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"Back! Back! Left foot back, left foot, keep your right in front! Lead with your right!" Ix yelled, driving Charlotte backwards.

Charlotte was starting to flag, but she grit her teeth and raised her sword, blocking Ix's next blow with a resounding clang!

"Better!" Ix said, locking their hilts together and twisting. The sword was wrenched out of Charlotte's hands and fell to the floor, and she jerked her foot away before it could get hit.

"Can we take a break?" Charlotte panted, hands on her knees.

Ix sheathed her sword and wiped her forehead on her arm. "Break would be good," she said, pulling her wand from her belt and giving it a wave. The RC's furniture flew back into position, and Charlotte collapsed on the sofa. "You really are getting better," Ix added, going to the fridge to pour them glasses of pumpkin juice. "That was the best parry I've seen from you yet."

Charlotte grinned and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Heh. Thanks," she said, accepting her glass from Ix. She drank greedily, and Ix sat beside her, doing the same.

"Want to give it another go when we're done?" Ix asked.

"Ehh..." Charlotte leaned against her and sighed. "I don't know. I'm getting kinda discouraged about this. I'm never gonna be as good as you."

Ix shrugged, fingers tangling loosely in Charlotte's hair. "I wouldn't say that," she said. "I just had to practice a lot. That's all it is."

"I guess you're right." Charlotte sighed again. "Still don't really feel like practicing any more right now."

"Later, then." Ix pressed a kiss to Charlotte's cheek and stood up. "But next time, you have to disarm me—and then we'll take a break."

Charlotte groaned and just lay back against the cushions.


(Also, since it's a ways down the Board, I finally got around to doing last week's prompt here.)

Years upon years ago, the young An'onere was readying himself to undergo the trial of Purmeshun, so he might take up the cause of the Knights of Plort.

However... on the eve upon which he was to set upon the Knight's Road, he instead... vanished. While it may have been said that he fell victim to simple cowardice, this was simply not the case. No... it was simply that fate had found a different road for the young mage to travel, and bade him travel that road first.

And so, he left on the back of Mental Haze, in the dead of night. He journeyed to far-off lands to practice the magic of Pro'gramman and Eich-Tee-Ehm-Ehl, he practiced and mastered the art of Arpying, and he finally rescued his friend, once thought lost to the Marizu. Together, they finally rebuilt the town of Tah'vernn, except this time, far from the land of Chatt-zei. Their New Tah'vernn would rise next to a new town that practiced both Arpying and the art of Mons, and both would be connected with the magic of Dizzy Chord keystones.

It was here, in New Tah'vernn, where he renamed himself. No longer would he be known as An'onere Morysse. Forevermore, he would bear the name of Lunamann- and his heraldry would change to match his new name.

Argent, a quarter Vairy Purpure and Argent, a base dexter pentacle Sable, a chief sinister crescent points dexter Sable, a base sinister Poké Ball Argent with features Gules and outline Sable, a cross Sable with the Roman numeral XIII Vert.

After three long years, the young mage who once entered Plort as Po'kere Trikense, then again as An'onere Morysse, has returned. His spell tome bears a new name as well- it now bears the name Zeta. His steed has vanished- or, perhaps it was simply left behind. Instead, the mage bears a magic staff, known as John Smith. He doesn't feel ready to seek out Purmeshun again, though, not yet... all in due time.

---

Not *entirely* sure if I got the blazon right there, this is what it's supposed to look like. And yes, I know full well that normal furs are fixed in coloration- but according to Wikipedia, Vair can be an exception. It can be an alternate set of colors, it's just that when it is, it's written as "Vairy" or "Vairé", instead of just "Vair". (Potent is the same way, one could easily have "Potenty Or and Gules" or "Potenté Argent and Vert".)

Also, Tah'vernn/New Tah'vernn is pretty much just a Chatzy RP room/a Discord RP server that I assembled with a few friends of mine- and the other town, the one that 'practiced both Arpying and the art of Mons', is... well, a Pokemon RP server that I joined a bit before I revived the Chatzy RP room as a Discord server. (And the 'once thought lost to the Marizu' is because one of my friends at one point had a blatant Gary Stu for a character. He doesn't anymore, though, hence why he was saved.)

I can update Twyla's bio on my own, so here's my coat of arms request:

One, since I've kinda broken out of the edgelord phase that made me so attached to Wolfenstein 3D, can you do a shield that's less edgy? I'd like there to be a moon and/or a green moth on it, since a luna moth is going to be a running motif in a lot of my Newgrounds stuff. Feel free to include whatever else you think suits me.

Two, can you make an equivalent for that using whichever heraldry you didn't use to make the wolf shield?

Thanks, hS! I love Plort a lot.

-Twistey

It's still in my Shared With Me from when I opened the link that Delta Juliette sent. Do you want it?

-Twistey

1. Well, not really implied. I see now that those strengths I saw weren't implied so much as they were me projecting. Just mention what his strengths are so that his personality is a bit more balanced.
   
   -Twistey

...then I realized my computer time was running out, so I decided to just post those two characters and then maybe follow up with Amber's siblings, who I'd introduce after that.

What do you mean by "how they work"? Do you mean the mechanics and world-building of why those powers exist, or do you mean their exact abilities? I definitely have the latter down pat (with help from the uber-specific Superpower Wiki), but I haven't figured out the former yet. You see, Amber, her siblings, and Miriam all are revamped versions of characters from original worlds that an RP group that I was in created. We never really explained anything, especially not why the government wanted to experiment on people (at least one of our writers was freaking paranoid, that was why) or why all of our characters dressed like they were in a high fantasy or anime story when the real genre was urban fantasy. (They were high fantasy geeks and I was a weeb, that's why.) So I didn't really put thought into why Amber and Miriam have their powers, because those were the powers that Sakura/"Mountaineer" and Miriam had.

Anyway, I'll send you the other two in the Callahan trio soon.

-Twistey

My intent was, in fact, to offer my help if ever an HD reboot was undertaken. I have some experience with making pixel art using Piskel (which makes it easier to have walk cycles), so I'd definitely be willing to pitch in. :D

-Twistey

He's a huge iD Software fan, even makes mods for Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM, so (being familiar with both iD Software's RPG installments in those two franchises and mods that emulate a first person RPG) he'd probably help me figure out how to code a first person RPG.

-Twistey

The black-hole chocolate cake with red berries coating is there, black-hole coffee is there, and even some eclairs of both the stuff.

Thinking about anything else to celebrate?

Did you not see the pixels? So many pixels, you wouldn't believe. :D

The sequel actually featured - be prepared to be amazed - 3D graphics!!! ... by which I mean the grey squares making the walls had bevels on them. XD Look, I never claimed to be very good at this... just persistent.

(More seriously, I wouldn't know where to start; the original game was made with a bit of software that definitely doesn't work any more, and anything beyond that is probably beyond me.)

(Also I should probably finish up all the other stuff I've got to do before I start yet another new project. I still haven't written up a page on Gallifreyan Scrabble...)

hS

That means a lot, coming from you. ^^

As it happens, I've just read through your Cyclopaedia page; I really like the captioning you've done in your story. The story itself is by necessity patchy, but the general feel of Baron Hieronymus as a hermit who keeps being dragged into the thick of things (and is rather put out by it) definitely comes through. ^^

hS

Or rather, the Union of Plort, history having wrecked my joke before it even got started. :)

What's a Plort?

The great and noble history of the Protectorate of Plort, Konti-Nyuum, cannot be conveyed in so few words as I have here. Rather, let its full history be told, that you may read it at your leisure:

The History of Konti-Nyuum

(AKA the story that started it all, plus links to some of the stuff that's been added since.)

No, seriously, what's a Plort?

Ohhh, you want the boring introduction. Here's the Beginner's Guide to Plort. Basically, it's 'what if the PPC community was actually a fantasy setting'. If you have Permission, you're a Knight; if you don't, you're a Civilian. The difference doesn't matter much.

I know this! What's new?

Well, nothing's new... but if Plort is being discussed, it's probably time for me to start offering coats of arms again.

Plortish Heraldry is a slightly complicated subject, but the general theme is that everyone is entitled to two coats of arms: one the classic English-style shield, the other based on Tolkien's Elvish heraldry. If you (any you) tell me what your shield looks like - either in formal heraldic speak, or just a description - I will create it for you.

And if you also write out the story of your Plort persona, I'll pop it all on the Cyclopaedia to preserve it for the ages.

(Heraldry for historical Plort/PPC figures who lack it is also welcome, as is heraldry - Inglish only - for any Marizu you have faced. Those ones are fun. ^_^)

And if you ask very nicely, there's always a possibility Scapegrace will pull out all the stops and flag-ify your shield. No promises though. ;)

hS

1. I was going to do that anyway, but it would stem from his personality rather than his eyewear. I guess I forgot to write that out.
   
   2. Which implied strengths? Can you please be a little more clear? (See, he is a blatant self-insert!)
   
   3. Awww, thanks! Anyway, originally I was going to have the after-effects of the experiment be just getting his power, but I see now how I can make these after-effects continue in some way long after he stopped needing treatment for Suethor flashbacks and being the Phoenix. I can still have him do some ego-fueled stupid thing right at the critical moment, like trying to kill an incorporeal manifestation of evil with an axe and mess everything up. Thanks for triggering that eureka moment!

But then it becomes Interactive Fiction rather than a Visual Novel. Different genre, ever so slightly. Although the real differences manifest themselves more in Parser IF than in Twine stuff, which derives more from CYOA.

Not that I'm looking down on IF. Some of my favorite interactive experiences are traditional IF—Midnight. Swordfight, Three-Card Trick, I even have a soft spot for The Lurking Horror and that's a classic Infocom game—so lots of puzzles that I needed a guide to solve. (Although in retrospect a lot of them did make sense).

I'm not looking down on Twine either. Birdland, Belle Park, Youth Detective, and KNOWN UNKNOWNS ade a brilliant trilogy, and I loved 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at MacDonalds.

If anything, I'd say the majority of visual novels are poorly designed and frustrating. A lot of them tend to have a nasty problem that if you went wrong it's hard to know where and you just have to play it all over from the start. Fate is actually great in this respect, because the majority of failures are immediate, and those that aren't make it kinda obvious what you messed up (typically, not focusing enough on one character and thus not getting them to like you enough for yhem to help you at a crucial moment). Additionally, many VNs offer the ability to fast-forward or skip stuff you've already seen, to mitigate the fact that you'll probably be replaying them a lot. This makes it way less painful.

But I think it's telling that my favorite VN is a babby's-first VN with a single path forward that's actually a mashup of a VN and a point 'n click. That being Phoenix Wright. Which, by the way, you should all play. It's excellent and a lot of fun and very well-written.

Make it in the form of one of them choose your own story fella thingoes?

I wasn't sure if Twine was easy to use but their own website says 'You don't need to write any code to create a simple story with Twine' and by Jove that's more than enough encouragement for me!


I suppose that doesn't really solve the 'visual' aspect of the visual novel, does it?

Perhaps if we just made the prose really purple. . .

Glad you liked it!

Don't worry, I'm sure the next one won't take a bloody year to get out like this one.

I'm.

I'm sure of it.

Tiny rumbley earthquake fellas.

And thank you, good citizen, for reading.

;)

That has to be the typo I make the most consistently and it makes very little sense.

Perhaps I just have very echoey fingers.


And, uh, cheers? I was sort of hoping it would be fun, but death of the author and all, ay? Whatever works!