[BadgerBuddies]

The sounds of 8-bit ringing and bright, flashing lights draws your Buttermilk to the retro game section of the arcade. Tending to these older machines is an eccentric and odd Buttermilk named Gibby. They don’t say anything to your Buttermilk, but they just wandering from machine to machine talking to themselves. Your Buttermilk feels its best to avoid them and go straight to one of the machines and dive right in to one of the games. Their tokens plunk into the belly of the machine, one hoof gripping the joystick, the other hovering over some buttons.

Except, the game isn’t starting….. everything is starting to get smaller and smaller. Everything feels…. Weird. As things start getting smaller, the attendee Gibby starts shouting in concern, now suddenly aware that someone else was in this space. Just as Gibby reaches out to grab your Buttermilk, POOF. There’s a bright flash and suddenly, Gibby is alone again. Your Buttermilk finds themself small and pixelated; they’re somehow inside of the arcade machine! Gibby, falling down in his clumsiness, lifts himself off the purple retro patterned carpet, slowly peering into the machine. As he locks eyes with your Buttermilk through the screen, a look of shock and worry rolls over his face. He starts to frantically shout that he will help you get out of here!

Your Buttermilk can travel between each of the machines in the arcade, but at least for now, they can’t exit the game. That means the Buttermilk you choose to write about or draw must remain consistent. Gibby will be playing the games alongside of them, trying to help them get out should they need assistance. If you don’t have a Buttermilk of your own, feel free to use Bluebell or Buttercup, the species mascots.

The booth will roll over every other day at CS rollover. The next prompt will posted on August 4th. Prompts can be answered either with writing or art - users can choose. 150 word minimum or clean sketch minimum, however extra effort yields more tickets!

Fifth prompt - Tetris:
Does your Buttermilk prefer puzzles, or more action packed games when they are not trapped in a video game? What is their strategy to escape from the Tetris game?

Code: Select all

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Buttermilk:[/b] (link to your chosen Buttermilk)
[b]Prompt: (150 word minimum/clean sketch minimum, no maximum)[/b]

[SkyWishes21]

Username: SkyWishes21
Buttermilk: Marielle
Prompt: Marielle is bold and quick, making turns split seconds before the ghosts get her! Well, most of the time. Look, this retro arcade is fun, but you have to admit that the technology is janky (and she's totally not covering up for her middling talents, nope).

She's going to go for fruits as fast as she can because the game is way easier if the ghosts simply aren't there to chase her. This works most of the time so long as she's quick about it - and she is, don't get her wrong - but sometimes this comes to bite her in the butt. Sometimes the ghosts gang up to get revenge and if she'd only had that dang fruit...

It will take her some tries to clear it. She might be on the good side of mid, but she's struggling a bit. It's just the first level! If she were controlling the video game it'd be way easier! She'll be fine... most likely. (162 words<3)

[Andromeda]

Username: Andromeda
Buttermilk: Pluto
Prompt:
Pluto's strategy is a panicked combination of chasing fruits, hard focusing a single ghost, then freaking out and bouncing between the edges of the game screen, teleporting from one side to the other. She struggles to maintain awareness on the locations of most of the ghosts, speeding around to get fruit and then squeaking in alarm when the pink ghost suddenly appears around the corner and she's forced to backtrack. Her pixelated hooves clop loudly against the black backdrop as she scrambles to make it to the shining cherries just ahead. Was that the cyan ghost down a corridor to the right?? She runs faster, the cherries glowing bright red, and barrels into them with a loud *CHOMP*. The cyan ghost is suddenly blipping nervously behind her! She turns around and speeds after him, quick as a charging bull. She manages to grab the edge of his blue pixel outline and sucks him up like a spaghetti noodle! A few seconds later, the orange ghost pops around the corner looking angry as ever... the cherries have worn off...

Pluto turns tail and breaks for the strawberry she though she saw awhile back! (192)

[literal.swag.]

Username: literal.swag.
Buttermilk: mesa
Prompt: [ 181 words ]
mesa’s game style and strategy to defeat the menacing ghosts is rather…erratic. there seems to be no obvious thoughts or intentions behind each jerk of the joystick. sometimes, mesa can be seen b-lining for the goodies, devouring the fruits in rapid succession, shadowing behind the specters with big chomping jaws. other times she can be found sprinting away from the ghosts, the objective of eating the fruit completely forgotten, sweat beading on her brow, eyes wide and frantic. on the rare occasions, when mesa’s feeling extra…feral? that may be the right word? her strategy is more questionable – chasing the ghouls without the aid of the fruit, almost trying to gaslight the game into thinking it has changed and that running at the ghosts would magically make them edible or turn and tuck tail and run. every time, though, mesa mutters beneath her breath, talking to herself. the words can range from words of encouragement to herself to insulting the ghosts to talking strategy. you just never know what you’re going to get when mesa rolls up to the pac-man arcade kiosk.

[DarkestWerewolf]

Username: DarkestWerewolf
Buttermilk: Rose
Prompt: (150 word minimum/clean sketch minimum, no maximum)

Rose was never good at gaming, unfortunately. Her strategy is doing her best to avoid the ghosts at all cost. If she happens to chance upon a fruit and a ghost is nearby, she’ll go for the attack but immediately flee towards a far corner. When Rose games, you’ll hear her before you see her. She really tries her best but being outnumbered in the first place isn’t ideal and their erratic and random movements only make her panic more. She can clear a few levels, sure but after a certain point, she gets stuck and eventually give up.
Rose is the definition of confused but has the spirit. She will start to mumble to herself when she games.
“…oh no the red one is nearby…”
“If I’m quick enough, I think I can get there…”
“THERES A PEACH”
“…I’ve been stuck on this level for so long.”

And when the ghosts starts going after her, it’s a lot of panicked button mashing and joystick movements.
“..no…NOOOOOOOOOOO”

Needless to say, when she games, it does tend to draw a crowd. (180)

[paopu]

Username: paopu
Buttermilk: Israfil
Prompt:
When Isra games there is one rule and one rule only: go with your heart. If they don't got nothing, Israfil has the Vibes. Strategy is all fine and dandy but, frankly, Isra isn't even always playing to win. Sometimes she plays to collect the fruit (usually when she's hungry). Sometimes he likes sitting in one spot and letting the ghosts race toward him, trying to see who wins. Other times, when they're feeling particularly aggressive, they pick a ghost to bully, starting a duel with a battle cry at a poor ghost, regardless or not they have any hope of winning it. This tends to happen most often with Clyde. She doesn't know why. Maybe he looked at her funny once as a child? Or maybe the way his name doesn't follow the scheme of the others that drives them up a wall? Isra doesn't know. Or particularly care either. He knows what he did, even if she doesn't.
(160 words)

[Elliad.]

Username: Elliad
Buttermilk: Hibiscus
Prompt:

One second, the neon lights of the arcade are giving Hibiscus a headache as he tries to focus on the game at hand. The noise of the arcade machines beeping away and the excited chatter of the other cows drowned out in his focus. Then, the next moment, there is only silence. Hibiscus stumbled forward, the machine he had been leaning on gone.

The carpet under his hooves replaced by a dark void. He should be falling through it, why was he not falling through it. Hibiscus looks down. There is nothing there, and yet, his hooves collide with it. He is not quite hovering but he is not sure what he is doing instead.

A beeping radiates across the room as Hibiscus' head swivelled round, ears pressed to side of his head. There was much more quiet, and yet every noise was ten times louder than out in the arcade.

Hibiscus stepped forward, investigating the surroundings, stepping forward to peak around the corner. Before he could take any step further, he darted back, inches away from getting bitten by something. Hibiscus turned down the next corner, his hooves running faster than ever in his life.

Behind him, a ghost was hot on his heels*, nipping away at his switch as he swished it from side to side, desperate to knock the ghost off balance. It was to no avail as the ghost continued down his path. The longer he ran, Hibiscus began to realise where he was. He would recognise Pacman anywhere. 'It was a game,' he'd thought to himself, 'just a game.'

Now that he knew where he was, Hibiscus knew what he had to do. Hibiscus had to win the game. He picked the fruit up on his path, taking a chomp at them along the way. Hibiscus cannot let himself be caught by the ghosts, he will run if he sees them. It is what he must do. He will let himself be chased, that'll keep them occupied. If they are focused on him, they won't notice Hibiscus' point total slowly rising, fruits stuffed within his mouth.

With a plan in mind, Hibiscus takes a sharp turn, hoping to catch the attention of a couple more ghosts. He knew, once they were all focused on him, he could beat this level with his eyes closed.

[389 Words]

[case]

Username: case
Buttermilk: binx
Prompt: Binx always walks up to the arcade machine with the best of intentions. I will be the one to beat the high score today. However, the end result never matched her intentions due to her own compassion and sympathy. As soon as the game starts, Binx affectionally coos. “Awww… poor Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde.” She turns to anyone in her earshot. “Do you know they all have different personalities? They have different strategies when it comes to attacking Pac-Man.” After a few seconds of playing, Binx inevitably ends up feeding her character to one of the ghosts. “I just feel like they are so misunderstood. They are just little cute guys!” Binx stared at the screen, stroking her finger against the machine where one of the ghosts floated. “The ghosts are just doing their jobs, y’know? What makes Pac-Man the good guy and the ghosts the villains? Maybe Pac-Man is a criminal or something…” Binx shakes her head as she continues to feed her character to the ghosts. Today will not be the day that Binx beats the high score. Not even close.
(186 words)

[VenomousParadise]

Username: VenomousParadise
Buttermilk: Divna
Prompt:
Divna doesn’t really like pac-man. Not because she finds it bad per say, but because it always just winds up so stressful for her. The ghosts and their innate and irregular programing just freak her out. Especially the red one... Not for any particular reason. So whenever she does play, usually only if all the other machines are taken up, she'll mournfully drop her tokens in and prepare herself. More often than not, she'll end up humming self soothingly while playing. Not loudly, for fear of bothering any others around her, but just enough that it keeps her focused. Usually the same little pattern, over and over, that she'll time with her turns. She always starts by going for the pellets in the corners. Those are kind of the safe zones, since its easier to avoid or out maneuver the ghosts there. And then, well, the fruit? She just about forgets it half the time, and when she does remember, she’ll hesitate just a little too long before going for it and loose her opening. Sometimes she does try to grab power pellets though, but it’s not to chase the ghosts, rather, it’s to get them off her back for a moment so she can catch and reorient herself. Plus, she only goes for one if it is really close. As long as she does her best and doesn't immediately die right off the bat, then it feels like she did okay, regardless of her score or leaderboard position. (249)

[BiscuitTheDog]

Username: BiscuitTheDog
Buttermilk: bullseye
Prompt: (821 words)

while pac-man is not the first game bullseye would head to in an arcade, it's the one she finds herself trapped in now, so she might as well brush off those old skills. they rise up onto their feet and look both ways down the hallway they've landed in. the floating dots spilling out before her should lead them around the maze to useful power pellets, (hopefully) delicious fruits, and certainly the lurking quartet of ghosts. as bullseye starts to jog down the dark, softly glowing hallway, they find themself kicking up a thick layer of dust that seems to have built up on the floor over the decades. bullseye blinks her irritated eyes and steadies herself with a hand on one of the grimy, dark blue walls. her ears tilt as she tries to figure out if her assailants are zeroing in on her, what with her wildly echoing hoofsteps, but their wailing sirens bounce off the walls far in the distance. do the ghosts even know she's here? as she clears out these dots, they'll be sure to figure her out.

so, bullseye walks around like she owns the place, whistling a tune from the real world as she saunters down halls and around corners. she supposes she'll give these colorful ghouls something to talk about for once. do they talk to each other? can they communicate? do they even like each other, or have they made peace with their digital destiny? more and more questions ring around her head until she's practically zoning out. are they the first cow this has happened to? how does this even work? if she broke down one of these walls, would it be lines of code holding it together? they've got to be breaking some law of physics right now, right? what if the machine breaks down with her inside? if they die here, do they die in real life?

all of a sudden, the ghosts' siren sounds more like a shriek with how loud it's gotten, and she whips around to meet the huge, ogling eyes of the red ghost, blinky. despite its eerie visage, a smile slowly spreads across bullseye's face. she ain't afraid of no ghost! she turns and careens down the corridor to the only part of this section she hasn't gotten to, and the part that must hold one of the power pellets she needs. lo and behold, as they round the corner, there it is—a beach ball in size and shining like a newly changed lightbulb. bullseye dives for it.

energy bursts through their body, and while she doesn't have a spare moment to look at herself, she could swear she's grown bigger. they turn around to look the now-petrified ghost in its uneasy face.

this is easily her favorite part of pac-man.

blinky is down with a roundhouse kick before it can even move an inch away from her, the dejected eyes making their lone trip back to the center of the map. bullseye plays exactly like she does in life, hunting down every ghost with stringent focus. she makes her way around, guzzling more dots and sneaking up on another unsuspecting victim, this time wrapping her arms around it and squeezing until it vanishes. out of the corner of her eye, she spots the tunnel that should warp her to the other side of the maze, and she makes a hasty run for it. upon stumbling out of the opposing tunnel, she meets one more friend, who she squarely punches before the effect of the power pellet can wear off.

bullseye takes a moment, holding their knees and sucking in the stuffy air of the place. she knows she's cleared... a lot of dots by now. there must be fruit waiting for them near the center, where they haven't yet traversed, but with the ghosts moving in once again, they know they have no time to waste. they pick up another power pellet and are right back in the action, kicking and punching and even biting the ghosts (yuck!), feeling her score increase with every passing second. she zigs and zags, bopping this way and that, having quite the jolly time despite her situation. after sopping up the final power pellet and devouring a ghost, maybe clyde, in its villainous path, she dashes frantically to the middle of the map. she's got three regenerated sprites hot on her trail while she circles the ghost box, but she knows she's got them beat. she snatches the fruit, a glistening, pixelated cherry, and darts into the final string of dots.

the whole place freezes. bullseye realizes they can still move, though, so she bites into the cherry. it's... alright. what's better is the triumphant feeling that settles into her. she won, if with a few more bruises than necessary.

blinking back into place, the dots—wait!!!—around her—what?!—regenerate. huh?? hold on, does she have to play every level???