Ammokkx

Secundi Lux

Chie observed, as was in her nature. She watched each other candidate- Rivka, Crystal and Selma- perform feats beyond her. 'How?' she thought. 'How does it come so naturally to them?'

Chie had her arms crossed from the start, her face neutral as she kept her gaze fixated on the trials. Even so, if an attentive eye looked her way it'd notice Chie squeezing her arm every-so-often in the middle of the team's performances. Each of them positively shined as they dispatched their enemies effortlessly. Chie doubted she could do the same; up to now, the other three had been looking out for her. She didn't- couldn't do much on her own. Today, though, she was going to have to prove herself. Prove herself to Rivka and Crystal, standing not far from her, the three of them observing Selma's rampage down below. 'Selma looks like she's having fun...' Chie continued being lost in thought. She glanced to her side. 'Crystal and Rivka too. All of them enjoyed themselves...'

Selma didn't take long to finish up. The shockwave of Selma's axe crashing down on the last remaining enemy gave birth to a loud crash that could be heard even within the safe confines of their observational window. Whoever was on the other end of that earpiece she worse must not have had a fun time with that.

The living mountain of a girl returned to the group soon after her display. Naturally she'd already transformed back to her usual self. Selma was in high spirits; It's no surprise after the showing she gave. "That was amazing, Selma!" Chie complimented her, much the same she'd complimented the other two. A few more superficial pleasantries escaped her lips. It wasn't like Chie didn't feel happy for Selma, but she couldn't muster much more than shallow words of praise. Chie was full of doubts about herself, ever as she had been, and it affected even her ability to be truly happy for others. Even if she should be overjoyed her friends are doing so well, the envy in her heart had taken deep roots. Chie couldn't think about it for too long; after all, her name was called not long after Selma's return. "Yes, I'll be right there!" the girl replied, hurrying off towards the designated practice location. Chie heard her fellow candidates encourage her. The words didn't truly register, though.

She didn't have the time to appreciate their feelings.

The air was thick at Chie's spot. Even before the Nox levels were lowered for her, she could feel its oppressive aura. Maybe it was some remaining pollution of the previous trials, maybe it was her nerves. Either way, only one thing mattered: this intense pressure. It made her feel miserable and sick, much like the surgery had done to her. Something buzzed in her earpiece. "Three. Two. One..."

It was beginning. The floodgates were opened ever-so-gently, to let the ambient dark creep in. Every little bit of Nox that reached Chie came paired with a haze that filled her head. The city-scape had already been ruined, even moreso after Selma's display, but her nox-addled mind turned the devastated imagery into a more desolate and pitiable sight than it had been before. Chie grit her teeth and clutched her head with one hand.

'Endure it.'

Dark creatures formed from masses of corruption swirling around in the area. Sharp pains shot through Chie's entire body.

'Endure it...'

Chie peered at her enemies through her fingers. They looked human, too human for her liking. Before she thought they were terrorists, but now she knows they're just monsters. It's fine. She didn't need to be scared of them anymore. The prospective Ars Magi's body started to shake. Her breathing became ragged, she could feel the sweat forming on her skin. One of the monsters saw their chance to strike upon witnessing Chie's damaged form.

'ENDURE IT!'

---

---

Chie's armagus reacted in the nick of time to save her skin. It shone- as they do- with a light bright enough to stun even the mindless automaton which tried to dig its claws into Chie. She could feel the corruption being changed- reshaped- into something entirely new. It wrapped around her head, fingers, legs, chest... Chie didn't have time to admire herself, but she knew something had changed about her. Unfortunately, as brief as her transformation was, the nox creatures weren't thrown off for long either. Chie jumped back, just barely fast enough to dodge a claw of the front-most one. Well, those were different at least. The ones from before had normal hands, but these monsters were built to kill. Their figures were more slender with claws long enough to reach halfway down to the floor. These were built to kill.

Unfortunately, it wasn't alone. Two- no, three more of the same creature had formed around Chie. God only knows if any appeared where she couldn't see them. The situation was unbelievably bad, despite being able to think with a much larger degree of clarity now that the fuzz in her head was gotten rid of. 'What do I do?!' Chie thought to herself, mildly panicked, as she continued to just barely scrape by the attacks coming from multiple directions. She hadn't even summoned her Gladius yet- not that she knew how- to strike back at them with. Fight or flight kicked in full-force. Chie was surrounded and needed to get out of there first before doing or even thinking of anything else. She made a dash straight for one of the creatures. Moving her body sideways, she narrowly avoided what would otherwise have been a really nasty strike. Then-

*SLAP*

...the palm of her hand made contact with the creature's face, stunning it as she took her chance to dash past it. Of course, the others were still hot on her heels, but at least they were behind instead of in front of her now.

'Think of something! Think of something!'

Chie tried to feel the nox around her, letting it envelop her being as she siphoned it through her armagus. She couldn't keep running, yet she stockpiled and stockpiled until...

"STOP!"

...she released it in one big burst, creating a strong field of gravity to pin her and the creatures both to the ground. She couldn't keep on her two legs, going down on her knees from the sheer force of what she'd created, but at least now Chie had a little time. Powering through it, Chie tried to gather the nox around her again. She managed to pry her two hands off the ground for long enough to let it collect in their palms, gaining a new shape. Two chakrams, one for each hand. Their sharp edges didn't dig into Chie's skin, which was a good thing, because the pair had no handle to grip. She was hoping for something a little more, well, conventional, but at this point the girl was glad to have anything to fight back with at all. The creatures of nox were slowly rising onto their feet, fighting through Chie's field, so it was time to go on the offense. "Release!"

As soon as the force dispersed, Chie jumped back and tossed out one of her new toys. Her aim was clumsy, but the surprise timing caught one of the four creatures off-guard for long enough to not be able to dodge the strike. The weapon sliced clean into its side, not enough for a mortal wound, but it brought it back down to its knees. She could worry about finishing it off later; the other three had to be neutralized first. The chakram she tossed out didn't keep going in the direction it was thrown in but instead pulled to the side and then back to Chie.

'A boomerang effect!'

Chie caught her chakram on its return. She defensively held them in front of her, parrying one of the creatures' lunge through dumb luck. She took the opportunity to slice it at close-range, putting enough force behind her strike to finish it off in one blow. The monster recoiled in pain and dispersed into thin air. 'They're weak! I can do this!' Chie thought to herself, the girl's confidence surging. She dashed away again, focusing. She gathered nox to create a singular point ahead of her with lowered gravity. She dashed for it, desperately, and the moment she reached her goal, kicked off the ground in an attempted backflip. The lowered resistance helped her to get airborne. Her stunt was dumb, reckless and unpractised. Despite that, whether it was through luck or the power gained from her transformation, Chie managed to control herself mid-air well enough to toss her two weapons behind her. They spun around, digging into and killing yet another assailant, as Chie started to go in freefall behind the other one.

'...No! Damnit!'

Unfortunately, not having a natural talent for acrobatics, Chie couldn't quite manage to stick the landing. Instead of coming down clean on her feet, Chie had overshot her jump and slammed onto the street with her back. The two chakrams dug into the pavement next to the candidate magi, one to each side. Desperately, Chie pushed herself somewhat straight with one of her arms. She quickly threw out the other, free arm in front of her. The remaining nox creature attempted to lunge at her, but the girl was quick enough to create another focused point of increased gravity right before it managed to reach. Using so much of the same, unpracticed magic in such short intervals was mildly exhausting, but Chie didn't have another option to choose from. The humanoid slammed into the floor before it could reach Chie. It tried to push itself off, making some progress initially, but Chie kept increasing the pressure. She felt herself starting to be pulled into the centre as the point became heavier and started to exert its influence. The creature's figure snapped against the stone, being unable to move as cracks formed underneath it. The monster couldn't muster the strength needed to break free anymore.

"And... stay down!" Chie said, clenching her fist. The nox creature's body dispersed into thin air, unable to withstand the sheer force it had been pressed down into the pavement with. Chie slowly undid her handiwork, gradually reversing the effect of the gravity field. As she did, she breathed a sigh of relief. 'I did it...' she thought to herself, letting her body relax.

Then she felt a sharp pain shoot through her back.

"AAUGH!" she screamed out, instinctively grabbing one of her chakrams and rolling forward. Her now-hazy eyes looked back, seeing the first creature she had injured towering over her. Even though it was limping, its claws were dripping with her blood. Chie weakly tossed her chakram at it, the effort enough to slice clean through and disperse the adversary into thin air. Chie got to her feet, albeit unsteadily and held herself as she breathed heavily.

"It hurts...!" she complained to herself. She stretched her arm a little, just barely managing to reach the wound with the tips of her fingers. It stung, obviously, and when she pulled her hand back she saw red. Argh, she was such a mess! Why couldn't Chie do anything right? The other three must think her to be pathetic. She had to transform and hurry back to get it treated. She didn't know how long she was going to be able to keep upright with a nasty gash in her back.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

You've seen me on this thread. I'm keeping an eye on it, but I'm not making any promises of actually attempting to join.

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

~~ Nichijou 日常 ~~

"It's cold today too, huh...?"

Rui clutched her scarf a little as she walked down the streets, her bag in the other hand. Her home was close enough to not have to take the train, but it was still a few minutes worth of walking. Not that she wanted to rush it; if anything, Rui was walking slower so she could avoid it for as long as possible. She paused at the corner of one of the many walkways she passes through daily. "Maybe I'll go this way, just for today..." Rui told herself, taking a slight detour from the usual. She felt the road less travelled more familiar than her daily routine. And, looking down another street, she knew why. She went off-course again, stepping foward to a location she hadn't visited in a while.

"..."

Contemplative and silent stood Rui in front of the entrance to a playground, a public pen for young children. Nobody comes here much anymore, but Rui's lived in this town long as she can remember. She and Sora used to come here so much. She was the older of the two, yet could never keep up with his energy. He was so much better at the climber, and still bars... Rui often just sat on the swings and watched. Her glasses were a little foggy, but she wasn't looking much at the location as it is. Rui was caught up in her own mind, smiling softly at the warm memories as she tightened the grip on her scarf just a little more.

"Is this place special to you?"

Rui jumped ever so slightly as the unfamiliar voice next to her snapped the girl out of her trance. She turned her head, seeing a masked boy having suddenly come stood next to her. He wasn't looking at Rui, keeping his gaze turned at much the same location she had been staring at. "Um... I guess so. Just a little," she answered him. A brief pause, then she posed a question of her own: "What about you?"

He still didn't turn to look at Rui. In fact, the boy barely moved a muscle save for raising his chin up a little. "Me, huh...? No, not really. Or if it was, I can't remember." he said. Rui felt awkward. She didn't know this person and he hadn't given her a name either. She'd ask, but that mask unnerved her. He was a weird person, but she couldn't just run away either. After a bit, he finally turned his head to Rui. She could just barely make out his emerald eyes beneath the holes. "My apologies for disturbing you. Something about you... no, nevermind. Memories are precious. Whatever you were thinking of... keep it close to your heart. You should hold onto your past, no matter what."

After his cryptic (and weird!) speech the boy turned away from Rui and walked off. She had questions; a lot of them, even, but didn't have much heart to press them. Rui looked back at the playground. "...I'd never forget. Even if you hadn't told me that," she muttered to herself, irritation at the idea welling up inside of her. She didn't want to forget.

---

"I'm back, mom!" Rui shouted into the entryway of her house as she immediately began to take off her shoes.

"Welcome back, Rui. Dinner is almost ready." she heard coming from the kitchen. Rui stepped down the hall, towards that place. The girl stared at her mother's back as she stirred the pot. It smelled like Curry.

"Um... what about Sora, mom? He's not home yet," Rui asked timidly. His shoes weren't there.

"That boy always comes home late. He can reheat his dinner later," she curtly told her.

"I see... I'll be in my room," Rui said, darting off to drop her bag and throw herself onto the bed. She felt so bothered. So bothered! Rui shot a glance down to her stuff on the floor and reached out to fumble for her phone. She still had that texting window open to her brother. Rui turned around on her bed, laying now with her back against the sheets. She began to type another text, and this time, actually sent it when she was done.

"Are you far from home? Mom's almost done with dinner. She didn't wait to hear from us."

Tense and Perspective in Roleplaying

It’s a little tangentially-related but I’ll mention interiority as well: that changes for me depending on what I’m writing, though from what I’ve seen on RPG most tend to include it even in collabs which can be somewhat omniescent in feel in an interesting way that seems a little peculiar to RP. It’s not omniscient but rather limited and shifting.

@Fiscbryne

God I hate collabs

I try to actively avoid any kind of interior monologue and try to only ever use the surface-level actions of what my characters are doing, including facial expressions, because I know the other person is going to toss in an "I thought" somewhere in there and being inside of the headspace of two people feels so wrong to read.

I much prefer solo posting when I have full control over the narrative flow, and at least any mistakes or oddities are going to be entirely on my shoulders and not partially the fault of somebody else.

That little rant aside, personally I always stick to third person past with a tiny sliver of introspection when it comes to the main meat of my posts. That's the most natural, least intrusive way to have others be able to pick up what I'm putting down.

I've also tried to explain how I tend to use first and second person in separate 'chunks' of my writing, especially recently, but I'm finding my explanations often come up short. I'll just give you this, this and this example and call it a day. The first was an attempt at a sort of dream sequence, the second was me trying to find a good way to "reply" to the GM's original prompt for a dream sequence everyone had (leaving out the parts of his post and only writing out Cyll's replies). The third was a prompt I'd written for both me and Charak to help get a feel for what it's like inside of a sort of parallel dimensional space which both our characters had a recurring dream of, which helped inform the mood for the first post. The stuff inside of IC posts is always sectioned off so I make clear what is and isn't part of the "main" narrative through line, happening before or after certain events and clearly being its own thing. Stuff like the third is what you could call an example of "GMing" though it being a 1x1 does mess with that idea a little.

Basically, while I find it hard to explain why I switch tenses, it's usually because I feel my first or second perspective writing is a lot better at conveying a "raw emotion" to the reader compared to my third.

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

I see that smile, day after day.
It's always there to greet me... no matter how hard it gets, you always keep up that smile.
But I know better, that you're just trying to hide how much it hurts.
Every day.
That's why, I...

---

The halls of school were filled with the one joy students experienced at the end of their long days; the sound of the bell signalling the end of classes. Seats were shuffled, chatter erupted, people dashed for the gate and from next to Rui, a female student spoke up.

"Kadomori-san?" she addressed her, with the Rui turning her head to look at her classmate. She'd wanted to go through her notes again before leaving, but that seemed out of the question at this point.

"Ah... Shio-san," Rui replied rather neutrally. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, I mean no, uh... well, me and some friends wanted to go to Karaoke today. I never see you hang out with anyone, so I thought maybe you might want to come with us," Shio told her.

"Ahaha... I guess that's true," she awkwardly agreed. However, Rui couldn't accept her classmate's offer. After all...

"Ah, so you'll come? You could invite your brother, too!"

...it was always the same story. It was never actually about Rui at all. "No, I'm sorry... I actually have to go straight home today," she excused herself. Obviously, Shio was dejected. The girl tried in vain to convince Rui to come anyway. Her every attempt was met with polite refusal. After being alone again, Rui left her classroom behind, then started to make her way to the exit. Her attention was caught, briefly, by an open classroom on the way. She peeked through the open door, spotting a few students crowded around a desk. Two of those students were sitting down, seated across one another, as the both of them seemed to be playing some kind of game. Cards were scattered all across a mat that had been laid out on the desk. 'They seem to be having fun...' Rui thought to herself, briefly, before moving on.

Rui switched her shoes at the lockers, as usual, but paused once she'd closed the compartment again. "Sora, huh...?" she muttered to herself, pulling her phone out of her bag. She began to type something. "You don't have club activities today, right? Do you want to walk home together? I'll wait at the gate."

But then she deleted it again. Rui didn't have the time to be thinking about these things and Sora had plenty of friends to hang out with. She shouldn't force him to go home with her when he still had the entire rest of his day to spend.

'We're not kids anymore. I should give him some space.' is how Rui justified it to herself. She probably looked weird standing in front of her compartment like that, she figured, so Rui spun around and started making headway toward the school's gate again. She'd be fine on her own. Besides, if she didn't go home straight away, she was sure her parents would... well, it didn't matter.

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

Other characters

Masked Boy

Name
Nanashi


(source)

Haruto

Name: Takahashi Haruto

Age: 16 years


(source)

Name: Sacchi

Sacchi is Haruto's Avatar.

Natsuko

Name: Sato Natsuko

Age: 15 years



Name: Ema

Ema is Natsuko's Avatar.

Card store part-timer

(source)

Sakura

Name: Sakura



Name: Blaze

Blaze is Sakura's Avatar.

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

角森 るい
^{(Kadomori Rui)}

Age:
17


(source)

Avatar

Lumia


(source)

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

(Extra Space if needed)

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

Rules of Nexus

You win a game of Nexus by dealing damage to your opponent while their Life is at 0.

Each player constructs a main deck of cards made up of Attackers, Incantations and Traps alongside a Colour deck. Additionally, both players must have an Avatar card.

Each player starts the game by shuffling their main deck and their Colour deck, alongside placing their Avatar card at the center of their board with their Level 0 form face-up. The player must also take the seven top-most cards of their main deck and place them face-down in front of them: These cards will be a player's Life, and are called Life Cards. After this is done, both players draw five cards.

When a player's Life is reduced, they add a number of Life Cards to their hand equal to the amount their Life was reduced by. If a player takes an attack that would reduce their Life by more cards than they have left, they add all remaining cards to their hand. If a player's life is reduced while they have no Life Cards, that player loses the game.

Players have six primary colours of cards to choose from: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White and Black. Each colour broadly focuses on a different type of strategy.

At the start of each player's turn, they will draw a card. A player can have up to 10 cards in their hand, if any cards are added after this point they must discard them to the Trash.

Once per turn a player can pick up the top card of their Colour deck and place it face-up on the field. They may then use whatever Colour card they have drawn to play other cards. When a colour card is used on a turn, it becomes exhausted and can no longer be used. At the start of a player's turn, exhausted colour cards are refreshed and able to be used again.

Players may use these colours to play Attackers, use Incantations, activate Traps or Evolve their Avatar.

Attackers:
Players may control up to three attackers at any given time. Attackers have four different levels: 0, 1, 2 and 3. Higher level attackers require more colour to be played. Excluding the very first turn of the game, an Attacker is able to launch an attack on the opponent as soon as they are placed onto the field. If an Attacker attacks, it is exhausted and can no longer be used until it is refreshed at the start of your next turn. The opponent may use any non-exhausted Attacker to block an attack from an incoming Attacker. If an attacker does not block an attack, your opponent's Life is reduced by the level of the attacker + 1.

If an Attacker does block another attacker, the lowest level Attacker of the two is sent to the Trash. If both attackers are of equal level, both are sent to the Trash.

Incantations:
Incantations may be played during your turn by paying an amount of colour and then sending them to the Trash. They contain immediate effects that are put into effect as soon as the card is played. Some incantations may be played on the opponent's turn, in which case it will say so on the card itself.

Traps:
Each player may set a single Trap card on their field. Trap cards can only be activated when a certain condition written on the card is met. Some Trap cards may require additional colour to be played. Trap cards can be activated on either player's turn.

Avatars:
An Avatar card is the core of a player's deck. They are always on the board and cannot be removed. Avatars have a level 0 and a level 3 side. Players start the game by placing their Avatar with their level 0 side face-up. When the player meets the condition written on the Avatar card, they may flip their Avatar so its level 3 side is now face-up. Level 3 avatars have more powerful effects compared to their level 0 form. This is called "Evolving" your Avatar.

Costs of an avatar can range anywhere from paying a certain amount of colour, removing a number of cards from the Trash from play, discarding a number of cards or any other combination of conditions written on the card.

Simplified battle progression

"Draw! Summon two level 1 attackers, attack with both!"
"Level 0 block, let the other hit my life."
"Yes! I got the upper hand! I'll keep this momentum going."
"You're really naïve. Attacking isn't always everything," character B says as they put up more of a defense.
"Be careful, A! They're planning something!" (A's Avatar) says back to them.
"Don't worry about it! I'll keep attacking!" they continue on without a care in the world. Several turns later, A's life was at 0 and they were down to their last attacker. "No... I can't lose this! Attack!"
"Trap activate. Pay three yellow, destroy your attacker and take one from the life," B says. A beam shot out from their card and pierced A's (Avatar).
"Aaaagh!"
"No, (Avatar)! This is my fault... all my fault..."

Nexus is a popular trading card game trending with young adults. The story is set in Modern Day Japan, where the game finds a lot of success. You can find card sellers in game shops around the country alongside plenty of local tournaments to attend. While it is a completely normal game for the average person, an unlucky few are witness to a more mystical and dangerous "game" played using Nexus as its vessel.

Memory Coins & the Commander Game:
One gets chosen as a Commander by receiving an Avatar card with an alive Avatar. The Avatar can move around freely inside of their own card, but only Commanders can see or hear Avatars that are like this.

Alongside your Avatar, you get two coins out of seven, with each coin representing one's memories.

If you win all seven coins, you get rewarded with the possibility of making a wish that the Avatar approves and having it come true. If you lose a coin, you forget one of your memories. If you want your memories back, the only option is to continue winning.

However, if one loses all seven coins, by losing one coin for each loss and gaining one coin for each win, there are three consequences:

- You lose a big part of your memories. Only the very basics remain.
- Your wish won't come true.
- You lose your desires, motivations and your drive, leading to a lack of feeling anything at all.

Confirmed cards + effects

Red

Incantations:

Scorched Earth: 1 Red. Send 1 Attacker to the trash. Send up to two opposing attackers with a total level equal to or lower than that attacker to the trash.

Blue

Green

Yellow

Attackers:

Cherub: Level 2. 3 Yellow. Once while this card is in play, you can pay 2 Yellow to set one Trap directly from your Trash onto the field.

Incantations:

Heaven's Gate: Any Yellow (minimum 1, maximum 5). Send opposing attackers who's total levels equal the cost used to pay this card. (Level 0 is treated as 1 for this effect).
Judgement Bolt: 1 Yellow. Deal 1 damage, then discard a card (if you cannot discard a card, take 1 damage).

Traps:

Reversal of Fate: 1 Yellow. If an effect makes you discard exactly 1 card, your opponent discards 1 instead.

White

Black

No Colour

Incantations:

Colour Boost: 0 colour. Select one Colour card on your field: Gain 1 Colour listed on that card for this turn only.

IRL you vs Internet you!

I can't really answer the question of "how are you online vs. real life" with any one, precise, clear answer. Not because I lack the ability to do introspection, _{(although now that I mention it...)} but rather because who "I" am is entirely dependant on the person that perceives me.

Everyone has their own biases and perception of the people around them and construct identities of people inside of their head- whether conscious or subconscious. If you ask what kind of a person I am to my friends, I wouldn't doubt you'd get a varied array of answers. There's probably a number traits that could and would overlap within the individual answers, but I don't think you'd get one particular trait that everyone thinks of on their own.

This extends to me, personally, too. I can do a dissection of my own character all I like, but that isn't going to stop it from being coloured by my own biases about myself- whether positive or negative. The answers I give now would also, most likely, not even be the same answers I'd give three years from this point.

The only thing I can say with certainty is that I am different IRL to online- but I wouldn't be able to tell you in exactly what way that is. I like to have a sense of humor in both personas, but my humor is different. I'm shy on both ends, but it manifests in another way.

That isn't even to mention that I don't just differ IRL to online- I differ in IRL to IRL and Online to Online too. I just don't act the same way around my family as I do my friends or my fellow university students. I don't have multiple personalities; there's only one Ammokkx, but the personality that is there is ever-changing based on the individual situations I find myself in. I'm mean to people, but I'm not mean to everyone. I'm also nice to people, but I'm not nice to everyone. I'm patient with some, not with others. I don't have a consistent personality, despite being a consistent person.

This post doesn't really have a conclusion, or point to make. It's word vomit.