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goldenkamuyhunting · 3 years ago

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Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 311 “Asirpa’s choice”

The story continue and, I guess, I’ll keep the WARNING up.

No, I’m still not enthusiast of where the story is heading. If you only want to hear praises for the chapter, the ban button for either the tag or myself might be an option you’ll want to consider.

With a fair warning given, let’s move on.

We’ve left with Asirpa about to shoot Tsurumi. She doesn’t through because the story has already made clear they don’t like the idea of Asirpa killing people. It’s Tsurumi, who is standing on the tender, the one who manages to shoot in the main characters’ trio’s direction, but obviously misses.

Asirpa suggests for them to climb down and get in the first car which is conveniently completely empty of 7th division soldiers… as they had all either died or moved into the second car. By the way, the soldiers in the second car didn’t bother to remove the bear’s body and has no interest in pursuing Sugimoto, but are just busying themselves tending the wounded, which is a convenient thing because the bear conveniently covers up the visual showing Sugimoto, Asirpa and Shiraishi getting in the first car just in case some soldier might remember Sugimoto is the enemy and feel inclined to try to shoot him.

Really, why not to have the bear kill all the soldiers in the second car as well?

Oh yeah, maybe they need someone to pick up Koito and Tsukishima and bring them to the doctor so they can be cured since their role in this arc has probably ended. Whatever.

No one gives Sugimoto first aid and he assures anyway ‘it’s just a flesh wound’ because he’s the main character and plot protected, and Ogata likely missed his intestines when he stabbed him so no slow yet painful death for him… even if he seems to have troubles standing. But maybe he only has to recover for holding up and even raising around 400 kg of bear while dangling on a train car.

Talk about light training, Ushiyama would be proud.

At this point Asirpa, eyes still black, tells them… to leave a train on which 7th soldiers still are on board (and might remember Sugimoto is an enemy who killed many of them and come to get his skin) and hide in a safe place? Nope, they’ve to remain on the train but just wait her there because the Ainu land deed is her problem and she’ll just go get the quiver and be back because, really, where’s the problem?

Tsurumi is probably going to see Olga in her or slip and fall off the train so that, without too much troubles, Asirpa will keep her track record of being the only character who wasn’t so much as scratched by a human (the only time I can remember she got hurt was when the forest fell on her and Sugimoto).

At this point Shiraishi notices the train cars have been uncoupled by the extremely trustworthy Tsurumi who, instead than play bait for Ogata as he said he would in chap 308, has VERY OBVIOUSLY taken with himself the land deed and tried to save his skin, the hell faking his death and playing the role Ogata wanted him to play, leaving this new unsuspecting and childishly naïve character who looks like Ogata to play as bait for Sugimoto so, if he were to kill him, good, if he weren’t… well, he could just play dead since it’s not like he would have the land deed to hand to Central or Tsurumi stashed away in a secret place to back him up so I doubt Central would do so much as to raise him to corporal. Well, it’s not a problem that regards him anymore as he conveniently killed himself while our trio of main characters just watched.

Whatever.

On a positive note, escaping with the locomotive is not a bad plan, so kudos to Tsurumi. Maybe he won’t be hit by the idiot ball. One can only hope he’ll keep his brain till the end and give us a decent conclusion at least.

Back to Asirpa, she claims she has a LAST request to Sugimoto and Shiraishi, which feels like a HUGE death flag but will probably end up in nothing because Asirpa has the hugest plot armor ever to the point that if she were to die it would simply feel not surprising but just unbelievable as we had to suspend our disbelief in her never getting hurt for more than 31 volumes and it would be hard to turn it on.

Anyway Asirpa tells them she wants the well with the gold to stay buried.

That’s because she has finally figured out that what Ogata told her in vol 19 (chap 185 to be exact) was true, if one were to get his hands on the gold things won’t end happily but the killing would go on. Took her 12 volumes to realize he didn’t lie on this… only the whole thing isn’t presented as her realizing he didn’t lie but as her coming up with this conclusion all on her own because, after the story has finally managed to get rid of Ogata, they aren’t going to bring him up again, not to show him among the group of the deceased nor because he actually realized way sooner this whole thing and warned Asirpa about it.

Really Noda, you should have killed him in vol 19 and save yourself the trouble to drag him on till here.

Whatever, Asirpa claims they’ve to break the Golden Kamuy’s curse.

Her eyes are still black, and surely, SURELY the fact that her eyes are still black, irises included, means something relevant, surely, to bring back the light in her eyes we’ll need something big…

No, nevermind, in the next page Noda is already starting to draw her irises a little lighter as she mentions on how, to pay for Umeko’s medical treatment, she’ll give Sugimoto the gold coin Wilk made, which is worth, according to her 10 yen so Sugimoto would only need 190 yen more to reach his goal, and volunteers to get bear bladders for him (assuming she manages to come back from her confrontation with Tsurumi) until they reach the 200 yen quota.

As for Shiraishi he can have the piece of hanpen that Asirpa stubbornly considered a piece of Ushiyama and kept on dragging around because, after so much drama, evidently we need to lighten the mood with some comedy and Asirpa’s completely black eyes don’t sit well with comedy, so let’s gradually lighten them.

Asirpa insists they shouldn’t go back as she doesn’t want to lose even the most important person to her.

Well, girl, congratulation for managing to make your love confession before the end of the story. I’m not sure Sugimoto got the message but, at least, this causes him to think back at… the photo of Toraji with his wife and child? Was Toraji your most important person Sugimoto? Or is the message that, when Toraji died, you felt you lost Umeko? Is she still your most important person, Sugimoto? It wasn’t retconned? I’ll appreciate it if it wasn’t retconned and you’ll go back to her and won’t end up paired up with Asirpa. Please, go back to Umeko, Sugimoto, I was displeased enough when the anime cut Umeko out of the story, I don’t want to believe the manga will do the same.

So we’ve next a comedic moment with Shiraishi who seems to think this is pretty dumb and then tells Sugimoto to tell Asirpa ‘okay, I understand’, which Sugimoto does because of course he’s going to give up on the gold because Asirpa asked him to do so, same as Shiraishi.

Actually, if only Asirpa has done so from the beginning, Sugimoto (and Shiraishi) would have kept out of this mess because they really couldn’t realize this was going to be bloody and live a safe, happy life in the last two years.

No, really, I was in the camp that predicted they would never get the gold, this was my expectation by quite a long time, but, to be honest, I expected it would be for some well constructed reason, or that characters would spend at least 5 minutes being torn at the idea of dropping their hope to get the gold, I mean, they knew they could die RIGHT FROM THE START, they saw people die RIGHT FROM THE START, Asirpa told Sugimoto it was a bad idea to hunt the gold RIGHT FROM THE START, Makanakkuru told them the gold was cursed RIGHT FROM THE START and still got into the gold hunt anyway and went through a lot so I expected they wouldn’t change their mind at the drop of a hat, that something relevant would need to happen, or that they all would come to realize the gold wasn’t worth it through some pondering, not that all that was needed was Asirpa finally coming to the same conclusion about what happens to who possess the gold Ogata spoke of in vol 19 and so shared her fear with Shiraishi and Sugi and they told her ‘yeah, sure’.

I mean, I would have NEVER expected that changing their mind would really be SO EASY… -_-

By the way, as Sugimoto says he’ll understand light seems slightly back in Asirpa’s eyes and okay, maybe for her this is important, or maybe for her black eyes meant loss of hope, I don’t really know, what I know is that Sugimoto grabs her like luggage, says goodbye to Shiraishi and jumps with her on the tender, telling her he won’t let her go alone because they’re partners and so mission accomplished, light on Asirpa’s eyes is restored and I don’t even know why I worried for Asirpa.

*sighs*

All right, I get for her it’s a big deal, but the black eyes too seemed a BIG deal and they get resolved so fast and in a scene that seems comedic that ultimately Asirpa’s black eyes merely seemed caused by childish and easily solvable worry. Something readers didn’t need to feel troubled about because OF COURSE Sugimoto won’t let her go alone, silly Asirpa, how could you think so?

Meanwhile the locomotive and the tender get farther and farther from the cars on which Shiraishi, Nagakura, Kantarou, a bunch of soldiers from the 7th as well as Koito and Tsukishima are.

This probably means they’re all going to survive and who knows, Koito might even replace Tsurumi with Tsukishima now loyally at his side because they did nothing wrong and, by fainting, they escaped the final fight… unless Nagakura will surprise us by decapitating them while they were unconscious or Kantarou will just shoot them in retaliation for causing Hijikata’s death.

But no, I expect them to live.

So this is probably the end of the arc of all those characters and, if we’ll see something more of them, it’ll be likely at the very end and/or in a flash forward and Koito’s big confrontation with Tsurumi was, ultimately, just asking him not to drag Tsukishima with himself because Tsukishima was at his limit and would die.

But hey, probably the noble Koito will restore the Wajin honor and the 7th honor becoming a good commander because he openly said he would murder Tsurumi if his rebellion to Central and the stealing of the Ainu gold and land deed weren’t to bring benefits to the soldiers under them so he had to live.

Who knows, maybe he’ll even hire Ariko back without punishing him for risking his life in an attempt on saving a little Ainu girl who was being psychologically traumatized and threatened by Tsurumi under Koito and Tsukishima’s eyes, so as to prove he’s Ainu friendly now. Awesome.

Now, don’t take me wrong, I love Koito and Tsukishima, and I love even more Koito’s growth and how Tsukishima is so far gone he’s basically unable to grow and needs to be helped and how Koito is there for him… and I’ll be happy if they survive till the end… but I fear their ending will be a too convenient one, with everything they did being water under the bridge so as to raise them up as the good guys of the 7th.

And, at this point, I don’t even care anymore about the tiger curse because, unless they hallucinate a tiger or Kiro, if something bad were to happen to them it would feel so disconnected, it would be hard to tie them to it because I doubt they would regret killing poor Kiro like an animal due to them following Tsurumi’s orders. But whatever, people has started having abrupt pang of overwhelming guilt so who knows.

Meanwhile Tsurumi has finished all the bullets for his guns but fear not, he hasn’t been hit by the idiot ball yet so he was clever enough to steal the soldiers’ rifle and bring them with him in the locomotive.

Please Tsurumi, please, avoid being hit by the idiot ball with all your strength, please, I need you to stay IC till the end, to give me a sense that defeating you will be a little challenging at least!

Anyway, the fact that he had to collect rifles is likely why he took so long into reaching the locomotive (I mean he disappeared before Sugimoto were to find Ogata and his movements remained unknown through the Ogata/Sugimoto battle and Ogata’s whole breakdown).

Okay, to be honest, kudos to Tsurumi for trying but if he had been paid more attention to Ogata he would have known rifles aren’t really a problem for Sugimoto, as not even the best sniper of the story could bring him down with his rifle so really, they weren’t going to help Tsurumi in fact Sugimoto manages to reach him before he could do so much as shoot a second time.

But okay, Tsurumi is also a strong fighter, so when Sugimoto jumps on him, he can kick Sugimoto away, which was something Ogata would have had troubles doing. But Asirpa is there, about to shoot him, with plenty of light in her eyes because everyone can kill and if you do so for a reason you won’t be troubled by guilt… or so Ogata would say.

Whatever.

Of course Asirpa’s determination to murder Tsurumi so fast, matters nothing as Tsurumi hides before Asirpa could shoot (and as we have at least 9 more chapters to fill before Noda could end vol 32) and then… Tsurumi moves outside the locomotive.

Sugimoto claims he believes this is because Tsurumi is at disadvantage in a battle 2 against one, so he’s trying to lure them to a place where the footing is bad because it’s not like Tsurumi too can slip due to the footing being bad, no, he wears ninja shoes with maximum grip everywhere Tsurumi goes.

Anyway, as I said, there are 9 chapters to fill before the end of this volume, so Sugimoto and Asirpa decide they can give Tsurumi a break for a moment as they try to stop the train so they won’t crash in the last station.

Only… comedic mode is still on because the two of them know nothing of how trains work and basically do nothing to stop the train beyond looking around so, since Asirpa is surely the one who knows the most between the two (yeah, sure) Sugimoto puts Asirpa on the task of stopping the train (so she won’t have to risk dirtying her hands by shooting Tsurumi) while he goes chase Tsurumi because who knows which plan Tsurumi might have come up with to save HIS day.

The last page ends with a creepy Sugimoto standing above Tsurumi, ready to stop him as Kikuta has predicted he would.

And with this we end.

I’ve… not much else to say.

Things continue to go on without requiring too much effort from the characters involved so that it feels like there’s no point in worrying. Is it to lower our defenses and prepare the set for Tsurumi murdering Sugimoto and Asirpa so they can die together and go to hell together but then he’s too late to stop the locomotive or get off of it and dies on the crash? Who knows.

But I really, really need this final battle to be… well, not easy, not won because a sword break or because, by bad luck one of the characters get in the harm way and the other must do a heroic sacrifice or by an improvise attack of paralysing guilt or of hallucinations or by someone conveniently fainting in exaustion and blood loss, I need it something that was the result of a hard fight, be it physical or intellectual, a battle with both the parties involved, not one having a break up and the other munching popcorn as they watch, a battle with stakes and consequences. A battle whose victory will be EARNED by the victor, not just a lucky/unlucky happening.

Something that matters, in short, something I could worry and care about.

We’ll see what it’ll be though.

#Asirpa #Sugimoto Saichi #Tsurumi Tokushirou #Shiraishi Yoshitake #Kiroranke #Wilk #Ariko Rikimatsu #Toni Anji #Tanigaki Genjirou #Oosawa Fusatarou #Sofia #Hijikata Toshizou #Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories #Ushiyama Tatsuuma

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concussed-to-pieces · 4 years ago

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Whether It Works Out Or Not Part Two

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption 2

Pairing: Eventual Arthur Morgan/Named OFC

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: I'll see you guys on Friday with the conclusion to this tale. But first, we howl at the moon. Enjoy!

[Spoiler warning for the first three chapters of the game!]

Tag List: @huliabitch @cookiethewriter @pedrosbigdorkenergy @thirstworldproblemss @anonymouscosmos @culturalrebel @karmezii @teaofpeach @crookedmoonsaultpunk @wrestlingfae @zombiexbody @nelba @gabrielle1776 @toxiicpop @mstgsmy @misty-possum

Part One: Strangers

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains attempted suicide and brief mentions of previous abuse. Stay safe!]

Irene, or rather, Frank, her face layered with a fresh coat of grime, was just putting the finishing touches on saddling her horse when Arthur made his presence known the following morning. He looked...surprisingly decent for the amount of drinking that he had done the day before, only slightly disheveled. The large man strode into the stables, looking around wildly. "Frank!" He bellowed, making Bluster rear in panic.

Irene went to take a step back and toppled over a hay bale, barely avoiding braining herself on the packed-dirt floor. "Yes, Arthur?" She grunted wryly, catching hold of the binds on the bale and going to sit back up.

"Where the hell were you yesterday?" Arthur questioned, offering her a hand and easily pulling her to her feet. "I thought you was comin' back to the party!"

Irene furrowed her brow in mock confusion. "I did, Arthur! I hung around the outskirts, though. Pilfered some treats and kept to myself. It was all so loud, you know how much I like my peace and quiet."

Arthur seemed agitated and she said as much, making him chuckle sadly. "Ah, I'm just outta' sorts. Got a little too in the bottle last night. It's all a blur." He mumbled the next bit, "not sure if she's real or not."

"Who?" Irene asked.

Arthur started, like he hadn't thought she would hear him. "Uh, a Miss Irene. Never got her last name." He admitted.

"Oh, the fiddler!" Irene said, feigning comprehension. "Spoke to her this morning, actually. I play as well, so we had a brief discussion on the topic while she saddled up." Irene patted the sturdy case for the fiddle, affixed to the side of Bluster's saddle. "But she was off like a shot shortly afterwards."

"Dammit." Arthur cursed. "Did she say where she was headed to?"

"Afraid not, Arthur. She did tell me to tell you 'thank you', whatever that means." Irene winked at Arthur, laughing when he flushed bright pink to the tips of his ears.

"Shut up, it ain't...it's not like that." Arthur grumbled bashfully. "Listen, I ain't got time for this. I have to-" he paused, rubbing a hand contemplatively over the fresh stubble on his face. "Actually, Frank, you wanna' tag along? Might be more useful to have two of us, we can corral him easy that way. Jamie's prone to startlin'. More nervous than a cat in a room fulla' rockin' chairs."

"What are you off to do now?"

"Fetchin' somebody's kid brother back from the Chelonians."

"No rest for the wicked or for you, I suppose." Irene didn't mean to sound like she was scolding him, but 'Frank's' tenuous tenor had a decidedly chastising tone to it. After all, she knew why he was doing this, though Arthur didn't know that she knew. "Well, I've got nothing particularly pressing that warrants my attention, if you would like my company." She allowed. Then, she cast her mind back over what he had said. "Wait. What's a Chelonian?"

Arthur groaned. "I'll explain on the way, Frank."

...

The boy named Jamie was apparently Mary's younger brother, and he had gotten caught up in a cult.

Irene whistled once Arthur seemed to have talked himself dry, swatting at a horsefly on Bluster's flank. "What a mess."

"You're tellin' me." Arthur growled. "Woman shows back up and just...drops her damn problem into my lap like a pile of hog shit. And I'm the fool that agreed to see what I could do!" He shook his head, seeming disgusted with himself. "All it took was her sayin' 'I think of you often' and it was over. She knew it too, that's the worst part. She knows exactly what I'll do for her." He slapped his forehead, moaning, "God Frank, I'm such a fool."

"It's admirable of you to help a former beau. I know many men wouldn't give the object of their affections the time of day once they had broken something off." Irene commended him, though it was admittedly reluctant as she privately thought that Arthur was being used. "Granted, leaving her to sort problems out for herself every once and a while probably couldn't hurt."

"She's real worried about Jamie. She thinks these fellers will hurt him." Arthur made his excuses and Irene didn't begrudge him them. It was no doubt just nice for him to feel wanted again, even for a brief period of time. Judging from how sad he had been last night, he had clearly cared deeply for Mary at one point. Perhaps he still did.

"Will you court her again? Now that she's a widow, I mean." Irene asked. All she received in reply to her question was a bone-deep sigh and a shake of his head. After a moment, Arthur spurred his horse to a brisk canter. Clearly, the time for their discussion was over.

They made good time towards Carmody Dell, the weather beautiful and the roads relatively dry. Arthur stayed silent for the duration of the trip, the man obviously deep in thought. Irene let him be. This couldn't be a simple thing for him to handle.

Jamie, of course, as teenagers were prone to do, fled at the first sign of someone coming to drag him back home. As soon as Arthur had convinced the loony leader of the Chelonians to let him speak to the boy, Jamie was off like a shot. "I'm not comin' with you, Arthur!" He yelled over his shoulder while fumbling into the saddle of his horse.

Irene swore nearly in sync with Arthur, rushing to mount her own horse and pursue the kid. "Just come and speak with Mary, then make up your mind!" Arthur shouted after Jamie, his tone exasperated.

"Leave me alone, Arthur! I didn't ask for your help!"

Arthur growled something under his breath and jerked his chin at Irene, gesturing for her to give him space on the trail to let his horse have her head. The horse's gait lengthened into a smooth, ground-devouring gallop, and as the terrain leveled out he called, "Frank, split off, try n' stop him before the crossin'!"

Irene nodded, clicking her tongue at Bluster and then choking up her grip on the reins to change the horse's course. Bluster almost immediately stuttered in his step, the horse fidgeting wildly as the rails parallel to him began to sing, indicating a train was approaching.

"You ain't stupid Jamie, you can see this is crazy!" Irene heard Arthur boom at the younger man before she ducked low along Bluster's neck, the horse's mane whipping her face as she urged him from a canter to a gallop. Clinging to her hat with every inch of tenacity she had in her body, Irene flew over the embankment beside the train tracks. A gun cracked, but she didn't dare raise her head to see who was shooting. The three-thirty engine was making it's way inexorably forward, overtaking her now, and Jamie showed no signs of slowing.

"Jamie!" Irene shouted. Bluster wasn't fast enough, they wouldn't get there in time-!

The boy's horse was nearly crushed by the cowcatcher of the locomotive, narrowly avoiding disaster when he crossed the tracks directly in front of the barreling engine. Arthur reined his horse in as the train cars rattled past, and Irene heard a few choice oaths out of him that made the tips of her ears turn pink.

Jamie had actually dismounted his horse on the other side of the tracks, and continued to rant at Arthur over the sound of the train cars passing between them. "I've found somethin'--a callin'!" He insisted.

"You're just a kid!" Arthur yelled in reply. "You're makin' a big mistake!"

"I'm not takin' advice from you!" Jamie spat. "You're an outlaw!"

Whatever else he said faded into the background to Irene. Outlaw. An outlaw? Arthur was…

Another gunshot shattered her thoughts, Jamie discharging his pistol into the air and accidentally frightening his own horse. The animal fled in a panic, leaving the young man stranded. "Leave me alone!" He shouted at Arthur as the last train car vanished into the nearby tunnel.

"Please, kid." Arthur implored, his hand out in a placative manner. "Put that gun down."

"I warn you, Arthur! I'm--" Jamie floundered, still not actually aiming the gun at Arthur. "I don't wanna' live anymore!" He cried abruptly, startling Irene with the sheer emotion in his confession. The woman all but pitched herself off her horse, then halted when she grimly realized if she got any closer Jamie would doubtlessly make a terrible choice. Her hand twitched towards the rope coiled up on her belt as she weighed her options.

Arthur seemed stunned, both hands out now as he tried to talk down the tumultuous young man. "Kid, just calm-"

"Leave me alone!" Jamie screamed, pressing the revolver to his own temple.

"Wait!" Irene pleaded, "Jamie, just wait!"

The boy did actually hesitate for the barest split second with the gun against his head, and Arthur somehow managed to get a shot off to knock the pistol out of Jamie's grip. Irene hadn't even seen him draw his own gun, let alone fire! Jesus Christ, maybe he was an outlaw!

Jamie staggered back a step, holding his hand. He had probably felt that impact all the way up his shoulder. Irene didn't envy the dead-limb tingle he would no doubt be dealing with shortly.

Arthur stormed forward across the tracks, biting his words out as he scooped up Jamie's revolver, "now calm down. Let's go see your sister." Like he witnessed people trying to kill themselves in front of him all the time. Jamie's lower lip quivered and he flung himself at Arthur, leaving the older man to pat him awkwardly on the back while he wept. "It's okay, kid." Arthur soothed, his tone gruff but his eyes betraying the relief he felt.

"Have I been a terrible fool, Arthur?" Jamie sniffled.

Arthur chuckled dryly, handing the younger man back his revolver. "I dunno'. I don't know enough about it." He gestured for Irene to approach with the horses, giving her a grateful smile and a nod of thanks. "One thing I do know: there ain't no shame in lookin' for a better world."

"I missed you, Arthur." Jamie told the older man sincerely as Arthur mounted his horse. "Are you and Mary sweet on one another again?" Irene watched with a certain perverse interest as Arthur went still, then shook it off and reached down to help Jamie up behind him on his horse.

"Ah, nah. That's all a long time ago son."

"Thanks for stoppin' me, mister. Sorry I caused you two so much trouble." Jamie apologized to Irene, his head bowed in shame.

She rode up alongside Arthur's horse, reaching out to give Jamie's hand a comforting squeeze. "I get it, Jamie. Everything is just...hard, and ugly sometimes."

"A-Are you an outlaw, too?" Jamie asked shyly.

Arthur snorted derisively through his nose before Irene could reply. "Son, this man right here has moral fiber that's tougher n' a damn grizzly bear. He ain't no outlaw. Frank Craft, I'd like to introduce you to the infamous gunslinger Jamie Gillis."

"Aw, shut up Arthur." Jamie whined, his pale face bright red.

Irene waved off Arthur's praise, still concerned about the younger man. "What drove you to the Chelonians anyway, Jamie?"

"My father. He's…" Jamie hesitated. "He's always yellin' at me, tellin' me how I won't never amount to anythin' or be a proper man. I-I had to get away, I couldn't take it anymore!" He insisted, like he was still trying to convince himself.

Arthur sighed heavily. "Forgive me, but your father is a bully and a coward, don't listen to him."

Irene shot the older man a sidelong glance as Jamie scolded him for saying such things about his patriarch. "I wouldn't say that, but maybe your father doesn't have your best interests at heart." She tried for a gentler approach. "He might be caught up in worrying about lineage or some such nonsense."

"He's right though. I'm no good for anythin'." Jamie continued dejectedly.

"Whoa there, I won't tolerate that kind of talk." Irene said, keeping her voice stern. "A lot of people in my life told me I was useless, good for nothing aside from a...very specific task." She could feel Arthur looking at her from under the brim of his hat. She ignored him for the moment. "But I'm not letting anyone else dig my grave and usher me into it. You shouldn't either."

"I'm just so scared of bein' a disappointment." Jamie murmured. "The way he looks at me, all heated on account of me sayin' somethin' foolish…" he shook his head.

"So learn! Engage him on his turf. My father was a doctor, you can imagine the bullshit he put me through for the sake of pretending to have a conversation." Irene encouraged, "there must be something you're good at. You can certainly ride a horse damn well!"

"Arthur taught me how to ride." Jamie informed her quietly.

"Too well, apparently." Arthur griped. "Frank's right though, you went like the damn hounds of Hell were after you."

"Felt that way." Jamie shot back, making the older man smirk and reach over his shoulder to muss Jamie's hair.

"Good. Means I ain't lost my edge yet."

Jamie prattled on to Irene for the rest of the ride to the train station, seeming grateful to just have a willing ear to bend. Irene, for her part, tried to offer him what little helpful advice she did have. Her own father had been overbearing, but she had also never had a chance to really get out from beneath his presence before he had passed on.

Arthur asked Irene to wait outside once they arrived and she willingly obliged, understanding that he probably wanted some time to speak with his old flame in private. So she settled down against the ramp railing and tipped her hat forward over her eyes, intent on dozing off in the sunlight. She had been up pretty late last night, plus rising early that morning…

…

A boot nudging her ribs roused her and Irene yawned, accepting the hand up almost on reflex at this point. Arthur looked terrible, his eyes dull in the shadow of his hat with a sadness that seemed bottomless.

"Went well, then?" Irene asked, wishing more than anything that she could simply pull him into an embrace.

Arthur cleared his throat, looking wistfully in the direction of the departing train. "As well as anyone would expect, given...everythin'." He answered, his voice hoarse. "I...thanks for comin' along, Frank. If you wanna' stick around I could use the company, though I won't be very good company m'self." He warned.

"I'll have to check my schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'm clear to ride with you." Irene tried to joke, gripping his shoulder in a not-hug.

Arthur exhaled, covering her hand with his own as if to voice his thanks. "I'd just...rather not be alone right now. This time, anyway." The older man rasped.

"You don't have to explain anything to me." Irene assured him. "I'm here if you need someone to listen, but I'm also just here."

"You're a good man, Frank Craft." Arthur choked out.

"Not nearly as good as you, Arthur Morgan."

They mounted up and Irene let him lead their path, his thoughtful silence softened by the sounds of the forest around them. It felt...companionable, instead of stoney.

Arthur broke the quiet after a time to say, "keep an eye out for somethin' edible. Ain't gotta' be army-sized." Irene had her bow drawn before he could finish, nocking an arrow in preparation.

"Rabbit?"

"Huh? I mean, sure, that'll-"

The bowstring sang as she let the arrow fly into the underbrush, and Irene dismounted to scoop the small animal up and retrieve her arrow.

"Shit, you're a regular quick draw on that bow." Arthur drawled, palming over his own bow that hung by his leg. "Mine's got a hell of a lot less give to it, but it'll send the arrow clear through a damn log if I haul it back enough."

"You've obviously got me outgunned, if earlier with Jamie was any indication." Irene pointed out. "I didn't even see you draw."

Arthur shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "Practice." He replied tersely. "Lots and lots of practice, Frank."

"I don't doubt it." She hoped she didn't sound judgemental.

They made their camp for the night atop a high, grassy mesa. Arthur set to building a fire while she skinned and quartered the rabbit, the silence back but still not overly heavy.

Irene kept her voice soft when she did speak, feeling almost as though she needed to treat Arthur like a skittish animal. His answers were monosyllabic, gruff, but not rude. Once they had eaten, he settled back on his bedroll and just stared at the fire for a good long time.

"I took in a lady bounty a few weeks ago." He remarked out of the blue. "Real oddity."

Irene looked up from where she was darning the hole in her overcoat. "Oh?" She asked, wondering privately what had brought this on. "What did she do?"

"Killed her mother. String of husbands too." Arthur shook his head, "a Frank, Henry, Howie and Willie."

"Willie?" Irene's heart tripped in her chest. "Do you...what was his last name?"

Arthur fumbled with his satchel, digging around for a moment before producing a tattered poster. He squinted at the printing. "Willie, Willie...ah! Willie Carson, apparently."

It was him! Her husband's name falling from Arthur's lips sent a tremor through her body. "I knew him." Irene tried to keep her voice steady. "Whatever she did to him, he deserved it."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up and he fixed her with an incredulous look. "Christ Frank, I ain't ever heard you say boo to nobody before. I gotta' know this story. Bad blood between you two?"

"He was very heavy-handed with his spousal correction and discipline." Irene gritted out. "To the point where his wife was kept in the house for the sake of his reputation."

"Oh." Arthur's voice was a low rasp. Then, hesitantly, "you ain't gotta' sugarcoat it with me, Frank. We both know that spousal correction is just a fancy way of sayin' wife beatin'."

"She lived in constant fear that he would get her with his child and then, then she knew her life would be over." Irene knew that she probably sounded far too angry. "The local authorities wouldn't listen to me because Willie was an affluent man in the community." She snapped, hurrying to amend a second later, "I-I mean, her. Wouldn't listen to her."

"At least you tried to help her." Arthur pointed out, seeming to misunderstand her verbal slip-up. "Lotta' folks just accept that shit and turn a blind eye. I personally can't abide by wife-strikin'. Shit gets me heated."

"Well yes, because you're a decent man." Irene retorted.

Arthur shrugged. "I'm too ornery. Last time I let my temper get the best of me, I beat a feller to within an inch of his life." He stared down at his hands. "I just…I can't abide that shit. Women are s'posed to be protected an' loved, cherished, all that. Granted, that colorful bitch from earlier can swing for all I care, but I hate thinkin' about the kinda' life she must have had to turn out like that. In my experience, most people don't just up and kill someone. There's plannin', or somethin' that makes 'em flip their lid."

"Good riddance. To both of them." Irene huffed, making Arthur sigh.

"S'pose you're right. Ain't much use thinkin' about it. The feller's dead anyhow, and accordin' to you it weren't no great loss." He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes wearily. "But anyway, I brought it up 'cause she was talkin' the whole ride back 'bout how she was sick in the head. Needed help. She begged me to bring her to an asylum instead of the jail, then she tried feedin' me some horseshit about needin' a big strong man to--to keep her in line." Arthur looked aggrieved. "I ain't...I'm not that kinda' man, Frank. I hope you know that, at least, even if Daddy Gillis never believed it. I get mad sometimes and I do stupid shit when I'm piss-drunk, but I promise I ain't that kinda' man." He clenched his fists, staring down at them.

Irene's heart softened at the sight of him so pensive, and she put down her neglected darning. "Arthur," she called quietly to get his attention. When he looked up, she stated, "you could never be like him."

Arthur appeared momentarily relieved, before a new thought seemed to strike him. "Wait, but what happened to his first wife? He married Miss Swan--"

"She just disappeared one night." The woman kept her eyes down, pretending to focus on the jacket. "Nobody knows where Irene is or what happened to her." Hopefully, she added to herself.

"Irene? Her name was Irene?" Arthur asked sharply.

Shit. "Yessir, Irene."

"What did she look like?"

"It's been ages since I saw her, Arthur. I've all but forgotten." Irene lied. "I probably wouldn't recognize her even if I did see her again. If she's still alive, she must look like an entirely different person. A new woman."

"She didn't look like the woman from last night? The fiddler? You said you spoke to her this mornin'."

Shit. "Arthur, when I spoke to your friend this morning, I was saddling up Bluster. I wasn't really...paying attention." She mentally congratulated herself on her quick thinking, simultaneously hating how clammy her hands had grown. Why had she even decided to return to being Irene for the night?! It had been so foolish. If she had known about Mary, she doubted she would have gone forward with her little scheme. A shameless cry for attention with no definitive end goal.

Had she wanted Arthur to simply bed her and be done with it? No, of course not. She held no love for that particular portion of married life. She had wanted…

She had wanted the attention, yes, but more than that she had wanted to feel safe as herself again. Being Frank offered her a shield of deceit that, while nigh impregnable, doomed her to a solitary existence. The longer she was around someone, the more comfortable she would become and the more likely it was that she would make a grievous error.

Arthur, with his honest strength and blunt speech, had her interest from the second he hadn't taken advantage of her being caught in a trap. And the way that he had treated her last night…

Fine ladies deserve a proper gentleman, he had said, the words resigned and melancholic. As if he was used to being treated poorly when it came to these matters. From what little he had mentioned of his past (orphaned at a young age, in with a bad crowd), there was no doubt in Irene's mind that he had experienced a certain amount of prejudice regardless of whether it had been truly earned or not. The world could be such a cruel place.

Arthur, meanwhile, visibly deflated at her reply. "Oh. Shit, sorry. That makes sense." He mumbled, sounding crushed. "I...well, I guess a coincidence like that would be pretty far-fetched."

"Why do you want to track that woman so badly? I mean, there's a million other gals out there that are easier to find." Irene queried. "In Valentine alone, nevermind elsewhere."

Arthur scoffed, "Hell no, I ain't sayin' shit. You'll make fun of me!"

"About something as important as this seems to be to you? Never!" Irene tried to keep her tone nonchalant. "I'm just curious is all. Don't think I've ever seen you this antsy in the admittedly-brief period of time that we've been acquainted."

"She…" Arthur hesitated, squinting at her suspiciously. "You promise not to laugh?"

"Cross my heart." Irene swore, making the hand motion.

"She made me feel...I dunno', seen, I guess." He admitted quietly. "I mean, I'm used to bein' a target. I'm usually the biggest feller in the room. Probably the nastiest too. But I get looked over a lot unless it's for a fight, and she...well, yeah. She saw me." He heaved out a heavy sigh. "She called me some shit that really stuck to my ribs, brave and kind and loyal and all that. It's...it hurts, hearin' that stuff if you haven't heard it from another woman. Makes you feel like your insides was carved out. And she didn't know me from Job, but it was like she knew that was what I needed to hear."

"Oh." Irene's heart ached. I would say those things to you every damn day if I could, Arthur. "Well, they're true! I'm glad she told you that." She said cheerily. "You've been a very good friend to me, after all, and every time I bump into you it seems like you're doing something for someone else."

"Eeyup, I'm a regular errand boy." Arthur replied ruefully. He clapped his hands together after a moment, nodding to the fiddle case that was propped up on a nearby log. "Hey, how about a song? If you ain't too beat."

"Of course! It would be my honor to play for you, Mister Arthur." Irene answered grandly, giving him a lavish bow. He waved off the gesture, finally blessing her with a grin. It didn't take her long to tune the old Hyde and she got to her feet, folding her bandanna to tuck between the instrument and her chin. "Any requests?" She quipped.

Arthur shook his head and she hummed softly, drawing the bow downwards a few times to spread and warm up the coat of rosin.

She stuck to some familiar songs at first, moving her whole body in time to Sir Roger de Coverley and whistling to Rye Whiskey. Arthur's spirits seemed to be improving, the man eventually nodding along with the music and humming baritone notes. The moon rose overhead and she played on, making it up as she went.

Irene wasn't sure what came over her. Maybe it was the huge sky full of stars, or the way Arthur's eyes had warmed once more...maybe it was simply the audience of one. But she felt a surge of courage race through her body, tinged faintly with longing. She wanted to sing. Even though it might expose her for who she was.

A quick draw across the strings, a little flair to show off, and then she opened her mouth. "I wish I could play the violin," Irene sang, her voice rasping a little as she struggled to keep up the facade of timbre. "I'd play 'til tears roll down your cheek and chin. And if you sang along, we could write the saddest song."

Arthur settled back against the log he had rolled next to the fire, his body stilling as he listened to her voice.

"Sometimes I indulge my every whim, and piece by piece I build the cell I'm in." Irene continued, gesturing at Arthur with the bow and smiling when he laughed ruefully. "But I only stay here long, enough to write the saddest song."

The heel of her boot hit the ground rhythmically, keeping time with the tune she played.

"Christ, you tryin' to tell me somethin'?" Arthur teased, "don't do anythin' foolish, Frank!"

Irene stuck her tongue out at him, feeling triumphant over his joviality. "I wish I could play piano well...I'd hit the keys that make your spirit swell! And if you sang along, we could write the saddest song." She noticed that Arthur was actually humming along when she repeated the chorus, and that gave her an idea. "Alright, this next part I'll sing first, and then we can do it together!" She urged, grinning when he grumbled. "C'mon, don't be a spoilsport!" The young woman cajoled, showing off a bit on the strings as she shifted her weight back and forth.

"Oh, fine, I guess." Arthur agreed reluctantly. "I ain't much for singin' though, so you brought this on yourself."

"Whatever the cost, whether it works out or not," Irene sang, "whatever the cost, whether it works out or not, I'll follow you, I'll follow you, I'll follow you with my heart." She inclined her head at Arthur, encouraging him to join in.

The man was tentative, his voice so deep she could barely hear him when he did humor her. "Whatever the cost, whether it works out or not…"

"Whatever the cost, whether it works out or not…" Irene stayed silent for the last portion of the bridge, listening to Arthur as he appeared to finally loosen back up.

"I'll follow you, I'll follow you, I'll follow you with my heart." He drawled with a pleased little smile, like he was proud of himself.

"I dreamt I stood on a hill, that I wished was a mountain, to look back on all my accomplishments. Well they must have been small, because I couldn't seem to find them, so I took a leap off of a precipice." One last indulgent bar on the strings, a high note and then she swept into a deep bow, laughing as Arthur whistled and clapped. "Yes, thank you, thank you, my adoring public." Irene waved him off dramatically, still chuckling as she plopped back down on the ground alongside him.

"Hell, I can't believe you ain't on a stage somewhere makin' honest money right now." Arthur praised, making her blush. "You're damn good, Frank!"

"Oh I'm not nearly good enough for all that." Irene protested bashfully. "I haven't practiced in ages, so I'm rusty." She picked at a mended area on her pants, unable to fight back her smile. "I'm pretty mediocre."

"You don't get it." Arthur rebuffed her bluntly. "It don't matter whether you're good at it or not, Frank. You like doin' it. A blind feller coulda' seen that. You were havin' a good time. Perked me right up to see you just jauntin' to your tunes, singin' prettier than a choir boy," he grinned. "You're somethin' else, Frank Craft."

"And you're far too kind, Arthur Morgan." Irene hesitated, the question on the tip of her tongue. "Hey Arthur, what Jamie said earlier..." She saw Arthur straighten up out of the corner of her vision. "About you uh, being an outlaw and all. Was that true, or was he just being spiteful?"

"Would you think less of me if it were true, Frank?" Arthur asked her instead of answering, his voice gone gravelly. His eyes watched her intently from beneath the brim of his hat, the blue glowing nearly green in the yellow light from the fire.

Irene hesitated, chewing her lower lip as she deliberated on her reply. On the one hand, she was in a very isolated area with a man who may or may not be an outlaw, and who may or may not be desperate to keep that a secret.

But on the other hand, good people did bad things every day. She was certain that the rabbit she had caught didn't think her particularly merciful or just. And there were tales about people who were wrongly accused, imprisoned or punished. Maybe…

"I don't think I would, Mister Arthur." She answered him truthfully. "If you are an outlaw, you must not be a very good one."

Arthur startled her by roaring with laughter, the man bent nearly double. "Truer words ain't never been spoken, Frank." He finally panted out, still chuckling. "You don't know the half of it."

Irene scowled. "Hey, c'mon! I'm being serious!" She protested.

"So am I. If I don't go down in history as the worst outlaw ever, I'll be sorely disappointed in myself." He grinned, but it soon faded. "Before she left, Mary...she said I'd never change." He murmured, posture folded in on himself once more. "I guess she was right. Worst outlaw this side of Saint Denis."

"Well, it may be more beneficial to her if you don't change." Irene reasoned, her tone probably a bit too pointed.

"How d'you figure?" Arthur asked in confusion.

"Arthur, c'mon. You said it yourself earlier today! She popped out of nowhere with a problem for you to solve!"

"Well, yeah, but ain't you said it was admirable that I was helpin' her?" Arthur challenged, seating his hat further back on the crown of his head.

"Oh absolutely! Don't get me wrong, Arthur. What you did was a very good thing. But from where I'm sitting, it looked a lot less like someone asking for your help and more like someone expecting something from you because they know how to manipulate your nature." Irene lowered her voice, dropping her eyes to stare at the dirt her boots were methodically scuffing up. "It just...seemed like she was taking advantage of your kindness, that's all."

"She's always played me for the fool, Frank." Arthur said gently. "It wouldn't work if there weren't some truth behind it, I reckon."

"It's wrong, though!" Irene retorted hotly.

"Well, maybe." Arthur allowed. "But if I didn't help her, I doubt anyone else would." His sigh sounded like it came from the bedrock. "Even if I am bein' toyed with, I...I think it's okay, y'know? As long as I can help, it don't matter what a person's intents are, I s'pose."

"I take back what I said." Irene grumbled. "You're not a kind man, Arthur Morgan, you're quite possibly the kindest man. Making my life damn difficult."

His warm laughter in reply was the best sound she had heard out of him yet, only intensifying when she continued to grouse and complain good-naturedly about his Samaritan habits.

Irene eventually got back to her feet, mischief on her mind as she listened to the wolves howl to each other. The violin sang out again, this time mimicking their long, mournful calls. "Beautiful, aren't they?" She said after a few moments. "They always sound so lonely."

"Sure." Arthur drawled. "But you know as well as I do that there's probably sixty of the bastards all together, yellin' n' carryin' on. If there's one thing most wolves ain't lackin' in, it's company." He pointed out. "Them and the damn coyotes."

Irene carried on imitating the howls, tweaking the pitch and draw by ear as she went. "I think I'd like being a wolf."

Arthur chuckled, "is that so, Mister Frank?"

"Yep. Get to yell at the moon all the time, rip things apart, enjoy pleasant company…" Irene shrugged. "What's not to like?"

"Frank, I'll let you in on a trade secret." Arthur actually made the effort of leaning forward, propping himself up with a hand on his knee like he was sincerely about to impart some age-old wisdom. "You can yell at the moon any damn time you please out here."

"What? Will the wonders never cease?" Irene gasped playfully. "Truly this is God's country."

"You tellin' me you ain't never acted on them primal urges?" Arthur's grin was slow, but no less devastating for it. Irene was hard-pressed to tear her eyes away. "Ain't no way our forefathers ain't howled at the moon, Frank." He spat into the fire and then rose to his full height, rolling out his shoulders once he stood. "C'mon, I'll go first."

"You'll go-?" Irene didn't have the chance to finish her question as Arthur swept the hat off his head, tilted back and unleashed an extended, rumbling howl. The far-off wolf pack set to yapping and cacophony, then a few of them seemed to howl back in reply. Irene actually giggled, struggling to stifle the feminine noise.

"Alright, your turn." Arthur said, cocking his head at her. "Don't be shy." He teased, giving her a heavy pat on the shoulder. "It's gotta' come from your belly. They can tell the difference if it don't."

Irene gulped. If someone had told her on the night she left her husband's house (well, late husband's house, she realized with a rush of guilty relief) that she would one day find herself on a bluff alongside a potential outlaw, hesitating while said potential outlaw cajoled her into acting on some wild, juvenile urges, she would have laughed them out of the room.

Now, though?

She raised her face to the moon, cupped her hands around her mouth and offered her piercing, lonesome howl to whatever deity might be listening.

…

It had been almost a month since the two of them had parted ways, Arthur looking significantly more lighthearted and whistling as he waved farewell.

Now well into summer, it seemed like a thunderstorm happened every single afternoon. One such tempest had been hovering on the horizon for hours now, the air humid and sticky and frankly, Irene had had enough.

Bluster shook himself off like a dog, whickering at her when she swung into the saddle and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Shush." Irene grumbled, directing him off the beaten path to a small deer track. With any luck, she would find a watering hole where she could give herself and her clothes a quick rinse and then dry in peace. Anything to combat this unbearable heat!

Fifteen minutes at a brisk trot brought her to a clear spring, deep in the woods and all but hidden by a thick carpet of ferns and moss. Irene dismounted with a sigh of relief, leading Bluster to the edge so he could get a drink while she built her fire. She kept it small, not wanting to draw extra attention while she was in a vulnerable state.

The water was freezing, but after the heat of the day and the stickiness of her clothes, she welcomed the bracing chill on her bare skin. Rinsing her gear was a simple enough affair. She spread her clothes out on some bushes to dry and then settled back to relax a little in the water, trusting Bluster to alert her to any suspicious activity.

So of course, today was the day that she didn't secure Bluster and he ended up wandering off as she dozed in the sun-dappled water.

The woman was jerked awake when she heard a booming voice yell, "Frank! I found yer horse, the cowardly little shit. Hey! Frank, where are you?" It was Arthur. Because of course it was. Irene cursed her luck even as she spotted the man approaching through the trees, leading Bluster and his own horse between the dense trunks. "Frank! You here?" Arthur called, sounding a bit more concerned now.

She debated going under the surface and just letting herself drown before she hurriedly ducked behind the lone, half-submerged rock that graced the spring. Her attempts to hide would prove futile however, as Arthur tied up Bluster and then sauntered down to the spring with his docile mare in tow, presumably so she could drink her fill.

The large man knelt, observing the now-dead fire and footprints that Irene had left and then he shrugged, moving forward to the small pond to splash some water on his face. As he straightened back up though, he caught sight of her and jumped about a foot, flinching back with a curse like he had been burned. Irene felt her face heat while she watched his eyes travel down what little of her body was visible before he quickly tore them away. "I...Irene?" Arthur asked incredulously. "What are you...why are you out here with Frank's…" he paused, his brow furrowing. "Are you two--I mean, i-it ain't none of my business I s'pose, but...I mean I..." His voice trailed off and Irene wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. This was probably the singular most embarrassing moment of her life.

"Arthur, there is...something Frank's been keeping from you." She began evenly. The look of absolute betrayal on his face gave her pause, but she soldiered on doggedly, "I suppose it's something I was keeping from you as well."

"Stop. Don't you dare, I...shit woman, I thought you were different." Arthur hissed, his grip tightening on his horse's reins. "How many times do I have to make a damn fool of myself?"

"Please, let me explain." Irene implored, swimming over to the edge of the pool. "This is a little more complicated than you realize, I promise."

"Oh shoah." Arthur drawled sarcastically, turning his body and keeping his eyes fixed on a point across the small spring as if to afford her some vague semblance of privacy when she climbed out of the water. "Make it real simple-like for me, Miss Irene. You know I'm a little soft in the head." Irene tried to walk past him to where she had laid her clothes out to dry but Arthur caught her wrist, the man still refusing to look at her. "I'll ask for this much honesty, ma'am. Was you two already involved back in Valentine?" He growled.

Irene narrowed her eyes and slipped her hand beneath his chin, forcing him to turn his head. He still wouldn't truly look at her, glaring off to the side. "Arthur, I am Frank." Her voice trembled slightly as she said the words, feeling like she was signing her own death warrant. She had gotten used to this life.

"You think this is some kinda' joke, woman?" Arthur snapped harshly, "if there's one thing you clearly ain't, i-it's a man!" He made a vague up and down gesture, his jaw set firmly as he locked his gaze over her shoulder somewhere.

"It's me, Arthur. Frank and Irene are the same person." She insisted, her other hand coming up so she could cradle his jaw. God, how many times had she dreamed about touching him like this? "It's me." She murmured, her thumbs grazing the deep scarring on his chin.

Arthur's arm flew up and he pawed at the back of her neck, his fingers roughly raking through her wet hair until he appeared to find what he sought. The divot from when she had hit her head, the one he had personally seen to. His eyes finally met her own and he swallowed hard. "But...B-But…" Arthur stammered, brows drawn low and tight. "Frank was…"

"I didn't want to get hurt, Arthur. I was a lone woman making her way in a hard world." She took a deep breath. "I am...I'm so sorry for lying to you. I know you've been hurt before and...I never wanted to hurt you, Arthur. But I also didn't want to be hurt anymore. I had to keep myself safe."

"That stuff you said, 'bout Willie Carson and his spousal disciplin'? You and that Irene, you're the same person, ain't you?" Arthur snarled.

"Yes."

Arthur swore under his breath. In a surprising twist, he dragged her nude form against his chest, embracing her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Irene." He breathed into her hair. Irene relaxed in his arms after going momentarily stiff out of fear, her hands gripping his shirt. "You could have told me. I wouldn't...I mean, hell."

"I wasn't sure, Arthur. I've been so afraid."

"Of...of me?"

"No, Lord no! Of practically everyone aside from you." Irene assured him. "You've been nothing but kind and gracious to me since our first meeting, Arthur."

"I've spit in front of you, Miss Irene." Arthur sounded mortified. "I've...shit, I've talked real rough around you too. I am--I'm sorry, ma'am." He apologized, his shoulders drooped.

"Arthur, you believed I was a man. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"You must think I'm a real fool, not noticin' what you was from the start." Arthur mumbled. "I mean you...you're just lovely, an'..."

"I dressed like a man, talked like a man and lived like a man, Arthur. I got very good at doing what I needed to in order to keep my secret." Irene tried to crack a joke, "all it really takes is some dirt and a hat. The rest just fell into place."

"Oh, I'll bet." Arthur grunted, releasing her and covering his eyes with his hand. "Now put your gear on, chrissakes. I ain't in the habit of bein' a pervert."

"Nothing is dry yet!" Irene protested, wrapping her arms around herself as she mourned the loss of his body heat. "I had to wash everything, it was revolting."

Arthur groaned and turned to dig through his saddlebags, coming up with a shirt that might have been white once. "Here, put this on at least. I ain't got any underthin's for you, but it's better n' nothin'."

"Maybe I prefer being naked." Irene said haughtily even as she accepted the long-sleeved undershirt.

Arthur huffed out an exasperated breath. "Trust me, I prefer you that way too," he fired back. "But I'd like the whole damn story and I know I ain't gonna' get it if I'm distracted on account of you bein' buckass."

"Arthur Morgan, you flatterer!" Irene laughed, struggling into the large shirt while he grumbled to himself. It grazed her knees, hardly decent, but as long as she paid attention she doubted she would risk exposing herself all over again. "Alright, I'm clothed. Or...whatever you might consider this to be."

Arthur motioned for her to sit down beside the smoldering embers of her fire, and he took up his own position across from her. It was as if he was deliberately keeping something between them. Irene's heart tripped when she realized that it was possible he was doing it for the sake of her comfort. Maybe he feared he had already misstepped with the hug?

"I promise I'm not scared of you, Arthur." She reiterated with a smile.

"I know," he muttered in reply. "Just...tell me the whole bit, okay? Don't skimp."

"You...are you sure?" Irene asked softly. "There's a lot to tell."

"I'm countin' on it, passin' the time while your kit dries out."

(The song Irene was playing)

Part Three: More

#red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 spoilers #rdr2 community #arthur morgan #arthur morgan x original female character #rdr2 arthur #rdr2 fandom #slow burn #Eventual romance #high honor arthur #woman in disguise trope #hurt/comfort #Arthur is a good man

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pyropsychiccollector · 7 years ago

Text

Danganronpa - Another IF (Chapter 1, Part 1)

Sometimes, fate can be kind.

In one world, Sayaka Maizono attempted murder, and that started a chain reaction of self-destruction and Despair, as the students distrusted one another more and more, and Monokuma presented motive after motive. It was not necessarily Sayaka’s fault that the students turned on each other, but she did start the killings by getting murdered herself.

Sayaka need not always be the first domino to fall over, though. With people like Junko Enoshima existing, one could say Despair was always inevitable, especially in a place deemed to be a killing coliseum for the gifted students of Hope’s Peak Academy. In this particular reality, Sayaka Maizono took comfort in Naegi’s words after he chased after her when she fled from the A/V Room. She couldn’t quite bring herself to be as optimistic as the modest Luckster - to just believe that the videos were fabricated, and that her friends were perfectly alright. However, Sayaka did not allow herself to sink into the dregs of Despair and seek to get out at all costs.

In this world, the thought of committing murder never crossed the young pop sensation’s mind. This time, she took Makoto into consideration, and decided she would not abandon him. The boy, now young man that she once and still admired for his kind and helpful nature. It was a hard decision, to not seek immediate escape from their prison, but Maizono knew a part of her would always regret leaving him behind.

… And with Sayaka’s decision, Leon Kuwata, for the time being, had been spared a grim fate as well.

Yet Despair is not a one-trick pony. It comes in all shapes and forms, and it can powerfully affect an individual and make them do unforgivable things that they would normally never do… One murder may very well have been averted, but another was due to happen. The Mutual Killing Game had merely switched tracks at the beginning of its journey… Like a locomotive barreling down the railroad tracks full tilt, the Game was still afoot…

~*~

“Good morning, Naegi!” The dark-haired singer greeted with her signature pleasant grin. Though it wasn’t an ideal good night’s sleep, Maizono had slept easier than she had the last couple nights. So far, no one had sunk so low as to commit murder, despite the motive Monokuma presented them with. And that was what Maizono had been worrying about each time she went to sleep, that she’d wake up to hear that somebody had died.

Maizono wouldn’t so far as to say she was worrying over nothing, but she was beginning to think Naegi's optimism was infectious. That if they could keep this tenuous peace and trust, they really would eventually escape. All fifteen of them.

“Mornin’!” The Luckster answered back with a casual grin. It’d become routine for the two of them to make their way to breakfast together and engage in small talk. Their situation was still far from pleasant, but they took comfort in the daily routines. In the time they got to spend together. It was one of the few ways to cope.

As usual, they were among the first to arrive. Ishimaru and Sakura were already there when they arrived - and Aoi was apparently helping herself to some donuts from the kitchen. Fujisaki arrived not long after them, and then the rest just trickled in. Mondo, Junko, and Yamada… Kirigiri, Celes, Leon, Touko, Yasuhiro, and Togami. All were accounted for and present.

No one had anything worthwhile to contribute to the meeting, either. It was proposed, yet again by Ishimaru, that they all watch each other’s videos, just so no one would be caught off-guard should one of them decide to kill in order to escape.

… He was outvoted again, but that did not mean that no one shared with any others. Naegi and Maizono both had watched each other’s videos, as had Sakura and Aoi. Junko was going to share hers with Naegi and Maizono today, feeling as though she liked them well enough to offer a little trust. And Sakura and Aoi were at at least considering joining them, even though higher numbers made their group potentially more “suspicious”.

After breakfast, they all split off to do their own things, as had become the norm. Junko tagged along with Naegi and Maizono to the A/V Room. It was an uneventful trip, and they didn’t really say much. The silence was comfortable enough, though; they were just unsure of what to say, since Junko didn’t know them as well and vice versa.

When they got to the A/V Room, Junko seemed to change that.

“So, I’m kinda curious. What’s your guys’ story, exactly?” Junko hopped up on one of the desks and swung her legs back and forth as Naegi fished out his DVD. "You seem pretty buddy-buddy for having ‘just met’. I mean, I thought we were all strangers.“

”… Oh.“ Makoto quirked an eyebrow at the pop idol. Did she sound a little relieved just now, or was that just him? "We went to the same middle school. Sixth Black Root Middle School.”

Junko crossed her arms and tilted her head curiously.

“Really? Weren’t you, like, an idol by that point, though? You telling me Makoto McAverage Naegi was 'allowed’ to hang out with you by all the other cool kids?”

Naegi sweatdropped as his friend’s stare became… rather intense as she stared at Junko. Something definitely seemed to be going on here, but it was going over his head for the time being…

“Naegi might be 'ordinary’, but he was way more interesting than all the other popular kids! Not being able to talk with him has been one of my biggest regrets…” The idol trailed off sadly, and Naegi had a feeling he knew which memory she was dwelling on.

“Huuuh? So you went to the same middle school, but you didn’t even talk? I’m still confused here~.”

Naegi’s eyes panned between the two girls as some staredown seemed to be happening now. Mostly from Sayaka’s corner, as she didn’t seem to want to share “that” memory that was apparently special for both of them. But even the model seemed pretty darn curious about their connection for someone they’d only “known” for a handful of days…

“Naegi… did a kind thing that no one else would do, and I happened to see it.” The idol replied guardedly. Makoto didn’t know why she was being vague, but he wouldn’t say anything if she didn’t want to share.

Junko opened her mouth again, probably to inquire more, but this time Naegi played peacemaker and held up his DVD.

“L-Let’s just watch the DVDs, okay? I’ll go first.” Naegi felt a little bad as Junko pouted, but the relieved smile that Sayaka shot him was encouragement enough. He popped in the disc, and the “movie” started up.

They spent a while in that A/V Room. Even though the videos were brief, the three of them were pretty talkative about the contents, and why the people shown were important to them. Naegi obviously had his family - his sister and parents. Sayaka had her bandmates. And Junko apparently had an older sister.

Naegi hadn’t even known Junko Enoshima had a sister. That never came up in any of the magazines, from what he’d seen. Apparently, that was intentional; Junko kept quiet about any family or friends so that the paparazzi wouldn’t hound them. That made sense to the Luckster. Being a model, Junko would know what magazines and reporters could be like. Even Sayaka seemed placated by Junko’s answer.

As they were beginning to shift the topic of discussion a little more onto Junko and about her past, the A/V Room door swung open, and Asahina came bursting into the room with a terrified expression.

"Y-You guys! Come quick! S-Something bad happened!"

"Something..." Sayaka trailed off.

"... bad?" Naegi unwittingly finished for her. They all felt unease now, and they were all hoping it wasn't the worst case scenario...

"Th-The laundry room!" Aoi shook her head with some tears trailing down her cheeks. "Look, you'll understand when you get there! C'mon!"

They didn't need any more urging than that, and the four of them took off in a dead run for the laundry room.

~*~

When they got there, it felt like all of the oxygen got sucked out of Naegi's lungs. It was like running straight into a brick wall. Time came to a horrifying, dreadful halt as they took in the scene. There, her head and arm hanging out of one of the washing machines... was Touko Fukawa. They couldn't see a pool of blood, but just by looking at her pale complexion and her face, they knew she had passed on.

"Wh-What is..." Naegi mumbled as Sayaka gave an ear-splitting shriek. Junko didn't look like she was faring much better as she was tensed up and taking a step back with a grimace on her face.

Suddenly, there was a chiming, and Naegi's eyes snapped to the monitor that sparked to life and showed Monokuma in his usual infuriating attitude.

"Ahem! This is a school announcement. A body has been discovered~! Please get your cute little asses over to the laundry room. Thank you~." Just as abruptly as it had turned on, the monitor went dark.

Too many things was happening at once for Naegi to process. Moments after the announcement, Sakura came running into the room with Leon and Mondo.

"Sakura?!" Naegi let out a startled yelp.

"We were the first to see the body!" Aoi fretfully explained. "We decided to split up and find as many of you as we could!"

Sakura's face was set into a grim scowl.

"With that announcement, however, it will not be necessary for 'us' to gather everyone."

Leon's hands sprang to his head in a panic.

"How the hell can you guys be so calm?! There's a friggin' body!"

"Of course we know that!" Aoi shot back angrily, tears swelling in her eyes. "Touko died. .. She might've been a jerk a lot of the time, but she was still our friend!"

Mondo snarled and cracked his knuckles.

"Alright, fess up! Which one of you bastards did her in?! I'm gonna friggin' cave your skull in!"

"None of us did it! we were together the whole time!" Junko retorted indignantly as she gestured to Makoto and Sayaka. Sakura nodded in acceptance.

"Asahina and I can also confirm we were together, doing our morning exercises."

Mondo turned on Leon, who backed up with a snarl himself.

"Dude! I was in the entrance hall! Same as you!"

"Oh yeah..." Mondo grunted and clenched his hands into fists.

If they took the other groups at their word, that left seven unaccounted for, and they were all streaming into the laundry room now. Kirigiri, Togami, Fujisaki, Hagakure, Yamada, Ishimaru, and Celes. They were all present now and perfectly aware of what had transpired. But as people started to throw suspicion around, Naegi spoke up assertively.

"Guys, it might not even be one of us! I'll bet Monokuma did this to throw us off and make us turn on one another!"

The idol nodded faintly in agreement.

"Y-Yeah... Naegi's right. He must've got bored because no one was committing murder!"

"Bored? Well, I suppose it was getting boring chucking grenades at the wall..." Speak, and he shall appear. The monochrome bear still managed to get a good number of them to jump as he was suddenly standing on the table and rubbing the back of his head. But then he made that angry face of his as he raised his arms threateningly at Naegi. "But you're totally wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong! I didn't kill Touko Fukawa~. This bear doesn't kill unless one of you guys breaks the rules. And since little Miss Self-Deprecating Bookworm over here was a pretty good egg, that means one of you guys killed her! Remember that 'Graduation' clause, hmm~?"

Togami crossed his arms and scowled at the bear.

"I was just about to ask you that... Seeing as how someone was murdered, does that mean the murderer will get to go free...?"

Monokuma clutched his sides as he belted out a laugh.

"Bahahaha! You're so naïve~! Friggin' adorably naïve! Of course it was never going to be that simple! That's barely Despairful!"

"You are referring the sixth rule... correct?" Celes calmly asked for confirmation. Naegi had a moment of epiphany as he recalled that rule. It was true. The rule had that bit tacked on the end... 'as long as they are not discovered.' But just what did that mean?

The monochromatic bear sighed contentedly.

"Look at the brains on this one~. Yep, yep. Now that one of you dumbasses took a life, it's time to take the case to trial! Just like would out in the real world~."

There were many questions, but Monokuma answered each one in rapid-fire succession. They would have a period of time to investigate before they regrouped to debate 'whodunit' and how. Monokuma did not confirm or deny if there was an accomplice(s), but he did say that only the person who directly committed the murder would be the one, true "blackened". If at the end they guessed the culprit, only he or she would be Punished. But if they guessed wrong.... everyone else would be Punished, and the killer would get to escape.

... Oh. And "Punishment" entailed execution. Not further imprisonment - just straight-up gruesome death. Which meant that they could not get this wrong. Thirteen lives were at stake, with a fourteenth "blackened".

Naegi didn't want to doubt any of these people at all. Even if one of them had stooped to murder, he wouldn't be able to personally hold it against them.... They were backed into a corner by Monokuma. He would feel upset on Fukawa's behalf, as she didn't deserve to be killed, but he didn't think he would be able to "hate" her murderer... Not unless he or she did it on a whim, not unless he or she was truly "evil".

Still, the trial was getting closer by the minute, and Naegi wasn't making any progress by thinking about that now, so he shelved it into the back of his mind for now. With distrustful glances, they'd all split off to conduct their own investigations. Some in groups, and some on their own. Junko had split off from him and Maizono to pair off with Fujisaki, though she promised to share her findings with them later.

When the room dispersed, only five living people remained in it. Him, Sayaka, Kirigiri, Mondo, and Sakura. Mondo and Sakura volunteered for guard duty when Togami pointed out the murderer could tamper with evidence if only one person was left guarding the body and crime scene. And he, Sayaka, and Kirigiri apparently all wanted to investigate the crime scene itself before moving onto other areas.

"Hey, um.... Naegi?"

Makoto turned from examining Fukawa's shattered glasses - apparently, Aoi stepped on them by accident when she opened up the washing machine and found Fukawa in there, hence why she was hanging out of it when they saw her. Sayaka was flashing him the brightest smile she could muster, and he couldn't help smiling back.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I just wanted to say I'll be the best assistant I can be, okay? I wanna help you ever step of the way~."

Naegi chuckled.

"You already are!"

#Danganronpa #Makoto Naegi #Sayaka Maizono #Mukuro Ikusaba #Makoto x Sayaka #Makoto x Mukuro #Naegi x Maizono #Naegi x Ikusaba #Naezono #Naekusaba

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kennysgameplayprototyping · 6 years ago

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Week 15 Test notes with Updates

This is a very long and detailed post so watch out.

These notes are included in the design documentation but have been added to the blog here as well.

During week 15 while staying with my parents in Edinburgh I tested the prototype a number of times with family members. Testing the prototype with people with vastly different experiences of gaming and input devices allowed for me to get detailed notes on all kinds of issues, ideas and feedback.

Dad

(little recent gaming experience, played PlayStation 1 games in early 2000s has knowledge and general muscle memory for analog sticks)

Much preferred orthographic camera angle, voiced the same concerns I had about others - top down looking less appealing and perspective making it harder to judge distances and angles.

Found suicide bug - When playing the prototype, if cornered he would spin erratically firing off shots and found he often killed his own tank. However, the strategy used in gameplay had not occurred to me and I would likely have not found the bug without this testing. This was found to be a hitbox size and bullet spawn location issue and was then fixed.

The Player hitbox, if rotated fast enough as a bullet left its spawn point at the end of the gun could hit the new bullet, registering as a ‘player’ hit and killing the player. Moving the bullet spawn point from 1.5 units away from the player centre to 1.8 units fixed the problem and otherwise makes no noticeable difference to gameplay or visuals.

Asked about the possibility of dynamic arena elements - Asked for moving walls, appearing and disappearing walls, holes in the floor. Things I had previously thought to add but had not prioritised.

Wanted simpler UI - Asked about a simpler UI (this was pre-simplified UI), didn't like the timers wanted something more understandable. This was already planned and in the works but had not been added by this point. I have not consulted him about the new UI yet.

Rusty with controller knowledge though picked up surprisingly quickly - While he has not played games with a controller in likely over a decade, the speed at which he picked up the gameplay and controls was quite impressive. Having a simple set of controls has made it much easier for people testing to pick up quickly and begin experimenting.

Mum

Plays strategy and puzzle games on an android phone, occasionally plays mouse based simple puzzle games on pc. Enjoys simpler games such as Peggle. Has experience playing simpler games on a Nintendo Wii such as Wii sports but has little to no experience of analog sticks on controllers.

Suggested thinking about how the game would appear to colourblind players - Due to this we screenshotted the game mid gameplay including bullets midair. Putting this screenshot through colourblind filters to test the visuals. Red-green colourblindness looks especially confusing. This would be something to think about taking the project further and an option to allow for colourblindness of different kinds could be useful.

Noticed move distance was just too short to get between cover - Without prompt noticed an intentional element of the design and agreed that it made the game more fun having to use the gun to fully traverse between cover. When it was explained that it was intended to push players into using the gun as a locomotion tool as well as an offensive one, she agreed and understood how it worked.

Little to no experience of analog sticks on controllers - Due to largely playing strategy and puzzle games on mobile, has virtually no analog stick experience and has never been able to get to grips with the idea of controlling two axis of movement with different inputs. While she did play the game, she did not have the same amount of dexterity with the movement and aiming as other testers - though picked up the few controls quite well. Again showing the limited control scheme makes the prototype quite easy to pick up and play.

Wanted instructions within the prototype - Asked about the possibility of adding in instructions at the start, instead of having to either be shown them in practice or from a diagram in a notebook. Has not been added and likely will not before the deadline - though plans have been drawn up for how an instruction splash screen requiring input from both players to proceed could look.

Made a point that the tanks look like ducks in their current implementation, suggested using the name “ClusterDuck” due to the duck like tanks and how the gameplay devolves into a somewhat chaotic mess, which was both surprising and funny. Though I’ll likely stick with the working title for the prototype. Because I’m almost definitely not going to lean into the duck angle.

The controller instruction diagram

Brother (Steven) and boyfriend (Rhys)

Both play games fairly frequently - primarily on Xbox One so had no issue with control system. (Xbox One Controllers) Both picked it up with ease and showed different gameplay strategies.

Catching on the cover issue - Steven’s tendency to stick close to cover meant that he often found the tank getting partially stuck to the cover - having to move or shoot in an angle away from the cover as angles towards or with the shape of the cover would hold him in place with friction. There was also a tendency for the player hitbox to catch on corners of cover - acting as if it was sticking like velcro to the cover. Initially changing the hitbox to a rounded hitbox had no effect - proving it wasn't the edges that were getting caught. The corner issue was largely fixed when physics materials were added to the player hitboxes and cover to reduce friction. The cover sticking issue was fixed by adding some bounciness to the aforementioned physics material.

Both enjoyed trying out the physics object cover that was thrown around with shots - This arena layout has proved to be fun in the short term but lacks any kind of strategy or ability to use any skill or knowledge of the game systems. It turns into chaos for usually only a few seconds before one player is inevitably hit.

Enjoyed gameplay mutations - Whether it was ramping up the fire-rate, movement speed, recoil amount or fiddling with timers - some of the different methods of testing turned out to be quite enjoyable. Though both agreed that the main meat of the idea lay in the base gameplay but remarked that the other mutations could be used as selectable options if taken further.

Holding buttons through respawn issue - As the respawn mechanic literally just calls the scene to load again, there is not anything to keep track of variables between reloads. Steven’s method of play also included holding down the movement button rather than tapping it whenever he wanted to move. Since neither I nor any previous player had played like this, it was found that since the game does not keep track of variables in an outside script, he would have to let go and then re-press the move button every time the game restarted. While he found this annoying he did admit it was not game ruining. Though it would be something to fix if taking the prototype further. Talking to Gaz the following week (16th April) we discussed how I could implement an event system to manage button press values, scores etc, but that was too much of a time sink to try before the end of the module with other fixes/ additions to focus on and documentation to finish.

Notes from the discussion on the possibility of a game manager

Liked placement of title in the arena - Both commented on the placement of the title and casings around the arena noting that it gave the arena some life and decoration and kept with the lighthearted feeling. Both also preferred the title ‘Recoil’ to ‘clusterduck’ noting that the word Recoil had more relation to how the game was played. Both also preferred the title’s simplicity. Though they did also admit the tanks still look like ducks.

General Observations

Add sound - The lack of sound had the prototype feeling a little lifeless and limp, further visual and audio work could add more player feedback.

Respawn system - Adding the respawn system was a little troublesome - since this testing phase used my laptop that had an older version of unity on it. (something I only realised when I started the testing after gathering everyone) The Script is a single line within the bullet controller asking whether the bullet hit an object tagged as a “player”. Adding it originally I had to use an older script line from the Unity Manual - “Application.LoadLevel” This worked alright using the laptop during the testing. Though the lighting had to be changed to baked as the editor would switch off the world light on each scene load.

Bringing the prototype back to the right version of unity, ( I changed it over in a new folder on my pc as a back up in case of an error) I had to change the script to a newer loading method from the unity documentation. Using SceneManager instead - though the example within the documentation I found mentioned additive loading. After adding it I realised the additive loading was an issue - duplicating any surviving objects on each load, so I removed it. While the script should really be in an event manager of some kind it works fine in the bullet controller for the purposes of the prototype.

Possibility of laser sights - The difficulty aiming at a distance shown by some players did raise the thought of laser sights to alleviate the problem. Though this presents the problem that players could try and hold angles or quickly dash in and out of cover firing off accurate shots - which would likely ruin both the pacing of the game and the enjoyment.

Shown below is a GIF of a laser sight test - while the ‘lasers’ are simply extended cube meshes and clip through walls, the effect does exactly what was thought. The addition of the laser allowing fine aim slows the gameplay right down and encourages a peek and hide mentality. The addition of laser would likely ruin the feeling of the game if given as a permanent attachment. Though a timed pickup could introduce an interesting cat and mouse situation.

Instructions - Had to think about how to present instructions at the start of a match - I have made a simple UI prototype in Adobe XD that will be linked here and in the documentation as well as posted in image format in the blog showing how a run through of the game would appear with instructions and an end screen.

Simple controls - The simplicity of the controls kept the games quick and simple but allowed for the players to try out new methods with each restart.

Multiplayer - This testing phase was the first series of tests with enough people to play the game without me - freeing me up to take notes and observe fully. People seem to genuinely enjoy the gameplay once they get into the swing of it - usually after a couple of rounds. Which is exactly what I was aiming for with the intention of this project - trying out a simple set of mechanics and seeing if I could make a small, enjoyable prototype. So it was quite nice to see the desired effect.

Notes from the testing.

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soft-boy-stefan · 8 years ago

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Working Legs (Pt. 6) [a Barry Allen AU]

Request: Then for the working legs au, he goes to her class one day and teaches the kids about science and stuff since she went to his work and BARRY!!!!!!!! btw I absolutely love your writings and they make me feel happy inside when I go on tumblr :) <3

a/n: this slayed me dont worry smut is on deck

It isn’t that Barry lied to the Captain, he just...fabricated the truth to his benefit. Really, he did have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, but it got cancelled. So, that gave him a little, or big, idea. At least, to him, the idea is big.

After storing away his equipment, he heads to the main lobby; wheels squeaking as Joe stands in front of him. Busted. Barry cringes, awaiting the long, drawn out speech about lying and ignoring your responsibilities. Except, it never comes. “It’s pretty cold outside, son.” Joe hums in his smooth tone, tucking his blue button down in his dress pants. “You might need a scarf…” he sways over to his desk, pulling a thick red scarf; it was Barry’s as a teenager. “Don’t need you getting sick.” He hangs it on his son’s neck.

Barry peers up at the man, thick eyebrows crinkled in confusion. The foster father wraps the ratty, faded scarf around his slender neck a few times, smirking. Before Barry can even question what’s going on, a crisp twenty dollar bill flurries from the old fabric, landing on his brown peacoat. “Buy her something on the way to the school.” Joe winks, patting his chest. How did he kno- well, he is his dad…

“Thanks, Joe.” Barry blushes, crumpling the money in his palm. With a tiny smirk, Joe nods, ruffling his messy brown hair and walking back to his desk. A smile teases Barry’s lips; he drives forward, opening the door and racing down the ramp, stopping abruptly at the end, yanking his cotton sleeve up to check his watch. 12:47. He has approximately two hours until school ends. Thank god for elementary schools.

Flinging the joystick forward, he zooms down the busy Central City streets, weaving through the crowd of people, occasionally throwing an apology over his shoulder. Okay, so maybe he is on the fastest speed, but, he can’t be late. Not this time.

The ends of his scarf fly behind him, making him feel like pilot Snoopy in those old Peanuts movies he used to watch as a kid. He’s so focused on getting there, he zips right by a flower shop. Wait. He reverses, hitting the automatic door button (a flower shop has one but the CCPD doesn’t?) and rolling inside.

Rows of colorful flowers line the mint green walls, causing the little shop to appear more open and full. Gulping, Barry slowly drives around the store, gazing at the flowers with a pained expression. Would you like flowers? Should he get roses? No, no, you two haven’t been dating that long. Not at that stage.

What about… he reads the tag, tilting his head to the side. Daffodils. They’re bright yellow and have long, floppy petals. Perfect. Barry nods to himself, pulling the bouquet out of the cardboard holder and rolling to the cash register. The woman smiles at him, ringing up the flowers. “$9.98.” He forks over the twenty dollar bill, sliding it on the gray counter. “Would you like a bag?”

Barry shakes his head, reaching for the flowers and change. “Thank you!” he exclaims, shoving the money in his coat pocket. Gripping the bouquet, he spins the joystick, heading to the door; he presses the blue button with his elbow.

If he squints, he can make out the school, which is a few miles away. Quickly, he drives forward, wheels spinning like a locomotive; he darts past a few elderly ladies feeding pigeons, holding the flowers to his chest while their wings flap around him in a sea of dark gray. “Sorry!” he yells, peering back with an awkward grin, still moving forward across the street. Luckily, he misses a truck, getting on the sidewalk alive.

A breath of relief escapes him and he runs a hand through his windswept hair. Okay, he almost died, erm, Joe doesn’t need to know that; what he doesn’t know won’t kill him, right? Barry blinks before heading towards the wood makeshift ramp. He cracks a smile; he wouldn’t be surprised if you made it. You’re thoughtful like that.

He opens the door using his method, gawking at the high ceilings. Barry isn’t an architect, but he still appreciates beautiful buildings. His wheels cause the sleek dark mahogany wood floor to creak and he looks down, just in case. He refocuses in front of him, watching out for the small lockers against the cream wall.

Doors pass by and he tries finding the office. After a little roaming, he stops, scratching his head in confusion. There has to be an office, right? “Sir, are you lost?” He hears a gruff, manly voice come from behind him. Spinning his wheelchair around, he peeks up at the tan man wearing a suit similar to Joe’s.

Barry gulps, tightening his grip around the base of the flowers. “Erm, yeah.” he admits nervously, pulling at the ends of his scarf. “Do you know where I can find, Miss Y/L/N? I’m her, um, boyfriend?” he asks, lips pursed in a tight thin line.

“Yeah, second floor. Room 108.” the man says; Barry’s heart drops to his stomach. The school barely had a ramp! He doubts they have an elevator. “But, her class should be coming down to the music room in a few minutes, so if you want you can wait for her there. Or by the stairs.” the man points to the wooden staircase.

Gulping down his anxiety, Barry nods, “Okay, thank you.” he whispers, backing up; the man nods, heading down another hallway. His wheels creak on the floor as he makes his way to the stairs, checking his watch when he parks at the bottom. Is this too romantic? Barry really isn’t the romantic type...now he’s rethinking all of this. Maybe he should just go -

Then he hears your perky voice echo through the hallways and shifts in his seat. Be cool, be cool, he reminds himself. “- good for Mr. Mandy, then afterwards we can read a chapter of Junie B. Jones, then you can go home!” you tell your students, following them down the steps; your black ankle boot heels clicking against the wood. He can see your shoes, then your black tights that hide under the skirt of your pearl white dress with black ruffles, a matching bow around your waist.

Barry glances down at his outfit, suddenly feeling underdressed; his black peacoat ends just below his ass, meaning that he’s sitting on it, and his blue jeans are cuffed at the bottom, topped with his signature converse. He flashes a smile when you see him, watching you cover your mouth with your hands, black blazer scrunching at your elbows. “Surprise?” he bites his lip, trying to ignore the nine kids staring at him.

“Who are you?” one of them says. Barry blushes awkwardly.

You put a hand on the student, grinning as you try not to cry. Can’t ruin the makeup. “Kids, this is, um,” you move your hands around your stomach, “one of my very...close friends, Mr...Allen.” Boy, that sounds weird. “Here, let’s go to music class!” you beam, ushering the kids towards the classroom. “Thank you. They are beautiful.” you whisper, taking the flowers and pecking his lips softly.

He blushes, smiling from ear to ear as he follows you to the classroom, making his chair roll at the same pace as you walk. “I, um, got off work early and thought I’d surprise you.” he mumbles. Wow, that came out lame. “I mean, I can go and come back later -”

“Are you sure?” you interrupt, turning to face him while walking; your silver necklace dangling on your stomach. His blush on his face matches his scarf. “You could always stay for music class...and I don’t know if you heard but I’m reading Junie B. Jones… But I understand if it makes you uncomfortable.” you smile, stopping in front of the door.

That smile. Oh boy. “Okay. I’ll stay.” he says against his better judgement, green eyes glistening as you let a gleeful cheer out. You peck his lips before opening the door, dress swaying around your thighs as you walk to the back of the room, Barry follows, turning his chair off when you plop down on the colorful carpet. The teacher, who he met earlier, has the children sit in a circle, clapping a song to his guitar. “I thought you taught first grade?” he asks, gazing down at you.

You crinkle your eyebrows together, looking at him with your hands in your lap, your hair falling in your eyes. “I do.” you nod proudly. Barry tilts his head to the side. He’s kind of like a puppy. “This, um, this school is for…” your hands twitch in your lap; gaze drifting to the group of children, “for children who need more help?” you say in a question, turning your head to Barry but keeping your eyes on the beaming kids. “I like seeing their face when they get something right and how...how we think it’s so...simple, yet for them, it’s like asking them to do the impossible… And when they do get it, it’s - it’s like they conquered the world’s puzzle.” you sigh, cracking a slight grin.

Oh damn. He thinks he might have a heart attack. He wants to say so many things; that you are amazing, that this is such a wonderful school, that he feels like he should make out with you right here, right now, in the music room... But all he breathes out is… “Wow.”

#dc imagine #barry allen x reader #barry allen au #the flash au #The Flash #the flash imagines #the flash imagine #Barry Allen #barry allen imagine #barry allen imagines

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symbianosgames · 8 years ago

Link

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Original blog post

This post is part of My Career Series.

Now that Uncharted 4 is released, I am able to talk about what I worked on for the project. I mostly worked on AI for single-player buddies and multiplayer sidekicks, as well as some gameplay logic. I’m leaving out things that never went in to the final game and some minor things that are too verbose to elaborate on. So here it goes:

The Post System

Before I start, I'd like to mention the post system we used for NPCs. I did not work on the core logic of the system; I helped writing some client code that makes use of this system. Posts are discrete positions within navigable space, mostly generated from tools and some hand-placed by designers. Based on our needs, we created various post selectors that rate posts differently (e.g. stealth post selector, combat post selector), and we pick the highest-rated post to tell an NPC to go to.

Buddy Follow

The buddy follow system was derived from The Last of Us. The basic idea is that buddies pick positions around the player to follow. These potential positions are fanned out from the player, and must satisfy the following linear path clearance tests: player to position, position to a forward-projected position, forward-projected position to the player.

Climbing is something present in Uncharted 4 that is not in The Last of Us. To incorporate climbing into the follow system, we added the climb follow post selector that picks climb posts for buddies to move to when the player is climbing.

It turned out to be trickier than we thought. Simply telling buddies to use regular follow logic when the player is not climbing, and telling them to use climb posts when the player is climbing, is not enough. If the player quickly switch between climbing and non-climbing states, buddies would oscillate pretty badly between the two states. So we added some hysteresis, where the buddies only switch states when the player has switched states and moved far enough while maintaining in that state. In general, hysteresis is a good idea to avoid behavioral flickering.

Buddy Lead

In some scenarios in the game, we wanted buddies to lead the way for the player. The lead system is ported over from The Last of Us and updated, where designers used splines to mark down the general paths we wanted buddies to follow while leading the player.

In case of multiple lead paths through a level, designers would place multiple splines and turned them on and off via script.

The player's position is projected onto the spline, and a lead reference point is placed ahead by a distance adjustable by designers. When this lead reference point passes a spline control point marked as a wait point, the buddy would go to the next wait point. If the player backtracks, the buddy would only backtrack when the lead reference point gets too far away from the furthest wait point passed during last advancement. This, again, is hysteresis added to avoid behavioral flickering.

We also incorporated dynamic movement speed into the lead system. "Speed planes" are placed along the spline, based on the distance between the buddy and the player along the spline. There are three motion types NPCs can move in: walk, run, and sprint. Depending on which speed plane the player hits, the buddy picks an appropriate motion type to maintain distance away from the player. Designers can turn on and off speed planes as they see fit. Also, the buddy's locomotion animation speed is slightly scaled up or down based on the player's distance to minimize abrupt movement speed change when switching motion types.

Buddy Cover Share

In The Last of Us, the player is able to move past a buddy while both remain in cover. This is called cover share.

In The Last of Us, it makes sense for Joel to reach out to the cover wall over Ellie and Tess, who have smaller profile than Joel. But we thought that it wouldn't look as good for Nate, Sam, Sully, and Elena, as they all have similar profiles. Plus, Uncharted 4 is much faster-paced, and having Nate reach out his arms while moving in cover would break the fluidity of the movement. So instead, we decided to simply make buddies hunker against the cover wall and have Nate steer slightly around them.

The logic we used is very simple. If the projected player position based on velocity lands within a rectangular boundary around the buddy's cover post, the buddy aborts current in-cover behavior and quickly hunkers against the cover wall.

Medic Sidekicks

Medic sidekicks in multiplayer require a whole new behavior that is not present in single-player: reviving downed allies and mirroring the player's cover behaviors.

Medics try to mimic the player's cover behavior, and stay as close to the player as possible, so when the player is downed, they are close by to revive the player. If a nearby ally is downed, they would also revive the ally, given that the player is not already downed. If the player is equipped with the RevivePak mod for medics, they would try to throw RevivePaks at revive targets before running to the targets for revival; throwing RevivePaks reuses the grenade logic for trajectory clearance test and animation playback, except that grenades were swapped out with RevivePaks.

Stealth Grass

Crouch-moving in stealth grass is also something new in Uncharted 4. For it to work, we need to somehow mark the environment, so that the player gameplay logic knows whether the player is in stealth grass. Originally, we thought about making the background artists responsible of marking collision surfaces as stealth grass in Maya, but found out that necessary communication between artists and designers made iteration time too long. So we arrived at a different approach to mark down stealth grass regions. An extra stealth grass tag is added for designers in the editor, so they could mark the nav polys that they'd like the player to treat as stealth grass, with high precision. With this extra information, we can also rate stealth posts based on whether they are in stealth grass or not. This is useful for buddies moving with the player in stealth.

Perception

Since we don't have listen mode in Uncharted 4 like The Last of Us, we needed to do something to make the player aware of imminent threats, so the player doesn't feel overwhelmed by unknown enemy locations. Using the enemy perception data, we added the colored threat indicators that inform the player when an enemy is about to notice him/her as a distraction (white), to perceive a distraction (yellow), and to acquire full awareness (orange). We also made the threat indicator raise a buzzing background noise to build up tension and set off a loud stinger when an enemy becomes fully aware of the player, similar to The Last of Us.

Investigation

This is the last major gameplay feature I took part in on before going gold. I don't usually go to formal meetings at Naughty Dog, but for the last few months before gold, we had a at least one meeting per week driven by Bruce Straley or Neil Druckmann, focusing on the AI aspect of the game. Almost after every one of these meetings, there was something to be changed and iterated for the investigation system. I went through many iterations before arriving at what we shipped with the final game.

There are two things that create distractions and would cause enemies to investigate: player presence and dead bodies. When an enemy registers a distraction (distraction spotter), he would try to get a nearby ally to investigate with him as a pair. The closer one to the distraction becomes the investigator, and the other becomes the watcher. The distraction spotter can become an investigator or a watcher, and we set up different dialog sets for both scenarios ("There's something over there. I'll check it out." versus "There's something over there. You go check it out.").

In order to make the start and end of investigation look more natural, we staggered the timing of enemy movement and the fading of threat indicators, so the investigation pair don't perform the exact same action at the same time in a mechanical fashion.

If the distraction is a dead body, the investigator would be alerted of player presence and tell everyone else to start searching for the player, irreversibly leaving ambient/unaware state. The dead body discovered would also be highlighted, so the player gets a chance to know what gave him/her away.

Under certain difficulties, consecutive investigations would make enemies investigate more aggressively, having a better chance of spotting the player hidden in stealth grass. In crushing difficulty, enemies always investigate aggressively.

Dialog Looks

This is also among the last few things I helped out with for this project.

Dialog looks refers to the logic that makes characters react to conversations, such as looking at the other people and hand gestures. Previously in The Last of Us, people spent months annotating all in-game scripted dialogs with looks and gestures by hand. This was something we didn't want to do again. We had some scripted dialogs that are already annotated by hand, but we needed a default system that handles dialogs that are not annotated. The animators are given parameters to adjust the head turn speed, max head turn angle, look duration, cool down time, etc.

Jeep Momentum Maintenance

One of the problems we had early on regarding the jeep driving section in the Madagascar city level, is that the player's jeep can easily spin out and lose momentum after hitting a wall or an enemy vehicle, throwing the player far behind the convoy and failing the level.

My solution was to temporarily cap the angular velocity and change of linear velocity direction upon impact against walls and enemy vehicles. This easy solution turns out pretty effective, making it much harder for players to fail the level due to spin-outs.

Vehicle Deaths

Driveable vehicles are first introduced in Uncharted 4. Previously, only NPCs can drive vehicles, and those vehicles are constrained to spline rails. I helped handling vehicle deaths.

There are multiple ways to kill enemy vehicles: kill the driver, shoot the vehicle enough times, bump into an enemy bike with your jeep, and ram your jeep into an enemy jeep to cause a spin-out. Based on various causes of death, a death animation is picked to play for the dead vehicle and all its passengers. The animation blends into physics-controlled ragdolls, so the death animation smoothly transitions into physically simulated wreckage.

For bumped deaths of enemy bikes, we used the bike's bounding box on the XZ plane and the contact position to determine which one of the four directional bump death animations to play.

As for jeep spin-outs, the jeep's rotational deviation from desired driving direction is tested against a spin-out threshold.

When playing death animations, there's a chance that the dead vehicle can penetrate walls. A sphere cast is used, from the vehicle's ideal position along the rail if it weren't dead, to where the vehicle's body actually is. If a contact is generated from the sphere cast, the vehicle is shifted in the direction of the contact normal by a fraction of penetration amount, so the de-penetration happens gradually across multiple frames, avoiding positional pops.

We made a special type of vehicle death, called vehicle death hint. They are context-sensitive death animations that interact with environments. Animators and designers place these hints along the spline rail, and specify entry windows on the splines. If a vehicle is killed within an entry window, it starts playing the corresponding special death animation. This feature started off as a tool to implement the specific epic jeep kill in the 2015 E3 demo.

[embedded content]

Bayer Matrix for Dithering

We wanted to eliminate geometry clipping the camera when the camera gets too close to environmental objects, mostly foliage. So we decided to fade out pixels in pixel shaders based on how close the pixels are to the camera. Using transparency was not an option, because transparency is not cheap, and there's just too much foliage. Instead, we went with dithering, combining a pixel's distance from the camera and a patterned Bayer matrix, some portion of the pixels are fully discarded, creating an illusion of transparency.

Our original Bayer matrix was an 8x8 matrix shown on this Wikipedia page. I thought it was too small and resulted in banding artifacts. I wanted to use a 16x16 Bayer matrix, but it was no where to be found on the internet. So I tried to reverse engineer the pattern of the 8x8 Bayer matrix and noticed a recursive pattern. I would have been able to just use pure inspection to write out a 16x16 matrix by hand, but I wanted to have more fun and wrote a tool that can generate Bayer matrices sized any powers of 2.

After switching to the 16x16 Bayer matrix, there was a noticeable improvement on banding artifacts.

Explosion Sound Delay

This is a really minor contribution, but I'd still like to mention it. A couple weeks before the 2015 E3 demo, I pointed out that the tower explosion was seen and heard simultaneously and that didn't make sense. Nate and Sully are very far away from the tower, they should have seen and explosion first and then heard it shortly after. The art team added a slight delay to the explosion sound into the final demo.

[embedded content]

Traditional Chinese Localization

I didn't switch to Traditional Chinese text and subtitles until two weeks before we were locking down for gold, and I found some translation errors. Most of the errors were literal translations from English to Traditional Chinese and just did't work in the contexts. I did not think I would have time to play through the entire game myself and look out for translation errors simultaneously. So I asked multiple people from QA to play through different chapters of the game in Traditional Chinese, and I went over the recorded gameplay videos as they became available. This proved pretty efficient; I managed to log all the translation errors I found, and the localization team was able to correct them before the deadline.

That's It

These are pretty much the things I worked on for Uncharted 4 that are worth mentioning. I hope you enjoyed reading it. :)

#IFTTT #Blogger

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goldenkamuyhunting · 3 years ago

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Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 312 “Share”

So new chapter and, I guess, I’ll remind everyone of the WARNING.

If you only want to hear praises for the chapter, the ban button for either the tag or myself might be an option you’ll want to consider.

With a fair warning given, let’s move on.

Sugimoto shoots at Tsurumi and, predictably, misses him, then tells him the train is headed for hell and there are VIP seats on it. Tsurumi hears it and… remembers of how Kikuta called Sugimoto the Vagrant boy when they were escaping with Asirpa… and connects it to Kikuta’s prediction that the Vagrant boy is going to take him down.

We see two flashbacks, one of Kikuta saying ‘you’re the vagrant boy!?’ as he sees Sugimoto and the other about Kikuta telling Tsurumi ‘the Vagrant boy is gonna take him down’.

The visual seems to imply those two flashbacks are Tsurumi’s memories and that in that moment Tsurumi connected the dots and grew upset (he’s covered by a swirling shading and his eyes are completely black) as he mentions that Kikuta’s last words about a vagrant boy might refer to Sugimoto.

Now, okay, I get it’s possible Tsurumi overheard Kikuta and Sugimoto’s discussion despite the noise of the car’s engine and the wind blowing their voice away, but I think it’s a bit odd if he overheard that discussion that he connected the dots only now.

I would have preferred if the idea was he never heard Kikuta calling Sugimoto Vagrant boy on the car and that he connected the dots merely due to how Kikuta, after mentioning the Vagrant boy, talked about VIP seats same as Sugimoto.

I mean, if Tsurumi could overheard Kikuta and Sugimoto talking back then, he should have overheard Sugimoto calling Kikuta ‘Kikuta-san’, figured the two knew each other and connected the dots much sooner. He could have even assumed Sugimoto too was a man of Central!

But whatever, it’s not big and maybe Noda will improve it in the volume version.

Back to Sugimoto, he seems surprised, then, as Tsurumi comments about how ‘that miserable little spy said that the vagrant boy would take him down’, he grows angry, apparently on Kikuta’s behalf.

Okay, it’s no secret I love Kikuta, so of course I’m glad Sugimoto is upset on his behalf but… chap 279 had Sugimoto saying he wouldn’t hold back against Kikuta, as he apparently hadn’t realized the latter has tried to save his ass by pushing him off the car… and we know how Sugimoto feels against traitors, so he should be upset at Kikuta for being a spy…

Though it’s also worth to mention Sugimoto has never been 100% constant on this.

I mean, he didn’t hold against Tanigaki the fact he left the army and didn’t tattle them out to Tsurumi… but he kept on yammering about Ogata being untrustworthy because he left Tsurumi’s army and has an ambivalent relation with Hijikata (because the latter betrayed him at Abashiri), then tried to kill Boutarou because Boutarou too betrayed him but apologized to his corpse when he caused his corpse to fly out of the car… so okay, since Kikuta didn’t betray him and Sugimoto was fond of him, he probably was more than willing to forgive him for betraying his enemy, Tsurumi, and feel angry on his behalf for what Tsurumi did to him.

Anyway Sugimoto gets upset, Asirpa tells him to calm down but we’ll never know if Asirpa’s words calmed him down somehow or, in case they didn’t, if Sugimoto being angry was a problem.

In fact Sugimoto immediately throws himself at Tsurumi… which seems to hint he didn’t calm down however… there are no real negative consequences.

I mean, Tsurumi tries to shoot at him but, since he is clearly not as good as a sniper as Ogata, despite being close only hits Sugimoto’s arm and then the two engage in battle… or should I call it rifle-fight as they exchange blows using the rifles as if they were clubs?

Whatever, the battle starts and we aren’t asked anymore to care or notice if Sugimoto is angry or not as the two exchanges blow.

Tsurumi’s blow causes Sugimoto to lose his footing and almost slips off the locomotive, which gives Tsurumi a chance to kick away his rifle, and try to shoot him again. Too late though, because with impressive speed Sugimoto is already up and close enough he can grab Tsurumi’s rifle.

Tsurumi bites one of the limbs of Sugimoto’s cut cheek because Tsurumi showed us, right from when he chopped away Captain Wada’s finger, he likes to bite.

Sugimoto punches and kicks him away but Tsurumi, same as how Ogata did in chap 4, managed to remove the bolt of the rifle before Sugimoto could try to use it to shoot at him.

I should probably mention this chapter likes drawing parallels but… I’m not sure I find the one between Tsurumi and Ogata an interesting one.

Sure, Tsurumi maybe groomed Ogata, and I’m saying ‘maybe’ because, although there were hints he might have done it, this part of the story was never cleared up so we don’t know when Tsurumi and Ogata met and how Tsurumi influenced him beyond some vague parallels but… that’s all. Are we meant to assume Tsurumi taught Ogata this little trick?

Who knows?

The manga doesn’t tell and it could be a coincidence.

The reference to me feels merely like trying to capitalize on the memory of a character who was already killed off and, considering how it was killed off, I would have preferred if Tsurumi has merely managed to kick the rifle off Sugimoto’s hands without any reminder of how Ogata was prone to remove bolts from the rifles.

Anyway, with the rifle out of service, Sugimoto tosses it away and grabs Hijikata’s sword.

The scene however switches to Kantarou and Nagakura, the latter taking away Hijikata. Kantarou asks him what about the land deed and if he isn’t going to try to get revenge. Nagakura though couldn’t care less about the land deed. He was fighting there to protect Hijikata as he chased his dream, now that Hijikata is dead, he doesn’t care any longer and doesn’t want others to find his corpse and see him dead.

So maybe Nagakura wasn’t searching death on a battleground as Tsurumi suggested, just to return Hijikata’s favour, as Hijikata saved his life long ago by causing him to leave the battleground.

Honestly I won’t blame anyone who thinks Nagakura and Hijikata were more than friends, but whatever.

Kantarou notices the train is stopping and that’s due to Shiraishi turning the brakes and then running after the locomotive the same way he did on Karafuto when he run after Asirpa, Kiro and Ogata.

This is a parallel I appreciate more as it fits with Shiraishi, his growth and the fact he doesn’t want to leave his friends. Of course he probably wouldn’t reach them by foot but there’s no problem because, conveniently, Tanigaki survived and is coming to reach them riding on a horse.

No, really, Tsurumi’s aim sucks so bad. He was pretty close when he shoot a completely unaware Tanigaki in the back and didn’t manage to hit his spine? It actually seems he only grazed his side so he didn’t even hit his intestines! Honestly I hope I’m wrong, not because I want Tanigaki dead, but because Tsurumi’s lack of aim in this case seems ridicule.

Whatever.

I wonder if it’s worth to mention that the soldiers of the 7th which survived to the bear, not only don’t go check in the 1st car what’s going on, but don’t even bother to go to the 3rd car to check what’s going on so that Nagakura and Kantarou aren’t bothered by anyone.

I expect no one to care about Koito and Tsukishima either so those two will manage to survive till the end. Whatever, I didn’t expect them to die.

Back to Sugimoto and Tsurumi, while Sugimoto stands with his sword pulled out in front of Tsurumi (I wonder if Noda pictured describing this scene could feel as if readers were describing something more dirty than what is actually is), Tsurumi rhetorically asks if the gold was in Goryokaku.

Tsurumi points out if this weren’t the case it would mean Wilk made those gold coins to deceive the Ainu pretending they had military funds that actually didn’t exist so that he could push them to start an uprising. Asirpa sweats, Sugimoto’s gaze darken as he remembers the gold falling in his hands.

Tsurumi starts his patriotic speech. Japan lacks resources, to defend it they’ve to expand to Manchuria, Central would only hold them back so they need to use the land deed to keep Central at bay and yadda yadda and Sugimoto too fought Russia for Japan’s sake, didn’t he?

I wonder if this is meant to echo the first time Tsurumi and Sugimoto talked. Back then Tsurumi tried to win Sugimoto over by telling him Japan did nothing for him and he should help them to take over Hokkaido as a payback for how Japan used him. Now… he’s trying to tell him by helping him he would protect Japan?

How in the world Tsurumi came to believe Sugimoto might have something as vague as patriotic spirit? This is ‘great judge of characters and master manipulator Tsurumi’? I wonder if he managed to gain such a reputation merely because he used his Tsurumisexuality on young boys and traumatized soldiers and, in truth, he wasn’t such a big deal. I mean, I get he messed up during his first meeting with Sugimoto but that could be explained with him hardly knowing Sugimoto and expecting him to think the same as his soldiers but now, when Sugimoto has made clear more than once he just wanted the gold and protect Asirpa and has not a single ounce of patriotic bone in his body?

In fact Sugimoto points out he worked for the army because they fed him, which is a reference to the reason why Sugimoto enlisted, something we learnt in chap 278. I wonder if that flashback was always in the plans or it was created later but whatever, it’s not big deal.

Tsurumi changes method and tells Sugimoto to jump off the train. Tsurumi will forget about the gold (why bringing it up then?... Tsurumi you’re being a poor liar) because Central is pursuing him so he wouldn’t have time to bring it with himself (so Tsurumi has no more men to back him up? Where’s Central anyway? How would Sugimoto know this is the truth?) so the gold belongs to Sugimoto (who’ll only have to fight off the soldiers Tsurumi left at Goryokaku to get it… unless the few that tailed after Tsurumi and Koito were the only ones alive? This is pretty confusing, really but still Tsurumi controls Yodogawa so he can get reinforcements from Abashiri).

Tsurumi doesn’t bother talking about the land deed which he clearly doesn’t plan to return and Sugimoto and Asirpa don’t ask for it.

He gets a deep gaze from Sugimoto and Asirpa then Asirpa refuses Tsurumi’s proposition aiming at him and Sugimoto decides they’ll end it right there and now, preparing to strike him with the sword.

I guess after her first taste at attempted murder Asirpa has grown bloodthirsty since she’s again not trying to negotiate. I mean, I wouldn’t trust Tsurumi as far as I can toss Ushiyama so I get not trusting him over such unreliable words as the ones he said but… I get Sugimoto but Asirpa looks way too comfortable with this but, at the same time, this makes weird she waited so long before tossing her arrow at Tsurumi.

Well, no, actually not because I bet this is another attempt to keep Asirpa’s hands clean so she threaten Tsurumi and shows she’s ready to kill him but who’ll get to do the dirty work is Sugimoto. She’s not going to shoot him down and end the story.

Tsurumi smiles but he actually has hidden a gun in a spot near to the one in which he is and is trying to reach for it because he knew they would get to that situation and has hidden a gun in a strategic spot.

Actually the scene reminds me of a scene of “Andy and Norman”, the Italian transposition of “The Star-Spangled Girl” comedy written by Neil Simon but I’m pretty sure it’s just me.

But this surprising development is meant to face another surprising development.

Sugimoto claims such a deal mean nothing to him… because when the gold fell on him and filled his hands… he stuck said gold dust filled hands into his pockets, moving the gold into them so he already got his share and doesn’t need to go back to Goryokaku.

So, when in chap 302 Hijikata was under the impression Sugimoto forgot about his share of gold he was actually mistaken as Sugimoto has already taken it. And Asirpa clearly had no idea about it because in chap 311 she volunteered to work to get Sugimoto his share if he were to give up on the gold.

To sum it up, no, Sugimoto wasn’t as noble and selfless as those chapters painted him to be.

And this is great, this fits Sugimoto’s character because it brings him back to being a grey character, a human character, instead than a pure, noble white one with 0 self interest and plenty of sacrificial spirit… though it feels as if he acted quite like a jerk by filling his own pockets without even saying it to Asirpa, the legitimate owner of the gold.

I mean, I was pretty sure Sugimoto had gold on himself but I was thinking it had ended up in his pockets by accident, when it fell on him, not that he had collected it on purpose.

Whatever, it’s not a big deal… I prefer Sugimoto being a grey character, as I said it makes him more human.

However in a scene that mimics the one in chap 135 (I wonder in the volume version this pace will become a spread as well) we see Sugimoto having his hand filled with gold dust the way Hijikata filled his own hand with his own blood in the fight with Inudou. Then, as Tsurumi tries to use the gun against Sugimoto, Sugimoto tosses the gold dust in Tsurumi’s eyes before using his sword against Tsurumi.

We don’t see if Sugimoto hit something as the gold dust covers Tsurumi.

Now… I get the idea is this scene should be seen with a HUGE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF, a suspension of disbelief which actually should be used for all the duel.

I mean Sugimoto and Tsurumi act like they weren’t on a train running madly because it’s unsupervised and isn’t pulling anymore any car. Not only they can sand on it without holding onto anything and fight with an overall perfect balance despite the shaking and the air running at them, not only their hair remain perfectly combed and Sugimoto’s cap doesn’t fly away (but Sugimoto’s cap never flies away no matter what unless it flying away is plot related so whatever) but, although Sugimoto is tossing the gold dust downwind, the wind didn’t push back it back in Sugimoto’s eyes but it managed to reach Tsurumi’s before the latter could shoot because Tsurumi is also slow at shooting.

Now, of course, we can speculate if the trick is due to the weight of the gold dust or the speed or whatever, but I think the real idea is we’re just supposed to shrug off if the whole thing is possible or not and suspend our disbelief in favor of applying the rule of cool.

And yeah, it’s cool and symbolic to have the gold blind Tsurumi so as to lead him to his death while Asirpa manages to continue to kill no one.

Personally I would find it interesting if the gold were to manage to blind Sugimoto as well but with his ‘heroic’ sacrifice of using the gold he ‘picked up without telling anyone’ (read: stole… and yeah, I know Asirpa would have given it to him had he asked but that’s the point, he didn’t ask) I guess Sugimoto redeemed himself (sort of, he still has another pocked filled with gold dust, unless it’s going to throw it too or his pocket has a hole) so he won’t get blinded by gold.

In a narration that clearly doesn’t care about realism but just with surprising its readers it works well.

(If we go back to Hijikata’s scene that too used the rule of cool in abundance as, if Hijikata had been losing enough blood he could collect so much in the palm of his hand in such a short time, he would have probably died of blood loss short later)

I’m not saying this as a complaint or as a praise, “Golden Kamuy” has been relying on rule of cool a lot right from the start so I’m not surprised it goes back on relying on it, personally I much prefer it because, at least, it means we’re not on ‘easy mode’ anymore and as I hated the easy mode, this is definitely an improvement.

In fact we have Sugimoto having to come up with a plan to defeat Tsurumi and implement it, it wasn’t just a bug that conveniently ended in Tsurumi’s eyes temporally blinding him so that Sugimoto could strike him with ease.

The fact we’ve dropped out of easy mode is a good thing, regardless of people loving or hating the rule of cool and I honestly think many of us would have less problems with the scene if it didn’t come after a series of disappointing chapters, though, of course, maybe it’s just me.

On the other side, sure, the fact that Sugimoto already has his pockets filled with gold makes his choice easier (Sugimoto didn’t really have to choose if to remain on the train and lose the gold or if to get the gold and leave the train) as the note at the bottom of the last page remarks so we aren’t in really hard mode for what regard character’s choice but whatever, at least we’re not in easy mode for the fight so I’ll take it as an improvement. Too bad it came SO LATE.

On another note… yes, I caught up on how “Golden Kamuy” wants to establish a parallel between Sugimoto and Hijikata… but I’m not really sure why, beyond that Hijikata was cool and rumored to have eaten mermaid meat which gave him longevity/immortality (it depends from the myth).

I mean, sure they could be both awesome warriors who wouldn’t hesitate to use underhand tricks but… Hijikata was in this mess because he was a patriot and believed this dream of his would help Japan, Sugimoto is in this mess because he wants to help the people he cares for (Umeko and Asirpa). I doubt there will be a big reveal in which we’ll discover Sugimoto is Hijikata’s grandchild/nephew, and while I get Hijikata is popular… well, it feels weird to me that the story seems to want to point to Sugimoto as the new Hijikata, not only by having Hijikata saying they both fight following the Bushidou but with scenes like the one in which Hijikata, before dying, sees himself in Sugimoto, in how Sugimoto is now carrying Hijikata’s sword and in how the visual is careful to draw a parallel between the Hijikata/Inudou fight and the Sugimoto/Tsurumi one.

Sugimoto is a character who’s cool enough even without him becoming the Hijikata of the new era. If this scene is meant to be similar to the ones in “Saint Seiya”, “Sailor Moon” or “Dragon Ball” in which the spirit of friends appear near to the hero in the final confrontation… I don’t know, I didn’t really feel the need for it because it’s not like Hijikata and Sugimoto had that deep emotional bond of friendship the over mentioned anime instead involved.

Tsurumi was just a common enemy but so was for Ogata, Kikuta, Wilk and so on.

So… I’m a bit confuse because even though the scene is cool… same as the Ogata parallel it feels more like an attempt to capitalize on another beloved, now dead, character, Hijikata than something with plot relevance. But maybe it’s just me.

Still two more chapters to the end.

Sugimoto and Asirpa will probably leave the train on Tanigaki’s horse.

Tsurumi, I think, will live a little longer, maybe Sugimoto’s blow only cut away the thing protecting his forehead giving us a full Tsurumi’s face reveal… or wounded him.

Yeah, it could have been fatal as well but I would expect Noda to dedicate a bit more time to Tsurumi’s death.

We’ll see, but I expect him to still be in the next chapter, even if wounded.

On another note... will the story even address Tsurumi’s grievance against Wilk and how HE coped with his own guilt for his wife and daughter’s death? Will he also shoot himself? Or will he continue to blame Wilk? Or we’ll skip this entirely? We’ll see...

#Asirpa #Sugimoto Saichi #Tanigaki Genjirou #Tsurumi Tokushirou #Shiraishi Yoshitake #Okuyama Kantarou #Nagakura Shinpachi #Hijikata Toshizou #Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories #Kikuta Mokutarou #Wilk #Kenmochi Umeko #Kenmochi Toraji

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