#and this game never got added to Flashpoint so the only place I can play it again is in my memory bank.

[kaythefloppa]

This image gives me so much nostalgia-fueled serotonin & vice versa that I can't NOT brainrot about this game and it leaves such a hole in my heart to never be able to play Flower Flyer again 😭

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(More Everybody Lives au.)

Izuku hadn't expected the mysterious Shimuras to ask him to visit. Honestly, he hadn't even expected them to remember him. Ever since they'd moved out of intensive care, All Might had been visiting them every week. He never talked about those visits to anyone, as far as Izuku knew.

At least, not until he'd stopped Izuku on the way to lunch to tell him that "Tenko" wanted to see him.

"Keep in mind, young Midoriya," Toshinori said, "Young Shimura is...he er, bears an uncanny resemblance to a villain you have...history...with. And he is aware of that, so if you feel uncomfortable, or run into any traumatic triggers, don't hesitate to say so."

They found him playing with the PS Vita Izuku had leant him. As soon as Tenko moved, Izuku froze. All Might hadn't been exaggerating. Tenko's hair was loose, covering some of his face, and all Izuku could see at first was the scowl. He felt the ghosts of fingers around his throat.

Shigaraki?!

Beside him, Toshinori cleared his throat, and the young man in the bed jumped. He looked up at them, momentarily confused. Izuku could understand the feeling. Seeing an overall lack of scars and lines on Shig- Shimura's face left him disoriented, like he was looking at a doppelganger.

[[MORE]]

The first thing he said to Izuku, oddly, was, "How do you beat the giant Flan? It just party-wiped me again."

Then he lifted his bangs and got a good look at his second visitor. Tenko dropped the Vita and scrambled off the bed. He stopped a few feet from Izuku and just stared at him.

"Is he-? Is this-?"

Toshinori nodded. "Shimura Tenko, allow me to introduce my successor, Midoriya Izuku. Young Midoriya, this is...my predecessor's grandson."

Tenko gave them a bittersweet smile. "Oh wow, your hair really did stay that curly. Gram always thought the curls would go away when you got older."

Izuku blinked. Did this person know him somehow?

Tenko waved his hands quickly. "Ack! Sorry, wait, let me back up!"

He backed up physically a step, as if to emphasize his words. "Uh...let's see. Has Dr. Flashpoint's agency proposed Multi Theory yet?"

"The...thing about extra dimensions?" Izuku asked after a moment, "I thought that was a String Theory thing."

"Not...exactly..." Tenko said awkwardly. "Look, I'm really bad at science stuff, so you're going to have to be content with a terrible simile. It's like, uhhhhhh, it's like if you peel a stick of string cheese. It all starts from the same spot, but then one string goes left and one string goes right."

Toshinori shook his head and laughed under his breath. "String cheese," he muttered, "Egg in the microwave. Now there's two of them."

Izuku found that he was a little less put-off by the resemblance to Shigaraki now that he'd heard Tenko speak. Their voices were similar, but not similar enough to unsettle him too badly. He tried to work out what the older boy was trying to say, and it finally clicked that he was in the hospital with two Shimuras.

"Are you saying you come from one of those, er, strings?" he asked cautiously.

Tenko nodded eagerly. "Yes! Yes, exactly!" He held he hands up parallel to each other. "Okayokayokay, so. Let's say you're the string on the left, where Gram died when All Might was my age give or take. So here's Gram and me on the right, where Gran Torino was the one who died."

The thought weighed sickeningly on Izuku's mind. He couldn't imagine the thought of losing Gran Torino now that he knew the man. He swallowed hard.

"That's terrible," he managed.

Tenko took another step back and collapsed to sit on the end of his bed. "Terrible doesn't begin to cover it," he said glumly. "Creep for One couldn't stand being foiled by Number Seven. He escalated outrageously. Anybody we knew, anybody we loved, anybody I even met at school. All gone. Things went from dystopian to apocalyptic by the time we escaped."

Now he was afraid to ask. But curiosity drove Izuku to reluctantly say it anyway. "How did, uh, how did you know me, there?"

The older boy shuddered and looked away. "We were neighbors. Your mom half raised me when Gram and All Might had to work. It's not going to do anyone any good to talk about what happened to everyone in our timeline, so don't ask."

He rubbed his fingers together oddly, as if remembering a texture. "I guess you could say my string snapped in half. So we kinda...jumped to your string."

Izuku wasn't sure he believed any of that, but he still asked, "How?"

Tenko shifted uncomfortably. "...uh...I...may have stolen a villain's super-collider and combined it with a warp gate."

Well, that explained why he'd launched out of Kurogiri, at least.

"Singularly horrible experience, by the way," Tenko added, "0/10 stars. Do not recommend."

Despite himself, Izuku cracked a smile.

Toshinori cleared his throat and placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "My boy, would you be comfortable with me leaving you to get to know young Tenko for a few minutes? If you'd rather I stay, we can just go visit Nana afterwards."

Privately, Izuku thought that All Might probably wanted to speak to his mentor alone. He hadn't seen her since high school, right? Izuku couldn't imagine being separated from All Might for thirty years and then unexpectedly reuniting. He could handle a little discomfort if it meant All Might got to spend some time with Nana, Izuku decided.

"I'll be fine, All Might," he promised.

"I won't try to sneak into the waiting rooms this time," Tenko promised.

"This time?"

"Look, the food here is so bland my tastebuds cry," Tenko huffed. "Can you blame me for trying to find a vending machine?"

He waved Izuku over. "So...have you beaten XIII 2?"

Izuku was confused until he saw Tenko pick up the PS Vita. "Oh! Yeah, just recently. You can save over my file if you need room, I don't mind."

Tenko tugged Izuku down to sit beside him. "Okay, what is the deal with the One Ton Tomato flan and why can't I kill it?"

He turned the screen back on and Izuku peered over his shoulder. Then Izuku laughed.

"Oh! You're not supposed to kill it here, there's a cutscene coming!"

"You say that, but the only cutscenes I've been getting are the "Game Over" ones."

When Toshinori returned five minutes later, pushing Nana in a wheelchair, they found the boys huddled over the Vita. Tenko was yelling at the screen, and Izuku appeared to be trying to help him pick dialogue choices.

Well, at least they were getting along.

[rainofaugustsith]

SWTOR: On Flashpoints as Story and How to Make Them Better

No story spoilers.

I logged into SWTOR tonight and noticed that one of my alts was ready to do the Spirit of Vengeance flashpoint. So was another. And another. There's no motivation on my part to take these characters through because I have no motivation to do this flashpoint again. The story cut scenes and the plot they are setting up are amazing, but to see them you have to go through the flashpoint.

I can understand why the devs keep adding flashpoints to the story. It provides some repeatable content, as well as something for groups to do. It can be tuned to higher difficulty levels for groups seeking a challenge. It gives players a small taste of what it is like to go through the harder group content, without forcing them into groups.

Making them critical to the story also means that players can't ignore them, the way they could in the class stories. Those skips sometimes happened at the expense of the story. Someone missing the Taral V/Maelstron Prison or Boarding Party/Foundry arc, for instance, missed some critical plot points that led into Shadow of Revan. We have not had a flashpoint that does not tie into the main story since Ilum, and I think that is deliberate. I actually enjoy most of the flashpoints, and think they are positive additions to the story.

Having said that, adding flashpoints adds some challenges for story players. If they are too long, it poses a problem - unlike a daily area or class story mission, you can't usually log out to rest and return to exactly where you were. For certain disabilities, the faster pace of gameplay and more intense button hitting/mouse clicking can hurt the hands. And if it's tuned with too much difficulty, it becomes an arduous obstacle rather than something players enjoy.

Story players might enjoy a challenge of tougher gameplay - but they also might just want to play the story. They're doing the solo/story mode, not VM or MM. They may not be interested in ten minute boss fights that require knowing numerous mechanics. If someone really wants a challenge, they still have it in the two harder versions. The presence of a far easier story mode doesn't change that. I think the devs should keep this in mind.

Spirit of Vengeance IMHO is tuned too high, is way too long, and desperately needs to be toned down. I have completed it several times, but I really have not enjoyed the experience. I’m holding off on completing the flashpoint with any additional alts who still need to do it for the story. I really don’t think my weaker characters, such as my healers, will be able to do it without considerable trouble. And it is one place where, if they offered a story skip later, I’d consider taking it, unless the devs do tune it down a lot.  I'm hoping they will listen to the numerous complaints and concerns players have raised about the flashpoint and make additional changes. I think there are things they could do for story-level flashpoints to make them better in general.

1. Long but not too long. I think the reason we may be seeing some longer flashpoints is because the devs are trying to give more content to play. But quantity doesn't equal quality, and it's a major problem that in most flashpoints, you can't take a break. If you're too tired, your hands hurt, or you just need to stop for a while, you can't exactly pick up where you left off most of the time. Expecting an hour or two of continuous, intense gameplay to advance the story is more than many can or want to do.

IMHO the Manaan, Rakata Prime, Korriban, Tython and Umbara flashpoints are the right length. Copero is slightly longer but the scenery and variety of game play are such that it's not boring. False Emperor, Spirit of Vengeance and The Battle of Ilum are way too long.

2. Stop giving guest companions. The Spirit of Vengeance and Copero flashpoints, in story mode, must be completed with companions you've never met before (or in the case of Copero, 7/8 classes have never met before). In Copero this companion was set to influence level 1. In Vengeance the companion's level was also originally 1. The devs recently patched the flashpoint to raise the companion's influence to 25, but their healing abilities are reportedly still lacking. For the Meridian Complex the player also had a guest companion or two. These companions had been bumped to influence level 10.

Expecting story players to do the hardest story content with brand-new, unfamiliar companions at low levels of influence is a rather low blow.

3. If there is a guest companion, let the player bring along the God Droid or a companion of their choice.

The player has a "god droid" to assist in combat for all solo flashpoints from The Black Talon/Esseles through The Battle of Rishi. They have two companions for some of Umbara and most of Nathema. There are two companions in Republic-side Meridian complex (which is uneven since Imperial players only get one). Thus, it's been shown over and over again that the player can bring additional companions along with them in flashpoints.

If the story insists or requires a guest companion, at least allow the player to have some stronger backup by choosing a companion of their own or allowing them to use the God Droid.

4. For the regular (non story) solo mode, bring back the God Droid.

The God Droid is missed. If the player wants to repeat the solo level flashpoint for some reason, let them summon the droid if they want. A player who prefers to try the flashpoint without the extra help can always dismiss it.

5. Mind the mechanics.

Someone playing a story mode flashpoint may not enjoy very long boss fights that require rapid, repeated button smashes. For one thing it's really more complex than they might want to bother with; for another it can physically hurt.

6. Mind the mobs.

It's not an Uprising. You don't need silver and gold mobs every five feet.

7. Make them interesting.

Copero has really amazing design. Nathema and Umbara aren't bad. Meridian Complex is just grey industrial wasteland, and Vengeance isn't much better.

If you want to encourage story players to repeat flashpoints, make it interesting. I've been through Copero more times than I can count, in solo mode, because it's got such rich design. I did the Meridian Complex once on each character to get it over with, and don't plan on going back to repeat it on characters that have already been through.

8. Listen to the testers.

The Public Test Server forum on SWTOR is the one place that isn't a hellscape. Players usually have a lot of really good constructive criticism and it's often ignored. In the case of Spirit of Vengeance, many were warning that it appeared to be too hard on the PTS. These warnings seem to have been largely ignored.  There’s no point in testing something if you don’t listen to the testers. This doesn’t mean they need to change everything to cater to the testers, but if there’s a consistent problem being pointed out by many people, perhaps it warrants a closer look.  9. Keep the decorations! One of the very positive changes in flashpoints has been the addition of decorations, both as drops and mission rewards, in solo/story mode. I hope they keep this. This is definitely one of the reasons I kept going back to Copero; the decos were really wonderful. It’s also why I was finally tempted to complete Directive 7. 

[sweetwriting]

TimKon Week 2020 Day 3: Whaaaaaaat is that?

Category: Gen or Pre-slash

Genre: Angst/Fluff

Fandoms: DC Comics, Teamverse

Continuity: Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint Future AU

Summary:   Seriously? They had been called for that?

Word Count: 1211

AN: Welcome to round Three.

Hello everyone. Since my mom's basque (her dad went from the Spanish side to the French side, the regions have their own cultural differences but then there's also those added by the French/Spanish separation. It's a bit weird) even if she moved to Paris when she was young and both her parents passed away before I was born, most of what I know comes from her. I don't actually use much of it here. Because I can't get into the details I'd want to go into which is why the Supernatural theme is pretty light.

Prompt: Supernatural (I don’t write smut so for once I won’t combine the prompts)

Can be read on AO3

Tim had just rejoined the Titans a few months ago and, while he was happy to be with his friends again. He had to admit that sometimes the weird things that happened around them were just….A bit too much. Even for him (and he had learned to take things in stride years ago). So now, here they were. In a country that wasn’t really one. Separated in two by the countries they officially belonged to, with which they shared the official language. Separated by a mountain range called the Pyrenees. Which was where they were right now. And according to his GPS, they had crossed over from the Spanish side to the French one.

He wasn’t sure what was going on. Or he did somewhat. The Giant in front of them had sort of explained. He was just glad Cassie’s mom had taught her some ancient languages to talk to him. Bart probably could have helped but he had been distracted and came back after the giant had started talking with Cassie. Which was weird. She was flying so they could talk face to face but the Giant was dressed like a fishermen from an old tale while Cassie was wearing jeans.

They had been called there by an American tourist who saw what looked like a Giant come down the mountains. Most of the people in the surrounding area didn’t even seemed fazed when they had snooped around.

Right now he was lounging against Conner who was playing with his fingers (apparently his gloves’ texture was too weird. It kinda felt like watching a kid play with Slime). While Bart was trying to explain one of the games he had created. Tim and Conner had been there when he had. So Tim knew he should probably stop him from telling Rose of all people. But she had tried to calm down a bit and Conner did trust her. Sort of.

Cassie turned to them.

“Ok so this guy’s called Olentzero and he’s basically the Santa of this place. He’s the last of his kind and their name is literally written as Gentils around these parts. I don’t know who speaks French or not but it means nice….so…yeah. I think we were called for nothing. He said there was a nice inn not far from here if we wanted to settle for the night. He’s scouting to see the houses he should be bringing presents to in a few days.”

Tim Conner and Rose groaned while Bart pouted, but he got over it quickly and started talking to Rose again who rolled her eyes and muttered a “might as well”.

- - -

They all bid goodbye to the Giant, Gent-something and looked at Tim’s phone and then his GPS to find the inn he had mentioned. They chose to go to the town in civilian clothes and paid for two bedrooms with two beds. The boys had no problem sharing and Cassie and Rose ignored each other most of the time. Or rather, Cassie ignored Rose’s taunting. When she went to the other room to wake the boys up she had seen that they had brought the two beds together and were basically just cuddling each other. If she had known she’d have joined them. It couldn’t be worse than having to deal with Rose. Except for the ex-boyfriend awkwardness.

She woke them up and they all left after eating breakfast. As annoying as it was that they had travel only to find out there was no actual threat, it was a nice place to visit and she had found a creature from a mythology she didn’t know much about and she couldn’t wait to tell her mom. So she turned to Tim who was piloting their ship back to the US with Conner leaning against his seat from behind and playing with his hair. It was a bit weird. They had never had issues with casually touching each other, but neither of them were good at initiating affection-filled gestures when it wasn’t needed for comfort in relationships that weren’t romantically induced. But since Tim had come back to the Teen Titans, they became more common.

It was probably to the trauma of losing Conner for Tim, and the trauma of Tim being so lost he wasn’t there to welcome his best friends back for Conner. Neither really wanted to let the other go. It was kind of the same for all of them really. But they took it a step further for each other (and that’s counting giving in every time Bart asked for a hug).

Things were better between her and Conner. The truth is that, even if breaking up had been hard, she had realized that she had moved on from him while he was still dead. It still wasn’t easy to accept but she was getting there. And celibacy seemed to do him some good. There was a weird time when he and Rose had kind of flirted but it never went past flirting and she stopped soon enough because, just like with Kid Devil, Rose had found someone she could actually get along with…kind of. It was strange for Cassie to even think of, much less admit, but it was true. It would probably be better for Rose anyway. Or was it just wishful thinking? She wasn’t ready to let Conner go yet. She knew that, even if she had no choice in what he did. Growing up was hard and annoying. She often spent time alone. Kiran wasn’t available and the 5 of them were the main team that went out in the past few weeks. Which was annoying as both duos were composed of one person she’d like to hang out with and one she’d rather avoid. Bart with a crush was cute though. He had gotten over his crush on Kiran when he realized boys weren’t really her thing. She just hopped Rose would be careful when rejecting him.

Wait.

She turned to Conner and Tim.

Oh.

She wasn’t sure what to think. Both of her ex-boyfriends….even if she never really counted as an actual boyfriend. Things made sense.

Did they know?

She looked more closely at them. They were joking around about weird things happening every time Tim went to France or something.  Ugh, she knew that look. And she had never seen it on either boy’s face, ever.

Well that stung. She knew hers and Conner’s relationship hadn’t been that great but still. To be faire she didn’t know much about Tim’s romantic history and Conner’s was filled with creeps. She was probably the most normal girlfriend he’d had and she was Wonder Girl. Wasn’t that why he had broken up with her in the first place?

It was probably best for both boys if they didn’t realize anything for now then. She didn’t want Conner to find someone else yes, but more importantly, her boys were too hurt. She didn’t want them to form a relationship if they risked hurting each other because of bad experience. She’d only act if in ten years they were still two oblivious pining idiots.

Either way they were going to be fine.

Maybe that was Olentzero gift for her. Realizing this.

AN: Jentilaks are giants, it's true that some french people called them with the french word for nice, but that's not what it actually means. It' s just a play on words that happened over time. Anyway, they threw stones but have disappeared when Christianity started in the Basque Country and only Olentzero remains. I love Basque Mythology even if very little remained from pre-christian times. It's interesting to see how the myths were adapted to christianity as they were converted very recently compared to most of Europe.

[sentinelkelly]

Destiny 2: Curse of the Butthurt Man-Children Review

Destiny 2 has been in trouble for awhile now and despite what the crying man-children on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, the Bungie forums and the hack of journalists from Kotaku, Forbes (lol did I really include them?), IGN, and Polygon, I strongly believe Destiny 2 is getting better in some aspects and worse in others. I still believe this game have great potential in the future, but for Destiny 2 to be great, Bungie needs to be less reactive and beat the community to the punch, sort of speak. More on that a little later. Let’s get on to my blasphemous opinions.

The Story

The Curse of Osiris story reminds me of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s story. Let me explain before you get triggered: The Call of Duty, in my opinion, always had a great story despite how you felt about the multiplayer and it’s community. When I played Black Ops III’s campaign, I couldn’t help but to be lost in the plot and be almost put to sleep. The plot was convoluted and had too much filler content that further added to my confusion. This is exactly how I felt playing Curse of Osiris’s story. Although people think the story was pretty fast, I beg to differ. It took me about 4 hours to complete, excluding getting distracted by Public Events and in real life stuff. Then again, I wasn’t speed-running. Maybe that’s why, but it was definitely longer than the Dark Below which a lot of people forget about. Bungie squandered a perfect opportunity to effectively use the Osiris lore.

At the same token, Bungie opened the door to expanding the Osiris lore  (besides a webcomic) and revealing some Saint-14 lore. I would also love some Dredgen Yor lore at some point too. Time well tell how much more lore we’ll get and of whom.

Eververse

Dear Lord... I hate the fact that the loot pool is so large and RNG is still what you expect from a Destiny game. If I had to pick which is worse between Treasures of Ages and Illuminated Engrams, I wouldn’t answer because there is no lesser of the two evils. Although, at least I get the armor in Destiny 2 while I still haven’t get a single piece of AoT armor for any character on Destiny 1... on Xbox and PS4.

At the end of the day, her wares are still optional, cosmetic to a certain extent, and not game breaking. That’s all I truly ask for in microtransacions. You can make the argument that the Ghost Shells increase xp gains, points out nearby chests and all that jazz. Then, I’ll rebuttal by calling you a retard and ask a simple question: “How does differ from other Ghost Shells and how does it give you an unfair advantage in the Crucible?” Basically, the only people who still hates Eververse are unlucky like me, poor/cheap people and conspiracy theorists that think Bungie is intentionally making her stuff look better than the non-microtransaction gear. Stop being poor. Taste is subjective.

Mercury

It’s a very small area that I would’ve forgiven if you could freely explore the Infinite Forest, Past Mercury, and Dark Future Mercury. However, you can’t. You can only replay the story missions and adventures to go to those places. Not to mention there’s only one Lost Sector. There’s enough space for at least three. Mercury was over-hyped. The Infinite Forest was filler. More could’ve been done.

Despite that, the visuals are beautiful as always. Past Mercury gives you a sense of peace and serenity while Dark Future Mercury makes the atmosphere more grim and dire. Also, doing Flashpoints on Mercury doesn’t require to actually do a single Public Event. You just have to kill majors that are running around the map.

The Leviathan Raid Lair

I have not played it yet, but I heard great things about it. It’s a shame that Bungie advertised it as just a shorter version of the current raid with different bosses and mechanics because I had low expectations and now I think I might be in for a great time.

I’ll update more when I can finally play it.

#TwoTokensAndABlue: Public Events were Nerfed

So much with being rewarding. Less xp gains, lower probability getting exotics, and quite frankly more of a reason not drop everything to go do one.

The Current State of Crucible

Crucible is still like listening to music on Spotify without premium: You gotta play until you get the gametype you want or keep backing out until you get the match you want. There are also no signs of old Destiny 1 game modes returning and the current ones being separated. 

At least, we get to tell future Kinderguardians that for a weekend, the Destiny Community was able to play a large game of laser tag and then there’s the return of Mayhem Clash. MC is the only thing making PvP worth play to me.

Armor Ornaments

I’mma just say it: Most of the ornaments makes the armor look ugly and/or are uninspired. Above all, I’m extremely disappointed with Future War Cult’s. All it does is change the color scheme to white and blue. That’s it.

I do like the fact that you can unlock ornaments account wide. For example, unlocking the Crucible Titan Mark ornament unlocks the Crucible Hunter Cloak and Warlock Bond even if you never played on the other characters.

“Heroic” Strikes

Oh boy... Where do I begin? I was very excited about this. A good percentage of my Destiny 1 playtime was shutting my brain off after a long day and running Heroic Strikes if I liked the modifiers. Destiny 2 said, “Why don’t I just take Vanguard Strikes, raise the power level and call it Heroic Strikes? That’s it!” Bungie did say that they will add modifiers, but two things: 1) Why didn’t you just wait? If it’s incomplete why release it now when you could do so later complete? 2) I hope the modifiers aren’t the Destiny 2 Nightfall modifiers. Please God no.

The Vault System is Still a Mess

Imagine every single file on your computer was on your desktop. No folders. Just right there in front of your face. On top of all that, you can only have 200 of those files on your computer before you have to start deleting stuff. That’s where we’re still at. Not to mention you can hold up to 50 different shaders on your person, yet Bungie decides to make more than 50 unique shaders. It gets better: Duplicate Dawning shaders will sort into separate stacks depending on where they were received from. Dawning shaders received through Eververse will fall into one stack, and shaders earned through activity rewards will be sorted into another. This is not a bug and was intentional. On top of all this: no increased vault space, shader kiosk, or mass deletion option.

Prestige Mode Locked by CoO-Paywall

It seems like the less you invest in Destiny 2 (monetary-wise and in playtime), the more your opinion matters somehow in comparison to actual dedicated fans of the game. The whole issue was that people who didn’t owe the DLC, can’t play the 330 version of the Nightfall & Leviathan Raid due to vanilla players not being able to reach the new level cap. Trials of the Nine was also blocked. Note: Normal Mode was bumped up for both the Nightfall and Raid so you can still reach 305 playing those. Trials ALWAYS required people to have the latest DLC and patches. Hell, Nightfalls got the same treatment in Destiny 1, and mind you, there was only one difficulty. The only people that were angry were the disgruntled Destiny 2 players who stopped playing a long time ago and/or already owns the DLC. Trust me, if you’re a hardcore fan of Destiny or remotely likes it, you would’ve made arrangements to get the DLC.  Don’t come at me with that “I love the game, but have no money” bullshit. This was all a case of “What if my friend buys Destiny 2 and I can’t play with him/her?!” Um... tell them to buy the game used/on sale and the DLC? Maybe you could buy it for them so you can play with them? Gee, this is a difficult situation I’ve never been in.

Trust me, no one who hasn’t bought Destiny 2 at this point won’t buy it because of all of the ruckus this community is making. Due to Bungie getting cuck’d by a bunch of poor people who don’t even play their game anymore that complained about a theoretical situation, the first Faction Rally of Season 2 was postponed to I assume (I hope) at the beginning of 2018. 

Quality of Life Updates Frequency

I remember a time Bungie was constantly adjusting things like the economy and user interface on top of tuning weapons and subclasses, squashing bugs and things of that nature. Destiny 2 received its first Quality of Life update in December on the day of this DLC’s release. Yeah, Bungie fixed stuff here and there between vanilla Destiny 2 and Curse of Osiris releases, but there was the over abundance of legendary shards some people had to deal with, shitty RNG not giving people what they want, etc. that was just improved. The difference between patches and QoL updates to me is one fix problems and the other improves on what was working fine but can be frustrating. There is less of the latter.

The State of the Destiny Community

Everything that I’ve stated thus far is forgivable. However, Destiny 2′s state of being the target of hit pieces of gaming media and butthurt “fan” backlash is 10% Bungie being reactive, 10% Bungie making dumbass decisions, 80% self-proclaimed fans having buyer’s remorse. Destiny 1 was considered an abomination of game around this time last year for whatever dumb reason people came up with. Destiny 1 was shitted on repeatedly. Now all of a sudden, people love and miss Destiny 1 so much. It was the community’s constant bitching that made Destiny 2 the way it is. Bungie had to find a way to not repeat Destiny 1, but guess what... people flipped flopped. Ask any Destiny fan how they felt about Destiny 1, I guarantee all will praise it, but half of them were singing a different tune last year. Destiny 2 and Curse of Osiris is the community’s fault. Bungie had some part in the blame, but: 1) Me and every other non-Bungie employee don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors at the studio in Redmond, WA. 2) If anything, blame the leadership at Bungie. Why are you getting mad some artist or sound engineer. They don’t program the game or have authority to do whatever they want to the final product if it’s outside of their department.

We are the point where people constantly complaining about bullshit like optional microtransactions and plays other games are considered “concerned fans.” Meanwhile, people like me who are objective, still actively plays the game despite it’s current state, and can compliment game when something is done right gets accused of being on Bungie’s payroll. The toxicity of this community reached heights I never thought possible and it makes me cringe to be an actual fan sometimes. Not to say I’m an angel, which I’m not, but at least I provide constructive criticism to Bungie and lash out at little Jimmy who claims to hate the game so much. I’m against people who insist upon passing on their misery onto other people who are actually enjoying the game. I’ve looked on GameStop’s app and Destiny 2 is worth between $12-18. I can recommend better games for that price. If you have Destiny 2 on disc and are that dissatisfied with it, I challenge you to sell it. If you have it digitally, I’m sure you can get a full refund somehow. I challenge you to get that refund. A reasonable adult, tries to get their money back and move on. If you don’t at least try, you’re full shit.

Bungie’s only unforgivable sin is giving birth to a community of entitled ingrates.

Final Verdict: 7.75/10

This could’ve been better and it could get better in 2018. However, out of the gate... it does not live up to the hype.

[helenasfiction]

The Cure for Nervousness

Killervibe

Rated: Explicit

“Whatcha looking at, Cisco?”

Cisco quickly pressed the power button on his phone, causing the screen to go dark. Ever since Caitlin and he added a Dom/sub element to their sex life, Cisco has been feeling the creative juices flowing. He did, however, notice, that Caitlin often wanted to do scenes and play mostly when she was stressed. They had an especially athletic night the night before her mom came to visit her…..

“You’re fidgeting again.”

Caitlin looked up from the computer monitor containing her latest research on Wally’s speed and stared at her boyfriend.

“I’m not fidgeting,” she said, adjusting herself in her seat.

“Yes, you are. You just did it, again.”

Caitlin sighed, turning her chair around to face Cisco, “Okay, so I’m fidgeting! I can’t help it.”

Cisco reached out to grasp one of her hands, “You’re nervous about your mom visiting, aren’t you?”

Caitlin nodded wearily, “I know we’ve made a lot of progress in our relationship, but this is her first visit since...well, ever. Not to mention, she’ll be meeting you for the first time. By the way, why aren’t you fidgeting and being nervous?”

“I’m not saying I’m not nervous,” Cisco pointed out, “However, it’s not my formerly estranged mom coming to visit.”

“No, no, it’s not.”

Cisco squeezed her hand, “Do you want to...relax?”

Caitlin looked him, trying to read his face, “Do you mean ‘going out ice cream’ relax or…” She looked around to make sure they were truly alone, “our ‘special’ kind of relax?”

Cisco smiled at her, “Whichever one you need right now.”

Caitlin took a deep breath, turning over the options in her head. “I think...I want the special kind of relax.”

“You think or you know?” Cisco asked, “We can just get frozen yogurt and watch ‘Pride and Prejudice’ if that’s what you really want.”

Caitlin nodded, Cisco’s kind offer of watching her favorite movie (and his least favorite movie) with her helping with her decision; “I’m sure. But only if you pull your hair back and wear the glasses.”

“Fine,” Cisco sighed, “You know, I should never have told you about my look in the Flashpoint timeline. It may have been a brief vibe, but I’m still paying for it.”

Caitlin kissed him on the cheek, “But you look so dashing, Cisco. Besides, just be grateful I’m not asking you to wear a suit.”

“Thank heavens for small miracles.”

“Never say never,” Caitlin said, “So...my place or yours?”

An idea began to form in Cisco’s mind. “Yours,” he said, “I got plans for you.”

A shiver of anticipation ran down Caitlin’s spine.

Caitlin stood still and held up her borrowed shirt while Cisco placed her trusted small, chained clamps on her nipples. She shivered at the brief pain she felt as they were being attached before she let the shirt down.

Cisco gently kissed her lips and stroked her cheek, “Doing okay?” he asked.

She nodded. ‘And Cisco thought he wouldn’t he wouldn’t make a good Dom,” she thought happily, gazing at Cisco’s new look.

“Okay, then,” he said, “so, what I want you to do is...clean your apartment.”

Caitlin made a face, her apartment was pretty damn spotless, what with her stress-cleaning earlier in the week. Still, if this is what her Dom wished for.

“Hop to it,” Cisco said, slapping her behind as she walked towards her bookshelves. Caitlin sighed, standing on her tip-toes to reach for her feather duster she left on the high shelf as Cisco sat on her couch.

As she grabbed it, she felt a soft vibration between her legs. She let out a soft moan, gripping the duster tightly.

When the vibration stopped, she started dusting the bookshelves. After a while, she started bending over to dust the lower shelves. As she bent over, she felt another stronger vibration between her legs. She whimpered, her pussy growing wetter at the sensation. Just as she started reveling in the feeling, it stopped. She turned around, pouting at Cisco. She was met with Cisco’s devious smirk. Caitlin knew he was using his finely tuned vibration powers to tease her. Well, he wasn’t going to make her beg, two could play that game. She turned back around and resumed dusting, careful to sway her hips seductively. She could’ve sworn she heard him groan softly. For a while, she continued to dust, mostly just for show at this point, when she felt a gentle vibration sweep over her already over-stimulated nipples. She bit her lip, determined not to give Cisco the satisfaction of her moans. Soon, her eyes widen as she felt more vibrations on her clit.

‘Since when has Cisco been able to send vibrations to more than one part of her body at a time? This changes everything!’ Caitlin thought as the pleasure between her legs grew stronger. She almost broke the handle of her duster as she fought the urge to plunge her hand into her pussy. She did, however, drop to her knees as she came so close to climax.

Just as she started to come, the vibrations suddenly stopped. She bit her lip, trying not to moan at the loss of tingles on her pussy.

“Caitlin….”

Her head lolled towards Cisco when he said her name, completely dazed.

Cisco smirked at her. He had her right where he wanted her.

“You need me, don't you?” he said, walking towards her.

She nodded lazily.

He cupped her chin, tilting her head towards his.

“You need me inside you, don’t you?” He asked, his thumb stroking her lower lip.

She nodded again, desperate to feel him inside her.

“Good girl,” Cisco said, using his other hand to unzip his pants and pull out his cock.

“However,” he pointed out, “you weren't specific about how you wanted me inside you. Which means, dealer’s choice…”

Caitlin moaned in the affirmative, so needy she was for Cisco.

“Good girl,” he repeated, “now let's see that pretty little mouth open up.”

As soon Caitlin felt his cock inside her mouth, she started sucking him off, gripping his thighs as she did.

“Nope,” Cisco said, slapping her hands, “hands behind your back.”

Caitlin obediently placed her hands behind her back and continued to bob her head up and down his cock.

Cisco gripped her hair to keep her head still as he fucked her mouth. Caitlin moaned while she struggled to keep her hands still and not rub her clit.

Cisco, all too soon, pushed Caitlin away from him. She whimpered, missing his cock between her lips. He stroked her hair tenderly.

“You’re doing such a good job, preciosa, you deserve a reward. You deserve a good fucking. But...I need to hear you beg for it.”

A soft “please” escaped her lips.

“C’mon, you can do better than that.”

“Please.”

“Please, what?”

“Please fuck me…”

“Louder.”

“Please fuck me!” she yelled.

“With pleasure,” he said, pulling her to her feet.

When he sat on the couch, he pulled her onto his lap and took his shirt off her body.

Caitlin gasped as Cisco’s cock rammed inside her. Cisco slapped her hands again when she gripped his shoulders as she fucked herself on his cock.

“Ah ah, remember, hands behind your back, love,” Cisco whispered in her ear before giving her a filthy kiss.

Caitlin groaned the kiss while she crossed her arms behind her. Cisco grabbed her waist and bounced her on his dick.

Before long, Cisco yelled out his explosive climax, his eyes rolling back, followed by Caitlin screaming out her own volatile climax as well.

Soon, after Cisco peeled them both off the couch, they sat in a bubble bath scented her favorite smell, mint, and juniper.

“Relaxed, now?” Cisco asked, rubbing her back.

“Very much so,” said Caitlin, leaning against him.

“You know, everything going to be alright. Your mom’s visit going go well and she is going to adore me,” Cisco said, nuzzling her neck.

“I’m so relaxed right now, I actually kinda believe that,” Caitlin said, turning around to kiss him.

“Cisco!”

Cisco snapped out his reverie when Barry called for his attention.

“What was that, man?” Cisco asked.

“What's got you all dreamy-eyed, Cisco?” Barry wondered.

“Nothing, nothing at all. C’mon, I want to show you some of my new toys I’ve been tinkering with,” Cisco patted Barry’s shoulder as he walked towards his lab.

Barry decided to drop the subject and follow his friend to the lab.

Whatever’s on Cisco’s mind, Barry was sure he’ll tell him eventually.

[stylessemantics]

11 Questions Tag

Rules:

1. Always post these rules. 2. Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 3. Write 11 questions of your own. 4. Tag 11 people.

I was tagged by 3 cuties and I’ll be answering all their questions. Under the cut cause it’s 33 questions. Also I’m reposting my same questions cause not a lot of people have answered them, and I want to tag different people and have them answer the same 11 questions I came up with the first time I was tagged so... Let’s go! :)

@fairylightsstyles​ aka T’s Questions :D

1. Who is the person you admire the most? I’m going to go with my mom. cliché I know but she’s amazing. I also admire Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Emma Watson, etc etc etc.

2. If you could be in any television series what would it be? The Flash. I want to have super powers lol. Or maybe Sherlock Holmes or some comedy sitcom.

3. Best childhood memory? I’m going to go with going to New York for the first time ever. It was a long flight for 9 year old me (assuming i was nine, i can’t remember. Have to ask around)

4. Favourite song at the moment? Escuela De Calor by Radio Futura. It’s old and I’ve loved it for a while but recently I made a Guitar Hero 4 playlist with all the songs I loved to play when my brother and I jammed out and I was reminded of this hit. Play it first when I go to take a shower or whatever and put on that playlist. It’s such a dance-able song I’m very in love and know every beat and drop to it and always dance it very sexily.

5. Where is the place you feel most at home? Home. I wish I had some awesome thing I can say like some tree house or some hill or whatever but we don’t do those things here or live close by to one. Also I was never a leave my house walking to go over to some hangout place with my friends type of person. No one in this country is really. Specially when young. So I’m saying home feels like home. In my room. I hate being home though. Also my cousin’s place in Miami feels a LOT like home. Second home it is really.

6. What is the country you want to travel to the most? *brain from pinky and the brain voice* Same as it’s been the past 11 years, lovely: England.

7. What plans do you have for the summer? Summer? What is that? I go to college, I study in the summer :P  But the plans are hopefully London in June or July. The opportunity struck and I’m almost fainting at the thought.

8. 3 guilty pleasure songs? No Reason Boner - NSP (i know all of it i’m sorry. Any NSP song really is... god damn. Also Dan I love you.) Persona 5 OST. (my brother’s fault. Completely) Undertale OST. (specially metaton’s theme, Bonetrousle and asgore’s theme... Oh and Final Sans fight theme... SORRY THIS GAME IS GENIUS) whoops.

9. If you could say something to the whole world, what would you say? LOVE LOVE LOVE. SPREAD LOVE IT’S NOT THAT HARD AND IT MAKES THINGS SO MUCH EASIER!!! TREAT OTHERS HOW YOU WANT TO BE TREATED. ALSO STREAM SOTT AND BUY HARRY’S ALBUM.

10. What is the best meal you’ve ever eaten? OMG I don’t know if it’s the best meal but it was the one that popped up the quickest, and technically I didn’t eat it, it was my mom’s plate; but there’s Peruvian place here and UGH! Apparently Perú has like THE best cuisine (according to my parents that have travelled quite a lot) and jesus lord everything we have eaten there is so good. Mom had... this amazing Salmon in fucking PASSION FRUIT SAUCE OMG PASSION FRUIT SAUCE GOES WITH EVERYTHING GUYS UGH NOW IM CRAVING IT.

11. Do you believe in ghosts? yes and no. if they are for real well then i don’t think i’ve done something wrong to anyone enough for them to spook me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be moving into some “rumour has it this house is haunted” place. If they aren’t real then good, but I’m not gonna go testing the theory and getting myself into some dark magic/spirit shit or using some ***** board (I’m not even saying the name of it)

@cheshirepuddin‘s questions <3

1. Who’s your role model? My Mom, Harry, Ed, Emma Watson, My Cinematography Language teacher, My Concept Art teacher, My Art Direction teacher.

2. What’s something you want to accomplish in the short term? Is losing weight a short term thing? Let’s go with that or finally finishing some of the million and one fics I’ve got collecting dust in my files.

3. What would you like to ask Harry? WOW uhm... On the spot I can’t think of a good enough question. I would ask him to recommend me one thing for every branch of art. A book, a song or artist, a movie, a painter or painting, etc etc etc. I would also ask him if he’d like to hang out later on and teach me things. Get your heads out of the gutter I mean it in the sense of teaching me art, writing, something he loves, something he thinks is his expertise. To spread knowledge with me. If he’d allow me to be with him as a little grasshopper for a while.

4. If you could travel through time once and then come back, would you prefer to travel to the past or the future? Why? Neither. I have a lot of things I would love to change but I also am kind of a believer that every single decision, no matter how small, makes you who you are. And although I could be a lot better, this is my life and I guess it’s not half bad. Also seeing the future scares me and I would hate to spoil my own ending to myself. Based on that thing about decisions, today my future can be one thing but tomorrow, based on what I do, it could be another. Also FLASHPOINT PARADOX GUYS. LORD TIME IS SO INTERESTING. Is there even a past to go back to? You’re telling me the past is happening RIGHT NOW in some other time and I can go to it? Or the future? Then why isn’t it happening now? What defines past and why can or would we be able to travel to it? 

5. Where’s your favourite place you’ve been to? None of the places I’ve been seems to catch my eye enough for me to call them anything close to a favourite. That’s so sad wow.

6. Would you like to get married and have kids someday? yes yes yes. Would love to marry. Would love to have (3?) kids. Would love for one of them to be adopted. 

7. Do you have a motto you live by? I thought I didn’t but I like to think I go with the treat others how you wish to be treated thing. Also I’m always telling my friends that emotions demand to be felt. That’s like my line. Emotions demand to be felt; even bad ones. What I will not allow you is to feel the bad ones for any longer than you have to ;)

8. Have you ever been in love? Are you now? I don’t think so. Unless we consider Harry and even I - with all my hopes that maybe someday we will meet and he’ll find me interesting enough to keep me around - can’t call this love. I don’t know him to be able to love him like... proper love him. So I don’t think I have been, and I don’t think I am now.

9. Which song reminds you of some time/someone/something very important to you? Any old song that my mom has ever shown me reminds me of her, cause she has amazing taste in music. Same with my dad or my mom or my best friends. There’s a song that reminds me of something important that has yet to happen though. My wedding. There’s a few songs I know I NEED to have at my wedding, and when they come up they make me think of me dancing them on that amazing day if it ever happens.

10. Do you pay attention to fashion trends? yes and no. I’m not up to date with fashion in general. I just see something I like and would love to try and I try to do it. I never rock anything so I go back to what I already know and call my comfort zone. I pay attention to them to some degree. They look great on other people and I never quite get to try them or buy anything similar, and when I do I don’t rock it so I don’t keep trying.

11. If you could change anything about your life, what would it be? Everything. Goes against my travelling in time answer but lord would I change it all. whoops. I would change a lot of it. Not all of it. Specially bad things.

@legend-waitforit-harry aka J’s Questions :P

1. What’s the name of your autobiography if you write one? I think it’d be a guide on how to laugh at yourself both because you’re a pity and because you have to let go of things. And I’d call it something like “Do as I say, not as I do. A guide to living with your damn brain.”

2. One incident you will never forget. STORY TIME! When I was a kid, around 6 years old maybe less maybe a bit more, no more than 8, I used to take afternoon english classes at the same school I went to in the morning. After classes were over we would run around and play with the rest of the kids that were in tutoring or english classes that were also out of their class already and waiting to be picked up. There is of course a “no running in the hallways” policy in pretty much every school. While playing something silly like tag or something we were chasing someone and I took the empty hallways as route. I had sandals that were slippery and I was running very fast. Right as this guy Ivan - who is a year younger than me and the principal’s secretary’s son- walked out of the classroom he was at. I can still remember it went in slow motion. Me putting my arms out and trying to stop running, him looking at me and going wide-eyed. Both of us screaming. My feet slipping and being unable to stop. And then black. LITERALLY. BLACK! You could have added the little hit signs they add to cartoons when people crash into each other. I opened my eyes and my vision was blurry and a teacher was helping me up. I was ok. I don’t quite remember how or where I landed. Ivan was crying and in pain. He had fallen on the very edge of the little step that divided the cement hallway from the actual court where we could play. I only had a scratch, a bit of pain in my arm that I think was what collided with him. I was fine and wondering why Ivan didn’t get up and continued to cry out “ouch ouch please”.

Ivan had split the back of his head open on the step. Just a bit. I think he had 10 stitches total. His mom arrived short after; like really short after. I think she was on her way to pick him up when it happened and arrived to the school to find his child wallowing in pain on the ground and with a cracked skull bleeding out. I hid. God I hid. I was so scared of my parents finding out, of Ivan’s mother finding out, of my parents having to pay Ivan’s then seemingly difficult operation (i was like 6 I thought the guy would die cause of me) 

Ivan knows I guess, and his mom is the absolute sweetest woman ever and she never resented me for it, if she knows it was me. If they know it was me; they never showed. To this day my parent’s don’t know. Or I think they don’t. Ivan and I get along good and we were friends while we were in school. Don’t know if he even remembers it was me who accidentally crashed into him. The next day at school all of the kids that were there that afternoon (we all went to the same school the ones who took classes in the afternoon there) were called to the principal’s office and I remember my principal asking “who crashed into him?” and the second grade teacher legit pulling my by the shoulder shoving me in front of the group and I was almost weeping. I don’t think I got any punishment other than a warning and an obvious lesson.

Do not run in the hallways.

3. Lyrics that means a lot to you. Que todo tiene su hora, debajo del sol naciente, ya viene tu amor bendito de nada vale ser impaciente. Juan Luis Guerra’s Todo Tiene Su Hora

You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky. You look pretty good down here but you ain’t really good - Harry Styles’ Sign Of The Times

It’s alright to cry, [...] It’s alright to die cause death’s the only thing you haven’t tried [...] So live life like you’re giving up, cause you look like you are. - Ed Sheeran’s Even My Dad Does Sometimes.

4. You’re winning a Nobel Peace Prize. What’s the cause you worked for? Nothing lol I’m definitely not winning one of those. I’m thinking equality. Gender equality, race equality, culture equality, respect for human rights. That or some psychology topic I expressed in some book (NOT SELF HELP I HATE THOSE) in a way that makes it relatable and everyone laugh. Like why be happy when you can be normal? (that is an actual book)

5. If you are given all the money in the world but need to have a new identity, who are you and where are you? I’m still me and I live in England. Don’t ask.

6. Mountain or ocean? Both. Never been to a mountain tho but I want to go and I’m not sure it will mark a significant decision over these two. I’m always going to like something that is not staying home.

7. If you were asked to do something out of your comfort zone, what would it be? Definitely Model. Whatever it is, taking photos of me, my face, my body, my hands, my feet; whatever it is you could model... Just no. I’m terrified of the thought and I would be so uncomfortable knowing the results would be awful and everyone would hate them or that at least I would.

8. If you can kill anyone without any repercussions who would you kill and why? No one. I don’t think I will kill anyone. You can joke all you want about someone being very nasty and whatever but I would never. If you give me a repercussion-free bullet, I hope and pray I never have to use it. I only would in defence of my family and loved ones. 

9. Any childhood nightmares? My parents suffering some accident in one of their many travels. To this day I think that’s the biggest nightmare.

10. A song that makes you cry. Even My Dad Does Sometimes - Ed Sheeran Fall - Jonas Brothers. Supermarket Flowers - Ed Sheeran Cuando Te Beso - Juan Luis Guerra.

11. Recommend me: a song, a book and a movie. (Sorry, Iv! Stole your question) YOU THIEF! No jk, it’s fine. Uhhh. A Song: look at my song rec tag I don’t think I have a good one right now. I love too many songs. Let’s go with Harry’s unreleased tracks. I recommend those. Also To Die For by the Bohicas cause it just came up.

A Book: My teenage-self is screaming at me to recommend you Elizabeth Scott’s Bloom, or Heather Brewer’s The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod (THAT I STILL HAVE TO FINISH, GOD DAMN)

A Movie: it’s sad to admit but I don’t have a good movie to recommend you. Maybe The Green Mile if you want to cry and have your life shaken up, watch it. It shattered me. That movie fucked me up. I still have flashbacks to it and fucking weep.

I’m tagging: (different people than i did the last time): @team-styles @honeyskins @moonchildstyles @stylesprimes @yeshaddy @weeklyfangirl @stylesunchained @a-butterfly-on-his-tummy @secret-rendezvous1d @cuddlemusclestyles @whoopsharrystyles 

My questions: (once more):

Do you have a favourite pet name? What is it and why, and if you don’t have/don’t like pet names; why?

Tell me a Joke:

Are you a plant inside the house person? If yes; fake or real plants. if not: why?

Take me down memory lane and tell me a first. (first tattoo, first kiss, first time you saw the colour pink idc, just take me with you)

Pick one of Harry’s 8 unreleased songs and give me a prediction. What does it sound like? What is it about? Get creative and write a verse of the song if you want. Just for funsies!

You’ve just won a Grammy/Oscar/Emmy/IDK. Thank you speech? Go:

Fill in the blanks: I instantly smile when _____ because _____

Favourite Harry Trait? #AHarryLovePlatform.

What don’t you understand? (besides this question, come on, be creative) ((example: IDU how people don’t like Harry Styles))

If a sandwich was named after you, what would it be called (your name or something else)? What did you do to earn that honour? What’s in it? (taken from my 1 page at a time daily creative companion book)

Recommend me: a song, a book and a movie. (they can be Harry inspo or not. Just give me art!)