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Edited by WaveOfWire
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Two days… It had been two days that Tracy had gone to sleep while Harrison was working, only to come back in the morning to see him still in the workshop. She knew he was damn productive, sure, but that really couldn’t be healthy. Apparently, it had something to do with the weird bowl of orange… soup… that Cera gave him. No way was it just caffeine; any amount of the stuff would have been filtered out of his system by now. He mentioned a tingling feeling too…
Damn, she did not know enough about drugs to even start assuming what that massive alien had Harrison fucked up on. At least the scanner said he was ‘fine’—if you ignore the other glaring issues the machine brought up. Plus, he said he didn’t mind it. Either way, he managed to complete the weaving component and a few other electrical backbones of the fabricator last night, so the project was practically done, and after seeing the engineer work himself half to death, she was dead-set on finishing it.
She was currently tits-deep into the upper manufacturing portion of the towering machine. It took a tall step-stool—on top of the nearby desk—for her to push her small shoulders through the even smaller access panels high on the everything-printer. It was difficult to fit her torso in, but she managed, holding a flashlight between her teeth as she fiddled with a stubborn series of mechanical ‘hands.’ Nothing new. The situation reminded her of the ‘shop back on Mars; it had the same ever-present scent of copper and industrial sealant. All that was missing was her dad’s ancient tunes blasting through some shitty speakers… Hold on…
The modular component in her grip was successfully attached with a resonating thock. Tracy squirmed out of the dim wire-filled crevice, trying her best to not rip her only tank-top on any bolts or corners, and getting a face-full of the bright flood-lights illuminating the workshop. She scowled and blocked out the searing light with a hand, but she was a bit too late to avoid going half-blind.
“Are the mechanical manipulators in?” Harrison grunted, poking his head out underneath the printer’s floor-adjacent maintenance hatch. She looked down at him as she tried to blink off the spots in her vision. His hair was messy, barely kept in line by his habit of combing through it with his fingers. The areas around his eyes were dark and sunken… Guess that’s what two all-nighters did to a man. He’d be seeing the hat man or start hallucinating if he didn’t get any sleep soon… but then again, the two of them were so close to finishing the fabricator…
“You bet.” She gave him a thumbs up, slamming the panel cover closed. “Feel free to test it.”
He nodded and slid back underneath the machine. “Gotcha”
She gently stepped off the stool and slid off the side of the desk, stretching herself out. If her piss-poor sitting posture or her tank-top puppies hadn’t already fucked her spine up, bending over backward to build this fabricator sure as hell would. She sat down next to the panel where Harrison resided, resting her back against the fabrication tower. Her excited voice broke the muffled noises of the engineer’s work. “So… Harrison?”
“Hmm—”
“—Mind if I play some music?”
The sounds from the hatch stopped, followed by his muffled, shocked tone echoing from beneath the fabricator. “You have music!?”
She smirked at seeing the expression on his face when his head popped out again. “I sure do… Did you seriously not download any to your data pad?”
He slipped out from beneath the fabricator fully, huffing as he took a knee beside her. The scent of melded rubber, wire, and his liquid labor reached her nose not-so-unpleasantly. “You would not believe how much of a pain it is to repair an entire barracks without it… So, yeah, I didn’t.”
“Sooooooooo, whatcha wanna listen to? I’ve got almost everything on here—besides the super niche, of course.” She pulled her data pad out, swiping to the massive music folder
“You wouldn’t like the kinda music I listen to; It’s ancient.”
She gave him a lighthearted, annoyed glare. “Welcome to the club… Now what’ll it be?”
“It’s Old Earth kind of ancient… but alright” He looked up at the ceiling in thought, lips pursed. “Do you have anything from Styx or Sweet?”
She stared at him incredulously, her smirk turning into a fully-fledged smile. “Oh my God. You are an absolute dork! You actually listen to Golden Age music?”
His brows raised, accusatory. “And you somehow know exactly who those bands were and what age of Old Earth music they came from?”
She smugly leaned in closer. “That’s because I’m just as much of a nerd with that kinda music as you apparently are.” She quickly looked upward, addressing the workshop AI. “Sebas, connect nearby speakers to my data pad’s audio.” Tracy elbowed the engineer lightly as the PA system chirped its affirmation. “Now, Mr. Golden Age music, which albums do ya want me to queue up?”
- - - - -
The two of them listened to music for hours, tossing on songs they liked as they came to mind while they worked. Harrison had a ton of recommendations that spanned all over the Golden Ages and some twenty-first century classics. She didn’t even know half of them, but she was vibing either way, adding on her own taste by intermingling some older rock tracks and newer electronic beats. The playlist was steadily built up as the day went on. Thank God her dad showed her a vast array of tunes; she might not have been able to keep up with the engineer if her old man hadn't.
It made the work go by so fast, their conversations blurring as they jumped from topic to topic. They discussed whatever came to mind—old hobbies, old jobs, and old interests. A lot was left behind in Sol… At least she knew that the only other human on the planet was more interesting than a soulless workaholic. It turned out that he was a pretty big history buff, and he apparently read a lot about the colonization of the Sol system and the various wars of independence thereafter. Curious, she asked where the interest stemmed from, and he explained that his grandfather was an admiral in the Slavic-Europan deep-ice submarine fleet, which explained how Harrison’s mother was able to afford to immigrate to Mars from Europa.
He could also play an acoustic guitar, and, unfortunately for Tracy, he wasn’t even the slightest bit interested in printing one out, citing that it was a waste of time and material that would be better used elsewhere. That didn’t stop her from writing a note on her data pad to do so later, though. She hadn’t seen someone play one of those in years—the last time was probably in some old music video from the early twenty-second century. What a shame. She would have liked to hear some of the Europan songs his grandmother taught him.
On the bright side, the man seemed to take an interest in her odd hobbies. He brought up the folder of 3D models that she accidentally uploaded to the inter-module system and asked where she got the inspiration for what was in it. Boy, was he not ready for her ‘WarHalberd40k’ lore dump. Props to the guy for not standing up and leaving the workshop throughout her rambling. He even asked questions about the different factions and their weapons, which she was more than happy to talk about.
She also ended up going over the other franchises and hobbies she was interested in, such as robotics and the like. The only interruptions to their chat were the occasional Akula or Craftsman asking for insight regarding the various tasks he had allotted to them, or Shar coming in to check up on Harrison between guard shifts.
The new dynamic of the group was pretty interesting, to say the least. Tracy hadn’t been out to interact with the whole lot of Malkrin, but she definitely noticed how they treated the engineer. They’d started to look up to him in a way ever since he started showing off technology. In a little over two days, the man had shown them that he could provide the materials for a brick house, fine clothing—especially by the alien’s standards—armor, and delicious food. That wasn’t even mentioning the other benefits the technician heard a few of the ‘banished’ talking about over their meals: heating, electric lights, and other assorted machines.
She’d be feeling pretty happy about herself if she was in his position, having so many look up to him and be grateful at the same time. He seemed to view it a lot more robotically, however, only striving to get the basics done. Luckily for him, his basics were their luxury.
That wasn’t all there was to the topic; the engineer lamented about how the colony was going through food just as quickly as materials. The meals weren’t the direct issue he had, more that he had to start focusing on long-term resource harvesting rather than directly preparing for a literal horde of monsters—which wasn’t exactly ideal. It was a good thing that they just so happened to take on an influx of Malkrin then…
Either way, they finally finished the ‘totally legal modification’ for the fabricator, meaning they could at least partially address the latter half of his worries. The whole process of ripping out an old printer and replacing the parts for a new one felt a lot easier than she imagined… even if it took her at least forty-eight hours to complete it… with help from Harrison. Maybe that was why it felt so easy… She supposed the colony overseers didn’t choose the man for no reason, so his skills made sense.
“So… what do we want to print out first?” Tracy questioned, having finished testing the last major component.
The engineer stretched his arms up into the air and rotated his shoulders, then pulled back the desk’s chair and took a seat. “I’ve had just one thing in mind since the start of this whole project.”
Her brows raised in a mix of excitement and curiosity. She leaned forward, looking at the computer monitor from over his shoulder. “Oh? What’s that, then?”
A smirk formed along his cheek, the computer mouse rapidly clicking through the blueprint folder. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about what kind of firearm we need since I started dabbling in belt-fed weapon systems.” He opened one final file, a short loading bar preceding the exploded assembly view of… “An M2 Browning machine gun. It’s more than powerful enough to kill in one shot, while also being capable of fully-automatic fire, with a capacity of however many rounds we want in a belt-box.”
“Uh…huh…” She gave a skeptical nod and took a step back, not exactly sold on the idea. “It looks ancient. It’s kinetic, right? Why aren’t we using energy-based weapons? Don’t we have a gunpowder shortage coming up?”
He moved his chair off to the side to look back at her. “We just can’t; Simple as. We’ll need who knows how many more AI cores before we can get started on that level of equipment, Trace,” he huffed, returning his gaze to the specifications of the firearm. “This isn’t the most ‘modern’ weapon we can make, but its twenty-first century counterpart helps with an improved design… somewhat. And, as I said before, it should be more than capable of killing a bug in one shot, so Shar can just tap-fire it to save ammunition.”
Her head tilted quizzically. “Shar?”
“Yup,” he returned confidently. “It’s the perfect weapon for her.”
She raised a brow. “How so?”
He held his hand up, counting his reasons on his fingers. “She’s always on the front line with a shield, she can absolutely handle the weight and recoil, her four arms make reloading it simple, plus she’ll need something with range and power that isn’t a spear. So, why not? And, if for some reason, she doesn’t want to use it, we can just convert it into a turret—which is something I was planning on doing anyways with however more M2s we print out later.”
“I doubt she’ll say no to any gun you give her,” Tracy chuckled while shaking her head, inadvertently causing her bangs to cover her eyes.
“Fair enough,” he conceded with a bob of his head. “What do you think, then? What kinda weapons do you have in mind?”
She reapplied her goggles into an impromptu hairband, feeling a smirk cross her face. “Thought you’d never ask. What purpose do we need these guns to fulfill? Hordes I’m guessing?”
“That’s the idea, yeah. That doesn’t mean they all need to be machine guns, though.” He tapped the belt-fed shotgun beside him.
“Well, lemme see what we’re working with first.” She suddenly stepped forward, leaning over Harrison’s seat to access the keyboard and mouse. Her arms briefly rubbed against him, forcing him to roll his chair backward. She suppressed a giggle at seeing his incredulous frown.
Her eyes quickly traced the hundreds of individual files, clicking through all sorts of folders, each arranged from pre-twenty-first century ‘antiques,’ to more modern iterations of kinetics and particle weaponry. There was… a lot on there—almost too much to reasonably comb through. Why? Did the colony overseers just say ‘fuck it’ and put whatever they could find on here? Were they expecting the pioneers to make a museum of everything?
She sighed, standing up straight and facing Harrison. “Y’know, I’m actually impressed you managed to find that M2-whatever in there…”
He shifted in his seat, resting an elbow on the desk. “Yup, there’s a lot. I’m almost tempted to just make several of those machine guns and just call it a day, but I feel like that’d be too much of a strain on resources, no?”
“I don’t really know enough about how you fight those spider-crab things, or how to get more gunpowder, so… maybe?” She shrugged, biting her cheek in contemplation. “You might just wanna make a few smaller caliber weapons… like, uh… those old kinetic service rifles. If your pump-action shotgun works fine, I’m sure some normal guns would work just fine for now, right?”
He hardily gripped his firearm, hauling it up to his lap. “Depends on what you mean by ‘smaller caliber.’ The whole reason why the KS-23 here works—” he pulled out a massive shell from the ammo belt, displaying it on his palm. “—is because the twenty-three-millimeter round has enough energy transfer to mess up any bug's shell and insides. I’d say the smallest rounds we could use would be point-two-forty-three caliber to get any similar results.”
Brief flickers of grungy orange shells and gnashing teeth marred Tracy’s sight. She forcibly suppressed them, distracting herself with dry humor and a strained laugh. “Guess those fuckers can really take a punch, huh?”
He shook his head somberly. “I couldn’t imagine going up against them without a gun… Anyway, I like your idea of a standard rifle for now. Then, when we have some product lines up, we can go a little more in depth into personal weapons.”
“So are you gonna take one?” She hopped up on the desk, letting her legs swing off the side.
“Don’t think so, no. I’ll stick with my shotty.” The internals of the heavily modified weapon rattled as he held it up and inspected it. “Doesn’t mean I’ll keep it as is. I’m thinking of printing a laser aiming module so I can point-fire it accurately, and maybe a melee-oriented muzzle brake or a lighter chassis to reduce weight… Not sure though.”
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, her cheeks in her palms. “Melee-oriented? Oooooh, like a chain-sword or something?”
His short chuckle coerced a smirk to her face. “No, not like that. More something to use as a bludgeoning tool. Right before the blood-moon, I ended up getting just as much use out of this shotgun as a hammer than as a… well, a shotgun.”
“That’s pretty fuckin’ metal. So are you just gonna make the barrel into a giant bayonet?”
He nodded. “Not exactly a bayonet, but something more like a door-breaching break.”
A short silence settled on their conversation, the faint sounds of the fabricator’s hum and distant woodwork coming to light. Right, there was an outside world… She’d been too caught up talking to Harrison for however many hours it had been. She wondered how successful the fisherwomen were in collecting, and how things had been for the others working on the wood storage shack. Maybe it was already completed? The sun peered through the cargo bay door, proving that it was only about midday. What else would they work on today?
“Hey,” she ventured.
“Hm?” the engineer hummed, his eyes focused on the monitor beside the technician.
She scooted closer to his keyboard. “What’re we doing after this?”
“What do you mean?”
She leaned backward, propping herself up on two hands. “Project wise; what’s the next big thing?”
“Uhmmm…” he muttered, interacting with the computer for a few more seconds before finally meeting her gaze. “Well, I’ve just allocated the fabricator to print out the M2, three FALs—wood furniture, of course—then there’s the magazines and ammunition, so we’ve got a lot of time to kill. The next big thing is definitely going to be metal procurement, and— Oh, right!” Harrison stopped mid-sentence, reaching into his backpack and pulling out several finger-sized metallic cubes, a sudden fire in his eyes. “Okay, so a while ago, during an encounter with three colossi, Shar and Akula found a cave with some ‘surface’ metal deposits. I took a piece off to analyze, but never got the chance to until last night. Anyway, we don’t have any machines to examine the ore, so I made use of the recycler and broke it down to its baser components.”
She nodded along, seeing where he was going with his explanation. “I’m guessing those shiny cubes are the metals from the ore?”
“Sure is. So, as it turns out, we have a pretty damn close supply of not only iron, but also, zinc, sulfur, and a small amount of cadmium. I talked with Sebas about it and did a little research. We believe it’s something akin to sphalerite, given its composition and looks, which implies it’s a sedimentary exhalative deposit. That means there must have been some volcanic…”
Harrison continued talking about underwater deposits and ancient rock formations, bringing up some theories brought forward by the now 4-AI-core-powered Sebas, delving into the current land mass’ history and possible ore output. A lot of it went over the tradewoman’s head, but she still listened intently… Honestly, she could have listened to the man talk about finding metals for hours. It was sort of like the podcasts she used to listen to while completing colonist training, but even more personal and somehow easier to get lost in…
“…find some other minerals further down like silver, but it also might be an active lava zone. Again, these are all theories and this world could just throw the fundamentals of geology away as it does for physics. Anyway, sorry for going on for so long about that, just thought it’d be important for getting some metals in the future.”
“No, no,” Tracy assured, alleviating him of concern with a wave of her hand. “If there’s anything the colony overseers emphasized, it was farming and mineral acquisition. Don’t worry.” She smiled, pointing a thumb to herself. “I just wanna know how I can help.”
“Actually, I’ve a few things only you can do. I’d like to make use of your impressive drone-making expertise for a few applications, if you don’t mind.”
The task of keeping eye contact slipped into an impossible feat in the span of a singular second, planting a pang of embarrassment on her reddened face, forcing her to inspect her fidgeting hands. “I-I wouldn’t say ‘impressive’… b-but what do you have in mind?”
She could see him raise a brow out of the corner of her vision. “Well, after what you’ve shown me with the reconnaissance flyers, I’d like your help in setting up a more permanent ‘net’ of them to scour the meadow and parts of the nearby forest to look out for any approaching hordes. I don’t want to be snuck up on… again…”
‘Again.’
She noted his small frown and sunken eyes, both a little more exaggerated than they already were. It wasn’t like she’d deny his request, but the pangs of empathy over their shared situation all but solidified her resolve. It was the least she could do. She could help him. She would help him.
The technician exhaled slowly, taking on a more serious and understanding tone than before. “I… can do that. For sure. What else?”
“I appreciate it.” He gave a wane smile. “I’ll help you with whatever you need for the project. For the other drones, I’m thinking about a small exploration vehicle to map out caves around us and mark any minerals, as well as a submersible to look for potassium deposits in the ocean.”
“So… search bots?” She crossed her arms, confidence growing; those were her specialty. “Depending on how long the fabricators take and what kind of base drones are in the blueprint folders, I should be able to get those done in no time. All I need to know are the search cues for potassium and how many drones you want.”
He quickly shuffled a few folders on the computer, turning the monitor for her to see some scientific documents with various images and walls upon walls of text. “There’re plenty of resources for that on here for what to look for, and there’s always Sebas, so feel free to ask him since he can just sort through the data for you anyway. If you can, I’d like it if you could focus on the submersible after the reconnaissance drones.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll be right on it, then.” She gave him a thumbs up, slipping off his desk and toward her own.
“I’ll bring you lunch in a bit. Imma go check on the others,” he called.
Her stomach grumbled at the mention, her head turning to give him an appreciative smile. “Oh! Thanks!”
\= = = = =
Avian creatures chirped from their perches in the trees nearby. The wind softly rustled red leaves as grass gently gave way to calculated footfalls. A warm sun laid its light on Shar’khee’s neck. It was surprisingly pleasant, were one to take the time to notice. The mainland was a confusing place for the paladin, with its disparate representations of nature contrasting so heavily. Some days were filled with blood and ravenous beasts, while others were left within the domain of simplicity and beauty. She was content to have the latter, yet it felt like a facade veiling the former—a soft exterior covering the maliciously spiked interior. Never could she leave herself to carelessness, no matter how welcoming it might be.
Hence why she worked to ensure the safety of the star-sent’s castles and their inhabitants, her days largely spent patrolling for any roaming swarms that may wish to cause them harm. She typically used the routine to think, but today offered little in the way of solitude. This time, she was accompanied by the previously banished guardswoman, and was tasked with instructing the new one, though the specifics of what such lessons should entail were vague. Still, Shar’khee did all that she could so as not to disappoint Harrison, so she could only attempt to meet his expectations of her.
She told the yellow-skinned female of the threats that the settlement faced, how one was to defeat them, and what to expect from the beasts. The guardswoman was directed to practice her form with the spear in both thrusts and throwing for some time afterward, proving herself to be well-built. Such was expected of her profession after all.
It was pleasing to have another capable of patrolling the settlement’s outskirts for swarms, as it would greatly impact how effectively the colony could react to such a threat. If her routine was to suffer for the colony’s well-being, she was happy to show the new one her patrol route and note what to look out for.
The guardswoman was not a perfect student, however. Shar’khee never addressed it directly, but the yellow-skinned female obviously discredited the danger posed by the abhorrent, not-so-subtly shrugging off any warnings.
…That was until they stumbled upon the ‘hyena-boars,’ as Harrison called them.
The beasts resided in a clearing not too far from the castles, carelessly meandering across the sea of tall grass. Shar’khee quickly crouched, dragging the guardswoman down with her. Once she assessed that the creatures were not an imminent danger, she decided it would be an excellent opportunity to show the new one how to properly engage a threat. She was about to propose the idea, yet her speech was silenced just as swiftly.
Orange flashes darted through the trees around the glade. Taloned feet and gnashing teeth tore across the ground toward the unsuspecting beasts at the center. It was much too late for them. They were slow. Surrounded. Unaware. It was as quick as it was vicious, the forest’s reds turning a deeper crimson hue in a moment's notice underneath the abhorrent’s brutality.
Gangly monstrosities gnawed and ripped at the dead creatures, brief glimpses of raw flesh and white bone protruding from the small spaces between the clumped-up beasts. Repulsive wet splatters of blood and gore overlapped the calm noises of the forest, the grisly scene serenaded by the softest of nature’s symphonies. It was a sickening juxtaposition.
Shar’khee bit back the unease and steeled herself. They were within twenty paces—close enough to smell the abhorrent’s vile stench of rot and bile, yet far enough so as not to be noticed. She briefly considered backing away and retreating, her focus bouncing between the different avenues of escape, or how to cover her footst—
Crack.
Several sets of feral, eyeless maws snapped in their direction, the blood dripping off freshly dampened teeth. The guardswoman gasped, Shar’khee’s gaze following to see the mistake: a singular broken branch crinkled as a yellow-colored foot raised off the splintering twig.
The paladin exhaled sharply and smoothly stood up, brandishing two spears and her shield. Her glare settled on the still crouching guardswoman. “You are to stay behind my shield and let them appr—ch. Rem—ber what I have told you. Aim for their maws when you thrust y—r lance.”
The other female nodded, shakily pulling out her own weapons with unsteady placement hampering her grip. There was an obvious nervousness to her gaze. Hesitance. That would not do.
Shar’khee faced the prowling abhorrent her knuckles shifting hue as she prepared for their advance, for there was no chance that they wouldn’t. True to her experience, the stalking turned to a gallop with several clicks of grotesque tongues, the swarm bolting toward her as one. She snarled and slammed her bulwark into the ground, letting the approaching beasts skewer themselves amongst its spikes.
There were only ten—a paltry amount. She had defended against magnitudes more, and yet she still stood. What is more, they were mindless. Uncoordinated. They would be but stains in the cloth she used to clean her armor. Perhaps, if they were fortunate, they might leave a furrow in her shield to remember them by. Her arms tensed as the first leapt.
One by one, the abhorrent fell, their repulsive green blood splattering under her thrusts. Each awaiting corpse tore across the grove’s grass, lunging to their deaths with gaping maws and unfeeling hunger, yet she did not yield. Their shells were crushed by her shield and impaled by her Goddess-blessed spears, becoming but one more smear across their surface. Ten motionless lumps lay before her, seeping their ichor into the soil, none having passed the barrier she became. Dead, just as the Creator intended. She remained vigilant for a few moments longer, watching for any more of the disgusting creatures.
None showed themselves, finally allowing blood to flow to her fingers once again. The shield’s heavy presence weighed down her back, the blood flicked off of her spears before she returned them to their place.
“Are y–u well?” Shar’khee addressed the frozen Malkrin, wiping away the splatter on her bracers. The guardswoman stared at the small pile of deceased creatures, her heavy breaths and widened eyes moving from the spear from her singular kill. The paladin huffed. “We are fort—ate that there were so few.”
“F-Few? God help us…” Her horrified, stunned gaze slowly met the paladin’s. “Y-You said there were hundreds on the crimson nights? H-How do you… They were s-so fast.”*
”As I h–ve warned,” Shar’khee affirmed.
“You are a paladin! You all exaggerate your feats… I thought it was just a facade!”
“I have no r—son to lie,” she returned tersely, shrugging off the insult to her station and shaking her head. “The mainl—d is far more dangerous than ten gnash—g beasts; more so than that of your island hamlet. Pick yourself up. We m—t inform the others of this incursion.”
The yellow-skinned female snarled, furrowing her brows at the ground in frustration. At whom…? Shar’khee? Herself? Regardless, the female promptly gathered her composure, pushing air through clenched jaws. A step forward had her feet splash in the small pool of blood, the Malkrin nodding toward the paladin to continue back to the castles.
“…for the village.”
Shar’khee paused in her stride and faced her, frowning at the determination and anger leaking through the intent. “W—t was that?”
Her question was returned with honesty, a huffed voice marred by vexation. “Paladin, how am I to defend my village-mates as I am now?”
“‘As you are now?’ What do you m—n?”
The guardswoman stared down at her spear, wood creaking under her grip. “I have faltered before what you deem a paltry threat, and the thought of an even greater one sows dread deep within my bones. I wish… I wish to be better prepared to defend those of my village. I cannot help but see their faces on those of the furred creature in the clearing, and yet, even if I am so close, I am just as unable to protect them.”
Shar’khee stared down the yellow female, a long gaze taking in a rare showing of sincerity. “Y—r fears are one we all share, new one. Do not be ashamed of them. All t—t matters is that you do not let them rem—n mere fear, but make them your strength. So tell me, do you wish to impr—e? To ensure they do not fall while you are support—g them?”
The yellow-skinned female released a shuddering breath that bled off the worst of her indecision, a newly invoked flame flaring within her visage. “I do, paladin. I seek to protect and to be of use.”
“Then, if you wish to make y—rself resilient in the face of all that opposes us, it would be my undertak—g to forge you anew. Fortunately, Harrison has ordered such already, and his guidance shall prove ever useful, should you pursue it.”
The guardswoman shuffled in place at the star-sent’s mention, her eyes slipping downwards. “He is of a great many resources, but I would rather receive your teachings than those of a craftsman… or that of a male, deity-sent he might be.”
She placed a palm on the female’s shoulder. “He is far more than you might ever k—w. Regardless of if you ac—pt his guidance, I commend your conviction. However—” Her hand gripped tighter, though not enough to instill hostility. “—understand that you are protecting more than just your vi—age-mates.”
The new one nodded, staring up at the paladin with stallwart resolve. “Of course. I shall be in your tutelage, then.”
Shar’khee smiled. “T—n let us begin.”
\= = = = =
Akula was becoming increasingly certain that she knew how her parents once felt. The green-skinned fisherwoman was currently rotating between the many tasks placed upon her, guiding the newcomers through the minutia of their tasks so they might live up to the potential Harrison saw within them. She was gratified to have her own talents recognized by the Creator, but it also placed a great many responsibilities in her talons. Of course, she handled each new addition with finesse befitting her heritage, never once balking from the increasing demands. If anything, she felt validated; it was required of her as a female anyway, was it not? The more feminine-appropriate labor and management one undertakes, the higher authority they were granted.
It began with a simple assignment to oversee the chef’s introduction to the star-sent’s provided cooking appliances. As fascinating and convenient as utilities were, she held no interest in preparing any more food than she already had, but teaching another to operate the machines would alleviate such requirements of her. She reluctantly accepted the task when it was proposed, especially considering the fact that Harrison was much too busy with his other projects to bother with something as benign as cooking. His work was more valuable elsewhere.
The task itself went well, and the pink-skinned chef was quick to pick up on the use of the various kitchen devices, as well as the smoker. A grin had grown when she considered the possibility of all males understanding such domestic things readily, yet her mirth at removing the masculine job required of her was short-lived. Despite the newly initiated Malkrin’s success, Harrison had Akula frequently return to oversee the numerous cooking operations being conducted. That was in tandem with the back-to-back fishing trips made by both herself and the newly acquired females.
…Which was something else the green-skinned cycle-worshipper was ordered to oversee.
She had left the chef to his devices after producing another batch of partially seasoned meals, returning to the Creator with hopes of a break. He applauded her efforts with a nod and tersely spoken appreciation, then quickly pushed two spearguns into her hand and directed her to the ocean, where the twins were ‘working with jack shit,’ as the busy male said. She was to give the fisherwomen the tools and make sure they were used properly, and offer additional assistance in acquiring ‘enough fish to have us fed for a little bit.’
So, she left to complete the given task, feeling somewhat appreciative that her speargun was of superior quality to those she would be delivering—the newcomers were only afforded the lesser, roped-bolt version. It was only natural that she was in possession of their greatest assets, of course; the star-sent saw her as the only one capable of wielding such fantastic ammunition, showing trust that was rightfully placed in her. That did not mean the gray-skinned females were unsatisfied with their own gifts, however. The twins were swiftly caught up on the ‘manual of arms’ and sent to work, somehow managing to keep up with Akula in spite of their land-based origins. The two were fast enough to outpace the cycle-worshipper in sheer speed, but their lack of numerous winters spent traversing deeper waters meant they required frequent rests, breaking the ocean’s surface after every third captured fish or so.
Still, she had to appreciate their dedication to their task. They never complained about Akula pushing them further to reach the star-sent’s vague objective. Such a task was entrusted to her—and by proxy, the other two—and thus it would be completed, no matter how much her comfortable bed… couch called her tiring muscles.
The group of three hauled net after full net of fresh meat to the chef—and sewist, who later joined him—forcing him to relegate much of the catch to long-term storage as the kitchen simply could not deal with the surplus. At least three-quarters of the fish were put to slow cook in the now Malkrin-sized smoker. The craftsman had upgraded it with a kit provided by Harrison, who had recycled much of the dining room and workshop furniture to accommodate it. The Creator’s showcased urgency to gather materials was clearly not unfounded… It was admirable how he used what little he had left to ensure food would not be scarce. Additionally, the apparatus exuded an excellent scent for all the survivors to enjoy, the earthy aroma drawing in some of the other Malkrin for their breaks or meals.
Those were not the end of the cycle-worshiper’s tasks, however. She was also required to report on Shar’khee’s progress in training the guardswoman—helping to recycle the small swarm of abhorrent they cleared earlier—as well as the wood storage building’s progress. Indeed, she was advising and assisting however and wherever applicable. To say she was seen all around the settlement would be an understatement.
Nevertheless, she was appreciative to see her efforts bearing fruit by sundown. The processing of their meals from sea to plate was quite efficient, and those that Akula taught were now well-practiced in their duties. The twin fisherwomen dove from wave to wave, bringing fish back to the barracks, where the cook and sewist swiftly worked to transfer the meat to pans and smoker hooks alike. Then, the remnants of the Sea Goddess’ aquatic gifts would be subsequently recycled and given purpose anew as biofuel or perhaps future fertilizer.
The endless onslaught of duties and responsibilities had enlightened her, in a way. She could see where Harrison came from now; having a working project go from one point to another without input nor difficulty was a sight to behold, and it made her swell with pride. It was a surmountable feat to teach the barbaric ground-worshippers to do something properly.
…Well, they were not horrible Malkrin, so perhaps simply calling them ‘uninitiated’ was a more apt descriptor…
No matter the tribulations faced, and no matter how draining her new authority might be, her rest at the end of the day would be one that was well-earned, and it would be had with a sense of satisfaction. She deserved it, and perhaps that extended to the rest of the settlement as well.
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Mine! Mine! Mine!

I remember a game that you could play on a browser where you'd start off in a house/garden and you'd play as some sort of creature or monster. I distinctly remember you could collect coins and stuff and it was similar to moshi monsters. I think it was advertised on nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or Disney XD? Could have been boomerang as well.
I don't know if region wise it would matter but I'm from the UK.
Sorry I don't remember too much about it, I remember getting stuck at the start of it haha.

The sublight RPG has two varieties of Humans and 9 forms supernatural life forms that take on human form in order to survive in our reality:
Shadeem/Celestials - Manifestations of a sentient universe (named Mel) who had to split from their universe to live in ours. Once individualized, they can't return to their realm. Their kind have been recorded in our history as Shadeem (or Angels)
Dragons - Sentient lumps of matter from the Fey realm. They crave human attention and will appear as something valuable (be it a horde of cold, a library full of books, or a cellar full of whiskey.) However, if someone tries to remove so much as a gold cup, the Horde projects some sort of protective entity. In ancient times, a giant flying snake. In modern times, the protector can be anything from an old man with a shotgun to a lovecraftian monster.
Fey - A catch-all for beings from the Magenta realm of magic. They specialize in enchantment magic. They come into the material plane to extract mana from humans. They are fond of embroiling humans inside of contracts.
Funagami - Technically a variety of construct. But these are ships or space stations that have taken on a life of their own.
Homo Excultus - Not technically a new species, but a racist ideology of the denizens of the Moon. They are convinced they are a higher form of life than Earth dwelling Homo Sapients.
Karite - Body stealers. They inhabit corpses or wrest control of living people. They originate from the same chaos realm as Constructs. They feed on humans for mana, and have a supernatural healing ability. Their preferred chakra to feed from is inside the skull.
Lycans - Human shape shifters. They are genetically human beings, but they have been so infused with transmutation magic their material body can re-arrange itself.
Shemyaza - Aka Succubi or Incubi. Shadeem that have been cut off from their realm. To continue to exist, they need to drain mana from humans. Their preferred chakra is at the base of the spine, which they can "access" through sexual acts.
Tsukumogami - Tools, weaons, and household objects that have become self-aware. They are suspected to be related to constructs and Funagami. However, they seem to require regular interaction with humans to "come alive".
Vampires - Humans who have become undead. Undeath chokes off the flow of mana through their own chakra. To continue to exist in the material plane, they must absorb mana from other humans. When starving, they have been known to try to access the chakra directly by literally chewing through the flesh of their victims. The chakra in the throat is the most accessible.
Yōkai - Sentient lumps of protomatter brought over from the realm of chaos. Unlike Constructs, they can form their own structures. But solidifying consumes a lot of mana. They prefer to take a gelatinous state. When humans view them in their natural state, they become terrified if not insane. Many take on disguises that allow them to remain inside of an encounter suit. (Be it disguised as a hazmat suit, a life support apparatus, a suit of armor, robot body, body concealing robes, etc.) A Yokai inhabiting a computer of complex machine is known as a Construct. Unlike other forms of life, their mana comes not from pulling extra dimensional energy through Chakra, but through transforming material realm objects.

By popular demand, I guess...
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a new edition era where there would be no vocational barriers for adventurers based on their race. Soon, the world began to see roguish halflings that also venerated Helm, while tending to the wilds as a druid. Half-orc bards also studied as wizards while manifesting natural arcane abilities as sorcerers. Tiefling paladins took their crusades to the wilderness and served as rangers, while sidelining as clergy to Mystra. The world was now a liberated place, free to not make any goddamn sense in a myriad of new ways. At one point, Lady Mazzy Fentan of Trademeet (now formally a paladin) crossed paths with a dwarven shadowdancebard and in that moment she regretted everything. Seriously, just take a moment and picture that. It would look fucking ridiculous.”
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's Ward's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”

Let me specify first that by “more interiors” I mean more components in the facility and mansion interiors, not a brand new one.
The apparatus is the most interesting map mechanic we have right now. It acts as a secondary objective to find for bonus loot. I think it would be great if we added more mechanics like this, especially since the mansion layout lacks anything like this.
One idea I have is to put a vault inside with a combination hidden somewhere in the mansion. Inside said vault could be a gold bar, a gun, or parts for the drill.
The other thing I’d like to see addressed is that the facility doesn’t feel lived in yet. It’s hard to pinpoint it’s purpose that these building served before we got there. A room with a bunch of open holding cells, an office for the director of the facility, a security room where you could interact with the blast doors, a lab with notes on certain monsters, etc.
As for the mansion, bedrooms, A panic room, a security room, a game room, or even a pool would add so much to the atmosphere.

I..Holy...well.. Holy yakmel. Wow. I cannot find words to describe how much i love this game. I had computer issues and had to stop playing until it came out on switch (this was around act 2 so never made it to act 3 prior to this) and then school took up a lot of time. So I've now made it through a good chunk of act 3 (just did the quest with the new algae apparatus) and..knowing it's almost done is almost bitter sweet. I'll likely replay over and over, though nothing will ever feel like the first time. My builder has her yakboy (though I wish he had more quests to give more quests to show of a progression between friendship, lovers, and marriage, and some nice post marriage quests; even some that involve joining at the outpost and maybe officially being on his monster hunter team with dialogue for doing so either as friend or as lover; heck id pay for that). Things are looking up. Heck I'd happily pay for a big DLC story that expands the game (including the aforementioned things above; i would pay for all of those). But I also know it all depends on how feasible it is for you, the developers. And the game itself is still beautiful. Though there's thing I want, I will not demand or expect them (theyre just ideas that if it is possible, i think would be neat). I love the game for the beautiful masterpiece it is regardless.
This has taken the top spot for me. It is my favourite game of all time. And it had a lot of good titles to beat for that. I loved Portia when I played it too but Sandrock just hit.. it hit different. The story, the voice acting, everything. It made for such an immersive experience that even though I know it's not real, some of those scenes..they still FELT real(ish). Heck I even cried at times (which I know probably sounds weird but it's just a testament to how amazing the people who worked so hard on this game did be it in the development of the story or in the voice acting or the art).
So I guess this is a very long way of saying..thank you. To the whole team. The devs, artists, writers, and voice actors. And everyone else involved. Thank you for making a game that takes it's genre and pushes the bounds of cozy gaming. I'll be really sad when it's over and, like I said, there's obviously things I think it would be cool to add.. but it's still just so beautiful and its.. its just so good. Thank you so much, to the team who is responsible for Sandrock 🩶

My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
First Previous Next
We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

Hi all. I've been on a bit of a bender today - thinking about my childhood playing games like Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters, Bin Weevils, Free Realms and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. I have memories of another game I used to play in that pre-2012 period, which I think featured pandas as the playable species? It was definitely something similar to a panda, at least. It was definitely in the same style as CP and BW, I'm trying to discern the name of the game, and whether it might still be up/has emu'd servers.
Platform(s): Windows, probably Mac (and Linux?) too since, from memory, it's a web browser game (Which, I suppose, means the odds of it still existing in its original state are slim.)
Genre: Uhh... Kiddy MMO? I dunno how else to explain it.
Estimated year of release: Probably mid 2000s, given that by 2010 I'd mostly switched away from the first 3 games I mentioned above, and onto stuff like ROBLOX. I stayed with SW:CWA and Free Realms a bit longer, and I don't remember playing this game much concurrently with those two and ROBLOX.
Graphics/art style: 2d graphics, that sort of cutesy art style where there's detail but it's still very kid friendly from Moshi Monsters and Bin Weevils. Edit - I recall the game having a somewhat 'oriental' style for at least some of the areas present in the game.
Notable characters: Pandas, I think?
Notable gameplay mechanics: Generic stuff for a Club Penguin/Bin Weevils style game. Mini-games and such, basic as hell character customisation.
Other details: I'm from the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and currently in my early 20s. I believe Bin Weevils was UK-only, so this game may be as well.
I know I haven't given really any information on this subject, but that's because my memories are so damned hazy. I just want answers on what this game was.
EDIT:
Ruled out thus far: Panfu, Pandanda, Kung Fu Panda World, Pet Pet Park, Animal Jam, Secret Bear World, Franktown Rocks, Rolypolyland, Poptropica, Furcadia, Webkins, Tootsville, Neopets.

A small coastal town has been paying tribute every 4 months to an young/adult black dragon (barely an adult, will have modified stat block combining both, with some niche spellcasting and some homebrew abilities, probably around CR9) named Shodax for about 150 years (for the town and it's average lifespan about 4 generations), collected by a tribe of kobolds that worship the dragon. Over the span of about a decade, the tributes start getting smaller and smaller. The kobolds notice it pretty early on (about year two), but say nothing due to fear of the dragon. The dragon notices after a decade and in it's rage at the slight kills 14 of the kobolds, who now number in the hundreds. The dragon orders the kobolds to find out how the town has the audacity to skimp out on it's expected tribute, but can't be bothered to deal with such a petty issue because it is planning on conquering another nearby city.
The kobolds start investigating, as best as kobolds can (which is not very well). They find that the town has gotten much larger than they think it should have (imagine if Las Vegas had the same growth rate from 1930 to 1960, but for 150 years, as a medieval fantasy town/city), it now has an organized militia and defense apparatus, and appears to have a large port now.
During one of these investigations, some of the kobolds are seen, resulting in a quick skirmish that sees about 6 people killed (2 guards and 4 innocent bystanders, a moderately influential trade family). The town, not having any expeditionary forces, hires a party (the PCs) of adventurers to investigate the kobold incursion, and eliminate the threat. The people who actually hire the party will be overtly and strangely happy and jovial about the whole matter, while the rest of the town will be very somber and gloomy. Many random people (shopkeepers, innkeepers, pedestrians) will randomly complain about headaches and attribute it to the weather (which will be normal weather each time), the water and anything made with it will have a weird taste and consistency, and there will be some minor mechanical effects from various things the party does in the city.
The party will be looking for the kobolds, and will have a few encounters with them, likely resulting in many kobolds being killed. Eventually one of encounters will be with a slightly important kobold, who instead of fighting will immediately surrender her forces in order to parley.
The kobolds will tell the party that they simply are trying to find out where the limits of the town are because it has grown so fast that it is encroaching on the kobolds ancestral homes and hunting grounds, and that they know they are no match for the town and simply want to survive (deception). The kobolds will offer tribute in magical items and a meager amount of gold (that they can steal from the dragon) for the party to investigate the town and find out how it has gotten so large so quickly and if it has the means to "ally" with the kobolds (the kobolds offer external protection to the city from outside threats, in return for tribute to them). If the party accepts, new planned direction for the campaign, if not it angers the dragon who will eventually come down and threaten the under leveled party itself, before going about it's business with the other city.
The party goes back to the city to investigate the expansion and maybe offer the deal the kobolds made, and after some investigation (and a weird creepy invitation after the investigation gains some ground) finds a cult to the demon Lord Mammon. This cult will likely be presumed to be the cause of the towns enrichment/expansion, as well as the melancholy around the town and the headaches of a lot of the people.
This is not true, it is a false cult created by an aboleth who has dealt with this before and has setup "fake" (fake only in that it was initiated by the aboleth, but the aboleth convinced the people to truly believe in the demon, so the cult and its practices are real and trying to summon Mammon) demon cults in the town(s) it is gaining control over to throw off the scent and course correct if its ruse of mind controlling the town starts slipping. The party might pick up on some clues that will allude to this, as well as others throughout the campaign, which will likely lead to conspiracy theories [insert Charlie Day IASIP conspiracy meme here].
Now that the party will have leveled a bit the town will celebrate them as heroes but reject the offer of the kobolds (or ask that they kill the dragon, if the party went into a direct meeting with it), telling the party that it is a lie in order to actually get tribute for the dragon Shodax, who the kobolds actually worship. The town, (whose leadership is controlled by the aboleth) will say that they refuse to engage with such a foul monster (in actuality the aboleth considers the dragon a major threat and doesn't want to give it more resources). The town will again hire the party; this time to kill the dragon once and for all, ending its looming threat over the region, (and it's challenge to the three cities currently under the aboleth's control, one of which is the new target of the dragon).
The party will likely either fight their way through the kobolds (which will be difficult given the amount of time they have had to dig in ~200 years) or tell the kobolds their offer was declined because of the dragon and perhaps try to convince the kobolds their master (the dragon) is an awful ruler and they should seek out a new one once the party kills it (could lead to some dissent in the ranks of the kobolds and a potential small faction of allies vs the dragon). When the party gets to the dragon itself, they will inevitably fight, and if/when it is near death it will give insight into the town itself and why it still continues to grow and envelop the surrounding area. The dragon will only give the information if it is spared from death, even though by now the party should have some suspicion that the town is still awry for some reason, so could reasonably kill the dragon and still discover the reason. If they kill the dragon then the reception celebration in the town will be unexpectedly smaller than what was expected based on the reward promised, and the whole time creepy weird things will be happening with all the people (blank stares and creepy smiles of those celebrating, the reward being partially forgotten and gaslighting the party into thinking they misheard, lots of people making very ominously worded yet friendly mannered invitations to come to the "real celebration" the next night at dusk in a seaside cave) where the aboleth connection will be made.
The dragon reveal, if they let it live to talk: the dragon will be able to observe (due to wanting to conquer the other cities involved) that 3 cities, including the one that hired the party, have all been growing at the same rate for the same amount of time, and that the dragon itself is wary to try and conquer one city of the three because they are all strongly allied and would hunt the dragon down eventually. The dragon did its own recon via spells (variant rule and dragons and spellcasting) and found out the real reason for this is that the cities are all being puppeteered and are almost completely assimilated into the will of an aboleth, who is making the cities have strong trade agreements with each other and forcing the cities to reinforce and bolster each other through manipulation of lots of key figures and large control of the populations. Key point though, the dragon doesn't know the location of the aboleth itself. It will promise that if the party finds the aboleth (it doesn't know the plurality of the situation) it will help the party defeat it (a flat out lie, if they agree to this and contact the dragon, it will attempt to kill everything: the party, the aboleth, any innocent bystanders in the area). If the party tries to kill it, the dragon will attempt to escape, and either die or go into hiding to recover and seek out a new lair.
It will fall to the party either way to investigate the aboleth control of the city/cities, where they will eventually discover that each city is being controlled by a separate aboleth working in concert with the other two. They are working in concert to, and succeeding at, recovering artifacts and knowledge of Tharizdun, the elemental god of chaos and destruction, and the high level play will be the party finishing off the aboleths (who have been making each other stronger and will have modified/homebrew statblocks by the end) and the dragon (if the party didn't kill it when they had the chance earlier) and finding a way to kill the avatar of Tharizdun that has been summoned before it gains too much power and is actually freed from its astral prison. (Custom statblock, very high CR, party should be high level by then).

it won’t let me download moshi monsters online to my mac because it says unable to scan for viruses. is there any way around this? girl just wants to adopt a moshi😭😭

I'm back with another post! I apologize about the length of time it's been. Nothing particular has happened - just been tired and a little uninspired. But I do still have enough to post, so here you go! As always, thanks for all your engagement and for reading!
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“Well hello to you, too, Charles,” Valteria replied. “The ‘giant cat’ is named Freyja, firstly, and she is the bonded companion of Xander, here. He said I should tell you that she’s an emotional support animal.”
Charles barked out a laugh at the absurdity of the statement. He made his way from behind the counter, leaving the bar to one of the other workers in the tavern, to continue speaking with Valteria and Xander without needing to shout over the din of the tavern. “An emotional support animal? I take it you’re a [Godsmarked], eh?” He said, turning to face Xander.
“Uhm, yes. I am. Nice to meet you. Valteria told me that you’re also a [Godsmarked]?”
“Sure am,” Charles replied. “Pulled right out of Denver, not that you could tell from an accent or anything. You might not have noticed, but that language skill you got? Kinda strips you of any accent, makes you talk just like a native. Where are you from?”
“Atlanta,” Xander replied.
“Ah, another American! Course, [Godsmarked] come from all over. Some of them aren’t even from Earth! I met a Vorn [Godsmarked] once. Few dwarven ‘marked, too. So it’s always nice to meet someone who can appreciate what a beer, hotdog, and screaming at your TV for a sports match really mean.”
“Well, I was always more of a fan of wine, personally. But I’ll admit to getting frustrated at the people on my TV.”
“What’s a TV?” Valteria chimed in, not wanting to be left out.
Xander and Charles both looked at Valteria and started trying to explain what a TV was at the same time.
“It’s like my phone, but bigger and just for moving pictures,” Xander started off.
“It’s a big rectangular box that shows paintings that move and tell a story,” Charles said at the same time.
Valteria looked a little frazzled by the simultaneous explanations but seemed to get the gist of it. “Why would you be screaming at it?”
Xander looked to Charles, who said, “Should I explain or do you want to?”
Xander shrugged. “All you.”
“Well you could watch different sports on the TV, and they were broadcast live – that is, in real time. There was a usually alcohol involved. You ever seen someone spectating a duel who shouts what they think their favorite should be doing?”
“Mmhm,” Valteria said with a nod.
“Well we’d do the same thing, except since we weren’t actually there, we’d just shout it at the TV.”
“So they could hear you through it?”
“Nah,” Xander chimed in. “But that didn’t stop people.”
“Odd.” Valteria commented, a bit confused by the idea of shouting at a bunch of players who couldn’t hear you.
“People just tended to get really excited about it,” Xander tried to offer as an explanation.
Changing the subject, Charles said “So, I have two burning questions for you two. One, what brings you to my establishment tonight? It’s been quite a while since you’ve been by, Valteria, and I can’t say that you’ve ever brought someone with you before. And two... can I pet the cat?”
“Uhm...” Valteria started and trailed off, looking embarrassed.
Xander answered his question with more ease, saying, “Sure, she loves to be scratched on the chin and behind the ears, but really she likes being pet anywhere.”
Charles stepped closer to the huge, smoke colored cat and held out a hand for her to sniff. Freyja immediately rubbed her cheek against Charles’s hand, anticipating getting pet by the man. Encouraged, Charles began to pet Freyja in earnest, thoroughly scratching her chin before moving to her ears, earning himself a pleased grunt from Freyja. But that didn’t stop him from noticing Valteria’s lack of an answer.
“’Uhm?” He asked Valteria, turning to look at her, but not stopping his petting of Freyja.
“Xander said I needed to have a drink at the end of the day and I was inclined to agree with him,” Valteria finally answered.
“Ahhh, a date then,” he teased his violet friend. Noticing Valteria’s lack of an immediate denial, and a slight smile that he took as Xander’s acceptance of the statement, his eyes widened a little and he said, “Oh, oh I see. A real date.” Valteria’s blush came back as strongly as ever as Charles continued on. “Well I’d hate to keep you two from each other! Come, sit, I spy a free table just over there. I’ll bring you two some ale in a bit.”
“Oh, uh, I can’t drink,” Xander interjected. “It’s a... medical condition? But bring two anyway. I think Valteria could use it.”
Charles shrugged before saying, “Fair enough I suppose. I won’t pry too much, at least not on our first meeting. I do hope to see you again though. [Godsmarked] are always welcome here. Now go get that table before someone else does!”
Xander led the still embarrassed Valteria along with Freyja to the small, empty table near one of the corners and they both sat down, Freyja taking up part of the floor between the two of them. For a little while, the two of them just stared at each other, not sure where to start.
Finally, Xander thought of something to say. “You know, I still haven’t helped fix your armor. Do you want to work on that tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah,” Valteria said, remembering herself that her armor was currently defunct. “That would be nice. Feels a bit weird to know that I don’t have access to it, now that I think about it.”
Xander nodded. “I can understand that. I’d feel vulnerable without access to my armor, too.”
“Exactly,” Valteria agreed. “I’m also realizing that we only went over a little bit of your runework and I didn’t teach you anything about cores, or converting them to different mana types.”
“That’s okay,” Xander said. “I guess you could give me a lecture now, if you want. I like listening to you.”
“Oh hush,” Valteria chuckled. “But I suppose it’s only fair to give you at least some detail. Let’s see. The most important parts of a mana battery that involves a shift in mana type are the core of the battery itself, and the filter that you pass the mana through to change its type. These are almost always parts of a monster or elemental. So, if you had, say, a core from an earthen elemental and a some hide from a creature that was attuned to lightning in some way, you could pass the mana from the earth core through the hide of the lightning attuned creature to create lightning mana. I’m a little less versed on why it works like that. Something to do about how monsters are able to absorb ambient mana around them and convert it into mana of their attuned type. If they have one. Not all monsters are attuned to a type of mana, of course. So you have your battery, mana conduit –which I’ll show you how to make later- running to your filter, and then from your filter you have more conduit which runs to the apparatus that you want to power. Which is a beast in its own right, as you have to have at least a basic understanding of how a type of mana works to get it to power something. We can go over that kind of thing once you get the hang of just converting mana.”
Xander nodded along as Valteria spoke. He hadn’t been lying earlier when he said that he enjoyed listening to her talk. When she was on a topic that interested her, he could see the gears turning behind her eyes as they put pieces together that showed she really knew what she was talking about. Plus she seemed to enjoy talking about her work, and Xander liked to see that. Her happiness was infectious, giving him a vicarious sense of enjoyment. “I see... I guess I need to go shopping for some monster parts. And start looking out for what to pull out of monsters when I’m out on contracts, too.”
“Mmhm, that would certainly be the cheaper way to go about it, though I suppose there’s a lot more luck and danger involved in it. If you have some kind of way to measure mana density, then you should be able to use it to locate the core or organ of a monster that it uses to power its abilities.”
Xander frowned slightly in thought. “Hmm... I can’t say that I do, but I think I could design something with some research.”
Valteria’s ears practically wiggled when she heard the word research. “Speaking of research, what kind of things have you researched and done with your rune work?” She leaned forwards toward Xander in interest.
“Well, a few major things, I suppose.” Xander said thoughtfully. “Let’s see... well there’s the golems for one, as well as uhm, my body,” he said. “And my armor, my wings and my backpack, too. Those are all rune work. My weapons are also runed – the one I usually use wasn’t really fit for the tournament. I figured a mace designed to increase force and dissolve metal or anything else it touches was a little bit... deadly for a sporting tournament. Oh, and there’s my gun, too. And the bombs.” Xander purposely left out the soul rippers. He didn’t want to talk about them right now.
Valteria was clearly interested. “Gods above that is a lot of rune work. Bombs? And a gun? What exactly is a gun? I’ve heard Charles reference them in passing before.”
“Well the bombs are pretty straightforward. They’re filled with an explosive mixture, and then I use a ranged gathering array and a flame rune to trigger the explosive. I’ve also designed ones that detonate on impact, too. As for the gun, it’s a tool that’s designed to accelerate a piece of metal to high speed very rapidly, which you use to shoot something with. Back on Earth, an explosive powder was used to propel the bullet – that's the name for the projectile – out of the gun. I have a few that I can show you. I think you’d like them. They’re completely mechanical, no magic involved. The one I mostly use now is based on the same design, but uses a runic array to propel the bullet instead, which makes it much quieter. There’s also no kickback and I made it larger so that I can take down bigger things, too.”
“I think I would like to see those guns you mentioned. Is it better than a crossbow?”
“A lot,” Xander said. “At least the ones I have. They have a much faster rate of fire than a crossbow. The old ones, where you had to load each individual bullet might not hold up to a skill user using a bow or crossbow, though. Well, when you start throwing skills around, I’ve seen arrows that will blast a hole in something that should have completely ignored an arrow. But my current project is, perhaps, a little bit less exciting.” Xander pulled the small piece of cloth he’d been working on the day before, which shimmered as he held it up.
“It’s pretty, but, what is it?” Valteria asked, staring at the square of fabric that was inexplicably shifting colors in front of her.
“Well, when I’m done with it, it will be an adaptive camouflage, something that changes to match its environment. Right now it’s just a test piece instead of a whole cloak. I’ve got the darker tones down,” he demonstrated by laying the cloth down flat on the table. It immediately took on the color and pattern of the wood under it. “As you can see. But on more vibrant colors, it doesn’t quite work right, yet. In fact, it makes them even brighter. So it still needs a little tweaking. I think I need to tweak how much light the arrays are putting out.”
“That does sound like it would handy… especially in your line of work. Though I’m not sure what exactly light has to do with it.”
“Ah, it’s a bit of a complicated explanation, but the short of it is that it’s a bit like a light created illusion overlayed on the fabric to match what’s near it.”
Charles appeared briefly, having managed to sneak up on the two of them, distracted as they were by their conversation.
“Gods, Valteria, I didn’t think you could bag a bigger nerd than yourself, but I think you might have come close,” he joked, apparently having caught at least some of Xander’s explanation of his project. He placed two mugs down in front of Valteria. “I’ll put them on your tab.”
“Hey!” Valteria exclaimed. “I thought it was interesting!”
“Of course you did, because you’re a nerd!” Charles teased her as he moved to give other customers their drinks.
“Hmph,” Valteria huffed. “I am not a nerd!”
“If you say so,” Xander chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with being a nerd, though, you know. In fact, I like seeing you get excited about things you think are interesting.”
“Really?” Valteria said as she took a sip of her ale. The cup looked excessively large in her small hands.
“Mmhm! It’s cute,” he said with a smile. Valteria sputtered on her drink a little bit at being called cute, but managed not to choke.
“You know,” she said slowly, putting her drink back down, “if you keep calling me beautiful, and attractive and cute, I might start to believe you.”
“Good, you should, because you are,” Xander replied seriously.
The rest of the evening continued on in much the same manner, the Valteria and Xander taking the time to get to know one another better, and discussing various ideas they had for projects. Xander regaled Valteria with an account of his team’s fight with the sea drake. Then if was Valteria’s turn to relay her experience of traveling from one continent to another and the various and occasionally terrifying sea creatures and storms she had encountered on the voyage.
As it drew later and the tavern became emptier, the two of them continued to talk. Valteria was several ales in – more than she usually drank, if Xander was any kind of judge of tipsyness. He wished he could still get drunk. Valteria stretched her small frame and yawned.
“Maybe it’s just the ale, but I’m a bit tired.” Looking around at the significantly less lively tavern floor, she commented, “Or maybe it’s just actually getting late.”
Xander smiled at her and said, “It could be both.”
“Yeah, maybe both.”
Freyja had long ago decided that her time would be best spent taking a nap, her body parked halfway under the small table that Xander and Valteria were seated at.
“Would you like me to walk you back to your house?” Xander asked.
“Oh I wouldn’t want to trouble you with all that,” Valteria lazily waved away the suggestion. “I’m sure you’re eager to get back to your own bed.”
Xander shrugged. “I don’t mind a bit, in fact I’d like to, if you’re amenable to it. Frankly it feels rude to send you off in the dark like that. And, well, I also just don’t need to sleep anymore,” he added. “I’ve started to find it rather soothing to take a stroll through the city at night. And Freyja could use the exercise.”
Freyja half woke at hearing her name and groaned slightly.
Valteria seemed pleased with the offer. If Xander was capable of reading minds, he would know that she had been hoping he’d want to walk her home even after she’d told him it was okay if he didn’t, but he wasn’t, so he didn’t know. “Well, if you insist, then I shan’t stop you,” she said happily.
“Ah, also, let me cover your tab for the night,” Xander told her. “I don’t know if it’s the same here, but where I’m from it’s a bit traditional for the man to cover at least the first few dates.”
“Ohh, how old fashioned of you,” Valteria teased. “But I’d feel guilty since you didn’t have anything at all. Can we at least split it, instead?”
“I think I can live with that,” Xander assented.
The two of them made their way to the bar, Valteria a bit unsteady on her feet, where Charles was still working, cleaning a few mugs. “Time for us to pay up,” Xander said, grabbing the other [Godsmarked]’s attention. “How much do we owe?”
Once Charles tallied up the amount of drinks they’d had and did the mental match to calculate the total cost, he let them know. Valteria paid her half from a small coin pouch that had been tucked somewhere in her clothes while Xander’s coin came from his inventory. Charles took the coin, not bothering to count it again, and stashed it somewhere behind the bar. “Make sure you get her home nice and safe, now, you hear?” He told Xander.
“Charles! I can take care of myself just fine!” Valteria half exlaimed, half whined.
“I’m sure you can,” Xander agreed. “But I’d feel terrible if something happened, and I’m sure Charles would too. He’s just looking out for you is all.”
“Maybe I just want to make sure you and loverboy there get to spend a little more time together, eh?” Charles joked.
“Ugh, you’re always teasing me, Charles!”
“Well, you always give me a reaction.” Charles said with a smirk.
Valteria huffed, but it all seemed to be good natured quarreling to Xander. The same kind of ribbing that he and his teammates would give each other.
“I’m not complaining about spending more time with you,” Xander chimed in.
“Xander you are not helping!”
Xander walked arm in arm with Valteria on their trip back to her home and shop, Freyja sleepily following along. The big cat was frequently letting out long yawns, which Valteria would giggle at. They walked at a leisurely pace, taking in the city at night as they headed back, Valteria holding herself closer to Xander to help her balance. Xander decided not to tease her about it. He told himself it was because he didn’t want to be mean, but really it was because he was enjoying the closeness.
Finally, they reached Valteria’s doorway. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment.
Evidently, Valteria still retained some liquid courage from her ale because she finally spoke and said, “Would it be rude of me to kiss you?”
Xander, very slowly, said, “I think... It would be rude not to.” Wrapping Valteria in his arms and feeling her return his hug, Xander leaned in. It was a good kiss, if tiny a bit awkward due to their height difference. But between Valteria standing on her toes and Xander craning his neck downward, it was achieved. Xander found himself idly wondering if his lips felt odd. Valteria’s certainly didn’t.
Eventually, the two of them pulled away, both a little frazzled and flustered.
Just slightly breathless, Valteria said, “That was... it was good.”
“It was. It really was,” Xander agreed. “I’ll... see you again tomorrow?”
“I’d like that,” Valteria agreed.
Xander watched Valteria unlock the door to her shop floor and enter, locking it back behind herself. He stood a little bit longer, just staring at the door, lost in thought. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he started walking with Freyja back to the inn. He was glad Freyja was with him, as it removed the temptation to fly back to the inn. He gave the large cat a pet on the head. Walking would help him sort his thoughts out.
What were his thoughts? Even he wasn’t sure at the moment, still feeling a little flustered. He shook his head again and tried to gather his mind. He’d just had a date. He’d broken down and started flirting with a woman he found attractive and turned a friendly outing into a date. He let out a sigh. Should he be upset with himself? He was, a little bit. He’d told himself that he was a married man still when he had arrived on Tillania, and yet here he was acting like he was single. He was split into two modes of thought. Objectively, he knew that there was essentially zero chance of him ever returning to Earth. And that even if he had the option, his new body would probably cease to function in what he assumed was a mana-less environment and he’d immediately die. Emotionally, though, it felt disrespectful to the memory of his marriage to even entertain the idea of another romance, let alone do... what he’d just done. Even if he did think that Helen wouldn’t hold it against him if she knew that, somewhere out there, he was still alive.
So much had happened in the last three years to Xander, even if two of them had been spent unconscious, that he wondered if he’d even be able to relate to Helen anymore. How would he go back to a life of going to work at an office job, going to drill once a month. The most dangerous aspect of his life being the prospect of being in a car crash. Now, a car crash wouldn’t even phase him or even damage his body beyond, perhaps, cosmetic damage. He was a different man, wasn’t he? Similar, in many ways, maybe even most ways, to the man who had come to Tillania that day, but not the same anymore. He’d never fought anything or anyone before that day. Now, he had lost count of how many creatures, monsters, and even people that had fallen to him and his teammates. He’d created things that he could only dream of back on Earth. Golems, wings, magical weapons. He was going to have to come to terms with the fact that he had changed. And while he wasn’t sure he was ever going to fully move on or get over being pulled away from his marriage and from Earth, he was going to have to accept that he wasn’t going to be going back to them. He deserved companionship, didn’t he?
Feeling a bit more resolute and less frustrated with himself, Xander finished the walk to the inn, which he was sure had a name, but he’d never bothered to remember it, simply referring to it as ‘the inn’ in his head, in relative mental peace. He quietly put Freyja back into her stall in the stables and made his way into the inn, which held only a few patrons at this hour, none of whom paid him any attention.
Xander climbed the stairs and walked to Gabrelle’s door. He paused for a moment, realizing something. Gabrelle’s door. Fuck. He was going to have to stop sharing a room, more importantly a bed, with Gabrelle, wasn’t he? He didn’t think that he should be dating someone and sleeping with someone else, even if that sleeping was actually just sleeping and nothing more. He knew he’d feel weird to know that Valteria was sleeping with another man, and he’d only been on one date with the woman! He hoped Gabrelle didn’t take it too hard. Though, ever since they’d rendezvoused with the rest of the team, he had noticed that she slept much more soundly. He wasn’t really a needed crutch for her to be able to sleep well anymore. It was still going to be an awkward conversation. Also, Gabrelle was going to tease him about going on a date.
Previous Next

i can't remember this game very much. but i remember getting gifted a plush of a panda with a blue collar and a heart shaped tag. the tag had a code you'd either scan or type in and it would give you the animal in the game. i know for sure it wasn't moshi monsters, webkinz, shining stars, pet society, or myepets. the panda had a fairly large head but the plush overall was medium size. i remember the body being much smaller than the head and spending hours on my mom's laptop playing this game. i've looked everywhere and searched everything but i just can't find this game.

i can't remember this game very much. but i remember getting gifted a plush of a panda with a blue collar and a heart shaped tag. the tag had a code you'd either scan or type in and it would give you the animal in the game. i know for sure it wasn't moshi monsters, webkinz, shining stars, pet society, or myepets. the panda had a fairly large head but the plush overall was medium size. i remember the body being much smaller than the head and spending hours on my mom's laptop playing this game. i've looked everywhere and searched everything but i just can't find this game.

Wanted to try something different today. This is a follow-up of not just one, but TWO previous one-shot (or so I thought at the time) stories of mine; if you haven’t already, feel free to read them first if you want a bit of background context, but it’s not necessary to understand what’s going on in this story.
As always, I hope you enjoy :)
——
Gakdra nervously paced in her transport pod, dreading the inevitability of the doors opening when she arrived at her destination. Then, she suddenly felt a familiar touch, and an even more familiar voice in her ear.
“Buttercup, at this rate you’re going to wear out your shoes.”
A weak smile crept onto Gakdra’s face as she glanced down to see Jennifer carefully hugging her from behind, placing herself perfectly to avoid her sharp quills.
Jennifer was a human who she had first met in the second year of what her adoptive human parents called “high school,” and had known for several years since as they both went through college and beyond.
A human her age who had tutored her after school, so as to help her overcome the difficulties her stunted education (courtesy of the chaos of the foster care system) brought her. Sessions that eventually became completely unnecessary as Gakdra caught up. …A fact that both parties were well aware of (and aware that they were both aware), but neither side made any attempt to acknowledge.
A human who didn’t seem repulsed by her quills, pitch-black eyes or needle-like teeth, much less the various chemicals deemed deadly neurotoxins by the galaxy at large that her kind both needed to breathe and produced from their very bodies.
A human who had insisted on getting the risky saryncite-inoculation treatments, after deciding that it might help Gakdra “learn” better if she was in the same room with her, instead of separated by sheets of diamondglass and countless layers of airtight filters.
…A human that had wasted no time in finding out that despite her inoculation against the toxins saryncites produced, her lips nonetheless still tingled when firmly pressed against Gakdra’s own.
Gakdra sighed and spoke, her auto-translator filling in the gaps for the unique language saryncites used, albeit one only the females of the species could speak audibly.*

• The males’ silence and use of a bioluminescent organ tucked in a chest cavity for “lightspeaking” in colors outside the visible range of prey species on their homeworld better served their evolutionary role as ambush hunters, in one of the most bizarre cases of sexual dimorphism the galaxy has to offer.

“Force of habit/routine/tic. …You know how nervous/afraid/worried I get going out in public.”
She turned and embraced her lover back, careful not to pierce Jennifer’s skin with her sharp claws as she wrapped them around her waist. Gakdra murmured more than spoke as she continued.
“I still don’t know how you do/perform/achieve it. And in front of all those people…”
“Lots and lots of practice, just like we’re doing right now for you.”
Gakdra let out a reluctant groan.
“I still wish we could just have them delivered to our home/nest/safe-place…”
“And have you miss out on a chance to chip away at that agoraphobia of yours? No.”
Jen gestured towards the planet’s scenery as they flew over it at great speeds, from wide swathes of terraformed forest greenery to massive colony-cities bustling with busy inhabitants.
“You deserve to be able to enjoy the outside world just as much as anyone else, and that means practicing doing just that until you’re not afraid of doing it anymore. …Remember what your therapist said? You just need a few accommodations here and there. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Jen reached up and placed a hand on one of Gakdra’s snow-pale cheeks. An impressive feat, given Gakdra stood a head or two higher than her, at over two meters. Gakdra gently rested her own clawed fingers over it, her face gently nuzzling the human’s soft palm as their fingers interlocked with one another; one set clawed, one set bearing comparably soft and fragile nails.
“…Yes, I suppose you’re right/correct/factual. Doesn’t mean I enjoy the transition process of getting to that point…”
“That’s still not an excuse to put this off to the point you’ve only got a few days left until you’re completely out of your meds.”
“I know, but what was there to say/communicate/talk? It didn’t become urgent/necessary/needed until this week.”
“I consider it urgent. …You’re anxious enough while already on your meds; I don’t want to see you even risking the pain you’d go through going without them.”
Jen’s hand fell away from Gakdra’s face as the transport pod gradually began to slow, signaling their arrival. Gakdra peered out of the diamondglass windows at the pharmacy’s walls before the view was blocked by the pressurized tunnel the pod stopped in front of. It was one of only 40 pharmacies in the entire star sector with the proper equipment to facilitate servicing saryncites like herself; and given that this sector measured in the hundreds of light years across, that was saying something.
Gakdra took a deep, shaky breath before reaching for her environmental suit.
“I can/will/shall do this… I can/will/shall…”
“That’s the spirit.”
Jennifer’s eyes flicked up and down Gakdra’s body, and she spoke again; this time with a playful grin.
“…It’s certainly more fabric than I’d prefer you be wearing, but did you need any help with the suit?”
Gakdra couldn’t help but blush at Jen’s teasing as she fastened various seals and locks into place around herself.
“No, I should be fine/satisfactory/competent.”
Jen winked at her.
“Alrighty then; I suppose I’ll just have to help you out of it later…”
Suffice to say, Gakdra’s flustered cheeks were thoroughly flushed with her species’ green blood as she stepped out of the vehicle and into the pharmacy’s saryncite entrance, clad in the suit which kept those around her safe.
She shakily walked down the sterile white corridor, listening intently for any signs that her suit may have popped a leak, but she heard nothing. The silence offered little comfort; she hadn’t heard the ever-so-slight leak that had tragically claimed one of her foster fathers’ lives either-
Stop that thought. They have safeguards. I have accommodations. I deserve to experience all the galaxy has to offer, just as anyone else. They have safeguards. I have accomodations-
She continued the internal mantra her therapist had taught her as she walked until she had eventually made her way to the end of the corridor; a wall adorned with only a diamondglass window and a microphone.
Gakdra timidly rapped on the window. It took several seconds of this before she attracted the attention of the arthro* pharmacist standing at the other end of the room, whose name tag read “Zetzana Bik’du”; it was almost as if he was pointedly ignoring her. He glanced up from his tablet with an irritated glare.

• An Arthro resembles a gigantic Terran spider for the most part, albeit with only six eyes, six legs and said legs comparably being much thicker and stronger to account for the square-cube law.

Gakdra nervously swallowed.
“Hello again. I-I’m, uh- …I h-have a prescription to pick up/acquire/take-”
Zetzana dismissively waved a limb, cutting her off.
“I know, I know; this is the third time we’ve done this little song and dance. …To answer your question, no, we still don’t have it.”
It felt as though Gakdra’s heart sank into her stomach.
“W-what‽ But- …I-I reached out directly to the manufacturemakeproducer for a replacement order, and t-they-”
“I don’t know what they told you, but neither of your ‘scripts are here.”
“S-surely the medications must have b-been misplaced/misorganized/lost somewhere in the building, o-or-”
“Listen, we’ve searched this place top to bottom. The whole staff got involved. …I don’t know what to tell you, but if you want your precious meds, you’ll have to head elsewhere.”
His species’ equivalent of a sneer crept its way onto the arthro’s face.
“So go ahead and leave-exit-leave, or whatever the gobbledegook translator you’ve got wants to hear to let you know to get out of the building. …Every extra second you spend in here is another minute we have to get the air scrubbers to decontaminate the hallway.”
Desperation crept into Gakdra’s voice.
“The manufacturer s-sent/distributed/provided me video evidence of them d-delivering the order to you, and of the d-delivery of the replacement order I requested. P-please, I-”
“I could have the authorities remove you if you’d prefer, blight-breather. …Up to you.”
Gakdra was on the verge of crying, not least because of the slur she had just been subjected to, but she slowly, reluctantly turned and walked back down the hallway with as much dignity as she could muster.
…She had long-since crossed the point of tears by the time she made it back to the doors leading out to her transport pod.
As she pulled off her helmet to reveal a face streaked with the purple of her species’ tears, Jennifer looked up from her wrist-computer with alarm.
“Buttercup? What happened-‽”
“They- …t-they don’t have it again, and the p-pharmacist was- h-he…”
Gakdra started hyperventilating, stifling her attempts to explain. In an instant, Jennifer was in front of her, gently taking her by her face, forcing Gakdra to look down at her as she wiped the tears from her face.
“Buttercup. Look at me. Look into my eyes. I’m here. I’m right here. You’re ok. Look at me. Look into my eyes-”
Jennifer’s softly repeated mantra derailed Gakdra’s panic attack before it could get up to speed. It was a skill Jen had mastered early in their relationship, while they were still separated by diamondglass; her words alone were enough to calm her. …Yet another reason Gakdra was endlessly thankful for Jen being in her life.
Gakdra’s legs were wobbling under her as Jennifer led her to her seat in the pod so they could look each other in the eyes without Jen having to crane her neck up to look at her. She took a shaky breath.
“They didn’t give me the meds. They’re there, they must/should/HAVE-TO be, but the pharmacist clerk/spokesperson/representative keeps insisting they’re not, that they searched all over, a-and he w-was so unkind/mean/rude, and threatened to sic security on me, and he- …h-he called/named/insulted me a-”
Gakdra broke down into tears again. Jennifer gently wrapped her arms around her, holding her close in a comforting embrace, just being there for Gakdra while she processed her emotions. Eventually, she calmed down enough to finish her thought, albeit in a voice barely above a whisper:
^{“He called/named/insulted me a blight-breather…”}
Jennifer’s arms fell limp at her sides. Gakdra looked up to see Jen staring at her in shock, her jaw only closing once she went to speak.
“He what‽”
“He called/named-”
Jennifer cut her off with a sharp gesture.
“Nonono, I heard you just fine the first time, no need to say that- that fucking slur again. I just-”
Jennifer faltered, her expression turning from shocked and furious to pensive.
“…What was his name, and species?”
“He was an arthro, and I think it was- …Zepzania, or something…? Why?”
Gakdra looked up to see Jennifer moving to the manual controls of the transport pod.
“…What are you doing?”
“Driving us to the pharmacy’s almost-universal species parking lot. …I’d like a conversation with a certain employee.”
Gakdra’s eyes widened.
“But-”
“Nope. Not gonna be dissuaded from this.”
Gakdra sputtered for a few moments before letting out a quiet sigh. She knew Jennifer well enough to know that there really was nothing she could say or do here that would halt whatever was coming next.
“…What do you intend to do/achieve/perform?”
Jen winked at her.
“Like I said, just a conversation or two.”
Gakdra’s eyes narrowed.
“Would this be a normal conversation, or a human euphemism for violence/hurt/pain-causing?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Completely. You know that. Even still, I have no desire/wish/hope for you to be arrested for assault.”
Jennifer chuckled as she pulled into a parking spot.
“Nor I, which is why I want you to take this.”
She held out a small tablet towards Gakdra, who glanced down at it with a confused expression.
“Your interview slate/tablet/computer? But why…?”
Jen winked at her again, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she did so.
“You’ll see.”
Her expression softened as she got up and hugged Gakdra again, before whispering in her ear.
“I just need you to keep something in mind for me; what you see me say and do next is not me, you understand? It’s a persona; one of countless others that I used to have to put on before the promotion, for my more investigative work.”
“…Ok…?”
Jennifer gave Gakdra a gentle kiss on the cheek, sending what could only be described as a warm chill rippling down the saryncite’s spine.
“Good. I’ll be right back.”
Jennifer pulled out a pair of sunglasses, and as she put them on and entered the transport-pod’s airlock she tapped a tiny, almost imperceptible button on the frame; nigh-invisible unless you already knew it was there and were deliberately looking for it. A video feed suddenly appeared on the tablet, and Gakdra’s eyes finally widened in understanding.
Jennifer walked into the pharmacy with a carefree air, looking around as subtly as she could, and allowed herself a smile as she confirmed that she was the only customer in the building. She casually walked up to the counter and rang the bell. Zetzana slowly made his way out of the back office and headed up to the register.
“Can I help you?”
Oh, can you, Jennifer thought to herself. Can you ever…
Step One of bringing about someone’s downfall: Get them to underestimate you.
With practiced ease, Jennifer put on her best “ditzy-airheaded-bimbo” act, passable valley-girl voice and all.
“Yeah, I was, like, wondering where the human painkillers were at? I’ve got a nasty hangover.”
…Back in the transport pod, Gakdra couldn’t help but descend into a snicker-fit at Jen’s antics.
Zetzana pointedly glanced around at the countless directory signs above the aisles and self-serve search terminals that could have easily prevented this interruption to his work day, then let out a weary sigh.
“…Aisle 5, second shelf from the bottom.”
“Like, thanks!”
Jennifer walked away and grabbed the cheapest store-brand meds she could find. As she went back and had the reluctant arthro begin to ring her up, she put on her best facade of innocence.
“Hey, I, like, had one more question, just cuz I’m curious and stuff; what’s the deal with that, like, weird extra entrance to the building, with the tunnel and stuff?”
Zetzana couldn’t help but let the subtlest of sneers slip onto his face for a moment before he remembered himself.
“That’s the saryncite entrance.”
Jennifer’s jaw dropped.
Step Two: Get them to think you’re on their side.
“You let those- …things into the store‽”
Zetzana’s eyss widened slightly in surprise, but he gave her an approving nod.
“Unfortunately. Officially, we’re not allowed to discriminate based on species. Unofficially, I completely understand your concern and wish it was otherwise. …If it’s any reassurance, that part of the building is brand-new, and completely hermetically sealed. It’s as safe as it gets.”
Step Three: After you help them take off their mask, plant the dagger you had behind your back in their hand and let them choose one of their own arteries to go for.
“But, like, you let blight-breathers into this place‽ Seriously‽”
Gakdra’s quills rippled in unease at this, but she just closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and remembered Jen’s reassurances.
Back in the pharmacy, Zetzana smirked.
“Not afraid to say the ‘quiet part’ out loud, I see. …Yes, ever since that portion of the building was constructed a few moons back, we do occasionally have to handle the blight-breathers. Though, thankfully, not that often so far, and I’m trying to make it as infrequent as possible.”
Step Four: As they’re bleeding out, let them keep digging their own grave.
“Like, how so?”
Zetzana smirked. They were alone in the store, he was the only one on shift, and whoever this was, she clearly wasn’t remotely intelligent enough to be with the galactic authorities; he could say the ‘quieter’ part too.
“Withholding medications, and- …other stuff like that. …I actually just had one of those animals in here about ten minutes ago, here for her precious anxiety meds. Told her the entire staff searched all over, and we didn’t have them.”
He theatrically looked from side to side before leaning closer.
“…Truth is, they were “improperly filed” straight into my trash can. ‘The entire staff looking for ‘em?’ Ha, I’m the only one who even knew about that prescription in the first place!”
In the transport pod, Gakdra felt as though her blood had turned to ice, and it only got worse as Zetzana continued.
“I’m fairly certain she’s not coming back this time; she was practically sobbing out toxins when I sent her away without her prescription. Hopefully, she’s run out at this point, and in a perfect universe she’ll off herself without them so no one has to look at her ugly, toxin-spewing face again. …Then again, the fact that her kind exist in the first place kinda disproves that notion, eh?”
Despite wanting nothing more than to rip his smug mandibles off his face and use them to gouge out his pride-filled eyes for what he had done, Jennifer smothered the inferno burning within her for the moment and just put on her best approving grin.
“Woah, that’s, like, super smart! …Is anyone else here doing stuff like that?”
“As far as I know, I’m unfortunately the only one here that’s done this so far, but at least no one else has caught on.”
Step Five: Twist the knife.
“Oh my gosh, this is all, like, so brave of you. Are there other blight-breathers you’ve screwed with like that?”
Zetzana felt a warmth in his chest at the skin-suit- or rather, human’s (she was clearly one of the good ones) kind words, and a thrill in his heart as he looked around the store to make extra sure he was safe. Finally, he had someone else to talk about this with…!
“Well, there is one other thing; the first time I did something like this.”
He leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I had a blight-breather show up here a few weeks ago with a prescription for heart pressure medication. …I sent him home with a cocktail I whipped up myself based on my knowledge of their species that should send his blood pressure through the roof, without toxicology noticing anything amiss if he were to be autopsied. With luck, it should kill him, if it hasn’t already.”
In the transport pod, Gakdra was well into the beginning of another panic attack, and Jennifer nervously swallowed, but otherwise she held in her shocked horror and retained her composure as she replied.
“Like, nice! Hope so too. …Anyway, it was super good to meet you. I’ll, like, catch you later.”
As she turned to leave, Zetzana called after her.
“Say, have I seen you before? You look kinda- …familiar.”
Jennifer felt a slight twinge of worry, but she just gave him an innocent smile.
“I’ve been told I have, like, one of those faces, I guess?”
Zetzana shrugged.
“I guess. …Well, in any case, good to meet another kindred spirit out here.”
As Jennifer left the pharmacy and walked as fast as she could toward the transport pod without arousing suspicion, she gave endless thanks to whatever deities might be out there that his sentiment couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Step Six: kick them into the grave, and grab the shovel.
——
TWO DAYS LATER
“I’m, um… just glad that, h-he was stopped/halted/prevented b-before h-he, uh- …uh……”
Jennifer winced as Gakdra suddenly buried her face in her hands, motioning to the camera operator behind his diamondglass barrier to cut the feed. Gakdra stifled a small sob as she looked up to see the concerned face of her girlfriend staring back at her.
“I’m s-sorry, I j-just- …couldn’t I just give a written/typed/unspoken statement? I-I’m- …s-so, SO many people will see/observe/judge, and- …I…”
Jennifer kneeled down to take Gakdra’s clawed hands in her own, silencing her flustered sputtering.
“Buttercup, some statement being read aloud on a screen isn’t going to be nearly as effective at making people empathize with the story. There needs to be a person behind it- even if it’s just a blurred face with a voice filter, like we’re going to do- to show those watching that there are real people out here being hurt by him and those like him. …And we can’t exactly get a statement from the other guy until he’s stable enough to do so.”
She gently kissed Gakdra on the forehead, giving her a warm hug as a chaser.
“…Still, if you really, truly want to stop, I won’t push you; we can work with a written-”
“No.”
Gakdra took a deep breath, wiping her tears away as she shook her head and collected herself.
“No, I- …I can do/perform/complete this.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes/affirmative/indeed.”
Jen gave her an encouraging smile.
“That’s my girl. …Ok, let’s start from the top…”
——
TWO DAYS, SIX HOURS LATER
“This is Collective sector 7B news; I’m your host, Jennifer Hill-Thruximoff. …Full disclosure, I’m personally involved in this next story, so to ensure an unbiased report I’ll have my co-host, Jundo H’rissian, step in.”
“Thank you Jennifer. …Thursday evening saw the arrest of a pharmacist in the colony city Clarity on planet Hreshlaka-9, located in galactic sub-sector Mu-4, for alleged hate crimes. The pharmacist in question allegedly deliberately withheld medication from one client, and poisoned another. These actions were apparently motivated by the clients’ nature as saryncites.
“Local authorities were alerted upon receiving a video from our Jennifer, who managed to coax a shocking confession of his wrongdoing out of the individual in question. The contents of this confession were seemingly confirmed when authorities found discarded medication in the perpetrator’s personal waste bin, and sabotaged medication in the home of another victim, who was unconscious on the floor when Collective officers arrived.
It was speculated by one of the paramedics on scene that if the officers had arrived even an hour or two later, it would have been too late to save the saryncite in question. Said saryncite is now stable and recovering in a local hospital, and was even able to provide a statement, which will be played alongside an interview with the second victim after the video that started all this, which will be presented now-”
Zetzana was passing his time giving a death glare from his jail cell at the projection on the holo-vid player. One of the sector security officers nearby, a bitis involved in his arrest, gave him a grin.
“Y’know, I do believe they’re talking about you. You’re downright famous!”
Zetzana’s glare only intensified as he glanced at the officer.
“Zip it, scale-tail.”
The bitis just laughed.
“Oh boy, you just don’t stop, do you? You kiss your hatchmother with that mouth? …Ooo, speaking of-”
The bitis glanced down at her wrist-computer.
“Was doing a bit of research for the case against you, and wouldn’t you know, something quite interesting turned up from a few years back... ‘Member of school board resigns in disgrace after video of hate-filled rant goes viral.’ Sound familiar?”
Zetzana let out an angry hiss, but otherwise remained silent. …This, of course, didn’t stop the officer.
“Mm-hm, I thought it might. Let’s see here… ‘Slurs were directed at a juvenile bitis, a human, and the sexual orientation of the parents of the former.’ To borrow from the humans, ‘the apple sure doesn’t fall far from the trunk,’ eh? …At least, I think that’s how that goes…”
The officer gave him another grin.
“What is it with you, lesbians, and secret recordings of your family’s hateful rants by quick-thinking humans?”
“Shut up. …Don’t speak of my hatchmother. It’s not your business.”
If her species had eyebrows, the bitis would have slowly cocked one as she looked back at the article.
“In a perfect universe, that would be true; but in truth, it is my business to protect people from those like her and yourself. People who do things like, oh, I dunno… To quote: ‘The incident began with the circumstances surrounding an altercation between the school board member’s teenage son and a student half his age, whom he assaulted.’”
The officer looked back up at Zetzana with newfound disgust.
“You really are just a bully aspiring to mass-murder, aren’t you.”
She glanced over once again at the holovid, which currently featured a recovering saryncite sitting upright in a hospital bed, giving an interview.
“Thankfully unsuccessful, but an aspirant to it nonetheless. …Just a sad little boy, whose only source of comfort is the lies you tell yourself about you being inherently better than those around you based on meaningless differences. Your mother must be proud.”
The bitis sighed as she began to slither away from the silent-but-stewing arthro.
“…But of course, the greatest proof we don’t live in a perfect universe and saddest part of this whole mess is that she probably is.”
——
3 DAYS LATER
Jennifer walked back through the hermetically sealed airlock to her abode holding a small package.
“Mail’s here.”
She winked at Gakdra.
“Package for you…”
Gakdra glanced up at Jen’s outstretched hand from where she lay on the couch, squinting at the label for a moment before her face lit up with a relieved smile.
“My medication! I was down to my last dose...”
She went to grab the package, but Jen held it out of her reach.
“Promise me you’ll let me know you’re low on them before you ever become that desperate again. Deal?”
Gakdra faltered, her gaze suddenly gluing itself to the floor. Jennifer winced, swiftly holding the package back out to her.
“Sorry; that was mean. You know I’d never withhold your meds from you like that monster in the pharmacy…”
Gakdra sighed, shaking her head as she took the proffered medication, the weight of guilt heavy on her shoulders as she shrunk into herself on the couch.
“…I’m sorry/regretful/bad-feeling too. I- …I s-should have told you. Moreover, I should have gone out with you again for these, to get them from another-”
“Buttercup, it’s ok. I more than understand you being reticent to the idea of walking into another pharmacy any time soon. There are plenty of other ways to help you get out of the house.”
Gakdra still couldn’t meet Jennifer’s warm gaze.
“…I’m sorry you have to put so much effort into me…”
Jen’s eyes widened for a moment, but she just sighed and sat down next to Gakdra.
“I’d move mountains for you without a second thought. You know that.”
Jennifer gently lifted Gakdra’s head from its place on one of the couch cushions and rested it on her lap, beginning to softly run her fingers through the quills on her back and scalp as she went whilst careful not to prick herself with the neurotoxin-coated barbs. The intimate gesture made Gakdra relax, but still tear up a bit.
“You shouldn’t have to. I should be able to move my own mountains. But I’m too weak/unable/feeble to move so much as a pinch of soil… I can’t even go outside without-”
“Accomodations. I know. …And for the millionth time, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. That’s like saying- I dunno, a species incompatible with an oxygen-based atmosphere should be ashamed of needing a personal atmosphere conversion apparatus on Earth, or your species’ own homeworld.”
“But it’s not just the suit! I mean- …you speak to millions every day, if only indirectly, and likely tens, if not hundreds face-to-face. Meanwhile, I’m afraid/fearful/cautious of leaving the house, even when I know I’m taking every precaution feasible, because beyond fearing for the lives of those around me I can’t even handle the most basic of social interactions without turning into a nervous mess! …Compared to you, I’m-”
“Perfect.”
Gakdra glanced up at Jen.
“What?”
“You’re perfect just the way you are.”
“Wh- …I’m an anxious/feardul/frightened wreck, a- …a danger to those around me-”
“And yet, you’re a perfect being in an imperfect universe, and I love you for it.”
Gakdra’s face screwed up in confusion, speechless at the idea, so Jen continued.
“So I can go go up onto the news studio set and speak into a mic whist looking into a camera. So what? It takes barely any effort from me; I’m not afraid of public speaking whatsoever. You want to know why? Because I didn’t grow up with the burden of having to avoid all but the most necessary of social interactions for the safety of others, and thus got the privilege of plenty of worry-free practice.
“…But you? You stepped up and did it too, even though you were inexperienced, even though you were terrified. You were fighting for every word, every breath. …But you still did it, because it could make a difference. That makes you a braver woman than I could ever hope to be, even if you had decided to take my offer to stop; because at least you were willing to try to win a battle against your fears, and that’s more than can be said for most.”
Gakdra just shrugged.
“None of that changes the fact that I’m still a dangethreat/hazard to those around me, not someone who can just walk around like you-”
“So I can go on a walk without a suit. Big whoop. You? You’re willing to sacrifice your own happiness in a million different ways so any potential of that danger whatsoever is completely mitigated down to every redundancy one can think of. Hell, your brain even conditioned itself to be scared of leaving the house, or being near other people, no matter how unhealthy that is nor how much I’ve tried to help you reverse it because you deserve better. …You possess a kinder, gentler, more selfless soul than I could ever hope to have.”
“My happiness is nothing compared to a life! I kill everything around me, unless they’re willing to risk their life anyway with an inoculation, like you did…”
“That’s not your fault. You didn’t wake up one day and choose to kill, like that psycho from the pharmacy did.”
Gakdra shuddered as she recalled the image of her foster father’s lifeless corpse on that terrible night, so many years and uncountable tears ago. Her next words came as an emotionally exhausted whisper.
^{“Perhaps he is right/correct/factual to fear and hate us saryncites...”}
Above her, Jen let out a quiet sigh.
“God, I love you so much, but you are so infuriating sometimes… You’re too kind to disagree with even the worst the universe has to offer.”
She pulled Gakdra into a hug, albeit after carefully flattening her quills a bit first.
“If that repugnant, self-righteous wannabe serial-killer had to walk a mile in your shoes, deal with every restriction and burden you place upon your own shoulders, be they physical or mental? I guarantee you, he’d crack within a week and go even more crazy than he already is.”
“He doesn’t have to deal with that responsibility though. I do. I’m more dangerous than a thousand serial killers...”
The embrace around Gakdra’s form tightened, causing her to let out a small squeak of surprise, not unlike a dog toy.
“And that only proves your strength more. People like him? They could never bear that burden. They’d weaponize their nature, if anything. Barge into a crowded shopping center or something without a suit, killing all around them, because if the rest of the universe- in his eyes, his “lessers-” …don’t have to deal with the burdens he was born with by the cosmic roll of the dice, why should he?”
Jen released Gakdra from the bear-hug, instead choosing to gently rest a hand against her face as she continued.
“Did I ever tell you why I decided to tutor you in the first place?”
She winked.
“…Beyond being the prettiest girl in the entire school, I mean?”
Gakdra couldn’t help but smile and blush at this, despite the utter nadir of a mood she was in.
“Not that I can remembethink/parse, no.”
“I was in study hall with you, working on some math or science homework or whatever, and I happened to look over to your side of the room. Behind the barrier, you were messaging your parents, and I could just barely read what you were writing at that distance. I know I should have turned away, respected your privacy, but what you were writing only drew my interest more.
“You were arguing with them about the possibility of getting a tutor. You said that you shouldn’t get help with your schooling, no matter that you were years behind everyone else in some areas; that it was bad enough you were in school in the first place, that you were too dangerous, and it was unfair to whoever might teach you.
“…You were so, so willing to screw yourself over in the long run to keep those around you safe, to the point of risking not graduating on time. All so you could sit in your room completely alone for a few extra hours a day, and be less of a risk to people.”
Jen leaned in and gave Gakdra a long kiss, relishing the tingling, numbing feeling the toxins on her lover’s lips gave her as they were neutralized by her inoculation. When she broke away, she smiled as she spoke.
“I fell completely and utterly in love with you that day. Not who you were on the surface- no matter how drop-dead gorgeous you were, and remain now- you. The person. The kind soul behind that pretty face. And I vowed I would do everything I could to get you where you wanted in life, because it’s the least you deserve for being the kind, wonderful, beautiful soul you are.”
Jen’s eyes twinkled as she looked upon the pretty face in question, wondering for the millionth time how she had managed to land a girl so out of her league in every possible way.
“You’re the closest thing to perfection in an imperfect universe I’ve ever come across. …And for that matter, the best evidence for said universe being inherently imperfect is that everyone isn’t more like you.”
Gakdra was speechless for nearly a minute after Jennifer ended, with the pair passing that time just gazing into each other’s eyes.
“…I love/need/soul-match you, Jen.”
“I love you more, Buttercup.”

https://imgur.com/gallery/813Gyzl
https://imgchest.com/p/qb4z3bz857j
Hi,
Cutting back on collecting and I’m selling a bunch of games! Not everything is pictured here so let me know if you need pics of an item.
I prefer PayPal friends and Family. I have many confirmed trades here.
I’m happy to provide pics for any items and detailed condition descriptions.
Shipping is free over $25, or $4 per item. (Shipping is only within the United States. No international shipping unless you are willing to pay the exact cost of shipping)
Prices are based on market value and are firm, but I’m open to negotiate if you buy more than one game.
I’m also looking to buy Game Boy (DMG) Games,I got tons, so just let me know what you have for sale.
Pokémon Ruby (cart authentic, dry battery) $80
https://imgchest.com/p/lqyevoxwz7d
Legend of Zelda Game & Watch (New) $38
\*\*\*
Switch
Akka Arrh (LRG New) $39
Arietta of Spirits (New Red Art Games) $39
Atari Recharged Collection 1 (New) $33
Bite the Bullet (New SLG with updated cart) $85
Bloodrayne Betrayal (New LRG) $39
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 (LRG BB New) $30
Cotton Reboot (CIB) $20Devil Engine (New JP) $29
Devil May Cry Triple Pack (New, code expired, Only has DMC 1 on cart) $20
Doom: The Classics Collection (New LRG Best Buy variant cover) $39 Drainus (New SLG with Postcard) $75 Dying Light (CIB) $20
ExZeus (New) $25 Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion (CIB) $27 Fire Emblem Warriors (New) $23
Game Builder Garage (CIB) $20
Ghost Blade HD (CIB) $25
Grow: Song of the Evertree (New) $25
Ittle Dew (New with all goodies) $110
Ittle Dew 2 (CIB with map and Manual) $35
Kamiko (Rare New with soundtrack and card B-Side) $115
Koumajou Remilia Scarlet Symphony (CIB) $30
Kyogeki Quartet Fighters (CIB B-Side with CD and Goodies) $139
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Case, manual and stickers only, no game) $25 The Mummy Demastered Collector’s Edition (New LRG) $92
NeverAwake (New JP) $34
Ni No Kuni (CIB) $20
Oniken + Odallus Collection Limited Edition (New) $49
Onimusha Warlords (Japanese Release with English CIB) $29
Overlord Escape from Nazarick (NEW JP) $35
Pokémon Pokeball + box Only, (no pokeball) $12
Pressure Overdrive (New) $28 (SLG)
Psikyo Collection Vol.2 (Japan) (New) $20 R-Type Dimensions EX (CIB SLG with Postcard) $129 Space Invaders Invincible Collection (CIB SLG) $58
Star Hunter DX + Space Moth (New SLG with Postcard) $59
Superepic The Entertainment War (New) $25 TriggerHeart Exelica (JP New) $25
Toaplan Arcade Garage: Zero Fire (JP New) $45
Toaplan Arcade Garage: Hishou Same! Same! Same! (JP New) $45
Wonder Boy Returns Remix $40 (New with Postcard)
The Wonderful 101 (New Kickstarter edition with holographic cover) $38 Xeodrifter (Red Art Games) (New) $25 Xeodrifter (Atooi/LRG New) $25
3DS
Andro Dunos 2 (New) $38
Astérix le Domaine des Dieux (PAL CIB) $12
Brain Age Concentration Training (CIB) $15
Code Name Steam (New) $10Dr. Kawashima 3DS (French PAL CIB) $15
Fragrant Story (New) $38
Go! Go! Kokopolo Anniversary Collection (Limited Run Games) (New) $83
Kid Icarus (manual and inserts only) $10
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo Selects) (New) $25 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Handheld Game of the Year Edition) (New) $55 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo Selects) (New) $25 Metroid Samus Returns (Case and insert only) $10
PES 2013 (CIB) $9
Resident Evil Revelations (CIB With misprint cover and the corrected cover) $28 Sega 3D Classics (New) $27
Sega 3D Fukkoku Reprinted Archives 1 (New) $100
Sega 3D Fukkoku Reprinted Archives 3 Final Stage (New) $270
Shakedown Hawaii (New) $55
Steeldiver (New) $10
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (CIB) $8
DS
6 Loose DS carts (Crosswords DS, Mon Coach Personnel, Moshi Monsters 1 & 2, Mots Croissés, Scribblenauts) $12
Teenage Mutant Ninja 3 Mutant Nightmare (CIB) $35
Game Boy DMG (Manuals only)(Price based on market value and condition) Alleyway $5 Donkey Kong Land $7 Double Dragon $6 Four Player Adapter $4 Game Boy DMG Instruction Booklet $8 Golf $5
Pacman $5 Revenge of the Gator $10 Tetris $5 Tetris 2 $5
\*\*\*
Super Nintendo (carts only) (take the lot for $25 shipped)
Batman Returns $22
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (PAL Version) $8
Super Famicom (carts only) (take the lot for $75 shipped)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest $8
Return of Double Dragon $20
Super Ghouls N Ghosts $10
Turtles in Time (Super Famicom) $35
Torneko No Daiboken (Dragon Quest IV Spin-Off) $9
\*\*\*
Wii U
Super Mario 3D World (Case and manual only, no disc) $5
*** PS5
Death Stranding Director’s Cut New $25
Devil May Cry 5 CIB $20 Kena Bridge of Spirits Deluxe Edition (CIB) $20
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (New LRG) $53The Pathless (New) $18
*** PS Vita
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (New) $25
La-Mulana EX (LRG New) $40
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir (CIB with high quality custom made manual) $69
Risk of Rain ( LRG CIB) $35
The Swapper (LRG New) $45 Teslagrad (New) $25
Xeodrifter (LRG New with barcode hole under seal) $32
*** PS4
Amazing Princess Sarah (New) $32 Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection (CIB) $10
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (CIB) $9 Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (CIB) $8
Assassin’s Creed Unity (CIB) $8
Cobra Kai (CIB) $10Darksiders III (CIB) $9 Disco Elysium Final Cut (CIB) $15The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (CIB) $12
Injustice 2 Legendary Edition (CIB) $10 No Man’s Sky Beyond (CIB) $25 Sega Genesis Classics (CIB) $18
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (New LRG, Master System cover) $24
PS3God of War Collection (CIB) $17
***
Amiibos
Palamute sealed $19
Palico sealed $19

Hi everyone! Sold a couple of games and consoles from last week and I am hoping to sell most of what I have left. Shipping is included, prices are negotiable and discounted bundles are offered. More pictures and details will be provided per request. I am also selling these on a different platform so supplies may not last.
Consoles: [Stylus, SD Card and Chargers are NOT included unless stated. Screens are working and no yellowing unless stated otherwise.]

• DSi XL Blue [Item Only] - $80
• Nintendo DS Lite Pink [Item Only] - $38
  • Re-shell. Stylus and GBA slot cover included. Touch screen works but is not precise. Some dust inside the screens.
• Nintendo DS Lite Pink [Item Only] - $38
  • Minor cracks throughout the shell.
• Nintendo DS Lite Black [Item Only] - $36
  • Major scratches in bottom screen. Slight yellowing in top screen.
• Gameboy Color Teal [Item Only] - $65
  • Minor scratches on screen. Sticker peeling.
• PS4 Slim [Item only] - $120
• 1x Replacement DS Lite Charger - $4 with a purchase of a ds lite.
• 1x Original PSP Charger - $12

[BROKEN/FOR PARTS] Consoles: [Some of these I never got a chance to fix, my skills weren't fitted for the repair, were cost heavy.]

• Gameboy Advance [Item Only] - $26
  • Last time I checked this had a missing capacitor and some corrosion, may be fixable but my soldering skills aren't advance.
• PSP 3000 [Item and parts] - $18
  • Re-shell gone wrong. I know for sure the board works but the screen may have a torn cable. Will throw in all the parts I got.
• Nintendo DS Lite Shells and Parts - $30
  • 2x Front Top, 4x Front Bottom, 4x Back Top, 4x Back Bottom, 6x Sets of buttons, 3x Pairs of speakers. All of them do not have any major cracks and the hinges are still intact. Ask me if you need a specific piece and we can negotiate for it in the comments sections.
• Replacement DS Lite Top Screen [No speakers included]- $16

Games:
Nintendo Switch

• Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection [Item only] - $16

3DS

• Animal Crossing: New Leaf [CIB] - $21
• Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer [Item only] - $15
• Bit Trip Saga [CIB] - $13
• Bravely Default [Item only] - $25
• Super Smash Bros [Item only] - $10
• Monster Hunter Generations [CIB] - $10
• Story of Season: Trio of Towns [CIB] - $36
• Stella Glow [CIB] - $55

DS

• Animal Crossing Wild World [Item only] - $26
• Final Fantasy IV [Item only] - $17
• Dungeon Explorer [Item only] - $15
• Viva Pinata Pocket Paradise [Item only] - $19
• Rhythm Paradise [Item only] - $12

DS [Lower End Games] [Bundled Price: $26]

• Club Penguin Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge [Item only]
• LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga [Item only]
• Scooby-Doo First Frights [Item only]
• Hannah Montana Music Jam [Item only]
• Frozen: Olaf's Quest [Item only]
• Charm Girls Club: My Perfect Prom [Item only]
• Chronicles of Narnia Lion Witch and the Wardrobe [Item only]
• Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo [Item only]
• Paws & Claws Pampered Pets [Item only]
• Littlest Pet Shop Winter [Item only]
• Littlest Pet Shop Garden [Item only]
• Littlest Pet Shop Jungle [Item only]
• Imagine Fashion Designer [Item only]

Gamecube

• Pitfall The Lost Expedition [CIB] - $20

XBOX One

• Assassin's Creed: Unity [Item only] - $8
• Call of Duty Ghosts [Item only] -$8

PSP

• God of War Chains of Olympus [CIB] - $24
• SOCOM US Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 2 [CIB] - $8
• Coded Arms [CIB] - $10

PS5

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla [CIB] - $12
• Marvel Spiderman: Miles Morales [Item only] -$12
• Jurassic World Evolution 2 [Brand New] - $25

Lore:

In 1962, in the middle of the Pacific, a new continent just appeared. In this continent was, among other things, a fully-built portal to the EaW universe, through which the continent's inhabitants would emerge. This new land, now known as "New Equestria" (a.k.a. "Pacifica"), would have its population living in Harmony, under the leadership of Princess-Regent Twilight Sparkle, as well as her consort and head of government, Prince-Consort Flash Sentry. But the inhabitants of New Equestria were not very fond of Alicorns, disliking their various policies, and soon, New Equestria found itself in a revolution, which turned into a full-blown civil war when the OFN, the Pakt, the Sphere, and the Triumvirate intervened. The Triumvirate supported at least part of the revolution, wanting to use it to gain control of New Equestria's magic crystal supply and become the fourth global superpower, while the other three alliances set up military zones supposedly in favor of Twilight's rule at least on paper, but in reality wanting to control it for themselves. The portal, as well as the capital city of New Equestria, is located in a neutral zone controlled by Equestria's loyalists, and it's where Twilight herself is currently residing.

Civil War factions:

US Pacific Forces - New Equestria
Leader: Gen. Maxwell Taylor
Ideology: Military Mandate (Paternalism)
Alignment: Organization of Free Nations (American Military Government)
Militarverwaltung Neue-Equestrien
Leader: Alexis von Roenne
Ideology: Stratocratic Nazism (National Socialism)
Alignment: Einheitspakt (Military Authority)
51st Army (title not final)
Leader: Yahara Hiromichi
Ideology: Colonial Government (Despotism)
Alignment: Co-prosperity Sphere (Japanese Military Administration)
New Equestrian Revolutionary Federation
Leader: Veronika
Ideology: Popular Front (Progressivism)
Alignment: Triumvirate (Triumvirate ObserveClient State), can be supported by certain Russian warlords
NOTE: Unlike the other three, the NERF acts on its own accord, in an uneasy alliance with the Italians and the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate founders don't really care about the revolution, and will soon dispose of them, however they see fit.
Equestrian Church of Jesus Christ
Leader: Alexandra Pones
Ideology: Theocracy (Despotism)
Alignment: None
NOTE: A theocratic faction comprised of Christian pony exiles who seek to bring the Christian faith back to the Equestrian nation.
Twilight's loyalists
Leader: Twilight Sparkle
Ideology: Alicorn Monarchism (Harmony)
Alignment: None, can be supported by the OFN if the US Military capitulates, and also by certain Russian warlords
NOTE: Twilight's loyalists will accept the OFN/Pakt/Sphere occupation for now due to their nation's weakened state, but will eventually want to see them out of the continent.

OFN/US paths:

Commonwealth of New Equestria (US Territory)
Leader: Twilight Sparkle (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council - Commonwealth (EPC - Commonwealth)
Faction: Organization of Free Nations (OFN Mandate/US Overseas Territory)
Economy: Colonial
Ideology: Controlled Democracy (Paternalism)
Elections: By event (or every 4 years)
Description: The head of state remains Twilight, who is now a constitutional monarch with power returned to the citizenry via a legislature after democratization reforms, but ultimately, as a US Overseas Territory, these institutions are slaves to Washington's will. But with the economy recovering, it seems like Harmony has returned, except with the forced expulsion of Pakt and Sphere immigrants.
Mattel Corporate State of New Equestria (one of 3-4 possible US Corporate rulers)
Leader: Twilight Sparkle (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Mattel Corporation
Faction: Organization of Free Nations (OFN Mandate)
Economy: Corporatist/Corporativist Colonial
Ideology: Corporatocracy (Despotism) (Hardliner path)/Corporate Paternalism (Paternalism) (Mattel/Civilian Diarchy path)
Elections: None
Description: Twilight Sparkle is now the puppet ruler of a corporate-run nation operating from her lands, as owning and selling the Crystals is a highly-profitable business venture, and the US Government has allowed New Equestria's factories to be "repurposed" for the benefit of the highest bidder, which in this case is toy company Mattel. Dismal work conditions continue for the nation's proletariat, but Mattel toys are nevertheless pumped out for the world's children.

Pakt/Germany paths:

Reichskomissariat Neue-Equestrien
Leader: Aryanne Hoofler (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - Aryannite (NSDAP - Aryannite)
Faction: Einheitspakt (Autonomous Reichskomissariat)
Economy: Nazi Corporatist
Ideology: Nazism (default National Socialism)
Elections: None
Description: New Equestria has been completely overhauled by Germania. Twilight and Flash were executed by firing squad due to being deemed "too opposing" to German interests, and a local sympathizer named "Aryanne Hoofler", after turning herself into an Alicorn, serves as Reichskomissar and puppet ruler, at least for the moment. Crystal extraction and mining intensifies, and all Crystals are sent directly to the Reich, with brutal forced labor and execution of all dissenters, while the ideas of settling the continent and invading Equestria through the New Canterlot portal were considered but dismissed due to their impracticality. What happens next depends. Bormann in particular might dislike Alicorns due to his neo-pagan religious beliefs, and would likely transfer the rule to the Wehrmacht some time later. Militarists like Goring and Schorner would likely also do this.
Paktkomission Neue-Equestrien
Leader: Twilight Sparkle (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council - Unity-Pakt (EPC - Unity-Pakt)
Faction: Einheitspakt (Protektorat)
Economy: Colonial (Dengist)/Socialized (GO4)
Ideology: Reformed Nazism (Fascism) (Dengist)/Harmonic Nazism (Harmony) (GO4)
Elections: By event
Description: Basically same as the previous path, but the whole "crimes of humanity" gets toned down, either nominally (dengist) or genuinely (GO4), though it would still be made into a highly-militarized thing. Twilight and Flash survive.
SS-Ordenstaat Pazifika
Leader: Felix Steiner (figurehead?)
Ruling Party: Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - SS-Loyalisten (NSDAP - SS-Loyalisten)
Faction: Einheitspakt (Ordenstaat)
Economy: Burgundian System
Ideology: Spartanism (National Socialism)/Esoteric Nazism (default Esoteric Nazism)
Elections: None
Description: A path that might be chosen by Heydrich or other hardliners. Basically, Aryanne has betrayed the Reich or something, and Germany had Attack Group Steiner coup the ponies and replace the government with a loyalist SS Order-State. While loyal to the Reich, living standards in Ordenstaat Pazifika are as bad as those in Burgundy, the whole country is a giant continent-sized industrial concentration camp with mass murder and slavery running rampant. God help you if you live there.
Militarbezirk Neue-Equestrien
Leader: Otto Ernst Remer
Ruling Party: Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - Militaristen (NSDAP - Militaristen)
Faction: Einheitspakt (Military Authority)
Economy: Military-directed
Ideology: Stratocratic Nazism (National Socialism)
Elections: None
Description: Basically New Equestria after the reins are handed over to the Wehrmacht in the first path.

Sphere/Japan paths:

Equestrian State of Pacifica
Leader: Twilight Sparkle (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council - Sphere Administration (EPC - SA)
Faction: Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (Fully Dependent Member of The Sphere)
Economy: Colonial/Corporatism
Ideology: Alicorn Monarchism (Harmony)
Elections: By event
Description: The Pan-Asian Imperialists won, executed Flash Sentry and also turned against the pony and non-pony/non-human population, continuing and expanding the totalitarian policies of the Alicorns, as well as the discriminatory practices. As a Fully-Dependent Member, the state is highly subservient to Japan, who controls their every move. Tonnes of Crystals and other products get pumped out as the state serves as a cheap manufacturing base for Japan and the Sphere. Opponents of the new regime, such as Flash Sentry and Veronika, are executed (though Twilight is kept as a puppet ruler for now).
Pacifica Military Administration
Leader: Nishiura Susumu (or some japanese general)
Ruling Party: Imperial Japanese Army - 52nd Army (IJA - 52nd Army)
Faction: Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (Japanese Military Administration)
Economy: Colonial
Ideology: Colonial Government (Despotism)
Elections: None
Description: Keeping Twilight was a mistake. Rather than let her rebel, Japan has disposed of her and replaced her Privy Council members with a colonial Military Administration. Opression worsens as the IJA demands an increase in production quotas, while the concept of Harmony as a culture, dismissed as "western imperialist", is dismantled.
State of Pacifica
Leader: Some Japanese politician or businessman
Ruling Party: Pacifica Civil Administration (Guangdong Faction)/Concordia Association of Pacifica (Manchurian Faction)
Faction: Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (Corporate Dependency)
Economy: Corporate Oligopoly (Guangdong Faction)/Corporatism (Manchurian Faction)
Ideology: Corporatocracy (Despotism) (Guangdong Faction)/Corporate Statism (Paternalism) (Manchurian Faction)
Elections: By event
Description: While Harmony is an alien culture that's frowned upon by Japan and the Sphere, without a doubt it makes for highly-efficient production, which is why at the request of Guangdong and Manchuria, instead of having the military take over, the guys in Tokyo have handed control over Pacifica to the corporations. Kinda like the OFN Corporate State path above, but more crimes against humanity (and ponies and other races).

Triumvirate/Revolution paths:

Governatorato di Pacifica
Leader: Harmonious Soviet
Ruling Party: Ponies' Communist Party - Triumvirate Loyalists (PCP - TL)
Faction: Triumvirate (Client Member)
Economy: Colonial
Ideology: Revolutionary Nationalism (Fascism)
Elections: By event
Description: The revolutionaries gained complete control of the government, executed Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry, and also turned against the non-pony population, continuing the dismal work conditions and discriminatory practices. The new Governatorate is highly subservient to the Triumvirate founders, controlling their every move. Tonnes of Crystals and other products are pumped out, and the nation's factories are now serving as a cheap manufacturing base for the Triumvirate. Twilight, Flash, and other opponents of the state (such as Veronika) are executed.
Islamic Sultanate of Pacifica
Leader: Sultan Aliyat I
Ruling Party: Aliyat's Court
Faction: Triumvirate (Member)
Economy: Planned Economy
Ideology: Islamic Harmony (Harmony)
Elections: None
Description: Turkey has given control of Pacifica to Islamic Arab Ponies, much to the chagarin of Italy and Iberia. Aspects of Sharia law are mixed with Harmonic principles, meaning the state is a bit more totalitarian than it was before, and the government is expecting to deport non-ponies, as well as the former members of Mother Alexandra's church, for "violating Islamic law" soon.
Territorio Militarie di Pacifica/Italian Forces in Pacifica
Leader: Junio Valerio Borghese
Ruling Party: Partido Nazionale Fascista - Pacifica (PNF - Pacifica)
Faction: Triumvirate (Client Member)
Economy: Colonial
Ideology: Colonial Government (Despotism)
Elections: By event
Description: The pony revolutionaires have failed the Duce, and rather than let the rest of the revolutionary faction, which the Triumvirate has a distaste for, actually succeed, Italy disposed of them in favor of General Borghese's rule. Opression worsens as Rome demands that all Crystal mining double in output, while the religion of the Alicorns, which the Triumvirate views as "sacrilegious", is dismantled thoroughly.
Comando Militar de Pacifica/Iberian forces in Pacifica
Leader: Alfonso Armada
Ruling Party: Falange Espanola Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista - Militares de Pacifica (FET y de las JONS - MP)
Faction: Triumvirate (Client Member)
Economy: Colonial
Ideology: Colonial Government
Elections: By event
Description: Rather than let the Italians handle things, Madrid managed to convince the Duce to let their army handle the situation, under the leadership of General Alfonso Armada. Basically the Borghese path above, but slightly different.

Other Revolution paths:

Socialist Republic of New Equestria (Veronika's Faction)
Leader: Veronika
Ruling Party: Ponies' Communist Party (PCP)
Faction: None (Note: Can join faction "Harmonious International" if Buckharin unifies Russia)
Economy: Khozraschyot
Ideology: Harmonic Communism (Harmony)
Elections: By event
Description: Veronika saw first-hand the injustices of opression, and wanted liberation for the workers ever since she was a filly. She wasn't surprised that many of her fellow revolutionaries betrayed the Communist cause for the Italian fascists, that was the way tyrants operated, she knew it with their prior supression of anyone that looked different from them. But at last, she pulled the Revolution away from the fascists and syndicalists. Now it was up to her to fulfill Marx and Lenin's visions.
Equalist Republic of New Equestria (Starlight's Faction)
Leader: Starlight Glimmer
Ruling Party: Ponies' Communist Party - Equalists (PCP - Equalists)
Faction: None
Economy: Worker-directed
Ideology: Equalism (Harmony)
Elections: None
Description: While comrade Veronika had admirable ideas, it was not her that would eventually have the reins over New Equestria. Rather, Starlight's Equalist faction took over, with the Equalist influence growing day-by-day as resentment for the Status Quo grew. It is only with a complete overhaul of New Equestria that the workers would finally be liberated. Knowing this, the ponies have collectively decided that their cutie marks were nothing but magical shackles, and at the command of Starlight Glimmer, turned the continent into a country-sized version of Starlight's Town. Now they don't produce for Equestria or some other country, they produce for themselves. But the shift in power has also taken authority away from the humans and non-ponies, as the Equalists solidify control.
United Communes of New Equestria
Leader: United Council of Harmonious Anarchy
Ruling Party: United Council of Harmonious Anarchy
Faction: None
Economy: Anarchist Communism
Ideology: Syndicalism (Socialism)/Anarcho-Communism (Socialism)
Elections: None
Description: The Revolution under comrade Molly Tov eventually came to the conclusion that the entire system of government from both the Alicorn Sisters and the foreign governments had to be abolished, and although they encounter resistance, they try to to turn New Equestria into a series of communes, similar to the anarchists from Kansk. This faction is looked at with disdain from virtually all outside forces, but some in New Equestria see it as the only solution to their problems and misery.

Loyalist paths:

Principality of New Equestria (Business as usual)
Leader: Twilight Sparkle
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council
Faction: None
Economy: Socialized
Ideology: Alicorn Monarchism (Harmony)
Elections: None
Description: All foreign influence from the humans has been expelled, and Twilight can return to her normal affairs. It seems that, despite the civil war, practically nothing has changed in New Equestria, but maybe this shouldn't be a surprise. Twilight continues to be slightly OFN-aligned but does business with every faction in order to preserve Harmony. She and Celestia are happy, but those under her continue to complain....
Principality of New Equestria (Flash Sentry's democratization reforms)
Leader: Twilight Sparkle
Head of Government: Flash Sentry (transition)/Mayor Mare (Conservative Party)/Sunset Shimmer (Central Party)/Shostavia (Socialist Party)
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council/Conservative Party/Central Party/Socialist Party
Faction: None (Possible OFN Partner)
Economy: Socialized
Ideology: Alicorn Monarchism (Harmony)/Interim Government (Despotism) (transition)/Harmonic Conservatism (Harmony) (Conservative Party)/Harmonic Democracy (Harmony) (Central Party)/Harmonic Socialism (Harmony) (Socialist Party)
Elections: Every 4 years
Description: Deeply dissastisfied with the totalitarian form of Harmony that led to the civil war, Flash Sentry decided it was time to take New Equestria away from pure Alicorn rule, and, along with his wife, he would bring constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy in line with Celestia's ideals of Friendship and Harmony. This transition will not be an easy one, and might not even succeed, but Twilight and Flash want Harmony to prevail. Works more so with the OFN and can become an OFN Partner.
Principality of New Equestria (Democratization failure)
Leader: Twilight Sparkle
Ruling Party: Equestrian Privy Council
Faction: None (Possible OFN Partner)
Economy: Socialized
Ideology: Alicorn Monarchism (Harmony)
Elections: By event
Description: Basically Flash Sentry's Stalina path. The democratization reforms did not go as planned. It seems that everyone and every pony is against the vision that Flash had for New Equestria, and a combination of internal difficulties and external threats meant that the experiment had to end. But Flash didn't want his project to end so quickly. Weakness in the constitutional monarchy that would cause it to fall into the hands of the Nazi Germans, the Italian Fascists, or the Japanese Imperialists was a death sentence for Harmony, and he and Twilight would rather have autonomy for the ponies than let the US military in to "help". That left Twilight and Flash with no choice but to follow the system Celestia estabilished. After all, Celestia's ideals are good, and they can't possibly be worse than their rivals. But democratization will come to New Equestria, at all costs. Can be either neutral or an OFN Partner.

Christian Pony paths:

Divine Mandate of New Equestria (Hardline)
Leader: Alexandra Pones (figurehead)
Ruling Party: Equestrian Church of Jesus Christ
Faction: None
Economy: Dirigisme/Planned Economy
Ideology: Fundamentalism (Ultranationalism)
Elections: By event
Description: The exiled religious ponies won the civil war and brought Christianity back to prominence in Equestria, much to the dismay of Celestia, Turkey, the Sphere, Bormann, and secular activists in the US and elsewhere. Regardless, the Christian reign prevails. After a power struggle, strict moral principles are imposed and conservative religious laws are quickly implemented, plus the government expects to deport non-pony populations such as Griffins for acting against "christian values" soon. The fundamentalist ponies are still deciding on who the leader should be: Should the Mother stay as a figurehead? Or is she a traitor to the ideals of God that should be removed from power? This is still under discussion, but for now, Mother Pones remains as the leader and figurehead, at least provisionally.
Divine Mandate of New Equestria (Moderate/Harmony)
Leader: Alexandra Pones
Ruling Party: Equestrian Church of Jesus Christ
Faction: None
Economy: Planned Economy (Christian Democracy)/Christian Anarchism (Christian Harmony)
Ideology: Christian Democracy (Liberal Conservatism)/Christian Harmony (Harmony)
Elections: By event
Description (Christian Democracy/Moderate): Alexandra Pones wins the power struggle, some working reforms, focuses on the more "Harmonious" parts of Christianity, but still holds on to some conservative values, too. Though not deported outright, non-ponies still find themselves in lesser positions compared to ponies and humans.
Description (Christian Harmony): Basically ponified Alexander Men/Siberian Divine Mandate, i guess.

Other paths:

Anarchy/Radio Silence
Description: They say humans are monsters. Maybe ponies are monsters too. Maybe they're both to blame for this calamity. When the civil war started, things seemed normal at first. But one thing led to another, and before they knew it, New Equestria was turned into an uninhabitable wasteland. It seems somebody, a sore loser maybe, used the nukes, plunging New Equestria into darkness and desolation. Twilight and her loyalists fled along with a handful of civilians back through the portal to Equestria, and the remainder of the creatures went elsewhere in the human world, and only sparse wildlife remains there. It would appear that Harmony is lost forever in this world.
Transhumanist State of New Equestria
Leader: "Anon Filly"
Ruling Party: Ponification for Earth's Rebirth (PER)
Faction: None
Economy: Military-Directed
Ideology: Vanguard Transhumanism (Harmony)
Elections: None
Description: Very few humans know where this "Anonymous Filly" came from, and fewer still know how he managed to get into power and win the civil war. From what most humans know, he was a rather incompetent general who made his way to New Equestria with the ponies. Few would expect this "Anon" to take control of the continent, but somehow, he did it, he won. Around the time the civil war began, he would start a transhumanist movement among the ponies and humans of New Equestria, believing that the ponies were the next stage of human evolution, and vowing to take all of humanity to that stage. Although not supported by any outside party officially, it would appear he earned a large amount of popularity in New Equestria and managed to recruit almost the entire civilian population, although some obscure theories point to secret shipments originating from the Order-State of Burgundy. But regardless of how this faction won the civil war, the impacts are profound and wide-ranging: All of Twilight's supporters, the foreign militaries, the revolutionaries, the Christian exiles, all gone. Declaring that a global crusade was imminent and that all of humanity would be ponified whether they like it or not, the borders of New Equestria soon closed and an unsettling silence was heard on the continent's airwaves. Defectors speak of the construction of a massive army and a gargantuan "Conversion Bureau" apparatus. Few know what's exactly going on inside the continent, or when the Transhumanist State plans to strike, but it would appear the magic of Friendship is lost forever in this world.