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I am 36 years old, make $66,900, live in Portland OR and work as a Data Coordinator.

Section Zero: Background
Hello all, happy hoildays! I stumbled upon this subreddit not long ago and have enjoyed the commentary and experiences everyone's shared. Wanted to add another perspective from a mid-30s first-gen American. I've had some missteps regarding careers and finances, but I feel like I'm in a slightly better place now. I tried YNAB in the past but I wasn't consistent enough with it. These days I use Mint to monitor my finances and have a "Finance Friday" each month to review all my accounts and spending. I currently live with my partner TJ and his dog RR. We do not combine finances, but he has been unemployed since March. I have helped him with some bills and basic necessities here and there until he finds his next job or career.
My current financial goals are to just maintain a status quo and not get any debt until pandemic times are over. Then I will focus on a house remodeling fund and savings for taking care of my parents.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? My parents taught us about money from a frugal perspective. They are immigrants who worked in food service/factories. There was always this “save save save” mentality. Even when they started their own small business, we saved like there was no tomorrow. In high school, my calculus teacher bought us all “The Millionaire Next Door” book and had us read it as an assignment - that was my first structured introduction to finances.
Did you worry about money growing up? No, there was always food on the table and a roof over our heads. I knew that our extended family would support us if needed.
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? Yes. My dad didn’t finish the high school-equivalent in their country, while my mom did finish high school, but no college. My older and younger siblings took a different path in life after high school. I am the first and only in my family to graduate from college. My parents covered all tuition for my two bachelor degrees with the agreement that I support them fully during their retirement and send them gifts/extra money whenever I can. I feel very lucky and privileged that they were able to provide that education for me.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net? 24 when I went on a work holiday abroad. My family was always available to help when needed, but the experience abroad helped me stand on my own feet. As an adult, I also inherited that “save” mentality and put a lot of my earnings towards savings. I didn’t date until my 30s, lived frugally, didn’t go out to eat/hangout with people, shopped thrift stores, and had very few hobbies. I am starting to “live a little” now though.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? Aside from the tuition, my parents have helped with a down payment for my first house and living costs during periods of unemployment.
​
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance
If the place I was working at offered a 401k, I would always contribute up to the company match. I started my IRA in my mid-20s and would try to contribute the yearly max. I've stopped that the past 2-3 years though. My Other Brokerage is some play money, but I got tired of staring it and switched to index funds. I haven't contributed anything to it in a few years.
Equity if you're a homeowner
Purchased my first home for $382,000 with 20% down, right before lockdown earlier this year. Perfect timing, right?? I plan to live here until my retirement. My parents contributed $15k while I used most of my savings for the rest.
Savings account balance: $3,073
Checking account balance: $7,800
Credit card debt: I charge everything on my credit card for the points, then pay it off each month using my checking account balance.
Student loan debt: Traditionally no student loan debt as mentioned in Section Zero.
​
Section Two: Income
Income Progression (listed as gross income with cost of living area):
High School
College and first “career” job
Mental health break
College (again) and second “career” job
Third “career” jobs
​
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Monthly Net (paid bi-weekly): $2,758
Deductions:
Side Gig Monthly Take Home:
No side gigs at the moment, but I am thinking of signing up on Upwork.com and doing Excel/data entry projects to help pay the mortgage.
Other Income: TJ’s friend will be staying with us for a month in January, who will pay rent of $800 including utilities. Depending on how that goes, we may take on a roommate in the spare bedroom long-term.
​
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage - when I bought the house, the plan was that I would charge TJ a portion of the mortgage costs as “rent”, but since his unemployment I am now covering it all myself.
Regular Monthly Payment: $1677.57
HOA: $30/year
Retirement contribution: Nothing additional than what's been mentioned.
Savings contribution: I used to do $50-100/month, but since COVID I’ve stopped contributing to my savings account.
Investment contribution: None at this time.
Debt payments: $100/month towards TJ's credit card balance of $2,307.
Donations: $10-20/month, usually towards Omaze or Planned Parenthood.
Utilities:
Cellphone: On my parents plan.
Subscriptions:
Gym membership: Pre-COVID I did Orangetheory for a year. I started to pick up free exercise equipment from Craigslist this year, so we have a small garage gym now and utilize YouTube exercise videos instead.
Pet expenses: $10/month. TJ has stockpiled some Costco canned dog food before unemployment, but once that runs out I will likely cover the costs. We also started to make homemade dog food to help supplement.
Car insurance: $460 every 6 months. Car is paid off.
Regular therapy: I will start in the new year. Not sure what the costs are yet, but I will use my HSA to pay.
Vitamins/Medications: $20/month
Groceries & household items: $75/month
Miscellaneous (eating out, house purchases, gifts, etc): $100/month
​
Section Four: Money Diary
Monday
6:30am Neighbor starts up their truck. We joke that it's our natural alarm clock. They idle for about 15 minutes before heading off. I go back to bed.
9am My real alarm goes off. I put the electric kettle on for some morning tea. While it's boiling, I do my morning routine: drink glass of water, take synthroid, use bathroom, brush teeth, quick shower. I then make tea - Jasmine Pearl English Breakfast with dark forest mix. I started ordering loose leaf tea in large amounts back in March instead of small bags or single serving packets. Seems more economical since I drink it daily. I let the dog out into the backyard so he can do his morning routine.
9:30am I go through my daily tasks for work. They entail checking processes and reports to make sure they ran successfully overnight. I then answer some emails and catch-up on Slack channels.
12pm Lunch is leftover roast chicken and quinoa from Saturday. I heat it up in the instant pot. Love that thing! Almost every meal of ours involves the instant pot. We hardly use the stovetop. We then walk the dog to the business park across from our neighborhood. There's a very short trail that runs along a drainage creek by the business park. It's quite muddy, but has a nice woodsy feeling. Over the summer, we saw sumac trees there as well. Free sumac spice!
1:30pm Department meeting on Zoom. Our director announces his resignation on the call. Everyone is shocked! Layoffs were announced for next year but this was not a part of it. I think it's a good move for him and he doesn't have to have this worry of layoffs over his head.
3pm I meet with an engineer from another team and talk about a data source they are in charge of. He helps me out in understanding it and we identify most of the fields that I need for a project I’m starting.
5:30pm I check in with my partner. He's been watching LinkedIn tutorials on internal recruiting, job coaching and general computeoffice skills. It's a career change that he wants to make - something where he can talk to and help people. He doesn't have a bachelor's, only an associates, and hopes these tutorials will get him a leg up in the job search. I sent him some entry level HR admin roles the other day and remind him to apply. I then heat up leftovers: homemade chana masala and rice. I add some butter and coconut milk to thin it out, so there's enough for both of us.
10:30pm I take some magnesium, vitamin D and Airborne. I say goodnight to the dog who sleeps in the office. Then I say goodnight to TJ. He sleeps in the spare bedroom on weeknights due to his snoring keeping me up. I'm a light sleeper while he is a pretty deep sleeper.
Daily total: $0
Tuesday
9am I check Reddit Secret Santa. My match seems like a really good person. Not sure what to get, but most likely will purchase something off their wishlist. I wish I was more creative with my gift giving.
11am Meeting with business stakeholder. She submitted a few changes to an existing data process about a month ago. I make the change while on the call and have her test. Success! Marking it off the todo list. I love when we can finish things directly on a call.
12:30pm I come out of my office to make lunch. I notice my partner is not home. I check my messages and see that he's stepped out to pick up a few things. I ask for celery, carrots, and kombucha. $17. I make a quick charcuterie board for lunch: Costco salami, cheese, homemade hummus and Triscuits. It's a simple, fast meal that’s always in our rotation.
2pm My partner is back and we take the dog out for a walk and quick round of disc golf at a nearby park. We mask up and play only a few holes. Disc golf is a pretty frugal activity, you only need 2-3 discs to get started. TJ remarks that my throws are getting better, but then again they weren't great to start with. We talk about Christmas/Birthday gifts on the way back home since he was born on New Years Day. He mentioned snowshoeing but asked to not spend that much. I'll do some research!
5pm I think about personal career projects. Should I put up a portfolio of projects somewhere? I decide to try and pull some Yelp data. There’s not a lot of data points that I was interested in. Regardless, I tinker with it for an hour. TJ asks if I'm hungry. I said not so much, but felt thirsty. Maybe some ginger soup tonight?
7:30pm Dinner is served - ginger carrot soup made in the instant pot. We eat some rice crackers with it. Lately I feel like we've been eating more vegetarian dinners. It definitely helps stretch our food budget. We end the evening by finishing Fargo season 3 on Hulu.
Daily total: $17
Wednesday
1:30am I'm woken up by the dog. He's been sneezing a lot and wheezes at random intervals. TJ doesn't have the money for a vet visit but I've offered to pay as long as he calls to make the appointment. I give the dog some coconut oil, rub his belly until he seems better and go back to bed.
7am Garbage day. We usually put it out the night before but I forgot. I get up to go, but TJ handles it. I think, at least. I'm too sleepy to pay attention and go back to bed.
9am I wake up and rinse some dishes that have piled up and put them into the dishwasher. We both grew up in households that had a home dishwasher, but forbade from using it. It was drilled into us that hand washing saves more water, unless you had a restaurant/industrial dishwasher. I think with modern home dishwashers, that's changed, so I wanted to try it out with our dishwasher and monitor the water bill. Don't have any dishwashing pods or powder, so I put some OxiClean in it.
12:30pm I overhear TJ on a call with a recruiting agency. It seems to be going well, lots of laughing. I heat up some taco lasagna that I freezer meal-prepped last month.
2pm Collaborate on a project at work with an engineer. My manager put me on this project since I was asking for an assignment on a more technical team. I'm learning tidbits here and there, but I don't feel like it's structured enough.
5pm I do an Orangetheory-At-Home workout and try to break a sweat. It's not the same as going to their studio.
6pm Charcuterie for dinner. Our fridge is full of store-bought and homemade pickles that go super well on a charcuterie board.
Daily total: $0
Thursday
7am I wake up tired. The house has been feeling more cold, which woke me up a few times. We keep the temp at 72F during the day, at night around 68F since we thought the bedrooms keep the heat in pretty well. My mistake!
9am I do my usual morning routine and login to work. My team mostly spends the morning sending each other emojis.
11:30am Lunch today is mini quiche, frozen chicken and veggie entree, and hot dogs. Not the most cohesive meal, but it fills the belly.
12:30pm TJ heads out to his mailbox that's 30 minutes away. He is still waiting on his tax return and a 401k withdrawal. His taxes had to be filed by mail for some reason, then the IRS office shut down due to COVID. So he wanted to see if it arrived yet at the mailbox. He also takes the dog to the vet's urgent care on his way. They didn't have any regular openings available until the end of the year, and the dog seemed to be getting worse. I give TJ $40 to mail a gift package to a friend in France and also reiterate that I'll cover the vet bill when he gets it.
4:30pm I pay some bills, my favorite activity (not)! Sewer bill: $59.44 (billed every 2 months). Geico bill: $459.60 billed every 6 months. Then I follow up with my mortgage officer over email. I had sent her some documents for a refinance quote last week, but haven't heard back. Rates keep dropping, so I'm told, but what does that really mean? I do some research on realestate.
5pm TJ messages me and says he'll be back for dinner. I ask him to pick up some Popeyes via drive thru since we both don't feel like cooking today. Popeyes is currently our fancy “going out to eat” food. $24.17 for a 4pc dinner meal and a 2pc dinner meal.
Daily total: $583.21
Friday
8:30am Busy morning at work. My phone is buzzing with emails and Slack messages. I try to answer them while I make tea.
10am Zoom Department happy hour. We reminisce about our director and then play those Jackbox party games. Some of them are hard!
11am TJ asks if he can make me anything for lunch. He suggests savory oatmeal, quick and easy. I tell him that I really appreciate him making meals/doing chores/etc without me prompting. We've been having conversations about "house project management" and mental load because I did most of the chores or I had to continually remind/tell him to do it. I'm really happy to see us progress on this front. I decide to work through my lunch break so I can end the day early. I don't often do that, but I'm ready to get the weekend started.
2pm I check on TJ in the spare bedroom and ask if the dog has been fed yet, since he was nipping at my feet. I notice something off about TJ and ask how he is doing. TJ is depressed about his personal life, career, finances. He doesn't know what to do, spends half the day meditating and reflecting on past trauma. I've been prodding him to get a therapist but he is confused about his insurance. He makes an appointment with a primary care doctor first. I feed the dog some homemade dog-friendly beef stew.
4pm My mom swings by the house (but doesn't enter). She currently works at a school who distributes free USDA food boxes since March. There's often many boxes leftover that would go to waste, so she will grab a box for us. Onions, potatoes, beets, turnips, eggs, cheese, butter, frozen veggies and frozen chicken. She also brought her vintage pasta maker. I asked last week if she ever used it these days and her reply was “no, feel free to have it”. I love pasta and noodles and figure it would be great to make it ourselves as a frugal hobby.
8pm We catch up on Mandalorian and watch silly Youtube videos before heading off to bed.
Daily total: $0
Saturday
9am I open up my web browser and look at Craigslist and NextDoor for free stuff. I've been scouring for free landscape rocks, pegboards, and wood for house projects. I had this grand ambition to redesign our backyard. It faces our neighbor and currently the fence is pretty low. They can see into our kitchen and bedroom and we can see them. But y'know, COVID and going from dual income house to single income means it all has to be put on hold. So I've been looking for free items in the meantime. Over the past months, I've gotten planter pots, plant cuttings, a raised bed, stepping stones, all from free listings. I don't see anything worthwhile so I go and make some tea.
11am I look at Amazon and make some purchases for Reddit Secret Santa. A foodie kit, DVD of their favorite movie, and some cute pens for their writing hobby. $54. I hope they like it!
12pm TJ heats up leftover stir-fry for lunch for us. I put on some Binging with Babish and we watch how to make pasta. We have a plan - TJ makes the pasta, I make the sauce. Perfect date night activity at home. We watch some more videos on pasta and noodles to educate ourselves.
4pm I start prepping veggies. Big batch of onions, canned tomatoes, ground beef and butter in the instant pot. Meanwhile, TJ works on the pasta by following Babish's instructions.
7pm We gorge on fresh made pasta and bolognese sauce. It's so good! We end up watching Fargo.
11pm Usually I'll be in bed by now, but it's a Saturday and not tired yet (probably because of all that pasta). We play some Kirby's Dream Course on the Switch.
Daily total: $54
Sunday
10am Quick walk around the neighborhood with the dog. He's on a new routine now with the medicine he's taking. It seems to be helping his breathing issues.
11am The pasta maker and flour is still out since we didn't clean up yesterday. There's some old pie crust in the fridge so I roll it out with the pasta machine for mini quiches. (Sally's Baking Addiction blog is my go-to place for her all-butter crust and quiche recipes btw). TJ helps by mixing up the eggs.
3pm I play some Genshin Impact (GI) on my phone while TJ plays Starcraft in the office. I don't usually play gacha games, but the Zelda BotW-style of GI appealed to me. A gacha game is a game with randomized characteitem boxes that you use real-money to purchase a “pull” or to spin the wheel. I know the gacha parts of the game can be a real money sink if you get addicted to them, it’s almost like gambling. My main team is Fischl, Bennett, Barbara and Noelle. I level up to AR 22 and look up free-to-play tutorials for the game.
6pm There's some leftover pasta from yesterday, enough for both of us. I throw in some roasted beets to round out the meal. We watch more Fargo while eating. Almost done with Season 3!
10pm I find a tour operator who offers a small, socially-distant snowshoeing tour up on the mountain. I reserve for two people - this will be TJ's Christmas/birthday gift. $75. Off to bed for another workday.
Daily total: $75
Weekly Total: $689.79
Section Five: Reflections
Aside from the car insurance bill, this was a typical week for me, COVID or not. We make the majority of our meals at home and usually splurge on drive-thru/delivery once every other week. I may have overspent on the Secret Santa gift, but I don't often give gifts out to friends. It's not something our family does either. For TJ’s Christmas/birthday gift, we usually talk upfront about costs. I’ve gifted him fancy restaurant experiences the past 2 years, since we can share that experience, but obviously can’t do that now. Snowshoeing is a nice change of pace.
The conversations with TJ this week have given me thought on how to approach him differently about finances and working together in a relationship. I’m still unsure about the future financially, particularly as my parents near retirement age and that TJ has pulled out his 401k to pay his debts. I don't know if I can support both my parents and TJ together, so I am finding ways to upskill and/or side hustles without becoming a workaholic or bogged down by stress.
Writing this money diary was also the first time where I really paid attention to my past income and current income. I might be contributing too much into ESPP that could go towards the 401k or mortgage instead? I also seem to have been underpaid for what I did in past jobs, even in a LCOL area.
submitted by throwaway_md_182481 to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]

The Call from the Deep

I held up my boarding pass and walked through the gate. My wife, Harper, was right ahead of me, and we both were so loaded with bags and suitcases that we could barely fit between the doorways. Our 10th anniversary was in a couple of days. We both had come into agreement that there was no better way to celebrate than to go on an all-expense-paid cruise to Hawaii.
As we made it up to the deck, we marveled at all the entertainment. There was a band playing to greet us. Pools, water slides, mini-golf, a drive-in sized screen that was displaying boarding information, bars, and restaurants, and that was just what we could see while walking in! This was definitely the right choice for our anniversary vacation. I couldn’t wait to get these bags unloaded and start to enjoy ourselves.
We went into the doors that led to the cabins. There was another beautiful bar down below us. There was a sports bar to the left showing the games on different screens and a small library to our right. Before we made it to the cabins, there was a coffee bar that served specialty coffees and desserts. If religion has it right, I hope that heaven is something like this. You couldn’t walk through a door anywhere without finding something exciting.
Once we made it to our cabin, we dropped all our bags and looked at each other with stars in our eyes. I pulled my wife close for a kiss and then kept my arms around her. I asked eagerly about how we should begin.
“Well, what should we do first? The casino? The arcade?”
She smirked before replying.
“Such a man, don’t forget about the fine dining at 6, followed by the show at the Theatre.”
I drew back and acted faux offended.
“Are you insinuating that I have no culture? I made our reservations before we even boarded, don’t worry. Dinner isn’t for a long time though, how about we go get some of those tacos and a coffee to get ourselves going.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” She replied with a grin.
“Let’s unpack later. I am starving, and I think that coffee bar right there makes caramel macchiatos.”
Her eyes lit up yet again as I grabbed her hand, and we rushed towards the door. The coffee bar did have macchiatos, which I got with an extra shot of espresso. She ordered a frozen drink that was more sweetness than coffee, and we made our way back onto the deck where the tacos awaited.
The weather was beautiful. It was Fall time, and the sun was just warm enough to be inviting, accompanied by the blissful breeze that blew along the top of the deck. As we drew near to Tito’s Taco Shop, we heard the captain coming through the loudspeakers announcing takeoff. He reminded us about the mandatory safety meeting in a couple of hours and then wished us to have a great time aboard the ship.
It was still strange to be in large groups of people without wearing a mask. The pandemic was finally eradicated once the vaccines were distributed. The cruise and tourism industries were hit hard, as were many others. It seemed that people were at last willing to come back out again, and there was no shortage of cruise-goers ready for a trip to the islands.
I had my phone out and was looking up things to do in Honolulu for the days that we were in port. Scuba diving was a must. I had heard that sometimes you could see sharks or even hold an octopus on your hand if you got lucky enough. I wanted to do some hiking near the volcanoes if we had time. All the spam was going to be strange, but as much as they cook with it, I bet they were able to make it taste like a delicacy.
They were in the process of building a new aquarium. It looked like it was going to be a huge one. Sadly, it did not look like it would be done in time for us to check it out. The black sands beach looked incredible, though. Instead of sand, it said that the whole beach was covered in smooth black lava rocks. We would definitely have to make a stop there.
“Ethan! Do you want salsa on your tacos? Chicken or steak?”
I put my phone away and looked at the meats before responding and did so to the guy who was making them as he finished up my wife’s two glorious looking tacos.
“I’ll take one of both with some of that green salsa. Thank you!”
All the free tacos that you could eat, why couldn’t life always be like that?
“Let’s sit over there by the side, so we can watch the takeoff,” Harper said, before taking a big sip of her frozen coffee.
We took a seat and took in the last sight of land that we would see for about 4 days. Once we arrived, we would tour the different islands, stopping at each port and having a day to explore. There were some people on land waving towards the ship. We joined many others who were near the side waving back. I couldn’t help but feel bad for all of those poor people stuck on the land.
“Bon Voyage to us, I guess.”
I held up my coffee for a cheers, and Harper returned the gesture. Her face was glowing. I couldn’t remember seeing her so happy since the day of our wedding.
“This is really going to be a nice break from reality.” She said as she picked up her taco to take her first bite.
“Yeah, it will. Nothing like this in the world.”
We took our time, enjoying each bite as our view of the coastline became a thing of the past. When we were finished, we looked into each other’s eyes. I reached across the table to hold her hand. She sounded a bit anxious as she spoke.
“It is a lot to take in, isn’t it? There is so much to do that I’m afraid of missing out on something. Where should we go first?”
I squeezed her hand and spoke in a reassuring tone.
“We have plenty of time to take it all in. Let’s just make sure to relax and do whatever makes us happy. It will all work itself out.”
Once we had our fill of gazing into the ocean, we decided that we would head back to the room and get unpacked, while we waited for the safety orientation. The time flew by, and before we knew it, they were calling our section over the loudspeaker.
We arrived with all the other passengers and waited for a moment until the crew member made it so we could begin. They gave us the spiel about the life jackets. They explained how the evacuation process works in case of a problem and let us hear a sample of the siren that would be played if there was an emergency.
I was zoning out and staring out of the window. We were near the bottom of the ship, and you could see the water moving beside us. It put me in a bit of a trance, and I kind of lost myself in it for a moment. I was snapped out of it when I saw something I couldn’t quite comprehend.
It happened pretty fast, and most of the people were looking at the crew member as he spoke. I could have been mistaking, but It looked like a giant tentacle had moved by the window and curled out of sight.
I looked around to see if anyone else had seen what I thought I just saw. There was a teenaged boy who looked excited and shocked. He was tugging at his father’s sleeve and explaining something to him. He seemed to brush him off and looked frustrated at the interruption. Everyone else was paying attention to the speech and had apparently not seen a thing.
Harper noticed how shaken I was and asked me quietly if everything was alright. I shook it off and said I would tell her about it later. We sat through the rest of the orientation. Nothing else went by the window, other than the waves being made by the ship.
As we arrived back on the deck, we were grabbing a drink from the tiki-themed bar. Harper chose one of those blue drinks with the little umbrella on top. After what I had seen, I opted for a straight glass of their best scotch. I had explained my story to her, and she was busy trying to figure out what it could have been that I saw.
“So, you’re sure it was all the way up by the window? Even at that lower level, that must be pretty high up from the water. Maybe it was something that crawled up the side, and it just seemed like it was larger because of forced-perspective?”
I took a big sip of my scotch and shook my head in confusion.
“Yeah, I mean, maybe. I really don’t know.”
She looked as if a light bulb went off in her head, and she shot back a smart remark.
“You’ve been reading a bunch of that H. P. Lovecraft stuff again, haven’t you? I’m sure it wasn’t Cthulhu if that’s what you are thinking.”
I laughed and felt my tension release.
“No, it’s not that. I just thought it was weird, that’s all. Enough about that, let’s figure out what we’re going to do until the formal dinner and play tonight.”
She responded with a grin.
“I seem to remember someone mentioning the arcade and the casino.”
I must have looked like a kid on Christmas morning because she burst out laughing. We finished our drinks and made our way past the large screen that was now cycling through reminders of all the different events that you could attend. Night club, comedy club, it seemed like there was no end to the number of things you could do on this ship.
We walked through the casino that was already bustling with cruise-goers. It looked like a good time. They even had versions of those toy cranes that were set up to pick up huge wads of cash. That might be the next stop, but I had my eyes set on the zombie shooter game with two green guns. The arcade was right past the casino and was full of all kinds of games to keep us entertained.
Not as many people were eager to jump straight for the arcade apparently. Harper and I had the whole place to ourselves. I went to the coin machine to get out some tokens. There was a door that read “Staff Only” right by the machine. I heard a loud slamming noise that caught my attention, even over the music that was playing in the arcade. I leaned in a little and heard a heated conversation on the other side.
“This is so fucked up. I can’t believe that they got loose. They need to tell all of the people!”
“Can you imagine the chaos that would cause? I get where you are coming from, trust me. It’s better this way, though.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… People would be going crazy.”
The door opened, and I jumped as I was still leaning in to eavesdrop. This must have been apparent to the two kids who walked out because they looked a bit frightened and then hurried right past me. I grabbed the tokens out of the machine and walked over to the machine where my wife was waiting.
“You look like you just saw a ghost or something. Don’t tell me some fish people are walking around on board now.”
I couldn’t even fake a laugh or smile. I explained what I had just heard as I put the coins into the machine and started up the game. She did not seem concerned about the new development.
“They could have been talking about a mechanical issue or something. Try not to worry too much. We deserve to have the time of our lives on this trip. I don’t want you to start to obsess on this and lose sight of why we are here.”
I shrugged at this and answered in a resigned tone.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Worrying isn’t going to fix anything anyway. Could you please start taking out some of these zombies, though? I’m carrying the whole game over here. You have a power-up to use, hit the red button.”
She smacked me with the gun for talking trash, but the mood felt much lighter after that. Before long, we grew tired of the arcade and decided to play a few games at the casino. I have never been the best card player, and she was no better than me. This being the case, we opted for the giant money claw machine.
I swear that both of us grabbed a stack a handful of times each. The claw would never hold its grip, though. Feeling more than a little bit scammed, we decided to blow a bit of time at the slots until we had to go get ready for dinner. As soon as we sat down, the person who went on the money claw right behind us exclaimed loudly as the machine lit up and started to make a loud ringing noise. I looked over to Harper and gestured towards him.
“That seems about right, huh? We pump fifty dollars into that thing, and he walks away with a jackpot after one.”
“Such is life.” She responded as she pumped some tokens into the slot machine.
I couldn’t help but hear two guys on some machines behind us, as they were beginning to get a bit rowdy with each other.
“You tryin’ to say I don’t know what I saw man?”
His friend responded quickly.
“No, no, no, man. I’m not trying to say you’re seeing things or whatever else. I’m just saying that it’s crazy. There is no way it can be right!”
After this, the first man shot up out of his seat, knocking over his stool as he did. This caused quite the scene, and many people were starting to gaze in the direction now.
“Yeah, that’s alright. You think whatever the hell you want. I’m gonna go find someone to talk to about it right now!”
He stormed off, leaving his friend looking a bit shell-shocked and embarrassed. Harper looked toward me, and as if reading her mind, I pushed my seat back away from the machine.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here. We need to get ready for dinner.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise at what we had just witnessed and responded.
“Sounds good to me. I haven’t won anything anyway. Let’s go.”
I looked back towards the guy’s friend, who he left standing there. After considering it for a moment, I leaned in towards my wife.
“You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you in just a second.”
She looked a bit frustrated but did not fight it.
“Hurry up, I want to make sure we get a good seat. It’s going to take us a while to get ready.”
She kissed me on the cheek and took off towards the deck, which led over towards the cabins. I walked up towards the man who was about to walk off before I caught his attention.
“Excuse me, sir? I overheard you and your friend. What was it that he thinks he saw?”
He looked at me warily. It was clear that he really didn’t want to discuss the matter.
“Look, he’s usually not like that, you know? I don’t know what’s gotten into him, honestly.”
I shook my head. He obviously didn’t understand why I was asking.
“No, I saw something strange as well. I’m not trying to say your friend is going crazy at all. I was just wondering what it is that he was saying he saw.”
This seemed to unnerve him more than help calm his nerves. He looked around to make sure nobody was listening in.
“Man, he was saying that he saw a giant fucking octopus, bro. Like, 30 feet long or so is how he was describing it. It’s ridiculous, there is no way they would allow something like that on one of these ships.”
My heart dropped all the way to my feet. I covered my mouth, and I think he could tell by my reaction that what he said had rocked me to the core. I stammered and managed a weak reply as horror rushed through my body.
“I..I… On the boat??”
He nodded and looked at me with the same type of concern he had been showing to his friend. My face must have been as white as a sheet at this point.
“Thanks.”
I took off out of the door, in a huge rush to catch up with Harper. I was looking around in a panic, my heart racing and ready to beat right out of my chest. I was about to just take off to the room when I heard Harper’s voice.
“Ethan! Over here, I grabbed some hot tea.”
I saw her over by the edge of the deck, waving me over. I ran up to her and could hardly focus.
“I thought you needed something to help you relax, and it looks like I was right. What are you freaking out about right now?”
I tried to collect my thoughts and was going to respond when she pointed behind me and cut me off.
“Hey, isn’t that the guy that was just going nuts in the casino?”
I turned around, and the man was being dragged towards a door that was marked “Employees Only”. Two larger deckhands were pulling him that way, each with a tight grip on one of his arms. He was fighting hard to try and break their hold and calling out for help. As they made it through the door with the man, I grabbed Harper by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.
“We have to go. Let’s get to the room, I don’t want to explain out here.”
She nodded, and we made our way towards the cabins. Once we were in our own cabin, she put down the hot teas on our dresser and walked right up to me with an exasperated look on her face.
“Babe, what in the heck is going on right now? This isn’t about the freaking tentacle that you saw out the window, is it?”
I looked shiftily around the room and towards our view of the ocean.
“Yes… I mean, no… Well, not really, anyway.”
“You have got to calm down. Just take a deep breath and explain.”
I did as she suggested and took a long deep breath to collect my thoughts. I told her about what the guy’s friend had said back at the casino. She made the connection between this and the man being dragged off the deck against his will. I also explained what I heard from the crew members when we were at the arcade. I could tell she was beginning to take what I was saying seriously.
I looked off into a corner as I made a connection. It seemed like a bit of a stretch to me, but it was the only thing I could think of. I know that she wouldn’t judge me at this point if it sounded a bit outlandish. After thinking it over for a moment, I decided to tell her what I was thinking.
“When I was looking for things to do in Honolulu earlier, there was an advertisement for a new aquarium that was coming soon. One of the main attractions was that they were going to have a bunch of Giant Pacific Octopi.
I didn’t think about it until now, but what if that is what is on this ship? Let me google it really quick, I had never heard of that type of octopus, so I didn’t think much of it.”
I got the search pulled up and nodded in a cold understanding before continuing.
“This is exactly what that guy was describing. I don’t know why they would use a cruise ship to deliver something like that. It’s the only thing that makes any sense right now, though.”
Harper was looking at the google search thoughtfully and responded.
“I mean, I guess that these were two of the hardest-hit economies during the pandemic, tourism, and cruise ships. It makes some kind of twisted sense that they would come together to try and help each other out. Octopi are known to be very mischievous, even when they aren’t the size of a freaking semi-trailer.”
She made a good point. Nothing had really made sense for a few years now with how crazy the world had been. This made as much sense as anything else when it was put into perspective. I just shook my head in amazement and looked towards her.
“Well, what do we do from here?”
“I know this is crazy, but I’m sure they will have a handle on those things. They would not have arranged to have them on board and not prepared for the possibility that they could escape.
I say we get ready and go to dinner as we had planned. We don’t want to spend our whole 10th-anniversary cruise holed-up in the cabin. Even if all this crazy guesswork is correct, and that is what the guy from the casino saw, I’m sure that they have everything under control.”
I pressed my fingers against my eyes and tried to wrap my mind around everything. I may have been scared out of my mind, but she was right. Our best bet was to hope that it was all under control and at least try to enjoy our time on the ship. This was not going to happen again anytime soon, if ever.
“Yeah. Let’s do that, I agree. Let’s just get dressed and try to have a good time. I’m sure if it was too bad, everyone would be on lockdown or something.”
She brightened up a bit with my saying this. We both went into our luggage and began to start the process of getting changed into our formal dining attire. Before long, I was tying the knot in my tie, and she was putting the final touches on her hair. I walked up behind her in the mirror and held her by the shoulders.
“You look incredible. Let’s go and have the time of our lives.”
She gave me a big smile, and I pulled her in for a kiss. I backed up and held out my arm towards her. As she grabbed onto it, we made our way for the door.
The formal dining room was the most luxurious area on the ship by far. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. There were large wine racks along many of the walls, and the entire dining room was walled in by the most beautiful windows that I had ever seen. There was an ornate window on the ceiling as well. It was just beginning to get dark, and I was sure that soon we would be able to see the stars all across the sky.
The waiter walked up and asked what we would like to drink. He was dressed in a black vest with a bow tie and a white shirt. I told him that we would take a bottle of wine that he recommended. I also asked him to give me a recommendation for my meal. Once Harper heard his suggestion of parmesan encrusted lamb with asparagus, she decided that she would follow suit.
He brought out some bread with olive oil as a complimentary appetizer to go with our wine. As he poured our first glasses and set the bottle down, I grabbed my glass of wine and held it up toward my beautiful wife. She looked every bit as lovely as the day of our wedding, and I was flooded with a flurry of emotions as I said my toast.
“Here is to 10 amazing years. Every one of them has been an adventure, and I look forward to every year that I’ll be lucky enough to spend with you as we continue that adventure.”
She smiled and blushed ever so slightly as she reached her glass to clink off of mine. We both took a sip, and she responded in a relieved manner.
“That’s the spirit, it is starting to actually feel like a relaxing vacation.”
“Hey, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? It’s so nice to have a break from work, housework, and all the monotony of the day-to-day. We make a pretty good team through all of that drudgery, though. Don’t you think?”
Suddenly, I saw the smile get wiped from her face. The look that crept onto her face was one of sheer terror. Her glass of wine had been in her hand. When her face went from delight to horror, she tossed it on the ground with a crash. A scream came from deep within her, which was blood-curdling and intimated that absolute ruin was imminent.
I turned toward the spot that she was staring at. I understood all at once the doom that awaited all of us in the dining room. A giant octopus came crashing through the windows near the entrance where we all had arrived, knocking over the many racks of wine as it came and turning the floor as red as blood. Seemingly at the same time, another came from the side closest to the ocean and blocked the only other way out of the dining room into the kitchen.
I grabbed Harper’s arm, and we ran toward the corner as far from the beasts as we could manage. It was pandemonium as the whole dining room erupted into turmoil. I flipped a circle table up against the corner so that Harper and I could try to hide behind it for protection.
I saw one man who ran as fast as he could towards a small opening next to the octopus, who was blocking the main entrance. The creature reached a giant tentacle out for him and pulled him into his beak. There were shrieking howls of pain, unlike anything I have ever heard as blood sprayed out from underneath.
A couple of people were able to dart around as the octopus was distracted. Another unfortunate lady was grabbed by one of the spare tentacles, though. He squeezed her around the throat, and we had to watch as her face turned purple. Eventually, the life was squeezed right from her body.
I held Harper tight as she was sobbing like mad and unable to stop her body from shaking. We saw an opening. The one by the front entrance went toward a group of people on the opposite side of the room. As soon as it did, we bolted for the door. As we drew near, another octopus came crashing through the window on the ceiling, crushing a few unfortunate souls as it joined in the massacre. We kept running until we were well onto the deck.
The chaos did not stop in the dining room. People were running like mad all over the deck. I didn’t know where we would be safe, but I thought that maybe we could lock ourselves in our cabin until we could be rescued from this madness. It was a nice thought, but as we went for the doors, another one of those damn things came down to block our way.
We ran for the area in front of the drive-in style screen where Re-Animator was playing. A man was gibbering to himself in a wild manner and hiding behind a chair. As we drew near, I noticed a tear in the screen as another one came through and snatched the man up as he yelled out for help.
Our options for safety were becoming extremely limited. We ran for the bar where we jumped over the top and hid with a large group of people, peaking over to watch it all unfold. That was when we saw what I knew would be the end of us all. There was an army of them descending upon us. I held Harper tight as we waited on the inevitable.
I watched as a family of three were huddling together in the middle of the deck. They were almost surrounded, but the father pushed the mother and child toward an opening so that they could make it to safety with the rest of us. He let out a guttural cry as they ripped him to shreds. His little girl cried in a high-pitched squeal reaching for him until the mother grabbed her and ran towards us.
The mother was getting close when one of the monstrous creatures came hurtling behind her. As she noticed, she reached out with her daughter. I leaned out over the bar and grabbed onto her as the octopus reached the mother and held her tightly. I was pulling my hardest as the mother was holding on tight, and I hoped that they both might be saved.
I was punching and pulling at the tentacles and doing my best to cause him to let the mother go. She released her daughter, and the others brought her down behind the bar. I wouldn’t let go of her mother’s arms as she cried out in distress.
That was when I heard it. It was the deepest and most powerful sound that I have ever heard. It shook the ship violently. The bottles of liquor and glasses were falling all around us. It was hard to describe the immense strength and power that the sound exhibited all around us. When the sound came, though, something strange began to happen.
The octopus that held the child’s mother released her, and we pulled her behind the bar with us quickly. She fell to her daughter and clutched her tightly as they wept in each other’s arms. All of the creatures began to release the people that they were attacking. They were moving in unison towards the edges of the ship. They crawled over the side, and one by one, they made their way into the ocean.
Once all the monsters had left the ship, the people made their way slowly to the side to see what was happening. For some reason, they were all leaving. As quickly as they had descended upon us, they left us. It appeared to be almost in a synchronized manner. They all were swimming in the same direction, and we watched in disbelief. Nobody aboard this ship would ever be the same if they made it out alive, but many of us were saved by what could only be described as a call. A call that came from something massive, much larger than the creatures that had plagued us. It was a call that came from deep within the ocean and was more monstrous than anything that we could have ever imagined.
submitted by MadnessMultiplier to libraryofshadows [link] [comments]

[S] Capy's Survivor: Pompeii- Saints vs Sinners (S23)

Hello! Welcome or welcome back to Capy's Survivor! This season we are headed to Pompeii! We are once again playing the game of outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting your fellow castaways, whether that be by flirtatious behavior, backstabbing your opponents, or making plenty of allies. This is Capy's Survivor: Saints vs Sinners! I will not be doing write-ups with the posts because I don't have time. I will instead work on them while I can, and post a post with some of them once I'm done.
Meet the castaways:
Sanctus Tribe:
Pecalum Tribe:
Season: https://brantsteele.net/survivocaramoan/r.php?c=58TIKzh1
​
20th: Tracy was just too far on the outside for this vote. With both alliances in the tribe gunning for her, there was no way she could escape this 7-3 vote. Eliminated: Tracy
19th: I think this vote was purely the wrong place at the wrong time. There are two main alliances in the Pecalum tribe, King, Jury, and Vito; and Adrian, Bart, and Randall. I believe the flips wanted to side more with the alliance voting out the other alliance rather than a fellow flip vote. Eliminated: Bart
18th: I think Vito was scared that Karen, Kenzie, and Sass (a.k.a the flip votes) were going to flip back to Randall and Adrain's side and vote out Juri, as her name was thrown around. But alas, that did not happen, and their intended target of Randall went out after only Kenzie voted with Randall and Adrian, Sass throwing her vote to Karen, and Karen siding with Juri, Vito, and now-flip vote King. Eliminated: Randall
17th: The Sanctus tribe, much like their rival tribe, was divided by 2 alliances of 3. Carson-Randster-Flora and Blair-Dolly-Percy. But being the heroes that they are at heart, that didn't matter much, as Eva's fight with George from Episode 2 caught up with her and made her the boot 9-1. Eliminated: Eva
16th: Sanctus loses their second immunity in a row. I think the alliances are trying to rid of the flip votes early, as they could be dangerous come to the merge. Carson-Flora-Randster manages to pull in Ray for their Douglas vote, but that is solely because Blair-Dolly-Percy managed to get all the other flip votes to vote Ray, booting her 5-4. Eliminated: Ray
15th: After a huge fight at camp, and them both being in the middle, George and Douglas have made themselves the main targets of this week. Carson-Flora-Randster decides to stick to their target of Douglas, while Blair-Dolly-Percy decides to tie hoping for someone to flip, so they vote George. Instead of this, Blair ultimately decides to flip on her alliance, voting Douglas out 4-4; 4-2. Eliminated: Douglas
14th: A swap occurs at the Final 14, sending Sass, Dolly, Flora, King, Karen, Kenzie, and Percy to Sanctus. And sending Adrian, Blair, Carson, George, Juri, Randster, and Vito to Pecalum. All old alliances stand strong, while new alliances of former tribemates form. Sanctus loses the immunity challenge. The Sinners decide that Flora is their main target. But, Dolly and Percy approach Sass and offer her to flip, because of Dolly's reasons that her fellow Sinners are untrustworthy. Sass says in her confessional that she is the most untrustworthy of the bunch. In a stupid move, Dolly decides not to play her idol. Flora knows her fate, and decides to vote Sass as a last "F**k you". Eliminated: Flora
13th: Pecalum are the ones heading to Tribal Council tonight. Randster and Carson end up fighting after Flora goes home, as they know they are probably doomed. Randster recognizes that Carson is a huge threat to the game, and he decides he doesn't need him sticking around, the Sinners also take advantage of this crack in the Saints, as they are down in numbers, and need to form some trust. Carson goes in a 6-1. Eliminated: Carson
12th: The merge occurs, with everyone shocked that it's so early, with 12 people still remaining. Because of Carson's elimination, the original Saints are down in number 7-5. Karen manages to win immunity. Being the villains they are, the Sinners immediately turn on each other, and the biggest targets at the end of it all are King and Sass, who are mistakenly thought of as running the game, even though Juri and Vito know their alliance has most of the votes, they don't speak up. Sass manages to gain Blair and George's trust enough to get them on her side and attempt to convince the other former Saints. But King-Vito-Juri gets every other vote off of King, as he is an ally. Eliminated: Sass
11th: The Randster wins immunity. The Sinners continue to turn on each other, with King once again being a target along with Kenzie for constantly flipping back and forth between votes. The Randster, knowing he is safe, decides to vote with Blair and George (and Kenzie) to vote out King, as he sees King is a threat. They attempt to convince Dolly-Percy, but when Blair was flipped on the other tribe, they grew close. They decide to stay on the Sinner's good side and vote for Kenzie. Kenzie goes home on a 7-4. Eliminated: Kenzie.
10th: Vito wins immunity. Even in their last ditch efforts to flip Dolly-Percy to their side, Blair-George-Randster could not get people to flip and vote out King, even though he was one of the people obviously running the vote, and they are beginning to get picked off. George leaves in a 7-3 vote. Eliminated: George.
9th: Adrian win immunity. Blair and Randster still attempt to flip Dolly-Percy, and even the last Volcaneous flip left, Adrian. They try to reason that they are not top priority to get to Final Tribal Council, and they need to hurt the alliance of Juri-Vito-King, but Dolly-Percy and Adrian want to stick on their good side, even if it means they only last one more vote. They decide Blair is easily a bigger threat than Randster, and send her packing on a 7-2. Eliminated: Blair.
8th: Vito wins another immunity, and Randster is crushed as he was also close to winning. Randster is shocked when Dolly-Percy, Adrian, and Karen approach him and say that they are giving King the boot. Randster asks why they didn't do it earlier, and they confess it's because they wanted to be on the top of one side, and with the other 3 person alliance they couldn't do that, and that they needed to gain trust with King-Juri-Vito. Juri knows about this vote, but she decides to save her idols for when SHE needs them. Eliminated: King
7th: Adrian wins immunity. They decide the vote is Vito, as they are more uncomfortable with him than Juri. But, Adrian decides that flipping back to the Juri-Vito side would be his best bet right now. He decides not to tell Karen, as his plan is to bring Randster and her to the end as goats and boot Juri and Vito at the Final 5. He knows that Randster is open to flipping though, so he baits him in, but is unsuccessful. Juri knows about these attempts, and she shows Randster one of her idols and says she will keep him safe because he can't keep himself safe in the middle. By a vote of 4-3 Percy goes home. Eliminated: Percy
6th: The Randster wins immunity. Adrian finally decides to tell Karen about the flipping. But then regrets it as soon as he realizes he might be the target, as Dolly might be a goat for them. Him and Randster flip back to Dolly's side, with Adrian trying to save his goats. But he was too messy, and couldn't get Karen to flip back. It's a 3-3 tie, with Juri-Vito-Karen voting Dolly, and Adrian-Randster-Dolly voting Karen, trying to cause a rock draw with Adrian, Juri, and Vito. But, knowing she doesn't want a rock draw, and that she could bring anyone with her and potentially win, Juri decides to shockingly flip to a Karen vote, sending her packing. Eliminated: Karen
5th: Juri wins the immunity challenge. She knows they are going to vote for Vito, but she also knows that they know there is nothing they can do because she has an idol. So they all decide to stick with Vito, as they think she might boot him for being a jury vote threat. Their prediction turns out to be right, but she still votes against them to try to attempt some Juri Management (sorry for the bad pun). Eliminated: Vito
4th: The Randster secures his stop in the Final 3, by winning immunity. Juri uses her talking skill in attempts to flip Adrian because she knows that she is doomed if she doesn't try, and she tells him he should be sitting next to a Sinner at FTC and that she might not even win the Fire-Making, he does the math and decides that a potentially bitter jury is better than sitting next to the social player, Dolly, at FTC. Dolly and Juri are sent to a Fire-Making Challenge, where Juri wins. Eliminated: Dolly
Final Tribal Council:>! By a jury vote of 4-3-1.... congratulations Kim Juri! You are the winner of Capy's Survivor: Saint vs Sinners!!<
Tell me what you guys think. Also tell me who you would like to see the return of for future seasons, and who you liked the most!
submitted by CapybaraWookiee to BrantSteele [link] [comments]

The Taming of Amanda

Intro: Fourteen Months After the Creation of the Hutt Empire
Amanda paused, unsure of how to proceed. Jabba's newest slave, Mara Jade, sat across from her on one of the plush harem sofas. It was midnight and the two were alone in the harem, the other slaves either pleasuring guests or sleeping in their own personal rooms, attached to the harem. Mara had been proving exceptionally stubborn to the training Amanda had been giving her. Due to her striking appearance and spirit, Jabba had wished to add her to his harem ever since their first meeting, though could not until he had defeated the empire. Now, firmly in control of the galaxy, Jabba had ordered Mara to be captured. Three months ago, Mara had finally been caught and brought to Jabba's Nal Hutta (formerly known as Coruscant) palace. "Never, I will not obey him!" Mara was saying. She was dressed in a revealing all red costume that complimented her hair, as well as permanent make-up and an unbreakable red collanecklace to symbolize her status as one of Jabba's pets. Amanda sighed. Three months, and Mara was still not close to submitting. She had been given a deadline of five days from now to make Mara obey, for that was the day of the first Hutt Council meeting after the formation of the Hutt Empire. Already an excellent dancer, Mara would be a valuable addition to the festivities. So here Amanda was, staying up late in a desperate attempt to train Mara on time. Instead, she could be sleeping or pleasuring a guest. Boba Fett had even seemed interested in taking her tonight! But no, she had to remain here in a seemingly futile attempt to break Mara.
Suddenly, the harem door opened. Amanda immediately dropped to her knees, glaring at Mara when she did not do the same. Standing there was Leia, the harem queen and Amanda's only superior among Jabba's pets. Beautiful, spirited, and dressed in the most revealing and expensive costume of all, Leia was the pride of the harem, the best of all of Jabba's slaves. Amanda had aided in Leia's training, and the two were now best friends, as well as intensely intimate with each other. "Welcome, your highness," Amanda said to the harem queen, kneeling before her and touching her forehead to the Queen's foot. Leia smiled at her approvingly, then turned to Mara. In a superior tone, she said, "Mara, The High Exalted One demands that you spend the night with him tonight, alone, for he senses it is the only way to tame you." Mara got off the sofa and studied Leia. Extremely sweaty, with the Hutt's slime visible on her body, it was obvious she had just been pleasing Jabba. "Hutt slut," Mara muttered as she left the room.
Once they were alone, Leia lessened her haughty attitude. "The High Exalted One appreciates your efforts, but he has realized Mara cannot truly submit until she sleeps with him and feels the pleasure he can give." Amanda was surprised. She and other slaves were often allowed to please Jabba alongside Leia, but this was the first time since Leia's arrival since one of Jabba's pets would do it without Leia, or even spent the night with him. "Don't worry, he made sure to have his fill of me before I came here," Leia said, grinning.
Amanda, still kneeling, started kissing her Queen's feet, and then, when Leia shot her a look of inestimable haughtiness, began to lick them in earnest. "Forgive me, your highness, I failed in the task you set me, this is my fault. You should punish me," Amanda begged. Leia looked down at her best friend, running her toes slowly over Amanda's tongue, carefully sliding each one along her mouth. Amanda took it gratefully, enjoying the taste of her queen. Leia let her go on just for a bit of suspense. Besides, it felt nice.. "No, for I did not succeed as well. It will take a night with The High Exalted One to tame her. Besides I could never punish you," Leia said. Amanda stopped kissing Leia's feet and looked up. "Thank you, my mistress," she said, smiling.
"Of course, Amanda," Leia said, then sighed, "I miss my master." "Your highness, he must really want to tame her if he is willing to spend the night without you," Amanda said, trying to comfort her. "I know, he said he'll really miss me. But he will have Mara to ravage all night, whether she wants it or not. I guarantee that by tomorrow morning she'll have realized her place. He told me to sleep here. I wonder, can I spend the night in your room?" Leia asked seductively. Amanda grinned. "It would be my honor, your highness," she said, giggling.
The two walked into the lift that would take them to the rooms for the senior slaves. After it stopped, they stepped out into a hallway of seven rooms. All the way at the end was Amanda's personal room, the most luxurious of them all. They proceeded to enjoy each other's company for over an hour, stripped naked of everything, except their slave collars, complementing over each others bodies, indulging in all their favorite games. Amanda loved doing this with all her sisters, but she enjoyed playing with her best friend and Queen by far the most. Their last game, the giggle game, took the longest, but the usual victor won. On Leia's fifth turn, Amanda finally lost it. "Ha ha ha ha yes yes yes ha ha ha!" she yelled once Leia's hand moved from her breasts to her entrance. Leia didn't stop there, but continued until Amanda reached her peak. "Yes! Yes! I love you so much your highness. Yes! Yes!" Amanda screamed. Once she calmed down, Leia rubbed the climax along Amanda's flank as she said soothingly, "I love you too, now it's time to get to bed." "Yes, your highness," Amanda agreed, slightly worn out. Their play time was very fun, though nothing compared to a night with the High Exalted One.
They climbed into Amanda's king sized bed. "Almost as comfortable as The High Exalted One's throne," Leia remarked. The two wore nothing but their collars, Leia's still connected to Jabba's throne by her massive leash. Amanda quickly snuggled into her Queen's side, licking the Hutt's slime from her breasts as she did.. "Oh, Amanda, you never told me how you were drawn into The High Exalted One's service!" Leia said, tilting her head farther in. Amanda hesitated. She was proud of her place now, but less so of her beginnings, before her enslavement. For this reason, she had never talked to Leia about this before. However, she had to eventually, or else Leia could bring the High Exalted One's wrath onto her. "I'll tell you, your highness, though my story is much less glamorous than yours," Amanda said. "Just tell me," Leia commanded. "Alright, fine," Amanda said. She began to tell her story.
Seventy Five Years Ago: From Humble Beginnings
Amanda was born on the backwater world of Utapau, forty seven years before the outbreak of the Clone Wars. Her early childhood was pleasant and uneventful. She was an only child, and her parents were fairly wealthy from a lucrative blaster modification business, at least at first. Once she had turned five, her father began to neglect his work and start to gamble (a new sensation on Utapau), convinced by advertisements that it was an easy way to make money. Instead, he soon began to lose all of his savings. By the time Amanda was seven, the family had started to slip into debt. Amanda's mother, tired of financial trouble, soon became a heavy alcoholic.
Refusing to admit his mistakes, Amanda's father began to blame Amanda for their problems, reasoning that the additional expenses required for her upbringing had forced them into debt, with his gambling only a side effect to the problems she had caused. He began to act colder and harsher towards her, believing his own lies. Despite the irrationality of these statements, her mother did nothing to deter her husband, too deep in alcohol to care. Amanda was shaken by these changes. Her parents had never been really close to her, but they had never been cruel before. At the age of eight, her father made her work for several nearby businesses, saying it was high time she start paying her fair share.
Only eight, she was unable to make much, and her father continued to gamble. When she was nine, her father berated her one night for their continued financial stress (by this point they were on the verge of loosing their house), saying she wasn't working hard enough. "But dad, maybe your gambling is part of the problem too," she meekly muttered. Enraged, he smacked her hard across the face. That was the beginning of the physical abuse. For the next two years, Amanda worked day and night to 'pay off her debts,' occasionally receiving a beating when her father got bad news. Once she was ten, her father began to lighten her meals, blaming her large appetite for their continued debt.
The breaking point came on her eleventh birthday. That day, they finally lost their house. Amanda received a horrible beating that night. Moving into a small apartment, Amanda was now only treated as a servant. Until she was sixteen, she worked from dawn til dusk, surviving on less and less food. The law was thin on Utapau and her family didn't have any friends, so no one knew about her predicament. Finally, when she was 18, she had had enough. One night, she sneaked out of her home and journeyed to the nearest sinkhole city.
Finding the spaceport, she quickly located a Republic ship. It was a small, personal yacht, but it clearly belonged to a Republic citizen. She had never left Utapau before, and was eager to see this Republic she had heard about. Soon after she arrived, she saw two men leave the ship, leaving the hatch open. This is my chance, she thought. She quickly went into the open hatch and entered the ship. Going to the back, she heard a rumbling on the other side of the door. This must be the engine room. She went inside. The room was small, but there was enough room for her a small window. Soon, she heard the pilots come back on. To her relief, they started the ship. I'm free! she thought. She heard the ship blast into orbit.
A Hard Life Ahead
Amanda's good fortune was not going to last. For the next three hours she hid in the engine room, uncomfortably crammed. Eventually, she felt the ship pull out of hyperspace. She looked out the porthole. Outside, she recognized the world of Naboo from an atlas she had read during the small amount education she was given on Utapau. Suddenly, a blast rocked the ship, then another. They were under attack! She heard the pilots panic and try to maneuver, but this was a pleasure yacht, not a fighter. Another laser hit the ship, and Amanda heard the power go out. They were a sitting duck. Through the window, she saw the other vessel, a small but heavily armed fighter, dock next to them.
Soon, she heard a cutting sound. They must be boarding! she thought. She heard the door fall, then two blaster shots. Then she heard voices. "They're dead, let's see if there's anything interesting aboard," said one human male voice. Amanda heard what sounded like two men walk around the ship, searching various cabinets and compartments. After a while, they spoke again. "I told you this wasn't a smuggler's ship," said another voice. "Hey, it looked like it might be one in disguise, and we can still sell it," the first man said. The footsteps stopped outside the engine room. "Wait, let's see what's in here," the second voice said. Amanda was terrified, but had nowhere to hide. The door opened, and Amanda was face to face with two human men, both looked to be in their thirties and wore combat gear. Two perverse grins appeared on their faces. "Jackpot," one said.
The two escorted her to the front of the ship, holding her at blaster point. She saw the former pilots dead in the hallway. "You're coming with me," the second man said, "Jaxton, drive this ship and follow me." The first man, Jaxton, nodded and remained on the ship. "Move it," the second one, obviously the leader," ordered, prodding her with the blaster.
She was pushed through the destroyed doorway onto the pirates’ ship. It had an all black interior and was sparsely decorated. "Listen, I'm just a runaway, so you could just leave me on the planet and I'll be out of your hair," Amanda said. "Yeah right," the leader said, stepping onto the ship and closing the hatch. "You'll be very useful where we're going," he told her. "Where is that?" she asked. "Bespin. With all our captures, plus that yacht over there, we have enough money to start our own casino," he said. "What does that have to do with me?" she asked. "Ha! You'll be working there. No pay, of course. Jaxton has really been wanting a whore to have fun with, so he'll keep you for a while. When he's tired of you, you'll be an ah, entertainer for the casino patrons," he answered.
Amanda didn't scream, she didn't beg. Instead, she simply sighed. "Thought you'd be more upset than that," the man said. Clearly, he was cruel and enjoyed others' suffering. "It can't be worse than what I've dealt with before," Amanda said. Grunting, the man ordered her into the ship's holding cell, than locked her in. Can't be too bad, she thought. Once again, Amanda heard a ship blast into hyperspace.
Long Night
That night, however, Amanda realized what she was in for. She heard the door to her cell open. "We've docked for the night, and Jaxton wants some company," said her captor menacingly. She was hauled out of her cell and taken to the other ship. Amanda was thrown inside the hatch. "Hello beautiful," Jaxton greeted her. "You're going to be my slut when we get started on Bespin, might as well get used to it," he told her. He examined her. Though she wore raggedy clothes and was a little thin, she was very pretty. "Take off your clothes, now!" he ordered. "I'm only eighteen!" she protested. She received a hard slap to the face. "Now," he yelled. "Reluctantly, she removed all but her undergarments. "All of it," Jaxton ordered. Amanda did as he asked. He looked her up and down. "Nice," he said.
"Now, I am going to ravage you. If you resist or fight back, I'll call in Vol, and we'll both enjoy you," he said. Amanda realized he wasn't lying. Throughout the next hour, she learned exactly how bad her new life would be. Jaxton was brutal. Even though she did not resist, she still acquired several bruises from the rapist. Apparently, these pirates were as sadistic as they were greedy. She tried to take some pleasure from his actions, but ultimately failed. Jaxton began to thrust inside her. "No, no, no!" she screamed. Mad with lust, he slapped her across the face. In the end, he climaxed into her. Barely feeling any pleasure, she failed to do the same. Jaxton finally got off her. "Enjoy that, slut?" he asked. Amanda did not respond.
Jaxton sent her back to Vol's ship, not giving her her clothes back. Naked, she crawled into her cell. Not given a blanket, she tried to sleep as best she could. Shivering, she laid and the floor and tried to ignore her pain, tears flowing from her face. Soon, she to ignore the hunger as well. She had not been given food for twenty four hours. Eventually, she managed to does off. As horrible as this night was, it was only the beginning to another dark period in Amanda's life.
Casino
The next morning, they arrived on Bespin. Amanda was provided a scratchy set of rags, then led off the ship at blaster point. Looking around, she saw it was a seedy world, much worse than Utapau. Jaxton and Vol quickly escorted her to a run down hotel and checked out a room, the attendant seemingly unconcerned that she was held prisoner. The next week, with all their compiled funds, they bought a large, abandoned building and refurnished it into a dazzling casino. It quickly began to generate huge profits. Moving in to the casino, Amanda was forced to become Jaxton's whore, just like he promised. She hated the vile man, but had no choice and no chance of escape. She was clothed in rags and fed little, and she became increasingly thin.
After a year of this continued torture, Jaxton finally grew tired of her, getting other girls from the vast wealth he now commanded. This was no respite from Amanda's seemingly hopeless life, however, as Amanda was forced to become a stripper in the Casino, having to pleasure various guests who paid for her. Her nineteenth birthday flew by, forgotten, and Amanda's torrent of misery continued.
Throughout the next year, Amanda stripped in the casino. Through some miracle, she was not given any sexually transmitted diseases, but her low amount of food continued to make her unhealthily thinner. Amanda would have been able to run, if not for the bracelet she was forced to wear. Incredibly difficult to remove, it was designed to prevent her from leaving. If she stepped ten feet from the casino premises, it would explode and kill her. It seemed there was no way for Amanda to escape her hopeless situation.
Fifty Five Years Ago: Amanda's New Life
Soon after Amanda's turned twenty, Jaxton and Vol began to expand into the weapons dealing business. Using the profits from their casino, it started off quick. They bought weapons from public weapon manufacturers, made them more deadly, and sold them to various crime lords and gangster throughout the galaxy. The details interested her little, though it sadly reminded her of her father's own blaster modification business. Will my life ever change? she often thought to herself.
Six months after the start, Jaxton and Vol sold a large quantity of weapons to a crime lord named Jabba the Hutt. The Hutt was one of the main benefactors for men like Jaxton and Vol making him the perfect customer for the two small-time thugs who were just starting out in the business. Amanda didn't know a lot about Jabba the Hutt, other than that he was a powerful crime lord, but her captors certainly did. Making a huge profit off of the deal (especially as they had cut corners on several of the modifications) they spent a night ravaging Amanda in triumph together. It was the worst night of her life, and that was saying something. The things they did to her, the horrible agony of two men forcing themselves on her at the same time, drew Amanda to the edge. Over the next three days, she started to contemplate suicide. Amanda considered leaving the casino and let the explosion do it's thing, for clearly, life held no happiness for her. During the third night, Amanda resolved to walk away from the casino the next morning.
When she woke up, Amanda put on her usual rags, walked downstairs, and entered the casino lobby. Walking inside, she discovered Jaxton and Vol in intense conversation. "What is that ship doing here?" Vol yelled. "I don't know, maybe Jabba found out we jipped him on those blasters," Jaxton answered nervously. "Damn, this isn't good, let me do the talking, ok?" Vol asked. "Fine," Jaxton replied. Amanda stopped. That thug who her captors sold weapons to was here? This was frightening. If he was really coming this far about the weapons, he must be really pissed!
Suddenly, the doors barred open. The strangest sight Amanda had ever seen was coming in. It consisted of a large dais/throne like thing made out of hard stone, with several rugs and pillows on it. Anti grav technology propelled it forward. Sitting on it was a massive slug like creature. He had slimy, green skin, with large intimidating reptilian eyes. A long muscular tail extended from his body. His most defining feature, however, was his amazingly bloated size. His massive stomach and several extra chins were two prominent examples of his fat's affect on him. Surrounding him were three scantily clad human girls. Each looked to be around twenty and, for some reason, looked subservient to the Hutt.
"Vol!" Jabba's booming voice yelled. Trembling, Vol stepped forward. "Welcome mighty Jabba," he said. "I have no time for games Vol. Those blasters were worthless, and I'm here to rectify the situation," Jabba boomed. "What do you mea....." Vol began, but was cut off when his body lifted into the air. Behind him, Jaxton was lifted as well. Both grabbed their throats as if choking. The casino patrons quickly ran in terror, but Amanda, mesmerized, did not move. "No, please," Vol coughed. Jabba said nothing. Soon, the two pirates dropped to the ground, dead. Jabba looked around. "I think that is proper payment," he said. He suddenly noticed Amanda.
"Hello there, my lovely," he said to her. Amanda stared at him. Extremely thin and dressed in rags, Amanda didn't look so 'lovely' these days, though she was naturally beautiful. "Come here!" he commanded. She slowly walked forward. If she refused, who knew what he would do to her? When she was close enough, he reached out with a stubby arm, and, with massive strength, hurled her into him. A slimy tongue reached out from his wide mouth and kissed her, revealing his attraction to her. Amanda jerked back, surprised. He was clearly the most disgusting creature in the galaxy, yet for one brief moment, she had felt some pleasure from his kiss.
"You will be coming with me, my lovely," he said to her. Too afraid to resist, she sat on the throne as it left the casino. After they were some distance away, the Hutt waved his hand. Several dozen feet away, the Jaxton and Vol Casino somehow disintegrated into ashes, crumbling to the ground. "Melina, wine!" he demanded. One of the slave girls reclining on his tail handed him a large flask of Huttese wine. He drank some, then lowered it to her. "To their deaths," he said. Amanda couldn't help but grin, that was one thing she could get behind. She drank out of Jabba's hand. It didn't taste too bad. Jabba wrapped his arm around her. "I am your master now," he said in a commanding voice. Did he say, master? If that's right, then I'm going to be…his slave! Amanda realized with horror. Without any further conversation, the throne reached a nearby space port. Standing there was a large pleasure yacht, though Amanda saw it was also heavily armed. The dais moved up the lowered boarding ramp and into the ship.
The Journey to Tatooine
The throne headed deep into the ship. Soon, it entered a large lounge like room. Amanda saw three Twi'leks move to some poles and strip dance on them. It didn't really worry Amanda, she had had to do far worse than that while in the casino. Just then, her stomach growled nosily. Due to the small diet she had been receiving since she was ten, Amanda had grown used to this. Jabba noticed, however. He pulled her close to him. "Are you hungry, my pet?" he asked. Did he say pet? Is that what I am? she thought. Regardless, she was starving. "Yes," Amanda said. "Yes, what? Jabba asked with a hint of anger. Amanda sighed. If submission would get her food, then she would be submissive. "Yes master," Amanda said. Jabba stroked her shoulder. Jabba spoke in Huttese to one of his servants. Amanda didn't understand it, but a minute later dinner was brought out. Jabba was given a large assortment of creatures she didn't recognize. Amanda and the other slave girls were each handed a plate of five loaves of bread. It didn't look like much, but Amanda ate hers ravenously. After the first bite, Amanda knew the bread had been modified. It filled her up more than it should have and tasted much more complex. She quickly devoured the rest, still feeling slightly hungry. "Usually five loaves is enough for my pets, but I can see you have been starved, luckily you have me to take care of you," Jabba said.
Jabba ordered five more loaves for Amanda. This time, Jabba took the plate and held out a loaf to her. "Ask, nicely," he commanded. Amanda swallowed her pride and said, "Please, master," she begged. Jabba lowered the bread to her mouth. Amanda was forced to eat from his hands. After her tenth loaf, Amanda was finally full, for the first time in eleven years. "You shall soon learn to appreciate me, as all of my pets do," he told her. Amanda said nothing.
The ship soon arrived on a desert planet. The dais left the ship and headed for a large palace like structure. The heat didn't really bother Amanda, for Utapau summers were worse than this. Entering the palace, the dais stopped in front of a large door. "Melina, you are coming with me," Jabba said. He turned to Amanda, "This is where you leave me, my lovely, but before you decide to resist, just remember where you would be without me," he said. The slaves, minus Melina, left the dais and went through the door.
Preparation
Amanda entered the harem, and was immediately shell shocked. While the "harem" back at the casino had consisted of a rundown bed and a pole to practice dancing with, this had to be the most luxurious place in the galaxy. A floor of polished marble was covered by thick, soft blue trith-fur carpeting, and studded with massive silken couches and futons. The walls had been completely covered with billowy velvet, and cut into the floor were a number of deep, steaming pools. Bowls of fruit and bottles of wine were placed so that one would always be at hand. Discreet glow-panels gave everything a soft shade, and the skylights had been shaped to shatter the twin sun’s light into a spectacular rainbow display.
At the far end of the room was a piece of floor that was not covered in marble but in blue mats. The ten poles sprouted from them and touched the ceiling, as well as a mirrored wall and a wide variety of equipment to improve balance, speed and coordination, made it the best studio that Amanda had ever been in.
"Wow," she gasped. One of the girls turned to her, "Like it?" she asked. Amanda nodded. "Good, because this is where you'll stay for the rest of your life!" the girl said. Amanda couldn't believe it. This would be the best place had ever stayed! "Now come on, it's our job to assess your dancing capabilities, to see when your ready to entertain The Exalted One," the other girl said. Amanda was led to the dancing area. It was easy for her to impress the other slave girls. She had been strip dancing for years. "Wow, you're pretty good. A little fine tuning, as well as learning the regular palace routines, but overall, impressive," one said, once Amanda had finished. "Honestly, you might be the best dancer we have, with a little work," the other girl added. Just then, Melina returned. "Are you ready for your new outfit? It's my turn to dress up The Exalted One's newest pet, plus I am the harem mistress, so let's get started.
Amanda was ordered to strip and sit on a stool, and Melina got to work. She took out some make-up and began to rub the brush all along Amanda's face. Once she was done, Melina began to stroke her fingers across Amanda's make-up. "Stop, you'll smear it," Amanda protested, jerking back. "No, just making sure I applied it correctly. This make-up is permanent, it never smears," Melina explained. "Really?" Amanda asked. "Our master has created several technologic advances. Now for your hair," Melina said, then added in an angry tone, "And if you ever question me again, I will starve you for a week, understand?" Amanda hesitated, then said, "Yes, mistress."
Melina then worked on Amanda's hair, making it into waving curls going down to her neck. "Usually Jabba's pets are given earrings, but your hair would hide them, so we'll skip that," Melina said. "Let's see, you look like a blue. Melina walked away and returned with a long blue strap-like thing. She proceeded to apply it onto Amanda. Two straps were placed on her shoulder. They went down to her breasts, forming into two bra shapes. They diverged slightly and converged below her belly button, then went down and barely covered her entrance. Melina stepped back and examined her, as if expecting the straps to stay on by themselves. And they did!
"Good, now for the finishing touches," Melina said. She put a small black skirt on Amanda. It barely hid anything, but would be the only covering her backside had. Melina then put two black heels on Amanda's feet. "One more thing," Melina said, "Time for your collar." Amanda stuttered. "My co..co..collar," she asked. "Yes, you are a pet, not just a slave. A permanent collar will ensure your bondage. If you are ever one thousand feet from your master, it will cause you to collapse into unconsciousness, now kneel before me and hold still!" Amanda obeyed. Having her collar knock her out was better than having a bracelet kill her. "The Exalted One told me to give you specifically this one," Melina said. She produced a thin silver collar with a small circle formed in the front. Melina fastened it on Amanda's neck, then clicked it shut. "Finished, now you are forever one of us. Now I have to get you a room."
Melina led Amanda down a small hallway that branched off from the harem. They walked past several closed doors. "Right, this one's empty," Melina stopped. She opened a door. "Welcome to your room," Melina said. Once again, Amanda was overwhelmed. The room boasted a large king sized bed, several comfortable pillows, a small, personal hot tub, its own air conditioner, a large mirror, and, strangely enough, an alarm clock on her table.. "Now go to sleep, I don't like to be kept up," Melina started to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and this is for questioning me," Melina said. She suddenly took her hand and slapped Amanda hard across the face, driving her to the floor. "Let that teach you," she said, leaving.
Explanations
Amanda hauled herself up and sat on the bed. Tears formed on her cheeks. Melina's blow had stung, but the knowledge that yet more of her life would be spent under the thumb of cruel captors was even worse. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Another human slave girl entered. "Hi, I'm Jess," she said. Amanda didn't respond, what if she was as mean as Melina? "I want to talk to you, since that bitch Melina is too important to tell you about your new life," she said sarcastically. Amanda smiled. "Come on in," Amanda said.
Jess sat down next to her. "Don't worry, everyone here is nice except for Melina, and she can't do too much," she said, "Anyway, I wanted to welcome you, sister," Jess finished. "What do you mean, we're not sisters!" Amanda said. "Not in blood no, but all of Jabba's pets are sisters in all but name. We are your family now," Jess explained. "But I already have a family, not a very good one, but still I have a family," Amanda argued. Jess sighed. "No, you don't, that part of your life is meaningless now. You don't have a mother, you don't have a father. You are no one's daughter, and you have no other siblings. All you have is us, and The Exalted One. We are the only relations you have, sister," Jess said. "Speaking of The Exalted One, that's all we're worthy to refer to him as, I think you have the wrong idea about him," Jess continued.
"What do you mean, I already know he's a disgusting, vile, cruel, crime lord who cares for no one but himself," Amanda said. "No, you're wrong," Jess said, "He cares for everyone, especially his pets. We are very dear to him. Look around you. You have a king sized bed and a personal hot tub! You saw the harem. The Exalted One loves to spoil us," Jess said. Amanda hesitated, then said, "Maybe you're right, maybe. I'll have to see how he treats us. Speaking of which, what is it like to live here?" Jess smiled. "It is a heaven, Amanda. We are never hungry. We are never thirsty. We have to practice dancing from 11 to 2, but the rest of the time we can simply relax and enjoy ourselves," Jess said. Amanda didn't like how she said that. "But what about dancing for him?" Amanda asked, "Isn't that horrible?"
Jess grinned. "No, and we have to do far more than that," Jess said. Amanda gaped. "Yes, you will make love to The Exalted One, and let me tell you, it is pleasurable beyond imagination. Of course sometimes you will have to pleasure his guests as well, but you wouldn't believe how fun that is either. They can't treat us badly, or they'll be severely punished. And no matter who it is, you'll have a great time," she explained. "There's no way pleasuring that beast is fun," Amanda argued. "It is, Amanda, trust me," Jess said, "Pretty soon, you will see your master as the most attractive being in the galaxy. In fact, the fatter he gets, the more alluring you will find him," Jess said.
"What about Melina, why is she so cruel to us?" Amanda asked, trying to change the subject. "I don't know. The Exalted One made her harem mistress, giving her some superiority over us, but she's not supposed to be cruel. Part of it is probably because she was a high aristocrat, making her think she's way better than the rest of us. Plus, she's pissed he won't make her harem queen. I'm sure The Exalted One will discipline her soon," Jess said.
"I thought you said she was already harem mistress," Amanda asked, confused. "That's different from harem queen. The harem queen is The Exalted One's personal slave, as well as a step above harem mistress, who is only in charge in the queen's absence. Since a harem queen has never been appointed, the mistress is technically in charge here," Jess explained. "Why has a queen never been appointed?" Amanda asked. "The Exalted One says he's waiting for a specific person who will come and become queen, but that it is far into the future. Of course, he sometimes enslaves women and has them serve him personally, but they are never meant to last and are always given away or disposed of," Jess said, "But we're getting off topic. Regardless of Melina, you will soon be glad you were brought here. Two weeks into my enslavement, and I was rejoicing that The Exalted One took me."
"Jess, don't you miss your family?" Amanda asked. "Not at all," Jess said, "Something you'll soon realize, Amanda, is that none of your previous attachments or relationships will matter to you. In a month, all you will care about is serving your master and relaxing with your sisters. Your true sisters, us. You will love us, and forget about everyone else. The Exalted One is your life now, and you will soon accept that."
"I may have no previous attachments, but I bet you still miss your former family," Amanda accused. "No, you don't understand. I don't. I barely remember them. My life only started to matter the day I came here," Jess repeated. "Why didn't they try to find you?" Amanda asked. Jess grinned. "The man who used to be my father did. He came for me. Offered to buy me back. But our master refused. The man tried to leave, but was not allowed to," she said. "Why not?" Amanda asked.
Jess shrugged. "The Exalted One said it was because he had seen the man during the senate debates and knew him to be a selfish bastard. I had known that before I was taken, but I had still loved him, I think. But when The Exalted One had him dropped into the rancor pit, I did not care. I sat on our master's throne and watched the man die without any sadness whatsoever. My only reaction was to thank The Exalted One for his wonderful masterly care of me," Jess revealed.
"That's horrible!" Amanda exclaimed. Jess shook her head, "No, it wasn't. I had lost all connection to him the second I was taken to The Exalted One," she explained. "So where are you from?" Amanda asked. "Coruscant, my former father was a senator there," Jess answered. "Wait, your father was a senator?" Amanda asked, shocked. "Well of course. Hutts prefer their pets to be taken from the aristocracy, so many of us here had parents in the senate. What about you?" Jess asked. "I...am not from the aristocracy. In fact, I have nothing," Amanda admitted. "Correction, you had nothing. Now you have a wonderful, luxurious, and pleasurable life here. You're the first girl here who isn't an aristocrat here, but it's not a big deal. The Exalted One probably saw that you were helpless and decided to take you in. That should show you how gracious he is," Jess said.
"Now I better go. Just remember three things. Set your alarm for 9am and only call Melina 'mistress' while in her presence. And most importantly, only refer to our master as, The Exalted One. If you are ever granted the honor of speaking to him, call him either 'master' or 'exalted one,' anything else would be horribly disrespectful. Don't give Melina a reason to hurt you," Jess warned as she walked out.
Once alone, Amanda removed her new clothes and got into bed. She wasn't sure what she thought of her situation. On one hand, she was a slave, a giant slug's slave, who would be forced to pleasure him and his guests. On the other, she now relaxed in a king's size bed, her own hot tub was three feet away, and she wasn't going to bed hungry for the first time in years. Maybe what Jess said was true, she would enjoy being Jabba's pet and would soon be immersed in her new life. After all, where would she be now if Jabba hadn't taken her? Alone, starving, and homeless on the slum world of Bespin. As she started to drift off to sleep, Amanda decided to see how the next day went.
Path to Submission
First Day
Morning Encounter
Amanda was woken up at 9 by her alarm clock. Yawning, she decided to test out her hot tub. Next to it was a small control panel. She quickly adjusted the temperature to her liking and entered it. The water was like heaven. She hadn't had this at the Jaxton and Vol casino. She put on the bubbles and enjoyed the water against her naked body. Amanda suddenly noticed her collar. It was the only thing she currently had on. Reaching it, she tried to un-click it. Maybe Melina was wrong and it really could come off. Pulling, she tried to tear it apart. It didn't budge.
"You won't have any luck there. The second it clicks on the collar seals forever. No force in the galaxy can remove it. Face it Amanda, you'll be a pet to The Exalted One forever. You'll soon be proud of it," Jess admonished as she entered the room. "Jess, get out of here, I'm not wearing anything!" Amanda exclaimed. Jess grinned. "Not a problem," she said in a suggestive tone. Amanda watched, stunned, as Jess removed her own clothing and joined her in the hot tub. "Jess, I know you think we're sisters but I'm not sure I'm comfortable wit...." Amanda protested but stopped after Jess put a finger on her lips. "Just stay still," Jess ordered soothingly.
"Wh.." Amanda started, but was interrupted as Jess leaned forward and kissed her. No, I don't like women, why is....oh, oh that feels sooo good, Amanda thought. To her shock, she didn't pull away, and even started to lean into the kiss. When finally Jess pulled back, Amanda found herself leaning forward. "Bu..but I've never liked women?" Amanda asked, more to herself then Jess. Jess smiled. "Liked that, didn't you?" she asked. Amanda nodded. "I..I don't understand, I've never felt that way before," she admitted. "I felt that way my first time here too, but pleasuring yourself with your sisters here is extremely fun," Jess said. "Why?" Amanda asked. "I don't know why, but something you'll find here is that no matter who you do it with, sex is very enjoyable in this palace," Jess said, with a knowing gleam in her eye.
"You really think being here makes sex more enjoyable?" Amanda asked incredulously. Jess nodded. "Well, to be honest I think it's more because of The Exalted One himself. He is so pleasurable that it spreads around his presence. Plus, you've seen some of his ah, uncanny abilities," Jess said. Amanda found it hard to believe that a Hutt's presence dozens of yards away could do that, but had she also found it hard to believe that a Hutt could choke people telekinetically and disintegrate casinos with a gesture, which Jabba had certainly done.
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I Ran Kingdom Hearts in FATE: Recap and Discussion

I Ran Kingdom Hearts in FATE: Recap and Discussion
Hey folks. I’m pretty new to reddit and I haven’t seen a post like this on this subreddit yet, so I hope I’m not violating any unspoken norms, but here goes. A little while back, I ran a FATE Core game based on the premise of the Kingdom Hearts video game series. It ran weekly for about a year, a total of around 40 sessions around 3 hours apiece. I’m feeling an urge to talk about it, so I thought I’d post a debrief-style summary of the game here. I’ll start with a quick rundown of the way the game was constructed, then a (admittedly probably pretty long) summary of the game itself, and then finish up with what I learned from the experience and hope to apply in the future. I’m presenting this for a moment’s entertainment, inspiration, constructive criticism and suggestions. And of course, for vanity. Always vanity.
This post is going to be a monster… it has taken about five hours to write and is sitting at around 12 pages on the google doc that I wrote it in, and I can’t find an option for collapsible spoiler blocks. So… sorry about that? TL;DR: It’s okay if you don’t want to read it all. We’re cool.
I may also crosspost it on other sites, because it was a lot of work. Haven't decided yet.
Constructing the Game
For a bit of background, this was a game I ran offline for three friends. It was our third game as a group, our second with me as the GM. I’ve been running games for a long time, mostly D&D but some White Wolf as well. I had never used FATE or really anything like it before, either as a player or GM, so it was pretty much all new to me. I chose FATE for this game because I wanted a generic roleplaying system that could encompass fantasy, sci-fi and realism-esque scenarios without too much modification. I was also looking for a rules-light system because my experiments with more complicated generic systems like GURPS and BESM had showed me that it was hard to maintain any kind of balance when players have different levels of experience and optimization ability.
The Kingdom Hearts video game franchise by Square Enix and Disney was, as I mentioned, the basic source for this game. If you’re not familiar with it, this post might not be of much interest to you, but I’ll give you a quick summary of the series anyway. The main characters travel between different worlds (most of which are based on Disney films like Aladdin and The Nightmare Before Christmas), meeting the characters of those worlds, exploring the settings, and battling an invading force of darkness (called the Heartless) while trying to find their friends and solve the mystery of the Heartless. Obviously there’s more to it than that, but that’s the basic premise.
The player characters in this game were meant to be the last survivors of worlds that had already been invaded and destroyed by the Heartless. The players were given the instruction to create an original character from an existing fictional or fictionalized world. I told them to imagine a certain level of power (think more Spider-Man and less Superman), but counted on the game system to keep all the characters balanced regardless of what their supposed power level might be. The game proper was to begin with their first meeting, after the destruction of their home worlds.
(As an aside, a world in this concept is essentially an entire separate universe with its own physics, technology and magic, but it’s really only as expansive as the story that gets told in it. So a world may be as large as a galaxy or as small as a building.)
As you might be able to tell from the setup, I was abandoning some of the central devices used in FATE and creating FATE characters. Since the characters had lost their home worlds and were going to be travelling between worlds, skills like Contacts and Resources didn’t really apply. Likewise, since they were meeting for the first time and all came from separate worlds, using tools like the Phase Trio to come with aspects also felt like a poor fit. So I made some modifications to the base system. These are presented as they actually happened, both ideas that worked out well and the ones that worked out poorly. So take them with a grain of salt.
For the player characters (as well as major helpful NPCs they met along the way), I set aside the usual ways of devising aspects and set the up like this. In addition to the High Concept, one aspect was devoted to the character’s World of Origin. This seemed like a good idea, because it could be invoked or compelled when a character was in or out of their element (so a character from a low fantasy world could invoke it when they were in a low-fantasy world to be familiar with the tropes of that genre, but it could be used against them if they’re in a futuristic space opera surrounded by technology they know nothing about). Instead of a Trouble, each character had a Darkness and a Light. This was a reference to one of the themes of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, the idea that every Heart has both light and darkness, and we are defined by what we choose to follow. In practice, these looked a lot like the World of Darkness’ Virtue and Vice traits: the best and worst aspects of the character’s nature. Because the first four aspects were pretty narrowly defined, the fifth aspect was left open for the player to use as they liked.
For Skills, I dropped Resources and Contacts for the reasons I mentioned above, and made a couple other alterations to suit a game that hops among vastly different universes. I changed Crafts to Tech (a more-or-less purely aesthetic change) and split Lore into Magic and Science. I think I also added Expression, as the skill of creating art. These weren’t really great moves-- Science (as distinct from Tech) and Expression were pretty much wastes of space as no one ever really used them. The Magic skill on its own would allow characters to understand and use magic that they encountered in their travels, and specific effects (i.e., casting spells) required stunts.
I also renamed Fate Points to Heart Points, a purely cosmetic change that brought the game a little closer to its Kingdom Hearts inspiration.
One of the other fundamental premises of FATE was also dropped: player collaboration in the creation of the world. I’m not a monster, and of course when players had suggestions about things they wanted, I would do my best to make them happen, but ultimately I was making all of the decisions about where they were going and what they were doing. Realistically, this was a pretty railroady game, but it was fun so I don’t think the players minded much.
One of the centerpieces of the game was a set of modular equipment that the player characters obtained around the end of the second session: the Keyblade that is emblematic of the Kingdom Hearts series, as well as a Magic Shield and Magic Staff. Each of these granted one stunt and one aspect (for example, the Keyblade could unlock things at the cost of a Heart Point, and had the aspect “A Sword of Terrible Destruction”). In addition, each of these items could be modified by attaching a Keychain, which altered its name and in-game appearance and granted either an additional aspect or (more often) an additional stunt. Each player started with a single Keychain representing their world of origin, and additional keychains were earned as story rewards, a new one each time the players defeated a boss and completed a world. In practice, this was represented by three envelopes with holes cut into them in different places so that different parts of an index card showed through depending on which envelope they went into.
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Basically this.
I definitely made some alterations to the Kingdom Hearts premise as well. The Keyblade wielder was not automatically the central character of the story; all three characters got to share equally in the glory. I dropped Gummi Ship travel and Summoning, and most of the way magic worked. I also expanded the range of world options well beyond Disney films, as you’ll see in the summary. I retained a lot of series’ premises and conceits as well, like meeting an ally and teaming up with a native of each world. Some of the retentions were really poor choices in hindsight (notably, to the irritation of all you true FATE afficionados, I retained the combat focus of the video games, getting the player characters into Win-or-Die combats almost every session) but more on that in the “what I learned” section at the end.
The premise of the game, hopping around among different fictional worlds, allowed me a lot of opportunity to have fun with players. Sometimes they got to explore worlds they were familiar with and sometimes I got to introduce them to a new property they had never encountered before. I got to build in little jokes, in the names of aspects and stunts for NPCs, and use lots of media like music and pictures to set the appropriate tone (at one point, I even got to use a short excerpt of an audiobook). I even got to use my fairly meagre photo-editing skills to create some fun images (usually, transforming familiar villains into Heartless). I’ll include one of the cooler images in the summary below.
Also I got to do impressions. A lot of impressions.
Game Summary
For this summary, I’ll cite the many sources that I drew on in parentheses and italics.
To begin with, the characters that my players came up with were, in no special order:
Meky, an Ork Mekboy from the world The Grim, Dark Future (Warhammer 40,000). Meky’s backstory included that he had been created in an Eldar Lab with some sort of cognitive enhancement, such that he was moderately less of a mindless killing machine than most of his Ork brethren.
Imara, a guardian angel from the world of Innistrad (Magic: The Gathering); and
Rhiannon Blackwell, a young Ravenclaw student witch from the world of Hogwarts (Harry Potter series).
World 0: The Ocean Beyond Space and Time (Marvel’s Exiles comics)
After the destruction of their individual worlds, the characters fell through the space between worlds for an indefinite time, before suddenly appearing over an infinite ocean and landing in a little yellow life raft. After getting their bearings, discovering the mysterious Keychains they are each holding for some reason, and meeting each other, they spot a kitchen floating on surface of the water. Traveling to it, they meet the enigmatic Timebroker who explains that each of their worlds was destroyed when the Heartless consumed its heart, but they were saved from destruction because of their strong hearts, and he brought them to this Ocean outside of time and space to send them on their important mission. Before they can begin, however, they need to retrieve the treasures of this realm from another whose strong heart brought him to the Ocean after his world was destroyed, the pirate king Captain Bloth (The Pirates of Dark Water). He also gives them the Tallus Card, an artifact that will help him to guide their travels.
The PCs infiltrate Bloth’s pirate ship, fight the monstrous Constrictus in the hold, and ultimately kill Bloth and retrieve the treasures: a Key, a Rod and a Disc made of green crystal. By attaching their Keychains, they transform the treasures into the Keyblade (Meky), the Magic Staff (Rhiannon) and the Magic Shield (Imara). Meky also claims the gigantic pirate ship as his own, but he doesn’t have any time to enjoy it because the Timebroker’s magic whisks the group away to their first real world.
World 1: Monstropolis (Monsters Inc.)
The team appears in a bathroom stall. They encounter a furry blue monster, Sully, who is trying to find the creature he accidentally let into his workplace while working late. He is doubly freaked out when he sees Rhiannon, since she’s a child and children are toxic to monsters. After sorting out that mess, they search the building together and find the creature: one of the Heartless! They dispatch it, then retreat to Sully’s apartment to plan. They learn that the monsters of Monsters Inc. use special doors to travel to the human world to harvest the screams of children to power their city. Imara is not at all comfortable with this, but Rhiannon, who is used to magic working in strange and macabre ways, is weirdly OK with it.
Along with Sully’s roommate Mike, they infiltrate Monsters Inc. in disguise to look for a “special door” that will take them to another world. On the “scare floor” they battle a group of the Heartless along with the invisible evil monster Randall Boggs, which causes the rest of the monsters to flee and quarantine the floor. Using the Tallus Card, they make contact with the Timebroker who calls up two doors to other worlds, instructing them to travel to each world, defeat the Heartless there, and use the Keyblade to open the path back to this world. Mike and Sully stand guard as the PCs enter the first door.
World 2: Frank (Osmosis Jones)
The team arrives in what they quickly determine to be a colossal human mouth. They meet Osmosis Jones, a white blood cell charged with serving and protecting the world of Frank. Realizing that the Heartless are probably looking for the heart of Frank, they travel to his actual heart. There, in what is essentially a giant highway interchange, they do encounter the Heartless in the form of three viruses: Fever, Chill and Weird (Dr. Mario). They defeat the Heartless, but in the process do significant damage to the structure, getting all the PCs and Jones in trouble with the Mayor of Frank. They pretty promptly get out of trouble when the Heartless attack City Hall (a clever move by a player invoking one of the game aspects: “The Heartless are invading!”). The PCs finally find the Heartless leader, an original creation of mine called Opprobrius, guarding the world’s exit in the filthiest slum of Frank, the rectum. The combat is appropriately hilarious and gross, but the PCs prevail and destroy Opprobrius, opening the way to leave and try the second door.
World 3: Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, duh.)
They players arrive in a jungle. Searching around they find a triceratops being set upon by tiny Heartless dinosaurs. In the midst of battle, they have a tense encounter with a velociraptor, but ultimately it helps them to defeat the Dark Compsognathi. They carefully befriend the velociraptor, whom Meky names Red Shredda. Along with Red Shredda, they explore the island, avoiding most of the big dinosaurs, and finding the remains of human structures but no evidence of people. They locate food and get the computers and security cameras up and running, and locate where the Heartless are thickest. Meky takes the time to soup up a gas-powered jeep and they charge into battle, Meky at the wheel of his jeep, Rhiannon riding on Red Shredda and Imara flying above. They defeat the leader of the Heartless, another creation of mine called the Idolasaurus Rex, and move on again.
World 3.5: Back to Monstropolis
Back in Monstropolis, they meet Roz, a high-ranking government official. She informs them that the owner of Monsters Inc., Mr. Waternoose, is in league with the Heartless and has barricaded himself in another scare floor. The PCs agree to take out Waternoose in exchange for some supplies and unlimited use of the scare floor. They break into the backup scare floor and encounter Waternoose, empowered by the Heartless and backed by a couple of flying Heartless called Screamers. It’s a tough battle, but they triumph, earning the right to continue using the scare floor as long as they need it. Obligingly, the Timebroker retrieves two more special doors for them to use to access other worlds.
World 4: Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time)
The PCs arrive in a dark, spooky subterranean temple. They work their way through some puzzles, face some monsters, and learn that they are in the Shadow Temple (whatever that is). They encounter Navi, the fairy, who informs them that she was here with her ally Link, the Hero of Time, but that he was snatched up by a powerful Wallmaster (floating grabby hand). As they proceed through the Temple, Rhiannon also gets snatched up by a Wallmaster and finds Link trapped in a hidden chamber. Together they defeat the Wallmaster and work their way back to the others. More puzzles (basically, they just played through the Shadow Temple as in the video game, with a few of the less interesting puzzles removed), and face Bongo Bongo, a malevolent ghost that has been powered up by the Heartless. Defeating him, they unlock the path out. Rhiannon develops a teensy crush on Link, which Imara blows way out of proportion and never lets her forget about.
World 5: Royale-les-Eaux (Casino Royale)
The team comes upon a scene of destruction after a bomb has gone off in a French resort town. They battle the Heartless and rescue one of the bombing’s victims, a suave Englishman who introduces himself as Bond. James Bond. (This included one of my favorite moments in the game, when after the combat James approaches the angel Imara saying “My God, were you hurt? No, I don’t mean in the fight… I mean when you fell from Heaven.”)
I suppose it’s worth mentioning that another convention that I kept from the Kingdom Hearts series is that folks are pretty flexible about the weird strangers showing up in their midst.. Like, in the original games, no one seems particularly distressed by a giant anthropomorphic duck suddenly being a thing in their world. In this world, which is so like our own real world, no one was really troubled by the giant slavering green ork… they just figured he was “probably American.”
Anyway, the PCs team up with James Bond to take down his foe, the evil Le Chiffre. They learn to play baccarat, don appropriate evening wear (Meky modified his tuxedo to shoot a smokescreen when required), and take on Le Chiffre in a game of Chemin de Fer baccarat. They lose badly, partly because none of the players really understand baccarat yet, partly due to bad luck, and partly because Le Chiffre cheated with the help of the Heartless. On the way home from the humiliating defeat, they encounter two more Heartless foes in the form of the White Spy and Black Spy (Spy vs. Spy comics created by Antonio Prohias). They defeat the Heartless (or rather, trick them into defeating each other) and regroup. CIA operative Felix Leiter fronts them the money for another go at Le Chiffre (“It’s the least I could do, for a fellow American.”)
Thanks to some good luck and slightly less cheating on my part, the group manages to bankrupt Le Chiffre. At that point, a blonde woman in a pink dress offers to empower Le Chiffre with the power of the Heartless, and then disappears while Bond and the player characters take on the powered up gambler. They win, unseal the path, etc. etc.
World 7: Red Dwarf (Red Dwarf)
Back in Monstropolis, the Timebroker provides them with only one door and insists they must hurry as he senses the next world is on the brink. Arriving in a spaceship corridor amid an inky black haze, the PCs encounter first an Eldar warrior, then a Planeswalker and finally the great Harry Potter himself. The three inform the team that the Timebroker had made a mistake and they were never supposed to have been sent on this mission. To punctuate the point, they magically steal the characters’ magic weapons and abandon them in this empty world where they will be “safe.” The PCs explore the world, finding that it is a vast, empty spaceship with nothing to do, nothing in the vending machines but sprout soup, sprout salad and sprout surprise, and no company but a senile computer.
Gradually they are able to put together that they are being affected by a hallucinogenic toxin and find a way to counteract it. Together they rouse the other occupants of the ship and lead them into battle against the Heartless Despair Squid in the ship’s water supply. Another victory! Back in Monstropolis, the Timebroker provides them with two more doors, but cautions that in these worlds, the Heartless have been at work for some time and are rather entrenched.
World 8: Etheria (She-Ra, Princess of Power)
(For what it’s worth, this game ran before the She-Ra reboot was even announced. I was drawing inspiration entirely from the classic 80s Filmation series.)
The characters find themselves in a fantasy world that has been occupied by a Heartless army called the Horde. They take on a squad of troopers with the help of a princess called Adora who is a leader of the rebellion against the Horde. Together with Adora and another surprise ally, She-Ra (who is weirdly never seen at the same time as Adora. Weird.) they raid the fortress of the evil witch Shadow Weaver and her Heartless allies to rescue the rest of the rebellion. Then they lead the rebellion in a raid on the Horde’s headquarters in the Fright Zone, and clear another world of the Heartless menace.
(I know it reads fairly quickly, but this world took at least five or six sessions of game time as the players explored, roleplayed interesting encounters, built and repaired equipment and strategized their battle plans.)
World 9: Beach City (Steven Universe)
This time, the PCs arrive in a quiet beach town which is largely abandoned because it’s been under siege by the Heartless for some time. The usual defenders of the town, the alien Crystal Gems, are nowhere to be seen. The team meets young Steven Universe, a ward of the Gems, who explains that the Gems disappeared into their temple weeks ago and have not been seen since. Together, Steven and the PCs navigate the temple and find the Gems generating a shield to protect the heart of the temple (which is also the heart of the world) from Heartless attackers, led by the blonde in pink that they saw in Royale-les-Eaux (who has switched her dress for a bodysuit). The PCs square off two original creations I called Onyx and Obsidian. Just when victory seemed assured, Onyx and Obsidian fused together into Black Diamond, and the fight started over (this was my first use of the multi-stage bad guy trope (THIS ISN’T EVEN MY FINAL FORM)). Anyway, tough as Black Diamond was, the good guys won, although once again the woman in pink slipped away.
Instead of earning a Keychain with this victory, the heart of the world expressed itself in a different way: Each PC was embedded with a gemstone that allowed them to fuse together. This was a combination of the fusion used in the Steven Universe series and the Drive Formes from Kingdom Hearts II. Basically, how it worked was that any two PCs could spend a Heart Point each and combine together into one body. Each new form (every possible pairing of the three characters) had its own character sheet with a description, new aspects and better skills, and all of the two characters’ stunts plus a special superstunt. For example, Meky and Rhiannon combined into the Curiosity Forme, a four-armed giant who can use magic and technology interchangeably thanks to a stunt called “Clarke’s Third Law.” The major drawback is that the players both have control of the combined Forme and need to stay in synch: if they disagree too much, or if one player takes too much control, they automatically break apart. This was a fun mechanic to play with.
World 9.5: Back to Hyrule
Upon returning to Monsters Inc., the PCs learn that their ally Link is about to raid the fortress of the leader of the Heartless in Hyrule: the Great King of Evil, Ganondorf! This one played a little like the Shadow Temple, only the heroes had to navigate six chambers with different kinds of challenges before facing Ganondorf. There were riddles, a platforming challenge (being chased by a wall of fire!), and that sort of thing. They also faced off against not only a Heartless Shadow Link, but Shadow versions of Imara, Rhiannon and Meky as well. As those who have played Ocarina of Time might well imagine, Ganondorf was also a two-stage boss, first facing the Great King of Evil then the Heartless-empowered Ganon. At the end of this fight, having already gained the Keychain of this world the last time they were here, they got a power-up from the Triforce itself, earning the ability to fuse all three together into the completely badass Master Forme.
World 10: Dead Manhattan (Marvel Zombies)
They find themselves in a city that has been torn apart, with apparently no one left alive. The PCs are attacked by cannibalistic zombie versions of Angel and Beast of the X-Men, realizing to their horror that these creatures aren’t being influenced by the Heartless, they’re just the awful inhabitants of this world. They destroy Angel and decapitate Beast, keeping the helpless but still animate head of Hank McCoy as a fun prop for the rest of this world. Proceeding through the city, they meet the Black Panther, protector of a small handful of human survivors hiding out beneath the city (again, for what it’s worth, this campaign was run before the global phenomenon that was the Black Panther movie. I chose the character because he featured in the Marvel Zombies comics, and because he’s the best Marvel hero (Fight Me)). Getting back to the survivors, the PCs meet the mutant Forge, but also realize that they have led Zombie Spider-Man and a gang of Zombie Heartless right to the survivors. There follows a brief and bloody battle, and then the team heads off to raid Avengers Tower.
There, with help from Forge and Black Panther, Meky modifies one of Spider-Man’s tracer beacons to work between worlds. Afterward, on the top floor, they encounter the woman in pink. She’s weirdly calm and gracious as she introduces herself as Dr. Blight (Captain Planet and the Planeteers) and tells them that she has been working as an agent for the Heartless ever since they helped her destroy her own planet. The reason she’s so chill now is that on this world she has created her ultimate weapon, and after it’s gone she’ll just keep moving it from world to world consuming as she goes. She leaves, but not before they plant the interdimensional tracer on her, and not before she sees the arrival of the ultimate consumer of worlds… a Heartless Zombie Galactus.
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Modified from an image I found on google. Unfortunately I can't find an artist to credit. Anyone know who did the original?
The players have to scramble to create some kind of weapon capable of neutralizing Galactus, but after an epic battle with the help of Black Panther and some surprise help from Zombie Hulk, they bring him down. And then they get the heck out of that blighted and terrible world.
Back in Monstropolis, the Timebroker informs them that the tracer has worked and he knows where Dr. Blight is based a world called The Universal Library. Trouble is, like the Ocean Beyond Space and Time, it’s “not a real world,” and they can’t travel to it by means of the doors. They finally come up with a plan so crazy it might work, to travel to a world that is on the brink of destruction, and then let it fall so they can travel to the Library through the space between worlds. The trouble is, they would have no way of getting back to Monstropolis. Hmmm.
World 11: Fantasia (The Neverending Story)
This world is presented as one where the Heartless have already succeeded in consuming its heart, and it exists now only as a few stones spinning through space until they finally disappear. The PCs spot a gleaming white tower and make their way to it, and they meet the last survivor of this world, the Childlike Empress. She explains that she can give them a tiny fragment of the heart of her world, and that it is the seed from which the world can be made again. She extracts a promise that they will find a way to make her world anew, then gives them the seed which transforms into a Keychain. This is, incidentally, a big step toward resolving some of the lingering mysteries of the game-- the Keychains are a piece of the world’s heart, and any piece of the world’s heart can be used to make the world anew. So the characters have been carrying around the means to rebuild their worlds from the very beginning. Pathos!
Then the last of Fantasia disappears and the characters spend a little time floating melancholically in space. Then, Meky’s pirate ship from the beginning of the game sweeps in to conduct them to their final challenge. (Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/uaadF_VSvIE?t=137)
World 12: The Universal Library (original-ish)
So, after breaking through the Heartless defenses around the Universal Library, the characters navigate a maze of bookshelves and have some book-related encounters (Rhiannon finds a copy of the Monster Book of Monsters from her own world, then they fight a Heartless version of the Library Ghost from Ghostbusters). They first take on Dr. Blight and her evil computer M.A.L., then press past her chamber to find the real mastermind behind it all. He introduces himself as Gehn (Myst series) and explains that using his power he created all of the worlds the characters visited by writing them into his special linking books. Determining that he is evil and insane, the team takes on Gehn. To achieve his second stage, Gehn draws on the power of the books he has written and combines himself with bosses that the characters already faced, the Idolasaurus Rex, the Despair Squid and the evil gems Onyx and Obsidian, to become Giga Gehn. He was an impressively powerful baddie, but the PCs pulled out all the stops and combined into Master Forme with carefully selected Keychains on all their weapons, and basically thrashed him easily.
After the defeat of Gehn, the characters encounter the true master of the Universal Library, the old wizard The Pagemaster (The Pagemaster). He explains that the books can be used to travel among worlds as easily as the doors (“For what is a book, besides a doorway to another world?”), and then explains that the process of restoring a world from a Keychain-seed is different for every world. He helps them to restore Fantasia by giving the Childlike Empress a new name (to my eternal shame, I didn’t write down what name the players chose, and I cannot remember it), and helps Rhiannon to restore her own world. He tells her that she can return to her world now and give up the quest, but she decides she can’t go home until she’s helped Meky and Imara restore their worlds as well. Thus endeth the game.
Secret World 13: Who-Ville (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
The Christmas season after the game ended, my players and I got together with our partners for a Christmas party. Had a nice dinner, played some board games. Y’know, the stuff mature adult nerds do. As a special treat for the players, I read out a poem I wrote for them featuring their characters battling the Heartless in the Seussian world of the Grinch. It was mostly for laughs, making good use of the in-jokes we developed over the year, but it deserves a mention here because I declared it canon and gave them a Keychain at the end. Basically, they harass the Grinch and then fight a giant Heartless using the power of Christmas. If you’re curious, I have the whole thing in a google doc.
What I Learned, and Will Hopefully Apply If I Run It Again or Run a Sequel Game
So, yeah, that was the game. The door has been left intentionally open for a sequel, but there are some bugs I need to work out first. The game was tremendously fun, don’t get me wrong, but there were some issues of ill-fit between the system and the way I was trying to use it that became annoyances and I’m hoping to address those before I venture back in.
I don’t mind that I abandoned the collaborative world-building elements that are typical for FATE. Taking charge of what worlds they were entering allowed me to surprise and delight my players and challenge them to think creatively in ways that I think would be more difficult if they had more input into where things were going. Moving forward, I would like things to be a little more open-world(s) where they’re not just following rails through the story, but I’m still putting thought into how to achieve that.
The biggest issue I could perceive in the game was the issue of frequent combat. This is largely my own fault for basing it on a game where combat is the main gameplay element, and in which the collective enemy is explicitly a force bent on the mindless destruction of everything that exists. That made it really hard to escape from Win-or-Die combats occurring at almost much every major plot event. Add to that that the most interesting feature of this game is modular weapons, and deathmatches felt pretty inescapable. Although probably the right answer is modifying the premises of the game and universe such that combat is a less central feature, most of the thinking I’ve been doing around it has been how to keep the combat and fix the other issues.
As far as I have been able to tell, the most fundamental problem with frequent Win-or-Die combat is that it gets boring. Although the way conflicts are run in FATE makes for combats that are narrative and cinematic, tactically there seems to be very little difference from one to the next. I did my best, especially later in the game, to provide settings and bad guys that required the players to think laterally rather than just charge in swinging (several of the later bosses like Ganondorf and Galactus were technically invincible, so the players had to find ways to bend the rules in order to win), but the mechanics of the game are so simple that this is hard to achieve mechanically. I like the idea of incorporating sets of rules for more tactical combat, so I’m interested in suggestions around this. I’m also thinking about ways to engage in conflicts beyond the physical and mental, like having to take someone down in a financial conflict in a world like Royale-les-Eaux, or a music-based world where the enemy is defeated with the Power of Rock.
Relatively early on, we stopped using Boosts in conflicts. I like the idea of them, but when combat takes up a significant percentage of your play time and you have to come up with ideas for a dozen boosts every session, it gets either very repetitive or very frustrating, or both. Instead, I just introduced the idea of Momentum where, if you would gain a boost instead you gained Momentum which gave you +2 on your next roll. You can’t stockpile Momentum, you use it on the next roll whether you need it or not. It’s simple, it’s straightforward, it’s way less creative but quicker and easier.
Another issue that came up from the combination of frequent combat and regular worldhopping is this: the only real consequences that the players had to deal with long-term were the ones that they carried with them. An injury travels from world to world, but if you mess up something in the world, you can just move onto the next and forget about it. As a result, my players hoarded their Heart Points for more or less exclusive use in combat. The best I’ve been able to come up with to address this issue is to have separate pools of points for battle and non-battle purposes, although now that I think of it, it would probably also be a good idea to move away from the trope of hitting each world once. If the characters actually have to revisit worlds they’ve already messed up, they might have more investment in making sure things go smoothly outside of combat too.
I also would probably switch to a model where refresh happens at story points rather than at the start of each session. At least once (maybe more than once?) I can recall the players saying “Let’s stop here for tonight. I want to refresh my Heart Points before the next scene.” And I’d rather avoid that being a thing.
A final issue that I noticed with the frequency of conflicts (and also exacerbated by worldhopping lack of consequences, I guess) is the fact that certain skills wound up being a LOT more useful than others. Meky and Imara had nearly identical skill pyramids by the end of the game, and the only real difference for Rhiannon was emphasizing Magic instead of Fight. If I stick with frequent combat in future iterations of this idea, I’ll probably want to subdivide some of the more combat-relevant skills so that at least each one is less obviously more important than the non-combat skills. Coming up with combat uses for non-combat skills is also on my drawing board, probably as one piece of introducing more tactical rules.
Another thing that I noticed in running this game was that aspects weren’t working quite the way I expect them to. There was very little compelling of aspects-- it came up maybe ten times over the span of the whole campaign. I think partly this was the lack of investment in any given world, but also I probably wasn’t encouraging the players to generate aspects that were sufficiently double-edged. I certainly wasn’t giving the NPC’s interesting enough aspects… to be honest, I mostly used their aspects as a chance for wordplay and referential jokes. The players didn’t really invoke aspects outside of combat either (see above re: hoarding points), which led them to go for mostly combat-relevant aspects. I suppose using separate pools would be one solution to this, but I’m open to ideas for others.
So, that’s the story. If you actually read the whole thing, I am both grateful and impressed. I warmly welcome any questions and constructive comments. Destructive comments I will welcome less warmly, but I’m pretty easy-going so feel free to rip me a new one if that would bring you joy.
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The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana - YouTube

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