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rpgsandbox · 4 years ago

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Part homage, all farce, the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is an irreverent, affectionate parody of pop-culture tropes and a love-letter to 80s roleplaying games in a new, modern comic-book sized format! It’s a wacky roleplaying game of action comedy!

Hardcover collector's omnibus, softcover rules and adventures, blank ID cards, monster cards, hero role cards, VTT tokens

Are you a fan of the Ghostbusters RPG from the 1980s? Danger Mouse or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Bill & Ted or Rick & Morty? Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Dracula, or sci-fi adventures on the final frontier? Do you enjoy chortling at TV tropes or chuckling at pop-culture parodies? Then the Awfully Cheerful Engine! is here for you!

ACE! is brought to you by Russ 'Morrus' Morrissey (EN World, WOIN, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD), Dave Chapman (Doctor Who, Star Trek Adventures), and Marc Langworthy (Hellboy, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD). With a foreword by Sandy Petersen, co-author of the Ghostbusters RPG!

ACE! is designed for everybody! From talking animals to pulp heroes to eldritch horrors, kids and adults alike will find adventures to love with the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

This tabletop roleplaying game, which we’re calling ACE! with an exclamation point, is one of fast, cinematic, action comedy. To play you need a handful of six-sided dice, a pen, and some paper. Each player plays one Hero, except for one player who takes the role of the Director.

Think of ACE! as an irreverent, fun-packed movie. You might play as ghost hunters in New York City, a band of plucky galactic guardians, vampire slayers, or soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground. Heck, you might even be cartoon animals. Good grief!

This is a multi-dimensional, time-hopping, genre-mashing, pan-galactic portal into any type of adventure you can imagine! Want to play in a fantasy world full of elves and orcs? Crew a starship as it explores the galaxy? Hunt vampires in Victorian London? Play as animal detectives, robot cowboys, wizards, ninjas, or time traveling bounty hunters?

The only limit is your imagination, and the requirement that you have fun.

This Kickstarter is for the full five-book set.

What? Five books, you say? Fear not -- they're pretty small books! They include the core rules, and four hilarious genre-hopping adventures. Each book is about 30 pages long. Except for one which is longer, but we wrote 'BUMPER SIZE ISSUE' on the front of that, so it's OK. If you’ve ever held a comic-book in your hand, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! will feel very familiar!

The core rulebook is just 30 pages in a bright, colorful comic-book sized format. We even gave it an issue number, like a comic-book! After that, each 'issue' is a standalone adventure, designed for one-shots or short campaigns with new characters each time. One week you might be fighting ghosts on the streets of Manhattan, and the next you might be exploring the frontiers of space in your trusty starship!

You don't have to play them all, or in order. The standalone format means you can fit them in whenever and however you feel like it. GM can't make your regular game? Go bust some ghosts instead! Pickup game at a convention? Investigate the strange goings-on in a small American town in the 1980s. Running a livestream? Board a starship and fight the Kulkan Empire! Play one of them, some of them, or all of them! It's up to you!

Are they comics? Or are they RPGs? (They're RPGs)

ACE #1: Introducing the Awfully Cheerful Engine! With a foreword by Ghostbusters RPG author Sandy Petersen, this book tells you the rules, how to create your Heroes, and gives you a bunch of Extras (NPCs & monsters) to use. By Russ Morrissey.

ACE #2: Spirits of Manhattan. Strap on your Anti-Plasm Particle Thrower, grab your Electromagnetic Field Detector, and jump into your Ghostmobile. New York City needs your help! By Dave Chapman and Russ Morrissey.

ACE #3: Montana Drones & The Raiders of the Cutty Sark. At the request of Army Intelligence, Montana Drones and her team travel the globe in search of lost or hidden artefacts, often exploring dangerous sites and racing against hostile enemy agents to keep the objects of their quests from falling into the wrong hands. Striking locations, exciting chases, dangerous enemies and monotonous classroom lectures await! By Marc Langworthy.

ACE #4: Strange Science. Welcome to Wilden Falls, your average American town in the heart of the country. Surrounded by trees, nature, and there’s a wonderful waterfall that brings the tourists. It’s a quaint little town. Until weird things start happening at the local research facility, people go missing, and there’s a sudden influx of fitness nuts in the town. That’s before we get to the time travel, bodysnatching, and portals to other dimensions. Maybe ‘strange’ isn’t strong enough a word for it! By Dave Chapman.

ACE #5: Beam Me Up! These are the voyages of the starship FSS Brazen. Its continuing mission: to recklessly go where plenty of people have probably been before… and hope a major interstellar incident isn’t sparked in the process. In this highly illogical adventure for the ACE! roleplaying game, you’ll explore frontiers you never thought you had. By Marc Langworthy.

We give you four adventures to start with, and we have plans for more, but there's also a free compatibility license so anybody can write and publish material powered by the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

Hardy Hobbit. Teenage Samurai. Cheerful Stuntman. Clumsy Vampire. Squeamish Ghost. Who knew you could say so much in just two words? The possibilities are endless.

It’s not just Awfully Cheerful! It’s fast and fun, too!

You won’t get bogged down in endless rules and character sheets that look like tax forms. Your ACE! ID Card contains everything you need to know, and it’s only about the size of a credit card! But don’t try to spend it. It’s not a real credit card. Honestly, we tried, and it didn't end well.

You can download blank ID cards from our website. Don’t worry, there’s a printer-friendly black-and-white version too!

Making your Hero takes about five minutes. And that includes a coffee break.

You can choose from an array of talking animals, alien and fantasy species, and occupations from a bunch of genres. Play a cat, a crow, or a turtle. An alien, an elf, a robot, or a vampire. A knight, a pirate, or a wizard. An astronaut, a burglar, a reporter, or a spy. The core book has dozens of Roles to get you started with, and each adventure book introduces more!

Even better, you can already use our online character builder and make a character in about 30 seconds! It's so quick! Give it a try! And if you felt like sharing your Hero on Twitter with the hashtag #awfullycheerful and a link to this page, well, we'd be most awfully grateful!

Build your Hero online!

Alternatively, each adventure comes with its own selection of pre-generated characters. If you don't want to make your own characters, you can simply use those - perfect for one-shots or new players!

Download the pre-gens for all four adventures from the official website!

In A.C.E! each Hero (that's you!) has a Role. Your Role gives you a special ability only you can use. Here's a quick look at some of the Roles you can play!

Talking animals like Ape, Cat, Crow, Dog, Kangaroo, and Turtle.

Species like Alien, Dwarf, Elf, Ghost, Goblin, Golem, Hobbit, Monster, Ogre, Robot, Vampire, and Werewolf.

Fantasy roles like Alchemist, Assassin, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Knight, Ninja, Outlaw, Pirate, Ranger, Samurai, Slayer, and Wizard.

Occupations like Actor, Archeologist, Astronaut, Athlete, Bounty Hunter, Boxer, Burglar, Chef, Con Artist, Cowboy, Detective, Doctor, Engineer, Gambler, Gangster, Hacker, Hermit, Inventor, Musician, Pilot, Priest, Professor, Reporter, Scientist, Smuggler, Soldier, Spy, Student, and Stuntman.

Even a couple of superheroes like Speedster and Vigilante!

Yep, you can play a Ghost. You don’t take damage unless its from a holy source or some special sci-fi ecto-gadget. But you also can’t pick things up. So there’s that.

Each of the adventures adds some more Roles (or recommends some old ones)!

Spirits of Manhattan adds Ghost, Demonologist, Doctor, Engineer, Exorcist, Inventor, Priest, Professor, Scientist, and Student.

Raiders of the Cutty Sark adds Botanist, Double-Agent, Socialite, and Witch.

Strange Science adds Brain, Cheerleader, Outsider, Protector, Radio Presenter, and Tycoon.

Beam Me Up adds Captain, Chief Engineer, Comms, Hologram, Gunner, Counsellor, and Pilot.

ACE! is a pretty fast, light game. If you played 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, you'll see the influence immediately.

Stats! The AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is a d6 dice pool system*. You have four Stats -- Smarts, Moves, Style, and Brawn. If you have a Moves score of 3, you roll three six-sided dice when you try to jump a motorcycle over a ravine. If you roll high enough, you succeed. It's pretty simple!

Focuses! For each Stat you also have a Focus. For Smarts it might be a science, or chess, or history. For Style it might be bluffing, singing, or fashion, and for Brawn it might be brawling or swimming. You can choose from plenty of focuses. Foci. Focuses. Whatever. Anyway, if the thing you're trying to do relates to a Focus, you get to roll an extra two dice.

Trait! You choose a trait, like Angry or Cheerful or Rebellious or Despondent. This, combined with your Role, makes you a Gullible Vampire, a Brave Turtle, or a Squeamish Scientist.

Karma! Finally, you have a bunch of Karma points. These can be spent for extra dice or to absorb damage from attacks, and they're recovered by using your trait.

*Fun fact -- did you know that 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis and Greg Stafford, was the first ever dice pool RPG? Also Sandy Petersen has written an awesome foreword for the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE!

What, I hear you ask, is a CALAMITY DIE?

The Calamity Die is how you find out that your friends really aren't your friends. You see, when you make a roll, one of those dice is a different color, and is called the Calamity Die. And if your roll fails, and also the Calamity Die rolls a 1, your so-called 'friends' decide what happens to you. It won't kill you or anything, but...

Well, we'll leave that thought with you.

Nooooo! And it was all going so well!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, June 18 2021 10:00 PM BST

Website: [Awfully Cheerful Engine] [EN Publishing] [facebook] [twitter]

#RPG #kickstarter #Awfully Cheerful Engine #EN Publishing

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opes-magnas · 4 years ago

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『 as lonely as time can get. 』

It’s finally here!! I’m a terribly slow writer, and am really thankful to all those who waited for this! Hopefully you enjoy. Thank you so much to @hamjjy, @kaavijournals and Lady L for beta reading this, you guys are the best!

Listen to this playlist here for the best experience!

tw: cursing, body sensitivity, very subtle idea of anxiety and toxic relationships are portrayed.

~calypso <3

I. the moon can't shine on her own.

She looks serene tonight - high up in the night sky, not a single star to accompany her. Does the moon feel lonely like that? Does she ever need a warm hug? Perhaps she gets one from the sun, and he accompanies her all time. Does the sun shine for her? So that the world can see her beauty? Perhaps so. When she can't see him, she turns bloody red; she seems disturbed. Hurt. Lost. Her fury always frightened the humans. It made them shiver inside their homes, praying to see the familiar ball of light rise from the east to calm her down. Perhaps it is better if they could only see her beauty. But does that mean the sun shines, not to show her beauty, but to protect the humans from her true self? Perhaps so.

The sun and the moon are a pair. And they will continue to be.

As long as the moon can't shine on her own.

Let's stop thinking, Luna.

The moon seems lonely.

I look up at the clock. A red, metallic light tells me its 3:48 am, 3rd April. Great, now I can have four shots of espresso for breakfast. Thank you, oh great mind, for deciding that we needed to have that conversation earlier. I sit up on the bed and rub my eyes. The curtain flutters from the soft wind blowing in through the window. Cicadas fill up the silence as I look at the full moon illuminating my room another time. Oh, how I hate the moon. What a hypocrite. I look away, and my eyes find the pile of open textbooks and spark notes I abandoned. A small smile creeps up my face. At least I'll ace that History test tomorrow. I could imagine the Boba Tea reward from Leo in my hands already. Leo. The annoying kid next door who's been stuck with me since I was five. Don't worry, though. I don't like him. Not anymore. He made it extremely clear that I was 'a size too big' for him. Then why do I still hang out with him? Short answer - I beat him up, he apologized. I shall offer no elaboration. Still, a lump forms in my throat. And maybe because he wasn't completely wrong.

I get up to go grab a glass of water. Mochi is lying in her bed in the hallway. This is the first time she didn't stir awake when I thumped across the room. The poor fluffball of a cat is probably very tired from the bath I forced her into in the evening.

You need to lose a few pounds anyways, Luna. Get rid of those love handles. Maybe some fat on your back too. That'll make people find you more approachable.

It isn't toxic if it's true, right?

That night, I decide that my glass is half-empty rather than full, and go back to bed. Suddenly, Mochi wakes up and runs into my room. She snuggles in and throws her paws on my hair like it's her property. I choose to oblige the demon for today.

The last thing I see before sleep lures me is the clock gleaming '3:59 am'.

/////-----

It's too warm in my blanket. I almost want to peel my skin off. I need to get sleep, I have a test soo- I jolt awake. Mochi is no longer next to me. I assume she's back in the comfort of her bed, considering the temperature in the room. I let out a groan as my hand outstretches to the switchboard. After a few terrible attempts, I finally turn on the ceiling fan. As sleep threatens to take me again, I see that it's still dark out and the moon looks just as annoying as it did earlier, its ever luminant light breaking down the walls of my privacy. My eyes turn to the direction of the clock- 3:48 am, 3rd April. Huh, weird. I realize I must have had one of those five-minute, extra strength-giving, amazing nap- Wait why does the clock say it's 3:48 am?

I grab my phone. The sudden light blinds me for a second, and through squinted eyes I see 3:49 am on the screen. Huh, really weird. Wasn't I awake just now - err, earlier? Wait what? I realize I make no sense, maybe I just read the time wrong the first time. My brain is repeating the features of the Hammurabi Code, my drowsy eyes are drooping, and I meet slumber once more.

I barely feel Mochi slipping back into my blanket.

/////-----

I wake up in wonder why my alarm hasn't rung yet. The room is still dark, the moon stares at me curiously. Give me some privacy, moon. My eyes turn towards the clock for the third time this night- 3:46 am, 3rd April. Bullshit. I've been asleep for hours now; I won't need those four espresso shots for breakfast anymore. My tongue clicks involuntarily. Is this some sort of a stupid prank? Leo is definitely behind this, I'm going to hunt that dipshit down.

Come to your senses, Luna. The universe cannot prank you. That's impossible. And stupid.

I grab my phone again. An attempt in vain, I realize, when I see the screen displaying the same time. I text Leo.

| loser |

you (3:46 am, 03.04.2021): you awake? (read)

loser (3:48 am, 03.04.2021): no

A chill goes down my spine. Did the just relive 3:38 am? I decide to call Leo. Two rings in, I hear a familiar voice, 'I said I wasn't awake.' He sounds tired, voice raspy and strained. You'd think he'd just woken up from the but he's the sort of person who thinks sleep is for the weak. 'Yeah no shit, Sherlock. I'm speaking to your alter ego, Thomas.', I reply.

He decides to ignore my bad retaliation, and saves me from the embarrassment. 'Why is my star pupil awake at 3 in the morning? Has she forgotten about the test she will help me cheat tomorrow?', he asks. Ah, this freeloader. I'm gonna kick his ass. My hands move frantically in the air out of annoyance, 'I am not helping you with anything!', I scream-shout into the phone, afraid I'll wake Mochi up in the hallway. She's a bigger annoyance than Leo; no one in the universe has energy to deal with a grumpy Mochi.

'Honey, you love me.'

'You're being delusional.', I deadpan.

'Is my chubby baby irritated?', he says in a fake cooing voice. And that got me.

'Leo, I did not call you at 3 in the fucking morning for you to put me down.'

The other side of the line immediately goes silent. Silence that reminded me of the last time this happened. Silence between the two of us on a Boba Tea study session in the park after an argument, the only sound being the pages of my sociology textbook being turned, and of the sound of baby birds in a nest nearby. Though I know that Leo meant it as a term of endearment, I couldn't believe he wouldn't ever, well, consider me more than just a friend because of it. A few seconds (sometimes minutes) pass before -

'I'm sorry, Lunie, you know I don't mean it,'

Another apology.

I sigh. I'm tired of this conversation again. I'm tired of having to deal with the same problem again. I'm tired of people putting me down. I'm tired of blaming myself. I'm tired of trying to look pretty. I'm tired of Leo. I'm tired of me. I'm tired of another heartbreak. I know his apology is genuine. I know he doesn't mean it. I know he's just being the Leo he always is. But somehow his words still continue to haunt me. Maybe it's because it's coming from someone who means to me the most, coming from someone who brightens me up, like the sun does to the moon. Then why am I the only one taking it seriously? Why am I trying to fit into someone else's standards? Why am I so painfully aware of everything but still choosing to be blind?

Why am I not able to love myself even though I want to?

'Luna? You there?', his voice breaks me from my train of thought. Weirdly, he sounds quite scared. 'I didn't realize how much it bothers you, I swear I won-'

Mochi jumps onto the bed and snuggles into my head again, paws in a similar place in my hair. A weird sense of Deja vu washes over me again. And then-

『 pop! the world has reset.』

My eyes opened in fear as a gasp escapes my mouth. I'm sitting on my bed, trying to comprehend what just happened. The curtains flutter with the wind blowing by. The moon stares in curiosity. My phone's on the bedside table. The clock gleams with a bright '3:01 am' displayed on it. And the problem is that I wasn't dreaming, and I wasn't mistaking the time either.

I'm in a time loop.

II. a tub fills with water only to spill it.

I fucking hate whoever wrote Groundhog Day.

Like who decided that? Who decided to say 'Hey, let's make a movie based on time loops!'? 'Let's make a dude live the same day all over again till he gets it right! Let's make him really happy, then really sad!'

Son, I'm this close to pulling an Ides of March on you.

I seem to be looping every hour, more specifically from three in the morning to four. Five hours have passed by, but my clock tells me it's precisely 3:18 am. Great. My dearly detested friend, the moon, is my only companion in this war with time (sorry Mochi). In the five hours that should have gone by, I have accomplished the following:

Two and a half hours of sleep - though I wake up when the clock resets.

Half an hour of revision for that History test I need to write after I get out of this shit.

Thirty minutes of planning a workout, Fifteen minutes of Yoga.

Five minutes of trash talking the moon, Ten minutes of dealing with grumpy Mochi who woke up as I exercised.

Thirty minutes of wondering if Leo's looping with me, and

Half an hour of figuring out what went wrong, and how to make the night perfect.

I don't know how much longer I'll be able to remember anymore. I've tried everything - making notes, scribbling on the wall, writing on myself, engraving things on desk - but none of them seem to make it through when the loop resets. I'm too tired to talk to Leo, knowing very well that he would definitely not believe me. And partly because I'm afraid I'll lose my temper and get hurt again. I'm afraid I'll end up being the insecure bad guy, and he doesn't deserve that. He deserves someone better. Someone who's prettier, kinder and happier. Not telling him for the time being also meant that I'll never find out if he was looping with me. But that probably isn't the case, the universe is cruel for a reason. This is perhaps its punishment for me. I must go through this alone. No one's ever been by my side anyways.

I'm as lonely as the moon.

/////-----

Another few hours pass. The pop between every reset scares me lesser and lesser. But my desperation to return back to normal is growing. I've been trying to figure out what went wrong for the past hour in the neighbourhood park. The cold air perfectly paired up with the mint chocolate chip ice cream in my hands. Was it me staying awake this long? Should I have just gone to sleep? There must have been something I did wrong that hour. My heart wishes to call Leo and confide in him. And the more time goes by, the more my mind wishes to oblige to that crazy request.

I pull out my phone, which gleams a bright '3:58 am'. It's almost time for the reset. In two minutes, I'll be magically transported back to my bed. I sigh. I can't take living the same hour again. The hour grips my sanity like it is a play toy. I waste another countless moment wondering where I went wrong.

『 pop! the world has reset.』

Well, I guess there's no place like home. I wonder if Mochi was worried the previous hour when she didn't find me in the bed. Do cats feel worry for their owners? Does Mochi care for me? What kind of a disgusting ship is this? Cringe, cringe, cringe. Shut up, Luna. I bury my nonsensical idea of my cat showing me love for once in the deep pits of my mind, and pretend I never thought of such blasphemy. I shift under my blankets, and decide to sleep through this hour, foolishly hoping that the reset would never take place if I was never awake, though I woke up when the clock reset each time earlier. My eyes look at the clock - 3:05 am.

That's when doorbell suddenly rang. I launch up in surprise. This didn't happen before. My heart begins to pound extremely hard, my head hazed in confusion. I run towards the door as quickly as possible stirring Mochi awake in the process, and fling it open.

It's Leo. And he's in tears.

His eyes are filled with fear, breath unsteady. Beads of sweat line his neck as he tries to get words out. Leo grips my hands tightly, as though he wants me to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. This hasn't happened in a very long time. He's gotten a much better hold on his anxiety in the past few years. I pull him into a hug and mutter words of comfort. His head is leaning on mine, and his breath slows. I tell him we'd be alright, and hum a calming tune. And we stay like that for the next five minutes.

'Luna,', Leo whispers into the night. 'Would you believe me if I told you something crazy?'

'Like what?'

'Like a war against the clock.'

And that's when I knew. Tears start brimming in my eyes as I give out a sigh of relief. 'Like a time loop?', I say as I hug Leo a little tighter. This time I needed one to remind me I wasn't alone. He seems to catch on as well, a sob escapes from him as he melts in. We stay in each other's arms, in each other's comfort - a place where walls were deaf to all the shared secrets, a sanctuary with no limits.

Oh, what I'd do to protect it.

Leo pulls away, his eyes disappear and his lips form into a sheepish grin. His face is puffy from all the crying, but it glows in the soft moonlight. My eyes widen in surprise as he grabs my hand and drags me out the door. I manage to see the clock on the kitchen counter gleaming with a bright '3:15 am.' before blood rushed to my face upon meeting the cold air.

'Where are we going? Are yo- ah it's fucking cold out here!', I complain.

'Ice Cream.' Classic hungry Leo. This boy is a demon.

iii. the twilight hour.

'What's wrong with you?!', I huff as I bend down to catch my breath and hide myself under a tree. Leo, on the other hand, is breathing quite easy, a stupid grin plastered on his face (oh, how I want to punch him). His hands hold up a bag with three tubs of mint chocolate Ice Cream like they're the greatest creation of God. 'Did you really have to steal Ice Cream?! Are you five?', I say as I recall the incident that just took place, how Leo basically ran out the convenience store with the sweet goodies without paying and left me, his dear, penniless (and only) friend as the bait to a potential flat-earther of a cashier (long story, don't ask).

And now we're here, the park I was in the previous hour. There's not a single soul around. The only companion being the moon once again. His smile shines through like the sun, however.

'I'm rweally sowwy, delulu,', he retorts.

'My name is Luna, and no one can ever be as delusional as you, you dill hole.', I say, my ears red.

'Good now, I shalt promoteth thee to 'Deluna'. Thee has't been felicitat'd.'

I click my lips in annoyance. I know quite well that when the clock resets, all the stolen Ice Cream would be back in the freezer. But I try my best to maintain a straight face to show my discontent. That's right Luna, assert your fucking dominance. I notice that his hazel eyes shining with the mischief I'm used to once again. He's back to the loud, obnoxious and teasing Leo he's always been. Leo who's carefree, Leo who's horribly reckless, Leo who finds happiness in uncertainty. My Leo. My lips slowly curl into a smile, and I give in. He's happy, and that makes me happy too. Leo suddenly pulls out his phone.

'Look here, Partner in time.', he says cheekily. I hear a click. My brows wring into discomfort and confusion.

'What? You look pretty in the moonlight.', he states without skipping a beat. There's a million tugs in my stomach, and blood rushes to my bronze skin. Butterflies soon turn into more sinister as I remember our conversation on the phone earlier. My face falls, if only this boy knew what he puts me through. First I'm not good enough, and now I'm pretty? Does he really throw around stuff like that without giving it a second thought? Does he not realize all that he's putting me through?

This is pointless. My feelings for him are pointless. The amount of time I waste on this is pointless. 'Our friendship is pointless.', I say. Regret follows immediately. Leo's face turns grim too; an unreadable expression plastered on his face. I suddenly remember something I jotted down my sociology textbook.

words left unspoken, my hearts screams, my head's in pain, we are in conflict.

Tears well up in my eyes again. This is a conflict, the most peaceful one at that. Terrifying. One that makes you curl into a ball and wish you never existed. One fueled by guilt, by insecurity, by ignorance. I remember the rest of the poem.

one of us was meant to get hurt, almost as though the heavens proclaimed it, on the day of creation. the celestial sky cried tears of gold, for it knew fate was cruel, but humans are crueler.

My hands are getting colder. My breath is hitching as my sobs get louder. Leo rushes towards me and tries to pull me into another hug. As much as I try to resist, he pulls me into his embrace. Fear devours my heart as I realize how I didn't feel at home anymore. I knew this sanctuary was going to break sooner or later. My heart is sick. It pains far too much as it beats in his embrace. Will it stop if I pull away? I try.

It does.

'Luna, what's wrong?!', Leo asks, truly afraid of what was happening.

'Us, Leo. Us.', I reply, voice barely a notch away from a whisper.

'What's wrong with us? We're Leo and Luna! You're the other half of thi-'

'Stop. Please.', I say firmly. My head feels too heavy, my heart too light. The moon shines down on me in its disgusting glory. I can't take it anymore. 'You're the reason I hate the moon, Leo. Because you are the sun. You only shine on me to mock me. To make me feel inferior.'

'What're you talking abou-'

My tongue clicks loudly. 'You're so hypocritical! You're an asshole who makes me feel like I'm the only one in the world, before throwing me out yourself. You make me feel insecure, Leo. I don't feel like I'm myself with you anymore.', I say, vitriol burning my throat. 'You disregard what I feel for you, because I'm the moon. You outcast me, because I'm the moon. You tie me down.

'You remind me of why I'll never shine on my own.'

I look at Leo. His hazel eyes turned dark, head down in shock. There's not a single drop of water in his eyes. He stands under the moonlight in silence. I can hear my heart palpitating.

'Why do you think the Sun shines, Luna?', he whispers. 'Is it to light the day, or to light the night?', he asks, a little louder this time. I open my mouth to answer.

'It's to light the night, Luna.', he interrupts. He knew I'd say neither. The sun shines for himself. He is selfish.

'The sun sheds it's light, because if it didn't, the moon would never-'

'That's exactly the prob-'

'get to see the world.' I stop midway in confusion. What is he saying?

'The sun shines because he wants the moon to see the world, Luna. He shines because if he didn't, the moon would be lonely. He makes sure to shed the perfect amount of light on her, so that she guides the traveler without scalding them, without making them blind.

'If he never shone, he'd have never have found his other half. The sun would have been just as lonely as the moon would have, Luna. The sun and moon are a pair, not because the moon can't shine on her own, but because they are lonely without each other.', Leo says.

And epiphany struck down like lightning. Leo needs me as much as I need him. He'd be just as lonely as I'd been without him. The moon's identity without the sun hadn't ever been her own. It was due to the sun's light she was herself. The sun made her the moon, and the moon made him the sun. They were inseparable, as destiny willed them to be, for they needed each other. For the sun to shine the brightest, and the moon to give comfort. But all that didn't answer why-

'Why did you say I wasn't enough for you?', I say, reminiscing that day in the park. I remember picking out a bouquet of purple lilacs after studying a book about plant symbolism in the library. I spent hours trying to make myself look pretty. I spent a lot of time trying to make up my mind. And everything came crashing down.

'Because you deserve more!', Leo says in defeat, fingers brushing into his hair. 'Do you know how much of a loser I am? You deserve a hunk-a-ilicous person, are you really going to settle for a noodle?!', Leo says, gesturing to his lean figure. As sarcastic as his response seemed, he meant every word of what he said. That's just how Leo is.

'Leo, that's exactly how I've been feeling this whole time.' I pull Leo into a hug.

Leo is no different than I've been my whole life. He's just as insecure and broken as I am, as I've always been. All my life, I'd seen him as a completely different person. We have different hobbies, we have different personalities. But we're still similar in ways that make us, well, us. It's just that our sanctuary needed to break to have it's walls built back stronger. I feel at home again.

'You're more of a sausage though. Alri-ALRIGHT lemme clear up, you're MY sausage okay? The best one in fact, I will use you in all my dishes.', Leo says as I pull out of his embrace and find a stone on the road to attack the disrespectful brat. Leo runs away and makes his way behind the usual Banyan tree at the edge of the park. 'That's literally the worst nickname ever!', I yell as I chase him.

'Mine own dearest sausage I begeth thee to reconsid'r!'

'TRY ME BITCH.'

'Hey, hey wait.', Leo holds down my hands and blocks my attack, and I'm left with no weapon except for the daggers in my eyes I choose to use against him. 'So, what are we now?', he asks.

'We're still Leo and Luna, dumb head.', I say after giving it a thought. Leo opens his mouth to refute, but soon decides against it. I assume he's content with the answer. We were friends, nothing could ever break that. Would we ever be something more? Who knows, maybe we would in the future when we love ourselves a little more, when we're comfortable with who we are, rather than who we're with.

Until then, we are Leo and Luna.

///////------

My eyes flutter open. I am leaning on the trunk of the Banyan tree next to Leo. I find myself in sleepy laughter as I look at his head lodged in between the roots of the tree. And suddenly, I see light in the distance. I immediately wake up from my position near the tree and walk to the edge of its canopy, heart beating in my stomach and look at the sky outside. The dark navy night melts into a light lilac, small streaks of tangerine bordering the the horizon. The birds are beginning to chirp in the trees, though the street lights are still on.

The time loop has stopped.

Meanwhile, Leo had stirred awake. He runs with his eyebrows up in surprise and squeezes the life out of me before his eyes turned dark in fear.

'WE HAVE SCHOOL.', he exclaims. I ignore him, and choose to stare into the sky. I look at the twilight hour. The sun and the moon were side by side, in harmony, like Leo told me. Tears escape my eyes in a sense of accomplishment. I could rest now. I give myself a small hug, and tell myself I'd worked hard. ('LUNA DO YOU REMEMBER THE HAMMURABI CODE.' 'That is not important right now!') The sun rises up, and salvages the few moments he has with the moon. I turn my head to the side and see that the moon looks serene, her light glow slowly fading as she decides to rest too.

But above all, I see that the moon is no longer lonely.

a/n: ahhhh yes if you’ve made it this far, i truly truly appreciate you for reading this, it means a lot to me. the past few days have been a little weird for me, and it took more than just motivation for me to get through writing this. again, thank you to all my beta readers, i really treasure all of you! i’d really love to get an ask about the short story, so if you enjoyed, make sure to send me one! i hope everyone’s staying safe! stay tuned with us because we have another surprise coming soon!

alatcg taglist: @blue-hairbrush, @kaavijournals, @artbyeloquent, @47crayons, @writing-is-a-martial-art

general writing taglist: @shinesundark, @the-writing-avocado, @raenawrites

@original-writing

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kaypeace21 · 4 years ago

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Do you think that the hellfire club is a D&D group or some sport team or what do you think it is? (BTW big fan of your theories)

I think it’s a d&d club. I talked about it in past posts.I think being about d&d makes sense since the game would foreshadow future plot points- like it did in prior seasons . And the “hellfire club” is even an X-men group relating to the dark Phoenix which was referenced in s1 by Will . And I think they’ll take inspiration from that comic book arc for future seasons too . (So it’s an eastergg) . But, also , being called “the hellfire club” is probably an inside joke with the club members- since in the 80s, adults claimed d&d was about devil worship.)

In Bts photos- one of the members has a ‘Wasp’ pin which is a heavy metal band formed in 1982 -so the club is not so shockingly confirmed to be into rock.Along with d&d (if the leaks are legit) . Makes sense since both things are part of counter culture that was demonized by the “satanic panic” in the 80s. In the 80s. D&d (similar to rock music) was believed to be satanic - so the club name (for the club members)is a joke making fun of these people who think that’s true . But also (as a show is) another dark Phoenix ref . One of the s4 movies ‘paradise lost’ (was about a real life case) of small town teens who were into punk music, horror movies, stephen king, wore black, into wicca, and accused of being gay. They were unfairly blamed for ‘ satanic child m**ders (in the woods & near a river). They weren’t guilty . But, because ‘satanic panic’ was still alive and well ...the town’s people used their hobbies/ punk look/ and perceived sexualities as ‘proof” they were guilty. The case was later described as a ‘witch hunt’. Meanwhile the other (more likely suspect) at the time was John “Mark” Byers- who was a hunter, had a thing for hunting knives, religious, admitted to hitting his kids, and was accused of s**ually abusing his son, shot pumpkins (s2 ref), and sang a song about creating a portal to another world without light , that you could enter via a tree (s1 ref). Years later-after the doc- it’s implied he wasn’t guilty either. But, one of the other victims’ fathers - Terry was assumed to be guilty - he was also was accused of m***esting his son and daughter (by his own family members). Admitted to hitting his wife and kids. And had a police report filed on him - describing breaking into a women’s house , while she was in a tub and trying to attack her. He was also formerly charged for m*rdering one of his wife’s family members- but got away with it claiming self defense). Heck if the names John byers/Terry being in the film/st wasn’t crazy enough- the victims were named Steve, Michael, and Chris byers (luckily ours don’t have that same horrible fate/back stories).

I kind of assume - the d&d club will be looked at suspiciously as teens go missing/ kidnapped/ or maybe found k*lled in the woods/quarry. And the cops/others think they’re “satanic k*llings” and rumors about the d&d club insue. And maybe our teens suspect it’s the demogorgan again. But as a subversion- it isn’t and it’s a human . A human that by ab*sing Will- caused Will to unconsciously create many things including the demogorgan (which in d&d is called the “deep father”) . Also, in s3 they called Will “the devil’s baby” (Aka lonnie is the real “devil” ).And such incidents in the woods/ near the quarry would connect back to s1 demogorgan & Will being found in the quarry. And if paying attention you already noticed s1 demogorgan paralleled Lonnie a lot! So s4 would start bringing things to the surface- in regards to how evil Lonnie really is.Not to mention more hints (I previously posted) that hinted they’ll go with this “ch*ld serial ki##er plot line...

But then again I think it may not be literally Lonnie. My guess: Brenner (who I think was created/based on lonnie) is possibly doing failed experiments of teens to open portals (in the basement of pethurst -like in hellraiser 2) . And dumping failed experiments in the woods/water. A few movies had the d*ad victims have numbers carved in them. And then El/kali team up and maybe sneak into the facility (like in ace Ventura people posing as siblings investigate a m*rder and one fakes being ‘crazy’ to sneak in and find a murderer) . In ‘peanut butter solution’ 2 kids - 1 of them is goth/not american teams up with a girl to find a man named ‘senior ‘who is kidnapping kids. 1 of them also sneaks in and is captured on purpose to investigate. Kali already busted Dottie out of a psych hospital and lucas referenced El being there in s1. Alexi (like el-another alter of Will) watches roadrunner- in that papa bear throws him in a psych facility. And assasains creed/dream warriors - the psychiatric facility was similar to the lab with sensory deprivation tanks, cameras, solitary confinement in dark rooms. We already know 1 new character is against the mistreatment of people at the facility. Also the real pethurst (in Pennsylvania) -known for human rights a*use issues- wasn’t a psych facility (but a place for people with intellectual disabilities). So El being at the psych hospital version in Indianna (and maybe having id herself like I mentioned before -would be a nice ref). And in assasains creed- when the character starts sneaking around investigating - the dr reveals how the character is actual the reincarnation of their ancestor ( brenner tells el she’s an alter of Will’s ). And before that the dr was making that person relive the traumatic past of their past life/other person -which they couldn’t change (sort of like el seeing Billy’s past in s3). Also kali said her and El should team up to face their father- which I think they’ll do. And I’m excited about it!

I still think brenner was created by Will and based on Lonnie so he could be responsible and connected to Will/Jon’s backstory with Lonnie/the Woods. In an abstract way. Like how brenner/Lonnie forced their kids to k*ll animals. Brenner threw El in a dark room/ Lonnie threw Will in a trunk. Brenner’s name being associated with the woods and Lonnie being a hunter , etc.

Also we know s4 involves this dark-storyline involving c**ld m*rders cause of foreshadowing

* Also, mentioned here how in s4 rolling a 11 isn’t actually a good thing and that it’s a callback to Will rolling a 7- in s1. Before things go array.In “paradise lost” when blaming the innocent goth boys someone asks the chief “on a scale 1 to 10 how confident are you? You have the right men?” And he laughs and says “11.”

*And , just for historical context of how ‘metal ‘ and ‘scary ‘ d&d was to nonplayers (in the 80s).

“In 1985, 60 Minutes dedicated a full hour to the supposed connection between D&D, Satanic rites, murders and su*cides . 2 years earlier, Patricia Pulling formed Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD) . She described D&D as ‘a fantasy role-playing game which leads to demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, r*pe, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, pr*stitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings.’ In 1987, Peter Leithart and George Grant published The Catechism of the New Age, a pamphlet where they introduced the idea that D&D was immoral because roleplaying allowed too much freedom for critical thinking, which might lead to heretical ideas. That same year, Chris Pritchard and two friends conspired to murder Pritchard’s stepfather in his sleep, the media ignored the obvious financial motivation and instead focused on the men being in the same D&D group.”

( I think quite a few of those themes will come up in s4/5 - although d&d isn’t the actual cause). It’ll just be a subversion.

#stranger things #el hopper #kali prasad #will byers #stranger things theory #s4 theory #d&d #st s4 #s4 bts #DID theory

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Line of Duty Series 6 Episode 1 Review: Who Killed Gail Vella?

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This Line of Duty review contains spoilers.

Is this allowed? Somebody please check. Can Kate just leave AC-12? She’s a third of the operation. One of the three pyramids at Giza may as well stand up and walk away. The strawberry from Neapolitan ice cream, silver Olympic medals, degrees 240 – 360 of all circles… could they also just call it a day? Unacceptable. This is AC-12 we’re talking about. 12 as in four times three: the gaffer, Steve and Kate – the corners of the straight-backed, clean-nosed triangle of truth.

No wonder Ted is feeling sore about it. The Super could barely bring himself to look at Fleming’s picture in this series six opener, the sight of those blue, blue eyes prompting him to mutter about loyalty and then change the subject to great wee girl Chloe, AC-12’s newest recruit. Last series’ investigation into ‘H’ clearly left a grubby stain on the unit’s reputation. How will Hastings react when he finds out that Steve also has one foot out the door?

We can’t blame Steve for requesting a transfer to Jolly Rogerson’s Major Violent Crime unit. He’s currently living a life as grey as his waistcoat. He spends his days chasing up expenses receipts and his nights washing down blister packs of over-the-counter painkillers with premium lager. Meanwhile, Kate’s out there wearing the waistcoat of danger, complete with bullet proofing, reflective stripes and a radio. Who wouldn’t want to swap?

I’ll tell you who I wouldn’t swap places with right now: anybody. This is a new series of Line of Duty and we’re at the top of the toboggan run. Episode one is the push start, building up speed for the tortuous descent, sharp turns and bit at the end that goes so fast your ears fold back and you can taste blood. We’re going places, is the point, and after a year of hardly straying further than our front doors, I can’t be the only one willing to kiss the ground beneath AC-12’s feet.

Now, what do they have for us this time? Operation Lighthouse: the unsolved murder of Gail Vella, a crusading journalist shot dead outside her home in the Kingsgate area a year ago. (Prematurely killing off guest stars is one of Line of Duty’s favourite tricks, but a series is usually polite enough to wait at least until it starts before doing so. Not in the case of Andi Osho’s Vella.)

After the first whiff of a clue in months, senior investigating officer DCI Joanne Davidson (new guest lead Kelly Macdonald) diverts the team on its way to collar the suspect to a suspicious-seeming side mission that loses precious time and potentially, their man. Did her spidey sense really start tingling at the split-second glimpse of a parked van, or was the armed robbery a planned distraction?

In addition, Davidson’s boss DSU Buckells (we’ve met him before) screws up the op paperwork, leaving a gap in surveillance coverage long enough to allow a Russian circus, let alone a single suspect, escape from the flat in question. Next, the Covert Human Intelligence Source (or CHIS. Keep up, this was all covered last term) able to ID the suspect is found very much pushed off a tall building.

What we need to know: Is Davidson deliberately obstructing the hunt for Vella’s killer, and is she working with Buckells to do it?

Line of Duty Series 5 Recap: Framing Ted Hastings

By Louisa Mellor

Line of Duty: Ranking Every Bent Copper By Level of Corruption, Mother of God!

By Louisa Mellor

In the ‘yes’ corner is PS Farida Jatri, a member of Davidson’s team who tips Steve off about her boss’ suspicious behaviour. We don’t know what Davidson is capable of, warns Jatri. But not so fast! Farida also turns out to be Davidson’s spurned, secret lover. Does that make her testimony likely to be more reliable, or less? Valuable insight, or axe to grind?

In the ‘no’ corner is the fact that, after nicking Terry Boyle – a recurring Line of Duty character with Down’s Syndrome and a long-time associate of the OCG – and spending the episode pushing the theory that he was Vella’s obsessed stalker, Davidson let him walk. Until that moment, she’d looked guiltier than a dog with a cat’s tail hanging out of its mouth. Everything she’d done and said suggested that she was part of a plan to frame Terry while the real killer – likely one Michael Banks (a relative of series five OCG member Lee Banks?) – got away. In this theory, Banks shot Vella to stop her from exposing links between police officers and organised crime, and Terry was meant to be the OCG’s fall guy.

At this stage in proceedings though, any theory is a just house of sticks waiting to be blown away by big bad wolf Jed Mercurio. Maybe Farida will be revealed as the killer. Maybe Terry really did do it. Maybe new DC Chloe Bishop is Tommy Hunter’s long-lost granddaughter here to bring down AC-12 from the inside. Maybe they need to focus on hunting down this Mike Indigo fellow everybody keeps talking about on their police radio. Right now, we simply can’t know. It’s just a case of keeping our eyes open and taking everything down in a little notebook.

A few things to note down: 1) Steve’s painkiller addiction – a hangover from the serious injuries he sustained in series four and a potential weak spot for the DS. 2) The missing freezer from Terry’s flat, which we know used to contain the corpse of series one’s Jackie Laverty. 3) Jo Davidson’s Fort Knox-levels of door security and complicated feelings about that family photo. 4) Kate’s separation from Mark, and that little hand stroke from Davidson at the end. 5) Terry being told he’ll be safe in secure accommodation (will he?).

The ‘Kate’s in another unit but not undercover’ twist aside, this hour bore similarities to some previous series openers. Both two and five started with disaster-struck police convoys deliberately diverted by female officers in the pay of the OCG. The character of Michael Farmer in series four also gave us the interrogation of a young murder suspect with a learning disability. Would a drama this well-tuned into its own detail and history not care about repeating itself? Doubtful. Line of Duty knows that its audience pays it the same level of attention that a Labrador pays to somebody eating a Jaffa Cake; if we’re being led to draw comparisons, there’ll likely be a reason, and it’ll likely be to pull the rug out from under us.

Does Davidson bear similarities to past leads? She’s less of a cold fish than Lindsay Denton – see that banter with Kate in the opening scene – but like her, lives alone with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc for company. She’s as commanding as Roz Huntley – whom you could also imagine asking a churlish underling if the word “ma’am” was in their vocabulary – but more emotive and less inscrutable. (Huntley would never have lost control enough to respond “shit, shit, shit” to the armed robber being shot, or exploded like that in Buckells’ office.) Innocent, or up to her neck in it? That’s what we’re here to find out.

The game with Line of Duty at this stage is to keep the important things the same (long, tense interrogation scenes; naturalistic jargon; exhilarating doc-style action; Ted taking any opportunity to mention pipe bands, Tayto Crisps or Gloria Hunniford…), while getting us hooked on a new lead and a new mystery. Episode one? Job done. In the words of the Super: I’m gonna need more, son.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Still have questions? Read our weekly episode theories explainer here. Line of Duty continues on Sunday the 28th of March at 9pm on BBC One.

The post Line of Duty Series 6 Episode 1 Review: Who Killed Gail Vella? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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chuckepisodes · 4 years ago

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Chuck vs. The Alma Mater Part 2

You were all in Casey's house now. Chuck was pacing back and forth while you were standing by the couch. Casey and Sarah were at Casey's desk looking over stuff. "So you don't know why I'm in the Intersect." Chuck stated. "Well, you didn't appear on the NSA radar until after Bryce sent you the Intersect." Casey said. "Same with the CIA." Sarah added. "Why don't I find that reassuring?" Chuck said staring at them. " The files that you saw were of you in college, right?" Sarah asked. " Yes, yes. Wait, what about Professor Fleming? I was in his class, he was CIA. Could that be it?" Chuck asked. "That's what I think." you said. "If we can find Fleming, maybe he could give us answers." Sarah said. " Okay. Let's do that." Chuck said agreeing to this idea. "It won't be easy." Sarah warned. " Intel suggests the professor's being hunted. The NSA interviewed one witness who ID'd a Magnus Einersson. He's an Icelandic spy." Casey said as you and Chuck walked over to them as Casey showed you the file of the spy on his computer. " I'm sorry, Iceland does espionage?" you asked, a little amazed. " Magnus buys and sells intel to the highest bidder. And Iceland isn't officially aware of his activities. It says here the crossbow is his weapon of choice." Casey explained "Oh, what, slingshot's too ineffective?" Chuck asked sarcastically.

Chuck was at work, chilling at the Nerd Herd desk, when he looked up and saw you coming in, on your break. Chuck smiled and waved you over. "Hey Y/N. What's up?" "Well...after all that I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing. I mean we haven't had a chance to talk about all of it yet and you know you’re my best friend and I care about you so...yeah. How are you?" Chuck smiled warmly at you. Things like this are just some of the reasons he falls in love with you more and more everyday. "Well uh...I don't know. Everything with Stanford and my professor being in the CIA this whole time and me being already apart of the Intersect? It's a lot to take in and I don't know how to feel about it honestly." "Fair enough." "What about you?" "What do you mean?" "Well after hearing all that, do you wonder if they may have been looking at you?" "I mean...yeah I guess. I mean I know that email was not meant for me but the fact that we are the same when it comes to that and can handle it as well... They must have known and been looking in on me too." Chuck nodded. "Do you still have your student ID to see if you flash on yourself?" "No... I got rid of it a long time ago. Guess I'll never really know right?" "Yeah..."

Casey then came walking up to the desk. "You didn't offer to kill Harry for Anna, did you?" Chuck asked "What?" you asked Chuck confused. "I'll explain later." "No. Why, you want me to kill him?" Casey asked. "No. No, just curious." "We just got a hit off a traffic camera in Hollywood." Casey said handing Chuck a photo. " That's Fleming." "Thanks intersect. You saved me a lot investigative work there. The DMV told me that." " Wow. Sarcasm, what a surprise." "What did we say about sarcasm Casey?" you said looking at him. "We located car Fleming's driving, local address. We're bringing him in a. s. a. p." " What do you need us for?" Chuck asked. " Yours is a friendly face. Professor sees you Chuck, he'll be more inclined to cooperate. Maybe Y/N's will help too. Copy?" "Yeah, except that I wasn't the professor's star pupil." "And he doesn't know me." "We leave in three." Casey said walking away. You turned back to Chuck and sighed. "What are we going to do?"

FLASHBACK "As you're aware, you scored perfectly on your midterm exam." Professor Fleming said. " Yeah, yeah. Well, I was up all night studying. It was a monster. No offense. " Chuck said. "You even aced the last section. Encoded images." " Yeah, those were just kind of a shot in the dark. " "You may be aware, I keep an answer key to every exam locked inside this office." " No, no, I wasn't aware of that." Chuck said honestly. "Really? Then how do you explain the midterm answer key... being found in your fraternity room? " "I'm sorry. You searched my room?" " We received the tip from a student this morning." " What? You got a tip about my room?" " I need to know how you broke into this office and stole the answers, Chuck." " I didn't steal anything." Chuck said getting defensive." I don't have to, I'm acing your class. " "Exactly. The student also claimed that you're selling copies. " "What?" " I know you're a scholarship student and Stanford is a very expensive school." " Look, whoever gave you your tip was lying. " "Our source was Bryce Larkin. Your roommate." Chuck was stunned.

Present Time

Casey was waving you both over. Chuck sighed. "I don't know. Come on Y/NN." he said softly getting up from his chair, and walking out with his hand on your back as he lead you out.

You were now all in the Nerd Herder, outside Professor Fleming's house, keeping watch. "We'll extract the professor as quickly as possible." Sarah said. " You'll keep watch? " Casey asked. "If we flash on any bad guys, one of us will call." you said. " Everything looks quiet, but..." Sarah started. " We know, we know, stay in the car." Chuck said. "Okay, good. Let's go." Sarah said. You got out of your seat so Sarah and Casey could get out of the car. Once they were both out, you sat back down in the passenger seat. You both watched as Casey and Sarah walked into his house. Not long after though, Chuck noticed the professor walking up. "It's Fleming." Chuck stated. "What?" Chuck pointed at the mirror where you saw the man walking up. "Are you sure?" "Definitely." Chuck looked over one more time then decided to get out of the car. "Professor Fleming! Hey!" Chuck shouted going after him. You got out of the car as well following them. Fleming turned around and saw you both and freaked out and ran. You and Chuck started to run after him too. "No, no, no, wait, professor, it's me, Chuck! Professor, stop! We're here to extract you! Glass Castle!" That made him stop and turn around to look at you both. " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. But it's- It's Chuck. I was in your Psychology and Symbolism class at Stanford. I don't know if you remember me." "Chuck Bartowski. Of course I remember you." " Ha, ha. I guess it's not every day you kick a guy out of school, huh? At least, I hope not." The professor then looked over at you. "And this is my best friend, Y/N." "Nice to meet you Y/N." "You too." "So you're, uh, with the Agency now. Why didn't you say so?" " I don't think we're supposed to, really." Chuck said. "Oh you are too miss?" "Yeah I am too." you said, nodding your head. " Well, we have code phrases. Didn't they train you?" looking between the two of you. " We mostly just stay in the car." Chuck admitted. " Next time, if it's a dangerous situation, say, "Are you coming to the toga party? "" " "Are you coming... ? " A real code phrase. I like it. That's awesome." "What are we doing? Who's bringing me in?" Fleming asked. "Oh, right. Yeah. So Sarah and Casey will do that." you said. " But, um, I was wondering if I could ask you something first. Why did the CIA have a file on me at Stanford?" Chuck asked. " I'm sorry." All of a sudden, Fleming just fell forward onto Chuck and he quickly grabbed him, thinking it was a hug. "Oh, hey. Hey. Hey, hey, buddy. Let's not beat ourselves up. You know, the past is the past. Okay. Look, we didn't really know each other that well at college. And this is a little awkward, so..." Chuck said feeling uncomfortable now. As Chuck's hand went down his back though he felt something sticking out of it. "Oh, boy. " "What is it Chuck?" you asked concerned. You looked over and saw the harpoon in Fleming's back. "Oh God." You quickly went to Chuck's side to help him. "Hey, hey, hang in there. Hang in there." Fleming's weight became too much though and Chuck began to fall over bringing you along with them. " I put in- Give this to Bryce Larkin." Fleming said handing Chuck a piece of paper. " Bryce? Bryce Larkin? What-? What did Bryce have to do with this?" All of a sudden the man with the crossbow came over and he harpooned the paper out of Chuck's hand, making you scream a little when you saw how close it came to your head. "Ah. Ah. We are nobody, I swear." Chuck said. The man grabbed the paper and walked away. You then heard Casey and Sarah walk out of the house. " Casey, come on! Over here!" you yelled. "Man down, man down! Help me!"

You and Chuck were back at his place now. You were both in his room, sitting on his bed, trying to process all that happened. You knew this was hitting Chuck more too and you wanted to be there for him and to keep him company. All of a sudden you both heard a whistle and looked up to see Sarah and Casey staring in the window. You decided to get up and let them in. "I'm sorry, guys, but we have to talk." " Okay." you said as you went to sit back down beside Chuck. Sarah took the comfy seat in front of his bed while Casey took the chair by the window. "So how was the hospital? Is the professor gonna be okay?" Chuck asked. " They're putting him into surgery now. " Sarah said. "We can't talk to him, sort this mess out. You sure it was Magnus you saw?" Casey asked. " Gee, I don't know, Casey. How many psycho archers do you know?" Chuck said sarcastically." I asked Fleming about why I was in the Intersect. Should've brought him to you, sorry." " It's not your fault." you said. "I keep thinking about what he said. Why would he want me to bring those numbers to Bryce?" Chuck asked. " Bryce must have been one of his CIA contacts. Fleming was probably never told of his death." "List off the numbers you remember. " Casey said. "There were like 10 of them. A couple of nines." Chuck started. "Five, definitely started with a two." you added. " That's it? You two have a computer for a brain and that's all-?" " It was a very stressful situation, okay? We watched a guy get skewered by a crossbow." Chuck shouted. "Look, Fleming knew something. Before he fell, he said, "I'm sorry. " Why would he say that?" " I don't know, Chuck." Sarah said. "Yeah, well, I think he might know why I'm in the Intersect."

It was later in the day now and you and Chuck were still chilling. You decided to walk over to Ellie's room and see what she was up to. Chuck walked in and you just chilled by the door. Ellie turned her head to look at you both. "You guys okay?" Chuck walked over to Ellie's bed and fell forward on it. You couldn't help but stifle a laugh when you saw that. "It's not late for you to change your mind about revisiting the old alma mater. And to cheer on for yours Y/N" she said as she was packing her suitcase for the weekend." Spending time with me and Devon." "Oh, please." Chuck said looking up at Ellie. "You just don't wanna be stuck in a car alone with Awesome's frat buddies." "Maybe, or maybe I'm your sister and I care about you, and you too Y/N." she said turning to you quickly before turning back to her brother. "And I think that going back to Stanford would help you to move on." "I love you, sis. And I'd take a lot of bullets for you... but five hours in a car with Awesome and his bros, that is asking too much. Besides, if I came, you wouldn't have room for your fun old foam finger." Chuck said grabbing it and pointing it in Ellie's face which made her laugh. "Stop it." "What is this?" " I don't know, but look at what I found." Ellie said holding up a book." See this?" " It was in my old college stuff. "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. "" "You still have that Chuck?" you asked amazed. "Yeah... Kinda forgot." " You want me to return it to the Stanford Library for you? " Ellie asked. "No. No, I'd kind of like to finish it. See how it ends."

" That book is like four years overdue." "What do you think Stanford's gonna do, huh? Expel me?" Chuck said jokingly. " Come on Y/NN." he said leading you out of Ellie's room. "I'll talk to you later Ellie." you said waving at her as she waved back. As you and Chuck walked down the hall, he looked at the book and stopped in the middle of the hall. You looked at him a little confused. "You okay Chuck?"

FLASHBACK Chuck and Bryce were having an intense game with nerf guns in the library. "You're a dead man, Chuck Bartowski." Bryce shouted, hiding. " All right. Come on, Bryce. Give it up, buddy. I know you're out of ammo, I've been counting." Bryce then appeared behind Chuck, hands in the air. "Buddy. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You wouldn't fire at an unarmed guy." " I might. It's hardly sportsmanlike." Chuck said with his gun pointed at him. "What's this?" Bryce said turning to the books on the shelf. He pulled one book out. "Gynecology for Geeks. You read this?" " No, is it a good read? " Bryce then fired his nerf gun and got Chuck on the forehead. "Got you. Larkin over Bartowski again." Present Time

"Chuck?" He then turned his head and looked at you. "I know what the numbers mean Y/N." "What?" "The paper. I know what they mean."

You and Chuck were now over at Casey's place once again.

"I know what the numbers mean. They're for a book in Stanford Library. Bryce had a place where he would stash stuff. He told Fleming about it. Fleming must have left the intel there for Bryce." Chuck explained. "It's a matter of time before Magnus figures it out and beats us to the book." "Bingo." " Unless we can beat him to it." "Bryce kept his stuff on the third floor. There was a turn..." Chuck was now struggling to remember." There was a turn... I'd have to be there to remember." You looked at Chuck wondering where he was going with this. He looked at you then back at Casey. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but we have to go to Stanford." "What?" you asked shocked. "Cool." Casey said.

#Chuck Series Rewrite #Chuck #Chuck TV Series #Chuck x Reader #Chuck Bartowski #Chuck Bartowski x Reader #Zachary Levi

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aestheticvoyage2019 · 5 years ago

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Day 348: Saturday December 14, 2019 - “Boston Town”

It was a wild out-of-body experience, but I woke this morning in the waterfront of Boston. We threw on our shoes and got to stepping out for a walk around a city Ive visited twice before and knew my way around a little. We set out and found the Quincy Market and some local nosh. Is it breakfast or lunch?! No sure - but get me some chowder either way! Mouth watered, as I threw in my order. The local flavor. After a walk around the block, I then led AC into ye Olde Union Oyster House - the oldest restaurant in America. We hooked up into a small but historic booth and ordered some fresh oysters.... we’ve downed oysters in several great spots, marked as happy and distinguished and now Boston-town can join the ranks. Big dogs too! dressed with lemon and horseradish, I made sure AC got the three biggest! I came a long way to crash this overnight, afterall! We then ordered a bag of the steamers as our server explained that it was something we could get no where else... Bring em on, but show us what to do. The Littleneck Clams that rounded out our afternoon foodventure, would involve removing them from the shell, peeling off the foreskin on the neck, and dipping in water-broth to get the sand and salt off, dip then in the rich butter, bring to mouth, and enjoy...repeat. Beautiful. A great memorable local fresh ocean-to-plate lunch in old town Boston. By far and away the best part of the day.

We’d cruise the freedom trail back to the crew hotel, learning about the tea party along the way. After AC went to work, I ventured out to see some old buildings in Brookline riding on the nation’s first Subway system on the D-line, then walked along Boylston to see the Boston Marathon Bombing Memorial. It was spooky how much that all looked exactly as it did in the photos. I wound through T stations to Haymarket where I got up into the north end - little italy - with a great view back on the lights of the city under the low clouds. As I went along hunting for a signature old school cigar parlor here, I got a blast back from the past - Id been here before. Over 10 years ago now.... A supplicated nice dinner, where I look over the shoulder of the man I was then, and everything I was hoping for in my life, and how its all worked out pretty nicely, despite myself then. I hadnt yet made a decision to move to the PNW, but the table was setting itself. Over that Ashton Sorcerer down in the basement speakeasy type place, packed with other cool fellows, I reflected on that journey those past ten years. Rounding that decade out now, in these last few weeks, I enjoyed the place and the company, and felt affirmed in who I was, and how I got here. Pretty satisfied in most all the areas of my life as we get ready to start the roaring 20s again.

Song: Garth Brooks - Unanswered Prayers

Quote: “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”― Samuel Adams

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tsuki-sennin · 2 years ago

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Heyooooo

I uh... Didn't mean for this to be so late, but I've been having a really shitty couple weeks, so uh... oops.

Anyways, Geats! I'm ready for Round 2!

-The fox!

-"I literally almost died, neesan!"

-"Yeah whatever you say bro lmao"

-Ace-sama!

-Everybody loves Ace-sama!

-...did he use his Desire for this hgjkl

-Oh hey, Miss Tsumuri.

-"I am so fucking awesome. ...and yet..."

-What kinda limit would exist for something like this?

-Desire Driver!

-ID Core!

-Tanuki Boi!

-I see Toei's green screen has improved.

-Up to you determine which way I mean that.

-Oooooooh, Trust Last! I've heard this a few times, and this absolutely slaps.

-Bomb for the win!

-God, this sponsor screen is

-Sad

-Jamato! Those freaky plant mushroom people!

-This is a truly twisted game you're making us play, Tsumuri.

-How many people do you reckon not get brought back? Or how many do you think still feel some form of residual trauma and not realize why?

-Moreover, how did the people running the game decide that this is the best way to go about it?

-Desire God power.

-Oh fuck, putting them on the spot like that?

-Where we droppin' boys?

-The Desire Grand Prix. A treasure hunt!

-...did they like... give those loot boxes to them?

-Oh, Neon has no friends... how tragic.

-Daaaaamn, Ace got kicks.

-Armed Water!

-Ready!

-Fight!

-Oh wow, not even gonna give us water pressure, huh game?

-Then again, a BONK is just as good a strategy as any.

-Guess it's nice that there're more people are willing to help each other out than not so far.

-...how long will that last, I wonder?

-You did it, Keiwa! You survived your first encounter~!

-Don't you dare think you're safe for a moment though~!

-"Ohhhhhhh, you're that nice kid I rejected!"

-World Peace, eh, buddy?

-Awww.... this must be the Dad Rider I've heard so much about.

-"Hey hey, congrats! You did it!"

-Well fuck, man, now I'm wondering how the hell we have all this swanky stuff.

-I will follow your career with great interest, Neon-san.

-"Haha, woooow, you're all

-Buffa! Asanaga,right? Er... Michima? No, no, Azuma Michinaga!

-Tycoon and Nago!

-Background characters hjkl

-Free time, he says.

-Faucet and Shield!

-"Trash!"

-"...trash? :("

-No fighting, no cheating.

-Holy shit, these go by so quick.

-"Those who survive!"

-Oh yeah, Keiwa saw that

-"Not if you're a Kamen Rider."

-So, poor Shirowe from last episode is absolutely dead.

-Rest in peace, Kyoryu Blue.

-Oh god, is she another rider fan.

-Oh hey, the Jamato have their own language! Like the Gurongi and the Femushinmu!

-Pretty neat.

-I see Mary and Nago are a fine dynamic duo.

-Armed Arrow is absolutely cursed now.

-Panda Magnum.

-And I get

-A panda sniper... perhaps a call back to the Scouting Panda Raider from Zero-One? That would make sense considering Takahashi...

-"Oh fuck I could actually die here."

-Ginpen's family!

-C'mon Keiwa! Get your butt in gear!

-For a tanuki you seem to lack any balls!

-Nooooo, Taira-san!

-So, if the ID Core is smashed, that's it. Game over.

-Y'know, for as suspicious as Tsumuri is, she genuinely seems kinda broken up about Ginpen.

-"I fight for the children. For their futures."

-If you don't fight, you can't make your dreams come true.

-Change the world.

-"Hey so, can I borrow that? All those orphans and poor people I'm fighting for kinda need it."

-Boost Armed Water looks so sick.

-I think I get it now. Armed Water and these other low tier items are pretty sorry on their own, but using it in conjunction with the

-Daaaaaamn, that's a strong finisher.

-"Good job, idiot! Thanks, dummy!"

-"You lied?! You can't just do that, I trusted you!"

-Ahhhh, little Boost is a fickle sort.

-No chance at bringing them back, huh?

-Ohhhhh, Ace.

-You may be a lying son of a bitch, but... you're still a Kamen Rider at the end of the day, huh?

-Some exceptions, huh?

-Zombie Survival!

-Zombie for Zombie!

-Part of me wonders... how do the administrators of the game pick out Riders?

-What manner of bizarre criteria have to be fulfilled to be chosen? Is there even an age limit? I mean, Da-Paan's a high schooler, right?

-If you hadn't noticed, Ace's coin is a Roman denarius with a relief of Julius Caesar. Considering Caesar's own strategic track record and claims of divinity, this fits very well with his character.

-Right, so! I'm quite excited to jump into the next round. Here's hoping we both make it through to the end, huh?

#the world's next round: trick shot of desire for the grand victory #kamen rider #kamen rider geats #geats spoilers #kr geats

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Milwaukee man makes a business out of tracking down stolen cars MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Thousands of cars have been stolen in Milwaukee in 2021. One local man makes it his business to hunt down those cars for a living. It’s no secret to local residents, car theft in Milwaukee is a known problem. “We hunt cars, we go out there and get them back” said stolen car hunter Ace Smith. Smith’s business is called GTA Recovery. He’s been around the block for years. “Everybody already know who we is already, been doing it long enough” said Smith. According to Milwaukee police crime statistics map, more than 3,300 cars have been stolen in Milwaukee this year. “There’s more stolen cars than anything,” Smith said. “So with us seeing all the stolen cars we just basically started to take action in our own little way.” He says he’s recovered about 2,800 cars so far in his line of work . Smith and his partner drive through neighborhoods finding cars that look suspicious. “We’re just sweeping the neighborhood,” Smith said. “It may not look like nothing, but it always pan out.” Smith searches for cars based off detailed descriptions provided to him by a customer. He and his crew will then track it down. “We not out here try to hurt anybody,” Smith said. “We put out skills together and can’t be touched right now. Ace Smith’s work is not affiliated with Milwaukee police. If your car is stolen you are still urged to call police department. var theAppId = "808704082583441"; (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.8&appId=" + theAppId; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Source link Orbem News #Business #Cars #Man #Milwaukee #stolen #tracking

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mycasandstarrs · 7 years ago

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SPN 01X01: “Pilot”

I’‘“cI personally believe (and know) that I have a bit of an issue with not knowing how much to share about myself, but I figured I’d tell y’all a bit about my history with the SPN Rewatch experience.

I actually participated in last year’s SPN Rewatch and had a lot of fun with it! I had originally wanted to liveblog it on here but chickened out at the last moment and ended up liveblogging it (so to speak) in my journals. When Hurricane Harvey hit, the Rewatch was the thing that kept me going and gave me a sense of stability.

I’m more than happy and excited to be doing this all over again, with the added bonus of liveblogging here on my blog! I’ve got a good chunk of time on my hands and I figured it would be good character development for me to do this publicly, so without further ado, here is my liveblogging of S1EP1 “Pilot”.

Lawrence, Kansas. 22 years ago.

“Come on, let’s say good night to your brother.” Mary’s first words on the show.

“’Night, Sam.” Dean’s first words.

“Hey Dean.” John’s first words.

They seemed like such a normal, happy, loving family. *cries*

I think the show does a great job of setting up Mary as a regular housewife and the Winchesters as an ordinary family; it made me believe at very first viewing that what happened to them next was just an unfortunate stroke of luck, as opposed to something that was in the works and destined for them for years, hell, decades.

(I’m noticing old, vintage wedding photos. Are they the wedding photos of John and Mary’s parents?)

“Sammy? Sammy!” Mary’s last words.

And there’s the scream of horror.

Oh, jesus christ. Nothing prepared me for that death and even now my stomach turns seeing Mary on the ceiling like that. RIP Mary Winchester.

“Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back! Now Dean, go!”

(Little baby Sammy was so cute.)

Our first (silent) title card!

Enter Jess. “Sam! get a move on! We were supposed to be there like 15 minutes ago. Are you coming or what?”

I don’t know the exact details of the night Sam left for Stanford (besides the blow out fight between Sam and John) but at some point Sam packed the photo of his parents and he has it out on display in his apartment. That’s incredibly sweet.

THERE’S OUR SAMMY!

Proud girlfriend Jess leads a toast to Sam and his LSAT score. (174!)

There’s a notable concern in Jess’ eyes when Sam tells them that his family doesn’t know about his stunning achievement. Did she ever ask about Sam’s family or did she ever plan to ask about them?? She seems like the type to let things go if someone asked her to, but eventually it had to be worrying her...like here.

“I’m proud of you. And you’re gonna knock ‘em dead on Monday and you’re gonna get that full ride. I know it.”

“What would I do without you?”

“Crash and burn.”

*screams in foreshadowing*

Jess was such a good and supportive girlfriend. Sensing that Sam didn’t have a good upbringing/home life, she really goes the extra mile to show her support for him, which I’m sure Sam deeply appreciated.

And there's my beloved Dean!

AWWW THOSE BABY VOICES.

Ah so, Jess knew Sam had a brother.

LMAO @ Sam for pulling the “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of her” card.

THEN he tries to fucking be a smartass when Dean tries to put it delicately. (”Dad hasn’t been home in a couple of days.”)

And finally, there’s the backfiring on Sam’s part when Dean says the now famous (and later paralleled) line:

I can see the Lucifer/Michael parallels as early as right here: Sam, rebellious and angry at the absent father vs Dean, dutiful and loyal to the absent father.

“You think mom would have wanted this for us?”

No, Sammy, she did not.

“I can’t do this alone.”

“Yeah, you can.”

“Yeah...well i don’t want to.”

Still true to this day.

The Impala’s arsenal! Still so awesome.

“Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?”

On first viewing, I immediately thought, “Dude, he looks old enough to be on his own” just as Dean said:

“I’m 26, dude.”

and that’s the exact moment I claimed him as my favorite.

Wow, 3 weeks? No wonder Dean was worried.

WHOA how did Sam have THAT KIND OF BLADE WITH HIM??

“Hey, everything’s gonna be ok. I promise.” Sam’s last words to Jess. Oh jesus, why.

I got fucking jumpscared by the show, goddamn it.

Welp, RIP Troy. I’d feel worse for him if he hadn’t tried to cheat on his girlfriend.

Real rich of Sam ragging on Dean about the credit card scams, when about 9 years later (S10) he offers to teach Claire about the very same thing. That’s A+ character development coming up.

“Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.”

(I think this is Dean’s first “Sammy” of the show, no?)

agH Netflix still hasn’t got the right music for this season. No AC/DC for me here. :(

I love seeing Sam’s ~shocked~ face at all the fake ids. What an innocent baby.

Posing as federal Marshals.

“You two are a little young for marshals, aren’t you?”

“Thanks, that’s awfully kind of you.”

LMAOO. I wish I can brush shit off like that. #goals.

That accurate display of sibling culture:

Now posing as Troy’s uncles. (Really? Uncles?)

Sam and Dean: “What do they talk about?” (That synch up!!!)

The first scene Jensen and Jared filmed together: the library research scene. :’)

1981. Constance Welch, 24 y.o, jumps off a bridge. An hour before the suicide she called 911 to report that her kids were dead in the bathtub. “Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch.”

At the crime scene. A bro fight is a-brewin’.

“Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back.”

Them’s fightin’ words!

Wait about 11 years on that, Sam.

Dean is loyal to both absent parents.

And Sam didn’t even apologize for that! Dude, wth. (Tho Dean didn’t apologize for slamming him into the bridge, so I guess its even.)

There’s Constance.

“Who’s driving your car?”

*Dean holds up car keys*

lmao.

How fucking athletic of Sam to hold onto the side of the bridge, hot damn.

Then there’s poor Dean covered in mud.

“That Constance chick, what a BITCH.”

“You smell like a toilet.”

Sam picking his first lock on the show.

Just noticed that John had an area on the wall dedicated to “Deals and Demons”. ohohoho, hoo boy.

Monster of the Episode: Woman in white (Constance Welch.)

Oh there we go, Sam’s apologizing for what he said on the bridge.

“Hey, no chick flick moments.”

“All right, jerk.”

“Bitch.”

John had a photo of him and the boys. :’)

Oh, Sam’s listening to a voicemail left by Jess.

Welp, cops.

“So come home soon, okay? I love you.” Jess’ last words to Sam.

“So. Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?”

“My boobs.”

I fucking love S1!Dean. What a babe.

Dean, er, “Ted Nugent” is in “real trouble” here.

John’s journal. Unceremoniously dumped on the table in front of Dean.

“DEAN 35-111″

Joseph Welch.

Sam, now posing as a reporter.

Sam taking a plunge and telling Joseph about the Woman in White.

Welp, he got kicked out but he got the info he needed.

Out goes Dean, courtesy of Sam’s fake 911 call as a distraction.

“I’m taking you home.” OOOHHHH THAT ONE LINER THOO

Aaand he drives the Impala into the house.

Creepy ghost children.

Oh good lord. RIP Constance Welch, again and permanently.

They are the absolute cutest :)

Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.

Aww Dean. He got so used to having Sam around. :(

“I’ll take you home.” Makes me sad that S1!Sam’s “home” was a place without Dean and Dean knew it.

“You know, we made a hell of a team back there.”

Dean’s goodbye, because actually saying “goodbye” would hurt too much. (Or maybe he was trying to plant the seed of “come hunting with me” in Sam’s mind...)

Sam enters his apartment...goes into his bedroom (eating something too, maybe the cookies Jess was baking?)

And there it is. RIP Jessica Moore, died the exact same day and way that Mary died.

Ugh god, that instance when Dean looks up and sees Jess on the ceiling. That one tiny moment of shock, horror, and realization that that’s how his mother died too. Jesus, Jensen’s a good actor.

And then it’s straight to saving Sam.

One brother pulling the other brother away from his lover to save his life, at the cost of leaving the brother’s loved one behind. Totally won’t be repeated later on in the series...

Dean doesn’t even know what to say to Sam. I don’t blame him.

OOHHHH!!!!!!

And that’s the Pilot. One of my favorite Pilots of any of the tv shows that I watch, and a pretty good episode for Supernatural. I love revisiting the baby faces and voices of the brothers, and I love pointing out all the things that are gonna change for the brothers in upcoming seasons (from Sam’s disdain of credit card scams to Mary “not coming back”). Overall, an A+ episode for me.

#spn summer rewatch #spn liveblog #spn 1x01 #this was already so much fun #this also took about 3 hours to do #but it was 3 hours well spent tbh

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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Meet The Genetic Sleuths Solving Decades-Old Trans Murders

On the blustery morning of November 26, 1983, a beachgoer spotted a still-warm body in Half Moon Bay, California. The victim, who looked about 20 years old, had been stabbed more than 20 times and left in the sands near Pillar Point Bluff. Their wrists were slashed, their face bruised and swollen. (Out of respect for the victim’s unknown gender identity, Motherboard is using they/them as a pronoun.)

At their time of death, the person was presenting as a stylish, slender woman. They were 5-foot-10 inches tall, wearing an auburn pixie cut and casual clothes: yellow capri pants and a turtleneck over a foam-form bra, fishnet hose, and two pairs of feminine underwear. A Madonna-style white metal crucifix hung around their neck.

When taken to a medical examiner, the victim's body was misidentified as male, and nobody ever came to claim it. In an effort to identify the individual, cops dubbed them “John Doe #83-26” and released a crime sketch depicting a man. It failed to convey their gender identity or expression, including that they were likely wearing makeup and going by a woman’s name.

The case of Pillar Point Doe soon went cold and their identity remained a mystery for 35 years—until two genealogy sleuths recently cracked the case. The trans couple, who specialize in cold cases involving trans and gender non-conforming people, found the forgotten victim’s birth name through an online DNA database, reviving the hunt for their killer.

“I would work until I passed out”

Lee and Anthony Redgrave traced Pillar Point Doe’s relatives from Wales to Utah using the family history site GEDmatch, known for its role in finding the notorious Golden State Killer. The search was close to home for the Redgraves, who toiled obsessively for months without pay.

“I would work until I passed out. I’d cry myself to sleep at night, and have dreams where I was woken up thinking that [the victim] was telling me their name,” said Anthony, who along with Lee, ran a small team for the DNA Doe Project, a non-profit that identifies deceased people through forensic genealogy.

Lee added: “There are a lot of factors—and homicide detectives have absolutely no idea how to do this.”

The Redgraves were inspired by personal tragedy to help solve the case. In January 2018, a transgender friend of theirs, Christa Steele-Knudslien—a beauty pageant organizer and trans activist—was beaten and stabbed to death. The attack, which came after another friend’s suicide, sent Lee spiraling into a depression.

“It really tore my brain up,” said Lee, 41, a non-binary night owl with arms full of tattoos. “I got depressed, and when that happens I usually throw myself into a project.”

Anthony and Lee Redgrave

When a true crime-loving friend recommended they volunteer for the DNA Doe Project, it seemed like a good distraction.“Partially, I’m sure, it was her being like, ‘You have to stop being in a funk,’” Lee said. “We both felt really helpless about Christa—and this was something we actually could help with.”

They had plenty of experience with genetic genealogy, but they knew the limits of DNA and family tree matches for transgender victims. Database searches often lead to “dead names”—birth names victims no longer use, and aren’t known by in their communities. And most law enforcement systems don’t allow searches across sex marker categories, blinding them to some gender non-conforming folks.

A “trans-informed” perspective could shed some light, considering trans people are more likely to be the target of violent, unresolved crime. “Being a trans person, I know I’ve been incredibly fortunate not to have had a bunch of horrible things happen to me,” said Anthony, 38, a soft-spoken Civil War buff with a long ginger beard. “That was a driving force.”

When the Redgraves first heard about the Pillar Point Doe case in July 2018, they knew almost immediately it was ripe for a genetic gumshoeing.

An Unlikely Partnership

The victim, who was carrying no identification, had been found only two hours after they were stabbed in the neck and chest, allowing cops to collect a piece of blood-soaked blotter paper known as a “blood card.” This meant Pillar Point Doe’s DNA didn’t have to be extracted from bone, a longer and more expensive process. And yet it would likely show a complete picture of the victim’s entire genetic makeup, one that could be extracted in a lab and uploaded to GEDmatch, they said.

But the couple still had to convince the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to hand over the blood sample—and to team up with them on the investigation.

The Redgraves had a hunch cops would be willing. Their request came on the heels of the Golden State Killer’s arrest a few counties away, and in a section of northern California that tends to be queer-friendly.

“The thought was it was a good case because it was the Bay Area. We expected there would be more friendly law enforcement and a LBGTQ liaison in the Bay Area,” said Anthony. “We had to give an elevator pitch to the department, like, ‘This is why we want this specific case, and this is how it will benefit you.’”

The cops, it turned out, were game. The Redgraves signed non-disclosure agreements and— in a rare move—police released Pillar Point Doe’s private case files, including the blood card along with crime scene and coroner photos.

The Redgraves agreed to do the genetic sleuthing, then pass off next of kin matches to police, who would talk to relatives, collect DNA samples and handle the investigation from there.

It was an unlikely partnership. Many trans people refuse to work with cops since law enforcement has routinely targeted the community, trans activists and experts said. According to a 2015 survey, at least 57 percent of trans respondents said they would be afraid or uncomfortable going to police for help.

“It comes from being abused or not taken seriously by officers who historically have been disrespectful or dismissive of trans people,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, a policy expert for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “There’s a real stigma. Sometimes just being visibly trans in public is enough to get stopped or harassed by police on suspicion of being a sex worker—whether or not you actually are.”

Cases with trans victims have long been de-prioritized by cops, who assume victims are sex workers, living a “high risk” lifestyle or are “disowned” by their families, Heng-Lehtinen said.

But a lack of trans awareness is bad for police, too. Detectives who are ignorant about the community are more likely to use a transgender person’s dead name because it was printed on a government-issued ID, or to seek outdated information from estranged family members who knew them pre-transition, he said. It keeps those investigators from understanding the whole picture.

“If you’re an officer who’s asking around for Mark Smith and everybody in the neighborhood knows her as Marcia, that’s not helping anybody,” Heng-Lehtinen said.

Lee chalks it up to lack of education and training. “If you look at popular media over the past 20 years, the characters that are dressing opposite of what they’re ‘supposed to be’ are usually trying to trick somebody or get away with something—the end of ‘Ace Ventura’ is a classic example, or ‘The Crying Game,’” Lee said. “You get a lot of that mentality still in law enforcement, just because they haven’t had an alternate education.”

Identifying Doe

The Redgraves quickly got to work on creating a more gender-accurate forensic sketch of Pillar Point Doe. In the 80s and 90s, at least three drawings had been made of them, all wildly different.

One showed a “partially-Asian goth” guy with boxy slicked-back black hair, Lee said. Another depicted a shaggy-haired Val Kilmer look-alike with almond eyes. All were of men, and none were quite right.

“It seemed like [police artists] were trying to make this person look male,” Lee said. “Considering they had natural hair, not a wig, and were wearing pants with multiple layers of hose and underwear, it’s likely that they were tucking to have a more female appearance,” Lee said, citing details about the victim's outfit.

“They were probably attempting to pass as female as opposed to someone who was [a] drag performer or engaging in prostitution while cross-dressing.”

Based on those clues, the male sketch on fliers would have likely been lost on Pillar Point Doe’s queer “chosen family”—or anyone who saw them the night of the murder, the couple said. So using crime scene and coroner photos, the Redgraves and an artist came up with a new sketch that depicts the victim with a more feminine look, a yellow outfit and natural-style makeup.

In March 2019, Pillar Point’s blood card came back from the lab. It showed Pillar Point Doe’s entire genome sequence on a huge hard drive.

From their cozy home office in central Massachusetts, the Redgraves and a small team plugged those chunks of genetic code into GEDmatch, which compares DNA from testing sites like 23andMe and ancestry.com to find possible relatives with similar genetic makeups. Unlike law enforcement’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the site can pinpoint distant ancestors, not just immediate family members.

It works like this: Say you find a painting in a park with no signature and you want to learn the name of the artist. If you could somehow scan the piece’s complex colors and brush strokes into a massive database of art, you might be able to match it to the person who made it. Other paintings by the artist with similar patterns—a distant cousin, in this analogy—may also pop up.

In general, DNA evidence is only as accurate as the people who collect and analyze it. Technicians have been known to misinterpret samples, and police have submitted tainted or mixed genetic material. But Pillar Point’s blood card appeared to be a solid sample, the couple said.

The search led the Redgraves to a small town in Wales, where Pillar Point Doe’s distant relatives once worked at a glove factory. “We kept finding people who descended from this really specific family, but then finding the right branch turned out to be really hard,” Lee said.

Scores of unwed mothers hailed from the town for unknown reasons, leading to frustrating genealogy dead-ends. “It happened over and over again in this one little town,” Lee said.

The couple built a massive family tree and cross-referenced names with public records. They traced that to a group of relatives to a Utah pioneer community with roots in the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “When you work on someone’s genealogy, you get to know them in a really intimate way through their ancestors,” Lee said. “You know you’re getting close when they start looking like who you’re looking for.”

The couple soon discovered Pillar Point’s cousins belonged to an intermarried clan of families. Some men had multiple wives and children, amounting to a genealogy headache. “It’s a problem that’s common in isolated religious communities. The fancy word is endogamy,” Lee said. “You end up with a whole lot of half-relations and unreliable predictions.”

Setbacks

Then a fiasco unfolded. The arrest of the Golden State Killer in 2018 had sparked privacy fears from critics who claimed GEDMatch could be used for nefarious reasons. When a criminal case centering on a minor stirred up more controversy on the site the next year, the owners abruptly purged the “law enforcement matching” section of it in May 2019, according to the Redgraves.

With no warning, it left the couple with only about 20 percent of the genetic clues they’d had before. “Think of it as the number of letters turned around on your ‘Wheel of Fortune’ puzzle. [Afterwards] there were 80 percent less letters, and we still had to guess the phrase,” Lee said.

The setback forced them to get creative. They sought uploads from people who descended from early settlers in Utah, along with the Mormon church, and mapped out “clusters” of potential relatives.

Anthony spent hours tinkering with DNA Painter, a tool that helps genealogists make sense of matches. Eventually, it led to Pillar Point’s possible great grandfather.

During an all-nighter in October 2019, they had a breakthrough. When they got to one of the possible great grandfather’s relatives, they checked records for proof of the person’s life after 1983, and found none. Lee pulled out Pillar Point’s crime scene photo and checked it against a high school yearbook photo of the grandchild.

It all added up: Here was the long-forgotten face of Pillar Point Doe.

They both burst into tears. “There were periods of crying and shaking for a few days afterwards. It was really intense,” Lee said.

The team then sent Pillar Point’s birth name to cops, who collected DNA from a relative to confirm the match, reinvigorating the investigation.

San Mateo County police have since declined to release Pillar Point Doe’s birth name—or to allow the couple to—saying it could hurt their hunt for the killer. “This homicide is actively being investigated. Unfortunately, disclosing information about the details may hinder our investigation,” Sergeant William Young, from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, told Motherboard.

Cold Case, Close To Home

Now, the Redgraves want more answers. “Ideally, police will find the perpetrator,” Lee said. “[Cops] definitely want to tell us something but they can’t. It makes us feel hopeful.”

Not long ago, Lee got a tattoo of poppies in Pillar Point Doe’s honor. It was inspired by the California flower bloom that could be seen from space in March 2019, the week the couple began searching for the victim's identity. “I am absolutely forever changed from working on this case,” Lee said.

Ultimately, the Redgraves hope Pillar Point Doe will be remembered for who they were—a complex and loved person, not a forgotten John Doe. “Hopefully someone who loved them will carry on their memory,” Lee said.

The couple now runs the Trans Doe Task Force, a research group that helps police and medical examiners with transgender and gender-expansive cold cases. Recently, they launched a database that allows for DNA comparisons across sex marker categories. They also founded their own firm, Redgrave Research Forensic Services, and Anthony has helped train law enforcement departments on five continents.

These days, the couple has a small framed high school photo of Pillar Point Doe in their home, near portraits of other people from cases close to their hearts.

“Pillar Point has become part of our family. I feel like we are basically like their foster parents,” Anthony said. “I’m going to feel that way until I know exactly how this case ends.”

Meet The Genetic Sleuths Solving Decades-Old Trans Murders syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 3 Review: The Secret of Solitary Scribe

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This NANCY DREW review contains spoilers.

Nancy Drew Season 2, Episode 3

Ever since Nancy Drew decided that ghosts are real back in its very first episode, the series has had to walk a fine line: Make its supernatural baddies genuinely scary, but not so much that they overshadow the rest of the show. “The Secret of Solitary Scribe” is a great example of when that balance works – combining multiple legitimately scary sequences with solid character work.

As the clock ticks down to the Drew Crew’s Aglaeca-foretold death date, Nancy and her friends get desperate, in more ways than one. George and Nick deal with their fear of dying by obsessively apartment hunting and trying to have sex. Bess searches for a loophole. Ace decides to spend what may be his last Shabbat with his father. And Nancy sets her sights on tracking down A.J. Kitsune, the surviving member of the group of teens who last summoned the vengeful sea spirit back in 1975.

What she finds…doesn’t exactly bode well for her own future.

In the 44 years since his friends died, A.J. has indeed reinvented himself as a successful author. (Of horror stories, naturally.) But that’s because he has a lot of real-life content to draw from: He’s survived by using a charm that summons the worst possible spirits to him every day, monsters so dangerous that they keep the Aglaeca at bay. A.J.’s alive, sure, but he’s not really living. And he’s being regularly visited by a shrieking horde of grabby hands zombie ghosts that seem to pop through his walls and floor with abandon.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Despite all that, he still never figured out how to stop the Aglaeca, and she has never stopped trying to collect her due toll. Are Nancy and friends doomed to the same fate in a best-case scenario? Truly, this subplot is wildly dark – A.J. is clearly very damaged, and not just by the fact that he’s been haunted by monsters for most of his life. He’s still obviously struggling with his guilt over the accident he and his friends caused and the life they took, not to mention the one they bartered with the Aglaeca to save. (He finally wrote the vision of his own death he’d been carrying for decades into his final book. That’s hardcore messed up!)

One of the best things about this season so far is that it hasn’t asked Nancy to become someone she’s not, just because she’s suddenly discovered her life isn’t what she once thought it was. She’s as prickly and pushy as ever – even more so than usual at times – and clearly lashing out at everyone around her because she doesn’t know what to do with everything she’s feeling. Or even what to call most of it.

She’s so angry with Carson she can barely talk to him, and has spent the season thus far generally avoiding him. Until she needs something. She’s aggressive and confrontational with bio dad Ryan Hudson, at least – again – until she needs something. She’s so desperate to break the Aglaeca’s hold on her and her friends that she steals a token from an equally desperate man, without knowing – or even asking – how dangerous it might be. Isn’t that the exact same attitude that sort of got them into this mess to begin with?

Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Reunion of Lost Souls

By Lacy Baugher

How Nancy Drew Succeeds as an Adaptation Where The Hardy Boys Fails

By Lacy Baugher

Nancy may be our favorite girl detective, but she’s not always right. She’s not even always admirable. And her behavior this week, well. She’s not being the woman Mister Rogers knew she could be a lot of the time, let’s put it that way, even if she does ultimately make it right in the end. Though I guess that’s the kind of thing that can happen when you have a literal specter of death hanging over your head. I truly want her to solve this mystery not just so she doesn’t die, but so she can finally take a minute to do some self-reflection.

For her part, Bess – shockingly, an avowed horror fan, who would have guessed? – wants to make amends with the Aglaeca, encouraging the group to return what they bargained for, apologize and hope that’s enough to reverse the curse. She’s done research and everything!

It’s not, of course, but the fact that Nancy ultimately came around to the attempt – to letting go of her birth mother’s bones in the name of making things right – feels like legitimate growth in its creepy, weird way. I mean, she didn’t know they were going to get rejected and thrown back up all over The Claw. (Though honestly in this town it’s probably something you should expect.)

At any rate, another episode is down, and Nancy and friends are another day closer to their own death visions. I’m pretty sure we already know that Nancy Drew is going to get them out of this somehow, but the question I keep coming back to is – at what cost?

Additional Thoughts

I really hope we go back to how Bess’ great-great-many-times-over granddad and his role in creating the Aglaeca at some point before all this is over.

This show needs so much more of Ace’s dad on it.

I love the revelation that Ace is Jewish, that his father converted upon marrying his mother, and they actually at least semi-observe. I’m also happy Nancy Drew is finally letting us get to know Ace on his own terms – but pretty soon I’m really going to need to meet his mom. Or at the very least find out his last name. (Which, in my wildest moments of fan speculation, I figure has to be something that rings a bell for those of us familiar with this fictional universe. Hardy, maybe?)

Ryan Hudson is buying groceries for Patrice Dodd – and he got her flowers? – my heart is not made of stone, y’all. (Though we need to talk about his terrible choice in facial hair at the moment. Yikes.)

Nancy inviting Carson and Ryan to help her say goodbye to Lucy Sable properly was extremely sweet.

Of course, the lady who runs the Horseshoe Bay Historical Society is actually connected to a terrifying monster that haunts the town’s shores. Who would have ever expected anything else?

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jackcarson-foxfutureworks · 7 years ago

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MY TOP TEN MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES

I really like talking about games.

I think that's all the reason I need to tell you about the upcoming games I'm most excited about.

The games on this list don't have to be launching next year, hell, they could launch next week and still make it on and since this isn't the usual one game article, I'll be briefly covering each game as to avoid a super long piece.

Also look out for "My Top Ten Games of 2017" and the interestingly named "The Top Ten Games I Played in 2017", both of which should be popping up towards the very end of December or January at the latest.

BEWARE OF MINOR SPOILERS FOR RELATED GAMES

It would be unfair of me not to talk about Red Dead Redemption 2 on this list, but due to a lack of information and game footage ever since the first trailer dropped almost a year ago, I can only award it an honourable mention.

However, what I have seen looks breath-taking. The environments in the trailer are truly beautiful, ranging from starry forest nights to sunny open plains, it looks like Rockstar has nailed the aesthetic.

Elsewhere, there does seem to be some variation of The Magnificent Seven surrounding the characters, but that's as far as the plot goes so far. Hopefully, the announcement on the 28th of this month will shine more light on the matter.

Red Dead Redemption was a masterpiece. Fingers crossed the sequel follows suit.

Now, I know of exactly one person who is definitely going to be disappointed about my decision to put Monster Hunter: World in the 10th spot and no amount of reasoning will appease them.

I was introduced to the Monster Hunter franchise very late and although I've had fun with the two I've played (Freedom Unite and Generations), there's a couple of problems I personally find that hold it back.

For starters, despite playing plenty of games that involve grinding resources, I feel Monster Hunter goes that extra irritating length of not always giving you the materials you need. The combat at times is a little clunky and the slow animations that stop you from moving are god damn obnoxious, to say the least.

That said, I'm excited to see Monster Hunter make the leap to current-gen consoles as this has seemingly improved the clunky movement and unnecessary animations while adding a more seamless open world and deeper hunting mechanics.

Although Metro Exodus currently suffers from the same affliction as Red Dead Redemption 2, it prospers from two previous games that have set a well-established tone for the series and having played the redux versions quite recently, it's fresh on my mind.

I've felt Metro has always been a very under-appreciated series. Sure, the last two lacked the freedom of the Fallout or S.T.A.L.K.E.R games but it blended survival horror and action wonderfully while retaining a haunting post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

And while scampering across the massive wastelands of Washington or Boston is jolly good fun, sometimes it's okay to be confined in the more intimate tunnels of the metro and its soulful communities.

Despite all that, Exodus looks to be ditching the semi-linear tunnels for an open world approach, and while I'm itching to see more of the surface, I just hope it doesn't cause Metro to lose its claustrophobic charm.

I didn't own a PS3 when The Last of Us stormed onto the scene and so by the time I had the chance to play the remastered version on PS4 I already knew all there was to know about Joel and Ellie's equally heartwrenching and heartwarming journey.

Credit to Naughty Dog then that even when I'm ten steps ahead I'm still hit with a ton of emotional bricks. I'm a sucker for storytelling, so combine that with fantastic games and you've got yourself the formula to tingling all the right spots in me.

Just knowing that I'll once again be able to tag along with Joel and Ellie as they set off on a new adventure not only fills me with beaming delight but intense trepidation.

So, yeah...the Battlefront reboot didn't nearly live up to the expectations set by the 12-year-old Battlefront II, the question is can the sequel of the same name break the shadow that currently hangs over it?

I'm optimistic and considering what's been revealed so far, I might just be rewarded for it. Battlefront II is finally going to include all eras of Star Wars from planets to characters (Darth Maul is the coolest, hands down! Don't even fight me on this!) and a campaign mode which intriguingly focuses on an elite squad from the Empire.

I'm stating the obvious when I say I'm a big Star Wars fan, but I have even greater love for Battlefront II on the PS2, and since I can't remember the last time there was a standout Star Wars game after it, there is a lot on the line for 2017's Battlefront II.

If I had a pound for the number of people who are going to skip this part of the list...I'd still be totally skint, because not many people read my blog as it stands :'(.

Yes, I have played a lot of Call of Duty in my time, especially the Modern Warfare series. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea and it's certainly not what it used to be. Enter Call of Duty: WWII which is taking a welcoming step back in time and a massive step forward for the series in my eyes.

Returning to its roots of WWII will not only catch the attention of old CoD players who might've moved on by now, but it allows the series to remain an arcade FPS while alleviating the intense groans brought on by the extravagant Michael Bay set pieces and futuristic copy/paste combat.

I, for one, am really looking forward to what Call of Duty: WWII has to offer. With a seemingly Hollywood blockbuster campaign akin to the cinematic experience presented in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers just to name a few, this year Call of Duty has the potential to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

There's no denying that id Software is the granddaddy of the first person shooter and if it wasn't for my tremendous love for RPGs and Bethesda Games Studios, then they'd easily be my favourite studio.

2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order wasn't id's first foray into reviving a classic franchise of theirs. That belongs to DOOM 3. And it wasn't the first time we'd see a rebooted Wolfenstein game as that is attached to 2009's unfortunately mediocre outing simply named Wolfenstein. However, I believe it is thanks to the success of The New Order that lead to the recent new wave of classic FPS franchises making their grand returns, namely DOOM in 2016 and the upcoming Quake Champions.

I'm getting slightly sidetracked, but having grown up playing classic first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM 1 & 2, Half-Life and Quake, it was a blast from the past playing a ruthless, no holds barred, gun-toting badass like B.J. Blazkowicz again.

The New Colossus looks to up the ante even further, with more absurd moments and bloodier gauntlets for the Nazi-crushing one man army.

Bring 'em on!

I adore Far Cry 3. It improved greatly upon Far Cry 2's rigid feel and drab appearance with smoother combat and beautiful tropical visuals and gave me one of my all-time favourite video game villains in the form of the criminally under-utilised Vaas Montenegro.

Roll on to Far Cry 4 where I slip into the shoes of bland yes-man Ajay Ghale as opposed to the compelling fragile mind of Jason Brody and his deteriorating sanity, and you've pretty much got Far Cry 3, aside from an overall more captivating cast of characters and awesome wingsuit. Even Pagan Min fills the role of the charismatic and maniacal psychopath but at least he gets to see the end of the game.

At closer inspection, Far Cry 5 doesn't seem to differ too drastically from the formula set in the third and reiterated in the fourth, or even Far Cry Primal, but why should it? It works, it's fun. The open approach to tackling most of the situations you'll find yourself in is freeing, especially for the uber experimental player. The change in scenery won't hurt either and with the world affairs currently unfolding it's all the more relevant and relatable.

Did I mention you get a dog called Boomer, who let me tell you, is a F**KING GOOD BOY!

When was the last great open world Spider-Man game? If you said anything but Spider-Man 2 (specifically the PS2 version as the PC port is a completely different game) then you are wrong. If we take away the open world criteria I can hazard a guess many of you would say something along the lines of Shattered Dimensions or Ultimate Spider-Man, maybe even Web of Shadows.

The point I'm trying to make is that Spider-Man for the PS4 is looking like a suitable candidate to overthrow Spider-Man 2 as the Greatest friendly, neighbourhood Spider-Man game. It looks slick, it looks punchy, it looks humourus. Furthermore, it looks to be borrowing the Arkham style combat which is just ace and the web-slinging seems to have its momentum building back.

Coming recently off the fantastic showing of Spider-Man: Homecoming, I'm all in for some more web shooting antics and humiliating the bad guys.

We need more light-hearted superhero games to fill the dark and dreary hole that the gritty Arkham series left and right now Spider-Man is our best shot.

Zombies games will never get boring for me. I'm sorry if according to you I'm "what's wrong with over-saturated genres" but I absolutely love mowing down hordes of undead in Dead Rising or methodically slicing them apart in Dying Light.

It's not just eviscerating the walking dead that gets my juices flowing, but I believe the use of zombies always opens the door for some scrumptious storytelling. The last days of mankind and the lengths the living are willing to go to just to survive are some of the most intriguing aspects of a zombie-infested world to me. The crazed panic of the initial outbreak, the heartbreak of destruction and loss, the band of struggling survivors just hoping to see a new dawn. Enthralling stuff I tell you.

In my opinion, Days Gone might just tick all those boxes and then some. The sheer intensity of those zombie chases is definitely going to force me into showering several times in a single day to clear the sweat. And despite what little gameplay there is to chew on right now and the severe lack of a release date over a year after its announcement, I still stand firmly in support of Days Gone and pray it won't be long until I finally have it in my hands.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was easily my favourite game of 2014. It satisfied my fantasy adventure itch, my Lord of the Rings itch, and my Arkham combat itch. That's not even mentioning the groundbreaking nemesis system, the likes of we've still yet to see anyone even attempt to replicate.

Fast-forward 3 years and the sequel Shadow of War is right around the corner, October 10th to be exact, and I can't stand the wait any longer. The Lord of the Rings franchise is my all-time favourite kind of media entertainment and since there doesn't seem to be any more movies on the horizon, the games are all I have left.

Outside of my fanboy nature, Shadow of War is refining the nemesis system in order to make it deeper in layers. While Shadow of Mordor's nemesis system was built around creating rivalries within the ranks of orcs, in Shadow of War, it's to build a report with your own army of orcs. And with new additions such as tribes, bigger and more varied regions and fortresses, the personal experience is only going to get richer. Promote a soldier and see your bond grow closer leading to added bonuses in battle or shun them and risk watching as they turn against you to serve the Dark Lord.

Never before in a Lord of the Rings games would I ever expect to form a friendly connection with orcs as the hero.

One does not simply wait to play Shadow of War.

And that's all she wrote.

Hope you enjoyed this new type of article, especially when I'm planning two more by the end of the year.

Don't be shy, let me know what your most anticipated games are? I won't judge, honest.

Until next time

Stay inside, play video games.

When your girl sees you cracking open a cold one with the boys.

#games #video games #gaming #topten #top ten list #review #analysis

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queen-of-deans-booty · 8 years ago

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Pilot- Part 2

Pairing: Eventual Dean x Reader

Word Count: 3,655

Warnings: Typical Supernatural violence, angst (a lot), language, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Please, if you want to be tagged for this series, let me know and I’ll add you! If you want to be tagged for my other fics, I’ll add you! I want to hear what you guys think about this.

Part One

It’s been one hell of a ride getting to Jericho but you finally made it. You were getting sore from sitting in the backseat. But now that Sam was back, you had to resort to the back seat. It wasn’t that she wasn’t comfortable but being up there, with Dean was the best.

You were at a gas station and while Dean was getting whatever he wanted from inside, you were waiting outside with Sam.

“I’m glad you decided to come with us.” You popped your head from the backseat, leaning it on the front one.

“I missed you.” Sam smiled a bit.

“I missed you too, Sammy. Remember when Dean was always out with your dad and it was just me and you? We would watch movies all the time and tell each other secrets. I miss those days.” You sighed, remembering on what was.

“Yeah, well, the past is the past and I’m changed. I don’t want to be a hunter anymore, Y/N. It may work for you and Dean but not for me. I found love and I don’t plan on letting it go.” You stared at him and were about to say something when Dean appeared.

“You guys want breakfast?” You and Sam both looked back to see Dean carrying junk food.

“No, I’m good.” You and Sam said at the exact same time.

“Are you still using credit card scams to buy your way through America?” Sam joked as he looked through the box of cassette tapes Dean had.

“Come on, Sam, you know the Hunter life doesn’t exactly bring in money. You’re lucky you got out of the life. There are times where I’ve found myself wishing I had.” You sighed softly.

“So, why don’t you? I know you’ve always said that you wanted to be a writer.” Sam turned to look at you as he closed the passenger’s side door.

“It’s hard to leave when you know what’s out there. When there are people getting killed and you know why it’s happening. If I see people getting hurt and I know there is something I could do to stop it, I go for it. That’s why I haven’t left.” You saw Dean finishing up with the pump and made his way back to the driver’s seat.

“Right, well that’s good for you that you like this gig,” Sam grabbed a box from Dean’s glove department and looked through the many cassette tapes. “Dude, you have got to update your collection.”

“Why?” Dean didn’t see a problem with what he owned.

“One, they are cassette tapes and two, you have got stuff in here that are the greatest hits of mullet rock.”

“Hey,” you said, reaching over and grabbing a tape that looked appealing. “You know the rules; tell me you haven’t forgotten them already.” You giggled and handed the tape to Dean who popped it into his car.

“Yeah, Sammy, driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole.” You giggled and leaned back in the seat as Dean started the car. Immediately, AC/DC began to play.

“You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old. It’s just Sam.” You didn’t know why Sam hated the name Sammy. You loved it.

“Sorry Sammy, the music is too loud.” Dean pointed to his ear and shook his head, showing Sam he couldn’t hear as he turned up the music. You loved and missed this when it was just you three on a hunt when John was too busy to join you. You wished for this to never end but unfortunately, your dreams were short lived. Soon after, you were passing a sign that stated ‘JERICHO 7’.

“We know dad’s not dead.” Sam said after he made a few phone calls to God knows who.

“I’m telling you boys; I don’t think he’s dead. If a demon killed him and this demon knew you two were alive, they’d let you know about it,” You shook your head and looked out of the car’s window and frowned. You were passing by a bridge but police were frantically looking around, trying to figure something out. They were looking at an abandoned car which was similar to the case you were working on.

“Hey, check it out. Probably another death.” You didn’t like that someone died but you were excited you could finally use the fake ID badges you made for you and Dean. You were very handy with a computer and you were the one who always made the badges.

“Come on, Dean, bring out the IDs.” You grinned as Dean parked on the other side of the road.

“You know it, sweetheart.” He grinned and looked over at Sam before opening the glove compartment. He rifled through official looking badges before handing you one and grabbing one himself. Sam stared at him the entire time and you scoffed.

“You think they would just tell civilians about this? No, if we want information, we got to look the part.” You got out of the car and grinned.

“Dude, you can get in a lot of trouble for this!” Sam said quietly but got out of the car. He followed you and his brother to where the police officers were. You heard them talking but didn’t make out what it was.

“Didn’t this kind of thing happen last month?” Dean suddenly said when he was close enough. The officers who were near you looked up and frowned.

“And you are?” The officer in lead, Officer Swick, asked, eyeing you suspiciously. You lifted the badge that Dean gave you and quickly put it away before they could find anything wrong with it.

“Federal Marshals.” You smiled sweetly and walked around the car to see if there was anything you could spot that the officers would pass over.

“Really? A little young, in my opinion.” Swick said.

“Am I correct? You had the same thing happen last month?” Dean said, choosing to ignore the sheriff’s statement.

“Yeah, we did and others before that. They all happened on this road. Most recently, a young man named Troy was killed on the bridge. We’re trying to find out what’s been going on.” You looked next to you and watched another officer, Officer Baddle, talk.

“You knew the guy?” Sam spoke up. You knew he was uncomfortable with this and was surprised he was talking.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Swick shrugged. You nodded and looked inside the car to see if anything looked suspicious. You couldn’t take your EMF out right now with Baddle looking at you like you were a piece of meat.

“Do you mind?” You looked at Baddle and he blushed, walking away from you. You rolled your eyes and took out the EMF secretly and fired it up, watching as it went nuts. You knew something ghostly was happening here. While you were looking at the car, Sam and Dean were sweet talking the officers.

“Alright, thank you for your time.” You looked up when you heard your name being called. You nodded, putting away the EMF and walking next to the Winchesters. When you three were out of range, Dean smacked Sam across the head.

“Ow!! What was that for?” Sam rubbed the spot that was sore. You smirked and saw Dean give his brother a look but you stopped short when you saw two FBI agents and another officer looking at you.

“Boys, stop it.” You whispered, nudging them so that they would look. You and Dean were new to this whole ‘dressing up like other officials’ and you didn’t want to screw it up. The brothers stopped bickering and you three walking in silence back to the car. You looked behind you to see the FBI agents gone but the officer staring you down. You didn’t like that at all.

You got inside of the car and before you could overthink the Officer, Dean started the black beauty and sped down the road.

“That was close, why do you guys argue all the time?” You looked at them.

“You wouldn’t understand because you don’t have any siblings.” Sam said.

“Wow, thanks Sam, it’s not like I counted you as a brother or anything.” You shook your head and looked out the window. It took you a while but you got into town. Dean pulled into a parking lot that belonged to a diner.

“So who are we looking for?” Sam asked.

“A woman named Amy. Troy’s girlfriend.” You said. You read all about Troy and who he was associated with. It always helped to know who was who and what you were getting into before you did anything else. You got out and immediately saw a woman, hopefully Amy, putting up posters around with the guy that went missing.

“Hey, I’ll talk to her.” You looked at the boys, passing Sam’s window as you walked to the woman.

“Wait,” Sam grabbed your arm to keep you from going. “I’m sorry about what I said. You do have brothers; us.” You smiled softly and nodded, walking to the woman.

“Are you Amy?” You asked softly.

“Yeah, why?” She turned to look at you. It looked like she hadn’t slept in a couple of days and you felt so bad for her. This reminded you of the time when your mom died but you’d rather not live that again.

“Hi my name is Y/N and those are my brothers, Sam and Dean,” You pointed to the men in the beautiful car. “We were friends with Troy in high school and I heard he went missing.”

“Really? I met him in Sophomore year and I’ve never seen you or them around him.” Amy bit her lip.

“Yeah, our dad was on business and we had to go with him. We left right after Freshman year. But Troy was a dear friend. May we ask you a couple of questions?” You looked a little hopeful, hoping she would say yes.

“Sure, let me get my friend and we will meet you inside the diner.” She walked off and you walked to Sam and Dean.

“We are all set. She says that she will meet us inside the diner.” You grinned when both boys exited the car.

“I don’t know how you do it but you have a way with words.” Dean commented.

“That’s because I think with my head and not my dick.” You joked with him. Dean was a great actor and can lie really easily but sometimes, he can come off as a bitch. You walked inside the diner and saw that Amy and her friend were already sitting at a booth.

“Keep it in your pants, Winchester.” You whispered to him and grinned.

“Hey, I have self-control.” Dean rolled his eyes and made his way to the booth. You three took your seats and you smiled at Amy.

“This is Sam and Dean,” You pointed to them respectively. “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“Troy was driving and I was on the phone with him. Because he didn’t want anything to happen to him, he told me he would call me back… but he never did.” Amy sighed. Her friend put a hand to her shoulder comforting.

“Nothing else you can remember?” The girls shook their heads and you sighed, looking over at Dean for help.

“Okay, here’s what’s up. The way Troy disappeared, something’s not right. So, if you heard anything, now’s the time to speak.” Dean lifted his hands in a suggestive way. Amy looked at her friend with a worried look and you frowned.

“Amy, if you’ve heard anything, please tell us. We want to find him just like you do. It’s only fair.” You tried to reason.

“Well, because there are so many disappearances, people talk.”

“What do they talk about?” Both Sam and Dean say. You looked at them weirdly but shook it off. Brothers, man. They can do almost anything on cue. When you were growing up with them, Sam was always the one to copy Dean because Dean was his role model.

“It’s more of a legend than anything else. It’s about this girl who was supposedly murdered on Centennial way before our time. We think she’s still out there and that she hitchhikes. Whoever picks her up, they disappear forever.” Amy’s friend said.

“You think Troy picked her up?” You spoke their thoughts.

“We hope not.” Amy said sadly. You nodded and got up from the booth.

“Thank you both for your time. We will do everything we can to help look for Troy.” You looked at the boys and nodded, walking out of the diner with them fresh on your tail.

“I’ve been to this town before so I know where to look up this kind of information.” The library was only a short walk so you led them to the tall building. You found that rarely anyone is in a library which made you frown.

“I can’t believe no one spends their time in a library anymore. This place is awesome!” You were always fascinated with books. In fact, the way you coped with your mom’s death was reading. It always took you to another world and for a short amount of time, you were escaped only to come back to the harsh reality. You always read to Sam when you could and he seemed to like it. Dean, on the other hand did not.

“Right? It’s preposterous.” Sam chuckled.

“Nerds.” Dean half joked. He found a computer and sat down in front of it, you on his right and Sam on his left. You watched as Dean searched up a few titles but nothing was coming up.

“Let me try,” Sam reached for the mouse but Dean was quick to slap it away.

“I got it.” Sam huffed and pushed Dean’s chair out of the way, you moving just in time to miss him.

“You boys…” You shook your head and giggled, watching as the two brothers fought.

“You are such a control freak.” Dean scooted closer to his brother and shot you a quick glance.

“So, angry spirits are born from violent deaths, right?” Sam asked.

“Maybe it’s not murder then.” You pointed it out to Sam. He grinned but didn’t say anything as he typed what you thought into the search bar. One article came up and you knew that this was the one to be looking at. You scanned the article quickly, frowning at what you read.

“So Constance kills herself because she finds her two children in the bathtub after she leaves them alone? Man, I couldn’t imagine losing my children, if I had any.” You quickly added when you saw the looks the boys gave you.

“Yeah,” Dean sighed and looked at the pictures that were provided. “Wait, does that bridge look familiar to you?” You, Dean, and Sam gave knowing looks to each other. Looks like it’s back to the bridge.

“So this is where Constance took the swan dive.” Dean chuckled as he walked along the bridge, looking at the water below.

“You think Dad’s been here?” Sam asked.

“Probably, I mean, he’s looked at this case and we’re looking out for him.” You shrugged, looking over the bridge.

“So now what?” Sam sighed, watching his brother walk off.

“Now we keep digging until we find something. This might take a while.” Dean added.

“Okay, look, I know I should have mentioned this before but I have to be back by Monday morning. I have an interview.” You looked at Sam. Why was he mentioning this now and not before?

“And you didn’t think to mention this to me before?” Dean turned around to look at his brother.

“Dean, I’m sorry but this is a really big deal. This makes or breaks my future.” Sam sighed.

“So after this, after we find dad, you want to leave? Marry Jess? Does she even know what you’ve been up to your whole life?” Dean crossed his arms.

“No she doesn’t and she never will.” Sam walked closer to his brother. You sighed, running a hand down your face. You hate when these boys fought. It was usually over something petty and it always got messy.

“Oh yeah, healthy. You can pretend all you want but you can’t hide from the truth forever.” Dean started walking away again.

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” Sam followed. You didn’t want to listen to this but you had no choice. When they were in a fight, some of the time, it resulted in your having a panic attack. You got them after your mom died and it only happened when there was fighting going on or someone throwing things if they were mad. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes it does. You just hoped this wasn’t one of those times.

“You were meant to be a hunter.” Dean simply stated.

“No!” Sam ran in front of his brother, stopping him. “I won’t ever be like you. This will not be my life.”

“You have a responsibility to,” Dean was cut off by his brother.

“To who, Dean? Dad? Mom? If it wasn’t for pictures, I wouldn’t know what she looked like. Mom is gone and killing this thing that killed her won’t bring her back.” You gasped softly at what Sam said. You knew Dean would be pissed. His mother was a very sensitive topic to him and he hated talking about her. Dean pushed Sam up against the bridge and glared at him.

“Don’t ever speak about her like that.” Dean said after a moment of two of silence.

“Hey! Stop it!” You marched over to them and pulled them apart but they wouldn’t stop looking at each other. “You are brothers for God sake and I won’t let you ruin what you two have. Fine, Sam, if you want to be back by Monday, then we will get you back and Dean and I can handle this by ourselves. But you two are here now so don’t waste whatever time you have left together bickering because I won’t allow it.” You looked between both brothers but something in white caught your eye.

“Shit…” You muttered.

“What is it?” Dean looked at you. You reached up and placed your hands on Dean and Sam’s jaws, turning them so they would look at what you were looking at.

“That’s her.” Sam said. With one look, Constance jumped off the bridge. Your eyes widened and you and the boys race to the other side, looking at the water but nothing or no one was there.

“Where did she go?” You asked. You didn’t have time to think because the sound of Dean’s car roaring to life and the headlights shone in your face.

“Who’s driving your car?” Sam asked. Dean didn’t answer but he pulled out his keys, dangling them, never looking away from his car.

“Oh shit,” You said as the car started to race at the three of you. “Run!!!” You yelled at the boys. You three turned around, trying to out run the car but it was no use. If no one moved, you three would be dead in seconds. You effectively moved out of the way but the car didn’t seem to care about you. It only wanted men. You watched in horror as Sam and Dean jumped off the railing and into the water below.

“No!!!!” You yelled out, noticing the car stopped. You ran to the edge and peered down, not seeing either man. “Sam! Dean!” You cried out. You couldn’t lose them too. You heard a grunt come from below and you saw Sam was hanging onto something on the bridge that kept him from falling.

“Dean!!” You looked down and saw a figure move in the mud and you knew that was Dean. Before Sam had the chance to say anything, you ran to the entrance of the bridge and down the muddy hill, not caring if you got dirty. You needed to know if Dean was okay.

“Are you okay?” You heard Sam call from above.

“I’m super,” He said a little strained. You rushed to him and fell on your knees, immediately checking to see if he had any injuries. “Sweetheart, I’m fine.” He coughed a bit, sitting up. You let out a breath of relief and wiped some of the mud away from his face.

“Thank God,” You smiled and he stared at you with something in his eyes that you couldn’t place. “Let’s get you up.” You helped him up and helped him back up the hill to where Sam was, right next to the car. Dean frowned and looked over his car to make sure Constance didn’t ruin it.

“Is your car fine?” Sam asked when Dean was done.

“Yeah it looks fine now. Constance was a BITCH!” He yelled into the night. You let out a breathy laugh and held onto Dean’s hand, leaning into him. He didn’t seem to mind at all and looked down at you with a smile. If Sam noticed this exchange, he didn’t say a word about it.

“So where do we go from here?” Sam asked, leaning against the car. With his free hand, Dean raised it up like he didn’t know, letting it slam on his thigh. “You smell like a toilet.” You giggled, agreeing with Sam. The smell didn’t bother you because you were here with Dean and that was all that mattered.

“Let’s go to a motel, we need showers.” You let go of Dean and opened the back seat, sliding in. You saw the hesitation from Dean and you rolled your eyes. “We will give her a clean. Okay? Stop being a big baby and get in.” Dean huffed at your choice of words and got in anyways, rolling down all the windows before speeding away from the bridge and to the nearest motel.

Part Three

Masterlist // Series Rewrite Masterlist

Series Rewrite tags:

@helllonearth

Forever tags:

@new-dawn-fad3s @maddieburcham1

Dean tags:

@akshi8278

Other tags:

@jensen-jarpad @jpadjackles @notnaturalanahi @mysteriouslyme81 @deathtonormalcy56 @27bmm

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rpgmgames · 8 years ago

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January's Featured Game: Wishbone

DEVELOPER(S): Skitty, Kwillow, Ellie, Natasha ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: Western, Drama, Farming Simulation WARNINGS: N/A SUMMARY: Wishbone is a character drama-slash-farming sim game that takes place in a wild west-inspired setting. The player takes the role of a farmer, fresh off the wagon in a new town and tasked with building a successful ranch. Wishbone might seem sleepy and mundane at first, but there’s trouble brewing on the horizon: a fierce, prolonged standoff between the lawmen and the outlaws that will decide the fate of the town itself.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *Skitty: Hello! I'm Skitty, a scruffy weirdo whose hobbies include drawing, programming, and cooking. I also happen to be the coder, project manager, and one of the main artists. In 2014, I released my first game, Theo's Big Adventure, but actually haven't really been involved in the community... I'm a bit of a hermit.

*Katie: Hi! I’m Wishbone’s portrait artist, and I also do some other less easily categorizable stuff, like writing, spriting, concept work and research! This is the first game I’ve ever been a part of the team on, if you don’t count an unfinished choose-your-own-adventure game I made in Flash when I was 13.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Skitty: It's kind of a funny story. Several years ago, I used to be part of the Fallout: New Vegas roleplay community on tumblr. Just for fun, a few of my friends and I came up with an alternate universe where instead of living in the post-apocalyptic desert, all the characters lived in the wild west instead. We ended up having a lot of fun with the idea! My friend, Ellie (who is also working on this project as a writer), suggested the idea of an Animal Crossing-esque game based on that setting... and I, having coding knowledge and having made a game before, volunteered to make it. The struggle between the four central characters remains the same as the initial concept, but the project and the people of the town have evolved a lot since then.

How long have you been working on your project? *Skitty: I started it around April 2015, so it's a few months short of two years old. Progress has been slow because I'm also juggling a job and other obligations, but even during busy times, I typically manage to work on Wishbone every week. Every couple weeks, new features get done and updates are posted to the dev blog.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Skitty: The three biggest ones are Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Red Dead Redemption. From Animal Crossing, we have have befriending townspeople and decorating your house. From Harvest Moon, we have the farming mechanics and romance. From Red Dead Redemption, we have hunting, foraging, and outlaw bounties. And I suppose Fallout: New Vegas deserves a shoutout for kicking the whole project off, albeit indirectly.

*Katie: I’ve liked Wild West settings for a while, but this project has made me go big on trying to absorb as much information from both the actual time period and from media as I can. Lately I’ve been trying to cram as many old Westerns into my eyeballs as I can so I get a good picture of the (romanticized) aesthetic and shorthands that have been used for this genre in the past.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Skitty: Honestly, we’ve been fighting against RPG Maker’s limitations since the beginning, since the game we’re making is quite unlike a top-down RPG.

I would say that the biggest difficulty so far has been the patch of code that manages animals aging, getting sick, eating, giving birth, etc when the day rolls over. Originally, each animal event had an autorun page that would process that information when the player entered the barn map, but that would get very messy if the player didn’t enter that map all day. It got even messier if the player sent the animals in the barn out to pasture! To solve this, I first had to learn the order in which autorun events are evaluated (tip: it’s determined by the event ID number!). But that wasn’t enough… as more features were implemented, it became obvious that that approach just didn’t work. There were too many conflicts, and every time I’d fix something, I’d have to go through 20+ animal events, each with 40 pages, and change something over, and over and over… it was incredibly inefficient, typo-prone, and hard on the wrist.

Eventually, I got sick of it and recoded the whole animal system to use “generic” Common Events for interaction (basically I copy the animal’s specific stat variables to “generic” variables used by the function, then call it), with the aging/giving birth/eating/etc handled by a single event that was called once when the player slept. In hindsight, it seems so obvious… but my previous project didn’t use Common Events at all, so the first year of Wishbone’s development was largely dedicated to learning how to use them effectively.

*Katie: My biggest obstacle has been myself. I’m both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, which is just a horrible combo for ever getting anything done. Thankfully Skitty keeps me as on task as she can, but I still get mired in fixing-loops, and you would not believe the amount of times I’ve sent her revised images just because I moved a nostril two pixels to the left because it had been bothering me so badly.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Skitty: It actually hasn’t changed a whole lot. In the beginning, we had this core concept, basically just Animal Crossing plus Harvest Moon. But even back then we knew we wanted a big plot and minigames and sidequests and stuff… it was just a matter of figuring out if those were feasible to program.

I’d say it actually has more features now than it did in the original concept, too. I think in the beginning we had maybe five minigames, now it’s more like 8-10ish (depending on what you consider a minigame).

*Katie: It’s far larger than we had intended, that’s for sure! The art style has also shifted quite a bit, from the switch to wholly original graphics from borrowed sprites to subtle alterations in the sprite and portrait style. I think the biggest, most significant change, aside from making all-new sprites, is the inclusion of the sky in most of the game’s maps.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Skitty: It’s pretty much the same as it always was–me as the programmer/project manager/spriter, Katie as the portrait artist and other spriter, Ellie, Dax, Jester, and Reuben as character/plot contributors. Oh! I guess the big difference now is that we are in the process of hiring a composer?

What was the best part of developing the game? *Skitty: Seeing it all come together into something finished and cool. Sometimes I like to just lovingly look at the maps and videos and such I’m proudest of and think “wow, I did that! And it turned out almost exactly how I’d imagined!”

*Katie: Agreed! The little bits and pieces don’t seem like much, but when they’re part of a whole it’s like they’re completely transformed. I’m also happy to be working in a group - it makes me so proud to be part of this effort!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Skitty: Man, I’d definitely be craftier about how I handled the code for the animals. I didn’t know a lot about scripting at first, MONTHS worth of headache could have been avoided if I’d known how to use script calls.

*Katie: I don’t want to say ‘I wish I could change everything!’ because that’s not true, but it’s hard to keep myself from feeling I can always improve the parts I’ve contributed to the game. I’m doing a lot of learning on the job, and when I look back on things I’ve done before - even just a couple of portraits or sprites ago - it feels like I need to do everything over and make it better!

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Skitty: We definitely have plans to use the characters again, but when they’re revisited, it’s going to be in different contexts. You won’t see the desert of Wishbone again, but the characters will absolutely be popping up in future projects.

*Katie: Yeah, these characters are sort of like… actors, in a way. Type-cast actors. We like to put them in different scenarios and see how they adapt.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Skitty: Gosh, it would be amazing if people liked the game enough to call themselves a fan! I’m definitely looking forward to people’s reactions to discovering plot twists and easter eggs and such. I hope people like the characters, too.

*Katie: Having something like this done would feel amazing. I’ve never been part of something this big before, and it’s a lot to be proud of. After that - if even a handful of people like the game, I’d be elated!

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Skitty: I hope there aren’t too many bugs in it when I release it! I mean, I’m testing it as I go, but it’s a really big and complex game… there are going to be things I don’t catch. I’d be really disappointed if I released it with a glitch that broke people’s save files.

Also, I really do hope people actually like the characters… I’d be sad if they didn’t.

*Katie: I hope the art does justice to the game… I’d hate for it to be distracting or off, it’s something I worry about frequently. And boy I hope the story and characters come off okay!

Question from last month's featured dev: What's the biggest turn off you can get on an RPG maker game? *Skitty: Hmm… honestly, using the default sprites tends to be a pretty big turnoff. As an artist, it is very important to me that the game have an “aesthetic”, a sense of atmosphere, that the characters feel like individuals… that’s what really catches my eye and makes me want to learn more. I know not everybody is an artist, but like, a simple 8-bit sort of style, or even a “shitpunk” style like Space Funeral is more eye-catching than the default tiles.

Also, I find games made with the default tiles tend to be very easy to get lost in due to the generic nature of said tiles… if you gotta use those, at least make sure your maps are tightly-built and easy to navigate. I’ve played several RPG Maker games where the player spent a lot of time in huge, empty green fields with little or no landmarks. Add some stuff to make the area memorable… players will thank you for it!

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Skitty: Try to set realistic goals for your first (or second, or third…) project. It’s so tempting to want to tell your magnum opus immediately, but that’s usually a recipe for ending up frustrated, disappointed, and quitting. My first project, Theo’s Big Adventure, was fairly short, used mostly ripped sprites from Mother 3 and ripped music from other video games, and still took a year and three months to complete.

Also, try to make working on your project a habit. I find that the hardest part is often just getting started… but once I get in the zone, I can work for hours. Set goals for yourself (whether it’s as big as “I’ll finish Chapter 5 by April” or as small as “I’m going to work on my project for at least 30 minutes today”) and reward yourself if you complete them. If you don’t complete them, don’t beat yourself up… just set the goal again (adjusting it to be more reasonable if needed) and give it another shot.

Oh, and one more thing… it’s alright for something to not be perfect. One of the biggest killers of a long-term project (aside from overambition and having it not be a habit) is perfectionism. Don’t get caught up in the cycle of continually revamping the same pieces over and over again–just let it be imperfect and move on. Nobody’s first project is perfect, but future-you needs the experience and confidence you’ll gain from finishing it to pull off the project of your dreams in a few years.

*Katie: All of the above, but from someone who’s less disciplined, to people who perhaps have similar issues: get somebody who’ll keep your nose to the grindstone and get you working and finishing things when all you want to do is either chase butterflies or toggle an eyeball back and forth to make it “perfect”. You would not believe how much it helps.

We mods would like to thank Skitty and Katie for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Wishbone if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#rpgmaker #rpg maker #rpg maker games #rpgm #games #game of the month #gotm #pixel art #pixel games #wishbone #interview

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