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Recent Statuses

3 days ago
Current "You're me from the future, and you came back to the past to keep me from suffering like you did?" asks my childhood self. "Something like that," I reply as I load the gun.
5 likes
4 days ago
That bot left a number and email. Someone should cast "Unending Newsletters" for them.
2 likes
26 days ago
Writing horror is super difficult because it requires telling a story while shutting up at the same time. It's fear of the UNKNOWN, not fear of the well-written descriptions.
9 likes
2 mos ago
Say "thanks," when they compliment you and smile. Watch more of what's going on around you instead of staying inside your head. If eye contact's hard, stare at her forehead.
1 like
2 mos ago
@ColdAtlus: Cheems.
1 like

Bio

On CST time, United States. Typically busy most of the week and do most posting/replying on weekends.

Most Recent Posts


??? — Dilapidated Shack


《 Level 1 Madlad 》
@ERode@TheMushroomLord@PKMNB0Y


“Ad̵d… con̴t̸act… ̸a̶dd… D̸ow̸n̵, U̷p̶… ad̸d…”
Connor glanced back at the slime as it spoke up once more. All it had done so far after he'd set it down was open its Status--although weirdly, Connor noted he couldn't see the image even though he'd heard the slime slap out the words. The elf, however, had been able to see Connor's own--was it because he'd presented it, directly? If they were all otherworlders, and recognized as such, then what if that "contacts" tab in the window...

Is that like some kind of Telepathy? Or would it literally work like a phone call...or a text message? Did it only work between otherworlders or could they add anyone they wanted?

Also, of slightly less relevance to the current predicament, the elf claimed he had died before the election was over. Either he was dodging the question entirely--was the term "president" something a medieval world would be familiar with?--or they had died, and been reincarnated, at different points in their own native timelines. Which opened up another barrel of worms if it was possible to go back to their original worlds, especially if they would be redeposited at their original time of death in some fashion to secure a new lease on life. That meant, if the elf went back to an earlier point than he did or vice versa, and they had learned something from each other they couldn't have known otherwise...

Connor hated time travel stories. He was going to assume that, if there were multiple otherworlders in one place, there had probably been more than one otherworlder in this particular world before the three of them. And if that was the case, he was going to assume that if the multiverse hadn't paradoxx'd itself before now, it wasn't going to do so. And if it did, well...

The total cessation of all existence would at least bring some peace and quiet.

“So we need to leave after all. And trust that the ‘NPCs’ aren’t hostile when we ask things of them. Ok.” A shallow nod, then a turn towards slime that was once-more bound to the ground. “And ‘add contact slime, C’.”


"N-no, w-wait, I meant--" But the elf was already stepping through the door! Dammit, he couldn't at least wait until nightfall?! Connor started to follow, but then looked back at the slime. Then he looked back at the swishing, raggedy curtain.

"...Um...Contacts...add Slime and...elf man?"

In the inner place where he usually heard his ears ring, he heard two bloops like a notification on an app. Once more, he glanced at the doorway--and now he heard another voice. Softer, feminine. He moved back, kneeling down next to the tarp and the slime, and kept his eyes on the window while his fingers adjusted the Status Window's position in the corner of his vision.

That's--that's a catgirl! And she's wearing a two handed sword with a blade that's too wide, on her back instead of at her waist! Connor felt his heart beating faster again. However, his brain could work even faster than that--as a wannabe writer, he was quite proud of both his typing and reading speeds, and he'd gotten to a point where he often watched videos on 2x speed so he could cram more dopamine into his doomscrolling.

Contact: "Slime"
Guy who picked u up stepped out. Don't worry, won't leave u alone.
Vision, smell, sound, taste, feel, uh...kinesthetics? Y/N to any?


She acts like this is a bad part of town--which is obvious--but she's not wearing what I'd call a "conservative" outfit or armor. With a build like hers there's no way she could use that sword realistically--so either upping STR doesn't affect your musculature, or physics just play out different here. It wasn't clear if she was genuinely just warning the elf man, or making some kind of veiled threat. Connor quickly looked all around the shack again, just in case some bandit backup might be climbing through another window somewhere while the neko kept the most combat-capable-looking person in their party occupied.

Contact: "Elf man"
Ask smth like "what kind of enemies," keep her talkin. Don't tell her any of what I told you, or anythin bout us, plz


He went ahead and started to slowly, quietly prize that board out of the wall.


??? — Dilapidated Shack


《 Level 1 Introvert 》
@ERode@TheMushroomLord@PKMNB0Y


The Slime looked...droopy? Some parts of it almost sloughed off before it seemed to barely be able to reel them back into its central mass. The elf had asked it if it was human--had been human.

Right, monster reincarnation was a thing too...and, oh God, I hope this is a Dragon Quest ripoff world and not one of those Cultivate-For-Thirty-Millenia worlds... But why was he the only human out of the bunch? And he was still wearing his clothes he'd been in on the flight, whereas this other guy had a whole new wardrobe set and the slime had...

Nothing. Not even eyes or antennae or anything. For a moment Connor's overactive imagination, completely overdosed on all the tropes he mindlessly consumed instead of working on anything productive, managed to activate his dulled sense of empathy. To imagine what it would be like, trapped inside such a body. No limbs, no senses. That creature couldn't even...hold itself together.

When it answered the elf's question, its distorted, wobbling voice was slow, and quiet, and, maybe only in Connor's imagination, afraid.

"W-wait," he said, his own fear and survival instincts trumping any mote of kindness, "M-maybe it's lying!" Maybe the elf is too. Some isekai burn otherworlders like witches, after all... Not too far from him, a board that must've once sealed one of the windows now hung from a single rusty nail. He could probably swing it with both hands if he tried really hard--

The six-and-a-half-plus foot elf, with inhuman grace, covered the distance between them in uncanny steps. The slime was plopped into his chest before he had a chance to refuse. And...
“If you want to die, tell him. He'll do it for 'EXP'.”

Connor looked up at the elf, and down at the slime. Physical contact was not something he was familiar with even among his own kind. It was not any more comfortable holding a...a monster. A monster that used to be his own kind.

The slime was still drooping. Connor bent his knees and carefully deposited it on top of the tarp it had been under before, so that none of its goopy bits would slip away between the floorboards if it couldn't keep them attached. Maybe being able to sit on a solid surface for a bit would...help it?
“You seem to know about this situation. Let’s head out and talk about it. What's your name?”

"W-wait!" He shrank back again, in the process falling onto his butt--though a sidelong glance told him he was still within lunging distance of that dangling board. "U-um, I, I think we should stay here, at least while we, um, get our bearings!" He looked around the shack again, not because he expected to see anything different, but because he didn't want to look the elf in the eyes. He gulped down a breath to try and calm himself but his speech still came out fast and nervous.

"S-survival 101 is shuh-shelter, water, f-fire, th-then f-food!" Or at least, that's what the bushcraft content creators always said. And he doubted they could punch trees to obtain building materials like in his early-access, never-finished, copycat survival crafting games. He pointed outside, where the occasional shadow of movement and the sounds of muted voices could still be perceived. "W-we don't know if NPCs are hostile, either. So, um..." Slowly he got back up, dusting off his knees and glancing at the slime with concern.

"Slime, if, uh...if you can hear me...It's hard to talk to you--for you, right now. If something you, uh, wanna weigh in on comes up...make...a, um, a loud hiss or...fart noise...or something." Then, he finally managed to make eye contact; at least with the elf's pale, smooth forehead.

"Just...call me C, for now." Never give your name to a fae. "I w-was on a plane. My world was called Earth." Some isekai aren't always Modern Earth to Fantasy. Maybe that's why these people aren't Human--the elf might've come from some Crystal Spires and Togas world... "I-if you came from the same world...then, uh...who's the current President of the United States of America?" Just about anyone from a "first world" country would probably know that, given how his nation had an unfortunate penchant over the last...what, hundred years?...of butting their heads into everything everywhere.

When the elf--and maybe the slime--had answered that, Connor nodded...and, despite recoiling at the idea of being grabbed, held out a trembling hand for the other humanoid to shake.

"As f-far as we can tell...we're somewhere that isn't home. I found this, earlier: Status!" He opened the glowing screen again, and using his hand, moved it as if it were a tab on a touch-device. To the elf, "Can you see this? Or open your own?" After receiving the answer he continued,

"From what I can read on mine, "Magic" and "Stats" appear to be...a thing. Considering that two of us are non-humans, I'm gonna assume Monsters--Demons, goblins, dragons, whatever--are also a thing." He jerked his head towards the windows. "And given what I can see outside, I'm assuming this world is gonna be like something out of an LotR fanfiction." He took a high pitched breath and continued, "Usually in this genre, um, those who are transported will have some kind of ability the rest of the world doesn't--and, um, sometimes they've been transported for a reason. L-like, a Ch-chosen Hero k-kind of situation." He started to redden in the face again, because he could just tell the elf probably wasn't a big dumb nerd like him. "We're not standing in front of a King or a Princess or anything, though, so I'm assuming if there's a reason for us b-being here, it's only known by...who, or whatever, put us here."

Lots of times it's a goddess of some sort. But surely they wouldn't just send us in blind? Unless their involvement had to be kept secret? Again he tried to access that...hole...in his memory, and again his head started to hurt. Was he babbling too much? Was the elf going to get angry at him? Or bored enough to abandon him? Was the slime even taking any of this in?

"S-so, um...I th-think it'd be best for us to keep a l-low profile!" He held up a finger, then raised another. "Step two, see if we can find a map, or some roadsigns, or a big building called an Adventurer's Guild, or maybe a, uh, an inn. And step three, um..." He blinked rapidly as he tried to think past the intro chapters of the latest trashy light novel he'd read. "Ask about rumors or news from around the area, maybe? Get an idea of what's going on in this world--like, is the Demon King waging war or something."

Still pink in the face, knees shaking, Connor once again looked between his two erstwhile companions.

"U-um...do-does...does that w-work for y'all?" Shit! Accent slipped!


??? — Dilapidated Shack


《 Level 1 Loser 》
@ERode@TheMushroomLord@PKMNB0Y


After his outburst, Connor clapped a hand over his mouth and shrank down like a child afraid to be beaten. Face flushed, though unclear whether out of excitement or embarrassment, he turned around towards where the other two figures were stirring.

The one under the tarp had...shrunk? No, it was like one part of the tarp had swollen...like a big ravioli, or a gross boil on some prepubescent kid's face. And then the lump moved, but there were no arms or legs to accompany it. But as it peeked out from under the edge of its cover, a slender hand reached down to pick it up, palming it like a basketball with long, delicate fingers--

Neither of those are human! Connor glanced towards the glowing screen still floating in the corner of his eye.
Name: Connor Goodwin [+]
Level: 1
Stats: STR [1] | DEX [2] | MAG [3] | DEF [1] | RES [2] | AGI [2] | LCK [1]
Skills: Kinetic Magic [+]

Contacts: 0 [+]
Quest Log: Current - N/A [+]
STATUS


With a trembling finger he poked the "expansion" tabs of the windows. Indeed, his own Race was Human, and his age was still correct. But as the elf spoke to the blob, Connor observed the ears and other features that made it obvious that it--or he, presumably, from the voice at least--was indeed an elf. And so the blob...

"C-careful!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. "It, it m-might just be a m-monster!" Slimes were always some of the first enemies in a JRPG, right? What if it attacked them? Connor quickly looked around the dilapidated shack for any spar of wood that might serve as an impromptu weapon. He had something called "Kinetic Magic," as well, but other than what it implied by the description--a conversion of magic power to applied forces--he had no idea how it worked. Did he have to chant or move his hands?

"If, if it attacks...maybe killing it will get us some EXP?" Despite his shivering limbs, something like a hint of giddy anticipation crept into the boy's voice...

??? — Dilapidated Shack


《 Level 1 Edgelord 》
@ERode@TheMushroomLord@PKMNB0Y


Connor opened his eyes like someone coming off a sedative after months of insomnia. He took a deep breath, stretched, and made some lip-smacking noises that for some reason everyone associates with deep sleep in visual media. He rolled over, wincing as something splintery jabbed his side, and reached for a blanket that wasn't there. Upon realizing said lack of comfort item, he started to sit up--and the floorboard under his hand see-sawed indignantly at being touched without consent, thunking him lightly in the back of the skull.

"Ow, you motherf--" Connor recoiled, sat up straight, and finally came out of his stupor. He froze like a gazelle that knows a lion waits behind it.

This was not a plane. Not good. Neither was it a line in front of a pearly gate on a bed of clouds. Not bad? He could not remember how he'd gotten here. Not good. He was not alone. Possibly worse. His eyes darted around the dilapidated shack, his mind already conjuring shadow demons in the unnerving silence.

Wooden building--looks like crap. Light coming through...uh, everything? Daylight? What time was it when we crashed? He tried to think back--and his head started to hurt. There was...a hole...in his memory?

Slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible, Connor picked himself up. He ducked his head under a support beam that now dangled down from the ruined building's roof in a way OSHA would certainly never approve of, and looked at the two dark lumps nearby. One of them had a blanket, he thought derisively as he looked at the shape he couldn't quite make out. Although it was one of those rubbery tarp things by the look of it...and it almost looked...wet? Or slimy?

He wasn't going to get close enough to try and look at them in detail, because he was afraid one of them might have those near-death-experience reflexes and grab him by the throat in a jump-scare scene. Instead, he turned to the shack's windows--although he probably could've used one of the rotted holes in the wall just as easily.

We must've been rescued? How far into the flight were we? If we went down in the ocean...maybe we washed up somewhere in the Phillipines, or...

Outside there were more ramshackle buildings, a true shanty town right out of those third world countries he'd never been to. The streets were cobblestone, chipped or cracked in places, and covered in filth--some of it clearly originating from a human or animal's body. But beyond that, as he leaned his head further to see from different angles, it seemed like this place was at least partially walled in? Huge stones bound by mortar rose up higher than any of the crumbling rooftops, and at the top...

"Machicolations?" Connor quietly breathed, in the pseudo-excited accent of a youtuber he liked to watch sometimes. Then he saw the people passing by. They were not Filipino, nor Japanese, nor Chinese. And their clothes looked like something out of a Ren Faire--except, the ones who took historical accuracy really seriously. Like, seriously enough to smear some of that previously mentioned biological filth over themselves.

"Officer Toto, Status Report." he again whispered to himself, this time in a Patrick Stewart impression. Then he changed voices to what he imagined a cairn terrier would sound like. "Not in Kansas anymore, sir!"

However, he flubbed his own imagined joke halfway through. Because when he said "status," something interesting had happened.

"Oh?" His eyes widened. He started to read. "Oh. Oooooooh..." His heart began to beat faster, and louder, as his hands began to shake.

Then he threw his fists into the air and shouted, more than loud enough to wake the other two.

"THE ISEKAI! THE ISEKAI IS REEEEEEEEEAAAAL!" The meme's music didn't kick in, but he could hear it in his head.
I was really trying not to make a mage again after the last RP, but you can't throw out something like "do you want to learn magic?" and not expect a person to jump at it.


Keep in mind, she's a Shaman, not an academic. "Spell-type" Skills definitely count for what would be considered "magic," by most, but Monsters and Demons can't always "learn" Skills the way the Enlightened Races can by actually, well, learning.

Also you could always just use Healing magic the wrong way and stay a punchy-kicker, lol.

@PKMNB0Y
Here's what I've got so far, let me know if there's anything that needs to be adjusted or tweaked. If there's any worry about the "edgelord" refusing to participate in the party antics because he's too busy brooding in the corner, let me assure you he's too much of a rizzless coward to try and pull that off and will immediately go for safety in numbers when possible XD



Heeeey Z, fancy meeting you here

Playing Snake lady. Leaning towards mage.


Of course! *poses with one palm over my eye* A Demon King is always in search of new worlds to conquer! *exaggerated arm flourish*

I haven't decided yet what I'm going for in terms of class/combat archetype, but as far as characters I'm thinking either a ridiculously edgy doomer going through internet withdrawal, or a legally-distinct-Amazon employee whose new life is all about trying to recover from clinical levels of burnout. I could potentially combine them but I currently picture them as the Genocide vs Pacifist routes, respectively.

@PKMNB0Y Thanks for the answers! One more for the road, though---on a scale of like, Rune Factory to Berserk, where's this fantasy world's general atmosphere/difficulty rating going to fall?
Potentially interested, but I have a few questions!

Is it possible to choose to reincarnate as a monster/demon of some kind? If so, is "evolution," "skill adaptation," or any similar concept at play in the world for non-standard humanoid creatures? Like a goblin transforming into a hobgoblin, or an infant dragon's elemental breath/scales being determined by its environment/diet, things like that?

Are reincarnates just sort of spawned in an open field, or could some people find themselves swapped with former hapless identities in native families? Like waking up in the bunk of some low-rank noble's 3rd son who got shipped off to military school, or as an adventurer the Guild has listed as a missing person, etc?

And lastly, do the character's Skills need to be something influenced by their first life (like a HEMA nerd having something like "Basic Swordsmanship") or could it be pretty much anything as long as it's reasonably balanced for Level 1?
Okay folks sorry that one took so long, hopefully I'm back in the saddle now! End of the first day should hopefully come soon given everyone's quest progress, and I have plans to speed things up a little more either way, whether it's plot-focused (if people choose to engage with various hooks) or continues to be everyone doing their own survival-crafting grind.
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