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A few things!

First: Sandy and Nikki got the D&D treatment! Since Mira at Club Rush introduced our girls to tabletop, I thought it'd be fun to roll them up proper character sheets. I had lots of fun deciding their class and stats. Think I got them right?

Second: Quick update on Liberation, my collab with the incredible Zoe Storm. Chapter 9 was scheduled to go up tomorrow, but Zoe's had some life stuff come up, so we're pushing it to next month. Hans' story - or is it Florence's now? - is worth the wait!

But! I do have the start of a fun little something that should hopefully be out tomorrow instead - and yes, it is D&D-inspired.

Thank you so much for your support, as always! 💕

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Comments

Ellen Mellor

Perfect. I love Nikki's mystical shards of a pink chastity cage. That must have some powerful magic!

Kris Greg

I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! You need to trick Nikki into falling in love with D&D. I think that she would enjoy the game.

Thomas Tolliver

I dunno, Sandy used to be a rogue for sure. I like the Arcane Trickster angle, but I think I've been picturing Glamo(u)r Bard 😉

Emory Ahlberg

🤣 Good point, Thomas! She'll need to multiclass.

Jenny S

Oh, this is fun, and totally nails their characters. Now I'm thinking what classes the rest of the Xuniverse would be. Jill's totally a cleric, going around healing everyone around her. Josie's probably a paladin, a steadfast warrior bound to the cause of defeating Xu. Holly's probably a bard, able to sweet talk her way through situations. And Kris I could see as a warlock, dark and complicated and bound to her patron. Uh oh, I'm nerding out :P

Kris Greg

Nikki's Intelligence is more like a 12, but her 8 Wisdom keeps her making mistakes. As she heals emotionally, I can see her multi-classing to a Paladin who protects others.

Emory Ahlberg

LOL - No doubt they are part of her personal quest line, and she must bring them to the Temple of Lost Masculinity!

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Kris! And I like that angle very much. 💕 She certainly used to have more of that Paladin vibe, and it's slowly coming back...

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Jenny! Please, nerd away! And Iove your character class choices for the other characters. I think they're dead on. Brooke is a (tech) wizard!

Ellen Mellor

I think this calls for a special Emory's Patreon D&D session. (With Emory dming obviously...)

Emory Ahlberg

Maybe one day, I should make Nikki and Sandy do a D&D campaign with Mira as the DM - and the episodes are their characters' adventure (with Nikki and Sandy commentary while in-game). 🤭

Pet Jeffery

I used to write for the Call of Cthulhu game so perhaps I would say this, but I think that CofC is much better adapted to playing Emory Ahlberg characters than is D&D. A highly relevant statistic that appears on a CofC character sheet (but not on a D&D one) is SAN (sanity). Time on the island would definitely lower SAN, and that applies as much to Davies as to Nikki (and to the billionaires; in any case, I don't think that it's possible to be enormously wealthy and properly sane).

Tim

As a totally clueless layperson when it comes to D&D, I had to turn to Google to fully appreciate this post. Not surprisingly, Google AI told me that Sandy and Nikki make an exceptional team. But one thing I didn't have to ask Google about—this post is beautiful! The overall layout is just masterful, and the portraits of Sandy and Nikki are gorgeous. I fell in love with this style when I first saw you use it in "The Catch" and I love it even more with these images, especially Sandy's. Maybe D&D should have a Beauty Ability Score as well with a "20" score for each girl.

Jenny S

Well now you've got me thinking of a Xuniverse TTRPG where events effect your masculinity and femininity stats. "Your handler paints your nails. You've never had your nails painted before. Roll resistance... A three? You'd dare not admit it, but you kind of like the way your nails look. Gain one point of Fem."

Alex Cioranic-Alex From the Tri-Cities

Wow, my dearest muse Emory. I'm speechless. I don't mind Nikki being a little broken, although I feel so sorry for her. It's almost as if Davis is a sadistic beast in human skin who can only inflict permanent misery and pain.

Pet Jeffery

Yes, it could work. Best, though, to make it a variant of an existing game, so you don't have the hard work of inventing from scratch. I once devised a game called B Movie Girl in which the players assumed to roles of girls in SF/horror B Movies, and I did make that mistake. Of the classes of character, only GIRL wasn't an NPC class. Each class had a four letter name, the first two letters indicating their role in the game (VIllain, BEast, MInion, etc.) the second two letters indicating how vulnerable they were (IMmortal was the toughest). GIRL was said to be GIbberers and screamers plus R'Lyeh-like non-euclidian rules apply.

Crewchick

Wow, I feel like you are speaking Middle Earth Westron or Elvish or something. Words are before my eyes but I have no idea what they mean. 😂

Crewchick

That line of story within a story could be interesting.

Crewchick

But what does Nikki get in retun for delivering the pink shards to the Temple of Lost Masculinity???

Crewchick

I am afraid I am in the same boat with Tim, and feel a little like Pet when there is a lot of football or Texas talk in an episode. I know stuff is being said but I don't have a clue what exactly most of it means. I remember D&D as a highly popular role playing game in the 1990's, but never actually played it. I was more involved with my academics, sports (you know which one, don't make me say it - 😉 😂) and seeking out my own real life quests, crusades and adventures. But I am like that with sports too. I would much rather play a sport myself than sit inside and watch it on TV. Even if the people on TV are far better than I am. But the cards look impressive and have a very esthetic layout. The pictures of both gilrs in those leather outfits are amazing! Those images alone could be their own fantasy pin-up sseries. Cards for all your leading characters coudl be amazing.

M Fielding

Had the giggles reading those. Thank you, Emory.

Gemma

Very ingenious and a very creative, clever and comprehensive way to capture different aspects of the Sandy and Nikki. I have been playing BG3 on and off recently and can identify with this novel way, through profiles character sheet descriptions to describe Sandy’s and Nikki’s various traits, strengths and vulnerabilities.

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Tim! 💕I agree, they make a great team... and they're going to need it with the challenges ahead. College can be a stressful time for anybody, let alone two people in their unique circumstances!

Nicegent42

Nikki the flawed barb, I LOVE it

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, M! I had the giggles writing them. 🤭

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you, Diana! I've been playing for, oh, about 30 years now (yikes), and it's really fun. I've been toying with a "D&D episode" for the girls, so maybe I'll be able to teach you some of the rules by proxy 😊.

Pet Jeffery

My apologies, Crewchick. I will restrain myself on the subject in future, but, years ago, I was heavily involved with pencil, paper, and dice role playing games. I was even paid for my contributions. That wasn't give up my day job money, you must understand, but useful occasional payments. I think that those games are now called table top role playing games although, in my experience, they seldom involved a table. Anyway, when the subject came up, I was maybe a little carried away. I hope that this comment is entirely comprehensible.

Pet Jeffery

I just did a little mental arithmetic and realise that I first played D&D 50 years ago. That calls for a stronger word than 'yikes', 'crikey', perhaps. On a minor quibble, 'cards' isn't the right word, Crewchick, the character sheets would be paper, rather than card. For what it's worth, I can see why people want to play sports. The thing that has always baffled me is why people want to watch them, when they don't play and no family or friends are playing.

Pet Jeffery

I'm certainly at least a little broken, but not as badly broken as I was sixty years ago. Things can get better.

Crewchick

Pet, on your second comment about sports we agree. Far better to be playing. I do enjoy watching some sports. 19th Century British journalist Pierce Egan dubbed boxing "the sweet science (of bruising)" in 1813. But "sweet science" stuck. And there is something to watching a person or persons master certain abilities. Whether it is boxing, tennis, football (American or European), basketball, baseball (or cricket), or any number of sports, there are manners of play that can be filled with finesse, style and grace, or with raw and brutal overwhelming power. All with their own merrits and reason for admiration. As an athlete, to watch these professionals, there is a "hats off" feeling in watching a master at work doing something in a way you likely never will be anything more than a jouneyman. There is also the "hope springs eternal" inspiration it can give to keep trying. Then there is the "experience" of attending a sporting event in person. The fans, the excitement, the way a person can get carried away in the group emotions rooting for a team with others. There is often brief interludes of music (marching bands or such) concessions, food, drinks, sometimes alchohol, and "merch", oh so much "merch"! It is hard to leave the stadium not wearing a hat, t-hirt or jersey you did not arive in. The down side to this is that attending professional and even some college games has gotten way too expensive. Tickerts can be hundreds of dollars, concession prices exorbitant ($15 or $20 for a beer, $10 for a hot dog, $35 for a t-shirt). Ordinary families just can't afford to drop over $1,000 for two adults and two children to attend a football game, by the time you buy the ticket, pay for parking, buy some food, get the kids a souvenir, etc... Or at least can't afford to do it more than once a year. Then there is also the fact with pro sports that it is first and formost a business. When a lot of these clubs started over 100 or 150 years ago, they were just that, amature or semi-pro clubs of local men, with jobs, families, and lives, who got together on the weekends to play a sport they loved and maybe show off a bit infront of friends and neighbors. Today, players are traded like expensive horses, seldom with any ties to the city they are playing in. It is just hard for someone like me to identify with a player who, while good, is basically a sports mercinary eager to play for the higest bidder. For some it is hard to cheer the player today that you were booing yesterday. In my home town of Philadelphia, it will be intersting to see how quickly the fans and city take to LeBron James leaving the LA Lakers for the Philadelphia 76ers in what will likely be his last few years of professional baksetball as a player. So it is not that I don't like watching sports, but it is not the type of thing I can fill an entire day with on a Saturday and Sunday. Nor can I afford season tickets for any pro sports teams. I like to go on occasion, I don't mind watching on TV a really good game between two athletes or teams that are true masters of their sport. But then I am good and ready to hit the field, court, links or trails myself, hopefully inspired by what I have seen.

Crewchick

And since you got me talking about sports, how can I not pitch my own sport of great passion, rowing. 🚣 😉 A lot of people think watching rowing is even less enjoyable than watching golf, or possibly paint dry. And I get it. The course is 2000 meters long, most fans are watching from a fixed point along the banks. You get maybe 30 seconds of the boats in your direct view. In a race that takes, at most, a little over 7 minutes. That is why the tents and enclosures at rowing regattas are often seen as parties simply using rowing as an excuse for day drinking. Rowing fans perfected "tailgating" long before "tailgating" was even a thing at modern day (American) football games and other sporting events. New England Patriots fans may be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, and drinking beer in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, before the game. But along Boston's Charles river or the enclosure at Henley in England, you will find tents with wooden folding chairs, linen table cloths, silver serving sets, gourmet catered food, and top shelf alcohol, wine and champagne in crystal glasses. They make the time around those 30 seconds an event in and of itself. But for me, when you are close enough to see top ranked crews mastering the sport, those 30 seconds are a time stopped eternity you don't want to see end. The balance of the raw power with the precision technique and style is a poetry and science unto itself. If Egan had not already dubbed boxing the "sweet science" that is exactly the name I would have given rowing. It is zen with splashing water all around it. The only thing better is to be actually in a boat with a perfect set and swing, in the absolute center of that experiece, the eye of the hurricane, as it is happening.

Crewchick

Just saying... I could see Mrs. Ferris quite comfortable and at ease in a St. Christopher Alumni tent or finish line enclosure with the gourmet catering. Mary Palmer along and glowing as her guest. And Sandy in a tasteful and beautiful linen dress, on the arm of Josh is a navy blazer with white piping and white cotton duck trousers. All four holding up crystal champaign glasses, cheering on the St. Chris Women's Eight with Nikki in stroke seat. Wearing her spandex team uni suit in St. Chris colors, muslces flexed in mid stroke, intense expression on her face, as it passes the enclosure. Or maybe it is a four! With Max, Jess and Lauren in the other three seats and Ivy as coxin! OMG! That is it!!! Could they even be in Boston for the Head of the Charles? I know, I know, white pants and linen after Labor Day is a major fashion faux pas, especially in late October in New England. But give me a little creative license. I am just spitballing and shooting from the hip here on a whim and a sudden thought as it jumped into my little one track brain. 🧠 🤣 MAO! Snapshop or Pin-up material??? 🤔 One track brain like a puppy! Gotta love me! 🚣 🥂 😉 😂 🤣🤣🤣😎

Nicegent42

Nikki getting mote and more frustrated as they used to be stronger but it feeding into their rage.

Pet Jeffery

Some of this has, as far as I'm concerned, become incomprehensible. Duck trousers? I've seen many ducks, but none of them (thank goodness) have worn trousers. Labor Day? An American festival, I assume, And so on...

Crewchick

😂 Ahhh, “two peoples divided by a common language”! Cotton duck fabric is a heavy, plain-woven 100% cotton material known for its exceptional strength, durability, and tightly woven basket-like structure. Probably, should have put him in linen trousers but did not know if that would be going a little too posh too fast for Josh. Plus on the river bank maybe He and Sandy wanted to lay out a blanket and picnic? You don’t want to be getting grass stains on linen trousers. “No white after Labor Day”: Yes very American. You might call Labor Day the last Bank Holiday in Summer. It is kind of a fashion rule like “no brown in town” in Upped Crust English Society. Browns and olive greens are seen as “country clothing” . Showing up at the Savoy in brown shoes, or heaven forbid a brown suit, to meet someone for lunch was considered a major fashion faux pas or sign of someone recently transplanted from the English Countryside. English summer fashions that tend to be a bit lighter and colorful are tied to regular seasonal events like the Royal Ascot, Royal Henley Regatta, and the Glyndebourne festival, that are replaced by heavier green and brown tweeds and such for the hunting and riding seasons in the English Countryside and Scotland in autom. White is reserved for foreign holidays in warmer climate like the Mediterranean, or the hottest of brief English heat waves. Which may explain why a white cotton tennis or cricket sweater seems a lot more reasonable and practical in England than in most of the U.S. at the hight of summer. Because much of the U.S. especially the Northeast and New England region, has four distinct seasons and fewer people hunt and ride, the fashion is tied to the calendar seasons. Of course even these don’t make sense if you are in South Texas or Arizona. But generally in the U.S. in the 20th Century, White was worn exclusively in the summer months identified as the months starting in May with “Memorial Day” the first summer bank holiday, and ending in early September on “Labor Day”, the last summer bank holiday. While there was no shooting or riding season to switch one’s wardrobe over to in the U.S. it is most associated with the return of students to school and the start of a new school year after almost three months of summer holiday. Which this was tied in early America to the time of year when children were needed to work in the fields of their family’s farm. So in America Labor Day is celebrated, children return to school, summer clothing is put away as the transition to fall progresses, leaves change colors, temperatures get cooler and people wear hardier clothing associated with fall and winter. I guess it would not be a society if there were not someone making up ridiculous rules for others to follow or fail to follow and suffer the consequences. I suspect all the Zeta Reds have all the fashion rules memorized and committed to heart.

Crewchick

OMG, I just took a full screen look at Nikki's player profile sheet! Does she have fangs??? Her K-9's are looking a little longer. Would totally suit the role for her on the player profile sheet.

Crystal Peaches

This is brilliant, and you've completely got them as D & D characters!!

Gemma

Whilst it was great to see in this capturing of Sandy and Nikki’s different proficiencies, I still believe/ wish Nikki’s strength analysis now was less than the 18 to 12 drop. and now was moreover about 9 (roughly deemed the strength differences between the average man and woman). This more expansive strength drop would more fully connect Nikki with her new loved reality around now being more aligned with that of average girls.

Sarah Wolf

These are incredible Emory. I finally go home from my trip and could look at them on my computer...love it

Emory Ahlberg

Thank you so much, Sarah! 💕 I really enjoy graphic design, so this was a great challenge!