#CRACK. discount game of thrones.

[the-fiction-witch]

In The Garden P4

Media - Game Of Thrones Character - Lancel Lannister Couple - Lancel X Reader Reader - Y/n Baratheon (Daughter Of Stannis) Rating - 18 + Exhibitionsm / public / public sex / public nudity / hj / bj / licking / sucking / orgasms/ secret / risk of discovery / Word Count - 2748

Y/n’s response sent a shiver of desire through Lancel, and he had to take a deep breath to remain composed. "I... I do want that," he confessed, his voice a low, ragged whisper. "I want you to bind me, blindfold me, and leave me at your mercy, your toy at your disposal. I want you to drive me half mad with your teasing and your touch, until I would do anything for just a moment of pleasure."

"what about... Exhibitionism?" She whispered

Lancel's eyebrows shot up at her question, surprise and arousal warring within him. The thought of being intimate with her in front of others, of being exposed and vulnerable in that way, was both arousing and terrifying. "Exhibitionism?" he repeated, his voice a little hoarse. "You... You'd want to be intimate with me in public?"

"lancel, we are to be a lord and lady. Our intimacy will not really be a secret. Guards, advisors, court people will know of our intimacy. Even discounting the bedding ceremony. I wonder if perhaps you'd like to have people see you like that, if perhaps some humiliation would add to your thrills. Perhaps... Having to pay attention to court people while your lady wife touches you under the table? Perhaps being pleasured on the balcony of our chambers so anyone may see you? Perhaps leaving our chambers door open a crack so others may hear your moans and begs"

Lancel's mind reeled as she spoke, her words painting a vivid picture of such intimate moments in public. His body responded to her words immediately, his arousal growing with each scenario she painted. "I... I didn't think I would be into that," he admitted, his voice a rough whisper. "But the way you describe it... I find myself very much intrigued. Especially that last one, the thought of you pleasuring me while others could hear... Gods..."

"we don't have to do anything you don't want to Lancel if you try it and don't like it that's alright we don't have to do it"

Lancel felt a surge of gratitude at her words, her concern for his comfort and boundaries making him love her even more than he already did. "I... I want to try it," he confessed, his voice a low, ragged whisper. "Everything you've suggested... I want to experience it with you, even if just once. I trust you, my lady. And I trust that you would stop if I asked you to."

she smiled and glanced around the gardens checking they where alone, before she met him eyes and bit her lip a little "humm... Does my little lion want to tell me what this is?" She seductively whispered her hands settling on his thigh sliding high until it met the obvious tent in his breeches

Lancel's breath hitched as her hand slid up his thigh, her touch sending a jolt of pleasure through him. He bit his own lip, his body trembling as her fingers grazed the obvious bulge in his breeches. He shuddered, his voice a rough whisper. "Y-yes. That's... that's for you, my lady."

"for me?" She cooed "humm an engagement present is it?" She softly began to rub circles over his erection,

Lancel leaned back on the bench, his breath coming in ragged gasps as her soft touch sent waves of pleasure pulsing through him. He swallowed hard, his mind going a little fuzzy as she teased him through his clothes. "Yes," he managed to choke out, his voice rough and guttural. "An... an engagement present, just for you."

"may I look at it?" She whispered

Lancel's heart skipped a beat at her words, his breath catching in his throat. The thought of her looking at him, of her seeing his arousal in all its fullness, was both thrilling and a little terrifying. He met her eyes, his own dark with desire. He could only nod, his ability to speak failing him in that moment.

she giggled and pulled her hand away glancing around again checking they where alone and smiling at him waiting for him

Lancel's heart pounded in his chest as her hand moved away from him, leaving him aching for her touch. He glanced around the garden, confirming they were alone, before looking back at her with a mix of vulnerability and desire in his eyes. "I... I don't know why I'm so nervous," he whispered, his voice a little shaky. "But I want you to see me, my lady. I want you to see what you do to me."

"then let me see." She smiled biting her lip

With trembling hands, Lancel began to untie the laces on his breeches, his fingers clumsy and awkward as the nerves fluttered through him. He swallowed hard, his breath coming out in ragged gasps, as he pulled the

He shivered as his breeches gave way, a mixture of vulnerability and excitement coursing through him. As his hard erection met the relative cold of the breeze, standing tall out of his breeches. He was exposed now, his arousal completely visible to her gaze, his skin flushing with a mixture of embarrassment and desire. He met her eyes, his own darkened with need, and waited for her response. A small vulnerable part of him whispered that she might not like what she saw.

"ohh very handsome" she cooed "bigger then I expected lancel" she smiled stroking her fingers down his tender shaft,

Lancel's breath hitched, the feeling of her touch on his sensitive skin almost overwhelming. He let out a soft gasp, his body arching instinctively towards her hand. "You... you like it?" he managed to ask, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I didn't think you'd find it... handsome."

"I love it very much," she cooed pressing a little kiss to his head,

A moan ripped from his throat as her lips pressed against the sensitive flesh, his hips bucking involuntarily towards her mouth. His fingers were gripping the stone, his knuckles white as he struggled to hold himself together. "Ohhh... oh gods," he groaned, his voice a ragged whisper. "That feels so... so good."

"does it now my little lion? Did you want more kisses?"

Lancel's mind was a hazy, swirling maelstrom of pleasure and need, his body responding immediately to her words. He let out another soft moan, his hips involuntarily shifting forwards, silently begging for more of her touch. "Yes... yes please," he gasped, his voice a ragged whisper. "Please... more kisses. Please."

she giggled peppering more little kisses down his shaft, "such a needy little lion"

Lancel let out a ragged gasp, his body shuddering under the onslaught of her kisses. Each little brush of her lips against his sensitive flesh sent waves of pleasure rippling through him. He was a mess, his mind filled only with the need for more of her touch, more of her affection. "Gods... yes..." he whispered, his voice hitching. "I'm needy for you. All for you, my lady." Lancel bit back a gasp as he realized the footsteps were approaching, his heart hammering in his chest.

Y/n moved back and used the fabric of her dress to drape over lancels lap and conceal him as a couple of maids walk past giving them a smile as they passed

His mind was still clouded with need, his body achingly hard under Y/n's dress. The idea that they could be discovered at any moment sent a mixture of terror and excitement coursing through him. He forced himself to take deep, ragged breaths, trying to calm his racing heartbeat,

as soon as the maids were past them she moved her skirt away and continued her kisses "my, my that was close my little lion. Those little maids would have gasped if they saw you like this wouldn't they?"

Lancel let out a ragged gasp, his body trembling as her kisses resumed. His mind was still reeling from the close call, the adrenaline and excitement mixing with the pleasure she was giving him to create a heady, intoxicating cocktail. "Yes," he breathed, his voice choked with need. "They... they would have been shocked. But the idea of being discovered by them... it's somehow exciting. Thrilling, almost."

"humm maybe we should move somewhere else in the garden, somewhere more people might see you" she cooed

The suggestion made Lancel's breath hitch. He shivered at the thought of being exposed to the eyes of others, of being vulnerable and exposed while under her gaze. The idea was both terrifying and arousing all at the same time. "Yes," he breathed, his voice ragged and desperate. "Please. Take me somewhere... somewhere more public. Somewhere where people could see us."

she giggled "I don't know, I like it here" she smirked taking him fully between her lips and starting her gentle sucks

Lancel's breath caught in his throat as her lips encircled him, his head falling back against the stone in pleasure. He was helpless under her touches, his body trembling as she drove him closer and closer to the edge. He could barely form words, his mind a maelstrom of ecstasy and need. "Gods... oh... please... yes, my lady." His fingers twisted into the fabric of the chair, gripping it tightly as he fought to keep himself from bucking his hips in response to her touch. His breath was coming in deep, rasping gasps, his chest rising and falling rapidly as she continued her gentle sucks. "So... so good," he managed to gasp out, his voice a ragged whisper. "You... you're driving me... mad."

she moved slowly making sure to keep a slow pace, more footsteps came but she didn't stop, a young messenger boy bolted past them luckily without looking their direction

Lancel's heart was racing with the sight of the messenger boy running past them without even glancing in their direction sent a thrill of excitement through him. The danger, the possibility of being caught, was only adding to the pleasure of her touch. "Gods," he gasped, his voice a rough whisper. "You're... you're going to make me... make me lose my mind." The pleasure was becoming overwhelming now, his body trembling as he neared the edge. Every nerve is on fire, his mind a swirling vortex of ecstasy and need. He was almost beyond coherent thought at this point, unable to do anything but surrender himself to the sensations she was eliciting from him. "Please... I... I'm going to... I can't... oh gods, I can't hold on much longer."

"moan my name as you finish. As loud as you can lancel. Let all of the gardens hear how good it feels" she cooed,

At her words, any shred of composure he had left fled, and he was lost in a sea of pleasure. He let out a ragged, guttural moan, her name torn from his lips in a ragged scream. "Oh... oh gods... Y/n... Y/n... yes!" His hand shot down, clenching onto her hair as he shattered apart, his body arching and shuddering as he found his release, her name a guttural cry on his lips, his body trembling, his eyes rolling back, as his seed met her tongue,

she giggled as she pulled back licking her lips "well now we know everyone on the gardens heard you"

Lancel let out a ragged gasp, his body twitching in the aftermath of his pleasure. He was panting heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. A mixture of pleasure and embarrassment warred within him, his face flushing at the realization that everyone in the garden had heard him cry out her name in ecstasy. "Oh... oh gods," he whispered, his voice a ragged, breathless huff. "I...everyone heard me, didn't they?"

"they certainly did" she nodded cleaning him up and retiring his breeches for him "you did very well my little lion"

Lancel's heart was still racing, his body trembling with the aftermath of his release. He swallowed hard, his mind still a little hazy. But at her words, a sense of pride and satisfaction washed over him. To have pleased her, to have followed her instructions... it filled him with a sense of masculine fulfillment he had never experienced before. "Thank you, my lady," he breathed, his voice thick with emotion. "Thank you for... for everything. You... you have no idea what you do to me."

"your very welcome, I am to be you wife lancel. You should get used to our intimacy" she smiled kissing his nose

Lancel's heart skipped a beat at her words, the reminder of their upcoming marriage and the intimacy that would follow. He felt a sudden, overwhelming surge of gratitude and love towards her. To know that she would be his wife, and he would be her husband, it was more than he could comprehend. "I will," he assured her, his voice soft and filled with love. "I will eagerly anticipate every moment of intimacy with you. I can't wait to be your husband, to have you as my wife."

"nor can I" she smiled nuzzling into his chest for a cuddle

Lancel wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against his chest. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply to savor the scent of her. He was still feeling a little overwhelmed, the intensity of their encounter in the garden followed by the sweetness of her nuzzle against his chest. He held her tight, reveling in the feeling of her body against his, and whispered softly into her ear. "I love you."

"awww" she cooed "I love you too lancel"

Lancel's heart skipped a beat as he heard her say the words back to him. He held her tighter, his arms surrounding her like a protective cocoon. He had never felt this way before, this overwhelming affection and tenderness towards another person. He pulled back a little, just far enough to look into her eyes. "I will do everything in my power to make you happy, my lady. As your husband, your partner, your lover. I will devote myself to you, completely and utterly."

"As will I to you Lancel"

Lancel smiled, the words sending a wave of warmth and contentment through him. He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he reveled in the closeness and intimacy of the moment. "Promise me one thing," he whispered, his voice low and filled with emotion. "Promise me that you will always be honest with me. That you will never keep secrets or lie to me, no matter the circumstances."

"I promise" she smiled kissing his forehead

Lancel's heart was filled with a sense of comfort and security at her promise. He held her tighter, his arms encircling her in a protective embrace. He knew that trust and honesty were the foundation of any good relationship, and the fact that she had promised to be truthful with him was a balm to his soul. "Thank you," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I promise to do the same in return. No secrets, no lies, only honesty and transparency between us."

"I'm glad my little lion" she cooed nuzzling closer,

The two enjoyed their soft gentle cuddle as he fully enjoyed his afterglow, as they cuddled they saw the same messenger boy,

Lancel couldn't help but blush as the messenger boy passed them by again, his knowing look making it painfully clear that he had heard every sound Lancel had made in his orgasm.

"Oh gods," he muttered, his face reddening. "He definitely heard us. He definitely knows what we were doing." He buried his face in her hair, trying to hide his embarrassment, but he couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of the situation. He pressed a kiss to her head.

"i think he did" she giggled "I bet he's jealous you felt so good"

Lancel chuckled, the embarrassment fading into a sense of pride. The fact that he had made such noise had obviously impressed Y/n, and it sent a thrill of pleasure through him. He pulled back a little so that he could look at her, a cocky grin on his face. "Jealous, hm? I bet you're right. He probably wishes he could be in my shoes, with you giving him that much pleasure. "

"well I only please my lion"

Lancel's heart skipped a beat at her words. The possessiveness with which she said "my lion" sent a thrill of excitement through him. He grinned, his arm curling around her waist as he pulled her close. "I am yours," he whispered, his voice rough with desire. "And you are mine. Only mine."

“Come on, I have a balcony in my chambers…” She cooed taking his hand and tugging him with her as she got up,

“Umm…” he groaned, “Yes my lady,” 

[sxfterhearts]

53. [4:07 pm]

➳ pairing: yugyeom x reader

➳ genre/warnings: fluff fluff fluff, baker!au, baker!yugyeom, exchange student!y/n

➳ word count: 2,040 words

➳ summary: “Sit down, I’ll get it.”

➳ author's note: rach-stop-mentioning-food-in-every-single-timestamp-challenge: failed. just the thought of baker!yugs and bread has me feeling all soft and gooey inside. which is why i whipped this one up! it has been a phat minut since i last wrote so yea :”) (also i should mention italicised are korean!!) regardless i hope this will help brighten up your day a little!! sending many warm hugs xx

//

Your phone screeched from its resting place on the other side of your room, signalling the start of your day. It was strategically placed atop your wooden, old-fashioned dresser, with the sole purpose of motivating you to get out of bed and turn the damn thing off.

With a groan, you stretched all four of your limbs, releasing a satisfied yawn as your joints popped after a good nights’ rest.

It was late afternoon. The rays of sunshine splattered deep orange and gold as it sneaked past the cracks the half-open blinds, painting your tiny studio apartment with lazy signs of life.

You dragged your sleep-ridden body to the dresser, still reluctant to start the day after what was an immensely taxing Friday night. Having just arrived in this bustling Korean city a mere two weeks ago, you were somewhat proud of yourself for landing a part-time job to support yourself when you started your semester of exchange. The only problem was, it happened to be a bartending job in a rowdier part of Seoul, commonly patronised by sleazy middle-aged men and their younger lady companions.

It wasn’t like you had much of a choice, anyways. Your Korean was still very much at an elementary level, which didn’t prove to be a hindrance in the bar you worked at. Most of the drinks were named in English, and the owner of the bar, a surprisingly kind, motherly lady in her sixties, paid you well above the minimum wage.

Still, it was your second Friday shift ever, and it clearly took its toll on you. Staring at your reflection in the bathroom mirror, you cringed. The eyebags under your eyes were so dark it could’ve easily been mistaken as a smoky-eye look gone wrong; your lips were awfully chapped and an alarming shade of red, while a few nasty pimples threatened to break through the surface of your skin.

In other words, you looked like a wreck.

Grabbing your phone, you checked the time. Ten minutes past four. Oh no, you winced internally. You were going to be very late if you didn’t leave your house in the next fifteen minutes. As though an internal switch flipped on, you turned the shower to full blast and stepped inside, sucking in your teeth as the cold water splashed against your skin.

In eight minutes flat, you were tugging on your beat-up sneakers and dashing for the elevator in your only pair of clean, non-alcohol-stained jeans and a plain white t-shirt that you conveniently picked off the pile of dry clothes on your sofa. You jammed the down button a couple of times, all while checking the time on your phone.

“Shit,” You cursed under your breath. 4:19. You couldn’t wait any longer.

Throwing all caution to the wind, you sprinted down the fire escape and did not stop for a single breath until you reached the final destination: a charming little bakery across the road from your apartment.

Rushing to the bakery just before closing time had become a habit for you. Amidst the chaos of moving and finding your feet in this new city, the bakery and its never-ending stream of patrons were your source of stability. Not only was it less busy and crowded during the evening, but it was also much easier for you to snag a couple of good bargains in the form of randomly-packaged, discounted breads.

The fact that the cute baker was the last one in store and in charge of closing up was just an added bonus.

//

A high-pitched, annoying chime broke him out of his daze. With a groan, Yugyeom straightened his slumped figure and stretched his arms above his head, releasing a satisfied sigh as his backbone cracked.

It was late afternoon. The rays of sunshine splattered deep orange and gold as it flooded through the drawn, white lacey curtains, painting his grandfather’s bakery with calm and relief; a peaceful conclusion. The end of daylight was drawing near.

He wiped a stray trail of saliva off the corner of his mouth before sucking on a mint. Checking the clock that hang above rack upon empty rack which usually contained baked goods, his palms inexplicably grew clammy.

4:27, Yugyeom mused. He shook his head to clear his spiralling thoughts. Keep it together, dummy. Just because she came the past few days doesn’t mean that she’ll come today too. She has her own life, her own friends, maybe even a boyfri-

Oh?

Just as his mind was about to veer off course and crash into the thorny garden of unrequited love, Yugyeom caught sight of a blurry figure at the corner of his eyes. Intrigued, he stood up straight and watched as you appeared in front of the bakery’s double doors. For a few seconds, you simply clutched your knees and huffed and puffed. Yugyeom could barely stop the shit-eating grin that split across his face and had to bite down hard on his bottom lip to avoid looking like a fool.

Then, you did the unexpected. From the back pocket of your jeans, you pulled out your lip balm and applied it on your lips, using the bakery’s glass window as a mirror. At that, Yugyeom threw his head back in a hysterical fit of laughter.

It was hard for him to explain the feeling in his chest, really. The first time you walked through the doors of the bakery, eyes twinkling with pure wonder and amazement as you browsed the array of baked goods like how a girl would admire a display of diamond rings, he was screwed. You captivated his interest as you fumbled for the right number of coins to pay for your discounted breads, tongue stuck out and head tilted adorably while doing so. He gave you, the damsel in distress, a helping hand, by laying all your coins out on the counter and ordering them from lowest to highest value. Probably not the most helpful of gestures, but Yugyeom liked to tell himself that he was performing his civic duty by welcoming a visitor of Korea through non-verbal currency explanations and an introduction to the locals’ favourite breads, pastries and drinks. That evening, the two of you sat on the high table by the window, slowly savouring melon breads, injeolmi toasts, ang butter or red bean butter breads and an assortment of cream cheese breads. While the breads were wonderfully fluffy and the sweetness was at an acceptable level, Yugyeom instructed you to wash it down with an iced Americano.

Since then, the mere thought of the bakery, going to the bakery, its breads and pastries, its drinks and Yugyeom coated your insides with sweetness. Admittedly, the reason why you kept visiting the bakery was to create more memories with Yugyeom and ride the amazing sugar rush you felt whenever you were around him.

After rearranging your hair for the nth time, you bravely pushed open the doors and walked in at 4:29pm.

“Hello!” You called out in Korean as you waved at him, a wide smile plastered on your lips. There was an obvious language barrier (you with your kindergarten-level Korean and him with his Game of Thrones-standard of English), but it wasn’t obvious. The two of you came up with creative ways to break it down.

“Hi Y/N! Sit down. I’ll get it.” Yugyeom answered in English, emerging from behind the counter with his trusty English-Korean dictionary and a matcha latte he prepared in anticipation of your arrival. He walked towards you with an air of confidence, reminding you of a model in a fashion show despite wearing his typical slacks and white button-up, with sleeves rolled up and cross drop-earrings adorning his ears. Yugyeom quickly set the items down before pulling out a chair, nodding towards it to encourage you to sit.

You muffled a giggle at his gentlemanly actions, but complied, nonetheless. You glanced over to the boy, sipping on the creamy drink as he retrieved two large plates from the cake fridge. Sure, the assortment of cakes should have been the main attraction, but your eyes drifted and settled on the stern look of concentration on his face and his prominent collarbones peeking out of his shirt. Unbuttoned, you assumed, as he was going to be off work soon.

You were halfway through the drink when Yugyeom returned to the table. He noticed this and didn’t pass up the opportunity to tease you about it. “Is it really good?”

“Thirsty. I just woke up.” You admitted, cheeks heating up in slight embarrassment.

Yugyeom’s wholehearted laughter filled the entire bakery.

“H-hey! Bad boy… Mean…”

“No, I…” Yugyeom stifled another round of laughter as he tried to pull himself together. “Cute. You wake up, come to see me in bread house.”

“Not ‘bread house’, ‘bakery’.”

“Ah, thank you. Bakery.” He tested the word on his lips, getting used to the pronunciation. “Bakery…”

“What are these?”

Yugyeom handed you a small cake fork while taking a seat. “Here. This plate is for tarts, and this one is for cakes. The tarts have the same filling – custard. But we use different fruits, like strawberries, berries, grapes and peaches. Whatever’s in season, really. Strawberries and cherry tarts are really popular in winter. Try some!” He reverted back in Korean whenever he was explaining, which was a great opportunity for you to pick up new vocabulary.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to try delicious pastries. You rotated through the entire plate painted in shades of pinks and green, taking a bite of each tart. Yugyeom just sat there, head in his palms, and admired the slight changes in your expression whenever you tried a new flavour. As creepy as it sounds, watching you eat the food he prepared was gradually becoming his favourite pastime.

“Cherry! That one is the best! It’s…” You quickly reached for the dictionary, softly muttering to yourself as you thumbed through the pages. “Here, acid. Acid, not too sweet. The strawberry one too.” Your eyes crinkled at their edges as they met his intrigued orbs, proudly smiling at yourself for learning a new word today.

“The word you’re looking for is ‘acidity’. ‘Acid’ is for chemistry.”

“Acidity?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Yugyeom reached over, his huge palm caressing the top of your head before ruffling your hair. You pouted and feigned annoyance, all while your heart squeezed and pounded away in your chest.

“Hey…” You protested weakly.

Yugyeom’s hand retreated. He placed it on the table, right next to your smaller ones. The distance between your hands taunted him; tempted him to close the gap and intertwine your fingers with his. Honestly, Yugyeom wasn’t used to this; wasn’t used to feeling like his insides were going to explode. His mouth opened and closed several times as he pondered his next move, wondering whether it would overstep your boundaries.

But then you stared at him in anticipation with your beautiful brown orbs, innocent and confused, as your lips wrapped around the straw of your matcha latte. Your gaze asked him an unspoken question, urging him on.

Yugyeom dragged your chair closer his, eliciting a high-pitched squeal from you. He rested both of his palms on top of your knees, gaining your full attention. “I like…” Yugyeom paused, catching his bottom lip between his pearly whites as the corners of his mouth tugged upwards. “I like this time with you.”

The soft giggle was purely involuntary, you swore to him afterwards. Yet, as you watched his expression flicker into one of panic, you were quick to cast out his worries. “No, no! Don’t get me wrong. Did you mean, you like spending time with me?”

“Ah, I was trying to be romantic. Stupid English…” Yugyeom cursed under his breath in Korean, unaware that you were familiar with the word ‘romantic’ due to the hours you spent (wasted) binging Korean dramas. “Yes, I do.” He said while squeezing your kneecaps in affirmation.

You had to remind yourself time and time again to keep calm in the presence of this charming man and his magical hands. “Me too, Yugyeom. You’re my favourite time of the day.”

Needless to say, your afternoon ritual continued for weeks and months to come.

[gummybuddha]

Sanctus Reach(around)

I’ve been having a very Warhammer 40k weekend thus far. I ordered some ork boyz, but while I was out at Barnes and Noble today, I noticed they had a couple boxes of Space Marine Heroes left. Mind you I am in an area of South Carolina far removed from most Games Workshop products, so normally I would have to travel a town over or order from amazon. 

This time I got lucky. Not sure which guy at B&N is making the call to order Warhammer stuff from time to time, but that guy is the real MVP.  Anyway, Steam is also running it’s 4th Skulls for the Skull Throne sale, which is the perfect time to pick up any Games Workshop related games at a discount. Most notably this year, Total War Warhammer 1&2 are on sale, which means for 35.38 USD, you can get most of the races and mortal empires, which is the most crack addicted way to play Total War Warhammer 2 these days. I can’t say if getting the rest of the DLC is worth your venture, but if your like me and already own both games, you probably have all  the DLC too. It just ends up happening that way.  But this year I just got a few of the B list Warhammer games. Gladius, Inquisitor Martyr, Chaosbane, and Sanctus Reach.  I started with Sanctus Reach, and oh boy, I was not disappointed.  Already I can tell that Sanctus reach is a video game that profits entirely on your desire to have more 40k, which if your not a big fan, is not much of a selling point. 

Visually I find Sanctus Reach to have the least flattering texture work I have seen in a while. While nowhere near as bad as some Nintendo 64 games I remember, there is just something off about how Sanctus Reach looks that I can’t put my finger on.  Up close the units look fine, like these pack of Space Wolves.

Or these Chaos Demons.

But zoom out and there is just something about the visual style that makes me feel like there is a lot of visual noise. 

It works for what it has to do though. 

The game is not very animation heavy, yeah there are attacks, units move and shoot and beat each other to death with blunt or sharp objects, but most of it is the limited animation you would expect from any tactics game. Don’t expect Relic Entertainment level work here. Unless your expect Dawn of War 1, then maybe this game might surprise you actually.  As far as the core gameplay loop is concerned, it plays a bit like Xcom but without all the polish, which is actually not bad, I can see myself playing a few matches of this for the novelty. I always thought strategy games in the style of Xcom or Final Fantasy Tactics would be a good fit for the 40k setting. it’s just not a 1:1 digital clone of the table top. 

Which is a shame, because I feel if we can get a digital version of Magic the Gathering as good as Arena, I think it’s about high time 40K got a decent digital version of the tabletop. The units in game work on movement points, action points, abilities and HP, but honestly it’s not much of a stretch to think they could have easily done everything else tabletop does. 

I also a little disappointed that there are not a whole bunch of dice rolling in the corner of the screen, showing how many of my models hit their target as that is the most satisfying part of watching live games of the table top. I know the units are really not set up like that, what what I am seeing is a squad being presented as a whole because it’s a tactics game, but I feel like there is something satisfying of making hits and watching the other player have to remove models from the the squad, a visual indication of your conquest.  To be fair, when one squad damages another, models often die gory deaths. Which are fun puffs of blood mist brightening often gloomy looking maps rendered to look like 40k play boards. Seeing this red cloud early means you often forgot to put your units in cover, or managed to miss an overwatch phase, and all the typical stuff you can find in Xcom.  It’s a fun novelty, but I feel like at the end of the day, Sanctus Reach just makes you want to play a better tactics game (Xcom) or get into Warhammer 40k on the table quicker. The game just feels like it's lacking a lot of the polish you would get from a larger studio, and the menus and UI feel like they had little effort put into them other than to try to make the text look like 40K.  I actually thought the game’s multiplayer community was dead because of the UI not being easy enough to read at a glance. All in all, this is one for the collector, not for the critic. The die hard 40k guy who can’t get enough, and not the guy looking for something as robust as Dawn of War or Total War Warhammer.  In short there are better games, but if you in lockdown and you need something that feels kind of like the table, this might be your closest shot.  I just wish they had more factions. Oh well.

[ao3feed-briennejaime]

Fast Times At Kings Landing Academy

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31dy8vS

by Scented_Candles

The high school crack fic where Brienne doesn't immediately fall for Jaime's good looks and is not intimidated by it, while Jaime tries very hard not to be weird while winning her affections. Her older brother is his best friend and he understood very well how it is to have a sister complex.

“Why are you so set on peddling your brother’s supposed interest in our youngest anyway?” Renly speaks up again, after finally having finished his glass of wine. “And I’m not interested,” Brienne inputs. “Like, it would be statutory rape, I’m not interested. I’m fourteen Tyrion.” “I’m not saying he’s going to have sex with you, right now!” Tyrion protest. “I’m just saying he likes you, is fond of you, and that could possibly develop into more in the future, when you’re legal.” “You’re discounting the fact that Brienne and I are supposedly having a torrid lesbian Lolita love affair,” Margaery adds, enjoying the frustrated frown Tyrion couldn’t quite keep at bay. “I’m not one to let go of my lovers that easily.” Brienne grins. “There is that too.”

Words: 1284, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, Multi

Characters: Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Renly Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister, Loras Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, Galladon of Tarth, Cersei Lannister, Bronn (ASoIaF), Ygritte (ASoIaF), Jon Snow, Rhaegar Targaryen, Elia Martell, Lyanna Stark

Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Tyrion Lannister & Brienne of Tarth, Brienne of Tarth & Margaery Tyrell

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31dy8vS

[share-the-damn-bed]

📺 Show Quiz!

I was tagged by @stoprobbers (thanks for always giving me the opportunity to be unproductive at work 💖)

Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag 10 peeps. (The following shows are ones I’ve either watched recently and/or multiple times and were ranked by a random number generator and definitely not preference)

Game of Thrones

The Office

The O.C.

Stranger Things

Bojack Horseman

1. Who is your favorite character in 2?

Of all the shows above, of course this question is about The Office where my favorite character changes season to season and sometimes episode to episode. Also, I love all the characters so much and relate to each of them in some way... I have been compared to Erin Hannon on multiple occasions, I loved the development of Michael Scott’s character, and of course Pam... But you know what, Creed. Creed Bratton is my favorite Office character because of how hard he makes me laugh. Sure, he’s never made me cry or made me emotional because of his story arc... but I still crack up at all of his jokes even after hearing them a million times. 

2. Who is your least favorite character in 1?

Okay so with GOT, I have a weird take on the show compared to long-time fans because up until this past May, after the show ended, I had only seen one or two random episodes and knew some details about the characters and a few major plot points. Then, I binged the entire show in 2 weeks. So yeah, I knew going in Geoffrey was horrid but I also knew he was going to die (and I didn’t have to endure him too long). Ramsey was also horrible but I found his death so so so very satisfying.

That being said, I hated Theon for so long and kept waiting for him to die but he never did. Then I kept waiting for him to redeem himself, and again (imho) he never. did. So when he finally did die in one of the very last episodes, my first though was fucking finally. 

If you love Theon, I’m sorry.

3. What is your favorite episode of 4?

Season 1 episode 6 because JANCY OVERLOAD

4. What is your favorite season of 5?

Season 3 is the height of Bojack Horseman. Especially the last two episodes. Though I still love the series and enjoy all the seasons, I think the show could’ve ended there on an ambiguous gray note and I would’ve been happy. 

5. Who is your favorite couple in 3?

You mean my half dead OTP that broke my 12 year old little heart into a million pieces? The OTP of my life? That couple? Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper.

6. Who is your favorite couple in 2?

When watching it the first time, Jim and Pam, obviously. But through rewatches and considering the series as a whole, there’s just something so beautiful and rewarding about Michael and Holly. 

7. What is your favorite episode of 1?

Like I mentioned before, I binged this 8 season series in two weeks so many of the episodes bleed together in my memory but I definitely really enjoyed 'Battle of the Bastards' in season 6 and it’s arguably one of the shows last really good episodes. 

8. What is your favorite episode of 5?

9. What is your favorite season of 2?

Season 2 probably but every season had its merit

10. How long have you watched 1?

a month or two. And I’ve only watched it once, and I’ll probably never sit down and watch it all again. But I really did love Sansa.

11. How did you become interested in 3?

My friends introduced me to the show and then I became obsessed. I actually still have The OC keychain my best friend gave me back in 2006 on my key ring. 

12. Who is your favorite actor in 4?

That’s really hard because everyone on the show is so. good. I really can’t choose between the main ensemble, my heart won’t let me. So beyond the main kids, teens, and adults, I’m going to say Matthew Modine who plays Dr. Brenner mostly because I have been missing the eeriness his character brought in season one and he executed it perfectly. Having his brief cameo in season 2 was fantastic and I felt his absence in season 3. Not to discount Dacre’s performance which was fantastic as well, just different.

13. Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

Bojack Horseman 

14. Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3 ?

Oh, The O.C. for sure.

15. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Nancy Wheeler. Which isn’t a surprise to anyone following this blog.

16. Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

Only in a very stranger fever dream.

17. Pair two characters in 1 4 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple.

Okay, so I don’t want to do this for GOT so I’m cheating and am going to do this for Stranger Things because I’ve actually thought about this before.

So my favorite ST crack ship is Mr. Clarke and Officer Callahan. I know they’ve never (maybe only briefly) interacted on screen, but they’re both sweethearts and Mr. Clarke is so smart and Officer Callahan is a bit dumb so I think they’d compliment each other well. 

18. Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

Bojack 100%. I love The OC for nostalgia and I love the characters more than anything, but I’m not about to sit here and pretend like it was a good show (especially after season 1). 

19. Which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

Both are memorable, but Stranger Things. Definitely.

I tag @storybookwolf because I’m interested to hear her thoughts.

[credcanabmou-blog]

exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live™ #1 Board Game

    Backgammon Live™ #1 Board Game hack tool

  version info=Let's Play!; 2014-03-23; critique=so, If you have $1,200 and want to have a fun night playing backgammon, then maybe you should start in the $100 or $200 room; languages=English; publishers=Come2Play; version=2.103.721; ipod. Don't forget to read instructions after installation. Enjoy Pokemon Go New Hack with free Fake GPS Go 100 Working. We are not responsible for any illegal actions you do with theses files. Was updated on 2019-11-08T16:21:29. Backgammon Live is a free online backgammon board game with over 10 million backgammon players around the world. Play LIVE multiplayer backgammon tournaments and collect daily bonuses to become the next Backgammon master! Backgammon Live is the OFFICIAL app of the Backgammon World Series & probably the world's best backgammon app.

Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board game of thrones. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board game play. 247 Backgammon. Xbox One Hack - current status & news. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board.

Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1 boardgame.

17.06.2018 FNAF,Robbery Bob,Stickman,Granny,Earn To Die,Five Nights at Freddy's,Hello Neighbor,Secret Neighbor Bubble Play 2,923 watching. Live now.

Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board game online. 10.09.2018 ROBLOX SK9R LEVEL7 HACK/EXPLOIT This roblox hack/exploit script executor is amazing. Credits to : Customality for making this awesome hack! The hack/exploit does not work anymore! Be sure to. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1 board games. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1 boardgamegeek. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board game boy. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1 board game.

Backgammon - Lord of the Board Hack will allow you to get all In-App purchases for free. To hack Backgammon - Lord of the Board you need just enter Cheat Codes. Below you will see all cheats that we have to hack Backgammon - Lord of the Board. These Cheats for Backgammon - Lord of the Board works on all iOS and Android devices. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 Board game page.

  Only a few hours left to Gift to Friends☛ NEON GREEN DICE And now PLAY Backgammon Live anytime, anyplace! The UPDATED version of Backgammon Live is NOW available worldwide for iPad in Apple's App Store. هكر Board Backgammon. How to create a 3D Terrain with Google Maps and height maps in Photoshop - 3D Map Generator Terrain - Duration: 20:32. Orange Box Ceo 8,062,226 views. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live #1 boardgames. Without download 2018 exploit full hack legit Backgammon Live℠#1 board game.

seesaawiki.jp/penshize/d/Without%20Premium%20MacOS%20Platforms%20Hack%20Mod%20App%20Castle%20Crashers%26%23174%3b

http://conszigwoco.webblogg.se/2019/november/via-vpn-full-hack-app-learn-to-read-crack-the-reading-code.html

https://ameblo.jp/fukonshii/entry-12542416279.html

downpoclore.unblog.fr/2019/11/04/to-iphone-public-method-creator-hfm-games-pay-discount-action-tag-hack-free-engine-fly-simulator

floorefendoy/places/df4f1f9abf0e456ba051bd896e313389/

Life Is Strange hack for Coins hack engine

[harry-lloyd]

“It’s been a gentle start to the day,” Harry Lloyd says with a smile, speaking at a subdued volume while his six-month-old baby naps in the other room. We’re chatting on a Saturday afternoon, and Lloyd’s tousled hair is silhouetted against the sunlight streaming through the hotel room windows. It’s a warm day in Los Angeles, a stark contrast to the subzero chill that he braved for last month’s photo shoot in New York.

On screen, the English actor’s piercing gaze bespeaks a calculating persona, an agenda beneath the charm. Offscreen, there’s an unguarded, guileless ease to Lloyd’s manner—he’s thoughtful and genuinely engaged in the questions posed to him.

Lloyd is perhaps best-known for his portrayal of the unscrupulous, throne-obsessed Viserys Targaryen in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Since his character’s macabre demise, the 35-year-old has been plenty busy. Among other screen and stage projects, Lloyd played the classmate and confidante to Eddie Redmayne’s Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything; a brilliant (and womanizing) novelist in The Wife (Lloyd mentions that he’s thrilled for Glenn Close’s Oscar nomination); and an intelligence officer, opposite J.K. Simmons, in the Starz original series Counterpart. His latest undertaking—the reason he’s in LA—is the Marvel comics-based series, Legion. For the third and final season of the FX show, Lloyd will play the role of David Haller’s father and X-Men leader, Professor Charles Xavier. (In so doing, he joins the ranks of Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy, who portrayed Professor X in the film series.)

Our conversation starts with Counterpart, the sci-fi/espionage thriller. A Cold War experiment in East Germany has splintered the timeline, and two formerly identical worlds now exist in an uneasy and rapidly unraveling détente. Each character in the show has an “other” self—a counterpart on the other side—and crossovers between the two dimensions wreak geopolitical havoc. There are slick diplomats, hapless bureaucrats, a contract assassin—and at the center is Peter Quayle, the director of Strategy in the Office of Interchange, a sort of United Nations-meets-MI6 outfit.

The morally obtuse Quayle is not exactly a sympathetic figure, but Lloyd embodies the character with a subtlety that allows the vulnerability to seep through the cracks in the bravado. As Quayle’s carefully-calibrated life crumbles, you feel for him—a national security strategist who’s in way over his head, blind to the fact that his own wife is a mole. Those pale, elegant hands are not meant to be dirtied fumbling about dim halls and holding rooms—and that’s not even getting into the subplots within the plot twists.

Lloyd’s enthusiasm for the project is clear. He calls Counterpart one of the favorite things he’s ever worked on, and credits Justin Marks, the creator of the show: “The writing is excellent, which attracts really good actors.” Among the sterling cast is, of course, J.K. Simmons, who plays two Howard Silks—the placid paper-pusher, Howard “Alpha,” in dimension one; and the cocksure clandestine operative, Howard “Prime,” in dimension two.

“I was very scared of him originally,” Lloyd admits with a laugh when I ask about his experience working with Simmons, who garnered an Oscar for his portrayal of a ruthless music instructor in Whiplash. “But he [Simmons] has been so welcoming and makes you feel at ease. I’ve learned so much from him—and we have a lot of fun.”

The scenes with Quayle Alpha and Howard Prime are often tense, even claustrophobic, not just because they take place in dark cars and cramped rooms, but because we sense the stranglehold of identity—the underlying question of just how much of one’s self is the product of choice versus circumstance. If you put John le Carré and Jorge Luis Borges in the same room, they might come up with something like this—forking paths that diverge and converge, labyrinths of spies and alter egos.

Lloyd describes Quayle Alpha and Howard Prime as an “unhappy couple, both caught in this lie, who must rely on each other even though neither likes or respects the other.” On the flip side, Lloyd continues, “Quayle Prime and Howard Alpha have a completely different relationship” such that playing his character’s “other” feels “like a completely different job.”

There’s a cerebral, granular detail to Lloyd’s musings when I ask about the characters, fictional or real, that he draws from in portraying the two Quayles.

He explains that while on break between filming the Berlin and LA portions of season two, he and Justin Marks discussed the aesthetics of Alien 3. Marks envisioned Echo, the interrogation facility in dimension two, as a “penal colony, rather than a hospital or prison. The relationships between the inmates and officers draw on that” psychological dynamic.

In conveying Quayle’s “slightly unhinged” persona, Lloyd takes cues from other classics: Billy Bibbit from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a “somewhat childish figure who looks up to McMurphy,” and Dennis Hopper’s character in Apocalypse Now, who harbors a manic obsession with Marlon Brando’s Kurtz. Lloyd incorporates elements of these characters in Quayle Prime’s dynamic with Yanek, a warden at Echo—there’s an “evangelical fervor, where you sense [the character’s] loss of contact with reality.”

Season two of the show delves deeper into the deceit, paranoia, and existential quandaries inherent in navigating and manipulating two worlds. (It seems no coincidence that the writers chose Alexander Pope as the name of the character who trains sleeper agents—a little learning is a dangerous thing.) I ask Lloyd about the techniques he uses to keep his Alpha and Prime personas from getting jumbled.

“In terms of playing two parts for the first time, I’m lucky in that Quayle Prime exists solely in the Echo location, so we were able to do all that filming in a couple of weeks over the summer,” Lloyd tells me. “This season, we started filming in Berlin and ended in LA, so having a new location, new set,” helped keep the two characters separate.

Lloyd can’t discuss more details from season two without risking plot spoilers, so we pivot to other projects. I mention the internet speculation over whether Viserys Targaryen makes a comeback in the next season of Game of Thrones. “Really?” Lloyd replies with a mix of curiosity and incredulity. “That death seemed pretty final to me—I’m not sure how he comes back from that.”

I explain that the Reddit murmurings refer more to flashback scenes, and then ask Lloyd about filming his character’s grisly exit.

“That was pretty much the last scene I filmed on that show, and I remember that day very well,” Lloyd says—the amusement is pronounced in his voice. “It was freezing cold. We shot quite early in the morning, and I had to act drunk. Doing that so early in the day can go horribly wrong,” he explains, as you don’t want to overact it. But with a death scene like that, where the would-be king is “crowned” as molten gold is poured over his head, Lloyd could really let loose with the screaming—a finale that’s seared into fans’ minds.

Lloyd draws out nuances in his characters through deep-dives into their back stories. When filming the Game of Thrones pilot, he kept George R.R. Martin’s books under his chair for ease of consultation. As the filming continued, though, Lloyd wanted to get beyond Daenerys Targaryen’s narration of Viserys as the “brute—the petulant, unkind older brother.”

In Lloyd’s view, that perspective discounts the whole of Targaryen history: “This character feels the weight of his family on his shoulders. He’s had a terrible childhood; his parents are dead. He has no family apart from a little sister who doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. He carries these scars, and by re-writing the narrative as the ‘Chronicles of Viserys Targaryen,’ we start to see how Viserys justifies his cruelty.”

Lloyd pauses briefly, mulling over this re-framing: “That’s the job of an actor—to give your character a mouthpiece” and guide the audience as to where our sympathies should lie.

“It’s a great time to be an actor,” Lloyd continues. “I’m lucky to be working with people I’ve admired for years, and to arrange projects [in a way that allows me] to explore different avenues. I hope it stays like this—there are so many more stories to tell.”

Our conversation drifts to more meta territory—how technological evolution continues to reshape the way we consume and relate to art and storytelling. Lloyd is democratic in his engagement with cultural mediums—he enjoys audio books and made-for-radio plays, and he’s fascinated by the future of VR. He loves the stage and recently played the lead role in The Good Canary, John Malkovich’s London directorial debut. Lloyd has also been on the other side of the camera, writing and directing “Supreme Tweeter.” The short web series, made in 2015, is premised on a cheeky concept that came to his co-creator (and now wife), Jayne Hong, in a dream: What if North Korea’s Kim Jong-un suddenly follows you on Twitter—what absurdity might ensue and what are the implications of treating your identity as a commodity, a “brand”? (I point out that this satirical take on social media as propaganda was an eerily prescient concept, given our current Tweeter-in-Chief—a topic that Lloyd diplomatically sidesteps.)

With streaming services supplanting cable and the proliferation of social media content, it’s a challenge, says Lloyd, “to hold erratic attention spans for more than a moment.” Among the tech-driven transformations that he references is how long-form television shows like Counterpart, with intricate plot lines and character arcs, are replacing the novel as a way of enjoying long-form stories. He also observes that interactive video games are looking more like films, with complex narratives and attention to visual detail and cinematic soundtracks, and vice versa—there are online films that contain a choose-your-own-adventure component with multiple plot lines. These various forms of entertainment may all be converging, Lloyd hypothesizes, as “new audiences have a desperate thirst for full immersion.”

For all these innovations, though, Lloyd jokingly refers to himself as a “fuddy-duddy” who loves to read books and has a record player back home in London. That doesn’t rule out throwback video games, though—for Christmas, Marks gave him a miniature version of the original Nintendo system, preloaded with all the old NES games. His favorite? “Super Mario 3, where Mario gets to wear the raccoon tail.” And continuing the theme of constant evolution, Lloyd points out that players now design new levels for these old games, which everyone can then upload to their own handheld consoles.

For now, though, there’s not much by way of free time. Lloyd is a new dad, and it’s entirely endearing how his tone and manner warm to the point of giddiness when discussing fatherhood. “Long story short, it’s phenomenal, beyond description,” he says. “There’s definitely a lot to learn,” but he’s enjoying the daily agenda, which includes “a lot of singing and chatting and mimicry” with the baby—spending time “staring at each other, making each other laugh, communicating in this pre-language way, just getting to know each other.”

As for audiences just getting to know Lloyd, the depth and versatility he brings to screen and stage promise many more dimensions beyond Quayle’s Alpha and Prime selves to be explored. Lloyd doesn’t rule out anything when it comes to collaborations and characters—as he puts it, “the more you give, the more you get out of the experience.” And more of Harry Lloyd is a very good thing.

[bloodvbonerpg]

BASICS :

Name: Kellen Shoar-Child Age: 190 Race: Vampire Occupation: General Faceclaim: Gugu Mbatha-Raw Sexuality: Pansexual Status: Taken

TRAITS :

+ : efficient, intelligent, calculating

- : pretentious, single-minded, impatient

THE STORY :

Kellen, one of the oldest Vampires in the Court, was born to a Vampire who claimed she had seen the world before the Plague. Whether or not this was true was never revealed to Kellen, but it ensured she was raised with a sense of superiority that she latched on to and kept later in life. She was one of the first to volunteer to be a part of the first Blood King’s council, and helped carry out his will when Arcturus passed and Wolfgang ascended to the throne. She never desired the power of the throne for herself, instead more than willing to shape it by providing advice and counsel to an inexperienced Wolfgang.

She created her only child, Zion, out of pity on one of the few Blood Hunts she deigned worth her time. In Kellen’s mind, Sanctuary was just another Human idea that was destined to fail before it began. But when the ride turned and the Upyr announced they were joining on the effort, she advised Wolfgang in agreeing as well.

While she may not be old enough to remember the world before the Plague, she intends to see a world after it. Kellen’s first and foremost priority, even above the care of her only child, is survival. She will just as easily cast every Vampire she knows into the dirt if it ensures her continuance upon the world. She spends much of her time instilling the same ideals in Zion, hoping to mould her into a version of herself, as Kellen’s maker had done for her over a century ago.

CONNECTIONS :

Ayanna Cadeyrn : She knows not to ever underestimate a single soul, even a human keeper. After all the woman somehow brought together several tribes together to give them a singular voice. Though her dreams of success here are far-fetched and farcical at best like all human ideas bound to fail - Kellen recognizes similarities between the two of them and in a way respects her just a fraction more than she respects humans in general.

Darius Vasilescu : The Upyr who should’ve been King or that is at least the rumor that was just barely whispered before The Bone King asserted his rule and this man bent the knee to him. Anyone who knows anything about power knows that it is never that easy to give it up or away and she’s heard whispers on the wind that cause her to be suspicious. Should he come seeking aid from his mortal enemy the vampire she’d be willing to suggest that Wolfgang hear him out. Sow the seeds of unrest and watch weeds grow into the cracks to shatter the foundation to watch it all come down…

Elise Bone-Pledged : The gift of prophecy is a dangerous one and this particular wicked plays an extremely dangerous game. Kellen has no patience for people such as that who play games likes Kellen suspects Elise plays. The vampire general does put some stock in the Wickeds power but she is highly suspicious enough to keep a close watch on her. With a word from her the Upyr king agreed to join Sanctuary and such a move wasn’t something to take lightly but the validity of her vision will always be highly scrutinized.

Gabriel Albescu : As part of the tribunal and in an attempt to make a show of the vampiric ‘willingness’ to conform and see this fledgling community ‘succeed’ it has put her in closer contact with the Upyr then she would ever like. She respects strength and a certain level of mercilessness but she sees how he relies on his wicked enough to smell a faint bit weakness. In his old age is he losing his grip - one even older has to wonder such a question.  

Lilita Strazds : General Shoar-Child knows another powerful player when she sees one, another who collects secrets like air and moves in shadows though one is much more thoroughly committed to them than the other. Kellen is more than well aware of Strazds’ eyes and ears and where they happen to be in the blood court feeding them lies just to fluster the Upyr.

Mikel Blood-Pledged : Kellen likes and truly cares for very few people but as both members of the court with the power both wield there is an understanding. He is as much vampire as anyone else is in the court without being one of them and has earned her respect for his abilities but his ability to survive.  

Nadya Amiel : A blood bag is as a blood bag does. Although Kellen is desirous of fresh blood, the feeling of sinking her fangs into the flesh of a human and hearing the symphony of screaming and the supple softness of their skin and the muscles that strain beneath them and the slowing of the heart but she has very little respect personally for a woman willing to be passed around like she seems to be. It isn’t often that she comes to if ever. The feeding situation here isn’t ideal in the least and people like Nadya are vital really but in this community to Kellen at least it is like telling a warrior there is no more fight to keep fighting.

Parnus Dark-Child : She is old and he is old that much she can sense. Perhaps even quite possibly older then she is. Her memories are vast and reach back a hundred years and more but do her memories hold answers for him? Quite possibly.

Wolfgang Arcturus-Child : She was there at the very beginning of it all - she was there to witness his birth and his first hunt. Kellen if you could call it such showed a particular fondness for Wolfgang enough to the point he was her favorite of Arcturus’ children and the one she always thoroughly believed would be the next blood king. Kellen was his father’s most trusted and much the success of his father could’ve been attributed to her. Now she serves as his most trusted advisor; the woman is not like other vampires. She is older, wiser and far more ruthless than she seems and he would be foolish to discount her advice. After all she is here to ensure the success of his reign and see that it endures. One can be certain whatever Wolfgang’s plans are Kellen knows them as if they are her own and if anyone has his ear she does.

Zion Kellen-Child : Her only child; her pride and joy - the only being on the entire face of this earth in all her years she’s deemed worthy to be her child. Kellen is a heavy influence in Zion’s life as she seeks to mold her into a version of herself as  Shoar did for her.

FC is SEMI-NEGOTIABLE

[arc-17]

Darkness - Part 1

A Choices Whodunnit Fandom Fanfic

Introduction: This is set within the Alternate Universe @rr-roe-es aka @choiceswhodunnit 's game here within the fandom, starting right before the third murder and prior events are covered in flash back here. Before continuing on in the other parts, 2, 3, etc. of this fic series. This is VERY AU obviously since some of these characters lived at different times (Kenna Rys specifically) and well… have, or will be dying LOL! Since the premise of this whole event has sparked my interest, and I’ve really loved working with everyone on these mysteries, and gotten a bit of my old Role Playing skills up and running again, I decided to write the events as if they were really happening to the characters, within this AU, from Ryan’s point of view. So… without further ado, here it goes. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Darkness. It was within and without, in his thoughts, his dreams when they did happen, and in the room around him. He’d never felt anything like this, but… he’d also never experienced anything like this before. Not before coming here that is, to this castle, before getting trapped in this… psychopathic murderous game. Hollywood Actor Ryan Summers rolled over in his bed, unable to sleep despite the ridiculously posh and warm surroundings, had the situation been different; it would have been a dream trip. But instead, his fellow guests have been getting killed one by one while he and the other survivors get to play Sherlock Holmes and figure out how the killer has been committing the murders. Obviously it’s one of them, Kenna was the only person he knew coming here and he’d trust her with his life. It could be the staff, but knowing Kenna, she’d only have people she’d trust with her life, so no, it can’t be one of them. “…I am among you...” The first note had said, and it was the first of many he was to find out. Ryan got up and walked over to his window, reflexively testing to see if it too was locked from the outside, just in case. It wasn’t, and he opened it a crack and left it open. Moving back he sat on the edge of his bed as the previous two day’s events replayed them in his mind.

~

Stepping out of the limo, Ryan pauses to take in his surroundings, the crisp fall air of the open country estate surrounding him as he took a deep breath, enjoying the lack of city smell as he took a moment, straightening the cuffs of his Armani Tuxedo. With a soft whistle he took in the sight before him of the sprawling age old structure, a castle built in a by gone era “Haven’t seen a castle like this since I was in The Prince of Dragons! You ever see that one Jeffrey?” He says to the valet as he closes the door for him. “I cannot say that I have sir, but you’ll find the lady of the house inside, just this way.” He motions for Ryan to follow, another servant taking care of his baggage. Upon entering the grand foyer he spots her immediately, closing the distance to give her a hug. “Kenna! It’s been to long!” Ryan grins, planting a kiss on her cheek as they parted. “Ryan, it’s good to see you, tell me how is Cassandra?” She smiled though, it didn’t reach her eyes which he should have noticed, like there was a sadness she was hiding, but he discounted it entirely. “She is doing wonderful, as always, has her Pilot’s License now, I think when the examiner found out what she did in that damaged Jet with Dave and Sam it helped.” He chuckled. “That is good to hear” she said looking over his shoulder at some more guests arriving. She then gave his had a slight squeeze. “Maybe… if,” she shook her head. “I’d like to hear about your friend’s Sam and Dave, later some time if you don’t mind.” “Of course, It’s quite the tale, the adventure that those two get themselves into” he chuckled and then moved aside as she went to great the others, watching the other guests arrive, taking an offered glass of wine as a waiter walked by. There were a few faces he recognized, though didn’t know them personally, such as Leo, former Prince of Cordonia. The tabloids were alive with the goings on there and the “contest” for his Brother’s hand in marriage and the crown. He knew personally how unforgiving the press could be, and how hard it was to keep one’s personal life private. And then there was also Benjamin Park, the writer. He was a fan, though he tried to keep it low key. And he’d heard rumors through his friend Dave that one of his comics would wind their way to the big screen, where Ryan hoped he’d get the chance to get a part. He made a mental note to talk to him later. Having finished his glass while surveying the group, Ryan sets it aside and taps who he supposed was a passing waiter. “Pardon me son, when you have a moment, I’ll take a Manhattan, but eh, make it the top shelf stuff” He says with a wink. The young man furrows his brows, “I am off the clock. Get your own drink!” he says briskly then, pauses realizing who was in front of him he beams and the next words almost fell out of his mouth all at once. “Oh boy! Love your work sir! I’ll be back in a second with the Manhattan, sir!” Ryan laughed, resting an arm on his shoulder to have him wait, having given him a full look to see he wasn’t dressed like Kenna’s staff, and had a drink of his own. “Woah easy there friend! My apologies, I mistook you for one of Kenna’s crew here, but I see that is not the case. My name’s Ryan Summers but I guess you already knew that.” He smiles extending his hand in greeting. “I’m Daniel, waiter by day, and family friend of Kenna’s… any other time!” Daniel says, grinning ear to ear as he shook his hand. “And say, let’s work together! I’m game for an alliance” Ryan chuckles again, the young man’s infectious enthusiasm for this adventure impressing him. “An Alliance eh? Excellent because I have no idea why we are here, other than this is some sort of special Mystery game, event, thing, with mandatory attendance.” “Hey, any excuse for a party is a good one, am I right? Cheers!” Daniel clinks his glass against Ryan’s.

It looked as if this kid, Daniel, was a ball of anxiety and excitement. He probably was relieved to not only have a night finally off, but to have something to do on top of it. “Well said!” Ryan grins. “Cheers!” He returns, meeting his glass to his. He then pauses; taking a sip as he took a glance around the room then motioned with his glass. “You know anyone here? I only know Kenna, our host, though I recognize a couple of the other guests.” “Some of them are familiar. But, I’ve worked so many places, I’m not sure if we met or it is just Deja vu.” Daniel answered, looking across the room, taking it all in. “Mhm! True” Ryan nodded, taking another sip. “The faces do start to blur after a while, after so many get-togethers and shindigs. Well, it’s been a pleasure,” Ryan said extending his hand again, “I’m gonna go see if I can speak with our hostess and see where they took my luggage. I’ll be seeing you around Daniel.” He says with a warm smile, which Daniel returned as Ryan left; weaving is way through the guests. While he was looking for Kenna, he stopped when a tall young man tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Mr. Summers? I was wondering if you had a moment. My name’s Sean Gayle and-” he was saying, extending his hand in greeting when Ryan interrupted him, his face lighting up as he recognizes the young man, taking his hand and shaking it, clapping him on the shoulder warmly as well. “Hey! Sean? As in The Sean Gayle #5?! Heck yeah! I’m a big fan of yours!” “Yep, that’s me- Wait, you’ve heard of me? That’s awesome! I’m a big fan of your work!”

“Awesome buddy! So uh… got any clue what’s going on here? Kenna is being all… mysterious about why she invited us here, other than the whole mystery thing. Personally I think she’s been reading too many Agatha Christie Novels.” Sean shook his head “To be honest, I’m pretty confused by it all. Half these people are from my college, but the rest I don’t know. Do you recognize anyone?” “Kenna’s the only one I actually know, but I recognize Benjamin Park over there, he’s the one with glasses. He’s a writer.” Ryan said with a quick nod. “I think I’ve seen some of Benjamin Park’s work. He works in comics, right?” “Yes, comics, and good ones if you haven’t read them yet.” Sean nodded. “I’ve read a couple here and there- a friend of mine is a collector.” Ryan smiled “Really? Hmm... I’d like to meet him some time then. Keep this on the down low but I am a fan too. Just like to keep a few things away from the paparazzi, if you know what I mean.” “I’m sure my friend would love to meet you- he’s a great guy. And oh, I understand. It’s hard when everyone seem to know every detail about you.” Ryan nods in agreement, looking around a moment, taking a sip of his wine when he spots another face he knew. “So as far as others I recognize… hmm ah! And over there is one of the Princes of Cordonia, I believe the one that abdicated the throne. The cute one with him in the pink dress looks familiar too but I can’t place where I’ve seen her.” Sean looks over at Leo and the Lady Hana, as he later found out was her name, frowning slightly in thought. “I thought he looked familiar- he used to be on all the gossip websites. I’ve no clue who the girl is, though. His girl, maybe?” he said with a shrug then turns slightly, and points across the room. “The red head over there is my friend Quinn, and the girl with her is Michelle. We actually just got back from…. an Island getaway, so we nearly missed out on this.” Ryan smiles as he looks over at Sean’s friends. “An island getaway with those two? That sounds rather romantic. Reminds me of the time I played a down on his luck smuggler in the South Seas, got the worst sunburn though.” Sean laughed, “Romantic is the farthest thing from it I’m afraid- we were with a group, and some of the people there weren’t our biggest fans… ” He laughs again, “And sunburn is something I’ve been lucky enough to avoid in life.. You got to always slip slop slap!” “Yeah, you got that right! And the natives were restless eh?” Sean grins slightly “Just a little. But they turned out to be pretty great people once they got to know us. Sean then looked around, brows furrowed for a moment. "On a serious note… any clue what we all have in common? Seems like a weird group.” Ryan shrugged. “As for this group, your guess is as good as mine. You know Kenna our host?” Sean shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. “I know of her, but we haven’t met until tonight. I thought tonight may be something to do with Hartfeld, like a fundraiser… but it doesn’t seem like it.” Ryan nodded “Same impression I had, fundraising but… no long winded speeches and checkbooks spotted yet, guess we’ll find out together then” Sean laughs warmly “Yes! And so far nobody has come over to shower me in compliments, which is usually the big sign they’d like me to be generous.” He then goes quiet a moment, sipping his drink thoughtfully before changing the subject. “So tell me, how do you know Kenna?” “I met Kenna a ways back at a promotional event for one of my films, her and my friend Cass knew each other and kind of went from there, been friends since. She’s also lent the studio some of the artifacts in her collection for use in the films I’ve been in. And I think they want to use this castle at some point as well.” “Oh wow, that’s great!” Sean grins. “It would be amazing to see some of the artifacts she has- the history behind them would be incredible. I’m surprised they haven’t already used the castle- have you been here before?” Ryan nodded his agreement “Honestly I would like to see them as well. May not look it but a bit of a history buff myself. And no, this is my first time here actually.” Sean smiled thoughtfully as he continued “I think we’re all secretly a history buff. I only just recently became a fan of it myself.” He pauses, sipping his drink and he looks around at the others. “From what a few of the others here have said, nobody has been here before.” From what Ryan could tell, Sean clearly had some misgivings of this whole event, and was on edge, looking around and this crease of a frown always at his temples, something was nagging at him, but it wasn’t for Ryan to pry into. He’d only just met the guy after all. “Then it shall be a new adventure for all of us then.” He responded. Sean sighs, running his hand over his forehead. “I guess I should check in on Michelle and Quinn, see how they’re doing.” He smiled slightly to himself as he looks over at them. “If I’m honest, I hate this kind of thing, so I’m glad to have them here.” Ryan follows his gaze and smiles, then with a final sip he emptied his glass then setting it aside, he extends his hand again. “Well, I’m going to go do the rounds and see if I can’t sweet talk one of the servants into telling me when dinner is going to be served and when I find out more I’ll let you know. And maybe later we can get a chance to see that famous Number Five throwing arm in action!” Sean flashes a smile, shaking his hand firmly. “Sounds great- if you find out, let me know. I’m starving.” He laughs slightly. “And if you can find a football I’ll be more than happy to throw it around! Might break a few things in here though, so best take it outside.” “It’s a deal then! I’ll find a football, and then introduce me to your friends over dinner.” Ryan smiles with a wave as he moves off to continue his search for Kenna or one of the servants. “I’ll see you at dinner!” Sean nods in response, smiling back before moving off to meet some of the other guests. The rest of the night was a little blurry for him at the moment; he remembers meeting a couple other people, James another student at Hartfield University, a writer, who had written the script for that Indi Film that Hollywood was buzzing about. Brandon, a nice kid who worked the coffee shop at the same School, he too wanted to team up for whatever “Mystery Event” Kenna had planned. He also met Quinn, Sean’s friend, her smile was infectious, as was her laugh, and Jess, who went on this amazing cruise and had this crazy to do list with her family from her Grandma’s will. Also a girl named Brooke, a friend of Benjamin Park’s, who at last he also finally got to meet and plug his name in for a role in the upcoming adaptation of one of his comics. None of that mattered anymore though, not after the events that happened at dinner… That scream will stick with him for the rest of his life, which if things continue as they are, won’t be for much longer.   (Parts 2, 3 and 4 coming soon!)

[swordliliesandebony-blog]

A Fond Farewell | CH 1/3

Pairings: Chapter 1- Promptis | Chapter 2- Highspecs | Chapter 3- Gladio/Sania

Warnings: Major end-game spoilers

Rating: M

Summary:

"You surround yourself with ghosts, you can’t be surprised when they start hauntin’ you."

Prompto thinks it's a dream. Maybe a nightmare. He knows it's impossible, but he sure as hell wants to believe in this particular ghost.

A story in three parts, wherein a crownless guard find themselves thoroughly haunted.

[Read on Ao3]

It starts with nightmares. Things like this always do.

The nightmares themselves, the concept of waking up in a cold sweat, with stinging eyes and pounding heart and too little air in the room, none of that is abnormal. None of that is starting only when Prompto takes up his new residence nestled in the remnants of a couple hundred years worth of dead kings’ legacies. He’s used to the gripping terror that comes with darkness twisting into memories that cannot be buried or forgotten, that continue to exist in perfect clarity and down to the finest detail. He’s come anticipate phantom burning across old scars, twisting smiles, words that mock and sing and ring through his head hours after he’s awake. He’s had ten years of that. He’s learned to wake early with the sun, to let light he generally resents sweep away the visitors the night inflicts. He’s learned that Ignis will mix him a potion, if things get a little too severe, that will allow him a little bit of rest. He’s learned not to ask Aranea if any of those nightmares were ever really anything but.

It starts with a new nightmare, to be a bit more accurate. It starts with a different should-have-been king and a different curse from that fucking crystal.

Prompto thinks, when he’s bolt upright in the bed, blankets across the floor and breeze at the window and night still surrounding, that he should have expected this. He’d been warned about this, and maybe the warning itself put the seed in his head, guaranteed its own fulfillment. It was Cid, by way of Cindy, who told him that ‘you surround yourself with ghosts, you can’t be surprised when they start hauntin’ you’. He remembers smiling and shrugging it off, maybe even pointing out that he’d never entirely unwrapped himself from the shadow his best friend left behind. Or, more likely, he just thought it and swore he would heed the advice while discounting it entirely, assuming it all abstract and metaphorical. Noct started haunting his thoughts before he ever died. Walking the halls, tracing faded footsteps, none of that was going to make it any worse.

Except, apparently, it has.

The nightmare was where it started. The one where he breaks away from Ignis’s grasp on his wrist to turn his back on the ten-year-tardy dawn. The one where he swears he sees silver and sad smiles beside the body of his king, his best friend, his goddamn only love pinned so neatly to that throne. The one where bile chokes his throat and the air is thick with blood and he goes to summon up a pistol only to find his hand trembling and empty. The one where his knees crack and scream when he hits the floor before the throne. The one where he knew what would meet him in that sunlight, where he forgot how damn bright it was, where he just fucking wishes they could have gone without a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer.

He didn’t throw the blanket off himself in his sleep. He’s done that before, woken all tangled in sheets and drenched in sweat, with blankets and pillows strewn around him, tossed aside in the struggle of the nightmare. Not this nightmare, though. He hasn’t had this one before, save the time he was living it proper and full color. And he didn’t throw off the blanket. It was tugged away, and that’s what woke him, he’s certain of it. He’s certain because it’s laid in a relatively neat heap on the floor, beside the open window. And he’s certain, too, that he hadn’t left that window open.

Prompto stays sat in bed with a new panic flooding him, a fight or flight response where his body is still too exhausted and sleep-addled to make pick one side or the other and instead opts to lock up, to leave him with darting eyes and pounding heart and trembling fists clutching into the sheets. He tries to take stock. His eyes don’t adjust so quickly to the dark any more. It didn’t take long for that to fade. It’s been a month? Maybe two? Already, it feels like those ten years were nothing but another nightmare. Like someone clicked off pause on the world and it all resumed just so quickly. Not for him, though. His eyes do adjust, though not so quickly as when darkness was the rule rather than the exception, and he surveys the room.

The window is open and the breeze is cold, biting even on sweat-soaked skin. It takes a few moments for Prompto to realize this, to place the greater cause for all those pinpricks on his skin. The room is freezing, in fact. The moon is full and bright and the light that filters in through fluttering curtains is enough for him to see his breath go to mist in front of him. He waits longer, ears pricked to any sound that might indicate an intruder. The bed creaks when he shifts and shivers, his blood is rushing in his ears, but there’s nothing else, no sign of life but his own. He’s slow still to swing his legs over the bed and make his way to shut the damn window. Prompto has the presence of mind, at least, to check the latch when he swings the glass shut.

There are two important details he takes in here. The first is that the latch is in perfect working order. That much shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ignis was hesitant to give Prompto the room in the first place. Prompto had pegged it out of a sense of respect or propriety, the simple fact that the childhood quarters of a fallen king weren’t appropriate living space for… whatever Prompto could be labeled as. Best friend? Covert consort? Illicit affair? He had given up on labels long ago. And it didn’t matter now any more than it mattered when Noctis was still alive, still prisoner to a fate they knew was cruel, if not by what measure. All such matters aside, Gladio had spoken to Prompto in private later, had asked after his state of mind. Things had been bleak. Things were still bleak. He said that’s what Specs was really concerned about, putting him up here. Prompto doesn’t think he reassured Gladio any on that front, but he does think he managed to put a bit of pity into his heart and that it was enough to convince Ignis, who wasted no time making sure the room was safe to inhabit despite his regularly reiterated best wishes. So, of course, the damn latch on the window was fine.

The second detail is the more important one. The one that doesn’t strike Prompto until he’s stood in front of the open window, playing at the latch with his face all close, squinting through the dark. The breeze that whispers against his face is comfortable, light, and perhaps most importantly, warm . The wrongness of that bit occurs to him and puts him stark in place again. Ironically enough, it sends a harsh chill through his body, all goosebumped arms and raised hairs. He tenses back up, that same half-panic that flooded him in bed. He’s listening again. There’s a sudden feeling flooding his brain, a sort of don’t turn around, don’t look behind you, refrain repeating heavy and quick, throbbing through his mind in time with his racing heart. His fingers tremble, warm breeze not quite warm enough, when he lets his hand away from the window.

Prompto makes an attempt at logic here, though it’s a half-hearted one at best. He still doesn’t turn around. He can’t. The cold is creeping in against his back, tugging at his shoulders, chilling him down to the bone while the summer night works opposite at the front. He feels dizzy. He feels like, if he turns around, he won’t be able to handle what he sees. He won’t be able to handle what he doesn’t see. There’s no winning and the discomfort is rising. He tells himself it’s a dream, a side effect of a day that made his brain spin. A dream-within-a-dream, because Noctis isn’t sitting dead before him any more. He pinches his arm. It hurts. Damn it all, it hurts. He tries for another direction of explanation. He maps out ceiling vents, a full half minute of near-calm washing as he considers this explanation, a long stretch of seconds before he recalls the limited power they’re still running on and the nonessential utilities that are thereby also nonexistent ones.

Fuck.

He has to move. That fact is far too present in Prompto’s mind. He can stand there, half-naked and dripping sweat, looking over the moonlit city for a while, this much is true, but he can’t do it forever. He wonders briefly if he can do it until morning, until the sunlight has chased away whatever fear is holding him there. Because it is, of course, the dark that’s doing it. It’s so easy to be afraid of whatever’s lurking behind you in the night when you know what some of the things that used to lurk were. It’s easier still, when you’ve lost your sense for endless darkness. He has to turn around. Prompto draws in a breath, holds it. He wills his muscles to relax, wills his heart to stop fighting so valiantly against his ribs. He wills away the cold on his spine and, when he exhales, he finds that it works .

He still doesn’t turn around immediately, but his hands aren’t gripping at the sill any more and the next breath comes deep and easy and barely shakes at all. It feels a lot, in fact, like someone has turned off the cool air and the summer night has filled it just as quickly. Prompto manages to laugh at himself. There must have been some mistake, some miscommunication. He’d talk to Ignis about it in the morning and that would be that. Someone would probably get a stern talking to about the importance of preserving the generator until power proper could be restored, and he would get a stern talking to, if he wasn’t careful, about letting his imagination run away from him; perhaps about finding a room that doesn’t hold quite so many memories. He’ll be careful. He nods to himself. It’s still late. The moon is high. It can’t be far past midnight, maybe one. Plenty of time to get back to sleep. He’ll go for the canteen, set into the ice bucket he’s made of the bathroom sink, and he’ll crawl back in bed. It was only the nightmares after all. He was only on edge because a new one struck him.

It’s as he’s turning that the door slams.

He catches a glimpse of it in the reflection the moon casts on the window. Just something out of the corner of his eye. It’s the sound that gets him, that gunshot banging shut that makes him nearly jump from his skin. The first thought is that someone was in the room, that some intruder had stumbled upon him, had stripped him of blanket. Had... turned the air to ice? His eyes dart to the entry door, the one Ignis made sure to have fitted with locks and bolts for him, a concession to certain fears that wouldn’t fade so easily. The chain hangs secure, half-taut in its slot. If there were more light than the moon, he’s certain he would see all the rest in place just the same.

He knows this, though. He knows, because he saw from the corner of his eye. He saw the door move- an impossibility for the entryway set in the corner farthest from the bed and the window. It was the closet. He’s shaking now, and he knows there’s no stopping it, but he’s no longer glued in place. That familiar instinct has turned soundly to fight.

“Who’s there?” he wishes his voice would sound a little bit braver, but there’s a trembling quality to it when he calls out and it makes the demand sound admittedly less demanding. Prompto goes for the bedside table, for the small torch set face down on it. It’s a good light. It’s heavy and long, the sort of thing law enforcement would have carried in a world that’s been gone for a decade. When he clicks the heavy button near the belled end, the stream of light is bright to the point of near-blinding. He focuses directly on the closet door. He watches it swing open, slow on its hinge, just a few inches of lingering momentum from a latch that didn’t catch.

“I can see you. Just come out. Maybe I’ll let you live,” his voice is louder, but it’s higher too and Prompto knows damn well that the words are laughable. Reality is that he can’t see a damn thing. The open few inches of door, even with light shone against the wood, remain shadowed and dark. He doesn’t hear a damn thing; no shifting of weight, no breath but his own, no sign of whoever has hidden away inside. He takes a few steps, slow ones, shuffling to the side, to give him a better glimpse of what awaits.

“Pretty shitty burglar, y’know. There’s a blind guy right up the hall. He’s got way more expensive tastes, too,” Prompto almost wonders why he’s speaking at all. Almost. It’s a nervous habit, even- maybe especially- when he’s alone. The less silence, the better. He thinks, as he’s sidestepping the bed, changing his angle more, approaching the closet proper, it might even be a survival tactic. He’s pretty sure that’s what you were supposed to do if you wanted to survive; you talk to the intruder, make yourself human, make them care about you. He’s not convinced it’s working. He’s not convinced he cares. He is, after all, nearly close enough to touch the doorknob now, and he’s not made for the halls instead, he’s not screaming for help from anyone who might be close enough to hear.

When the range is right, he extends the torch arm, uses the head of the unwieldy thing to swing the door open. He jumps at the resulting noise, having pressed a little too hard and properly banged at the heavy wood. He nearly closes his eyes, but his instincts take hold and instead he raises the light high, aiming and prepared to strike.

The closet is empty.

It’s not a particularly large one, and a quick step forward, a sweep at each wall confirms the initial finding. Well, mostly confirms. It’s empty of any unwelcome guests. The floor, on the other hand, is a heap of mess. It makes Prompto’s stomach churn suddenly and violently. There’s bile rising and choking at him when he sweeps the light over the littered ground. He has to swallow back, cough, sputter for breath. This isn’t a mess he made. This isn’t a mess he would ever fucking make.

There’s a quick sweep of the room before he proceeds, back to the window, the bed, to the en suite, and back to the door. Empty. He expects that by now, though. He still feels sick. Sicker, maybe. His hand reaches to the closet doorknob and his hand nearly recoils. The metal is like ice, like the air that hung over the bed, like the opposite of the atmosphere of the room otherwise. He’s barely surprised when he sinks to his knees and the chill overtakes him again.

The pack was a parting gift of sorts. Something that Prompto had clung to for days, unable to open. He knows that its contents are what lie before him. He knows because he can smell it. He can smell him, all thick and heavy in the air. Not blood on a floor or a body gone cold. Actually, properly, him. Trendy cologne that had started as a shot-in-the-dark high school gift and become a favorite. Hints of mint. A little bit of sweat. He lets the torch fall beside him, lets it keep the scene lit, doesn’t so much as flinch at the clatter of steel on hardwood. His own breath hangs in the air above the clothes. Prompto almost expects, almost wishes it to take his damn form before him. It doesn’t.

He’s gentle when he lifts the shirt from the top of the pile. Soft, black, the smattered dark skulls. He lifts the fabric to his face and inhales and for a moment he’s not on the floor leaning into a closet at all. He’s in the tent, late in the morning when Ignis and Gladio have already gone to meet the sun. His face is pressed into Noct’s chest while Prompto pretends still to be asleep right with him. He can feel the warmth. He can hear his heart beating against his ear. He chokes against a sob, and reality, cold and icy, is back again.

Prompto shifts. He sits himself in the frame of the door, back pressed harsh and hard against the frame, and he works through the clothes in turn. He folds them, a little haphazard and mindless. He sets them in a pile, pats down each garment. He fights the memories. He fights the thoughts of the apartment and the nights they spent together in it, curled and twined and happy. He fights the morning they first left Insomnia, all bright futures and hope and a little bit of sadness for what they had to leave behind. Not knowing. Not having any fucking idea.

There are remnants of the trip, remnants of Noctis strewn in and beneath the clothing. A potion, clinking to the floor when shorts are set aside. A little clay figure, clumsy and vaguely cactuar-shaped. He remembers that too, and more tears fall. A joke, to be made part of Talcott’s collection. The figure has a friend of sorts in the pile, and that part makes Prompto freeze again.

“What are you doing here?” he can’t help but breathe the question to the little teal creature, and he thinks it’s a good one. He knows it’s a good one. Because he knows there’s no way in hell that Noctis went to the end of the world without that particular companion- the only one he wouldn’t have to leave behind. He thumbs over the curved ears, the little horn, down the back as if to pet the toy properly. His vision is properly blurred here. It’s impossible. This is impossible. This is a dream. Somewhere between dream and nightmare. He can’t quite decide. It absolutely isn’t real.

He looks back to the window, to the bed, and he tries to will a spectre properly into existence through his tears. That’s how it’s meant to work, right? You figure out it’s a dream, then you take control of it. Nothing happens. Noctis doesn’t appear in some shimmering facsimile on the mattress. He doesn’t appear at all. It makes the hurt, the sadness, go to anger, because Prompto knows it isn’t real. He knows it can’t be. It’s more than the icy air, pressing against his tear-streaked face and running through his hair. It’s more than Carbuncle, a strangely comforting weight in his hand. It’s more than slamming doors and strewn out clothes that convince Prompto he’s asleep or dead or simply gone mad.

It’s the sheet of paper beneath where the statue sat. Because it’s not a sheet of paper at all. It’s a photo, creased sharp down the center, battered around the edges as if it’s gone through hell in someone’s pocket. It’s face down, but maybe it’s better that way, because Prompto knows what he’ll see if he flips it.  

[danisavin]

If by some miracle you instantly became fluent in 3 foreign languages, what would they be? This includes various forms of sign language and Braille.

“I’m already fluent in a number of languages. I grew up speaking Romanian and Arabic in addition to English, French and Spanish I picked up fairly quickly given they’re both Romance languages like Romanian. Those are the languages I’d say I’m fluent in, discounting Latin because it’s only a reading language nowadays. I’m also quite good at speaking Polish, a smidge of Japanese, and I’ve studied Egyptian hieroglyphs and hieratic, ancient Greek, and a little bit of Old Norse for archaeological purposes. That being said, I’m going to pick another three languages I’d be interested in having for my lingual toolbelt, so to speak.”

“The first one is Gaeilge or Gàidhlig, the Irish and Scottish Goidelic languages, respectively. If you’ve ever so much as tried to pick up Gaelic late in life, you’d realize it’s bloody fuckin’ near impossible. If you grew up speaking it, that’s a different story, and you’re lucky. I don’t have the time nor the patience to crack a Gaelic language at this stage. Important phrases and terms are well enough for me. Second would be sign language – either BANZSL or LSF, for obvious useful reasons. And third… I think either Sindarin, which is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Elvish language, or High Valyrian from Game of Thrones.”   

[swtorramblings]

Lessons Part 3: Fate

Art commissioned from @fleeting-sanity.

Senya hates being called Empress, but has been called by that name to a meeting place with some old allies.

1259 words Part of “I Shall Save Myself”, beginning with The Final Chain Last chapter: Lessons Part 2: Rage and Fear Next chapter: Lessons Part 4: The Cave

She was at the meeting place. She did not know what this was about, but the Scions could no longer be ignored. Senya knew very well how dangerous they could be when slighted, and as Empress could not discount how useful they were if acknowledged.

And, because the were Scions, the game began.

A woman stepped from behind a pillar, activated her lightsaber, and circled Senya. “Good, you are here, Empress.”

“Do not call me that.”

Another Scion, a man, stepped out and said, “You deny it, but it is the truth of who you are.” He drew and activated his lightsaber, as well.

Another woman revealed herself. “Scyva was meant to take the throne since Nahut broke Fate.” A third beam of red light.

Senya considered that Scyva was obviously her, but asked, “Nahut? Do you mean Vaylin?”

A fourth Scion, another man, stepped forth, lightsaber already activated. “Yes, hated by Fate and all who beheld her, doomed by her father to die.”

Senya now noticed that they spoke in turn, in the same order they had first spoken, starting with the woman that first revealed herself. “Only, she fought back against Fate, and somehow, it was Fate that fell.”

“We do not understand, but now the threads are in disarray.”

Senya’s grip tightened on her lightsaber pike, but she still left it deactivated. “What are you expecting? That I will kill my own daughter to restore what you think should happen?” She had thought then that she could do it if she had to, and she might have had things gone differently. Now, though, she could not even consider it. She no longer had it in her.

“No, Senya, it is too late for that.”

“The sacrifice will now be yours.”

“The ritual is prepared and we shall soon begin.”

“If only you had joined the Scions rather than the Knights, this might be easier.”

“Perhaps not, though.”

“The Knights would not have known what was needed.”

Senya frowned and replied, “The Scions play their parts rather than live their lives. For all my mistakes, for all the tragedy of my life, I would not give up the joy.” She lifted the pike, and finally activated it, knowing how this would end.

“We understand.”

“Thank you, Empress.”

“For your sacrifice, thank you, Senya.”

“We begin.”

They charged forward and slashed at where she had been, but she had already leaped from their circle. “What ritual? What sacrifice?” she shouted.

They did not respond. One came at her, saber lashing out, while the other three took their preordained positions. Scions always fought as one, never impeding one another, because they always knew where they were meant to be. The question in fighting them was, were they fighting because they were meant to win, or because they were meant to lose?

She deflected the blow and slashed back, but he parried. She felt rather than saw one of the others throw her saber, and had to crouch under it.

A third came at her, flying over her allies, saber swung back in preparation for a powerful downward swing. For a moment, the woman reminded Senya of Vaylin, rushing to attack, before Arcann pushed her away. Then, instinctively, she struck upward, impaling her attacker. The Scion cried out, hunched over the blow, her lightsaber slipping from her fingers and flickering out. She locked eyes with Senya for a moment, whispered, “Empress.” She then gripped the pike with surprising strength, before falling back, pulling the weapon from Senya’s grasp.

Senya turned to the other three, and so did not notice that as the woman died, a mist formed above her.

The first to fall had also been the first to speak, Senya realized. Of course she had. The Scions loved nothing more than useless symmetry.

Her remaining foes lunged towards her, but Senya slammed her fists into the floor, sending out a shockwave that knocked them away. She was on one of them before he could recover. Not the second one to speak. She would have to kill them all, Scions did not start fights without committing themselves completely to their fates, but she would at least deny them that satisfaction.

She pinned his sword arm to the floor with her Force powers and landed on his chest knees first, cracking ribs. She then simply punched him with her armored fist, breaking his nose. While he was coughing blood, she took up his weapon and prepared to finish him.

She sensed one of them behind her a fraction of a second before he struck. She spun and slashed him across the chest. He stared at her, open-mouthed, for a moment, and said, “Thank you.” He then sagged to his knees before, finally, falling to the floor. At least his death had been quick, unlike the first one that spoke.

Of course, he had been the second to speak.

The third struck while Senya was distracted by her thoughts, and almost landed a blow. She realized after a moment that she had known where the blow would land before her foe had swung. She turned and the battle resumed, with only the two of them left.

This Scion was not like the others. They were all skilled, to some extent, but this one had Knight training, and was almost Senya’s match. She thought she might know the woman, but it no longer mattered. As good as the Scion was, Senya was better. While she was unable to land a single killing blow, she inflicted several lesser injuries until, finally, her opponent was overcome, and fell to her knees, then to her side.

The Scion, dying, gasped out, “I am sorry, Senya, I could not stop it, it had to be.” She then rolled onto her back, and exhaled, and died.

Finally, Senya noticed the mist rise from this Scion’s body, as it must have from the first two. It was their knowledge, their experience. Perhaps some part of their spirits. It was within her, now.

The last one had risen to his knees, painfully, holding his damaged ribs. He was not resisting. “We are all sorry, Empress, but you need to be more, Knight and Scion both.”

She looked down at him, sadly. “And now, you must die, also.”

“Yes.”

“For destiny!” she spat at him, angry at their manipulations, angry at what she knew she was going to do.

“Yes. And because the ritual is not complete, and will destroy you if you do not finish it. The three already with you will drive you mad otherwise. Truly, we are sorry.”

She realized that she wasn’t listening just to the still living Scion, but that the others were speaking to her from within as well. She raised her lightsaber. “As am I.” She brought it down, and he fell, the mist escaping him as it had the others.

The voices stilled. The ritual was complete, and they were a part of her now. She could see the result: though she was still herself, their knowledge and training were a part of her, as though it had always been there. She could accept destiny, unlike the Knights, or reject it, unlike the Scions.

As an Empress should.

She looked at the lightsaber in her hand, deactivated it, and cracked it open, removing the crystal within. She did the same with her pike. Neither weapon would serve, she knew she would need a new one. She would have the Scions given proper funerals, with honors, for their dedication to Zakuul. For now, however, she had other tasks to accomplish. Her son would need her, and soon.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/how-worried-should-we-be-about-chinas-economy/

How worried should we be about China's economy?

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The sign says “new era in China”, but will it be a welcome one?

The cracks in China’s economy appear to be widening, with signs of weakening growth amid a background of trade tensions.

Adding to the worries, China’s stock market was the world’s worst performer last year, ending with a loss of 28%.

This week Apple said slowing sales in China meant it would not meet sales expectations, triggering sharp falls on global stock markets.

The tech giant isn’t alone.

A string of other companies have issued warnings recently over China’s slowdown and the impact of the trade war with the US.

Among those are carmakers such as General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Luxury vehicle maker Jaguar Land Rover has also warned of slowing Chinese sales.

US carmakers hit by tariff disputes

This week, Robin Li, chief executive of Chinese search engine Baidu, used an infamous phrase from Game of Thrones to warn employees that “winter is coming” as the local economy cools.

However, not all Western brands are struggling in China.

In September, Nike said sales in Greater China shot up 24%. Lululemon, another activewear maker, also reported strong sales growth in China last year.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The US trade war is not helping business

What shape is China’s economy in?

China’s economic growth has been slowing in recent years and is now running at 6.5% annually, still a breakneck pace compared with anything in the developed world but about half the rate the country had been racking up for more than 20 years.

And the latest batch of economic news suggest this slowdown is deepening, not helped by the trade war with the US.

Data out this week showed manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in 19 months. New orders have fallen and retail sales eased. Firms have reported softer demand despite some discounting.

Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, sees GDP growth “bottoming out” around the second quarter of this year, and expects an annual growth rate of 6.1%.

But he does not see it deteriorating much further: “While China’s economy is slowing down, it is not tanking and Apple’s profit warning is not a good proxy for the health of the overall economy or even overall consumer spending.”

Long-term challenges

The Chinese economy also has deeper problems that need addressing.

George Magnus, research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre, points to serious and growing worries over the lack of regulation that sets doing business in China apart from that of the rest of the world.

These include China’s complex and shady “shadow banking” problem of unregulated lenders, its cyber espionage activities and lax protection of intellectual property rights.

The authorities are not standing idle. They are spending more on infrastructure to spur demand and have been cutting interest rates.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption China buys a hefty percentage of global natural resources

Why does China’s slowdown matter?

Serious turbulence in China now would matter a great deal more than it would have 10 or 20 years ago.

At the turn of the century, China accounted for about 7% of global economic activity. This year the figure is likely to be 19%.

And Chinese industry is closely integrated into international supply chains.

The rapid growth over the past 25 years has propelled China to second place in the league table of the world’s biggest economies.

Mr Magnus says that China’s economy is now so large it pretty much determines the global price of a huge range of products.

Half of all the world’s steel, copper, coal and cement goes to China, as well as about half of the world’s pork output and a third of its rice.

So if it isn’t buying, the price is likely to fall.

DBS Bank strategists Taimur Baig and Nathan Chow say the key issue for the global economy is “the depth of China’s economic malaise”.

“A steadily slowing China imparts a major drag to the world economy in any case. Add to this fears of the decline being disorderly, all other risks pale in comparison.”

However, Mr Magnus says fears shouldn’t be overstated: “I don’t think anyone is thinking at the moment that China’s economy is about to fall off a precipice, it’s just that everything has come off considerably from elevated levels it has been at for the last decade or more.”

[ao3jamiexbrienne]

Fast Times At Kings Landing Academy

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31dy8vS

by Scented_Candles

The high school crack fic where Brienne doesn't immediately fall for Jaime's good looks and is not intimidated by it, while Jaime tries very hard not to be weird while winning her affections. Her older brother is his best friend and he understood very well how it is to have a sister complex.

“Why are you so set on peddling your brother’s supposed interest in our youngest anyway?” Renly speaks up again, after finally having finished his glass of wine. “And I’m not interested,” Brienne inputs. “Like, it would be statutory rape, I’m not interested. I’m fourteen Tyrion.” “I’m not saying he’s going to have sex with you, right now!” Tyrion protest. “I’m just saying he likes you, is fond of you, and that could possibly develop into more in the future, when you’re legal.” “You’re discounting the fact that Brienne and I are supposedly having a torrid lesbian Lolita love affair,” Margaery adds, enjoying the frustrated frown Tyrion couldn’t quite keep at bay. “I’m not one to let go of my lovers that easily.” Brienne grins. “There is that too.”

Words: 1284, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, Multi

Characters: Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Renly Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister, Loras Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, Galladon of Tarth, Cersei Lannister, Bronn (ASoIaF), Ygritte (ASoIaF), Jon Snow, Rhaegar Targaryen, Elia Martell, Lyanna Stark

Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Tyrion Lannister & Brienne of Tarth, Brienne of Tarth & Margaery Tyrell

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31dy8vS

[thomasroach]

Everything we Know about Elden Ring: Release Date, Action RPG, Souls-like, Open World

The post Everything we Know about Elden Ring: Release Date, Action RPG, Souls-like, Open World appeared first on Fextralife.

The next FromSoftware title has been revealed as Elden Ring, and fans of the Souls series have many unanswered questions about the title. In This Elden Ring: Everything We Know article, we summarize all the bits and pieces scattered through the wind, and give you some insight into possible release dates and features.

Everything we Know about Elden Ring: Release Date, Action RPG, Souls-like, Open World

Elden Ring has been in production since the end of the Dark Souls III DLC. This is in contrast to Sekiro, that begun production in 2015 after Bloodborne.

Elden Ring will release on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4

Bandai Namco is publishing and has registered the Elden Ring IP

Elden Ring Release Date – From our observations The release window for this game is unlikely to match FromSoftware’s traditional March-April, and is more likely to fall into Dark Souls’ September-October release.

“Elden Ring is a third-person action RPG with a fantasy setting… gameplay is not so far from Dark Souls… Elden Ring belongs to the same genre.”

Plethora of weapons, magic and builds, and a focus on RPG elements. FromSoftware expects equipment variety to be larger than Souls in this regard.

No main fixed protagonist, players create the characteristics and personality of their character. This leads us to believe Character Creation is a given.

The World of Elden Ring is vast and interconnected. No longer a continuity of “levels”, players see vast landscapes in between the “dungeon-esque” areas.

The larger world scale allows for freedom, promotes exploration, and introduces new and exciting mechanics, such as Horse Riding and Mounted Combat.

Elden Ring is a “natural evolution of Dark Souls.” New mechanics needed by this larger world. Expect FromSoftware’s trademark challenging boss battles.

Towns won’t be full of villagers, merchants and the like. They will be ruins, dungeons and exploration hubs. As Souls there is no vast population of NPCs.

The NPCs the player finds are expected to be the most compelling yet in the studio’s work, thanks to Martin’s involvement in the Mythos.

George R. R. Martin has written the world’s mythos and Hidetaka Miyazaki has written the game story.

Story will be revealed through “fragments of environmental storytelling” as in previous Souls games.

Mythos and the present moment of the player are connected and exploration will lead players to understand why things are as they are.

There is no information at time of writing about multiplayer/online/invasions.

Mythos Vs Story

Without doubt the most unexpectedly welcome development we know is that the game is being produced in collaboration with George R. R. Martin. This has prompted a lot of interest outside of Souls fans, not least as the Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls game worlds had dark “Western” fantasy settings, and Martin is of course best known for the Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones series. While we’re very curious to see what this collaboration will look like, we already know we shouldn’t be expecting a Martin-penned story. In an interview with Bandai Namco, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki explained the collaborative process involved Martin discussing Miyazaki’s ideas, and then writing the world’s backstory after that. Confirming this in discussion with IGN, Miyazaki explained that he felt the process of videogame design would be too constricting for the author. So while Martin has provided the “mythos,” the game story is all Miyazaki.

Not something we expected to happen, but a welcome development!

Elden Ring Trailer Analysis

Considering the E3 2019 debut trailer, this isn’t too surprising. While characteristically vague in typical FROM style, we can perceive some very Miyazaki-like themes. We learn from the voice over that the Elden Ring, “that which commanded the stars, giving life its fullest brilliance” has been destroyed, and also that the sky is burning. This of course brings parallels to the collapsing sun of the Souls universe, and how such sun would be commanding the stars, and giving life brilliance.

The tone is furthered by visuals of destruction and decay, including a severed arm, a woman slotting a prosthetic arm using her other decaying hand, and the blacksmith figure who appears desiccated, cracking and collapsing at the end of the trailer. This is classic FROM, with fin de siècle themes of a dead or dying world, of darkness overcoming the light. And let’s not forget Dark Souls was originally going to be titled Dark Ring, until someone smartened up that it might mean something unpleasant in some slang.

This might be an allusion to an actual real world mythos

The one-armed warrior might be inspired by Nuada Airgetlám (Nuada Silver Hand/Arm), an Irish mythos based around a deposed king that takes the throne back after ten years of rival oppression. This is significant in setting the possible inspirations for the game, which are said to be Gaelic, Celtic and Nordic.

We see in the trailer part of a golden curve apparently in splinters. We know from the IGN interview that the ring is not a LOTR style device, an actual wearable magical ring, but is more thematic, a force that “forms the rules and rhythm of this world. This also discounts possible connections to Fromsoftware’s Eternal Ring game – as in that game the Rings were indeed physical objects.

The shattered Elden Ring?

The Elden Ring of the trailer has, in spite of not being a physical accessory, been shattered. Of course the apparent blacksmith figure in the footage is deliberately provocative: is he the destroyer, or is he trying to fix something? We’re probably wrong either way! But what is interesting is that figure, and others, in apparent states of dissolution and yet still live, and of course there is that severed arm which is still twitching. Is the ring the cycle of rebirth? Or has its destruction prevented people and creatures from passing normally in some other way?

Characters look as mysterious as always

What we found interesting on that piece of speculation is Miyazaki’s revelation of exactly which of Martin’s books it is that he recommended to his team: not GoT, but Fevre Dream¸ Martin’s tale of immortal vampires seeking to remedy the curse of their existence. We’ve seen Miyazaki put death and undeath central to the Dark Souls world; could this be another area of inspiration and collaboration, in addition to the dark Western fantasy world we’ve just been introduced to?

The Elden Ring might well be a concept like the “Dark Sign” of the Souls series. The “linking of the fire” might carry over in a similar manner as the concept of Fire, Ash, Darkness and Rebirth is re-framed as a Ring and possibly a collection of ethereal, dimensional or, should the “Sun” theory hold true, cosmic rings.

Lastly on game theme, Miyazaki commented in the Xbox Wire interview that there was a theme of will, or ambition of mankind. Certainly the “Gaia damaged by human action” trope is extensive in JRPG world stories (including famously Final Fantasy VII) and this would fit Miyazaki’s style of dying world storytelling. However, he also said that was one theme, and a theme represented by one of the presented character artworks. There may be more, and you might want to explore the screenshot gallery here.

This artwork has more hints of the setting. And that really sort of looks like a bonfire coil poker.

Elden Ring Gameplay Concepts

Open World & Mounted Combat

So far, so mysterious. Let’s move on to things we actually do know. First up, this is going to be Souls-like, FROM-like, Miyazaki-like Action RPG, as spelled out clearly in Twitter, YouTube, and all the interviews Miyazaki has granted. In terms of game world, it seems the intention is to build on the Souls experience but in a far broader world. The phrase “open world” has got people excited, but Miyazaki has qualified this, stating “there are many definitions to the term ‘open world,’ and I might not be phrasing it correctly, but we have simply tried our own approach to a game with a large, open field to play in.” So anyone expecting a Daggerfall-size Great Britain full of Souls enemies is likely to be disappointed. However, it does seem the intent is to do more than simply do away with loading screens between areas. The player will be able to ride a horse between locations, and indeed be able to do battle from horseback, which indicates an increase in scope.

World Composition

While this sounds more Skyrim­-esque, there are key differences that once again point back to the Souls experience. For example, villages will not be NPC hubs for quest objective accumulation and trade: “Villages will be the dark dungeon-like ruins that you have come to expect from us,” according to Miyazaki. So it sounds like rather than have narrow, constricting battle areas linked by loading screens or long elevator rides, there will be those traditional “dungeons,” but they will be linked by an open world which will have its own battle character, as well as opportunities for further exploration and discovery of the world’s story. We’re looking forward to seeing how much variety these very different environments will present for combat, and to the contrast between the vast landscapes and the “detailed and intricately designed castles” we have been promised.

Character Creation, Equipment, Stats

And finally, on that note: character creation. Miyazaki stated in the Bandai Namco interview that “this title will include a wide variety of weapons, magic, and ways to engage enemies, that make it possible to provide users with a style of gameplay and strategy that suits them”. It was further emphasized that this was the largest project in terms of scale and that they expect the variety of equipment and combat approaches to surpass Souls titles. This is further reinforced by a call-out to “fun, action, melee combat” and “unique and horrifying” bosses.

Miyazaki also stated that “there is no fixed main character in Elden Ring. We mostly leave it up to the player to decide the characteristics and personality of the character they create.” That does sound like modern RPGs where there is a central role in the game but it is up to the player to design the look, making the central character a player avatar. Does that mean Elder Scrolls style levels of control from fatness to cheekbones? This is yet unconfirmed, with Miyazaki commenting the game contains “character customisation elements.” Not explicitly a “Character Creation” confirmation, but given that the game is said to evolve Souls, we see no reason why this would be scaled back, particularly if battle approach versatility is to be expanded.

Expect larger than life bosses and intense combat mechanics

Elden Ring Release Date and News

Many were left wanting with the cinematic teaser and the limited availability of interviews and replies. From here on out, fans are likely to hear about the game at four crucial junctions this year:

Playstation Tokyo Event on July 15th.

Gamescom 2019 in August.

Tokyo Game Show in September .

The Game Awards in December.

That said, Bandai Namco has a tendency to make their own announcements at times of convenience, such as the announcement of Dark Souls Remastered being unveiled in January at a Nintendo event. What is clear from the timeline, however, is that it is unlikely that the title will be released in March or April 2019. Were the game ready prepared for such, E3 would have shown gameplay instead of just a teaser, so we are about 6 months behind a typical release window. This would then push it back to the September-October window, so gameplay may only be forthcoming by TGS 2019.

If you don’t want to miss anything about Elden Ring, bookmark our Elden Ring News Feed, or the Elden Ring Wiki Homepage, where we will be sharing the latest information, news, gameplay and details on Elden Ring as soon as they are live. If you want to check out similar games, we suggest having a peak at Project Awakening!

The post Everything we Know about Elden Ring: Release Date, Action RPG, Souls-like, Open World appeared first on Fextralife.

Everything we Know about Elden Ring: Release Date, Action RPG, Souls-like, Open World published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Why Your Pirated Movies Look Like Crap

http://tinyurl.com/y6tq7m69 FBI/VHS VCR So that you’ve simply settled down with a cherished one, some popcorn, and an illegally downloaded film. However, like the opposite motion pictures you’ve pirated, it appears to be like like crap. Why accomplish that many pirated movies look so unhealthy? Ugly Movies Are Dangerous for All people—Even Filmmakers Video high quality tends to take a backseat when piracy is concerned. You get what you pay for, in any case. However no matter means you take a look at it, the poor high quality of unlawful movies is unhealthy for everyone, from viewers to filmmakers. At a private stage, motion pictures and reveals are much less spectacular and engrossing once they seem like a hunk of digital rubbish. Actors and filmmakers deliberately reap the benefits of minute bodily particulars, lighting, and shade whereas taking pictures a movie or film, however these particulars are ineffective if they will’t be correctly skilled. And because it seems, some company big-wigs are extra involved about this lack of expertise than the monetary ramifications of piracy. In 2013, HBO programming president Micheal Lombardo said that his largest concern about piracy is {that a} present’s “manufacturing values” could not maintain up in “purloined” (stolen) copies of the present. If these manufacturing values aren’t adequately conveyed to an viewers, then the present’s status could be completely broken. Want an instance? Have a look at the ultimate season of Recreation of Thrones. Some followers have complained that the ultimate season’s episodes have “poor lighting,” however there’s an opportunity that many of those followers are merely watching unlawful, low-quality copies of the present. Because of this, the legacy of the present is broken by piracy, and individuals who have by no means watched it (myself included) use “poor lighting” as an excuse to not watch Recreation of Thrones. So why do these pirated movies look so nasty? Properly, most pirates are impatient—or they do not know what they’re doing. Good Recordsdata Are Incorrectly Ripped or Recorded Let’s say that you just’ve simply purchased a Blu Ray copy of a superbly remastered film. As an alternative of inviting associates over to indicate off this film, you determine to add it to a bootleg web site (don’t do that). The place do you begin? Properly, you’ll pop the disc into your pc and drag the file onto your desktop, proper? v74/Shutterstock You’re going to have some issues with that. For one, most Blu Ray disc readers have anti-ripping firmware that stops the unlawful distribution of flicks. The opposite situation that you just’ll run into is the file format (or the dearth thereof). Bear in mind, most business movies include menus, trailers, international language dubs, subtitles, and commentary. This mess of recordsdata could be expressed as a listing (with no obvious “film file” to drag out) or an ISO file that may solely be performed by a bodily or a software program with a built-in digital disc reader (DVDs normally comprise ISO recordsdata, so pirates run into the identical drawback with DVDs). So as a substitute of making an attempt to determine this mess of recordsdata and archives, you (the pirate) could go for a neater resolution. Normally, this “simpler” resolution is to report the film out of your display utilizing a display recording software program, or by recording the output out of your front room Blu Ray participant through HDMI or RCA cable. As you possibly can think about, these paths result in a loss in high quality because of compression, {hardware} lag, recording decision, and a multitude of different issues. Your extremely high-res film is now a lumpy hunk of crap. Compression and File Conversion can Decrease Video High quality However let’s fake that you just (our expensive pirate) discover a option to crack open ISOs and Blu Ray archives. Now you’re confronted with one other drawback; your fancy video file takes up 10% of your arduous drive. A single-sided DVD can have a storage capability of about 8.5GB, and a Blu Ray disc can have a storage capability of anyplace between 25GB and 300GB. In different phrases, high-quality motion pictures take up a variety of space for storing. For private use, this isn’t a giant deal. However when somebody goes to obtain your “ULTRA HIGH RES” unlawful film, they’re gonna see the file measurement (and the dearth of P2P seeders) and run. So that you, the genius pirate, may determine to make the file measurement smaller via compression or file conversion. Video compression can work in a number of methods, but it surely’s normally performed via a mixture of decision discount, bitrate discount (reducing the quantity of knowledge proven each second) and interframe compression (solely the modifications between frames are saved on the video file). Usually talking, file conversion all the time causes compression, as most video file varieties are restricted to particular resolutions, bitrates, and framerates. pathdoc/Shutterstock Whereas there are a handful of nearly-lossless compression strategies, many pirates (together with you) don’t know what they’re doing. So now your 50GB high-res film is a 500MB hunk of screaming rubbish, and anybody who downloads that unlawful file will throw a match once they see the well-known FBI warning caked with digital artifacts and nasty colours. New Films and Reveals Are Rushed to Piracy Web sites Once you pirate a brand new film or TV present, you’re virtually assured to finish up with a crappy file. New motion pictures and reveals are normally pirated the quaint means, with a useful cellphone digital camera or camcorder. These are referred to as “cams”—they’re only a video of somebody pointing their handheld digital camera at a display in a theater. This leads to sound points, shade points, and horrible video high quality. In fact, some new reveals are ripped straight from a digital supply, like a premium streaming web site or a cable field. However in these instances, the video high quality is normally hampered by the pirate’s web speeds, recording strategies, and the compression that the file underwent to be aired via a streaming service or cable field. Video Recordsdata Can Go Palms for Years Within the gaming world, there’s this odd phenomenon the place previous unlawful online game recordsdata pop up in bizarre locations, just like the official Wii Virtual Console. Evidently, these recordsdata float round on previous web sites or in individuals’s arduous drives (they don’t simply disappear). They often discover themselves being copied to different peoples computer systems or uploaded to a bootleg web site when newer variations of the identical sport are taken down. The identical goes for motion pictures and reveals. Media firms routinely take away common motion pictures and reveals from piracy web sites, and one thing has to fill that void. If somebody occurs to have a ten-year-old unlawful copy of a recently-removed movie, they could be inclined to add it instead of the copy that’s been taken down. cunaplus/Shutterstock Naturally, persons are going to obtain this previous file if it’s the one factor out there. Because it features extra downloads, it climbs to the highest of search outcomes. However since its an previous file, there’s an opportunity that it’s traveled via a number of computer systems, present process years of delicate compression and file conversions. And, in fact, it might have been initially ripped from a crappy DVD launch or a TV broadcast. This drawback is commonly amplified due to YouTube. Unlawful motion pictures often discover their option to YouTube, normally via the act of deliberately distorting or over-compressing the video to get previous the web site’s computerized anti-piracy filters. Some individuals obtain movies from YouTube via third-party web sites (which invariably compresses the file), and these movies can typically discover their means onto piracy web sites when higher-quality choices aren’t out there. Need High quality? Pay Up Ultimately, your pirated movies look unhealthy as a result of pirating is a ache within the ass. Whether or not you’re importing recordsdata or downloading recordsdata, there are a ridiculous variety of hurdles to leap over. In case you don’t need to watch potato-quality movies, then pay for authorized copies. Platforms like Vudu and Amazon have an excellent library of flicks and reveals (even uncommon movies and Disney classics), and so they normally come at an inexpensive value. You could possibly additionally test your favourite streaming websites, or double-check on one of many many free (legal) streaming sites which are out there to you. RELATED: How to Watch TV Online for Free !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');fbq('init','335401813750447');fbq('track','PageView'); Source link