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casuallyyoa · 1 year

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FIRE EMBLEM ENGAGE REVIEW

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WHAT

Fire Emblem Engage is the latest in a series of tactical role-playing games by Intelligent Systems, published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It has an expansion pass featuring four waves of DLC, introducing additional maps, items and story. The series has come a long way since static 2D art and pixel spritework to full 3D models, but is Engage worth playing? This is the spoiler-free Casual review.

SETTINGS

Much like most games on the Nintendo Switch, the options are basically non-existent, offering only a change in dialogue text and between Japanese and English dub. That said, the game’s performance on the Switch is quite respectable, so it’s mostly only lacking in a more customizable interface.

OPENING HOUR

Before jumping into the game proper, you get to choose your form of Alear. You get to input their name and birthday, which is functionally cosmetic. You have three increasing difficulty options in Normal, Hard and Maddening, then choose if you’re playing in Casual - where fallen units return - and Classic - for permadeath. Outside of profile cards and certain additional modes and stats, online play is mostly limited to some random items you can find on the battlefield.

PRESENTATION

If I had to choose a word to describe Engage’s style, perhaps that would be anime? Not in a bad way, mind; the mostly brighter colour palette is quite pleasing on the eyes, with quite the spread of new eccentric party members to add to your squad. While the red/blue protagonist is admittedly quite jarring on a first impression, I do think it does get quite endearing - fortunately so, considering I’ve spent almost 80 hours on a first playthrough.

The use of 3D models is alright. There will be many canned animations and certain actions done just offscreen to save on additional details, not especially to its detriment. If you’re really, really nitpicky, you’ll have to live with the various instances of clipping across the board.

The music has several standout tracks, one of them being the opening vocals. Both the English and Japanese version did not have to go this hard, but they sure did. I do have a number of personal favourite battle tracks, with a large soft spot for the final story battle theme.

GAMEPLAY

The basics should be familiar to seasoned veterans of grid-based tactical strategy games. You deploy a set number of units, with each of them being in their own respective classes, able to move a certain range, and strike the enemy if they are so capable. There’s no back-attack or individual defend moves, though there is a ‘Chain Guard’ move to have a character soak at least one attack for another.

The weapon triangle - the so-called rock-paper-scissors advantage chart - is here. You could consider it more potent than usual in Engage thanks to the Break mechanic, which prevents a Broken unit from doing a follow-up attack until the end of their next combat when hit by an advantageous attack. Either you or the enemy can wail on the other with impunity at least once. Smash weapons can do something similar, though these weapons cannot strike first nor do follow-up attacks. Incidentally, weapons no longer have durability which I love, because bad RPG hoarding habits are hard to break out of. Staves, whether they be healing or utility, still do, however.

Terrain bonuses or limitations are present. A ground tile can provide +30 bonus to dodge, but Flying units won’t be able to utilize them. Flying units can go to places where infantry or cavalry can’t traverse easily or at all, unless specified to be impassable.

I’ve come this far without mentioning the Emblems. Emblems are powerful utilities that grant an equipping unit that Emblem’s spread of bonuses, skills and weapons. Engaging is a ‘super mode’ that lasts a limited number of turns to use their unique weapons. There’s also an Engage move that is usable once per Engage, typically a robust signature move. Should you not have enough Emblem rings, you can still have Bond rings that provide comparatively minor boosts, but have some other unique skills not found on the Emblems themselves.

Outside of combat, you have the Somniel. Here, you can do a lot of admin or side activities. Gain support with your units to learn more about them and eventually Pact Support them - essentially bonding Alear with the other for life. Alear can Pact Support any playable character regardless of gender, so happy gays! There’s the cafe to gain support and additional stats for the next battle depending on the quality of the food, but I honestly didn’t really find much use out of that.

The fringe case use also applies to the side activities you can unlock. Strength training only grants Alear the bonuses and if you flunk it, you can get nothing for your time. Unless you really enjoy these mini-games or intend to min-max, you can pretty much ignore them. While I do consider even Normal decently challenging especially for someone not well versed in these tactical games, I didn’t have much desire to try out what are ostensibly breaks from the usual action.

For those interested in level grinding, the Arena offers 3 tries after each combat to grind out some more EXP and potentially supports for the chosen character. There are overworld skirmishes or training occasions for more EXP. As I understand it, donating to nations improve the quality/spawn rate of these skirmishes, but money feels tight. I only grinded because that’s how I play, and I didn’t even donate past level 2 on Normal.

Once characters hit certain level thresholds, they can change classes provided you have the seals and the required weapon proficiency. For their respective classes, they can then get its class-specific passive in addition to what their personal skills are, and from their Emblem/Bond rings as relevant. Classes have their own growth rates additive to a character’s, so reclassing to force a certain stat growth could be something you want to do.

DLC

For those deciding on whether to obtain the expansion pass, you get bonus items and more Emblems to go with the new maps. There’s also the Fell Xenologue with more maps and new characters to add to your roster on completion.

The DLC Emblems are definitely powerful in their own right, which I can jokingly dub ‘pay to win’. These Emblems can’t be used to make bond rings though. As additional flavour, these Emblems can have bonus dialogue if you have the Emblems associated with them from the base game.

The biggest chunk is arguably the Fell Xenologue, what with giving more story and characters. The Xenologue gives you fixed unit levels, classes and inventory, so you do have the option to jump in right away as soon as you can access it without the other base game emblems, characters, or even support / bond bonuses. Its difficulty is also separate from the base game and nobody dies permanently in it, so feel free to bald like I did.

STORY

I’ve seen criticisms of Engage’s story being less complicated, or even too simple. However, I strongly believe it’s told competently, and I think that’s much better than trying to clumsily weave in too many nuances. I do understand if people think certain complexities are hidden far too deep into support chains, but I see that as a way to get you invested in the overarching story.

It’s Not That Deep, but I think if a story has gotten you crying positively over certain beats over rubbing your temples regarding what you see as plot holes, the former is more preferable. I enjoyed it myself.

That said, this is one thing I find important enough to mention to ‘spoil’, so to speak: Engage lacks paired endings between characters who aren’t Alear, which is disappointing considering the dynamics the rest of the cast have.

CONCLUSION

In summary, what are the pros and cons?

Pros:

Engaging (ha ha) story and characters

Can be still fairly challenging even on the lowest difficulty

Pretty stunning visuals and music

Cons:

Unfortunate that further paid DLC can enhance the experience but at least it’s decent value

Lack of paired endings for non-main characters

If you do like tactical strategy RPGs and have yet to take the leap into anime, Engage is a pretty good starting point. I give Fire Emblem Engage a Highly Recommended.

#Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Engage #Review #CasuallyYoa #Youtube

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communicationrolli · 2 years

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Crosscode a new home ending

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING UPGRADE

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING ZIP

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING DOWNLOAD

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING ZIP

Double click that file, and it'll create a folder named " post-game" in the same folder as the zip file. The zipped filename should be " new-home.zip". If you downloaded it through a web-browser (like Google Chrome, or Safari), it'll probably be in your "Downloads" folder (open up "Finder" application, and the "Downloads" folder should be listed on the left side).Then, you need to find the DLC file on your computer.

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING DOWNLOAD

Okay, so first, make sure you've downloaded the DLC after purchasing it (if you haven't downloaded the DLC yet, you should be able to download it in the same manner you downloaded the game originally).

CROSSCODE A NEW HOME ENDING UPGRADE

Note: There are a few story spots where you will get a power upgrade and be hitting for hundreds of thousands of damage per hit, these do not count toward this achievement.Simple answer: you can either double-lick the new-home.zip file, or right-click the file and select "open." There are skills that will do more damage such as Ether Snipe or Vagabound (especially if you use one that has bonus damage after ricocheting), but any Tier 2 or Tier 3 skill should do the trick. Then unleash your most powerful attack on a weak enemy in Autumn Hills. You can also eat a "Spicy Beat-O-Type" food item for a big boost to your stats right before attacking. Once you think you're strong enough, get into battle (dismiss any party members first so they don't kill the enemies) and jump in water to lower your health into the red. If you're doing this after the story is complete, you should be a high level with plenty of stats. Then you'll want to spec your Circuit to maximize the damage and critical hit nodes. Essentially, you will be equipping gear that relies on the "Berserker" skill, which raises your attack greatly when you are under 33% health. There are a number of ways to go about this, but the best method I found is outlined HERE. You are required to do 50k damage to a single enemy in a single hit (in other words, an attack that hits multiple enemies at once and adds up to 50k total won't work). This is the only achievement in the game that is not story related. I highly recommend it, and the easy achievement list is a nice bonus. The story is pretty good and the visuals are incredible as well. It combines Zelda-like dungeons with very clever puzzles and fast-fluid action combat, but adds in plenty of RPG elements such as an expansive leveling tree, side-quests, and equipment management. There are a few ways to do this, but the best one I've read about is outlined in the ONE PUNCH! (50G) achievement description below.ĬrossCode is an amazing game. You need to do 50k damage to a single enemy in a single hit. This is the only achievement that is not directly story related. You can continue playing after the ending, so the one achievement that is not story-related can be knocked out afterward with the correct setup. If you prefer a video walkthrough, use THIS PLAYLIST. If you like a text/picture guide, use THIS ONE. Regardless of your chosen difficulty level, the main task will be to complete the story. You will not need to worry about side-quests for extra experience, or worry about grinding materials to get the best equipment. With all of these sliders set to the lowest settings, the game is a breeze and will take much less time to complete. These sliders can lower damage taken, enemy attack frequency, and the length of time you have to complete puzzles. You can play CrossCode normally, or you can use the "Assist" sliders in the menu to make the game much easier for yourself. It is unlikely you'll get the one combat-related achievement naturally, and I'll outline that in the next step below. You will get 10 for completing each chapter, 4 for getting each of the elemental abilities, and 5 for defeating bosses. This is a very easy completion with 19/20 achievements coming directly from story progression. During the fast-paced battles you will use the tools you find on your journey to reveal and exploit the enemies' weaknesses and at the same time will be able to choose equipment and skills for a more in-depth approach in fighting your enemies. You get the puzzles of Zelda-esque dungeons and are rewarded with the great variety of equipment you know and love from RPGs. CrossCode combines 16-bit SNES-style graphics with butter-smooth physics, a fast-paced combat system, and engaging puzzle mechanics, served with a gripping sci-fi story.ĬrossCode is all about how it plays! Take the best out of two popular genres, find a good balance between them and make a great game. This retro-inspired 2D Action RPG might outright surprise you. Does difficulty affect achievements: No Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 Approximate amount of time to 1000 : 25-30 Hours, 40-50 Hours Estimated achievement difficulty: 2/10, 6/10

#Crosscode a new home ending

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kirkuimlamb · 2 years

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Boiler Breakdown Advice

I possess listed a several of the most typical boiler breakdown problems below to assist you get the boiler backup plus working. You arise one morning seeking to jump in typically the shower only in order to find you possess no hot drinking water, you go and even check the central heating boiler and notice a wrong doing code is showing within the display, so what do you really do? You need to be able to uncover what the wrong doing code is in addition to why it provides made the central heating boiler breakdown. All boilers are supplied using an users handbook, inside this guide will be listed just about all the fault limitations and the reason for the code to show. The fault code reason is simply helpful information on what to check for, sometimes it may be a mix of difficulties, but it's a starting up place to consider and trace the problem. Sometimes may quick fix only by pushing the reset button, various other times it may be a little more involved. Most boiler breakdown fault codes could be avoided by simply maintaining your central heating boiler on a regular basis. All furnace manufactures recommend creating a boiler service performed each year to be able to keep the central heating boiler working as it was created for. A furnace is just such as a car engine, if left un-serviced it will eventually breakdown and may possibly be costly in order to repair. One associated with the most typical boiler problems is low water pressure, this is caused by the normal water within the whole of the method dropping to some sort of point where central heating boiler sensor senses very low water and throws up a problem code and fastens the boiler out there. Low water strain can mean several things, it could get a leak anywhere on the system, a radiator regulators leaking or actually a leak about a pipe someplace. The most common answer to this problem is the expansion vessel. If your boiler has been practicing with zero problems for the past a couple associated with years, then all of a sudden you notice typically the water pressure wants to be lead up every now and then, typically the chances would be the growth vessel needs checking out. The expansion vessel is like a new balloon, over moment it will loose the pressure and water will enter the vessel, once this particular happens you may possibly have a central heating boiler breakdown which has a problem code displaying in the boiler screen. The expansion boat is a very important part associated with the boiler in addition to needs to become maintained each season. Another common central heating boiler breakdown is a result of unclean water, this really is caused when no inhibitor is put into the particular system water. You might have noticed if a person have ever venting a radiator that this water is extremely dirty when it comes out of the vent, this normally indicates no inhibitor in the program, even if inhibitor was added, overtime it will dilute down and will need to become topped up, this should be examined every year.

The particular dirty water will certainly eventually block the boiler heat exchanger, this cause typically the boiler to overheat and go in order to lockout. Have you ever encounter some sort of boiler breakdown when it's snowing outside also freezing? Most boilers these days are condensing boilers, plus when the central heating boiler is working it produces condense. The particular condense should exit into a depletion, internally is preferable, but sometimes typically the condense pipe goes toward an outside empty, if this sounds the circumstance the pipe wants to be shielded in the cold along with pipe lagging. Have to the condense water line freeze over, typically the condense will start to returning up into typically the boiler and ultimately the boiler will certainly breakdown, using a mistake code displaying on the boiler exhibit.

These are simply a couple associated with the most frequent boiler malfunction faults that may be avoided only if you had typically the boiler serviced. Central heating boiler do breakdown actually when serviced every year, but not really up to a furnace not serviced. Often have your furnace serviced every year by simply a Gas Free from danger Registered company, don't use Joe Bloggs from down the road just because he is cheaper. All Fuel Safe Engineers need to re-sit their fuel exams every five years to be able to keep on working within the particular gas industry. I actually hope this advice assists you in preserving your boiler operating and producing all the heat and hot water you need.

#Boiler Services

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manrastechnology · 2 years

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An Implementation Partner for Salesforce CRM: What Is One?

In reaction to changes in customer behavior, businesses of all kinds are increasing their digital transformation activities. Many people want to develop integrated, access-from-anywhere solutions. Solutions for managing customer relationships (CRM), such as those provided by Salesforce, are among them.

It is one thing to investigate a Salesforce CRM implementation system. Knowing which products, applications, and configurations are optimal for your company is a different story. This is why virtually all Salesforce clients seek out professional specialists to help them navigate the Salesforce ecosystem. These professionals are implementation partners. Salesforce installation partners assist organisations in achieving their CRM objectives.

Let's take a look at some of the most often asked questions regarding working with a Salesforce installation partner. I'll also discuss how to get the most out of your partner connection.

What exactly is an implementation partner?

An implementation partner is a company that has been evaluated and approved by Salesforce to execute CRM products on its behalf.

Each implementation partner specializes in a specific field, industry, or application. This means there is a partner for every need, difficulty, business, product, industry, area, and stage of the Salesforce journey.

Why should you work with an implementation partner?

Our CRM systems address the complete range of corporate activities. These include sales, marketing, customer service, and long-term viability. Add-on applications and platform-to-platform interfaces can supplement each product.

In other words, the Salesforce ecosystem's potential is limitless. The problem is to find the correct solution with the proper customizations and integrations for your needs.

A larger corporation may already use a variety of technical solutions. They may require advice in determining how to connect a Salesforce product, such as Marketing Cloud, with their existing systems without producing friction.

A smaller firm may be rapidly expanding and recognize that continuing to work with spreadsheets would not support this expansion. They may see the need to automate their procedures or that it is time to provide more personalized consumer experiences. It might be intimidating to implement a CRM solution for the first time.

Internal teams or workers with no collaboration with Salesforce partner companies may find it difficult to examine all of the factors and adopt a new and highly adjustable CRM solution. Hiring a full-time staffer to oversee the implementation process might be costly as well.

What difficulties can I have during implementation?

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to bring in a partner as soon as possible to lessen the likelihood of numerous problems arising later on.

It is also critical to be clear on what you aim to solve and how you will assess progress over time. The majority of customer or partner uncertainty or discontent stems from a lack of knowledge.

If both sides aren't on the same page, assumptions and misconceptions about timetables and capabilities might occur. This makes goals and success metrics more difficult to achieve. As a consumer, you must be as forthcoming as you would like your partner to be. Never be scared to repeat your queries. It is normal to request clarification during the implementation phase because it might be quite technical.

Partners, just as you put the client at the center of your business, put you at the center of theirs. They gauge their performance by providing exactly what you require. Customer satisfaction equals partner satisfaction. You should keep that in mind at all times during the process.

Any good partnership relies on open, honest communication from the beginning. A collaboration on implementation is no exception.

#Salesforce CRM implementation

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lynxgriffin · 3 years

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DELTARUNE Chapter 2 Thoughts!!!

WOOO OKAY I stayed up WAY too late trying to finish Deltarune Chapter 2 last night!! It took me awhile because I suck at video games, but I finally did it!

While I normally type up commentary as I play first time, I didn’t get the chance to do that here, so I’ll get down all my general thoughts here!

Unspoilery thoughts: loved it, knew I would, will need to replay soon to see what all I missed, and am excited for whatever’s next!

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 2 under the cut!!

(These are just as I think of them, not in any particular order!)

Okay overall I can see why this took two years and a much larger team to complete, the second chapter is SO much more expansive and heavy on scene-specific animations! It all looks SO GOOD

I already love Susie but now I love her even more, her expressions were SO GOOD

Susie has a (little nubby) tail confirmed?? That’s adorable

Okay this game is definitely reading the chapter 1 data, which I find interesting because I didn’t obtain it through Steam last time

But like, I gave the “Susie eats chalk” response to Noelle last time, and in chapter two she gave Susie the box of chalk, so awwww!

Also I missed Onionsan in my initial computer playthrough, so they didn’t show up this time, just got a moment of Susie and Kris sitting by the river together!

I find it REALLY interesting that while Ralsei is a Darkner, apparently he can jump around to other Dark Worlds whereas other Darkners like Lancer and Rouxls can’t so much…hmmm!

It was so nice to see everyone filling out the town now, though!

Noooo Susie probably doesn’t have her own room at home, awwww

Kris just casually jumping up to the classroom and bringing everyone back tho, perfect

Was right on there being multiple dark worlds in other locations, but honestly that part’s the least surprising to me, that always seemed like a pretty standard path to take!

The werewires were creepy and great; difficult to battle tho

QUEEN IS MY NEW FAVORITE

EVERY LINE OF HERS WAS A+

I’m so glad that I didn’t really go anywhere with Jevil’s line about the Queen in PT; nothing I came up with could’ve topped Queen being an absolute acid trip of an antagonist in this chapter

NOELLE SO SWEET

Her lil’ robot disguise! Her being afraid of mice at first!

I kinda wish we could have had her in the party more? She was super useful as a party member, honestly!

But sadly I guess we’re not gonna get more than the three-person party, awww

B E R D L Y

I cannot believe Berdly basically became incel Falco but also had a sympathetic backstory

Like I laughed a lot at all of Berdly’s expressions and dialogue while also going BERDLY YOU ARE THE WORST

Noelle’s WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? part = A+

I feel like Queen’s relationship with Noelle definitely had some uncomfy parallels with probably how she is dealing with her real mom

I AM NOT GOOD AT PUNCH-OUT AND THERE WAS A LOT OF THAT

I somehow missed the part where Susie is wearing Ralsei’s glasses??? Where is this

Also in general there was a LOT of puzzles and gameplay in the overworld map, which I was bad at but was also very cool

KRIS GET THE BANANA

The dolphin pop-up ads…

I DID NOT LIKE THE SPAMTON GUY

DISCOMFORT THE WHOLE TIME

Apparently he’s also the secret boss for this chapter?? That’s at least if the soundtrack is anything to go by. Maybe I’ll go back and try it on another playthrough, but aaaaagggghhhg

SO MANY GOOD SUSELLE MOMENTS

MY LIL SHIPPER HEART HAS A NICE SERVING AND WANTS MORE

The whole deal with the ferris wheel conversation and just awwwwuuuuuuh

Needs more Susiezilla now too (I picked the “something romantic” option because of course)

MORE PLZ, LET’S DIG DEEPER HERE

Also I cannot believe Susie has (at least) two people crushing on her and is just totally oblivious to it

There’s SO Many interesting HMM moments with Kris and that definitely included the entire acid tunnel of love scene with Kris and Ralsei

Interrupted of course by an appropriately silly Rouxls battle

But man the more we see (or often DON’T see) of Ralsei the more intriguing it gets

LET NOELLE RIDE IN THE TEACUP RIDE WITH SUSIE

I just knew going back to get that chest without Noelle would be something dumb

OKAY I ended up dying a lot to 1) the Mauswheel, and 2) the color-changing butlers?? So I ended up having to do the whole sequence with annoying dog blasting through everything in his path multiple times

I DID feel bad for Berdly during that boss battle where he was werewired; that was nice and body horror-ish

That said… “I NEED A KISS FROM A GAMER GIRL”

The giant mecha boss battle absolutely kicked my ass, though

Like it WAS badass but that took me a LOT of tries to get through

My thrash machine was very GUN’S

Overall the difficulty curve was definitely stepped up from chapter 1!

LOTS MORE DARK WORLD AND KNIGHT LORE FROM RALSEI HERE

And lots of talk about Noelle being pretty important to it, too!

I’m glad I got to bring Susie on the walkaround this time around town!

I AM GOING TO BE YOUR WACKY ROOMMATE NOW

King and Queen’s entire conversation was so hilarious

King just slides over to suck on that sweet, sweet giant hamster water bottle

BUNKER STILL BEIN SUSPICIOUS

Aww the pizzeria is not a creepy mascot Chuck-E-Cheese’s style, tho

Confirmation that Gerson was Alvin’s father! And I feel like there’s a lot we’re missing there, too

Still not allowed to see Papyrus…

Catti’s parents…

I wasn’t expecting this at all, but it feels like they may be introducing way more Lightners to the Dark World with each chapter, since both Noelle and Berdly ended up there?

And if that’s the case, I feel like it’s hinting that Catti and/or Jockington may be next

SUSIE STAYING AT KRIS’S PLACE FOR A SLEEPOVER WAS SO SWEET

IMMEDIATELY UNDERCUT BY KRIS GOING FERAL AGAIN

Like I dunno the whole scenario somehow managed to be both REALLY sinister and very funny at once??

Susie and Toriel are busy laughing and making a pie together, meanwhile Kris just sneaks the hell out and slashes Toriel’s tires because it’s KNIVES OUT TIME

Please let Susie watch more giant monster (and giant human) movies with her friends, she needs this

THAT SAID, THAT ENDING

HMM HMM HMMMMMMMMMM

SO THIS SEEMS TO BE INDICATING THAT KRIS IS THE KNIGHT

Which like…is in fact making SOME KIND OF SENSE in my head overall, but I definitely need more context to see how exactly

Like I’m all “THIS FEELS RIGHT BUT I DON’T KNOW WHY, I NEED MOOOORE”

Considering Ralsei’s reaction to Noelle and Berdly trying to make a new fountain, this definitely seems to be setting up some kind of future confrontation between Kris and Ralsei, which! HMMMM

I THINK IT’S TIME FOR THIS GIF AGAIN

Basically I HAD A GRAND TIME, I NEED TO REPLAY, EXCITED FOR THE REST WHENEVER IT COMES

#deltarune #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune spoilers #deltarune ch 2 spoilers #also of course we get another BANGIN SOUNDTRACK #which I get to have on repeat until the remixes comes out #and I put those on repeat for another two years

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yandere-daydreams · 4 years

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bastard boi Dabi dancing with his darling in the kitchen, pretending they're a perfect couple, but ih look his darling actually has difficulty keeping up with the dance since they have a chain on their ankle and are still hurting from yesterday

He gets to be soft one (1) time before I revoke every single one of his rights again. Consider this Dabi the only good Dabi I will ever admit exists.

TW: Physical Abuse, Implied Past Trauma, and Mentions of Kidnapping.

“Come out, if you’re gonna keep starin’ like that.”

You went stiff, swearing under your breath as you processed what he’d said. You’d crawled out of your room as soon as you heard the music, a break from the silence that normally permeated the apartment, aiming to find the source without drawing unwanted attention. You’d succeeded in one part of that goal, locating the old-fashioned radio that currently looked terribly out of place on an otherwise empty counter, but failed miserably at staying unnoticed. Dabi’s smugness was nearly tangible from another room. It always was when he caught you sneaking around.

He’d always had a knack for that. Catching you, regardless of how badly you wanted to evade him.

Tracking you down like a mouse about to be sliced open and gutted in the claws of a confident, smirking cat.

“You didn’t leave the chain on,” You started, taking control of the conversation rather than denying his accusation. Dabi still laughed, his grin wide enough to reach the staples bordering his mouth. He was leaning casually against one wall, arms crossed and jacket nowhere in sight, his posture as carefree and open as the window he’d left ajar. Another odd sign, another bad sign. Every entrance and exit was usually locked up with every ‘security measure’ Dabi could think of, regardless of how easily he could drag you back into captivity. “The chain never comes off,” You insisted, taking another step towards him. “Not unless you’re–”

“Not unless I’m in a good mood,” He finished, his interpretation differing slightly from your own. “It’s been a good day, and being the considerate boyfriend I am, I thought I’d brighten yours. It’s sweet as hell, yeah?”

You opened your mouth, preparing to tell him off or assert that he was never in a good mood, but Dabi didn’t let you, reaching out to grab your hand the moment you made yourself vulnerable. It took you a second to realize what he was trying to do, but the music was so much slower than what he usually listened to, so much more melodic, it really shouldn’t have taken any thought. His arms found their way to your waist swiftly, and yours to his biceps, all-but clinging to his short sleeves. Walking had been a nightmare on its own, and even with Dabi guiding you, each step still felt like another white-hot nail being driven into the sole of your foot.

Yesterday’s punishment was still fresh, the burns still healing and bedrest still very much necessary. You considered voicing your displeasure, pulling away and making it clear you couldn’t do whatever Dabi wanted, but another glance towards his giddy expression and those lovestruck eyes dissuaded you from doing so.

He already knew this would hurt you. It was why he’d left your restraints off all day, so he’d feel justified when he wanted to have his fun.

Dabi always tried to be fair, after all.

“My parents used to do stuff like this all the time,” He mumbled, his voice barely audible. If you hadn’t been so close, you wouldn’t have heard him at all, but you doubted a lack of response would’ve done anything to hinder Dabi. “When it was just me and my sister, I mean. It was always after they thought the rest of us were asleep.” His smile softened, the change accompanied by a peck to the top of your head. “They caught us the first time, and Enji threw one of his fits before Ma’ rushed us back into our rooms. We got better at sneaking around, after that.”

You thought, attempting to put together the bits and pieces about his childhood he’d already given you. It was a difficult task, the timeline often overlapping or contradicting itself, but you weren’t sure how devoted you were supposed to be to your captor’s trauma. “Was this before or after the corporal discipline?”

He spun you, letting you stumble in a sloppy circle before falling back into his hold. Dabi chuckled. You grit your teeth. “Before, I think. I didn’t start keeping track until he was the one burning me.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, but the sound was shaky, trembling more than you meant it to. Your legs weren’t doing much better, crying for you to sit down, but your focus remained on keeping up with Dabi’s slow, predictable steps. Luckily, he seemed to notice your on-going strain, taking on a little more of your weight as a strip of white gauze fell from your ankle.

“They always looked so happy. That was the weirdest part.” He pulled you closer absentmindedly, curious fingertips beginning to rub over your midriff. “They hated each other so much towards the end, but then they’d have a glass of wine and stop talking and look so happy. It was like they could tolerate each other, for a night.” He let out a heavy sigh, the exhale followed by another spin, this one ending with your back slotted against his chest, Dabi’s chin coming to rest on your shoulder. “You’d look at them and think they loved each other. Really loved each other. Even if you saw all the bad shit, too.”

At this, your gaze shifted, moving over him briefly. “And…” You started, trailing off quickly. Dabi didn’t bat an eye when you spat insults at him or flinch when you threatened to do something vile to his anatomy, but this felt like new territory. More vulnerable territory, an expanse you weren’t sure you wanted to venture into. But, Dabi squeezed your waist encouragingly, kissing the crook of your neck, and you decided you didn’t have much of a choice. “And you think that’s going to be us?”

He stopped moving. You paused too, turning slightly to ask what was wrong, but all you managed to get out was a cracked scream as his the toe of a steel-plated combat boot dug into the back of your ankle, separating charred skin from muscle as elegantly as a butcher separating meat from bone. Blood soaked into your remaining bandages, but you didn’t have time to worry about that. The overpowering, overwhelming burning was all you could feel, the pain making it impossible to think about anything else.

You collapsed instantly, falling to your knees and curling into yourself, Dabi circling your crumpled form without a trace of urgency. You didn’t look up as he crouched, his hand coming up to cup your jaw and tilt your head back, the tears now openly flowing down your cheeks only earning a half-hearted click of his tongue and a swipe of his thumb, Dabi’s efforts somehow doing little to comfort you. Holding back wasn’t an option, not anymore, spurring you to bury your face in his shirt as soon as he was close enough. If he was bothered by your sobbing, he didn’t show it, only starting to comb out your hair as he spoke.

“We’re nothing like them. We aren’t right now, and we never will be. Understand?” He didn’t give you time to answer, digging his nails into your scalp and jerking your head back, forcing you to meet his eyes when you failed to do so on your own. “Do you understand?”

You nodded, the action as instinctual as it was violent, and Dabi let you go, allowing you to break down properly. You cried your heart out, feverishly trying to wipe your tears away and pull yourself together, but Dabi just watched on. He waited until you had quieted down to cut in, and even then, he couldn’t bring himself to sound very concerned.

“We should get you back to your room,” He said, standing. He didn’t move to help you up. “I don’t think I’m feelin’ as lenient as I was, dollface.”

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shiberpostshere · 4 years

Text

The Kiss Thief - Park Seonghwa Social Media AU

20. Chapter Sixteen: Happy Realisation✨ (Meant as a sarcastic remark to the Reader, wishing her Happy Realisation like Happy Birthday)

Previous Part✨ Next Part✨

Masterlist of the AU✨

Word Count: 2.2K (😳)

🌸

The Special Weekly Segment, Weekly Flower Delivery had thoroughly infiltrated your mind with admiration of love and swooning until you remembered that you decided to justify your feelings about Seonghwa, with Seonghwa by talking to Seonghwa.

Oh, Park Seonghwa.

What are you going to say? For starters, you had few options you considered:

1) 'Hey! Crazy story. Remember when I liked you in high school but I think it was childish, so I'd like to know what are your present thoughts about it?'

Fairly normal but quite formal.

2) 'Hello there kind sir. Would you like discussing our past embarassing affairs, mostly the mortifying felony committed by me over a glass of liquor?'

It feels like you're asking for great lord's hand in marriage, one who owns expansive estates in the 1740s.

3) 'Hey, Seonghwa, so you know how we've been spending some time together and I have been thinking about us, together, as in a dating, you know what I mean?'

'You know what I mean?' What are you about to do? Transcend into a rap battle?

At the end, you considered it's best to say what feels appropriate at the given situation.

Hopefully, it's appropriate.

The Dazzling Night group is buzzing excitement of accomplishment after the special segment.

The atmosphere shifting from a rather intimate confession to a declaration of never fading love has successfully set a mood for the team to celebrate the well executed show with chicken and beer by the riverside at midnight.

Yeosang and Mingi leave before the rest and decide to get the food on the way to arrange a seating area for comfortable dinner.

The remaining ride in Seonghwa's car after he frantically arrived at the studio looking fresh and clean.

After a short ten minute ride, you breathe in the gusts of winds, carrying a gentle scent of the river.

The location is a little crowded for the night but might disperse as the clock ticks by.

It isn't difficult to spot the waving figures of Yeosang and Mingi in a quiet corner, keeping a safe distance from other groups for private, mostly chaotic conversations of the group.

Jongho collapses on the mattress within a second of spotting it.

"This is the life of a successful segment planner." He states with a deep inhale.

"Okay bragger, save this for later. I'm hungry." Mingi pushes the boy out of the mattress, rolling him onto the grass but Jongho has no plans of sitting straight.

Yeosang twists open a bottle with fizzle. "We need to make a toast."

The rest of you begin arranging your dinner in front of the widespread, breathtaking view of the river and the brightly lit bridge.

Seonghwa and you begin unpacking the boxes of variety of chicken while Hongjoong pours out drinks for everyone.

"A toast? Why? Are we already done with Dazzling Night for this semester?" Hongjoong comments without looking up.

Yeosang gives him a look. "C'mon, read the mood." He falls back beside Mingi. "Seonghwa loves giving speeches anyway. We love a sentimental mood setter."

You nudge the mentioned boy. "Oh? Then I'm looking forward to it too!"

He plops down and rolls his eyes. "For once can you guys stop ganging up on me?"

Your best friend props up his body lazily, supporting his weight on his arms. "Make a toast, make a toast, make a toast."

You snicker and shake your head at the lack of enthusiasm. "Wow, you surely want him to make a toast."

Hongjoong offers you a small cup of beer. "Okay then, would you like to make a toast instead?"

Taken aback, you study the amount of twinkling eyes settled on you. "Oh, hell no." You thrust the cup at the suggested person.

Seonghwa looks at you with dramatic betrayal written all over his features. "My knight in--" His eyes study your frame, "My knight in jeans and flannel, I thought you'd surely save me."

The entire group bursts out in laughter.

Placing a hand on your hip, you gulp down the contents of the small cup. "Why did the ganging up shift from him" You jab a thumb at innocent looking Seonghwa, "To me?"

Jongho simply shrugs. There's an evident satisfaction displayed in his slackened movements.

You feel comfortable as well.

You're used to, no, you are loving the playful bantering but god forbid, you'll never admit this out loud, especially in front of the teasing devil himself.

"Alright, alright" Seonghwa refills your empty cup and lifts up his big one. "Here's a toast to not even a week into Dazzling Night yet to the most talented group of people making everyone's night, especially each other's by working together and supporting each other. How's that for a sentimental toast?"

All of you raise your plastic cups in unison with a gentle 'cheers' and down the booze in one shot.

Mingi wipes his non existent tears. "Fantastic. I'd like to thank my mother, my father and mostly importantly the baby account I followed on instagram two weeks ago which gives me joy---"

He is unable to finish his speech of 'gratitude' as Yeosang shoves him away with a quick push, making the tall boy almost land sideways on top of sauce pouches.

🌸

Throughout dinner, you simply cannot stop smiling or almost rolling over the grass.

It is truly a wild dinner.

One moment Hongjoong slaps away Yeosang's hand from stealing his well deserved chicken wing and another Jongho suddenly belts out a song to honour the evening, earning loud claps from the people seated nearby.

The conversations begin with Seonghwa and Hongjoong reminiscing their first meeting together, makes it's way through the emotional valley but eventually returns to the clowning station.

Time passes by quickly as you munch over different kinds of delicious chickens melting on your tongue with new flavours everytime you grab one from a different box.

Yeosang takes all the credit for the ten out of ten dinner and all the guys agree with the chicken maniac, as addressed by his friends.

As the night gets darker, people start disappearing slowly and you begin to notice the questionable amount of empty beer bottles lying around.

"I think I'm drunk." Hongjoong presses his temple with a wince.

Yeosang grabs the elder's arm and leans into his shoulder with a pout. "Yeosang wants to eat more chicken."

Jongho breaks into a fit of coughs while Mingi throws back his head, booming with laughter.

"Did he just refer to himself in third person?" Eyes wide, you turn to Seonghwa for an answer.

"Yeosang transforms into a cute little kid when he's drunk, he has a low alcohol tolerance." His cheeks are slightly tinted with the pink colour. You don't know if you should be trusting his tolerance either.

"Oh my god, I should totally make a video." Mingi pulls out his phone but Jongho is quick enough to snatch it.

"You don't want to see tomorrow's sunrise?"

Out of everyone, maybe even you, Jongho appears the most sober, as if he hasn't drank at all.

Hongjoong's hand gently pats the drunk one's back. "C'mon, it's getting late, let's go to the restroom and sober up so we can leave."

Jongho leaves his place with a sigh. "I'm going with those three, I think they need some supervision."

Seonghwa places down his refilled cup. "Good idea. I'll stay back with (y/n) and clean up."

You nod. It is indeed getting late.

The three drunk ones trudge towards the washrooms with a normal walking Jongho following behind.

"Let's clean this up, shall we?" You eye the mess scattered around.

As you try to lift your body with much difficulty, a hand wraps around your wrist and pulls you down causing you to yelp.

"But you wanted to talk." You breath hitches for a moment as he turns sideways to place his forehead on your shoulder.

Oh, how you had hoped for him to magically forget about it.

You lift up his head with the support of one finger. "Are you sure you aren't drunk?"

His hands pat his cheeks a few times. "Definitely not drunk." He inches a little closer. "So, tell me."

A chuckle leaves your lips at his attempts to appear sober. "Oh, well, I don't know how to bring this up and I'd rather talk if you will remember this tomorrow as much as I want you to forget."

His shoulders slump. "Oh, (Y/N), is this about our cute little history that you find embarassing."

"What? How did you know that? Wait, who told you---" You blabber out surprised and to deepen the surprise he places a finger on your lips.

"Hey, hey, calm down." His eyes land on the finger and he quickly retrieves it. He clears his throat. "I mean, it is a little obvious. I think it is obvious to everyone but you."

Your cheeks heat up a little at his statement. "Obvious? Okay, since it is that obvious. Yes, yes I am a little embarassed, maybe more than a little embarassed."

Seonghwa tilts his head to the side, an intense look in his eyes. "That's not what I meant (Y/N) but tell me what are you embarassed about?"

Gathering your legs closer to your chest, you place your chin in between the knees. "Well, you know" You let your words trail but draw in a deep breath. "I was fifteen and what happened was silly and ever since we started hanging out together, I feel really comfortable with you and you're really nice. Oh my god, I'm getting nowhere with this." Your feet begin moving in a continous motion.

Seonghwa fixes his posture and sits up straight. "(Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" You look up.

"I liked fifteen year old you. A girl who liked me, often encouraged me even though she didn't understand 11th grade struggles but it's not something that I look back at and make fun of but it's a fond memory that there was a cute girl who liked me back when I was young and too tense for a 17 year old boy." His precise answer tugs a string of your heart.

"Yeah, you were too tense for a 17 year old boy. Remember how you often lectured me like you understand all concepts of the world at such an young age." You comment with an playful smile.

A picture of a young Seonghwa passionately explaining time management like a professor pops up in your mind with a young you listening as if he's reciting a romantic poem. Oh, how smitten you were.

Funnily enough, you still are.

Seonghwa pushes his fingers through his hair with a shy smile, eyes focused on the night sky. "Oh my god. I can't believe you remember that."

You bump your shoulder with his. "How can I forget, you were adorable."

A stange energy is brewing within you. This comfort is unmatched.

He turns to you, fingers suddenly grab your cheeks. "Don't get cheeky with me now." He says in an extremely soft voice.

"Hey, this is not fair. What are you doing?" You get a hold on both of his hand to remove them but fail.

He pulls them a little before letting them go, you rub the sore spots. "You're as much as a troublemaker as you were back then, you just hide it now. Don't you?"

Maybe it's the courage supplied by the little alcohol in your system or maybe it's just him, you grab his face with your hands.

His eyes widen at your actions. "What are you doing?"

You gently bump your forehead onto his. "I'm trying to be bold and knocking some sense into you."

The shocked expression subdues into a serious one. One you hadn't expected to see. "I wouldn't suggest that. What if I really end up forgetting what you're about to do next?"

As soon as he speaks those words, you let go of his face and create a safe distance between you two. "What do you mean? I wasn't going to do anything but bump my forehead with yours! What are you thinking!"

He begins stuffing the empty chicken boxes into each other pretending as if you weren't just inches apart a second ago.

"What if I end up bumping my forehead even harder than you did?" He asks with the most false concern present on his face.

You grab the nearest bottle cap and aim it right at his forehead but he's too quick to catch it. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"YOU stop being cheeky, can't you tell I was trying to flirt with you!" You let both of your hands rest on your hips.

His mouth forms an "O". "I mean, I should definitely do that, I have the right to. It's not like you know that I've been flirting with you all this time."

You freeze for a moment, eyes blinking twice. "You've been flirting with me?"

He throws up his hands in an exasperated gesture.

"Wait, you've been flirting with me? You weren't just having fun making me suffer by being extremely kind and nice yet teasing and--" The long list of conversations run in your mind and then it pings. "Oh."

Seonghwa begins clapping. "Thank you so much for finally noticing."

Your fall down on the support of your knees.

"Oh my god, Park Seonghwa has been flirting with me all this time"

You realise you've said it out loud and wish to sink further into your hands.

"Yes, I have been." His fingers gently ruffle your hair. "Now, clean this up before Jongho comes back and grumbles about it."

You slowly lift up your head and look at him casually collecting the mess, unphased.

"You're not going to let this one die. Are you?" Hesitant, you await an answer.

He chuckles. "Of course not."

"Fantastic." You stand up, unable to shake off the realisation.

🌸

Pairing: College Student! Seonghwa x College Student! Female Reader

Genre: Fluff, A teeny tiny bit of smut with a pinch of angst

Synopsis: High school crushes are often silly and forgotten. However, you cannot forget the one senior, you "borrowed" once a kiss from. Years have passed and it's a memory you laugh at but what will happen if you're to encounter the same senior in a much different setting and situation? Especially during your first year of college.

🌸

A/N: This user is about to lose her sanity because Tumblr does not save her drafts and likes messing with her already remaining braincells. (I edited this once, I'll edit it again tomorrow)

BUT! THOUGHTS? what do we think after reading this chapter?

After writing this I low-key wanna start a written fic he-he.

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! 💫

🌸Tags:

@enigmaticsal @stardusthyuck @preets-kpop-world @missiopk @rae-woo @sanisms @retrofuture-ism @jiyeons-closet @hongjoongsnoona @seong-hwa1998 @veeeenus4 @mochibabycakes @vhschs @kokoboxp @choisaniskillingme @vantclavs @f-iyan @staywritten @cobbiebaexqueen @uppiespuppy @mingiflower

🌸Unable to tag: @mingiibabieee @dreamie-deonghwa

🌸

Do not repost, modify or claim the writing or images.

#ateez #ateez social media au #ateezsmau #ateez sm au #ateez text au #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez scenarios #ateez fake texts #ateez au #park seonghwa #kim hongjoong #jung yunho #kang yeosang #choi san #jung wooyoung #song mingi #choi jongho

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beebrainedstudios · 3 years

Text

Adsom Winter Holiday Headcanons:

Sorry for the formatting, I did this really quickly on my phone.

White London:

The festival season in Makt is all about warmth and the celebration of family ties. In healthier times, the start of the season was a huge deal, as it signified that winter was here and preparations for the coldest months needed to begin. The festival season spans all throughout December and into the early weeks of January; each week has its own theme and specific holiday with its own traditions, such as ice skating and decorating the home. This period is seen as the last chance to form connections before deep winter, a time when such relationships can mean the difference between being comfortable and struggling to survive: as such, people often celebrate the holidays with friends and family. In some cases, households that have difficulty on their own will join together for the winter to act as one larger family unit; the holidays are when most groups choose to start the process, as the festive mood tends to make the merging easier. Gift-giving is common, with a lot of said gifts being food or sweets- particularly common is candy made by pouring molasses-like syrup in patterns onto clean snow; when it cools, a tasty sugary picture has been formed. Decorating with coniferous trees is also commonplace; all manner of cones, limbs, and pine scents add to the generally warm atmosphere the season gives off. If a family is religious, they will typically celebrate some personal holiday at this time, but this varies tremendously. Community events often happen over this period, such as sled races or sleigh rides. As a rule, anything that uses the abundant snow is fair game; it’s not uncommon for a huge snowball fight to break out. Unfortunately, most of these traditions died out as White London slowly got worse, but the memory of the holidays is still firmly rooted in Maktahn culture, and due to Holland’s short reign and his death, the festival season has started making a comeback- a huge step towards Makt’s recovery.

Red London:

Due to the Red world’s unusually warm climate, an Arnesian winter actually shares a lot in common with a Grey world autumn. All of the deciduous plants still die off as normal and it gets cold enough for frosty breath, but truly cold-weather things such as snow or thick ice are usually a thing of the past or confined to a single week of the year. However, Arnes still remembers its pre-Split climate, and a lot of their holiday season is spent trying to bring back the wintry feeling along with their standard celebrations. Red London’s holidays are much more closely condensed than White London’s; their various holidays are only celebrated for the final two weeks of the year. Arnes’ lack of a concrete religion has led to a diversity of specific traditions, but most beliefs are adapted to suit the kingdom-wide festivities, which are designed to fit all religious needs. The main theme is cheer and celebration of identity, both of country and of self. The season starts off with massive parades and city-wide parties as the kingdom celebrates what makes Arnes, well, Arnes. As the holidays progress, things become much more self-centered; three days before the first day of the new year in particular. On this day, the day of Anos An, people are encouraged to exaggerate positive personal traits and become much more intense versions of themselves- a playful person may become a merry trickster, or an introvert may seek out another introvert to spend the day quietly basking in each other’s presence. This day is meant to be about one and their knowledge of oneself, spent in self-reflection through action. Anos An is meant to help others learn about those they care about, and traditionally people are required to be cordial and kind (within reason of course, not every personality will mesh well); after all, everyone is just being themself. Magic use is also widespread during this holiday as the ultimate expression of self- many kids go through their element tests on this day as a matter of course. It’s a strange holiday that can easily get out of hand, but the Arnesians have it well-versed by now.

Another huge part of Red London’s holiday season is music and sound. As soon as the fortnight starts, bright silver bells are hung on every lamppost, doorway, and windowsill. Ringing these bells as one passes them is seen as a sign of future happiness and a merry soul, and their sound is said to be pleasing to magic itself. Huge groups of people gather by the Isle each night, caroling while others freeze the river with magic and skate on it. Any musical group plays as often as possible to help add to the noise. Of course, some people have problems handling the overwhelming din- those that do are often gifted with stylish enchanted earmuffs colored silver, which act both as a noise-buffer and a public signal that they are easily overstimulated/bothered by sound and should be treated as such. Food is less of a focus than it is in White, but nonetheless certain dishes are customary; cranberry cakes, snowflake cookies dusted with red and silver sugar, and candied pomegranates are all common favorites. All festivities culminate in a massive New Years celebration; everyone retreats to their homes (or the palace, if they’re invited) to quietly wait for the sun; when it rises on the new year, the city bursts to life, with everyone’s magic swelling at once, music filling the air, and dancing in the streets. It’s seen as a fresh start for everyone to grow together, making it one of the most important holidays of the year.

Black London:

Very little is known about Black London’s holiday season, but the general consensus is that it was much calmer and relaxed than the other world’s festivities, as most Black London holidays were celebrated during the summer when the expansive coastline of their river could be fully enjoyed. What little celebration that did occur during this season was often centered around peace. A world in constant transformation can easily be overwhelming- winter in Black London was meant to be a time of rest and refocusing on one’s life and magic. This holiday season was largely celebrated at home or with one’s close friends and family as everyone relaxed and lets themselves breath. Toning down magic at this time was also encouraged to give the world a break. Beyond this, little is known, as almost all specifics of this history have been lost to time and to Black London’s fall.

Character Specific:

Kell, Rhy, and Holland are all huge holiday people, while Alucard and Lila are not (they get into it later).

During the holiday season, most of the Maresh princes’ low moods disappear. Both Rhy and Kell fling themselves into the holidays with all the force of two desperate idiots looking for happiness, and happiness they get. Rhy both as king and as prince is often busy helping to set up the holidays themselves, organizing the musicians and the decoration of the palace. However, as soon as he can slip away he is out into the city to sing and dance with everyone else. Rhy may partake in all of the royals’ festivities, but it’s the nighttime celebration in the streets he enjoys most of all. He loves it best by the river; he’ll often carol for several nights in a row until Kell finally gets annoyed with the monotony and pushes him onto the ice at the river. Rhy then spends the rest of the night skating while Kell laughs and watches on. As is tradition for the royals, Rhy also tends to change his usual attire during the holidays, swapping his gold for silver and wearing a plush red cloak to help keep him warm during the festivities. Anos An Rhy is remarkably similar to normal Rhy; he just uses a much more extensive vocabulary and tends to stick close to Kell (half a matter of self-protection considering of his brother’s choice of self-celebration). Rhy naturally has a lot of things he could choose to embrace about himself, and he chooses accomplishments- such as language and brotherhood- that he is most proud of. Post-ACOL, Rhy continues many of these personal traditions with Alucard, trying to warm him up to the holiday.

Kell enjoys two things he doesn’t anytime else during the holiday; parties and noise. Every time the holidays come around Kell changes into a vibrant, excitable version of himself because he just loves the season so frickin much, much to the surprise of those who don’t know about it. He switches his royal red coat out for a long silver fur-lined one that’s covered with fake frost and he hits the town, ringing every bell he comes across. For once he’s happy to join the other royals in parades and winter balls, gliding through the crowd like a winter breeze. He even takes the time to grow his hair out a bit so he can braid it with quartz crystals (a tradition all royals partake in to help liven up their crowns); he may not always feel like a royal, but the holidays are a time meant for family and he spends them with the makeshift one he’s got. Kell also takes on an almost Santa-like role around the city; by this time of year his little room is often in desperate need of cleaning out, so he’ll leave little trinkets hidden around doors, walls, or the palace for people to find. People have figured it out by now and make a game of finding the Black-Eyed Prince’s gifts, which delights Kell in kind. During Anos An, Kell chooses to shed his dour demeanor in favor of accentuating his cunning, stealth, magic, and playful side; in short, he becomes a prankster. Anyone within his immediate vicinity needs to watch their pockets- their coins in particular- and keep an eye on the Antari lurking at the edge of their vision. If Kell isn’t in a thieving mood he settles for plain old mischief, such as letting the king slip on ice into a snowbank or sprinkling salt on desserts (he always leaves some untouched- he’s not a monster). All of the pranks/petty theft is in good fun; anything taken is returned at the end of the night with extra coins or trinkets from Kell’s end, and anyone he truly embarrassed receives more than a few apologies. This day is simply Kell’s reminder to himself that he’s allowed to enjoy himself, and if he can make others laugh while doing so than that’s even better.

Rhy and Kell often take the time to hang out during the holidays, and they make a goal to wander through the Night Market together at least once in their half-hearted disguises so they can get gifts for one another (including some the other is unaware of).

White London has not been kind to Holland, but even in its darkest hours Holland wanted to be kind to everyone else. Everyone knew how the holidays were supposed to go even if no one celebrated them, so when Holland was young he’d stash up enough food to cook little treats for everyone nearby, leaving them on their doorsteps while knowing full well he was putting himself at risk. Fortunately, no one responded with violence- at least not that he knew of- and he kept up his little gifting spree until Alox died. He also spent the winters of his youth tucked up next to his brother, listening to him tell stories of the Someday King. As everyone knows, these holidays didn’t last long; they reignited briefly with Talya and again with Vortalis, but eventually the coldness of the world got to Holland too and he gave up. When he could manage during the Danes’ reign, he’d try to find something to brighten the end of the staff’s year with (those that had kept their heads, anyway), but it always was a tricky business considering anything closely resembling joy was at risk of being snapped up by the Danes. Holland didn’t have a winter during his reign to celebrate the holidays in, but if he had been given the chance he would have encouraged all of Makt to participate. Needless to say, they didn’t need the encouragement and wholeheartedly threw themselves into it after he was gone and the world awoke.

As mentioned above, both Alucard and Lila are not huge holiday people as difficult circumstances ruined both of their enjoyment of their respective world’s holidays. Lila never saw the benefit of a holiday for a religion she didn’t practice that she couldn’t afford to participate in; it only made her angry to see well-off people wasting money on gifts for each other that she was sure were meant to be status symbols. Even though Barron tried endlessly to get her to spend the winter holidays with him, he never succeeded, and it was only after his death that Lila realized what she had been missing. Naturally, once she’s in a better place she has a easier time enjoying the Arnesian holidays, even as she sees how much Alucard himself struggles to do the same. The fact that Kell’s joy is exponentially increased during the season doesn’t hurt either, and on her first Arnesian New Year, when Kell sweeps her into the street for a dance to greet the sun, she has to concede that she doesn’t want to miss the holidays ever again (she enjoyed Anos An too; it involved a lot of fire and problem mitigation on Kell’s end).

Alucard’s main problem with the holidays comes from the fact that his family life sucked. Even before he was outed to his family, nobody really liked each other, and that made it very difficult to muster any cheer or general goodwill. The Emerys’ would participate in anything the crown needed them to as part of the ruling elite, but that was where the happiness stopped. Alucard could sometimes manage to gift Anisa something, but it always ended up an ordeal when everyone else complained about it. Once the two are reunited Rhy makes it his mission to get Alucard to enjoy the holidays again, and to the pirate’s credit it doesn’t take much. Though he never really gets over his dislike of large holiday dinners (too easy to get into fights), he does start to warm up to other things that Rhy suggests, such as carriage rides and sharing drinks with friends. His crew is roped into it by the prince to help give Alucard a better family to celebrate with- the guards may be confused about the pirates running amok in the palace, but one look at the excited kings’ faces is enough to get them to stand down. Even Kell, with the necessary help of the holiday mood, manages to have some fun with Alucard, taking his hat on Anos An to return it filled with jewelry, low-value coins, and a note that reminds him who managed to take it (in Alucard’s defense, he was busy performing magic tricks for Rhy and the palace guests, showing off his skill and talent as something he valued highly).

#well this was fun #and a great opportunity to let the cast have some fun #fantasy holidays are great #anyways #adsom #acol #agos #a darker shade of magic #a conjuring of light #a gathering of shadows #shades of magic #adsom headcanons #ve schwab #kell maresh #lila bard #holland vosijk #rhy maresh #alucard emery

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everythinggeeky · 4 years

Text

a fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi | Anakin Skywalker PART I

“A precipice in front, wolves behind”

Suitless! Darth Vader x dark side! reader

Warnings: angsty, some domestic fluff, slight canon divergence, anakin never gets crispy, references to sex (it’s sfw tho)

Word Count: 2k

Summary: Anakin has been increasingly distant in the last few weeks and reader has noticed. Suddenly, Anakin makes a proposal that reader can no longer resist. She never expected the horrors that followed.

Part II

masterlist

A/N: this is part one! requests and tag lists are open! this gif makes me feel a certain way

“Has anyone told you that you look absolutely ravishing?” Anakin spoke up, stepping into your quarters after a long day engaged in battle. Sears from a lightsaber scattered his robes, a heavy tatter covering one of his shoulders. You looked him over with concern, your gaze landing on his face.

“Well, not today,” you grinned, leaning up to peck his lips.

“My darling, you look stunning, as usual,” he smiled against your lips.

“Thank you. How was your mission?” you asked as Anakin followed you to the lounging area of your quarters.

“without a hitch,” Anakin responded, brushing his hands over the robes that would have said otherwise. Typical Skywalker hubris.

“Good, I can’t have my Jedi getting hurt out on the battlefield now, can I?”

“I’ll always come back home to you, dear,” he gingerly kissed the top of your head.

“You better.”

You fixed a warm and comforting meal for the two of you as you relaxed together on the couch. Resting your bowl on the table in front of you, you got comfortable for the evening. Laying your head on Anakin’s chest, you carried on a normal conversation, asking about the current war effort against the separatists, how Anakin was active in the war, and so on. The two of you sat in comfortable silence for the next few hours, your breath synchronizing with each other.

Anakin shifted uncomfortably in his seat underneath you. You sat up briefly in your spot to give him space to adjust. He pulled you back into his chest instead.

“So I’ve been thinking…” Anakin leads quietly, filling the empty space.

“About what, dear…?”

“I’m leaving the Jedi...I’m leaving the Order,” he continued, gaining confidence as he uttered the words aloud for the first time.

“What?”

“I’m leaving. Will you come with me?”

“Anakin...you’re speaking madness.”

“This could be our time. I have the ability to have true power as no other Jedi has ever known. And I want you to rule with me.”

You stood, searching his face for any sign of a decision that was already made before he had stepped into your room tonight.

You can see the distraught in his eyes. He is standing on the ledge of a precipice so far above the ground and he is ready to launch himself into the abyss.

A man stuck between two sides of the force.

Without another word, Anakin walked away from you to stand on your balcony, looking out onto the vast expanse of the Coruscanti skyline, contemplating his future within the Jedi Order. Was this where he belonged? In the most recent weeks, he felt otherwise; the thought lingering in the back of his mind since he was a padawan.

Suddenly, Anakin reaches his hand out to you, asking you to be his empress. Your eyes flicked from his open palm to his face, his expression softening ever so slightly.

“Y/N...the power you could have by my side…”

“Ani...I can’t…”

“Why not? If you do, you’ll be by my side forever.”

“I thought you loved me,” you pleaded, “and if you did, you wouldn’t do this.”

He had gone cold and you should have seen it earlier. In the weeks past, Anakin had increasingly pulled himself away from you and from his work as a Jedi. Had you been paying attention, you might have noticed it. Judgment clouded by love, you had considered it. A poor choice of actions on your behalf, nevertheless.

You mulled his words over in your mind. You were devoted to Anakin and vowed to love him forever, even if the Order forbade it. If you were to follow him, you could be free. Free to love him and act upon your passion without consequence. Of course, there were things you didn’t agree with about the Order and you now recognized the internal turmoil it caused Anakin.

You raised your hand from where it rested by your side, “forever?”

“Forever.”

Hesitantly, you placed your hand in his, confirming your allegiance to him. Anakin grinned wickedly, pulling you into his chest, cupping your face tightly, kissing you hard. In a moment of pure passion, your hesitation drowned away. After a few moments, Anakin pulled away.

“I’ll speak to the Chancellor tomorrow. He has a great plan in store for you and I. True, unabashed power.”

“All I care about is you, Anakin.”

“You’ll never have to worry again, sweetheart.”

You and Anakin went to bed late that night following a dizzying, passionate lovemaking session where Anakin pledged his allegiance to you as his empress.

You weren’t prepared for what followed in the days ahead. Darth Sidious had executed Order 66, slaying all the existing Jedi. You were told to go into hiding until Anakin and Sidious had considered it safe for you to return. The following days were lonely; harrowingly lonely. You received no update on the success of the command, nor on Anakin’s condition.

About a week later, you received notice that it would be safe to reunite with Anakin, now known to the galaxy as Darth Vader. When the guards had arrived at your secret location on the star destroyer, you could sense the cold in the room. The guards parted ways and Anakin walked through them as their Emporer’s apprentice. Heavy armor weighed down his frame, affecting his gait. Now a man shrouded by power, he came home to you to envelop you in the same way he had before he left.

Dropping the mask to the side, he rushed to you, pulling your body to his body with ease.

“Darling, I missed you so much. I was so worried about you,” Anakin muttered into your neck.

“Worried? I was worried about you…” you pulled him tighter to you, memorizing his new powerful form.

Anakin was the first to pull away. You took one more look at his armor.

“Is this your new look…?”

Anakin raised his arms, “for the Empire, sweetheart.”

“Empire?”

“Yes, my new empire...our new empire…” he corrected.

Nodding to yourself, “ours,” you manifested looking to the floor.

“Are you having second thoughts…?”

“Anakin...what the guards told me...all this death...murder…I don’t think I can do this.”

He cupped your face into his hands, “don’t worry about that. Think about what you and I can achieve together.”

Anakin releases you, allowing you to rest in your original position.

You thought over your decision, reminding yourself of the opportunity that lies with the Sith. This was your moment to be free in your feelings and act upon your passion. Anger was accepted and was utilized to gain an advantage over the enemy. As a Sith, you could love Anakin openly and use that passion to take down those that try to stand in your way. This new future could be where you and Anakin belonged; he clearly had felt that it was.

“Darling, I have a gift for you. Something that is very important to your new role as my empress,” Anakin said, pulling a sleeve from his belt, handing it over to you.

“What is it?”

“Open it and find out. It’s for you.”

You shed the velvet sleeve from the hilt of the lightsaber. You tested it out in your hand, tossing it back and forth from one hand to the other. It was sleek, black, and featured an decorative floral engraving in the main hilt of the saber.

“It’s beautiful, Anakin.”

“I designed it myself. Go ahead, try it out.”

You stepped back a reasonable distance before igniting the blade. An angry red extended from the hilt, to which you grinned as you examined your new weapon.

“I think it suits you,” Anakin smirked.

“I do too,” you twirled the saber once, before disengaging the blade.

“Of course you’ll need training, but I have time set aside to do so. It’s critical to your role that you be trained to fight in order to execute the missions we have planned for you.”

“Planned for me?”

“Of course, you are not just ornamental, sweetheart. The Empire has a great plan for you.”

“Thank you, Anakin.”

“You’re welcome. Now, this weapon is everything. Do not take it lightly.”

“I see Obi-Wan has left his mark on you…”

Anakin’s demeanor changes in an instant, “Do not…! Mention his name,” he spits.

You shuffle back, fearful of the man Anakin has become.

“I’m sorry.”

He ignores your apology and walks to the window that borders your new quarters on the Star Destroyer. Looking out onto the expanse of the galaxy, he takes a moment to collect himself.

“The man I was in the past no longer exists. I am Darth Vader.”

“Anakin…”

“Only you are allowed to call me that. When we’re alone.”

“Are you asking me to lie to the galaxy about my love for you?” you eased closer to him.

“Quite the opposite. Act upon it. You’ll have a mission next week. There is a rumor of a rebellion in a distant system. You will be deployed there on a secret mission to receive intel about what they know about the Empire. You will crush the rebellion before it has any strength,” Anakin speaks coldly.

“Of course.”

“We will begin training this week.”

Later that week, when Anakin had returned from another mission, he finally deemed it time to train you to use your new lightsaber. Of course, you were an exception to the regularly accepted lightsaber users. Many looked on with jealousy; the apprentice’s girl is what they had chosen to call you for the time being. Soon enough, they will bow down to you and call you queen, as you deserve.

Anakin first started with the basics, gradually increasing the difficulty of the skills and maneuvers he had taught you. Later, he left you to train with the remotes, as he once had as a Jedi padawan. You would have thought that the Sith would have had a more rigorous and brutal training program, one that required a similar sacrifice as receiving your title.

You pushed the stray strands of hair that threatened to interfere away from your face. Settling yourself into the soles of your boots, you slash through the program of the remote with ease. When Anakin enters the room again, he looks impressed. Shoulders pressed backward, posture high.

“Very good, my empress. Soon enough you’ll be ready to do the Empire’s highest bidding.”

You grinned, standing tall, confident in your new role by Anakin’s side.

“The galaxy soon will see what true power looks like. It’s you. With me by your side.”

With a nod, Anakin disengaged the program.

“Go rest, the days upcoming will be taxing.”

“Yes, my lord,” you semi-bow, leaving the training facilities to head back to your quarters to refresh.

Anakin returned a few hours later, once again shedding the mask and cape that covered his shoulders. Carefully storing them away in the bedroom. He walked over to you, pulling you into a comforting embrace.

“You did well today. I was proud,” Anakin said softly.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he pecked your cheek softly.

You cupped his face gently, and he leaned into your touch. Here, he felt safe and free to be the man he left behind in the ashes of Mustafar. Here, it was just you, and him, and your love for one another.

Anakin pulls back from you, inviting you to relax for the evening. Had you known any better, you wouldn’t have noticed any distinct difference from your life before the Sith. Now, Anakin is covered in just a few more scars with a little more darkness covering his heart. Still, there was a space for you. A space set aside for just you.

And maybe that spot was a little bit softer than the rest of Darth Vader.

tagging: @kenobee @hxldmxdxwn @smokahuntis @obiwkenobi @jbarnesss @takenbymyfandoms @ilovesupersoldiers @outofdaylight

#anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin x skywalker angst #anakin skywalker x reader fluff #anakin skywalker oneshot #anakin skywalker x dark side reader #star wars oneshot #star wars fanfic #star wars x reader #prequel anakin skywalker x reader #a fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi #everythinggeeky #suitless vader

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resident-of-edgy-evil · 4 years

Text

Well, this was unexpected - Chapter 1

(Story strays from the primary story line of Resident Evil 2 as a given “what if” scenario but follows the same general base plot of the outbreak in the game.) - “what if you and Leon booked it as fast as you could from the front gate of the police station to the closest looking safe haven- a primary school?”

This is only the first chapter. I wish it had been longer, but I’m on a bit of a time crunch at the moment. I hope you like it and give some feedback. (I’ll probably be making a lot of changes) Thanks!

———————————————

You two weren’t entirely sure where you were going or what it was that you were doing. The outbreak spread to every nook and cranny of the city, showing no mercy to any man, woman, or child. The virus didn’t care whose life it took and the terror was all the same for each citizen to bear. There was nowhere in sight to turn. Every corner that you and Leon took was overrun by bloodied corpses lying in wait for their next meal. However, you weren’t willing to become the main course, and you certainly weren’t going to allow your best friend to attend their dinner party either.

“We’re running low on ammo,” he chimed in, breaking you out of your hyper focused state. “We have to find somewhere to stop and recuperate before we get ourselves killed.”

Your panic-hidden countenance never faded as you saw him barely huff, pushing himself to run faster than before. He kept his composure the best he could in a way that would fool anyone else into believing he was unaffected by the cities’ destruction. It was fairly unsurprising that his body could handle this after his training.

But you were no fool, you’ve known Leon since you two were kids, and it would make you a pathetic friend if you hadn’t noticed the slight glint of fear in his eyes that the academy could never prepare him for. You were worried about him even though he was more than capable of taking care of himself. If only there was the guarantee of making it.

“(Y/n), there’s an unoccupied gate over there. If we can make it to the other side then we might be able to catch our breath and search for more weapons.”

You’d be lying if you said that climbing over a gate in a zombie infested area was appealing, but you didn’t have any better ideas. Against your better judgment, you nod to Leon in silent confirmation. You weren’t really in the mood to speak even though communication was important during a time like this. This was a matter of teamwork, not solely protecting him, although it would’ve been preferable. He seemed to understand what you couldn’t. If you work together, you’ll survive together. If you work alone, neither of you are walking out of the city alive. It’s just a personal difficulty to listen to that voice of common sense.

You struggled to lead the way, dodging any lingering hands while paying the most mind to the rookie officer on your tail. It was important that you get him out of the city. Keeping track of Leon was your main priority, your sanity being the second. Very little else made any difference to you. Again, trying to work alone.

Leon sped up, reaching the gate before you. He searched your eyes for any sort of sign of pain or worry. He was dealing with this situation fairly well with only a few occurrences of true fear whenever you’d get snagged by the monsters outside the police station, but he couldn’t detect so much as a single trace of fear.

“When did you become so stoic?” He begins to choke on his own coughs through his breathlessness, unbelieving of your behavior.

You hadn’t really noticed a change in your own persona, but he certainly had. The bond you shared was intimate and your mood shifts often matched his own. He was worried that you were at risk of snapping at any given moment.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You offered the most genuine half smile you could muster, but you knew that he wouldn’t believe it either.

His own smile didn’t reach his eyes as he decided not to press you any further. You’ve never been in a situation like this before and it was unfair of him to assume how you’d react. You were much stronger than you appeared, more so than he could have ever anticipated.

Shaking his head a bit, he shrugged. It was best to question it once you weren’t completely surrounded.

“Here, I’ll give you a leg up over the gate.” He knelt down and placed his two cupped hands over his knee for you to use as leverage.

Your face twisted as you shot a sour look at Leon. This, you thought, was an awful idea.

The gate wasn’t any higher than 10 feet or so, including the sharp decorative spears protruding from the top, making you hesitant as being impaled would’ve been the last thing that you had imagined being the cause of your death tonight. Imagine making it this far only to have your grave say “almost survived the zombie apocalypse only to fall onto a gate.” The eulogy would be great, but the turnout wouldn’t be so grand.

Shaking your head from the thought, you redirected your thoughts to the task at hand. In between the metal spears was a thin bar that looked sturdy enough to climb. It was only a matter of keeping steady as to not get snagged or trip. Again, potentially embarrass and fatal.

“Leon, I don’t know about this, there has to be another-“ he cut you off by pulling you closer to his crouched form.

“Less talk, we’re wasting time. I can hold my own. Go find some bolt cutters or something, I don’t know. There’s nothing on the other side of the gate as far as I know, you’ll be safe.”

You were apprehensive to leave him on his own, but he was right. He knew how to fight his way out of here if he really wanted to. He could make it out of Raccoon, alone, without help, leaving you behind. The more time you took weighing your options was less time he had to fend off the new wave of zombies that were attracted by the commotion.

“Alright,” He hoisted you over his shoulder, his upper body strength catching you off guard. You didn’t recall him being this strong while growing up. Oh, how the times change...in more ways than you’d wished to count.

With the help of Leon, you make it onto the second tallest bar, praying that your balance didn’t give out. Scaling the gate, you make it to the top bar before bracing yourself for impact, in your best efforts to stray from jarring your joints. Safely making it over, you toss him your “borrowed” beretta through the empty spaces of the gate.

“At least take this, you’ll need it more than I will. I still have my pistol and knife so I’ll still have protection over here if something happens.”

He tilts his head, smiling softly at the gesture. You had been taking extra precautions during this whole ordeal to keep him safe. It wasn’t entirely unlike you to go out on your own and stray from the path, but now you were carrying their combined weight and weren’t focused enough to do something like this. Leon could only pray for you at this point.

“I’ll promise to stay safe if you do, too.”

Neither of you said anything as your eyes met each other’s. Tensions rose before you dipped your head in compliance and sprinted across the yard, rendering your sight of Leon, useless.

You knew that you had to find something quickly. You scanned the small expanse of lawn that had been meticulously cut, finding the whole side mission to be tiresome. It was proving to be a difficult task, y'know, looking for something- anything that could aid you by breaking the chains. It was even harder to will yourself not to back peddle and gaze at the sight of your struggling best friend.

"Christ, you're wasting time." you mumbled to yourself. “If he was here, he’s chide me for my time lack management skills.”

Your heart sped up the moment you began to hear gunsots, leading you to believe that things were getting bad out there if Leon was growing desperate enough to begin using bullets. To the left of what you could only guess was a school, stood a wooden shed out of the corner of your eye, making you hope beyond all hope that there would be something in there that could him through that stupid gate. What you had originally failed to notice while pulling the rusted door handles of the small structure that there was another padlock adorning a green clover shaped insignia around the keyhole. It was the same symbol you had stumbled upon in the police station.

Just your luck.

You pulled harder praying that the hinges of the wooden door would give in if you used all of your might. If only you still had that key...

"God, dammit, I don't having the fucking time for this." You ground your teeth and groaned.

Time was passing quickly and if you didn’t hurry, the monsters on the other side of the gate would kill Leon.

‘I hate this entire damn city.’

A loud crash came from a window on your right. Someone or, more likely, something was inside and you weren't quite ready to find out what it was. Upon closer inspection, the room was seemingly clear of any signs of life... or death, much to your surprise. It looked mainly untouched, though this only confirmed your previous suspicions. Smaller than average chairs lined the walls under a white board that had been nearly scrawled upon. Aside from the general disorganization of toys, which wasn't unusual for a children's class, the room really was untouched by the disaster outside. A brief moment of relief washed over you at the sight of a normal looking public space free of fallen bodies and pools of blood. Momentarily, it tricked you into believing that there wasn't death beyond that front gate.

You weren't going to let Leon or yourself die in this hellish town. That was one thing you were sure of. It felt like you were in a video game. It was almost like you walked in front of a barrel that, logically, you should be able to climb over, but you had no such luck. You were frustrated with the situation, kicking the short grass as a result. If only Leon could climb over that gate.

The feeling only grew the moment you looked through the next window. The sight made your blood run cold. Streaks of blood painted the tiles that had once been white. This had been the longest day of your life, the most physically drained you had ever been and to top it off, your heart clenched at the sight of a class disarray in a public children’s school. The unimaginable had struck this town and you were determined to not let the efforts of those who had helped you this far, go to waste.

“Leon, I’m coming for you.” You whispered as you rested your head on the glass, a single tear escaping your eye. “Just hang in there.”

#resident evil #re2 #re2 remake #resident evil 2 #resident evil 2 remake #leon x reader #leon scott kennedy #leon kennedy imagine #leon kennedy #biohazard #horror games #horror #video games #leon kennedy x reader #zombies #bioweapon #BOW #scary games

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ccinagalaxyfaraway · 4 years

Note

Mayhaps... a senator au if you feel up to it? where plo koon is the senator for dorin, and the wolfpack is assigned as a guard for him for a negotiation mission or something of the like, whatever you want :)

“It would be most shameful if something were to happen to you during these negotiations, Senator,” says the Chancellor. “Especially since you’re overseeing them on our behalf. I won’t think of it. You must accept protection.”

Plo resists the urge to roll his eyes. He’s at home; his face is uncovered. But oh, he would love to. “Chancellor, I am fully capable of looking after my own safety. My staff -”

“Are unfamiliar with the territory. These are dangerous times, Senator Koon.”

“I am aware,” Plo says. If he had teeth, they would be grinding. May you trod on plastic children’s toys, he thinks sourly.

“It’s settled, then. I know just the men for the job. The 104th Wolfpack Battalion will join you for the duration.”

“The what -? An entire battalion is excessive! Absolutely not.” He is a very private person by nature; the thought of having so many people around devoted to knowing where he is and what he is doing at all times is intolerable. Not to mention the stares and whispers that tend to follow his people wherever they go; it’s not a secret that most of the galaxy considers them unattractive at best.

But the Chancellor has already signed off, his hologram winking out of existence. Plo starts a cycle of deep breathing. His sister the Sage swears it’s helpful. He thinks it’s banthashit.

---

Commander Wolffe, after whom the battalion is presumably named, is a stern approaching-middle-age man with a scar over the right side of his face. The cybernetic eye tracks Plo briefly before syncing with the Commander’s natural eye again; Plo pretends not to notice.

“Senator Koon,” says the Commander, saluting and staring over Plo’s shoulder instead of at his masked face. “We’re to be your protection detail while you mediate discussions.”

“Please call me Plo,” he says, offering a bow. “It will be a long week if we stand on formality the entire time. May I ask who else I have the honor of meeting?”

The Commander introduces his personal squad - now Plo’s constant companions - and Plo bows to each of them in turn. “I do apologize to be the cause of this diversion. Please do tell me if there’s anything I can do to make this assignment easier on you; I am accustomed to coming and going as I please, but I understand changes will have to be made. We can discuss the details in the office.”

He leads the way through the hallways. “You’ll have full access to the ship, barring personal quarters, and an emergency override to my quarters should the need arise. My staff have been instructed to provide you with anything you require; there should be ship layouts and a preliminary intelligence report on our destination and relevant factions waiting for you. You are, of course, welcome to use the ship systems. Accounts can be set up with no difficulty.”

“That is . . . very generous, sir,” says the Commander. “Thank you.”

Plo shrugs. “Everyone starts somewhere. Let us say I am reasonably well acquainted with being on the other side of this arrangement, and how obstructive a client may be.”

“You’re a soldier,” says the Commander with some surprise as they pause in front of Plo’s office while he keys in a code. Two of the men - Comet and Boost - take up positions at either side of the doorway.

“Something like that, once upon a time,” says Plo. He stands aside so Sinker can clear the space and pick his spot on the inside of the door before entering, Commander Wolffe trailing behind him. “Please, have a seat. Now, how may I help you with your arrangements?”

---

The clone troopers are less of an imposition than Plo had expected them to be; they’re generally willing to allow Plo to have his freedom, even if they accompany him everywhere but the fresher and to bed. By the time they arrive at neutral ground, the shifts have been worked out and aside from Commander Wolffe’s presence as his shadow, things are almost normal. And even that isn’t altogether unenjoyable; the Commander has a dry wit and a general lack of tolerance for nonsense that aligns well with Plo’s own sense of humor. It’s like having someone to give voice to all the things he wishes he could say himself but can’t due to his position.

It doesn’t hurt that the Commander has had zero discernible thoughts whatsoever about his appearance. The few times they’ve made skin-to-skin contact, the Commander has been carefully, deliberately blank; clearly he’s done his research. It makes for a more cordial relationship, not being bombarded with opinions on things he can do nothing about. Every morning, he waits for Plo at the door to his quarters and escorts him to breakfast before proceeding to the conference hall. A half day of discussions later, they go to lunch, which Plo picks his way through around his mask while the Commander watches, and then back to negotiating. Afterwards, he brings Plo back to his quarters with a reminder to call if he wants to go anywhere, declines to join Plo for any kind of refreshment, and disappears to wherever he goes when Plo isn’t in public.

Plo wonders if he ever eats. He has to; he’s not a droid. But unless he’s downing 4500 calories in one sitting after shift, he needs food during the day and he isn’t getting it. The rest of the men switch out at least; Wolffe is never out of reach. The most he’s ever managed to get the man to accept is a mug of unadulterated caf. It can’t be healthy. Not, of course, that it’s any of Plo’s business.

Still.

The end of the week comes sooner than Plo expects with everything running so smoothly; so of course, the Separatists choose to attack on the last day. The explosion throws the room into chaos, smoke and fire spreading from the blast. Wolffe pulls him into his chest, curling around him even as he draws his pistols, snapping orders at his men. Plo makes himself as small as possible, trying to keep out of the way.

After the first brief exchange with the droids, Wolffe shuffles them both towards Comet, who’s already radioed out for help in case the smoke wasn’t enough to tip someone off. “We were this close,” he complains, throwing a charge pack at Boost.

“I know,” Plo mumbles. “I’d so wanted to tell the Chancellor I-told-you-so.”

“That eager to be rid of us?” Wolffe asks, eyebrow raised.

“Not you in particular, Commander,” Plo says, though Wolffe’s grin says he’s only teasing. “Just perhaps the rest of your battalion. Which I maintain is overkill for one unimportant expansion region senator.”

“Bet you’re glad we’re around now, though,” says Comet, whose informality endeared him to Plo on day one.

“I can’t dispute that,” Plo says. He ducks as more blaster fire strikes their cover.

“We only have to make it -”

“ETA ten minutes,” Comet supplies.

“-until extraction,” says Wolffe. “Keep your head down and things will be fine.”

Plo nods and throws his arms around his head, wishing he’d brought a sound dampener.

“Be ready to move,” Wolffe orders. Boost lays down cover fire for them as they run for the door, Comet ahead and Sinker behind, and Wolffe at his side. They’ve almost made it out when a second blast throws them into a wall. Plo gasps weakly, rolling onto his side, the world spinning. Wolffe has already climbed to his feet and is fighting a droid, his movements wild and uncontrolled; blood trickles from the side of his head. He misses a blow, staggers, and the droid catches him by the neck, lifting him into the air. Wolffe chokes, scrabbling at the droid’s arm for leverage, kicking to no avail, dying.

That cannot be allowed to happen. Plo grasps around for a weapon. Anything. All there is is drywall and rubble. He focuses on a shard of stone. Reaches. The shard remains just out of reach. It can’t be. It won’t be. He clenches his jaw.

The shard launches into the air, rocketing past Wolffe and into the droid’s head. Wolffe drops to the ground and kicks it away as it begins sparking. He staggers over to Plo and drops to his knees beside him.

“What,” he gasps,” was that?”

“Learned it from my sister,” says Plo, right before he passes out.

---

By the time Plo recovers from his Force-exhaustion, cleanup is well underway and they are halfway back to Coruscant. When he steps out of his quarters, Wolffe is one of the men standing guard at the door. Wolffe salutes, and Plo dips his head. They walk to the mess in companionable silence Plo makes a cup of tea and a mug of caf and collects an assortment of fruit and pastry.

“Would you join me?” he asks, taking a seat in the booth. Wolffe studies him, a new curiosity in his eyes, and then acquiesces. He sits stiffly, picture perfect for an army etiquette guide.

“It’s been an eventful end to the week,” Plo says. “I’d wanted to thank you for your protection.”

“Just doing our job, Senator,” says Wolffe. He doesn’t sound, strictly speaking, as though that was the only thing he had been doing.

“Nevertheless, a job well done deserves recognition,” says Plo. He nudges the plate closer to Wolffe. “Please don’t feel like you have to stand on formality with me. You’ve seen how I am with my staff.”

Wolffe hesitates a moment and then caves, selecting a cluster of berries. Plo smiles. “I hope this diversion hasn’t cut into your original plans, Commander.”

“No. Just shifted back a week. If I may, sir, I had a question.” He studies Plo. “At the hall. You used the Force?”

“I did.”

“But you’re not a Jedi.”

“I am not.” He chuckles. “My family is frequently gifted with these abilities. Mine are not so prominent that my parents felt they could not handle me, and I was rather fascinated with systems as a child. When the Master Jedi asked if I wished to be trained, I declined in favor of continuing my studies at home. And so, here we are.” He spreads his hands.

“Here we are,” Wolffe echoes. “I should be thanking you for saving my life.”

“I could hardly do otherwise when I had the ability to help. And if I’m entirely honest, I’ve become rather fond of you in the last week,” Plo says. Wolffe’s eyes linger on him. He decides to take the chance. “Please feel free to refuse, but might I ask for the honor of your company at dinner?”

Wolffe’s lips twitch. “I am afraid I must decline, Senator,” he says. Plo lets out a self-depreciating puff. “However - I’m off-duty once I’ve reported in on Coruscant, and I have no plans other than to kill time with paperwork in an office. You might have better luck then.”

“I see,” says Plo. “Please do eat, Commander. I’m not at all collecting information on your preferences.”

Wolffe smiles and pops a berry into his mouth.

#plo koon #commander wolffe #plowolffe #swcw #promptfic #cocoeast

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miloscat · 3 years

Text

[Review] Conker: Live & Reloaded (XB)

Let’s see just how well this misguided remake/expansion holds up. This will be a long one!

Conker’s Bad Fur Day is my favourite N64 game. It’s cinematic and ambitious, technically impressive, has scads of gameplay variety with fun settings and setpieces, and when I first played it I was just the right age for the humour to land very well for me. A scant four years later Rare remade it for the Xbox after their acquisition by Microsoft, replacing the original multiplayer modes with a new online mode that would be the focus of the project, with classes and objectives and such.

First, an assessment of the single-player campaign. On a revisit I can see the common criticisms hold some water: the 3D platformer gameplay is a bit shaky at times, certain gameplay segments are just plain wonky and unfair, and some of the humour doesn’t hold up. It’s got all the best poorly-aged jokes: reference humour, gross-out/shock humour, and poking fun at conventions of the now dormant 3D collectathon platformer genre. I also am more sensitive these days to things like the sexual assault and homophobia undertones to the cogs, or Conker doing awful things for lols. Having said that, there’s plenty that I still find amusing, and outside of a few aggravatingly difficult sequences (surf punks, the mansion key hunt, the submarine attack, the beach escape) I do still appreciate the range of things you do in the game.

As for the remake, I’m not sure it can be called an improvement by any metric. Sure, there’s some minor additions. There’s a new surgeon Tediz miniboss, the new haunted baby doll enemy, and the opening to Spooky has been given a Gothic village retheme along with an added—though unremarked on—costume for Conker during this chapter based on the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing flop. Other changes are if anything detrimental. The electrocution and Berri’s shooting cutscenes have been extended, thus undermining the joke/emotional impact. The original game used the trope of censoring certain swear words to makes lines more funny; the remake adds more censorship for some reason, in one case (the Rock Solid bouncer scene) ruining the joke, and Chucky Poo’s Lament is just worse with fart noises covering the cursing.

The most egregious change, and one lampshaded in the tutorial, is the replacement of the frying pan (an instant and satisfying interaction) with a baseball bat which must be equipped, changing the control and camera to the behind-the-back combat style, and then swung with timed inputs to defeat the many added armoured goblings and dolls carelessly dumped all throughout the game world. This flat out makes the game less fun to play through.

On top of this, all the music has been rerecorded (with apologies to Robin Beanland, I didn’t really notice apart from instances where it had to be changed, such as in Franky’s boss fight where the intensely frenetic banjo lead was drastically reduced as a concession to the requirement to actually play it in real life), and the graphics totally redone. Bad Fur Day made excellent use of textures, but with detail cranked up, the sixth generation muddiness, and a frankly overdone fur effect, something is lost. I’m not a fan of the character redesigns either; sure Birdy has a new hat, but I didn’t particularly want to see Conker’s hands, and the Tediz are no longer sinister stuffed bears but weird biological monster bears with uniforms. On top of all this you notice regular dropped details; a swapped texture makes for nonsensical dialogue in the Batula cutscene, and characters have lost some emotive animations. Plus, the new translucent scrolling speech bubbles are undeniably worse.

I could mention the understandable loading screens (at least they’re quick), the mistimed lip sync (possibly exacerbated by my tech setup), or the removal of cheats (not a big deal), but enough remake bashing. To be fair, the swimming controls have been improved and the air meter mercifully extended, making Bats Tower more palatable. And some sequences have been shortened to—I suppose—lessen gameplay tedium (although removing the electric eel entirely is an odd choice). But let’s cover the multiplayer. Losing the varied modes from the original is a heavy blow, as I remember many a fun evening spent in Beach, War, or Raptor, along with the cutscenes setting up each mode.

The new headline feature of this release is the Live mode. The new Xbox Live service allowing online multiplayer was integrated, although it’s all gone now. Chasing the hot trends of the time, it’s a set of class-based team missions, with the Squirrel High Command vs. the Tediz in a variety of scenarios, mostly boiling down to progressing through capture points or capture the flag. Each class is quite specialised and I’m not sure how balanced it is, plus there’s proto-achievements and unlocks behind substantial milestones none of which I got close to reaching (I don’t think I could get most of them anyway, not being “Live”).

The maps are structured around a “Chapter X” campaign in which the Tediz and the weasel antagonist from BFD Ze Professor (here given a new and highly offensive double-barrelled slur name) are initially fighting the SHC in the Second World War-inspired past of the Old War, before using a time machine, opening up a sci-fi theme for the Future War. These are mainly just aesthetic changes, but it’s a fun idea and lets them explore Seavor’s beloved wartime theming a bit more while also bringing in plenty of references to Star Wars, Alien, Dune, and Halo; mostly visual.

Unfortunately the plot is a bit incoherent, rushed through narration (unusually provided by professional American voice actor Fred Tatasciore rather than a Rare staffer doing a raspy or regional voice like the rest of the game) over admittedly nice-looking cutscenes. They also muddle the timeline significantly, seemingly ignoring the BFD events... and then the Tediz’ ultimate goal is to revive the hibernating Panther King, when the purpose of their creation was to usurp him in the first place! It expands on the Conker universe but in a way that makes the world feel smaller and more confusing. It’s weird, and also Conker doesn’t appear at all.

On top of this, I found the multiplayer experience itself frustrating. To unlock the full Chapter X, you need to play the first three maps on easy, then you can go through the whole six. But I couldn’t pass the first one on normal difficulty! The “Dumbots” seemed to have so much health and impeccable aim, while the action was so chaotic, obscured by intrusive UI, floating usernames, and smoke and other effects with loads of characters milling around, not to mention the confusing map layouts, the friendly fire, the instant respawns, and the spawncamping. Luckily I could play the maps themselves in solo mode with cutscenes and adjustable AI and options.

I found some classes much more satisfying than others. I tried to like the Long Ranger and the slow Demolisher, but found it difficult to be accurate. The awkward range of the Thermophile and the Sky Jockey’s rarely effective vehicles made them uncommon choices. I had most success with the simple Grunt, or the melee-range Sneeker (the SHC variant of which is sadly the sole playable female in the whole thing). You can pick up upgrade tokens during gameplay to expand the toolset of each class, which range from necessary to situational. But ultimately it’s a crapshoot, as I rarely felt that my intentions led to clear results.

Live & Reloaded is such a mess. The Reloaded BFD is full of odd decisions and baffling drawbacks, while the Live portion feels undercooked. I’d have preferred a greater focus on either one; a remake is unnecessary, especially only four years on, but a new single-player adventure would have been ace. And a multiplayer mode in this universe with its own story mode could be cool if it was better balanced and had more to it than just eight maps. As a source of some slight scrapings of new Conker content I appreciated it to some extent, but I can’t help being let down. I guess it’s true what they say... the grass is always greener. And you don’t really know what it is you have, until it’s gone... gone. Gone.

Yes, that ending is still genuinely emotionally affecting.

#review #conker #conker live and reloaded #Rare Ltd #xbox

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technicallyswagpizza · 4 years

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RABBIT HOLE RECOLOURS AND RESCRIPTING TUTORIAL

Are you having difficulties getting the outrageously coloured rabbit holes to fit into your moody emo town? Or would you like to make your high street look like a Skittles factory had just exploded? Despair no more! Release your inner MacGyver and DIY!

Programs you need: S3oc S3pe Photoshop or Gimp (DDS plugins for Photoshop -> this and this, Gimp has this feature built in already)

// Disclaimer: This tutorial is picture and text heavy. I hate having to have bazillion different tutorials open because everyone always assumes you know what you are doing and I keep on closing tabs by accident, so this tutorial will run you through each and every step with (far too much) detail because I’m a simpleton and I need both pictures and text when learning new stuff! I have divided this into digestable parts, so you can skip ahead down the tutorial if you are familiar with some of the steps such as cloning. Pictures above are numbered and each step is explained below.

1. CLONING A RABBIT HOLE

1. Open S3oc, click Cloning and Normal objects.

2. Click Tools and Search, type in keywords such as bookspa or hospital. If you still can’t find what you are looking for, then the other option is to just scroll down the list of items and try locating the rabbit hole you need.

3. Once you have found your rabbit hole, click Clone or Fix.

4. Tick all the boxes I have ticked.

5. Edit the Catalog Name and Description, these are the things you see in game when you browse through the items and stuff. If you are not fussed, leave them as is.

6. Change the file name here (Some guides mention changing it, some skip it, but I have changed mine and nothing exploded so far!) and click Start. A window pops up asking where you want to save your package, I usually create separate folders for my projects on my desktop as I don’t want to accidentally mix my .DDS files with other rabbit hole files and stuff, but if chaos is your thing just save wherever.

2. RECOLOURING A RABBIT HOLE

7. Locate your newly created rabbit hole clone .package (You can create a backup copy of it somewhere if you think you will mess up somehow) and open it with S3pe. Look through the IMG tags and find a LOD image like this. Right click and Export to file. If you are organized like I am, you can save it in your project folder with your package file... Or place it wherever because of whatever method of madness you use when editing your files. I’m not your mother. Do whatevs.

8. Now depending on which program you use, open the .DDS file in Gimp or Photoshop, if you get a pop up window just go with default size and no mipmaps. This is the step where you let your creative juices flow and take over. Want to change everything? Or only one colour? Depending on the rabbit hole you have chosen to edit it could be a really simple one click thing fix, or if you picked a more complicated one like I did, you are going to spend some time on this step. I added my before and after picture edits I did in Photoshop as an example.

// Photoshop Tip! I’m not familiar with Gimp, so I’m not sure how well this works in there, but I abuse the hell out of Hue/Saturation and the colour picker in Photoshop to get rid of and edit the colours. Press the little hand icon in the Hue/Saturation pop up box and click the colour you want to change in the image and it picks it for you, then just use the three sliders to change your colours, easy! Be careful though! Sometimes it changes too many areas in one go, so you might have to use marquee tool to isolate the bits you want to edit so rest of the image doesn’t change (While using marquee tool you can press either Shift or Alt at the same time which allows you to add into or remove from your current selection!). Or use masks. Up to you. Then once you have selected the areas, create a new layer and hit the Hue/Saturation button and it will only impact the areas you have selected. Play with layer settings if you end up adding separate colours on top, for example my red paint layer looked best with linear light and 80% opacity.

9. Once you are satisfied with your colours and you have merged your layers, this next step is different with Photoshop and Gimp. With Photoshop you can use Save As option while with Gimp you have to use Export As. Either way, save or export over/replace the image you originally opened using the .DDS settings shown (Please correct me if I’m wrong with Gimp settings as I don’t really use it!). If you have been saving as psd or changing the file’s name, make sure the name is now EXACTLY the same as when you exported it earlier. However, I’d urge you to do backup copies before overwriting the file, in case you have coloured something wrong or if you think you might want to change something after doing a test. Just you know, to save you some hassle if shit hits the fan.

10. Back to S3pe, you will now replace the image you previously exported with the edited one. Click Resources (or right click the IMG file on list you are replacing, both ways work), Import from file and pick the newly edited file, click ok on the prompt. Your old IMG file should be crossed out on the list and new IMG added (Once you save the crossed out one simply disappears). Depending on what kind of edits you did to the LOD IMG, you have to repeat exporting, editing and importing each and every IMG file corresponding to the changes you did with the first one. Be extra careful with matching the colours between the IMG files, otherwise you get some funky rabbit holes when zooming in and out! For example for my rather edit heavy LOD image I had to edit another 5 IMG files all in all in the end (Different wall bits, bit of carpet, window trims, roof!).

3. MAKING IT BASE GAME COMPATIBLE

11. Done with your IMG files? Still in S3pe, locate OBJD file on the list, either hit enter or right click for Details.

12. Change the group number from whatever to 0. Save your package.

You are done and your rabbit hole is ready to go in game! Drop it with your other .packages in your Mod folder and test it, in edit and live mode in game. Are some parts of the building still showing old colours or are they changing drastically when you zoom in or out? It’s not the end of the world! You must have forgotten to edit one of the IMG files or the colours are not matching, double check that all the bits you edited in the first image match with rest of the IMG files. Even if you got the colours right there will be a slight chance due to how Sims 3 renders items, so don’t panic unless IT’S REALLY BAD! Just look at how other nonedited Sims 3 stuff renders and compare how yours behaves. // But wait! Maybe you want to make it a default replacement rather than a new individual rabbit hole like my tutorial does? For default replacements, follow this guide.

4. CHANGING THE RABBIT HOLE SCRIPT (OPTIONAL)

Like the look of your rabbit hole building, but don’t think it looks like a spa or a bookshop? Is it giving you a hospital and science lab vibe instead? Again, no need for anxiety! You can fix it! Sort of. It should work but be wary! If you use lets say the Annex script, you got to have University EP installed to make it work. Without the right expansion, you can’t have special careers. Just keep in mind that some scripts may not work with some buildings due to the specific animations and stuff, so test it before you release your masterpiece in the wild.

13. Open your .package in S3pe, locate OBJK file and right click Edit OBJK.

14. Replace the String bit with one of these scripts from the following list. Commit to changes and save your package. You are done!

Bookstore Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Bookstore

Business and journalism Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.BusinessAndJournalismRabbitHole

City hall Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.CityHall

Criminal building Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Hideout

Diner Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Diner

Grocers Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Grocery

Hospital Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Hospital

Mausoleum Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Mausoleum

Military Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.MilitaryBase

Movie studio Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.MovieSet

Police station Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.PoliceStation

School Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.SchoolRabbitHole

Science Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ScienceLab

Spa Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.DaySpa

Sports stadium Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Stadium

Theatre Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Theatre

Vault Of Antiquity Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.VaultOfAntiquity

Subway Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Subway

Fortune teller caravan Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.GypsyCaravan

Equestrian center Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.EquestrianCenter

Annex Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.Annex

Hospital & science combo Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ComboHospitalScienceLab

School & stadium combo Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ComboSchoolStadium

Book & spa combo Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ComboBookstoreDaySpa

City hall, police & military combo Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ComboCityhallPoliceMilitary

Business & bistro combo Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.RabbitHoles.ComboBusinessRestaurant

And I think that’s it. Let me know if you know a better way or I have made an error in this tutorial! Or if you want to fight me, I will meet you behind the mall by the bins for some asskicking.

#the sims 3 #ts3 #simblr #ts3 tutorial #ts3 rabbit hole recolour tutorial #ts3 base game compatible tutorial #ts3 cloning tutorial

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endlessdoom · 3 years

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The Plutonia Experiment

32 maps megawad.

By the brothers Casali.

1996.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/The_Plutonia_Experiment

Level 1: Congo

Iconic beginning that presents us one of the most popular tricks of Plutonia: Chaingunners, Archies and a lot of pain. Pretty hot start that delivers quite greatly.

Level 2: Well of Souls

An elevator styled entrance that delivers quite the punchy level with some awesome ‘‘congo’‘ vibes more than the actual congo level.

Level 3: Aztec

Iconic beginning that presents us one of the most popular tricks of Plutonia ''invisible bridges'' I'm not a fan of them but I can see the charm in this first level.

Level 4: Caged

Surrounded on all sides and ready to die The first level of Plutonia that presents the classic style of difficulty but keeps a nice balance between exploration and combat.

Level 5: Ghost Town

We are moving to a tighter and more traditional format but one that remains constant though somewhat simpler.

Level 6: Baron's Lair

One of my favorites. A medium size level but with a more interesting layout that reveals different areas of combat and a dynamic and entertaining progression.

Level 7: Caughtyard

Another of my favorites and one of the icons of the set. This is a simple square map sand style but with a pretty hot gameplay that will take blind-players by surprise. It still has a good quality of play and is fun to play with at all times.

Level 8: Realm

A bit punishing at times but with a fluid design.

Level 9: Abattoire

Quite open and with a more bloody combat. This is one of the first big maps and takes us through a somewhat different but acceptable adventure.

Level 10: Onslaught

With a design that makes more use of exteriors, this level combines a beautiful design with an attractive and challenging gameplay.

Level 11: Hunted

Oh boy. This is probably one of the most iconic maps in history. A great labyrinth where the only enemies are nothing more and nothing less than Archviles. What does of this one a quite destructive and frustrating adventure for moments, but the simple originality of the concept does of this one a fascinating map.

Level 12: Speed

Moving is the key, although not as fast as the map indicates. A high design and a few surprises make this a nice and drastic adventure.

Level 13: The Crypt

Towards the depths of a tolerable map.

Level 14: Genesis

Smaller than normal but with a closed circuit design that allows constant movement and gameplay that flows like the wind.

Level 15: The Twilight

(Exit to secret level)

Things get hot. We need good moves and a bit of strategy to advance a more tactical map and with a less merciful gameplay but always maintaining a solid quality.

Level 16: The Omen

A small level with a lot of intensity. Developed in a simple system of capture of keys which are at first sight and without major problem. The combat, however, is developed as a system of constant surprises in which the player will be ambushed at every given opportunity, creating an intense level that despite having a duration of about 6 minutes manages to deliberate an entertaining gameplay with a design that, even if it is simplistic, does the job in a good way. Some areas can be a bit annoying (deliberately) and makes it a bit difficult to get around, but Plutonia has far harsher maps and this one feels more like an intermission that lets us rest a bit.

Level 17: Compound

Another short level that follows the same visual theme of this chapter. What we have here now is a more intricate design with an entertaining layout that combines a bit of traditional style with certain abstract structures. With a more fluid but equally hot combat, this is a fast level that enjoys a good flow.

Level 18: Neurosphere

Interestingly fluid, dynamic and quite intense without necessarily being destructive. This is a level that has a very entertaining flow that allows to appreciate the combat of a more dynamic way at the same time that it stays stable and balanced before the player, taking into account the difficulty of the most famous maps of this game. I could say that this map feels more like a MAP01, or at least it could have been very successful as the first map.

Level 19: NME

Hot and short in size, but well packaged. That sounds weird. This is a pretty intense map that sees us in a tight fight and requires a little more anticipation to survive, as well as a few surprises that can take us by surprise. With a nice design but a bit stressful combat, it is a solid map. All the maps have been pretty solid, actually.

Level 20: The Death Domain

Something a little more traditional but welcome, with a good collection of Chaingunners and a circular but constant layout.

Level 21: Slayer

A circular map with an intricate design that takes us through an intense but entertaining combat.

Level 22: Impossible Mission

Square and designed based on rooms with different boxes. It follows a somewhat sporadic flow and can be slightly lost but maintains a solid visual warmth to compensate. Combat stays normally-balanced up until the end. But overall, fun enough.

Level 23: Tombstone

Long and with a complex design. A little bit of unnecesary backtracking at times but it makes up for it with an intense and fun gameplay.

Level 24: The Final Frontier

Fantastic small enigmatic map with an abstract design that will make us go through a little trial and error until we find the victory. Playing this map with the MIDI pack is orgasmic.

Level 25: The Temple of Darkness

Long and with multiple monster closets as well as tight and tactical combat. A nice, intense and full of adrenaline map.

Level 26: Bunker

Simple style and even has some touches of Heretic but with good combat although a bit of a puzzle/lost layout.

Level 27: Anti-Christ

Great, fun and hot. With a dynamic combat and varied heights, which gives good depth to the fight and makes us go through a well-balanced and entertaining challenge.

Level 28: The Sewers

Enigmatic. It leaves somewhat disturbing airs which gives it a good presentation. With a somewhat lost but well structured layout manages to create a slightly longer adventure with good action.

Level 29: Odyssey of Noises

Iconic for different reasons and controversial for others. This is an attractive map with an urban style like Sandy, combining abstract buildings with a little more attractive architecture. With an expansive and big layout, the map is quite long and a bit lost, but it compensates with a good gameplay and open combat.

Level 30: The Gateway of Hell

The end of Plutonia. A decent IoS fight with a bit of foreshadowing and good build up to the final battle, which has a few tricks up its sleeve. Overall, decent, but definitely one of the best IoS of the IWADs, if not the best.

Level 31: Cyberden

(Exit to super secret level)

Interesting gimmick map with a few Cyberdemons to keep us company.

Level 32: Go 2 It

The iconic Go 2 It. It doesn't need many words other than to say that it is a pioneer of a particular style and features a gameplay and layout as violent as it is fantastic, though unfair and cruel at times.

End.

» Overall:

The Plutonia Experiment (1996)

By Dario and Milo Casali

In 1996, history was made. Final Doom, the last expansion of the classic Doom, is finally released and with it brings to our eyes two of the most iconic megawads in history. The Plutonia Experiment is one of those holy or not so holy grails that we adore to this day. Considered by many as an irreplicable milestone in the history of Doom and by others as an outdated and particularly cruelly designed work. Whatever the opinion, we can all easily accept that Plutonia came to stay sedimented among the most influential megawads in history.

Made by the brothers Casali in an almost speedmapping way, almost indeed, the Plutonia Experiment, or simply Plutonia, is one of a kind, specially during the 90s when the world of WADs was still in a very primitive, almost baby-like state. Of course, things would change quite quickly but not until Final Doom hit the shelves, and oh boy did it also hit the Doom community. Of course, it is such an iconic work that it is practically as famous as the original Doom 2 or Ultimate Doom itself, bringing with its different mechanics and creative tricks that would later be replicated several times in other distinctive and fantastic ways, creating a cycle of improvements and approaches to new ideas. Plutonia is nothing new, not at all, but it's something I've barely gotten to discover properly. While I played it a long, long time ago, I could barely remember the first five levels, much less the last few. I wanted to give it one more spin, one where I could fully appreciate the creation of this magnificent specimen. I did it and now I can see with a different eye the reason for the appreciation of this megawad. The cult of the Plutonia lies deep and with a very good reason.

Visually speaking, Plutonia is twice better looking than Doom 2, and quite frankly, TNT: Evilution, and that’s something I think we can all agree upon (well, pretty much anything looks better than Doom 2 now a days.) with no major problem. Interestingly, the levels were created by only two people, which gives a certain sense of respect for the creative capacity and practical ability of the Casali brothers. Dario did a total of 14 levels while his brother Milo did a total of 18, giving their respective authors a fairly respectable number. Which level was made by whom? That we will probably never know, although speculation may tell us certain things and analysis of map techniques others, at least we can all agree that the two authors show a well-defined quality in terms of their overall quality. Almost all Plutonia maps are attractive to look at, fun to admire and have generally understandable layouts with no major visual or progressive detractors. From the first iconic level to the last IoS, each map has a distinctive shape that gives it a certain renown, with, obviously, some maps standing out more than others, such as Congo for its respective high level of difficulty for a first level, or Hunted, for its unique way of screwing up our day with a few thousand Arch-Viles (is actually just a few dozen, but let’s drop some salt in it).

Each 10 maps are divided into chapters with a specific visual theme. The first 10 are Earth Levels, with the next 10 being Hell Levels and the last 10 being Devil Hive levels, a unique mix of particularly atrocious levels with disturbing visuals. Of course, the all-mighty secret levels also have a distinctive look, but they are not particular adherent to any other chapter. The first 11 levels manage to create that earthy feel quite well by offering brown textures that seem to recreate fortresses or human settlements, as well as clearly palpable architecture and realistic definitions without needing to be hyper-realistic. They just look good for what they need to work for. From map 12 to 20 we have the infernal levels that try to recreate what seems to be hell cities, or places with red tints. In one way or another, they manage to evoke dark sensations and also offer iconic battles in rivers of blood and red skies. From level 21 to 30 we finally have the center of all corruption. The Devil Hive levels are maps that recreate inner sectors of hell, such as capitals or demonic cities. Most of them usually look good and offer long combat spaces, although some maps can be a little longer than necessary, each of them satisfies.

And when we talk about satisfaction, we, of course, have to talk about gameplay. This is probably the most brilliant point of Plutonia, and one that many would consider essential in the history of Doom WAD development. Plutonia introduced, without a doubt, the most difficult original levels of all classic Doom, making use of a totally cruel creative and planning freedom that is designed to envelop the player in levels of absolute carnage and unnecessary insanity. This resulted in a plethora of iconic levels that stand out for their absurd early difficulty, as I said earlier, Congo is probably the ideal map to represent what Plutonia is all about. I don't have to say anything else; this has already been said to death: Revenants, Chaingunners, Arch-Viles, Barons, Mancubus. Be prepared to see them in whole hordes. However, what do I think of this? Well, at first, I must admit I was a bit skeptical about my initial reaction, since I'm usually more of a fan of casual WADs that show some mercy to the players, on the other hand, I also appreciate a good shot of adrenaline to get the glands moving. Plutonia is definitely going for the latter. What we have here is the introduction of what I, and many, consider the proto-slaughtermap. Before Hell Revealed, Plutonia already had the first slaughter-style maps, such as the immortal Got 2 It. These are brutal maps, even for modern years. Sure, many other WADs have managed to surpass Plutonia's overall difficulty, including its famed unofficial sequel, but Plutonia is the starting point where it all began and from there were born distinctive WAD making moves that would later be sedimented as part of the iconic variety of this beautiful community. I can't hate that, it's simply impossible since it's a factor that, despite being so divergent, brought about a change that would end up favoring the freedom of design and the brutality of the unforgivable gameplay.

I enjoyed every second of it, from start to finish without encountering any major difficulties and that's pretty incredible, considering that all other IWADs have at least one major negative quality that tends to affect my enjoyment. Plutonia, on the other hand, didn't present me with any truly annoying factors. Even its brutal difficulty was extremely enjoyable and I'm sure it has managed to survive modern times precisely because of that.

Sure, it's a bit old, and some maps tend to be a bit more boring to look at than others, but it's a journey through time that launches us into the golden grail that everyone wanted to reach during the 90s. A time when everyone was waiting for the ''Next Plutonia''. The Casali brothers created a movement that would forever remain on the plaques of Doom history, and for that and much more, I think we should all be thankful that what we have here is, without a doubt, the best IWAD ever. Plutonia is an experience and one that everyone, without fail, should try sometime in their life. It may kick your ass, but a kick never felt so good.

#doom #wad #review #mapping #gaming

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