#And the rest of the gods got a lot of development from the PCs as well

[sysig]

I'm awfully curious as to what kinda work goes into creating a pantheon. Idk like where are your gods from and why are they gods and what makes them gods? I keep thinking about making one but it gets so complicated so fast

Not to "It depends" but lol - my method of making the AGE gods is by no means One Size Fits All! I mean heck, there are lowercase gods and one Uppercase God, and that's just in the Prime Material Plane lol. The complexities are what makes it fun in my mind :D

As just a brief overview, the way the AGE gods function is kinda like elements: Y (the "One True" but really just the First God) coming into existence brought "elements" (angels) into being, and then by dying created an "explosion"/power vacuum that sucked a handful of angels into new super-beings that the sentient races adopted as the new gods. And that's just how they came to be, not counting things like how worship works, or how over the course of the campaign they were meant to be picked off one by one, throwing off the balance of divine nature!

I think a lot of it comes down to what you want to use your pantheon for - mine was a ticking clock for the PCs to save the Prime Material Plane from imploding, and all the development came from that impetus - they were designed to die from the very start, and only then did I start developing how they came to be and what they represent :) What do you want your god(s) to do? Why? Hopefully they'll start taking shape from there

[thedomesticanthropologist]

A comment you said on your last post really hit me as a good point of development/angst, please take or leave as you'd like and apologies if I've mischaracterized your Tav at all, but still hope this helps turn some wheels. "As a Cleric of Ilmater Mira is no stranger to Suffering for the sake of Faith." Has Mira considered that Astarion suffered for nothing?

Ultimately Mira's suffering gets her a cool connection with a god and awesome powers. Would that not make Astarion bitter in that respect? To me it seems like Mira is constantly pushing back against Astarion with a lot of "why is he like this" and "you have to be better because it's the right thing to do." At what point does Astarion share his story with her about that boy he tried to spare from Cazador's wrath? I feel like with this dynamic, that would be something he'd bring up as proof that she just got lucky that her god gave a shit about her in particular. Like he did the right thing, was horrendously punished for it and as far as he's concerned, Ilmater was sitting around twiddling his godly thumbs.

I feel like that would be a good point to develop some better mutual understanding between the pair of them that would make Mira maybe not forgive Astarion in the Act 2 confession, but at least understand where he's coming from, rather than just pushing her worldview.

So! You gotta keep in mind that the story you're referring to isn't told to the player character until Act 3, well after his confession.

By the time he confesses, Astarion has (depending on how many cut scenes you've managed to snag/long rests etc) Only told you that he lured victims back to Cazador, and that Cazador is a monster.

He's told you about his scars, and how he pities the other 6 of his "siblings". Plus a few small anecdotes, but *none of them* about anything he's ever done for anyone else.

He has however:

- Been extremely racist towards the Gur based on being attacked by them, likely having been hired by Cazador based on how the story was told so Mira explained that you can't hold an entire race of people accountable for the actions of the few. Astarion said he absolutely can, and fuck you

- Assaults you in your sleep then begs for blood and if you do trust him enough to let him bite "I'll be as gentle as a babe! I only need a little" but u don't pass the checks he will murder you

- Tried to abandon the Tieflings to their fate and told Mira they should move on not because of the tadpole problem, but because killing goblins "would take hours" and he's too lazy to bother

- Repeatedly and loudly stated that he desires power over all else, but has NOT yet told her its because he's scared/desires to feel safe

- Asked to be left out of the Nere quest because he didn't want to ruin his nails and would prefer to move on. Mira said Nere isn't the point, the gnomes are and he was EXTREMELY racist towards deep gnomes in general. He has NOT yet explained to the PC / Mira why he is against digging through rock (the crypt for a year thing) by the time he does this

- Tells you if you get in the way of what he wants he will go through you if necessary (denying him the tadpoles) and to stay out of his way

- Snaps at you about how to deal with Yurgir if you try to figure out what's going on instead of immediately killing him, even if you plan on killing him, and also rails against PC loudly in many other instances as well

And much much more, I won't go on. The point is that by the time he confesses, you have no back story. You have nothing to go on. There is nothing to trust. And the ONE thing Mira and Astarion had together where she thought they were making headway, their physical relationship, has now just been revealed to be a huge scam from the start.

Not ONLY that, but he doesn't regret doing it. He is proud of his simple plan and upset that it fell apart (at least that's how he presents it) and does NOT apologize for trying to use her. He instead says because he fell in love and she is so incredible he feels he can trust her enough to confess his deception without fear of being kicked out of the party.

You must remember that while Astarion has reasons, he hasn't revealed them. And if you judge a man based on his words and actions, at the point of the confession scene, he's not got a lot going for him besides puppy dog eyes and a backstory of admittedly horrific slavery that has only been lightly touched on because he wants you to know Cazador is Bad, but he's not about to spill his guts on what really all happend to him yet.

TLDR: Faith is just about all Mira has to give at this point, and Astarion has made her suffer by gaining her trust through manipulation and then only messing up because HE caught feelings.

In other versions of the game, if you don't finish his quest, he breaks up with PC very cruelly.

If you make it to Act 3 with Caz and you don't make the right dialogue choices or pass the persuasion and instead just say you won't let him ascend, he says he hopes you die screaming.

This man is my fave, don't get me wrong. But without the knowledge of his entire character, when you go in blind or you play a character that you don't give High Insight to, you have to see that he is a very difficult person to navigate. Especially a Lawful Good Cleric of Ilmater who's life purpose is to help and alleviate suffering.

She feels called to him because of his suffering and she *does* have faith she can help, but that faith is majorly BLIND right now and it hurts to know the man who proved time and time again that he isn't trustworthy just confessed his love by explaining that he has been extra untrustworthy

[bubblebuttgames]

GAME INFORMER #366 - THE MAKING OF HADES II

"The sorcerous Melinoë gazes with intensity toward her goal - and the audience!" says cover artist and Supergiant art director Jen Zee. "She's determined, focused, and powerful. Hecate, Melinoë's mentor, can be seen in the distance wielding her torches and gazing toward the moon. Standing on the precipice of the Crossroads with back turned, she is flanked by her trusty familiars, a hound and a polecat."

COVER STORY - HADES II

Supergiant Games is making its first sequel, and we visited the developer in California to find out why it wasn't quite ready to escape Hell and move on. We played the game extensively, spoke with the team about bringing the follow-up to life, looked ahead to the game's future, and lots more. If you're playing Hades II in Early Access, consider our cover story the perfect companion piece

Platform: PC

Style: 1-Player Action

Publisher: Supergiant Games

Developer: Supergiant Games

Release: May 6

BASTION. TRANSISTOR. PYRE. HADES. Supergiant Games built its name on four distinct, critically lauded titles, giving them a pristine track record few developers can boast But the thrilling roguelike action of Hades catapulted it above the rest to become the studio's most successful game and biggest mainstream hit. Four years, hundreds of runs, and thousands of hours later, the fanbase still can't get enough of Zagreus' adventure and Supergiant's captivating vision of the Greek Underworld.

They're not alone. The folks at Supergiant felt it still had more stories to tell, more places to explore, more deities to meet, and, most importantly, a new perspective for players to view it all. That enthusiasm inspired the studio to tackle its first sequel, Hades II. With players now taking it through its paces in Steam Early Access, we visited Supergiant Games to learn how it came to be and what to expect as it evolves over the coming months

LOOKING BACK AND MOVING AHEAD

Creative director Greg Kasavin declares Hades as "our most successful game by any sort of measure." A litany of industry awards, strong sales, and a passionate fan following have backed up this claim, earning Hades a place among the gods. Yet despite this overwhelming success, Supergiant remains the same as it ever was: a small team (currently 25 full-time employees) driven by a passion and enthusiasm to create unforgettable experiences that stay true to their personal tastes and interests.

When it came time to decide what the next project would be, they approached it as they always do by asking one question: what idea excites them the most? Knowing that they'll be spending the next several years of their lives working on it, making sure the game captures the team's collective passion ensures the best execution and, ultimately, the strongest product. Though it weighed various pitches and ideas, Supergiant had already recognized the potential to expand Hades' world even during the first game's development

"There are so many characters from Greek myth that we're very excited about that simply didn't have a place in the story of the original game," says Kasavin. "You've got these really big names like Apollo or Heracles and stuff like that. And they don't appear in the original Hades, not because we weren't excited for them, [but] just because we were focused on other characters..But we always wondered: how would we portray some of these other characters?"

Greg and the rest of the team soon realized it had much more it wanted to say with Hades. Speaking with five of the original seven employees who have been with Supergiant Games since the development of 2011's Bastion - Kasavin, studio director Amir Rao, art director Jen Zee, composer Darren Korb, and voice actor Logan Cunningham - all of them expressed excitement about returning to Hades' world for their own respective reasons

For Kasavin, Greek mythology's rich and expansive lore offers a multitude of storytelling possibilities. For Zee, the principal artist behind Supergiant's signature art style, redesigning beloved characters was as exciting as illustrating new ones. Korb looks forward to adding new thematic and tonal layers to Hades existing soundscape that exemplifies the new presentational direction for the sequel. Cunningham, the voice behind several key characters, including Hades himself, teases a new direction for the ruler of the underworld.

For Rao, however, he tells me this is the studio's opportunity to define, in their eyes, what a sequel looks like. Supergiant has been a one- and-done studio since its inception, to the point that some fans believe the studio has some sort of policy against making sequels. Kasavin says this has never been the case. Rather, the reluctance came from the studio's desire always to surprise players; sequels are known quantities. At the same time, the idea of making a sequel at a conceptual level became an alluring challenge in itself.

"We made four original IPs in a row," says Rao "We are unpracticed at making a sequel [laughs]. So, this is our first time doing it. We had to reflect on what are some of the sequels that we loved? And what did they do to move the game world and mechanics and design and story forward?

To that end, Supergiant examined the team's favorite sequels that expanded on their predecessors in meaningful and dramatic ways while still retaining the elements that had worked before. Rao cites Portal 2 as an example, and he also names Diablo II as a personal inspiration, particularly his love for the magic- based sorceress class - a specific trait that would later prove a vital ingredient. As the team decided on ideas and priorities, Greg formulated the story and lore that would best fit these concepts. The journey would take him to lesser-known edges of Greek mythology and the discovery of another long-lost child of Hades himself.

MAKING A NEW MYTH

[dailybayonetta]

Dunno if somebody already came asking you this but, what do you really think about the graphics in Bayo3? They look very bland to me and somehow backtracked, even in the first preview trailer I was like "damn, this is not good". Look at Bayo2, a game from eight years ago, it still looking hella good and pretty, but Bayo3? Not even the hair moves or characters expression are giving that classic Bayonetta visuals. Honestly, for a rich company like Nintendo they should, y'know, gave more dedication on the graphics 💀(also, this is NOT a hate ask towards Bayo3, but comparing to the others two games in the franchise, this is the weakest in both graphics and gameplay)

Nope, actually so far noone talked about it! Yet! And yeah, I agree. Especially coming from someone who now used all three games on my pc by emulating them... Bayo3 is sooo rough. It's doesn't really holds up, even worse on handled mod. The way that wicked waves and wings look. At least it barely has fps problems like some other games (looks at smt5) or Astral Chain (that at least was running 30 fps only) so I guess sacrifices had to be made, so Bayo3 would run mostly 60fps. What also is so weird, not only Bayonetta 2 was literally made for WiiU which is even weaker system, but it runs perfectly on switch, in both handled and docked. And it looks fine in handled, unlike Bayo3 which cuts so many stuff. Thought If I had to guess porting already existing titles (bayo 1+2) is much easier than developing a game from the scratch on hardware? And switch isn't the easiet console to develop on, it's sure ain't no ps4/ps5/xbx1/xbxs and pc and etc. If to defend platinum somehow. But I think it's isn't just the graphic, it's just overall the artstyle (direction of artstyle?). Like, I get it, this game is departure for the series, but does it have to look so unisprised sometimes? So many empty space? Oh wow... destroyed Tokyo I guess. With roofs... REMEMBER WHEN WE WENT TO HELL???? Or visited ancient cities that looked unique and magic? Now we have anicent China and it's burning i guess :/ Oh look, there's an Egyptain lvl that contains three buildings and lots of sand to slide on, rocks and nothing else! Plus, yeah, the movement overall in cutscenes feels unnatural sometmes (my god did i felt so wrong when i saw how bayo1 bayo looks in bayo3 at the start and here i thought that bayo2 version of it was bad), and like Bayonetta cutscenes were always exgatarred, but this time it's not in a normal way? Again, the direction is all ovedr the place? Viola is overly animated, like her movement is so different from the rest of the cast, Bayonetta is mostly stiff I wouldn't say she feels as acrobatic or floaty. And like I said before, the script doesn't saves this mess either, you have this characters talk with each other but instead of having dialogue (hell it doesn't even need to be meaningful it can be just fun) they are like info-dumping or something (guess this also had to do with who's directing english adaptation this time around) To my suprise, I kind of disliked how Jeanne looked in the early trailers, but she actually looks fantastic (except the make up) and probably my favorite this time around. But her treatment is another story. And it's not even really Nintendo's fault, their current console has AND can handle beautiful games, I just think Platinum has quite massive ideas for action game and that requieres hardware that can handle and run it, switch isn't just build for that. Cause at the end of the day - it's handled system.

Plus, add to that, that currently it's quite common thing to go into more greedy / realistic style over the actual artstyle with a fun sense. I'll be forever mad that such good game as DMC5 got stuck in the most basic ass looking artstyle with scanned real people for characters and making it's locations and level design the most boring things ever in comparision to previous titles. Same goes for Baoy3.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Silent Hill

In my dreams ... I play those games.

No, seriously, I have never myself actually played a Silent Hill game. This is because I had issues with controllers even before the fibromyalgia (though back then it was just complicated and fussy, not impossible), and there were compatibility issues between my PCs when I really got to know the SH franchise and the games I actually wanted to play. Mostly, Silent Hill 2. Come on; SH2 is the Silent Hill game. The most loved. The one that stays with you. I actually tried SH2 on PC once, but the controls were difficult at best. I know you’re supposed to have a basic feeling of quasi-helplessness reflected in the controls (because, like, you’re armed but you’re also a bookstore clerk with a crowbar and there’s a giant with geometry for a head stalking around somewhere) but there’s a fine line between “I am controlling a bookstore clerk” and “I am controlling a pipe-cleaner man with marionette strings a mile long”. Anyway, I haven’t played, but I’ve seen it played a lot. Some of my favourite dates-of-sorts with my last ex involved curling up on the sofa, him playing SH2, me helping him with the puzzles and making chainsaw noises Because Reasons ... and loving the story in the middle of all of that.

So you’d think that I’m hugely excited and all kinds of hyped that Silent Hill 2 is getting a remake, along with multiple new games and a movie that actually isn’t Silent Hill: Revelations. (I liked the Christophe Gans movie shut up; the things most people were bitching about was an attempt to translate the thematic elements of the original Silent Hill game into a non-interactive medium and also removing that weird-as-fuck god plot and I could write an essay about that movie and probably kind of should - should I?) Thing is ... I’m older now, and I’ve been watching the gaming industry at removes for awhile. And yes, I’m excited. But I’m not hugely excited, and I’m not all kinds of hyped. Not for the SH2 remake, anyway. (Silent Hill F and Silent Hill: Townfall, a little more so, for reasons I’ll go into.) There’s a reason for that, and that reason is Bloober Team, the ones developing the Silent Hill 2 remake.

A lot of people are probably going, “Why? They have the atmosphere just right! The Medium was basically set in the suburb next door to Silent Hill!” ...Yeah, that’s the problem. While The Medium has the atmosphere that a Silent Hill game requires, it also has some elements that would turn a Silent Hill 2 remake in particular into something ugly - namely, its approach to trauma and mental illness. Silent Hill 2 is all about trauma, at its core - all these people who were victims of trauma, and the things they do because of it, and whether or not it’s a cycle anyone can escape. Thing is, The Medium answered that question with a resounding “No It Cannot; You Are Doomed To The Cycle Of Trauma For The Rest Of Your Life”, because the game only ends when you end the life of one of two suffering from extreme trauma (not that they make it clear which person that is, which is supposed to be a “really makes you think” moment but hearing about it mostly makes me think “I’m glad I didn’t try to play this because if I’d risked and suffered migraine for this, I would be in Barbarian Rage territory”). I mean, that mindset works for most of the endings you can get in the original Silent Hill 2 ... but some of the beauty of that game was that, through seemingly random acts of kindness and mercy, there’s the possibility of a good ending - as good an ending as you can get in this kind of game, anyway. An ending that involves healing, self-awareness, and self-forgiveness. The determination to let go while still remembering the good things. Perspective. Sorry, but The Medium doesn’t fill me with confidence that Bloober is going to give us a Leave ending, and I’m honestly a little afraid of how they’d handle the other three. I mean, they could do some things with Rebirth and In Water, I guess, but the Maria ending could get just ... eh. (No, the Dog and UFO endings don’t really apply here.) Seriously, though - they included that scene with Pyramid Head ... erm ... sexually assaulting one of the zombie nurses in the fucking teaser trailer. It was a thematically powerful moment in the game considering the ending of said game and James’ internal themes of sexual frustration (WHICH IS WHY THE ZOMBIE NURSES HAD BIG BOOBS AND WIGGLY WALKS; WE DO NOT NOW HAVE TO HAVE THEM IN EVERY SINGLE GAME - the Gans Silent Hill movie gets a pass because the person who made those particular nightmares was a badly scarred woman who knew she would never be beautiful and had some serious issues about people who were allowed to be beautiful and desired while she was stuck in an oxygen tent to die). Just ... did we have to have it as part of the “This Is Why You Want To Buy The Game” teaser vid?

I mean, I’m going to get it anyway, in the hopes that Bloober will stay essentially true to the original script and not go off on “The only way to escape the ill-effects of trauma is death”. But then, of course, then there’s the specs, which have already come out ... which means that the date that is at the moment TBA on the Steam page is probably closer than things like that usually are to completion at their announcement date. I mean, it’s already got a Steam page while something like DA4 has only had the occasional teaser snippet, some concept art, and a title I’m still not jazzed about. Anyway, specs - Win11 recommended (I will update to that eventually, but I don’t want to be an early adopter). I’m going to need a new graphics card because the minimum requirements involve a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, and I’m only running a 1060 right now. And honestly, I’d want better because I’ve tried running a game with the minimum required graphics card before and it ended badly, but gods know what the economy’s going to be like at that point. Well, at least I have time to look into upgrades and maybe tweak my Christmas list for whatever year it comes out.

Now, see, I’m looking forward to Silent Hill F. I mean, it’s not set in Silent Hill, but Silent Hill 4 wasn’t really set in Silent Hill either, and it didn’t suffer at all for that. (It suffered from a lot of other things, mostly some mechanics that added to the vibe but got really irritating in gameplay, but arguably it was good because it wasn’t really set in Silent Hill while still keeping the Silent Hill moods and themes. Even if it did go back to the death cult plot in places.) The whole point of Silent Hill is that it’s what you bring with you, and generally a manifestation of guilt or trauma, and it’s very Japanese in its themes anyway. I wrote an essay once awhile ago about how a country’s horror media is a good way to look at what a whole culture is afraid of. For North America, it’s generally either fear of the Other or fear of themselves (slasher movies and stuff like The Purge). England does similar, though its focus is generally more on the fear of how fragile social norms are when someone from the inside throws off the cultural framework of rules and morality (Dracula, Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein). Japan’s horror seems to focus hugely on guilt, which is understandable when you’ve got a situation in which generational survivor’s guilt is probably more or less the norm, given the nuclear bombs and the POW camps in the US. Silent Hill 1 and 3 were Ring-horror; being trapped in a generational guilt spiral. Silent Hill 2 goes more South Korean in a Wishing Stairs sort of way, where the guilt is your own. Feels like Silent Hill F might go more the way of generational guilt, but it can probably be handled a lot better than “Evil God Once Worshipped By Death Cult Seeks Resurrection”. And I trust the team at the helm of this one a lot more than I do Bloober - this one’s handled by Annapurna Interactive. You know, What Happened To Edith Finch and, most recently, Stray. Both games in their own ways suggest knowing how to handle imagery, how to tell a story that largely involves slow, creepy, melancholy horror but also knows how to use lighter, human moments to underline the themes they want as the story’s focus.

Well, I went on about this a lot, didn’t I? Look, some of my friends have A Lot Of Feelings About Star Wars. I personally have A Lot Of Feelings About Horror In General And Silent Hill In Particular. I haven’t personally played any of the games, but I have seen them played - okay, not the recent ones, that are apparently basically Resident Evil wearing Silent Hill’s skin as a suit, and I’m honestly afraid to even try Homecoming because of what I’m reading about the PC version being a big steaming pile of garbage where the controls are concerned. No, I mean the originals. The real ones. Silent Hill 1-4. Not Downpour. Not Homecoming. Just ... Silent Hill, where it’s what you bring with you. And I’ve wanted to play Silent Hill 2 properly for a very, very long time. So I talk about it and I pray Bloober doesn’t fuck it up with its own ideas about what trauma does to people and whether or not healing is possible. Because Bloober and I disagree on that point if The Medium is any indication, and while I know it’s very hard to break free from that kind of thing, and it takes a lot of work and struggle ... it needs to be possible. The original SH2 demonstrated that admirably with its various endings, only one of which is a true escape from a trauma cycle. Bloober really needs to remember that the Leave ending exists, and make it at least possible. Learn some lessons from the shit it took over The Medium.

[lavenderjacobs]

fluff alphabet - Sapnap

➳ wc; 2,1K (she’s a long one lol)  ➳ pronouns; gender neutral<3 ➳ song reccomendation; heart eyes - coin

A=Attractive (What do they find most attractive in a partner?)

nick’s an ass guy and you can’t convince me otherwise. he’s also just loves your thighs and your stomach. he loves how soft your skin is, and how good you smell. whenever he’s sad he just rests his head on your stomach while you tangle you fingers in his hair. 

B=Best memory (Their favourite memory of you)

he cherishes your first kiss so much. he just has such a soft spot for that memory. the moment he finally found out you felt the same about him, the moment he finally found out what your lips against his felt like. it’s just something he had looked forward to for forever, and to him, it was perfect. 

C=Cuddles  (What type of cuddles do they like?)

sapnap is a WHORE for cuddles. if it where up to him, you two would just lay in bed all day, tangled in each other’s arms. after a long day, he just wants to hold his favourite person and fall asleep with them, so he just wraps his arms around your waist while he uses your chest as a pillow. but if he’s in a chatty mood, he’ll just talk your ears off, ranting about something he finds interesting, while you’re all snuggled up in the crook between his neck and shoulder. 

D=Dirty mind (Do they have a dirty mind?)

I mean, come on. it’s sapnap. we all know he does. he gets *excited* very easily, which can sometimes get in the way when you two are just trying to cuddle. he just has such a soft spot for your body and has to have his way with you once certain ideas have entered his mind. 

E=Effort (How much effort do they put in the relationship?)

nick would definitely try his best. honestly you don't care if his plans actually turn out the way he intented them to, it's the thought that counts. and nick knows that. but theres just something about you that makes him want to spoil you and treat you like a princess. so prepare yourself for fancy dates, him making you your favorite food, all that type of stuff.

F=First date (What was your first date together)

arcade date arcade date arcade date. sap is super competitive and I feel like he would thrive in an arcade. he would play it off like he was just trying to proof how good he was at the arcade games. but he'd just love to see how hard you would be trying to beat him. obviously he'd let you win a lot, and when he collected enough tickets, he would get you the biggest prize he could find.

G=Gentle (How gentle are they with you?)

it....depends???? lmao. nick CAN be super gentle with you, he’s pretty protective of you and would never want you to get hurt, so he’s definitely very careful not to do anything to hurt you. but sometimes his instinct just kinda takes over and well, he can get pretty rough. 

H=Hands (Do they have nice hands?)

hmmm nick has like,,very manly hands,, if you know what i mean. i dont know, they're just so rough but yet so pretty??? and they're like really big compared to yours so when he holds ur hand, yours looks so tiny in his. and omg he won't shut up about it. "LOOK AT YOUR HANDS THEY'RE SO SMALL🥺"

I=Impression (What was their first impression?)

he just thought you were so ~cool~. like he immediately knew he wanted to be your friend. he was just so in awe of how funny, chill and charismatic you were. and it literally took two days for him to develop a crush on you. his friends would notice this right away and tease him about it so much omg.

J=Jealousy (Do they get jealous often? If so what do they do?)

YUP. nick gets jealous so easy yup yup yup. jealousy, protectiveness, possessiveness, you name it. you two would often get in fights about this, but most of the time you would just think it’s cute how riled up he gets. he doesn’t get mad at you (because you’re his precious little baby and can do no wrong in his eyes :D) but god help the souls of whoever tries to flirt with you, because they’ve got a hell of a storm coming.

K=Kisses (What type of kisses do they like/give?)

god nick’s such a passionate kisser. or at least he can be lol. he loves the way your face fits into his hands, and how soft your lips are. so he definitely is a fan of just some wholesome passionate kisses. but damn this man gets sloppy when he wants to. his lips constantly trails off to your jaw, neck and collar bones.

L=Love  (Do they show their love?)

i feel like his love language would be like a mix between words of affection and physical touch??? he’s definitely very verbal with his love for you. he doesn’t shy away from saying i love you or letting you know how much he appreciates you in any other way.

M=Memory: (Their favourite memory in general?)

there are certain moments where nick just sits back, watches, and realizes how amazing his life is. and how grateful he is to have you. for example, you were playing minecraft on his pc, and your house kept getting blown up by creepers, he found it adorable how mad you got every time. he just watched you play, while sitting on his bed. after a while, you looked over at him, and caught him staring. “what?” you asked after letting out a soft chuckle. he felt like he was gonna explode from how much he loved you. 

N=Nickname  (What nicknames do they call you?)  

i’m getting very strong “baby” and “doll” vibes from nick. he loves baby-ing you and smothering you with other loving nicknames. just any petnames that show how much he loves you he’s all for. he would also love calling you “pretty” or “beautiful” for obvious reasons. 

O=Over  (What happened the one time you ‘broke up’?)

nick HATES fighting with you, but once you two get into an argument he can get pretty carried away. he’s definitely the type to let his emotions get the upper hand on him. raising his voice a lot, stuff like that. but the second you leave to get some space he just breaks down. sliding down the wall and resting his face in his hands, just letting all the emotions out. he never meant to hurt you. when you came back to him, ready to be enclosed in his arms again, he had a hard time letting you back in. he just felt like he didn’t deserve you after he treated you like this. it took some convincing, but once you broke down his walls again, it was like he gave you all the love in his body. just smothering you with “i’m sorry”s and kisses. 

P=Parents (What would they be like as a parent?)

dilfnap dilfnap dilfnap  omg he’d be such a good dad. like just very caring and loving, but also strict and stern when he needs to be. he’d constantly be telling stories to the kids about the absurd adventures him and his friends would get into, and omg the dad jokes he’d make. idk maybe it’s my daddy issues but dad sapnap lives in my mind rent free. 

Q=Quirk (Something special about them)

he loves holding your hand. especially in public. if you’re in a crowded space, he just holds onto you very tightly as not to lose you. or if you two are just going on a walk together, his hands would just feel so warm and soft around yours. and omg he loves it when his hands are in his pockets, and you put your hands in there with him, and intertwine your fingers with his. hmmm he gets so soft when you do that.

R=Romantic (How romantic are they?)

i- uh- I MEAN HE WOULD TRY he really would, and again, that’s all that matters. I feel like he would be the type to try to prepare a whole surprise dinner, he would cook all the food himself, he would set the table all cute, with candles and shit, but just completely ruin the surprise by accidentally giving it all away by saying something or just behaving very obviously suspicious. 

S=Sad (What are they like when they’re sad?)

he just gets really quiet. he would never want to bother you or be a pain in the ass by complaining to you. but obviously you notice when something is wrong with ur bby boy. a sentence like “are you okay?” or “what’s wrong?” would immediately send him over the edge, burying his face in your chest, trying his best to supress his sobs. but he eventually calms down, and once he does, he’s able to just rant to you about whatever is bothering him.

T=Together (What are they like when you’re together?)

i feel like it would really depend on his mood, like he could be either SUPER chill, just wanting to savour the time you two had together. or he could be really hyper, constantly talking, wanting to do all kinds of activities with you. he’d be the literal definition of :D

U=Understanding (How understanding and empathetic are they?)

very. i just get such empathetic vibes from him. he’s such a good listener and he’ll just listen to you talk whenever you have something to be upset about. he never invalidates your feelings and omg he’d give the best advice. 

V=Value (What do they value most about the relationship?)

he loves that he can 100% be his self around you. there’s no part of his personality that he feels like he has to hide, or tone down, whenever he’s with you. you also aspire him to be his best self, he just wants to be the best boyfriend in the world. all his friends have noticed this too, you bring out the best in him.

W=Wedding (Would they want marriage? If so what would they like?)

eh. if you’re a person who really values marriage, he’d 100% do it for you. but it’s not like he HAS to. he gets a bit scared by the idea of this whole big event, where everything is about you two, he would way rather celebrate the love you two have in the comfort of your own home, just the two of you. the one thing he would love about a wedding, would be seeing you all dolled up, walking down the aisle, omg he’d be the proudest man ever to be able to call you his.

X=X-Ray (How well can they read you?)

the SECOND you start to feel sad or depressed in any way, nick notices immediately. he knows you better than anybody else, and he knows exactly what to do to cheer you up. it’s like his superpower. if you’re feeling anxious he’ll just wrap his arms around you really tightly, holding on to you until you calm down. and when you’re sad, and in need for something to cheer you up, he’ll take you outside for a walk in the park, or he’ll just sit in bed with you, watching your favourite show. 

Y=Yuck (What they would never want in a partner)

he hates when you flirt with his friend, even when you’re very obviously joking. his jealous ass can’t deal with that lmao. he also gets super pissed when his friends make flirtatious jokes towards you, they know how much it gets on his nerves and that’s really the only reason they do it. but omg he gets so pissed when it happens. 

Zzz (How do they sleep around you?)

nick would be the cutest sleeper ever omg. he doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves being little spoon. he loves resting his head on your chest, while you play with his hair, patiently waiting for him to fall asleep. 

[felassan]

Jon Renish (Foundation Technical Director @ BioWare, working on DA4) recently did a Twitch stream where he played through some DAO. Although he works on DA, this is his first time playing through DAO. He’s playing through it looking at random details from a dev perspective as he’s currently working on DA4 and therefore wants to know more about the previous games.

On the stream he mentioned some tidbits on the development of DA4. There were also some insights and anecdotes about the development of DAO and similar. It’s a 3 hour stream so I collected them here in case that’s of use to anyone (for example not everyone can watch streams which don’t have subtitles/captions). The stream is a fun/interesting watch though, so if you’re curious or able to watch I recc doing so. 😊 The rest of this post is under a cut for length.

Please note that there’s some paraphrasing on my part, this is not a transcript.  There are also some additions from another dev who featured on the stream to give some commentary. The stream also contains more snippets that at times I couldn’t make out (I tried my best!).

(There is a mention of Cullen’s VA in the text below.)

DA4

Jon said he can talk about things about DA4 that aren’t “consumer-facing”, but he can’t say anything about the game that would be consumer-facing but which isn’t already publicly available. There are several reasons for this. One, that’s not his job, there are people whose job this is and they let each other do their respective roles. Two, BW are a publicly-traded company, so if he said something that could affect that that would be insider trading. Three, they’re not done making DA4 yet, so if he said that they have added [x] to the game and people got all excited about that or pre-ordered on that basis, but [x] ended up being cut, people would be like ‘BioWare lied to us’, when it’s just that things changed during the course of development, as is often the case

He’s glad that fans are excited for the game but notes that fan expectations are always double-edged. It can be really tough as some people started ‘playing’ the game in their heads as soon as they heard of it. That’s fine, he loves that, but he hopes that peoples’ expectations don’t turn into requirements. Clearly BW have alluded to certain characters, like Solas, being in the game, but some fans say things like “If [say] Morrigan isn’t in the game, then, rahhh!” Y’know, there’s a lot of talk about how certain characters have to be in the game, and yeah.

On characters which are quantum (i.e. characters which can die or which can have similar end-states as death in previous games): their being quantum makes it really hard for the devs to work with those characters in subsequent games. The devs naturally aren’t going to put as much effort into characters which could have died previously. A character can have had an amazing appearance throughout/role in a previous game, but if there is a risk of something happening to them and of them being removed [effectively] from the plot, it just doesn’t make sense to have them as a major character in a subsequent game. If a character can, say, sacrifice themselves in some glorious ending, the devs have to make sure that if they use them again, in worldstates where the character didn’t do that, the character is kind of ‘muted’, as the devs don’t want to disrespect the players who made a different choice

A comment in chat expressed a wish for Shale in DA4. Jon’s response is that he has no idea on that front

Bugs don’t come out of crunch, they come out of development in general. Crunch does impact on the quality of a game though. In recent years BW are always really trying to reduce crunch, they’re currently working really hard to bring it down. The best way of doing that is by controlling scope. As creatives it’s tough to balance wanting to make great stuff and be industry-leading with the desire to constantly do extra passes over things they’ve created like the audio, art etc. Their biggest enemy is time, other ways of reducing crunch or time spent in general include iterating tools to make often-repeated processes as time-efficient as possible

I think the following was an observation on the industry in general as opposed to a BW-specific/-exclusive comment: he thinks that as a result of this sort of thing [working to reduce crunch], a lot of games are going to have to be smaller and a lot more focused in scope i.e. the devs will have to focus on hitting the key selling points of that particular game/series as hard as they can, and cut down on branching out sideways/wide on a bunch of random other stuff

Jon doesn’t personally engage in character creators in games, but he knows that for some players that expression is worth a lot of time and focus. BW want to be industry-leading in this kind of stuff as it’s something which is interesting/key/integral to their games

In a way BW have made their own nest of problems what with every DA game being so different to the previous one. Still, he notes that each game has a staunch fanbase that says that their particular favorite game is the best one in the series

He doesn’t want people who think that DA4 isn’t what they want to buy it and be upset - there are so many other great games out there! BW are going to make the game they’re going to make - if some people like it, that’s great, and if some people don’t, that’s cool. Sometimes waiting until reviews are out and/or really seeing beforehand if a game is something that you want [has things/features in it that you want] prior to getting it - as opposed to jumping right in or pre-ordering - is a good idea. Fans don’t always know what they want, but they do know what they like - these are 2 different things

He hopes that whatever they ship for DA4, people go “I enjoyed this experience”, and that then, if there’s additional content for it down the road, people can decide, “do I want this further content?”

On hair: BW are using the new hair technology in the latest version of the Frostbite engine, so they’ll see what they can do! This was said in response to a comment about the hair in the latest FIFA games (as EA make FIFA)

A comment in chat asked about a flying mechanic (griffons). Jon’s response is that flying is such a heavy gameplay mechanic that you can’t put it in a game without everything in the game being built about it (see Anthem)

Relating to the above comment, in DA4 mounted combat would be cool but then they’d have to make the game ‘around’ mounted combat and make the mounted combat feature meaningful

On the underwater concept art: it should not be interpreted as a promise of gameplay. BW have amazing artists who sit down for a couple weeks while they’re in early production and just draw loads and loads of all kinds of stuff. Concept art is like a moodboard or Pinterest board. Elsewhere in the stream he advised, take all the concept art together like a mosaic and ask, ‘what is the overall theme[s] here?’, and to zoom out from individual details. [This stuff echoes PW’s word on concept art]

BW don’t generally write things or the choices as bleak as the choices in DAO were anymore. This is a conscious choice on their part, they want their game to be fun [note: this was said when the side quest in Orzammar where the Warden has the option of convincing a dwarven mother to abandon her young baby to die was being played through. It seems to refer to intensively grimdark choices/beats of this kind]

I think this was more of a general comment on games: SSDs (solid state drives) mean that players will see shorter elevator rides (Mass Effect - was this a reference to the remaster?) and fewer switchback corridors (those are actually loading zones). Generally, these are going to change mechanically the time it takes to do stuff in games

The devs have lots of features on their backlog that they’d like to offer players but each will ofc involve implementation and subsequent maintenance, and each one that is chosen to add is being chosen over something else. And sometimes, it’s hard for them to tell if [x] feature or [y] feature would be better to add to the game

They’re about to work on a giant feature (a pure tooling feature, something that isn’t consumer-facing) that is probably going to take ~2 staff years of effort [I think “staff effort” includes multiple staff working concurrently, so 2 years of staff effort doesn’t = 2 years of time chronologically] to get done in the next few months. They’re investing all this effort across the people working on it because they don’t want their artists and designers etc to have to deal with the problem that it’s going to solve anymore. I’m not sure what this feature is but elsewhere in the stream they referred to tooling and automation and gave the example of, the better your tooling is, the fewer times you have to manually set the camera for a human vs elf vs dwarf position, for dynamically-generated [cinematic?] content and for the first pass to be automated (if this is the case, less time is spent/wasted on redoing it and manually touching it up) [see last bullet point in this section]

He doesn’t know how big DA4 is going to be but said “let’s ballpark and say like most games it’ll be somewhere between 70 and 100 GB”

If we kept our Wardens as the PC throughout all 3 games, at the end they would be so powerful that it’d be a bit like “Let’s just do [thing], I’ve killed gods before, whatever”. He thinks it’s good that they have fresh characters each time in DA in order to reset that power level. Some people want more Commander Shepard in the next Mass Effect and he feels like, ‘what else could you possibly want / what else could that character possibly do after 3 games?’

When asked how much freedom he/they have now to focus on next gen, he said that there’s actually almost no difference on that front. The problems never change. They now have better renderers, better ray-tracing, better graphics cards etc, but they have always made DA games for high- and low-spec PCs, so it’s actually about gameplay systems. The freedom isn’t power-based and them getting access to more cores and more RAM generally isn’t going to change how the games are played. The games still have to be made for hard drives on PC. Dev creativity matters more than power here. The challenge of building a BW game is more about/from managing loads of different plotstates, loads of different art pieces, etc

On the title situation (two): names are the last thing they worry about because names have to go through legal before being approved. Every name, including character names, has to be checked in case it’s a famous person, or associated with something bad, or offensive in a different language due to localization etc

They don’t do face scans of people with big beards

There was also a bit about changes/developments to/in the cinematic design process and associated tooling [?] but I found it too hard to follow sorry >< This bit of commentary begins at timestamp ~ 1:52:45 and continues til ~ 2:00:05 [keep listening through the bit where they pause for a cutscene]

General BW

There’s currently ~350 staff in Edmonton, ~200 in Austin and more elsewhere

He notes that DA games sell pretty well, but relative to EA games in general, they’re a drop in the bucket compared to FIFA

DAI

5% of players of DAI never created a character [Q: does this refer to people who just used the default appearances/presets with no editing, or people who only played multiplayer?]

The mounts don’t actually go faster than running, this is an illusion

I think they said it has 55,000 lines of dialogue. [I’m pretty sure I remember devs elsewhere saying it has 80,000 lines of dialogue]

One of the companions had to have their name changed during development because of legal/translation reasons. It sounds like the original name sounded too close to something offensive

DA2

Back when DA2 was internally code-named “Nug Storm”: this was at the beginning when it was pitched to the team on a set of slides. The image on the slide for that pitch had devil horns, a metal hand and no flesh, it was just made out of fire and flames

DAO

The engine DAO is made on is the third engine that they tried for it during development. [David Gaider has gone into the DAO engine stuff some on Summerfall’s series of DAO playthrough streams]

The cracks on the cracked eluvian asset are modelled after the crack on the Tardis in Doctor Who from around that time, as at the time some devs had been talking about Doctor Who a lot. A dev actually added this factoid to DAO’s entry on TV Tropes but someone else (evidently not a DA dev) came by and deleted it saying that it was too much of a stretch x)

Before the game had its name there was an HTML script that randomly generated possible titles for consideration, it adds verbs and nouns together e.g. “Grim Dark”. One of the craziest possibilities that it once generated that the devs always remember is "Bone Wind”

One of the portraits that’s used for decoration around the world in-game (it’s of a bearded human man) is actually of a specific BW staff member

He played through Stone Prisoner, where Wilhelm’s son Matthias gives exposition in the cellar. Matthias is voiced by GE and this had been pointed out to Jon earlier on. Jon: “I don’t think that character’s voice acting was super strong there”

On the in-game area towards the end of Stone Prisoner: Outdoor areas in games are large and one of the things needed for them is streaming, so different chunks can be ‘streamed in’. There’s a tower [?], and technically the top of the tower was made an outdoor level so that sky stuff could be there, though it didn’t really need to be. The person that made it an outdoor level chose the very smallest chunk size for the terrain mesh, which determines how fine of a streaming they do. So when playing, every time you moved like 4 meters, the game would stream out 50-100 chunks behind you and the same in front of you (this is the bubble around the player of what actually exists). Because it was so small, it was constantly thrashing the CPU and disc to do all the loading. The devs were like “this isn’t going to work”, but they barely had any time. The solution: they made a new level that was outdoor and copied all the sunlight and other settings, but with the largest chunk size. They copy-pasted the entire level from one to the other. The problem with that many chunks then is that there was a giant expanse of flat terrain sticking out of the middle of the tower. They didn’t know if the story was going to involve shots of the outside of the tower for this sequence or not, so they took the terrain deformation tool and bundled all the terrain vertices at the bottom of the tower in a giant clump. So to this day there’s a mess of vertices and twisted terrain at the bottom of the final level that probably no-one has ever seen [not sure though if this anecdote is in reference to a place in that DLC or somewhere elsewhere in the game?]

There were also some tidbits on Anthem, however I didn’t note them down (sorry).

If you think I misheard or misunderstood anything from this stream please let me know and I will edit/fix it. :) 

(Thankyou to some of my friends who explained a tech detail from this to me.)

[source]  <-- current rewatch link

[weatherman667]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 1112: How We Got Here:  Part I / III

General Ironwood stood at the head of a large board room. Looking around the room were a number of well dressed officers, all with 2 or 3 stars on their shoulders. "This briefing is classified Top Secret. You can take notes, but the notes must be left in this room." The generals looked down at their note paper, of which had Top Secret written at the top and bottom. "Before anyone asks, this is all true." Some murmuring was heard Ironwood turned to the main screen. He clasped the hands behind his back as Salem's picture appeared. "This is Salem." He said, and turned back around, clasping his hands behind his back. "No surname, as she is from before surnames."

Ironwood heard several questions being uttered, "SILENCE! There will be time for questions later, but we have a lot to get through."

One of the Major-Generals raised her hand. "Kant." Ironwood stated, and she stood up.

"How much?" she asked.

"The entire history of Remnant." Ironwood stated, only for an uproar to quickly brew. "SILENCE!" he shouted, and they call quieted up, a few of them taking notes, the rest simply awestruck. "Before Humanity as we knew it, Humans lived in a world with the brother gods that created them." Again, questions appeared, "SILENCE!" he shouted, and the room was once again silent except for the sound of pencils and pens on paper. "The Humanity of this world used magic. Salem, after the loss of her love, pleaded with the gods to restore him, and they refused. She lead Humanity in rebellion against her creators. We don't know exactly what happened, but Humanity was undone. Salem was cursed to walk the earth until she learns value of life or death. She tried to kill herself several times. One of them was in a Grimm pit. Which, yes, Grimm spawn from pits, but we'll get to that later. She returned looking like this, looking for a way to die."

Ironwood paused for a moment, taking in a good breath, he turned to the screen and Oscar appeared, "This is Oscar Pines, current incarnation of Ozma. Ozma was the one that Salem loved. The Brothers brought him back to try and stop Salem. Her goal was the Relics. Creation, Destruction, Knowledge, and Choice. Each Relic is locked behind a door that can only be opened by the appropriate Maiden. Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall. Each of the four Relics is in it's own Academy, which was the true purpose behind the attacks. Other than some Faunus terrorists who legitimately wanted to destroy them. Yes, this is why we have been unable to explain the true purpose of the attacks. Creation is protected by the Atlasian Home Fleet, and the Atlas Huntsman Academy. Knowledge cannot be used for a hundred years, and is... protected by a certain individual. You might suspect who it is, but you will keep such speculation to yourself. If anything happens to it, the entire force of the Atlasian military will move to stop them. Uncertainty can sometimes be part of the plan. When all four of the Relics are reunited, the Brothers will return, and end Remnant."

He breathed in deeply, "Next we have the creatures of Grimm. As was said, they are born in pits. While Salem does not make them, she can affect their development, and has been responsible for the changes we've seen over the centuries. The pits are on The Dragon, which is why it has the highest concentration of Grimm. This is also why Atlantis is located where it is. All information on all Grimm that have been recorded, and Atlantis will be held in this room."

He paused, and looked at the screen. On it RWBY + JNIR + PC + N appeared, and he turned back to the seated generals. "This is the House of Arc Nouveau." A few hands were lifted, "I'll explain that later, but for now, we talk about their combat abilities. They are, militarily, the most powerful force in the history of Remnant. They fought at both the Battle of Hart to Hart and The Dragonrend." He then paused and breathed in deeply, "I still hate those names." A number of hands were raised, "The soldiers like them, unfortunately, so the names are staying. Now, a bit a reminder, before The Great War, we had landed knights. Since, we've had Huntsmen. The Atlas Special Operations Command Unit has brought some into the military, but the vast majority of Huntsmen were still independent, moving in small teams at most. What exactly happened is hard to say, other than esprit de corps. Whatever it was, they act as a unit, the largest unit of Aura users Remnant has ever known. All of their files will be in this room."

He then breathed in deeply before looking back at the screen as SWOR appeared. He looked back to the generals. "This is Specialists Winter Schnee, Gaigun Wyard, Susan o'Onagh, and Belle Rophon. As you might know, Winter is my most trusted operative, and the rest are her team from Atlas Academy." He then looked back at the screen and the Hunting Paladins appeared, "The Jagdpaladins. A group of prototype Paladins, designed to fight with the power of Huntsmen. Their first main combat use was at the Dragonrend, and they were extremely successful. While we are using some of the developed technologies, we knew they would be too difficult to mass produce."

He breathed in and looked at the screen. "This is the First Roboticized Brigade Group. They primarily use Knights 2A2, organized into Drop Companies. Each Drop Companies has a platoon of infantry, three platoons of Knights 2A2, and an enhanced troop of Paladins." He looked at the screen, and a picture of Ironman Paladins appeared with a 4x beside it, Cormorant Paladins with a 2x, Phalanx Paladins with a 2x with a parenthesis with a White Knight and a 4x, and lastly Dullahans with a 2x next to them. Ironwood then turned back to the hollow table with it's sleek, Atlasian design. "1Robot is primarily defensive, primarily due to the limitations of traditional Knights, with a heavy focus on construction. Meaning they can basically drop down and build a castle."

Ironwood looked at the screen, and Dragon Knights, with shoulders bearing the Dragon Rampant Or on an Escutcheon. "The Second Roboticized Brigade Group, the Sunlit Dragoons. They are composed almost entirely of Dragon Knights, and they can move dramatically on the battlefield."

He breathed in deeply, "Remember when I said I would explain the House of Arc Nouveau, well Jaune Arc has been declared an Earl by a being that has existed since before even the original Humans." He looked to the screen and a dark photo of a woods appeared. As they peared into it, they could barely see the red eyes staring back at them, "This is not computer graphics, or an artists rendering, but the best photo we have of him. He is the Black Hart of the Woods, and declared Jaune Arc Earl over Minas Levain, and the woods below them. It seems he had never seen a Faunus before. Anyways, since, we have also seen the Golden Dragon of Sunlight, The Azure Jay of Starlight, and The Black Jaguar of Night. Now, when Specialist Schnee first met the Black Hart of the Woods, she asked if he could help us in protecting Remnant, and his reply that he could not because, and I quote, 'We lack choice.' Choice being one of the four aspects of Man, which The Brothers did not give to their earlier creations."

Ironwood breathed in deep and looked at the screen. A blurry, distant picture of Evernight Castle appeared. "This is Evernight Castle, the home of Salem. This is the best photo we have. Other than this, the only things we know about the castle is that it's surrounded by Grimm pits, and it's location. And now for the Maidens, we know of two of them. One, the Spring Maiden, is Raven Branwen, former bandit who has since been working with us. The second, the Fall Maiden is Cinder Fall. She used to work with Salem as her top agent, until they have since parted ways. Current location is unknown."

He then turned to the screen, and a picture appeared of the cave during the Dragonrend. Salem stepped out of the cave, only to be impaled from above by Penthesilea. She was then struck by Nora's hammer that utterly crushed her body. The screen then paused, "The next part will be done in a time-lapse." The screen showed day turning into night, and night turning into day, Salem's body slowly returning together, to many shocks and gasps. A tiny, red and pale form could be seen for a moment before disappearing "Just so you know this is not a fairy tale, we have as much corroborating information as we can here."

He stopped talking and looked at the group, waiting for their faces to turn from shocked to curious. "Now, what we are going to do with this?" Ironwood asked, and the blurry picture of Evernight Castle appeared, "We could siege the castle. We have no idea what we will face inside, but the Huntsmen can deal with that. What we need is a plan for a sustained siege. This could last for months. While our military is more projectable than any other military in Human history, the public no longer has the heart for sustained conflict in a warzone."

Kant raised her hand, "Kant?" he asked.

"Is that why you are using the Roboticized Brigade Groups?" Kant asked.

"Short answer, yes." Ironwood replied. "We are going to ramp up production, along with accelerating the training of any soldiers in the Roboticized Brigade Groups. Long story short, Atlas is going to war, even if we don't need the people." He then looked at the screen, and the fan-out for the Atlantis Fleet appeared, "The Atlantis Fleet is of course going to be essential to this operation. Now, I'm sure a lot of you think you have questions, but I can assure you that you don't have enough information to even be asking them. So, for the first few days, you will be in this room, studying as much as you can, and then we answer questions and start to build up a strategy. And before anyone asks, we have 4 Yeahs from the Atlas Council. The Chambre of Commerce is still trying to cover up their complicity to replace Bluebonnet."

Kant then raised her hand again. "Kant?" Ironwood asked.

"Wasn't there a Third Roboticized Brigade Group?"

"The Third and Fourt Roboticized Brigade Groups are still under development, though the fourth is nearing field trials. information will be made available as soon as the pieces come together. We do have the theory and technical details behind any of the models in development."

* * *

Yang walked down the rocky ramparts with her motorcycle on her shoulder.

* * *

Yang rode slowly over the ground up to Ilia, whom raised her eyebrows a couple of times.

"I was hoping for a ride on, you know, streets?" Ilia asked. Yang immediately looked dejected, and Ilia quickly moved over to slip on the bike behind her. They slowly rode along as Yang turned the bike towards the lambs still clustered around the horses. The lambs made way for her to pull in, only to quickly crowd in around her.

"What?!" Yang asked, "No. Shoo." she said, as the lambs swarmed in around her. "Shoo." she said, as Ilia reached out to start petting them. "Hey, stop that." Yang lightly admonished her, and Ilia just smiled brilliantly in reply, moving her other hand out to pet another lamb. The horses managed to slip out, and turned back around to look at her. "Yeah, yeah." Yang said to them. Hildegard eagerly whinnied at her. "Oh, yeah?" Yang asked. Ilia found herself being picked up and thrown over towards the horses. Yang put down her kickstand down and leapt to join ilia. She jumped up on Hildegard, an then held her hand down to Ilia. Ilia grabbed it and Yang helped her up onto Brunhilde.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted, and Petal Burst near them.

"Too slow." Yang shouted, and Ruby jumped at her. Ilia opened her shield to deflect Ruby.

"We probably shouldn't on the horses." Ilia simply said.

"Of course you shouldn't!" Conan shouted as he ran up. "Get off of her."

"I..." Yang tried ot say.

"Right now!" Conan shouted.

Yang sighed and dismounted. She then turned to Hildegard, "I'm, like, sorry..." she shyly said.

"The Hildes are gentle girls." Conan said, and started gently scratching her face, "You're okay, aren't you?" Hildegard lightly snorted.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby said to Hildegard.

"They understand, but it might be best to have others take their turn right now." Conan stated.

"Yeah... yeah..." Yang dejectedly said.

"In good news, it seems like the lambs like your motorcycle." Conan said with a bright smile.

"Is that really a good thing?" Yang asked.

"Have you seen a sheep cyclone?" Conan asked.

"Oh, man, that was hilarious." Yang said, and looked at the lambs, "Wait, what?"

"You have two choices with sheep. Friend or enemy." Conan replied. "Your motorcycle is apparently their friend."

Yang audibly sighed. "You know what? I'm going to go pick a fight with the ram." She then walked up to a minor crest and shouted out, "Hey, fuck face!" she shouted, and the ram looked at her, Ilia's face filled with shock.

"What's up?" Ruby asked.

"That... that's..." Ilia voiced.

"Yes?" Ruby asked.

"That's how you name an animal." Ilia barely voiced.

"So, his name is Fuck Face?" Ruby asked.

"He thinks it is." Ilia voiced. The two looked at Yang who was eagerly walked over to the Ram.

* * *

Blake and Ilia rode over to Jaune and Weiss atop their mounts, "M'Lord?" Ilia asked, causing Ruby to snicker in the distance and Blake to develop a cheshire grin.

"Yes?" Jaune asked.

"So, uh, Yang is, maybe unintentionally, naming the ram Fuck Face."

"Oh, for..." Jaune sighed.

[thecreaturecodex]

Thri-Kreen

Image by Brian Despain, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Monster Manual II Art Gallery here

[The thri-kreen was never meant to be a PC race. At least, not originally. They originally appeared in the AD&D Monster Manual II with 6 Hit Dice and a load of special abilities. In Dark Sun, thri-kreen player characters didn’t get all of these abilities all at once, but were partitioned out over the first six levels. The ones with racial HD were called “tohr-kreen”... which then got retconned when 6 HD thri- and tohr-kreen both existed separately later in 2nd edition. The tohr-kreen were forgotten for a long while. 3e made thri-kreen a race with 2 HD and used their level adjustment system. I certainly played a thri-kreen character that abused the heck out of the Multiweapon Fighting chain. 4e toned them down to be a bit more in tune with the player powers of the rest of their Dark Sun races, and 5e went back to the AD&D 1e model, where they are just monsters, not player characters at all.

So I had a lot of history to choose from. I wanted to make them PCs, but that required toning them down significantly from their 3e levels. I created feats that help them get more towards that value, but still not entirely. PFRPG is much stingier with multiple attacks than 3.x was, and a PC race with five attacks from the get-go is right out. A lot of their mechanical flavor has already been swiped by Pathfinder races (the kasatha got the deserts and four arms; the trox got the big bugginess and natural attacks), so I wanted to make sure they were differentiated. I consulted with my friend @bowelfly​ for what they thought were vital to the feel of a thri-kreen, as they are a connoisseur of bug people.]

Thri-kreen CR ½ CN Monstrous Humanoid (kreen) This humanoid mantis is a dusty yellow color. It has four arms, but two seem to be its primary ones. It wears little clothing and carries multiple strange weapons.

The thri-kreen are sometimes called “mantis warriors”, as this describes both their physical appearance and their cultural values. Thri-kreen are nomadic hunters, and combine keen loyalty with a fierce need for competition. Members of a clan would hardly consider betraying one another, but they jockey constantly for position, and fights to the death are not unheard of to obtain a leadership role from a leader considered past their prime. They are skilled and patient hunters, moving frequently to avoid depleting prey items or causing undue ecological stress. Thri-kreen mate for life, and the care of the young is shared between all members of the clan. They grow to adulthood quickly, being mature within 5 years of age, and are considered ancient if they live to the age of 35. Thri-kreen often decorate their chitin exoskeletons with etchings and paints, the latter only for special occasions.

Thri-kreen prefer to attack from ambush, using their ability to change color to hide and their remarkable leaping ability to spring to the attack. The weapons of a thri-kreen are among their only possessions, and are thus well cared for. The primary melee weapon used by thri-kreen is a two-headed, crescent-bladed polearm called a gythka (treat as an orc double axe). As ranged weapons they use oversized shuriken known as chatkcha (treat as a starknife). Unusually, armor is only worn by the boldest and most confident thri-kreen, as it interferes with their camouflage abilities.

Thri-kreen advance by character class. Most of them choose classes with a full base attack bonus, like fighter, ranger or brawler. Their spellcasters are typically psychics, especially with the lore or self-perfection disciplines. Those that cast divine spells are usually druids—they do not trust gods, which they cannot see or taste, as opposed to natural forces which they can.

Thri-kreen as Player Characters Thri-kreen do not have racial Hit Dice, and advance by character class. A thri-kreen character has the following attributes

+2 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Cha Thri-kreen are nimble and tough, but have alien minds and emotions. Monstrous Humanoid Thri-kreens are not subject to spells and effects that target humanoids only Medium Size A thri-kreen gains no benefits or penalties from its size Low-light vision +1 natural armor Normal Speed Bite A thri-kreen gains a bite attack as a primary natural weapon that deals 1d4 points of damage Chameleon Skin (Ex) A thri-kreen can change the color of its carapace to match its environment. It gains a +4 racial bonus to Stealth checks if it is wearing no armor and only light clothing. If wearing light armor, or clothing that covers the body, it gains a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. If wearing medium or heavy armor, it gains no bonus. Master Leaper (Ex) A thri-kreen gains a +4 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks made to jump. It takes no penalty to Acrobatics checks made to jump without taking a running start. If it does take a running start, it doubles the distance covered. Secondary Arms (Ex) The secondary arms of a thri-kreen cannot be used to wield weapons or shields, but can be used to draw or stow small objects as a swift action. They can be used to provide somatic components even if both hands are full. Weapon Familiarity (Ex) A thri-kreen treats starknives as a simple weapon, and treats orc double axes as a martial weapon. Languages Thri-kreen start play speaking Kreen. A thri-kreen with an Intelligence bonus may choose from the following languages: Common, Dwarf, Elven, Gnoll, Halfling, Sylvan.

Statistics for a sample thri-kreen character, and feats for thri-kreen characters, under the cut

Thri-kreen ranger 1           CR 1/2 XP 200 CN Medium monstrous humanoid (kreen) Init +3; Senses low-light vision, Perception +5 Defense AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +1 natural) hp 12 (1d10+2) Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee double axe +3 (1d8+3/19-20), bite -2 (1d4+1) or double axe +1 (1d8+2/x3), double axe +1 (1d8+1/x3), bite -2 (1d4+1) or bite +3 (1d4+3) Ranged starknife +4 (1d6+2/x3) Special Attacks favored enemy (magical beasts +2) Statistics Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 6 Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 16 Feats Two-Weapon Fighting Skills Acrobatics +4 (+8 when jumping), Climb +6, Heal +5, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +5, Stealth +11, Survival +5 (+6 following tracks); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Stealth Languages Kreen SQ chameleon skin, mighty leap, track +1, secondary arms, weapon familiarity, wild empathy -1 Ecology Environment warm deserts and plains Organization solitary, pair, gang (3-6), patrol (7-12 plus 1 leader of 3rd level) or clan (13-40 plus 50% noncombatants, plus 1-3 leaders of 3rd-7th level) Treasure NPC gear (double axe, two starknives, other treasure)

Thri-kreen Feats A thri-kreen’s body and mind can develop in unexpected ways over the course of their lives, enhancing their natural abilities. Thri-kreen may choose from the following feats

Chitinous Claws (Combat Feat) Your fingers end in sharp claws instead of dull points. Prerequisites Improved Unarmed Strike, kreen subtype Benefit: Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, as you choose.

Effective Limbs (Combat Feat) You have trained your secondary limbs until they are as strong as ordinary arms Prerequisites Str 17+, base attack bonus +6, kreen subtype Benefit You may use your secondary limbs to wield weapons, hold shields and do anything else a limb can do.

Improved Chameleon Skin You have great control over your ability to change color Prerequisites Wis 13+, character level 3rd, kreen subtype Benefit Your racial bonus to Stealth checks when unarmored increases to +8. When wearing light armor or covering clothing, it decreases to +4.

Improved Venomous Bite (Combat Feat) You can produce paralytic enzymes at an incredible rate Prerequisites Con 15+, base attack +9, kreen subtype, Venomous Bite Benefit You may use the poison from your  Venomous Bite feat a number of times per day equal to your level + your Constitution modifier.

Tohr-Kreen Casting You can tap into the magic of the mantis nobles Prerequisites Intelligence 13+, character level 5th, kreen subtype Benefit You gain the following spell-like abilities. 3/day—mage hand; 1/day—blur, invisibility. You use your Hit Dice as your caster level, and your Intelligence modifier for concentration checks.

Venomous Bite (Combat Feat) You can produce paralytic enzymes in your saliva Prerequisites Con 13+, base attack +4, kreen subtype Benefits You may choose to inflict poison on a creature you hit with your bite attack a number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier Kreen Poison; bite—injury; save 10 + ½ Hit Dice + Constitution modifier; duration 1/round for 2 rounds; effect 1d4 Dex damage; cure 1 save.

[sigmalied]

This year is paradoxically empty yet extremely eventful for me. I started journaling again in January, started growing plants from seeds in my windowsill, launched my website and learned a lot of coding, had to let go of a relationship that i valued and cherished so much and tried so hard to save but couldn’t, saw a therapist and learned more about the nature of trauma (got through some really fucking bad anxiety, god the shaking at night was the worst, but I made it through), did some wild stuff that makes for great stories for the rest of my life, made new friends, had a little fling with someone in the same boat as me, held a lot of new babies in my family, went to my first pride event(s), experimented with (safe) drugs for the first time since high school, built my first pc and booted it into bios on the first try, got involved with tons of exciting ongoing “corporate intrigue” at my work, went on a lot of fun casual dates all over SoCal, started using my new coding skills to plan and start developing a game I’ve been wanting to make since college… And I learned a lot of things, some of them good and hopeful and some of them straight up depressing, like I learned just how capable I am and how I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to, I gained more self-respect and determination, but then there’s this sea of anxiety and fear, I’ve become so guarded and distant and just not at all eager to let anyone get too close to me and that is currently an immense hurdle for me to get over because it’s like… what is the point of doing anything without being capable of interpersonal intimacy. life gradually becomes meaningless. I can’t let myself stay like this forever. It’s the most important thing for me to overcome right now

[aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide]

Evocations: XIV (a)

Keeping a secret - any secret - when dating a detective is serious work. When that detective is Olivia, well . . . Alexandra acknowledged that she was embarking on her very own Mission: Impossible plot. It was, in this instance, a lucky thing that the blonde was as hard-headed as her lover.

To that point, Alex's interactions with Elliot Stabler had been limited, and strictly professional. However, Cabot knew enough to know that Elliot was basically Liv's only other friend in the wide world, so approaching him was as necessary as it was awkward.

Wanting to keep things familiar, Alex had invited him to a simple coffee, in the cafe on the ground floor of the courthouse. She had expressly told him to make sure Olivia didn't tag along, so when he approached the table where she'd been anxiously shredding her napkin, Alexandra gazed behind him, searching the entrance suspiciously.

"I'm a detective, too, Alex," he grinned, "I know if I'm being followed."

"I know," she exhaled, a little too quickly. "It's not you I don't trust."

Chuckling, he dropped into the chair across from her. "What's up, Alex?"

The blonde took a deep breath and blurted, "I'm going to ask Olivia to marry me."

Stabler blinked and looked at the ADA for a long quiet moment, as she tried to read his face. Alex was fully aware of how close the two partners were, and while she never worried about Liv hiding anything, there had been more than one red flag that made her question Stabler's feelings.

Still, that wasn't why they were there.

"Mazel tov," Elliot finally replied, smiling broadly. "Good for you."

Alexandra sipped her coffee, tucked her hair behind her ears. "Do you think she'll marry me?"

The broad, balding cop furrowed his brows and chuckled awkwardly. "Are you serious? Alex, she's been head over heels for you since the get. I've never seen anything make her happier!"

Cabot blushed and stared at her coffee cup.

"You buy a ring yet?" he asked.

"Not yet. Three months' salary . . . is that still a thing?"

"I thank God I was hardly making shit when I married Kathy," he said wryly. "But I can't say how that translates to two women. Make your own traditions," he suggested.

"Well, if we're going to get technical," Alex said, slipping easily back into lawyer-mode, "we can't legally marry here. Not yet anyway."

Elliot shrugged. "Someday," he said with a smile.

She hadn't decided how she would propose yet, or when, exactly, so the rest of their coffee meet went by quickly. Alex had been expecting an awkward hug before Elliot returned to the precinct. Instead, he touched her arm briefly, before he turned to give her an unreadable, soft look, then was gone.

.

.

Alex's time was running short.

There was no way that she was going to get away for much longer with the secretive behaviors she had developed. For example, she had started obsessively assessing every piece of jewelry that Olivia owned for ring inspiration. When they went on walks and passed jewelry stores, Alexandra lingered at window displays, running numbers in her head and comparing styles.

She had been distracted and daydream-y, while stashing ring brochures and nightly clearing related searches from her work PC and cell phone. Soon enough, Liv would have questions.

Some decisions had been easy, others were still up in the air. Alex had no interest in being overly traditional, but non-traditional didn't mean she didn't want things to be elegant. She was a perfectionist, after all.

One weekend afternoon, waiting in line at their usual coffee spot, Alex picked up a magazine to flip through. As the pages fanned past, she caught sight of a ring ad and thumbed back to it. Olivia wasn't paying attention, having decided to try a new drink that day, her eyes on the menu.

Alexandra's heart pounded. Her mouth ran dry. It was it - the ring. The one. It was subtle, a small pear-cut diamond, in a fine rose gold setting with an infinity twist band. Alex had been hunting for something subtle, as Olivia was very private, especially about her relationships.

"Lex," Liv said, "did you hear me?"

"No, sorry, what?" Alex answered, forcing herself to close the magazine slowly so as to not draw attention to it.

"I'm going to try that cold brewed thing. With lots of cream."

"Got it," the blonde nodded. "Why don't you go find a seat and I'll order for us?"

When Olivia had moved off toward the back of the shop, Alex opened the magazine again, memorized the ring's name and the company for the ad, then dropped the magazine back in the rack. Texting the info to herself, she took a deep breath and smiled.

.

.

Elliot and Olivia were shoulders-deep in their current case when an average-looking man in a button-up and creased dress pants approached their desk in the precinct bullpen.

"Olivia Benson?" he asked. His voice was kind.

"Yeah. That's me," she said tiredly.

He held out an envelope. "You've been served." He offered her a lopsided smile as Liv took the envelope, then he exited as quietly as he had arrived.

"Not the DEA already, is it?" Elliot asked, raising a eyebrow.

Liv worked the envelope open and slipped out the paper from inside. Elliot watched the expression on her face change from curious concern to amusement as she read, and when she was done, she chuffed out a half-laugh.

"Not the DEA. It's from Alex," Olivia told him. "Apparently she's 'subpoenaing' me to a formal dinner."

Elliot smiled, immediately thinking of his clandestine coffee with the tall, happy blonde. "Creative," he commented, hiding his sneaking recognition of the date's importance.

But very soon . . . Olivia and Elliot would find themselves standing across from Alexandra, asking for a warrant to search Rafael Zapata's yacht, and from there . . .

From there, things would move quickly from bad, to worse, to a nightmare.

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy XIII Review

Year: 2009

Original Platform: PlayStation 3

Also available on: Xbox 360, PC, Android, iOS

Version I Played: PlayStation 3

Synopsis:

On the planet Cocoon, those who come into contact with anything from the planet Pulse are purged to that planet. Pulse is a feared planet full of monsters and strange creatures. Both planets are ruled by fal’Cie, mechanical godlike beings who sometimes brand humans as their servants for specific tasks, called a focus. Those who fulfill their focus are turned into crystals and obtain eternal life. Those who do not fulfill their focus turn into mindless monsters. Lightning is a former soldier whose sister, Serah, is branded by a fal’Cie and taken to be purged. Lightning sets off to rescue her.

Gameplay:

Going to say this now – the worst gameplay in the entire Final Fantasy series.

The battles are Active Time Battles but instead of you inputting individual commands, there are what’s called paradigms. Paradigms are somewhat like Job Classes from the old Final Fantasy games, except less fun and more automated. You can switch to a Medic paradigm in battle and every time you press “Auto-Battle” your character automatically performs a series of necessary cure and restore spells, based on what’s going on in the battle. The Sentinel paradigm specializes in keeping the enemy at bay. The Ravager paradigm uses magic. The Commando paradigm uses physical attacks. You get the picture.

As a result, the gameplay could be best described as:

With occasional switching of paradigms whenever you see fit. You can set up a number of combinations across the characters. Two Commandos and one Sentinel. One Sentinel and one Ravager and One Commando, etc.

The party automatically heals after each battle – you can even press start during a battle and restart the battle.

I probably only used an item once or twice. I honestly don’t see why they bothered putting any items if you hardly ever use them.

You can upgrade your weapons with pieces and junk you find after battles. You find so many of them that you hardly ever think about what you’re upgrading so long as whatever you make upgrades your stats. Is this better? No? What about this? Okay, good. Moving on.

Like Final Fantasy X, the game is linear. Much more linear. You follow a long hallway for about 30 hours of the game before you can do sidequests. The sidequests involve completing other people’s focus. That’s about it. There are no towns, no inns, no villages. You are entirely on the road, constantly in battle (Okay, there’s like one time where Sazh and Vanille are in a casino or something but that’s about it).

I wrote a blog piece a while back about what exactly was wrong with Final Fantasy XIII, and it’s not that it’s linear. We play really great linear games all the time. It’s the automation – the feeling that you’re not really doing anything.

There isn’t an ounce of customization. Leveling up is similar to the Sphere Grid of Final Fantasy X. It’s called the Crystarium but it follows a strict path. You can’t actually stray anywhere or customize anything. If that’s the case, why bother making you open the menu to level up through the Crystarium? Why not just automatically do it? I guess they want to give you some ounce (more like a milligram) of control over the game.

Basically – you’re watching a long movie and occasionally get to move the people around. That’s how I see it.

Graphics:

PLAYSTATION 3 HD GRAPHICS HOMG DO YOU HAVEA BONER YET? LOOK AT THIS. FIRST FINAL FANTASY GAME IN GLORIOUS HD.

Everything is pretty in this game. Everything. There is nothing wrong with this at all.

Story:

The characters appear to reference those in Final Fantasy VII. Director Motomu Toriyama wanted Lightning to essentially be a female Cloud Strife. She’s a no-nonsense, athletic female lead. While Cloud and Squall were introspective and antisocial, Lightning is slightly different by actively ordering people around. She comes off as a dick to everyone, and that’s due to her ex-soldier background. Think of your stereotypical ex-cop/ex-CIA/ex-military action movie hero, like Liam Neeson (Bryan Mills in Taken) or Bruce Willis (John McClane in Die Hard). That’s basically Lightning.

Can we go on a short tangent for a moment to talk about how weird it is that Lightning was also used as a model for advertising in Japan?

Here she is driving a Nissan.

And wearing Louis Vitton.

Cool? I guess? Unless you start to realize that Toriyama wanted to design his own personal waifu, and that he’s completely obsessed with her. That gets really weird. And sad? A little? Anyway.

Vanille has some reminiscent of Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII, although with more character via her inner monologues and narration. Fang is vaguely like Vincent Valentine. Sazh takes the place of Barrett as the token black dude, except instead of being aggressive he’s more like the comic relief and wants nothing to do with anything. Every time you control him, jazz music plays, because black people I guess. Hope doesn’t appear to be reminiscent of anyone – he’s just this boy who yells and complains a lot with Lightning. Snow meanwhile is a ripoff of Zell from Final Fantasy VIII, except somehow even more annoying.

(Every time I see his picture I think about your typical dude bro at a frat.)

The story starts of a bit choppy as you follow almost each character separately, then they run into each other, then separate again, then join again. The first 30 hours or so gives flashbacks of 13 days prior- BECAUSE IT’S FINAL FANTASY XIII GET IT? Vanille actually narrates some events but it’s not exactly clear why or from when – but that’s a spoiler. Along the way, I got really confused because I didn’t know why some people were fighting each other when they were on the same side a moment ago. The concept of the “focus” is really weird and sometimes confusing. People with a focus simply have visions or a general idea of what they’re supposed to do, but they don’t actually know for sure unless they actively seek it. If the gods granted them a focus, wouldn’t it make more sense if the gods just told them what to do? Seemed to work in Final Fantasy XII. 

In short, the narrative weaves around a lot. If you stop playing in the middle and pick up the game again months later, you’re bound to forget what’s going on. I know I did.

The characters didn’t annoy me as much as you would think they would on paper. They all have character development and that’s good. The only character that effectively got on my nerves was Snow. Snow is Serah’s fiancé, and Lightning hates him because of course you need some family drama. I don’t blame Lightning though. Snow shouts cheesy lines left and right, like “Heroes never die!”. He shouts Serah’s name the same way Christian Bale shouts Rachel’s name in the Christopher Nolan Batman films. Snow is quite possibly the most irritating character of all the Final Fantasy games. He will not shut the fuck up about what it means to be a hero.

The rest of the cast works well in that their motives and desires clash with each other. But I’m still sore about the wasted potential for a great character in Jihl Nabaat. Sazh wants his son Dejh back, who was taken to be purged by the sinister and extremely hot Jihl Nabaat.

 Goddaaayyyum. Seriously, look at her.

Too bad, because she’s only featured in a handful of scenes and then dies. Her death isn’t a major spoiler, at least one that I consider, because she hardly does anything except get in the way for a moment. You don’t even fight her. How lame is that?

Then you have this annoying bastard – Primarch Dysley.

When I think of him, I think of Mitch McConnell.

Old. Disagreeable. Been in power for too long. Always in the way of progress.

Primarch Dysley happens to be as annoying as Seymour from Final Fantasy X, so expect to be overjoyed every time you run into him.

Overall, the story isn’t as bad as you’d think. You just have to pay close attention. The gameplay is far worse than the story. I could easily slip into a coma while playing this game and still make it pretty far.

Music:

Final Fantasy XII saw the departure of Nobuo Uematsu (well with the exception of the pop song “Kiss Me Goodbye”). Final Fantasy XIII continues to head into the unknown without the beloved longtime composer. This game’s score is composed entirely by Masashi Hamauzu, who if you haven’t been paying attention, already partly worked on Final Fantasy X.  I immediately saw how “Saber’s Edge”, the boss theme, is similar in nature to the boss theme of Final Fantasy X.

Final Fantasy XIII made the most radical changes to the score. There are no signature themes from the series. No “Prelude” theme, no “Main Theme”, no “Victory Fanfare” theme. Instead, we get a theme called “Fabula Nova Crystallis”.  It plays frequently throughout the game, and almost acts as Serah and Snow’s love theme. In some portions of the game, some woman is singing along. Yes – this is the first time where you roam around a world in a Final Fantasy game with actual pop music playing in the background – “Sunleth Waterscape” to be exact. Final Fantasy XIII’s music gets pretty poppy.

Not saying it’s a bad idea.

Just.

You got pop music playing in the background now.

“Lightning’s Theme” is pretty sick. Her theme plays during the battles in a rendition called “Blinded by Light” – HA GET IT BECAUSE SHE’S LIGHTNING. SO CLEVER.

But Hamauzu was a good choice – the entire score holds up well and sounds like a movie score, with varying motifs running across. It can be a bit more subdued but that’s how contemporary instrumental music is nowadays, especially with film composers like Hans Zimmer.

 Notable Theme:

“Blinded by Light”

Really epic, unique song. I always scat along to it as it plays.

Verdict:

Uff. 

Look, if you just search on YouTube for all the cutscenes, there you go. That’s the game. And it’s entertaining to watch. But it has the worst gameplay that doesn’t feel like you’re even doing anything. No sense of customization or originality.

Direct Sequel?

Yes, two.

Final Fantasy XIII-2.

I started it around the time it first came out, but I’m still in the middle of playing it and I have no idea what’s going on in the story. NO idea. NONE at all. They use time travel but none of it makes sense. Apparently changing things in the future can change the past. I don’t know how. I only understand a vague semblance of a plot with the bad guy Caius. While it doesn’t tarnish the dignity of the original like Final Fantasy X-2 did, it’s still offbeat with its metal (yes, metal) music and utterly confounding story. It’s infamous for this metal rendition of the sweet and innocent Chocobo theme.

Then there’s the third game, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I plan on playing it after I finish Final Fantasy XIII-2, if I don’t already die from an aneurysm by then. It’s supposed to be better than Final Fantasy XIII-2 but lacking in graphics.

[pochapal]

rank every year of the 2010s from best to worst i want some pochapal lore

[warning for discussion of my fucked up mental health and my myriad traumas. we’re really opening the pandora’s box here gang]

ok time for me to overshare on the internet again! super long post because i can’t shut up and you asked for it. anyway, by objective ranking: 

#1: 2012 - halcyon era, my personal peak. spent the whole year writing hunger games oc fics with my deviantart fanfiction besties whom i still think about all the time and always hope are having the best possible day. if you were here for this era understand i still hold you so closely and dearly in my heart <3. 

#2: 2013 - god i was such a good example of a human being back then. was the year my writing like actually took off and i had a healthy balance between creative stuff and a social life (said social life consisting of spending lunchtimes at school breaking into classrooms and discussing fandom shit with five other people. reading homestuck updates in the music room on one person’s really shaky mobile data...legendary). highlight of the year and maybe my life was in the april of 2013 when i got out of failing to submit a hard deadline essay by telling my english teacher i wrote a whole novel over the two week break and then producing said novel. god i wish i had that level of like. fucking confidence back me back then knew what i wanted and how to get it. 

#3: 2010 - the last year of childhood. i was 12 and played pokemon all the time with my friends and went places and had a moderately successful youtube channel and it didn’t matter that i was bullied so badly at school because i was basically high off life. summer of 2010 was so good specifically. i’d used to get the bus with a friend and go see movies and break into historical sites and get into normal childhood mayhem and maxed out my pokewalkers twice a month and i was buzzed because i had two (2) whole friendship groups to choose from and that was such a huge deal to me the terminal social outcast. it was so simple and carefree and even though everything and everyone involved in this era grew up to suck except for one specific person i kinda really miss it.

#4: 2018 - this was the first year i wasn’t depressed to the point of nonfunctioning. it was 20gayteen, i was on antidepressants, i was as close to thriving as i got at uni (going into town with people once a week, attending art and culture events, getting good grades across the board), i started to write for fun again, i got my cat whom i love dearly, i was exhibited in my uni’s city’s literature festival, GOD i actually nearly attended a pride event that year can you imagine. this year was basically my life’s second peak. miss getting the 8am train and daintily sipping on a cherry coke to keep me from passing out. wish this time could have lasted longer.

#5: 2019 - kinda absolute middle of the road year not for lack of anything happening but because the overwhelming amount of good and bad things cancelled each other out. so like there’s the fact that i was at the top of my uni game this year, was basically making the first steps into a professional writing career (covid i will never forgive you for killing all that dead </3), finally saved up enough to buy myself a gaming pc, and the summer after the homestuck epilogues, but equally 2019 was the start of the Pochapal Gender Fiasco which is by far the most horrible thing i am still currently undergoing and i burnt myself out mentally about halfway through the year (being stuck overnight in a hospital for a panic attack absolutely horrible horrible irredeemable) and then got like super death plague flu that i was sick with for three months (literally recovered less than a month before rona hit. god’s cruel karma.). so like...it kind of averaged out? the good shit was good but not as great as other years and the bad shit was awful but nowhere near as terrible as it could have been. gotta give a shoutout to 90% of my current mutual cohort for following me in 2019...omelette route gang make some noise !!

#6: 2014 - oof. this year essentially marked the start of a four year long downward mental health spiral because everything fell into awful alignment. i’d just turned 16, finished secondary school, had all my friends up and ditch me at once, was home alone for a whole summer, and was hit with Sudden Intense Body Image Issues that i couldn’t explain until uh. after very recent developments lmao. this one goes out to the me of july 2014 who did nothing but lay in bed and listen to the same two marina albums on a loop because fuck i’m attracted to men and also my facial and body hair are really starting to come in and if i think about this for too long i will literally kill myself because oh god i can’t handle getting older which is clearly and definitely the issue going on here. my brain fucking broke super hardcore and it’s a miracle that an overeating disorder was like the worst thing i walked away with. 

#7: 2015 - downward spiral year two!! i was so volatile this year it was such a mess. i was totally socially isolated after a brief stint of falling in with a group of people at the start of my first year of sixth form until january where in quick succession a) it turned out every single one of these people was friends with the person who sexually assaulted me whom i obviously had a lot of complicated feelings towards and b) baby’s first crush came out as bisexual but in the “women and also trans women” kind of way which tore me up so terribly in ways i couldn’t begin to understand. no words for the experience of seeing a girl kiss a boy and crying so hard at night you threw up because you could never be her no matter how much you wanted it. actually kinda get the sense what was going on there was bigger than just some crush lmao. then after that i was so mentally ill i basically attended school less than half the time and it was the only year in my life i failed my exams. i ended up having to resit my entire set of first year a level exams because jesus christ was i in such a bad way it was a miracle i even showed up to them. all i did was either have anxiety attacks or enter bedbound depressive slumps for weeks at a time. but it’s okay because it gets worse.

#8: 2016 - downward spiral act iii: the spiralling. prefacing this by saying that i actually had two whole good months (april - may) in that i was functioning enough to do my exams and finish school with decent grades. the rest was super extra mega terrible. my school attendance for year 13 dipped below 65% and literally the only thing that kept me from being kicked out was the fact that i was naturally smart at the subjects i took and also because the school would have a lot to answer for after letting me get to that state despite having a hefty file on how damaged i was. keep in mind every single part of this was fully untreated btw - i was just floundering around and letting it all fester. i spent three solid weeks going to school but locking myself in the bathroom all day every day and having mental health episodes then going home like nothing else happened only to continue the breakdown that night. then things got kicked into fucked up overdrive when i moved out to uni and was cut off from what little support structures i did have. it was so bad all i did was cry all the time and never went anywhere to the point where three separate sources recommended me to the wellbeing and crisis counselling service that i stopped going to after two sessions because i was fucked up in ways cbt techniques could not even touch. at least i tried to make an effort for the first two months of uni which like. good for me?

#9: 2017 - what lieth at the base of the spiral. helltrench year. i was at literal rock bottom. i stopped going to class, i didn’t hand in a single piece of work. i lied to my parents and would book trains each day only to go back to my student flat and sit there and contemplate suicide. like i would just slump on the floor in a catatonic state and vividly contemplate one of four or so ways i could end my own life. i only didn’t because i wanted to wait until the summer to collect my last student loan and transfer it to my parents as an apology for my death which obviously didn’t end up happening. honestly i can’t remember much of the first half of 2017 that’s how bad it was. i remember taking a gender studies class and the teacher made it Weird that i was the Only Male Student in the room and then she sent me a scolding email after i walked out halfway through a class and never returned. apparently i got into a lot of online discourse in this year but i don’t remember anything other than being put on a blocklist by the milkfic author over ace discourse which is funny if you have the context. mostly i just baited terfs and weirdo freaks to get them to say horrible things to me as what i guess amounts to some kind of digital self harm. anyway breaking point came in late august when i got kicked out of university and then nobody could ignore it any more so there was no choice left but for me to seek out help and recover enough to function which luckily i did. i really Do Not remember 2017. you could tell me anything about that year and i’d probably believe you.

#10: 2011 - extra circle of hell for this little fucked up gem of a year. on the surface it wasn’t actually that terrible, until the Summer 2011 Domino Effect Of Bad Shit. up until like may/june it was a pretty all right year! i was 13 and had a surprisingly successful youtube channel uploading pokemon soundfont remixes to an audience of i think ~350-400 subscribers at my peak? anyway then i got hit with the early summer triple combo of childhood friends moving away, cute and quirky sexual assault at the hands of a person in my friend group, and then having some Really Great and Super Appropriate interactions with adults on deviantart. like obviously there’s the actual ptsd-inducing event which totally disrupted and killed the person i was right up until that moment and reshaped every facet of my life for better or worse (there’s an alternate timeline where that didn’t happen and i got into electronic music and/or coding instead) but really it’s the events that followed in its wake which were kind of more fucked up. so like all of a sudden i was super aware of my body and me growing my hair out and being mistaken for a girl in class suddenly became this Less Innocent thing and i ended up spending hours overnight going to transgender questioning forums and looking up hrt timeline videos and having the wikipedia article on tracheal shaving saved because it was a life raft to me whose voice was imminently gonna deepen and i was simultaneously reeling with constant trauma flashbacks and the whole thing was so so fucked up. then i was on deviantart and i don’t remember exactly how but a small group of furry guys ten to fifteen years older than me started messaging me and encouraging and requesting me to produce nonsexual fetish stuff for them and talking to me about stuff like if i’d ever thought about growing up to be gay and i didn’t think anything of it for a long while because they called me a very talented writer and it felt so good to have someone be nice to me after being so alone and isolated for months on end. anyway the only reason i got out of that before it got bad was because they invited me to one of the big furry sites and i was weirded out because i thought it was a porn site and thinking about sexual stuff was a huge trauma trigger so i just ended up blocking them all and pretending like it didn’t happen. at the time half this shit didn’t bother me but in retrospect holy fuck 2011 was such a damaging year. to think if like three events didn’t happen i wouldn’t be the fucked up mess you see before you today.

god fuck this turned out super long but i’m not apologising because this was a therapeutic exercise for me and also constitutes as one of the biggest pochapal lore dumps of all time. come get your food or whatever.

[lynndoublelegacy]

just a cool dnd meme i saw

Yook so it’s less a meme and more like. a big ol questionare but hey, might as well do it. originally saw it on @/probablyottrpgideas, go check them out

1. Game Master, Player, or both? Why?

Ok so technically I’ve DMed twice but I really don’t find it fun? and don’t ever want to do it again. so. Player. I like building characters and their connections with fellow PCs more than building worlds

2. When did you start roleplaying? How old were you?

oh god, if we’re talking about roleplaying in general? I’ve been doing it basically as long as I can remember. As a kid I would play House, and then once I got older in like 5th grade I actually started making characters and playing out their stories with friends. Google+ is what made me realize this was actually like, a THING, though, and I got into some roleplaying groups there, then on DevaintArt. Dungeons and Dragons is a newer development? I got into it in late 2018 when my sister’s friend invited us to a one-shot, and... well, yea, I got hooked lol

3. What was the first roleplaying book you ever owned?

dude, bold of you to assume I really own any. I don’t have that kind of money and literally only own the Guide to Wildemount, and that was a gift

4. Describe the first game you ever ran or played in.

I mean... it’s not a game but ima describe the one shot, bc my first campaign was a hot mess without a true storyline and I used the same character for it anyway. I played a tiefling bard called Aisling Kai (I didn’t know this was a cliche combo at this point, and I honestly played her like a rogue with a music motif but Whatever) and we were a little group tasked to figure out why the hell anyone who goes into this cave never comes out. So we go in, make our way through the dungeon, fight some frog people (I made one of their ears bleed just by getting a nat 20 on a performance check to play a high f# on flute, that was fun, FWEET), and turns out yep, theres a hill giant down here. We kicked his ass and collapsed the cave on top of us (dw I think we were fine but my memory is a little screwy)

5. What system did you grow up with? / 6. Which system do you play now?

i learned on and currently play dnd 5e. I don’t really know anything else, but I’m debating checking out Vampire of the Masquerade.

7. Longest campaign you’ve run or played in?

That would be my Tal’Dorei campaign group, aka The Fatefallen! Started in the Fall of 2019 and still going to this day, just played our 45th session last week. I play Ilia Liadon, the drow grave cleric, and the only member of our party who has been there for every single session since the beginning.

8. Where did you meet your current gaming group?

...well first I feel the need to mention that I have 3 different groups (2 of them are on hiatus now for pandemic related reasons but! we’re still groups). My first group (with Aisling) was formed slowly over time as friends adopted friends into the group, I think it started as a school club? but that didn’t last long. The other two started from a different school club as well, though one has since branched out into other people as well. 

9. Strategic combat or dramatic plotlines?

I am a roleplayer first and a gamer second. Give me all of the backstories and dramatic plotlines. Don’t get me wrong, I still like combat, but story takes precedent for me.

10. Favorite RPG genre?

I don’t tend to define myself by genre? But I tend to fall into more of a fantasy, at most arcanapunk style. Give me all of the magic, and magic powered tech.

11. Your first character.

I got into her a little bit earlier, but my first character was Aisling, aka Calypso Kai. She was a homebrew subclass bard with a criminal background, who honestly? should’ve been a rogue. I’ve since rebuilt her into an Assassin Rogue/College of Eloguence Bard multiclasser, but this iteration was like. Baby her, baby me new to dnd, I did not know what I was doing. She tried to be edgy, but my mom energy came through HARD and she just. Never really had a set characterization. She deserves better and I plan on playing her better sometime in the future.

12. Your favorite character.

You are making me choose between my children. BUT, if I had to pick, either Ilia Liadon, or! Ashe Wednesday, a protector aasimar drunken master monk and my profile picture. Ashe also deserved a lot better from their campaign, so I have a massive soft spot for them, they were made during a really tough time in my life (as was Ilia) and was going through an equally rough time in-game, since I made them for a Curse of Strahd campaign without understanding what I was getting into. They’re my little rebellious asshole and I love them dearly, someone get this kid therapy. Ilia, on the other hand, is just... she’s a comfort character for me at this point. mostly soft edges, such a mom- while Ashe was me yelling “come at me” at the world while crying, Ilia was just... embracing it. Making it better. basically, if they actually existed, I would die for both of them.

13. Your most ridiculous character.

I don’t usually play super ridiculous characters, but! I would say Keothi “Bookfinder” Vaimeil counts. She was basically me looking all of the goliath barbarian stereotypes in the eye, and going “nah. she’s a nerd.” She’s literally a massive puppy dog, just the sweetest big old thing, sitting in her house and reading all the books she can get her hands on in order to make up for her amnesia. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a zombie? ...yea. She’s wacky, but I love her.

14. The best in-character line you’ve ever had.

“I need sleep. I don’t even sleep and I need sleep.”

~Ilia, after a particularly tough fight and an emotionally draining day

15. Your most epic death.

Ok so... none of my characters in game have ever actually died during the storyline? Keothi obviously has in her backstory, and Ilia might have in hers as well, it was never explicitly stated, but during the game? Nope. Ashe got stupid close, but nope. Since Keothi is my only death period, and her death was pretty epic, I’m just gonna describe that. Her parents and siblings in her Goliath tribe had all fallen ill, so she decided to go searching for a possible cure, and ended up getting conned into helping this cult, since they said they would cure her family. Turns out, yea, they were lying, they just needed a goliath willing to sacrifice themselves with a cursed sword. They made the mistake of revealing this before Keothi was actually dead, so as she was dying, she brought the entire goddamn cultist temple down to the bottom of the sea and took the cultists with her. The sword was why she was undead, in the Shadowfell, and couldn’t remember anything.

16. Your most disappointing death. 

As mentioned, I’ve never died in campaign, but I feel like I have to mention this one that happened to our party in Curse of Strahd. We were in the death house, all 5 of us, still level 1, and our barbarian falls into a pit trap with spikes. None of us realize she’s actually dead, so we send out paladin down to get her... with the monk, the bard, and the warlock holding the rope. ....yea both of them died.

17. Something that shouldn’t have worked, but it did.

I’m stuck between two options for this one. First one was the time our water genasi paladin/rogue bloodbended our gnome cleric into a bridge to keep her from falling all the way down a ravine. The second time was when our party managed to defend a small seaside town from a pirate raid with just an NPC with Control Water, a ballista, ourselves, and some explosives. Neither should’ve worked, but both did. Having a triton in your party can really come in clutch in a seaside campaign.

18. Something that went hilariously awry.

I have one that’s hilarious and one that’s horrifying. Hilarious one: in my first ever campaign, someone from Aisling’s backstory popped up and our sorcerer went “that’s shady” (to be fair, he was) and then went to investigate BY HIMSELF. He obviously got kidnapped by the mafia, and then we went all stealth mission to break him out. Stealth was immediately abandoned after our other bard used a SCREAMING SWORD to break open the locks, then we proceeded to go out the way we came, setting everything on fire on the way out, and with our bard lying their way out the front door (with the rest of us in tow as “prisoners”) by pretending to be a fellow mafia member. It was great. Horrifying one: Ilia tries to Send to a member of the party who left in order to let him know that a fellow party member had died. Forgot that he left bc his mind was invaded by a previously dead, very evil old god, and ends up trapped there with him for a while. Ended up with all of our main spellcasters trapped in their own heads while the barbarian paced around worriedly and the rogue decided he was going to get smashed instead of worrying himself silly.

19. Your most memorable in-character moment.

There are a LOT in Ilia’s campaign, but! If I had to pick one, it would actually be a pretty recent one involving Ilia and our party’s wizard, Liara. They’re basically the embodiment of head vs heart? Anyway, Liara is currently suffering from something called magic corruption, though idk if suffering is the right word. Anyway! It basically resulted in her getting... possessed? by her own magic during the night during Ilia’s watch, and they had a really, really interesting conversation regarding guilt, death, and grief, and yea basically I love them. Honorable mention to our druid’s death (he’s back and better now, but that was my first long-time death in a game, we didn’t know he was coming back) and also the moment that Ilia realized that her childhood bff/crush had been revived in a new body and that this NPC was her best friend. That was a trip.

20. The coolest item you ever got and how you came to possess it.

I got this item in the revamp of my first ever campaign and nothing has topped it since which is Sad but hey. Anyway! I got this really cool, possibly cursed dagger after I threw a knife at an absolutely eldritch being and it got stuck in him as he transformed. It looked really badass, and allowed me to cast Inflict Wounds on occasion when I stabbed someone with it. So yea, we love that. Honorable mention to my paladin/bloodhunter’s Helm of the Aberrant Gladiator which allows you to basically do a bunch of fear based affects and psychic stuff.

Numbers 21 through 30 don’t apply to me but. yea. enjoy this summary of my dnd history I guess

[stilloutofmyvulcanmind]

It Takes Two Part 3

Requested by @verdonafrost

Pairing: Bruce Wayne x Female!Reader

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Reader, Troy North (OC), Curt Roman (OC)

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Canon-typical themes and violence, angst, Bruce being a dick

Summary: January is nearly over and you’ve yet to collect the evidence you need to take down the Torn Roses for good. With time running out, a late-night reconnaissance leads to some unexpected events and a decision that could change your life.

Part 3 of 6

Part 1  Part 2  Part 4 

The night was dry but cold. The rooftop you lurked on still covered in January snow, making you glad of the insulated suit. Bruce would kill you if he knew you were here. 

After weeks of you working well together, the night had resulted in an argument once again. It seemed your belief that he'd finally learned to trust your instincts was wrong. It was the end of the month, and despite Roman not showing any signs of leaving, something in your gut was telling you otherwise. Bruce had dismissed it, citing the lack of evidence. 

You'd argued, and eventually, you'd stormed off on your own, switching off the coms to stop his bitching. Of course he could've followed you. The tracker was still active, but you'd been sitting here long enough to presume that wasn't going to happen. Maybe he'd decided to let you have space. Or maybe he just really didn't care. 

Boy did that thought hurt. 

You'd never admit it, but after the last few weeks, the things you'd felt for Bruce had started to change. You'd always known you were similar, but he'd actually opened up since New Year's Eve and seeing that softer side to him, the one he kept hidden away from everyone…

You'd been dumb enough to think that Bruce had felt the same way. There had been times when you'd caught him looking at you and for a moment had been sure you saw your own developing feelings reflected back. 

But if he did, if that was true, then surely he'd have listened to you? Or at least not immediately dismiss you? What did that say about the kind of relationship you'd have? You couldn't be with someone who treated you like a child who didn't know better. 

Movement inside the building you were watching distracted you. 

The whole building belonged to Roman, the lower floors rented out, but the penthouse remained his. The cover was that he used it to take one night stands back to, but you'd discovered its secret use of meetings with North. They were both in there now, you could see them through the tall glass windows, along with the hoard of security both of them traveled with. 

They'd been talking for several hours and still were. The movement that caught your attention was by two of the guards. They were carrying suitcases. Roman's suitcases. 

Was he leaving? Tonight? Shit. 

Going on instinct, you grappled to the side of the building, grabbing onto the edge of the balcony outside one of the bedrooms. Pulling yourself up a little, you got a look inside. Dark. And empty. Perfect. You hoisted yourself over the balcony rail, landing silently. There were no cameras out there. No need. It was high enough up that no normal person could climb it. No alarm on the glass door leading inside either. You picked the lock easily, sliding the door open and creeping inside. 

You could hear voices as you approached the bedroom door, but they were still slightly too muffled. Pressing a button on the arm of your gauntlet, you spread your hand over the door, the finger pads glowing dark purple as the tech picked up the audio. 

"-thing ready?" North's voice spoke in your ear. 

"Nearly, sir. These are the last two pieces of luggage, and we'll be ready to go, Mr. Roman."

"Excellent," Roman spoke and you had to fight the urge not to throw up. "I can't wait to get out of this godforsaken city again."

North laughed, "I'm almost jealous. I miss the sun."

"When the time is right, you can join me. In the meantime, you know what to do with the computers?" 

"Yeah. Delete everything that could connect you, destroy them, and burn the place down. We have the decoy in the master bedroom. The official report will state an electrical fault caused a fire, killing you in your sleep."

"Good. That'll throw the Bats off their game a little. They've been getting too close recently."

If North said anything else, you'd didn't hear. You pulled away from the door, making your way back out into the night. Roman was leaving tonight and faking his own death. Any chance of getting justice would be gone. You couldn't let that happen. 

It was easy, moving around the sides of the building until you found the office. You wanted to stop Roman, but you needed that information first. You couldn't risk someone managing to damage the computers in a fight. 

There was thankfully a small window leading into the office that you were able to pry open and squeeze through. A laptop and a desktop PC was sitting on the desk, both locked naturally. Not a problem. 

It wasn't difficult to hack both, your eyes widening when you accessed the litany of files on them. You'd already had enough to take down North for good and to get Roman arrested, but not enough to put him away permanently. With this though...you could destroy the entire operation in one strike. Pulling a USB from your belt, you plugged it in and copied everything from both computers onto it. You hadn't expected him to keep such sensitive info here, but maybe that's exactly why he did. 

You moved back to the door, listening through it once more. They were still there, but getting ready to leave. You contemplated signaling Bruce for backup. But by the time he got here they'd be gone, and that'd make it all the trickier. And a part of you wanted to do this by yourself, prove to him that you were more than capable. You did message Gordon with your location though and told him to get there with cops ASAP. 

You straightened, pulling a smoke grenade from your belt. From your observations outside there were seven other men in the room besides Roman and North. All armed you had to presume. You'd need to be quick. 

Footsteps approached and stopped outside the door. 

Now or never. 

You opened the door, throwing the grenade into the room as you grabbed the man in front of you and took him down. Smoke filled the room in the same instant as guns began to fire. You grunted in pain when a bullet hit your chest, lodging itself into the armor. That was going to bruise. 

Moving quickly in the smoke, you dodged the rest and downed each guard. The barrel of a gun pressed to your head. You ducked, turning, the crack of an arm breaking and North yelling echoing around the living room. Bringing your fist to his face, he slumped to the floor unconscious. 

The smoke was starting to clear. A single shot sent you stumbling as it hit you square in the back. Spinning around, Roman was the only one left standing, aiming a pistol at you. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, you grabbed a Batarang, throwing it through the air and watching it lodge in his hand. He screamed and the gun clattered down. You followed swiftly after the Batarang, leaping over the fancy coffee table, and landing a punch to his gut. Roman doubled over and you brought an elbow down on his back, sending him to the floor. 

You were on him in a flash, fists coming down over and over. Blood streamed from his nose as the cartridge crunched and broke under the impacts. 

Finally. After years of pain and waiting you had him. Anger, hate, grief, flooded your system. God, you wanted him dead. Wanted to keep punching until he stopped moving under you. He deserved it. After all the pain and suffering he'd caused to you and Gotham. 

Justice, not vengeance. 

You heard Bruce's voice in your head. You'd never killed but that had still been the first lesson he'd taught you. The one he'd repeat when some scumbag got under your skin a little too much. The one you'd come to understand, to follow, no matter how much your anger roared otherwise. 

You pulled back, flipping Roman's unconscious body onto his stomach and tying his hands securely behind his back. You repeated the process on all the others. A glance at the time said Gordon would be here any moment. 

A muffled shout came from the master bedroom. Leaping over the sofa, you unlocked the door and entered. Tied to the bed were two people. A man and a woman. The man didn't look too much like Roman, but he shared his build, and after a fire, you could see how he could be mistaken for Roman. Especially once a few palms were greased. The woman was attractive, someone you'd come to know Roman would be attracted to. Another part of the ploy.

"It's okay, you're safe now," you said softly, removing their gags and making short work of their bonds. "The police will be here soon."

As if on cue, the door burst in and Gordon and several uniformed officers came barging in, guns drawn. 

Gordon looked around the disaster area, spotting Roman groaning weakly. "Curt Roman? The hell is goin' on here?!" He asked, lowering his weapon as you approached. 

You pointed at two cops and gestured to the bedroom first, "There are civilians in there that may need medical attention," you said, before turning your attention to Gordon. "Curt Roman is the secret leader of the gang The Torn Rose. Mr. North here," you nudged North with your boot, "is his frontman, but Roman is the brains of the operation."

Gordon frowned at your explanation, "You got evidence of this?" 

"This way, Commissioner." You led him to the office where the computers were still intact and showed him all the files. 

"Jesus. They're responsible for half the drug trafficking in the City."

"Yeah."

Gordon stood straight and looked at you. "Thank you. We'll take it from here."

"Good. Make sure they all go away for a long time. They've hurt a lot of people."

"I will." Exiting the office you watched as Roman and North were hauled away in cuffs. "Gotta say it was a surprise to get the alert from you and not Batman," Gordon went on. "Even more of a surprise that he ain't here with you."

"I've been shadowing him a year now. About time I took on my own cases, wouldn't you say?" 

"Never figured him to be someone who's okay with letting someone else take charge, but I guess you know him better than I do."

You wished you could say that was true. 

The rest of the guards were escorted out, and the relief you'd felt was slowly being replaced with dread creeping up your spine. Bruce would've heard about this by now. Honestly, a part of you was surprised he hadn't shown up anyway. But it meant he'd be in the cave. Waiting for you to get back. With luck, he'd actually be happy you'd taken the whole gang down. 

Yeah right. 

~

"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Bruce yelled the second you stepped foot into the cave.

"Oh, I don't know, taking down an entire crime ring perhaps? You know, the one you promised to help me with?" Arms crossed over your chest, you stared Bruce down, unwilling to back down or apologize. 

"I was helping! You're the one deviated from the plan!" 

"Because Roman was leaving! I have the audio to prove it!" 

Bruce's jaw clenched for a second. "Congratulations. You got one man. Who'll be out of jail in a week because we don't have the evidence to put him away for good! Then he really will leave and we'll be back to square one!" 

You flung the USB drive across the gap. Bruce caught it easily. "That's a copy of everything on their computers. Computers now in Gordon's possession. I'm pretty sure what's on there is enough to send Roman, North, and every single person involved down for a couple lifetimes! I know because I checked. Before I took them down."

You watched as Bruce put the USB into the computer, and flicked through all the documents and information. He was silent for a minute.

Bruce clicked off and turned back to face you. If he was feeling remorse, it didn't show on his face. "Good. They'll get what they deserve."

"That it?" 

"What else do you want me to say? You still deviated from my orders, and not only that, you went into a dangerous situation alone, without even as much as alerting me!" 

You scoffed. "So I'm still in the wrong? If you were so concerned why didn't you show up when you heard the police radio?" 

"That wouldn't exactly look good for the unified front we've been putting on would it?" 

You rolled your eyes, the action hidden behind the lens of your cowl. 

"You're benched."

The cave seemed to fall silent at Bruce's words. 

"What?" 

"You're benched, Y/N, until I know I can trust you."

You scoffed, "You can't trust me? We've been together a year."

"Yet you still went behind my back. And I heard the state on Roman. We both know he's no fighter. You lost control. You could've killed him."

"Could've, but didn't. You know what he did!" 

"I do, but we can't let our emotions dictate how we act. You chose to enact your vengeance, and that's not what we do. You should know better by now."

"Bastard," you spat, coming to a decision. 

Bruce actually looked surprised. 

The sound of your cowl rolling across the floor echoed around the cave until it stopped by Bruce's feet. 

He looked at it, then at you, and frowned. "What?" 

"I quit."

Like what you read? Consider buying me a coffee! (I’ll love you forever!)

Tagging: @medicatemedrmccoy @bkwrm523 @theweepingvulcan91 @sagyunaro @huntersstuff591 @notsohappysunflower @quoththe-raven @startrekstartrash @thatanonymouschocolate @malaanii @everyday-imfangirling @evanstanfanatic @bookcaseninja @uneniffler 

[mydoorin]

this is long and made for no one but myself

I like certain aspects of C1, and a lot of Vox Machina is endearing and wonderful, but I find all of the first campaign really hard to watch

From a player and a DM perspective I just cannot watch a 5 1/2 long episode with half the cast yelling over each other and the other half doing world-breaking shit. I know there was a sort of loosey-goosey transition between their Pathfinder homegames and 5e, and Matt and Taliesin are used to editions older than 4th even, but there were a lot of times when I felt basic rules got swept under the rug for Vax and Percy but were unfairly or even sometimes incorrectly applied to Keyleth and Vex. Vax literally broke the game multiple times, and I know a lot of the campaign was like Matt’s gift to Liam, but it’s a campaign with 8 of your friends that you’re now producing as a show so it can’t just be about the one guy anymore. No one likes playing D&D where one character is literally touched by fate and can move 120 feet and doing 5 attacks a round. even if the rest of the team are like, high level barbarians fighters and spellcasters it feels unbalanced and it isn’t fun to watch.

a lot of the combat mechanics in C1 feel sloppy too, in terms that PCs didnt know their own character abilities or had a misunderstanding of how Action-Bonus Action-Reaction 5e combat works. It’s not really anyone’s fault, that happens when you change game systems, but to the point that I actually skip combat scenes, which unfortunately can be like a majority of the episode (and have really important character moments, like death). the Kraken fight comes to mind (there aren’t 40 feet fast eels Keyleth I’m sorry), it felt like Grog had the best grasp on his character’s mechanics and goals, and I was yelling at the screen for the other PCs to look at their character sheets. i dont know why Keyleth wasnt a water elemental to start or why Vax didn’t spend all his time stealth-investigating for the lodestones or why Percy didnt think to try luring the beast or talking to it or why Vex didn’t- actually Vex did everything she could Rangers have massive drawbacks. But!! These are issues I have with VM in most fights, theyve gotten better in their level 20 one shots, but still there I want them to please read their character sheets, bc Keyleth is an archdruid who doesnt use spell components anymore and can cast from Wild Shape and that’s tight as hell. Vex’s character mechanics still suck at level 20 but that is not her fault at all 5e literally just hates Rangers. And can we talk about that? Why do Rangers not get half the shit other classes get? How come Rangers have to wait until level 17 to use hide as a bonus action? Rogues get that at 2nd level. Anyway.

I think another part of it comes from player experience, and what kind of PCs are and are not fun to have at the table. Personally I dont like the fate touched concept, I don’t have fun as a player when one character is designed from the start to be more special and important, esp when that character talks about hating it so much all the time. TBH I don’t know why Vax is such a shit about the Raven Queen deal it seems like you got something no one else has ever gotten (she let you have your sister back bro) and you literally signed up for this. A God is giving you Special Awesome God Powers that make you more of a terrifying game breaking monster and you’re gonna keep calling the Raven Queen a bitch? for what? because you didn’t check for traps? because you didnt have a spellcaster that could use telekinesis? what about that situation wasnt entirely character choices lmao

betwen Vax and Percy (dont get me started on Mr. I Know Better Than Everyone, i really fucking hate PCs like that and i will fight about my distaste for percival von frankenstein monsterenergydrink the third) there are a lot of moments in C1 that aren’t fun to watch bc I know they arent fun for everyone at the table to play. it can be really cool to watch someone else’s backstory unfold, but if that’s all you’re doing it’s super easy to check out (I dont think it’s an RP decision when Grog has no idea what’s happening, I too haven’t been listening to Percy argue about this inconsequential thing to no one in particular) think of all the early C2 Caleb-Beau moments when it was clear half the tabl wasn’t paying attention, and how quickly that was resolved after people voiced their opinions on it (Matt for sure talked to them about dominating RP and making too many smaller moments that leave out the rest of the table, I wish a certain wizard would take it to heart), but that didnt feel like a conversation anyone had during the first campaign.

maybe it’s because i didnt watch C1 live or because I watched C2 first, but I have- not even a preference really a deference to the Mighty Nein. I think they’re more fun, more entertaining to watch, more emotionally involved and driven, better developed and created, better in all aspects, smarter and funnier and sexier than Vox Machina. I dont care about high fantasy stories with legendary heroes that are basically gods that is such a boring way to play D&D, I want the dumbass characters to use and magic to play pranks on local shopkeepers and i want the lesbians to have a slow burn romance.

I dont even wanna touch on C1 romance bc like, gag me with a spoon I don’t like the way Kashaw or Vax interact with Keyleth theyre both so fucking annoying. Idk why men cant be normal and talk to the fantasy girl they have a fantasy crush on, but Fjord managed just fucking fine.

i need to go back to sleep but in essence my opinions are that C1 was a classic 1980s D&D campaign that would have made Gary Gygax proud. And now that D&D is a lot better than it was in the 80s, more accessible and a lot less shitty, we can have cool modern fantasy stories that expect more from PCs, DMs, and the audience. We can do cooler, better things than we used to, and the structure of 5e actually helps facilitate more roleplaying between characters. The 5e PHB has whole sections devoted to roleplaying your character, and now Tasha’s gives everyone a way to get rid of stupid racist features and make your characters cooler. I’m really happy to see the progession of both WOTC and Critical Role into better, cooler, more awesome and less shitty versions of themselves (this isnt a WOTC defense post im not a shill they should pay the Dragonlance writers)