#(Adventure Mode seems to be just a conflict and random fights)

[inhuman-obey-me]

If obey me wasnt a otome game what do you think will be different? And it makes me laugh that we are romanticising the devil which just seems so funny. Ik its a game but its just a funny concept

Okay but we love romancing the devil. More games should let us smooch Lucifer/other demon royalty. Please.

But this is a fun thing to think about!

(long game design rambles below the cut)

Even if Obey Me was still a visual novel game but without the romance, there is a lot that could change. We'd have a lot less of the characters vying for the player's attention, meaning the game would also be less prone to gag-type situations and allow for a consistently more serious storyline. It could be something like Twisted Wonderland, where the MC still has a role but it isn't as big nor central to the conflicts and problems of the story, thus playing more of an observer role.

The devs actually mentioned in early videos that when making the game, they had to scale back some of their ideas because they "didn't want it to feel too much like an adventure game" and still focus on the romance since it was a dating sim. Interestingly, Nightbringer seems to be testing the waters on this now and going back to a more dramatic story, so maybe we'll actually get to see that kind of adventure vibe now!

If the game was still following the main points of gathering pacts with the demon brothers...well, maybe we really are just becoming Solomon 2.0 at that point, new title is Solomon Simulator 2023 BC. But really, there would probably be less of MC playing therapist and more letting us have adventures of our own, exploring the world in various ways. Hell, MC might even be living in Purgatory Hall with the other exchange students instead of oddly being the only one put in the House of Lamentation. And this more adventurous theming could also be reflected in events, with more AU themes (Pirates, Spies, Circus, etc) that allow for more fun event storylines that aren't so focused on "romantic" situations and fanservice moments.

Going along with that, we would likely get more character variety in a non-otome game, since it wouldn't be trying to make every character (except Luke) dateable or potentially future-dateable -- less ikemen, more non-male characters, maybe more body diversity! And because there'd be no expectation of romance, you could have more outright hostility too. Maybe Mephisto and Raphael could have actually fulfilled the more aggressive or antagonistic personalities they had been hinted to have! There might also be more of a canonical MC character personality too, since part of the reason it's left more open and vague is to let players self-insert for the romance. This could allow for more narration from MC as well.

Now, if we step away from the Visual Novel style, that could open up a whole new world of possibilities! Imagining OM as more of a fantasy RPG? Super fun thought.

Other characters could potentially be playable, and if so, we could perhaps see more of the characters without MC needing to be in the scene, allowing for more interactions between different characters outside the current format of occasional side/hard-mode stories.

We'd probably get a truer combat system too, even if we were just fighting random minor demons or something like the Little D's in Nightbringer's gameplay. (Apparently the only instruction the team got in making the original game was "it needs dance battles"???) The characters' skills could also be more unique to the characters since it wouldn't have to fit the rhythm/dance game format, so stuff like summoning Lotan could actually be a useful powerful thing instead of just a running gag! In fact, we could see way more powerful magic from all the characters, which would be great since OM as it is now just always conveniently forgets that these are extremely powerful demons for the sake of setting up random shenanigan situations.

A combat mechanic could also add to the narrative design of the game -- what better way to show us what a scary and dangerous place the Devildom is than to have the player have to defend themselves while navigating through it? Or imagine the characters' relationships with one another actually mattering to the gameplay, like Beel and Belphie getting a boost if they're in the party together, as with Fire Emblem's support system! Simeon being a healing angel member of the party at the start and then actually tangibly losing that as a combat ability when that part of the story happened? It would certainly hit different, that's for sure.

The story also wouldn't be confined to the 20-lesson format in that case, which could give more room for fleshing things out properly. And with a freer adventure-based storyline, it might also be a lot less focus on RAD, or maybe it wouldn't be a school setting at all! Perhaps it would focus more on the inter-realm diplomacy parts of the story. Plus, some aspects could get relegated to more environmental storytelling and interactable objects around you, leaving character interactions freed up to focus more on actual events going on.

And speaking of character interactions, there could also be a more complex and interesting system for relationships in a more RPG style game. Instead of an intimacy bar that only ever goes up and doesn't directly impact story events, you could have a more complex interaction event system, like in Telltale stuff or Mass Effect. That could still include romance without it being the central point of the game, and maybe they would also hold grudges over certain decisions, which could feed back into the combat system somehow. Unlike now, you wouldn't be able to go back to change your decisions, but there's a lot of replayability potential there.

Of course, the downside to all that it's way more work to make...game dev is hard, after all! So updates would be slower, it'd probably cost a whole lot more, and it's probably not feasible as a mobile game anymore then. But hey, a game like that would be pretty damn cool.

[zedecksiew]

“Exotic Warrior”

(Am writing this because it’s been bubbling over in my mind. This post is an exorcism of bad vibes over bad ideas that have held me hostage, the past few days.)

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There is now criticism on Twitter arguing that the “Exotic Warrior”, one of Troika!’s d66 Backgrounds, is racist because it is coded as Orientalist / Asian.

I would like to respectfully disagree.

(There are other arguments in the initial complaint. I am commenting the “Exotic Warrior” specifically. Because by being actually East Asian -- part of the diaspora, living in Southeast Asia -- I feel I have some standing to comment.)

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When I encountered “Exotic Warrior” in the book it stood out as a neat background and helped sell me on Troika!.

As I read it, the Background is a deft piece of work: it references the “adventurer from a foreign land” thing, but occludes said trope’s usual Orientalism -- an attempt at deconstruction.

A foreigner, in Troika!, can be anybody. This isn’t just a platitude; it’s supported by the book’s implied science-fantasy setting -- is essentially Spelljammer, but on more acid.

It is similar to Electric Bastionland / Planescape / etc in that it features a melting-pot, nobody��s-local “city at the centre of creation”-type deal. (I have Thoughts about RPG setttings that focus on metropoles, but that’s a separate post.)

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Here’s the “Exotic Warrior” ’s text, in full:

24 EXOTIC WARRIOR No one has heard of your homeland. Your habits are peculiar, your clothes are outrageous, and in a land jaded to the outlandish and new you still somehow manage to stand out.

POSSESSIONS - A WEIRD & WONDERFUL WEAPON. - STRANGE CLOTHES. - EXCITING ACCENT. - A TEA SET or 3 POCKET GODS or ASTROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT.

ADVANCED SKILLS 6 Language - Exotic Language 3 Fighting in your Weird Weapon 2 Language - Local Language 2 Spell - Random 1 Astrology 1 Etiquette 

Honestly? None of the above reads as particularly problematic. It’s a legit, characterful beginning point for a player-character.

Sure, my Western-media-battered brain jumps to Samurai Warrior -- 

But immediately also to Sufi Missionary or Varangian Guard. And indeed comes to rest at Indeterminately White Gentleperson Naturalist -- the kind of exotic visitor Southeast Asia got, a lot, those scouts of European imperialism.

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These readings are possible because of the illustration the entry is paired with. Here they are together:

Setting aside the surrealist stylisations:

The shape of the costume, the belt, the “skirt” -- these look like Europeanisms, to me. And the figure’s laughing abandon opposes the standard Orientalist tropes of wise inscrutability or red-faced savagery.

The choice to run “Exotic Warrior” with a decidedly non-Orientalist-coded illustration isn’t an unintentional piece of art direction.

(PS: any critique of an illustrated text that only focuses on the words is incomplete. Image is half the text of an illustrated text.)

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The nondescript-ness of the entry plus its accompanying image is an open door. Opening this door isn’t without risk: whatever assumptions you make about your particular “Exotic Warrior” are drawn from your own biases.

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Regarding “Etiquette” and “Astrology” and “Tea Set”?

With my biases: I don’t read these things as uniquely East-Asian. (When I first encountered “tea set” in Troika! I genuinely thought: “English tea service”, instead of: “temae”.)

The one that I did read as real-world Eastern was “Pocket Gods” -- but many human cultures had this, pocket gods are a part of Troika!’s wider fantasy setting, and “Exotic Warrior” isn’t the only Background to start with them.

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A note on “exotification”:

The criticism of “Exotic Warrior” fundamentally seems to be: “Playing a character from the Other / that is Other-ed = BAD”.

I fundamentally disagree with this notion.

I have no lived experience of a society where being other-ed (in terms of culture, race, class, gender expression, etc) isn't an ever-present thread in the fabric of one's life -- and therefore a crucial and profound source of conflict and insight into the human condition.

(The ethnic fault-lines in Malaysian society have become so unbridgeable today primarily because it was official policy to sweep all that other-ing under the rug of “Malaysia Truly Asia”, as opposed to working through our ugly whispered prejudices towards understanding.)

We are not all the same. Cultural, geographic, and material differences exist. The mismatch in knowledge and understanding this creates? It matters.

In fact: To insist on universal cultural-knowledge parity; To push for “nobody’s born here, everybody belongs” melting-pots as the default framing; To nudge questions of difference and arrival into ghettos (to paraphrase one of the tweets I saw: “you can only explore issues surrounding the Other in a game specifically designed to do so”);

All that comes off to me as a very neo-liberal position, designed to safeguard and disguise the privileges of “mainstream” metropolitan melting-pots.

I read it as:

“Post-modern cosmopolitan societies want to be inclusive but don’t want to pay the admission price of history and discomfort, so they generally opt for erasure instead.”  

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Throughout this post I have been careful to speak from my particular context. Because context matters.

More context:

I like Troika!. Like, a lot. I think its creator, UK-based Daniel Sell, strives and succeeds at making thoughtful work. I consider him a friend, whom I’ve had personal (albeit Internet-bound) interactions now and again.

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I have BJ Recio to thank for the following insight. Talking to him about “Exotic Warrior”, BJ brought up a crucial point that I’ll paraphrase here:

Roleplaying the outsider can be bad, especially when it is used as an excuse by the West to do fucked-up shit. But it is not default bad. Assuming it is default bad centres the discussion on “Will White people fuck this up? (Yes.)”

Essentially, the argument against “Playing a character from the Other / that is Other-ed = BAD" assumes two things:

(a) Western participants as default; (b) harm (because of ignorance or bad faith) as default.

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If your context -- your Background, hah! -- prompts you to experience Troika! with those assumptions; and therefore read “Exotic Warrior” as necessarily Orientalist, and racially-charged?

Your context is your context; I’m not going to invalidate it.

If you are located in a society where the binary of White / non-White overpowers everything, I certainly understand the whys and hows of your position.

Your context matters.

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So does mine.

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I think I’m reacting badly to this because I personally feel turned away by this RPG Discourse Around Representation (tm), supposedly done in the name of my East-Asian ass.

I resent the idea that “Playing a character from the Other / that is Other-ed = BAD”. It threatens to render verboten the entirety of my RPG work.

I am a SEA creator trying to explore and be true to my context. If there is one constant throughout SEAsian experience, it is difference.

Our peoples have ever encountered and glamourised and hated each other, all of us simultaneously Us and the Other:

Japanese and Malay enclaves in Ayutthaya; Mongol invaders in Java, who never left; Luzones mercenaries, employed by both the Sultan of Melaka and his Portuguese enemies; The reputation of the Ilanun / Bajak Laut; White conquistadors (aforementioned above); The entire history of diaspora Chinese identities (my identity!) in SEA, generally;

Foreigners from foreign lands -- feared, not fully understood, not fully understanding, simultaneously conquering and settling and finding modes of belonging, becoming a part of the land.

Always arriving.

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That the background music of my geography, discordant though it may be, is somehow so harmful it may only be meaningfully depicted in the hermetic context of a “game specifically designed to explore that”?

This feels bad, and extremely unwelcoming. It feels like a shut gate instead of an open door.

I refuse to be turned away.

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(Hopefully I can finally stop thinking about this shit.)

[tune-party-fever-blog]

POP’N MUSIC CANON MASTER LIST

A list of all instances of lore, story, and general dialogue in the Pop’n Music series (that I am aware of) including links to official sources or gameplay. All of the links are in Japanese. Will update if I find more things to add!

CHARACTER BIOS Pop’n Music 1-4 / 1 CS / 2 CS / 3 CS / 4 CS Pop’n Stage Pop’n Music 5 / CS Pop’n Music 6 / CS Pop’n Music Best Hits Pop’n Music 7 / CS Pop’n Music 8 / CS Pop’n Music 9 / CS Pop’n Music 10 / CS Pop’n Music 11 / CS Pop’n Music 12 / CS Pop’n Music 13 / CS Pop’n Music 14 / CS Pop’n Music Wii Pop’n Music 15 / Portable Pop’n Music 16 / Portable 2 Pop’n Music 17 Pop’n Music 18 Utacchi (Not a character page but includes info on the main characters and plot) Pop’n Music 19 Pop’n Music 20 Pop’n Music Sunny Park Pop’n Music Lapistoria Pop’n Music eclale Pop’n Music Usagi to Neko to Shounen no Yume

GAMEPLAY DIALOGUE 1-12 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 13 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 14 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 15 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 16 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 17 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 18 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 19 Characters’ Net Battle Quotes Sunny Park Characters’ Net Battle Quotes 1-Lapistoria Characters’ Character Decoration Quotes (They reuse the Net Battle quotes here, there is a guideline that shows which quote is supposed to come from what Net Battle quote. I posted the previous lists though for a less confusing format)

SIDE MODE DIALOGUE Gather! Pop’n Party Dialogue Hello! Pop’n Music Dialogue Pop’n Music Portable Character Encounter Dialogue Town Mode Dialogue Pop’n Quest Mode Dialogue

STORY MODE VIDEOS For NicoNico videos, if you don’t have an account you can use NicoVideo Redirector Pop’n Music Portable Adventure Mode:Playlist half 1 / Playlist half 2 Pop’n Music Portable 2 Party Mode: Full Playlist Pop’n Music Lapistoria’s Story Mode: Official Chapter List  Main Story Playlist Sub Story Compilation Part 1 Sub Story Compilation Part 2 Sub Story Compilation Part 3 Sub Story Compilation Part 4 Sub Story Compilation Part 5 Good Ending & Bad Ending Pop’n Music eclale has a story mode called Pop’n Star Maker (ポップンスターメーカー)   but nobody uploaded the full story.

Please notify me of more things I should add and any errors!

[enfpguy]

BioShock Infinite MBTI and Enneagram — Elizabeth Anna DeWitt or better known as Elizabeth is the secondary Protagonist of BioShock Infinite and the Main Protagonist of BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea. Due to Elizabeth being part of three multi-verses, we’ll be segmenting her analysis into 3 parts. They’ll be listed as titles under their associated functions. BioShock Infinite: The Main Story. Brainwashed Old Elizabeth: Alternate universe where Comstock successfully captures and indoctrinates Elizabeth. Burial at Sea Elizabeth: This takes place after the events of Bioshock Infinite and concludes Elizabeth’s story.

Dominant Function: Extroverted Intuition

BioShock Infinite: Elizabeth is a prominent example of someone who uses Extroverted Intuition as her first function, she’s obsessed with gaining vast amounts of information on many subjects intending to improve herself and to stave off boredom. Some of these subjects are physics to better understand her abilities, lock picking, history and medicine. Elizabeth is also always seeking novel ways to gain more mental and physical stimulation. This causes her to be very impulsive with her actions and decision making, such as coming up with conclusions too quickly with limited information. Here are a few examples of her impulsive nature: At Soldier’s Field Elizabeth and Booker run into a problem they need a vigor called “Shock Jockey” to power up the gondola to escape Columbia, Elizabeth proposes going to the Hall of Heroes because she sees an ad suggesting they have stock there. She ends up being wrong since revolutionaries ransacked the Hall of Heroes of all Shock Jockey vigors. The second example occurs when the elevator they’re taking to the Hall of Heroes gets jammed. Booker offers a practical solution, while Elizabeth impulsively opens a “tear” because there’s a bee in the elevator, which almost gets her and Booker killed by the Songbird. Speaking of “tears” Elizabeth constantly opens up new ones into alternate versions of Columbia without considering the consequences. This is because she wants to escape the floating city and go visit “Paris”. This plan ultimately backfires and causes her and Booker additional problems. Like that one time when they entered a multiverse where Booker died for the Vox populi and never made the deal with Daisy Fitzroy for the First Lady airship. Thus eliminating their only means of leaving Columbia and making an enemy of the Vox populi. This problem would haunt them for the rest of the game. Our last examples of Elizabeth’s impulsive nature occur when she’s left idle. She’ll investigate random items such as arcade machines, stuffed animals, people and will pick up ammo or health packs when she sees that Booker requires aid. But wait… There’s more! We can observe more indicators of Extroverted Intuition in her aptitude for brainstorming, thinking outside the box and finding patterns within ideas and actions. For brainstorming, she’ll offer alternate suggestions to aid Booker in their adventure, such as searching for more information by going off the beaten path via locked doors and sneaking around enemies to avoid them altogether. As for thinking outside the box, we have a funny example.. This occurs when Elizabeth is running away from Booker because she found out he was planning on selling her. During this chase she opens up four “tears” the first one has over 30 over-sized party balloons, the second one is a marching band, the third is a train that cuts off Booker and the fourth has her entering a “tear” through a wall into an open space where she ironically gets captured by two guards. As for finding patterns, we often witness Elizabeth analyzing her surroundings and questioning them to find hidden meanings within them. The diorama of Soldier’s Field is an exceptional example. After staring at it for a few seconds Elizabeth suggests they created it to acquaint children to the military for the purpose of instilling “Columbian” values within them making them loyal to Comstock's regime for life. As you can see Elizabeth relies heavily on her Ne function. Even her end game ability to see all potential outcomes of all situations is an exaggerated God version of NE. However, the traumatic events she experienced throughout the game have caused her to become mentally unhealthy, and a consequence of that is frequent reliance on lower functions This effect on her psyche can be best seen in the DLC Burial at Sea. Burial at Sea Elizabeth: Just like in the base game, Elizabeth uses Ne as her dominant function, but she will often enter NE-TE loops with the occasional SI grip. This is because at the end of the base game Elizabeth creates a paradox by killing Booker DeWitt before he could become Comstock, thus stopping her birth. This caused the memories, thoughts and emotions of all the other Elizabeths to collapse into her according to the BioShock Wiki page. With that being said, we’ll be mostly focusing on examples of her use of Extroverted Intuition. Other than her damaged psyche, Elizabeth remains as inquisitive as always. To acquaint herself quickly into Rapture’s society, she stole the first dress she saw and then spent over 2 months reading as many books as possible on Rapture’s society and ideologies. However, because Ne doms are pattern and idea driven, they don’t strive often in new settings and we can observe this by all the questions Elizabeth asks Booker. Such as what are Little Sisters and Splicers. This causes him to become suspicious and question what her intentions are and where she’s from. Luckily for Elizabeth, she’s a fast and creative thinker and can make up stories on the fly to which she does to dampens Booker's suspicions about her. Another indicator of NE usage can be seen in how Elizabeth thinks outside the box while in combative situations Such as suggesting to use Big Daddies to her advantage and hiding within vents to either stealthy knockout enemies or avoid them. Fun fact! In 1999 mode Elizabeth can’t use lethal ways to take out enemies, I can only assume it’s because of her moral code of not hurting anyone. This style of game play differs completely from Booker's Se type game play where he just runs and guns. Another indicator of her NE function is Elizabeth’s ability to react and read situations quickly. During the quest to find Sally, Booker and Elizabeth run into a problem they require, a plasmid called Old Man Winter she then opens up a “tear” to retrieve it and lies to a very suspicious Booker claiming it’s a new plasmid that she can’t tell him about. Our last 3 examples of the Ne function will be a negative trait, and that’s assuming things too quickly with little information. Elizabeth is notorious at doing this. Elizabeth assumed that the Songbird, and her were imprinted just by looking at one piece of information to which she ends up being incorrect according to Fink’s research. The second false assumption occurs twice by the same person. It first occurs after she repairs Lutece Device and then enters the “tear” to retrieve Lutece Particle and on her way back to the “tear” Suchong stops her and tells her she can’t go back unless she brings him the hair sample he wants. It secondly occurs when she retrieves the hair, places it in a bin and then gets betrayed again and turned over to Andrew Ryan. Our final example is a correct assumption, Elizabeth knew Atlas would not honour his deal even though he tried convincing her. Auxiliary Function: Introverted Feeling

BioShock Infinite timeline: One thing is for certain Elizabeth is an emotional individual, she often wears her heart on her sleeve and acts in the best interest for others. This makes seem as if she uses Extroverted Feeling function instead, but that just isn’t true. Extroverted Feeling relies on the outside world to gain information and then tries to harmonize with it. Elizabeth shows some use of it, such as feeling bad for the people affected by Fink’s abusive neglect and empathizing with Mrs Lin after losing her husband. However, there are more examples for FI usage than against it, and we’re about to explore them. These are best seen within the interactions between Booker and Elizabeth. The first example occurs after they survive escaping the tower Elizabeth imprisoned in by falling from the sky into the beach water, and instead of taking care of Booker she decided dancing would be a better choice. During their multi dimensional adventures Elizabeth loses interest in Paris for a temporary period of time. Instead she wants to join the Vox populi revolution on account of Daisy Fitzroy having a convincing argument for it while Booker didn’t want to be there but was strung along by Elizabeth. As the game progresses, Elizabeth becomes more confrontational against Booker and forces him to either help her or get out of her way because she wants to kill Comstock. She also threatens killing Booker with a tornado because he wanted to leave Columbia instead of fight, but after seeing the tornado he decided he’d kill Comstock for her. To make matters worse, Booker’s death was because Elizabeth decided she wanted to end the existence of Comstock and that meant killing her father Booker DeWitt because they’re both the same person. So much for harmony, eh? We can identify the final FI indicator in how she refuses to follow the societal standards of both Columbia and Rapture, instead she tries to force both of them to change to match her own personal views and values. For Columbia that means going against its Theocratic and Racist government system, and for Rapture that means Saving the Little Sisters. This because she believes everyone should be equal and little girls deserve the right to live free lives and not be used as Adam factories. An FE user would harmonize with that societal system or avoid conflict so they may achieve their goals, while an FI user like Elizabeth would stay true to their beliefs and be confrontational against the system. Burial at Sea Elizabeth: All the events of Burial at Sea occur because of Elizabeth’s FI function. Her strong morals and ideals demonstrate a clear example of how the FI function acts in these situations. It’s a story about her revenge plot against the last remaining Zachery Hale Comstock who took over Booker DeWitt’s identity. She wants to force him to face his own lies and make him realize he’s a monster before she kills him. During her time with “Booker” Elizabeth would constantly criticize Rapture’s society, mainly the treatment of the Little Sisters and Rapture’s dog eat dog society for not reflecting with her views. Once Elizabeth succeeds at her mission of eliminating Comstock, she’s overtaken by grief since she realizes she used Sally to get to Comstock and then left her behind to an uncertain fate. This prompts her to leave her imaginary NE-FI influenced version of Paris where everyone is an artist who sings and dances and return to a Rapture where she died to save Sally. By doing this she sacrifices her quantum-superposition, which reverts her back to a normal human being who has no powers or knowledge of the unknown. This means Elizabeth literally sacrifices being an all knowing being because she felt bad for leaving Sally because that went against her core values.

Tertiary Function: Extroverted Thinking BioShock Infinite: Elizabeth prefers and trusts external sources of information to understand the world around her. She often does this by reading books and putting her newly gained knowledge to practical uses. She loves mentioning “facts” about the world. Such as the beach in Battleship Bay being created in 6 months, “history” about Comstock in the battles of Wounded Knee and the Boxer Rebellion even though Cornelius Slate keeps telling her the history is incorrect and false information about Daisy Fitzroy and how she wants to tear apart Columbia. Elizabeth also seems to prefer inductive reasoning over deductive reasoning and a fine example of this is when she observes the damage Fitzroy causes and then concludes Fitzroy and Comstock must be the same, even though we learn that is not the truth. We can spot more indicators of Extroverted Thinking when Elizabeth becomes stressed and enters NE-TE loops. A good example would be when she wanted to use her dead mother’s hand to access Comstock’s house to kill him. Booker disagreed with her approach but Elizabeth was more concerned with efficiency, this ends up backfiring. Burial at Sea Elizabeth: At start the Burial at Sea we can see Elizabeth within an NE-TE loop. She acts hostile and is direct with “Booker” and has completely changed her friendly and curious attitude to a more serious, confrontational and opinionated one. This often causes her to butt heads with “Booker”. She often criticizes and cuts him off every time he has a question about her with comments such as “If I wanted to share my life’s story Mr. DeWitt, I would write my memoirs” or refusing to call him Booker when he asks her nicely, referring him as Mr. DeWitt. Other than her attitude being different, her methods have somewhat changed. Elizabeth still remains creative and relies on external information but will use it in immoral ways to achieve her goals. Such as the time she distracted 3 store clerks so “Booker” could steal a mask so they may enter Sander Cohen’s artistic event or she closed the vents and turned up the heat within them to burn Sally alive in order lure her out. This is when Elizabeth would confront Comstock, who was trying to save Sally. Elizabeth then forced Comstock into realizing who he was and made him face his past. After Elizabeth succeeded at breaking the man, she had him killed by distracting him as the Big Daddy impaled him with a large drill. She finally breaks out of her NE-TE loop but then discovers she also died. From this point on she returns to a healthier mindset and her Te function acts more as a passive function that she uses to figure out problems. Speaking of problems, she often relies on documentation or information on the subjects to figure them out. Such as using coded papers to figure out that Fontaine is Atlas or figuring out Fontaine’s office was the best place to put the Lutece Particle so they can cause the submerged city to raise from the depths of the ocean. Fun fact! Suchong’s codes are inspired by the periodic table and the Vigenère cipher which is similar to the Caesar shift cipher but with a keyword which is based on Suchong’s name... Oh, and the password to exit his impromptu lab at the Silver Fin is his birthday. Never underestimate the fallibility of an egomaniac…

Inferior Function: Introverted Sensing

BioShock Infinite: Elizabeth mainly uses Introverted Sensing for recalling past information and their patterns to explain or understand situations. Such as her feelings for the Songbird. She simultaneously likes and dislikes him at the same time. In the past it was the Songbird who feed her and gave her books, but as she grew older, she disliked him because she realized he was the warden of her prison. Her dislike of the Songbird was so strong she drowned him at the end of the title, even though she knew how to control him she still decided killing him was better. She also fears her past so much that she would rather die than go back to the tower. She asks Booker to promise that he will not let the Songbird take her back, sadly he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise because Elizabeth sacrifices herself to the Songbird to save Booker’s life which leads to her to being captured and tortured by Comstock which leads to our second version of Elizabeth. Brainwashed Old Elizabeth: This is where we notice Elizabeth’s SI function enter a grip. She faults Booker for abandoning her for his selfish desires and blames them for helping the Vox populi with their civil war by turning Eden, aka “Columbia” to Sodom. She uses both these reasons to drive her pursuit in destroying New York, a city she perceives as full of sinners who don’t deserve salvation. She also connects stories from the bible such as Adam & Eve and explains that humanity always betray God and how her and God both have something in common disappointment. She does eventually break out of the SI grip and brings Booker 69 years into the future where she gives him instructions on how to stop her from becoming her future self. Also a minor side note. She wears the same dress she had on when the Songbird took her to Comstock when she reunites with Booker. This is a huge indicator of nostalgia. Burial at Sea Elizabeth: In Burial as Sea we can spot a huge development within Elizabeth’s SI function. She heavily relies on it to recall past information and connects it to the present and this is best seen within her ability to remember how to read encrypted code. This talent is used to figure out how to repair the Lutece Device, accidentally discover how to pair Big Daddies and Little Sisters together and decrypting the Ace In the Hole. These actions made Elizabeth responsible for the destruction of Rapture and setting the path for Jack to save the Little Sisters. Speaking of connecting past information to the future, Elizabeth recognizes the Sky-hook and Shock Jockey within the Rapture universe and uses that knowledge to help “Booker” This doesn’t go unnoticed and causes him to become more suspicious about her, luckily she also remembers how “Booker’s” personality functions and suppresses his suspicions by using Sally against him. The irony of the situation is that the real Booker DeWitt is her father, and she learned how to be tough from him. We’ll be wrapping up this MBTI analysis with the most convincing SI indicator. Elizabeth committed the same atrocity as her father. By selling Sally to lure and kill Zachery Hale Comstock. In the past Booker sold Elizabeth to pay off a debt and now Elizabeth sold Sally to pay off a debt to Booker. This decision ultimately emotionally destroys Elizabeth and causes her to return to Rapture cementing her fate. In the end Elizabeth paid off her debt by sacrificing herself to save Sally and the Little Sisters. The vicious circle of blood has been broken. https://youtu.be/8-QpeLAfMpI

[new-world-hope]

QuakeCon Fallout 76 panel

Panel begins at around 37:50, but if you want to skip the panel intro (in which nothing happens) and a replay of the E3 trailer, go to 42:18. Panel includes Fallout 76 development director Chris Meyer, project leader Jeff Gardiner, and game director Todd Howard.

Important/noteworthy info (I’m sure this is riddled with spelling mistakes, bad grammar, maybe even conflicting info; if you notice anything, let me know):

In regards to questing and general feel, FO76 remains “very similar to the Fallout you know and love.” Howard describes it as being 80% the familiar feel of Fallout, with the other 20% being “really different.”

FO76 has more “adventure elements,” focuses more on what it means to live in the world. It “has to feel real” to the player. The game “has a slow burn,” and they want you to really feel like you are your character in this game.

FO76 uses the Quake III networking architecture.

According to Gardiner, Bethesda Montreal is working on the game’s graphics, while Bethesda Austin is comprised of gameplay and network code experts.

Bethesda debuts the Fallout 76 Perks trailer (in the style of similar animated Vault-Tec trailers which came out before FO4), including things like mutations.

Character creation in Fallout 76 is shown at 54:40. The CC has been improved over FO4, though no details on how or why are given. Immediately after creating your character, you are taken to a screen where you can take your Vault-Tec ID badge photo, using the game’s photo mode, which allows you to select character poses and facial expressions.

Photo mode can be used at any time throughout gameplay, and photos you’ve taken appear in load screens. These are randomized along with “curated photos.”

Loading screens do not appear often, but there is a “little one” whenever you fast travel.

You can change your character’s appearance at any point throughout gameplay, from your hairstyle to even your gender.

At 56:25, gameplay is shown of emerging from the Vault, including your first level-up.

Leveling up begins with choosing whichever one of your SPECIAL attributes you wish to increase, which is followed by choosing an available “perk card” under that category. This seems much less cluttered than FO4′s perk chart screen. Taking a perk again increases its rank up to a seeming maximum of three. Each perk card has a “point cost” which requires a certain SPECIAL level in order to equip it.

“The levels keep going up and up and up. We don’t want to make a game where you have to stop leveling, but we had to make some very interesting decisions on what that means for a multiplayer game for balance.

We see level-ups to level 2, level 4, and then level 42. At 58:37, at the level 42 level-up screen, the player is wielding a crossbow.

PERKS SEEN: (any words in brackets were cut off; all assumptions are my own, though any indicated with ? I am unsure of--KEEP IN MIND that the numbers are affected by PERK RANKS and are thus subject to change; the numbers here are taken from perks of various tiers; this includes things like “there’s no chance you’ll be addicted to alcohol,” which is a level 3 perk, in which we can assume the first two levels just have a lowered chance)

STRENGTH

GLADIATOR: Your one-handed melee weapons now do +10% damage.

THRU-HIKER: Food and drink weights are reduced by 30%.

STURDY FRAME: Armor weighs 25% less than normal.

EXPERT SLUGGER: Your two-handed melee weapons now do +10% damage.

BEAR ARMS: Heavy Guns weigh 40% less.

BATTERIES INCLUDED: Energy weapon ammo weighs 30% less.

BANDOLIER: Ballistic weapon ammo weighs 90% less.

EXPERT HEAVY GUNNER: Your non-explosive heavy guns now do +10% damage.

PERCEPTION

GREEN THUMB: You have a 25% chance to reap twice as much when harvesting flora.

PERCEPTI-BOBBLE: You hear directional audio when in range of a bobblehead.

PANNAPICTAGRAPHIST: You hear directional audio when in range of a Magazine.

ENDURANCE

SLOW METABOLIZER: All food satisfies hunger by an additional 15%.

VACCINATED: Chance of catching a disease from creatures is reduced by 60%.

DROMEDARY: All drinks quench thirst by an additional 15%.

PROFESSIONAL DRINKER: There’s no chance you’ll get addicted to alcohol.

AQUAGIRL: You no longer take Rad damage from swimming and can breathe underwater.

CHARISMA 

HAPPY CAMPER: Hunger and thirst grow 40% more slowly when in camp or in a team workshop.

PHILANTHROP[Y? IST?]: Restore some of your [team’s] hunger and thirst when [you eat] or drink.

SPIRITUAL HEAL[ER?]: You regenerate health for [?] seconds after reviving anot[her] player.

SQUAD MANEUVER [perhaps MANEUVERING?]: Run 10% faster when part of [a] team.

STRANGE IN NUMBERS: Positive mutation effects are +% stronger if teammates are mutated too.

LONE WANDERER: [Wh]en adventuring alone, take 10% [l]ess damage and gain 10% AP regen.

TEAM MEDIC: [Y]our stimpaks now also heal [ne]arby teammates for half the normal strength.

BLOODSUCKER: [Blood p]acks now satisfy thirst, no [longe]r irradiate, and heal 50% more.

PARTY GIRL: The effects of alcohol are doubled.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY: Your Luck is increased by 2 while under the influence of alcohol.

QUACK SURGEON: Revive other players with liquor!

BODYGUARDS: Gain 8 Damage & Energy resist (max 24) for each teammate excluding you.

HARD BARGAIN: Buying and selling prices at vendors are better.

INSPIRATIONAL: When you are on a team, gain 5% more XP.

INTELLIGENCE

FIRST AID: Stimpaks restore 10% more lost health.

CONTRACTOR: Crafting workshop items now costs 25% fewer materials.

MASTER HACKER: Gain +1 hacking skill, and terminal lock-out time is reduced.

EXOTIC WEAPONS: You can now craft Rank 1 exotic weapon mods. (Plans required) [Vault Boy is shown wielding a bow on this card]

AGILITY

MARATHONER: Sprinting consumes 20% fewer Action Points.

GOAT LEGS: Take 80% less damage from falling.

LUCK

SCROUNGER: 50% change to find extra ammow hen you “Search” an ammo container.

STARCHED GENES: You will never mutate from rads and RadAway will never cure mutations.

MYSTERY MEAT: Stimpaks generate excessive, edible meat. Higher Rads improve the chance.

MYSTERIOUS STRANGER: The Mysterious Stranger appears more often when using VATS. [This perk is at level 2 of 3; assume that the Stranger only begins appearing if you have level 1]

LUCK OF THE DRAW: Your weapon has a 10% chance to regain condition when hitting an enemy.

CAN DO!: [30%?] chance to find an extra canned good when you “search” a [?] container.

You can pick any perk that you meet the requirements for when you level up. More become available as you level.

Your stat level determines how many perks you can have active at a time: A character with 12 Strength is shown to have one level 3 perk, three level 2 perks, and three level 1 perks, adding up to 12. Cards can be worth up to 5 points, with each capping at different tiers.

Each SPECIAL stat has a cap of 15.

Charisma in FO76 is designed to share your perk cards with other players in your team.

Perk cards can be unlocked in card packs, which you initially get every two levels, until level 10, after which you get one every five, in addition to the single perk card you unlock every level. They come with four cards and a stick of gum, which can be used as a food item. The gum wrapper has a joke in it, all of which are written by Emil Pagliarulo (writer of such things as Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood questline, Skyrim’s guard dialogue, and Fallout 4′s main storyline).

You can swap out your perks at any time.

There are “hundreds” of perk cards.

SPECIAL points cannot be increased after level 50, but you can still pick a perk card every level after that.

Beta goes live in October.

They fully expect FO76 to be broken at first; the beta will be used as a stress test.

FO76 will be updated regularly after launch; Todd states it will be a “different game” one, two, five years after it comes out.

On PvP, griefing: When you shoot another player, you do a little bit of damage, not full damage, described as an “invitation” to combat, like “slapping somebody at a bar.” If the other player engages, then both enter combat and do full damage. There is a cap reward to combat based on the players’ levels; you will get more caps for killing a high-level character than a low-level character. When you are killed, you can “seek revenge,” which doubles the reward for killing them.

An attacking player can still kill someone who does not wish to engage, but if they do (i.e., against their will), they become a “wanted murderer,” and get no reward for it (no caps, no XP) and appear on everyone’s map as a red star with a bounty on their head--a bounty which comes out of their own caps. They are also unable to see any other players on their map.

Sneaking removes you from the map (unless you are wanted).

When you die, you drop your junk items--think crafting materials, a large portion of the gameplay loop. You can store your junk in a stash. The point of this is to represent sunk time, to make sure you are preparing before heading into a dangerous area.

You can respawn at any fast travel point; the point closest to you is free, the Vault 76 entrance is free, but everything beyond that has a cap cost dependent on distance from you.

PvP does not “kick off” until level 5.

You are able to “ignore and block” players; ignoring blocks them for the session. (Assuming blocking means you won’t be matchmade with them again?)

There is a “pacifist flag” (mode) which sets the game so you cannot accidentally engage in combat, so that no one can trick you into fighting by jumping in front of your bullets (further preventing griefing)

PvP is balanced so that stronger players will indeed be harder to kill, but if you play cleverly and well you can still manage to come out on top; the cap reward will be incredibly high if you pull off a kill on someone much higher in level

Blueprint system: Save blueprints to a creation so that you can easily rebuild it if it gets destroyed, and so that it can be moved within your camp to fit it nicely with the terrain whenever you move somewhere new.

Camps can be destroyed so that you cannot grief players by trapping them inside a prison.

Example of a trap set by Bethesda employee: Player sat in the middle of the road playing a tuba, but built turrets in the foliage to the side of the road. When players attempt to attack him, the turrets turn on them and fire from the foliage, killing them first.

Camp can be moved so that players can move their camps around when they find a nicer spot, but players tend to settle in to a specific place to keep their camp.

There is voice chat for your team, and for the game world; area-based, so you can hear players near you.

VATS is now real-time. You cannot initially target individual body parts, and the ability to do that is a perk you can unlock. Percentage to hit is based on your Perception. VATS can be used to find players (as you can in other modern Fallout games).

VATS becomes more and more useful the more you invest in Perception.

Inon Zur is scoring Fallout 76.

Licensed music: FO76 has more tracks than have ever been in a Fallout game. There are radio stations you can listen to. There is a balance of “classic” tracks used in older Fallout games, as well as songs new to the series; they seem to be drawing most heavily from 40s music this time around. Howard says there is an “unbelievable amount” of weird, wacky 40s music.

Private servers are definitely happening, specifically because they want people to be able to mod the game. It’s going to be “very, very complicated,” but Bethesda is “committed to it.” They are in the process of solving that problem.

[drink-n-watch]

  Let me tell you something, Montreal only exists in wave and snaps. Heat waves and cold snaps. That’s it. OK, here are maybe 4 days in October which are quite nice but the rest of the time… waves and snaps. We are currently in the former although I don’t think I have any right to complain considering what’s happening in Europe. But it’s all good when you have a cool anime to chill with on the weekend! How has your week been Crow? (Crow is bold, like brass!)

  So I’m brassy bold? I like that! I’m going through a wetter than typical Ohio summer, which means 90+ (Fahrenheit — I know, we’re behind the times here in the States!) and humidity that exceeds the theoretical maximum! But your point about Europe is well-taken! No complaints here!

  Let’s jump into it, shall we?

here we go

As you may recall, last week ended on Tanjiro interrupting Boar Boy as he was about to skewer Zenitsu for protecting Nezuko’s box. We got the few last seconds of episode 13 as an opening tag to get us in the mood and I must say, a bloodied Zenitsu desperately holding onto the box may just be my spirit animal!

I love your summary! Great word economy and it got me all caught up!

After the opening credits, we finally get the payoff to Tanjiro’s lunge and it was impressive. You could really feel that impact…for about half a second. Boar Boy is brash and difficult to take. He’s a violent dumb caricature that seems to be played for laughs, but when you are actively attempting to murder most of the main cast (in a series that has not been shy about killing off people), it’s not as funny as it could be. 

This said I liked the fight.

I want to be like him when I grow up

After having a few bones broken by Tanjiro’s punch and listening to a speech about how Demon Slayers don’t draw swords against each other, Boar Boy takes the most direct approach possible and decides to attack Tanjiro bare handed right then and there. There was a slight subversion of expectations at the beginning as Boar Boy seems utterly unphased, even unbothered by the situation, simply switching from one sparring partner to another. This made the character more interesting to me.

Moreover, the fighting choreography was beautiful. Boary has an unorthodox low fighting style that incorporates a lot of leg sweeps, kicks and impressive flexibility. Paired with ufotable’s great animation, it was just fun to watch. Which is good, cause this fight lasted a while. Did you enjoy it as well?

I did, for the same reasons you mentioned. I liked how it showed Tanjiro with a little more inner conflict than usual — he didn’t want to fight, but he was still really steamed about what Boar Boy tried to do to Nezuko. Also, we got another example of Tanjiro analyzing his opponent’s style and trying to adapt. I love those little insights. 

good time to have this type of discussion

Right at the end of the fight we finally get a Boar Boy reveal. We see his face I mean. Everyone in the show says he looks like a girl but I would not have noticed. Did he seem feminine to you Crow?

Honestly, no. Maybe I’ve seen Working!! too many times (remember how Souta Takanashi often had to dress as a woman to keep from triggering the crazy training Mahiru Inami’s dad had given her? Guess I kinda got used to the idea that features aren’t binary!), but he just looked like he had delicate features. I loved Tanjiro’s reaction to Boar Boy’s challenge asking if they had a problem with his face. “”We don’t have a problem with your face! It’s quite petite, fair-skinned, and therefore attractive!”

Could he be any more diplomatic? I think Tanjiro is weaponizing “nice,” which we see several times later in this episode! 

imagine him with a red shag and receiving hairline…face is pretty much the same as Tanjiro’s non?

For all intents and purposes, Tanjirou wins the fight and we have a few quiet moments as Zenitsu, Tanjiro and the kids make good on their promise to bury the victims as Inosuke (Boar Boy) recovers.

I thought it was sweet how both Tanjiro and Zenitsu used their kimonos as makeshift bedding for Inosuke. 

It really showed their character, didn’t it? Despite the beating Inosuke tried to give them, they still didn’t want to leave him lying unprotected on the ground. I’m warming up to Zenitsu more and more in this episode! Of course, we expect that level of consideration from Tanjiro. 

As soon as Inosuke wakes up though, he goes straight back to aggressive jerk mode, demanding to fight everyone. It’s here that we get the origin to what becomes a running joke throughout the episode (and I suspect the series). Namely, Inosuke almost obsessively trying to taunt Tanjiro into lashing out just to have the latter respond with oblivious kindness and compassion.

dude, the kids are worried about YOU

Sure that’s in line with Tanjiro’s character, but when you have small traumatized children and *Zenitsu* embarrassed for you, you may want to take a step back!

Even as I laughed at Tanjiro’s reaction, I had to wonder if nice raised to the level of obliviousness is a self defense mechanism? Or is there a small piece of Tanjiro that realizes how incensed his niceness is to Inosuke?

Since Tanjiro won’t fight him, Inosuke decides to headbutt threes at full speed instead, something else he will be doing for the rest of the episode. I’m not sure if this is a long-standing habit of Boar Boy’s or he is simply trying to toughen up his skull since Tanjiro won by headbutt.

Not sure that fracturing his skull will in any way toughen it! And besides, Tanjiro’s forehead apparently had Legendary Hardness(™). I really don’t think Insouke is going to be able to catch up!

good call!

Before they can finish properly giving their respects to the dead, Tanjro’s crow shows up and tells them it’s time to leave the mountain, which they do. Along the way, the kids decide to head home, leaving the three Demon Slayers on their own and oh boy….

Zenitsu goes back to being overzealous in his fantastic fear of everything, only now, he has a loud obnoxious character in the background. On more than one occasion Tanjiro looked like he just wanted to beat them both up right then and there. With everything that’s happened so far, I think this is the first time Tanjiro truly regretted joining the Demon Slayer corp!

Tanjiro’s expressions reminded me of a day care worker on their 12th hour of the day. Just ready to go home and sleep, but the screaming children still need to be supervised! 

I bet those kids were happy to leave

In a bit of almost ex machina luck, it seemed the three of them had been close to a private estate to serves as a Demon Slayer sanctuary due to an old family debt. And so, our three stoo… slayers now have a place to rest and heal up before continuing their adventures.

I see how you almost slipped there! Kinda thought the same thing myself. One saving grace? I think the Crow was leading there (always trust Crows — we’re innately trustworthy as a matter of professional pride!), so I don’t think it was random. 

However, the Crow leading them somewhere pleasant? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop!

And that’s pretty much it. A series of shenanigans take place as all three boys show comical extremes of their personalities. It was like an intermission or a random slice of life episode thrown in and I have to admit…I didn’t really like it.

sorry

When you exaggerate them like that Zenitsu is annoying and Inosuke is obnoxious, while Tanjiro is just kind of boring. I wouldn’t call it awful, but it was my least favourite episode so far. And the backstory and development we get on Inosuke were so basic that they could have skipped it all together without much consequence. But you are usually a fountain of positivity, what did you think Crow???

No pressure! If I had to rank these first 14 episodes, this one would likely be at the bottom. What kept Inosuke from being a complete chariature was how Tanjiro’s weaponized politeness gradually wore him down. Before dinner, for example, Boar Boy was on the constant attack. At dinner, he even snatched foot right off of Tanjiro’s plate and obnoxiously chewed it right in his face! When Tanjiro offered him another bowl of food, saying Inosuke must be really hungry, I expected Boar Boy to slap away the food. Instead, he just glowered. That’s progress!

The TL;DR version: Tanjiro’s Legendary Kindness(™) might just transform Inosuke.

we got some fanservice though…

It’s really the last minutes that brought what I’ve been waiting for, for a few weeks now. Nezuko’s glorious and adorable return. I was so thrilled to see her. And just before she got back, there was a quiet and touching moment between Tanjiro and Zenitsu. It was lining up to be the best scene in the episode and… Zenitsu completely ruined it again.

He wasn’t very easy to follow but I think he was implying that Tanjiro joined the Demon Slayer Corp so that he could get a cute demon girlfriend and carry her around with him which is a weird conclusion to jump to, at best… 

But it’s the kind of conclusion a male of Zenitsu’s temperament would jump to! In high school, within my group of friends, if one of them managed to get a girlfriend, the rest would hassle him about it. Heck, look at Issei Hyoudou’s friends from High School DxD! They caught one glimpse of him with Rias Gremory and threatened him with bodily harm!

But you’re absolutely right: Seeing Nezuko emerge from the box was a beautiful moment. Given how terrified Zenitsu was of the opening box, when she emerged looking all adorable and stuff, all I could think was “Behold the terrifying demon! Tremble in her presence!”

In a wildly sarcastic way, of course.

boys are weird…

As it stands my favourite scene is the opening tag, which was a recap of the last episode so that should tell you something. I’m going to pretend that was a recap episode and just move on to the next one. On the upside, it still looked great!

Reviews of the Other Episodes

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 01: Cruelty

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 02: Trainer Sakonji Urokodaki

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 03: Sabito and Makomo

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 04: Final Selection

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 05: My Own Steel

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 06: A Friend fo All Humans

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 07: Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 08: The Smell of Enchanting Blood

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 09: Temari Demon and Arrow Demon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 10: Together Forever

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 11: Tsuzumi Mansion

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 12: The Boar Bears Its Fangs, Zenitsu Sleeps

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 13: Writers are A Pain

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I’m liking slideshows lately…

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Episode 14: You Need To Calm Down! Let me tell you something, Montreal only exists in wave and snaps. Heat waves and cold snaps.

[acsversace-news]

Episode three of The Assassination of Gianni Versace made me think about something that, inexplicably, I hadn’t consciously appraised until this point — just how good the acting is in this show. The fully-realized portrayals of the various parties had so fully lulled me into acceptance of the characters, that I didn’t even think of the skill on display. This hour, taking place roughly two months before the death of Versace (Edgar Ramiréz), focuses on another of Andrew’s (Darren Criss) victims, and the seismic ripples his crimes create for a victim’s family. The various stages of realization, grief, anger and everything else that accompanies Andrew Cunanan’s crimes are brilliantly realized by all involved.

*

“A Random Killing” focuses on the Miglin family, mainly Lee (Mike Farrell) and his wife Marilyn (Judith Light), and the repercussions of long-held secrets when violently exposed. We begin with Marilyn, who is filming an infomercial for her line of perfumes. We cut from the warm tones of the pitch itself — seen through the home shopping networks cameras — and the colder reality of a stark studio. We see the presented reality, and the truth. Finished with her pitch, Marilyn arrives at the airport, waiting for her husband to pick her up, but he never arrives. Taking a cab home instead, she wears a worried, edgy countenance. Arriving home to silence and melted, unattended ice-cream on a kitchen counter, she intuitively knows something is terribly amiss. With two neighbours happening by and helping search the home, the deathly silence and out of place items — side of roast beef with a large knife jammed into it sitting on a coffee table — create a strange, unsettling scene. It is not long before the police arrive and find Lee Miglin dead in the house’s attached garage. All the while, Marilyn is oddly prosaic, as if she knows what the outcome will be. When the officer does find Lee’s body and Marilyn’s neighbour rushes to tell her, Marilyn simply responds, ‘I knew it.’

We then zip back in time to see Marilyn introducing her husband at a charity luncheon, extolling the great works of Lee Miglin, the two playing the parts of perfect husband and wife. Sitting before a mirror, Marilyn removes her make-up and false eyelashes, regarding herself for a lingering moment. This episode revolves heavily around the themes of artifice and reality; the false faces we wear for strangers and sometimes those close to us — and underneath, our more hidden selves. As Marilyn is preparing for bed, Andrew calls Lee and tells him he will be in Chicago for a couple of days. Lee quietly closes his office door and makes a date. When they lie together in bed, Lee and Marilyn clasp hands as they fall asleep. They are two people who really do love each other, but also hold secrets that outsiders would never suspect, or probably understand.

Lee, waiting to see Marilyn off for her infomercial appointment we see at the start of the episode, slumps to the stairs and shows he is tired and somewhat discontent with his work. Marilyn asks if he is in one of his ”blue moods”. She is not callous in asking, but has the air of someone who is perhaps not always sure how to face up to her husband’s depressive moods. Marilyn gone, Andrew Cunanan arrives and again we are privy to accompanying someone in extreme danger and their total unawareness of that fact.

Lee shows Andrew his plans for what would be the tallest skyscraper in the world and Andrew is initially impressed. When Lee confides he hasn’t secured financing or broken ground yet, Andrew changes. He takes the chance to belittle Lee for trying to impress him, for showing him something grand that may never even exist — the exact things Andrew does to people every day. In that moment, Cunanan has a chance to belittle someone more important and successful than himself. He knows he holds the power here — he is the desirable object of Lee’s affection, and he can behave as he wants. When Andrew kisses him, Lee confides that he feels ‘alive’, he says, “I know it’s not real, Andrew. But you make it seem so real.” Miglin is someone who clearly exercises control in his life and business, accruing success and great wealth. But underlying the whole, brilliant portrayal is a lingering sadness. He is a loving husband and father, but he is also someone else. And he cannot be that someone else as part of his everyday life, and so he is massively conflicted and riddled with guilt. He knows he is committing infidelity, but these moments with Andrew are an explosion of colour in what has become a rote performance of life. As an older, respected businessman, Lee must find avenues of release in using the services of men, putting himself in potential danger. In Andrew, he has come across someone terribly unsafe. Moving to the garage, Cunanan ensures that Lee cannot fight back ,and takes the time to belittle him again before killing him. As we have seen in prior episodes, this is one of Andrew’s main motivations — bringing down those more accomplished than he  and attempting to destroy them totally in life and death. He takes the time to rip and burn Lee’s plans for his skyscraper, bringing his victim’s perceived abasement and destruction to fulfillment.

*

Marilyn, now a widow and able to mobilize the upper echelons of the police due to her family’s social status, goes into a mode of control. She is similar to Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz) in this respect — women who feel they must protect and preserve the legacies of men close to them, without allowing salacious details to become public. Marilyn seems cold, but only in the sense that she is hyper-alert to what she needs to do. She is fiercely protective of Lee and her family and, by extension, public perception. Because of this, she will not allow herself to crumble under the grief, she will present a strong public face and, if that means appearing uncaring, then so be it. When she does finally lose control and weep for her lost husband, it comes from a place of memory. She recounts to a family lawyer the adventures she and Lee and shared — hot air balloon rides, becoming lost in a desert and Lee becoming her saviour — and through her tears, cries, “I loved him, I loved him very much… There, is that better? Am I a real wife now?” Marilyn shows that love can take many forms, can tolerate and accommodate much, can exists beyond what many assume constitutes ‘real love’ and ‘a real marriage’. Collecting herself, she tells the lawyer that this was, “… a robbery and a random killing.” Marilyn, like Donatella, now sees her duty as one of protection and mitigation, echoing Donatella’s sentiments of not allowing her beloved brother to be murdered a second time in the court of public opinion.

*

We then cut to Andrew ditching the car he has stolen from the Miglin house and finding his way to a cemetery. There, he accosts a grounds worker, and forces him into the basement of the sepulchre. The man confides that he has a family and children and would very much like to see them again. Without hesitation, Andrew kills the man and takes his truck. Cunanan has no attachment to human life, to emotional pleas; he simply takes what he wants, a truck or a life. He knows full well what he is and the path he is on. In his twisted world, in his ongoing descent, one more murder doesn’t change a thing.

[coreshorts]

Never

“Advisory: Vital signs are outside of accepted parameters. Stress fracture in left tibia requires rest. It is inadvisable to continue work functions at this time.”

The newly-repaired magitek bit chirped, as though it hadn’t laid in dust and dirt and sand for nearly two weeks, trampled by hapless adventurers and beasts alike before it was recovered. The woman it warned seemed more than content to ignore its warnings, standing over a nearly-completed project: the reforging and augmentation of a superior officer’s sword.

“Alert: Health advisories are programmed to repeat every thirty seconds until acknowledgement is received.”

“Acknowledged,” came the distracted reply. Corelyn’s right leg had begun hurting to match the left, having had most of her weight on it for hours.The other was splinted, having sustained a stress fracture in the past week, along with the innumerable other minor wounds inflicted during her time with Neilas.

“Bit, engage silent mode,” she said, and the circling contraption let out a soft click in acknowledgement.

With a sigh, she adjusted her stance, letting the blade sit on the workbench as she turned down the heat on Safehouse Aurum’s magitek forge. Reaching for the crutch that leaned against the wall nearby, she propped it under an arm and hobbled across the room and toward the bunks where her commanding officer, Centurio Aelius quo Sanguis, slept. The man had taken a nasty kick to the head that left him severely concussed during the fight with her former Tribunus and long-gone lover.

Try as she might, the guilt still ravaged her. If not for her, would he have still gone mad? It had all started because of her, had it not? Her father fell ill, and her mother returned home to tend to him, leaving an important project untended and without significant leadership. This had been moons ago, and even then, she knew something was wrong with Neilas. It had been years since she saw him last, since she ended their nigh-four-year relationship to run away with the military to far-flung corners of the star. His eyes had grown cold, his demeanour hard and conflicting.

Once Project Anima was complete, she knew him for the monster he had truly become. Constant torture was all she knew for moons, strapped to a machine that deprived her of her senses as she hallucinated, hours every day spent out of her mind and delirious. He spent so much effort on twisting her mind, making her fear him, making her terrified to disobey. He even drugged her, especially when in public, to make her more obedient and silent.

That had all come to an end when the Senator’s Ball was held in Castrum Aquilonis. After so much time spent garnering information in the time where she was not held prisoner, she had managed to convince him to attend with her. Through the drug-addled haze, she had slipped hints that she was in danger, adding to the suspicion generated by her frequent absences and strange behaviour. After a conversation between herself, Neilas, and the Primus Frumentarius in charge of the Fustuarium initiative, Zheng goe Diremite, Neilas stole her away in a fury, enraged by comments made. Not long after, he sent her back to apologise, ordering her to make a fool of herself in the process, to make herself look pathetic and worthless, because, he had said, she was. Cleverly, she stole away with a bug that she’d discovered in the gun he had “gifted” her, planting it in her dress’s collar.

After she had been discovered with a bug, she was held in what was officially indefinite detainment, but in an operational capacity, until Project Anima was released to her specifically for field testing, and then small-scale distribution. This had gone well for a moon or two, until Neilas showed up again, intent on either taking her or killing her - it hadn’t mattered at that point. Though she drove him off the first time, not weeks later, he tried again, his trio of Imperial Shadows making quick work of kidnapping her.

The week that followed was pain like she had never known, even following her escape from Carteneau. At random intervals throughout the day, the man would walk into the room in which she was held and would savagely beat her, torture her, break her in every way he could. Every time, he was angrier and more unhinged, until he began raving about the loss of his position, the trouble she had caused for him, how he knew he would be the Fustuarium’s next target. He hadn’t had enough time, he’d said, because she forced his hand, manipulated him. It was her fault that Zheng had been alive and was coming for him, that blood would be on her hands. She didn’t expect literally until he began beating her with his armour on.

When the day came that the rescue party arrived, more to take down a corrupt and insane former Tribunus than to rescue her, she’d found, Neilas had left her in a rage, hissing curses about them having been early, about his Shadows being dead or worse, and traitors, even amongst his own, adding to the sins she, herself, bore.It had gone past the point of intelligible, and in his rage, he had left her unbound and alone in that room while he and his men had engaged the Fustuarium. He left her alone and unguarded in his madness, and she took the opportunity. Though covered in blood, bruises, open wounds, and practically crawling on a broken leg, she made her way to the firs tplace that came to mind.

“I should... hope,” she said, wearily, her head still ringing from the beating she had only just endured, “that those out there... are who I expect. If so... come on in. Finish this. Kill him. Please.” She never thought she would beg for the death of the man she had once loved, but this wasn’t any way to honour his memory. She wasn’t even sure if he ever was who she thought, and she found herself questioning her ability to judge character. She used the announcement system in the control room to plead for help from those fighting outside. She couldn’t see or hear them, but not long after, she’d begun to hear Neilas’s frantic, insane screaming as he pounded on the door in a rage, as if to break through the magnetically-locked ballistic doors.

Explosions, fighting in the hall, vague yelling and banging on the door, and the sound and smell of fire overwhelmed her senses, and she succumbed once again to unconsciousness for a time. The banging on the door began again, though, and she was roused at the calls of familiar voices, yelling her name. Though she barely had a shred of strength, she opened the door... and in they came. She felt arms around her, and then...

In he came. A tall, wiry elezen in black, white and gold, sunglasses, and that silly, silly blonde mullet. She was hallucinating again from the pain. She had to be. She wasn’t though. He spoke to her, began to heal her. The pain receded just long enough for her to forget her injuries - to forget the leg that Neilas had broken in his rage, lashing out with a kick that sent her vision exploding into stars. She didn’t care. It was Aioux. Tears flooded her eyes, unbidden but unrestrained, and she began sobbing harder, only then realising she had been crying at all. She clung to him, mind very briefly unclouded, and she began to recognise the voices around her.

Iulius. Adelia. Aelius. Apollon. Aurelia - both Aurelias: her student, Iulius’s girlfriend, the young Lucius, and the self-titled Fabrum with whom she’d discovered a fleeting interest, Aurelia Domna. There were other voices she didn’t recognise, but then she knew the last: Zheng.

Orders were given to search the facility, to take every last bit of information available, then lock the place down indefinitely. It brought her back to her situation at hand: she was standing on a broken leg. She stumbled backward into the control room’s chair again, pain tinting her vision red and causing her consciousness to flicker. She vaguely remembered more healing... and then being carried away.

By the time she awoke, she was in the Safehouse again. In the Goblet, beneath the Gold and Glory company house where she’d begun to spend so much time, she was safe again. The throbbing pain in her leg assured her of that. Her hallucinations were always an escape from the pain; they had never borne it, and never so poignantly. She laid back, listening to the voices of those she had heard bells before - all gathered either in the bunk room or outside. Many people were, like her, in a bed, resting, Aurelia Domna in one just next to her. Outside, she listened to Iulius and his awkward dealings with his Aurelia. It was all so confusing and annoying to get them mixed up like that, she had thought, and she started to laugh softly, tears well in her eyes despite the humour.

She would have a lot of thinking to do, and a lot of healing, both physically and otherwise. But she was safe. And she would never let herself be swept up by some mad, corrupt villain again - she swore it.

Never again.

[runts-writing-corner]

Bfmplz? I used to travel from cali. To texas every year frequently. Now i cant but i miss it as it was my home. I may not drink but i love getting people drunk. I'm more of "the bartender". Im incredibly good with animals and love baking and cooking meals from scratch. Yet even so I can be lazy and tend to love to relax more then go out. Yet conflicting as it seems I also love to go put adventuring. I love anime and games but never up to date. I also love to draw, paint, and write.

Your best friend match up is Jesse McCree! He loves the fact that you draw and paint and will always ask you ti draw him. He will do the most random poses for you and yes he will dress up if you ask nicely. However if you get him drunk he will wear anything. He gives you hell and laughs if you get him drunk and try to draw him but its a fun challenge. He wil move on purpose and try to make you laugh every chance he gets. If he catches you intently drawing he will get up and try to watch you draw, that is untill you need his reference again. Then you have to shoo him back to posing. It will be a different pose. Its always a different pose. As for food this boy can eat! Because of you he is also very picky. Spoiled cowboy will wake up anytime you ask him to help you make food. The price is he eats most of it, esspesialy while your prepping it. Your making cookies? It be a shame if half the dough got eaten. Your making a large cake? Just let me check most of the batter for poison!You have to keep an eye on him every time but he makes it all so much more fun. Food fights can happen as well. Which he will take the blame as a gentleman. Even through all the jokes and trouble he will still be chivalrous. With being his bestie comes realizng how protective he is. He is practically your older brother. Even if your the older one it wont matter. He judges every date regardless of your sexual preference. Though he does this it is honestly just a front, he worries about someone hurting you and knows very well love can be increadibly dangerous yet beautiful all the same. With that in mind you can always rely on the McNugget. He will listen to your every problem and do his best to not be biased. He wants to help you and be there for you any way he can. If your messing up he will try to give pointers. If their messing up you might have to keep an eye in him after depending on how serious it is. If the person cheated or worse esspesialy. Something you didnt expect was the impact your art had on him, he frames each piece in his room. He is incredibly proud of every piece and will voast like a fatger showing his kids proudly. If he had a blog he would be that person to share his friends pieces every chance he got and be upset if they sid not get much love for it. Don't critique infront of him, please don't have anyone do it either. Protective brother mode, instantly. Random: "This could be fixed-" Mc: "No its not! I like it! It adds flair! Personality!"Random: "But.."Mc: "It adds personality.. Leave it alone" It is only untill you tell him that he will calm down but that wont stop him. You have to kick him out the room because he will debate every "mistake".You are his favorite bartender. He will try any drink you make but prefers hard liquor. Him not being a light weight helps you make new concoctions. He may be a jokster but all in all he is as loyal as anyone can be. A best friend who is down for anything. No matter how stupid or crazy. He is not the voice of reason unless he knows its deadly. He also wont want to steal a cop car or anything. Unless you get him drunk. Then maybe. Maybe. As for you gaming and being into anime, he loves western anime upfront but he has a soft spot for romance anime. He sees them as just animated novellas with better effects. He is also a retro gamer but will try to play with you. However he foubd he loves to watch tou play more. He will come up with stupid ways to win or piss of other players and if someone goes on the mic to rant he will be glad to take over to mess with them. He can play certain games realy well but again prefers to watch.

[lunarproductions]

Introduction Light Apprentice is a roleplaying game with a story told in a comic book style. It’s a fun game with likeable characters fighting to try and save the world. An important feature is that of choices as what you do during the game affects your play style and story. I enjoy games where “choices matter” and in this RPG they can literally affect which skills you can and cannot use in battle which helps shape your characters and gameplay styles. While the game premiered on mobile devices, I played the Steam release on my computer. My review is based on the Early Access build, and -at the time of publication- only volume one is available to play. I’ll update this when the game changes. Story

The story starts of with a young girl named Tlob, who is a mage and healer, looking for the Light Apprentice who happens to be our main character Nate. Nate has been in suspended animation for three hundred years and the world he awakens to is not what he remembers. War and pollution have ruined the once beautiful planet and Nate vows to set things right with Tlob’s help, doing so means finding the other Apprentices. The story is a bit heavy handed with its environmental message and the moral system of “choices matter” pressures the player to not be a jerk. As of this moment, there is only one volume of the story available to play, the game promises three in total. This first story arc mainly serves to introduce us to the characters and the world around them. Besides Nate and Tlob there is also Mya, the Fire Apprentice, and K-Ken who half human and half monster. While we get some flashbacks for Nate, this volume doesn’t have much in the way of character development aside from showing us their basic personalities. For me, the story started off slow but built up as things progressed leaving me wanting more. Gameplay

The first thing players will notice about this game is there are two modes. The story mode which feels like a comic book, and the adventure mode where you wander around and fight bad guys. On the computer, I played with my mouse since I didn’t feel the need to use a controller, but it’s an option, and a nice option to have. Battles are turn-based, however, and to perform attacks or skills or even defend you have to pay attention to the screen because of quick time mini games. You’ll either love them or hate them, I was personally alright with them but they became tedious. It seemed very gimmicky and tacked on; it probably made more sense on mobile. As mentioned before it takes a “choices matter” approach. During the story mode this can be choosing to take a certain side in a conflict to figuring out what is the best way for Mya to make money in town. It isn’t always expressed which chose is the best or even what might happen. Taking the side of a corrupt politician or a race of creatures who have been slaves sounds easy, figuring out if Nate or Tlob should talk to frog people not so much. Your choices affect how the story flows and also certain ones unlock certain skills. Choices also matter in battle, you can fight aggressively or passively which means defending and then “forgiving” the enemy. This was my biggest issue. I found the battles to often be unbalanced to the point where I had no choice but to defend just to survive. There are no random encounters so grinding isn’t easy and your stats are directly affected by the gear your character wears which you can’t purchase, only find. By the end of the first volume I had a very unbalanced team and couldn’t even bother to use skills often because I needed the energy for healing just to keep people alive. Graphics/Audio

The story itself is mainly told through a comic book presentation with panels and dialogue. The artwork is colorful and inviting, perfect for gamers of all ages. The adventure mode and battles have a more 3D feel to them and all of the animation in the game is pretty smooth. Monster design is a bit repetitive but this isn’t a huge issue at all. The game has no voice acting in it but does have a wonderful soundtrack that fits the aesthetics very well. I honestly have nothing negative to say at all in terms of graphics and audio, for a game originally on mobile devices it ports beautifully to the PC. Pros

Lovely graphics and music.

Comic book-style storytelling method really works well.

Choices truly matter and help shape the game you play.

Story is well written and a tale of caution and hope.

Characters are enjoyable to follow on their adventure.

Cons

I found the battles to be frustrating and sometimes limiting in how I could play.

No Steam trading cards or achievements at the moment.

Currently the price does not match the amount of content the game offers.

Final Thoughts

Light Apprentice shows a lot of promise. It has what all good RPGs need, a solid story with interesting characters. Whatever issues I have with the gameplay weren’t enough to stop me from completing volume one because I wanted to see where the story went. It’s a fresh take on the role playing game, giving players more control over how their experience plays out. As it’s still Early Access there may be some glitches, but I didn’t find any game-breaking ones. While I do feel the price is a bit steep for the game in its current state, I feel the completed version will be worth it in the end.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/569570

http://steamcommunity.com/id/Usako/recommended/569570

http://www.lightapprentice.com/