#And to continue to write in Google docs the stories events and quests

[nymphrasis]

So been playing around with ideas in my head and felt the urge to draw the female protag in the middle of me working on comms qwq. Like I was already 2/3 way done with the commission and my mind went "So here are ideas for this female protag" xd. Also decided to make the eye style "Simpler anime", since this was intended to be a quick sketch colored piece >w<

What y'all think of her :3?  Unsure if I should fiddle or keep it as is. I am happy with the hair color tho nwn! I've been debating on yellow or a peach-pink color, but ended up trying out both! Also which hairstyle do you think suits her best nwn?

[writingstoriesinpajamas]

Tia’s General Update!

Hallo!

I just wanted to post a general update on my writing. I’m working on a couple things at the moment, one is the hero/villain story I’m writing. It’s pretty much all planned out and I’m hoping to start posting it again. The second one is a new thing I’m working on which is currently named Greyzone (in the many google docs files it’s contained in). I wrote a little blurb thing for it just as an idea;

Theo is one of the only survivors of demon possession, an event that is becoming increasingly more common throughout the city. In her quest to find out why she, of all people, committed an impossible feat, she joins Greyzone; an organisation lead by a mysterious man, built around stopping possessions.

But there’s a demon uprising on the horizon and her boss is hiding secrets. Theo might just be the key to stopping it all, but for better or for worse?

So I hope that sounds interesting!

The final thing you may have noticed over the past few days is that me and Space are doing daily prompts! We both get the same word and have to write a prompt off it, and I think the said word is usually tagged. These prompts are for anyone to use (and if you do, we’ll be super happy) and it’s great seeing activity on our posts.

And that’s it for the general update. I hope anyone reading this has had a good 2019 so far, and that it continues that way!

Adios~

[calliecat93]

RvB16 Episode 6  Review: A Pizza the Action

A common complaint that I’ve seen thrown at the season so far is the comedic focus. It’s an understandable criticism. We’re going into Episode 6 and aside from one or two moments, there has been very little plot and the little we have is confusing. It’s safe to say that we’re due for something big to hit us about now. Can Joe deliver on this? Well... the fact that I can’t think of a segway should be a big hint. 

Overview

We begin in 16th Century Italy where Grif is trying to get the local inhabitants to start inventing pizza. Since he can’t speak Italian, it goes about as well as you’d expect. Doc is watching, clearly getting tired of the pizza quest by now. I looked it up and according to Google pizza was invented in 1889. That would be in the 19th Century so... yeah Grif sucks at history. I now 100% believe that he just went back too far in Episode 4, Sammie’s didn’t sell pizza at first, and those kids were just fucking with him. Would anyone be surprised? So yeah, Grif continues to fail and refuses to just invent it himself cause laziness. Doc is tired of the whole thing, wanting to use the Portal Gun for more important things. Grif continues to refuse, so Doc decides to invent it himself.

Meanwhile, Tucker and Sister have not had great luck with their plan to bang celebrities. Essentially Tucker crushed people with horses. How? IDK. But he did. So the two have ended up back in the present at the retirement moon. Tucker decided to go there since he assumed that everyone else would get the same idea and they could all meet back up. Since no one else is there though and the two are pretty sick of each other, they decide to go get drunk. Little do our bickering Blues know, however, Muggins is nearby...

Alright, back to Grif and Doc where it looks like Doc succeeded in making pizza! They did briefly go to the present to pick up ingredients so kudos for the foresight there... but still fail to go to the correct century so they’re still doomed to fail. To be fair, Doc makes the pizza correct... but got healthy ingredients so Grif is pissed. Finally fed up., Grif decides to take a nap, mumbling about how what he loves was taken and now he has to fix it. More on this later. Doc once more pushes for the ‘saving lives’ ideal, revealing that a part of why he became a medic was because his little brother drowned and he failed to save him. It seems to go ignored as Grif snores away, leaving Doc to just mumble about how if hadn't betrayed everyone, they’d have been able to save people. There’s a noticeable shot on Grif as the scene ends though, so... yeah he totes heard all of that. More later. Oh gosh, so much for later...

We cut back to the moon where Tucker and Sister are drunk as fuck. They continue to bicker. Apparently the base got a shipment of booze and a new body for Lopez... so I guess that Grif called for resources during his exile and the delivery guys took their sweet ass time. Typical. Anyways the two continue to argue over their failures at celebrity sex, though we do find out that they murdered Hitler on purpose. SO YES GOOD. Anyways, it looks lie they’re about to have hate sex when Mugigns shows up. He gives one HELL of an intro to King Atlus, but since Tucker and Sister know that they’re drunk, they just assume that they’re hallucinating. At least until Tucker realizes that they’re having the same hallucination. Too little, too late as Atlus... blows them up... yeah... well fuck.

Back on the 16th Century, Grif is up and goes to Doc, who si already bracing to hear the same pizza spiels again. But while Grif makes it clear that he DOES still want his pizza... he’s decided to finally cut Doc some slack and let him go save lives. That... that is so sweet OMG! I am so happy! Grif starts to hand Doc the gun... until Huggins reveals herself, telling him to stop. Grif is confused... and Doc uses the open moment to grab the gun and knock Grif down. He begins laughing evily, his voice noticeably becoming mroe menacing sounding. My friends, O’Malley is back. He opens a portal and escapes, leaving Grif alone with Huggins in the 16th Century with no way out. In other words, FUCK.

Review

HOLY. SHIT.

Okay, so... lets do Tucker and Sister first before we get to the big stuff. So first,t hey are not dead. I do not believe for a second that they are dead. What happened to them IDK. Maybe they opened a portal and got out. Maybe someone else swooped in and saved them, like Donut. We’re probably not going to know for awhile. But there is no way in Hell that they are dead. Aside from that, their scene was amusing and they killed Hitler. So good. What’ll happen with them now IDK, but I think their celebrity banging is done.

Okay, that’s done! Lets get to Doc cause DAMN. I should have seen O’Malley coming. I really, really should have. But I did not. Might be because all last season aside form like five seconds and all of this one so far, O’Malley being a thing again was ignored. It feels like Joe took advantage of that and that most fans had accepted it by this point cause that reveal, HOLY SHIT. So the brother story was probably a lie. hell, apparently ‘deek’ means ‘a deceptive move’. But it does raise some questions. How long as O’Malley been in the drivers seat? Were any of Doc’s lines this season, or even last season, himself? Or as O’Malley? How long did O’Malley plan this? If I had to guess, at least since Episode 4 when eh first went on the ‘saving lives’ rally and by then, hey figured out how the gun worked. Plus I really don’t thin he would have saved Grif at least the first time, so yeah I imagine that Doc was Doc until they figured out the gun, then O’Malley began to make his own plans.

Honestly, the whole reveal was fuckin’ brilliant. Through the past few episodes, Doc acted exactly like... well, Doc. I kind of wondered bout if we’d see O’Malley, but even back in Season 13 O’Malley was strictly used for either comedy or to let Doc get violent during the final battles. Joe played the audience like a freakin’ fiddle. I am still not over the turn of events. Very well done. Also IDK if this means that O’Malley is the true Big Bad or not. If he was, I would like to assume that the Cosmic Gods would be focusing all their efforts on finding and killing Doc instead of everyone. No, it seems more like this is just one part of a MUCH larger plot that spells out the universe’s doom. Still, it is nice to have O’Malley back and the way he played Grif was freakin’ brilliant. Incredibly well done.

Grif... God Joe just seems to love making him suffer. Then again Joe has said before that Grif is his favorite, and writers like making their favorite suffer (speaking from experience here). But God... so lets talk about before the betrayal first. Grif’s line about how he lost what he loves and has to fix it really hits me. Okay, I am probably looking too deeply into this... but it’s my blog so I can if I want to! That line perfectly encapsulates Grif’s entire character so far this season. He’s referring to pizza no longer existing, but think back to Episode 2. He was trying to keep everyone away from every scenario that would cause an adventure. And he failed through no fault of his own. He wanted to go back to doing nothing with the others, and it got broken. He saw it as his job to turn things back to the way it used to be. Back when they didn’t have any fucks to give and when they used to just stand around and talk. He felt that he HAD to steer everyone back on that route. He had to fix it before everything he loved got yanked away from him again.

In other words, pizza is a metaphor for the Reds and Blues to Grif. I think he’s sticking to the pizza out of desperation to have SOMETHING good. Something normal. Hell, maybe he thinks that when he’s invented pizza and things are back to normal, the others will just eventually flock back and they can forget Donut’s warning. That’s stupid, but with Grif’s current state it is completely understandable. But he cant even get that because pizza somehow ceased to exist and Doc made the healthy type. He’s so fed up that he can’t even get a freakin’ slice of pizza without the universe giving him the middle finger. It just really sucks to be Grif tbh and this season in particular makes you feel horrible for him, especially considering last season.

And if the universe couldn't be anymore of a bitch well then look at the ending. Grif actually sympathized with Doc’s sad dead sibling story. Which of course he would. Considering he has a little sister and I imagine that there were plenty of ‘oh shit, she’s dead! WTF do I do!’ moments in his life, that is absolutely how you would get to him. Grif actually felt bad and out of the kindness of his heart, decided to let Doc have his way. Which is a very good character moment for Girf. Yeah he’s a lazy asshole, but he’s not a bad person. He does care about the others, even if he hates to admit it. He can relate to things like worrying over a sibling big time since that was probably all eh did during his childhood. Last season he missed the others so much that he painted their faces onto volleyballs just to have them around in some form/to express how much he regretted it. And even though he fell on his face, he did still try to attack Temple head-on to save the others when they were in armor lock and I fully believe had the lasso trick not failed, he’d have absolutely decked Temple in the face to save them. I can write an entire post on how much Grif truly cares, and this moment really showed that...

...and if he never displays and selfless tendencies again, we can blame O’Malley. But really think about this. OMalley completely manipulated Grif with no effort. That in itself will probably convince Grif to never trust anyone ever again. But really think about where things stand now. O’Malley has left Grif stranded in the 16th Century. Alone. Well Huggins is there, and I imagine that she’ll help him in some way and I am looking forward to their interactions/Grif potentially becoming a protective big bro figure to her. But still, ti doesn’t change the fact that after everything, Grif is alone. After he quit to finally be done with adventure, eventually went back, broke out of his lazy persona to deal with the Blues and Reds to be done with it, and tried his damnest to keep everyone out of adventures, what did it lead to? Everyone got separated, he got stuck with Doc, Doc used him, and now he’s been left alone. After all his efforts and going to Hell and back, Grif is right back to where he was in Season 15: stuck alone on the moon... well it’s Italy but you get the point. But at least in S15 it was by his own choice. This time? It was all by forces beyond his control. That... that is just incredibly cruel when you think about it... this arc better end with Grif happy or so help me.

FInal Thoughts

I fuckin’ loved this episode. It had one Hell of a twist that I did not see coming and it was executed perfectly. The plot is finally kicking in, and boy Joe is NOT holding back. It was funny, it was sweet, it was shocking, and I am still processing all of it. For those who felt lie the season hadn’t been delivering, then strap yourselves in cause Joe has arrived with the goods. I am incredibly excited to see what happens next!

[nuttersincorporated]

Big Damn Heroes Chapter One

AT4W Round Robin fanfic so far written by @twincityhacker and myself. Also on AO3.

Summery: “You know, one of these days he’s going to be halfway through the review and we’ll have already saved the world without him.”

The Entity is dead but Vyce won’t believe it and is now planning to destroy the Earth in his quest to kill something that isn’t there anymore. This is a ‘what if’ story about how Linkara’s friends could have been the ones to save the day.

Chapter Summary: While this is mostly how things started to happen after the Entity died, there are a few more details and things start to diverge from what actully happened at the end of The Sleepwalker storyline.

Word Count: 2344

Author’s Notes: This is a Round Robin fanfic to celebrate AT4W reaching its 500th episode. If you’d like to take part and write part of it or help in some other way, send me a message and I’ll send you a link to the google doc.

90’s Dude is still called 90’s Kid at this point in the storyline so, for simplicities sake, that’s what he’s called here.

Linksano, Harvey Finevoice, Pollo, 90’s Kid and Lord Vyce all watched the screen on the bridge of Comicron-One as it showed them the events unfollowing aboard Comicron-Two. They stared transfixed as Linkara reassured MissingNo through its last moments. 90’s Kid and Lord Vyce watched the closest as the Outer God of unimaginable power faded away and accepted death.

If 90’s Kid hadn’t been so absorbed in the events on the other ship, him might have recognised the danger that Lord Vyce now posed. Unfortunately, he was too concerned with the death of the Entity to notice anything else. In all likelihood, those few extra seconds wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. Vyce was like an unstoppable force of nature when he set his mind on something, it was the reason he had survived so long.

“No,” Vyce cried and his clenched fist came down with a clang. Everyone turned to him as he continued, “NO! It’s a trick! It’s still alive!”  Vyce quickly began pressing buttons on the arm of his chair.

“What the hell are you doing?” Harvey asked taking a step towards Vyce but not reaching for his weapon yet.

“I have increased power to the singularity generators,” there was no remorse in his voice or uncertainty that he might be doing the wrong thing. He seemed proud as he insisted, “There is no escape now!”

“Nims! Lock him out!” Harvey cried desperately as he moved towards Vyce.

“Unable to comply,” came the voice from the speakers. Vyce pulled his weapon out and pointed it at Harvey’s heart, Harvey froze. “This Unit no longer has full control of Comicron-One.”

The weapon moved slightly to point in Linksano’s direction. Linksano held his hands up to show they were empty and backed away until he was against the wall. The memory of Vyce’s hands around his throat, chocking the him, flashed vividly in his mind and he tried to swallow his fear but found himself unable to think clearly.

While Vyce pointed his weapon threateningly in Harvey and Linksano’s direction, Pollo flew and 90’s Kid ran forwards from Vyce’s other side. Vyce swung his weapon around and fired it at Pollo who only just managed to dodge out of the way.

90’s Kid reached the console on Vyce’s chair and started typing commands in as quickly as he could, trying to undo Vyce’s instructions.

Vyce hesitated for less than a second before attacking. Using his free hand, he hit 90’s Kid squarely in the chest with enough force to send him crashing backwards. 90’s Kid let out a strangled scream and his vision went white as his left shoulder connected with the metal floor of the bridge.

Vyce had already turned away. He switched the view on the screen from the bridge of Comicron-Two to the growing portal in space. “In one hour, the singularity will be large enough to engulf the Earth itself. The Entity will NOT escape this time! Their sacrifice will not be in vain. I will kill the Entity!”

From the floor, 90’s Kid tried to focus through the pain and listen to what Vyce was saying. Harvey, Linksano and Pollo watched in horror as Vyce raised a triumphant fist in victory, “Behold the end of this game! Lord Vyce wins!”

Before the others had a chance to do anything, Vyce hit a few more buttons sending Harvey, Linksano and Pollo to the ship’s brig. A few more taps and Nimue was completely locked out.

90’s Kid struggled slowly to his feet and fought down his nausea. The world spun dizzyingly around him and black spots obscured his view.

His left arm felt wrong. It didn’t seem to be hanging right. 90’s Kid deliberately didn't look at it and tried his best to ignore the pain. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to be sick, he opened his mouth and begged imploringly, “Please, Vyce. Don’t do this! You’re smarter than this!”

Vyce sighed and turned back to 90’s Kid. “I am sorry that I hit you so hard and for what I am about to do, but surely, you of all people understand why I have no choice.”

“Don’t be an idi…” 90’s Kid started to say but then he stopped because, no matter how faulty Vyce’s thought prosses currently was, he did understand. He took a deep breath and started again in a calmer voice, “Just think about this for a second, dude. Please, close the portal and think. If it is a trick, we need a new plan.”

“While you may act the part of a clown, you are the only one amongst the Champions companions that I have respect for,” Vyce told him, shaking his head sadly. “You recognised the danger before the others and knew to act on it. I am sorry for what I must do to protect all of reality.”

Vyce pressed some more buttons and teleported 90’s Kid away to the brig too. After a moment of looking at the spot where 90’s Kid had just been standing, Vyce turned away. He banished any regret from his mind and concentrated on what was important. Eyes on the viewing screen, he made a vow to the Entity that he knew was still out there,

“As it was before, shall it be again; Lord Vyce alone with his ship against the Entity. Let it take me to the edge of eternity if it must, I will end you.”

90’s Kid found himself teleported into the brig with Pollo, Harvey and Linksano. He swayed on his feet and Harvey ran forwards to catch him before he could collapse. 90’s Kid couldn’t stop himself from whimpering in pain as his arm was jostled.

“Sorry, 90’s,” Harvey said, rearranging his grip on 90’s Kid.

“Are you okay?” Pollo asked 90’s Kid as Harvey lead him to a small bed. 90’s Kid slid gratefully into a sitting position on the bed and nodded.

“Fine, dude,” 90’s Kid said as reassuring as he could.

Linksano rolled his eyes behind his goggles, “You’re not fine,” he strode forwards. “Here let me take a look.”

As carefully as he could, Linksano removed 90’s Kid’s top. 90’s Kid bit his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain. Linksano gave a long whistle, Pollo swore and Harvey clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles went white when they saw what 90’s Kid’s top had been hiding. His left arm hung limply from his side and there was a dark, nasty looking bruise in the shape of a hand on his chest.

Linksano was the first to recover. His hand went to the side of his goggles and his fiddled for a moment before letting out a frustrated breath and gently running his hand over 90’s Kid’s shoulder. “I don’t think it’s broken, just dislocated.”

“Can you fix it?” 90’s Kid asked.

“Well… I can put it back in its socket but it’s going to hurt.”

90’s Kid clenched the fist of his other hand, “Do it.”

With a wince, Linksano grabbed 90’s Kid’s arm and pushed it back into position with a sickening pop. 90’s Kid’s vision went white with pain for the second time. He leant against the wall, breathing heavily until he could see properly again.

Linksano, Harvey and Pollo were looking at him with worried faces. He gave them a thin smile, “Thanks. I’m good now, my dudes.”

He sat back in a more comfortable position and let the pain from his shoulder slowly fade, there wasn’t much he could do about the pain from the bruise. When the pain had faded enough, he pulled his top back on.

90’s Kid looked around the room for the first time. It was small, probably only meant for holding one person at a time, not three humans and a robot. 90’s Kid was sat on the only bed, on the opposite wall was a thick metal covered in locks and bolts, in one corner there was a toilet and a sink and, other than the speaker in the corner of the ceiling, the room was completely bare.

90’s Kid noticed Harvey’s eyes moving slowly around the room too. With a sigh he told him, “It’s no good, dude. There’s nothing in here we can use to escape.”

“Indeed,” Linksano agreed. “If I had some of my tools with me maybe but unfortunately, there’s also a dampening field in place. My goggles are just working on regular vision right now.”

“None of my weapons or communications are working either,” Pollo informed them. “I can’t transfer my consciousness to one of my other bodies. It’s only my shields that stop the dampening field from deactivating me completely.”

Linksano’s face suddenly broke into a smile as he fiddled with his goggles, “No wait!” they looked at him expectantly, “Twitter’s still working so not a total loss.” The others let out a collective breath they hadn't realised they were holding.

“We’ve gota do something!” Harvey insisted. “We can’t let bucket brain do that to…”

He was interrupted as the speaker crackled to life, “Err guys, what’s going on?” came a familiar voice.

“Linkara!?” 90’s Kid asked in disbelief.

“Ye, it’s me,” came the reply. “Why is the portal getting bigger? The Entity killed itself again. We need to shut that thing down.”

“It’s Vyce, dude,” 90’s Kid said, struggling to his feet. “He’s gone totally bogus. He thinks the Entity just tricked us all again and he’s gonna to use the portal to swallow the Earth and stop it!”

Linkara let out a frustrated noise, “because of course he did!” The speakers went silent for a few moments before he asked, “Okay, the portal will close on its own if the Entity goes into it, right?”

“Right. I can try to access the satellites to reverse it,” Linksano told him. He sighed before admitting, “Unfortunately, we’re kind of in the brig right now and the long we wait, the larger the portal will get and the harder it will be to do that.”

“I think I have a plan forming,” Linkara’s voice said over the speaker. “Give me a little time to work on it.”

“How long?” Harvey asked.

“Mm twenty, thirty minutes. Length of a review, I think,” Linkara admitted.

“Seriously, right now!?” Harvey asked incredulously. “Kid! Priorities!”

“I do have my priorities,” Linkara told them. “One of those priorities is the ability to pay rent should we survive all of this. I’ll call you back when I’m ready.” The speaker cut out.

Pollo’s light blinked off and on again, which was his version of rolling his eyes, “You know, one of these days he’s going to be halfway through the review and we’ll have already saved the world without him.”

Harvey growled, “Well, I ain’t waitin’.” He turned to the others, “Whether or not the kid succeeds, we’ve gotta try and get out of here and help, right?”

The others nodded.

“I mean, obviously,” Linksano said, “but I don’t see what we can do stuck in here.”

“I’m pretty useless, right now,” Pollo said bitterly. “If my gun was working, I could try to break through the door but I doubt it would help.”

90’s Kid looked around the room again and his eyes settled on the door before they flicked back to Linksano. Suddenly he started to laugh but he stopped quickly because it made his ribs and shoulder hurt. He grinned despite the pain as he really thought about thing for the first time.

“Are you okay, 90’s Kid?” Pollo asked.

“Ye, dude!” 90’s Kid said happily. “I’ve just worked out the totally bodacious way we’re getting out of here and what Vyce was planning to do if he ever ended up trapped here.”

“How and what, 90’s?” Harvey asked.

90’s Kid turned to Linksano, “Well, assuming that your goggles really are still connected to Twitter,” Linksano nodded, “then you just need to tweet some of our friends asking for help and I bet at least one of them answers.”

“Huh… yes, that could work,” Linksano admitted. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“And what would Lord Vyce do if he was captured and sent to his own prison?” Pollo asked.

“Well, he’s always the dude with the bitching back-up plans,” 90’s Kid told them. “He would definitely have a plan for what to do if he was somehow defeated and sent here. There’s probably some spoken code that would let him straight out but I doubt we’d crack it. However, I do know what he’d do if he wanted to stay in here a while without anyone reaching him.”

“What?” Harvey asked.

“Look at the door, dude.”

They all turned to look.

“It looks like a regular prison door to me,” Pollo said.

“Yes, locks, catches and chains, that sort of thing,” Linksano agreed.

Harvey laughed suddenly, “But they’re all on this side of the door!” He looked at 90’s Kid for confirmation. 90’s Kid grinned back at him.

“There’s only one lock on the outside. Everything else is still in here. He’d never build a prison that he wouldn’t willing spend time in himself,” 90’s Kid told them all. “I bet if we locked that door from the inside, it would put a dampening field on anyone trying to listen in on us from the outside.”

Linksano moved towards it, “Don’t,” 90’s Kid instructed. Linksano stopped and 90’s Kid continued, “It’ll only alert Vyce to what we’re doing. He’ll be the only one who knows how to overcome the dampening field and still listen to us.

“Right now, he’s concentrating on defeating the Entity,” he continued. “He thinks we’re trapped so he’s not paying attention. Now is the perfect time to call for backup.”

“Right!” Linksano started to write a message.

“Tell ‘em to get Nims back online and bring some weapons,” Harvey instructed.

“And I want my other bodies,” Pollo added.

“Got it!” Linksano finished the Tweet and made it public. “Sent! Now all we have to do is wait and hope someone answers.”

[exilesofembermark]

Game Dev Update | 7.20.17

The Forge... FORGES! We just recently brought that system online, so crafting is afoot at Gunslinger HQ! Welcome back to the Dev Update, wherein we examine everything going on in the production of Exiles of Embermark.

Last Update, we encountered the Narrator and got a little of his background, met the Bandit NPC, showed how battle environments are setup and the progress on loot. This time around, you should strap in. Besides the Forge coming online, we’re covering progression in the game, the evolution of combat mechanics, UI design, animations from THREE different NPCs, the new avatar system and so much moar. 

As always, let’s dig into it together in live Discord chat or on the forums!

GAMEPLAY UPDATES 

We’ve been sharing updates on the gameplay evolution we’ve been experimenting with over time, including the additions of more varied Abilities and gameplay modes to increase the in-battle options that players have to adapt to certain situations. Here’s the story:

In the beginning, we designed a very simple Wego-style combat, where each combatant had 4 Abilities to choose from during battle (if you haven’t already, read the original rant for the game). We knew we wanted deep character development and tried to let the combination of lots of build choices for your character couple with super-simple gameplay to deliver on the game’s promise of 1-minute multiplayer. The problem with that was that there wasn’t enough strategic choice when you were stuck with 4 Abilities that may or may not suit the situation you found yourself in-- particularly in PvP.

So we tinkered with more Abilities, trading out Abilities during battle and a “Deck” mode where you drew in new Abilities as you used others. Each of these creeped toward deliciousness but didn’t quite get us there. And then this last milestone began.

We’ve developed what we hope is going to give you gaming goodness for generations. It’s a more malleable system of combat, summed up as follows:

Each player has 8 Abilities at their fingertips

Each Ability is assigned to a Stance: Martial, Magick* or Mystic

Using an Ability changes the player’s Stance to the Ability’s stance

Martial does increased DAM to Mystic, Mystic does increased DAM to Magick and Magick does increased DAM to Martial

Abilities have various cooldowns to avoid spam-o-rama

What we’ve learned from early testing on this system is that it creates depth without a ton of increased complexity, cat-and-mouse tactics via stance-dancing and most importantly, dramatic fun. We’ll now hold our enthusiasm for those of you who have signed up for closed testing and let you tell us what you think (if you’re interested in testing, PM TheWizard in the forums with your device type-- preferably phone)!

*please note that I am, sadly, the only Gunslinger dev who wants to spell magic “magick.” I believe it is way more fun to write (and read) “magick.” Thus, these Updates are my only outpost of protest. Thank you for your patronage.

PROGRESSION UNLOCKS

The ambition of the world for the game (and the continent of Embermark specifically) is for it to be a living, breathing world. But it’s not a 3D world-- it functions more like a Google Map. To populate that world with Quests, NPCs and events, we’ve been working on our Progression Unlock system during this milestone, and I’m excited to report that it’s coming along as planned-- any trackable piece of data in the game, from your Character’s level, Quests complete, wins, losses, # of dwarves slain, etc can be used as a trigger in the game. 

What this unlocks for us as game masters is the ability to give players agency over the world itself. Naturally, you’ll have several Quest lines that open for everyone, or for your Class, or for your House. But other, more secretive or hidden things will emerge as the game progresses and you (or your House) accomplish things within the game world. One day, the massive port of Sezunan may welcome great half-men from across the sea. The next day, it may be laid waste, with refugees pouring north to escape the devastation brought on by the uprising of the Queviel elves who are simply done with the nonstop raids from-- who else-- the players of House Revenge! 

That’s one example of the power of this system-- we’ll be diving more into detail on this as we get into testing and start seeing what works, is fun and balances out the happenings on Embermark. 

BATTLE UI REDESIGN

While Exiles hasn’t gotten to outside testing just yet, we’ve been doing plenty live, either at the studio, on a show floor or on the fly. And we’ve identified some of the early indicators for redesign needs. As you know, one of the aims of the game is to provide one-hand, one-thumb control for easy access (whether or not you’re a leftie), and we noticed some thumb-placement issues with the old interface (you can see the old one here) as well as some feedback clarity needed for things like Effects Over Time (EOT) and HP and Ability descriptions. 

This led us to the exercise we’re in the middle of, and we’re excited to get feedback on the increase in clarity and control, but also the aesthetic (work-in-progress):

Coupled with the gameplay development mentioned above (which is not represented here), and the avatar system you’ll read about below, there will be much to discuss! 

TONS OF NEW LOOT

The loot train continues to roll down the tracks and shows no signs of stopping. In fact, it’s speeding up. So without belaboring that fact, check out a bit of the mass quantity of tasty items (at varying levels of finish) coming your way:

Axes, warhammers, staves, light & heavy armor, blunts, boots, wizardy whatnots & everything that fits in the 13 slots for your gear is underway. Moar soon!

BANDITS... WITH GUNS

We’re learning quite a bit about how we’ll deal with the Rogue Class design from this cretin, but don’t get excited about what’s in his left hand just yet. All work-in-progress... (but check this out!):

AUDIO FROM THE EXILES BOUND DEBUT

I asked our friends at Bound, the app for episodic fiction, audio and visuals for all sorts of interesting properties, if we could debut a snippet of Episode 1 from Tales of Embermark, the series we’re doing together to reveal a little bit of history before players start directing it themselves. They graciously agreed. 

Thus, here’s an audio snippet from our Narrator (who you met in the last Update), a haggard soul who was there back when the Collapse unfolded. He’s just encountering a farmer on his way to investigate what’s going on with House Resolute. So, without further ado, the debut! EPISODE 1 END.

(and download Bound from the iOS App Store here) 

ASKALA

There’s so much continent to concept, sometimes it gives us pause.

THAT’S A LIE.

We’re rolling through each Zone of Embermark with evil delight, adding towns, ruins and caves to fight things in all over the place. The next one for us to share is Askala-- and here are the notes from our design doc about it:

“Temperate and slightly southern, Askala is one of the richest Zones in terms of natural resources. Farmland is abundant (though it’s not flat), and the fishing trade is huge, given Askala’s largest coastline of any Zone. In the middle of the Zone is a mountain range of steep peaks. There’s a long archipelago along the southern end, with sporadic civilization and ruins along them. House Revenge HQ located along the Eastern part of the Zone.”

Like most of the continent, even the civilized portions are tucked away for protection and under constant threat of decimation, both from Others From Over There (beyond the Breaches) and from neighbors. Here’s a rough of Pactu, a farming village nestled among the conifers below the nearby range:

As you read from the design doc, House Revenge is here, an amalgam of architecture from the once-proud elves and the men and half-men who have come to reside there:

We’re also working on Dokkul, a fishing capital right at the start of the Askalan Archipelago. Its seemingly haphazard and spread-out makeup has allowed it to regroup and restart after countless raids and invasions on its rich resources:

AND NOW, THE FORGE ONLINE

yes, Yes, YES, YES! The Forge works, people! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me (I am, admittedly, an easily delighted wizard, but indulge me)... 

“Craft items of enormous power” is said in many game descriptions, so I will outline:

Forge Recipes - You will find, earn and win Recipes throughout your journeys in Embermark, and these will allow you to forge items needed and some not available in Chests or Quests. A few crafting materials (also available in drops) plus a Unique Material (which can literally be anything) and BOOM - you’ve got a unique item or a banana or what-have-you.

Forge Random - Pick one of the 13 slots available on your character, and as long as you have the crafting materials, you can forge a random piece of loot for that slot. The higher the Forge level, the better the loot!

Salvage - 1-800-GOT-JUNK has nothing on Exiles. Not only does the game take away your junk, it gives you crafting materials (and sometimes, even Ember Essence) in return!

Upgrade - Got a Legendary, except it’s Level 3 and you’ve gotten way beyond that? Throw in your mats and bring that item with you on your journey to Paragon!

(oh and you can of course Level Up your Forge, unlocking treasures untold)

DWARVES FIGHTING

In this Update’s Dwarf section, we have some animations to share, not the least of which is this Shield Slam, which will likely cause you to lose your feet (or some other awful effect-over-time) during battle:

And who says dwarves aren’t spry? Try making this type of leap at home:

WINNERS OF THE PCGC

All hail the mighty SecretOwl, winner of the 1st Player-Created Gear Contest! It was a heated competition, with entries as varied as weapons, to offhands to armor pieces, but a shield won the day!

Jakallen’s Aegis, a singular shield combining epic-level resistances for the bearer with an impressive side effect, won “The Paragon” and will be created, given Lore and made available in the game after launch. In addition, prizes were given for the “Loose Cannon” (craziest) and The Fisherman’s Boot (funniest). Check The Scroll of Exaltation for the winners and details on upcoming contests.

If your entries didn’t make the finals this time, fear not-- there will be many more PCGCs in the future, and your creativity just may see its way into the game along with the Aegis.

RINGS & BELTS!

There are 13 slots on your Character’s person in Exiles, and 8 of those slots for gear are visible. Given that the creation of visible items (like helms and chest pieces and boots) are more work, we did those first. Thus, rings and belts have languished in the dark for a long time, waiting to be introduced into the game.

This milestone, those items made their way in, and the Bard is hard at work on the Ring of Whateversinhishead.

ETHEREALS IN EMBERMARK

Ethereals aren’t supposed to be here. 

Another race from Otherworld, these beings are intelligent and highly sophisticated but non-humanoid. Their physical forms are up to them, both in shape and in solidity. They communicate with each other entirely mind-to-mind, with no sound or vibration emitting from them. To anyone on the outside, they must communicate by the assuming of form. Assuming form and substance makes them vulnerable, but this is also how they must attack a physical foe or charm them or lull them into a stupor. Thus, a battle with an Ethereal is a dance of prepare-and-attack as they tend to buff themselves in prep and then unload on an enemy.

They move in life cycle from Wisp to Shine to Ascended to Superior, and their forms and powers and even limitations progress as well. 

Here we take a look at an Ascended, chosen to form of human and fire:

Despite their ever-increasing power, they can be defeated-- and as you can see, they don’t take their possessions into the next life...

Plan on seeing more on this enemy, as we introduce their multiple forms (and multiple power structures alongside).

THE AVATAR SYSTEM

For a while-- in fact, a great loooong while, you’ve been looking at this guy as a placeholder player avatar in every screenshot ever:

Thus, thank you for your patience and huzzah! You don’t have to look the same as everyone else anymore. In fact, Exiles will only sometimes use faces. Instead, we’re developing an avatar system that gives players some agency over their representation to the world while playing the game. It’s a combination of options, whereby you have default choices for the various parts of your avatar as well as earn or find parts as you go through the game experience. 

First, you’ll choose your avatar frame, beginning with lowly, shameful materials and progressing into fantastic borders that make your opponent go “whoa, that Character won the Hoozitwhatsit Tourney-- I’d better just quit right now...”

Then you’ll combine with a number of backgrounds for the avatar, same story:

And finally, you will add an icon as well the icon’s color for full badassery:

Banana icons, anyone?

NOW REMEMBER

We’ll keep sharing details as we head into testing (remember to PM TheWizard on the Exiles forums with your device type if you want in on closed testing & beta later), and you can count on early impressions from the testers throughout our various channels.

If you haven’t already, follow along with the Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you haven’t, I’ll find you. And SMITE you.

THERE’S CHAT CHATTER EVERYDAY AS WE READY TO BATTLE

If you want to hear about the game, ask questions or connect with others who are helping the development team think about features, design and narrative, hop into the Discord Channel for live chat and say hi– it’s a friendly lot with plenty of daily shenanigans (there’s even-- still-- a Shenaniganizer).

BONUS: VFX ARE COMING!

We’re just starting to dive into our VFX plan (you may have noticed a lack of them in previous GIFs or screenshots), but rest assured, Exiles shall have them, and our bonus image this month is a WIP concept for the Ability “Armor Up,” which would appear on you or your opponent upon Ability use:

BONUS X2: THE DWARF... SHIMMY

As we prepared the dwarf model for animations, a very strange thing happened, which has turned into a GIF that you can find here. Take a look, then try and look away...

[plazaswanboats]

Disney College Program Fall ‘19 Application Process

So I may or may not have forgotten about this blog for the millionth time, but it’s okay because nobody reads it anyway, so it’s not like anyone is complaining about the fact that I never post. I did write a sappy tribute to Illuminations/post reflecting on how the parks continually take out essential components of my childhood. I finished it in January after what I thought was the last time I’d ever see Illuminations, and then never posted it. Spoiler: I sat on a planter and cried for a solid hour after the show ended.

Anyway, it turns out that I am in fact going to make it back to WDW to see Illuminations again, because I’ve been accepted to the Disney College Program for Fall Attractions. I am currently in consideration for a PI as well, so I’m just waiting to find out whether I’m moving to Florida in June or on August 5th. Nobody asked for this, but I spent a ton of time searching Tumblr and the rest of the internet for people’s DCP application experiences while I was going through the process, so I figured I’d pretend I’m reviving this blog by writing up my own experience to add information to the desperate quest to understand how applying to the DCP works.

I applied on January 31st (the second week of applications, I think?) and received the confirmation email at 7:28pm. I got the WBI email that same night at 7:31pm. I have concluded that this entire process is fake, meaningless, and very random. Advice all over the internet will tell you to make your job descriptions a certain length, use buzzwords in your application, and rank a certain number of positions in specific ways. I did none of this.

I listed three work experiences (two biology research positions and tour guiding) with one sentence for each, basically adapted from what’s on my resume (so I didn’t even write full sentences). My resume was uploaded because I’d applied to the PI, but I have no idea if they look at that. I did not use any “buzzwords”, unless they happen to look for people who list being a tour guide as part of their work experience, which I guess is technically possible.

My role rankings were as follows. High: Attractions, Merchandise, Photopass Moderate: Bell Services, Character Attendant, Front Desk, Monorail Low: Custodial, Houseperson, QSFB

I figured I would put low interest for the high volume roles (except Lifeguard, because I have zero experience and didn’t want that responsibility), just in case that helped my chances. I also applied only to WDW, with Fall Advantage as my first choice (I later changed this during my interview just in case the dates changed on me since I was only available to move in on 6/3). In any case, somehow this application netted me a WBI mere minutes after submitting it.

I took the WBI on February 3rd around 3pm. I did a lot of research before this, and was for some reason more nervous than I was about the PI. Probably because in an interview, you can at least explain yourself rather than be subject to the whims of a computer-proctored test. I put mostly strong opinions, but I did a fair amount of neutrals as well, with a few of the in between options. The main thing about the WBI, in my opinion, is that you have to think about what Disney wants. This might be mean, but I’m astounded that people manage to fail this. Why would you willingly admit to having negative traits? I went into it with the mindset of representing myself at my best and the kind of worker I would strive to be as a CP.

In all fairness, there were a good number of questions that I truly didn’t know what Disney would want. I just tried to be consistent and made it through in the end, and I suspect some of them don’t matter as much since there’s a variety of roles to fit different preferences of working. Again, I would just keep in mind the kind of person Disney would want. But also, if you really don’t think you can be that person, it might not be worth applying. I’m not always the most energetic and bubbly person, but I’ve also learned from my time as a tour guide that I can bring that personality when I need it, no matter how bad (or hungover, shout out to that July 5th tour this past summer) I feel.

I was definitely surprised when I was in the rhythm of answering WBI questions and suddenly got to a page telling me I passed. I scheduled my PI for February 12th at 6pm, because I wanted plenty of time to prepare. This consisted of looking up and compiling as many questions online that I could, including ones related to my chosen roles. I didn’t watch any videos because I’m not a huge fan of Youtubers and I thought it would stress me out, but I did look up tips online. I answered all the questions in a Google Doc and reviewed them periodically. I do pretty well with saying things on the fly, and I know that if I get familiar with the material, I’ll kick into autopilot. I also tried to stay excited, rather than nervous. This was my chance to show Disney why they should hire me!

The day of, my school closed early for snow so I got out of my afternoon three hour class. I was glad to have more preparation time, but once it hit about 4pm, I was just ready for it to be over. I used this time to prepare some more, and ended up writing out my key selling points (organized by topic) on two notebook pages so I could easily refer to them. So I had some bullets for what I would get out of the program, my best traits, lists of stories from my prior experience that I could use, the Four Keys (I don’t think I remembered to say any of them), a list of my role rankings, etc. I also left space to take notes. I didn’t actually end up using my notebook at all besides writing down my recruiter’s name.

While I waited, I listened to my Disney playlist and lit a nice smelling candle to keep myself calm. I wore one of my favorite sweaters to boost my confidence, but stayed in sweatpants wrapped in a blanket because I was cold and I like to be comfortable when I do stressful things (nice clothing usually just makes me uncomfortable, hence just the sweater). I also put my Figment plush on my desk to give me something to smile about because I Love My Boy (and promptly knocked him on the floor when the phone rang, so there went that idea). I also kept some water close by just in case.

My interview was at 6pm, but I got the unknown number call at 6:08. In total, the call lasted twenty-one minutes (I got the feeling she was starting to rush me once 6:30 approached so she could move on to the next person). My recruiter was Amy, who was really nice and easy to talk to. We started by going over my application, which got weird when she asked something about my work status and I briefly panicked and went, “Wait, did I say I’m not an American citizen on the application???” (I didn’t; she was just confirming the information was correct. That was probably my only really awkward moment but she didn’t seem to mind.) I was also able to change my program preference to Fall.

We then spent a while talking about my prior work experience. Surprisingly, she was interested in the research I do (which I didn’t have listed on the application, so I have no idea how it came up). I told her about the sea anemones I study, and she commented about how it’s a hard word, and I seized my chance and said, “Right, it’s like that one scene in Finding Nemo where he can’t say it!” She laughed and agreed, so it was nice to get a little confidence boost from that moment. She did ask if I would be interested in working in The Land or The Seas because of my research, to which I enthusiastically said yes, I love Epcot and those pavilions. She noted that and said we’d come back to it later (we didn’t, RIP).

I got asked a variety of questions about the roles I’d listed, focusing on Attractions and Merchandise. I also got asked about Photopass, as well as Bell Services/Front Desk, Custodial, and Houseperson. In particular, we had a long conversation about safety, in which she mentioned it must be important in my lab and asked me to talk about how I approach it. So I went on about chemicals and being aware of your surroundings. I had no idea at the time that was an Attractions question! She did mention my experience with chemicals for Custodial/Houseperson, and said something about the high volume roles, but I just said I’d ranked them low interest because I didn’t feel I was as good a fit for them. I remember being asked about dealing with an unhappy guest (I talked about Overbearing Tour Moms because I don’t have any customer service experience), and I think there was a part when I talked about answering difficult questions as a tour guide as well. I definitely emphasized my ability to learn spiels and confirmed that I am able and willing to drive a company vehicle (this was some stuff for parking, so I’m half convinced that’ll be my role...people say it’s fun but I want to be in a park and I told her I love Epcot...). I didn’t kill the Merchandise questions because I have zero experience, but I emphasized that I was really willing to learn what I needed to. I thought I did well on the resort-related questions, talking about how I’d love to be able to connect with Guests and do my part in making their vacation memorable. I did get the “how do you feel about being the first CM they see” question, to which I said I found that really exciting. I also got asked a little about my photography experience and willingness to carry heavy equipment for Photopass.

At the end, I asked about my ability to take Disney classes since I’m graduating this May, and as we talked I also asked about networking events. She gave me a website to look at, and I thanked her by name at the end. She wished me a magical day, and I told her I hoped she also had a magical day, which she seemed to appreciate. And then it was over, and I spent the next three days mentally critiquing my answers and checking my email once an hour, terrified of the NLIC email.

They say that if you’re going to get NLIC’d based on the interview, it’ll be within forty-eight hours, which makes sense. If you did so badly they know they don’t want you, then why would they wait? I was paranoid so I mentally extended that timeframe by a day, and then finally relaxed a little once three days had passed. I didn’t check my dashboard and I didn’t watch Twitter because I thought that knowing when waves happened would just make me more anxious.

I ended up getting accepted exactly a week later, in the smaller wave on February 19th. That was the second wave after my PI. I found out literally three minutes before I was leaving for class, and hurriedly logged onto my laptop to see my role, which was Attractions! That was my top role and the role I’ve always dreamed of having, so I was actually shaking. That was not a fun three hours in class that day.

I’m lucky to have gotten through the process quickly, and I truly don’t know what it was about my application that earned me an instant WBI. Despite making it through with an acceptance, I’ve still been doing a lot of reading on the process, because it’s so mysterious and frustrating. I really don’t think there’s any rhyme or reason to it and there’s a decent element of randomness. I heard that acceptances tend to be based on what specific role they’re looking to fill on any given day, so it seems like a lot of it is largely timing. Some people wait months after their PI, and I’ve seen people who only waited four days, which also has to be in the timing of everything. I feel terrible for the people who are stuck at any point in the process, but it definitely doesn’t seem like all hope is lost until the end.

Anyway, it’s still pretty bizarre to me that I’m doing the DCP. I first learned about it in high school, and dreamed of doing it as an Attractions CM. When I got to college, I realized that my major had to come first, and I also liked being an executive for my marching band too much to give that up. I wasn’t willing to leave the school I love so much for any length of time, so I put my DCP dreams aside. When I got to my junior year, I started thinking of taking a gap year before grad school, because I’m really burned out on academia. I knew I wanted a Disney PI, but I figured I’ll never have another chance to do the DCP and work for Disney, so why not just go for it as a backup? I was in disbelief once I submitted my application, but pretty confident throughout the process that I could make it in on the first try. It ended up working out for me, so now all that’s left to do is wait for the PI people to ask for an interview, and count down until August. It feels good to have concrete post-graduation plans, and I’m trying not to worry too much about deviating from the Usual Life Trajectory that you’re supposed to follow. There’s no timeline in life, and I think I’m going to be really glad I took a chance and followed my dreams to do something I’ve wanted for so long.

This blog will probably still remain in limbo for a while. I do, as always, want to write more posts and commentary, though I guess I’m sitting on the one post I have written since it’s no longer accurate. I would like to make a few more DCP-related posts, since reading other people’s experiences is always interesting to me. Then again, literally nobody reads this blog because I don’t do enough with it to attract attention so...whatever! I mostly do this for fun and as an outlet to complain about the parks, so I’m not really bothered by the lack of readership. If you happen upon this post in the DCP tag, feel free to talk to me about the DCP or whatever! I’ll probably make another post about planning the move sometime later in the summer, and I’ll try to be better about using this blog since I have a real life reason to now!

[childrenofathoria-rp-blog]

Attention all Members, Lurkers and Followers!

We hope everyone is having a GREAT summer so far. If you have ever thought about joining Athoria before or picking up a second character, this is the BEST time to do so! 

We want to chat about a few housekeeping things and about our Events and main plot. This note is super long but very important, so please read everything! :)

We have officially ended the Anniversary Audition Promotion after extending it throughout July. We’re so happy that we did. We want to welcome our newest members that took advantage of this promotion (and the ones who still submitting full apps!) and we hope that the shorter app helped with getting your foot in the door here at Children of Athoria. We love new members and new writers and are always looking to add to the diversity of our game, so thank you!

In regards to the main plot of Athoria: This roleplay has always been plot-driven. What this means is that we follow the main story of Athoria and its growth throughout the rule of our King, Nathaniel Athor. This season we have increasingly opened up our King’s availability in terms of having a relationship with him on a very personal character level, to the point where actual threads are now being offered for specific situations that are important or necessary. We want to encourage everyone to continue to take advantage of the King of Athoria and to reach out to the admin team if you want MORE main plot involvement. We love to revolve our story around YOU, the members and characters, so please keep that in mind moving forward.

With that being said, we also want to reiterate the fact that your admin team is strategic. We read everything on the dash and know exactly what your characters are up to. We write some of our own threads in certain situations that may help guide our main plot forward, and we want you to be involved. As of right now, we have our first main plot drop planned (we have generally only been doing two a season) and are working actively towards that goal. Our Athoria Events are something you want to keep a very casual eye on this season.  Although they are an optional event, you as the mun still want to be paying attention to what we are posting for the realm. Furthermore, you may start to see more individual characters being specifically involved inside of these events. Fun!

Please look out for a survey about the live event we had last weekend, as your feedback is always super important to us.

A quick reminder about our Discord Server:

Please make sure to use the channels appropriately. We should all be using the message-admin channel for any inquiries or questions about the game. As much as we love getting private messages from everyone, if it is a question that any three of our admins can answer, please post it in the channel. We work as a team here and you may even get a quick answer from a veteran member that can help. This also helps eliminates the stress from when we cannot get online right away. If your message is too personal for that channel then yes, please send it privately or through the main tumblr. Anything on gameplay should be posted in the message-admin chat. 

Keep personal chats in the personal channel. It’s easy to get in the OOC and start ranting away, but let’s try to keep the venting where it belongs. Any personal photos, personal topics, personal bad days can be spammed in this channel until the end of time if you want. 

Questbuilding should be used for anyone that is trying to plot or for anything revolving around SWP’s or Events. You should also chat about the Google Quest Doc here. Furthermore, make sure that the Google Quest Doc is up to date so when you start to have these conversations then the information is correct. You should be updating this weekly, along with your own TIMELINE on your individual character blog.

If you have ideas for additional channels please let an admin know!

We’ll be posting a note on the Athoria Events blog today as well as an announcement in the Discord, so please make sure to look out for that. Thank you all for being such a great and important part of this game. We couldn’t do it without you!!!!

Athoria has the best writers hands down!!!!