#metal head solid v ground zeroes

[prowoodstuff]

Happy 10th Anniversary to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

I quite frankly enjoy it, though it can get annoying at times. When it turns 10 across the world there should hopefully be a sale, if not, get the Definitive Experience version of MGSV, you get Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain for a cheaper price.

[rad-hound]

Skullface character analysis. Could even be bullet points if you would rather create a separate post for a more in-depth analysis.

THESIS.

If you've either played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—or opted against doing so due to some of the... unsavory, disrespectful, and frankly disgusting contents within it, in which case I completely understand why one might not want to so much as graze it with a yard stick—or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which, to me, contains the more memorable (as insufferable as it can become) depiction of their titular antagonist... of whom I can safely assume was universally recognized as such, you and your fellow man may come to similar, near-identical consensuses in regards to aforementioned character's most ineffable traits.

Perhaps, as either a gamer or a mere onlooker, seeking to simply absorb the story, you felt yourself either taken or disgusted by the antagonist's appearance... or perhaps you found yourself inadvertently fauning over his voice—provided by actor James Horan—only to later slap your own hand. Or, maybe neither such sentiments ever crossed your mind, and you found yourself parts-amused, parts-ashamed that a simple one-off character was shoehorned into one of the most important roles in the series; his presence now highly-implicated through the whole of the Metal Gear series's canon upon his own pilot, with no semblance of question or doubt to the canonicity or legitimacy of such implications.

The character in question being, of course, Skull Face, whose identity throughout Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's development no doubt underwent a multitude of bouts of trial-and-error to arrive at the 'alpha' version of the character we know—and hate—today. And so, before I get into the nitty-gritty of the character in question, I would like to take a moment to reflect upon these bouts of 'trial-and-error,' the art direction which led to the base version of this character, as well as aspects which may have initially been left out, or dropped entirely, between the conception of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and whether or not core facets of said character underwent any major (or minor) changes between the progression of aforementioned games.

DEVELOPMENT / PRE-GAME CONCEPTUALIZATION.

The very earliest—if not painfully vague—hint the public was ever given about the conception of Skull Face as a character, would be within the gameplay / cinematic trailer dedicated to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, released in mid-to-late 2012. With the phrase, which was later utilized within the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," alongside a very brief glimpse at the back of the character's head, for a duration of two seconds, or so.

The earlier quote, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," of which was later believed to have implicated both the protagonist and antagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Venom / Punished Snake, and Skull Face, both mere phantoms of not only FOX as a whole, but of one another. A sentiment which is greatly accentuated throughout the duration of the game within which they are both present, especially between aforementioned characters in their every interaction.

Coupled with the release of Ground Zeroes, as though to break tradition in regards to how extra information / concept art was usually released alongside or a year or so after the initial release, Skull Face—despite his initial debut being within Ground Zeroes—appears to have not been featured within any sort of official artbooks. At least, not until the release of The Phantom Pain a year or so later, in 2015.

Though, this could easily be because of just how closely linked Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain were in both theme and in conception; the former being described as nothing more than a "prologue" to the latter, whose IP later received an official artbook. Which, predictably, consisted of concept art for both games, despite the 'uneven' distribution of said art between them; the latter receiving a lot more than the former, likely due to Konami Digital Entertaiment's own priorities at the time.

And, only within the shallows of the artbook's contents are we granted but a glimpse of how the character's appearance—and perhaps the very fabric of the character, both in concept and in execution, in its entirety—may have differed from its base version, given the very few minute footnotes concept artist Yoji Shinkawa left sprinkled neatly across the page. (Rough descriptions of each image are available within each image I.D.)

Even still, I believe there is only so much information we can gather from the concept sketches—and the hand-written footnotes which accompany them—alone. However, if I were to wager a guess, if any, I would come to the assumption that Skull Face, as a character, was meant to be far more different than what we may perceive him as today... for better or worse.

For example, the sketch at the right-hand side of each image, encompassing the notably smooth, scarless visage of Skull Face from another plane entirely; one of which—located within the second image, just to the left of the sketch embodying Skull Face's 'beta version'—is accompanied by a blurb of hand-written text, which reads the following: "WASP" / "アングロ," a possible acronym for the term "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant." Which seems a little strange to me, given Skull Face's own background as a man born in war-torn Hungary. But, admittedly, it is interesting to learn about how things could have been, rather than how they turned out.

Allegedly, in the same manner—while his name in both the preliminal concept art and within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's game files was "WASP," his unit being derived of the very same moniker—I believe his initial name was meant to be "Scar Face," at least outside of the game's North American release. Likely due to the phonetic similarities between it and "Skull Face," as per an interview between Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu and Metal Gear creator, Hideo Kojima, in 2012.

Though, the already-existing information we've been bestowed regarding Skull Face's past, the hardships he was subjected to endure, and the nature of his... 'upbringing,' as it were, should prove to be equally as intriguing. At least, if we are to follow after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain... where we are then provided a much fuller picture as to what kind of a man he truly is. To delve into his mind, so to speak.

BIOGRAPHY / PHYSIOGNOMY.

Skull Face, legal / real name unknown, is said to have been born to two lower-class bomb factory workers in a remote village in northern Transylvania, which at the time had already endured a number of power struggles; at points being caught in the crossfire of both Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as the Soviets during the Cold War.

With this information, it is but a given that Skull Face likely never experienced a day of peace throughout his entire childhood, of which was horrifically interrupted the moment the factory within which him and his family worked tirelessly—located in Almásfüzitő, a rural village in Hungary—was carpet-bombed by the Allied forces in World War II. The... 'franticism' which resulted from this attack, this commotion, resulting in Skull Face being doused in searing rapeseed oil; the resulting wounds not only exacerbated by the mobs of panicked escapees trying to outrun the worst of the attack, but by foreign hands later in his life. Presumed to have been colonizers.

This exact moment, I would identify as the primary turning point in his life, as tragic as it may be. Not to say that Skull Face's own situation, or... 'the cards he'd been dealt,' were anything but convenient, but when we take a moment to regard the nature of the injuries he endured after the bombing, one would have to be blind to not unanimously recognize how such an event would no-doubt traumatize a child beyond compare. The scars which so ornament his body weren't acquired when he was an adult, no... he was but a child when his flesh burnt and rotted away. And, worse yet, they were only added upon as his home country was... 'passed between hands,' so to speak.

In the worst fashion possible, only to be accentuated upon by colonizers, the very precipice of his childhood—and, by definition, his identity—had been stripped away from him in a near-instant.

Within the contents of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we can very clearly bear witness to how he may have coped with such intensive trauma. Adorning nothing but a domino mask upon his visage—likely symbolism, more than anything else, given its absence in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—and claiming to have "[worn his] broken visage — [his] skull, out in the open, so that [he] may never forget what [he's] lost," in a bitter conversation with his superior. Likely not only just referring to the gnarled burn scars which adorn his visage—stripping him of any sort of visual genetic traits—but also in reference to how—with the near-constant colonization of his home country—Skull Face never truly had a home language; having been forced to learn new language after new language as his home country of Transylvania, later-Hungary was overcome with war and annexation.

I also feel that his upbringing served to be a great influence to the sort of 'character' he puts on; not only the metaphorical—and very literal—mask he wears upon himself to camouflage his deeper trauma or intent, but his manner of wardrobe and style, all the same. Of which consists of primarily dark, mute, and moody colors, underscored by the very clear Western influence that is present within his apparel, complete with a sort of 'Big Iron' of his own; a custom lever-action rifle, whose basis is said to have been upon that of the 'Mare's Leg,' a shortened rifle of the same caliber which is used by actor Steve McQueen's character, Josh Randall, from the television series, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,' which aired between 1958 and 1961.

Even outside of references to pop culture, there are even instances in-game—or, more particularly, between the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain—where third parties or flat characters acknowledge such a unique trait in regards to both Skull Face's unsettling appearance and his style. Even going so far as to, at some point, jokingly refer to him as "just a Republican"; likely not a jab at his intrinsic, terroristic nature, but in primary regards to his style, of which also leads Skull Face—within the very same context—to being described, wittily, as a "costume party."

In lieu with this very discernible influence to his style, and—by default—his identity, I could also reasonably come to the assumption that Skull Face likely intended to come across as some sort of lone-wolf, lone-ranger-type character. If we were to combine both his wardrobe's Western facets, and the very gloomy color scheme which was chosen to compliment it, it is no surprise that Skull Face is also regularly referred or compared to the Grim Reaper, as evident by the line of dialogue, "that grim reaper lookalike," present within Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Such comparisons being drawn may also be evident within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as well, outside of the otherwise humored dialogue which was present within its predecessor; in reference to the words Skull Face speaks—in Hungarian—to one of the diseased bodies within the Devil's House, before proceeding to shoot the party of reference in the head, "I accept your grace, your sorrow, unto myself. Rest in peace."

However, I firmly believe that it was due to Skull Face's own unapproachability—a neat splicing of his physical, mental, and tactical traits—which segue into those around him holding otherwise varying views about him at a first glance. The intentional and tonal differences and implications between "costume party" and "that grim reaper lookalike," as it were... as though his innate lack of identity is so misleading that those around him simply do not know what to make of him. Whether or not to take him seriously, or to take the piss out of his wardrobe. Even if it was more than likely that his actions spoke louder than his words.

STRENGTHS / VICES.

A core facet, and theme, of Skull Face's being—of which I believe to be both a strength and a weakness in its own rite—would be his undying, harrowing thirst for revenge, of which regularly reiterated and built upon within dialogue between himself and several of the game's characters, but whose interactions were most prominent around the likes of Big Boss, Venom Snake, and his superior, Major David Oh, all of whom Skull Face claims not to hold any animosity towards, despite his actions—in this case—speaking louder than his words. And, if anything, allows his thirst for revenge to overcome any kind of abstinence he could have exercised, and thus, resulted in his downfall.

However, despite this very clear flaw, it would be disingenuous to claim that Skull Face was a sloppy, uncoordinated individual, both in the flesh and in the battlefield. Even in his youth, it was said that he was quite competent in the realm of reconnaissance and espionage; particularly in the Soviet Union, where it is rumored that he was responsible for the death of Eurasian dictator Joseph Stalin, in an act which Skull Face sought as a means to have "gotten revenge for his people," for the erasure and destruction of his culture and first language, the blame of which already fell partly upon the Soviets, the fact of which likely emboldened Skull Face to have made such a move from the beginning.

This instance, alongside several others, helped to sow his otherwise terrifying reputation in the battlefield, with how discreetly and effectively he performed not only assassinations, but interrogations, as well; to the extent where any and all ethical concern was thrown completely out the window, as though his own moral bankruptcy knew zero bounds—even going so far as to resort to lechery—so long as he could 'fish out' the information he sought. Whether such a trait would be a strength, or a weakness, is up for your interpretation.

Such a harrowing presence in the battlefield—in particular regards to Skull Face's skills as both an assassin and spymaster—was what initially drew together both him and his future superior, Major David Oh, who found himself quite taken by not only the man's talents, but his outward appearance, in its own rite. Already having had a tendency to recruit oddballs, as they were... it seemed almost inevitable that the Major would later promote the man to be his very own Executive Officer; at the time, beneath the jurisdiction of the British Special Air Service, only to later resign and stem off into his own covert branch of operations beneath the American CIA — FOX. And tightly woven they appeared to remain, even as the Major's priorities begun to change.

One priority of which Skull Face grew to loathe, despite claiming to have not felt such antagonism towards the subject at all: Operation Snake Eater, or rather, how much time and energy the Major appeared to have put into the project, all the while treating FOX's covert support team, later turned strike force, XOF—of whom Skull Face commanded—as a little less than cannon fodder. Or, rather, perhaps Skull Face simply needed a character—or, rather, a kind of personification or physical manifestation of all he hated about language as a means of executive communication—to inflict his inward, aggregated spite upon. And Major Zero—given his English background, and his ploy to unify the world through information control—appeared to be the perfect scapegoat, despite Skull Face's seemingly heartfelt proclamation that, "[The Major] never left [him] to die," and that, "[he] owe[d] [the Major] [his own] life," upon concluding his interrogations of Paz Ortega Andrade. Yet another one of his own weaknesses on shameless, open display: his hypocrisy, of which is a recurring trait of his that is rather difficult to ignore.

This alone, the mere presence of the Major within his life—the grievous sense of revenge which lay dormant deep beneath Skull Face's bones, only to later take out upon this once-former superior—would prove to be both his greatest strength, and his greatest weakness. A strength, because of the sole fact that Skull Face was successfully able to 'pull the wool over Zero's eyes,' taking it upon himself to finish what his superior had begun so many years ago... but a weakness, for not only falling short of his genocidal goal, but being so foolish as to believe that the Major—a spymaster of his own caliber—simply didn't think to have a backup plan, let alone such a multitude of them, given how he'd already safeguards in place in the event that his XO betrays him. Such a flawed, heavy-handed means of underestimation eventually coming back to 'take an axe to Skull Face's knees'... literally.

However, despite all of his flaws, it is well-observed from a variety of angles and perspectives that Skull Face himself was a rather eccentric, charismatic character; a likely explanation as to how he grew to hold such unwavering influence over not just the mind of his own superior, or the minds of his very own unit, but entire regions of war-torn countries, as well. His unit of whom, while terrified of him, also looked up to him as a leader for both his tact and his efficiency. Of which was accentuated and amplified tenfold throughout the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as Skull Face appeared to pull every possible stop to put an end to Snake's life, even going so far as to deploy the world's first and only bipedal, self-operating weapon upon him. And, if Skull Face had gotten his way, the entire world would have likely crumbled before his knees, or died trying.

PHILOSOPHY / TRAGEDY.

If I were to describe Skull Face in theatrical terms—in all of his imperfections, trials and tribulations, his wrongdoings, and the actions of which he performed out of genuine good will, no matter how grotesque, bankrupt, or questionable—and if I were to place him upon a scale between both a theatric comedy, and a theatric tragedy, you likely already know which term I believe would best suit the progression of his life. Though, despite all of his quirks, it isn't as though anything within his life would have constituted as a comedy, anyways, even upon his very conception.

Every instance within his life, ever since his birth, appear to have done nothing but inconvenience him; tempting a deep, broiling hatred to stir within his soul... and thus, if I were to briefly put myself in his shoes, would it be incorrect or bankrupt to state that his anger was justified? Throughout the duration of his life, hand after hand, he'd been shown nothing but animosity by his fellow man, and thus grew accustomed to, or perhaps comfortable with the sensation of it; of both being resented and holding equal-parts resentment towards others.

Upon the violent, abrupt loss of his cultural identity, instead of simply losing his linguistic faculties, they were simply replaced. Replaced with a language of nukes, of spite and hatred towards the world and its inhabitants. A kind of sadistic nihilism, of which made no reservations for any sensations of hope. Of which he found to be nothing more than a survival skill—akin to mankind's tendency to try and predict events to better assimilate themselves with the unknowns of the world—and thus, did not regard it as important. Likely due to the fact that he himself had lost the ability to feel, and thus no longer held such anxieties about the world as his fellow man does.

Though, at the time of his inevitable death, as though to plead for one last kindness from a world which so abandoned, abused, and betrayed him, he was granted with a bullet to the skull upon request, thanks to the lingering, almost pitiful obedience of that of Emmerich. One of the few people which—even with his own unapologetic evils—Skull Face sought as nothing more than scum-of-the-Earth, impossibly lower beneath his own standards. The revelation of which brings me to believe that, even a man as lowly and morally-corrupt as Skull Face still cultivated some kind of moral superiority over others, and thus, likely viewed his own incentive as nothing more than him acting upon what he thought was right and just. Just as his superior, Zero, truthfully believed his acts of evil were simply an extension of his late friend's will, rather than a power grab. Rather than a simple, misunderstood exchange of words.

But, even after Skull Face's death, yet again he appeared as a phantom within Venom Snake's peripheral; Mother Base's own phantom pains never having eased, even after the object of their collective resentment had been purged from the Earth. And, given Skull Face's once-similar convictions towards those who dealt him a bad hand within his life, I truthfully don't believe that he would have ever been satisfied, in the end. As evident by his carefully-chosen words to Venom, as they encountered one another for the second time, "You hope hatred might someday replace the pain, but it never goes away."

With this, it is only fitting and appropriate that Skull Face's tragedy be recognized for what it is; a tale—doomed from the start—of an individual, tainted and torn from his elders from the very beginning, only to be excaberated upon as the years trudged by. Only to result in being downtrodden beneath the heavy rebar of a steel platform, begging for release... as though he hadn't spent the majority of his adulthood tormenting others, in a manner near-identical to how he himself was esteemed.

Because, as per the scholarly definition of a tragedy, Skull Face was nothing more than the architect of his own demise.

CONCLUSION.

To reiterate the material present within this analysis's thesis—of which already breached any sort of reasonable limit for thesi, and so I find I must at least attempt to reasonably cut back upon my own rambling—Skull Face as a character is most definitely not without flaw, within both an internal and external point of view. While a lot of his more unsavory, frankly cringeworthy traits may simply get passed off as nothing more than an error upon the writer's behalf, or as 'non-canonical,' I feel it is still important to acknowledge it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Given his broad, but very understandable controversies and vices within the fandom, do I believe that there should have been any chance of redemption or reconsideration in regards to mending his character, or at least in regards to how his most fatal flaws were executed? Yes, I do, without a shadow of a doubt. I find that the... particular manner within which he's written in his pilot is nothing short of shameful and grotesque, and that it all could have been handled with a lot more care and delicacy. Does this mean that the remainder of his character was handled with the same largess of sloppy carelessness? Not necessarily.

Were I in the position or shoes of the primary antagonist, would such a scenario bring me to better sympathize with or understand the perspective from which Skull Face comes? Perhaps not, as I can't say for sure whether or not I'd even hold the mental capacity to do, or want to do, so. Though, I wouldn't mind forming a sort of open discussion about the topic, so long as it is metered. I would prefer it if discussions surrounding this character remained appropriate, were they to occur, but I don't at all mind any sort of speculation / theorizing. In fact, I'm a sucker for it.

But, I digress, as problematic as he is, it is difficult for me to deny how taken I am by him and the dilemma which surrounds him. Perhaps that is simply the appeal; to bear witness to a kind of 'forbidden fruit,' from an outsider perspective, and to provide my insight as to what it truly means. To be unafraid to hold these discussions, and to provide my criticisms with utmost care, as opposed to simply 'dogging upon' and dismissing a character entirely, despite their flaws and strengths alike. As though the whole of the Metal Gear series isn't already bountiful with a plenty-problematic cast of its own.

After all, what could possibly be more problematic than a franchise whose main villains—and protagonists, in part—are war criminals? Such, as it is at this moment, shall be left up for debate, as that is simply another topic for another time. And I'm all out of time.

So, I want to thank @miz-orque for this very contemplative, but very controversial ask, of which I wanted to handle with as much care as I possibly could. So I hope this shall suffice.

[sillysniperart]

So um... I'm being brave today guys and I'm dropping some of my wip links

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Character Bio’s: Big Boss

MGS4 &MGSV: The Official Guide

Character Bio’s

Transcription under the cut by: Nate

*Nate Note: Yes, the only images for Big Boss’s bio in the MGSV guide are Venom Snake. This is fully intentional on the books part here.

In the top left-hand corner, there is a heading: Big Boss

There is a small square headshot of Big Boss in the left-hand corner of his biography, as well as a full-bodied render of him in his Metal Gear Solid V sneaking suit uniform alongside the right hand of the page, from the top to the middle of the page. In his left hand he’s holding one of the tranqulizer pistols, aimed slightly in the direction of his own chest, angled downwards. His left hand is unarmed and open. He is donning the red bionic arm that is standard to his in-game appearance.

The text reads:            

An American special agent, real name John (nickname Jack), though almost exclusively known by his military designation of Naked Snake in his early professional career, Big Boss was forced to assassinate his spiritual mother and mentor, The Boss during Operation Snake Eater in 1964. Though his promotion and new appellation were of little solace in the immediate aftermath, Big Boss ultimately embraced the title as he joined Major Zero and Ocelot (among others) to establish Cipher in 1970- a secret intelligence organization that would later grow and mutate to become The Patriots.

Though still a firm friend of the organization’s leader, Major Zero, during Cipher’s early days, Big Boss’s gradual estrangement from Zero and dissatisfaction with his methods- which he regarded as a betrayal of the message of liberty bequeathed to them by The Boss-caused him to distance himself from active involvement in the clandestine agency’s activities. He later left entirely after discovering tht Zero had commissioned a project dubbed “Les Enfants Terribles”- an initiative that involved the theft of Big Boss’s genetic material used to create three clones that would safeguard the reproductive legacy of a man regarded as the greatest soldier of all time.

After spending a few years on his own gathering a mercenary force and establishing Mother Base on an offshore platform, Big Boss had his first direct confrontation with Zero during the Peace Walker Incident in 1974. Zero used a specifically trained triple agent named Paz to infiltrate Big Boss’s ranks on Mother Base and steal Metal Gear ZEKE their proprietary nuclear deterrent designed by Huey Emmerich. Big Boss defeated the Cipher spy and rejected the offer from Zero that she delivered-that Big Boss rejoin the fold and have his mercenaries become Cipher’s military wing-without hesitation.

Skull Face ordered that Big Boss’s Mother Base be razed during the Ground Zeroes Incident in 1975, leading to the events that left Big Boss in a coma. Upon awakening in 1984, Big Boss rejoined his former second-in-command Miller to build a new Mother Base with a mercenary force (the Diamond Dogs) that would exceed the strength of the predecessor destroyed by Cipher. With Major Zero presumed to be out of the game completely, the primary antagonist that Big Boss faced during the timeframe is Skull Face. Zero’s traitorous former XO had successfully manipulated and exploited aspects of the global Cipher organization to prepare a grand, world-changing plan.

Big Boss ostensibly makes a remarkable physical recovery (scars, lost body parts and physical disfigurements notwithstanding) in the aftermath of his long-term coma, but his mental state is less assured. Though his personality and incomparable military expertise are seemingly unchanged, he regularly experiences visual disturbances and distortions, and even participates in outright hallucinations (such as the instances where he believes Paz to be alive and on Mother Base).

Ultimately, Big Boss aspired all along to create a “warrior’s utopia”, a nation of mercenaries free from government influence, whose sole purpose would be to develop their military strength without restriction. This is what he attempted to do by establishing the governments of Outer Heaven in 1995 and Zanzibar Land in 1999. His goal was to remain free from the control of the rapidly encroaching influence of Zero’s artificial intelligence system: The Patriots. In both instances, The Patriots send his clone “son”, Solid Snake, to foil his plans. Gravely wounded after their second clash in Zanzibar Land, the body of Big Boss was retrieved by The Patriots and maintained in a permanent state of artificial coma.

Raiden, with the assistance of other protagonists, was eventually able to reclaim Big Boss’s body. Reconstructed with organs and limbs harvested from the carefully maintained corpses of Liquid and Solidus, Big Boss was restored to life in 2014. Finally comprehending the true sense of his former mentor’s legacy, he took the opportunity to pass the message onto his son, Solid Snake. The two share a poignant connection, more as two soldiers than as father and son, before Big Boss chooses to die on the grave of the woman he had worshipped throughout his adult life.

In the mid left-hand corner, there is a heading that reads: BIG BOSS (alias: Naked Snake)

Beneath the heading there are two headshots. The first is a small square headshot of Big Boss as he appears with his eyepatch in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Below that is a larger upper-body headshot as he appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. He’s visibly aged with pure white hair and beard, wearing a suit and tan overcoat. The image cuts off around the upper chest region.

To the right of the images there is text.

The text reads:

Originally known as Naked Snake, he was forced during Operation Snake Eater to assassinate his spiritual mother. The Boss, thus, becoming even greater than The Boss and earning the title Big Boss. After he prevented a nuclear strike on the US in the 1970 San Hieronymo Incident, Big Boss joined Major Zero and Ocelot (the conspirators behind the aforementioned episode) to found The Patriots. However, though a firm friend of the organization’s leader, Major Zero, Big Boss’s gradual estrangement from Zero and dissatisfaction with his methods-seen as a betrayal of the message of liberty bequeathed to them by The Boss-caused him to leave the group.

After secretly (and illegally) reforming the elite FOXHOUND special forces unit (formerly under his command), Big Boss aspired to create a “warrior’s utopia” by overthrowing the governments of Outer Heaven, and, later, Zanzibarland. His goal was to free himself from the rapidly encroaching influence of The Patriots, and to create a nation defined by a charter of total liberty for all citizens. In both instances The Patriots sent his cloned “son” Solid Snake, to foil his plans. Gravely wounded after their second clash in Zanzibarland, Big Boss’s body was retrieved by The Patriots and maintained in a perpetual artificial coma. His unique genetic code and biometric data would later be used as the sole key to a sophisticated AI system conceived by Major Zero. Though initially designed to filter the digital era’s free flow of information, this system would later develop and manage the Sons of the Patriots program.

The text continues into another text box. The text reads:

EVA, with Raiden’s assistance, was eventually able to reclaim Big Boss’s body. Reconstructed with organs and limbs harvested from the corpses of Liquid and Solidus, Big Boss was restored to life in 2014. Finally comprehending the true sense of his former mentor’s legacy, he took the opportunity to pass this message onto his son, intentionally contacting the lethal FOXDIE virus during this brief, yet significant reunion, before dying on the grave of the woman he had worshipped.

[lunarrgoddess]

I love Solid Snake but like, whenever I'm trying to find a gif of him to send to my friends I'm like "Oh that's the perfect one!" To insinuate for instance him running, then I squint my horrible vision to look and I see a few chunks of metal sticking from his head and an eye patch and then I'm like "Oh that's not Solid Snake. That's a Big Boss right there." Or I see that it's got the older graphics and I'm like "Finally!" And then I have to guess whether it's Solid Snake in 2 or another Big Boss but from MGS3 based on what the background looks like. I think the only one I immediately recognize is Peace Walker Big Boss because that game's HD graphics look very stylized comparatively for some reason to me. Might be the muscle definition and thick beard on him though. Can't wait for that Metal Gear Solid 3 remake though, got some high hopes for it considering they're reusing the Metal Gear Solid 3 audio for it (So I have heard, I hope it is true. I wanna hear David Hayter Snake throughout the game, Keither Sutherland did a fine job in V, infact I think he was the first I heard, Ground Zeroes is what got me into the series, but after hearing Hayter Snake, it just sends the tingles up my spine.) so that should be a good sign. I got off topic, where was I? Right right, I like sending gifs of characters doing things as responses to stuff regarding the characters in things sometimes but it just is really difficult to find specifically Solid Snake gifs.

[italianjoe83]

The Most Secret Plot Twist in Gaming History: Punished "Venom" Snake's True Identity Mystery in Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain

The most secret plot twist in gaming history - Punished "Venom" Snake and Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre being one and the same person in Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain - was foreshadowed multiple times since (but not only...) Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker's Title Sequence (a Hideo Kojima game released in 2010 for the Sony PlayStation Portable originally planned to be titled "Metal Gear Solid 5: Peace Walker")

which shows this mirror breaking transition with two hidden butterflies (suggested play speed 0,25x) revealing - Chico Young volunteer in Snake's private army - the "Hombre Nuevo" chosen for Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid V Experience as its new main protagonist

(which includes P.T. Silent Hills Concept Movie with the Chico's head appearance...)

that was, and still is, believed by most of the audience and its english language speaking vocal minority in particular (also known as the "Metal Gear community") to have died in the final helicopter crash cutscenes from Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes showed in this video which was mirrored "for a special reason."

This crucial hint, hidden in plain sight, was secretly a direct reference left by the Metal Gear mastermind to be seen, and then revisited, only by those "good listeners" among his fans whose minds are still looking for the Truth behind the Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid V Experience in the future MGSV games released years after such as it occurs in this very pivotal moment from MGSVTPP's Episode 46 Truth The Man Who Sold The World ending cutscene when the main protagonist punches the mirror "...for a S-Special reason."

I highly recommend to read the not flipped text printed down below in this Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes' poster showing - Snake A former hero once known by the code name "Big Boss" - revealed during the Metal Gear Saga 25th Anniversary Party for the details...

The text "ƎЯƎH ꓘƆI⅃Ɔ" from Konami's Metal Gear 25th Anniversary Party Special Site was also flipped "for a special reason."

This crucial hint was also a tribute to Yuji Horii's Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken/The Portopia Serial Murder Case in which a butterfly is revealed to be a critical clue for the player trying to solve that mystery

which was one of the most influential games inspiring Hideo Kojima into starting his career as game designer

The original version for the NEC PC-6001 cassette tape data loader sound of Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken/The Portopia Serial Murder Case

was originally included in Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes' "Classified Intel Data" (timestamp 1:01:50)

and Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain's "Operation Intrude N313" cassette tapes as a clue to solve Punished "Venom" Snake's true identity mystery, the key to decipher the entire Metal Gear Solid V Experience's enigma

before being changed by the "Metal Gear Development Team" left in Konami after Kojima's departure from the company in October 9th 2015

with the MSX version of the original Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear game (here displayed during Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes boot camp held in Nasu on february 2014 in which the japanese game designer is "recreating a scene" from both his past and The Phantom Pain player's future...)

after being discovered by dataminers of the MGSVTPP pc version

in order to trying to keep hidden the most secret plot twist in gaming history before someone would have been able to find it...

...that someone was this online persona known by the username @ItalianJoe83 very long time ago (timestamp 1:41:50)

which social media activities including this video

weren’t, and are not, affiliated in any capacity with Konami Digital Entertainment like the spreading of this Google document

created and updated for years by Twitter user @HastatusAtratus

explaining in details all the issues still afflicting this Hideo Kojima's "social experiment" known as The Secret Nuclear Disarmament Event of Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain...

...which wasn't even mentioned in this DidYouKnowGaming's video and its description box about how Konami is still hiding Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain's Final Chapter from the entire playerbase since the game's release date...

...despite the fact I actually did asked to the author of this video @DrLavaYT (who asked me for my contribution after most of his video script was already finalized) to include @HastatusAtratus's username on top of the contributors list as he deserved but his name was nowhere to be seen and heard for some reason...

...and here's a now "Deleted User" Hung Horse's direct message reply to me on Discord in which he didn't just confirmed his awareness of this Google document existence but he also admitted to have took inspiration from Hastatus Atratus' monumental work into exposing Konami's agenda (way long before anybody else) for his group's activities...

...thus, everything else the audience is being shown and told in this DidYouKnowGaming's YouTube video outside from my contribution (which goes by timestamp 17:42 up to 18:26) should be considered as to being approved by/affiliated with Konami Digital Entertainment in official capacity before the final upload...

Note: this "Brain Structure" Episode #24 [ENGLISH] in which Hideo Kojima (voiced by Aki Saito) has a conversation with the Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre's japanese voice actress Kikuko Inoue may also cause some "conflicts" of massive magnitude with the "good listener's" "internal timeline" starting at 35:22 up to 36:56 in particular "for a special reason."

Be aware of all this facts while you're looking for the Truth on the r/AHideoKojimaRuse subreddit...

..."Hombre"

[callmearcturus]

i love backloggd, it enables me to unleash my ultimate pretentiousness

Metal Gear Solid (1998): ★★★★★

This game made me pretentious and queer, and I owe it a lot.

Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001): ★★★★☆

I don't know how this got made to be honest. So when people talk about Kojima as a brand all his own, I think it's important to understand that somehow, this pop culture philosopher military nerd got a triple A budget and used it to make art games. If you strip out the precision and polish and hours upon hours of voice acting from these games, the Metal Gear franchise would be most at home on itch.io with the other Esoteric Weird Games.

MGS2 is the pinnacle of that. Konami said "hey Kojima, here's an enormous budget and huge team, make a sequel to that game everyone likes" and Kojima said, "Sure but its going to be a game about how none of them really want a sequel to MGS1 and how such a thing is intellectually impossible," and Konami went, "whatever dude so long as it sells."

And boy howdy did it sell. And singlehandedly define the PS2 generation and its capabilities.

Anyway, four stars. BTW Snake and Otacon's handshake is the konami code.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004): ★★★★★

Despite not having Otacon, this still manages to be the best Metal Gear. Shocking, I know. But this one still feels genuinely affecting and like it's trying to say something profound. Like many Metal Gear games, MGS3 is a conversation, but its like the person talking to you is trying desperately to explain something just can't quite get the words to line up right. But you feel it! Emotionally, you understand.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) ★★☆☆☆

This game is one prolonged creator tantrum from Kojima. I can metaphysically feel Kojima sitting beside me and sighing as I continue to play. He's such a pissy little fuck with this one honestly. This game is a conversation, but it's a lecture. I love it. It's fucking terrible.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010): ★★★☆☆

This one is so solidly an emotional precursor to the actual trauma of MGSV, it's hard to measure it on its own story merits. I enjoyed it greatly, however a lot of it just feels like Kojima Productions flexing how much they can pull off with the PSP. The fact this game exists, that it's functional, that it pulls off everything it does, that the multiplayer works so well, that there are literally so many fucking mechanics the game is still lightly tutorializing you hours and hours into the story, it's incredible. How did they do this?

Like here's the thing about Hideo Kojima, is that in an industry that hemorrhages talent, Kojima has been actively making games since before 19fucking88. And it shows. Give him a talented team and he can make absolute goddamn magic. That is what really sets him apart.

And MGS:PW is not my favorite Metal Gear but it is the apex of that talent. This game is a flex.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014): ★★☆☆☆

ay yo hideo what the hell

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015): ★★★★★

I have no idea if I want to rate this 5 stars or 2, because it's flawed as hell. We have here maybe the apex of Kojima's weird uncomfortable sexism. We also have the apex of his gamecraft. It has sequences that are unearned and dreadful and make me frustrated, because Kojima, you asshole, I know you can do better! You gave us the Boss for god's sake, I know you got it in you!

But it also has maybe one of The Actual More Affecting Sequences In Metal Gear, with The Hospital Sequence. Not the opening one, the other one. Yeah.

There is so much here. To me, this feels like the final draft to MGS4's original conceit. The hugeness, the refinement, the emotional growth, the maturity of the themes. I said that MGS4 was like a creator tantrum. With MGSV, I feel like I'm in perfect sync with Kojima and the pathos he wants to lay out. In the same way MGS4 made me roll my dang eyes out of my head, MGSV works. For someone who has been influences by Metal Gear for most of my life, MGSV feels like… a moment of mutual respect.

Screw it, five stars.

[lambourngb]

This Hard Truth

Fic prompt: “Are you drunk?”

THIS HARD TRUTH picks up immediately after THIS HARD LIE, an AU that explores the changes to Roswell and Michael if Alex had decided to tell the Air Force to go pound sand. It’s not all roses. Also folks, not sure if I’ve said, but I’ve been writing these each day literally from scratch off an old vague outline I abandoned a year ago, and today’s the first one that I’ve struggled with, so there’s your warning. Once Michael Guerin Week is over, this is going to a beta and will find a home on AO3. Thank you for loving the raw story. 

****

The solid black Range Rover parked in front of his Airstream didn’t surprise Michael in the least. 

It had been three days since Jesse Manes had succumbed to his terminal cancer diagnosis, those final days silent under a steady morphine drip. The doctors were correct with their less than a month pronouncement which had left Michael with the uncomfortable position of hoping that Jesse was going to defy those odds. It was a win-win of extended suffering for a man who had earned that and it would have kept Alex in Roswell longer.

He had seen Alex exactly seven times since that first night at the Wild Pony, all of them casual spontaneous encounters that became less spontaneous after he’d learned the nursing rotation of Manes brothers and home care staff. He’d shuffled his jobs at the garage to leave openings in schedule and stopped eating at home during the nights he knew Alex would be free, emptying out his dining out jar. 

This was a species thing, he had reminded himself as a curl of guilt had started to squirm inside him at the level of low-key stalking he had done to see his ex. Between Max’s somber admission that he still could remember in crystal-clear detail the day Liz Ortecho touched his lip almost eight years ago in high school and the reaction one of Michael’s attempts at dating had to his story of showing up on Alex’s doorstep two years after a breakup with no warning, well he was aware this wasn’t a normal intensity. The date with wide eyes picking up their phone, even though it hadn’t made a noise, saying, “You seem like a nice guy, but I need to take this call, it’s probably work, we can try again some other time-”

That was the proper reaction to his story he learned, not nodding sagely like Max had and encouraging him to go in the first place.

Humans couldn’t calculate within a minute the amount of time they had recently spent with someone the way Michael could. It was a full commitment of energy to stay carefully friendly with Alex, to keep his alien focus under wraps even though he probably tipped his cards that day in Nashville. On his good days he told himself that Alex hadn’t called the cops on him because he’d been happy to see Michael and on his bad days, it was because he didn’t want the press. 

With Jesse Manes dead, Alex’s reasons for staying in Roswell were over. It was time to say goodbye to this small interlude of where Michael felt completely himself, brimming in mitochondrial buoyancy with every cell alive and sparking. Back to the cards of Hallmark blandness and the short notes of congratulations after a song does well.

Alex looked up from his casual sprawl in the lawn chair, his phone in hand, and smiled at Michael’s approach, “thought I might return the favor, and show up at your door unannounced. I gotta say, an Airstream at Sanders’ was not what I was expecting as Casa de Guerin.”

Suddenly aware of the dark stain of dirt staining his cuticles, Michael shoved his hands in his pockets as he strolled up to him. Everywhere he looked was a reminder of the divide, from the shiny Range Rover Sport to the smooth manicure and high-end clothing that wrapped Alex’s frame. “What did you expect then, bedroll in my truck again?”

“Whoa,” Alex stood up, pocketing his phone to hold his hands up harmlessly. “Sorry, that’s not what I mean, I was referring to the doctor boyfriend you’ve got. Most doctors I’ve met are about the trappings, it looks like you found a good one that likes you as you.” Alex’s smile wavered, “I’m happy for you.”

Now even more off-balanced, Michael sputtered, “wait, I don’t-”

“I’m less happy it’s Kyle Valenti, but I guess it’s possible he’s changed, or received a personality transplant-”

“Holy shit who have you been talking to?” He finally cut in, looking over his shoulder back to the office at the auto yard, half expecting to see Isobel being helpful. She had never quite forgiven Alex for finding happiness in Nashville, and it would be just like her to spin a version of events to make Alex jealous. As if that was possible, even in a universe where Michael was capable of being a Stepford boyfriend worthy of a doctor, nothing compares to the life Alex has built without him. Not even zero-percent body fat doctors who did know quite a bit of anatomy. The mention of Kyle did remind Michael that he hadn’t heard very much from him since that last night shortly before Alex had rolled into town. “We’ve seen each other a few times now, Alex, I would have told you if I had a boyfriend. Anyway, Kyle has changed, but he’s not- we’re weirdly enough friends.”

A pang of longing shot through him at seeing Alex arch his eyebrow at him in judgment. “That is not what Maria says, or Arturo, or Old Man Sanders for that matter.”

“Well, they are wrong.” Michael said firmly, stepping around Alex leaving a careful amount of space as he flipped open the lid of his cooler for a beer. “It’s not like that okay? I don’t have a Dennis and a dog in my life, it’s casual and fun but nothing more.”

“I wish I was sad about hearing that, but I’m not.” 

Michael paused in the middle of popping the cap off his bottle, “Wow, thank you.” That stung more than he was expecting to hear that Alex was happy he was alone. Fame and fortune really did change people. Swallowing the lump in his throat, “Listen, I’ve loved seeing you Alex, and the less said about your dad the better, so thanks for coming by to say goodbye and eh, enjoy Nashville,” he grabbed the knob on his Airstream door to flee.

A hand covered his, keeping the door firmly closed against the frame. Michael cursed his species for the thousandth time as the touch sent waves of weakness through him. Alex leaned in close, too close for just friendly words, “Wait, that came out wrong.”

“Did it?”

“Yes,” Alex stated firmly. He held onto Michael’s hand, stepping into the space between them to block the retreat into the Airstream. This was the closest they had been to one another in four years, not since that last fight the morning before Alex’s flight east that ended with fucking on a bare mattress after Michael had packed their sheets for Alex to take. “Coming back here, seeing everyone, um, seeing you, it reminded me of who I was before I became this guy,” he gestured at his clothes and back toward the expensive car vaguely. “I’ve got all these things now, useless things, that when I look in the mirror, I see my dad, a guy who cared more about a uniform than he did his own kids.” 

“Alex, you could never be him, I don’t care if you become more famous than McCartney, it’s just not possible.”

Whatever Alex saw on his face made him shake his head gently in response, “I don’t get it, you still look at me like you did when we were dumb kids surviving on ramen, like nothing’s changed at all.” 

“Nothing has changed for me,” Michael insisted firmly, bringing the open and almost forgotten beer to his lips. A merger shield to employ. It was pretty clear that nothing ever would and that was his reality. It was as true now as it was when he had borrowed a guitar from the music room at seventeen. “But you knew that already, that’s why we broke up, remember? Things were changin’ for you, you were goin’ to bigger places than Roswell, and that’s a good thing. A great thing even.”

“I know. You should know that I’m not going back to Tennessee right now, Michael.” 

“What?”

“There’s no Dennis, I mean, not anymore. That kinda fizzled out after your visit, and the dog was his,” Alex kept his hand over Michael’s, slowly moving it up to circle his fingers around his wrist, “I do miss the dog, she was sweet.”

“Your house-” Michael started, his pulse back to pounding senselessly in his ears.

“That was mine but I sublet it to a guy I know who’s doing session work at the studio while I was here. I just let him convert the sublet into a lease.”

“And your agent?”

“Dealing with the fact I’m taking my first sabbatical in four years,” Alex finished smoothly, an answer ready for every disbelieving question that Michael could muster about his house and life. He took a step back, as if he was suddenly aware of how he had crowded him against the warm metal door of the Airstream.

There was just one question left to ask though, as Michael studied Alex’s face intently. The transparent way his eyes kept flickering from the beer bottle against Michael’s mouth and then away. “If you’re not here to say goodbye to me, then why are you here?” he asked challengingly, raising his beer back to his mouth to finish with a full lipped suggestive swallow.

Gauntlet dropped and accepted as Alex surged forward to press Michael against the door and kiss him. The glass bottle dropped uselessly to the ground, glancing off the metal steps as Michael reached behind him to turn the knob quickly. He stepped backward, letting Alex crowd him through the doorway, chasing his mouth hungrily.

The metal door slapped hard against the door jamb, as Michael fell back on his mattress. 

Alex gulped audibly for air from the break, pulling back to tug off his v-neck shirt over his head and then stilled as he took in the state of Michael’s small bed. His eyes widened, scrutinizing the setup and Michael had to look away in embarrassment, knowing exactly what Alex had just recognized. “You goddamn liar! When I said I didn’t want our sheets to take with me, you said you were going to burn them!”

“Yeah, well, it seemed wasteful.” 

Michael leaned back on the thin mattress, ripping his own shirt off to toss carelessly on the floor. He watched as Alex reached down to unbutton his pants. The yellow light from the trailer window brushed a gold glow of Alex’s half naked torso. He drank in the small, subtle changes in Alex’s body, like the corded strength in his torso that spoke of some sort of workout. Probably yoga or dancing maybe. The playful outrage on Alex’s face slowly changed over to a dawning realization as he took in the details of the small and cramped surroundings.

This was why Michael never brought anyone back here.  All around were the skeleton remains of that first apartment together. The same dishes in the tiny sink. The same cheap poster advertising Warp Tour was taped to the back of the wooden built-in dresser. The same stupid classic car clock that Alex had brought home, after Maria had bought the Wild Pony and upgraded the decor, all because the cars reminded him of Michael.

Everywhere in the Airstream was some piece of memorabilia from those three years together. It was as close to a shrine to their relationship that Michael could build without setting out candles and a full altar.

“Holy shit, you really do love me.”

“Uh, yeah,” Michael rubbed at the back of his head ruefully, before laying back to accept Alex’s warm weight over him. He closed his eyes as Alex kissed him, turning his head upward as those long, musician fingers tangled in his hair. Gasping softly, he confessed, “Never did figure out how to stop.” 

“My dad was wrong, I mean, I knew he was- but he was so convinced that your species weren’t capable of it-” Alex stopped abruptly, aware almost immediately that Michael had gone rigid under him. 

Dimly Michael realized that Alex was still talking but nothing registered after ‘your kind’. It was subterfuge earlier, when Alex joked that first night about his father being a lunatic lost in the ravages of a brain tumor. He believed Jesse, worse he seemed to know that Jesse was right, that Michael was different. 

Cool palms cupped Michael’s face, pulling him away from his spiraling thoughts. Any hope of laughing off the response was gone with the serious look in Alex’s eyes. “Hey. I don’t care, okay? You are still the first person, hell the only person, I’ve ever loved completely. Where you came from doesn’t matter to me. I know who you are-”

“And you know what I am.”

“Yes.”

*** 

Michael stared up at the ceiling of his trailer not daring to look sideways at Alex, who was pressed as close he could get against Michael on the narrow bunk. After a soft acknowledgment that he knew that Michael wasn’t alone, that he’d figured out that Max and Isobel had to be the same even though his father had died believing only Michael was an alien, Michael told him everything. 

The crash, the pod, the years in the system, the knowledge that he was different and the fear that came with that knowledge. The fact he has powers, that they all do. The joy he had in finding Max and Isobel again at eleven even though he didn’t trust why he felt that way toward them. Then the vow they had made for absolute secrecy. “Not even Noah knows about Isobel, and they’ve been married four years now.”

“And Max? He never told anyone either?”

“His partner knows Jenna Cameron but that wasn’t planned. They were driving back to the station after a long circuit patrol for speeders and got caught up rescuing some people from a flash flood. The Berrendo. Cam got hit by a tree branch, femoral artery, and yeah, Max healed her. No one saw him because it was a dark night, but healing leaves a handprint. Impossible to deny it.”

Alex ran his hand absently through Michael’s chest hair, soothing them both. “It was a relief when my dad had Flint show me the evidence.”

“A relief?” Michael joked weakly, his mouth twitching upward in the effort. “Low key worried now that learning I’m an alien was a relief to you.”

“I thought the novelty of being with me had worn off. I mean, my choice after telling the Air Force to fuck off was starving to death or splitting expenses with you for rent. I figured after 3 years, you were ready to move on, so you let me go.” Alex reached up to cover Michael’s mouth with his palm briefly. “I know how that sounds, but you have to understand, before you? No one had ever loved me. My mom left when I was eight. I mean, maybe my older brothers did for a bit when I was little and cute? At least until I was thirteen and my dad started singling me out. He would kick my ass in front of them, daring them to protest, and they didn’t. I didn’t even love me.”

“Alex,” Heartbreak was in every syllable. “I never wanted to let you go-”

“I know, I’m just saying, I could finally believe it when Flint handed me a piece of a 70-year-old spaceship.”

“Dropping in on you with no warning a couple of years ago wasn’t a clue?”

Alex pursed his lips together, and laid his head on Michael’s shoulder. “Honestly I had spent two years telling myself that you didn’t give a shit, and then when you showed up, I thought it was because I was making a name. All sorts of people come out of the woodwork when the first taste of fame comes along. Then you confused me, because you left and started sending me these terribly boring greeting cards.”

“Fuck off, I spent forever picking out those cards,” Michael protested with a laugh. “I was trying to show you that I had chill, that I wouldn’t boil a bunny or stalk your social media.”

“Well you succeeded, I did keep all your cards though. It might have been a factor for Dennis moving out,” Alex joked in return before sobering with a tired sigh, “but little did you know, the real stalkers here were my family. Ever since 1947, a Manes man has been tasked in protecting humanity from your kind, starting with my great-grandfather Harlan, and ending with my brother Flint.”

Michael echoed the sigh, tucking Alex closer to him. The idea of the government, especially the United States Military, believing in aliens was enough to send his pulse rattling upward with fear. Every fear made real. 

“On the bright side, my dad is dead, so that’s one less Manes hunting you.”

“What’s the other side?”

“I thought my brother was in Germany except he’s been stateside for the last five years working with my dad. He’s a weapons expert, and he’s so important to the project that the military forwarded his mail to Germany for the proper postmarks.”

“Well fuck.”

*** 

The next day, Michael took a rare sick day from work and guided Alex out to the desert to the cave to show him the pods, where his story had begun according to his memory. Then it was Alex’s turn for show and tell, as he directed Michael to the abandoned air base.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get in, but Flint calls it Project Shepherd. It was Dad’s center of operations in Roswell. He tapped into all the traffic cameras and even planted one on the gate to Sanders’ Auto,” Alex explained as he stepped out of his Range Rover. “You fixing cars must have bored the shit out of him.”

Weeds and scrub grass covered the broken pavement of the air base, lending to the air of disuse. The huge metal hangers covered the expanse, the domed tin roofs punctuated the horizon like a scattered group of D’s. Michael scanned the surroundings, a feeling of disquiet and dread filling his veins. It was probably the height of foolishness to visit a top secret bunker with only the company of a musician as back up, even if he did have the last name of Manes.

A dark shadow caught his eye, and frowned as he realized that they weren’t the only ones on sight. A familiar dark blue BMW was parked off to the side, mostly hidden by a building named B unimaginatively. As he crossed the parking lot with Alex a step behind, skipping over the broken slabs of paving markers, he drew to a halt in front of an open door.

Michael started forward, but Alex slapped his hand over his arm to halt him, “you should let me go first-”

“What, no!”

“I’m human, what if there’s some sort of anti-alien trap down there?”

“And you’re human, so what makes you think you’ll trip it?” Michael shot back reasonably, shaking off Alex’s hold. “If there’s a trap, I’m the one with the lock pick in my brain, besides, I think I know who’s down there.”

“This is like every bad horror movie, Michael.” 

But outside of that pronouncement, Alex let him take the lead down the stairs of the open bunker into the cool shadows of the underground facility. As expected, he made it down uneventfully and found exactly who he expected at the bottom, spinning around in a slow circle in a leather covered office chair.

“Did you know they’re selling a shirt at Planet 7 that says ‘I’ve been probed by an alien’? I should buy it, because I can wear it unironically,” Kyle greeted as Michael made it to the bottom of the staircase. He shut his mouth comically as he realized that Michael wasn’t alone, “Whoops, did I just blow your secret like I’ve blown you?”

In Michael’s experience with Kyle, working the almost-friends and all-benefits angle, he had seen him in a lot of states. Worn out from a long shift at the hospital, solemn because he’d lost a patient, giggly because of Michael’s tendency toward wild bedhead, horny strangely because of a good football game, and finally tipsy after a pair of IPAs. He had never seen Kyle in this state.

“Are you drunk?” Michael asked, disbelievingly even though there was a mostly empty bottle of bourbon on the long conference table, stretching along the width of the room under the fluorescent lights.

“I am very drunk. That is the only sane response to my dad, I mean my day, actually I had that right the first time, my dad.” Kyle nodded vigorously before looking over Michael’s shoulder, “Hi Alex Manes. I’m sorry I was a homophobic jackass in high school. I have really changed. Ask your ex. Or is it current? Am I the ex now? Are we both Michael’s ex? Exes? Fuck is that plural or possessive-”

“You are definitely an ex now,” Alex answered firmly.

“Holy shit you are wasted,” Michael shook his head, slightly amused in spite of the deep alarm he felt in finding Kyle Valenti deep in the command center of an alien hunting operation. It was hard to feel too afraid considering the words pouring from Kyle’s mouth unedited. 

“Listen I changed myself okay? I did the hard work examining my privilege and my toxic masculinity. I did it because I like sucking dick, but also because my dad is a good person and I wanted to make him proud. But I was fucking wrong. Not about sucking dick, that’s great, but my dad, he’s not good, Michael, he is really not who I thought he was.” Kyle pronounced seriously with the heavy emphasis of the inebriated. He staggered over to a computer system to press a key, pulling up a surveillance camera of a nondescript building on the set of command monitors. “He runs an alien GITMO,” the outside image clicked over, showing a line of cells, including an image of an all-too familiar man, “And he had Jesse Manes killed by an alien.”

[ageofxail]

Under the Read More are details of my characters & their pets for a commission. VERY LONG POST! Click at your own risk.

Noel Thames Mercer. (FC: Ioan Gruffudd, as seen in Horatio Hornblower, Forever, Amazing Grace, Harrow) Representative of England. A somber, quiet fellow rarely seen to smile and never without a book in hand. Wears his hair like the first photo, dresses akin to the final larger photo. He does have long hair, which is worn in a low ponytail, often pulled over his shoulder.

He does use an arm cane, like this one pictured below. It should be featured in both his promo and pixel art photos! 

Playlist for this character:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFWnGVhNaCQitOZrkwk51-F-chnwPdrjX

Daniel Aleksander King. (FC: Aidan Turner, as seen in Poldark (2015), And Then There Were None, Resonance, Being Human). Representative of (Corporate) America. Extremely bougie man, spends money primarily to show off his wealth. Curly hair, wears a black yarmulke for formal occasions. I'd like him to be wearing a suit and bowtie for the promo pic, and a peacoat/jumper for the pixel piece. The scar seen in the first small picture is present in modern day!

Here’s a playlist of songs that meet his “air” :

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFWnGVhNaCQhI0Ystha_z3ynftmAX2mhl

Jonas Emmanuel Federer (FC: Mark Seibert, as seen in Elisabeth: Das Musical, Mozart!, and Schikanaeder;; These are difficult to find many references for, as he is primarily a theatre actor with very few on screen appearances. Let me know if you need help finding reference photos for him!) Representative of Switzerland. Hairstyle is very consistent throughout each appearance. Usually dresses in semi-casual; collared shirts and nice jeans, hiking shoes on the regular. He is a percussionist, and a member of Topsekret Drum Corps (Link to a TSDC performance! They’re REALLY good!). He’s very serious and usually the first to lodge a noise complaint. One thing that does make him melt is really good music-- much to his annoyance.

Song that best encapsulates Jonas:

(In English) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtfMWOy3780 // (In german, from the Musical Mozart!, with subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWQz24Omoig

Sir Nicholas William of the House of Grey, (FC: Ben Whishaw, as seen in The Hollow Crown: Richard II, and Bright Star) Representative of Medieval England. Extremely playful and loyal to the crown, very little in the world means more to him than devotion to his job and playing pranks. In modern day, he is no longer attuned to the passage of time and hides himself away in the Tower of London with his raven, where he pretends as if it is still the 15th century. His clothing would consist of robes and simple, hand-made things. The beard should appear in his promo photo, but be reduced to stubble in the pixel art.

Playlist for Nicholas:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK_2xRaQF2rWo6eic8cMSD_MPB7MihRER

Bradley Marion Walker-Rhodes (FC: Ansel Elgort as seen in The Fault in our Stars, Baby Driver, West Side Story) Representative of Tennessee. Carefree as hell! Zero worries in the world! He is all about fixing up old cars (He’ll have an oil stain on any and every shirt he owns from checking engine oil levels!), playing music, and having a good time. World’s worst “secret” agent because, despite working for the CIA, he is completely honest and incapable of telling a lie. Lives Hannah Montana-style double life as “The Phantom of the Grand Ol’ Opry.” He’ll wear a flannel shirt, jeans, and a cheap pair of sneakers.

PLaylist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK_2xRaQF2rV09Sk158Vx_Uqbo-pRvuWd

Gabriel Epharim Hill (FC: Christian Bale as seen in Newsies, 3:10 to Yuma, and Psycho) Very friendly, loves horses and neat rocks. He’s never without a good pair of hiking boots, a nice camera, and a backpack to take home neat things he finds along exploring his state’s National Parks. He will absolutey wear a t-shirt that says SL, UT on it and have some kind of image of the Delicate Arch on his person, usually via a metal pin. He keeps himself clean shaven, but doesn’t put a TON of effort into styling his hair unless he’s doing something formal -- such as posing for a nice portrait. He is Daniel’s son!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a playlist for Gabriel lined up just yet, but the band F.U.N. is pretty good at capturing his air.

Now onto the animals!The first three dogs belong to Noel

Brighton Bay Bard is a wheaten Norwegian Buhund with a faded black mask. He’s only 6 months old! His favourite toy is a blue silicon anchor with a tug rope attached. I’d like to have him play bowing and holding said anchor toy!

Eyepatch is an elderly Dalmatian with solid black ears, heavy spotting, and a dark patch around her left eye -- hence the name. She is extremely serious and alert. A position similar to the first photo would be ideal!

Faerie is a white factored sable Rough Collie with her markings on her backin roughly the shape of a fairy’s wings. She is extremely curious and friendly! A raised tail and head tilted to the side should be seen, otherwise very relaxed body stance.

Eleanore is a mostly solid black Raven, with a white marking on her chest in roughly the shape of a crown. I’d like her to be holding a strawberry! This is Nicholas’ favorite raven.

Zeiger is a very atheltic White Swiss Shepherd (should be slightly bulkier than a typical German Shepherd, with a less pronounce curve to his forehead, and shorter, rounder ears). I’d like him to be trotting, ideally in a “Flying Trot” (The point of a  shepherd’s gait where all four feet are off the ground) -Jonas’ dog.

Kitty the English Foxhound is just as playful and un-serious as Bradley. Her tail is always a blur she’s so delighted to see a new person or catch a whiff of something to eat!

Skywalker is Daniel’s extremely shy bat-eared shelter cat, most likely an Oriental Shorthair mix. Her fur is thin and her whiskers are surprisingly long and her purr is loud enough to shake furniture. 

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 16

It was hard to take his eyes off the contraption attached to his wrist.

The Hi-Def was a tiny computer that was held to him with a comfortable canvas and leather wristband; the screen was two inches square, sleek and shiny, and edged with a polished steel casing.  The device had two small buttons on one side but, as Eli was demonstrating, the majority of the computer's functions were controlled either by touching the screen, poking at the hard light projection that came from the screen, or using voice commands.  So far the only button function he knew how to set whether the device operated exclusively with screen-touched commands, hard light commands, voice only, or any combination of any of them; that had been the first thing Eli had taught them, even before they'd finished the elevator ride down.

They were now all gathered within the facility, standing together around a computer console on what they considered the "ground" floor (which was the bottom-most floor the main access elevator could reach) and on the monitor was a larger image of the Hi-Def's screen.  Eli was frequently switching between projecting out of her own Hi-Def and using the computer monitor, depending on what she was instructing them to do - it was a lot easier for them to see on the larger monitor than it was in the projection without crowding one another. ((Continued below cut))

"So here," Eli said, gesturing with her free hand at the monitor, "is the communications panel.  You can set up a quick-response voice command to open it without needing to manually navigate here in the same area for all the other voice commands I showed you earlier.   It's fairly self explanatory on this landing page -- you can see the list of Hi-Defs in range here.  I've already programmed in the "names" of your Hi-Defs, using your names, to make it easier."

Asher looked down the list and could see his name along with Eli, Arlo, Sam, Remington, Adam, Mali, and Gale's name was there as well (though Gale wasn't presently in the room with them - his name was outlined in bright red).  There seemed to be loads more empty spaces left but he knew Eli had only made nine of these so far...she must have thought ahead and programmed with the intent of making more in the future.  Neat.

"I've set it so, by default, it'll always broadcast to all Hi-Defs within range.  If or when I ever add more to the network I'll start programming in some set group defaults but for now we don't need that."  Eli turned away from the screen briefly and rapidly navigated to the communication page on her own Hi-Def, then set it to project into the air in front of her.  "If you aren't wanting to talk to everyone all at once you can select a specific person or group from the default list, or create your own personalized groups of people -- and, like everything else, you can set up voice commands to get here quicker.  Anyway..."

He watched as she reached out and "tapped" (it was so weird to be tapping on light that was solid...) Arlo's and Sam's name, which highlighted them in a bright green.

"So I've got my recipients selected," Eli said, smiling a bit as they turned toward Sam and Arlo - her voice was coming out of their Hi-Defs now (it was a weird effect hearing her from multiple places at once).  "All you have to do then is just talk.  It's pretty decent at picking up your voice even if your hand is down at your side as well as filtering out background noise but there's still a chance other things might be heard through it so be mindful of that.   You can adjust your incoming and outgoing volumes here-" she indicated a double pair of up and down arrows, "-and there's an element of proximity when it comes to outgoing broadcasts." She raised her wrist to her mouth then.  "If you need to be very quiet, for example," she went on in a bare whisper, "just get it closer to your face if you can."

Asher couldn't hear the words coming from her lips but could hear her clear as day coming through on Arlo and Sam's Hi-Defs - a whisper that was coming through at a normal volume.

Eli then reached out to tap Arlo's and Sam's names again, returning them to the dull tan color they'd been before she'd selected them, then demonstrated sliding both incoming and outgoing volumes down to zero.  "If a Hi-Def is out of range the name will be in red and if you try to select it it'll give you its best estimate as to how far away you are from being in range.  This will be based on the last time you WERE in range, so it's not going to be completely accurate -- normally these would be tethered to a satellite and could give you measurements down to the inch but we're in short supply of those.  One thing to keep in mind for the future is even if we get all the signal towers up there may still be areas where you're considered out of range because the signal can't reach. Places like being in deep valleys or underground, or if you're somewhere there's a lot of metal or 'things' between you and the towers like trees, dirt, concrete... Again, wouldn't be much of a problem if we had satellite support too but we'll have to make do."

"Can these be accidentally turned on?" Asher asked.  He waggled his wrist slightly.   "I'm not going to start broadcasting my snoring if it turns on while I'm asleep?"

Eli shook her head.  "Accidentally?  No. It can detect heart and respiration rates so if you hit a certain threshold it'll assume you're asleep or unconscious and will disable all outgoing broadcasts and turn on a tracking indicator.  If I NEED to I can turn the outgoing back on from here-" she patted a hand on the computer console "-so we can get audio of your surroundings, assuming you're within range.  Incoming broadcasts won't be muted if you're asleep or unresponsive however."

"Neat. Can we set up alarms on this thing?"

"You mean to wake yourself up, or to alert others?"

"Both?"

Eli pointed to a spot on the projection that had a large exclamation point on it.  "That there will send out a distress signal by default if you double tap on it.  If you press and hold..."  She jabbed it with a finger and held it there; the button flashed from red to yellow, then expanded out into a new menu that was overlaying the communication page.  "It opens up this secondary menu where you can set up custom ones with your own messages and sounds.  If you're looking for an alarm clock that's in the clock and calendar functions."

"Wait, you said there's a tracking indicator?" Arlo interrupted.  "Even if we're asleep?"

She nodded.  "Yes. There's no way for these to tell the difference between sleep and unconsciousness so a tracking indicator will turn on no matter what."

"That's...a bit weird, isn't it?" Sam asked, looking between her Hi-Def and Eli.  

"Is it?" Eli asked.  "I know where you all live so I already know roughly where you sleep."

"...true," Sam replied.  "I guess it's not so weird when you put it that way.  Does it track you any other time?"

"Not automatically, and it's not something that just anyone would've or will have access to," Eli answered.  "I can, from either this computer or my Hi-Def, track any of you at any time.  Normally I'd have no reason to and there were really, really, REALLY strict rules on how and when you could use the tracking function and, if we were back in my time, you could be thrown in prison if you were found to have misused or abused access to it.  It's meant to be a safety feature - if someone goes missing or silent unexpectedly I can look to see where you are and if need be we can head out to do a rescue."

"So not everyone will have access to the tracking thing but will WE have access?" Asher asked, gesturing to everyone standing about.  "It's not much use if you're the only one who can and you're the one who goes missing."

"I'm giving you all permission to do so but only from here," Eli said, patting the top of the computer.  "It's another security thing - if someone takes you out and gets your Hi-Def we wouldn't want them figuring out how to track the rest of us - which is also why I want you all to definitely set up the voice lock command like I showed you.   That'll minimize the risk even further."

"Could Paulina do the tracking if asked?" Sam asked then.

Ha...Paulina.  Pauline's successor, in a way.  Technically Paulina was an altered copy of Pauline that didn't need a name (because it wasn't a living AI) but they'd all agreed to renaming the working console just so they could refer to it and have everyone know exactly what was being discussed. Paulina ran both the computer as well as all of their Hi-Defs - one big copy of Pauline and nine more tiny ones.

"Yes, and no," Eli finally replied.  "I'd have to program her to be able to do that.  As of right now no, that's not something I have her set up to do because of all the variables that would have to go in to it.  She SHOULD, in theory, be able to do it just fine since Pauline tracked people within the facility but there'd be a difference between the check point sensors and signal towers that -- well.  I'm not going to get into the technical aspect.  Let's just leave it at 'yes, possibly' for now."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sam nodding, looking satisfied with that answer; he looked up again as Eli turned back to the computer.

"A couple other things here - this button will mute your outgoing, double tap it to quickly mute both incoming and outgoing, and then double tap it again to unmute them.  This one here opens the menu to set up your own communication groups.  Press, hold, drag and drop, then hit the title bar here and either verbally or manually name it.  When you do that it'll appear here..."

Asher watched as she backed out of the new menu and landed back on the main communication page, then she gestured at a smaller button that had what looked like a capital V on it; when she poked at it another menu opened and it had blank text fields on it that looked identical to the ones on the main page.

"This is where your created groups will be stored - like with individuals you can set up quick or verbal commands to broadcast to a group."  She let them all get a good look at it then closed it, and then quickly flipped all the way back to the main screen of the Hi-Def.  "That's all for now - don't want to overload you all with information.  Feel free to play around with it, there's nothing you can do to these that I can't reverse."

Remington tapped a few fingers against his screen.  "How sturdy are these things?  I'm worried I'll scratch or break it somehow."

Eli chuckled.  "You'll probably break the casing its in before you actually damage the screen.  I don't have access to the alloys the casings were originally made out of so they're not quite as indestructible as they used to be. -- but don't get me wrong, breaking them IS a possibility, just not a very high one.  You don't need to treat them like spun glass but also don't be using them as hammers or whatever - just wear them normally like you would any other article of clothing and you'll be fine." As she spoke she set the computer into a stand-by mode; the screen went black but not the dark black that indicated it was powered off entirely - that had been another concept to get used to...a "black" that still put out light.  

"So...how do we start mapping Portia?" Asher asked after a pause.  "This thing has some sort of scanning function, right?"

She nodded at him.  "It does but we're not going to worry about that right now.  We only have two signal towers up at the moment - the one here attached to the elevator platform that's interfacing with the working sensors in the facility and one that Selene attached to the schoolhouse's roof that currently is too far away to communicate with anything here but will still work if YOU all are within its range.   Until we get the other towers up and figure out how to power them you'll be relying only on your onboard storage and, when it comes to mapping, that's not going to count for much because the data that generates the maps -- ...ok, again, not going to get technical, but suffice it to say that it won't be possible until we get the entire thing up and running."

"Gotcha," he replied.  Honestly he was most looking forward to the mapping part...it'd give him an excuse to pick a direction and start walking during those times he wasn't on guard duty.

Asher had been born in Ethea and raised in Highwind; in a few ways Portia reminded him of Highwind - of home - so he assumed that was probably why he liked it here so much, and why he was itching to go poke around.  All the wide open spaces, the beach access and harbor, the neighboring desert...all of it was something he'd been hoping he'd get a chance to fully explore before he had to go back to the Pigs's headquarters in Lucien.  Now that he was carrying a Hi-Def it seemed like he had a really good reason to stick around even longer - once he'd helped get this spy problem under control he'd then be free to help map out Portia and the surrounding region, and then if these things got expanded across the continent...

Eh, well.  He shouldn't get ahead of himself.  The only reason he even had one was because Eli had the parts to build it; they could cover the continent in the needed signal towers but that wouldn't make more Hi-Defs appear out of thin air.  And if expansion was out of the question then he probably wouldn't get to take his Hi-Def out of Portia -- and even if he wanted to keep it and leave there'd be zero reason to since all the useful stuff he was excited over wouldn't work once out of range of the signal towers.

He tapped his screen to turn it off and looked around; the others were fiddling with their Hi-Defs and Eli was still sitting on a stool next to the main computer console - she didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone or anything in particular at the moment though she had one hand resting idly across her own Hi-Def's screen.

After a few breaths she looked up suddenly and met his eye - must have sensed he was looking at her, or something. "When do you think the rest of the towers will be up?" he asked.

She took a moment to consider, then shrugged.  "Hard telling.  Selene is having to make molds and cast some parts, then we'll have to test strength and durability.  We could technically make do in the short term but we can't guarantee we can dig up the right parts forever.  And I'd rather not have to dismantle a ton of things," she added after a moment, waving a hand around herself to indicate the facility.  "I'd like to...actually utilize this place.  Don't know what for just yet but..." She fell silent then offered up another shrug.  "We were always taught to use whatever we had at hand if things went south...I'm as far south as someone can get but it feels like tearing my own house down.  I want to keep this place standing - find a reason to bring life back to it."

"Maybe as a school?" Remington offered, without looking up from his Hi-Def.

"Nah.  We're moving Stewart to the clinic, remember?"

Now Remington did look up.  "I remembered, yeah, but medical stuff isn't the only thing folks could learn."

Asher looked between the two of them as they spoke and was able to watch the slow progression of Eli's expression from confusion to a guarded curiosity.

"What do you mean?" she went on finally.

"Well..." Remington started, drawing out the word as he closed all the menus he was perusing.  "You're teaching all of us some ranger things, and fitness and strength training.  And you know all about the Old World since you lived in it.  I bet people would flock from all over the continent to meet and learn from you."

Eli's expression went neutral.  "True.  But I'm not exactly a school teacher.  I'm a soldier, and I imagine your church would have more than a few things to say about my teaching anyone on a large scale."

"They don't hold any authority within Portia or the rest of the Free Cities," Arlo said into the brief pause that followed.  "They can hold all the opinions they want but they'd be inviting a lot of trouble if they tried directly interfering in a town's business or with their citizens."

Eli shrugged again.  "Even still, I'd rather not kick the proverbial hornet's nest.  Just because they don't have authority doesn't mean they can't or won't try something, whether that "something" is them riling up the populace against me or directly taking action to remove me from the picture - which is what would have happened in my time, and often did if someone was trying to incite something without regard to the laws."

Asher clenched his jaw at that last part; the Church Enforcers were a...particular lot.  They traveled around and destroyed relics they deemed dangerous (which usually meant ANY relic they could get their hands on) and had been known to get into conflicts with civilians on the regular.  The conflicts were violent at times but not usually fatal on either side; he couldn't think of any accidental deaths that had happened within recent years but could see the potential for them if the Church thought Eli, her knowledge, and anyone she shared that knowledge with was a threat.  If similar had happened even back in Eli's time when, as history detailed, the world had been living in what amounted to a utopia...guess humans really hadn't changed much in three hundred years.

"Yeah, well, we just make sure that doesn't happen," Asher found himself saying, and then immediately stopped as all eyes shifted to him.  He'd...not actually intended to say that out loud since it was only a half-formed thought but too late now.  "Not...not that I'm suggesting we pick a fight with the Church or anything.  Or have a gaggle of body guards following Eli around-"

Eli snorted.  "By the Three I'd hope not."

He grinned at that.  "-BUT, what we CAN do is take some steps to make sure a confrontation doesn't happen, or doesn't have a reason to happen.   That means keeping people away from places they don't belong - which is something we do now anyway - and also not turning a blind eye to churchfolks who like to make up stories about things or people.  I know Arlo's dealt with that here already," he added after a breath, looking to the man.

Arlo in turn nodded and crossed his arms.  "I have.   Thankfully Lee understood early on exactly where Gale and the Civil Corps stood on the topic -- the few things he spread around were squashed quickly and, to my knowledge, he's back to his usual sermons without 'embellishing' them."

Asher looked back to Eli.  "Yeah, that - squash the lies, and just be careful about things - Portia might have opened all her other ruins for exploring but there's a lot of them across the continent that're closed, period, because they're too fragile, dangerous, or too many people rely on whatever's in them to be fairly distributed. It'd be up to Portia to set rules on who gets to come in here and why but if you end up turning this place into something everyone can use then we'd know who's here and for what reason, and anyone without a good reason can be shown the door.  An Enforcer is going to stick out like a sore thumb if they come anywhere near Portia anyway. And the Church HAS come around on stuff like water filtration, powered tools, electric generating gadgets...they're definitely trigger happy on everything they come across but even they can be made to see the benefit to things eventually."

"And besides," Sam picked up, "it's not like the enforcers are assassins or anything.  At most they can arrest people in the regions they have jurisdiction in, and at best they get arrested themselves for causing problems."

Adam grunted. "Threat of jail hasn't stopped 'em from arresting in places they don't have power in.  There's a lot of bullhonk out in the world that you lot don't see in a town like this.  They're not friendly."

"They're NOT murderers though," Asher interrupted, shooting Adam an annoyed look.  "But accidents do happen when they get a bit...overeager in their work and yeah, sometimes they do try to step out of bounds if they feel threatened or justified."

Eli looked between the two Pigs.  "I think we need to have a chat on what these enforcers are, what they do, and what they're SUPPOSED to do.  Are they reigned in by law at all?"

"Of course.  Doesn't mean they stick to it," Adam answered.  "Same as anyone."

Mali shook her head and gestured for Asher and Adam to quiet.  "WE," she said, gesturing to the Pigs, "would be happy to discuss the politics and laws of the wider world.  Whenever you'd like to just let us know."

Eli nodded.  "I appreciate it.  I'll be busy this afternoon so maybe later tonight, or even tomorrow."

Asher could see her glance over to Arlo and give him a barely perceptible nod; guess whatever she was up to this afternoon included him, or the Civil Corps, or both.  After another pause in the conversation Eli stood up and again invited them all to play around with their Hi-Defs, reminded them to set their voice locks, then headed out of the room with Arlo following along a few moments later.

For one brief moment he contemplated following them; everyone else had their attentions back on their Hi-Defs so he doubted they'd even notice if he slipped out.  But, it was pretty clear, when neither Remington or Sam moved to leave, that whatever Eli's plans were for the afternoon they included Arlo and just Arlo...if others were welcome she probably would have said something.   He looked around at everyone again -- whether he followed Eli and Arlo or not he did know he wanted to get back out on the surface and into fresh air; the Research Center, with Stewart's help, had fully repaired the air system down here so he logically knew that fresh air was always circulating but it didn't stop the feelings of mild claustrophobia and stuffiness he got when he was down here for awhile.  He'd give Arlo and Eli time to get back to the surface then would head that way himself and tuck himself into a quiet corner of the tent while he fiddled with the Hi-Def.

Asher flipped through the screens back to communication and sorted Mali and Adam into a separate group he labeled "Flying Pigs," and then slid all three of the Civil Corps members into their own group as well.  Setting up the voice commands were easy ("call Pigs" and "call Civil" respectively, since Eli had suggested "call" as a command word to use) and then he found his fingers hovering over Arlo and Eli's names; after a moment to consider he slid the two of them into another custom group.

Adam and Mali might be his fellow Pigs but he wasn't especially close to either of them - before now he'd not even had a chance to talk to them much since they were always doing their own things; he was closer to Greg than he was to anyone else in the Flying Pigs but only because they'd shared a bunk room at headquarters up until Greg got married and moved in to a house with his wife.  Arlo reminded him of Greg in a lot of ways and, despite having watched him fail the entry exam multiple times, Asher was still convinced that Arlo would make it eventually and was looking forward to being there when he finally did (and hey - he hadn't had a bunk mate since Greg moved out and Arlo would be expected to spend his first two years living at headquarters as a rule).

And, when it came to Eli... Well.

He titled their group "Buds" but held off on setting up a voice command.  For now.

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

"Hey you!"

Harrison took a moment to reply (he hated being interrupted mid-sentence when reading) but found himself smiling up at Lily as she leaned over his pile of books.

"Hello there - I didn't hear you come in."

She giggled and patted a hand on top of what was basically a barricade of reading material lined up along the outer edge of the little table he studied at.  "Gee, I wonder why."

He felt his face go a bit red but he laughed quietly all the same and quickly moved a few stacks of books down to the floor near his feet.  "Sorry.  What are you up to today?"

"I came by to ask if you had any letters or anything you'd like me to take back to Lucien."

"Back to Lucien?" he repeated.  A sinking feeling hit him - she was leaving?  

Lily nodded.  "Uh huh.  It's about time to head back home to check in with mom - I try to stay away only a couple months at a time. If I come home at regular intervals then she worries less."  She paused and squinted at him, then waved her hands frantically.  "But I'm coming back!  I'm going to come back!" she added in a rush.  "I just have to let her know I'm ok!"

"Oh," he said, letting out a loud breath.  "Ok.  Yes, that - that sounds like a good thing to do.  Um..."  

He'd had a pad of paper here somewhere...  As he started sorting through the folders and remaining books on his desk Lily stood there and rocked back and forth from heels to toes, like she usually did when standing still (well, not STILL - she seemed incapable of not moving some part of her when standing around idle) and then she bent to yank something out from under a pile on the corner.

"Here you go-" she held out the writing pad to him with a grin.

"Thanks."  He grabbed it and leafed through the pages inside; there was a half-completed letter in here somewhere...ah.  Carefully he pulled the page free and flipped it around to show her.  "I sort of do.  When did you plan on heading home?"

"I'd planned on heading up to Sandrock today and catching the bus north but I can wait until tomorrow."

"I can have this done here in a few minutes if you really want to leave today."

Lily wrinkled her nose and sighed.  "I don't REALLY want to leave but I have to.  BUT, like I said, I'm going to come back.  I even have a job lined up for when I come back, too!"

Harrison blinked at her.  "Oh?"  How long had she planned on leaving without mentioning anything to him...?

"Mmhmm.  That old lady farmer is willing to hire me on as an extra farmhand to help with the spring planting and all the little baby animals that'll be born or hatching here soon.  That'll earn me enough that I wouldn't have to worry for awhile."

"How long will you be gone?" he asked as he fished around for a pencil.

"I'll probably be back within a week."  She hummed to herself for a breath, then spun on a heel to face the door.  "I'll be back in a bit for that, ok?"

"All right."

Harrison watched her skip out of the clinic and huffed out a sigh.  He shouldn't be too surprised or disappointed that she'd be going home but logic and sense rarely went hand in hand with... The "L" word felt a bit too much at this point but he was definitely interested in her, and she in him.  It was highly unfair for him to expect her to stay here, just because he was here, without giving any thought to her own needs or obligations.

Quickly he skimmed over the letter; he'd been halfway through detailing everything he'd done so far in Portia - this wouldn't take long to finish.

Not long after Lily had left the doors opened again; Dr. Xu came in leading someone with a heavy bandage taped to their chin.   Harrison paused in his letter writing and watched as Xu led the man over toward the Uplifter, and lifted the machine's dust cover while directing the man to pull over a stool.

"Would you like a hand, Dr. Xu?"

"That would be welcomed, Harrison, thank you."

He got up and came around to help the patient position the stool in front of the Uplifter.  "Here, just sit here and -- yes, like that, and sit up straight.  Dr. Xu will lower that part there that looks like a plate and adjust it near your face."  

"And this thing'll be able to fix it?" the man asked.  His voice was obviously pained and also slurred, as he didn't seem willing to move his mouth and jaw more than he had to.

"It'll close the wound and there shouldn't be any scar visible, yes," Xu answered.  "Go ahead and take the bandage off while I get the last few steps completed. This will sting briefly as it starts up but will numb soon after-"

Harrison looked from the man to Dr. Xu as Xu cut off mid-sentence; the doctor was patting at the side of the machine and looking confused.  "What's wrong?"

"Hmm.  The manual for it isn't in its usual slot.  Have you seen it?"  Harrison shook his head and Xu hummed to himself.  "Well.  I have the steps memorized but I had wanted you to follow along in the manual as I worked."

"Perhaps it accidentally got mixed in with Phyllis's things when she moved to her new practice?"

"It's possible," Xu replied, nodding to Harrison.  "When we finish here would you mind walking out there to check?"

"I need to finish something quickly before that but otherwise I don't mind at all."

Xu smiled and began to input the commands into the Uplifter's computer panel; Harrison leaned over to help the man on the stool remove the bandage, and then winced when he saw the injury -- it was a deep wound, with jagged edges, and he could see the white of bone beneath it.  Once Xu had all the commands in place he settled the headpiece of the Uplifter over the man's head fully and hit the Start button.

"No talking," Xu said then.  "This will take several minutes."

Harrison could see the man flinch as the machine whirred to life but afterward the man sat calmly, unmoving, as the Uplifter did its work.

Since there would be some time to kill while the machine mended the injury Harrison returned to his table and went back to his letter.  Assuming there weren't any other emergencies or distractions he should have this done well before Lily came back for it.

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

"How many keys were on the keyboard I was using?"

"Fifty six.  Fifty seven if the secondary power button counts."

"Good. How many birds over there?"

"Fo- no, five."

"And what are they?"

"Sounds like common house sparrows."

"Right. Cows in the field?"

"Unfair question - McDonald said one was in labor."

"Assume the calf hasn't made an appearance yet."

"Fourteen."

"Horses?"

"Three.  The rest were in the barn still."

As they walked along Eli nodded approvingly at him; these early techniques she was teaching him were hard to describe but when put into practice Arlo found they weren't so impossible as he'd initially thought.

"How far off is the Dee-Dee?"

Arlo paused; he was certain he hadn't seen or heard the Dee-Dee that ran between here and town yet but if Eli was asking, then...

All right, so maybe he shouldn't feel so confident in himself just yet.

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

Harrison's letter was safely in her pack; he'd written out his parent's address and on the back of the envelope he'd even given her a crudely drawn map of how to get there from Lucien's town square.  

It was going to be a really simple matter to find his family.

The bus had dropped her off at the stop just outside of Lucien's border; a group had gotten off with her and as they all filed through the little turnstile to get off the platform Lily tried to tamp down her irritation at being jostled by all the careless people around her.

And then finally she was out into the night, and free.  No one in the near vicinity, and no one paying any attention to her when she passed.

There was a run down shed on the northern side of Lucien that held old, rusted gardening equipment.  The padlock looked equally as rusted but she knew that was just for looks; her key turned soundlessly in it and, after making sure no one was around, she slipped inside and picked her way among the clutter until she came to an empty workbench with a heavy burlap rug pinned underneath the bench's front two legs.  She flipped the rug aside to reveal a trap door and used a second key to open it before sliding down the ladder and into a cramped, barely lit tunnel that led to a considerably more comfortable room with padded chairs, a few bunk beds, and a tiny kitchenette.

Normally there would be three or four people here, waiting; tonight there was only one - a dark haired man, short and squat, with a ruddy complexion and face dotted with pimples and acne scars.  He was listening to a small radio and when Lily stepped into the room he spun around with one hand going for a gun holstered at his side.  When he finally registered who she was he visibly calmed, then an instant later growled at her angrily.

"What are YOU doing here?  Captain Xan didn't-"

"Shut up," Lily snapped.  She stomped in and yanked Harrison's letter out of her pack before letting the bag drop to the floor.  "Through sheer dumb luck I stumbled on something that we can't pass up.  Call him down here."

Grunting and puffing the fat man got up out of his chair and shoved passed her to go back up the tunnel she'd just come from.   Lily yanked the envelope open, took the letter out and flattened it across a table, then carefully opened the envelope's seams so it too could lay flat.

She waited longer than she wanted to but soon the scarred man came back, huffing and puffing and with his face even redder with exertion; behind him trailed a rail-thin man with a shaved head, seven piercings in his left ear, and what could be mistaken for smile lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes.  He was dressed in old, stained clothing, and had a heavy apron tossed over one arm -- it would seem Xan was still working his cover job as a butcher over on the southern side of Lucien's market district.

"What brings you back early, Lily?" Xan asked.  His tone was smooth and calm but Lily could tell by the way his jaw bulged a bit that he was gritting his teeth -- she didn't know what he'd been told by the fat messenger but it was clear he was mad at her.

"An opportunity fell into my lap," she answered.  With a light touch she turned the letter and envelope with its map around to face him, then pushed it across the table toward him. "There's a doctor in Portia, with a student who sounds just like him. And that machine we've heard of exists and does exactly as rumored - I have the manual to prove it.  Doctor and student are roughly the same size and height as well."

Xan's face broke into a cold smile as he gingerly picked up the envelope and studied the map; that was one thing Lily liked about Xan -- he understood her ideas and plans without her having to painstakingly spell it out for him.  "Have you acted on it?"

"Not yet.  I think it best if we have some bargaining chips first.  I've charmed the student so it won't be odd for me to be seen in and around the clinic -- and besides, the lock on their doors as well as on the doctor's desk are ridiculously easy to pick.  We can take out the doctor and force the student to replace him once we have the appropriate motivation in place for the student."

Xan nodded slowly, tapping the edge of the envelope against his lower lip as he thought; it was several minutes before the man spoke again.  "We'll prepare a place to hold everyone -- we will, after all, need ready access to the doctor so we can feed information to the student, so that the illusion holds.   When will the All Source be moved into the clinic?"

"That I'm not sure.  I found all the information about their plans to expand the clinic but construction hasn't started yet, nor was there any hint as to when it would."

"Wait until construction is under way, then you may act," Xan ordered.  "I'll send Marcus and Evangeline to back you up directly, and will have others standing by to get the All Source secured and away when the time comes. Leave the hostages to us."

"What do you want me to do in the meantime?  They know someone has been keeping an eye on the facility."

"Do whatever you have to to keep your current cover intact," Xan replied.  "Is the suit secured?"

Lily jerked her head toward the pack on the floor.  "I need a few replacement wires - one of the Flying Pig bitches shot me in the arm."

Xan turned around toward the ruddy-faced man.  "Tell Steven we need the filament wires, immediately."  When the man nodded Xan turned back to her.  "You've done exceptionally well -- I'll make sure you get a bonus.  Take some time, rest - actually visit your mother if you so choose.   Leave the suit here for Steven though."

Lily nodded.  "Understood.  Is anyone staying here tonight?"

"Just Howie," Xan said, gesturing toward the fat man.  "-who SHOULD have already left to fetch Steven, yet here we are."

At that Howie about fell over himself to scramble from the room again; Xan let out a short chuckle that trailed into a sigh.  

Lily wrinkled her nose and picked up the letter, offering it to Xan who took it and carefully folded it with the envelope.  "I will go home then.   I'm in no mood to share a space with an ugly idiot."

"Fair enough.  Tell your mother I said, thank you for the chamomile.  It made a very pleasant tea."

"I will. You know where to find me."

Wordlessly Xan nodded and turned to leave; Lily gave him plenty of time to have disappeared into the night before she too left the underground hidey hole and headed out into the evening air.  Steven had repaired the suit before so she wasn't concerned about leaving it behind.

She took her time walking home and stopped at the front gate to take a steadying breath and get her mind back into "happy go lucky airhead Lily" mode.   It was so exhausting to keep up that facade but knew if she didn't play the right part then her mother would ask questions she'd rather not answer.

With an inner grimace but an outward smile Lily pushed the gate open; the front windows were open to let in the night breeze and the lights were still on.  "Moooooom," she called out as she walked up the path toward the front porch.  "I'm hooooooome!"

[2bstudioblog]

Konami’s wheels are turning... slowly

Lot’s of interesting news heading to our heads this Monday from what I heard from Yong Yea’s video about Konami wanting to outsource their IP’s to 3rd parties.

Obviously, Akira Yamaoka has kinda given away a strong hint that he’s working on a project with Bloober which in this case would be the long awaited SH remake or the direction they had with PT before it got cancelled. Akira Yamaoka also decided that (too late) he wanted to amend the article from his interview and release it later down the line. It’s very unusual that these news happen, but we all know Yamaoka is most famous for his music in Silent Hill.

Which brings me to a funny story about my own involvement of a Silent Hill game. I mentioned this on a podcast that I was part of 2 Konami-owned IP’s that went into another direction and killing off their franchises which have been like dead bodies in a morgue for the last 7 years.

I got the request to write industrial-metal music for a Silent Hill (of course at this time I only knew the IP and their most famous version of the game has been Silent Hill 2.) game. First I was of course very excited to be part of the series, but I jumped to early until I found out it was a Pachinko-machine (A japanese style pinball-game mixed with a touch-screen and a one-armed bandit and a slot-machine in one.), and my heart sank a little. I think I produced 4-5 cues for the machine, but I’m glad that nobody will be able to hear my “mediocre” masterpieces because all you would hear are metal-balls falling into a tray. But the thing about this machine, it had taken cut-scenes from Silent Hill 2, upscaled or even re-mastered/remade the graphics which would have looked great if it was its own game. But it was the same thing they’ve done with all their other IPs when those transfer over to this kind of entertainment. All what was left of it, Jim Sterling turned the game into a Meme and all I can hear is the -”HIT THE LEVER!” and the effects overpowering the music behind it. But I’m glad it didn’t go further then that. Technically here, Silent Hill(s) died with the arrival of the pachinko-slot machine and the series have tried to re-establish itself ever since.

Another game I was a part of was a Castlevania (Dracula in Japan) themed Pachinko-slot machine, with the revolutionary phrase “Erotic Violence” in it’s PR material and video-commercial. I mean, they took the music production part of this machine very seriously because I wasn’t aware of the “EV” part. I just thought it would be a machine praising the history of Castlevania. I was assigned to re-write and re-orchestrate a few songs from Neo-classical Metal music into more Progressive Metal style, and I was super-proud of this one because they had the sheet-music already available for me. All I had to do was re-arrange some parts for a string-quartet (1 cello, 2 violins and 1 viola) and I believe it was engineered and recorded by famed engineer Kenji Nakai who was under and working with famed engineer Mr Bruce Swedien (Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones).

From that moment me and Mr. Nakai stroke a friendship because he has a passion for Progressive Metal and he asked me if I could send more songs his way. From this we both have been incredibly busy on both of our ends, but I hope we can be able to work on something in the future. I have a feeling that might be soon.

So a long story short, Konami spent a lot of money for recording, they approved everything and we were done. But when it turned out to be a pachinko-machine and not a world-wide videogame release, I just had to facepalm myself, asking the question why they keep doing so many poor decisions. Why leaving all those fans out in the cold and really start making Castlevania mean something. This void of “lots of fancy things, but no substance” started right here...

Konami are turning their wheels a little bit too late and too slow until now. After they got rid of Hideo Kojima (Who I believe was thinking of the international-market rather than the domestic one), Konami had only one thing on their minds: Making money quick and domestically. No more wasted time on translations, straight for the gambling crowd. No need to write interesting stories. No need to introduce kids to this adult material. They wanted to earn it back as fast as possible. But we all see their decisions put them on the map as a “black-company”, who mistreat their staff, shaming them out in the office for overstaying their lunch-breaks. Moving staff from one business to another, from a programmer to a Konami-fitness Center-staff, or as a toilet-cleaner at a Konami-owned pachinko-slot gambling hall. The management of the company has been horrendous for the full-time employee. I’m glad I was not part of these later projects and only wrote stuff for them for Pro Evolution Soccer series from 2009-2012. (My work on 2010-2012 was unfortunately un-credited work. :(

Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain In My Ass

When the playable teaser called Metal Gear Solid - Ground Zeroes, came out on the PS3 and later on the PS4, it was an introduction for the new graphics engine designed by Hideo Kojima’s team, simply called The FOX-Engine. Basically this “game” was more of a demo rather than a full-product. But it looked great and with a fantastic score by Akihiro Honda, Ludvig Forssell and Harry Gregson-Williams, it had everything going for it to become something really awesome. It became a standard approach from Hideo Kojima now to produce “Playable Teasers” to show a great concept while offering a 3-4 hour short campaign, showing off the engine’s graphical capabilities.

Still, the story was under progress and I knew early on that Hideo Kojima really didn’t want to do it after he always felt that Metal Gear Solid 4 was final. But here is the curse of the die-hard fans, and I’m sorry to say it. No matter how many Iron Man movies Marvel crams out, at the 3rd movie, I started to feel “This does not feel like Iron Man anymore”. But that’s what the fans wanted and is a standard in the movie industry. Always produce a trilogy. Indiana Jones has always been the 3 movies from 1981-1989. The 4th one doesn’t really need to be called Indiana Jones at all. It was there I felt, just like with Metal Gear Solid V, they were beating a DEAD RACE HORSE.

I can’t deny the talents on display for Metal Gear Solid - Ground Zeroes. It laid down some really cool foundations for the gameplay, but I still believe the better game-series for stealth was beaten by the likes of Splinter Cell and most recently Thief. Stealth in MGS has always felt a little bit childish and I only really enjoyed MGS 1, MGS 2, tried to play MGS 3 (still have it one my Vita!) and will try to finish it. MGS 3 has felt like the TRUE Zeroes experience, with the inception of the story and lore behind the cloning of Big Boss. MGS 4 finally brought it all to a great finale and I felt, there is NOTHING more to tell. MGS 1, 2 and 4 is the Trilogy, MGS 3 serves as the Prequel and I see nothing wrong with that.

Mission - Erase Kojima’s Legacy

The making of MGS V - The Phantom Pain is kinda true to it’s title. Can you feel the nostalgia? Or are we just imagining the sensation of a Metal Gear Solid game past it’s prime? The missing link? The missing limb? And with the worlds biggest cop-out  of everything that had to do with story was completely missing.

Each mission is playing out every time the same, with an intro to a TV-show, giving away massive spoilers to who would appear in the mission, you do your thing (not so much of story, just a “go-here, do that approach, sneak back out, head to pick-up) rinse and repeat. I wonder how much of this was Kojima’s fault? I don’t think he was up to it. I’m sure he fought for more story but the big heads didn’t want to listen to what makes a MGS game a MGS game. The new management had now already played the hand to disown the man who put Konami on the map for games since the mid 80s.

The game is no longer marketed like before. The tagline “A Hideo Kojima Game” no longer exists and will never be part of Konami’s mission of erasing the person who gave them their fame and the recognition that a game carrying the name Konami was a brand of quality for any gamer out there. Me myself, personally only played PES because of the stellar animations, but its recently since 2012, I stopped playing the series. FIFA had already cheapened itself, PES likewise. Updating the graphics, but the same old animations have been recycled back to the PES3 days. Maybe there’s been an update in the collision engine, but otherwise everything stayed the same, with the huge amount of data collected from previous years of motion-capture, why do it all over when its all about the brand recognition? Saving money on processes wherever possible. Simple Math. And here it is. MGS V is not a MGS game.

We already knew it was going to be a massive budget behind the game of MGS V. But what can Konami do to save money on MGS V? They already have the Fox Engine running from Ground Zeroes. The assets for “Snake” (I’ll let you know why I put quotation-marks around it) and standard models will extend somewhat. Oh, yes, let’s save money on a character that doesn’t speak (Quiet), over-sexualize the character to start a fan-base of people who just dig character design, animated a sexy “shower” routine for the character for boys to go nuts over. What about voice? Let’s not really try to sync the voices to the mouths. Let’s have the guy from “24″ record his performances onto tape-logs. Kiefer Sutherland would have been a good “Snake”, but I understand now that you are not “SNAKE”. The game explains pretty soon at the end that you are just a Medic and all the tapes you’ve been listening to is the original Big Boss. You never where the character of Snake. Even though this all could have been handled better, Konami wanted to save money wherever possible. We also knew David Hayter was not asked or put forward to return as “The Voice of Snake”. But in this case I start to wonder myself, David Hayter might have dodged the biggest bullet in the most expensive, commercial and very controversial game of all time once Konami decided to kill everything that built up their reputation.

Even during production Kojima managed to start working on PT. The game Konami “silenced” after it was released on the PS-store. Guillermo Del Toro and his friendship with Hideo Kojima’s dream-game was put on ice. All because Kojima was about to get frozen out of the company that was according to Konami “Wasting too much bloody money”. I might get blacklisted for saying this, but once the new management started to mess with the other IPs for just domestic/gambling market, that’s where everything went sideways. Konami wasn’t treating their heritage with respect.

It took them 7 years to realize their mistake! And now, for those who wants to be part of 3rd party developers who would get a crack at a new Castlevania, a new Metal Gear Solid (remake I hope), Konami has realized that the only way they will survive (Yeah, Metal Gear Solid Survive killed them HARD) is to let other’s take over. Maybe my dream of scoring a Metal Gear Solid game would be somewhat more possible now rather than working in the confined space of limitations posed by the higher ups at Konami. Let 3rd party developers breathe life into the IPs because I know there are smarter ways to tell a story and I would gladly like to see the return of David Hayter in the seat, without having to deal with the blank-face approach that he was faced with every time he had to audition for Snake in MGS 2, 3 and 4! David Hayter is a fantastic writer, actor and voice-actor. He has the chops and I think we are all ready for either a re-make or a better follow up to MGS 2 and the time between that one and MGS 4.

[allabouttherelationship]

Mac and Riley, Just Roommates

Chapter 2

Following Season 4, episode 9

Mac glared fixedly at the numbers again, scrawled in sequence in Russ’s penmanship. Not that he had required them written down. The sequence replays precisely, 44, 8, 2, 12, 11, 75, 7, 31, 51, 77, 2, 11, 38, 53, 51, 77, 2, 11. It was the final communication from Oversight, James Macgyver, his father, with the words “you’ve got that son?” tagged with intention on the end. 

To say that it had been the nastiest two weeks of his life, was well, a gross understatement. One Mac compared to the words written by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, proposing the double helical structure of DNA. Most famous among scientists for its coyness and underestimation and for the significance of its prediction. 

He experienced angst, Codex was real and still out there, his mom had been a DSX agent underwriting a dooms day project, he had a mysterious living aunt bent on murdering ¼ of the world’s population, his father, absent from most of his life was now permanently dead, and with the slam of a button he had chosen a husband and father to die to save a city. 

Elbows stationed on his work bench, Mac rested his hefty head in the palms of his hand. Then vehemently pushes himself back from the bench in a grunt of defeat, his metal stool clanging to the wood floor. He scowled at it, his chest expanding and contracting in patchy breaths. 

“You break it you buy it” Mac overhears alongside him.

Mac guardedly lifts his head, his stare in concentration on Riley’s face. She bestowed him a slight, but deliberate smile, just cresting at the corners of her lips. Mac knew that his hesitancy had been routed in fear, but he immediately treasured it was unnecessary with Riley. Bozer, Matty, Desi and Russ had come at him with sympathy, completely a fitting retort but regrettably not desired and hostile to the blocks of Jenga precariously towered around his emotions. Riley’s approach had mirrored Mac’s instinctive response. From the moment in the war room, in which Mac verbally acknowledging his father was dead  but had believed Mac to be the only one to stop Codex, Riley was steady with “so what are we doing now?” It should not have staggered him, Riley seemed a tuned to what he needed at any given moment, even when he himself was cluelessness. 

Riley sauntered in front of him, bending down to recover the lifeless stool. While doing so, she gives Mac clear vision of her well-proportioned backside. Mac experiences a piercing intake of breath, permitting his eyes to remain a fixed. He had unequivocally not forgotten their exchange that morning, just a few weeks ago, following the evening Riley had moved into his place. At least this reaction to a spectacular view, supported Mac in concluding that despite the trauma of the last weeks that he wasn’t completely dead inside. Overall, he had had zero time to scrutinize what had transpired previous between them.

Riley travels to the other side of the work bench. “Still working out what your dad was trying to communicate?” she questions. Mac nods in affirmation, his brows knit once again into a downward “v” and he repositions his worn-out body on the, now, upright stool opposite her. Mac then spits out the exact words he had used after the viewing his father’s abnormal farewell message, and while his computer famed out “so much for closure”… adding, “he just leaves me a puzzle”   

 “Hey Mac”, Riley starts gradually “I know that your dad often lacked in the father-like department.” Mac approves with a slight snort. “But he was always your dad. And as your dad he believed in you. Even in his last moment or message he trusted you to be the person to figure this out”, Riley pointed directly at the mess of numerals on the page. “You got this Mac” she whispers, the same line as she had stated previously and habitually, in his dire moments. Mac just continuous stares intently at Riley. Riley continues, “but Roomie, you have been at this for days, without sleep or food, you need a break, a distraction”. Mac immediately thinks to open his mouth to protest. Anticipating this Riley, leans gracefully across the work bench and places her index finger to his lips. “Trust me” she begs. 

Her finger was the only point of contact, but it was resting gently it was against Mac’ s lips. Riley was beyond the point of lying to herself, she had experienced agonizing day dreams about Mac’s mouth. Her point of connection registers for her the tiniest explanation of the texture which is warm and firm. Unhurriedly, she allows her finger to drop. Although very pleasing, she is criticizing her own activities given all Mac has experienced the past weeks, telling herself this maybe poor timing. 

Mac clears his voice, “What did you have in mind?”. Riley’s face lights up, as she hears a slight tease in his voice, and sees the smallest of childlike sparkle in his eyes.

“How about heading out, grabbing a slice at the arcade, let me school you again in Ski-ball” Riley jokes. “Davis, you may have schooled me once, but I will knock that Ski-ball crown off your pretty little head” he says in a challenging voice, he pauses “but not in the mood for crowds…”

“So then we’ll stay in… a binge watch of the Fringe?”, she queries. Riley is aware it is one of Mac’s beloved Sci-fi’s. Mac’s grin is genuine. Riley accepts this as confirmation she has nailed her suggestion. She erects her cell from her back pocket, starts dialing “Ill order a greasy wheel, you grab the bubbles”.  

Hours later, they make it to season 3 episode 3, Riley pauses the show seeking explanation, “wait didn’t Milo calculate that Olivia would die in the car chase? Mac nods in agreement, and casually states “spoiler alert, she is from the alternate cosmos, and Peter is going to bang her doppelganger”.  Riley had been mid-glup of her beer, his stark comment shocked her, resulting in the beer spraying from her lips. It covered the coffee table, floor and Mac. She covered her mouth in horror, as Mac’s eye brow’s raised. Unable to contain it, a boisterous laugh rippled from her chest, Mac joined in, his laugh equally animated. 

Riley stands, “I’ll case down a towel from the kitchen”. Mac stands as well, glazing down at the splattering across his t-shirt. Mac reaches his arm behind head to grab his shirt, he whips it off in one fluid motion, as Riley arrives directly in front of him. Riley stares hungrily at the expanse of Mac’s chest, her eyes drifting downward over his chiseled abs and navel sitting just above expertly hung jeans. Mac registers his reactions, feels his chest puff and Riley’s eyes searing a path of heat down his body. He watches as Riley lifts her hand holding a t-towel and touches it to his pectoral. Then the t-towel flitters to the ground. Riley’s finger tips, graze his scar at the top of his chest, he observers her unconsciously but greedily licks her lips. 

Mac starts reciting a few digits of Pi in an attempt to control his own physical reactions. He eyes grow wide as saucers as Riley leans forward to set her mouth to expanse she had been caressing. Her lips pleasantly sting his skin. Mac’s head falls back as a groan escapes. 

They both lift their heads, eyes locked together. In a flash motion, Mac reaches his hand to tangle in Riley hair. He aggressively pulls her face towards him, smashing their lips together. His body feels like an immovable mass, rooted in this position. Mac briefly registers the science behind kissing, his internal monologue acknowledging the field of philematology, the complicated study of kissing. Lips having more nerve ending that any other part of the human body, and when pressed against one another the brain goes into overdrive releasing oxycotin, dopamine and serotoin, direct to the pleasure center of the brain. Riley fragments her lips and sweeps her tongue past Mac’s teeth. This action obliterates every scientific explanation, all Mac could do now is sense and feel. Her cashmere lips continue to shove eagerly against his, while her tongue strokes his with skill. She tastes zesty, subtle notes of tomato sauce and pepperoni. He hears her make quiet mews of pleasure which go straight to his gut, and marks his own moan resonating in his head.  He feels a lust induced haze, anticipation, and desire.

Mac tugs away, only because he necessitates oxygen, his clutch remains impenetrable on the back of her neck. 

Probing her eyes, Mac is able to squeak out, “Riley where is this going?”

Riley smirks with sugar in her grin, “I was banking on your bedroom?”

Mac scenes fissures of electricity shoot into the room. He reaches down lifting Riley under the thighs to straddle his torso, effortlessly, like she is air.  Riley buries her hands in his thick locks messaging his scalp. He walks in long deliberate strides towards his room. He sinks them both, sitting evenly on the bed, Riley still straddling his hips. Hands decisively on his upper body, Riley leads Mac back to lay on the bed, looking at him like a cat downing a canary. It is like a black hole pulling him in, until his gravity is lost under her touch. His solid hands seek out Riley’s hips, fingers skating beneath the edging of her shirt and thumbs making spellbinding circles against her silky abdomen. The blood flowing through his body feels like a jackhammer, as he registers the slow growing tension against the fly of his jeans.  Riley trails him downward, inserting her hands either side of his head, she plasters hot kisses the apex of his erratic pulse and across foundation of his square jaw. 

Mac’s cell phone sings and vibrates from jean pocket muted under Riley’s thigh. The ring tone being “She’s the boss” Mick Jagger hit from 1985, which signals Mac is the Matty. He digs in his pants for the phone, “What is it?” Mac answers, clearly in frustration. Matti’s voices rings out, “Woah Blondie, a reminder of who you are talking too. Get your ass to the Phoenix, you are wheels up in 3, got a lead from the recovered data at the explosions site. “I’ll ring Riley and the rest of the team” Matty ends. Mac, lets out a ragged breath, “no need to call Riles, I will let her know.”

Riley hikes herself off Mac’s body to a standing position at the edge of the bed. Mac perceives that, like him, her breathing remains labored. He rises himself, planting his feet directly in her personal space. Gazing with promise in his voice “Riles, this is not over…”, Riley’s 110 watt smile radiates as she responds, “I’m counting on that boy wonder!”. She swaggers form his bedroom to get ready for the op, offering him a swift wink. 

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Character Bio’s: Skull Face, Quiet, Code Talker and Paz Ortega Andrade

MGSV: The Official Guide

Character Biographies

Transcriptions Under Cut By: Nate

 There is a heading to the mid left-corner of the page that reads: Skull Face

Below this is a head shot of Skull Face as he appears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. There is text wrapped to the right-hand side of the image.

The text reads:

The primary antagonist in Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, Skull Face was born in Hungary, where his parents worked in a weapons manufacturing site disguised as a factory. This building was bombed, leading him to sustain severe injuries after being trampled by a panicked mob seeking to escape the destruction. Left in a critical condition with wounds so severe that they could not be treated, he survived thanks to an innovative parasite therapy- though he was left with horrendous deformities and damage to his nervous system that prevented him from feeling pain.

Secretly recruited by Major Zero in the 1960s, Skull Face was appointed as Executive Officer of the secret XOF unit and tasked to watch over Big Boss, working tirelessly to ensure his important missions (including operation Snake Eater in 1964) would be a success. Having been the underling of Major Zero and the shadow of Big Boss for so many years, always assigned to uncelebrated tasks, Skull Face gradually developed a deep hatred towards both of them, but Zero in particular.

Using his position at the head of the XOF unit, Skull Face ordered the annihilation of Mother Base during the Ground Zeroes episode in 1975 and attempted to murder Big Boss with bombs planted in Paz’s body. By torturing Paz, he had learned the whereabouts of Zero, and subsequently infected his employer with a parasite strain developed by Code Talker.

Contaminated by assorted strains of the vocal cord parasite, Skull Face looked for ways to cure the infection, but with no success. In fact, Code Talker simply chose not to reveal the Wolbachia treatment, and instead hinted at an untested method based on radiation.

When Skull Face learned that Zero, prior to the terminal stage of his inevitable decline, had successfully ordered the creation of an advanced autonomous artificial intelligence that would secretly govern in his stead, he devised a grand plan to permanently rid the world of Zero’s influence forever by eliminating the English language, and to plunge the world into chaos by facilitating the proliferation of his Walker Gear nuclear weapons platform.

On the brink of triumph, Skull Face only failed because the chance presence of Eli n a helicopter above sent the Third Child into a frenzy; in the Sahelanthropus rampage that followed, Skull Face was mortally wounded by falling debris. Huey Emmerich stepped forward to end his life moments after Big Boss and Miller chose to let him suffer.

There is a heading at the top left-hand corner of the page, the heading reads: Quiet

Below the heading is a headshot of Quiet as she appears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The text reads:

Sent by Skull Face to kill Big Boss, Quiet failed due to the intervention of Ishmael. Gravely wounded, her life was saved-and her capabilities as a warrior greatly augmented-by parasite therapy. Though Big Boss doesn’t realize until much later in the story, Quiet is also a carrier of the English language parasite, a fact that explains her reticence to communicate directly.

When Quiet was ordered to make a second attempt to assassinate Big Boss, he triumphed in their duel. Curious about Quiet as a soldier, Big Boss took her back to Mother Base as a prisoner. This gave her the perfect opportunity to speak with murderous consequences..and yet she chose not to. After observing her, and recognizing Quiet’s value as a powerful, and, moreover, trustworthy ally (much to the surprise and alarm of Miller), Big Boss made the decision to integrate her into the Diamond Dogs family. A strong mutual respect would subsequently grow between Quiet and Big Boss during her time on Mother Base.

After choosing to leave Diamond Dogs, Quiet was captured by Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Big Boss successfully rescued her, but, in a perverse twist of fate, sustained a potentially fatal venomous snake bite during their escape. To ensure the survival of the legendary soldier Quiet had to communicate to arrange immediate rescue-but the helicopter pilot did not speak a word of the only language she knew to be free of the parasite, Navajo. In a snap decision, and with time of the utmost essence, she explained the situation in English.

Having activated the vocal cord parasites, sacrificing her life to save Big Boss, Quiet calmly walked out into the desert to die alone.

In the middle of the page, at the top there is a heading, the heading reads: Code Talker

Below the heading is a headshot of Code Talker as he appears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. He is shown holding and smoking his extended, long pipe.

The text reads:

Code Talker was the Navajo scientist behind the various weaponized parasite strains encountered during the Phantom Pain episode. In actual fact, however, his research had begun long before that, as far back as Operation Snake Eater in 1964. During that legendary mission, all of The Boss’s adoptive henchmen demonstrated apparently supernatural abilities-which they actually owed to an earlier form of parasite therapy. After Big Boss defeated them, Code Talker retrieved their bodies for the CIA. Following Zero’s orders. Code Talker studied and replicated the parasites, successfully recreating, and personally adopting, the ability to photosynthesize in the process.

Later abducted and forced to work for Skull Face, Code Talker created the parasite used to infect Zero. He also engineered the parasites with which Skull Face restored Quiet to full health-and beyond-after her botched first attempt to kill Big Boss. A related process imbued the fearsome Skulls with their uncanny strength and powers.

Code Talker’s main assignment, though, was to work on Skull Face’s grand project: developing contagious vocal cord parasite strains that could target specific languages. The variety that targeted the Kikongo language caused the first outbreak on Mother Base, but it was the strain targeting the English language tongue that Skull Face planned to deploy in order to end Zero’s influence on world affairs.

Code Talker was rescued by Big Boss and extracted to Mother Base, where he provided valuable insight into his life’s work and the intentions of his former captor. At this point, he made a gesture that he purposely refrained from extending to Skull Face: he provided the Wolbachia parasite cure to the Diamond Dogs. This treatment was not without its side effects, however: it rendered all subjects infertile, making it a last throw of the dice in life-or-death scenarios.

At the bottom left hand-corner there is a heading that reads: Paz Ortega Andrade

Below that is a headshot of Paz as she appears in Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.

The text reads:

Orphaned at a very young age, Paz-AKA Pacifica Ocean-was adopted and raised by a Cipher-run agency that provided specialist training in espionage, leading her to feel that she owed her life to Major Zero. An exceptional candidate choosing for her versatility, she became a triple agent (also working with CIA and KGB handlers as circumstances dictated) commissioned by the Cipher commander himself to infiltrate Big Boss’s mercenary group.

Unusually, perhaps due to the delicate and specific nature of her task, Zero chose to relate Paz’s specific orders to her in person at one of his safe houses, rather than his customary exclusive use of proxies- a decision that would ultimately lead to dreadful consequences for both of them.

After adopting the identity of a Costa Rican student pursuing an ideal of peace in her war-torn nation, she expertly manipulated Big Boss during the Peace Walker incident of 1974, and ultimately secured an invitation to join him on Mother Base. After stealing Metal Gear ZEKE and attempting to convince Big Boss to join Zero and lead the military arm of Cipher, she had to fight the legendary warrior. Defeated, she was presumed dead in the aftermath-but tragically, a fate worse than that awaited her.  Rescued by a fisherman, but then snatched by Skull Face’s XOF troops, she was subjected to abhorrent tortures before revealing the sensitive details of her meeting with Major Zero.

Knowing that Paz (and young Chico) were the bait to lure Big Boss away from Mother Base for the duration of the imminent surprise attack, Skull Face had two bombs surgically implanted inside her body. This was his plan to kill Big Boss-and so very nearly succeeded. Though the first bomb was detected and removed, it was only the fortuitous accident of Paz regaining consciousness just in time that saved the lives of Big Boss and Miller. Though she selflessly threw herself from the chopper, the detonation of the explosive that killed her instantly caused the crash that robbed Big Boss of so many years of his life.

To the right-hand side of the text there is a full body render of Paz as she appears in Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. She’s in her blue schoolgirl uniform and wearing green rubber boots that go to the knee. Her left hand is braced open-fingered against her own neck, near her tie. Her right hand is off to the side, slightly closed.

[thatboomerkid]

Shining Immortality of Mammon’s Love

Shining Immortality of Mammon’s Love -- Pathfinder Urban Fantasy Occult Ritual

Brought to you absolutely free to enjoy, to test & to share – as always – by the fine folks of my Patreon.

For more material on the topic, see both Occultic Singularity & Incantations From the Other Side: Spirit Magic

School Transmutation; Level 9th

Casting Time 9 hours

Components V, S, M (a masterwork, life-like miniature statuette of the primary caster, as she wishes she appeared, crafted of solid gold and worth at least 3,000 gp; one severed body-part from Albert Kenkaid, usually a finger or a tongue (such items can usually be acquired on the black market for a minimum of 2,000 gp.); a variety of expensive material objects & consumer goods [listed below] worth at least 2,000 gp.; gold-colored paint mixed with powerful drugs, worth at least 1,000 gp.), F (an opulent home with high windows, thirteen gold-plated weighted merchant’s scales of masterwork quality, fifteen darkwood pedestals, a darkwood chalice, heavy curtains and a high-quality source of music, worth a total of 28,000 gp), SC (minimum zero; a maximum of up to twenty secondary casters may assist with this ritual)

Skill Checks Craft (body-painting) DC 33, 2 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 33, 2 successes; Perform (singing or string instruments) DC 33, 2 successes; Profession (accountant) DC 33, 1 success; Profession (interior design) DC 33, 1 success; Spellcraft DC 33, 1 success

Casters of this ritual may willingly reduce their cost-of-living level to achieve success with this ritual. For each step of reduction that is accepted by a caster during the completion of any one skill check, above, the casters of this ritual receive a +1 profane bonus on that skill check. This reduction in cost-of-living level may be expended by any caster, and this bonus stacks with itself: in this way, multiple casters can willingly crash their credit scores, get kicked out of their apartments & have their farms repossessed in exchange for immediate power ... and the success of this ritual.

This supernatural reduction in cost-of-living level lasts until the start of the next game month, when casters must once again invest an amount of gold equal to the lifestyle bracket they wish to live in. A caster who possesses a cost-of-living level of Destitute cannot reduce her own cost-of-living level in exchange for power in this way.

Range self

Duration instantaneous

Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no

Backlash The primary caster is exhausted and immediately falls to -1 hit points, bleeding out and dying; the primary caster also suffers a permanent -6 penalty to one ability score (selected by the primary caster). The caster may choose to reduce her Dexterity score with this Backlash, as this penalty is obviated whether the ritual is successful or not: this special penalty overlaps with (does not stack with) the -6 penalty to Dexterity imposed by the Metal-Clad template (see below). Whether the ritual is successful or not, the primary caster’s new fast healing will most-likely save her life, even if she is entirely alone.

Failure The primary caster immediately suffers the effects of feeblemind and gains both the Lead-Clad Template and the Ravenous Creature template; she is treated as having consumed herself within the last 24 hours. The primary caster gains sustenance only from consuming the flesh of the ritual’s casters, although she may mistakenly attempt to gain sustenance from other members of her own species in her bestial fury. If the primary caster is ever slain by violence or other mishap (rather than dying of her accursed starvation), she returns to life in 2d4 days (as per true resurrection) and gains either the Advanced Simple Template, the Giant Simple Template or another appropriate +1 CR template (such as the Earth-Infused template); these special templates always stack.

original image from here

Effect:

This ritual may only be cast on the primary caster’s birthday. It must be cast indoors, near windows, during daylight hours while the sunlight is partially blocked by curtains; the ritual must be completed after the sun is set, bathed in near-total darkness: lit only by candles and the roaring bonfire at the center of the ritual space.

This ritual usually occurs in a mansion owned by the primary caster or by one of her servants, but this is not technically required.

This ritual may only be cast by a living creature, and casting this spell is both a strongly Lawful and Evil act. Note that no casters of this ritual must worship or serve Mammon nor any other Archdevil.

By means of this ritual, the caster may apply both the Immortal Creature Template and the Gold-Clad Template to herself.

NOTE: Yes, this means the primary caster gains a total of +10 to Charisma.

Yes, this means that a wizard who “dump-stated” Charisma to an 8 gains a total Charisma score of 18 after successfully completing the ritual, while a highly-charismatic antipaladin might become near-godlike.

Yes, this is powerful. Yes, this is dangerous.

This is the shining shape of Mammon’s love.

The ritual begins with the preparation of a bonfire in the center of the ritual space, usually cut & dug out of a ballroom or gallery floor, then filled with gasoline and bits of broken violins, pianos, furniture and oil-paintings. The fifteen darkwood pedestals are then arranged around this pit in an esoteric but aesthetically-pleasing way.

A gold-plated ritual balance-scale is placed on each of thirteen pedestals.

The primary caster then places the golden icon of herself upon a curtain-draped pedestal and stands upon a matching pedestal directly opposite the icon; she gazes at this icon across the flames of the bonfire – and at the surrounding scales – near-exclusively for the duration of the ritual. The scales around her are then filled with a variety of expensive material objects & consumer goods, including -- but not limited to -- gold, platinum, silk, exotic fur, musical instruments, crude oil, incense, diamonds, ink, paper currency, receipts, magnetized plastic, clockwork, electronics, rich wine, and fine foods including thick butter, spiced jam and pickled heron eggs, soft cheeses wrapped in sealed wax, exquisite cuts of marbled steak wrapped-cold in thick bacon, thin wafers of garlic-soaked crust, pepper, cherries, mint leaves, chocolate, salted cashews, saffron, truffles, caviar and tiny onions.

These items are weighed, evaluated and sacrificed: balanced against one another in a ritual “transaction” that seeks to purchase the immortal soul of the primary caster and tie it to her own earthly buying-power. As items fall from the scales, they are immediately replaced, until the ground is littered with spilled, ruined and destroyed objects of unutterable value. Many of these items fall into the pit of the bonfire and are consumed.

If any weighted balance-scale is damaged or destroyed during the course of this ritual’s casting, the ritual automatically fails.

The primary caster is then painted, head-to-toe, to appear like her own perfect self-image, becoming lost in the transactions around her as the drug set in. She stands perfectly still, matching her own icon as perfectly as she is able.

The severed piece of Albert Kenkaid is dipped in gold paint and then eaten.

The ritual concludes with the primary caster receiving an unholy “baptism” from a darkwood chalice full of drug-laced golden paint, drinking deeply & becoming reborn. Whether the ritual is successful or not, the primary caster vanishes, as does her icon; she gains both templates and appears exactly halfway between the two “central” pedestals, within the bonfire: once she regains consciousness, she steps from the flames once more: an utterly new and unique creature.

Designer’s Note: This ritual is taught both by Mr. Skinflint and by Amaana Qaruun; it is -- in theory -- available to any member of the Inner Circle of the Archfiend who is capable of paying for the service to be performed and willing to accept the risks. Those few creatures who have successfully completed the ritual are automatically considered full members of the mysterious Oil Dollar Organization; the final goals of this organization are unclear, although they are known to have high-level influence over Union Global Confederated.

—

NOTE:

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[freykugel]

Vidya Inventory

Games in Progress

Baten Kaitos Origins - Stuck at Holoholo bird for almost 10 years

Legend of Zelda Wind Waker

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - started, then sis took the Wii, and now probably won’t ever finish

Super Mario Galaxy

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker

Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild - burnt out from material gathering instead of FURTHERING THE PLOT

Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology - finished original but not remake

Persona Q

Bravely Default - Level grinding hell

Fire Emblem Awakening - at final level but support grinding

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance

Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team - stuck at Giant Luigi boss battle

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - level grinding hell

Etrian Odyssey IV - got burnt out from FOE grinding

Rune Factory IV - I forgot everything and micromanaging

Pokemon Ultra Moon - got distracted but still on my journey

Final Fantasy VIII

Metal Gear Solid

Devil May Cry - I never actually learned to play so bosses-as-mooks killed me

Digital Devil Saga 2 - At final dungeon

Disgaea Hour of Darkness - trapped myself by increasing monster levels when level grinding on invincibility map

Jak and Daxter - would it count if my sister played it all and I watched as a babb

Katamari Damacy - did not fill the sky with stars

La Pucelle Tactics - got my ass kicked by bunnies or something

Okami - I FORGOT EVERYTHING

Xenosaga - an entire movie I forgot

Persona 2 Innocent Sin - I never finished it on the emulator so I should restart on the Vita... was in level grinding hell I think before I got distracted

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep - Uhhhhhh

Yakuza 0 - I WAS MONEY GRINDING AND I GOT DISTRACTED

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth - I progressed further when I got locked in my room during that time my heater broke but once it got fixed welp

Final Fantasy XV - I got to Altissia after ages of level grinding...

The Last Guardian - LET ME GET TO THAT CLIFF STOP GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WANTED TO GET THAT BARREL FOR YOU

Uncharted 4 - Came with the PS4 but then I got other games

World of Final Fantasy - did not understand battle mechanics

Super Mario Odyssey - got distracted by Octopath

Octopath Traveler - CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS

Games Untouched

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - I definitely should play this but Origins and the Holoholo bird ruined me

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Donkey Kong Country: Returns - Wiimote waggle hell

Epic Mickey

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Yoshi’s Wooly World

Xenogears - I’VE BEEN MEANING TO PLAY

Suikoden IV - got burnt out from my playthrough of Suikoden III

Suikoden IV Tactics - same as above

Yakuza Kiwami - need to finish 0

Detroit Become Human - my sound system being poopy stopped me

Steam Games In Progress

1bitHeart

Assassin’s Creed

Bastion

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Borderlands - terribad at shooting

Braid - the completionist in me is screaming

Cuphead - guess who sucks at this

Detention - I’m a scared baby

Dishonored - FOV making me dizzy

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - distracted by other games

Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age - finished original but don’t remember the story at all so eventually gonna do this one

Hell Yeah! - was entertaining

Jazzpunk - Playing too long makes me dizzy :S

Limbo

LISA - was trying to see if i could beat a generally unbeatable encounter

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - chicken hat can only do so much for this shitty player qq

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight - I suckkkkkk

Night in the Woods - got distracted, not terribly sucked in yet

Ori and the Blind Forest - so beautiful but got distracted

Owlboy - THAT FUCKING CANNON MINI GAME I’M GONNA KILL SOMETHING

Portal - at the time it kept making me dizzy on my laptop

Psychonauts - RIP my laptop that worked hard

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove - 9v9 terribad

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - I got mad that my female MC couldn’t date that one lady...

Tales of Zestiria - story is lackluster and not inspiring me to finish...

Ys Origin

Steam Games Untouched

Batman: Arkham City

Bayonetta - I did watch a walkthrough of it...

Bioshock 1-2/Infinite

Dragon Age 2 - LET ME IMPORT MY ORIGINS DATA

Life is Strange

Mass Effect 1-2 - I suck at shooting help

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros 

Portal 2

Siants Row 2/the Third - eventually I’ll bash people in the head with a purple dildo

Tales of Berseria - feeling guilty not finishing Zestiria

Tokyo Dark

Transistor

Ys series

[bregalnicki]

Ground Zeroes will cost $20 on Xbox 360 and PS3 for a digital copy

Ground Zeroes will cost $20 on Xbox 360 and PS3 for a digital copy

It’s a true shame that creators like Hideo Kojima need to justify the length of their games, Shadows of the Damned director Massimo Guarini said today on Twitter. Guarini now heads up independent studio Ovosonico and is working on Murasaki Baby for the PlayStation Vita. His comments, of course, are in reference to the controversy surrounding Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which you can…