fourtimesnine

Dice

@Eklispe

No worries! It is fine, and consider this blanket permission to mod my character a little if I've already given approval (as I kinda did this time, when Kim took Niel's hand).

Dice

@Eklispe

Kim grinned widely as the crowd applauded around them. That had been the most fun she'd had in a long time. "No, you were the amazing dancer," she said. "I just followed your lead." It was true - he'd done most of the work, and danced smoothly enough that it was easy to keep up with the motions. She thought that he'd be able to go places with those skills someday, if he chose to do so.

His next question was just as forward as his first, which Kim appreciated - she preferred getting to the point, instead of talking in circles around it as some were wont to do. She considered the young man in front of her. He had a short stature, light-colored, shaggy hair, and warm brown eyes. His cheerful smile seemed right at home on his face, as though it was an expression he made often. Although she didn't know much about him, from what she did know, he seemed like he'd be a good friend. "Of course I'll be your friend," Kim replied. "My name is Kimberly Le, but you can just call me Kim. I'm a freshman at Madison University, the college just across town."

However, as she thought back on them, a few of the things he'd said sounded a little odd. If she was his first friend, did that mean that he didn't have any others? Upon closer examination, his street clothes seemed rather worn and patched, and his shaggy hair looked as though it hadn't been washed for a while. There were numerous other signs that might point towards his being a particularly unkempt youth, or perhaps something more unfortunate. "Wait. What do you mean by 'first friend' and 'wander around'?" she asked. "What kind of circumstances led to your being a street performer?" It wasn't unusual to see people performing on the streets, but Niel seemed a bit young to be traveling on his own for no reason. Kim felt a growing suspicion that she should be concerned for his well-being. A small, selfish part of her wanted to mind her own business and go sign up for the gymnastics competition so that she could get more dice, but she shushed it. Kim didn't consider herself a saint, but she wasn't so self-serving as to abandon a new friend just to gain power a few minutes or hours earlier.

When the Earth met the Sea

Thanks for the explanation! I tried to do the four things you mentioned, and feedback would be appreciated if it's not too much trouble - I had a mild bout of writer's block, so it's probably not that good.

Regarding T1, I've read A Turn-Based Textual Combat Primer and T1 Rules and Guidelines, but I don't remember anything about prepping during intros - is there something else I should look at?

Once again, thanks so much for the guidance.

When the Earth met the Sea

Joel lumbered through the dense forest, occasionally ducking his iron-helmeted head to prevent branches from smacking into his tall frame. As he continued forwards, the trees thinned out until he was standing at the edge of a beach. Dunes of fine, dry sand loomed before him, held together by the roots of hardy shrubs. Beyond that was dark, wet sand, and finally the ocean, vast and ever-changing. The sky was aglow with the colors of the waning day, distant clouds painted with bright yellow and burning orange.

He was glad to have found a shoreline to guide him - he'd lost his way in the depths of the forest more than once, and he had been away from home for far too long. When he took the first step onto the loose, dry sand, his clay foot sank ankle-deep into the dune. Joel used his geokinesis to reinforce the next patch of sand and cautiously stepped onto it with his other foot, glad to find that it held his weight. Sand was not quite earth, but it was close enough that he could exert limited control over it all the same. When he neared the top of the gently sloped dune, he caught sight of a figure in the water. Joel couldn't make out many details from this distance, but she appeared to be a beautiful woman with dark red hair and eerily pale, translucent skin. She wore a frayed white dress that looked as though it had once been expensive - hardly the sort of thing that one would wear when going for a swim. Cautiously, Joel raised a large clay arm in greeting as he approached. He made the hand sign for "hello" before realizing that she probably wouldn't understand it - instead, he drew the word in the sand.

Dice

Sorry if that last post was a bit short, I didn't have much I could write beyond "She agreed."

Dice

@Eklispe

Unexpectedly, the performer offered her his hand and asked her to join him in the next dance. No one had ever asked her to dance before, and Kim felt a little flattered even though she knew he'd probably chosen her at random. She could take him up on his offer and try her best, or choose the safer option and decline. Kim had taken ballet lessons many years ago, but that was the extent of her abilities - she'd never learned to dance to modern pop songs, let alone something like this. Nonetheless, she felt that she could learn pretty quickly, like he'd said - agility would help with dancing, right? Her gymnastics floor routines had also been pretty similar, albeit with many more flips and acrobatics. The music was already starting and the audience was waiting - she had to make her decision. Kim took his hand with an answering smile and did a half-remembered ballet curtsy. "I'd be honored," she replied. She let him take the lead and sweep her into the long, flowing movements of the foxtrot, doing her best to follow his steps.

When the Earth met the Sea

For what it's worth, I thought that scene was quite good. I mostly hang around the Free and Casual sections, though, so we might have different standards.

Yes, a run-through would be much appreciated if you want to do one. I'll have an IC post up by tonight.

Dice

Kim wasn't enthused by X's response, but she hadn't been expecting anything different. She still didn't trust X, given that he/she/they/it was a mysterious being with unknown motivations and powers, but X didn't seem openly malevolent. Even if they were, their dice had incredible potential. Kim thought about all the things she'd told herself to accept, to give up on, because no amount of determination could change them. No matter what she did, she was biologically short - nothing she did could change her DNA. Even though she practiced more hours than anyone else, all her hard work had been useless in the face of other gymnasts' pure talent. Ultimately, most people lived mundane lives, achieving neither wealth or fame, making no mark on the world, and Kim was most people. She had forced herself to believe that it didn't matter that she was short and ugly, that she should give up on being a gymnast, and that she could be content with an boring, unspectacular existence. Perhaps that had even been true before, but now that she had the dice, Kim knew that she would never give up on herself. She had the power to be whoever she wished and do whatever she wanted, and she would grab it with both hands.

She opened up her phone and looked at the Quests tab again. Kim had thought that her interest in gymnastics was dead and gone, but attending one more competition wouldn't hurt. Maybe it would even reignite her passion; it wasn't too late to try again. If she remembered correctly, there was a regional-level competition going on at the gymnastics center across town. It was casual enough that anyone could just walk in and register without being part of a pre-approved team; that was good, since she only had a week to prepare. Kim headed out and took the bus over to the center, mentally preparing her training regime.

After she disembarked at the closest bus stop to the training center, Kim noticed a street performer with a music box. Normally, she wouldn't have stopped, but this young man was especially talented. She checked her watch - it was still early enough that the gymnastics center might not be open to the public yet. Since Kim had some extra time, she allowed herself to stand nearby and enjoy the performance. During a lull in the music, Kim stepped forward and dropped a bill into his hat.

Dice

<Snipped quote by fourtimesnine>

I actually kept up with the Gamer for a while, but it felt to me like the MC spent too much time just grinding and going on long mental monologues about how broken his power was. Then when the action finally started the fight scenes seemed terribly drawn/choreographed.

@Zeroth

Yeah, that's all true. The reason I'm reading it is for the grinding and monologues - for some reason, training montages are usually one of my favorite parts of any movie. Also, I like his munchkinry.

Dice

Great manhwa, right? In case you're reading it on Webtoons, go over to dicescans.com once you've gotten to the last webtoons chapter - dicescans has more recent chapters.

In case you still want more after that, there's another similar manhwa called The Gamer. Have fun =)