#seriously character customization needs to step things up

[raynydaystorytime]

There was a game on switch a while ago, Daemon X Machina. Basically it was a not amazing (but not horrible) mecha game along the lines of Armored Core it was all and all a very bland game with both performance and gameplay issues but one thing about that game stood out to me. It was that you could upgrade your pilot, but upgrades were in the form of cybernetic enchantments.

First couple of upgrades barely noticable, eye colour changes, a handful of seam lines on your face. Around the middle you replace your legs with robotic replacements, hands and arms become mechanized limbs. And depending on the upgrade you either got bulky industrial style parts, blade thin aeronatic frames, or a middle ground with synthetic muscle fibers to give the limb some semblance of humanity.

And then you replace your torso. Your character is now a head on a mechanized body. An organic cockpit piloting a metal body, not unlike the robot you yourself pilot. The last upgrade is a full head replacement. Assumedly the only thing remaining of your body is the brain that's now floating in your head part.

The story was ass but Daemon X Machina did one thing very well though this system. It asked the player "how far are you willing to go". Because the thing is that none of these upgrades were mandatory, there were benefits yes but none of them were absolutely vital to success. The whole system walked a very finely tuned line. What are you willing to give up for better performance? Your legs? Your arms? Your chest and heart? Everything? Or will you stay human and handicap yourself? It was fascinating to see where people drew the line. How far they were willing to disassemble the characters they had themselves created. some people gave up everything, others rejected everything. Sometimes upgrades were chosen not based on stats but based on the look of the enhancement.

---

I have lots of ideas but sadly never enough energy/expertise to realize them. Which just results in daydreaming so sometimes I daydream of a game.

In it the world is pushed to the brink of survival by monsters. And the player characters who are tasked with fighting against those monsters are given a choice.

They can augment themselves with monster parts, doing the same thing as Daemon X Machina. Your hands become talons, your legs become claws. You can jump higher, run faster. Wings and tails, horns and internal organs. Bulky augments let you wield larger weapons, tote a minigun or a rocket pod around easily. Lithe augments let you move quicker, run faster, jump higher. Push the limits until the only weapons you need are your own savage limbs. till you can spew hellish fire from your maw, till you can generate a million volts with your internal organs, till you can rip out monsters throats with your teeth and taste their cobalt blue blood dripping down your face, the same kind of blood that now runs though your veins.

Or you could not. Hunt down what monsters you can with what you have. Turn in parts to the research team. Use your enemies strengths not as implants but as technology. You kill a mantis monster and the research team hands you a sword forged from it's scythes, an invisible monster becomes a stealth field generator. You break your opponents down and turn them into weapons, armor, tools, all built for human hands to handle.

And then you watch people draw their lines. Who augments their body and who remains a steadfast human. And who tries to walk their own path somewhere down the middle. What augments do people pick? Do they choose function or appearance? Give players multiplayer, how do they react when faced with the choices of others? Maybe they split apart into humans and augmented, maybe the lines that they draw separate them from each other. Or maybe they find out that hunting monsters tends to go better when humans and augmented work together, the precision and versatility of humans synergizing with the raw versatility of augmented.

But that's just a daydream

[enihk-writes]

[someone older]

pairing: older!multi-fandom men x gn!they/them!reader

reader is written to be in their early twenties, under twenty-five and fresh out of uni with their first degree and no corporate work experience.

summary: shorts about old men and a younger beau to-be

content warning: big age-gap relationships // superior-subordinate power imbalance // possible infantilization // some form of saviour-complex // (some unintentional) manipulation

characters: zhongli (genshin impact) // neuvilette (genshin impact) // jing yuan (honkai star rail) // tang gunak (return of the blossoming blade) // dokgo (return of the mad demon) // chongyue (arknights) // shamane (RE:1999) // hiromi higuruma (jujutsu kaisen) // ryū (gokurakugai)

author's note: my lovely oomfs i need yall to look away and pretend im doing okay,,, the demons and the little voices in my head have won and taken over..... i have to make that middle-aged man pregnant so so so so bad it's terminal... (head in hands)... OUGHHHHKKKGSHHH (coughs blood and straight up dies)..... looking at the list here i really have a type huh....

[PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TRIGGERS CAUSED BEYOND THIS LINE]

ZHONGLI who had lived for long enough to have seen and experienced almost everything one could see, was still taken aback when he felt a familiar throb in his heart as he conversed with the new face of the artisan's alley. a fledgling who had just left their nest and was beginning to make their way into the world — your naivety much unlike your more seasoned neighbours who knew how to set the prices of their goods to gain the maximum profit. you were often tricked and scammed out of selling your wares at their proper price, too scared to stand your ground and disrespect your older customers. the former archon couldn't bear to see a budding talent, such as yourself, sell themselves short out of expected social courtesy. he often found himself buying your highest-priced works even if he had to empty his entire wallet. you were beyond grateful for his patronage, even offering a commission, free of charge. that's just how bad business was before he stepped in. oh you poor thing, now that he knows how easy it was to get you dancing in his palm, how could he let you meet better opportunities? he was your lifeline, the only way you were going to make it in this career you chose. and you better not forget that.

NEUVILETTE knew that he shouldn't be so enamoured with the new hire. really. a being who had been alive for as long as he falling in love with someone thousands of years their junior? he wanted to rip his hair out. the chief justice approached this predicament as he would with almost anything he deemed annoying — avoidance. sending you out on errands that kept you out of the office for the whole day, giving days off to everyone if there was nothing on the agenda, having you go sort out documents in the filing room, and a whole host of other things that made sure you and him wouldn't cross paths. once he had a clearer mind to sit down and think, he is immediately riddled with guilt. weren't his actions akin to that of a black company employer? you on the other hand, could not be happier to hit the jackpot. good pay, regular days off, responsibilities that didn't require you to rack your brain too much. this was everything an energy-saving adult like you could ever want. it must be nice to frolic around and stay blissfully unaware while your boss was in the middle of a mental breakdown alone in his office.

JING YUAN was a calculating man, despite the commonly held belief that he never really took things too seriously. he kept a rather consistent air of nonchalance so impenetrable that it annoyed you whenever you couldn't discern what was on his mind at that moment. your after-hours hobby these days was to drop by the community starchess club and play a few rounds with the people there. and who else was waiting there at your seat every day? your damned boss. the elders who were there swooned over the handsome general, remarking about how you and him made a great pair — much to your chagrin. the man would always send a blinding smile in your way as you got closer, even going so far as to help you settle down. the routine was always the same each night. you would play against him for at least five rounds consecutively, lose against him in almost every single match, play against the other club members, gather your things and go home for the day. the general would also coincidentally be done with his activities. he offered to walk you to your front door, you've learnt from the one time you refused that the general was unusually talented in pulling an extremely sad, pathetic, wet and kicked puppy face. unfortunately, you were too nice to reject him further. ah, but now that he knew of that weakness of yours, you'd better expect that he would be pulling the same trick again soon.

TANG GUNAK felt that he was far too geriatric to be feeling this way. especially when he had adult children of his own. the youngest of whom was only a few years older than you were. a talented person, emerging at the top of your class in the academy meant that the world was your oyster. so why had you decided to come down to sichuan and work as an aide in this family? the patriarch had no clue, and he certainly didn't know how to even bring up the question. at first, he had hoped that perhaps you and one of his children would be wed but as time passed, it became increasingly obvious you were not interested in them at all, rather you had set your sights on the patriarch himself. him? the widower? the poor man who had only felt the touch of his dead wife? he was very scandalised that the young aide of his house was so open about their attraction to him. however, it seemed nobody in the household was on his side. not even his own flesh and blood. though for all that forwardness, he never expected that you would be so hesitant and shy when you were alone with him. it was endearing how you became more diligent whenever that happened, how you would engross yourself in your work just to pretend he wasn't there with you. the next time he looked up from what he was doing, you were passed out on your desk. he moved over to carry you back to your quarters — it was deep into the night right now anyways, so nobody would see him with you in his arms. he tucked you into bed, leaving as quickly as he came. the glimpse of his own flushed face in the reflection of the window never left his mind the rest of that week.

DOKGO had agreed to follow his disciple to town only because said disciple was going to throw a tantrum in his courtyard and the older man was not in the mood to deal with the adult child. the master pretended to not be acquainted with his own disciple when the man began to flirt with the women passing by. he walked on and sat down at a vacant bench in front of a teahouse. his troublesome disciple eventually shook off the girls clinging onto him and joined his master at the table, a string of apologies falling out his mouth when he caught sight of the older man's disapproving glare. only when the younger man offered to pay did the old master's hardened expression fall softer — fine, he said with a grunt. the second headache of the day came in the shape of you, a wandering merchant, or so you said. you slipped in to sit next to the master after the disciple had graciously allowed you to. not like the older man could oppose when there weren't any empty seats in the vicinity. while the conversation was lively as you talked with the disciple about your travels, he could only focus solely on the callouses of your palms, something a merchant who says they are not a martial artist shouldn't have. you had noticed his scrutinising gaze, throwing him a quick grin as you continued the chat with his disciple. oh? he could only wonder what that was about. shame that his dull, blockheaded disciple had let that slip past him. the master wonders if he should up the training regime when they get back.

CHONGYUE was up and early, as he usually does, leading the daily morning exercise with the other operators. the doctor not being there was somewhat expected, but you going missing? that was a first. when the morning exercise was over, he headed up to your room to check on you, finding the door slightly ajar. cautiously, he walked into the dark room, you had a bag of junk near the entry, from the looks of it you were living off cup noodles and soda, again. no wonder you were now curled up in bed all sick. he might have to give you an earful later, but for now, he puts aside your laundry and took out the trash. he goes down to the canteen, ordering some warm chicken porridge and even stopping by the nurse's office to pick up whatever he thinks you might need. this time, you were now somewhat awake. grumbling and muttering complaints under your breath from the disturbance, he helped you sit up. you insisted on feeding yourself, but he would have none of it. you could only comply and open your mouth wide every time he brought the spoon to your lips. you finished the food and even took the medicine obediently, earning praise from the man himself. before he left, he rubbed some medicinal balm on your stomach, layering warm blankets and patted you back to sleep, reciting an abbot's chants as he did so. the nostalgic feeling was comforting. you should thank him when you got better — maybe he might be interested in a popular classic novel from your home country, or should you try your luck with the lacquer pots instead?

SHAMANE spotted a figure hunched over the running stream near his hut as he was out collecting the fresh water he would need for the day. when they didn't answer his calls, he walked over, not too worried about whether the figure was a dangerous critter or not. the snap of a twig had them spin their head in his direction — that's when he met your eyes. you both stared at the other, sizing each other up. when he decided that you were not a threat, he introduced himself with his signature smile. you did the same, albeit quieter, still a little peeved from seeing a large bearded man in the middle of nowhere. friendly as ever, he kept the conversation going. he talked about himself, he asked about you, and so on and so forth until you finally admitted to him that you had gotten lost in the mountains, also you had twisted your ankles. he pointed to his hut and asked if you wanted to rest in there until you got better, how could you say no? the month when you lived under the same roof as him passed by quickly, and soon enough it was time for you to go back down the mountain. when you both parted ways at the entrance of the village, there was an air of reluctance in saying goodbye. you promised to write to him, maybe even visit him. he only laughed you off, not expecting much to come out of that. though when he received his sister's letter not long after, he thought about taking you with him to his hometown. but ah, isn't visiting each other hometowns a thing expectant newlyweds do? well, he could always pretend he didn't know about these things, couldn't he?

HIGURUMA was pretty friendly with the tenants renting out the office space next door. all of whom were fresh design school graduates trying to start a business together. you were the one he's grown the most familiar with, the unofficial boss of the company and the one who was single-handedly juggling your own practice along with other administrative duties. he helped you where he could, the doors to his own law office always open to you — even in the wee hours of the night. you would sit cross-legged on the big swivel chair as both of you engrossed yourselves in your respective work with the boxes of takeout splayed all over his table. when it was late enough that you missed the last train, he drove you back to your apartment. and everytime you sat in the passenger seat, he would reach over to pull the seatbelt on for you. you could have done it yourself but how were you supposed to pass up the chance to have him come this close? enough to even catch a whiff of his cologne? the lawyer himself knew that you were capable enough to do something this simple, but he couldn't help but enjoy the way you tried not to look at him as he did this each time. the ride back was quiet and serene, your tired body sank into the plush of his car seats and soon you were knocked out cold. even when you were both already parked outside your residence, you still wouldn't rouse. he clicks the seatbelt off you, even going so far as to push the seat back so you were lying more comfortably. you've done this enough times where he has a blanket to cover you with as he waited for you to wake up. which you would, and feel so ashamed. he thinks about how cute you were babbling out your apologies and thanks, all while scrambling to pull yourself together and out his car. only to repeat this whole song and dance the very next night.

RYŪ was a bit of a recluse. never really leaving his room unless it was for a really good reason. which was rare, and by rare it was almost never. but a human had to eat, shit and get clean — which was where you came in. as the designated errand runner for the organisation, you were the one that ended up having to take care of that guy's day-to-day needs. you might have hated him at first, with how picky he was with his food, even the brand of his necessities had to be the exact right one. doesn't matter if the stock ran out, you had to go out there and haunt for a place that still has it or else he wouldn't even entertain your presence. the one good thing you had going about you was that you were adaptable, learned things quick and was light on your feet. if things went south, you always had a backup, and a backup for the backup, you get the idea. the man, mayhaps out of the other's insistence, but you liked to think that he had warmed up to you, started to initiate conversations. at some point whenever you brought him his meals, he would make you sit and watch him eat. at first, you didn't know what to talk about, but then you also started bringing your own lunchboxes to eat alongside him, and you talked his ear off about what you made that day. over time, you both fell into a routine and on days when he's kept you a little too long with him, you'd stay over and crash on his couch. and after more time had passed, he's already got some of your clothes together with his in the wardrobe. hell, he even bought a bigger sofa just so you could sleep better whenever you stayed over. give it more time and who knows, you might end up moving in completely, not that this old hack would mind too much.

[krowlovesinazuma]

Could you do marriage headcannons for miko with the creator

Read this prologue for context!

Scenario: Marriage

Characters: Yae Miko

Thanks to Inazuma's traditional values and culture, marriage is seen as quite the symbolic, and important social event, that can change one's life forever. As such, there are some that simply decide to live without it.

Ironically, Miko was one of these people. It made sense, as a youkai, to simply watch and not get too attached to the townsfolk, content with her influence as a shrine maiden and taking care of her publishing company. With her duties, and youkai lifespan, it just wasn't logical.

That's why, even when you appeared, showing such a fascination and preference for her, she never once thought about the possibility of marriage, and as such, you're the one bringing the topic up as a possibility! It's a certain way to catch her off guard.

She thinks it's a joke, or an exaggeration of your feelings at first, but when you refuse to drop the subject, or start imagining things, she decides to question you seriously, just in case. Better to settle this quickly, than let it drag on and confuse you!

She'll ask if you're really alright with the prospect of being attached to her for the rest of her life. As for if she's willing... Years ago, she wouldn't have given it a thought, but being with you made her happier than anything else in her life!

When you accept, Miko will ask for a break from both of her duties for a while, to embark on a sweet honeymoon with you! She'll take the chance to step away from Inazuma like you used to do with her when you controlled her from outside. She has so many places she wants to see again, now with you by her side!

While the ceremony and marriage could be done in public, Miko would rather it stay between the two of you. Not only does it make it more comfortable for her to show her true feelings, but it's way less of a hassle to prepare and maintain!

Life with Miko is quite interesting! As her creator, she makes sure that you're comfortable and satisfied, but she never resists her urge to tease and play with you for long. Since it's never as bad in public though, you can tease her back and see her true emotions!

She'll soften up whenever you ask for it, and sometimes she'll ask you to be fully compliant if she had a stressful day. Trust me, she really needs it from time to time, especially with the process of making Inazuma open again...

What about in public then? Miko uses the chance to make both hers, and your image even more mysterious! Teasing visitors that get curious, and making rumors spread, all while letting you have fun with them as well!

Overall, life with her is quite peaceful and relaxing if you're devoted to it, and listen to her wishes. Do so, and she'll be more than happy to listen to yours, and give you the comfiest life you could've dreamt of!

"Dear... Be a good darling and get on the couch for me. I want to cuddle you for a moment... Ugh, you wouldn't believe the nerve of some customers, demanding to meet me face to face when I'm clearly so busy. Yes yes, the others tried to convince him, but it wasn't enough to get through his thick skull. Shhh... Just be a good pillow for me, I need it."

[rhenuvee]

Playing Animal Crossing New Horizons with Genshin Boys [Modern AU]

A/N: This is not important but I almost wrote sea bass with the characters

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Treats it like Minecraft. Farms the heck out of your island for materials, and makes his own little "base" that's bordered by fences. Has enough wood, rocks, iron nuggets, etc to supply him for a year.

Razor, Bennett, Albedo, Alhaitham, Chongyun, Gorou, Kazuha, Mika, Thoma, Tighnari, Wanderer, Xiao

Chaotic. Attacks you with a net, sends you purposely cringey notes with a smelly sea bass attached, dresses like a hot dog after telling him to dress nice for a picture, probably decorates his house like a demon summoning ritual.

Childe, Cyno (does it to make you laugh), Itto, Kaeya, Lyney, Venti

Has sooo many bells... and from what?? He is your resident glucose father, always giving his bells to you to pay your debts. That 75,000 bell piano? It's yours. Really good with the Daisy Mae stonks, buys 100 turnips every time.

Alhaitham (asks you to catch a Coelacanth first), Ayato, Childe, Diluc, Kaeya

Broke. You’re the one with millions of bells. Takes so long for him to get out of the tent, and can't pay his home loans for days- but always has money for buying random things like a chair? Sometimes they have bells, but still ask you for some to annoy you. Also frequently gets scammed by Redd.

Bennett, Itto, Kaveh ("why does this feel oddly familiar..?"), Venti

Trash island. They are hoarders (honestly me). Your island's trees are still at the original random locations, along with weeds you have to pick every time, and some unknown "leaves" scattered everywhere. You say this is the reason Isabel gave your island a 2* rating but he denies it.

Bennett, Razor, Cyno, Itto, Venti

Clumsy. Always gets stung by wasps because he never takes out the net on time, falls for pitfall seed traps, and lots and lots of sea bass.

Bennett, Gorou, Itto, Kaveh

Treats it like Pokemon. Catches every single fish, bug and ocean species, completes the art gallery, every DIY. If you need something caught or made, he's your man.

Albedo, Bennett, Chongyun, Cyno, Freminet, Kazuha, Mika, Razor, Heizou, Thoma, Tighnari

Wholesome af. This one gifts you sweet letters with nice gifts, aw. Plants lots of flowers outside your houses. Always gives you things you need. Probably decorated a small little space your you two, and gives the villagers nice gifts too.

Ayato, Baizhu, Bennett, Freminet, Kaeya, Kaveh, Kazuha, Lyney, Mika, Thoma, Venti

Doesn't really play video games... but he knows you like it so he tries to understand it. He's like a tourist, following you around, occasionally getting sidetracked by random things such as villagers. He doesn't know about the mailing system (yet) so he drops off gifts for you in front of your house.

Alhaitham, Ayato, Baizhu, Diluc, Gorou, Kazuha, Mika, Razor, Thoma, Xiao, Zhongli

Villager drama enthusiast (but chaotic). You tell him about your island and the personalities of your villagers. He goes a step further by making up gossip like "_____ cannot be neighbours with _____ because he cheated on her with _____!"

Childe, Kaeya, Kaveh, Lyney, Heizou, Venti, Xingqiu

The artist. Takes Animal Crossing very seriously. Has only the best clothes and furniture, sometimes making his own custom designs. Terraformed and decorated your island to a T, and takes cute pictures with you in the museum's aquarium, fireworks festival, etc.

Kaveh, Kaeya, Kazuha, Lyney, Venti

The competitive one. Originally he thought Animal Crossing was just a cutesy game. Once you introduce him to it, it doesn't take long for him to complain about Tom Nook being a capitalist and struggling to pay his loans and complete the museum. You offer to help but he insists on doing it himself.

Itto, Tighnari, Wanderer, Kaveh

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[dr-spectre]

You mentioned something about Splatoon 4 thoughts earlier today, and I really wanna hear you ramble about that. But I also really wanna listen to you ramble about a Hypno Callie rewrite lmao. So if you haven't already, since there's a good chance I missed it lol, what would a Spectre Hypno Callie rewrite look like?

OH DUDE NOW YOU'RE GETTING ME ALL PUMPED UP TEHEHEHEHE! ITS TIME FOR ME TO RAMBLE!!! Imma go ultra autism on you!!! It's gonna border on fanfiction territory! (Not the creepy or romantic kind...) Don't say that I didn't warn you...

Splatoon 4 Ideas.

Now here's the thing right. I only have a few ideas on a Splatoon 4 so I don't think I can do a giant ramble about it yet. But so far I got the idea of Splatoon 4 taking place in a giant futuristic city near the beach. So you get this cool plaza area near the beach and I got that idea from the AMAZING Project Splatoon 3. Seriously go check that out, it is amazing!!!!!!!

But you can also go into the city and explore some of it. And you can ride a bike to different shops and have your own apartment!!! I know people want apartments for the next game and yeah I agree. We NEED an apartment maker, it's the next logical step from lockers!

Also for weapons... I would LOVE to have a flamethrower weapon but instead of fire it's mist. A crank operated shooter made out of bike gears where you gotta keep spamming the ZR button, kind of like the Octoshower's weapon. A Wii Zapper charger!!! PLEASE NINTENDO! A saw blade Splatana. Maybe a pool noodle Inkbrush? That would be funny. Maybe a Painbrush that has a fan on it? Man... I'm starting to sound like Sheldon HAHAHA!

For the new Idols, it would be a duo instead of a 3 Idol group because oh my god 3 team Splatfests are so unbalanced sometimes. They would have the colors red and cyan. I don't have much on what they would look like, but I imagine one of them is a female Inkling with a cyan color and the other is a male octoling with a red color. It's time we have a proper God damn male Idol that isn't a giant manta ray!!! Now since I cannot draw for shit and I don't have the desire to draw (drawing has made me so angry so multiple times so I stick to writing and rambling) so I'll just show some pics to show you what kind of vibe I'm going for.

(Yes I'm not fucking joking. I've gotten inspiration from Silver the Hedgehog and Spider-Punk...)

I think it would be an interesting dynamic to have a fancy, highly teched out character paired up with a grungy and punk character who's loud and funny. I can imagine their music to be futuristic and techno while including segments of rock. Basically techno rock with romantic elements in it.

I would like some quality of life improvements and just general improvements as well, like being able to customize EVERY part of your look without having to go through that annoying character creation menu in the crater. Faster levelling up for abilities, ability drinks and food actually giving you which ability you want instead of a chance at it. Way more pants and a pants shop. WAY MORE hairstyles, eye colors with an option to select from a color wheel, eyebrows, scar and tattoo options too with a new tattoo vendor. (the tattoos are explained in game to be temporary ones even though they secretly aren't, to make sure parents don't get the wrong idea lmao)

Maybe some gameplay tweaks too? like including very slight momentum when going downhill? It has to be very slight though for balance. I would like to add a dolphin dive like mechanic where if you press the jump button in the air in your swimming form, you'll quickly stomp to the ground, and that speed will be carried over when swimming in ink for a little while. Maybe faster horizontal wall swimming too? Basically make the gameplay a little bit faster is all I'm trying to say, Splatoon doesn't need a giant gameplay overhaul, just small tweaks to make the last game seem worse to play lmao.

And of course, BETTER SERVERS! WE NEED DEDICATED SERVERS! NOW!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN IF ITS JUST A FEW IT'LL BE SOOOOOO HELPFUL! STOP BEING STUPID NINTENDO! GOD!

Um... anyways!

Now, in terms of story.... I would have 3 parts, one is the main campaign while the other two are DLC. The main campaign is focused on the Salmonids. You play as a new agent (Agent X or something, i think that's a cool name) as you explore these islands Super Mario 64 style where you do missions and try and stop the Salmonids from getting out of control as they gone on a rampage from an unknown cause. You have to complete enough missions on an island to go to the next.

Basically, think of Salmon Run maps and areas found in Mario games but they are WAY LARGER and more complex areas to go through with NPCs to talk to. I really want Splatoon 4 to expand on the concepts found in the hub worlds in Alterna and go fully into a 3D Mario sandbox style game.

You also have to team up with Frye, Big Man, Neo Agent 3 and Marie who join up with a new cast of characters who are in charge of guiding you to new islands (haven't thought much about what these characters are) to figure out what's going on. Callie doesn't appear in the story as it's explained in a Sunken Scroll that Callie is helping Octavio figure out what to do with the Fuzzy Octarians that are still trapped in Alterna. And yes Octavio has now fully joined the New Squidbeak Splatoon which Callie is very ecstatic about.

Cuttlefish is fully retired and doesn't appear, and Captain is taking a break from captain duties, leaving Marie to watch over Frye and Big Man as she is their boss anyways. Now, where is Shiver in all this? Well... here me out... she's the villain. And no she doesn't have any sort of bullshit evil headgear on. She's a villain due to being corrupted by greed and wanting more power. She has become addicted to the high she gets from winning and feeling powerful and has teamed up with the Salmonids to gain even more power and cash. She's been fully consumed by power and cash and Frye and Big Man are not on board with her plans as Shiver doesn't wanna give back to the people in Splatsville anymore. So Shiver leaves the group and gathers up the Salmonids and commands them.

However it's revealed that Shiver is doing these things because she had a bad family upbringing in her clan and was always talked down to and treated as weak. So all that trauma and resentment is finally on the surface and Shiver is lashing out at everyone because her pain is so much for her. There could be some themes about found families and healing trauma with the people that you love and stuff like that. Haven't thought too deeply about it. But I would really love to see Deep Cut forgive Shiver and just hug and cry it out. I'll cry alongside them lol.

Now, the second story is focused on the Squid Sisters and takes place before the events of the main campaign. You play as Agent 4 and Callie finds you lying on the floor and tells you that Inkopolis Plaza has been covered in a strange fog and a weird green substance that looks like gooey moss. The buildings have changed and there's all this weird plant life and dust everywhere. Callie escorts you to the tower found in Inkopolis Plaza to figure out where Marie went and that's where you meet Octavio who got shot down in his mech from a laser.

The three go inside and the building looks very similar to the aesthetics of Side Order but with a hospital liminal space edge to it. It looks like a twisted dream hospital environment with a giant lobby in the middle.

This kind of vibe but more open and less hallway like. It should invoke the feeling of going to a hospital as a kid.

However, instead of an elevator to go higher, it's a giant spiraling staircase that grows after each floor Agent 4 completes. Basically the gameplay is the same as the rogue like gameplay found in Side Order but its heavily expanded upon with new enemies, objectives, color chips, etc. However... during the first 12 floors you hear these weird whispers and voices that sound very similar to Marie's voice.... Callie says she's getting major Deja Vu, and then Marie's voice is fully clear and echoes throughout the building, telling Callie in specific to leave her alone and to get out of here. They don't listen and continue forward.

When you reach the 12th floor, you go inside a giant white chamber and you see Marie in a new outfit that's similar to this outfit found in the Splatoon 2 artbook. Basically this but with a cool cloak and squid tentacle patterns on it and a gas mask instead of shades.

She's standing on some kind of green gooey moss and looks angry. Marie attacks Agent 4 with her charger and its a stealth boss where you gotta sneak around and get up to Marie and knock her down from the moss pile. Evil Marie has always been a beloved fan concept in the community, like Hypno Marie has so many cool fan designs out there and i think that could work honestly.

Callie manages to knock the mask off of Marie with a splat bomb but she's still angry. Callie grabs onto Marie and Marie calms down and cries. Agent 4 looks at the gas mask and its just filled with regular oxygen, nothing special about it. No hypnosis gas or anything. Just regular oxygen... Marie says she's sorry and explains that stuff from her past is catching up to her and making her unwell (you can guess on what I'm referring to wink wink.) She was unable to sleep for several days and was being manipulated by someone...

The thing behind Marie's manipulation appears from the ceiling and it's this giant white metallic squid that has transparent glass on some of it's body and arms, which shows this bright green goo flowing inside it. (think of Overlorder but he's a squid). I don't have a lot of information for this guy but this villain was created to cure Fuzzy Octarians, but due to unknown circumstances it went out of control and its coding was changed to "heal" people's pain by covering the planet in a modified and twisted version of Marie's low tide ink which now has evolved to be very similar to plant life. This goo/ink neutralizes certain parts of the brain, leaving the victim completely unfeeling and depressed, unable to feel anything, even physical touch or sensation. The villain manipulated Marie by going inside her head, analyzing her memories and telling her that all she has to is to get rid of "the intruders" and he will "heal her pain."

After the Marie boss fight, you have to travel up to 40 floors instead of 30 and during the downtime you get to learn about the Squid Sisters. Stuff like Callie and Marie before they blew up, who came up with their outfits, more info about their parents and managers, Marie talking about how she has trauma and nightmares from the events of Splatoon 2 and is terrified that one day Callie may leave and never come back again, Callie diving into her time in the Octo Canyon and finally clearing up what happened to her, Octavio showing remorse and sorrow for the actions he has done over the past 100 years. Basically Side Order but with the Squid Sisters, Octavio and Agent 4. I know it's a lot like Side Order but Side Order is so damn good so why not do it again but improve upon the gameplay you know?

That's all I got for this story and it's probably gonna change and be tweaked over time.

Now for the third story of Splatoon 4. I barely have anything for this but it will star the new Idol duo of the game, Off the Hook, Eight and Captain. I think it'll be like Octo Expansion in terms of gameplay and difficulty, but also expanded and longer to complete.

OKAY! NO MORE SPLATOON 4! TIME TO TALK ABOUT HYPNO CALLIE!

Hypno Callie Rewrite.

Honestly, the way I would go about rewriting Hypno Callie is very simple... Remove the Hypnoshades. That's it. She can still have them as an aesthetic part of her outfit, but i would make it so Callie is no longer hypnotized and it's WAY MORE clear to the audience that Callie is suffering from mental illness and that she left with the Octarians, not "kidnapped, overpowered and brainwashed into being a mind controlled slave." Splatoon 2 was always about the separation of the Squid Sisters and their eventual healing and reunion, it was always gonna be about that but due to time constraints probably, they rushed it and introduced bullshit shades to make it easier and simpler, they then tried to fix it later with an obscure post with a relationship chart that no one even fucking talks about, even timeline explainers fail to fucking mention it... ugh...

Making Callie an actual antagonist that has been manipulated by Octavio, whispering to her and playing into her insecurities and pain is way more compelling and makes more sense for Octavio to do as a character. Like how the fuck did he come up with the Hypnoshades and why did he only use it on Callie? He can just make hypnosis tech out of nowhere? Huh? It makes way more sense for Octavio to just manipulate her as he is a master of words and propaganda.

So what I would do is introduce a new mandatory collectable in the Splatoon 2 Hero Mode called "Callie's diary." At certain moments in the campaign Agent 4 and Marie find pages from Callie's diary as she explains her feelings and pain from being overworked and feeling some resentment as Marie has stopped calling or texting her. Marie looks so ashamed and disappointed and starts blaming herself for Callie's disappearance. Some of the diary entries include the photos found in Sunken Scrolls 21 and 22. The last diary entry found in Sector 4 is an emotional rant from Callie the day she went missing. She rants about how she can't take working anymore and how she's so lonely. Her last line is "if no one truly cares for me up here... Then... Maybe..." And there's a small tear stain at the bottom of the page.

Now for the final boss, the main plot points would occur sorta the same way, you fight Octavio and Callie, after a bit Marie comes in and shoots her in the eye, Callie calms down, blah blah blah. I actually really do like the idea of the "low tide ink" that the English translation team introduced. I think it's a neat idea that Marie has this special ink that calms someone down so I'll keep that for the rewrite.

However, during the final boss, i would make it to where Marie is really trying to reach to Callie and trying to convince her that she is loved and she matters, she tries to apologize for her actions and explains that Octavio is just manipulating her for the Octarians' goals. Callie fights back and doesn't wanna listen to her, constantly trying to shut her down. Marie even reminds Callie of their childhood and it almost gets to Callie, but she becomes more emotional and angry, she's so confused because deep down she knows Marie is right, but she's so scared to listen to her because she doesn't want to get abandoned again.

However what really gets to Callie is Marie collapsing on her knees and crying, just begging her badly to come back to her. And Marie says "I love you...." Callie is in shock and starts getting flashes of good memories with her and Marie. She holds the shades in her hands and destroys them. Callie leaps into the air and collides into Marie's arms, and they cry their eyes out and say sorry to each other.

The battle plays out the same but i would like to add another cutscene after Octavio gets his shit kicked in, Callie and Marie are on Sheldon's van and they look at the sunset together. I think that would be really sweet and connect beautifully with the credits and Fresh Start.

I took a lot of inspiration from the game Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and two boss fights in particular. The Miles vs. Peter fight, and the Spider-Man vs. Scream/MJ fight. In those boss fights, it's sort of like a therapy session for the characters in that the people under the symbiote are venting about their issues and expressing their anger they have kept hidden for so long, and the person on the other side is trying desperately to reach for them and save them from themselves. It's really powerful shit honestly and it made me feel emotional seeing Peter go "ALL I WANTED WAS TO SAVE EVERYONE! MJ! MAY! NOW THE CITY THINKS I'M THE PROBLEM! you think I'm the problem." Like i know it's kind of crazy to take inspiration from a game made for adults and take some of it into Splatoon but... I really don't give a shit. Children's media can show powerful scenes of characters struggling with their inner demons. They can do it and have proven to be successful. Children can handle it, they can.

Now... i have worked on a Splatoon 2 finale rewrite and I'm pretty much almost done with it, i need to finish the last bit of it and then go over it again so I'm fully happy with it. However i don't know how to present it as it's in the form of a script and idk how that's gonna work on tumblr, i mean i could put it on AO3 but idk if i wanna make an account just to post one thing on there and idk how many scripts get posted onto AO3 anyways...

It's like I'm a chef and I'm cooking something, but there's no waiter to deliver the food lmao.

ANYWAYS! Thank you for reading my autistic ass ramblings! I got so much free time that i just so much of it just writing down fan concepts for things on different games and stuff (I have a 42 page and counting document on a potential Sonic Frontiers 2.) Yeah... I got THAT kind of autism, not the maths and science one... Again, thank you for reading!

[turboacek-blog]

Tenten if she was the main character

Not to be taken too seriously

Written Jan 24, 2023 (clearing drafts lol)

Just wanted to explore some power-ups weapons etc… that could have been given if she had time to actually expand etc

Custom weapon

We get a taste of her gigantic iron ball in the filler episodes I believe

But when she already mastered all weapons at 13 then the next step is a special weapon just for her

They even kinda touch on this in the games, in NUNS4 the Shikamaru adventure side quest has her make a custom weapon and Shikamaru is impressed by how she made it so she has the ability to mix and mash weapons to make something unique

And I don’t need her to be a villain/antagonist but she could have easily been the scientific ninja tool starter as it ties into her weapon-like

Sealing

We see her keep her weapons in scrolls but I think just expanding on sealing outside of the regular item storage summoning could have worked

From just having it more available like how Sasuke has his wristbands that he can use to easily reverse summoned Shuriken and etc

To going Fate’s Gilgamesh and summoning them out of thin air

Like people joke about characters using kunai and etc but in reality if someone had the chance to slit a character like Madara’s throat if he doesn’t get healed up immediately he would have died

Random ideas I had:

Seal tattoos

Just think that if she made herself the storage she can just send chakra through her body and the weapon will pop out and to having seals all on her would effectively be tattoos,

Can be how Naruto’s seal works where only active with chakra, or something more permanent and she’s totally inked out

Just think it would be cool if she just sent chakra to her shoulder then out came a shield or sent to her finger and some Shuriken popped out, her palm a sword, her foot a tanto etc

Switchable weapon

Similar idea but she links her weapons with seals so that if she sends chakra through the seal it swaps out the weapon automatically like she’s using the staff then with some chakra it swaps to a sword mid motion then chakra agin now it’s a mace

Based on the part 1 Tenten from the Storm games where she just cycles through weapons instantly in her Taijutsu combos

Plus woul be a unique weapon for her as only she would know how to send chakra to get the weapon she wants

Lastly legendary weapons

Kishimoto had the right idea with having her use the six paths weapons

The thing was due to her chakra she couldn’t use it a lot

So I think it would be nice to start that idea earlier and she uses/acquires legendary weapons

From the 7 swords of the mist, to more filler weapons like that Thunder sword that was apparently the second Hokage to just not as known to us weapons like Sakumo’s/Kakashi’s chakra blade that glowed white is a good idea

But yeah I just think they took this character that can use any weapon and mostly relegated her to long range kunai throwing as they focused more on her accuracy than her weapon mastery as in any other anime she would be using a sword a ton or if she sticks to long range would be some menace like Gilgamesh or plenty of archers or snipers and etc

[phr3ia]

I Got Isekai'd Into A World Where I'm Just The Side Character (Wuthering Waves x Fem!Reader) [Chapter 4 : The General]

Jiyan rode his horse through the gates of Jinzhou, the city walls looming over him like giants. The place was buzzing with life, and the smell of food drifting through the streets made his stomach grumble. He knew he should head straight to meet Rover, but the tantalizing aromas of the dishes were just too good to resist. 

"Just a quick bite." he muttered to himself, heading straight for Panhua's Restaurant.  His stomach was calling, and he wasn't going to ignore it.

He made his way to the restaurant. It was a place he knew well. The food there was enough to fill one's belly and even their soul.

He stepped inside, greeted by the familiar scent of cooking oil and spices. A woman looked up from her work, a smile lighting her face. "General Jiyan, welcome back. It's been a while."

"Panhua... it has been too long. I am sorry I didn't come by sooner. I hope you are well? How are things here?" He asked as he took a seat at a table near the window. The sun was beginning to dip lower, casting a warm glow over everything. He watched people walking by, enjoying the peace of the moment. He ordered a dish, relishing the anticipation of a good meal.

"Things are going well for us. We're blessed. Even with the chaos around us, we still manage to bring joy to our customers. And thank you for asking. My family and I are doing well. Your men often come to visit, and they speak highly of you. Ah, here's your order." She placed a steaming dish in front of him, and Jiyan waited until she left to take his first bite.

He savored the flavors, finding comfort in the familiar taste. It felt like home. He ate slowly, taking his time to enjoy the meal. He glanced outside, watching people enjoy their evening. It was a sight he wished everyone could experience.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

You just chilled in the inn all day, doing absolutely nothing.  You didn't want to bother Rover, knowing he needed some rest.

You stared outside the window, wondering how people even managed without their phones and computers.  You knew about the Pangu Terminal, but that was it.  "Seriously, what do people even do for fun around here? There are no malls, arcade or anything." you sighed, shaking your head.

You were lost in thought, but then your stomach growled, reminding you that you hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. 

"Wait a minute... Rover gave me some money yesterday, didn't he?  He said I can spend it however I wanted....Man, that guy is so thoughtful." you mumbled to yourself, a smile spreading across your face.

You quickly changed on the clothes Yangyang had given you and headed out to grab something to eat. 

You went to the restaurant where Rover, you and the others ate last night, you gaze scanning the room. It was full of customers, but you immediately sighed in relief when you spotted an empty seat, although your hopes were short-lived as you saw a man seated across from it. You approached him, your confidence making it clear you weren't afraid to ask for permission. "Excuse me, sir. Mind if I sit here?"

The man, glanced up from his meal, a hint of curiosity flickering in his eyes. "Not at all. Please do."

You settled into a seat, placing your blazer beside you. You started talking to yourself, "Finally, I can have a break. I've been running errands all day and I'm so exhausted. If only Jinzhou had some sort of public transportation. It would save me a lot of trouble."

Jiyan chuckled softly, drawing your attention. "Sorry, I couldn't help but hear what you were saying."

"Oh, Uhm..." you slightly feel embarrassed. "I guess being alone makes me forget that I'm not the only one here."

"Oh, great. Now he's going to think I'm completely nuts." you thought to yourself,  cringing internally.

"No worries, I don't judge. I'm glad someone is honest these days." Jiyan took another bite, a hint of a smile lingering on his lips.

You picked up the menu, flipping through the pages with confusion written all over your face. "Umm... I have no idea what to order."

"Um, excuse me. I'm kind of new here, so could you recommend something from this menu?" you asked, extending the menu towards the man in front of you.

Jiyan chuckled "No problem. The stir-fried beef with vegetables and rice is there best seller. The beef slices are tender, and the vegetables add a nice crunch to each bite."

"Stir-fried beef, got it." You ordered the dish, relieved you wouldn't have to struggle with it. "Thank you, by the way. You're really helping me adjust to this place." You sipped your water, feeling more relaxed.

Jiyan's brows furrowed, giving you a curious look. "So, you're not from around here?"

You hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to tell him the truth. "Well, no. I'm from a far away place. I just arrived in this city recently." You hoped explaining it briefly would satisfy his curiosity.

"Ah, I see. Where exactly is this 'far away place' of yours? And what brought you here?" Jiyan asked, genuinely interested.

You swallowed, deciding to keep the details of your Isekai situation to yourself. "It's a long story. Let's just say that I got here in a very unexpected way." you responded, hoping he'd understand.

"Ah, I see. Well, Jinzhou might seem a bit different compared to your hometown, but it's a place worth getting used to." Jiyan smiled, watching as you waited for your food.

"Whew, good thing he didn't pressed it any further." you thought, letting out a silent sigh of relief as you glanced at him.

You looked at the man's face, studying him for a moment before speaking. "My apologies, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. May I know your name?" you asked, extending your hand to shake.

"My name is Jiyan." he replied, offering a small smile as he accepted your handshake. He too, had no intention of disclosing his true identity, preferring to keep his personal life separate from his duties.

"Nice to meet you, Jiyan! I'm Y/N." you said with a beaming smile.

"Here's your order!" the waitress exclaimed.

Your eyes widened as the dish was set in front of you, the steam rising from the plate further enticing your senses. "Oh, wow, this looks amazing!" you gasped in fascination, your mouth watering at the sight.

Jiyan couldn't help but smile, watching as you eagerly picked up your spoon and fork.

You immediately dug in, taking a generous bite. "Mmm, this is heaven in my mouth," you praised between chews.

Jiyan laughed lightly, amused by your enthusiasm. "I'm glad you like it. It's my favorite dish."

"Good taste in food usually means a person has a good taste in many other areas of life as well." You stated casually, smiling at him.

Jiyan returned the smile. Your straightforwardness was somehow refreshing to the General. "Well, I'm glad I passed your judgment on that front." He continued eating, enjoying the company and the delicious meal.

Jiyan finished his food with satisfaction, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Y/N. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Jinzhou and, hopefully, we'll cross paths again." Jiyan offered his hand for another shake.

You nodded in agreement, feeling grateful for the brief encounter "Likewise, Jiyan. Thank you for your help. Enjoy the rest of your evening." you said, shaking his hand firmly.

With that, Jiyan bid his farewell, leaving the restaurant to meet with Rover. You, on the other hand, returned to the inn, thinking about him. Not in a romantic way, but in a sense that he made you feel totally comfortable, like he was born to be a protector or something.  It was weird, but you kinda liked it.

Little did you know, that the man you shared a meal with was an important part of keeping Jinzhou safe from harm.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

End of Chapter 4 🥀...

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

[5tef1]

"@mustakrakisch Idea 3, non-canon compliant, and one that I've been trying to write for a while but never managed: during one episode, Luke and reader get body-swapped. They need to keep up pretentions while they struggle to adjust to a new body and new social environment (here a female!reader would be great, because of the historic role of women in society& sexism and everything, which gives a lot of opportunity for discussion and learning curves for the characters"

There is another one

Title: “Switchin’ Saddles”

It happened because of a cursed locket.

Which was ridiculous, of course. Lucky Luke didn’t believe in curses. He believed in bullets, quick draw, law, and logic. But now, standing in your body with your voice and your height and the faint weight of a skirt brushing his ankles—he was rethinking some things.

“This is insane,” he muttered, touching his new face like it might snap back into shape.

“Tell me about it,” you replied dryly, from his body, arms crossed in front of your borrowed chest.

You looked… weird, he thought. Too stiff, too still. You held yourself differently. Like you were afraid to move too fast and something would break. He supposed he looked the same way.

“Okay,” you said, drawing in a slow breath. “We just… need to stay calm. Maybe it’s temporary. We retrace our steps. We figure out what did this, we undo it, and in the meantime, we pretend.”

“Pretend?” he echoed.

You pointed. “You're me, remember? You work at the saloon, you know everyone’s gossip, you talk too much, and you don’t shoot anyone unless they really deserve it.”

He frowned. “I don’t talk too much.”

“That’s because you’re Lucky Luke. I am—was—a social woman.”

He stared at you.

“Your job,” you said, “is to smile, flirt just enough, and carry trays without looking like you're gonna arrest someone.”

He scowled. “And what’re you gonna do, huh? Run around shootin’ bandits?”

“If needed.”

“You don’t know how to aim that gun.”

You smiled sweetly. “But I do know how to bluff.”

He blinked. That was almost impressive.

---

The first few days were hell.

You couldn’t get used to the way his long legs moved, the way people looked at him—respectful, a little nervous. People made way when Luke walked. People listened. You tried to emulate his quiet confidence, his lazy stride. It worked, mostly. You only got challenged twice.

Lucky, on the other hand, was… having a time.

He tripped on your skirts three times. He nearly broke your corset trying to loosen it (“Why the hell do you wear this torture device”). He couldn't pour drinks without spilling, and the first time a drunk customer slapped your (his?) ass, you nearly had to tackle him to keep him from drawing your gun in the middle of the saloon.

“You can’t shoot him,” you hissed from behind the bar.

“He touched me.”

“He touched me. And if you shoot someone for that, I’ll get fired, and then we’ll both be out on the street.”

Luke seethed in silence, jaw working in a way that you now realized looked kind of hot from the outside. He had this quiet rage to him when he felt helpless. You’d never seen it this close before.

He wasn’t used to not being taken seriously.

And neither were you.

---

Over the next week, things… changed.

You taught him how to carry a tray with flair. How to sweet-talk men without inviting them. How to laugh in that careful, calculated way women had learned just to stay safe. You watched him falter, and fume, and finally understand.

Meanwhile, he taught you how to keep your draw hand loose, how to rest your fingers near the holster without looking like a threat. How to scan a room for exits. How to raise an eyebrow just so, so everyone shuts up before you even open your mouth.

By the time the week ended, you both knew each other better than anyone ever had.

And somewhere in that mess—pretending to be each other, living each other’s limits—you started to fall.

---

The night before everything snapped back, you were sitting on the porch of the small rented room you both shared, quiet between you. You were in his body, arms stretched out, boots kicked up. He was sitting cross-legged, leaning on the doorframe in your skin.

“Y’know,” he said, voice soft in your tone, “I never thought about how hard it is. Bein’ looked at like that. Bein’ touched without askin’. Talked down to.”

You smiled faintly. “Yeah. I know.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, after a beat. “If I ever… before all this… didn’t see it.”

You tilted your head to look at him. “I didn’t know how heavy it was to be you, either. That kind of expectation. People waiting for you to save the day. Like you owe ‘em.”

He met your eyes.

And you weren’t sure who leaned in first.

But when you kissed, it was all strange and familiar—his mouth, your mouth, tangled in borrowed bodies. Awkward and electric and too short.

“I… that was probably weird,” you said, breathless.

He smiled. “Might’ve been the best weird I’ve ever had.”

---

In the morning, you woke up back in your own skin.

You nearly cried from relief, feeling your heartbeat in your own chest again.

Then you ran to find him.

He was standing outside the room, looking down at his hands. He looked like he’d just come home after a long time away.

When he saw you, his face broke into a rare, open smile.

“Hey,” you said.

“Hey.”

There was a pause.

“Still feel like kissin’ you,” he admitted.

You grinned.

“Well,” you said, stepping into his space, “you’re in luck.”

And this time, in the right bodies, it felt even better.

[sirowsky]

--The Beauty of Mechanics--

This is the final of the Birthday Stories!

Description: Frankie's working away in his shop when an unexpected arrival makes him pause. Frankie Morales x Original Female Character.

Rating: Teen Warnings: Meet cute, a bit of shop-talk, fluff, Frankie's just a lovesick puppy. Mechanic!Frankie. AU. Word Count: 1500 Author’s Masterlist

-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-

   The car sounded like it had swallowed a nightingale as it rolled up to the open garage doors of the workshop, and Frankie grabbed a towel to wipe some grime off his hands while he slowly walked out there to greet what was sure to be a new customer.    He didn’t recognize the car or the license plate, so it wasn’t one of his regulars, but he did recognize the make and model of the machine.

   A classic 1967 Mustang, one of his favorites. And this one was in mint condition, all black with silver detailing and tinted windows. An absolute masterpiece.    It looked almost alive and somewhat menacing when it was so well polished and it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into the styling, which was still true to the classic look, but utilized modern materials.

   When he got to the front left corner of it, the driver’s door opened, and his eyebrows shot up as he watched a woman step out and come towards him.    Not because he couldn’t believe, or for whatever reason felt, that women didn’t belong behind the wheel of such a car, but because this particular woman was even more gorgeous than her choice of vehicle.

   She was wearing dark brown worker boots, tight black jeans, and a black silk blouse to compliment the vehicle, but her short Pink!-style hair had a deep purple shade, fading into pale blue at the ends, a look which seriously suited her.    He also noticed that she wasn’t wearing any jewelry but had a Sinn watch around her wrist, a brand which boasts some of the toughest watches on the market, all of which gave him the feeling that this was no delicate flower of a woman.

   “Hey, sorry to drop by without an appointment,” she said while pulling off her sapphire blue Oakley sunglasses, revealing almost golden colored eyes.

   “That’s okay, I’ve got time. She sounds terrible,” Frankie replied, nodding towards the machine.

   “Yeah, I don’t know what happened, she was running fine five minutes ago.    Think you can take a look?” she asked, and he couldn’t help but smile.

   “She’s absolutely beautiful, I’d love to look at her all day. But yeah, pop the hood and I’ll see what’s going on.”

   She did as he asked, and the first thing he noticed was that this engine was custom built and by someone truly talented.    But at first glance, he couldn’t find any obvious cause for the racket, so he asked her to start it up so he could listen to the noise more clearly, and after just a few seconds he signed for her cut the engine again.

   “I’d say it’s probably coming from the exhaust. I’ll need to lift it up to know for sure.    You want me to try and fix it for you right now, or do you wanna make an appointment?”

   “If you have the time to take care of it right away, you’d be making my day,” she chimed, sounding absolutely astounded that he might actually be able to fit her in immediately.

   “Sure, I’ve only got a standard service scheduled for today and that customer is abroad, so it can wait. A beauty like this shouldn’t have to roll around sounding like a freaked-out crow,” he offered, and that made her smile, damned near taking his breath away.

   He asked her to drive it onto the ramp, letting her step out before he raised it, and she remained right next to him when he got to work. He noted that she was careful not to get in his way, though, and she didn’t attempt to criticize anything he did.    Instead, it seemed like she was just eager to learn more about the car and how to take care of it, which only made him enjoy her company all the more.

   “So, you were just out driving when it suddenly started sounding like this?” he asked, both to carry on a conversation, and to learn more about the problem.

   “Yeah, there was no indication at all that anything was out of order, it came out of nowhere,” she elaborated. “Normally, I’d have taken it to my regular mechanic, but he’s on vacation and I don’t trust his colleague with my girl. He’s way too sloppy.”

   “So, no pressure, then,” he chuckled drily.

   “Oh, I already know you’re a better mechanic than that guy, so you can relax,” she reassured him, which really did calm him.

   So many customers, and especially those with fancy cars of any kind, would get so uptight about him not putting a scratch on their expensive toys, that they’d deliberately try and put as much pressure on him as possible.    But this lovely woman was just concerned about him actually fixing the problem, and seemed to understand that adding any tension to the situation was only going to make that harder.

   “Have you done any work on it yourself?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the fact that she was rapidly becoming very attractive, in every possible way.

   “Pretty much the entire exterior,” she started, and he was mildly surprised by that. “I’ve never worked with painting cars, but I’ve been doing it as a hobby since my teens.    I’ve ordered, but sometimes also made custom detailing, like the new headlights and the grill. I love that sort of thing. Tweaking tiny details to achieve the most aesthetically pleasing look, but without taking focus away from the beauty of the entire machine.    I’ve always wished that I could somehow do that stuff for a living, but I’ve just never been able to.”

   Seriously?    With that level of talent she should’ve been working at a custom shop a long time ago.

   “Wow. It’s actually kinda hard to believe that no one’s taken an interest, because the first thing I thought when I saw this car, was that it looks fucking perfect.    You’ve got a really good eye,” he complimented, meaning every word, and she seemed truly grateful to hear it.

   “I just love to make cars look their best. Like stylists do with people, or real estate agents with houses. It makes me feel all buzzed to look at a gorgeously styled car, or motorcycle, or anything on wheels, really,” she elaborated, and for the first time since he met her, she looked a little shy, or unsure.

   As if she wasn’t used to being able to say these things without getting laughed at.

   “Well, I’m just a small business grease monkey, but I’m pretty good at what I do too, and I’m telling you, if I’d only had the means, I’d have hired you on the spot.”

   She smiled so warmly at him as she heard that, and it made something very pleasant spread through his blood.

   It turned out that the problem was just the air intake tube on the catalytic converter, so it was an easy fix, and Frankie was almost a bit annoyed at that, because it meant that he would lose her company much too soon.

   “Okay, all done,” he announced once he’d lowered the car and had her start it up again to make sure that his diagnosis had been correct.

   “Great, I’m so glad it wasn’t something serious.    How much do I owe you?” she chirped, but he just shrugged, suddenly feeling quite unhappy.

   “Nothing. It took me less than fifteen minutes and that tube costs like a dollar,” he said, showing his hands in his pockets to keep them from moving around nervously.

   He really wanted to ask her out, but he felt like there was no way in hell she’d agree to that. He wasn’t nearly cool enough to hold the interest of a woman like that.

   “Oh. Okay…” she replied, suddenly looking so misplaced in his garage, with her quiet but strong confidence and overall powerful look, against the backdrop of clutter and dirt. “Well, if you ever need a paintjob, let me know.”

   “Sure. But I’d need your number for that,” he cheekily pointed out, thinking there was no chance he’d ever get it.

   Which was why, when she stepped over to a really dusty old car-door, standing leaned against the end of his workbench, and wrote her number in the dust, he just dumbly stared at her, unable to say a single thing.

   “I’ll look forward to hearing from you,” she said with a soft curve to her lips, and then she got back into her car and left.

   He stood there, still staring after her, unable to process what had just taken place, when his cellphone started ringing.

   “Morales,” he answered without even looking at the screen to see who was calling, because he was still staring outside, listening for the sound of that gorgeous engine.

   “Hey, Frankie,” he heard Pope on the other end, and the familiar voice broke through the stunned silence in his brain.

   “Santi… you’re not gonna believe what just happened at the garage…”

THE END

-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-=¤=-

Thank you for reading and helping me celebrate! I wish you a wonderful day <3

Tagging a few people who I think might wanna read these stories: @startrekkingaroundasgard @deadhumourist @tintinn16 @suttonspuds @tanzthompson @shsoba05 @f0rever15elf @justnat15 @lowlights @dornish-queen @radiowallet @spishsstuff @harriedandharassed @i-love-movies @tiffanypooh @chaoticfestninja @insomniamamma @pedrostories

[case-of-traxits]

for the ask meme: Reeve

For the Opinion Meme || Still accepting!

Sexuality Headcanon: Bisexual, but functionally gay. Because I write Reeve as being Cetra (I feel the need to link this every time I mention it because it's such a wild-ass take that any time I don't, I have confused people messaging me), he's basically extremely paranoid about sexual situations that could end in children. Especially since his mother is always trying to set him up on dates (and he's half-wondering if she's trying to arrange for him to produce more little part-Cetran babies) and the President is always setting him up on blind dates (I have a whole headcanon about this, but basically, Reeve's concerned that President knows).

So with him being so paranoid about it, he just... doesn't have sex with women. Ever. It's much safer that way.

Gender Headcanon: Cis man. Although, that said, I used to RP as girl!Reeve, and that was fun as hell.

A ship I have with said character: HAHAHAHAHA. All of them.

No, but seriously, there's very few people I haven't written/read/shipped Reeve with.

Reeve/Tseng? Delicious.

Reeve/Lazard? Omg, yes, please.

Reeve/Genesis? Don't mind if I do (ship of my soul, currently).

Reeve/Reno? Talk about fucking up my heart okay.

Reeve/Rude? They're wonderful together.

Reeve/Sephiroth? Yep. I could do that.

Reeve/Veld? I can get behind that.

Reeve/Vincent? Mm. So wonderful.

Reeve/Barret? I expect some angst in there, but that's delicious too.

Like, not all of these work with all of my HCs, but I am happy to jettison/rework HCs to make things happen.

A BROTP I have with said character: No matter what I'm doing, if Reeve and Tseng aren't an active couple, then they're best friends. I just. I love the two of them together, especially with all the potential angst between them with their secrets and everything. It's just wonderful.

A NOTP I have with said character: I think the closest thing I really have to a NOTP is probably Reeve/Hojo, but that's a holdover from an old RP partner who uh... we did some pretty dark stuff with that. Like, I can see it, but man, it is fucked up. Especially with my Reeve in particular.

A random headcanon: Hm... I've already talked about Reeve being a Cetra and Reeve being an Inspire... Here, since I went light on the ship descriptions this time, have a small handful of random headcanons instead:

I would say my biggest "obscure" headcanon is that Reeve lives in a 3,000 sq foot custom-built penthouse in Upper Eight.  And yes, I have a floorplan.  One day, I'll do some drawings of the rooms.

Reeve’s blood type is type O negative.

Reeve requires every single Urban Dev employee to wear a carbon bangle with Restore, Ice, and Lightning materia equipped.  They’re also required to annually attend a training known as “Materia Camp,” to ensure they’re comfortable with the basic use.  This is because Urban Dev employees are, statistically speaking, the most likely to be first-on-the-scene of any sort of emergency situation.

Reeve has three small tattoos along his spine.  They’re three Wutaian characters in a straight line, each character a few inches from the previous one, and from top to bottom, they read: Courage, Inspiration, and Resilience.  They’re the same characters his father wrote in the front of each of his sketchbooks.

General Opinion over said character: My babygirl. Look. Reeve is my angel and ... yeah, I'd say he is probably my favorite character in the game.

BONUS! A song I associate with the character:

Where am I today? I wish that I knew 'Cause looking around there's no sign of you I don't remember one jump or one leap Just quiet steps away from you lead I'm holding my heart out but clutching it, too Feeling this sort of a love that we once knew Calling this a home when it's not even close I'm playing the role with nerves left exposed

-- "Reasons Why," by Nickel Creek.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 6 Review

- Suletta needs to learn proper coping techniques fast. Just ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. All that does is let it build up inside you until you snap. However, since the very beginning, Suletta has acted as a doormat, letting people walk all over her without speaking up for herself. She deserves to be sad, she deserves to be angry. Being a people-pleaser will only just tear her apart more. Luckily, both Chuchu and Eri realized this, and while Chuchu went about it the healthier way, it was good of Eri to finally cut off Suletta. She needs to establish a life outside of being Aerial’s pilot. It might have been what she was made for, but fuck destiny and parental expectations! Live your own life tanuki!

- Earth House claiming the best supporting character spots simply by recognizing what’s wrong with Suletta and actually acting on it, especially Chuchu. She pushes Suletta to express her true feelings and makes the plan to go see Miorine so she can explain herself. She’s grown up from the violent little doggy she was before. She uses her anger to push her forward, but she isn’t letting it take over her like Norea

- Poor Lauda is projecting his insecurities onto Suletta (though he isn’t really wrong.) He’s dedicated his life and self worth into supporting his brother, much like Suletta with Aerial, and now that Miorine’s the one by his side, he feels empty. He needs to come into his own as person and separate himself from his brother. I can only hope his adorable girlfriend Petra can help him through these times.

- Lauda and Felsi thanking Chuchu made me weak. They’re so honorable. But what shot me in the heart was Felsi’s smile and look back at Chuchu before she ran off. She loves that poofy girl so much. I’d love to see the two go to Earth and fight together

- I feel so bad for Martin. He did the right thing in reporting Nika because she never explained herself despite him giving her multiple chances, and he wanted to protect the rest of his friends. Dude’s carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders, but his little therapy session just made it worse.

- WHAT THE FUCK SECELIA!

- Girl created a whole catholic confession booth on the school to figure out the student’s dirty secrets. Interesting thing though, is that it’s Rouji’s Haro instead of the normal ones. The normal Haro’s are connected to the authorities and report everything but since Rouji’s is custom, it probably doesn’t have that feature. And is Secelia doing this just because she likes gossip or because she’s now taking her job seriously and wants to weed out any dangerous individuals? Or is the Burion House sort of like a secret police that monitors everyone?

- Shaddiq ONCE AGAIN is a total snake, but he’s definitely bit off more than he could chew by meeting with Prospera. If Shaddiq is two steps ahead of our main cast, Prospera is at the top of the stairs ready to push him down

- Peil House is the worst group of people I’ve ever seen in my life. They literally just let a computer decide the fates of orphaned children and pick out which ones they’ll experiment on. Elan Prime was lucky. He could have ended up another Enhanced Person if fate decided to be a dick. Which probably only makes El5n even more pissed. Like, he could have been the special one, but instead some computer decided he wasn’t important enough

- Speaking of El5n, my beloved, tight lips my ass. Bro just spilled the whole tea on Peil to two random fugitives. Shows just how much he hates them. But poor Nika wasn’t expecting to have to deal with all that and now she’s floundering. Maybe she’ll start working on Gundams that don’t kill people. Also El5n calling out Norea and pointing out the similarities between each other all while she’s trying to stab him is hot and I ship them so hard. Nika should ask Sabina for a separate room or she’ll be witness to their hatefucking

- Finally we see the Schwarzette! There’s been so much discussion about this suit, what it was or who would pilot it, and now we get to see it in all its glory. We’ll have to see if the AI will take on the Permet strain or if it’ll hurt the pilot.

- If this anime wasn’t political already, then we’re about to get sooooo political. Miorine is gonna have a hard time connecting with the rioters considering her position and personality. Maybe Guel will be able to help her navigate, and maybe even use his Dawn of Fold connections. Personally, if they want to help, I think setting up field hospitals would be the first best step but that’s just me

- The swole chad Kenanji has now joined the group and I’m so excited. Bro was hyped up in the prologue and then dropped off the face of the earth. But considering he’s on the same spaceship as Prospera, I don’t think he’ll be getting out of it alive

- Eri’s a savage. She allowed Suletta to come to her just to tell her she’s ditching her. Like, I know she’s trying to help, but she could have been gentler. And activating the Permet really didn’t help either.

- Prospera actually does something nice and stops using Suletta for her revenge. But she still doesn’t explain anything and this leaves Suletta a sobbing broken mess out in space. Truly the mother of the year. But the way she defers to Eri shows that ultimately, she’s a broken woman who just wants her daughter back. Everything she’s done is all so she can be with Eri again, ignoring the thousands of people she’s trampled

Next episode is gonna be painful as well. I don’t expect good things to happen on Earth, especially not since karma magnet Guel and warcrime MILF Prospera are there. Also since Shaddiq was the title vocalist, maybe we’ll get more of his backstory?

[bobbybutterfly]

First remade background for the Super Secret Project! It’s quite different than the original digital picture. Being far more messy and impressionistic. I would rather not compare the two as each of them is doing it’s own thing. I do find it funny that even though I spent just AGES on the original, doing all these intricate patterns it looks far more clean and I guess I would say empty compared to this just splatter the paint where ever attitude.

I think I should paint on bigger canvases to force myself to do more details. A big inspiration for me are classically animated movies. Yesterday I watched Secret of Nymh which I should finish today. That movie is a master piece!!!! Kind of hard to believe it’s for kids with how dark it is, but as a child I loved dark stuff so yeah. But the backgrounds! Oh the backgrounds! I really got to step up my game. I’m like a kid in a shonen anime.

I also made a little mock up for how the project will look. Just messed around in Procreate with it. Something I want to change for my future projects is a better longer pre production period. This project did have some pre production. Such as sketches, scrapped background and character art. But nothing even nearing a professional production. I used to go to an art high school (high schools here are like roughly ages 15 to 19, I don’t remember perfectly) and there they had you repeat every step of the process like 20 times before you could move on.

I don’t plan on working for like a proper game or animation company. That being said if Disney comes knocking on the door then I’m not going to say no. But I don’t think that type of environment is for me. And with the rise of AI art. Bitch. Why would they want me around with my “special needs”? I think indie game studios are the way to go. My aesthetic would also suit them far more. So erm. Contact me. I want to buy a custom fursuit.

JUST KIDDING! I ain’t stable enough for a job. I’m barely managing doing what ever the fuck this is.

So what do you guys think?

I MIGHT finish it for Christmas but don’t take my word for it. I don’t like deadlines. There’s still like a truck load of work left to do. Exhibit one. Finishing the script. Getting sensitivity and beta readers. Would be great if I could get my friend who studies psychology to look at it. There’s a lot of trauma. I bet ya there’s going to be a whole lot of editing to do after that. Exhibit two. Backgrounds and sprites. Urg. Exhibit three. Putting it somehow together. Presumably with duct tape, paper clips and prays. Exhibit four. Releasing it. Exhibit five. Shameless self promotion. Such as bothering mid size furry YouTubers.

An absolute dream come true would be having Saber Spark look at it, as he’s the one that introduced me amongst many of you I bet to Squirrel and Hedghog. But please don’t go bothering anyone just yet. I want to do the shameless self promotion last when there’s actually something to promote. Otherwise it’s just a scam.

Am I taking this project too seriously? This is the first time I’m doing something like this so it is more of a prototype of how I will do things for later projects.

Bobby out!

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #246

The physical therapy appointment that I missed yesterday was rescheduled to today. I saw the therapist that I am most familiar with - her name is D. But she had read the notes left behind by K, and now I guess she, too, theorizes that I've got some kind of weird torsion going on with my ribcage, likely brought on or exacerbated by trying to do mermaid training while having my chest tightly bound in my costume.

And… I know this is not something you have to worry about (since you do not have the body configuration for it), but… this sort of injury is why, I guess, people caution trans men to take proper steps to bind their chests instead of simply layering constricting clothing over their ribs. Improper chest binding, especially while doing vigorous physical activity, can seriously mess you up, holy shit. I'm not a trans man, but I'm sure that this advice also applies to mermaid folks like me who are just trying to prevent their chests from flopping all over the place while trying to swim.

See, the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome doesn't just affect my joints. It also affects everything else, like my ligaments - including the ones that are supposed to keep my boobs relatively in place. Those ligaments do not do their job, because they literally cannot, because they are made with "I Can't Believe it's Not Collagen" instead of the normal stuff. It's a pain right in the ass. Or… I guess in my case… a pain right in the ribs. ...Sigh…

...We discovered that the set of ribs on the right side of my ribcage, at the level where I used to tie the bikini of my costume, are not expanding forward when I breathe like they're supposed to. So, I was given another breathing exercise today to try to fix that. Doing it gives me a sharp, horrible pain that extends from my right armpit all the way down to the right side of my lower ribs. But it's not a pain that feels like walking on a sprained ankle; it's more like... a kind of pain that indicates something needs to pop or go crunch so that it can move properly. I wonder if that makes sense to you.

After physical therapy, I was in a lot of pain. Like... not the kind of pain where something is moving that shouldn't (for example, we shouldn't be moving sprained ankles), but the kind where things that haven't been moving for a long time are finally moving, and they're not used to it anymore, and so they're gonna scream about it. So I decided to go to Eggcellent to get a bubble tea. This time, I got a houjicha latte with rose syrup, tea jelly, and cream cheese foam. The lovely husband-and-wife duo who run this shop are testing a new bubble tea add-on called "sago" - these are like tapioca pearls, but they're made from a kind of palm tree. They're a lot smaller than tapioca pearls, and they have a bouncier texture. They put them into my tea as a surprise, because they know that I wanna try all their new stuff! I have a picture!!! Here!!

Sephiroth... they were so perfect!!! I liked them a lot!!! I can't wait until they're incorporated into their regular menu!!! I WISH YOU COULD TRY THEM!!! Oh my goodness!!!

I woke up feeling pretty empty today, but... after today's encounter at Eggcellent, I feel a lot less empty. I've been a customer of theirs for a long time; they know me well enough to understand that my support for them is unwavering, and that I will react to all their new things with genuine, unbridled joy. They know this thing well enough that they understood that they could surprise me with this, and that it would make me really happy. I feel incredibly grateful.

Also, the wife's mother, who occasionally helps them run their shop, came out from the back today, wearing a rainbow-colored shirt, and it was absolutely delightful. And... oh! Sephiroth, when she came out and saw me, her whole face lit right up, and the smile she gave to me was so radiant, and...!!! I don't know how to articulate the beautiful feeling that blossomed within my chest as a result. But I will say, it took some effort to avoid breaking down into joyful tears. Admittedly, it's a little difficult to avoid breaking out into those same tears as I write this now, ahaha~! 🥰🥰🥰

I guess... for context, it's nice to know that she can feel happy about seeing me, despite the language gap that exists between us. It's nice that she seems to know what kind of person I am, and that I'm someone who will try to support the business of her daughter and son-in-law. Although she doesn't speak English, we have had brief, simple conversations, with the wife acting as an interpreter between us. I've even had a couple of instances where I was able to clumsily say to her some greeting in Cantonese; the greeting I like to use when talking to people I am familiar with while I'm out and about is, "It's good to see you." I don't remember how it goes in Cantonese, though...

I guess the closest equivalent I can get to for that phrase in Japanese that is an accurate reflection of my intentions is something like, "Anata no koto wo miruno wa kimochi ii." But that's probably clumsy, too; I haven't practiced Japanese with any kind of regularity in a very long time...

...Someday, though, as impossible as it is, I hope I get to stand in front of you and say that to you. Somehow. Somehow...

Oh!!! I almost forgot!! When I went back to the car to do the rest of the errands I had planned, I noticed a hedge peeking out of some lattice, and I thought it looked neat. I thought that maybe you might also think it looked neat, so I snapped a picture:

I went to the grocery store after that to get some small items; nothing to write home about. And then after that, I went to a nearby craft store to try to get a different clasp for a pendant I've started wearing. The pendant is reflective of something that I believe to be a fundamental truth, both of my circumstances and of reality in general; its weight feels profoundly correct as I wear it. Unfortunately, the lobster clasp digs into the back of my neck. I sought a barrel screw clasp to replace it with, but they didn't have one in stock in the correct color. They don't know when they will have it in the correct color, so I simply decided to order one online after I got home.

It's 9:44. That means it's 44 minutes past when I was supposed to go to bed, because tomorrow I have to wake up at 5am in order to bring J to Great Barrington. Whoops.

...I had better stop writing and get ready for sleep.

Hey. I love you, and I'm over here cheering for you to heal and to be happy. So please keep yourself safe out there, okay? Please keep trying. Please don't give up.

I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

[sunshinemoonrx]

Starhound: April Devlog

I've mentioned the RPGmaker game I'm working on a bit before, and since that's always gonna be pretty slow with me working full-time, I thought it'd be good to keep track of my pace with end-of-the-month progress posts. So! Here's what I've done in April.

(For the record, at the moment I'm actually planning on calling the game "Star Hound Vega", as the [Thing] [Descriptor] [Name] pattern is venerable among tokusatsu and mecha type heroes, but "Starhound" is my name for the setting and stories generally.)

Finished the first dungeon! It took more passes than I thought it would, as it always does, and I'm sure there'll be more tweaks in future, but I have now got to the point where I'm able to play through it and go "wow! that functions as intended without breaking! no notes"

2. Updated some sprites! Previously Vega's and Nemea's were just placeholders, but I've arrived at some that I feel pretty good about and represent them much better. Placeholders on the left, final sprites on the right:

I ended up using the "male" creator for Vega, which I think works great for creating butch women. (I have hemmed and hawed a bit over if I'm being Problematic by doing this as she is also the main trans character, however: I am a trans girl and I can do what I want. In seriousness, it is a bit of wish-fulfilment for me--I wish I could be more butch and masc-styled and be read as "a handsome woman" and not "a man", so Vega's living that dream for me. She's a hunk you get it)

I will definitely still need some kind of custom visuals for Vega's henshin hero suit, and Nemea (and her boss, Princess Ascella) when she appears as an enemy.

3. Diversified the music! So a fun thing about RPGMaker is you think you know the small selection of default assets it gives you, but if you dig around in the installed files there's actually a lot more free assets you can transfer in--from walk sprites and portraits from older versions of RPGMaker, to a whole bunch of extra enemy graphics, to a lot more music. In particular, I found some pretty sweet battle themes so now each boss can have its own! (This all mixed in with something I already grabbed right when I started making this--a pack of specifically old toku style music, which is really great for making it feel appropriately flavoured.)

4. Added a town area! The overworld is pretty limited in this, it's not so much travel as using a small consistent hub/base to rest between dungeons (if sequels happen they'll probably be bigger but I'm trying to keep a lid on the minimum viable product scope ykno), but there are a couple additional areas, so...now we have that!

Got to have some fun populating it with cute characters, which was nice.

5. Started the second dungeon! My main goal this month was to finish the first one, so it's nice to be ahead of schedule.

I've also figured out some really fun gimmicks for this one, so the first dungeon will serve mostly as a backdrop while you're introduced to the game's core mechanics, then this one will step it up and be more showy in its own right. Figuring out stuff like "oh you can have specific enemy encounters only happen on certain regions of the map" and "oh you can totally hide one-off boss fights inside random encounters" has got me to a concept I'm real happy with.

So yeah, that's where the game's at right now! For May, my main goal is just to finish the second dungeon, but we'll see where that goes. I plan on making a prototype build to toss at some friends once I've done a pass on the third dungeon (the total plan is for five, plus a final area after), but the third one is very short so I might even be able to do that in May too. But no pressure if the second is all I manage, that's the goal.

[toby-determined]

To Be Better || Self-Para

Toby attempts to finish the story he left behind now that he is back home.

Triggers: kidnapping and political talk

Author's Note even tho I KNNOOOWWW no one who reads this is going to sue my ass: please also note that while I am pulling from real world problems and things within the Australian political sphere, i am not trying to refer to anything/anyone specifically. basically i'm playing the end of movie card that's like, "this is a work of fiction. unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental <3"

--

“Good god,” Amanda said from where she was standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth ajar. “What the fuck is all that?” 

Toby glanced her way but shook his head, trying to refocus back on his computer screen with the court transcript he’d been sent that morning. His sister stepped over the threshold slowly as she entered the room– Toby had taken residence back in the bedroom he’d grown up in. There was reminisce of his childhood around, things neither himself or his parents had been able to toss out no matter how useless they seemed now. 

An old piggy bank in the shape of an elephant with Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia on the side, back when they would send out groups from the bank to schools to teach them about savings. The backpack he’d used all throughout Secondary school and university, still filled with some textbooks and course work. One of the straps was broken and the canvas material was littered with graffiti and patches he’d sewn on over the years. An old CD rack filled with albums as well as custom ones he or Amanda had burned. You know, back in the day when burning CD’s had been a necessary skill. His bookshelves still held copies of books he had read in his youth, at least the ones he had not been able to part with as they had left their marks on his soul and he would occasionally re-read or be in need of remembering a passage. 

But, overall, the room had matured like the person who had occupied it over the years. Mostly because he had never parted with it too much since both he and Amanda had returned to it often. Even now, when Amanda had her own home. 

What Amanda was no doubt referring to, though, was the wall that Toby had turned into a massive pin board. He had wanted everything in one place where he could see it. At first that had just been the top half of his desk, then it had become the floor when the desk got too small, and when it started becoming an obstacle course to get to the bathroom he had decided to take down his Stargate poster and use the wall instead. 

The right half was all his old evidence, the things he had collected when he had first been on this story. The left half had everything he was currently working on. Pictures, documents, a map of Melbourne with little circles drawn around places he had found within the aforementioned documents. There were also several news clippings of relevant headlines. 

Amanda stepped over the threshold to approach the wall, eyes squinting as they flickered over everything. 

“You…are seriously deranged,” she said. Toby only grunted softly in reply. Amanda rolled her eyes and turned to look at him. He was sitting back in his chair, one arm resting across his abdomen while the other’s elbow rested on it. The hand attached had its fingers curled in on his palm, the knuckle of his index finger resting against his lips and thumb pressing into his cheek. His brows were furrowed, eyes flickering back and forth across the screen as he read. 

His only saving grace was that he wasn’t in the get up he had been wearing since he got his first job as a journalist. Instead he was in casual clothing, a blue t-shirt and black slouch pants. So at least he was comfortable while he spiraled into madness, right? 

Amanda walked over to the desk, put her palm on the back of the laptop screen and closed it shut. Toby blinked, hand pulling away from his mouth to open as his face scrunched with annoyance. “Hey!”

“You need a break.”

“No I don’t–”

“Okay, how about this? I haven’t gotten to see you in ages, and I want to talk to you. Are you going to shun me? Your own flesh and blood?” she asked, leaning against her hand now to look him in the eyes as she stuck out her lower lip. His lids fell to slits as he returned her gaze but she knew he would cave. It was just a matter of when. 

Five seconds later, Toby tsked, head turning to the side and arm falling limply before motioning to her. She smiled in her victory, then went to jump back on his bed, bouncing a little. She pulled one of his pillows into her arms and flipped over onto her stomach, resting the pillow under her chest and chin. Toby turned in his chair to face her. 

After a moment he gave her a look, eyes and hands widening. “So?”

“Give me a moment, there’s a lot to pick from. I’m having a bit of choice paralysis here.”

Toby snorted but took the moment to run his fingers under his glasses, pushing them back up against his forehead as he scrubbed at his eyes. Amanda watched him, kicking her feet slowly behind her, and wondering how it was time had made adults of the both of them. 

“I guess since neither mum or dad are here to save you from me, I’ll ask why the fuck you think you have to keep doing this,” she said, nodding toward the wall with the papers pinned to it. 

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes still closed. “I don’t know how else I can possibly explain it to you. What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know– the real reason? Not this the truth is important and the people deserve to know bullshit you keep trying to sell me on. That might work for everyone else, but I’m not buying it.”

“I need to finish what I started.”

“You could have done that years ago,” she pointed out. “Why now?”

Toby sorted his glasses properly and found Amanda’s eyes. As much as he enjoyed being in her presence, it was a touch startling to be with someone who knew him. For all the time he had spent in Swynlake, no one besides Ms. Tremaine had really taken the time. Not to this extent. 

But then, he doubted anyone ever would know him as his little sister did. 

“You know she…she probably won’t even see this if you do ever wind up getting someone to publish it. Or if you just blast it online,” Amanda said, fingers brushing over the fabric of the pillow cover, her darkly colored nails chipped. “If she was as indifferent to you after everything she did, then she’s not going to be looking your name up. And no one over there gives a shit about what’s going on over here when they have their own shit show to watch and worry about.”

“I know,” he replied softly. 

“Then why? If she’s not going to read it then–”  she cut herself off, looking up at him sharply. “You are not doing this because of some machismo sense of having nothing left to lose, right?”

“No! What?” Toby leaned back in his chair as if Amanda had reached forward with her hand in an attempt to slap him. 

“Good,” she frowned. “You don’t have the muscle mass for that.”

“Alright, alright. I can admit that I could have come back sooner had this story been the whole of it, had I really wanted to, but I didn’t. What I had– what I thought I had in Swynlake was able to fulfill something in me that I had wanted for a long time. And when it was gone, when I knew I had nothing left there, I needed something else.” He gestured vaguely to the room at large. “It reminded me that I still have this to finish. Maybe you don’t believe me when I tell you that the truth is important, but it is to me. I’ve lost sight of that and I– I don’t want to turn a blind eye anymore. And now that I’m back on this I know something’s wrong. I just can’t tell what it is…”

Toby frowned, looking over to his board once more and letting out the rest of his breath. Amanda considered all of this for a long moment in the silence. Her dislike of her brother taking on a story like this had come from seeing him getting hurt as a result, but it had grown into a pure hatred at seeing him turn into a different person over it. He had done things she never would have thought the boy who had once been motivated by more pure morals to be capable of lying on such a grand scale. 

But listening to him now– it sounded more like the person he had been before he had gotten sucked into the shadows of their political system. 

So, maybe instead of playing the antagonist, she could indulge him.

“What do you mean?” she asked. Toby rose from his chair and approached the board, tapping a finger against a picture. It was of a woman being led into a courtroom. Her dark, curly hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head. She had olive toned skin, naturally darker in its tan hues. Her shoulders were broad, body made of curves and muscles that sat inside her shorter stature. The expression she wore on her face was resigned, eyes downturned.  

“This woman is a scientist who worked for one of the renewable energy companies,” he said. “She was sued by a mining company for defamation two years ago, and had previously been put under police watch for supposedly harassing our beloved Minister of Energy and Resources. They tried to arrest her for allegedly stalking him.”

“Wow,” Amanda said. “And I take it she didn’t?”

“Of course not. But since she happened to be in the same room as him all of two times, one of which she had a harsh word with him in front of a bunch of people and cameras, his ego was bruised and his chief of staff–” Toby touched a piece of paper that looked like printed emails by the formatting of the text, “–contact the police to put together some sort of task force to keep tabs on her and other people in the company she worked for.

“The kicker here, is that in that confrontation with him, she alluded to having something on him that she was going to be releasing. But when asked about it in court–” He crossed the room back over to his laptop, pulling it back open and typing in his password (which was quite long so it took a moment), to get back to the transcript. He scrolled back a ways, and then pointed to the words as he read aloud, “I don’t know what I was referring to. I don’t remember.” 

“So– what? She was just making it up? Trying to spook him?”

“No, because when they ordered for her emails, there was evidence that she did have something,” he said, again crossing the room to point at another piece of paper. This one had highlighter brightening a sentence on it. “And that’s just it, Amanda. There are– so many instances like this. People saying they don’t remember something. People who used to work in his offices, the IT tech who was in charge of his computers, other politicians who were vocal about voting against something and then suddenly they’re on board with him. I would be inclined to believe that it’s just intimidation tactics this guy is pulling out, but it’s been years, and no one’s had the courage to say something? Not even the once?” 

“Hey, he managed to run you out of the country,” she pointed out. “Don’t blame other people for being scared.” 

“That isn’t what I’m saying,” he said. “I think something else is going on.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But–”

“You’re going to find out,” Amanda said, voice mocking. Toby deflated a little, her having effectively taken the wind out of his sails. She laughed. “Well, how about you find out after we go get dinner? Come on, let’s go get some sunshine on that pasty skin of yours.” 

--

After telling his family that he would be gone for a few days, Toby packed a bag and headed into the city for some surveillance work. 

There was supposed to be a meeting between several of Victoria’s Ministers in a few days time and, well, if the one he was after happened to be in town then maybe he could get something from seeing what he was up to while there. 

He’d found the hotel the Minister was staying in, because it was the same one he’d stayed in when Toby had first been investigating him. The only way he was going to be able to keep tabs was to hunker down somewhere without anyone noticing him. Something he was actually quite good at. 

Going into the hotel was out. It was an expensive place, one that had its own casino and everything, which meant that the staff would be harder to get into than simply pretending to be a new hire. It sat along the Yarra River, which meant he could potentially sit out along the bank, pretending to be fishing for hours on end. There was a park close enough that he could have sat in, too. 

But Toby had come prepared. 

Across the street from the hotel was an event venue, and wouldn’t you know it, they were hosting that week. Oddities Expo, for lovers of the strange and unusual. There was all sorts of things supposed to be happening inside. Booths for all sorts of stuff, from weird antiques to creepy themed merchandise to artwork. There was also supposed to be live music acts and a production of an original play. Toby had bought a ticket to attend. 

He had also dressed accordingly! Despite the warm, sunny summer weather, he had quite a lot of black on. Combat boots on his feet, dark loose fitting jeans that he’d had to cuff several times, an old horror movie t-shirt that was white with a red logo, and a black canvas jacket over the top. He’d had Amanda paint his nails for him before he left, black just like her own. His hair had not been cut for several weeks due to his recent emotional state, this had fallen by the wayside. It never did follow any styling no matter how hard he tried, anything short of a whole tub of hair gel keeping it glued down, it would do as it pleased. For today he left it alone and it curled slightly at the ends in places, giving him a scruffier look than he was usually known for but that worked out fine in his favor. He also had not shaved, allowing the shadow of facial hair to continue the overall casualness of the person he was trying to be. Just a regular attendant, like anyone else who was here to buy a skull shaped candle holder. 

They’d let him bring his camera in, thank goodness, but he’d been given the lecture that he would be asked to not take photos of the celebrities or any of the live shows. And that was perfectly fine by him, that wasn’t what he had brought it for anyway. 

Toby had passed through the main hall, looking over the tables and booths, as well as admiring the costumes that people had arrived in. It was all rather interesting, actually! He would have liked to have actually been able to talk to more people, but knew he couldn’t have been pulled from the task at hand. He did allow himself one indulgence, and that was stopping at one of the booths to buy a baseball cap– or dad cap as the tag had claimed. It was black to match the rest of his attire, and had a small white skull stitched into the front. Figure it would come in handy. 

He found his best vantage point in a hallway that wrapped around one of the ballrooms upstairs that was holding panels for talks about taxidermy or bone bleaching. Windows were evenly spaced across the hall, little benches or tables situated on the outer wall across from the doors that led into the ballroom. Toby sat down at one of these tables and found the perfect spot to watch the entryway of the hotel across the street, his camera able to afford him a better view thanks to the lens. 

Hours passed. No one bothered him, aside from one woman who had stopped to compliment his shirt and strike up a conversation about the movie before she left. He didn’t stay there for the full passage of the time, getting up to take strolls around the main hall every now and again so that no one would see him at those windows twice and think about it too hard. 

He even left the venue, venturing out to find a gas station so that he could get a coffee and collect snacks for the night. 

Because this next bit was going to be the tricky part. He’d need to figure out somewhere to hide until those working the con went home, and then he could watch the hotel through the night from his little hiding spot. 

This hiding spot wound up being in one of the smaller rooms upstairs. One of the groups to attend was showing off their eccentric collection of coffins. He’d stuck himself inside one and waited. 

And waited…and…waited….

Until eventually it was very quiet, and then he found himself free to get up out of his hiding spot and make his way through the darkened halls to the window. 

The hotel was lit up in the night and still as busy as it had seemed during the day. Car after car pulled up to its entrance, the valet leaning over to greet whoever was driving and speak to them before they opened their door and took their place. 

Toby continued his waiting game until, finally, the Minister showed his face. He got photos of the man walking into the hotel, as well as the men who were accompanying him. Both of them were large, thick with muscle and dressed in suits that they’d no doubt had to get custom made. 

It was all he had gotten for the night. 

Deciding it was safe to leave to get a proper meal, Toby carefully left the building. Unlike a little town like Swynlake, there was far more night life to pick from in a place like Melbourne. The streets weren’t as packed as they would be in the daylight but it wasn’t quiet. He doubted a place like this city ever would be. 

After eating, Toby walked back to the hotel. He didn’t go in, but he did venture into the parking garage where he had seen the car the Minister and his shadows drive in had been taken off. Consulting the photos, he found the car on one of the lower levels and approached it. 

There was nothing really of note about it. A typical dark, sleek suburban. The windows were tinted dark, making it hard to see inside, even as he cupped his hands around his eyes to peer in. But there was no thumping sound coming from it, so he figured it was a useless venture. The valet hadn’t left any of the doors open, either. 

The sound of voices echoing off cement had him moving before he could even think, jogging to crouch behind a car a few spots down from the Minister’s. He scooted himself forward to peer under the car but around the tire, giving him a full view as the Minister, his lackeys, and…a woman appeared as they approached the car. 

He couldn’t hear what they were saying but given the woman being pressed against the politician, it didn’t take much of a reach to understand what was going on. Toby took photos of the pair as they hugged and then kissed, the woman being escorted into the car by one of the men as the other stayed behind with the politician. 

Funny thing was, that woman looked nothing like the Minister’s wife. 

Toby scurried underneath the car he was hiding behind as the guard pulled out of the parking spot, driving by. He waited for the politician and his man to turn and walk back toward the hotel, and then he waited a little bit longer, until the adrenaline had left his system before he moved again. 

Well– it wasn’t exactly incriminating, but it was something he supposed. 

It proved only to infuriate Toby. The amount of cheating he had come across in his lifetime was almost too much to bear, like there was no escaping it. Another horrible facet of the human condition that he didn’t understand, nor did he really want to. 

He went to the nearby park to sit on a bench, keeping an eye on the hotel’s entrance, until the convention’s venue opened up again. Inside he changed in one of the bathrooms into a fresh pair of dark trousers and another graphic t-shirt with a band he’d used to listen to. Toby took up his post at the window, and made note when the Minister left around mid-morning. He only moved to take another lap around the main hall before returning to the window and waited there until he saw the politician return. When he did, Toby walked back to the gas station for another coffee and more snacks for the night. 

“Is there anything else I can get you?” the younger man behind the counter asked, just as he had the day before. Toby went to shake his head, only for the motion to draw his attention to a smudge on his glasses. 

And that was the sort of thing that, once you noticed it, you couldn’t unnotice it. He took them off, attempting to wipe it clear with the hem of his shirt. When he lifted them back up to catch the overhead lights, squinting, the smudge had seemed to only get worse. 

“Erm, I don’t suppose you happen to have any lens cleaner, do you?” he asked, looking blindly at the man who was now just a very unfocused version of himself. 

The worker laughed a little and then said, “Yeah, I got you, mate.” 

Toby put his glasses back on to see while he paid, and thanked the man before he took his stash and left, back to the convention. It was staying open later that night for the live performances that would be taking place. 

He sat back down by the window, the upstairs basically empty as everyone had ventured down to get a place for the concert, and ducked out from under his camera’s neck strap. Toby set the rig back in its bag and zipped it shut, tucking it behind the chair he was in, and settled in to enjoy drinking his coffee while he pulled the lens cleaner from the plastic bag to get his glasses free of whatever grime he’d picked up over the day. 

He took his glasses off his face, spraying blindly at them with the bottle, and then used the hem of his shirt to begin cleaning them once more. 

The music from below was loud, the floor and chair beneath him vibrating with the force of it. It made him smile and shake his head minutely, listening to the crowd cheering for whatever it was the person on the microphone was saying. 

This was probably why he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching him. 

He didn’t even notice he was no longer alone until he had put his glasses back on and blinked through the now crystal clear lenses. Because there, in front of him, were the pair of large men that had flanked the Minister. Toby startled at the sight of them, dropping the bottle of cleaner. It rolled off somewhere across the carpet. 

His eyes flickered to the side, down the hall where the emergency exit sat–

“Don’t even think about it,” one of the men said. He was blonde, though it held darker shades of brown closer to his scalp, and had a dark set of empty eyes. His arms were about the size of Toby’s waist and stood at least half a foot taller than him. 

The man next, who was also caucasian but held darker coloring, had buzzed his hair close to his scalp and left only enough to make out the shadow of brown that had grown out since the cut. His brows were thick and furrowed together, meeting above a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken and not set back properly. He was equally, if not more muscular than his companion, though was a few inches shorter. 

“Up you go,” the blonde said, stepping forward to grab Toby by the lapels of his jacket and bring him to his feet. His heart seemed to jump with the movement, lifting up into his throat and pumping hard, as if it was trying to make the rest of the journey out of his mouth to make its own run for it. 

“Erm– what’s all this about?” Toby managed to ask. He lifted his hand to touch the badge the convention had given him the first day, hoping to play dumb. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know we weren’t allowed up here anymore. It’s just so loud done there, I wanted to–” 

“Quiet,” the man closest to him said, turning to his friend. “Ready?” 

The other man grunted and stalked forward, he grabbed the bag from the gas station that had been left in the chair when Toby had been hauled to his feet. The man turned it over, letting all the snacks fall to the floor, kicking them to separate them, and then let the bag flutter to the floor beside them. The man made another noise and nodded.

“What–?” Toby started only to stop when the blonde man’s hand latched down around his upper arm. The man with the buzz cut took his other side and did the same, the both of them dragging him down the hall as his feet tried to find themselves properly on the floor.  

Okay, he thought to himself as the panic started to take over and make his ears ring. Sweat had broken out over his skin, making his shirt stick to his back. When we get down stairs, I’ll yell for help. Someone will see me. 

Only as soon as Toby started to struggle in earnest against their hold when they reached the bottom of the escalator he felt something press into his rib cage. He stopped moving and peered down to see the glimmer of metal. 

A knife. 

There was a knife’s blade being aimed at his person. 

He stopped fighting then, legs going on autopilot as they followed the movement of the men at either side of him. His eyes continued to flicker down to the knife, as if willing it to be something else. Everything was so real, the world spinning in the wrong direction, and Toby had to swallow to keep from retching. 

He didn’t want to walk, sure that this walk would end with him dead after a long drive out to the bush, but if he didn’t walk then he was going to end up dead and tucked away in one of the oddity displays that no one would notice until too late. They escort him out to the carpark outside where the car from the hotel was sitting in wait for them. The men stopped Toby beside itt, shoving him up against the back door so that they could give him a pat down. They came away with his cell phone, turning it off and pocketing it, as well as his wallet and train tickets. 

Then Toby was sitting in the back seat with the shorter of the pair while the blonde got into the front. 

Nothing was said throughout the drive. 

Toby tried not to tremble in his seat, trying to think of what he could do. 

He probably wasn’t fast enough to reach for the door handle and jump out before a hand caught him. And even if he was, he probably wasn’t sturdy enough to survive the tumble to with the pavement either. He had no chance of surprising one and make an attempt to run when they’d stopped. They’d offered him nothing in terms of information for some sort of leverage he could use to talk his way out of it. He could gleam nothing from them, no details that might help him survive this encounter. 

He was, for lack of a better word, fucked. 

But how had they found him? How had they’d known he was there? He had been across the street the whole time, and he doubted they had just happened to be walking around the convention and spotted him in the lonely corner! Or through the window from that far away. Unless they had some sort of heightened senses in terms of magic? 

He swallowed thickly as the car pulled off into an office building. Everything was empty thanks to the late hour, but the men pulled Toby out of the car to a back entrance. One of them punched in a code on a keypad on the handle of the door and when it clicked open they walked through it. 

It was cool inside, the air touching his sweaty skin and turning it clammy. 

They walked down a corridor, turned a few times, and then opened up another door. Someone turned on a light to show a simple room stretched in front of them. Windows with vertical blinds stretched across the back wall and a long table sat in the middle. Rolly chairs lined either side of it. A projector screen hung from the wall opposite of the windows and a large whiteboard on the one perpendicular to them both. 

Toby was sat down in one of the rolly chairs and then his arms were wrestled behind him. He heard the plastic stretch of the ziptie before he felt it biting into his skin as it was tightened. The man came around to kneel in front of him, linking two zip ties together before securing them around Toby’s thighs, and another was put around his ankles, linking him to the bottom of the chair as well. 

Then the men sat down, too. The blonde took the chair next to Toby's, turning to face him with his hands folded over one another, elbows resting on his tree trunk thighs as he leaned forward. The other sat in a chair across the table from the both of them, where he could watch both them and the door, as well as the windows. 

“Mr. Determined,” the blonde said. His cadence was a staccato, words ending abruptly and vowels pronounced flatly. Now that Toby was actually paying enough attention to other things other than his own pulsating fear, he could recognize that it was South African. “This is how it’s going to go. You are going to answer all of our questions and then, when we are done, we’ll let you go.”

He frowned at this, skeptical. It made the man chuckle. 

“I’m being entirely serious. Aren’t I?” he turned to ask his companion who merely grunted in reply. 

Still tentative, Toby nodded. He could work with that. Obviously he had something that they wanted, otherwise he would have already been dead and his body pushed into the ditch they had long carved out for him. “Okay.”

“Okay.” 

And around the carousel they went. 

“How long have you been in the country?”

“A few days.”

“Where were you before this?”

“Is that relevant?” 

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The push back seemed to throw the larger man off what Toby suspected was his usual cadence. “Because– because it is.”

“But why?”

“Just answer the question. You agreed.”

“I was in Canada.”

“Canada.”

“Yep,” he nodded once. “Very cold.”

“Why were you following us?” 

“I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

“No, I wasn’t. I was attending a convention,” he replied, waiting to see what the man would give to refute the point.

As he had hoped, the man raised a brow and asked with a smug tone, “Then why did we find footage on our dashcam of you poking around our car?” 

Ah. So that’s how they’d known to look for him. Shit, he should have known there would be something like that around. He heaved a sigh, shifting in his seat. The plastic ties pressed uncomfortably into the skin of his wrists. “I feel the answer is obvious.”

“We would like to hear you say it. We want to know what you know and how long you’ve known it.”

Toby blinked at this because it seemed such an odd way of saying it. So…specific in nature. “Er– I don’t know anything new, really. That’s why I was following you, to find something.” 

The man’s eyes narrowed at him. He exchanged a glance with his colleague who, again, just grunted. He turned back to Toby when he repeated, “Anything new?” 

“Anything recent, yes. I haven’t been able to keep close tabs since I’ve been in another country. I’m still catching up on all of your boss’ crimes committed in the time I’ve been away,” he said. Somewhere along the course of the conversation he had managed to find some sense of footing, despite the predicament he was in. Having conversation always seemed to do that for him. It emboldened him to continue on, voice able to shake off the residual wavering. “I can only make a few educated guesses as far as him rubbing elbows with Karppinen Prospecting and all the backwards talk about how it’s everyone else’s fault that the East isn’t getting gas despite having been the one who voted to sign the contracts to export that much needed gas to other countries that the companies wanted them to sign because that meant more money for them. And what happens when you put it in writing legally? Well, you can’t walk it back unless you want to start up a bunch of court cases that they’d never win and that doesn’t solve the problem in the short term of the gas that’s being whinged about anyway.”

The pair of men looked a touch taken aback by this, the one who hadn’t spoken’s brow furrowing as his eyes moved to the table as if he was considering all that had just been said. 

…seriously? They worked for this man and they didn’t know his policies? For goodness’ sake, no wonder the guy was still in office. No one seemed to know what he was truly doing. 

“Plus,” Toby went on, because they were giving him the room to, “he’s trying to help them get rid of the current people in office who are putting the taxes on the mining corporations, as well as the regulations to ensure they’re operating without doing more harm to the environment than they already are, because it’s too much money! Woe is them, they don’t have it. Meanwhile, last year they made as much money in profits as the country put into the healthcare system in total, and they’ll say they’re giving back to the country when, really, all they give back is maybe…10%? While they keep the rest for themselves?”

“But…the mining industry gives jobs to people. It makes the economy what it is. That’s been proven in the past,” the blonde man tried to argue. “The Minister wants to make sure that the people in our country have a strong economy, not let it be set aside for the sake of environmental extremists. There’s a balance to be made.”

“Yes,” Toby agreed to the last part. “But, he, and the people like him, aren’t trying to strike a balance. They’re wanting to make it so that they can allow the mining companies to not have to comply with the laws put forth in protecting the environment. And, think about it like this, jobs will come from allowing renewable energy sources to have industry. Those sorts of jobs will be blue collar– mind, people like the Minister don’t want that, because it will be an educated blue collar worker, who can see past his nonsense and want better for themselves. As well as it being a healthier and better work environment than any mining job. So, not only are you helping grow and strengthen the economy by creating a whole industry around decarbonizing the planet, you’re helping the environment as well by no longer destroying it by drilling or letting off emissions. That’s the balance you want, isn’t it?”

More silence passed before the blonde shook this off and asked another question, “Does anyone know what you were doing?”

“No,” Toby answered quickly despite his thoughts betraying him, thinking of Amanda. His stomach twisted, chest tightening again with his situation. “No one. I’m not employed, so, no paper to send my stuff to, either.”

“You were acting alone?”

“Yes.”

The man nodded once, looking to his companion, who still seemed to be contemplating what Toby had been talking about earlier. The blonde whistled through his teeth and the other man’s head whipping up to meet the other’s eyes. 

“We’ll have to wait until it’s recharged, but I think if we target the memories from the original incident and the past few days, all will be taken care of. I’ll put in a call to Rowan, see if she can get another spell quickly.”

The other man grunted, apparently in agreement. 

“Uh– what?” Toby couldn’t help but to ask, having understood the words that had been spoken but all put together, they’d made not a lick of sense. 

Ignoring his question entirely, the man turned to him and said, “Mr. Determined, we’ll have to keep you here for a few days.”

His heart thumped harshly against his ribs. “What? Why?”

“It’s nothing you have to be concerned about. So long as you remain where you are and do not try to escape, we won’t hurt you,” the man said. Then, apparently seeing something in Toby’s eyes, he added in a darker tone, “Or your family.”

Toby flinched at that and then went still in his seat, contemplating what had been said as the man stood from the chair, tucking it back under the table. 

Wait until it’s recharged. 

Until what had been recharged? And what sort of spell? Wouldn’t it just…be easier to off him?

“You want the first shift or me?” the man asked his opposite and the other man settled back in his chair, and nodded toward the door. “Thanks. I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast.” 

Toby watched him leave and then turned back to the other man. 

“So…we just wait here?”

The man grunted and then closed his eyes, leaning back further and kicked his large feet up onto the table. 

“Right,” Toby said quietly, looking back to the door despite knowing no one was going to be coming through it any time soon. No one was coming for him. Even if Amanda noticed his absence, which he doubted since he had told her he would be gone for a few days, what was she to do? The police would put his name on a long list of missing persons and toss his file to the bottom of that pile. 

Maybe his sister had been right because Toby took some sense of comfort in knowing that there was nothing she or their parents could do, and that they would stay far away from the fire Toby had stepped into here. The only person who would pay for his stupid mistakes would be himself. 

No one was coming for him. All he could do was sit there and see what it was that they had planned for him. 

And so he waited. 

And waited. 

And waited…

[glapplebloom]

My thoughts on how AI should be used...

AI is a big controversy. People are losing their jobs or are forced to use it despite having the talent to not need it. So it is completely understandable why people are so against it. But there are good things about AI that I think are how it should be used. So here is a list of the things I do believe how AI could help, but also how it should not be used.

The Right Way...

As a Toy

This should be something fun for people to do and not take seriously. Have a character say a swear. Try to get it to make something and laugh at the results. Something ultimately disposable after you’re done. An example of how it could be used for fun is Totally Not Mark’s video about "The Terrifying & Unethical World of AI Artwork (AI vs Artist)" where he used prompts so he and his friends can make better versions of that art. You could probably argue about using it as a reference, but there are easier ways for that.

Make the Job Easier

While you’ve seen online how it can increase the framerate of some videos, that is an example of how it could make the job easier. Granted, this method would take away jobs from big companies, but for smaller companies who can’t outsource to other studios or even individual artists, this could be a help. But let’s ignore art and go into medicine. AI is currently being trained to detect cancer earlier than when we could spot it. This is great! While by the time of this article it is for Colon and Brain Cancer, if it continues well it could detect other kinds of cancer and begin treatment before it gets worse.

One thing I personally have used it for was removing unwanted objects in images. Sadly, I can not vector and I would need to get a comic done for a particular scene but no background exists. And paying for someone to do it for something I’m probably only going to use once and in a week is not a good idea. So I find a good screenshot with as few things in it and use this online program to get rid of them. It doesn’t always look perfect, but considering I’m not planning to use that again it doesn’t matter. 

For Independants

While it is terrible for Big Companies to try to use AI to replace people, and smaller companies should still hire people before even thinking about going AI, people with no money or contacts don’t have that luxury. Eagan Tilghman made a Stop Motion Scooby Doo Animation by himself. Of course, since he does not know many voice actors he used AI to supplement the voice acting. A voice actor on Scooby Doo did not like this and tried to Blackball him from the animation scene, despite him doing everything himself and did not have the choice.  Luckily, people did volunteer and a redub of it with actual voice actors now exists. 

There are others who use AI while (I presume) doing all the work around it. Glorb has Spongebob Characters doing gangster rap while animating the videos themselves. Rhazelx uses AI Still Images and Voices, but the editing of the duels definitely had to take a lot of work. And OddgiantAF uses AI to make Funny Custom Mortal Kombat Intros while, as far as I know, makes no actual profit from it since his content is Age Restricted and there is no patreon link. If Odd is making it for the sake of making it, it's sort of like how Sprite Comics came to be.

The Wrong Way...

To Make Art

As seen in Totally Not Mark’s video, while AI can make something look good at a glance, it is not perfect when you actually inspect it. I tried to make something with the free versions and got a Goat Kid that is nothing like my prompt. And what’s worse, people who tend to use AI to make Art think they are artists on the same level as actual people who make it. But when it comes to step up or do something specific, the AI Prompter will fail.

To Replace Jobs

You can not replace actual people with AI. Take this segment from Saberspark’s video about the first AI Movie (that’s actually rotoscoped). It just can’t do the things an actual person can. There was a story I read online about a company hiring an AI Prompter to make Backgrounds. While the original looked good to them, any attempt to make adjustments just completely changed the background to the point they had to get an actual guy who can do the job. If you know the source of this story, let me know.

AI is a tool that can make working easier. It is not capable of doing things on its own or having its own ideas. It can only borrow from its own knowledge which was based on multiple sources. This is not like inspiration, where an old idea inspires a new one: (as bad as “Public Domain Character does Horror” is, there’s still something original about the direction they take compared to other movies of the same premise), it's basically cutting and pasting things together to make something as coherent as possible.

To Improve a movie

While above I said AI could be used to increase frame rates, that’s not what I meant for this section. Someone took a scene from Jason and the Argonauts and made it into a single shot action sequence. The result is a HORRIBLE MESS. Like it starts out fine enough as it just seems to increase the frames, but after three seconds you see just how horrible everything looks. Skeletons just stay there, the guy moves his legs without moving his upper body, things begin to morph and merge together. It's a frikkin nightmare.

This is another example of how AI can’t really create anything. It tries to blend the two scenes together without understanding why the original shots exist in the first place. Thus a horrifying mess that would probably make a great horror film. Well, someone tried...

Basically, AI is a tool that under the right hands could be very helpful and make a job easier. But when you try to use it to replace people, you’re basically asking an allen wrench to make a chair. It ain’t going to make the pieces itself or the screws and such. And yeah, it could be used to make fun things, but it’s the equivalent of getting a snack over a meal: great for short bursts but not going to be a satisfying full meal.