#Also man that link... surprised me XP

[ravenwitch45]

How would Blitzo and Loona react if his human s/o was a werewolf which was kept a secret? I don't know if werewolves would make sense into the HB lore or not.

https://www.britannica.com/art/werewolf

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/darkness-moon-chronicles-amelianite/a/werewolf-reproduction-condition#:~:text=For%20the%20females%20and%20male,(in%20Earth%20time%20scale).

Hmm well I feel any mythical creature can exist with what we know of HB but either I'm good. I love werewolves, have for a long time so I get the general idea. And also the.... Ahem Werewolf Reproduction article was an odd thing to read. Do you want this to be NSFW? If so please ask that XP But no biggie, let's get this started.

(BTW this is going off my own interpretation of Werewolves, so just be aware this might stray from the usual)

Blitzo and Loona finding out his human S/O is a secret werewolf

You may have done your best to hide it, cleaning up any fur you shed in the apartment, masking the fur care advice you gave to Loona as it being from a friend, and rushing out somewhere out of the way when the full moon came so neither saw you transform.

This is helped Blitz is usually busy on full moons with Stolas, so you don't really need to worry about him, and Loona minds her buisness usually, not questioning you speeding out every month

But if we know one thing, is that Blitz is one nosy little bitch.

With someone he's comfortable with showing affection for, he sees no boundries, even when you tell him some.

So when he hears Loona mention how you leave for a good while every full moon, he's suspicous, admittedly afraid you might be cheating on him while he's with Stolas.

So he schedules with the bird to do things a day early so he can be home during the full moon. Asks you about it, getting a very dodgey answer about seeing friends but that doesn't satisfy him.

When you eventually rush out, he grabs Loona (Who is very annoyed btw) and they tail you, expecting you to head to some other apartment or hotel but instead you end up in a near abandoned part of the city, only really inhabited by gangs and the like and Blitz get's less angry and more concerned for you.

Eventually you stop in an alley, with the two peeking from the end, seeing you shrug off your coat before you start breathing heavily and starting you yell almost unnaturually.

Blitz rushes towards you, yelling your name, making you turn to him in surprise, trying to shout for him to leave before you slam your hand on the ground as your nails turn to claws and fur covers your body, growing in size.

Loona just goes "Holy shit..." at the sight, you falling to your knees as you fully transform, growing a muzzle, wolf ears and a long bushy tail not unlike Loona's own. Just staying there breating heavily before going "Why did you follow me...?"weakly.

They both just say that they were concerned you were in trouble, neglecting to mention Blitz's original thought. The Imp asking you why you were hiding this from them. Just getting you thought he'd be disgusted, having met you as a human.

He denies the notion, honestly loving the new look which get's you blushing in surprise, Loona also saying you look pretty cool. And you fit into Hell more with this form then as a human anyway.

You admit that when you still lived on earth, people considered you a monster and hated you for your lycanthropy despite you able to control yourself. Transforming voluntary aside from Full Moons.

They call how you were treated the BS it is before Blitz hugs you, a bit flustered by how much bigger you are now but still, Loona putting a hand on your shoulder softly. As you cry a little, happy they both still love you.

After that your a bit more open with it, transforming at home, and eventually at the office after Blitz clears it with Millie and Moxxie. Your able to live and control your actions in both forms so it's just a matter of what your feeling at the moment.

Blitz asks about it, curious how it works and if it's tough for you. Honestly thinking of asking Stolas if he'd help cure you, but you admit that hating your werewolf side was more a taught behavior, and you've grown to like it since him and Loona have started welcoming it as part of you, which you appreciate greatly.

He'll also make jokes about it but not insenstive ones, mainly dirty ones "Hey wanna do it like dogs tonight Y/N~?" But he'll back off if they seriously annoy you or something.

Blitz loves to nuzzle into your fur, complimenting how soft it is, sometimes falling asleep on you like a pillow which you find adorable. You sometimes transforming when he's tired so he'll rest on you, you can wash the drool off in the morning.

As for Loona, she pratically will treat you like just another Hellhound, cause that's kinda what you are transformed and all. You two will vent to eachother how hard fur care is and how it get's everywhere, laughing together.

When she introduces you to Vortex in your wolf form, he goes "Yo is this your parent Loona?" Which gets her very flustered, not used to considering you that yet.

Overall they both love it, it's a part of you and just as lovable as the rest they feel, and they accept it with open arms.

Okay I enjoyed that! Again did my own spin on werewolves, less suffering, more just fun hijinks with two forms removed from people who look down on it. I like wholesome, so I do wholesome. Hope you enjoyed!

[eddsworld-the-masquerade]

a comeback, perhaps?

Yes, really. I’m not joking and I have three points:  1. I’m one inconsistent bitch with a brainrot;  2. I need my delusions and escapism cuz man do four blood-sucking dudes sound more in-reality than whatever the fuck is going on in the actual real world around me rn;  3. I forgot what was the third point. It’s all the more absurd given just in the summer of this year I was certain I wouldn’t come back to it any time soon. What can I say...life do be like that. A fun little story of its own, but I’ll leave it out of this post. For now, let me share with you what I’ve been planning, what’s staying and what’s changing and how I’ll be approaching this AU/blog this time around. 

So, to start off...

The 🅱️ has to go: 

While still set in Vampire the Masquerade (World of Darkness) universe, the renewed version of this crossover AU won’t have anything to do with Bloodlines video game. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bloodlines still very much, it’s the game with most of my replays and what got me into VtM in the first place. But also, it is restricting, trying to align everything with its small setting/scope and, let’s be honest, doesn’t make much of a sense. Eddsworld’s British, the hell are they all doing in America? XP 

The tag is now eddsworld vtm au, without the letter b. 

What else gets thrown out? 

Plot: Pretty much all of it. I came up with the biggest plot points and am currently rewriting the entire script. At its core it’s still “four dudes tolerate each other’s shenanigans to survive and later learn they kinda don’t feel like chopping each other’s heads off (friendship goals)” but the rest...out the window it goes. 

Setting: As I said earlier, it’s weird. So with the help of Fall of London V5 book and some other sources of info on London in VtM, I moved the cast back to where they belong. 

Characters and character writing: This one might surprise you, but I really, REALLY don’t like the way I did them back then. I can’t revisit old comics/the demo without cringing so hard my face breaks XD Fishmalk Edd gives me most pain if I’m being honest...

While I’m keeping the basest, the basiesest core (Edd being chaotic bastard Malkavian, Tom being mean and cynical Nosf, Matt being old-fashioned but also a rebel at heart Torrie, and Tord being far less infected with rabies compared to other modern Brujah) I’m changing lots of their characterization, backstories and relationships with each other as well. So don’t expect something you expected from their older versions.

The same goes for every other character, and I’m getting rid of some that don’t serve much purpose anymore.  

What’s in store? 

New script is in the process. And while it is slowly processing, I will be updating most pages on this blog: specifically “About” and “Characters”, with new relevant information and art. I have archived everything these pages contained, and I’ll put the link to the Google Drive folder up in the “About” page for anyone who wishes to look at the old stuff. I won’t be deleting any of the older posts on the blog though.

Update schedule?

Can’t promise one. Life’s hectic now as hectic can possibly get. I will update once there is an update, but please try to be considerate and don’t ask me “when”. I will most likely go on hiatuses from time to time but I will try to warn in advance if it’s going to take long. Overall, this passion project is just that, a passion project. Not my job. Not something that gives me anything but mental satisfaction. Not even a tip jar. I’m working alone, with occasional help from friends who are kind enough to proof read and brainstorm with me (Nina, Jazz, Engi, Hawa, long live you beautiful human beings). So all I’m asking is some compassion and understanding from all of you u_u If you can do it for me I’m sure it’ll take me longer to lose interest this time XD  Ask box stays closed for now, I’ll reopen it once I’ll update all the pages. 

That’s it for the moment! Stay tuned, if you’d like! 

[chaoticspacefam]

Strikhedonia - The pleasure of being able to say “to hell with it”. for an oc/pairing that you think would best suit the prompt - KH💙 (p.s. sorry for accidentally unfollowing you when trying to click on the 'ask' button 🤪)

(no worries and likewise I am SO SO SORRY that this took me two years to finish up I am horrified by that 😭🥺 I had a l o t of fun with this one even if it took me 5ever to transfer it from script to actual Prose so I hope it’s worth the wait and y’all enjoy!! <3) A/N:

This one is set just after > Kiss With A Fist <  so if you’re new and/or you don’t remember the kiss they’re arguing about, it’s in that oneshot! :D

Strikhedonia - noun. The pleasure of being able to say “to hell with it”. This one came from the “obscure word/definition” ask game a while back. Sadly far back enough that I do not have the link but ANYWAY its finally here yaaas!! The alternative title for this one is “How much Unresolved Sexual Tension can I fit into one Oneshot?” and the answer, I am happy to report, is “Yes”. XD

Wai Tarar = the official title/rank term for the Ahaszaai royals’ personal bodyguards, each Ahaszaai has a minimum of one, but more commonly between 2-3 ESPECIALLY for the current ruling Emperor(ess) and/or their heir(ess) ;)  It’s literally just High Sith for “Royal Protector” but it sounds so much more fancy in High Sith xP

Falling in love with your bodyguard is a little less scandalous when your father happens to think he Has Very Nice Genes, Actually, and This Could Work In Our Favour so "You know what, go ahead" XD in case anyone is wondering WHY Vastas doesn't care. Kissai's got Massassi blood in his line, and Grampy Ahaszaai thinks it'd be neat to get a little of that in the future grandkids 😉

No specific warnings for this one. Just two idiots very obviously in love, and - oh my god she’s done denying it? D’leah’s not playing hard to get anymore?? /lh XD You can also read on > AO3 < if you’d prefer the formatting there! :D

_______________________________________________________________

D'leah had been rather surprised to catch the eye of her Wai Tarar across the sea of other Sith Lords and Darths, decked out to their nines in glitz and glamour in the manner she would have well expected of the High Sith families that associated with her father. Of course, it was not a problem that he had come, as her principle protector it was almost certainly…encouraged that Kissai attend in order to stand guard for the Ahaszaai line during the festivities, he would not be the only Wai Tarar in the crowd. But the Sith heiress simply couldn't shake the realization that Kissai was not in his red armour, this time, but rather a suit of the more formal kind. It couldn't be….that he was here for her, surely? 

On an impulse, she caught his eye as she wove her way through the crowd and headed for the nearby balcony, the cool night breeze stirring her cheeks as she stepped out of the stuffy palace ballroom. Leaning against the balustrade, she exhaled softly and waited, listening to the lilting notes of the classical music that drifted towards her through the open balcony door. Before long, the sound of carefully measured footfalls reached the heiress' ears, and she calmly turned to face him. She had nothing to fear from this man, she knew that much.

"Dance with me, my Lord?" He inquired, eyes bright with hope as he held a hand out towards her. The heiress' gaze lingered on his outstretched palm for a fraction too long, before finally darting up to meet his, the tips of her jaw spurs trembling. He cleaned up remarkably well, for a commoner…

Somehow, the fact that he had waited until she had beckoned him outside, away from the prying eyes of every kriffing Sith aristocrat in the Empire, to ask for her hand at all only made it *worse* for her. Damn it, his sister's right. You've got it BAD, D'leah.

Besides, nobody would see them out here, so what harm would one dance do? If he cared half as much as she liked to pretend that he did, D'leah knew her father would never have let her leave the palace with her guard in tow - Emperor Ahaszaai had eyes everywhere, and someone watching out for her at all times.

So, the heiress slid her hand delicately into his, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards into a faint half smirk as she purred teasingly. "You have nice manners, for an Outskirter~"

The taller Pureblood scoffed softly as she stepped into his grasp, his fangs flashing in a grin. "Last I checked, my Lord, your father was quite enamoured with my manners."

D'leah raised a browstalk in surprise. "Enamoured", huh? He'd taken to using a lot of big words around her of late…he really was trying to impress her, she was sure of it.

"I can't imagine why he would think that." She smirked back at him, bringing her other hand to rest on his shoulder, though she did have to pivot onto her toes ever so slightly. He was so tall...

They fell into a steady and well-balanced set of steps in time with the tempo of the music from the ballroom, and Kissai guided her into a twirl, humming softly under his breath. "Hmm. You know what I think?" 

D'leah made a curious, prompting noise in the back of her throat, her breath almost catching when he effortlessly caught her out of the spin and dipped her down in time with the swell of the music. His hand was warm against the small of her back, even through the fabric of her evening gown, "you like it." the taller Pureblood breathed, a hint of a query to his tone still.

Kissai was right, she knew he was. But the Sith heiress wasn't quite ready to admit it just yet. She wanted him to work for it. She chuckled as nonchalantly as she could manage, allowing him to pull her upright and sweep her into the next set of steps. "Well, I think you’re a fool who is wholly overconfident in himself~" 

The taller Pureblood's fangs flashed in a grin, and without thinking about it, he retorted cheekily. "That makes two of us, then, doesn't it, my Lord?" 

The realisation dawned on his face as D'leah's arm snapped taut with the next step she took, the heiress' eyes fixing on him as she hissed sharply. 

"And you have grown over comfortable being so casual with me, Izreni." It should have been a warning, and on her first reflex D'leah had meant for it to be one, but when the words actually came out of her mouth they sounded far more like a returning quip than she had intended. The Wai Tarar scoffed, indignant, and raised a browstalk at her as he protested: "You kissed me. If you wished for me to leave you alone, my Lord, you've done a very poor job in telling me so."

“I did.” she nodded, squashing the urge to smirk as he blinked at her in utter surprise that she had admitted to it, like a gizka caught in the headlights. D’leah drew in another deep breath to keep her composure, shutting her eyes for a moment as she reminded him, her voice far more amused than scathing. “And if I saw fit I could kill you where you stand for speaking to me that way.” “I know.” the Wai Tarar answered in much the same tone. She wasn’t quite sure how, but somehow their back-and-forth had deviated from their standard back-and-forth banter to become simply exchanges of facts they were both well aware of already. The heiress was losing, and she knew it. She shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet as they twirled again, and as she returned to his hold, he smirked and asked. “Then why are you out here with me, and not in there with the other High-born brats, my Lord?” 

The Ahaszaai heiress opened her eyes to meet his gaze once more, willing her heart to stop skipping violently against her ribcage when she did. “They bore me.” she admitted at length, stepping closer to Kissai as the tempo of the music that floated out from the ballroom behind them began to slow. “You, on the other hand…” She felt his grip on her tighten, not by much, but enough that D’leah took note of it, and hummed wordlessly in response. It took a moment for the taller Sith’s brain to catch up with the rest of his senses, but when it did she watched the spurs against his jaw flex in anticipation. His voice grew husky as he muttered. “Darindz artsisasi ki, ctarzari…”

D’leah let out a sultry chuckle in retort. “Nu sarjia j’us kaisijas oi…”

His gaze flicked from hers, to the door behind them, reflexive panic written on his features clear as day. “What would your father say?” he floundered, as if forgetting he had just moments ago used an entirely contradictory argument when their dance had started. The Ahaszaai High Lady could no longer contain her own laughter, throwing her head back to cackle aloud and feeling the tips of his claws curl against her spine as she did so. “Do you believe he’d let his heiress wander off with any old vagabond who asked her for her arm? He knows exactly where I am.” D’leah raised a prompting browstalk at him. “If he didn’t like you, Izreni, he would not allow you anywhere near me.” much less anything else. And she knew that Kissai knew that just as well as she did. 

“I see…” the Wai Tarar’s jaw spurs trembled, but still he daren’t move, nor had his hands travelled any lower in spite of her offering him an invitation to do so on a silver platter. Kissai was waiting for her to come to him. His self control was admirable, and oh so attractive....

Deciding to indulge him for the second time, the heiress stretched up on her toes to brush her lips ever so gently against his as she cooed softly. “Or are you scared, Kissai~?” 

She felt, rather than heard, his breath hitch, and after a moment to compose himself he managed to get out the words, low enough that only D’leah would hear them. “Such thoughts are hardly proper in polite company, princess.”

“Ah, of course.” she grinned, a purr rumbling in her throat as she stepped out of his arms to take the taller Pureblood’s hand into hers instead. D’leah did not miss the low chuff of disappointment that he made as she moved away from him, but nonetheless released his grip on her obediently. Ever the gentleman, this one. As if to answer the unspoken question, the Ahaszaai heiress tugged on his hand, holding his gaze as she backed toward the balcony door to head back inside. “Come, let’s go inside. It’s getting cold out here.” To hell with it, doesn’t matter who sees us.

_______________________________________________________ High Sith translations: *canonically there is so little written about High Sith conlang that there aren't even proper contractions (like "I'm", "Don't" etc.) which is just...a huge oversight, to put it blankly. So I made my own contractions. At least it doesn’t sound like an unnecessarily and stupidly clunky language that way skhjslhdh

Darindz artsisasi ki, ctarzari…  - Don’t (from Dari “do” + nindz “not”) tease me, princess..

Nu sarjia j’us kaisijas oi…  - I thought you liked it...

That said, D’leah DOES on occasion not use contractions in Basic, particularly for things like “would not” (as in “would not allow you anywhere near me”) or “do not”. There’s no particular reason for this, she just decided it was a speech quirk of hers and keeps making me write it this way on occasion /lh 😜

[dearcharms]

LOL The write-up of Mozu's route happened so quickly because since you brought up Bustafellows again, I ended up diving straight into the game again. XD Was a good time. And yes, I replayed Shu's route first. Had to. He's the game's best boy and I could not resist. XD And then I went straight into Mozu's after that since I was on a roll. ;)

As for Variable Barricade, my favorite is Taiga. :D (full disclosure, I'm massively broke so I watch a narrated play through of most new otome titles [partly because I enjoy doing other things while listening] and this was no exception, though I wish it was because this was a GOOD game!) I LOVED the twist reveal with Taiga! and that gave him an instant leg up to be my favorite. I'd also argue that that reveal also made their getting together and eventual marriage the sweetest because it was very family oriented in that way as opposed to "yes, it's business, but we fell in love" deal.

It is kinda funny because I was real worried about this game, too! After watching a playthrough of "Cupid Parasite" and not vibing with it, I was kinda worried about this game with the similar premise of dating "trash husbands" if you will. But I was really surprised how charmed I was so quickly?

And board 3 of Taiga's route... yeah, that was BRUTAL. Like, I very much understood what was going in his mind and it was realistic, but very sad because you just wanted him to grow a pair and face that scary future he was afraid of. But I DID like that it pushed Hibari to chase him down! She had to grow up and fight, and I liked that character growth for her.

My second fave in the game was Nayuta, actually. He was a good puppy dog and I liked their dorky, awkward, innocent little romance, but let me tell you, I'm still not over that CG of him at her window! My heart has left the building.

Shion... I want to smack. And then Ichiya. (Inhales loudly.) I need this man to grow a spine. To the point I could not finish watching the play through of his route. BUT! To be fair, part of my irritation is purely personal due to family drama getting exposed in his route and I know I get fired up with any story that has that component. XP

Lastly, as for Noritsune, his route was good. The writing on that was very tight and clean. I liked that a lot. They were a very sweet couple with an adorable dynamic, each wanting to push each other to get better and grow, but doing it together. ( I haven't finished watching the playthrough of that game, so I can't rate the other routes. XD I've seen his and Benkei's routes before my mind decided it was no longer gonna focus on this game. XD I'll get back to it some day, maybe.)

And hey, no judgements on Shigahira. XD We all have those certain characters that hit us just right and suddenly we want to scream about them to anyone listening. LOL

(squints at this inbox) no way. DID I FORGET THIS FOR MONTHS. IM SO SORRY LOL

ALSO!!! if you have that mozu write up PLEASE LINK IT TO ME i'd love to read it. i remember telling you that i didn't really like how it turned out (not because of his personality, mozu is my fave LI of all time, i just didn't like the plot points)

and omg you just reminded me ab varibari LOL BUT I AGREE taiga and hibari are really good for each other!! shakes fist at taiga running away and hibari putting him on a pedestal. the way his route is written is kind of crazy tbh esp because aside from the "ha im setting you up with my grandkid!" shebang, the lack of communication KINDA HITS CLOSE TO HOME.... it feels a bit too real?! LOL hey... i thought this was a funny game... don't just spring this to me! LOL YES YES NAYUTA'S WINDOW CG IS THE BEST gawd i keep on looping that scene

maaan i get it!!! REALLY!!! the game was so ruined to me bcs of ichiya. honestly if i were you dont even bother watching the rest of ichiya's route. it's not the man himself that's the issue here imo, it's the writing... they ruined him in the worst of ways. like wdym ichiya is actually crying and the other dudes are like "tf get over it" and making fun of him while hibari is like "omg him suffering is so cute lol" ??????????? esp the ending of his route WTF IS THAT. THAT WAS SO CONVULTED. i dont even wanna talk about it here hoooly shit THAT WAS SO!!!! GRR!!!! MAKES ME MAD FOREVER!!!!!!! I HAVE BEEF WITH THE WRITERS!!!!! i refuse to perceive his route. ichiya i am sorry they treated you like this!!! you're not exactly my favorite but IM SO MAD FOR YOU!!!

about birushana if you do get around it hit me up!!! though now you know i'm not exactly the fastest replier out there... SORRY HAHA though i'm currently out of my otome phase atm?! my otome phases are usually 3 months max, and it happens once or twice a year :-P still down to talk about it anytime though! see how i got so enraged at the mention of ichiya's route! smh he is done so dirty!!!!!!!!!

[marginalgloss]

I turn 35 tomorrow. How better to celebrate that than with some notes on the handful of video games I have managed to finish over the last ten months. In no particular order:

Judgment (PS4)

Something I think about often is that there aren’t many games which are set in the real world. By this I man the world in which we live today. You can travel through ancient Egypt or take a trip through the stars in the far future, but it’s relatively rare to be shown a glimpse of something familiar. Hence the unexpected popularity of the new release of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which lets you fly over a virtual representation of your front porch, as well as the Grand Canyon, and so on.

I found something like the same appeal in Judgment, a game which took me longer than anything else listed here to finish — seven or eight months, on and off. Like the Yakuza games to which it is a cousin, it’s set in Kamurocho, a fictional district of a real-world Tokyo; unlike other open-world games, it renders a space of perhaps half a square mile in intense detail. I spent a long time in this game wandering around slowly in first-person view, looking at menus and in the windows of shops and restaurants. The attention to detail is unlike everything I have ever seen, from the style of an air conditioning unit to the range of Japanese whiskies on sale in a cosy backstreet bar. And this was a thing of value at a time when the thought of going anywhere else at all, let alone abroad, seemed like it was going to be very difficult for a very long time.

It’s a game of at least three discrete parts. One of them is a fairly cold-blooded police procedural/buddy cop story: you play an ex-lawyer turned private eye investigating a series of grisly murders that, inevitably, link back to your own murky past. In another part you run around the town getting into hilarious martial arts escapades, battering lowlifes with bicycles and street furniture. In another, you can while away your hours playing meticulous mini-games that include darts, baseball, poker, Mahjong and Shogi — and that’s before we even get to the video game arcades.

All these parts are really quite fun, and if you want to focus on one to the exclusion of the others, the game is totally fine with that. The sudden tonal shifts brought about by these crazy and abrupt shifts in format are, I think, essentially unique to video games. But the scope of Judgment is a thing all its own. As a crafted spectacle of escapist fiction it’s comprehensive, and in its own way utterly definitive.  

Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4)

I was amazed when I found out they were doing a complete remake of Mafia, a game I must have finished at least three or four times in the years after its release back in 2002. Games from this era don’t often receive the same treatment as something like Resident Evil, where players might be distracted by the controls and low-poly graphics of the original. 

A quality remake makes it easier for all kinds of reasons to appreciate what was going on there. (Not least because they have a lot of new games in the same series to sell.) But in the early 00s PC games like this one had started to get really big and ambitious, and had (mostly) fixed issues with controls; so there’s a hell of a lot more stuff going on in Mafia than in most games of that era. It was also a very hard game, with all kinds of eccentricities that most big titles don’t attempt today. Really I have no idea how this remake got made at all. 

But I was so fond of the original I had to play it. The obvious: it looks fantastic, and the orchestral soundtrack is warm and evocative. The story is basic, but for the era it seemed epic, and it’s still an entertaining spectacle. The original game got the balance of cinematic cutscenes, driving and action right the first time, even while Rockstar were still struggling to break out of the pastiche-led GTA III and Vice City. 

They have made it easier. You’re still reliant on a handful of medical boxes in each level for healing, but you get a small amount of regenerating health as well. You no longer have to struggle to keep your AI companions alive. Most of the cars are still heavy and sluggish, but I feel like they’re not quite as slow as they once were. They’ve changed some missions, and made some systems a little more comfortable — with sneaking and combat indicators and so on — but there aren’t any really significant additions.

The end result of all this is that it plays less like an awkward 3D game from 2002, and more like a standard third-person shooter from the PS3/360 era. Next to virtually any other game in a similar genre from today, it feels a bit lacking. There’s no skill tree, no XP, no levelling-up, no crafting, no side-missions, no unusual weapons or equipment, no alternative routes through the game. And often all of that stuff is tedious to the extreme in new titles, but here, you really feel the absence of anything noteworthy in the way of systems. 

My options might have been more limited in 2002 but back then the shooting and driving felt unique and fun enough that I could spend endless hours just romping around in Free Ride mode. Here, it felt flat by comparison; it felt not much different to Mafia III, which I couldn’t finish because of how baggy it felt and how poorly it played, in spite of it having one of the most interesting settings of any game in recent years. But games have come a long way in twenty years.    

Hypnospace Outlaw (Nintendo Switch)

If this game is basically a single joke worked until it almost snaps then it is worked extremely well. 

It seems to set itself up for an obvious riff on the way in which elements of the web which used to be considered obnoxious malware (intrusive popups and so on) have since become commonplace, and sometimes indispensable, parts of the online browsing experience. But it doesn’t really do that, and I think that’s because it’s a game which ends up becoming a little too fascinated by its own lore. 

The extra science fiction patina over everything is that technically this isn’t the internet but a sort of psychic metaverse delivered over via a mid-90s technology involving a direct-to-brain headset link. I don’t know that this adds very much to the game, since the early days of the internet were strange enough without actually threatening to melt the brains of its users. 

(This goes back to what I said about Judgment - I sometimes wonder if it feels easier to make a game within a complete fiction like this, rather than simply placing it in the context of the nascent internet as it really was. Because this way you don’t have to worry too much about authenticity or realism; this way the game can be as outlandish as it needs to be.) 

But, you know. It’s a fun conceit. A clever little world to romp around in for a while. 

Horace (Nintendo Switch)

I don’t know quite where to begin with describing this. One of the oddest, most idiosyncratic games I’ve played in recent years. 

As I understand it this platformer is basically the creation of two people, and took about six years to make. You start out thinking this is going to be a relatively straightforward retro run-and-jump game — and for a while, it is — but then the cutscenes start coming. And they keep coming. You do a lot of watching relative to playing in this game, but it’s forgivable because they are deeply, endearingly odd. 

It’s probably one of the most British games I’ve ever played in terms of the density and quality of its cultural references. And that goes for playing as well as watching; there’s a dream sequence which plays out like Space Harrier and driving sequences that play out like Outrun. There are references to everything from 2001 to the My Dinner with Abed episode of Community. And it never leans into any of it with a ‘remember that?’ knowing nod — it’s all just happening in the background, littered like so much cultural detritus. 

A lot of it feels like something that’s laser-targeted to appeal to a certain kind of gamer in their mid-40s. And, not being quite there myself, a lot of it passed me by. Horace is not especially interested in a mass appeal — it’s not interested in explaining itself, and it doesn’t care if you don’t like the sudden shifts in tone between heartfelt sincerity and straight-faced silliness. But as a work of singular creativity and ambition it’s simply a joyous riot. 

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)

I stopped playing this after perhaps twelve or fifteen hours. There is a lot to like about it; it still looks stunning on the PS4 Pro; Aloy is endearing; the world is beautiful to plod around. But other parts of it seem downright quaint. It isn’t really sure whether it should be a RPG or an action game. And I’m surprised I’ve never heard anyone else mention the game’s peculiar dedication to maintaining a shot/reverse shot style throughout dialogue sequences, which is never more than tedious and stagey.

The combat isn’t particularly fun. Once discovered most enemies simply become enraged and blunder towards you, in some way or another; your job is to evade them, ensnare them or otherwise trip them up, then either pummel them into submission or chip away at their armour till they become weak enough to fall. I know enemy AI hasn’t come on in leaps and bounds in recent years but it’s not enough to dress up your enemies as robot dinosaurs and then expect a player to feel impressed when they feel like the simplest kind of enrageable automata. Oh, and then you have to fight human enemies too, which feels like either an admission of failure or an insistence that a game of this scale couldn’t happen without including some level of human murder. 

I don’t have a great deal more to say about it. It’s interesting to me that Death Stranding, which was built on the same Decima engine, kept the frantic and haphazard combat style from Horizon, but went to great lengths to actively discourage players from getting into fights at all. (It also fixed the other big flaw in Horizon — the flat, inflexible traversal system — and turned that into the centrepiece of the game.) 

Disco Elysium (PS4)

In 2019 I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. I’m talking about the actual tabletop roleplaying game, not any kind of video game equivalent. For week after week a group of us from work got together and sort of figured it out, and eventually developed not one but two sprawling campaigns of the never-ending sort. We continued for a while throughout the 2020 lockdown, holding our sessions online via Roll20, but it was never quite the same. After a while, as our life circumstances changed further, it sort of just petered out.

I mention all this because Disco Elysium is quite clearly based around the concept of a computerised tabletop roleplaying game (aka CRPG). My experience of that genre is limited to the likes of Baldurs Gate, the first Pillars of Eternity and the old Fallout games, so I was expecting to have to contend with combat and inventory management. What I wasn’t expecting was to be confronted with the best novel I’ve read this year.

To clarify: I have not read many other novels this year, by my standards. But, declarations of relative quality aside, what I really mean is that this game is, clearly and self-consciously, a literary artefact above all. It is written in the style of one of those monolithic nineteenth century novels that cuts a tranche through a society, a whole world — you could show it to any novelist from at least the past hundred years and they would understand pretty well what is going on. It is also wordy in every sense of that term: there’s a lot of reading to do, and the text is prolix in the extreme. 

You could argue it’s less a game than a very large and fairly sophisticated piece of interactive fiction. The most game-like aspects of it are not especially interesting. It has some of the stats and the dice-rolling from table-top roleplaying games, but this doesn’t sit comfortably with the overtly literary style elsewhere. Health and morale points mostly become meaningless when you can instantly heal at any time and easily stockpile the equivalent of health potions. And late on in the game, when you find yourself frantically changing clothes in order to increase your chances of passing some tricky dice roll, the systems behind the game start to feel somewhat disposable. 

Disco Elysium is, I think, a game that is basically indifferent to its own status as a game. Nothing about it exists to complement its technological limitations, and nor is it especially interested in the type of unique possibilities that are only available in games. You couldn’t experience Quake or Civilisation or the latest FIFA in any other format; but a version of Disco Elysium could have existed on more or less any home computer in about the last thirty years. And, if we were to lose the elegant art and beautiful score, and add an incredibly capable human DM, it could certainly be played out as an old-fashioned tabletop game not a million miles from Dungeons and Dragons.

All of the above is one of the overriding thoughts I have about this game. But it doesn’t come close to explaining what it is that makes Disco Elysium great.

[shadlad24]

More Funny Little Moments #1: Season 1, Episodes 1-12

So, I decided to do this post after all. Halp. LOL Because I apparently LOVE giving myself a bunch of unnecessary work, I decided to choose two to three extra moments, per episode! SUPER halp! X’D Anyway, these are moments that didn’t make the cut for my FFLM series because: my sense of humor is a little weird, they were gonna be too much work (LOL/Siiigh), I like to highlight patterns, and I don’t like a lot of repetition. [Links to each FFLM along the bottom of the post. :)]

Let’s start with something I originally agreed with other fans on but have since changed my mind. A lot of people didn’t like this part of “Chariots of War” because it seems so ludicrous that Xena would forget her chakram anywhere. Well, let me tell you! This lady has left her weapons behind most episodes thus far. I didn’t note it every time here (and especially didn’t bother with her whip) because that’d really overrun the post buuuuut… You’ll see. XD

1.01 Sins of the Past

Xena’s shift being so much dirtier than the little boy’s clothes though she’s high up off the ground, and he lives in smoked-out rubble.

Yup. Xena forgot her sword (and later, her main saddlebag) at her mother’s tavern. Pft.

Sorry these were kinda lame, but I didn’t want to re-use any more of the original fifteen points I made about this episode... Ah well. Moving on! (heh)

1.02 Chariots of War

Xena loses her sword after the chariot crash, taking up and discarding Sphaerus’s but walking off without her own. (See her front and back and both of Argo’s sides.)

Gabrielle chewing Xena out, Xena being bummed about it, and Argo being surprised. X’D

1.03 Dreamworker

This got me good. Gabrielle does Xena’s war cry so well here that I really thought it was Xena for a few seconds. Realizing it was GabbyWabs only made me chuckle more because she apparently can’t do it when it really counts in “The Greater Good.”

Argo NOT being on Team Gabrielle. XD (Their feud is a little funny to me.)

1.04 Cradle of Hope

Xena tossing aside her sword after killing Nemos. Extras even dance and celebrate right on top of it! Wut thuh?

I decided to avoid mentioning Hope in the FFLM because Xena’s quote here is more ironic than comedic, and Gabrielle’s little face is just so sad, but I didn’t want to let it pass by entirely unremarked upon. At least GW gets to show off her oracle skills again? :’)

1.05 The Path Not Taken

So, Xena and Gabrielle walk into a bar… Heh. No, but really, they enter this tavern for the first time ever, yet the bartender not only knows what they want, he knows that they’re coming and has their drinks waiting for them too. All Xena has to do is knock on the counter and nod to get her fire-breath alcohol/oil, and Gabrielle barely has the word “cider” out of her mouth before the guy hands it to her. Xena, like me, is duly amazed.

Lucy, through Xena, making another timely anti-peanut statement. I just didn’t want to do the same thing twice back-to-back in the FFLM. X)

1.06 The Reckoning

Gabrielle thinking along the same lines Xena and I did about this poor excuse for a judge.

Me not being well-versed in ancient Greek heroes and picturing the fool who Draco killed so handily in the first episode. heh

1.07 The Titans

I’ll let Xena explain this one. …Mostly. I can’t believe Gabrielle not only sassed the Titans such that she unashamedly put Xena and Phyleus in danger too, but also kinda got this (admittedly awful) town demolished and didn’t lift a finger to actually help anyone in the temple. Tsk tsk. XP

So… Hyperion here can smash homes and businesses that were probably well-built and reinforced and all, but he can’t get his hand out of a stocks-cuff that was made in a single evening with scraps from those destroyed buildings. He also, inexplicably, has no use of his left hand or the power-breath that he used to knock Gabrielle over. Okie. XD

1.08 Prometheus

Is this really a thing? I was giggling quite a bit in disbelief that severed windpipes can heal. Like, perforated is one thing; completely bisected? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Gabrielle being incredulous upon learning that Xena has other friends, realizing what the warrior princess means, and then wondering if that could be her one day. 

   1.09 Death in Chains

Gabrielle enjoying watching Xena kill someone for the first time, then quickly realizing that fact. Whoops.

I found this moment really odd and then kind of hilarious. This poor dying old woman begs for water and goes ignored not only by the hospice workers, but also Talus and Gabrielle. Then Talus decides to be helpful. Gabrielle goes to the woman and lets her talk a lot (undoubtedly drying her mouth and throat even more), hears that Xena might be in danger, and then just… leaves. Talus goes with her, not having gotten water from the well after all. What a couple of jerks! XD

1.10 Hooves & Harlots

I really don’t know why Gabrielle kept making this face as Terreis died, but it tickled my funny bone too. So, I provided alternate subs to go with it. [Did you notice how she kind of cringes when Terreis tries to hold her hand and then just lets the Amazon flop once she’s died, flinging her hand aside like, “Ew, get it off me!”? What was that all about? X”) Hm… maybe she has an aversion to dying people, and that’s why she abandoned the old lady last episode?]

Gabrielle being a smart aleck, just like me, because Phantes’s complaint here is so ludicrous. But then you see the close-up of little hoofies in cuffs too, and, if you’re anything like me too, kinda just topple over laughing. The poor actual horse they did this to, though, man! What even?

Gosh, this episode was chockfull of hilarity, eh? Why did this happen? Gabby, take it away!

1.11 The Black Wolf

I laughed at this too. But now I wonder. Is Xerxes related to Caesar and/or connected to Rome or something? Because Xena does this twice around them too. In “When in Rome,” she jokes that the two guards lost playing tag with her, and in “A Good Day” she informs Pompey that if there were more guards hiding around their meeting space, then she would have had more helmets. heh Oh, Xenie. I think I know why Gabrielle’s turning out to be such a little punk ...or vice versa? Is Gabrielle actually a bit of a bad influence on Xena? XP

So, this fight just struck me as really odd. Xena passes her sword to Flora though she (Xena) needs to battle the big boss of the episode, and… actually, is totally right. The king throws a single wide-ass punch, waits while Xena kicks the guy behind her a few times, lets himself get kicked in the face a couple of times, and then comes at her with a little piece of chain, presumably from the restraints that were intended to keep Flora in place during her execution. Sir, you have a sword! A giant sword, right there on your hip! What are you doing? Then, when Xena kicks him a final time and sends him flying, his (supposed-to-be) metal armor is no match for the splintered wood of the axe she broke earlier. …Okie. XD XD XD   *gif below*

Xena once again leaves her chakram somewhere. …And I am now imagining this being part of Gabrielle’s maid duties: the poor kid has to go find Xena’s weapons each night and bring them back to her. I’m especially imaging the fluffball hilariously, adorably struggling to get the chakram out of things like this wall, as she did with Xena’s sword in the tree stump in “Dreamworker,” but more parallel to the floor. Cuuuute! XD

This plus this 

*pic + GIF below*:

1.12 Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

This scene too really made me wonder, though amused as well. Why is Gabrielle so surprised that the only city nearby, that they were headed to, is the one they find? Is she really being that loud? Is Xena goofing around with the bootlaces question? Why startle Gabrielle and then yank her into enemy territory screaming, when what you want is quiet? What’s with the trapdoor-spider soldiers? Xena’s pose throwing the chakram. XD Gabrielle mostly featherlight dance-y moves through the battlefield. XD XD XD Why is it that when Xena tells Gabrielle to stick right behind her, Gabrielle disappears? And what was with the bucket-sitting soldier? Gabrielle is like, “Oh; no, thank you!” when she sees him and turns tail. Then Xena ...follows her. “We’re goin’ this way! Now we’re goin’ that way!” But they still end up dead-ahead from where they burst out of the bushes. XD That was ridiculous and nonsensical, and I’m very confused but had lots of fun. heheheh  *gif below* [ETA: Darn! The original file was too big, so I had to remake the GIF and cut quite a few things out. :( Sorry]

Xena’s outta-nowhere crusade to emasculate Deiphobus coming full-circle. What was that all about?

Welp, I hope you had as much fun as I originally and then later did. Not so much in the middle with the collage-and-GIF-making and editing and redoing, but; y’know. XD Wouldn’t trade it for …Hm… Nevermind. LOL

If you missed any of the FFLMs, then please click on the corresponding number-links below. :D

#1  #2  #3  #4  #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12

[amaritage]

Those Who Wander (Repost)

Theme - Equals: I want to stand beside you, not behind you. Rating - G Warnings - None :D Notes - Reader’s gender is not defined as this story is designed to be applied to anyone.

-

The first thing someone usually said about you was that you knew how to handle yourself. Which was entirely true as you were the type of person who had wanted to not only to be able to protect yourself but also those too weak to fight for themselves. Due to this normally when you found yourself in some sort of trouble or had sought out the trouble yourself, you where left to deal with it on your own. You had, by now, become used to this and now found yourself in a strange and even interesting situation.

You had been riding your horse through the plains of Hyrule with no real destination in mind when a group of Moblins had rushed out of a small grove of trees straight at you. A single Moblin was annoying a group of them could get tedious and even dangerous under the right circumstances. They caused your horse to rear up in surprise and you jumped out of the saddle to deal with them before they could surround you. You were up to your elbows in Moblins when you heard the sound of a galloping horse.

Since you figured whoever it was would just take advantage of you distracting the Moblins to ride pass you ignored it. That is until the horse ran past you and the blond haired young man riding it took a swipe at one of the Moblins as he rode past. You could not help but stare in surprise as he reigned his horse and jumped out of the saddle fully intending to help you. You continued to stare at him until a Moblin tried to detach your head from your shoulders with the rusty blade it was carrying.

With a yell, you refocused on the ensuing battle and blocked the Moblins attack with your short sword while you dispatched it with your other sword. With the help of the stranger, the two of you were able to make quick work of the Moblins a task that would have taken three times as long on your own. As you cleaned your weapons, something that was like second nature to you now, you glanced around to make sure they were no more. Then you turned your focus on your new ally a smile on your face. “Thank you for the help!”

The young man seemed a bit more surprised then you had been by his sudden appearance probably because he had not realized that you could actually hold your own. Most people found out and about on the plains where traveling merchants, farmers, ranchers, the rare sheep herder, or people just trying to get from point A to B. While some of them could at least defend themselves, very few of them could stand against a group of Moblins. Still, as far as you were concerned, his help was more than welcome as he not only saved you time but helped keep you from being injured. Like you, he was wearing light armor though he seemed to favor a sword and shield as his weapons.

He recovered from his surprise quickly enough and returned your smile with one of his own that seemed so natural for him. “I am glad that I was able to help,” he told you and you nodded. Then he glanced at your horse, who had not wandered far once it realized the Moblins were ignoring it, which was as sturdy as the one he rode. Yet you noticed that while yours was burdened with various travel gear his was not. He then turned his attention back to you and asked, “Where are you headed, if you do not mind me asking?” He was not trying to be rude you noticed he was just genuinely curious.

You walked over to your horse to retrieve its reigns. “I do not mind you asking. Honestly, I do not know where I am going yet,” you answered him truthfully. You had nothing to hide. When you turned to him you noticed that his smile had been replaced with a troubled expression. “Why?” you asked him as you pet your horse on its nose. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah,” he started as he seemed to become a bit nervous as if he was unsure of what to say, “It's just that things have become… Dangerous.” To you it seemed dangerous was not quite the word he wanted to say yet he must not have had a better explanation for what he meant.

You blinked and had to wonder just what he had wanted to say and what he meant by dangerous. Hyrule had never been a safe country to travel through. One could be attacked by Moblins at any time and traveling by night could be downright deadly. Yet, now that you thought about it, you realized that the number of Moblins recently had increased. It was also rare for them to have rushed you like they had when you had not stepped foot into their territory. Also, the number of people you had seen traveling had decreased lately, but until now you really had not been paying all that much attention to it. What else could you have missed?

“Is there someplace in particular that I should perhaps avoid?” you asked him as you watched him retrieve his horse’s reigns as she had begun to wander off to graze. He leads her back over to you while he clearly thought over your question carefully. It seemed to you he was becoming a bit more guarded and if you had to guess it was not a natural thing for him to do. He seemed more of the type to be open and forthcoming. As you waited for his answer you continued to pet your horse’s nose.

“It would be best to avoid Castle Town,” he finally said after a few moments of silence as he looks downward. You could not help it when your eyes widened a bit. Castle Town was obviously the very heart of Hyrule with its vasts markets and various services it offered. It was commonplace for most travelers to stop at the city to take advantage of what it had to offer. Not one for crowds or narrow streets you actually preferred the much quieter and more open Kakariko Village where the villagers were friendlier to travelers than most in the city. You would have no qualms following his advice.

“Alright then,” you told him and he lifted his head to look at you. “I will make sure to avoid Castle Town if I happen to find myself in the area,” you said much to his immense relief. For someone, you had just met he seemed to be overly concerned for your safety. It was clear that he had a big heart if nothing else.

“Good,” he said as his smile made a reappearance. He then glanced around the field. “I am sorry to leave so soon but I have to go now,” he stated as he climbed up into the mare’s saddle.

“Wait!” you called before he could urge the mare onward and he looked at you. “What is your name?”

“Link and yours?”

“I’m _____.”

“It was nice to meet you, _____,” he told you a bright smile on his face. Then he urged his mare into a full gallop continuing in the direction he must have been going before he had come to your aid. You watched him go until you could no longer see him than continued on your way as well. Maybe if you were lucky you would run into him again sometime on your travels.

-

A/N - I really enjoy reading Reader x Character stories practically ones that feature Link as he is the type of character that can be written so many different ways depending on how the writer pictures him. However, most of the stories I have read always have him playing the Hero while the Reader is protected by him. I wanted a story where the Reader could stand by Link’s side and not be a burden for him (If anyone knows a story like this feel free to let me know!). So I wrote one XP. There will probably be more to this later, but for now, this is it.

[thebritishblabbermouth]

Jungkook Fanfiction- BTS Mafia AU

Heyya :))

@atricksterwithwings requested a beautiful BTS mafia au, and I loved writing this for her. I’ve split it into three parts. Scroll down for the first and for the link to the latter. 

A/N: I’ve mentioned Zhang Yixing in this fanfiction aside from the other BTS members. Its totally okay if you dont know who he is...although you probably do, he’s like such a popular sheep ;) Find information about him here . 

Tell me your thoughts on this fanfic, Id love to receive any sort of feedback on my work and I totally think that likes and reblogs are recognition too :) Have fun reading, I know I really enjoyed writing this :) Its like 12 pages long on a word doc...idek anymore xP Jungkook is gorgeous. :) 

Also...there is cursing in this, mention of the mafia from different nationalities and part two and three are rated M (its smutty xP) Reader discretion is advised if any of these things bother you. 

Lots of love :) <3 - Enjoy :)  

PART 2

PART 3 (final)

1.

Jeon Jungkook stood at the 77th floor of Euphoria, the headquarters to the largest crime syndicate east of the Pacific Ocean. The height was dizzying for most, but not for him.

Jungkook had no fears; or so was assumed.

The man himself, was built at an impressive 6 feet and constituted of raw muscle, protein and a rather cynical approach towards life. Outwardly, the leader of the most legal crime syndicate was cold, intimidating and the type to burn you to ashes with a glare from his heated eyes.

Inwardly, he was exactly the same.

He was well aware of the effect he had on his employees, men and women who knew exactly of his affiliation with the Japanese Yazuka and the Italian Camorra yet pined to work under Jeon, the sheer power of his company bringing everyone to their knees with respect.

Euphoria was a giant.

It had dealings with government run telemarketing firms, banks, real estate agencies, alongside finance and technology markets. An easy way to convert money earned through extortion, gambling and trafficking to its pure and pristine form. The corrupt politicians whose elections he had funded didn’t complain. No one cared where the money came from and no one dared to ask otherwise. The cause of the founder’s formidable aura wasn’t a secret. Everyone knew how he had been tortured by his father, abandoned on the streets by a mother who seemed to love Heroin more than her own son. The story had been plastered all over the internet, and Jungkook would never deny reading through its many exaggerated versions. They were entertaining and did well to remind himself about how important money and power were, without those weapons, he too would be sitting in a room, writing about a life that belonged to someone else.

Materialism was reality and wealth- it’s currency.

~~~~~~~~~~~

‘’Sir, your coffee…’’ you said, walking through the office doors, a skip in your stride. There was no knock. No hint of awkwardness, no aspect of fear in the way she spoke. If anything there was the undertone of coercion, almost coaxing the man to leave his billion dollar thoughts in the gutter and focus solely on the warm drink.

Your playful extortion had worked, he was focused. Just not on the coffee.

Three months ago, Euphoria had issued an internal opportunity- PA to Jeon Jungkook. The post received 3 applications from his 20,000 employees. Min Yoongi, his chief of finance and operations took to appointing the least qualified of the bunch, a woman- aged a mere 22 years. The pitch to his ever frightening boss had been simple. ‘’You’ve let down 30 men in the last 6 months. I am done handling my job as well your shit. Those Harvard lunatics are too busy tending to their stupid resumes and I don’t have time for the garbage they throw at me when you fire their sorry arses. You’re settling with the woman, she’s got sick parents to feed- she won’t give a damn for ego as long as you pay her on time.’’

Jungkook could only snarl at the curses, the audacity of the man to speak in the way he did. Anyone else and they’d be lying in a pool of their own blood within seconds of the first word spoken against him. But Min Yoongi couldn’t be touched and this was a fact.

Jeon Jungkook was putty in the hands of his elder brother.

Today, he sent thanks to his sibling, for his aggressive outburst and daunting approach. You were priceless and the best decision ever- professionally of course.

He gave no reply to your request, not even a glance spared in your direction as your placed the drink onto his desk. There were just a series of footsteps, the man walking over to his maple work table, ready to do as he was told.

You had no idea of the prerogatives you held, and at that point, neither did him. The slight tease in your voice had mellowed down completely- replaced with the air of innocence and obeisance. Jungkook groaned at the sight. 

‘’So I was thinking…it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow…and well…’’ you said... Shuffling your buckled black heels.

‘’You aren’t leaving early.’’

His abrupt command had no thought behind it. Other than the fact he couldn’t let you out of his sight for more than a few hours, often paging you unnecessarily just to make you think of him.

He doubted you ever would if he didn’t.

‘’I am not…my parents are flying in tomorrow…it’s a small get together at my place with a few colleagues. I figured since you didn’t have anything planned…you could join us?’’  

Your apprehensive feet clicked across the hardwood with anticipation, the weightlessness behind your request holding the air in a trance.

‘’You’re my personal assistant, not event manager. You do not handle my private affairs so don’t think for a second that I care about your stupid Christmas dinner or the family I saved from crumbling.’’

It wasn’t what he had intended to say. Rather, his mind had flourished a thought he needed to keep locked away. He wanted to tell you that he’d love to join your family, share potato salad and amusing anecdotes across the table... All the while pressing his hand into your thigh- a subtle promise of sinful satisfaction later that night. But he wouldn’t dare to voice his feelings. You didn’t need to get involved with his shit, the scars that graced his back or the life full of gluttony and gambles he had chosen to lead. It was compulsion, to remind you every second of every day that the apartment which he bestowed upon you just 3 floors below his office- was a gracious boon, a gift given to improve your petty life. You had to be reminded of your father and how had been released from Jail after almost overdosing on the crack he had envisioned to peddle. Jeon Jungkook had to remind you of how ugly your tear stained face looked as you begged on your knees- begged for him to save your family.

There was simply no other way.

If you weren’t reminded, you’d crawl your way into his heart and sit there- encasing it completely.

He was just a damned moth to your flame.

‘’I know…and I am trying…I am trying to repay you. Please. Come over. I won’t waste your time.’’ You said. The words articulated with a purpose, were laced with meaningful sorrow but you couldn’t help the small smile that graced your lips.

He hadn’t declined.

Jungkook noticed how your full lips turned upwards, noticed how you had bent your head downwards, trying to hide your amusement. He knew he hadn’t said no, he knew inside the pits of his soul that was going to attend. Your reaction publicised his private notions completely.

It wasn’t hard to hate you.

Rather, it was the easiest thing in the world. His life had been built upon layers of lies, fear, judgement and mistrust. You tore everything apart with one look. He despised the hold you had over him, envied your purity and tried his best to tarnish it with his own two hands. Even if it meant burning your entire persona to ashes. He was well aware of the impact his audacious remarks on your large heart, knew just how much you wished to throw your small fists at his chest in rebuttal- he could see it in your eyes. But he knew you’d never break.

‘’Get out. I don’t have time for you.’’

Fuck.

Why couldn’t he just say no?

Probably because the thought of abjuration had never once crossed his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~

11 pm saw him standing at your door, a bouquet of Lilly’s in his hand. The flowers had almost wilted away. What the hell was he doing? Why was he even here? There was no noise from behind the oakwood and why would there be?

Your offer had been for dinner, not a midnight snack.

He wasn’t going to come, prove you wrong and act smug about the ordeal. However he had shown up, at 7 pm, flowers fresh and suit prim. Ready to tap onto the door and shimmy himself into you…your apartment. But his confidence dropped as he heard your laughter, it was beautiful, natural and something he had never experienced before.

Jeon Jungkook had never made you laugh, but had every thought of hearing you scream.

It wouldn’t have mattered to him if you were any other woman, but the lack of knowledge frightened him, made him think there would be another man who would have the pleasure of witnessing both sounds.

Every. Single. Day.

His heart beat erratically, edging him into a state of worry and insanity. What the fuck was wrong with him? It would be a complete lie if he said he hadn’t just stood in front of your door for 3 hours, praying he didn’t hear sounds of men. The silence at 11 pm provided comfort and he walked away, only after dropping the Lilly’s inside the vase at your desk.

You had been pleasantly surprised the next day, and you knew exactly who they were from. The flowers- drained from their pretty colour -were beautiful nonetheless and you couldn’t help but run your hands over their soft petals.

They were perfect- just like him.

 ~~~~~~~~~~

2.

‘’See that guy over there…he’s checking you out hon.’’ Lisa, the American-Chinese intern, stirred her tea at an exceedingly sluggish pace. Her eyes were glued onto the 27 year old accountant who stood in the corner of the room, photocopying his work and humming to himself. She’d been a temporary employee at Euphoria Inc. for a bare 3 weeks but had done well to pair 4 couples with her self-praised matchmaking skills.

3 of said relationships had broken up within 24 hours. And thus, It was only natural that her impeccable track record attracted many an employee to her small cubicle, ready for her to set them up with dates and one night stands.

It seemed that you were her next target.

You sighed and turned to look at Jamie. He was tall, considerably well-built and had this collegiate boyish charm to his appeal, his long-slightly raven locks sat faultlessly over his glasses.

The image was so immaculate it made you uncomfortable.

I

However in your opinion, the man on the 77th floor was nothing short of perfection. His ruffled hair didn’t need to be waxed and placed as it were; it fell naturally and it made you want to run your hands through it. His rugged and damaged personality sheltered his otherwise kind heart and you saw right through the vile facade. You didn’t hope for him to change. Didn’t hope for him to suddenly become a goofy cheeky soul; the kind who would sit and chat with his workers.

You loved the man as he was. A little broken but a hell of a lot confident.

‘’Lisa…I don’t really want to date him…’’ You mumbled, eagerly emptying coffee beans into the machine.

She laughed at your reply and peeled her eyes away from the man. ‘’Who said anything about dating love? I just said he was checking you out.’’

It was hard not to grimace at her words but as crude as they were you had to smile politely. Offices were run on brutal honesty and cut throat depositions. There was no room for pleasantries or hospitality and any that appeared were a courteous formality. You hurried in your steps and brewed the concoction with ease. It was 8 am and he required his morning fix, even though he never actually asked you to prepare it. You had just finished placing his black on the tray and had turned around to deliver it when a firm body crashed into yours, spilling the brew all over your clothes and the floor. The heat burned through your blouse and scorched your skin, it had been hard to not curse at the pain but you dealt through it, eyes shut tight in response.

‘’Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!’’ said the voice. It was a man, sharply handsome, his cheekbones were protruding and you were sure his skin glowed. It didn’t take long to recognise him.

Kim Taehyung.

He had been a prospective fiancé, from a year ago.

From a time when you had no viable job, no future and the money the Kim Family offered in exchange for your hand in matrimony, had been a welcome surprise to your household. They were staunchly against same sex marriages and Park Jimin had been banned from their home with immediate effect. The marijuana had inflected your otherwise gentle father and he had agreed in seconds to the proposal, not once considering your opinion. You had declined Taehyung in private, and he had hugged you in thanks. The man was humble and docile in more ways than one, and his heart had been taken years ago- by none other, than his childhood piano teacher. There was no way Taehyung would’ve agreed.  

‘’Tae!’’ You screamed, surprised yet elated at the discovery.

‘’Hey there fiancé. Glad to know you remember me…but really, why do we always meet in the worst of situations.’’ He walked over to the counter as he spoke, grabbing up as many napkins as he could find. His gentle hands took to patting at your chest, handing you the tissues while doing so and it didn’t take long for to dry up your blouse.

‘’I thought you’d be more respectful than that. Letting your fiancé walk into my building and displaying yourself open for the man. Tch Tch…I guess a lowlife is always a low life no matter what her circumstance.’’ Jeon Jungkook stood against the door, leaning onto it with a posture that screamed indifference. But in all reality, Jungkook was seething.

The small Glock tucked into his suit was ready to fire and destroy Kim Taehyung and maybe even leave a flesh wound inside Jamie the accountant.

However in that minute, his primal desire had been to destroy you. How dare you hide the news of your engagement? How dare you wear that damned pastel pink blouse to work, and let another man touch you so unabashedly? How dare you smile when you saw your betrothed? He hated you for everything.

And he hated himself for falling for you.

‘’And who the hell is this Joker?’’ Taehyung turned around to look at Jeon, the tissues in his hand soiled from the spillage. He had been invited to the corporation by Min Yoongi, a dear friend who had promised him help with TaeMin Designs, an upcoming entrepreneurial, founded by his beautiful husband. It didn’t occur to him that he’d meet you, but he was pleased that he had.

You were wonderful.

If it hadn’t been for your confidence, he would have never proposed to Jimin, never left his awful family and never been as happy as he was now. He owed you his life and his prosperity.

‘’Tae…he’s my boss. I’ll talk to you later. Please. I’ll call you hmm?’’ you tried your best to nip the fight in the bud. Taehyung was cool headed but an agitated version of the man could lead to the emergence of fists and blood. You were lucky he understood your pleas, and he grunted towards Jungkook while exiting the room, the daggers leaving his eyes were filled with venom and anger.

‘’I’d like you to pay attention to your job. Not to every single man out there. Why don’t you just do as you’re told? I don’t care what you do and who you do it with when you’re out of here.’’ Jungkook straightened himself against the wall and pocketed his hands. He told himself he enjoyed watching your eyes brim, told himself that his anger was justified. But god knows how much he wanted to cradle you and whisper apologies until you were forced to believe them.

‘’Let’s keep your sluttish acts away from the office hmm?’’

It was a harsh blow, enough to cause the first tear to slip from their confines. Why did he have to behave like that?

Why did you have to love him regardless of the way he did? 

~~~~~~~

3.  

‘’How long is it going to take you leave? It’s pretty simple. Take the bag to KM Constructions, drop it there and leave. What’s so hard? '' Jungkook’s anger had sky rocketed ever since the incidence in the cafeteria and he didn’t even understand why he was asking you to be a bag drop. Never once in a career spanning 6 years had he ever made a woman a part of a deal. But it seemed that you were an exception with everything.

‘’I am just leaving Sir.’’ You said, buttoning up the grey pea coat.

He noticed how inappropriately dressed you were, how feminine and vulnerable. He knew how lecherous men could be, knew it wasn’t safe. But annoyance clouded his senses and he threw the thoughts away. It was simple enough, no interactions. You’d be fine.

If only he knew.

Part 2

Part 3 

[dyinglight2games-blog]

Dying Light 2 PC Game Download

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[cyberramblings]

3DS: Time for Playtime

It's been fun getting a Wii U lately, but I wanted to look back on all the use I've gotten out of my 3DS in the last year by running down my most played games.

Super Smash Bros. - 154 Hours

This is still my most played game after recently getting back into the 3DS, despite playing zero Smash in that time. I played a lot of this game when it came out and then leading up to the release of Ultimate. This game was a godsend for someone like me who didn't own a Wii U but wanted to stay involved with the series.

Pokemon X - 56 Hours

Again, this is from when I first got my 3DS. I played this one over a whole summer vacation off and on! I still can't decide how I feel about XP Share.

Pokemon Ultra Moon - 51 Hours

Okay, this one is this high because after beating the game, my girlfriend tried to catch all the Pokemon and collect all the totem stickers. I really enjoyed this one, but the Ultra Necrozma fight kicked my butt.

Link Between Worlds - 49 Hours

I actually own the special edition Triforce 3DS which came bundled with this game! As my first game on the system, it is no surprise to see it so high, even though I got stuck on the final boss. I consider this to be one of the best Zelda games.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - 41 Hours

This one makes a lot of sense. When I played all that Smash Bros before the release of Ultimate, this was the one other game I played during that time, to the point of actually beating it and a good chunk of the daily puzzles! I even missed a college lecture because I was so wrapped up in the climax.

Pokemon Alpha Sapphire - 27 Hours

Finally, a game I played recently with no shenanigans or excuses. This was an interesting "book ends" with Omega Ruby, as OR was the first Pokemon game I played in my recent endeavor to play them all, while AS was towards the end. Backwards of their names, huh?

Pokemon Omega Ruby - 26 Hours

Fitting that this game should be so close to Alpha Sapphire. I would think that one of these two games would've been left running overnight or somehow had the playtimes differ more, but it somehow makes me hapy to see them side by side. I appreciated Wally's Theme much more the second time through.

Pokemon Y - 23 Hours

Considerably less than the time I spent in X all those years ago. This was one of the last Pokemon games I played in my recent playing of all the games, since I had already technically beaten X. It was a lot of fun to revisit though, and I love Sylveon!

Ocarina of Time 3D - 21 Hours

This one also makes sense, since I owned it during my original teenage years of owning the 3DS. I can't believe I paid 40 bucks for this just to get stuck on the Forest Temple for years! OoT doesn't resonate with me the same way as everyone else seemingly.

Pokemon Red - 19 Hours

Again, this makes sense. I think this was the third game of my recent Pokemon marathon, right after Alpha Sapphire and Ultra Moon. It was a short run thanks to an overlevelled Venasaur and the three legendary birds. I enjoyed crushing this game.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy - 16 Hours

This is the game I just finished. I love the series and it was nice to finish it out. I think the ending was silly but the presentation value was nice to see.

Pushmo - 14 Hours

This was my go-to breakfast game for weeks, but phone-scrolling has replaced it as my morning activity while eating.

Shovel Knight - 14 Hours

This used to be the premiere downloadable title on 3DS. I think this game still holds up, but it has lost the sheer novelty of being a Kickstarter retro success over time.

Shin Megami Tensei IV - 13 Hours

I liked Persona 4 so I thought I would like this. It was too difficult for me back then, but now I don't have the patience. This was one of the games I actually paid 15 bucks to download back in highschool.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - 13 Hours

The first of my several attempts to get into Monster Hunter. I bought, played, quit, and sold this game all back in high school. I would later go on to buy, try, and sell Monster Hunter World as well. It just isn't for me.

Metroid: Samus Returns - 12 Hours

I tried and hated this game on PC emulator, but it has a lot more charm on the actual system. I still generally dislike the melee mechanic but I generally enjoyed this game. It helps that I even beat the original first! Hopefully Dread fixes the few things wrong with this game.

Kid Icarus: Uprising - 12 Hours

I don't know if I ever fell in love with the "unique" control scheme of this game, but I definitely fell in love with all of the characters! This was a great one to play with my girlfriend watching. It's also great to have more of a context for Pit, Palutena, and Dark Pit in Smash now!

Pokemon Sun - 11 Hours

I haven't beaten it yet, whoops.

Rhyhm Heaven Megamix - 11 Hours

One of the last purchases I made before the Switch came out and killed my 3DS playing nearly permanently. I paid 30 bucks! As much as I love this game, I don't know if it was worth that.

Super Mario 3D Land - 10 Hours

A rare game that I played before AND after the rift of me playing 3DS. It's...fine. Definitely Mario.

Picross 3D: Round 2 - 9 Hours

I have always loved Picross and this is no exception. I really should dive back in sometime!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 8 Hours

I just can't get into it, I've tried but I can't.

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright - 8 Hours

This was actually a birthday gift! I was very excited for the concept but hugely turned off by the time travel and setting. I need to give it another shake, perhaps after replaying some of the Ace Attorney games.

Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D - 7 Hours

One of my few highschool digital purchases. I played a lot of Mercenaries in 6 and 5 (which this is based on, seemingly). It's...fine. But I should have just replayed Revelations on 3DS instead.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy - 6 Hours

It was 7 bucks at GameStop used, so I guess I almost got a 1:1 ratio of hours to dollars. I would've enjoyed this game more now, after playing FF7 Remake.

Pokemon Picross - 6 Hours

Free AND Picross? Yes, but also grindy and scummy. I wish you could just buy a physical copy of this game with everything unlocked.

Paper Mario Sticker Star - 5 Hours

Ten dollars on clearance was too much for this game. Maybe I will try it again sometime knowing ahead of time that it is a joke of a video game. I spit on this game's grave.

Mario Tennis Open - 5 Hours

A lot of the games I acquired within the last year have much lower playtimes, so I was not expecting to see this game this high. I guess I played a few tournaments. I feel like I quit because Waluigi cheated, then played just the tutorial of Mario Golf before quitting that too.

Elite Beat Agents - 4.5 Hours

This game rules.

Tetris Axis - 4.5 Hours

This game drools.

Kirby Planet Robobot - 4.5 Hours

Cute game, but I only play it with my girlfriend.

New Super Mario Brothers 2 - 4.5 Hours

I am surprised it is this low considering I got stuck on the final boss in single player and beat around 2 worlds in coop.

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - 4 Hours

I need to play more!

Super Smash Brothers Demo - 4 Hours

Hell yeah this was such an exciting time to be a Nintendo fan! Trying to get ahold of this demo was like getting a Willy Wonk golden ticket. I was so excited to play as Mega Man, Villager, Mario, Link, and Pikachu even if just on Battlefield.

Kingdom Hearts 3D - 3.5 Hours

A surprisingly competent action RPG. This game kind of reeks as part of the PS4 collection, but it really shines on the original version.

Layton's Mystery Journey - 3 Hours

I like the idea of playing as Layton's daughter, but I don't like having a talking dog and an insufferable simp as sidekicks. I hope the next game just returns to the original crew.

Mario Kart 7 - 3 Hours

It's...Mario Kart. Not a ton more to say.

Mario Party Island Tour - 3 Hours

I have trouble keeping the different 3DS Mario Party games separate in my mind, but anything that's not Top 100 is fun with friends. Top 100 only has one, miserable board! Why???

Ultimate NES Remix - 3 Hours

A great game for pick up and play, but not for long sessions.

Art of Balance Touch - 3 Hours

Recently got into this. Tons of fun until the difficulty gets a little too high!

Warioware Gold - 2.5 Hours

I completely beat this game and it is still this low. Fun, but hard to recommend at any price but free.

Luigi's Mansion 2 - 2.5 Hours

Cute game....but feels hard to play for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Dead or Alive Dimensions - 2.5 Hours

Again, all I did was beat the game and then quit. Surprsingly competent for a 3DS fighting game, but too barebones with content compared to Smash.

Boxboy - 2.5 Hours

I feel like I played this game way more. It's cute and fun, but now I have a hard time picking up the puzzles where I left them.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Demo - 2.5 Hours

This tricked me into buying the game! Dangit

Mario Party Star Rush - 2.5 Hours

Oh god, I can't keep this one and Island Tour straight.

Pokemon Shuffle - 2 Hours

I feel like I played this one way more, but that is probably because the phone version also exists.

VVVVVV - 2 Hours

Beat the whole game! Not a bad way to spend time, but this makes it worth only 2 dollars according to my 1:1 ratio of dollars to hours.

Final Fantasy Explorers - 2 Hours

I like some things about this game but I just cannot play anything related to Monster Hunter.

Tri Force Heroes - 2 Hours

This suffers from "Overcooked syndrome" where you have to rely on your teammates so much that it becomes a total chore.

Theatrythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call - 1.5 Hours

I played that much just to unlocked multiplayer.

Super Street Fighter IV - 1.5 Hours

I think I paid for this game full price back in high school and then barely played it. I've always tried to delude myself into thinking that I can play real fighting games that are not Smash.

Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX - 1.5 Hours

Again, I feel like I played this game for days and days. I suppose rhythm games feel like time slows down when you play them. Thumbs up for including Puyo Puyo! I am surprised this game released in the West at all.

Rune Factory 4 - 1.5 Hours

I got this far as a favor to a friend. I just can't play any game where there is an optimal way to act that sounds exhausting but possible to me. I know I could easily talk to all the NPC's every day... but I do not want to.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - 1.5 Hours

This was exclusively played with friends. Not a fan.

Pokemon Rumble World - 1.5 Hours

Free games. Novelty as a kid. No time for them as an adult. Nothing about this game is appealing beyond the price point.

Attack of the Friday Monster - 1.5 Hours

My biggest memory of this game is playing it on the schoolbus when a little kid asked if he could play/watch and I told him I was playing a boring game that he wouldn't like. As cute as this game is, yes, it is boring and not very fun.

Sonic Generations - 1.5 Hours

I somewhat enjoyed this game until the Shadow boss fight. Can't figure it out. Not fun.

Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn - 1.5 Hours

Cute, played it with girlfriend.

Super Mario Land 2 - 1 Hour

I think I got this with Club Nintendo points?

Rage of the Gladiator - 1 Hour

Medieval offbrand Punch-Out.

Mario Party: The Top 100 - 1 Hour

ONE BOARD?!? At least it has the storybook minifame from gamecube Mario Party.

Trace Memory - 1 Hour

Bought used from GameStop. I was told it was a hidden gem, but I didn't have the patience.

Mario and Sonic Rio 2016 - 1 Hour

Cute game to play with friends but some of the minigames suck. Thumbs up for less common Sonic characters.

Azure Striker Gunvolt - 1 Hour

Not bad, just helped me realize that I don't really like Mega Man style games all that much. The genre of "Mega Man" just feels like a Metroid with no exploration or meaningful progression.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - 1 Hour

I tried to get into this franchise but it is so booooorring and slow and unappealing to me.

I've been rounding to the half hour, so the next game is Zelda Oracle of Season at 44 minutes, which would round down to half an hour. I will take that as my cue to finish here.

In conclusion: games I owned longer tended to be played longer. Shocker. This was all just an excuse to ramble about Nintendo games anyways.

[cutegirlmayra]

How about a game SonAmy plot where she feels (or Sonic gets annoyed) that he doesn't want her around. And although she doesn't avoid him, she stops looking to spend time with him and only shows up to battles and meet ups with general politeness and giving him some space. All of this starts to drive Sonic nuts on the inside realizing now that he misses and wants her hugs and affection

I… this is my guilty pleasure. Because deep inside me, I know how Sonic would react, and it would mean so much for Sonic Games to show this kind of relationship between the two. It doesn’t have to be super intense or anything, but just to show that Sonic really isn’t as annoyed with her as everyone supposes his actions to mean.

I love, love, LOVE these plots. I daydream about them CONSTANTLY. They are my go-to for anything Sonamy when I want to just space-out and smile~ (Some see that as creepy, but if they only knew the wonderful scene before me, they would leave me in peace without judgment. A.K.A My friends make fun of me for this T-T) But it truly does reveal a deeper friendship between the two, and opens up a new dimension to Amy too, showing she has awareness that Sonic gets out-winded by her over-energetic nature sometimes. It also shows how much she wants him to be comfortable and happy, more so than over her own happiness, which is only shown briefly in some games.

Okay, enough ranting about this AMAZING Anon request! I’ve been super pumped to write it for a long time now. And now, I CAN! ://DDDDDc

((x)  Preview Images were used with previous permission by artist, please support her as well!- If you have art or have friends with artistic talents that would be fine with me using their art as preview images with appropriate credit links, please let me know!)

World: Sonic Forces (as far as we know about it. lol)

Writing Style: A mixture of Modern!Sonic with Japanese!Sonic portrayals. So mostly canon writing, dipping slightly into AU standards, respectfully. (Towards the end is the AU icing on the cake. If I didn’t throw it in there, I don’t think you guys would be satisfied xP Everyone likes a happy ending.)

Couple: Sonamy (SonicxAmy)

Prompt:

As the Rookie cheered, Amy happily jumped in the air with her fist skyward, glad that the new recruit had learned something from her.

“That was great-!” She began to approach him before a familiar sound-effect of spinning crossed her ears and she wearily bent her own, looking out to the right, behind them.

She suddenly sunk down, backing away, and seemed uncomfortably timid.

She gave a sorrowful look of shame to the Rookie, before dipping her head and quickly sneaking off away from him.

Sonic’s blue, glowing ball of light bounced happily down the wavy road that resembled tall hilltops from their slanted position.

He would appear and disappear in them, before uncurling quickly to land on his feet and do one last roll till cheerily waving to the new recruit.

“Hey, Partner! Thought I’d find you-…”

“….Here.”

His thoughts trailed off as he turned his head to see his friend retreating quickly with hurried steps, clumping along the ground until finally…

Out of sight.

He only watched her a moment, before looking to the recruit, and giving him a shrug. “Guess she didn’t have the time.” He fibbed, showing full well within his guilty slant on his eyebrows that he was hiding something.

The recruit had heard rumors about Amy’s over-exuberance when it came to her open affections for Sonic, but…

This isn’t what he expected.

“Eh-heh.” Sonic motioned his eyes to the corner of his vision, suddenly turning awkward by Amy’s clear avoidance of him. Nervously, hoping to get off the subject, Sonic leaned to one leg and tapped the other, scratching his nose to demonstrate his own avoidance on the subject. “I’ll… have to deal with that later…” he admitted, but nothing more was said as he shook himself out of his previous stance and encouraged the young recruit on.

“Come on! I heard Amy was leading you to some cool factory operation!” he raced ahead after a pat on the back, but the recruit had grown fond of Amy…

He turned to glance back at where she had run off too, and looking back to see the still soldier, Sonic slowed down his pace.

Coming to a full stop, he looked once again worried and guilty, before gazing to his shiny but scrapped up shoe a moment.

“…Hey, don’t sweat it alright?”

He suddenly jolted and turned to Sonic.

With a look of absolute surrender, Sonic closed his eyes and leaned his head up from looking down at his extended and raised foot.

It flopped with a pat to the dusty ground…

“…Even friends have their fallouts… sometimes.” he gently opened his eyes, and a profound tenderness of sorrow appeared in his eyes for a moment. “I would talk to her myself, but she’s been avoiding me lately… don’t tell anyone about this… But if you could look after her until then…” He suddenly looked away, as if asking for help like this was uncomfortably humbling for him.

“…Could you do that for me? At least… be there for her. Until I can get the time to do it myself.”

What exactly was he asking? Look out for Amy till he could talk to her personally?

Either way, the Rookie could tell this was something he couldn’t ask easily, so he nodded, smiling gently in a promise that he would do his best to figure out what he could do for Sonic.

And what was possible for Amy…

Sonic barely looked behind his shoulder, but just nodded with a smile. “Thanks…” He then looked ahead in silence for a moment… it was almost painful to watch.

The fastest man in the world… stopping to hold himself back from running after a clear conundrum that was aching at his heart.

But without another pause to wait upon, Sonic spoke up again, his head only slightly rising.

“Let’s get going… Partner.”

He then turned around with an exquisite smile, “Well, come on! Eggman’s factory isn’t going to explode itself!”

-Later-

Amy giddily leaped from her computer chair, shaking in a happy dance at hearing of the victory the Rookie had achieved. “Ohh! Way to go, Rookie! Hehe!” she cheered, before blinking her eyes open to see Sonic laughing, walking into her computer’s frame of vision and slinging an arm around the Recuirt.

Her arms… slowly fell down.

The Recuirt politely smiled with the praise, but also seemed embarrassed at his hero giving him so much credit.

“Job well done, Partner!”

Amy… leaned her head down.

Before softly raising it to a smile.

He was happy… wasn’t he?

She bit her lower lip as it started to tremble.

He was smiling.

After hearing Amy’s communicator go silent, the Rookie curiously took his attention away from Sonic and glanced down at the communicator.

He could only see her face, but it was enough to realize there was something off with her smile… even her poise, graceful and cheery, had somewhat been toned down.

“I’m glad to see you’re all safe…”

Her voice made Sonic’s happy-go-lucky expression blink to one of pleasant surprise, before dipping his head down to the communicator.

“Hey.” he stated, “Did you see that? This new recruit is awesome!”

Amy nodded politely, closing her eyes to tilt her head with a bigger, more restrained smile on her face. “He’s wonderful.”

The realization of her ‘over-politeness’ made Sonic dip his head even further, blinking in confusion.

“Huh? Just great?”

He humorously startled the young recruit as he took his arm and held the camera directly up in front of him.

His face suddenly shown a slightly serious look… but his smile never wavered.

“What’s wrong with you, Amy? What happened to all that gloating praise you used to so enthusiastic give to everyone? Why so stone-cold and bland all of a sudden?”

The Rookie flinched, thinking that awfully direct, before slowly turning his glance back to his wrist’s communicator.

“…Just doing my best… Sonic.” her face sank with a now half-broken smile.

Immediately, Sonic clung to the Rookie’s arm a little tighter at seeing it.

It was just a joke,… Amy.

Don’t take it so hard, Amy! I was just playing with ya!

I was just worried about you, that’s all… you seem different lately…

                      “…You don’t have to try so hard… Amy.”

Was that what he should say?

His tone nearly broke the poor Rookie’s heart, realizing how difficult it must be for Sonic to see his friend acting so out of the norm. Even the recruit, himself, noticed… she was just fine around him… but she suddenly put on a strange, overly polite act when Sonic came on the scene.

What happened between those two?

“Talk to ya later?” Sensing the change of mood, Amy tried to kindly smile brightly again, but Sonic wasn’t buying it.

He dropped his head.. and then released the Rookie’s arm.

“I want… to talk to you.”

There was a pause.

“We have a meeting coming up soon! See you there~”

He tightened his fist, hearing the false shift of a lighter pitch in her voice.

The communicator turned off, and he strode passed the Rookie, who gazed off after him, concerned for both his mentors and role models.

He frantically looked to his communicator on his red furry arm, then Sonic’s retreating frame.

Sonic’s foot stopped hard on the ground.

“Rookie!”

The recruit turned sheepishly around, pivoting to him with blank blinks as a reply.

“… The meeting should be fun.”

The Rookie seemed to nod, thinking that it could be fun with everyone there to greet them.

“…She’ll be dying to see me!” He struck a confident look, turning back to lower his head down and close his eyes, smirking. “Did you know? She’s kinda got a thing for me. Hard to miss. She’s nuts about me! Guess you’ll see when we get there!”

The recruit’s face grew grave and crinkled up.

He had heard that.. but was failing to see it so far.

“Ahh.. Guess I have no choice.” Sonic placed two arms over the back of his head, sighing as if composed and grinning wildly up to the sky; almost on the verge of laughter. “We’d better hop to it. Amy’s not one to wait long!”

His whole composure and attitude suddenly… may be a slight overstatement… because what the Recruit didn’t see…

Was a desperate longing to not wait any longer… to see Amy Rose… -to Sonic- meant setting things right again.

As they should be…

-later-

Sonic arrived a hero, greeting all his friends who were happy to see the two made it back okay.

Nothing seemed off with Sonic, but the recruit happily hung back from the crowd, calmly scanning every now and then for Amy Rose.

His eyes caught a glimpse of her from a distance and he let a small gasp escape his lips.

She looked as though she was composing herself. One hand hung to her heart, the other clung to a tree as her leg lightly, like a girl’s fairytale, lifted up at trying to look over the crowd and finally seeing her Sonic within it.

The recruit smiled.

Perhaps she still did love him.

Then.. he saw her fix her hair, adjust her dress, and take a deep breath.

She held her hands elegantly in front of herself and walked towards the crowd.

He lowered his eyelids.

Oh yeah… she still was head over heels for him. The rumors must be true, maybe she was crazy for his attention.

Then… why so distant?

She approached as calmly as she could muster, but the Recruit saw her hands trembling, and knew that she must be awfully excited to see him.

Amy’s mouth curved and sank, up and down, swiveling as if to conceal wanting to launch herself through the crowd and embrace him.

When Sonic did notice her, he smiled and singled her out.

Their eyes locked… and the recruit hoped the two would silently make-up for whatever may have gone down between them.

But Amy broke her conflictions, and simply nodded to him, an overly-polite bow that would be more suitable for someone other than a life-long friend, and greeted Sonic’s return with her hands moving excitedly up to her face.

“Welcome back! I hope you’re not too worn-torn and tuckered out from all the fighting, Sonic!”

Sonic’s face, so full of hopeful joy, suddenly relaxed to a look of disappointment.

He faked his expression, and scratched the back of his head, chuckling lightly… he looked at the ground-

Then the Rookie.

With determination at helping his tragically torn-apart idols, the Recruits eyes lit up with a plan of rejoining these kindred spirits in a flame of unified friendship once more!

His fist flew up to the side of his face.

He wouldn’t let them down!

Walking into the control room, the team all shared small talk, then serious tones about how the war was going and how the resistance was holding up before Sonic singled out Amy again.

“Sounds like we’re short on men. Why not stretch your legs out, Amy? It’s been a while since we’ve been in action, right?” He cleverly called her out, punching a hand into his open palm upon the other, and waited as his pleading gaze of a challenge settled upon her face.

She froze a moment, before contemplating and looking at the ground.

“Battling again.. huh?” she placed a finger at the corner of her mouth.

She nodded, before looking to Tails. “I could help out Little Sonic with the next raid!”

The recruit swore he heard the pieces of Sonic’s countenance shatter and break the floor all at once.

He was now purely immobile.

“O-oh? But I don’t think we need any-..” Tails began, before Knuckles worriedly looked to Amy, stepping in.

“Amy… we’ve all been wondering but.. you’ve been sticking to yourself lately. Don’t you want to impress Sonic with your powerful new moves you’ve been working on?! Or win his heart through sheer epic takedown!?” Knuckles punched the air, getting pumped up and then looking to her for confirmation of his assumptions; but Tails just shook his head, looking awkwardly embarrassed on behalf of his friend.

“I don’t think that’s how it works…” Tails lightly spoke out, smiling oddly before Amy stepped out, seeming happy as her eyes closed to shut the windows of her clear -see through- soul out from peering eyes…

“Nope! I wouldn’t want to try and be a distraction for him. Besides! He’s really busy these days. He’d probably be happier alongside the recruit or you guys! I’ll just do my own fighting in the meantime, hehe!”

Another blow to the face.

This time, the recruit slowly creaked his head in sympathy towards his hero, his own face a sheer white cloth; a motionless entity.

He was RIGHT there…

In comradery, the Rookie slightly reached out to Sonic, to somehow lessen the blow of an obvious side-swipe.

Completely shut down,… Sonic finally moved and repositioned himself, looking away.

The pure level of self-restraint was apparent on both Amy and Sonic’s false appearances of everything being alright, and tension grew in the air…

“Why… are you lying?”

The two suddenly turned to see Silver at the base of the door, looking unamused.

“I can feel the pulse of your hearts. You two are making fools of yourselves!” He approached them, looking rather serious, but also seeming full of care in his tone.

“Amy.. you’re never this cruel.”

She looked down, “I.. I’m not being..”

“I wasn’t talking about Sonic,” he admitted, his eyes bending up in added emphasis of his true concern about this situation. “I meant to yourself. To your own heart.”

He gestured out to her, and she suddenly began to break.

She stepped back, examining the floor back and forth…. before gripping her face with her hands, hiding her apparent tears.

“I was just trying to do what YOU wanted!”

Sonic’s shoulders bounced, but he never looked back.

Amy swished her head, unable to say more it seemed before taking off.

Everyone stared… before Silver turned to Sonic.

“You’re only making things worse by trying to make believe this is all normal. You have to act now, Sonic. …Not only for yourself… but for all of us! This foolishness has kept everyone on pins and needles, afraid to ask and too blind to step in-between. Finish this and make it right, we already have Eggman and Infinite to worry about. Shadow’s still rampant, Zavok’s been spotted terrorizing survivors, Chaos is loose, and Metal Sonic keeps taking down our forces near the capitol! It’s up to you now, Sonic… We need you both focused on the stakes at hand..”

Sonic’s fists were tightened, but other than that, he was motionless, staring at the ground.

Tails, seeing the poor state of his friend, suddenly intervened, “Silver… We can’t place all the blame on Sonic..”

“No. He’s right.” Sonic shook his head free of whatever was clouding his mind and prohibiting his reactions from before.

“I have to own up to it, Tails… Amy’s my responsibility. Our getting along affects everyone. I need to start prioritizing better…”

The group all seemed to silently agree with him, but the recruit’s heart still lingered on wanting to help him… not leave him to do this alone.

he turned his attention to the stairs that led up to the roof, and taking one last double look back to Sonic, he dashed off after her.

Upon the roof, Amy looked over the forsaken, war-torn world around her… mimicking the dry, and ruined state of the realm of her own heart, she covered her face from it’s horrific and gloomy sight, leaning over the edge.

She repeated, “I shouldn’t have said that… I shouldn’t have said that… I shouldn’t have… I…”

The Recruit’s eyes shifted back and forth over the heartbreaking sight.

When she heard his footsteps, she gasped and turned around.

“You scared me!” she exclaimed, before sighing in relief and touching her racing heart. “I thought for a second you were-”

She cut herself off, turning away and trying to be stronger than that.

She looked up at the blackened skies, “You know… he told me once that I try too hard. That I should step away for a minute, give him a break. I thought he meant that it was over, but he laughed and said I took things way too seriously.”

The recruit pressed his lips together, knowing it would be a mortal sin to anthro-kind to interrupt her now.

“…I.. I told myself not to cry. He wasn’t saying forever. He just wanted time. So I thought I was giving him that… but it got harder, you know? Pretending to be so normal… when everything inside me kept begging to not be ignored.”

There was a sudden rush of wind coming from the stairs, and the recruit’s eyes widened as he turned around- Don’t stop her now!

Amy’s voice suddenly broke into a sweet moment of tenderness.

“I will put my whole life on hold… my dreams… my very desire to be with him… if it meant…”

The recruit panicked, seeing Sonic race up the stairs suddenly, he quickly spread himself out and completely blocked him from advancing.

Not yet!

Let her speak!

                                      “-That Sonic could be happy.”

                                             “You think I’m happy…!?”

The recruit couldn’t hold him back now. Sonic moved by him, gesturing out towards Amy in what was apparent annoyance and frustration.

“This whole time, I’ve just been wondered where my friend has gone!” Sonic swiped out his hand across himself, as she seemed a bit fearful and stood up, afraid to approach him.

“But you… you told me too.” Amy’s face was full of confusion, innocent to the very roots of her confession.

Sonic suddenly shook his head, absolutely losing all will to stay mad at her any longer. It wasn’t really her, it was the situation.

There was an apparent misunderstanding.

“No… Amy, what I said was-… forget what I said! It doesn’t matter! If hugging and doting on me makes you happy and feel like yourself, then don’t stop doing it because of me..! Ohh… I was an idiot to say anything, and I’m an even bigger idiot for letting myself get away with it.”

The recruit put his hands daintily up to his mouth, shifting views from looking to Amy, then Sonic, as if he knew he was to remain absolutely still and unexisting for this one, crucial moment.

“Amy… I… I can’t..” He withdrew his hands to his chest, looking them over, tightening and releasing them, before dropping it all and swinging himself to the side, hopelessly gripping for words.

“Ohh… I can’t always express it so freely as you do. But I do…worry… about you. And especially how you feel.. and if you’re safe.. and happy too, Amy…” he seemed to have difficulty even admitted he cared about her, was he purposefully being choosy with his words?

Amy started to giggle.

The recruit smiled, dropping his hands a little from his face. Was this his natural charm?

“But.. you’ve looked happier without me…” Amy admitted, darting her eyes to the ground and then back up at him… but her feet played with the ground, and her body swayed…

The Rookie curiously examined her further, and suddenly noticed her playful eyes, the way her heart was being soothed by his more affectionate mannerisms, and immediately began to see what everyone was so gung-ho about with these two.

“Amy… I missed you.” he seemed to fully give in to his better nature now, and the Rookie was glad to see this side of him.

Amy seemed to have already, mid-apology, forgiven him.

She cutely twiddled her fingers in front of her, then rocked on her heels and moved them behind her.

“…Desperately?” Oh, how she teased.

Sonic suddenly rose from slouching forward. He shyly and nervously smiled in a slight panic. “Eh..heh…heh..”

“…Helplessly?” She turned her body a bit to angle herself a little away from him. “Madly? Truly? Deeply?” she continued to swish with every adjective.

“Honestly, you haven’t told me exactly what kind of ‘missing’ you were feeling, Sonic. How do I know it was sincere?”

He scratched behind his head, before gesturing a surrendering hand of friendship to her.

“Can we settle on painfully agonizing, horrible, and stressful?”

That seemed to win her instantly.

“OH SONIC!” Sonic braced for impact with a nervous but pleased grin as Amy ran and embraced him in what the Rookie could only assume was a signature Amy hug. “I felt so too!”

He held his heart at the touching scene, and was determined to support them henceforth!

After that, they would occasionally hold hands. Sonic initiated more ‘kinda’ hugs, but mostly they were opening his arms subtly in hope she would notice his silent plea for some attention.

Oddly enough, with him slowly expressing more, Amy did settle down quite a bit; and although still very energetic, her friends could tell she looked more secure and well-put-together.

[chaoticspacefam]

Director's Cut ask game: I'm unfamiliar with your work, but I'm curious regardless. Chapter One of Creeping Shadow. Tell me about it: what were your thoughts and intentions regarding the chapter? Anything you particularly like? Having written more in the world, is there anything special that sticks out to you as important going forward?

Thank you so much for the ask, I appreciate it! 🤗

[From the Fanfic Writer's Directors Cut Asks]

(still up for taking more, too, if anybody wants to ask! :3) [Link to the Chapter for anyone curious] (yes its marked as ch 2 here but AO3 doesn't have a "prologue" or "epilogue" option in itself so that's why!)

This chapter was honestly very fun to write, especially considering I wrote most of it waaayy back when the story was still in its infancy. A lot of the later plot points that I was originally going to work with back then have been re-worked since (and I'm gonna have to go back and make a few tiny edits to a couple of the following chapters, namely changing a cameo since the character I was originally putting in there doesn't exist anymore and got the can in favour of a different one! :P), but Chapter 1 funnily enough is one of the chapters I don't have to change since then because it still holds its place in the story very well imo.

The prologue was Aria's introduction itself, Chapter 1's purpose is very much to fill out my version of the rest of the SWTOR world, since my version takes some very steep deviations from canon at several points. We meet the other "main" side character and set up the suspense of the fact that Aria's NOT a very trustworthy character. She seems to make decisions on a whim (fact), and for selfish reasons that don't always become clear to the other characters immediately, but come full circle later on (for example, the reason she helped Ziri is addressed later in Chapter 4!) Which is part of why I decided to start the story on Taris instead of actually at Tython/the Jedi start point. I wanted it to be very important and very clear that Aria is not actually a Jedi, even if everyone else in the story at this point assumes she is one because well...she has a lightsaber right? This can't possibly be a bad assumption to make that will come back to bite everyone in the ass later, no sir! :'D Aria even has as much of an exchange with one of the NPCs in-chapter pointing this out:

A frustrated groan left Aria's lips as she glanced upwards at the ceiling for a moment, collecting herself. “I'm not a doctor. I can't help her.” Yet again, the Twi'lek man's gaze dropped to the lightsaber hilt resting at her belt. “But you're a Jedi.” "No. No, I'm not.” Aria snorted, fixing him with an unmoving glare. “I want nothing to do with them. I just happen to own a lightsaber and know how to use it, that's all.”

This is both set up/foreshadowing for the later plot point in Ch 8/9 (which will be dropping at some point in the future for newer readers, for older readers who've been here listening to me babble about these idiots from day 1, you probably know what's coming) 😈😈 and also a bit of poetic irony because what happens immediately after this chapter? Surprise Jedi! Aria is not amused xP

[bedlamgames]

Q&A #107

Today we have revisiting Rough Landing, a question I don’t need to answer in the best possible way, double bimbos, tumblr being tumblr, me possibly somewhat going off on one in regard to what NOT to do, and more.

[Anonymous said:] Had a Corruption rank up and one of the slaver options had both Depraved and Spiritual, which are supposed to be mutually exclusive I thought: Choice 4: Madeline Crakewyne - Human Wastelander Futanari - Competent Skybreaker - (Spi)(Fly)(Res)(Clu)(Cun)(Usc+)

- You’re right, those should be mutually exclusive. 

[Anonymous said:] There is an event where one of your slavers will slip into your tent at night and have their way with you. Can you explain some of the mechanics that govern this event?

- My absolute favourite kind of question. Mainly as there exists a resource in game already which I hope should be able to fully explain all the details. Please see under Help and Prefferences -> Forced Encounters. 

[Anonymous said:] Need to ask; any chance for standard dwarf female commission, or this one is considered up to date?

- There technically is one in Scout the Coast though I’d prefer to get another one for the examine. I’ve been trying to get one done for ages through the commission polls that would serve to be a fun NH take on Dorf Fortress. I’ve also got a set of portraits potentially coming as a bonus though there’s some health issues getting in the way of that.

So it’s not consided up to date, there is a chance, but maybe not for awhile. 

[Anonymous said:] Bug report: orc cum addict training on bimbo slave results in double bimbo.

- That’s hilarious, and far too appropriate. Alas, I must say that has been found and will be fixed for the update. 

[Anonymous said:] the links to pixiv have disappeared

- Oh tumblr... why must you be so well tumblr. Tried adding a link to the twitter which has a link to the pixiv and that’s not showing either as an active link. Thankfully if you go the tumblr directly (i.e not on the dashboard) there’s an embed of the twitter so you can access them that way.

[academiy-blog said:] Hey man, Love the work you do, please don't give up on this path, you're so talented and creative. I am in love with your game No Haven and want to make a game like it but don't know where to start or how to do it. I am a complete stranger to coding and game making but I want to create adventures that people can lose themselves in like you do. Can you please tell me where should I start learning and what skills would I need to make a game like No Haven? You're awesome, take care Your big fan, me

- First seriously appreciated!

But oh man do not like it like I did as it was the complete wrong ass-backwards way to do it :D

Starting with RAGS meant I learnt a rather terrible system like the back of my hand which I worked how to break horribly to do what I wanted it to do. Doing it that way meant I often learned the wrong lessons when it comes to coding more in general, and didn’t know that, cause it worked. 

Then moving onto Twine without the time to really take a break to learning coding properly meant I was having to pick up concepts on the go, and again made a bunch of mistakes. 

Personally if I could somehow start over I’d do a coding course of some kind, and then use that knowledge to make games rather than deciding to make games, and still at times be lacking vital knowledge about what I should be doing or indeed not doing. 

Saying that I’ve found freecodecamp (especially the emails with five things to read each week), and w3schools to be great resources so maybe you could try starting there?

[Anonymous said:]   If someone hates being spiritual leader, they won't leave role when asked. In fact slavers leave this role only if they dislike it. Is this a bug?

- I’m pretty sure that’s been fixed, but will double check. 

[From the Patreon:] Short question:How do i transform my Character or another Slaver into the opposite gender? Male -> Female or Female -> Male.Are there certain assignments?

- There's a couple of different ways. 

Biomancy and Corruption can both do it for Male>Female. So you can either work towards doing it on purpose using the encampment activities, or you can run assignment that can result in Corruption like Changing Places and it might well happen. 

There's assignments that can do it one way or the other like Keldan Alley or Into the Depths. 

Then there's the option of getting too deep in debt with the Ensnared Rose.

[From TFgames:] The game is very fun and enjoyable.How to actually win the game?I gained a lot of money, trained the slavers and slaves.What to do next?I got tired of repeating tasks.

- Hi, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Currently there's a placeholder win condition of reaching 10k gold. Honnestly it's not very interesting as is and purely in there as a placeholder, and most players from what I've heard prefer to set their own goals like aquiring certain uniques and training them up. I know one player on my discord server always goes for the full collection of cheerleaders, along with making sure they have their own 'assistants'. 

There's also the golem scenario which has an alternate win condition which is more involved complete with patron submitted art for the final victory. 

I do have plans to address the win conditions by making them more interesting and varied. So that will be coming down the line. 

[From the Collective:] Some theoretical questions:a slaver promoted witch with Racial:Wyrdcraft is supposed to go away after some time. How does this combines with aspect Bimboborn ? Does she comes back after some time? Is there a way to keep her? What happens if a slave version of her is given as a slave to a dominant slaver with the appropriate aspect. What does she gives as traits to her master? any magic or Elementalist traits ? Can she go away?

- Bimboborn would not apply like if they were sold. She does not. There isn't but certain slave training and levelling her up can get her to stick around for longer. Witches can't be given with that aspect and there's a special scene to reflect that. 

[From the Collective:] My MC gained this Debauched Exaltation:  Caress of Bone -40 And the Mal Trait that goes with it.Does it make him immune to mind control events ?Apparently not if I look at the Mashlands Witches but there's other events I haven't tested.

- Call it Malevolence light so it mainly just works on assignments. Also those totally-not-witches have all sorts of tricks so who knows what they're actually fully capable of.

[From the Collective:] Negotiate entry of the Lord's gate: It doesn't trigger a level up if your slavers win enough xp to level up at the end of the mission. You need another mission to level up.

- Doesn't surprise me. It's a miracle that utter mess of an assignment hangs together at all so something minor like that is a small price to pay. Had to try to pull it apart recently for the Twine conversion and man it is so much yikes you would not believe. 

[From the Collective:] Not really a bug, per se, but still:I want to do the Mistress of torments mission (For the Normal Success result). When my slaver number is at maximum I can't do this even if I set the general orders to "Don't recruit anyone"I think it's the case for all missions with potential slavers. You should be able to do them with the "Don't recruit anyone" option on.

- I'd need to go back and do an alternate result where no recruitment is possible for that to happen. It's something I've been trying to do a lot more with the slave taking assignments recently especially, as I know it's also annoying when you're full up on slaves and are then locked out on too many assignments.

[From the Collective:] what's the requirement for crafting traits and Artisan/Artificier aspect? leaving a slaver on crafting assignment for months doesn't seem to trigger lvl ups.

- Currently impossible as Crafting xp isn't really a thing. Saying that the first Crafting assignment is currently walking the commission poll (along with the Insatiable fuck off fight) on the patreon so now it's just a matter of time for that to change. 

[From the Collective:] Imperial Muse I don't understand a part of the rewards Rewards Diplomacy rank up bonus: large wood elf shaft x4

- That's an amusing, if very annoying bug as I keep forgetting about it (happened with this update that's about to come out too though did get to hotfix it before the public release), if I don't add a new Diplomacy assignment to a certain condition.

[From the Collective:] at the moment no enchantement. As far as  I know there is only one enchanted item, from the ooze mission, maybe a proof of concept.the tinkerer encampment position is also in development.

- There's also the enchanted armours possible to find from corruption, there's a late game assignment in the city that can provide some, certain uniques start with one, and the next update will have an update which can also provide some. 

[From the Collective:] I have just realized that the bug that allowed to promote slaves even after you have reached 20 slavers had been fixed (sometimes I hate myself) Can you do something to expand the number of slavers - Do not count slavers and slaves in camp position - Do not count unique slaves and slavers (this way you will not be blocked with new missions of the update that have a story role), the 2 golems the witch queen, the fallen paladin and his demi angel friend, maybe also the cheerleaders, was unable to have more than one until slavers were 20) - Have a small number of places that can on be used by promoted slaves - a unique mission, perhaps  one for each region that allows additional camp size. - Some camp positions can be unlocked by missions. Taskmaster at Mountains, Alchemist at City, brewer at Coast, Cook at Forest, Emissary at Plains

- The current limits are in place due to RAGS (along with partially due to how I've set up the arrays, see previous answer about mistakes being made), so for now I'm not planning to change that or add ways to get round it in RAGS. However I do plan to change this I hope in the Twine conversion. There I can redo arrays on the fly which should make changing that more reasonable. 

[From the Discord:] Favorite Boardgame?   

- I’ve played much better, much designed games and certainly much more well regarded ones, but if I’m being honest for the best memories attached to it then absolutely Go. Not the one with the black and white tiles. The International Travel Game which came out in the early 60′s that my grandparents had a copy of. 

Thinking about it I suspect how willing it was to utterly screw with the players by diverting them on a flight to Paris to ending you up in some tropical island on the other side of the world you were trying to get to might have some influence on my approach to game design :D

[From the Discord:] What are the chances of a 10 Year Anniversary Remastered Edition of RL in 2024, complete with CHAPTER 3 (j/k... but I would play it)

- Honnestly, with what I’ve learned doing WR and NH I’m reasonably confident I could do a combined RL1 and 2 in Twine in a couple of months max if I dropped everything else. So not something I’m likely to do anytime soon with so many other priorities, but one I have thought about. 

[From the Discord:] What are the most recent major Scientific, Magical & Cultural innovations in the land of NH?

- I have an assignment chained to discuss that. 

[From the Discord:] Do marlsunes get fleas?

- Yes, occasionally if they let themselves go, but it’s treatable. 

[From the Discord:] With the existence of a Horned One camp... is there any credence to the rumoured couples only Horned Two camp?

- Given how well the double horned one idea is doing in the commissions recently, looks so. 

[From the Discord:] Specifically, how advanced is the art of glassmaking in the land of No Haven? Are glass panels a thing? Maybe even one-way mirrors made by the foremost guilds that employ E:Ea?

- See that’s a more tricky question than it sounds, and it’s all down to the Neko Protection League.

One thing I’ve found with commissions is it’s often a negotiation to get everything you want, and in that sacrifices end up being made, and/or details that were important in the original pitch get overlooked to focus on something else that is more urgent to be amended. In this case the glasses I wanted to look even more archaic didn’t get reflected as much as I’d have liked. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a bloody fantastic pair of pictures. Just a minor regret you know that I feel as is they don’t quite fit what I had in mind for the tech level of the setting.

[From the Discord:] Draki harpies - possible or UFO-like sightings?

As cool as a visual that suggests, which is tempting don’t get me wrong, draki are of elvish and human origins only. 

[thefilmsnob]

Glen Coco’s Top 10 Mega Man Themes of All Time!

Can you think of a game that has better music than Mega Man? You can’t because it doesn’t exist. Well, it might, but I’m not really thinking it through. Let’s just say the people who composed the music for Mega Man should all be billionaires and knighted.

Because of my love for Mega Man and the songs that accompany him on his robojourney, I thought it would be swell to list the absolute greatest 10 theme songs from the classic series. It wasn’t easy narrowing the field to just 10 tracks considering this music is better than anything Mozart put out, but I feel like I’ve chosen the best songs and supported my decisions well despite having absolutely no experience in music criticism. You’ll see. 

But, that’s neither here nor there. I now present the 10 greatest Mega Man themes of all time. I’ve added links under the entries, so you can drool over the music, as well as three runners up. Omitting these three songs is torturing me, but making tough decisions like this is why I get paid so much for this job hahaha just kidding, no one gets paid to write. Here’s the list:

Runners-Up

Flash Man (Mega Man 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osNdk1mKRs

Spark Man (Mega Man 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-Yjn1E05M

Tomahawk Man (Mega Man 6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz-3Xd43OGo

Top 10

#10. Cut Man (Mega Man)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAeIMQierX4&t=1s

Cut Man’s theme is a great example of early Nintendo music that was more chipper and grainier in a charming way. This song makes you feel excited to control Mega Man and see where the adventure takes you. It’s uplifting, yes, but with a hint of darkness that says, “You can do it, but be wary.” The opening seconds of this song are really choppy, too, which is appropriate for this choppy kind of villain. In fact, the whole song brings to mind a pair of scissors flying around chaotically, slicing the air as they go. The original Mega Man had some great tracks, but this was the most lively and, indeed, the  best one of them all.

#9. Plant Man (Mega Man 6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN_7Wy0RT00

This song from Plant Man’s rather unique forest stage is pretty complex. It starts out as a pleasant and optimistic tune as if it’s the soundtrack to an afternoon cruise on your day off. You think this carefree lifestyle can last forever, but then reality sinks in and the song breaks down to a very different tune as if the music is telling you, “Hey, listen, it’s not all fun and games. You have work to do.” And then it starts all over again, but now you feel even more prepared to take on the challenges that await.

  #8. Shade Man (Mega Man 7)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxSWjJmz1Dk

Shade Man’s theme is both scary and epic. I mean, when is something ever scary and epic? It’s almost unheard of. The song plays in a graveyard/haunted house themed level and it fits perfectly. It starts out slow and eerie, but as it progresses it becomes more upbeat, providing  you with that extra boost you need to get past the monsters. If this song isn’t called ‘Mega Man Faces His Fears’ then I feel sad for the creators. You just know this is the anthem Mega Man has in his head while exchanging blows with ghouls and goblins. In an installment with mediocre music and no other entries on this list, ‘Mega Man Faces His Fears’ shines through.

  #7. Flame Man (Mega Man 6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHVUupbqx0

For a Mega Man theme, Flame Man’s has an unusually long build up. Most of these songs sound like they were written by someone on crack; they start fast and insane and stay that way for 20 seconds until they repeat. This one progresses slowly and it doesn’t seem entirely thrilling at first. It gets a little more exciting and you start to think, “Okay, I’m biting” and then all of a sudden this magnificent chorus hits you like a punch in the face providing an immediate blissful high...much like the high the crack head composers felt while writing the music. The song also has a delightful Middle Eastern influence that matches the level and boss designs.

  #6. Splash Woman (Mega Man 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7qcJwJfyyk

Splash Woman’s music isn’t an instant hit. In fact, its merits were really only recognized by this observer when he was doing his research for this unnecessary article. But this song gets you right in the heart and soul. It’s a rare Mega Man song that is actually gentle and soothing, but also entirely motivating. There’s even an unusual poignancy during the flute section that produces an unreasonably strong emotional response. After the flutes, the song continues in a similar fashion as the opening, but with a little more urgency. This is a perfect song for an underwater level or if you need to feel like you’re being nurtured by a dear friend or loved one. 

  #5. Galaxy Man (Mega Man 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdDbbzuq1vY

This song is crack cocaine. It’s crack cocaine in music form. It may be the most frantic song in Mega Man history. There’s just so much energy in this one short minute of sound and it takes you places you never thought you’d go. As soon as you’re accustomed to a section of the song and feel like it’s reached its prime, it switches on you instantly and becomes even more intense, constantly pumping you up to battle more spaceships in this crazy outer space level. And, obviously, Galaxy Man requires a theme that sounds futuristic, so guess what? That’s what you get, friend. Just try not moving your head to this sound cocaine. If you say you can, we’re not friends because I’m not in the business of associating with liars.

  #4. Wood Man (Mega Man 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAAOmoEftg

That drum solo. That drum solo that opens this song is pure bliss. This is the sound of my childhood as well as the childhoods of about 92% of North Americans and 107% of the Japanese population. If you don’t like that drum solo...you’re an asshole. This gets you pumped up to kill robot tigers in the woods before you even have the chance to move Mr. Blue Boy. Following the intro, there’s a sharp, but exquisite breakdown leading into some of the most pleasing, memorable and inspirational music of the series. Near the end of the loop, the same great melody plays but in a higher pitch with an incredibly crisp sound that feels like it’s coming from the heavens. Ya, it’s slightly repetitive, but beauty on repeat is A-Ok in this guy’s books. 

  #3. Wily’s Castle: Stage 2 (Mega Man 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K9-SwNBMSY

Where did this song come from?!? Is this Mega Man? This is more of a symphony for crying out loud. The theme has such a different feel and is far more complex than any other song in the Mega Man catalogue, but it’s entirely welcome. A song like this could only be found in Wily’s Fortress. It’s so urgent and magical and screams Nintendo. And, whereas most Mega Man themes repeat after 30 seconds or so, this one keeps going for days and changes drastically throughout as if telling an epic story. There are so many moving parts to this anthem it’ll blow your mind. Fans might overlook the song because it’s tucked away in the ninth game in the middle of Wily’s crib, but this is one of the most unique pieces of music from the series. Who wrote this, a wizard?!?

#2. Metal Man (Mega Man 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y82DgpgrC0

I’m sure many fans would agree, but I consider the first Mega Man as more of a prelude to the rest of the series. It’s a good game, but highly difficult and unpolished, feeling more like an intriguing prototype. To me, Mega Man 2 is the true start of the series and any fan who knows anything about anything knows that you play Metal Man’s stage first. Ergo, this is the theme that introduces you to the world of Mega Man. When you hear this theme, you know you’re about to go on an epic adventure and it sets the tone perfectly, especially if you’re looking forward to playing all the subsequent games. In many ways, it’s the theme that produces the most excitement. At first, it feels like a fairly straightforward tune, but then you start to notice all these delightful nuances beneath the surface. Like metal (ahem) this song is both smooth and choppy and the shifts between the two qualities work perfectly. Altogether, this is an energetic, inspirational and complex tune that’ll pump you up for what’s to come. 

  #1. Wily’s Castle: Stage 1 & 2 (Mega Man 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJRoRt155mA&t=92s

This should be no surprise to fans of the series, not only because it tops so many lists of best Mega Man themes, but because this is quite possibly the greatest song known to mankind. You’ve just defeated all eight robot masters and now it’s time to battle your way through Dr. Wily’s fortress. It’s the beginning of the endgame for the boy robot and this music adds a giant exclamation point. It’s the real deal. The music starts aggressive and maintains that relentless fast pace throughout. There are undertones of doubt in the song that threaten to surface, but the optimism within casts a shadow on any negativity and wins the day. And the frequent shifts in pitch just add to the epic nature of this musical equivalent of intercourse. This truly majestic work of art is inspirational, catchy, complex, and just plain awesome. If this doesn’t pump you up for the rest of the game or series or even life itself, you’re a shell of a human being. I want this theme played at my wedding. Would it be wildly inappropriate? You bet. But this song is so good that I’m willing to ruin my wedding and countless lives just to force it upon the people I love most.