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fancytrinkets · 3 years

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Difficulty Settings Adjusted (Trevelyan/Dorian)

Part 2 of a silly fic in which the act of reloading the game at an early save point gets incorporated into the narrative. Part 1 is Save Point Reload.

With each step he takes and every spell he casts, Trevelyan revels in how good he feels. For the first time in months, he's no longer suffering from constant, debilitating pain. It's delightful enough that he laughs to himself, his joy overflowing despite that he and Dorian are going to have a difficult time explaining all this to the rest of the Inquisition.

It may seem as though we've both just met, but in fact we've been married for decades. And it turns out we can't actually die. But don't worry, I promise we aren't maleficars.

That doesn't sound good — specifically, it might not go over well with Cassandra. Or Cullen. Or anyone else, actually. Perhaps if they had a solid, working theory, they could explain it in a way that makes sense. Dorian must be thinking the same, because he's talking it through — thinking out loud as he posits a reason.

"Alexius must have done something daringly experimental to the amulet. I can only assume he managed to add a magical failsafe."

"What sort of failsafe?" Trevelyan asks as he rifles through a desk drawer in search of Venatori letters and snippets of diaries — (he'd forgotten how much fun it is to do this!)

"I believe," Dorian says, "that in the event of his untimely death while trying to change the past, the experimental magic would have returned him to the moment the amulet was first activated — or thereabouts," Dorian says. "He would have designed the spell to keep his memories intact, thus giving him a better chance of saving Felix on his next attempt."

He pauses in his explanation as both he and Trevelyan approach a closed door. Faint, muffled voices can be heard on the other side. Dorian steps closer to listen, and then makes a swift set of hand signals. Still tucking a stolen letter in his pocket, Trevelyan nods. Four Venatori, possibly more. The plan is to hit them fast with chain lightning.

Trevelyan turns the latch and then kicks the door open. At the same time, Dorian's lightning spell arcs through all four enemies. Only one remains standing, but Trevelyan finishes him off with a quick second hit.

"I remember this being more of a challenge," he says, surveying the smoking corpses of their foes. "I'd even go so far as to call it a nightmare the first time through. A real trial."

"Well," Dorian says, "we may look young and beautiful, but at heart we're still wily old men, and we've honed our skills for decades. No surprise this is casual combat at best."

"Fair point," Trevelyan says.

He takes a ring from one of the dead men. It's nice — gold, with a fancy gem. Not enchanted yet, but that can remedied.

"I missed all the theft," he says.

He's aware that he's being flippant, but it hardly seems important. This is Redcliffe in 9:42 — the terrible, alternate future that will all be erased when they defeat Alexius and return safely to 9:41 — just like they did the last time.

"Explain the amulet further, will you?" Trevelyan says. "If this failsafe feature was intended for Alexius, then why did it happen to us instead?"

"Perhaps we unwittingly hijacked the spell when Alexius first used the amulet against us," Dorian says. "I suspect it wouldn't have mattered which of us died — either way, we'd both end up here together. And I also suspect it will occur time and again until the spell is finally broken."

"You think there's a way to break it?" Trevelyan asks.

"There's always a way," Dorian says.

He opens a door and then points to indicate the stairs. He's found a way up, away from the dungeons.

"There, you see," he says. "My point exactly."

"And what if we choose not to break this spell?" Trevelyan asks. "Would we truly never die?"

"A fascinating question," Dorian says, as he leads the way upstairs. "We could live lifetime after lifetime, accruing knowledge and power."

He's briefly interrupted by sound of Venatori guards shouting from the top of the stairs. But they pose no threat — a single burst of fire from Trevelyan's staff does them in. They barely have time to scream before the flame consumes them.

"You make it sound almost god-like," Trevelyan says.

"It would be, yes," Dorian says. "And I fear we'd become more terrible than all the elder magisters and the Old Gods combined. That's how a power like this always works."

"Must it though?"

"In truth I'm not sure," Dorian says, "but let's hope not. I'm irritable towards everyone when I haven't had lunch, that much I do know. But I've never much wanted to be the villain."

"You'd make such a handsome one," Trevelyan says, joking as he steps over the charred bodies of their most recent victims.

Dorian grins. "You're right about that. I would."

#dorian x trevelyan #dorian/trevelyan #pavelyan #dorian pavus #male trevelyan #dragon age inquisition fanfic #my fanfic

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hungrydolphin91 · 4 years

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My thoughts on Xillia 2 (a somewhat peeved rant)

So I just beat Xillia 2 for the first time and got... an ending.

(* even though I beat the game I still don’t know the other endings so if you want to interact with this post please avoid spoilers)

The ending I got was where Elle dies, the fractured dimensions are destroyed, and Ludger is implied to go on to follow Victor’s footsteps by meeting Elle’s mother. This was the ending I willingly chose, though since I was playing it blind I didn’t know the exact outcome. Unfortunately, the game portrays this ending as kinda neutral, which is part of why I dislike this game: what the games wants me to want or care about rarely line up with what I actually want or care about, and as a result, I don’t get to make choices that matter to me.

The best example of this is with fractured Milla, Julius, and Elle. I held onto fractured Milla’s hand as long as I could because I liked her and wanted to save her (as I’m sure many other players did too), but the game decided she had to die to bring back the other Milla. I’m not mad at the game for that, as right from the beginning it was clear this Milla couldn’t stick around. Despite my efforts to help, I had to sacrifice her and move on, with the game telling me this was noble and necessary.

Near the end came Julius’s time... I really like Julius and so when I saw the game foreshadowing his death I literally stopped playing for a month because I didn’t want that to happen. Once I finally did, I had Ludger protect and protest Julius’s death to the point where he freaks out and starts fighting his friends, and despite my best efforts they repeatedly kicked his ass and I had to reload the save (*is that an alternate bad ending? I wanted to see what happens if you win but I didn’t want to grind for hours so I’m saving it for later). Bitterly I fought and killed Julius and kinda cried because that was Ludger’s brother and I didn’t care if he was already dying and Elle and the world were at stake, I wanted him to live. But the game said that his death was inevitable, noble, and necessary.

You see what I’m getting at? When I beat the last boss and was given a choice to save Elle, who would otherwise turn into a catalyst and fade away, or destroy the fractured dimensions like she wanted and save the world, I chose to save the world because I thought this was noble and necessary. Then the game gave this “oh that’s your choice... :/” kinda attitude and I was indignant. Up until now my choice to protest a character’s death had been either ineffective or actually punished, so why should I expect it to work now? And the characters I had lost before were ones I personally cared about more than Elle. I never really liked Elle the way in-game Ludger does, though I certainly didn’t want her to die.

And that’s my biggest problem with this game, that the story that offered choices not only didn’t let my choices matter in a way I wanted but even punished me when I finally chose to follow the themes it had been setting up. There were other forced choices in the game I never wanted, like destroying the Ark or working for Spirius at all, but I do understand that that was central to the game at least. The thing is, I feel like I wouldn’t have minded these deaths or decisions if I never had the illusion of choice in the matter. If this had been a normal Tales game story where Ludger the character loved Elle and chose to protect her, I wouldn’t have questioned it at all.

I don’t mean for this to come across as a hate rant; I actually did enjoy this game quite a lot. The combat is incredibly complex but also extremely satisfying, the return and development of Xillia’s cast was great, and overall I appreciate the risks Tales took in making this game unique. I just wish that the game and I didn’t butt heads so much.

TLDR: I’m upset at how the game framed choices, continually making my decisions to try to save people ineffectual then punishing me for not saving Elle.

#tales of xillia 2 #spoilers #tales series #im not mad i didnt get what i wanted im just upset at how the game framed choices #i dont even mind the ending i got i just dont like that the game made it seem neutral at best

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platinummice · 4 years

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Fallout OC seven day S.P.E.C.I.A.L

I’m putting these all on one post for easy viewing :)

Day 1 - Strength

Archer’s Score: 4

Archer isn’t a very strong guy. He travels light, carrying as few things as physically possible to avoid slowing himself down. It wasn’t something he really had to worry about when he was in the Brotherhood, his power armor did all the heavy lifting. With that being said, he is strong enough to lift and carry a fallen comrade away from danger. He has been trained in hand to hand combat, but if it can be avoided Archer will stay very far away from the actual combat. That's not to say he isn’t good at it, he’s very knowledgeable about pressure points, pinning people, and making sure people are otherwise unable to fight. Archer also doesn’t like big guns. He doesn't like carrying them, reloading them, or getting into fights and having to use them. He carries his longbow (which only has a draw weight of 30 pounds), a whole lot of arrows, a knife, and a Colt .45 Outlaw.

Day 2 - Perception

Archer’s Score: 8

Archer knows his eyesight is very good, which is a big reason he stays back during fights. He can snipe from far distances, and at the same time keep an eye out for any other potential threats. He is also very quick to notice anything out of the ordinary. Tripwires and mines have to be very well hidden to escape his notice. The big problem he has with his perception is noticing when he’s hallucinating. Picking out the visions from the real world around him is damn near impossible. In non hostile situations he can usually tell if he is having a schizophrenic episode, but when enemies are bearing down on him the increased heart rate, and sweaty/shaky hands are hard to distinguish from a normal reaction. The lack of safe spaces doesn’t help. Moving from that Archer’s aim is very good. Arrows are almost impossible to come by, so he has to make his own and that can take a while. So he got good at not wasting them.

Day 3 - Endurance

Archer’s Score: 6

Archer doesn't have the worst endurance, but it's not the best either. When it comes to traveling he usually prefers to take it slow, but he can manage a light jog for a little bit. He doesn’t manage well in hurried situations, and having to run for any extended period of time can be detrimental. However, Archer loves to swim even when most, if not all, the water around him is severely irradiated, he’ll pop some rad-x and go have a splash. He is also pretty good at climbing, if only so he can get high enough to scope out his surroundings. I would say under normal circumstances he is good at adapting to his surroundings. He tries his hardest to stay calm, because he knows “Calm people live and panicked people die.”

Day 4 - Charisma

Archer’s Score: 10

Archer's charisma is where he excels most. He might not actually be strong, but damn if he can't convince someone he fist fought a deathclaw and won. He won’t like it, but if he needs information or an item from someone, he can become “friends” in minutes. Picking up on social clues and catching even the smallest eye twitches, Archer reads people like they are children's books. It wakes it a bit harder when people wear masks, but he can usually pick at how they talk about things and get on their good side that way. Confirmed Bachelor all the way with this one, Archer can flirt a man's pants off. He’s a bit, uh, less good at flirting with ladies, but chances are high he’d still manage pretty well.

Day 5 - Intelligence

Archer’s Score: 3

My low INT child. He doesn’t know what's going on. He is trying his best though. He can count to 500 before he gets confused, a little bit of addition and subtraction is fine. Very Very basic multiplication. Can’t divide to save his life. Most of his brain power goes into animals, how to care for them and how to train them. He’s learned a lot of first aid and medical skills from helping wounded animals, but if you have other options you might want to consider those before going to him.

Day 6 - Agility

Archer’s Score: 1

Someone help this poor man. Any sudden change has the ability to make his head spin, and he’ll be stuck to the spot he was standing in, trying to take in what happened. As was said on day 3, Archer has a really hard time keeping his head when he’s constantly on the move. All the running and quick movements don’t give him enough time to process, leaving him confused and panicked. This can also trigger a schizophrenic episode, which will make things a lot worse. If he doesn’t have someone to pull him through a situation like this, he will most likely end up severely injured. Whether it be from enemies, or himself.

Day 7 - Luck

Archer’s Score: 8

Archer’s pretty lucky, believe it or not! He says he’s lucky about finding materials and what have you, but the truth is his dogs are trained to sniff stuff like that out. His luck comes into play more when it comes to being wounded on incapacitated and still somehow surviving? Man fist fought a deathclaw, lost, and is still around to tell the tale. He does happen to find a lot of bottle caps and cool masks to wear.

#I also forgot to post them for a few days #I dont know what I expected from myself #archer #fallout oc seven day special

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inkedsoldier · 4 years

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Chew the Bullet - Chapter One

A Modern Warfare series

Casey Vos is a liaison officer for the Dutch Special Forces. She has been stationed in Afghanistan and Syria, but now works everywhere they need her assistance. Specialized in counterterrorism and intelligence, she is unmistakably a great asset for the upcoming Taskforce 1-4-1, under the command of Captain John Price.

A/N: Here it is – the official chapter one of Chew the Bullet. I’m going to slowly introduce all the characters while (sort of) following the storyline of the gaming series, starting with the most recent campaign of Modern Warfare (2019). English is not my first language, but I’m getting better at it. Please, if you see any errors, let me know so I can fix it. It’s much appreciated. Well, I hope you enjoy! And please leave a note, vote or message with your thoughts! Bravo team out.

Warnings: guns.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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War is not just a three letter word. It is something worse. Something that can obliterate everything. War tears humans apart, even those who were once so close. Victims of war are over and over drowned in waves of guilt, pain and regret. In war no one is safe. Nowhere.

Returning to a place she once called home was just a foolish thought in Casey´s brain. Everybody moved on in her absence. No one to return to for a warm embrace or innocent chatter. Home was a gaping hole and had long since healed and scarred up. She thought that with growing up in a place full of violence, tears and poverty she had seen everything. But nothing could have prepared her for the life as a soldier. She had seen friends, allies and blood brothers die. The moment you enlist, no matter what age, you either die in combat or live with the guilt of what your hands caused.

At twenty-seven years old she had seen it all. Done it all. First Afghanistan, then Syria - and now everywhere they needed her assistance. As a liaison officer for the Dutch Special Forces she could be in London one day, and in Moscow the next.

It has been twenty-six months since the last time she set foot in the cosy coffee shop in her hometown of Rotterdam. The air is thick with the scent of the dark liquid. Before she makes her way to the table in the corner of the place she orders a cappuccino at the counter. The first thing she does before sitting down is grabbing the laptop out of her backpack. She would never leave without the device. You could never know when another terrorist cell would pop up with the most horrific intentions. The laptop didn’t look as new as a few months back, but it saved a lot of lives in the meantime. Collecting information and analysing data were the main tasks on the computer to provide guidance and direction in modern warfare. Since Casey came back from the special operation in Istanbul there has been a lot of chatter about Al-Qatala. Unfortunately, the rules of engagement kept her from acting on it.

The moment the barista turns up with her drink a notification appears on the screen of the laptop – a new email from Kyle. “Casey- We need to talk.” A short, but clear message. She winced as she took a quick sip from the overly bitter drink. The lack of cream made it just another caffeine shot. Not what she expected, but something she needed. She met Sergeant Kyle Garrick a couple of months back when working on a case at the Metropolitan Police Service. It was then that he crossed paths with allies of Omar Sulaman, also known as the Wolf, for the first time. “Call you in twenty,” was all she replied before sliding the laptop back in her bag and walking over to the barista to pay for the coffee.

Back in the hotel room near central station she immediately sets up a secured connection to contact the British sergeant. Within seconds after calling in, Kyle appeared on the screen in front of her. “Casey, where are you?” Kyle asked. “Hey Gaz, how are you doing? Nice to see you, too” Casey chuckled watching the intense look on Kyle’s face. “Sorry, Case… but we got trouble incoming. Another one of the Wolf’s safe houses got onto our radar,” he explained. Casey couldn’t believe her ears. “Where?” was all she replied. “South London. Near Sutton. How fast can you get here?” From Rotterdam to London by train would take five hours with a stop in Paris. Taking the train of one o’clock would give her one hour to pack everything and check out of the hotel. “I can be at Saint Pancras at five. Can you send me the intel you got so far?” Kyle leaned towards the camera and nodded, “Great. I’ll pick you up at the lower level of the station, near the taxi rank. We don’t have much, but I’ll send you everything through the server. See you soon!” Casey waved her hand, “Copy that”.

During the train ride to London, Casey poured herself into the data she had received from Kyle. He had send her a map of the safe house and all the intel they managed to collect in the last couple of days. The Wolf was back on the grit with a desire to make the west suffer to gain advantage and power. Sulaman is the leader of the terrorist organization responsible for plotting terror attacks, inspiring sleeper cells and lone followers to ban against world power. He was once a freedom fighter, a leader and a hero in the eyes of the west, but he turned. A lack of will made him intolerant. His knowledge of the western strategic limitations moulded him a kingpin of mass destruction. Both the man, and his movement gained mass support in the last years. Casey rested her head in her hands as memories flooded her mind. She had the chance to kill him a few years back, but a bullet… one freaking bullet stopped her from ending it all. The voice over the speakers yanked her out of the trance. The train arrived at its final destination, London Saint Pancras International.

As promised, Kyle was waiting a the taxi rank on the lower level of the huge station. The area was a seething of mass of humanity – people on their way back home from a nine to five office job, tourists on the move to platform nine and three quarters, and teenagers meeting up with friends for a unforgettable night out. “Sergeant,” she said as she walked up to the six foot tall Afro-British SAS soldier. His brown eyes sparkled as he saw the brunette approach him. “Lieutenant,” he replied before embracing her in a tight hug. “Glad to see you, gal.”

The ride to the Yard was filled with chatter between the two, but as soon as they arrived at the headquarters the talk got more serious. “Did you check the intel?” Kyle asked as they stepped into the elevator. “I did. Got some strategies on how to handle the raid and clean house. There are multiple ways to enter the property, and we need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. We both know how the Wolf likes to set up his security,” Casey answered. “Good. I got a team waiting for us to go through the plan. We don’t have much time, but it should be enough to get in prepared,” he replied. Upon entering the briefing room she already spotted a few men waiting in front of the screen. “Lads, meet Casey Vos. Lieutenant and liaison officer from the Dutch Special Forces. She is going to assist us at tonight’s clean up,” Kyle kicked off. A member of the team walks towards Casey and holds out his hand, “Welcome, Lieutenant. I’m Brooks and this here are Crowley and Fowler.” It was a simple welcome, but greatly appreciated. Meetings like this weren’t always easy, especially not when you were the only woman operating in a team of dudes. “Thank you. Nice to meet you. I would like to start the briefing in five. Kyle, are we expecting more men?” she smiled while shaking Brooks’ hand. “Yes, we do actually. Let me get them, so you can set everything up.”

8:45 PM Sutton, South London

The twilight quickly faded to blackness in the small alleys in Sutton, a southern borough in London. Thick clouds blotted out the stars and the moon in the still air. In the distance you could hear the cry of dogs. “Okay, guys. Be advised. There may be non-combatants on target. Check your shots. Watch those corners,” Casey instructed making way to the residence. Before entering the courtyard behind the house, they met up with another team. Casey, Kyle, Brooks, Crowley and Fowler would enter the premises from the back. The second team consisting of three officers would enter from the side, and a third team would enter from the front. “Ready? Good. Alpha-One moving in on the rear.”

“Alpha-One, this is Alpha-Two. About to enter the eastern alley,” one of the officers stated on the comms. “Copy that, Alpha-Two.” Entering through the back door was easy and the kitchen area was empty, but two deep voices could be heard from the living area of the house. Kyle slowly opened the door and dropped the two men, who were both armed. “Secure.” Casey moved up to the hallway when Alpha-Three entered through the front door. Footsteps could be heard from the upper level of the townhouse. “Alpha-One moving to the first floor,” Casey said tapping Brooks shoulder. Quietly they moved in formation and cleared the second floor. “Casey, on me” Kyle spoke pointing to the last floor. Frantic movement could be heard from upstairs. The Al-Qatala members definitely knew something was going on below them. “ I hear two. I got your six, Gaz” Casey said after checking her weapon if it was in need of a reload. The two steadily moved up and ceased in front of the wooden door at the end of the small corridor. They looked at each other and nodded before entering the last room. A woman and a little boy where hiding in a corner of the dark space. “Hold your fire,” Kyle said when he saw they were unarmed. The sergeant restraint the mother and her child, and guided them downstairs. “Case, see what you can find!”

The house wasn’t big, but it was a ginormous mess. Papers spread everywhere – on the floor, in cabinets, pinned on the wall. And not to mention the devices that were present that had to be examined. Phones and laptops scattered all over the place. “Alpha-Two for Alpha-One, we need you on the first floor,” she heard in her earpiece. “Copy, Alpha-Two.” Grabbing everything she already found, she made her way to the other team. “What do you got for me?” she asked the officer. “You’re not going to like this,” he said while turning the screen of the black laptop so she had a clear view of the data. Her eyes combed the display from side to side rapidly. She held her breath to concentrate as if her life depended on it. She started to violently beat her fingers against the keyboard in search for more while the glittering beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. All the fragments clogged her mind and she tried to connect them all together. “Shit,” was all she could say after opening one of the encrypted files. “Get Sergeant Garrick. Now!” she spat to the officer. It wasn’t long before Kyle got to Casey. “We’re in deep shit, Kyle. Check this out. Apparently the Wolf has his eyes on chlorine gas from Barkov. A group of mercs are prepping the convoy as we speak. This is really bad. You know what happens when he gets his hands on chemicals like this.” The Brit was stunned by the info he just consumed. His mind was going haywire. “We need to do something,” he affirmed. Casey knew what she had to do. It was her only option to try to prevent any close encounters with chemicals like this.

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Masterlist

Want to get tagged in upcoming chapters? Let me know!

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

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5e Twisted Fate the Card Master build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

Never lost a fair game, or played one.

Twisted Fate is one of the oldest champions in the game and despite never being extensively changed he’s always found his way in and out of the meta. A very simple kit makes him a great champion for skill expression among pros.

There isn’t much reason for this build other than “I thought it would be cool.” Twisted Fate has always been a champ that I wanted to learn and while doing some brainstorming I felt it would be fun to try to make him in 5e!

GOALS

It's all in the cards - Throwing cards aren’t the most practical choice of weapon, but they’re Tobias’ weapon of choice. By the way did you know that Twisted Fate’s real name is Tobias?

Shinin' gold - Twisted Fate’s iconic ability is to pick a card for either more damage, an AoE burst, or a stun. We’ll be taking all of them.

No fightin' destiny - It wouldn’t be Twisted Fate without the ability to teleport behind you. Nothing personnel, kid.

RACE

The people of the Serpentine River are human, and henceforth Twisted Fate’s a Variant Human with some card skills. You can increase two skills by 1: choose Dexterity and Intelligence for card reading and slight of hand. And for your skill you have to persuade people to sit at the table after all, so take Persuasion.

As for your Feat take the Observant feat to watch the cards: increase your Intelligence further and watch for any cheats at the table. And for your language there are no doubt a lot of sea creatures that speak Aquan in Bilgewater, so pick Primordial to speak to them and any other elementals.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - Jack be nimble and Jack be quick, since you need mobility to survive in Bilgewater.

14; INTELLIGENCE - Poker is a game of smarts as well as luck, and while lady luck is smiling you also need your own skills.

13; CHARISMA - Not as high as I’d like but we need other skills more, and 13 is still more than enough to charm I’m sure.

12; WISDOM - Wisdom is tied to both Perception and Insight which you need to watch the cards.

10; CONSTITUTION - A little lower than I’d like (feel free to swap the 12 in WIS for this) but Twisted Fate’s hardly a tank.

8; STRENGTH - Again: Twisted Fate’s hardly a tank and it’s up to Malcolm to do the heavy lifting. (Oh god now I need to do a Graves build...)

BACKGROUND

Fun fact: Twisted Fate is a Gambler, which is a background in Acquisitions Incorporated. You get proficiency in Deception and Insight (not Slight of Hand, for some reason?!), one language (pick your poison), and one gaming set (which will of course be a Playing Card Set.)

Your feature is Never Tell Me the Odds, letting you scout out tables to swindle or more rough pirates who won’t take kindly to being scammed.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

Starting off as an Artificer because I really like this class and we need both their saving throw proficiencies and their skill proficiencies for Slight of Hand and Perception at the table. You also get an Artisan’s Tool of your choice and I’d pick whatever since it really doesn’t matter.

As an Artificer you have Magical Tinkering which lets you do a bunch of fancy tricks to your cards. You touch a tiny non-magical object and can make it shine light, play a message, let out a smell or a sound, or change in visual appearance. Read over the ability to see everything you can do but the effect lasts indefinitely but you can only have a number of these active equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can touch an object you Tinkered with to end the property early but if you try to make a new one the oldest effect ends.

You also get access to Spellcasting as an Artificer. You get two cantrips from the Artificer list: Guidance will give you some luck with the cards and Acid Splash will let you throw out a red card for some AoE damage.

Artificer’s are a prepared spellcaster, meaning you can swap out your spells for others on the Artificer list at the end of a Long Rest. Regardless these spells will be suggestions for the most in-character spells to take: Detect Magic and Identify are both good to make sure no one’s cheating at the table, and Disguise Self is useful to hide in a crowd if needed.

LEVEL 2 - ARTIFICER 2

Second level Artificers can Infuse Items to create a variety of magic items. As I say whenever I make an Artificer build I’d suggest picking Artificer Infusions that help your party but with only two levels we won’t be getting many.

The Returning Weapon infusion is the main one we’re here for. It lets you turn a thrown weapon magical and will cause it to return to your hand immediately after throwing it. Playing cards aren’t a “weapon” but a Dagger is pretty close, and it’s the only Finesse Thrown weapon you can take.

An Enhanced Arcane Focus is better if you want to go straight for spells. You don’t have any spell attacks yet but...

Is Graves asking you to look over his gun? Well pass him a Repeating Shot weapon so he doesn’t have to waste as much time reloading.

Fun fact: as an Artificer you can recreate common magic items from Xanathar’s Guide. Feel free to craft yourself some Loaded Dice with the Charlatan’s Die.

You can only make two of your infusions, and since one will be more-or-less permanently locked into Returning Weapon I’d choose your other option wisely.

You also get another spell: the Sanctuary spell will force any enemies that attack you to make a Wisdom save or be forced to attack someone else, which can be good in case they get pissed off when you swindle them. The effect does go away as soon as you attack though.

LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 1

Now that we’ve got our cards it’s time to stack the deck. Level 1 Fighters can choose a Fighting Style and the Thrown Weapon Fighting style from the Class Feature Variants UA is perfect for a card-slinger.

IF UA ISN’T ALLOWED see if they count Archery for thrown weapons. If not I’d probably opt for Dueling so if you get into a melee fight you won’t be completely defenseless.

You also get a Refillable Potion with Second Wind, letting you regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your fighter level once per short or long rest.

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 2

Level 2 Fighters can use their Stacked Deck to Action Surge, letting them take one additional action on their turn once per short or long rest. The cool thing about Action Surge as a spellcaster is that you can use the extra action to cast a spell and then attack or do something else, but you can only cast one leveled spell per turn. Why am I telling you this when most of your spells are utility-based? No particular reason.

LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 3

Level 3 Fighters can choose their Martial Archetype and Battle Masters are great at card tricks. I assume because you’re throwing a knife not a playing card. Regardless Battle Masters are Students of War, letting them gain proficiency in one Artisan’s Tool of their choice. Again pick whatever or see if your DM can let you take a Gaming Set instead.

But more notably you Combat Superiority die. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s and regain any expended dice when you finish a short or long rest. You can use your Superiority die to do a variety of Maneuvers:

Trip Attack will be your golden ace in the hole. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. (8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier btw.) On a failed save, you knock the target prone. Note that knocking a target prone will make it harder to hit them with ranged attacks but it will make it easier for melee characters to hit them, and also slow them down for a moment.

If you’re fine with your stunned target moving then Distracting Strike will give your allies an opening to attack with Advantage, and also let you add the Superiority die to the damage.

Disarming Strike isn’t something TF can do in the Fields of Justice but it’s very in-flavor to knock the weapon out of an enemy’s hand (with a Strength save) and do some more damage.

LEVEL 6 - FIGHTER 4

That uneven Charisma score is annoying me, and you can’t be a silver-tongued swindler without the Silver-Tongued Feat from the Feats for Skills UA. Your Charisma score increases by 1 and you get Expertise in the Deception skill since you already had proficiency in it to begin with.

IF UA ISN’T ALLOWED feel free to grab the Prodigy Feat instead for Expertise in Deception (or Slight of Hand) and some more skills. This won’t increase your Charisma however so you’ll have to find another way to even out your ability scores.

In addition when you take the Attack action you can replace one attack with an attempt to deceive a humanoid you can see within 30 feet of you as long as they can also see and hear you. Make a Deception check contested by the target’s Insight: if you succeed your movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from the target and your attack rolls against it have advantage; both benefits last until the end of your next turn or until you use this ability on a different target. If your check fails, the target can’t be deceived by you in this way for 1 hour.

You do only have one attack currently but with Action Surge this will let you have Advantage on that attack and any attack on your next turn. And speaking of extra attacks...

LEVEL 7 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters can get value out of that silver tongue with an Extra Attack. This means that by replacing one attack with a Deception check you can get Advantage on three attacks over two turns, or up to five attacks if you Action Surge.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 1

Now that we’ve got our deck it’s time to du-du-du-du-du for a date with Destiny. As a level 1 Wizard you get access to Spellcasting with 3 cantrips and 6 spells known. For your cantrips Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion will allow you to do some more card tricks and Friends will let you con your way through life with ease. As for your spells...

Color Spray will let you toss out a whole deck of cards, blinding your opponents with blues and reds.

Distort Value is good for any con, allowing you to make an item seem more valuble.

Ice Knife can be red, since it’ll explode in an AoE and chill your opponents. (But not slow them.)

Jim’s Magic Missile will let you throw out three cards that do considerably more Force damage than a regular Magic Missile.

Protection from Evil and Good can be good help for your partner in crime.

And Tenser’s Floating Disk will be helpful to haul all that loot.

You also get Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots equal to half your Wizard level rounded up.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 2

Now you’re probably wondering what Wizard Twisted Fate would be right? You’re thinking obviously Divination, or maybe Illusion? Perhaps even Enchantment to further the con?

Nope; Conjuration baby! Put bluntly Twisted Fate conjures cards into his hand, which you can do with Minor Conjuration. You spend an action to conjure up an inanimate object that’s no more than 3 feet cubed and weighs no more than 10 pounds. The object must look like a non-magical object you’ve seen before and is visibly magical, radiating dim light out to 5 feet, and it lasts for 1 hour unless it takes damage or you use this feature again, so you can only have one fake card at a time. There’s a lot of really funky stuff you can do with this and it’s up to your creativity to make it shine!

For your spells of choice Magic Missile is a far more accurate blue card, and Feather Fall can help you make sure you don’t lose your hat.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 3

3rd level Wizards can learn second level spells like Jim’s Glowing Card Coin to distract the table while you make your getaway and Darkvision, to help with the fact that your pitiful human eyes can’t see in the dark.

LEVEL 11 - WIZARD 4

At 4th level you get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Dexterity for more precise card throws and an easier time avoiding damage.

You also learn another Cantrip: seeing as we’re still a pitiful human who can’t see in the dark the Light spell will let you light up a golden card to illuminate the path ahead.

You also learn two spells: Hold Person will let you Paralyze (not stun!) a target for your teammates to beat them down and Misty Step to pickup Flash.

LEVEL 12 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can prepare third level spells like Melf’s Minute Meteors for a whole pack of red cards! As an action you create six floating red cards around your person and as a bonus action you can shoot one or two of them up to 120 feet away. Each creature within 5 feet of the point where the card explodes must make a Dexterity saving throw or 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Alternatively if Malcom is looking for you grab the Nondectection spell to make hiding just a little bit easier when he doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve.

LEVEL 13 - WIZARD 6

6th level Conjuration Wizards get Benign Transposition, allowing them to use an action to Flash up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space they can see. You can also instead choose a space within range that is occupied by a Small or Medium creature and swap places with them if they’re willing. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest or you cast a conjuration spell of 1st level or higher. Remember that this does take your action, meaning that you most likely can’t cast spells or attack after using this, but it’s still an insanely good utility.

You also learn more spells and I think everyone knows what Fireball is; full-AP red card go boom. If you’re looking for someone to give a date with Destiny then Clairvoyance will let you create a sensor in a familiar location to either see or hear what’s going on within.

LEVEL 14 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get access to 4th level spells, which is what we were looking for with Dimension Door. As an action you teleport up to 500 feet away to a location you can either visualize or describe. You can bring objects that you can carry and also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. This spell actually pairs very well with Clairvoyance that we got last level because you can use that spell to peek into an area so you can visualize it for Dimension Door.

For your second spell? Eh; how about you jump back to third level for Counterspell? You’ve gotta protect the gang after all. And remember that as a Wizard your spell list is only restricted by what spell scrolls you can find.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 15 - FIGHTER 6

Now that we’ve finally made out date with Destiny it’s time to learn some more card tricks. 6th level Fighters get another Ability Score Improvement and we’re going to want to cap our Dexterity for sharper cards and thicker leather chaps.

LEVEL 16 - FIGHTER 7

7th level Battle Masters get one more Superiority Die and two more Maneuvers: Maneuvering Attack is great to set up an ambush, letting your jungler use their reaction to speed up at your command. Precision Attack helps if your opponent is building armor, letting you add your Superiority Die to your accuracy.

You can also spend one minute to Know Your Enemy. For every minute your study your enemy you can learn if any of the creature’s following stats are equal, superior, or inferior to you:

Strength score

Dexterity score

Constitution score

Armor Class

Current hit points

Total class levels (if any)

Fighter class levels (if any)

Considering that you have levels in Wizard this can be very useful to determine what saving throws to go for when you start the fight! Is their Dexterity equal to yours? Maybe don’t hit them with the DEX save. Is their AC high? Maybe do hit them with the DEX save.

LEVEL 17 - FIGHTER 8

8th level Fighter? Lady luck is smiling! Take the Lucky feat for an Ace up your sleeve when the going gets tough.

LEVEL 18 - FIGHTER 9

9th level Fighters get Indomitable, letting them reroll a failed Saving Throw once per Long Rest. Consider it a bit of Serpentine luck helping you when you really need it, so use it wisely; preferably on something you actually have a chance of rolling well on your save for?

LEVEL 19 - FIGHTER 10

10th level Battle Masters get Improved Combat Superiority dice, turning them into d10s. You also get two more Manuevers and we’ll be jumping over to the Class Feature Variants UA for Silver Tongue, letting you add your Superiority die to any Deception or Persuasion check you make. The Snipe meanwhile will let you sneak a card into your combo, allowing you to spend your Bonus Action to make a ranged weapon attack with the Superiority die, adding the dice to the damage if you hit. This can be a good way to sneak a bit more damage in if you teleport behind a squishy carry.

LEVEL 20 - FIGHTER 11

Our capstone is the 11th level of Fighter for a third Extra Attack, letting you attack three times per round or six times with Action Surge. If you activated Silver Tongued this equals a total of 5 attacks with Advantage over the course of two turns, or 8 attacks with Advantage if you use Action Surge! With that many cards in the deck someone’s going to have to fold.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Lady luck is smilin' - You have an immense amount of utility with magic and maneuvers to help you both in and out of combat; tons of mobility with Conjuration spells and a good bit of roleplay utility with some strong skills, a great passive perception, and Roguish proficiencies.

Cheater's just a fancy word for winner - If your DM allows you to use the Silver-Tongued feat then you’ll be making almost all your attacks with Advantage, allowing you to maximize your maneuvers. And +14 Deception is great for RP in its own right.

I never bluff - Despite having several abilities that only come back after a Long Rest you’re quite capable of surviving on just Short Rests and Refillable Potions. With Arcane Recovery giving you back up to 4 levels worth in spell slots, Benign Transposition coming back whenever you use a Conjuration spell, and all your Fighter abilities coming back on a Short rest you can keep trucking on even after a bad teamfight.

CONS

Nobody touches the hat - Wizard levels plus a 0 in Constitution results in about a hundred health. Invest in some Ruby Crystals (Amulet of Health) when you can or else you’re just a Power Word: Kill away from death.

All or nothin' - Throwing knives honestly aren’t that practical as a ranged weapon. If you don’t mind not having a melee backup try making a Repeating (Cross)bow instead.

Only a fool plays the hand he's dealt - The biggest truth however is that the 2 levels in Artificer really doesn’t do much for you. All you get is a bunch of spells you could’ve gotten from Wizard and the Returning Dagger. If you have a reliable way to get some throwing cards (either from a DM or an allied Artificer giving you a more reliable ranged weapon) I’d suggest splitting those two Artificer levels among Fighter and Wizard for more Ability Score Improvements and a 20 in Intelligence.

But you can work well alone and with a crew. You’re the ace in the hole for any party, even a party of 1. Keep your cards close to your chest and play what you need at the right time. Just be sure to know when to put down your cards and pull out the big guns.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

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chicagoindiecritics · 4 years

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New Written Review from Mike Crowley on You’ll Probably Agree: 10 Reasons Why ‘Blade Runner 2049’ is better than ‘Blade Runner’

If you haven’t’ seen the movie, see it then read this. No intro, let’s jump right in.

1. K is a replicant

The reveal of K’s genetic code, or lack thereof, flips everything we assume the movie will be on its head. We are learning along with K what it means to exist. Do we as humans, live like replicants? Do we obey a society that treats us like trash but breath anyways out of the fear of death? Where we viewed “Blade Runner” mostly through Deckard’s eyes who didn’t have much of a personality, K’s lack of a character is his entire purpose for existing. For K to emote is to face death.

Where Harrison Ford’s Deckard entire arc was us questioning if he’s human or not (despite what Ridley Scott unequivocally says), there’s nothing much of substance to Officer Deckard. He gets drunk, retires replicants, that’s it. Name one thing that makes Deckard standout? I’ll wait. Ryan Gosling’s Officer K goes from a machine that is dying spiritually on the inside to someone wanting to have a purpose in life. All while maintaining his composure, if perhaps too much poise for the film. Anything with a conscious can feel. Whether or not how it was made is as relevant as where you were born or what skin color you are. The importance is that you’re here.

K doesn’t seek gratitude nor affirmation. He doesn’t suffer from a narcissistic personality. All he wants is not just to be another useless piece of metal.

2. Deckard has depth this time

Being a daddy changes you a lot. Rick isn’t just a slouchy drunk who likes to shoot robots out of legal obligation. He’s a man who’s principles and love for forbidden things cost him his life. What kind of soul did Deckard have in the first film? Who did he care for? Please don’t say, Rachel, we all know why he was attracted to Rachel. Like Winston in 1984, Deckard rejects Big Brother for a life of pain to gain a glimmer of happiness.

3. It’s horrifyingly relevant

Denis Villeneuve based the imagery in 2049 on a planet that has become degraded with pollution. The buildings are extrapolating enormous amounts of water into the atmosphere, the sea wall at the end of the picture will be our new Mount Rushmore, the orange Vegas is happening now. Denis Villeneuve didn’t predict the earth looking like this, but his production team was still spot on. A picture that transcends its very style, developing a look that will be discussed on its merits separate from the ubiquitous original, is a stunning achievement.

Everything isn’t dystopian because that’s the way it was in the book. It’s what will happen to us in real life, why we’d look for colonies to live on if we had the technology or funding towards NASA to do so. God help us all.

4. The love story questions the essence of relationships

The story between K and Joi further examines the meaning of love, sex, and mortality, with the two being different versions of artificiality. When the default sexed-up version of a naked Joy pops up on the screen, we are emotionally mortified. Some of us may be repulsed to observe a character we care for utilized like a thirsty Godzilla.

The towering ad tries to seduce K tempting him to buy it, rendering everything Joi said to K throughout the picture questionable. Its manipulation solidifies his final decision in life to help another man. We’re not sure if she loved him or said what it thought it wanted him to hear throughout the narrative. Possibly Joi herself didn’t know her intentions. An unusual amount of nuance and uncertainty rests in the love story. Who do we love? Why do we love? Do we love by the heart or the heart of our designers whom we don’t know?

Meanwhile, Deckard was just drunk and horny when he bashed Rachel up against the wall. Sorry, that really was all there was to their passion despite what Wallace says.

5. The movie was an honest commentary about how the world views woman

Here’s a controversial one. A lot of women were disgusted by the way they were depicted in the film. Outwardly watching the movie, I can’t blame them. I’ll let Mr. Villeneuve speak for himself. “I am very sensitive to how I portray women in movies. This is my ninth feature film and six of them have women in the lead role. The first Blade Runner was quite rough on the women, something about the film noir aesthetic. But I tried to bring depth to all the characters. For Joi, the holographic character, you see how she evolves. It’s interesting, I think. What is cinema? Cinema is a mirror on society. Blade Runner is not about tomorrow; it’s about today. And I’m sorry, but the world is not kind on women.”

Villeneuve is right. Women today are still sexualized. Even with the Me Too movement, women are continually seen as sex objects or subservient slaves in a male-dominated society. Villeneuve isn’t interested in painting a rosy picture that Hollywood does for female roles to make the audiences feel comfortable. It’s an honest reflection on who we are. What we see is what we don’t want to see, but that’s part of the honesty of cinema.

6. The score is mesmerizing

Another point in which I may face some contention. Yes, Vangelis’ score is iconic, but it only works for the era it was composed in. Much of its mixture of bleeps, blops, and wind chimes are a product of its time. A lot of emotion is missing from the score other than the opening theme and “Tears In Rain.” Hearing much of the soundtrack while on the road, I sometimes thought I was listening to something from a porno. Take a listen to “Wait For Me” in the soundtrack and tell me otherwise. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Walfisch’s score is timeless while also paying respect to Vangelis’ synthetic use in the original. It dives into the character’s mind providing a replication of something more human than what Vangelis composed.

7. It thematically ties more directly to “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” than “Blade Runner” does.

“Blade Runner” got the overall gist of Phillip K Dick’s novel. Replicants are scared, trying to find a way to survive as Deckard hunts them down. However, the Andies in the movie almost deserve to die. In their quest for more life, they torture and kill multiple civilians. What did the guy making the eyes do to deserve being frozen to death? What about J.R. Sebastian? He was nothing but pleasant to Roy and Pris. Did Roy eye gauge him when he was done with Tyrell?

Aside from Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), our replicants are fully rounded people. Sapper Morton is a watchful protector who was meant to be a NEXUS 8 combat medic; Joi’s true intentions come into question for herself and us. K’s inner conflict is the central core of the story. All of this revolves around the meaning of existence within a world that has forgotten about you. The introduction of Robo procreation is an evolution of Dick’s ideas, widening his notion of why life exists in the first place.

8. It doesn’t get lost in the scale

Many sequels love scope over characters. Remember “The Matrix”? Remember how they talked about Zion and all these other things we didn’t see? When the sequels brought in Zion, the focus got lost in the spectacle. “The Matrix Reloaded” was a bumbling CGI mess of Agent Smith Clones and cave orgies. “The Matrix Revolutions” was a glorified “Space Invaders” game. Shoot as many sentinels as you can before becoming overwhelmed. Amidst the sequels bumbling chaos, I missed the smaller scale of the Nebuchadnezzar crew.

The story of “2049” could have focused on the replicant uprising with thousands of robots slamming into humans. We could have gone off-world to finally see what all these other colonies we’ve heard about are like. Some have argued that the movie could have borrowed some of its source material from the later novels about replicants creating humans, so on and so forth. All of that sounds incredible in theory. In execution, you would likely get “The Matrix” sequels.

A movie that overreaches in scope, attempting to please fans by showing everything. What we got was an incredibly meaningful story that further explores the themes of the original while building upon its world without going too far. We see what’s beyond L.A. on the dilapidated west coast. The answer is not much. The film aims at minimalism over extravaganza.

9. We’re still talking about it

After being MIA for decades, “Blade Runner 2049” isn’t forgotten. I can’t say the same for “Superman Returns,” “Monsters University,” “The Incredibles 2,” “Live Free or Die Hard,” and “Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.” In fairness, people do talk about Indy 4, but not in a positive fashion. “Blade Runner 2049” returned to the limelight with disastrous box office results yet high accolades, even gaining the Academy’s attention. Ironically it seemed destined to live the life of its predecessor.

“2049” may have tanked because it was a multimillion-dollar art film that respected its audience’s intelligence. Maybe “Blade Runner” was too far gone amongst the public to gain an interest geared almost entirely towards comic books and Disney. I think the trailers after the reveal teaser looked too generic for my own two cents, turning me off from the film for a short while.

Here we are with Honest Trailers in 2020, making a video about a film that came out in 2017. Bloodsoaked orange skies from the headlines mention the atmosphere of this film. Somewhere, about 100 other people are writing their analysis of “Blade Runner 2049” as I type right now. Seven years from now, we’ll be talking about why the world is still like “Blade Runner 2049.” Villeneuve made a timeless sequel to be remembered.

10. It’s better than the first film and one of the best films in the last ten years

Here’s why you’ll probably agree with this one when you put your pitchfork down. Remove your nostalgia goggles. I know it’s hard to do, please, trust me. Look at the points I made above. Think about how ironic the love story is to our lives. The layers of meaning behind K’s existence is lightyears beyond the featureless Rick Deckard. The picture isn’t flawless. Niander Wallace is spectacularly corny in his scenery-chewing grim monologues. Dr. Eldon Tyrell had some ambiguity regarding the morale of his intentions. For that, I’ll give the original the benefit of my doubt. I understand Ryan Gosling was cast to be intentionally deadpan, but it’s okay to emote once. His distant stare in all of his other performances made it difficult for me to discern myself from the actor’s rather dull persona.

With this said, “Blade Runner 2049” understands cinema. Its atmosphere is why we venture into a dark room that takes us to a different place. Denis Villeneuve’s masterful follow up is one of the most orgasmic cinematic experiences I have witnessed in the last ten years that demands a re-screening in 2022 when theatres reopen at an entirely safe capacity. The style doesn’t overshadow its substance, which is far richer in detail than the original without grasping at blatant metaphors. “Blade Runner 2049” is slow cinema at its finest, letting us into the character’s heads, knowing when to be quiet and when to be loud.

Like “The Empire Strikes Back,” not everyone appreciated the movie at first. Time has been incredibly kind to it, though. I wish the Academy recognized “Blade Runner 2049” beyond its technical marvels in 2018. I suppose it wasn’t the type of picture that catches Oscar voter’s eyes. But it has acquired the audience’s to this day. Now, if you could just look up and to the left for me?

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ranger-report · 4 years

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Review: THE WITCHER (2007)

With the recent popularity of The Witcher across mass media thanks to the Netflix series starring Henry Cavill and his arms, I finally began what I consider an epic quest to play through all three of the Witcher games and their DLC. This is, by no means, a small task, but you know I might as well sacrifice myself in the name of entertainment. So I began to play The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, a PC game released in 2007 based on the books of the same name written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Now that I’ve beaten it I have quite a few things to say about it. But, first thing’s first, and that is easily the most obvious aspect of this game:

It has not aged well. Not at all.

To begin with, the graphics of the game are very 2007. A product of seventh generation graphical technology to be sure, it doesn’t help that it’s running on BioWare’s Aurora engine, which was notoriously difficult to use outside BioWare’s own house. There’s all kinds of graphical glitches, people pass through objects, character models and textures are fuzzy and sometimes plasticine, facial animations are sometimes downright frightening. There’s also the fact that the game reuses the same character model for multiple characters, both important and unimportant, leading me to confusion sometimes as I swore I just saw that goddamn priest I just killed wandering around the city. Except now there’s two of him. And all the merchants look the same, too! This being the enhanced edition there’s a number of upgrades and clarity that’s been added in to the experience, but it’s still dated for better or worse. What has aged well is the use of impressionistic paintings for the purpose of certain cutscenes, adding an extra dose of epic quality to some of the goings-ons. This also includes more “intimate endeavors” Geralt can engage in. Long story short, there’s a lot of women in this game who are willing to throw themselves at Geralt, and if you play the cards right you can get down to business pretty quickly. Sometimes too quickly; one time I brought a woman a loaf of bread and she had sex with Geralt. It was confusing and out of left field. But each encounter comes with a brief piece of tasteful nude artwork of the lady in question as blurred models bump and grind in the background. And, to be completely honest, the artwork is really well done. Although it is very jarring to play a game where sex workers are clearly labeled “whores” and “hookers,” most of the women have a good amount of agency in the proceedings, particularly the two primary romance options, Triss and Shani. Geralt can actually romance these two women to the point of committed relationship, which is refreshing to see that sex is not just a reward for “romancing” a character in a game, but something the characters enjoy, while the romance comes from genuinely caring about someone.

Despite the graphical despondency, main characters fare slightly better, as anyone who needs to be easily recognizable is, and are crafted with much more detail and fine tuning than regular NPCs. While this is fine, sometimes finding these characters is a chore and a half. The Witcher has a day/night cycle, and characters follow this, but when my map is telling me I need to be in one place to meet up with someone, I can’t count that they will actually be there depending on the time of day. And I can’t artificially move the time of day forward unless I have a campfire to meditate at. Meditation is an interesting mechanic, btw, as it basically acts as Geralt “sleeping” and also functions as your chance to level up and distribute talents. On paper, I’m okay with that. In reality, campfires and places to sleep are few and far between, unless you’re close to an inn or someone who doesn’t mind you crashing at their place. And oftentimes you’re running back and forth in linear paths across deceptively open areas, back and forth and back and forth in what can only best be described as tedium when you’ll approach the quest marker on your map, only to find no one there, and need to hoof it back to a fireplace to change the time again. This can also lead to extra consternation if the game crashes, which it did a handful of times during my fifty hours of gametime. Save often.

And, finally, there’s the combat. For better or worse, it’s an exercise in clicking on people to attack them, then clicking again at the right time when your icon changes in order to string together combos. That’s fine. Combat is also divided into three styles between two swords: strong, fast, and group style, with steel blade and silver blade. Strong and fast styles speak for themselves; group style is for when you’re surrounded and need to attack everyone around you. Steel blade is for humans, silver blade for monsters. Sounds simple right? It is -- too simple. Clicking on people is as easy as that, with little interaction otherwise. Sure, you have to figure out which style to use on which enemies, and you can couple in Signs (magic spells) to make your life easier, but repeatedly clicking on people to whack away is bland at best, frustrating at worst. Later on when you can level up your sword styles to include more powerful/deadly moves it becomes more challenging, but even then it remains a strange exercise in an odd hybrid of real time/tactical combat. Finding oneself surrounded can lead to death quickly, so if you’re not paying attention, you can go from overpowered madman to witcher meat in seconds. Literally seconds: enemies I would have no problem with one-on-one, or even two-on-one, suddenly escalate to an unstoppable force the moment that three or more come in for an attack. The game has a way of forcing Geralt into combat situations without warning as well, making it easy to be thoroughly unprepared for a deadly gangbang around a corner and a cutscene. The game also doesn’t have much of an autosave system, meaning that if you haven’t been hitting that quicksave button very often, there’s a deep chance you could get your ass handed to you and reload a ways back from where you were. Easily the biggest frustration for me in terms of playing the game. Enemies will stack status effects to clobber you; Geralt will attack and get hit; sometimes you can stagger enemies and one-hit kill them, but enemies can still attack while Geralt goes through the slow kill animation. I don’t know how many times I cursed the game in anguish as I was forced to reload yet again after a fourth monster swept in out of nowhere, or the one monster I was fighting decided to get in a Stun attack, then proceed to own my ass. Pausing the game at any time using the space bar can help to get bearings, but you can’t execute commands while paused. Saving in combat isn’t allowed either, so if a big fight starts and you realize you haven’t saved in a while, you’re screwed. Couple this frustration with the intensely boring act of clicking on monsters over and over again to fight them, and here we have the biggest weakness of the whole product.

That being said -- is the game worth playing in 2020? Despite being 13 years of age and regarded as the least accessible game in the franchise, what it brings to the table is a surprisingly effective storyline that involves subject matter which is shockingly relevant. Racial tension. Class war. Plague. Quarantine. Riots. Gray morals. Strange creatures. Frustration. Difficulty spikes. Blurred lines between human and monster. If that sounds hauntingly familiar, it’s probably because that sums up the first half of the year 2020. To say that I was expecting a 13-year-old game to reflect the state of current events would be a massive lie; in fact, at the outset of the game, I was struggling to maintain interest at all. However, as time goes, the story and the choices made are what end up being the game’s biggest strength, and ultimately its salvation.

The story opens up simply enough: Geralt of Rivia, our titular witcher, has been found in a near-death state and nursed back to health by his fellow witchers and former lover, the sorceress Triss Merigold. Coming back from the dead has cost him his memories, however, and the amnesiac Geralt is quickly plunged into conflict as a group of mercenaries called Salamandra attack the witchers’s base to steal the secrets of their mutations. Swords clash, magic flies back and forth, and Geralt is tasked with giving chase in order to retrieve the mutagenic formulae so they can’t be used for harm.

A great conceit in this is that Geralt having no memory of his past allows anyone unfamiliar with the world to gently ease in and learn about the world as he does. The game is set after the events of the books, so this gives an added bonus to readers already knowledgable of events. And as the player learns more about Geralt and his world, a variety of choices come into play. Most RPGs have this option to allow player freedom in telling a story, but unforseen consequences follow every decision; whether they come into play immediately or further down the road remains to be seen, but there’s a ripple effect that goes above and beyond the usual Choose Your Own Adventure details which essentially craft your character into a good guy or a bad guy. What’s brilliant about this is that the game never hints at this; it isn’t until the game breaks away into a cutscene with monologue does Geralt realize how his choices crafted this specific moment. For example, in the Salamandra attack, Geralt can choose to fight off a horrific monster or help Triss defend the witcher laboratory. Depending on that choice, some characters may live or die, and the game will let you know that when it wants to....usually to hammer home a point.

What works to this being the strength of the game even further is the deep narrative, which is often times complex to the point of frustration. But the story develops at a natural pace, and never presents any choice as being right or wrong, black or white, good or bad. The main gist is that the human city of Vizima is under quarantine, fighting off a vicious plague, but also defending itself from the rise of nonhuman freedom fighters comprised of elves and dwarves. The city is divided on this, particularly in class division, with any nonhuman residents living in the slum quarter, while the affluent humans live exclusively in the market quarter. There are humans in the slums too, make no mistake, but it’s very apparent who is allowed to live where. However, the game makes no stance on this whatsoever; Geralt is presented with a series of choices based on the information at hand, and as the game goes on, comes closer and closer to choosing a side between the freedom fighters or the humans as tensions comes to a head with violence. Every action has a consequence, positive or negative, but also depending on who the consequences affect. Questions of moral arise; what truly defines a monster? Is it appearance, or is it action? It’s difficult to really spell it out further without diving into spoilers, as the story should be experienced first hand without any warning. That being said, it’s refreshing to play through a game in which the character is clearly defined as being the hero, but then forces the player to ask if their actions are truly heroic or actually damaging in the quest to destroy the greater evil.

In closing, The Witcher is a mixed bag. Narratively, it’s a stellar effort that swings for the fences and sticks the landing. From a gameplay perspective, it’s a dated game that’s sometimes a chore to play through, even to the point of dire frustration. But it’s one that I can cautiously recommend. While it certainly took me six or so hours to finally believe that I had the hang of it -- I didn’t -- struggling through the first quarter of the game can yield beautiful results, especially once it rolls into the final, jaw-dropping conclusion. What I will say is that it really beats you over the head with your choices, even the ones you didn’t know you were making, and holds up a mirror to ask if your decisions were really for the greater good or not. Outstanding work in that regard. I’m looking forward to playing The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings now that I’ve beaten this, and someday I’ll even come back to see the paths I could have taken. Just with tempered expectations this time around.

Final score: 7/10

#the witcher #the witcher enhanced edition #cd projekt red #geralt of rivia #pc game #andrzej sapkowski #henry cavill #netflix #bioware #review #ckburch #rubyranger #ranger report

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argentdandelion · 5 years

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How to Add Angst to the Pacifist Route

Warning: Mentions some very dark angst indeed.

While comparing and contrasting music videos for Undertale Genocide and Pacifist Routes, the author noticed something: the Genocide Route music videos are often better. This could be because the Pacifist Route videos, unlike the Genocide Route ones, are often devoid of emotional weight, complexity, and stakes, ending up less tonally nuanced than the game itself.

One should pay a little more attention to canon details (Frisk actually dies! A lot!) or make reasonable extrapolations to how it would feel in-universe.

(While this article was originally designed for music videos, it is also useful for fanfictions and fan comics.)

1. Frisk is basically an unstoppable, time-warping deity on a rampage of mercy.

Flowey: Why are you being so nice to me? Art by Golzy Blade Dee/Golzy

Frisk never stays dead for long because of their (possibly single-minded) determination to survive and achieve their goals. Frisk can take a direct hit from a god's super-powerful blast, and hold on by a fraction of a point of health. Even if said god outright shatters Frisk's soul, Frisk simply refuses to die. Frisk’s determination apparently can warp fate itself and break all barriers, including, well, the barrier. In essence, Frisk is an unstoppable, unkillable abomination. This would all be terrifying if Frisk weren’t a loving goody two-shoes pacifist....as it is in the Genocide Route. However, even a goody two-shoes Frisk who has never killed anyone, ever, can be frightening. Undyne could easily feel scared when a human child with no known combat experience effortlessly blocks all her attacks.

Then there’s Frisk’s rampage of mercy. Frisk can forgive and befriend anyone, even people who tried to kill them, even those who tried to kill them repeatedly. Why? What does Frisk know that others don’t? Is Frisk on some other level of morality entirely?

It’s not that far-fetched to feel suspicious of people who are too good: after all, some people find the utterly wholesome and compassionate Mr. Rogers unnerving. What would it feel to face off against Frisk, a person one was trying to kill all of ten seconds ago, only to be spared over and over? Flowey himself seems terrified by Frisk’s incomprehensible mercy, as it’s so against the worldview he’s built and his own lack of compassion. He cries, and says: “Why are you being so nice to me?”

One way to make this even more terrifying is to keep Frisk’s face completely neutral at all times, giving a sense of detachment between them and others. (see sample image, where their face is obscured) It makes one wonder: is Frisk truly good, or is it all an act they’re compelled to perform?

2. Frisk endures a lot of pain (and death) when, sometimes, it would be so much easier to kill their foes.

Even when played by an exceptionally skilled player, Frisk will die many times. (due to the inevitable deaths in the Omega Flowey battle) An easy way to add angst to the Pacifist Route is to linger on this gruesome fact. Just because Frisk can come back as many times as they want doesn’t mean it’s easy and painless. How does it feel to die? To hear one’s very SOUL snap in half?

The attacks, too, are surely painful. One could add some realism through attacks having physical effects. For example, when fighting Toriel, Frisk’s clothing and eyebrows could get singed, and they could sweat from either nervousness or the room gradually heating up from all the fire. Or, for more intensity, Frisk’s clothes could catch fire and they’d have to put it out, or Frisk could suffer minor burns just from getting too close to fireballs. The most angsty option of all, for really dark works, is for Frisk to know what it’s like to burn to death, with all its gruesome details.

This angst isn’t completely out of the blue: Flowey expects Frisk to feel terror and agony as he traps them and kills them over and over. One could also make Frisk feel shocked or baffled when returning to life, with phantom pains and injuries even through their HP is fine. Perhaps rewinding time would even make them feel disoriented, or nauseous, or even fill them with existential wrongness.

All throughout this, Frisk would have to wonder: is it worth it to die over and over? Is it worth reviving Undyne, someone so openly out for their blood who has, in fact, killed them multiple times? Wouldn’t it be easier, and so much less painful, to kill rather be killed? Perhaps Frisk can make an exception, just this once, for a particularly aggressive or unforgivable monster. How much do they have to turn the other cheek for people who want them dead?

3. Frisk feels a crushing sense of responsibility to do the right thing for everyone, to give everyone’s story a happy ending.

YES ❤ NO

As anyone vaguely familiar with Spider-Man would know, with great power comes great responsibility. To do the Pacifist Route, Frisk would have to care about the monsters and feel dissatisfied with their fate, to the point of trapping themselves underground and risking getting hurt (and dying) repeatedly. For maximum angst, one can make it one of the worst Neutral endings, all the way to the near-Genocide Queen Alphys ending.

What if, out of a sense of responsibility for monsters’ happiness and security, Frisk resets/reloads repeatedly? What if “good” isn’t good enough?

Some players, hoping to save Asriel, play the game many times. In some works, Frisk does the same, even breaking the rules of the universe for it. For the sake of angst, one could easily make Frisk motivated by guilt: they can’t stand to leave Asriel behind or let him turn back into a soulless flower. That just brings up another guilty angle: why is Frisk so kind? Why did Frisk climb a mountain it’s said no one ever returns from?

In a Post-Pacifist work, Frisk might become a control freak who requires perfect relations between humans and monsters. After a mild diplomatic gaffe (e.g., a monster spilling punch on a human diplomat), Frisk might reload and relive several hours’ worth of a diplomatic event just to prevent that from happening. One could easily make Frisk a secretly lonely, anxiety-prone hero because of the immense responsibility. Perhaps, after seeing the same predictable responses, Frisk would become like Flowey, and reduce everyone to roles to play. Yet, Frisk would still do good, though more by reflex than actual compassion.

4. Frisk is alone in their power and knowledge.

Frisk is the only one who can rewind time. That’s a lot of power and responsibility for anyone, and certainly for a child who didn’t even choose to have that ability.

With no possible mentors (if they don’t ask Flowey), how will they learn how and when to use their power effectively? In-game, the player goes back to a previous point either by closing the game and opening it up again or when Frisk’s HP goes to zero. However, as there’s not really an in-game explanation for closing and re-opening the game window, Frisk may only know how to reload by dying.

This could be played for morbid humor, such as Frisk wondering what a Tide Pod tastes like, or massive angst. For maximum angst (risking over-the-top grimdark status, which I don't recommend), Frisk feeling the need to painfully reload every time something goes even slightly wrong could, over time, reduce their will to live—the very determination that enables that power. Frisk's very sense of self-preservation might erode: for example, they might idly wonder how many lethal food allergies and how to test them all. If one wants to get really, really dark, someone could catch Frisk trying to reload in some horrible way, and Frisk would have to explain themselves.

The only one who can understand what it’s like to control the timeline, to die over and over, and potentially to feel an existence estranged from others is Flowey. Depending on how much Frisk knows about Flowey and Frisk’s understanding of morality, Frisk may simply consider Flowey ‘evil’. If Flowey has this power and is evil, or got this power and then became evil, what if Frisk feels doomed to become evil someday, too?

For extra angst, Frisk may come to be more like Flowey in worldview or behavior and not even know, because they’ve never done a Genocide Route/never so far into the route. More sympathetically, Flowey became a lonely wreck partly because he spent so much time exhausting the possibilities of the Underground. At first, Frisk might reload only when something bad happens. But what if Frisk gets curious about alternate paths, and what would happen if they said something else instead? That would be a step towards Flowey.

#Undertale #Undertale Analysis

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creepingsharia · 5 years

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Washington: Muslim who shot six women, killing 1 at Seattle Jewish center is now a prison imam

Palestinian Muslim immigrant Naveed Haq shot six women, leaving one dead and five seriously injured, including one who was 17 weeks pregnant. Now he’s an imam.

What could go wrong? And how does the prison allow a terrorist who killed for Islam to become the prison imam?

G. Jeffrey MacDonald writing for Religion News Service makes every attempt, on his own or on behalf of the Jew-killing Naveed Haq, to rationalize Haq’s jihad on a Seattle Jewish center.

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. (RNS) — Naveed Haq remembers July 28, 2006, well, even if he doesn’t want to.

He packed two handguns, ammunition and a combat knife into a laptop case and drove to McDonald’s for what he thought would be his last meal: Hotcakes, a cheese McMuffin and a Coke.

Then, filled with fury, Haq began his three-and-a-half-hour drive to Seattle from central Washington to open fire on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, where later that day he shot six women, leaving one dead and five seriously injured, including one who was 17 weeks pregnant.

He was convicted of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime. Now 11 years into his imprisonment, Haq is the new imam for the Airway Heights Correctional Main Facility in Airway Heights, Wash. In his new role, he’s trying to lead by example in conveying remorse to those he hurt.

“I have to make some right out of my terrible wrongs,” Haq said via email after an in-person visit from Religion News Service. “I have deep regrets for killing and maiming innocent people. I will spend the rest of my life trying to rectify my misdeed as much as possible.”

Despite a no-contact order that prevents Haq from contacting his victims, he wrote eight “accountability letters” to his victims last year. Over 37 pages, he apologized to individual victims and to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Victims can be notified when an inmate leaves a letter, according to the prison system’s victim services program. None of Haq’s victims have asked to be notified, however, and none have asked to read the letters he’s submitted.

“To really make amends I have to be innovative,” he said. “For me, it is the right thing to do.”

Shooting victim Cheryl Stumbo declined to comment. Others either could not be located or did not respond. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle did not respond to RNS queries.

Forgiveness might not be forthcoming. Rabbi Joshua Stanton, founding co-editor of the Journal of Interreligious Studies and rabbi at East End Temple in Manhattan, said when it comes to forgiveness, Judaism focuses on actions rather than words.

“The burden is on Mr. Haq to demonstrate a genuine and profound change of being through his deeds in an ongoing way,” Stanton said. “Even when a perpetrator genuinely does change, the burden is not placed on victims or their families to forgive.”

Haq told his story recently in a two-hour interview with RNS while prison guards stood watch and other inmates visited nearby with parents, girlfriends and children. What he recalled was a troubled man’s journey into hate-filled terrorism.

When Haq opened fire on the Jewish Federation in 2006, it was at the height of the Lebanon War. He had grown up feeling isolated, he said, as his family was one of the few Muslim families in the Tri-Cities area of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland. He said he only understood Jews in the context of a cultural rivalry.

“I didn’t understand that Jews were people too,” he said.

Perusing the internet one day, he learned that the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle had sponsored a Walk for Israel.

“I thought, ‘Women and children are being killed by the Israeli military in Lebanon and Palestine and this group is sponsoring a ‘Walk for Israel,’” he said.

Haq was eager to kill, he said. And with mounting debt, a failed marriage, a collapsing career and severe mental health issues, he was also eager to die.

“I had completely failed at society,” he said. “I had given society my best shot.”

On his way to Seattle that day, he pulled over and hiked down an embankment to practice shooting the .40- and .45-caliber handguns he had loaded the night before. Then he reloaded his weapons and continued his journey, praying for forgiveness as he drove.

When he got there, the doors to the Jewish Federation were locked. He hit the buzzer, ducked out of sight from the surveillance camera and with his .40 Ruger in hand, and waited. Within minutes, a 13-year-old girl walked to the buzzer. Haq pointed the gun at her.

“This is a holdup,” he said. “Let me in.” She obeyed. Haq made her lead him up the stairs to the federation’s newspaper office. He asked to see the manager, then began shooting. After the rampage and trial, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 120 years.

L. Gregory Jones, professor of theology and Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School, said it’s common in most religions for someone to eventually become motivated to seek forgiveness and acknowledge their wrongdoings.

“After enough time, the pangs of the conscience begin to work on someone to repent,” he explained. “Most commonly they seek forgiveness from those wronged and from their relatives. It’s understandable that he (Haq) would seek it. I think the yearning for reconciliation is a natural human desire.”

Haq said he wasn’t truly ready to seek forgiveness until now because he had to “unlearn the hate” he had in his heart.

He became the facility’s imam in April when his fellow Muslim inmates agreed he was the most qualified. Among his peers, he had the most Arabic memorized, showed good character and demonstrated remorse for his crimes.

“I have interacted with Jewish prisoners and I learned about their community,” he said. “I now understand that my thinking was deeply flawed. I no longer feel the desperation and hopelessness that I felt, which led to my crime. I am no longer the same ignorant man I was 11 years ago.”

He spent the first six years behind bars sleeping his life away, he said, before a prison psychiatrist adjusted his medication and diagnosed him with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. Since then Haq has earned 35 prison educational certificates as well as a paralegal certificate.

“After wasting so many years, I became a man in a hurry,” he said.

However, Jones said Haq’s victims may not be ready to forgive. He noted the passage from C.S. Lewis’ “Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer,” which reads, “Last week while at prayer, I suddenly discovered — or felt as if I did — that I had really forgiven someone I had been trying to forgive for over 30 years.”

“It took 30 years for someone as good of a person as C.S Lewis to forgive,” Jones said. “There’s a timefulness that people need to reach that … but there shouldn’t be pressure put on the victim to do it on anybody’s timetable other than their own.”

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

If he were really repentant, wouldn’t he leave Islam rather than become an imam who is commanded to bring others to Islam and repeatedly pray curses on non-Muslims?

#Sharia #Legal #Jihad #Islam

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epickendall · 5 years

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The Summer of Del'goxoth part 20

Sam didn't know how to feel for the moment right now, of course, she is happy that Danny is back at home safe and sound and he's ready to help to deal with the ghosts that have been running loose in Amity Park. On the other hand, Danny brought a girl from Gravity Falls that no clue who she is. Sam knew that there something between Danny and Wendy that they were becoming more than friends when she looked at the two looked at each other but for her sake and Danny Sam going to put this feeling aside which can be hard for her.

"So Wendy how did you and Danny met?" said Maddie

"Well Mrs. Fenton me and Danny first met where he had a whole identity for his disguised," said Wendy

"Which is?" said Tucker

"I wore a blonde wig, red hoodie, and the identity was River Robertson," said Danny

"You in a blonde wig I got to see that,"

"Anyway after we met I offer the tour of my town he accepted, and I showed him around," said Wendy

"After that we became friends," said Danny

"Then, how did you know that River was actually Danny," said Sam.

"After the tour, I chase after a ghost when that got away I change back to my human form, and my wig falls off, and Wendy saw the whole thing,"

"I was kinda pissed at for lying to me, but the next day he explains the whole situation about the cult and the FBI I forgive him and understanding the situation,"

"So what is it like in Gravity Falls Wendy?" said Valerie

"It's peaceful and has its quirks it can be weird at times,"

"I think we save the question for Wendy later after we deal with this ghost mess," said Jack

"Dad right we need to capture all the ghosts before they destroy the town," said Danny

"So do you guys have any thermos left to use," said Wendy

"We do, but Jack and I have a better idea before you, Val and Danny show up," said Maddie

Jack then shows everyone a large silver rectangular device with a green line straight in the middle.

"What is it?" said Valerie

"It's the Fenton Grabber," Jack said Proudly.

"The Fenton Grabber grabs any ghost near it and chains them together then drag them into it," said Maddie

"Isn't a bit big to carry around?" said Danny

"No worries this thing is going on top of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle it'll take a few minutes to attach The Fenton Grabber on it," said Jack

"Alright then,"

While Jack and Maddie put The Fenton Grabber on the Fenton Family, Ghost Assault Vehicle in the garage Danny talked to Tucker, and Valerie Sam approaches Wendy.

"Hey Wendy got a sec," said Sam

"Yeah sure what you need Sam," said Wendy

"I got question do you have any feelings for Danny?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you like-like Danny?"

Wendy blushed at Sam question she knew that Sam is both his Ex and best friend so decide at least be truthful to Sam "Yeah I kinda like-like Danny not because he's a superhero and famous I think he's a great guy to hang around with like how sweet and caring he is,"

Sam sighs "just do me a favor Wendy if guys do to start dating just be a better girlfriend then I was when we were dating promise me that,"

"I promise Sam,"

"Alright everyone the Fenton Grabber is attached to the Rv let's get rolling!" Jack shouted from the garage

The teens go to the garage to see the Fenton Grabber on the Rv Wendy was blown away of the Rv.

"Danny, your parents, are the coolest," said Wendy

"I know," said Danny

Everyone gets in the Rv Maddie hit the garage door opener in the Rv, and the Rv drove out of the garage onto the streets ready to combat the ghosts.

Elsewhere in Amity Park Washington looked for any clues on where The Leader might be at then Washington see in an alleyway a white limo with the limo driver wearing all blue suit looking through binoculars on top of the limo.

"Bingo," Washington thought.

Washington walks over to the Limo driver he put on a shit-eating grin and approaches the limo driver.

"Hello my brother," said Washington

The Limo driver put his binoculars and looked at Washington, "Brother?"

"Yeah, I'm in the Del'goxoth,"

The Limo driver raises an eyebrow "if you are then where is blue clothes and your tattoo?"

"One all my blue clothes are in the cleaners, and I'm new to the cult, so I didn't get my tattoo yet,"

"If you really are in Del'goxoth, what is our purpose?"

"To find a god to this new world and get rid of the greed and waste of this earth," then Washington shoots a smile.

Limo driver seem convinced "alright brother I know you are telling the truth,"

"Hey, can you tell me where are Leader is I didn't get the information I dropped my phone in the toilet?"

"The Leader is at Lake Eerie waiting for us to capture Danny Phantom,"

"Thank you, my brother,"

Washington was about to knock the Limo driver out, but large ghost hawk grabs the Limo driver and lifts him in the air.

"I guess that takes care of him,"

Back to the Rv rolling down the streets finding a load of ghosts in the city streets and they turn their attention to the Rv.

"So how do we turn on the Fenton Grabbers?" said Tucker

"Easy we press this blue button," Maddie points at it.

"Who would like to push it?" said Jack

"I will," said Wendy

She pushed the button, and the Fenton Grabber turns on it's open up, and chains come out of the device they start to grab ghost near the Rv the device chain the ghost together and pull them inside of it.

"Hm didn't explode," said Jack

"Wait the Fenton Grabber could have blown us up," said Sam

"No about a small percent it could have,"

The Fenton Grabber works excellent as it grabbed any ghost from above it or far away as the Rv drive all over town capturing ghosts it could.

"Wow, it looks like we're going capture most ghost," said Tucker.

Then a missile explodes near the Rv everyone looked up to see Skulker fired the missiles while trying to avoid the Fenton Grabber.

"Seriously does he ever give up," said Danny

"Don't worry Danny I got this," said Wendy

Wendy gets out of the Rv quick as she aims her crossbow at Skulker, who laughs at Wendy.

"Please you think that would do damage to my su-" Skulker gets cut off when Wendy fires an arrow in Skulker eye hole paralyzing him to let the Fenton Grabber chain him as well with the other ghost Wendy get back into the Rv.

"Nice shot Wendy," said Valerie

"Thanks, Valerie," said Wendy

After two hours of driving all over the streets and letting the Fenton Grabber does it work all of the ghosts has been captured ending the city nightmare Jack drove everyone back to the Fenton Works that still guard by Cujo. Danny, Jack, Wendy, Maddie, and Valerie get the Fenton Grabber off of the Rv, and they took to the lab, and they release all of the ghosts into the ghost portal.

"We did it the city is ghost-free," said Jack

"So what's going to happen now?" said Sam

Then Danny received a text from Washington about where the cult is and that he's going to get the FBI backup and Danny tells everyone.

"We're going to end Del'goxoth,"

Everyone decides that Danny, Wendy, Sam, and Danny parents go to the lake put a stop to the cult for once for all. While Tucker goes to the town hall to tell everyone the good news while Valerie watches his back if the cult comes after him, they head to Lake Eerie in the Rv once they got there they see a giant circus blue tent has taken over the run-down camp.

"Everybody be ready we don't know what to expect if we enter the tent," said Danny

Maddie and Jack grab their ghost weapon as well handing Sam a ghost weapon and Wendy reload her crossbow they all enter the tent it was dark with no light until heavy ropes fly from above the tent and tie Danny parents, Sam and Wendy. The light turns and twenty cult member aiming their weapons at Danny and his group there was a stage at the back of the tent with a strapped chair and the Leader on the stage with a microphone.

"Hello Danny Phantom, at last, we finally meet," the Leader says into the microphone.

"It's over the FBI is coming here to put a stop to this madness,"

"Oh really then are they fast to get here when you become the god of this world,"

"I'll never be your god you nut-job,"

"You tell her, Danny!" Wendy shout

"Hm is either that or this," said the Leader who snapped her fingers the rope around Wendy, Sam, Jack, and Maddie started to tighten up. "Do you want to see them crushed from that rope and die right before your eyes?"

"Are seriously going harm my family and friends just to make me god," said Danny getting angry

"Whatever it takes to make you see that you have a greater purpose than being this world hero you could do more good to be god,"

Wendy then notices her Ax is slowly getting the rope she tries to reach for it, but she couldn't; however, she sees Sam next to it.

"Psst Sam, my Ax," Wendy whispered.

Sam notices what Wendy whispered about, "she caring Ax this whole time. What is this girl?" Sam thought she grabs the Ax from Wendy Ax holder and begins to cut it with no one looking.

"You better decide now hero," the Leader pulls out the Voxinir and points at Danny.

Then suddenly, an unknown force grabbed the knife from the Leader, and it flies above the stage. Danny ghost sense appears realizing a ghost taken the knife.

"Spirit that has taken my knife to give it back brother and sister," the Leader shouted and the cult member aim their weapon on the unknown ghost.

"Is this how you treat your new god," then the spirit reveals itself to be Logan Hall.

"Logan!" shouted Danny and Wendy

#Danny Phantom #gravityfalls wendy

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operationrainfall · 5 years

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Title My Friend Pedro Developer Deadtoast Publisher Devolver Digital Release Date June 20th, 2019 Genre Bullet Ballet Platform Steam, Nintendo Switch Age Rating T for Teen – Blood, Violence, Language Official Website

I’ve been looking forward to My Friend Pedro since I demoed it last year at PAX West. It’s not often you see a concept so wacky nor a control scheme so ambitious. In many ways, this is the closest we’ll probably get to a true Deadpool videogame, and that’s something developer Deadtoast seems to be very aware of. They play with reality as you progress, as well as poke fun at gamers and the industry at large. The simple question then is this: was My Friend Pedro worth the wait? Or was this banana not quite ripe yet?