#Are there plans for elex 2

[polhcommunications]

Are there plans for elex 2

#Are there plans for elex 2 code#

#Are there plans for elex 2 Pc#

#Are there plans for elex 2 series#

#Are there plans for elex 2 series#

We would prefer to put our creative energy in another project very soon.”ĮLEX 2 will launch on March 1st 2022 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. Of course, we will closely watch how the game is being received by the audience and will support it. Therefore there is no paid new content planned for ELEX 2 after the launch. We think, if people buy our game, they should get everything that we’ve planned to put into it. However, they did leave the possibility open, saying they would monitor the its success and how fan’s responded for potential additional support. As such, they said there is no paid content planned post-launch. There they gave a pretty solid answer, saying that they weren’t fans of DLC and prefer for people to feel as if the game they get when they buy the main game is fully content complete. In an interview with Twinifinite, developer Piranha Bytes was asked about potential DLC for the game. It also will have another thing similar to the first title, seemingly no post-launch content planned. The first game was also filled to the brim with content, as is generally the style with RPGs, and it seems the second game will be similar. The sequel will once again bring us to the sci-fi/fantasy hybrid world with a much bigger story and threat about to be unleashed. The game was tested on an Xbox Series X.Early next year, we will once again revisit the world of ELEX.

#Are there plans for elex 2 code#

Let's hope there are similar fixes for current-generation consoles.Ī review code for Elex II was provided by the publisher. Elex suffered from the same fate, but eventually, Piranha Bytes fixed it and it ran really well on Xbox One X. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t have enough polish on Xbox Series X at the moment. It’s clear that developer Piranha Bytes has amazing ideas and put a lot of effort into the project.

#Are there plans for elex 2 Pc#

I wasn ’t given access to the PC and PlayStation versions, so can ’t comment on their current state.ĭespite its problems, Elex was a surprise hit and I hope Elex II follows the same path. In its current state, the Elex II is severely lacking in quality. Elex II costs $59.99 on the Xbox Store – $53.99 if you pre-ordered the game – so it’s competing against titles like Elden Ring. The animations are also wooden and aren’t what gamers expect from a modern AAA title. Combat and item pickup are still clunky, and that detracts from the experience as a whole. Many other problems from the original Elex are back too. The game looks like an early Xbox One title, it just renders at 4K resolution. Unfortunately, the lighting has to be the biggest letdown. I would guess that the title fluctuates between 40 to 50 FPS at any given time. However, it doesn’t approach the smoothness offered by a 60 FPS presentation. Socketing different parts into weapons grant them added bonuses.Įlex II looks crisp on Xbox Series X and appears to be running at a frame rate above 30 frames per second (FPS). The game also allows you to eventually customize items. You’ll need this because the more you explore, the tougher the enemies become. You can apply points toward regular traits like Constitution or Dexterity. Just like other role-playing games out there, Elex II grants you experience that can make your character stronger. While I haven’t reached the end of Elex II yet, I imagine it changes that up a little bit too. This influences how the game plays out because it shifts how certain characters respond to your presence. Depending on who you side with and who you talk to, you either gain Creation or Destruction points. Sound familiar?Įlex II features a morality system that’s somewhat unique to that franchise. You have to meet with various factions and convince them to fight on your side against an alien threat. The game takes a lot of inspiration from titles like Mass Effect that feature similar goals. Not only do you have to vanquish these space invaders, but you also have to form alliances with warring factions. It starts off in a rather spectacular fashion where a foreign object falls on his house and creatures tainted with a substance known as Dark Elex infect you. Initially, you can only use it to jump small distances, but eventually, you’ll be flying like Iron Man across vast distances.Įlex II continues Jax’s journey. The best part about Elex II has to be its jet pack. There are robust crafting and foraging systems that require you to pick up materials such as herbs and ore, that can later be created into various items like healing tonics. Elex II features a massive open world filled with varying enemies – from humans to monsters – and items scattered everywhere.

[theholmwoodfoundation]

THE HOLMWOOD FOUNDATION PILOT EPISODE CAST/CREW - PART TWO

BECKY WRIGHT - THRALLS/PHONE VOICE

Becky voices weird things. Her speciality is small children and demons, make of that what you will... She works across every medium. She played Nic Grundy in ‘The Archers’ for 11 years and continues to appear in regularly in radio dramas on the BBC. Recent credits include: ‘You Must Listen’, ‘Car Crash’, ‘Children of The Stones’, ‘The Battersea Poltergeist’ (Bafflegab/BBC), ‘Lola vs Powerman’, ‘Making Plans with Nigel’, ‘Mythos’ (Sweet Talk/BBC), ‘Barred’ (B7 Media/BBC), ‘Billie Homeless Dies at the End’ (Holy Mountain/BBC) & ‘The Waringham Chronicles’ (Audible Originals). For Big Finish she has appeared in many episodes of ‘Dr Who’, ‘Doom’s Day’, ‘Blake’s 7’, ‘Avalon’, ‘Unit: Nemesis’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘Star Cops’ and ‘Pathfinder’.ops and development sessions for countless new writing initiatives. She has narrated numerous audiobooks and amassed a vast and varied array of weird and wonderful dubbing, animation and computer game credits. On stage she has performed for The Being Human Festival, Nutkhut, The Birmingham Rep, Wolverhampton Arena Theatre, The Bike Shed in Exeter, Hampstead Theatre, The Pleasance and The Tricycle, amongst others. She has toured open air Shakespeare and performed a rep season in a lift shaft! She is very passionate about new work and has been involved in rehearsed readings, workshops and development sessions for countless new writing initiatives.

JESSICA CARROLL - NEWSREADER

Jessica trained at LAMDA. Most recently she played Disciple Z’rell in the multi-award-winning video game Baldur’s Gate 3. Other video games include Divinity: Original Sin 2, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Elex, Spellforce 3, Dragon Quest XI, Unforeseen Incidents and Code 7. Jessica also voices Darcy the Driller, Riff and Jiff in the UK version of the Thomas & Friends cartoon.  Theatre includes Fence (Finborough); Fishskin Trousers (The Park Theatre, Finborough); The Broken Token (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Lakeside, William Andrews Clark - Los Angeles); Quirks (Southwark Playhouse); Old Bag (Theatre 503); Ghosts (Battersea Arts Centre); Hellcab (Old Red Lion); Last Seen (Almeida); The Woman of No Importance (Assembly Rooms Ludlow); Taking Steps (Assembly Rooms Ludlow); Daisy Pulls It Off (Lyric Hammersmith). Film and TV includes Hotel Inferno, Polar, The Space In-Between, David & Olivia. Radio includes Life Begins at Crawley and The Future of Radio (Radio 4); The British Are Coming and Liberation Is Not A Recognised Protocol (Apple). Jessica has an extensive voiceover career in commercials, dubbing and the TV and film ADR circuit where she can be heard screaming, crying, doing the news and squawking down police radios in everything from Happy Valley to Bridget Jones.

LUKE KONDOR - ROBERT SWALES

Luke Kondor is a writer, creator, and the voice behind The Other Stories podcast, which has amassed over 12 million downloads. He was recently commissioned by the George A. Romero Foundation to write a Night of the Living Dead audio drama. Currently, he lives and works from a dining room table in the middle of Sherwood Forest. For more, visit www.lukekondor.com.

PART ONE: HERE

PART THREE: HERE

[first-impressions-gaming]

GAMING RECAP (JUNE 10-14)

Dead Cells Animated Series Premieres Next Year

Dead Cells joins the growing list of video games getting animated series adaptations with a show based on the popular action roguelike slated to arrive next year.

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XDefiant Open Beta Launches June, Full Game Later This Summer

After a series of closed beta periods, XDefiant is ready for public testing. Announced during today's Ubisoft Forward, the series-spanning mashup shooter will enter into a brief open beta period later this month, from June 21-23. The event will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Announced

Today's PC Gaming Show presented an exciting update, and much sooner than expected: Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is currently in development.

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Dead Island 2 roadmap details two story expansions

The first expansion, Haus, will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2023, with the second, SOLA Festival, following in the second quarter of 2024.

Both expansions are included in the game’s $29.99 / £24.99 Expansion Pass.

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Overwatch 2's first story missions are coming August 10th, along with a new PvP mode and Support hero

Blizzard may have abandoned their plans for a fully-fledged Overwatch 2 PvE mode, but they do still want to tell us some stories. They've just announced Overwatch 2: Invasion, a big update that'll include three story missions, a new PVP game mode, a new Support hero and a handful of hero-specific training missions. It'll land on August 10th.

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Microsoft Reveals 1TB SSD Xbox Series S

For those in the market for an Xbox Series S with more storage, Microsoft has unveiled a 1-terabyte SSD model of the console that launches on September 1. This carbon black version of the slimmer Xbox boasts roughly double the storage of its original white counterpart. That also means it’s more expensive, retailing for a hundred bucks more at $349.

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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s release date has been confirmed

Revealed during Ubisoft Forward, the game based on the James Cameron Avatar franchise will release on December 7.

A trailer shown off during Ubisoft Forward showed a Na’Vi using rifles and other human weaponry. It also gave a brief glimpse at the open world of Pandora. The game will see the player fighting against another invading human threat.

13 Game Pass Titles Announced At Xbox Extended Showcase 2023

The Bookwalker: Thief Of Tales (June 22, 2023)

Techtonica (July 18, 2023)

The Wandering Village (July 20, 2023)

Sea Of Stars (August 29, 2023)

The Lamplighters League (October 3, 2023)

Mineko's Night Market (October 26, 2023)

Galacticare (Late 2023)

Another Crab's Treasure (Early 2024)

Harold Halibut (Early 2024)

Lightyear Frontier (Early 2024)

Go Mecha Ball (2024)

Little Kitty Big City (2024)

Neon White (TBD)

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PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium June lineup

As June rolls along, both tiers will gain access to the following titles:

Inscryption

Far Cry 6

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Rogue Legacy 2

Soulstice

Tacoma

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Killing Floor 2

Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York

Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator

A Hat in Time

Carto

Forager

Dodgeball Academia

The Wild at Heart

Redout 2

Thief

MX vs ATV Legends

PAW Patrol Mighty Pups: Save Adventure Bay!

My Friend Peppa Pig

DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace

The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition

Elex 2

While Premium tier subscribers also get the below:

Killzone: Liberation (PSP)

Worms (PS1)

Herc’s Adventures (PS1)

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Embracer announces "comprehensive restructuring program" to close studios, cut jobs

Embracer has announced a "comprehensive restructuring program" which will result in studio closures, project cancellations and job losses.

The Swedish umbrella company has grown enormously through acquisitions over the past five years, and now owns a swathe of studios such as Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, Borderlands maker Gearbox, rights to franchises such as The Lord of the Rings, and an array of other publishers such as Plaion, Saber and THQ Nordic.

But while amassing its empire, Embracer is yet to see a big return. Last year's big bet, its Saints Row reboot, was a critical and commercial failure. More recently, the company suffered a body blow when a major unannounced $2bn deal fell through, prompting its shares to plummet by an eye-watering 40 percent.

Today's reckoning seeks to make Embracer a "leaner, stronger and a more focused, self-sufficient company", the company's boss Lars Wingefors wrote in an open letter published this morning.

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[elexsolutions]

Transform Your Home with Expert Electrical Remodeling Services from Elex Solutions

Are you thinking of giving your home a fresh new look? While most people immediately think of painting walls or rearranging furniture, one often overlooked aspect of home renovation is the electrical system. Whether you're planning a complete home remodel or just upgrading certain areas, hiring a professional electrical contractor is crucial to ensure both safety and functionality. And that's where Elex Solutions comes in.

Expert Electrical Remodeling Services

At Elex Solutions, we specialize in providing top-notch electrical remodeling services for residential properties. Our team of experienced and licensed electricians have the necessary skills and knowledge to handle any electrical remodels you may need.

Why Choose Elex Solutions for Your Electrical Remodels?

As a leading electrical contractor, Elex Solutions takes pride in providing exceptional services to our clients. Here are some reasons why you should choose us for your next home remodel project:

1. Skilled and Experienced Team: Our team of residential remodel electrician is highly skilled and have years of experience in handling various electrical remodels. They stay updated with the latest techniques and industry standards to ensure that your home's electrical system is up to code.

2. Comprehensive Services: From rewiring to lighting installation and everything in between, Elex Solutions offers a wide range of services to cater to all your residential electrical remodeling needs.

3. Safety and Efficiency: With Elex Solutions, you can rest assured that your home's electrical system is in safe hands. We use high-quality materials and follow industry safety standards to ensure that your home is safe.

Contact Elex Solutions Today!

Don't neglect your home's electrical system during your next remodeling project. Trust the experts at Elex Solutions to handle all your electrical remodels needs. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you create a safer and more modern living space.

[jcmarchi]

Gothic, Elex Developer Pirahna Bytes Has Reportedly Shut Down

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/gothic-elex-developer-pirahna-bytes-has-reportedly-shut-down/

Gothic, Elex Developer Pirahna Bytes Has Reportedly Shut Down

Piranha Bytes, the developer of series such as Elex, Gothic, and Risen, has been shut down. The studio was owned by Embracer, which had been seeking a buyer for the German developer as part of its ongoing cost-cutting restructuring following failed $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia-backed Savvy Games Group last year. 

It was reported that Pirahna Bytes was looking for a new publisher following job cuts last year. In January, following a period of radio silence and inactivity from the studio, CEO Micahel Rüve addressed reports of an impending closure by stating the company was in a “difficult situation” while expressing optimism about finding a partner by saying, “Don’t write us off yet!” 

However, German website GameStar (as surfaced by Eurogamer) published a story reporting the studio was officially shut down in late June. Despite this report, there still has not been an official  announcement of closure from Embracer or Pirahna (the studio’s website remains inactive, however), and details about what exactly happened are scarce. Game Informer has contacted Pirahna’s publisher THQ Nordic for comment and will update this story with a response should we receive one. 

However, earlier today, Pirahna leaders Björn Pankratz and Jenny Pankratz announced the formation of Pithead Studio, a new indie studio. In an announcement video, the pair acknowledges Pirahna’s silence over the past few months and says they plan to answer questions about Pithead’s founding on their YouTube channel starting each Monday. 

Piranha Bytes was founded in 1997 and is perhaps best known for creating the Gothic series. The studio also developed the three Risen titles and the Elex series; its final release was Elex II in 2022. A remake of Gothic 1 is currently in development by a different studio, Alkimia Interactive. Piranha Bytes was acquired by THQ Nordic in 2019, itself a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group.

If true, this news would represent the latest Embracer casualty following the closure of Alone in the Dark developer Pieces Interactive last month. After months of layoffs, studio closures (including Saints Row developer Volition Games and Timesplitters developer Free Radical), and selling off its properties, Embracer split itself into three companies in April: Middle-earth & Friends, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Asmodee. 

[maximuswolf]

My gaming plan for 2024-2025

My gaming plan for 2024-2025 Hi everyone;Due to my time limitations, extensive unplayed catalogue and the fact that I always have choice paralysis and end not playing anything, last christmas I started a fun "challenge" in which I chose a game for each letter of the alphabet (+ number + 3 extra games that could be idle, endless games, coop, etc...), to play. For some letters I just did not have anything, so I was just creative.Dividing the list in smaller chunks like this helped a lot in the decision making, and now I now for sure this list contains only games that I really want to try, be it AAA or indie, any genre might apply. Here is the list in case someone wants to comment, and I include a small wallpaper with my current progress I created during a boring work meeting.So far I can say that God of War is really a narrative masterpiece, even with it's flaws, and that I loved Heaven's Vault (I cheated with the V, but I had already started the game and wanted to include it). I enjoyed playing all these so far, only Control felt wrong for me for some reason and was close to abandon it, but I think it was just me and it's still a good game.I am currently playing Hardspace (Which is a really fun and relaxing game), and just started RDR2, which should keep me occupied for a while.https://ift.tt/De9MvGQ 2077|#||AC Valhalla|A||Beyond a Steel Sky|B||Control|C||Death Stranding|D||Elex|E||Frostpunk|F||God of War|G||Hardspace: Shipbreaker|H||Immortal Fenix Rising|I||Jusant|J||Kingdom Hearts|K||Life is strange 2|L||Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy|M||Not Tonight|N||ONE PIECE: World Seeker|O||Praey for the gods|P||Titan Quest Anniversary Edition|Q||Red Dead Redemption 2|R||Shadow of the Tomb Raider|S||Thronebreaker|T||The Universim|U||Heaven's Vault|V||Webbed|W||XCOM: Enemy Unknown|X||Yakuza Kiwami|Y||Subnautica: Below Zero|Z| Submitted April 28, 2024 at 05:21AM by Desperate-Public394 https://ift.tt/AJEutbT via /r/gaming

[games-und-lyrik]

A Tale for Anna: Eine farbenfrohe Märchenwelt voller Magie und Rätsel

A Tale for Anna entführt dich in eine bezaubernde und geheimnisvolle Welt voller Rätsel, magischer Kreaturen und Geheimnisse. In dieser bunten Märchenwelt erlebst du die Geschichte der jungen Anna, der letzten verbliebenen Zauberin im Königreich. Die Geschichte von Anna und der bösen Königin Erkunde bezaubernde Welten und löse knifflige Rätsel Hilf Anna, ihr Schicksal zu erfüllen und die Königin zu stoppen! Eine zauberhafte Spielwelt mit liebevollen Details Ein charmantes Spiel mit einigen kleinen Schwächen Fazit: A Tale for Anna - Ein zauberhaftes Abenteuer Die Geschichte von Anna und der bösen Königin Eines Tages entdeckt Anna, die von einer sprechenden Katze namens Tail aufgezogen wurde, ihre magischen Fähigkeiten. Doch diese Fähigkeiten ziehen auch die Aufmerksamkeit der bösen Königin auf sich, die Anna durch einen magischen Spiegel ausspioniert hat. Die Königin hat einen teuflischen Plan, um Annas Magie zu stehlen und ein Zeitalter der Dunkelheit herbeizuführen. Sie hat bereits den ersten Schritt unternommen, indem sie ihre Diener geschickt hat, um Tail zu entführen! ©Far Mills Erkunde bezaubernde Welten und löse knifflige Rätsel Begleite Anna auf ihrer Reise durch bezaubernde Welten, spiele herausfordernde Minispiele und sammle Gegenstände, die dir auf deinen Abenteuern helfen. Auf dem Weg wirst du mehr über Annas größtes Geheimnis erfahren: Woher sie stammt und welche Bedeutung ihre magischen Fähigkeiten haben. https://youtu.be/5KmUS-yAL5I Hilf Anna, ihr Schicksal zu erfüllen und die Königin zu stoppen! In A Tale for Anna gilt es, Anna auf ihrer Mission zu helfen, ihr Schicksal zu erfüllen und die böse Königin zu besiegen. Nutze ihre neu entdeckten Kräfte, sammle Gegenstände und löse Rätsel, um ihre Mutter, ihre katzenartigen Freund und sich selbst zu finden und den bösen Zauberer zu besiegen. ©Far Mills Eine zauberhafte Spielwelt mit liebevollen Details Die Landschaften in A Tale for Anna sind detailliert und wunderschön gestaltet. Mit ihren neuen magischen Fähigkeiten muss Anna auf ihrer Reise verschiedene Gegenstände sammeln, um ihre Mutter, ihren katzenartigen Freund und letztendlich sich selbst zu finden. Die Landschaften sind voller versteckter Schätze und kleiner Geheimnisse, die es zu entdecken gilt. ©Far Mills Ein charmantes Spiel mit einigen kleinen Schwächen A Tale for Anna ist ein charmantes Spiel, das dich mit seiner farbenfrohen und liebevoll gestalteten Welt begeistern wird. Die Rätsel und Minispiele bieten Herausforderungen und Abwechslung. Die Integration der versteckten Objekte in die Umgebung sorgt für ein ansprechendes Spielerlebnis und macht das Suchen nach den Gegenständen spannend. Fazit: A Tale for Anna - Ein zauberhaftes Abenteuer A Tale for Anna ist ein kurzweiliges und bezauberndes Spiel, das mit versteckten Objekten und Minispielen gefüllt ist. Die helle, farbenfrohe und liebevoll gestaltete Spielwelt wird dich in ihren Bann ziehen. Es ist eines der besten versteckten Objektspiele, die ich je gespielt habe, und hat mich mit seinem charmanten und sorgfältig gestalteten Stil überrascht. Für Fans dieses Genres ist es ein absolutes Muss! Andere Artikel auf Games und Lyrik: Gothic 3 – Erlebe epische Abenteuer in der Welt von Myrtana Elex 2 – Im Kampf gegen die Skyands – Erkunde grenzenlose Welten voller Abenteuer und Eroberungen! Chaos auf Deponia: Entfessle das Chaos: Erlebe die explosivste Reise deines Lebens im 2. Teil der Deponia-Reihe CD Project Red – Unerschütterlicher Triumph trotz Turbulenzen – Die beeindruckende Geschichte von Cyberpunk 2077 und der Witcher-Serie The Witcher 3 – Wild Hunt – Tauche ein in eine Welt voller Magie und Dunkelheit Blacksad – Under the Skin – Die 1. neuen aufregenden Wege nach Runaway Cyberpunk 2077 – Entfessle deine Zukunft: Tauche ein in eine pulsierende Welt The Witcher 3 – Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone Gothic 2 – Schlacht um Khorinis: Entfessle deine Dunkle Macht! State of Mind – Erkunde die Tiefen des Bewusstseins – Studio Daedalic entfesselt bahnbrechende Storytelling-Power Igor – Objective Uikokahonia entführt dich in eine Welt voller Rätsel und Abenteuer! The Witcher 2: Eine fesselnde und subversive Fantasywelt Weiter geht es zur Steam-Seite über A Tale for Anna Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

[joyffree]

Title: Hearts on Fire Series: Fire in Stone Duet #2 Author: Marina Simcoe Genre: Fantasy Romance, Romantic Phantasy, Gargoyle/Dragon Romance Release Date: January 20, 2023

Conclusion to the Fire in Stone duet.

Now stolen myself and brought into the world I never planned to come to, I have to try hard to survive. Or die like so many do around me.

A war is raging in Dakath, and I don’t belong on either side of it. I can’t trust anyone in the king’s castle, not even Elex. His life is tied to the king, who is the most despicable man among the dragons. The gargoyles at King Edkhar’s Court are stronger, faster, more ruthless than I could ever be. But as the only human in the kingdom where everyone turns to stone at sunset, I may have an advantage still.

No one knows what I’m capable of to protect those I love. An incredible power lies inside me—the power of human love.

@MarinaSimcoe @MarinaSimcoeAuthor Hosted by Enticing Journey Book Promotions

[tonkicollective]

Elex wiki slug beast

#Elex wiki slug beast windows 10

Advertised as beneficial to all citizens, it was in reality a contingency plan in order to save the Board and corporations from annihilation. The Board, knowing it could never sustain the population and maintain their power in the current situation, decided to implement a Lifetime Employment Program. The Stranger takes command of the ship Unreliable and soon becomes embroiled in a vast conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Halcyon colony. The Stranger can either help MSI regain their strength or unite with the semi-anarchist organization, the Iconoclasts.Ī rogue scientist named Phineas Vernon Welles discovers the Hope, rescuing the Stranger from the Hope and sending them to Terra 2. This corporation, mainly their CEO Sanjar Nandi, was trying to recover their place in the Board by implicating another company in their illicit activities on the planet declared off limits by the Board. However, one corporation took advantage of the chaos and remained on Monarch, re-branding themselves as Monarch Stellar Industries. With the terraforming process triggering uncontrolled mutations in the local flora and fauna, the Board was forced to abandon the planet, leaving it a lawless and dangerous place where only criminals and monsters dwelled. Alas, the animosity between Edgewater and the Deserters prevented the cure from being spread among the town's population.Īnother problem for the Board was their first failed colonization attempt on the planet Terra 1, now known as Monarch. However, those who chose to leave the town and became Deserters, lead by a woman named Adelaide McDevitt, found a way to grow crops on Terra 2's soil using ground-up human remains as fertilizer, and discovered a way to fight the disease. With the only food source within the town's walls being the locally-produced canned saltuna, the population started to develop symptoms of the plague. To make matters worse, malnutrition caused a new disease, commonly known as the plague, to spread among the citizens of the Spacer's Choice-owned town of Edgewater. This suppressant was supposed to be used in a form of tooth paste and would allegedly allow to reduce the amount of resources that people consume, thus winning time form the scientists to devise a more permanent solution. To counter this, the Board commissioned their chief scientists to develop any means necessary, such as powerful appetite suppressant, derived from raptidons. The main problem being slow and subtle starvation of the entire population due to Earth food being too low in nutrients. Despite the assurances of the Board, life in the colony is far from perfect. Thirty-five years later, the colony is in fact on the verge of complete collapse. The Hope is moved into orbit over the ice planet Typhon and its existence covered up. Since Halcyon was colonized through other means, the Hope is unexpectedly found adrift with its colonists unable to be revived and the Halcyon Holdings Corporate Board decided to abandon the colonists. During its journey, the ship's skip drive malfunctions and it is forced to continue using its sublight engines, extending the trip from ten years to sixty. The Stranger, also known as "the unknown variable", is a passenger aboard the colony ship Hope, which is bound for the distant Halcyon system, wholly owned and operated by corporations. The game takes place in the year 2355 in the Halcyon System. As a result, Theodore Roosevelt never succeeded McKinley as President and large business trusts were never broken up, leading to a hyper-corporate, class centric society dominated by the power of mega-corporations and robber barons, which by the distant future, have begun to colonize space. The Outer Worlds is set in an alternate timeline, with the point of divergence beginning when United States President William McKinley was not assassinated by Leon Czolgosz in 1901. A Nintendo Switch version was also released on June 5, 2020.

#Elex wiki slug beast windows 10

The game was released on the Epic Store, Windows 10 store, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One (as well as Xbox Game Pass) on October 25, 2019, with the Steam release to follow in 2020. Outer Worlds, as a result, is heavily inspired by the Fallout franchise with many elements being ported over. The game's development is spearheaded by Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. Development on Outer Worlds began sometime prior to Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian Entertainment in 2018 Private Division had also managed to secure publishing rights before the buyout.

[hermit-god-au-pog]

[OLD AND MAY BECOME NON-CANON LATER ON] Hermit-Gods and their Bio’s pt.2

Part 2 babyyyyy’s! 5 more hermit Bios done! Pog!

I hope you guys like these haha, any feedback is appreciated! Also, Joe and Cleo are in this and im still frightened by the fact both of them have tumblr lol But im 70% sure they’ll never find this place, if they do I hope they enjoy the au involving their characters lol!

All the bios under the cut

Xisuma- God of Masks/forms

Real Godly name?; TBD

Pronouns; They/them/Ze/Zem

Extra Domains?; n/a or TBD

Event(s) that would make them happy?; Honestly? A more chill masquerade ball. Probably starting early evening, the part goes on for a while, everyone has some sort of mask and fun or fancy outfit, and they have a big ol fun party. And later in the night, everyone gathers around, Xisuma puts on a little admin magic show and they probably have a little bond fire, everyone switching outfits with others to see what they’d look like, often causing shenanigans.

Myth?; He always wanted to make others happy, knowing the ones around him had hard lives. He had struggles of his own but he could tell others were less in control of their demons, so using voice changers, costumes, masks, anything, he tried to help the ones he so desperately wanted to laugh or smile. If he didn’t succeed, he tried again even harder. The day he got his dad to laugh and calm down while being in a fit of rage, was one of his happiest moments. Now after someone is able to make someone genuinely happy, laugh, or cheer up using a funny face, prop, or disguise, a little voice says.

What one would hear after? ‘Well isn’t that just splendid, it feels so nice to see them smile, doesn’t it?’

ZombieCleo- Goddess of Puppetry

Real Godly name?; TBD

Pronouns; She/Her/any

Extra Domains?; sculpting & necromancy

Event(s) that would make them happy?; People reacting to her armor stands in general. + She’ll ask for a little help and set on a full-on show in a makeshift theater using her armor stands and some magical help. Every hermit who isn’t helping gathers in the audience to watch the show and after marvel and gush over Cleo’s hard work and planning she did. Cause like it is truly amazing though.

Myth?; She wasn’t always so guarded and slightly ruthless. She once has faith in the world and who lived in it. But after her death and multiple witnesses’ not saying anything, she would soon grow cold. After waking up in a bed, she was met with the watcher symbol, to be told she was now a god, but instead of going out for revenge, she used her newfound power to manipulate and puppet the ones who had hurt her into ruining their own lives, sabotage themselves, and when they were at their lowest, she left them to deal with it themselves. After she let out her rage she went on to use her magic for good, using her power to lead people in the right directions in their life, help newly reanimated corpses(the sentient ones) to understand life and how to work with their new bodies. Now, whenever someone helps a sentient undead being or uses their bigger power to genuinely help others below them, they’ll hear a soft voice.

What one would hear after? ‘Yaknow, you could have done a really bad thing right there, but you did the opposite. Maybe there is more good in this world than we may think. You did good pal, you did good’

Joehills- God of Wisdom

Real Godly name?; TBD

Pronouns; he/him

Extra Domains?; glitched or unjust deaths

Event(s) that would make them happy?; Storytime. Either he or Ren will sit on a chair and the hermits will gather in front of them like they’re back in grade school to hear the stories. Sometimes it’ll be true, fiction, realistic fiction, or even myths or legends! Everyone gets snacks and drinks and get to listen to them reading

Myth?; He had a good life, and made an amazing friend, who he didn’t care was immortal and stronger than he was. And for years he lived his mortal lives surrounded by immortals, seeming to be blending in somehow. Probably due to his vast vocabulary and knowledge he had on hand at all times, and his desire to learn new things. But after an unfortunate death and soon revival, he learned to appreciate life so much more than he had. Now when someone is revived, comes close to death, or uses their knowledge to help keep them or someone else alive, they’ll hear a soft voice.

What one would hear after? ‘Life is such a precious thing, and you never know when you might lose it, it’s a fragile and random thing. Yet you’re here to see another day. Please treasure that feeling and keep your head up. It’s gonna be ok.’

Rendog- God of Fables&Legends

Real Godly name?; TBD

Pronouns; He/Him/ Any

Extra Domains?; Dogs 

Event(s) that would make them happy?; The same as Joe’s actually, that makes him very happy + huge cuddle pile, doesn’t have to be the whole server just a big cuddle pile cause yes

Myth?; He grew up with a decent life, it had pros and cons. He became a god around the time he was a teen. Due to his current obsessions with the past and myths and legends, he had quite a lot of knowledge on hand. And when he noticed the signs of a previous legend coming to be, he was able to convince the ones he loved to leave the area. But he secretly stayed behind. Tho he died killing this legendary beast, his sacrifice was not in vain. Due to his sacrifice and such kind heart, he was brought back with unspeakable power. Though his life got so much more difficult after that moment, he never regretted a moment of it. Now when someone uses a legend or myth to solve a problem or save someone, they’ll hear a soft voice.

What one would hear after? ‘Great job Cyber-Dog! That was amazing what you just did, now why don’t you go out and learn a few more to keep in your back pocket~’

Welsknight- God of the knights/protectors

Real Godly name?; Elex

Pronouns; They/Them/Ze/Zem

Extra Domains?; Armor

Event(s) that would make them happy?; Big ol slumber party, kinda like bdubs but less extreme + Sparring matches + Concerts! They like to sing sea shanties to the hermits

Myth?; Actually being born in the medieval time, ze grew up and always wanted to be a knight, it was their dream for all their life. And when zey were old enough, their dream came true, zey had become a knight. And due to their strength and intelligence in training, they quickly rose in the ranks. One day, when the kingdom was attacked, Ze disobeyed orders and went to check on the princess to see her being attacked. Ze lost their life that day, but it was a worthy sacrifice, and the kingdom did not forget their sacrifice either. They had a statue dedicated after them and everything. When they were revived as a god, instead of going home, Zey decided to explore the world, see what else was out there and aims to protect others. Now when someone intends to sacrifice themselves for another/a group of people or swears on their life to protect someone or something, they’ll hear a soft voice.

What one would hear after? ‘That’s a mighty big promise you made. But in your heart, I can see what you say is true. There are ones watching over you, you are a worthy knight young one’

[thescentoflavender]

Hey Hey! I’m new to MLQL, I been playing for roughly 2-ish months, but have my current account for around 1 month. Can you explain to me the difference in servers since people are talking events that I don’t see or general things that a newbie should know? Thanks a lot and hope you are well when seeing this ✨💖

Hello and welcome to the MLQC fandom! I’m sorry I took a while to respond to this! I wanted to answer this in one sitting and it wasn’t easy to carve out a block of time from my schedule.  

Difference between servers

There are six servers in MLQC. The mainland Chinese server (let’s call this MLQC CN), the only one I play, is the most up to date one. The next most up to date is the Korean server (MLQC KR), and it’s only a few weeks behind the CN server. Then we have the Taiwan server (MLQC TW), which is about a year behind MLQC CN. I’m not sure why MLQC TW is lagging so much behind MLQC CN because they share the same language. The only significant difference is the VAs. The Japan and the EN servers are about a year and a half behind the CN server in terms of the main story. Last is the SEA server (MLDD), which was just released this year. As far as I know, all the servers except MLQC EN and MLDD are managed by Papergames. For MLQC EN and MLDD, Elex are in charge of translating and distributing the games, but Papergames produce the content. 

Each server has their own schedule for events. Sometimes there are events which are released in certain servers at the same time, even if those servers are behind MLQC CN for the main story, e.g. the Disney event earlier this year. These are quite rare though. 

I only post about events in MLQC CN on my blog, which possibly explains why you don’t see them in the server you play. 

---

General tips for newbies

1. If you aren’t planning to spend huge amounts of money on this game, don’t waste resources on Evolving or Ascending SR or R karmas. This is especially important for newbies, because you won’t have much resources to work with. This will get better with time, though. 

More on which karmas to Level/Evolve/Ascend here: A (Non-Exhaustive) Guide to Karmas

2. Save up your Galaxy Wish Coupons and gems for SP karmas. 

More on SP karmas here: SP Karmas and Why You Should Get Them

3. Never enter an event if you cannot meet the guarantee. There’s a saying in Chinese, “赔了夫人又折兵” (literally “losing your wife and your men”). Less literally, it means losing everything without achieving the desired outcome. If you’re really unlucky, you might end up not getting a single SSR/SP in a Wish Tree event, in the process wasting all your gems and coupons. So it’s always good to ensure that you have at least 140 Galaxy Wish Coupons/enough gems to buy 140 Galaxy Wish Coupons before participating in a Wish Tree event to hit the guarantee. It’s far better to go all in for one event than spread your coupons out over many events. 

4. Don’t go crazy on levelling your experts or in the Sunrise Pool. This is a surefire way to deplete your gold quickly. Save your gold as much as possible. Only use it when you really need to, such as for levelling up/Evolving your karmas and for doing the Daily Missions. 

5. It’s up to you whether you want to stock up on stamina. I start stocking up on stamina when collection-type events are announced, but on normal days I don’t. I also leave doing the City Strolls to the weekend, in case there happens to be a x2 or x3 coin event that drops. 

More on stamina here: Should I stock up on stamina? 

6. Check the official social media page religiously for redemption codes. For MLQC EN and MLDD, this should be their FB page. (For MLQC CN, it’s Papergames’ Weibo channel.)

7. If you’re planning on spending on this game, get the VIP card! I like to buy months’ worth of VIP cards when a top-up SSR/SP is released. I find it more value for money that way. In terms of value, VIP card > weekly gem packs > 2 for 1 promotion the first time you top up on gems.

More on the VIP card here: Highlights of the VIP card

That’s all I can think of for now. I’m working on a more detailed textbook guide on karmas, so keep a look out for it if you’re interested. 

If you have more questions on what karmas you should Evolve/Ascend, you can drop me a message or use the Karma Consultations Box. Please read the guidelines before posting so that it’s easier for everyone! (You might have to use the desktop version of Tumblr to see the guidelines.)

[sharinluna]

Chapter 16 Analysis - The Greatest of These is Love

I try to stick to the canon English version text as much as possible. But in this analysis I had to take some liberties and merge my own translation, because sometimes Elex translation just doesn’t fit with the purpose of my analysis. So please excuse me.

1. Hades’s Reset Plan

A Black Swan member called Hades is trying to put his Reset Plan to action.

Hades: Complete slaughter is the highest respect one can pay to a civilization. Not everyone is fit to become an Evolver. This world belongs to us, and those low-level creatures that do nothing but breed had lived too long.

The rest of Black Swan is skeptical about this plan however, calling it “a powerless clown’s ridiculous trick.” However, Hades thinks the Reset Plan should be carried out because “the previous operations were too slow.”

We can speculate here that what Hades’s trying to do is considered unreasonably aggressive and nonsensically radical even to Black Swan. Hades wants Ares to work with him, but Ares maintains a “Let’s see how well you do on your own first” attitude.

2. Flu Investigation

The news on the TV was talking about a new, mysterious flu that was sweeping the city. The presenting symptoms were the same as regular flu: cold, fever, weakness. They’re calling it a flu, but none of the current antibiotics or cold medications are effective against it. There haven’t been any deaths, but the number of infected has been steadily increasing. The national laboratories have all been working to find a pathogen, but to no result. The virus is spreading faster than anything, and lack of information is making people more worried.

Perry from chapter 15 had this flu. It seems that this strange influenza is spreading. When Yōurán arrives at her office, she overhears the security guards talking and gets suspicious.

Guard A: Did you hear? Smitty got sick. His wife said he couldn’t remember her.

He didn’t even remember his own wife… How is that a symptom of a flu?

Gavin is away and Victor is in the future. Lucien turned Ares on her and Kiro is missing. Yōurán consults the only Evolver she knows: Dr. Song(the Evolver doctor from chapter 13). They figure out the truth of this flu.

Yōurán: Demographics typically vulnerable to diseases like the elderly and small children only make up a small percentage of the infected. Most are in their primes.

Usually, the elderly and small children who have weaker immune systems are the likely target for the flu. But this time, it’s the opposite. Healthy, young people are getting infected by this new flu instead.

Dr. Song: That’s right. Aside from that, I’ve found that out of all the infected, not one is an Evolver. My guess is that the virus is selecting based on genetics.

As the both women figure out, the virus is intentionally infecting healthy, strong, ordinary non-Evolvers.

Later, Yōurán goes to visit a flu patient.

His file said he’d been in a coma for about 10 days, during which he got up once as if sleep walking and tried to assault bystanders with a blunt object. His symptoms were the same as Perry.

She uses her powers to see the man’s future to get the next clue.

I saw him fallen on the ground, his face pale, his eyes about to bulge out of his head, his entire body shaking.

Pretty familiar with Perry at the end of chapter 15, right?

Let’s link their findings with Hades’s Reset Plan. I’m going to guess what Hade’s Reset Plan is in four steps.

Step 1: Hades spreads the virus.

Step 2: The virus infects healthy non-Evolvers who are likely to survive the symptoms.

Step 3: Some people manage to overcome the virus by “evolving”, aka attaining Evol genes and becoming Evolvers. Those who cannot form Evol genes or cannot handle the process die.

Step 4: All non-Evolvers are dead and only Evolvers are left on this earth.

3. Two Conflicting Feelings.

News: Lucien Bioscience Research Center announced a press conference for tomorrow regarding a new reagent targeting the recent flu outbreak.

It had been a long while since I’d heard that name. Ever since that day he disappeared from my life. I asked myself once, did I hate him? But the answer was no. This world is not black and white, and I won’t judge people using just one perspective of right and wrong.

Even though Lucien “betrayed” Yōurán in chapter 13, she can’t hate him. Still, it hurts so much that she doesn’t want to think about him ever again. But that alone tells us that she has lingering feelings for him yet.

I didn’t know what I was running away from. Was I scared to hear those doubts I’d already heard straight from his mouth? Did I want to avoid confirming that this virus was connected to him, so that my rational mind wouldn’t be able to connect the dots? Or was it… that I just didn’t want to face him?

She has two conflicting feelings. She wants to go to the conference and see Lucien again, but at the same time, she wants to stay far away from him to avoid dealing with all this.

In flight or fight, Yōurán has never chosen the former. She decides to go to the press conference regardless of what the consequences might be.

4. The Press Conference

The press conference is my favorite scene in chapter 16 nay, the entire End of Abyss arc. Sadly, I saw a lot of translation errors in this part and some word choices were just not adequate. So please excuse me if some of the quotes are not exactly word-for-word of the Elex version text.

Lucien: I wish that more people would be test subjects. The advance of science is a continuous sacrifice. And deaths and injury along the way due to mistakes are inevitable.

I couldn’t help but worry for him. What was Lucien trying to do speaking cruel truths so frankly? For him, this was all perfectly reasonable. An unpleasant feeling welled up inside me. I wanted to get out of here.

Notice here that Yōurán doesn’t exactly think that Lucien is wrong. She just thinks that he is being cruel. She said earlier that she doesn’t hate Lucien based on the fact that there’s no one correct principle of right and wrong. However, his nonchalant attitude of accepting inevitable deaths as “reasonable” is what upsets her.

Yōurán: I want to ask Professor Lucien a question. What is this “sacrifice” you speak of?

Lucien: Physiological death.

Yōurán: That is to say, it’s normal to sacrifice the minority for the whole of society?

Lucien: Yes. I personally wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

It’s easy to misunderstand her stance on this because Yōurán is against sacrifice in general. But she doesn’t say that sacrifice should be forbidden at all costs. However, a society that demands individual sacrifice to maintain itself is problematic.

Lucien: Like the classic Trolley Problem. Choosing left or right will both land you in a moral quandary. But in reality, whether it’s for societal advancement or not, many people will be eliminated for a variety of reasons, by death or other means. So whether we want to face it or not, survival of the fittest is an eternal principle of existence. It’s what keeps humanity going.

Yōurán: In your eyes, is life so capricious? All life forms should be respected. Every one of us is doing their best to survive. It’s what every person desires and deserves. Their will to keep on living is their right. And you can’t deprive people of this.

Lucien talks that the survival of the fittest is the principle, while Yōurán talks about the natural rights that all people are inherently born with. Every individual on earth have a right to live. She is asking Lucien: Are you so readily throwing that out the window for the continuation of the rest of society?

Yōurán: Maybe you didn’t notice, but there are hospitals full of critically ill people. They may be comatose, but their consciousness still cling to life. Kids in foster care, the broke and homeless, they’re all struggling to survive.

I was confused at first when she said this, but now I understand what she is saying. There may be some volunteers for Lucien’s research, but believing that all test subjects will be willing participants is naïve.

Realistically, homeless people, those who can’t afford continued medical care, or people who have little to no financial support will be the ones who’ll be so-called “volunteers” for this experiment. While the rich sit back and wait for the cure to come out that’s based on the lives of these unfortunate sacrifices. Sacrificing these people with low socioeconomic status to sustain the rest in the name of “survival of the fittest” is a form of discrimination.

Lucien: You have a point. But you speak from the point of view of the minority, and therein arises the paradox. People cannot think in purely logical terms. That is a property of the divine. From primitive society to today, humanity has been sacrificed in political struggle, and died on the battlefields of war. But for some of these people, that sacrifice has been pointless. Fairness is not the only principle. As a cornerstone of civilization, survival stands above all. If it can bring incredible progress, then that sacrifice shouldn’t even require their permission.

But to Lucien, all of that throughout the history of wars and political struggle can be justified in the name of survival. He goes further and says that for survival, people should be sacrificed even against their will.

Sidenote: My thoughts.

Figuring out what’s right and wrong is always difficult and there’s no one right answer. But I lean more on Yōurán’s side. Historically, researches like Lucien’s have always been unethical. We should outgrow the necessary evil of human subject research.

“Sacrifice the few for the whole” is a touchy subject. In reality, many people in position of power or the majority have used that logic to justify their oppression of the minority. And many times humanity chose to sacrifice a small part of their society instead of looking for an alternate solution because it’s more efficient or faster.

Even if sacrifices are unavoidable, the attitude of how you treat people to be sacrificed is important. Do you respect them and feel guilty? Are you careful not to treat them as mere tools for a goal? Did you try your very best to minimize the sacrifice? Did you keep looking for other options until there was absolutely no choice left? I’m afraid that Lucien’s answers for these questions would be all negatives. He is too practical. He doesn’t care about sentiment. If it’s a way to solve problems efficiently he just does it with no emotional attachments, because they are a hindrance to achieving what has to be done.

But when it comes to these matters, maybe we need some hindrances that come from our conscience. Maybe feeling regret is the courtesy we owe to the people we killed so that we could live. Being indifferent to sacrifices is worse than the sacrifice itself. Reluctance and hesitance should always be accompanied when deciding whether we should sacrifice or not. Because when sacrificing a part of us becomes too easy, we will keep chucking out bits and pieces until there is none of us left.

5. Trying to Sever Ties (and Failing)

The conversation between the two becomes more personal at this point.

Yōurán: If… the person to be sacrificed was you, would you be willing?

Lucien: I would. If it meant allowing humanity to take a great stride forward, I would happily do so.

Yōurán: And what if it was someone important to you?

But Lucien just looks at her, not answering the question. Thinking that the unspoken answer is “Yes”, Yōurán falls into despair. At this point, she gives up on him.

Yōurán: Thank you for your answer, and good luck with your research, but I could never support your beliefs. Because in my heart there’s something that will always be more important than survival.

In chapter 16, Yōurán tries to sever all ties with Lucien, but she still has lingering attachments. I already said this in my chapter 15 analysis. The importance of “bonds” is a key element in her nature. No matter how hard she tries, her connection to Lucien can never be cut. Even if it pains her, she cannot bring herself to discard it.

Yōurán: My relationship with Professor Lucien is purely for business, and in the future Miracle Finder will have a new program consultant. I ask that everyone focus on the press conference. Excuse me.

Later she founds out that she left behind the pen Lucien gave her. She can’t abandon it and goes back for it, but when she’s found it she gives it back to Lucien.

Lucien gave her the pen as a way of giving his heart and she is giving it back to him. But because of what happened in chapter 13 he understands and accepts it back.

However, he’s not so accepting that he’s losing yet another connection with her: an excuse to approach her again. Probably the last one left.

Lucien: I just learned I’ve been let go from Miracle Finder. Is it out of line to ask for an explanation?

Yōurán: You’ve strayed from the principles that Miracle Finder strives to uphold. In my mind, the Miracle Finder is about justice and tolerance.

Lucien: Very understandable. I accept your explanation.

Yōurán refuses him because their principles are complete opposite. Lucien accepts her decision but this time she’s the one who’s hesitant to let him go.

Yōurán: Wait! Are you connected with this recent flu?

Please, oh please let your answer be no.

She is just desperately clutching at straws here. She knows what the answer is.

Lucien: Yes.

Hearing those words, something came crashing down in my heart.

Confirmation that she and Lucien are walking different paths.

6. Even if I Had the Gift of Prophesy

Lucien: The justice and goodness you uphold, has it gotten you the results you want? Is that what you think is more important than survival? I’d also like to know, in the face of what you value, would you sacrifice someone important to you?

In the press conference, Yōurán asked Lucien if he would sacrifice someone important for his survival of the fittest belief. Here Lucien is asking her the same thing. Would she abandon someone important to her to uphold her belief of what’s right?

Before she can answer, she is attacked (by Hades) and Lucien instantly pulls her into his arms protecting her.

An instant worry and fear flashed in his eyes, as if… he was afraid of losing something precious. But that look vanished instantly.

Time seemed to have jumped back to a month ago, when he was still Lucien. At that time he was also holding me tight like this… protecting me.

Yōurán: Are you alright? Thanks for saving me.

Lucien: I was just ensuring your safety.

Yōurán: My safety…. is needed in your plan, right?

Lucien: Of course. I don’t engage in worthless endeavors.

The last time we faced off, the people dressed in black also said to make sure I was alive. It was always like that. So all those times he protected me before was also like that.

To Yōurán, it seems like Lucien is saving her just because he needs her alive to use in his scheme. That his feelings for her were not real.

Lucien: Now, answer my question.

Lucien was still blocking my path. I couldn’t see his face clearly through the haze. Maybe this haziness was for the better.

To Yōurán, Lucien’s true intentions has always been vague since chapter 13. Does he care for her? Or was all that a lie? Him giving mixed signals in chapter 16 certainly doesn’t help. 

In the end, she decides to go along with this vagueness. She cannot abandon her principles nor can she abandon her ties with Lucien. Without the haze, she would have to face the fact that Lucien is blocking her “path” her belief. In ambiguity, she doesn’t have to choose one for the other.

Yōurán: I wouldn’t. If I had the gift of prophesy and knew all kinds of secrets and knowledge… If I had faith to move mountains, but didn’t have love, then none of it would count for anything. The truth of this world unfolds itself for people only through disappointment and suffering. Even if the light’s source is put out, I’d still try to keep my own shining. No matter how difficult, or how dark it gets. Or how foolish or ridiculous. Someone very important to me once taught me that, and I’ll never forget it.

Lucien first quoted The Corinthians in chapter 13 “For now we see through a glass, darkly.”

Now, Yōurán is quoting lines from The Corinthians too. “If I had the gift of prophesy and knew all kinds of secrets and knowledge… If I had faith to move mountains, but didn’t have love, then none of it would count for anything.”

It’s delicious irony that Lucien is the one who taught her to keep following her own principle when he himself is against it.

In this scene, Yōurán’s greatest strength shines in her words. She may not have powers to move mountains, she may not have all secrets and knowledge. But she has faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. Against all odds, she will never stop pursuing the light.

7. Despite Everything, My Heart Still Goes out to You

In a flash, an unlikely person popped into my head. Why would I think of him? The next image in my mind was the anxious way he looked at me during that danger just now. I closed my eye and decided to take a chance. That he’d save me, that what I’d seen in his eyes was really there.

After their confrontation, Yōurán faces danger in a deserted alley. She remembers the fleeting moment when she thought she saw genuine fear in Lucien’s eyes and decides to gamble on that to ensure her safety. 

Also, even with her multiple tries to sever Lucien from her heart, in times of danger, her thoughts automatically go to him. At the least, Ares said that he needed her alive for his scheme.

And she won in this gamble. Because he did come for her.

Yōurán: Did you really come to save me?

Lucien: I am a man of my word.

Yōurán: Is that also for your goal too?

Lucien: Yes.

Although I had guessed it, hearing it from his own mouth made my heart sink.

Lucien is only telling the half-truth here. His heart truly yearns for her and wants her to be safe. But he doesn’t tell her that, letting Yōurán think that she is just a means to his end.

Meanwhile, Yōurán is still wavering between seeing him as Lucien and seeing him as Ares. Her head tells her that he is her enemy Ares, but her heart keeps pining after Lucien, the gentle scholar who asked her to teach him how to love in New Light Date.

But we already know what her answer will be. She subconsciously keeps reaching out for him.

Lucien: Why aren’t you asking me about what just happened?

Yōurán: But you’re bleeding…

She just saw Lucien kill a man in cold blood(well, it turns out later that this was just a dream and not real but still) but instead of being scared she is worried that he is injured.

Hades thinks that Yōurán is Ares’s weak spot and tries to use her to threaten Ares into working with him.

Lucien: You think the weak spots I let you see, are really weak spots?

But Lucien is one step of Hades. He already knew that Hades would try to get to Yōurán and devised a way to get back at him.

Lucien: Remember the exit I told you about. Cross over. Don’t hesitate.

My heart sunk like lead, and a sudden, intense feeling of dread welled up, almost to my throat.

Lucien: Now, leave my side.

Yōurán: No! You…

Lucien: Do as I say. I will find you.

He spoke in that familiar old tender tone, and then the next second, he shoved me away.

Yōurán: Lucien!

Lucien turned his head and gazed into my eyes. His eyes were as before, tender as the falling tide. There was even a hint of a warm, crisp smile, the likes of which I never saw before.

This smile is probably the most earnest expression he made to her. Pure and sincere with no hidden sides.

I’d never imagined I’d face a situation like this with Lucien. I ran on, and the sound of fighting in the distance grew more intense, along with my tears. I kept telling myself, Lucien would be fine. He was clearly my enemy, only saving me for his own purposes. I had resolved to be done with him… So why does it hurt so much?

I stopped, my trembling body simply unable to take the next step. My heart felt like it was being ripped apart. I couldn’t breathe as if someone was gripping my heart tightly.

As she is running towards the exit that Lucien told her, Yōurán keeps telling herself, Ares is my enemy. I shouldn’t be connected to him anymore. But her heart, her reasons for going on in life, are based on the bonds she’d formed with others, including Lucien. How can she cut that lose when he’s a part of herself?

8. Will You Sacrifice Someone Important to You?

Hades: Ares, I’ll give you one last chance, join me. I will create a world different from today’s, for Evolvers’ only. Advanced, free, beautiful. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted to see?

Ares: Fool. That world will never exist. An advanced civilization can never be created. It can only be reached by selection and evolution. Your so-called creation is just an excuse to hide your incompetence.

At the risk of oversimplifying things, Ares is telling Hades that he thinks the Reset Plan is stupid. Eliminating non-Evolvers won’t stop the struggle of survival of the fittest.

Yōurán: Lucien!

All in an instant, looks of shock, doubt and disbelief came over him, as well as a joy that he hadn’t shown before, mixed with the others.

Lucien is showing many emotions here. Shock that she still hadn’t left the dream. Doubt whether he is seeing her for real. Disbelief that she would abandon her safety again. And Joy. Pure, primitive delight that she still cares for him enough to throw her life out for him.

Lucien: Why didn’t you listen? Don’t you even care for your own life?!

This is the first time that Lucien ever yelled at Yōurán. (erase the True Love Date from your memory) This is one of the scarce times that Lucien loses his cool and reveals his true emotions raw and bare.

I yelled back at Lucien in a tone I never knew I had.

Yōurán: Liar! You had no intention of coming to find me, did you?! You deceived me every time! This time I’m not falling for it!

(By the way, I would put Yōurán’s words in capitals if I were the translator, to emphasize the yelling when she’s usually soft-spoken.)

I love that Yōurán didn’t put up with his I’m-only-saving-you-for-my-goal nonsense. I love that she saw through Lucien acting like Ares and forced out the truth that he truly loves her. I love that she was more upset that he lied about him being safe than the fact that he lied about him being part of Black Swan.

I’m sorry, but if I just go and let you take all the danger, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. Even if we are enemies. I still want to prove to you that even in the darkness, I’ll persist in my faith.

In the end, the question is he Lucien or is he Ares didn’t matter. That he was her enemy and have opposing beliefs from her didn’t matter. All that mattered in the end was that Lucien was the one who taught her to keep pursuing her light, and she was the one who taught him how to love. The unbreakable bond between them.

Lucien: Yōurán, Do you want to know my answer from the press conference?

Finally, finally, Lucien answers truthfully to her questions in the press conference. The first time he didn’t evade her questions regarding his feelings with silence.

Lucien: I won’t. I won’t sacrifice someone important to me. That is my answer.

I am infinitely glad that Lucien said this to her, and also infinitely mad that she forgot this in the end.

Lucien grabs her hand, and Yōurán sees a vision of Lucien’s past memories.

A white moonbeam appeared instantly before my eyes, solidifying into a blade, striking at me. A split second later there was a rupture, and a black liquid flowed from my pupil. For a moment, color was restored to my vision. I saw a pair of bloody eyes flicker past me. Then it was all black-and-white scenes of the TV tower, the park, the research center… As well as, a black-and-white me.

This makes me think that Lucien lost his ability to see Yōurán in color when he stabbed his eye in chapter 13. If he could still see her in color, he would have noticed her coming back for him earlier. He lost his only color in the world for her.

9. Hazy Like a Fog

Yōurán: Lucien, you’re hurt!

Lucien: You knew it was dangerous. Why did you come back?

Yōurán: Because you saved me. I couldn’t just abandon you.

She came back because Lucien is part of her. When he gets hurt, she gets hurt too. When he dies, the part of Yōurán that belongs to Lucien dies too. She cannot break the tie that pulls her towards him.

Lucien: I saved you because it’s better for me if you’re alive.

He seemed to always be stressing this point.

Yōurán: So why did you tell me the direction of the exit and make me leave by myself… Why didn’t you go with me? Didn’t you consider your own safety?

(Yōurán: Don’t play dumb with me, mister. I know you love me.)

Then she learns that all of this was part of Lucien’s plan. That her coming back for him had no influence in it.

Had he planned all of this?! And he didn’t tell me! All the while I cried like a fool, agonized over decisions, and left myself be vulnerable again and again! Liar!

KR translation is a bit different here.

I cried endlessly like a fool, I kept making choices endlessly, and I endlessly took out and looked at my feelings(heart) and agonized over them! Liar!

Notice the repetition of “endlessly” is used to describe the depth of what she felt before she made her decision to come back for Lucien. I would love to know what JP and CN translations are.

But still this liar hadn’t hurt me once the whole way though… My heart overflowed with loss, grief, doubt… a complex wave of emotions.

Again, her emotions regarding Lucien becomes a complicated mess.

A large hand suddenly covered my eyes, feeling slightly cold.

Yōurán: And I’ll forget everything that’s happened here too?

There was a long pause, and then I heard Lucien’s soft voice.

Lucien: yes.

Then I felt his finger tremble a bit, and my heart trembled with it.

Yōurán: Lucien… what kind of person are you really… Why even though we are enemies, do you always save me risking everything? Why do you always push me away again after saving me… Why can I see the futures of other people, but not yours…

Whenever she tries to discern Lucien, she is met with a vague fog. She got his answer to the question: Would he sacrifice someone important for his goal? But more questions came up that would never get answers. Even the one answer she got is about to be taken away from her.

10. Back to the Real Owner

Lucien carefully took out a pen from his pocket and placed it in the girl’s hand.

I said before that Lucien’s pen means Lucien’s heart. Yōurán tried to give it back to Lucien.

Then he leaned over and whispered into her ear:

Lucien: Next time, don’t rush into danger by yourself. Especially, on my account.

This scene reminds me of the end of chapter 15 when Gavin whispers to unconscious Yōurán to wait for him to come back. It hurts that she doesn’t receive the final messages they send to her before they leave her.

11. Again, Alone with Only a Memento

Just like in the end of chapter 15, Yōurán wakes up in her room alone. But this time, she forgot what has happened to her.

Large beads of sweat fell from my forehead. I opened my eyes to a pitch black ceiling. Black-and-white images were scrolling through my head. Too bad those images were like photo negatives and too blurred to make out.

I remembered I was being followed on a street. How was I waking up in my house all of a sudden? There seemed to be a chuck missing, but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

Although she doesn’t remember it, everything she felt still remains in her heart.

When I thought of Lucien’s name again, an intense feeling of grief and longing washed over me.

Because you can’t erase feelings even when you erase memories. PTSD patients sometimes forget what they went through that caused their trauma, but they can still feel the pain and suffering they felt. But they don’t know why they are hurting.

This was when I seriously began to worry about Yōurán. In real life, she needs professional help.

In chapter 16 she tries to put a distance between Lucien but fails utterly and admits to herself that she can never stop caring for Lucien. But after all they went through, her memories, her decisions, her revelations are gone. She feels empty, and sad.

She is only left with Lucien’s “Iridescent” pen. Just like with Gavin and his ginkgo bracelet.

12. Conclusion – This Love Hurts Like Hell, but It will be Worth It.

The press conference and chapter 16 in general depicted what I love the most about Lucien X Yōurán relationship. Their love goes very deep. Enough for Lucien to not hand her over to Black Swan and enough for Yōurán to trust him despite suspecting that he has hidden agenda.

Still, their ideas about humanity and morals are different and they clash. I like that none of them is abandoning their principles for the sake of love. I like that a female character has enough agency to have her own opinions that contradicts that of the male love interest. Instead of passively accepting the thoughts of her lover.

Their continued war of words. This is how the thoughts of great philosophies are made. They both stand firm in their ground. They’re on opposing sides and will battle each other ferociously. However, they still love each other and would go to great lengths to keep each other safe. Can you imagine the euphoria when despite all hurdles their love triumphs all in the end?

“No degree in love’s progress was left untried by our passion, and if love itself could imagine any wonder as yet unknown, we discovered it.” – Historia Calamitatum

[wedreamedlove]

Not Too Much, Not Too Little, Juuuust Right [Xu Mo Character Study]

Reddit archived.

I got a weekly chat recently from Xu Mo that made me appreciate all over again just how much of a wordsmith he is and his massive EQ (emotional quotient intelligence).

So, I wanted to explore that in more depth here and then slide into how love is a poison that worked its way into Xu Mo and is disrupting all his plans LOL.

Spoilers goes up to Chapter 9 but mentions Chapter 13. I'm also going to be doing direct comparisons to the English version because Elex did Xu Mo so dirty at the beginning.

First, I always need to give credit to @sharinluna and their comment in my Speech Quirks post (which I'm still updating to bring over) because I can never stop thinking about it whenever it comes to Xu Mo vs. the ENG server and how his social class is present in the game but difficult to convey to an English audience due to cultural differences.

I mentioned this in my Character Study on him but TL;DR Xu Mo being a distinguished neuroscientist and professor is sort of like meeting a doctor who cured cancer or something. You'd feel like you need to be extra presentable and it'd be understandable if they wanted you to call them Dr. because they studied 8 years for that Ph.D. There's a sense of awe and respect, right?

Xu Mo: I'll participate. Good luck, classmate.

Xu Mo: The next time we meet, you can just call me Xu Mo.

Here at [Main Story 1-9] you see that Xu Mo immediately gets rid of the distance between him and MC. I won't comment on the English version here, because it's a tough cultural one here. But Xu Mo calling her a classmate puts them on the same social level.

He takes that further by giving her permission to directly use his name. This is notable because it's normal to call people by their last names or titles in Asian countries. You don't assume closeness unless you're around the same age, permission is given, the time is judged to be right, etc.

Xu Mo: I'm laughing at how every time you let me help you, you'll always say reservedly at the end, "Thank you Xu Mo, it's all because of you."

Xu Mo: (Raises an eyebrow) What, am I that scary?

Here at [Footage 1-7] he points out how reserved she still is with him and then, again, makes another request for her not to be so reserved or scared around him.

The rest is close enough to English so I didn't show it, but I did show the above because in Chinese he imitates her voice and it's another instance where he's working to soothe her nerves. He's lightening the situation and making himself come off as silly and cute. He also structures his question in a way where he's not emphasizing whether or not SHE'S scared but if HE'S scary.

Now, in this next section, I want to point out that Xu Mo knows deepening a relationship quicker requires some stimulus and he's a master of introducing and relieving tension.

If you constantly flustered the other person and left them feeling embarrassed, then you'd be known as an aggressive flirt and you'd risk scaring them away. But if you fluster them and then give them some space by stepping back and smoothing the conversation over, then you're a charmer.

Xu Mo: In conventional terms, I believe it's called a "date".

Xu Mo: Mm, you don't have to think too much on it. We're just searching for interesting things together.

This is Xu Mo's first call which comes after [Main Story 1-14] and he asks MC how she's going to thank for his help on Miracle Finder. That's the introduction of tension. He's clearly flirting and MC is flustered as she racks her brain for something. He relieves the tension by taking over and asking if he can make a request. Then he introduces it again by hinting at having a date. But then he relieves it again by telling her that she doesn't need to think too much about it.

The reason I brought up a direct comparison is because of the nuance in "Don't read too much into it" vs. "Don't think too much on it". The former implies that she's not supposed to put importance on it being a date, because it's not true. The latter sneakily gives her the option of not needing to put importance on it, but it can still be a date and he's just not admitting it.

WORDSMITH!

To be honest, I wanted to avoid mentioning voice direction because that's a murky zone with personal preferences everywhere. However, I cannot resist this one part because it's the epitome of Xu Mo's scholarly demeanor letting him get away with things like this.

In [Main Story 2-11] Xu Mo calls MC to talk about folding light and then it leads to this teasing:

Today, a director from Miracle Finder came to discuss plans for the next show with me. Originally, I thought about having them leave [...] I thought you would come [...] More important than me? [...] Is it only for fresh ideas for your shows? [...] Haha, I'm feeling better now. I can talk with your director about the show's contents now.

He keeps his voice light throughout the whole conversation, and there's modal particles in there to soften his words. I also love the slight laugh he directs at himself and at the end. Again, he brings tension to the conversation by putting her on the spot but relaxes it by keeping things light.

In [Main Story 9-7] Xu Mo drops MC off at home after her hospital trip and teases her by asking if she's just going to thank him by saying "thank you". Tension is injected here! MC is flustered! Then he relieves the tension by saying there's many ways to show gratitude and she can take time thinking about it. He doesn't stay on this topic and instead leaves her alone.

Now, in this section, we acknowledge that all humans are unique and people have different levels of what they can tolerate. The same goes for our MC and we can see instances of Xu Mo adjusting his behavior according to her reactions.

Or, most notably, in [Main Story 5-6] Xu Mo asks MC:

Xu Mo: Then, could you change me if we continued to get along like this?

Um, there's a difference between "could" and "would" but I won't get into the semantics of that because I'm not a master in Chinese. However, I will note that the word he's using 能讓 means something like "can let, allow, can make" so it's an inherently soft verb.

Anyway, after this conversation, we end up at [Main Story 5-14] where MC criticizes the way Xu Mo treats girls because he's pleasant to everyone. He corrects her misunderstanding and explains the reasons behind his interactions with all the other girls.

However, he does take MC's words into account and adjusts his attitude accordingly. Hereon, he draws clear lines between him and other girls, although by nature he's still polite to everyone. It's another reflection of his emotional intelligence at how his attitude can't be judged wrong by anyone, and yet he can still convey his rejection and distance.

By the way, this is mentioned in his [CN Character Profile]:

Although he is gentle towards people, he makes people feel that there is a sense of distance, and it is difficult to really enter his inner world.

For example, in [Afternoon Date], Xu Mo politely answers the girl's questions about getting better sleep and then rejects her cake to him like so:

Xu Mo: I didn't help with anything, you're too polite.

Xu Mo: But I don't eat sweets. Thank you for your kind intentions.

Seriously, he leaves no room to be criticized. He was unfailingly polite, acknowledged her intentions, said he received them, but still rejected her cake. LOL.

In [Main Story 9-2] the nurse who is supposed to give MC an IV is super flustered in Xu Mo's presence and she misses the vein because MC unconsciously moves. Xu Mo tells her to try again and take it slow, because MC is going to be even more nervous now.

His words were seemingly casual, carrying his usual gentleness, but I could hear a hint of disaffection.

Translation? He's pissed. Haha, just kidding, but he's probably unimpressed with the nurse's incompetence and her attention on him, only he's too polite to let it show overly much.

Meanwhile, Xu Mo is also observing MC's reaction to him and adjusting his responses in consideration of her feelings (whenever he's not playing the flirting game).

In [True Love Date] everyone plays spin the bottle and answer questions, or get penalized with drinking shots. Xu Mo admits that he has someone he likes, but when they ask him to say who it is, he responds like this:

My heart beat even quicker as I buried my head deeper and my hand, which was held by Xu Mo, tightened unconsciously.

Xu Mo seemed to have realized something and, with a small smile, he raised his drink and drained shot after shot.

Are the translators only getting paid per scene and so they're dropping the latter half of every sentence? LOL...

Anyway, it's much clearer in Chinese that he feels her reaction, immediately understands, and just accepts the penalty with his usual elegance and smile. Or it could have been a chuckle. Oh god, Chinese and Japanese with their 笑.

Next, going back to [Main Story 9-2], Xu Mo is teasing MC and then gets called out. This is an interesting one because it doubles both as him restraining himself after her words, but also because he realizes that love is eating into him and he's reacting unconsciously and genuinely now.

He seemed to be deliberately imitating my earlier words, and the last syllable even rose up a little.

MC: Xu Mo, I haven't seen you in so long and yet you're getting better and better at making fun of me...

Hearing my words, Xu Mo was taken aback, and the smile in his eyes disappeared somewhat.

Xu Mo: Is that so?

Those three words were so light it was as if they had never slipped out of Xu Mo's mouth.

He quickly raised the corners of his mouth again, but the curve of his smile was more restrained.

Am I ever going to get over the translations for the hospital scene in Chapter 8 and 9? NO. NEVER. I hate it so much because it's two different worlds.

Changing gears to [Main Story 5-16] we get this observation from MC.

He's definitely a dangerous man! I need to stay farther away from him!

I'm sorry, but call me the fun police because I hate this translation too. I get it. The context allows for this after all his teasing, but you can get the same thing with the word dangerous. He's dangerous for your heart, he's dangerous for your hormones, etc.

The reason I'm being a stickler here is because MC isn't oblivious to Xu Mo's actions.

In [CN Archery Date] she thinks:

I tried to check Xu Mo's reaction, but he was just smiling. However, in those curved eyes, I felt like there were still hidden sides to him that I didn't know about.

From the day I met him, he concealed his inner thoughts and treated me with a calm, beautiful, and gentle smile.

That's why, up until now, I never thought he had a side like this to him.

MC knows Xu Mo wears a polite mask, but you don't just call people out on that LOL. Like any other relationship, you hope the other person will slowly open up to you. But, well, the reveal in Chapter 13 was probably not something she could have ever expected.

This is why I think the "dangerous" description up there should have been kept. It's some delicious foreshadowing that still lets you play around with innuendo.

Incidentally, the chat that made me write this post was:

MC: Xu Mo, have you ever had a time where you were furious?

Xu Mo: Not really. Living as a human means we need to control our emotions.

Xu Mo: There's even less of a need to be furious at something that's already happened.

First, he states his position and it's a mature one. Second, he then softens his superior position by generalizing how you and him both need to control emotions as humans. Third, he provides general logical advice without sounding like he's singling you out.

In comparison, I can easily see Kiro and Gavin sympathizing with your emotions and letting you vent. That's totally cool and that's their style because they're not the mentor-type. Meanwhile, Victor would probably point out how dumb you are for wasting time and energy getting angry instead of just going straight to fixing the problem. That's cool too, since he's the tough love type.

But you see how this sets Xu Mo apart? He's so skilled with his words. WORDSMITH!! I have a massive interest in social engineering and inherited my mother's social manipulation genes LOL so I love scholar archetypes and their word games.

If you're not doing it out of any malicious intent though then it's just a very considerate way of speaking and it's nice.

Conclusion. So, anyway, this was me wanting to admire Xu Mo's massive EQ. I'd say the only other person on par with him is Kiro, but Kiro has the natural kind and is more genuine because you can see him react truly to things.

Xu Mo is, much like his profession, a scientist who has probably studied how people interact with each other and perfected that. But this perfection in and of itself is what leads to a sense of discomfort with him because no one can be THAT gentle and placid all the time.

I always mention how disarming he sounds, because he's so good at social engineering, and it's only after the conversation is over and I take a few seconds to go over what was said that I'm like "Hey, wait a minute, that was actually alarming!?".

One of my favorite quotes is from the DUNE series by Frank Herbert and it goes: "To know a thing well, know its limits; Only when pushed beyond its tolerance will its true nature be seen."

This applies to Xu Mo. Knowing someone's bottom line helps you know them as a person and so we go into the next section where he shows genuine emotions.

LOVE IS A SLOW, SWEET POISON

Eyes are the window to the soul! EYES ARE THE WINDOW TO THE SOUL!! If I took a drink for every time there's a description about the ripples in Xu Mo's eyes (not even eye symbolism in general), I would be dead before even getting out of Chapters 1-10.

But, anyway, whenever there's flickering, surging, roiling, seething, welling, or shifting light in his eyes then it means he's feeling some heavy emotions.

Returning back to [True Love Date]:

Xu Mo stilled for a moment, light surging and roiling in his eyes, before I saw his Adam's apple bob.

For those with clever eyes, yes, the adjectives for the light in his eyes is supposed to draw references to water. Turbulent waves. Rolling waves. Surging waves.

I'm not going to show [Main Story 9-11] because the English was close enough with "Xu Mo's eyes welled with shifting emotions". They got the eye symbolism there at least! Chinese just went further by linking it directly to water again with how his emotions were like "swelling ocean tides at night".

Then, once these emotions hit their peak, they explode and deliciously unmake Xu Mo. He loses his calm and the contrast between the incidents I've shown above where he's been nothing but grace, elegance, and courtesy vs. this loss of control is fantastic.

In [True Love Date] we see Xu Mo corner the MC outside the washrooms because he misunderstands and thinks she's complimenting another man. Uh, no comment on the yelling in English vs. the quiet melancholic tone in the other versions. But the fact that he forgets his physical strength is a clear sign of a loss of control!

In [Midnight Date] he's trying to order himself to forget about MC and feeling a rope of thorns squeeze his heart. Uh, pretty clear sign of him losing control over his feelings again.

I would argue this all culminates in Chapter 9 when he realizes he loves her. In [Main Story 9-14] we get to see Xu Mo at his most human, where he lets himself feel, before he gets caught up in his plans again and sees them go awry at the end of Chapter 9.

Like the prophetic dream MC had in [Main Story 9-14], the ground has fallen beneath them and they're sinking into a deep ocean. The red spider lilies describe them well because the flowers and leaves can never touch and these two are separated with sadness and mutual longing... (or are they?).

Past Chapter 9, we literally don't see Xu Mo with MC until we head into Chapter 13 RIP. So, at [Main Story 12-22] we just see another example of Xu Mo trying to lock his humanity away again so that he can carry out his plan utilizing the MC.

The light in his eyes was still gentle but a bit unfamiliar and there was more of a sense of ordinary humanness.

The man nodded and turned around. His face was expressionless, and even his eyes lacked any emotion.

Took liberties in this translation, as always, because it's just impossibly hard to get across how fireworks symbolize mono no aware and the fleeting fragility of the human condition. So, when Xu Mo's eyes are described as having the breath of fireworks it means being grounded in the earthly realm as an ordinary human whose life shall pass, but that's why the moment you're living in right now is beautiful.

But... but he truly does love her LOL.

In the [2nd Trailer PV] Xu Mo says "You always... throw off my judgment" which is close enough to the Chinese line that translates to something like: "You always have me make the wrong judgment."

Perhaps it's unfair to criticize the English translation at the example below because translators generally don't have the full context of everything and often work solo with single parts (b-but that's why you need a good editor...).

However, I love looking at these two conversations together. This is from [Main Story 5-19] after Xu Mo mentions he hasn't slept for three days, and then Xu Mo's first call again after [Main Story 1-14] about the date-not-date:

Xu Mo: No, I don't. I just don't want to waste time on unimportant things.

Xu Mo: Relax together, share delicious meals, waste our time away...

Everything Xu Mo holds as important 1) his judgment and 2) his time because he doesn't do useless things has been overturned by the MC. That's love, baby!

In the words of Paul Valéry, a French poet and philosopher in the 19th century, "Love is being stupid together."

And you know what? In [True Love Date]... at least the Chinese version:

Forget it, he'll just be foolish once more with this foolish girl.

[otonymous]

Served (MLQC Victor) - Chapter 1: Hit and Miss

Description: Go ahead and give Victor a piece of your mind. Warnings: NSFW/18+:  Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised.  Nb) This chapter is not smutty, but you best believe we’re gonna get there 😂   Word Count: 1424 words (~7 mins of…Victor being Victor) AO3: read here Author’s Notes:  Hey everyone!  This story is a BIG first for me, as I’m finally trying my hand at a something longer than a one-shot!  At the risk of sounding vague, I thought it would be fun to toy around with Victor for a bit, so let’s see how this works out LOL!  Hope you all enjoy it, and as always, happy reading!

Jump to other chapters: Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5

All characters & Mr Love: Queen’s Choice owned by Elex

“Fuck you, Victor.”

One blink, then another.  A slackening of the jaw as his mouth hangs open in surprise, practically imperceptible if you weren’t already staring intently at his face.  You find the sight strangely satisfying and it goads you onwards.

“I’ve fucking had it with you and your demands.  Our relationship is purely professional; why do I have to get your goddamn lunch?  Go get it yourself!”

Victor had been picking apart every second line in your proposal, and you just about had enough of his attitude after the word “idiot” had been tossed around for the tenth time.

Yes, you had been counting.

And when he ordered you in that tone of voice to get his lunch from the LFG office kitchen, that was the final straw that broke the back of an extremely tired, hungry and irritated camel.

At the back of your mind, you’re vaguely aware that you’ve scrunched up the proposal you spent all week preparing in your hand.  Victor’s copy lay on the imposing avant-garde desk in the middle of his office, pinned under the critical tip of his golden pen.

The ensuing silence, uncomfortably loud, stretches on for much longer than necessary for you to have made your point.  So you decide to speak.  

“Listen-“

“I’m sor-“

Except that Victor opens his mouth at the exact same time, and you question whether your ears were working properly.  Was Victor Li actually apologizing?

“Sorry, you go first.”  Suddenly feeling sheepish about your outburst, you gesticulate towards Victor, gaze flitting over his face en route to the buckles that decorated your taupe flats.  But what you saw in that split second scared you.

Were the features of Victor’s face even capable of drawing into such an expression?  Always self-possessed and brimming with a commanding confidence, the uncertainty in the violet-indigo of his eyes didn’t suit him.  The discomfort stirring in the pit of your stomach made you shift from foot to foot like a child awaiting impending punishment.

“Ahem.  You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

You never thought you’d hear the deep bass of his voice even so much as express remorse, let alone apologize.

“That’s okay.  I mean...I shouldn’t have swore at you.  My outburst was out of line.  Forgive me.”

“That’s fine,” his reply is clipped as he reaches for the intercom button on the phone on his desk.  “Jane, bring me the package in the kitchen.  The one in the fridge.  Thank you.”

Why’d you bother asking me to get your lunch if your secretary could’ve done it?!  The exchange you just witnessed had you thoroughly annoyed all over again, silently fuming until his secretary entered after two sharp raps on the heavy wooden door.  

“Here you are, Mr. Li.  Will you be requiring anything else?”  Jane was sharply dressed and spoke confidently as she placed a brown paper bag on Victor’s desk.  She was also devastatingly beautiful, a fact that annoyed you a lot more than it should have.  You relaxed your grip around the document in your hand as you stood a bit taller, wishing you wore heels instead of flats today.

“That’ll be all, Jane, thank you.”

Jane.  The way he said her name made you wonder how yours would sound rolling off the tip of his tongue.  Would it be equally pleasant?  But then again, anything sounded better than “idiot.”

Drawing himself up from his seat, Victor towers over you, imposing in the crisp perfection of his dark suit.  He holds out the paper bag and his next words effectively signal the end of your meeting:

“I’ll email you the rest of my thoughts on your proposal.  Have it amended for Friday.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four of the most juvenile looking bowls, each hand painted with the face of a dog bearing the most ridiculously cute expression.  Each containing the most ridiculously delicious pudding you had ever tasted in your life, the stuff of dulce de leche fantasies spun from the kitchen of Souvenir.  And an accompanying note, filled with the same handwritten scrawl that had dissected your proposal with brutal precision earlier that day, reading:

“As incapable of self-control as you are, try not to finish it all in one sitting unless you’re deliberately courting a stomachache like an idiot.”

And on the paper bag that had waited for you in the fridge of the LFG office kitchen, your name printed in the same hand.

Your heart ran the gamut of emotions: surprise, happiness, but above all, a deep remorse so unsettling you immediately tapped on Victor’s contact on your phone without thinking.

When he finally picked up after the fourth ring, uncharacteristic for Victor, the first thing you heard was the enticing laughter of a sultry soprano in the background.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”  

His voice is raspy, prompting you to glance at the time on your open laptop at the foot of your bed.

1:45 am.  Shit.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t realize-“

“What do you need?”

Deep breaths.

“I...I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier today.  Well, I guess technically, for what happened yesterday.”

“You already did.  Put it from your mind, I’ve already forgotten about it.”

Laughter again, this time, fainter in volume.  Subconsciously, you found yourself comparing the voice to Jane’s.  Or did it have the lilting quality of Loveland City’s latest cinematic sweetheart, Chik?  The head-to-toe in haute couture phenomenon who seemed hell bent on sweeping Victor off his feet as she did with the rest of the city’s fawning population. At least, that’s what the tabloids would have everyone believe.

Shaking your head free of useless thoughts, you refocused on the conversation at hand, hoping to catch Victor before he got impatient and hung up.

“No, Victor.  I meant to apologize for misinterpreting your intentions this afternoon.  I had no idea you asked me to get your lunch because...because you actually had a surprise gift planned for me.”

“...”

You were used to Victor’s awkward silences by now, on the phone and by text, waiting forever for the wave of ellipses to materialize into words that seemed far too simplistic to require that much forethought.

“If it’s any consolation, the pudding was delicious.”

“Did you already eat it all?”

“No, I only had one!  What do you take me for?  Wait, don’t answer that, I already know what you’re going to say.”

“Hm.  Seems like there is something you do know after all.”

“Is this a retaliatory dig for that time I laughed at you for asking whether it was possible to delete a sent text?  You know Mr Li, next time, don’t broadcast your sad lack of technological prowess on the internet if you don’t want to be made fun of.”

“Is this the real reason why you called me so early in the morning?  To pick a fight?”

“What?  No.  I told you, I...I misunderstood your intentions and I’m sorry for reacting the way I did.  I also wanted to thank you.  I can’t believe you remembered me complimenting your pudding!  That was months ago!”

“Well, you wouldn’t shut up about it.  Instead of letting one’s heart rule their head, I guess it’s your stomach that reigns supreme.  But you’re welcome.  Is there anything else?”

Normally, you couldn’t wait to be free of Victor, whether it was from the intensity of his gaze as you pitched ideas his way, or the scrutiny he subjected you to over the phone, asking twenty-one questions to which you only knew the answers to two.

So why did his asking “is there anything else” rankle you now?

“Um, just one more thing.  The bowls — they’re so interesting.  You wouldn’t happened to know the artist who painted them, would you?”

Silence again.  You strained to make out that twinkling laughter you heard earlier in the background as you waited for the LFG CEO to speak.  But the airwaves were silent save for the rise and fall of Victor’s breath telling you he hadn’t hung up yet.

“I painted the bowls.  If you don’t like them, feel free to throw them out.  And next time, don’t call me Mr Li.  Victor is fine.”

Click.  Beep, beep, beep.

It took a moment in your flabbergasted state to realize you still held the phone to your ear, the screen having gone dark long ago.

Victor just never struck you as the arts and crafts type.  The dogs with the lopsided faces told you the same.

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Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!  Check out the rest of my work here! 📚

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Gothic, Elex II Dev Piranha Bytes Addresses Studio Closure Rumors: 'Don't Write Us Off Yet'

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/gothic-elex-ii-dev-piranha-bytes-addresses-studio-closure-rumors-dont-write-us-off-yet/

Gothic, Elex II Dev Piranha Bytes Addresses Studio Closure Rumors: 'Don't Write Us Off Yet'

Last week, the internet began to speculate that Gothic and Elex II developer Piranha Bytes was being shut down after fans noticed the studio’s website was essentially defunct. Many speculated Piranha Bytes was another casualty in owner Embracer Group’s purge of studios that began last year after a planned $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia-backed Savvy Games Group fell through in 2023.

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Studio closures at the hands of Embracer include Saints Row developer Volition Games and reformed TeamSplitters team Free Radical Design. Game Informer reached out to Piranha Bytes following last week’s speculation to see if it was, indeed, another closure at the hands of Embracer, and today, studio CEO Michael Rüve responded, stating the studio’s situation right now is difficult but that people shouldn’t write them off yet. 

Here’s what Rüve’s statement says, in full: 

“Dear fans, yes, it’s true. We, Piranha Bytes, are in a difficult situation. There are a lot of news about us circulating right now and this is our answer: Don’t write us off yet! We [will] do everything to continue creating worlds in which you can lose yourself. This is what our hearts have always beaten for. We are convinced that we will succeed. We are creative minds and there’s no lack of ideas! We stick together, no matter what. 

“Now, we are focusing on this goal with all our strength and do whatever it takes to find a partner for this project. As soon as there [is] any news, we will share them with you. Thank you very much for your continuous support!”

This statement lines up with RPG Site’s reporting that Piranha Bytes is looking for a new publisher or buyer after Embracer decided to close the studio in November of last year. However, THQ Nordic, a publishing arm within Embracer, struck a deal with Embracer to give Piranha Bytes management more time to find a new publisher or buyer. This is likely the difficult situation Rüve’s statement is referring to, and the possibility of finding a new publisher or buyer is probably why he’s asking fans not to write the team off yet. 

Only time will tell, but given the studio’s more than two decades of history in game development, and the human cost of studio’s closures and layoffs, here’s hoping the team finds a more stable owner or publisher. 

2024 has already been marred by a heartbreaking string of layoffs, resulting in more than 3,000 jobs lost in the games industry and games-adjacent industry. And those job cuts come after a terrible 2023 where more than 10,000 developers and employees were laid off over the year. 

Last week, Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games laid off 10 percent of its staff. In this month alone, we learned Unity would be laying off 1,800 people by the end of March, and that Twitch was laying off 500 employees. Discord also announced it had laid off 170 employees. Game Informer covered layoffs happening at PTW, a support studio that’s worked with companies like Blizzard and Capcom, and at SteamWorld Build company, Thunderful Group, which let go of roughly 100 people, last week. Game Informer covered news about Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive reportedly laying off 45 people last week, too. 

In January of last year, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees amidst its ongoing $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it completed in October. 

Striking Distance Studios, the team behind 2022’s The Callisto Protocol, laid off more than 30 employees in August of 2023. That same month, Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare laid off 50 employees, including long-time studio veterans. The following month, in September, Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios laid off roughly 45% of its staff, and Fortnite developer Epic Games laid off 830 employees. 

In October of last year, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog laid off at least 25 employees, and Telltale Games also underwent layoffs, although an actual number of affected employees has not yet been revealed. Dreams developer Media Molecule laid off 20 employees in late October.

In November, Amazon Games laid off 180 staff members, Ubisoft laid off more than 100 employees, Bungie laid off roughly 100 developers, and 505 Games’ parent company, Digital Bros, laid off 30% of its staff. 

In December, Embracer Group closed its reformed TimeSplitters studio, Free Radical Design, and earlier in the year, Embracer closed Saints Row developer Volition Games, a studio with more than 30 years of development history. A few weeks before the winter holidays, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro laid off 1,100 employees. 

The games industry will surely feel the effects of such horrific layoffs for years to come. The hearts of the Game Informer staff are with everyone who’s been affected by layoffs or closures.