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Rapier

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    SF's "Write Your Butt Off" Competition HD II.5 Remix

    in Written Works

    Posted · Edited by Rapier

    So, I found it hard to make a story with a beginning, middle and end from a single prompt alone without using a pre-established universe, and without making it too long or too rushed. I chose to make it a "sample" chapter of a concept that, while not really original, seemed interesting to me.

    ----

    Ok, actually I couldn't finish and it looks like garbage and I hate to be submitting it in its current state, but for the first time in a year I want to finally submit something!

    Title: Unlikely Encounter

    Fandom: Original

    Link:

    Spoiler

    “What are you planning to do?”

    Near the heart of the forest, the small clearing on which she chose to make camp alone for the night was dimly lit by the improvised bonfire the girl had made from a few twigs and flints she had found nearby.

    The night sky was clear and, were it not for the trees blocking much of its view, would allow one to appreciate a starry sight. The tranquility that came with the faint sound of the flames burning through the wood and the soft breeze that gently carried their warmth toward her and brushed the girl’s long, dirty-blonde hair strands to her face did little to soothe her own thoughts, however. The girl’s eyes were set in the bonfire, two pools of dark green overlooking the flames, yet what they truly saw were too distant to be grasped.

    “While you’re at it, you should rethink my proposal”, the voice that wasn’t hers spoke in her head again. It was a mature woman’s, and its tone carried both imperativeness and concern. “You know it’s the most reasonable option. It’s not too la-”.

    “Shut up”, the girl replied bluntly, extending her skinny hands for warmth as she sat cross-legged near the bonfire. A blade lay above her lap, sheathed in a brown scabbard further darkened by old, dry blood. The source of the voice which spoke to her. Afterwards, she picked a loaf of dry, brown bread from inside the pouch and began to eat it away.

    What am I going to do was a legit question, however, her mind pondered as she eyed the curved sword whose hook-like hilt was unlike any other she’d seen or heard of. Assuming it bestowed power and skill to its wielder enough to make a frail, inexperienced person such as herself able to fight properly trained soldiers, would simply fighting back her village’s oppressors be sufficient?

    “I know what you are thinking about”, it spoke to her softly. “Please, let me help you”

    “Then you also know I’m not giving you up to go back and spend my life as a serf, right?”

    “Listen, Leriah. A weapon is made for killing. There’s only so much you can do through fire and sword. It does not feed hungry mouths, nor govern over people, nor serve as a substitute for overthrown regimes”

    “Yes, I know”, she acknowledged, but that thought never came to her head before. Then again, nor did the possibility that she’d come to the possession of such an asset, in first place. “But… Well, I can protect my family, for one. And…”. Her own thoughts made her pause, the implications of her actions pilling up on each other as they came to mind.

    “And then more will come for you and for anyone else who might be associated to you”, the other voice spelled out for her. “After they find out about us, you won’t be able to lead an ordinary life. Is this what you want for yourself?”

    “If an ‘ordinary life’ is how things normally are, then yes. You haven’t the slightest clue about what we go through every day under their rule. Anything is preferable to that!”.

    The other voice quieted down, and the girl felt the weight of these words in her conscience as she laid down in the ground and covered herself with her cloak. Weighing down on her even as she tried, in futility, to sleep.

     

                ---------------------

     

    Sleep came eventually, but not without a struggle to overcome her worries and anxiety, judging from the dark circles under her eyes.

     

    And, maybe unfortunately, everything that happened in the previous day didn’t turn out to be just a dream - her back hurt from sleeping on the ground, and the hook hilted sword still laid close to her. I wonder if she still has the need to sleep, Leriah wondered as she slowly rose from the ground. The weapon had been a woman once - Aedolyn, a warrior from times immemorial who, according to her story, had been turned into a sword - and the voice that spoke to her seemed human enough. I should’ve asked before.

     

    “Finally awake, huh?”, the familiar voice asked her, in a tone that the girl couldn’t tell between concern and mockery.

     

    “Mhm”, she answered curtly, still slightly numb from sleep, as she packed her things and tied the scabbard to her belt. “By the way, I was wondering if you can get to sleep at all”.

     

    “Well, I can sleep, but there’s no reason to unless I want to intentionally shut off”.

     

    “So you control when you get to sleep?”, the girl asked in a curious voice, then chuckled at the thought. “That’s so enviable…”

     

    “All things considered”, she shrugged off, and the tone made Leriah self-conscious about her choice of words.

     

    “M-My bad, I didn’t mean to say your state is enviable- er, yes, I said it, but that’s not what I meant!”, she blurted out, her cheeks red with shame.

     

    “Nah, that’s fine. Really”, the sword assured her in a light tone. “It’s good that we’ve been able to chat without all that tension from yesterday”.

     

    “I-I guess…”

     

    Her hand went on to grab the last loaf of bread that she brought to her trip. The girl ate as she walked down a trail of dirt, while searching for the main road from which it’d be easier to pick a path.

     

    “So... “

     

    “If you want to ask what I’m planning to do, I honestly don’t know”, the girl answered, distractedly kicking off a pebble in her way.

     

    “I won’t insist for you to give up, but…”. Her partner glanced sideways, as nothing good comes after ‘but’s and she expected the worst. “I must tell you that returning to your home as you are right now is a bad choice”

     

    Leriah looked down and slowed her pace, mumbling a ‘mhm’.

     

    “I suggest you leave. Preferably to far away, and not just from your village. Far”, she advised in a serious tone. “Where others don’t know you and you can start a new life.  Few would connect the dots to some Kraenorian legend if you travel far enough, and your skills should guarantee you’ll have a roof to sleep under”.

     

    My skills, or your skills?, Leriah thought bitterly. If she were to obtain any renown in arms, it’d be due to her companion’s not-so-subtle help, and not from her own merits. At least I can change that with time.

     

    “I… can’t abandon everyone”

     

    “And you wouldn’t. It’s different. You’d leave for some time, until you grow enough to come back and free them. Because you’ll need more than strength to overthrow the Empire”.

     

    “No”, the girl answered with conviction, in a tone that accepted no discussions about her decision. “That, too, I can’t give away”.

     

    “Stubborn girl. Although, I confess I do like that in you”

     

    Their banter was interrupted by a loud crashing sound nearby, from which birds flew away. Leriah’s first reaction was to immediately stop and turn her head, looking for the source of that noise.

     

    “That sound…”, Aedolyn spoke, but her trail of thought was cut short by her partner’s sudden rush toward a direction. “Ah! Be careful!”.


    __________________________________________________

    My  notes

    Spoiler

    The concept is that a warrior from centuries ago was cursed into becoming a weapon, and then awakened in an entirely new era where its role is supportive instead of being the main lead.

    Or, well, I explained it a little better in this copypaste:

    Spoiler

    Legends of the distant past (at least a millennia ago) whose deeds helped shape the continent were turned into weapons by some unknown magic. Unearthed and awakened in an era much different from theirs, they bestow legendary strength and skill to whoever wields them. 

     

    Our protagonist, Leriah, wakes one such legend, unintentionally. At first with the intention to fix the wrongs done to her and to those close to her, the conflict scales when she is faced with the burden of responsibility from her(?) newfound powers, which draw her into the vortex of internal, political struggles within the kingdom. How will she use her powers to change Kraenoria and the world? 

     

    Will she be a force to drive the much needed political reforms throughout Kraenoria, or will she choose to destroy the immediate evils that come her way?

     

    I like the concept of having sentient weapons bestowing power to its users and talking to them. I forgot the name of the Tales of ___ game that does it. It's not really an original thing but I like it.

    So, I wanted to do a lot more with this prompt. Explore how it is to suddenly find yourself with a seemingly weapon of mass destruction that should give you the power to change your surroundings. I intend to write more stuff in that universe, polish a lot of things and develop the idea.

     

    Which games would you like to see a remake or remaster of?

    in General Gaming

    Posted · Edited by Rapier

    14 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

    Good, it does not deserve to be played. 😄 The game in no way improves on the original duology, and continues to have and possibly even worsens some of the problems of the first two games in narrative and gameplay. 😡 It set up a cliffhanger at the end begging for a sequel, but because it was so bad, it killed the series instead.😭

    Honestly, nothing is stopping Camelot from trying again, unless they went bankrupt or something. While I don't like Golden Sun's story and characters' writing much, I loved everything else about it back in the day. It could have its place in the 3DS (or Switch, since the 3DS is dying/dead(???)). Just do a reboot, or maybe even start another story set in the same universe.

    Oh, yeah. Since this isn't the old topic, I can repost my wishes for remakes:

    - Mega Man: It deserves remakes in the same form as the Powered Up ones, if not better. I absolutely loved Powered Up and it's a shame it didn't sell well.

    - Mega Man X: Same as above. Maverick Hunter X was good, even if it was more of an appeal to old fans. X2-X6 deserve remakes in the same form.

    - Digimon World 3: Do it, you cowards

    - Lufia: A long time ago, when I was without internet for months, I had the opportunity to give the first SNES game a chance and I really enjoyed it, although it got old and there are many frustrating things both gameplay and narrative-wise with it. The DS remake of Lufia 2 flopped because it tried to be a bootleg Ys. I think it deserves a chance (and in the case of Lufia 2, which was the most interesting one gameplay-wise, another chance).

    - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: I'm thinking more of a release with better graphics and better voice acting than anything else. The original SOTN is perfectly fine as it is, though. Aria of Sorrow is another option.

    - Trails in the Sky FC, SC & 3rd: Or at least just FC. The major problem I see with the Trails series is how its first games are not very accessible to mainly console players. Cold Steel has much more visibility in every platform it is, while Sky is more for niche PC players and people who own a PSVita (do they exist??). I think they deserve a fresh look, especially with Zero and Ao (the Crossbell duology games) being remade for the PS4 now.

    - Golden Sun: It'd be a nightmare of a project, I think, but it's a good RPG that could get more visibility and possibly enough interest for sequels (be they direct continuations or simply stories set in the same universe).

    - Fire Emblem 4: ... Yeah. We've beaten this dead horse a lot already. I really think it'd still be a good game.

    - Fire Emblem 6: It's so close to modern FE that its system wouldn't feel that out of place. There's also 7 and 8, which have similar systems and classes.

    - Yggdra Union: Or, well, just improve upon the PSP remake or rerelease it for new platforms that isn't just Switch. It's good enough as it is. Also, stop being cowards and localize the other games!

    - Summon Night 2: Swordcraft Story: I loved this game back then, and I think it deserves another chance.

    General Trails thread (Trails of Cold Steel 4 (PS4) out now).

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    So, I'm at Zero's final dungeon already and I just want to talk and read about the game. My impressions aren't really spoilerish, but they talk about the progression of the game and such, so I'll hide them.
     

    Spoiler

     

    Boy, I missed the same sensation that the Sky games gave me, and Zero was spot on. It introduced its setting very well, showed nicely the kinds of problems Crossbell has and introduced interesting side-characters.

    The thing is, I can't say the same about its main cast. Very little is explored about their pasts and motivations beyond a few expositions between chapters. After that, I swear I could exchange any party member other than Lloyd for any of the side-characters and the story would go on normally. As far as I noticed, the narrative really struggles between exploring Crossbell's problems (which it does well), introducing the characters (done well) and building them up (not really done well, imo), and then it jumps to its worst mistake: Leading to the main issue way too late in the game.

    For example

    Spoiler

    KeA is introduced way too late. We don't have that many reasons to actually care about her other than "basic empathy for cute child with a troubled past". And yet she's so central to everything, and everyone loves her by Chapter 4 and the Finale (and not just in a "basic empathy for cute child" way).

    D...G (sidenote: I love Gnosis' song) is introduced very, very late and came out of nowhere, even though it's so central to the plot of Zero (and I'm guessing Ao). Joachim is a bootleg Weissman in many ways, there is no build-up for him and we have no reasons to care about him other than "yeah he's just another guy standing in our way".

    I like D...G in theory but the way it's presented at the game's latest hour, without any build up, ruined them for me. Although I think Zero wouldn't work without a reference to them, and I'm glad it didn't end like Sky FC, where suddenly the plot thickens a lot and there's this cliffhanger that only SC answers. It needed to be a bigger game than it is in order to cover everything it wanted.

    Other than that, it might be a bit of a bias from my part, but I loved its OST. Formidable Enemy and Demonic Dive are easily some of my favorite battle themes from the entire series, although CS1 and SC compete for best OST overall imo.

     

    What are your primary gaming motivations?

    in General Gaming

    Posted · Edited by Rapier

    I'd say Story (when it's a story-heavy game, of course), Challenge (most of the time) and "Empowerment" (in the sense of feeling accomplished after beating a challenge or seeing that you've become better at doing something).

    Challenge is what piques my interest the most in a game. I expect it to have a gameplay that is hard enough for me to pay attention and think about ways to use what it gives me to my favor. I'm interested on the rules and objectives of the game.

    I don't know whether rewards or empowerment fits better, but I like when I recognize I got better at a game by beating some boss or reaching some threshould. I like to put my own skills at test and see myself improve or be challenged by something.

    Challenge and Rewards/"Empowerment" are overall what interests me the most in general games.

    Cooperation and competitition are the things that interest me the least in games. I don't want to compete against other people - I'm happy enough to compete against myself or between friends or a small group. Cooperation is also very situational and I only have preference for it between friends.

    Temtem

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    I've been playing it for ~6 days and honestly it gives me all the good vibes about Pokémon while still standing out on its own with new or fleshed out mechanics.

    The monsters' designs, the worldbuilding, the music, animation, dialogue, game design and progression were solid enough for me to consider it on par with Pokémon games, even. The fights are also more tactical about types and skills and each Temtem feels unique, despite there being only ~100 of them  yet.

    While it's still in Early Access, lacking in numbers of capturable Temtem and promising many functionalities that didn't make it yet (as the devs focused on delivering the essential for a good experience), it's big enough and fleshed out on its own, with the promise of more creatures, regions and stuff such as trading/housing/guilds.

    It's also great to play with friends - you can play through the game in a party of two. I've been doing a run with a friend since I started playing.

    It's also still on sale at Green Man Gaming, for anyone who's interested on giving it a try.

     

    What Video Games Are You Looking Forward To in 2020?

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    Games I definitely need this year:

    • Crusader Kings 3
    • Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
    • Rune Factory 5
    • Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town remake
    • Nioh 2
    • Silksong
    • Digimon Survive
    • Trails of Cold Steel 3 (PC)

    Games I'm curious/interested about:

    • Cyberpunk 2077
    • Ori (I've played just a bit of the first game)
    • VtM Bloodlines 2
    • Psychonauts 2
    • Streets of Rage 4
    • Persona 5 Royal (I could never get into P3 or P4 but maybe P5 or SMTxFE might work out for me, who knows, it seems interesting)
    • Final Fantasy 7 Remake
    • Ghosts of Tsushima

    hey guys battle brothers is coming to switch

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    all I remember about Bbbbbbbbbbattle Bbbbbbbbbrothers is that it was fun but also that it gets repetitive very quickly, both in gameplay and tactics. Been months since I haven't played it though and I have no idea how much it changed since I bought it.

    I wanted to grab the dlcs but for some reason they didn't get a discount in both recent Steam sales.

    Is calling a story unrealistic a fair criticism?

    in General

    Posted

    "Realism", when applied to fantasy settings where we stray from actual realism, means following the set of rules for that universe, expecting that acts have the natural consequences that should follow them. It's about consistency between actions and results. This of course also applies to characters, we obviously expect them to stay in-character and not completely reverse their personalities, goals and motivations without very good reasons for such.

    There are cases where a writer breaks these self established rules while keeping their spirit (Sanderson did this a few times), but it has a risk of making the audience break their belief in the world's internal consistency.

    Most Underrated Video Games That You Have Played?

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    Not exactly "underrated" but "hey I actually don't find this game that bad and I enjoy playing it".

    Mega Man BattleChip Challenge: I don't mind that there's no direct control over the combat. It's fun setting up combinations and watching the navis dunking at each other. It *does* require some strategic thinking as certain chips are better against different builds, so it's false that you "simply watch the game".

    Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories: Very grindy, boils down to "get the right cards for the strongest fusion you can pull", the AI cheats, but I really enjoyed its aesthetic, story, soundtrack and overall the gameplay was fun. I just wish it was less grindy.

    Digimon Card Battle Arena: It's a very short game whose enemy AI tends to help you a lot, but the gameplay is interesting and the trading card game is even better if you play against a real opponent. Really, I wish people talked more about Digimon TCG, it deserves more love.

    Dark Souls II: Or, at least, Scholar of the First Sin. It's not underrated, to be honest, but it's one of the worst spoken Dark Souls games and often wrongly compared to Dark Souls 1's standards. Honestly, I prefered Dark Souls II because it wasn't full of gimmick stages, unexplained mechanics, locking you to a 4-directional roll if using lock-on, it had a teleport system to avoid needlessly traveling/backtracking, it felt much more fluid. Overall I found it much more intuitive and better at gameplay.

    2020 Gaming Hopes/Wishes

    in General Gaming

    Posted

    A new Megaman game, from any of its series. Preferably X or ZX, but I'd be fine with a Megaman 12 or... Legends 3, as unlikely as it is. Bonus points if the Megaman X Corrupted fangame is released by 2020, which it probably won't.

    Seconding on the PoR/RD bundle remake, although the latter is perfectly playable still, PoR really needs to be improved. I'm also very curious about the cancelled 3DS game - which could be the new entry. If it's a FE4 remake, even better.

    Expecting news on a Trails game, be it a continuation of the series (including a translation on Cold Steel 4) or a port remake of the Crossbell duology.

    Whichever new Batman Arkham project they're working on might be good. I'll keep an eye on that.

    Elden Ring, which probably won't be a thing on 2020, but I really want to see more about it or about anything Souls related. A 'Bloodborne 2' is still my dream game.

    One can dream that maybe we'll see much more Deltarune content in 2020 too. It'd be a miracle for it to be actually released then, but one can hope.

    Whatever game 999 and Danganrompa's writers are working on has my interest by default.

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