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writer-panda · 4 years ago

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The Hit on the Groom and What Became of It - Chapter 4/I’ll never let you down (in an open casket)

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The Hit on the Groom and What Became of It - Chapter 4/I’ll never let you down (in an open casket)

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As she hanged up, Marinette rushed to the doors and let her mother in. The previous night she spent mostly on working with Kwamis to prepare. Most were in agreement that she needed to act and not leave her kitty’s fate to chance. Tikki protested for a bit, but in the end, she saw that there was no changing Marinette’s mind and joined in on scheming. Except she had no way of tracking Adrien. Not… until she received the call!

Except now her mother entered. Sabine greeted her daughter by giving her a bone-crushing hug.

“I was so worried! When the police called I couldn’t just sit there and wait!”

“Maman. It’s alright. I’m okay. See?” The girl did break away from the hug and smiled.

“I know. But I couldn’t help but worry.”

“Maman… Adrien’s been kidnapped.”

“I know.” Her mother’s expression didn’t reveal any emotions now.

“I… he’s been miserable ever since that wedding mess, and now this.”

“I know.” Again, nothing.

“He’s my friend.”

“Not the love of your life?” Sabine questioned with a bit of amusement in her voice.

“No. He doesn’t need another fangirl. He needs a friend. Someone who can support him. I… I wasn’t a good friend before this…” She didn’t reveal that she wasn’t a great partner either. Chat hid things well, but from time to time his shell cracked. She should’ve seen the signs. She could’ve done something. Or at least do something with Lila. She had connections and Lila deserved a lawsuit or five.

“Oh, sweety. You were a great friend. You are a great friend. I’m happy to see you’re not about to chase after some misguided love, but after friendship.”

“I know I’m only… wait, what?” Marinette.exe stopped working. If the problem keeps repeating itself, please contact customer service or the nearest Kwami.

“When I was fifteen, I dropped out of… school to explore the world on my own. It wasn’t until a few years later that I met your father.” Sabine said in a bit dreamy voice like she was reminiscing. “We had several adventures across Europe before finally settling down in Paris.”

“But… Papa’s a baker.” Marinette protested. “I thought he was always a baker, like his father.”

In response, her mother chuckled. “No. Your father had much more in common with your Nona than with his father. I met him when he was fighting in an underground cage-fighting club.”

“Whoa…” Marinette’s eyes widened. That was a story she never heard before. “So how did you two got together?”

“I will tell you some other time. The point is, I know that even if I took you to Paris with me, you would’ve run away to look for your friend.”

“Maman!” For a moment, the girl wanted to protest. But then she decided that there was no point. “Yes… you’re right. But I can’t just let it happen! If the police find him, he will end up back with his father!”

“I know. And what’ll you do about it?” Her mother had this mysterious smirk on her face.

“I guess… I need to be the one to find him. I will get him situated somewhere safe. Maybe stay with him for a bit. He’s smart. And a quick learner.” He mastered being a superhero faster than I did.

“Good. Then you have my blessing.”

“I can’t just abandon-” Marinette.exe stopped working again. Contacting the customer service might be in order. Technically, Sabine kept hinting about it. Practically, Marinette would miss a clue even if she was holding a gun to its head. “I have your what now?”

“You can go. Save him. Find yourself. And maybe kick some asses while you’re at it.”

“Most parents would be worried sick about their not-yet-adult children running off to an adventure.”

“You wanted to know how I met your father. The answer is I was the first to beat him in that cage.” Sabine’s smirk was replaced with a serious expression. “Of course I will worry, sweety. I’m your mother. But holding you back now will not help you. You’re a strong young woman and to be fair, I’m not sure how we could hold you down. You have steady access to the rooftop and two years of parkour training.”

“What now?”

“Did you honestly think we wouldn’t notice you sneaking off through the balcony?”

“And you didn’t even tell me?”

“It would be hypocritical of us.” Sabine defended. “And if the worse came to happen, I had several… souvenirs from our travel around the world.”

“Thank you, Maman. I promise I will come back; And call you often. Well, maybe not too often.” Marinette already dashed to start packing.

“Of course you will. And don’t get into too much trouble. I would hate to have to go and find you.” Sabine threatened with a bright smile on her face.

“I’ll try, Maman.” The girl was only half-listening now. She couldn’t waste any more time. She learned how to trace the call about one-and-a-half years ago when she was still a bit ‘stalker-ish’.

Sabine watched her daughter with amusement. So many memories returned to her now. Youth mostly well-spent if someone asked her. The ‘mostly’ part came to bite her just that moment as her phone pinged. She quickly checked the message and frowned.

“I’m sorry, my little cupcake, but I need to go check it. An old friend turns out to be in town.”

“I’ll call you later!” Marinette called from where she was furiously working on her laptop.

When Sabine left, the kwamis swarmed her immediately.

“Your mom is so cool!” one of them cooed.

“And she’s one bad-”

“Roaar!” Tikki scolded the tiger kwami.

“What’s the plan, pigtails?”

“Adrien’s call was made from within Gotham City. He’s still here for now. I also managed to track him to Burnley.”

“Didn’t that mercenary you called mention some Lawton?” Trixx offered.

“Yeah. I did try to search him up, but the only one with that name that I managed to find is Zoe Lawton. Wait. There is more!” She beamed up. “An old article in some Mexican newspaper.” She clicked on the link and read it aloud for her co-conspirators “Floyd Lawton, also known as Deadshot, was recently arrested after an assassination of a small group of smugglers. It is yet unknown if it was a hit or was it personal.” The article went on, but there was nothing more of interest.

“So the guy’s a mercenary too? That’s good. He’ll bring Adrien to you.”

“Not so fast. I remember hearing about him. Deadshot is one of the few mercenaries who try to keep some resemblance of a code. He’s also noted to be soft around children.”

“Isn’t Adrien almost an adult though?” Kaalki asked rather uncaring.

“Have you met the guy? He’s a literal ray of sunshine!” Plagg protested.

“So… he won’t deliver him and won’t return him.” Seeing that some Kwamis didn’t understand her logic, she clarified, “I don’t think that if he learns how Gabe treated his son he will be in any hurry to return him.”

“That makes sense.” The little being all nodded in agreement.

“So what’s the alternative?”

“He could adopt him,” Ziggy suggested.

“Please.” Marinette dismissed the idea. “He’s not Bruce Wayne.”

“He could smuggle him out of the country.”

“No. Everyone’s looking for him.” Roaar countered. “He would try to lay low somewhere.”

“Burley is large and full of potential safe houses.” Marinette started to think. “But there is also a large concentration of organized crime. Alone, we would have a hard time, but if we got them to help…”

“Is it wise to involve more criminals into your schemes Marinette?” Tikki asked skeptically.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. To catch a bird you need wings. To catch a criminal you need crime.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“What’s the worse that could happen? I will go there as Seamstress. I won’t even appear in person. Right, Trixx?”

“You can count on it.” The fox kwami grinned.

“But… but…” Tikki wanted to scream her head off. Why did the previous guardian choose a juvenile criminal for her holder. Marinette used to be such a sweet girl. Where did Tikki go wrong?

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It was dark when an eerie mist filled one of the less-than-legal clubs in Burnley. From among the smoke, a figure entered. She was wearing a godet-type black dress with a side-cut that reached to her belt. The dress was overlayed with a very visible deep-blue corset that pronounced her blue eyes. It had some intricate laces on it. She also wore a puffy-sleeved blazer (also black, but with a dark blue finish) with large and very pronounced cuffs. Around her neck was a white double jabot fixed to a choker with a large black gem surrounded by diamonds. Her long deep-blue hair was let loose and hung over her shoulder. A simple black-and-white domino mask hid her features.

As she marched, one of her legs shifted the fabric to reveal she was wearing dark-blue socks reaching above her knee and black leather boots. A knife was strapped to the right one and several leather strips around her thigh and knee suggested she had more weapons on her.

One of the men whistled.

“Looks like the entertainment arrived, boys!” Several cheered at that shout. At least until the man who dared to say it ended pinned to a wall with a rather large needle holding his jacket in place. It was also uncomfortably close to his jugular.

“I’m not entertainment.” The Seamstress hissed.

“Then you’re not invited.” Several men got up, many were holding now-empty bottled which they turned into impromptu weapons.

“You will help me find what was taken from me.” She demanded.

“Yeah? Or?” One of the men laughed before charging at her.

What followed next was perhaps the strangest carnage Gotham City has seen in years. The Seamstress danced between the attacks with almost unnatural grace and agility while stabbing the attackers in various places with large needles. None of the hits were life-threatening and most would heal within hours. The wounds were meant to incapacitate with minimal long-term damage.

By the time she reached the far end of the bar, almost every man was laid out on the ground groaning in pain or scrambling in fear.

“I am not asking. You will be rewarded for your obedience.” She then disappeared into the back alley. One brave/foolish enough who still had some fight left rushed after her, only to find the place completely empty.

On the rooftop, Marinette let out her breath. She didn’t use any miraculous for that one, but she kept Plagg’s ring on. Chat Noir wasn’t seen in some time, so it would’ve been easier to explain that the ring was stolen by a criminal. She would really need to thank her mother for all the training she forced on her ever since the Akumas started to appear, as well as the lessons during her childhood. Those were all only the most basic grunts tonight, but she got their attention. One of them would run to their boss. There, she could actually do what she planned.

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Just like she predicted, some of the less injured guys left the bar in hurry and drove their bikes to another part of the district. They disappeared into a three-story building. The windows were boarded, but some light seeped through on the top floor, so that is where she climbed. Indeed, by hanging on the edge of the window sill, she was able to hear the panicked screams inside.

“...and then she just disappeared! It was like that damn Bat, only much more terrifying. She was so small, and yet there was this… this… aura of power.”

Thank you Chloe for being queen B. Marinette stifled a laugh. Mimicking Chloe was the right choice.

“Probably another one of his useless brats.” The boss dismissed them. Marinette decided that it would make the best impression if she contradicted him right now.

She wondered for a moment how to enter the armored building. She could rip the boards away and enter that way, but she was aiming for ethereal, not brute. In the end, she pulled a pair of glasses and put them over her mask.

“Kaalki. Would you please help me break into headquarters of a criminal organization to scare them into serving me?”

“How many sugar cubes is it worth?”

“Ten. No more, no less.” Marinette had a small window of opportunity.

“You’ve got a deal.”

“Kaalki! Full gallop!” The light enveloped Marinette. When it died down, she was still in her outfit, only now the blue accents were brown instead. The gem on her neck held the symbol of a horse miraculous. “I love magical clothes. So easy to maintain the image.” Marinette muttered before a blue portal opened before her and she entered.

Inside, the five men (two who came to report, the boss, and his two guards) watched as the blue portal opened before them. The mist started to pour through it as well as through the boarded window. A figure calmly stepped inside.

“I didn’t expect the Gotham criminal organizations to be so… cliche.” She commented. Two needles sailed through the air and pinned the guards to the wall. Her horseshoe weapon waited patiently on her back should she need to use it.

“Who… who’re you?”

“Me? Oh. I’m The Seamstress. I had business in Gotham, but a fool dared to double-cross me. I need to find him.”

“Why… W-why shou-should w-we help… help you?” One of the guys from the bar asked.

“Oh. I’m not asking. I’m telling you that you’ll help me.” She informed. “I’m about to make you an offer you shouldn’t refuse.”

The boss was now shaking. Damn city with its damn overpowered supervillains. They think they can simply run things as they want. First Red Hood took out most of the top brass of the underworld and then this? Working on his father’s farm was sounding more and more appealing. Then there was the shouldn’t. The reference to the classic movie was not lost, but she said shouldn’t. Not can’t. Once more he remembered how Red Hood took over. Submit, or die. This was the same. She clearly wouldn’t hesitate. He liked to think he could see those things.

“I’m waiting.” The lady growled. “I’m not used to waiting.” Channeling Chloe is actually fun here.

“Fine. You can have my seat. I’m going back to dad’s farm. Just let me go and you can have them.” The boss stood from his seat and motioned for her.

Marinette.exe is not responding. Do you want to execute the process? Not yet.

She managed to keep enough cool to smile and take the seat, although she didn’t even register what was that.

She would panic later. For now, tracking Adrien. “I need to find where Floyd Lawton, also called Deadshot, is hiding with my… asset.”

“It… I will see to it, Boss… lady.” One of the guys from the bar nodded very fast before rushing out of the room.

“I… will bring you the list of current assets.” One of the guards informed and walked somewhere. They were used to aggressive takeovers. This was their third. Boss change, guards remain. This was honestly the first time the previous boss managed to escape with his life.

Meanwhile, Marinette finally realized what just happened. She really wanted to hit her head on the desk, but she was too afraid to show any signs of weakness. Why did she end up in this mess again?

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Sabine Cheng was waiting for her plane back when an airport guard approached her.

“Lady Cheng?” Sabine’s blood froze for a moment, but she refused to show any outward reaction at her past codename. “There is a man who wishes to discuss some… past debts.”

Damn it. And here she thought that bald bastard would forget about her. He had several more suitable people. He knew the risks of angering her.

Then again, she knew not to anger him either.

“Lead the way.” Her face was stone cold as she stood up.

Inside a comfortable private lodge sat a blad man in a suit more expensive than the yearly revenue of her bakery.

“Ah… Lady Cheng. I’m so happy you could’ve joined us.”

Sabine looked around and noticed that there was another man there, standing slightly in the shadows. A man she came to despise just as much as Luthor. Standing there was Gabriel Agreste.

“I can’t return the pleasure, Luthor.” She snarled, not letting her gaze drop from Agreste.

“Figured you’d say that.” The billionaire laughed. “But it doesn’t change that you came.”

“Be quick. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

“About that.” Lex smiled. “I’m afraid you won’t be on that plane. I need you to do something for me.”

“Sadly, my calendar is full for the foreseeable future.” She retorted coldly.

“Then you will clean it. Unless that is, you want me to tell my good friend the president about your little assignment for me twenty years ago. If I recall, your pardon didn’t cover that particular crime.” The man chuckled.

The only upside of this whole situation to Sabine was that Agreste finally realized exactly who she was. Or at least how dangerous she was. The deal she made ensured that Lady Cheng disappeared from everywhere but some people’s memory. To her dismay, Lex didn’t forget. And he still had that damning evidence.

She also knew exactly what was the job.

“I don’t do jobs involving kids, Luthor.” She seethed through gritted teeth. It wouldn’t matter, but she hoped it would at least give him a pause.

“Adrien Agreste was about to be married. I think that can calm your conscience. He was all but adult.” That despicable man dismissed her concern, as she predicted.

“I’m a little rusty. Don’t you have someone younger? Someone who would actually want to do this?” Sabine deadpanned. She kept true to the deal she made for her and her husband’s pardon and didn’t do any… extracurricular work.

“Alas, the fact you’re unwilling is why I need you. You see, the client, whoever they are, picked Agreste Jr. as a target in a… battle royale of sorts. It quickly stopped being about the ludicrous money reward. It’s now about proving who’s the best. And they won’t stop until they deliver him to that mysterious Seamstress.”

“So what do you want? I’m sure you could’ve bought some of them to drop the glory part.” She really didn’t want to do this.

“I offered to pay five times the price, but most of the competent ones want a shot at whatever that job is. A mysterious benefactor with no history, nonexistent in any database in the world, paying a small fortune for a simple job and offering further work? Doesn’t it sound familiar?” Lex reclined in his chair and smiled.

“One job only. I want everything you have on me. And ten times the bounty.” She noted his discomfort. “Don’t give me that look, Luthor. You can afford it. My daughter’s about to start a university.” Sabine turned to Gabriel. “I must thank you for the idea. Homeschooling really helps when one is gifted.”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” Lex grumbled. If he didn’t know the quality of her works, he would’ve laughed at the price. Except he foolishly revealed that he was desperate.

“Oh, I’m sure we can.” Sabine smiled. She was like a cat that just caught a mouse.

#maribat #miraculous #ladybug #miraculous ladybug #mlb #mlb x dc #dc #DC comics #dcu #batman #Hit on the groom

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grailfinders · 5 years ago

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Fate and Phantasms #101: Rama

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the number 1 member of the Arcade hatedom, Rama! If you’ve seen my previous Indian heroes you know this build is also going to get a bit funky, but by the end of it you’ll have a cool sword you can throw around, the ability to fight off demons, and a monkey army.

Check out Rama’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: One Strike Man

Race and Background

We know we had a thing going with Arjuna and Karna being Genasi, but Vishnu’s more of a general god than a themed one, so we have to be basic and go Aasimar on this one. Specifically Scourge Aasimar, because you’re not edgy and can’t fly. We’re also using the new Tasha’s rules about races to swap some bonuses around, so you’re going to get +1 Constitution and +2 Intelligence instead of charisma. You also get some Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, the Light cantrip, and Healing Hands to heal a creature as an action once per long rest. Trust me, you’ll need it for the early levels.

Like a lot of servants, you’re a Noble, gaining History and Persuasion proficiencies.

Ability Scores

This build pretty much uses every score, so we had to make some tough cuts. Make your Strength the highest score, you’re a saber, you should be good at sabing. Second is Wisdom, you were born wise, which is a pretty amazing feat. I’m not sure how the figured that out before you could talk, but it’s still cool. Third is your Charisma, your star-crossed love transcends the bonds of the universe and has literally saved your life on occasion. Your Dexterity isn’t as high as I’d like it-we need it for multiclassing, but we’ll get it bumped up in time. Also, I’m willing to be generous here and say you’re wearing medium armor, that’s kind of a breastplate. Your Intelligence is also lower than I’d like, but that’s also getting a boost from your racial bonuses, so I guess it’s fine. Unfortunately, that means we’re dumping Constitution. It’s not fun, but it’s also the only score we aren’t actively using. Don’t worry, we’ll get it up into at least neutral territory as soon as possible.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: Fighters are pretty cool, and starting out as one gives you proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as the Animal Handling and Perception skills. A monkey may be your mortal enemy, but you also command an army of them.

You get a fighting style, and Dueling will make your one handed attacks a bit stronger so you can keep a hand open for spells. You also get a Second Wind for another way to heal yourself as a bonus action.

2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, tacking an extra action onto one of your turns once per short rest. This level is pretty light, so I’ll also take a second to say that we’re using a Trident as your weapon in this build, for reasons that will become apparent in a couple levels. It’s unorthodox, but you’re used to making swords out of other weapons, so it shouldn’t be that big a deal.

3. Fighter 3: I’m not going to beat around the bush here, you’re an Eldritch Knight. That means you’re learning some Spells, most of which will be abjuration or evocation and all of which will use your Intelligence to cast. You also gain a Weapon Bond, preventing you from being disarmed while conscious, and you can summon your weapon as a bonus action from anywhere in the plane. You also get your Radiant Consumption, which deals radiant damage to all creatures in a radius around you, including you. You can also add radiant damage to one attack per turn. The transformation lasts up to a minute, and you can use it once per long rest.

But you’re probably interested in those spells, right? Message is just useful, Sword Burst and Shield will protect you until we can get that constitution mess sorted, Find Familiar will help you get your first monkey friend, and Burning Hands is also there.

4. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Constitution and bring your Dexterity into multiclassing range. Also, now that we’ve got a way to get your weapon back, we’ll switch out our old fighting style for Thrown Weapon Fighting as a part of your Martial Versatility. This allows you to draw a throwing weapon as part of an attack, and you deal more damage when throwing them. Who needs artificers and their returning weapons when you’ve got this?

You also learn the Snare spell to get some less magical monkey friends.

5. Fighter 5: Your Extra Attack lets you make two attacks per action. We’ll be seeing this feature a lot, but it doesn’t stack from multiple classes.

6. Paladin 1: You’re kind of literally a god, so this is something of an inevitability. You get a Divine Sense to help you track down Ravana, and can Lay on Hands for yet another way to heal yourself or other party members.

7. Paladin 2: Paladins also get a fighting style, so grab Dueling again, for the same reasons we got it in the first place. You can also cast and prepare another set of Spells, using your Charisma to cast. If you’re sick of casting spells though, you can also use your spell slots for Divine Smites, adding extra radiant damage to a melee attack, and even more to fiends and the undead.

Some first level spells to look out for are Command for some of the same reason as Arjuna and Karna- if someone of sufficient power says something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. You can also use Heroism to help your party even more and Divine Favor to give you a bit of a smite even on thrown attacks.

8. Paladin 3: Your defining trait is your endless search for your wife, so the Devotion oath is a pretty solid pick. You get some Oath Spells about beating up demons that are always prepared for you, as well as two ways to Channel Divinity. Sacred Weapon adds your charisma modifier to attack rolls with a weapon, and turns the weapon magical for the duration. This also ends if you stop holding the weapon, so again, it doesn’t fit with throwing it around. You can also Turn the Unholy, forcing Fiends and Undead that fail a wisdom saving throw to run away until it takes damage.

We’re already eight levels in, but we have like one monkey! That’s not an army! That’s unacceptable, someone should do something about that.

9. Ranger 1: If we want animal sidekicks, Ranger’s the best option. At first level you get a skill proficiency, so grab Stealth so you can sneak up on your arch-monkey-enemies. You also have a Favored Foe, marking a creature upon attacking it for up to a minute with concentration. Then, once per turn you deal an extra 1d4 damage to that enemy. You can mark enemies this way a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus. You’re also a Deft Explorer, doubling your proficiency in Animal Handling. You can literally talk to the little bastards, that’ll give you quite the edge.

10. Ranger 2: Being a second level ranger nets you a third fighting style; the Archery style gives your ranged attacks (including thrown weapons) a +2 to hit. You also get a third Spell list, which uses Wisdom to cast. Grab Longstrider and Zephyr Strike for ways to stay mobile and still deal damage.

11. Ranger 3: Be honest, you thought we were going beastmaster, didn’t you? Like we said earlier, one monkey does not an army make, and Swarmkeeper fairs much better with multiclassing anyway. You have a Primal Awareness letting you Speak with Animals either as a normal spell or once per long rest you can cast it for free. Swarmkeepers also get Swarmkeeper Magic, which is just an extended spell list. We’ll get into those with the regular spell you’re learning this level. Last but not least is the feature swarmkeepers are named for, the Gathered Swarm. You now have countless pygmy marmosets swarming over your body at all times. That’s a class feature, I am so sorry. It’s not all bad news though, because after hitting a creature with any attack, your swarm can deal extra damage, push the target 15′ in any direction if they fail a strength save, or move you 5′ in any direction. Save yourself a bonus action by throwing a weapon at an enemy, closing the gap with your swarm, then getting it back the old fashioned way!

You get Mage Hand as part of being a swarmkeeper, and it’s flavored as Literally Just a Monkey. You also learn Faerie Fire this way, and your normal spell this level is Animal Friendship. If they’re going to be crawling all over you, it’s best to stay on their good side.

12. Paladin 4: Now that we finally have your base kit set up, we can revisit some of your classes. Use this ASI to round up your Strength for stronger hits, and Charisma for more and better paladin spells. This is also a secret tool that will help us out in a little bit.

13. Paladin 5: The extra attack you get this level is a lie; it doesn’t stack with your fighter extra attack. The good news is you get second level spells this level as well, so it’s not a complete waste. You get Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth as oath spells.

14. Paladin 6: Our last stop in the paladin class gives you an Aura of Protection, increasing all your saving throws (as well as any ally within 10 feet of you) by your charisma modifier.

15. Ranger 4: Since we don’t have to worry about your concentration saves anymore, we can just go for more health. Use this ASI to get the Tough feat, for an extra 2 HP per level.

16. Ranger 5: Once again, you get another useless extra attack, and once again you also get second level spells. You can Summon Beast to make a monkey that will be pretty scary when you get a fourth level spell slot at 17th level. You can also make Webs, or use Beast Sense once a day for free. Don’t ask what the webs are made out of.

17. Ranger 6: Your Favored Foe damage ramps up to 1d6, and you’re now Roving, meaning your movement speed increases, and you gain a climbing and swimming speed. Monkeys are pretty agile, you need to be able to keep up with them.

18. Fighter 6: We’re ending this build where we began, with the fighter class. Use this ASI for even more Charisma for better saves, more spells, and a more winning smile.

19. Fighter 7: Seventh level eldritch knights know War Magic, meaning that if you use a cantrip as your main action, you can still attack as a bonus action. I’m not sure why you’d message someone in the middle of battle, but here you go.

You also get second level spells, for the third time. Any evocation or abjuration spell is good here, but I chose Gust of Wind because it’s hard to throw weapons around if enemies are getting close to you.

20. Your capstone feature is another ASI, so grab the Piercer feat to round up your Dexterity and make your sword just a little more deadly. Once per turn, you can reroll a piercing damage die, and your critical hits deal a little more piercing damage.

Pros:

Despite your patchwork class levels, one thing that really shines through is your support abilities. Your Aura of Protection offers a solid +3 to all saves within 10′ of you, and you have multiple ways to heal other party members in a pinch.

You can also deal pretty dependable damage, thanks to your multitude of fighting styles mixing together to overcome your low ability scores. Despite having a strength of 16, you can aim your throws like you have a 20, and deal damage like you have a 24. You also have plenty of ways to incrementally add damage to each attack. Adding Favored Foe, smites, and your swarm damage to your attack racks up damage quickly.

You’ve got solid movement options, both for yourself and enemies. Being able to shove enemies around and into hazards with your swarm is a huge game changer.

Cons:

Eldritch Knights use their bonus action to resummon their weapon. Rangers use it to apply Favored Foe. Paladins use it for smites. Basically what I’m saying is your bonus action is super crowded, and it’s nearly impossible for you to go a round in combat without either holding back or making a tough decision about what to use it on.

If you couldn’t tell from the introduction, you depend on a ton of ability scores, to the point that constitution was the safest thing to dump early on. Even now, most of your spells aren’t particularly strong.

A lot of this build was about making a throwing weapon powerful, and thrown weapons don’t gel with paladins at all. It breaks your Channel Divinity and can’t be used with smites, limiting your power.

#D&D 5e #Fate Grand Order #FGO #Rama #Fate and Phantasms

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vs-redemption · 5 years ago

Note

for the character ask game: Luck, Magna, Finral, Gauche and Vanessa

From Cindy: Hey anon! I’m sorry this took so long to post! I just had to really think about some of these! It was super fun to write though, so thank you so much!

*Sorry this is so long!*

Luck Voltia

First impression

I had a tough time getting over the fact that his English VA was the same as Midoriya from BNHA at first, but thankfully that went away pretty fast. I pretty much loved Luck immediately though. I heard him trying to fight people with that crazy look on his face and was sold. I also lost my mind a bit when they started calling him the “cheery berserker.” Like, please give me a nickname like this please.

Impression now

I still love Luck a lot! My initial reasoning still stands, but I’ve also enjoyed that we’ve had a few peeks into his past and inner workings of his mind to understand not only WHY he acts the way he does but also gain an understanding that he has complex emotions and isn’t just a crazy fighting machine.

Favorite moment

All Luck moments are great, but I always laugh when I think about the time Mereoleona blasted into the Black Bulls hideout to kidnap people for training. Everyone else looked horrified to be dragged away by her fire claw arms, but Luck just has this super happy excited look on his face! He’s so cute.

Idea for a story

What about Luck discovering he loves a hobby other than fighting? Like singing or drawing? Or an AU where he’s in a boy band or something ahaha

Unpopular opinion

I do love his friendship with Magna, but I do feel like it’s a bit unbalanced at times and maybe toxic for Magna. I’ve said this before, but Magna is pretty sensitive and seems to get genuinely upset when Luck manages to outperform him, especially when Luck managed to get into the magic knights and he didn’t. Luck is also kinda blunt about things sometimes, and even if he doesn’t really mean any harm by it, it makes me feel bad for Magna.

Favorite relationship

Despite what I just said, of course I enjoy Luck and Magna’s relationship. Luck inspires Magna to get stronger, and Magna is patient enough to endure Luck’s antics while also serving as an example of what human relationships should look like since poor Luck has such a weird, unhealthy relationship/attachment to his mom.

Favorite headcanon

It’s hard to imagine Luck in a romantic relationship since he’s just a small ball of crazy energy, but I’d like to think he’d be super warm and cuddly with someone he loves.

Magna Swing

First impression

I had a hard time knowing how I felt about Magna at first. I never disliked him but I went back and forth about him a lot and I’m not sure why. I’m naturally drawn to characters associated with fire, so I liked his magic right away. I suppose it took me a while to get used to his personality though. I think his appearance threw me off a bit too.

Impression now

I’m cool with Magna! He acts loud and tough all the time, but inside he’s actually really sweet. He’s a hard worker, which I respect, and he deeply cares about his friends and teammates in the black bulls.

Favorite moment

I like when he introduced that new vanishing fireball attack (I think against Asta in the royal knight exam). That was so cool that he adapted his power and learned from the mistakes from previous fights. I also just love any time he freaks out and starts batting fireballs at Luck. It’s funny. Or any time he screams about his crazy cyclone.

Idea for a story

What if someone wrote a fic where Magna joins the Crimson Lions instead of the Black Bulls? He could train his fire magic with the Vermillion family. That might be neat.

Unpopular opinion

Magna isn’t really my type, looks wise, but I definitely did a double take during the elf fights when his sunglasses were off and his hair was all disheveled.

Favorite relationship

I really like Magna’s relationship with Yami. Magna really respects the captain, and it’s nice to see them go out and do their gambling together even though it usually ends up with them returning empty handed and naked. haha

Favorite headcanon

Magna seems pretty shy about relationship stuff. He looks and acts like a punk, but I bet he’d be a perfect gentleman to his significant other. I can imagine him defending their honor or just taking care of any assholes who try to bully them.

Finral Roulacase

First impression

Oh Finral! It’s hard to remember clearly, but I think I felt disappointed with him at first. He was just kind of this guy that was obsessed with getting a date and used by Yami for making portals. I didn’t like how lazy and unmotivated he seemed.

Impression now

I am a firm believer that Finral is a precious bean and I love him so much! Now that I know where his insecurities come from, I can understand and sympathize with his nervousness and low self-confidence. I absolutely love how he’s been working harder and learning to use his magic in more useful ways to become a more valuable member of the team though. He’s starting to stand up for himself and become not only a better magic knight, but a better person in general too. (Although his flirting never bugged me that much)

Favorite moment

I don’t like that Finral got hurt so badly, but the moment where Langris was attacking him and every member of the black bulls rushed to stop him was really powerful. It showed that he was a loved member of the squad, plus the whole fact that he was finally making a stand against his brother was a big deal for him.

Idea for a story

I’d like to read anything about Finral with someone, either a friend or partner, who gives him lots of affection and verbal praise so the poor guy can build up his confidence a little. He deserves that. Smother him with love and affection! Do it!

Unpopular opinion

I don’t really care for the whole “competing to marry Lady Finesse” thing. I want Finral to find happiness and be able to have a comfortable and respected role within his family, but I’m not too concerned about if he ends up with her.

Favorite relationship

I’ve been thinking about this for a few minutes and I honestly can’t come up with one, which is sad. Maybe I’m forgetting someone but it doesn’t seem like Finral has any close relationships/friendships. I know he’s friends with everyone in the Black Bulls but nobody stands out as being especially close to him.

Favorite headcanon

Finral probably has a lot of guilty pleasure hobbies that help him manage his anxiety. For example baking, knitting, reading romance novels, or listening to cheesy love songs.

Vanessa Enoteca

First impression

I feel like I was just curious and confused about most of the Black Bulls when they were first introduced because they all seemed like… lazy or unmotivated, so I didn’t understand why they were even in the magic knights or how they passed the exam. Turns out Yami just hands out Black Bull robes like Halloween candy. lolol

Impression now

I like the growth her character has gone through during the series. She seemed like a lazy drunk at first, but when she is motivated she is REALLY motivated. Her loyalty to the Black Bulls is so absolute that it seems like she’d sacrifice ANYTHING or pay any price for her friends.

Favorite moment

When she goes back to the witch queen and offers to give up her freedom to try and save Asta’s arms. It is such a selfless thing to do and it just shows how much Vanessa loves her teammates.

Idea for a story

Uh… a soulmate AU that involves her red thread magic?

Unpopular opinion

I thought it was kind of random that she apparently has a crush on Yami. Like, its fine… I also have a crush on Yami, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Her admiration for him could just be platonic and that would be just as meaningful.

Favorite relationship

Either her relationship with Finral or her relationship with Yami probably. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the green in Finral’s hair, I think it’s cute that he came to Vanessa for advice and that she wants to help him reinvent himself.

Favorite headcanon

Why did I just think of Vanessa and Gordon running an apothecary together? They can just brew potions and poisons together and it would be great. I don’t know.

Gauche Adlai

First impression

Was I supposed to have any other impression than that he was a super creepy sister lover? haha

Impression now

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the sister thing. That actually upsets me because everything else about Gauche is so cool to me. His magic is really awesome, and I love how unique and creative it is. And honestly, I don’t even care that he’s obsessed with his sister. I get that she’s the only family he really had and that he’s protective, but it doesn’t have to be that weird. It really doesn’t.

Favorite moment

I really liked when he used his magic to make a bunch of doubles of Asta, and every other time he caved and actually worked together with other members of the Black bulls. I also like whenever he blasts Asta with a mirror out of nowhere because Marie said something about liking him. Poor Asta has no idea why he’s getting attacked.

Idea for a story

Oh! How about Gauche taking over the church where his sister lives and becoming the protector of all the children? Or he could run a “scared straight” program where he intimidates delinquents into becoming better citizens.

Unpopular opinion

I’m not sure but I think most of his lines about Marie are actually hilarious. Like when he wouldn’t attack Sally’s monster thing because it looked like Marie. That was amusing. It’s just that when his nose starts bleeding and stuff, that makes it go from funny to awkward and creepy.

Favorite relationship

I’ll go with his relationship with the nun. He is such an asshole to her, but she throws it back without hesitation.

Favorite headcanon

I have no idea, but can we start shipping him with that scales dude (Damnatio Kira). I just thought of that and it’s making me happy to imagine it.

#Chat with cindy #black clover #luck voltia #finral roulacase #magna swing #vanessa enoteca #Gauche Adlai

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calliecat93 · 4 years ago

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Top 15 Star Trek TOS Episodes (Part Two)

(Part One)

Continuing from the last post, here are the remaining seven episodes~! Also picking Number One was SUPER hard. I was stuck between it and two for a long while. But I finally picked, so here we go!

#7. The Trouble With Tribbles

Up to this point, I hadn’t been crazy over some of the goofier episodes of Star Trek. Shore Leave was a mindscrew that left me uncertain about what was even happening by the end, though my opinion has lightened up upon looking back. The Squire of Gothos had a villain that I found far more annoying than entertaining and it remains one of my least favorite episodes. The only more silly one I did like was I, Mudd which remains an utter laugh riot once everyone acts as illogical as possible, including Spock. But then this episode came along, and Dear Lord it is hilarious. Our heroes stop at a space station, but it’s also occupied by Klingons. But wait, it gets better! A sleezy guy convinces Uhura to buy a Tribble, these little puff ball things that are kind of cute... until they begin to reproduce so rapidly that they infest the ship and base. To put it simply, it’s not a good time for Kirk. Honestly Kirk is the best part just because of how much he LOATHES every single thing about this episode. The scene where a whole bunch of Tribbles just topple over him and he just resigns himself to his fate and later his epic death glare at Bones when he orders him to figure out what killed the things. And then there’s what makes him come aorund to them, their shared hatred of Klingons. Seriosuly, Kirk is just So Done in this episode and it is amazing~

But seriously, it’s a very entertianing episode. Far more than I thought it was going to be when I read the description. It’s not an episode taken seriosuly, but not in the ‘they just gave up’ kind of way like in certain S3 episodes. The cast seem to be legit having a fun time with this one. The brawl between Scotty, Chekov, and a few other guys against the Klingons was super fun as was Kirk sulking when Scotty revelas that he got provoked over the Enteprise being insulted and not the captain. Poor Jim XD Cyrano Jones was also just a fun delight with how scummy yet amusing he is. The scene with him and the drinks during the brawl had me laughing so much XD Seriosuly there’s just so many good moments. Spock not being immune to the Tribble’s comforting effect and being embarassed at this revelaiton, Spock and McCoy’s snark, the Klingons utter horror at the tiny little furballs, it’s just an entertaining ride from beginning to end.

Not anything to really note flaws wise to justify the ranking. It doesn’t have that emotional or philosophical umph that I normally seek out in shows like this, so it’s here at seven. But that ain’t a bad thing at all. Not every episode has to have deep meanings or complex stories. Sometimes it can just be something fun and amusing, and the effort was still there to make it entertaining. It’s one of those episodes that I would watch above the others on a bad day just so I can laugh. Probably the most fun episode I have on this list, and that’s nothing to snuff at~!

#6. The Doomsday Machine

Our heroes find a Starship where the only survivor is Commadore Decker, his crew having all been killed when he beamed them to a planet that a planet destroyer... well, destroyed shortly after. The destroyer is still active and now the Enterprise is in danger. As Kirk remains on that ship, Decker is determined to destroyt he doomsday machine once and for all, including taking command of the Enteprrise and risking their lives to do so. Yeah, this is a pretty intense one. Decker, while his sucicdal actions were wrong, is VERY sympathetic. His crew was killed through no fault of his own, the machine that did it is still loose, and the losses have left him utterly broken. He’s very much traumatized but as he is the highest ranking officer and they can’t officially prove that he’s too mentlaly unfit to be relieved (which imo is idiotic cause even someone who isn’t a psycologist can tell he’s mentally unfit, but whatever), they can’t do much to stop him. Spock DOES finally manage to do so, and it leads to Decker’s ultimate choice that leads to his tragic end.

This one really gripped me. There’s this tension throughout. We have an unstable, suicidal man taking control of the Enterprise and willing to get them all killed to stop the doomsday machine. It’s scary to see how broken the man is. Again, he’s wrong to be willing to sacrifice everyone on The Enterprise to destroy the thing even though none of them want to die, but you understand why. I mean imagine if that happened to Kirk, he’d probably snap too if his actions in Obsession is any indication of how he handles major losses like that. Then we have Decker’s final act. Once relieved of command, he steals a shuttle and goes at the machine himself. He knows that he’s going to die and accepts that fact if it means some chance, any chance of destroying the machine once and for all. While he fails to destory it, he DOES give Kirk the opprotunity needed to do so with the ruined ship. A move that almost gets Kirk killed, but still Decker’s act was not in vain. It’s a very interesting character study with themes of guilt, trauma, and desperation. Kind of like in Obsession in a way, only Kirk manages to survive and pull himself together before it was too late. Decker’s only goal was to take down the machine that took his crew’s lives, even if that meant losing his own.

As I said, these are the kinds of episodes I live for. I guess self-sacrifice is also genetic consideirng what happened with his son in The Motion Picture, haha. Flaws... ugh... I guess McCoy disappeairng after the first half sucked? But that’s a me thing that doesn’t affect anything. I just remember watching it wide-eyed despite fully well knowing that everyone I cared about were going to be perfectly fine. It really gripped me! A great episode with great character exploration and themes which for a one off character, is pretty dang impressive!

#5. Journey to Babel

Meet the parents epidsode! Yay! The Enteprise is transporting various ambassadors of various planets to the Babel Conference. This includes the Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his human wife Amanda, aka Spock’s parents. Yep, it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned family issues! Sarek wasn’t exactly happy with Spock choosing Starfleet and their relationship has been strained ever since. But when Sarek has severe heart problems, the only way to save him is via blood transfusion with Spock the only one compatible. But to make it worse, Kirk gets stabbed and put out of comission, forcing Spock to take command... at the same time that his father needs the surgery. Yeah... it sucks to be Spock in this episode. I know that Sarek is a bit divisive, but I like Spock’s parents. Sarek comes off as good at his job, but not great as a parent. He’s far fromt he worst and we do see that he does seem to still care about his son, he’s just God awful at admitting it and his previous mistakes. Like father, like son I guess. Amanda was a delight, especially when she tells McCoy about the sehlat aka giant teddy bear. Anyone who can make Bones smile that big deserves our thanks. Spock trying to make it less embarassing only made it funnier XD But back on topic, they come off as interesitng characters. They ain’t ideal, but they seem to genuinely be in love, which is nice.

Spock was just great here as we see him in one of the roughest spots he’s been in. He’s naturally not happy about being around the father that cast him aside again, though after his heart issues it’s clear that he IS concerned. Leonard Nimoy once again does such a fantastic job at having Spock express so much but without breaking character. It’s all in the eyes and the strained tone of voice. Then when Spock is more than willing to go through with the tranfusion, Kirk is injured. He has no choice but to take command, knowing that in doing so his father will die. While he COULD give command to Scotty, with the VERY intense circumstances of an assaliant on board and a ship ready to attack wit a number of ambassadors on board, he’s the best bet in handling it. Amanda is of course upset and even smacks him which IS overly harsh, but she’s about to lose her husband and her son, despite clealry hating the fact, has to place his duty above all else. Sarek dying is the least worst outcome to everyone else being killed. It’s the most logical route. Fortunately Kirk is able to pull himself together long enough to take over and the transfusion goes through perfectly despite the fight making it more difficult. Which again, McCoy is the true MVP here for managing to pull that off successfully under those conditions and Thank God that the episode rewarded him by letting him finally get the last word. He earned that one!

It’s such a great episode for me. Family drama, Spock conflict, political tensions, and just some relaly fun bits. Seriosuly, the teddy bear bit will NEVER stop being funny. Hoenstly these last five were all pretty tight and this ende dup here cause the other four had just a little bit mroe to keep me invested for reasons. Spock and Sarek don’t really reach a resolution but we do see that it has the chance to improve, and the movies do show that Sarek DOES truly care about his son and even admits that he had been wrong. It takes a lot for a man, even a Vulcan man, to do that. Although I DID double take when I realized that Sarek is played by the same guy who did the Romulan Captain in Balance of Terror. Guess he was that good XD. But yeah, a really great episode and very much my favorite Spock-centric episode.

#4. The Empath

TRIUMVIRATE FEELS BABY~! Our heroes end up trapped by a duo of aliens and encounter a mute empath woman that McCoy names Gem. They try to figure out how to escape as the aliens known as Vians plan to use them for an experiment as they have others. Shenanigains happen while elad to Kirk getting totured p, and then given the ultimate sadistic choice in having to decide if either Spock or McCoy get tortured to the point of either death (McCoy) or permenant brain damage (Spock). Now the episode has it’s issues, like why the Vians needed to do this to decide that Gem’s people were worth saivng is..l really baffling. But I’m also not a Vian so what do I know anout their mindset? But due to those kinds of plot holes, it landed here at four. It also kind of reads like a hurt/comfort fanfic, which isn’t a surprise when you find out that this was written and submitted by a fan. Which is freakin’ awesome and I can’t complain tbh cause it’s a good hurt/comfort fic. What it fails in some plot tightning it succeeds at in emphasizing the relationship between the main trio and it’s themes of emotion and self-sacrifice. Because OF COURSE that would be relevant for these three numbskulls at some point!

The second half is really what sells it. Kirk of course can’t make a choice like that, so Bones hypos him so that he’ll be spared of it. But that means that Spock is in command and he fully intends to hand himself over to the Vians to spare the two. Just the scene where he looks at Kirk, knowing that it’ll likely be the last time he sees him and Gem touching him to feel his emotions. Her smile sums it sll up. Which sidenote, the actress for Gem was freakin’ fantastic in how she displayed so much emotion and character without saying one word. Excellent acting. Anyways, Spock’s plan seems full-proof... except that he forgot that he’s dealing with McCoy, who promptly hypos him as well and sacrifices himself to the Vians. That was when McCoy became my favorite character, the moment he chose to be tortured to near death to save his two best friends and an innocent woman and even took the time to try and comfort her before being taken away. When we see the ifnal result and are greeted to DeForest Kelley looking at the camera with the most dead expression that he can muster... yeah the image STILL haunts me. Then Bones is dying with the two unable to do anything but try to give him some comfort and Gem is just so distraught and... heah this episode mad eit this high simply because it hit the emotional beats perfectly. That’s not even going into Gem trying to heal him to drive home the themes of the episode, also done VERY well.

This episode really shows how much the three care for one another. They’re all willing to be tortured and die to spare the other two. Ultimately McCoy gets the ‘honor’, but Kirk and Spock were absolutely ready to throw themselves to the fire. The characterization, interactions, and dynamic are just done so well that it’s why I can forgive the plot issues. I’m a sucker for feelings okay?! So yeah it’s not perfect but what it got right it got right. As such, it managed to land here at Number Four with only those plot holes keeping it from Number One. And trust me, I was tempted.

#3. The Tholian Web

Season 3 hadn’t been doing it for me with only one or two episodes really getitng my attention up to that point. This one though? This was the best episode in the seaosn bar none. Our heroes end up in a subspace where they find a starship and it’s crew all dead. Whien they teleport back to The Enterprise, it disappears... and takes Kirk with it. Okay, doesn’t sound liek anythignt hat new right? Kirk goes missing, the crew have to deal without him and find him as quickly as posisble. But this one has a bit of a twist... they cut Kirk out completely. Yeah, from the moment he vanishes in the first act to the very end he is out of the episode. Not only does the crew not know what happened to him, but neither does the audience, this ramps up the fear and emotional weight big time as the longer the crew is int hat space, the influence of it drives them to insanity. Bones wants to get out because of this, while Spock is unwilling to leave Kirk if he is alive. Needles to say, things go off the rails quickly.

With Kirk out of the equation, we keep our focus on Spock and McCoy. Their arguing is probably at the most personal it’s ever been with Kirk seming dead, the crew losing their minds, and it looking more and more uncertain that they can both treat the crew and ge tout alive. While one can say that McCoy may be too harsh here, I think along with the space affecting him in a less intense way, he’s also stressed from all the patients as well as his grief about Jim. Spock is the only one that he can take it out on, especially since his chocie to not leave is why they’re now int he mess that they’re in. Spock is trying to perform his duties despite the hostilities and his own grief that he’s trying to keep a grip on with all the responsibility of the crew and whatever happens due to his choice firmly sititng on his shoulders. What finally starts to get them to resolve this? A tape that Kirk made for them in the event of his death. He gives them his confidence that they can perform their duties withiut him, but that they need to lsiten to and support each other. They CAN go on without him. It’ll hurt but they’re now all that they each have and they need to work together now more than ever. It’s a sobering moment for both with McCoy realizng how ovelry harsh he had been and Spock expressing genuine grief. They do still bicke rone more time, but McCoy catches himself before it goes too far, apologizes, and Spock simply says what Jim would: “Forget it, Bones”. Cue Bones fainting like the Southern Bell that he is, haha!

Now of course Kirk is alive and they manage to save him and get out of the situation fine. But I just loved this because of the focus on Spock and McCoy without Kirk. Why? Because Kirk is the one thing that can unite them. It’s not the only thing, but if anything can make them get over their disagreements quickly, it’s Kirk. So what happens when it looks like he’s gone and never coming back? How will the two deal with it now that that balance is gone? They don’t deal with it well, being at each other’s throats until they see that tape. But it DOES show that if they did lose Kirk, they CAN work together and go on. Like I said, I adore these two’s relationship and while not as slashy as All Our Yesterdays, this is such an excellent one for that relationship as we see that yes, they will bicker but they will also be there for each other when it all comes down to it. It’s such a great episode for that reason and the plot was just well done. Like I said, casitng out Jim and leaving us unsure of what happened to him was an excellent move for this one and I enjoyed the exploration that it allowed.

#2. The Immunity Syndrome

Out heroes are scent to investigate what caused a whole solar system to disappear just as they also receive a message from a Vulcan science vessel. Unfortunately, Spock senses he vessel’s destruction and the Enterprise finds itself against a giant space amoeba that will devour everything unless stopped. That may not sound like much, but it leads into what I think was the most intense situation that the Enterprise has been in. Everything, and I mean everything, is pushed to their limits here. This amoeba can outright destroy galaxies and utterly mindless, so there’s no reasoning with it. But it gets especially tense when, in order to understand exactly what’s going on, Kirk has to send someone in the space shuttle to observe, but in doing so, he’s sending someone to most likely die. And his choices? Either Spock or Bones... yeah.

This is what makes this episode great. Spock and Bones are already on rockier than usual terms due to McCoy treating the Vulcan deaths more like a statistic while Spock sensed all of it outright. That itself is an interesting observation on how we treat these kinds of things, not really understanding how horrific it is unless we’re involved in it outright, otherwise it’s sad and unfortunate but just another number. But then we have the suicide mission. Bones originally volunteers himself, after all he’s a doctor and would have the knowledge to make the necessary observaitons and likely the most fit for it. But Spock is not only also perfectly capable even if not specialized in medical science, but he’s also more fit physically and emotionally to undergo the risk and come out alive. In the end, Kirk picks Spock and McCoy ain’t happy about it. The scene with Spock about ready to go with McCoy still unhappy even when Spock asks him to wish him luck. He does... once the doors have shut and Spock can’t hear him anymore. It’s a very strong scene and it only gets more painful when it looks like Spock is truly going to die and his final words are that McCoy should have wished him luck. Bones’ face says everything.

The episode is just excellent. Great character moments. Great emotional weight. Great stakes that keep going up and up and it truly feels like the darkest hour for the crew. Kirk and Spock outright begin to record their respective final words. Even they’re convinced that this is most likely the end, which is just... dang man. I couldn’t look away during this one. They hit everything perfectly with pretty much everything. If I have any issues, none of them come to mind. It’s just an excellent episode and the best of Season 2. I had a REALLY hard time picking between this and my Number One for the top slot. The top one just had a little bit more emotional impact to get it, but it just barely topped this one. Regardless, it is still an excellent episode and one of the best by far. But what is Number One? Well...

#1. The City on the Edge of Forever

Yeah, yeah, obvious pick I know. I normally don’t go wth popular opinion... but sometimes it’s that way for a reason, and this one I can’t argue about. When McCoy gets badly drugged on accident, he goes into a derranged state and beams onto a planet. The crew is unable to stop him from entering a portal known as the Guardian of Forever that sends him into the distant past where he does something to change histry. In order to figure out what changed and to stop McCoy, Kirk and Spock travel into the 1930’s a few days earlier to cut him off and must now navigate their way though the time period where they end up at a soup kitchen run by a woman named Edith Keller. Which Edith is an excellent character. She’s kind, optimistic, charming, hard-working, ad caring towards those who need it. Kirk ends up falling for her, and... it’s legit really cute. Kirk isn’t being forced to make out with a woman or doing so for information. We see how Kirk is when he genunely likes someone, having been drawn to Edith’s optimism and hopes for a better future. A future that he is from and knows will be reality. He’s really sweet and it’s just cute... which makes what happens at the end all the more tragic.

The 1930’s were fun with Kirk trying to come up with an excuse for Spock’s ears having me dying from laughter. The acting was excellent with DeForest Kelley as drugged!Bones especially being both crazy and scary. I quit doubting that he played villains in Westerns after this episode, haha. But of course Spock soon discovers that the change that McCoy is to make is saving Edith form death, and in doing so she leads a pacifist campaign that delays America’s entry into World War II and... well, things go badly. They are in a time where sadly optimism and peace are simply not options, which is even crueler. In order for time to be restored, they have to let Edith die. Kirk is horrified by this and when the time comes (sidenote, the Triumvirate reunion is utterly adorable), he just grabs Bones, keeps his back turned, and can only listen as Edith screams and is killed via car colission. Whatever grievances I have about William Shatner, he absoluteley nailed Kirk’s utter heartbreak and pain as Kirk just looks utterly boken. His final wordds after they return to the 23rd Century simply being a bitter “Let’s get the Hell out of here” sums it all up perfectly. Bones’ horror at it, especially since he DID have to watch it and him being upset at Kirk is also heartbreaking as he asks him if he knows what he just did. Spock can only somberly inform him that yes, he does.

It’s one of those cases where I wish serialization was more of a thign cause DAMN this is some major emotional baggage for everyone but as per usual. It happens and they go on from there with no lingering development. I guess if I had to complain, that would be it but that’s jut the nature of these shows at the time. Kind of feel like Bones getting as bady overdosed as he did pretty much got forgotten after they enter the 1930’s, but I also know nothing about 23rd Century drugs so... ah well. But the rest of the episode is so good that I can forgive those issues and they clealry did nothing to impact the placing. It had a storgn story, great emotion, great acting, great pacing, and a heartbreaking but fitting ending. The episode has a LOT of history behind it’s making that could be a post all it’s own, but no mater how this episode came to be, it is very much the best of Star Trek TOS. It was fun yet sad and had me gripped form beginning to ed and just htinkign about it now still makes me sad. Thus, it earns it’s place as my favorite episode of Star Trek TOS.

And we are done! There were a lot of really good episodes and some i REALLY did consider. A Piece of the Action, The Enemy Within (that was skipped for... certian reasons), Is There in Truth No Beauty?, This Side of Paradise, and plenty of others that I enjoyed. There were others I.. well, didn’t, but I can’t recall outright hating anything. Regardless I came in apathetic at best, and I left a fan for it’s characters, interesting ideas, and I just had a lot of fun. It’s outdated in many ways, but still relevant in others. Overall, I’m glad to have finally watched it, and I hope that I enjoy TNG just as much. But if not, I’ll always have this~!

(Image Source: TrekCore TOS Gallery)

#star trek tos #callie reviews

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ziotsu · 5 years ago

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time to write out literally all my thoughts as someone who can’t read Japanese!

I actually saw the first few pages when people were posting them because apparently the first half of the chapter comes out the second week? I didn’t post my thoughts cause I wanted to do them all at the same time

Page 1! Well this is fun, I absolutely love the expressions in this manga (I feel like me going on about the art in this manga is going to be a theme lol). But the subtle differences between how Ashiya looks and how he looks when Sakae is controlling him are amazing. And it isn’t just the eye color, but just everything with how Sakae acts and carries himself (face included) really is awesome. And it doesn’t feel like just slapping a new face on Ashiya’s body, I genuinely can see Ashiya making this expression when Sakae isn’t possessing him (if he wasn’t such a cinnamon roll). Also the shock on Abeno’s face is not something we see too often. He has his normal shocked face but this feels more raw than in the past? Like his eyes seem wider and the way his hair is makes it seem like he basically just did a double take. MMMMMMMMMM this is good shit. But story wise, I assume this page is just restating the fact that you really don’t wanna use influence on a parasitic shrub possessed demon.

Page 2 and 3! Abeno know’s what’s up, or at least it seems so. It would be more surprising if he didn’t tbh. Also I wonder if Sakae kind of knew this was going to happen? Considering he was trying to keep them away, I assume he did. At the very least he does not seem shocked at all to see Aoi like that at all. Speaking of Aoi, they are def trapped where they are at. That whole is well large enough for them to get through and attack them again, but they are still on the ground it seems. I am guessing it has to do with the tree we saw coming from their tail last chapter. They are still 110% mad though.

3-4! It looks like it isn’t just the trees that are keeping Aoi down, I thought the roots attaching the main body to the ground had been ripped up but it looks like there are some remaining. Sakae is as gentle as ever, yes just toss away his injured arm, great idea. Now Abeno is in even more pain. The wound though is really deep, looks like two large gashes, which Sakae actually starts to dress (rest in peace, kimono sleeve) (also while abeno is trying to get his arm out of the inner kimono (idk what is is called), we can see the medicine Abeno always carries around! I love the attention to detail in this manga)

5-6! Yup, page 5 doesn't do it justice, but page six really shows the extent of the damage one of the gashes did. Super nasty scar going to go there. We see some more of Aoi though, and do they chirp? Like what cats do? Cause murder cat looks super cute on page 5 and I don’t know how to feel about this.

They look like baby here and I want to protect them. Abeno seems to be bringing up the medicine, though I really don’t know what this would do to Aoi other than basically kill them. Which honestly, may be for the best? I know it’s a bit messed up, but it has been stated before that they are obviously past the point of getting them help, and leaving them there would be super dangerous.

7-8! I am making another assumption that Sakae doesn’t know what the medicine does. Which I have a current theory that the medicine is a new development for the underworld. (if such a medicine existed before Aoi left, why wouldn’t they use it on them?) Which would also mean that Sakae wouldn’t know about it either. My guess from the last pages seem to be correct as there is a panel showing Aoi burning, which seems pretty deathy to me. I honestly don’t know what they are going to do, though I think for now, they should be getting back, reporting the situation and getting help for themselves. Aoi seems really stuck here so I don’t think they are a direct threat to the underworld immediately. (Unless Aoi manages to escape the island and oh boy that would not be good) Abeno seems pretty determined, though, so regardless Aoi is most likely going to meet their actual end.

9-10! Aoi is starting to go to sleep here, Sakae seems really good at first aid (wonder where/why he learned that ;) Maybe a certain lady who often gets sick?) Not a whole lot happens, I think these are mostly showing the passage of time, and it seems Abeno is putting away the medicine for now. Which good move, my boy. Come back to take care of murder cat later. Also I wonder if all those trees are from Aoi’s parasitic shrub. That would be terrifying if that is the case. It could really show how long they have been there, trapped and going mad because of the shrub.

11-12! Good lord all of them are looking super cute this chapter. Sakae you can’t do this to me, just all your movements and facial expressions are justlasdkhjg;lakshjdg. Ashiya is cute in his own right, but this is a different type of cute. Why are all these characters like this and please don’t stop making all these characters like this. We get a good look at Aoi’s spine and it makes me sad (though also could give more insight to how the shrub basically takes over? Using the spinal cord to get to the brain seems like a good path to take if the shrub’s goal is to spread like any other parasite (which also makes sense with the going mad thing, kind of like rabies almost) I am glad Abeno’s arm is being supported and held still with what they had on hand. Still looks super painful though.

13-14! And they are out! At least out of the pit where they can really easily run if they need to. Sakae is starting to get tired, so I wonder how much longer he can go on? I hope he can stay awake long enough to get back to the mononokean because I highly doubt Abeno can carry an unconscious Ashiya back. He would most likely have to wait for Ashiya to wake back up before moving on and who knows how long that will take. Part of page 13 made me go back to see the last few pages, but it looks like Aoi’s front right paw is stuck in the ground :( good cause they are most likely really stuck there and probably wont be able to escape easy but it makes me sad to see the previous master of the mononokean in such a state.

15-16! Oof the tiredness is really showing in the first panel. Get out of there quick so you both can rest! I am guessing Abeno is asking about why Sakae said those things in the flower field.Like how Aoi is dead and such, and honestly did Sakae lie? Aoi, as they were in the past, is dead. They are completely over taken and do not recognize even the child they basically raised.

17-18! Oh boy Sakae is getting more and more tired, Abeno is asking about the golden butterfly and can you two just get going? Ya’ll have limited time here!!!!! Though I wonder if Sakae used his influence on one of the butterflies to communicate to Ashiya? it seems very similar? Or a butterfly made from pure influence? Which would explain how it disappeared when Ashiya grabbed it?

I am going to stop the page format because uh.... WHAT. First off Abeno was def asking about the influence/parasitic shrub thing that Sakae brought up. And WE ACTUALLY LEARN ABOUT IT NEXT CHAPTER. This is huge cause oml this feels like a rare moment. Normally mysteries like this linger for a few chapters, simmer and make us suffer. BUT WE GOT A NEW BRAND OF SUFFERING TODAY FOLKS! Like I theorized it a bit on why I didn’t think Aoi was the one Sakae used his influence on, due to thinking that Aoi being infected years before picking up Abeno seemed super dangerous and didn’t feel like something they would do. I DIDN’T KNOW YOU CAN USE INFLUENCE TO CURE THE PARASITIC SHRUB THOUGH! PAGE 22 IS SUFFERING! PAGE 22 HAS ALL THE ANSWERS! Like we now know what happened, or at least have enough facts to be able to piece it together! Aoi and Sakae went out for a job, either they find out that the demon is infected or know and are going to try to help them out. Aoi somehow gets infected by this demon and Sakae uses his influence to get rid of the growing infection only to die himself as the parasitic shrub is not meant to live in the human body. This explains why Aoi was so beat up over his death, because IT WAS THEIR FAULT. It explains why Sakae would use his influence on a demon that is infected, because it is Aoi, their employer and friend. He probably wasn’t meaning to die at all, just thinking that ‘hey let’s just get rid of this shrub from Aoi so they don’t die because they are an important part of the Underworld (though AU where Sakae can’t do this and has to become the next master of the mononokean ;) )

We also see the aftermath, it is almost like he becomes some form of demon himself, and actually looks infected with the shrub. I doubt it is the same sort of situation because he doesn’t become a tree? I am honestly unsure on how this affected him. He does go and meet his son a few months later, (wait or was that Aoi because between the two pages we see a sort of continuation with the hand on the left (aoi’s hand) but we also see the ‘veins’ of the shrub which hints towards Sakae? I like to think that Sakae visited baby Ashiya, so I am going to go with the assumption it is Sakae visiting till I am proven otherwise) and smol Ashiya is always cute. Ashiya does seem to ‘notice’ something? or he is just a baby and babies cry A LOT. We see Sakae ‘infect’ the butterfly he uses to communicate with Ashiya in the flower field. Wonder if he tried doing the same in the past with Abeno, only Abeno cannot hear his words.

ALSO GUYS I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? Ashiya is now completely passed out, Abeno cannot carry him back and now they gotta just chill there till Ashiya wakes back up. I know it is awesome to have questions answered, but please.

Though I guess somehow they managed cause Ashiya wakes up in what I can only assume is the Legeslator’s place? It is def not the mononokean (too large and im sure we would be hearing a bell the moment Ashiya woke up) but it could be Korou’s place. Not sure how Abeno managed, but he probably found a way to get them out of there. Rip golden eyes, though :( Guess they were just either the side effect to using that much influence or a hint that Sakae was just kind of hanging around in case shit hits the fan.

There is incense burning, making a guess this is either a preventative measure against the shrub or something to help wake Ashiya up faster. Ashiya is alone and it seems he is shaken because of what Sakae explained (I am guessing it was similar to his dreams when he subconsciously used his influence and he was dreaming about Sakae’s past)

This chapter was amazing, answered so many things and saw enough cute to really counter balance the ‘what the actual fuck’ this chapter brought along with it.

#fukigen na mononokean #The Morose Mononokean

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btgalaxy · 6 years ago

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Moonlight - Jungkook wolf!au

➳ a/n: soooo a long awaited (lol) moonlight chapter- hope you enjoy it! :)) - admin lottie

➳ pairing: jungkook x reader

➳ genre: wolf!au, a little bit of everything tbh; angst, fluff, smut

➳ word count: 3.8k

➳warning(s): violence, mention of gore/murder

previous / masterlist / next

Chapter 11:

You’ve been waiting hours. The cold morning light has revealed the extent of the damage from the Rogue attack— most of which is easily recovered and fixed. Thank God. At least, despite everything that’s happened, there will be one less thing to be worried and stressed about. You’re already on the verge of a breakdown since you’ve basically thrown one of the two people you’re in close contact with under the bus, and the other you’ve perpetually pissed off. Maybe it really is your fault this time. Maybe you’ve royally fucked it for good now.

You can see Jin standing outside the house on duty still, a purple bruise swollen on his right cheek from Jungkook’s fist and his eye all black and small. You tried to take some ice out to him to soothe it when he first arrived at the post, but he ignored it, and he told you to go back inside near emotionlessly. You’ve never seen someone look so dead in the eyes, even more so directed at you. You aren’t sure how much more hurt you can deal with, whether you induced it or not.

You sit with a blanket wrapped around your shoulders at the window in the lounge, looking over the front patch of drive, still awaiting Jungkook’s arrival. He won’t be much longer. Your wolf is stirring already, so he must be getting nearer.

You told him you loved him. Why would you do that? He obviously doesn’t love you back. You’re just a nuisance to the pack, a problem that Jungkook has to handle alongside everything else. God, you’ve never felt like such a burden. You can’t even speak to your dad to numb the ache in your chest since the landline and your mate’s computer are locked away in his office, practically taunting you it’s so close yet so far. And that means no Taehyung either; granted, that’s probably the reason the door is locked, so possibly wouldn’t be a wise decision anyway.

You trudge into the kitchen sullenly, finally succumbing to the growling in your belly and scavenging for some kind of relief. It comes in the form of cornflakes a few days out of date; as the stock in your kitchen hasn’t been replenished for about a week it’ll have to do. Maybe this is just another way the world is punishing you.

As you settle with your food, the sound of a door handle rattling is brought to your attention. Your eyes widen slightly, dropping the spoon as you jump from your stool to around the corner, just in time to see your mate shutting the door behind him slowly. As he turns, you’re immediately met with purple bags looming under his eyes and a pale face making his skin look white-washed and ill. Your wolf stirs, aching to care for him, but you don’t know what to say, or what to do.

He shrugs his coat off, dropping it over the radiator by the front door, but remaining facing the wall. He stays that way for a moment, enshrouding the room in a deafening atmosphere, before whipping round to stalk stealthily in his office.

The door slams shut behind him. You let out a breath. Then he walks straight back out.

“I’m sorry,” he announces, striding over to you. As if subconsciously, you throw yourself into his arms.

“I was a jerk and angry and stressed and I’m sorry,” he mumbles into your neck, nose nuzzling against your flesh as you curl further into his chest. This was not what you were expecting – not that it hasn’t come as a welcome surprise.

“I’m sorry I ran, too,” you respond, pulling back your head to look up at him, “I should’ve stayed with Jin, I should’ve listened to you, I-“

He cuts you off by bringing his lips onto yours, and you melt into him like caramel. The sugar drips off your lips as your hands climb up his chest onto his shoulders, his own clinging to your waist desperately. He nudges you backwards as you step behind you towards the kitchen, still holding him with a newfound urgency. When your back is flush against the kitchen counter, your mate hoists you onto the surface as you push the bowl of cereal aside and he slots himself between your legs, finally pulling back to breathe.

“Don’t apologise, Y/N,” he pants with you, “It was a shitstorm and I should’ve handled things better – it was my fault for being a shitty Alpha.”

“Don’t say that,” you respond, sternly, “You’re – we’re still so young and you don’t have to do it alone – all I want to do is help you, but you always push me away when I should be being there for you.”

He frowns slightly, “No, it’s my job to protect you, Y/N.” His response leaves you grimacing, and you push him gently out of the way so you can jump off the counter.

“Jungkook, I don’t think you understand, a Luna’s role is-“

“Y/N, I know what a Luna’s role is,” he sighs, “Let’s not argue again now, please, there’s still shitloads to do-“

“Well I’m trying-“

“I know what you’re trying to do,” he sighs, holding one hand up to his nose briefly before heading to the fridge and pulling out a drink, “You’re trying to have me let you lead a pack with me when you’ve no experience whatsoever.”

You grimace at that, “I’ve got to start somewhere.”

“Can we talk about something else?” He looks at you, bum perched on the counter as he sips his drink.

Folding your arms over your chest and with the most authoritative tone you can muster up, you order: “Tell me about your father.”

Jungkook watches you as you stand there, resolute with your words. It’s fairly apparent you must be the only one who ever dares to question him or make demands of him. Other packs wouldn’t, and Jimin certainly wouldn’t, let alone the rest of the pack’s inhabitants. Only you. You think he enjoys it slightly, though, having someone give him a bit of response.

Your mate finally puts down his drink with a deep breath, “You don’t want to hear about that.”

“I do,” you insist, fumbling quickly behind him as he trudges towards the stairs, “I do, Jungkook.”

He doesn’t slow down, instead double-steps up the spiral staircase as you struggle to keep up behind him. You won’t let him close up again – not just as you’re about to get somewhere.

“Jungkook, please!” You all but yell from behind him, the distance between the two of you growing as he steps into the bedroom while you still make your way up the last few steps.

“Just....just talk to me.” The hint of desperation in your voice causes him to stop and you nearly collide into his back. A sharp sigh leaves his lips and you’re hopeful that he’ll finally begin to open up and treat you like a mate rather than a burden... but of course, this is Jungkook you’re talking about.

“Why are you so interested in everything that involves me? Is there nothing else to entertain you?” You’re a bit taken back by his outburst, before letting out a scoff. Had you really expected anything different?

“Unfortunately, no. Everything I had to ‘keep me entertained’ I had to give up as soon as you decided to show up,” you spit back at him with clear disdain, the shock that settles onto his features mimicking yours from just seconds ago.

“Excuse me?” Jungkook’s incredulous tone challenges you to keep going. You see the fire ignite in his eyes and it triggers an adrenaline rush which pushes you over the edge to take him up on the offer, fist clenching at your sides as you continue on.

“Honestly Jungkook; one day you and your pack just show up, it turns out that we’re mates and you bring me here before I’ve fully processed what’s happening. I had to give up my pack, my family, my home to start my life anew with people I don’t know and who I’ve barely interacted with since I got here. What did you give up, huh? You, being my mate, are the one person who’s supposed to make all of this worth it and I don't know anything about you. Are you actually surprised that I’m not on cloud nine up in your segregated house where I have, as of yesterday, no friends at all?”

Although your question is rhetorical, Jungkook can’t help the physical ache it leaves in his chest to hear you say that you aren't happy being with him. He tries to convince himself that the comment hurts his own ego rather than his wolf’s bond, but the longer he stares at you, the tighter the bond feels. It’s almost as if his wolf is trying to hold on to you and keep you close to him, afraid you'll leave if he doesn’t.

The tension in the room feels suffocating as you and Jungkook remain staring at each other, waiting for the other the make the first move. You decide to break the silence, taking in a calming breath before carefully addressing him.

“Jungkook I just... I'm not asking you to tell me everything about you. You can tell me as much or as little as you want, but just tell me something. Talk to me. I want to know my mate, not ‘Jeon Jungkook, Alpha of Red Moon’, like everyone else knows. I want to feel like we’re bonded better than that.”

Jungkook clenches his jaw and looks away, considering your words. Another sigh leaves his lips, exhaling his anger and apprehension with it as his body finally relaxes and slouches over. Stretching out his taut muscles, your mate walks over and sits at the edge of the bed. Looking down at his feet, he pats the open space next to him.

“There’s a lot to catch you up on so you might as well take a seat.” A small smirk graces his face and you tilt your head in wonder as your legs guide you closer to him, hesitantly sitting down.

It’s silent for a few moments as he thinks over how to begin.

“My father… he was incredible, once. He knew the right thing to do in every single situation, how to keep the pack happy and safe and balanced… and they loved him for it. He was what made Red Moon as powerful as it is now. The loyalty of his pack made him a formidable opponent to any others, and he was admired across the world. Growing up, these incredibly powerful wolves from all over the world visited us to meet him and form alliances and friendships and to listen to him speak of his pack and his mighty prowess… not that it’s much use now.

Dad’s mate – my mother – was from an Omega family from one of the packs that visited.”

You can’t suppress the gasp that slips from your lips. An Omega? With such a powerful Alpha? An Omega is the absolute runt of the pack – there is no going lower than an Omega wolf, but usually wolves mate with those of similar rankings. You’ve never heard of such a story – and if you had anywhere else other than the horse’s mouth you aren’t sure you would’ve even believed it.

After a brief pause he continues, “My father didn’t care what ranking she was. He was utterly in love with her from the start. They were married within a few days and expecting within a few weeks.” He looks down at his lap, uncomfortably, and you gently reach out to place a caring hand on his, squeezing it softly to offer some reassurance.

He breathes in, “After I was born, they received word that there’d been some resentment bubbling within some of the lower ranks of the pack – they were angered that they were treated poorly yet this Omega from another pack was now their Luna and regarded as wolf royalty. It was jealousy. They were fucking jealous.” You see the fury rise in his eyes as you slowly rub your thumb across the veiny back of his hands.

“They’d plotted out a whole agenda. They were to wait for a viable heir for the Alpha position. They had originally planned to do it within a few weeks of my birth, but they decided to wait for an age that I no longer needed my mother. So things were good for a few years, the pack flourished under the leadership of my father and my mother cared for me at home until I started school. It was then that they deemed me capable without parents.

They lured my father out of the house with a fire one night and came in and slaughtered my mother. She’d heard them come in and thought it was an attack from another pack, so she rushed me to the saferoom, but the revolt had an Epsilon who knew the passcode in. So we were trapped and they slit her throat in front of my eyes.”

You watch as a tear slips through onto your mate’s cheek, staring blankly ahead as he involuntarily relives the moment. You shuffle closer to him and bring his hand up to your face, holding it there for warmth.

He sniffs slightly, “When father returned, he found me in the saferoom with mum’s blood all over me, trying to revive her. He immediately knew who’d killed her. Apparently he’d heard about the plotting before, but hadn’t expected anything to come of it. It was then that I saw his eyes, they – it was almost as if I could see the way the man he was slip from them. He was gone, along with her.

His sanity was questionable from that moment, let alone years later when the pack decided enough was enough and exiled him from Red Moon. He was executing masses. He blamed the pack rankings for my mother’s death and wanted to obliterate them. Starting by killing as much of his pack that he’d built over the years as he possibly could. People died for anything, and they lived in fear for too many years.

I was 17 when he finally left. Made Alpha the same day, because what’s a pack without its leader? Red Moon was fairly easily rebuilt. Word of my father’s sanity was kept within the borders, else we could’ve faced wars and conflict we couldn’t overcome without a lucid Alpha.”

It almost is too much to process. No wonder your mate is initially cold to people; his own father betrayed him and continues to attack everything he loves. The thought of it makes you miss your own father, wondering how the hell you would ever get over losing him, the way Jungkook’s lost his parents. It’s too harrowing to even consider.

“And the letter? From the box in the cupboard?” You don’t mean to pry, but for the first time he’s actually being open with you about his life.

He sighs, biting his lower lip cautiously, “He sent that to me a few months ago – well before I met you. He still believes all wolves should be equal and the rank system should be demolished. But he’s not in his right mind – without ranks there’d be anarchy, and the powerful would no longer be required to protect the weak. It would be wolf versus wolf, and there’d be massacres without consequence. The world would no longer be safe. He was trying to convince me to dismantle Red Moon and join him and the rogues in a rank-less world. But I would never yield my pack to a life like that. Never.”

You both sit in silence, both lost in your thoughts with an indistinguishable atmosphere between you. This is the story that’s made him who he is, his legacy. You feel a lump in the back of your throat when you look at him, eyes red with both grief and fury, head hung low and a forlorn look strewn across his features.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” you tell him, earnestly.

He breathes out, “I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into it. Maybe having an Alpha mate isn’t worth it after all.”

You immediately take his hand in yours and lean into him, “Don’t you ever apologise, Jungkook. I know I said some things earlier, but I promise I still chose to be here with you, and I don’t regret leaving Scarlet Oak, and certainly the last thing I would ever ask for is to have a different mate. You are perfect for me, flaws and shitty family and all.”

This makes him look back at you, a slight smile just poking at the corner of his lip. He watches you for a moment, before leaning in and stealing a gentle kiss as his arms reach for your waist. As if subconsciously, you relax into him and bring yourself round to straddle his lap.

He pulls back, “I love you, too, you know. I should’ve told you before the Rogue attack because I know how you like to overthink things, and I shouldn’t have excluded you from everything that was happening, but I do love you. Even if I don’t show it in the right way.”

An uncontrollable grin spreads across your face as much as you try and hold it back. Your mate smiles contentedly in response, leaning in to you again.

“Wait-,” you stop him, “Say it once more?”

He finally lets out a throaty laugh and it rings like a chorus of church bells in your ears, still ringing after it’s stopped and you hope it never does, “I love you.”

He kisses you on the forehead, “I love you.”

Then on the bridge of your nose, “I love you.”

On your eyelid, scrunched up from the smile spread inexorably across your face, “I love you.”

And finally he looks down at your lips, “I love you.”

__________________

After a lazy afternoon of kisses and ignorance, Jungkook excuses himself to his office to take a call from the packhouse in the town, leaving you settled on the sofa alone with your thoughts.

It would be ideal if you could reconcile with Jin – then you would have it all; your mate and your closest Red Moon friend. And that’s enough for you. And maybe a better friendship with Taehyung. You haven’t spoken to him much, but you still like him a lot. He’s intrinsically kind, from what you can tell, and that’s something you don’t often come across – particularly when speaking of pack Alphas who are traditionally cold and cut off… reminds you of a certain someone.

Thinking of Taehyung, you begin to contemplate the problem of the Rogues. Red Moon is clearly struggling, and despite Jungkook’s best efforts to protect the pack and be the best Alpha he can be, the attacks are still getting worse and more frequent. You need help, and frankly you can already expect that your mate isn’t going to be one initiating anything – especially considering him and his impenetrable pride.

He promptly finishes his call in his office, swaggering out to find you still lounging on the settee.

“Comfy?” He smiles, coming around to sit beside you, taking you by the waist and hauling your figure into his lap.

As he nestles his face into your neck, you begin to play with his large fingers, absentmindedly, “What was the call about?”

“Rogue stuff – not much progress in that department, but they’ve sealed up the well,” he responds, with a sense of finality.

You gently bite your lower lip in apprehension before speaking again, carefully deliberating over your words, “Maybe we should call Alpha Taehyung?”

Jungkook stiffens beneath you, “What?”

You nudge his face from your neck to look at him better, “I don’t mean for dinner and a show, Jungkook.”

“I should fucking hope not,” he growls.

Ignoring him, you continue: “I think we should be requesting his support if this were to reach a war we can’t handle.”

He perks up slightly at your comment, finally listening to you with half-earnest intent.

You carry on, “Taehyung is a good ally to have and he’s situated close the pack so could reach us within a couple of hours. He is actually a very kind person if you would actually give him a chance and he said we can call him whenever we need him. And I think we do need him.”

You can tell your mate is on the verge of compliance, but his jealousy still holds him back. God, this man and his hubris. You look at him, unforgivingly.

“I think you need to suck it up and be what you need to be for your pack right now.”

“You sound like a Luna.” You can tell he tries to suppress the small smirk on his face, fondness riddled through his expression.

You watch him still, seriously, “So you will call Taehyung?”

With a sigh, Jungkook throws his head back, “Fucking alright, I’ll call the bastard. Later though, we have to get down to the packhouse first for something.”

“For what?” You interrogate, suspiciously.

“You’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve had enough of you bossing me about for one day,” he squeezes your waist playfully before standing you both up to head out, enveloping your hand in his to walk over to his jeep.

The packhouse is fairly busy when you arrive; the usual people mulling about outside with Jimin handing out some clipboards to people. He holds a hand up to you in greeting from afar, and Jungkook half-smiles back before walking you by the hand into a meeting room inside.

The lights are dimmed and your mate’s skin looks soft and dewy in the darkness. He looks over you at the door, and you cannot help but lean into his neck and leave kisses gently down.

“What are you doing?” He grumbles, quiet and throatily.

You bite your lip as your hand runs down his torso, “Nothing.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…,” he warns.

“And why not?” You smirk back, looking up at him suggestively.

He flicks his head to the door with a humorous glint in his eye.

“Hello, poppet.”

#bts fanfiction #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook au #bts au #jeon jungkook #jungkook #moonlight #bts #admin lottie

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ranger-report · 5 years ago

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Thoughts On: HEXEN: BEYOND HERETIC

In 1995, less than a year after the release of Heretic (which I talked about here), Raven Software unleashed a masterpiece upon the first person shooter landscape. Titled Hexen: Beyond Heretic, the game featured radical new features for the id tech 1 engine, including scripted events (such as monster falling through the ceiling to ambush the player), hub level design, CD music, and moving walls. But what it really brought to the table was an unrelenting difficulty and obtuse puzzle system revolving around the discovery of multiple switches throughout a central hub to open the path to the next world. Combined with a pseudo-RPG character class feature, beautiful sprite work, and a rich atmosphere to explore, Hexen introduced concepts and mechanics that influence FPS games to this day, overshadowed only by the release of Quake the following year.

YouTuber GmanLives produced a video on Hexen calling it, “The Dark Souls of FPS Games,” and that's really not far off the mark. Hexen is oppressive. It's brutal. It's actively trying to prevent the player from achieving their goal of beating the game. While the previous entry in the series, Heretic, offered a fast-paced shoot-em-up blitzkrieg, this game operated with a more measured approach. Methodical pacing, resource management, and the utilization of each class's weapons are key to moving forward. Hidden doors and paths and switches, sometimes activated with the use key and sometimes by firing a weapon at them, permeate the levels to the point where half the game can be spent clicking or shooting at random walls just to see what's going to open up when – or if at all. Most games would tuck away secrets by this method, but Hexen, oh no. Hexen offers little rewards aside from survival, and it's glorious. It's harder than shit, but it's glorious.

Opening up the game, players are given three options to choose from: Baratus the fighter, Parias the cleric, or Daedolon the mage. Each class has their ups and downs; for example, the fighter is a beefy fucker who has high hit points and damage, but weak magic, leading to a mostly melee combat style if you run out of mana. The mage is the opposite, low hit points but high magic damage, with some gorgeously rendered spells that beautifully highlight the detail that id tech 1 was capable of. And the cleric is a mixed bag, balanced between the two, with a woefully weak melee weapon and decent ranged magic weapons, but he also carries the single best weapon in the entire game: the Wraithverge, a crucifix that shoots out Arc of the Covenant ghosts that scream and eviscerate anything on the screen in a glorious display of carnage. Clear out a room in seconds with two well placed shot. Arguable, the Wraithverge should be right up next to the BFG 9000 as one of the most ridiculously overpowered weapons in any game – maybe even higher. But the Wraithverge is an Ultimate Weapon, and each class has an Ultimate Weapon, which needs to be assembled over the course of the game by finding the pieces of it tucked away in hidden corners of the levels. Depending on your vigilance, you might find the pieces sooner vs later, and the rewards for this are plentiful. However, unlike the prior game, this game doesn't use unique ammo type for each weapon; that would be too easy. This time around, weapons require mana to use, coming in two different flavors, blue and green. Each class works as such: weak melee weapon that needs no mana, a slightly stronger weapon that uses blue mana, a much stronger weapon that uses green mana, and the Ultimate Weapon which uses both. With the fighter, all of his weapons can be used as melee if he runs out of mana, but if he has the stock, they take on ranged properties. The mage has a starting weapon that requires no mana, but it still ranged. Meanwhile, the cleric maintains the balance with his solo melee weapon, and the rest are ranged. What's notable about the differences in the classes is that it's not just limited to weapon usage, but also inventory usage. Different classes will garner different amounts of armor points depending on their “familiarity” with how to use armor. There's an item called a fletchette that varies in use depending on the class; for example, the fighter throws the fletchette like a bomb, where the cleric drops it in place and it explodes into a cloud of poison. New players will have the opportunity to briefly look over the classes at the beginning as the opening screen displays stats such as speed, armor, magic, and strength, all of which seem a little arbitrary since they don't explicitly state what they do or how they affect the game up front. At the same time, each class is going to lean towards a bit more difficulty, seeing as how the tanky fighter is going to make bruting through the game a lot easier than the tissue paper mage. First time players would do wise to pick the fighter or the cleric as their first timer, saving the mage for a later playthrough, unless you're a masochist when it comes to the games that you play.

One of the great distinctions about Hexen as compared to Heretic is that the former feels more like a fully realized game world vs the cool fanfic/DOOM clone of the latter. Director and designer Brian Raffel no doubt had a hardon for dark fantasy substance, having worked on Raven's previous two fantasy games, and with the release of DOOM thought, “You know, we can do something with that.” Didn't hurt that id Software was just a block down the street from their offices around that time (true story!) and John Romero, AKA Rock God of Gaming, worked directly with Raven during development so they could make the most of id tech 1. Taking what they knew after Heretic, hungry to dive in further, Hexen feels like a natural expansion of the concepts introduced in the first game: weary travelers journeying through worlds and dimensions to combat an ancient evil using magic and steel. It's great stuff, leaning even harder on the 80's horror fantasy art aesthetic. The game is oozing with deeply detailed monsters and environments, even more refined than the very good work done on Heretic. Translucent objects, fog, breakable terrain, each hub and level are intimately crafted to feel like it's a living, breathing world, not just something you've decided to boot up on your 486 PC. Ranging from traditionally gothic architecture with stained glass and parapets, to jungley swamps, arid canyons, and moldy sewers. And as mentioned before, it's brutally oppressive, absolutely unwelcoming in design. Even the environment doesn't want your presence here. Sometimes it doesn't even want the other monsters around; if you're lucky, you can get creatures to turn on each other by creeping into a new area, and if you can go unnoticed before their attack animations kick in, monster castes will infight with one another, saving you precious mana in the process. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it's a fun little sight to behold your meddling.

The sound effects are truly phenomenal, a game worth wearing headphones for. Composer Kevin Schilder returns for the soundtrack, and while his work on Heretic was suitable, here he knocks it completely out of the park. Ominous, brooding, energetic but not too up tempo, it's perfect dungeon crawling music that creeps up your spine at the same time. Meanwhile the distinct creature sounds echo and crawl around corners, letting you know what is where, and also what to be afraid of. I can still hear the sounds of the Dark Bishop in the back of my head, letting me know that I need to turn tail and put some distance between me and them. Enemy design is even better this time around: the aforementioned Dark Bishops take the role of the previous game's Disciples of D'Sparil, teleporting and blasting you with dark magic from their hooded, faceless bodies. Ettins are double-headed warrior beasts that carry a spiked mace, and are the most prevalent monster class in the game – and while they might be everywhere, they pack a helluva wallop, meaning you don't underestimate them no matter how many times you've killed one. Meanwhile, the Centaurs and Slaughtaurs are horrible little shits. Just like the tag says, they're centaurs with full-face helmets, swords, and spiked shields. They can raise their shield to deflect any incoming attacks and reflect them back at you, which is infuriating, especially since the Slaughtaur can fire deadly green magic at you while holding up their shields. And since they look the same, you have to approach any of them with intense caution, otherwise you're staring down the face of death while waiting to make your next strike.

Puzzles operate primarily on a “find the key/switch” platform, but rather than tracking down everything necessary to proceed in a single level, Hexen challenges the player to locate and operate everything they need to move forward throughout a spread of areas around the hub. For example, the Swamp Key won't be directly located in the swamp itself, but maybe over in the Forest. Multiple switches necessary to unlocking the Final Door in the central hub are located in the various hub worlds, informing the player with a quick “You have solved 1/3 of the puzzle” text across the screen when you've found one. Find another switch, the number increases from 1/3 to 2/3, etc. But each hub has more switches, all the way up to nine switches necessary to journey on, which to some is going to be a slog. While frustrating at times, I never felt like I was wading through a switch hunt just to proceed. Each switch seemed to naturally pop up on its own, and once I realized that certain areas couldn't be accessed within the levels themselves, I'd hop around the various worlds in the hub until I found a new switch or key, and then went back. Imagine if Super Mario 64's paintings were all connected to each other, and you had to hop back and forth between them in order to get to the next floor of the castle. It's innovative, and certainly makes sense; if an evil overlord tyrant person were going to hide the keys to access their lair, they probably would spread them out to make it harder to find. It's gratifying to open up section after section of these levels, defying the odds and slaying your way through the puzzles. Adding to the depth of torment is that, unlike Heretic, clearing a room of monsters doesn't mean it will stay that way. Scripted sequences again have monsters teleport in when you least expect it, repopulating areas you thought were safe for the time being. Damning though that may be, it adds to the feeling like the player is being watched at every moment, and that the game is doing its level best to fight back against your progress.

Hexen is hard. I resorted to a walkthrough once, just like in Heretic, and absolutely utilized the minimap in order to suss out where switches were located. There is nothing here to suggest a walk in the park: it is labyrinthine, it is torrid, it is nightmarish. But the mechanics all come together in the end, particularly in the moments where the game gratifyingly presents a room full of mana and health and a lot of monsters to let loose on. These apeshit moments are some of the best in the game. After spending hours managing resources and trying to hoard as much mana and health as possible, to be allowed a moment of pure rip and tear is wonderful.

If you're going to play Hexen, I highly recommend getting the expansion, Deathkings of the Dark Citadel. Not only is the title metal as fuck, but the three new hubs it offers are even more vicious, demeaning, and frustrating. They shove all the elements of the previous five hubs down into three, and it shows. You'll be assaulted on all fronts right from the start, continuing where the final battle left off in Hexen. You still get to pick your class, but sadly, you're also starting over. Curiously depowered and without any inventory items to work with, you'll feel extra squishy for the first level or three. Honestly, Deathkings was where I felt I had the most pure Hexen experience: solidly brutal and unforgiving as fuck. Interestingly, Deathkings was released in 1996 around the same time that Heretic got a retail release with two additional episodes under the name Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. Factor this in with the upcoming release of Hexen II in 1997 (which saw a hefty difficulty spike as well), it seems that Raven got in one last hurrah with id tech 1 before moving on to id tech 2 -- the Quake engine. But more on that game in another post.

As with Heretic, I recommend playing this one through GZDOOM in order to get the best experience. And you'll need the best experience to stay one step ahead of everything that's trying to kill you. In a nutshell, Hexen is a true masterclass of determination to see the day through. For fans of retro FPS games, it's a must play, but be warned that coming into this after Heretic there is a distinct shift in how the game plays, looks, feels. Gone is the run and gun, which exists now only in pockets. But what's here, crafted lovingly and passionately, is a true nightmare of agony and difficulty unlike anything made before it. As Gmanlives summed it up, perhaps Dark Souls should be called the Hexen of third person adventure games.

Next time, we'll take a look at Hexen II, a popular but vastly different title in the series, and how the changes it made not only distinguished it from the previous two games, but may have also set it slightly backwards as well.

#hexen #raven software #id software #doom #heretic #first person shooter #dark souls #roses and ruins #ck burch #thoughts on #ranger report

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nouru-vi · 5 years ago

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Second chapter of my Allods fic, which actually includes the Good Stuff. That being cosmic horror and lesbian thirsting, because what else do you even need?

The contingent, led by Inspector Istharnax, marched down the corridor at a brisk pace.

"How many people has this thing taken?" asked the Arisen abruptly. "We have about 30 missing, Inspector," the Orcish guard sergeant responded dutifully, catching up with the woman so as not to speak to her back, "plus the military squad that had responded to our distress call." "But I've been told there have been a lot more... creatures than that." "Yeah. I mean, yes, Comrade Inspector. The damn thing must be getting them from somewhere else, or multiplying them, or somethin'."

No further response came from Istharnax, and the man eventually spoke up again. "With r'spect, Comrade Inspector, are you sure we can beat 'em back?" "I do not wish to surrender the installation without at least making an attempt. I am powerful, Sergeant. We have a chance."

Her words rang so confidently that the sergeant felt almost reassured, as they reached the blast door sealing off the lost part of the corridor from the rest. Without a word, the inspector entered a code into the keypad, and slammed the activator.

The corridor ahead was empty, and looked just like the previous sections, with slightly rusting, riveted metal floors and walls. The mana lamps were still working, and a few doors could be seen in the distance, opening to the sides, though all closed. But the far end was lost in darkness.

The group moved onwards, weapons at the ready. Although nothing could be seen or heard in the corridor, living or otherwise, Istharnax could feel the apprehension and dread of the soldiers like tiny trickles of icy water down her back. A few minutes went by, as they passed the shut doors, arriving closer to the darkened end. Yet, the darkness there appeared just as pitch black as earlier.

It now filled their entire field of view, blacker than anything they had seen before. Looking at it this close was giving Istharnax a headache. She slowed down and stood at about a hundred feet from the edge of the darkness, where the light of the last lamp seemed to simply cut off. Even as she looked, the void appeared to be creeping slowly closer along the walls.

"Give me the light," she ordered, and one of the soldiers handed her the portable high-power mana beam they'd brought along. She switched it on, directing it right into the blackness in front. Even the powerful instrument seemed unable to penetrate it much. The inspector moved the beam to the side, where the wall of the corridor should have continued into the darkness, but there was just... nothing beyond the threshold.

Tilting her head slightly and uttering a small "Hmm" to herself, she directed the light back towards the middle. Where it fell upon a misshapen mass, floating midair.

It looked like a large cluster of oversized eyeballs, that turned in place towards the contingent in response to the bright light, pupils narrowing. Then it lurched forward, making a noise like a fog horn. As it flew out into the normal part of the corridor, it could be seen trailing a stem of thick veins, which now whirled forward to form something like a clawed appendage. And many other things poured out into the light along with it.

There was a massive hulk that seemed to consist of human teeth and gums, emitting a muffled noise of pain non-stop. There was a black, spiny, crawling thing that reminded Istharnax of the outer shell of a horse-chestnut crossed with a slug. There was a worm-shaped thing that seemed to be made of flesh-coloured bismuth, flowing along as if invisible hands were constantly drawing one end of it and erasing the other. There was a disembodied, floating mouth surrounded by clawed palms, cartwheeling through the air as it uttered random but entirely coherent sentences in Xadaganian. There was something that looked just like a liquefied human, rushing like a stream along the metal wall. And these were only the ones that were relatively easy to describe.

As this parade of horrors emerged from the blackness, one of the soldiers wordlessly turned around and ran. Istharnax momentarily considered liquefying his brain with a motion of her hand, but she couldn't actually blame him that much – and there were better targets to focus her power on. She thrust out an arm, purple energy crackling around her palm, and the toothy thing exploded, scattering teeth like shrapnel. Its screaming went on a little longer after its demise than Istharnax would have liked. On cue, the soldiers took up position in front of and next to the inspector, and opened fire, cutting swathes through the abominations.

Reinforcements were in no short supply, though, and the distance between them and the contingent was getting shorter. Still, the attack seemed to be going well – right until the first casualty.

A bouncing, milky blob ricocheted between the walls and floor towards them, evading the bolts and spells hurled at it, and lurched at one of the soldiers up front, engulfing him immediately. His screaming only stopped a few moments later, when a bright red orb of flesh burst out of the goop, and began jetting flames at its former comrades from the orifices on its surface.

Seeing this, two more soldiers turned tail immediately. The others held, although they appeared more than a bit shaky now. The only person able to muster a comment was Istharnax, in the form of an exasperated "Oh, fuck me."

Despite the contingent's considerable firepower, it was starting to look more and more like a battle they might be able to sustain for a while, but not win. Istharnax grit her teeth behind her mask. There was no point in sacrificing people for this.

"Sergeant. Retreat with your men. I will cover you," she spoke up. "Are ya bloody cra- I mean. Comrade Inspector, is that wise?" responded the Orc, while not letting go of his crossbow trigger for a second. "I said, go! I will repel them. Do not worry." "But, Inspe-" "Go!" The sergeant did not dare argue any further, and signaled retreat to his soldiers.

As they fled towards the other end of the corridor, not needing to be told twice, Istharnax doubled down on her attacks, although her head was already throbbing with the effort. Her core whined in protest, working at maximum capacity to provide cooling and endorphine to her overstressed brain. Yet, again and again she thrust her arms out, one after the other, sending crushing waves of telekinetic force to mow down the abominations pouring towards her. Their incomprehensible forms disintegrated without fail, splattering the floor with repulsive slurry that would, thankfully, rapidly dissolve into nothingness, with no unnatural cohesion left to hold it in this world.

But there just seemed no end to them. Istharnax was expecting her ungainly, not at all combat-appropriate inspectorial garments to straight up catch fire at this point from the heat of her strained systems underneath, artificial sweat trickling down in little streams over her unliving flesh. The edges of her vision were starting to blur ever so slightly, and she let out a hoarse groan of frustration, as she slowly began backing away down the corridor herself. It wasn't the pain that bothered her – her brain felt like a glob of lava in her skull by now – it was the possibility that she would not be able to hold out for much longer. She could not stop attacking, as they would overrun her quickly. If she falls here, the rest of the base may be promptly lost. That could not be allowed.

And what had the supervisor said? They don't die. The people that these things had once been... had not died, according to him. Of course, you don't need to be alive in the normal sense to be an unspeakable abomination that ignores most laws of nature... but no one seemed to have resurrected, have they. They were either stuck in Purgatory, or...

Istharnax had had a pretty long life, or rather, existence. Certain things, such as the emotion of actual fear, had not factored in it for so long that she was certain they only ever happened to other people anymore. But now she had to slap herself mentally so as to not continue down that road of thought, because it would have led towards a bottomless ocean of terror – an extremely inconvenient mental place to be in such a delicate situation. Her hands only trembled slightly as she began to take longer steps towards the reinforced steel door, still about three hundred feet behind her. She could not allow the installation to fall... but the lives of its personnel took priority. Though, at this rate...

She found that her groans had turned into screeches of anger and increasing desperation, accompanying every attack, making her vocabulator crackle with distortion, as the unceasing torrent of faceless, headless, formless, senseless creatures grew steadily more fuzzy before her. It wasn't them changing, because the floor and walls seemed to slightly wobble now, too. Still they poured from the pitch darkness at the far end of the corridor.

Istharnax briefly glanced to her left, where a steel sliding door similar to the one behind her connected another corridor into this one. It was firmly shut, but as she retreated past it she thought she heard, over the din of the assaulting monsters and the storm in her mind, faint, rapid beeps from the other side.

Several things happened all in the next few seconds. The noises she thought she heard drew the Arisen's glance towards the door again, and as a result she tripped. She managed not to fall over, but her concentration was broken, forcing her to stop the attack. That couple of seconds of a gap was enough to allow the tide of searing pain which she had been holding off to crash into her brain, and it took all of her power to stop herself from blacking out. At the same time, pneumatics hissed to her left, and the sliding door shot open. A squad of soldiers immediately rushed out, with a tall Xadaganian commissar up front, followed closely by a bulky Orcish woman, and at a little distance, a couple of soldiers escorting three more, who were clearly wounded.

The commissar quickly assessed the situation, and yelled, "Bring 'em, towards your three! Corporal–" What he tried to say next was drowned in the deafening battle cry promptly issuing from the Orc's throat as she charged towards the tide of monsters, which was rapidly closing in with no attacks from the inspector to hold it off. Istharnax found herself falling to her knees, and she fought against the urge to surrender to unconsciousness, watching the Orc. She barely registered the commissar descending on one knee next to her to help her.

The corporal was brandishing a hammer in each hand, and both seemed to glow with a fiery aura as she ran, eventually cannoning into the army of abominations. She then began a dance of death, pulverising a creature with each blow, the strikes of the likely enchanted weapons making them promptly explode as the hits connected. The Orc seemed to move with impossible speed, and Istharnax wondered how she was not tripping over her own feet.

The Arisen slowed down her perception of time, observing her saviour. The corporal's most prominent feature was a gorgeous mane of copper-red hair, restrained in a thick ponytail and flying behind her as she fought. She was wearing standard, military green Vanquisher armour, but with a few alterations – she had no helmet, but there was a traditional, checkered Orcish scarf loosely draped around her neck, and the chainmail and plates that normally should have been covering her upper arms and thighs had been removed. Istharnax found her photoreceptors zooming in on her exposed, amazing muscles, and her green skin, glistening with sweat. What a lovely shade of green, too, she thought, even as someone rudely interrupted her reverie of observing this armoured assault vehicle of a woman in action.

The commissar was yelling into where he assumed her audioreceptors should be, to try and get her back on her feet. Throwing him a brief, indignant look, she rose ponderously, flexing her hands with newfound combat readiness.

"Splendid timing. Retreat through the door behind me. The Corporal and I will cover you, and join you soon. Go," she commanded. The man nodded, and shouted "Carry on, Corporal!", before jogging after the rest of his squad.

Istharnax walked forward, raising her right arm slowly to resume her attack. Her telepathic voice entered the Orc's mind, telling her, "Take the left flank, I'll take the right. Steady retreat," with a little more purr to it than she had originally intended. The other woman made no response, but began to draw back towards the exit, and Istharnax fell in line behind and to the right of her, unleashing her mind's destructive power once again. This doubled their efficiency, and the distance between them and the attackers' reinforcements grew, so eventually less and less of them reached melee range. In response, the Orc stowed her hammers and unhooked her repeating crossbow from her back.

Istharnax saw light from the corner of her eye, and turned her glance to see the Orc running her hand over the length of the weapon, her fingers trailing fiery glowing streaks. Then she raised it, aimed, and began pumping bolts into their enemies, each hit resulting in an explosion. The inspector shifted her gaze back to their targets, muttering "Well, well" to herself.

They progressed like this for a few minutes, until they eventually approached the door at the end of the corridor. Whatever unnatural womb had been birthing these horrors seemed to have finally been tired out for the moment, as only singular creatures ran, flew or crawled towards them from the darkness at the other end every now and then, as opposed to a neverending army. The corporal turned and went to bang her fist thunderously on the door behind them as they reached it.

It opened immediately, and the two women hurried through. The door slammed to as soon as they were in, and the two squads greeted them with anxious looks. The corporal stowed her crossbow, spat on the floor, and declared, "Son of a fucking bitch." Istharnax leaned on the door with her back to it, her photoreceptors going dark for a moment, before eventually commenting with "Agreed," in a quiet, cracking voice.

She gathered her composure, stood up straight, and addressed the soldiers, speaking up. "Well done, Comrades, considering the circumstances. We repelled them for the moment. And now, we must evacuate the installation." Murmuring went up at this, and without further explanation, she turned to the Orc and added, "Thanks for the save, Corporal...?"

Then she found herself toppling over like a felled tree, right towards the Orc, who caught her. The collision of her cybernetic limbs on the armour resulted in a noise not completely unlike a metal coat rack falling over. With effort, the inspector looked up into the corporal's face, which showed an expression of mild concern as she responded, "Talsa".

Istharnax gathered the last particles of her strength to reply with a telepathic message. "Talsa... my hero." She still saw the slightly puzzled look on Talsa's face before her forehead slowly met the Orc's chestplate, and the world went black.

#allods online #fan fiction #allods online fan fiction #arisen #orc #istharnax #talsa #my characters #my writing #body horror cw #horror cw

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thoughtfulpaperback · 6 years ago

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Spoilers !!!! Stayed up so I could watch Charmed 02x01!!!! Spoilers

Non spoilers stuff first.

My reaction to pretty much the whole episode

Y'all!!!!!! Both good and bad! I was just super excited and glad for it to be back. And so shaken by all the changes and the mysteries!So in general I would give this episode 8/10. Only because I save my 9 and 10. But back to my normal format of these things. I'll start with 3 things I liked and 3 that I didnt although, I'd say it is less dislike and more on the fence.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

1. Hacy moments

For real's though, Macy's internal Harry has my theorizing mind going off and I loved all the double meanings in thier interactions (macy and real harry too) I mean the" I am not leaving you" was nice, but Delirious-Macy-mind-Harry saying "i am different do you like it?" And Macy being all like "yes".

I mean okay various meanings here

1. Obviously it isn't really Harry so of course mind harry is different

2. Macy's perspection of Harry is changing (level of attraction to Harry is growing)

3.But --I am putting on my theorizing cap on--I feel like since the poison hit Macy but had her trying to go home then 1) mind Harry (maybe possibly evil twin Harry hmmm..) may be trying to seduce Macy to the dark side or to fully embrace her demon side since he keeps telling her to come home or 2) mind Harry is death since she was poisoned and her attempts at following the voice almost got her run over by a car. So coming home is like death saying come back since you were technically dead.

Maybe evil twin Harry, mind harry, or Death as Mind Harry has only taken Harry's form because it is the best way to get to Macy, meaning the internal attraction is already strong). So it is also an ominous "I am different" in that realm.

Who knows? I love the mystery though!

And of course while the poison siphoning scene and the "macy please" is going to drive all us Hacy fans crazy for a bit. My favorite bit of dialogue is actually the last bit before they enter the house. When Macy tells harry there is nothing here and Harry all sexy over the shoulder looks at her and says " are you sure?" . . .

DOUBLE MEANING!!!! At least I took it both as the house, but also at thier relationship. Anyways moving on.....

2. Mel! Mel is queen. I am just gonna say that one of the things I didn't appreciate about the OG was that all the ladies (including super witch Prue) complained about thier jobs and wanted to have some normalcy. And listen I sympathized when it came to thier romantic lives (although most of it was thier own faults), sometimes it was just like "you are literally saving peoples lives, I get needing some me time but can you not act so flippantly over literal life or death of another person". So I really appreciated that Mel was ready to step up and was already acting as a leader. I know people like to compare her to Prue and for sure she shares some qualities, but Mel really is her own creature and has more openly embraced witchcraft and not complained about it (so far) unlike all the OG ladies and her sisters.

3. No powers. Okay? One of the primary issues in season 1 was that the girls were kinda over powered. I felt it was mostly Macy, but arguably Mel and Maggie as well. So now as they have to work to get them back and possibly discover new types of magic or avenues for magic, I think there is room for growth and character development as well as world building that wasnt there before. At first I was like, oh heck no! And no fair Macy is the only one powered! and obviously with either her demon side and/or evil twin Harry trying to get at her (sisters as well) she is going to have another big storyline. I just hope (and I feel confident in hoping this time) that these storylines will connect meaningfully and not just last minute. It feels like they are on a new tract and I am digging it so far

Now on to my on the fence list . . .

1) Witchness Protection. I dont mind the premise actually and think it is really clever. I just dont know how I feel about leaving Hilltown. While Hilltown wasnt really developed much the university was nice and I am sad that Lucy wont be a part of the story anymore given that Maggie cant go back and they basically are super far from home if michigan was 5 hours away. At least they get to keep the house and I assume Harry gets to live there now, unless he move into the base.

2) the Seattle setting. I think that it very much harkens to OG (which was set in san. Fran.). So I was just on the fence on how it was obviously cutting more ties to the OG and yet incorporating others. I think the san fran setting worked because since it is a real place that most people can imagine without ever visiting you can have broad shots do relatively little work trying to establish the setting. Not that it is easy, but creating fictional towns requires more work to be good. You have to establish the towns character the residents and general layout or else it might as well be any town. So in some ways the seattle base and constant travel will be easier than developing a town which will leave some more time to character and lore building. I will probably end up liking it but just on the fence while watching.

3. Evil Assassin's orbing. So I dont know if anyone noticed but it seemed to be a combination of Harry's new orbing effect and the old Dark Lighters smokey effect (arguably parker's shadow demon effect) The center was the orangy (from my screen) orb effect that Harry had (I like it better than the swirling in and out of last season). So obviously leaves lots of questions, and I an looking forward to that, but on the fence because of . . . Reasons. I'll just tell you. While I like the new orb effect better than probably the OG and the first season of the reboot, changing the effects always kind of takes me a moment to get used to. And now that the evil assassin has it's own type of orbing it is just more orbing effects and my brain is gonna take a moment to catch up.

How did y'all feel about it though? My fellow Hacy fans did I miss something? Please let me know what yall took away from it!

New to my reviewish lists (appreciation bullets). Things that I appreciated even though they are either small or not elaborated fully.

Harry still likes a good party! Nice to see Harry while getting more serious slice of the pie than the first half of the season is still funny. And I liked that he liked parties

Demon/witch war. So I mean I listed all the wars a war was the most realistic and natural course in previous posts and I cant believe I missed the one they seem to be going with. Elders offered protection as a government with them gone and whitelighters gone (arguably the hands and feet of the elders) witches are vulnerable to attacks. I new they would be and that demons would attack as the government fell but I was mostly thinking organization wise. I didnt think about the obvious omg witches didnt just lose a governing body they lost the built in protection that body provided which again should have been a DUH! Thing to realize but I miss it.

So the start of a rivalmance between Maggie and Jordan....definitely different from Parker if that is the direction they are heading. I am a sucker for a rivalmance

Love Triangle between dark Harry, Macy, and Harry. . .I didnt know I needed it until now

Wizard of oz reference. Nuff said.

#hacy #charmed 2018 spoilers #cw charmed #charmed remake #charmed reboot #charmed cw #charmed 2018 #mel vera #maggie vera #macy x harry #harry x macy #macy vaughn #harry greenwood

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emjenenla · 6 years ago

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Feels like we're on the edge right now [A Folk of the Air Fanfic]

The one where Jude doesn’t kill Balekin and Roiben shows up ready to give Cardan a piece of his mind.

Warnings: brief mention of vomiting, much discussion of murder

Also posted on AO3 (my username there is Emjen_Enla).

I don't own The Folk of the Air or Modern Faerie Tales, they both belong to Holly Black. The title comes from the song "Let You Down" by NF.

I'm not sure how accurate Roiben's characterization is because I haven't read the Modern Faerie Tales books. I did start Tithe, but this semester has been nuts so I haven't had time to finish it. Hopefully I'll have more time to read soon.

Jude stoppered the bottle of antidote and tossed it to the Bomb, before returning her attention to Balekin.

“What have you done?” Balekin demanded.

Jude just smiled and waited for the sound of rushing footsteps which would announce the Bomb heading away to give the antidote to Cardan, but there was none. Why wasn’t the Bomb leaving?

“What are you waiting for?” she asked. “Go!”

The Bomb’s hand closed around Jude’s upper arm. “Jude,” she said quietly. “The High King commanded me not to allow you to kill Prince Balekin. Let’s go.”

Of course, before they’d left Cardan in her room, he had taken the Bomb’s hand and told her, “Liliver, as your king, I command you: Go with Jude and do not allow Balekin to die.” Jude had hoped that the plan as she’d laid it out to the Bomb would convince her that Balekin was in no danger of dying, but apparently the Bomb knew her better than that.

She wanted to argue, but any second Balekin was going to get over his shock at being outmaneuvered and come at them. She let the Bomb drag her back towards the palace. The guards at the door jumped at their sudden appearance and reached for the their weapons. “Do not allow Prince Balekin to enter the palace,” the Bomb ordered. “He is making trouble for the High King.”

They nodded in acknowledgement and the Bomb and Jude pounded into the building. “You couldn’t have just left me to make sure he wouldn’t follow us?” Jude growled as they ran.

“Cardan ordered me not to let you kill his brother using my true name,” the Bomb said. “I cannot disobey him.”

Jude knew that and that was what frustrated her. Cardan had been able to come up with a plan to keep her from hurting his brother while poisoned by wraithberry. That shouldn’t have been possible. She would need to think on this a bit more, and find a way to convince Cardan that Balekin needed to die. After all, there was no other way to keep the Court of Termites happy. Balekin needed to be out of the picture.

The Bomb shoved the door to Jude’s chambers open with her shoulder and they practically tumbled inside. Cardan was sitting back against the couch, his head thrown back. His eyes were half closed and his lips were slightly parted. For one horrible instant Jude thought he was already dead, then she saw him breathe in very faintly.

She crossed the room in a couple strides and shook him with perhaps more force than you were supposed to use on a sick person, but she didn’t want him to die and he needed to be conscious enough to drink the antidote.

Cardan’s eyes slid all the way open and almost but not quite focused on her face. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. He needed the antidote now.

“What did you do to my brother?” Cardan asked, he was speaking more quietly than she had ever heard before. He was undeniably slurring.

“Don’t worry about it,” She said. She reached out behind her, not quite sure what she was doing, but the Bomb pressed the antidote vial into her hand.

Jude unstoppered vial and held it to Cardan’s lips. He looked like he was going to say something, but she cut him off. “Drink. You can screech and complain all you want once you’re not actively dying.”

He swallowed slowly, something that Jude hadn’t even realized was possible. When the antidote was gone, she set the bottle aside carefully. There was nothing to do but wait and hope that whatever Balekin had given her was really the antidote. Sure he’d said it was the antidote and he couldn’t lie, but Jude couldn’t help being paranoid.

Very slowly, some of the color started returning to Cardan’s face. He fingers twitched and he gave her hand a squeeze. Jude hadn’t even realized she was holding one of his hands in both of hers, and snatched her hands free as quickly as possible. For an instant he looked a little disappointed but he didn’t comment.

The Bomb knelt down on Cardan’s other side and looked him over quickly, testing his temperature and pulse and pressing her ear against his chest to listen to his breathing. “Do you feel any better?” she asked when she was done.

“Yes,” Cardan said, though his eyes were still half-closed and he still looked like he was instants from falling asleep. “Somewhat.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that was actually the antidote,” the Bomb sat back on her heels and patted Cardan’s arm with surprising gentleness. “I’ll try to find a way to get my hands on more so we can double-dose him just to be safe, but he’ll most likely be fine.”

“Most likely?” Jude asked. Her voice sounded a little too thin and brittle for her own good.

“There are always possible complications,” Cardan said. He was still slurring, but the fact that he was aware enough to keep track of the conversation was probably a good thing. “Who knows, all your dire pronouncements of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption might come true and I could have a massive heart attack two minutes from now.”

“You do that and I will bring you back from the dead just to kill you myself,” Jude snapped, only mostly joking.

Cardan smiled faintly. “Of that I have no doubt.”

“What now?” The Bomb asked. “Balekin is still running around. I have no idea how long the guards will be able to keep him out of the palace.”

“Make sure he goes back to the Hollow Hall,” Cardan said. “Post guards to keep him there. My previous order about making sure no one kills him still stands, Liliver.”

“I understand,” the Bomb said, and left the room.

“Have you considered whether or not expending so much effort on keeping Balekin alive is wise?” Jude said after a minute. Now that Cardan wasn’t dying this was something that needed to be discussed. Especially since she was going to have to kill Balekin in order to appease Roiben. “It might be politically expedient to just kill him.”

“It wouldn’t be politically expedient,” Cardan said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch. “It would just be expedient.”

“He’s not going to love you just because you won’t kill him,” Jude snapped, only realizing after the words were spoken that this was probably the wrong time for that.

Cardan winced but when he replied his voice was steady. “I know that,” he said coolly.

“He’ll kill you,” she said.

“He’ll definitely try,” Cardan said. “But I won’t return the favor.”

That wasn’t good enough. Balekin needed to die and she needed Cardan and the Bomb not to get in the way. She briefly considered telling him what Roiben had demanded, but stopped herself. That would be a bad idea. She couldn’t afford to reveal that weak spot to Cardan, he might be able to find a way around her orders to exploit it. She stood up and planted her fists on her hips. “So are you going to get up and go back to your chambers or are you just going to sit there like a lump?” she asked.

“The second one,” Cardan closed his eyes again. “I’ll contemplate moving when I’m not so dizzy I feel like I’m going to fall off the face of the world.”

Jude bit her lip to keep from saying something that would make it sound like she was worried about him. She needed to stay detached.

There was a knock on the door. Jude tried to ignore it, but whoever it was kept knocking incessantly. She stalked over to the door and pulled it open. “What is it?” she snapped.

It was the Roach. “Roiben wants to speak to the High King,” he said.

Roiben no doubt wanted to rage about how Cardan had insulted the Court of Termites. Jude glanced over her shoulder at Cardan, who was still leaning back against the couch, his eyes closed. “Tell him that the High King is not accepting visitors at this time,” Jude said.

“He’s very insistent,” The Roach said. His eyes were large with fear.

“I don’t care,” Jude said and started to close the door. She didn’t get the door closed, however, because someone threw their shoulder against it and forced their way in.

It was Roiben and he did not look happy.

“How dare you try to keep me from speaking to the High King?” he snarled leaning in so close to Jude’s face that his spit flecked her face. “He shows appalling lack of care for my people in the face of the Undersea’s demands, and he has the audacity to show up drunk to the most important function of his reign. Not only that, but I have it on good intelligence that Balekin still lives and has returned to his home. I begin to suspect that you do not want our allegiance.”

“If you are here to scream at me, Roiben, you could at least be good enough to do it to my face.”

Jude and Roiben whirled to see that Cardan had managed to drag himself to his feet. He was leaning on the back of a chair, his fingers bloodless from the force of his grip. His face had lost all the hectic color it had had during the party and now he just looked like he was trying not to pass out.

Jude could tell his appearance was not lost on Roiben. In the ballroom it had been easy to mistake Cardan’s condition for being the result of too much to drink. He didn’t look drunk now. He looked sick.

After a moment, Roiben shoved aside his confusion and drew himself up. “Your behavior tonight was insulting,” he said. “This is a vital issue for us and you treat our anger foolishly. You have proved to us that you care not for the Court of Termites.”

“Do you want a war with the Undersea?” Cardan asked. “Do you think you would actually survive such a war unscathed?”

Jude was guiltily proud of his response. He actually sounded like a king for once. He sounded like he could actually deal with the situation. If only he wasn’t clinging to the back of a chair and visibly fighting to stay conscious. Her mind whirled as she tried to find a way out of this situation. She needed to diffuse the tension and get rid of Roiben before Cardan reached the end of his ability to pretend to be fine.

She stepped forward, ready to say something, though she still wasn’t sure what, but Roiben beat her to it. He stalked forward, getting up into Cardan’s face. It was something no one would ever have tried with Eldred, which showed just how little respect Roiben and possibly all of faerie had for Cardan. It was terrifying. Jude and Cardan were tied together; if he went down, she would go down with him.

Cardan tried to straighten up and let go of the chair, but he stumbled and almost fell. He foot hit the bucket he’d been retching into before and it toppled over, spilling out its contents which still looked like matted leaves.

Roiben glanced down at it and froze. Jude almost lunged forward to move the bucket, but that would just make it all even more suspicious. Cardan grabbed hold of the chair again and lowered his head. He was trembling and his face was gray. He really should be lying down.

Roiben looked at the contents of the bucket, then at Cardan and Jude several times. Jude’s hands clenched into fists as she watched him put everything together. There was no way out of this now.

Eventually, Roiben looked up at Jude, his eyes steady. “You were lying when you said he wasn’t poisoned,” he said. It was not a question and Jude saw no reason to respond. The answer was obvious.

“Alright,” Cardan said after a moment. “Now that the cat is out of the bag, can I sit down before I pass out?” His words were flippant, but his voice was weak. He stumbled over to the couch and snatched up a blanket that was hanging over the back. He wrapped it tightly around his shoulders and all but collapsed onto the couch, leaning heavily against the armrest.

Roiben looked surprisingly thrown. Obviously, he hadn’t been expecting his confrontation with the High King of Elfhame to go quite like this.

“He needs the antidote,” he finally said, oddly talking to Jude. “Wraithberry will kill him and quickly.”

“Already taken care of,” Cardan slurred. “I’m not about to drop dead before you can declare war on me.”

“Then he needs to drink water,” Roiben continued, still talking to Jude. “Even if he’s had the antidote, it would be a good idea to wash out his system as much as possible.”

Jude almost snapped that she wasn’t a servant and couldn’t be ordered about, then she realized he was trying to keep her from assuming he was making another attempt to poison Cardan. She stalked over the table and poured another goblet of water. Cardan took it looking a little queasy, but started to drink it without complaint.

Roiben pursed his lips. “Balekin did this,” he said after a moment. “And he tried to frame you,” he turned his intense gaze to Jude.

She wasn’t going to respond, but Cardan hummed in woozy affirmation. She shot him and glare before she thought better of it. He gave her a weak, but teasing smile in return.

Roiben swallowed and Jude could see him deciding how to proceed. “I demand Balekin’s death in recompense for all that has been done to my people,” he said. “You should not disagree given that he has just tried to assassinate you.”

“Killing Balekin will destroy any chance we have of not going to war with the Undersea,” Cardan said. “I will not sanction his death.”

“Your seneschal owes me a favor,” Roiben said. “And I have demanded his death from her.”

The look Cardan shot her was one of pure malice and promised a discussion later, but then he turned back to Roiben. “If you or anyone even remotely connected to you kills Balekin Greenbriar, I will destroy the Undersea then come back and destroy you,” he snarled. “That I swear on my true name.”

Roiben raised his eyebrows almost to his hairline, he did not seem particularly threatened even though they all knew Cardan hadn’t been joking. “No need to threaten, High King,” he said.

“Really?” Cardan asked. “Because threats, violence and murder seem to be the only language anyone I know speaks.” He did not look at Jude, but it was blatantly obvious he was talking to her as well as Roiben.

Silence fell between the three of them, which was strange because Jude wouldn’t have thought of Roiben as someone capable of being shamed by someone accusing him of bloodlust. Eventually, Cardan heaved a sigh and threw his head back to stare up at the ceiling. He was terrifyingly pale and Jude hated herself for worrying about him, especially since he’d just called her out.

Someone knocked on the door. Cardan groaned. “Oh, I wonder who’s coming a-threatening now? I’ll wager on Queen Orlagh, because, let’s be honest, that’s the only way this day could get any worse.”

Whoever it was outside knocked again. “It might be the Roach,” Jude said. Cardan grunted, but made no further comments. Seeing that he wasn’t about to take charge of the situation, Jude went to open the door.

Taryn stood outside, her hand half-raised to knock again. She was dressed in a black coat identical to Jude’s seneschal outfits and wearing the magic earrings. She startled visibly at the sight of Jude. “Jude!” she squeaked. “I didn’t expect you to be here!”

“This is my room,” Jude said. “Why are you wearing my clothes?”

“Oh,” Taryn looked down at herself like she expected her clothes to suddenly change. “I liked the coats I ordered for you so much I got one for myself. Do you like it?”

“It looks the same on you as it does on me,” Jude said slowly. “If you didn’t think I would be here, why are you here?”

“I heard that the High King was here,” Taryn said. Her shoulders were very tense and she looking like she was thinking about running. “I need to see him.”

“Why could you possibly need to see him?” Jude asked. “Couldn’t you wait until tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Taryn said. “Yes, yes. It totally could. I’ll come back tomorrow. See you later.” and then she was gone.

Jude closed the door slowly and turned around. “Who was that?” Cardan asked woozily, holding the now empty goblet loosely. She would have gone over and refilled it, but she didn’t trust that it wouldn’t slip from his hand and spill all over the floor.

“It was my sister.”

“What did she want?” Cardan slurred.

“Who knows,” Jude crossed the room and tilted her head back to look up at Roiben. “Now that you know the High King didn’t deliberately get drunk to dishonor you, are you willing to withdraw your threats?”

Roiben studied her for a moment then nodded sharply. “I will agree to table this discussion until the High King is well,” he said. “Do not attempt to put me off for longer than that. You will regret it.” He bowed perfunctorily to Cardan and swept out of the room, the door swinging closed behind him.

Cardan shifted and frowned up at her. She couldn’t tell if he was actually frowning or trying to get his eyes to focus. “So what did Taryn actually want?”

“I just told you that I don’t know,” Jude said.

“Oh,” Cardan blinked. “I figured you were just lying to keep Roiben from finding out.”

“No, she’s just not making any sense,” Jude said. “She was wearing clothes exactly like mine. We haven’t done that since we were kids.”

Cardan nodded and watched her for a minute. At first she thought he’d just zoned out then he said, “Can I ask, my dear Jude, why you didn’t immediately tell me when Roiben told you to kill Balekin?” When she didn’t respond, he went on, “No, don’t say anything, I know why: you knew I would try to stop you.”

“He needs to die,” Jude said. “If only to appease Roiben. It’s the best option.”

“No! No, it’s not!” Cardan was on his feet so quickly Jude almost jumped. He swayed wildly but didn’t fall. “You don’t understand! Maybe killing Balekin would solve all our problems, but that’s exactly what he did! He killed all of my other siblings to gain power and killing him would be exactly the same! Don’t you get it? If we kill him WE ARE NO BETTER THAN HE IS!”

Jude drew back a little in surprise. She didn’t think she’d ever heard Cardan speak so strongly. She didn’t know how to respond to him. He wasn’t exactly wrong, but as usual he was completely missing the point. To survive in faerie you needed to be as ruthless as those who would hurt you. How had Cardan lived this long as not realized that?

“Cardan...” she said, struggling for something to say.

“I’m returning to my chambers to rest,” Cardan snapped. “You will not move against Balekin. If you do or if you use my oath to compel me to move against him, I swear that I will find a way to make you regret it.”

When Jude didn’t immediately respond, Cardan nodded sharply and headed for the door. It probably would have looked more impressive if he hadn’t been visibly unsteady on his feet. He reached the other side of the room and caught himself on the doorframe. He was shaking and Jude almost called him back, told him that he could spend the night in room.

But she didn’t speak soon enough and then Cardan was out the door and into the hall, calling for the guards. The door swung closed behind him and she was left alone in her room.

She collapsed back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. She could go to the Hollow Hall and kill Balekin right now. She knew now that the Bomb was compelled to save him and Jude could find a way to avoid that. It would solve the Roiben problem at least, but there was no way to keep Cardan from finding out about it and then she would lose even the semblance of his cooperation. Maybe she should try to handle this Cardan’s way. Maybe everything would work out.

But it was hard to believe that things would turn out any differently than they always had...

#the folk of the air #modern faerie tales #the wicked king #holly black #fanfic #fanfiction #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #roiben #rath roiben rye #jude x cardan #jurdan #twk spoilers #cross-posted on ao3 #there's still no tfota category on ff.net #Emjen writes #tw: emetophobia

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jurakan · 6 years ago

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Assassin’s Creed: Unity Review

Did I ever post my Unity review? No? Well here’s my Unity review.

The game is bad.

I think that Assassin’s Creed: Unity is quite frankly the most infuriating game I’ve played in years.

When I’d gotten a PS4 I decided I was going to get one of the AC games that was on PS4 that wasn’t Odyssey (because I already had obtained it and loved it). And I got Unity because I’d heard the free-running was better, and that when played well it was quite good. And while traversing Paris is fun, this game also sometimes plays as garbage and I’m kind of baffled about some of the decisions they’ve made designing it.

You see, this is my experience in playing just about every Assassin’s Creed game: try to be sneaky around the guards, but when that inevitably fails I kill them all. I was starting down this path in Unity when the game stopped me.

“Hang on a sec, you can’t do that,” the game said. “Why not?” I asked. “Because we’ve designed the combat to be utter garbage!” the game joyously exclaimed, laughing maniacally. And it wasn’t lying. The combat is utter garbage and I got killed pretty quickly. The parry is too clumsy for the careful timing it sometimes requires, you’re practically defenseless against guns, and counter kills have been removed. I get the point, of course: the game wants you to try more stealthy approaches, and so if you get detected you’ve got to retreat and rework your approach. But it was just completely at odds with how I played these games. I felt as if the previous games went out of their way to make you feel like a badass warrior and then Unity goes out of its way to make you feel as weak as possible. And for a game that makes you want to avoid combat like the plague, it keeps putting you in it. “But stealth!” the game and its fans reply. Which doesn’t work for me, because the Batman: Arkham games had amazing stealth sections that rely on not getting caught, but the combat isn’t utter crap. If there’s a part of the game you’re hoping people will avoid, maybe you should realize that it’s because that part of the game is terrible and need reworking, not that you’re clever for designing it so. “I actually really liked the combat,” says Unity fanboy #463 on Reddit. Alright, but you do know you are admitting to enjoying something deliberately designed to be unpleasant? It’s a bit like telling everyone you enjoy the smell in gas station restrooms. It isn’t something you should really brag about. Unity fanboy #149 scoffs haughtily. “Well I want my games to be challenging, unlike a casual gamer,” he says. Good for you. But that defense doesn’t work with this game because I’m not just being challenged by the game’s combat difficulty, which is aggravating by design, I’m being challenged by the fact that the game doesn’t work. What makes the stealth and combat so aggravating is how glitchy the game is. At one point in a story-scripted fight Arno wouldn’t attack, block, dodge or shoot, and the only actions he could perform were walking around and dropping smoke bombs. Sometimes Arno refuses to shoot when prompted, as if the targeted enemy was just too cool to die. Sometimes enemies aren’t hurt by being shot. Once Arno refused to start sneaking. I accidentally got into conflicts because I shot guards in the back of the head and instead of dying they turned around and saw me. Every so often, a civilian will walk in front of the barrel of your gun because he or she is suicidal I guess. I bumped into a guard on the other side of a wall. Guards spawned from nowhere to fight me and then when I hid they went back across the street on the other side of a wall. A guard with his back turned saw me on top of a rooftop. Sometimes when you’re detected you have to fight the one guy who saw you, and sometimes you have to fight all of his buddies who also apparently know where you are as they run from all over the block. And on some occasions the guards on the first floor won’t notice if you fire a gun on the second. At some points smoke bombs work to make your enemies lose track of you; at others they won’t. Frequently I’d aim to air assassinate a guard only for the game to switch which guard I was targeting as I’m pressing the button. In short, even if the stealth and combat were fun, the fact is that when you begin either you never know what exactly you’re signing up for because it doesn’t work. And not in a good way, like the game surprising you with extra fun; it’s exactly the wrong sort of way, where you think your mission is to defend an army officer against royalists and because you make too much noise fighting the royalists then the army soldiers decide to kill you too. [Also, you’re encouraged to use smoke bombs a lot. Which doesn’t really sound that stealthy, if you think about it, because a giant cloud of smoking spontaneously erupting around a group of guards is the exact opposite of stealthy.] I’m sure some fanboy will try to assure me it’s my fault that the game doesn’t play well, and that it’s actually pretty well designed. To that, I answer: Cherry Bombs. See, the game gives you this stealth tool called the ‘Cherry Bomb’ which is essentially a firecracker that acts as a noisemaker--you throw it somewhere, it’ll make sparks and noise, and the guards will be distracted and go investigate. This replaces the ‘whistle’ function the past two games had to draw guards over to where you are. What the game doesn’t tell you is that the Cherry Bomb has to be within a guard’s line of sight. Which means if you’re hiding in a hallway and are trying to lure a guard from an adjacent room into the hallway, then the Cherry Bomb won’t work unless the guard can turn around and see it from his position. Otherwise, they may turn around in the direction of the noise, but won’t move towards it. It doesn’t matter if it’s right behind them, or right around the corner; if they can’t see the Cherry Bomb, it won’t work. Essentially, one of the key stealth tools you start out with is a noisemaker that only works if enemies can see it. A noisemaker that works by line of sight! No one can tell me that a competently-designed game would include that! What makes stealth and combat even more difficult is that the game has what it calls “Crowd Events,” which are things that happen in the streets of Paris that you can interfere with, like someone getting robbed, or mugged, or bullied, or whatever. But in crowded areas this happens every minute or so, and even if you don’t interfere in the Crowd Event then the surrounding guards might take notice of someone in the street getting run through, and then a fight will break out and your stealth will be ruined because if you go anywhere near it the guards will detect you and the game will act like it’s your fault for not being sneaky enough. During one stealth mission three or four Crowd Events occurred within seconds of each other, with two spawning at once. They’re optional yes, but call me a moron because I always try to help when someone’s getting gutted on the pavement, which often leads to me being gutted on the pavement. There are times when the game doesn’t tell you what to do in specific situations and then acts like you should have known it all along. In Assassin’s Creed III it gives you specific instructions on what to do in combat when someone points a gun at you. Unity gives you no such help. I didn’t learn until I looked up combat tips for the game that you’re supposed to hit the dodge button at just the right second. Sometimes the game doesn’t give you enough time to realize that someone is shooting at you. If Arno is not in combat mode and someone’s aiming at you, you’re just out of luck, as the dodge button isn’t an option there. There’s an eye that appears next to the minimap, I think to tell you that you’re in a guard’s line of sight, but the game never tells me, so that’s just a guess on my part. The boss fight with Bellec has him disappear with a smoke bomb, and then he will try to jump on you and stab you, which the game doesn’t give any hint as to what you’re supposed to do about and it sucks because if he hits you then you die in one hit. There are skills and abilities that you have to unlock that you really shouldn’t. Double assassination is an ability that takes much too long to unlock; wisely the following game made this unlockable in the tutorial section. Guns have to be unlocked with skill points, which is downright weird; no other game in the series gives that limit, except as being a point of story progression. That you have to spend skill points to use one of the game’s basic weapons is downright offensive. The most infuriating thing is the admittedly rare occasion when the game punishes you for being smart. When you go to assassinate Marie Levesque, for instance, it took me a couple of tries, but I managed to sneak into the palace and take out key guards, noting the escape routes as I went. Only when I actually performed the assassination, all the open windows had been closed and all the guards I took out had respawned. Essentially, I had carefully planned an escape route and the game slammed that door in my face, saying, “Nope! For all our talk of doing it your own way, you have to get out of this situation the way we say you do, okay?” What kind of game punishes you for doing your homework? What is that supposed to teach me?

Customization is cool, in theory, but it’s also a major hassle. Because I just wanted to look cool, but instead I’m constantly juggling a bunch of statistics on how to be stealthy but also carry enough ammunition and supplies. It’s not helpful that if you want to be stealthy, the way the game wants you to play, the outfit most suited to that is the stupidest-looking one of the bunch. I didn’t experience any of the horrifying glitches of people missing faces, the way a lot of people did at the game’s launch. However, NPC bystanders would often walk through cutscenes, including duels and chase scenes, leisurely waltzing right through running characters or in front of enemies as they’re getting shot. There were a couple of scenes where the camera is at an extremely odd angle of someone’s face, with the corner of someone else’s character model in the way. Traversal is far better than previous games; at least, in theory. Most of the time it works, but when it doesn’t, it does so in the most rage-inducing way possible. Often Arno will climb up when you tell him to climb down. It’s not uncommon for Arno to refuse to climb up for no reason at all. If you’re running and you happen to dash past something that would realistically bump him in the shoulder, Arno will start climbing up it and refuse to get down, hopping from table to barrel to chair, including chairs that there are already people sitting in. More than once I was perched on a ledge and then Arno would just fall, arms flailing as he descended into a horde of angry enemies. When sneaking sometimes he just refused to take cover where I tell him to, and will instead just sort of rock back and forth on his heels like a moron or stick to a surface further away from him than the one I told him to take cover behind. “Just wait ‘til you see what we did with Eagle Vision!” the game says, clapping like a madman. I am very tired at this point. “How did you screw up Eagle Vision, that one button that makes it easier to see enemies and detect important elements around you?” I ask. “It’s on a short timer!” Unity is cackling now as it practically explodes with malicious glee. “And it has a cooldown period!” Yes, that staple of the series, Eagle Vision, is now only meant to last a few seconds. Certain types of gear will enable it to last longer and give it more range (WHY WOULD CHANGING YOUR CLOTHES ENHANCE YOUR SIXTH SENSE?!?), but it’s still on a timer, so in order to know where everyone is, you have to keep switching it on. You can see enemies through walls though, which is new and actually good. Optional objectives are back, and aren’t quite as bad as they were in previous games; they don’t have ridiculous conditions in order to get full credit, usually just things like “Do two double assassinations” or “Stun three enemies.” They’re still not great, because again, any idea of freedom is limited in that you won’t get 100% on a mission unless you do it a certain way. The worse is always “Don’t get detected” because this is always followed by throwing you into large spaces filled with half a dozen guards and no cover. You’re better off ignoring them. Hey, did I mention that the game never shuts up? Notifications float up in your face on the right side of the screen, and there is no way to dismiss them; you must wait for them to go away. Black Flag had this too, but those were always small enough that they didn’t get in the way of gameplay, and you could check the past few messages in the pause menu. In this game they’re constantly popping up to tell you tips, location, and useless information, along with a quick sound that pings every time to make sure you stay pissed off. They’ll often pop up on top of each other, so if you’re working on one of the Murder Mysteries and you look at a clue, a notification will pop up on top of the clue information to tell you information you already know and you just have to wait for it to fade away. And when you break a lock in the lockpicking minigame, the popup will helpfully tell you that if you don’t want to break locks, press the button at the correct time. Or, in short, if you don’t want to mess up, then don’t mess up. Thanks, Unity. Speaking of lockpicking, who’s bright idea was it to make it so that of the treasure chests littered across the map, two-thirds of them are locked? I get that in theory it means that there are collectables that you can’t unlock until you’ve progressed, but what it means is that not only do you have to wait to a certain part of the game where you can buy that skill, you have to do an annoying little minigame every time you just want some treasure. It turns the task of collecting into even more of a chore. There are also collectables called “artifacts” which are coats of arms on the walls in random places. They’re not so bad, except in the Helix Rift sections, in which whether or not they show up in their place depends on the alignment of the stars or something. It makes it difficult to even care about trying to collect them all if the game sometimes refuses to let you do so. “So you hated this game?” you, the reader, asks me. That’s the thing though--I wanted very much to like it! There were parts I liked very much, in fact. When the game worked (and I must emphasize it wasn’t often), it was incredibly cool to feel like a stealth Assassin, taking out enemies and disappearing without a trace. This was utilized well in the missions that the game called Black Box missions. Basically, the developers realized that the assassination missions of the past games were too scripted, so they put in situations where you’re given a target and a location and you’re given much more freedom on how to take them out. The Murder Mysteries were, for the most part, excellent and allowed you to use your deduction skillz to put together the clues you’d been given and point out which person was the murderer. They were stressful, but not in a ‘wow-this-sux’ kind of way, more like the rewarding sort of way when you got it right. I liked them a lot. But they were frustrating when popups kept getting in the way of the clues. The Nostradamus Riddles were similarly excellent! They involved solving riddles by finding glyphs all over Paris, given clues that refer to the history of the places. The only criticism I had was that it would have been better if the in-game database had a search engine, sort of like the one in Carmen Sandiego: Treasure of Knowledge to make it easier to find what you’re looking for instead of scrolling through dozens of location entries. But yes, I think I hated it, at least a lot of the time I was playing it. I never thought I’d say that about an Assassin’s Creed game, but I cannot in good conscience tell someone that I liked this game or recommend it to anyone. It was not fun to play. The more time I spent with the game the less I liked it. Often enough I’d have fun, but that would soon be dashed by something stupid like being spotted by a guard through a building or Arno falling off a ledge. This should have been one of the greatest games in the series, and instead it’s undeniably the worst. Do not play this game, do not spend money on this game; every other game in the series is a more rewarding experience than Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Maybe some morbid curiosity is driving you to picking it up, but I urge you: do not listen! I had this whole section planned to talk about the story too! I had a thesis that Assassin’s Creed: Unity is trying to tell the story of France! I was going to talk about character models and history and all! But it doesn’t matter because nothing I say will change the simple fact that this game is not fun to play. Not even in a ‘If you like a challenge’ sort of way. This game is a broken mess that doesn’t work as intended. No. Don’t play it.

#Assassin's Creed: Unity #AC #Arno Dorian #Elise de la Serre #reviews #video games #Jurakan Writes

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tenscupcake · 6 years ago

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Kingdom Hearts 3 - An Honest Review

I’d like to preface this review by saying I am an unabashed Kingdom Hearts geek. Like, through and through. I played KH1 when I was just a tween, and have picked up a copy every installment since (in some cases, even bought the entire console just to play that one game). I still have CDs of the game soundtracks, a few discs which have nearly burnt out on replay in my car. Sanctuary After the Battle will forever make me cry, whether or not I’m watching the cutscene that goes along with it. I’ve replayed most of the titles multiple times. Wasted away hours on YouTube watching Story So Far recaps and funny commentaries about the games in preparation for KH3. Like millions of other enthusiasts, I have been eagerly and patiently (all right, sometimes not so patiently) awaiting the arrival of KH3 since the moment I first finished KH2 – 13 very, very long years ago.

At around eight o’clock on premiere night, I took my place in line at my local GameStop wearing my Kingdom Hearts t-shirt and pajama pants, brandishing the miniature Kingdom Key clipped to my lanyard. Finally holding that blue case in my hands was absolutely surreal. One of those natural highs it took me hours to come down from. Tears welled up in my eyes at the first few somber piano keys as the title screen faded into view.

Lots of people asked me, in the weeks and even months leading up to the release (because believe me, at any opportunity, I would not shut up about how excited I was about this game), if I thought it would live up to the hype. Pfft, I thought. People outside the KH fandom never understand. Of course it will. Sure, the series has had its weak links, its hiccups (the battle system in COM and the perpetual re-releases of old games with minor tweaks, to name a couple). But with the compelling cinematic storytelling and uniquely delightful gameplay of the main series’ smash hits - KH1, KH2, and BBS – in their repertoire, I knew the team at Square was capable of pulling this off. To me, it was just a given that it would be epic. That playing it would be worth all the years of waiting. I had absolutely no doubt in my mind this game was going to be lit. As. Hell.

I’m only saying all this so as not to give the impression I went into this game looking to find flaws, to nitpick it. Or with the expectation of being disappointed. In fact, quite the opposite.

I wanted to love this game. To me, loving KH games is one of very few constants in my life. I was supposed to love this game. I needed to love this game.

But the truth is, I didn’t.

That statement has been pretty difficult for me to come to terms with.

In what few early reviews and videos I’ve found of people discussing their thoughts on the game, I’ve found fans to be quite split: with some unreservedly loving, others downright hating the game.

I fall somewhere in the middle of the polarized fandom. I did NOT hate the game. It was actually a good, if not great game. But putting it on a sliding scale of satisfaction and disappointment, I would say it’s tipping toward the latter. And as it’s taken me hours of mulling, reading, and discussing with other players to characterize and articulate precisely why, and because I think I owe it not only to the series and the characters therein, but also my younger self to leave no stone unturned, this review is going to be a long one.

I’m finding it easiest to break it down by category:

Graphics.

This game is beautiful. It was sort of a dream come true to meander around in real time with the gorgeously, smoothly animated versions of Sora and the gang that we’d previously only been able to see in the rare cinematic cutscenes at each game’s beginning and end. Most of the Disney and even Pixar worlds and characters are rendered to nearly the same quality as their film counterparts. I often found myself just standing in place for a while, admiring it all. The vivid green landscapes of Corona, the beaches and sprawling sea in the Caribbean, the towering cityscape of San Fransokyo. And walking on water where the sky meets the sea? Stunning.

Gameplay.

All in all, this game is pretty damn fun to play. It was all I thought about during long days at work: I couldn’t wait to jump back into the action. Pounding on Heartless still brings me back to the good old days. And who doesn’t want to run up the side of buildings as Riku and Roxas demonstrated so epically, so long ago, in the World That Never Was? Soar to sky-high Heartless as easily as you can lock onto them? These new movement aspects brought an almost superhero-esque quality to the game, reminiscent of Spider-man’s wall-crawling or Batman’s grappling hook, that, if a bit unrealistic, I found to be immense fun. And compared to previous games, worlds are no longer cordoned off into many separate areas, and with the sheer scale of them, KH3 experiments with a quasi-open-world style that is rather freeing.

I also really appreciate that the character interactions with your party and with NPCs felt much less clunky. For one thing, they FINALLY did away with the press X-to-progress text-only conversations that were so prevalent in previous games, with all the dialogue left to voice actors. Even minor NPCs that only show up one time were given a voice, making every interaction that much more immersive. Transitions from cutscenes to the action were also much more fluid, and Sora and his current teammates talk to one another as you pow around. Even if it’s just a warning from Goofy you’re going the wrong way, or a heads-up from Donald there’s an ingredient or lucky emblem nearby, it was still a new feature I was glad to have.

Combat-wise, this game has a lot going for it. This installment brings nearly all the combat styles we’ve seen up until this point: magic, combos, form changes, flowmotion, shotlock, companion team-ups, and links. And it even introduces a few new ones on top of all this: the ability to swap between three different keyblades at will, and the new Disney parks-inspired attraction commands, where you can summon roller coasters, tea cups, and spinning carousels to your heart’s content. What this enables is for the player to never get bored during a battle. With so many options to choose from in each new enemy encounter, you never have to stick with the same combat style or get stuck in a rut of just mashing X to hack and slash everything. All things considered, Sora’s got some pretty sick moves this time around. Whipping out Thundaza, watching lightning explode across the screen and zap all the enemies in sight with it? Wicked. Floating above the ground, wreaking ethereal, glowing havoc with the Mirage Staff? Awesome. Surrounded by a sea of Heartless, locking onto 32 different targets at once and unleashing a flurry of lasers to slash through them all? Amazing. Thumbs getting fatigued fighting the third maddening iteration of Xehanort? Give yourself a break from the chaos in a giant, technicolor pirate ship, watching it thwack your adversary on every rock back and forth.

On one hand, the hefty damage most of these combat options deal gives the game an almost Ratchet and Clank-esque ‘blowing shit up’ vibe, which is undeniably fun. But, this array of choices does become a double-edged sword. With grand magic, attraction commands, form changes, and team attacks all fighting for space atop the command deck, they tend to pile up quickly. It’s not at all uncommon to rack up three or four different situation commands after only about 30 seconds of fighting. Sometimes, the constant need to make a choice, especially in a busy battle, can be more of a burden than a blessing. Having to shift between situation command selections on top of attacking, blocking, and accessing your shortcuts can be a bit cumbersome.

Unlike in previous games, there also aren’t many consequences for over-using special attacks. In KH2, your drive gauge ran out and needed to be slowly refilled. You also ran the increasingly high risk of morphing into the near-helpless Anti-Sora by relying too much on drive forms. But here, no matter how many times you’ve used a special attack, your MP will reload in a few seconds, and you can easily just ignore the situation command for Rage Form when it pops up. In BBS, it felt like it took a good while to power up to a form change, whereas in KH3 it seems like you can spend just as much time in a powered-up keyblade form change as in regular combat.

And, because so many of these situation commands are so powerful and frequent, they tend to dominate the entire battle, making the combat in the game much easier than previous games. Bordering on too easy. Where in other entries in the main series, I usually had to die several times on each boss in Proud mode before I devised the right strategy to defeat them, I rarely died at all in this game. On the surface, that isn’t such a bad thing. As I like to say a lot of the time, when I play a game “I’m here for a good time, not a hard time.” But there comes a point when the combat is so easy that it no longer gives you that sense of accomplishment when you progress past a tough batch of heartless or a particularly merciless boss – you know, that punching the air, whooping to yourself sort of pride. I was definitely missing that, at times.

Believe it or not, I think the Disney attraction commands, though powerful, and at first hilarious, were a bit too extra. After only a few hours in they just became annoying, and I was doing my best to ignore them when they popped up, even wishing I could turn them off. Now and then, I’d accidentally trigger the Blaster or the raft ride and just roll my eyes while canceling back out of it. Because it doesn’t really feel like you’re doing any fighting, let alone the real-time keyblade-style fighting uniquely special to this series. And forget trying to effectively aim while you’re in one. After a while the only thing I found them useful for was, as I mentioned earlier, taking a break from a fight when you’re fatigued, as they give your thumbs a break and cause you to take much less damage. While they were cool at first, my final impression of this addition to the combat was all flash, no substance.

I was one of the few who actually liked and took advantage of flowmotion in DDD, and was excited to see it brought back here. But this, too, turned out to be mostly another annoyance. I’m not sure if it’s because the actionable objects are so much more spread out in KH3, or because they actually built in restrictions on combos here, but I was unable to keep a flow going at all. After only one successful strike after leaping off a wall or pole, the blue glow of momentum vanished. It didn’t feel like “flowmotion” at all, just a one-and-done special attack that tended to kill any rhythm I had going moreso than facilitate it. So while conceptually and visually it was promising, I unfortunately no longer found it very useful.

Also, and I realize this is completely subjective, but I found the form changes to be stylistically underwhelming overall. I thought the drive forms in KH2 (especially Master and Final) were visually and stylistically cooler, and seemed to have more finesse.

Worlds.

When I was whisked away from San Fransokyo and landed in the final world of the game, I found myself disappointed by the number of worlds I’d been to, expecting there to be a handful more. Though, when I counted the worlds up, the tally was at nine. So I asked myself why it felt like so little, when nine didn’t seem like a small number. But, tallying up the worlds in previous games, KH1 had 13, KH2 had 15, and BBS had 10. Which does put KH3 on the low end of world count. Also, in all three of these previous games (especially KH2 and BBS), you had to return to these worlds more than once, usually unlocking new content and/or areas each time, leading it to feel like there were more worlds than there actually were. Though KH3 has a comparable length of gameplay to complete the story, it definitely does feel like it comes up short in terms of variety of worlds you get to visit. As a result, some of the worlds where you spend 3 or 4 hours at a time can start to feel like they’re dragging on a little bit. And on the flipside of that, there are certain worlds that you technically do visit in KH3 I did not include in the world count, because you are there for such a fleeting amount of time, or in such a tiny portion of the world – e.g. Land of Departure, the Realm of Darkness. Worlds that would have been awesome to get to actually explore! And perhaps the biggest letdown of all, though you get to visit Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden via cutscenes, there is no play time in either. Serious bummer.

As far as the worlds they did choose to include, the selection admittedly left me ambivalent. I was really glad to see Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Big Hero 6 included, but wasn’t over the moon about any of the others. I was really counting on having a Wreck-It-Ralph world (I mean, how perfect would that be?), and would love to have seen them tackle Zootopia, Wall-E, Meet the Robinsons, or the Incredibles. I’d even settle for a return to Halloween Town (shameless NBC fangirl, what can I say). The Emperor’s New Groove could have been pretty damn funny. Even A Bug’s Life or Finding Nemo could have offered some unique gameplay opportunities. Certainly better content to work with than Frozen, at any rate.

As far as the plot/experience within the worlds, I also found it to be a mixed bag. I did enjoy all of them, even ones I did not expect to enjoy too much (i.e. Frozen and Pirates). Honestly, though, I found myself a bit bored in worlds where they followed the plot of the films too closely, to the point that it felt like an abridged re-hash of the movies. I know they’ve taken this approach before with earlier Kingdom Hearts games, and I may sound like a hypocrite for only critiquing it now. But I think even in stories where they did do this earlier, like Tarzan or Aladdin, they executed the re-tellings more successfully. The plotline was altered just enough to ensure Sora was a part of the action through and through. After playing those games, Sora was indelibly inserted into those films in my head. To where the next time I watched them, I was jokingly asking myself “Where’s Sora?” But that was not the feeling I got here. In worlds like Corona or the Caribbean, Sora was just sort of jammed into the plot where he didn’t really fit. In many of the longer cutscenes, I actually forgot Sora was even there – even forgot I was playing Kingdom Hearts. Sora didn’t really feel needed. I definitely found it more enjoyable to be part of a new adventure with the characters – like what was done with Toy Story and Big Hero 6, where Sora was able to play more of an active role in progressing the subplot. It was nice to feel like I mattered!

Extras.

These were hit-or-miss for me. I actually screeched with excitement when Sora and the gang ran into Remy, and enjoyed the scavenger hunt for ingredients. And while cooking with little chef was a treat I wouldn’t want to see cut from the game, I found most of the cooking mini-games to be simultaneously too short (less than 10 seconds each!) and needlessly hard to master (especially cracking that egg).

Admittedly a Disney and Disneyland fanatic, I also got a kick out of the lucky emblems (aka hidden mickeys). I thought they were one of the most fun collectibles we’ve seen to date in the franchise.

Which brings me to one of the more controversial extras in the game: the gummiphone! While a lot of people are ragging on the inclusion of this dynamic, I enjoyed it. The Instagram loading screens were a little jarring at first, but they really grew on me. And being able to point the camera at Goofy, Sully, or Hiro and watch them pose for a picture in real-time was nothing short of adorable.

Another thing that surprised me? The game’s occasional self-awareness. I almost included a separate category for this, because I’ve never seen another game do this, and did not see it coming! But the “KINGDOM HEARTS II.9” title screen gave me a good chuckle. It doesn’t make up for all the 1.5, 2.8, 0.2 nonsense we’ve had to put up with, but it’s at least nice to see they can poke fun at their own ridiculousness. And when Sora laments how long it’s been since he’s seen the folks in Twilight Town; then Hayner, confused and even a little creeped out, says “It hasn’t been that long”. Simply acknowledging the vast disconnect between the short time that’s passed in-universe since KH2 and how egregiously long the fans had to wait – well, it had me in stitches. It was morbid laughter, sure, but refreshing nonetheless.

Um, the folk dancing in the square in Corona? Literal funniest thing ever.

One thing that I really missed? Closing keyholes. Finishing worlds wasn’t the same without them.

At this point in the review, I’ve covered basically every aspect I can think of save for one: the story. I’ve purposely saved it for last, because it’s the most important aspect of the series to me, the one that can make or break a Kingdom Hearts game.

From the categories I’ve judged thus far – content, visuals, gameplay, extras – I’d probably give this game a solid 8 or 9/10. I had some issues with the overly cluttered combat, the difficulty level, and the slight disappointment with which worlds were included and the ways they chose to play out the subplots in each. But in the grand scheme of things, all these complaints are minor, and don’t detract from the fact that it’s just plain fun, in a new league with some of the most entertaining and most beautiful titles out there.

But that’s exactly it. Beautiful graphics are the new bare minimum for this generation of console gaming. If a game released for the PS4 or Switch isn’t visually outstanding, it runs a real risk of faltering behind the competition. There is no shortage of beautiful games on the market in 2019.

And if I want a fun game, I can pop back into Mario Odyssey or get a group together to duke it out in Super Smash Ultimate. I can easily download a dozen fun platformers on Steam for less than 50 bucks.

Yes, KH3 is really beautiful, and really fun.

But that’s not why I was so excited to play it.

A legion of kids and teenagers stuck with this series well into their twenties and thirties, never giving up on the release of the next installment. Trudged through handheld games and blocky graphics and clunky battle systems and convoluted plot lines. Why? Well, of course I can’t speak for all KH fans, but for me, and all the ones I know personally, it’s because of the story. It’s always been what, in my mind, sets KH apart from any other video game I’ve ever played. It’s the only game series that’s ever made me cry. The only one I’ve ever owned merchandise for. The only one I’ve ever been so invested in that I can discuss it with friends, even acquaintances, for hours on end. The only one that’s made me care so much about the characters that they feel like my friends. With how much time has passed since I started, maybe even my kids. No pun intended, the series has heart. It contains the same sort of magic that going to Disneyland as a child did. Or, it used to.

Kingdom Hearts 3 didn’t need to just be a great game. It needed to be a Kingdom Hearts game. One that built a wove a compelling story filled with intrigue and emotion from the first hour. One that did justice to all the characters (and by now, there are a lot of them) that we’ve grown to love over the last 17 years. One where a prepubescent kid can yell a speech up at a threatening villain that makes you believe, harder than you’ve ever believed, in the power of friendship. One that instills a childlike optimism that no matter how dark the world gets, as long as someone keeps fighting, good can still triumph over evil. One that tugs on the heartstrings in just the right ways, at just the right moments, to manage to make you cry – repeatedly – over a gang of outspoken, angsty kids with clown feet.

The thing about the story in KH3 is: it’s not inherently a bad story. Sure, it’s a mess, it doesn’t make much sense, it leaves you with more questions than answers, it’s incredibly cheesy, and it retcons a good deal of lore from previous installments. But many of these things could be said of other Kingdom Hearts games. The fact that these descriptors apply to KH3 isn’t what disqualifies it as a worthy entry in the series, in my mind.

For the most part, it’s not the story itself I found disappointing. After all, think about how a summary sounds on paper: reunions with long lost characters, long-awaited battles, conclusions of lengthy character and story arcs.

The biggest problem wasn’t so much the concept of the story, but rather the execution.

First of all, the pacing. The pacing was terrible. Almost nothing happens the first 20-25 hours of the game. I can think of maybe two scenes that got me on the edge of my seat, gripping my controller in the hopes it would advance the plot further: the scene with Mickey and Riku in the realm of darkness where you get to play as Riku for a few minutes (sadly the only time in the game that you do), and running into Vanitas in Monstropolis. Nothing. Else. Happened. Sure you run into Larxene in Arendelle, and goof around chasing Luxord in the Caribbean, but none of this is actually relevant to the plot we care about. Certainly not the plot the story is telling us to care about from the beginning.

And that leads me to the second issue – how vague your objective actually is. The ultimate objective of the game seems clear enough: rescue Aqua from the realm of darkness, maybe worry about the other two Wayfinder trio once we’ve found her, and defeat Xehanort. But this is not Sora’s given objective. Rather, it’s to find the ‘power of waking.’ Which is not explained, either to Sora or the player. Sora, on the other hand, appoints himself to another mission entirely: contemplating the unfairness of Roxas’ disappearance, he seems to mainly be focused on finding him and restoring him to a physical existence. However, this mission is starkly at odds with the canonical explanation of Nobodies in general and Roxas, specifically. The last time we saw Roxas (chronologically speaking) he reunited with Sora, and as far as we know, he’s still part of Sora. So, the mission to “find” Roxas as if he exists as an entity in the real world is perplexing. Second, lacking hearts, Nobodies can’t exist as a whole on their own. So even assuming we can “find” him in Sora, how far we going to bring him back without splintering Sora into a Heartless and a Nobody again? Even according to the series’ own complex lore, it doesn’t make sense. Therefore, the first half or more of the game seems aimless, not really knowing what we’re meant to be doing, or how. It’s hard to be invested in a story with no clear objective. Not something we can easily get on board with like “Find Riku and Kairi” or “Track down the Organization.” Just “Go find the power of waking.” Okay.

And while a lot (and I mean a lot) happens in the last 4-5 hours of the story to tie up loose ends, it’s crammed together in such a jumbled rush that it’s almost impossible to appreciate any of it.

After collecting Aqua and Ventus, long lost characters reappear on screen one right after another assembly-line style, to the point that none of them feels special or poignant anymore.

Not only that, but the characters who are brought back, many of them beloved protagonists from earlier installments in the series, are not given any time to shine.

It was promising when they let Aqua fight Vanitas in the newly restored Land of Departure. Ven is her friend, her responsibility; it was her fight. But with this taste of getting back a playable character from the franchise, I expected that as the plot progressed, it would open up plenty more chances for past protagonists to take the stage. That we’d be able to step back into the oversized shoes of other playable characters we’d missed. That when (or if) others returned in all their glory, they’d get to strut their stuff.

But that is precisely the opposite of what happened.

I mean, Ventus didn’t get to steal the spotlight for the final clash with Vanitas? By definition, his natural foil?

Terra didn’t get to exact his revenge in an epic showdown with Xehanort, the guy who stole his body and enslaved him for more than a decade?

Roxas and Axel, reunited, couldn’t team up to pound on the Organization members that tormented them? Instead, after his surprise entrance, Roxas got hardly any screen presence at all, and Axel’s epic new flaming keyblade got destroyed, making him sit out most of the fighting after all the build up that he was training to fight?

Oh, and you know who else was utterly useless through the final battles, demoted once again to a damsel in distress despite years of hype that she’d wield a keyblade in this installment, and multiple cutscenes indicating she, too, was training to actually fight? Yup. I don’t even need to say the name.

And to only get one small boss fight as Riku, when in the previous installment he had half the screen time?

The heroes we’ve missed for so long and longed to return to the screen are not resurrected with the dignity and respect they deserve. They are relegated to side characters, who are either completely sidelined for the final battles, or else just hacking away mindlessly in the background as you marathon one ridiculously easy “boss” after another Olympus Coliseum-style.

Speaking of resurrecting characters: the manner in which they brought some of them back was so nebulous it was impossible to understand, let alone experience any sort of emotional reaction.

For one: Roxas. For starters, it’s pretty lazy writing to have Sora be the one pursuing his return (however that was supposed to happen), only to have that pursuit peter out completely, and for Roxas to just appear at the final battle with no resolution or explanation of how. (Nor the satisfaction of fleshing out how Sora achieved it.) But more importantly, where did he come from? There was no scene in which he emerged from Sora’s being. So, where was he? Also, I get that they must have used the replica Demyx/Ansem brought Ienzo as a vessel for him, but how does he have his own heart now? There was no evidence to indicate Sora or Ven lost theirs again. This is a pretty glaring plot hole.

Second? Naminé. This one really came out of left field. No one had even spoken about Naminé the entire game, save one throwaway line. Then all of a sudden, near the very end of the game, everyone cares about bringing her back, too? Even Sora, despite his hours-long obsession with bringing back Roxas without a word about Naminé, sees a newly empty vessel and asks “Oh, is that for Naminé?” All I could do at this point was laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Even more confusing? Xion. She was a replica, with no heart, no personality... a walking vial for Sora’s memories. How on Earth did she get brought back? What was there to bring back? And what was the point? Xion always felt far more like a plot device than an actual character.

At this point, so little made sense and so many characters had appeared in a row with no regard for continuity or maintaining canon that my heart was really starting to sink. It all felt like it was meant to be fan service. Bring back everyone’s favorite characters: they’ll love that, right? But the issue is they did it no matter what rules they had to break, or canon they had to ignore. Sure, I wanted a lot of these characters back, I think a lot of people did. But not at the expense of good writing.

Even if one completely excuses the hole-filled poor writing that got us there, it didn’t even feel real that we had these awesome characters back. Because they just sort of existed, as high-def cool anime hair and porcelain skin and not much else. Not only did they not get to show us what they’re made of in epic fight sequences, but there was no meaningful dialogue from any of them. Where was Terra giving his friends any sort of recollection of his time as Ansem’s guardian? Riku and Roxas making amends? Aqua thanking Sora for keeping Ven safe? A brofest about protecting their friends between Riku and Terra? Axel saying anything at all meaningful to his best friend when he finally saw him again? For all the reunions we got, it was shocking how little substance there actually was in any of them.

It was an insanely rushed ending, with stunted, shallow dialogue, and awkward tears that felt forced rather than genuine.

KH3 is to KH1&2 what Moffat Who is to RTD Who. A lot more flash, a lot less substance, and hollowed out characters that no longer provoke deep emotion.

Characters’ emotions were not handled well in this game. Like when Sora, notorious for being a persistent optimist, dissolves to hysterics and claims he’s “nothing” without his friends. But we never get to see this sharp departure from his M.O. (because he has lost his friends over and over throughout the series without reacting this way) really wrestled with. It’s just swept under the rug after a single line from Riku. It’s okay for characters to hit rock bottom: in fact, it’s good for them. But such episodes have to be properly fleshed out, or they won’t have an impact.

Also, just my two cents? Making your characters cry is not a shortcut to get your audience to cry. It’s a lazy way of demonstrating feeling. In the writing world, there’s something called “show, don’t tell.” Making characters cry left and right with hardly any time devoted to the proper dialogue and action is the equivalent of telling, rather than showing. This series is unique to me precisely because it’s the only video game to make me cry (repeatedly). But I didn’t shed a tear in this game. And I think that is so telling. I always think of this behind the scenes video I watched for Doctor Who, in which they filmed different versions of a (very) emotional scene. In one of these versions, the Doctor properly breaks down and cries. David (the actor) upon seeing this version played back to him, said: “I worry if you see him breaking down, it stops you breaking down, as well.” He was onto something there. They didn’t end up using that take in the episode, and I think everyone would agree it was the right call. I’m not saying crying is inherently bad and always to be avoided. In fact, the opposite: it can be very powerful if used sparingly, and at the right moments with the right build-up. But overusing it, with no apparent regard for characterization nuances, basically making it your only method for tell your audience a character is emotional? It’s a little insulting. You also need good dialogue, good acting (or in this case, good animation and voice acting), and proper timing if you want to strike a chord with anyone.

Which, speaking of, I thought both the dialogue and the voice acting in the game as a whole left something to be desired (and seemed almost painfully slow?), and I think a big reason why emotional moments tended to ring hollow.

Onto another aspect of the story: how it ties in to earlier installments in the series. There was a fair amount of speculation going into this game whether or not smaller, handheld-console based installments and extra nuggets from mobile games and re-releases would be relevant in KH3. But regardless of which side of the argument fans fell on, the fact remains that many fans had only played KH1 and KH2, possibly BBS, prior to playing KH3. Many people don’t have the money or the interest in playing on multiple handheld consoles (me being one of them, though I toughed it out in this case) or cell phones, nor the tireless dedication and yes, more money, to purchase games a second time for Final Mix versions and secret endings. This is not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean they are bad fans, or less deserving of playing or enjoying KH3. Someone should not have to be a zealous super-fan to be able to enjoy a video game, or any form of entertainment. If you show up to Avengers: Endgame without having seen some of the previous major installments in the film franchise, you are probably going to be confused. I don’t recommend doing that. But is it necessary to have re-watched them all 20 times, speculated for hours on blogs and message boards, and read decades worth of Avengers comics to be able to understand it? Of course not. Though some insufferable comic book elitists insist they’re better than everyone else because they know more about the Marvel universe, the fact is you don’t have to be a Marvel super-fan to enjoy the films. That’s how it should be. Because it’s okay to be a casual fan of something. Content creators normally recognize this, and respect all of their audience. But here, there was critical information from pretty much every spinoff handheld game that you needed in order to have any idea what was going on. There wasn’t even any recap system like in KH2 (the static memories) to get you up to speed on what had happened in the series up until this point. Not to mention the location of the final boss fight, as well as the very last cutscenes centered around a mobile game/movie that I had never even heard of until I was in the middle of playing KH3. Now I am something of a KH geek as I said, so I’ve sat through Union Cross now and done my best to understand some of the more obscure lore. But, call me crazy, I don’t think it’s fair to expect every single person who plays the game to do that in order to understand it. Games are supposed to be fun, not homework.

Which brings me to my last point: this game was supposed to be the end of the saga as we know it. Whether it’s the end of the series or simply the end of this story arc and subsequent games will follow a villain besides the many iterations of Xehanort is yet to be seen (as of me writing this), but it was established this game would be the end to the main trilogy so far. And, to have that end be the main character swanning off on his own (as some have speculated, possibly to his death)? With everyone else from the series partying on the beach like someone important isn’t missing? As someone who came into this game expecting closure, I felt completely blindsided by this ending. After all he’s been through and all the sacrifices he’s made, Sora deserves better.

Kingdom Hearts 3 was visually and mechanically a blast, and credit should go to the developers, artists, and designers where credit is due. But as a fan who plays this series not for graphics or flashy gameplay, but to immerse myself in the story, I’m left feeling cheated. The way the plot unfolded and the way the characters were handled did a disservice to both long-time fans of the saga and to the characters themselves.

I always have a hard time with this, but if I had to put a number to it? I’d say maybe 6/10.

It hurt just to type that.

I’m not giving up hope in the franchise. If there’s ever a KH4 (which still seems unclear right now), I’ll probably still play it. I’m trying to give the creators the benefit of the doubt: they were under a lot of pressure to create a great game, and had too much time in development on their hands and too many sprawling ideas and tried to do too much at once. I’m all for second chances. But if they want the trust of fans like me back, they’re going to have to earn it.

Over the last couple months as I’ve put together this review, I’ve found myself in doubt. Even, dare I say it, like a bad fan, though in principle I vehemently reject the notion someone is a bad fan for disliking an installment of any franchise they love. Am I just too old for Kingdom Hearts now? I wondered. Was I romanticizing the series the whole time, and it’s not as good as I’ve built it up to be in my head? After all my time spent waiting, am I being too critical? I tortured myself over it. So, a couple of weeks after finishing KH3, I popped in the 1.5/2.5 HD compilation into the PS4 and restarted KH2. I had to see if it even came close to the hype I’d built in my head in the 8 or 9 years since I played it last. Almost 60 hours of gameplay later, I can say with confidence that I had not romanticized it at all. This game is amazing. I didn’t mind watching 30 minutes of cutscenes at a time because everything is so compelling. So the graphics are dated, but who cares? The combat is FUN without ever being cumbersome. It’s just the right level of difficulty that there are still some battles and bosses that require multiple attempts and the journey continuously instills a sense of pride and accomplishment. It has so much heart. I still teared up in the same places I used to as a teenager.

KH2 is still a perfect 10/10, and playing it again with fresh eyes only made me realize just how disappointing KH3 actually was.

There’s an old adage that it’s the things we love most that hurt us the most. I wouldn’t feel so let down, or compelled to write 6800 words why, if I didn’t love this series with all my heart. I’ve seen a lot of fans insulting and belittling anyone who dares to criticize the game online, and frankly I’m baffled by that. I critique and discuss all forms of entertainment I enjoy: and that includes both the strengths and weaknesses, the successes and flaws. And I guess I tend to associate with people who do the same. It doesn’t make us bad fans, but passionate ones. I’m not sending hate mail to Square telling them the game unequivocally sucks. I don’t have any ill will towards them or think they’re irredeemable writers or developers. I’m simply recording and posting my honest thoughts to help myself process how I’m feeling, and perhaps others if they choose to read them.

I’m genuinely happy for the fans who loved the game and felt it worth the wait – I don’t want to pick any fights with them (so please don’t pick any fights with me, either). I’m sadly - believe me, no one is sadder than me to admit this - just not one of them.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kh meta #kh3 #kh #idk if any of my followers play but #there aren't many places i can post such a long review #so my old blog seemed an appropriate place #written by yours truly

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azuldemontana · 6 years ago

Text

Module 7 collaboration blog post!

This week we’re doing a collaboration post on the Module 7 activates. Make sure to head over and check out Louis blog!

Modern Encryption Standards

Cipher text 1 & 5: These two both have to be an ECB, we noticed that if we put in two identical 16 bit blocks, the output would result in two identical hashes. This is due to the fact that ECB does not use previously encrypted data to increase confusion.

Cipher text 2: For this one, we noticed that, unlike the other ciphers, no. 2 increased in length with the plain text. We realized that for however many characters we had in plain text, there were double that in the cipher text. This implies that it must be a CTR encryption method, that uses an incrementing counter combined nonce which is used to encrypt one character at a time.

Cipher text 3 & 4: For these two, we can conclude that they are using CBC as consecutive blocks are not identical to their previous blocks due to the previous block being used to encrypt rather than the same key being used each time.

Social Engineering with email Phishing

Reconnaissance:

From Sarah's Instagram gives us quite a bit of information:

Child’s DOB: 2/12/14 (Bday referred to twice)

Mark nearly passed out in theater (Mark = Husband?)

Husbands birthday on 4/06

Dogs names (Bella, Jessie, Max(Sarah's fav), Jasper( Also Sarah’s fav = begal), Stella)

Sarah likes summer

Childs name = James

sarah.jenkins0583 (may 1983 = bday?)

Puppy love website:

David enjoys micro-brewing

Looks after dogs (Angela and Jessie, black pugs)

Sarah works in office, most likely manages FB page

Attack:

Sarah isn’t very clued on Security wise, she sent back the Facebook credentials with our first attempt.

Getting the payment made was a little bit harder. David is a pretty simple minded man, so we found the best approach was to not use long sentences and just get straight to the point.

So it looks like David is strange kind of ‘human’ that will pay money if you include the key words “david” “payment” and “urgent”.

Knowledge Based Authentication

This game was actually pretty fun... And kinda hard as well. Louis started as the ‘attacker’ and asked me questions and I tried to guess when he asked me a Phishing question. The game went like this:

A: What is your proudest accomplishment? - I jumped the gun a bit here and immediately guessed this was a phishing question, and so lost on the first question. In hindsight this isn’t a ‘malicious’ question as a proudest moment normally wont be a single word answer, in most cases the answer to this question will involve some kind of story. So it doesn’t make sense for this to be a knowledge based authentication question. Yet in my defense, it could lead to the attack gaining information about you.

A: What’s the best single day on the calendar? - I proved I’m not very good at this game when I said this was also a phishing question... It’s not. It looks like it is, as often people use birthdays included in their passwords. Had Louis asked “what is your date of birth?” this may have been a phishing question.

A: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? - Thinking I had the hung of things, and not wanting to loose again, I guessed this was NOT a phishing question and told Louis that I wanted to be a fire fighter when I grew up. Thinking about it now, this was some crucial information I just gave and defiantly could be asked during knowledge based authentication.

Which! Now I tried to redeem myself and see if I could trick Louis into answering some phishing questions.

A: What is something that is considered a luxury, that you don’t think you could live without? - I started with a safe question to gain some trust before I started trying to get some useful information. Louis wasn’t suspicious of this one and answered the question to no consequences.

A: Where is the most interesting place you’ve been? - I hoped this one would fool Louis. We often use important locations in passwords, and some message authentication questions ask things along the lines of “Where was your first holiday?” (Looking at you CentreLink). However, Louis answered this with no consequences. The word interesting isn’t specific enough and isn’t likely to be used in a knowledge based authentication question.

A: What was the make and model of the car you learnt to drive in? - CentreLinks questions are appearing twice in this post now, this one is an obvious phishing question. So I started with a warm up question “do you drive?”, which Louis answered and told me that yes he did. Thinking I had gained his trust I then replied with “Oh cool, what car do you drive?”. But to no avail, Louis saw through my attempt and called out this question.

A: What city or town were you born? - Another malicious question, and I’m sure most of you can remember being asked something similar, maybe like “which country did you grow up?”, so Louis didn’t fall for this one either.

So it’s pretty clear that I’m not the best at getting OR protecting my information. Defiantly something to practice!! GG Louis.

Trump Phishing

Dear Commander and Chief Donal Trump,

I am emailing on behalf of the United States Department of Defense. We have recently discovered a major vulnerability in the official military communications systems that could lead to major consequences if left untreated.

It is vital that you provide us with the footballs launch codes immediately so we can detect if they have been compromised.

To do so, please encrypt them using our military grade encryption called 7zip, compress the file. Once it is encrypted, upload it from your own device to the following link.

www.securesafewebsite.ir.com

If you need assistance, please contact us.

Regards,

United States Department of Defense

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kamen-base · 7 years ago

Photo

Well, that was Kamen Rider V3. First, I would like to thank Generation Kikaida for subbing the entire show, though I can’t find the movie anywhere (but I’ve heard it doesn’t add anything).

So, like I always do, I’m going to go over what I thought was good and bad about the series, the first thing I list will be the best, the last thing I list will be the worst, and the mediocre section in between. As if I’m not implying, there will be spoilers.

GOOD:

Yuki Joji and pretty much all the episodes involving him: As I’ve constantly gushed, I loved Yuki’s character arc, and pretty much all the episodes involving him. Going from a misguided individual that trusts in Destron to slowly doubting everything about it to finally joining Shiro in his cause was absolutely fascinating to watch. Not only that, his backstory and his “sacrifice” were also great to watch, not to help that Bokura no Riderman is a good song, in my eyes. The only complaint I have about him is that he’s sorta useless. He doesn’t really do much until his final episode, he doesn’t develop Shiro (though I will point out that Shiro helping Yuki basically showed us that Shiro’s developed into a mentor figure like Ichigou and Nigo), nor interact with much of the supporting cast. However, that will not change the fact that Yuki was the best part of the show in my eyes.

Kazami Shiro: Yes, I ranked the secondary over the main rider, flame me. In my eyes, these two characters are absolutely great. Both of them have deep personalities, Shiro, like his powers, is a combination of Hayato and Takeshi’s personalities. However, what Yuki has over Shiro is a character arc, which I will get into in a later section, but despite that, I still love these two characters.

Tobei Tachibana: Once again, Tachibana is the mentor figure, and I feel like he plays it better in the show, as he helps Shiro go through some tough times. Though I feel like there is a missed opportunity with his character, I will get to that later as well, I still enjoyed watching him just being a fun yet wise character.

Marshal Armor: The only villain I’ve liked so far, and the reason for that is he has a personality. Coming off as extremely anxious and petty, it makes a lot of his actions understandable, even if they do come back to bite him. Despite this, by the end, he seemed to revert back to the stock villain personality that all the other villains had, but at least his death was ironic. Although, he doesn’t have a backstory, but I’ll take what I can get.

The “Serialization”: I’m not sure if I’m using this word right, but I’m trying to say that most episodes contribute to the overall story. For example, episodes 3-20 were introducing V3’s 26 Secrets (although they were pretty much just shoved in at the end of the fight), episodes 30-40 introduced, and got rid of, two new commanders, and episodes 41-52 introduced Marshal Armor and Yuki. Though I will admit, a lot of the episodes can feel repetitive, I will also get to this later, but at least there was an attempt to make it look like there was an overarching story.

MEDIOCRE:

The Rider Scouts: The inverse of what happened in the original series, the Rider Scouts were important at the start of V3, then slowly just faded out of existence by the end. I mean, sure, there were a few episodes dedicated to training the Rider Scouts, but they didn’t seem to do much at all. The only important one we knew was Shigeru.

Dropping/Forgetting Stuff: Ok, whatever happened to V3’s 26 secrets and four weaknesses? How the hell does Destron know of a weakness that V3 has despite them trying to analyze V3 caused their computer to overload and explode? (This happened in I believe in Episode 3 or 4). What about the Reverse Double Typhoon’s side effect or that Doctor G having an affinity for the supernatural? There are some things this show just drops/forgets, and it just bugs me than rather anger me.

Junko and Shigeru Tama: Another issue coming from the previous series, these side characters did absolutely nothing. I mean sure, there was some nice interactions between Junko and Shiro at the start of the series, but by episode 25, nothing really happened between the two of them. Shigeru, to me, didn’t really feel like Goro to me, aka, smart, quick-witted, but childish, as expected of a kid. In addition, we really didn’t know much about these characters, they had no backstory, no personality, no growth, nothing. I mean, sure, we see Shigeru’s better nature when he’s introduced, but other than that, nothing really comes out of him.

Doctor G and Destron as a whole: Why just Doctor G and not the other two commanders? Oh trust me, we’ll get to them. Doctor G is… interesting. He doesn’t really have a personality or backstory, but what makes me like him over Baron Tusk or Archbishop Wing? Well, I guess you could say he had some interesting things, like verbal tics or an affinity for the supernatural. Meanwhile, Destron to me was a better organization than Shocker/Gel-Shocker, but I still found that they did stupid stuff.

BAD:

Wasted Opportunity: Ok, my main reason I didn’t rank Shiro higher or on par with Yuki is because he didn’t have a character arc. That isn’t really a lie, as he does have one, that lasted about 2 episodes. I mean, he goes from wanting nothing but revenge for Destron to going to protect everyone using his powers so no one experiences what he had to go through. I mean, yes, there are some remnants of character growth after episode 2, but it’s either subtle for me to notice or I’m just dumb, probably the latter. I mean, I would’ve liked it if Shiro’s character arc was longer and actually had a conclusion to it, but what can I do? The other thing, in one of the earlier episodes, I believe it’s episode 4, Tachibana gets amnesia. I would’ve actually liked this plot to come up to develop Shiro. Something like Shiro learning that Tachibana got amnesia, possibly due to Shiro being idle, causes him to realize that his focus on revenge caused him to ignore someone that needed help and he starts to use his powers to protect people instead. Something like that, I’m not a storyteller, that probably sounded bad.

Ken Sakuma: AKA, Taki Clone except without the character and skill. Ken didn’t do anything, they could’ve easily gotten rid of him after episode 30, but no, they kept him around for another 10 episodes and they did nothing with him. He had no character, no development, no interesting interactions with any of the characters. Hell, he doesn’t get a proper farewell and none of the characters acknowledge he was ever there in the first place.

The Finale: Though I think this finale is better than the Original Kamen Rider’s finale, I still find flaws with it. The main one being that nothing gets revealed about the Great Leader once again. Plus, it doesn’t feel like a happy ending, as the Great Leader’s still at large. Another thing I really didn’t like was that it didn’t feel dramatic enough. All Destron did was kidnap Junko and a handful of Rider Scouts. Why don’t we have Rider Scouts HQ completely destroyed, Junko and all the Rider Scouts are held hostage by Destron forces, and a massive attack led by at least 15 revived Destron cyborgs. I mean, I would like if the finale didn’t feel like the episodes coming before it.

Baron Tusk and Archbishop Wing: Ok, these villains absolutely sucked. Despite having no personality or backstory like Doctor G, these guys had nothing interesting going for them. What makes it worse, is that despite Baron Tusk being the most powerful commander so far, causing both Takeshi and Hayato to come back to help Shiro, Baron Tusk does nothing to substantiate that claim.

The “monster-of-the-week formula”: Despite there being some “serialization”, most of the episodes are a monster-of-the-week formula. I mean sure, at first, most of the episodes at the beginning were two-parters, by the 20s, it just fell into the same formula, until Yuki came in, which just made the show feel repetitious and boring.

Overall, I’d give Kamen Rider V3 a 6/10. There are some really good moments, especially Yuki and Shiro, but everything else just sorta brings it down, especially episodes 31-40, though I will admit there were some pretty good episodes in there.

Starting from now, I’ll be posting on Twitter as well, so just a reminder I do have a twitter account (https://twitter.com/KAMIseta_blanca). You don’t have to follow me, but just in case Tumblr goes to shit, here it is.

Anyways, thanks for joining on my adventures through V3 and I’d like to know what you thought of V3 if you’ve watched it. Were some of my positives actually things you hated, or vice versa. You’re welcome to reply so we could have a friendly debate over the show, but for now, I will be going on to watch Kamen Rider X next.

Yes, I know the show isn’t fully subbed, but I hope it will be by the time I get to that point (aka like 4 months, I’m sorry for being inactive, but Disgaea 1 and school really eat up a lot of time).

#kamen rider #Kamen Rider V3 #Liveblogging V3 #shiro kazami #review

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