This is based on a short story that I couldn't finish, but managed to pull together for this site. Despite the name, it's not a dating story.

Like the title states, it's about a first date with a "demigod" which in this case is just a super powered person in a post apocalyptic setting. Sort of.

The story is from the perspective of a young man who is trying to get out of his community and is hoping that this date will be his ticket. An actual relationship would be nice too.

I guess that part is up to you.

It was a good movie, with an arc focusing on Thanos. I'm kind of hoping that they keep his arc going in the next film so that he can become more than just a grossly delusional villain. The comic motivation sounds like it makes more sense to me, though that doesn't make it any less crazy or omnicidal. I guess he could go out and live the rest of his days in retirement, still somehow oblivious of the tortured logic behind his actions. He seemed like a relatively sane guy, aside from that motivation. And with the power of that gauntlet, couldn't he do other much more meaningful things to bring about his dreams of utopia?

I'm worried that they'll ruin it with Captain Marvel and they'll just turn him into another Ultron, stuck on his own delusions. If he would take a step towards Loki's territory I think he would have potential to compete with him and even replace him. I think a Loki vs Thanos movie could be quite interesting, with both of them dancing between cooperation and betrayal of each other while the rest of the Avengers try to stop them both. 

I know they'll never do it, but I think it would be cool if they make Captain Marvel exactly the overpowered Superman that she already looks like she's going to be, but then they throw in a twist where she becomes the villain, betrays the Avengers, and they need to go to Thanos for help to defeat her, and at the same time convince Thanos that his idea of balance isn't going to work, but not enough to keep him from trying other routes that also cause mayhem. 

We can both dream though, right?

The game they are working on isn't directly related to what I'm talking about, but it is about telling stories within games. Procedural generation relies on repeating patterns and rules, and has been used to create maps, spaceships, creatures, civilizations, buildings, cultures, and languages.

Stories are not that different. They are built from characters, settings, and plot, each of which has its own pieces that can be broken down into segments that can then be fit together again like legos. In short, they have the potential to be procedural. Many stories are already criticized as following formulas. The trick is to hide the repetitive elements well enough that the reader doesn't realize what's going on.

Books and chatterbots are already being written by computers, and their biggest problem is that their texts have no reference. Virtual environments, such as games, can provide that reference. Simulations have the potential to create stories, based on that principle.

But even without that, stories can be created based on their units of progression alone. I'm currently working on a system that does just that. It starts with the core conflict and character goals, and combines them with potential events associated with each goal, branching at junctions with player decisions associated with the starting goals. It's a work in progress, but I've already written story generation code designed for RPGs. They always have a bad ending that the players are trying to avert, at least in theory.

 

I think games have a fantastic and untapped storytelling potential, especially games that have a lot of procedural content and run simulations rather than scripted events. It hasn't really appeared yet, but it has huge potential, and is going to happen sooner or later. Sooner if indie producers are smart, later if I have to do it myself.

I suppose it might change the context a bit if I mention that this is effectively the table of contents for a novel I have on Amazon. Each line corresponds to a chapter in the story. It tells the story but keeps things intentionally vague at the same time. The novel is called After Death and Taxes, naturally.

I'll take payment in exposure if 30% the rise above my average book sales in a month can match the pay I would have expected from the job I did, and they can show me that they did it. Otherwise they're getting an invoice.

Getting a Witcher vibe here. Somewhere between vampire and succubus, but nice way to imply a lot without telling it.

Ready to go, awaiting the gun. The race will be long under the sun. Then a shadow falls across the field. The race is forgotten. The gun remains silent. The restless dark covers the sun, and the race course. Silver snow falls, and the race begins in the opposite direction.

After Death and Taxes
 

What will you do when the sky falls on you,

When Earth and Chaos collide?

Will you run for the hills, or give in to its thrills,

Or just go along for the ride?

To live, to die, a thousand lives,

To see new worlds unfold

To question who you are inside

And wonder if you'll ever know.

Whispers, nightmares, call for help

And predators are waiting

To the sky, with gods to fly,

And promises worth making.

Horrors speak in light of day,

With the masses take a ride,

Faceless legions have their way,

For here you know you cannot hide.

When gods despair and rebels dare,

And the winds of change are blowing,

Will you follow the Mirrors glare

Without knowing where it's going?

Follow the call into the depths,

And answering their prayer

Something stirs within the deep

A hope amid despair.

Will you heed the unknown light,

In the darkest starless night?

With its power your fate decide

Or face the shadows at her side?
 

Very nice imagery. Vaguely vampiric. It kind of makes me want to continue it and start a sort of ping-pong poetry...

We call ourselves angels, but we are born like everyone else. The Power chooses us, the Corp shapes us. A global sisterhood. Freedom for all, peace for the peaceful. The Power is ours to make it so.
But we aren't born like everyone else.
Our Life starts at Mach 1.

Inspired by my vague plans for a novel tentatively called Angel Corp.