#this one's a little longer but it's character creation time babey !!!

[capucapo]

( chatlog from my discord RP with @nameless-brand , based on the alternate version of the Legendary Heroes VR game created by the Kaiba Corporation in Sato, Lev, and Chi's current universe. a few sections have been moved around slightly just to make things flow a little better part 1 )

Legendary Heroes: the Tutorial (part 2)

Once the helmet was put on, the next blink would bring Mokuba into the Avatar space, a deep blue infinite expanse spackled with hovering pale yellow strings of data. There's a sensation of feeling as though one were in a lucid dream - that at any moment, one could simply wake up in the real world if one chose to.

The ALTIMIT OS would slowly come into view as pale orange windows orbiting around Mokuba. The same sidebar would come into view, except instead of "The World" icon, it is now "Legendary Heroes" instead. An attempt to move around and poke around with the buttons would feel somewhat off like one's finger not quite touching where it was supposed to - as if one's limb were shorter than it was supposed to be.

That feeling of discoordination applies for any sort of motion including walking around or just simply moving in place.

Still, the senses being conveyed through the system seem to work fine, including the sensation of touch - touching one of the floating windows felt like touching one of the Duel Disk holograms.

[ Cannot connect to KC-ALTIMIT Server. Using default native assistant: Morganna. ]

[ The default assistant has been chosen. You may switch to the other two at any time. ]

A feminine voice rings out through the Avatar Space.

>> Welcome to the ALTIMIT's Avatar space. I am the assistant Morganna. Please note that my capabilities are limited without an internet connection, but I will try to answer any questions that you may have.

>> Your brainwave signature has been registered. You may use this to log in to ALTIMIT OS next time.

>> Welcome to the Avatar Space. As a first-time user, we will now synchronize your mind with your avatar body. A tingling sensation during this phase is perfectly normal. Are you ready?

It definitely takes Mokuba a few seconds to get his barings as he enters this new VR World. He blinks as he looks around himself, taking in the blue void. Stretches a hand out in front of himself to flex his fingers as the OS comes into focus around him.

It isn't as sophisticated as Noa's Virtual World, where everything felt almost painfully real. No, there's an obvious disconnect, some lucid feeling he recognized vaguely from his brother's own Legendary Heroes.

He takes a few steps, noticing the slight discoordination, and can't help but scoff to himself. Of course Gouzaburo's version would be inferior.

The voice catches his attention, and he can't help but admit he's relieved to not recognize it. He won't even ask about the other two options. Unfortunate that the system's functions are limited without an internet connection, but he'd kind of counted on that one.

He takes a deep, virtual breath.

"yeah, uh. I'm ready," he lies.

The System grossly understated the tingling sensation; it was more like accidentally getting zapped by static but all over. Just as quickly as the sensation arrives, it goes away. The following messages pop up during the brief message.

[[ Nerve Impulse Calculation... complete ]]

[[ Body-Limb Length Calculations...complete. ]]

[[ Sensory Linkage...calculating...complete. ]]

[[ Warning: **Subject has High Synchronization.** ]]

[[ Biofeedback Limiters engaged. You may change this in the Settings. ]]

[[ Calibrating... ]]

The surroundings become vivid as though a picture is now in focus. The colors seem brighter, the world sharper. Even the fake breaths Mokuba took now would feel like there's actual substance to it. Furthermore, that feeling of discoordination would vanish completely, leaving behind an avatar body that moves and acts just as well as the real thing.

The lucid dream feeling however becomes more definite as if the System is deliberately emphasizing the boundary between the Virtual and the Real.

>> "You are now Synchronized. Please note that Synchronization data will be... "

The virtual assistant quickly says many words but ultimately most of it is just legalese that KaibaCorp will be using the Synchronization data purely for making better calibration in the future.

>> "You have completed the Calibration process. Please test your movement to see if everything is working properly."

>> "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

While Mokuba had braced himself for the "tingle," the reality of the feeling makes him gasp. But luckily, the sensation doesn't last long, the pain quickly dissipating. Still, it doesn't do much to calm his nerves.

Biofeedback Limiters? That may be something to look into. He makes a mental note.

But as the system calibrates, he has to begrudgingly take back his previous skepticism. He moves his fingers again, takes a few steps around, and notices this time there's no discoordination. Still, the lucid feeling hangs as a reminder this isn't reality.

Good.

"thanks uhh... morganna? real quick. how do I like, leave here? just kinda want to... know all my options there."

The system does not comment as Mokuba experiments with his movement, though the vague white noise - a sensation more felt than heard really - persists, marking its presence.

It does not respond immediately, taking a second as if processing. When it does respond, it does so from a translucent window opening in front of Mokuba and speaking through there.

"To disconnect from the Avatar Space, all you need to do is to Wake Up."

"If you are finding it difficult to do so, you can also select Log Out from the Menu, accessed by thinking about it."

Mokuba mmms quietly to himself. That sounds straightforward enough, but there's still the lingering fear of being trapped by this mysterious program.

He's not quite ready to leave yet, he's just begun his exploration after all. But he does think about the Menu, wondering what other options he may find as well.

The Menu opens as a floating translucent screen in front of Mokuba:

>> Legendary Heroes

>> Mailer

>> Accessories

>> Audio

>> Data

>> Settings

>> Log Out

The floating, visible menu is a nice touch and, admittedly, does help to calm Mokuba's nerves slightly. Seeing the very clear option to Log Out displayed gives him hope. Maybe this is just a normal Virtual Reality game after all.

He'll reach out to press the Setting option next.

The Settings reveals a variety of options:

>> Audio

>> Accessibility Options

>> Biofeedback

>> Quality of Life

>> Alarms

>> Connectivity

>> Recalibrate

Oh interesting! The first two seem pretty straightforward, so Mokuba will pick Biofeedback first

The Biofeedback Option reveals the following:

>> Pain Dampening

>> Sensory Link

>> Immersion

>> Time Perception

Oh. As he looks over those options, suddenly he feels nervous. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to mess with these settings yet after all.

Though...

He does select the last one, Time Perception. Mostly out of curiosity for the default.

The Time Perception setting opens up to a slider that is grayed out.

Time Perception: 100% of normal.

The bars appear to only go to -50% and +50% max of normal.

>> Note that Time Perception is the ratio between Virtual Time and Real Time. To adjust what is known as Bullet-Time settings, please refer to Sensory Link.

>> Note that this setting is only available while connected to the KCAltimit servers.

Very good to know, at least he won't accidentally spend days in here. He won't try to mess with the inaccessible settings, returning to the main menu. Part of him wants to take this exploration slowly, to check out each and every setting before jumping into anything.

Another part is already growing bored, itching to get to the game already. He chews at his lip as he decides what to do next, before finally...

"fuck it," he sighs and presses Legendary Heroes.

Upon pressing the Legendary Heroes button, the entire Avatar Space seems to fade seamlessly into darkness. From underneath Mokuba's feet, a large city shrouded by the night comes into view. What was immediately noticeable was the tall stone wall that surrounded it and the completely leveled area that separated it from the broken suburbia.

The leveled area's purpose quickly becomes obvious as mutated creatures approaching from the outside charge and rush on over, vaguely resembling the animals that used to be: rats, raccoons, birds, etc. Many of them even spouted flames and ice as they tried to attack the wall.

Retaliation from the city is almost immediate. Gunfire flashes from the tall wall along with an assortment of elemental projectiles that detonate explosively on the battlefield. The battle continues on for several seconds before everything fades gently into black.

A window slowly appears before Mokuba.

[ Welcome to Legendary Heroes, the world's first Full Immersion Survival and Conquest MMORPG. ]

[ Please note that there will be limited functionality without an online connection. ]

[ You may still create a character that can be loaded into the server and go through the tutorial that will teach you how to play. Please note that you may only have one character active at any one time. ]

An image of Mokuba could be seen before him in military garb: flaks, bandolier, and all. There are character sliders that modify the person's facial and body traits along with an assortment of eye and hair color options.

What was noticeable was that one could only change height 90-110% with the reasoning that it may mess with synchronization. It specifically states that height changes are not recommended, and the character cannot be changed after login.

It also states that a username cannot be chosen until he connects.

Mokuba's heart skips a beat as the scene changes. There's still that lingering fear of being trapped, but he takes a deep (virtual) breath as the city appears. He watches the scene play out before him, the creatures gunned down.

Yeah. This is a little different from the Legendary Heroes game his brother had made.

He quickly reads through the window that appears. He might have to connect to the internet eventually, but for now the limited gameplay is fine.

But he frowns as he faces himself as the character creation begins. The drab uniform and martial accessories look out of place on him, and an uncomfortable feeling settles in the pit of his stomach.

"there better be other outfits," he gumbles to himself as he selects a brighter purple for his eyes and begins flipping through some of the hairstyles. "is there like, a girl option? for clothes?? is it cuter???"

Morganna's voice pops in briefly upon Mokuba's complaints about the unsuited clothes.

"Military garb is the default for starting characters as this style is the most popular among beta-testers. Civilian clothing is available under the databases, though most do not provide stat bonuses like the military garb does."

Additional clothing is made available, though they are clearly more region-specific. A variety of kimono, yukata, and furisodes are provided, though there's only a single western dress in the whole collection. There's also two skirts, red and gray, out of the whole collection. The hair changes are quickly implemented as visual changes to the hair itself, lengthening and shortening as Mokuba sees fit. Same goes with the eye color. Several notifications pop up after Morganna spoke about the clothing.

< A connection to the Server has been detected. Would you like to create an account name now? >

< A connection to the Server has been detected. Would you like to choose a Class now? >

< Do you have a preference for supernatural abilities, firearms, or melee? >

"well that's DUMB, people shouldn't have to dress ugly just to be competitive," he continues to complain. Though, as the extra options become available to him, he can't help but be a little pleasantly surprised. Not by the options themselves, the limited wardrobe causes him to make an exaggerated gagging sound. But that Gouzaburo hadn't blocked the ability to dress against one's sex. For a moment, he wonders if he could change that setting too, but it's more of a passing curiosity that he quickly moves on from.

He'll select the red skirt, rolling the waist band until satisfied with the length-- or lack thereof. Then, a white, short-sleeve button up shirt. Topped off with a male furisode, worn open over the bandolier. Puts his hair up into a high ponytail, and finally nods to himself.

"that's fine for now.... but there better be unlockables or something--" he continues to gripe, only to be cut off by the new pop-ups.

And once again, his anxiety spikes.

He swallows thickly. A connection to the server shouldn't be possible. The laptop he's installed the OS on wasn't connected to the internet. Shouldn't have been able to connect itself without manually inputting the security key.

He hesitates for a moment, before continuing.

>> Yes.

>> Yes.

>> Supernatural Abilities

"I do not have an opinion on that,"

Morganna says generically as it observes Mokuba and his new look. It then adds in

"There are no unlockables. You are able to scavenge clothes from the department stores that still remain in parts of the fallen cities. It is expected that there will be clothing designers in the future as the game progresses."

"Your heart rate has spiked. Is there something wrong? Please note that if you wish to disable biometric alerts, you may disable them in the Alarms section."

< Choose a username. Please note a unique number identifier may be addended at the end as a hashtag that will only be visible to those looking at your dossier. You may not use forbidden keywords such as Admin, KaibaCorp, ALTIMIT, or Moderator. >

It's a bit disappointing to hear there's no unlockables, but at least there may be other options later on in some form or another. For now, he's satisfied enough with his appearance.

"uhhh no. no it's fine, I just didn't expect to go online, uh...." he hesitates. "..is my username gonna be what people call me, or do I get a separate nickname too?" he changes the subject.

"Connectivity issues are usually a host-side issue. Please run diagnostics on your hardware or contact your ISP to solve the issues,"

said Morganna unhelpfully.

"Your username will be what people will primarily call you, though if you achieve a high enough level of fame or infamy, you will be able to gain a unique Title / Moniker for yourself. I hope this answers your question."

"gee, thanks," Mokuba huffs sarcastically with a roll of his now brighter amethyst eyes. He wonders for a second, if this game is going to give him an indetifier anyway, can he just use his name?

He'll try that first and input simply, "Mokuba". In romaji, however, not the kanji he uses officially.

< Welcome to Legendary Heroes, Mokuba. On behalf of KaibaCorp and ALTIMIT, we hope you enjoy the VR experience. >

The name is seemingly accepted without any other changes.

He is pleasantly surprised that worked! Good. His usual screen names are fine and good, but he'd rather just be known as himself.

< The following Starting supernatural abilities are as follows: You may choose two. >

< Fire Arrow >

< Wind Blade >

< Summon Golem >

< Ice Shard >

< Enhanced Strength >

< Juggernaut >

< Healing >

< Specializing in Supernatural Abilities means you will be reliant on gathering Crystals from Monsters for both improving your abilities and to keep your Psyche up. You receive growth bonuses to Psyche, Intelligence, and Wisdom and penalized in Strength, Dexterity, Health, and Stamina. (Unless you've chosen the respective starting supernatural abilities for those penalties). >

Hearing the penalties almost makes him reconsider his choice, but the alternatives feel like a weight in his chest. Sure, he usually likes shooting games. But those games aren't usually directly glorifying his warmongering adoptive father. He chooses Summon Golem and Fire Arrow.

< You have acquired Summon Golem. >

< You have acquired Fire Arrow. >

Hopefully, the ability to summon a powerful golem will make up for his loss in Strength.

< You may wield your abilities by utilizing a hand gesture or thought to trigger them. Note that a thought-triggered ability will have all stats halved.

A video displays Fire Arrow: The hand opens up with all fingers out, followed by a twist of the wrist, and two fingers pointing upwards. The Fire Arrow blooms from the tip of the fingers, which can be thrown at the target.

A video displays Summon Golem: The hand is clenched in a tight fist, followed by slamming one's open palm into the ground. Contrary to Mokuba's expectation, the Golem that appears is not particularly mighty-looking. It is probably half of Mokuba's height and is completely featureless aside from looking humanoid. It appears to attract attention mostly as a decoy rather than being a mighty tank.

He makes a note of that tip. Then, he mimics the motions shown by the video displayed to him, several times each. Nods definitively to himself. That's easy enough.

The Golem however is...... Disappointing. He frowns as the small figure appears. He'd been hoping for something more like the Minecraft mob, at least... But his decision is already made.

Immediately, a table full of firearms and melee weapons slides in from out of nowhere, hovering beneath Mokuba's hands. They all seem rather generic, not tied to a specific brand of weapon. A shotgun, a pistol, a rifle, a submachine gun, etc. The melee weapons on the other hand range from a baseball bat, a katana, a knife, a sledgehammer, a crowbar - and then some exotic ones like nun-chucks, a morningstar, and a guandao.

< Please note that the heavier the weapon, the greater the penalty to your movement. >

< Weapon stats are available for each specific weapon and can be analyzed with the < Observe > ability. >

As the weapons appear, the reluctancy of his Class choice fades further. So he can still use these too! Excellent.

He knows the larger guns probably won't suit him. And that's fine. He'll Observe the Pistol first.

< Pistol :: Damage 3, Fire Rate: 2, Accuracy: High, Recoil: Low, Ammo: 13.

The ASATI Pistol is the standard sidearm of the New World. Made from the few industrial factories that still remain, the pistol boasts high durability and does not malfunction even after being submerged in water, covered in sand, or smashed by a sledgehammer. Its durability however is offset by its reduced stats aside from its accuracy. >

That's alright with him. He figures that his limited strength will likely interfere with the other firearms, but he'll Observe them anyway just to be sure.

The other weapons display a similar flavor text, mentioning where they came from and their high durability and their poorer performance compared to other non-ASATI weapons. The main weapons that Mokuba cannot use are the rocket launchers and large machine guns, which are solely reserved for military specialists.

< Shotgun: Damage 2 (x 5), Fire Rate: 2, Accuracy: Low, Recoil: High, Ammo: 1 >

< Hunting Rifle: Damage 6, Fire Rate 1, Accuracy: High, Recoil: High, Ammo: 7 >

< Submachine Gun: Damage 3, Fire Rate:5, Accuracy: Low, Recoil: High, Ammo: 20 >

< Revolver: Damage 6, Fire Rate: 2, Fire Rate: 2, Accuracy: High, Recoil: High, Ammo: 6 >

< The Hunting Rifle applies penalties to movement when carried as you do not have the Strength stat to effortlessly support it. >

< All ranged weapons come with three ammo reloads. Please remember that ammo and food counts against your weight limit. >

The small golem doesn't seem to react to Mokuba's frown. Instead, it simply stands there as if waiting for a command.

Mokuba mmms to himself as he looks over the options, finally deciding to go with his first choice after all. Then moves to Observe the melee weapons next.

Though, that last tip makes him groan. "what kind of asshole devs came up with that genius idea? weight limits are dumb enough already."

Gives a glance to the little golem and, "uhhh.... do I like... dismiss you or something? are you just like... here now??"

Unfortunately, said assholes Devs have also implemented another bad idea, reflected by the new omnipresent stat seen on the melee weapons.

< Dagger: Damage 3, Bonuses to Sneak/Surprise, Durability 60/60 >

< Katana: Damage 7, Durability 100/100 >

< Sledgehammer: Damage 13, only at the Hammer's Head. Penalties to movement. Durability 60/60 >

< Guandao: Damage 10. Can only be wielded by Melee Specialist. Durability 100/100>

< Crowbar: Damage 4, Can efficently pry open doors with minimal durability loss, Durability 70/70 >

< Bat (Wooden): Damage 3, Durability 50/50>

< Note that all guns have Durability 100/100. As Durability goes down through usage, it loses 20% * Percentage of Durability Loss. If Durability reaches zero, the weapon becomes unusuable and/or destroyed. Weapon maintenance can restore Durability at the expense of Maximum Durability. >

The little golem gives a simple shrug, not quite sure either.

Oh yeah, Mokuba's going to groan audibly at that. So far, his opinions of this game aren't great-- though admittedly, he does have his bias.

He takes a few moments to consider his options, as well as their bonuses. The crowbar's utility makes it an attractive choice. On the other hand, he can't help but think the katana would really complete his outfit. And he isn't sure how seriously he wants to take this game, either....

He looks to the golem. "what do you think, lil guy? katana or crowbar?"

When prompted, the small golem adopts a thinking pose briefly before pointing at the Katana. Whatever its logic for choosing the weapon is anyone's guess though. It gives a shrug as if to indicate the choice is still its summoner's.

Mokuba nods in agreement. "yeah, that's what I was thinking. the crowbar's kinda ugly," he says as he chooses the blade.

The small golem mimics Mokuba by simply nodding in agreement.

"You have completed Character Creation. Are you sure you wish to keep your selection? Remember that this cannot be changed once you confirm."

For a second, Mokuba's gaze lingers on the little golem. Yeah, he's cute. But if he only gets two spells, maybe he should he consider something a little more..... useful? He sucks in a sharp breath between his teeth.

"....yeah. yeah, I'm good."

< Your destination will be Neo Toky-. >.

A brief burst of visual static suddenly fills the Avatar Space, followed by a strange tone, before it calms down once again.

< Neo Tokyo is currently saturated with newcomers. >

< Your new destination will be Outskirts: Lake Alba. >

< Welcome to Legendary Heroes. >

[cat-denied]

🌿💞🕯️

🌿how does creating make you feel?

at its best? fuckin amazing buddy. like i am the architect and guide through a world and i'm showing you its most compelling parts, like i am engaged in the transcendent act of making art. idk im not a poet, usually. i absolutely adore creating and i think i always have?

at its worst (i.e. if i'm tired, burnt out, etc) it is a slog and nothing fun happens and i have to go do something else lol.

usually, it's somewhere in the middle, but decidedly on the positive side. i am making a Cool Thing To Show My Friends and my heart and soul does in fact always end up in all of my creations, at least a little bit. i'm a big "making art is and should be an Experience" kinda gal, even if that's only in a little way, so yeah. does that make sense?

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

2 answers secretly - firstly, the CHARACTERS i love characters so much. i love to put characters in situations and throw them at each other (rarepairs yay!) and put them through the Machine Of The Story so that they come out fundamentally changed from when they went in. i eat that shit UP i love it. a story doesn't have to be character driven for me to love it but it being character driven is a strong point in its favor. that sweet sweet interpersonal relationships, babey.

secondly, a close second behind that, building out a scene - this is sort of technical but sort of figurative i guess? like, in prose specifically, building out an image in the reader's head in a way that feels almost poetic. i don't know if i'm that great at this, but sometimes it feels like i tap into a Something about descriptive prose and temporarily ascend to a higher plane of existence so yeah.

🕯️--uhh this seems to correspond to 2 different questions if i'm reading it right? so i'm answering both.

was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

frankly every chapter of my fire emblem anime script continuation fic lol! i haven't written this sort of episodic style before really ever, and it's really testing me, because i want every chapter to have its own satisfying setup, arc, and resolution; focus on a few members of the ensemble cast; introduce new characters usually; and further the overarching plot of the story. it's a lot to squeeze in every time (and you can tell by the way the chapters get longer after the first one and i find my footing lol) but i am having a blast doing it. every single chapter i realize i have more arcs to resolve, more scenes to fit in, more downtime that's necessary between fights (in order to get that sweet sweet interpersonal relationships in eyyyy), and they always end up being longer than i anticipate them being and taking longer to write than i anticipate, but coming out the other side i always end up feeling like yes! i made a cool standalone episode of script, and i achieved my goals, even in ways i didn't anticipate!

outside of that, every single piece of writing i finish is an achievement because i have ADHD and it gets in the way of completing things all the time. shoutout to @gravitonbeamemitter for keeping me honest about the fire emblem anime script fic, because otherwise that thing would not have made it through one episode.

how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

that's a tough question! personally, i consume fanfic like it's water (or at least i have or had for a long while) and tend to leave comments and kudos all the time. so every time i see a comment or kudos from someone whose works i've read and enjoyed, i get a little ":0!!!" burst of shock and joy that someone i admire liked my stuff. for a while, only reading fics, it was very easy for me to build up a sort of hero-worship around the authors whose work i was a fan of? which looking back wasn't like, ideal. but uploading work of my own and interacting with other authors directly through comments and what have you (especially authors whose fics i've loved) really helped dispell that. we're all just people!

personally, i really love talking about my works! which is why i keep reblogging these ask games whenever i see them lol. so it's not a super hard thing for me to do as a comparatively social person? though responding to comments is like, Difficult, because i don't know how to take a compliment through text lmao, but i do manage.

thanks so much for asking!!