#{ this was surprisingly fun to fill out. i think its the my city now aspect with a jugdrali muse LMAOOO }

[ulirblood]

*.✧ edain in fodlan. ✧.*

Character Profile

PERSONAL INFORMATION.

Gender. Cis Female

Age. 25

Height. 5’4” 

Crest/Holy Blood. Minor Ullr Blood

Class. Bishop

Affiliation. Blue Lions

Personal History

Gran 738 — Born along with her twin sister Brigid in the noble house Yngvi under Duke Ring.

Gran 743 — Started studying for knighthood, lost her twin sister to sea later that gran.

Gran 750 — Gave up her knighthood in order to enter nunhood, taking the holy bow Yewfelle with her in hopes of finding and giving it to its rightful heir— her previously lost at sea twin sister. 

Gran 757 — Captured by the invading forces of the neighboring Verdane, saved later by an army led by Lord Sigurd of Chalphy. Decides to march with that army in the four coming gran.

Gran 761 — Barely escapes the battle of Belhalla with her life, leaving behind Jugdral and soon after enrolling in the Officer’s Academy as a professor for the Blue Lions House.

INTERESTS. Faith Magic, Sewing and Needlework, Cooking, Archery

LIKES. Family, Children, Taking care of others, Praying, Homemade gifts

DISLIKES. Fighting, Arguments, Stormy weather, Flirtatious men, Superficial compliments

STATUS. Faith Professor

CLOSE ALLIES. [currently in toa] Deirdre, Andrei, Sigurd, Leonardo, Ayra

DINING HALL PREFERENCES.

EDAIN LIKES.

Sweet And Salty Whitefish Sautee, Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew, Vegetable Pasta Salad, Onion Gratin Soup, Peach Sorbet, Cabbage and Herring Stew, Country-Style Red Turnip Plate, Pickled Seafood and Vegetables, Vegetable Stir-Fry, Fruit and Herring Tart, Pheasant Roast with Berry Sauce, Saghert and Cream (12)

EDAIN DISLIKES.

Gronder Meat Skewers, Garreg Mach Meat Pie, Peach Sorbet, Beast Meat Teppanyaki, Daphnel Stew (5)

DINING HALL QUOTES.

FAVORITE DISH. 

“This reminds me of when I would sit at dinner with my father and my siblings. What a warm feeling.”

LEAST FAVORITE DISH.

“Oh dear. I don’t think I can finish this. Would you like the rest, perhaps?”

TEA TIME GUIDE.

FAVORITE TEA. 

Crescent-Moon Tea, Chamomile, Rose Petal Blend (3)

CONVERSATION TOPICS.

A place you'd like to visit, Children at the market, Cooking mishaps, Fodlan's future, Our first meeting, Overcoming weaknesses, School days, Thanks for everything, The view from the bridge, Working together, You seem well, A dinner invitation, Perfect recipes, The ideal relationship, The existence of crests, Hopes for your future, Things you find romantic, Bonds between siblings (18)

TEA TIME QUOTES.

GREETINGS.

“Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me.”

FAVORITE TEA.

“I’m not an avid tea drinker, but there really are just some blends that are better than others, don’t you agree?”

FIVE STAR TEA.

“Oh my, this must have been quite expensive.”

BEING OBSERVED.

(1.) “Is there something on my face?”

(2.) “You look like you have a question on your mind. What is it?”

(3.) “Stare any longer and you’re going to start reminding me of the nobles who used to vie for my attention when I was unmarried.”

QUIPS.

“I see.”

“Mhm.”

“Is that right?”

“Something wrong?”

“Let’s pray together.”

“I understand.”

INTRODUCING OWN TOPIC/FINAL COMMENTS.

“Did you know that I used to be a knight in training? It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Hehe.”

Answer: Laugh, Nod, Commend

“I’ve always enjoyed just sitting down and talking with others.”

Answer: Nod, Chat

“I was way more rough around the edges when I was younger, but that somehow didn’t stop various suitors from trying to get my hand in marriage.”

Answer: Admonish, Chat

“My father never forced me into doing anything I didn’t want to, so I was able to escape a political marriage thanks to him.. and my own stubbornness, hehe.”

Answer: Praise, Commend

“Nothing is more important to me than my family. Not even the lord.”

Answer: Nod, Commend, Praise

“I can see a bit of the crusader Ullr in you. You have the courage she was known for.”

Answer: Blush

“I entered nunhood when I was only twelve, and I would do it again if I was given the choice.”

Answer: Commend, Chat

“Do you think it’s wrong to not wish to fight? Sometimes I wonder if things would be better now with my family if I wasn’t afraid to shed blood in the past.”

Answer: Disagree, Admonish

“I have a good bow arm left over from my childhood spent studying and training to be a knight, but I don’t think I could make use of it in a proper fight where lives were on the line.”

Answer: Nod, Commend

END.

“This was surprisingly quite pleasant. Let me know if you’d like to do something like this with me again, i’d be happy to oblige.”

MISC DIALOGUE.

gift guide

FAVORITE GIFTS.

Gemstone Beads, Owl Feather, Goddess Statuette, Legend of Chivalry, Exotic Spices

DISLIKED GIFTS. 

Hunting Dagger, Training Weights

gift quotes

DISLIKED GIFT. 

“Erm… Why would you give me this?”

LIKED GIFT.

“Oh, this is rather nice. Thank you.”

FAVORITE GIFT.

“You know me really well. I’m going to make great use of this.”

LOST ITEMS.

Item 1. Embroidered Handkerchief

Description: A delicately embroidered handkerchief with the letter “Y” and a bow symbol embroidered into the corner. It probably belongs to someone who places importance on blood and family.

Location found: Infirmary

Item 2. Silver Talisman

Description: A fragile pendant with some sort of fake magic inscriptions running along the edge. It probably belongs to someone who believes that it’s the thought that counts.

Location found: Cathedral

Item 3.  Engraved Wedding Ring

Description:  A well-loved silver band with the initials M.E engraved on the inner ring. It probably belongs to someone who placed romantic importance on only one person their entire life.

Location found: Infirmary

LOST ITEM QUOTES.

“Oh! This is mine! I was worried sick and looking for it everywhere. Thank you so much.”

“I apologize, but this isn’t mine. It looks very lovely, though.”

battle quotes

White Clouds Chapter 1: Three Houses 

Retreat Quote (Mock Battle)

“I apologize but I can’t hang on any longer, I must retreat. You have my prayers!”

White Clouds Chapter 2: Familiar Scenery

First Kill

“May the lord forgive me for my actions.”

Monastery Lines

CHOIR PRACTICE.

“Ah, this takes me back to my nunhood. I think I still have it in me. Let me see… Ahem. Ahhh~ ♪”

COOKING.

“Did you cut your hand just now!? Don’t try to hide it from me, honey. Let me see.”

Tutoring

INSTRUCT.

“I apologize. I’ll do better next time, I promise on the lord’s name.”(Bad)

“Your teaching style is really easy to understand.”(Great)

“Hm, somehow I feel like i’m missing something in this equation still.”(Great)

“My holy blood guides me in my pursuit of knowledge.”(Perfect)

“Oh please, you don’t have to flatter me like that.”(Praise)

STABLE DUTY.

“Taking care of creatures like this wasn’t a duty afforded to me in my days of nunhood, but it’s one that I take pride in now. I believe that animals are just important to the world as humans are.”

WEEDING.

“When I first joined the nunhood, I remember being made to weed the gardens as punishment by the sisters if I ever did anything bad.”

SKY WATCH.

“I can't say i'm very experienced with this, but I'll do my best regardless.”

CERTIFICATION EXAMS.

FAILED.

“I will not lie and say I am disappointed in myself. I suppose I’ll have to study harder.”

PASSED.

“It was thanks to my ancestor that I was able to get this far and become something far greater.”

Lecture Questions

APPROACH.

“I need some advice on something.”

QUESTION.

“Professor, tell me. How would you handle a student that couldn’t understand the subject matter no matter how much you tried to explain it to them?”

ANSWERS.

> “I guess i’d have to give up on them ever getting it.” Bad Answer

> “I would find someone else to explain it to the student.” > “I would try to relate with the student and form a bond with them first, before trying again later with an empty head.” Good Answer

BAD ANSWER.

“Nevermind. I’ll look to the lord for an answer instead.”

GOOD ANSWER.

“Why didn't I think of that before? I’m glad I came to you, professor.”

UPDATE GOALS.

“I think myself far more magically inclined, and I hate having to hurt others. If I put my all into Faith, I know I can contribute more to the battlefield then I ever could with a sword or a bow.”

LEVEL UP.

“That’s rather disappointing.”(0 to 2 stats up)

“I suppose that’s agreeable, but I know I can do better.”(3 to 4 stats up)

“You can rely on me more now.”(5 stats up)

“This is all thanks to Ullr looking out for me.”(6 stats up)

“I don’t think I can get any higher than this!”(Upon reaching level 99)

NEW SKILL

“I can feel the lord granting me a new power.”

“I’ll use this new power to protect the people I love.”

“I can save more people with this.”

RECLASSING.

“The lord grants me new strength.”

BATTLE QUOTES.

WHEN SELECTED.

“Point me where you need me.”(Full/High HP)

“I can still keep going.”(Medium HP)

“Just a little more… (pained grunt)”(Low HP)

ENEMY DEALS ONE OR NO DAMAGE OR MISSES.

“That was amusing.”

CRITICAL ATTACK.

“May the lord have mercy on you!”

“You’re so pathetic.”

“Begone!”

GAMBIT.

“Follow my lead!”

“I’m stronger with my allies!”

GAMBIT BOOST.

“We can do it, together.”

DEFEATED ENEMY.

“A life taken, but many lives saved.”

ALLY DEFEATS ENEMY.

“You’re braver than I am.”

ALLY HEALS/RALLIES

“Thanks to you I can keep going.”

DEATH/RETREAT QUOTE

“I can’t take anymore. I have to retreat and take the time to recover.” (casual)

“So this is the end of me. Brother, Sister, I’m sorry. May the lord watch over you all.” (classic)

ADVICE BOX.

i. “My brother doesn’t talk about his feelings very often, but I want to be able to understand him more. How should I get him to open up to me?”

> Just be patient and listen to him when he does talk to you, even if it’s about the littlest things. Slowly but surely he will open up about the harder things to talk about. > You should pursue him relentlessly and never give him a moment alone. He’ll have no choice to talk to you then. > Bury him in gifts, then he will see that you think about him all the time and that he can trust you.

ii. “As a young woman, I often find myself dealing with a lot of flirts who only like me for superficial reasons. It gets annoying hearing how beautiful my hair is or how soft my facial features are. Why do men think women want to hear those kinds of things? ” (Question)

> You will never understand men. Give up while you’re still ahead.

> They don’t know anything about you, so they look to compliments on appearance when it comes to first meetings.

> Can you blame them when women are so beautiful? 

[theredherb]

The Red Herb’s Top 10 Games of 2020

Hey, fuck 2020. You might notice that many of the “Best Of” lists you read this year and last can’t help but mention how terrible 2020 was. That’s because every day was like hitting a new, splinter riddled branch on our 365 day plummet off a shit-coated tree. The year brought with it a viral pandemic that served as a pressure cooker for the societal and systemic issues boiling beneath the surface of our every day life. And we’re not out of it. 

At least one positive holds true of 2020: the games were pretty darn good. One has to wonder, though, if 2020 was the last year of what can be called “normalcy” for the video game industry. Now that the remainder of titles brewed in pre-Covid times are out in the wild, what will the future of gaming look like as studios shift to work-from-home and distribution models migrate to digital as the primary bread winner? What will games look like going forward?

I have no fucking clue. We’ll get there when we get there. But looking back, I’m glad to have had such solid distractions from the stress and strife. If 2020 is any indicator for the industry going forward, then my takeaway is that games will continue to grow in prominence because of their ability to help us cope and, more importantly, stay connected.

Anyway, here’s video games:

10. MARVEL’S AVENGERS

Oh, Marvel’s Avengers. I know you expected to be on more prestigious Top 10 lists than mine. Truthfully, I debated whether or not you should be here. But I had to search my soul (stone) on this one. Really assemble my feelings. Tony Stark my thoughts (?). Here’s the short of it: Marvel’s Avengers has a great story campaign with a surprising amount of emotional weight thanks largely to Kamala Khan’s quest to reassemble the heroes of her youth. Once the final cutscene ends, though, players were expected to take their play box of Marvel heroes, jump online, and duke it out against hordes of villains for the privilege of precious loot and level gains. It would be impossible to get bored because Crystal Dynamics was going to continually Bifrost in new quests, cosmetics, and heroes -- for free!

Except, after fans blasted through the campaign (took me a solid weekend), they found a multiplayer mode filled with repetitive fights against non-descript A.I.M Bots, a handful of dull, un-Marvelous environments (the PNW?! In a video game?! Wowwee!), and a grind for gear that became useless minutes after it was equipped. Oh, and bugs. Tons of bugs. It must be hard for A.I.M. to take earth’s mightiest heroes seriously when they’re falling through the fucking earth every other mission.

So why the Kevin Accolade™? Of all the mistakes and underbaked ideas, Crystal Dynamics got the most important thing right: they made me feel like I was a part of the Avengers. Cutting through the sky as Iron Man; dive bombing, fists-first as the Hulk; firing gadgets at cronies as Black Widow; cracking a row of skulls with Cap’s shield… Avengers is a brawler on super soldier serum.

The combat is crunchy and addictive, and surprisingly deep once you unlock your character’s full suite of skills and buffs. The gear matters little. But choosing a loadout that works for you -- like ensuring enemy takedowns grant you a health orb every time or turning area clearing attacks to focused beams of hurt -- does matter. When it comes to games with disastrous launches, Avengers is the most deserving of a triumphant comeback story because, if you clear the wreckage, I think there’s a solid game here. If I was able to spend hours playing it in its roughshod state, I can see myself digging in for the long-term once it’s polished up and given a healthy dose of content. You know...if Square Enix doesn’t outright abandon it.

9. STREETS OF RAGE 4

Here’s a fact about me: I love beat ‘em ups. From Final Fight to X-Men to The Simpsons, I prioritized my quarters for the beat ‘em up machines (and House of the Dead simply because House of the Dead fuckin’ owns). Unfortunately, Streets of Rage wasn’t in arcades, and I didn’t own a Genesis growing up, so I didn’t get around to the series until Sega re-released as part of a collection. Though my history with the 29 year old brawler is shorter than some, the basics stand out out right away: it’s an awesome side-scrolling brawler filled with zany character designs and high octane boss fights.

SoR4 nails that simple spirit while adding an electric soundtrack, buttery smooth animations, and an art style that looks like a comic book in motion. You can button-mash your way through the game or master your timing to combo stun the shit out of bad guys. Same screen co-op is a requisite for the beat ‘em up genre but I have to call it out nonetheless given that it's next to obsolete these days. The story campaign is, of course, finite but a stream of unlockables and a Boss Rush Mode pad out the package nicely.

I really don’t have to go on and on. I’m on board with any game that captures the arcadey high of classic beat ‘em ups, and Streets of Rage 4 does it with flare.

8. RESIDENT EVIL 3 REMAKE

Resident Evil 2’s remake was my game of the year in 2019. It’s a pitch perfect revision that captures the pulse-pounding fear of the original while beautifully updating its graphics and gameplay for modern audiences. The most striking aspect of RE2’s remake is how it expands and reconfigures the classic game’s environments and set pieces. Capcom managed to recontextualize, and even improve on, the original’s design while staying faithful to its tone and atmosphere.

Resident Evil 3’s remake is less successful in modifying and improving on its source material. If the game feels like it was handled by a different team than RE2R, your gamer hands have good eyes (roll with it). It was developed by a separate internal team (three different teams, in fact), but that’s actually one of many choices mirroring its 1999 forebear. Just like the original, RE3R is a tighter (i.e. shorter) experience that launched less than a year after its predecessor. And just like the original, the game skirts away from survival horror in favor of action horror.

Unlike last year’s remake, however, RE3R paints in broad strokes with the original material much in the same way that 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake shared a vague resemblance with Romero’s ‘79 classic. Capcom at least nails down what matters: you play as Jill Valentine, beaten and discredited after the Arklay Mountains incident, during her last escape from the zombie besieged Raccoon City. Her exit is complicated by Nemesis, a humanoid missile that relentlessly pursues her from minute two of the game. Her only chance of making it out alive is by teaming up with a gaggle of Umbrella dispatched mercenaries, including an overly handsome fellow named Carlos Oliveras that you control for a spell. But fans struggled to get over what Capcom didn’t remake. Several enemies, boss fights, and a “divergent path” mechanic that had you choose how best to escape the Nemesis in a pinch were omitted from the remake. Even an entire section set in a clock tower was cut. But, let’s be honest, the biggest omission is a secret ending where Barry Burton saves the day using only his beard. For real, YouTube that shit.

If you look at what the remake does instead of what it doesn’t, you’ll find a lightning paced action game highlighted by tense, one-on-one fights against the constantly mutating Nemesis. The tyrant’s grotesque transformations evoke the mind-rending, gut turning creature designs found in John Carpenter's The Thing. It’s sad that Nemesis doesn’t pursue you through the levels as diligently as he did in the original, or as Mr. X had in last year’s remake, but these “arena fights” end up being harrowing and fun, culminating in a memorable final encounter. The remake also treats us to the best incarnation of Jill to date. She’s a cynical badass, exasperated at how Umbrella upended her life, and can take a plunge off of a building yet still muster enough energy to call Nemesis a bitch. RE3R also shines thanks to its snappy combat, including a contextual dodge that feels rewarding to pull off, less bullet-sponge enemies than RE2, and an assortment of weapons to get you through Jill’s Very Bad Night(s). It makes for a necessary, though shorter, companion to last year’s stellar remake.

7. HADES

I’m experiencing a new type of shame including a title that I haven’t beaten on my Top 10 list, but I can assure you that I’ve dumped hours into its addictive death loop. It’s probably because of my resistance to looking up any tips, but given the skill-check nature of the difficult boss fights, I’m almost afraid the top shelf advice will amount to “die less, idiot.”

My failings aside, Hades is brilliant. It’s the perfect merger of gameplay and storytelling. You play as Zagreus, son of Hades, and your entire goal is to escape your father’s underworld domain. You pick from a selection of weapons, like a huge broadsword or spear, and attempt your “run,” seeing how far you can make it before an undead denizen cuts you down. It’s familiar roguelike territory, but where Supergiant separates their game from the pack is in the unique feeling of constant progression, even as you fail. With each run, not only is Zagreus earning a currency (gems or keys) that unlock new skills that make the next go a little easier, you’re also consistently treated to new lore. The fallen gods and heroes that line your father’s hall greet you after each death and provide a new insight into their world. The writing is bouncy and hilarious, the voice acting ethereal and alluring, and the character designs could make a lake thirsty.

Supergiant’s stylistic leanings are at their peak here. They’ve managed the impossible feat of making failure feel like advancement. Sure, it totally fucks up other roguelikes for me, but that’s okay. None of those games have Meg.

6. DEMON’S SOULS

Whereas Capcom takes liberties with their remakes, Bluepoint took the Gus Van Sant approach and made a 1:1 recreation of the 2009 title that launched the “Soulslike” genre. The dividing difference is a 2020 facelift brought to us by way of the PlayStation 5’s next-gen horsepower. There’s been online arguments (surprise) regarding the loss of Fromsoftware’s visual aesthetic in translating the PS3 original in order to achieve a newfound photorealism. It’s true, some beasties lose their surreal weirdness -- a consequence of revisiting designs without the worry of graphical or time constraints -- but the game’s world is still engrossing, morbid, and bleakly gorgeous.

That’s not to say all Bluepoint did was overhaul the graphics and shove this remake out the door. No, their improvements are nuanced, under-the-hood changes that gently push the genre into the next-generation. For one, the loading times are incredible. You could hop between all five archstones in under a minute if you wanted. And this game is a best DualSense controller showcase outside of Astro’s Playroom. You can feel a demonstrable difference between hitting your sword against a wall compared to connecting it with an attacking creature. Likewise, the controller rumbles menacingly as to let you know enemies are stomping across a catwalk above you. “Better rumbles” was not on my wish list of next-gen features, but the tactile feedback goes great lengths to make you feel like you’re there.

Granted, sticking so closely to the original means its pratfalls are also carried over to the next-gen. The trek between bonfire checkpoints is an eternity compared to the game’s successors, and Fromsoftware hadn’t quite mastered the sword ballet of boss fights prevalent in Dark Souls. Instead, a handful of bosses feel more like set pieces where you’re searching for the “trick” to end it versus having to learn attack patterns and counters. Still, it’s easy to see the design blueprint that bore a whole new genre. From having to memorize enemy placements to hunting down the world’s arcane secrets in the hopes of finding a new item that pushes the odds in your favor. Bluepoint’s quality of life improvements only make it kinder (not easier) to plunge into the game, obsess over its idiosyncrasies, and begin to master every inch of it. That is until you roll into New Game+ and the game shoves a Moonlight Greatsword up your ass.

5. YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON

Here’s a fact about me I’m sure you don’t know: I love beat ‘em ups. Streets of Rage 4 had an easy time making it on this list because it can be classified as both a “beat ‘em up” and “good.” Here’s another fact about me: I’m not the biggest fan of JRPGs. I’m told this is not because of any personal preferences I harbor, but rather due to a distinct lack of culture. I’ve made peace with that. At least my uncultured ways are distinctive.

But my disinterest in JRPGs is notable here because it illustrates how very good Like A Dragon is. Transitioning the Yakuza series from a reactive brawler (entrenched in an open-world SIM) to a full-blown turned-based RPG was risky -- especially 8 entries into the mainline series -- but it pays off explosively for Like A Dragon. Not only does the goofiness, melodrama, and kinetic energy translate to an RPG -- it’s improved by it. Beyond a new protagonist -- the instantly likable and infinitely affable Ichiban Kasuga -- we’re finally treated to an ensemble cast that travels with you, interacts with you, and grows with you. Their independent stories weave into Ichi’s wonderfully and end up mattering just as much as his.

The combat doesn’t lose any of its punch now that you’re taking turns. In fact, it feels wilder than ever and still demands situational awareness as your enemies shift around the environment, forcing you to quickly pick which move will do the most damage and turn the fight in your favor. RGG purposefully made Ichi obsessed with Dragon Quest (yes, specifically Dragon Quest) as an excuse to go ham and morph enemies into outlandish fiends that would populate Ichi’s favorite series. It’s a fun meta that never loses its charm.

This is the best first step into a new genre I’ve ever seen an established franchise make and I hope like hell they keep with it for future outings -- and that Ichi returns to keep playing hero. There’s plenty of callbacks and treats for longtime fans, but RGG did a masterful job rolling out the virtual carpet for a whole new generation of Yakuza fanatics.

4. GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

Sucker Punch’s dive into 13th century Japan doesn’t redefine the open-world genre. But like Horizon: Zero Dawn before it, Ghost of Tsushima takes familiar components of the genre and uses them exceptionally well, creating an airtight experience that can’t help but stand out. I can tell Sucker Punch mused on games like Assassin’s Creed and Breath of the Wild, tried to figure out what makes those games tick, and then brought their own spin to those concepts. You can feel it in their obsession to make traversal through the environment as unobtrusive as possible, letting the wind literally guide you to your destinations instead of forcing the player to glue their eyes to a mini-map. You can feel it in how seamless it is to scale a rooftop before silently dropping on a patrol, blade first. You can feel it in the smoothness behind the combat as your sword clashes against the enemy’s. Every discrete part is fine-tuned yet perfectly complements the whole. The game is silk in your hands. 

The mainline story can be humdrum, though. It mirrors the beats of a superhero origin story, which isn’t surprising when you account for the three Infamous titles and satellite spinoffs under Sucker Punch’s belt. But Jin Sakai’s personal journey outshines the cookie-cutter plot. His gradual turn from the strict samurai code to a morally ambiguous vigilante lifestyle (to becoming, eventually, a myth) is a fascinating exploration in shifting worldviews. This is bolstered by the well-written side-missions dotting your quest, some of which play out in chains. It’s these diversions about melancholy warriors and villagers adjusting to life under invasion that end up being the essential storytelling within the game. Whatever you do, don’t skip a single one.

Before GoT can overstay its welcome with collectible hunting and stat-tree building, the ride is over. If you find exhaustive open-world titles, well, exhausting, Sucker Punch coded enough of a campaign to sticking the landing and not more. But if you were looking for more, the game’s co-op Legends mode is the surprise encore of the year. It strikes its own tone, with vibrant, trippy designs, and a progression system that embarrasses other AAA titles in the space (I mean Avengers. I’m talking about Avengers).

3. THE LAST OF US PART II

The Last of Us is widely regarded as a masterpiece. It’s a melancholic trek through a realistic post-apocalypse, driven by the budding bond between a world-weary survivor and a would-be teenage savior. The fungal zombies and violent shootouts with scavengers were scary and exciting, but ultimately just window-dressing compared to the level of complicated, and honest, human emotion on display throughout the tale. While a segment of detractors helpfully pointed out that The Last of Us’ story isn’t unique when compared to years of post-apocalyptic books, comics, and movies, that argument seems to forget that a narrative more concerned with the human protagonists’ connections to one another instead of saving the world or feeding into a hero complex is pretty unique for games -- especially a high profile, AAA budgeted game.

Still, fans made heroes out of Joel and Ellie because of their own connection to their journey. And that connection is almost instantly challenged in the opening hours of The Last of Us Part II to heartbreaking effect. But I’m here to tell you that any other sequel would have been dishonest to the legacy of the original game. To be given a hero’s quest as a continuation, an imagined sequel where Joel and Ellie do battle against the viral infection that’s swept the earth, would have been a despicable cash-in. It would have been a mistake to follow-up the original’s careful examination of human nature just to placate an audience that seems to have missed the point Naughty Dog made. The Last of Us Part II hurts. But it has to or else it wouldn’t have been worth making. It’s a slow-burn meditation on the harmful ripples revenge creates, how suffering begets suffering, and how, if we don’t break the cycles of violence we commit to, suffering will come for us.

To drive this point, we’re given two distinct perspectives during the meaty (and somewhat overlong) campaign, split between Ellie Williams, the wronged party seeking revenge, and Abby Anderson, an ex-Firefly whose actions set the sequel into motion. The greatest trick Naughty Dog pulls off isn’t forcing us to play as a character we hate, it’s giving us reasons to emphasize with them. It was gradual, and despite some heavy-handed moments meant to squeeze sympathy out of the player (how many times do I have to see that fuckin’ aquarium?!), I eventually came to love Abby’s side of the story. The obvious irony being that she unwittingly walks the same path Joel did in the original.

My love for the narrative shouldn’t distract from how well designed the world is. Being a King County local, the vision of a ruined Seattle strikes an uncomfortable note -- it was eerie seeing recognizable buildings overgrown with vegetation but otherwise devoid of life. Maybe the heart-wrenching story also distracts from the fact this game is, by definition, survival horror. Exploring toppled buildings in the dark, hearing the animalistic chittering of the infected, defending yourself with limited resources… It manages to be a scarier entry into the genre in 2020 than even RE3R. There’s a particular fight in a fungus covered hospital basement that easily goes down as my Boss Fight of the Year. Human enemies make for clench-worthy encounters, too, with incredibly adept AI that forces you to keep moving around the environment and set traps to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Admittedly, the subject matter -- or more to the point, the grim tone -- was tough to stomach during an actual pandemic which has happily treated us to the worst of human nature. Still, The Last of Us Part II is absolutely worth playing for its balance of mature themes and expertly crafted world, and the way it juxtaposes beauty and awfulness in the same breath.

2. SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES

The most impressive thing about Miles Morales is that, despite being a truncated midquel rather than a full-blown sequel, it’s a better game than 2018’s Spider-Man. It’s not because of the instantaneous loading times or the fancy ray-tracing techniques used on the PS5 version of the game. Rather, it’s how it takes the joyride of the original game and hones it into a laser focused experience filled to the brim exclusively with highs. Like Batman: Arkham Asylum going into Arkham City, Miles starts the game off with his mentor’s best abilities and tools. From there, he discovers his own powers, his bioelectric venom strike, which ends up feeling like the missing ingredient from the first game’s combat.

Your open-world playground -- a locale in the Marvel universe called “New York City” -- is exactly the same size as the previous installment, which helps avoid making the game feel “lesser.” But Insomniac wisely consolidated the random crimes Peter faced into a phone app that Miles can check and choose which activity to help out with. Choices like this really trim the fat from the main game and help alleviate “the open-world problem” where the story’s pacing suffers because players are spending hours on end collecting feathers. This is great because Miles’ story is also great. The narrative kicks Peter out pretty early on, focusing on how Miles assumes the role of city protector, primarily focused on his new home in Harlem. Insomniac avoids retreading the same path paved by Into the Spider-Verse by telling a relatable tale where Miles defines his identity as Spider-Man. With a strong cast led by Nadji Jeter as Miles, the game lands an impactful story that weaves its own new additions to Miles’ mythos (light spoiler: I loved their take on The Prowler).

Miles Morales was pure virtualized joy from start to finish. A requirement of the platinum trophy is to replay the entirety of the game on New Game+. I didn’t hesitate to restart my adventure the minute the credits were over. Everything I loved about 2018’s Spider-Man is here: the swinging, the fighting, the gadgets, the bevy of costumes. But it gave me a new element I adore and can’t see Insomniac’s franchise proceeding without: being Miles Morales.

1. FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

I love subversive media, I do. And Square Enix’s “remake” of one the most beloved video games ever made subverts expectations by openly acknowledging that, yes, the original story you love exists and is consistently referenced in this game. But this is not that story. This is something..else. Because the truth is, SE could never have recreated FFVII and delivered a title that matched the Sacred Game fans created in their heads. That impossible standard is like an imagined deity, given power by feeding on raw nostalgia reinforced by years of word-of-mouth and appearances on Top 100 lists. I’m not saying FFVII is a bad game or that fans give it too much credit. Not at all. There’s a reason it’s so influential -- it’s good! But memory works in a funny way over time. We have a tendency to codify our perception of a thing over the reality of it. The connection we make to certain media, especially when introduced at a young age as FFVII had been to a whole generation of fans so long ago, creates a legend in our heads. Unfortunately, it’s a legend no developer could achieve when tasked with remaking it.

So Square...didn’t. Final Fantasy VII Remake has the same characters, setting, and plot beats as the first third of the original game but it’s not the same game, nor is it a remake of it in the traditional sense. It’s something new. And I fucking love that about it.

Everything is reconfigured, including the combat. After years of trying to merge RPG mechanics with more approachable (and marketable) real-time action (see FFXV and the Kingdom Hearts games for examples), Square Enix finally landed on the perfect balance. You fully control Cloud on the battlefield, from swinging your impossibly huge buster sword to dodging attacks. The ATB gauge (no one knows what the acronym stands for -- that information has been lost to time) gradually fills up, letting unleash powerful moves. But best of all, you fight in a party, and you can switch who to control on the fly.

That may not sound revolutionary, let alone for a Final Fantasy, but each character has a completely unique feel and suite of moves. At times, it feels like playing a Devil May Cry game where you can switch between Dante, Vergil, and Nero on the fly (that’s a free idea, Capcom. Hire me, you cowards). You can soften up an enemy with Cloud’s buster to increase their stagger meter, switch to Barret for a quick gatling barrage, and finally switch to Tifa to crush them with her Omnistrike. You can accomplish this in real-time or slow down the action to plan this out. It’s a great mix of tactics and action that prevents the game from feeling like a mindless hack n’ slash.

What really, really works here is the character work. Each lead walks in tropes first, but the longer you spend with the members of your party, the more their motivations and fears are laid out. You end up having touching interactions with just about the whole main cast. There’s a small segment, after Cloud saves Aerith from invading Shinra guards, that the two make an escape via rooftop.They make light conversation -- small talk really -- but it’s exchanges like this that feel genuine, perfectly framing their characters (stoic versus heartfelt), and grounding an otherwise larger-than-life adventure.

Many bemoaned the fact that FFVIIR only revisits a small portion of the original game, but I think it was a brilliant choice -- to massively expand on areas we only got to see a little of in the original. I honestly didn’t want to leave Midgar. It’s a world rife with conflict and corporate oppression, sure, but Midgar is beautifully realized, from the slums below the plates, populated with normal people trying to make the best of life, to the crime controlled Wall Market, adorned with gaudy lights and echoing honky tonk tunes. It very well may be years before FFVII’s remake saga comes to a close, but if each entry is paved with as much love and consideration and, yes, storytelling subversion as this introductory chapter… It’ll be worth the wait.

[bluescreening]

Book Recommendations: Space

Hi guys! This is my first collection of book recommendations. I’m going to make a small collection for each genre I like. I wanted to start with sci-fi, but there are too many to fit in one post, so I’ve divided them into Space and Not Space. I hope you enjoy them! Blurbs by me unless otherwise mentioned.

The Illuminae Files (Illuminae, Gemini, Obsidio) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - Kady Grant lives on an illegal, frozen mining colony, and her biggest problem right now is breaking up with her boyfriend. Until the bombs start to fall. 

Illuminae is a space opera, there’s no doubt about it. The vast majority of the books take place on spaceships. However, it’s far from the 10-book-long dragged out sagas that populate old sci-fi nerds’ bookshelves. Presented as a collection of chat logs and transcripts, this series is quite possibly the fastest-paced thing I’ve ever read. I read each book in one sitting. It’s filled with twists, turns and a compelling female-led cast of characters including an AI that you’ll love if, like me, you get overly attached to typical robot characters. I do have a couple of criticisms that I can’t really voice without spoilers, and it’s slightly lacking in representation given the number of characters, but this is still an incredible series despite its shortcomings. In short, this is a legitimately funny, tense and surprisingly heartbreaking sledgehammer into the typical space opera genre which I suggest to anyone and everyone who loves sci-fi.

Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith - When the entire world is run by robots and your life is heavily regulated by the government, what else is there to do but be permanently off your head on drugs? That is, until your friend takes you to a space station to sober up and take a break... and then the world ends. Oh, and the robots are crazy now.

This is far from your typical space book. It starts off completely unintelligible, and you find yourself loathing the characters. Then you begin to piece together what’s happening and why, and it morphs into a comedic survival horror story. And right at the end, you realise you’re looking at this mess through the eyes of a terrified, clueless kid, and you realise you’ve against all odds formed a connection with the characters and you find yourself crying. This book somehow conveys exactly what it means to be human in a way that cannot be articulated, and also has a chapter called ‘It’s Time To Eat Now, And I Become Aware Of My Balls’. Basically, it’s a crazy trip, but a good one.

Satellite by Nick Lake - Leo, alongside twins Orion and Libra, is the first child to be born and raised in space. For the first time, he is going home - to Earth. But something has been going on behind the scenes, something his isolation has hidden from him so far.

Firstly, this is Good Gay Representation! If that isn’t reason enough to read it, this book paints the world as a beautiful, wonderful place that really restores some faith. It remains scientifically accurate while also showing the beauty in every aspect of nature. Frankly, the way this story is told feels like home, which is a major theme throughout - whether home is Earth, the space station, a person or something else entirely. Essentially it’s a coming-of-age story with a sci-fi ish setting, but I think it deserves recommendation because of the overall message that science and nature are beautiful, and the way the author conveys that. The only downside is that the whole book is written in text-speak, but that isn’t too hard to ignore.

The Martian by Andy Weir - I can’t come up with a better blurb than this quote which is abbreviated on the back of the book: “I’m stranded on Mars. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Habitat breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m fucked.”

The Martian is quintessential modern sci-fi at its greatest. It is one of my top 5 books of all time. It has a charming, witty protagonist, it has scientifically accurate solutions to every problem, it has in-depth yet understandable and often funny explanations for that science, it has some really emotional moments that come out of left field. It has it all! It’s a crazy survival story that is 100% possible, and I love every second of it. I literally cannot recommend anything more. Please, if you haven’t already, read it. Even if you’ve already watched the move. Please!

Artemis by Andy Weir - Artemis is the first and only city on the moon. And like all cities, it comes complete with a shady criminal underworld, and its fair share of corruption. Jazz Bashara is a delivery girl and smuggler who just wants some extra cash and to avoid trouble, but I think we all know how that’s going to go.

Liked The Martian? Want more? Artemis is full of the same lightening-paced action and scientific problem solving, but this time with a larger, more vibrant cast of characters! There’s some extra funky representation here. I have to admit, this one plays a bit more fast and loose with the rules of science, but it still holds up in general and I think Weir is entitled to have a little fun given how accurate he’s been so far. I can’t get enough, and I recommend this to anyone who loves the Martian, or the moon.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and the rest of the trilogy of five books) by Douglas Adams - When the Earth was bulldozed to make way for an interstellar highway, Arthur Dent was rescued by his friend Ford Prefect, and promptly taken on a whirlwind tour of the universe involving dolphins, depressed robots and the literal end of the world. Poor Arthur just wants a cup of tea.

To round off the list, we have what happens when sci-fi and British comedy get it on. The original. The classic. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Douglas Adams is a genius, and if you haven’t read this you’re severely missing out. Charming, hilarious and surprisingly meaningful in places, this is pretty much mandatory reading in my opinion. Of course, it was a radio show to begin with, so that’s an equally excellent way to take in this story. If you like Good Omens, and you also like space, give this a shot.

And that wraps up my top space book recommendations! I will post my recs for sci-fi in general at some point soon, so keep an eye out. If you want to geek out about one of these books or recommend me anything, let me know!

[scgdoeswhat]

A Very Penderghast Halloween – Beckett x Clarette

Summary: The Penderghast gang celebrate Halloween.

Rating: NSFW

Words: 5541

Author’s Notes: Happy Halloween!! I had this idea pop up into my head a few weeks ago to celebrate Halloween with my favorite magickal crew! I didn’t expect it to grow into a behemoth, but here we are. Thanks to @hellomynameisdevi​ @brightpinkpeppercorn​​ for the early help, and I’m also going to submit this for @skyecrandall​​ Choices Horrorween Week!

Hope you all enjoy! Beckett doesn’t belong to me (unfortunately), but the story does. No Beta used.

Sorry if the “Read More” link isn’t working. It’s Tumblr’s fault, not mine!

Tag list: @xo-endlessmayhem-xo​ @grungeisntmything​ @friendlylilshipper​ @felmasri​ @numberonepoetryexpert​ @hellomynameisdevi​ @beckettbaguette​ @siegrrun​ @choicesthatplayyou @retroangxl​ @askdana​ @50shadesofraleigh​ @darley1101​ @kamybelen-blog​ @herdecisions​ @artchoicesreblog​​ @teenytinymagician​​ @choicesfannatalie​​ @itsstillnotwhatyouthink​​ @abigailpoe​​ @flyawayboo @brightpinkpeppercorn​​ @gardeningourmet​​ @harringtons-honey @manateemilk​​ @queenodysseia @thatcatlady0716​​ @divergentofhogwarts​​ @pottershat​​ @topsyturvy-dream​​ @choicesyouplayandmore​​ @zeniamiii​​ @never-neverland​​ @drakewalkerfantasy​​ @syltti78​​ @elementalistshoe​​ @maxwellsquidsuit​​ @sleepingpillcorporation​​ @tabithacarlisle​​ @ludextruction @pbmychoices​​ @wickedgypsymoon @mistychoices @izzycheeese​​ @lady-kato​​ @fluffy-marshmallow-heart​​ @flynnomalleys​​ @walkerismychoice​​ @thefirstcourtesan​​ @drakesensworld​​ @laceandlula​​ @rhymesmenagerie​​ @shainaa00​​ @princessstellaris​​ @itsbrindleybinch​​ @donutsgirl36​​ @liamzigmichael4ever​​ @mckenzie-powell​​ @sunflowergirl05​​ @justendlesssummerfeels​​ @friedherringclodthing​​ @choicesarehard​​ @desiree-0816​​ @elanorwaverley @aworldoffandoms​​ @mrsbriarmarlcaster​​ @star-adorned​​ @wiselight @cloacasexual

Please let me know if you want to be tagged/removed on future fics and I’ll tag anyone I may have missed in the comments. Thank you!

Clarette stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, putting the finishing touches on her first Halloween costume in three years. She ran a hand down the front of the deep red corset, smiling at how the tight fit pushed up and emphasized her bosom. Turning sideways, she smoothed out the lace overlay over the black tulle miniskirt, the fabric bouncing back to its natural shape after she finished touching it. She threw the high collared, black, satin minicape over her shoulders, fastening the button around her neck before slipping on a pair of matching elbow length gloves to complete her look. Stepping into her black heels, she walked out into the living area of the suite where Atlas was hanging out and Shreya was waiting for her.

Her twin sister glanced at her, peering over the magazine she was reading and raised a skeptical eyebrow at Clarette’s outfit. “You look like a vampire-brothel-hooker all smashed into one.”

Clarette laughed on her way to the kitchenette, throwing a wadded-up paper towel at Atlas. “Well, if that’s the case, then Beckett will be my lucky customer later!”

Atlas groaned in repulsion, her face disappearing behind the page. “I really hate you sometimes, you know that?”

Shreya snorted in amusement at the siblings’ banter while she looked at her reflection in the mirror, touching up her black lipstick to complete her short and skintight sexy witch costume. “You two make me glad that my sister is younger than me. I could never imagine having any type of sex conversation with her,” she said, shaking her head in dismay. “I will say that this is fun to dress up for your Attuneless holiday, Clarette. Believe it or not, what I’m wearing is tame compared to what I’ve seen some sorceresses wear.” She looked over at her roommates’ outfit and busted out into a fit of laughter. “If Priya saw your outfit, I don’t know if she’d be flattered or embarrassed by your interpretation of what a vampire is.”

Clarette stopped in her tracks. “Whoa, wait. Priya LaCroix? As in the fashion designer? She’s a vampire? Vampires are real???”

Shreya nodded, gently patting her on the head. “I forget you didn’t grow up in this world, but yes, yes, and yes.”

The dark-haired twin stood in shock at her newfound knowledge. “I swear, I’m always learning new things around here.”

“Are you serious? Out of everything we’ve been through the last two years and it’s vampires existing that throws you for a loop?” Atlas chortled.

Clarette shrugged, a broad grin on her face. “I only know the bad vampire stereotypes, like this one!” She ran over to Atlas, and in a bad accent that sounded like the Count from Sesame Street, she yelled out “I want to suck your blood!” while tickling her.

Atlas screamed at the tickle attack. “You ass! You know I hate being tickled!” She cried out before shooing her sister away.

Cackling, Clarette got up and straightened her top out before she had a wardrobe malfunction. “I promise, no more tickling for the rest of the night. But seriously, are you sure you don’t want to come tonight? Please?” She affixed the puppy dog eyes on her sister with one last plea.

The light-haired twin rolled her eyes in response. “You know that face doesn’t work on me. Do I look like Beckett to you? And nah, thanks. I’m good. I’ve had my share of roughing it out in the woods, at night, with demons and crazy psychopaths after me to last me a lifetime. You guys have fun in the forest and whatever.”

The doorbell rang at that moment, signaling the arrival of the rest of Motley Crue. Clarette and Shreya made their way to the door, opening it to their group of friends.

“By the way, if it wasn’t obvious, you two look absolutely absurd,” Atlas continued, “at least the others had enough sense not to dress-“ she looked up and stopped midsentence, where she was greeted with the sight of Zeph dressed up in a skeleton costume complete with face paint while Aster donned a headpiece resembling a unicorn. “At least Griff and Harrington had enough sense not to dress up,” she rectified her statement.

Griffin stood in the doorway with a full bag of mixed elixir in hand, laughing at Atlas’ unimpressed expression. “I would’ve dressed up if I knew everyone else was going to!”

Beckett scoffed. “You couldn’t pay me to dress up.”

Clarette pranced over to her boyfriend, noticing Beckett’s eyes darken as he took in her entire costume. “I’m sure I could convince you otherwise,” she replied, a sly grin on her face. “Besides I know what you could dress up as. You could be the police!”

He raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. “And why, may I ask?”

“Because sometimes you’re the fun police!” A mixture of groans and laughter were heard at her bad joke while they all waved ‘bye’ to Atlas. Clarette giggled, bounding out the door and down the long corridor, leading Beckett by the hand while the others followed their path.

The evening sky was the deepest shade of midnight and the moon was hidden behind the cover of clouds as the six of them made their way through the Penderghast campus. They continued walking into the woods beyond the lake, the lights of the university dimming behind them with every foot before being swallowed by the foliage.

Clarette bounced excitedly with each step, wanting to savor her first real Halloween since being introduced into her current magickal world. The last two years had comprised of shadow monsters, maniacal Blood Atts, and power-hungry Sources, all of which diminished any desire to celebrate one of her favorite times of the year.

This year was different. With no threats on the horizon, she decided they would all be celebrating spooky season with her. She took solace in now knowing who she was and where she came from, which gave her the security to enjoy the festivities. The last time she felt so carefree was when she was a child, and Halloween had no pretense; it was only about how many treats she could fill in her goody bag.

Moving to a new area for high school had given her a different reason to enjoy Halloween, when she embraced the dressing up aspect the most. In a smaller city where she was one of the few minorities and the only Asian American girl in school, she relished the opportunity to be someone else for one day. She found she was comfortable dressing up in any manner she wanted, and that usually equated to a getup that conformed with her party girl label.

As Clarette thought about ideas for her costume this year, she knew it was going to be one of those stereotypical sexy outfits, but she felt assured about making her decision. The difference between dressing up in a sexy costume now and a few years prior? Her actions were now on her terms and she was finally comfortable in her own skin. She was dressing up for herself and not to fit in.

Over the last two years, she had regaled the group with stories about Halloween, from urban legends and folklore to the revelries in the Attuneless world such as haunted houses, mazes, and hayrides designed to scare people. Convincing Shreya was easy; she didn’t need to be asked twice to be her partner in crime in dressing up and looking good while doing it. Griffin, Zeph, and Aster were always down for some hijinks, and surprisingly Beckett didn’t try to make a logical argument to get out of it. Only Atlas rejected to partake in it, citing her very valid reasons of already living through enough nightmares.

Griffin led the way through the brush, smoothing out the path to make sure the girls of the group wouldn’t trip over any loose rocks. “So Clarette, what are we doing? You didn’t exactly lay out the plan.”

“I don’t really have one. I was thinking about lighting a bonfire, telling some scary stories while we drink, pretend to do a séance…. I don’t know, whatever comes to mind, I guess.”

“A séance? Are you sure this is a good idea?” Zeph asked with hesitation. “My abuela always said you don’t mess with these types of things, especially since the veil is the thinnest this time of year.”

Shreya scoffed while adjusting the sparkly witch hat she wore on her head. “It’s not like we’re actually summoning anything. Besides, Clarette already talked to a dead Dread last year and nothing else came from it.”

Clarette shivered at the mention of Raife, memories of her and Atlas destroying his corrupted essence doing little to soothe her mind.

Beckett wrapped his arm around her, noticing her shiver. “Are you alright?”

“Just a little draft, nothing more,” she fibbed, not wanting to worry him about the thoughts in her mind.

The evening had started innocently enough, with the bottles of elixir being poured and stories being told from the Attuned side of things. They all shared stories of how ‘The Dread’ was used as a bogeyman in their different upbringings, all of which were terrifying in their own right. Silence reigned after the last tale was told and they all took a sip of their drinks, the silence enhanced with the effects of their beverages.

Zeph turned his head to the right, on alert. “Did anyone else hear that?” His eyes flickered across the group.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Clarette answered. “Come on, Zeph, stop trying to scare us.”

A distant rustle echoed through the night.

“I heard that,” Griffin interjected as he stood up and dusted his pants off. “Zeph, come on, let’s check it out.”

Zeph grimaced, steeling himself. “Fine. But if I die out there, it’s on you.” He got up and joined Griffin past the shrubbery.

The other four looked at each other with uneasy glances as the minutes ticked by.

“Yeah, this isn’t creepy, at all,” Clarette commented, snuggling more so into Beckett’s side.

A moment later, the flames extinguished, leaving them in complete darkness.

“Very funny, Shreya,” Beckett remarked. “Would you please turn the fire back on?”

Shreya looked at him with her mouth agape at the accusation. “I didn’t do that, Beckett.” She snapped her fingers to reignite it, but nothing happened.

The branches where Griffin and Zeph walked into shook, the disturbance causing them to jump at the sound.

“And very funny, you two!” Clarette hollered towards the direction of the bushes. “You can stop with the cheap scare tactics already!”

Aster branched out, the shadow lingering on her face. “It is not them.”

“What do you mean it isn’t-“ Before Shreya could finish her sentence, the undergrowth parted, a giant shadow monster appearing before them.

“Holy shit!” Clarette jumped up and ripped off her gloves, blasting the apparition with her Sun magick. The beam that came from her hand went straight through and did not cause any damage, to her disbelief. “It didn’t do anything!”

“Clarette, go!” Beckett stepped in front of her, shielding her from the monster. “Aster, make sure she stays safe!”

Aster nodded, grabbing Clarette’s arm. “Come on, I know a safe place!”

“I’m not leaving you, Beckett! I can help!” She tried wriggling out of Aster’s unhuman, strong grip, to no avail.

Beckett took a few steps towards Clarette, never turning his back on the monster. “I told you before, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, my love, and I never break my word.” He kissed her hard, channeling his feelings into the singular action. “Just remember, I love you.”

Before Clarette could respond, Aster dragged her further into the forest, the trees camouflaging their retreat.

Clarette ran through the trees, complete darkness engulfing her surroundings. She wasn’t sure if she could hear a faint laughter echo through the expanse of thicket, but she knew there was no way she would stay in one place to find out. Her pulse raced in her ear and her lungs burned as she weaved through the cover of the forest, her survival instincts kicking in.

"Don't turn around. Don't stop now. And whatever you do, don't turn around." The thought repeated itself in her mind. She had watched enough horror flicks in her days to know one of the rules of survival.

How could a shadow monster be chasing her? They had eliminated the different threats over the course of their Penderghast careers, including those using essences to create corrupt forms. She frowned at the memory of her attack going right through the monster’s center, its red eyes and sadistic grin smiling at her inability to vanquish it.

It turned out Atlas was the smart one that evening, opting to stay back on campus instead of joining the Crue in the woods. Their evening was supposed to be full of harmless fun and Halloween shenanigans.

Or they were supposed to be shenanigans, until that fire went out without explanation and the giant shadow monster appeared through the trees. It seemed to laugh at her with glowing, red eyes and the sinister smile on its warped mouth, its intent bent on destroying everything in their path.

The monster must have taken both Griff and Zeph down quickly, as the rest of them didn’t even hear anything from where they had disappeared. There was no scream to signal trouble, and the only shout she heard was from Shreya. Her shrill shriek rang through the woods until it was cut off with a stomach dropping abruptness.

Clarette’s mind raced with thoughts of what happened to her friends, her brows furrowing when she thought of Beckett. She should never have left him, despite his urging and insistence. She and Aster were nearly a Thief-field length away when she heard his voice ringing through the foliage, telling the monster to stay away from her. Clarette had stopped in her tracks, ready to turn back when she thought she heard him scream, only for the forest to stifle any identifiable sounds.

She shook her head to clear her mind. The current circumstances gave her no time to think and instead, she concentrated on winding in and out of the hedges and trees. Now it was just her and Aster, thanks to Aster's abilities to navigate the forest where she grew up.

"Clarette!" Aster huffed through exertion, the flowers in her hair downcast and sodden. "The trees are telling me there should be a cabin 50 feet that way. You should go there while I go for help!"

Clarette stopped in her tracks, giving Aster an incredulous look. "You want me to go to a cabin, in the woods, in the middle of the night??? I am not going to die like some cliché, slasher movie!"

Aster frowned, the reference going over her head. "Movies can cut you in the Attuneless world? I have to remember this for later! But in the meantime, I'll go track down Atlas and the shadow monster won't get me because I know these woods like the back of my hand! The cabin should be over there!" She ran off in the opposite direction, leaving before Clarette could get a final word in. “I’ll be back!”

"Shit!" Clarette whispered to herself, knowing that anyone who ever says “I’ll be back” never returns according to the rules of horror films. Looking around after taking a steadying breath, there was no sign of the shadow monster and she quietly made her way through the trees. The 50 feet she crept through felt like a mile, but Aster was right; there stood an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods.

"This is what I get for watching all those Freddy Krueger - Scream - Friday the 13th movies when I was in high school," she grimaced as she approached the solid oak door, trying to peek through the tinted window. "No, this isn't scary at all."

Opening the door, her eyes widened as a feeling of astonishment overtook her. The darkened interior of the cabin was illuminated softly by elegant, taper candles in metal, gothic candelabras while the glow of strategically placed jack-o-lanterns added to the ambience. The hazy flame from the fireplace cast a warm light over the entire room, highlighting the black, satin sheets that adorned the bed against the far wall.

In the middle of the room stood one Beckett Harrington, a proud smile on his face after having everything go according to plan for the evening. He held his arms out wide, showcasing the result. “Surprise! I know you love Halloween, so I wanted to give you one to remember.”

Her shock quickly dissolved into anger as she marched over to him, pushing his shoulder hard and backing him against the wall next to the bed. "You ass! I can't believe you made me think you were hurt and then you made me run through the woods thinking everyone else was hurt!"

Beckett rubbed the back of his neck as he watched his idea blow up spectacularly in his face. "I thought you would appreciate the Halloween scare since you've been so excited the entire month. Between you regaling us about your Tuneless traditions of going to haunted houses and watching scary movies with me, I just wanted to bring a little piece of that to you because you've missed it."

Her face softened at how much thought and planning he had undertaken to pull this off, though her arms remained crossed. "Well, the haunted houses I used to go to weren't real because they're played by actors and I love watching scary movies with you because I get to snuggle and bury my head into you when it gets too much. It's all make-believe!" Before she continued her tirade, a light bulb went off in her head. "Wait. Does this mean everyone was in on it?”

Beckett nodded. "Indeed. I asked for their help to execute everything. Shreya extinguished the fire with no effort after Griff and Zeph’s cue of disappearing.”

"What was Atlas' role in all this? Summoning the shadow monster?"

Beckett chuckled, his cheeks red. He remembered the day he went to Atlas for help in pulling this off and while she initially refused, she had relented in the end.

“Hey, Harrington,” Atlas paused after helping him with the illusion, “you really love my sister, don’t you.”

Beckett flushed. No one had asked him about their relationship point blank after he and Clarette had exchanged ‘I love yous.’ Looking at Atlas, he replied in a confident tone, “I do. I love her very much.”

A wry smile crossed her face. “I know. Just making sure.”

She made him swear to not tell a soul she helped him with this, knowing that her sister would never let her live it down.

"Griff and Zeph helped with the illusion of the shadow monster. Atlas had absolutely no part to play in this. When she heard the beginning of my plan, she held her hand up and said 'no' outright. She wanted no part of 'whatever freaky sex thing' I had in mind, even though it hadn't even crossed my mind."

“I don't know if I should punch you or kiss you," Clarette laughed, none the wiser to his masterplan.

“I definitely think I should be rewarded with the latter, but I may be slightly biased,” he beamed.

She closed the distance between them, placing her arms on his shoulders as she brought him down for a slow kiss. "Well, now that your plan has been executed, did any 'freaky sex thing' cross your mind?"

"I don't know if it would be considered freaky, but you already know I think about you quite frequently in that way."

Clarette gleamed at him, her eyes shining in the dim light as she comprehended in full how much preparation was needed for him to pull the entire evening off. “I can’t believe you really did this all for me.”

“You know I would do anything for you,” he replied as a tender look fell on his face.

“As twisted as your plan tonight was, I do know that.” Her fingers trailed down the lapel of his blazer as an idea of her own entered her mind. “Hmmm, you know, I don't think I ever told you what the best part of Halloween is."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. "Oh, and what's that? I thought you said the best part was dressing up?"

She brought him down for a kiss, their mouths moving against each other in hypnotizing fashion. His tongue teased her bottom lip, asking for entrance and she moaned in acceptance, their tongues dancing with the deepened kiss. His hands roved down past her short skirt to her ass, squeezing it and bringing her closer to his frame. She gasped as she felt his erection pressing against her lower abdomen, his hardness causing desire to shoot through her veins. They broke apart after a few minutes, both feeling dizzy and lightheaded from their kisses.

"The best part of Halloween," she purred, while starting to unbutton his shirt, "is definitely the treat. After everything you put me through tonight, I deserve something tasty to put in my mouth, don't you think?” She planted kisses on his now bare chest, her fingers tracing down his torso before landing on the front of his pants, grasping his arousal through his trousers.

A strangled sound came from Beckett's throat, his voice shaky with each squeeze of her hand. "Yes, oh - you definitely deserve something tasty as a treat," he managed to get out with difficulty.

Clarette unbuckled his belt, undoing the button and sliding the zipper down with care, all the while kissing a path down his stomach. His muscles flexed involuntarily when she trailed the outline of his abs with her nails and flicked her tongue against the flat plane of his lower abdomen. His pants hit the floor and he groaned after she kissed him through his underwear, her face rubbing against his prominent bulge through the black fabric.

Standing up straight for a moment, she unfastened her cape, dropping it to the floor in between them. His gaze went down to her chest, her breasts inviting his touch. His hands roamed up the corset before caressing the swell above the garment with his thumbs, the soft skin smooth to his fingertips. He bent over to kiss her again as her hand cupped him through his underwear, and once again she placed kisses down his body.

Her knees came to rest on the soft fabric of the cape she had dropped, and she looked up at him through thick lashes, the glint in her eye causing him to bite his lip in anticipation. Seeing her in this position was one of his favorite things in the entire universe.

She lowered his boxer briefs in an unhurried manner, licking her lips as his glorious cock sprang free from its constraints. His hand found its way to the back of her head, tangling in her luscious, raven locks as he guided her mouth to him.

"My, someone's eager," Clarette chuckled as she wrapped one hand around his dick, licking the underside of his shaft from base to tip. His jaw hung agape as he let out a sharp breath with the sensation of her tongue on his taut flesh. Stroking his length, she wet her lips before placing a kiss on his velvet tip, their eyes locking as he was met with a seductive smile.

Beckett watched in awe as she twirled her tongue around his tip slowly, before taking him in and sucking on his head. She bobbed back and forth with a gradual pace, her hand working over his impressive length before releasing him with a pop from her mouth. Gripping his cock in her hand, she opened her mouth and slapped him against her flattened tongue, the move eliciting a groan from him as she then licked the precum off him.

Once again, he found himself past her lips, her fingers wrapping tightly around him while moving up and down in tandem over his hardness. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, enjoying the attention his girlfriend was slathering upon him, his other senses heightened with pleasure at the sound and feel of her mouth around him. His eyes opened when he felt her warmth leave him, and he looked down to see the marvelous sight of her licking his tight balls. He groaned as she sucked on one, followed by the other, her hand never stopping the rhythm on his erection.

Beckett’s eyes were glazed with desire as she returned to sucking his cock, her tempo picking up with each twist of her hand. He couldn’t help himself as his other hand entangled itself in her hair, giving him a firm grip on her head. He started thrusting into her mouth, stretching her out with his thickness, filling her with more of him after each buck of his hips. Her hands left his cock, sliding around to grab his ass as he took total control. Fucking her pretty, little mouth, he came hard as he hit the back of her throat, a deep moan accompanying his release.

Clarette swallowed his entire load, gasping for air after he pulled out, her lips swollen and mouth raw. This was rougher than what she was used to with him, but the truth was that she loved it. Beckett was usually so in control and the knowledge that she could make him lose it excited her greatly, if the wetness between her legs was any indication.

He helped her to a standing position and held her against him, wrapping both arms around her while kissing the top of her head. “Clarette, you’re magnificent,” he whispered as he cupped her jaw and kissed her gently.

She returned the kiss with fire, whimpering into his mouth as his hands wandered up her skirt and rubbed her through her soaked panties. “God, Beckett, I want you so bad,” she murmured against his lips. Taking his hands in hers, she led them towards the bed, her pupils dilated with need. She looked up at him with a hazy look, her tongue darting out to wet her lips before asking her next question. “How do you want me?”

His nostrils flared at her implication and he swallowed before giving his answer. “Like this.” He kissed her hard before turning her around and bending her over the side of the bed, her ass facing him. Quickly shrugging out of his blazer and shirt, he knelt behind her and slid down her skirt and underwear slowly, revealing her glistening center to him.

Massaging her thighs, he moved his hands further up until he reached her apex, running his thumbs over her lips and spreading her juices over her mound. He traced the inside of her long legs with his fingertips, widening her stance by moving her feet apart, using his tongue to make his way back to her sex.

Clarette’s eyes fluttered shut as she felt him rub her slit, his name leaving her lips as he opened her up before he delved in with a long lick. He wrapped his arms around her legs, his fingers drawing circles on her clit as he ate her out from behind. She grinded back into him, her orgasm building quickly from how aroused she had been earlier. Her eyes snapped open when he stopped, only to close again when she felt him stand behind her, his big, thick cock pressing into her entrance.

Beckett leaned over her back, nipping at her ear, while rubbing his head against her sopping pussy. “Trick or treat, my love.” Straightening up, he pushed into her in one fluid motion, shuddering at her tightness. He started out with long, powerful strokes, burying himself deep inside her with each thrust, a feeling of intoxication coming over him as she enveloped him in her wet heat.

She screamed his name in pleasure as he stretched her out, filling her to the brim with his slow pace. Her hands pulled at the satin sheets as she breathed heavy, lying face down into the bed as he pounded her from behind. The familiar electric buzz coursed through her body, ready to give in to him.

Beckett gripped her hips, his fingers leaving imprints from the pressure he was holding onto her with. He groaned in pleasure as he alternated his strokes, speeding up then slowing down when he felt her getting too close to the edge. Looking down, he got a thrill at seeing her bent over for him as he fucked her in this position, her body still clad in the corset from her costume and her long legs still accentuated by her black heels.

Clarette started pushing back against him, and he stood still, watching his swollen cock disappear into her with her movements. He could feel the tightness in his balls building once more, and he bent over her back, his broad frame pinning her petite body against the bed. Grabbing her arms, he held them to either side of her head as he drove into her throbbing pussy.

“Tell me what you want, Clarette,” he growled in her ear, his voice low and animalistic.

“Fuck me harder and make me come, my love,” she moaned, her sweat laden body writhing under him.

Groaning, he reached a hand between her legs, gliding his fingers over her clit as she grinded against him. He rubbed her nub back and forth, sliding her bundle of nerves in between his middle and ring finger, the action making her body tense under his touch.

“God, Beckett, that feels so good,” she scrunched her eyes shut, concentrating on his rigid dick pounding into her and his hand working her pearl. She could feel her orgasm coming, her body buzzing, ready to explode.

He closed his eyes as pumped her faster with his thick shaft, her pussy gripping him like a vice, her walls pulsating around him. He sped his fingers up against her clit, urging her to come around him. Slamming his hips into hers, his dick hit her perfect spot repeatedly and she clenched around his hard cock, her scream muffled by the bunched-up sheets under her.

Her body glowed as she reached her high, and Beckett continued to fuck her through her orgasm, his own rapidly approaching. He held her down as he buried himself in her over and over, before exploding in her after one final thrust. He collapsed over her, his chest to her back, closing his eyes as he peppered kisses on the curve of her neck.

After staying in her for a few moments, he pulled out and climbed on the bed, pulling her up to his chest. She gave him a small smile, kissing his chest with a sigh of content. “That was fun.”

“It wasn’t too much?” He asked with trepidation, knowing that this was the first time they had made love in this frenzied manner.

“Not at all. I like it when you’re in control.” She trailed a finger over his heart, sitting up as she started unhooking the corset. “Though maybe you could’ve taken this thing off me before we started to, you know.”

A tinge of red dusted his cheeks, although it was barely visible in the darkened room. “Ah, yes, about that…” With a swipe of his hand, the hooks undid themselves as the garment fell away. He pulled her back down onto him, wrapping his arms around his faux vampire vixen. “You may have played to one of my fantasies, and you’re right, I do see the validity of Halloween, after all,” he admitted. “But I have been wondering about something all night.”

“Fantasies, hmm? We’re going to have to revisit that sometime. And by the way, that’s one more tick in the ‘I��m right’ column,” she smirked, moving her head to look up at him. “But what were you thinking about?”

“I loved looking at you in your costume, but what made your outfit a vampire? You didn’t have fangs and you weren’t sucking on blood or anything-”

“I seem to recall that I was definitely sucking on something earlier,” she interjected, a playful smile crossing her face.

He held her close, the reverberations from his low laughter rumbling through him. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“I do, and you love me for it.”

He couldn’t deny her as they laced their fingers together, engaging in pillow talk until they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The cabin was now dark and silent, the flames from the candles and fire long extinguished. In the midst of their activities that evening, they paid no attention to the metal candelabras twisting and falling to the ground because of his attunement, nor did they pay attention to the glow she gave off because of hers… but a pair of flashing red eyes just beyond the clearing certainly did.

[oliviersk]

yoyoyo wassup peeps its moosh back w another muse. i rlly couldn’t resist ik ugh but!! anyways here’s olivier, she’s my bby pls show her some love yes. here is a link to her full bio but there’s a tl;dr under the cut as well as wanted connects!

✧･ﾟ(   apate + moon gayoung + cismale   ) 𝒎𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒂 !!  have you seen (   olivier kang  ) around ? (   she  ) have/has been in kaos for (   three months   ). the (   twenty three   ) is a/an (   socialite/classical musician   ) from (   paris, france   ). people say they can be (  calculating   ) but maybe that’s not too bad ‘cause they can also be (   eloquent   ). whenever i think of them, i can’t help but think of (   the waft of perfume when you walk into a department store, perfectly manicured nails, and black waves cascading down one’s shoulder   ).  ･ﾟ✧  (  penned by moosh, 21+, est, no preference  ).

aesthetics.

STATS

name: olivier kang age: twenty three gender/pronouns: cisfemale & she/her orientation: bisexual & demiromantic ethnicity: korean nationality: french height: 5′6″ eye color: brown hair color: black languages: korean, french, & english class: upper

HISTORY/SUMMARY

tw: child abuse, suicide attempt, and death.

her family is honestly a mess. she grew up with mostly female figures in her life. no dad, uncle, grandpa, none. grew up insanely rich as well. was always silenced as a kid and placed into a mold. she figured out pretty quickly to behave and shut up or face the consequences. family was quite controlling and olivier wasn’t allowed to grow into her own person. while she never got along with her mother, she cried and cried at her funeral ( olivier was 12 at the time ). her grandmother didn’t really like it and rebuked her for losing her composure. attempted suicide at around 17 and as punishment, her grandmother did not allow her to attend her dream school in america ( which she had gotten accepted into ), but made her attend a closer college, with her chauffeur shuttling her back and forth ( 2 hours ) right after classes so she could keep a close eye on her. her grandmother soon falls when crimes from years ago service and sufficient evidence is obtained for a trial and olivier, finally free, chooses to do something for herself for the first time in her life, and moves to kaos.

PERSONALITY

like everyone, olivier has two different aspects of herself, one for the public and one for the ones who know the deepest parts of her.

she’s very eloquent, not only in her word choice but also her voice ( she’s gotten many compliments on now soothing and gentle it sounds ). doesn’t smile too easily, but doesn’t mean that its always genuine when you receive one. there’s something almost ethereal about her presence, as if she’s not fully there or she could be gone with one gust of wind. there’s a sweet, gentle, but firm aspect of her that confuses most people. they don’t know whether to relax or tighten up around her. 

underneath all the sugar and spice, she’s much more sinister, cunning, and calculating than the eye lets on. a sweet tone can be taken on when shredding someone down, complete with a sugary smile. setting up the pieces and watching the world tear itself down is one of her favorite past times. her tone is sweet while the most vicious words leave her mouth, with anger never manifesting physically besides the trembling of her fingers. she’s come too far to let petty emotions get the better of her. 

further underneath is a girl who’s truly terrified of the world. it’s never been kind to her, and she can’t blame it, as she’s never put forth good energy. the lack of structure she’s facing now that her grandmother is gone is freeing, but completely terrifying, like being dropped in the middle of the ocean with no sense of direction. with her life in her own hands, she has no idea what to do with it, and it frightens her to her core. it’s probably why she lashes out and likes to watch as people ruin themselves. in a weird way, it makes her feel less lonely, which is why she’s drawn to disorder.

ik her personality is like all out of wack pls lmk if its confusing!!!

HEADCANONS

hates hates hates nicknames. call her olivier or don’t talk to her at all. ( sihyun is the only exception to this rule but he still receives death glares ).

while she did live in paris, her first language and the language most frequently spoken at home was korean, so she is most comfortable in korean, though french and english were taught to her by a young age as well.

out of all the things she hated doing as a kid, violin and piano are the only hobbies that really stuck around. she still practices on the daily and a lot of activities have to be thought over twice because strain off her fingers/wrists is very important.

dabbled in drugs and such in high school ( abroad ). while it allowed her to alleviated the stress she didn’t like the fact that it took bodily control away from her, so never did it too often.

has anxiety that flares up from time to time in forms of attacks ( big and small ) so she takes medication for it, but not many people know.

going off of that, she sometimes has attacks when thinking about her future. it’s not what lies ahead that frightens her but the lack of structure she now has due to the absence of her grandmother. the security that had been there, no matter how restraining, now makes her feel like shes drowning in endless possibilities and its too much for her to swallow sometimes.

majored in classical literature and classical music. its one of the easiest conversation starters because she could go on and on for hours about old, dead writers.

isn’t one for pastries but she absolutely loves fruit tarts. it’s the only sugary thing she’ll let herself eat.

her hair is surprisingly naturally brown but she dyes it black because she thinks it suits her better.

has a ring from her mother that she wears around her neck. has a very odd relationship with her mother, and is still coming to terms with it.

completely scrapped her house before she moved to kaos. removed everything and sold the land. has left her job running the company and literally everything behind except her inheritance and the money she received while on the job + the house. it’s enough money to last her a lifetime but finds herself bored in kaos with nothing to do,  so she’s begun giving lessons ( sparingly ). sight sees a lot but is thinking of taking on a role in the orchestra in town sooner or later.

always smell like chanel no 5.

loves taking baths. bubbles, wine, classical music, candles, and herself ( or maybe someone to share the fun with ).

isn’t vegan but eats meat sparingly, mostly because she usually doesn’t like the texture or taste of most meats.

literally never curses. you can usually tell how angry she is if a curse manages to slip past.

enjoys writing poetry but its mostly just for her. a leather bound book filled with her work lays on her desk every night, but they are often tear soaked and unable to fully comprehend unless you know who she truly is.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

first love ( female ). def have some ideas for this so lmk. plot heavy.

someone she teaches piano/violin to

someone from back home who knew her before and doesn’t like her. maybe boarding school buddies from middle/high school?

someone she “gets along with” and is using for some reason

her old money squad from back home. they’re lowkey kinda fake to each other but also kinda mean

was really close friends but had a falling out ( prolly cause she did something shady or something she thought was the best for them but it wasn’t. may or may not regret it ).

somebody her grandmother set up for her to date ( male )

there was one night during one event where olivier really hit it off with this person. they snuck out of the event and roamed around the city in formal attire, ate pizza at a local place, etc. etc. but it was a a year or two ago n they never exchanged numbers. now theyre both in kaos.

someone who has a crush on her but wont tell for some reason. or maybe they will tell. maybe she knows and shes playing dumb or maybe she genuinely doesn’t.

on a similar note, someone tryna get her to smash. she doesn’t sleep around at all, finds it undignified, but this person’s determined to get to bone.

people who have seen the real her and hate her for that reason. on the flip side, people who have seen the real her and still stick around for some reason.

[connorfairy]

The Illusion Of A Story - Pokémon Sword And Shield

With the latest title of the Pokémon series, Game Freak sold more games in a short period of time after release than ever, making Pokémon Sword and Shield the so far fastest-selling Pokémon games in history. This may cause some irritation, given the extraordinarily harsh criticism on the exclusion of a national dex, which gave several parts of the community a reason not to buy the games at all. However, it still was the first proper Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch, providing unprecedented graphical beauty and capacity to the franchise. From my point of view though, this capacity wasn't used in the right way; in many ways, it did, but not when considering the game's story elements.

Now, I consider myself a great fan of the established gym challenge, fighting gym leaders to earn badges until you reach the Pokémon League, your goal being to become Champion of the region. While this is most likely due to my high value of the older games – yes, that is my nostalgia speaking here – and it seems boring to some, the sole aspect which ruined Sword and Shield's story was its non-existence. Well, at least until you have completed 90% of the game, that is. But let's start at the very beginning: In Postwick, where you receive your first Pokémon. Immediately, you are thrown into a conversation with your childhood friend and soon-to-be rival Hop, announcing that it's the special day where the both of you get your first Pokémon. One may criticize the prototypical way in which this game starts out, not even the slightest bit of extra narrative elements to find which would make the situation a bit more immersive. I would view this as a minor point of the bad storytelling the Pokémon series often has to offer though. After you've received your first Pokémon and have met the professor as well as her assistant, there is nothing. Maybe I should mention the legendary Pokémon living right next-door, but apart from that... literally a whole lot of nothing, nothing I would consider proper plot. In this game, the gym challenge itself seems to be the story up until the end, emphasizing far too much on signing up for it and fighting the first three gym leaders. Afterwards, the plot falls down even more, leaving you complete freedom with the condition of having beaten the gym in each town or city. The game turns into a linear routine of fighting your way through a town, then a route, then the next town and the next route. I do not deny that there are parts of story scattered throughout the entirety of the game, but they seem so much more like pieces which don't connect together very well. And none of the rivals introduced to the player add much to that. Then, finally, you have reached the final tournament – the Pokémon Championship inside of Wyndon's giant stadium, every seat taken by cheering fans supporting you or the current Champion, Leon. At this moment I didn't really think about story too much; I knew there would be more, and that there had to be a big twist (and let's be honest, the villain was again completely predictable). In the end, I would have felt content with it following the championship, but this wish was not fulfilled, as the final battle had to be postponed due to Rose summoning Eternatus, also known as “The Darkest Day”. Not only that, but the game stalled time in such an unnecessary way by making the player chase that one staff member through the city of Wyndon, fighting him three times. Still, I had high hopes for what the game had to offer next, but my disappointment was high when all that I got was “the evil guy summoning a legendary Pokémon”, the trope that I definitely had enough of by now. Team Galactic, Team Plasma and Team Flare were no different apart from the fact that they did the job of incorporating it into the story far better.

My hopes were still not entirely crushed when I noticed there was a not too small post story, but if I am honest, the whole quarrel with the legendary Pokémon and the royal bloodline was silly, pathetic and almost no fun. I say almost because I in parts did enjoy travelling through the different stadiums again and meeting all the gym leaders, including Bede. In the end, however, I am very happy about the game itself. My criticism so far only focused on the plot, but Sword and Shield had so many different things to offer that it was able to make me not realize it as strongly until after I finished the story. I mentioned earlier that the story of the game is the gym challenge itself, and while it is unfortunately a boring one, it still manages to make this journey about you and your Pokémon. The player is able to walk through smaller and bigger towns with a British style, and let's not forget the Wild Area. This place truly can be considered as one of the main factors which gave the games extreme depth. Reading through and experiencing how people played the game, the very obvious pattern of spending far more time in this area than progressing in the story emerges. The vast variety of environments, Pokémon, landscapes and hidden items made the exploration of the Wild Area a wondrous and enjoyable experience worth re-experiencing.

The cut of the amount of Pokémon in Pokémon Sword and Shield was surprisingly unnoticeable for me personally as well. Sure, I may have missed a Pokémon from older games here and there, but with 400 Pokémon out of 890, out of which a broad variety has carefully been chosen, I did not feel like complaining. Every other trainer seemed to bring a so far unseen Pokémon with them, the newer ones all looking absolutely amazing with interesting type combinations. The immersion this game creates is the most prominent aspect which ultimately caused it to be so successful in the end. The graphics, when considering that they are graphics in a Pokémon game with a lot of content, looked stunningly beautiful and the music just added to the aforementioned effect of really being a part of this journey.

Concluding this review, it is safe to say that despite the clear lack of concrete story unlike the games prior, Pokémon Sword and Shield do more than just making up for it with the experience that comes with it – the graphics, the very mood-setting music and the entire region of Galar with all the new exciting Pokémon; ultimately resulting in the illusion of a story which is just a gap you fill in yourself.

[eddieeatsass]

Stripped Bare - Chapter 3

Summary: Eddie gets an offer from his company to work in Barbados over the summer. Beautiful weather, all expenses paid trip, and a stay in a suite at one of the most highly rated resorts in the world. How could he say no? Unfortunately, Eddie soon realizes there were a lot of reasons to say no. His skin doesn’t take kindly to the harsh sun, his suite ends up being the size of a shoe box, and, oh yeah, it’s also a nudist resort. Pairing: Reddie (side Benverly and Stanlonbrough) Rating: E Warnings: Eventual smut, explicit language

Read on AO3

The rest of the week was uneventful. Stan was back at work, as was Bill, and that combined with the tantalizing freedom that Friday offered was enough to put Eddie in a good mood. He got Saturdays off, the one day a week where he got to seclude himself in his room and recharge for the work week ahead. He’d been too reluctant to take advantage of the free spa services that employees had access to, his social anxiety getting the better of him, so instead he gave himself spa days. Crammed in the tiny bathtub that his room offered, filled up to the brim with cheap bubble bath, and adorning a face mask that made him just a little bit itchy. It wasn’t ideal, but it was much more enticing than the alternative that was currently being offered to him.

“Come on, Eddie! It’s so much fun. Don’t you want to see what this place is like after-hours?” Bill asked with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

He’d been trying to convince Eddie to come to a little un-official staff party later tonight, or rather, early tomorrow morning. The pool deck didn’t close until 10:00, meaning the cleaning crew didn’t get done until 12:00. Meaning the party didn’t start until roughly 1:00am, which is roughly way past Eddie’s bed-time. He was surprised Stan had agreed to it so quickly, being the only person Eddie knew that had more elderly qualities than he did.

“I can imagine it from the comfort of my warm bed, where I’ll be asleep, at 1:00am.” Eddie said.

Bill pouted, actually pouted, and Eddie felt his heart soften just a little bit.

“But I wanna finally introduce you to Bev and Richie.” Bill fluttered his eyelashes as he continued to pout.

Eddie sighed, already resigning himself to defeat. Bill had been talking non-stop about getting everyone to meet. He knew if he missed it, he’d feel excluded later on. So, he let his FOMO drive him, despite his body already protesting the long night ahead of him.

“Will we get in trouble if we get caught?” Eddie asked, fighting the smile down as Bill’s eyes lit up.

“Nope! Mike is in on it!” Bill responded through a toothy grin.

Eddie sighed again. “Fine.”

Bill had him wrapped up in a hug before Eddie could even finish.

 The night crept up on Eddie faster than he expected. He’d gotten off work at 7:00 and was left to kill six hours on his own. His first instinct was to take a nap to prepare for the late night he’d soon have to endure, but the fear of sleeping through until morning and having to see Bill’s disappointed face was enough to deter him. Instead, he decided to get ready early. He ran himself a bath, taking time to exfoliate his entire body and shave everything that needed to be shaved. Once the still water had lost its warmth, Eddie turned on the shower and washed off all remnants of cheap hotel bubble bath. He went through the steps of his shower routine, humming an indistinct tune as he lathered shampoo into his hair. The whole regime only knocked about an hour off his time, but he felt fresh and clean and more equipped to handle whatever tonight threw at him.

With newfound pep in his step, Eddie took the time to pick out something to wear. He hadn’t had many opportunities to wear his clothes yet. Five days out of seven he’s wearing his uniform and one day out of his remaining two he usually spends in his pyjamas.

After some consideration, he settles for a thin pink t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts; a simple outfit, but one that he knows will be comfortable for the long hours ahead of him. In the first few days of being at the resort, Eddie had gotten a harshly unwelcomed sunburn. After bathing in aloe and practically drinking sunscreen from then onwards, his skin was finally easing into a tan. He’d avoided wearing pink while his skin still rivaled a tomato, not wanting to bring extra attention to the burn, but now that the angry red was turning into softened caramel, his favorite shirt contrasted with his tan in a way that made Eddie look like he was glowing.

Eddie appraised himself in the mirror, doing a little twirl to check himself from all angles. These shorts hugged his ass a little better than any of the others he owned, and it may not have been a coincidence that he chose that pair to wear tonight. It’s not that he was trying to impress anyone… it’s just that this would be his first time since being here that he was getting together with his coworkers off work hours, and maybe he’s taken notice that everyone who works at this resort seems to be god-level good-looking… so sue him, he’s wearing the good ass shorts.

As he was beginning to style his quickly drying hair, a knock drew his attention. He set down his styling gel and comb and traipsed over to his door, opening it somewhat hesitantly. At the sight of tight blonde curls, he relaxed, opening the door wider to welcome Stan in.

“You look good… What gives?” Stan inquired, making a beeline for Eddie’s bed where he let his body flop down unceremoniously.

Eddie closed the door behind Stan and reclaimed his spot in front of the mirror, scooping a dollop of gel from his bottle and getting back to work on his hair.

“Nothing gives. I just want to look good for tonight.” Eddie responded.

“Mhm… So, who is it?”

“What?”

“The guy you’re trying to impress, who is it?”

Eddie sighed and let his hand drop from his hair, turning to level Stan with a look.

“There’s no specific guy. I just… figured there might be a guy…”

“Well as long as you’re not going after Bill. Or Mike. Because I’ve got dibs.” Stan stated matter-of-factly.

Eddie snorted. “Stan, you can’t call dibs on humans… And you definitely can’t call dibs on two humans, that’s just not fair.”

Stan shrugged as if to say ‘I don’t make the rules’. Eddie laughed despite himself and turned back to the mirror, determined to finish his task at hand.

“Well, they’re both good choices.” Eddie decided aloud. “You’d be lucky to get with either of them.”

“And what about them? Wouldn’t they be lucky to get with me?” Stan asked with mock offense.

Eddie made a show of looking Stan up and down out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re alright.” He shrugged before dodging a pillow Stan hurled his way.

“So, are we on operation Get Eddie Laid tonight?” Stan asked.

Eddie sighed as he abandoned his hair, deciding it was as good as it was going to get. He capped off his gel and set it aside along with his comb before joining Stan on the bed.

“If it happens, I’m definitely not gonna complain, but I don’t even know if anyone’s going to catch my attention.”

“What about Bill’s friend?”

Eddie’s nose scrunched up as he shoved Stan playfully with his shoulder.

“Come on, his own best friend describes him as ‘the world’s biggest nerd’ and goes on about his escapades of pantsing the principle at their high school graduation. Twice. Not exactly the makings of a stud.”

Stan shrugged. “Well, I’m sure there’ll be someone there tonight who gets the privilege of pulling the stick out of your ass before fucking it.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore Stan’s sly jab. Stan was just as uptight as Eddie, if not more-so, in most aspects of his life. But when it came to intimacy, the chase, the pining, the flirting, the catch, Stan was different. While Eddie’s upbringing had caused him to stay sheltered and refined, Stan’s had led him to steer in the other direction. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but in the private parts of his life, Stan was unrestrained.

“So, Bill and Mike, huh?” Eddie steered the conversation in a safer direction.

Stan’s face seemed to soften under the mention of their names, but he tried to conceal his reaction with a non-committal shrug. “They’re cute.” Stan said.

“Come on, Stan. I know it’s more than that.” Eddie goaded kindly.

Stan let his posture relax a little, conceding to the line of questioning.

“Mike is… sweet.” He started hesitantly, trying to find the words to explain his thoughts. “He makes me feel safe, and every time he speaks, I feel like I’m getting lost in the sound. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to play catch up because I was too busy listening to his voice instead of listening to his words. But he’s also our supervisor, which gives the whole thing an extra thrill.” Stan smirked mischievously, causing a small chuckle in Eddie.

“And Bill is…” Stan sighed dreamily, in a way that Eddie doesn’t think he even notices. “Bill is funny, and so full of this life that makes being around him invigorating. Yet at the same time he’s thoughtful and compassionate, genuine and intimate, soft but not weak.”

“It sounds like you’ve really taken a liking to them.” Eddie acknowledged.

“Yeah. But we’re only here for another couple of months, so-” Stan tried to shrug again, his shoulders noticeably tenser than before.

“A lot can happen in a couple of months.” Eddie offered.

Stan let out a sigh before pushing himself up off the bed, resigning from the conversation.

“Come on, I found something the other day I wanna show you.”

  The walk through the resort felt unfamiliar. Despite having been there for nearly two weeks, Eddie still hadn’t ventured far outside his work zone. The winding halls that carried them were surprisingly barren. Eddie supposes it’s because it was a Friday night and most guests were convened to the pool deck or the restaurants, or out exploring the city. It offered the perfect opportunity for them to weave in and out of new areas with no inhibitions.

Stan seemed to know where he was going, so Eddie followed dutifully. It was a good five minutes before they stopped in front of a set of tall oak double doors.

“Are we allowed here?” Eddie asked anxiously, glancing around him and seeing no one and nothing in sight.

“What, are they going to fire us and take on the new round of experienced workers waiting anxiously to get jobs at a nudist resort?” Stan’s dry humor did nothing to quell Eddie’s stress, but the view inside the room as Stan pushed open the doors was enough to disintegrate it within seconds.

Before them was a giant room, completely empty of life and dimly lit, reminiscent of an 80’s style arcade. There were bright posters on the walls, unplugged arcade games with black screens and dimmed lights, dusty couches propped up in a corner, and in the center of the room laid a pool table, balls already racked in their starting position.

Eddie’s eyes were as bright as stars as they flickered around the room, taking everything in.

“What is this place!” He asked excitedly.

Stan closed the doors behind them and followed after Eddie.

“It’s an old game room. I’m assuming it’s not in use anymore because no kid is gonna wanna spend time here when they have every game they want at their finger tips now, and the adults who come here to vacation probably have better things to do.”

Stan broke off from Eddie to make his way over to the pool table. He ran a finger along the edge, gathering dust and wrinkling his nose at the grainy grey fluff that collected on his skin.

“Remember when I was USM’s 2014 Pool champion?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, throwing Stan a look over his shoulder. “How could I forget?”

When they were in college, Stan and Eddie had taken up pool. It had started as a casual way to pass the time between classes, blow off steam while studying for exams, and spend their Friday nights when they avoided the ragers being thrown in nearly every dorm on campus. While Eddie developed a healthy appreciation for the game, Stan became obsessed.

Near the beginning of their new hobby, Stan had found a monthly pool tournament run by some of the students on campus and had joined on a whim one fateful night. It soon became clear to everyone that Stan had a gift. He sunk every ball in record time, never flinching or second guessing his move. It was like this weird, lanky Jewish boy showed up out of nowhere and revealed himself as the Pool Messiah.

Stan’s competitive side bloomed quickly, and he continued to heighten the stakes with determination to sweep everyone under the rug. One tournament turned into two, turned into four, turned into a whole year of Stan obsessing over the game. He’d spend every free moment he had in their pool hall, even forgoing the usual ‘Stanley Uris essentials’ to get in more practice time. Pressed shirts and khakis turned to sweat pants and hoodies, daily showers turned into one a week, and his diet began consisting of Cheetos and Red Bull. Eventually the year rounded off, the last tournament came and went, and Stan earned the title of USM’s Pool Champion of the year. He didn’t get a trophy, no plaque or ribbon, there was no book to sign his name in for the future generations to remember him. But what he did get was the satisfaction of knowing he’d won, and it seemed to be enough to quell the competitive streak he’d been riding on all year.

The next day, the very next day, Stan was back to normal. He wore his usual slacks and button-down shirts, was freshly washed and freshly shaven, discarded all traces of junk food in their shared dorm room, he’d even shined his shoes. It was as if the last year had never happened.

Sometimes Eddie wondered if he’d dreamt it all. If it had been one long fever dream. He’s also considered that it may have been a drawn-out practical joke that only Stan was in on. Eddie wouldn’t put it past him to commit to a bit for an unruly length of time just to get to see people’s reactions.

But then there were moments like this, when Stan proudly brought up his title, and all Eddie could do was nod and pretend to be reminiscent.

Sighing, as if he was easing back into reality from a dream, Stan procured a small packet of wet wipes from his pocket (which he never went anywhere without) and began wiping down the pool table. "Wanna get in a few games before the party? See how rusty my skills have gotten? I bet I could still beat you-" Stan cut himself off with a tumultuous scream. Eddie's body reacted before he knew what was happening, and his legs were carrying him across the room, his arms reaching out for Stan who was stumbling back from the pool table in horror. Eddie's eyes grazed the table, half expecting to see a dead body beneath it, but came up empty. He grabbed hold of Stan, who'd backed himself up against the wall, and tried to make eye contact through the frenzy. "What! What happened!?" Eddie yelled, trying to get Stan's attention despite his gaze being firmly planted over Eddie's shoulder to the pool table. "Li-Liz-" Stan was interrupted once again, this time by the double doors bursting open and slamming against the walls. Before them stood Mike, panic written all over his face, and clearly out of breath. "I heard screaming, what happened?! Are you okay?!" Mike was asking them both, but Eddie noticed his attention was solely on Stan. Eddie turned back to his friend, eyes pleading for an answer. He could see that Stan's face was flushed from embarrassment, clearly taken aback by his own reaction to whatever had caused this commotion. After the three of them had stared at one another for what felt like one too many beats, Stan cleared his throat. He shrugged Eddie's grip off his arm and straightened his posture. "There was a lizard." Stan's voice quivered on the last word. Eddie and Mike exchanged silent looks, both battling internally to react appropriately to the (seemingly over dramatic) situation. Mike was the first to speak. He took a few tentative steps into the room, addressing Stan gently. "Where is it?" "O-on the pool table." Stan stuttered. Mike nodded and proceeded to the offending area. At first glance he couldn't see anything, but once he crouched down, he came face to face with the demon itself. Mike couldn't help but chuckle. "This little guy?" Mike cupped his hands around the lizard, removing it from where it gripped to the hardwood edge of the pool table. "This is a Hemidactylus Mabouia gecko, also known as a tropical house gecko." Mike began walking towards Stan, who's eyes were as wide as saucers as he traced Mike's every move. "They're non-venomous and completely harmless." Mike added, before stopping right in front of Stan. He opened his palms to show a tiny brown lizard no larger than 3 or 4 inches. The lizard was sitting still, seemingly content to be in Mike's hold. "You can touch him, if you want. He won't bite. But even if he did, their teeth aren't big enough to pierce the skin." Mike added the last part as if it was supposed be calming. When Stan refused to move a muscle, Eddie reached forward tentatively and began petting the lizard's back. “Huh… Kinda slimy, kinda rough… this is actually pretty cool! You should touch him, Stan!" Eddie knew that Stan could read through his fake enthusiasm, but he also knew that he wouldn't back down from this in front of Mike. Stan shot Eddie an inconspicuous glare before he outstretched a shaky hand. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as his hand came in contact with the terrifying animal. "There we go, see? He's totally cool." Mike supplied in an encouraging tone. Stan peeked one eye open, settling it on where his hand connected with the lizard. Its eyes blinked one by one and Stan suppressed a shiver. "You know, in some Caribbean cultures it's actually considered good luck to have one of these guys in your house. So... Seems like you might get lucky tonight." Stan's breath stuttered as he made eye contact with Mike, who was still gazing at him with the same tenderness as when he'd first walked in the room. Eddie watched the air between them become charged as Mike's comment sunk in. Without another word, Mike re-cupped his hands, sealing the lizard in safety so he could carry it outside. "Well, see you guys in two hours!" Mike shouted over his shoulder as he retreated, leaving the two boys in stunned silence.

[thotyssey]

On Point With: Frankie Sharp

One of NYC’s few truly great and original nightlife event producers, this giant got his start at a small dive bar in San Francisco before making it big here with the notorious Westgay at Westway. He’s still giving us massive weekly kikis featuring the best of the scene and way beyond, but lately he’s been offering some more intimate vehicles as well. Thotyssey rides the cutting edge with Frankie Sharp!

Thotyssey: Hello there Frankie, thanks for finding a minute out of your super busy schedule to chat with us! How are you doing?

Frankie Sharp: I’m great! Super high from last night's MARY, my weekly cabaret at Club Cumming. It was a great show. But today, back at the grind. How are you?

I'm hanging in there, and riding these weird weather fluctuations! You're a San Francisco native... I think that city has the best weather.

SF has the best weather probably one month of out the year, September, which is their late summer. It’s perfectly sunny and warm, and not too hot. Otherwise, surprisingly pretty grey and nippy. But when its good it’s good. I respond better to the drama of the seasons. I need constant change around me. My blood pressure responds well to that, I think.

That probably translates well to your work as a nightlife event producer, where if you can't consistently change and innovate, then there's no point in being there.

I certainly can’t stand still or in one place for very long. That also probably has to do with me being a military brat, living in a new city every year. Every grade from Kindergarten to ninth grade was a new place for my family to call our temporary home. That also sharpened my skills on how to make new friends very quickly.

Were you always creative / artistic in some way when you were growing up?

Very much so. I had some friends, but usually only at school. I spent most of my time alone. I would write and draw my own comic books about gay superheroes, except I didn't know they were gay at the time. I just knew they were hot men I liked drawing, and powerful female characters whom I suppose were drag queens. I feel like I manifested those characters into my current adulthood. I’m surrounded by powerful creatures and gay superheroes all the time now.

I'm predicting a Frankie Sharp graphic novel in the future! So, I understand it was a dive bar called the Gangway in San Francisco where your nightlife career began?

Yes! I was working answering phones for an advertising / design firm. I hated having to be somewhere at 9am, and at a desk no less. So on my weekends I was eating ecstasy and running around with all the nightlife creatures, going to all these great club events listening to house music.The best house music outside of Chicago is San Francisco house. I was going to parties thrown by magnificent drag queens like Juanita More's Booty Call and Heklina's TrannyShack, fun club nights by Honey Soundsystem. SF nightlife is all performance-based and peacocky, I loved the nightlife there. 

But there was still something missing. When I first went to Gangway, I fell in love. It was a dilapidated dive bar--a half-working jukebox and carpeted walls, but 100% gay clientele over 50. I loved it. I grew up in bars, as my mother was a stripper in the Philippines and that’s how my father met her when he was a sailor stationed there. So for some reason, those kind of bars are very sentimental--almost spiritual--to me. 

So I decided to throw a party there on a shoestring budget--way before I knew what a "guarantee" was, or how to strike a deal. I just wanted to have fun, and be able to afford a pizza slice. I DJ'd from iTunes, and filled the room with 99 cent balloons. It was the best time.

OMG after that graphic novel you need to write a full-on book! 

What motivated you to come out and mix it up in NYC?

I was very into reading PAPER Magazine, The Face and i-D, and NYC was so fully represented in those mags. And then I became obsessed with all things New York. It was during Electroclash era. There were great bands like W.I.T., Fischerspooner, Scissor Sisters, the goddesses AVENUE D (”Do I Look Like A Slut?”) and wonderful performance artists like Sophia Lamar and Amanda Lepore. I I had them all cut out and taped to my wall like some kind of teeny bopper fan. They were all queer, bold, interesting and unapologetic about their message of both fun and consciousness. Talk about manifestation: all those people I mentioned who I was full-tilt-boogie fans of are now all very close friends of mine. 

Not to mention when I first saw Wigstock when I was 16. I knew New York was going to be my home eventually.

I was able to afford my pizza slice and I was having fun outside of work, but then it hit a wall. There’s only so much you can do in San Francisco; albeit a wonderful city, it’s a small town, too. I needed more room to grow. So a one-way ticket to NYC was booked, and I never looked back. I moved Sept 11, 2009. I remember ‘cause the ticket was super cheap to fly on that date.

Eventually you start meeting these people here, and making things happen with the Frankie Sharp brand. MySpace and Facebook were definitely around then, but I'm not sure how much they were being used to market nightlife... is that how you were doing it?

Sorta. Myspace was somewhat used for promoting, but I was still printing out paper flyers then. Passing them out everywhere, legit putting them on cars, etc. I kinda miss that old school aspect. Nowadays, being able to monitor the response gives me a lil’ anxiety. But I have anxiety over everything. I just wanna do a good job and make everyone happy.

I miss those days too! And yeah, having access to all that promotional data can  be information overload. 

The party that most people will always associate you with from your earlier NYC career is WestGay at the Westway! It was such an interesting location for a kiki because it was kind of isolated in its neighborhood, but that just added to the appeal. 

Yeah, exactly. Once you were there you were stuck.

What else was it about WestGay that resonated with people so much, do you think?

We had very, very, very few rules. I mean, dicks and titties were out, celebrities getting laid by gogo boys, the influx of Drag Race was just happening which we heavily included in our programming. Not to mention I had even more NYC idols who became friends perform: Lil Kim, Azealia Banks, Eve, Foxy Brown, Mel B from Spice Girls, Hercules Love Affair... I even had C&C Music Factory perform. They were the first actual CD I owned. 

I mean, it was just everything! And at the time, there was nothing like it. All the other parties were sorta people in black, all kinda looking at each other. Honestly, it was some guilt-free, shameless fun that you didn't have to feel bad about. It was chic, in that it was totally not at all. It was completely hedonistic. Over indulging was the theme.

In the event production world,  rules suck. Is that like one of the hardest aspects of planning a memorable event where guests can feel like they can really let loose... dealing with restrictions from the management, and the limitations of the venue?

Yeah it was one of the reasons Public Arts sucked so hard. A great venue to look at and on paper. But horrible behind the scenes.

You’re talking about a party you were heading this past summer for a brief but memorable run, Something Special. Who or what wasn’t working for you there?

A lot of venues want gay dollars, but they don’t want gay people. And it wasn’t Matt and Carlos (who also owned Westway), they were great. It was their partner, The Public Hotel. They were corporate assholes, and made life very difficult for me. The didn’t respect what we were doing, and took months to pay. They could’ve really ruined my reputation, because it took forever for me to pay my staff sometimes. And these are hard-working artists. 

But oddly, it was still a successful night and very well-attended. And it served me in other ways. At least it got the attention of the Moxy Hotel, who is a part of the Tao Group and the home for my new Sunday night MAGIC. They are incredibly supportive, saw what were up to and signed off on our buffoonery (because our buffoonery is also lucrative).

But it was very stressful [at the Public Hotel]. Not sure why anyone would continue doing things there, especially gay folks.

Ironically, you got a GLAM nomination this past year for Something Special, and the GLAMs were held in the Public Hotel!

I introduced [GLAMs producer] Cherry Jubilee to that space at the tail end of my time with Public. I was trying to do them a favor. The GLAMs had some very familiar technical fuck-ups throughout the night that were the venue’s fault. It actually gave me PTSD. But the GLAMs themselves were just that... GLAM!

I love what Cherry Jubilee does, what a great producer. I just hope one year it becomes more inclusive to all aspects and pockets of the city and surrounding boroughs. Because right now, it really is just a popularity contest for clubs above 14th street. Westgay won best party every year for four years. For that I am so grateful. But it seems things have changed. 

But maybe its not the awards--perhaps its the parties that have become more segregated. At least in the small time MAGIC has been running, it feels like a good bridge between uptown and downtown, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. 

What are the seeds that need to be planted for an event to be Frankie Sharp-level great? And then, how do you know when it’s time to switch things up with something that’s already going strong?

In the beginning stages, I have a tight group of people I work with, and have for years since Westgay: DJs, performers, hosts and sub-promoters. Then with each new event, I hire a second string, usually of younger up-and-comers. 

But before everything else, it’s location location location... venue venue venue. Does the room have heart? Can you do Runway? Can you zigzag and find something new all night? Will Amanda Lepore look good in this lighting? Does the sound hit the bottom of my spine? There are many questions that need to be addressed. But it’s always an ongoing transformation. I’m never, ever satisfied. I’m always tuning something.

Always seeking that elusive perfection! Speaking earlier of Brooklyn, your Saturday party Metrosensual at Metropolitan Bar has been running strong for a while now, with top notch guest performers ever week. Metrosensual has definitely helped put Brooklyn nightlife on the map, as far as star power and general epicness. 

I LOOOVE METROPOLITAN. Those boys there who run the show are probably the most professional, supportive and friendliest out of every venue I’ve ever worked with. I always tell Steven Mac, who is the GM there, if I ever open my own club, he’s going to run it.

Do you have a favorite Metrosensual moment from parties past?

Bringing Brooke Candy and a her full band--people lost their minds. I loved bringing Latrice Royale there, because the crowd is just drunk and wanting to have a good time, and extend love to the performers and the performers only want to give the same in return. Valentina, of course, was a big night. What a pro, and in person looks not real-- like an Almodovar goddess. Frankly, every week rules. Its pretension-free, which is so refreshing and important to me. I think of Metrosensual as my Marc by Marc version of my bigger nightclubs. It’s really my favorite.

Dragula’s Biqtch Puddin will be there this Saturday! 

Her manager reached out to me about having her perform, and when I mentioned it to some kids they were like PLEASE have her. I think people are super excited to see her. I know I am.

MARY at Club Cumming is a weekly cabaret variety show that you produce, and it's a much more low key but still eclectic affair, in a very intimate setting. Ragamuffin and Tyler Ashley are among the performers who appear each week, and you frequently sing on the stage yourself as well! What prompted you to create this very different sort of production?

Our administration, and my sobriety. When Club Cumming was Eastermbloc, I was doing Friday nights there... a party called Dumb Club. It was house, hip hop, party jams, a short drag show, gogo boys, debauchery, classic East Village. When it was bought by Daniel Nardicio and Alan Cumming, they approached me about doing something there still. 

But I needed to give something more soulful, something more fulfilling and intimate. I needed to engage with the people who have been coming to my clubs. So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do just that--while being radically queer, irreverent, political and warm, inviting, inspiring and honest. It’s all the club hosts, gogo boys and DJ’s I have at my club nights, who have all of these additional talents that have been laying dormant finally get to see the light of day.

There were enough unhinged, boozy, headless dance nights. I wanted to build an environment full or art and love. Music and Song. It’s been life-changing thus far. And my new sobriety needed a new project. I couldn’t have asked for a better sponsor.

Congratulations on your sobriety. There's a growing number of sober people in nightlife who keep at it, but it never ceases to amaze me with all the world’s vices at arm’s reach. Is it still a daily struggle? It was never a struggle. I’m not one who wakes up in the morning and wants booze or drugs, or is like "what a stressful day, I need a drink.” I would drink heavily at work because work was in bars and clubs, and I would work 3-4 nights a week and then I would recover from that 2-3 nights a week. That’s your whole week.

And I wouldn't be able to grasp reality. It really screwed with my emotional and mental state. I was unable to be productive, and that’s what I am: a producer. What is a producer who can’t produce? When I was doing WestGay, I was in a blackout pretty much for four years... and it was very successful. That was me at a C- grade level. I wanna see what I can do at a conscious, strong A+.

Being sober has changed my life rapidly, and I keep becoming brighter, lighter, stronger. And I feel love more than I ever have. I describe it often as getting as close to the divine as I’ve ever felt. Close to God. I know that’s heavy. But I feel very connected to the universe and our planet these days. The high that drugs and whiskey used to give me I get from hard work, building communities and hitting a high note at MARY. Cheesy, but true.

What an amazing place to be at! That brings us to MAGIC at Magic Hour, which I guess is only a month or two running now and already a tremendous success. Did everything just kinda “magically” fall into place here?

Honestly, yes. They called me. I called up my business partner in crime, Birdy Black, and we did a walk-through. When we realized the topiary of the bushes were teddy bears fucking, I knew this was our new home.

One thing I realize is, I’m huge on energy. Every event I’ve ever done is an exact representation of where I am in my life. WestGay was LOUD, ruthless and intoxicating because I was loud, ruthless and intoxicated. Something Special was just that: special and confused and erratic, because circumstances were just that. MAGIC is everything I’ve learned and manifested and called upon for everyone else. It has nothing to do with me. It’s not about my ego or money; it’s about giving a gift to New York City, the love of my life. It’s truth, acceptance, art and cuckoory harnessed.

There's always a great cast of hosts and performers there, and you've really done wonders bringing actual huge stars to appear or perform there. Damn, Charlie XCX is gonna be there this Sunday, that's amazing! How is this even happening?

I saw she was in town performing, and her show sold out in 60 seconds, or something absurd. I saw everyone on social media freaking out about not snagging tickets. So in my usual fashion, I wanted to find a way to give something to the kids and create something special for everyone. I reached out to a mutual friend and asked if she had an afterparty planned. She did not... so I made some phone calls.

She’ll be performing with a huge roster of other stars we’re not announcing just yet. But it’s going to be insane. It’s taking everything for me not to mention who they are! but everyone is going to gag with everyone on board. Which then inspired me to do a big performer once a month, moving forward. We have lots planned!

Lindsay Lohan hosted a Brian Rafferty party this past MLK Weekend.

I love Brian Rafferty. We were just texting the other day because he found some old tally list from his Griffin party, which I hosted once. I brought 25 people! It was my first NYC hosting gig. Hes a good egg.

Is queer nightlife now officially a vessel for major artists and celebrities to reach out directly to their fans?

I can’t speak on that. But personally, I’ve always tried to have bigger names perform or DJ at my events. It’s New York! I love the idea of having Andy Cohen DJing my small bar parties, or Azealia Banks at her career height performing the closing of WestGay so people can be really close to them. I love the surrealism of that.  I think, like me, those celebrities just wanna give something back.  

And everyone wants to be a part of New York Nightlife. It’s Legend.

Do you have anything else in the works, as far as events or other projects?

Jazz singer and musician David Raleigh and I are starting a monthly, social media free eleganza of a dinner party called IRL (In Real Life). I’ve been planning it for a couple of years now, but life kept happening. I have a gorgeous space in the East Village for it now. People will check their phones at the door, a small orchestra provides the evenings soundtrack plays, Stacy Layne Matthews will cater it for the first one, and we all just actually get to exchange with one another. All this exciting bumper cars we do in the club is wonderful, but I wanna know more about the people around me. We can still have club looks and glamour, but Its a classic dinner party where people TALK. 

Every month starting in August, we will always have a spotlight on a superstar chef, a bold-named performer from everything from Broadway, opera to hip hop, and a speaker doing an inspirational "TedTalk.” We already have very recognizable names scheduled to perform, and inspirational speakers we just love to hear preach their path of success: authors, filmmakers, writers, politicos... etc. 

So classy! That should certainly break some ground as far a nightlife experience goes.

Also, I’ve been working on a scripted TV show for what seems like years now. It’s gone through so many incarnations and different producers and networks interested, but we have a new avenue for it now, and that’s exciting. And pretty soon, my full attention might have to go there. We’ll see!

Right now, everything I’ve ever wanted is happening. And I know that sounds like I’m gloating, but I wanted to honor my sobriety once again--and not in a preachy way, but in a conscious way. With a clear head, strong muscles and sharpened tools, anything you want... you can just take. It’s a magnificent discovery to uncover.

A true inspiration! Okay, to wrap it up: what's the best piece of advice you can give to a newbie who wants to start producing nightlife events in NYC?

Stay out of my way. Just kidding! Be nice to everyone. You never know who anyone is. Plus, just be a kind human person. Life is better that way. Know your worth, but leave your ego out of it. 

Do not poach talent. 

Respect other promoters’ venues. 

And always find a balance of night with day. Vitamin D is needed, so is water and exercise. Feeling powerful from the inside out will get you far.

Thank you, Frankie!

Frankie Sharp produces MARY at Club Cumming (Tuesdays, 9pm), Metrosensual at Metropolitan Bar (Saturdays, 10pm) and MAGIC at Magic Hour Bar & Lounge (Sundays, 10pm). Check Thotyssey’s calendar for a full schedule of his events and appearances, and follow Frankie on Facebook and Instagram.

See Also: Frankie Sharp (11.30.2018)

On Point Archives

[4colorrebellion]

4cr Plays - Yakuza Kiwami 2

This is a great time to be a fan of the Yakuza series. After years of iffy sales and the series seemingly being left for dead, SEGA has released - in short order - a wildly successful prequel, a remake of the first game, and the latest installment in the series. 

Now, just a few months later, SEGA has released Yakuza Kiwami 2 - a remake of the second game in the series. Redesigned from the ground up in the new Yakuza 6 engine, Kiwami 2 presents one of the most popular games in the series through new technology and with massively refined gameplay. 

Like many, I am a recent convert to the religion of Yakuza. My first encounter with the series was Yakuza 0, and I was hooked within minutes by its unique flavor of melodramatic - and so, so Japanese - crime drama. I have been eagerly waiting for Kiwami 2. Read on to see what I thought.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 picks up a year after the events of the first game. Our protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, is trying to live a peaceful life with his adopted daughter Haruka. However, after the head of the Tojo family is assassinated, Kiryu is dragged back into his old life in a desperate attempt to prevent the boiling tensions between Yakuza families from descending into all-out war. Kiryu is sent to the Sotenbori district of Osaka - into the heart of Omi Alliance territory - to strike a peace deal. However, Ryuiji Goda - the “Dragon of Kansai” and son of the current leader of the Omi Alliance - wants nothing more than a good fight. Kiryu will need to deal with mob-hunting police, blood-thirsty mobsters, crazed construction crews, cabaret girls, luchadors, and all of the endless threats awaiting him in Japan’s most infamous red-light districts. Can he do it?

Well, of course he can. He is freaking Kazuma Kiryu. Let’s talk about Kiryu.

Kiryu is the coolest protagonist in gaming. He is unflappable. He is the calm, collected center of one hell of a storm. Everything around him is crazy - exaggerated to the Nth degree. The Yakuza series embodies the macho action movie. In a Yakuza game, people don’t have calm conversations. They scream, they shout, they tear off their shirts, and they beat each other with bicycles. Nobody is a normal person. They wear assless tights while trying to eat you, they think that bar bouncers are supposed to go out and fight gangs, they are besieged by underwear thieves. 

Yet, at the center is calm Kiryu. He is the straight man to the insanity, the one who isn’t all that surprised when a man in a diaper propositions him. It’s incredible, and you can’t help but grin the entire time at each and every thing that Kiryu has to deal with. One damn thing after another. 

If you haven’t played a Yakuza game, you’re in for a hell of a time. (If you are, you are still in for a hell of a time - you just know what to expect). 

The basic idea of Yakuza Kiwami 2 is that it is an open-world action game set in two red-light districts in Japan - Kamurocho, a take on Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, and Sotenbori, a take on Osaka’s Dotonbori. By exploring both cities, Kiryu can advance the central plot, uncover side missions, get into fights, and so, so much more. 

One of my favorite aspects of the series are the “substories” - little side missions that you can stumble on as you explore the map. These stories offer some of the most memorable experiences of the series, as Kiryu solves the problems plaguing the residents of the two districts. I don’t want to name too many of them - spoilers aren’t much fun - but many of the items I mentioned above come from substories, and they *all* happen. I didn’t make any of those up. In the past, you had to use a guide or explore thoroughly to make sure you found everything. This time, however, you can purchase an ability that puts icons on the map for most of the substories. This helps out quite a bit in ensuring that you haven’t missed anything.

One of the most compelling elements of the Yakuza series is the sheer level of detail in the world presented by the developers. I’ve spent time in Kabukicho, the real-world analog of Kamurocho. Yakuza’s representation is stunningly spot-on. Buildings look identical. If you enter shops, you can make out the details of individual products on the shelves, and the level of visual detail is incredible. It helps that Yakuza includes a lot of licensed products. You can buy actual brands of whiskey and soda from Don Quixote - an actual chain of stores. The little details are even spot-on. For instance, the appearance of the Kamurocho Don Quixote has updated in each game to match how the store would appear in the real-world for the time period that the game takes place in. No other game has depicted Japan so accurately - in such loving detail. Just playing this game has made me want to book a trip back to Japan. 

Kamurocho and Sotenbori present a sprawling series of broadways, cramped alleyways, and dingy bars. It’s a world that is full of personality and easy to get lost in. This is true in the literal sense - it can be hard to find your way around (this is true to life) - but also in the figurative sense, given the sheer number of diversions that the world offers. You can have a few drinks at the bar. You can play darts, practice batting, and sing a few songs. You can play a few rounds of Virtua Fighter. If that gets old, you can attempt to learn Mahjong - though, despite SEGA’s efforts to include tutorials for western audiences, Mahjong continues to elude me. Need to use a bathroom? Well, there are interactive urinals at the arcade where you can practice your aim. If the constant fights have left your health low, you can stop by a ramen joint or a takoyaki booth for a snack. 

There are a seemingly endless variety of minigames to indulge in, including both new additions and the return of old favorites. My favorite of the new ones is minigolf. I’ve put a decent amount of time into mastering each course. There is a trophy for trying every minigame, and trust me, it actually takes work to make sure you found them all.

In particular, there are two central - meaty - minigames to call out. The first puts Kiryu in charge of a cabaret club - where men come for fake dates with the women who work there. This particular game appeared previously in Yakuza 0, but has been enhanced here. The core idea is that you compete in a series of tournaments to see which club can earn the most money. To earn the money, you set a lineup of hostesses - whose health and stats you need to keep an eye on - and let them work. As guests enter, you match them with the most appropriate hostess. At times, you may have to step in to replace ice, swap an ash tray, or resolve a dispute. If guests are happy, they may stay longer and come back another time. As orders come in, you can throw parties - bringing in more sales. At the end of the night, everyone gets paid, you earn new fans, and you advance in the league rankings. Once you hit the top of a league, you can challenge the reigning club and move on to the next league. It’s a surprisingly addictive minigame, and comes with a lengthy storyline where Kiryu befriends the individual hostesses and navigates the twisty world of Japanese clubs. 

The other minigame is the Majima Construction Corporation - headed by Kiryu’s rival and... obsessive stalker... Goro Majima. Despite the name, you aren’t actually building anything. Instead, this is a tower defense game where you need to prevent the destruction of your construction supplies. As the foreman, Kiryu must direct his workers to where they are needed, pumps up their spirit, and issues attack orders.. As they take down enemies, your workers level up and gain new abilities. Like with the cabaret club, there is an entire storyline devoted to the construction corporation. 

Speaking of Majima, Kiwami 2 has added new scenes where you play as Majima - filling in events that took place between games. After spending so much time in Majima’s shoes in Yakuza 0, it’s really nice to spend some more time in his crazy head. These additions aren’t incredibly substantial, but are nice fanservice for long-time followers of the series.

Fighting is - reasonably - a pretty major part of the series, and what you’ll spend most of your time doing. Yakuza is, more-or-less, an action-RPG with random battles. You’ll be regularly attacked by roving mobs of goons, and you must beat them to move on. You fight by stringing together light attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, and blocks. Consecutive hits will build up a “heat gauge”, which can be spent on brutal takedowns. You can also trigger a special powered-up mode where all attacks consume “heat”, but are much more powerful. 

Kiwami 2 carries forward the changes made to the fighting in Yakuza 6. I was a fan of how combat was streamlined, and how the new physics felt. Kiwami refines the combat a little by adding in new heat actions and a revised weapon system. Now, Kiryu can carry three weapons into combat and freely switch between them. In some cases, you can also pocket weapons obtained by disarming enemies to use later on. 

Every action you take in Yakuza, whether fighting, eating, or singing, earns you experience. Experience points come in five different categories, and can be spent in a variety of ways. You can put points into your basic stats, like health, strength, agility, and your heat gauge. You can also purchase new combat skills and heat moves. Finally, you can purchase general abilities, like experience boosts, increased stomach capacity (eating more food nets you more experience), or the ability to run further.

As the second game to use the new engine, Kiwami 2 presents a much smoother technical experience than Yakuza 6. I’ve been playing on a PS4 Pro, where the game runs at 1080p with a locked 30FPS framerate. I haven’t run into issues. Yakuza 6 was a bit choppy on the regular PS4, but impressions suggest that Kiwami 2 is much more stable. 

As you can probably tell, I’ve had a blast with my time in Yakuza Kiwami 2, and I can’t wait to put a couple dozen more hours into it. I feel deeply in love with the series with Yakuza 0, and have been on board since. Yakuza Kiwami 2 might be my favorite in the series yet - or, at least, it comes close to Yakuza 0. The technical upgrades, seemingly endless variety of minigames, some of the best substories yet, and a strong central plot put Kiwami 2 near the top of the series. Whether you are coming to the game as a newcomer or a series veteran, you can’t really go wrong with this game. I can’t recommend it enough.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, SEGA. 

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[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s Avengers Review: It’s No Spider-Man

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A developer assumes a measure of responsibility when making a superhero game. These characters typically have a longstanding fanbase that is oftentimes overprotective and overly precious about how their favorite heroes are portrayed. So when it was announced that Crystal Dynamics and Marvel Games were working on an action-adventure, narrative-driven, loot-based Avengers game, I was skeptical because a) it sounded like an overly ambitious game to make regardless of licensing, and b) this isn’t just any superhero license—these are the most popular, beloved superhero characters on the planet right now. How could the developers possibly meet Marvel fans’ lofty expectations?

My takeaway from Marvel’s Avengers after completing its story campaign and playing through hours of its online multiplayer component is that the game will not meet your expectations. It’s ultimately a bit of a letdown. Certain aspects of the game are even extraordinarily good, but there’s a lack of consistency that runs throughout the game on several levels as well as fundamental flaws that keep it from standing alongside the likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham series in the superhero game pantheon.

Marvel’s Avengers as an experience is divided into two big modes. The first mode is a story campaign, which is designed as a mostly solo experience and focuses on the hero’s journey of would-be Avenger Kamala Khan (voiced wonderfully by Sandra Saad). Upon completing the campaign, the game transitions into its Avengers Initiative online multiplayer component, which continues the story through largely standalone single- and multi-objective missions you can take on with up to three teammates. If you want to get to playing with your friends right away, you do have the option to skip the campaign entirely, but then you’d be missing what for now is the stronger half of the experience.

The story itself is pretty standard fare for comic book fans. It sees the Avengers disassembled and then slowly reassembled in dramatic fashion before they ultimately save the day. The inciting incident is A-Day, an event in San Francisco in which the Avengers, along with scheming scientists George Tarleton and Monica Rappaccini, were meant to unveil a new mineral called Terrigen as the key to a clean energy-fueled future. But when terrorists led by Taskmaster attack, most of the team rushes to the rescue while Cap tries to secure the volatile Terrigen crystal fueling the Avengers’ helicarrier, the Chimera.

After defeating Taskmaster, the ship unexpectedly explodes, claiming the life of Captain Rogers and spreading Terrigen mist across the city, imbuing normal people with extraordinary abilities. The world comes to refer to these new superpowered citizens as Inhumans. Fearing for their own safety in an Avenger-less world, humanity quickly begins hunting and persecuting these Inhumans, who are forced to hide their powers or risk imprisonment — or worse.

Years later, young Kamala Khan, who met the Avengers on A-Day as a participant in a fan fiction contest and is now secretly an Inhuman with incredible shape-shifting powers, embarks on a journey to uncover the truth about what really happened on that fateful day. Along the way, she reassembles the Avengers and joins the Inhuman resistance and what’s left of SHIELD in their fight against Tarleton’s evil tech organization Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM). Like Kamala, Tarleton is also going through his own transformation, morphing before our eyes into the grotesque MODOK, who’s never been one of my favorite Marvel villains but is serviceable here.

What sets the game’s narrative apart from other Avengers stories and pretty much every video game story out there is that Kamala is at the center of it, which is cool not only because she’s a great character from the comics, but because she’s a Pakistani American woman starring in a AAA video game. I can’t overstate how much decisions like this mean to underrepresented communities. Best of all, Kamala’s storyline is handled with care, as we watch her grow into a powerful hero that inspires the rest of the Avengers to get back to work. She’s truly the heart and saving grace of the game’s story campaign.

The game’s larger storytelling is far from perfect, however. Kamala is a great protagonist, and the mentor/mentee relationship that develops between her and Dr. Bruce Banner (Troy Baker at the top of his game) is perhaps the title’s best storyline. But the other Avengers—Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Black Widow—aren’t nearly as compelling. They feel like shallow versions of what we’ve seen before in the comics and movies, which would be fine if you only saw them from Kamala’s point of view…but you don’t.

At different points throughout the campaign, you take control of each Avenger, turning the game into more of an ensemble piece meant to explore all of the heroes individually. But other than Kamala and Bruce, none of them has an interesting character arc. Larger than life Marvel staples like Tony Stark and Thor are woefully underwritten here and even their Iconic Missions, hero-specific side stories that tie back into the main plot, leave much to be desired. While these missions are each meant to highlight a specific character and their powers, they mostly play out like every other mission type. More on that in just a bit.

It doesn’t help that Marvel’s Avengers doesn’t do enough to distance itself from its movie counterpart. All I see when I look at the OG Avengers in the game is “Store-Brand Avengers,” lesser versions of their MCU counterparts (don’t get me started on the atrocious Tony character model). And since their individual stories are underwritten, we virtually have no choice but to reference the MCU to fill in the blanks. The game just doesn’t have a strong identity of its own.

Fortunately, combat is pretty solid all around. Crystal Dynamics has done a good job making each hero feel different from the next, from Kamala’s stretch-based powers to Iron Man’s high-flying maneuvers to Hulk’s environment-shattering smashing, and the combat feels smooth, with timed dodges, parries, and ability gauges adding depth to what is essentially traditional beat-em-up gameplay. There are imbalances here and there (like when a dozen off-screen enemies attack you all at once and you have no choice but to, well, die), but it’s generally fun to punch and shoot your way through AIM’s robotic and human goons.

That said, the combat is sometimes hindered by a camera that can’t quite keep up with the action. Things can get so hectic during intense combat sequences that it’s very possible that you’ll lose track of what’s happening on screen all together. I also experienced pretty severe framerate drops at points when there were too many enemies on screen. And although you can tackle multiplayer missions by yourself with three AI companions—which is a nice touch for those who don’t particularly like playing online—expect to grow frustrated with the AI at times.

All of this is compounded by the uninteresting enemies you’ll face throughout the game. No one really thinks of AIM when counting down the best evil factions in Marvel history and the shadowy organization isn’t made any more spectacular here. You’ll mostly spend your time in Marvel’s Avengers fighting bullet-spongy robots, drones, mechs, and jet pack-wearing soldiers, with almost no hint of an actual recognizable Marvel villain in between. How is it possible to have this much access to the Marvel license and include pretty much no fan-favorite villains in the game? Sure, you’ll face one or two, including Hulk villain the Abomination, who was revealed in the beta, but don’t expect to see any A-listers in this game.

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Marvel’s Avengers also puts a big emphasis on loot and character progression. Each hero has their own skill trees, gear to equip, and unlockable cosmetics. Skill points you earn by completing missions and taking down enemies can be redeemed for new abilities on the skill tree, while cosmetics (new costumes) can be purchased with in-game currency at different vendors, bought with real money, unlocked by progressing through the story, or earned through each hero’s Character Card, a progression system structured like a traditional battle pass. As you complete challenges in the game, you’ll earn challenge points that unlock new items on the Character Card.

The gear system is a bit more involved. You’ll need to do a lot of grinding to outfit your character with the best gear and raise their power level, the most important number in the game. Your character’s power level, which is an amalgamation of each piece of gear’s individual power level, defines how strong your character is and whether they can take on increasingly difficult missions.

Each mission has a recommended power level, and it’s in your best interest to heed that warning. If you’re even five below the recommended power level, you’re likely to get annihilated on the battlefield. Unfortunately, this means that you’ll find yourself grinding levels for more powerful gear quite a bit in the game, replaying War Zone missions at higher difficulties in the hopes of getting better item drops. All that said, loot isn’t represented cosmetically, and while there are seemingly countless perks and customization options tied to the pieces of gear you find, at the end of the day, the combat kinda feels the same no matter what loadout you’ve got. There’s a severe lack of variety here.

As we wrote in our preview of the game back in August, War Zone missions get old very quickly. They’re repetitive, are largely set in surprisingly uninteresting environments, and usually involve one of only a handful of mission structures, from attacking and defending control points to destroying AIM tech to simply taking out enemy waves. This is all fun at first, and playing with others online does add dimension to the experience. Coordinating attacks, watching each others’ backs, performing devastating combos on giant robots–the combat is definitely conducive with online co-op.

But the recycled mission structures and environments just aren’t enough to keep me going for as long as the devs want me to. There are some storytelling elements bookending the War Zone missions, especially in the case of the aforementioned Iconic Missions, which is appreciated. But after breaking into the umpteenth AIM lab and destroying the three valuable pieces of tech or holding down the three important control points or destroying another giant mech, you begin to wonder what you’re actually working towards in the game.

As far as I can tell at launch, you grind missions to earn better gear in order to take on tougher missions that feel exactly like the last batch of missions…but more difficult? All in all, repetitive missions make it so that you want off the gameplay loop as soon as possible. I certainly don’t feel the impetus to keep playing now that I’ve finished the story campaign and written this review.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Another annoyance I have with online play is the matchmaking. It often took forever to find other players and launch a mission. I ultimately enjoyed playing solo with AI companions much more, which really says something about a game that’s meant to be played with others, especially since the AI heroes almost never help you actually complete objectives. They just kind of follow you around the stages. 

I’m looking forward to the Hawkeye DLC that’s on the way for Marvel’s Avengers, as well as the PlayStation-exclusive Spider-Man content coming out next year, but I’ll most likely give the game a rest until then. I wish that Crystal Dynamics had focused more on the campaign because, man, some of the set pieces and Kamala moments show signs of life in a game that mostly feels dead on arrival. I would have loved to play 10 more hours of a Kamala single-player campaign. But alas, I’m left with the bitter taste of a middling, Destiny-like action-looter that unfortunately undermines the truly great things that the game does have going for it.

The post Marvel’s Avengers Review: It’s No Spider-Man appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[recentanimenews]

One Piece World Seeker Is A Monkey D. Luffy Highlight Reel

  There are a lot of ways that One Piece World Seeker could've gone horribly, tragically wrong. And honestly, sometimes it felt like it was about to. The second or third time a random villager tells you "Hey, could you find two potatoes for me!" or "I need three small flowers so that I can ask a girl on a date!", you get that terrible feeling in the pit of your gut that says "Oh no. This might be all that the game is. This might be it."

    But even when it's lackluster (and trust me, finding items for strangers is rarely anything but), One Piece World Seeker rides on a wave of simply being inherently pleasant to play. In fact, I don't think it's ever been this fun to play as an anime character in a non-fighting game. Playing as Luffy is rad. Zipping up on signs and propelling yourself through the air never gets old. Building yourself up so that you can use your Gum Gum Elephant Gatling Gun attack or go into Gear Fourth is always a treat. And gaining new powers so that you can find fresh ways to explore the island makes updating your skills a fun exercise, rather than something that you feel forced to do just so you can keep up with the game.

  I know that some of you are probably hesitant to purchase this game because you can only play as Luffy and none of the other members of the Straw Hat Crew, but if there's one definite thing that can be said about World Seeker, it's that at least the character that you DO get to play as is awesome.

    But even if you can't play as them, don't worry about not getting to hang out with your various Straw Hat pals. They can be found on the Thousand Sunny or around the Prison Island, giving you missions and helping you with your equipment and such. And along with them is basically a montage of One Piece villains, many of which you fight in battles that often come out of nowhere. But we'll get to that in a second. 

  The plot of One Piece World Seeker is this: Prison Island is a land divided, with its citizens being either emphatically for or against the heavy navy presence there. And stuck in the middle is Jeanne, daughter of the former leader of the island and now trying desperately to keep things from falling into chaos and corruption. Her brother is Isaac, and he is mysterious and has sweet robot hands. That's all I have to say about him. 

    Over the course of the game, you'll delve into the secrets of the island, duel with many pirates and navy operatives, and try to help Jeanne. And man, does Jeanne need a lot of help. Though she does grow over the course of the game, many early portions involve her being unable to settle even the slightest dispute among islanders, only to have Luffy remind everyone to be nice for once and/or beat them up.

  In One Piece World Seeker, Luffy is not only a prolific adventurer, but a relationship counselor and therapist. Somehow, Luffy's suggestion of "Hey, it's family! You should help 'em out!" fixes all woes. And on that note, I never noticed just how much One Piece has in common with the Fast and the Furious franchise when it comes to their themes and structure. A group the collects members as it goes in order to complete increasingly huge and explosive missions, all while constantly reaffirming the importance of family? Huh. That's a neat realization.

    However, the main draw of this game isn't the conflict resolution discussions, surprisingly. It's the open world adventuring, and it only gets better as it goes along. I know that open world games usually suffer from the opposite: You're presented with this big, huge Gotham City or ancient civilization or whatever, and you come to find that it's mostly just an empty slog that doesn't improve no matter how good you get at the game. With World Seeker, as I mentioned, it definitely improves as you acquire more skills. There are copious Fast Travel points, but as you build up Luffy's attributes, you'll find that the canyons and rivers and mountains that once seemed tiresome to maneuver around are now easily traversable.

  And while it isn't the most inspired open world setting that I've ever seen, there are some places that are legitimately beautiful. Ruby City, which is filled with farm land, is so nice to behold and run around in. The underground prison, dampened by the water that you have to drain out of it and lit by dim lights and alarm traps, is super cool to look at, provided that you've taken out all the guards and aren't currently getting annihilated by sea stone bullets. The little towns are very quaint and cute and honestly, the worst section of the game is Steel City, and even then, you can swing from sign to sign in a Spider-Man-esque display of "Please do not sue us, Marvel."

  Oh, and those boss battles with villains that I talked about? Stay on your guard, because along with being fun, they can beat the crap out of you when you least expect it. I did not think I'd have a problem with the three jerk brothers from Germa 66, nor did I think a sudden skirmish with Admiral Kizaru would be that tough. But the game lures you into a false sense of confidence where you imagine that most battles are won by waiting for an enemy to stop shooting before you rush forward with rubber punches. No, you gotta learn how to properly evade, how to take down aerial foes without pausing too long, and when to unleash your special skills. There was nothing quite as sad as thinking that my Red Hawk was gonna take down Fujitora, only to discover that he was blocking and about to bring down a meteor on me.

    Yes, the "family reunion" approach to bringing in characters can sometimes be a little confusing when you think about the story being told. You wonder why Tashigi is hanging out, or why Buggy just happened to be near you, or just what part Trafalgar Law has to play in all this, considering that when he first appears in the game, he says about two sentences and then leaves for hours. But World Seeker made me yell, outloud, "OH MAN. CROCODILE'S HERE?!?" at 3 AM, so I can forgive a lot of that. 

  However, World Seeker is not a perfect game. Much like with the main One Piece series, you're often left wondering "Okay, how much left is there?" This is especially true with the types of missions that I mentioned at the start of the article. You go find someone, and then they ask you to collect something, but then you have to beat up some no-name pirates, before going to another guy to settle it all. It's busy work, and as much as it's a staple of modern open world games, it still sucks to see it here.

  Also, the lack of voice acting can often be a bummer. There is SOME voice acting, but it's usually reserved for major cut scenes and those are few and far between. You just end up having to make do with reading the dialogue and hearing repetitive noises from each character, though I'll never get tired of Mayumi Tanaka's iconic "I'm exhausted and I want meat" sigh for Luffy. 

    Lastly, the story is often not very engaging. I liked learning more about the hidden plot behind the game's events and about the Dyna Stones, gems of immense power that could destroy everything. But hearing about the squabbles between anti and pro navy people made little difference in my overall impression of the game, especially since most of this part of the story took place as you had yet more conversations with townsfolk about why they were so grumpy. 

  Overall, One Piece World Seeker is a game that, despite a few narrative shortcomings, I had a ton of fun playing. It's hard to determine what kind of open world experience that One Piece would "deserve," considering that One Piece, along with Tolkien's Middle Earth, are basically the best depictions of "open world" fiction. But if you're looking for a game where, ten or twenty hours in, you're still not tired of using Monkey D. Luffy to explore forests and punch Akainu in the mouth, then pick up World Seeker. It's not the ultimate One Piece game, but it's one of the best times I've had playing one.

  REVIEW ROUNDUP:

+ Playing as Luffy is joyous, and will keep you coming back to the game

+ Seeing all of the different heroes and villains is always nice

+ Some sections of the game are really, really pretty

+ Learning new skills is quick, easy, and never a chore

+ Captain Buggy is here!

- The lack of voice acting is pretty disappointing

- The story is pretty muddled

  Are you planning to pick up One Piece World Seeker? What aspects of the game are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!

  -------------------

  Daniel Dockery is a writer/editor for Crunchyroll that is currently playing more World Seeker. Ask him about it on Twitter. 

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features! 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights

“Have you heard of Scott’s Cheap Flights? Should I use them?”

When friends and family far removed from the travel hacking/cheap flights space ask me about a website, I know its mainstream. While there are many good deal websites out there (The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Holiday Pirates are three of my favorites), Scott’s Cheap Flights seems to have broken through where others have not. Over 1 million people get his daily flight deals email. I’m a big fan of the website and their ability to often break airfare deals (I used one of their alerts to fly to South Africa). It turns out Scott is a fan of my website too so we sat down for an interview where I got him to spill the secret behind his website:

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. How did you get into this? Scott: When I graduated college in 2009, I knew two things: (1) I wanted to travel the world and (2) I was never going to be wealthy. So if I wasn’t going to let #2 prevent #1, I knew I would have to figure out some creative ways to travel without spending my life savings. I began reading up on flight pricing economics, spending hours on various flight search engines, and learning various airfare patterns. Before long, I found an online community of fellow travel hackers and cheap-flight aficionados who enjoy not just travel but also the thrill of getting a great deal on flights.

Where did the idea of this website come from? Scott’s Cheap Flights has a weird origin story. In 2013, I got the best deal of my life: nonstop from NYC to Milan for $130 round-trip. Milan hadn’t even been on my radar as a place to visit, but for $130 round-trip, there’s no way I wouldn’t go. And it turned out to be amazing! I went skiing in the Alps, caught an AC Milan match, hiked Cinque Terre, hung out on Lake Como. It was divine.

When I got back, word spread among friends and coworkers about the deal I got, and dozens of them began asking me to let them know next time I found a fare like that so they could get in on it, too. So rather than try to remember to tell George and Esther and Aviva when a great deal popped up, I decided to start a simple little email list instead so I could alert everyone at once. Scott’s Cheap Flights was born.

For the first 18 months, though, it was just a little, fun hobby I did for my friends. It wasn’t until August 2015 that it had generated enough organic growth that it made sense to think about turning it into a business.

You’ve sort of blown up in the last year or so. What do you think have been the two biggest factors into your success? First off, thanks! We just hit one million subscribers — still hard for me to believe. The credit goes to two primary factors:

First, there’s an incredible team who runs Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s not just me; we’re up to 25 folks on the team now. We have a team of flight searchers finding great deals around the world, and also a team of amazing customer support folks. On an average day we get well over 700 emails in our inbox, and most people get a response within a few hours, if not a few minutes. I think this is a major reason why more than 50% of people who sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights found out about it via word of mouth.

Second, the startup itself had very serendipitous timing. Right around when Scott’s Cheap Flights became a business, international flight prices began to plummet, fueled by low oil prices and a bevy of new low-cost airlines like Norwegian and WOW jumping into the transatlantic market. Whereas in 2010 it was rare to see flights from the US to Europe under $900 round-trip, in 2015 (and through to today), it’s relatively common to see those same flights around $400 round-trip, if not less. We can’t force airlines to offer cheap flights, but we’ve been there to ride the wave these past few years and help subscribers pay half of what they used to to travel abroad.

Were there any media hits or high-profile features that really changed your trajectory? I remember hearing about you a few years ago, but now it seems everyone I know, even outside of travel, has heard of your newsletter. There was one in particular: a Business Insider article and I were taking in the summer of 2015. It helped take Scott’s Cheap Flights from a hobby to a full-fledged business by bringing in thousands of new subscribers. We’ve had hundreds of media hits in the two years since then, but as we’ve grown, each individual one has necessarily had a diminishing impact. Perhaps a Nomadic Matt interview will give a big new boost though!

How does your website work? How do you find these deals? Do you have team of people searching for deals? Is it an algorithm? One thing that surprises a lot of people is that we don’t have a bunch of computers running secret algorithms to find cheap flights. All of our fares are searched by hand. The secret sauce is hard work. Airfare changes by the hour, if not by the minute, and the best deals don’t tend to last very long, so finding out about them early is the key to booking them before they’re gone. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for cheap flights; we love doing it and being subscribers’ early detection radar.

Another way to think of it is like this: Almost everybody is capable of cooking dinner at home, but that doesn’t prevent the existence of the restaurant industry. People don’t always want to put in the time and effort required to find cheap flights, so we’re happy to do it for them.

That seems super time-consuming. How do you decide what and where to search? Do you just randomly plugging in places and dates, or is there more of a method to the madness? There’s a bit of proprietary knowledge that goes into the process, but 95% of it is just the sheer legwork, day after day, searching various routes and seeing what pops up. There’s more of a skill aspect to the process than I would’ve guessed four years ago, whether that’s remembering certain esoteric routes that periodically go on sale, or knowing that a fare war out of one city likely indicates fare drops in other similar cities. For the most part, though, it’s just a small team of incredibly talented and dedicated flight searchers scouring through fares all day every day, disregarding 99% of them and skimming off the juiciest 1% to send to subscribers.

What are some of the biggest trends in flights you are seeing right now? In the last year or two we’ve seen far cheaper flights than in the past to India (before: $1,000+, now: ~$600), Italy and the Netherlands (before: $900, now: ~$350), and Hawaii (before: $800, now $350 from the West Coast, $550 from further east).

Unfortunately (though perhaps not surprisingly), we’re seeing a continued drought of cheap flights to popular destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition, we’re seeing a continued unbundling of airfare: more low-cost carriers and “budget economy” fares offered by full-service carriers that don’t include checked bags, seat selection, or meals.

Do you use your own deals or are you more of a points/miles-in-business-class kind of guy? Sure do! I’m personally not a business-class type of guy. I’m still young enough to be fine in coach for as long and far as a plane can fly. Ask me again in 20 years — but in general I’m uncomfortable being doted on in the premium section of the plane. I’m a simple guy. I don’t need much.

Will we see more business-class deals? Don’t wanna overpromise and underdeliver. Stay tuned!

Do you plan to go global and feature more non-US deals? Yes! We have a team of flight searchers finding cheap fares departing not just from the US but also Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sub-Saharan Africa coming soon!).

You get all these flight deals, but tell me some of your favorite travel experiences. What’s one of your favorite recent travel memories? Last year my wife and I took a trip to Belarus to visit her family. One of the days we took a trip to a “park” that consisted of a big open field filled with old discarded and retired Cold War–era Soviet weapons. Think machine guns, missiles, and tanks.

Mostly people would walk around and pose for selfies in front of these massive weapons, but at one point I saw a small group of tourists from Asia hand a park operator some cash and then start to climb on top of a WWII-era tank. I thought they were just going to take photos, but a few seconds later the tank started lurching forward before hitting a cool 25 miles per hour, zipping around the park. These tourists were having the time of their effing lives, and it gave me so much joy just to watch them.

Your deal website is great of course, but what about just everyday flights people need to see Grandma. What advice do you have based on your experience learning how airline pricing works? The single best trick to getting cheap airfare is flexibility. Being flexible not just with your dates but also your locations. For example, that NYC-Milan nonstop round-trip deal for $130 I mentioned at the top. I wasn’t living in NYC; I was living in DC. But for that fare it was well worth the short $20 bus ride up. I spent the weekend with friends in NYC and saved myself $650 off what fares would’ve been from DC to Milan.

The way most people approach getting a flight is this: (1) pick where they want to go; (2) pick their dates; and (3) see what prices are available. By prioritizing the fare lowest, they often end up with expensive tickets.

Instead, if getting a cheap flight is your priority, flip the order: (1) see what prices are available to various places are around the world; (2) decide which of the cheap destinations appeal to you; and (3) select the dates you like that have the cheap fares available.

What’s the craziest deal you ever got? In addition to that $130 nonstop NYC-Milan deal, my wife and I recently scored $169 round-trip flights to Japan — flippin’ love mistake fares. And team members have gotten similarly good deals to Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.

Finally, what’s one non-airfare-related travel piece of advice you’d give someone? Read more magazine articles and listen to more smart, informative podcasts. I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts approach of knowing a bit about everything (as opposed to everything about just one subject), not only as a way to be a well-rounded person but also as a social lubricant. If you can hold a conversation about anything from architecture to the stock market to Asian budget airlines, you’re far more likely to meet interesting people and develop deeper relationships.

Scott founded Scott’s Cheap Flights in a Denver coffeeshop. Scott is the flight searcher-in-chief, spending 8-12 hours a day on Google Flights as well as oversee daily operations. If you’re looking for flight deals, it’s one of the best.

The post The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2kmwvIQ

[touristguidebuzz]

The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights

“Have you heard of Scott’s Cheap Flights? Should I use them?”

When friends and family far removed from the travel hacking/cheap flights space ask me about a website, I know its mainstream. While there are many good deal websites out there (The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Holiday Pirates are three of my favorites), Scott’s Cheap Flights seems to have broken through where others have not. Over 1 million people get his daily flight deals email. I’m a big fan of the website and their ability to often break airfare deals (I used one of their alerts to fly to South Africa). It turns out Scott is a fan of my website too so we sat down for an interview where I got him to spill the secret behind his website:

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. How did you get into this? Scott: When I graduated college in 2009, I knew two things: (1) I wanted to travel the world and (2) I was never going to be wealthy. So if I wasn’t going to let #2 prevent #1, I knew I would have to figure out some creative ways to travel without spending my life savings. I began reading up on flight pricing economics, spending hours on various flight search engines, and learning various airfare patterns. Before long, I found an online community of fellow travel hackers and cheap-flight aficionados who enjoy not just travel but also the thrill of getting a great deal on flights.

Where did the idea of this website come from? Scott’s Cheap Flights has a weird origin story. In 2013, I got the best deal of my life: nonstop from NYC to Milan for $130 round-trip. Milan hadn’t even been on my radar as a place to visit, but for $130 round-trip, there’s no way I wouldn’t go. And it turned out to be amazing! I went skiing in the Alps, caught an AC Milan match, hiked Cinque Terre, hung out on Lake Como. It was divine.

When I got back, word spread among friends and coworkers about the deal I got, and dozens of them began asking me to let them know next time I found a fare like that so they could get in on it, too. So rather than try to remember to tell George and Esther and Aviva when a great deal popped up, I decided to start a simple little email list instead so I could alert everyone at once. Scott’s Cheap Flights was born.

For the first 18 months, though, it was just a little, fun hobby I did for my friends. It wasn’t until August 2015 that it had generated enough organic growth that it made sense to think about turning it into a business.

You’ve sort of blown up in the last year or so. What do you think have been the two biggest factors into your success? First off, thanks! We just hit one million subscribers — still hard for me to believe. The credit goes to two primary factors:

First, there’s an incredible team who runs Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s not just me; we’re up to 25 folks on the team now. We have a team of flight searchers finding great deals around the world, and also a team of amazing customer support folks. On an average day we get well over 700 emails in our inbox, and most people get a response within a few hours, if not a few minutes. I think this is a major reason why more than 50% of people who sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights found out about it via word of mouth.

Second, the startup itself had very serendipitous timing. Right around when Scott’s Cheap Flights became a business, international flight prices began to plummet, fueled by low oil prices and a bevy of new low-cost airlines like Norwegian and WOW jumping into the transatlantic market. Whereas in 2010 it was rare to see flights from the US to Europe under $900 round-trip, in 2015 (and through to today), it’s relatively common to see those same flights around $400 round-trip, if not less. We can’t force airlines to offer cheap flights, but we’ve been there to ride the wave these past few years and help subscribers pay half of what they used to to travel abroad.

Were there any media hits or high-profile features that really changed your trajectory? I remember hearing about you a few years ago, but now it seems everyone I know, even outside of travel, has heard of your newsletter. There was one in particular: a Business Insider article and I were taking in the summer of 2015. It helped take Scott’s Cheap Flights from a hobby to a full-fledged business by bringing in thousands of new subscribers. We’ve had hundreds of media hits in the two years since then, but as we’ve grown, each individual one has necessarily had a diminishing impact. Perhaps a Nomadic Matt interview will give a big new boost though!

How does your website work? How do you find these deals? Do you have team of people searching for deals? Is it an algorithm? One thing that surprises a lot of people is that we don’t have a bunch of computers running secret algorithms to find cheap flights. All of our fares are searched by hand. The secret sauce is hard work. Airfare changes by the hour, if not by the minute, and the best deals don’t tend to last very long, so finding out about them early is the key to booking them before they’re gone. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for cheap flights; we love doing it and being subscribers’ early detection radar.

Another way to think of it is like this: Almost everybody is capable of cooking dinner at home, but that doesn’t prevent the existence of the restaurant industry. People don’t always want to put in the time and effort required to find cheap flights, so we’re happy to do it for them.

That seems super time-consuming. How do you decide what and where to search? Do you just randomly plugging in places and dates, or is there more of a method to the madness? There’s a bit of proprietary knowledge that goes into the process, but 95% of it is just the sheer legwork, day after day, searching various routes and seeing what pops up. There’s more of a skill aspect to the process than I would’ve guessed four years ago, whether that’s remembering certain esoteric routes that periodically go on sale, or knowing that a fare war out of one city likely indicates fare drops in other similar cities. For the most part, though, it’s just a small team of incredibly talented and dedicated flight searchers scouring through fares all day every day, disregarding 99% of them and skimming off the juiciest 1% to send to subscribers.

What are some of the biggest trends in flights you are seeing right now? In the last year or two we’ve seen far cheaper flights than in the past to India (before: $1,000+, now: ~$600), Italy and the Netherlands (before: $900, now: ~$350), and Hawaii (before: $800, now $350 from the West Coast, $550 from further east).

Unfortunately (though perhaps not surprisingly), we’re seeing a continued drought of cheap flights to popular destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition, we’re seeing a continued unbundling of airfare: more low-cost carriers and “budget economy” fares offered by full-service carriers that don’t include checked bags, seat selection, or meals.

Do you use your own deals or are you more of a points/miles-in-business-class kind of guy? Sure do! I’m personally not a business-class type of guy. I’m still young enough to be fine in coach for as long and far as a plane can fly. Ask me again in 20 years — but in general I’m uncomfortable being doted on in the premium section of the plane. I’m a simple guy. I don’t need much.

Will we see more business-class deals? Don’t wanna overpromise and underdeliver. Stay tuned!

Do you plan to go global and feature more non-US deals? Yes! We have a team of flight searchers finding cheap fares departing not just from the US but also Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sub-Saharan Africa coming soon!).

You get all these flight deals, but tell me some of your favorite travel experiences. What’s one of your favorite recent travel memories? Last year my wife and I took a trip to Belarus to visit her family. One of the days we took a trip to a “park” that consisted of a big open field filled with old discarded and retired Cold War–era Soviet weapons. Think machine guns, missiles, and tanks.

Mostly people would walk around and pose for selfies in front of these massive weapons, but at one point I saw a small group of tourists from Asia hand a park operator some cash and then start to climb on top of a WWII-era tank. I thought they were just going to take photos, but a few seconds later the tank started lurching forward before hitting a cool 25 miles per hour, zipping around the park. These tourists were having the time of their effing lives, and it gave me so much joy just to watch them.

Your deal website is great of course, but what about just everyday flights people need to see Grandma. What advice do you have based on your experience learning how airline pricing works? The single best trick to getting cheap airfare is flexibility. Being flexible not just with your dates but also your locations. For example, that NYC-Milan nonstop round-trip deal for $130 I mentioned at the top. I wasn’t living in NYC; I was living in DC. But for that fare it was well worth the short $20 bus ride up. I spent the weekend with friends in NYC and saved myself $650 off what fares would’ve been from DC to Milan.

The way most people approach getting a flight is this: (1) pick where they want to go; (2) pick their dates; and (3) see what prices are available. By prioritizing the fare lowest, they often end up with expensive tickets.

Instead, if getting a cheap flight is your priority, flip the order: (1) see what prices are available to various places are around the world; (2) decide which of the cheap destinations appeal to you; and (3) select the dates you like that have the cheap fares available.

What’s the craziest deal you ever got? In addition to that $130 nonstop NYC-Milan deal, my wife and I recently scored $169 round-trip flights to Japan — flippin’ love mistake fares. And team members have gotten similarly good deals to Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.

Finally, what’s one non-airfare-related travel piece of advice you’d give someone? Read more magazine articles and listen to more smart, informative podcasts. I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts approach of knowing a bit about everything (as opposed to everything about just one subject), not only as a way to be a well-rounded person but also as a social lubricant. If you can hold a conversation about anything from architecture to the stock market to Asian budget airlines, you’re far more likely to meet interesting people and develop deeper relationships.

Scott founded Scott’s Cheap Flights in a Denver coffeeshop. Scott is the flight searcher-in-chief, spending 8-12 hours a day on Google Flights as well as oversee daily operations. If you’re looking for flight deals, it’s one of the best.

The post The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[theladyjstyle]

“Have you heard of Scott’s Cheap Flights? Should I use them?”

When friends and family far removed from the travel hacking/cheap flights space ask me about a website, I know its mainstream. While there are many good deal websites out there (The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Holiday Pirates are three of my favorites), Scott’s Cheap Flights seems to have broken through where others have not. Over 1 million people get this daily flight deals email. I’m a big fan of the website and their ability to often break airfare deals (I used one of their alerts to fly to South Africa). It turns out Scott is fan of my website too so we sat down for an interview where I get him to spill the secret behind his website:

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. How did you get into this? Scott: When I graduated college in 2009, I knew two things: (1) I wanted to travel the world and (2) I was never going to be wealthy. So if I wasn’t going to let #2 prevent #1, I knew I would have to figure out some creative ways to travel without spending my life savings. I began reading up on flight pricing economics, spending hours on various flight search engines, and learning various airfare patterns. Before long, I found an online community of fellow travel hackers and cheap-flight aficionados who enjoy not just travel but also the thrill of getting a great deal on flights.

Where did the idea of this website come from? Scott’s Cheap Flights has a weird origin story. In 2013, I got the best deal of my life: nonstop from NYC to Milan for $130 round-trip. Milan hadn’t even been on my radar as a place to visit, but for $130 round-trip, there’s no way I wouldn’t go. And it turned out to be amazing! I went skiing in the Alps, caught an AC Milan match, hiked Cinque Terre, hung out on Lake Como. It was divine.

When I got back, word spread among friends and coworkers about the deal I got, and dozens of them began asking me to let them know next time I found a fare like that so they could get in on it, too. So rather than try to remember to tell George and Esther and Aviva when a great deal popped up, I decided to start a simple little email list instead so I could alert everyone at once. Scott’s Cheap Flights was born.

For the first 18 months, though, it was just a little, fun hobby I did for my friends. It wasn’t until August 2015 that it had generated enough organic growth that it made sense to think about turning it into a business.

You’ve sort of blown up in the last year or so. What do you think have been the two biggest factors into your success? First off, thanks! We just hit one million subscribers — still hard for me to believe. The credit goes to two primary factors:

First, there’s an incredible team who runs Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s not just me; we’re up to 25 folks on the team now. We have a team of flight searchers finding great deals around the world, and also a team of amazing customer support folks. On an average day we get well over 700 emails in our inbox, and most people get a response within a few hours, if not a few minutes. I think this is a major reason why more than 50% of people who sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights found out about it via word of mouth.

Second, the startup itself had very serendipitous timing. Right around when Scott’s Cheap Flights became a business, international flight prices began to plummet, fueled by low oil prices and a bevy of new low-cost airlines like Norwegian and WOW jumping into the transatlantic market. Whereas in 2010 it was rare to see flights from the US to Europe under $900 round-trip, in 2015 (and through to today), it’s relatively common to see those same flights around $400 round-trip, if not less. We can’t force airlines to offer cheap flights, but we’ve been there to ride the wave these past few years and help subscribers pay half of what they used to to travel abroad.

Were there any media hits or high-profile features that really changed your trajectory? I remember hearing about you a few years ago, but now it seems everyone I know, even outside of travel, has heard of your newsletter. There was one in particular: a Business Insider article and I were taking in the summer of 2015. It helped take Scott’s Cheap Flights from a hobby to a full-fledged business by bringing in thousands of new subscribers. We’ve had hundreds of media hits in the two years since then, but as we’ve grown, each individual one has necessarily had a diminishing impact. Perhaps a Nomadic Matt interview will give a big new boost though!

How does your website work? How do you find these deals? Do you have team of people searching for deals? Is it an algorithm? One thing that surprises a lot of people is that we don’t have a bunch of computers running secret algorithms to find cheap flights. All of our fares are searched by hand. The secret sauce is hard work. Airfare changes by the hour, if not by the minute, and the best deals don’t tend to last very long, so finding out about them early is the key to booking them before they’re gone. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for cheap flights; we love doing it and being subscribers’ early detection radar.

Another way to think of it is like this: Almost everybody is capable of cooking dinner at home, but that doesn’t prevent the existence of the restaurant industry. People don’t always want to put in the time and effort required to find cheap flights, so we’re happy to do it for them.

That seems super time-consuming. How do you decide what and where to search? Do you just randomly plugging in places and dates, or is there more of a method to the madness? There’s a bit of proprietary knowledge that goes into the process, but 95% of it is just the sheer legwork, day after day, searching various routes and seeing what pops up. There’s more of a skill aspect to the process than I would’ve guessed four years ago, whether that’s remembering certain esoteric routes that periodically go on sale, or knowing that a fare war out of one city likely indicates fare drops in other similar cities. For the most part, though, it’s just a small team of incredibly talented and dedicated flight searchers scouring through fares all day every day, disregarding 99% of them and skimming off the juiciest 1% to send to subscribers.

What are some of the biggest trends in flights you are seeing right now? In the last year or two we’ve seen far cheaper flights than in the past to India (before: $1,000+, now: ~$600), Italy and the Netherlands (before: $900, now: ~$350), and Hawaii (before: $800, now $350 from the West Coast, $550 from further east).

Unfortunately (though perhaps not surprisingly), we’re seeing a continued drought of cheap flights to popular destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition, we’re seeing a continued unbundling of airfare: more low-cost carriers and “budget economy” fares offered by full-service carriers that don’t include checked bags, seat selection, or meals.

Do you use your own deals or are you more of a points/miles-in-business-class kind of guy? Sure do! I’m personally not a business-class type of guy. I’m still young enough to be fine in coach for as long and far as a plane can fly. Ask me again in 20 years — but in general I’m uncomfortable being doted on in the premium section of the plane. I’m a simple guy. I don’t need much.

Will we see more business-class deals? Don’t wanna overpromise and underdeliver. Stay tuned!

Do you plan to go global and feature more non-US deals? Yes! We have a team of flight searchers finding cheap fares departing not just from the US but also Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sub-Saharan Africa coming soon!).

You get all these flight deals, but tell me some of your favorite travel experiences. What’s one of your favorite recent travel memories? Last year my wife and I took a trip to Belarus to visit her family. One of the days we took a trip to a “park” that consisted of a big open field filled with old discarded and retired Cold War–era Soviet weapons. Think machine guns, missiles, and tanks.

Mostly people would walk around and pose for selfies in front of these massive weapons, but at one point I saw a small group of tourists from Asia hand a park operator some cash and then start to climb on top of a WWII-era tank. I thought they were just going to take photos, but a few seconds later the tank started lurching forward before hitting a cool 25 miles per hour, zipping around the park. These tourists were having the time of their effing lives, and it gave me so much joy just to watch them.

Your deal website is great of course, but what about just everyday flights people need to see Grandma. What advice do you have based on your experience learning how airline pricing works? The single best trick to getting cheap airfare is flexibility. Being flexible not just with your dates but also your locations. For example, that NYC-Milan nonstop round-trip deal for $130 I mentioned at the top. I wasn’t living in NYC; I was living in DC. But for that fare it was well worth the short $20 bus ride up. I spent the weekend with friends in NYC and saved myself $650 off what fares would’ve been from DC to Milan.

The way most people approach getting a flight is this: (1) pick where they want to go; (2) pick their dates; and (3) see what prices are available. By prioritizing the fare lowest, they often end up with expensive tickets.

Instead, if getting a cheap flight is your priority, flip the order: (1) see what prices are available to various places are around the world; (2) decide which of the cheap destinations appeal to you; and (3) select the dates you like that have the cheap fares available.

What’s the craziest deal you ever got? In addition to that $130 nonstop NYC-Milan deal, my wife and I recently scored $169 round-trip flights to Japan — flippin’ love mistake fares. And team members have gotten similarly good deals to Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.

Finally, what’s one non-airfare-related travel piece of advice you’d give someone? Read more magazine articles and listen to more smart, informative podcasts. I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts approach of knowing a bit about everything (as opposed to everything about just one subject), not only as a way to be a well-rounded person but also as a social lubricant. If you can hold a conversation about anything from architecture to the stock market to Asian budget airlines, you’re far more likely to meet interesting people and develop deeper relationships.

Scott founded Scott’s Cheap Flights in a Denver coffeeshop. Scott is the flight searcher-in-chief, spending 8-12 hours a day on Google Flights as well as oversee daily operations. If you’re looking for flight deals, it’s one of the best.

The post The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights http://ift.tt/2kmwvIQ

[tamboradventure]

The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights

“Have you heard of Scott’s Cheap Flights? Should I use them?”

When friends and family far removed from the travel hacking/cheap flights space ask me about a website, I know its mainstream. While there are many good deal websites out there (The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Holiday Pirates are three of my favorites), Scott’s Cheap Flights seems to have broken through where others have not. Over 1 million people get this daily flight deals email. I’m a big fan of the website and their ability to often break airfare deals (I used one of their alerts to fly to South Africa). It turns out Scott is fan of my website too so we sat down for an interview where I get him to spill the secret behind his website:

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. How did you get into this? Scott: When I graduated college in 2009, I knew two things: (1) I wanted to travel the world and (2) I was never going to be wealthy. So if I wasn’t going to let #2 prevent #1, I knew I would have to figure out some creative ways to travel without spending my life savings. I began reading up on flight pricing economics, spending hours on various flight search engines, and learning various airfare patterns. Before long, I found an online community of fellow travel hackers and cheap-flight aficionados who enjoy not just travel but also the thrill of getting a great deal on flights.

Where did the idea of this website come from? Scott’s Cheap Flights has a weird origin story. In 2013, I got the best deal of my life: nonstop from NYC to Milan for $130 round-trip. Milan hadn’t even been on my radar as a place to visit, but for $130 round-trip, there’s no way I wouldn’t go. And it turned out to be amazing! I went skiing in the Alps, caught an AC Milan match, hiked Cinque Terre, hung out on Lake Como. It was divine.

When I got back, word spread among friends and coworkers about the deal I got, and dozens of them began asking me to let them know next time I found a fare like that so they could get in on it, too. So rather than try to remember to tell George and Esther and Aviva when a great deal popped up, I decided to start a simple little email list instead so I could alert everyone at once. Scott’s Cheap Flights was born.

For the first 18 months, though, it was just a little, fun hobby I did for my friends. It wasn’t until August 2015 that it had generated enough organic growth that it made sense to think about turning it into a business.

You’ve sort of blown up in the last year or so. What do you think have been the two biggest factors into your success? First off, thanks! We just hit one million subscribers — still hard for me to believe. The credit goes to two primary factors:

First, there’s an incredible team who runs Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s not just me; we’re up to 25 folks on the team now. We have a team of flight searchers finding great deals around the world, and also a team of amazing customer support folks. On an average day we get well over 700 emails in our inbox, and most people get a response within a few hours, if not a few minutes. I think this is a major reason why more than 50% of people who sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights found out about it via word of mouth.

Second, the startup itself had very serendipitous timing. Right around when Scott’s Cheap Flights became a business, international flight prices began to plummet, fueled by low oil prices and a bevy of new low-cost airlines like Norwegian and WOW jumping into the transatlantic market. Whereas in 2010 it was rare to see flights from the US to Europe under $900 round-trip, in 2015 (and through to today), it’s relatively common to see those same flights around $400 round-trip, if not less. We can’t force airlines to offer cheap flights, but we’ve been there to ride the wave these past few years and help subscribers pay half of what they used to to travel abroad.

Were there any media hits or high-profile features that really changed your trajectory? I remember hearing about you a few years ago, but now it seems everyone I know, even outside of travel, has heard of your newsletter. There was one in particular: a Business Insider article and I were taking in the summer of 2015. It helped take Scott’s Cheap Flights from a hobby to a full-fledged business by bringing in thousands of new subscribers. We’ve had hundreds of media hits in the two years since then, but as we’ve grown, each individual one has necessarily had a diminishing impact. Perhaps a Nomadic Matt interview will give a big new boost though!

How does your website work? How do you find these deals? Do you have team of people searching for deals? Is it an algorithm? One thing that surprises a lot of people is that we don’t have a bunch of computers running secret algorithms to find cheap flights. All of our fares are searched by hand. The secret sauce is hard work. Airfare changes by the hour, if not by the minute, and the best deals don’t tend to last very long, so finding out about them early is the key to booking them before they’re gone. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for cheap flights; we love doing it and being subscribers’ early detection radar.

Another way to think of it is like this: Almost everybody is capable of cooking dinner at home, but that doesn’t prevent the existence of the restaurant industry. People don’t always want to put in the time and effort required to find cheap flights, so we’re happy to do it for them.

That seems super time-consuming. How do you decide what and where to search? Do you just randomly plugging in places and dates, or is there more of a method to the madness? There’s a bit of proprietary knowledge that goes into the process, but 95% of it is just the sheer legwork, day after day, searching various routes and seeing what pops up. There’s more of a skill aspect to the process than I would’ve guessed four years ago, whether that’s remembering certain esoteric routes that periodically go on sale, or knowing that a fare war out of one city likely indicates fare drops in other similar cities. For the most part, though, it’s just a small team of incredibly talented and dedicated flight searchers scouring through fares all day every day, disregarding 99% of them and skimming off the juiciest 1% to send to subscribers.

What are some of the biggest trends in flights you are seeing right now? In the last year or two we’ve seen far cheaper flights than in the past to India (before: $1,000+, now: ~$600), Italy and the Netherlands (before: $900, now: ~$350), and Hawaii (before: $800, now $350 from the West Coast, $550 from further east).

Unfortunately (though perhaps not surprisingly), we’re seeing a continued drought of cheap flights to popular destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition, we’re seeing a continued unbundling of airfare: more low-cost carriers and “budget economy” fares offered by full-service carriers that don’t include checked bags, seat selection, or meals.

Do you use your own deals or are you more of a points/miles-in-business-class kind of guy? Sure do! I’m personally not a business-class type of guy. I’m still young enough to be fine in coach for as long and far as a plane can fly. Ask me again in 20 years — but in general I’m uncomfortable being doted on in the premium section of the plane. I’m a simple guy. I don’t need much.

Will we see more business-class deals? Don’t wanna overpromise and underdeliver. Stay tuned!

Do you plan to go global and feature more non-US deals? Yes! We have a team of flight searchers finding cheap fares departing not just from the US but also Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sub-Saharan Africa coming soon!).

You get all these flight deals, but tell me some of your favorite travel experiences. What’s one of your favorite recent travel memories? Last year my wife and I took a trip to Belarus to visit her family. One of the days we took a trip to a “park” that consisted of a big open field filled with old discarded and retired Cold War–era Soviet weapons. Think machine guns, missiles, and tanks.

Mostly people would walk around and pose for selfies in front of these massive weapons, but at one point I saw a small group of tourists from Asia hand a park operator some cash and then start to climb on top of a WWII-era tank. I thought they were just going to take photos, but a few seconds later the tank started lurching forward before hitting a cool 25 miles per hour, zipping around the park. These tourists were having the time of their effing lives, and it gave me so much joy just to watch them.

Your deal website is great of course, but what about just everyday flights people need to see Grandma. What advice do you have based on your experience learning how airline pricing works? The single best trick to getting cheap airfare is flexibility. Being flexible not just with your dates but also your locations. For example, that NYC-Milan nonstop round-trip deal for $130 I mentioned at the top. I wasn’t living in NYC; I was living in DC. But for that fare it was well worth the short $20 bus ride up. I spent the weekend with friends in NYC and saved myself $650 off what fares would’ve been from DC to Milan.

The way most people approach getting a flight is this: (1) pick where they want to go; (2) pick their dates; and (3) see what prices are available. By prioritizing the fare lowest, they often end up with expensive tickets.

Instead, if getting a cheap flight is your priority, flip the order: (1) see what prices are available to various places are around the world; (2) decide which of the cheap destinations appeal to you; and (3) select the dates you like that have the cheap fares available.

What’s the craziest deal you ever got? In addition to that $130 nonstop NYC-Milan deal, my wife and I recently scored $169 round-trip flights to Japan — flippin’ love mistake fares. And team members have gotten similarly good deals to Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.

Finally, what’s one non-airfare-related travel piece of advice you’d give someone? Read more magazine articles and listen to more smart, informative podcasts. I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts approach of knowing a bit about everything (as opposed to everything about just one subject), not only as a way to be a well-rounded person but also as a social lubricant. If you can hold a conversation about anything from architecture to the stock market to Asian budget airlines, you’re far more likely to meet interesting people and develop deeper relationships.

Scott founded Scott’s Cheap Flights in a Denver coffeeshop. Scott is the flight searcher-in-chief, spending 8-12 hours a day on Google Flights as well as oversee daily operations. If you’re looking for flight deals, it’s one of the best.

The post The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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Create responsive forms and tables

Don’t miss the Bearded team at Generate New York on 27 and 28 April. Not only will they run a workshop on ‘responsive web design for non-unicorns’, founder Matt Griffin will also talk about what it means to be a web designer in 2017 and show additional footage that didn’t make it into his documentary, What Comes Next Is The Future.

Get your ticket this Thursday 9 March, in our 24-hour flash sale and save 50%!

Some years ago we started a small web agency called Bearded. In 2010 responsive web design completely changed how we work. Ethan Marcotte’s simple yet groundbreaking approach pointed the way towards a web that embraces the constantly expanding world of mobile devices, ensures content parity, and takes progressive enhancement to its next logical step.

Responsive web design directly responded to the problems many of us had already felt in web design: it had become too brittle, too precious and too pixel-specific. The web wants to be fluid, and it needed a fluid solution. And that’s what we got.

We’ve made a whole bunch of responsive sites since 201. And you know what? It’s still hard. Making the mental shift from a fixed-width world to a flexible one requires us to rethink many design patterns and user interface conventions.

Not surprisingly, the hardest parts of RWD are things that have always been kind of a pain: tables and forms. Let’s have a look at why they are even more fun in a responsive environment.

Tables

The first rule of tables? Don’t use tables! But seriously, let’s think about this for a second. I like to think of tables as kind of a pre-standards-conscious proto-HTML. Tables, by their nature, attempt to do visual layout with HTML. Their rows and columns and endless table data cells break the cardinal rule of the post-web standards project world: the separation of style and content.

So before you start adding table tags to your markup, stop and ask yourself: is this tabular data? Tabular data derives its meaning from the comparison of similar facets of an information set. In other words, if the value in the information comes from comparing data across columns and rows. If this is the case, you may need a table.

Things that are not tables

If the data has significant value unto itself, maybe it doesn’t need to be a table. Or at any rate, not always. Some other options to keep your content out of tables? Headings and paragraphs, or bulleted lists where each item begins with a bold inline heading.

The Bearded team will give a workshop on how to improve team collaboration on responsive design projects at Generate New York

Things that appear to be tables

A good example of something that may initially look like a table, but is not actually tabular data? A calendar! A calendar seems tabular because the columns share a common set of designations: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on. It is a convenience that we can identify all the Wednesdays at once. This is why people use calendars.

However, the data you put on calendars (say a bunch of Broadway musical performances) is not intrinsically tabular. Comparing one day’s shows to another’s does not necessarily improve users’ understanding of the performances on individual days. A calendar is one way to display date-organised data, but there are others too.

So what does a calendar look like on a small screen? We’re asking the wrong question. The right question is: what does a list of events look like on a small screen?

This complex select UI allows users quick access to prioritised options (left), with modal access to additional options (right)

This is how we arrived at marking up our days and events using <divs> and <articles> rather than tables on the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh website. It’s much easier (and more semantically appropriate) to make a bunch of articles and divs look like a table, than to make a table look like a list.

Things that must be tables

As much as I hate to admit it, some information is tabular. When designing the fundraising event registration process for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, we used tables for event selection. Quickly scanning and sorting this list by location and date in order to choose the particular event you want to register for seems like a good use case for tables. But how to make them responsive?

For our work on the Leukemia Lymphoma Society websites, we tried a number of approaches for form validation

Our investigations into responsive tables started with Chris Coyier’s excellent April 2011 responsive data tables roundup. For several projects in the past few years we’d consult this article and inevitably, Coyier’s first approach was the winner.

On wide screens, you get tables. On smaller screens, you get each entry with all of the header labels restated for context. You lose the comparative feature of tables on small screens, but you do get the essential information in an easily readable way. In other words, we treat the tabular layout as a progressive enhancement. This is our favourite UI pattern for responsive data tables, and it seems like our friends at Filament Group agree with us. 

Tablesaw

In August 2013 the Filaments released Tablesaw on GitHub, which includes this pattern as one of its three options. Tablesaw is the starting point for the LLS example, and I highly recommend using it as a jumping-off point for creating your own responsive data tables.

So if Tablesaw works so well, why wouldn’t you just use that all the time and forget about it? Though some major interface or display tables (like the event picker example, or maybe a SaaS pricing matrix) make sense as custom HTML, what about when a site content manager wants to toss a table onto a page using their CMS?

If site managers are entering tables in the CMS using a WYSIWYG editor, there are some issues to surmount. First of all, Tablesaw does its magic by looking at the <thead> and using what it finds there to label the information further down in the <td>s on smaller viewport widths. If the site manager isn’t entering <thead> information properly, things won’t work.

It’s also important to note that Tablesaw only acts on tables with the right classes applied to them. You now need to decide if all tables are Tablesaw tables, or if that’s an option in the CMS controlled by the site manager, then apply those rules in your CMS so it outputs the right markup.

Additionally, there are some display issues to consider. Repeating the column headers in every cell tends to add a fair bit of height to the table. It’s not a very efficient way to display the data. A non-tabular approach using headings, lists and paragraphs could be an easier read on mobile, depending on the content.

This is why my first approach to tables is still ‘don’t use tables’. Tablesaw should be your safety net, not your go-to tool. But believe me, you’ll be glad it’s there when you need it.

Next page: discover how to master user-friendly forms…

Forms

It’s likely tables have been a thorn in your side on projects before. But their persnickety nature is nothing compared to our other good high-maintenance HTML friend: forms.

Because forms are so browser and device-specific in terms of how they react to styling, they can be a real challenge to work with. To paraphrase Luke Wroblewski, forms drive one of the most essential aspects of the web: the ability to generate revenue. Yet filling out a form is the last thing anyone wants to do on a website. Thus, forms make for a fun set of design problems. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Layout

When it comes to laying out forms, there are a few recurring patterns we use. For consistently short pairs of inputs, we use a pattern that we call two-up. It’s pretty straightforward. 

No matter the size of the viewport, these inputs appear side-by-side. For inputs that need a little more space, but can be next to each other when they have enough room, we use the pattern two-up wider. There are rarely situations where three-up – three side-by-side inputs – always works. So by default, we have that work on the wider principle.

At Bearded, we use certain responsive layout patterns over and over again for form inputs

One special case for three-up is postal code, city and state. Because of the nature of these fields, custom unequal widths better serve their purpose. Their styling works on the same principals as before, but with a bit more customisation for the unequal widths we want to achieve with postal code, city and state combos.

You might have also noticed that we’re starting the cluster with the postal code field. Both Luke Wroblewski and Brad Frost have shared a great approach where the postal code comes first, allowing us to autofill state and city, which is much more efficient for users.

Validation

No matter how good our forms are, sometimes users will have a tough time filling them out. This is where good validation comes into play. For input validations, we like to consider two components: messages inside the input and messages outside the input.

Inside the input

The thing to consider with messages inside the input is space. You can’t, for instance, prompt a user with password requirements inside an input. But there is likely enough room for ‘invalid’ – and there is definitely enough room for a happy green checkmark when they get it right.

One of my favourite parts of Work & Co’s Virgin America responsive redesign is how it deals with form validation. It’s good at communicating a helpful validation message succinctly (e.g. ‘bad email’).

Virgin America’s website offers helpful and succinct form validation messages with great personality

With responsive and small screens, brevity is important. The most brief response possible? Icons! And we designers do love our icons. The only problem is that most icons aren’t universally understood. For success with a form field, that green checkmark is probably fine. 

But how should we indicate failure? A red ‘X’? But ‘X’ in an interface means close or collapse. The word ‘invalid’ is OK, but a whole lot longer than most icons. If the tone and personality allows it, a frowny face seems relatively clear. But many brands aren’t as playful as Virgin America. 

In our work at Bearded we’ve settled on an appropriation of the ‘do not enter’ sign. Its similarity to iOS’s ‘remove item’ icon isn’t ideal, but it’s the best solution we’ve come up with so far.

One thing about responsive design and progressive enhancement, though: we can implement an icon where space is at a premium, and expand to an inline validation message like ‘invalid’ or ‘bad email’ when we can afford the extra width.

Outside the input

When we need to display feedback to a user beyond what we can cram inside an input (or when elements like selects are involved), it’s time to start using messages outside the input.

In those circumstances, you can use both kinds of validation. For example, you can add an inline ‘invalid’ message, then below the input tell users the longer story. In this space, you even have the luxury of providing links to enable users to perform alternative actions (e.g. ‘Sorry this email address is already used with an account. Try signing in’).

Regardless of your approach, form interactions are a subtle art. I would encourage you to run usability testing on your prototypes as you go. Spending a week trying things out with five users can give you a wealth of information about how things are (or are not) working, before you go live.

Dates

One of our favourite input use cases? Date selection. Why? Because it’s so hard to do well! Let’s say users need to select a date to make an appointment in the near future. Some things to consider:

Users must be able to input the date in a format the database on the other side will be happy with

Users need to know which day of the week a date is as they consider their schedule

Sounds like a calendar picker is the way to go. But calendars on small viewport are the worst, right? Luckily pickadate.js does a good job of handling this problem. With a few UI customisations, your calendar picker is good to go.

That’s great for near-future date selection. But what about selections in the distant past – for instance, birth date? You’d have to click your way back decades using the previous month button. How odious!

Thankfully, for this sort of interaction day of the week is irrelevant, so the only real challenge is formatting. So what to do? You could try to explain to users what to do using hint text. Except that, well, no one reads hint text.

OK, so we can force formatting choices with three select inputs – one each for month, day and year. That day select input with its 31 options is no picnic – but it’s a dream compared to the year select going back to 1915.

Fear not, for natural date entry is a problem that’s been solved. Date.js allows users to enter dates however they want. Slashes, dots, or hyphens; abbreviated or spelled out. What’s more, it confirms the output with you using a handy validation message, and tells you day of the week, for kicks.

So … dates? Feels good man. But let’s roll back to selects for a second.

Selects

Even for form inputs, selects are kind of a bugbear. Styling those son of a guns consistently across browsers is nigh on impossible. Chris Coyier has put together a great write-up of the common pitfalls and limitations. At Bearded, our standard approach to selects is to match up their height to other inputs, but otherwise pretty much leave them alone.

It’s worth noting that the Filament Group has made a heroic attempt at cross-browser select styling, available on GitHub. However, although I love the idea of gaining styling control over these little troublemakers, my personal feeling is that this kind of approach is a bit on the brittle side.

Long selects

The worst situation for selects? When they get long! The fine folks at Harvest were nice enough to release some of their custom select approaches to help you with this, in the form of jQuery plugin Chosen. One of these approaches provides a searchable select that helps users reduce the number of options in front of them. And thanks to Nathaniel Flick, they’ve been responsivised.

Chosen has some super-fun features, but it can, like any select-replacement approach, lead you down some rabbit holes. Be careful not to make things more complicated than you have to.

Complex selects

This complex select UI allows users quick access to prioritised options (left), with modal access to additional options (right)

Recently we worked on a project for a healthcare provider in which users needed to select from complex groupings of information. There was a list of doctors, their names, the doctor’s area of specialisation, their office location, and the date they last saw the patient.

Complex information like this will not fit into a standard select element, so we tried something else. The solution we came up with is something we called the prioritised selector. In it, we show the user the first few options, prioritised by some specific criteria (most recently visited, for example), as well as the option to view more.

When a user selects the ‘view more’ option, we open a full-screen modal interface that lets the user select from the full list. Though it adds an extra click when a user needs to access doctors they haven’t seen in a while, this ultimately seemed like the best approach for the use cases we were accounting for.

Let’s face it: these things are messy

Tables and forms are complex by nature. No matter how much we work on them, they might never be easy. And as the environment we deploy them into grows ever more complex, so will the design problems they represent.

But isn’t that the fun of web design? As we solve the problems that are there to be solved (and thus the threat of boredom and complacency rears its ugly head), the web always seems ready to mix it up again, keeping us on our toes. And thank goodness for that.

Words: Matt Griffin, Patrick Fulton

Matt Griffin is a founder at Bearded. Patrick Fulton is a developer, also at Bearded. This article was originally published in issue 272 of net magazine.

See Bearded live in NYC on 27 and 28 April, when they will be giving their hands-on workshop Responsive Web Design for Non-Unicorns, helping teams learn how to work together better on complex RWD projects.

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