#I was playing Skyrim this week and I remembered a story. In short

[koldusek]

It's been a long week. I didn't do much except play the games

[boonasaurusrex]

Hhhh I have oc brainrot and this is my house so I'm going to say things about it

(Long post below)

So, I've posted before about Anna and Juni and the thing about them is that they have no cannon. I made Anna to fight off the monsters from horror shows I was too young to watch and Juni because I was uncomfortable putting Anna through any horrors.

What I posted last week on sts was my ongoing attempt to force them into a coherent canon but I almost don't like it? It's a little hollow and almost doesn't fit the underlying core of the characters I have in my brain.

Why not use the progression they went through as I grew up? I insert them into *everything*, that's why I struggle to obsess over fandom characters, because my special-est guys are already there.

To make it short, I was obsessed with Oblivion growing up and Anna was part of the Dark Brotherhood.

(Juni is still nebulous at this point so we're focusing on her)

(If anyone has not played through the DB quest of Oblivion and would like a rundown, I would be so happy to talk about my favorite part of my favorite video game)

I like to think that she still watched her bio-dad (Matthew) "die" and then teleported to Cyrodil, where she immediately stumbles upon/is contacted by/interacts with somehow Lucien and latches onto him like a baby duckling.

She THRIVES in the Dark Brotherhood. This is why the solider story doesn't fit for me, because as much as she and I both want her to be a good person, a *hero*, she is not. She is someone who gleefully decapitates a guy in an alley and then goes home to brag about it to her buddies.

She is not the player in this AU. I like to think she and the player have a mirrored track, joining at the same time and being spared from the Cheydinal masacre.

(I like to think she was sent off to Skyrim or just the other side of the map for a contract, all happy (LEGITIMATELY the happiest she has ever been or will be again) and then comes home to nearly her entire family in pieces on the ground, and she CANT BE MAD AT THE GUY WHO DID IT)

She latches on even harder to Lucien at that point. One thing that's been constant is that she is someone who leaves claw marks in things. Never letting them go.

She and the player are both put on the dead drop system, and I like to imagine she notices that the higher ups are getting murdered, but Lucien is already off trying to solve that problem so she's on her own.

(Also PLEASE ask me my thoughts on how Obsidian handled that quest/reveal, I love it so much)

She's always one step behind both the player and Lucien, though she's in the players spot when she busts into Applewatch.

Just in time to see the remaining leaders deliver the final blow to Lucien's mutilated, nearly unrecognizable body.

"Hey! We found the traitor! Isn't that wonderful? Aren't you happy!"

I feel like describing it takes away the impact, so let's say that she locks the door behind them and emerged several hours later, coat a darker shade of black.

(At least two of those hours were dedicated to sobbing over Luciens' corpse and then stabbing the player's several hundred more times)

Technically the Brotherhood limps on from Applewatch, slowly growing into what it is in Skyrim, but for me it ended there. She killed it. The Final Listener.

I remember crying about this to my sister and her going "well that's what happens when you join the murder cult".

I think Anna internalized that. This happened because of the darkness. This happened because you weren't good enough to save them.

Maybe if I am good.

Maybe if I save people.

Maybe if I'm a hero.

Maybe I can save them all.

~~~

I have more but this post is long enough lmao. Send me a message if you want to talk about your ocs with mine (or just want to talk, I'm very friendly)

[umbracirrus]

HEHEHE A, K, Q, AND S for the ask game please!!

Thank you!!! 😊

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

I think that I'll answer this for my two posted fics about Elyse hehe.

The Perfect Storm - the plot in very simple terms is 'poor Elyse aand Balgruuf keep having all sorts of stuff getting stirred up, and they are going to come out of it in one of two ways: worn down and ruined, or stronger than ever having withstood the storm'. In hindsight that would've been an awesome description with a little tweaking of the wording.

Seeking the Sun - I liked the weather motif which I have established with The Perfect Storm, and had not long been listening to the Fire Emblem Three Houses soundtrack. The main theme started playing, and the lyrics 'I look to you like a red rose seeking the sun no matter where it goes' kind of just stuck with me. It also fits quite nicely with the general plot, in that Elyse has just moved to Skyrim to find a new happiness in her life after the losses of her parents.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Ohhh that is absolutely the post-Oblivion main quest story which I have kind of on the backburner that I started writing a few months back based around one of my Heroes of Kvatch, Aelia.

In short, she and Martin fall for each other, they promise to get married once the Oblivion crisis is over, and then he goes and sacrifices himself. She's overcome with grief, refuses to leave Cloud Haven Temple... then makes an unfortunate discovery that Martin wouldn't have been the last of the Septim line, because she was pregnant with his child. And that leads to a long, spiralling path into the madness which results in her ending up as Sheogorath.

Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?

Hmmm, I do have a storyline which I'm not certain if I have discarded yet, but had been toying around with the idea of...

An arranged marriage between the Thieves Guild guildmaster Dragonborn, and Hemming Black-Briar, which comes about as a form of... insurance to keep the guild firmly in Maven's hands once the guild starts trying to distance itself from her manipulations. It gets forced into place by Hemming hiring people to sabotage the guild, and then placing the idea into Maven's head so that he could 'have' the Dragonborn, though the Dragonborn was actually in a relationship with one of Brynjolf or Karliah when it comes to pass.

I did have a plot point written down in the first outlines for The Perfect Storm which has since been discarded in favour of something else, and funnily enough, it also has to do with Riften. Elyse and Balgruuf were originally going to get married in secret at the Temple of Mara if anything to give Elyse greater securities that could only really be afforded to Jarls and their families, as well as to give her some breathing room from everything going on... but it ended up very badly timed, as Ulfric just so happened to be visiting Riften on official Stormcloak business with Jarl Laila. I've since remembered that Season Unending was a Thing, and Riften is now in Imperial hands in the fic so I scrapped that idea in favour of another.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I certainly have a few. There was only one bed is definitely one of them, as is pretend relationships that become real ones. As is enemies to lovers, there's all sorts of flavours to that! I mean, Elyse's parents theoretically are an enemies to lovers couple, in that Ingja perceived Edwyn as an enemy, her being a resident of Winterhold and him being a member of the College and her blaming him and the College for Winterhold falling apart.

I also love some AUs, specifically ones which have just a slight twist to what is typical. For example, a few weeks back in September/October, I was very into the concept of 'what if Balgruuf was a vampire' AU. Still not finished that. Maybe for next halloween... I also like the thought of 'what if they weren't Dragonborn/didn't find out that they were Dragonborn' AUs for my Dragonborn characters.

[demifiendrsa]

Microsoft has announced that it has acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion.

Bethesda Softworks is the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane Studios, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios, and owns major franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Prey, Quake, Starfield, and more. 

Comments from each party:

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox

Today is a special day, as we welcome some of the most accomplished studios in the games industry to Xbox. We are thrilled to announce Microsoft has entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks.

As one of the largest, most critically acclaimed, privately held game developers and publishers in the world, Bethesda is an incredibly talented group of 2,300 people worldwide who make up some of the most accomplished creative studios in our industry across Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios. These are the teams responsible for franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Prey, Quake, Starfield, and many more.

Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world. Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game to the original Xbox, the groundbreaking The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Over the years I’ve had many deep conversations with the creative leaders at Bethesda on the future of gaming and we’ve long shared similar visions for the opportunities for creators and their games to reach more players in more ways.

Just as they took the bold first steps to bring The Elder Scrolls franchise to the original Xbox, Bethesda were early supporters of Xbox Game Pass, bringing their games to new audiences across devices and have been actively investing in new gaming technology like cloud streaming of games. We will be adding Bethesda’s iconic franchises to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC. One of the things that has me most excited is seeing the roadmap with Bethesda’s future games, some announced and many unannounced, to Xbox console and PC including Starfield, the highly anticipated, new space epic currently in development by Bethesda Game Studios.

Like us, Bethesda are passionate believers in building a diverse array of creative experiences, in exploring new game franchises, and in telling stories in bold ways. All of their great work will of course continue and grow and we look forward to empowering them with the resources and support of Microsoft to scale their creative visions to more players in new ways for you.

All of our work, and the foundation of our relationship with you, starts with a commitment to deliver a breadth of amazing games to discover and play on Xbox. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to share more detail on important elements of a plan we’ve been building towards for years. A plan that is the fulfilment of a promise, to you the Xbox player, to deliver the most performant, immersive and compatible next-generation gaming experiences, and the freedom to play blockbuster games with your friends, anytime, anywhere. Today is a landmark step in our journey together and I’m incredibly energized by what this step means for Xbox.

Please join me in welcoming all of our friends at Bethesda to Team Xbox.

Pete Hines, Bethesda Softworks

Today we announced we’re joining the Microsoft family.

And if you haven’t had a chance to read what Phil Spencer and Todd Howard shared in their posts this morning, be sure to check them both out. When you work at a place as long as I’ve worked at Bethesda—just a month short of 21 years—you see some things. Chief amongst them is change. When I started, Bethesda was not much more than a handful of people. The team working on Morrowind fit in a couple of offices, and there were probably six or seven of us spread across everything else.

Bethesda Softworks, our parent company ZeniMax Media, and our many internal studios, now employ thousands of talented people working in publishing offices and development studios around the world. We’ve gone from one internal studio to many; from a focus on single-player fantasy RPGS to developing massive MMOs, first person shooters, and everything in between. The world, our industry, and our company has changed a lot in the 34 years since Bethesda Softworks was first founded. Today, it changed again. And I know that brings up questions.

But the key point is we’re still Bethesda. We’re still working on the same games we were yesterday, made by the same studios we’ve worked with for years, and those games will be published by us.

So why the change? Because it allows us to make even better games going forward. Microsoft is an incredible partner and offers access to resources that will make us a better publisher and developer. We believe that means better games for you to play. Simply put—we believe that change is an important part of getting better. We believe in pushing ourselves to be better. To innovate. To grow.

And, we have a long history of working with Microsoft. Our companies share many of the same basic principles. We believe in a culture that values passion, quality, collaboration, and innovation. When I think back to the first time we decided to shift from being a PC-only developer and make Morrowind for the original Xbox, it was a move that countless people said would never work…nobody on consoles wanted a game that big and complex. But Microsoft believed in us and so did you. And now RPGs of all shapes and sizes are hugely successful on consoles.

Yes, it’s a big change for us, but after taking a minute to absorb the magnitude of this acquisition, we’re going to continue doing what we know and love: making great games. We’re going to keep trying new things. We’re going to take the same passion we’ve poured into what we do, and the passion that our community brings to the things we make, and do even better.

And soon the conversation will move on from this deal to talking about our games again. And I can get back to answering the questions that get us all excited. Tell me more about Deathloop. When can I see more Ghostwire? What’s coming in Q4 for The Elder Scrolls Online? I want to see more of the DOOM Eternal DLC. WHEN THE HELL WILL YOU TELL ME ABOUT STARFIELD? I’m excited for those conversations and look forward to talking to you about all of that—and much, much more—-in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

I believe in the people I work with. I believe in the company we have created together. I believe in the communities that have formed around the games we make. And I believe today’s announcement is just the next in a long line of changes in our history that will lead to bigger and better games for all of us.

Pete Hines SVP, Global Marketing and Communications

Todd Howard, Bethesda Softworks

I have been incredibly blessed to spend my entire career at, and help build, one of the best places to make games in the world—Bethesda.

And I’ve had the joy of doing it with some of the most talented, humble, and passionate people there are. They are part of my family, and my good friends. I have also had the pleasure of working with, and partnering with, many of the best gaming and tech companies in the world. But our longest, and closest partner during my career, has been Microsoft.

Today we join them, and I wanted to share some personal thoughts on what it means and our shared vision.

The trajectory of Xbox, and the trajectory of Bethesda, in many ways have gone hand in hand.

From our beginning, we had primarily been a PC developer. In 1999, two things happened. One, Bethesda became part of a brand-new startup—ZeniMax Media. And Microsoft started development of their first video game console—the Xbox. I can remember my first trip to Redmond to discuss the new system and bringing our next game, Morrowind, to the Xbox.

I was dubious Xbox Morrowind would be worth the time, somewhat on a technical level, but more so from taking a hardcore RPG and moving it from a PC desktop experience to a controller-and-sofa experience. If we made it work, would people want it?

Microsoft and their new Xbox crew had a view, that I came to share completely. Shouldn’t we allow anyone to have this experience? Why does it matter where the screen is or what the controller is? There are many people without the same access, and we can bring it to them.

Morrowind would go on to become one of the best-selling Xbox games of all time, behind Halo, another PC style game some said wouldn’t work. Its success paved the way for the growth of our company, and proved the point – people wanted this experience, regardless of device.

Microsoft quickly let us in on their next system, the Xbox 360. More than a PC port, our aim with our next game, Oblivion, was to usher in the next generation of gaming. With each game, from Fallout 3 to Skyrim, our studio and company grew, adding brilliant and like-minded studios across the globe. All of us sharing in the belief that expanding the reach of gaming was fundamental, whether it was on a pc, console, your phone, or the cloud.

With each new console cycle, we evolved together. From bringing mods to consoles with Fallout 4, now over a billion downloads, to the latest technologies fueling Xbox Series X/S. These new systems are optimized for the vast worlds we love to create, with generational leaps not just in graphics, but CPU and data streaming as well. It’s led to our largest engine overhaul since Oblivion, with all new technologies powering our first new IP in 25 years, Starfield, as well as The Elder Scrolls VI.

Like our original partnership, this one is about more than one system or one screen. We share a deep belief in the fundamental power of games, in their ability to connect, empower, and bring joy. And a belief we should bring that to everyone—regardless of who you are, where you live, or what you play on. Regardless of the screen size, the controller, or your ability to even use one.

We can’t think of a better group of people to do that with than those at Xbox. We have friendships that go back to those original days. From Phil to his senior leaders to developer support, they don’t just talk about putting players first, they passionately live it.

At Bethesda, we’ve been lucky enough to create games we love, and have an audience who loves them as much as we do. I have personally been humbled by the many industry honors I have received, as they belong to the entire studio. But one has always stood out to me for a special reason. When I received the Lifetime Achievement Award at GDC, I joked in my acceptance “I wonder how many achievement points this one is worth?” At the end of the ceremony, some good friends from Microsoft congratulated me and said they’d find out. A few months later I was given a code to a game they had created, named after me and locked to my account. When ran, it unlocks a single achievement – “Lifetime – 1000pts.” It still sits in my list when I check, and I smile every time.

It has been a lifetime. But there’s more to come and achievements to unlock together. We hope you join us.

All the best, Todd

Todd Howard Bethesda Game Studios

[nightinngales]

Dear gays and fans of Skyrim in general... 

Ever wanted a real slowburn fanfic for Serana/Female Dragonborn? Perhaps a fic that addresses Serana’s trauma and builds a relationship naturally over time?

Vigilance is an epic length novelization with F!DB/Serana as the main ship - wherein their relationship progresses organically, and Serana’s traumatic backstory is not sidestepped or ignored. 

Currently at over 470k altogether, there are 6 full acts or “books” available within the Vigilance series of varying lengths, with the 7th act currently in progress and updated regularly. 

Some links to get you started: 

Vigilance wiki: A more in-depth look at the series including relevant lore, timeline, current progress on the series, and character blurbs. Spoilers up to the end of act 5. Updated sporadically. 

Vigilance Series landing page: The series on AO3 - you can find all the links for each work here, or continue below the cut for a more in-depth explanation of the series. Updated regularly, usually at least 1-2 times per week.

Not a fan of Skyrim? Never played it? Vigilance is written in a way where it can be enjoyed regardless of your knowledge of the Elder Scrolls franchise. My so-called “beta” hasn’t played Skyrim and she’s more pushy about me updating than most lol. So, if you’ve never played Skyrim but want to read about a vampire lesbian? Try it out anyways, you might like it.

For more regular updates on progress, you can follow me here on tumblr.

This post may be updated on occasion with new information or mod credits below the cut.

About:

The series itself is broken into acts, which each follow a particular segment of the Dragonborn’s life. These acts can be further bundled into Arcs. So far, I would say there are three major “Arcs” of the story, broken up into the separate acts, not including the prologue. 

Vigilant Arc - Acts II - V: This arc of the story is, essentially, the first half of the series. Beginning with the prologue, the Vigilant arc covers Eres’ journey as a Vigilant of Stendarr, the Dawnguard DLC (and Serana), and finishes with her retirement as a Vigilant. Wordcount: ~316k, completed. 

Dragonborn Arc - Acts VI - VIII: This arc is currently in progress, and covers Eres stepping into her role as Dragonborn. This will include the main quest as well as the Dragonborn DLC. Currently we are on Act VII. Current wordcount: ~155k, ongoing. 

Final Arc - Act IX: Currently in the concept phase. This will cover what happens once Eres has stepped into her destiny as Dragonborn and fulfilled her role. Essentially - this is the end of the fic, and will serve to tie up loose ends and provide a nice ending to the series. ...For now. :)

Total current wordcount: ~471k, with around 2.5 acts remaining. The full series may reach somewhere between 6-700k - which will put it around the length of the entire LOTR series. 

Why the fuck is it so long? 

There’s three main reasons for this. 

1: I love slowburn fics, so when I say slowburn - I mean slowburn. 

2: Vigilance isn’t just about the pairing. In fact, Serana does not even enter the story until Act 3, where Eres tackles the Dawnguard questline. As the fic continues forward from there, obviously Serana becomes a secondary main character and is just as important as Eres, but I didn’t want to just start the fic with the pairing and leave it at that. I wanted it to be a journey, from beginning to end, from Eres’ arrival in Skyrim, to meeting Serana and falling for her, to facing her destiny as Dragonborn, and so on and so forth. 

3: Most importantly, I have read a lot of Serana/fem!DB fics, and to be clear I am not disparaging any of them. There are some incredibly talented authors out there who have written some of my favorites. But there is one thing that I always wanted from a fic for Serana/DB, and it was something that I hadn’t seen: An indepth handling of Serana’s trauma, front and center, showing how it affects her and how she might heal from it through love. As a survivor myself, this was an issue that was deeply important to me, and I was disappointed that even some of my favorite fics in the fandom had not addressed it more deeply. So I started writing Vigilance, and here we are nearly 500k later. 

That’s why I wanted to write this. I wanted to show, through my fic, a relationship developing between two people who are broken in different ways, and how they might come together, help each other heal, and lift each other up. The pairing of Serana and Eres, for me, is meant to be an ideal, something to aim for. With Eres’ help, and those around her, Serana will work through the issues she has due to her trauma. She will recover, and heal, and find the happiness she feels she doesn’t deserve. 

I hope, reading this, that maybe you take a bit of time out of your day to give it a chance. I know it’s long. I know it’s a hell of a thing to look at a fic that’s nearly 500k and decide to try reading through it all even knowing it’s not finished yet. But give it a chance... you might find that 500k doesn’t seem long enough once you catch up. 

CREDITS: 

Vigilance is a series that follows a modded playthrough of Skyrim. As such, I could not have written this fic without the following mods which provided the inspiration. 

VIGILANT LE / SE : Provides the basis for the Vigilant arc within the series. The basic plot of both Act 2 and Act 5 are based upon this mod. Please download and drop an endorsement, for this fic would not have been possible without the work of Vicn which it is based upon. Note: it requires an English addon if you plan to play it with voice acting, which can be found here: LE / SE 

LC BUILD YOUR NOBLE HOUSE LE / SE: Fellburg, Eres’ estate within Falkreath, is based upon this player home mod by Locaster. Highly recommend either this or LC Feudal Keep if you would like an idea of what the estate is supposed to look like, though the Keep mod is located near Loreius Farm instead of Falkreath. (However, the “Build your own” version needs to be built, obviously, whereas the Feudal Keep version is plug and play.) 

INIGO LE / SE: This companion mod by smartbluecat is one of the most life-like on the nexus, with thousands of lines of dialogue and quest and location-awareness. Inigo makes his first appearance in Act IV. I would highly recommend him if you’re looking for a game-long companion. 

Serana and Claire LE / SE: This is more of a cosmetic thing, but this mod is replacer I use for Serana to make her appearance mesh better with the other NPC appearance mods I use (such as WICO, Bijin etc). It’s close enough to her default that it doesn’t feel like a complete replacement. I use the Thorns (short hair) version with the Glowing red eyes option, pictured above. 

Mods that have been mentioned: 

Darkend LE / SE: This is only mentioned in passing by Mirabelle in act 3, where she references a cursed shipwreck to the north. More of an easter egg than anything else, but still well worth playing if you like. 

More to be added later as I remember them, I’m sure. 

[varricmancer]

Intertwined | 3

*** Cross-posted on AO3 ***

Pairing: Farkas x F!OC

Summary: A child of Mara was a soul blessed and bound to it’s mate for all eternity. Elizabeth Williams is summoned to Mara as a lost soul, only she’s from modern America and her mate is somewhere in the wilds of Skyrim.

A/N: This is super short, I know, but I wanted to put out something for you guys. Things have been hectic in my life and I've been working 13+ hours six days a week for a while now so I'm pretty much in a constant state of exhaustion. I hope you're all staying healthy and safe. I'll try to have the next part out very soon!P.S. I know that in ESO they've said 'Hell' quite often, but that's always bothered me. Why would they call it hell? That is a Christian-based earth word, or whatever, and it just seemed strange to include it. So I'm fighting against the ESO writers lmao.

***

“Ralof, I think your friend here is finally awake!”

Elizabeth groaned as she came to and registered that she hurt everywhere. The worst of the pain seemed to be on her leg since she’d flexed it a little to try to move and the pain was sharp and agonizing.

“Easy there,” a woman’s voice eased her to awareness as she opened her eyes, meeting the blue ones of a blonde Nord woman leaning over her.

“Please don’t be frightened. My brother Ralof and your elf companion brought you here after you were attacked by the dragon. You’ll heal, but your leg suffered a little in the fall and your skin was badly burned. You will be well enough to walk in a couple of days, and then I suggest heading to a shrine to see if it will help.”

Elizabeth grimaced as she tried to respond and found her throat dry and sore.

“Ah, you must be thirsty. You’ve been asleep for almost two days.”

She accepted a wooden cup of water and tried to drink as gracefully as she could, despite her shaking hands and parched throat. When she finally had her fill, she handed the cup back to the woman sitting on the edge of the wooden bed.

Looking around, she tried to take stock of her situation. She was laid up in a rustic wooden bed, covered in what looked like a bunch of animal skins. The house was very warm and just as rustic as the bed - all wood and furs, with a huge fireplace taking up most of the space. It looked pretty much how she’d always imagined a witch's cottage would be like, with all the herbs and flowers hanging from the ceiling and potions lining the shelves.

She peeked at the woman in the bed with her, trying to get a good look without seeming rude. She was pretty enough, although years of living in the probably unforgiving northern climate had definitely left its mark, as well as a few scars that were probably smallpox if this place was indeed real. She imagined this must be Gerdur, meaning the dark elf had chosen to follow Ralof home to Riverwood.

The front door of the cabin opens and dirty Kurt - or Ralof, rather - stomps inside, smiling generously at her as he nears the bed and looks her over.

“Awake at last? You had us all worried for a moment there, girl. I’ve sent my nephew Frodnar to get Sundrose. He’s been helping the merchants with a task. He’ll be here soon.”

As though speaking his name had summoned him, Sundrose slammed the cabin door open and jogged to the bedside, seemingly unaware of the fact that he totally elbowed Ralof and Gerdur out of the way. He was panting as though he’d run the entire way and scanning her face frantically.

“Are you alright? Aware? How many fingers am I holding up?”

Elizabeth snorts at the Dark Elf. “None.”

He looks down at his hands as if he were amazed that they were still against his sides.

“Ah,” he cleared his throat. “Apologies. We weren’t sure you were going to make it for a moment. It’s been some time since anyone had experience with dragon wounds.”

“I’m a bit sore and my leg is throbbing like hell, but I think I’ll be okay.”

He looked momentarily confused, as though he was trying to figure out her meaning before he finally shrugged and sighed.

“That’s good. Very good. I’ve finished some tasks around here and made enough coin to get us to Whiterun as soon as you think you are able to travel. It’s not that far - perhaps three days if we make good time? Gerdur’s husband Hod has very kindly offered to drive us up there in his wagon to make it easier on your injuries.”

“Us? You’re taking me with you?” Honestly, she hadn’t really let herself think too much in-depth about where the hell she actually was, but her first instinct had told her the elf would simply leave her here to be Ralof’s problem and run off to be the Dragonborn.

“Well, yes. I...erm...could we perhaps be in private for a moment? I promise your belongings are safe, I merely wish to speak with my friend if I could?”

Gerdur glances between the two of them and waits for Elizabeth’s nod of affirmation before herding her brother towards the door.

“We’ll be right outside. Holler if you need us,” Gerdur says with a nod, closing the door softly behind her.

Sundrose sighs and settles more comfortably in his chair before turning that intense crimson gaze on her.

“Before we were captured, do you remember where you were?”

Elizabeth chewed her lip as she contemplated how much to tell the man. Would he believe her more about her talk of the future or being in Mara’s garden? Should she play it safe and say she’d just arrived from High Rock?

His full lips turned up on the side, a little dimple showing as he slowly grinned.

“Were you in an ostentatiously decorated garden? Perhaps speaking with a creature claiming to be Mara?”

“Yes!” Elizabeth exclaims, leaning towards him in excitement. “Were you there too? Are you... him ?”

“By ‘Him’ I assume you mean your soulmate?” He asks slowly, shrugging as he turns to stare at the wall in thought. He strokes his shadowed chin, humming.

“I...don’t know, to be quite honest. Not a phrase I like using very often. I was there with you - I remember feeling you, seeing flashes of your face and the face of someone else. I remember thinking that your soul felt...familiar. Which is a very odd thought to have about a soul. I would say yes based on that information alone, but there was another…”

“Another face, you said?”

He nods thoughtfully. “Like yours but different. I don’t know. It was very fogged over like Mara didn’t want me to get a good look. Perhaps a you from another life?” He shrugs. “At the very least, I know that when we were returned to ground that I immediately felt protective of you as soon as I saw you lying there unconscious. Before I could really think too much about it, the Imperials appeared and threw us in the wagon.”

“So all the evidence points to us being something. Maybe soulmates, but also maybe not?” Elizabeth huffs and flaps back against the wall. “This is so confusing. And a lot less romantic than I’d thought it would be to meet the future love of my life.”

He laughs, a low and smooth chuckle that was...elegant? Can laughs be elegant?

“Terribly sorry. At least there’s a chance you won’t have to deal with me then. I’m not a very romantic fellow to begin with, I’m afraid. The dramatics tend to become tedious after the first hundred years or so.”

Elizabeth’s jaw drops. She’d forgotten about the way races aged differently here. “How old are you?”

Sundrose quirks an eyebrow. “Terribly rude to ask that, little one, but I’ll tell you. I’m 214. Fairly young still, among my people. And of course, my soulmate has to be a human that is a veritable infant,” Sundrose drawls, his slight mischievous smirk softening the teasing words.

“Hey, I just turned 30! In human years, I’m ancient!”

“Forgive me, crone,” he mocked, bowing slightly.

Elizabeth snorted, then adjusted her aching leg with a sigh.

“When did you want to leave?”

He shrugged. “Whenever you think you can handle it. We need to warn the Jarl about the dragon, so as soon as can be arranged is preferable. If it’s much longer we’ll have to send someone ahead of us.”

She shook her head and squared her shoulders. “Let's go today.”

“Today?” he asked incredulously, “You just barely have regained consciousness. I hardly think you should be going on a journey at the moment.”

“No,” she shook her head. “The sooner we get there, the better. You need to talk to the Jarl, and I would like to get to a healer or one of those altar things. This hurts like hell.”

“You say that a lot. Hell. What is that?”

“Oh, its...like oblivion, I guess? It’s where bad people go when they die...or something. It’s what a lot of people believe. Never really believed in that stuff myself, but it makes a hell of a curse word,” she grins.

He looks at her thoughtfully for a few moments before he finally asks, “You’re not even from here, are you? Where did she take you from?”

And there’s the magic question.

“Apparently my soul is from here, but it was stolen? I’m still not quite clear on that. I grew up in Arizona, a state in America. On, well, planet Earth. A place that is...way far in the future and, like, on a whole ‘nother...universe? Plane? Realm? I don’t know. Very different from here, I can tell you that much.”

“And she just picked you up and deposited you in a strange land with just the clothes on your back to correct her own mistakes,” he added, his eyes hardening. “I despise the daedra,” he scoffs angrily.

“At least I’m not going into this completely blind, just, ya know, poor and homeless,” she chuckles. “In my world, Skyrim is a...tale? Legend? Not sure how to describe it to you, but I know the basic story of this land and what's to come.”

“Do you?” Sundrose responds, leaning back and looking at her curiously.

“Mhmm. In fact, I know that when you went to help Lucan get his claw back, you came across a wall. A wall that taught you a word in another language that you were somehow able to understand. You also found a tablet with this same language written on it.”

“I haven’t told anyone about that yet. I was going to wait and talk to the court wizard when we got to Whiterun. Your stories told you about me?”

She bit her lip, unsure of how much to divulge. “Yes, a bit. You’re about to save Skyrim, Sundrose.”

He stared at her with growing horror on his handsome face.

“Gods’ grief!”

***

[gamesception]

So the Outer Worlds port finally came out on the switch a couple weeks ago, which is what I had been waiting for to give it a try.  Beat my first play through yesterday.  And... honestly?  I kind of expected better.  Like, a lot better.

Not getting into the technical side, since I’d have no idea how to separate the stuff that was Obsidian’s fault from stuff that was Virtuous’s fault from stuff that just comes down to the Switch itself.  Also because technical stuff doesn’t affect my own experience overmuch - I can’t easily spot the difference between 30fps and 60fps unless someone points it out to me, and as long as a game is at least on par with, like, the ps2 era graphically then it looks good to me - though I will say the game crashed twice while I was playing it AND I had a random quest breaking companion death bug that by the time I noticed it I only barely had a save far enough back that I was able to fix it, and the game performed badly enough docked that even I gave up on playing it on the tv and just went with handheld....

But again, I’m not overly concerned with the technical end and wouldn’t necessarily blame obsidian for the shortcomings of the switch port anyway.  But where the game was disappointing was in areas that I was sure Obsidian would deliver in - an immersive world with believable and engaging factions and societies, interesting and well written quest lines and npcs, a main story with something compelling to say and a lot of opportunities for subtle role playing.  The stuff that New Vegas did so much better than Fallout 3, or that KotOR 2 did so much better than KotOR 1.  Stuff that the reviews around the time of the game’s release on other platforms all praised the Outer Worlds for.

And that’s.... like...  I mean, Outer Worlds isn’t terrible, I enjoyed my time with it more than I didn’t, but wow I expected more.  The game is short, the explore-able areas are relatively small, and, like, it’s really really dumb in a lot of exactly the same ways that people complain about Bethesda Fallout games - token quests that just have you following a quest marker around mindlessly, never getting to work anything out for yourself.  Settlements that don’t make sense, npcs and villains that feel like goofy dumb jokes rather than communities of people, random respawning groups of the same handful of enemy types with no integration into the world - the game’s raiders have no motivations, outposts, or place in the world like those of New Vegas, they’re just enemy spawns to give you something to shoot.

The world just doesn’t work.  Like, I get it, corporations bad, I even agree in principle, but there’s no depth to it, just a surface level, cartoonish reiteration of the idea.  It doesn’t get at WHY corporations are bad.  In Outer Worlds they’re just bad because they’re dumb and incompetent and pointlessly cruel.  Nothing about systemic lack of accountability or profit motive.  The game even just shoves a couple arbitrary human villains in at the end so that you have a generic bad guy that you can kill to magically fix everything.

And the segregated design of the world - instead of one big wasteland like fallout games there’s a bunch of smaller regions you space ship between like a KotOR or Mass Effect game - means nothing you do in one area or quest line seems to meaningfully impact or even just tie into anything going on anywhere else.  There’s a faction system like New Vegas, but the factions feel pointless and paper thin.

The only ethical/story choices in the game are between factions, and there’s always a pretty obvious “right” answer.  Do you side with the company town full of innocent people, or do you side with the outsiders who just want to be free even if that freedom comes at the cost of an entire town of innocent people?  Or do you want take the obviously best option milquetoast moderate liberal “both sides” option where you easily resolve the differences between the two sides by getting rid of the one individual bad man who is actually to blame for whatever’s going wrong?  That exact situation is repeated twice.  Then do you want to side with the board who are literally killing everyone through wilful incompetence or do you want to side with everyone else because literally nobody actually likes or depends on the corporate board?  The choices presented to you are as cartoonish and reductive as anything you could point to in any of the Bethesda games that Obsidian fans like to complain about.

Some of the companions are ok, Parvati is endearing enough, and there’s a bit of biowaresque banter between them while walking about which I like, but their quest lines, like pretty much all quest lines in the game, are pretty short and largely perfunctory fetch quests, and once they’re done the companions have literally nothing left to say to you.  Just as you get close to them they stop being characters altogether, and are reduced down to ‘attack that enemy’ buttons.

The game play was... like bare minimum passable, and way way too easy.  As with the quest lines, the game play seems to be idiot-proofed at the expense of all challenge.  There’s a neat infiltration mechanic idea, but those segments are all but impossible to fail if you aren’t trying to do so.  Combat likewise was way too easy, at least for the default stealthy long gun character I typically make in these sorts of games.  Enemy AI is pretty bad and rubber banding is super noticeable.  There’s multiple difficulty levels, but hard mode didn’t fix the problem and ‘supernova’ mode comes with a bunch of obnoxious survival busywork, plus the companions can be perma-killed, and since their AI is as bad as the enemies that would lead to me never taking them out of the ship, which would mean missing out on the party banter which is one of the few bits I was enjoying in the game, so I didn’t even bother trying it.

Skill checks are present but almost always too easy to distinguish character build decisions, and even when they are, bypassing checks by other means is always so trivial that it’s not even worth the quick travel jump back to your ship to respec - which you can do at any time.  If there’s a hard lock pick blocking anything important then there’s always an alternative computer hack, or a nearby pass key, or a room with a couple enemies that can be easily stealthed past, or even more easily killed, or some other alternative path never more than a room away.  The only thing that seems to be blocked by actually hard checks are more loot, and this game throws so much loot and ammo and medpacks at you that missing out on some never matters.

None of that would be a huge problem if the game’s story and world had more depth.  The game play coasts by on the bare minimum, but for an rpg of this type that would be absolutely fine, if the story and quests and setting weren’t *also* coasting by on the bare minimum.  That ‘bare minimum’ bit is highlighted by the game’s overall length, which is really pretty short.  I did every side quest I came across naturally, collected all the companions and did their quests, and capped my character level before going to the final mission, but that still capped out at well under 20 hours of play time, and a lot of that was spent backtracking back and forth over the same few areas with the same copy and re-pasted respawning enemy groups.

The whole thing isn’t, like, actively bad, I’m coming across as too negative here.  Again, I mostly enjoyed my time while I was playing it, and the relative lack of these sorts of games on the Switch means I don’t feel like I wasted my money on this one.  I *did* play it all the way through instead of just losing interest a few hours in.  I’ll probably play it through once more at some point in the future, a no companions, supernova difficulty run maybe, and I’ll probably enjoy that well enough.  And I guess maybe that makes Outer Worlds look good compared to recent Bethesda efforts, which I’ve either avoided entirely (76, mobile garbage), or lost interest in and stopped playing a few hours in (4).  Maybe that explains some of the overwhelming praise of the game I remember from when it first came out.  But I wouldn’t say it’s even on par with slightly older Bethesda fare like Fallout 3 or Skyrim.  And to the extent that the game’s world structure and focus on companions calls to mind Bioware games like the original Dragon Age or Mass Effect, Outer Worlds falls notably short there as well.  Most painfully, when it comes to the core elements that made previous Obsidian games like New Vegas or KotOR2 great, Outer Worlds doesn’t even come close.  Hardly even seems to try.  And if you’re comparing Outer Worlds to those games instead of to Fallout 76, I don’t really see how you could see it as anything other than a disappointment.

[imaginingthebands]

More Than You Know Chapter 2

PERSPHONE’S POV

We parked and got into the elevator. It was a twenty minute drive to the hotel, but we had stopped for food before hand so it was pretty late now. “Hey! Lets go swimming!” Rose said. As we walked down the hall to our room I was trying to figure out which swimsuit I wanted to wear. I dug through my bag and found the black and purple bikini I was looking for. It was very sexy, it looked like lingerie almost with the bits of lace on it. I was in the mood to feel good about myself. I hadn’t thought about a single bad thing all day and I wasn’t about to start now. We quickly changed and walked down to the elevator. “I love the detail in yours!” I said to rose who had an almost matching set, but red with slightly different lace. Just as the doors were about to close we heard a voice say, “Hey can you hold that?” We stopped the door from closing and as it opened I tried not to gawk. It was Chris, Ryan and Vinny. All wearing swim trunks. They grinned as they recognized us and Ryan whispered something to Chris, which made Chris shoot him a glare. They stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the main floor. Rose grinned at me then quickly turned to them, “Y’all are going swimming too?” she said smoothly. They nodded and Vinny and Ryan quickly struck a conversation with her. Chris and I stood near each other and I tried to think of something to say. Vinny elbowed Chris, who almost fell into me. “Aw, Chris, was it your turn to fall?” he said with a smile. Chris rolled his eyes and turned to me, “Sorry, they do this all the time.” I just smiled and said it was okay.

The doors opened and Ryan looked over his shoulder at us, “Last one in pays for dinner!” We all raced to the pool and laughed when Vinny slid and fell on his ass. Ryan jumped in first, Rose right behind. Chris and I stood there laughing. I stopped and pointed behind Chris, “Oh my God!” I cried. He turned around quickly and I jumped in the pool, leaving him the last one to jump in. He turned around and crossed his arms, playfully glaring at me, “That was cheating!” I giggled and said, “Hey Ryan didn’t say we couldn’t.” Ryan shrugged and took Rose’s hand, gently pulling her towards the deep end of the pool towards Vinny. It was becoming almost too weird that they kept leaving me and Chris to talk. I wasn’t going to complain though. I just hoped I didn’t make a fool of myself.

Chris pushed his wet hair out of his face that was now makeup free. God, I could get lost in those eyes forever… He smiled somewhat nervously and said, “So what are you guys doing after this?” “Heading back home tomorrow morning. It’s going to be a bit of a drive,” I said. He nodded, “Good call with the hotel then. Especially since our show ran late with the extra songs.” Chris ran a hand through his hair and looked over to where everyone else was. “Where’s Justin?” I asked, “He passed out almost right after we got back,” he chuckled. I nodded and bit my lip nervously.

It's not every day you can say you got to meet your idol, have him catch you and then go swimming with him.

The hotel was like a ghost town and we were the only ones in the pool area. Ryan splashed water at Rose who shrieked and splashed him back, laughing. Chris and I swam over and we decided to play a game. “Marco!” Vinny yelled, eyes shut and arms stretched out in front of him, trying to find us. “Polo!” we said quietly. I tried to quickly sneak away to the shallow end but bumped into Ryan who grinned and playfully shoved me right into Vinny. I groaned, “That’s cheating!” “No rules,” Chris smiled. I rolled my eyes at him before shutting them. I could hear Chris to my left and swam towards him. I reached out and felt somebodies smooth chest. I opened my eyes and it was Chris. He smiled down at me and whispered, “I suppose I’m it now?” My heart started to beat loudly. He reached out and touched my hand that was still on his chest. I pulled it back quickly, embarrassed for touching him for so long. He grinned and tackled me, “This counts right?” he yelled. I giggled and held on to him so that I wouldn’t go underwater. I could feel the muscles in Chris’ arms and I never wanted to let go. My legs were wrapped around him as he held me up. He carefully let me go so that I wouldn’t drop into the water. Looking down at me he smiled. This had to be the best dream I ever had. Any minute now I’d wake up in my hotel bed and have to leave. But the feeling of Chris grabbing my hand to led me to the others proved I was very much awake. I had to be the luckiest person alive.

After about an hour, we all got out of the pool and dried off. Chris walked to the bathroom with Ryan and Vinny stayed with Rose and I. “You guys are some of the coolest people we’ve met. Would it be weird if we got your numbers?” he asked. I was screaming inside and hoping that he couldn’t tell. I did not want to come off as some crazed fan. “Yeah that’d be awesome,” I said, trying to hide the shakiness of my voice. Vinny put his number in both of our phones and we put ours in his. Ryan and Chris came out and Vinny waved his phone, “I got their numbers. I figured next time we’re around we could try and hangout.”  They grinned and we shared the elevator up to our floor. As soon as I shut the door to our room Rose grabbed my shoulders. “This was single handedly the best decision of our lives to come here! Oh my God this is crazy! They have our phone numbers!” she gushed. We flopped onto our beds in exhaustion and happiness.

 The next morning, I woke up to Rose screaming happily. I quickly sat up and said, “What’s going on?” She showed me the text on her phone from Ryan. “HE SAID I’M CUTE BITCH!” She held her phone to her chest and closed her eyes grinning ear to ear. My phone went off and I could hear Chris’ voice. My heart stopped as I read the text.

Hey Persephone, it’s Chris. I hope it’s okay that I got your number from Vin. Have a safe drive back home!

“ROSE, I AM GOING TO LOSE IT,” I shouted. I threw my phone at her and she giggled, “We are the luckiest girls ever.”

I quickly text him back and thanked him, wishing him a safe drive to the next city. Putting my phone in the pocket of my pajama shorts, I stood up and began to pack with a smile on my face. We played music all morning while we packed and loaded Rose’s car. It was my turn to drive on the way back so I hopped into the drivers seat and put on Melanie Martinez.  We sang along as Rose text Ryan happily.

Half way back with only an hour to go, Rose said, “Girl guess the fuck what!” “What?” I questioned, turning to look at her for a moment. “Ryan just said, ‘Chris thinks Persephone would think it’s weird to hang out when we’re off tour. Would she?’” She smiled at me as she quickly text him back reading it aloud, “No she wouldn’t, in fact she wants to have se-” “ROSE!” She rolled her eyes, “She’s driving right now, but said it wouldn’t be weird.” She hit send and turned towards me with a sassy look on her face, “Better?” I nodded. “Just trying to get you your goth daddy,” she shrugged. I about choked on my water and laughed. “Whatever, he wants to be friends and that is literally the best thing in the world. I could’ve never imagined this happening, like this only happens in those dumb stories I used to write in high school,” I said.

When we arrived at Josh’s house, we brought my suitcase in and all decided to hang out and have a game night.

We pulled two tvs out to the living room and all hopped on our playstations to play different games. I had choose Skyrim to play and sat down in the middle of Rose and Josh who were playing Grand theft Auto and Kingdom Hearts. Just as I left Belathor’s shop, my phone rang. Josh grabbed my phone and said, “Who is Chris?” I grabbed my phone back from him and said, “No one!” I quickly answered before it sent him to voicemail. “Hey,” I said with a smile, though he couldn’t see it. “Hey, we just got back from tonight’s show it was awesome! What are you up to?” he asked. “She’s hoarding cheese like that meme!” Rose yelled. I blushed and shoved her, “Shut up!” I hissed. She grinned and Chris said, “Hoarding cheese? What?” he chuckled. “You know that meme about that room of cheese in Skyrim? Yeah, well uh, I got really bored one night and started collecting a lot and just threw it in this room..” I trailed. He laughed, “That is awesome. You have to send me a picture when you’re done.” “THEY GAME?!” Ryan said in the background. “Ryan wants the gamertags,” Chris laughed. Rose’s phone rang and Josh threw his hands up. “Why do no boys call me?” “Because you’re lame?” I said. He feigned a hurt face.

After about twenty minutes, Chris had to go so we hung up. I went back to my game and threw all the cheese into my followers room as Rose laughed, “I still can’t believe you started this.”

Over the next two weeks, I had gotten to know Chris more, and he was so down to earth and sweet. We had a lot in common when it came to music, games and books. I was currently nose deep in a book he had suggested when he called. “Hey! How’s tour?” I said happily. “It’s going great! I’m so excited to get back to my own bed though. Only two more shows and we’ve finished a whole month of touring!” he said. We weren’t able to talk long since they had just arrived at the venue. “So when I come home, what do you think if I took a little road trip and you showed me around where you live?” I laughed, “Aren’t you tired of driving?” “True, well come to me then.” “I can do that,” I said with a grin. “Good, I’m excited to see you. We can even have a movie night and watch Sweeney Todd because I know that’s your favorite.” I couldn’t help but giggle, it was cute that he made a point to remember that. “I’ll text you later, I have to go, Vinny is yelling at me to hurry up,” he laughed.

When I set my phone down I looked up with a smile and saw Josh standing in my doorway with his arms crossed. “Seph,” he said. “Yes?” He came in and sat on my bed, “I know you have had a thing for him forever, but don’t forget to take time to actually feel and reflect what’s going on here.” I nodded and said, “Chris and I are just friends I swear. And I have been, it’s all finalized now and I’m pretty over it.” “Okay, well I hope you have fun when you go see him. Tell him I need a man if he knows anyone,” he said with a smile. I laughed as he walked out of my room and lay back down under my blankets. I couldn’t wait to spend more time with Chris. He really is such an amazing person and I couldn’t wait to get to know him more.

[adventuresofninnaly]

The adventure begins!

Ninnaly woke up in cold sweat. Nightmares again, this time about a giant, black dragon attacking Helgen. Why Helgen? Why Dragons?! There haven’t been any dragons in centuries, if there were any to being with! Only stories for children.

She noticed the sun had start to rise, so she sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, stretched her stiff body and yawning. She grabbed her worktunic and headed out of her bedroom, and down the stairs. She threw some firewood on the firepit, and casted a simple fire-spell on it. “Being raised by a former battle-mage surely had it’s perks.” Ninnaly said quietly with a slight smile on her lips. She sat down and started heating some water for her tea and grabbed a piece of bread. “I will try to remember buying some food later, before I go home from work” she thought. “but knowing myself, I’ll probably forget.”.

Ninnaly sighed and dropped down some lavender, a few juniper berries cut in half and a few drops of honey in her cup and poured some water on top. She started thinking back to her time in Helgen. She hadn’t been there in four years, since she first arrived in Skyrim. The innkeeper Vilod was nice enough to let her stay for as long as she needed, in exchange for helping him with his inn. It was Vilod who had teached her how to make the Lavender and Juniper berry tea. The honey was her own idea, being a sucker for all things sweet. Well, almost everything. She disliked sweetrolls. They looked weird, and was too sweet. Taking a sip of her tea and relaxed a bit in her chair.

“I should take a week and go visit old Vilod” She thought. “Would be a nice surprise for the old fool”. Taking a sip of the tea. “But that will have to wait until next month. I have to travel to Falkreath and deliver some alchemy ingredients to ‘Grave Concoctions’.” she exhaled and took a big gulp from the cup. “After that, I should have enough coin to buy myself a horse. Which will make my job so much easier, and I can carry a greater shipment”.

She sat down the now empty cup, took her waterskin, coinpurse and headed out. She was greeted by an amazing weather, for once it wasn’t freezing cold and raining. The birds chirped and the town had started to move. Adrianne had already started to hammer away at some order from the Imperial Legion. The children of Whiterun was already running around and playing tag. A great day, with other words.

Ninnaly headed to Arcadia’s Cauldron, grabbed the supplies and headed towards the gate. The pouch was fairly lightweight for once. Unlike that time she had accepted a request to pick up a shipment for Adrianne last month, down in Riverwood. Adrianne had forgot to mention that Ninnaly was supposed to bring Ulfberth with her, for the extra muscle. Oh well. At least now on the way back from Falkreath she could maybe get a foot in the newly opened shop in Riverwood and get a customer there too.

The trip to Falkreath was awfully uneventful, only a small fight between the Legion and the Stormcloaks. Ninnaly helped heal the wounded Imperial soldiers after the battle had ended. Ninnaly, being a half-elf, she didn’t sympathize much with Ulfric and his thugs. The leader of the small group asked if she wanted to join the Legion, but answered that she didn’t quiet make the cut. Ninnaly was both skilled in swordsmanship and spellcasting, but not enough at the time. The captain said he would recommend her, which may give her some extra leverage. After healing the troops and sharing a meal and some stories, the captain asked where Ninnaly was heading. “To Falkreath, gotta deliver a shipment.” “Is that so?” he said. “We were heading there ourselves, and as you probably can tell, that there are Stormcloaks in the area.” “Do you want company, miss?” He asked politely. “Yes, on the condition you don’t call me miss again.” Ninnaly responded teasingly. Together with the small band of Legionnaires, Ninnaly continued towards Falkreath. They continued to share stories, but keeping their guards up.

Arriving to Falkreath, the group of Legionnaires went their own way towards the Jarls keep. And Ninnaly went to ‘Grave Concoctions’. Delivering the goods. She was amazed of just how many kinds of poisons and deadly concoctions there actually is.

Happily leaving the ‘Grave Concoctions’ with a heavier coin purse, she went to the local inn, Dead Man’s Drink, to rent a room for the slowly approaching night, and get something to eat. A plate of potatoes, leek and a steak was laying in front of her, as someone approached her, and asked to join her at the table. “If you are here to flirt, you can go where you came from.” she said mockingly. “Oh no no no, I’m not interested in that!” the person said, “I’m Lucien Flavius. Scientist, philosopher, amateur wizard, and somewhat of a musician... but that’s more of a hobby, I guess.”. Lucien continued. “I am looking for someone to guide me through Skyrim. For academic purposes mainly, but the province of Skyrim is so fascinating! The flora and fauna. All the ruins, both Dwemer and Nordic. It’s architecture and politics.. “ He interrupted himself. “But, I’m not much of a fighter. I know a few spells, and can just about swing a sword. I would of course pay you, more than enough! That of course, is if you are willing to part ways with your current work. Pay would be no issue, I’m coming from a wealthy family in Cyrodiil, so gold is of no shortage.”.

Ninnaly sat quiet for a while, nibbling on her grilled leek. “I will do it. I don’t have any more orders as of now, and I certainly could enjoy some time on the roads!” She said. “And it would be a perfect opportunity to visit Vilod back in helgen. It’s only a days travel from here.” She thought for herself. “Splendid! Would 300 Septims upfront be enough for now?” Lucien said excitingly. Ninnaly almost chocking on her leek. “And compensate you for anything useful to my research.” He continued, waiting for her answer. “Y-yes, that would be enough.” She answered. “I’m Ninnaly, by the way.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lily! Let us get some rest for now and get on our way tomorrow!” “Wha.. No, Ninnaly.” She said, with a look of confusion on her face. “Don’t worry Lily! I just like giving people nicknames. Unless of course you have a problem with that.” Lucien said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. Ninnaly had never had a nickname. So she agreed to letting him call her Lily. Feeling a strange happiness about the ordeal she went into her rented room for some needed sleep. The following morning she stepped out into the main hall of inn and asked for some lavender tea and a piece of bread. “Good morning, Lily!” Lucien said happily upon seeing her entering the inn. “I have arranged a carriage to take us where ever we want to go. How does that sound?” “Sounds great, I’ll just eat breakfast and then we can travel to Whiterun. I need some things from my house, if that’s okay?” “Certainly! I have heard about the alchemy shop in Whiterun. I would like to visit it to buy some supplies, so that’s perfect.” Lucien said. After breakfast they left Falkreath for Whiterun. The trip was uneventful, it was spent getting to know each other better. Lucien came from a wonderful home in Cyrodiil, just as Ninnaly. So they were excited they had that in common. Arriving in Whiterun, Ninnaly was greeted with hugs by Lars Battle-Born and Mila Valentina. Her “best friends” according to themselves. “Hey guys, where’s Braith? She got in trouble again?” Ninnaly said with a smile, but also concern. “No, she’s sick. Just a cold, so she wanted to stay home today.” “I see, let me just get a few things, and meet me outside Braith’s okay?” Ninnaly smiled. “Friends of yours?” Lucien said with a smile on his lips. “My ‘best’ friends!” Ninnaly responded. “I usually play tag with them once a week. They really appreciate it. Most the adults are busy doing their work, and don’t have the time. But they like that someone can take their time to play with them.” “I see,” Lucien said. “so where do you live?” “Right here!” she said, unlocking the door to Breezehome. It had cost her a lot of Septims to buy it, and to add furniture to it. But it had been worth it. “I’m just going to get my sword and bow. Will you be a dear and take some lavender, a few juniper berries and the bottle of honey from the table in the back?” “Of course!” Lucien responded. “What is it for?” “It’s for Braith, one of the kids here in the town. A few snips of lavender, two juniper berries and a spoon of hone-” “For tea? Sounds awfully sweet if you ask me.” Lucian interrupted. “Yes, for tea. But it works wonders, and gets a sick child up on it’s feet in no time!” Ninnaly said while walking down the stairs. Now donning a short sword and a bow in her back. After exiting the house, Lucien was directed to ‘Arcadia’s Cauldron’ and Ninnaly went to Braith’s house. Saffir opened the door and greeted them. “Oh Ninnaly, how good to see you!” Saffir said, and gave her a quick hug. “Braith has gotten such a cold you could almost mistake her for a man!” she giggled. “I see. good thing I brought my miracle tea for her then!” Ninnaly answered.

After giving Braith the tea and some chit chat with Saffir, she headed out. Telling Lars and Mila to keep an eye on her house while she was away. Promising to bring them a gift in return.

Lucien stood by the gate and waited for her, and waved when he saw Ninnaly.

“All good? Is Braith okay?” He asked. “She will be. Just need to rest until tomorrow and she should be up in no time.” “Great! So, whereto now?” “Helgen.” Ninnaly said. “To Helgen we go.” -> Be sure to join in on the adventures of Ninnaly over at twitch to take part in her development, and decide her future!

*Edit: Corrected a few mistakes. cuz.. I’m a pepega.

[the-rainbow-mafia-blog]

Y don't u care abt UsUm?

// Short answer; because I feel Nintendo doesn’t either.

And now a long answer because I’ve been sitting on this rant for ages and I bothered the Discord server enough with it. I want to put foward first that the opinions expressed here are my own. I am a big fan of Nintendo and this is something that bothers me. This is no way shape or form an attack to people who love these games to bits. This is also not meant to hate on a franchise or a company. The purpose of this rant is to put some arguments behind my statements.

Sources are linked in the text. I used Nintendo but I always meant everyone involved in the making of these games.

The reason I feel comfortable sharing it now is because people have their, rightful, concerns about the upcoming games; Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, releasing in a few short weeks for the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo’s newest and most succesful baby. 

Why doesn’t Nintendo care about Pokemon, according to you?

First we need to ask ourselves;

How much does Nintendo make on Pokemon?

While I do think they care in a sense the numbers won’t lie. Pokemon has made around $95 billion US dollars since the franchise came to life in 1996. To put it in a way bigger number; they make about 4130434782.61 US dollars PER YEAR on Pokemon. (This is my own math, I do not know the exact numbers per year. I divded their total by the amount of years Pokemon has been alive.) That’s a lot of money and it’s with right the most financially succesful franchise to date. 

Only a part is made by the video games $17.138 billion. It’s merchandise makes more; $64.1 billion.

I could not find a reliable source on how much it takes to make a Pokemon game in monetary value.  What I could find however is that Pokemon is making less and less per game they release. Without counting Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Sun and Moon made LESS than X and Y.  

The only main series game that made less than Sun and Moon (again not counting UsUm) was Black/White.

Nintendo knows people will buy their games anyway;

Dropping sales or no, Pokemon still manages to fatten the piggy bank over at Nintendo because people will buy it anyway. The Pokemon craze of the 90′s should tell you that. People would buy it if it had Pokemon on it. Those people are now in an age group that has money to spend, hell some even have kids. So Nintendo is smart and releases commercials like this one or this one.  This marketing is beautiful (and no, not only Nintendo knows how to do this) because they play on your feelings. Who didn’ make a friend because you both liked Pokemon? And if you grew up with Pokemon like the person in the second commercial the whole feeling and setting is famillair to you, hell they could’ve casted you and it would’ve make sense.  They compare the whole bleakness of adult life, having to work to pay the bills, having less time for video games, to that warm familliar feeling of coming home and playing Pokemon. They feed on your nostalgia; your desire to relive those moments or if you have kids, to share the feeling those games gave you with your off spring. Or your younger siblings or other family memmbers.  I catch myself doing it! When a young one comes up to me, or I see a kid play the game on the bus I get that familiar feeling of ‘Hey I used to do that!’ It’s smart and it’s a thing Disney is good at too. It zooms in on what was precious to you and now resells that feeling to you. 

“Hey buy our game to feel something again. The world sucks anyway but Bulbasaur is still cute!” This isn’t a bad thing! Nintendo is a company and at the end of the day they need to make money. That is fair and I am in no way bagging on them over that. But it’s my belief that Nintendo keeps making money on the Pokemon games this way. Which leads me to my next point;

The Pokemon games come across as lazy.

Again, opinion but it feels like that. Which is also why I don’t care for UsUm; it’s lazy.

I truly believe Pokemon has some decent writers who don’t get their chance to shine. The beginnings of great stories and characters are there but it feels unfinished. Like someone bought the ingredients to a delicious dish but forgot to make them. Over the years Pokemon has a colorful bunch of characters, and the ones that stand out the most are the baddies. They usually get the coolest designs, the sickest themes, one way or another they are present in the climax but again. It’s lazy. How many of them pretend to be good or have a high moral standing and then turn out to be absolute dickbags? Almost all of them. Then they have characters (Ghetsis, Lusamine and Faba come to mind first) do something horrible (abuse of minors and playing God) and they get away with it what is basically a slap on the wrist. 

And after you beat them… for me the story stops. Yes you can go and beat some very powerful trainers and claim your title as whatever the thing in this game is and yes often that unlocks some post credit content but it’s bare. The big threat is gone.

“But,” I hear you say “It’s a DS/3DS game. There is only so much you can do.” Disagree. Phoenix Wright, Ghost Trick, Professor Layton and The Legend of Zelda OoT 3DS and Majora’s Mask all released on the same consoles and have a much richer story and even more characters. All games keep their pacing and the story really feels like it ends when the credits role. 

Then there is the overal quality. The main characters in Sun/Moon looks like someone forgot to progamme their soul in: /Screenshot take from THIS video/

I, again, easily could compare this other games who have much more expressions but let’s take one of Nintendo’s own;

There is so much more emotion in the Legend of Zelda one.  It released a few years earlier than Pokemon Sun/Moon too.

Second the frame rate drops like a hat. While some framerate drop is expected this much is a little too glaring to ignore.  To compare it to BoTW or Red Dead Redemption on the PS4, who both also have some frame rate issues at times it only happens in certain locations, usually a spot with lots of effects of NPCs. In my opinion, Pokemon does not have the luxery of that excuse. It would random drop in almost every location i was in.

The story

Every Pokemon has a story and I get that it’s basic. It’s a game for all ages after all. I get it won’t have a deep story like other games have. The basic gist of the game is to still enjoy catching all these mon’s with occasional story woven into it. But here is the thing that irks me; The little sneak peaks of story that we do get.. it’s good. It’s just so unfinished. It’s like there is a constant battle in the developers room betweeing writing a deep and interesting story (I’m not counting Pokemon Lore, just the story given in a game) and focussing on just the gameplay. There are many examples of rich story games with little gameplay (Grim Fandango, The Walking Dead, Almost every Visual Novel ever, Detroit; Become Human, just to name a few.) There are games with lots of gameplay and little story (Mobile games for example) and there are games that mix story and gameplay perfectly (Red Dead Redemption, Left 4 Dead 2, Persona 5 to name just a FEW examples) 

I feel Pokeon TRIES to be all three of these styles of games but ends up failing at everything.

Storywise they lured peopel in with Team Rainbow Rocket, like mentioned before this is for most people the reason they get drawn in; seeing their old baddies return and getting to interact with them again. It’s the same reason for me. But it feels unpolished, same with The Ultra Recon Squad. They seem like GREAT characters but again, so little is done with them that I feel there could be so much more.

Don’t change a winning team. 

Pokemon has been selling the same game to us for years. Again, I don’t blame them. Why bother. People like it, why change it? They try new gimmicks now and again and I respect them for trying. I personally like the Let’s Go Eevee/Pikachu versions. While they were FAR from perfect I can at least applaud them for doing something new and interesting. While at the same time trying to lure people who only played the mobile app into the main series by remake the first game all over again. Again, I understand. I would too if I were them.

But with Sword and Shield they are taking something away; Pokemon. And with that the whole thing comes undone. This is supposed to be THE Pokemon game, the big one, the game that will release on The Switch; home of BoTw and Mario Odyessy but also the upcoming Witcher 3, Skyrim. Games that are all much bigger than Pokemon and yet they took a vital part out of it.

The video is deleted now and I won’t link to the Chinese Bootleg game as it does steal user data, but the whole issue was the animations.  The animations in the bootleg were GOOD. And if we remember the amount of Pokemon makes per year they can afford themselves a team of good animators. This isn’t some indie studio who employs 20 people and have to live of Kickstarter donations, this is GAME FREAK, this is NINTENDO. And it’s not like they can’t, please remember Pokemon Stadium.  Look at the animation on that. Now remember that Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, ALSO came out for the Nintendo 64 and got a beautiful update on the 3DS. If they can do that, surely they can port the animations.

And yes, I’m hearing you. You say that there are a lot of Pokemon.. but they’re taking a lot of them out of Sword and Shield. So there is no excuse for the battles to look like this. And remember this is the same console that has BoTW, one of the most applauded games in recent gaming history. A game with tons of content, tons of NPCs, tons of Items and has almost none of the issues Pokemon has.

I don’t care about USUM because it’s a lazy cash grab that adds nothing new to the table except some side story that doesn’t do anything to the main story. Play UsuM, Play SuMo, you’re basically getting the same game. Nintendo is smart and tries to sell you the same game twice due to a Pokemon being unique to a game. Meaning that if you want them all, you’re going to have to fork over 120 US dollars and guess what? That version is almost sold out where I live. So it’s working. And I don’t blame them. I am impressed.

Because I get the feeling that, with absolutely minimum effort they are forking in insane amounts of money.  Nintendo is a company. They need money. I don’t blame them for doing the things they do. I am however, entitled to my opinion and despite everything said above I will see myself getting a copy of Sword or Shield in the future. Because that is how it always is. Because I too, want to relive the moments of my youth when the biggest concern I had was chosing my starter.

[zak-helling]

Big Hero 6 Theory: Liv’s Next Mutation

Even though it’s not the main focus of my blog, it’s no secret that I love Big Hero 6: the series. I love the characters, I love the animation, I love the stories, and I, of course, love the mysteries. The show keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next, but the tragic thing is that, despite being popular enough to warrant a renewal for a third season before season 2 premiered, there doesn’t seem to be much of a fan community online. Unless you tag your fan art, theories, quotes, etc. it’s unlikely a piece of fan art will drift across your dash like it does for shows like Steven Universe, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, She-Ra, etc. I’m hoping that changes soon, but I digress.

Also, this theory is going to contain spoilers for season 2, so I’ll go ahead and tuck it under “Read More”.

Getting back on topic, one of the biggest mysteries thus far in season 2 is the monsters and who is making them. We know Liv Amara is the culprit, but as of episode 10, “Lie Detector,” it becomes less clear what’s going on. Who’s the real Liv Amara? Why is one Liv in what appears to be cryosleep? Why is the other Liv making these monsters? How long has this apparent clone been running amok? Have we only known this clone the entire time? Does the sleeping Liv know what’s going on? There are so many questions, but not a whole lot of answers. Seeing as it’s been a few weeks since the last new episode, we might not know for some time. All we know is that the active Liv Amara is turning old villains into monsters for some kind of fee and, at the moment, no known benefit for the villains. Well, yeah, the villains become stronger, faster, and meaner, but as we saw with High Voltage, the process kind of interferes with living their best lives. We don’t know why they want this or why Liv is doing it. All we really know is that Liv is turning humans into monsters and turning them loose in the streets, sometimes being the one to take them down and look like a hero, other times letting Big Hero 6 do the dirty work.

So now let’s take a look at what we know about Liv’s monsters. I’ll bold the important stuff, as most of this will just be recap:

The first one, introduced in season 1 although we don’t know the full story yet, is Orso Knox, the Shakespeare fan turned whale mixed with a dinosaur and some hair, put into a blender, frozen, and then partially thawed. He spends the episode rampaging through the streets of San Fransokyo, attending his meetings, destroying offices, and speaking cryptically. We later learn that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but is more beast than man, and was only trying to get help the best he could. Had it not been for Karmi reversing his mutation in the episode “Prey Date,” Liv probably would have kept Knox as a monster for even longer, potentially pulling him further and further from his humanity.

The second one is Momakase, who can be best described as turning into a werewolf from Skyrim (although her appearance is likely based on Lady Deathstrike, another Marvel villain). Momakase has always been strong, but she is heightened way beyond her normal abilities. Her nails are deadly claws that can cut through anything, she can escape the trap Big Hero 6 creates her and escape into the night, and has so far not been seen again since the episode “The Seventh Wheel.”

Third and fourth is the mother-daughter duo High Voltage. When they make their season 2 debut in “Something’s Fishy,” they discuss wanting to go straight with Liv, telling her that their crime days are over and even trying to lead normal lives after doing Liv’s dirty work. Unfortunately, once they mutate, those dreams are crushed, and they end up being kept in a tank until Liv needs them again in the episode “Lie Detector.” Barb and Juniper even end up turning back over their new leaf after an entire song and dance number about wanting to be normal, which, suggests to me at least, that Liv’s mutation process also messes with free will. Is it possible the two really did just learn they love crime that much? Sure, but I’m not convinced.

The fifth, arguably, is Nega-Globby, a destructive blob made from Globby’s already mutated DNA, introduced in the episode “Nega-Globby”. Side note, I love this episode. Globby makes such a sacrifice in the name of goodness and, I’d say, has been pretty thoroughly redeemed. While our Globby is victorious by the end of the episode, Nega-Globby is still part of him, suggesting that it’s not easy to undo one of Liv’s mutations.

The sixth is the Hibagon in the episode “Muira-Horror!”, the mutated Ned Ludd, back again for more action. Unlike all the other mutations before, Ned’s mutation leaves him a mindless killing machine, further supporting the idea that Liv has the power to interrupt or even override free will. Even Orso Knox had the ability to quote The Tempest, but Ned doesn’t say a word. He comes out of his mutation dazed and confused, with no recollection of what happened.

Mutant number seven is Mr. Sparkles, who is made into a fluffy green monster in the aptly titled episode, “Something Fluffy.” Also introduced in this episode are the Mayoi, adorable, fluffy fungus creatures created by Liv that grow into towering kaijus that can be controlled by Mr. Sparkles. Basically, Liv can create hive minds, or at the very least can put one mind in charge of many. She’s the one to save the day at the end of the episode, boosting her appearance and making Big Hero 6 look inept. After Hiro learns the police already don’t much care for the superhero team in the episode “Something’s Fishy”, this event creates more tension between them and the people they protect, possibly setting up the conflict for the rest of the season, or maybe even the main conflict of season 3.

Finally, we have the big Bessie Bear from the latest episode, “Lie Detector.” This mutation shows us that Liv can essentially give life to inanimate objects, as all she needed was a lock of grizzly bear hair to create the technology cancelling beast. This shows that all Liv needs to make a monster is the tiniest amount of DNA.

So now we know/remember what Liv can do with her technology. We know she poses a threat to Big Hero 6. Seeing as she has only done experiments on past antagonists (as well as Orso Knox and, as is implied, her Chris-sistant, although we don’t know enough about him for him to make the recap), why would she experiment on Big Hero 6? In my mind, the answer is simple: to break them apart. If she mutates one of the characters, crime fighting will be a lot harder. Public perception of the team will plummet. And, if she works her magic with tampering with free will, she can even have another henchman on her side. In short, there’s no way Liv loses in this scenario. Now that we know her motivation, who’s on the chopping block?

The first person who comes to mind isn’t a person at all. We know that Liv can make monsters with a frame and just a bit of DNA, so in theory, she could mutate Baymax. This doesn’t seem likely though, as it would be much easier to just unplug him. Plus, he was part of a super villain grand scheme last season, so it might be repetitive. It could be Hiro. He’s the main character, and having him mutated would force him to hide more things from Aunt Cass, force him to go to Karmi for help, and would give us more insight into the lives of the mutated villains. Although, because he’s the main character, I can’t see him switching sides. Fred is already pretty animalistic, as reflected in his costumes and behaviors while wearing them. But, I don’t know how much mileage we can get considering how Fred is still very much a comic relief character. Wasabi is probably the least developed character on the team, so a mutation could push things for him in a new direction, but that would probably come at the show’s detriment. Honey Lemon’s chem purse already puts her in harm’s way of suffering the same mutation as Globby, making her an easy target, but that would just be repetitive at this point. And so, we are left with one person, the character who I think this is most likely to happen to:

Go Go Tomago.

In a way, season 2 has been Go Go’s season. She’s had more development than the rest of the cast, maybe even more than Hiro. “The Fate of the Roommates” shows her emotionally vulnerable and opening up about her feelings for the first time, developing her as a character and her relationship with Honey Lemon. The very next episode, “Muira-Horror!” shows her learning to let go of some of her stubbornness to trust in Krei’s judgement. The episode “Supersonic Sue” shows her crisis as she fails to prevent an old criminal fresh out of retirement from escaping a crime scene, an old criminal who, as it turns out, was inspired by Go Go to go back to crime. Basically, Go Go has been on an emotional roller coaster this season. We see her get angry, we see her get sad, we see her challenged in ways we hadn’t before. These episodes gave her highs, but they also gave her lows. In fact, “Supersonic Sue” didn’t even give her time to get over what happened, nor does she get a chance to redeem herself from her failure. Right now, Go Go has the most to lose and would likely be the hardest to fall. If anyone on the team is going to get mutated, I’m betting it’s her.

As of right now, we don’t know if the show is going in this direction. For all we know, the mutations stopped at Bessie and the rest of the season will be rounding up the mutants and returning them to normal. But the season is only half-over. I feel like we have plenty of time to play around with the status quo and shake things up a bit. If they do go this route, I doubt it will be permanent, but it could be fun and heart-wrenching at the same time. We’ll see, when Disney finally airs those new episodes.

[storytimewithcort]

Skyrim Drabbles (Farkas) (Part 1)

Fandom: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 

Basic Summary: Short blurbs from various points in my Dragonborn's life in Whiterun.

Warning: violence a bit

A/n: When playing, I travel with Aela, Barbas and Meeko. Because sexy badass ladies and puppies, obviously. However, I married Farkas, because he's a sweet big 'ol puppy dog...wolf...man. I adore him. So here's an fictionalized story about my player/oc interacting with Farkas. Mostly his point of view. 🧡

Part 1 of 2

--------

Aela shouted as she released an arrow in the direction of the beast charging towards Farkas. He steadied his stance as the troll came barreling in his direction and the arrow slammed into its shoulder. Farkas could see the blood flowing from the wound, but the troll seemed unaffected from the injury. He glanced over to Ria as she pulled out her sword, Farkas followed suit, his greatsword slightly shining in the dull light of the gray afternoon.

Moments before the troll reached melee range a dual-pronged arrow came flying through the sky striking the troll in the side of the neck. The troll cried out, stumbling down onto one knee. He heard Ria charge the beast as soon as it fell, but he instead tried to see where the new arrow came from. Across the field he spotted someone on a horse. They were in full armor so he couldn’t see much of their face, but it seemed they were taller than he was and they had their sights locked on the troll as they docked their bow to shoot another arrow at it. This one hit at the same time as another one of Aela’s arrows and the dual impact felled the beast almost instantly. Ria quickly made a gash across his chest to ensure the kill.

The helpful warrior trotted their horse up to the troll and hopped off next to Aela.

“You're a good shot!” Aela boasted, always pleased to meet someone who shared her affinity with a bow.

“Thank you. Just luck really, I'm still getting used to using a bow.” They responded, surprisingly soft spoken. They slipped off their helmet and spoke again, their back to Farkas, “I hope I wasn't intruding, I just couldn't let that brute run rampant so close to a family farm.”

He hadn't been caught off guard like this in years, Farkas had expected a burly Nord not too different from himself, but when the archer turned his way they, she, was anything but. Her high cheekbones implied elven heritage. Her light eyes in contrast to her deep woodsy colored hair were bewitching. Her hair looked like it was once painstakingly braided into a beautiful and intricate design,  but days of traveling and helmet wearing had made strands poke out all over and a long chunk of dark mahogany fell in front of her left ear.

“Shit” he muttered bewildered as he vaguely heard Aela invite the woman to Jorrvaskr.

----

Another gray day stretched out over the Gildergreen tree beneath the stairs leading up to Jorrvaskr. Farkas stood atop the hill watching down on the few townspeople mill about and a couple young girls looking for coin. He wasn't too focused on anything in particular until a sight caught him by surprise. Under the tree was the Dragonborn, a fighter who just yesterday he watched sparing with Vilkas and Aela with a ferocity that he hasn't seen in anyone without wolf's blood.

She,Téli, had been spending a lot of time at Jorrvaskr the last few days since she came to Whiterun. After she met the few Companions and helped fall a troll last week with ease, she had been coming by to both train and do any little errand the Circle requested from her. She did every task no matter how small or opposingly violent with no question. And she did them well. There were even rumors that said she could take down an actual dragon single handedly. She was obviously a mighty warrior.

Here she was squatting down to an orphan child with a soft smile across her face. The little girl looked enamored as she listened to whatever story Téli was telling. Her eyes looked so peaceful and kind as she reached into her pack and pulled out a few gold pieces, not copper, gold pieces and handed them to the child. She also handed over a netted bag full of apples and yams to the girl with a little laugh as the girl squealed in appreciation. The sound somehow floated across the courtyard all the way to where Farkas stood and he was floored by the sweetness of the sound. He had never really thought about how nice laughter could sound, but he quickly decided laughter could sound beautiful if coming from the right person.

"What are you looking at?" Vilkas' voice sounded, breaking Farkas from whatever weird draw the warrior down below had on him. Vilkas' matching dark hair to Farkas' own blew in the damp breeze.

"The tree." Farkas answered. Only a partial lie.

Vilkas looked down to the tree and cocked his head to the side. "Aye, it is looking much better these days. Whatever magic the Dragonborn achieved is a blessing to Whiterun." Taking step closer to his brother, "What do you think of the Dragonborn? I'm still not convinced we can trust her to be a Companion."

Fumbling over his words at first, Farkas managed to respond. "I..I think she is strong and....soft."

"Soft!?" Vilkas spit out the word with confusion until his gaze caught said person patting the head of a girl by the tree, with an almost maternal look in her eyes. She then picked up their pack and smiled as she made her way up the stairs leading to Jorrvaskr. Looking back to his brother, Vilkas saw the lopsided smile Farkas typically saved for a particularly delicious meal or newly tempered set of armor.  Vilkas let out a tuft of laughter, "You like her!"

"Quiet!" Farkas hissed as Téli reached hearing range of the twins.

"Good day." She greeted, smile still intact.

----

Farkas couldn't understand why she was so enthusiastic today. It was pouring rain and the whole city seemed to be in a somber mood. Every one except Téli. She showed up at Jorrvaskr early in the day, begging Farkas to follow her. He couldn't say ‘no’ to her, he was too caught up in how pleasing she looked. This was the first time he had seen her without armor. She was indeed of elven descent, tall and willowy, despite her obvious arm muscles that came from wielding her large steel warhammer. Her simple gray and blue dress was perfectly tailored for her, and as much as Farkas liked a solid woman who stood strong in armor, he couldn't help but flush at the sight of her gentle yet supple curves. Her hair looked recently washed or at the very least combed out. Every part of her looked as soft as he thought it would.

She now pulled on his arm as she dragged him down the steps leading toward the main gated entrance to Whiterun. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pointed to the left where a row of houses stood.

“There it is!” she exclaimed with glee.

“There's what?” he asked, looking between the buildings around.

“This house!” she clarified, letting go of him to  running up to one of the houses. “This one right here is all mine.” Pulling out a key with a flourish before turning to open the door. She runs inside and disappeared, leaving Farkas to follow behind shaking his head in amusement.

She showed off the mostly empty building like it was a castle made of gems and gold. She explained how as much as she enjoyed doing jobs for the Companions, doing jobs for the Jarl paid better. It also opened up real estate opportunities.

“I moved in last night! I finally got to bathe without worrying about who else in the inn might try to steal a peak. I got to sleep in a decent bed, and I actually cooked breakfast today. It's silly and domestic, but I love it.” Téli said happily.

“Does this mean you are hanging your armor up? Going to be a city girl now?” Farkas laughed.

“Heavens no. It's just nice to have somewhere to come home to after diving into caverns or fighting dragons.” She walked over to a little fire place, striking up a little fire to warm the house. “I've spent enough time in Whiterun this past month, I know it's a nice place to come home to.”

Farkas took the seat next to her, pulling himself close to the newly growing warmth the fire could offer his damp clothes. He watched her as she added some wood to her little fire. Her clothes were now also pretty wet, but she didn't seem to notice how they clung or maybe she just didn't care. Vilkas had pointed out to him a few days ago how comfortable Téli acted around him and he still didn't know how to take the news.

“Why are you showing me your house?” He asked when she glanced his way.

“Because I'm excited.”

“But why me?”

“I..” she started before chewing her bottom lip for a moment in thought. “Well, you've always been nice to me. You trust in my skills. You are far more clever than you think you are. And you don't ever act like I'm harassing you by just being around, which honestly is how a lot of people seem to act around me.” She shrugged, “Mostly, I just like spending time with you. I know this isn't as exciting as slashing draugrs...” She trailed off, but it didn't matter, Farkas was through the roof with joy. He couldn't remember the last time someone had so many kind things to say about him. It was also the first time he felt this enamored with someone outside of his family and the Circle.

He was smitten. Vilkas would never let him live this down.

--------

Part 2 coming soon. Thanks folks!

[alexanicholsauthor]

R.I.P. God 😭

Give me your hand and let me take you back in time about a week. I want to show you how God died, and what killed it. It’s going to be a strange, painful journey, so brace yourself. It forever changed me, and it may well do the same to you. So, brace. And read on…

I had just finished working for the day. I’d written an obscene amount of verbiage, backed everything up like the good writer I am (😂 sorry, couldn’t keep a straight face), and settled back to play some Skyrim as I usually do after a long, hard day of digital ink-slinging.

I rebooted my computer to flush my memory.

I booted up Skyrim.

My laptop froze.

Like, dead froze. Like, nothing at all worked. I had to hard power that motherfucker off, wait for a bit, then power it back on. Only it didn’t get to Windows 10; instead, it went to a boot failure screen that I’ve never seen before. I immediately pulled out my smartphone and started Googling like a madwoman, trying to figure out what the hell happened, and followed the most reputable instructions I could find (a Microsoft employee from their website) to alleviate the issue.

Long story short: my hard drive flat out died. D-E-D. Dead.

This is how God died. (I named my laptop God when I first got it. My new tower – my first tower ever – is named Babel) Rest in peace, my beloved. Your life was over too soon. I was not ready.

In case you can’t tell, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks over here in the #Alexaverse.

On the writing side of things, things are a bit lighter, and I have a ton of news. Erotic Urban Legends: Broken Wings is available for August 1, 2019 preorder. The paperback is available for purchase now, and the audiobook version is currently being recorded by one of my favorite narrators: Robyn Isaacs (She’s the one who narrated Erotic Urban Legends: The Patchwork Girl). Also, the audiobook version of The Secret Life of Miel has been finalized, and we’re just waiting for Audible to approve it. And finally, the audiobook version of Girl Fight is complete! The narrator, the incomparable Sierra Kline, did an amazing job on it – all we’re waiting for now is Audible to approve the final product so it can go out for sale!

So much to be excited for. 🤗

Something not to be excited for? The current part of Exitium Mundi I’m writing. It’s titled Sera, and it’s getting harder and harder to finish. I mean, I’ve cranked out about 10,000 words these past four days, and while that looks good in print… see, part of the problem is that Sera is suicidal, and tends to cut herself. I based her off someone I knew in real life, someone I loved very dearly that isn’t with us anymore. The way Sera’s story ends is kind of dark, with a sliver of light interwoven within.

I’m not gonna lie: it’s hard as fuck to write, and I haven’t quite figured out how I want to wrap it up. Maybe I made it too personal. I keep going back and forth with so many psychological dynamics that I feel like I just need to get drunk and have at it. I dunno.

I remember now why drinking appealed to me so much. 😅 It seems to be the only time my mind calms, the only time I can truly relax and write things I normally wouldn’t be able to. I’m weird, I know, but you guys love me – you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t.

And I really, truly, and deeply appreciate that. Thank you. 💖

[captain-shippard]

Please remember that this is an industry where it is considered the norm to do 50+ hours work week, impose unrealistic delivery dates, deliver half finished products and use predatory sales practices, all in order to make money.

Games could be more accessible but as long as there is more money to make elsewhere, publishers won’t make the effort.

This is particularly important for RPG because the driving part of those games are the characters and stories NOT the game play.

It’s so frustrating to see a long time JRPG series like Final Fantasy pushing down the traditional « non-challenging » turn by turn based gameplay and have newer instalments be real time A-RPG.

One of the things I especially appreciated about the gameplay when I was younger was its accessibility. There was no need for hard trained reactions, super fast thinking and intimate knowledge of combos. I could get distracted mid fight and stop playing for a time to read a book and come back later with the ennemies still patiently waiting for my next move. I could just take my time. There wasn’t any « innovative » game experience threatening mode.

I never finished Undertale or DBH because they required me to have reflexes when I bought them for the stories. Maybe I could do it with some efforts but it wasn’t why I was playing these. My enjoyment came from the story not the challenging mini games. In fact, those were detrimental to my experience.

Games are made for pleasure but not all games deliver the same way. And some can deliver in multiple ways. In any case, there’s a threshold of annoyance that the player can stand until the game is not enjoyable anymore. If a game is story driven or have made the story a selling point then failing to make this story accessible is problematic. Because not being able to get to the main content is definitely above the threshold of annoyance for anybody. This threshold is as high as any challenging task so a completely non-challenging mode is the simplest and only way to make a game accessible.

I talked a lot about RPG and story driven games but this is true for games that have a story that is not the game main seller or even games without any plot.

The mother of death and retry games, Dark Souls, has a rich and deep lore that you could completely ignore while playing « normally ». The main driver of the game is the satisfaction of beating challenging fights and tasks and it relies mostly on fast reflexes for evasive actions. But the lore and story are still compelling and valuable points for the game and they are blocked by the game mechanics without a way to experience them by yourself.

Creation and sandbox games like The Sims or Minecraft are not enjoyable at all if you don’t have a god mode to let you skip to the part of the game that you want to enjoy. The freedom is exactly one of the reasons these games became popular.

Skyrim success is completely related to the modding community who not only provided better graphics and sexy models but also ways to facilitate and customise your game experience. I’m the all powerful Dovakiin who won’t go to prison after shop lifting a sweet roll dang it !

We are willing to pay money for games that are interactive movies, to only see the second or third point of interest, to skip to the NPC dialogue and the short cutscene, to never feel the satisfaction of a hard won battle or challenge.

But we need the games that will let us do it.

all video games should have a “I’m shit at video games but I’m curious about the story and I don’t want to watch a let’s play” mode

[obsidiancreates]

Mark Got Me Crying Gosh Darn It

So I just cried my little heart out. I procrastinated on watching Pain because... I don't know, I just did. I watched a little and then slept and played Skyrim. But I just watched the rest of it and...damn it Mark you made me cry. I don't know why I cried so much. I'm still a little teary-eyed. I've never really clicked with motivational stuff. My parents listen to and read a lot but it's never affected me strongly or stuck with me really. But something with Pain just clicked and now I'm crying. Good crying, just so you know. The worst pain I've ever been in...I barely remember. It was a few years back, I was maybe 10 or 11. I was visiting family for the holidays. First ever white Christmas. Long, long story short my appendix ruptured. I was throwing up even the smallest sip of water and I couldn't walk. I was so exaushted and dehydrated and starving that I had to just crawl or scoot from room to room. We all thought I just had a cold or something at first, because we all got sick with one when we first arrived. But when it got to the point I had to have a box with a trash bag in it with me at all times we finally went to the hospital. I was so out of it and just not function from lack of sleep, water, and food that I didn't care what was happening. They stabbed me in four different spots with the IV needle trying to find a vein that was just flat and dehydrated and I barely even felt it. Then someone touched my side and it just...hurt. Only when someone touched it. I can't recall the pain itself but I can recall my mom being super worried. They did some x-rays and discovered my appendix was ruptured, twisted up, and stabbing my liver. I was in and out of conciouness the entire time, but I remember fleeting moments of seeing the lights in the halls as I was wheeled around on the gurney. They gave me this stuff that tasted like the essence of bitterness and then I passed out again and went into surgery. Recovery is a blur too. I couldn't walk for a few days afterwards, I could barely hobble a few feet to the bathroom. My mom stayed in the room with me the whole time and it helped. The recovery pain was awful. They made three incisions and they HURT. Moving in any way just hurt. I think I partially repressed the memories or something because they're extremely fuzzy. I know that I was determined to get back on my feet so I practised walking again a lot. It hurt so bad but I hated just being confined to a hospital bed. I forced myself to walk down the hall outside my room a few times as practice. I can remember my mom and maybe a nurse cheering me on. I got better. I got better faster than expected and my recovery went smoother than expected and I think it's because I WANTED it to. I think my attitude or something helped out. I got released. My incisions were still big, bleeding-is-entirely-possible scabs covered in cotton and tape. I think the bandages had been removed by then but I can't remember. It still hurt so, so much. I was still so weak. I'd only been allowed to eat solid foods again my last day in the hospital, so my stomach was really small. But I made the most of the rest of my time with my extended family. I went ice skating for the first time. I went sledding and hiking. I was maybe a week or something out of the hospital and determined to just do things. I was in pain but I powered through. And I think why I cried so much at Mark was because I...don't have that anymore. I don't feel that zest for life or that "I'm going to do stuff even if it's hard!" attitude anymore. God, I'm crying again writing this. I just sit around and lay around. I hardly wrote or read and I never, ever exercise. I'm constantly forgetting or just refusing to eat, sometimes out of pure laziness and not wanting to cook. And watching his video just made me remember that attitude I had and wonder where it went. I genuinely almost died back then and now instead of making my time count I'm just...wasting it. The video made me realize I need to get that old attitude, the one that let me do a hike so soon after almost dying and being cut open, back. I need to find that old spark and grab it and not let it go. I need to write everyday because I want to leave something behind for when I do die, something I can be proud of. I want to be healthier and get better habits. I want to be positive and hopeful again. If Mark can go from thinking he's nothing and being fine with mediocrity to what he is, to who he is, now? So can I. So can anyone. This outro is cheesy as hell but I stand by it.

[aion-rsa]

How GTA Online Taught Us to Be Careful What We Wish For

https://ift.tt/3p4sWGO

As we all continue to wait for any official information about GTA 6, news has broken that GTA 5 has surpassed the 140 million units sold mark. Perhaps more impressively, reports reveal that 2020 was the most successful sales year in GTA 5 history outside of the game’s release in 2013. While that success can be attributed to a variety of factors, there’s little doubt that the game’s stunning longevity is largely due to the popularity of GTA Online.

I don’t remember exactly when I first dreamed of an online Grand Theft Auto game, but I’m certain it wasn’t too long after I played GTA 3 in 2001. Around that time, my friends and I started asking the simple question, “What if we could play that with each other?”

That question grew more complicated as the GTA games did the same. Vice City‘s real estate mechanic inspired dreams of online wars for the control of the city, while San Andreas’ greatly expanded the scope of GTA’s sandbox from a size and activity standpoint. GTA 4 actually featured numerous online modes, but its collection of rigid multiplayer matches and simplistic free roam option often fell short of offering the full “GTA but with friends” experience that fans had wished for.

Then, it finally happened. In 2013, Rockstar confirmed that GTA 5 would feature exactly the kind of multiplayer mode that fans had dreamt of for years. Actually, with its expansive online map, progression system, various modes of play, and community options, GTA Online’s reveal suggested that it would be something greater than anyone could have ever wished for. Little did we know that the finger on a monkey’s paw curled somewhere in the world shortly after this trailer’s release:

GTA Online’s problems were evident from the very first time many of us tried to play the game. Actually, it’s very much worth emphasizing the word “tried.” GTA Online’s servers were such a mess at launch that you’ have roughly as much luck now trying to buy a PS5 against an army of bots as you would have had logging in to GTA Online when it launched in 2013. Shortly after all that happened, Rockstar issued the standard apologies, worked some server magic, and fixed a variety of bugs. It took a few weeks, but we finally got to a point when you could log on to GTA Online at will and experience a mostly stable version of the game. 

That’s when things got really interesting. As it turned out, sharing your GTA experience with others meant that you’d be playing with people who saw you as just another NPC in their sandbox. It wasn’t long before you started to hear reports of players mercilessly attacking others in the game’s open-world. It was generally amusing the first few times, but for some, these trolls essentially started to dictate the way that you had to play the game just to stay alive in the world. What’s worse is that many of them had already started relying on hacks other cheats that devastated an already uneven playing field. 

Players could theoretically turn to GTA Online’s various missions, races, and other activities to escape the open-world mayhem, but those offered little relief. Many of GTA Online’s initial activities were essentially variant’s of the campaign’s most basic missions but without any narrative stakes to elevate them. Their simplicity was made that much more apparent by the game’s underdeveloped initial progression system which left players little to do with the money they were earning and forced everyone to wonder what, exactly, “RP” was.

Don’t take my word on GTA Online’s bad old days. In a 2017 interview with IGN, Rockstar’s director of design, Imran Sarwar, admitted that GTA Online’s “launch and first eight or nine months” were not successful. To make matters worse, he says that things reached a point where the developers themselves were “not excited enough by the updates we were making.” The game was rapidly losing players and Rockstar was still devoting considerable resources to hunting bugs and keeping the servers alive. 

That’s where I left GTA Online in 2014. I knew it was possible to have fun in the game, but I was convinced that the mode would end up being a Sea of Thieves style experience that would essentially require you to play with the right group of friends in the right state of mind if you were going to get anything substantial out of it. It felt like Rockstar had ultimately created an elaborate way to kill some time while we waited for GTA 6.

Of course, that’s not what happened. GTA Online went on to earn almost $1.5 billion just four years after its release. It’s estimated that GTA Online earned nearly $600 million in revenue in 2019 alone. Suddenly, talks of GTA 6 were limited to wild online conspiracies and an endless parade of rumors of that marched on as it became increasingly clear that GTA Online was rapidly becoming the face of the GTA franchise. 

What happened to spark such an historic turnaround? It came down to a few factors. 

Read more

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First off, GTA Online did get better. Just a couple of years after its release, GTA Online’s content updates were not only more frequent but far more substantial. That’s especially true of one of the game’s 2015 updates which finally added the ability to participate in campaign-style heists with your friends. Those kinds of features contributed to the idea that the spirit of GTA 5 lived on indefinitely within GTA Online.

Not long after, GTA Online became the centerpiece of an unexpected rise in role-playing streams and YouTube videos. While the mode’s chaotic nature and expansive toolset made it an instant hit in the YouTube community, a new generation of creators were crafting characters, scenarios, and the kinds of storylines that felt painfully absent from the mode’s early days. There certainly seems to be a correlation between GTA’s increased sales over the last couple of years and the willingness of the game’s community to make their own fun and share their almost fanfic like adventures with others.

Yet, if you’re wondering how GTA has managed to become the second-highest selling game of all-time, and why it’s regularly on the best-selling games charts seven years after its release, then you have to talk about the title’s expanded progression system and the growing importance of the game’s microtransactions. 

GTA Online lets you place elaborate bets in a casino before you hop into your rocket-propelled supercar and go back to work as the CEO of a criminal enterprise. However, all of those things come at a price. GTA Online not only features one of the more extensive microtransaction systems in gaming but one of the more subtly wicked ones. Most major GTA Online content releases typically feature high-end pieces of content typically initially reserved for the game’s “whales.” For instance, buying the best office in the mode’s CEO update would have cost you 4 million in-game dollars (without any of the accessories). If you wanted to buy a microtransaction card that would instantly reward you with that much in-game cash, it would cost you about 60 real-life dollars. 

If you’re thinking “Wow, that’s about as much as GTA 5 costs,” then you’ve stumbled on the fiscal brilliance of the game’s microtransaction system. GTA Online‘s updates are free, but each typically introduces a ton of new items waiting to be purchased. While even the larger updates are not nearly the size of a proper new GTA game, it’s certainly possible to spend as much time with any of them as you would on a new GTA single-player game if you’re trying to unlock everything without spending money. Unlike GTA single-player games that sometimes leave you with a ton of cash and nothing to spend it on, GTA Online often leaves you feeling like you can never quite have enough money.

GTA Online is hardly unique in that respect, but few games come close to matching the “FOMO” feeling that it inspires. Actually, in a game all about characters, customization, and creating opportunities, you’re don’t just feel like you’re missing out by not being able to sail around on a yacht or afford the hottest new vehicle. What would be simple cosmetics in other live service games becomes much more substantial in GTA Online.

Believe it or not, though, this isn’t necessarily an indictment of GTA Online’s microtransactions nor is it a rant against the quality of the online mode itself. No, the most worrisome element of GTA Online’s success at this point is what it will do and has already done) to GTA 6 as well as those who never really got into the mode in the first place.

The earliest days of the GTA Online dream can be attributed to a desire to share our GTA campaign experiences with others indefinitely. In some ways, GTA Online grew to offer that experience, but it came with ironic compromises. You could play with others, but that means having to play with others. You can accomplish fantastic things not even possible in the campaign, but you’ll often essentially have to keep buying GTA games to instantly access them. You can experience infinite new stories but you are often required to write, direct, and act in them. 

GTA Online growing to be (in many ways) exactly what I dreamed it could be has led me to reexamine my wish. What I and others may not have fully appreciated at the time of GTA’s earlier days was that there was a pleasure in bouncing around a world of largely curated content that a community-driven game may never be able to replicate. It’s part of the reason why Skryim is one of the most successful and beloved games of all-time but not everyone who loved Skyrim is interested in The Elder Scrolls Online. Those kinds of online expansions aren’t simply “what you love, but more of it.” There is a beauty to the illusion of freedom in an open-world single-player game that may have felt prohibitive at a time when we wondered if a multiplayer game could ever offer such an experience but seems necessary at a time when too many games rely on the assumption that you want to be online all the time and constantly playing with others.

Over the years, Rockstar has made it very clear that our hopes for GTA 4-style single-player expansions for GTA 5 are largely in vain, despite the fact they once teased single-player DLC that was initially supposed to be released in 2014. Sometimes, the company is diplomatic about that content shift by stating that their decision to focus on GTA Online content just kind of happened organically. Other times, company representatives like Imran Sarwar throw cold water on the whole thing by suggesting that GTA 4’s brilliant expansions only happened because of a “big deal in place with Microsoft that meant we were obliged to make the expansions.”

Would we be playing GTA 6 if it wasn’t for GTA Online? Maybe not, but the success of that mode has almost certainly left us with a world where Rockstar has barely talked about a new GTA game in over seven years but has released versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online across three different generations of game consoles. 

We’re reaching a point when GTA 6’s release is just as likely to be fuelled by the hypothetical diminishing returns of GTA Online‘s revenue as it is Rockstar’s creative ambitions. While Rockstar has stated that they feel part of GTA Online’s success can be attributed to the idea that it offers a little something for everyone who likes different elements of the GTA games, GTA Online has never and will never offer an entirely new story with entirely new characters set in an entirely new world that is entirely ours to experience exactly as we see fit. No matter what new update comes out, how many great RP stories or told, or what possibilities some incredible new toy opens, GTA Online will never be GTA 6 as we imagine that game based on the precedent set by the previous releases in this incredible franchise.

And yet, there is this GTA game out there packed with fresh (and often exciting) content that you’ve never played if you stopped playing the game after finishing the GTA 5 campaign. It’s out there, but at the same time, it isn’t. Like the zombified remains of a former lover that we’ve wished back from the grave without considering exactly what we were asking for, GTA Online lingers temptingly outside the door even as we know that what we’ll find when we open it is exactly what we asked for but perhaps not what we really wanted.

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

GTA Online continues to thrive thanks largely to its popularity amongst those who continue to pay for the game, but years later, it’s starting to feel like those who don’t play the mode as they wait for a proper new GTA have also been paying for too long.

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