7/10/2024

8/11/2025 11:33 AM

291

3

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Warden

Don't get distracted!

The target has been decided. The deadline has been set. All that is left is for you, Adam Finch, assassin extraordinaire, to execute your mission. Success is inevitable. Because you are weapon made flesh, and nothing will stop you from completing your mis- Oh! Look! A story-game!!

There are 5 endings: 'Double kill', 'War in the shadows', 'Retiree rescue', 'Kiss of death' and 'Who let him cook?!'.

Submitted for End Master's Prompt Contest 4 for the prompt of: 'A story involving being an assassin'

Ignis and Aero

Aero, a 14-year-old inhabitant of the village of Albritton, wants nothing more than to read his enthralling storybooks in peace. When he hears of a Golem wandering in the forests near his village, he is more than happy to let the professionals deal with it, while staying within the comfort of his home.

Unfortunately for him, his adventurous brother, Ignis, has other plans.

Author's note: If you want to collect all endings, then there are six of them: The Wise, The Mourner, The Cleaner, The Knight, The Skeptic and The Magician. Certain choices don't have immediate effects but may influence the endings. Also, certain endings can be reached through multiple different paths.

Submitted for Sherbet's Summer's End Synergy Contest.

Special thanks to mrcrimsonclean for proof reading :]

Of dreams and daemons

Most would be willing to trade a great deal to catch a glimpse of what the future holds. Hannah de Reade, however, has spent her time in Lumintrone ignoring the omens that she sees in her prophetic dreams. All she wanted was some semblance of normalcy.

But when her dreams warn her of a daemonic plot, she is compelled to act against it, leading her to be invited as an honored guest to the Imperial Castle.

However, in a court filled with dark secrets, are her eyes that can pierce through fallacies truly a gift or a curse? You will have to take Hannah's side and guide her through this ordeal that will forever change her fate.

And perhaps you will change the fate of Lumina itself in the process.

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Author's note: There are nine endings. I highly recommend reaching multiple endings since you may not be able to experience the entirety of the plot with one read. While they are not central to the story, I should also warn that themes of domestic abuse and graphic violence are present in it.

AI for ideas is fair, I suppose. An author could refine such seeds of ideas in their own mind to create high quality works. I don't agree with the art generators though, mainly because it replaces low level artists who are starting out. The issue with that is Low level artist + time + effort = high level artist Sure AI will only replace artists at a lower skill level, but among them are the ones who are supposed to become the future greats of art. Promoting AI in art might lead to a future where people with higher level of artistic skill become non-existent. It kind of feels like killing the golden goose to get at the eggs, y'know?

AI simply doesn't understand emotions. Even things like the way a room looks can make your observing characters feel things. Things that an AI would never be able to adequately express. As far as I'm concerned, the only appropriate place to use AI in writing is if your protagonist is a robot or something because then it's authentic if you use AI to generate their dialogue and "feelings".

"And on the third day he rose again..." XD Would the next duel be mine and Liminal's or Stargirl and Cavus'? I'm guessing the latter.

That should be fine. I'm glad we could sneak in. :D

Shapeshifter's gotta shapeshift :]

Challenge accepted! :] I'm okay with this weekend or the next. Oh, and I'm stealing your profile picture if I win. ;)

Voting for Story A.

I think I ended up preferring A mostly because it's a fantasy setting which is the type of setting that the stories that I enjoy mostly use. I do have thoughts on both stories that I'd like to share though.

With story A, I don't really know if it follows the prompt of self sacrifice. Sure there is a throw away line where Tironis claims that he has to fight to protect his friends, but the rest of the story emphasizes that his motives were far more selfish. Even his death wasn't really an intentional sacrifice, but rather it was a mistake. I did like the character and the story, but I think calling it a story about self-sacrifice is a stretch. Also, there were some typos. kno = know, verses = versus. Nothing too bad but it's there.

With story B, I felt like Emil's character seems a bit confusing to me. He starts off as a clueless kid who doesn't know what's going on. But when he is looking for Mame, he can suddenly identify the 'smell of fear'? I found that change in character quite jarring. The story then does multiple time skips and basically fast forwards to Emil's death and afterlife which, again, felt a bit jarring due to the pacing. Maybe it was the word limit that compelled the author to wrap up the story quick, but it just felt like the story was rushing through the events. Also, a much smaller nitpick but valiance is usually used in reference to someone being brave or courageous against certain dangers or obstacles. I don't really think the sun can be considered to be shining valiantly unless there are storm clouds obscuring it or there is some other threat being faced by it.

Ah yeah, ignore me. Just had a bit of a brain fart. I wrote about an actual bell tower that indicates time in that story. So alarm bells could indeed refer to that.

I'm pretty sure I made a reference to setting off 'alarm bells' in 'Of Dreams and Daemons'. Now I've got to think about whether the alchemists in that universe would have considered making alarm clocks. ToT

I was interested in making my thunderdome debut, but I didn't want to jump the line. XD If anyone ends up cancelling, or if there's a new slot, you can count me in!