#Having the ability to pick me up and spin me around with minimal effort

[thriftedgenes]

I love strong women

[tachiharastanacc]

Tachihara One Shot

(It’s hurt, but it’s ok bc there’s comfort too)

“Michizou.”

The young man in question groaned. His head hurt. He was dizzy. Everything was pitch black.

“Michizou, get up.”

A wispy figure was formed at the edge of the dark abyss. It was too hazy to make out, but he was faintly aware of the familiar voice.

He simply rolled over, closing his eyes. Or maybe they were already closed. He couldn’t tell. There was a sound of metal scraping against metal.

“Brother.”

He froze. Brother…?

“Shun…zen…?”

“You have to get up. Now. You’re in danger.”

He pushed himself up, leaning his head against a cool, metal surface. He winced a bit as the scraping metal noise pierced his ears once again.

“Wha’s…goin’ on?”

He raised a hand to wipe at his face, only to be stopped by a light tugging against his wrist.

“Why’s it so dark…?”

“Michizou. You need to listen to me. You need to use your ability. Now.”

“My ability…why? Big bro, what’s happening?”

He managed to pull himself up fully. His head pounded with every breath. Sweat dripped down his cheeks. Metal clanked as he moved.

“S-shun…”

“I’m here. But you have to focus. What do you feel?”

“Like I’m dying.”

“Beyond that. With your ability.”

He grimaced as he shifted a bit. He was confused. It was dark, everything was spinning, and he couldn’t reach his face to wipe at the wetness tickling his cheeks. Still, use his ability. He could manage that.

Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to feel the metal pressing against the back of his neck. It was a wall. It connected to the floor, also made of metal. It was relatively thin. Short, too. In fact, none of the walls were particularly long. Just more than enough room to contain a single person. The ceiling was metal as well, though he couldn’t quite reach it with his limited range.

He lightly tapped the wall. It echoed, ripping along the edges of the darkness and briefly highlighting the small room. There was something further down as well. Rods and thicker steel. So then…a truck perhaps?

As he moved his arm again, he felt more than saw the metal rippling again: small flashes across his vision.

The source seemed to be coming from the full pressure around his wrists. Chains of some kind, likely?

He scoffed to himself. Who would be foolish enough to contain an ability user born to manipulate metal inside a metal container?

“Focus.”

His brother’s voice rang out again; the still hazy figure hadn’t moved. It just watched him, close, but not quite touching.

Gritting his teeth, he managed to find the lock. It wasn’t too hard, just a simple difference in the structure, but damn if it didn’t fuck with his head.

Luckily, locks were something he could pick in his sleep. In a matter of second, the locks simultaneously clicked open.

His drug-addled mind still a mess, he turned to his brother. “N-now what?”

“Now this lock.”

Shunzen tapped the farthest wall. Unlike his own taps, this one didn’t create the metallic rippling. But that was fine. He could manage the rest on his own.

He placed a slightly hesitant hand on the wall, feeling as the energy rippled out. He kept one hand against the wall as he pushed himself forward. He probably looked pathetic, crawling like this. But it didn’t matter. And besides, it was dark. Even if anyone were watching him, they wouldn’t be able to see much.

He continued to push himself forward, one shaky motion at a time. Finally, he reached the far wall, or rather, the door to the bed of the truck. This lock was much simpler: a long metal bar holding it shut. With minimal effort, he willed it open.

He could feel the eyes of his brother on him as he ungracefully collapsed onto what felt like wet pavement. But…that couldn’t have been right. Pavement would mean he was outside. And outside there should’ve been some light.

Unless…

A faint memory. A mark scrawled into a wall. A flash of purple. Darkness.

He raised trembling fingers up to his face, gently tracing just below his eyes. Unsurprisingly, they came back slick with liquid.

His head practically screamed at him.

But it wasn’t his brother’s voice he heard this time.

“Well done, Tachihara.”

He dropped his hand back to the ground, trying to force himself to stand.

“Even for a hunting dog…”

“Shut…up…”

He clenched his fists, feeling his knuckles digging into the pavement with a strength he rarely relied on.

“Without sight…you’ll have trouble manipulating metal.”

“I don’t needa see…to kick your ass.”

The Fukuchi in the corner of his vision didn’t respond. Just watched him as he struggled.

That was fine.

He wasn’t here.

Just a figment of Tachihara’s own mind sent to torment him.

Maybe this was his karma, in a way.

He stumbled, tripping on the uneven ground. Or rather, that was what he told himself. The ground in question had been soft. Fleshy.

Did…no. No, he would’ve known if he’d…

But if he’d been drugged out of his damn mind…

He shook the thought off. There would be time for that later. Once he was back at base, he’d look into it. Send a letter to the family.

Maybe some poor sibling would hunt him down, cursing him for taking their older brother. Maybe some kid would go out searching for revenge, or for a place to belong and feel loved, and somehow stumble themselves into a life of military service. Just like the brother they’d been trying to hard to distance themselves from.

“You act like you were some pathetic victim.”

Tachihara tensed again, still half kneeling on the road.

“The world belongs to those who want to be strong. The weak must die. Are you weak, Tachihara?”

Great. Another ghost conjured by his addled brain to curse his worthless existence.

“We can skip this one.”

“We? There is no we. There stopped being a we the day you turned your back on us. Though, maybe you were never on our side to begin with.”

Despite himself, he allowed himself to collapse back to his knees.

“Nee-san.”

“Don’t call me that. You lost that right. You’ve lost everything.”

He didn’t have to look up to feel Higuchi’s usually so bright eyes on him. She was so cheerful, so devoted, despite being in the mafia. Despite being a criminal and a murder.

But…

“Aren’t you?”

“Stop. You’re not here. Neither of you are here. So shut up!”

He growled, forcing his weak limbs to cooperate. He pushed himself to his feet. Behind him, the metal twisted and groaned until the bar holding the door snapped off and flew into his hand.

He rested his weight against it, breathing heavily.

He walked forward, one shaky step at a time. The stick tapped against the ground as he walked. It was difficult and confusing, but he managed to keep moving. He couldn’t stop; he didn’t know if he’d be able to push himself up another time. Even now, his broken body screamed at him to stop. To rest.

Tachihara didn’t know how long he’d been out, but either way, his deadline was approaching. Whether though blood loss or the consequences of his surgeries, he wouldn’t last long out here.

There was a dull tugging at the back of his mind. It pushed and prodded, splitting his aching head apart further. Oh god, he couldn’t breathe. Was this what it was like? His body slowly decaying as he choked on nothing? Would his limbs fall numb as blood leaked out his ears and mouth? Would-

He coughed and sputtered, reaching for his neck. He grabbed at metal, yanking it free until he could breathe. The top button of his uniform flew off, along with something else.

His dog tags.

They clattered to the ground somewhere in front of him.

He reached out, feeling for the metal.

It was no good. His range was so limited without his sight.

“Please…”

He didn’t know what he was begging for as he stood there, blood lining his cheeks, legs trembling.

“Please…don’t leave me too…”

He’d take the ghosts back at this point. Their hateful words were better than the sheer silence that surrounded him.

“Brother…please…”

He sobbed, screaming his voice hoarse as he stood there. He would die here. He would die alone. Nobody would find him. What would the other hunting dogs think? The black lizard? Would they care, still knowing everything he’d done? Who he was? What he was?

The metal flickered, a dull silver light lifting it before his eyes.

He reached out for it again, using his makeshift walking stick to propel himself. The dog tags folded, forming a pale imitation of wings.

A butterfly, he faintly realized.

“Did…did I do that…?”

The metal butterfly fluttered forward, leaving him with little choice but to follow. He walked behind it, ambling along the best he could.

Another glimmer sparked in the distance. Another butterfly…?

It flew steadily closer, intertwining with his own as they danced together. Finally, unable to give any more, he tumbled down onto the hard ground.

“I’m sorry…brother. I…did my best…”

“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay now. I’ve got you.”

That voice…

“Tachihara. I’m sorry about your brother.”

The Angel of Death.

Of all the cruel jokes to play, the ghosts to haunt him…

He couldn’t see her. Not like the others. But maybe that was for the best.

He wouldn’t show himself to a miserable dog either.

“Is…just hold…ability…? Tachi…ra…? Mi…c…z…?”

He felt a cool hand on his forehead.

God, he really was so far gone.

“…I’m sorry. I couldn’t save him. But I can save you.”

Those words were closer. Clearer.

“Thou Shalt Not Die.”

A swarm of butterflies bathed in light swam across his vision. He shut his eyes tightly, not that it would matter.

With a gasping breath, he shot up, choking as air rushed into his lungs.

He could hear breathing, feel the cold hand still on him.

He cautiously opened an eye, only to be flooded with light.

“Ack-!”

The mafioso scrambled backwards, clutching at his face.

“Slow down. Take deep breaths. You’re probably disoriented.”

“Are you…here to kill me? Save me just to throw me back to the brink of death? Bring me back just to make me suffer again?”

“…no.”

He slowly and carefully opened one eye again. He was met with the slightly blurry face of the doctor. He didn’t know what to say. How to react.

So he blurted out the first thing he could think of.

“…I think I’m still drugged.”

To his surprise, she just chuckled.

“My ability can only treat physical injuries. I should still take you to get checked out properly, but we don’t have time for that right now.”

He blinked lazily at her.

“Did…Shunzen send you?”

He expected her to laugh again. Shunzen was dead. Even he knew that. It was a stupid question.

“In a way.”

She held up her hands. Light glinted off the two metal objects. The first, her butterfly hairpin. Something beautiful, made by his perfect older brother. In a way, it was like creating new life out of metal. The second, the dog tags. An item he’d always associated with revenge. With death.

Something was different though. The scratched dog tags were bent, forming the shape of a crude butterfly. Just like he’d seen in his vision.

“I followed this.”

He stared at it until his eyes ached. The light itself burned, forcing him to close them again on instinct.

“I wish I could say I helped you out of the goodness of my heart. Or even out of debt to your brother. Or because I saw the good in you.”

He had a feeling from her voice that all of those were true, at least a bit.

He opened his eyes again.

“Then…why did you save me?”

“Because I need your help.”

As if on cue, a pillar of light shot up, the sonic boom echoing across the sky.

Maybe he was more out of it than he thought.

And god if it didn’t burn his still sensitive eyes.

“What…?”

“The airport. The Agency, my family, is in danger. I’m sorry I couldn’t save yours. But please. Help save mine.”

“…yeah. Yeah, okay.”

He was a Hunting Dog.

He was a Mafioso.

He was Tachihara Michizou, and he would not back down from a fight.

“Lead the way.”

[gtanddragons]

Caught

A companion piece to @hopemakesstuff‘s works “Protecting Assets” and “Role Reversal”, this one is tied into our friend group’s Shifter!Makoto AU! In which everyone’s favorite lucky boy can (somewhat) control his ability to change his size, and all the shenanigans that ensue as a result.

Warnings: Contains spoilers for chapter two of DR1.

(Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid—!)

He’s practically mumbling those words to himself in a feverish mantra as he forces himself to hurry down the tiled hallway of Hope’s Peak Academy. 

(Need to find somewhere to hide—!)

Makoto is trembling, panting from the effort of making his way through the school— although it would normally be a simple task, it was certainly anything but now that he was stuck at a meager three inches tall. Despair hung heavy over his head as what would ordinarily be a few minutes’ walk to the first floor classrooms had already taken him… what, twenty minutes at this brisk pace? Thirty? It felt like an eternity had passed, and yet he still had a ways to go.

The dining hall was closer, certainly, but it was also almost certain that everyone would be gathered there for the breakfast meeting.

He feels guilty for missing it. Just one more reason to scold himself— he should’ve eaten last night. Should have gotten some rest. Shouldn’t have worn himself ragged, because now he’s stuck at his most vulnerable in a school full of other students who could (and maybe even would) kill him without a second thought. Maybe even by accident, and that’s somehow an even more repulsive thought.

The only other student who even remotely knows about his… condition… is Kyoko Kirigiri. Not of his own volition, of course, but she’d figured it out a lot quicker than he’d expected.

…No, there was yet another person who knew. Had known, since they had gone to school together since they were children.

But there isn’t any point in making himself even more depressed by thinking about her. Not right now. Either way, she can’t help him now— and he can’t rely on finding Kyoko to help him, not when she’s likely still with the others in the dining hall. He can’t risk exposing himself to everyone else like this.

For a brief moment, his thoughts go quiet, having finally exhausted themselves. 

(It’s okay. I’m almost to the classroom. I can just… hide in there under the teacher’s desk or something, wait to be able to shift back up to normal. And it wouldn’t be a lie to say that my stomach was hurting this morning—)

“Puhuhu~! And wheeeere do you think you’re going, little mister lucky student?”

Makoto yelps as an all-too-familiar figure pops out from seemingly nowhere— but this time, Monokuma towers over him, making the already-terrifying headmaster seem even more like a horrible monster than a cute little bear plushie.

Monokuma leans down and crosses his stubby arms as best as he’s able, still chuckling all the while. “I’ll admit, it’s kiiiiinda cute watchin’ you scurry around like that.~”

Makoto winces and takes an involuntary step back, gulping as the headmaster’s sharp teeth come closer into view. “I— I, um. I’m… going to the classroom…”

The bear pats his cheek thoughtfully, that unsettling grin still a mere foot away. “Ahhh, don’t wanna go to the dining hall, huuuuh? Smart move! Don’t wanna accidentally make one of your classmates a murderer, ‘cause. Yooou know.~ It would be such a shame if someone were to step on ya, or— ohhhh, how horrid! If you wound up as someone’s lunch. How cruel! Gahahaha!”

A chill runs up Makoto’s spine, and it takes all of his willpower to not fall back in fear at that obnoxiously-loud laughter. Thankfully, though, Monokuma gets out of his face as he straightens up.

“Ahhh… I should proooobably let you go. After all, wellllll… just try not to get caught, eh? Puhuhu!”

And once again, the bear is taking off fast enough for Makoto’s head to spin, still left confused over what Monokuma had meant— until the sound of footsteps in the distance catches his attention. Coming from further down the hallway…

Makoto suddenly tenses, his face blanching. He recognizes the sound of the voices drawing ever closer, and even at this distance, it’s easy to see just who’s coming his way.

Byakuya… and, trailing behind him… Toko. 

...No. Judging from the obnoxious laughter resounding through the school hallway… that would be Genocide Jack. Great.

(Gghk--! How did I not hear them getting closer--?!)

Makoto furiously shakes his head-- he could take more time to curse Monokuma, and his awful luck, later. For now, he needs to find a place to hide, but staying out in the open hallway is practically a death wish. 

He desperately glances in the direction of classroom 1-A-- he’ll have to run towards Byakuya and Jill’s general direction, but if he hurries…!

(I-I’m already worn out, but just a little more--!)

Makoto takes off at a full-blown sprint to the classroom, all too aware of the potential consequences of getting caught. His heart hammers in his chest as the footsteps draw closer, his two classmates coming into view like towering buildings on the horizon.

--

“Ugh… if this turns out to be some kind of goose chase, I swear…” Byakuya complains, his nose crinkling in disgust. He’d been attempting to enjoy picking apart case files in the archive over a cup of coffee this morning, but apparently even that was too much to ask. First he’d been besieged by Genocide Jack-- his new apparent fangirl, even pushier than Toko-- and then that accursed bear had shown up and caused a ruckus, insisting on showing them something interesting. But as of yet, Byakuya had yet to see anything even remotely worthy of his attention, and he was starting to get even more frustrated.

“Kyahaha! Ohh, Master, you know I can’t resist that stormy, sullen face! This whole ‘goose chase’ is worth every step~!”

Byakuya lets out a world-weary sigh, gritting his teeth as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

(Just keep tuning her out or you’ll get an even worse headache, Byakuya. Why couldn’t she have been the guilty party in this most recent--)

A sudden yelp from Jill drags him out of his thoughts, the serial killer’s arm snapping up to point down the hall in front of them.

“Oh look at that!”

Byakuya’s gaze shifts to where she’s pointing fast enough to get the faintest glimpse of… something. Something small-- a blur of movement in the doorway of the classroom at the end of the hall.

“Oooh, what was that?! A mooouuusee? And it thinks it can run from meeee?”

Byakuya isn’t surprised when Jill suddenly tears off down the hallway towards the classroom, shrieking with laughter. But as he follows after her, he can’t resist the slight increase of speed in his steps-- had that thing really been a mouse? He’d only seen it for a split second, but the color and shape had seemed… off. Some kind of robot like Monokuma, perhaps? A new clue…?

Either way, perhaps this tedious distraction would prove to be fruitful in the end… 

--

Jill is on her hands and knees the moment after she rushes into the room, prowling the classroom and sniffing the air like some kind of wild animal. 

“Awww, think you can hide? From me? Cuuuuuute. Now…”

Jill grins madly even as she pokes her head under a nearby desk.

“Come out, come out, whereeeever you aaaaare~!”

—

It doesn’t take long for Byakuya to follow after Jill and reach the doorway to the classroom, but even then… by the time he gets there, he’s met with the sound of desks clattering to the floor in one chaotic sweep, a triumphant yell (“Gotcha!”), and… the sight of Jill huddled up with something clutched in her hands.

Something squirming and… crying out.

Byakuya’s brows dart sharply upwards. Although he can’t quite see, and the sound is so small… he recognizes that terrified squawking.

“Aw, boo,” Jill grumbles. “Tch, not even big enough for one of my scissors…”

Byakuya hardly has any time to react before Jill turns around and—

His hands instinctively snap outwards as something is tossed in his direction. Whatever it is hits squarely in the palms of his hands and his fingers curl tightly around it, a flailing, warm weight that could only belong to a living creature— the thought alone nearly makes him drop the thing in revulsion.

(Did she just throw a filthy mouse at—?!)

“Soooorry Master~!” Jill croons, before pouting and tapping the blade of her scissors against her cheek. “Hmph… here I was hoping for some real meat, or a full-size cute boy… not a bite-sized happy meal with a little Mac.”

(What on Earth is she prattling on about now—?)

Byakuya looks down to his hands, wincing at the feeling of the little creature in his hands struggling in his grip… but as soon as he looks down, he can hardly tear his eyes away.

Caught haphazardly in his fingers, struggling and whimpering… is none other than Makoto Naegi. For once, Byakuya is at a loss for words, blinking disbelievingly at the ridiculous sight.

“Speaaaaking of meat,” Jill interrupts, her sullen mood ending with a quick snip of her scissors. “Let’s keep looking around, Master! I’m sure that goose must be somewhere around here.~”

With an obnoxiously loud cackle, she’s already out the door again— momentarily leaving Byakuya alone with his ‘catch’.

His grip loosens considerably at not feeling any more resistance; for a second, he feels a sudden twinge of grim resignation, thinking that perhaps the tiny boy sprawled out in his hands had died from the impact… though that theory is quickly disproven as he leans his head in closer, noting the subtle rise and fall of Makoto’s chest.

Just unconscious, then. Though, just to make sure (and to satiate some of his burning curiosity), Byakuya cautiously runs his fingertips over Makoto’s limbs.

Nothing broken, and��� after using the tip of his nail to lift up Makoto’s hoodie and shirt, he can safely say that his little classmate managed to escape the ordeal with minimal bruising.

“‘Ultimate Lucky Student’ indeed,” Byakuya mutters. He lifts his hands even higher, squinting to get a better look at Makoto’s face. 

The boy seems peaceful, at least, although…

…He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. The dark circles under Makoto’s eyes are none of his concern. What is his concern, however…

Byakuya gives the classroom one last, cursory glance before carefully slipping Makoto’s limp form into his blazer pocket. A smirk tugs at the corner of his lips, even as he exits the classroom.

Finally, something interesting.

Very, very interesting.

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Sweethearts

Troy Bolton x Reader

Words: 4327

Summary: Following the efforts of a smaller, eviler version of Sharpay, the reader doubts her abilities and her relationship. Troy must restore her faith in herself in time for the perfect Valentine’s day dance. 

Notes: Can I Have This Dance is literally my favorite scene from the whole series so I had to use it for this. Highly recommend listening to it before reading to get the feel.  Let me know what you think! I’m so sorry it's so long, but I really loved getting into the romance. I’m pretty proud of this one, so just a little extra love would be very appreciated.  (There’s also a 17 Again reference in here, if you catch it) Also, I couldn’t decide which gif I liked more, so I had to use both!

-

You couldn’t help the slight squeak of fear in your voice as the group of girls walked towards you. 

“Hi Sharpay.” You greeted anxiously. She flipped her impossibly shiny blonde hair over her shoulder. She really was terrifying when she wanted to be. 

“I heard that you might be signing up to perform in the Sweetheart’s Showcase.” She raised an accusing brow. 

“Oh, um, yeah.” You stammered. “I was thinking about doing a duet with-”

“Blah blah blah, I know that. What are you wearing?” Her glare intensified, as did your confusion.”

“I-I don’t-” “Just make sure it isn’t pink, okay?” Sharpay ordered and her little pack nodded in agreement. “Pink is my color.”

“O-okay.” Was all you managed to say. She and her posse strutted off, but Madison gave you a lingering stare. You gulped. Sharpay may be the leader, but Madison was the shark of the group. Once she smelled blood, she would not be stopped. And ever since you’d started dating the basketball captain…

“Guess who?” A pair of hands covered your eyes. Maybe it was from his time spent on the roof, but Troy always smelled like fresh summer air. 

“Hmmm… Mrs. Darbus?” You giggled. Troy’s arms wrapped around your middle and lifted you off the ground, making you laugh more. He swung you around before setting you back and spinning you so you were facing him. 

“Ha ha.” He snarked, eyes sparkling in a particularly suspicious way. “What did ‘Her Majesty’ want?” You shrugged.

“She told me I couldn’t wear pink for the show case because it’s ‘her color’.” You laughed. “I wouldn’t dare try to outshine the Princess of Pink.”

“Yeah… about the showcase…” Troy looked at the floor. You felt your heart drop a little.

“You want to back out, don’t you?” You sighed sadly. “I mean, I get it. Performing in front of everybody freaks me out too-”

“Woah woah woah.” Troy laughed, that sparkle shining brighter. “I was just hoping that you would wear this.” He dangled a chain in front of you. The necklace was a stunning heart-shaped charm made with little red gems.

“Troy.” You gasped, a smile stretching from ear to ear. “It’s beautiful.” 

“I figured you’d be stressed out over the showcase and the paper so I thought you’d like a little early Valentine.” He shrugged and you pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek before turning around so he could put it on you. His fingers grazed your skin as he draped the chain around your neck.

“I wish I had something for you.” You whined, draping your arms around his neck as his arms fell to your waist. 

“Just promise me a Valentine’s Day kiss and that is all I need.” He grinned and pulled you closer for a kiss. 

It was quite a shock to the status quo when you and Troy started dating. The shy editor of the school newspaper and the star player of the basketball team made an interesting pair. But when Mrs. Darbus paired the two of you together to paint set in detention, something just… happened. You opened up around Troy more than you could with anyone. You helped him realize that there was more to him than basketball when you got him to sing with you at your vocal recital last year. Somehow the two of you just worked. 

“I hate to interrupt,” Taylor scoffed. “But the yearbook won’t edit itself.” You gave your best friend a look and Taylor smirked. 

“Sorry Troy.” Gabriella laughed, grabbing your hand and dragging you down the hall. “We’ll see you at lunch!” The three of you rushed down the hall and Troy went to go find Chad.

“Ugh, he is so dreamy.” Libby, one of Sharpay’s sophomore groupies, sighed. Madison made a sound of disgust. 

“And yet somehow he got stuck with that.” She watched you vanish into the journalism classroom and closed her locker. “Shouldn’t the Crowned Prince of East High be with someone a little more, I don’t know, worthy of his attention?” 

“Who, like Sharpay?” Libby asked, applying another coat of lip gloss. Madison smirked. 

“Yeah.” She turned her head to the jersey-clad boy retreating down the hall. “Like Sharpay.”

-

“So can I have this dance?”

“Can I have this dance?”

Your eyes were locked together as the room erupted with applause. You were in Troy’s arms before you had the chance to move. 

“You guys, that was amazing!” Gabriella squealed with excitement. 

“I couldn’t imagine anyone better to sing it.” Kelsi smiled, tucking the music into her folder. Even Taylor was impressed.

“I still think you two should give it a shot.” Troy nodded towards Taylor and Chad. You laughed into his shoulder as excuses tumbled out of their mouths. 

“Let’s go, I think my mom is making some nachos.” You laced your fingers through his and told everyone you’d see them tomorrow. After practice rehearsals were exhausting for Troy, but he knew how happy it made you. Besides singing with you was the perfect way to relax after a long day of practice of running and shooting hoops. Plus, your mom made killer nachos. 

His truck sputtered to a start and he winced. You giggled and earned a playful glare. At least it started this time. Sometimes, the two of you were stranded in the school parking lot until Troy could get his truck to start. You never minded. With minimal bumps and jolts, Troy was able to get to your house. 

“I think the song is really coming together.” You said as the two of you made your way to the front door. “Ryan said he’d love to choreograph something for us.” 

“How sweet.” Your door opened and Madison gave you a seemingly innocent smile. You stopped so suddenly Troy almost walked right into you. 

“Maddie.” You tried to seem pleasantly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t your mom tell you?” She laughed and pulled you inside- rather forcefully you might add. “My mom and her are in the same book club! She invited us to join you guys for dinner.” She looked over your shoulder and a little menacing glint appeared in her eyes. “Oh, hi Troy.”

“Hey.” He greeted uncomfortably, following you inside. 

“I hope you don’t mind the extra company tonight.” Your mother beamed. “Julie was saying how excited Madison has been to work with you two for the musical and I thought it’d be fun for you kids to get to know each other.”

“That sounds great, Mr.s Y/L/N.” Troy put on that charming smile of his and pulled your chair out for you. Madison stood for a moment, as if she was expecting him to do the same for her. Being a gentleman, he moved her chair back before taking a seat. 

“So you guys were talking about your number for the Sweetheart’s Showcase?” Maddie asked, eyeing Troy in a less than subtle way. He glanced at you with the same slightly scared look he had when he had to sing with Sharpay at the resort. 

“Uh, yeah. Ryan said he had some choreography in mind.” Even after over a year of dating, sometimes the way he looked at you still gave you butterflies. “I mean, I think just singing would be fine-”

“You guys have to dance.” Maddie blurted. She flipped her hair over her shoulder- just like Sharpay, but like, pettier. “What I mean is, it would be so romantic, don’t you think?” 

“I agree.” Your mom said excitedly. You shot a look. 

“I’m sure what Ryan has planned will be great.” You concluded, hoping to drop the subject. You didn’t really want to discuss your super romantic duet in front of Madison. 

Dinner passed painfully. The only thing keeping you from screaming out in frustration was Troy’s silly antics. From funny faces to pretending his chips were fighter planes, he distracted you from Madison’s subtly back-handed comments. The adults mistook them for compliments, but you knew exactly what she meant. 

“Wow, I am totally beat.” Maddie exclaimed just as the parents started to go out to the porch, like adults do. 

“Oh, I guess we’ll call it a night.” Her mom frowned. 

“You stay and have fun, mom.” She smiled sweetly. “Troy can give me a ride. Right, Troy?”

“Um,”

“Great!” She practically skipped  to the front door. 

“You really are too good to be true, Mr. Bolton.” Her mother gushed before stepping out onto the back porch with your parents. 

“I’ll walk you out.” You said, not really sure if you were irritated, confused, or a little impressed. 

“You’re coming to the game tomorrow night, right?” Troy asked as you made your way down the front steps. Madison was already in the front seat, checking her reflection in the mirror. You shrugged. 

“Actually I was thinking about catching a movie.” His shoulders sagged with disappointment. You shook your head. “Of course I’ll be there!” You exclaimed with a laugh. Troy put his hands on your cheeks and leaned in for a goodnight kiss. 

“Oh Troy!” Madison called from the truck and the two of you pulled a part. “I should be getting home. I’m totally-” She yawned dramatically, “exhausted.” Troy sighed, settling for a light kiss on your cheek. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” He reluctantly ran to his truck and you went back inside. Before the door closed, you couldn’t help but smirk as you listened to the sputtering sound of his truck refusing to start.

-

The sound of the crowd was a driving force on it’s own. Troy raced across the court, keeping his eyes locked on his teammate. Chad passed him the ball and he made the shot, that satisfying swish of the net drowned out by the cheers. After a tiring week of practice and rehearsals, his body was pumping with adrenaline. 

“Go Troy!” He picked your voice out over the chorus of cheers. He found you at the edge of the bleachers towards the top and flashed you a smile before taking off again. Gabriella helped you hold up your #14 sign and Kelsi came back from concessions with the popcorn. You and Kelsi weren’t usually ones for sports, but ever since you’d started coming to games you’ve all had a blast. The buzzer sounded. 

“That ends the third quarter here at Wildcat Stadium,” The announcer’s voice boomed. “Hornets 40, Wildcats 58.” 

The fans hollered and you caught Troy’s eye again, giving him a grin that lit up the gym. He pressed his lips to his fingers and pretended to toss the air-kiss like a basketball. You pretended to catch it, accidentally stepping in the strap of the purse behind you.

There was a wave of gasps from the crowd and both teams stopped to see what the commotion was. Troy looked up to see a horrified Gabriella and an empty space where you had been standing. 

“Y/N!” He yelled, running across the court to where a group of people had gathered, including the school nurse. 

“Give her some space! Back up!”

“Let me through! That’s my girlfriend!” Troy pushed his way to the font. You were on the floor, but you were sitting up, trying to catch your breath. 

“Is she okay?” Gabriella yelled down at him. Behind her, Maddison tossed her purse over her shoulder and vanished into the crowd. 

“I think I'm okay,” You groaned. “Just got the wind knocked out of me.” You tried to stand, but cried out when a sharp pain shot up your let.” 

“Take it easy,” Troy soothed, kneeling at your side. 

“Where does it hurt?” The nurse asked. 

“My ankle.” You moved your leg so she could examine it. 

“Looks like it might be sprained.” She sighed. “Let’s get you to my office and take a closer look, okay?” 

Troy put your arm over his shoulder and helped you stand. The nurse took your other arm and gave Troy a reassuring smile. 

“I can take it from here. You go win this game, Mr. Bolton.” 

“But-”

“I’ll be fine, Troy.” You kissed his cheek. “Go get em Wildcat.” The nurse helped you limp out of the gym and Gabriella and Kelso followed close behind. 

Sharpay watched the whole scene from the very top of the stands, eyes narrowed with suspicion. She had seen Maddison pull her bag away just when Y/N fell and it definitely was not a coincidence. The little pirana was playing a dangerous game and Sharpay was not about to let her win. 

-

The show case was just a night away and your ankle still ached whenever you stepped on it, even after a week. You tried not to let it show when Ryan was teaching you the steps, but they hardly let you practice at all. Taylor was furious you were still going through with it. Mrs. Darbus was at least more than willing to let you rehearse during homeroom. 

“And, one two three, one two three,” Ryan tried not to sound irritated when Troy took another wrong step. 

“Sorry.” He grimaced. Ryan just took a deep breath. 

“Just start from ‘wherever we go next’.” He instructed and you tried to remember the steps. “And one two three and lift-” Troy lifted you up and spun the way Ryan showed him. When he set you back down, you stepped wrong. 

“Ow!” You cried, stumbling backwards into the piano. 

“That’s it. You can’t do this anymore.” Taylor said sternly. “You’re going to hurt yourself even more and then you won’t be able to dance at all.” 

“I can do this. It already feels better.” You insisted and she scowled. Troy took your hands in his, the sweetness in those perfect blue eyes just making you feel even more guilty. 

“We can figure something else out.” He felt awful for even pushing you this far. Tomorrow was Valentine’s day and you’d barely had a quiet moment, let alone long enough to destress. “How about we just call it a day? We can go to a movie tonight and just hang out. Just you and me.” You shook your head. 

“I can get this. I just need a second.” You felt ridiculous storming out with crutches, but it was what you had. Troy moved to follow, but Gabriella shook her head. 

“Just give her a minute.” 

You didn’t notice the troop of girls following you to your locker and you were too frustrated to care. You could get this right. Troy had worked too hard with after practice rehearsals and countless hours going over the music with you for you to mess all of it up now. Sometimes you couldn’t help but think he was too good for you. 

You opened your locker and watched dozens of paper Valentine’s float to the floor. At first, you thought this was a sweet gesture from your boyfriend. Then you actually read them. Talentless Freak. Get off the stage. East High’s Resident Loser. 

“Looks like Y/N has an admirer.” Madison sneered and her group of underclassmen terrors erupted with cackles, drawing more people out of Darbus’ room. You set your crutches to the side and picked up one note in particular. Troy’s Tragic Charity Case.

Your heart dropped and the laughing just got louder. You couldn’t even run. You had to stand there and listen, looking at the cruel smirk on Madison’s face as the words echoed in your head over and over again. Charity Case. 

“Y/N- oh my god,” Gabriella exclaimed, looking at the mess of fake Valentines. “Let’s get out of here. Taylor.” 

“I’ll drive you home.” Taylor picked up your crutches and the two practically guarded you as you made your way down the hall. 

By the time Troy got out into the hallway, most of the girls were gone, leaving only the notes scattered across the floor. He didn’t find you until you were already at Taylor’s car. 

“Wait!” He yelled before you closed the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going home.” You sighed, brushing away a fallen tear. “Everyone is right. I can’t do this. Even if my ankle was fine, I couldn’t pull off something like this.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’m sure you can find a better partner, Troy. There are girls that would kill to perform with you.” Or sprain a few ankles. 

“Kelsi wrote that song for us.” If he kept looking at you like that, you’d break completely. 

“I’m sorry Troy.” You shut the door and Taylor drove off. Gabriella put a comforting hand on your shoulder. You couldn’t bear to look back. 

“It appears that I’ve lost three students.” Mrs. Darbus sighed, waiting for him back at the doors. “Care to explain?” Troy ran his fingers through his hair. 

“She’s not going to perform and I can’t do it without her.” He couldn’t imagine singing something so personal, so full of emotion, with anyone but the girl that he loved. Mr.s Darbus just gave him a knowing smile. 

“I suggest talking to her, Mr. Bolton. Show her the truth.” He opened his mouth, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand. “You’ll know what to do.” Her expression changed. “Now, I'm afraid that there’s quite a mess in the hallway I must take care of. As well as a few girls to track down.” She bowed her head and went inside. 

Troy’s head was spinning. He needed to fix this. After a few ideas came to mind, he pulled out his phone. Mrs. Darbus was right. He knew what to do. Hopefully. 

-

A light knock on the door pulled you from your sanctuary of blankets. Your mom slowly opened your bedroom door with a small smile. When she heard what happened, she had no problem calling you out for the rest of the day. 

“Why don’t you come down for some dinner, sweetie?”

“I’m not really hungry.” You pulled a loose string from your quilt.

“I really think you should come downstairs.” Her smile grew suspiciously and she left the door open a crack.

Eventually, your curiosity got the better of you and you tossed your blankets aside. The lights in the kitchen were off and the doors to the patio were open. You stepped outside and gasped. The twinkling lights looked like stars and little notes hung from the trees. In the middle of it all stood Troy and a candle lit dinner, complete with a bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries. 

“Glad you could make it.” Troy beamed, motioning for you to sit down. You did and he passed you a basket of breadsticks. “Don’t worry, my mom helped me cook.”

“Troy, this is…” You couldn't even find the right words. You started to read some of the notes. Deserves a standing ovation. Her recital rocked the house. She’s the best friend I could ask for. 

“When I saw what those girls wrote, I wanted to show you what East High really thinks of you.” Troy explained, placing a hand on top of yours. “Sharpay even wrote one.” You both laughed when you read it. She’s one of the few people I can bare sharing the stage with. You blew out a breath. 

“The thing is, I can handle being called talentless and all of that.” You took the folded piece of paper out of your pocket. “This one just… I don’t know.” Troy gently took it from you , his hand tightening around your as he scanned those four awful words. At first, he didn’t get it. You had changed him in all the best possible ways. You made him want to be himself. You inspired him not to be scared of what everyone thought. So how could someone say you were just a charity case?

“You-” He took a deep breath, still wrapping his head around it. “You don’t actually believe this, do you?” You shrugged. 

“I mean… sometimes, I guess.” You tore off a piece of bread and rolled it between your fingers. “When it’s just the two of us, I feel like nothing else matters. But when I see you out there on the court, I can’t help but wonder… why me?”

Troy almost looked hurt. He started gathering little heart shaped pieces of paper from the tree and walked around the table. You stood as he put the notes in your hand, reading aloud as he handed each to you. 

“September 17th, 2006. The day that we met. When we got stuck painting sets, you were one of the only people to talk to me about something that wasn’t basketball. You made me feel like a regular guy.

“October 31, 2007. The night I convinced you to come with me to Chad’s Halloween party. I was a pirate and you were Elizabeth Bennet. That was the first time that you really opened up and were able to be yourself around people who weren’t just me and Gabriella.” His eyes locked with yours. “Look at the back of your necklace.”

You flipped the heart charm around and read the date engraved in the silver. 

“January 3rd, 2007.” You felt tears building. “My recietal.”

“Being on that stage with you made me see a whole different side of both of us. Our voices fit together like we weren’t meant to sing with anybody else.” He brushed a hair out of your face. “It was the moment that I realised I was in love with you.”

“I love you too, Troy.” You cried, closing the space between the two of you. He was right. It felt like you weren’t meant to kiss anyone else. When you pulled away, you were both grinning. “Do you think we can still perform? It’ll be difficult but I still want to sing.” He just grinned bigger and kissed your forehead. 

“Ryan and I already have a plan. You just have to come to rehearsal tomorrow morning.” You nodded and the two of you sat back down to finish dinner. 

-

You couldn’t remember the last time you were this nervous. You and Troy were learning and rehearsing with the system all day and the number would hopefully be unforgettable. But there was so much that could go wrong and you were absolutely terrified. You nearly jumped out of your skin when Sharpay appeared behind you. 

“You don’t have to worry about Madison. She has enough detention to keep her from anymore plotting. And I had no problem reminding her who was in charge of any and all sabotages.” She smirked, eyes scanning your outfit. “Good choice.” And that was probably the closest thing to approval from Sharpay Evans that you would ever get. 

Ryan came to make sure everything was secure and connected, reminding you when you needed to stand and be ready. He assured you everything would be fine. 

“Looks like you’re on.” He gave you an encouraging thumbs up. You took a deep breath and used your crutches to walk across the stage. The audience murmured as you sat on the swing that hung from the ceiling. The lights were bright enough that you couldn’t see Troy stage. You gripped the necklace around your neck for courage. There was no backing out now. 

“Take my hand. Take a breath. Hold me close and take one step.” As you sang, Troy slowly made his way onto the stage. His smile made your nerves disappear. “Keep your eyes locked on mine and let the music be your guide.” With every word, Troy walked closer to the swing. His eyes asked if you were ready. You gave him a small nod and he swept you up in his arms as you both sang the chorus. 

“It’s like catching lightning, the chances of finding someone like you.” The choreography was a stunning mix of lifts and spinning in Troy’s arms, your feet never even touching the floor. “It’s one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do.”

Troy lifted you up one more time and set you down gently before beginning the next verse. 

“Take my hand, I’ll take the lead. And every turn, will be safe with me.” He twirled you slightly and you fell back for him to catch you, kicking your leg out so your skirt flared. “Don’t be afraid, afraid to fall.” His strong arms wrapped around you and he swung you around. “You know I’ll catch you through it all.” He let go as you were pulled up into the air. The audience gasped. You had forgotten they were there. “And you can’t keep us apart.”

“Even a thousand miles can’t keep us apart.” He almost forgot the words as the light practically made your white dress glow against your skin. Your necklace sparkled. As cliche as it sounded, you looked like an angel. 

His wires lifted him up to meet you. 

“Cause my heart is where you are.” And so the floating waltz began. “It’s like catching lightning, the chances of finding someone like you. It’s on in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do.” You felt like you were dancing on clouds. Troy couldn’t stop beaming. 

“And with every step together, we just keep on getting better.”

For the bridge, the wires had you circling each other on opposite sides of the stage, slowly getting closer. 

“Oh, no mountain’s too high and no ocean’s too wide. Cause together or not, our dance won’t stop. Let it rain, let it pour, what we have is worth fighting for.” You finally came back together. “You know I believe that we were meant to be.” With Troy holding you, you leaned back into another tumbling spin in the air. 

The final chorus slowly brought you down to the floor, you sitting back down on the swing. 

“So can I have this dance?” Troy stood in front of you, bowing to kiss your hand as if he was really asking. 

“Can I have this dance?”

-

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination;  @mylovegoesto;

[dgcatanisiri]

Welcome to DG’s Listing of Wish These DLC Existed, where I theorize, speculate, and just kinda generally throw ideas at the wall about DLCs for games I love that never happened and never will happen, but damn, I’d like to see them anyway.

Because I have ideas, I can’t get them made as mods, I don’t have time to make them into fic, and they’re never going to happen anyway, so why not put them up in a public place? After all, they’re tie ins to games I have no control over anyway, so it’s not like I’ll ever make money off of them anyway. And, as I’m not bound by any hardware limitations in terms of crafting ideas, or production cycles dictating when the game’s endpoint is, these can and do go on a great deal longer than the standard lifespan of a game.

A review of the format: There will be a name for the DLC, a brief synopsis, a reference to when this hypothetical DLC would become available/if and when it becomes unavailable, and then an expansion/write up of the ideas going in to them. Some ideas will have more expansion than others, because I’ve just plainly put more thought into them - in a lot of cases, I wrote them down just on the basis of ‘this idea seems pretty cool,’ and then gave them more context later on.

Feedback is welcome! Like an idea? Don’t like an idea? I welcome conversation and interaction on these ideas. Keep it civil, remember that these are just one person’s ideas, we can discuss them. Perhaps you’ll even help inspire a part two for these write ups! Because I do reserve the right to come up with more ideas in the future - these are the ideas that I’ve had to this point, but the whole reason this series exists is because I come up with new ideas for old stories.

So I HAVE actually been working on my ongoing series of hypothetical DLC to games that I love over the last year (it was the end of January 2020 when my last one of these got posted, this is going up at the beginning of May 2021). Which, yes, some is pandemic related because *screams* but... I was looking over what I’ve been working on, and realized that I was at about the combined length of my first two of these in my present examination, and I was only about a third of the way through the ideas that I had. I could either keep going and do these all at once in a massive post in like another year or two, or I could break it up into chunks.

So instead of waiting, this is going to be Part 1 of (I hope) 3 in an examination at ideas and possibilities of what additional content could have been made for Mass Effect 2, which for some is considered the best of the series. Me, I’m a little more critical of it. To me, this game is a textbook example of bridge syndrome, of the plot spinning its wheels to hold off on the payoff until the third part of the trilogy - the Collectors are, in practice, an entirely separate threat from the Reapers, even acknowledging the connection in the plot. We see this in the impact that the ME2 characters have in the next game - most are in side missions, all perform roles in the plot that literally can have them swapped out, even if it’s to the ultimate detriment of your War Asset count.

So in my mind, there’s a lot of room to make these DLCs, these glimpses into further areas of the world of Mass Effect at large. Because for me, what ME2 SHOULD have been was about making the alliances with the galaxy at large, rather than the big set piece of the Suicide Mission. We got some of this in ME2 proper, but that’s where the core of my focus and attention is with these DLCs.

Admittedly, I am aware of the difficulties of working around ME2 having both optional companions (Thane, Samara, and Tali don’t have to be recruited at all, Zaeed and Kasumi are DLC, many missions are available before you necessarily pick up certain companions...) and the ability to hold off on doing the DLC until after the Suicide Mission, where any or all of your companions may end up dying. However, for simplicity’s sake (because these things are long enough as it is without having a dozen variations apiece), we will assume that all companions are recruited and alive for the sake of plot advancement. Minds greater than mine can figure out how these would work without a given character – me, I tend to clear out the quest log before the Suicide Mission (aside from Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival, both of which are minimal on the squadmates from the rest of the game) and rarely let myself lose someone on the Suicide Mission, and since these are my ideas, we’re working in my framework.

Also, timeline note: Like ME2′s actual DLC, the fact that these would unlock at certain points in the game’s timeline does not necessarily reflect when they would best be played in the in-game timeline. Like Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival are (as I mentioned above), at least in my personal timeline, post-Suicide Mision content. BUT, they both become available to play after Horizon. Just because they unlock at certain points in the plot, that doesn’t mean that they best fit the timeline in that point. It was just a convenient way to organize things in my notes. So there will be ones that unlock at plot point A, but probably play best after plot point B. Players would be able to decide where they fit as it works for them.

Ghost of the Machine

A phenomenon is spreading across colonies in Citadel space. Machine cultists are cropping up on planets. Shortly thereafter, these colonies go dead quiet – often overrun by husks. To Admiral Anderson, this sounds like Reaper tech, and there’s only one person who he trusts to investigate the truth of the machine cults...

(Post-Freedom’s Progress)

So back to the machine cultists. In our last installment, there was Evolution, which featured them. Here, though, we’re looking at something that kinda resolves this little storyline. Y’know, since ME3 isn’t really going to have the time for this sort of thing. Which, sure, I’m saying this becomes unlocked before you can unlock this game’s machine cultist sidequest, but shush – just because it unlocks at this point doesn’t mean it has to be played at this point. This time, it’s not just about learning about the problem, but we’re also going to see what we can do to understand it, especially since we’re now acknowledging that this is a recurring problem within the universe and maybe we want to find a proper solution to it before stumbling blindly into it gets more and more people killed.

So this takes Shepard to a planet that’s making its first steps at colonization, yet again (because I am trying to be cognizant of what practical realities exist in the game development, even acknowledging that this is a hypothetical thing anyway – early colonization means limited extras wandering around out in the open and a self-contained area to play around in). Those seem to be the places where these devices mainly get uncovered, so that’s why this is here.

Of course, we have a situation where the devices are known about, so there’s an immediate lockdown, and the reason that Shepard and crew are getting sent out is because Reaper experience is needed – in the event that this colony can have anyone saved, who is it and how do we get them out safely?

I kinda look at this as revealing the process – the previous encounters were the parts that told us the existence of the metaphorical monster of this story, here we’re getting to see the “monster” properly in action. And I feel like this should be about also introducing some of what will become ME3’s foot soldiers among the Reaper armies – we know about the husks from ME1, now we’re going to encounter another for the first time. Probably the marauders. Given that they and the cannibals (who are so numerous in part because of the batarian worlds being first in the invasion path) are the most numerous in ME3 aside from husks, we should at least get to see them be pre-established because of their involvement ahead of time – they don’t get any proper introduction as is in ME3, just accepted as being there.

The honest general idea in this one is tying off this thread that was seemingly built, by way of being a repeated thread in both ME1 and ME2, but goes entirely unmentioned in ME3. Obvious reasons are obvious, but that’s why these hypothetical DLCs “exist,” to address things that the games didn’t have time for. (And that’s a big part of a lot of these, so... buckle up.)

Obviously, we have some of the supplementary material to work off of here – I’m specifically thinking of the Illusive Man’s comic series, Evolution. (Side note, TIM’s involvement there should probably also be part of the reason he’s quick to send Shepard in here – he knows what these artifacts can do.) You can read the wiki page as easily as this, but to quickly detail the important part, we know what these are through them, artifacts meant to ease the way for the eventual arrival of the Reapers by doing the huskifying work ahead of time, without the need for things like the Dragon’s Teeth (which... I want to bring these into this in some fashion, considering they seemed to have importance in ME1, but as the numbers of husks increased in the later games, they fell by the wayside – ME3 claimed that they were basically just to increase a subject’s adrenaline and spread the Reaper tech through the victim’s body quicker from the fear of impalement, and that seems like a lot of effort for little reward, since nothing indicates a way to come back after infection anyway).

So why are these on far-flung colonies, especially when the husks definitely don’t have the mental capacity to control ships and spread out that way?

Since, again, there’s no way to come back after infection anyway, that’s going to be one of the core questions. This seems like a highly inefficient way to set about conquering the galaxy. Why spread this if there’s no reliable method of getting it to go beyond any singular world? (Obviously, the original idea seems to be a) BioWare shock value and b) something to horrify the audience with no reason attached – so it’s time to add that reason). What is the purpose?

So that’s going to be a running thread, probably the major subplot of the story. Obviously, though, the first priority is Shepard trying to escape getting caught up in this colony that is descending into Reaper control. Also, since I said we’re introducing the marauders here, I think we need a turian contact on the ground – I almost said make them a female turian, introduce them to the world of Mass Effect well ahead of the DLC for ME3 (a-HEM!), but I also think that we’ve got another situation of seeing them get infected and die as a result – it IS a consistent point in this series that coming back from Reaper infections Is Not Done. And repeating that here makes it a consistent theme, considering Nyreen.

So while I still say there should be female turians making their appearance among the turians of the colony, our turian buddy is going to be a guy, just for the sake of not stuffing another named female turian in the fridge. I’ll get to a more proper introduction of a female turian later, promise. (And, I like to imagine, with the number of DLCs I’m writing up here, there’s some kind of ability to retroactively introduce female turians into the crowds in the base game as a “patch” through at least one of them, as well as into ME3 proper... Hey, this is all fantasy as it is, let me have that one.)

Anyway, the turian contact is going to be frosty with Shepard – he (I don’t have a name for him at this point) not only doesn’t trust Cerberus, he was also friends with Saren, making him distrust Shepard. While Saren was a traitor, it’s got an element of ‘guilt by association’ to have had close ties to him, so Shepard’s kind of a living embodiment of the hit to his good name. Even if he didn’t do what he did because of Shepard specifically, they’re still associated. But he is still on a mission and Shepard is here and willing to assist him, so...

That said, he’s a Cerberus contact – Cerberus may be human first, but, given the ME2 crew, they can cultivate non-human contacts and aid, and under the circumstances of this colony, being a joint endeavor of humans and turians (probably throw in some callbacks to the last edition of these hypothetical DLCs and mention Ambassador Goyle and the Planet of Peace story). He’s been influenced by Cerberus operatives because hey, it’s good for humanity and turians to make peace if there’s a greater threat, right? Shepard meets with him on the outskirts of the colony proper – in order not to be influenced, they’re acting as much outside of the colony as possible. (Come to think about it, it might be a good idea to make recruiting Mordin a pre-req for this, at least handwave him having come up with a measure meant to protect from Indoctrination and the effects of these artifacts.)

The artifact is already influencing colonists, of course, and our turian friend is ready to write them off immediately – they’ve read the reports, and indoctrination can’t be reversed. I picture a brief discussion about how horrible indoctrination is as a weapon, making the Reapers enemies into their servants, and so warping their minds and perceptions that they’d never be able to trust that any thought they have afterwards is their own, even if they could be saved. Because seriously, that’s one of the most unsettling things for me in this franchise.

The idea is, of course, to get in to where this artifact is and destroy it unseen. That probably means a stealth segment through this colony – honestly, do it like the batarian base in Arrival, I don’t think that it would be so bad. That offered some nice variation, if a little spare on interactable things. Here are going to be some interactable things, things you can get to if you’re good, pay enough attention to the line of sights and such, but will still risk discovery.

Those interactable things are going to be some of the background of the artifact and what’s the whole deal – y’know, codex stuff, things that aren’t essential to the story but good background. Lay some groundwork for the idea of what the Reapers want out of these things being left behind.

Stealth section comes before the inevitable action section, of course. Here, the artifact is in underground caverns (like normal) and our turian buddy sets out to make some quick scans, get the information they need. And, of course, it activates at his approach, zapping him with energy. He tries to shake off any effects but... Well, I already said that he was gonna get infected and die.

So here’s where we start seeing the husks show up. It’d be really nifty if we could get them in varying states of their evolution (or devolution, depending how you look at it), some people just having glowing eyes, others being full on huskified.

And, of course, our turian contact is now in the process of becoming a marauder. I’m thinking we’re having something of the same thing as with Saren here – now that the Reapers made contact with him, they’re framing him as their “herald,” the one who’s going to act as their instrument. Shepard rightly gets to point out the comparison, which does at least get some hesitation – he’s being indoctrinated, is in the process of becoming a pure Reaper tool, but isn’t all the way there yet, the process isn’t 100% immediate.

Also I figure this is a good time to really establish (in terms of ME2’s plot) that the Reapers are so interested in Shepard and why. Like, yeah, sure, we do get Harbinger’s whole thing, but that’s not really a dialogue where we get to ask questions. It’s not even an interrogation where Harbinger demands information. Harbinger just spouts out dialogue of “this hurts you” and such. That’s not really telling us anything. So, yeah, there’s the basic “Shepard defeated a Reaper,” but hey, let’s just get a little more out of it.

I mean, we can intuit what Shepard means for the Reapers, sure, but if it’s important enough to be a major motivation, it’s important enough to say outright, you know? So Shepard is a pinnacle for this cycle – they killed a Reaper, delayed the advancement of the cycle for a few years, that’s a bit of a big deal when it comes before the harvest proper starts up – and the Reapers (like Leviathan will later) want to better understand what makes them tick. If this is unique to Shepard or the human condition, and, if it’s the later, how to break this down to its basic chemical composition and make it their own.

Turian buddy is also here to mouthpiece the explanation for what the Reapers even expect to gain from this. Slaves who can’t operate the mechanisms that they’ll be using are poor servants. I figure it’s as much an intimidation matter as anything – prompt the effective burning of a colony without deeper investigation, sow some fear about the unknown and keep people staying to the comfortable and familiar areas of the space that they live in, corral them in the familiar patterns. It’s a plan with the intent of intimidation – it isn’t until the harvest that they need the servants, so until then, they just want the borders firmly established.

Seems simple enough, sure, but this is still a mystery as far as the game proper is concerned, and I am trying to work within the established structure of the trilogy, rather than come up with some massive reveal that changes our understanding of everything – if I WERE just going to rewrite the franchise, I could do that, instead of writing up synopses of add-ons to the main game, y’know?

Of course Shepard’s gonna get free – I’m thinking that it’s a rescue effort by some of the other crew on the Normandy (because it really bugs me that, when the game is focused around Shepard gathering up the “Dirty Dozen” for their “Suicide Squad” (look, I had to get that out of my system), they only take two members out on missions at a time, so hey, look, they get up to something while Shepard’s busy doing the dirty work. This being ME2, we have to shoot our way out even further to get back to the artifact, which is where our turian ‘friend’ waits.

Paragon/Renegade choice here – do we try and reach out to him, get him to help us blow the artifact to hell, or just jump straight to the boss fight? By this point he has some additional help, by way of our introduction to a harvester – these were dropped into ME3, on Menae, with no exploration, and non-Reaper ones were meant to be enemies during the development of this game, so call this the natural evolution of matters. We’re introducing the marauders and the harvesters ahead of time, explaining the lack of fanfare that these enter the “proper” storyline with. The difference is if our turian friend is aiding us or the harvester, the harvester being our big end boss for this DLC.

The harvester gets killed, the artifact is blown up with the turian (he chooses to remain if Paragoned, a reminder of the permanent effects of the indoctrination process and how this is something that can’t be fixed – hammer home some of the fear and anguish that will be impacting those left behind from the inevitable fighting). Shepard returns to the Normandy for a debrief (I do kinda picture Miranda being involved in that, because, again, squadmates get additional dialogue here, and she IS the ranking Cerberus officer). Also some set up about discussing about Cerberus efforts to better understand indoctrination (foreshadowing for Henry Lawson’s experiments on Horizon next game).

Post Game Followups:

ME3: Indoctrination has seen further study, providing a war asset. Dialogue changes to reference Shepard having encountered marauders and harvesters before.

 Commander Shepard

The Suicide Mission is coming, and the Illusive Man has asked for all of Shepard’s companions to have their heads cleared. Now it’s Shepard’s turn. Their burdens have remained – the loss of the Normandy, the death on Virmire, and their death at the hands of the Collectors. The rest of the team has to clear their heads, and now so must Commander Shepard.

(Post-Horizon)

Yeah, why is it that, while we’re dealing with having to clear the heads of our crew, our PC, who has canonically been killed and resurrected, does NOT have to do this? So, yeah, Shepard needs a good head clearing. (For the record, I have written a fic of this: Lazarus Risen, and that’s effectively where I’m going with this, so if you’re so inclined, check it out instead of reading this, since while the recap is shorter, the fic itself is not too long.)

So, if you don’t want to read that, my idea when I made the fic was to explore both the idea of “Commander Shepard’s loyalty mission,” or the one where Shepard clears their head, AND the thought of just what the heck required Shepard to take all their companions on a mission and leave the Normandy vulnerable to the Collector attack after obtaining the IFF. Now, I’m saying that this mission unlocks after Horizon, but in my mind, that’s when and where this mission takes place. I just don’t know how to implement it within the game design that presently exists, so we’re gonna leave that open to player interpretation.

So the starting point of the fic (and thus, this DLC – like I said, that’s effectively where I’m going with this) is that Kelly Chambers, in her role as the Normandy’s official unofficial counselor/therapist, has recognized that Shepard has a lot of trauma associated with their death and resurrection they have not worked through, and so that’s gone into her reports to the Illusive Man. Mister Illusive contacts the Normandy, declaring that Shepard’s going in to a Cerberus facility, along with their crew, for a full psychiatric workup – the mission is too important to not have all these issues dealt with before going into things.

A bit of fun with this, on the basis of it being why Shepard is taking their whole squad off the ship, is that there’s the opportunity for some banter and genuine crew interaction, something that is sadly missing from the base game itself. Since I’m me, and this is about what I want from these, this is also an opportunity for some character stuff with Shepard, both playing referee (maybe getting a chance to recover some of the loyalty divisions from the confrontations if need be?) and getting to be able to better build and display the growth these characters are going through from seeing their loyalty missions resolved (cuz you DO resolve all the loyalty missions before activating the Reaper IFF, right?). The whole point of doing them was to clear their heads, encourage growth, and the thing is, we don’t get much of that forward arc in ME2, with ME3 just catching us up later. At least half the point of these is some retroactive continuity to smooth out the trilogy’s edges, after all.

Moving on. The arrival at the Cerberus Station (I am assuming this is the same one from the early part of the game, the one Miranda and Jacob take Shepard after they escape the Lazarus facility, though it doesn’t have to be, just a convenient use of model reuse) is uh... complicated. After all, Shepard’s motley crew is not exactly Cerberus approved (even if TIM authorized it – remember how Brooks in Citadel will mention that “Cerberus was a human organization bringing in aliens”?). There is a stir. A handful of situations have to be defused before everything properly gets under way.

This isn’t in my fic because that was focused on the one thing, while, as DLC, this would have to fill out some additional content to justify the time spent and the resultant price tag players spend to buy it, but I kinda figure this is where we can start seeing where the dissent is for Miranda in particular (probably Jacob too), given her Cerberus loyalties. This is a Shepard-focused mission, but I do see Miranda having a relatively decent role in any sidequests, character bits, and dialogue, given that we presently have in her a Cerberus loyalist right up to the point that she sees the human Reaper in the endgame. Especially if she isn’t part of the endgame squad, I feel we should have some material that connects those dots somewhat. I mean, I expect all the characters SHOULD get some, but Miranda in specific is the one with the almost explicit arc of taking her from Cerberus loyalist to her “consider this my resignation” remark to the Illusive Man at the endgame.

The Cerberus station director (my fic said her name is Doctor Nuwali, so we’ll be going with that) tries to organize the chaos that is Shepard’s squad (Shepard being as helpful or obstructionistic as the player chooses to allow, because Cerberus and authorities figures are always fun to poke at, and we’re getting both of those rolled up in one). Building off the above point with Miranda, there’s also clearly tension between her and Nuwali – Nuwali is, in many ways, a reflection of who she was at the start of the game, the pure, uncompromising believer to the cause and the results-driven focus without acknowledging the human cost, while Miranda has been in the position of growing and developing and questioning (Like I said, connective tissue for her character arc).

Nuwali directs Shepard into a private room for their psych evaluation, insisting on the separation of Shepard from the squad. (Just go with it, it’s for plot purposes.) Within is a prothean artifact, and it begins to react at Shepard’s arrival. It flashes-

-and Shepard finds they’re now in the Virmire facility. This is the requisite combat segment stuff that I can brush past during the recapping. The point is that they’re making their way through the geth to the area where the bomb was deployed, to find Ashley or Kaidan, whoever was left behind on Virmire (even if they were left with the distraction team and Shepard didn’t go back for the bomb, Shepard is guaranteed to have been at the bomb site, not the other area, so...).

They assist Shepard in clearing out the geth and then go into confrontation mode – “you’re working with Cerberus now, what the hell?” You know all the fan debates about why is Shepard working with Cerberus, given the horrors they uncover in ME1, especially if you roll a Sole Survivor (and, considering that is the default Shepard background, that’s clearly BioWare’s preference, so it’s not even like this shouldn’t come up – DLC is better than nothing, you know?).

Yes, we’re doing a “defending your life” style thing here. Hey, the game could use that, considering how Cerberus is the bad guy and we’re working with them. We deserve a more critical examination of this concept.

It’s a bit of a verbal joust – Ashley/Kaidan question what Shepard’s doing, their purpose in working with Cerberus, why they aren’t just leaving, how they could have tried to turn them in to the Alliance and the Council after they were given the Normandy and use the information in the ship’s databases as evidence of the Collector threat? There were ways for the story to progress that weren’t this deal with the devil. Shepard gets to acknowledge their points, struggle to justify what they’re doing. Emphasizing that this IS a deal with the devil, and if Shepard doesn’t find a loophole out of it, they’ll be condemned alongside Cerberus as well – not blowing them to hell in the here and now can make them culpable for their future activities, especially if Cerberus tries to bank on the idea of “Commander Shepard worked with us” (like they do with Conrad Verner in ME3).

Call it “preempting the ‘we should have been able to side with Cerberus’ discussion” that cropped up after ME3 – people, we ARE talking about a xenophobic terrorist group, how were they EVER gonna come out of this series looking like the good guys in the final analysis?

The ultimate point is that this is not a good situation – whatever good might come of Cerberus in general, Cerberus cannot be trusted. Ashley/Kaidan point blank ask can Shepard truly justify staying with them, doing the Illusive Man’s bidding, regardless of their good intentions. And I don’t really think there’s a good answer here – again, in my head, this plays as the mission Shepard’s on when the Collectors attack the Normandy, and, because I make sure to do all the loyalty missions before going to the Collector Base, Shepard is about to cut ties with Cerberus by way of a massive explosion (because I’d never trust the Illusive Man with the Collector Base), this is basically laying groundwork for that moment.

If you don’t do things that way... Well, sorry, but this is my hypothetical DLC, so we’re playing things my way.

Anyway, this sends Shepard on their way to the next installment of “defending your life.” Because we’re absolutely following the Rule of Three here, so there’s more than just the one segment. More requisite combat stuff happens, this time fighting through the Citadel tower again. At the end is Saren. Because why wouldn’t we have an encounter with him when Shepard is doing questionable things in the name of defending the galaxy?

He, of course, is rather smug about the fact that Shepard is allying with the devil in the name of fighting the Reapers – to him, it comes across as something of a victory, because here Shepard is, the person who came after him for his alliance with Sovereign, having made his own deal with the devil. If Ashley/Kaidan were the angel on Shepard’s shoulder, the voice of their conscience, telling them that they are making a mistake working with Cerberus, Saren is here to be the devil on the other shoulder, pointing out all the value there is in working with them, in doing whatever the mission calls for to put an end to the Collectors and the Reapers.

One would hope that this kind of rhetoric from the villain of the first game would make it very clear that Cerberus are the bad guys. As if to drive the point home, Saren also brings up that Shepard was rebuilt by them – with what is certainly Reaper tech. Shepard has begun the process of ascending to the Reapers level, what’s some more, melding more with their tech, bringing that melding, that joining, that unification of organic and machine, to the people of the galaxy, of doing the Reapers a favor and acting as their instrument in raising up galactic civilization?

Things of course descend into a firefight (because we’ve got to have our action quota). This time, Shepard gets to pull the trigger and personally kill Saren – sure, I get satisfaction out of persuading him to shoot himself, and I can always take the other options if I’m really pressed to face off against him, but I want the visceral satisfaction of having Shepard standing over Saren themselves and pulling the trigger.

It’s the little things, you know?

Anyway, because Rule of Three, this proceeds Shepard to the third point. They are back on Lazarus Station. No combat this time, just proceeding through the halls until they find themselves in the spot where they met Jacob in the prologue. Here, they see Miranda and Liara, discussing the act of giving Shepard to Cerberus to rebuild. While at first they’re talking to each other (whether or not you want to interpret this as Shepard somehow having heard the conversation or this just being Shepard’s interpretation, that’s up to you – we’re already in the center of Shepard’s mind here, does that really need explaining?), eventually, Shepard gets to speak, raise concerns, raise their voice.

Shepard gets options – do they understand and appreciate what was done to them, the resurrection and effective drafting into Cerberus? Or are they angry and pissed off – they were dead, and then someone else comes along and decides not to let them rest. For me, this has always been an issue of bodily autonomy, where, with Liara using the reasoning, and I quote, that she “couldn’t let [Shepard] go,” SHE is the one deciding what to do with Shepard’s body. Whatever you might say about what that did to make the galaxy a better place... Was it what Shepard would have wanted done with their corpse, to be handed off to a terrorist group culpable in acts of horrific deeds so that they could play Frankenstein with it? This is, in the games proper, just completely ignored – the one option to be angry is about Liara hiding this from them, not about her DOING it, and in ME3, Shepard – without player input – frames Miranda and the Lazarus Project as “giving them back their life.”

Yeah, no. I can forgive Miranda’s actions, given her characterization is actively about her going from looking at Shepard as a resource to be tapped to a friend (or possibly lover). It’s not perfect, but it’s still part of her arc, and she does at least make an apology (even if the writing doesn’t focus on the part I want it to, that ME3 conversation being focused on her wanting to implant Shepard with a control chip).

But I NEED to be able to express anger at Liara in some way just to like her, considering her canonical reason for doing this is all about HER – not that she considered Shepard the only one in the galaxy who could stand against the Reapers, but that SHE couldn’t let Shepard go. When in my games, she has no right to that. She’s not the one my Shepard’s are in a relationship with. So what those who romance her probably see as an act of love and devotion, I, not romancing her, can’t see it as anything but an act of obsession. And, even if I have to limit myself to a mental simulacrum of her, because there’s not a better place to include such a thing in these DLCs, it will help me, because it’s at least acknowledgement that hey, maybe Shepard is kinda pissed about people making decisions about them for them.

*ahem*

Right, so, where were we? Right, the reaction to Miranda and Liara discussing what to do with Shepard’s body. So as Shepard reacts, this prompts appearances from Ashley, Kaidan, and Saren, all of them playing Greek chorus about the decisions made about Shepard and how Shepard is reacting to them all. And yes, now we have both Ashley and Kaidan, regardless of who was left on Virmire, because why not – if we have one of them showing up for this DLC, why NOT include both of them? You’d have both actors in the studio anyway, so... Basically this is the big character confrontation where they all make the points that fans can debate and nitpick over when they bring up this topic, until finally the question gets put as, effectively, “well, however you feel about it, it has been done, so what are you going to do now?”

And to answer that, Shepard has to reenter the room they woke up in. Because we’re not quite done here yet.

Yeah, that whole conversation piece? THAT was the third “fight” or “combat” scene of this sequence, done in dialogue. Think the Atris confrontation in KOTOR 2, a verbal standoff. The actual interaction that Shepard has to face in the operating room... is themselves.

And their mirror image is offering similar questions, now wanting Shepard to respond, rather than having other characters voice opinions for them. How do you play Shepard’s reaction to their death and resurrection? To the fact that they are spending this game working with Cerberus, who is responsible for a traumatic event in roughly one third of all Shepard histories? Who Shepard uncovered multiple instances of their mad science in ME1 that crossed every ethical line? Who have it repeated rather consistently, is a humanity-first organization who will put human interests (and Cerberus interests, claiming they’re the same) ahead of galactic ones? If the Collector Base has (or is) a Reaper weapon, do they legitimately trust the Illusive Man with this power? Does Cerberus or the Illusive Man REALLY deserve any loyalty from Shepard?

Think of this as “stage two” of the verbal boss battle.

So, the confrontation with themselves concludes with, effectively, Shepard making their decision for going forward – the idea is that it has all been a mental debate, Shepard talking to themselves and coming to a conclusion that they needed to make. The general idea probably is one that, if you’re an obsessive fan with a penchant for filling in the gaps of canon (hey how are you?), you may have imagined these kinds of thoughts and discussions and conversations happening, but isn’t it more satisfying to actually have them take place on screen? And two, Shepard confronting themselves is, in and of itself, always a big deal. As I said at the beginning, this is Shepard’s loyalty mission, done to clear their head. How could it not result in Shepard facing themselves and asking themselves these big questions directly?

When Shepard officially makes their decision for the forward march, you know, figuring out how to handle Cerberus from here on in, which basically come to, effectively, use them for their resources and cut them loose at the end of the crisis or cut ties now and let the chips fall – since, after all, aside from Miranda and Jacob, whose loyalties to Cerberus are already wavering, Shepard has a squad full of the most dangerous people in the galaxy, so they could handle a mutiny of any kind (and, on the player end, there’s the knowledge that, while all this is taking place, EDI is getting unshackled and effectively is capable of running the ship) – they’re kicked back to reality.

And yes, those are the only two results of this, because, just to hammer it home, Cerberus is NOT. THE GOOD GUYS. The Illusive Man is not secretly good, he’s just using the “humanity needs protection” line to justify his actions and attitudes that are about seizing power. And anyone who thought that we would, should, or could side with Cerberus come ME3 was kidding themselves.

Granted, with this line of thinking, I’m not sure what the motivation would be to give Cerberus the Collector Base at the endgame (I mean, I never have, so...). Maybe the idea of “indoctrinate yourself, get taken in by the Reapers, you bastard,” but... That doesn’t seem right for Shepard’s characterization. Eh, like I said, much of this is based in how I play in the first place, so if you want to try and figure that out, feel free, but my list, we go by my way of approaching things. Because that’s just how I roll.

So I haven’t explained what, exactly, this prothean artifact is. Well, it’s effectively nothing more than a plot device, but let’s say there’s a note that becomes interactable, that basically talks up the artifact as being what I’ve called it so far, something that is meant to allow the user a chance to directly interact with themselves, face the truths they deny. Again, this really is a plot device meant to allow the circumstances of the plot, and while I could go into the details of how I assume it works, it really just needs to exist, but that’s my handwave excuse to justify how it worked. It works very well, thank you for asking. The reality is the how is less important than what it brings up.

So, Shepard is back in the physical world, and sets about putting the ideas into motion – the Illusive Man wanted them here? Yeah, no. Not doing that anymore. Shepard gets their crew out of there, upsetting doc Nuwali (giving the impression that there were some sketchy ideas in mind for Shepard’s companions when they were alone themselves, invasive procedures that they’d knock them out and see if they could take them apart and put them back together, now loyal to the Cerberus banner that sort of thing) and has a brief chat with Miranda as they fly back to the Normandy.

...You know, which, based on my time table, is currently under Collector attack. Fun times!

Post Game Followups:

ME3: The artifact as a war asset, reports about Nuwali being captured by Alliance officers while in the process of having attempted some of those ‘sketchy ideas’ she’d meant to enact on Shepard’s companions.

The Lights of Klencory

The planet Klencory is rumored to hold secrets regarding ‘the machine devils.’ Admiral Hackett of the Alliance has suspicions these are references to the Reapers, and has been secretly investigating these. Now, a team of Alliance soldiers have vanished out there, and he’s calling in Commander Shepard as a specialist, along with an old friend...

Bonus Companion: Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko

(Post-Horizon)

So back on the old days of the BSN, before Arrival came out, the speculation was, after Lair of the Shadow Broker, that the successive DLC would feature Ashley or Kaidan, give them the same treatment Liara got by featuring them in a DLC. One of my favorite ideas featured the concept of the “machine devils” of Klencory. You know, the planet blurb from ME1 where a volus is digging into a planet in search of evidence of “lost crypts of beings of light,” the indication being that he’d had his mind scrambled by a prothean beacon. So, hey, guess where we’re going?

I mean, obviously Illium, duh.

Actually, that’s not a bad starting point. Illium in general seems to be fairly neutral territory – sure, technically a planet in Citadel space, given its an asari world, but with many Citadel laws relaxed, it makes for a place where “an Alliance operative” will meet with Shepard (We’re starting by way of a letter from Hackett, for the record) without it being considered suspicious behavior by those looking in who are not in the know about the tacit support that both Hackett and Anderson are offering Shepard. There’s a lot of questions coming into this on Shepard’s part, given that, at this point in time, they’re not really an Alliance officer, and yet this is apparently something that is getting them called on? Probably means Reapers.

It gets complicated once Shepard arrives for the meeting and finds Ashley/Kaidan is their contact.

So, before we go further, I want to acknowledge, by the nature of having any real contact between Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan between the encounter on Horizon and the opening of ME3, I am effectively breaking one of my cardinal rules for these, namely the idea of not screwing with the pre-existing structure of the games’ plots in allowing Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan SOME form of genuine contact and communication, to the point of a chance for a legitimate conversation about things and where they stand with one another (Yes, the previous entry was bending that rule, but this is an outright breaking of it).

Thing is, this is one thing that really SHOULD have existed in the games proper, I shouldn’t have to have built something up to include here, and I will 100% die mad about it. Ashley and Kaidan got shafted by BioWare’s handling of things, and I’m not willing to forgive it (if you follow my liveblogs of replaying the games, you’ll know I frequently complain that Arrival really was gift-wrapped to serve this function, and yet it doesn’t so much as mentioned Ashley/Kaidan). So yeah, we’re having an opportunity to address this stuff right off, it’s taking place in the game “proper” (for a given value, considering all of this is made up, but...). I’ll get into how this will impact their interactions come ME3 in the “Post Game Followups” section, for now, we’re just going with this.

Also on the “to note” element, I am mostly going to refer to Ashley/Kaidan in the sense of swapping them into place for one another, since, obviously, they are mutually exclusive at this point in the trilogy. But I do want it understood that I am not viewing them as interchangeable characters but as individuals. Just... If I stop to explain all the little differences of how they interact with Shepard in this, the variations of what they say and do on the character level, I’d basically be writing this out twice, which this is going to be long enough as it is, you don’t need to read the plot summary twice, and I certainly don’t need to write it twice. Assume that, even if not explicitly indicated, there ARE differences in behavior and dialogue that are reflective of them as separate characters and people, even if the overall plot must go forward regardless of how differently they’d react as individuals.

And you might want to pay close attention, since there will be a lot of use of “they” pronouns ahead, since Ashley/Kaidan is more awkward to write and I make it a point to not address the player character (in this case, Shepard) by one gender or the other in these write-ups, given that that’s variable, so things might get a little confusing if you’re not paying close enough attention to the context.

So... The meeting with Ashley/Kaidan begins... awkwardly. They’re uncertain how to really react to Shepard – sure, the encounter on Horizon means they know that Shepard is back, but now they’re really having to deal with this particular reality. So they’re going to aim to jump to business. Alliance intel has intercepted some messages from mercs hired out near Klencory, which got Admiral Hackett paying attention to things happening out there – like Shepard will acknowledge, between the circumstances of this meeting and the quick summary of the reason for the mercs all being out there, this sounds like it’s connected to the Reapers. Hackett wants to have Shepard as a “special consultant” as the Alliance has someone (re: Ashley/Kaidan) investigate (“consultant” since Shepard may not have had their Spectre status restored, so it gives them legitimacy either way). It could, potentially, just all be a massive coincidence. But since when are things ever “just” a coincidence?

Ashley/Kaidan are willing to use the Normandy as transport – Hackett figured that, between the stealth systems, and the lack of official Alliance authority in the area, the Normandy is the better option for getting there without being told to get lost. The bigger question is how they’ll be received – it’s not like merc gangs take well to outside interference, and the Alliance having any jurisdiction out there is questionable at best. But they should at least TRY to go in with civility. If this volus billionaire spending all this money on this (his name, for the record, is canonically given as Kumun Shol, so hey, less work for me, having to come up with a name!), then if he hears from someone who seems to be taking him seriously, it might get them invited in explicitly.

Obviously, though, if they’re hitching a ride on the Normandy, if things remain unspoken, the trip out there will be very awkward and seem longer than it is. So they have to address Horizon. They’re not going to apologize for not joining Shepard – Shepard is still operating on a ship flying Cerberus colors, even with good intentions, that is a betrayal of their oaths to the Alliance, Cerberus are terrorists and xenophobes, who want to secure human dominance. But they will acknowledge that they reacted to Shepard’s return in a way that wasn’t their best. I am not going all the way to “they admit that they were wrong,” because based solely on the information that they had, they handled things as best as they realistically could. But they will regret that things ended on the terms that they did.

Shepard gets to respond to that – are they accepting that it was a bad reaction to unexpected information, do they still hold a grudge, whatever. The conversation continues to a point of conclusion – Ashley/Kaidan don’t trust Cerberus, they want to trust Shepard, but the connection between the two at the moment makes that difficult, and they don’t know how to bridge that gap as things stand, but they’re going to try this.

We will be coming back to this, never you fear. But, of course, that’s more for the ending than it is the beginning, and this one conversation is far from the end.

Klencory is a world with a toxic atmosphere, so they first have to gain access to a semi-decent landing zone near where Shol has established himself. Because, naturally, he’s not interested in visitors – the brief communication we get with him is him effectively talking himself into the idea that Shepard is “the agent of the machine devils,” which... I mean, considering the prothean beacons and communications with the Reapers, it’s not crazy that he goes there, even if (by the rest of his actions), Shol’s gone a little nuts.

Shooty shooty bang bang, fight through the exterior guards and into the facility proper. Ashley/Kaidan are a little uncomfortable about what’s gone on – this really isn’t how they pictured things going, given the legitimate credentials they were supposed to be coming in with, and they can recognize the fighting is because of Shol not giving them an alternative, but it does still make them feel like they’re acting as little more than the thugs they’re dispatching.

Call this a reaction to the fact that Shepard doesn’t exactly get much of a differentiation in the game themselves. Particularly when they can call out looters on Omega while swiping whatever’s not nailed down.

This is another conversation that’s going to be part of that “coming back to” thing – assume there’s some kind of tracking metric for all of this in the same vein as how ME3 tracked how Ashley/Kaidan responded to Shepard as a lead in to the confrontation during the coup. Just, I’ll get to how that all plays out at the end.

Because a band of mercs aren’t enough to hold off Shepard, Ashley/Kaidan, and the third companion (yay party balance), they reach Shol’s central command. He’s a little batty, but it finally gets through to him that Shepard is not the agent of the machine devils. He is skeptical of Shepard being the savior from them, though. Instead, he wants Shepard and company to do something for him.

There is a vault. A vault none of his men have come back from. Shol declares that, if Shepard can enter, learn its secrets, and survive, then they will have proven themselves to be salvation from the machine devils. Since this is the advancement of the plot, Shepard will have to go ahead with this, even with the natural objections of Ashley/Kaidan (and, probably, Shepard themselves).

Another pause for a dialogue – Ashley/Kaidan are skeptical of Shol’s motives, and believe it may be too dangerous to just do what he says. Especially considering that he’s clearly not entirely stable. This is a situation that really calls for calling for backup. But there’s really not the option of waiting, because if they don’t do as Shol says, he’ll throw all his mercs at Shepard – even if we’re assuming that Shepard versus countless mercs ends well for Shepard (because, after all, it’s Shepard), it’s just a senseless loss of life.

Going in is a set piece of suspense. Think the Peragus mine, with a dash of Korriban for good measure, from KOTOR 2 – lot of littered corpses, this creeping and foreboding unease and feeling of being watched, this overbearing expectation of SOMETHING appearing down every dead end... Build the tension. This is a place that, the littered dead aside, no one has entered in thousands of years, it should absolutely be a place that could chill you to the bone. The examination of anything should feel like it’s disturbing the dead.

You know there’s some ancient security device active, right? I mean, something’s killing the people who trespass here. Obviously, it has to be something that will put up a fight as our end boss, and it needs to be something that is able to last a long time. I’m thinking an ancient robot (my mind is going in the direction of something similar in design to the ancient droids of KOTOR’s Star Forge), a last defense, left behind by a precursor to the protheans.

Yeah, it feels like an underwhelming result to me too, but it makes logical sense all the same – we have some evidence of things from prior cycles, not just the prothean cycle, making it through to the next ones, not the least of which is the plans for the Crucible. Seeing as how that bit of intel is just dropped into our laps come ME3, this is at least making it functionally foreshadowed, if indirectly, by actually showing us ancient technology that is still functional and viable even after more than fifty, a hundred thousand years. Plus the foreshadowing of things surviving to this cycle in the vein of Javik. Things lasting this long in forms beyond just ruins at least makes all of that happening in ME3 at least have some groundwork laid in these prior games – otherwise, we only have a few codex references to ancient civilizations, as opposed to it being an actual component of gameplay, things that the player MUST interact with.

But yeah, the threat may be underwhelming, but the payoff is what it guarded – the last remnants of this ancient culture. The corpses have been preserved, given that it’s a bunker into the planet’s mantle – the toxic nature of the atmosphere now came about because of the Reapers, though, of course, this is only spoken of in the material available as “the machine devils.” There could be a great wealth of information among this stuff.

Thing is, now that the threat’s dealt with, Shol wants his prize. He spent years of his life and a great deal of his money on this, and now he wants to use it – and, because he still is a paranoid bastard, he’s not particularly inclined to uphold his end of the bargain, having expected to have Shepard and the “guardian” of the tomb (for lack of a better term) kill each other. He just wants all of this to increase his own fortune – he’ll sell everything within to the highest bidder and damn what the Alliance, the Citadel, anyone might be able to get from the archives. Giving it to private collectors – like, say, the Illusive Man, or even any interested faction of capital-c Collectors (as in “the enemies we fight throughout ME2”) – will enrich him and it doesn’t matter what that information might do to help make the galaxy ready for war against the Reapers.

Now, normally you would think this would lead to a Paragon/Renegade choice. BUT, instead, we’re going to have a variation moment for Ashley and Kaidan. They’ll deal with Shol, but in unique ways. Ashley, having marine hand to hand combat skills (as she mentions in character discussion during the first game), manages to get close and disable the volus’s suit enough to render him unconscious, while Kaidan uses his biotics to get the same result. So they get to have a moment of protecting Shepard (not necessarily “saving” them, because a volus getting the drop on Shepard would certainly be an embarrassing way to go, but definitely helping them sidestep a situation).

NOW’S the time for the Paragon/Renegade choice, dealing with Shol himself. He is an obstacle, considering that dealing with the legal claim to this cache of information leaves the door open to some sticky situations as a result – the last thing they need is to have anything that might be useful be wrapped up in the legal battle. But he DOES have a valid claim. Just unilaterally taking this place from him is questionable at best – even if Shepard’s still a Spectre, are they REALLY able to just come in and declare the location to no longer be the property of the individual with the legal claim on it? Likewise, there’s a lot of sticky issues with the idea of killing him – after all, as mentioned above, he does have a bunch of trained mercenaries on hand, and it’s reasonable to try and walk out without adding to the bloodshed. But if it’s made clear that his madness has overtaken him (which, I mean... it kinda HAS), then there’s room for the Citadel to be able to legally seize his assets, including his claim on Klencory and its vault. But this still means institutionalizing a person because they’re inconvenient.

That’s the choice – institutionalize Shol and seize his assets, despite the subsequent legal battle that he and his kin can draw everyone in to, or cut through the red tape preemptively, kill him, and claim what amounts to squatter’s rights, since with him dead, no one else is there to take charge of the archive, whatever it contains. Ashley/Kaidan are going to say they have no intention of letting Shepard kill Shol (because that would certainly always be a line for them), but there will be a Renegade interrupt to take that choice out of their hands anyway, and Shepard can make an argument that, if they don’t do SOMETHING, Shol’s men will come in and try to kill them, while if he’s dead, that denies them their paycheck (because for one time ever, can we just have the mercs give up and run off once the source of their paycheck is dead?!). Shol certainly isn’t going to tell them to back down, and “survival instincts” have never been at the top of their hiring priorities.

Ashley/Kaidan will have some words about the decision Shepard is making, but they can be swayed to understand Shepard’s motivations, at least, in the moment, though any disagreements they have are more in the “waiting for a more opportune moment” than “what you say goes, Commander.” More on that shortly. With that matter resolved, Shepard calls for a pickup.

Back on the Normandy, Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan are having an informal debriefing in Shepard’s cabin (save the jokes for the end of the scene everyone, we’ll get to that). They do a brief discussion of what the likely followup will be – the fact is, the Reapers are probably already uncomfortably close at the moment already, so there’s not likely to be much opportunity to examine this place too much before they show. Still, every little bit is going to help.

The big thing is going to be how Shepard’s handled things through to this point. This was an accumulation metric (in the same style as Aria showing mercy on Petrovsky or not during Omega), so the various Paragon/Renegade decisions through to this point will lead to their reaction. Paragon Shepards get Ashley/Kaidan acknowledging that Shepard is still someone they respect, and that perhaps this whole Cerberus alliance was one of necessity. Renegade Shepards are leaving them questioning what Cerberus is doing to them, and are they really the person that they once were.

That leads to the question of where they stand if they’re a romance – like with Liara in Lair of the Shadow Broker, this leads to a romance rekindling, but only for Paragon Shepard, because that’s the version that has shown that Shepard is still the person they followed to hell and back, still the person they loved.

Yes, while I try and offer reasonably similar options for both Paragon and Renegade versions of Shepard, this is dependent on that. Because it’s about setting their concerns at ease, about listening to them and allowing them to be angry and upset and come around. Renegade Shepard will have shown they don’t care about that, so why WOULD Ashley/Kaidan take them back?

Anyway, insert “debriefing” joke here.

And, y’know, a reminder that, in these DLCs I’m writing, we’re going with the assumption that Ashley and Kaidan both were bisexual romance options back in the first game, and it’s an option to rekindle for both gendered Shepards.

After the interlude (however it plays out), there’s the discussion of what’s coming next for Ashley/Kaidan. They’re returning to the Alliance, of course – with Shepard’s official ties still in limbo, taking them out of the official chain, Hackett has made them a floating troubleshooter at points where he suspects Reaper involvement in some fashion, be it machine cultists and husks, Collectors, or what have you. However they feel about Shepard, Hackett is still seeming inclined to trust them on this, so they expect that the intel will still reach Shepard as they do their work. They make it clear they expect this to be the calm before the storm, and when the fight starts, they know Shepard will be on the front line. Paragons get them promising to back Shepard up when the time comes, Renegades get them hoping that they’ll still be on the same side when that happens.

Post Game Followups:

So here’s the part where, typically, I’d talk about how this impacts War Assets for ME3. But this is giving the ability to resolve the major Ashley/Kaidan element of ME3 before we even get there (like we should have in the first place...) and that means we have to deal with that. To that end, I obviously have left the door open for the lack of trust by way of Renegade Shepard, and that’ll go through things as they are, the same as if this DLC didn’t exist (I mean, it doesn’t exist anyway, but... You know what I mean!). The alternative for a Paragon completion is that there will be a distinct lessening of the tension between Shepard and Ashley/Kaidan in ME3, leading to some serious dialogue changes on Mars – more of an acceptance, instead of distrust.

I’m also thinking that, with the air cleared, there’s no moment of hesitation among them during the Citadel Coup, that it basically defaults them to trusting Shepard, regardless of how much they interact with them in Huerta and “clear the air” of Horizon. After all, Shepard already allayed their concerns with their practical involvement, gave them the chance to see them as the person they were, rather than the possibility that they were no longer the person they trusted. This changes the dynamics of their earlier interactions, and if you have rekindled the romance during the debriefing (no I’m not going to stop using that gag), then the dialogue will have more romantic undertones, the conversations more focused on matters of both them and the future together, trying to figure out if they even have a future, what with the invasion commencing, let alone where they stand with one another in that future.

I feel like I should have more done here, really, but I am really, genuinely TRYING to remain within the basic structures of the games as they are with this, because I totally could trash them and rebuild them from the start, but that’s defeating the purpose of this as additional material to the games, so that’s the most I’m offering on that. I want to do more, Ashley/Kaidan deserve a bigger and better role in ME3’s plot (which I’ll be trying to address further when we get to the ME3 hypothetical DLC, but that’s not here), but I’m trying not to totally rewrite ME3 as it is, that would probably be its own long involved project, and this is already ongoing. The original version of events can still be involved in the game proper, as the Renegade version, but that won’t be the only version any more.

Oh, and, we’re getting some war assets out of the place we discovered. That feels like an afterthought here, though. This has been about Ashley/Kaidan and their relationship with Shepard, more than anything, and we really did deserve this as much as Lair of the Shadow Broker.

 The Omega Heist

An old contact of Miranda and Jacob’s draws them – and Commander Shepard – back to Omega, where, with the merc bands decimated, an old threat they thought they’d dealt with long ago has reemerged. With Commander Shepard’s help, they must try their utmost to put this genie back in its bottle before it’s unleashed on the whole of Omega – and, potentially, the rest of the galaxy!

(Post-Horizon)

Considering Omega’s status as the dark reflection of the Citadel, the answer to it in the Terminus Systems, I just really want to explore it some more. Tie in to that, Miranda and Jacob have great prominence when they’re literally your only crewmates, but the second you start picking up the rest of the crew, they start falling off the map. Given that they’re our viewpoints into Cerberus as an organization, this feels like a mistake. Cerberus spends both the preceding and following game as enemies, and I think we need to spend some time at exploring why either of them would even fall under Cerberus and the Illusive Man’s sway.

It begins with Miranda asking to speak to Shepard. I’m gonna assume that, considering the unlock pattern of loyalty missions, this is most likely going to be played post-loyalty mission for both of them, since they’re both the first to unlock. Just to firmly establish where the characterization is going in to this. So both of them are at a point where they’re starting to question their loyalty to Cerberus (hence why I’m considering it a default that, in particular, Miranda’s loyalty has been obtained).

She’s heard from a contact on Omega about something that she wants to get Shepard involved in. The meeting moves to her office, where Jacob joins them. This concerns a mission they’d both undertaken shortly after their first mission together (see Mass Effect Galaxy, the mission Jacob talks to Shepard about having lost his faith in the Alliance over). They had an assignment to dispose of a biological sample – their assignment had been not to ‘get curious’ and investigate what it was, just get rid of it. The orders had come directly from the Illusive Man, so they were actually obeyed.

Jacob had been suspicious of the whole thing – when you’re moving something that you’re not supposed to investigate, it’s usually something that could blow up in your face. He opted for a little extra security monitoring, with Miranda agreeing and having kept track of it. That’s why this is now coming to her attention. They still don’t know what this was, but they can’t imagine that it getting let loose where any idiot could stumble across it would be a good thing.

So we’re returning to Omega. Personally, I’m disappointed that there’s no real change in Omega as ME2 carries on, even though you have to both clear out merc gangs and an active plague in the course of the game – recruiting Garrus and Mordin are mandatory quests, after all, so their joining the crew, their recruitment missions, these have to happen regardless of anything else Shepard may decide to do. So we’re getting another hub area on Omega besides Afterlife and the Gozu District market place. If Omega is the Citadel of the lawless Terminus Systems, then it can certainly fit in more of this (plus give more life to this place that, we know, will have people threatened come ME3 and the Omega DLC there).

Our central hub sector will be a safehouse established near the Kenzo District (picked because beyond existing as where Garrus had his run-in with Garm, we know nothing specific about it, so it can be used however the plot needs it to be). Under the circumstances – meaning “since we stored dangerous material on Omega without even speaking with Aria on the subject” – the idea here is stealth. Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob arrived via a transient shuttle rather than via the Normandy, and did so hopefully with some element of stealth. It’s not that Aria is going to be a threat here, just that she wouldn’t be happy learning about this going on under her nose and Cerberus is trying to cultivate some of her resources (sort of tie-in to the Cerberus takeover of Omega come ME3).

Their contact is my chance to get that female turian I mentioned a ways back into things – a turian trader who I’ll name Naevia (what, I’m a Spartacus fan and the reference makes me smile). The biological sample has fallen into the hands of a gang that’s trying to take up the space left by the biggest gangs of Omega losing their leadership (I’m thinking one of the gangs from our last edition of hypothetical DLCs, from “The Clean-Up,” because continuity!).

It’s around here that Shepard does ask the most important question on the subject that I think we’re all thinking – why the hell was this dangerous and hazardous sample kept rather than destroyed? Naevia admits she thought the same thing, but she was paid enough not to care, just to watch it. Miranda states that there was a possibility of using it for something in the future – this is a sign of her beginning to waver, because she can’t really justify the use of this sample, the fact that, though they’d been told to get rid of it, the “disposal team” had kept it, and were keeping it in a place with a population.

Granted this is a long standing tradition with dangerous science, but still, it needs to be called out.

The important thing is that it’s there, on Omega, and in particular when the station is already in the recovery process of a plague that targeted every race except humanity – there is still a lot of anti-human resentment on Omega, and the last thing that Cerberus should want is a human-spawned crisis breaking out (because no matter where the sample came from, a human organization, known to have a humans-first bent to it, was the group that stashed it here on Omega). Hence our presence.

We’re gonna have plenty of time to talk with Miranda and Jacob, so assume character conversations sprinkled here throughout (much as I cite it as reason that I don’t particularly care for their loyalty missions in comparison to others, that their loyalty missions also only have one ending, that once you start the mission, the only resolution is obtaining their loyalty, makes for a useful method of characterization trajectory here). This is here for the sake of exploring and deepening their character arcs, their division with Cerberus from the endgame, given that they’re both set against Cerberus come ME3, so we’re going with that.

We also get to spend some time with Naevia and getting a new perspective with the turians – she is a free agent, sort of like Vetra ended up being in Andromeda, in the sense that she’s a rebel to the status quo of turian military discipline. She’s looser and less rule-bound. She lives on the fringe of society and that shapes her reactions. She has no need for the turian rules of combat and prefers to take preemptive action – the rules of combat are a great idea in theory, when you have enemies who will respect them. But the Terminus is full of people who won’t. And, while she hasn’t been read into the Reaper matters, she is clearly picking up on the undercurrent between Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob.

Now if you’re assuming that this is leading to Naevia turning out to be involved in matters with this sample... Well, that’s definitely going to be a thing to follow, but let’s just keep going for now.

And yes, I have been cagey about what this sample even is. Remember, that’s because it’s a mystery even to Miranda and Jacob – they were still in a point where they were willing to listen to the Illusive Man’s orders without questioning them. The assumption was that the team they were giving it off to was a proper disposal team, and the failure of either of them to investigate it beyond his word. Y’know, the idea being they’re both starting to push themselves to look beyond the word they’re officially given by their boss and question him.

So… investigative work. We’ve already been over how in these summaries, that’s not where I focus on, not having a layout or anything to work with and such. So I’ve given the core ideas of character work and plot that plays out over the course of things, let’s cut to the climax.

The sample is being held by one of the gangs and a member of the Cerberus disposal squad. Because hey, look at that, a Cerberus agent went rogue and started killing all their guys, Commander Shepard, can you take care of that? He explains just what this sample is – a contaminant that can devastate a planetary atmosphere, hence why it was being kept on Omega, a space station. Of course, the problem with it is that it won’t discriminate and a rapid atmospheric dissolution will kill human lives as well. This is one of those things that it’s actually entirely justifiable that the Illusive Man didn’t want to use... y’know, if it weren’t for the fact that he still kept it, but...

Anyway, here’s where we come to Naevia’s sudden but inevitable betrayal, citing the profit to be earned – it’s easy enough to live on ships instead of a planet, so she’ll come out of this fine. Shepard gets the chance to shoot her with a Renegade interrupt, and look at that! She WASN’T betraying the team, just pretending to in order to slide a knife in the bad guy’s gut. It doesn’t kill him, and it still leads to a fight, but it’s easier if you don’t take the interrupt (because as much as I like the interrupt system, I think there should occasionally be consequences for taking a quick and reflexive response rather than the more considerate and thoughtful and examinative approach to a situation).

A multi-stage boss fight ensues – basic ground troops, interspersed with standard LOKI mechs, a YMIR mech joining the fight with reinforcements, and then a gunship. Maybe the gunship peels off midway and lets in another YMIR mech, just to really hammer the ‘boss fight’ element, or at the least let that be a higher level difficulty challenge. I mean you can only do so much with the mechanics of the game to create boss fights, right?

Anyway, Naevia is either dying, laughing at how her turncoat act was too effective, or she’s made it through with a few scratches and is patching them up as Miranda and Jacob are recovering the sample. Here’s the expected Paragon/Renegade choice of destroying the sample or storing it somewhere else – I can even see a reasoning for keeping in the idea of ‘once knowledge exists, it can’t just be destroyed, we need to study this to be able to devise a countermeasure.’ It’s a sucky one, for the record, but it’s a way to justify the Renegade stance.

This is where you see the culmination of Miranda and Jacob’s development. Jacob is open about wanting to correct their prior mistake of leaving this sample around to be used by anyone who might try to actually use it. No matter what, he sees no possible good coming from it and wants it destroyed. Miranda is conflicted. Her trust in the Illusive Man tells her that it would be right to hold on to this, it’s a weapon that could protect humanity if the aliens were to attack them – which is something that can’t be discounted as a possibility, considering the batarian hostility and the general aggravation of other races like the turians (see the previous Hypothetical DLC entry for more expansion on why I consider that a thing gets brought up). But she also knows that if this exists, then there’s a chance humanity can’t control it. She is looking to Shepard for guidance on this – she’s not turning to the Illusive Man’s standing orders here.

When the group returns to their safehouse, they find Aria there. Because this has been happening on Omega, and it’s her business to be fully aware of what’s happening on Omega. She thanks Shepard for disposing of that little business – if the sample was spared, she does imply that she knows about it, but, so long as it’s leaving Omega, she’s not going to be concerned about it. After all, she only cares about Omega’s interests. But, as a reward for what Shepard’s done for Omega, from the plague to Archangel to this (plus, potentially, dealing with Morinth, given that was the presence of an Ardat-Yakshi on Omega), she is offering a reward for Shepard – a penthouse suite.

Yes, I’m letting Shepard get an Omega apartment. I mean, okay, having one right before the Cerberus takeover of Omega come ME3 is not exactly the most prime real estate, but hey, Shepard deserves a place to relax, right? Plus it also comes with access to a special Omega market, a place where Shepard will be able to purchase any weapons or upgrades they might have been missed in the course of their missions (and any that get added through the DLC, including these). Because really, we should be able to have access to those things somehow, as in the game as is, if you miss it, it’s gone forever.

Anyway, Miranda and Jacob will also have follow up conversations when they return to the Normandy, discuss the way that things have played out and how they’ve evolved as people in the course of the game. Because as I said at the start, the two of them, in terms of their character development, kinda falls off the map in the course of the second half of the game. So they get a little additional content that helps fit them into the big picture of their character arcs.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If Naevia survived, she’s an available war asset in regards to her underworld connections and such to send help Shepard’s way. If it’s kept intact, the sample also has some benefit for Alliance scientists in the study of reversing its effects and how to restore ravaged worlds. Also some additional content in the Omega DLC, though I’m not sure about the details of that right now.

And, y’know, since Naevia’s existence means that we have a female turian model built and developed circa ME2, this SHOULD mean that there are female turians scattered throughout both further DLC (as in ‘assume their existence in further installments, even if it goes unsaid’) and (because now they’d “exist” prior to the release of ME3) there would be numerous turian females in ME3 as assorted extras and such. Should go without saying, but I’m saying it. There will still be a few important female turian NPCs I introduce in further installments, but these are now part the standard background NPC collection.

 Battle Scars

Alliance officers on shore leave have been disappearing from the Citadel with no trace. Ambassador Anderson suspects there’s more to this than the standard dangers of a space station that’s practically its own world. Though Shepard is in a questionable position among the Council, they’re the one person Anderson can trust to solve this.

(Post-Horizon)

The Citadel being so limited a space in ME2 always bothered me. Y’know, I get the thematic idea, that ME2 was about exploring the darker underside of the galaxy at large. But I liked the Citadel. There was a lot about it to explore, all things considered – we’re talking about the galactic hub of politics and commerce. This really should be a major location, no matter the game. And as I’ve said elsewhere, there could be a whole game set on the Citadel with room for more. So yeah, we’re doing this here, exploring an area of the Citadel that we never got to see before.

There are Alliance officers going missing and Anderson gets Shepard involved. Obviously, the synopsis covered that bit. The idea here is that we’re going into areas of the Citadel that normally, Shepard has no business in, and in areas that are more like vacation areas. You know what this means? It means we’re going to have non-combat segments, in the same vein as Kasumi’s mission. There’s gonna be an extended sequence of Shepard out of combat armor in this one, because Shepard is not being called on to be a soldier but to infiltrate and be seen as a civilian more than a combat fighter. (I’m thinking this is going to involve a new casual outfit as well.)

And we’re gonna say that this is happening at an exclusive resort, meant to be a location that’s relaxing – a resort on the Citadel, effectively. It’s primarily a place for Citadel-aligned soldiers (Alliance and other races) to recover after combat, a therapeutic place for soldiers to get treatment for their PTSD (think a place where they’d probably have sent the PTSD asari in ME3 to if there wasn’t an existential war on). It’s why it’s a popular place for these Alliance soldiers to be, and we’re also going to rate it as having the highest success rate as a psychological and therapeutic facility in the known galaxy (because, being on the Citadel, why wouldn’t a place like this have a reputation of being the best, given how the Citadel is effectively the metaphorical center of the galaxy) and it’s a bit of a mixing bowl of Citadel culture, which allows for the rest of the party to come along.

I’m going to stick with mandatory companions here for a handful of reasons – one, Shepard’s got an eclectic band, and I feel like if they walk around a Citadel resort with Grunt and Legion, for example, that’s probably going to blow their cover. For two, I like the idea of mandating some pairings and developing the relationships more. Last entry was about Miranda and Jacob. Here, I’m thinking... For a resort, I honestly lean towards Samara and Kasumi, characters who, respectively, can blend in with “high society” and can pass through unseen by others. Kasumi, of course, does her cloaking to accompany Shepard – she does prefer going unseen. Samara, though, is playing at being a Matriarch – given the setting, let’s say that she’s pretending to be looking for a facility for her rambunctious daughter who is ‘disgracing’ the family name – sort of playing on her own history with Morinth (because Samara’s method that way), while still being a role she plays.

Yes, I’m aware that Kasumi is a DLC character, not everyone necessarily has her, but hey. If you’re playing DLC in the first place, you’ve probably collected other DLC, particularly a new companion, we’re just gonna roll with it, because I’m not going to develop an alternative without her, so consider them connected – I don’t know, say they got packaged in a sale together or something. This is all hypothetical in the first place, remember, does it REALLY matter that she’s not in the base game?

Shepard, of course, is going in as what they’re looking for, an Alliance officer looking for leave. This way there can be a solo segment, and the tension of “will Shepard run into trouble they can’t handle on their own before their companions come to their rescue?” Obviously, there does have to be some addressing of Shepard’s fame and notoriety, but it’s not like Shepard’s not doing other things that are putting their famous mug in places they shouldn’t be, particularly when it comes to involving Kasumi (The Hock heist, anyone? How, exactly, was the most famous human in the galaxy supposed to keep a low profile there?). So we’re just gonna handwave that, like you do.

As always when these are investigative sequences, I’m just gonna gloss over that part for the sake of convenience – the basic facts are that we have a lot of suspects with no clear motive at the outset of things. You know, get your basic archetypes wandering around – look at any show that features a recovery center, you’ll find them, I’m not gonna go into detail on the incidental characters.

The trick is that Shepard is going to be doing their initial investigating solo – they have to get entrenched before their companions show up (given that Samara’s cover is going to have her supposedly only there to look the place over, rather than sign herself in as needing “treatment” and Kasumi is going to be cloaked, searching for the things that Shepard can’t get access to – yes, for the record, I’m setting up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, I would think that would be obvious). They’ll meet with the above mentioned archetypes, learning details.

The details are more for the flavor – how well does Shepard figure out the scheme (which I’m getting to) before the villain shows up to explain in a monologue? Because, y’know, what villain doesn’t love explaining their nefarious deeds with a monologue? Shepard figuring out more and more of the plot before they confront the bad guy will impact the way the end fight goes down – figure it all out, you can sidestep the big final confrontation, figure most of it out, the fight’s significantly easier, stick to the bare minimum, it’s the hardest it can be.

This of course gets Shepard caught by our villain of the piece. So, what’s going on? Well, it’s an attempt by one of the doctors at this facility at cooking up the same shady shit Cerberus has, in the form of cyborg soldiers – the soldiers who have been kidnapped have been converted into these cybernetically enhanced soldiers. Problem is, they’re mindless automatons – higher brain functions didn’t survive the implantation process. So while these six million credit men are superior soldiers for combat, able to shrug off the kind of injuries that would cripple any other organic soldier, probably even have like nano-tech that speeds up any kind of healing and recovery process, they’re ONLY for combat, there is no human mind, no individual still alive in these shells – they’ll do as ordered because of the computer control chips in their heads, but only because those chips fire off the impulses needed.

“No glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system, replaced by tech. No soul. Replaced by tech. Whatever they were, gone forever.”

This is a point that I wanted to bring up in Miranda’s chat about “disposable soldiers” – the concept of soldiers being disposable is the kind of thought that cleans up war, something that the very idea is MEANT to be “dirty.” When you have these disposable soldiers, something that replaces the flesh and blood troops, you’re now in a position where going to war is not a difficult choice – you’re not sacrificing anything in the fight, because your best and brightest are safely out of the line of fire. When you don’t fear war, you’re going to turn to it as the first option, not the last. And, as pointed out by the use of Mordin’s quote above, at some point, your “disposable soldiers” become exactly what the Collectors are, mindless automatons who perform the duties of their masters, and, because of that distance, their masters’ own humanity erodes, because they never have to get their own hands dirty, while their servants are incapable of arguing with the orders.

This is when we get the aforementioned Big Damn Heroes moment, where Samara and Kasumi rejoin the party – since I’m assuming Shepard is being restrained at the moment, we have Kasumi Overload the controls and get them loose while Samara covers her by biotically handling the guards (because there are always guards).

So we get to that ending of how the boss fight can go down – Shepard gets to argue about the whole “disposable soldier” thing, bringing up and expanding on the above argument. If they uncovered all the details of the plot prior to the point they’re found out and taken captive, they can talk the doctor out of the inevitable fight (they still can choose to fight, of course, but the option is there to avoid a fight altogether) and have them shut down the project, effectively take their “prototypes” of these cyborg soldiers off life support and let them all die out (because, again, it’s the cybernetics that are even keeping them alive at this point), they can try and fail because of a lack of information, or they can actually agree with the idea, just that this doctor isn’t the one to be controlling them – it’s a valid choice, after all, to have a viable standing army to face the Reapers with.

I did debate making that last an option, just because I am morally opposed to the idea, but I am trying to respect that the Paragon/Renegade division was meant to be more than “goody-two-shoes versus puppy-kicking-monster,” and approach it from a level of “win with morals versus ends justify the means” – if you’re looking for something that can face the Reapers, like Shepard is aiming for throughout the trilogy, then a pragmatic approach says “we can use this resource, and I’ll deal with the moral weight of it later.”

Thinking about it, this does kinda make a flaw of the Kasumi-Samara team, because I do struggle with seeing how they’d just casually go along with Shepard saying “zombie cyborg army? Sign me up!” But maybe the Justicar code says that, regardless of origin, their existence has purpose and use, while Kasumi is horrified at the idea of using – and defiling – the dead like this. Basically, I want there to be a shoulder angel-devil scenario here, but I may not have selected the right companion pairing for this. Still, I’m not going back and rewriting this to make that work, so we’re just going to acknowledge that and move on – they’re both on the team, and there are other Renegade choices Shepard has available that they both just accept, so we’ll accept that.

And, y’know, I have a personal preference for Paragon at these decision points, and would probably stick to choosing to wipe out the zombie cyborg soldiers myself, and these are my ideas so I roll with what works for my decision making process, so nyah.

This still leads to the question of what, exactly, should be done with this facility – this is the head of the place we’re talking about as being responsible, with them out of commission (either being killed by Shepard or taken into C-Sec custody, depending on your choice), it’s entirely possible the place will be shuttered, or at least in chaos for a time, and that means all of its current residents are going to be kicked out – this is one of those “well intentions doesn’t change negative results” scenarios. Of course, Anderson will try to step in and do something, but... He can only do so much. Especially with having to clear out the devices and secret lab material and such, there’s a lot in this that just... is not going to have this place in a condition to be what it’s meant to be. Especially if things turned into a fight with the doctor and trashed the place.

Shepard themselves can only do so much – they can make a recommendation, but ultimately, there will be a board decision. They can offer a suggestion, a way for the staff to try and focus going forward, but it’s going to mean downsizing their care in some fashion – either they focus only on the immediately at-risk patients, going in the way of ‘if you’re not an active threat to yourself or others, you have to find somewhere else to seek treatment,’ or they limit themselves to just the care of a single species, because the psychological experts for multiple species is a resource drain.

And this one is NOT a Paragon/Renegade choice. It’s player’s best take on the subject, because there is no “right” choice in this scenario. Either way, someone is getting screwed over. You can hope sending the not at-risk patients won’t exacerbate their conditions, but you can’t be sure of that – especially when it comes to people who have been there for some time, PTSD and other conditions won’t just go away, they need to be managed and treated, and if you go from one facility and one medical professional to another, that can throw off your recovery. And you can specialize in the treatment and wellness of a single species, but what about the members of the other species? What about the “melting pot” nature of the Citadel and how, realistically, reinforcing those barriers between species only makes it harder for these species to get along with one another?

It’s a “no good choice” scenario, and I think it’s worth a discussion with Anderson at the end (rather than back on the Normandy with all the companions, just because I don’t think the game can really account for everyone there having an opinion). Though let’s also give a follow-up conversation with Kelly – y’know, the therapist – and let her have more to do in this game.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If the doctor was taken in to custody, they’re among the Cerberus scientists during the mission on Gellix – Mister Illusive stepped in to get their work under his banner, and, like Gavin Archer, Shepard’s involvement eventually made them hesitate to do his bidding. If the cyborgs were kept on, they’re a decent strength war asset.

 The Batarian Connection

A Cerberus vessel goes missing out near the batarian border. While the Collectors are still the first priority for Commander Shepard and company, the Illusive Man is concerned this may be the first stage of a batarian incursion of Alliance space. He tasks Shepard and company with recovering the missing ship. The batarians, however, have other ideas...

(Post-Horizon)

We hear a lot of talk about the batarians making slave grabs throughout the first two games, and the Colonist background has this as a part of the things Shepard has been through. But we don’t actually see it. And we probably can’t manage to see the absolute worst horrors of the batarian slavers, but that’s not the full point of this.

No, the point is to start showing another face to the batarians. See, we’re going in with the idea of the batarians slavers we’re after handing off the captives they take – of various races, though krogan and turian are not likely, given their own, more aggressive nature (maybe useful in gladiatorial rings... We might be coming back to that before these DLC are done), and the quarians aren’t going to be as numerous, that still leaves humans, asari, salarians, and other batarians. And we know from Mass Effect 3, having the Cannibals being introduced in the first segment of the game, the Reapers have access to a lot of batarian genetic material, so they’ve already spent a lot of time developing how they intend to repurpose the batarians into the servants they need to wage war in this cycle.

Codex material speaks of how the Collectors want certain specific types of people to collect, and that is going to be what’s happening here – while the Collectors main focus in the game is to gather up humans to turn into Reaper slurry, we’re also looking at the other races, because there’s a history of the other races being taken by the Collectors for various unknown reasons. It wasn’t clear if there would have been an intent to build additional Reapers out of the other races – an asari Reaper, a turian Reaper, etc. - or if they’d just be left to rot, possibly slurried alongside the humans and just put in the same shell. To build off the idea of “organic preservation” of the species who consist of a cycle, I’m going to assume that they would be fused into a Reaper of their own, though there’s room to argue they were going to just be pulped into the same Reaper or left as the Collectors of the next cycle. But my ideas, my interpretation of things. And if BioWare wants to fight my interpretation, hey, should have included it in the game.

So yeah, the batarian slavers we’re coming across were going to offer the Collectors more of those captives of various races and such. The idea here is to not just have a look at the horrors of batarian slavery, but also an upfront acknowledgment that the batarians do this to their own people as well. The crappy situation for your average batarian is reduced to codex and one-liners, so we don’t actually have this knowledge available for the common players, and this is a thing that needs correcting.

We’re also going to have an encounter with a different Collector ship (just to avoid too much of the whole “small universe syndrome” of the same ship dogging Shepard for two years – it wasn’t until ME3 and James’s backstory that I got the impression that the Collectors had more than the one ship, since they made this one ship out to be this major force). Because, really, if the Collectors taking colonies was something of a plan B when the Citadel didn’t open, then they should be readying themselves for more than just humanity to be taken.

Among the batarians is a sense of distrust – batarian propaganda says the galaxy hates them, and, because we get the slavers and mercs running around in the games, the audience is probably not inclined to disprove that theory (particularly if there’s a Colonist Shepard doing the run – because I say so, there can be plenty of statements from them on the subject that fit the background specifically, because it’s nice that these are all theoretical and I can throw in whatever I like). Still, the general idea is that Shepard does feel a moral responsibility to save them, even if, as in the case of Renegade Shepard, it’s just in the name of preventing the Collectors get their claws on them.

But, thing is, ME2 offers no ship piloting mechanic, and I’m not bringing that in. And, y’know, I still get war flashbacks of getting ambushed by Sith fighters in KOTOR. So that means that the Normandy heads off, Shepard ordering them to find help (we’re gonna say that this is taking place somewhere near the batarian-turian border, so the Normandy can go find a few turian ships – going back to my idea of “shaking up companions” concept, I don’t have any particular choices to go with Shepard this time, but this makes it almost mandatory for a companion other than Garrus to come along, since Garrus can sway the turians to come to the rescue of alien nationals – and this ship ends up crashing, with Shepard and companions still on board – as are the freed slaves.

And we’re not crashing on a habitable planet. Because while there’s the helmets and all, I feel sometimes like the franchise as a whole underplays how much the atmosphere of planets being conducive to life as we know it is kind of rare. So while the cargo hold, settled in the heart of the ship and surrounded by the various additional decks of the ship, makes it through, there are portions of the ship that have been vented into space.

And the Collectors are coming.

Shepard gets to make a Paragon/Renegade “inspiration” speech to the captives, recommending that they get to trying to save themselves. Paragon will get a majority on their side, Renegade only a particularly brave soul. This one would be the Paragon’s contact/coordinator, just so that I can have a clearly identifiable person to turn to. And, yeah, we’re punishing Renegades here, but here’s the thing about this – we have stolen people, taken prisoner, made into slaves, about to be handed off to aliens who are only known to the galaxy as kidnapping and experimenting on people who never return, and then crashed on a deadly planet, with their only shelter pocked with holes letting out the valuable atmosphere that keeps them alive. I’m sorry, but being an asshole to these traumatized people? Even in the name of saving their asses from said kidnapping and experimenting aliens, they are NOT going to be ready to take up arms and fight. Read the room.

So, it becomes a game of causing enough losses to the Collectors for them to retreat for the Normandy to arrive with rescue vessels. Cat and mouse combat, with interspersed dialogue with our batarian coordinator (Making a name up on the spot... Kahvahr). That’s giving the expansion on both him as a character, talking about himself – a political exile, he spoke out against the Hegemony’s attitudes and practices, that they are so isolationistic that the necessary trade with the Citadel races, trade that could reduce their reliance on slavery, is killing them, which led to him attempting to leave, an attempt that ended up putting him into the hands of the slavers he argued against, and he’s certain that the Hegemony’s leaders basically gave him up. Talk about the beauty of Khar’shan, as a planet and place, something more tangible for us the audience of this place that we never get to go – he speaks longingly of these natural wonders he doesn’t expect he’ll ever see again.

The aid of the batarians Kahvahr leads can offer some combat segments getting avoided, but I do want to include some elements of the Collector faction from ME3 in combat segments all the same, the Collector Captain in specific. Because these things never appeared in ME2, so let’s remedy that.

And our end boss is going to be some variant of the Collector drones we see in Paragon Lost, which are these giant sized Collectors. So they get some additional tricks and are a clear case that Shepard is now facing the worst forces the Collectors can throw at them. Because I figure you can give them some interesting additional boss tricks.

The turians arrive and the Collectors withdraw, so Shepard gets to pass on what to do with these batarians – treat them as refugees who are seeking asylum in Citadel space or ship them back to batarian space. Because the thing is... batarians in Citadel space are probably not going to have things pretty well. Like there’s a reason we see batarians on Omega but not the Citadel. And a lot of these batarians still have families in the Hegemony. So there’s a very real argument to the idea that they’d be better off going back. It’s probably bull, considering the Hegemony’s leadership (and definitely bull on the basis of the Reapers being about to steamroll the batarians in between games), but... It can be made.

And it also speaks to how well Shepard is responding to Kahvahr – Kahvahr makes it clear, batarian slaves tend to be those who speak out. How much good can they really do going back to the Hegemony? Sure, you can argue that it’s in the name of encouraging rebellion against the Hegemony’s leadership, but realistically? It’s signing a death warrant – if this attempt at silencing him didn’t work, the Hegemony will likely just go straight to killing him.

And maybe Shepard’s okay with that – the whole reason we’re doing this is because the portrayal of batarians through the rest of the series is almost exclusively them as an always chaotic evil antagonistic force. What do they contribute to the galaxy, right? But this whole thing has been to help paint the batarians in a new light – now, shipping these batarians back to their people isn’t a mercy but a death sentence. What can I say, I like that script-flipping. But, as always, it is a choice for Shepard, for the players. Because apparently, people who play these games like the chance to play the asshole. Fine, you can, but you’re definitely getting judged for it.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: If given asylum, a batarian militia will have formed, both the survivors of the crash and of batarian refugees, wanting to aid the Citadel forces, Kahvahr himself as an asset.

 Shadow Dance

Shepard’s connections to Cerberus have not gone unnoticed. A Spectre – Vexx Liranus – has decided that they are a key component to Cerberus plans (not untrue) and that their capture or death would be useful in combatting Cerberus (definitely untrue). With a fellow Spectre nipping at their heels, Shepard has to face what should be a comrade in arms in a deadly game of cat and mouse!

(Post-Horizon)

We meet three other Spectres in the trilogy, and only one of them, Jondum Bau, in ME3, is actually an ally. This is turning that on its head – all things considered, Vexx Liranus should be an ally. After all, we’re talking about a fellow Spectre, working for the Council, and Cerberus IS using Shepard for their plans, so taking Shepard out would make sense.

It’s just Shepard is a good guy, working with Cerberus as more an alliance of necessity, rather than any ideological alignment. And while I’m sure if you had a chance to sit down and talk to another Spectre, they’d probably eventually come around to the idea, well... Where’s the fun in that.

So Vexx. We had Naevia above in “The Omega Heist” as our “first” female turian for the trilogy, though she does potentially get killed. So we’re gonna have another female turian here, just to really sell the “no fridging female turians” concept. She is a badass turian soldier, like I want a planet with an “r” name to say she had a major incident on so that she can be “the Raptor of [wherever].” Because I love alliteration. I picture her being voiced by Claudia Christian (who was a favorite of mine to voice a female turian back before we knew anything about Mass Effect Andromeda, and while I’m absolutely a fan of Danielle Rayne’s performance as Vetra, I still regret that lack, so I’m making this happen here).

As for the actual plot, we’re gonna start on a small waystation location. It’s a standard resupply place, in the vein of like those Fuel Depots or something, a place like the Citadel but smaller. Because I think that space stations are an underdeveloped aspect of the Mass Effect universe. Like in Star Trek, there are Starbases and Deep Space Stations (such as DS9). Surely the various militaries of the Citadel races are doing the same, building their own stations that act as refuel and resupply, as well as standard rest and relaxation – Spacer Shepard will talk about living on ships, but I don’t see a child actually being raised on military vessels. But a space station that acts as a rallying point and home base for a vessel? That I’ll buy.

So this begins with the Normandy pulling in to one of these types of stations. You know, a little bit of a supply run, something simple. Things do not go according to plan, though, because, y’know, why would they, we wouldn’t have a plot if they did.

It begins simply. They settle in for a resupply, Miranda suggesting that the operational crew get a chance for some break time, Kelly adding that crew like Rolston and Hadley should have an opportunity to contact their families. That’s how we get here. As Shepard proceeds to look through the market, we get other angles of Vexx monitoring and observing Shepard. Shepard will begin to get that feeling of being watched, and that’s when she makes her first strike.

Now, yeah, I say right off in the synopsis that Vexx is a Spectre, but in the story proper? This is going to be kept quiet for a while. Sorta like how Vasir gets this intro that kinda clearly marks her as someone who we’re going to have to fight later, Vexx is getting the appearance of being a straight up antagonist. Because in her mind, she IS an antagonist to Shepard. She just believes that she’s the protagonist of the story, specifically because of Shepard’s ties to Cerberus, coming to this place in a vessel flying Cerberus colors, operating with a Cerberus crew. In her mind, she has discovered a threat to the Citadel and the Council.

While I’m still on the “give the companions more of a role” train, in this case, we’re going to see Shepard cut off from the crew – they come under fire from Vexx, they give the command to evacuate the station, return to the Normandy, and get out until they give the signal. Paragon Shepard wants to minimize casualties, Renegade Shepard wants to handle this themselves – Vexx interrupts their leave? It’s on now.

This leads to a chase through the station, and finding that she’s gotten things pretty well set up for this chase – I figure at some point, Shepard comes across like a secured bunker she’d been using as a command base, finds logs that have been tracking them since they landed on Omega at the start of the game. (Timeline being what it is, meaning as variable as it is, I’m gonna say that this is taking place functionally around, say, the Collector ship mission.)

That discovery is also when her Spectre status is made clear. Now, while there’s a good chance that Shepard’s had their Spectre status reinstated (thank you Dad!miral Anderson), well, we still need a plot here. Vexx doesn’t believe Shepard’s claim to have Council approval – after all, she certainly can’t just casually check this out while on a mission, Spectres are supposed to function independently of the Council. And she’s pretty good with the “better beg forgiveness than to ask permission” approach – Shepard helping Cerberus, even as a double agent, is a threat (for a less competent example of why, see how Shepard helping Cerberus in ME2 leads to Conrad Verner preaching Cerberus values in ME3).

The hunt continues. I’m basically picturing this functionally working a lot like a lower-levelled version of Arrival’s Project Base level, just with like security drones and such, and Vexx popping in and out of combat range. This is a hunting mission, on both sides, and the idea is that Shepard (and, by extension, the player) should feel like Vexx or her drones might show up around any corner. If nothing else, call it useful practice and experience.

Now, I said before I wanted to avoid stuffing our first female turian in the fridge. While Naevia could survive, she also could die. So I want to guarantee that at least one female turian of prominence is introduced without killing her off. That means that we’re going to have to find a peaceful resolution, as well as an alternative that allows the bloodthirsty playerbase to be satisfied.

That means an outside agent, a third party, getting in on this. I’m thinking a krogan merc with a grudge and a krantt and a blood oath against Vexx he’s more than willing to extend to Shepard, the Spectres, and the Council – with Vexx, it’s personal, having tangled with her before, with Shepard, they’re in the way, and with the Spectres, they work for the Council, and the Council gave the go-ahead on the genophage, so hey, it’s a good day to be him.

This eventually leads to, after some three-way combat, Shepard suggesting a truce for the time being – the krogan (Vargan, for want of a name) is a bigger threat to them both at the moment, since he’s distracting them and endangering the station as a whole. Vexx sees the wisdom in this and is willing to work with Shepard.

This gives a little more time to explore her, now that Shepard can talk to her. Vargan’s grudge stems from her disbanding his merc pack a while pack – they had ideas similar to the Blood Pack and Clan Weyrloc (re: Mordin’s loyalty mission), just without the aid of any salarian scientists. Maybe they’d sought out Okeer (possibly part of the reason that Okeer became a “very hated name,” as Wrex puts it? I don’t know, I’m spitballing here). Whatever the goal, however, she managed to put a stop to it, enough that Vargan was stripped of his clan name – given the structure of krogan society, I figure that in doing that, a krogan loses all right to even attempt to mate with the females, a big blow to a proud krogan leader, basically leading him to a voluntary exile from Tuchanka. That he still has a krantt after that still speaks to his skill and prowess, but also makes it clear that these are his only allies in the galaxy.

Shoot-y shoot-y stuff happens, yadda yadda... We’ve been over how writing about combat in these write-ups is boring. End result, we learn more about Vexx, develop and establish her further, give her this likeable air now that we’re on the same side, and get to Vargan, taking out his krantt in the process. Now that he’s alone, he is ready to die. He got everyone loyal to him killed, that means he’ll never regain a clan name now. He wants to die.

Typically, Paragon/Renegade decisions are a clear binary of “good means letting people live, bad means letting people die!” But here, Paragon is understanding the krogan mindset – he wants to die because he will never have a place in krogan society if he lives. He got his krantt killed, so he will never be able to gather a krantt again. He will never have that trust again, and so his death is the only way he can have an honorable ending. Meanwhile, Renegade is saying “no, I’m not going to grant you the mercy of death, live with your failure.” And doing that will likely mean he will strike out and go on some kind of suicide run (indeed, I picture that result being a news announcement overheard on the galactic news points).

Because I like the idea of twisting the Paragon/Renegade assumptions around – the idea behind it is supposed to be more nuanced than “good = blue, bad = red,” but in context, a lot of the use of the system through most of the series is a lot more binary. So this is showing the flip side of both ideas’ general attitudes – you are saving more lives and respecting his attitudes and beliefs by killing him, while knowingly leaving a threat to others that you KNOW he’ll act on by keeping him alive.

Vargan defeated, it comes back to Shepard and Vexx. She’s more impressed by Shepard at this point. Paragon Shepard showed an understanding of non-human mindsets, and that more than anything makes her hesitate to paint them with the same brush as Cerberus. Renegade Shepard showed enough martial skill that she’s concerned that things will only reach the point of a stalemate, and likely do too much damage to the station for it to continue operation.

So she offers Shepard what she’s going to call a deal – keep to the Terminus Systems, like they have been, and she’ll let things stand as they are, with the added note that, if their Council reinstatement is genuine, she’ll also send a letter with a fuller apology after the DLC concludes. Yeah, it’s basically going back to the status quo, but one, I’ve been clear that my goal is to make these slot in comfortably with the existing game, and two, back to the in-universe justifications, it also means that she can prevent other Spectres from coming after Shepard – after all, we learned with Saren, the only real way to respond to a Spectre going rogue is to send another Spectre after them. If Vexx is in Shepard’s corner, it prevents other Spectres from coming after them later.

Probably should lead to a line or two in reference to Vexx from Tela Vasir, depending on when Lair of the Shadow Broker is played – alternatively, I suppose Vexx should have some comments about Vasir’s death as well, but I did say above that I see this functionally being roughly around the point of the Collector Ship in the timeline, and I always view Lair of the Shadow Broker as taking place after the Suicide Mission, and my write-ups, my timeline. Moving on.

Shepard has to agree to this, because see above: not fridging female turians when the trilogy is so bereft of them in the first place. We don’t kill Vexx. Because, really, that would mean that Shepard would have killed three of the four fellow Spectres they encounter in the course of the trilogy, and their numbers are said to only go to about a hundred or so. That’s a three percent fatality rate for the Spectres, and a seventy-five percent fatality rate of meeting Shepard. Someone has to think those numbers look bad. So, in accepting the deal, Vexx walks away and Shepard calls the Normandy for a pick up.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: Vexx has a sidequest on the post-Coup Citadel, regarding her work with the unifying of turian and krogan forces. Given Shepard having contributed, she’s asking them to join in her efforts. Complete that and she gets to be an asset and there’s a boost for both of those groups as well.

 Underworld

Illium is home to many elite in the galaxy. It’s called the gateway to the Terminus Systems. But it’s equally a warning that there is as much danger in Illium’s shadows as on Omega. And now a high-profile Alliance official goes missing there. Ambassador Anderson asks Shepard to investigate as he keeps the disappearance quiet, and Shepard gets drawn into a web of conspiracy...

(Post-Horizon)

Illium seems like it should be a bigger deal, don’t you think? I mean, in ME2 we get three hub worlds in Omega, the Citadel, and Illium, but Illium is introduced after Horizon, being locked to (on console) disc two, and, while Lair of the Shadow Broker gave us more of Illium in general... Hey. Let’s explore more. Cuz now we can open up some new areas that can stick around and still be explorable after the DLC ends.

We open with a message from Anderson – “one of our people went missing out on Illium, I’d like you to look into this as a favor to me,” that sort of thing. This official is an ambassadorial figure from the Alliance to the asari (so, for the sake of a name, I’m in a Power Rangers mood right now, I’m gonna call her Kimberly Hart). She’s been attempting to shore up some diplomatic ties – I’d figure this would include matters like getting stronger ties between the asari in the name of gaining access to teachers for Grissom Academy, better relations in the name of biotic rights, that sort of thing.

Illium, being a free trade world, is a place where these kinds of negotiations take place without government oversight – I figure, based on things like the asari on Noveria in ME1 who wants to protect asari patents by getting Shepard to help her engage in corporate espionage, the asari government is extremely strict about their “secrets” while humans, who are still struggling to get a handle on what to do with first and second gen biotics, are willing to take on free agents more than like the commandos and such. Also, don’t want a repeat of Vyrnnus, so the turians are definitely out. It’s “asari free agents” who they’re looking at bringing on for this.

But with her having gone missing, that’s concerning – again, we have the asari being fiercely protective of what they view as their copyrights (which I do want to have a running theme here surrounding the idea “how do you copyright something that has this melding with the life it is bonded to?” – amps working as they do, mapped to biological systems as they are, this seems like it borders on trying to patent people in the process, since they’ll gain full maps of the people those amps are implanted in). Anderson wants Shepard to go in, since they’re off the official books.

Now we return to that earlier concept of mandatory companions. Because of the matter of biotics, this feels like a mission that Jack pushes her way in to – both because she’s been the subject of biotic experimentation, and she wants to ensure that this doesn’t turn in to the Teltin facility all over again, and to help give some foreshadowing for her becoming one of Grissom Academy’s teachers next game. Additionally, I’ll go with Thane as the other companion for this – he’s done work in Illium’s criminal underworld.

Now then, to our central hub of Illium. We’re on a different city than Nos Astra, but it’s going to have a similar flavor to it, in the same way that Azure still felt like it wasn’t all that out of place alongside the trading center. Nos Vidia, I’ll call it (sounds suitably asari, anyway). It’s not as major a hub of intergalactic trade and commerce, meaning that Shepard and company are going to stand out in the crowd.

This is also one of the more “crime” areas, where the black market has moved in. We have Eclipse symbols on the wall and, while they’re not wearing the uniform, many of the people around here are obviously in the gang. Which also makes Shepard stand out. Thane, however, manages to bring up a former contact, someone who has been able to stay alive this long, meaning they’re skilled enough that they’ve survived.

The contact is an asari I’m gonna call Kassria. Kassria has picked up some Eclipse chatter that references our missing ambassador. That means Eclipse has her, but it’s not clear so much if her being taken is because of her getting in the way of Eclipse as a gang or if the Eclipse are working for some asari company.

We pause for some talk about the various asari copyrights, explore that conversation, with Jack having quite a few words on the subject of trying to make people property. That kind of thinking creates situations that create the same kind of science as Teltin. Thane offers something of the drell perspective – he’s the one who argues that he was raised and trained as a weapon for the hanar, and that he was not responsible for the lives he took. Who owns the abilities, the user or the one calling for their use? (I mean, there’s an obvious answer, but Thane’s bringing up the alternative to this – the people who are broken down and made into weapons at the hands of others.)

Like actually, let’s make that aside a point of having Jack and Thane – in Jack’s eyes, Thane’s attitude towards the people he’s killed is much how Cerberus would have wanted her to have ended up, as a weapon for them to point, pull the trigger, and give no concern for the ways that it impacts the person who acts because of that order.

It’s the same argument that we have with Miranda – the idea of “disposable troops” does not make it a matter of saving lives, just a matter of how war becomes easier, having these weapons to unleash upon others with no risk to the people who are supposedly being protected by them. It’s a way of absolving yourself for creating slaves by giving them some higher purpose.

This really is going to be a turning point with Jack’s arc proper, with how it leads to her being a teacher, because she wants to protect the young biotics. It’s not just about her protecting the kids at the Ascension Project from ending up tortured like the kidnapped victims at the Teltin facility. It’s also about reclaiming and maintaining personhood.

And while it’s hard for me to really give the separation theory Thane speaks of (we ARE going to come back to issues of the drell in general a few DLCs from here, so consider this to be foreshadowing and set up for that bit), I’m going to try and offer his point of view – that of “if you hone someone to only be a weapon, to only look at the world from that perspective, is it really on them as an individual that they proceed to see the world from that viewpoint?”

Of course, yes, I’m aware that the inherent flaw of ALL of this is that we’re not talking about drell youths giving themselves up to the hanar in the fulfillment of the Compact or with “different brain structures” to humans. It’s the tangent that they end up on because they’re along for the ride, and Shepard eventually has to get them back on track – finding Ambassador Hart. Whether or not the asari corporations are intending to use people as weapons, the Eclipse sisters presently have her held captive, and this means staging a rescue operation.

I want to take this chance to get a better idea of Eclipse’s organization (which, by extension, showcases the ideas that are moving the other merc gangs in the series). Like, what goals do they really have – Blood Pack are basically chaotic berserkers who want the world to burn (which, fitting, considering the general krogan mindset following the genophage and the vorcha having a complete lack of survival instincts because they never needed to evolve them), while Blue Suns have the veneer of respectability, acting as private security. But when we meet Jona Sedaris in ME3, she’s a raving psychopath, ready to kill anyone in her way. So what does the Eclipse gang want? I mean, besides the obvious of money.

Kassria is a former Eclipse sister, so she offers this insight – Eclipse doesn’t even really know itself. The non-asari members are almost leaning towards biotic extremism, given how the other races tend to mistreat and look down on the biotics among them, which makes them angry and want to lash out at those who’ve hurt them. Meanwhile, the asari who join in are often driven by other motivations, given that all asari have biotics – some are outcasts (purebloods, in pureblood relationships, or people with the Ardat-Yakshi mutation – let’s just assume Samara will have shared about her loyalty mission by the time this mission is unlocked so we don’t have to have the characters explain this to Shepard), others are maidens looking for glory (think Elnora the mercenary from Samara’s recruitment mission), some are obsessed with killing (like Sedaris), and some are just looking for a purpose.

She suggests that, if given something better, Eclipse might be a valuable asset for Shepard – not just in biotics, but also in their mechs. It’d be something to use when the Reapers come calling, not that she knows about the Reapers, just that she can figure that whatever Shepard’s up to, they’ll want an army at their back (because we’re still ME2 here, so this means we don’t know that Aria will be assembling the merc gangs under her banner).

This leads to an assault on the Eclipse base and trying to reach Hart before anyone proceeds to try and kill her or worse. As we continue, we find out that there is a high-ranking Eclipse member among this group – Jona Sedaris.

Yes, that’s right, we’re going to be responsible for her getting locked up come ME3. Obviously, this does mean she’ll survive the inevitable conflict and boss battle, but hey, we’re gonna have other things to deal with in the final analysis, so hold all questions to the end.

The Eclipse sisters and the techs with their mechs are heavy throughout the place, but eventually, we reach the place they’re holding Hart. She’s been roughed up a bit, but she’s alive. She’d made contact with an asari firm who’d claimed to be willing to trade some “asari patents” in the name of cross-cultural cooperation, but Hart got suspicious of what was happening. Turns out, she was being used – the company (a minor company, not one of our major equipment suppliers from the actual games, that she had gone to them in the name of avoiding those big names) was going to give her access, only to revoke it and claim that she had stolen these patents. That would give them an opening to start consolidating biotic patents in a human market, because humans would now be running amps and implants with copyrighted asari material, and, by extension, that would mean the company would own those human biotics.

That, of course, gets Jack’s ire up, and she’s ready to tear the place apart – people aren’t things to be owned. Even Thane’s ready to join in – even accepting his claims of lacking a responsibility for the lives that his employers hired him to take (again, we’ll be digging deeper into this in the future), this is trying to force people to be under the control of this company – based on his reaction when Shepard suggests that the Compact between the hanar and the drell constitutes slavery, Thane’s definitely not on board with that idea. And even on Illium, a planet with legalized “indentured servitude,” this contract is definitely sketchy – but it would be just legal enough that the company leadership would be able to get their foot in the door, and make it harder for human biotics to be able to exist without “company oversight,” giving them access to the human biotics before they have a chance to stabilize their position in human society.

It’s some further asari haughtiness, the idea of asari like Erinya, the lawyer who holds the contract to the Feros colonists, that the asari are “better” than the other races. The asari in charge of this company are of the belief that only the asari “deserve” biotics, and want to keep all biotics in the galaxy under their control. These asari in particular don’t see any race other than asari as even deserving of evolving out of the primordial muck. Not a mainstream view, but one that we do have foundation for existing in the universe proper, and, let’s be honest, it’s not hard to imagine this being a thing anyway based on our world (We’ll touch on these themes in more detail later). And this idea, especially combined with the asari willingness to indulge in “indentured servitude” on Illium, if no where else, gets taken to its natural endpoint – they see human biotics as little more than pack mules, livestock.

Short step from there to going along with batarian or Collector ideas, but really, it’s not like we don’t know exactly where that endpoint is from our history.

Obviously, Shepard is a walking contradiction to those ideas, so combat is the only way through. Sedaris might be an unrepentant murderer, but we do still have to take her into custody – this is where Kassria comes in, taking her down and intending to hand her over to the authorities in the name of getting a slice of the Eclipse pie with her out of the picture. It won’t be a clean takeover, which will justify why Sayn is running things for Sedaris outside of prison instead of Kassria (who would DEFINITELY just leave Sedaris to rot and probably arrange an ‘accident’ for her), but it’s getting her more power.

As for the company, they’re JUST on the side of legality – the efforts of Eclipse on their behalf were by way of verbal contracts, and no lawyer on Illium is going to take the word of a mercenary over those of these high-ranking business officials. Hart swears that she can make things hell for them, lose them some very lucrative contracts with the Alliance. Thing is, that also makes her job all the more difficult, now that she’s been found out having attempted to make these grey legality ties for the sake of “getting an edge” in the biotics market – they have the resources to make this a fight that, meanwhile, would set the cause of human biotics back. (Which, as we’ve been over in other write-ups, actually is a bit of a thing that has some deeper ties in to the overall universe that the people of this setting are still working on figuring out.)

The Paragon/Renegade choice here becomes the rather obvious “do we take the option that handles this cleanly but lets the bad guys escape responsibility, or the messy alternative that may not even get the result we want?” choice. Because the thing about asari litigation is that they can afford to tie things up for decades without concern for the “short term” consequences. So if this DOES go to courts, they can wrap things up and keep them there for a long time – which will impact how things go for the human biotics, the whole idea of ‘owning’ people because they have these abilities. Because then their legality, their agency, their right to choose for themselves would be being litigated, and being done so in the court of aliens.

It doesn’t feel GOOD to me to have it left like this, honestly, but I don’t really see this as something that is supposed to have a conclusion that feels good – we’re talking about issues of corporate ownership of individuals, and the truth is... that exploitation just goes on, it doesn’t resolve itself with a few showy displays of violence. It gets caught up in red tape and paperwork, and people lose, even as they win. And the point of this has basically been, at its heart, to show that the “underworld” isn’t the black and grey markets that scrounge a semblance of society. It’s the businesses who will crush people underfoot then complain about the mess they stepped in. The design of a lot of the locations introduced in ME2 had this cyberpunk dystopia look to them, but only really focused on the criminal gangs – the core of this is approaching the white collar criminal element that was not shown off as much, how it encourages both further street crime and the depersonalization that comes from treating humans as a commodity.

Jack is pissed either way because this is all kinds of bullshit – it’s Shepard who points out that as angry as Jack defaults to, this is, for once, her being pissed at something beyond herself, where it’s not just that she wants to cause mayhem, but that she wants to make things different for others. To do something to protect future human biotics, kids who are in need. It’s her actively wanting to find a way to make a different, not just chaos.

As for Thane, he is still drell, still a proponent of the Compact (again, we’ll be coming back to this issue), but he does understand how easy it is to see something ostensibly done to the benefit of people turns around and is used by malicious actors to take advantage of them. It’s one of those things that he certainly understood in the abstract, but it’s another thing to see in practice. He leaves it on the note that “this has given me much to consider.”

As for Ambassador Hart, she knows that either way, she’s tanked her chances for getting the instructors that she’d been hoping for. Basically, the diplomatic ties she’d wanted from the asari government are off the table, given the combination of asari tied to the company and just general political embarrassment at the fact that all of this even happened – they want to ignore it, paint things over in pastels, and she is a living embodiment of the event to the asari, able to bring up the reality at a time of her choosing. The asari would rather that this go away, rather than have this constant reminder. Still, she’s grateful for Shepard’s rescue – the Eclipse might not have actively been planning on her death, but it wasn’t a good position. And, at this point, she can at least salvage a career going forward. Maybe not with the asari, but there’s a chance that relations with the turians have thawed out some.

Post Game Followups:

ME3: The fate of the company plays a part in War Assets – being tied up in legal red tape, they’re not able to contribute to the war effort, or, in a magnanimous show of “inter-species cooperation,” they’re sharing some patents with the other races. Additionally, Ambassador Hart shows up for a sidequest after the Cerberus Coup, making another go at the effort, now that Grissom is gone and the human biotics are here – might as well make the effort to get these asari instructors anyway, and she wants Shepard to help her out with smoothing the ruffled feathers (since this would still be in that period of time where the asari are still trying to avoid joining the active war effort).

Also, while this wouldn’t really impact anything via saved game import, I also figure this would at least tie in to Andromeda, that several human biotics joined the Initiative in the name of getting away from the corporations who want to hold them as “patented property” and such. Probably would be a way to help at least make Cora’s arc tighten up a little – it’s not just that she thought she’d only be a “useful freak” as a human biotic, as opposed to an asari commando or an Initiative Pathfinder, but that in getting away from Citadel space, she’d be allowed to just be, to find out who it is that she is beyond her biotics, rather than have to have her biotics “registered” with a corporation who’d exploit them and her. Not sure how to incorporate that into Andromeda proper, but it’s something that would be acknowledged.

End of Part 1, link to Part 2 forthcoming.

[imagine-loki]

Loki’s Daughter Trigger Warning - Child Slavery, Mental illness and past abuse

TITLE: Loki’s Daughter 

CHAPTER/ONE-SHOT:  Chapter 2 A Drink

AUTHOR: traveling-classicist 

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: 

Imagine Avengers: Endgame AU Loki that gets away with tesseract has been using it to explore the universe. During his adventures, he comes across a little girl with developing but oppressed magical abilities. Intrigued (and subconsciously lonely) Loki keeps her around. 

RATING: Mature for possible triggering content 

NOTES/WARNINGS:  Previous trigger warnings apply to the whole fic. So:

-Child slavery (this topic is being explored throughout the story) Nota bene: I promise I’m not making Loki enslave any children, that’s not our guy -Mental illness including mentions of schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety -Mentions of past torture and abuse: physical, emotional, and mental

In this chapter however, it’s mostly fluff. A bit of foul language.

Also AO3 Link here.

————————————————————————————————

Loki walked away towards a hill that rose up at one end of the meadow. Kuna stood, staggering a bit as the world still spun a little around her. She followed him up the hill. At the top, Loki stopped. Kuna stumbled up towards him, but the sudden stop made the ground go all off-kilter and she fell down beside him.

Loki, unfazed by the blundering child beside him, looked out across the valley below. His eyes landed on a small, dilapidated looking building, sheltered by a cluster of trees. A small stream ran beside it.

“How idyllic,” Loki mused, looking down at Kuna. She was still fumbling around on the ground next to him like a newborn foal trying to find its legs for the first time. Eventually, she regained her feet but was facing the wrong direction. Loki placed a gentle hand on her head. She flinched beneath him, but he gently turned her round to face he right way.

            “Look down there,” he said, pointing at the building. “There’s an old shack. Maybe we can stay there for the night. Let’s go see if anyone’s home.” He started off down the hill.

Kuna shook her head, trying to make the world stop spinning. However, this only made the world spin more. She took one step forward and fell, rolling down the hill; rolling past Loki. He stopped, chuckling as she tumbled, not-so-gracefully, down the hill. She came to halt at the bottom, sitting up, her legs splayed out in front of her. She wobbled with dizziness for a moment before flopping back onto the grass.

            “Yes, that could happen for while,” he chuckled. He turned back towards the shack and began walking again, stepping high to get through the tall grass.

Kuna stood once more, determined this time, to walk normal. She fought her way through the tall grass, trying to follow the sound of Loki’s footsteps. The blades rose well above her little head. She pushed her arms out in front of her, wobbling with the effort, and tried to clear a path for herself as she stumbled forward. She caught up with Loki who had stepped out of the tall grass and was slowly approaching the door of the hut with his dagger tucked up his sleeve.

It could hardly be considered a door as it hung, broken from its hinges. The windows were broken. Moss and thick ivy grew on one side, creeping up the chimney and onto the roof. Kuna braced herself on Loki’s leg, trying desperately not to fall again.

“I don’t think anyone’s home,” he said. “Good thing, I thought I was going to have to stab someone.” Kuna looked up at him, terrified at the thought of him killing someone again. He wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he examined the old hut. “Good thing for them, that is. It’s a shame for me,” he continued, muttering more to himself than to Kuna. They walked up to the threshold. Kuna stood behind Loki, cowering a little.

“Hello?” Loki called. He pushed gently on the door. It broke off its hinges and fell with loud bang onto the floor inside. “Well, that’s lovely,” he remarked and stepped in.

Kuna followed, apprehensively. Her gaze dropped to the large step. She took her time to prepare herself to lift her foot. Slowly, she put weight onto the foot, then the knee. Straightening up just too fast, the room started to spin again. She groaned. She did not like this at all.

Inside the small, one-room shack, old straw and broken furniture littered the floor. The smell of earthy decay and damp filled their nostrils. It smelled old. On one wall, close to the hearth, a rickety bench covered in tough leather hides, leaned up against the wall.

“Here,” Loki said, turning to pick the girl up. “You need to sit down before you fall over again.”

She backed away, instinctively but Loki put his hands under her armpits and lifted her up. She whimpered, not fully understanding why he was carrying her. He walked her over to the bench and set her down gently. It creaked but held beneath her minimal weight. In truth, the furs that covered it probably weighed more than she did. She put her hand to her head and swayed.

            “Just stay here,” Loki said, pushing her against the back of the bench with a gentle finger. She leaned back, her head lolling against the wall. He made a gesture for her to stay and then turned towards the cabinets on the far wall. He rummaged through the debris and forgotten household items and found a small pot and a couple cups. Standing up again, he glanced at Kuna.

            She was slumped over to her left, nodding off. Her matted brown hair kissed at the furs as her head instinctively tried to right itself to a sitting position. He wasn’t surprised by her exhaustion. After today’s ordeal and what was likely several years of torture at the hands of those men and who knows who else, on top of a world jump, she was right to be exhausted.

            He walked back over to her and gingerly took her shoulders, trying to lower her to a prone position on the bench. She jumped, suddenly very awake, and grabbed defensively at his hands, crying out.

            “It’s alright,” he said, coolly. “Just lie down and try to relax.” Her jumpiness was beginning make him jumpy. “I’m going to go fetch some water for us. I’ll be right back.”

            He stepped out of the shack and walked towards the stream. She was a mess, Loki thought to himself. He paused for a moment and considered teleporting away, jumping to another planet and leaving the girl behind. He swatted the thought away as quickly as it had come, shaking his head to physically remove it from his mind. That would be insane, cruel, even, to do that to a girl who had already suffered so much.

            He stomped towards the stream and knelt to scoop up some water. The stream bubbled over smooth, rounded pebbles and was quite clear. He took a cup and dipped it into the water, having a taste for himself. It was refreshingly cool but had a slightly strange taste. He waited for a moment and then shrugged. Seeing as he did not immediately keel over and die, he assumed the water was clean enough.

            He filled the pot to the brim and rinsed out the old cups. He set off again for the shack. He took a deep breath, taking in the pristineness of the valley around him. His head spun a little with excitement. Loki loved the freedom to do as he pleased; to go wherever he wanted in the whole universe. Even now, with his impromptu little companion, he felt for the first time in his life, true happiness. Or what he thought was true happiness. In truth, he could not really remember a time in his life where he felt happy, so all these feelings were new to him.

            Returning to the shack, he ducked under the low doorframe and walked to the center of the room, beside the bench. Setting the pot down on the floor, he carefully filled one of the cups with water. He sat down and took another sip, looking up at the sleeping child. He did not want to wake her as she seemed rather peaceful now.

            She was dreadfully thin. Her face was gaunt and pale. Loki could practically see the sinews holding her bones together under her skin. She needed a bath too. Her body was caked in what he imagined was weeks, if not months, of grime and her hair was tangled in thick mats. But her thin figure was what worried him the most. He needed to find food for her and quickly.

“Food first,” he whispered to himself. “Bath later.”

He stood once again and ducked outside. The first sun was just beginning to touch the horizon while the second loomed above it. Looking about at the trees behind the shack, Loki wondered if he would be able to locate edible food on this foreign planet.

            It was easy for Loki to go several days, even weeks, without eating if he needed to. He supposed he had his lineage to thank for that, at least. However, he often would teleport to more civilized planets and purchase food that was already prepared for him. Foraging was not exactly something he had needed to do often in his life.

            He walked back into the copse of trees and came to a small grove where his eyes were caught by a familiar looking green fruit. He walked closer for a better look. To his amazement, an apple tree grew amongst a cluster of oaks and elms. As he looked about, he realized he recognized many trees that were native to the Nine Realms, yet he did not know of any habitable planets anywhere near their system that orbited a dual sun.

            He shrugged this off. Perhaps these species were invasive and slowly took over other planets when their seeds were carried to new realms by more advanced travelers. He wished he could do that; take over other realms so easily. He needed whole armies with advanced weaponry and strategic plans and yet even then, he had his butt handed to him by six freaks.

Frowning at the unpleasant memory, he climbed up the tree a little way to grab a few apples. Letting them fall to the ground, he collected several for both he and Kuna, before dropping down himself. He pulled his tattered cape from around his back and folded it over on his stomach, making a small pouch. He gathered up the apples in his pouch and returned to the shack, content with how his hunt for food had gone.

            Kuna had not moved from the bench save for adjusting the fur over her to a more comfortable position. She was still fast asleep. Loki sat down again on the floor beside the water pot and cups and took out his knife. He cut an apple in half and examined it. It looked perfectly normal to him. He brought it to his nose and sniffed. Smelled like an apple. He took a small nibble of the skin and meat of the fruit with his teeth. Tasted like an apple. He waited to see if the apple might kill him, but it did not happen.

            If it was safe for him, it was safe for Kuna. He cut out the core and seeds of the other half of the apple and filled the other cup with water. He gently nudged Kuna with his finger.

            “Kuna,” he whispered, afraid she would freak out again if he were too loud. “Kuna,” he said a little louder but still the child did not move. Was she dead? He watched her chest for a moment. It rose as she took in a deep breath and fell again as she exhaled. Deep down Loki felt a bit of disappointment at the still living child. Perhaps, it would be merciful to kill her.

It would be easy, a voice crept out of the depths of his mind; his voice.

Loki shook his head as hard as could to get the voice to return to where it had come from. He had struggled for weeks to bury it so it would leave him alone.

She’s just a child.

“Shut up,” Loki muttered and turned back to the child. “Kuna?” he said once more, poking her again with his finger. “I have some food and water for you.”

            She groaned and sleepily turned her head towards him. Her eyes opened slowly. She looked up at him for just a moment before looking away again.

            “Good evening,” Loki said, softly. “I hope you like apples and weird water.” He handed her the cup first.

She lifted it to her lips and drank deeply and then shyly took the half of the apple he offered her. The water did taste weird. It burned a little in her throat, leaving a bitter taste behind, but it was still more refreshing than her own saliva which she’d been sucking on for hours. She took a small bite of the apple but upon tasting the sweet juice and crunch of the fruit, she took several large bites and it was gone.

            “Slow down,” Loki laughed. “Don’t hurt yourself. There’s plenty.”

            He sat back down and cut up another apple, this time giving it to Kuna in small slices so she could not bolt it down again. She took each slice, gingerly, and ate it. Now and then, she would pick up her cup and take another deep drink. When it was empty, Loki took it back and filled it again before returning it too her.

Her face contorted in confusion when he handed the cup back to her as if she had never been given anything in her life. When she took it from him, she bowed her head low in gratitude. He could tell she did not fully trust him yet, but she was coming around it seemed. He did not blame her for not trusting him. Despite the fact it was often the feeling people had around him, Loki thought Kuna had good reason to not trust a stranger. He certainly wouldn’t if he had experienced what she had.

Loki filled his cup again and took another swig of the strange-tasting water. He swayed a little as he put the cup down. Perhaps, he too was a bit tired from the jump. Big world jumps like that often left him exhausted too. He shrugged and drank again.

 He sat for a moment, trying to place the strange taste again. It was subtle but familiar. He frowned at the cup and drank again. Smacking his tongue on the roof of his mouth, he tried to recall what it tasted like. The aftertaste was rather bitter, but it was more than that.

He took another sip and concentrated on what he tasted. He felt like one of the ridiculous mead-tasters in the palace at Asgard; swishing the liquid in his mouth and trying to come up with some ludicrous description of ‘malty, sweet honey’ for a sour tasting bad mead.

Focusing on the water again, he felt a sort of warmth in his throat as it descended to his stomach. The feeling reminded him of home, of Asgard, of mead, but perhaps, stronger? He spit out the water in a burst of spray across the room, making Kuna jump nearly to the ceiling.

“Shit!” he exclaimed. “It’s alcoholic!” He jumped up and took the cup from Kuna, who shied away, cowering, wondering what she had done wrong to induce such a frenzy from Loki.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he said. “But you cannot drink anymore of that. I think it’s what’s making you ill.”

Kuna did not understand. He had been so nice to her up to this point. She still had not decided if she were in hells or still alive. While he had been out looking for food and water, she had dreamily begun to wonder about him. When she had first seen him, as she dangled from the chain on Torileena, she thought for sure he was a demon from hells, there to haul her down to punishment.

When he had offered her water and freed her from her restraints, she wondered if this were some twisted torture meant to tantalize her. He had reassured her that he was not a demon and she had almost believed him. She had wondered to herself if Loki’s grace would end and if he would begin to hurt her like all the others before. She determined that, if it did, she was probably dead, and Loki was probably a demon and she was being tortured in the hell reserved for the worst of slaves.

She cowered away from him, wondering what her first punishment would be and for what horrible deed she had committed. Perhaps she would be beaten for the time she had stolen a moldy bit of bread from the garbage of her fourth master. Or the time with her sixth master, where she had sat down to rest her feet in the fields on Spintula.

She buried her head into the furs, awaiting the pain of the torture all her masters had told her she deserved to suffer when she finally died. Tears wetted the tough fur of the animal skin under her. She took in a shuddering breath and sobbed.

Loki panicked. She was crying. He had been a little too aggressive in getting the alcoholic drink away from her and now she was crying. And she was drunk. He had intoxicated a child into a stupor. He put his hands on his head, running his fingers through his hair in desperation.

“Oh, oh, no,” he said, bending over her, putting his hands out to console her but hovering just above so as not to scare her. “No, please don’t do that. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just… You can’t – you can’t have that drink. You’ve had too much of it and it’s making you sick.”

She looked up from the furs. Her eyelids were flinching, expecting a blow at any minute. Her tears made her eyelashes stick together and feel heavy. This demon was scary. He was nice and then mean and then nice again.

“No, no. I’m not a demon. I promise,” he said desperately, as if reading her mind. Only demons could do that, she thought to herself. Demons or sorcerers. “No, Kuna. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. At all. I promise.”

Kuna was still breathing hard, trembling with fear, but something in his voice felt sincere.

Loki thought of what he could do to make her believe him. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him. He shook his head, trying to think about how to convince a child he was not a demon.

He stuck out his pinky finger to her. “Kuna, I swear I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. His voice was soft but determined. “I pinky swear.”

She stared at his finger from under the furs. A pinky swear was no joke. There was some serious cosmic magic behind them, everyone knew that. The kind of cosmic magic not even the rich people could ban them from.

Kuna stared for a long while at his extended finger. Her brain felt foggy. She couldn’t think straight or really even see straight. She still felt horribly dizzy and nauseous. A demon could not possibly break a pinky swear. No. She believed him. She stuck out her pinky from the safety of the furs and took his.

“I pinky swear,” he said. They locked pinkies. Loki nodded at her in affirmation. She nodded back at him and then pulled her hand away.

“Now,” Loki began, again. “I need to get more food in you.” He glanced down at their remaining apples. He shook his head. He didn’t think that would help to stem the effects of the alcohol. She needed bread. He remembered, suddenly, that he had saved a partial loaf of bread from a market on the planet he had found Kuna on. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it before.

He made it appear from the miniverse he lovingly referred to as his ‘pocket’. Wrapped in a small cloth, he uncovered the loaf and tore off a small piece to give to Kuna. She took it and gave him an uneasy, distrustful look.

“It’s alright,” he said. “It’s from the marketplace on Torileena. It’s still fresh.”

She took a nibble, tasting it. Upon determining it was good, she happily ate the rest. Loki handed her another piece and another until she had eaten the rest of the loaf. She blinked sleepily at him and then, for the first time, smiled. She giggled a little at him. She was plastered.

“What?” he said, laughing with her. Her happiness was alarmingly contagious.

“You’re funny,” she said.

“Is that right?”

She nodded her head up and down like proud horse. Loki laughed and rolled his eyes, putting his tongue in his cheek which elicited even more giggles from the child. He couldn’t help but be a little amused at the drunken little girl in front of him.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

            The second sun had long set. A cold draught blew in through the failure of a door. The cold didn’t bother Loki, but he felt pangs of fear for Kuna. She had been sleeping peacefully for hours. He physically shuddered at the thought of having any sort of attachment to this child. He had to keep on the move, ahead of his brother - should he have chosen to chase him – and whoever else would be after the tesseract.

            You know who else will want it, his more sinister voice in his head hissed. Loki physically shook the voice away. Today had been the first time in a while that he had surfaced. Loki looked out the window to distract himself from himself.

It had taken a surprisingly long time for both suns to set. They had painted the distant clouds beautiful shades of pink and orange. Now that it was dark, Loki could see three small moons orbiting the planet from the window. Their phases were unusual to him as the dual suns and multiple moons cast whimsical shadows onto their surfaces. However, without the warmth of the sun, the cold had begun to settle. Loki stood. Kuna, waking at the sound of him standing, watched.

            “I think we need a little fire in this hearth,” he said.

            Kuna sat up, dizzily, swinging her legs over the side of the bench to go gather some firewood.

            “Oh, no. Not you,” he said, gesturing for her to stop. “I’ll do it. You just lie down and rest.”

            She drunkenly slumped back onto the bench and passed out. Loki let out a little sigh. It was rather normal for children on Asgard to share a drink or two with their parents, but it hardly led to any drunkenness. He thought Kuna had probably never even tasted alcohol, let alone been intoxicated before. And the lack of food and water in her system probably only augmented the effects. He shook his head at himself and walked outside.

            He walked around the yard of the house, picking up branches and twigs. He took in a deep breath as he worked. Today had been a rough one. Attacked and chased by monsters, fooling two morons into their deaths, saving a child and then getting said child wasted on alcoholic water. He let out his breath in a heavy sigh.

            He swayed a little from a sudden dizziness. Even he was not immune to the effects of the alcohol water. He smiled. At least he could handle himself drunk. Kuna, on the other hand, had no business being in such a state.

            Loki pondered for a moment about the chemical make up of this planet. He assumed that it also likely rained alcohol mixed with water. He chuckled to himself at the thought of frozen ice caps where icy drinks could be served straight off the ground. He finished gathering up the wood and returned to the hut, laughing at himself.

            He placed the wood into the hearth and crouched down, assembling a little tee-pee with the sticks and branches. He took some straw from the floor for kindling and used a simple sparking spell to light it.

            An explosion of flames erupted into his face. He jerked back and fell onto the floor, grabbing his blistered hand. He cried out in pain as he looked at his burned, red hand. He seethed and turned over onto his sides, hissing at the pain and heat that radiated up his arm.

            Kuna cried out too but in fear more than any physical pain. She leapt off the bench and dove underneath it, hiding from whatever fire monster had just attacked Loki. She mewled, burying her face in her arms.

            Loki felt for her. He had done nothing but scare her all day. He regained himself and sat up, examining his hand. He had no idea why the spell backfired so literally. His fingers shook with the pain. He cradled it again for a moment. He hated burns. His cursed frost giant blood hated burns.

            He glowered at the floor and the singed straw that lay upon it. He shook his head and kicked it in anger. This only frightened Kuna more. Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ground himself. He was acting like his brute of a brother, lashing out like that. He exhaled slowly and turned his head to look at Kuna, hiding under the bench.

“I’m sorry, Kuna,” he said. “I should not have lost my temper like that. And I’m sorry about the explosion, too. I guess I put a little more power than was needed into that spell.” He looked again at his burned hand. The pain still smarted down his fingers and into his wrist. “I’m also a little tipsy, too,” he added, smirking at her and chuckling.

            “Is your hand okay, sir?” she asked. Her voice was barely audible, her mouth still covered up by her arms as she peered up at Loki.

            Loki sighed. “Yes. I’m fine,” he said. “And you don’t have to call me ‘sir’. You can just call me Loki.”

            Kuna swallowed hard. No one had ever allowed her to call them by their first names. Not out loud. And not at least without a ‘master’ or a ‘my lord’ or a ‘sire’ before it. She inched out from under the bench and came to sit beside Loki. Her movements were hesitant but eventually, she came to rest by Loki’s side. She looked at his burned hand and then at the pot of water on the floor. She pulled it close to them, wanting to clean his wound but Loki stopped her.

            “Oh, well, it’s nice of you to offer, Kuna, but this water would not make my hand feel any better.”

            “What’s wrong with it?” she asked, pushing the pot away in shock. Had he poisoned her? She couldn’t remember if he too had drank the water. Her memory felt heavy and foggy.

            “It has alcohol in it,” Loki said, hesitantly. “A lot of alcohol. That’s why you got so sick and dizzy and sleepy when you drank from it—” Loki trailed off.

            Kuna peered down at the water in the pot. It looked normal to her, but it had tasted really weird. Loki stood up quickly and stared down at Kuna. She froze but did not run from him. His mouth dropped open for a moment and he looked around in the air as if searching for something. He suddenly picked Kuna up and moved her to the cabinets on the other side of the room. She was confused. Had he heard something outside? Maybe it was the gigagrunt again! Maybe it followed them from Torileena!

            “Stay behind this counter, okay,” he told her. She nodded but peeked out from the corner to watch what he was doing.

            Loki ran back to the hearth and leaned over the sticks and branches he had built up. He extended his burned hand towards them. He shook slightly, only a little sure of what would happen when he used the spark spell again. He focused his seidr and conjured a small spark.

He dove out of the way of another fireball that erupted in front of his hand. The heat and flame were enough to send renewed twinges of pain down his already burned hand but did not make the injury any worse. He leapt to his feet and ran to Kuna.

            “Gah!” he exclaimed, scooping her up. “The air’s alcoholic too! I am a moron! We have to get out of here.”

            Kuna looked up at him. He switched her to his opposite hip and arm. He summoned the tesseract to his hand and conjured up its energies. He glanced down at Kuna again. He the brief thought crossed his mind that she might not have the strength to make it through another jump like this. But they could not stay here.

            “I’m sorry, Kuna. We have to jump again.”

            She clutched his leather jacket in her little hand and held on tight, shoving her face into his chest. She had no idea what he was on about or what ‘jumping’ meant but she had an awful feeling about it.

            “That’s right,” Loki said. “Hold on to me.” He looked down at the tesseract. “Somewhere with no alcohol in the water or the air,” he hissed at it. He concentrated and the vapors enveloped them, whisking them away to a new realm.

[vongerstenberg]

Pokémon Yellow: Pikachu ONLY Challenge!

Growing up, Pokémon was just getting hot while I was in 5th grade. I watched the Saturday morning cartoon, played the CCG with my bro, and faced off on Game Boy against friends. Often mocked as being a "kiddie" franchise, I could have cared less and could still care less. Fun game, solid entry level RPG all things considered. Being able to run a Game Boy Advanced emulator on my phone has afforded me the time to squeeze in a revisit of Pokémon: Yellow Edition in my free time (Which currently comes at a premium with a 5 month old around! :D) What's not to love? You get Pikachu right off the bat, he follows you around the game, you can check in on his mood, and get to play through the story more like the way the cartoon played out.

To make this more challenging on myself since at this point the straight up gameplay is all I care to do (the side quest of collecting 150 digital animals has minimal appeal to me at this stage of my gaming "career"), I am going through the game only using my initial Pokémon to do any/all fighting. If he is knocked out in a fight, I reset, reload, and try again. I decided that Pikachu, being my champion, needed an appropriate nickname. I settled on "Mouse Lord". I will of course be picking up a handful of other Pokémon along the way so I have a means to use the HMs Cut, Fly, Surf, and Strength. These are essential for progressing through the game and can't be learned by Mouse Lord.

Pallet Town & Viridian City

The start of the game is pretty ho-hum. I named my nemesis "Fart". He heckles you throughout the game, so he deserves the name of a lowly troll. Fart seemed appropriate. The first two fights against Fart weren't too rough. A potion was needed on the first one for some HP insurance, but by the time I faced him again I could hold my own just fine.

Pewter City

The fight in the Pewter City Gym against Brock is one of the two actually challenging gym battles in this entire self challenge. Having all Rock/Ground types, I had to tail whip 2 to 3 times before Quick Attack could do any significant damage. Coupled with a healthy stock pile of potions, I was able to clean house and win. Only took one attempt.

Once I found the TM for the move "Body Slam", I swapped that with "Quick Attack". Body Slam has a high accuracy and relatively high damage rating. The PP of 15 was not preferred  but not a deal breaker. This gave me the ability to do some damage to enemies that Electric type attacks don't work on. The most time laborious part of only using one Pokémon that only has one normal type attack is running back to Poké Centers all the time to recharge PP. More time consuming than actually "challenging".

Mt. Moon

Strolled into the first cave of the game at level 22, which was more than sufficient against the early game Pokémon. Every RPG has caves, and every cave in every RPG generally sucks. Caves usually take you to where you need to go or give you a nice reward for grinding through. This cave provides passage to Cerulean City and the next Gym. Encounters with Geodude and Onix were pretty common, but I could run away from wild fights. Trainer fights I wasn't willing to gloss over. Lots of Ground and Rock Type battles meant lots of returning topside on foot to the Poké Center to recharge PP. Body Slam came in handy hear in combo again with Tail Whip to lower opponent's defenses, but only having 15 PP in Body Slam didn't get me through nearly enough battles. I found an Ether hidden under a rock which allowed me to restore some PP to Body Slam, but I ultimately JUST cleared the cave finishing the final mandatory battle with Team Rocket depleting the last of the PP in both Thundershock and Body Slam. Kind of a big deal because exhausting those skills mid battle would have meant starting over from my last save. I attribute all of the one hit KOs in my final battle to the Helix Fossil. It led me to victory.

Cerulean City

Misty had nothing to offer up against Mouse Lord's lightning fury! The trainer battle just before Misty, Mouse Lord learned Thunderbolt which assured one hit KOs on both of Misty's Pokémon. Next!

Vermilion City

A quick run down to the S.S. Anne to rub the Sea Captain's back and be given HM 01, "Cut"... Which I could not graciously accept because my inventory was full. Thanks to newer versions of Pokémon, I had completely forgotten how limited my inventory was in this early edition of the game. I went on a TM tossing tear in the Captain's cabin. Once given HM 01, I taught it to an aptly named Bulbasaur named "Cutman" I was gifted by an NPC. The Vermilion City gym although obnoxious with the trip switch puzzle, wasn't challenging at all. Another case of Tail Whips combined with Body Slams on trainers and a one hit on LT. Surge. Upon leaving the gym I was gifted a Squirtle by a sad sack of an NPC which gave me an effort free Pokémon to teach Surf to later on.

Rock Tunnel

I didn't waste time getting the HM "Flash", let alone teaching it to Mouse Lord. The side quest needed to earn Flash required catching some quantity of Pokémon. Wasn't worth it. I just went in and felt around in the dark for awhile till I found my way out. I had a healthy supply of escape ropes just in case. I accidentally rubbed up against a few trainers and ran from all wild encounters.

Celadon Gym

Pulped the mass of plant Pokémon with Body Slam in this Gym. Chump Gym. Mouse Lord leveled in the high 40s at this point. I have been making sure I hit the vast majority of the trainer battles along the way to maximize XP gained. So far, the XP gained has been overkill for using just the one Pokémon. Pikachu is a glass cannon to begin with, but my opponents seldom get a chance to land a blow. At this point, I'm starting to feel like the "Gotta catch 'em all!" mind set has no place in this game.

Team Rocket Hideout & Pokemon Tower

The little arrows that make you slowly spin across the floor in Team Rocket's Hideout, easily the most obnoxious "challenge" so far in this run.. Boss battles were no problem here, still clipping along with minimal resistance. Giovanni, easy peasy. At this point Mouse Lord was leveling in the low 50s. 

The Pokémon Tower was not too bad, but getting nailed with confusion every few trainer battles wore my patience down quickly. Not being able to swap to a "sane" fighter made the tower take far longer than it should have. I didn't want to run from the chance to pick up some more XP though, so I put my head down and powered through. Did this a bit out of order.. had to return after completing the fight in the Silph Co. tower with the Silph Scope to actually "complete" the tower. Whoops.

Silph Co. & Saffron City Gym

Teleported to every room on every floor of the Silph Co. Tower to make sure I cleared all trainer battles. I had to make a few trips to the Poké Center to recharge PP and HP. Team Rocket and Giovanni were once again a cake walk. Nothing of any interest to report really. At this point, the Pikachu only challenge is turning into kind of a grind. Starting to feel a little bit like I'm playing Diablo minus the hope for fun and exciting drops.

Fighting Dojo in Saffron also a non event. Completed all fights in the Dojo for XP and for a Pokemon I could eventually teach strength to. Picked the Hitmonlee and named him "Toejam" for funsies.

Saffron Gym wasn't too rough, but wasn't completely forgiving. Confusion got in my way again here, wasn't able to always one hit in all of the bouts. Needed to make one trip out to heal, which took over 5 minutes to remember the teleporter pattern (Also, running the emulator at accelerated speed caused me to fumble more than anything else. Being stubborn  I refused to slow the emulator down and just kept going onto the wrong teleporter pad.). This, honestly, kicked my butt more than the floor arrows that make you slowly spin across the floor..

Fuchsia City

Finally cashed in my bike voucher out of necessity. The bike path was the one place I didn't fight many of the trainers. I've been playing with accelerated emulation so I could get through the game faster than normal. A replay of an RPG really requires accelerated emulation for the grinds. I flew down the path so fast, redirecting wasn't really an option. I went with the flow rather than fighting the current.

Koga wasn't a problem at all. At this point I was around level 60. Everything is still turning up Mouse Lord. Safari Zone I ran from everything and went straight for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Seafoam Islands

I tried to catch the Articuno that was hiding in the cave here so I could have a luxury pokemon to fly on. At level 65, I couldn't delicately damage it enough to capture it. I knocked it out, took the 1500 some points in XP, and went on my way. The only thing legendary about this Pokémon was the whooping it received from Mouse Lord.

I wound up using a master ball on a spearow eventually just so I had something to teach fly to. Didn't really need fly at this point because without doing side challenges and just playing the game straight up, it can be rather linear. I did however want a means to fly back to the prime shops Celadon to stock up on choice combat items.

Cinnabar Island

At this point, Mouse Lord was leveling in at just almost 70. Waltzed through the Pokemon Mansion for the Secret Key, then on to the Gym. Blaine wasn't too bad, he did manage to get some hits in but I didn't need to reach for a potion at all. Going in I did skip the trainer fights and answer the quiz questions for funsies. I got them all right of course. I am for reals, a Pokémon Master.

Viridian City & Power Plant

I went straight to the gym thinking it would continue to be a cake walk, I couldn't have been more wrong! Finally, a true challenge! Giovanni actually brought his "A" game to a brawl for the first time this entire game. Giovanni's Nidoqueen, Nidoking, and Rhydon DESTROYED me. Being ground types, I had to rely on Body Slam. Every attack from these three was Earthquake, which forced me to heal. I had to leave, level up a bit, and try again. Still, the best I could do was make it to the Rhydon.

Rhydon would use earth quake and take me down to 20 HP, I would use a Hyper Potion, and repeat. I figured, he will run out of PP, I'll wait out the storm and go on the offensive.  Fun Fact: Somehow he doesn't run out of PP for Earthquake EVER. 

I flew over to the power plant to clear it out and level some more. I thought I could capture the Zappdos to have as a super cool ride, but no dice. I took the XP and carried on again.. I flew on my Spearrow (weak @$$ ride) to celadon city to stock up on some defense X. When I went back to Viridian, I used my stat pumping items while fighting the Dugtrio in round one then healed up and carried on. This plus the extra levels (now level 78) allowed me to hold my own and win like a boss.

Victory Road & The Final Four!

Another bland encounter with my rival Fart begins the final chapter of this Pikachu only challenge. This guy is a total turd. I'm always happy to slap him around. The path down victory road was not particularly challenging. I ran from the wild encounters to preserve PP, and wound up using an escape rope once to recover PP at a Poké Center. I didn't want to waste the Max Ethers I had on hand just in case I needed them on the Final Four.

In the caves of victory road I encountered a Moltres, the last of the three legendary birds. At this point, I was mostly over trying to catch one for the sake of having a Cadillac of all flying Pokémon to ride on the back of. Instead, I ripped him to pieces with Mouse Lords unwavering rage.

The trickiest part of the Final Four was the necessity of having two Max Ethers on hand. I needed to rebuff both Body Slam and Thunderbolt after the first three battles. Since you fight 5 battles back to back with a total of 26 Pokémon of mixed types back to back, running out of PP using only a single Pokémon is the hardest part. There is nothing amazing to comment on from the fights because they were relatively lackluster. I beat the final portion of the game over a five minutes span while standing in my kitchen talking to my wife. As I was watching the credits scroll, she wandered over and looks at my phone, then looks at me "You were playing Pokémon while we were talking?". I proudly say "Yes." The last battles were so uneventful, that I was able to hold a discussion while owning. The sign of a true pro.

The final battle with Fart was an absolute non event. The real take away from all of this is that the game is completely doable with only a single Pokémon used to fight all battles. The trainer battles alone give you the XP you need to level up that one Pokémon into a power house, a force to be reckoned with. The core game doesn't necessitate the capturing of all possible Pokémon, it's largely just franchise immersion.

That being said, I still had a blast playing through the game! Brought me back to the days when the franchise was first breaking out and was all the rage. Epilogue: Mewtwo

Having crushed all opposition, I went up against the only truly worthy opponent in the game: Mewtwo. Quite a bit of back and forth in this fight! Every time Mewtwo was able to get off a powerful psychic attack, I was left reaching for Hyper Potions. We had around 7 rounds of combat and I ultimately prevailed, but definitely had a few close calls. With no opponents left to challenge me, this run is as complete as it can be.

[essaytagger357]

term papers for sale

About me

Nucor Corporation Case Analysis Essay

1. What are the essential serious powers affecting U.S. steel makers by and large and the makers like Nucor that make new steel items through reusing scrap steel specifically? Kindly do a five-powers investigation Rivalry among Steel Producers There is a furious serious power in this industry. Contention spins vigorously around value rivalry in light of the fact that most steel items are wares. Delivering steel of acceptable quality is most makers know about. In an item advertise like steel, it is difficult to recognize results of one steel maker from another. I this kind of economic situation, purchasers settle on a decision among most reduced/best value dealers. Additionally, seriously, meeting customers’ conveyance plan prerequisites is likewise a significant thought for the purchasers. This especially remains constant when rival venders are charging furious serious costs. Nucor is making sense of how to utilize ease scrap steel reusing innovation to make a more extensive and more extensive scope of steel items. Nucor is utilizing its recently evolved mechanical capacities to enter a savage fight for piece of the pie in the new item classifications. Rivalry from Substitutes A respectably solid serious power: there are substitute items that contend with steel. For example, aluminum, plastics and different materials can be utilized instead of steel in certain items. The Threat of Entry A respectably solid serious power: it is more outlandish that new beginning up firms will enter the steel business. As per this case, existing steel makers are on edge to work their plant at their full limit. It is bound to search out clients in geographic markets where they don't right now have a nearness. Besides, plainly new passage may happen when organizations like Nucor and Mittal Steel secure less effective steelâ producers and attempt to transform the tasks of the recently obtained organizations into solid contenders in the commercial center. Nucor’s ongoing acquisitions, for instance, speak to passage of a powerful and seriously effective steel organization into either item classifications or geographic territories where its essence is negligible. So also, Mittal Steel’s development by means of securing procedure has transformed it into a significant serious power around the world. Haggling Power of Suppliers There is a moderate serious power if there should arise an occurrence of scrap steel providers and unionized steel organizations yet there will be a feeble serious power in any case. There means that providers are major serious components. Notwithstanding, the cost of scrap steel is a key contribution for small factories and rising piece costs can put them at a serious disservice. Be that as it may, scrap steel costs give off an impression of being an element of generally speaking business sector request flexibly conditions instead of a component of the intensity of individual providers of scrap steel. Haggling Power of Customers A moderate to powerless serious power when request is solid and hard to come by yet an intense serious power when request is feeble and steel providers are on edge to win a customer’s business. The serious conditions in steel can be intense when the flexibly is more prominent than request and that value rivalry will in general rule the serious condition in view of the item like nature of steel items. 2. What main impetuses do you see at work in this industry? It is safe to say that they are probably going to affect the industry’s serious structure well or horribly? Three elements qualify as main thrusts here: A. Mechanical development in steel-production through electric bend heater innovation, flimsy chunk throwing, and direct throwing of carbon steel that has permitted organizations like Nucor to enter item portions earlier overwhelmed by the incorporated factories of makers utilizing more established, increasingly customary steel-production innovation. This main thrust is acting to build the serious weights that little factories are putting on the incorporated makers. There is a negative outcome from the point of view of incorporated makers yet aâ highly good outcome from the angle of the makers like Nucor that are driving the charge to utilize amazing failure cost steel-production innovation. B. Steel-production limit overall surpasses the interest for steel, with the end goal that organizations restless to work their plants at full limit are looking to discover outside clients for their yield. In this manner various outside steel providers are dispatching a portion of their yield to the U.S. This places them in a no holds barred rivalry with household steel providers. Significant expense household steel providers are the hard hit by imported outside steel. C. Industry union to fewer bigger and all the more seriously fruitful steel organizations (lead to a limited extent by the acquisitions of Mittal Steel and Nucor) is acting to increment serious weights. Forceful organizations like Nucor might have the option to gain productive plants at scratch and dent section costs and upgrade their drawn out serious market position. The business viewpoint and serious structure is a lot more splendid for a minimal effort maker like Nucor, which, is in a decent money related position. At the end of the day, extreme industry conditions don't hit all contenders similarly hard. As one of the industry’s ease makers, Nucor is in acceptable situation to pick up deals and piece of the pie to the detriment of the significant expense makers and those leaving the commercial center. In this way an industry’s showcase condition might be ugly to certain adversaries doesn’t fundamentally mean it is ugly to all opponents since intense conditions for some may mean appealing open doors for other people. 3. How appealing are the possibilities for future gainfulness of U.S. steelmakers? Ought to Nucor consider extending in this sort of industry condition? Why or why not? All the U.S. steelmakers have various possibilities for future gainfulness. Significant expense steelmakers in the U.S. are in an unsafe position, winning benefits in view of short supplies and generally high market costs, yet confronting a more vulnerable future when request debilitates and the market costs for steel items slip. A minimal effort maker like Nucor is anything but difficult to pick up deals and piece of the overall industry to the detriment of significant expense makers, despite the fact that it should surely fend off ease remote providers selecting to sell in the U.S. to accomplish this outcome. Henceforth, we think Nucor ought to unquestionably consider extending its ability by means of both extra acquisitions and the development of new plant limit. Also, Nucor ought to most likely be to some degree forceful in doing as such, since it has demonstrated mastery in working plants effectively and productively. In any case, numerous household steel producersâ need to comprehend extending in the current condition except if they have the information and capacity to do as such. There is a propensity for household steel makers to gain and extend existing steel processes as opposed to develop new ones. In doing this, they can maintain a strategic distance from value cutting and overcapacity during overabundance gracefully of steel items. 4. What kind of methodology has Nucor followed? Which of the five conventional techniques talked about in Chapter 5 is Nucor utilizing? Is there any motivation to accept that Nucor has accomplished a practical upper hand over a significant number of its steel industry rivals? Assuming this is the case, what kind of upper hand does Nucor appreciate? Ease supplier: proceeded with plant redesigns, cost decrease, and more prominent power over crude material expenses. Clearly, Nucor is seeking after a minimal effort initiative methodology. Such a serious methodology regularly is the best procedure in an item industry. Nucor has been fruitful in accomplishing generally low creation costs. Nucor assembles plants economically and works them proficiently. Nucor’s record of productivity during difficult situations in the residential steel industry is clear proof that it is a minimal effort supplier when contrasted with other local steel makers in the U.S. Nucor needs to go far away from residential contenders. No residential contenders seem to have costs as low as Nucor. Nucor has an economical ease advantage over household steel makers and that it appears to be ready to stand its ground in going up against minimal effort outside steelmakers. 5. What are the particular arrangements and working practices that Nucor has utilized to actualize and execute its picked procedure? A portion of the particular approaches and working practices that Nucor has utilized to actualize and execute its picked procedure (in quest for minimal effort authority status) include: ï‚ The forceful usage of cost-sparing innovative upgrades Nucor’s impetus remuneration framework for both plant representatives and ranking directors Nucor’s HR practices and arrangements, for example, its no-cutback strategy and its strengthening of plant workers The company’s ease culture and working practices. The company’s quest for inventive innovations to entomb into new market portions ï‚ The accentuation on decentralized dynamic and a lean corporate staff. ï‚ Employees were stayed with educated about and division execution. Most all workers were very mindful of the degree of benefits in their plant or division. Nucor plants were connected electronically to eachâ other’s creation plans, and each plant strived to work in a without a moment to spare stock mode. 6. What explicit variables represent why Nucor has been so effective in the course of recent decades? Do these elements have more to do with incredible system, extraordinary methodology execution, or extraordinary administration? There are a few factors that represent Nucor’s breathtaking accomplishment throughout the years: 1. Nucor’s a minimal effort administration procedure. Nucor is a fantastic case of an organization with a triumphant procedure (an unmistakable explanation behind the company’s achievement). 2. The entirety of its working practices, approaches, and methods are extraordinary contending systems for Nucor, however it has additionally embedded and executed those techniques adequately and proficiently. 3. Nucor has had incredible key administration, particularly, in the cas

[swfanficbyjz]

SW AU - Fate of the Master Chapter 3

<- Previous Chapter

Ahsoka curled herself into a fetal position on the cold metal floor of the cell that Vader had dragged her back to. She was exhausted. How long had he been torturing her? How much time had passed? Her head pounded, her vision was blurry. What has he turned you into? She thought. Every system in her body felt off. She tried to reach for the force to find some peace only to draw back as a sharp pain rippled through her skull. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she had no real recollection of any information he might have gotten from her. She hoped her friends were safe, especially Rex. He'd survived too much, to die by the hands of his general. But Anakin wasn't his general anymore. She wasn't sure what he was.

She felt numb. As if nothing in her life had any purpose anymore. She'd fought so hard during the clone wars, believing that every battle brought the Republic closer to victory; that every victory would save countless lives. After the Jedi purge, she'd struggled to find footing and meaning, until she'd stumbled along people she could help. To face the true outcome in the eyes of every person she met had made the conflict in the galaxy so much more real to her than slicing in half countless battle droids. It had been hard for her to swallow that there really was no victory in war. There was victory in battle, but not war. Battles could swing one way or another depending who out powered who. Anakin, her, Rex and the rest of torrent company, had constantly shifted the tide against all odds. But as she looked back on all of it now... what had been the point? The Republic had fallen. The war lost. So many innocent people lost homes, lost loved ones, lost beliefs... lost everything. And the Jedi were just as much responsible for that as the separatists were; for engaging in the war. For becoming agents of destruction rather than remaining the peacekeepers they'd sworn to be. Republic or Separatist victory, it didn't matter; the people still lost.

Her cheeks burned with shame. She'd had to make sense of what had happened through tidbits of news from a variety of sources. But no matter how much she'd pieced together, it still didn't make much sense. She'd been on Mandalore when the war came crashing down. There had been no warning, just a desperate fight to survive. The rumors that had flown around her had been too much to bear; the Jedi accused of treason and sentenced to death for attempting to overthrow the chancellor, the clones turning on their Jedi generals, then worse, claiming they'd had no control over their actions. Rex had later confirmed the rumors about chips in their heads. But, hadn't the Jedi supposedly been the ones to commission the clones’ creation? Why would they stick something in their head to make their ally turn against them? She may have had many disagreements with the council, but she could not believe they would purposely construct such a grand plot, especially at such a horrendous cost. Normally, she'd have easily blamed the separatists. But the separatists hadn't really won either. The droids had been shut down, count Dooku had been killed, along with Grievous... and rising in the place of the Republic and the Separatist alliance, was this new entity that no one could have predicted. Whatever had happened had been bigger than either side. And nothing really made sense to her anymore. Were they all just pawns? She'd left the Jedi order feeling as though she'd been one for them. But maybe all the Jedi, and all the Sith, the clones, Grievous, Ventress, Dooku, Vader... maybe they'd all been pawns. And we all played our game of sabacc, right into the Emperor's hands. 

Ahsoka rolled onto her stomach and tried to push up from the ground with shaky arms. She could feel that Vader was gone. Now was her chance. She wanted truth, and she was going to find it. She clenched her jaw through the residual pain as she reached into the force for her lightsabers. She'd watched Anakin throw his and control it, even turn it on and off without holding it; but he never knew that she had learned how too. She could feel them now, calling to her from the box in the other room. She manipulated the force and ignited them, slowly spinning them until they cut through their container. With her other hand, she removed the top of the box and then reached with invisible force to pull them towards her until she could hear them humming outside the cell door. She twisted them in her mind so they cut a rectangular hole in the bars. The bars fell free with loud clanging that echoed up and down the hallway.

She stood, catching the lightsabers in her hands, feeling a bit more in control now. Their familiar weight felt good. She slipped through the hole she'd just cut and sprinted down the hallway. Her bones ached, her muscles screamed at her. But she didn't know how long he would be gone or how long it would take to find the answers she sought. She wished she could just ask him but even Anakin had been difficult to get answers out of, Vader would probably be even worse, that was, IF he even let her stay conscious enough to ask questions.

She sprinted through the fortress unsure exactly what she was looking for, but letting her instincts guide her. Keeping her ears open for the droid, or droids, she investigated as much of the place as she could. It didn't appear to be too well defended, but then again, Anakin had always been good at upgrading seemingly useless things. Who knew what traps awaited her? But as she searched for hours, she encountered no resistance. Could Vader truly be that complacent? Or that confident that no one would dare sneak into his home? Or just like before when he hadn't disarmed her, was he allowing her to escape? It seemed unlikely considering how much time and effort he'd put into torturing her, that he'd just want her to get up and walk out the door. It's almost as though he keeps giving her the chance to change her mind about being here.

Finally, she stumbled upon what must be his personal chambers. It was sparse, no decorations, minimal furnishings. Simple, necessities. A bacta tank in the center, a chair, a holoterminal and spare parts for his suit. She entered the room cautiously. When nothing jumped out of the shadows at her, she headed for the suit pieces. Discarded to one side was the top half of his helmet that she'd sliced a hole in. She picked it up as memories washed through her of their duel.

            There was so much pain! To discover that the monster before her had once been her master. Someone so devoted to others he'd risked everything for them. She'd always believed he'd died a hero during the Jedi purge, she never could have imagined him joining the very evil he had fought every day of his life. That one yellow eye, no longer blue; no longer soft, and loving. Hearing his voice, raspy but distinct. She remembered the way it had felt when she'd first suspected it could be him; the horror, the shame, the denial. Anakin was good, he'd always been good. Good people don't turn evil. At least not without good reason. She sat cross legged on the floor, hugging the broken helmet to her, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "What happened to you, Anakin? Why wasn't I there to save you? I should've had your back, just like you always had mine! But no, I walked away. I was selfish! I thought only of myself! I was so blinded by the burning pain of betrayal, I couldn't stand with you or with the Jedi, after everything they'd done to me."

            She set the helmet aside and picked up the vest of another suit. She looked it over, tracing her fingers around the edges. The material was stiff and heavy, but strong. She fiddled with the buttons on the front trying different combinations, wondering what they did. She heard a release of air and looked down inside the neck hole to understand how the breathing system worked. Her senses started getting fuzzy. The room spun for just a moment and then straightened out. She shook her head. She must still be tired from all the torture she'd endured. She looked around, feeling angry suddenly. She wanted to smash something, destroy someone.

            She stood up, whipping out her lightsabers; hate raging through her veins. She swung her lightsabers deftly at nothing... paused... and then suddenly it dawned on her. She picked the suit up again and pressed the last combo until the air from it came in a steady stream. She sniffed it, hatred rising up in her again. Anger, red, burning... she wanted revenge! For everything they'd done to her! They deserved to be punished! No... they deserved to die! Her lips snarled, and she raced from the room, bent on destroying them. 

            She was several hallways away when the anger faded. She'd been right, he was being poisoned! She crept back to the room and force shut off the suit as she held her other hand over her nose and mouth. She waved at the air in front of her trying to clear the gas from the room. Now that she was aware of its presence, the smell of it was unmistakable. It definitely wasn't pure oxygen. She could feel a residual tickle of anger as if it danced across her skin; ready to penetrate at any moment. She made her way to the bacta tank and turned on the life support connected to it as well. Sure enough, she smelled the gas in it too. She shut it off just as quickly and ran out of the room. It was making her weak. She had no idea what kind of substance it could be, but it seemed to have an effect on her ability to connect to the force as well. To be sure, there was one more test she had to try. If this gas did what she suspected, Anakin had literally been forced to inhale it for years. In such a concentrated state, it was hardly surprising that Vader was winning the fight. It obviously wasn't a high enough dosage to be lethal, but it was enough to keep him in a heightened, stress response state. No wonder he permeated anger and hate. Every apparatus required for him to breathe was laced with the stuff. But how to get him away from it without killing him? That was the question... it probably had an addictive quality as well, something he'd experience withdrawal from, not to mention, it would keep him resistant to help unless he was knocked unconscious and taken to a place that had untampered life support. 

            Well... she thought, time to find out what it really does. She went back to the bacta tank, turned on the life support, and slipped the mask over her head, inhaling deeply several times. She could feel something changing in her.

 ----

 Vader landed the TIE fighter back on Mustafar. The mission hadn't been quite as successful as he'd hoped, but it at least bruised the rebels for a bit. He'd gotten to knock a few imperial heads around too. That had been a highlight. It was time to report to Sidious the status of the mission. He dreaded it, knowing he'd also ask whether Vader had finished Skywalker's apprentice.

            He headed straight for his holoterminal but then felt compelled to turn towards the cell blocks to check on his prisoner. Perhaps she'd died while he was gone and he wouldn't have to report yet another failure. He nearly passed the torture room without a thought but then paused and looked inside. The room had been ransacked! Everything in it had been sliced to bits, everything except the wooden box he'd put her lightsabers in. It was still sitting in the corner where he'd left it, and appeared to still be locked. What the kriff? He approached it somewhat cautiously and went to lift the lid, the whole top half had been split with surgeon-like precision. But there inside, still sat her lightsabers. He grabbed them both in one hand and quickly made it to the cell. On the floor by her cell were parts of the cell bars, sliced up just like the torture room. So she couldn't take it then? She escaped. Good riddance... but why would she put her lightsabers back and leave them behind?

           He approached the cell slowly, but stiffened when he realized she was still there. Through the hole she'd cut in the bars, she sat with her back to him, cross legged. Power emanated from her, but it felt wrong like it was tainted. He was more confused by the minute.

            "Are you proud of me, master?" She broke the silence without even moving. "You wouldn't let me join you, so I absorbed all the anger and hatred from this place so I can be just like you!" He stared at her in disbelief. 

            "What is wrong with you?" He spat out. A million things going through his mind. 

            She stood up and spun around with her arms out. "Isn't it wonderful? Now we can be together again! Train me master! Train me in the ways of the dark side!" 

            He took a step back. 

            "Why do you fear me?" She hissed, her blue eyes squinting in anger. She pulled the lightsabers from his hand, ignited them and raced at him. He barely got his up in time. They clashed furiously, building momentum as they made their way out into the open foyer. Her offensive strikes could have been lethal, but they were unrefined. She seemed stronger in combat, but chaotic in the force. She no longer possessed the calm she'd had on their trip here. 

            She flipped backward, pushing off the wall and sailing over his head, landing gracefully behind him. He barely had time to turn around before he felt his feet lifted off the ground. He couldn't breathe, as a crushing weight clamped down on his neck and chest. His eyes widened at the realization that she was the one performing the force choke hold on him. Had he taught her that?

            Trying not to panic, he focused on force gripping her outstretched arm. She howled in pain, her chokehold loosened enough for him to break free. He swung his lightsaber at her and she flipped backwards; it missed her by a hair. She ducked under his swing, spun around slashing low, forcing him to jump to miss the strike. He brought his blow down hard and she had to use both lightsabers to block it. She pushed him back and rolled to the side, flipping her lightsabers in her hands back to her reverse grip. She then lunged forward at him spinning around with such momentum he had to leap backwards. They matched blow for blow as they fought their way around the fortress, each trying to gain the upper hand. That shouldn't be possible. He could feel the hatred raging in her. Lashing out at him for all that he had done. He realized at some point, that he may not win this fight. 

            On Malachor, she'd never given in to her true potential. She'd been skilled and far more focused than when he'd last seen her fight, but without passion there had been a void in her abilities that he'd easily exploited. She hadn't wanted to kill him. And... he hadn't really wanted to kill her... they'd both held back. At least, he could tell they had. To anyone else, it probably looked like they were fighting for their lives. The two of them had always been intense fighters. But he knew Ahsoka, he knew how she fought. He knew her state of mind and her focus when she fought and this wasn't her. He had challenged her and pushed her harder than Obi wan had ever pushed him. The unadulterated power that such a little creature could possess would make her a powerful ally of the emperor. But with the Sith, there could only be two. He couldn't take her as his apprentice as long as he had a master. And if his master took her on, he would be killed.

He threw his own rage into the fight. He had not lost everything just to be replaced. He would not let it crumble down on him. She had to die. It was the only way. 

 ----

 Ahsoka fought ferociously, letting the gas pollute her mind. She knew he could take it. She didn't feel like herself, but she also didn't feel more powerful either. All the chemical seemed to do in her brain was aggravate her emotions and resolve. It didn't seem to increase her force power. If anything, it was harder and harder for her to call on the force. The emotions blinded her to it. She could still feel its power and presence, she just couldn't find the calm or the light in it. So this was what it was like to be Vader? Kept in a constant state of frenzy, unable to reach for the only thing that could save you. This was the dark side then. 

            But just as she suspected, it hadn't taken away her ability to think clearly. It had just amplified the negative emotions until she was teetering on the brink; willing and ready to give into the pain, and its power over her. It focused all her actions through the lens of pure hatred. She'd been through so much in her life, but rage had never been her outlet. Not like it had been for Anakin. She'd always managed to clamp it down, to cry or to withdraw. And he had never made her feel ashamed of her feelings. The rest of the Jedi told her constantly to control them. She had become good at focusing them into action and intention, but never unleashing them. Never letting them win over clarity. But there was a clarity to this rage. A clear picture of what you're fighting and what is your enemy. 

            To test her theory, she'd given in to the anger she'd felt at the Jedi and their betrayal of her. She'd given in to the fear of the future, of herself. She'd given in to the pain of all her heartbreaks and mourning. Of all the losses and suffering and death. She took it out on the black suited monster in front of her as if he was solely responsible for every injustice she'd ever experienced in her life. And suddenly she understood. Anakin had been a slave as a child. Anakin had been forced to put his own will aside for another's gain. First his owner, then the Jedi, and now the Emperor. The difference was, now he was given the option to channel it into a purpose rather than to deny it. She'd wanted the truth, and now she had it; Vader was Anakin. Vader was the version of Anakin that he'd never been allowed to release. Not completely anyways. And because he'd never been given permission to unleash it, it had built up until it was now all consuming. Bariss Offee had been right; it was wrong for the Jedi not to show emotion.

            She didn't want to believe that they could be the same person. It hurt more than any physical wound ever could. People who had only ever been his friend were now seen just as guilty as the ones that had hurt him. Maybe they all had hurt him in their own ways. Maybe long term exposure to pain with no relief, caused it to blur all together until that's all anything really was; pain, pain and more pain. Even love could be perceived as pain. And pain led to anger, anger led to hate and hate led to suffering…

            She dropped her lightsabers suddenly, just as he swung back to build momentum to strike again. Sensing her sudden weakness, he pushed her back with the force. She flew back into the wall of the fortress so hard she felt several things crack inside her. She slumped to the ground, gritting her teeth to the sharp pain radiating from her back. His looming form blocked out the light. He held his ignited lightsaber over her and she knew the fight wasn't over. She didn't want to finish it.

                "I submit to you," she whispered. The strength fading from her voice. "I submit." She repeated weakly as the edges of her vision grew dark. "Kill me, Anakin. Release your pain, free... yourself..."

Next chapter ->

[mcguireprater6-blog]

LTC Core WalletWhat is Litecoin? Litecoin brands itself being an open source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that allows fast and near-zero bills in between anyone, anyplace in the world. It was developed in October in 2011 by means of an ex-Google plus ex-Coinbase engineer, Charlie Shelter, as an alternative in order to Bitcoin. He wished to create a cryptocurrency that may fix some of the issues experienced by Bitcoin, such as deal times, excessive transaction fees, and focused mining pools. He / she furthermore wanted to help larger-scale adoption by folks in addition to businesses. Litecoin may be used by way of individuals to make buying inside the real world extra easily than most some other cryptocurrencies because it is supported by a growing number of wallets and crypto debit cards. Litecoin features also produced progress with the merchant side because they have recently been expanding their point-of-sale payment entry and banking services to make it easier for merchants in order to take Litecoin as a new type of payment. The Litecoin circle has decent consumption. On average, Litecoin processes all around twenty, 000 to thirty, 1000 on-chain deals a new day. The chart below shows often the utilization involving the Litecoin community intended for the past two many years: Litecoin vs . Bitcoin Considering that Litecoin was developed using Bitcoin�s code (it was initially a fork of the Bitcoin) with near-identical features, it is sometimes compared with Bitcoin. The key dissimilarities will be highlighted below: Hashing algorithm: Both Litecoin together with Bitcoin use proof-of-work like it is consensus algorithm, however , Litecoin uses a different hashing algorithm � scrypt rather of Secure Hash Modus operandi (SHA) 256. Scrypt is somewhat more memory-intensive than a criteria that is not memory-hard. It is because processes are manage inside parallel with scrypt as opposed to serially with SHA-256, so when a new result, scrypt needs more memory. A single of the benefits associated with working with scrypt is having a new network that is even more attainable and democratized. For you to be competitive, miners can attain extra memory instead connected with getting to obtain specialized application-specific integrated brake lines (ASICs) as is the case using Bitcoin. This means the fact that in theory, regular men and women can become miners using Litecoin, whereas concentrated exploration pools / ASIC flowers already dominate the Bitcoin mining. Transaction fees: Deals on Litecoin are drastically cheaper than Bitcoin. Since September 24, 2018, the regular transaction fee for Bitcoin was $0. 434 versus $0. 0483 for Litecoin, making Bitcoin 9 times more high-priced. At typically the maximum on December twenty two, 2017, average daily Bitcoin financial transaction fees surpassed $55 while Litecoin fees have been solely $0. 931. Full velocity: Litecoin is designed in order to be 4x faster in comparison with Bitcoin as average mass confirmation times are 2 . not 5 minutes, instead involving 10 minutes. Present: Litecoin has some sort of overall offer of 84 million money, compared with 21 zillion coins for Bitcoin. Brief summary stand comparing Bitcoin plus Litecoin: Key Features Proof-of-work: Litecoin uses proof-of-work, which usually is some sort of consensus procedure that is dependent on a difficult computational activity in order to secure the network via malicious stars. Miners be competitive to fix the task the speediest and are rewarded consequently. (For a lot more information, see our own write-up �What is Proof of Job? �) Scrypt: While mentioned above, Litecoin employs the particular scrypt hashing formula. Segregated Witness (SegWit): SegWit enhanced the block sizing limit of Litecoin via you MB to some MB by means of removing signature data (i. e. often the �segregated� part) a transaction whilst guaranteeing the transaction is usually still safe and secure (i. age. the �witness� part). SegWit allows to get increased transaction result together with permits other capabilities plus programs, such as often the Lightning Network, MAST, Confidential Transactions, and Schnorr Signatures, to get implemented. Key Breakthrough Litecoin is an start source project plus it is source code can be looked at the following: https://github.com/litecoin-project/litecoin August 2012: Litecoin was formally introduced in GitHub and the system goes live shortly following. Nov 2013: Litecoin attained a market cap of $1 billion initially. December 2013: Litecoin v0. 8. 6. 1 premiered. This was initially some sort of significant release using some sort of number of changes, including popular wallet attributes like Coin Control, speedier approval, faster propagation, etc . Present cards 2014: Litecoin budget for Android was officially unveiled. April 2014: Typically the beta of Electrum, a Litecoin wallet, was launched. 06 2015: Litecoin v0. 12. 2. 2 was published and represented often the official launching version associated with Litecoin Key. This was some sort of significant launch, plus was the technical similar of Bitcoin v0. 15. minimal payments Major changes consist of watch-only wallet support, more rapidly blockchain synchronization, improved placing your signature to safety, new utility software, and so forth January 2017: Litecoin Main v0. 13. a couple of premiered, a major launching with a amount of method level improvements, code optimizations, the ability to spin out various soft forks at once, etc . Segwit was activated upon testnet. May 2017: Litecoin activated SegWit and done the particular first payment transaction for the Lightning Network with often the transfer executed in beneath one second. August 2017: Litecoin Core v0. 16. 2 premiered. This was a good major variation release with new features, several bug fixes, and several effectiveness improvements (e. g. quicker sync and original block download times). May possibly 2018: Litecoin Core v0. 16. 0 was introduced, a major release the fact that given full support intended for segwit in its pocket and user interfaces. For more details and regarding upcoming technical updates, make sure you check out Litecoin�s official blog at https://blog.litecoin.org. Download the Free Checklist intended for Crushing ICOs! This is actually the guideline that help me personally see the most promising ICOs! CLICK HERE TO PICK UP THE FREE GUIDE > > Future Growth Following the activation of SegWit, Charlie Lee acquired spoken about adding features such because Super Network, MAST, Discreet Purchases, and Schnorr Autographs, however , no roadmap offers been given yet. Inside fact, all the recommended upgrades are features from other blockchain and not special to help Litecoin. Most associated with the upgrades are being developed on Bitcoin since well. In the 2018 Litecoin Summit, Charlie Even offers presented his metrics of achievement for Litecoin: (1) circle security, (2) market increased, (3) exchange fluid, (4) merchant support, in addition to (5) currency usage. Consequently, we feel the future innovations will target improving these kind of metrics. Token Economics Litecoin currently has a block encourage of 30 LTC per block. Halving occurs each 840, 500 blocks (approximately every several years) based mostly on a prohibit time of 2. 5 minutes therefore the block reward is expected to drop to 10. your five LTC in around July 2019. The distributing offer is currently fifty eight, 544, 952 (as regarding August 1, 2018); this particular determine will gradually maximize towards the total supply involving 84 thousand LTC at some point in the mid-2100s after which no new gold coins will be minted. Group Often the Litecoin Foundation can be a non-profit organization that supports the development of Litecoin. The idea is made up of four persons on the Plank connected with Directors (see below) as well as other film fans, coders and volunteers. The particular Litecoin Foundation works with the Litecoin Core development team, which usually contains designers behind typically the Litecoin venture, and provides them all economical support. The biographies associated with the key people right behind Litecoin are summarized down below: Charlie Lee, Founder connected with Litecoin, and Managing Representative of the Litecoin Foundation � He was recently the Representative of Architectural at Coinbase where this individual worked for 4 several years. Before that, he or she performed at Google regarding 6th years as a new Application Engineer on a lot of assignments including YouTube Mobile, Chrome OS and Google Play Games. Prior positions include More mature Software Engineer at Guidewire Software and Software Engineer at Kana Communications. They obtained his Master�s education in Computer system Science coming from M. I. T. within 2000. Xinxi Wang, Litecoin Foundation Movie director � Xinyi Wang was one associated with the Beginning Member regarding the Litecoin Basis plus is one of the developers powering Litecoin Central. He is likewise typically the Founder and BOSS regarding Coinut Exchange, a new Singapore-based cryptocurrency trading platform which was established in December 2013. He or she obtained his Bachelor�s degree in Computer Science from the Harbin Institute associated with Engineering in 2009 and his Ph. Litecoin Core Wallet inside Computer Science from State University of Singapore throughout 2014. Franklyn Richards, Litecoin Foundation Director ~ Franklyn Richards was one of several Launching an online business with Users of the Litecoin Base and currently works Litecoin. com. He is the COO of Zulu Republic, a good blockchain new venture that should create a ecosystem associated with digital programs built around the Ethereum blockchain. Zing Yang, Litecoin Basis Director � Zest Yg has been a new Movie director of the Litecoin Base since May 2018 in addition to was previously with BlockAsset Efforts, a blockchain-focused VC organization, from Economy is shown for you to May possibly 2018. Prior Litecoin QT Wallet include Associate Movie director of Purchases at Temasek plus Home and Co-Founder regarding Greenergy Global on Biomax Solutions. She acquired the girl Bachelor�s degree in Company Administration from Singapore Administration University in 2007. Evaluation Strengths Community � Acquiring started out this year and the years to come, Litecoin is among the older and a lot mature blockchain tasks and has built a new great area. Looking on typically the number of members about the respective subreddits, Litecoin�s community is only behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. Litecoin can make good progress inside terms of merchant use with point of purchase, merchant settlement gateways together with banking services by means of Coingate, Coinpayments, Coinify, Coinbase Commerce, Gocoin, Paybear, etc . Owing to it has the similarity with Bitcoin with the main passcode being essentially the same, Litecoin could most likely piggyback from r & d discoveries achieved by the Bitcoin community. Weaknesses Because the idea is a fork of Bitcoin, Litecoin does not necessarily need unique and/or excellent functions compared to different blockchains. Quite a few consider Litecoin as a test out system of Bitcoin plus as a result, a lot of updates signing up to Litecoin will in addition be implemented inside of Bitcoin as well (SegWit can be an example). Whilst this would insert features to Litecoin that will this otherwise would likely not delight in, it furthermore makes the idea less most likely to have superior characteristics one of a kind only to Litecoin, making the idea difficult for you to standout. As a store of value, Litecoin drops guiding Bitcoin significantly inside terms of financial transaction volume and brand acknowledgement, without any major differentiating functions. As a good medium regarding exchange, Litecoin had a advantage against Bitcoin inside the early years since it has faster confirmation moment, although the newer generation blockchains are even quicker. The power Litecoin has vs the newer blockchains will be in merchant ownership. Part 2 solutions have been designed which arguably is much better to get small purchases due to privacy and speed. Lightning Market, which was launched before in 2018, already possesses over 3, 600 systems. Should it become prosperous, paying having Litecoin will be even significantly less compelling.

Litecoin is supported by the Litecoin Foundation which usually does not have a wide range of solutions (see their latest economic statements: https://litecoin-foundation.org/2018/07/unaudited-financial-statements-2018-05. Bottom line General Rating: B We have now a neutral view on Litecoin because when Litecoin likes a large community helping often the coin, there will be no technical features special to this. Having stable coins and coating two solutions becoming more and even more well-known, Litecoin�s price proposition to be a sound method of alternate diminishes. In Litecoin QT Windows Wallet that Litecoin is successful in upgrading certain features, those functions will be burned to help Bitcoin soon, much like exactly how SegWit was completed. In the event the upgrade neglects, it would negatively impact the particular cryptocurrency. Consequently, going in advance, most of us think Litecoin would not include any important unique benefits that may differentiate itself from the other cryptocurrencies.

[mysticdragon3md3]

“Analysis: the Consequences of Reducing the Skill Gap” by CoreAGaming

Yeek. I’m gone from the fighting game landscape for 2 decades, & when I peek back, suddenly everything’s falling to the ground! ;_; I couldn’t even stand the lag when fighting games went to 3D, & began to feel more like turn-based. Or when Mortal Kombat just didn’t have a responsive tactile feel of cause & effect. & Capcom discontinued the perfect weight they found with Rival Schools, & instead went back to that original Street Fighter II floatiness for SF4. And then that simplified button configuration from Tatsunoko Vs Capcom carried over into Marvel Vs Capcom 3…It was the beginning of the end. ;_; I no longer regret the spaz-out I threw at the Capcom official at ComicCon. We don’t need big flashy moves happening more frequently, to make a game fun to watch! That does more than take away its specialness. Make a flashy move too easily, & no one is thinking anymore about crafting their own combos, timing, and entrapment strategies. They’re only thinking about the next time they’re in range to press that flashy button. It’s just turn-based combat. Even for spectators, watching the game just becomes predictable. I don’t think people watch physically athletic sports for their predictability. And as for ease to pickup the game & feel effective, from the beginning, 1 reliable punch or kick is more effective & satisfying than constantly throwing out super moves, & half of them missing, while you spin in the air, exposed to counterattack. Like martial arts movies, watching someone win with minimal expended effort, demonstrating their efficiency, is just as impressive & far more clever than wearing out in-game cut-ins.

I’m going to tell an embarrassing story. When fighting games were my life, the guys started calling me a “bread & butter” player. Because they were all throwing around big, flashy moves, while I was primarily using basic punches & kicks, but still winning. You don’t need the flashy stuff, even against a Marvel Vs Capcom 2 opponent team, stacked with nothing but power players, like the Hulk. I was on parr with that team, using nothing but tactics, strategies, & reliable basic moves. So without that, aren’t we all just becoming button mashers now? ;~;?

If the games are now gearing towards spectacle to cater more towards watchers, game developers should be made aware that spectators are just as enthralled with cutscenes & in-game dialogue during gameplay! Take it from someone who grew up watching other people play & being just as entertained as when playing myself! (When you’re among the youngest & a girl, your older cousins kind of push you out of the player pool & you *learn* to enjoy watching, for even non-interactive aspects, like story.) You can’t tell me Capcom doesn’t know this, because 1/3 of their really enjoyable characterization is during gameplay. Even in their hack'n'slash games, like Sengoku Basara, where the dialogue overlaid onto gameplay has just as much characterization as their cutscenes. I always want let’s players to draw out fights longer, so more dialogue will appear. It’s a shame when a boss is defeated quickly & dialogue gets cut off for a victory screen. Then there’s Devil May Cry 3, where characterization goes so much into the attacks, in and of themselves, even without much dialogue. The little conversations before fighting game matches, personality flourishes in reaction to moves… Look at all the personality peppered into Capcom vs SNK 2! Every time a character shows exertion, is surprised, gets bored behind a block, taunts while deflecting attacks, has fun pulling off a move, expresses accomplishment at a successful move, gets accompanying dialogue with every other little move—that’s characterization! That’s story. That’s drama, & that’s what superficial spectators watch for. Like an action movie, the in-story stakes for a videogame fight make a match inherently enthralling. That tension bookends the fight and peppers throughout, but catering to the passive audience doesn’t need to take over the gameplay. Meanwhile, the in-depth spectators are the ones who understand the game, & understand why that move was cunning, that that strategy was set-up since the beginning of the match & just now the trap’s been sprung, etc. They appreciate efficiency as proof if skill. They don’t need to be wowed by the big & flashy keys jangled in front if them. So take away gameplay based more on wearing down opponents with tactics, take away the ability to customize fighting styles (beyond choosing player characters) to suit each opponent’s personality, to give something to the fickle, superficial spectators, who already have story & character elements to keep them entertained, and what’s left? Players discouraged by their agency taken away by indirectly handicapped input response, button mashers, & an audience who just as quickly will turn away to watch Netflix instead.

I was really sad to get out of the fighting game genre, when my old brain, accustomed to the traditional 6-button Capcom configuration, didn’t have the time or energy to learn these new systems. You want to make fighting games easy to pick up for an adult player base with little time outside of adult responsibilities? Bring back the old fighting systems.

[ciathyzareposts]

Abandoned Places: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

          Abandoned Places: A Time for Heroes

Hungary

ArtGame (developer); Electronic Zoo (publisher)

Released 1992 for Amiga and DOS

Date Started: 15 May 2020

Date Ended: 4 June 2020

Total Hours: 33

Difficulty: Moderate (3/5) but very imbalanced

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

         Summary:

The first game from a Hungarian developer, Abandoned Places offers typical Dungeon Master-style exploration, combat, and mechanical puzzle solving in a series of tiled 22 x 22 dungeons and dungeon levels. These locations are tied loosely together by a top-down overworld in which characters can visit a variety of menu towns and similar locations. The mostly-irrelevant story has four resurrected heroes from ancient times trying to stop the return of an ancient evil named Bronakh. The full game requires the party to defeat 27 dungeon levels, but different players will encounter different levels early in the game depending on where they pick up the main quest thread.  

*****

Bronakh’s volcanic lair ended up being nine more levels, pitched in difficulty somewhere between the earlier, easy dungeons and the difficult Halls of Rage. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded if the game had just consisted of the Halls of Rage and Bronakh’s fortress, maybe with a menu town on top. It would have been a tighter, more challenging game without a lot of wasted time before the main event.

           As I mentioned in my penultimate entry, Bronakh whisked us directly from the Halls of Rage to his fortress without giving us a chance to level up. It turned out that I could just turn around, go up the stairs, and exit the volcano. In fact, the general theme of Bronakh’s nine-level lair was to require full exploration of each level, but ultimately in service of finding a key that unlocked a down staircase rather close to the up staircase. Thus, even deep in the fortress, a return to town was possible with minimal effort. 

     Bronakh’s levels were more challenging than the rest of the game, but I still wouldn’t say they were as challenging as Dungeon Master or even Eye of the Beholder. They were perhaps deadlier, in that fireballs and lightning bolts came flinging at my party it seems like every third step. I eventually got to the point where I just shrugged off the fact that my characters seemed to be taking constant damage for no visible reason. I reloaded a lot and took advantage of safe spaces to rest multiple times. My cleric got a resurrection spell eventually, and between that and “Heal,” I could deal with most problems as long as he kept his spell points up.

             Wandering into the wrong room in Bronakh’s lair.

                      As I explored, I tried to make a full accounting of the different mechanical devices that the game uses. They include:

            Wall switches, some activated by hands, some by keys, that open walls and doors in other parts of the dungeon.

Floor plates that open walls and doors in other parts of the dungeon.

Illusory walls. Generally, you can just walk through them but “Detect Illusion” lets you see through them entirely.

         This was a rare illusory door that looked like a regular wall until I cast the spell.

         Doors that require finding keys.

Doors that have switches.

Multiple doors whose switches open each other rather than the doors they’re attached to.

Traps that cause fireballs or lightning bolts to hit you from the nearest wall.

Fireballs and lightning bolts that fly out of the walls and corridors around you in absence of any trigger. Sometimes you can block these with plants, statues, or temporary walls created with the “Create Wall” spell.

Teleportation squares, including those that teleport you in a sequence around a particular part of the dungeon, so it’s like you’re on a never-ending conveyor belt.

Anti-magic squares.

Spinners, some of which spin continually, some of which turn you once or twice. It got to the point that every major intersection in Bronakh’s had one of these.

Water squares, for which you must cast “Swimming” to keep from taking damage.

Squares perpetually on fire, for which you must cast “Walk on Fire” to keep from taking damage.

              Here we have water and fire in a row.

          Cobwebs, which must be destroyed with the “Fire Path” spell, which turns them into fire squares.

Potted plants (some of them hostile) and statues that you have to push and pull to clear paths or reveal hidden keys.

Pits that lead to small lower areas of the same level. You can use ropes to lower yourself without damage and “Climb” to get back up, or “Levitate” to avoid them entirely.

            Notably absent from this list are pressure plates, and the types of puzzles that require you to weigh down those plates, either with characters or monsters. You also can’t throw items into teleporters–just yourself–which limits some of the fun puzzles other games in this subgenre have allowed.

         Through most of the game, the wall/door/switch ratio was 1:1 and one-directional, so that every time you found a switch, you could confidently activate it, knowing that it would open a door or wall that you needed open. Bronakh’s got a little more fiendish by having some of its switches close areas that you needed open. It took me a while to learn to stop activating switches and instead to treat the game more like Dungeon Master where you explore first and slowly, carefully work on your switches later.

     Both the Halls of Rage and Bronakh’s did a good job of stringing these multiple options together. For instance, one of the levels has a series of pits that you needed to cross with “Levitate,” only to put an anti-magic square on the pit in the middle. This caused “Levitate” to snuff out and drop me through to a waiting fire square below. I had to “Jump” to avoid this particular square..

              Usually the game makes you fail once to figure it out, but this time it gave me a hint.

               I don’t love this kind of gameplay but I can appreciate it, and thus my only major complaint is that a couple of levels had keys allocated in such a way that you could put yourself in a “walking dead” situation if you didn’t open doors in a particular order. There’s never any excuse for that.

        Enemies weren’t pushovers, but the continued to be the least important part of navigating the dungeon levels, at least until Level 8, where several of the enemies were capable of frequent, high-damage fireballs. It turns out that the creators anticipated the experience imbalance between fighters and spellcasters and thus set the level requirements much lower for the latter. Everyone reached the end of the game at their maximum levels, which was 8. Inventory rewards mostly stopped after the Halls of Rage, and I found I didn’t need any money after that. I only needed to retreat to town to get my last levels.

          These dino-looking things were pretty tough.

         The ninth and last level was large and mostly open, though with a few corridors and pillars to use for hiding and regrouping. Bronakh was the only enemy–a robed figure without much menace or character. He hit hard with spells, though, and took a long time to kill–so long that when I finally managed to kill him but had two of my own characters dead, I declined to reload and just moved forward through the final door.

          Casting a “Toxic Cloud” at Bronakh while he hammers me with something or other.

         The endgame cinematic showed the same sage who had resurrected the heroes sitting at his desk.

           And so with the fall of Bronakh, the Kalynthian Empire is ready for a new age of peace and harmony: the age of union–when the lands of the world will at last be rejoined. For you it will be a time to build a new life, to meet new friends and remember old ones lost. And to watch and wait for the evil that can never sleep and must never be forgotten. The time of heroes will come again.

          As the final words disappear, the door behind the sage opens to reveal a skeletal figure with glowing eyes just before we return to the main menu.

          We never did find out who this guy was.

         In the GIMLET, the game earns:

            3 points for the game world. I found the framing narrative derivative and poorly reflected in the game itself. The map was mostly wasted.

3 points for character creation and development. There’s no “creation” as such–just a selection from a gallery of heroes. Development is moderately satisfying, particularly in the acquisition of new spells, but forcing every player to have two warriors, a cleric, and a mage just reduces replayability.

1 point for a minor amount of NPC interaction to guide the quest.

5 points for encounters and foes. The game’s enemies are maddeningly unnamed, and while they do have some special attacks and defenses that you might want to plan tactics around, each enemy type lasts for such a brief time that it’s hardly worth analyzing them. I use this category for the quality of puzzles, which we’ve mostly already covered

5 points for magic and combat. I like that the spells were integrated with puzzle-solving. While the game makes good use of the “cool down” system of Dungeon Master, it lacks some of the timing and punch of other games of its ilk, and for most of the game it was too easy.

            Fighting some kind of goofy flying thing.

         4 points for equipment. You get the basics: two hand slots, armor, a ring, and a necklace or amulet. There weren’t many upgrades, especially towards the end. There’s no way to see weapon statistics, but at least the ability to sell weapons imparts some estimate of relative worth.

2 points for the economy. The game has one, but it’s not very well done. I sold a lot but hardly bought anything.

3 points for quests. It has a main quest, of course, and there are a couple of different paths through the early dungeons, although which you take is more a matter of luck than “choice.”

3 points for graphics, sound, and interface. It gets 1 for each. I thought the graphics and sound effects were only okay, and for everything I liked about the interface (e.g., the use of function keys to execute attacks), there was something I didn’t like (e.g., having to scroll slowly through the spell list). The automap, which you don’t acquire until the third dungeon, stopped working in all of the later dungeons.

3 points for gameplay. I have to give it a small amount of credit for some nonlinearity and some replayability, but the difficulty was too imbalanced and the pacing was horrible. 

        That gives us a subtotal of 32, from which I subtract 1 for bugs, for a final score of 31. The “invulnerability” bug dogged me throughout the final dungeon. It seemed like whenever the processor got overwhelmed by too much happening on the screen–too many spells or flying lightning bolts or whatever–enemies just froze in place. They stopped attacking, but they were also impossible to kill and were blocking the corridors. On the positive side, I never encountered any of the bugs some other players report, such as an inability to ever find some of the dungeons.

It doesn’t appear that the game ever had a North American release, and thus all the reviews are from European magazines, particularly Amiga magazines. I rubbed my hands and got ready to excoriate British Amiga reviewers for getting everything wrong, but they mostly gave the game a fair shake. Amiga Power said in February 1992 that: “[It] may not represent the new standard in RPGs–it’s a bit too scrappy in certain areas for that–but you can bet your bottom dollar it’ll be responsible for a great many hours of lost sleep among the die-hard D&D fraternity.” Overall, the magazine gave it an 80. Reviews from CU Amiga in March 1992 (83), Amiga Action in March 1992 (82), and Amiga Format in February 1992 (80), all basically said the same things: the graphics are a bit rough and the game is a bit too easy, but otherwise it wasn’t a bad experience. None of them seem to have made it all the way to the Halls of Rage before their reviews, however, which I imagine would have changed things. Continental reviews were less charitable, mostly in the 60s and 70s. The worst came from the German PC Player (37), but they didn’t get to it until August 1993, at which point they were comparing it to Ultima Underworld and Betrayal at Krondor.

           Some of the reviews mention bits of marketing from Electronic Zoo that said the game had “over 100” levels. Even accounting for the extra early-game dungeons that you don’t experience if you take different paths, the only way that is true is if you count the little interconnected sections of dungeon levels and not the entirety of the levels. It’s a disingenuous bit of marketing. Electronic Zoo also advertised that it would take more than two months to finish. It took me three weeks, but I don’t really see how it makes sense to measure playing time in months anyway.

          Abandoned Places was one of three games from Hungarian developer ArtGame. Abandoned Places 2 came along in 1993 and Piracy on the High Seas was published in 1992; it features an overworld interface very similar to Abandoned Places. Screenshots from the sequel show improved monster graphics, a redesigned interface, and first-person exploration of the overworld.

          Travel in Piracy uses an interface nearly identical to Places.

            If I can trust a few sites, the principals of ArtGame–including Ferenc Staengler, István Fábián, Sandor Hadas, and György Dragon–were university students when they met and decided to make games. An initial version of the game failed to find a publisher, although Electronic Arts expressed interest if the team came up with better graphics. They spent several months on a graphical overhaul, but by the time they resubmitted, EA had already agreed to publish Raven Software’s Black Crypt and didn’t want two games in the same subgenre at the same time. They ultimately struck a deal with United Kingdom-based publisher Electronic Zoo.

On a page in which Abandoned Places 2 is offered for free, Staengler recounts how he and his colleagues were treated by International Computer Entertainment, which bought the ailing Electronic Zoo and published the sequel. I’m not sure how much of this story (e.g., receiving no royalties) has anything to do with the original game and original publisher, so I’ll leave off any more history until next year, when I cover the sequel and hopefully have managed to make contact with Staengler or one of the other developers. It is worth noting that even in the first game’s manual, the publisher apparently made the developers anglicize their names: Ferenc Staengler became “Francis” Staengler, István Fábián became “Steve Fabian,” and György Dragon was rendered as “George Dragon.”

       I found Abandoned Places underwhelming for most of its run, particularly in comparison to the better games of its sub-genre, but I do like that it tried to integrate Dungeon Master with an overworld, towns, an economy, and other features from outside the typical Dungeon Master line. There’s no reason that a good dungeon crawl has to be 15 levels straight down; you can enjoy the same mechanics while still pausing for story elements and while allowing the characters to spend a night in a tavern. Abandoned Places didn’t do it particularly well, but I’m glad that it tried to do it at all. I look forward to seeing if the sequel improves.

          We’ll head back to The Legacy next, of course, but whether the next game after that is a return to Ultima VII or a look at Mythos 1 depends on how far I get retracing my steps in the former.           ***********         Trying something. Let’s assume I have a Famicom Disk System (FDS) file and an IPS patch for it. How do I put them together? I can find all kinds of instructions for doing it with an SNES file, but not for an FDS file.

     source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/abandoned-places-won-with-summary-and-rating/

[everunbreakable]

Sunday, January 19, 2014 - After the winter party

Today I am still ill, and woke up with a dry throat once more. I still felt like going for a ride, though on my old bike. I swung by Target first. I saw a book that caught my interest. Hyperbole and a Half. It's something that I plan on reading. However, with school starting soon, I wanted to make Lord of the Rings priority on the reading list. This way I would be able to watch the movies with Renly. My next stop was the bank. I wrapped up quickly. On the way back, I discovered that I did not have water... and I was aching for it. I decided to take a shortcut home, the route I used to take when I attended class by the beach. I trekked across West into Comstock, a small street on which I recalled Hop, an old classmate, lived. I passed by a car with its driver's window down, and heard music sounding from it. But not blaring. I didn't look inside. But then I heard my name. "Christy!" When I turned back, I noticed that I was perhaps no less than ten yards from Renly's car. Whaaaaat? He was leaning his head out, grinning at me. "Hi." Hi indeed. I didn't expect to run into anyone I knew as I was spacing out. Come to think of it, I didn't usually run into anyone while on a bike ride. I was usually in my zone. "What are the odds?" I finally said. The last time I had an unplanned encounter with Renly, he had inadvertently discouraged a black guy on a bike from soliciting a hug from me. I pedaled to a stop beside his window. "It's nice seeing you," he said, grinning at me. It wasn't awkward, but it was unexpected. I grinned back. "You, too. Are you, uh, waiting for someone?" "No, I'm just listening to music. My mom wanted me to go to church. This is what I usually do. And this is the neighborhood I usually stop at, if I don't have anywhere else to go." I nodded. "If it works for you." "Yeah, I guess whatever works for me. So where'd you come from?" "I was just checking out books at Target, and then I went to the bank." "So you're on your way home?" "Pretty much. I realized I stretched myself too thin with the ride, since I'm sick." "Oh, you're sick?" I nodded. "You didn't hear me until the second time I called your name," Renly said. "I was spacing out." "You didn't recognize my car?" Renly asked me, looking gently surprised. I shook my head. "I didn't notice. I didn't look. I was vegetizing on my bike." He chuckled. "Do you want to join me?" "I don't want to contaminate you with my germs." "You won't. I don't care, anyway." "You sneezed yesterday." "I sneezed twice yesterday," he gently pointed out. "My sneezes come and go, they don't mean I'm sick." He opened the front passenger door. "Join me. You can put your bike on the grass. Or in front of my car." "Yeah, because that's someone else's lawn." I propped my bike up in front of his car. I crouched down to put the kickstand in place. When I rose again, Renly was watching my progress through his windshield window. I didn't want to bother him. We had both been in our respective elements, in the midst of unwinding and wandering. But I did enter his car, and we both adjusted our chairs back so we could recline. Renly clicked open the old-fashioned seatbelt diagonally in front of me, so that it wasn't trapping me. This was familiar, parking in a random neighborhood. I was reminded of fall 2012, when we pulled over somewhere and I told Renly about what Santino had done. Renly and I have intriguing conversations. This was no exception. I asked him why he didn't simply tell his mother why he didn't want to go to church. "My family is very intolerant of many things." "I notice that there's a high power distance between the kids in your family and your parents. You can't be chummy with them." I looked over at him when I put forth this observation. "You'e spot on. I can't joke around with them." He went on to tell me that his parents were inconsistent with enforcing their ideals, so he couldn't find a solid structure to work with. "My mother is a very moody person," Renly said. He had simply been thrown into adulthood, and he was frustrated with the transition. "It's not an overnight thing." I told him. I wanted to say more, but my brain seemed to be clouded. I silently vowed to help him, though, since he's been such an amazing friend. Renly also mentioned that his parents had rewarded him and his siblings despite them putting in minimal effort. "That can have its pros," I said optimistically. "I feel that the cons outweigh the pros, though." I didn't follow with a rosier spin on it, since no one would know his situation better than him. "Maybe they only enforce them when they have energy," I said. "Maybe." "My parents were pretty slack." I smiled at the memories. "You still turned out pretty well, though. You manage to stay on top of things." "I have no choice." "Exactly. You have no choice." "I told you what happened to my mother." "Yeah." And I knew from his patient, affirming tone that Renly remembered. "She needed an anchor. I was it." My voice didn't waver. I didn't break down upon reflection. Renly patiently listened. "I've never struggled. Struggle builds character." Talk turned to my inability to focus on other people when I was in pain last year. "How is that a bad thing?" Renly patiently prodded. "You have to put your needs first. That's how you build a strong foundation. If you don't have that strong foundation, everything else is unstable." "Topsy turvy?" I asked. "Topsy turvy," he agreed. He paused. "You should never doubt your own ability to get through something. You'll always find a way. From what I can see, you do a pretty good job of picking yourself up again. You should be proud of that." If I wasn't halfway gone from my cold, I would have developed a lump in my throat. Christy, you wussy, I thought to myself. Renly stated that he is pretty content with who he is as a person, which I was very glad to hear. I've always known him to be self-confident, strong-willed, and bold. He's inspirational.

"It's a good thing none of us are homosexual," Renly said when we were discussing his parents and their ideals.

"When I'm sick, I'm caught in limbo between productivity and passing out," I said. "That must frustrate you." "I find something to do. That's how I finished the first book of Lord of the Rings." "Oh, you read while you were sick?"

Renly asked if I wanted to go home and rest. I exited the car, all smiles. "I'll see you Saturday, then," I said. "When I'm more alert and less of a vegetable." "I don't mind that," Renly protested. I turned back. "Guess I'll see you, then. It's always nice to run into you." "Same here," Renly returned. I smiled. "Bye, then." "Bike safe." I smiled. "I will. Call me next weekend when you're free." "I will."

Renly's a good friend. An awesome friend, in fact. Maybe my running into him today solidified the reminder that I still have people who care about me, people to focus on. He’s struggling to make that transition to adulthood. I want to help him, somehow.

Things are different now. It’s time to move on.

Hanging out at Trisha’s… it was familiar, and yet it was different. As I evolve and my needs change, my relationships change. It’s a given.

I want to be the best person I can be, and I need to be around people who share my ideals to some extent.

Life will always get better. I had been lost until that conversation today, somehow. I will strive to lead a life of integrity, intellectualism, productivity, and adventure.

What are the odds I would run into a dear friend on what I had expected to be a mundane Sunday afternoon? That was like something straight out of a movie. The most coincidental of all coincidences? Either way, it was nice. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

[somethinginbetween1-blog]

Chicago Marathon

Prior to the Chicago marathon, I had pre-written this seasons final blog post. But as the saying goes, anything can happen on any given Sunday, and that’s exactly what happened. So here is the new version.

It has finally arrived ladies and gentlemen—the moment we all have been waiting for. On Sunday, October 7, I towed the line with thousands of runners from all over the world to make a dent in history and run the 2018 Chicago Marathon. It’s been a long few weeks.

There is a hidden secret among athletes: You should never try anything new on race day. Stick to what you know. I had the perfect training cycle. Consistency is key. I had successfully completed every long run and a mini triathlon. During the middle of the training cycle I wanted to boost my training with something extra, so I took the advice of a friend, coach Kai with City Runners and began weightlifting once a week. Strength training had already been part of my training prescribed by my running coach Josh, but weightlifting was never on the docket. Runners secretly fear that weightlifting adds pounds to the runner in turn making the runner slower and heavier. Coach Mike with Next Level Fitness has been ensuring for the last few weeks of marathon training, that I stay injury free. Consistent in my running and weightlifting. Yea, I got this. I am in great shape. I was ready to run, so why not change things up a bit.

Maurten sports fuel has recently been considered one of the top fueling methods for athletes. Used by the top runners in the world, it is known for its performance enhanced ingredients. Maurten products offer a large serving of carbohydrates with minimal effort: up to 80 grams of carbohydrates per serving package. A few weeks prior to the marathon, I had ordered a supply of the Maurten drink mix 320.

In training, I had been using Honey Stinger Organic gels. Honey Stinger is a good product. The packet is worth 25 grams of carbs, but I noticed that after taking the gels, I would become thirsty. I had no problem dealing with this during training. On my long runs, I would stop at numerous locations throughout my community to get water. Therefore, when the Maurten drink mix appeared on my Instagram newsfeed as a sponsored post, I figured I should look into it.

After two weeks of research, I knew this product was all I needed to cross the finish line successfully. It would give me the carbs that I needed and keep me hydrated at the same time. On paper, it was perfect.

Sunday morning. It was 50 degrees and raining. The gun went off at 7:30 a.m., and I began my race. Running through Chicago, the crowds were wild. So many people came to watch the race. A runner could feel like a rock star with the cheers from the crowd. The adrenaline rush took over my body and I flew to the 5k line.

I had planned to drink my power drink every 5k to slowly fuel for the entire race. I crossed the 5k mark. Without looking at my Garmin, I knew I was flying. I just didn’t care. This was it, all of the training and work I had put into this, it was all or nothing. I told myself leave it all on the course. I drank more of my fuel.

My first impression of the drink was that it had no taste. No flavor, but the texture felt a bit rocky. I swallowed it slowly, even though it wasn’t sparking my taste buds. I had trained myself to drink my fuel and run at the same time. At the 10k mark, I drank more fuel. The second serving was not as harsh as the first; however, my stomach became upset. I continued to drink my fuel until mile 10.

Between the 10k and the half marathon point, I could feel my body began to slow down. Have you ever been on the highway and the gas light comes on? Depending on your car, you think to yourself “Hey, I’ve got another 40 miles ‘til empty.” So, you keep driving to see if you can push the limits to get to the gas station. My gas light came on and I decided to push it.

I felt sick to my stomach and my thirst felt as though nothing could quench it. At that moment, I knew I had made a mistake. I crossed the half marathon point at a slower pace than when I began. My accountability buddy Joseph was waiting, all smiles and cheers, for my half way accomplishment. I stopped my watch and went to the sidelines to tell him I felt a little sick and was unable to keep drinking my sports drink. I told him I would keep going and see him at the 22-mile mark.

Between 13 and 22 miles, it was a nightmarish blur. I have never vomited so much in my life. Anything I put in my mouth wouldn’t go down my throat. It was the worst feeling in the world and I knew the race was over. Gatorade and even plain water made me sick. Every water stop, I tried to drink but nothing would work.

When I finally reached the 22-mile mark, I sat on the ground and hoped the sickness would go away. It didn���t. Joseph saw me on the sidelines of the course. He told me I looked “green.” Since he and I love to crack jokes, I figured he was messing around, but he wasn’t. During our conversation, I told him, “I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I’m really fucked up.”

He asked me, “Do you want to pack it up and quit?”

I said, “No. I don’t care how long it’s going to take, but we are going to get to the finish line, just stay with me. I need you to stay with me. If I fall out, at least you are here.” I had dropped to a 40 minute mile. My head was spinning from nausea and my stomach was upset. I had given up on any food or drink. I felt like I would drop dead at mile 25. My accountability buddy had escorted me until he could no longer cross the barrier. As race officials began to take down the mileage signs and clean up the course, I was forced to walk the final mile of the Chicago marathon alone.

I crossed the finish line in 6 hours and 44 minutes. I earned that medal.

After turning off my Garmin, I had set three personal records: 24:00 5k, 53:00 10k and 2:07 half marathon. I began to cry.

So now what? It seems like not so long ago I began running and turned my sights to completing a marathon. As a full-time working mom of four children, there are many things that I neglect to say. But this time, I will say what’s on my mind.

Yeah, I fucked up.

I have to be honest with myself and to those that have helped me get to where I am. When we lose the ability to be honest with ourselves, we lose who we are. I believe that honesty is instrumental key to my success. People like to censor the truth. Maybe it’s a pill that they don’t want to swallow. Today, I am going to swallow this pill.

I’m not sad or regretful of my choice to try a new energy drink. I wanted something new and I paid the price. All the months of running, strength training all went out the window. I have always been the kinda person that knows what they want in any aspect of life. I wanted to be able to finish the marathon not only in a respectable time frame but knowing that I had given it all that I had and came out on top. Jokes on me. I got what I asked for, but not in the way I had expected. I wonder, if the drink had worked to perfection would it have been something else that could have hindered my performance? The rain, maybe the wind? It was a cold day.

It’s been two weeks since the race and I have cried. A lot. I cried at the finish line, in the shower after the race, in the middle of the night, on the train going to work, at work. I am still crying. Literally. This shit hurts. My pride, self-esteem and emotions have taken a hit. In a way, I am somewhat happy that coach Josh is out of state; that way I don’t have to explain to him in person what happened. If I had to be subjected to see the look of disappointment in his face from my performance I don’t think I could handle it. It hurts badly. I have gone over and over in my head how I could have done things differently. Maybe had a plan B or C in play. But I only had plan A.

I tell my kids all the time that when things don’t go your way in life, get back up and try again. With some love and snuggles I say to them, “Be strong my love. You are strong.” I am sure they can see the confidence in my eyes when I tell them that. It seems to work, and off they go. I have looked at my reflection in the mirror numerous times these past few weeks and talked to myself.

My two-week running vacation is over. I am going to pick up all the pieces that I dropped along that course and put myself back together. I consider myself a year round runner, so there will be no break in my training. The leaves have begun to change and the temperatures have dropped. Fall is officially here. During the spring 2019, I will focus on races below the marathon and in May 2019 begin training for Chicago 2019.

Come on, you know me. Why would I go out like a sucker? Anyone can finish a marathon, but I don’t want to be just anyone. I have said it in previous blogs, I will do whatever it takes.

Running has become the biggest mystery and adventure of my life. It has been a bumpy ride. With that being said, I don’t intend on getting off at the next stop. I love a good challenge. It makes the end result even better when there is some resistance.

This race will go down in my running history not only as my first marathon but as the marathon where I became physically and mentally undone.

Until round two.

Follow me on Instagram and Strava

[clarencenicholsonata]

The Complete Guide to Content Creation For Realtors

Have you ever wanted to drive thousands of leads to your website for free? That’s exactly what successful content marketing real estate agents are doing.

In fact, website conversion rates in 2019 are expected to be nearly 6x higher for content marketing adopters than non-adopters.

Every day home buyers and sellers are going online to find answers to their questions. If you understand what those questions are, you can be the first person they see. And if you are the person who solves their problem… You can get their business.

In this article we’re going to go through all of the possible content types you can use. We will cover what type of content homeowners are looking for, how to create it and effectively reach them. We want you to optimize your marketing and branding efforts. This involves creating a solid content marketing approach.

Real estate content marketing is a 3 step process:

Determine the problems home buyers and sellers are having.

Propose a solution to those problems through your content.

Get in front of those home buyers and/or sellers.

It’s really that simple! We are also going to cover below what content is performing right now in 2018. With this information you’ll be able to take already performing content and put your own spin on it.

Jump to a section:

What Problems Are Homeowners Having?

What Content Is Best For Real Estate?

Finding Your Personal Voice

Tools for Real Estate Content Creation

Tools For Content Research

Tools For Researching Headlines

Promoting your Content

In Conclusion

What Problems Are Homeowners Having?

We researched the most shared real estate articles of 2015. The content ranged from hundreds to even thousands of shares. What was the content that generated the most shares?

How-to posts

List posts (Top 10 for example)

Tips and tricks

Tackling of common problems

In our top 20 list of the most shared real estate articles, we noticed that content catered towards existing home owners and home sellers dramatically outnumbered that of home buyers and first time home buyers. Opportunity to dominate the space? Maybe.

Specifically, homeowners want to know how to:

Increase home value

Decrease sale time

Pick the right real estate agent

Create a lovely home

Make the right decisions as a home owner

It doesn’t matter what you write about, as long as you are solving a problem. Solve a problem and you’ll be providing value.

Try this. Take out a pen and pad of paper. Remember all of the worries, misconceptions or problems you’ve run into with homeowners during the listing process. Next, think about your area of expertise. Where do you have knowledge where no other agent does? In what ways can you demonstrate your experience and expertise that no one else can?

Use this foundation to build your content.

What Content Is Best For Real Estate?

There are many content types you can use to reach your audience of homeowners. Most marketers will choose these 3 content types for real estate:

Blogs/Articles

Infographics

Videos

Many extremely popular real estate articles in 2015 utilized the article/infographic pair. These articles start with a great infographic and then go into a written article where the information in the infographic is elaborated on. You can also pair video with a long-form article.

Once you’ve chosen your content type and subject matter, you can dive into the creation process.

Blogs/Articles

Articles are one of the most popular content types to produce. 52.1 million new posts are created each month on WordPress. There’s competition, but a lot of content out there is garbage. If you create high quality articles (and promote it well) you’ll be able to stand out.

P.S: Check out the most shared real estate articles of 2015. I think you’ll get a lot of ideas from that post.

Best Practice For Written Content

Here’s some advice I’ve personally taken on how to write. The best way to be a great writer is by reading the greats and emulating their style. Take out all of your fluff. Minimize the word count and condense your ideas. Personalize your stories and write from the first-person.

Here’s the process I use:

Have the total structure and core message of the article figured out before you start to write.

Think hard before writing every line. Minimize text and create more direct statements.

Find facts to back-up your statements. And present complex ideas through stories when possible.

Break up the text blocks. Never write more than 5 sentences in a single paragraph when publishing online.

Further break up the article by using images.

Sleep on the article. Re-read it after stepping away for a few days. Make changes as necessary.

Best Books For Learning How To Write:

Less is more when learning. That’s why I suggest only three books for you to read and fully absorb. The following books are praised by successful writers.

On Writing Well

The Elements of Style

On Writing by Stephen King

Write as much as possible. I try to write every day. So do all of the great authors. Your writing muscle will not develop if you don’t use it.

Infographics

The holy grail of shareable content. Why? You can embed infographics. If someone likes what you created, they can paste your infographic into their article. This works as a lead magnet.

Best Practice For Infographics

Design is crucial here. Your homeowners will be able to tell between a Fiverr project and something professionally made. If you’re on a tight budget, you may want to stick with the other content types. (Or design one yourself, if you have the creative ability.)

Infographics are essentially a mix of quick-facts and statistics. It’s important to focus on the following.

Beautiful design

Valuable and powerful statistics

Quotes from industry experts

Consistent message

Here’s a complete guide to infographics if you want to read more. You may also want to check out these 15 amazing photo resources. They will come in handy when it comes to make your infographic.

Best Social Networks For Sharing Infographics

We all want our content to go viral. You need to be sharing in the right places to make that happen. Pinterest is one of the best. But there are tons of places you can use.

Pinterest

Visual.ly

Infographics Showcase

Visual Loop

Flickr

Daily Infographic

Cool Infographics

Infographics Archive

Infographic Journal

Sharing using the above will help you reach more home buyers and sellers than you would by simply sharing on Facebook and Twitter. You will reach more targeted users if you can find social networks that specialize in the content you are promoting.

Videos (Youtube)

In an increasingly ADHD world, people want to consume their content quickly; they want the cliffnotes. That’s why you see all of those “one secret” and “quick fix” type ads out there. Speed is what people want. Take advantage of that desire with quick, punchy videos.

Best Practice For Videos

Quality is key. Luckily for us, most smartphones now have cameras that are high enough quality to film a decent video. In fact, many Youtubers have started their career with nothing more than an iPhone.

Here’s the process AgentFire uses:

1) Determine the core message of the video.

2) Create a storyboard to summarize your points and information.

3) Decide how you want to be perceived by your audience. (demeanour)

4) Keep filming until you get it right.

A 5 minute video may take you up to a few hours to film if you have no experience on camera. I myself spent around a month just to plan and record 4 hours of voice-overs for a Udemy Course. Not to mention the audio editing. That was a pain in the ass. (But I learned a lot! Like the fact I stutter and say uhh way too much…)

If you have no public speaking experience, try joining Toastmasters.

Best Social Networks For Sharing Videos

I found a ginormous list that details basically every possible place to share your Youtube videos. No further explanation is necessary.

Finding Your Personal Voice

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.” ― Erin Morgenstern

In order to reach your audience of homeowners, you need to be human. “You need to bleed”, as James Altucher says. I’m going to tell you a little story.

When I was 15, I was obese. I always knew that I had the wrong body – that I deserved better for myself.

I had no one to guide me. Just the will to grow and transform. I held the image of who I wanted to be, and thus started down the path of health and wellness. I didn’t know what it felt like to be successful at dieting. Hell, I didn’t know what it takes to be successful at anything. For a long time, I quit almost everything I did.

But I didn’t give up my goals of transforming my body.

Because I so firmly held the notion, or the image of who I wanted to be, I was able to stick with it and completely change my appearance. I told myself the story of who I would become. I also told it to other people. Doing so made me REMEMBER, and have accountability for the hard-work it took to accomplish my goal.

The same thing is true for your writing. People need to feel like they know you personally. They need to understand who you are. When you accompany your knowledge with a story, it builds a way for people to remember you; to remember what you taught them.

That’s why I told myself the story of who I could be. And told you the story of how that changed my life.

Find your brand. What do you believe in? What motivates you to get up in the morning? Do you want to help people, solve problems or create something? Figure that out so you can speak with authenticity.

You can help people by being funny and bringing a smile to their day. Or giving them actionable advice so they can solve their problems. It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as your voice is uniquely yours.

Here comes the fun part.

Tools for Real Estate Content Creation

You’ve got the right ideas. Now you want to get cracking. Are there any tools out there to help you create your real estate content? Absolutely!

Tools For Productivity

Make sure you’re in the right environment for creating content. You can’t have distractions if you want to get stuff done. I recommend using these tools while listening to classical music. Productivity reaches new heights with the help of Mozart and Chopin!

Distraction-Free Writing (WordPress)

If you’re blogging, you’re almost guaranteed to be on WordPress. That’s why I wanted to include this first. Distraction free writing will allow you to close out all of the elements of the WP dashboard while you write. I’m using it right now and it’s really helpful.

EverNote

If you want a tool that can help you brainstorm, write and pick-up from anywhere on any device, check out EverNote. Last week I almost lost a two-thousand word article. Luckily I had saved my writing in EverNote or else I would have been S.O.L. This is an especially good tool if you’re like me and have ideas at random times.

Just open your phone and write a note for later, it’ll be saved on your computer too.

Scrivener

For those who like to write a little more than 500 words. Scrivener helps you set writing goals and stick to them. I know a few people who have written full-fledged books with the help of Scrivener. It’s got a cool system that allows you to build out a structure for your writing.

PomodoroApp

Thanks to Nelson (the head honcho here at AgentFire) I’ve integrated more structured breaks into my work periods. It helps with mental focus. I usually become fatigued after 1000 words of writing. With Pomodoro’s, I’ve found my creativity and production to be much higher.

Newsfeed Eradicator

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. You’re not looking for anything in particular yet just spent 30 minutes sifting through everything your friends and favourite pages posted today.

Get Newsfeed Eradicator. I heard about it through Noah Kagan of BuzzSumo and haven’t been without it since.

Tools For Content Research

We get it. You’re spending precious hours to create your content and want to have an idea of how successful it will be. Thankfully we’ve got content research tools. You can use the following to determine the popularity of articles by how many shares they’re getting.

BuzzSumo

This is the tool we used for the top 20 most shared real estate articles of 2015 article. BuzzSumo allows you to search for real estate content and see what is getting the most shares. You can break down the results by: Date, Country, Content Type and social networks. So if you focus on Facebook, you can determine what is performing the best there instead of everywhere.

Note: You have a limited amount of searches before you have to pay for premium.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is the same idea as BuzzSumo except they have a whole library of different tools that internet marketers use. Things like Link Building, SEO and Keyword Research. I recommend you focus on one thing at a time. Learn how to write amazing content. Then learn all of the promotional opportunities.

Tools For Researching Headlines

Your headline is the first thing people see before they click through. It has to do one of a few things to your audience:

Intrigue

Excite

Amuse

Shock

Anger

Use one or more of the above emotions to leverage higher opening rates and shareability for your real estate content. If your content doesn’t sound interesting or incite an emotion within the person you’re trying to reach, you probably won’t reach them at all. That’s why we use these tools ourselves. (Just be careful with anger…)

AMI Headline Analyzer

Using this tool I was able to generate 560 shares on one of the very first articles I wrote for my own corporate blog. In short, it can be an effective tool when combined with high-quality content and promotion.

Keep in mind that 89% of content is never shared more 100 times. (And for 560 shares I put exactly ZERO dollars into promotion, just manual labour).

Co-Schedule Headline Analyzer

This is another tool like the AMI Headline Analyzer above. It has a more user friendly platform where you can see some deeper insights than AMI. I like the AMI option more even though it’s just barebones.

A/B Testing With Email

A/B testing is something companies like Buzzfeed use like crazy. Before they promote their new content, they create segmented email lists to try different variations of the same title. This allows them to see what title will get them the most shares.

Sometimes the results are dramatic. The exact same article can get 10x more shares with a different, high-performing title. Use your email provider (we use MailChimp) to A/B test your titles before going live. If you’d like more information, here’s a guide to A/B testing from our friends over at CrazyEgg.

Promoting Your Content

I’m not going to get into how you promote content in this article. Just know it’s important. Successful content marketers (me being one of them) would agree that creating high quality articles, infographics and videos is only the first half of the battle.

If you want homeowners to read your stuff and ultimately list their property with you, you’ll need exposure. The key to getting exposure is a solid content promotion strategy. The good news for you is that most realtors neither produce high-quality content nor know how to promote it.

Want to sell more houses? All you have to do is put in the work.

In Conclusion

Real estate agents just like you are driving thousands of homeowners from their community to their blogs and Youtube to see their content. These views, shares and likes can be worth thousands or millions of dollars of properties a year when combined with your other marketing and promotion efforts.

What are the problems you can solve with your specific real estate knowledge? Provide information, answer questions, and do it with your own unique voice. Put in the work to determine what homeowners in your area are really looking for. Create, optimize your content and then promote the heck out of what you create.

There’s going to be a lot of trial and error. Building your reputation won’t come over night. But with the right content, promotion and course-correction, you’ll be lightyears ahead of other realtors marketing content.

Use this information and all of the tools at your disposal. We know you want your content to give you a voice.

With the right strategy, it’ll be more like speaking through a megaphone.

Recent posts

The Complete Guide to Content Creation For Realtors

July 24, 2018

72 Rock Solid Real Estate Blogging Ideas With Examples

July 24, 2018

Notice of Build Deprecations Jan 1st 2019

July 2, 2018

The New Era of AgentFire is Here: Introducing the AF Visual Editor (and AF Listings 3.0!)

June 26, 2018

The post The Complete Guide to Content Creation For Realtors appeared first on AgentFire | Hyper Local Real Estate Websites.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/2Af46zw via IFTTT

[bestbusinesscoachessex]

Adam Stott cars The To Success Genuine Keys

" It's just what you discover when you think you know every little thing that counts one of the most in life."

Basketball Coach John Wooden

Just what's the "secret" behind effective local business owner? It's simple - they have a train. Most of us have unseen areas, especially when it concerns our organisation. Have you noticed just how simple it is to offer advice, but when it pertains to your life you cannot see the whole picture? Emotions can get in the way of explaining decisions.

That do you resort to when you need answers?

Do you operate your organisation from the highest level of thinking and also activity?

Do you feel you are doing all you can, but, it just isn't sufficient?

The old design of picking up from your blunders is not effective. It's as well pricey as well as time consuming. A solitary blunder could ruin you in today's quick paced company atmosphere. A train is an economical insurance coverage. Coaching is a profession that has synthesized the best from psychology, company, communication, mentoring, consulting, sports, viewpoint, spirituality, sports as well as financing. A coach tests you, and also supplies the tools, structure as well as assistance you need. A train attracts the solutions out of you and bridges the gap in between where you are and where you intend to go.

Why do business owners rely on instructors?

To get an objective perspective from a person who has no hidden agenda.

To have consistent framework, support and liability.

To make the most of and leverage every activity, financial investment as well as possibility in your life, while minimizing your effort and threats.

When a local business owner hires a trainer it shows strength and a determination to take obligation to grow themselves and also their organisation. Simply talking about your ideas, emotions, and also suggestions can create solutions. Numerous entrepreneur that continuously spin their organisations in their mind, drain themselves of the extremely energy needed to run their business with clearness. Jumping your worries and ideas with a coach that sees things outside the box that you operate from, can give obvious solutions.

Exactly what is a trainer?

Coaching is a career that has manufactured the best from psychology, organisation, interaction, mentoring, consulting, sports, approach, spirituality, sporting activities as well as money. A coach challenges you, and also provides the devices, framework as well as support you need. A train attracts the responses out of you as well as bridges the gap in between where you are and also where you intend to go. A trainer is like having a individual trainer for your life and organisation.

The 7 Secrets To Easy Success!

1. Identity Your Dish For Success.

What's the genuine distinction in between success as well as failing? Some people could suggest that it's having a great attitude, money, good luck or determination. The real difference is only one point - It's the capability to be constant. You can have a wonderful attitude or perseverance, however if you just have it a couple of days a week your life will certainly appear like a roller coaster. Real success is something you develop constantly. Just what's your dish for success? Determine the specifics of your successful days: Just what are you assuming? Exactly how do you walk? Just how are you breathing? What sort of people are around you? Are you taking care of your body? Did you exercise today? What sorts of food are you putting into your body to sustain you? All of these components begin the procedure ofidentifying your special recipe for success. When you have identified it, replicate it regularly to maintain an upward movement of quantifiable results.

2. Get rid of The Problems Of Life.

Experiencing is optional! Quit suffering, enduring as well as hoping. There's a huge addiction in our culture amongst business owners that's rarely acknowledged. It's the dependency to adrenaline. Adrenaline provides power. It's not the healthiest resource of power, but individuals will certainly do anything to get it. Adrenaline is a routine that creates an harmful way of living. Below are some symptoms of adrenaline:

Rushing around and managing as several jobs as possible all at once.

Speeding in your cars and truck.

Constantly looking at the clock.

Filing up your gas storage tank on empty.

Coffee

Sugar

Untidy workdesk with piles almost everywhere.

Never stating "no" to projects.

Over guaranteeing your results.

Adrenaline addiction runs widespread amongst business owners because the typical belief holds that adrenaline amounts to success. Gordon Bahary, president of Electric Kingdom Records made use of to run his life on adrenaline. "I made use of to develop circumstances that created adrenaline. I would consume alcohol coffee, consume sugar, obtain hyped, upset and excited greater than was required. I prepared my execution of jobs in an unpredictable style simply to obtain the adrenaline thrill. I depended on something exterior pressing me and used adrenaline to obtain with my day. Now I'm clear concerning my actual talents and draw authentic energy from within. I have time to stop and also assume and also acquired a love for my technique of not working on adrenaline."

The mystery of destination is - if you intend to accomplish more, do less. It's called irresistible attraction. By eliminating adrenaline you normally attract success, decrease stress, incorporate all facets of your life, streamline, and reorient around what makes you the happiest. What great is enhanced efficiency as well as profitability if you're not pleased?

3. Get Your Demands Met And Also Communicate Better.

It is very important to be clear concerning just what you require and also to communicate it elegantly. Requirements are not optional. It's just what you don't know concerning you that truly runs you. Unmet demands can run your life, till you determine them and take complete duty for satisfying them in healthy and balanced methods. Have the language you should manage battles. When individuals prevent confrontations their lives get unpleasant. When you have the abilities to communicate efficiently, you have top quality relationships as well as restore your integrity. Discover ways to find much better, pay attention, affect, trainer, inspire, influence as well as sustain others.

4. Develop Reserves.

Entrepreneur tend to run their business on the edge. They obtain so overtaken their ideas that they spend whatever right into their endeavors and want to make it occur all currently! Business owners tend to tire their books quicker and faster than other group of individuals, because they are innovative and create a lot of concepts that call for interest. The solution is to develop reserves in every area. You want to have sufficient to ensure that you are constantly operating from reserves. When you operate near empty you react to every scenario in life. With reserves you reply to life. When you respond you're always at option.

How do you construct gets? Begin by developing brand-new requirements of doubling every little thing, i.e time, money, possibilities, customers, friends, power, etc. Fill your gas storage tank when it's on half a storage tank as opposed to waiting up until it's on vacant. Buy two boxes of fax paper versus one. Hold loan in different book make up brand-new projects. State "no" more. Stop over appealing and begin to under pledge. Running with books make you a lot more appealing. Individuals will certainly gravitate to you as well as seek you bent on do business. With gets comes fewer errors, area to produce the future, time to do total job and the capability to keep honesty.

5. Job "On" Your Business Instead Of "In" It.

Insightful business owner's are wise not to work "IN" their company, yet know that actual loan as well as success originate from functioning "ON" their company. When you function "IN" your service you think like an staff member, do tasks that you can do that others should be doing, as well as job truly hard. When you function "ON" your business, you manage the work of others, you step back everyday to obtain a helicopter sight of where you're going and plan your company for long-term development.

It's very easy for brand-new business owners to obtain immersed and also eaten with their company. While it's important to recognize the best ways to run as well as run your service it is just as vital to quit as well as set up structures and also systems to make sure that any individual can do the work the same way. You're probably worth greater than your making. Why bill what you believe you deserve. Fee what others are billing. What other services and products can you market to your existing client's? Quit chasing, selling and also advertising your organisation as well as begin to effortlessly attract. The trick here is to have an exceptionally lucrative service. Concern all your expenses. Leverage your ability to enhance the economic bottom line, earn money, add even more worth to your clients, and boost performance. The key is to have cash instead of cash having you. Bear in mind the mission as well as fail to remember the compensation.

6. Get Rid Of All The Stuff In The Way

Get rid of the interruptions of issues, incompletions as well as tolerations and enhance efficiency. Every little thing you endure claims a piece of your imaginative as well as physical power. Tolerations drain you of the sources required for a successful business." Getting rid of my tolerations was the most releasing point I have actually ever done. I never recognized just how much energy was being drained from tolerations. Daily I strolled in and got frustrated at my unpleasant desk. Currently my desk is organized, I have more power to utilize on more important points, like growing my company." Claims Mike Schneider, president of Ki Sales.

What are incompletes and tolerations? The stacks you have in your office, tasks you intend to start, unfilled tax obligation receipts or forms, unread publications, lawful matters, the dent on your cars and truck, conversations you should have, and so on. Establish a strategy to resolve tolerations as well as framework a means to remove them completely. Just how? Determine as well as eliminate the cause of your tolerations, so they do not turn up once again. "I constantly look for ways to make my life simpler. When issues turns up I do not simply seek to solve them, I try to find solutions so the issues never ever resurface." Claims Pete Fioretti, president of Mountain Funding.

7. Discover Your Strengths and also Orient Your Service Around Them.

Just what are your staminas? Regrettably we find out as children to obtain good at the important things we are not good at. As an example, if you had a natural skill in art and also stopped working in mathematics, your parents would certainly employ you a math tutor instead of an art educator to embellish your innate strengths. When you invest your life trying to obtain proficient at points that do not come naturally to you, mediocrity is at finest exactly what you can anticipate. The secret trick to uncomplicated success is to recognize your staminas as well as skills as well as do just those things.

Jan Guarino, head of state of Guarino Video was battling with her growing service. She invested her time using every hat in her firm. By the end of the month revenues were not expanding. She lastly quit doing exactly what she didn't enjoy. She delegated the management, as well as took control of graphic design and sales, and her business profits more than increased.

If you are not certain just what your presents are, it could be difficult to uncover it yourself. How do you discover your staminas? Ask five individuals that know you well exactly what they believe your gifts are. Because discussion with them you'll uncover it.

Are You A Mentoring Candidate?

1. Do you spend your day producing fires?

2. Do you have any type of problems about your company going for maximum success?

3. Do you run your company on the edge?

4. Do the very same problems continuously resurface?

5. Do you have problem locating a person you trust that can offer you an unbiased perspective and also bounce concepts off of?

6. Is your organisation running you?

7. Do you find that you are unable making the most of all the possibilities in your life?

8. Do you experience roller coaster low and high in your company?

9. Do you have a only ranger way of life?

10. Do you enable your goals as well as objective to get sidetracked?

11. Do you lack having a clear, measurable activity plan to fulfill your objectives?

12. Do you lack framework?

13. Do you lack internal fulfillment?

14. Do you spend a lot of your day working "in" your organisation rather than "on" it?

15. Are you a workaholic?

16. Are you experiencing a lack of balance in your life as well as service?

17. Are you devoted to expanding on your own as well as your business?

18. Are you coachable? (Are you willing to listen to and also act on one more's person's perspective?).

19. Do you lack a clear economic prepare for your future?

20. Are you happy to be truthful and restore your integrity?

* If you responded to yes to more than three of these questions you could benefit from a coach.

Adam Stott business