y’know… I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I– I didn’t mean what I said. Of course there’s still an us. I guess I got too much in my head too.” you smile at him sheepishly. “And I hope you know I wouldn’t deal so nicely with any of this demigod bullshit if you weren’t by my side all the time.” you add with a mischievous smirk and Percy’s heart swells. 

Resting his forehead against yours, his hands are on your face, thumbs stroking your cheekbones. “We’ll be alright angel. We’ll always be alright as long as we’re together.”

[lady-ashfade]

Cold & Chill

Day 10 of celebration marathon

Book Percy Jackson x Ares!reader

-£ ask: Can you do, a Percy × Ares!reader, that's kinda actually a mix between Ares and Apollo?You can do with you want with that, I just haven't seen any Ares!reader x Percy, or any good ones at least.

-£ warnings: readers personality being all over the place but what did you expect, reader is a mix between grunge and dark hipster, it’s confusing to explain. Also probably not a “good one” because I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do.

Percy wasn’t the best person when it came to you, he never talked to you before. When he first joined camp he heard your name then that you were a ares kid, and since they wanted to kill him— he decided to let it be.

But the more time he spent around camp he heard your name pop up more. Nothing ever bad which was weird since a lot of people had opinions here.

You were on quests a lot and when you did come back you stayed by your friends. You hung around your siblings sometimes or the apollos kids. From what Percy could tell you were different.

Yes, you had a dark and slightly different palette then the others but you didn’t act like your siblings. everytime he saw you— you looked almost bored.

Safe to say when he did meet you he was even more confused. You had found him outside before dawn leaning against a tree.

“Is a tree softer then your bed?” The smallest hint of mischievous tone in your voice. You still had this calm aura about you.

“Wanted some fresh air.” He stated

“Hmm…Shouldn’t you be in water then? Thought that like, soothes you?” He blinks at you. You really knew who he was was?

“Not all my problems can be solved with water.” He didn’t mean to sound rude but he was tired and wanted to be alone. Luckily you didn’t care.

“That sucks.” You shrug your shoulders and walk away from him with you hands in your pockets without any interest to stay with him.

You had skills with many instrument you touched since they were your interests. Like the drums you used to bring out your anger…and no one interrupted you when you did. Then the guitar which you were skilled as well, playing faster then light itself at times. So you played with the Apollos kids and sometimes camp songs when they wanted.

You did have a way about you that seemed as if you didn’t care about anything. and somehow your ego was high? I mean, a mix of ares and Apollo? You have the biggest ego in the world…maybe it was better you had a chill way about you.

Percy grew a massive crush on you. He admired you so much that he couldn’t help but to blush when he thought of you, or saw you.

He liked that you could kill your opponent easily but didn’t care to hurt them so you took them down as fast as possible and moved on. you held a straight face the whole time. And then how you played a guitar…he couldn’t stop looking at you every time.

After years he never saw you angry, annoyed maybe? But you were ares child so you had his anger.

The way you shouted and grabbed ahold of some poor boy by his shirt. Your veins popped out of your skin and looked like you wanted to kill him.

The boy had interrupted one of your drumming sessions and you were far into it. You didn’t like to show anger so you waited until you could do something about. And when you get angry you stay that way, gods help who pulls you away before you get it out of your system.

He watched clarisse and two others take ahold of your arms and start to drag you away. You twist and shaked to get out of their hold and lunge at the boy who looked so scared until he ran away.

Now he knew how you ares kid.

But he grew to handle your emotions easily when you both started dating.

You might be calm most of the time but boy did you have a death glare when someone threatened him or your friends.

He once saw you reach for a weapon when someone said something mean about a new camper who wanted to play a instrument (it sounded horrible) and don’t get him wrong! He loved when you acted protective over him but you’d take it to far.

He liked it when you’d sit behind him and place his hands on the guitar to try and teach him. Oh, boy did he love that.

He thought the one of the perks of dating you would be that your siblings might lay off him, but even you didn’t at times. You made fun of him (lovingly) about his water powers.

“Aren’t you going to stick up for me?” He crossed his arms.

You popped a chip in your mouth, “I already stopped her from attacking you without a good reason. I’ve done my part”

taglist: @maria699669 @purplerose291 @itzmeme @ravenmedows

[faeryarchives]

savanaclaw with a furina - like female reader!

the "regina of all waters, kindreds, peoples and laws" is deeply loved by all. under her flamboyant and imprudent facade, lies a girl holding an unbearable weight and guilt on her shoulders to save her people. note: as requested and i love furina sm hihi i will also write for other dorms warning: major spoilers for genshin archon quest other fics: heartslabyul with a furina-like reader & i'm not jealous !! & to my beloved & more than words

-‘๑’- leona kingscholar

"huh? what is the esteemed dorm leader of savanaclaw doing in front of my house?" "... why do you look like you didn't sleep for days? nevermind, take back your pets - they've been following me the whole day and poking me with water." "oh my archons, they like you!"

leona knew different kinds of people, faes and beastmen but never a god! not that you broadcasted it to the world - of course he heard it while grim was chatting away from the garden

so this lion observed your moves and to be honest, you were just like an ordinary person

"what are you doing hiding behind me?" "ahem! you know, i don't really know the forest that much so i would appreciate if i would put myself behind yo- ahhh! what is that?!" "it's just a branch, herbivore. i never knew you are scared of branches."

he actually gained another chess player buddy - he discovered it at the cost of being drenched in water from your water familiars

never he would imagine how on earth did you not go crazy standing in for your archon and acting for so so long? and despite belittling you and your friend group, he couldn't believe his ears when you stood up for him against the other dorms

"what leona did was wrong but how would you feel if all the trainings and efforts were all in naught and overlooked by the people you considered as family? imagine if your fate has already been sealed before you were even born?"

oh, he didn't expect you of all people to do that honestly + not so bad at all so expect a lot of sweets everyday curtesy of this lion

don't tell anyone but with you acting just as yourself and discovering your passions with him as a witness - leona feels proud like a lion watching his cub succeed

extra: you and cheka really go along well to the point that leona thinks cheka might replace him with you someday

-‘๑’- ruggie bucchi

ruggie trusts his skills in sneaking around and swiping things if needed and he will bet that no one could ever discover him immediately

"after pulling a prank on grim and my salon members, you must think that i am much of a gullible fool?"

now you both did really met at a rough start - the hyena thought you would be more snobbish and not to mingle with people below his level especially after hearing you being a god

but seeing you shielding him during leona's overblot and regularly visiting him during his recovery at the clinic made him questioned his thoughts about you

"why are you always visiting me? i thought you hated me?" "...? where did you get that nonsense? if i do hate you, i would go out of my way to buy these doughnuts for you."

well look at you two now! close like two peas in a pod - you really enjoyed spending time with ruggie because you were seeing the world in a different perspective

having hard time picking your new macaroni menu for the day? no worries, ruggie will make sure you will be able to cook other meals than this. not good with bargaining with sam? hold his groceries, he have this in the bag.

"more interesting trinkets for me~!" "oh you collect trinkets? why didn't you say so?"

omg new trinket collector buddy 🥺 whenever you give him something such as a bracelet or even a hairclip he will wear it like a badge of honor

it's alright to help other students but he is worried that being to kind in nrc might backfire on you

"you shouldn't be too trusting here. i know you just want to help but like your friends said - you should also help yourself at times."

while he might not look like it but ruggie can sense your mood change accurately especially when it involves the topic of your past

this one whole year on nrc might not be comparable to your 500 years of living but ruggie will make sure that it will be the best one

-‘๑’- jack howl

other than the adeuce and grim team - jack is the person you actually vibe with!

maybe its because his sense of justice and responsibility reminds you of a dear friend back home and it actually comforts you to see it + makes you feel less homesick

this man is very used to his little siblings so expect him to come off as a brotherly vibes + probably makes you an exemption to touching his ears and letting your salon members put some design in his hair

"... do you think these three would be great teammates during magift competitions?"

"hmmm, i must say they do make a great team. what if we bring it up to leona, i think these three will enjoy it very much."

well the dorm leader liked the idea but seeing how they acted during the practice - it's safe to say it is very risky because they only listen to you, jack and leona

ANYWAYS jack sometimes come to the ramshackle dorm just to wake you up knowing you probably stayed up late reading your novels

he tried inviting you to his morning run only to see you the next day already tired and carrying you on his back after one run

"you can't blame me okay! i was born to drama and directing not in running!"

speaking of carrying you on his back he sometimes do it just because he wants to especially when jack knows too well how much you overwork yourself

while he can read you very well, you can also read this guy by the book through his ears and tail movement

"... jack what are you doing here so late?" "…what? it’s not like i was waiting for you or anything." "i never said that though?" "hmp." while he look away, his tail would impatiently wag and hit the wall behind him making you laugh "uhuh, whatever you say. let's go back to our dorms now big guy."

it turns out that while spending the whole afternoon up to evening, jack wanted to accompany you back to the dorm safely - worried that someone is bullying you because you were down for days.

he is not that expressive with words - but just know that jack will always be your friend despite your upbringings or not being open to tell your past, he understands it pretty well

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

(short continuation to the prompt I wrote, which is linked below. I thought I was done with this, but then @victoria-has-no-secret and @bluerosefox had some ideas to incorporate into it. Screenshots of said ideas are also below but are sprinkled throughout the post too.)

(*) = Me building off of other ideas

TW: mentions of animal death

← previous

✦

After the whole fiasco with the Justice League, Danny gets an idea. Not very many people actually know about Laika, at least from what he could see of the majority of the Justice League who had never learned about her. Although, to be fair, a lot of them come from different planets. Either way, it gives Danny the idea to create a YouTube channel starring Laika to teach the people of Earth about the pup.

The channel immediately garners attention from all around the world, and even winds up on a couple of news stations too! It grows so much that Danny decides to expand further than just Laika, but to the other things that were sent into space in the quest for knowledge: The space rovers as well as many other animals.

Laika even leads Danny to them as he ventures further into space with a specially made camera that can withstand traversing space and the differing atmosphereic conditions of other planets. He manages to find every single one of them, discovering that maybe Laika hadn't been as alone as he'd first thought as he watches and records her playing with the spirits (imprints?) of the rovers, chimps, mice, and many other animals haunting the endless void of the cosmos.

People back on earth are going wild with the knowledge that their hopes, thoughts, and feelings helped to give life to beings that had long been dead/stopped working. They have no idea what to feel about this new information except an amalgamation of pure awe, curiosity, joy, guilt, and sadness. They still mourned the loss of Laika, the rovers, and everyone before and after them, but knowing that their existence wasn't completely lost soothed an ache many didn't know they carried with them when they were there to witness the beginning of such astronomical leaps in technology.

To also know that out of the many stars shooting across the sky, one of them might be Laika happily racing amongst the stars with her friends brought many to tears. At every opportunity, they wished for the sweet pup's happiness and the continuing health of their own furry companions down on Earth with them. They also wished that upon the eventuality that they have to part with their companions that maybe a few of them would join Laika and her friends in stars to keep them company for many years to come.

Although many of these wishes were heard by Desiree, she refused to touch such hopeful and well-meaning wishes for fear of twisting them in unseemly ways, allowing them to form on their own. The other ghosts among Danny's rouges even made a deal with each other to not interfere or attack the town when Danny was recording his videos out in space.

It was beyond bad manners to interfere with another ghost's obsession, after all.

✦

I'm gonna go cry some more. I've learned more about the progress of space exploration in the past couple hours than I probably should. This is the last thing I'm adding onto this prompt. If any of y'all wanna continue it, be my guest!

Notes:

(*) One more thing to add. Where are the ghost hunters/Guys in White during all of this? If they start making a fuss over Phantom and all the ghost animals, do they get a bunch of civilians raiding their government facilities and causing them bodily harm? What's happening with the Justice League? Are they sitting back and eating popcorn while all this goes down? Who knows. :)

[legendaryvermin]

What if No Gold?

If you've talked to me about game design before then you may have heard me talk about how much I hate two things in TTRPGs: Gold and Trad Game XP.

While I may write a post later talking about why, today I was thinking about what sorts of systems you could use to make a fair start at getting rid of gold pieces in your game entirely, and so I'm here with a couple of quick ideas and partial systems that you are free to try out or steal for something yr working on.

Barter Tables

Barter tables are simple, they are a list of the kinds of things a person or community might have or could give, versus the kinds of things they might need. For a simple one: Wandering Knight:

A day's worth of hard tack -> a night's watch A fine weapon -> fine maintenance on all medium and heavy armor Saving them from certain doom -> A true name, used to summon them once for battle against a worthy foe

On the left, we have something the party might have or give, and on the right, something they might receive in exchange. We can already see from this that goods and service are at odd equivalencies. This table needn't be the only set of exchanges available, but it offers a place for us to not only understand this character, but to think about what skills and goods they are likely to have on them, and how they fit into our world, and build off of in the future. Here's another:

A Reputable Inn:

Nothing -> A thin broth and a bench in the main hall to sleep on Fresh ingredients -> A fine meal and a private room A Golden Trinket -> A fine meal, a private room, and the attention of pickpockets A well told tale or song -> Food and beer, trinkets and tack if you're lucky Breaking up a fight before anyone is hurt -> a well packed lunch and extra supplies for your departure A well-woven tapestry -> Fine food whenever you are in town, and a favor from the owner

Discreet Value Matrix

This is a fancy way of saying that depending on certain factors, we might be able to assign a specific value to different kinds of objects to help decide how much you get for them. Imagine a few axes for this kind of matrix, all with possible values between -10 and 10:

Quantity

Scarcity

Utility

Magical Endowment

Age

Beauty

You could use these values to figure a rough value of something based on the condition of not only the object, but also the environment of the thing. Let's take a normal sword as an example. When seen by a warrior, a sword might have the following value:

Scarcity -> 2

Utility -> 7

Age -> 6 (it's new)

But to a farmer it might look more like this:

Scarcity -> -5 (I do not need this)

Beauty -> 2

What you do with these numbers (adding them, just comparing them) doesn't matter as much as having a consistent way to identify how much a person or group needs something, and potentially makes for some very interesting trades:

Let's say our party needs a magical relic that is in the possession of a local town. to the town the relic has the following value:

Scarcity -> 10 (there's just the one)

Age -> 10 (it's been here since the town's founding)

Utility -> -3 (there's a rumor it's cursed)

Beauty -> 5

Magical Endowment -> 10 (it's clearly magic so come on, can't get something for nothing)

Now the party doesn't have the time to do a side quest to help this town with the skeletons popping out of the graveyard, but they do have two things the town needs: weapons (to fight the skeletons) and food (there was a blight on the crops, maybe related). Through some negotiations, the players trade the following to the town:

Spears

Utility -> 5

Quantity -> 4 (enough for the toughest townsfolk)

Scarcity -> 7

Food

Utility -> 7

Quantity -> 8 (it's all their but the party has a druid that can create food)

Scarcity -> 7

It's pretty quick to do napkin math on what makes a fair trade for the facilitator, and the party gets to go on their way knowing that they're eating nothing but roughage for a couple of days.

[springtimesdaughter]

PJO Time Travel AU:

When Lester/Apollo is about to fall inside of Chaos instead of waking up in Olympus, he wakes up back in time now, separated from the future unable to go back and while he still has some godly powers he's just barely on the same level as some demigods.

He has to do everything all over again while dodging Kronos and Geia and not setting off the Triumpheret too soon.

He's basically mortal, and instead of realizing he might get Godhood back, he realizes he won't ever get godhood back.

Queue more character development and coming to accept all things that come with mortality. He has no power to prevent the awful things from happening, but he can make things easier.

Him having to deal with the fact he can't fix things. They won't get fixed.

Couple outsider POVs would be fun and mostly crack, while his POV is a mess of slowly growing maturity and understanding.

The god Apollo still exists, and wow, he really can hate himself on another level now.

He arrives back in time just in time to save one of Luke's quest mates, but he doesn't have time to prevent the worst from happening. Kronos will still rise, but he prevents one thing from happening. The realistic impact one character can have on a story with fate and stuff.

Him finding demigods out in the wild and guiding them alond the way. Sending them in the right direction, but having to deal with the fact that he's sending children to a slightly prolonged death. That he can't save them.

Him becoming a better person because there is no immortality at the end of this. He is one of the most stable figures in some demigods lives and realizing this is super messed up.

Anyway, Lester's eighteen when the big events start happening and he becomes a consistent background character to what would become the books.

Percy, Anabeth, and Grover are being led away from the media mess at the arch by Lester as he hands them some extra cash so they can get food and he tries to warn them that there is some much worse parties out there than Hades that Zues won't want to consider.

Him causing problems for the emperors as he makes them weaker and therefore makes the rising Kronos a bit weaker.

Also him accidently ruined Hera's plans without meaning. Just running into Piper and telling her about the immortal world before realizing that now the fight against Geia might change and having to deal with this consequence.

If that means sending Leo to New York as well, so be it. But what if this ends with them being killed sooner?

Just Lester from an outsider POV being a really weird mortal or as the Romans think a legacy who went rogue.

IDK what I would do with this idea, but just it's a fun concept.

[jamiedc-they-them]

Good People - Part II: Do Unto Others (Platonic)

Part 1 is here!

NOTE: Once again, this series (maybe? if people like it and their dynamic?) will be shorter pieces around certain scenes rather than full episodes. Kind of like summaries with specific lil bits with the main focus being Lucy and Y/N's friendship. Enjoy!

Chapter Summary: You take Lucy to Filly. A gunfight ensues. Lucy surprises you with loyalty.

"I thought I'd have to marry my Cousin," Lucy tells you as you both start to leave the desert and enter a forest area.

"...Uh...Ok?" you say, not really sure how to react to the information your new friend has just given you.

"Is that not...is that now how things are done up here? What about the survival of the Human Race?"

You snort, helping her over a log, "Don't think that's the thing on a lot of people's minds."

"How so?" she asks, genuinley confused.

"More so just concerned about the whole, survival of the self, type thing."

"That's understandable. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"I won't."

"No, I meant like, ask me. 'Sure, go ahead.'"

"Oh. Sorry. Still getting used to the lingo out here."

You snort again, "ain't too much to learn. And, you're fine, wasn't the worse miscommunication."

She nods, smile on her face, "okey dokey."

You keep walking on, passing two people. You move out of their way, but Lucy gives them a friendly greeting. Nothing comes of it, but you still find yourself leaning in close to her - and accidentally making her jump as she didn't see that you had stopped - and saying to her, "try not to do that in general when out, ok? In towns? Maybe, especially with your quest. But out here," you move your finger in a circular motion, "don't."

"Can I ask why? Nothing bad happened," you partly pity and find her innocence kind of endearing.

"Just...this time it didn't go bad. It might not next time."

"Sorry."

"Don't - don't be sorry," you say, finding your guard going down a bit at her genuine apology, "just...lessons learnt, right?"

She nods, enthusiastically, "yes. One hundo percento!"

You shake your head, "alrighty then. Onward to Filly."

Filly wasn't a bad town. It had all sorts of life in it, not all nice mind, and a certain charm with the environment it laid in. It was also what led you to realise that, for most of your time surviving, you had spent it wandering in circles essentially, with you almost always ending up back here and some point.

Lucy moves between two people, reaching out and grabbing your hand to make sure you don't get lost. She tightens it a bit as you look back at the two people as they look at Lucy, discussing to themselves about the Vault Dweller.

"Y/N, come on," she says, tugging on your hand, "no need to start a fight."

Your hand unfurls from the fist it was in.

You nod at her, she nods back.

A vendor tries to get her to try some meat; she tries to find information on her dad; the vendor just goes back to selling meat.

"Move on. Come on. Don't wanna get trapped here," you say, trying to usher Lucy along.

"But he might --" Lucy protests.

"Trust me?" you ask, attempting to just keep her moving.

Yet --

"I do," Lucy says.

It makes you both pause.

"What?" she asks, genuinley confused.

"That quick, huh?"

She nods, now moving of her own volition.

"Like I said, good judge of character."

She walks on a bit, as you stay put.

"Huh," you say. You'd never been told that before. A snake, sure. Or some other bad word. But never someone to be trusted. Sounded foreign to you.

Still, it made you have a slight spring in your step - or as much as you could, given your current predicament.

Lucy looks in wonder at the place, "Wow-wee!" she says.

"Not a bad looker, is it? End of the world really brings out the creativity in people."

"I didn't expect this, for sure," she admits. Maybe it's her honesty, the ability to have her guard almost always be down, that makes you admire her a bit more. She trusts easily. It shakes you a bit, how quickly she both did that and gave you her water. Things like that are worth gold out here. And yet she gave it to you freely.

She's the one with that dart gun, and yet you find yourself being more of the protector. She accidentally barges shoulder with someone, and apologises. The man, a towering figure, looks her up and down. You stand between them, until his friend hits him as well.

"They might have something for you," you say, nodding to the shop, "I'll stay with you until you find something here. Then, let you be on your way."

"Wait, you aren't coming with me to my dad?" she asks, saddened.

"I mean, I didn't think so? If she has something, then you know where to go. I told you the golden rule: don't fuck with people, and they won't with you. About all you need to know really. That, and you got that," you nod to her weapon, "so you should be ok."

"'Should'?"

You sigh, running a hand on your face. You feel off, "yeah. I mean, I know you said about your vault and all, but that life is too good for someone like me."

"That's not true," she says, hurt on your behalf.

You hold a hand up, "look, we'll talk after, ok? You just go in first, see if she knows anything, then go from there, ok?"

She nods, mood dampened a little. She goes in; you sit in a chair, coughing a few times as you do. You don't know if it's the heat, or what, but something is dragging you down. You just hope it's not this infection. That would be an embarrassing way to go.

Time ticks by, before she leaves, face looking depressed.

"What happened?" you ask. But you don't get an answer, instead, she pauses, looking to a man with glasses.

He warns her about going back to her vault. That it isn't safe here. You chuckle, a dry one but still, he's hit the nail on the head.

He then surprises you both, he tells her facts about her vault: their primary crop is corn; there is a telesonic projector in your farm; it loops images of the Nebraskan countryside; meritocracy - whatever that means - something about the right thing apparently.

You miss the rest, and jolt at a hand on your shoulder. It's Lucy, who is looking at you in concern. She says something, looks away from you, but the voices overlap until -

"It's ok," Lucy says, softly. You look, and see the man she was talking to, a doctor - round glasses, a kind smile on his aged face, "he's a doctor."

"I don't have many - or any tools," he says, looking apologetic.

You wave him off, "not like I have many - or any caps."

He chuckles, leaning down a bit to look at you, "I think, in your condition, I can make an exception," you chuckle a bit this time - it instantly goes into a cough, "let's have a look at you," he reaches out, and you recoil, "to help, I will need to touch."

You seem to forget Lucy had previously held your hand and you had felt nothing of it, but you flinch when even she touches you and puts a hand on your knee.

"Y/N, this is the only way to help you," she insists, "you helped me get here. And, to be honest, I don't really want to leave you in this condition."

You look at her pleading eyes. She's only known you for an hour, tops, and yet she wants the genuine best for you.

You've been looked at like that before, it didn't end well. Friendships never did.

Still, you find yourself nodding. The doctor is gentle with his touch, looking at your scratches.

"I believe it is this one," he says, gesturing to one on your torn trousers being exposed to everything.

"Someone urinated on it," Lucy says.

The doctor looks to you, you confirm it, "ah, then this is what may of caused the infection. Either that, or general exposure to wasteland itself. How long have you had this wound?"

"I honestly do not know."

The doctor nods, stands, and readjusts his glasses, "I will try find you a Stimpack inside, and see if that helps your pain."

The woman from inside the shop comes out, and helps the doctor 'Wilzig' inside. Lucy helps you up. However, before anything else can happen, a Ghoul stands up, calling out to him.

Wilzig's leg is blown off. There's a tense moment, before bullets start flying. A stray bullet catches you on the shoulder. You stumble into the store. You look for a weapon, anything to help keep yourself and Lucy alive as the gunshots keep flying.

"Y/N. Y/N!" Lucy says, making sure not to touch you, but close enough to catch you if you fall, "you can't fight like this! You need to hide!"

"I ain't hiding!" you say, memories of a previous failure flashing in your mind, "not with that monster outside."

"I'll deal with him."

"With that little piss shooter?!" you snap, adrenaline pushing you at this point. A couple more coughs leave you.

"Look, you can't help like this, ok?" she says, taking her weapon out. And, despite your own circumstances, you can see clearly that it's drugs loaded into the thing - it'll do nothing here, "I will solve this as peacefully as I can, ok."

"That really ain't a good idea -"

"Trust me, Y/N. Ok? Golden rule. I have mine and you have yours. Right now, I'm gonna use mine, but if it goes bad, I'll use yours and this."

You can't even stop her as she goes outside.

The Ghoul seems almost annoyed at this whole thing. But, before he can shoot Lucy, a Brotherhood member appears in a suit, and blocks shots aimed for Lucy as they both come through the wall.

With the distraction, you take your moment. You don't have a gone, but you may as well...help. The good doctor helped you after all.

With Lucy and the shop owner's help, you pull Wilzig inside. They sit him down on a seat, as your wounds get to you. You stumble.

Lucy, in an instant, catches you and puts you on your own seat.

"Holy moly," Lucy says, looking at your bleeding shoulder, "that is in deep.

"I know," you say, trying to find something to pull it out with. The shop owner seems to know this, and pushes a knife towards you. You take it, and take a few steadying breaths.

Your hand shakes, adrenaline not helping you here at all. You're scared too. Have whatever the hell is wrong with you plus your fear. Not a great combo.

Lucy, attempting to ignore the Wilzig having a robotic foot being shoved into him, looks at you and approaches you.

"Here," she says, taking your hand and taking the knife, "let me."

"You even know what you're doing?"

She shrugs, "steadier hand, somehow," she quips, holding out her hand and comparing it to yours, "and, no time like the present."

You suppose you have like no options, so you just nod.

"You wanna know my golden rule?" she asks, trying to distract you as she psyches herself up. You make a noise she assumes is 'ok' and continues, "'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" she says, "you helped me, I'll help you. That is how we rebuild."

"The hell you jump from me to rebui--" you are cut off when Lucy jabs the knife into your shoulder. A burning white flash hits your vision. You hear a plethora of 'sorry!' leave her, but you finally the pain start to fade a small bit when you feel the knife be removed along with the bullet casing.

"Done! Done!" Lucy says. You try and focus your breathing and mind, trying to escape the pain.

You feel a glass of something be put in your hand. You down it. You feel the burn of some alcoholic drink.

"Now," the shopkeeper says," that should keep your friend going for a little bit. At least, until they find a Stimpack. I'm sure you'll find one on your way to Moldaver. You feel her pat you - you don't flinch, too focused on being in the present and not spinning, "you alright, kid?"

You give a thumbs up.

She gives you another pat. You open your eyes. You don't feel amazing. But, you don't feel as worse, so in this world that's positively amazing.

"I'll sneak you three out back," the shopkeeper says.

She keeps her word. Once again, something rare here.

Lucy, yourself, and Wilzig walk through the wasteland. Lucy keeps checking her pip boy every so often.

He passes away, and Lucy looks to the blade she has been given. It startles her when it activates.

You come to a rest, and your day gets even better:

Wilzig has taken a cyanide pill, and you need to decapitate him to keep going and have something to give Moldaver.

"Okey dokey, Luce," she says to herself, "you can do this. You can do this. Just...think of it as a massive knife that...moves, and you'll be -"

It activates again and she drops it. She doesn't reach it first, however, you do.

"Look away, is all I'll say."

"No, Y/N. No, you don't have to do this --"

"'Do unto others', right?" You nod, preparing yourself for the grim task, "I got this, ok? Just, look away, please? It'll get real messy."

She stutters a few times; seemingly wanting to persist, thank you, and object all in one go. But, she turns around. You look back at the body.

"Here we go..." you tell yourself, before activating the blade.

Guess you're in this now...fully.

Part 3

[momo-shut-the-fuck-up]

So i ve done the main story in infinity nikki and im gonna stop playin now, before i squeeze the game dry of content and have nothing (new) to do on release.

Time for a lil review/thoughts post

I m not gonna review every single mechanic in the game, simply things that stood out to me or that i wanna talk about. I also wont add more images, i kinda want ppl to see the world for themselves... i ll share more when the game comes out tho.

There s a lot of text under this. Tldr, i like the game i think it's a solid, enjoyable experience with a good gameplay loop, the story isn't for me, and i'll keep playin of course. And u should try it too if ur device wont blow itself up tryin to run it.

Dress up

The bread and butter of Nikki games... it's good as usual. Game doesn't shy away from long skirts or coat tails or complicated ballgowns just cuz nikki can run and jump and dash now and i'm very happy bout that. There's some clipping issues once in a while, but it's nothing major and the clothes we do have in the game are lovely. There s an evolution system for some of the sets, which makes em a diff color.... usually they can evolve once, but i saw Three extra evolutions for one of the UR sets and that scares me. Bcs to evolve them u have to craft the suit again. So u have to pull 4 copies of a suit to max it out..

Combat

Game's definitely succeeding in its quest for being cozy. There's no real stakes, combat isn't difficult in the slightest but i do welcome it- super simple but it's pretty fun regardless. The boss fights were surprisingly creative and fun for what they are, it's just unfortunate that you have to do them more than once or twice (crafting mats)- but they do change what the boss does so it's different depending on what mat u are farming for... and u can claim double or triple or however much stamina u got-le of the mat after u complete it once. So that s rly nice.

Exploration

I actually think it's really really good. Again this isn't a difficult or complicated game, not yet i guess... but with the major goal being "get new clothes" and "take pretty pictures maybe", the open world feels actively engaging to participate in. There's collectibles everywhere, little challenges you can do that are diverse but quick, styling battles, collecting everythin from animals fur to bugs to fish, and allll of this brings u closer to that never ending goal of woo more clothes.

However even if a challenge doesnt give you a blueprint, it's still just. Really Nice to exist in this world. It's very whimsical, as expected of Lilith, and the world has a combination of realism and cartoon artstyle that is just soso appealing to me. It's genuinely how i would've imagined miraland to look in 3d. Shame it's not the same miraland we know..

Story

Hmm... silly is one word i could use for it. Cute also. The story isn't doin anythin bad per se, and i did start skippin dialogue near the end w the pieceys because i want to keep at least Some part of the story for the game's release... but i get the gist of it, and it s just not my thing.

It feels like a story made for children, and it definitely would get a G rating. Easy and simple to follow, there's moments of tension or sadness sure but with the antagonist bein a literal babie lookin cutey fairy with a grown man's voice, or the creatures that i'm interacting with are a bunch of. Fuckin weird lookin big eyed balls of fabric that look closer to plushies than somethin Alive... it's all so silly and dramatic sometimes i can t help but cringe.

Part of it is a me problem, if u just open ur heart and free urself from the cringe the story is fine. It's just a little too kiddy for me and i so desperately hope it won't stay like this forever. My prayers might be answered though, there's a whole war beyond the borders and we have refugees around... shit's lookin bad for Umbrosa.

Other things i noticed that i liked:

The effect on nikki's skin when it's raining, she actually has water dripping down her face... its so cool

Momo capes are actually kinda neat ngl. Especially cuz the fucker follows u around everywhere, at least i can bedazzle him

Npc models look really good im a fan. They do suffer from "everyone is very beautiful" syndrome, which makes some of the npc villains look/sound ridiculous, but they have kid-teen-adult-elderly versions of models (i never see teen models in these games! Its cool!) And some body variation. The grandmas look so lovely i cry

The dark skin tone is really dark, and it looks quite nice and natural.

The lighting engine in this game is just rly good in general. God bless UE5

The edges of the map where there s forest, which u obv cant go thru, the forest is made to be darker, thicker.... i m a huge fan of this idk y. It's not just *invisible wall in front of an open field* nopee cant go there lets explore that area later tee hee. And it looks good to boot.

Camera function is p robust, has more options for changin brightness/saturation/contrast etc which i feel Shining Nikki lacks.

Some of the creature designs are so good man i looove themm <3.... the pieces are awful tho. Ok creature design is a hit and miss sometimes but the stray hatty? Peak. All the weirdy fashionable animals? Peak.

Bein able to quick switch thru ur saved sets while in the overworld is real neat

Oke that was it. Bye

[satureja13]

Vlad's Therapy Game - Part 2

Vlad is back in the insanely beautiful (and green) world of the Therapy Game. Still in his insanely stupid clothes... And he still feels so, so hungry. So they can escape their ingame feelings by logging out, but they'll be back as soon as they log in again. And time did not pass. He and Diablo still stood where they logged out. Not the best news for poor Jack who logged out of that cell he'd been locked in...

This village is so pretty. Vlad's experience is so much better than Jack's. At the moment, he is the only one of them stable enough to test the Therapy Game. So it depends on him if Ji Ho, Siawa and Jack will get a successful therapy to help them to deal with their hardships... And so he entered the village. Diablo: 'I have a bad feeling about this...'

But Vlad didn't listen. And he has no choice anyway. The mayor approaches the new arrival. Vendor to the mayor: "I have a bad feeling about him. I bet he ran away. Just look at his clothes..."

But the Mayor didn't listen... Mayor: "Good Day! What brings you here?"

The Mayor does not have a questionmark above his head but this is a game so Vlad tried the obvious: "I have no money and I'm hungry, do you maybe have a quest for me?" It's so embarrasing. But everything for Ji Ho. And it's not real anyway. Just a playtest for a game. Nonetheless it's hard for Vlad to forget his foolish pride, step out of his comfort zone and ask for help (he really, really hates this!) and keep his temper at bay. Plus he is an introvert and feels uncomfortable around people he doesn't know.

Mayor: "How is it possible a beautiful boy like you you has no money? Did your Laird abandon you? Did you run away? Are you a criminal?" Vendor to the mayor: "I have informed you thusly, Roberto."

Vlad: "No! None of these! I'm just passing through." Mayor: "I see you are a Vampire. The Queen will have to decide about you. I'm afraid we can't help you as long as your status is unclear or we'll be in troubles ourselves."

Vlad: "The Queen? Fine. And where is she?" Mayor: "At her castle of course. Two day trips to the west." Vlad: "I won't survive two days without food." Mayor: "Uhm, I think it will be ok when you sell us your horse then. You'll get a share of the meat and you can leave. And we won't be punished for hiding a criminal." Vlad: "I told you I'm not a crimi... THE MEAT? You would slaughter my horse?"

Mayor: "Why not? Horses are useless. No milk, no eggs, no wool... The only thing they are good for is meat." Vlad: "But horses are intelligent, beautiful, noble creatures!" Mayor: "Who says that? Don't you eat meat where you come from?" Vlad: "Sure. But we only eat cows, pigs and chicken." Mayor: "What a weird attitude is this? Pigs are way more intelligent than horses, cows more noble and chicken more beautiful. AND they are all more useful than a horse." Customer: "So who gets to decide which animals should be slaughtered and which not?" Vendor 2: "I don't care, they all taste so good!" *sigh*

Vlad: "Is this your last word? Is there no job for me where I could earn some money? How could I possible reach the castle without a horse?" Mayor: "You have a point, though. But no one here would offer a job to a criminal."

Vlad: "..." Vendor: "Except for the sculptor..."

Mayor to the vendor: "Yes, but no one would work for him." Vlad: "I would!" Mayor: "Fine, you work for the sculptor and we'll spare your useless horse. Let's hope the queen forgives us." Vendor: "She will. That's the only way for us to get rid of him anyway. Before he starts to steal from us."

Vlad: "I'm not a crimi..." But the mayor already turned away: "You better behave, boy. Let's go to the inn, Martha darling." (You might remember Roberto and Martha from our Horse Ranch Adventures. It seems Tiny Can uses some known faces to populate the game, inspired by Vlad's logs. But since they did not recognize him, I guess it's just the visuals and the names.)

'A Christmas song from behind the wire Auld Nick patron saint o thieves, murderers & sailors Strike these shackles from me uh-huh Slide the bolt from out the door & tear down all the wire My babys growin cold & im on fire The aind that whistles off the hills & carries her perfume Carries too a lonely carol badly out of tune For just tonight beyond them walls id lay a mountain low And sing to her like only i know how

They dont hang no fairy lights these rusty iron bars So ill burn a paper lamp for her to see Though shes left like a widow of a war that never was Theres a light still burns in me'

The Rumjacks - Patron Saint O' Thieves

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest 🕹️ 'Therapy Game' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[ganondoodle]

Hi! Big fan of your work and I love evil Rauru, now I'm curious what would Mineru & Sonias' role be in this rewrite? Like "Dam, my husbands a fuckin madman..."

Hi!! thank you!!

so .... as of now mineru basically doesnt exist (im sorry) and sonia only has a little somewhat appearance

theres no time travel in my rewrite (both the first one and new one) and with the new version that works with villain rauru there are no flashbacks aside possibly some illusions rauru shows you to tell you just how great it was before bad bad ganondorf showed up (so .. kinda like in canon but with the direct contrast of him telling you a verrrrrryyyy one sided perspecitve vs what you later learn)

so i considered having rauru mention that he had a beautiful perfect wife back in the day and ganondorf murdered her for her stone (unsure yet if hes telling more or less the truth or if its another lie ... i dont want to make him too one note evil either bc whats the point then) and perhaps, before the final confrontation, the true end fight against rauru have her appear

it being on the great plateau where he builds his castle towards the end of your quest- which is sort of a dungeon- and just before you are going into the final room you might encounter sonia ....... s puppet really, like an apparition rauru made of her as part of his plan to revive his old glorious kingdom but not able to literally revive the dead, her greeting you and asking if youd like an audience with king rauru- but in an unsettling way, robotic, always smiling and super nice, oblivious to what you had to fight through just to get here (or alternatively .. she greets you at the start and begins to lead you in until zelda tries to talk to her about what raurus doing thinking she might just be real, but since its just a magic trick of rauru she turns on you and throws you into the dungeon, quite literally, as soon as its clear you/zelda intent to stop him)

i feel a little bad about it but as of now i dont know how to make use of them, i want to keep the past as much of a mystery as i can while still have it all make sense, i want it to be about saving the world as you know it, which is different from the past, very different, but not different in a bad way, and the idea of there being only light with no shadow being bad bc a balance is needed

[cerastes]

So, Tekken 8. I'm pleased with the direction it has fundamentally taken. In general, high profile fighting games have taken a far more welcoming approach towards newcomers, which is much needed and has thankfully gotten pretty good results so far: Street Fighter 6, for example, went lengths to provide a good, welcoming experience for new players, Granblue Rising retains its beginner friendly nature while expanding on systems to give it more depth at a higher level without stopping to be a fundamentally simple and 'easy' (but fun) fighting game with gorgeous flair, and Tekken 8 is following on the same road. It did this to some degree with Tekken 7, but Tekken 8 definitely goes a step further.

In general, Tekken 8 is much better geared towards user experience and perception than Tekken 7 was. I was a bit surprised to hear about friends that never really deal with Ranked in any game ever, tell me they were queueing up to climb the ladder. I started playing Tekken 8 a few days ago, and when I hopped into Ranked, I noticed small changes that carry a big impact with them in the UI, particularly in the loading screen pre-fight: What it shows.

So, in Tekken 7, you can see both players' Tekken Power, total wins as the character, rank, the results of their last 10 games, their 3 highest player tendencies, and personal match-up win and stage win rates.

That is a lot of information, and you'd usually think "more information is better, right?", I think in this case it was a double edged blade, however: If you're a newer player who's gotten wiggity washed four games in a row now, with your 13 total wins and 9k Tekken Power (or Prowess, as it was in 7) and your B/C/C tendencies, and get matched up a guy with a rank you've never seen before, with over 10 times your Power, triple S+es, 2.3k wins, on a 7 win streak... Well, you're probably going to be more than a little intimidated before the game even starts. For a lot of people, understandably, this immediately becomes the moment of "holy shit, I'm about to get ragdolled", so you go in with a different mentality than you might go against someone whose stats you don't know. Some people don't get affected by this, but a lot of people do, especially curious people that are trying to get into the games and might get put off when they mentally lose before the fight even starts.

In contrast, the Tekken 8 loading screen offers less information, but it's a far better user experience:

3 highest Tendencies, Tekken Power, Rank, and that's it. There's other stuff like console or PC, area, but it's otherwise a lot more laconic. And this works better! You just know their Power, their tendencies, their rank, and that's that. In the actual fight, you can see their current win streak, but no one can see if you or the opponent has 8 loses in a row. You don't know if they have 100 wins or 6000 wins, and so, you don't really think about it, you just go and fight. And if you lose, it's a world of difference to be "ok I got outplayed, that was some solid play from them" than it is to be "ok, yeah, they had ten times the amount of wins than I have lifetime games of Tekken, this was inevitable". So you can go and fight and win and keep playing. The user experience is much better.

I also really appreciate Arcade Quest: It's basically a short, very interactive tutorial: Instead of going through hours of dry tutorialing, a more inductive style like this is far better for newcomers, it's got basic, colorful characters, lots of tutorials peppered in throughout its run time, and a friendly coat of paint so you can get acquainted with the different systems at a nice pace: Your initial opponents are pushovers, letting you get a feel for movement and attacking, then you reach the third or so arcade, and your tutorial guy goes "hey, I heard they defend really well here, and they like opening you up with lows, let's learn how to deal with these" and you get your tutorials on how to open up opponents as well as dealing with lows, and then you fight the people in that arcade and it's mostly opponents like Law, Lili, Bryan, Dragunov, who have snake edges (strong low sweeps that offer good oki or launch for air combos, depending on whether its a counter hit or not) and their AI is specially geared to using these lows, as well as having better defense against highs so you use throws or lows. It's less a story mode and more a series of flavored tutorials, and I think it's really good for a game to have to ease players into the game's meatier systems.

The high level good ass Tekken is all there, it's just, there's a far more concise way of getting there for people that didn't grow up playing these games or had the raw gumption to deal with the sometimes Spartan fighting game community standards for onboarding. It's not a dirt road leading to the beach anymore, they paved it nice and easy so more people can get there, at their own pace, whether it be speeding there on a car, or through a nice leisurely stroll. It's something that I can appreciate both as someone who grew up in arcades playing fighting games with randos and regulars, and as someone that loves good, welcoming, efficient game design and wants more people to discover the joy of the fighting game.

[tagthescullion]

The Undead Diary of Luke Castellan

Fandom(s): Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Rating: T

Summary: It's not Luke's fault the Underworld is understaffed and some of its doors connecting with the living world are left unattended.

Chapter 1 - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five

AO3 link

Chapter Six

“I beg your pardon?”

My expression turned sheepish. “Perhaps, only for a fraction of a second, I might’ve been imprecise in my destination.”

Maria’s expression turned indignant. “What on Earth were you thinking about in California? It’s all the way on the other side of the country”.

“Right, so you see,” I explained quickly. “I was thinking about home, and that made me think of that friend I told you about—”

“The dead one?”

“The other one,” I corrected her. “Thalia isn’t dead anymore th—”

“You were thinking of home?” Maria demanded, as if she’d only processed my earlier comment. “What the hell does ‘home’ mean? What is this? The Wizard of Oz?”

I had a moment of disbelief in which I realised how old that movie truly was. But then I remembered I was being chided by an angry woman.

“In my defence,” I started. “Dorothy seems to get back all right…”

I thought Maria might hit me. Luckily, she seemed to be much more in control of her emotions than I had ever managed to be.

She took a deep, loud breath, and pressed her fingers to her eyes.

“All right,” she asked, her voice tight but calmer. “Where in California are we?”

“Near San Francisco.” I had no doubts. I’d been here before on a quest, and then scouting for Kronos. 

“I suppose we can use the other ball-thing,” she proposed. “Try to think of the place properly.”

I frowned. “Wait, that makes no sense.”

“What do you mean?” She asked. “It’s easier than travelling on land all the way to the East Coast.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, I meant that, if Nico’s in New York, and I was thinking about Annabeth, who lives in San Francisco with her father… We should’ve come out in Shit-Nowhere, Nebraska. Not so close to one of them.”

Was it funky magic? 

I cleared my throat. “Were you thinking about Nico really hard?”

I tensed, expecting her to yell at me again.

Instead, she put her hands on her hips. “Oh no, I got distracted too, I was thinking about a nice getaway in Buffalo.”

I was tempted to advise her on how to properly pronounce Buffalo, but squashed that idea as soon as it popped into my head.

“Your son’s not at Camp,” I said instead. “He must be in California too. Perhaps he’s in the Underworld, doing some odd job for his father, but even then…”

We should be half-way to LA, not so close to San Fran.

Unless… Unless Nico was at Camp. Just not Camp Half-Blood.

“I think I know where Nico is.” I told her, hoping it would help dissipate her anger.

I was surprised that Nico di Angelo had found Camp Jupiter. Not least that he’d done so and had said nothing at all to Camp Half-Blood.

Was he a spy too? Maybe he’d only found it after the war. If dead people were coming back to life, it was possible Hades had sent his son off to find some wayward undead Roman demigod.

I would’ve been a bit offended, if that was the case. I had begged for a quest for ages, and Hermes had come up with literally nothing more than ‘repeat another hero’s quest’. Was Hades that close to his son? Silena had mentioned Nico wasn’t at Camp much, but I had always assumed he was a bit of a wandering spirit, like Thalia and I had been before we’d got Annabeth. Now I could only imagine that little kid pampered by Hades’ minions.

I was being ridiculous. Hades wasn’t a nurturing father. Jealousy was blinding me again. Maria was right, resentment would be my demise… again.

“Where is he?” Maria prompted me after my silence had stretched.

I wondered how much trouble I’d be in if I accidentally spread the rumour of the existence of another set of demigods. It seemed to be the only way. I couldn’t take Maria to find Nico and tell her nothing.

“You have to promise you’ll tell nobody about this,” I said. My voice was serious enough for her to let go of whatever leftover ire she had.

She nodded, her expression turning solemn.

I studied her for a second, thinking about how to broach the subject. I would need to explain fully at some point, but for now, she was smart enough to fill the bigger blanks herself.

“There’s Camp Half-Blood, in the East,” I began. “Those are demigods born of the gods’ Greek forms. But gods evolved, changed, became something different as they got to Rome.”

“And they also had children in their Roman forms?”

I nodded. “Moving countries has never nor will ever stop them from spreading progeny all over. No, but those kids, they’re— we are kept separated because there’s bad blood between the groups.”

She frowned. “Why would there be trouble, shouldn’t you fight the monsters together?”

I sighed. How right she was.

“Let’s get going, I’ll explain along the way.”

She stayed in her spot. “You said there’s bad blood, why would Nico be in a Camp full of enemies?”

I tried to keep my face from flinching, but it didn’t go amiss with Maria. 

“You think he’s been captured?”

It did seem like a reasonable assumption. Then again, Nico di Angelo had avoided our side for a year and a half, and he’d convinced Hades to fight in Manhattan, which Kronos had assumed was impossible. The boy wasn’t stupid. 

“Your son has a way with words,” I reassured her. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation as to why he’s there.”

It didn’t inspire much hope in Maria, but it made her move.

“All right,” she agreed after a few seconds. “Lead the way, Dorothy, I don’t see any yellow brick roads.”

I led her through a path in the vegetation, trying to rid my mind from repeating ‘just follow the yellow brick road!’ on loop so I could try and talk coherently.

“The question is,” I remarked as we tried not to trip on the way down. “Whether we will be accepted in Camp Jupiter.”

“Do these people know about your…”

“That I betrayed the gods and tried to take down their dysfunctional dictatorship?” I wondered, keeping my tone light. 

Maria raised an eyebrow. “I was already struck down with lightning once, I’d rather not tempt fate by bad-mouthing the higher-ups on their turf this time around.”

I gaped. That was the first time she’d been so explicit about what had happened to her. 

She’d mentioned Zeus was the reason she’d died but I hadn’t imagined… I mean, that was a grotesque way of killing your brother’s lover! What about people around her? How many innocent victims had been slain for the continuation of family drama.

“I— Well,” I cleared my throat. “No, the Roman side doesn’t really know it was me. Not by name and surname, I don’t think. We didn’t have many of them join us, and the few who did had to keep quiet about their roots.”

“What if after everything,” she asked. “They went back to their home?”

I shook my head. “As far as they told us —which wasn’t much—, the Romans are very strict. The punishment for such a betrayal would be death or exile. They wouldn’t be welcome home.”

Maria was openly shocked about it. “So if Nico’s a prisoner there, would he be considered a traitor?”

I hesitated to give her false hope, then again, if the boy was resourceful enough, he’d shut up about what side he came from, and he’d live his best life as a Roman legionnaire. 

“No,” I told her. “I don’t know what they would do if they found out he’s Greek. But—” I added quickly, when her face fell. “It’s more likely he’s pretending to be one of them, for whatever reason.”

There was another thought that settled into my mind after that last comment. 

Maria appeared to have reached the same conclusion. 

“If they find out we are not part of their side,” she pointed out. “They’d also punish him.”

I considered that. To be fair, I was already on a tightrope. The Romans might as well realize I was the guy who made shit hit the fan, I hadn’t thought how them finding out that or other secrets could affect Nico or Maria.

“We’ll be careful,” I promised. We would have to be.

A tingle in his neck made him stop in his tracks.

“What is it?” Maria asked. 

I heard shuffling and the snapping of twigs, as if somebody was running through the woods. 

Below us, the hill got steeper and the trees gave way to a grassy slope. The highway went into the mountain; there was a door between each tunnel entrance.

I heard someone —or something— approaching. A shape came into view from behind a rock to our right.

A boy —teenager, anyway—. He was filthy, and running for his life. Wearing an orange t-shirt and jeans. He was looking back, clearly unaware of either Maria or I on his way.

“Careful!” I called. 

The guy turned. In doing so, he slipped and rolled towards us down the path. 

I pushed Maria to the side but had no time to move myself as the guy barrelled into us.

He stood up.“We have to leave!” 

 He scanned his surroundings, stopping on Maria, who he looked at with curiosity. 

Then he turned to me.

Green eyes wild, dark hair messy —a gray streak on his fringe—.

For fuck’s unholy sake.

Percy Jackson stared back at me, his eyes intense. 

“I know you.”

[forabeatofadrum]

Ever After (6/21)

Notes: I slightly altered the summary of the fic. I wrote the summary before I wrote most that I have now, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AO3 | S&C

--

SNUGGLE

Blaine’s not in the habit of smuggling people out, so he doesn’t. Instead, he asks for Kurt to be released so that they can make a case in front of Blaine’s parents.

Kurt and Blaine are standing before them in the throne room.

“So you believe to be from another world and my son wants to help you find a way home?” the king asks.

“Yes, sire,” Kurt says with three quick bows. He’s very familiar with Daltonian customs, since he’s ‘read all about it in The Cooper Chronicles’.

“Blaine,” the queen starts, “Do you believe Kurt?”

Does he? It’s hard to say. He can believe that Kurt is from a different world. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but from all the things that Kurt’s said, it is the most sensible conclusion. But Blaine also cannot wrap his head around the idea that Daltonia is a work of fiction. Blaine’s real. Everything around him is definitely real.

He and Kurt did decide to keep that part secret from the king and queen. If Kurt were to tell them about The Cooper Chronicles, they might lock him up immediately without further assessment.

“I believe that Kurt wants to go home to his, uh, kingdom, and I want to help him find a way,” Blaine answers, “And if that is another world, then… Well… Who knows?”

“If I may, your highness. The Pink Dagger has already shown that time is flexible and bendable. I think the existence of another worlds fits right next to that,” Kurt adds.

“You speak of another world, completely separate from Daltonia, and yet you know Daltonia’s history,” the king states, “How so?”

“The people in my world are aware of yours. We just didn’t know it was possible to travel here,” Kurt says smoothly.

“If so, then tell me, Kurt of…”

“New York,” Kurt supplies.

“Kurt of the New York kingdom. If there is another world where people have an abundance of knowledge about Daltonia, then you must know the true name of the Pink Dagger.”

It falls silent.

No one apart from the Royal family and the court knows that name, since they kept it secret out of respect to the Pink Dagger’s family. The Pink Dagger may have gone off the rails, and that was already painful enough for his family, so the Royal family didn’t want to add salt to the wound by publicly unveiling his identity.

“Sandrius Ryerson the Fifth,” Kurt answers without any hesitation.

The silence stretches out, but now it’s a stunned silence. Kurt is right.

“Very well,” the queen is the first to speak, “I do not know if this necessarily proves the existence of another world, but it does make me believe that Kurt knows enough about Daltonia to traverse it.”

The king agrees.

“Yes. There is something peculiar going on,” he says.

Blaine lets out a relieved sigh. Great. Now Kurt can find a way home. If Cooper and Arasha are still around, then Cooper can do his Chosen One spiel and help Kurt.

But then the king says that Cooper and Arasha have already left to follow-up on their quest about the cave up north.

And then the queen drops another bombshell.

“Blaine, would you like to accompany Kurt?” the queen asks him.

Everyone’s eyes land on Blaine.

“Me?” Blaine asks.

“Yes, you.”

“But… why?” Blaine asks.

Blaine isn’t some hero. He likes his castle and his tower and his potions. He’s still working on finding his Passion. He doesn’t have to leave now, does he?

“Your potions have healed Kurt in an extraordinary way,” his mother explains.

“But Cooper has healing powers,” Blaine says back.

“Yes, but Cooper is only one man. He shouldn’t have to carry the burdens of our world on his own. Arasha, Javier and Mel help as much as they can, but they don’t have Cooper’s powers. They’re not Royal.”

Is this because his mother feels better if someone else with magic is around? Blaine knows that as the second queen, she doesn’t have the powers. Neither did the first queen, Cooper’s mother. The Royal bloodline comes from king Devon, who got it from his mother. And now he’s passed it on to Cooper and Blaine, making Blaine’s mother the only non-magical Royal. She knows what it is like to be around magic without being able to use it, and she’s grown reliant on her family’s magic.

Or is Blaine all wrong and is there another reason?

“And Cooper and his friends aren’t here. They might be gone for a long while, and I think Kurt really wants to go home. You are here, Blaine.”

“Blaine should be finding his Passion, dearest,” the king says.

“He can while he’s out in the world, practising alchemy in the field instead of in his tower. And maybe he finds his Passion elsewhere!”

“I… uh…”

“Blaine,” Kurt says, pulling him out of his thoughts, “I would feel safer if you were to join me. You know the most about the situation.”

Blaine knows about The Cooper Chronicles.

And not only that, but Kurt looks desperate. He wants Blaine to come along.

So even though it is an idiotic move, Blaine agrees.

--

Blaine is in his tower with his mother. They’re packing for Blaine’s big adventure. There’s plenty of clothes and food. Blaine also uses his magic to shrink his potion brewing set, so that he can travel with it.

He looks around his tower. What else does he need? Does he need to bring some stories to read while on the road? What does Cooper do when he’s busy being the Chosen One?

Blaine’s nervous and his mother notices.

“Come here, dear,” she opens her arms and Blaine allows the hug. He loves his mother’s hugs and snuggles against her.

“Mother, am I cut out for this?” he asks her.

“You must give yourself more credit, Blaine.”

“But I have never done something like this before. Cooper has the All Power, not me.”

“You don’t need the All Power to be great, my son.”

Blaine knows that. Cooper’s the only one with the All Power, and he certainly isn’t the only great person in the world.

“And I think it is time for you to go out and see the world. You’re always in this tower. Even your friends visit you instead of the other way around. And I think that is the thing preventing you from finding your Passion.”

The door opens and the king is there.

“Everyone’s ready. Good luck, my boy,” he says.

It’s time for Blaine to go.

[bodegadulac]

Wilt: A Parahuman OC Quest

Quietus 0.1

Next chapter:

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So, i made a thing. This is my first time doing anything like this wo critiques are welcome. I tried to upload it to spacebattles but it repeated something about "being to short" so i said fuck it and put it here.

(And had to reupload this because of issues)

This is a parahumans OC zombie quest! So if that interests you keep reading.

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February 7, 2005. Alberquerque, New Mexico.

You run through the decimated streets of the eastside. Building closing over you making it feel like a maze of concrete and steel.

The place isn't empty. But life would be so much easy if it were.

You stayed in the shitty appartment you were renting for as long as i could, waiting for the help to come. Ignoring the sounds beyond the walls.

You even got attached to some of the cracks in the roof and the tainted carpet on the covered entrance.

It did help ignore the cries for help from your elderly neighbour, miss O'donnel, that was too old to be aware of what was happening.

Not as if you were aware of more than her.

You only knew the most basic info on what happened, saw the same recording as everyone before the signal broke. The couple minutes of a public service broadcast telling people to barricade.

The other things you learned from peeking out of the window.

How long were you locked in? A week? Maybe two? Time drags when you have no one to talk to.

Isolation is better than death. At least thats what you tell yourself to keep calm. You know better than to rush outside in search of a friend.

But food runs out.

So, against the gut feeling that told you to stay inside and wait for the storm to pass, you went out, a quick grocery run, you tought.

Now as you hear their pained moans right behind me, you realize. This isn't the kind of run you were expecting.

For how many blocks have they been chasing you? Three? Four? They aren't very quick, but they are relentless.

You think you might recognize some of the faces in the crowd. Maybe a cashier or a barista ylu awkwardly tried to flirt with? Or just an acquaintance you are too nervous to put a name to.

It doesn't matter, it's not like i can talk with them or ask them about the weather.

You keep running, but you won't be able to keep phase for long. You haven't eaten in days, haven't excersiced for even longer.

But as your mind wanders you see it. A sillouette in the distance, his cape flowing with the wind with a tacky turquoise tint.

You didn't know too much about the city's cape scene but i saw too many ads on tv of toys of this guy to not recognize that figure aproaching.

Myrmidon and his helmet that was the perfect mix of ant soldier and ripoff Alexandria.

An unstopable force against crime that you can crank to make it crash into all your other toys, a 'kreepy but kool' hero.

But more importantly, your saviour. You could go on and on about details like how he looks like he skips leg day or how you think his costume is ugly but it doesn't matter.

There was a superhero here to save you. Someone to talk to that isn't the bathtub.

So not wasting any oportunity you cry for help. And he turns to look at you. A little bit too fast, more on reflex than by choice.

You don't get to think too much about your mistake before Myrmidon starts charging directly towards you.

His cape is blodieed, half of his helmet gone, and behind it a decomposing face, upper lip broken and showing the world his upper row of teeth.

You are so fucked.

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Let's take this second to recap.

Whats our name?

[1] Enrique "Quique" Perez, an outcast from some small town in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. Came to Alburquerque for a new start after running over an old lady.

[2] Samantha Garvey, white trash local druggie that it's stuck in her own head. Too busy dealing with abstinence to realize the signs of what was happening.

[3] Richard Moore, boring everyman with a boring job by day, failed doomprepper at night. He had a bunker and he had the rations, in another town. He came here for a short bussiness trip.

[4] Nicole Grant, young woman, just out of the closet trans, came to the city to ran away from her very conservative family in the deeper south. Robbed her father's car but had to ditch it in the middle of the road.

Vote by comenting or reblogging with the number.

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