#NPC King Candy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

milijanakomad · 8 months

Text

Product design and psychology: The Role of Grinding in Video Game Design

Keywords: Grinding, Video Gaming, Game Design, Player Engagement, Psychological Manipulation

Abstract:

This paper scrutinizes the utilization of "grinding" as a technique in video game design, particularly as a method of psychological manipulation that affects player engagement and behaviour. Case studies are explored to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the practical application of grinding and its implications, all from a product design viewpoint.

Introduction:

The design principles governing video games frequently incorporate mechanisms intended to stimulate player engagement and prolong interaction time. One such prevalent mechanism is "grinding," defined as the practice of executing repetitive tasks within the game environment to achieve specific objectives. While grinding can evoke a sense of achievement, it also carries the potential to induce exhaustion and frustration among players. This study endeavours to explore the intricacies of grinding, its role in game design, and its influence on player experience.

Explanation:

Coined from the concept of persistently "grinding away" at a task, the term "grinding" in the gaming context implies the undertaking of repetitive actions by a player to attain certain results or to advance within the game. In numerous instances, such actions may not directly correlate with the game's primary storyline or objectives but are aimed at accumulating experience points, in-game currency, or specialized items.

Grinding is an omnipresent component across a vast array of game genres, with its prominence notably manifested in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). In these games, the player's progression and performance are often gauged based on their character's level, skills, and available equipment.

From the standpoint of game design, grinding assumes several roles. It serves to extend the game's lifespan by instituting goals that necessitate substantial time investment. Additionally, it fosters a sense of accomplishment and progression and can encourage social interaction in multiplayer environments. Despite these advantages, critics contend that grinding can lead to monotonous and ungratifying gameplay experiences. The considerable time commitment required by grinding may propel some players towards purchasing in-game enhancements using real-world money, thereby generating additional revenue for game developers.

Further, there is an ongoing discourse concerning the psychological implications of grinding. Its repetitive and rewarding nature might precipitate addictive behaviours and excessive consumption of time, mirroring the effects typically associated with gambling disorders. Through the exploration of these aspects, we aim to shed light on the complex dynamics of grinding in the context of modern video gaming.

Grinding in Gaming: Conceptualization and Design

Grinding typically refers to the act of performing repetitive actions in a game to attain a specific goal, often associated with levelling up, obtaining items, or advancing in-game skills. Although it can give players a sense of progression, it can also serve as a roadblock, encouraging players to consider alternative paths to progress, such as microtransactions.

Case Study: World of Warcraft

Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft (WoW) extensively employs grinding. Players often engage in repetitive tasks like fighting the same enemies, repeatedly battling against non-player characters (NPCs), or completing the same quests to increase their character's level, to gain experience points, in-game currency, or rare items. This grind contributes to a sense of achievement but has also been criticized for sometimes leading to a tedious gameplay experience.

youtube

Case Study: Candy Crush Saga

King's Candy Crush Saga uses grinding as a monetization strategy. As players progress and levels become harder, the option to grind through the game becomes more attractive. Alternatively, players can buy power-ups and boosters to surpass the grind, effectively translating grinding mechanics into revenue for the game developers.

Case Study: Destiny 2

This game provides an example of a 'loot grind.' Players repeatedly complete activities like strikes, raids, or public events to earn 'engrams' – randomized gear drops. The goal is often to collect more powerful gear to increase a character's power level.

youtube

Case Study: Old School RuneScape

In this MMORPG, players might grind by repetitively performing tasks like mining, fishing, or woodcutting. These actions, though monotonous, boost the player's skill levels, enabling them to perform new tasks, quests, or create new items.

Implications for Game Design

Grinding, while a tool to extend game playtime and potentially drive monetization, must be thoughtfully implemented to avoid player fatigue or burnout. Game designers should strike a balance between meaningful progression and repetitive grind, ensuring the game remains engaging and satisfying.

Conclusion

Grinding, as a mechanism of psychological manipulation in video game design, can greatly impact player behaviour and engagement. Striking a balance between challenge, satisfaction, and repetition is vital to ensure a rewarding gameplay experience. As the video game industry advances, it will be intriguing to observe the evolution and refinement of grinding mechanisms and their psychological impact on players.

References:

Sicart, M. (2013). Grinding in Games: Understanding the Appeal. Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, 8-11.

Hamari, J., Alha, K., Järvelä, S., Kivikangas, J. M., Koivisto, J., & Paavilainen, J. (2017). Why do players buy in-game content? An empirical study on concrete purchase motivations. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 538-546. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.045

Blizzard Entertainment. (2004). World of Warcraft [Video Game]. Blizzard Entertainment.

King. (2012). Candy Crush Saga [Video Game]. King.

Bungie. (2017). Destiny 2 [Video Game]. Activision.

Jagex. (2013). Old School RuneScape [Video Game]. Jagex.

Yee, N. (2006). Motivations of play in online games. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(6), 772-775. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.772

Johnson, M. R., & Woodcock, J. (2019). The impacts of live streaming and Twitch.tv on the video game industry. Media, Culture & Society, 41(5), 670-688. doi:10.1177/0163443718818363

King, D., Delfabbro, P., & Griffiths, M. (2010). Video game structural characteristics: A new psychological taxonomy. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8(1), 90-106. doi:10.1007/s11469-009-9206-4

Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification". MindTrek '11: Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, 9-15. doi:10.1145/2181037.2181040

#Grinding #Video Gaming #Game Design #Player Engagement #Psychological Manipulation #product design #gaming #user experience #player behaviour #destiny 2 #world of warcraft #runescape #old school runescape #candy crush #Youtube

70 notes · View notes

simpingforcys · 1 year

Text

CyBug King Candy/Turbo x Reader

[First Meeting]

It had been months since the Sugar Rush incident happened in the arcade. You still didn’t know what happened, you were outlets away. But it was still big news throughout the arcade.

You took the regular stroll around your game after the arcade closed. It was your way to wind down before another day tomorrow. You knew the path too well. And your colleagues and fellow NPCs knew you went on said walk, so they never worried or bothered to come find you.

The deeper you went, the nicer it felt. Solitary and calm. Far from the responsibilities of your game work. Just you and your thoughts-

Was that a branch snap?

You turn around and pause. There were no NPCs this far in the game.

Even in the darker part of your map, you knew that.

A rustle makes your sprites jump.

You hear a hiss. And a snarl. Distant, but you knew it was there. On top of that, you felt something staring at you. You weren’t just not alone, but being watched.

You take a few steps back, hoping to return back to the center of your map again when the ground is swept under you, like a strong whip hit your feet and you fell back flat on the ground.

The rapid swift steps and sudden loud buzzing of wings that overtook the air made you jump back to sit up.

Your coding feels like it’s a jumbled mess inside you when a tall, conjoined jerky in movement creature towers over you, coming out of the shadows and into the light.

The first thing you noticed was piercing glowing red eyes and a wide open mouth of sharp teeth. Two lines under it resembled blood for a second that did not help when two sharp clawed hands rose up to either side of the figure.

The clicking of its feet against each other and the ground didn’t make you shiver, but the low, crackling cackle from the throat of whatever this was when it flashes it’s teeth in a smirk certainly did.

" W̸h̴a̸t̸ ̸d̵o̷ ̴w̵e̸ ̵h̵a̵v̵e̸ ̴h̷e̴r̷e̷~?̵"

#king candy x reader #turbo x reader #king cybug #wreck it ralph #headcanons #hc #first meeting

67 notes · View notes

strangerobsession · 1 year

Text

I Cast Knock on the Door

Votes are in! I'll probably do more lil one-shots based on ACOC because I'm mentally ill and I'm obsessed with these silly little guys.

Gender neutral reader, and they play a character named Theo who can be imagined as masc, fem, or neither.

Summery: Things are going sideways for the party in Eddie's new political corruption campaign. PCs are dying and betrayals are occurring, but morale is regained when you achieve a small victory and catch Eddie of-guard.

SPOILERS FOR DIMENSION 2O'S A CROWN OF CANDY UNDER THE CUT

Word Count: 1,446

Masterlist

“I think we brought this on ourselves, guys.” You muttered, leaning back in your chair with a heavy sigh. “We did let Eddie do a murder campaign.”

Everyone at the table had been practically paralyzed for the past twenty-five minutes. The incredulous sputtering from the unexpected betrayal by a favorite NPC had turned into silence as Eddie now somberly narrated Mike’s character’s death.

He chuckled quietly, shrugging. “I told you; if you play royals, everyone’s gonna try to assassinate you.”

“It’s okay, Eddie’ll pull an NPC out of his ass that he was gonna introduce later for you to play.” Gareth, who’d also had his character killed off, said kindly to Mike.

“You got one for me, too?” Jeff asked, laughing tiredly.

“Oh, you’re fine, you’re still alive.” Eddie waved him off.

“Cruller just threw me off the roof of my own castle.” Jeff deadpanned. “I might be fucked.”

When Eddie had pitched his latest campaign idea, everyone had been excited about doing something different. The picture he’d painted of the world and the lore had been too good to pass up. Even when he’d explicitly said “I will be trying to kill you every step of the way,” Hellfire still gave him the stamp of approval, and set about creating new characters.

Now? Dustin’s familiar and best friend had been killed, Gareth was on his second character, Jeff seemed close to death, and now Mike needed a new character.

Eddie laughed again. “Well, for now,” He gestured to you. “Theo?”

“Mm-hmm?” You grunted quietly at the sound of your character’s name.

“You are walking through the castle looking for some of the other knights. You find Toby’s quarters,” Eddie said, referring to your character, the captain of the royal guard’s second in command. “They look sort of messier than normal, which is unusual to you because he’s a very neat, crisp knight. As you go in to investigate, you see Sir Toby’s body butchered in a corner of the room.”

Your eyes widened, but Eddie wasn’t done.

“You hear the iron door of his quarters slam behind you and lock. You hear the voices of some of Cruller’s men,” He pitched his voice lower and laughed. “Keep them behind the door. Have fun in there! If you get hungry your friend Toby should be able to help you with a meal.”

You crossed your arms, and shook your head, brows furrowed. “I think Theo’s just running through everything in their head, just like a million thoughts at once. They’re thinking ‘How did I not see this? How did I not suspect this? Where’s the king?’” You sigh heavily, eyes scanning your character sheet and what few spells you have. An idea starts to form. You look up at your boyfriend, perched behind his DM screen. “Can I hear how many people are outside the door?”

“Yeah, only probably like two or three.”

You nod, glancing back at your spells. “I cast Knock on the door.”

Eddie stares at you, eyes wide and mouth gaping as your fellow party members cheer.

“Yeah!” Mike yells from next to you, pumping a fist. Dustin grabs your arm from your other side.

“It automatically unlocks the door.” You finally let yourself smile at Eddie’s shocked face- he’s so rarely thrown off his game, you can count on one hand the number of times you’d rendered him well and truly speechless during a session.

He lets out a stunned laugh, grinning widely. “You hear them snickering outside, and suddenly the door bursts off its hinges, flies and thuds into the wall across, and they whip around to look at you. Sweetheart, if you will, please roll initiative.”

You pick up your d20 between two fingers with a smirk. “Do I get any kind of surprise?”

“You’re gonna get a surprise round, absolutely.”

Dustin frowned as you rolled. “Is it just (Y/N) going?”

“Yeah, well we’ve gotta resolve this before we cut back to everyone else.” Eddie nodded.

“I got an eleven.” You inform him.

Eddie rolled behind his screen. He shakes his head with a rueful smile. “The guards got a three. Go ahead and take your surprise round.”

“Oh my god,” You laughed, scanning your possible attacks and spells. “You’re going to regret not killing me first, asshole.”

With advantage for the surprise round, you quickly dropped two out of the three guards. Eddie marked something off on his notes, still looking a little dazed. “Okay, that’s your surprise round. There is one guy left and you rolled higher on initiative. Go for it.”

You rolled a few more times, rattling off numbers to Eddie as you took out the last guard. “First attack was just five, this is…. Another eight damage.”

Not your best rolls, but luckily the palace guards had pretty low stats. Eddie nods. “Theo, they’ve locked you in this room, and they’re laughing outside. In a swirling helix of magic energy, the door explodes off its hinges, and as their faces follow, you slide out.” He waves an arm, mimicking a swinging blade. “All of these soldiers are dead before they even have a chance to draw their weapons.”

You sigh in relief. “Amazing.”

“We should get a sign or something for the room.” Dustin smirked. “‘It’s been zero days since Eddie’s plans were ruined by an unassuming spell.’”

The table laughed as Eddie leaned forward, pointing a pencil at Dustin with an impassive expression. “You’re still way too proud of that Detect Poison thing.”

“It solved the whole battle, it was awesome!” Lucas protested with a laugh.

Eddie groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Everytime,” He muttered. “Everytime I have a whole fight, one of you does that one thing that fucks it all up.”

“Your goal is to kill us, ours is to make your life a living hell.” You replied evenly, setting your dice back into neat lines. “If we have to follow the rules, so do you.”

“You’re doing a bang up job.” He quipped, before clapping his hands. “Alright, let’s cut back to Cumulous.”

. . .

“You think Eddie’s already got an NPC for Mike to take over?” Dustin asked.

“Knowing him, it’s more than likely. That or they’re working something out right now.” You shrugged. “Either way, he won’t leave him hanging.”

After the session, Eddie had asked Mike to hang back, telling him he “had something for him.” You, Dustin and Lucas waited by your car for them to be done.

“I think I’m still in shock.” Lucas commented. “I think I’ve been in shock for the past four sessions.”

“Me too,” You agreed.

Eddie and Mike soon pushed through the front doors of Hawkins High. Eddie had an arm wrapped around the younger boy, patting him comfortingly on the shoulder. They were both smiling, though.

“Figure everything out?” You asked, holding a hand out.

“Oh yeah.” Eddie took it, kissing your knuckles. “We haven’t seen the last of Wheeler.”

“Good.” You ruffled Mike’s hair affectionately. “Pile in, boys.”

The kids clambered into your car- Dustin scrambling around to the passenger’s seat after calling shotgun- as you turned to fully face Eddie.

“Hey, that was a really good move with Knock, earlier.” He grinned. “I didn’t even know you had that one.”

“Never had to use it before- I only added after I realized how trigger happy you were with the assassination attempts.” You chuckled. “Figured it’d come in handy.”

“You’re a genius, babe.” Eddie grabbed both your hands, pressing kisses to every finger.

Lucas knocked on the window from inside the car. “Wrap it up, lovebirds!” He called, muffled.

Eddie shot him a dirty look, then kissed you deeply. You cupped his face in one hand, using the other to flip off the groaning boys in your car.

“We still good for tomorrow?” He asked, pressing his forehead to yours.

“Yup. Pick me up at 12?”

“I’ll be there.” He promised, kissing you again.

“Okay, I should actually go and get these guys home.” You said regretfully, pulling out of Eddie’s arms. “Thanks for the session, Ed. It was really fun.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. You were amazing.” He started walking backwards towards his van, a soft smile pulling at his lips. “I love you!”

“I love you too!” You called as he got further away.

“I can’t believe you just made out with the man who murdered me in cold blood.” Mike scoffed as you slid into the driver’s seat.”

“Sometimes you have to compartmentalize, Micheal.” You replied as you started the car. “In my head, my boyfriend and the guy who’s ass I’m gonna beat in next week’s session are two very different people.”

#stranger things #stranger things season 4 #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson dnd #stranger things dnd

22 notes · View notes

incorrect-mordet-quotes · 11 months

Text

Best SAO Abridged Lines As RP Starters Pt.3

“Sheeptar the Sheep King, your reign is at an end.”

“If that thing hadn’t already killed seven of us, I’d say this was a really stupid boss.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, we can’t just go around sacrificing NPCs! Some of my best friends have been NPCs!”

“That makes way too much sense.”

“Choke on it! Choke on my vengeance! How does it taste?!”

“Yeeeah. You know what? Maybe he has a point. This is super uncomfortable.”

“Sooooo… how’s your day goin’? You’re looking pretty relaxed there, buddy.”

“This grass feels amazing.”

“I suspect that wasn’t a real question–”

“It was great! You should’ve been there! He was climbing the walls, spitting acid…”

“We’re still talking about a sheep, right? Not like a… fluffy Xenomorph?”

“Its a really stupid boss!”

“Apparently not that stupid if it killed seven of you.”

“…twelve now, actually…”

“I mean, you survived, so hey. Silver lining.”

“Okay, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re way too… mellow.”

“Well, I had some time to kill before the raid, so I figured I’d power level my alchemy a bit by eating some weird plants, and now everything’s…. just… great…”

“Look, okay? I get it. You had a really bad day. You’re stressed out, seven people died…”

“TWELVE PEOPLE.”

“Not the point. Look, they’re dead now. And really? Whose fault is that? That’s right. No one’s. So why don’t you lie down, relax, and watch the stars with me?”

“Its two in the afternoon! There are no stars!”

“Only if you’re looking with your eyes.”

“You’d better come down soon so I can kick your teeth in…”

“Huh… those dudebros make an interesting point.”

“I mean… as a man, there’s really only one option here.”

“I drew cat whiskers on you because I thought it would be funny, and it was!”

“Vhew eh pfftff Well… tff I… I dfff I-I mean… jju uu You know…! jj–… You- you could’ve… like… tjj ahu…”

“Yeah, remind me to draw on your face more often. I’ll eat like a king. Or at least a very wealthy janitor.”

“This coming from the guy who ate random plants off the ground?”

“Oh really? Well who’s dumber? Me, or the one who takes a nap next to some crazed drug fiend?”

“Need I remind you that YOU were that crazed drug fiend?”

“I can’t be held responsible for stoned _______. That guy’s an idiot.”

“Oh, looks like we are out of time! We’ll have to continue this next week, but in the meantime, please enjoy these lovely consolation prizes from the ________ Is Always Right Foundation.”

“Oh my god, you’re insufferable.”

“Huh… look. A human pinata.”

“He’s dying!”

“Uh… correction: he’s suffering. Probably hurts like a bitch, but he’s not gonna die.”

“Hey man! When you pop, could you try to send the candy over this way?!”

“I’m gonna go cut him down, you jackass.”

“Hey, anyone got like a thirty foot stick? I wanna take a crack at this thing.”

“So did anyone see where the candy went, or…?”

“For christ’s sake, a man just died!”

“Ah, yesss… but that just raises an even bigger question. Why do you care?!”

“I’m sorry, are you asking me why I care that a man was killed?”

“No, I’m asking why YOU care that a man was killed!”

“Welll… let’s see… most people would - charitably - refer to you as the crown prince of douchebags, long may he reign.”

“Your usual reaction to human suffering is to pull up a chair and crack out the popcorn! What’s your angle?!”

“I am shocked and appalled that that is your opinion of me!”

“Starts with an A---… right, Y. Starts with a Y. I mean its close, they’re basically neighbors, you can understand my mistake.”

“Its uh… Yo… Yo… Yo… Ya… Yoooooga pants?”

“Oh, spare me, Wonder Woman. You’re only doing this to prove I was wrong.”

“Hey! At least I PRETEND to be nice to people!”

“Yeah, whatever, uh—wait, ‘pretend’?”

“Well if its not my least favorite customer.”

“Aw, you just say that because I’m not dumb enough to buy any of your crap.”

“Yeah, well if there’s one upside to being trapped with these idiots, its that they’ll buy pretty much anything.”

“What’s the matter with you?! Why would you bring her here?! I thought we were friends!”

“What is up in dis… hizouse?”

“There’s just so much beauty in the world, you know?!”

“So dat’s da sitch. Think ya can scope da deets on dis gat for us, homey?”

“Um, but I’m da one dat asked you.”

“Why you ignoring me bro? You got cotton in your ears?”

“OH GOD! I-I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Grand Wizard _______ here’s not what you’d call a ‘people person’.”

“Um, excuse me?! Mr. Kettle? Mr. Pot called. He said you’re black!”

“What? Its a turn of phrase. It has nothing to do with race.”

“Okay, now you see dat? DAT was racist.”

“Well CLEARLY, I’m stabbing myself with this sword to see if it kills me– Oh god, what AM I doing?”

“Ah… handing the black man a murder weapon. Tale as old as time.”

“Do you really hate this place that much, or do you just love the sound of your own voice?”

“Its my gift to the world.”

“Hate to break it to you sweetie, but the world wants a gift receipt.”

“No refunds or exchanges. Only store credit.”

“Shhhhh. The grown-ups are talking.”

“Really? Then show me the body.”

“There is no body!”

“You can’t prove that he’s dead. Let me give this poor girl some hope.”

“Oh, don’t even PRETEND that’s what you’re doing!”

“________, why would ________ have wanted to make sweet love to your friend’s chest with the business end of a broadsword?”

“Meh, I’ve killed for less.”

“I knew it! They’re finally coming for me! It was only a matter of time! The walls are closing in!”

“Ever since he got trapped in here, he’s been terrified that his more… 'verbose’ commenters are going to make good on their threats.”

“I used to laugh at their comments! You hear me?! LAUGH! But now?! What if they actually DO chop off my limbs, rip out my intestines, and ride me like some sort of meat toboggan?!”

“You hear that? 'Meat Toboggan’. Try getting THAT image out of your head. Grippin’ his entrails like the reins of Santa’s sleigh. Streaking through the fresh morning snow on a trail of bile and gore, as his eyes beg the same question as the horrified children in his wake. 'Why…?’ ”

“This… may have been a mistake.”

“I disagree. I think you’ve got a real flair for this.”

“Did I say 'reason’? Sorry, I meant the screaming monkeys that live in her brain.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have a duty to my fans to survive this! …I mean, to the ones who AREN’T threatening to use my spine as a pitching wedge.”

“I think we can safely assume a ghost is not the culprit here!”

“Of course not. Obviously it was a Hit by the Mermaid Mafia paid in Leprechaun gold! But who was the puppet master? The Unicorns? No… they’ve had a feud going with the Mermaids for years.”

“Damn it, this is serious!”

“Weeellllll… I’m not a doctor… but I don’t like her chances.”

"Ah! Ah! Ow! Ah! Ugh! Ah.... aaaugh..."

"Really? I figured some random perp would be no match for the world's greatest detective. Oh-ho wait, no... THAT'S BATMAN. And you're not Batman, are you? You will NEVER be Batman."

"That, uh... cut surprisingly deep. Well played."

"I can't believe you just left me with that guy!"

"Really? What part of that was out of character for me?"

"If you say '_______', I'm going to stab you in the eye."

"So anyway, I think we should go over what we know so far."

"Why? I figured the whole thing out hours ago."

"My sandwich! It was innocent...!"

"SHHH! I must grieve."

"What do you want?! Scalps?! I can get you scalps!"

"Oh, I see. You're an orphan blood man! Do you prefer your victims pre-drained, or do you like to get your hands dirty?"

"Oh, so you like them crucified! Well, that'll be a bit trickier, but I'm sure I can work something out!"

"...so, where are we on the whole orphan blood thing? We talking heads or liters?"

"For the love of-- We're not ghosts! We faked our deaths!"

"Seriously, ________? How many people would you have killed if we'd asked you to?"

"Thaaaaat's... not important."

"I DISAGREE."

"And Samson said, 'With an asses jawbone, I have made asses of them. With an asses jawbone, I have killed a thousand men.'"

"No no! You sighed! That's not nothing!"

"Boss... I get what you're going for. Bible quoting serial killer... its a great motif. Classic. But... its a big book. They're not all gonna be gems."

"Okay, bigshot! Name one verse that's scarier than that."

"Oh, I don't know. How about 'no flesh shall be spared'? Mark 13:20?"

"Holy shit! That's in the Bible...?"

"Have... you ever actually READ the Bible?"

"Look, we're getting off-track. I'm the guild leader, and I say my verse was better."

"Don't you think the whole 'Jesus tells me to kill' thing is... holding us back? Plus... you're not even all that good at it."

"How DARE you! The J-man's teachings inform everything I do!"

"That's not even a word! Much less--- ugh. Forget it. Let's just kill these guys and go."

"Stupid horse! That entrance was almost perfect!"

"Don't patronize me, Yoga Pants!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible, officer. The Lord has ordered these sinners dead, in the form of a guy who pays fifty bucks..."

"Fifty bucks? Selling yourselves a bit cheap, don't'cha think? You guys provide an essential, in-demand service, and you're DEFINITELY the leaders in your field. I mean, you GOTTA cash in on that name recognition."

"THAT'S WHAT I KEEP TELLING HIM.”

“The high-paying clients won't touch us. They take ONE LOOK at Reverend Killjoy over here, and think we're a bunch of crazy people!"

"You could reach a much wider demo if you just tone down the religious theme."

"What you guys need is a total rebranding. Ad campaign! PR blast! Get your faces out there! Let people know you're not just about the fire and brimstone! You are multifaceted, three-dimensional killing machines, and you have got a little something for everyone, because contract killing... is a beat we can all dance to."

"As payment, the lives of these sinners are now yours to command."

"Thanks! Jesus told me to say it."

"Huh... so I own you guys now. That's cool."

"Serves one per conspirator, may contain trace amounts of 'caaaaalllled iiiiit'."

"How did you realize I was lying?"

"Ah, well, that part was quite simple. You see: I'm not an idiot."

"Yeah, that'd do it."

"Of course... I do have some evidence. If you're into that sort of thing."

"My first thought was ___________. My second thought was 'Oh shit, window.' And with that, much like that window, the cracks in your facade started to form."

"As if anyone would let that moron in on a conspiracy. A friggin' landmine deals with pressure better than him, and would kill fewer people."

"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this..."

"Well, someone had to."

"BUT. This whole thing still leaves me with one question... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Oh, right. Totally forgot. I should probably mention that he didn't do it."

"What? I just thought you guys might like to know. You seemed pretty interested in the subject."

"Well, I'm sorry. SHOCKINGLY, he wasn't very COOPERATIVE."

"How big is this web?! You're catching school buses in this thing!"

"Hey! We just gift-wrapped your friend's killer for you! You maybe wanna react here?"

"Ah! A valid point! But tell me. Do you think ______ would've trusted a stranger to do the job? Well then, you must think _______ was skilled enough to kill _______ one-on-one. Or perhaps smart enough to catch her unawares?"

"Oh my god, _______'s not the killer."

"Hey, people threatened to kill me for giving Pokemon: V&R a seven out of ten! At this point, I've learned to just assume the position."

"Hold it, I've got something I've been holding in for a while... That hat makes you look like a HIPSTER!"

"What? No! Bullshit! I had to go to a dark place to pull out that masterpiece! It was full of emotions that scare and confuse me. Now come on, get up! We're doing this again! And this time, you're not gonna fold just cause that hat makes you look like John Lennon joined the mafia!"

"See? There's no challenge in it! Verbal abuse, man. Its a lost art."

"You guys were the best slaves a boy could have."

"Fuck it! I tried! You all saw it!"

"We're gonna make sure you get the help you need, buddy. Behind this tree."

"Look, if this is about me being right about everything, I forgive you, okay?"

"Damn it, I'm trying to be nice and have a moment here, which isn't easy with SOME people being so LOUD!"

"Wait-- nononoNONONO---"

#RP Prompt #Meme #RP Meme

10 notes · View notes

stonecoldsilly · 1 year

Text

most fuckable NPC from each season:

fantasy high - gilear faeth

escape from the bloodkeep - galfast hamhead

unsleeping city s1 - robert moses (the only reason im not saying don confetti is that he’s a short king™️)

fantasy high sophomore year - gilear faeth

a crown of candy - lord calroy cruller

unsleeping city chapter two - dr lugash primjitzski

mice and murder - lord eoighan mccrae

misfits and magic - doctor norman boodle

the seven - lysander higgins

a starstruck odyssey - captain jan de la vega

a court of fey and flowers - princess suntar

neverafter - drosselmeyer

#this is NOT favourite #this is most fuckable #there is a difference #subtle yet important #I respect women too much this is for sex (derogatory)#several NPCs are far more romanceable but that’s NOT the point #fight me in the tags :)#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers

32 notes · View notes

thepringlesofblood · 1 year

Text

Dimension 20 Campaigns Rated By The Amount Of Mice/Rats

(chronological order)

disclaimer: I have not seen Escape from Bloodkeep, Shriek Week, Coffin Run, or The Unsleeping City s2.

for all of these except the last, I command + F’d through their transcripts on the wiki for the terms “rat” “rats” “mice” “mouse” and “rodent” to find the relevant data.

the reason I didn’t do TUC s2 is a. from watching the first season I can intuit a similar level of mouse/rat content in this setting, if slightly lessened rat action due to the lack of a rat PC, and b. laziness. consider all of tuc under the same umbrella

i don’t know what’s wrong with me either.

Fantasy High - 7.5/10. the introduction of Sexy Rat into the d20 canon is iconic. we also have the rat that the sexy rat was created for - Edgar, Zayn Darkshadow’s cute lil plot-relevant pet rat. Not much mice/rat content outside of this, but a beautiful beginning.

Escape from Bloodkeep - 1/10. aside from Erika Ishii occasionally saying “aw, rats,” there’s only one minor instance of rat action, this quote from ep 1 - “We're training little ants and beetles to carry little swords and sharp things, and crawl in, and you know when you get a rat to eat through someone's stomach and come to the other side, we're trying to cover the rats in spikes.”

The Unsleeping City - 10000/10. rats every episode. rat PC. rat NPCs. MULTIPLE combat eps with not only rat swarms but a rat KING. impeccable. kugrash my belovéd. true rat positivity. rights for rats. the height of rat content in dimension 20.

Tiny Heist - 6/10. Solid rodent presence in the form of Tony Manchego, a mouse supporting NPC who is basically Boomer’s main coworker. Several other mice/rats also appear as Felix Flick henchmen (henchpeople?). Not a main focus, but decent background presence. I don’t recall any good/cool rats/mice though, they’re all goons of some kind.

A Crown of Candy - 0.5/10. in ep3 Brennan uses the phrase “Everyone thinks we're rats.” to explain political negotiations w the dairy isles. you know it’s rough when the only mention of rats is its use as a pejorative. the 0.5 is for the incredibly gratuitous cheese content. No actual mice, but that counts for something in my book. also Lapin is a bunny, which is another kind of rodent. This is the only possible framework in which ACOC could be described as “disappointing"

Dimension 20 Live aka Fantasy High: Sophomore Year - 6/10. The thrilling return of Sexy Rat. Sadly this is the only significant mouse/rat content this season, but what a banger!

Pirates of Leviathan - 9/10. Another excellent rat-person PC. Jack Brakkow is revolutionary. we love a grimy king. not much else in terms of mouse/rat content though, and Jack’s rattiness isn’t discussed as much as kugrash’s is. there is a character deadass named “Cheese” though.

Mice and Murder - 9.5/10 it’s in the title. No PCs though, surprisingly, which is the main reason this isn’t 10/10. they went more for diversity in animals with this one and tbh it works really well, but also means that despite the title, it’s really Fox and Racoon and Javelina and Weasel and Owl and Doberman Pinscher and Murder. The mice/rats they do have are dope though. Both of the McCabbages are vibrant and interesting, and of course Rosalind Crumb showing her ass is iconic. Thomas Gilfoyle is classic suspicious butler, Carolyn Dickory and Edwina Thimble wind up being extremely important, Molly Milton and Millie Molton are peak Brennan weird naming convention as well as a lesbian power couple, and there’s a variety of other Loam Hall staff that are mice (and they all have wild names like Tessa Teapot and Alfred Honeyhatch). I know that moles aren’t mice/rats, but shoutout to Mrs. Molesly, a real one start to finish.

Misfits and Magic - 7/10. this probably shouldn’t be as high as it is, but I am incapable of not ranking mismag as high as possible, it is what got me into dimension 20 and I LOVE it. K’s amazing cinderella scene at the end is one of the highlights of the series, and they also use mice/rats as surveillance sometimes. Theodore is a chipmunk, not a mouse/rat, but still points for other prominent rodentia. the K fucked-up-disney-princess stuff only has mice/rats a few times, but it’s just so iconic.

The Seven - 0/10. Absolutely zero mouse/rat content. Rip. They went hard on horse girl content (respect), so it makes sense that there was less room for mice/rats. again, the only measurement by which this series could be considered a disappointment, I fuckin love the seven.

Shriek Week - 0.5/10. A “rat man” is mentioned briefly as a one-off gag. Exhilarating. occasionally, the clicking of a computer mouse is inserted as a sound effect.

A Starstruck Odyssey - 2/10. in Ep. 12, there is discussion of “skiff rats” and rat poison that makes your head explode. This is a very important memory from Skipper’s past, but the emphasis is on the rat poison, and on the consequences of the mass poisoning, not really on the rats themselves. in Ep. 11, when describing a room Brennan says “The walls piled high…with bright blue animatronic mouse heads with the eyes torn out” however this is the only mention of them in the episode. There is one mention to the concept of a computer mouse (Ep. 10), and on several occasions, the sound of a computer mouse clicking can be heard as a sound effect.

Coffin Run - 5/10. in the finale, rat swarms try to eat Dracula. A thrilling moment. other than that, in Ep. 1 we have the quote, “This letter then goes across the ocean in a rat-infested ship”, and in Ep. 5 wetzel accidentally eats some rat poison. highlighted quote: “If we connect all the rats together, can we get a rat king?”

A Court of Fey and Flowers - 0.25/10. in Ep. 4 Mickey Mouse is mentioned, in the context of Hob’s state of dress - “You're either a Donald Duck or a Mickey Mouse” - Oscar Montoya. It’s 0.25 because fuck disney. bit of a missed opportunity, mice can typically fall into the “cute woodland creatures that live in/around fairies” category, and there were so many mentions of trash this season, I was really hoping we’d get some rat action. lacking that, I was hoping a salt goblin would be described as being the size of a mouse, but no such luck. rip. Again, the only disappointing aspect of this campaign, ruehob aka battlemaster of ceremonies is one of the only happy positive romances I’ve seen with a nonbinary person and as an enby myself, the idea that a brennan lee mulligan character could find someone like me attractive is. very validating.

Neverafter - ?/10. it’s not done yet (post written 12/28/22), but things are looking promising so far! we’ve had several mouse swarms, and a whole miniature town of mouse NPCs, plus many descriptions of pib eating mice. if a similar level of mouse/rat content continues, I project a 7.5/10 at the very least

UPDATE: final rating for Neverafter - 8/10. nothing ever managed to match the chaotic rodent energy of earlier episodes, but still a very solid showing. Rosamund’s swarm is a fairly consistent source of rats/mice, though she more often calls upon her “little birds,” and Pib continues to eat mice on occasion. We did have several later season mouse appearances; Aesop has the famous lion and the mouse, and the Land of Beasts is mentioned as being full of mice (among other animals). The Mouse King (from the Nutcracker) appears on the list of the Council of Kings (after being described briefly in Herr Drosselmeyer’s memories in one of the very first episodes). The song “Three Blind Mice” is mentioned several times, with Ylfa saying it is her “favorite story”. Tom Thumb mentions that he “hang(s) around with a lot of mice.” We learn that Pib turned an ogre into a mouse in his backstory. Other prominent rodentia do appear, most notably Pib’s fellow trickster, the Rabbit. Overall, a lot of excellent mouse content early on, with a handful of smaller appearances in the mid to late season.

UPDATE: The Ravening War. 0/10 Not a mouse or rat to be seen, not even a mention. and unlike ACOC, there are no other prominent rodentia to save them. Lady Amangeaux is described as “Jessica Rabbit as a mango” but given than not even Jessica Rabbit is a rabbit, I do not count this. considering the amount of times rot and mold are mentioned, I was hoping a rat might skitter away from a pile of garbage at some point. no such luck. the only point that I would even consider as related to mice/rats would be the amount of cheese content, as we have both a cheese person PC (in this house we love Colin Provolone) and a semi-prominent cheese person antagonist. however, I would say this averages out to considerably less cheese content than ACOC, which has several cheese person NPCs, including lesbian icon Annabelle Cheddar, Manta Ray Jack, Sir Morris Brie, and prominent antagonist Stilton Curdeau, plus a whole battle with ships made of cheese, plus a whole battle with cheese people (though dressed as meat people) as primary antagonists. thus, I cannot in good conscience award TRW any points for that when it made up only a portion of ACOC’s 0.5 of a point. I greatly enjoyed TRW, but not for mice/rat reasons.

UPDATE: Dungeons & Drag Queens, Mentopolis, and the promising beginnings of Burrow’s End

DNDQ: 0/10. No mention of mice or rats. honorable mention to Alvin, a chipmunk who I would call a semi-prominent rodent. I only watched half of the 1st ep* but my usual command + F of the transcripts yielded no results.

*no shade to the queens, this season just didn’t work for me specifically, I have a thing where when I know the rules to something watching people learn them/not know them is like. chalkboard screech. it’s the autism I think. so as much as I love the queens & their characters I just couldn’t watch the actual show.

Mentopolis: 0/10 understandable as canonically the only animal in Mentopolis is Justin. in absence of any mouse/rat characters, I was hoping for perhaps a mouse/rat fact from the FIx, but i really can’t complain about the myriad of animal facts in this season in good conscience. they were many and varied and I am very grateful. still no mice/rats though. Birds, snakes, and their “prey” are discussed, which mice can certainly be. For example, the heat pits on a python’s lips that Ronnie mentions can be used to detect warm-blooded animals like mice, rats, and other small rodents. But as no rodent is directly mentioned it will not be counted. perhaps next time a reptile eating a mouse will be mentioned, or one of my fave rodent factoids, “a mouse’s heartbeat is so fast that to the human ear it just sounds like buzzing,” will be included.

Burrow’s End: ?/10 I have high hopes but did you know that stoats are actually not rodents??? neither are badgers, otters, wolverines, or pine martens. rodents are all vegetarian - they’re (obvs) in the order Rodentia, so they can’t be in the order Carnivora. so far we have strong chipmunk presence (that’s 3 campaigns with important chipmunks!), and a variety of “woodland animals”, so I remain optimistic.

[update] final score for Burrow’s End: 1.5/10. frankly appalling lack of mice & rats given the setting. occasionally (as in 2-3 times in the series) a mouse or rat will be mentioned in passing, but the only rodents the gang actually interact with are rabbits and chipmunks. I’m guessing that’s probably bc stoats are specifically known for hunting rabbits, so mice/rats would be too small of a prey animal for them? plus the watership down allusions. and then of course we have the horrifying chipmunk/bear battle. credit for the few rat mentions and rodent presence in general, but this isn’t the rodent post it’s the mice and rats post.

Fantasy High Junior Year: ?/10 I am terrified. there’s a set of antagonists called the Rat Grinders. well, at least we know there will be rats! Zayn also reappears and with him a mention of Edgar the rat, a fantastic character. potentially...could there even be mention of the original, iconic, sexy rat? we shall see!

I would like to give credit to a post I read many years ago that I realize may have given me inspiration to make whatever this is: harry potter rated by mentions of swans.

don’t ask

33 notes · View notes

burgerrat · 2 months

Text

It's not exactly dragon-related but...

I suppose I can give you little snippets of my work while it still doesn't have a blog yet !!

So... we've been AT IT working on lore for my WIR blog, because I don't just want to make a blog dedicated to KC nope. It has it's own universe because I say so. Infodumping below💪

It's gonna have a described timeline of events but so far the lore is: because of how large King Candy's code box was and how much junk he had stored in it- once he 'died' in the Diat Cola Mountain his own code practically turned into a bomb within the code room, because of how much things it contained + having been altered by the Cy-Bug coding, along with it's owner's sudden death- it caused the code to literally explode.

This resulted in a complete crash of the Sugar Rush game, forcing the machine's system to shut itself down... this would be a death sentence to everyone inside the game, except it wasn't. The game restarted, but it didn't return... right. The racers respawned normally... every NPC returned normally, hell, even King Candy himself returned seemingly without a scratch. But now Cy-bugs seem to have become native to the game; somewhere far away from the kingdom- part of the gsme has morphed and changed to... a simpler racing setting, TurboTime's setting; it's as if the insides of Turbo's coding all mushed together with the game itself. And most concerning of all: the exit to the Game Central Station isn't there anymore; the 'gamescreen' from which you could see the arcade outside (or the player) isn't there anymore, so... what are they racing for now?

#rabbit blogs #wreck it ralph #my writing #this is supposed to have that nostalgic-purgatory-uncanny valley kinda feel to it #kind of like my writing for my little little universe for 'the modyfiers'

2 notes · View notes

dimension20npcofalltime · 3 months

Text

Round 1A - Bracket Four [Dimension 20 NPC of All Time]

Annabelle Cheddar vs Wally Kugrich

Propaganda under the cut (Contains major spoilers for The Unsleeping City)

Annabelle Cheddar - She/her

Campaign: A Crown of Candy

Who is she?

Captain Annabelle Cheddar is captain of her ship the Colby, which she inherited from her father. She is the previous heir to House Cheddar and the Dairy Islands, and cousin to the current Duchess, Primsy Coldbottle.

Why is she the NPC of All Time?

The hottest, most competent cheese woman to exist. Her thighs alone should win her this competition.

Wally Kugrich - He/him

Campaign: The Unsleeping City

Who is he?

Wally Kugrich, one of Kugrash's sons, is a 38 year old MTA worker in New York City. He is kind, hard working, and accepting, and is able to see the Unsleeping City seemingly without having been inducted into it.

Why is he the NPC of All Time?

Sweetest guy ever, loves the die hard franchise, and named his dog after Kugrash. Hell, he even became Santa.

A very sweet man who want everyone to have a merry christmas. Coined the name rat jesus. Was seemingly able to see the unsleeping city before his induction. Is now the newest Santa Claus!

He’s literally the bestest boy. Kind heart and originator of rat Jesus.

The true king of New York City. The most powerful character in all of DnD. Give him his string cheese and hotdogs right now.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 bracket #dimension20npcofalltime #dimension 20 tournament #d20 #a crown of candy #the unsleeping city #the unsleeping city spoilers

48 notes · View notes

semi-imaginary-place · 2 months

Text

ffxiv rak'tika 2, fannow

bunnies! I was just thinking this whole forbidden forest thing seemed like a mix of shroud and the greenwood. I might be remembering this wrong but those guarding yx'maja are the descendants of the ronka empire? the seal identifies us as allies to ronka. side note: if the ronka really are maya/central american inspired then is yx'maja pronounced ish maia (the jp voiceover pronounces the j is like y/i anyways). oh wait this was viera/vii introduction in ffxiv. I was wondering why they were shilling money on animation.

whats interesting is that for most races the npcs tend to have realistic hair colors. like most of the hyur in eorzea have brown hair with some black, blond, or red. only the rare hyur will have like blue hair which makes me think it's dyed. but the vii in fannow have cotton candy hair colors. also they seem to mostly be using the veena models

oh yikes fannow is the last vii village in the greatwood

didn't elves/elezen live slightly longer than most races

the one male vii reference

we don't know all that much about viera on the source. but as with all things it'd interesting what changes and what stays the same. For example on the first the ban on returning viera/vii seems to be less than in other iterations (ivalice), the vii also seem in general more tolerant of outsiders. across all iterations viera society seem to heavily focus around duty. what's interesting is that for vii that duty is external, like I remember some dialogue said viis aren't native to raktika, something like "when they came to the forest the ronkan king enlisted them as palace guards" where as on the source and in other games viera duty to the Wood is internally derived from their culture and spirituality as natives. the ronkan gods were also likely adopted when the viera integrated into ronkan society which is very different from their isolationist culture in other games.

Going through the fannow section was pretty interesting while playing a male viera. (The ONE singular male vii reference ina side quest). I found the twins sidequest chain to be particularly interesting because fannow is less prohibitive and strict than viera in other games (ff tactics, ffxii, etc.). Where fannow is neither kill on sight for any who step into the forest, and seems more lenient about returning vii. And also vii arent native to raktika like they are to their forests in other series. Vii immigrated to ronka were assigned as royal guards and adopted ronkan gods. Whereas in every other series that duty in internally derived (as opposed to vii's externally derived) from their own indigenous spirituality. Up until this point i had mostly been thinking of Source viera in terms of the ivallice games but because vii are comparatively so different I wonder which the golmorre viera are more similar to. I wonder how much of fannow is because of the whole apocalypse thing.

#ffxiv #ffxiv 5.0 #viera

2 notes · View notes