#and then i made it through halo ce

[ageless-aislynn]

Nowwwwww, I facetiously mentioned at the bottom of this post about the Halo: Reach achievement:

To do that, you have to go under or close to par time on pretty much each level ON LEGENDARY.

I have beaten Reach on Legendary but it probably took me closer to 30 hours than 3 because I did my slow, methodical strategies to get through. I did the par time achievement by running past everything I could on Easy. Can I combine the two successfully?

I decided to give the first level "Winter Contingency" a try (after watching some Youtube vids on getting this achievement, of course 😉). Par time is 15 minutes.

That was my third try, the first was 16 and some minutes, the second got it to 15 and some and then that one got under the par by 32 seconds! I should note that this is considered one of the easiest levels to do on Legendary and the guide I watched by the ever-awesome Halo Completionist did it under 12 minutes and you're going to need every spare second you can scrap together to give you a buffer for some of the long, difficult levels. But still!

It's silly, I know, but I feel so proud of me! I'm an old lady (well, middle-aged, if I'm being generous 😜) playing Halo with shaky hands but I made under par time on Legendary! 🥳🥳🥳

PS - Tried it again and got 13:55!

[writingsofwesteros]

hi! can I request a fic? cersei x daughter where cersei is teaching her precious daughter how to properly perform oral on mommy dearest? thank u! I love your writing style

AN: Hi, I hope you like it x

NSFW

“Shhh, I know…” The Queen could only moan out as those emerald eyes of hers began to roll back. The dim light of the candles flickering in as the evening continued. Cersei gently reached for her love’s golden locks; so similar to her own as her back arched. “That is a good girl,” she whispered her praises with ease as pleasure began to move through her body. Her Princess only hummed against her; body shivering at the words coming her way. Cersei moaned as her sweet, sensitive clit was lapped at with growing hunger. It seemed her daughter was good at following instructions. “This is all to be a good wife, sweet girl.” Cersei lied as easily as she always did. It was only about her own pleasure but soon enough she would have the Princess squealing before her.

The Queen knew she was completely untouched. Cersei had made sure of such things; not that her Princess would ever know that. No, the Princess would be safe in her embrace; it was the only place she would be, Cersei thought to herself as her head fell back onto the soft pillows. Goosebumps easily began to move over her soft skin as the Princess only moaned against her some more. The Princess only stared up at her mother; her hunger only growing as she watched the reactions she could pull from the usual cold Queen. But her mother was never like that with her, especially when she was between her thighs. Her tongue slowly circled Cersei’s sweet tasting clit as she whined; lapping at her like a kitten.

A kitten was exactly what Cersei thought her darling Princess was as her body arched from the sheets once more. Gods, she was ever this sensitive before but now it seemed each touch sent shivers down her spine. A soft gasp escaped the Queen as her love’s warm tongue pushed in and began to thrust in and out whilst her moans vibrated against her sweet, creamy pussy. The Princess gently reached for Cersei’s hips and brought her impossibly close as her hunger only reached new heights, much to the Queen’s delight. Shyly, she reached for those soft breasts whilst her eyes began to flutter shut. Cersei could not keep her climax from appearing now as she reached for the sheets; her hold on them only tightening.

“Good girl, that’s it – ah,” The Queen moaned without care as her bright locks cascaded around her like a halo. The wet, obscene noises of her sweet Princess lapping away; sucking on her clit as Cersei was so sweetly pushed over the edge. Her hand tightened in her daughter’s locks as she began to rock against her lips. The Princess moaned and greedily took all that the Queen before her gave. Cersei began to gently stroke her locks as the sweet girl rested against her thigh. Cersei motioned for her girl to come closer and the Princess began to crawl up her body. Her soft breasts brushed against the Queen’s body before she stopped as their faces came to level.

The Queen only smiled up at her; their matching, bright eyes locked onto one another before Cersei leaned in. Their lips soon pressed against each other as the Princess only whined against her Queen once more; their tongues dancing with practised ease. Her fingers brushed through her daughter’s locks and kept her impossibly close. Cersei wrapped her arms around the Princess as she gently manoeuvred the pair of them so she hovered on top now. “Such a good girl,” the Queen cooed her praises as she watched the soft, pink blush come over the cheeks of her sweet girl. Her fingers brush against her face; the cold touch of the gold, lion ring that adorned the Queen’s finger caused a shiver down her spine as she leaned into the touch.

“Mama…” She whispered; their noses brushing together as they stared into each other's eyes. A rare smile tugged on the lips of the Queen as she only looked down at her Princess. “You are mine, hmm?” Cersei whispered so sweetly. The Queen peppered her face with soft kisses as her lovely girl nodded and burrowed her head into her neck. “Will I have to marry?” The Princess whispered into her ear as she wrapped her arms around Cersei to only bring her impossibly closer. The Queen gently stroked up and down her sides as the silence in the room continued. “One day, my girl.” Cersei whispered; her heart tightening at the mere thought of her daughter walking down an aisle.

In the arms of another. Of a man, Cersei thought to herself whilst her hold on the Princess only tightened as if she could keep her there forever. If only the world was a kinder place but for now, she would take these moments they had together. Their noses brushed together once more as she began to press sweet kisses on her face. “But you will always be here, I will make sure of that.” The Queen whispered her promises as the Princess cuddled into her neck some more. Gently, Cersei cupped her chin; their matching, bright eyes locking together. “I promise.” The Queen whispered as the Princess could only softly smile and believe her mother; the promise soon sealed with a kiss.

It would be helpful for her husband to die soon, the Queen thought to herself as her fingers gently traced abstract patterns on her soft skin. Robert had many proposals for his daughter’s hand sitting on his desk; ignored for now. Cersei would keep her Princess as close as she could before picking the best marriage for her. But for now - she was all hers and the Queen would make sure of taking every advantage of that as her hands only continued to wander. Cersei began to play with her locks as the Princess sweetly mouthed at her soft neck. Her mother’s scent was as ever so comforting as was the actions the Princess did which had Cersei shivering.

“I love you,” the Princess whispered into her ear, nuzzling against her some more. The Queen only smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Their soft, bare bodies pressed against each other in a comforting manner. She would need to return to her own chambers before dawn came - but for now, they could be together.

[rubykgrant]

Concept: a red vs blue video game. I think it would be neat if you could choose from any of the 7 Halo art styles, cuz some might prefer Infinite and others like the old style of CE, while I personally prefer 3, Reach, and 4.

It would be so funny if they made an RVB video game. Like, I know- "That's just Halo", but it really isn't? These colorful goobers had their own nonsensical shenanigans going on, Halo sort of "set the stage" and was happening in the background, but the adventures of these guys went in totally different directions. A game that let's you change the style, but still keep all the available features, would be really cool!

I'm a fan of games that give you options to "play different ways". There could be a "story mode", maybe it lets you create your own character and start on either Red or Blue Team, playing through the plot from the beginning, but with the potential to make different choices in certain parts (with multiple save files, so you can go every route and experience all the different results. the same story-beats still happen, but what your character does/where they go could always change, and you'd be able to see what certain characters were up to while they were "off-screen" in the actual series; if you hang out with Doc and Donut long enough, you can be with them when they had their nice little garden going on~). Other option is "arcade mode", and it works like Smash Bros (or DigiMon Rumble Arena. anybody else remember that?). You have the basic groups of Reds and Blues available, but through getting some prizes and completing tasks, more become available, and you get specific up-grades for the characters (play Church often enough, you can swap between Alpha or Epsilon, and for other characters you can have Epsilon and the Fragments be like an assist mechanic). You run through various environments, doing puzzles/fighting enemies, all that good stuff!

[iactuallykissedsharawheeler]

LAZY DAY WITH WANDA

headcannon!

WARNINGS : none!! just soft lovey-dovey stuff!! like one little kiss-makeout that's super quick but not heated so if you're uncomfortable feel free to skip!

NOTE ; hi!! author speaking!! this is my first time posting anything fic-like ever so if you have any criticisms or ideas pls pls share them!!!!!! i'm interested in seeing new ways to do things and improve!! thanks for reading, enjoy!! xx

you wake up to a wanda-less bed, the room cool without her to warm it. you sigh into your sheets and slowly wake up, letting your body ease into it. not rushing. golden light breathing life into the room, soft and hazy through the under-layer of curtains. wanda must have opened them.

eventually, you're awake enough that you register the savoury smell in the air. it fills the house with the warm smell of hand-crushed spices and roasted vegetables. you recognise the scents as one of wanda's favourite breakfast meals: zacusca¹, polenta ², and franzela ³. one of the dishes her mother had taught her when she was young. (pietro said it was overrated but still gobbled it down whenever wanda made it.)

as you make your way to the kitchen, practically cartoon floating towards the smell, you hear wanda softly humming the sweet little love song she'd been into lately, 'ce bine ca esti' ⁴ and smile adoringly to yourself at how cute your girlfriend was.

when you enter the room, wanda is a graceful flow of movement, floating around the space. her hands cutting vegetables adroitly before dropping them ceremoniously into a sizzling pan. she always refused to use her magic in the kitchen, she thought it tainted the beauty of it. right now, you understood just what she meant.

she looks like art with her hair pulled away from her face, frizzy from the heat and her movements confident. her skin warmed by the sunlight that gave everything a golden glow, especially wanda. its enchanting, really. you observe from the entrance, taking note of the sweatpants she stole from you last night during your movie marathon. the one that ended with you both cuddling and eventually asleep by movie three. what? day jobs are draining.

when she turns to grab a mug full of a coffee so pale it's almost ghostly, she spots you. an ardent smile growing on her face that has you wanting to lionize her forever. "good morning, моя любовь*. ce mai faci în această dimineață?" *

you hum a, "fine," padding towards her leisurely and preening at the affectionate greeting, "smells amazing in here."

she hums back and smiles, "thank you. i was gonna wake you but you just looked so peaceful, i couldn't possibly. do you want anything to drink? food's almost ready." you nod your head and move in to hug her. hugs from wanda never felt uncomfortable, they just felt safe and warm. they had an effect like no other. "i missed you." she says, whispering it like a prayer she only wanted you to hear. "missed you more." you reply, letting every muscle and thought relax into her. you can tell she's doing the same.

when you both let go, she reaches out to your face, cupping your cheeks and running her thumbs along the apples of them. the sunlight behind her giving her a halo, you wonder what your past self did to deserve an angel. whatever it was, you'd try to replicate it, so you'd get to spend all your eternities just like this. "ce am facut sa te merit?" * she says dreamily, voicing your own thoughts while taking in every inch of your face. you used to feel exposed and embarrassed by it, but now you just feel enveloped in wanda's love. she may be the scarlet witch but the magic you felt with her was different. it was like being on a different celestial plane everytime she looked at you.

"you're asking me?" she chuckles and leans in, mumbling "shut up," against your lips. you both melt into each other, you lean into her body, hands sliding onto her waist, and by the time she pulls away, you're both practically hugging. she gives a few more short kisses that have you both grinning and giggling like fools. it's such a beautiful moment, you find yourself memorising how this feels. trying to keep it safe and locked away from anything that could ruin it. there's a beat where she stops kissing and just looks at you, her eyes so tender and loving your stomach really does feel butterflies "what?" you whisper. "shh," she says, "i'm observing." that gets a giggle out of you, "observing what, exactly?" still smiling, she says, "perfection, of course."

after another moment of wanda's "observations", she pecks you on the cheek once more, putting her attention back on the meal. she asks you to grab as many pillows and blankets as you can while she finishes up. you pile the blankets until you're satisfied with the fluff, smoothing it down until it's nice and full. then, you toss on the pillows, a little less particular but keeping in mind how much wanda loves to sink into them.

when wanda strides over, steaming plates in hand, you take a deep, reveling breath, "mmm that smells amazing, wanda." she smiles and crosses her legs as lowers herself to the ground. "only the best for you, my love." she says leaning into your shoulder.

after what felt like years of gentle arguing over what you'd watch, you decide on a sitcom wanda had seen an episode of and adored. your legs are tangled together as you lean back on piles of pillows. you laugh at jokes and wanda laughs so hard at one of them that she almost chokes, which only makes you both laugh harder. it's a sweet and filling morning. the two of you just absorbing the loving energy you'd created.

proceeding the meal, wanda dumped any scraps and rinsed them and handed them to you to scrub with a kiss on the cheek. you finished and headed back to the couch where wanda was curled up against the pillows, giggling at a joke one of the characters made. you make your way down to her and get as close to her as you can, she smiles as you adjust yourself. "good?" she says when you finish, "mhm!" you say smiling up at her. she gives a smile back before facing back towards the tv. you see the content set of her face and your heart swells just a bit. lazy days with wanda were always so perfect.

AUTHORS NOTE ; hi! so i tried to be really sensitive to wanda's ethnic background and also to you! the reader! some things were described in detail and others were left to your imagination!! if you have any requests feel free to absolutely fill my asks because i find this kind of stuff really fun! if you see any errors or ways i could improve, again, feel free to tell me!!

much love, r.

p.s ; here are all the little footnotes and translations but feel free to skip. kk bye for real ! x

translations:

моя любовь: "my love"

ce mai faci în această dimineață?: "how are you doing this morning?"

ce am facut sa te merit?: "what did i do to deserve you?"

¹ zacusca: Zacuscă can be eaten as a relish or spread, typically on bread. It is said to improve in taste after some months of maturing but must be used within days of opening. Although traditionally prepared at home, it is also commercially available. Some Bulgarian and Middle Eastern brands are available in the United States. In the Orthodox Christian majority countries, it is sometimes eaten during fasting seasons due to the absence of meat, eggs or dairy products.

² polenta: Polenta (/pəˈlɛntə, poʊˈ-/, Italian: [poˈlɛnta])is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled.

³ franzela: long bread (like a baguette!!)

⁴ ce bine ca esti: romanian love song performed by romanian musician nicu alifantis. it's so cute and sweet i 💞 it so much. here's the link in case you want to hear it!! ☆

[citadelredlightdistrict]

Cortana Questions!

CE: Has a really cute look to her, body is kind of there, nice pixie cut, purple is a good look and gave her a real cyberpunk vibe really. This version established her useful but kind of sassy personality. Really do love the haircut honestly.

Halo 2: Still purple, but a bit more blue (anyone know why she became blue?), her hair is a bit longer, more a professional office vibe, a bit more substantial of a body, but still not a whole lot. A little cyber, but more physical looking than her original appearance. Boobs got a little bigger.

Halo 3: Much more substantial! She's almost more physical than digital now. Fully became a sexy blue hologram, her breasts are bigger, and her hair is better defined, maybe a little shorter than Halo 2's hair? Graphics improvement from Halo 2 to 3 is really noticeable, and this is also where we first start to get hints at Cortana's frail mental state. Though right now it's due to the Gravemind. Still boobs might not be bigger, but they are better defined.

Halo 4: Finally into 343, she's fully physical now, no seeing through her, she's basically just a blue human. Her mind is definitely not all there anymore, a little crazy, a little yandere, but hey it works with her. Hair is definitely shorter, and boobs no longer as perky, but now has nipples for some reason? Is Cortana actively trying to seduce John at this point? I feel like she intentionally made herself look like a naked woman.

Halo 5: From naked hero to fully clothed psycho, why did she put on clothes? Her hair now screams more "can I see your manager" than sexy love interest. Actually has physical elements to her body, but not in a sexy way, and can you still see her nipples through her armor? Fully in the yandere mode now, but the story doesn't really sell it here for me.

Yeah, this is purely for my curiosity, this has nothing to do with RPs. I'm just curios.

[thetreestumptherapist]

Halo 2's 20th Anniversary

I know I am a couple days late, but I've been really busy and should actually be in bed rn, but I am going to tell some Halo stories before I forget or don't have time again. I am also going to try to summarize because I want this to be fairly quick.

I used to watch my grandfather play Halo CE on his computer when I would go visit my grandparents. Then later, my aunt got an xbox 360 and brought it to our house when she would visit for the holidays and my parents let me play Halo Reach with her. And then she and I would play when we would go visit her. We slowly made our way through the entirety of halo Reach, 1, 3, and 4 this way, playing during holidays and vacation visits. I think we did some of it online, but I don't remember very much. I do remember freaking out about needing Halo 5 after finishing Halo 4 online with her, so I know we did that one online at least a little bit.

You may have noticed, but Halo 2 wasn't listed with the others. That's because neither me nor my aunt had a copy of H2 for a while. We skipped H2 and went straight from CEA to H3. Thinking back on it, it kind of was extra immersive that way, because I was just as confused as Chief was, as to why the heck the sangheili were on our side. And I also didn't know where Cortana was, like Johnson and Thel didn't.

At some point my aunt got us both H2 but they were for the original xbox (I am genuinely wondering if H2 for the 360 exists) so we couldn't play online together.

Now it's been a couple of years since I've played Halo with my aunt. I need to ask her to play Halo this Christmas. I've been missing that connection for awhile now. Unfortunately, the vibes from those first playthroughs can never be recreated, but I can enjoy the nostalgia I guess. I play with my sibling now, and we just completed an H2 playthrough a couple of months ago. Maybe we should do another one for H2's anniversary instead of moving on to H3.

Now that we have the story of how I got H2, let's talk about the game itself.

Anemoia. I literally found that word because of games like Halo (and destiny 2. Forsaken specifically) and how I never got to experience their golden days. But, when I tell you, the first time I saw it, I felt the nostalgia of that original xbox H2 screen even though I had never seen it before. I envy all of you who grew up playing in those online lobbies. I get they probably had their downsides, and yeah I have special memories of playing halo with family, but would have loved to have friends to play halo with.

The music is immaculate. I love how throughout the halo games the music matches the vibe of the game. CEA has a futuristic, yet ancient feel. Like the forerunner buildings and ring itself. H2 uses electric guitar and feels very fast paced and epic at the height of the war. H3 has a really bitter-sweet feel to it. Sacrifices are being made left and right, every decision has consequences, and we need every inch of progress we can get. It very much is "One Final Effort".

The terrible lighting in H2 adds so much horror to the flood. The flood is scary in CEA, but the clean and crisp lighting takes away from the horror of it being an ancient and forgotten terror. Original graphics H2 does not. It has all the horror of not being able to see clearly in the darkness, seeing something move out of the corner of your eye and having things on your motion sensor that you can't see in front of you. Seeing things shoot at you, but not seeing well enough to shoot back. It's a struggle and it's terrifying.

Where's my assault rifle?

I like the Gondola level, where we're chasing down Regret. That was fun. Except for the flying enemies. That was annoying.

Frick it, I liked the whole game. I can't pick a favorite level.

The dialogue is supreme. I don't know who wrote the script for this game, but they did not miss with this one. From "If they came to hear me beg..." to "Sir, finishing this fight" every line was nothing but sheer bad*ssery. I feel it is worth mentioning that, as far as I am aware, this is the only game Chief swears in and the word he said was "piss" and it's such a mild swear word there is confusion as to whether it's actually considered a swear. And it was when facing the gravemind, the flood. When he was dealing with the only thing that that ever truly struck fear in his heart. The man just doesn't swear and I love him for that. Even when halo was rated mature, he didn't swear. And that's another thing that annoys me about the tv show. It's like they thought "what if this Master Chief ditched his entire personality?" But, that's a discussion for a different time.

I would also like to say, I have seen the cutscenes in the anniversary graphics and I like Rtas' "Hmm" after Thel's "That makes two of us" in the old graphics better. I am pretty sure they knew each other before Thel's disgracing, and Rtas claims to not care about Thel in that moment, but then proceeded to care about him throughout the whole game. Like, all that helping him, wasn't just out of interest for the prophet's will. Rtas cared for Thel, you can tell by the way he speaks to and about him. My headcanon is he has to pretend to not care about Thel, but really he does care about him. In the anniversary graphics he's very standoffish and and kind of aggressive, in the older graphics he's acts more like he still has some respect for Thel, even if only because of how graciously Thel accepted his fate. I feel like that little bit of respect is more accurate to their species' morals etc. Yes, honor is very important to them and if someone disgraces them that is the highest offense, but Thel was a strong warrior who took responsibility for his mistakes, (even though the situation was out of his control), and accepted his punishment with grace and no complaints. Only the brutes would not find this respectable. So, yeah, I like the older graphics for that scene on the ship.

I haven't explored a lot of the multiplayer maps yet. I was working on that with my sibling, but we found blood gulch (Coagulation or whatever it was called for H2, I don't remember rn) and freaked out and forgot about all the other maps for a bit, so I will have to go look at those later.

I am sure I could think of more to say, but, it's late (technically early from a certain pov...) and I need to get to bed. If I think of anything else to say, I'll edit this post to include it all, rather than reblogging.

[escapism-from-the-real-world]

The Halo Chief Collection review that no one asked for because I just finished Halo 4 and need to dump my thoughts!

Reach: Good time

First Halo game I ever played and kinda just tossed me into the ringer and I got a little lost but I think that’s more my fault than the game’s. That being said, love the game mechanics, especially the enemy AI. I knew it was smart, but I was woefully unprepared for how they could plan for me just as easily as I could plan for them. C’mere, c’mere you little shits I need to put a bullet in your head.

The guns were also fun and sounded amazing (sniper is always my favorite, human or covenant addition) and I like how each gun has its own perks and disadvantages, makes me think a little harder to which gun I wanna bring into a level.

The characters were also super great and I enjoyed listening to their dialogue and, even though I had been spoiled to the ending of the game, I got really attached to them (especially Jorge) and had a fun time following the story. Also, Kat’s death was so shocking I had to pause the game to process it like what the fuck, why am I so heartbroken. All of their deaths hit me in different ways but holy shit that one scared the life outta me. 

The whole atmosphere and how the enemies are treated are also super well done, you really feel the scale of the world and the threat of the covenant. Going onto a covenant ship for the first time scared me because I had gone from a pretty open and familiar space to completely unfamiliar enemy territory, it was a really good shift in atmosphere. 

Overall, it was really fun and I enjoyed the story, the gameplay, and the campaign as a whole. I wanna go back and play it again now that I know what I’m doing and see how differently it plays out for me game wise.

Halo CE: Frustratingly awesome time

For a game that’s as old as it is, Halo holds up really well in my opinion. First off, it has the best feeling to its guns of all the games. Something about the sound and the way it moves and the reloads are just perfect in my brain. I was always a little disappointed to load up the other games and realize the guns don’t shoot, sound, or feel the same way they did in this one. 10/10

It took me so much longer to beat this game than Reach, both because the campaign is longer and also because of the stupid motherfucking flood. 

Honestly, when they first appeared I thought I was getting into a horror movie because holy hell the devastation they brought to the ring and everyone on it, goddamn. Also, that one scene with the soldier who had a psychotic break and shoots at you is insane, like how do you think of that? I shot him the first time out of instinct and I felt so bad I restarted the chapter to see if I could save him (spoiler alert, you can’t) and it was at that moment I realized what kind of game I was dealing with because that small moment completely shifted the tone. 

Anyways, the flood sucks and I spent over an hour just on the beginning part of the library trying to get past the first wave of zombies. Like, literally couldn’t get into the next room. I then had to come to the unfortunate conclusion that you cannot outrun the flood, you must instead take all of them out one section at a time or else they will surround you and run you over like a stampede. Once I figured that out I got through the levels a little faster, but I did die a lot. I had fun though and the whole twist with both what the Halo weapon was and what the monitor’s purpose was still made me gasp in excitement and betrayal (Fuck you moniter I never trusted your ass). 

Very fun game 10/10, will not be replaying it until I recover from dealing with the flood. I might have trauma from that.

Halo 2 anniversary: HOLY FUCK THAT WAS GOOD

First off, the animation was gorgeous, going from Halo to Halo 2 Anniversary was a shock to my systems but goddamn was it pretty. 

Was a little disappointed with the guns and I don’t know if I just got better at the game or if the AI got nerfed but the levels felt like they were quicker to beat and not nearly as time consuming as Halo (maybe it was just because there were a lot less Flood to deal with, could also just be that). BUT it was still fun and getting to shoot aliens in actual space was cool, plus the cutscene of Master Chief dropping a bomb on the covenant will never not be cool.

Story was fucking awesome, Master Chief really had his time to shine here with Cortana and I love it. The Arbiter was also really cool and I remember I was watching his cutscenes and thinking “man, wouldn’t it be cool if I got to play as an elite? That’d be sick” AND THEN LITERALLY THE NEXT LEVEL WAS ME PLAYING AS THE ARBITER it was sick. I was on the edge of my seat whenever I sat down to play and completely lost myself in this world and the characters in it. 

Overall, really good game and I had a fun time playing it even if I had to download a different app just to play it because of how laggy it is (a common problem with Halo 2 Anniversary, I found out). Super worth it, love all of these games so far.

Halo 3: Good time, Good ending

Again, a little disorienting going from updated animation from Halo 2 Anniversary to the original graphics in Halo 3 but I got used to it quickly. Again again, the gun function was a little disappointing (except for sniper which is always a win) but it didn’t affect my gameplay and it definitely wasn’t bad, I just really really like OG Halo’s guns. 

The story started off a little meh for me, but it quickly gained traction and got me invested again. It wasn’t quite as stressful and need-for-complete-focus as the first one nor was it as gripping as the second, but Halo 3 stood really well among the trilogy and the ending was very satisfying. (Also, fuck you moniter I never trusted you).

Overall, I think this is a great trilogy and I adore the story they told here. 

Halo 3 ODST: Not bad at all

I’ll be honest, I was hesitant when I started this game. The characters weren’t as compelling as in Reach and I always roll my eyes at the “We used to date before but now our relationship is strained because we have to have some kind of drama to propel the plot” trope that writers love to use for heterosexual relationships. BUT I did end up coming to like them (still not as much as Noble Team) and Rookie is fucking awesome, I loved playing his bits while he was trying to figure out what happened to his team.

Speaking of which, very clever to have the gameplay go back and forth from Rookie roaming the empty streets all by himself to the more livelier streets the rest of his team are fighting in. Also, the engineer is cute. Very adorable design and his scene with Sargent Johnson made me smile (Rip Johnson, you were one of the best). The story overall was pretty good, even though I wasn’t really sure what they were doing half the time (Veronica, what are doing hun, c’mon) but I had more fun than I thought I would and enjoyed the game thoroughly. 

Guns were wack again though and I mourn the loss of my OG Halo guns. 

Halo 4: Surprisingly good

From what I heard off hand from other people, I knew Halo 4 was not as loved as the last 5 campaigns and playing it for myself, I can see why. The forerunner guns are wonky and the shoot weird; it took me forever to get used to them (except for the sniper because I will always be a pro with a sniper) and I tended to avoid them when I could. The look of the new enemies was pretty cool and they have some cool game mechanics like how you have to shoot the turret things so they don’t revive the prometheans again, but the prometheans themselves were hell to fight and I got annoyed with them, especially since they seemed to have endless health that the forerunner guns did nothing to. But I digress, they were fine and I got good at shooting the dogs(?) heads off. 

The story itself was okay. I don’t really love that they brought the forerunners back, especially since from what we learned from the monitor in the first game, they purposefully killed themselves so that the flood wouldn’t spread, right? Also don’t really like the bit where they devolved humans so they wouldn’t take over? Idk, the lore kinda confused me sometimes and the librarian still doesn’t make sense even though I had gone out of my way to collect the extra cutscenes throughout the game. Like, what did she do to Chief? Make him an unkillable cockroach? He was already that before! What did she do?!

That being said, any scene with Cortana and Chief was a win. Cortana’s slow descent into rampancy was so well done and you feel Chief’s worry for her and his insistence to make sure she’s okay. Chief also got a lot more dialogue and we got to see more of who he is as a character and how much he loves Cortana. I adore these two and their relationship and I got emotional in that end scene with them. They have my heart and I love them. 

Overall, the game was fun and I think Cortana and Chief really carried the story and made it enjoyable. Lore was kind of meh, but I might try to rewatch cutscenes to try and piece together what was happening.

[bluehoodedmousebane]

You :3

I like you :3

I, personally, LOVE the added depth that Halo 2 adds to the series. The Covenant becoming more of a faction rather than "Things that want to kill humans" like most games at the time. And Sargeant Johnson actually becoming Sergaeant Johnson instead of a random Marine with cooler voicelines.

And it sucks that Halo 2 wasn't even finsihed. There was so many more ideas and so much more story that Bungie wanted to add but inevitably couldn't.

And this is a complete wild guess, but I think the main reason a lot of people stuck through with the company through Halo 2's horrencous was because it ended up becoming more of a passion project?

Although that may just be me projecting cause im such a nerd idk

And Halo 3, compared to Halo 2 was.... Well it fell flat on a lot of the built up story beats and seemed to just forget most of the previously established plot??

Also Microsoft and 343 can suck an egg. Halo as a franchise should've ended with Reach, but because it was Microsofts/Xbox's lead money maker. The company's mascot, so to speak. So they couldn't let it end, and they had to bring it back as the trainwreck that was Halo 4.

Halo 2 is a beautiful shitshow. The way it adds to the story and world that CE set up is actual art. The only spots it breaks continuity are where it benefits the story, like with Johnson surviving the first Halo.

Oh my god this got so long. Why do I have much to say about these games. Someone sedate me.

But there is something so. strange. about 2. The guy who did the cursed halo mod, Infernoplus, has said that Halo 2 is a coding mess. The levels are a bit better planned than CE, and the story is insanely good, but the game feels like an inbred pug! The way they coded things are weird and inconvenient in places! You can find ass pics from Bungie employees in the files! It's notorious for crashing for no reason!

I strongly suspect that a lot of the weirdness of Halo 2 is caused by them trying to update and change the code from CE on a short notice. Which. CE's code was probably half of the problem. Supposedly CE started as a side project, turned into a 3rd person shooter, then was turned back into 1st person and they re-coded the entire thing in 9 months. All while Bungie was being transferred to Microsoft. And there were only 15 people regularly working on it.

I really think that CE is just the mess that worked, and that 2 inherited everything that could have gone wrong with CE.

Honestly Halo being a passion project is probably dead on the money, at least in some places. The alien designs are all so unique for the time, the worldbuilding is insanely tight-knit, and the story and characters interact in ways that are so specific and perfect I almost can't believe it was one of the last things they worked on.

But the big thing that gives it away, to me, is the architecture. Somebody. Decided to make separate and distinct designs for the Covenant, Forerunner, and human buildings. This part is normal! It's necessary for a game, even! What is not normal is making each level layout distinct too. Giving the ships and building their own kinds of layouts. Not only that, but hallways that lead to nowhere, dead ends, and rooms that have their own clear purposes beyond being 'room to fight in'.

I keep hearing people talk about how they keep getting lost in CE, and I think part of that is because the levels are designed so strangely! Someone made the decision to make the buildings and ships more realistic, to the (slight) detriment of their player experience!

Whoever made the designs for the ships took inspirations from Alien for the humans architecture. Same for the designs that became the Elites. It would have made sense to try and ride the coattails of that movie, make more money, but that isn't even what they were trying to do! I really do think that someone did this because they wanted to. I think Halo 2 was just them getting to expand on their ideas properly, even with how little time they had.

I know next to nothing about 3 right now lol. It's one that I don't see talked about a lot, and I'm saving actually looking into it until after I've played it myself. I've heard people say it's the worst Halo (besides 5), I've seen people say it's the best Halo, and I'm sure a lot of people say that it's mid. I do figure that some of the plot was set up at the same time as 2's was, since the trilogy was probably planned once the sequel was being produced.

I am a lot more opinionated on 343's games. I definitely think the route they took for 4 and 5 was dogshit. 5 was especially bad, because a lot of the conflict is just super shallow compared to CE. The characters feel so flat because, while there is plenty of conflict in theory, it falls on its face because of the pacing. The writing feels so rushed. Like the story isn't the focus of the campaign, or even of the cutscenes. The characters and conflict don’t get to develop because nobody has time to say anything meaningful to each other.

But I kind of disagree with 4 being a trainwreck, if only because a lot of the story points were set up by 3. I don't think they handled it well, and there were so many places where they could have done better, but I do think it was a progression that could have happened even if Bungie held onto the property. I don't know about the actual gameplay yet though, so there's good odds I'll find issues there if I'm able to play it.

I am also super opinionated about Infinite, because I think that it has genuinely one of the best stories in Halo, even compared to CE and 2. I just think it's held up by mid gameplay in the campaign, and absolutely ruined by the cash grab of a multiplayer. And the story sucks in some places, but even when it sucks it compels me. It’s SO frustrating. It succeeded everywhere 5 failed and failed everywhere 5 succeeded. But I'm never gonna get to play it, so at least I don't have to deal with the gameplay to get to the story :3c

[jessicajagg]

Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) Retrospective

When I was younger my experiences with shooters were limited. Outside of attempting and failing to clear the first stage of 'Shogo Mobile Armor Division' most of my games were of the platformer or fighting variety. The first shooter that really caught my attention, that made me want to buy a console just to play it was Halo.

During the early aughts I was knee deep into gaming news between a subscription to GamePro and infrequent access to G4Techtv, all singing the praises of Halo 2. It was talked about so much that I felt like I was missing out, that I had to play it for myself. I'd constantly read articles and go to the ilovebees arg site. Unfortunately I lacked an Xbox at the time, I had written off the console before then as none of it's early titles really appealed to me.

There was no way my parents were gonna fork over money for a third console (we already had a PS2 and Gamecube) but I managed to get one put in layaway. However there was one caveat. You see I wanted Halo 2, but my mom noticed it had "language" in the ESRB rating on the back. Halo 1 however did not have a pottymouth so that's what I ended up with. After a few months of allowances and probably my parents just paying the rest anyway, I got my Xbox.

Halo CE's title screen is the definition of iconic. A panning shot of the titular ring and the theme plays, I can't help but let it play for a bit before starting a new playthrough. The story does a good job of letting you know what's going on without over explaining lore details. I love how the games opening level goes out of it's way not to show you any of the covenant before one jumpscares you after opening a door.

I can't say much about the core gameplay aside from shoot gun feel good. It's as simple as that, Bungie nailed the control and feel. There are few pleasures that rival feeling the controller vibrate in your hands as you unload an assault rifle clip into an Elite.

The weapons give you a good selection of options on dealing with enemies. For example the Jackals have a sheild that can deflect bullets. You can either overload their sheild with a charged plasma pistol, lob a grenade at them or just run up and beat them.

The stages start off varied and unique, with my absolute favorite being "the silent cartographer". Unfortunately around the halfway point you can tell the devs were crunched for time. You start seeing the same environments from previous levels popping up and run through the same copy pasted room again and again.

Combat also becomes less varied when the flood are introduced. The parasitic enemy mainly consists of infected who charge towards you and little spores that try to jump you. The game basically locks you into using the shotgun to 1 hit kill the big guys and the assault rifle to pop the spores.

The final stage sees you racing in a warthog against the clock to evacuate before your ship destroys the ring. I still remember the first time I playing, I was extremely tense and struggling hard against the vehicle controls. I was kinda dumb as a kid and didn't usually beat games so I felt really proud of myself as I watched Halo go boom, even if I was playing on easy.

Despite the flaws in the later portions of the game, I was hooked. I was officially a Halo megafan, constantly replaying the campaign and playing multiplayer with my friend and cousin. And ofcourse it only made me want to experience Halo 2 even more. The e3 trailers were included in newer printings of CE and I'd watch them constantly.

Eventually I'd finally get to play it but that's a story for another time. Tl;dr Halo's fucking good.

[spacefaxy]

this is one of the reasons i liked Halo Reach so much it objectively has a bad ending, and you know that going in if you've played Halo CE or Halo 2. It has to have a bad ending for the rest of the series to work.

"As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at lightspeed my maneuvering options were limited." "This war already has enough dead heroes." "There was only one ship. [...] They called it 'The Pillar of Autumn' [...] It fled, as we set fire to their planet." "Remember Reach" 5 of the 6 Spartans on the team *died*, including the player's. Some sacrificed themselves so the rest could continue, or for the sake of the mission. Some were just outright killed.

We watched as entire cities were glassed, nuked, bombed, and burned in Long Night of Solace. New Alexandria, in the mission bearing its name, was struck with three separate glassing beams. Two while the player flies around the city, and again in the closing cutscene. Molten rock and steel were pouring down the streets between what was left of the buildings, burning anything that could burn, melting what couldn't, and carrying away or burying the rest.

Jorge's death was just tragic. "He gave his life thinking he'd just saved the planet... We should all be so lucky."

I gasped when I saw Kat get killed the first time. Spartans weren't supposed to die, and there she was. Lifeless, entry and exit holes in her helmet from the sniper waiting for them.

Carter gave his life to Emile and the player, crashing his pelican into a scarab to give the two Spartans an opening to the Autumn. "Commander, you don't have the firepower." "I've got the mass. You're on your own, Noble. Carter out."

After Emile was stabbed through his chest with an energy sword, he said "I'm ready! How about you?" and killed his own assassin. His words, looking back, weren't for the elite that killed him, but for the player. "It's my time to die. I'm ready. We both know the mission. Are you ready to die, 6?"

Noble 6, the player, watches the Autumn leave dry dock and fly away. That was the last ship that could have taken them off Reach on that entire continent. It was Noble 6 against an entire army of Covenant soldiers now, and they were going to drag as many as they could to hell with them. Supposedly, this battle went on for days until 6 was physically and mentally exhausted. Not even their armor could give them enough strength to get up after being knocked down that final time before being stabbed through the heart.

It's not like it would've mattered much anyway if 6 could've escaped Reach. The Pillar of Autumn was destroyed, and all its crew killed within a week of exiting slipspace, with only a handful of survivors. 6 might've ended up taking the place of the ODST that kept the Truth and Reconciliation grounded. Maybe they'd have fallen to the Flood with their inferior reflexes and combat experience (compared to the Chief that is).

It made sense for the Spartans to die. They had to, it was their duty, and they were committed to it. And it was perfectly suited to the story of despair and hopelessness Bungie wanted to tell with Reach.

i'm actually very okay with "there was no other way this could end" endings. if they gotta die, let them die. if they gotta break up or go the wrong way or lose something important, let'em. so long as it completes the story. only thing i dislike more than a forced happy ending is a forced bad ending

[skill7spark04]

Re; The Perfect Game

I wanna come forward and say this outright: the perfect game isn't the one that looks the best. (stylization is timeless, unlike realism, which likely fades after a few years innovation) It's not the one with infinite choices in what you want to do, how you want to do it, and basically letting you do whatever forever. ("life 2" type games) the games that are the best, are the ones that fit their niche and concept perfectly, and aren't trying to take all your time and money. they are also very reactive. sure, you have games like Skyrim, Read Dead Redemption 2, and GTA 5 that are those "Life 2" games that do really well. but those are exceptions. games like Carrion and TF2, and Superhot are perfect examples. Carrion is 2D Reverse Horror Game, meaning YOU are the monster. it's a short, complete experience, with fun gameplay, puzzles, story, and really makes you feel like a monster. especially if you play into horror tropes. it's stylization as a pixel art game means it's visuals will never truly age. I would say it reminds me of Rain World in art direction. it's reactive world, from destructible furniture and tossable doors and shreddable environments will immerse you. the details like trails of blood, chunks of armor or flesh, dropped guns, broken machinery, all of them linger, with no despawn timer. all In all, I'd label it a perfect 10/10, succeeding in what it wanted to do to a perfect capacity. on TF2, you have a quirky, Stylized class based shooter, with lovable identifyable characters, whose sillouettes stick out like a red spy in a blue fort. the gunplay is fun, first and foremost. and there are a lot of options. a lot of which are found in niches like subclasses. but what's important is the game itself, on a base level, is fun. the default stock classes are not plowed through by those who bought or unlocked equipment. and sure, tf2 is blatantly pay to win, but, in no way does paying really give you any advantage over someone with stock other than niche instances. besides, most things that are really strong are unlockables. something must be said for how this community has remained alive after 7 or so years without proper developer made updates.the game is fun, funny, and sticks to it's aesthetic and humor (with minimal exceptions).

2016's hit game "Superhot" is honestly the most innovative shooter i've played in years. time will only move when you do. everything is a colorless eggshell white against a neon white sky, with you and any interactable objects being black, and anything hostile being red. everything is very fragile and crystalline looking, which is shown well in how enemies shatter when killed. each level has new twists, cool secrets, and tons of detail. even the main menu has a lot of Easter eggs and secrets, everything being very diagetic, and very reactive. (Gabe Newell talks on the difference between realism and reactivity. technically he says reinforcement, but we mean the same thing, and Im too lazy to edit this post at this point:)

so yeah, that's what makes the best games. and if you look at it, games like RDR2, and GTA5, and Skyrim all have these. just for their niche as "Life 2" games. but when you take games like assasin's creed, and overbloat their worlds with useless nonsense just so you can say you have infinite (meaningless) choices, but the story has no drastic changes despite in game decisions or dialogue choices, then it really just feels terrible. people want responsive, fun, good looking games. not realistic, time sinking, addictive, and money grabbing experiences. a player will naturally play a game they like more than a game they feel obligated to play. and players will play over and over again a 20 hour experience that they enjoy, but they'll never again touch the 1000+ hour time eating grindstone that dulls their will to game every time they hop on. (more examples: Silent Hill 2, Signalis, Dead Space, Prey, Halo Ce - Halo Reach, Dark Souls, Hollow Knight, Grounded, Modern Warfare 2; 2007, Dead Cells, and Terraria. I like these ones a lot.)

[ageless-aislynn]

I still can't launch Mass Effect: Andromeda without my computer going

💀No thanks💀

but at least the MCC can still launch and play (most of the time 👀). So I've been working on some solo achievements that I didn't think I would be able to get, namely the par scores. I went through and tried some of my favorite levels of Halo 2, 3, and Reach (sorry, 4, there is no level of you that I enjoy playing to that degree 🤷‍♀️ and I already have the ones on CE and ODST that I wanted to try for) and was actually able to get them! 🥳🥳🥳

And then. I realized I had 5 of the 9 levels of Reach, by FAR the most par scores than on any other game. And so I decided to try for "We'll Be Back" Beat the par score on every Halo: Reach level.

If you've ever tried this, well, either you're going

or you're just a much better player than I am, lol. Par score means you have to beat the par time but on a higher difficulty with tougher enemies and you can't just run by everybody, you've got to take 'em out to get the points.

"The Pillar of Autumn" was one that I'd struggled to get the par time on before (and that was on Easy so... 👀) but I got the par score on the second try. 🥳 That was a total shock!

I thought I'd get stalled on "Long Night of Solace" but I've gotten much better at the sabre section and blasted my way to victory after a few tries. (It was actually the fight on the Covvie ship after that that kept delaying me until the par time ran out and then your points begin frickin' to roll backwards to practically 0, ARGH.)

But then: "Exodus" and "The Package."

If those two levels just brought fear to your heart, then yeah, you've tried this achievement before.

ZOH MAH GUH. These levels are sooooo long *that's what she said joke goes here* 😜 and require stupidly high amounts of points: "Exodus" 20 minutes par time, 30,000 par score, "The Package" 20 minutes par time, 65,000 par score.

I didn't even get remotely close to par time or score my first dozen attempts at both of these levels. I tried different combinations of Normal + a bunch of skulls to raise the difficulty and Heroic + fewer skulls. I finally went with Heroic + fewer for "Exodus" annnnd after many, many times jetpacking my way to absolute failure trying to do the mid-level fight skip, I would make it to the last battle and my score would drain out because I went past the par time.

😑

That was legit my expression.

But then, I kept working at it, got better at doing the skip. Figured out how to jetpack up the building to do another skip (there's a trick to briefly stopping your jetpack halfway up, then starting again that will - eventually after much trial and error, falling to your death and cursing like a sailor 🤬😇😉 - let you get up to a higher place than you technically can in one jetpack burst). Then it was a matter of optimizing that final fight section where you have to activate two switches, then a final third. I died SO MANY TIMES trying to get to that last switch. Then I discovered you can jetpack up the outside of the room, go through the window, try not to get ABSOLUTELY OBLITERATED by the Hammer Chieftain Brute waiting for you, and hit the switch! I finally made the par score, woo-hoo!!!

And that left "The Package" and its monstrous 65,000 par score.

Playing on Normal with almost all of the skulls, despite seeing Youtube guides of other people managing it easily, just didn't work for me. I couldn't get nearly enough points. So I finally had to go with Heroic and almost all of the skulls on. That was painful but better than trying Legendary with no skulls and then I'd get my face melted off in the first section with the two turrets, the sniper Jackal with the focus rifle, the two fuel-rod Grunts and the 2 Grunts in the Ghosts. MY ABSOLUTE WORD, FRENS. My face got melted off SO MUCH. 😑

I learned speedrunning tricks I'd only heard of before and never thought to even try. I figured out how to run up the frickin' center support columns and do weird curving crouch jumps to 2 platforms just to avoid fighting a ginormous bunch of Jackals. I did the bounce trick where you sprint onto a sculpture, bounce up to a higher point on it, then jump for the window, crash through it and get to the Halsey's lab firefight without having to fight the camo Elites and that one Really Annoying General Elite™ with the concussion rifle.

(GAHHHHHHH, that dude blasted me SO MANY TIMES. And if throws a plasma grenade in your general direction? GOODBYE. HE DOES NOT MISS.)

You lose the points from those fights but if you're struggling for par time and you're already at about 50k points or so going into the firefight section, it was worth it.

I can't record but here are the 2 tricks at 3:46 and 4:36 (I had to jump to the higher level of the sculpture and crash through the window more to the left, I couldn't do it in one jump like Vodred does but I still could eventually make it about 3 out of 4 times, depending on if a camo Elite spawned standing RIGHT IN MY PATH. 😑)

I finally made it through to the Halsey's lab section at under 10 minutes. The following firefight is almost impossible to speed through at less than 10 minutes on its own because you have to wait for each wave of enemies to come in before you can clear them.

(I saw the world record holder do some amazing speedrun tricks to destroy the Phantoms as they come in to bring the enemies but, yeah, it was taking so long to try to learn that, I finally figured it was faster just to figure out how to fight them more efficiently.)

I did learn to reliably hijack a Banshee in mid-air thanks to my cool new jetpacking skills learned on "Exodus," at least. 😉

And then I got shot out of the sky SO MANY TIMES by those dang Jackals and Grunts and their overcharged plasma pistols. MY WORD. I worked a few different strategies, changing the Banshee for the Wraith and finishing the level like that or choosing to destroy the Wraith for the points and stay more maneuverable in the Banshee. I honestly thought the second strat was going to be the one that worked for me but MY STARS THOSE OVERCHARGED PLASMA PISTOLS ARRRGH.

I would get an enormous amount of points - once over 120k! - only to watch it drain to 16k because I couldn't finish the level even close to the par time. I was so sad on that one, frens, I can't even. 😭😭😭

But then, last night, I decided to try one last run before I went off to try to become a slightly more productive member of society. 😜 And I fought my little heart out, doing a combo of speedrun tricks and stand-and-fight to get points. And I out of the corner of my eye, I saw the timer at 19 minutes and change and the last wave was just dropping. 😱 I had over 110k points at this time but would start losing them quickly once we reached 20 minutes.

I was in the Wraith, which is powerful but moves slooooowly, down at the bottom of the map to take out the first of the last 3 Phantoms. I mortar bombed the other Wraith just as it was dropped off. I sped as fast as my Wraith could go - approximately the speed of molasses sliiiiiding down a hill in the sunlight 😑 - back up the map. I mortar bombed THE HECK out of everybody in the middle, trying desperately to be not only fast but to catch them grouped together for the multi-kill bonus points I knew I was going to need to inflate my score as high as possible against the going over par time penalty.

I see the timer hit 20, then 21. I stop looking and decide just to finish the fight™ (Master Chief John-117 😇😉) and see how close I could get.

I hear Dr. Halsey say, "Well done, Spartans. I'm opening the laboratory door," which is your cue to go and push the button (why the rest of Noble Team, who are STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO THE BUTTON can't do that on their own, I DUNNO). I have an Elite dancing around my mortar bombs as I'm Wraithing my way slooooowly towards the door. I glance down and see I have 90K POINTS LEFT, ZOMG. I do this stupid panic jump out of the Wraith without killing the Elite.

He starts shooting me. I JETPACK INTO THE SKY for some reason because I apparently forgot I have the jetpack on and not the sprint, lol.

He's still shooting at me. My shields are lighting up. I'm awkwardly jetpacking straight at Carter, mentally begging my beloved Noble One TO SAVE ME.

I land behind him and he provided accidental cover for me, actually getting shot by the Elite in my place.

Carter, my beloved.

ANYWAY, I'm doing this SUPER AWKWARD jetpack bursting hop thing towards that dang button because I again have forgotten I DON'T HAVE SPRINT RIGHT NOW, GEEZ. I hear the enemy Wraith on the platform behind me launch a mortar bomb and know that it CAN HIT ME WHERE I'M AT.

Ask me how I know. 😑

But this time, my awkward jetpacking meant I got to the button before the mortar got there and YES YES YES!

🥳

Annnnd here are the other par scores I got since I started trying for them last month. (And yes, when I can't sleep, I play Halo. 👀 Don't be an insomniac if you can help it, frens. 😴😉)

So, now I feel like I've accomplished something pretty special, even more than just getting the Legendary achievements because... Wait.

I wonder...? 🤔🤔🤔 I mean, Reach on Legendary is no party. *points up to that part where I mentioned getting my face melted* This would be a Legendary speedrun but I've learned a LOT of speedrunning tricks and there are a lot of really good guides out there...

Hm, maybe not. 😑😂

If you read all of this, thank you. I just mainly wanted to share my happiness at having gotten that achievement and since I couldn't include fun GIFs or video clips of it, I had to just be wordy. 🤷‍♀️

Have a cookie, from my heart to yours.

Now with 2000% more screencaps!

[mluleki2]

Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is an approach that acknowledges the pervasive impact of trauma on individuals' mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Unlike traditional healthcare methods, TIC shifts the focus from asking "What’s wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?", recognizing that past traumatic experiences can deeply influence present behavior and health. This approach integrates an understanding of trauma into all aspects of care, creating a safe, supportive environment for recovery. It is essential in fields like mental health and social services, where the effects of trauma are often long-lasting and profound​(Halo Mental Health).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety are considered intimate partner violence (IPV) comorbidities, especially among women. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is the most common element of IPV care(American Psychiatric Association.,2013).

Principles To Promote Mental Health

My therapeutic use of self when providing trauma informed care.

Before, I had trouble understanding how occupational therapists used their own experiences to treat patients who were suffering from various traumatic events. I also had trouble understanding what conditions were a result of those traumatic experiences, such as gender-based violence, substance abuse, the death of a loved one, and so on. Working at the mental health block has allowed me to learn how different diagnoses manifest and what the principles to follow while treating individuals for that particular conditions.

During the first half of the block I was seeing the patient who was diagnosed with dementia and was now in an Erikson stage of integrity vs despair and was shifting more towards the despair side due to traumatic experience's she went through on her previous life. The most traumatic experiences included separating with the father of her child after she had just given birth to her which made her to develop hate to her own child and loosing bond with her, other one included that she lost her father in front of her, the client's traumatic events made her to blame herself for most of the critical events that has happened to her life.

I was able to establish trust with her in order to enable her to be open with me and establish our trustworthiness. I gave her further emotional support to make sure she realized that not all of the horrific events in her life were her fault and to help her move past the depressing stage when she was blaming herself for everything that had happened to her instead to try and appreciate the life that she had and more of quality of time.

What I learnt about informed care-trauma.

Today I was able to understand the difference between client-centeredness treatment and trauma-informed care, understanding the principles of trauma-informed care, trauma triggers and responses in relation to the person past critical events and then relate them to Erikson stages of development.(Research AOTA).

References.

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2017). Vision 2025. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71, 7103420010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2017.713002

Fette, C., Pattavina, C., & Weaver, L. (2019). Understanding and Applying Trauma-Informed Approaches Across Occupational Therapy Setting. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/∼/media/Corporate/Files/Publications/CE-Articles/CE-article-May-2019-Trauma.pdf

Pines, E. W. (2017). Intimate partner violence among women and trauma-informed care: An international perspective. Madridge Journal of Women's Health and Emancipation, 1, 11–15. https://doi.org/10.18689/mjwh-1000104

[2dplatformerterm1-fe]

S4- designing pick ups

RESEARCH

I've chosen five separate and iconic video game pick ups/power ups to research for my own game.

SONICS RINGS

-When Sonic picks up his iconic rings, they act as a lifeline to prevent the character from dying. When Sonic is hit, his rings disperse from him, leaving him vulnerable to attack.

-I don't think players would actually realize that the rings were lifelines until they figured it out for themselves, as its not very obvious that they are supposed to prevent the player from dying. My first guess would have probably been that they act as a form of currency.

MARIO KART ITEM BOXES

-In Mario kart, there are occasionally floating boxes that when you drive through, will give you an item. The item you get from one of these boxes is determined on what position you're in when racing.

-I think that these item boxes easily convey their purpose. A question mark in the middle of a box definitely demonstrates to me that these boxes are intended to give you a mystery item to (hopefully) aid with your victory.

HALO'S OVERSHIELD

-When this is picked up, this grants the player 200 extra shield, granting extra protection when fighting against your opponents.

This one is actually from 'Halo: combat evolved'. This specific overshield actually granted 300% shield, as opposed to the now standard 200%.

-I don't think that this is vey clear on what it does. Especially in CE, it almost looks like its supposed to damage the player rather then help.

POKEMON'S TMS

-In most pokemon games, the player is able to find random gold pokeballs placed in random, sometimes hidden locations. When these pokeballs are picked up, the player can access new moves via 'TMS' (technical moves) which can be taught to a compatible pokemon to create superior move sets to battle with.

-In my opinion, I think that this does make it fairly obvious as to what it is, since it differs greatly from the regular pokeballs that are also littered around the map. In the regular pokeballs, more common items can be found. The golden ones look more important to find and open in comparison.

SUPER SMASH BROS 'SMASH BALL'

-The smash ball is a powerful power up granting players the ability to possibly one shot their opponents during a match. It appears randomly throughout a fight, with either player being able to obtain one and use it to their advantage during the brawl.

-The smash ball is flashy and made obvious to players as they fight. It looks powerful, so I agree that it conveys what its supposed to do well.

[jodjuya]

Okay! All done with "Fallout: New Vegas"!

I min-maxed my character too hard and accidentally optimised all the fun out of the game! Whoops! My bad!

(I did it twice, in fact! Got bored with my first Guns/Explosives sneaky guy, so I made a new character in hardcore mode and restarted the game to play as an Energy Weapons/power-armor guy)

((when will I finally learn to play a video game without having its wiki open on my phone the whole time? Scientists are unsure!))

This was my first hardcore-mode playthrough, and it was also the first time I ever learned that you actually CAN have two companions at the same time in New Vegas! it just has to be one humanoid and one NON-humanoid!

So I no longer had to choose between Ed-E, my beloved; or Arcade Gannon, my Doctor Boyfriend; but could have both of them with me together at the same time!

Which was lovely!

But the game got even more ridiculously stupidly easy from that point.

Because as much fun as it was to have Doctor Boyfriend and I tromping around the countryside in our matching suits of Remnants Power-Armor with our beloved pet Eyebot by our side, doing an Indomitable Antifa Genocide while also caving in the skull of an Old World billionaire with a golf club for funsies on the side...

...it wasn't THAT fun.

Once you can vaporise any enemy in the entire game in under a second, everything just kinda loses its allure.

Even hardcore-mode stopped being hardcore role-playing and just started being an extra set of menu-clicking chores. No thoughtfulness or tough decisions required.

Was absolutely drowning in caps from all those Legion hit-squads that kept manifesting themselves for Gatling Laser Target Practice, too.

"the kAiSaR has marked you for death!"

Oh word? Pretty brave talk from some dorkass cosplay loser armed with naught but a few pointy sticks against the supreme pinnacle of the Old World's military might. World War 4 technology versus World War 3 technology? Get vaporised, idiot. 💥

But yeah, only level 29 yet most of my skills were at level 100, my DT was 46, and my primary weapon could throw out like 510+dps or something ludicrous like that.

God mode.

Might as well just explode random ragdolls in a level-editor at that point. 🤷🏻‍♂️

---

And speaking of exploding ragdolls, next up I'll be playing through the Halo franchise for the first time!

Picked up CE Anniversary, 2, 3, and 4 from pawn shops over the last two weeks.

I played CE on a borrowed gaming PC back when it came out, but was too poor to be a console gamer for the rest of them, so I never got to experience the rest of the story or the series' gameplay developments.

I did play a 2d fan-game prequel tho. That was pretty fun! Forget about that entirely until just now.

Probably will have to wait until after this weekend's heatwave passes though. This old 360 really starts chugging once it heats up. Every time New Vegas crashed or glitched out, I'd feel the side of the Xbox and sure enough that thing would be running a fever 🥵

I think while I wait I'll open up the 360 and see how much dust I can clear out of its cooling system. I expect there'll be generous amounts up in there...

[ashley-trashley]

congrats on the legendary clear!!

Thanks!! I beat 3, ODST, and Reach on legendary a few years ago without much trouble, but it took me forever to finally git gud at CE. Treating the plasma pistol as a primary weapon was honestly a game changer because that thang was an absolute BEAST in that campaign (especially with my new Elite controller's hair trigger setting which made it easier to rapid fire) and it carried me through some really rough sections. But the biggest help was going into it with the right mindset; I've matured a lot as a person since the last time I attempted that legendary run, so it was a lot easier to be patient and learn from my mistakes (with only a *little* bit of raging this time.) Now we just have to see how long it takes for me to develop the mental fortitude for Halo 2 and its Jackal snipers lol