#Also major characters introduced

[kadextra]

Alright explaining the new individual lore guideline and also giving my take on it

Creators will be in charge of making their individual character lore & admins won’t be able to interrupt/participate unless asked to

So, this is literally exactly what we’re having and have had with multiple character stories on the server already.

Bad’s lore, with Dapper and Pomme participating from the start. The ghostie cam streams where he invited all the egg admins to come and build their characters. His glowing eyes custom model

Philza’s hardcore lore with Chayanne & Tallulah participating. Admins building places like Rose’s sanctuary, affecting the environment & making a custom crow wings item & Enderking corrupted model

Fit’s lore with admins playing Madagio’s spycats, Cucurucho, and building unique locations he visits

Quackity’s lore with various characters played by admins

Cellbit’s murdering the federation workers arc with admins making the enigmas & acting as fed workers, custom knife item

Roier’s ratoier and Doied lore

Antoine’s whole *gestures* thing going on with Cucurucho

Aypierre’s Ayrobot lore with the Federation

Maximus’ code infection & nuke lore with custom models and items

The great Tazercraft prison escape from back then

Luzu’s radioactive lore and his other character Arin

Probably more I’m not thinking of

It’s not a new thing with players driving their own lore and in all honestly these stories are some of the best we’ve ever had on the server. and ofc CCs are able involve whatever & whoever they want into it (like Fit involving Pac, Cellbit involving Bagi) without any worry, and improv roleplay as usual

We’ve had situations in the past where stories like this were intervened in by administrators / sudden events, without communication, and we lost what could’ve been- like Cellbit’s murder arc. We’ve had creators get put in lore jail unable to log into the server. These new changes Quackity is making are gonna prevent that kind of thing from happening now

Lores “affected” by this change are ones that were made only by the admins. These are ones like:

The Resistance

Foolish federation worker arc

Baghera’s experiment backstory with the federation

Etoiles code warrior lore

Bagi’s backstory

Some of Tina’s demon lore

But I don’t think this is anything to worry about. Even if these plotlines were started by the admins, it’s still become the characters’ own lore. Now that these CCs are in control they can choose to keep it if they want! They can decide to continue having the admins’ support with it like before, push it forward themselves, or do a different idea. it’s up to them now

And honestly let’s be real, things like the Resistance weren’t going anywhere anyways. If say- Bagi liked this plotline enough, talks with Etoiles/Fit/Pac + the admin team and wants it to continue for her character then she can do that now, and we won’t have to sit in limbo wondering what’s going on with that whole thing for months as we’ve been doing

All in all I think it’s really good :D

[notmoreflippingelves]

[aroaceleovaldez]

I think one of the problems with the HoO characterizations is Rick kind of forgot to give half the cast hobbies and general interests, and maybe like people they know outside of their families and outside of camp, or if he did remember to it rarely gets brought up for most of them, or in the special case of Annabeth - she randomly develops a hobby in weaving for exactly one scene and then never again. Apparently she just knew how to do that, even though it is a skill she has literally never used before nor uses again.

The best examples I can give of this are comparing/contrasting the examples of when we do actually get this with the lack-thereof: Hazel and Frank are good examples. Hazel has hobbies and interests generally unrelated to all her demigod stuff (horses and art) and we see this repeatedly discussed and brought up. She also knows and interacts with people outside of the necessities of her quest/Camp Jupiter or her family - Sammy was her best friend at school and they hung out and stuff! Meanwhile, Frank, as far as we know, doesn’t know anybody outside of his family even though he presumably went to school before Camp Jupiter? His hobby is... archery? That’s the only thing he ever really shows interest in but at the same time it only rarely gets brought up except for him using a bow as his main weapon and the like two instances of noting that Frank had hoped he was an Apollo kid for a little bit. The closest other detail we get to Frank having any other kind of hobby/interest is him mentioning off-hand that he used to play Mythomagic.

Piper and Leo - We can presume that Piper knew Shel before moving to Oklahoma, because Piper used to visit her grandpa often and as far as we know that’s also where Shel lives. But we never see Piper ever mention knowing anyone else in her grandfather’s community. Heck, when she’s introduced we’re basically outright told that she doesn’t interact much at all with any of her classmates outside of necessity, and we don’t even have any confirmation that before Hera’s mind-meddling that she even acknowledged Leo’s existence. Also, Piper has like, exactly zero hobbies. We do not know what Piper does in her free time or what she likes (except vaguely that she has surfed before), only really what she dislikes. Leo at least does have some kind of excuse for not really knowing anybody, and an explicit explanation about why that is the case and how he feels about it. Leo also has a repeatedly referenced interest/hobby in mechanics that’s very core to his character.

Percy and Annabeth? Pre-HoO, they both have plenty of interests and know people outside their general circles! Percy knows kids at school. Annabeth’s general outer social circle is Camp Half-Blood, because she grew up there, but she clearly knows people at camp. She’s also super into architecture! And Percy does a ton of stuff in his free time - he skateboards! He plays basketball! He has two pets he takes care of (Blackjack and Mrs. O’Leary)! Post-HoO he’s on a swim team! But during HoO? Percy’s hobbies just kind of disappear, besides “oh yeah he uh. Does water stuff.” There’s no acknowledgement of like, “Yeah Percy sets up a little basketball hoop on the back of his door on the Argo 2 and shoots trash at it.” Literally anything! And yeah, Annabeth’s architecture interest is somewhat acknowledged, but also like, not really? We at least get some kind of “Yeah, in her spare time she’s usually on her laptop working on stuff” but we also barely get any instances of Annabeth thinking about her friends at camp except for like, Tartarus.

For Jason it at least kind of works because a.) he has amnesia and it’s implied he doesn’t really have close friends at Camp Jupiter besides Reyna, so it figures he only ever really references random other legionaries like, twice. and b.) there is also the heavily implication that Jason doesn’t have hobbies, because his entire life was so focused around his training at Camp Jupiter. This works less with Reyna, but she also kind of has an excuse for not knowing people besides like, her sister and Jason, given she ran away when she was young, Circe’s island was destroyed, and she could have only been at Camp Jupiter for like 3 years maximum at that point. And she’s not exactly the most social character. We also don’t get much indication of her hobbies, besides she also likes horses and it’s heavily implied she likes nature/gardens? Presumably, given we get like, one note of that in HoO, maybe two if you count her living on Circe’s island, and then like one more nod to that in TOA. And we only get her POV chapters in BoO anyways so again, she has some excuses. Coach Hedge also is incredibly bland besides maybe him having a hobby in sports, and... violence? Which definitely does not count. And him lacking any POV chapters doesn’t really help.

I think this is why Nico continually feels like such a strong character, simply because we know what he does in his spare time. We know he knows people outside of the camps (most of those people are gods or ghosts, but he at least knows people) and technically you could argue him knowing about Camp Jupiter between BoTL and TLO counts too. He even references his old neighbor at one point. Obviously, he’s very into Mythomagic, and that comes up a lot because it’s his special interest and is usually also relevant to their quests. He travels a lot, and apparently used to when he was younger as well. We also learn he used to have a special interest about pirates and that apparently may have played into his crush on Percy. Like, all that is so simple and minor but it makes such a difference for how Nico feels as a character. Most of Nico’s stuff though is established in the first series, which definitely helps because the first series was pretty good about giving characters hobbies and maybe some people they know - Annabeth, Percy, and Nico we’ve already covered, but also like, Grover knows other satyrs and is usually practicing music and also we know what foods he likes. Thalia is very into punk culture and music. We know she particularly likes Green Day. We know she knew the Hunters of Artemis before the events of TTC. Rachel's whole thing is that she’s super into art and she has a bunch of connections through her rich family, and she’s basically Percy’s only mortal friend. They have lives!

If you put a protagonist in a room and told them to occupy themselves, you should have an answer for what they do. They should be able to name one person outside their immediate social circle who they are generally friendly with or vaguely know, unless they have a specific reason for that to not be the case. HoO crew needs to occupy their time by themselves, no weaponry, for twenty minutes? Hazel could be drawing, Nico could be organizing his cards, Leo could be tinkering, Annabeth could be working on her laptop, Percy could be trying out little skateboard tricks. Jason, Piper, Frank, and Reyna? What would they be doing?

TOA does actually answer that question for Jason, at least, because we learn that Jason makes tiny dioramas! That’s adorable! Why doesn’t he do that in HoO?! TOA also gives us more depth to Will Solace besides “He’s a medic and does medic things” with telling us that he’s into Star Wars. Like, that’s actually so much information to work with! Thank you! And then we also find out in TOA that Nico’s also kinda into art! We still don’t get anything new for Piper, Frank, or Reyna - besides again one more potential implication that Reyna thinks plants are Pretty Okay, and that nature is Mildly Alright. Like, not even “maybe she keeps a houseplant” territory, all we have is “if she had the option, she might be interested in visiting a flower garden.” But honestly TOA at least gives us something for most of the characters we see. Like at least one thing. Most of the rest of the writing is a mess but at least the characters are mildly interesting.

Anyways, give your characters hobbies, it’s good for them.

[demaparbat-hp]

For the Spirits—

Chapter IV: To Be Human.

To feel like crying, but say you're fine

To think you're losing all the time

To never truly know your mind

Just to breathe, and to bleed

Is how to be human

—How To Be Human by Amber Run

.

The Painted Lady hummed, “I was beginning to think you’d pretend I wasn’t here.”

“Are you?” he muttered, leaning over the rail. She tilted her head.

“Am I what?”

Zuko turned to face her.

“Here.”

[yiangchen]

okay i'm a zutara shipper through and through....however....i absolutely ADORE jinko alright??? like,,,, if jin had appeared in the atla finale as uncle iroh's first employee of his tea shop and she shared an awkward flirty moment with zuko hinting at something more happening between them in the future, just LISTEN. i would have screamed. i would have yelled. i would have been on the fucking floor. also just....imagine the look on uncle iroh's face when he tells zuko who he hired. imagine zuko's flustered reaction in front of the gaang PLEASE

[designernishiki]

yknow yakuza 4 is a lot more enjoyable the less seriously you take it

[sonknuxadow]

i dont know what would be worse if amy is never in the sonic movies at all or if they do introduce her in the next one but shes pushed to the side and doesnt get the amount of focus she should be getting considering shes a main character and this is her introductory movie because theres too much other stuff going on with shadow and/or they just completely butcher her character

[prommytheus]

literally no character has ever been in more desperate need of a solo game than barok van zieks im not even kidding. idc about mainline aa anymore give me tgaai or give me death

[scalproie]

I have a whole essay about vegeta in me but my phone is at 9% so youre all spared right now

[daisychainsandbowties]

page 2 of 68!?!? ava really can talk huh

but fr literally cannot wait for next chap, actively salivating

i didn't think it was possible for me to love ava silva more than i did already, but writing almost 40,000 words of her voice in about 14 days !!! it takes a certain kind of character to drag that many words out of me. i had outlined a 10k chapter because i didn't think i COULD write in ava's voice, but i hope i've captured a little piece of her in this.

the support for this fic has me crying in the club so thank you!!

[muddshadow]

🌙 nanowrimo 2022 — day 25 update 🌙

word count ; 20,028 / 25,000

progress ; i seem to have more fun creating backstories and writing future scenes than anything chronological... but words are words! and in writing angsty conversations i accidentally wisely discovered the final arc for the story O_O anyway, here’s an excerpt introducing another character! Adelade agreed to escort Pebble to her orchard, and they arrive to find the trees burned. It appears to have happened a long time ago, but they also discover a mysterious camp nearby. In her grief, Pebble charges in...

the butcher’s lament  🌙  chapter 3 glimpse —

“Wait, Pebble—” And there she went, again, hiking down into the grove with the confidence of a fool.

Adelade considered waiting among the trees, witnessing the next few moments, gathering a better understanding of the small campsite’s residents—but then she imagined Pebble’s little body full of arrows or sliced in two, and the waiting became less comforting.

Just as Adelade began to stand, someone ducked out from under the main tent’s canopy.

Tall, silver-haired, dressed entirely in black. Holding a longsword casually, in a single hand. Adelade sought instantly after Pebble.

“Hello down there!”

Adelade sought quicker. The hill was steep, wrought with bramble, each step crumpling underfoot. Another shadow emerged from the canopy, but adrenaline narrowed her vision to the black-shrouded figure now advancing up the hill. Pebble showed no signs of stopping, that lunatic—

“We saw your campfire! I will have words with your leader!” Pebble mustered quite the bellow, but her voice quaked as she shuffled down the slope. “You, yes you! Did you do it? Did you burn my orchard?”

They moved like a wind breath. Adelade glanced them over amid scrambled steps; padded in charcoal leather, lower face concealed in a scarf, hair a feathered mist and clinging to their neck. They seemed taller every moment. Their broad shoulders shifted, arms gliding like a dancer, raising their longsword out in anticipation. That monstrous, white-steel longsword.

They were Championed. There was no doubt. Adelade drew her daggers halfway.

Pebble faltered, just barely. She recovered with a mightily spoken, “I demand you take me to…”

The champion climbed past her without a word.

Adelade faltered too, just barely, blistering with the belated realization, they’re going to kill you— Fire filled her thoughts and chest, and she unsheathed her daggers in a sparking blur.

And still too late. The sword swooped up under her chin, and Adelade fizzled to a stop.

They stared at each other.

The champion’s skin was sallow marble and their eyes warm ash. Something weighed heavy in their hooded gaze, something apathetic and calm and very nearly arrogant. Brow arched high and unconcerned, they pressed their sword a half-inch forward and nicked the skin of her throat.

Adelade didn’t remove her stare, and she didn’t drop her weapons. “Take your one chance then.”

Beneath the soft, skin-tight mask, their lips twitched. Perhaps in a smile, more likely a sneer.

“Hey, I spoke with you first, and we’re not attacking just talking, so you stop that right now—”

As Pebble brazenly reached to tug their tunic, the champion turned and shoved her shoulder back. Pebble staggered with an oof – and for once provided a useful opportunity.

Adelade charged into the champion’s side with the full burning immensity of her frustration. Despite their towering height and steady footwork, they did not expect this. And the hill was quite steep.

A sheer moment before Adelade violently tumbled head-over-heels down the slope of the hill and into the grove below, she heard someone else yell. Something like a warning, almost a friendly greeting, nearly a plea not to fight. But it didn’t really matter halfway. Leather grunted, blades vanished, earth and bramble tore across her cheeks and ignited a savage pain in her wounded side. Adelade lost her bearings and a bit of consciousness for several bleary, earth-churning moments. Then she came to an awful, shuddering stop.

[seaseren]

I'll be honest- if they retired the scions I would probably retire Entlona. Like, she wouldn't fully stop adventuring- she would still travel and help people and explore and all that- but she would not go into battle unless people she cares about are going too. It's just not something she actually really seeks out, more something she has done because of circumstances

[inaflashimagine]

ok but what are ur thoughts on shishiba

tldr: yes

my word vomit answer?: he's my favorite order character, that man just oozes coolness. some of his quotes are so iconic ('i don't wanna have to think too much?' mood. 'the idea that we should give maniacs guns is old-fashioned.' okay pop off our hammer-wielding king. and him comparing assassin work to housework sent me. a true professional) and his latest design change also makes him look more cool. and i absolutely live for his dynamic w osaragi and nagumo. dying to see him and osaragi be more badass together

[bonefall]

Eyo still need a Beta reader ? 👀👀👀👀👀

I do! With you, that makes 5 people who've taken a look at my rough draft so far.

I'll have you take a look at it, and then after I make the 2nd draft changes, I'll publicly post it so others can see the outline of Darkstar's Commandment.

[softgrungeprophet]

johnny storm should be a twink and i will die on that hill