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lov3nerdstuff · 4 years ago

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Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 2.1}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student (however no underage romance), blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 5k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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The end of Robin's first year at Hogwarts had come sooner than expected. She had done fairly well in all of her exams, even defense against the dark arts, despite her previous concerns. After the incident in March, Professor Morgan actually had as good as ignored her for the remainder of the school year, and merely given her grades slightly worse than she believed she deserved. Nothing out of the ordinary, and the same could be said for the other subjects. She had made efforts however, since that night, to become better in charms, and it had paid off in terms of both grades and knowledge. It still hadn't sufficed to beat herbology, leave alone potions, but she felt comfortable with more spells than she had learned in class, and that ought to be enough.

Thus, when summer had finally forced Robin to return home to her parents' house, she had actually felt content with her overall progress of the past year, but also desperately ready for a break in all the learning.

That sentiment however had lasted for a mere week, and without the possibility to borrow books from her favorite potions professor, Robin soon had found the necessity to find other methods to keep herself busy, and distract herself from missing school. Those methods mainly had entailed sitting in on summer classes at the university her parents worked for, and while a twelve year old wasn't really the intended audience for any of those classes, Robin had been surprised to find that she actually had understood quite a lot of the entry level subjects. Thus her summer had been filled with classes on history, cultural studies and art –which had turned out to be more about architecture than about art after all– and she had learned a lot while yet being systematically excluded from everything not class related by both the regular students and the professors. Her parents hadn't been any better, as they had been working day in day out as always, ignoring her as always, saying "that's nice, sweetie" as always.

Only upon her return to Hogwarts for the beginning of her second year, Robin had actually felt like she belonged once more. Both the castle and the landscape gave her a feeling of finally being able to breathe again, after a long time of existing in a room with too little air. Sure, seeing her parents had been nice to some degree, but only at Hogwarts did she actually feel like a person of value again. At her parents house, she was an asset in a game that wasn't hers to play. At Hogwarts however she was Robin, and the master of her own fate. Even if to the others she was still the muggle born Slytherin who spent more time with her books than with her peers.

And just like that, she happily threw herself back into her classes and assignments, picking things right back up where she had left off last term.

The members of her study group started talking about their O.W.L.s and about fairly little else quite early on, and Robin soon found herself annoyed by them more than she appreciated their company. Thus she started to spend more and more time studying by herself instead, and eventually also eating by herself as well. Unlike last year, she actually didn't mind not having a permanent group, or anything that came even close to friendships. There was always someone she could sit with, should she choose to do so in the first place, even if that someone was only a brief acquaintance from one of her classes.

Her habit of borrowing books from Professor Snape had to her great luck survived the summer, and right after the first class of the term he had dropped a thick tome about preserving and properly storing different kinds of ingredients on her desk. Not the most interesting read, admittedly, but she would gladly take anything she got. It was still better than those books in the library that all basically said the same thing with different words. She found herself wondering more than once if perhaps they had all been writing by the same person, under different synonyms.

Thus for the following weeks in potions class, whenever they weren't actively brewing anything in particular, Robin would read in that book instead of listening to a lecture about some thing she'd known for half a year already, and to her surprise Professor Snape hadn't complained nor given her an odd look for it even once. Robin soon had realized that they might just have come to the silent agreement that she would learn more if she stuck to her books for now. Well, his books, but nobody needed to know about that. It was an unspoken agreement between them to keep this arrangement to themselves, as well as the quite good terms on which they were with each other at this point. Well, 'good' in Snape's terms at least, which meant that he mostly just let her be for the duration of class and she asked any questions she might have about her reads afterwards.

Eventually this habit, and this particular book especially, had led Robin to discover what she would put into the locket she had been wearing ever since the previous Christmas: a branch of dried dittany. Admittedly, fitting an entire branch into a locket of less than the size of her palm might have posed a problem, had Robin not done her research properly and come across a spell that allowed her to expand the space within the locket to a much greater size than the outside would let on. A simply extending charm, really, but very useful as she found. That only had left one issue remaining, and after having a frank conversation with Professor Sprout (whose favor Robin had gained last year by being the only Slytherin student who actually cared about herbology), Robin had been indeed allowed to take a branch of dittany from the greenhouse. In the week following upon that, she had carefully followed the instructions in the borrowed book and dried the plant while (hopefully) preserving all its qualities, therefore turning her nightstand into the best improvised laboratory she could manage.

At the end of her efforts, she'd actually been quite proud of the outcome, and that is exactly why she had kept the whole endeavour to herself and simply had gone back to wearing the locket every day like she used to, only that now it hid one of the finest healing plants the country had to offer. She'd have to see if she could get her hands on dried mandrake too, at some point. But for now, the dittany would do.

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The peace and quiet of her life at Hogwarts lasted for exactly two and a half months after term had started, right up to the point when Professor Morgan decided that it was time to mess with Robin once again. Honestly, while she hadn't really seen it coming this time either, she had indeed known that he eventually would start causing her problems again. And it just happened to be a lot sooner than she expected.

"Miss Mitchell!" His exaggeratedly cheerful voice brought Robin to an immediate halt, and an immediate spark of panic to her heart. It was Saturday night this time around, but yet again right after dinner and in the emptiest and dark hallway Hogwarts had to offer outside of the dungeons. Robin was spotting a scheme here.

"Professor Morgan…" Robin half sighed and half stated as she turned around to face the man in question. After over a year of having to listen to way too many girls fawning over him, she still couldn't understand how anyone could seriously and in good conscience consider this sleazy individual handsome.

"What a strange déjà vu to be having… Feels like it was ages ago that you messed up my classroom." He smiled innocently and shook his head to himself.

"Funny, to me it seems like just yesterday." Robin replied with the most neutral face she could manage.

"Ah, you and your… witty… remarks, how I have -not- missed those over the summer…" He sighed and raised his chin for a moment, peering down at her over the bottom rim of his reading glasses, which he wore only whenever he wanted to look particularly authoritative. Or that's what Robin thought, at least.

"What is it you would like from me this time, sir?" She asked as calmly as possible, while her hands were getting clammy again nonetheless and she had to resist the urge to wipe them on her trousers. That would've been a dead tell of her anxiety, and she didn't want him to see any of it at all.

"You will assist me in class on Monday. I will be demonstrating a spell that seeks out the other's deepest truths. Much like that famous potion, actually, what's it called again…"

"Veritaserum?" Robin suggested with a frown, keeping her face otherwise neutral while her anxiety went through the roof. He seriously wanted to force her to speak whatever truth in front of the entire class by using magic?! Was that even allowed?

"Exactly! However what I intend to show to the class is called legilimency."

"Never heard of it…"

"That is because it is not commonly taught at this institution."

At that, Robin's heart started beating even faster in nervousness. "But… then why would you teach it to us now, sir? And- and why do you need to demonstrate it on me, out of all people?"

Professor Morgan let out a small snort in return. "I'm not teaching it to you, don't be ridiculous… I'm merely using it to demonstrate something. And I chose you to demonstrate it on, because you are an obvious choice. You were so very intent on your honesty and truthfulness last year that I see no reason as for why it should bother you to speak the truth yet again."

"What if I don't want to assist you?" Robin asked quietly, with a lump in her throat that simply refused to be swallowed down, and her only hope was that the darkness of the hallway hid the fear in her eyes at least.

"Well, I would absolutely hate to force you to do it, Miss Mitchell, but I'm afraid you have no choice." He smiled sweetly, with just a touch of feigned sympathy. "Don't worry, it will be over in a blink."

"But-"

"You see, I told you about this beforehand because I came to realize that troublesome young children such as yourself need a role model for their actions, if we ever want something to become of them." He said with another self sufficient sigh, looking around the hallway as if dwelling in the righteousness of his own statement. "I believe one day in the very distant future you will thank me for every lesson I teach you now. So consider yourself lucky that I allow you to participate in this… lesson."

"Yes, sir." Robin gave back in a neutral tone, while her insides however were both on fire and frozen over at the same time. This was Morgan's late revenge for what had happened last term, it had to be… He'd waited until she felt safe, only to strike now. Petty move, honestly… and still Robin felt sick to the stomach.

"Very well!" Morgan was back to cheery. "I will see you in class on Monday. Have a lovely rest of the weekend." Without wasting another glance on her, he turned on his heel, clasped his hands behind his back nonchalantly and walked off into the direction of his classroom.

Robin however remained standing in her spot for a little while longer, heart beating frantically while a cold rush of adrenaline washed over her body in the most uncomfortable manner. Bloody hell, that man scared her more every time she had to interact with him, and it had only gotten exponentially worse since the detention incident. Tears started stinging in her eyes upon the mere thought of going to class on Monday, but she obviously didn't have much of a choice. Even if she found a reason to avoid class on Monday, he would just come at her with the same threat the next class or the one after that, and she couldn't avoid defense against the dark arts classes for the next five years to come. She also didn't want to, she actually liked the subject. It was only Morgan that she despised.

As the adrenaline slowly decreased and made room for rational thoughts once more, Robin also rediscovered her ability to move. Without even having to think about it, her feet carried her down to the dungeons and right to Professor Snape's office. Yet once she was about to knock on his door, her fist stilled mid-air as she finally paused to think. This wasn't a good idea… well, sure, he had told her to find him if she ran into any problems with Professor Morgan, but then again… she really didn't want a repetition of last time. More so for his sake than for her own. Also, she couldn't just come bursting into his office like the frightened idiot she was, hoping to be shown an easy way out of this the very second she asked for it. No, if she was to drag him into this again (and that was a big IF still) she better come to him with a plan already at hand.

Robin pulled her hand back and dropped it to her side with a sigh, then walked backwards until her back gently touched the cold wall on the opposite side of the hallway. What on earth was she even doing… She was a second year student, and Professor Morgan was… well, a professor. A bloody bad one, to her luck, but still… what kind of chance did she stand against him? Especially in regards to a spell that she hadn't even heard about, leave alone knew how to read up on if it wasn't something she was even supposed to learn about in the first place. She wasn't brave enough to go into the restricted section of the library, and the open one only had books appropriate for standard school topics. She couldn't refuse to partake, couldn't use any sort of shielding spell against him… Hell, if he'd just give her good old veritaserum, at least she would know what she was in for. There even were antidotes for that stuff! Actually… Morgan had said that the spell was rather similar to veritaserum. Robin crossed her arms over her chest and started pacing up and down the hallway, passing by the door again and again on each way.

Maybe… maybe she could make the antidote to veritaserum, and take it before class on Monday. Did that help against legi… what was it again? Gosh, she really couldn't concentrate whenever her anxiety got the better of her. And remembering technical terms wasn't all that high on her list of priorities when she was fighting with blind panic on the inside and not showing any of it on the outside. It was an unfair battle, really…

Antidote. Yes. It could work, it had to… it was the best plan she had. Again she walked by the office door, and right past it towards the end of the hallway yet again. How was she supposed to get the recipe for that antidote though? Or the necessary ingredients?! Making veritaserum itself was a rather advanced procedure, and even if Robin was far ahead of her class, she wasn't that good, not even close. The antidote would require even more precision and knowledge. Robin turned around once she reached the end of the hallway, and headed back into the opposite direction. She couldn't do it alone, couldn't do it at all maybe. But she also couldn't just sit by and do nothing while Professor Morgan would make her blurt out every secret she has ever had in class on Monday. Bloody hell…

"Will you stop pacing and come in already?" Snape's deep voice brought both Robin and her thoughts to a sudden halt. She froze in her step and finally lifted her gaze off the floor to see him standing in the doorway a mere two steps to her right, giving her that trademark pretending-to-be-annoyed frown.

Heat rose to Robin's face immediately, and she felt both embarrassed and relieved as he turned to the side to make room for her to enter.

"I'm sorry, sir, I just… I didn't want to bother you." Robin finally remembered to speak, as she sat down in the by now familiar chair across from his own.

"Now that you did, you might as well tell me the reason for it." He replied calmly as he took his own seat with an expectant expression. Robin held his gaze for a moment, then let her eyes wander around the room like she always did, until something caught her sight.

"The small jar with the green liquid in the third shelf from the bottom, second from the right… it stood on the second shelf from the bottom, last time I was here." She said quietly, before she could really convince herself not to. It was a stupid observation, without any meaning probably, but saying this was easier than answering his question.

Professor Snape's frown deepened as he followed Robin's line of sight, before it vanished and his eyebrows rose up high as ever. "It would indeed appear that it was… misplaced."

"Now or then?"

"Why are you here, Miss Mitchell?"

Robin looked down at her hands, as they were nervously fiddling with the edge of her grey jumper on their own accord. Darn it… she didn't even have any real reason to keep secrets from him anymore. He'd seen her cry, seen her desperate and seen her being a complete dunderhead. Snape was probably the only person in Hogwarts she had ever been entirely honest with in the first place, and when she thought about it, she had no intention to change that now.

With a still fragile certainty, she looked up to meet his eye again. "I'm here because I need the instructions for a potion."

His eyebrows lifted even higher, and he almost looked amused once again, but seeing as Robin herself didn't smile even remotely, the brief expression vanished in a blink. "Which potion?"

"The antidote for veritaserum."

"Why, pray tell, do you believe I would simply give it to you?"

"I do not."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I had to try nonetheless." There was no insecurity in her voice, which surprised her a little, but it didn't come unappreciated. This was a serious matter to her, and he might as well know that. At least he hadn't straight up denied her request and thrown her out of the office already.

Instead his eyes narrowed and he sat up a little straighter as he seemed to grasp the gravity the issue held for Robin. "Why do you need that antidote so desperately that you risk asking for it so boldly?"

"Self-preservation." As he merely gave her a look in return, she added, "I was asked to assist in a class on Monday."

"And that justifies your request because…?"

"It's Professor Morgan's class." Robin's voice went down in volume by more than she intended, but she couldn't care less because Snape's face showed an immediate expression of understanding, then question, and irritation at last.

"I see. What did he say to you, exactly?" He asked a bit too darkly for it to be nonchalant or even neutral, and Robin felt an odd sense of relief to see him still disliking the defense against the dark arts professor as much as she did. She only could've hoped that he had not changed his mind since March, and obviously he hadn't. So far so good.

"He said he wants to demonstrate a spell on me that reveals my deepest truths, and that the spell reminded him of veritaserum. Well, actually, I suggested veritaserum as a comparison because he couldn't remember the name." Robin shrugged and Professor Snape rolled his eyes theatrically, but Robin got the impression that it wasn't directed at her as much as at Morgan.

"Did he say which spell?"

"He did, but…" Robin bit her bottom lip for a second, reminding herself that he had indeed seen her panic before and there was no reason to not tell him about another instance now. "He did say which spell, however I… was too busy not dying over anxiety to pick it up and remember what it's called exactly." The annoyance she had expected to see on his face didn't come, which pushed her to continue on. "But I remember that it's something that's not taught at Hogwarts. He doesn't want us to learn it, just… just demonstrate it himself for some reason. I believe it started with an I or an L… I'm sorry, sir, I honestly don't remember. I should have though, I know…"

Oddly enough, Snape's reaction still was none of annoyance, but he rather stared right past Robin, lost in thought. Had her information not been completely useless after all? Anyway, she almost felt calm now that she had opened up to him about the situation. At least she wasn't alone with it anymore; someone knew of her concerns and actually took them seriously. That was a huge step towards getting out of this entire thing relatively unharmed. Her heartbeat slowed down significantly, and she didn't feel sick anymore. Good… Now, that other jar also had-

"Miss Mitchell?"

"Huh?" Her eyes snapped back to her professor and her cheeks gained in colour once again. She really needed to stop zoning out whenever she was in his office… Snape however kindly ignored her flustering and went right on as if nothing had happened in the first place.

"Was what Professor Morgan mentioned by any chance titled 'legilimency'?"

"Yes!" She blurted right out, eyes widening a little in surprise that he had actually been able to make any use of her poor information. "Exactly that!" The look she received in return however made her wish she hadn't answered all that enthusiastically, as it sent a chill down her spine in an instant.

"Are you absolutely certain?"

"Yes, yes I am… Why? What kind of spell is that, professor? Why are you asking like that?" She asked in an almost insecure manner now, but didn't receive an answer as he got up and went to retrieve a book from one of the shelves in the far corner of the room. After flipping through the pages for a moment, he turned the open book around and handed it to Robin before moving to sit back down in his chair in silence.

Robin scanned the page to get the overall gist of it, and her eyes widened in sheer horror at every word she read. At last she placed the book on the desk between them and simply stared at Professor Snape in both shock and fear. Morgan wanted… and he really was forcing her to… no!

"That is why I'm asking like that." Snape sounded almost as displeased as Robin felt, even if he had no reason to in her eyes. She was glad that he shared the sentiment nonetheless.

"Can't… Is that… Is that even allowed?" Robin's voice was but a whisper, a plea almost to whoever would hear, to at least make this wrong.

"The use of veritaserum on students has… unfortunately been prohibited, however I'm not aware of any such rules regarding legilimency. As it seems, the ministry has as of yet turned a blind eye to it."

"And… and the headmaster?"

"Will hardly see a fault in a mere demonstration of the subject. He has always been quite… liberal."

Robin's face fell even more, and she stared down at the words on the page in front of her as they began swimming together slowly. Then however she frowned at a different issue. "Professor… It may be completely stupid of me to say, but… this spell does not sound like anything I know about veritaserum. I mean, sure, it both reveals the truth in a way, but if I understand correctly, this… is more than just a means to finding out the truth. It's a hellfire being compared to a match. Which leads me to believe that –and I do apologize for being so direct about this– Professor Morgan either has no idea about this spell, even though it falls into his supposed area of expertise, or he doesn't know a thing about even the most basic basics of potions."

"I'm led to believe that he isn't proficient in either." A small pause, and Robin managed a half smile at his fairly direct insult before he continued speaking. "And you are right, Miss Mitchell, legilimency has fairly little to do with veritaserum, or more precisely, nothing at all. Which is why I will not give you the instructions for the antidote."

While his words definitely made sense, Robin also felt her heart sinking and squeezing together painfully. It had been her only chance… or had it? Another idea sprung to her mind suddenly, and even though she knew that it was extremely inappropriate and straight out wrong, it was an idea born from desperation. "What if I poison him?"

Snape's expression did show a small but honest reaction upon her words, a mixture of astonishment and a hint of being impressed, but more words fell off Robin's lips before he could shut her up. "Maybe draught of living death, so that he doesn't show up to class until I graduate, or forgetfulness potion to make him forget that he ever asked me to do this, forced me to do this even, or a hate potion so he shows his TRUE self in front of the entire school, or-"

"That's quite enough, Miss Mitchell." He interrupted her with a scolding tone, and Robin sobered from her rant in but a second. Oh no… had she really just said all of that? Out loud?? To Professor Snape??? As he continued, his voice took on a more neutral tone again, but his eyes conveyed the same graveness nonetheless. "I'm giving five points to Slytherin, for your remarkable knowledge of admittedly rather suitable positions for the occasion. And I am giving you detention, for suggesting to poison a teacher."

"What?!"

"Come to my office first thing after breakfast tomorrow morning. You will be here the entire day, so don't expect to be indulging in any other… activities tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Sunday." Robin frowned at him, and felt a little betrayed after all. She had a serious problem at hand and he was giving her detention?! However justified it was, for her impulsive blurt of a desperation born thoughts, she had hoped for a little more understanding at least. Also, there was no detention on Sundays. Usually.

"I'm well aware." He replied to her surprise, giving her another of those looks that said more than his words did. Only that this time Robin had no idea what exactly it was that it said. But she didn't question him, as much as she wanted to, for he wouldn't give a reply anyway. When Professor Snape demanded something to be done, it would be. That's just how things were, and Robin found herself admiring him for it even. He wore an armor of dangerous intensity for his daily robes, and it suited him better than anyone else.

"I'll be here, sir." She finally replied in a quiet voice, and her eyes went back to the book on the desk. Would he at least let her borrow it until Monday, so that she could prepare for what was coming her way?

As if he was reading her mind now indeed, he gave an answer to her internal question. "The book won't help you, Miss Mitchell, nor will any potion. I suggest you spend the night resting instead of pondering over either option."

"How did you know I would?" Robin asked with a half amused and half embarrassed huff. Did he actually read her mind? He probably did, and yet she had the sudden feeling that detention with Professor Snape wouldn't be all that horrible. Not for her, at least.

"Because I would. Given your point of view on this issue, it is the most sensible thing to do." He replied with a risen eyebrow and a pointed look. "However from my point of view, I strongly advise you to rest. You will fare better with energy rather than pointless knowledge in tomorrow's… detention."

Robin frowned at his cryptic statement, but he seemed rather unwilling to say any more on the issue and thus Robin took a deep breath before she went to reply in his trademark neutrality. "Very well. No books for me tonight, I'm going straight to bed. Would that be all, sir?"

"Careful, Mitchell. You wouldn't want to risk detention over your wit."

"I thought I already have detention, sir."

"Get. Out." He drawled in a low tone, and yet the not-smirk tugging on his lips didn't escape Robin's notice as she rose to her feet and walked to the door.

Somehow she felt better than she knew she should in the light of getting detention, leave alone what would be happening on Monday. But here she was, having to hide her smirk as she turned around to Snape once again. "Goodnight, professor. I'll be on time."

"You better be." He mused with another gaze louder than words. "Tomorrow."

As Robin closed the door behind herself and stepped into the dark hallway, turning into the direction of her dormitory, she allowed a small smile to grace her lips at last. Things still weren't exactly working out in her favor, but after talking to the quite possibly darkest person she had ever known, the world seemed an odd lot brighter nonetheless.

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erizawayumako888 · 3 years ago

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It's been a while, how many years have passed? 5? 10? maybe even more? we both lay side by side on top of the hill, green fields and village by the mountain. The place we call home, or for me, used to be one.

We may not have been the closest of friends, but your company is quite enjoyable. Especially back then, when I was a child, young and free, naive and innocent. I would run around the village, play with other kids, other times hanging out with older friends like you. I've been looking up to you, we don't talk much, but you're an admirable figure, as a kid I thought about how cool you are, I talked a lot about you although I didn't have the guts to really tell you how I feel.

Kids would cringe at the idea of the idea of a girl and boy kissing or holding hands, including me. I kept on denying how I feel, I was so young I felt that it was disgusting although it felt good. As I grow up we grew further apart, just like every other kids growing out of their interests or old friends. I forgotten that you even existed for years.

All those years as I grew up, a lot of terrible things happened. I looked at you, assuming that you are smiling back at me underneath that mask. You were quite pleased to see an old friend, a little girl you used to spend time with, gone for quite a while and returned a grown up woman. You sat comfortably beside me, thinking that I'm still the same old bright young woman. How unfortunate, my friend. You couldn't have been more wrong...

I didn't grow up to be the lady society expects me to be, I run, jump and play like boys, I prefer dinosaurs and superheroes over dressing up and dolls. Other kids think I am weird, I got bullied and rejected. I learnes how to just keep things by myself, since I am a bother for others. But it didn't stop there, now that I am being quiet, the grown ups hated me just for speaking too little. I still listen to and reply to them, I just don't talk much to other kids or when not needed.

They tried to shackle and chain my freedom, telling me that just because I am a girl I am not allowed to do this or that. I am forced to wear complicated clothings, constantly how a woman's only goal in life is to bow down to her husband. I am sick of being tossed and controlled around up to 14 years of my life, only to be told that it is the right thing to carry on beibg tossed and controlled around by a man until the day I die.

This place I grew up in, what I once see as a peaceful village... I hate everyone in there. All of them, judgemental hypocrites, feeling that they're always right when they condemn people for being themselves. I'm sick of it, I can't take it any longer. My guardian angel held me tight, telling me that everythings going to be okay.

Hell no, I am no longer enduring that while faking a smile. I ran away from her, from the village, into the forest depth. And that's when I came face to face with the devil herself. And attractive woman with red, glistening hair. Her sharp glare accompanied with curled horbs decorating her head, standing proud with her bat-like wings stretched over and her devilish tail swaying around. She stood proud, loud and clear she declared ,"My child, I can help you avenge those who have wronged you!".

My guardian angel grabbed my arm whimpering ,"Don't listen to her" I looked back at her feeling bad... But you are my guardian angel, yet you don't protect me from the hell I have been through. But still, you are my friend, but what kind of friend sees you suffering and does nothing about it, only telling me to be patient and take it all?

I closed my eyes, under my eyelids it's pitch black as expected. However everything soon turns to be red, bright red, visions of flames of hell is getting clearer. But I felt very excited, not realizing I grinned wider as the estacy grew. I opened my eyes feeling euphoric, for the first time in a while my laugh echoes out of excitement. I can't tell where and what I am looking, I only know that I can't stop laughing, my arms have to keep moving slashing through the air, I feltike I'm hit something, at a glance I might have seen a terrified face but the adrenaline rush makes me ignorant of it. My vision grows blurry and redder, as the screams from hell grew louder and pierces my ears.

Finally I'm exhausted. My head feels very heavy, as if heavy weights are being attach to its left and right, I fell forward to the ground. That is when I realized I literaly have weights on my head... that demon lady's horns, they are on my head now. I could feel some wind, some moving attached to my back, those are her wings... and my hands, red.

I saw my guardian angel there, her once white gown is now stained in red. She is no longer movinh or breathing. I cried when I realized what happened. Slowly I carried her lifeless body on top of a hill far away from the village, under a huge, old tree surrounded by the flower beds we used to play at. It was where we would laugh and make flower crowns, where we would frolic and run with the animals. But now, this is her final resting place.

I kept replaying those memories as I walked with my old friend. He didn't say a word and follwed behind me, until I stopped in front of the nameless tombstone. I picked up a few flowers and poured them on top of it, before I fall on my knees. Had hadn't a clue of what happened that day, in attempt of consoling me he held my shoulder ,"Friend of yours?" I didn't say a word.

After my first murder, I finally realizes that I no longer have a guardian angel, instead I have a demon by my side. She promised me that shw would be much more helpful, and she seems to be telling the truth. With my new found power I walked back to the village in the middle of the night, fpr one last time. I flew from home to home, looking for the faces of those who had wronged me to rip them off. A glint of satisfication when they all run and scream in fear before finally, they all drop dead in silence.

By the time the sun goes up, I looked into a mirror, seeing myself as a beat decorated in red. The light shines on the blood covering me, it was an amazing kind of feeling I never had before. I flew away far into the darkest depths of forest, looking for a new place to live.

I travlled the lands into other villages and towns, there are times I do try to make friends and hide my past, I may not be hated anymore but I always fear how if I would. So I keep myself away from others, no one can be trusted, except for myself and the demon inside of me.

It is quite frustrating as a loner when I had feelings for a man, yet I remember how I was treated, by their kind especially. I don't want to let my feelings of attachment to bribg down my ego. I am not the one who will submit, I will be the one to dominate them.

And thus my journey began, I trained to grow stronger. When I see a man I found to my liking I would take them away and trest them like a toy. I will toss and turn them aroubd to my heart's content, although I do love and care for them it is a pleasureable way to avenge those men who wronged me. You say that girls can't be strong? You say that girls have to obey their husbands with a leash around her neck? Then this time my love, you are the one with the leash around your neck.

Two, three pets were not enough. I always needed more, and I have lost counted after all these years. Perhaps 30 or 40, and it won't stop anytime soon. At times I cry for nights knowijg how much I hurt my loved obes, but the voices of my relatives, telling me to kneel down and be a 'good girl', especoally my grandma...

She was not a nice old lady who makes cookies for you, she would always tell me it is wrong to be myself, she would always say that my nice face and body is jist a great asset to find me a good man. I am sick of it, and even after I've left my family behind their taunting voicr still taunts me. Aslong as the voices goes on, my torturous games will cobtinue. I do hesitate and feel guilty, but at the same time I enjoy it when I watch my boys cry in the dungeon after what I do to them.

I finally fibished plucking the weeds around the graveyard, I stared at the weed I grasp in my hands thinking... Maybe I should stop afterall, I cannot forever keep on hurting people especially those who I cared about. But just as I smiled in relief her voice echoes again ,"My dear, why don't you have a man yet? Relax, and kneel down. Be. A. Good. Girl."

I stood up yelling and tossed the weed aside, I screamed loudly towards the sky as my old friebd backed off. Both of my fists tightens as I stared into the horizon, I clenched my teeth and tears began flowing down my face.

My old friend slowly walked towards me ,"Is everything alright?" He asked. I turned my head slowly, now face to face to the so familiar face. But I noticed a difference, slowly my vision turns red. Not just his masked face, but the sky and grass, everything turns red. I began to smirk and laugh as tears continue to rush like waterfall ,"I'm sorry my love, she is coming back."

I laughed harder than ever as the demon's horns sprout out of my scalp, bat like wings spread on my back blocking the sun and drops a shadow covering my old friend. He stared at me as he drew his sword, I can tell that he hesitates just like I do. But I can't stop now, I need him in my collection, as long as that old witches words burns in my ears I need new toys to take my anger and grudge on.

I laughed harder and harder as I clawed my way through, my claws clashing against his sword under the setting sun. His skill impressive as ever, in a blink of an eye as I tried to hold back my demond I could feel my head lighter, and I notuced both of my horns were severed laying on the ground. Well played, my dear. This gets more interesting.

I growled and shoots lightning from my finger, I am not trying to attack him however I just want to play around for now. He leaps aroubd dodging my attacks, at times deflecting them with his sword which celarly backfires me, I took my own hit but I am not done yet.

Now, a huge orb forms in my palms, I run to him swinging it to his direction. He was ready to slocr the orb but just at the moment my other claw slaps his sword away. Checkmate. You are unarmed now. I growled like a beast as I grabbed him by force, he was fighting back kicking and punchibg but I am not backing down, not especially when I am a demon at least 10 times his size for now.

I grasped him in my claws and flew away from the spot. Finally another collection, another victim for my grudge and hatred, mixed with my love and obsession. I do love you dear, but your kind has to pay what they have done to me. The fun has just started, pet.

#rant #vent #trauma #fiction #fic #writing #hatred #anger #misogynism

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phoenotopia · 5 years ago

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2020 March Update

Happy New Year! Well, I guess it's a bit late for that...

Much of what transpired in the past few months will fall under polish and bug-fixing. Will and I have a mutual friend who got married, so I had the occasion to visit Will to attend the wedding as well as have Will playtest the game in its most complete form yet. He logged 24 hours of playtime and just reached the entrance of the final dungeon. Then we had to call in for the night since it was 5 AM, and I had a flight to catch in the morning.

His completion rate where we stopped was 42% of Heart Pieces, 33% of Energy Gems, and 44% of Moonstones. So... I think we have a pretty lengthy game!

This will take a while to playtest & polish... Will's daytime profession is QA Engineer so he's pretty great at catching bugs. From his playtest, we jotted down 200+ items to fix/adjust. Some as small as a simple misspelling, and some more significant (like Gail being unable to jump when standing at the edge of a steep slope). I'm about half-way through fixing that list...

(Will’s living room where much playtesting was done)

Here are some other things we've accomplished in the past few months. A lot of it falls under polish and bug-fixing, which won't sound outwardly impressive, so I'll dive in a bit under the hood.

-------------------------- Item Balancing --------------------------

There are over 200 items in the game. Of which, 90+ are healing items. While much of their flavor text was already written, their stats weren't yet finally decided. So a large effort was spent to balance them as well as possible. Initially, I balanced items by observation (ex: "The player is relying on this item a lot, so I will nerf it...") Now, I've moved to a more systematic way of doing things. I made an equation that takes in all of an item's parameters, and spits out a score. The higher an item heals, the higher the score. The longer an item takes to consume, the lower the score. And so forth.

As usual, I used google spreadsheets, since they support equations. I could tweak the values of a healing item, and immediately see how its final score was affected. I also made use of automatic color formatting, so a field becomes highlighted red, if it's particularly bad, or green, if it's particularly good. Of course, the sheet is just a guideline. The aim wasn't to make all items have the same final score, but that they made sense for what they were and when you could get them. Late-game items tend to have higher overall scores versus early-game items. Some items, like doggy biscuits, have notoriously low scores across the board - as a joke!

-------------------------- Cooking Systems --------------------------

Another thing that had to be done with the healing items was finally determine their cooking sequences. 38 healing items could be cooked and will transform into something else. The way I specified that an item could be cooked was to add a a little snippet to an item's "meta data". An example would look something like, "COOK,57,62,ABXY,10,1.5,1".

In order, this specified the item_ID that would result on success (57), the item_ID that would result on failure (62), the button sequence (ABXY), the time you had to complete the sequence (10 seconds), how quickly the cursor should move (1.5x speed), and if the item multiplied on success (1). The system appears simple enough - but it was actually extremely inefficient!

For one, this system didn't allow random button sequences - all "berry fruits", when cooked would have the same button prompts and in the same order every time (ABXY). Initially, I thought having set button sequences would be a feature, but in practice, it was less fun.

Two, this system wasn't human-readable at all. I'd see a sequence of numbers, forget what they were, and have to look them up over and over.

But the biggest problem was that you couldn't evaluate an item's cooking difficulty from these numbers without manual testing. At 1.5 cursor speed, how many times does the cursor pass the center panel in 10 seconds? Maybe that's 15 times... for a 4 button sequence, the player has 11 opportunities to miss - that's too wide a berth for failure. The system also had variable penalties - if you misspressed a button prompt you loss time on the cooking meter. If you didn't press anything, you missed the opportunity, but not the time - but the clock was still ticking, so you did lose time, just not as much. In the end, the difficulty of cooking each item was all over the place. It was also possible to create "unwinnable" scenarios if I made the button sequence too long, the time too short, or the cursor speed too slow. Testing each item manually to ensure doability was too tedious and unreliable - it was a mess!

Which is why, the underlying cooking system was revamped. The new meta data looks like : "COOK,57,62,seq_length,5,spd,1.5,ease_add,2". This is a lot more readable. Beyond the first 3 entries, the arguments could be specified in any order. And their meanings were easy to understand.

"seq_length,5" means a random button sequence of 5 will be generated (no need for me to personally generate it)

"spd,1.5" means the cursor moves at 1.5x speed. I could also leave this field out to get a default value of 1x cursor speed.

"ease_add,2" - the biggest improvement to the system is how we now approach difficulty. We streamlined a miss-press and a missed opportunity as the same level of "mistake", and difficulty is framed as, "how many mistakes is the player allowed to make and still have a successful result?" By default, the player is afforded the ability to make 2 mistakes, and "ease_add,2" bumps the number of allowable mistakes to 4. We then automatically calculate how much "time" the player should have to cook something based on its cursor speed, how long the button sequence is, and how many mistakes the player is allowed to make. This was a more sensible and efficient system that let me knock out all 38 healing item cook sequences in one sitting!

-------------------------- Badges Nearly Done --------------------------

As you may recall from the last update, I was working on implementing the badges.

Thinking up the badge and having its graphic drawn is just the first half. Underneath, the code also needs to be made to track all the relevant player stats - how many times the player fished, ate, got money, used a certain move, etc. Some badges require extra guards, because they can be spoofed. For instance, the "Treasure Hunter" badge is obtained when the player has collected XXXX RIN through the course of your journey. However, there is something like a "gold exchange" in the game, where you could circularly trade gold and RIN to boost this number artificially. It's important to guard against cases like those.

So far, 30 of 33 badges are implemented. The last three have to do with late-game things that have inter-dependencies that we're still figuring out. The Speed running badge for instance is still dependent on two things. One, I need to speed run the game a few times to see how fast it's possible to beat the game and decide finally what's a reasonable time-limit. Two, there's actually a time-keeping bug which can inflate the game time if the system is left in sleep mode. I don't expect either things will be too hard to figure out - just gotta find the time for it.

-------------------------- Script Extra Polished --------------------------

We continued to polish the script, which I thought was basically done before. We added some extra NPCs here and there, and fleshed out the world with lore text where it seemed appropriate. In the end, the game's script ballooned to over 100,000 words! Hah... It's definitely DONE now however!

Some interesting things I noted as I was polishing old text - there were quite a few instances where Gail talks. I began the game's development with the idea that Gail should definitely talk since I wanted her to be a more active participant in what she chose to do. But I discovered later that if Gail talks, but only talked a little, she comes off as a very reticent person. There's no middle lane here - you're either all in or all out.

If Gail was a silent protagonist, she still talked symbolically. She is understood to be talking based on how people react to her - kinda like Link. So that's the direction I went with in the end (again). When Gail has occasion to talk, it comes in the form of a player dialogue choice. She also has an inner voice when she needs to remind the player to do something.

Another reason I went with this direction, is for brevity. Take this exchange for instance: QUEST GIVER : Can you help me find this super rare ingredient? GAIL : Maybe. I can't make any promises...

If Gail is silent, I can reduce those 2 lines to 1. QUEST GIVER : Can you help me find this super rare ingredient? GAIL : ...

-------------------------- Business Taxes --------------------------

Not too exciting, but new year means I gotta do taxes for the business. They're a lot more complicated than personal taxes, and more expensive! Since the game hasn't sold anything, you would think there'd be nothing to file. Hah! If only... The business is there so we can act as a legal entity and record expenses for when we do start selling. I really want to focus on making games, but there’s a small percentage of it that is sometimes boring and dreadful (-_-) ... still it needs to be done.

------------- Why no Public Beta Testing? -------------

As you may have noticed, I haven't put out any public calls for testing help despite being at that stage. Some have offered to help, which I appreciate! But sadly, I cannot accept. Here's the story for that.

Two and a half years ago, I got my hands on a console dev kit - that's very exciting, so I hurriedly took the steps to convert my dev station to be console-capable. After about two weeks, I had the console version working and integrated into my workflow, so all appeared good...

4 Months later, an artist needed an updated PC build to test some new art assets, so I went to build a new PC version. We use Unity, so generally you just need to click your desired build target, and hit "build". However, I now discovered that by attaching the console "hooks" into my work environment, I could no longer build to PC... It was possible, from my end, to test the game from the dev station in dev mode, which was why it went undiscovered for so long.

I did try to excise the hooks, but proved unsuccessful after a day of work. I decided to take this as an opportunity to focus exclusively on the console version first, which afforded me some niceties. Knowing that there's a standardized control scheme meant I could make full use of the control stick for the fishing mini-game. I also didn't need to create a rebindable keys menu - which is a MUST for PC versions... Most importantly, it lets me focus on making the one version as good as possible before moving onto the next. I have NO idea how those other guys release on all platforms at once...

Chalk it up to inexperience. In my defense, this will be my first commercial release, so bear with me. Don't worry, I still plan to make the PC version! It's a bit unconventional, but we're just going to go in the reverse direction of the usual. Console first, then PC, then other consoles. Wherever it makes financial sense, there we will be. (Sorry Ouya!)

Back to the original question - that's why I haven't sent out any public calls for playtesting. Current playable builds of the game are locked to my console dev kit. So actual playtesting unfolds in a very closed setting. Like what I did with Will, I literally sit behind the playtester, breathe down their neck, and watch them play, taking notes all the while.

But since I'm observing the player directly, even just one playthrough nets me a TON of bugs and adjustment tasks. So it evens out I think.

-------------------------- Trailers, Release Dates, etc. --------------------------

Alright, get your frowns ready...

We finished two trailers, and they're raring to go. BUT! We can't show them yet... We're sort of at an awkward spot where we're waiting on some conversational threads to conclude. Say we win a slot in a show - that'd be a HUGE plus for us - but that may also be contingent on us having NOT shown anything substantial yet. The game in its unrevealed state is a negotiating chip. So we're trying to leverage that... and you can only do the reveal once...

We also want to have some "actionable" items in the trailer - a launch date you could mark on your calendar, a wishlist, a website you can visit, etc. So since those things aren't entirely lined up yet, we can't let the trailers rip just yet...

Right now, I can only say we're *aiming* for a late Q2/early Q3 launch. But I can't commit to anything concrete yet. As soon as we know, we'll happily sing it from the rooftops. I hope I can update this blog sooner with good news, but if things move slowly again, I'll send out the next "we're alive" update 2 months from now (end of April).

I know it's frustrating to have nothing major after so long still, so I captured some gameplay footage... May it sate your hungers!

-------------------------- Footage 1 : Fishing --------------------------

You've seen pictures of the fishing, but never video of it in action. Well, here it is!

youtube

(And right after I uploaded the video, I noticed there actually was a video of fishing before. D’oh)

The idea is simple. First, get the lure in front of a fish, and assuming the fish isn't scared, it will soon bite. Then begins a fight sequence, where your energy meter is pitted against the fish's energy meter. Whoever's energy outlasts the other's wins.

The fish's resistance is represented by a red moving circular subsection. You fight the fish by pushing the control stick and keeping it on the subsection, which will dart around and try to escape you. Bigger and tougher variants of fish will do a "shake" which will reverse the wheel. When the wheel is reversed, so too are the controls, so it gets extra tricky!

While fishing, your energy meter doesn't recover, so one of the ways you level up your fishing ability is by finding energy gems to increase your max energy. There's another way - but we'll keep that a secret.

-------------- Footage 2 : Kobold Boss Fight --------------

You can actually skip the next section if you'd prefer to be surprised and you find your hunger for info sated. That's how I prefer to consume the games that I know I'm going to get. If you're still hungering for info, and you don't mind the slight spoilers, then feel free to proceed!

The next video shows the new Kobold Boss fight. Let's take a moment to reflect on the old game's visuals and how far it's come...

(we've come a long way since the time of the flash game)

youtube

You'll notice the Kobold boss has a name now - Katash! He's a significant enough character that he's earned it. The second thing you'll notice is that he looks better!

Some people have humorously pointed out that the old boss looks like Wolf O'Donnel from Star Fox. There's a funny story behind that. Basically I asked an artist to draw me a space wolf. And the artist, whom I'm assuming wasn't familiar with Wolf O'Donnel, drew that - all of it - all the animations and everything. The first time I laid eyes on it, it was already done, so it was too late to ask for edits. So I just ran with it.

That was seven years ago. Nowadays, I know to involve myself more in the process. I ask for just the design first, and we don't move forward with animations until we're happy with the design. Life lessons!

By the way, if you like Katash’s personal boss theme, give it a lesson on Will's Sound cloud (LINK)

-------------------------- Fan Arts -------------------------- Lots of fan art came in over the past 3 months!

This one is a pixel animation made by Pimez, and shows Gail singing a Christmas carol in various parts of the game. So cute! Years ago, I too was making little animated gifs for my favorite games, so it really brings me back!

This one was made by cARTographer (twitter link) after a request by Deli_mage, so thank you both. Gail rocking stylish boots with a pose that shows confidence in her batting skills. Very anime - Love it!

Another submission of laptekosz of the Last Song of Earth area. Whereas the last picture depicted the night sky, now the orange trees are lit by a rising sun. Artfully done! Kinda makes me want to eat eggs. I hope you'll like the new Last Song of Earth area just as much :D

A new artist to the scene, Not_Quin, submitted two pictures, one of Gail and one of the Sand Drake re-imagined as a centipede. I'm always a fan of these re-imaginings! I like how it's spiky all over and appears to be wearing a skull mask. The Sand Drake is often pointed out to be too similar to Zelda's Dodongos, so maybe a long slithery body would have indeed served better. Fun fact, long ago, when we were working on Phoenotopia 2 in earnest, we actually had a giant man-eating worm planned - WIP animation depicted below. One day... one day...

Negativus Core made two cool new arts! I'm really impressed by their use of unique perspective! Having characters run towards the screen or reaching close to the screen from afar is tricky since the proportions get all distorted - but not an issue for Negativus Core! Love the blur on Gail to show speed, with 66 in focus - really skillfully done! And the cube. Amazing!

--------------------------

I'm really honored by the huge fan art community. Thank you all!

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arthurhwalker · 5 years ago

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Moving your Tabletop RPG Online: First Steps

Trapped behind a fortress of toilet paper, but still want to play Tabletop RPGs with your friends? This is my quick and dirty guide to getting started running and playing your games online. Toward the bottom, I'll have links to as many digital resources to help run games as I can find. I will update whenever I find new things, so check back, and comment on what you're looking for.

Requirements

You and your RPG table folks will each need a computer, tablet, or smartphone capable of running Discord, and accessing Roll20 via a browser. Discord can run in a browser as well, but I recommend using the desktop app on your computer, or mobile app on your tablet or smartphone. Also, I strongly recommend a headset or earbuds with a mic.

Every participant will need a Roll20 dot net and Discord App account.

https://discordapp.com/ https://roll20.net/

Discord will primarily provide video and voice chat for your table. It has lots of other potential for community building, but for right now we're just going to use it so you and your fellow gamers can see and hear each other.

Roll20 is where you'll host the game itself. It is where you and your RPG crew will roll digital dice, manage character sheets, look at maps, move tokens on the battlefield, and similar. It takes some setup, but not a lot to get started.

The more preparation the person running the game puts into Roll20, the nicer and more streamlined the experience. This can be done over time, between games. I wouldn't delay play to have everything perfect, just get enough set up to get started and go.

Discord for Gamemasters

Don't worry about setting up or joining a server just yet. You don't really need one, and it often just confuses folks that are new to Discord. At minimum, the person running the game should have all the players added as friends. Go to the Friends Tab, click "Add Friends", and put in their handle, pound sign, and number. Your handle and number will be displayed somewhere in the app depending on whether you have the mobile, browser, or desktop version of the app.

Once the person running the game has everyone added as a friend, they can add them to a Group DM. The New Group DM button looks like a speech bubble with a + sign by it, and should be visible in the Friends Tab. Once everyone has been added to the Group DM, the game runner can hit either the start voice or video call button, prompting everyone else to join.

That Group DM will persist in the Friends Tab, regardless of whether anyone is actually online or in the call. People that drop from connectivity issues can pop back in by just selecting that group DM when a call is ongoing. If people are having connectivity issues, they can send text messages to the Group DM, add files, send GIFs, and similar.

The person running the Game can post news and game schedules to the Group DM, and people can chat about the game off camera/mic in between games.

Yes, you can set up your own dedicated servers, forums, and communities using Discord, but you don't need to. In my experience, Discord is just arcane enough to confuse people the first few times they run it. The desktop version of Discord will continue running in the tray, by default, even if you close the main window.

Make sure you either go into settings and turn this feature off, or shut Discord down from the tray, and/or that you've left the call when you're done. Otherwise, you'll continue to broadcast as you talk to yourself, while browsing the Internet (to the amusement of your friends still in the Group DM.)

Roll20 for Gamemasters

Like Discord, Roll20 dot net is just arcane enough to baffle people. It has a lot of functions and features, and you do not need to make use of them all to get started. Don't delay play while you figure out how to get dynamic lighting to work, or build every map for the campaign.

Just get rolling with it, hands properly dirty.

Once you're logged in, you'll need to create your first game. Once you're logged in, there should be a shiny pink button labeled, "Create New Game". Click that, and head to the next screen. Give your game a name, and don't worry about tags (if you're just playing with friends). Pick the character sheet from the drop down menu that most closely fits the game you're going to run.

This will save you a bunch of time later. Don't worry, you can change it after you've created the game if you don't like this feature.

Once you've created your game, hit the menu button, and go back to Home. Click on your game, scroll down to invite players. You can send direct invitations to the email address they used to sign up for Roll20 with, or copy and paste a link, dropping it into your Discord Group DM text chat.

After your players have accepted the invitation, have them launch the game, at least once, so the Roll20 servers fully recognize that they are participants. This will allow you to assign them control of characters, and access to handouts later. This merely saves you the time of having to make those assignments at the first game.

While your players are in the game, have them go to the "My Settings" tab, by clicking the Gear Icon in the upper right corner. Have them scroll down and set Player Avatar Size to "Names only", and Chat Tech to "None" (no video/audio). You're using Discord (which is way better), so you won't need these features.

On your game's landing page, there is a place for Game Discussion where you, or any player, can post topics, people can reply, and so forth. For important game things, you can flag posts to hang around at the top of the Discussion Feed. This is a good place to put house rules, leaderboards, game schedules, and more.

There is also a place to indicate when the next game will be, the time adjusted from your timezone, to whatever everyone else has, depending on where they live. Handy!

When you launch the game to work on it, I recommend having the Roll20 Wiki up in another browser tab. I'm going to run through some of the basics, and give a tour, but there's too much to detail in a single blog post. I'll be focusing on what you'll need to just get started.

https://wiki.roll20.net/Main_Page

The game view has three visible points of user interface. The vertical bar of icons on the left, the horizontal bar of icons at the top of the chat log on the right, and the game board itself. The first thing in the Chat Log should be a "Welcome" message with some helpful chat window commands. At the bottom of the Chat Log is a toggle letting you change your role from yourself, to NPCs, monsters, and even player characters (should they find themselves charmed by a dryad).

Also, note the little blue Page Toolbar button at the top in the middle. This is what you'll use to navigate between different maps, and change what players are able to see on their screens. Your view doesn't have to follow what the players are seeing.

The learning curve with the Roll20 interface is going to feel very steep at first, for you and your players. If you're already anxious about running games, this can feel overwhelming. However, once you learn even a little of how it works, Roll20 is a very powerful tool. I use it to run my local games now with a big screen TV.

It's that good. Trust me, hang in there.

Okay, you're logged into Roll20, click on the games tab, mouse over it, and click the tutorial. Watching a YouTube video is a fine way to learn, but this gets you accustomed to the tools, where things are located, and so forth. Breaking through this initial learning curve, understanding where your game assets are stored, and how to control what your players see and hear takes a minute.

If you've ever used Photoshop or any image editing tool, even Microsoft Word or OneNote, a lot of the user interface will feel familiar, functions and features much the same.

Okay, some general tips that should streamline things for you.

Make a character called "Dungeon Master", "Game Master", or similar. In the Attributes & Abilities tab create several that are going to automatically roll for yourself via /gmroll, or for players using /roll, the most commonly used things. Passive Detection, Surprise, Random Encounters, Treasure, Initiative, and anything else you roll for multiple times per game.

Then, click the "Show in macro bar" box so they are on screen for you whenever you need them.

When uploading assets, give the file names that are searchable in an intuitive way. You can make folders and to organize your art library, but it isn't really necessary. The search feature is robust enough it'll pick through the pile very quickly, provided your file names reflect what the asset is.

Asset0023.png <- No GoblinShaman.png <- Yes

Finally, in the settings for your game, add any applicable compendiums for your game, and click the box that makes them available for players. There are compendiums for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Ed, Pathfinder 2nd Ed, Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, Dungeon World, Fate, Kids on Bikes, Pathfinder 1st Ed, Starfinder, Burn Bryte, DramaSystem, and Dialext.

A lot of these are paid upgrades, but worth the investment if you plan to stay on and use Roll20 for any particular duration. You'll find the full list on Roll20 dot net, under the Tools Menu Tab, in Compendiums.

Roll20 & Discord For Players

In the beginnning your goal should be to have fun, and understand how Roll20 works enough that you aren't slowing the game down for anyone else. Worry about macros and navigating the game as you play. Definitely watch YouTube videos, read the Wiki, and do whatever else you need to feel comfortable.

But, first, make sure you are using best application available to you for accessing the game.

There are these options for Android and iPad. (Keep reading, don't just grab one of these yet.)

Android iPad

As far as I'm aware, these are horrible, 1-2 star applications with problems, and lacking in support. Only resort to these options if you've tried every browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) available for your platform, and can't get it on your desktop or tablet.

Likewise, do this for Discord.

Make sure you are accessing the Discord App using the best option for your platform. I have yet to find a platform where Discord isn't pretty great. Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux, all awesome with a dedicated app, or in the browser.

Figure out how to mute yourself, and be courteous to other people participating. No one wants to hear you eating chips or yelling at your kids. ;-D Also, perform and audio test with your computer and headset. Have a friend or the game master meet you online and make sure everything is working properly.

This is, literally, 75% of the battle for a game master running their first online game. Just getting people online with the right software, hardware configured properly, with a modicum of understanding of how it all works. The absolute best thing a player can do is be responsible for learning and helping others learn Discord and Roll20.

Preparing games for Roll20 takes more effort for the dungeon master than normal. You can help this along by writing background stories, doing illustrations of your character, or just making a wish list of magical items your character hopes to encounter. Taking some of the guesswork out of making the game fun for you, will greatly streamline the process for the game master.

Likewise, organizing games online is time consuming and stressful as compared to just meeting at the local game or board game cafe. Make sure you communicate with the game master your availability, and be on time for games. This sets a standard for other players. Supporting the table with your reliable presence makes it nicer for you, and everyone else.

Build some custom emote macros for your character in the Attributes & Abilities tab or your character sheet in the Journal tab above the chat log. Whenever my Warlock uses one of his class abilities at my 5e table, I click a macro button that executes one of these commands.

/em holds a rod aloft, summoning hellish fortitude! (Using his Rod of the Pact Keeper)

/em grasps a shard amulet around his neck, closes his eyes, and reaches across into the hellscape it came from. (Using his Dark Shard Amulet)

/em gains terrible fortitude following the slaying of an enemy. (Dark One's Blessing Class Ability)

/em produces a shadowy tome, bound in the hide of an otherworldly beast, flames leaping up from the script inside. (Book of Shadows Class Ability)

/em reaches back into the void, altering his fate. (Dark One's Own Luck Class Ability) /roll 1D10 [Add To Current Saving Throw]

This accomplishes three things.

It lets the game master know you're using a class ability without breaking the flow by babbling about game mechanics.

It marks the use of that class ability in the chat log for tracking purposes.

It enhances the game for other players, giving them a more vivid picture of what your character is doing.

Resources

As of writing this, Roll20 has a ton of things in the marketplace for free, tokens, maps, and modules. It is part of the response to people being stuck at home. I've included links to some notable items, but definitely cruise through all the things.

The Master's Vault, D&D 5e (Free as of writing this) Quick-Start Rules Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition The Lightless Beacon - Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition The Strange: Starter Pack - Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack

Lone Wolf's Hero Lab things provide for Online Character Creation, Campaign Management, and regular old Classic Character Creation. It looks like they primarily provide online support for Pathfinder 2e, Starfinder, and Shadowrun 6th Generation, and classic support for Pathfinder 1e, D&D 5e SRD, and Savage Worlds.

For 5th Edition Shadowrun, there is a keen Character Chummer on Github. Also, this tool for figuring out your Priorities before you start writing things down.

For Star Trek Adventures, there is a Character & Starships tool here. Also, this fan site looks like a keen source for ideas and things.

@Tartle_Games on Twitter turned me onto a service called Astral. I haven't checked it out in detail yet, but folks that play Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder, Vampire: The Masquerade, Shadow of the Demon Lord, Exalted, Forbidden Lands, or Fantasy Age should probably head there and see what they've got. It looks like those games are specifically supported for playing online, and Astral appears to be free? https://www.astraltabletop.com/

Even More Resources

PCGen

"Compatible with Pathfinder 1e, Pathfinder 2e (coming), d20 Modern, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Starfinder, and many more..."

This service went into archive mode December 17, 2019. Take advantage of it while you can.

Fast Character

"Need a few quick pre-gens for a game convention or organized play group at your local game store?

Your cousin from out of town wants to sit in and join this week's game?

The party insists on hiring that NPC to join them for the adventure?

That failed stealth check got half the party killed and now the fallen are playing back-up reinforcements?

You don't have time to min/max your way through a character build but want to try something new?"

Support for D&D 5e, and Cypher System (Numenera, The Strange, etc)

Also, don't forget about ye old' Google Search for free assets and dungeon maps.

#table top rpgs #playing online #dungeons and dragons #vampire the masquerade #star trek adventures #pathfinder #call of cthulhu #roll20 #astral

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years ago

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Michael After Midnight: Dragon Age II

Dragon Age is a series very near and dear to my heart; ever since playing Origins back when I was in college, I have been inspired by the stories, characters, and lore. Hell, Origins alone is a huge inspiration to my writing, and why wouldn’t it be? It has great locations, deep lore, a core main party without a single weak link with each and every party member you have being unique and entertaining in their own right, and an epic story with all sorts of twists and turns. And it only has two really shitty segments in the whole game! It’s truly a great first entry in a series.

But despite my love for it, I put off playing the sequel for most of the decade, only playing it for the first time this year. And why is that? Because… the critics said it was bad… yes, unfortunately in my younger years I took what critics said without any grains of salt. Dragon Age II was not very popular back around the time it came out, mostly because of its radical departure from the style of the first game, with more hack-and-slash-esque combat, a much more simple and self-contained story, and a cast of characters far more divisive than the first time around. It’s only over time that people have started to give it the respect it deserves, but much like fellow fantasy series The Legend of Zelda it comes at the cost of the current game being bashed.

So how is this red headed stepchild of a sequel, anyway? Did the critics have a point, or is this really an underrated gem? Well, I’m happy to report that this is indeed a fun and fantastic game, and I heavily regret being kept apart from the lovely Merril for so long due to poor critical reception, but there are a lot of problems too. For everything it does really well, it kind of shits the bed in other areas, and a lot of that can be contributed to a rushed development cycle that got this game churned out just over a year after the first one, leading to things like all items lacking the detailed descriptions they would get in the first game, which doesn’t sound like much, but then you get an item called something like “Uncle Horky’s Spanking Rod” as a magic staff and there’s no explanation as to why it’s called that and you have to imagine up some ludicrous backstory for it.

The lack of flavor text is a minor gripe, though, compared to the obnoxiously repetitive environments of dungeons. Reusing and flipping dungeons around and reusing assets would be one thing, but here they literally just take a map, flip it a bit with no changes to the details of the level, and just block off doors that lead to areas they don’t want you going. The worst part is on your mini map you can see the blocked pathways you likely saw ten minutes ago in another dungeon, which just makes a lot of the missions feel bland and samey. It also doesn’t help that enemy types are rather paltry, so you’ll be fighting a lot of the same mooks in the same maps over and over as you grind for items, gold, and EXP.

And then there are some of the characters. The worst of the bunch are sadly two characters who are returning from the first game and its expansion Awakening – Anders and Isabela. Isabela is arguably worse, because she honestly seems rather fun and nice at first, if overly and aggressively flirty, but as the story goes on, it’s revealed that she is actually the cause behind some of the biggest issues in the first few acts, which she neglects to tell you until it is far too late and unless you decided to maximize your friendship with her, she will run off and never return to your party. I can’t deny that this completely soured me to her, and at the end of the quanari invasion of Kirkwall I was only upset I couldn’t find her in act three and kick her ass for what she did.

Then there is Anders. Poor, poor Anders. In Awakening, he was one of the most funny and charming characters, a nice little substitute for Alistair that I actually ended up liking for than the Weenie King of Ferelden. Here though? Anders can not go one fucking conversation without bringing up how oppressed mages are and how much the templars suck and blah blah blah. The worst part is I do agree with him, but he’s just so whiny and obnoxious about it I left him behind all the time, dooming my party to having no healer even as I fought high dragons, blood mages, and Corypheus. It was worth it to not hear Anders bitching about templars and insulting Merril and Fenris. Oh, and Anders nukes the chantry and sets off a civil war. Isabela may be a nasty bitch, but Anders definitely comes out looking like a huge cunt by the game’s end.

The entire endgame is kind of an utter mess too, seeing as no matter whose side you join you end up fighting the same two bosses, with one of them just not making any sense whatsoever. And then the game just sort of ends on a very unsatisfying cliffhanger. And as much as I just complained, all of this stings because really, the rest of the game is quite good, and the story is fun if scaled back from the epic tale of Origins.

Let’s get the obvious best part out of the way: Varric. Varric is literally the best part of the entire Dragon Age franchise. He’s a snarky, wisecracking surface dwarf with no beard who writes best-selling novels, constantly has his shirt open to show off his magnificent chest hair, and has a crossbow named Bianca that he is uncomfortably attached to. He is one of the greatest characters ever created, and there was not one single moment I left him out of my party, because he is a blast to have around, and what’s more, if there’s ever a situation where the dialogue wheel pops up and you can let him talk… you’ve won. This guy can talk his way out of any situation. There’s nothing bad you can say about Varric, and he is in fact the only companion in the game I can wholeheartedly stand behind as a paragon of great writing.

I love the other characters, don’t get me wrong, but they have their issues. Aveline and Fenris in particular, with Aveline being a bit too by-the-books at times to the point where she exacerbates the quanari conflict by demanding that elves who killed a guard who raped one of their own be turned over to her after they converted to the Qun. This is all despite her knowing full well that the poor elf girl would have otherwise gotten no justice seeing as how city elves in this setting are second class citizens at best. Still, she has a rather adorkable romance questline where you hook her up with one of the guards, and she’s not a bad person, just a touch misguided at times.

That last sentence can also apply to Fenris, but on a grander scale. He’s a cool, edgy, brooding elf who absolutely fucking hates magic with every fiber of his being. He is the Anti-Anders, though he’s far less annoying about it, and it’s hard to really blame him for being bitter seeing as he was a sex slave for an evil wizard for most of his life and then just had misfortune after misfortune piled on him. I really hated how mean he was to Merril, but otherwise I warmed to him and befriended him.

And that brings us to a very special girl, Merril. Merril is an adorable, klutzy, scatterbrained blood mage elf who is hated by her people due to the lengths she is going to repair an ancient artifact to bring a piece of her people’s heritage back. While she can be a bit arrogant and stubborn about the whole thing, it’s mostly due to how no one around her seems to believe in and support her; naturally, I believed in and supported her, and while things still managed to go south, she seemed at least to learn a little bit. Overall I found her to be an absolute sweetheart, and she never left my party, much like Varric; frankly, I was going in expecting not to like her and was going to romance Fenris instead, but as it turns out Merril won my heart immediately and my Hawke went lesbian this playthrough.

On that note, as much as I like how Merril, Fenris, Isabela, and Anders can be wooed by either gender in principle, I do kind of feel making everyone bisexual with no rhyme or reason kind of cheapens things. It’s weird for me, a bisexual myself, to be saying that, but it just feels off to be able to get together with everyone, with everyone being Schrodinger’s Bisexual until a romance is initiated. It’s nowhere near as bad as Skyrim, but I just feel it kinda cheapens the romance options. I prefer Origins and Inquisition in that regard, where you don’t have all the options but you do have some unique choices. But, hey, at the end of the day I’m hardly complaining that my Lady Hawke got to polish Merril’s Eluvian, if you know what I mean.

Aside from the characters, I think the game’s real strength lies in its story, which is fitting since the entire game is framed as a story being told by no less a storyteller than our pal Varric. It has a three act structure, with each act detailing a different year in Hawke’s rise to become the Champion of the city of Kirkwall, which is a crime-ridden wretched hive of scum and villainy. The first act mainly has Hawke making a name for themselves, living in the slums with their uncle, doing dirty work to try and get back a little prestige, and recruiting all of their allies, with the act culminating with a trip to the Deep Roads, every DA fan’s favorite location. It’s a nice setup for a lot of twists and turns later in the story, and choices you make in certain dialogue options or quests actually can change what sort of quests you get later. Then again, this is Bioware, so this sort of “action have consequences” gameplay is expected.

Act two deals with just how Hawke becomes the Champion. Rich from the expedition into the Deep Roads, Hawke gets to do all sorts of fun things, such as track down a serial killer who ends up murdering their mom, being stabbed in the back by one of their friends, accidentally inciting a race war that nearly burns down the city, and having to duel the warrior leader of the qunari to the death in combat. Yeah, act two really piles it on to Hawke, but it does tie into the game’s themes of how no matter the level of success, great actions will also come with great consequences, even actions meant to better one’s lot in life, which also resonate in the personal quests of characters like Merril and Fenris, who despite ultimately achieving their goals in the third act feel hollow, lost, and even broken by the end, and that’s not even getting into what Anders does. However the conflict with the qunari is resolved, Hawke is declared the Champion, and things seem ok.

But then comes act three, and boy do things go wrong. Knight-Commander Meredith has gone cuckoo for Coco Puffs and conflict between templars and mages seems inevitable; this act is basically wrapping up hanging plot threads and companion quests until Anders finally nukes the chantry and all hell breaks loose, leading to the final battle. The ending here isn’t particularly happy, with Hawke ultimately ending up a fugitive in the epilogue, and things can get even worse if you make poor choices in Inquisition, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Here’s the thing: everything I just said? It could be entirely different from my playthrough depending on the choices you make. Sure, some things are inevitable, like Anders committing terrorist acts, Hawke’s mother dying, and Meredith going absolutely bonkers and making you fight statues, but depending on how you play, maybe you’ll like/romance Isabela, maybe you’ll resolve things with the Arishok differently, maybe you’ll side with the templars… the story ends the same but there are so many ways to make your story different. Throw in some great lore, some fun DLC that reveals some shocking truths about the lore, and the fun albeit simplified combat, and you’ve got a game here that has a lot of replay value if only to see where all the plot threads can lead.

I definitely think this is a good game, even a great one. It has its share of problems, but so did Origins, and frankly I’d sooner put up with the backstabbing pirate hooker and the pissy mage terrorist again then go through the fucking Fade and Deep Roads one more time. If you liked the first one, definitely give this a shot; you may end up liking or disliking some of the stuff I dislike and like. That’s the fun of these Bioware games, different aspects are going to appeal to different people. The question is, do I find it better than Origins?

In some respects, yes; I much prefer the simpler combat here, and I like the more down-to-earth story in this one, but at the same time Origins just had stronger characters overall and I’m a sucker for “save the world” fantasy tales. While Origins infamously had some real mind-numbing slogs in the form of the Fade sequence and the Deep Roads, while those environments were tedious at least they weren’t boring. But on the other hand… Origins didn’t have Varric.

It’s really a tossup, frankly, and I love both games a lot. I think each of them has their place and each of them brings something interesting to the table for the series. It’s one you really need to play for yourself to get a good grasp on; don’t be like me and put it off for nearly ten years, give it a go right after your done with the first game and see how you feel. Your experience is going to be a lot different than mine, that’s for sure.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #video game review #Dragon Age #Dragon Age II #Bioware

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agentaw · 6 years ago

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Detroit: Become Human - Funny story...

Okay... so Story Time because my friends pointed this out and it’s been fucking with me ever since.

This is the story of how I kinda...sorta wrote/ predicted parts of DBH about...2 years ago. Just hear me out...okay?

So this all started similarly to how DBH started, with that dope-ass demo back in 2012. My 15 year old self became enthralled in it, much like I am now enthralled in the full game. I’ve always loved story telling and had a sort of soft spot for digital modelling. So that demo was a masterpiece to me, it had a great concept and beautiful design. It was a short obsession but it had an impact.

And that was the last piece of news I’d ever hear about it until a month after they released the full game. I remember hearing some rumour that they weren’t gonna make it a full game or something and left it at that. I didn’t hear anything about it’s coverage at E3 because while I like video games, I become absorbed in different obsessions from time to time.

And two years ago I was obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, the thought of creating a whole world and having others enter it was fascinating. And while I tried to create worlds from scratch, I had a problem.

I had never been too interested in Fantasy things, I liked fantasy characters but tended to focus on too much of the political aspect of fantasy worlds and not the fun stuff like slaying dragons and stuff.

The return of an old obsession began to try and take my focus off of DnD but I wasn’t ready to let it go yet.

So I merged them, DnD didn’t have to be fantasy, I didn’t have to invent a world from scratch and luckily my old obsession had a world pre-designed. Marvel, specifically MCU had a treasure trove of lore and I could take a number of rules from DnD 5e and tweak them to suit the change in genre.

So I started off with a one shot campaign, set in a HYDRA base. My three player characters would be playing themselves and making decision based on how they’d react. They ‘woke up’ in a white plastic robot body. Singular, all three were in the same body, looking through the same eyes and rolling for control over said robot body. It was entertaining to watch them figure out what they hell was going on organically. They quickly met the first NPC an old doctor/sciencist who was a very nervous person. He explained that they’d all been loaded into the same body by accident and that he was just testing out that his creation (the body itself) was working correctly. So my players decided to answer the jumpy doctors questions and let one of them take control as the doctor got them to walk around while still connected to the computer around them by a bunch of wires connected to the back of their neck. The doctor left the room briefly (to report to his superiors) before returning and calmly explaining that he’d need to shut them down before making the rest of the bodies. Yes, this was heavily inspired by the demo but the players didn’t notice or didn’t comment on it at the time. And they genuinely really like the one-shot. So, I started writing more, growing the campaign and expanding my list of NPCs.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “wow...you ripped off the demo and think that counts as writing a whole game” but I never said I wrote the whole story, that would be mental. But as both me and my players have pointed out, there is a large number of similarities which is spooky because as i already stated I didn’t know anything about DBH until almost a month after it’s full release.

The first and most profound is Amanda. Or my Amanda, who’s called Ruth LaRue. Dr. Ruth LaRue, the trio’s psychologist/co-creator who acts pleasant (too pleasant) towards them...unless they disobey or resist their training to become Hydra Assets. One of my players is rebellious and LaRue has tried to manipulate and coldly threatened him as a result. While another obeys and gets praise and rewards as a result. Also she looks like Amanda (a character i didn’t even know existed), I originally described her as the same race, hairstyle, though slightly younger. And then I drew her (poorly) for my players to get a better idea of how she looked and Jesus Christ they look the same.

Another is the fact that I have three player characters. There was a possible fourth player but work and life made it difficult for her to be a part of the game. Also my players are two boys and one girl. And while that’s all freaky, their characters appearances/designs are extra weird. Originally, after all getting their own bodies, they all had white plastic robot bodies, all male design (which female player wasn’t happy about because she missed her boobs). The only way to tell them apart was voice and the nervous doctor had given them different coloured eyes. Creating robots came with the challenge of figuring out how their bodies worked (one player was particularly interested in this). Once again inspiration partly came from the Kara demo, the robots are a water (blue liquid) based system, a pump (heart) transports water, which is collect in bags (lungs) through the robots absorbing moisture in the air (through breathing), around the machine frame (body). The water has two purposes, to thinly coat the white plastic casing (skin), which allowed the robot to feel pressure but not texture and also to keep the pump valves going, which creates the energy the machines (players) are run on. After learning that the white plastic version could be easily broken during training, the nervous doctor created a second batch of models, this time made out of metal (female asked for a female body and therefore the doctor gave her a large dent in her chest plate, she was pleased). They then get a new model, ones that are designed to blend in with humans. And this is where this section gets super freaky. The player got no say in how they looked because in game they wouldn’t.

The female is the shortest model as well as they palest model with loads of freckles, the similarities with Kara stop there but the female player has been gifted a female kitten (thankfully named Cookie, not Alice) as the reward and is quite paranoid about it being taken off her or harmed (calm down, I haven’t hurt the cat...yet).

One of the males is only slightly more tanned than the female with considerably less freckles and markings. He’s the tallest and the player has been surprisingly obedient, only "failing” when he doesn’t understand what’s happen or doesn’t think something will benefit HYDRA. Because of this he’s been promoted to team leader by the powers that be. He’s logical and is usually thinking about training and what’s going on in the NPCs’ heads.

Lastly we have the second male who looks southern European (Spain, Italy, Greece and could probably pass as Mexican but the story is set in central Europe) so a different ethnicity/race to the other two. This is the rebellious player who generally plays pranks, cracks jokes and says “fuck you” to authority. Like I said before as a result, he tends to be the one looked down on and oppressed by the powers that be. He generally has a very clear line which he won’t cross no matter what and is willing to stand up if he views something as drastically wrong (refused to hurt his friends or pick up a gun).

Also when asked what they wanted to be called (I.e What’s your name?) The players decided to to sick to what the nice nervous doctor had designated them, i.e the colours of their eyes. Rebellious is Red. Logical is Blue and Female is Purple (name later changed to Violet).

Next is three more NPCs, who have enough in common with the DBH characters to mess with me.

The nervous doctor, Dr. Thomas Thornley, while having a completely different personality, has formed relationships like Hank. A number of the players refer to him as “Daddy Thornley”, not to his face but when talking to each other in game. And most disturbingly the rebellious player has implied on several occasions that he “ships” the logical male player with father-figure Thornley, jokingly of course. And while in the beginning Thornley may have viewed the robots as a project or experiment, he now appears quite protective and fond of them. Even displaying discomfort when one is broken or completely destroyed.

Their combat and gun trainer, Agent Woodrow who is ex-military and treats the robots exactly like you’d expect he would, like machines. He could either be Gavin or Captain Allen but either way he’s a genuine aggressor and dislikes/hates the robots.

The Head of Hydra, Director Malachi Storm who has an air of mystery around him and commands any room he enters. He’s considerable less creepy than Kamski but is an “all-knowing, all-powerful” character. Also I guess I’m technically also Elijah Kamski (a.k.a GOD) and my players pointed out that i have his sadistic, power hungry play style (thanks, guys).

Lastly is a few game mechanics and events i put in the game. The players have always been able to telepathically talk to one another, they can also transfer images to each other. If broken beyond repair (i.e Killed) they now get automatically rebuilt, similar to Connor. I made LaRue give them a morality test which was mostly the “Track dilemma” which is similar to both the driver-less car AIs and the Kamski test. I actually did the motherfucking Kamski test with one or two of my players (but with humans instead of androids lol). Also the players believe they’re alive (which technically they are). They’ve literally been give zero context as to how they are in robot bodies in the MCU, specifically they’re last memories before the start of the game are of going to sleep in their beds in the real world. They are literally three robots walking around stating that they’re alive.

And yes, I realise that Cage took shit from other movies but it have seen any of those movies so...:P

If I looked hard I could probably find more scary comparisons but a) I don’t particularly want to show all my cards, in case my players read this post, and b) I appear to have written a fucking TED talk out of what was supposed to be a short funny story.

#dbh #dbh connor #dbh kara #dbh markus #dbh hank #dbh amanda #dbh kamski #dbh everyone #custom dnd #dnd shenanigans #story time #freaky #what is life #thanks for coming to my ted talk

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hufflepuff-ravenclaw-reviews · 7 years ago

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The Librarians Season 4

And the Dark Secret

So with the start of a new season, arises a new problem. This season's overall minor problem that will carry over for the entire 12 episodes? The Tethering Ceremony. The Library needs a Librarian and a Guardian to tether to it, and, since the last ones have gone now, it's up to Eve and Flynn to do so.

However, we obviously can't solve this in the first few minutes of the first episode if this is going to be a problem for literally the entire season!

So, onward to the actual plot of this episode. There are four cornerstones of the Library of Alexandria, and when they're combined, then they can manifest the physical Library. Jenkins likened what it would be like in a metaphor: imagine Google cloud, and all of the information that it's full of. Now imagine if somebody were to turn The Cloud physical. BOOM goes that data... and squish go lots of people.

As you might have guessed, there's some group who's trying to put them together... because reasons. The reasons aren't important.

However, Jenkins comes up with a plan to get ahead of this group: he's been secretly keeping Nicole down in a basement jail cell for the past hundred years. Just who is Nicole, you ask? She's the previous Guardian, from before Eve. (If you've ever seen the movies, she's from them.) However, there was an accident with HG Well's time machine that sent her spinning backwards 500 years. And now she's immortal... and pissed as hell at literally everything. (Especially Jenkins, but who can blame her? 100 years in a fucking dungeon. Yikes.)

Anyway, with Nicole's help, they figure out how to get to the corner stones, but it's almost too late, as the group already has them, and already has them TOGETHER. However, Cassie destroys one of the corner stones, but the Library is up there, still physical, just unstable. Nicole and Flynn get sucked into the whirling vortex of it, so Eve has to go and get them. Which she does, because she's Eve Baird.

However, when the Librarians are congratulating each other on a job well done... Nicole slips away, to be a problem for another couple of episodes.

And The Steal of Fortune

This episode kicks off when Jake takes Zeke to visit an old friend of his, who has a race horse. However, some men come and take the horse away because the guy apparently lost the horse in a game of cards. Just then, the man is stung by a bee, and starts to have a VERY bad reaction. At the hospital, Jake and Zeke see... a lot of freak accidents. Like being stabbed through the leg with a weather vein, head stuck in decorative headboard, struck by lightening... They begin to suspect that not all is right with this town, and that something magical is afoot.

So they bring the others to the race track, where they're rather disturbed to discover that, upon the completion of the horse race, literally nobody won. NOBODY. That is statistically impossible, as Cassie might say.

Their instincts tell them that it's the track/casino owner, so they set out to steal his ring. But not before Zeke hits the slots and Cassie tries out the roulette table. Zeke is upset about not winning (although, dude, come on. If you want to win, try cards.) So... he does what Ezekiel Jones does best: hack the machine. Cassie, on the other hand, uses math and physics of the ball/wheel to triangulate where the ball will drop.

As it turns out, it's not the owner, but rather, his “arm candy”, who turns out to be the Greek/Roman Goddess, Fortuna. She was turned into a statue some time ago by... I want to say Jupiter? For wanting to turn everything into a 100% luck based system. She was then put in front of a casino, where thousands upon thousands of people rubbed her feet and legs for good luck as they came and went. And one day... poof! Turned real. She sucks luck out from people, which is what keeps the casino/track open and in such good business.

She can also steal luck from people over the TV, so there's video of her blowing kisses all over the casino floor. Her grand plan is to steal the luck from everybody in the world by blowing a kiss on nationally broadcast TV.

However, the team realizes that they can stop her by giving luck to others. Cassie and Zeke have been rendered immune from their previous “cheat the system” actions. So, Zeke sets out to rig all of the slot machines, while Cassie helps people to win at Roulette. Jake gets all but one of the horse jockeys to watch the blowing kiss video, and then Zeke sets up so that everybody's bets were placed on the horse whose jockey didn't watch the video.

And, when everybody discovers that their horse won the race (well, literally the only one who crossed the finish line, but it counts!), Fortuna turns back into a statue. She's then transported back to the Library, where she won't be awoken any time soon...

Oh, and Jake makes sure to get his friend his horse back. So, happy endings all around!

And The Christmas Thief

This episode kicks off with Eve, Flynn, and Jenkins going off with Santa for a vacation, while Cassie, Zeke, and Jake have to stay behind and “babysit” Santa's sleigh. (Why they need a special task just to watch an inanimate object is beyond me, but here we are.)

Almost as soon as the three of them set off, Zeke heads home to Australia, where it's All ThanksTaking/ThanksThieving Day. It's a day for the patron saint of thieves. Zeke's family, which is a woman who took in three girls and Zeke, are all petty thieves who have a literal shrine to this saint, which is decorated with the price stickers and tags of things that they stole. However, Zeke's mum is disappointed that Zeke bought her a trinket rather than to steal it. His sisters also won't stop mocking him about a Faberge egg that he gave her some time ago.

Zeke doesn't want to be a disappointment to his mum, so he takes her to the Library, where... surprise surprise, she steals the magic globe that lets them open doors and go anywhere. With no other way to get back to her and to get the globe back, Cassie, Jake, and Zeke obviously take Santa's sleigh to Australia, where they discover that she's been on a... thieving spree.

But, she has stolen something from this bank for thieves, which is exactly what you think it is... and the punishment for being caught doing something bad is to be literally liquidated. (Haha, get it? Liquidate your assets? /SFW adult humor) Also, in the bank, Zeke's mum overhears a teller appraising another Faberge Egg at like a million dollars, and she's surprised, because apparently, she had no idea what it was or how much that they could be worth. So... ha, I guess?

The owner of this bank is the saint of thieves, or, as he'd probably not like to be remembered as: Santa's brother. He wants Santa's sleigh... because reasons. So obviously Zeke and his mum get caught, “hand over the sleigh, or else”, blah-blah-blah...

Meanwhile, Cassie and Jake call in Jenkins for some help. Jenkins is more than eager to get away from Santa's party, which would make a Spring Break party look tame in comparison.

In the end, Jenkins gives the saint a letter from Santa that says “the sleigh is now yours!” He cannot accept anything that isn't stolen, and, since it was legally given to him, he can't accept the sleigh. And, to make matters even more confusing, he reverts back to a child.

But now Zeke's mum is left with all of the other stuff she stole. So, with Santa's sleigh, the two of them go and, not only do they return everything, but they try to one-up what was taken and make people feel good. So like a child gets a train set around his bed, and an old man with an old TV (you know, the kind with the rabbit ears) gets a new smart TV, and so on. Zeke's mum gets really into the spirit of giving, and is actually disappointed that there's nothing left to give back.

Zeke then imparts that his mum is actually a really good person, because she took in four kids and raised them. And sure, they're thieves, but they're decent people.

And The Silver Screen

As Eve and Flynn go on a date to an old black and white detective movie screening, the two of them get sucked into the movie. 24 hours later, Jenkins, Cassie, Jake, and Zeke go to investigate, because they never came back. They talk to the theater owner for a minute, who shows them that Eve and Flynn are literally in the opening scene of the movie that they went to see, but they can neither hear nor see anybody on the outside.

Eve and Flynn eventually realize that they need to reenact the movie, which is a pretty standard magical thing. Eve's seen the movie a billion times, so she knows exactly what's going to happen, so she helps coach Flynn through everything.

While that's going on, the others are desperate to try and figure out how to help them. Unfortunately, Cassie, Zeke, and Jake get sucked into a movie... but the wrong one! They end up in another screening, of a really awful western. (By the same director/writer. They're all by the same writer/director.)

Jenkins does a metaphorical headdesk for a while before he gets down to work with the theater owner/daughter of the movie director. She's kept all of her father's things, and they search through everything in order to find the magical object that keeps sending people into the movies.

Eve and Flynn, meanwhile, reached the end of the movie, only to just jump right back to the beginning. They start to think that there's something wrong that they should be doing, despite having done the movie the exact way that it should have been. So instead of asking the hot dame who comes in looking for her ruby necklace about the usual questions... they ask what she's really after: her daughter, Pearl.

The entire ending of the movie was changed at the last minute, and completely rewritten, as Jenkins and the daughter discover out in the real world. The original ending was literally ripped out of the script. Oh, and the director... didn't actually WRITE any of these movies, and it's some random person that the daughter doesn't know about, aside from their name.

The actual ending of the film noir movie is that the mother is reunited with her daughter, who was taken from her by the girl's vengeful father. This is a reflection of what happened to the actual writer's life: she had a baby with the director, and he took the daughter from her and left the mother to rot. (Oh, and Zeke, Cassie, and Jake show up to help Eve and Flynn save the day... but not before jumping through an even worse sci-fi movie, so they're wearing blue lipstick and spandex.) With the completion of the actual movie ending, everybody is dumped back into the real world... sans spandex and hair-spray.

And then, as it turns out... surprise! The old lady who'd been hanging around the theater is actually 1) the theater owner's biological mother and 2) the woman who wrote all of the scripts in the first place. So they're reunited, and everybody lived happily, ever after.

And the Bleeding Crown

Imagine, going to bed a high school senior, and waking up a literal senior citizen. It happened in one town... and not just to one kid. To literally everybody. Adults, children, literal babies. All turn to ~70 years old.

Obviously, this seems like a job for The Librarians, who arrive and start poking around, asking questions. They finally uncover one family who is normal, and that's only because they're so poor, they couldn't afford to pay their power bill, so... the magic didn't affect them.

Meanwhile, Flynn runs across somebody completely unexpected: Darrington Dare, one of the previous Librarians from around the Victorian Era. He fell through time on accident, thanks to his nemesis, Ambrose. Ambrose has some sort of... bleeding crown which he is using to suck the youth from everybody in town.

He also captured Eve, Cassie, Zeke, and Jake, and replaced them with old-looking doppelgangers, which he then uses to infiltrate the library. Poor Jenkins.

Also, during this entire time, Darrington keeps telling Flynn that he cannot allow the other Librarians to continue, for the last time there were multiple Librarians... well, have you ever heard of The Dark Ages? Totally caused by warring Librarian brothers. However, Flynn insists that friends help each other out better than just being by yourself all of the time. Oh, and the Library chose all three of them for a reason.

They manage to defeat the Bleeding Crown by putting Jenkins in one of the pods that's sucking the life from the others. The machine is overpowered and the crown breaks.

Jenkins later sends Darrington back to his own time. They are a little sad to see him go, since they know that he's approaching his own end, which they obviously know a lot about from Library records. However, the second he goes back, the records change to show that he reconnected with his friends, who were there when Darrington should have died. He instead lived to be really old instead of dying literally the next day.

But now, the seeds of doubt about the Rightful Librarian have been planted.

And the Graves of Time

And now we're back with Nicole. Because I think that we all knew that she wouldn't stay gone forever. As you might imagine, being an immortal who looks in her mid to late 30's, she has to frequently move on a lot. So this means that she's got a lot of gravesites all over... And she uses them to hide important things. Like... some sort of device that can kill immortals?

Eve joins up with her... not to stop her, but rather, to try and convince Nicole to come back to the Library. Nicole permits Eve to be with her, but only because she finds Eve mildly useful. For the moment.

The others, in the meantime, are worried that Eve is in trouble, and they try to track Nicole down. Jenkins worries about the nefarious plot that Nicole must be plotting, especially with the immortal-killing device, which he believes is intended for him.

Jenkins and Eve eventually get grabbed by the people who are also trying to get the key, but these people are also working to stop Nicole as well. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that. The man exposes that Nicole was once besties with Rasputin. Yes, of Anastasia fame. (No, the real one.) While they're being turned against Nicole once and for all, Flynn and Nicole make it to where this device is located... and get it.

Only for Jenkins and Eve to come around and try to stop them. Only for them to be double crossed. Because as it turns out, their new friend... WAS ACTUALLY RASPUTIN. Okay. Because I didn't see it coming at all. /sarcasm.

However, Nicole's plan all along was to kill Rasputin, because... um... let's see... HE EVIL?! He however, gets a hold of the blade and uses it to stab Nicole instead.

Flynn and Eve then manage to defeat Rasputin by having him stab at a nuclear... holding thing? (They're in Chernobyl, aka that nuclear waste-site, so there's plenty to go around.) He might be immortal, but not even he can deal with some of that shit.

They rush back to the Library, where Jenkins is getting a ceremony ready to save Nicole. However, this means that he gives her his immortality, and makes him mortal.

Also, throughout the entire time that Nicole was with Flynn, she was planting the seeds of doubt in his head, and telling him that the Library was keeping him a prisoner. However, at the end of the episode, Eve shows up to go on the promised bowling date with Flynn, only to hear from Jenkins that Flynn has resigned!!

And the Disenchanted Forest

Following Flynn's disappearance, the remaining three Librarians are starting to fight amongst themselves about who should tether to the Library/Eve. They all think that they should be the one to do it, obviously, and for varying reasons.

Eve decides to whip them into shape, by taking them on a team building retreat... which is also where the clippings book has sent them.

At the camp, Eve is struck by how odd that one team seems to react towards her. Zeke also overhears one of the camp teachers asking another why so many people just... disappear from the camp.

But, Eve's wishes are overshadowed by everything, and she has a mean competitive streak. So she sets out to figure out why these people are so into her... only to find out that they're DOSA. You guys remember DOSA from last season, right? The government version of the Library? Anyway, they're there because strange things keep happening, and people keep vanishing.

Jake, meanwhile, has the hots for the arts and crafts director, who seems to think that there's something odd going on in the camp. He gets a mysterious splinter in his hand, though, and he cannot get it out. (Yes, it's relevant, and not just a camp-related injury.)

Cassie, meanwhile, having been extremely limited on her human interactions, has never been to camp, and thus, has never done camp pranks. She fulfills this itch on Zeke, by doing stuff like putting whipped cream on his hand while he's asleep and then tickling his nose. They unveil a clue when she puts his mattress in the middle of the lake, he falls in... and discovers a briefcase at the bottom of the lake. The briefcase belongs to a man who disappeared earlier that day.

They all rush to tell each other what they learned on their own. And then things go from suspicious to awful when Jake just gets grabbed by some vines and dragged away. Thankfully, the pretty arts and crafts director witnessed everything, and runs to tell the others. The Librarians demand that DOSA tell them everything, which they do: this area is a magical Bermuda triangle, where things just... disappear. These instances have been happening since the Lewis and Clark expedition first discovered the area. The area was owned by the government, until the current camp director came and pulled some strings and bought the land from a crooked politician. Le sigh.

However, they can't seem to find the Mother Tree of the forested area, so that's why they keep coming to the camp. But, with Cassie's know-how, they manage to figure it out, and they go there. Only to find that Jake... is now Groot! The tree uses Jake to talk to them, and basically says this: we don't want the forests of the world to die, so here! Take this magical seed and if anything were to happen to the forests, use the seed to replant all of the trees. The tree then spits out all of the people it “ate”, including some very confused-looking people from the Lewis and Clark era. Whoops?

DOSA also makes sure that no idiot can “sell” the land around there ever again, so that things like this will stop happening. Idiots.

And the Hidden Sanctuary

Cassandra is having more than a little PTSD following a mission in which everybody almost died... and it was all her fault. We don't really see much of this incident, however, only just how it affected her. She decides to take a vacation from the Library to sort through her thoughts, and goes to “the safest town on earth”.

The town in question is celebrating 100,000 days without an accident. Cassie also finds it rather odd that there's no traffic or stop signs or anything of that sort. She also watches as a man with so much in his arms that he literally cannot see... step off the curb, into traffic, avoid being hit by a car, walks under the people putting up the 100k days sign, all without incident.

However, she KNOWS that things are suspicious here, but at the same time, she doesn't want to think that anything is off. Because she wants to be safe.

And she's not the only one. Most of the town is the same way, including the lady that Cassie rents a room from. However, it's the lady's tween son who is the one who is asking the real questions. He keeps checking out thriller books like Stepford Wives and Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the library, where Cassie now works. However, his mother warns Cassie not to be putting ideas into her son's head, because the outside world is just Not Safe.

However, as you might have figured out, good times must eventually come to an end. And the next thing anybody knows, somebody ends up with a broken leg... which can't even be treated properly, because the town doesn't even have a hospital or an ambulance, or even a fire truck. Because they were never needed. Ever.

Cassie asks everybody at the town meeting if there have been anything strange that has happened the past few days, and everybody looks to Cassie, because she's the latest to come to the town. They start to form a lynch mob, and she obviously books it out of there.

She teams up with the son, who has a secret room full of stuff about how weird that the town is. They come to the conclusion that it must be some sort of fairy, because it's in all of the pictures that he took of stuff NOT happening (but as a lens flair). They go to the library to capture the fairy, only for the mayor to come and capture it first.

Years ago, as a boy, he came across the fairy. He was upset because his dad had died in a recent car accident. As a thanks for rescuing the fairy, he was allowed one wish, and he only just wanted for nobody to ever be hurt. Ever. And I get it. It comes from a good place.

However, imprisoning the fairy for so long has only made it super angry, as you might imagine. So after the son smashes the snow globe that it was kept in, it just... gets really big and goes on a rampage.

Cassie and the rest of the town (who no longer want to kill her, since they know the reason for everything), come up with a plan and agree to trap the fairy in the gazebo, which is made of iron. The plan works, and the son sets the fairy free.

The head librarian becomes the new mayor, and starts to work to bring the town up to modern safety standards. Cassie, meanwhile, sets back for the Library, having overcome her PTSD while on her solo-mission, and come to the realization that she would get tired of “boring” and “normal”.

And A Town Called Feud

Cassie, Jake, and Zeke are still fighting over who should tether. Meanwhile, the clippings book sends them to some Civil War Reenactment sight, where ghosts were apparently spotted. Cassie stays behind with Jenkins, while Jake and Zeke set off with Eve.

The town is literally called Feud, and it's the sight of some famous brothers who were on opposite sides of the war, and killed one another. On her deathbed, their mother broke the locket with pictures of her sons and gave them each the halves. They've had one half for a while now, but now... they have the other half, so they're going to put the two halves together in a big ceremony tomorrow.

Needless to say, the Librarians all seem to think that this would be a very bad idea. However, the museum curator is determined to stop them, and scoffs at them whenever they mention seeing any ghosts. Including a literal troop just... marching through the museum. (How do you not notice that?!)

She eventually has them arrested for breaking into the museum after hours and trying to steal the locket halves. They manage to break out of prison using both the skills of Jake and Zeke, and they rush to the museum... only to witness as the woman puts the two locket halves together again.

Suddenly!! Civil war ghosts! They possess the bodies of everybody present, and form a notable divide. Then, the ghosts of the two brothers possess Jake and Zeke, and point their guns at each other. However, both Jake and Zeke don't want to actually kill one another, so they don't, and neither do the ghosts inhabiting the crowd.

As it turns out, the entire story of Feud was made up as a tourist trap. Yes, the brothers had been on opposite sides, yes, the locket had been broken... but they faced each other in battle and realized that they couldn't kill their brother. But, the war raged on around them, and they were both killed at the same time. The woman found the locket together, but split it apart to sell a story.

However, Zeke convinces her that the actual truth sounds much better, and to rename the town. So the ghosts are appeased, and go back to the other side once more.

Zeke and Jake have also learned an important lesson about teamwork and loving one another.

But, while they were doing that, Jenkins and Cassie were trying to track down the belongings of the brothers who were Librarians and set the world into the Dark Ages. We don't find out what was in their letters to one another, only just that when Jake, Zeke, and Eve get back and announce that there should be multiple Librarians, Cassie announces that she's changed her mind and now thinks that there should be only one instead.

And Some Dude Named Jeff (Yes, actual episode title)

This episode starts off by showing us that Jenkins and the titular “some dude named Jeff” have switched bodies. Jeff, as you might imagine, is over the moon about everything. However, his over-eagerness, unprofessionalism, and general lack of knowledge about... anything, is what tips the Librarians and Eve off that he isn't actually Jenkins.

Jenkins, meanwhile, is first baffled, then outraged, to find out what has happened to him. Jeff's mom is an overbearing control freak who lashes out at her son following the death of her husband/Jeff's dad. Jeff works at some IT job (probably for minimum wage), with a bunch of losers. Said losers are seemingly his only friends, and they all play D&D in Jeff's basement... where he lives. Yes, Jeff is easily in his mid-30's.

But, Jenkins isn't going to just sit back and become Jeff... especially not when he realizes that the D&D characters are literally the Librarians, Eve, and himself. So, he tells them who he is and what happened... and they're oddly chill about the entire thing. He spends some time whipping them into shape in order to get into the Library via the back door, because it takes multiple people and a team-effort in order to do so.

Meanwhile, the book that Jeff used to switch bodies with Jenkins turns out to be some sort of binding spell used to seal a Prince of Hell up. He escapes while in the Library, and the Librarians are even more annoyed that they're going to have to deal with that as well.

Meanwhile, Jenkins gets Jeff's friends into the back door, where they're faced with a puzzle, but with every wrong move, the room grows more unstable. They finally figure it out: 20 sided die. The next room is literally just a big DDR arena, which they have to dance across. Jenkins is embarrassed to have to do it, but he does so only reluctantly. The final room is... literally nothing. Just a vast, white room that echoes slightly. Jenkins has a bit of an emotional breakdown, and one of the friends gives him a pep-talk about not giving up. Then they realize that they can “crack” the walls by pounding on the floor, which they do, and end up in the front entrance of the library. Jenkins sends them all home while he deals with whatever horrors await him in the library.

He finds the Librarians and Eve cocooned in stuff, but Jeff is running around in a panic. Jenkins then realizes that Jeff gave this demonic ruby thing that was in the book to his mom, so they rush over there to stop the Prince of Hell from killing Jeff's mom. Which it is about to do.

In the end, Jeff manages to distract the demon with a red ring pop, and that gives Jenkins the opening in order to put the beast back into the book. Oh, and before they left, Jenkins and Jeff took a potion that would switch them back, but they didn't switch back until they were battling the demon.

They all learned an important lesson... although some a little bit more life-and-death than others. Also, the episode ends with Jenkins going to Jeff's place to play D&D with them... although he insists on being the dungeon master, but only because the current one doesn't know anything about anything.

And the Trial of One

The Library is starting to become untethered, as the time for the ceremony draws closer. Jenkins unknowingly leaves out a scroll that contains a spell for “the one”, so they decide to perform it. They get transported to the middle of a forest, where a being in Jenkins's body says that it'll kill Jenkins if they don't agree to go along. It gives them all “nightmare rings” to put on, and sends them to face their fears.

Cassie's fear is a school field trip where she was relentlessly bullied by her classmates, and the teacher apparently just looked the other way.

Jake's is that he goes to some witch doctor to get his magical tattoo removed, only for things to go very badly.

Zeke's is that he's in prison. Which he's not really scared of, and he knows that it's not real.

And Eve... she's technically not a Librarian, but her fear is that she's stuck just watching all of this bad shit happen to her Librarians, and there's nothing that she can do.

As the Librarians's fears unfold, they come face to face with the other two, who are the ones who are torturing them. Jake and Zeke are Cassie's classmates. Cassie and Zeke are evil witches/warlocks. Cassie and Jake are a guard and violent prisoner who want to beat Zeke up. They all eventually succumb to their fear and press the magical button to make them forget.

Once they do so, then they're transported to a field with these... they sort of look like really big grave stones, I guess? There, not!Jenkins tells them that he is in danger, and they have to get to the other side of the field to press the button, but they also have to deal with the other two, who are evil. He says this to all three of them at the same time. He also gives them things to use.

So they all start to fight. Just then, Eve realizes that she has a nightmare ring on as well, which she takes off, and is transported into the arena just as they're about to kill one another. They suddenly remember everything upon seeing her, and they become ashamed of what they almost did.

Just then, not!Jenkins shows up and warns them that only one can win or else Jenkins will be killed. They argue about who should sacrifice themselves for a while, before they decide to take the “suicide vest” off of Jenkins.

However, just when they get back to the Library, the vest comes flying back and stabs him in the heart. And I'd like to remind you that Jenkins gave his immortality to Nicole several episodes ago, so he's been dealing with that for half of the season. They try to save him, but they cannot, and he dies.

They're all so upset that they resign from the Library following a short funeral for Jenkins.

Just as the three Librarians leave Eve alone in the Library, Nicole shows up to gloat... This was all according to plan! And oh no! The Library is starting to untether to reality!! And... it's gone!!!

And the Echoes of Memory

Eve is now in a world without knowledge, where everything is literally black and white, and things like good tasting food don't exist. She struggles to remember the Library, and comes up with three things: Spear of Destiny, lions by the front entrance, Ark of the Covenant.

She finds a TV with a recorded message from Flynn, who was captured by Nicole, and didn't actually resign from the Library. He urges her to gather the others and to remember everything. The TV goes back to its normal programming, where Eve sees an ad for a used car lot... owned by Jacob Stone.

So she goes to him, and convinces him to help her. There, they track down Cassie, who works as... a stapler. Because that's apparently a very important job. She's obsessed with math still, and they convince her to come with them because of that.

However, some g-men show up, so they have to make a quick exit from Cassie's... stapling office? I don't even know anymore. As they leave, Eve asks how they're going to find Ezekiel Jones, but then they say that it's easy, because he's the host of the only TV show in existence: I Fell Down. (If anybody here is familiar with Idiocracy, it's basically a tame version of “Ow! My Balls!”)

However, Zeke has a very comfortable job, and doesn't want to leave it, so he rats Eve out. She gets sent to what's basically the looney bin, where they reprogram people not to think. What kind of thinking gets you in trouble in this world, you ask? Questions like “when was flour invented” and “what does fruit taste like”.

Flynn is also there, and he's just as zaney as usual... if a bit toned down. Nicole doesn't want to do anything permanent to him, so she just keeps zapping him. Eve, meanwhile, has been forgetting more and more, until she doesn't even remember what books are. She follows Flynn being taken down to his room in the basement following another one of his treatments, where she finds that he's “recreated” artifacts and memories by drawing on paper and sticking them behind the wall padding. They kiss, and they remember everything, and they're also transported back to the Library for a few seconds. Nicole comes in, however, realizes what happened, and says that it's time to make them forget. Forever.

Meanwhile, Jake and Cassie realize that they can't just sit back and let bad things happen to Eve. Not when they themselves are starting to remember. They grab Zeke, who only reluctantly goes along. But once they get to the looney bin, they start to remember more and more, which enables them to get into the building.

They free Eve first, and then they take down some guards to get Flynn. Then, being chased by even more guards and some doctors, as well as Nicole, they barricade themselves in an area and they have to remember the library. Which they do, and remembering it brings everything back to normal.

Only... some things weren't fixed. Like Jenkins being dead now.

Flynn grabs this magical artifact and this book that has the history of everything in it, and uses it to jump to the moment when Nicole was about to become immortal. He doesn't take her back, however, but reminds her to be strong, because she is a Guardian. She realizes that she's not a Guardian of a Librarian, but rather, of the Library.

Flynn wakes up... and he's back in the opening of the first episode again. Jenkins is still alive, and literally none of that other stuff happened. Except, Nicole came through and things like the corner stones of Alexandria and that immortal-killing thing are safe in the library.

Eve also remembers everything, and they both eagerly hug Jenkins when he shows up. Flynn then insists that he and Eve tether to the Library then and there, rather than to wait. Jenkins reluctantly agrees (it's the wrong date!!).

And with that... the season comes to a close.

It was a fun ride, although I felt like this season wasn't nearly as strong as some of the others. I blame Nicole, who was more of an anti-hero rather than a flat-out villain like in previous seasons.

Also, I wasn't quite sure where they were going with the “make Jenkins mortal” plot. Either one of two things would happen: he'd die, or they'd somehow recon his choice and give him back his immortality. I just... didn't expect that it would have been both almost simultaneously.

I honestly liked the filler episodes that didn't have anything to do with Nicole or the tethering more than the actual plot episodes. But, like I said, it was fun. And I still love this show.

#The Librarians #The Ravenclaw mod

10 notes · View notes

classysassy9791 · 8 years ago

Note

1, 2, 10, 12, 17, 23, 27, 31

Wow! Thank you so much for the ask, lovely!! ^.^

This got really long, so I’ll leave everything below the cut.

Ask My Top Three

1. Top 3 Heroes/Protagonists

- Yona from Yona of the Dawn

A princess all her life who witnessed her father being killed by her lover and then forced out of her own kingdom, but still manages to be a bad-ass heroine despite everything.

- Piper Halliwell from Charmed

Her older sister always took charge and had all the answers, so when she died, not only did Piper lose someone very dear for her, but she also had to take on an entirely new role. Not only that, but she took on the Elders and fought for her illegal love/marriage to her white-lighter (and won!). Down to earth and a power-house to boot.

- Sango from Inuyasha

This girl has been through hell and back, but continues to fight for the sake of her brother’s life. She literally has no other reason to live, and was even willing at one point to kill Kohaku and then herself, just so they could both stop suffering. Thankfully she had Inuyasha and the gang to support her, and having her as a comrade is definitely an asset.

2. Top 3 Villains/Antagonists

- Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries

Yes, we know he was a bad vampire turned good (but really good all along), but his character development and growth has always been one of my favorites. He willingly allows others to view him as a villain and will gladly play the part of villain if it means protecting those he cares about or giving others a reason to push him away. If Elena or Stephen needed somebody to blame, he was right there fueling their fire. If they needed someone killed or buried, he’d gladly grab a shovel. His bad-boy personality gives him an edge, but he’s really just a lonely teddy bear on the inside.

- Kira (aka Light Yagami) from Death Note

So here’s this guy who has a notebook that can kill anyone he writes down, but Light is a very moral guy. He decides that he will become god of a new world, free from criminals, and will kill anyone he deems bad in the world, thus allowing only those with fit morals to live. The cat and mouse game he and L play in who can find who first is so engaging and the thought that went into the plot is great. Keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end, in my opinion.

- Kikyo from Inuyasha

She has such a tragic backstory and plays such a vital role in the entire plot line. Not only is she the reason Naraku became the half-demon he was, but she plays a major role in Inuyasha’s life, as well as Kagome’s. She remains this aloof undead woman, struggling not only with her feelings of being brought back from the dead, but of forgiveness and revenge. When she first reappears, she’s angry and bitter and wants nothing more than to see Inuyasha dead. And at the end, she gives up her life for another’s. I actually really love her character dynamic.

10. Top 3 Child Characters

- Wendy from Fairy Tail

Can you say character development?? The first time she appears, she trips over air and then gives a shy little greeting without making eye contact. The most recent time she’s appeared, she’s ready to kick a dragon’s ass into the next millennium all in the name of protecting her friends. This little chick is phenomenal and hands down one of my favorites.

- Rin from Inuyasha

Because let’s face it: a little ball of sunshine that is the only one capable of thawing a demon’s heart. I think just about everyone has a soft spot for this cinnamon roll. Besides that, like Kagome, she is a warm-hearted person that has this way of making people open up, helping people to heal (like with Sesshomaru and Kohaku), and has this fearless disposition about her.

- Carl Grimes from The Walking Dead

This kid has seen some shit. He’s just this innocent little 12-year-old in the beginning, and he’s matured so much due to all that he’s witnessed, he’s one of the best defenders and fighters that they have on their little team. He is not the kind of person to back down, and is willing to do anything in order to protect his family. Even though his father tried to protect him from the horrors, he quickly made his dad realize that he was no longer a boy, but a man, and needed to be treated like one.

12. Top 3 Fictional Animals/Pets

- Happy from Fairy Tail

This sassy little cat gives me life. Seriously. We’ve all seen shows with supporting characters that are literally only there for comic relief (and are never, ever funny), but this cat not only has an abundance of comic relief with his sarcastic commentary, but he also serves a purpose. He is Natsu’s buddy and is relied on to keep Natsu out of trouble, as well as be a qualified member of their team.

- Balto from Balto

This stray wolf who nobody wanted goes above and beyond, risking his own life, and traveling miles through a tundra, all to bring medicine back to town and save one little girl he fell in love with (and of course all the other sick kids). He’s a hero in my book.

- Kirara from Inuyasha

Selflessly goes into battle over and over again for the sake of her friends. She’s also the only other family Sango and Kohaku have left, which makes her even more important. Not only is she a great ally in battle, but she’s good to those she cares about (like bringing Kagome home or saving their lives in the nick of time).

17. Top 3 Non-human characters

- Kouga from Inuyasha

Yes, his flirtationship with Kagome can get rather old, but above everything else, he is fiercely loyal. The entirety of his plot in the series is to avenge the deaths of his comrades no matter what, except in the risk of losing the comrades he has left (like when he wanted to Goraishi, but not at the expense of Ginta and Hakkaku’s lives). He also has some humility, believe it or not. When he loses the power of Goraishi and his Sacred Jewel shards, he knows he’s no longer a match for Naraku, and will ultimately slow everyone else down. So instead of holding onto his pride, he steps down and basically says “good luck”. He doesn’t want to get in the way. Of course, his banter/brotp with Inuyasha is pretty great, too.

- Elijah from The Originals

One of the original vampires created, but he’s probably the best of the group. He’s a very moral person, to a fault, and his word is everything. Not only that, but he’s probably the only one whose sane among his siblings, and wants nothing but for them to be a family again. He doesn’t usually let his emotions control him, like Rebecca and Niklaus do. One of my absolute favorites of all time.

- Castiel from Supernatural

This sassy angel whose beyond social inept feeds my soul. I’ve only binge-watched up to season 7, so I’m really hoping he comes back and kicks ass. I need more of him in my life. And his brotp with Dean is beautiful.

23. Top 3 Books

- The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

I’ve talked about it before, so to save space, I’ll simply refer you back to here if you’d like to read up on it :)

- The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini

I’m not usually one for dungeons and dragons kind of fantasy novels, but I thought the movie was decent, but when I told a friend about it, he shut me down. He said the movie was trash and completely ruined the book, so I of course was curious and started reading them. Still haven’t started the last book, but it’s waiting on my bookshelf for me. Wonderful description and dialogue, amazing story weaving, and overall great plot.

- The Divergent series by Veronica Roth

The movies are pretty great, but of course never give as much details as the books. And damn, those books put you on a rollercoaster of emotions. Poor Trish.. My heart absolutely breaks for her. Also, the entire plot line and story is amazingly done, and I really enjoyed the separation into Factions and the revolution. Now that I’m thinking about it, I really want to reread the series!

27. Top 3 Musicals or Plays

- Wicked

I’ve seen this musical several times in two different states. And no matter how many times I see it, when Defying Gravity comes on, I get goosebumps. I’m actually planning on seeing it again this upcoming winter when it’s back in town.

- Book of Mormon

Okay, when I went to see this musical it was by a friend’s request. I had no idea it was by Southpark creators, or really what it was even about. So you can imagine my surprise when the first few lines of the show were derogatory and vulgar. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically.

- Disenchanted

Summary: Poisoned apples. Glass slippers. Who needs ‘em?! Not Snow White and her posse of disenchanted princesses in the hilarious hit musical that’s anything but Grimm. Forget the princesses you think you know - the original storybook heroines have come back to life to set the record straight. (Love, love, loved it!!)

(P.S. I also plan on seeing Rent and Aladdin in the next few months)

31. Top 3 Heartwarming Moments in Fiction

- The ending of Charmed

After 8 years of constant battling, the Power of Three goes up against one last major evil. The creators were able to bring back most of the major original cast that has made appearances over the years, sending the show off with a family-esque bang. I cried the entire last 10 minutes as I said goodbye to my childhood.

- Rainbow Sakura, the 73rd episode of Fairy Tail in which Lucy has a cold and has to miss out on the Rainbow Blossom festival. It was her first time being able to go, so she’s really disheartened to have to miss it. Luckily, her best friend Natsu is there. He uproots a rainbow blossom tree and ties it to a boat, allowing it to float down the river right outside her window. I absolutely loved that moment.

- That time when Meredith confessed her love for Derek in Grey’s Anatomy

“Pick me. Choose me. Love me.” ‘Nough said.

–

Okay, so I’m really sorry this is so long, but I just like to talk about things that make me happy?? Thank you so much for the ask!! ^.^

#asks #sassy stays classy #inuyasha #yona of the dawn #charmed #vampire diaries #grey's anatomy #fairy tail #disenchanted #book of mormon #wicked #the truth about forever #eragon #divergent #balto #supernatural #the originals #the walking dead #death note

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ronnykblair · 7 years ago

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From Finance to Product Management: How to Escape the Dungeon and Move into the Technology Industry

Can you quit finance and move into technology?

It seems to be the trendy thing to do.

After all, news articles repeatedly tell us that “the best and brightest” no longer go into finance, and that Google and Facebook are now more appealing than Goldman Sachs.

But if you want to make this switch, it’s not quite as simple as showing up at a technology company and saying, “Hire me!”

To succeed, you have to spin your experience into sounding relevant, and then network and interview successfully – the same things you must do to get into finance.

A reader – Bowen Li – recently went through this process at TaskRabbit (now acquired by IKEA) and volunteered to share his experiences:

Origin Stories and Finance to Tech

Q: Can you start by summarizing your story?

A: Sure. I studied math and finance in college and completed several co-ops in corporate finance, asset management, and hedge funds.

I had an asset management offer upon graduation, but I wanted to do something different, so I joined the data analytics team at a large insurance firm and worked in predictive analytics.

I stopped enjoying the corporate life after about a year, so I left to start my own company in the on-demand food delivery space (similar to the now-shut-down Sprig, SpoonRocket, and Maple).

We ran the company for a year, “pivoted” a few times, and raised outside funding, but we couldn’t make the business model work.

So, we shut down, and I moved to San Francisco and attended a 3-month design and growth training program to learn about product design and user acquisition/growth.

From there, I started networking and won an offer as a product manager at TaskRabbit, which had raised funding up through Series C when I joined (shortly after I joined, it was acquired by IKEA).

Q: OK. Why did you focus on product manager roles instead of sales, business development, or finance jobs?

A: A product manager is “a jack of all trades, but master of none,” which fit my personality best: I knew about finance, data analytics, and sales, and I had learned about UI/UX and user acquisition in my classes.

The other roles you mentioned have more in common with the finance skill set, but they also involve doing the same tasks over and over – and I wanted variety.

Also, the average product manager role often pays more than the average sales or business development job, at least at venture-backed startups.

Successful and more senior salespeople can earn a lot more than product managers, but I’m talking about the average entry-level compensation.

Finally, not all startups necessarily need large finance teams; the one I joined had last raised funding years ago, so they weren’t looking for new finance staff.

Q: I see. And what do you do as a “product manager”? The term is quite broad.

A: In this role, I have three main responsibilities:

Driving Business Metrics – If we want to boost the “free user to paid user” conversion rate in one month, I’ll come up with ideas for how to do that.

Prioritizing Different Requests – For example, the engineers might want to optimize the code, but the sales team might want a new feature that a top customer has been requesting. I make decisions about which requests to pursue first.

Coordinating with Engineers and Designers – When we’ve decided on a feature or product, I coordinate with the technical team to roll it out and make sure there’s no downtime.

There are different types of product managers as well; some focus on growth, others focus on the product, others focus on technology, and others do a mix of everything.

The biggest misconception about product management is that you “manage people.”

But you don’t – you manage the product.

The Job Search

Q: Thanks for clarifying that. Once you had decided on product management, how did you search for jobs?

A: I started by applying for “growth” (user acquisition) roles, and I won one in less than a month. I had a finance background, I was analytical, and there’s high demand for growth PMs.

But I turned it down because I was more interested in generalist product management. I started recruiting for those roles by reaching out to PMs at different companies and conducting informational interviews to find out more.

Then, I rewrote my resume to emphasize my business, engineering/technical, and design experience, as well as my ability to work with people in all those departments, which are the most important qualities for these roles.

I used keywords and phrases like “collaborated with designer to produce UI sketches” and “adapted agile development process with engineers to shorten the release cycle.”

Next, I reached out to over 250 people via LinkedIn, email, cold applications, warm introductions, and referrals.

The percentage of first contacts that turned into interviews ranged from 10% to 80% depending on the company and method.

I won interviews at a few companies, went through multiple rounds, and finally won my product manager offer.

Q: An 80% conversion rate sounds incredible. How did you do that?

A: Before explaining that, I want to note that most of the “normal” methods – cold applications, cold emails, and even warm introductions – resulted in far lower conversion rates.

The method that produced an 80% conversion rate only worked under specific conditions.

I sent an email like this to the person:

“Hi [XX], I found you on LinkedIn.

It’s really interesting that you [made comment YY in a presentation or talk that I saw.]

From my own startup, I also learned [ZZ – related to their presentation or talk]. And I completely agree with your opinion.

Incidentally, I noticed your company is looking to hire a PM. I would love to chat and learn more.

Looking forward to hearing back from you. I would love to hear about your experiences with the company. Speak soon.”

I signed it with my name and didn’t attach my resume.

This tactic only worked if I had something real in common with the person.

Referencing a university class from 5-10 years ago or a friend-of-a-friend-of-an-acquaintance never worked.

I won my current job by using this tactic to contact the Hiring Manager and commenting on a specific talk he gave at a design school.

Hardly anyone puts this much time and effort into the process, so this strategy can yield great results.

Q: Thanks for sharing that. What was the interview process like?

A: There were usually three rounds. The first round was the “screening,” where they look at your resume and decide whether or not you’ll advance to interviews.

They conducted the second round via the phone, and I spoke with HR or the Hiring Manager. The questions were very standard: “How do you think of Product X?” “Tell me what you associate with this product.” “How do you prioritize your work?” “How do you work with engineers and designers?”

And then the third round consisted of on-site interviews with all the team members.

The questions became more in-depth, but the main difference was that I needed to emphasize different aspects to different people: Senior team members cared about business metrics and growth, while the junior team members cared more about my process.

Some tech companies also ask you to analyze data or come up with product ideas that fit a specific need. They might even ask you to write an entire product specification!

These “product specs” go far beyond 2- or 3-hour financial modeling tests; some could take days to finish.

Personally, I never continued the process with any company that asked for that much work because I thought it was unreasonable for full-time candidates.

Q: Which specific questions were the most common in these interviews?

A: The #1 question was “How would you prioritize the features of this product?”

They’ll give you scenarios where different teams request different features and ask you to walk through your thought process.

With those questions, I usually said that I prioritized features based on 1) Revenue, 2) User Experience, and 3) Development Effort. The best features are ones that improve both revenue and the user experience and require little effort to implement.

If two features required the same development effort, but one feature improved the user experience only a bit while boosting revenue significantly, and the other one did the opposite, I would prioritize the first one.

Other common questions relate to your style of working with the developers and designers.

For example, they might ask how you would speak with the developer if he/she were falling behind, or what you might do if the developers were not working well with the designers.

Finally, the “Tell me about yourself” question is still common.

Your templates and examples are good starting points, but you should be even more specific about how your plans fit into this company’s products and services since each tech company is very different (whereas banks, despite some differences, have similar work styles and cultures).

Q: Going back a bit, can you give us examples of shorter case studies you received in interviews?

A: In one case study, they gave me a 3-page product spec for an online education platform and asked me to expand on it and identify the top usability and development challenges.

In another, a food delivery startup gave me order data in Excel format and asked me to analyze it and make 2-3 product feature recommendations based on my findings.

And then in a third case study, a mobile gaming company asked general questions about entertainment platforms and narrative experiences I liked, and they asked me to break down the elements that made platforms compelling or not compelling.

On the Job, Moving Up, and Moving Out

Q: Thanks for that. Now that you’ve started, what has your average day been like?

A: I work from 9 AM to 6 PM in the office each day, and then another ~2 hours from home.

During the day, I have around 4-5 hours of meetings, so I have little time to write documents such as new product specs.

The meetings during the day are with the business team, designers, and developers, and I spend a lot of time making sure that everyone is aligned with each other and senior management.

When I work from home, I spend my time writing documents such as product specs, outlines for rollouts and launches, and development plans.

Q: How easy or difficult is it to advance?

A: It depends on what you want to do. Product management roles rarely lead to C-level executive positions, so if you want to become CEO, CFO, or CMO, you should work in a different group.

But you can definitely advance within product management, and the rough hierarchy is PM –> Senior PM –> Director of PM –> VP of PM –> Head of PM –> Head of Product.

The ease of advancement depends not only on your performance, but also on on the company’s growth – if the company is growing quickly, you can also advance quickly, even if you’re just average.

But if the company isn’t doing so well, advancement will be incredibly tough.

The process is very different from advancement at a large bank, where you move up every X years if you’ve done well enough.

Q: Do you think product management is a good option for finance professionals who want to switch into technology?

A: Potentially, yes, but it depends on your background and goals.

You will not have an advantage coming from a finance background because PM teams mostly recruit people with design, engineering, or industry experience.

That said, finance skills can be useful in growth-oriented PM roles when you need to understand the financial impact of new marketing campaigns and promotions.

If you have a finance background, you might want to focus on PM roles at fintech companies since you’ll understand the market far better than engineers and designers.

To do well in this role, you must be good at multitasking, keeping your composure, and communicating with different parties.

If you’re the highly analytical type who likes to scrutinize company’s filings for hours or build complex models and focus 100% on a single task, this is not the role for you.

But if you enjoy the “teamwork and communication” parts of IB, it might be a better fit.

Also, you have to accept a not-so-clear advancement path. As with other non-finance companies, you won’t see big jumps in compensation or equity unless you start a company or join a startup as an early employee.

Q: And is that in your future as well?

A: Yes, eventually I want to take another shot at starting my own company.

I picked a poor market the first time around and didn’t have much experience, but I’ve learned a lot about product development here, and I feel more confident now.

I still enjoy what I do every day, so this plan is at least a few years away.

Q: Great. Thanks for your time!

A: My pleasure.

The post From Finance to Product Management: How to Escape the Dungeon and Move into the Technology Industry appeared first on Mergers & Inquisitions.

from ronnykblair digest https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/finance-product-management/

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