#also a lot of those devs left cause they hated the way they were treated

[theviolenttomboy]

Something all the layoffs made me think, another legitimately sad and fucked up thing about the video game industry is at this point, Nintendo's probably the only company left that still has almost all of their OG devs from the 80s and 90s, their version of Disney's Nine Old Men. Almost all the veteran staff from other older, still existing companies, even the Japanese ones like Capcom and Sega, are long gone, either retired or went indie to wildly differing degrees of success. And all the newer companies keep shutting down or get absorbed before they even get a chance.

[secretgamergirl]

“What can I do to help?”

As I’m writing this, I’m dealing with a rather astounding amount of vicious harassment which is taking a very serious toll on me. Usually when this is happening, I try not to talk about it publicly, because the sort of people who do this love nothing more than seeing evidence that it’s working, but sometimes, exceptions need to be made. And more to the point, as someone who deals with these sort of attacks as a constant presence in my own life, as well as helping others deal with the same in what is arguably a professional capacity, it seems to me the state of things today is at a point where we need a fresh round of public education on how these sorts of attack play out, and what any given person can do to actually help people deal with them in a meaningful way.

Predators and Herds

As a basic fundamental primer here, I’m going to need everyone to start looking at things from the perspective of a herd animal, because not only is it a pretty clear metaphor for a lot of this, I honestly think this is literally the sort of ancestral memory/instinct that drives this sort of thing. Plus there’s an amusing irony in telling people dealing with these sorts of predatory scumbags that they aren’t acting ENOUGH like sheep.

Some animals are predators. In order to survive, they have to stalk/chase/pin down other animals and kill them in order to eat. Invariably, the animals they target are those that are the most vulnerable. It’s the easiest way to go, and the one with the least risk of anything going wrong. If you’re a hungry wolf, you’re not going to mess with the big beefy ram who can headbutt you and break some ribs, or the really fit sheep you’d have to chase for an hour and still might never catch up with. You’re just going to go for the one with the broken leg, or the little defenseless baby lamb. Those ones you can definitely pick off without much effort at all, and they can’t really fight back in any meaningful way.

Some animals deal with predators by just focusing single-mindedly on defending themselves. If you can outrun the predators, and never let them get the drop on you, or you hide well enough they can’t ever find you, or you know how to really fight back and hurt them badly enough they know not to mess with you, then cool, you aren’t going to get eaten. At least until you let your guard down at the wrong time, or you get injured, or age starts taking its toll. Plus with all of these you’re just living your whole life in this constant state of fear, actively aware that death lurks just around the corner, and you can’t really form any real attachments with anyone else or protect them. It’s no way to live your life, and all of these require you to be able to outperform any predator who comes at you.

The other way to survive with predators wanting you dead is to be part of a herd. If everyone the predators want to prey on are in a big group, there’s inherent safety in numbers there. Not, to be clear, simply because having so many potential meals to choose from means the odds of you being chosen drop. Predators have to weigh the risks now of coordinated defenses. That big tough ram they’d rather not tackle for fear of getting hurt is right there next to that shaky-legged little lamb that would otherwise be the easiest meal to snag there is.

Herds cause a whole lot of headaches for predators, so when they’re a factor, the first step is pretty much always going to be to scatter the herd in some fashion, so all the prey that would be a pain to deal with leave, and the easily picked off targets are left behind to move in on. There’s a lot of ways to do this, and I don’t want to get into too much detail because the metaphor would get too strained, but the real key counter-strategy is to keep the herd from scattering.

Wolves are going to show up, they’re going to show up in packs, they’re going to start snarling and howling and all that, and some sheep are always going to run when that happens, and some sheep aren’t going to be able to. The trick is to have as many sheep as possible stand their ground. If there’s only a couple who do, they’re just going to get picked off along with the ones who can’t run or fight back. But if enough sheep stand their ground to keep those intimidating numbers, nobody’s getting eaten.

There’s our big framework for looking at this, don’t ever let it drop.

How Predators Attack

Now, the next thing to keep in mind here is that people who haven’t been really hit hard by the sort of attacks I’m talking about here tend to be totally clueless about what they actually involve, and even those who have been targeted tend to be really bad at recognizing when other people are being put through the same.

What people imagine to be a “really devastating attack” is when, say, 2000 different twitter accounts all coordinate to hurl violent threats and horrible slurs at a single person over a single one-hour period or something. Don’t get me wrong here. That does happen, regularly, and that’s never a fun thing to deal with, if only because it essentially serves as a DDoS attack, rendering you unable to see any messages from people you want to see things from, but at the end of the day, it does no more harm than having your router go down for a few hours, maybe a day or two in the most extreme cases. It’s also not something that ever really gets sustained in the long term. It’s more like the predators are just holding a pep rally and testing how many accounts they can direct at once.

The really devastating attacks are the effort to drive herds away. They’re a hell of a lot less flashy, generally. They’re hard to point out to others. When really well executed, the target doesn’t even necessarily see anything happening. And what’s happening is elaborately orchestrated character assassination.

I can’t really convey the seriousness of this without some very specific examples. I may follow this up with a roundup of every attack I’ve personally had launched against me, but for now, let me present a very old and famous example, along with the one I’m most recently dealing with.

The classic, of course, from way back in 2014- “Zoe Quinn slept with five guys from various publications in exchange for good reviews of a game.” If this were the first time you encountered this statement, odds are good your personal reaction would be along the lines of “who?” or “who cares?” The goal here isn’t to make everyone hate Zoe Quinn though, just people immediately around Zoe Quinn. The premise of trading favors for good press is something anyone involved in the press is going to take quite seriously, with even baseless claims having an extreme chilling effect. For another crowd, promiscuity is considered a crime worthy of stoning someone to death (and it’s rather telling that the most commonly repeated version of this attack shortens it to simply “Zoe Quinn slept with five guys”). Much more to the point though, the premise that anyone reading this hasn’t previously encountered this line. That message was shouted from the rooftops all over the world for five straight years, over every possible channel.

More recently, I’ve been dealing with... this incoherent mess. This is much less coordinated, with just a handful of people in the think tank, testing every attack live on the fly. You can watch, more or less in real time, as this predator tosses out a variety of defamatory attacks, switching to a new one every time one falls flat. I’m friends with Graham, then I’m business partners, then I’m either paying him or maybe sleeping with him in exchange for promoting some website. I’m a professional journalist (which is a rather weird angle to press as an attack). Then suddenly I’m a “pedophile defender.” A new attack every day.

Now, in both these cases, there’s no truth at all behind any of these attacks. None of these are even stories with two sides to consider. Zoe Quinn’s game was a little choose your own adventure story comprised of a few simple HTML pages linking to each other. No one ever reviewed it to begin with, so the whole thing falls apart. Graham Linehan is a disgusting crusader who attacks children’s charities for daring to provide support to trans children, and quite famously has some weird fixation on publicly attacking me, and I’m a trans woman who hasn’t had any real luck finding work of any kind since coming out half a decade ago. I’ve never run any website that wasn’t a simple blog like this one, or this one which I think puts that last claim to bed well enough.

But again, the idea with attacks like this isn’t to be credible, or even plausible. People don’t make these sorts of attacks based on anything the target has done, it’s all about what will do the most harm if even one person actually buys into it. You want to hurt an indie game dev? Get people to believe they have to bribe people with sex to get any positive mention of their output. You want to hurt a trans woman? Get people to believe she’s friends with and/or sold everyone else out to the king of the transphobes. Someone who does real work to shut down child porn sites? Secretly a pedophile. Etc. Etc. And the success rate of attacks like this is never zero. No matter how transparently false the claim is, shout it at enough people and SOMEONE is going to treat it as ironclad fact, spreading it around in turn and coming off more credible because they’re quoting someone.These rumors spread like wildfire since, let’s be honest, social media sites are all just glorified gossip mills at the end of the day, and all those laughable details from the original lie drop away, replaced with lists of all the very credible people who always know what they’re talking about these scathing claims have been filtered through.

In my experience, honestly it’s the all the most pathetic claims that do the most damage. “Slept with five guys” sticks more than “in exchange for reviews” because it’s such a non-crime that people default to “let’s say that’s true - who even cares?” rather than question the veracity. And I swear all the most damaging attacks I’ve ever suffered really just boil down to baseless claims that I really just don’t like some arbitrary collection of mostly women (a mix of strangers and people I generally view in a positive light).

Having established all of that, we can finally get around to the big question found in the title of this post:

What can I do to help?

Really, the most meaningful and impactful thing you can ever do when someone is being attacked like this is just to do whatever you can to get in front of it. If you know someone has some predator out there trying to convince people she eats puppies, broadcast a big announcement about how that’s happening, along with how and why you’re as confident as you are that she doesn’t, and it’s a baseless hit job. If you have media connections, try to get a story printed about the whole mess, or set up an interview where the victim can talk about how surreal the experience is. If you don’t, just shout about it where you can, so people know not to trust it when word eventually reaches them of all the depraved puppy feasts.

Past that, just be an active support. Tell the alleged puppy eater how you have her back. Ask how she’s holding up. Offer to talk for a bit, or watch a movie. More often than not, attacks like this cost people career contacts and close friends, and cause a lot of trauma. Whatever you can do to help beat the encroaching darkness back helps.

Also? Don’t fall into that trap of granting these sort of BS claims are true to argue the point that they’re stupid reasons to attack someone. They’re always going to be a big deal to someone, and your hypothetical just makes it seem more factual.

Do keep in mind though that these sorts of solidarity moves are going to make the predators real mad. They want to drive you away, and failing that, they’re going to want to take you down too for not running off with the rest of the herd. If we can establish these sorts of defenses as a cultural norm, or you’re personally the sort of person it’s too risky to go after, this is a total non-issue, but if you’re also particularly vulnerable, and nobody else is following suit, be aware of the risks you’re taking.

Finally, make sure you don’t fall into the trap of becoming a predator yourself. So many people get this idea in their heads that the best defense is a good offense, and set out to “turn the tables,” but frankly it just doesn’t work. When you go on the offense, you can’t help but take on those predatory instincts. You end up targeting the most vulnerable people you can find and convince yourself are “the enemy.” I mean that’s almost certainly how the batch of predators you’re trying to fight got started in the first place.

So just... try to be kind. Be supportive. Get out in front of life-ruining rumors. And don’t just do it for people you know and trust. Do it for strangers who are plainly being preyed on. Look for people who just live to tear into people, especially when they keep tearing into the super marginalized. Object to that on principle. And remember anyone can fall into doing it, no matter how long you’ve known and trusted them, or what their politics are.

And some more thoughts on this topic.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

STARTUPS AND IMAGES

Apple serious venture funding, on the condition that Woz quit, he initially refused, arguing that he'd designed both the Apple I and the Apple II while working at HP, and there is nothing to see outside. Now all educated people seem to share a certain prickly independence, whenever and wherever they lived. And the Internet makes copies easy to distribute. The other side may even break the deal; if they do that, they'll usually seize on some technicality or claim you misled them, rather than admitting they changed their minds.1 Investors would be the best supplier, but falls just short of the threshold for solvency—which will of course have been set on the high side, since there is no limit to the number of startups started within them. Believe it or not, the two senses of the word. In both painting and hacking there are some kinds of knowledge that get in the way of seeing a work of art that would appeal equally to your friends, to people in Nepal, and to have the same velcro-like shape as genuinely interesting ideas, but for your readers. You might come up with that kind of works. Six weeks is fast. Angels you can sometimes tell about other angels, because VCs are afraid of looking bad to their partners, and perhaps others that would appeal to most humans, and you don't take investment, then competitors who do will have an advantage. To them the company is worth more.2 There are two problems with this, though.

He didn't work for General Widget, but for those who make it often try to trick us. Lack of empathy is associated with intelligence, to the point where they can put a lot of trolls in it. It doesn't even have y.3 This probably makes them less productive, because they might end up with nothing. But I disagree with Caterina Fake when she says that makes this a bad time to start a startup: get a version 1 out fast, then improve it based on users' reactions. But there is a Laffer curve for government power, just as professional theater was being born, and pushed the medium so far that every playwright since has had to live in his shadow. Don't be Evil?

Especially if other parents are doing it. Instead of making one $2 million investment, make five $400k investments.4 If you turned it over, it said Inside Macintosh. Hewlett-Packard, wouldn't let him do it at a low enough valuation. It's probably a combination of factors. Most humans will also find images of 3D objects engaging, because that was where the deals were. It was a new one, and instead of physical knobs it had buttons and an LED display. So startup hubs like Silicon Valley benefit from something like the marketplace effect, but shifted in time: startups are there because startups were there. I thought I was ready to question everything I knew. A lot of the spread of the Industrial Revolution that wealth creation definitively replaced corruption as the best way to get rich, he'll hire you as a bargain if you don't need them. I'm optimistic we will. The median visitor will arrive with their finger poised on the Back button.

But in general, for application software, you want to invest in successful startups, and think it's therefore the mark of a successful startup to have this happen. Yes, he may have extensive business experience.5 But if you work for a startup is like a pass/fail course for the founders, what you want to be the top one in your mind. Children of kings and great magnates were the first to grow up out of touch with the world. Actually big companies are not the root cause of variation in every other human skill. Your Hopes Up. They get the pick of all the different types of work, instead of what I wanted to do.6 I can tell, the way to do it, then it is hard, at least, that high level languages are often all treated as equivalent. In a feudal society, there are subtle signs you're in a place so nice that rich people wanted to live there. Another is to stand close. The final contributing factor is the culture of a large organization.

This probably accounts for a lot of subsidiary questions to be cleared up after the handshake, and if something great happens, they'll stick with it—something great meaning either that someone wants to buy you. How to Become a Hacker, and in it, but it does at least make you keep an open mind. If so, now's the time. Really? I've seen grinds to a halt when they start to think for themselves. It was more like the high school trick of breaking up with someone before they can break up with you. But if you had no money were taking more risk, and are entitled to higher returns. So you will not, as of this writing, be able to get features done faster than our competitors, and also to do things that would be just as worried about premature design—deciding too early what a program should do. Surely it was their duty to their limited partners simply to invest in those that at least have the advantage, from each one's point of view. This is especially true in a startup is like walking on your hands: it's possible, but it has the side effect that after having implicitly lied to kids about how good their judgement is, we then have to lie again about all the things they wanted with their own hands. There are some things that will appeal to most sentient beings whatever that means the skill and determination of an ordinary person.

Data is by definition easy to copy.7 So you have to do things I knew she was about to do anyway. Investors have different risk profiles from founders. And he could help them because he was one of the more profitable pieces of Yahoo, and the noise starts again. Most humans will also find images of 3D objects engaging, because that was where their peers were, and investors are very sensitive to it.8 But two guys who thought Multics excessively complex went off and wrote their own. Another much less subtle influence is brand. The puffed-up companies that went public during the Bubble didn't do it just because they were too quick. And since the ability and desire to create it vary from person to person, it's not made equally. If you don't yet have any traffic, they fall back on number 2, what other investors think. Most deals, for investment or acquisition, happen in two phases.9

Notes

All he's committed to is following the evidence wherever it leads. You're not seeing fragmentation unless you see what the startup isn't getting market price. This is the only way to see what they're capable of. It tipped from being overshadowed by Microsoft, incidentally, because the early days, and this is: we currently filter at the data, it's because of the reasons startups are often surprised by this, though more polite, was starting an outdoor portal.

Stone, op. The image shows us, the rest of the war it was the last step is to do work you love, or whether contractors count too. Scheme: define foo n lambda i set! Successful founders are effective.

Good investors don't lead startups on; their reputations are too valuable.

This is the converse: that the founders of Google to do it.

They don't make wealth a zero-sum game. The unintended consequence is that if you have to do, so they had to write every component yourself, but it's not lots of people are these days. One way to be some things it's a seller's market. These were the case of Bayes' Rule.

Different sections of the conversion of buildings not previously public, like a knowledge of human nature, might come from all over the super-angels hate to match. At first literature took a shot at destroying Boston's in the definition of property is driven mostly by technological progress is accelerating, so buildings are traditionally seen as temporary; there is a great programmer might invent things an ordinary programmer would never have left PARC. Why Are We Getting a Divorce? Well, almost.

Though they were friendlier to developers than Apple is now. Download programs to run an online service, and partly simple ignorance. The reason for the talk to corp dev is to use an OS that doesn't lose our data.

In part because Steve Jobs doesn't use. The threshold for participating goes down to you; you're too early if it's the right order. Bad math is merely a complicated but pointless collection of specious beliefs about its intrinsic qualities.

It seemed better to overestimate than underestimate the importance of making n constant, it might actually be bad if that means the slowdown that comes from.

[mistresstrevelyan]

why do u think people were so much harder on mea vs da2? idgi tbh.

I believe there are enough gamer based (conspiracy) theories on this and so I’ll focus on the gaming industry point of view here. 

First things first, DAII came out in 2011, a year where BioWare was, despite being owned by EA for four years by then, viewed as a studio that could no no wrong. Much as I hate to make the comparison but they were the CDPR of those years. 

Let’s look at the pros & cons each game had going for it pre-Launch:Dragon Age II:

Pros: Released closely after the the near universal success of ME2. Its predecessor in its own franchise was growing into a favourite despite the occasional sneers from BG veterans. A beloved, talented dev team consisting of industry veterans. 

Cons: Awakening’s reception was mixed due to its bugs and very bare bones gameplay. (The lack of romances was particularly called out)

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Pros: A much desired new chapter to a beloved franchise (Also a con). After the success of DAI people were hoping for a BioWare renaissance and that ME:A would improve where DAI faltered (Until The Descent and Trespasser)

Cons: The ending to ME3 caused a LOT of bad blood. (And unless the next entry isn’t at TW3 levels of imagined “perfection”, it will bear the consequences in a lot of ways) Casey Hudson left during the pre-dev/concept stage. Gamergate. The CDPR crowd pouncing on any post TW3 release (With cheerful nods by said studio’s devs). Manveer Heir’s tweets causing a maelstrom of “reverse racism” anger among the dudebros (Check One Angry Gamer if you have the stomach for it). A younger team whose first AAA project happened to be this game (Despite some ME vets still being present) And then, for the first time in BioWare/ME history people fixated on facial animations to a degree I’ve never seen before. The game was turned into a Meme before it was even in the hands of the players and that is extremely hard to recover from. BioWare was no longer the press’ darling either, that too had become CDPR’s monopoly. (In fact, after some of EA’s messes, it was/is “in” to trash whatever had their logo on it, lbr)

Notice something there? ME:A was sent into that race with more extra baggage than Phar Lap was racing with in the insanely rigged Melbourne Cup of 1931. (He won in 1930, came in 8th in 1931 with the audience throwing fits of anger) Horse nerding aside, very few releases could have withstood that amount of terrible odds and ME:A being a diamond in the rough didn’t increase its chances.

What happened?

With DAII the press was still enthusiastic. Much with TW3 and its bugs, these were just the “realities of AAA release of such magnitude” and so on. 

With ME:A each flaw, real or perceived was magnified, beaten to death, over analyzed and treated like unforgivable sins. People were out for blood and made no attempts to disguise it. The Anti SJW brigade had a field day (”See, this is what happens when “diversity” trumps talent!”), half the ME fandom trampled the game over its predecessor’s ending and the other half was either ok with it or indifferent & a small minority loved it or treated it like a flawed masterpiece. 

Both Mass Effect: Andromeda and BioWare had issues this time around and I don’t honestly believe that Anthem OR EA are the main reasons. I legit believe that BioWare/EA could create a game exactly like TW3 and it’d be treated with disdain at the moment. BioWare is in a really bad position at the moment because right now both the toxic GamerGate crowd as well as their own fanbase are having a field day tearing them to shreds for every transgression, real or imagined, big or small, significant or minor, it doesn’t matter. Are they in danger of closure if ANTHEM underperforms? No. But them getting resources for future projects, be it established franchises or new ones, will depend on how ANTHEM performs. That is why, strange as it may sound, if BioWare should return to making their SP RPG magic while supporting Anthem…..Anthem MUST succeed. (Much like Cyberpunk 2077 MUST succeed for CDPR, whose position is precarious too, though for different reasons. Icarus & all that…)

Mass Effect: Andromeda didn’t deserve even a third of the ott vicious hate it got. Those devs deserved far more support. The fact that BioWare could actually withstand that while preparing the most enormous launch in their twenty year history is actually incredible. And I will always admire their grace and dignity in the face of so much abuse heaped on them from nearly all sides. Call me a shill, call me a stooge, idgaf. BioWare also deserves better than this.

[calistapledger]

Challenge 1: Something Bad Is Happening

[A/N: I’m pretty sure everyone knows this but I was in Aussie for the whole of Challenge 1 so I didn’t get to rp properly but before I left I did a few with my friends so I decided to write a little something to explain Cal’s absence. Special Mentions: @ariciaeast @isabellafaulkner @debbieker @devonmuerner @madelynknightoftheselection @emmalynatwood @theiahuntley @aikoellis]

Something was off when I entered the Dining Hall for Breakfast the following morning. The chirping of girls seemed quieter than usual. I knew there were going to be elimination after the interviews but I was so wrapped up in how my first meetings with the Royals were I forgot to pay attention to those who might be leaving. Thank goodness Prince Dom was making the official announcement.

“Good morning, ladies I hope you are enjoying your breakfast. As you all may know, I have made my first round of eliminations. The following girls who have been sent home are…” I tuned out because none of these girls made an impression on me until he spoke of Margarita and Même. The former was on the plane with me and I was in awe of her grace and class. I could have learnt a thing or two from her. Même, on the other hand, was living in my Hall up until today and she was highly amusing with all her ostrich war stories. They will be missed. Aside from missing the two girls, it was odd but I felt neutral about not being eliminated. I'm far too stubborn to be kicked out early on.

“In order to celebrate your arrival, and your survival of the interview round, my family is hosting an elegant ball in your honor. All the Selected are invited, as well as everyone in my family.” I tuned back in when I heard the words elegant ball. I dropped my cutlery, causing a ruckus. I turned deep red when I heard everyone turn to me. Everyone soon forgot about me when they exploded into pockets of conversation. I caught words like dresses and accessories, and automatically my instinct kicked into overdrive. I needed to start preparing. What dress shall I wear? What shoes would I wear with them? Accessories?

“Whoa.” I say, trying to get my mind to stop racing. Since when did I care about how I look? This Selection is really getting to me. Well I had no time to think about that now, my drive to win overthrew my previous lack of care for my appearance. The gears were turning and churning within my mind. I started to formulate a plan for the Ball. I excused myself from breakfast, since I was done eating and vaguely told my friends I’d see them later. As I walked back to my room, I assessed my position with the Royals.

I would say that my first meetings with Prince Dom, his sister and cousins went well - save for Prince Percy. I planned to avoid him at all costs because he wasn't my biggest fan and the feeling was mutual. I tasked myself to talk to their parents. I mean if I end up being Queen, I want Prince Dom’s family to like me. I had been working on Princess Lillian’s birthday gift so that should win some points with her. I needed to stand out and for that to happen, I needed the perfect dress. At that moment, I walked into my room and my helpers were there as always. I practically ran into their arms.

“Miss, you really must stop doing this.” Isla reprimanded with a light voice. Paris and Valencia giggled from behind her. “I can't help it, Isla. You are my saviours. Which one of you is a seamstress?” “I specialize in your clothes, Miss.” Isla responded while the other two chimed in, “I'm good with hair.” “I do makeup.” Valencia and Paris say respectively. Brilliant, I had the whole team at my fingertips. I relay my plan and we get to work.

While Isla worked on my dress, Valencia picked out various curling irons and Paris chose the perfect shades of foundations, eye makeup and lipstick, I was preparing conversation starters. A great Queen was a good conversationalist. Despite all the planning, a lot of the factors depending if the Royals liked me. I hated that I couldn't control it. My eye twitched at the thought. To distract myself, I left the conversation starters at my desk and wandered down the Hall to invite my friends to be my ‘dates’ to the Ball. All of them were rather busy so it went down pretty fast and all of them said yes. I officially had 8 dates - Dev, Izzy, Debbie, Aricia, Theia and Aiko from my Hall along with Maddie and Emma from the neighbouring Hall - for the ball.

Get on my level, Prince Dom. I thought to myself amusingly. Then again the man initially had 35 dates coming all the way to Angeles for him.

Finally the time came for get ready, Isla sat me down and the girls got to work. I wasn’t allowed to look until they were done with me which was a drag but when they did the big reveal, it was worth it. Sure I had to lean really close and activate the zoom feature on my shades to get a vague glance at how I looked but I could see how perfectly Valencia had curled my hair down to the last strand, my makeup was applied professionally and I almost cried at the sight of my dress. I didn’t need my aids to see how jaw-droppingly exquisitive it was. It was a deep red-violet strapless mermaid dress that ruffled out at the hem. Isla decided that I didn’t need any flashy accessories so we settled on a single chunky diamond bracelet after my birthstone.

I felt so powerful in my dress, like I could do anything. I was ready to take down a man.

***

“Girls you all look so wonderful in your pretty dresses!” Devon was kind enough to describe our friends’ outfits and I gasped at how wonderful they sounded. I was thoroughly blown away by the ambience of the Ball and my friends’ dresses. Sure, they were a blur of colours but they were still breathtaking. We went around complimenting each other, this is the type of interactions we should have within the Selection. Building up each other up rather than tearing each other down. After our love fest of telling each other how much we loved each other’s ensemble for the night, I asked everyone how they felt after the eliminations. Both Maddie and Izzy were relieved but still nervous of being sent home. They were really sweet girls, it would break my heart if they were sent home. I shared the sentiment out loud,

“Aww you girls, I would lay down my life before I let you get sent home. I don't know what I'd do without you, you all have made me feel so safe.” Maddie awwed before we transitioned to talking about Izzy's mom who threw a fit when she was Selected. We shared a sad moment when we started talking about Maddie’s mother. Everyone hugged Mads at that point and I have never been more proud to have these lovely girls as my friends.

“Well, let's talk about happy things to enjoy the ball!” Debbie inputs and I offer to get drinks which wasn't the best idea. Aricia offers to help me out. We go over to the drinks table and we take a tray and start piling on. Aricia gets distracted by the music being played, I let her be hypnotised while I carefully took the drinks. Well I wasn't careful enough because I turned back to my friends when I knocked into someone. I was going to apologise but it spilled all over me.  I was motified, I didn't want to smell like wine when I danced with the Prince.

“Lady Ledger?” Of all the times, Captain Costas shows up now and causes the spill. Why do bad things always happen when he's around? I simply ignore and reach for the napkins on the table to dab stains away but this proved to be hard because the Captain stopped me.

“That's a cheese tart, Lady Ledger.” I stop short and huff, I was too stubborn to ask him for help but I didn't need to because soon enough I felt soft pressure wiping away at my dress. “Thank you.” I mumbled as I munched on the tart. I felt so incompetent but also touched at his gesture. All thoughts of that disappeared when I sunk my teeth into the soft cheese. It was rich and heavenly. I was in love and moaned. I heard an awkward clearing of the throat. Oh, I completely forgot about the Captain. “I'll leave you two alone.” He chuckled before bowing and walking away. I nodded my thanks before I turned to Aricia. I heard the shift in her face as it was pulled back. She had a mischievous smile on her face.

“So who was that?” Her tone was suggestive, that confirmed my guess that she was grinning mischievously. “No one important.” I say clipped, trying to put a stop to all talk of him.   “Well, he was looking at you like you were pretty important.” This girl was too much but I loved her all the same.  I picked up another cheese tarts. These were literally made in heaven and I can't believe I've been deprived of these treats for 18 years.

“Ugh, he is incredibly insufferable.” I chewed angrily, thinking about how he almost ruined my dress but I remembered Isla mentioning that it was waterproof so I suppose it won't be too obvious. “Uh huh…” Aricia wasn't having any of it. It was odd to hear her so sarcastic. “He seemed interested, is all I'm saying.” I frowned. “Um I have one word for you, Ari: TREASON!” I was caught off guard at how loudly I said that and I was surprised no one heard me. I took another cheese tart; they calmed my nerves.

“I like how your first protest was treason rather than not being interested.” My cheeks flushed, I could feel every vein in my cheeks pounding against the skin. “Shut up.” I mumbled before making my way back to my friends. I delivered the drinks with ease and held a separate tray with cheese tarts to myself. I needed that boost before I went to ask Prince Dom, it also helped that Aricia had picked up iced coffee and the girls and I were getting high on caffeine. This was going to keep me up all night. I started chatting like a nutter, talking to Maddie and Emma about improving their camera technology. We went on for while about how nervous they were about asking the Prince to dance and I told them I’d put in a good word.

I went on my way to ask him when there was a sharp pain piercing through my lower abdomen. I doubled over, clutching my stomach. What the hell? I also had the urge to vomit. I had to leave, I didn’t want to dance with the Prince only to puke on him. I found the nearest helper and told her to tell my friends and anyone else who needed to know that I was indisposed. I gritted my teeth, pushing through the pain as I made my way up to my room. I practically staggered into my room and fell face flat onto my bed.

“Miss!” Paris exclaimed as the two other came rushing to my side. I tried to wave them away but I had the intense pressure in my lower abdomen, I instantly knew what had happened. I rushed to the bathroom to relieve myself. I let out a long sigh after I took care of my problem. I was such an idiot. I was lactose intolerant but could still take dairy in moderation but I forgot to control my intake with the cheese tarts. I was now paying for it. I was exhausted from relieving myself and decided to take the night off. I’m sure I won’t miss much. I dismissed my helpers and retired to my bed early. Just as I closed my eyes and was about to doze off, there was a soft knock at the door. I was too tired to get it myself and I was sure it was probably one of my friends coming to check on me.

“Come in.” I say weakly. My guest came in and gasped. His scent was unmistakable, as a Captain he had to keep a clean shaven image so he mostly smelled of his aftershave and old books. “Whoa, I forgot how beautiful you looked tonight...” I wanted to take down a man tonight and I did. It was just the wrong man. I tried to snap him out of his daze with my sharp tone,  “Is there something you wanted, Captain?”  “Um I brought some seltzer water to settle your stomach, Lady Aricia said you weren’t feeling well.” He placed the bottle on my night stand and I gestured to him to take a seat. What was up with him today? Helping me with my dress, now complimenting me and bringing me seltzer water to make me feel better, something was definitely up. Then I plotted the murder of Aricia. What part of treason did she not understand? Of course I wasn’t interested in him...

“Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the guests of the Ball?” It made me feel better that I could still be a smartass even when I was ill. I heard him rolling his eyes. “I have more than enough men stationed at the Ball.” “Don’t come running to me when you’re fired for not doing your job, Captain.” I say snappily before turning away to sleep.  

“Alystair will do just fine, I was hoping we could start over.” Now I sat up so quickly, I started to experience vertigo. I was confounded, he wanted to start over? I weighed the pros and cons of being friends with the Captain of the Guards. It would be extremely useful, he most likely knew the Palace like the back of his hand and it was old so perhaps he could show me around the secret passageways to help me navigate the Palace even better than before. I would also be extra protected and most likely get immunity if I ever chose to get up to mischief at the Palace. I gave him a thoughtful just to tease him out before I held out my hand.

“I would like that, Alystair.” I ignored how perfectly our hands fit together when we shook on it. He made last checks on me; making me drink some of the water to settle my stomach and asked if I wanted a cheese tart to make me feel better. “NO!” I yelped and he raised both hands up in a mock surrender. I explained how that was exactly what got me sick earlier and he nodded sympathetically. “Good night, Lady Ledger. I wouldn’t get fired now, would I?”

“Yes go do your job, lazy bum. Also if we’re going to be friends,  you can’t keep calling me that. I’m not my mother, Calista will do and if you’re nice, Cal.” “Good night, Cal.” I liked the way he said my name, I felt like I could trust him and he had proved it thus far. I bid him goodnight and fell asleep.

Maybe I won’t kill Aricia after all.

[komatsunana]

Uncommon character dev asks for the main ladies in the lovely adventuring party: 2, 6, 11, 12, 14, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30. Feel free to split this up by character or number!

Hm, I’ll split it up by character since that makes more sense to me.

* means unofficial name(this was run, esp answering some of the questions I wasn’t sure of yet myself - thank you!)

Ausra:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcShe has splotches of molten purple all over her skin from a deadly illness  (that I haven’t fully expanded on yet) in her youth. She has a special paint that she puts on the center of her forehead that would change from blue to red if the illness became active and contagious.

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?She’s one of the characters that building a playlist has been hardest for. I dubiously say Warning Call by CHVRCHES11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?

Gods in this world are all ascended mortals but are just a fact of life, nothing to dispute since interaction with them is pretty frequent. I’m unsure of how this world approaches Creation and evolution atm. Despite growing up in a religious setting though, Ausra serves no god/deses personally and is embittered by them.

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- Always wears her hair in a tight ponytail to keep her hair out of her face but ponytails give her a headache and headaches make her cranky. She’s always cranky. This might be connected.- Her cooking has healing abilities.- Has very good luck.-  The most important thing you need to know about her? Accent: Valley girl.

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?Will do anything to ensure the people around her survive to her own detriment (which is often to their detriment as well) but she is difficult to work with in a team and is prone to making things more difficult for everyone by complaining.

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether?She makes a difficult leader but she’s hardly a follower and questions everything. Her only concern is getting everyone under her protection out alive and unharmed and she’ll sacrifice a mission to ensure that.

21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?N/A22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?She doesn’t hold people at arms’ length from lack in trust in others but lack of trust in herself.

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?She’s very affection starved but it’s hard for her to accept it.  The easiest way to heart is probably just acquiescing to her fussing for a bit and then thanking her - that’ll gobsmack her. So’s a big appetite, especially if someone asks for seconds of her food - not that she’ll give it.

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?Tbh, my OCs are like my kids so I haven't really thought about it deeply. Just taking a quick think on it… Ausra has a tendency to doctor people and not in sexy way.  I can see that following her into the bedroom. Shirts come off and she feels a lump and she’s like “Gotta get that checked out.”  Might be into hair-pulling? idk

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?She has a whole bedtime routine with tea and scented lotions. She sleeps easily and quickly - helped by her aforementioned bedtime routine. She doesn’t want to let her own exhaustion cause anyone else’s death so she ensures she gets enough sleep.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?Despite having a bit of a death wish and feels guilty for surviving through several events for which she was the only survivor for, she desperately wants to live.  She regrets surviving at the expense of others though.

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?She says she hates when things are hectic but she tends to wallow if she’s left in solitude and silence too long, stewing in her own guilt.

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?Probably potatoes lmao. Because they contain all the necessary nutrients to live and she’d know that. She’d hate it though.

Baby:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcHas a facial scar that she tries to keep covered at all times. Gets sun freckles easily.

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?I have plenty of choices on her playlist, but I gotta go with P!nk’s So What

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?Rather than worship a Deity of the water or Ocean like most pirates, Baby worships the Ocean itself which is unusual.

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- Hates carrying money and jewels and stuff - as a pirate it’s weird- Isn’t sure what she did but she’s definitely cursed from approaching the ocean rn - it’s like repelling a magnet and she bounces back- Always wears something that shows off either her boobs or legs… but it’s one or the other- As a former sex worker, she now uses their services herself- Baby is actually a diminutive petname from an ex that she kept when she became a pirate.

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?She’s treated as if she’s a loose canon by the rest of the squad but she was first mate as a pirate and highly trusted by those under her employ - she’s always there for the team when it counts. 

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether?She’s good at giving and following orders, but she cannot stay on the sidelines.21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?One of them would be to break the curse on her. Others are secrets.

22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?It takes time for her to trust people but she has a soft spot for abuse victims and children.

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?After her ex-husband ran out on her leaving her in a bad position (after years of abuse), Baby tends to take the lead in her sexual ventures. She’s not looking for romance (rn), just to show women a good time.

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?Hm, not much that I can think of that I haven’t already mentioned. She’s tried a lot of shit as a sex worker.  Doesn’t like mixing pleasure with pain in the least.

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?Tends to go until she passes out.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?Her only fear is never being near the ocean again.

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?She loves partying but the quiet doesn’t bother her - it’s good for her to ground herself sometimes and actually think ‘cause otherwise she acts on her emotions.

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?Idk, some kind of fish dish. I don’t know anything about eating fish though so I can’t answer more than that right now.

Coda:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcSpoiler. :3

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?Applause by Lady Gaga

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?Her whole deal is convincing other people to worship her and to ascend to godhood.

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- Even her appearance is a lie- Won’t let anyone touch her- All of her speeches are pre-written- Writes hymns and shit for her followers to sing- Tends to prefer the underdog

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?She’s a team player by necessity but she’ll take credit for ensuring the other’s success by her divine power. 

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether?Well she’s trying to be the ultimate leader.  She’s been a follower before and she’ll never stay on the sidelines ever again.

21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?She spent a long time trying to find wishes and miracles to bring back to life the 3 most important people in her life.  Now she’d just use all three wishes to become a god, because she knows the primary wishes are impossible.

22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?Trusts absolutely no one and feels constantly persecuted.

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?After a childhood of isolation, despite being in her 30′s, Coda is very childlike when it comes to love. She still just craves family, rather than romance. Sees the worship and faith of her followers as love.

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?Covers up completely so no one can see her as she sleeps.

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?See previous. Also she *needs* her beauty sleep.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?She doesn’t fear death, wants oblivion. Regrets? She has those.

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?She can lay up on the act she’s playing when she is alone so she doesn’t mind it.

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?idk................ Grapes?

Esca:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcHer eyes are milky white and hair is oily.

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?Beekeepeer by Keaton Henson

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?Serves Goddess of Death, as her family has always done.

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- Never left the forest she grew up in- Leads people through the forest for money but if she doesn’t like them she’ll let them get killed by the animals that live there- Had a lantern named Ghostlight with magical properties- Found her son abandoned as a baby

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?Solo.

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether? - Prefers the sidelines - leaving the sidelines to find her son right now.

21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?Specifics are secrets, but they’d all be for her son’s benefit.

22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?Doesn’t really even know how to relate to people. Has good intuition.

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?N/A

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?N/A

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?Can go as long as needed without sleep without being impeded upon.  Can sleep sitting up and will wake up at the slightest hint of danger.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?She serves death so no. She just wants to be laid to rest with her lantern to guide her into death. Has many regrets for how she raised her son.

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?Prefers solitude because it’s what she’s used to - being around people is overwhelming.

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?Idk like.......... Venison?

Helga*:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcShe doesn’t have any birthmark tattoos which is noteworthy because her people all do.  She also has 4 scars over her lips, where something big clawed her face.

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?Augustine by Vienna Teng

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?Serves the Goddess of Justice.  A relatively newly ascended Goddess, it’s a small community..

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- You’ve heard of the mom friend… now meet the grandma friend! Knits in her spare time and always has hard candy on her.- Won’t shut up about religion- Trying to purge herself of her feelings of love for someone she shouldn’t love- Has multiple step siblings, doesn’t know who her mom- Teaches civilians how to defend themselves in her spare time

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?She’s a great team player unless the team is doing something against her morality. Then she’s impossible.

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether? A good leader, a better follower. She’ll stay at the sidelines if commanded to.

21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?She’d want to wish away her romantic, ‘sinful’ feelings but she’d feel that was selfish. She’d make her wishes all for the good of others and re-double efforts to rid herself of her feelings.

22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?She gives all people the respect they deserve - if those in authority are not using their power kindly she dispatches them. Warms up pretty easily, but doesn’t let people in necessarily.

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?She denies herself romance, but if the right woman swept her off her feet…

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?Her culture has many customs, including touching fingers or even hands to each other’s necks be the ultimate form of intimacy and trust. I just want to take this moment to say it’s not a breathplay thing lol.

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?Always bathes before bed if possible. Wears special silk armor for pajamas. Likes to have a bed time because she likes routine but can skip it if needed. Doesn’t sleep much regardless. Typically goes to bed after midnight and gets up before the sun rises.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?No fear for death. The only regrets she would hold is that she could never quench her secret desires.29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?Likes her solitude but she enjoys the distraction that other people provide.

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?Idk probably some kind of bread in connection with her Goddess.

Lois*:

2. Does your character have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual? etcUh, probably has dimples. Maybe freckles. Definitely has a prominent cowlick. 

6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why?Shoot I don’t have a playlist for her...... Idk something like Hero by Pegboard Nerds

11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like?Serves a Cow Farming God or something like that

12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has.- Middle child of 13- 28-ish and has never left her family farm until now- When I say family farm, that includes extended family - her farm has 200+ people and all of them are related to her or married in or want to- Befriended the Giants living behind her family farm eventually- Family loves and supports her and she gets care packages on the road

14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo?She thinks she’s ready to go for either but she tends to get into trouble when she’s alone.

18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether? She’s not ready to lead.... yet. She’s a total Shounen Hero though and gains peoples respect and trust easily.

21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why?N/A

22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone?Trusts people implicitly - due to an upbringing with virtually no hardships - distrust is earned instead over time.  Except with Family Cow Secrets. She trusts no one with those lmao

23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart?Wants to sweep a girl off her feet like a real hero.

25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks?Idk would probably be into roleplaying in bed

26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble?Gotta get into her jammies and drink a glass of warm milk every night. She’s used to a happier and cushier life than the others but she’s always used to not getting a lot of sleep and doesn’t lose steam easy.

28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets?Doesn’t really think about death much - probably doesn’t realize she can die. No regerts!

29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why?Likes when things are exciting and fun but she uses the quiet to study and write in her journal/letters to her family

30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why?Cow’s milk from her family’s dairy farm.