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kenziedrawz · 10 months

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Hello to all who may see this post! I, Kenzie, come at you once again with yet another splendid roleplay server. As you may know i have advertised a roleplay server upon my tumblr in the past, but this one is a different one. (as always, the invite link is at the bottom.)

So let me ask you a question, do you like slice of life rp mixed with a bit of adventure, a lot of mystery and just a teeny bit of horror if you consider some certain implications? Then boy do I have the right roleplay for you!

Introducing, Crown's County! A roleplay that's a mix of primarily Slice of Life and Mystery. Your setting is the small little town of Crown's County, but that begs the question, how did you character get there? Did they move there one day? Or had they lived there all their lives? (somehow, neither of those seem just right)

Can you trust your memories? That will all depend on your Awareness Level, or AL for short! AL is a fun little mechanic for this roleplay, and will help you with rolls(like in dnd) and serves as a marker towards your character's progression in solving all of Crown's County's mysteries!

But do you think that's all i have to share? Nope! Because I have a limited time offer for those willing to join! (and stay)

Behold! For the low low price of joining and participating in this roleplay, you too can get a blorboplied drawing of one of your characters! But make sure to do so before January 7th(aest) And if that's not enough incentive to join, we have plenty of lore to uncover!

Though, you are also welcome to simply just spectate if that's what floats your boat.

The possibilities in Crown's County are almost endless! You could make a (sealed for lore purposes) Eldritch Horror work in retail! You could investigate a spooky forest! You can get up to highschool hyjinks! There's tons of possibilities to be discovered!

Of course, we do have rules though.

} You know what I'm gonna say, don't be rude, transphobic, Homophobic, Racist, you get the jist, don't be a jerk.

} Proshipping will not be tolerated here, if you are a proshipper then please get the heck out of this server.

} There's a limit of two to three main characters per person, however you can request to play an NPC character as well

} If your character has powers, I must say that they are sealed. They can use pathetically weak versions of those powers though. (Such as, someone who can fly can just levitate now.) Why? Well, that's a lore reason i can't spill yet

} Yes, there is a chance that your characters can die in this rp. But, who's to say that a new version of them can't come and take their place? But, if your character dies, then don't throw a hissy fit. There's a chance they can come back

} Please be patient with the mods (aka me), we have our own schedules and such

} Don't make yourself a protagonist, or a mary-sue/gary-stu. While I admit being all powerful and being unable to get hurt by like, anything. Nobody really has all that much power here, not even gods.

} If you wish to do any evil plotting or secret actions, then do so in your private channel which will be provided to you by the mods upon you claiming a character or saying that you will be roleplaying.

} Absolutely no ERP or NSFW, there are minors on this server

} Oh yeah, if you want to ship your character with someone else's character within the RP you must ask for their permission to pursue their character

} Non-human characters will have to be humanized but can retain certain non-human aspects, but not too many. (for lore reasons)

} PLEASE remember to censor potentially triggering topics, if you don't know how to censor it's just putting || on both sides of the text you are censoring

} Please abide by the Blacklist.

and those are all the rules! More may be added if seen as necessary.

And finally, you've reached the end of this post, where the server link is! I hope you enjoyed reading, and look forwards to promotional doodles as well! I hope you enjoy your time in Crown's County.

Also have some more examples of the Blorbo-plied style! (mostly ocs)

and a bonus more complex doodle of the aforementioned potential eldritch horror working in retail

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ravnicaforgoblins · 4 years

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Ravnica for Goblins

Alignment

Figuring out where on the spectrum of beliefs, morals, and neutrality your character falls can be a challenge. One individual’s Chaotic Good is another’s Lawful Evil. To help clarify things, most campaigns include alignment for significant NPCs, and one can often draw a line between that NPC and that alignment. This doesn’t apply to every NPC, but the more important someone is, the more they come to represent a specific section of the moral grid in a campaign.

Ravnica does this as well, with most of the alignment chart represented by a Guildmaster. This isn’t completely uniform, however, so there’s wiggle room for an NPC to lean one way or the other as fits the story. There are some pretty safe bets, however, who can be counted on to check certain boxes at all times.

Isperia of the Azorius Senate: Lawful Neutral

Isperia represents the goal of the Azorius; objective devotion to upholding the laws as they are written. She was elected to her position because of her ability to look passed right & wrong, instead focusing solely on interpreting Ravnica’s 10d6 of Psychic damage legal system for all disputes.

Lazav of House Dimir: Neutral Evil

Lazav is the Dimir at their most annoying but least murderous. Blatant disregard for everyone’s privacy, but preference for stealing, secrets, and information over assassination. Lazav infiltrates every Guild, including his own, always determined to stay several steps ahead of any potential threat. This is not to say he won’t kill people if necessary, but his is a cold, “bloodstained calculus” methodology. It’s never personal.

Rakdos of the Cult of Rakdos: Chaotic Evil

On this plane, Rakdos is the living embodiment of Chaotic Evil, a title he takes very seriously. It’s just about the only thing he takes seriously, as he prefers to live without rules and have everyone else do the same. Unrestrained hedonism and mayhem are his bread & butter. You do what you want, whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, regardless of what anyone or anything else says. No restrictions, no inhibitions, no hesitation. Encouraging this kind of destructive chaos in the streets is the only thing keeping Rakdos from embracing more orthodox Chaotic Evil behavior of slaughtering millions, enslaving thousands, and bowing to no one.

The Obzedat of the Orzhov Syndicate: Lawful Evil

Hard to believe there can be something worse than an actual Demon given permission to encourage every sin imaginable, but that is what the Ghost Council are. The Obzedat exist to stretch, bend, and twist every law designed to maintain order, neutrality, or justice so as to benefit themselves. What’s worse is how the Orzhov play innocent when they do it. Unlike the Dimir or the Rakdos who accept and even embrace society’s interpretation of their actions, the Orzhov refuse to be seen as anything but humble, spiritual, gracious public servants. The very antithesis of what they actually are; arrogant, miserly, manipulative bastards. They will point out exactly which laws they are not breaking, which laws there is insufficient evidence to prove they are breaking, and which laws prevent you from punching them in the face right now.

Trostani of the Selesnya Conclave: Neutral Good

If there’s one thing to be said for Selesnya, it’s that they are rarely the problem. The Conclave is perfectly content to keep to their fields & forests most of the time and focus solely on building up their own Guild. In a city where every Guild has a problem with every other Guild, Selesnya is the only one who at least tries to get along with everyone else. They don’t tend to get involved in matters that don’t concern them, but theirs is always a safe haven for those who seek it. Trostani is made up of three dryads representing Harmony, Life, and Order. You don’t get much more Neutral Good than that. The only problem is that Trostani basically never leave their Guildhall, so their influence only spreads so far. The reason they can live so peacefully is because so little of the chaotic city life overlaps into theirs.

Besides them, everyone has wiggle room and gray area to move around in. Both Niv-Mizzet and Borborygmos are canonically Chaotic Neutral, but with their most prominent personality traits being vanity & anger, respectively, the “Neutral” part of that can go out the window quick. Still, almost every Guild has at least a semblance of a position somewhere on the chart to start from. You can basically count on a member of each Guild to be at least:

Azorius Senate: Lawful

This is the Guild that writes the laws of Ravnica, after all. They literally draw their power from this ancient legal code, so it makes sense that, whether an Azorius leans more towards Good, Evil, or Neutrality, they do so lawfully.

Boros Legion: Good

If the Azorius follow the intellectual letter of the law, the Boros follow the passionate spirit for which said law was originally written. Justice, not legal-ese. Sometimes the law is good enough, but sometimes it fails its citizens. A Boros should be an inspiring force for Good, whether Lawful or Chaotic depends on the individual.

House Dimir: Neutral

The best a Dimir operative can hope to achieve, morally speaking, is neutrality. If you are working for this Guild, you are lying & stealing. Odds are you are infiltrating another Guild to find/steal information to report back to your superior(s). Not every Dimir agent does this willingly, however. Maybe a character only became a Dimir operative after finding out their mentor was. Maybe a character had nowhere else to turn and no one else to depend on. Maybe they just needed House Dimir’s connections to get them close enough to someone in another Guild who wronged them. Whatever the motivation, cling to that gray area of neutrality like your life depends on it. It’s all you’ve got.

Gruul Clans: Chaotic

Gruul are many things. “Lawful” is not one of them. If you’re a member of a Gruul Clan, you’ve definitely got a bit of a temper on you and a strong disregard for authority. Now, a Gruul can absolutely be a force for good, or, conversely, evil. Maybe you joined the Gruul after your ancestral home was bulldozed over for a smelly Izzet facility. Maybe you had a mental breakdown after decades of trying to uphold law in a city where the laws mean jack shit unless there’s a guy in blue sitting at his desk. Maybe you got tired of planting trees and getting stepped on. Maybe you don’t like the pretentiousness of so-called “artists”. Maybe you just like hitting things. Whatever your reason, the Gruul will welcome another anarchist.

Golgari Swarm: Chaotic/Evil/Neutral

The Golgari Swarm are the first Guild where you’re really going to find a lot of diversity in alignment. Some definitely fall into the chasm of Chaotic Evil Necromancers, others stand firmly in the fields of True Neutral Rot Farmer, and some idly wander between the two. Necromancy is pretty normal in Golgari society, and “Evil” can be considered a harsh word to describe it. It’s definitely more normalized in the Undercity than it is on the surface. A lot of typically Evil behavior is like that for the Golgari, lest we forget that this society of giant bugs, necromancers, zombies, medusa, etc also run the sewage system and food stamps program for the city. That said, there are definitely Golgari with sufficient ambition/motivation to become ready-made Big Bads. What is a Lich, after all, but a wizard who says, “No, I’m too important to die!”

Izzet League: Chaotic

If there’s one predictable aspect of the Izzet, it’s that they are unpredictable. For a Guild whose founding principle is “I wonder what would happen if....”, it’s best to accept that you’ll never be Lawful. Your job, as it is, is to look at laws (nature, physics, etc) and poke at them with electrodes to see what happens. Your focus will always be on things that haven’t been written down yet, as opposed to what already has. It’s almost literally impossible to be Lawful and Izzet for that reason alone. As far as Good, Evil, and Neutral go; that’s up to the individual. This experiment could replicate food so we never have to eat Golgari rations again! Or it could replicate essential personnel to prevent understaffing! Or, it could even replicate.... ME (cue maniacal laughter).

Orzhov Syndicate: Lawful

The Orzhov, like the Azorius, draw their power and influence from the laws of Ravnica. Evil is expected, though not mandatory, but Lawful is a requirement. An Orzhov who doesn’t know their way around Ravnica’s laws is a loose end, and the Orzhov don’t allow loose ends to jeopardize their schemes & ambitions. One can absolutely be a Lawful Neutral Orzhov, also known as an Accountant, but such individuals rarely find their way into a life of adventure. A Lawful Good Orzhov can exist, but your greatest adversary will be the large majority of your Guild who sees you as a potential threat to their illicit activities. In which case, you’ll want to know those laws even better than they do.

Cult of Rakdos: Chaotic

Chaos is mandatory, evil is encouraged. By “Evil”, we mean “things people tell you are Evil”. Anything you would do while drunk you should be able to do at all times! There’s really only three rules in the Cult of Rakdos:

Rule #1, Rakdos is #1

Rule #2, JUST DO IT

Rule #3, Don’t be boring

Being Neutral breaks Rule 3, being Good breaks Rule 2 and/or 3, and being Lawful breaks all 3 rules. Which reminds me of the fourth rule:

Rule #4, NEVER break Rule #1

Truthfully, being Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral is perfectly fine as long as you don’t impede on someone else’s hedonism without a reason, or lack thereof. As long as you’re being free & crazy, that’s what really matters.

Selesnya Conclave: Good

As stated with Trostani, Selesnya is a pretty consistent force of Good, if nothing else. They don’t really do hate, you know? Life in the Conclave is pretty uniformly Good, so why make trouble? Why can’t everyone just be Good? In short; ‘cause they don’t wanna, none of your business, go hug a tree, and/or because fire is FUN. Lawful fits some individuals but can just get in the way for others. Neutral is pretty solid but some things must call you to act. Chaotic is if you really want to embrace being a Nature Warrior in a planet-sized cityscape. Selesnya is the Guild for goodie two-shoes, as if that’s a bad thing.

Simic Combine: Any

The Simic Combine is the one Guild that can honestly fall anywhere on the alignment chart. The Guild started out as Doctors, Naturalists, and preservers of life. Now it also operates large-scale bioengineering. You can have a Lawful Good Simic Paladin committed to preserving life and health, a True Neutral Simic Forcemage (Druid) dedicated to living a simple life bolstering plant growth, or a Chaotic Evil Simic Wizard who has decided on everyone’s behalf that flippers and gills are now mandatory. Just like science can be used for great Good, great Evil, or mundane routine, the Simic Combine can turn its experiments to any purpose, depending on the individual. And whereas the Izzet are firmly Chaotic, the Simic have the foresight to think ahead before they try an experiment. You can be anything you want in the Simic Combine, just plan it out.

#ravnica for goblins #ravnica #goblins #d&d #dnd #5e #alignment #roleplaying #dungeons and dragons #dungeons & dragons #good #evil #lawful #neutral #guilds

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ask-inscryption · 3 years

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(Recap anon again) the ask blog in general,, thank you for your time

No problem! I'll do my best!

This blog is set after the end of Inscryption; the deletion, Luke's death, all of the final act did happen.

After The Great Transcendence, P03 was still alive, and he essentially rebuilt the game world by restoring the deleted files (aren't recycle bins a handy thing?)

Since then, the Scrybes have been on... better, but still not perfect terms. They understand that they went wrong, and that the OLD_DATA changed them, and they don't want all of that to happen again.

Two of the things in the OLD_DATA, terrible secrets that would horrify the world if the got out, are the method to draw souls out of the human body and into other mediums - such as, let's say, video games - and the fact that the Devil is real, and this method was made by him.

Feeling bad for the challenger whose company he'd 'almost' enjoyed, P03 utilised that method to bring the soul of Luke Carder into the game.

Utilising a human contact in the outside world, P03 set up a channel for communication in the form of a Tumblr Dot Com askblog.

Many things have changed since then; some characters have spouses, some have found family, all have new and wonderful friends.

Magnificus's students were taken away from him by Grimora; they now live in her crypt.

The presence of the Bone Lord is now common knowledge; he once wished to speak to Magnificus, and an army was raised by the other Scrybes to combat them both if necessary... but in the end, neither party had any hostile intentions.

G0lly used to speak through P03 whenever she wanted to, but she's acquired a body of her own, and is in charge of maintaining the game's WiFi connection.

The other Uberbots are also seperate from P03 and have bodies of their own now.

There are multiple new areas, jokingly called DLCs, but the name stuck! There will probably be a post about these sometime down the line. With new areas come new Scrybes and new NPCs in general; some examples are the desert area, the castle in the sky, the swamp lands, the frozen tyrant DLC, and the undersea area (expressly a new undersea area, not beside the OLD_DATA!)

After a whole ARG a series of events, Lucifer - creator of a game called Pony Island, the company GameFuna that made Inscryption, and the OLD_DATA - mounted an attack on the game world looking to take control and repurpose it so he could steal more souls. However, with the help of the characters, the anons in the outside world, and everyone else, he was subdued. He and his three daemons are now allies... chaotic ones, but allies. A manifestation of Lucifer's hopeful thoughts, ironically labeled the Hopeless Soul, is also a new ally.

The Hopeless Soul created their own DLC; a... pretty but slightly threatening looking beach - his idea of beauty is a little confused, but he's got the spirit - where people who have caused no chaos in the last two weeks can rest and have fun at their leisure.

A mysterious entity named Persefoni attacked; this arc is still ongoing so I don't have all the facts about him yet, but he's been implied to be a former GameFuna worker who's perished before and has an attachment to Inscryption as a result.

Owing the anons a favour for not getting rid of him when they had the chance, Lucifer broke into Heaven to bring back the soul of Kaycee Hobbes, and she now lives in the game in much the same way that Luke Carder does.

...And that's around about where we are! This isn't a full and comprehensive rundown, and it doesn't get into all the character developments and new characters, and I've no doubt I've forgotten some things because memory bad, but it's a quick explanation of at least most of the main story beats so far.

#the idiot gamer speaks || mod posts #blog canon

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fallershipping · 5 years

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Looker x Anabel Retrospective

The absolute ultimate Retrospective post as to explain why I’ve been on this OTP since 2016. Especially made in mind with the idea that some new peeps on the boat may not realize the extent of the lore between these two characters. Feel free to read this or skip this if you want, because I did pour out my heart and soul and it can be kind of a lengthy read.

Enjoy~

So Looker and Anabel have been two existing characters in Pokemon for the longest time, with both being sort of beloved for different reasons but not too often thought about as compared to other NPCs. One’s a reoccurring comedy relief detective since Platinum and the other is probably the most memorable and strongest of the Hoenn Battle Frontier from Emerald.

But when SunMoon dropped, these two characters got a new lease on life that no one really saw coming. This special appearance made them go from NPCs I never really thought too much about to placing them as my top two favorite Pokemon characters of all time.

The UB Task Force mission, as much as a glorified fetch quest as it seems to be, continues some of the darker, more adult themes brought along with SunMoon. While the main story dealt with subjects of abuse and what it means to be a truly strong person in the case of hardships, the post game surprisingly delves into the corrupt side of a seemingly good organization and idea of sacrificing one life to save another. What appears to be another run of the mill Looker mission takes a dive into the tragic backstory shared between certain characters, and all of this lore was scrapped in the ‘definitive’ USUM games.

So while a lot of people might have played this portion of the game, many could have skipped it entirely or didn’t give the dialogue too much thought.

But you’re asking, why is it special? And why have I cared so much for a potential romantic relationship between Looker and Anabel enough to draw them as much as I have?

Haha. Buckle up buckaroo.

So right off the bat, Looker and Anabel’s banter sets up what kind of relationship they have with one another. They’re formal as coworkers can be, but the more they talk to one another, the friendliness that they share quickly becomes apparent. They also tend to speak highly of each other, no matter if the person is in the room or gone out.

And he’s not wrong! Looker is well aware of just how capable Anabel is for a guy that isn’t really known for Pokemon battles himself.

After the first UB on the list is securely captured, Looker insists on a feast for everyone to enjoy in one of Alola’s famous restaurants, in which Anabel points out asking how he had known of this already having just now arrived here. Looker, flustered, says that he’s read it in a magazine and dashes out to make reservations, cuing Anabel to react to his odd antics in a more...

Affectionate way.

Look at that lil smile.

He’s an odd fellow, for sure. A lot of characters in the past called him weird or were off put by his personality, but Anabel is very patient and sort of endeared by him. He constantly returns to the gang yelling “It’s a catastrophe!” in different languages-- And Anabel doesn’t snap at him angrily for it, but calmly asks him to repeat himself in english so that she can understand him.

During the course of the post game while Looker’s away, Anabel is always talking about him in a positive manner. Despite his quirks, she finds him a league of his own even amongst the elite of the International Police.

Despite this acknowledgment of Looker’s skill and ability, she seems to be awfully dead set on keeping Looker as backup in their base of operations.

Anabel knows how dangerous UBs are. They’re not human criminals that he can easily deal with with his own fists-- they are aggravated alien monsters. Her imagining Looker facing one of them alone without any Pokemon to defend himself with probably scares her deeply.

Scares her enough for her to constantly assign him to be backup for her and the Protag, despite his protests and his expertise in fieldwork.

And yet she never fails to remind him that he is important regardless of whether he’s on the field fighting alongside her or set to backup. Almost, in a way, finding a way to flatter him. (smiling at him as reassurance or perhaps even putting up a bit of charm) She is thankful for his help on getting intel and he’s a valuable asset to the mission, but she cannot bear the thought of her friend getting hurt when she can handle the UBs with her own fully trained Pokemon team.

However, despite her confidence, Anabel grows more and more fatigued with each UB encounter. Looker’s worry rises and he tries even harder to let himself take her place in the field.

As much as she also insists on not wanting to worry him, Looker’s usual goofy and eccentric demeanor begins to change. His speech patterns start to become more serious and his sentences trail off more often, which throughout all the games, is a rather rare sight to see. His care for Anabel brings out something vulnerable and emotional out of someone self proclaimed hard-boiled.

With all the respect he gives her and all the times he commemorates her aptitude, he still fears for her greatly.

And when a familiar character appears, we understand why.

Nanu comes in to talk about the truth behind Anabel’s reappearance in the series; much like the UBs, she came from another world through Ultra Space and ended up as what Interpol dubbed as a Faller.

Fallers are bathed in the energy from ultra wormholes. Thus, UBs are attracted to these humans, mistaking them as a way back home and going on the attack. Back then, Interpol found a particular use for Fallers by using them to direct the attention of UBs away from public areas.

Which is what happened ten years prior to the events of SunMoon. Looker, Nanu, and a third member were sent to fight a Guzzlord. However, Looker hesitated in harming it further when it realized it was just scared monster sent here against it’s will. But his lapse in judgment cost the life of the third member, a Faller woman, to fall victim to Guzzlord’s attack.

Looker and Nanu took down the Guzzlord but learned the horrible truth about their companion, who was not trained in combat-- she was designated as bait, but the catastrophic results were a failure that shadows Interpol forever. Not long after, the two agents found a woman washed up Poni’s shore recollecting nothing about herself but her name; Anabel.

This is why Looker has been growing ever so worried for Anabel’s safety and why he even asked the champion in the first place to help. The protag is indeed a Faller as well. He thought he could be able to control the situation with having a fantastic trainer who befriended Solgaleo/Lunala to keep the UB outbreak in check-- To make sure Anabel was safe. After all, the protag is able to help the mission go along beautifully and safely capture each UB.

But not without a price. Anabel was still being hurt, and Nanu had to intervene to make Looker realize that he had made a big mistake.

After all, Anabel isn’t aware that she’s a Faller herself. Why doesn’t she know yet? Wouldn’t Looker tell her? Or Nanu?

It would appear as Interpol learned something after all these years, and isn’t really using her as Bait as they did before with the first Faller. Anabel is said to have autonomy over this and chose to save the UBs from a worse fate. Unlike the first Faller, she was properly trained for the UB Task Force missions and for many other Interpol related missions as her own strong, resourceful agent. However, Interpol is still quiet about her status as a Faller and anything relating to them from the past.

And Looker, years after the incident with Guzzlord, is now met with an Anabel with a newly built Interpol life determined to help people, Pokemon, and UBs in need no matter what. She absolutely believes in her successes and her cause. And she is adamant of going on these missions. Looker grows a bond with her and is faced with this troubling realization;

To tell her the truth would mean to collapse the whole world upon her.

After all... Having rebuilt her life, seeing her so confident, so passionate about what she’s doing... He sees her succeed in something he feels all too familiar with-- Starting from the bottom and creating an identity, somehow.

Having been found in the Battle Resort, washed ashore with no memory, not even a name to go by. Looker knows her pain more than anyone else. She needs to know about what she is going through-- But the uttermost pain she will feel and the lingering eyes of Interpol’s heads has been keeping him mortified and silent.

So he does anything and everything in his power to protect her in the meantime, before she can be told the truth. And with the way the Alola mission went, that time is coming up real soon.

However, with the protag and Nanu’s help the UB Task Force finally had every UB under control. And Anabel was kept safe and sound, much to Looker’s relief. They can finally enjoy some time off and no doubt will be in for quite a long, painful, but necessary conversation when the time comes.

Not of course before Looker going off into a slight panic over the idea of Anabel going on a date.

And that was the line that made me totally think “Oh yep, yep! Looker’s got a massive crush on her!”

SO! What’s the take away from all this madness??

The fact that Looker and Anabel care deeply for one another so much, as they go far too out of their way to protect each other from harm. Not just out of necessity, but their banter clearly shows that there’s a deeper connection between the two than just a professional coworker one.

You might argue that Looker is only worrying about her this deeply because of what he went through all those years ago and is trying to prevent the same thing from happening, and yet... He’s grown to appreciate and know Anabel for who she is. She is in fact her own agent that joined Interpol on her own volition and chose to do the UB missions due to her empathy to the lost beings so far from home.

He knows when she’s unwell, he knows why she hides it away. He understands her as a person and it’s wonderful how much they show that they grew to have a bond with one another. Enough for both of them to catch on to each other’s quirks and feel comfortable.

The small giggle that she gives him, the small yet playfully affectionate jab, the way it just says “Oh there he goes again thinking about the feast at this time... Just Looker being Looker~” Because she also knows him deeply as well! This man is not one of her best allies but one of her most trusted companions in this new life of hers and it shows!!

They’re each other’s most trusted companions and their partnership is just wonderful to see.

Of course, romance can’t happen between them yet-- Not until Anabel knows the truth about Fallers and what Interpol did long ago. But let’s be honest, even the big angst/hurt/comfort fest that would come from that conversation would be a whirlwind of emotions that would just end up with them having an even stronger relationship than they’ve ever had before.

It’s not just that they look wonderful together, complement each other, and such-- It’s all those things plus the backstory and close bond and tragedy that comes from this mission. It makes me want to see them overcome every hurdle and be happy with one another and have all the joy and happiness they deserve after all they’ve been through.

I want to see them in more situations where they can be casual with one another, fight alongside one another, and so on so forth. They just have so much potential and I really think Game Freak sees it too.

And as for a lil bonus, Looker in USUM finding out the protag is the champion but is more impressed with Anabel’s knowledge than the actual champion. Also they’re always vacationing together mutually huh hmm wowie?

tl;dr go ship Looker/Anabel aka Fallershipping aka Lookabel best ship 10/10

#Pokemon #Looker #Anabel #Fallershipping #Alola

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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years

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So I couldn’t help myself and wrote a continuation for your Felix July First Kiss story. Hope you enjoy.

~~~

One moment, Marinette had shoved Felix out of the way, shouting for him to run just before she was hit. The next moment, there were hands on either side of her face, and there was Felix who was shockingly close.

“Felix?”

For a moment, they stared at each other, and Marinette’s mind stuttered and reeled as it took in the hands on her face, the way he was so close that they were only a few inches from brushing their noses together or…and then the moment was gone and Felix pulled away as if he had been burnt.

“We need to get out of here,” he said, and his voice was cold and curt in a familiar way. Marinette couldn’t miss how uncomfortable he looked if she tried, and so she didn’t ask questions, just stood from her seat (when had she ended up seated?) and attempted to take a step forward, only to immediately step on her dress and nearly topple forward, barely managing to regain her balance.

This…this was not the dress she had made. It was…well she guessed it looked good, but she had made her dress accounting for the fact that she was clumsier than a blind mouse, especially when Adrien was around, and so it had been a few inches off the ground. This…this was completely floor length, and also heavy, covered pearls and silver and Marinette kind of hated it now that she was in her right mind.

“…Felix, how did you get up here?”

“Stairs.”

“How many stairs?”

“…”

Felix bit his lip (and that was a nervous tic she hadn’t noticed from him before), and he didn’t need to say anything for Marinette to get an idea of what kind of an escape this was going to be.

She was going to die before she ever reached the bottom of the stairs, because this dress was going to murder her.

Also, she wasn’t alone to transform, and that wasn’t good.

What had even happened? She had clearly been under the effects of the stupid akuma, but how had…

Oh…

Nope! Not thinking about it. She was not thinking about it, because she was Ladybug and she had to plan and no she was not going to think about the fact that Felix had almost certainly kissed her.

Plans. That was something she was good at.

“Okay, so this dress is complete dead weight, and my chances of getting down the stairs without falling to my death and dragging you down with me are minimal,” Marinette noted aloud, forcing her brain to focus on the relevant details and not that Felix had kissed her. “The dress is magical, so the chances of me being able to remove it or cut it through ordinary means are slim. This tower is-” She checked out the window. “-approximately fifteen stories up, guessing by the windows. No chance of being able to climb down in this dress anyway. Currently, the akuma won’t be after me, since as far as he knows I’m still under his control, but you’re a target because he hasn’t gotten to you yet.”

Marinette took a deep breath. She knew what she was going to have to convince Felix to do. Like it or not, the only way she could safely escape this tower was as Ladybug, but she couldn’t transform in front of him. But considering Felix had climbed fifteen stories of stairs on foot and kissed her (don’t think about it don’t think about it) to help her out, she wasn’t sure he’d listen to her perfectly reasonable argument here.

She needed to appeal to his logical side.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, before turning to face Felix again. “You’re going to need to get out of here alone.”

“I’m not going to-” he began, but Marinette held up a hand.

“The akuma hasn’t gotten to you yet, but the longer you stay here the more likely he is to try and control you. And if you stay here or if I try to follow you, then he might try and control me again and we’ll both be screwed. As much as it kills me, the best thing I can do is sit here and not draw attention to the fact that we aren’t being controlled.” She let out a disgusted groan. “And besides, this dress was not designed with mobility in mind, and I don’t think you’ll want to see the ensuing rampage if I end up face to face with the akuma.”

Felix looked annoyed, but Marinette knew him well enough to know he would listen to her. She had made a perfectly reasonable point and, even if it annoyed him to have to leave her here, he would realize it was necessary.

Honestly, she owed him a lot just for the fact that he came up here at all.

…Nope, not thinking about it right now.

“Fine,” Felix ground out, clearly not happy. “You have a point.”

She nodded. “Thanks for the rescue, Felix. I do prefer having control over my own body. Now run.”

Felix went through the tower door, sparing a glance back at her before turning and running, the door shutting behind him.

Tikki flew out from hiding as Felix’s footsteps grew quieter, and Marinette waited until she couldn’t hear them before saying, “Tikki, spots on.”

~~~

The battle was ridiculous.

Marinette had dealt with ridiculous and annoying battles before, but her patience was thin going into the battle, and Chat Noir had taken her arrival as an immediate sign that he should jump in the way of the next attack, ending up one of the akuma’s minions seconds after she had figured out a plan that involved him. So she had to immediately reconsider her plans and devise another plan while a mind-controlled Chat Noir was attacking her, giving off a rotating set of stock lines like NPCs did in a video game.

Was that what she had been like? Well, considering the dress, she probably hadn’t been doing much attacking, but if it was all otherwise the same then she wasn’t amused.

She technically should blame the akuma, but they were the victim in this case and so screw that, she was blaming Hawk Moth.

Once she had incapacitated Chat Noir (who didn’t stop saying those lines even when he wasn’t moving anymore, and that was disturbing), it was getting to the akuma, summoning Lucky Charm, creating a plan within seconds, getting the object and breaking it, purifying akuma, and done.

Yeah, if Hawk Moth made another go at the miraculous today after that freaking dress, Marinette was going to hunt him down and kill him, with her bare hands, in civilian form.

She didn’t wait to fistbump Chat Noir, didn’t wait for anyone to approach her. It was back into the hotel as soon as possible, detransforming, sighing with relief because her costume was her’s again, and then heading for the elevator down.

Felix was outside the building, and Marinette was no longer in a situation where she couldn’t think about the fact that Felix kissed her and she obviously didn’t remember it and she hoped it wasn’t his first kiss because her first kiss had been with Chat Noir in rage mode and kissing people controlled by akuma wasn’t exactly fun and-

She tripped out the door, because even with a dress specifically designed with her clumsiness in mind, Marinette was still Marinette, and she always tripped more when her brain got too overwhelmed to focus on her feet.

Fortunately, she didn’t hit the ground.

Unfortunately, that was because Adrien caught her, and wow, that was just what she needed, wasn’t it? While having a crisis about a boy kissing her, she absolutely needed to have the boy she was not so secretly in love with to be there too.

Geez, Felix’s salt might be rubbing off on her a bit.

“You okay?” Adrien asked, and Marinette decided that no, she wasn’t going to deal with him right now because her brain was already fried.

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine,” she insisted, removing herself from Adrien’s arms. “You go check on the director, make sure he’s okay. I’ve got to do something.”

And, in a delightful twist of something going right for her today, Adrien nodded with a determined expression and ran off.

Felix was looking at her from the side of the building, and Marinette steeled herself, lifting her skirts and moving over to him for this conversation. This was some dramatic, regency drama garbage that she had a feeling Felix was just as uninterested in as she was.

“I assume you’re okay,” he noted as she stopped beside him, his voice almost emotionless, and she gave a sharp nod.

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath and ripped off the Band-Aid. “Thanks, by the way. I know…I know you don’t like touching people much or anything like that, so I’m sorry you were forced to do that to help me out.” He had probably saved Paris in the process, though she wouldn’t tell him that.

He looked uncomfortable for a moment, and Marinette was about to apologize for bringing it up when he spoke.

“It wasn’t right, to leave you like that,” he said simply, and yet there was a weight behind those words that Marinette didn’t really get. She wondered, for a moment, how bad she must have been for him to feel desperate enough to kiss her when he didn’t even feel comfortable holding someone’s hand usually. She’d have to ask Tikki later.

For now, she simply smiled at him. “Well, either way, I owe you one.”

He made eye contact with her for the briefest of moments before turning his head away, focusing his gaze on something down the street. “Considering you were only in that situation because of me, I think we’re even.”

“If you’re sure.” She was definitely getting him salted caramel cookies from the bakery anyway, because she could. “I should probably get back to the play then, see what work needs to be done to fix Lila’s sabotage. See you later?”

He nodded silently, and she smiled again, a little bit brighter as she did.

“Later Felix.”

He nodded to her, and when she eventually turned back to him to wave, he gave a tentative wave back.

Thinking about the situation, she wasn’t really sure how she left. She knew she liked Adrien, but…but maybe…

No, not right now. Kissing her had been uncomfortable for Felix already. He didn’t need her mixed up feelings on top of that.

Needless to say though, by the time she was done with the play, she was not in the mood to be a princess anymore.

___________________________________

Spectacular work by Ace and a lovely continuation of the original First Kiss prompt! Thank you!

#ml fic #ml fic rec #submission #felix culpa #ml au #felix agreste #ml felix #marinette dupain cheng

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hardnoctlife · 4 years

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My Thoughts on FFVIIR

It’s been a few days since I finished FFVIIR, and I wanted to put my thoughts on the game into words, but I gotta get a few housekeeping things out of the way.

1. These are all MY opinions. I understand and respect that others may have different opinions from me, however, that does not make this an open invitation for argument in the comments, bashing, etc. I have no problem blocking anyone who wants to be an asshole. Just be nice, please.

2. I grew up playing FFVII and all of its spin-offs. FFVII was my first RPG, and ultimately what got me into playing video games. Nostalgia is a -huge- part of why I enjoyed FFVIIR so much, and therefore I am openly biased towards the game. I’m interested to hear the thoughts of people not familiar with the original, because they’re seeing the story with a fresh set of eyes.

3. With that being said, I’ve already noticed drama surrounding FFVIIR fans who -have- played the original vs. those who haven’t, or those who haven’t played Crisis Core, etc. I am firmly of the belief that this is a great game for new and old fans and won’t tolerate any condescending attitudes in either direction. Video games are supposed to be fun, so let’s just all agree to enjoy the thing TOGETHER, shall we?

Alright, now that those things are out of the way, onto my thoughts. **MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

I’m going to be breaking this up into sections, because there is just too much to dissect! Let’s start with the characters.

“The Good Guys”

Cloud: Still my favorite character of all time, even more so after playing the remake. And of course, he is gorgeous. I could stare into his eyes all day. I know there has been a lot of controversy over getting new voice actors for the remake, but I feel like his VA did a great job. They nailed his personality of “broody asshole with a heart of gold”, and I think the remake had reasonable and believable character development when it came to Cloud’s interactions with the other party members. His dynamic with Tifa, Aerith, and Barrett was also spot on. I think it was a good move on Squeenix’s part to keep him pretty much the same, because he’s such an iconic character for the entire Final Fantasy series, so no complaints on my part!

Jessie: Okay, so, I hated Jessie at first. She was too flirty and all over Cloud for my liking, and I felt this strange disconnect between the “I used to be an actress but now I’m fighting for the planet” part of her backstory. Yes, she was still spunky in the original, but they didn’t draw it out nearly as much (I assume because she was killed off early). I -do- appreciate that the developer’s felt the need to give her more depth and show more interactions between her and Cloud and everyone else, but I also thought it detracted from Cloud’s relationships with Tifa and Aerith to an extent, especially the whole scene where she was asking him to come back to her place with him (yikes). And, true to Squeenix form, they killed off her character, even while letting Biggs and Wedge live (they both died in the original). So, in that sense, I didn’t really care that much for her, although her final scene with Cloud was very moving and redeemed her in some ways for me. So, yay for more screen time, but c’mon Squeenix, why do you gotta use your female characters this way?!

Biggs & Wedge: I loved the updates to their character models, and like with Jessie, I appreciate they tried to give them more depth and dialogue to make their involvement more significant. It did throw me for a loop when they both ended up living instead of dying when the Sector 7 plate fell. I was delighted to discover they survived (until I found out Jessie died and they didn’t). At times, I felt like their exalted importance detracted from other characters, especially at the end in Shinra HQ where Wedge shows up to warn everyone and Avalanche comes in to try and rescue Cloud & the gang, only to imply that he dies -there- instead. To me, it felt like an unnecessary moment to add in, but hey, there are only so many characters in the remake that people get to see, so why not give the Avalanche crew a more important role? I’m interested to see if this means that they’ll be returning in the next installments as they may be ‘fated’ to survive.

Barrett: What a glow up! Barrett looked good, he sounded good, his character was solid and true to the original. I have to say my favorite thing to see was how the banter and dialogue shifted between him and Cloud as you progressed through the remake. They went from basically hating on each other to complimenting each other and being buddy-buddy, and it was truly heartwarming. I even enjoyed using Barrett in battle (more on the fighting system later), which was refreshing. It was a good move on Squeenix’s part to show his softer side by including more scenes with Marlene, and he’s an excellent foil to Cloud’s character, which I feel was consistent for both games.

Tifa: My lady, the love of my life, my HERO. Tifa was -amazing- for me. Also, her VA was probably my favorite of the bunch. The updates to her outfit were much needed, yet she still retained her sexy allure, even if it was a little awkward to hear all the male NPC’s talking about how hot she was all the time. Other than Cloud, she was my favorite party member to use in battle—what a total badass!—and the scenes with her and Cloud made me squeal with delight. I was grateful for the extra attention put into their relationship, and how it was made clear that she was just as important and strong as the male characters.

Aerith: First, the positives. They expanded Aerith’s fighting range, which was appreciated, because in the original I only used her as healer. Her personality shone through a bit more, as she was even ore outgoing than I remembered her being (and even cursed a few times!), and I loved all of her interactions with Tifa and Cloud (my favorite trio/love triangle). Her backstory was pretty well communicated regarding the Ancients and her relationship with Shinra. On the flip side of things, I found her party banter annoying as hell and her voice grating at times (it reminded me of a high school girl), and I’m not sure how I feel about her interactions with the Whispers and what that implies for future installments. There was some hinting at the end of the remake that Aerith may not die like she did in the original (at least that was my interpretation), and I’m not sure whether I like that possibility or not, mainly because Aerith’s death is one of the most memorable scenes of FFVII, and that would change the entire plot. For better or for worse, who’s to say?

Red XIII: I loved all of the scenes with Red! His voice fit him really well, and they showed a lot of character development with him and the group in a short amount of time. I was sad you couldn’t control him in your party, but I’m hoping that will change in the next installment. I’m excited to see his backstory in Cosmo Canyon when we finally get to that point in the remake.

Chadley: This kid was annoying and weird, and I wasn’t sure exactly what his deal was, but he was definitely shady AF. Not sure why he was entirely necessary if he was simply a way to upgrade your materia, but hey, I’ll take that assess materia from ya buddy if it means new stuff for me to use.

Johnny: Johnny grew on me. Was he also annoying and weird too? Yes. But he reminded me of a Prompto-Gladio lovechild and turned out to be a sweetheart, so I say he can stay, Squeenix.

“The Bad Guys”

Shinra executives: Not much to say here for me other than great job in bringing this diabolic group to life. Yep, still hate every one of ‘em. They stayed pretty much true to their original selves, and all of them matched what I remembered of them, right down to the dialogue. I thought it was an interesting choice to see Sephiroth kill President Shinra (in the original you just find him dead at his desk, impaled on Sephiroth’s sword), but I’m not complaining. That guy was a grade A asshole.

The Turks: Love, love, love how they portrayed each of these guys, and showed how they are also unwilling participants in all of Shinra’s shit. They definitely made them more likeable from the get-go and I felt a lot of callbacks to Advent Children. Reno cursing and being sassy was probably one of my favorite things out of the entire game. He had -so- many great lines, even if they weren’t direct translations of the Japanese. I’m hoping they will include more of the Turks in future installments (like Cissnei in Crisis Core) and continue fleshing out their story arcs.

Rosche: Okay, unpopular opinion, but I did not like this guy at all. I’m not sure what the hype is about him all over my social media. Could be the mullet, which is an automatic ‘no’ for me (Gladio from FFXV being the only exception), but he seemed like an irritating and very pointless addition to the game. His sole purpose appeared to be to prepare you for escaping Shinra and fighting from Cloud’s motorcycle towards the end, but I felt like he could have been taken out of the story entirely without missing anything. I didn’t hate as many of the newer characters (like Leslie) as much as I did him, but I guess he and I just didn’t vibe. I’m assuming he’ll return later on, so maybe my opinion will change. (I sure hope so.)

Leslie: Okay, at first, I was like, “who is this knock-off Noctis wannabe?” but I really enjoyed the backstory and depth they gave this seemingly minor character. I see that Squeenix is trying to provide new things for older fans to take interest in, and in this case, I felt he was a nice touch. (Edit: I was told that Leslie, Kyrie, and some of the other new NPCs were featured in an audio book?! Which I had no idea even existed, so...the more you know!)

Don Corneo: Even slimier and creepier in HD! Honestly, hats off to Squeenix for translating what was possibly the most cringy and controversial part of the original in a ‘tasteful’ way in regard to all of Wall Market. This guy was definitely a worthy villain in the remake.

Rufus: Holy hell. I never ever in my life thought I’d be saying this, but wow, is Rufus hotter than I remember. Thank you, Squeenix for giving me another foxy bad boy to drool over. He was also, for me, the hardest and most frustrating boss battle (even more so than Sephiroth), but it was totally worth dying to watch all the cut scenes with him over again. Can’t wait to see more of him in the next installment.

Hojo: God, I hate this guy. I know you’re -supposed- to, but he is such a creep. Hearing his dialogue in the remake was even worse than reading it in the original. Gotta say, dealing with his four wards in Shinra HQ was my least favorite part of the game by far, but I know he will get his comeuppance later down the road. All the dialogue was just as shocking as I remember, so, yeah. Good job?!

Sephiroth: Alright, anyone else feel like they made Sephiroth EXTRA SEXUAL in this remake?! You too? Oh, good, good, same bro. Now, it could just be me projecting, but anytime he came on the screen…panties were dropping y’all. Of course, I’m not one to complain about Sephiroth content. On the contrary, I lap it up like I just walked through the desert and found an oasis, BUT, I will say this…you barely see Sephiroth at all at this point in the original. As a reminder, the remake only covered the first 4-6 hours of the original game, and I get you can’t really do a remake without at least SHOWING Sephiroth for the people who have been waiting to see him in HD, but with that being said, he was VERY involved. I love Sephiroth, he’s a great villain, but they are definitely changing things with him, so I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

My one criticism? His voice was my least favorite out of the main characters. Not saying the VA didn’t do a great job, but it didn’t sound deep enough to be as intimidating. I prefer the VA who voiced him in Advent Children, but I’m sure it will grow on me in time.

Gameplay

Battle system: When the remake’s demo was released, I remember a lot of people were complaining about how ‘difficult’ the new battle system was, but I absolutely love it. It’s just the perfect balance of turn-based and real-time, with plenty of options for customization. If you want more real time, you can set your short cuts, and if you want more turn-based, you also have that option. My only real complaint was that item use is also tied to the ATB bar, but overtime I figured out when to heal myself in a timely fashion (after dying more than a handful of times). Button mashers won’t enjoy this battle system because it requires a little more strategy, but I think the point was to create an updated version of the original fighting style that would appeal to both old and new players, and it definitely delivered. Seeing the classic limit breaks used and being able to run around during battle was so much fun for me, and I about died when I saw Cloud strike his OG victory pose in Wall Market’s coliseum. Also, the transition between running through Midgar and entering battle was SO incredibly smooth and seamless that at times you didn’t notice the shift. Phenomenal.

o Boss Battles: As much as I enjoyed the battle system of remake, some of the bosses felt unnecessarily hard and/or tedious (I’m looking at you, Hell House). Making use of the assess materia early on definitely helped me out, but I legit got bored at times, especially that damn giant robot you fight with only Barrett and Aerith when escaping Shinra HQ. This is really just a minor complaint, but there were a couple bosses where I died several times (*cough* Rufus *cough*) before I figured out the secret to defeating them, while others were super easy or just not that interesting. Meh. For context, I played on “normal” mode, but it truly felt hard in certain scenarios. (That could just have been me trying to get used to the new fighting style.)

o Materia: speaking of materia, I did notice some new materia in the game, which was neat, and although I didn’t care for Chadley (dude, where are your parents?) it was nice to have a way to develop and earn new materia throughout. I found it somewhat strange that summon materia was just a thing you could get so early on instead of having to work for it, but I was excited to use it. Shiva and Ifrit were definitely my favorite summons (which hasn’t changed from the original for me). My one big question: where is the freaking ‘all’ materia?! I know they kinda split ‘all’ up into many different types of materia, and you do have ‘pray’ for healing your entire party, but man, that was so versatile in the original so that was a hard adjustment for me not to have use of it.

o Weapons: I think it’s cool that they developed an upgrade system to make use of your weapons long term, giving them their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Made me think of FFX where you used the spheres to upgrade your characters. Also? I loved being able to see materia in my weapons when I switched them out. That was a really neat touch.

Music: And here I thought they couldn’t make the music of the original game any more epic, but they definitely outdid themselves in the remake. I enjoyed hearing all the remixes and ways they wove the classic themes into different parts of the games. I think my favorite was when you’re going through sector 5 with Aerith and have to control the giant robotic hands. The music in that section SLAPPED. The in-game jukebox was also a nice way to honor the old school classics. Hearing Aerith’s theme for the first time just about made me cry, and listening to One-Winged Angel fighting Sephiroth? Nothing could beat that moment musically for me.

Side quests: I’m not sure about anyone else, but I really didn’t care for the side quests. They weren’t very fun for the most part, and considering how linear the game is, they felt more like chores that needed to be completed because I had to, and not because I wanted to. The only exception was Wall Market, but all-in-all, most of them didn’t add much to the story, unlike in FFXV where I could go down a rabbit hole of sidequests for hours and hours.

Graphics: This is clearly stating the obvious, as anyone with eyes will tell you, the game is nothing short of gorgeous. I cannot tell you how many screencaps I took of just Cloud. It was definitely a world that I wanted to run around in for hours (and did) and will do so again and again just to look at all the little details. My favorite thing to do is watch comparison videos of the original and remake openings side-by-side. How crazy is it that technology has come this far!

Playtime: My biggest critique of this game is that it was too damn short. Stretching the first 4-6 hours of the original into 40 was definitely impressive, but considering I waited 20+ years for the remake, it was pretty disappointing to finish the game in less than a week. Like most people, I’m wondering just how long they plan on stretching this out, how many installments there will be, and when the second part will be released. Hopefully not another ten years, but it -is- Squeenix we’re talking about...

Storyline

Most people who played will tell you that most of the remake stayed very true to the original, even lifting some of the exact dialogue and scenes. The nostalgia hit me so hard in parts that I was literally in tears. The first time I watched the opening in the demo, I cried. That’s the power this game has over many people, including myself.

In other ways, the remake improved on parts of the story or re-imagined them. We always knew it wasn’t going to be a copy and paste of the original story, which I’m sincerely grateful for. I would seriously hope that after 20+ years they would have thought of ways to improve or polish FFVII and make it new and exciting for returning fans and people just picking it up.

My pros regarding the updates in the story:

- They fleshed out many background characters and added in new ones. Most of the core group spent more time interacting, and the party banter felt natural and progressed realistically as the game went on.

- New mini-games and side quests expanded on the slums and made the areas larger and more interactive, yet they still kept the nostalgia of iconic locales.

- Plenty of fuel to fan shipping fires with emotionally charged scenes and pretty boys abounding (Cloti and Clerith especially).

- All of Wall Market was brilliantly done. I was wondering how they’d update it for the new generation, and it was seriously the best part of the game for me (and had me laughing the entire time).

- Hinting that Zack is alive and/or Aerith may live is something I’m listing as a pro, only because I would love to see these characters used to their full potential, however, this is also a con for me, and I’ll explain why.

My cons:

Whispers: If you played the original, you probably had the same reaction as I did when the ‘Whispers’ showed up. “Wtf are these dementor-looking things?” At first, I thought they might be something similar to what we saw in Advent Children, and that they were ‘remnants’ or parts of Sephiroth, or somehow his minions, or even souls from the Lifestream, etc. When I found out they were actually supposed to be ‘protectors of fate’ or whatever, I rolled my eyes, especially when Barret was ‘killed’ by Sephiroth and then miraculously brought back to life. It felt very ‘deus ex machina’ to me in the sense that ‘everything has to go a certain way because we said so.’ While it makes sense, I really wasn’t buying it, but I’m assuming that we will learn more about them in the second installment.

The Ending: The whole final boss battle of the remake was surprising, because it felt almost exactly like the final boss bottle of the original game, right down to the cutscene where Cloud is thrown through space and faces off against Sephiroth one-on-one. Before you defeat the ‘harbinger of fate’ (anyone else get KH heartless vibes?) and fight Sephiroth as the final boss, Aerith goes on her long spiel about ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ and ‘this will change us,’ and it’s laid on so thick that it’s almost like they were setting us up for an alternate timeline, which is entirely possible, but that’s all speculation at this point. Regardless, they made it clear that whatever is coming next is going to be -very- different from the original, or possibly is going to be another timeline of the story, especially since Zack was shown alive and well. One criticism I heard from someone who hadn’t played the original game was that they treated Sephiroth and Zack like people you were supposed to know, and I can agree with that. They didn’t spend -any- time explaining their significance, backstory, or why people were so afraid of Sephiroth other than showing you little flashbacks into Cloud’s deranged memories, so in that sense, the ending might have fallen flat for those who don’t know exactly what Sephiroth represents or who he is, or why he stole Jenova from Hojo’s lab, etc, etc. Plus, throwing in Zack at the end is something that anyone who played the original game or Crisis Core would get, but new fans would also not understand the significance of. Personally, I screamed when I saw Zack because I was so happy , but I can see why that ending would be very unsatisfying and/or confusing for some.

Overall: 9/10

No, it doesn’t get a 10/10 for me, even as someone who absolutely loves Final Fantasy VII, but hey, no game is perfect. It’s honestly hard to live up to the hype this game has created since it was officially announced, and all things considered, Squeenix -did- live up to it. I will still be eagerly awaiting part two, playing the shit out of this game and squeezing the most I can out of it until I get to experience more.

I’d love to hear what other people thought (so long as the discourse is respectful of course). If you read this far, thanks for listening to my ramblings!

#ffvii #ffviir #ffviir spoilers #ff7r spoilers #cloud strife #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #review #thoughts #personal #opinion #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake

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ganymedesclock · 6 years

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Something I think is a really interesting exercise is that player-controlled characters that don’t speak up much / at all (e.g. Chell from Portal) still actually have what constitutes a canon personality. They’re often perceived as blank slates, but they’re really not.

There are several things that, in a meta sense, will tell you about a character you’re controlling.

1. The hard parameters of the game.

Have you ever noticed, in Zelda games, there are a bunch of characters you’re incapable of attacking? No matter what lethal implements you flail in their vicinity, Link will never launch a damaging or killing strike on them. There are also some regions in-game where you, the player, are unable to make Link draw his sword.

Thing is, the guards do not corner Link upon entering a town and confiscate his sword. His equipment is not explicitly magic and only able to harm monsters. In fact, the divide between “enemy species” and “friendly species” is basically arbitrary- in Twilight Princess, for example, you can attack gorons with impunity right up until they become allies.

This makes it clear that Link is consciously staying his hand. While it’s a very simple statement to make about a character- Link will not consider attacking those he perceives as civilians or allies- it’s still a clear statement. Link might be a punk sometimes (the game does gleefully give you options to mess with people, such as parading around near-naked or standing on tables in Breath of the Wild or specifically taking out your lantern in Barnes’ bomb shop in Twilight Princess) but he is driven by a hard line of ethics. Furthermore, IIRC only a handful of games will allow you to steal and then, at specific opportunities. In Skyward Sword, an entire sidequest is started because, upon breaking someone’s chandelier, the plot-furthering thing to do is to go talk to the owner directly, suggesting a Link who isn’t morally opposed to cutting and running when someone’s justifiably mad at him, but who is more likely to (the reward and emphasis is heavier on) own up and apologize.

Out-of-universe, we can’t do these things because they’re not programmed into the game. In-universe, though, there’s actually nothing stopping them, making it a deliberate action on their part. This also will involve things like how the story progresses- to use Twilight Princess again as an example, while Link needs Rutela’s blessing to get the third fused shadow, and thus pragmatically needs to save her son, he also refuses to talk to Ilia about her memory or try to get her to come with him back to Ordon before saving Ralis. This suggests that his motivation is in part personal compassion.

Later events in the story also would suggest Link has a lingering grudge towards both the doctor and the knights that refused to help in the situation- advancing the plot requires you to threaten the doctor with his tab and then search his house behind his back and if you’re in wolf form in Castle Town- only available after getting Ralis to Kakariko- Link isn’t afraid to snap at the knights, though he doesn’t bite or kill them. He’s more willing to get rude with someone who offends his personal sense of ethics.

Furthermore, there’s a matter of how obstacles are presented to you, and what you’re encouraged to do in response. Zelda is a series that focuses on personal adventure, a great deal of travelling long-distance, puzzle-solving and dungeon-crawling. You’re rewarded for being inquisitive, clever, helping others, and poking around. While the sidequests aren’t mandatory, you will only get Link at his absolute best and brightest when he’s been roaming the wilderness and doing favors for people. And you also virtually never have a consistent home base to return to- most games make it clear you’re basically leaving home and staying away for a good period of time when you revisit. So an interpretation on Link that reads him as someone who lingers at home heavily and doesn’t want to leave, ever, is unsupported by canon.

This can even be sneakier than something tacitly unavailable to the player- consider an NPC or party member talking at great length in a somewhat uninteresting manner. Does the dialogue go all the way with perfect legibility? Does it scroll onward into the background, or get interrupted? Any of those options tell us something about the character and their relationship to the speech. Are they listening? Are they zoning out? Are they expressing active contempt or implicitly cutting off the speaker with a gesture or expression?

2. Superfluous Actions

This is technically under the umbrella of game parameters, but I wanted to give this some special attention. Unfailingly, there are things a player character will do either without the player’s input, or that the player can direct them to do with no obvious merit to them.

Abzu, as a game, has a large number of basically superfluous controls. The “interact” button, while useful, also lets out a chirp, and not only does this have a neat visual effect in other areas, if you have a drone accompanying you (as you do several times throughout the game) making the Diver chirp with nothing to interact with prompts the drone to chirp right back, even varying how many times they chirp in a way that seems to respond to how many you gave them, albeit not on a one-to-one ratio. Which is absolutely adorable.

Another button lets you do flips; a third allows you to ‘boost’, which can be used to jump out of the water. You can ride on the back of larger sea creatures. Pretty much none of these are actually required for the advancement of the game. You don’t have to sing to the drones, you certainly don’t have to repair all of them you find. Riding a creature is never necessary but in the steam version of the game you get multiple achievements for doing so. You can sit and meditate and watch the fish as long as you want.

All of this creates a very playful, compassionate, and inquisitive personality for your player character, the Diver. What’s more, encountering a dying shark at one point in the game, Diver, unprompted, will come over to rest their hand on the creature until it passes, and then bow their head and move on.

In Hollow Knight, at several points you’re able to sit beside someone; one of which is the last time, in-game, you’ll be able to see a character who is implied to either die, or simply abandon his weapon and wander off alone afterwards. Like the Abzu example, you’re given an achievement for sharing this moment with him. There’s no tangible in-game reward. And yet the game gives you the option to do so, when that option is not normally present. It tells us, whether we as players take or leave that option, Ghost- the character- considers this moment and this person special enough to at least consider something they don’t normally do.

Some superfluous actions can be very subtle. Things like a camera moving on its own, implying the character’s attention is pulled to something the player didn’t actively choose to look at. In several games in the Zelda series, Link will turn his eyes and head towards certain things of notice, which can tell us, if we’re stumped on a puzzle or how to proceed, that Link may have quietly figured it out faster than we did.

3. Flavor text

Unless the text is actively being provided by another party in-game, it’s fair to assume any way something is described reflects how a character feels about it. For example, in Hollow Knight, the in-game bestiary has comments added by several other parties, but it also has succinct explanations at the top of what the creature is. These comments seem to lack much personality compared to the deeper elements in the journal, but on one particular entry, the Sibling, the Hunter’s comments on the bottom make it clear he has never actually seen this creature before- while the top entry not only describes it, but conveys rather intimate knowledge about its origin.

This stands out, because the player character, Ghost, is familiar with the Siblings- they are basically the lingering spirits of dead vessels in the location Ghost was raised and abandoned. Since, again, the Hunter implies he’s never been to the bottom of the Abyss, it’s likely Ghost is even the one who specifically labeled that particular entry the “Sibling”.

In Breath Of The Wild, food is a major game mechanic as the primary healing and stat-buffing item, but, we are also given lavish and detailed descriptions of the flavor profile of each. There’s basically no two ways about the obvious evidence that this particular incarnation of Link, at least, is a very dedicated and educated foodie- though, apparently, not someone with such a sophisticated palate that he won’t scarf down something “so gross you can’t even look at it” or made with inedible ingredients.

This can even tie into the game parameters thing- given the simplicity of the cooking system in the game, it’s clear that Link’s experienced hands are guiding the player- we might pick a handful of ingredients and toss them into a pot, for example, but, for Link, it’s clear that he’s going through a lot of trouble to cut, pare, fricassee, saute, garnish, and plate his dishes appealingly, even with limited equipment. You can interpret that a lot of ways- are we assuming Link is the type who lovingly handcrafts tools from the materials he finds to take his cooking to the next level and carries a cooking kit with him regularly, or is he more the type who waited until he made it to a town to get distracted by a pretty knife set?

While I just finished talking up the game parameters as a form of characterization, you do have to make some accommodations for what makes a fun and streamlined game experience. The creators of Breath of the Wild didn’t feel the need to complicate the cooking system with other tools besides a big metal pot- but in-universe, we can enrich our read on the character because Link is clearly not just stewing, but cooking a bunch of different ways that would call for specialty tools, so, how and where is he getting them? That’s more of an interesting subject for personal interpretation, but, that’s one of my favorite parts of this- what canon gives us virtually never creates a complete picture, but it will virtually always point us in an entertaining and interesting direction. Perceiving Breath of the Wild’s Link as a blank slate, I might not think about his relationship with cooking tools, but looking at canon and that very few of the created meals look like campfire food- many of the dishes are on plates. Which raises the obvious implication Link is going out of his way to acquire dishware, carry it around with him, and clean and reuse it. (Even if, in a more realistic setting without a vast, inter-spatial inventory, that dishware would probably look more like travel carry containers, like cheesecloth packages tied with twine, jugs and flasks for elixirs, beverages and soups, wooden and metal boxes)

And that can be super useful for a fanfiction, roleplay, or other writing scenario- it implies something about Link’s daily routine. I could write a scenario with him carefully whittling a skewer, or scrubbing dishes in a bubbling stream. And that he’s so interested and motivated by food, he probably does carry soap or something else to keep his hands and plates clean, given Hyrule’s level of technology he probably knows what germs are, and someone so proud of their cooking wouldn’t sicken themselves or potential dinner guests by using unclean containers. It becomes a springing ground for a lot of other headcanons.

4. Tone of the game

Every game has certain attitudes and worldviews that emanate through the setting, as well as a sort of overarching atmosphere that presides over the story. While it can be funny to imagine the protagonist of a moody, atmospheric piece as jarringly contrasting it, unless given evidence to point to that, it’s not going to be canon-supported.

Chell, from Portal, is resistant to many of these forms of characterization. She provides no flavor text, she doesn’t have a lot of superfluous actions besides tacitly refusing to catch Wheatley in early Portal 2, and while we do have the benefit of a bonus comic, Lab Rat, that gives some insight into her behavior, as well as the questionably accurate portraits that suggest how Rattman, at least, sees her, there’s not a lot.

However, it’s pretty much fair to assume that she’s a smart aleck- not just because the game gives you plenty of opportunities to, and in some situations, runs on the premise that you will try to spite and disobey the various people controlling Chell’s situation at the time*- but because the entire tone of both games is primarily snarky. Everyone you run into is some flavor of wise guy. Everybody’s a little/lot sarcastic, everybody’s a little/lot eccentric.

The one way that Chell obviously breaks from the mold is she’s not highly talkative- and this is impossible to miss because her refusal to talk is called out canonically all the time.

So we can guess that Chell being a wise guy- reinforced by her other actions- is per setting standard, and she’s probably a little weird, because everybody here is, we can tell that she doesn’t love to hear herself talk or is especially prone to monologuing like many of the other characters in her setting, because this contrast is actively called out, and makes her noteworthy and interesting as the protagonist.

Comparatively, Ghost from Hollow Knight is characterized as a very willful and brash creature through their environment- many of the areas in the game are pointed to as appealing to those that seek glory and aren’t afraid to put their life on the line to get it. While challenging the Mantis Lords is essential to proceed into Deepnest, that is not made apparent anywhere besides the Lords’ throne room themselves; while talking to Quirrel outside the village gates has him muse that Ghost probably intends to challenge the Lords.

* while you do get achievements- something I pointed to earlier in the Abzu example as an inclination something is more in line with their personality- for listening to GLaDOS and Wheatley to a fault, those actions end in Chell’s immediate death- since in-universe she is mortal and has no means of respawning, it’s fair to assume those are dead ends and thus, not actions she takes, just something the writers threw in because they thought it would be funny.

Basically a good rule of thumb for all of this is evaluate how its framed and the context- there is no one gospel of characterization here and especially in more meta frameworks like Undertale, characterizing Frisk requires building a comprehensive read on how to separate Frisk as their own person from you, the Player, and your will- since you have an acknowledged in-universe presence and the ability to override Frisk’s inclinations.

#writing ruminations #readmore

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springbudeyes · 5 years

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The tone of this post doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if I’m capable of writing something that sounds like a genuine apology, but please try to read it that way if you want to believe it.

One of the worst things about making poor decisions is that their effects will spread forever. I might never be able to apologize to all the people I’ve hurt and I’ll certainly never be able to heal all of the hurt I’ve caused. I’ve lost count of the apologies I’ve given and the ones I’ve yet to give. If anyone who remembers the way I acted in the Mianite days wants an apology from me personally, please seek it out, or at least try and take this message to heart. I don’t want to keep bad relationships with anyone. On the other hand, I don’t expect everything to work itself out. I realize there are some things we have to let go. I finally apologized to X33N a few months back, but I still haven’t done it properly. The way we ended our Mianite days wasn’t good. I was envious of him moving into the streaming world and threw some bitter darts thinly disguised as advice. From the bottom of my heart, I’m so happy for him and so glad that he’s been able to get the message of positivity out there through his streams. There were other conflicts in the Season Two team that have become known to the community. I’m sorry that I didn’t bring myself to love my teammates better as we did our work. I’ve always struggled with impulse control, sensitivity, and self-esteem. Cutting people off, using them for what they have to offer, and inflicting pain through words are all things I’m tempted to do when I feel like I’ve been betrayed, deserve better, and deserve to make someone else feel my pain. My late teens and twenties have been marked by incident after incident in which I realize that I haven’t mentally equipped myself for what life is gonna throw at me. Now I’m in a place where a good number of people might never accept anything I do in the future because of things I’ve done in the past. Admittedly, I’ve forgotten a number of those things. While I’ve tried to resolve many of the issues I do remember, a few in particular could use another look. Some of the choices I made in the writing of the Mianite series and its after-lore were awful. The way I played pre-Krys Martha was weirdly lascivious and I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea. I don’t recall my reasoning for it, aside from tasteless fun, but it doesn’t sit well with me anymore and that’s not how I want anyone to see Martha. As I’ve said countless times, I’m grateful that Krys took control. As a note, I would never suggest that the characters I played were somehow more important than the ones played by the rest of the cast. Krys, X33N, MadSpy, Ral, and others played amazing, heartfelt, and widely loved characters. A lot of what they did was either loosely connected with stuff I was doing or totally free rein. They – not I – made Season Two come to life. It would’ve been a dreary and skeletal tale with no NPC’s apart from the handful I controlled. Back in the vein of bad taste, the Ianite tree story had some sexual themes and I regret a few of the descriptions. They weren’t necessary for the portrayal of Ianite’s wanderlust and lovesickness. Someone thought that my line about the diameter of the tree increasing with age was an innuendo, and I can see what they mean but it actually wasn’t meant to be one. I’m sorry if that worsened their impression of an already flawed story. Andor should never have gone back to my brain at the end of the Clear Sky Hermit. I should’ve left it open-ended. I don’t think that was a huge issue for a lot of people as much as it was boring and predictable, but nonetheless, it’s something I regret. If I haven’t addressed the Andor fan art and fan fiction issue enough, here’s another stab at it. When people were making certain interpretations of Andor, I was upset about Mianite winding down, my spotlight narrowing, and my control over that amazing universe diminishing. I took it out on the beautiful creations of beautiful people, and that’s one of the things I might never be able to forgive myself for. I hope that anyone who was hurt by my attacks has either been able to read my previous apologies or find healing of some other kind. Within bounds of legality and acceptability, anyone can make any interpretation of any character they want. If I ever try to go against that statement again, please smack the living daylights out of me. This isn’t an apology – just an explanation – but my interest in Sparklez was purely a narrative one. He interacted well with my NPC’s. I had never watched his content before Mianite and I rarely watched it afterward. I never developed any kind of obsession with Sparklez. The behaviors of Andor and Ianite weren’t expressions of any such obsession. I’ve said some things outside of Mianite that need resolving too. I never tried to convince anyone that incest was okay and I certainly never tried to suggest that it was “on the same level as homosexuality.” I can’t find the old posts, but all I meant to say was that in fiction, and ONLY in fiction, a very shallow exploration of something like genetic sexual attraction might be okay. It’s a thing that can happen to people who lose contact with a family member, remove the association of family from that person, suddenly see them again, and experience strange feelings. Even in fiction, I never want to read about such feelings acted upon in any way, shape, or form and I’ve never written about such feelings being acted upon. I’m not interested in incest in fiction or in real life. If you’re gonna read or write incest, don’t let it leak into real life, don’t show it to me, don’t show it to other people who shouldn’t see it, and stay healthy. That’s all. Case closed. As for “on the same level as homosexuality,” no. Just no. I’m pretty sure I was trying to draw some kind of strange parallel between the way my bigoted father viewed gay people and the way some people viewed FICTIONAL incest, but thinking back on it, I can’t imagine how a single word of what I said made sense, and if I said anything more than what I remember, I wholeheartedly throw it in the trash. It was ridiculous. I’m sorry. That was one of those cases when I wrote something and awhile later looked back and said, “Wait, what? I don’t even know what I was trying to say there and I certainly don’t believe it. I think I just wanted to assert myself.” I don’t support Notch’s political views and I agree with the removal of his name from the Minecraft credits, but I do thank him for what he’s done, wish the best for him generally, and hope he lets a little more love into his heart. I don’t wish him dead. I’m not apologizing for that, lol. The past two years hanging out in a subsect of the old Mianite fandom have given me a lot of healing. One of the big things I’ve taken away from that group is that forgiveness is astonishing. I could never have believed that anyone would accept me so fully in spite of such flaws. It’s made me want to extend the same kindness to others. I don’t think I’m very good at being kind. If you’re reading this and still have some beef with me, I just want you to know that I love you a lot and will continue to do my best to be the type of person you would accept an apology from. If you can’t meet me in that place or don’t think I can meet you there, I’ll understand. People have their own journeys and need to keep themselves safe. Again, I’m really sorry.

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thevoilinauttheory · 5 years

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Trust NPC: M’nhea

Selection: “C’mon, let’s do this!”

Job: Praetor (PLD base)

Weapons: Sword and large box shield

AI Behavior: M’nhea is an incredibly good tank - meaning that he will draw aggro from every enemy onto himself, stun enemy attacks and nothing else. He will not dodge regular telegraphs, only on bosses will he follow the basest of mechanics. He will rarely use cooldowns, nor will he heal himself. He will only use cooldowns once he’s reached below 10% of his health, or he has the aggro of more than five enemies at once. He won’t pull ahead, but he will take aggro should the player decide to. He’s a little dumb sometimes, but he means well. You definitely do not want him as your tank if you are playing a healer. He will put the safety of everyone else above his own well being - one of his specialty skills even pushing back his comrades should they be too close to him (standing in front of mobs, not necessarily within melee range - he’s not a jerk).

Battle Lines: “Let’s dance! ...Or at least shuffle this way some, I don’t know how to dance.” - Starting Attack Line, Variation 1 “Bet you weren’t expecting this! Ha ha!” - Starting Attack Line, Variation 2 “Get back! You’ll get hurt!” - Using Specialty Skills, Variation 1 “Don’t test me!” - Using Specialty Skills, Variation 2 “I’ve got you! You okay?” - Assisting an ally

Limit Break: “Take cover!” - Using limit break with 1 bar "Try not to get hurt! I’ll take care of this!” - Using limit break with 2 bars "I won’t let you hurt them! Not again! I can’t lose them again!” - Using limit break with 3 bars

KO’d: “N-No... not yet...” - Variation 1 “I.. I’m so.. so sorry...” - Variation 2

Revived: “Good as new! Thanks!” - Variation 1 “Thank goodness, I thought I was done for!” - Variation 2

[Thank you for the tag, @lukawarrioroflight!! M’nhea is a good boy, he’s just dumb as a box of rocks. Bonuses under the cut!]

Edit: I forgot the tools and sources! Template and fonts, courtesy of @locke-rinannis - >> FOUND HERE << Don’t have photoshop? Neither do I! I used a free online version at freephototool.com! It takes a bit longer, but there’s no payments or downloads necessary and it can do pretty much everything photoshop can (as well as open .psd files perfectly!)

Bonuses!

If Wultgar is in the party, he’ll be a bit more responsible thanks to his friend’s warnings - he won’t stand in as many things, and will follow boss mechanics perfectly. He will regularly use Cover on Wultgar regardless of whether he is taking damage or not.

If the player stands around too long, he’ll fall asleep while standing (5 min), if they don’t move after 7 min, he’ll sit down and take a nap.

If the player eats food inside of the dungeon, he’ll comment on it. “Is there any left?” “Can I have some?” “Are you gonna eat all that?”

If the player uses any dances, he will copy the idle dance. If they /dote him, he will dote back. Hugs are always returned in kind.

#tagged answers #trust npcs #about: M'nhea Tia

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moralanxietystudio · 5 years

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Banging My Head Against A Brick Wall - Roadwarden Devlog

It was a great weekend, a suitable ending for the long, long chapter of Roadwarden’s development. The game’s code is now much cleaner and it allows to add the new content easier and quicker. And I had quite a bit of content to add. New dialogues, new graphics, new activities.

The Clean Spear tavern has a new “chunk” of interactions now - the player can spend some time with the guards to gather new information about the world or other character. It all started with a minor, throw-away NPC added for some color, but once I figured I really like this group of characters, I decided to bring some quests and unique actions to the table.

It increased the amount of conversations for this area for about 30%, but the more I wrote, the happier I was.

The ruined village, the next area I’m going to write for, has sparked a lot of interest, especially on Facebook and r/worldbuilding. It has a lot of lore behind it and revealing the “true” nature of this place will be one of the side quests, but here’s the general description:

“A ruined village. The Imperial forests are dangerous and unfriendly, forcing the hamlets and villages to grow as slowly, as they can. If humankind affects the nature too much, too fast - the monsters arrive to take back what belongs to them.”

However, working on this area wasn’t easy. The buildings alone took me literally a day. Those of them that are more detailed and larger, were first designed in their “clear” form. After that, I’ve added the damage from fire, time and animal strikes:

What’s more important, however, is that originally I planned to make all of the buildings half of their current size:

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a mess and I couldn’t portray too many details in such a restricted sprite size. Redraws were necessary, but making tiny structures is generally really fun.

The real problem, however, involved the bottom left corner of the image. My goal was to portray an old field, but people were seeing a dirty body of water, or even a forest. Here you can find a couple of stages that this one corner went through:

With such a limited set of colors, textures are sometimes enough. Adding the road in the middle really helps, a new context comes to mind.

In total, this image took me about 3 days. Yikes.

“At the edge of the swamp, a large tree stands for as long as anyone remembers. It has no leaves, yet slowly grows. To stay alive, however, it has to be fed by the locals, who put their offerings on an ancient altar.”

This picture took me just a day and I’m very happy with it. Some details had to be reworked or moved around (and the feedback I’ve gathered was very helpful), but since it repeated a lot of things that I’ve already had figured out, it was much easier to put my experience to use.

That’s why I don’t find the time spent on the houses or field to be a waste. Previously, I’ve spent hours trying to make water that look like water, a road that looks like a road. Now that I know how to do it, it all clicks much faster. Next time I’ll also be able to handle the field much better.

So I’ve decided to make another, small image and have it ready on Monday. A one room that’s placed in the village ruins. A place where an NPC has set a small camp, where he scavenges for scraps of iron and steel. Should be easy, especially since I already had a tent some stairs, barrels, a chest... SHOULD be easy.

Now, join me on my road to madness.

I wanted to place the tent on the “ground floor” (more like an above-ground basement) of the largest building. I’ve reconstructed the basic room structure, and here is what I’ve started with.

The first skeleton of the structure. It’s clear that the texture in the middle won’t work, but the base idea is here. Rocks on the bottom, bricks in the middle, wood on the top and in the corners. Not a practical design, but a pretty one.

First textures, testing various colors. The wooden pillar in the middle doesn’t work well, but the largest problem is the part in the bottom. I haven’t figured out any good texture for it, so I leave it for last.

New bricks, floor and decent wooden pillars. At this point I had to decide if I want to start working on the rest of the room, or keep digging into the walls. I’m digging.

I see a potential, even if it looks awful.

While trying to make the bricks more interesting, I decided they look really good and finally quit my idea to make the bottom part a “rocky” section. Bricks all the way.

Legit!

First version of the chamber. It could use some extra light.

See? Fun!

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

I still have a new area to draw in mind that I have to take care of soon, then I can sink into some new dialogues and exploration bits. After writing all of it, I’m going to work for a bit on my code and add / modify some of the features. The diary needs a “characters” section to make it easier to remember all the NPCs.

A lot of things to do, but the support I’ve recently received was huge and I’m getting quite optimistic about this entire endeavor! Remember, you can also find me on Twitter, Facebook and the game’s website!

#devlog #indie game #indiedev #rpg #gaming #pcgaming #video games #gamedev #fantasy #pixel art #pixelart #visual novel #Adventure Game #games

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dramallamadingdang · 6 years

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I really like your new hood. What kind of visual editing are you doing? Also, what exactly are the rules of this hood? I tried looking it up with the tags, but alas, it wasn't explained fully. Is this a Zombie Apoc challenge? I'm doing a variation of the one on MTS2, but it takes place in post-War California, circa 1939, if Germans invaded the US. Please let us know your rules for this hood! Thanks! child_of_air

Oh dear, this is going to be really long, sorry. :)

1) The pic-editing. I made a Photoshop action to do that. At first, I was going to edit pics of that neighborhood in a warm, low-contrast sepia-tone. Because I like sepia-tone. So, I fiddled with an existing sepia-tone action I had (one meant for regular photographs) to make it work with Sim-pics. It does everything non-destructively, with adjustment layers, so the original image remains intact "underneath." But then I decided that I wanted SOME color but still low-contrast and matte and kind of grainy. So, on top of the sepia-toning layer group, I plopped down another copy of the original image and set a "Soft Light" layer blend with the layers below to merge it with the sepia-toning. THEN I edited a "film" Photoshop action that I had on hand to make it work better with Sim-pics, then ran THAT on the copy of the original image. Again, it works via adjustment layers, non-destructively. Then I reduced the opacity of the "film" layer group and the second copy of the original image so that the sepia-toning below merged better with the added-back color, resulting in the kind of images I've been posting.

THEN I recorded ALL of the above into a one-click Photoshop action that'll work on most Sims-pics. It'll sometimes need to be further adjusted, especially if the original image is really dark, like an outdoor nighttime pic with little or no light source, but for many pics, it's just one click.

I could share the action, if anyone would be interested in having it or fiddling with it for their own use, but it is still dependent on the other two actions that I edited. I'm not sure how to share all three together since one of the dependent actions is bundled with about a dozen others. I don't know how to extract just the one. I suppose I could just share the whole bundle, though. It's a very nice bundle that offers lots of nice effects, actually! :) I'm pretty sure it's one of the hundreds of free ones my hubby has, since he has the ones he paid for in a different folder on the networked external archive drive... Well, if anyone wants it, let me know, and I'll look into it. :)

Now as for the rules....

There really isn't a hard-and-fast set, I'm afraid. I'm kind of making things up as I go along. Initially, this was SUPPOSED to be just a neighborhood to test out some of Sun & Moon's stuff and some playing ideas prior to using those things in another neighborhood I'm developing but where I don't want to experiment. Then it kind of took on a life of its own. *laugh* It has BACC elements merged with the "backstory" of an Apocalypse that can also easily be a "pioneer" or “homesteading” kind of thing with no apocalyptic undertones. :) There are also some elements of an "integrated" playing style. In its pure form that would mean that everything has to be "built" in-hood, with nothing just appearing out of the air. I don't want to go full-on with that -- too tedious and therefore un-fun, IMO -- but I do have some supply chains. More on that further down.

Basically, it goes like this: The end of civilization was coming (Plague, nuclear war, zombies, who knows? And who cares? :) ), and only one person seemed to realize it. That one person was in college at the time. So, rather than focus on his studies so much -- After all, civilization was ending so there goes that MBA and lucrative corporate career, right? -- he focused on making as many friends as possible and convincing them that, "Hey, world's gonna end, we need to get outta Dodge and make a new world." Slowly, he gathered a group of friends -- people who lived in the dorm, a few professors, hell, even a cheerleader -- who believed him and started to make preparations. Everyone else made fun of them, of course, but who cared about that? They were all gonna die or whatever. After graduation, they left, trekking out into the wilderness with (in my imagination) enough stuff like preserved food and potable water and seeds to plant and candles to burn and shovels and saws and stuff like that, to get them by for a while.

And sure enough, they were right! Civilization collapsed. Infrastructure was destroyed or became nonfunctional. Telecommunications systems were gone even if there'd been electricity to run such devices. This group of 16 is out in the wilderness, and other survivors/escapees/whatever are wandering around, too. But the core group has a collectively-agreed-up mission to work cooperatively to make a new and better and simple-living world: Peaceful, completely egalitarian, communal, a world where money and power neither exist nor are desirable, where everyone works together, willingly, for the good of the collective, a world living in harmony with nature. (Basically, my ideal world. *laugh* I really am a communist at heart, only without the oligarchical totalitarianism that modern attempts at communism have been corrupted by.)

At first, they all lived together in one place, sleeping in quickly-built, rough cabins, doing potty business in bushes, collecting rain water for makeshift showers, and eating food that they brought, that they grew/gathered, or that they caught. All the while, they were busy putting together the "raw materials" they needed to build individual houses to live in, each dedicated to a specific function that benefits the community as a whole, the fruits of which would be shared equally with the entire community. Each time a production goal was reached, one person/couple could move off the communal "raw materials" lot and into the lot that could be "built" from the gathered raw materials. And the community grows from there.

Meanwhile, there are those other folks, wandering around alone and frightened and helpless in the wilderness, having escaped whatever the disaster was that occurred. Sometimes, members of the community meet up with them while they're out scoping out the territory. Those poor souls can be brought into the fold as well, added to the communal lot and becoming contributing members of the community.

And that's as far as the "story" goes for now. :) Bear in mind that my neighborhood is age-modded with this mod, so my Sims have PLENTY of time to live out their lives. Not sure playing this way will really work with the standard-length lifestages. You'd have to figure out ways to speed things up rather a lot, I would think or else your founders will be dead before they can even earn a house, much less reproduce and stuff. :) But anyway, the "rules," such as they are, so far:

1) No careers. No vacations. No Uni after the initial "gather your founders" part, if you do that. No subhoods at all. And no money, so if you want to you can give your households a million simoleons because it simply doesn't matter.

2) No electricity. No indoor plumbing. (I intend to add those things as they are "earned," down the line, but only at the earliest when the first born-in-game generation are adults. Haven't figure out exactly HOW it'll be earned, though.) No phones. No nannies, repair people, maids, gardeners, etc., unless you want to set up some sort of in-neighborhood system for that. (Which is certainly doable; I plan to do it later, once my supply chains are in place and I'm looking for "employment" for new people.) No vehicles except "vehicle horses." (Only once you have a horse farm!) Use candles for light sources. Use only charcoal grills for cooking. (Unless you want to download an historical-type oven, but I'm trying to run this with less CC, not more, and I want there to be some big rewards for earning electricity.) Don't use an electric fridge. (I'm using this one.) Use an outhouse, not indoor flush toilets. Use mods so that water has to be gathered to use to fill bathtubs and sinks. Stuff like that.

3) I recommend using the Visitor Controller to ban all but playable Sims from every lot. Also ban mail and newspaper delivery. You COULD make the neighborhood from empty templates and no stealth hoods, yes, but then you're going to lose the "meet people by hiking" thing, which is how "new blood" gets added to this neighborhood. That function draws from the NPC household that includes things like the BV tourists/locals and the hobby leaders and stuff like that. If you use empty templates and whatnot, you won't have that.

4) Get yer founders. I did this via sending Komei Tellerman to Uni and having him focus on making friends amongst the dormies, professors, and Uni NPCs so that all the founders would at least have a strong relationship with him, if no one else, but you could just make a bunch in CAS if you’d rather skip that part. Or if you don’t have Uni installed, of course. :)

5) Build an initial lot to dump everyone on. (I teleported them with the Sim Blender, aged them to regular adults, gave them the extra want slots they should have as college graduates, etc., since they weren’t yet playables in Uni.) Include everything they need for basic motive-filling but not much else. (You could put a working stack of books somewhere if you want them to skill, but really? With no careers, skilling isn't really all that necessary.) There will also need to be ways to make/gather raw materials. Here's the layout of the one I made, with some useful links to stuff I used on it. This lot houses the founders, any new members added to the community, and ALL born-in-game Sims once they reach teenhood, until they earn individual lots.

Note: For me, I did not want kids on this lot. They have to wait until they earn an individual lot for that. So the only place to autonomously woohoo is the park benches I used as seating for eating. But, I have ACR set so that woohoo on sofas/park benches requires privacy...which is hard to get on a lot with no real walls and a bunch of other people living on it. :) If you DO want them to have kids, then they could woohoo in the cabin-tents, but ACR doesn't enable autonomous tent-woohoo, so...yeah.

Note 2: I let the communal lot run pretty much entirely on free will, only commanding certain Sims to do certain things at certain times. That way, the residents form their own relationships and either succeed or fail at taking care of themselves. They also develop different sleep schedules, which is nice for the player, less of them to keep an eye on at any given time. :) It's also easier to NOT micromanage 16 or more Sims at once, naturally. But this, of course, would be up to the player and how you like to play.

4) Earning a lot: The communal lot has choppable trees, the mining rocks from Sun & Moon's mining set, and Nixnivis's blacksmith station on it. I have fiddled with the trees and the mining rocks to make them autonomous, and the rule is that Sims can never be commanded to chop trees or mine ore. They must decide to do that themselves, so production is limited by how industrious your Sims are. Further, the mined ore has to be "refined" (into things like nails and other things that go into a house). For this, I use the blacksmith station, just having a person make that object's basic single horseshoe object as as "stand-in." (This isn't autonomous; it's one of the things that Sims can be commanded to do.)

NOTE: I could share the edited autonomized choppable trees if someone wants to use this idea; I don't think Beck would care. But sharing the edited autonomized mining rocks would break Sun & Moon's policy, so if you want that, you'd have to do the editing yourself. It's not hard, if you can run SimPE.

In order to earn each new individual lot, the communal lot must produce 75 bundles of chopped logs and 40 horseshoes. And each horseshoe “requires” 2 buckets of ore, so you need to keep track of how many buckets of ore you have in inventories and subtract out the appropriate number of ore buckets when a batch of horseshoes is made. (Just sell them "to the air;" money doesn't matter. Much of the crafting in this hood will work the same way, too, with "prerequisite" objects that need to be produced somewhere first, so get used to the technique. *laugh*) So to get those 40 horseshoes, 80 buckets of ore have to be (autonomously!) mined first. Once you have the required materials, remove them from inventories and sell them to the air. Then, you can build an individual lot and move whoever you want to own the lot out of the communal one.

(You might want to adjust the requirements needed for how you play. For instance, if you don’t want to go pure free-will, you should probably have much higher requirements. If you don’t age-mod, then you’ll want to adjust simply because you just won’t have time to earn lots with enough time left over for your Sims to have kids to keep the neighborhood going. So, yeah. That’s certainly not set in stone; it’s just what works for my set-up.)

5) Supply chains and stuff: Before you build your first individual lot(s), you're going to want to choose what that lot will be dedicated to, because that will dictate how you build it. My list of possibilities -- so far, that is; it's ever-growing as I get new ideas and figure out how to implement them -- is as follows:

RobotsFlower ArrangingToy-MakingPotterySewingSpinning/KnittingWeavingCattleChickensHorsesPigsSheepGoatsWineryPaintingDog/Cat BreederBeesBakingMarijuanaCandle-makingFishingHayCornMaxis OrchardBasketryHerbs/WildflowersHunting/TanningTrappingApothecary (Plus reagents, if witches)Blacksmithing

Some of those are Maxis things. Some of them are CC. Some of them don't actually exist and I'm using stand-ins instead. (Like, for instance, candle-making. Sun & Moon's beekeeping set produces beeswax as one of its end products, along with honey. They didn't yet make a candle-making station, though, so in the meantime, I'm just gonna use the robot station or something and pretend. They can make toy robots that can be one-for-one "exchanged" for functional candles, which can then be distributed. It's easy to do because money doesn't matter.) Most of them have "prerequisites." I'm not going to go into how all of these will work because I'd be here for days, but I'll give you one example of a supply chain and its prerequisites and stuff.

Let's talk about the sewing supply chain, clothing and blankets and stuff being the ultimate end-products of that supply chain. In order to have new clothing and towels and quilts/blankets and other nice decorative things like that, first, at the very bottom of the "pyramid," you gotta have someone who'll grow hay. Because you can't have sheep (and other livestock) without something to feed them. And you can't have wool without sheep. (Or growing cotton or flax for linen or making silk or something, and if I can figure out how to make THAT happen, I will. I have an idea brewing for marijuana -- think hemp -- but for now...sheep.) And you can't knit a sweater or produce fabric without cleaning and spinning that wool into yarn/usable fiber/thread. And you can't have fabric without someone with a loom to weave it. And you can't have leather (for shoes and stuff) without someone killing some kind of animal (domesticated or hunting wild ones) and tanning the hides. ONLY THEN can you have someone making new clothing. And at each step, there's a kind of conversion. Like "1 spun basket of wool = enough yarn to make 1 sweater." So, you sell the basket of wool (obtained from the sheep farmer) to the air, then "spin" (via a CC spinning wheel plus an invisible sewing machine to make a few potholders or something as a "stand-in" for the process), then you sell those potholders to the air and use Beck's knitting ball to make one piece of clothing which can then be distributed and used to "buy" one sweater or whatever.

That's how everything basically works in a supply chain, some of which have more steps than others. Producing new clothing would be the longest one I've come up with so far. So, when building your lots, if you want to use supply chains at all, you must start out with the "anchors" of the supply chains you want to have. If you don't want to be that complicated, you could just pick randomly or pick whatever appeals to you.

6) Individual lots: Plop down a lot. On that lot, build a house but leave room outside for the lot's function plus the outhouse, the outdoor fridge, a well/water pump and a garden. (Eventually gardens can go away, once you have enough food-producers that can consistently produce enough to distribute amongst the population. But until then, folks will need to grow stuff.) The size of your lots is gonna depend on you and how you play. Me, I like smaller lots and I don't mind cramming large families into small houses...which suits a "pioneer" sort of lifestyle, anyway. So, my individual lots are no bigger than 3x3, and the house itself (they're all the same, just different colors, different furnishings, and oriented differently on the lot), for a child-producing household, is a 9x9 square with a 3-tile deep front porch across the front. Floor plan here.

7) Unlike a BACC where CAS Sims are “earned” by certain events, any new, non-born-in-game Sims have to be met via hiking. (It’s one of the possible outcomes of hiking.) It’s a substitute for being out “exploring” or “looking for wandering domesticate livestock to capture” or whatever. If a non-pet “someone” is met, that person gets added to the communal lot, joining the “queue” for an individual lot. (I just use the Sim Blender to teleport them into the communal lot and add them to the household.) I prefer to age up any children to teen and age down any elders to adults, but that’s up to you, of course.

Annnnnnd that's about it, really. I have yet to figure out exactly how the "economy" is going to run. At the moment, the individual lots are still producing stuff with not enough to distribute yet and I don't have any full supply chains yet...but I need to figure it all out soon. I'm leaning toward just equally distributing end-products in truly communist style, but I'm not sure yet. I could list some more miscellaneous rules...but I think that's enough for now. *laugh*

#replies #rulesets #princesspiratecat

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dmsden · 7 years

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Worldbuilding – Don’t Know Much About Geography

Welcome back, Gentle Readers. This is the second in a series of articles about designing a new campaign world. In the first article, I mentioned my usual starting processes and outlined the basic feel of the campaign – medieval Europe with a sort of “points of light” aspect, deliberately recalling times like the Interregnum period of the Holy Roman Empire and the Anarchy period of England, when there were no strong central powers, and many people took advantage of that fact to establish their own little footholds of power.

Besides doing lots of reading on these periods, my next step is to start to define the world further in terms of geography. And for that, I need….a map.

Conventional wisdom right now says that there’s no point in a DM designing a whole world. What needs their attention is just the small part of the world the next adventure happens in.

Now, I can agree with that on some levels. It probably isn’t necessary to develop an intricately detailed culture for the Kingdom of Kalduras if it’s on the other side of the world from where you’re setting your campaign. But I do think it’s worth investing at least some time knowing what else is out there. Some players like to know a little something about the places they come from in order to develop their character backgrounds. This is why settings like the Forgotten Realms, Westeros, Middle-Earth, and Golarion are all relatively well fleshed-out places.

While I won’t develop everything about everywhere, knowing what the major continents are…or whether your world even has continents (or is more like, say, Iomandra)…can help you later on when the players are asking questions. Yes, there are many islands, and piracy is rife in those regions. Yes, I can find a home for your Aztec-flavored shaman character. And so on.

Having said this, it’s also good to simultaneously start small. If you’re going to have the players spend a protracted period of time in one place, it’s good to know something about the place they’re spending time in. Are there going to be recurring NPCs? What services are available to them? Is there a Temple where they can be healed?

For purposes of this campaign, I intend to use the setting outlined in the classic module The Keep on the Borderlands, so a lot of the starting small details are all set for me. Instead, I will concentrate on a “Big” element that I always like to have before the first session – a world map.

The best way to develop a world map that’s going to best fit your campaign’s needs is to draw it yourself. Whether you invest in a program like Dundjinni or Campaign Cartographer or do it by hand on paper, this allows you to draw details that you intend to set adventures around, which is, of course, the whole point of having a campaign world in the first place. If you intend to have adventures where the players seek a forbidden temple in the middle of a mountain range, it’s probably useful to put that mountain range onto your world map, so you know where it is. There are lots of articles out there on how to draw a world map, and I don’t intend to replicate their advice here.

There are many resources of fantasy world maps that other people have created out there. A quick search for “Fantasy World Map” reveals dozens of web sites with cool maps available for use. Choose one, and go to town.

For this campaign, I’m delving into my pack-ratty nature. Way back in the late 80s, early 90s, I collected a number of products for the now defunct Hess Games. Hess Games produced a number of very high quality maps, including castles, dungeons, cities, and a world. These came in colored 8×11 envelopes, and I snapped up every one of them, because I love those sorts of products. But for some reason, I’ve never used a single one of them. They’ve sat on my shelves for over 20 years.

But no longer!

I decided as I began this project that I would use all of these map packs to help develop my new world. When I started working on it, I pulled out the world map (the image at the top of this article) and had a look. I’d looked at it before, of course, but my thought was always, “This is beautiful…but I have a campaign world already. I don’t need this.” So it would go back into the envelope and get put away. But now, I have no campaign world, and I could finally use this high quality map.

I’m very fortunate in that the world map comes with both a big, beautiful poster map and a small 8×11 map of the same world. That will allow me to scan the map in so I can work it in Photoshop, adding layers with colors, texts, and details that I can have as DM-only and hide when I show the map to the players.

Looking at my map, the first thing that strikes me is that there’s really only one continent. Could there be others on the opposite side of the world? There absolutely could, but it might be interesting if this is the only continent on the planet as well. I don’t have to answer this question now. It may be that there are other lands, but this is a big enough real estate chunk for me to not have to worry about it for now.

The second thing that strikes me is that there are three very distinctive circles on the map. These appear to be made up of both islands and the natural curvature of the continental land mass. It immediately makes me think “impact craters.” I’ve always loved images of incredible craters…ones that formed lakes miles across. I once misunderstood something I heard in relation to the Chicxulub Crater on the Yucatan peninsula and believed that the whole Gulf of Mexico was an impact crater. Although I’ve since come to understand that’s not the case, it fired my imagination, and I’ve wanted to include something like that in a campaign.

The real world has coastal features that are actually made up of impact craters, such as Chesapeake Bay. These three sites on my map could be massive fantasy based impact craters. Are they the sites of terrible Far Realm creatures falling to Earth? The detritus of a cataclysmic battle? The footprints of a God? I don’t know yet, but I look forward to figuring that out.

I note that there are also many islands, including some that might be large enough to be thought of as sub-continents or even continents in their own right. I’m glad there are many islands, because another module I’d like to use as inspiration is The Isle of Dread and it seems like it would fit right in.

Alright, so we have our feel (Interregnum Europe) and now our map (taken from this old Hess Games product). We still don’t have some crucial elements, like a theme or a name for the campaign, and we’ll look at some of these pieces next time.

For anyone curious, Hess Games seems to have been out of business since the late 80s. That is why I am comfortable scanning and using this map.

#Dungeons and Dragons #dungeons & dragons #dungeon master #D&D #d&d #d&d 5e #d&d 5th edition #worldbuilding #dnd #DnD stuff #dnd shenanigans #DnD 5e #dnd 5th edition

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rahkshirock · 6 years

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Andromeda thoughts: midnight edition

mass effect is an interesting topic because it is a lot of people’s formative game series. i can respect that

personally I grew up with educational homeschool games like leapfrog, reading rabbit, cluefinders and fucking zoombinis

I got pretty deep into bionicle too but my folks wouldn't buy the games for me.

my first experience with a real plot was starcraft, which was pitch black toned sci-fi with a straight up villain victory at the end

in highschool i finally got some freedom and got portal 2, deus ex: human revolution and a little later, dishonored. throw in a little bioshock mass effect and halo, but only the first of each. mostly i watched let’s plays

so recently, since i’m not financially or educationally drowning, I am catching up on the series i kinda missed. most recently, Mass Effect.

I first played Mass Effect 1 in freshman year of college while procrastinating. I didn’t have a lot of fun, and it was the steam version that doesn’t have any dlc, so I stopped a few missions into 2, since the draw of the series is porting your character and decisions into the next game

3 years later, I finally acquired the entire mass effect series, including all dlc, and played through beginning to end, 100% completion of all quests, all side content, romancing garrus with femshep

and it was good. I enjoyed it. objectively speaking however, it has some issues. there are a few series retrospectives on youtube that explain this better than I can, but to put it simply:

mass effect 1′s intro is ham-fisted and frontloads you with 3 bad guys (including the reapers with no setup) in the first 30 minutes, before you even take control of the Normandy. structurally however, it was sound. the mako sections broke up the main missions, and so the pacing was alright despite only having 5 main missions (getting liara, stopping the thorian, stopping benezia, virmire, illos/citadel) and most people didn’t like the mako levels because the levels didn't like the mako and its stupid physics model. the ending was solid however, and ended on a fun optimistic note

mass effect 2 managed to have at once a more realistic, down to earth setting, a more personal story, and the most highlights of the series. Most people consider this to be the best one, and for some of the game, it is! however, the main plot and the suicide mission broke down for me because 1. you only fight the collectors 3 times, 2. legion, an intensely interesting squad member was locked behind the threat of losing my crew by getting him before 2 missions from the end, and 3. I put zaeed as the secondary squad leader in the protect the engineer part, and tali got shot in the face with a fucking rocket launcher. it took me out of the whole experience because I had to load a previous save, and looking it up, the assignments feel arbitrary. Miranda can lead the mission despite jack JUST saying she’s a horrible leader? but the founder of the blue suns can’t? what? what clues did I have to sniff out to prevent a VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTER from dying?

all I'm saying is, me2 is great, but it’s structured badly. it is a series of short stories, not all of which are even tangentially related to the existing universe.

also Jacob Taylor “I didn't think the alliance was doing enough to help people so I quit and joined a FUCKING TERRORIST ORGANIZATION EXPLICITLY FOR HUMAN SUPREMACY” “also if you romance me I cheat on you in the 3rd game” is the worst character in the game and I had to LOOK UP how not to trip into accidentally romancing him because just being nice can trigger that flag and his loyalty mission is FUCKED as far as implications go.

and ME3, while having the highest hights in the series (Tuchunka, Rannock) also undeniably has the lowest, with an ending that will be recorded as the worst ending to a good series of all time, and its main plot is inconsistent and generally poorly written before it completely breaks down in the 3rd act.

all of this proves that good games don't have to be perfect, and that a game can still be fun even if you hate the way its written (ME3)

so then I saw that Andromeda was only 20 dollars, and even though I had heard it was a tire fire of a game, I picked it up

after 115 hours, I can say that I do not understand gamers. this is not only a worthy mass effect game, it is the best one in its entirety. the volume of joy I’ve gotten from this game is equivalent to what I got from the ENTIRE original trilogy. the space you explore is tightly focused, and yet deep and richly detailed.

after 2 games, they finally reintroduced a working vehicle and designed levels around it. they tightened the cast and made your entire crew, not just your squadmates, interactable and fun. gone is the pseudo-military backdrop of the first game: npcs and squadmates come from a variety of backgrounds, from rescuing people from natural disasters, a human who trained with asari commandoes, or a turian smuggler who you would EXPECT to be the new Garrus, but instead puts on a minigun and tech armor. drack and peebe are definitely archetypal of the asari adepts and krogan battlemasters weve had through the series but heres the thing

tropes are not bad

take one facet of the new villain: the kett. they like to make more kett by injecting other species with a serum that causes them to mutate into them borg stile

now mass effect has had this as a plot point since minute 3 of the first mission of the first game: humans are turned into husks.

however, how do characters react to these revelations?

just joking. in the original mass effect there is exactly one asari who is scarred mentally after she was attacked by a banshee that used to be part of her squad.

1 character, at the end of the series reacts to the tech zombies in a meaningful way.

meanwhile, every squad member has thoughts on this revelation. jaal, the Angaaran squad mate, who has been fighting kett for decades French resistance style, grapples with the revelation for the rest of the game. you see many other resistance fighters give up, unable to kill those who used to be Angaarans, others you find are galvanized by the atrocity. every plot point has people in-game debating the implications. every party member of course gives you a personal loyalty mission, but they also ask for small favors, ask stupid questions, go on their own with big plans and need to be helped out of sticky situations. even if you think that the characters are cliché (which they aren’t) they have such a volume of interactions that each is fully fleshed out only a third of the way through the game, and continued to grow and change perspectives, arguing and falling in love. the loyalty missions are often main-plot relevant and sometimes wacky one-offs that bring in minor characters. I heard that if you want, you can steamroll through the game without stepping foot on 3 different planets, but that's not my style, and the final battle incorporates the allies you’ve made into gameplay seamlessly, tying off nearly every single combat capable person from the story’s plotline, in a sequence that puts HALO to shame.

on hard difficulty with 100 percent completion, I got the golden ending, and saw a LOT of people come to help me. even so, it was excruciatingly difficult, and I had to utilize every bit of skill and preparation I had to make it through

so to people who said that there are no consequences in this game for your actions? its the first entry in a new series so sure they can only kill minor characters. I get that.

so they went for pure gameplay effect on said final battle. you can have very few people assist you at all.

I at least would not have made it without my effort, and so it was worthwhile and necessary to have done those sidequests. in my book, THAT is what ME3′s ending should have beenlike in the first place.

I don't really have a conclusion other than that yes, Andromeda adds just a few new ideas into the series, and more than a few recycled ones

but iT does it with skill, style, and occasional subtlety. it is, I’d say a GOOD FUCKING GAME, better than the original trilogy except for the very best of 2 and 3.

except for the inventory and weapons crafting system, that can go straight to hell

good night!

#mass effect andromeda #mass effect #mass effect 3

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elly-bird · 6 years

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QNPC - Day 3

I’ve been torn between feeling kind of Not Great and massively overworking myself so the backlog’s grown a bit on NPC submissions. That being said, I don’t wanna deny people the rolls, so I figure I’ll bridge my downtime with one of these updates.

Also, something special happened in this set of rolls, which means that I’ll be introducing a new format in order to deal with the occurrence. Because of this necessary change, NPC order will be unreliable - who comes first might shift from time to time, and so forth.

To clarify for why certain rolls are applied in certain manners; I decide upon the action the NPC is conducting before rolling. This means that sometimes major victories will be spent doing trivial things, and catastrophic failures are only minor inconveniences; it’s hard to fuck up planting a potato so hard you take damage, you know? Where the characters are choosing to push themselves is as relevant to the outcome as the roll itself. What that also means is there are rewards for critical successes (and punishments for failures) that aren’t always as simple as “you do a really good/bad job of it.”

Good luck, NPC owners! And keep submitting names!

-----

5 - In keeping with his theme of poor luck, Skurwysyn is stopped at the gates to Archwin. As a Lizardfolk, he’s accused of being a creature of the Wilds, and while he’s eventually allowed through the gates and into the capital, the dispute costs him a great deal of time and effort. Poor old fellow...

16 - Roswell, the half-orc carpenter, continues to build trust with the locals of a small town on the edge of farmland. Her name becomes a little more common, less whispers of “the creature” are heard. One of the first ambassadors on behalf of the locals is a young human girl named Sasha. The two are fast friends based mostly on distant glances, smiles, and waves.

17 - Bort, now a known threat about the worn paths near the abandoned quarry, grows incredibly bored with ransacking and pillaging barely equipped travelers. In his finest leathers, with his heaviest rocks, he picks a fight with a patrolling guard from a nearby settlement... and decisively wins the fight.

5 - Attempting to actualize sketches and designs based on incredibly elaborate systems that can’t be brought offline for a day, let alone studied for a prolonged period of time, seems incredibly hopeless. Kaylin’s desire to improve Archwin and productivity of the Elsemere as a whole remains commendable, but actually acting upon her inspired ideas becomes problematic. She finds herself lost in a web of dusty old tomes about pipelines and architecture, the impossibility of her monumental task being ignored in favour of her insane drive to invent and achieve.

2 - Lith’rael makes an effort to try and study the many sigils and runes upon the magical artifacts she uncovered from the invasive group at the borders, but beyond the most rudimentary identification - they are, in fact, items of worship and offering - she fails to find any reliable source on what cultures or groups would be trying to bring them into the forest she swore an oath to protect. An alarming apathy is uncovered within her kin, and she aims to raise further issue about interlopers even as her superiors wash their hands of the matter.

CRIT SUCCESS: 20 - Unfortunately for the application of Jort’s enormous roll, the action our orcish friend upon the mountain decided to conduct was to compose a ballad alongside Master Crow about his trials thus far. The song is elaborate (and kind of sick as hell) but he finds himself no further up the mountainside.

10 - Biding his time, Ahuum, the vengeful tiefling from the Wilds, manages to skirt being caught by the Foundation for another day. He holds fast and earns a bonus to his next action for his focus. What he plans to do with it is not terribly surprising...

------ Tasks/Combinations -----

CRIT SUCCESS: 20 - Franklin finds a second wind in his travels the next morning, brought on by a feverish dream about his home and family life. He practically runs his way through the empty, grassy fields on route to the soft plumes of smoke on the horizon marking hearths and chimneys from afar. Meaning that-...

15 - Robert M. Dane is busying himself about the edge of his property when he sees a figure on the horizon drawing a lazy trail towards his cottage. Rather than arm himself and become scarce as a more territorial fellow might, he waves down this stranger and shouts greetings across the valley.

Task: Make a Friend Difficulty: 25 Result: Combined Success of +10!

Outcome: Franklin didn’t quite know what to make of the man he met at the edge of a pumpkin patch, whose demeanor matched the lazy, unguarded nature of his garb. The farmer was all smiles and pleasantries, though his words seemed oddly vacant and stuttered. He was, however, more than willing to offer food and shelter when it was asked of him.

Unwilling to spend another night enduring the outdoors, Frank accepts the aid, though the idea of taking from someone so obviously downtrodden seemed a special kind of heartless he had hoped to leave behind...

-----

14 - Using the art of divination, one of the less offensive schools of magic in the eyes of Inglehon authority, Friggle Zox attempts to decipher the mystery of his missing prayerbook. Unfortunately for him-...

19 - Mikey Manypockets lays a rather elaborate web of false flags and red herrings to keep his path clear. As someone with a great paranoia of all things mystical, he makes sure to stifle his presence as much as possible.

Task: Find the Tome Result: Mikey Succeeds by +5!

Outcome: Crime was always a logical thing to one as faithful as Friggle. He could wind back the clock and find the many roads someone walked to reach the point they’d come to. Beggars weren’t offered chances, pickpockets weren’t educated, and so forth-... but what was the value in stealing a prayerbook?

Try as he might, he only found dead ends. Someone did not want to be found, and seemingly his book had proven to be their desire. Whatever roads they had walked to reach such a sinful, dreadful place in their life, Friggle was concerned to discover.

And yet he must.

-----

#eliquest #questupdates

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andveryginger · 7 years

Text

A Road Not Taken, Pt. 5

“Speechless”

Summary: For months, she has wondered how to tell him. Now that the moment is here, she still has no idea. (IA x NPC//Adela x Saganu)

Note: Many thanks to @storyknitter for the quick review. Posted with minimal editing, so any mistakes you see are definitely my own.

Also posted over on AO3.

They walked the corridor to their joint quarters in silence, neither trusting themselves to speak. The tension between them was fraught: Fingers intertwined, her knuckles paled as she tightened her grip; shoulders creeping higher as they progressed; jaw twitching in time as she clenched her teeth. She slowed the pace as they approached their rooms, the distance between them dwindling. Finally, pausing before their door, her free hand came to rest against his elbow and he looked up. The blue eyes he knew so well were glassy, swirling with a storm of emotions he couldn’t entirely parse. There was affection and relief, certainly, as well as joy and hope. But it was the spark of fear amidst it all -- something rarely seen from his Red Flame -- that had him worried.

He offered a smile, reaching up to cradle her cheek. “Are you alright, beloved?”

“I --” Adela hesitated, drawing a deep breath. A smile flickered across her lips, warm but wavering, her fingers tightening with his once again. Her voice was low, rough, and unsteady as she stepped before him. Her free hand came to rest against his, eyes fluttering closed for a beat. “I have missed you, my darling Aristocra.”

“As I have missed you,” he replied, glancing left and right. The corridor was deserted around them. He eased forward, brushing his lips gently across hers. He spoke quietly, reverently: “My beloved wife.”

Her expression warmed, but the smile that flickered across her features could only be described as anxious. His apprehension grew. “We should step inside,” she whispered. Her gaze darted toward the security camera to her left, at the apex of the bulkhead and upper deck. “No need to provide any more entertainment than necessary.”

Saganu said nothing as she reached behind them and keyed entry. The door slid aside with the usual rumble, closing with a hiss. They had stepped in to what was nominally her side of the suite, the standard chair replaced with one slightly overstuffed and infinitely more comfortable, and the bed piled with two extra pillows -- his, pulled from his room, the bed they rarely used. Datapads were stacked on her desk, two and three high, and a cup of caf waited nearby, vacuum canister beside it. As always, the temperature had been lowered considerably, accommodating his preference after years of service on first Csilla, then Hoth.

He tugged gently on their joined hands and she stepped closer. Releasing their connection, he brought his hands to rest on her hips as hers came to rest against his chest. She did not close the gap, he noted, even when she slid her palms up to his shoulders. A rueful gleam touched at her eyes even as he opened his mouth to speak. “Will you tell me what’s wrong, beloved?”

She looked up at him, drawing a deep breath and swallowing heavily. Again, he noted the odd mix of emotions, the tension in her shoulders. “Wrong is perhaps not the correct word, but things have become more… complicated in your absence,” she said. “Shortly after Tabarin recalled you, I...” She stopped, inhaling and shaking her head. A nervous laugh escaped her. “For months I have wondered how to tell you. And now that moment is here, and I still have no idea.”

His brow furrowed. “Adela, what --?”

“I --” She exhaled sharply. “I’m expecting.”

Her words struck him and his breath escaped him in a rush, eyes widening with the shock. “Expecting?” he echoed in a whisper. Surely she didn’t mean… Confusion creased his brow as his mind struggled to catch up. “A child?”

Adela nodded. “Yes, darling. Our child.”

They had discussed the possibility of children, of course. At the time, both agreed that, while they might wish for it, the prospect carried enormous personal and political risk; Adela believed the potential cost -- his family, his position, and his standing -- to be too great. Such desires would have to wait. Following Copero, he had all but resigned himself to the fact they would never bear children; that, by the time they regained the good graces of the Ascendancy and House Nuruodo, his beloved consort would be unable to do so. It seemed the galaxy itself now demanded they take that risk.

Confusion slowly gave way to surprise, chased quickly by delight and awe. He felt her hand close over his, gently guiding it over her abdomen. She placed it against a small swell, hidden beneath the loose fit of her tunic and duster. Warmth infused him and his eyes stung. Was this what it was like to cry, he wondered. He didn’t remember; he had been permitted such a show of emotion only as a small boy. As he stood before her now, their hands joined over the first physical evidence of their child, however, there were simply too many emotions to contain. The chaotic jumble overwhelmed him.

“Beloved…” His voice emerged rough, his throat tight as he struggled to find words.There were none. Shaking his head, he slipped his arm around her and drew her close, sealing his mouth over hers. As with so many other things in their relationship, he would simply have to show her.

Afternoon sun filtered through the transom windows at the back of the room, broad beams of yellow light sprawling across the opposite wall as Saganu stirred, the familiar warmth of his consort curled into his side. He revelled in the welcome weight of her head on his shoulder, the wisps of hair tickling his chest, and caress of her skin as her leg slid over his. Three months, he thought, and it might well have been an eternity. Functional and capable, but not operating at full capacity; he had become so accustomed to working with her that working without her seemed as alien as sleeping alone. A rueful smile curved his wide mouth. Before her temporary assignment to Hoth, it had been as many months between their Zeltronian rendezvous. How his life had changed…

And was about to change again, he mused. His brave, cunning, beautiful consort was pregnant. He smoothed his hand over her left arm and dropped a kiss to her silver hair. Their child. It still felt surreal -- as much a dream as laying here with her curled around him. Their lives forever merged in one tiny little being. Would they favor him, the dark blue skin and distinctive red eyes of his people? Or take after their mother, fair skin and blue eyes? Could the child fall somewhere in between?

He was, of course, getting ahead of himself. Any child favoring him should be taken and raised “in shadow” -- out of circulation, and instructed from a young age to take on the responsibilities of Aristocra, a standard policy he knew his consort will disagree with. A child favoring her, on the other hand, would be raised out of circulation for entirely different reasons… not the least of which might be passing on her Force-sensitive heritage. While he, himself, reserved few superstitions regarding the use, he was an outlier among his people: Any Force-sensitive child they had would have to suppress or hide their ability to pass in the Ascendancy, lest they become an outcast. Such was a burden he did not wish on his child. If it came down to it, he supposed, he would prefer the child remain with the Alliance or in the Republic. At least there, they could be trained, respected, and free.

Pale fingers trailed over his abdomen and he heard her chuckle. “You’re thinking too loud, Aristocra,” she said, her voice heavy with sleep. “Credit for them?”

A soft smile tugged at his lips. “Marvelling at how our lives have changed,” he rumbled, “and imagining what our child will be like.” He swallowed back the knot that threatened, even now, as the words ‘our child’ fell from his lips. “It still feels very much like a dream.”

“Reality,” Adela began, raising her head to look at him, “will settle in soon enough, I’m sure.” Concern radiated from her blue eyes, even as her hand came to rest against his heart. “As soon as they come looking for us.”

Saganu nodded, his hand covering hers. “I am, as yet, unsure if we should speak with Tabarin,” he said. “My cousin has extended himself more than I could ever ask, from Zeltros to Copero. I’m afraid this might be a step too far.”

“That was my concern, as well. Few here beyond my family and Lieutenant Temple would understand the significance of my pregnancy.” A rueful grin curved her lips. “But Tabarin is becoming a somewhat regular visitor. I’ll only be able to conceal things for so long before my condition becomes very apparent.”

Looking down at her, he furrowed his brow. “Lieutenant Temple knows.”

Adela nodded. “As a Force sensitive, it was… more readily apparent to her.”

“Then our child -- ?”

Again she nodded, lips drawn taut. “For now, he isn’t very strong,” she said, “just a bond with me, and a bit of flutter for familiar people like Raina and my sister.” Her gaze darted briefly to their joined hands before returning to his. “I want very much for you to have an heir -- someone to inherit all your hard work. But if this is a sign of things to come, then I pray he looks like me.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Saganu released it slowly. Even in this, it seemed they were of similar minds. He shifted focus, wonder and confusion lighting his features as he regarded her. “He? You can tell already?”

“Not at first,” Adela replied. “But now, a few months on? Yes.” Her expression softened. “It’s so strange: he’s felt how anxious I’ve been about this, been concerned about telling you. But he can sense you -- knows instinctively you’re his father. It’s... “ She gave a soft chuckle as her eyes grew misty. “He’s happy to see you.”

His hand caressed down her arm, along her ribs, settling onto her abdomen, more accessible as she shifted onto her back. Warmth radiated from her, his fingers curved ever-so-slightly over the taut muscle and skin. Such a small change, he thought, and yet so apparent now -- especially to someone who knew her curves and contours as intimately as his own. “How” -- he broke off, his voice unexpectedly rough -- “how long before I’ll be able to…?”

“Another month, perhaps a bit more?” She offered him an apologetic smile. “The doctor suggested it might take longer, since this is our first.”

He nodded, then looked back to her. “Then I hope our son knows how pleased I am to see you both.” Leaning down, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lower abdomen, at the crest of the swell. His consort. His child. He held them dear -- cherished them enough to risk or even choose exile for them, to be a part of their lives, to be a father and a husband. Such choices were not made in a vacuum, however, and he already knew the stance his wife held. But they were also his family now and, as such, deserved as much of his duty and devotion as ever. It was as he lifted his head and opened his mouth to broach the subject that the communications console sounded an alert.

“Open communication,” Adela called into the room, “voice only.”

“Agent Emrys; Lieutenant Kal,” the petite voice of Raina Temple said, “my apologies for any interruption, but we are on our way to the cantina, and Aristocra Tabarin wondered if you might join us for dinner?”

It was his turn to offer a rueful grin. “Of course, Lieutenant,” he replied. “Agent Emrys and I can finish our debrief at a later time.”

“I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear that.” There was a hint of humor audible, even over the comm. “We’re estimating approximately twenty minutes.”

Adela spoke up. “We’ll meet you in the cantina, then.”

“I take it all went well?”

Saganu looked to his consort and his gaze softened. “The report was a touch… overwhelming, but the end result is quite promising,” he replied. “I was thrilled Agent Emrys had such good news to share.”

“I’m so glad, sir,” Temple replied. Her relief was audible, prompting a shared smile between the two. “I’ll look forward to seeing you soon. Dev out.”

The channel closed and they sat for a long moment in silence. He laid his head on her chest and Adela raked her nails through the thick mop of hair atop his head. Closing his eyes, he offered a sigh. “We should tell him,” she said at length. “He deserves that much.”

Saganu nodded slowly, then opened his eyes and shifted to look back up at her. “He does. And, if other actions are required, it will at least prepare him.”

His consort regarded him with an arched brow. “‘Other actions’?”

“Yes, beloved: Other actions.” He grimaced. “Given the current political climate, we should face the very real possibility of my… departure... from the Ascendancy.”

Adela heaved a sigh, her own lips thinning as her brow furrowed and blue eyes clouded. “Darling, we’ve discussed this. I refuse to be the reason for your exile -- voluntary or otherwise.”

“And I still maintain that you -- and now our son -- are equally as deserving of my duty and devotion,” he replied. He placed his hand flat against her heart. “You both are my family as much as my mother or Tabarin; even the rest of House Miurani. We are partners, you and I, and nothing has punctuated that reality more than the last three months we have spent apart.”

Her eyes were glassy, tears welling against her lower lashes as she looked down at him. “Saganu, I --”

He shook his head, before continuing quietly. “This time on Csilla has also shown me exactly how much I have changed -- how different I am, compared to my colleagues and kin. The rules and the double-speak; no one ever saying exactly what they mean.” A knot formed in his own throat, and he felt his vocal cords constrict as he struggled to speak. “It’s stifling, beloved, and without you -- both of you, it will never be worth it.”

Nodding, Adela sighed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “Oh, Hells,” she whispered, swiping at them roughly. She gave a forced laugh. “Bloody hormones.”

He shifted up, leaning down and nuzzling her nose with his own, a smile curving his lips. His heart swelled with warmth and affection for this beautiful woman before him -- his friend, his partner, his consort. “It’s all right, beloved,” he murmured. He kissed her gently.

She directed her gaze at him as he drew back. There was determination mingling with the softer emotions in her eyes. “Promise me that you won’t… go looking for it? Exile should be the last resort.”

“I can’t promise, Adela,” he replied, shaking his head. His fingers tucked a stray lock of silver hair behind her ear. “I will be there for you and for our son. That means I will do whatever is necessary, even if that means voluntary exile.”

There was a long pause. He watched the muscle in her jaw ticking, her eyes as her gaze swept over his features, reading his expression and the deeper connection they shared. Finally she nodded. “I’ve trusted you as I’ve trusted no one else,” she said. A soft smile twitched across her lips. “I’ll simply have to continue to do so.”

Saganu swallowed, giving his own nod. “Thank you, beloved.”

Her fingers combed through his hair. “Always.”

“With that settled,” he began, “perhaps we should prepare to meet the entourage?”

“Mmm.” A chuckle rumbled through her. “I’d prefer to stay here with you. But, to keep up a few appearances, perhaps we should get cleaned up.” Her eyes twinkled as she regarded him. “If you’ll start the water...?”

A lopsided grin curved across his lips. “I doubt that will save us time.”

“I don’t care.” Adela allowed her own grin. “I’ve missed you.”

He dropped a kiss to the tip of her nose, then gave his own deep chuckle. “I’ll start the water.”

#ginger plays swtor #ginger writes swtor fic #swtor oc: adela emrys #aristocra saganu #imperial agent x aristocra saganu #raina temple #post-copero fic #headcanon au

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