#now the difficult part. do i tag the npcs in the video...

[skeleboy13]

i am not an animator. BUT. i have wanted to animate this with my wol ever since i started island sanctuary and finally cracked.

[amelee23]

Fool | J. YH

Genre: Fluff

Tags: Best friends to lovers, Suggestive themes and sexual jokes, Wooyoung is an accidental wingman, Nerdy gamers having at it, A lot of Need for Speed references

No. Words: 3.5k

⭐⭐⭐

She always loved when they got completely absorbed in their little bubble - engrossed in what was making them tick in the most passionate of ways. Since Yunho came to pick her up and take her to the dorm, she didn’t even realize when they got there - or even that the house was empty -  because they were too caught in a conversation about the new-coming video games of 2021. The small task of taking off shoes or their jackets, the walk to Yunho’s room and the struggle to get comfortable in the gaming chair; these were not memories in her mind. All she could remember was the way he smiled without stop and the sparkle in his eyes as excitement took over his entire being.

Only after Yunho told her he’s been playing old games lately - specifically racing classics, of the Need For Speed series - had she realized the house was too quiet. Yunho then informed her they all left to eat at a restaurant with the manager team, but he asked to be left behind so he could spend time with his best friend. She couldn’t help the warm smile raising her lips at the sweet sacrifice this man made for her.

A few minutes later and she felt the usual competitive side of her kick in, seeing Yunho with a controller in hand, playing Need for Speed: Underground 2, a game she remembered dearly from her childhood. She couldn’t help but feel she could do so much better than him - and that’s how the challenge came to be.

“Yeah, you want to bet?” Yunho suggested, his cheeks raised in a cheeky smile, but his lips expressed something a lot more smug. 

“2 out of 3: sprint, Street X and drift.” The boy laughed at his best friend’s confidence, finding her determination very charming, like always.

“Deal.” He announced, raising his hand so she could high five the deal to completion. It never failed to amaze him, how gentle her high fives felt to him, even though she’s the only woman he’s ever seen break a controller before. “What are we betting on, money?”

“Money is boring.” Taken aback, Yunho had a healthy laugh at her statement. He couldn’t wait to say this sentence again, out of context, and turn it into both teasing material and an inside joke.

“Okay, then what do you suggest?” He asked, still cackling with a half lidded eye smile.

“Let’s do something more… daring.” Trying to act surprised, Yunho opened his eyes in curiosity and hummed. They both got to thinking for about a minute, then she snapped her fingers exaggeratedly to show she had an idea. “Let’s randomly ask Wooyong to give the loser a punishment!”

“Like, with no context?”

“Exactly! After one of us loses, we ask Wooyong to give out a spicy punishment-! No one would be better than him at coming up with something totally ridiculous that one of us will regret for a lifetime!”

“I mean, you’re not wrong. But I’m starting to think you’re a masochist.”

“It’s a 50/50 gamble, so who knows?” She rebutted, wiggling her eyebrows at Yunho suggestively. He could feel his ears heating up so he pretended to need to face his computer for a while. “So, what do you say?” She questioned him, moving closer to where he was, probably intentionally, because she knew how to tell when he was turning shy. 

“I say you’re both crazy and a genius … a crazy genius. But I’m all on board.”

“Yas, leggo baby!” Yunho shook his head as he took in the image of his best friend leaning back into her chair, controller in hands, legs somewhere in between the right armrest and the air. Her enthusiasm dripped from the way she was grooving to the OST of the game. Warmth and an electricity-like feeling began filling his chest.

It took them perhaps a little too long to decide on the first track to play. Eventually, after long minutes of bickering, they chose a winding long race and swore to not try to mess the other up.

Yunho was the first one to drive, his engine roaring as he continued to hold his acceleration button. He had some lucky escapes from running into traffic - and easily overcame his competition. Now in front, he was taking short cut turns, but to her, they looked too time consuming. Yunho was trying to drive as properly as possible, and it was affecting his time; she couldn’t help but puff up as she realized it would be an easy win against him. With a record of 2:27:34, Yunho rolled his chair away from the screen and let his best friend take over.

Hands grasping the controller, she took a deep breath to overly-dramatize the situation even further.

“Eat my dust.” She mumbled, and Yunho gave her a curious side eye.

Swiftly she overtook all the NPCs, climbing up to first place. She wasn’t even worried about them to begin with. As the turns approached, Yunho realized she wasn’t showing signs of taking her fingers away from the acceleration button - not until the last second, at least. Her turns were either taken with the help of crashing into a wall or into a stylish, speedy drift. Yunho was baffled, thinking that crashing on purpose to finish faster should be considered as cheating. But he accepted his defeat as her time was 2:14:58, over ten seconds less than him.

Cracking her knuckles, she wore a smug smile as she let Yunho choose the next race for them to play. It was 1 to 0 currently, so he decided he should spice things out now - by choosing a ‘random’ Street X race. He probably forgot to mention to her that Street X were his forte in this game.

Yunho put his focus face on from the moment the cars showed up on screen. For most, this Street X race was difficult to even beat on first place - but he knew what he was doing. 

“I hope you had your fun.” He threatened, hands moving effortlessly on the controller to take him through the sharp, abrupt turns which were in Street X - a race type specifically made about taking those turns right, not about speed. Raw talent was dripping off of his fingers, but she didn’t want to feel discouraged just yet. Perhaps her method of using walls to take turns could work here, too-

Now that it was her turn, she realized it wasn’t the case - in here hitting walls was the worst thing you could do. Eyes dashing in between her car and the timer non-stop, she realized she was losing a lot of time correcting her direction if she didn’t brake properly before a turn. By the last lap, she already lost hope, as she reached Yunho’s record and wasn’t done with the race yet. 

“Tight game.” She stated, trying to ease the thick competitive air in the room. Yunho just smiled, a sparkle of something naughty in his eyes.

“Would you like to do the honours?” He asked, referring to choosing the drift track, the last race of their competition. He looked so sure of himself, to even offer that she chooses the track; she couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated by that cockyness. 

“Yeah.” She answered, not even looking him in the eyes. She knew what track she wanted - the one on the actual streets of the city, which had two off road areas - those were bomb in doing drifts over 50.000 points. 

Yunho was surprised she chose such a difficult track, but didn’t really complain. He had recently unlocked this track since he was nearing the end of the game, and so he knew the trick of the off road areas too, especially because he failed them enough times. He collected small drifts here and there on the way to the first special area, then he made sure to catch enough speed to send the back of his car in a beautiful curve, following the form of the turn. He didn’t need to, but he took the risk of connecting that turn to the next one that followed and gathered around 74.000 points in that area only. She was biting her lip, wondering if she still had the nimbleness to beat that.

The next special area gained him about 37.000, and with all the other points collected from smaller drifts, he was able to gain over 130 thousand. 

She was already pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing that she would probably lose. It’s been a while since she played this game, and the special drift areas were always a gamble. Yunho couldn’t help but laugh at the tension in her back, giving her a friendly pat to brighten up.

“You got this!” He cheered, because even if he wanted to win, he didn’t like seeing her so discouraged. He often times also got mad when he realized he was being too competitive and not giving anyone a chance to win against him.

She started out just like Yunho, gaining some small scores on the way to the main attraction of the race. As she saw the goal in her eyes, suddenly she struggled to regain control of her car in the midst of the big drift. She was headed straight for the edge, meaning her score would be neutralized if she hit it - so she was forced to stop her car. The special area unfortunately only brought her 55 thousand, a weak number compared to Yunho. She brushed it off and continued on her way, towards the second special area. She had a better feeling about this one, as her car was being much more responsive, and even if the space was smaller, she gained another 50 thousand there too. 

But unfortunately, as she hit the finish line, she realized - they both scored in the range of 130 thousand - but hers was exactly that number. Yunho was closer to 140.

With a little dance celebration, Yunho announced he was the winner of the tournament. Seeing him act so goofy, she couldn’t even bring herself to sulk. It’s not like it was unusual for Yunho to win their dumb little competitions, but it would’ve been nice to win one anyway.

“I acknowledge your driving skills, Mr. Jung.” She said with a smirk, offering him a hand to shake. 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, well… except the part of taking turns with your face.” Now that the tension was lifted, they were back to being all smiley and supportive of each other.

“What can I say? I like using my head.” Yunho chuckled, grabbing the controller to quit out of the game so he could find some movie to watch while they eat. Remembering that he needed to order some food, he pulled out his phone - and read Wooyoung’s name.

“So… do I need to ask Wooyoung to give you a ‘daring’ punishment?” He used air quotes to express the idea of something naughty. For a while he forgot that this was the penalty of losing, the thought completely slipping his mind as he focused too much on doing well in the game.

“I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, secretly hoping that he had forgotten and she could’ve avoided doing something so embarrassing. 

Hesitant, Yunho opened the messenger app and tapped on Wooyoung’s name. He didn’t know if he was excited about what was about to come.

[Yunho]: Hey Wooyoung, can you come up with a ‘daring’ punishment a girl could do for a guy for losing a game?

[Sent 18:46]

A thick silence enveloped the two as Yunho stared at the screen, waiting for Wooyoung to see his message. They were both hoping the resident jokester of the group would go easy on them this time.

[Seen 18:51] 

Five minutes later, Wooyoung saw the message and Yunho watched the three dots dance for a very short amount of time. And, as it turned out, Wooyoung didn’t ask any questions - he gave a straightforward answer.

[Wooyoung]: Oral

His answer had Yunho opening his eyes in pure shock. He glanced at his best friend, who was looking at him expectantly, and then back at the screen. 

“Uhm…” He couldn’t even bring himself to mutter such a word to her. Before he knew it, he let his phone down and stared into the distance like a deer in the headlights. 

Yes, asking Wooyoung was a bad idea. 

“Uhm? Did he answer?” She pressed on, and Yunho couldn’t do much more than nod. 

“Look for yourself.” He showed her his phone, and she felt as if she just got hit with a soccer ball in the stomach. Blinking at Yunho in disbelief, she let out a confused puff of air.

“I mean, I expected something like a sexy dance…. But not this. Wooyoung really is another level.” She complained, suddenly looking as lost as Yunho. They both looked like ghosts, the colors drained from their faces. 

In truth, both of their heads were racing at that moment - imagining what could happen if they went through with it. Yunho’s face heated up and his body grew heavy, and she was biting her lip. But a common thought was keeping them both grounded; that they were just friends, and nothing more.

Moments later, Yunho was able to collect himself and focus his vision again. She was in distress, even in a haze. He pulled out his phone again, texting Wooyoung to rectify the situation.

[Yunho]: How about something a little bit… more decent. This is my best friend we’re talking about.

Wooyoung read the message instantly after, his fingers fast on the keyboard.

[Wooyoung]: Oh my God it’s her! Why didn’t you tell me! I thought you were finally scoring a lady with those video games of yours!

[Yunho]: I told you guys I was spending time with her today

[Wooyoung]: You did? OOPS

[Yunho]: Yeah, oops. You almost gave me a heart attack

[Wooyoung]: *boner

[Yunho]: DUDE

[Wooyoung]: Okay okay I’m sorry, but you’re the one who asked me outta the blue

[Wooyoung]: Something a little more tame… HMMM

[Wooyoung]: You’re a tall dude, right? How about you have her wear one of your shirts for the rest of the day… but like only your shirt. I bet she’d look cute ;)

[Yunho]: That doesn’t sound that bad, thanks

[Wooyoung]: I can’t wait to get home :P

She dragged her voice suddenly, bringing Yunho back to reality. He didn’t realize how focused he was in his conversation with Wooyoung.

“Uhm, so, yeah! Wooyoung gave you a more tame challenge. He said you should wear one of my shirts for the rest of the day… like, as a dress type thing.” Yunho tried to explain, but he was still nervous from the previous shock and tripping over his own words.

“So wear a boyfriend shirt.” Yunho felt his being vibrate once again at the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’.

“I… guess so.”

“I can do that! That sounds more like a prize than anything, to be honest. You know I have a fixation for your clothes.” She said with a laugh. She seemed to be back to her cheerful self, already walking her way to Yunho’s closet. “Can I choose any shirt?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Still no intonation in his words, Yunho’s mind was not present in the conversation at all. It wasn’t long before he zoned out again.

He couldn’t possibly be attracted to his best friend in such a way. They had a strong spiritual bond, for sure, but it was never anything physical for them. They appreciated each other for who they are, so he never asked himself questions like these before.

Or at least that’s what he wanted to believe. He heard the door handle move and then saw her come back in, legs bare and sexy, her small frame basically swimming in his large shirt. She sat down on her chair and melted back into it without a care in the world. She looked comfortable, even.

“So, are we ordering that food?” She asked, but in Yunho’s daze, he missed the smirk playing on her lips. If only he knew how much she was enjoying this.

Forcing her to stay put, Yunho was the one to receive the food at the front door. He sighed in relief when he managed to put a blanket over her, as they nestled up in bed to watch a movie and enjoy their food. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.

His torture began again as soon as they got back into gaming -  this time choosing to do their usual foolery - playing Minecraft together, one being in charge of the mouse and the other in charge of the keyboard. No wonder they never made any real progress on their world, since they could never be in sync with each other to actually defend themselves from zombies. ‘

Time flew by as they laughed and played, but the rustle of keys at the front door still managed to startle Yunho out of his mind. Panicked, he got up to throw her pants back at her, words leaving his mouth a little too fast.

“How about you put those back on now.” Cocking an eyebrow at him, she hung them on the chair, clearly refusing to do so.

“Why would I? The punishment says for the rest of the day - or as long as I’m here.”

“Yes, but-” Yunho pursed his lips to the side. He didn’t know how to word his thoughts. To add more pressure, the door to his room swung open and San came inside to throw his phone on the bed. He glanced at Yunho’s best friend briefly and they exchanged hellos before he went back to the living room, where the boys were being loud over something.

Yunho breathed out in relief that San was nice enough not to stare. Something about other men seeing her like this irked him, even more so that she was wearing his shirt. 

“But?” She urged him to continue speaking, getting off of the chair to stand in front of him. Being the tall guy Yunho was, it wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to stare him down like that. Yunho gulped as he felt his throat dry up, taking in the image of his friend - no, an attractive woman - looking at him with such a suggestive expression.

“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this…” He mumbled, the beauty before his eyes already making him breathless.

“Why not?” She teased.

“Because…” There wasn’t any logical answer in his mind, or even a concrete idea. “I think we need to reevaluate our relationship.” Letting out a healthy laugh, she wasted no time to climb in his lap. Yunho was happy, perhaps the most relieved he’d been the entire day. He didn’t know there was such a sexual tension in between them until it finally dissipated. 

“Finally!” She exclaimed.

“You think so too?” She hummed in response, eyes locking with his lips as she did. 

The kiss itself felt good - like two magnets clicking into place. What felt even better though, was being able to accept all the feelings he’s been burying deep inside himself. He was wrong in thinking something more wasn’t possible between them.

A loud knock echoed from the door, and Wooyoung’s voice could be heard screaming from the other side.

“You two decent?” 

“No!” Yunho yelled back. They certainly weren’t a sight he’d want his bandmates to see - his shirt was hiking up on her thighs, their arms tangled around each other’s bodies. 

“What do you mean ‘no’??!” This time it was HongJoong’s voice, and Yunho knew he messed up. Almost effortlessly, he got up with her still around his hips and grabbed her pants on the way to the bathroom. 

“Okay, but seriously get dressed now.” Yunho said, and only got a wink from her in response. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to let her change. 

He really was a fool to think this wouldn’t work out - he already loved every second of it.

[yeochikin]

video games and questions. | p. seonghwa

a/n: thank you anon for requesting this! ngl this was p difficult even if it sounded easier it my head so i’m sorry this is short fdfjf i hope you enjoyed this! ✨💖 also lemme tag @hwanami hehe lov u 

word count: 2.5k.

warning(s): i don’t think there’s any, just some multiple times of a video game character dying!

“hey guys, welcome back to my channel!” you beamed, waving into the camera as soon as you started your stream, then adjusted your gaming headphones. 

you weren’t a popular streamer nor were you unknown as well, just somewhere in the middle of it. honestly, you never really cared about the attention you received. merely, you enjoyed what you did whether it was for a vlog, a reaction video, an occasional mukbang, and more often nowadays, gaming. you aren’t a huge gamer yourself due to work life but somehow, you’ve grown really hooked to this game even if it came out a few years ago. 

“so, today i’m gonna play this roleplaying based game from before, and continue where we left off!” you grinned, excitedly wiggling in your chair as you waited for your computer to load the game. 

while doing so, you read the comments left by the viewers, some were words of encouragement and support, and some were interesting questions that would either make you think deeply to yourself (not at how the viewers would take a screenshot of your confused expressions and use them as a meme). suddenly, as soon as you started the game, fingers quick to control your character in the game, a particular question caught your eye.

“ah, seonghwa? he’s in the other room, saying he needed to practice a cover he’s about to do.” you chuckled, gazing into the camera before cupping your lips as if you were whispering to someone yet purposely making your voice loud.

“we all know he sings well, damn angels must have blessed his voice.” an amused laugh bubbled out of your lips upon hearing the muffled ‘i heard that!’ from the other room by a certain male. 

park seonghwa, your boyfriend, was who everyone adored. just like you, he has his own channel, though he would mostly do singing covers or even dance covers. sometimes, you would even ask yourself how the two of you got together due to having differences when it came to your contents in your channels but if it weren’t for a convention the both of you were invited to a couple of years ago where the two of you first met, maybe the two of you wouldn’t be where you are right now. though it was rather awkward at first, you slowly came to realise you had a pleasant time with the male during the time at the convention, which led to you exchanging numbers and social media. 

“woah, a dragon! i wonder if i could ride i- oh, oh..” your jaw dropped as you watched as how your character laid lifeless on the ground after a minor accident. 

your eyes stared into the camera, eyes wide yet somehow they looked so defeated while your jaw was open, pulling a round of laughing emojis along with keyboard smashes in the comment section of your stream. as your character respawned, you buried your face into your hands as soon as you realised that you forgot to save before deciding to… ‘befriend’ the dragon in the game. 

“hey guys, remind me to save every time BEFORE i do anything dumb in this game.” you laughed frustratedly, starting to go over the quests yet again, mimicking the npc’s voice every time. you were too busy playing the game while occasionally engaging with your audience between loading screens, and telling your character to quickly escape from the enemies, that you failed to notice your boyfriend peeking his head through the door to watch you, an amused smile playing over his plump lips. 

‘y/n, who is that behind you?’

“ha-ha very funny, guys. there’s no one behind me, see?” you deadpanned after reading the comment, turning around to face the door. 

but instead of seeing only the door, your eyes were met with seonghwa’s head. due to half of his body was outside of the door, it looked as if his head was floating, effectively making you scream out of surprise, which made seonghwa yell along with you. once you calmed down, you pressed a hand on your chest, then glared over at your lover. 

“you could have knocked?” 

seonghwa merely sent you a straight, unamused expression with his hand on his own chest, before parting his lips to retort. “if you weren’t too busy yelling at your character to run faster, you would’ve heard me knocking.” 

“no! i would have heard you, yelling or not.” you protested. 

seonghwa merely rolled his eyes then smiled out of defeat, he couldn’t stay mad at you. walking further into the room, he wrapped his arms around your neck from behind and leaned down to press his lips against the top of your head as he whispered a small ‘hi’ to you. grinning from the sudden affection, you reached a hand up, and pulled his face a little closer so you could plant a tiny peck on his lips. turning to look at the camera, you gently nudged seonghwa to properly get into the frame so the viewers could see him a little better, now pulling up his own chair from his desk in the room to sit next to you.

“say hi, babe. i’m sure the viewers would love for you to join us.” you patted his thigh, laughing at how most of the viewers in the comment section were gushing at how good looking seonghwa is. 

with a bow of his head along with a gentle wave of his hand, seonghwa introduced himself to your audience. “hello everyone, i’m park seonghwa. y/n’s unexpected guest.” 

he laughed towards the end of his introduction after seeing you roll your eyes in a playful manner at him, knowing full well at this point he’s an expected guest from the amount of times he spent peeking in your livestreams or purposely creating a random reason just so he could join you in your videos. and in return, you would sometimes even appear in his videos to sing a duet with him.

the introduction managed to pull another round of gushing from your viewers while some even gave a casual ‘hi!’. you only gave him a small nudge with your elbow, your boyfriend feigning a pained expression as if you punched him in the guts. deadpanning, you turned towards the camera.

“somebody come and pick up this dork, he’s acting up today.” you said, earning a laugh from the male who then ruffled your hair.

despite being annoyed at his teasings, you can’t help but smile to yourself at how seonghwa was finally warming and opening up the more he joined your streaming while he interacted with some questions left by the viewers, whether you invited him or the latter merely inviting himself in occasionally. 

believe it or not, he was rather shy in front of the camera when you first collaborated with seonghwa for a mukbang video despite him having his own singing and dancing channel. though you finally understood why after he explained how he was.. in his own world whenever he did covers. it was no wonder seonghwa has  a lot of fans due to how well he expressed his emotions through them.

“babe, you’re not gonna make it in that jump!” you exclaimed as seonghwa took control of the game now.

“what are you saying? there’s a river underneath, your character will survive!” seonghwa protested before pressing the key, much to your protests.

“seonghwa wait!”

silence filled the both of you as you watched your character who is now laying motionlessly in the waters due to the miscalculation of the jump, courtesy to your boyfriend. the both of you stared into the screen.

then at each other.

then at the camera, both wearing a poker face on your features before groaning at the same time. you grabbed onto his arm so you could shake him while scolding him at how he should have known better, seonghwa letting you do as you please with a guilty smile played over his lips. standing up from his chair, he bowed his head.

“i’m sorry, i should have known before jumping straight into things. or in this case, off of random cliffs in the game.” 

his last sentence made you burst out laughing, yet again making your viewers cut the certain scene as a highlight for the day’s livestream. feigning annoyance, you gave out a sigh as you took over the controls once again while seonghwa read through the comments being left. 

“ooh, this is an interesting question, babe! what are your sleeping habits?” seonghwa said, eyes still glued to the comment section with the corners of his lips quirking up due to some comments that were hilarious to him.

“sleeping habits?” you hummed, leaning your back against your chair with lips pursed in thought. crossing your arms, you looked over at seonghwa and hummed, turning to the camera afterwards.

“i don’t think it’s that serious but sometimes he talks in his sleep.” you said, snickering underneath your breath when seonghwa lightly swatted at your thigh.

“hey, i don’t do that!”

“oh? then tell me why you think that i was san or wooyoung to stop teasing you, huh?” you raised an eyebrow, a huge grin threatening to curl itself over your brims from the flustered expression of your boyfriend.

“at least i didn’t almost fall out of bed from the amount of times i toss and turn.” he pouted.

“that was one time!” you whined, a red tint covering your cheeks as you remembered the said moment, promptly giving your boyfriend’s chest a light slap in retaliation as he teased you more and more. cooing, seonghwa pulled you into his arms and pressed a couple of kisses on the top of your head.

‘omg the two of you will be the death of me!’

‘you two should do more livestreams togetherrrr’ 

‘still can’t get over how seonghwa just pouted lmao’

the both of you giggled at the amount of comments as you shook your head, then went back to your game. the room was now filled with the sounds of fingers rapidly clicking onto the keys of your keyboard, your occasional groans and laughs from the various moments you encountered throughout the game, and seonghwa’s praise whenever you defeated an enemy, along with the occasional questions being answered by either you, seonghwa, or both. 

you’ve been playing the game for quite a while now and soon enough, you’ve finally grown tired of the game. totally not because of the fact that you kept dying in the game. with the remaining few minutes you had to spend, you decided to interact more with the fans this time now that you are more focused. 

‘y/n think fast, forehead kisses or hand kisses?’ one person asked. without a heartbeat, you immediately answered with a huge grin. 

“forehead kisses, definitely! something about them seems more… intimate in a way? as if someone is making you forget the things around you momentarily even without the need to say anything. just one forehead kiss is enough to erase the bad thoughts away, i guess?” 

next to you, seonghwa couldn’t help but to smile at how awed you looked answering the question as he listened intently and arms crossed in front of his chest, the certain dazed look in your eyes never fails to make him want to gather your frame in his arms and just give you all the forehead kisses you needed. suddenly, your laughter rang in his ears, making the male look at what you were laughing at, eyes widening slightly in the process.

‘in that case, let me be the one kissing your forehead lmao’

scoffing underneath his breath, seonghwa wrapped his arms around your waist and playfully glared at the screen, making a gesture with his hand as if saying that he had his eyes on the commenter.

“no, no, only i can kiss the little bun’s forehead.” seonghwa mused, a playful jealousy tone in his voice, wagging a finger in front of him as he hugged you close against him. 

“that’s a no-no, okay?” he spoke, causing you to coo softly underneath your breath from how the tone of his voice was slightly high pitched as he spoke out the sentence, somehow going a tad higher from the ‘okay’ he did. 

“sorry, guys. i guess seonghwa can only give me forehead kisses.” you laughed, shutting your eyes briefly upon feeling a pair of plump lips pressing against your forehead.

wondering how long you have spent playing the game, you opened your eyes and looked at the time. you had noticed that you spent almost two hours of just playing video games that you finally noticed that you felt hungry. before you could even say anything, a low rumble that came from your stomach made the words you were about to utter suddenly disappear. seonghwa, who also heard the low grumbling noise, laughed at you with a hand over his lips.

“i think that’s our cue to finally get lunch, huh little bun?” he grinned down at your flushed cheeks, dainty hands over your stomach. 

“oh yeah, definitely. so i’m gonna have to stop the streaming right here guys. see you in my next video, bye guys!” 

“byeee!” 

the both of you waved into the camera for a few seconds, then you reached out to end the stream. you then proceeded to stand up from your chair and stretched your arms out, the little dinosaur-like noise leaving your lips upon feeling your tense muscles relax, seonghwa doing the same. 

“thank you for being in my livestream today, i had fun. even though you made my character die after that jump from the cliff.” you laughed once seonghwa deadpanned at you.

however, the unamused expression slowly melted away into a look of fondness. he then placed his hand against the back of your head as an attempt to pull you closer so that he could press his lips against your forehead. 

“i had fun too, maybe next time you should collab with me again the next time i film.” he suggested.

“we can talk about that later but for now..” you trailed off, patting your stomach.

“we need to find something to eat.” you continued, seonghwa playfully giving a light poke against your stomach, then made his way to your small kitchen with you happily trailing from behind, your hand clinging onto the back of his shirt as you do so.

“ramen sounds good to you, little bun?” he inquired, checking the cabinets for said food. 

hopping on the counter top, you nodded your head in agreement. your stomach suddenly growled once again at the mention of food that it made you hug your arms close to your stomach in surprise, seonghwa laughing at the noise and prepared the utensils. while waiting for the water to boil, your lover leaned in to steal a little kiss on your lips. smiling sheepishly, you hopped off of the counter and helped him in cutting up the vegetables.

needless to say, the both of you spent most of the time in the kitchen just enjoying each other’s company along with playful hip bumps every time the two of you stood next to each other as you waited for the food to finish cooking. you couldn’t ask for anything more than this.

[canmom]

impressions on the nier replicant remaster so far:

taura's combat improvements have delivered! feels very similar to automata: very mobile, you have a quick string and a slow string and charged attacks on each button, plus contextual moves like aerial attacks (light string stays up, heavy is a slam) and attacks out of dodge rolls. cool new mechanic where a perfect dodge zips you behind the enemy and sustains your string, which is helpful bc their swings tend to be very slow. there are other quality of life improvements such as auto aim on heavy magic attacks. have not yet found a juggle but I'm sure we'll see combo videos. result is overall much much more fun than the original, if you enjoyed automata's 'platinum action game lite' you'll probably get on with this

hard mode is not incredibly difficult for the most part, but i do die occasionally on bosses. disappointingly, toylogic's idea of a hard mode seems to be to make the enemies kind of bullet sponges rather than something like the usual platinum rocket tag hard mode which demands tighter execution...

some of the bosses have been updated, notably hansel and gretel, which were a really fun, chaotic fight

dub voice acting is perhaps even more charming - the rerecorded performances for Kainé and Weiss are as great as ever, and young Nier brings a very sweet, tragic dynamic in his interactions - unlike the weary dad, this boy has somehow not yet been broken by all the things he's suffered and he tries so hard to help everyone 😭

a few slight changes to translation here and there. also a curious addition where weiss spoke in a crackly recorded voice while recalling something shortly after meeting him

some scenes like the lighthouse keeper just plain make more sense when nier is 15! extremely excited to his interactions with kainé and emil

it's an incredibly faithful update - even the cutscene cinematography is broadly the same, with the exception of new intro cutscenes when you visit an area (e.g. the bird in the aerie). sometimes this works to the game's detriment though lol - the junk heap is basically identical and still a slog, which is a shame because the concept of a huge, ruined military factory was realised so much better in automata. but that does mean i can trust them to keep my favourite parts...

new character models are solid, though the ones I'm noticing most are the random npc townsfolk, who now tend to have much more distinctive outfits...

curious to see what else has changed. i know there is a chapter adapting the story 'the little mermaid' from grimoire nier since it was in the trailer, but I'm hoping they will have added more... imagine if they put an ending E where you play as kainé attacking the forest of myth as in the story 'the lost world'? that would rule so much! but they would probably at least hint at it in the trailer. whatever they do, so far they seem to be on the right track...

[fallout-lou-begas]

Howdy! I remember reading in some of your posts that you use some mods to make the game harsher and more difficult, would you be willing to post a list? (or link me to one if you've already made the post- I couldn't seem to find it) I'm just starting to get into using mods for new vegas and the mods you seem to like look to be right up my alley

Hi! I’m so glad you asked, I’m very happy to make some recommendations.

Lou’s Mod Recommendations for Masochists (or: Creating a Disempowerment Fantasy)

Interior Lighting Overhaul / Darker Nights / Directional Flashlights: A combination of mods that make navigating around in the dark a lot more interesting and dangerous. ILO removes all artificial light sources from interiors so that caves and ruins don’t seem unnaturally bright, DN does exactly what it says on the tin, and DF replaces the Pip-boy Light with a handheld, unidirectional flashlight that must be equipped (or worn, if you craft a harness or have a compatible helmet) in order to be used. You can see them in action in this video.

Med-Tek Trauma Kit / More Conditions to Fast Travel / Better Crippled Legs: As I explain in the linked post, these three mods in conjunction revolutionize the significance of getting your limbs damaged, which can turn a sudden injury in combat into a severe game-changer.

No Magic Compass / Remove Compass POI Markers: I forget which of these actually work but I use them in conjunction. These remove the little ticks for locations and NPCs from your compass so that it’s just that: a compass, plain and simple. If you still want Perception to be useful as a stat now that you’ve removed its effect on your compass radius, try Precise VATS, which ties your accuracy and range with VATS to that stat.

Manual Reload: a small mod, but a great one! All this does is prevent the game from automatically reloading your weapon for you, either when you run out of ammo or switch from one weapon to another. This forces you to pay more attention while firefighting, lest you be caught firing dry with an enemy charging you down. Also, manual reloading just...feels good? You get to push a button, and I love having more reasons to push buttons. This mod pairs exceptionally well with Empty Clicks for an immersive indication of being spent.

No Skill Tags: This mod very simply removes the [Bracketed] labels from dialogue options that indicate that it’s a skill check. In addition to being more immersive, it prevents you from seeing that you’re too low to pass a check, and if you’re proactive you’ll live with the consequences of trying it and failing it anyway.

Cover-Based Stealth: In addition to overhauling the extremely simple detection AI of vanilla New Vegas into a system based on line of sight across larger distances (if a distant NPC catches a glimpse of you, they’ll actually come over to investigate!!), its most important feature is the most easy to use global damage variable slider I’ve seen yet from any other mod. Basically, you can multiply the damage dealt by you and to you by however much you want. Setting a high multiplier turns combat into a swift, bloody, and extremely dangerous affair. Compare this to the in-game harder difficulties where the only thing that happens is that enemies get more hit points and combat becomes only more tedious, not actually more difficult. Cover-Based Stealth is also a completely modular add-on, so you can only use the parts of it you like and ignore the rest!

Project Nevada: PN is an overhaul mod that I find difficult to recommend on the whole, but it’s so modular in its design and approach that you, like me, can use maybe 10% of its features while ignoring the other 90% and it’ll work just fine. Most pertinent to me is its Rebalance Module, which lets you easily customize so many features like the toughness of the economy, the rate at which you must fulfill survival needs in Hardcore mode, your movement speed with one or two broken legs (which would make Better Crippled Legs redundant), formulas for carry weight and other statistics, and leveling rates such as experience gain and perk rate. My personal configuration is a tougher economy, slightly harsher hardcore rates, 45% and 20% movement speed from broken leg(s), the least encumbrance possible (which makes backpack items, included in PN but also available in many other mods, a necessity), and a far slower leveling rate: a perk every three levels instead of two, only 5 skill points per level, and tagged skills only receive a +10 bonus but have a x2 multiplier to all skill points invested into them. I can’t recommend slowing down skill point gain enough because there’s seriously not much in vanilla settings stopping you from becoming a God of Everything laughably early.

Immersive HUD: A fully configurable, positionable, hide-able HUD that lets you create a far less obtrusive user-interface. It’s handy for a litany of reasons, but for a more difficult experience specifically, try hiding your ammo count so that you actually have to keep track of your own bullets in your head. Pull your best Dirty Harry and ask yourself whether you fired five shots or six, and whether you’re feeling lucky.

Finally, in addition to these mods, you can take in-game steps to make your gameplay experience more difficult as well. Do not take perks such as Comprehension, which is counter-intuitive to reducing skill point gain, or Living Anatomy, which while a very neat mechanic completely removes the challenge of learning which ammo types are most effective against specific enemies on your own and the suspense of a protracted firefight. Sell skill books instead of reading every single one. That kind of thing. I also don’t have a specific mod to recommend that achieves it cleanly, but when I start a new game, I plan for my character to have 5 less SPECIAL points to invest than the game actually allows, and after creating my character I just use console commands to adjust them to a lower rate. I also use console commands to remove far more caps from my inventory whenever I see a doctor, because (especially with mods that affect buying and selling prices), being restored to peak-perfect health should cost a lot more to maintain balance. Don’t ever be afraid to use console commands to just make things work the way you want them to!

All of these mods and tips are not hard and fast rules or things that make one experience objectively “better,” this is just my best advice for turning the game into something that suits my own personal playstyle, which is beign the weakest, shittiest, poorest, underdoggiest courier in the wasteland.

[rubyredsundae]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag!

I was not tagged by anyone, I just really wanted to join in. If you see this and want to as well, please do! I've been loving reading through everyone's :)

I am a fan since… 2011ish? Definitely at least a year before ME3 came out. I remember watching my brother play ME2 and thinking it was so cool. While he was away it was a huge comfort for me to play it in his room, kind of like a bonding or cathartic experience for someone who wasn't there at the time.

When ME3 came out, me and him went to the midnight release at a gamestop like 40 minutes away or something, wearing clothes we threw together to kind of fit the N7 color scheme. Even though we don't talk anymore, those memories are still really precious to me. Also, the nostalgia of playing ME1 after-school or on the weekend, running to get my easy mac from the microwave during a cutscene, stuffing too hot mouthfuls while speeding the Mako towards the conduit on Ilos.

Favorite game of the series: It's a tough call between ME1 and ME2, but I'd say ME2. It's the game I get the urge to replay the most.

MaleShep or FemShep? Femshep all the way. I only play MShep when I want to do his exclusive romances. No offense to BroShep, but ME was the first game I ever played that let me not just be a girl, but customizable. Not just to be the already generated token girl character in a pack of boys. And not only can you play Femshep, but every game you are surrounded by smart, funny, tough women as squadmates. It was such a huge deal to me, and still is. Femshep represents so much. As Jennifer Hale put it, FemShep was a military grade boot to the video game industry glass ceiling.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer? I personally tend to lean spacer in-game, but I tend to use Earthborn when I'm writing fics.

Paragon or Renegade? Usually Paragon, but Renegade playthroughs can be really interesting, especially if I have a detailed background about why Shep is the way they are. My first Renegade, Krystle, is pretty bigoted and anti-alien until she meets Liara. Krystle is naturally guarded and quick to anger, so meeting someone who seemed to accept her and listen to her without judgment really opens her mind.

By the 2nd game, she wakes up in the cerberus lab with new biotic powers, having previously been a regular foot soldier. This makes her seeth, having someone completely take her agency, agreeing with the illusive man on the surface but plotting against him the entire time. She starts to lean more Paragon, if only to piss him off. She has the biggest smirk on her face when she blows up the collector base.

Biotics or Tech? Oooh, this is hard. Maybe biotics just the tiniest smidge because of Jack/Samara biotic bubble throw during the suicide mission. I don't know if we'll ever get a screen adaptation but THAT is a moment I would pay to see done with a big SFX budget behind it.

Favorite class: Sentinel! I don't know how much this reflects on my class preference in gaming in general, but I love the 'jack of all trades'ness of it. By the time I get an assault rifle, I don't really feel the need for anyone else to make up for something I lack. Also, tech armor in ME2? Where your shields regenerate automatically when it breaks, and the cool down is when you initially active it, instead of when you detonate it? Chef's kiss. I understand why it was nerfed in 3 but I'm still mad.

Favorite companion: Ho boy. This is obviously very difficult to choose but I'm gonna say Miranda. I've always loved and identified with her character, I love the accent, and she's always useful on missions. I was so happy when I learned she could be a squadmate in the armax arena.

Honorable mention to Ashley in ME1. Her character is rarely used to exposition lore, so she just gets to have her personality fleshed out. I don't always agree with her but she does seem genuinely willing to listen. ME3 tosses her out the airlock though; partially because her content was bugged and never restored, leaving her inclusion feel half-baked, and partly because Ash and Kaidan have to be able to serve the same plot function as each other and it negatively affects her character more than his. This could also be intentional on bioware's part, to try to flesh out kaidan's personality and tone down Ashley's as a response to criticisms of them from ME1.

Least favorite companion: Also difficult, because I don't really hate anyone as much as I am just less interested in some. I didn't like Zaeed for a long time, but I think he's much better and really funny in ME3. James was pushed on me too much at the beginning and it made me really dislike him, but I think he's greatly improved and also pretty funny in Citadel DLC. I'm also pretty indifferent to Jacob; I don't think he's a bad character, just disappointing because there was a lot of potential.

Not that every character has to go on and do some grand quest to be interesting, but I don't feel like Jacob every really got a big hero moment like everyone else. He is a very calm and introverted person (imo) who doesn't really share his feelings, so it's always been hard for to to connect with him on anything.

My squad selection: Depends on the game, but it usually involves Garrus lol. Typically it's Liara/Garrus in ME1, Miranda/Garrus for ME2, and Liara/Garrus again in ME3. I am very boring and predictable! If you have any suggestions for me to try out and mix things up, let me know!

Favorite in-game romance: Also depends on the game. ME1 it's Liara, hands down. It was the first game, really the first piece of media, where I was told two women could fall in love and be happy and that was okay. The amount of enlightenment and comfort in figuring out that I was bi these games brought me is kind of wild to look back on.

ME2 is a toss-up between Garrus and Thane. They are both wonderful but in completely different ways. I tend to now romance Thane on characters I don't plan on importing to ME3, or if I do, to just have a really depressed fucking Shepard lol. I hate how much Thane was brushed off, especially if you romanced him.

Other pairings I like: l love Miranda so much, but I'm a gay girl so I ship her and Femshep. Same goes for Tali, Jack, Ashley... damn I'm just really gay for straight girls huh :/

I don't really have any other ships for non-Shep related pairings.

Favorite NPC: Shiala is really cool to me, I wish we got to see her in 3. Emily Wong is also cool, also wish we saw her in 3. There's probably a lot more that when I come across them next I'll be like, "you! I love you! You're my favorite."

Oh also Joker! And EDI! But not together. Idk I feel like ME3 threw a curveball at me with "do you support organic/non-organic relationships?" Like m'am please don't ask me, I accidentally drank turian liquor last year, I'm not qualified to be an expert on this.

Favorite antagonist: Tbh I really dig Saren. I think his reasoning is super fascinating, both to set up how someone who's indoctrinated can rationalize to themselves that they are still in control; and as a foil to Shepard, to show what can happen when you become too isolated and the ends justify the means. I think his VA does a great job of walking the line between desperate survivor and madman. He's also the only antagonist in the trilogy that we ever fight 1 on 1 (ignoring squadmates) and it feels more personal. I think he's such a fantastic foe for the first entry in a trilogy and I don't think he gets enough credit.

Favorite mission: Is it cliche to say the suicide mission? It's honestly close to perfect. The stakes, the sequencing, the cinematics, the score. Everything works so well.

Favorite loyalty mission: Kasumi's and Tali's are really cool, as we all know. Samara's is also cool because it is entirely non-combat based. Shepard has to prove they can accomplish what seems impossible without a gun or biotics.

The confrontation at the end with Morinth always haunts me a little, because they are both right in their own way. Morinth's final line, "and they say I'm the monster", as you let Samara kill her, watch her scrambling backwards in fear... I know that she's a remorseless killer, but it gets me every time.

Favorite DLC: It's Citadel, obviously. Turns out what I really wanted was quality time and a party with all my friends. I love mass effect for many reasons, but simulating friends and affection when I had none has always made me bond to this series like other games don't. Is it sad? Sure! But I don't think love and affection for fictional characters should ever be shameful until it makes you hurt other people.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy? I'd say destroy. If the other options were presented earlier and we had time to stew with it, maybe I'd be more split. But all of this in 5 minutes? It's not like the collector base where the implications are obvious and the choice is just down to what Shepard believes. The 3 choices all seem like space magic out of nowhere, and none of them seem to really offer any insight on what Shepard should believe. So I say destroy, just because it's what Shep has intended and is most consistent with their character and their admiration of Anderson.

Favorite weapon: The spectre level assault rifle in ME1. Never have I felt more powerful.

Favorite place: Idk why but I just thought of the creepy lab with all the scientists during the leviathan DLC. I really love when Mass Effect leans into the Lovecraftian horror aspect of things. Talking to Sovereign and Vigil in ME1 gave me goosebumps my first few playthroughs.

A quote I like: I have hundreds, but the one off the top of my head is, "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began." I have a poster of it up on my wall right now!

[metalgearkong]

The Last of Us Part II - Review (PS4)

8/14/20 ***SPOILERS***

Developed by Naughty Dog, released June 19th, 2020

The Last of Us was a game I wasn’t originally a huge fan of when it came out in 2013. Despite it receiving astronomical praise by fans and critics, it took me a couple times completing the game before I fell in love with it. What truly made The Last of Us special was not necessarily its concept or gameplay, but its storytelling and characters. The depth of the interpersonal drama and raw emotion on screen was the true core of the game, with the stealth-action, zombies, and other aspects more like icing on the cake. The Last of Us ended up being one of my favorite games of all time strictly based on execution, even if the game as a whole still isn’t perfect. 

The Last of Us Part II was my most highly anticipated game of 2020, and it feels strange to be on the other side of it finally. This game has been polarizing for fans, and as it turns out, I feel conflicted on the game as well. I finished it a month or so ago, but only now getting my thoughts written out. While some aspects are daring, jaw dropping, and gorgeous, other aspects detract from what is an unexpected story not quite living up to its potential. I respect this game more than I love it, and while I do think critics have been too kind in review scores, the exceptionally low user reviews have been far more incorrect. This is a solid, epic, deep, beautiful, emotional campaign which will deliver its money’s worth, but many contentious points will dictate how much you enjoy this blockbuster of a video game.

One of the aspects I like the most about this game is how similar the gameplay is to the original. Many people I suppose would want more change or innovation in the 7 years since The Last of Us, but personally I’ve always been a fan of sequels that retain what I like about a series. If it changes too much, it becomes too detached from what I enjoyed or got used to. Changes Part II makes are subtle, but natural for the genre and world. The player can duck and go prone in waist-high grass to conceal themselves, a dodge button has also been added, and a huge addition to combat and stealth is the addition of attack dogs who patrol with their owners. Dogs can pick up your scent until you distract it, adding to a lot of tension anytime enemy K9s are around. And yes, I found it difficult to shoot the first couple of dogs I encountered as they yelp out in pain when they get hurt or die.

Part II picks up I believe 5 years after the original. Ellie and Joel live in Jackson, the town they town the become a part of at the end of The Last of Us, and seem to be thriving in a community with food, power, and systems in place for relative safety from the outside world. The story is told in a much more chopped up chronology which I found to be detrimental to the pacing. The first game had a straightforward narrative and it worked very well, and this game has to dice up its story to make it seem more complex, but just comes off as pretentious. For example, by the end of the prologue (about a hour and a half) you play as three different characters. This leads into the strange structure of this game’s story, aside from having the linearity chopped up at times. 

The most controversial moment of the game is the moment of Joel’s death and how it occurred. While this event was not unexpected for myself and others, the manner of which he died is what’s justifiably pissing people off. A brand new character is introduced named Abby (and one of the three characters we briefly play as shortly before) and without any background or indication of who she is, brutally tortures and executes Joel in front of Ellie’s eyes. It’s not difficult to see director Neil Druckmann cackling with satisfaction of his subversion of expectations. It’s simply toying with the emotions of fans, and he has to expect and stand by any criticism he’s gotten for how this scene went down. However, this moment does make more sense as the story unfolds, but its no less a heavy handed and manipulative move for the sake of auteur video game storytelling.

Ever since I witnessed the brutal death of one of my favorite video game characters of all time, my only though was “they better justify this.” It was never “this is horrible and irredeemable, and “Naughty Dog is off its rocker,” like many people seem to have reacted. It was gut wrenching, but I knew Naughty Dog has a pension for organic characters, and in the back of my mind I knew I had to give this game its fair shot, and see if and/or how Naughty Dog justified a scene liable to piss off virtually every single fan of the original game. This is a poor spot of the game, but the structure of the game itself is, for me, the biggest issue of Part II. In the end, I don’t mind Joel’s death as much seeing the context surrounding it, although it still should have been handled entirely differently. 

Neil Druckmann proudly pulls a Metal Gear Solid 2 move, and entirely switches protagonists for a huge portion of the game (about 45%). Abby turns out to be the main character once the halfway point of the game hits. Following Joel’s death is about 9-11 hours playing as Ellie on her revenge quest to find Abby and kill her. The motivation is justified, being in the room with Ellie as she watched her father figure die in agony in front of her. Ellie’s portion of the campaign makes sense, Abby’s makes less. The structure of the story comes to a high point mid way through, where Abby and Ellie finally meet to clash. After all this build up, and around the same time of the game where the first game had its conclusion, everything halts and resets. 

We are suddenly dropped into the Abby story, showing her side of things, and why she would want to kill Joel. I do think the story directly surrounding her motivation is well done, but the problem is, a large portion of Abby’s story has literally nothing to do with Joel or Ellie. We effectively see why Abby would want revenge on Joel, but then we have to tag along on a major side journey while Abby helps a trans kid and his sister escape the cult they grew up in. I get that it helps develop more empathy for Abby as a character, but Abby’s story should have been at least cut in half to keep the overall story more focused and flowing. Many times while deep into Abby’s story I honestly forgot what the point of what I was doing is, and was getting confused on which events had happened and which hadn’t. 

Abby herself is a good character, and after all has been said and done, she is the third best character in this series so far. It’s a shame though that so much of her story is a direct waste of time, despite more of an excuse for more of the same great gameplay and set-piece moments. Empathy and perspective are the two big themes of this game. The best thing I can say about Part II is it convinced me of something I thought was near inconvincible: it made me like and root for Abby after the scene of Joel’s death. However, while the theme of the game is “all of your enemies have their own backstory,” Par II doesn’t teach us anything new whatsoever. Abby’s father was the surgeon Joel killed upon saving Ellie from the Fireflies at the climax of Part I. But Joel (and Ellie) killed a lot of random enemies in the first game, most of them players won’t even remember specifically. 

The fact that we have an entire video game showing us the perspective of one single person who wants revenge on Joel is a story that doesn’t need to be told. Any NPC we killed in the first game had family or friends who would also want revenge on Joel as well. We don’t learn anything new. This whole series is just marauder against marauder. Joel has never been a good guy, and that’s never been a secret. Joel is shown as an anti-hero even before the conclusion of the first game. It’s partially what makes him such a cool character. We only rooted for Joel because we were seeing things from his perspective. If the first game was entirely about Abby and Joel was framed as the bad guy, the results would have been the same: Abby would be our point-of-view “hero” character, while Joel was clearly the villain. Part II is not the epiphany Neil Drukmann likely wanted his audience to experience.

As anyone can see, the graphics and performances of Part II are incredible. While the story and structure are nothing too special (because it ruins its great moments by long drawn out heavy handed moments), at least the game itself is engaging to play and is gorgeous to look at. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest myself, and the game mainly taking place in Seattle, I enjoyed being totally waterlogged throughout the entire experience. If the story isn’t depressing enough on its own, the weather will certainly get to you. The core characters themselves are portrayed extremely well via motion capture and voice acting as well. I’m wondering why Neil Druckmann didn’t just make a Netflix series beings he is clearly so focused on the character’s interpersonal relationships. This is especially true for Joel and Ellie once again. Side characters are well acted, but have less of an effect on the core story, which is a huge tragedy when so much effort was clearly put into bringing them to life.

There’s no doubt Naughty Dog accomplished their specific goal in making you as depressed as possible. To be honest, it reminded me of some of my favorite books about stories of conflicting emotions and ending on depressing notes. Even though Part II is far from perfect, it’s still a juggernaut of a single-player game with amazing graphics, acting, responsive gameplay. I like the ways it proved me wrong on stuff I thought was unchangeable, and for that, it has my deep respect. It may not be for everyone, not even fans of the first, but if you come at it with an honest open mind and let yourself drop your ego enough to take in this entire story, I think it’s a daring piece of media that might age very well in time.

7/10

[zanidragon]

11 Questions

@empresstress13 tagged me thank you for allowing me to continue procrastinating on Everything.

1. What is your preferred sort of gift to receive? Do you enjoy getting gifts and/or letters?  

I’m Bad at receiving gifts, I like them but I’m bad at receiving them. I don’t know if I have Specific types of gifts I like to receive so much as I like having a useful gift/receiving something I can/will use.

2. Do you enjoy books, movies, and video games? Do you consistently enjoy similar genres between mediums or does it change? What are your favorite genres?

Yes, all three. I do enjoy similar genres Most Of The Time with the exception of horror movies and books, I love those, and I like seeing horror games played but I Cannot Play Them Ever.

Favorite genres: Fantasy/Sci-fi, and horror but I’m Picky about my horror.

3. What is your favorite type of weather? Does the weather affect your mood?

Warm sunshine and thunderstorms, I like rain but mostly to observe and enjoy the sound. That being said overly cloudy skies, excessive rain, snow all tend to make me feel Not Great, my leg bones don’t like cold.

4. What is your favorite color? Is your favorite color to wear and favorite color aesthetically the same?

Big ole fan of red over here and uhh yes, yes it is. Red’s great, excellent color for me.

5. Generally, are you more drawn to characters that you relate to or characters that are very different from you? Or ones that are close to what you aspire to be?

Oh boy a difficult question uhh... Both maybe? Yes? The characters I’m typically drawn to are ones that I relate to according to very specific circumstances but they always have to be hopeful, if not in personality then narratively it has to have a certain amount of hope in their personal story or it’s not worth it to me.

6. Do you like chocolate? Do you like chocolate with things mixed in (like fruits or nuts)?

YES. I like chocolate, specifically dark chocolate more than anything else. I like chocolate paired with espresso beans, fruits, nuts.

7. What’s your favorite animal? Why?

There are So Many Good Animals. Pangolins are good animals! Their tongues are attached to their ribcages! They have SCALES and they curl into Little Scaly Balls.

Owls! Especially barn owls! Feathery ghosts that shriek with the voices of millions of damned souls! Horrifying!

Gila monsters! FAT. Spooky colors! Venomous! Did I mention FAT?

HUMMINGBIRDS! Praying mantises! Ant Lions! Moths! LEOPARD SEALS??

The world is Full of wonderful and amazing creatures I haven’t even gotten into the immense and wild variety of my favorite CATS.

8. What is a book that you would recommend to me?

Mistborn Trilogy if you haven’t already read it, the Night Angel Trilogy is fun but only if you don’t mind a horrifically graphic story with some not fantastically written female characters.

Dragonriders of Pern is a fun series that I haven’t read all of there’s a gazillion of those.

The Incarnations Series is Very Fun.

9. Tell me about an original character you made! Or if you don’t want to do that feel free to tell me about the type of character you’d like to make!

This’d be an easier question if I didn’t constantly spit out character after character after character. Uuhh.

Oh! Malthag! My good good boy! He’s a D&D npc I intend on using for a future long campaign, he’s a former battlefield medic who’s become deeply concerned for his homeland’s now centuries-old policy of uhh worrying about everything except actual infrastructural problems they have. As a very young child he caught a disease which robbed him of his voice and hearing, shortly after this he also discovered that he was a sorcerer. He studied as a doctor and specifically tried setting up a clinic in poorer districts in order to aid those who might not be able to afford the services of other healers. Then he got roped into the army and uhh there’s more to this story but it’s spoilery.

He’s a good boy! I love him!

10. What is your favorite weird fact about history? (OR science or animals or any weird fact?)

I’m bad at history for the most part humans are Not Interesting to my Horrible and Terribly Fickle Brain.

Animals are WEIRD. Frog eyeballs can be seen from the roofs of their mouths when they swallow and sometimes when they blink! Dragonfly larvae jaws are less like jaws and more like an extendable spear to grab and eat things! There’s a parrot in Australia, the Kia, that breaks into cars out of boredom! There’s a spider, the portia spider, a type of jumping spider that evolved specifically to hunt and eat other, LARGER spiders! Chipmunks rarely stray more than 100ft from their home burrows, barred owls rotate nesting grounds throughout a period of several years to allow prey populations to bounce back!

11. Tell me about a location that you’ve been to that you would recommend other people visit!

The blue mosque, it’s just, absolutely stunning, pamukkale, which is a calcium-covered mountain and hot springs in Turkey. The California Redwoods, it makes you feel small in a good way. The trees are as aware of you as you are of them.

I... Am not making 11 more questions anyone who wants to is welcome to answer these

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 1]

-claps hands together- Okay, this one’s going to be a little different. My primary goal when I first started the Nuzlocke thing was to replay games with some more variety in the choices. The Nuzlocke element was more about limiting the chaos of the Randomizer than really doing a proper Nuzlocke.

This, though, is going back to the basics. It should be very fun.

Rules:

After possessing poke balls, only the first pokemon of any route is eligible for catch.

Barring duplicates. Waiting until an unregistered pokemon appears is valid.

Any pokemon that faints will be considered dead, and go into a specified box.

Each pokemon must be nicknamed.

Starter pokemon is determined by Trainer ID number.

Team wipe means the run’s over.

Plus one extra special one:

Only battling Trainers is allowed.

No grinding. The only smudge line is that if I can’t run away from a pokemon, I am allowed to defeat it. I’m not going to be locked into a situation where a wild pokemon ends everything because it’s too fast and I’m not allowed to attack it.

My expectation is that I’m going to fail at least a few times. So the part tag on these posts isn’t going to necessarily match where I’m at in the game. I’m just going to keep on until the Elite Four is beaten.

Hopefully this is as exciting as I’m wanting it to be!

Heyo prof.

Geez, the moments before you have the option to adjust the text speed are the worst.

In the spirit of having fun, I’m not going to go with my standard. For this game, I shall be... Coin. Only in caps, because I think gen three is still a gen where all of the names of stuff come in caps. Gotta make sure I fit in.

I love video games.

Rival names are always so difficult. You can be Turq. Also in screamy caps.

First thing’s first, after changing the text speed. Into my computer for a Potion. Which I never knew about until I started watching people play these games on the internet.

Second thing is...

ID number.

Bulbapedia says 4-6 is Fire. Yoooo.

Who knows if we’ll even have a chance to watch that play out. We have to make it through the rival fight first, and that’s pretty much RNG.

Charmander, your name shall be Heero.

First fight of the game.

Scratch, Tackle, Scratch, Tackle, Scratch, Tackle...

Yay, we get to continue forward!

Heero is level 6 now.

One day, this stat chart might be of interest to me.

Heero is a Calm female Charmander. She knows Scratch and Growl.

Up to Viridian, grabbing Oak’s Parcel, down to Pallet, delivering Oak’s Parcel... Pokedex get, and we have five poke balls! Plus vague instructions to visit our rival’s sister for a Town Map.

Route 1 reentered, and our first available catch appears.

What I’m dying to know is if I get exp for catching in this gen. I can’t remember.

Yay!

Nope on the exp, though.

Rattata’s name is going to be Cat.

Cat is going in the box. The experiment of this first run is going to be how far Heero can push. I have a limited amount of exp to harvest, and I want to have it go to something I’m planning on using for a while. Who knows how this will turn out.

Route 22 is going to be briefly examined for our next partner. We’ll be back later to fight Turq, but right now he would eat us alive.

First thing is Rattata. Nope.

FUCK YES.

Maybe. This is still complicated.

Caught!

Going with a theme here... Allenby.

Old dude int town teaches us how to catch stuff, he gives us the Teachy TV which I don’t think I’ve ever touched except by accident, yay, we move forward.

Into Route 2. I walk through the grass without getting anything, and you know what, for now that’s fine. Into Viridian Forest we go, and that means it’s finally time for trainers.

Allenby is going to be in front for as much as I can keep her. As much as I like the possibility of just training Heero into the invincible Charmander that laughs in the face of Brock... lol.

Bug Catcher Rick is our first fight outside Turq! He has a level 6 Weedle. ...This is already uncomfortable. Yep, Poison Sting poisons Allenby. But Allenby wins and grows to level 5.

Rick also has a Caterpie.

...I have Potions. I should have bought Antidotes, but I forget how low the HP is early on, and also that walking probably does damage. But Allenby should be able to take on a Caterpie. Maybe.

With the help of a Potion.

And when we’re running around trying to find an Antidote, a Caterpie appears.

Her name can be Rain.

Now I have the delightful project of looking at the menu every few seconds to check if it’s time to give Allenby a Potion. I... think it’s fewer steps to one of the Antidotes hidden in the forest than the Pokemon Center or Mart.

The exciting challenges of early gens.

...Fuck it, I don’t know where the Antidote is. I’m going to try out rushing to the Center.

One more Potion.

Made it.

Rain, into the box.

I’m buying ten Antidotes. Three more Poke Balls, and five Potions.

Back in Route 2, a Pidgey wants to join the box squad.

...

And I wasn’t going to use it anytime soon anyway, but I turned my brain off and didn’t nickname it. Sigh. Uh, for future reference, the Pidgey’s name is Ren. I don’t think I can change it until Lavender Town, but that’s its name.

Fight number two.

Opening with a level 7 Weedle.

Allenby makes it to 6 beating it. Allenby learns Low Kick!

Another level 7 Weedle follows.

Allenby is finally poisoned. After a lot of good luck. Needs a Potion before I can use an Antidote, because the Weedle’s probably going to use Poison Sting again, and if I use an Antidote, Allenby’s health is low enough that a Poison Sting + poison would be an issue.

Nope, it uses String Shot.

Allenby makes it to level 7.

And Doug’s last thing is Kakuna. Well, this will take forever, but that’s fine. Doug down.

I realized I didn’t do this for her. So here. Have a timely picture. And I finally found the Antidote. It was just in the middle of the path.

Missed the name. Don’t ask why. But Allenby faces a level 7 Caterpie. Allenby wins and is now level 8 (also the dude’s name is Anthony). Level 8 Caterpie comes out to pick up the slack.

Bug Catcher Charlie is next, and yay, Metapod. Allenby is level 9. A Caterpie and Metapod later, Charlie’s out.

Next up, Bug Catcher Sammy. He’s got a level 9 Weedle. Ick. But it’s gone now, even though Allenby is poisoned. Congrats on level 10, btw. Antidote time.

That’s all we have available before Brock, and that means we’re going back to Route 22 to fight Turq. If memory serves, he has two. His starter, and... I want to say Pidgey? With the Pidgey out front?

So Allenby gets to play second fiddle to Heero for a little bit. Hopefully Heero will survive long enough to get some exp before post-Brock, since she won’t have any participation points for that fight.

Happy fun times with rival.

Hey, I got it right!

He has his. level 9 Pidgey. Oh geez.

Yeah, Heero can’t handle this. Allenby? Save her?

Allenby succeeds. Heero grows to level 7. And learns Ember!

Squirtle comes out, and it’s level 9 too.

Allenby wins. Nice.

Brock time, I guess.

Iconic.

Camper Liam sends out a level 10 Geodude for Allenby to hopefully eat. Allenby does, and reaches level 11. Even better, Allenby learns Karate Chop! Liam sends out a level 11 Sandshrew. Allenby beats it and all that’s left to the gym is Brock.

Don’t worry, kid, we still love you.

Back to the Center to heal, then. Brock.

Hi. I’m Coin. I’m on a path of destruction.

Level 12 Geodude is my first opponent.

Aaaaand it’s gone. Allenby gets to live to level 12.

Level 14 Onix.

Allenby wins!

First badge get. Heero gets to go back into the first slot for switch training. Then Running Shoes for me! Yay!

Right we go, and Bug Catcher Colton is our first post-Brock opponent. He has a level 10 Caterpie. Heero handles it, and reaches level 8. Level 10 Weedle up next. Heero wins again, and level 9 she hits. Another level 10 Caterpie. That’s enough to get Heero up to 10! It costs and Antidote, but whatever.

Lass Janice is up next. She has a level 9 Pidgey. Then surprise, she has another. Heero hits 11.

This isn’t especially important I just wanted to break up the wall of text.

She has a level 10 Rattata.

She also has a level 10 female Nidoran. It poisons Allenby, who has to go in after Heero is nearly felled by two Tail Whips worth of Quick Attack. Allenby is level 13, and I’m about to be down another Antidote.

Trip to the Pokemon Center, and then it’s Bug Catcher Greg. He’s got a level 9 Weedle. Thankfully Heero can nail those in one shot, and is now level 12. Level 9 Kakuna. Level 9 Caterpie. Wait, let me guess, level 9 Metapod? Yep.

Yay Heero. Heero now knows Metal Claw. Double yay.

Next up is Bug Catcher James. He’s got a level 11 Caterpie. He’s also got a level 11 Metapod. Heero thanks them for the exp.

Lass Robin follows with her Jigglypuff. It is level 14, so I think I will let Allenby help out after Heero gets a nom in. I also think it’s time for Allenby to be up front again, if only for a little while. I’m still getting a feel for how to distribute the exp. In this case, I let Heero handle all the Bug Catchers, and intended for Allenby to get all the other trainers. Lass Robin moves, so I wasn’t sure if she was a trainer NPC or standard NPC.

Youngster Calvin! What’s on your agenda?

A level 14 Spearow.

I’m going to let Allenby stay in for a hit. Tune in to see how much I am filled with regret.

Peck is unpleasant, but Karate Chop can finish it in two, so that’s how we’re gonna do.

Same, my man.

Youngster Ben. With the level 11 Rattata. And the level 11 Ekans. With Intimidate. Ugh. And Wrap. More ugh. But Allenby makes it to level 14 through Ben’s contributions.

So there’s grass on this here route. Time to see if we’re getting another one for the box, or maybe adding someone to the team.

Box buddy. Hm. You can be... Herine.

The dude selling the Magikarp in front of Mt. Moon is technically in Route 4, so that Magikarp could conceivably count, but Magikarp needs loads of experience to level up to something usable. Efficiency demands we not add it.

The art they’ve added into these is really pretty. I like it a lot.

Mt. Moon gives us a level 7 female Zubat. Another for the box. Her name’s Dini.

Now for the long, long, long trek through a cave where I can’t attack any of the constantly spawning creatures. Yaay.

Bug Catcher Kent wants to spice it up with a battle. He has a level 11 Weedle. Allenby takes that, Heero nabs the level 11 Kakuna.

Lass Iris is also here. She has a Clefairy, and since Fairy Type doesn’t exist yet, tear it up Allenby.

I have no memory of what Type theme you have in this gen. I want to say Magnemite...? Yeah, level 11 Magnemite. Followed by a level 11 Voltorb.

Allenby grows to level 15!

There looks to be a Bug Catcher for Heero around the corner. Bug Catcher Robby. He’s got a level 10 Caterpie.

On a related note, Heero is level 15 now!

Hm. I think I want to check something really fast. Because I don’t have a ban on guides in this Nuzlocke. Eh, okay, that’s not going to work. I wondered if maybe exp needed to reach the next level changed when a pokemon evolved. It looks like no after a brief thing. Species line determines it, not present form. Moves are affected, but that’s a different...

I should look that up.

Okay, for my current team, I think I don’t want to delay evolution for anything. Risk is high, benefit is nil.

Anyway, Robby has a level 10 Metapod. Followed by a level 10 Caterpie.

I pick up a Rare Candy.

I haven’t decided how I feel about Rare Candy on this run.

She has a level 11 Oddish, making me happy I got lazy with switching Heero out of first position. Allenby can tackle her level 11 Bellsprout. No I’m not assigning EV preference that would be a level of insanity beyond anything I could manage shut up.

...I took a break to talk to a friend and I think I’m lost.

Youngster Josh wants to battle! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 11 Rattata! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 10 Rattata! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 10 Zubat!

Heero can eat that one.

Heero hits level 16, and I think I know what that means!

She’s a good girl.

Hiker Marcos wants to fight now. He has a level 10 Geodude. And another one. And a level 10 Onix.

Allenby is level 16 now. Yay.

Um. Okay. I’m going to try to unlost myself. I think the ladder furthest from the entrance is the one that goes forward, but even more than usual, I want to be sure I explore everywhere.

This is how the most popular game franchise in the world starts.

No, Sandshrew should never be made to do evil. A curse upon you, grunt. It’s level 11. A baby.

The Rattata’s on-brand, though.

Congrats on level 17, Allenby. Heero can take the level 11 Zubat. She even does.

Another ladder, another Grunt. Another level 11 Zubat. A new addition of a level 11 Ekans. It is not match for our fierce team.

A different grunt has a level 13 Rattata. Allenby is not impressed. Also a level 13 Sandshrew. I am not impressed. This other Grunt also has a level 13 Rattata. Allenby is level 18. Heero gets the level 13 Zubat.

You don’t need to tell me that.

Super Nerd Miguel has a Grimer. It knows Poison Gas.

I forgot how much I hate poison. Level 12 Koffing is next. I need to spend two turns on Antidote and Potion. Heero gets the level 12 Voltorb since Allenby has kind of taken a beating from the poison. Because poison is awful.

Welcome to level 17, Heero.

I take the Dome Fossil, since the plot makes you take stuff from the poor guy.

I use an Escape Rope to get back to the Pokemon Center. I think this is the last stretch of Mt. Moon and there are some trainers outside. I’d rather everyone be healed to the brim before we go through them.

We made it! To the outside world!

Stopping point!

[n1ghtcrwler]

11/11/11 Tag Game Redeux

I was tagged with a different set of questions by @surroundedbypearls​

The rules remain answer 11 questions, tag 11 people, ask them 11 questions

What’s your favourite genre to write in and why?

Either fantasy or nonfiction. I really like science and theology and greatly enjoy writing about them just because I enjoy the subjects, but with fantasy it’s all about worldbuilding. I love everything about crafting a world and understanding how it works and offering it to people. I do it in tabletop games, I do it in my writing, and when I had a fantasy webcomic I spent as much effort on making the wiki that detailed the world as I spent on the comic itself just because I wanted to give the world I’d made to readers and let other creators play around in it if they liked.

Do you think you have a style/voice that you use more often in your writing? When did you develop that style?

I was told once that I had a very distinctive literary voice. This was in high school, my English teacher who couldn’t stand me as a student but loved having my writing had been called away as one of the hundreds of teacher judges who would grade essays written by every single fifth- and tenth-grader in Pennsylvania. These were anonymous; each student had been assigned a number and we were not allowed to put our names or any identifying information on there just in case our essay got randomly assigned to a teacher that knew us. When he returned, he took me aside and told me he had never really thought about it before, but at some point during the week he was there he was handed an essay, read the first sentence, and handed it back because he couldn’t judge it impartially. He knew it was mine from the style.

Unfortunately, I didn’t ask him what he meant by that or what was distinct about it, and I don’t know if it has survived years of high school and college essays. I do get feedback from teachers at Bible college about writing long, complex sentences very often, though. So I guess I probably have one, and it was developed some time before tenth grade. If anyone reading my blog and/or Tall Tales wants to voice an opinion on that, please feel free!

Do you play video games? What’s your favourite?

A little. I never really got into them until @anachronistic-vibrancy​ looked at her game library and my interests and suggested a couple to me that she thought I’d like. And she was right, I have enjoyed every game she’s suggested, and I really don’t play much else. I’m not sure what my favorite would be, but Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Mass Effect 3 (even with the weak ending) are all strong contenders.

If you were going to do a WIP crossover, which OCs would be most interesting together? (If you’ve only got one WIP crossover with something else)

You’ll hear more about this Wednesday, but Benedict meeting Matteson is the result of me doing exactly that. Now that he’s part of Tall Tales, and I have no other active WIPs, I guess I’d have to say that I would love for Matteson to meet Harry Dresden. If this happened in the latter part of Matteson’s story, I think they’d have a lot to connect over and their contrasting styles would be fun to see in action.

Do you prefer to plan WIPs in a document or through handwritten notes?

I prefer using a document. It’s easier to make changes and insert things that way.

Do you multiple languages exist in your WIP? If so how do you address that in the story?

My WIP is set in the real world, so there are at least as many languages as there are on modern Earth. Some characters do speak other languages, but they all speak English or have the ability to be understood in all languages, so it will not come up very often.

What’s your favourite animated film that’s not Disney or Pixar?

Song of the Sea. It was bought for our daughter largely because it’s Irish and we have plans to move to Ireland in a few years, and when we all sat down and watched it we learned that it’s a really great movie.

Do your real-life surroundings influence your WIP’s settings?

Quite a lot. Most of Tall Tales takes place in towns that I was occupying for the first twenty-five years of my life. The story doesn’t take much influence from my current surroundings, but two of the characters do get married and my marriage helps me know a lot more about how to write that.

Which OCs would be most likely to breath the fourth wall?

Matteson absolutely would if he had some means of knowing about it. There is a certain degree to which the Narrator is breaking the fourth wall, since that blog doesn’t exist in-world. They aren’t telling these stories to anyone who exists in the project, they’re telling them to you.

How do you work out your OCs’ personalities?

I mostly just let them simmer in the back of my mind until certain traits start to stand out, or run them through the same scene a few times until their reactions feel right. One big thing I do that helps once I’d reached a certain point is introduce them as an NPC in whatever tabletop game I’m running so they are forced to react to stories and decisions that they are not familiar with and are not originating with me.

Do you prefer worldbuilding or character building?

Worldbuilding. Worlds make sense, even when they don’t. People as a collective are somewhat predictable. Individuals are chaos.

My Questions:

What was the first story you remember writing?

Which of your OCs would be most likely to shop exclusively at stores like Whole Foods Market if that was available to them?

What’s your favorite movie genre?

Phones: Apple, Android, or something else?

What is the most difficult part of worldbuilding for you?

What is the easiest part of worldbuilding for you?

What’s one thing you do really well in your writing?

Pick up to three OCs. Are they coffee or tea people?

Same OC(s): what would be their ideal pet?

Do you play any sports or outdoor games?

What’s your favorite meal?

I tag: @goblin-writer​ @theswordofpens​ @magsiswritingnow​ @savannahscripts​ @iannicellis​ @thewordsinthesky-andstars​ @pens-swords-stuff​ @kaigods​ @izzuniiwrites​ @jess---writes​ @marniebalboa​

[kaorei-endgame]

Game of the Year 2017 #2: Divinity Original Sin 2

The first Original Sin had one of those video game “issues” that’s only really an issue if you let it be. About six hours in, you’d figured out there were about a thousand ways to crowd controlling your enemies: stuns, knockdowns, charms, fears. With the availability, and reliability, of these attacks, battles often broke down to your mages/archers CCing everything on the battlefield while your warrior dismantled them one by one. This felt exceptionally mean--sadism in video game form--and somewhat abusive of the game mechanics, but combat was so often weighed so directly against you that “cheating” by charming half an enemy squad and letting them rough each other up, or depleting half a gigantic orc boss’s health before combat even starts by teleporting a poison barrel directly onto his face, was really more about evening the odds. Original Sin is one of those games, like Final Fantasy Tactics, maybe, where there’s a billion ways to break it. Unlike Final Fantasy Tactics, you don’t feel bad about it because, from behind a still-growing pile of saves and reloads, you know the game is happy to return your cheesy, scummy tactics in kind.

This is a co-op RPG I’ve been playing with Graz for 120+ hours, according to steam, and we still haven’t finished. It is, among Dark Souls, and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Fast Karate GOTY, 2015), and Resident Evil 5, one of the best co-op experiences of my life.

You can play a skeleton, who has to walk around in disguise to stop everyone from murdering them, and has no need for lock picks because they can simply use, and I quote, their “bony fingers.” The elves are not only cannibals, but they’re cannibals that absorb the memories of their meals, which is sometimes used to learn new skills and sometimes used to solve murder mysteries. Maybe forty hours into the game, I realized this “being forced to experience a living creature’s final moments every time you eat meat” was probably created as an explanation of generic fantasy elves’ earth-mother veganism.

Near the beginning of the game a black cat starts following you around. If you have the Pet Pal talent you can talk to him and he just seems like... drunk? He doesn’t really have anything to say, but he doesn’t go away. If you walk through poison he’ll follow you and get poisoned too and he only has like 50 health so you’re always frantically trying to heal him because the friendly cat who does nothing except meow at me can never die. If you keep him alive throughout the whole opening zone, which also involves keeping him away from fires and superstitious guards who will shoot him on sight, his head clears and he joins your party as a summon.

Also the whole time he’s following you around, there’s this dog who won’t talk to you since he hates cats. But the cat follows you in real time, so if you go to a distant part of the zone and then teleport back to the central hub, the cat is briefly separated from you while it paths around the map to your location, and you can get the dog’s quest to find his missing girlfriend.

There is borderline erotica at one point where, if it’s not explicitly described, the game at least puts the mind worm of “lizard man cunnilingus” in your head. And like... well...............

Also there’s another dog later who’s like an evil pet of an eviler grave robber and he refers to himself as Artax: Death Incarnate or something and after you kill him you can use your recently acquired Spirit Vision power to talk to/throw shade at his ghost, being like “...death incarnate, eh...? :) :) :) :) :)” But it’s kind of wasted because even as a ghost (dog (way of the samurai)) he still thinks he’s pretty hot shit.

There are premade characters who have different dialogue tags, most of which seem to amount to jack shit, like almost any RPG with dialogue trees, but the one I picked, Lohse, is some sort of psychic medium who spirits would just hang out in, which was fun until a really bad demon got into her. Sometimes the really bad demon makes her do things that are completely out of her control, like try to murder an elf who’s trying to help you exorcise him, and isn’t it your favorite thing when games present you with a bunch of false dialogue options?

You start Divinity 2 a political prisoner. Unlike Skyrim, where you’re bound for the chopping block and then five minutes later someone’s telling you you’re a god, Divinity sits you on its prison island for something to the tune of 30 hours (then it tells you, more or less, that you’re a god). Because you have a collar on that restricts your scary magic powers, your overconfident jailers basically let you have the run of the place. You are hemmed in just enough to feel your yoke, and much of the early doings is learning where you may and may not go, and which places, just outside of your captor’s line of sight, are okay to seek out dirty business (i.e.: steal a few valuable paintings from). 

So you poke at all the nooks and crannies of this just-right sized zone, retrieving gloves of teleportation from the stomachs of hungry lizards, helping that dog find his girlfriend, and making painstaking progress on your escape. This is a tight, interesting area, far better than any of those in the first Original Sin, where there’s not even all that much combat. You bum around with a bunch of prisoners, some of whom certain party members have vendettas against/want to murder, but most of whom are like... chill old ladies that sell you water spells and will give you a free scroll if you give them a shoulder to cry on. Eventually, you kill the mob boss (but don’t let me see you laying a finger on Butter). If you’re a really good person, you kill all the magisters--who are basically the cops of the magic world--on the way out the door.

Boy oh boy, the jump in writing/world texture/everything from the last game. The move from “aggressively generic fairy tale stuff” to “moderately generic CRPG world” doesn’t put the writing in Witcher territory or nothing, but it’s much easier to appreciate the quirks of the setting, which holds strange sidequests where you help a bunch of thousand-year-old wizards who have been cursed to for all eternity to be both 1) pigs 2) pigs who are on fire, when you aren’t dealing voice acting that seems to be literally on purpose trying to kill you.

I’m of two minds about the changes to combat. Now characters have magical/physical “armor” that acts as a Halo-style rechargeable shield, protecting character’s vitality and also making them immune to status effects. Since most enemies have as much armor as they do health, that means they’re half dead by the time they’re vulnerable to being sleeped/charmed/whatever, and so crowd control has substantially depleted in value. Which mutes some of the “controlled chaos” feel of the first game--kind of a let down--but does tacitly nudge you into trying out the rest of the game’s broad spreadsheet of abilities, such as a teleport jump for fighters that sprays fire all over the landing zone, or a summoner’s ability to conjure an Inner Demon which both terrifies her opponents AND punches enemies that come into melee range with gigantic purple mind fists (essentially, we have been given Star Platinums of our very own).

And the uncontrolled chaos, where you laugh at the idiot NPC wasting its turn casting Rain until the next NPC sprays the area with lightning bolts and stuns half your crew, where you forget that the whole room is one big oil surface before you do your flaming teleport jump and now everyone in the room is on fire, or a giant Dune worm erupts out of the ground right in the middle of your boss fight and your enemies start attacking it instead and you’re like “.....so are we friends now?” and it’s like haha, nope, they still fuckin’ hate your guts and this battle just got even stupider and twice as long, so I hope you brought healing potions.

If anything, these changes have the unique effect of making me seriously consider playing this 100+ hour monster game that requires 100% of your attention and thought processes at all time (okay so sometimes I checked in on Fire Emblem on my phone during Graz’s turns, but that’s a given) sometime before the next decade. I suspect higher difficulties return a lot of weight to crowd control abilities.

Even though I know Baldur’s Gate has co-op, I didn’t think they could make a game like this. A gigantic, fully featured co-op CRPG where the other player doesn’t have to tolerate being a henchman at best. Where you can both run around talking to whomever you want and progressing quests however you feel like, and then come back together twenty minutes later to compare notes. Where you spend 3+ hours over two days on a single battle, reviewing plays and planning out turns like a pair of football coaches, micro-managing which of you is going to “waste” their turns conscientiously teleporting a friendly, but foolhardy, NPC out of harm’s way (or turning him into a chicken) so he’ll stop trying to impale himself on the NECRO-TENTACLE FIRE that you discovered, in this very battle, spurts out of every oily blob from the void beyond space after their death. And what’s that, four turns in the fire blobs start spawning?

Moreover, though every part of Divinity seems stupid, ramshackle, and tied together with twine, it’s often one step ahead of you. Regular attacks are governed only by cooldowns, but the most powerful spells are restricted by an MP-stand-in called “source” (still, charmingly, pronounced close enough to “sauce”). A difficult resource to replenish, we rarely used source abilities early in the game. But a couple hours after it came to a head, and I started saying “you know, I’m getting a little sick of teleporting back to the giant Source juice box in the hidden basement of this lady’s house every time I want to use Black Shroud,” and was decrying how if they replenished your Source after every fight, making it a per-battle resource, the game would be much more interesting they... give you an ability that functionally does that, and combat becomes much more interesting, on the exact right timeline for me to understand what I’ve gained with this power, having been frustrated for so long by its absence.

I gave up on trying to describe this game concisely. I’m not sure there’s a way to do so, when its whole ethos is jury-rigging systems onto systems and throwing weird events at you constantly and the whole thing chugs along like it was meant to be--damn, it never even crashed until I tried to install a mod. At the strange intersection between narrative and mechanics this game presents, if you think about it, you can almost always do it. You can skip an entire hedge maze by teleporting through its portcullises. If it’d take too long to loot a chest in plain sight of its owner, you can use your Polymorph abilities to turn invisible, pick it up, and send it to the inventory of your lockpicker, waiting outside. You can go upstairs at a bordello. When you wake up, predictably, you’re naked and being robbed. Only, oops, the robbers didn’t reckon your friends would have a magical teleportation pyramid locked onto your signal. 

In the same town, this maid crying about losing her owner’s purse robs you, and if you’re sympathetic about it and give her a hug when she asks, she picks your pocket, and the only way you’d know about it is if you check your gold total after the conversation because, let’s be real, she was acting super sketch. I mean damn, the game somehow makes scrolls, the categorical worst item class in all western RPGs, worthwhile. Who wants a one-use item when you can just learn the spell forever? Until the first time you come to truly understand that a short 3-turn cooldown in “Divinity Time” could be the better part of an hour, and therefore a hundred and twenty seven gold for an Armor of Frost scroll is a small price to pay for peace of mind when The Red Prince needs an extra dose of magical armor like right now. 

And for all the ways you can bring ruin upon your enemies, all the stupid tricks and techniques that really shouldn’t work but somehow always do, the thing that actually breaks the game? The item that made us look at each other and go “we should probably never use this item again if we want to keep having fun.”

Green Tea.

Conservatively, 200+ hours of my life has gone to these games, and when this one is over, I’ll still feel like it wasn’t enough.

[iseverecupcakecollectionfan-blog]

Some Of The Fresh Wallpapers From Your Unreleased 2016 Phones

Cavern Story made a great deal of enthusiasts, although some can find satisfaction going right on through Pixel's again directory and playing smaller-range activities like Ikachan and Azarashi $0.99, or playing through Pixel's throw-em-up Guxt, many waited anxiously regarding another sport while in the same vein. They should permit so I may then re conect on my new sport on android people to move a player tags funds after which eliminate that recreation data from machine this type of ache and uni fare I feel. It truly is worth writing that in Period 6, instance three — during one of Arya's training sessions — she only says three titles: The Mountain Cersei, and Frey Frey. We will possibly still need to import as usually you'll find licensing difficulties in technically delivering for the western a crossover string regarding a great number of permits or to obtain the game electronic from the regional PSN. Virtually all characters from the sport that is initial involve some type of alternative that may be unlocked. Mobile phones for Nokia and Samsung India not merely convey individuals together but additionally offer a number of different functions. Each and every time ta release articles expressing games that is cell is the potential we flinch just a little in my own interiors. It would be to your benefit for more information in regards to the technique prices react and the way soon the portable maker is currently going to release the newest improved upgrade of the cell at equivalent rates. Though Samsungis Recreation Receiver and Game Recorder+ blog were incredibly solid initial records into the games tool house, it seems they have still got to show you. A service service is said to be a specialist in mobile program progress offering a distinctive experience in Cellular Application Progress on each system including iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Hands web OS, Windows Mobile, Nokia Ovi, Bada, J2ME, & QT etc. Boosting the discussion via focusing on the information of the created and video reviews in regards to a sport does not need certainly to come at the price of a score that is expressive. The best place to consider most of the mobile phones from Motorola is net. Understanding how http://fitnesswelt-de.com/titan-gel-preis-die-bewertungen-die-wirkung-wo-kaufen-webseite-des-herstellers-oder-eine-apotheke/ that is mobile is felt about by individuals, we imagine there is planning to be many major scoffing in Guitar Hero Live's pricetag, but look at this . Let's go into how you can set the easiest solution as well as a windows mobile spy effortlessly up to get it done. Having 135 Pokémon that was fresh, new types of S /E, Pokéballs, Pokémon Challenges and, the benefits of Battle Frontier, in Pokémon Emerald revolutionized the Pokémon activities. Additionally it is less likely to want to occur than the ascendancy of Jaime though a relaxing shift of capacity to the Imp would-be among the many delectable things we're able to actually see in another Game of Thrones. For frequent RPG followers, the overall game wins by advantage of good balance in marrying mainstream tropes having humor, loveable figures and a history that though not distinctive in a synoptical impression (evil being overthrown by band of cheerful civilians) offers a well-executed and excessively gratifying experience with surprisingly emotive transforms that aren't too tacky. We attempt to pair games up with the individual who knows the genre the manufacturer, along with the kind of recreation sport, in order to offer the many expert viewpoints. Only six could be got by recreation of Thrones earnings someday in summer 2017 for season SEVERAL, that will get several attacks Year EIGHT. Advanced activities are loved by me, but a game that I'd to obtain numerous components created myself less fascinated. Regarding a good example let us check out the functions spec and cost of g five g3000 mobile phone. Just in case you're wondering why the overall game is called Crimsonland, it's because your opponents pour their body around the battleground as you take them out. Granted the road is a small basic searching, employing vector-graphics to generate it focus on a number of gadgets not just the latest smartphones, nonetheless it is relatively comprehensive. Indeed are overpowering games that are dear quicker than games that is cellular is taking-over consoles. Here's where your $1,000+ dollars come in. The Samsung Series7 Chronos provides outstanding CPU and design specs, with a quad-coreANDSEVEN thread Intel Key i7-2675QM Exotic Fill PC with SIX megs level 2 cache and Turbo-Boost to 3.1GHz, SIX gigs of DDR SEVERAL 1333MHz Memory (8 optimum) and an 8x dvdburner (number Blu-ray selection). Android Telephone SEVEN that you'd like to view outlined, iPad, let us understand if you've a suggestion for an application for that iPhone. There is regular - full resolution (typically 1080p in animations games on Android) plus a greatest FPS of sixty. Next there is save electricity,” which declines the frame-rate to a greatest of 30FPS and lessens the solution (prone to 720p). Personally I actually don't think the adjustments are this kind of matter anymore as developers are currently becoming greater at enjoying for their benefits, but yes people who don't sport on mobile phones appear to generally be of the view that the settings is likely to be bs. I.e.- average gamer Perceives Implosion is 10MONEY and appreciates nothing of its material or value, passes rapidly over it and data several trash mech sport that is f2p and dislikes it and is quit continuous to think portable offers very little to offer relative pc or to system. Running budgets that are tiny keep compensated portable games at night. Using online Cellular Keep, you can consider every phone's details and prepare, and take action at your personal speed. John Lindley, senior manufacturer at EA, appreciates the Business's new game comes strongly in the group that Hearthstone has helped legitimize, observing that Hearthstone is each creativity and competitors. By the period the erosion at this range's bottom end takes carry portable may also have now been changed fembots, by neurological gaming or something. Which should perform fine too if you pop in a fresh hard-drive, mount Snow Leopard import Your Time And Effort Device copy as you defined. Yahoois chance is the fact that by depending on Android adopters modify the OS and to create the equipment, the adopter might hand the OS due to their own utilize and not avail themselves of the means of Google. However it generally does not fit-for the operator, already attempted together with the PS3 controller Sport!!! The matter that set-back out sport essentially the most animating and was modeling the Pokemon. Most TELEVISION collection GRAMS five cellular handsets are not low in excellent and helps dual sim (GSM) function. Properly explained, and I assume they currently do, using portable gaming's growth within their home country. He once instructed several children that when there is a game title preordered sufficient previously will be sometimes come away by it. Choosing Android application programmer programmer on constant, weekly and regular schedule is achievable, as with all the greater functions the business enterprise could possibly get ignited with this work style. Regardless of more than 16 years afterwards the flaws, that are quickly identified currently , Pokémon R /W/Y was the sport that is perfect. Bingis private emulator wasn't always the fastest and easiest to utilize (to the stage where Microsoft wound up liberating its own). We observed it was additionally suitable for my Nvidia DEFEND Android Television, therefore it was fitted by me there too and plan to view what happens later. Clearly the aesthetic side of things is the most clear to identify from the player, but more conversation using materials inside the environment of the game, like deterioration, which could play with a part within the gameplay of the game and a role that is next. Nicely, I woke up early, between 5 and SEVERAL:30am. I began enjoying and downloaded the overall game. Camping goers and additional camping experts is going to be contained in the recreation though brands have not been stated nonetheless. Video gaming have come quite a distance, and have spread to cell hand helds which might be a lot more advanced and superior custom home consoles, pc and laptop gaming and with greater and greater digital features and visuals. Android is currently assisting to transfer customers to T-Mobile the knowledge companies of: income of Android equipment were up 137 pct this season from your year that is previous. Are you currently buying way to Traveler Mobile Phone Text it's cando it using cell-phone criminal is hardly difficult to use. In Game of Thrones, the audience is made conscious incredibly first of what is currently going on in Master's Obtaining. That several money is better spent if you've got Computer or a system on preserving up for one of the activities. (by-the-way, the initial Arkham Asylum is just $thirteen this weekend on Steam) and when you do not, next only purchase something else - there are many of steps games on Android which are simply simply better. Take a look at our manual on how best to move your acquaintances between iPhone and Android for an easy approach that has iTunes. Among the minion sorts in the first activities was updated for the film, as well as the game developers offered one-an additional outfit to create a full fledged chatting NPC. You're able to support the Siri Remote in possibly landscape or symbol, with respect to the game—most operator - type games will require landscape, while point-and- activities ought to not be coarse in symbol method. Currently, some 300,thousand people include rated Flappy Bird, several causing long critiques using recommendations, needs, and general ventilation: The only reason why I've not however removed this awful game will be the overwhelming sensation of relief and achievement I'm when I eventually overcome a high report,” produces one. Back-up. It was as if you just said that it is a recreation around shooting at high-school females with a wonder climax gun wherever you go. Windows Mobile is an operating system (OS), developed and produced by Microsoft.

[friday4econlive]

Monopolistic Competition of the Game Market and Fallout 76

My daily life usually includes me playing a video game somewhere. I really don’t pay attention to price trends in any other sort of medium, so it was difficult for me to see any sort of economics happening in the real world around me; however, there has been recent news in the gaming industry that I thought related to what we learned in this class pretty well.

I believe that the gaming market is a monopolistic competition. This is because there are a ton of game companies both big and small. Some include Bethesda, Nintendo, Sony, Bandai Namco, EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, etc. Most of these are big name companies, but there is also a huge amount of smaller game companies. This fulfills one part of the definition of monopolistic competition: many firms. Each of these companies make their own spread of video games all differentiated from each other, which is the second part of the definition for monopolistic competition. Some of these games are of different genres and are dissimilar because of it, like Riot’s League of Legends is a MOBA and Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity is an isometric RPG. Even games of the same genre are differentiated. Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. franchise and Capcom’s Street Fighter series are both fighting games; however when compared to each other, the two are vastly different.

Because games are different and most of the time cannot be substituted for one another, I sometimes have trouble deciding if I’ll like a new game series or not. I usually turn to YouTube for gameplay footage and reviews in order to gauge if I’d be interested in the game at all. Now for a game series that I have already played and enjoyed, I usually just buy the game after watching some gameplay to hype myself up for the game.

I have been a Fallout fan since 2011, just after Fallout: New Vegas was released. I purchased a pack that had Fallout 3 and New Vegas bundled together. After playing a bit of 3, I instantly loved the game. I then brought that love for it into New Vegas and loved it even more. The lore of the game, learning about all the unique NPCs, and doing multiple playthroughs to see all parts of the game. I loved it all. I then learned that Fallout 1 and 2 exist and that Fallout didn’t just start at 3. Fallout 1 and 2 are vastly different games than 3 and New Vegas, but I still loved those games because they had the same sort of aspects that I loved from the Fallout series. Fallout 4 came around in late 2015, didn’t like it as much because there was a lack of variety in the story, but it was still a pretty good game. Earlier this year Fallout 76 was announced, and I was excited because I could finally play with my other friends who enjoyed Fallout. About a month ago there was a beta for the game. I watched some gameplay for it, and it had a lot of problems with just existing as a game. At this point I wasn’t worried about the problems with the story and quests because I saw game breaking glitches and major stuttering problems. I hoped these would be fixed before it was released, but just a few weeks ago Fallout 76 was released. With all of its problems intact, and It wasn’t just me who was thinking about not buying this game.

Some content creators and reviewers were able to play the game before the beta happened, and they described their issues with the game. This caused some people to cancel their orders for the game, but some held on waiting for the beta so they could test it themselves. The beta was very similar to the version that was played early. These content creators were bashing the beta causing even more people to cancel their pre-orders. At this point I, along with a lot of other people, had almost assuredly given up on buying the game.

The purpose of a beta is for players to give feedback to the developer so they can make changes and overall improve their game. This was not the case for Fallout 76. The beta was released at a pretty good time in the development cycle for the game; however, the game was released too early, 2 weeks after the beta, for Bethesda to make any meaningful changes. The “finished” product was very similar to the beta, still a lot of glitches everywhere. This caused even more Fallout content creators to warn potential players about the problems with the game.

All of these negative opinions decreased the demand for this product, which, according to a simple supply and demand curve, should decrease the price of the product.

Most of the time, new games from AAA publishers will usually stay at the normal $60 price tag for their games for a long time, changing after the game has been out for a while. Successful games like Red Dead Redemption 2, HITMAN 2, Pokemon Let’s Go were released at around the same time that Fallout 76 was, and they have retained their full price. Really new games don’t usually drop their prices for black friday due to the unfair treatment to people who just purchased the game for full price on launch day. Notice how I said “usually”. Fallout 76’s price dropped to $40 on black friday. It was released on November 14, black friday was on November 21. It dropped price literally 1 week after release because it was so bad. I considered buying it at this price, but none of my friends were going to buy it so I didn’t.

According to the cost curves in long run Demand in a monopolistic competition is equal to the Average Total Cost. In the short run it can move to be above the ATC to run at a profit, or below the ATC to run at a loss, but they always sell the quantity where Marginal Costs equals Marginal Revenue because when running a profit, this is the quantity that maximizes profits and when running a loss, this is the loss minimizing quantity.

Now Fallout 76 is in no doubt running at a loss as evident by the price drop and overall negative reviews of the game (it got an average critic score of 53 out of 100 according to metacritic and an average user score of 2.7 out of 10).

Fallout 76 is a live service. It is always online and needs a player base spending money on the game through microtransactions to keep the game afloat. They planned to have this game to continue to evolve and update as time went on, but people need to be playing the game in order to make these things worthwhile. Because of the cost of maintaining servers and constantly creating patches and content updates for this game, an Average Variable Cost may actually be a part of this graph, and if P ever dips below AVC it would be a good idea for them to shut down the production of this game as stated by the shutdown rule. If this were to happen, then even if I bought the game in the future, I might not be able to play it to its full extent 20 years later like I do for Fallout 1.

This game is an irreversible blemish that hit Bethesda, and could possibly mar the future of the gaming world for them. Some people are now more skeptical of Bethesda’s games due to this happening, and are worried if this will affect their new games coming down the line including a new game in the Elder Scrolls series and also a brand new IP called Starfield.

Alec Whyte

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