#but then we run into the same issues of like okay well alvin??? how is alvin james and rebecca lily?

[messrsrarchives]

i want to write a twdg au so fucking bad. so fucking bad just for clem and lee as remus and teddy. but then like,,, yk there's so many ROUTES you can take these things! i'd have to decide what route to take. and then it would just be s1 because what after that? who's aj? yk??? like it would just be s1 but it would just be my playthrough and then it would be like "here is this fic specifically crafted for me and only me"

but it would be fun to do like. alt endings? because we know how s1 ends and i could AHAHAH give that false sense of security with two endings and people (me, again this is made for me and me only) are like "wow i am sad i'll read this othe- AGAIN!?" and that'd be funny.

[bleepblopbloop56]

i wrote alvin and the chipmunks fanfic and now thats everyone elses problem

tw for like food insecurity 

There was a small pitter of claws against hardwood that was always filling the modest Seville household. The chipmunks had prided themselves on their human characteristics, wearing clothes, shoes, glasses, getting their haircut at normal barber shops and going to normal highschools, even if they had to sit on books and high chairs at restaurants and cafeteria tables. Despite this, they still took advantage of running on four paws whenever they had the chance, and twisted and skittered up surfaces like they did with the thinnest tree branches back in the woods. The railing of the stairway was covered in claw marks from the boys scaling it quickly when chasing each other, or the rare occasion Dave had attempted to bring in a dog or cat to watch for a friend. 

The sound of small footsteps was enough to wake simon. He had always been the lightest sleeper, spending years protecting his brothers in the woods without the advantage of sight had solidified this trait in him even long after the boys had moved into the suburbs and safety of daves house. The small door at the corner of their regular sized bedroom door was swinging lightly, as if someone had just left. Simon shoved on his glasses, sitting up and looking to see which of his brothers was up this time of night. Theadore was out like a light, obviously, his face being illuminated by the alarm clocks electronic lights on the nightstand beside him, his red numbers blinking at 3:00 am in his sleeping form. He turned to his second brother's bed and of course,Alvin's bed was empty, covers thrown to the side and pillow laying across the foot of the bed, as if he'd hastily tossed it out of his way. 

“Ugh, alvin..'' Simon groaned to himself, rubbing the fur in between his eyes in annoyance. Usually he'd leave him to go discover his mess in the morning and leave Dave to ground him for the rest of the week, but considering the door had just clicked closed it might not be too late to spare them both the trouble. He swung his legs off the side of the bed, carefully scampering across the floor on all four paws to avoid waking theodore. He slipped out the door and down the stairs, peeking his head slowly around the corner and into the kitchen. Alvin had crawled into the cabinets, filling his hoodie pockets with food and looking around, paranoid. Alvin had always loved that hoodie, it took going through 4 different fabrics before he found one he liked enough to let Dave sew into a hoodie. It wasn't only the color he was particular about, but the texture. Some of the hoodies before this one made his skin crawl just to touch it. Dave dismissed it as him just being picky, but Simon knew that his brother had always had an issue with textures and fabrics, however little they came in contact with in the wild. The mere act of shoving food into his precious hoodie was enough to make simon suspicious

 Simon ducked behind the wall before he could be caught, slowly peeking his head back when it was safe. Alvin hopped from the cabinets to the counter, then the chair, then back to the floor, running right past Simon and onto the stairs without even noticing his onlooker. 

“Um, alvin?” Simon spoke up, stopping Alvin in his tracks. He flinched hard, fur sticking up like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. “What are you doing” 

Alvin turned slowly to his brother, standing up on his back feet and pinning his ears down nervously. He tried to smile casually and put his hands in his pockets, but that just pushed a sheeseball from his pocket and sent it tumbling down the stairs. He watched it with thinly disguised horror as it rolled away.

“Ohh.. hey si, what are you doing awake”

“I heard you leaving” a tired yawn priced itself out of Simon's mouth, a paw coming up to cover it. Alvin bit back the urge to yawn as well. 

“Oh yeah, just a little midnight snack, nothing to worry about there” Simon did not look convinced. He stared deadpanned at Alvin and he dropped his shoulders. Alvin's eyes met the floor nervously looking for another excuse simon would accept “its nothing, simon, really”

“If it's nothing why wont you tell me”

Alvin took a deep sigh, sitting down on the steps and pulling his knees into his chest. The food crunched a little uncomfortably in his pocket and Simon inwardly sighed at the mess he was making. Alvin twitched his nose a little, trying to hold back a few of the tears that were starting to pick at his eyes. Simon came and sat down on the step beside him.

“It's just…” he started, closing his eyes tight like he was expecting simon to shut him down before he even began “its been getting colder, lately, and i don't know i guess i just” 

“You've been hoarding food” Simon gasped out a little, finishing Alvin's sentence. He nodded roughly, a little scared to open his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his knees and hugged himself tight. “Alvin, you… we don't have to do that anymore, you know we're safe here”

“i , i know that, i do but its just.. Its dumb.”

“Its not”

“I know we're supposed to be like everyone else and we're supposed to be normal kids but.. When I feel it getting colder it's like.. My chest gets tighter? I get.. Antsy? I don't know how to describe it” he ran his claws through his fur, ruffling it and messing the patterning up. “It's like I need to make sure we all have enough food for the winter again.” 

“That's, that's okay Alvin, it's just instincts. Its kinda sweet”

“But it doesn't make any sense!” he tossed his head back angrily, raising his voice slightly but not enough to wake anyone. “I know Dave is here to protect us and feed us but “ a few tears slipped out of his eyes and into his fur, he rubbed them away so Simon couldn't see.

“Hey, hey, whoa” simon awkwardly reached a hand out to alvin's shoulder, and before he could process what was happening alvin had flung himself into his arms, hugging his brother tightly and burying himself into his shoulder, hands curling into simons pajama shirt, then uncurling from the uncomfortable fabric, tucking his paws into his sleeves before hugging him again. Simon never had a problem with it, but Alvin could pick out his favorite hoodie blindfolded. “It's okay, it's alright, do you.. Want me to go get dave?” 

Alvin shook his head violently, sniffing and trying to bite back his tears the best he could. He hated crying, it made him feel like a little kid when he constantly was attempting to be seen as the teen he is. His life constantly fluctuated from being smaller and weaker and more sensitive than the other kids at school, sometimes purely because he wasn't the same species, to being this adult others looked at with awe when he was touring or on stage or at interviews. He didn't know what he was allowed to be and what not. He hated the lights and noise of the stage but they were nothing compared to the fluorescents and just-almost-silence of the classroom. 

“He wouldnt understand,” Alvin mumbled, whipping his own tears into his shoulder as Simon slowly attempted to hug back. He was never great with feelings or comforting, that was Theodore's department, but Theodore was asleep right now and as much as Simon hated to admit it Alvin was right. Dave wouldnt understand because Dave was both human and had never experienced food insecurity before. Simon racked his brain for ways to help, eventually pulling back and holding Alvin by the shoulders as he calmed down.

“I think I have an idea, but for now you need to try and get some rest, okay?” Alvin nodded at him, letting Simon drag him upstairs and into their bedroom as quietly as possible. Alvin shoved the food in his pockets under his bed with the rest of his stash, and Simon bit his tongue about complaining about ants. That was a mess for future simon to deal with, and right now he was too tired to think about it.

In the morning, simon helped Alvin clean out one of his bedside drawers, and they reached an agreement of being able to store packaged food in their for whenever he gets anxious, and had both instructed Theodore about the importance of leaving it alone.

“I-i know what you mean alvin” he had said sheepishly, kicking on his own sneakers as they got ready for school “when we were in the forest i never knew where our next meal would be, so when i had food i just ate it. I never really got out of that I guess” theodore struggled with his laces, anxiously pulling them until they were knotted, then unknotting them to try again.

“I'm surprised this hasn't come up before '' Simon brushed a small barbie doll comb through his hair as he spoke. “Considering we've been out of that particular living situation for some time now” 

“Yeah, well” alvin spoke up, nervously scratching at that spot behind his ear he never could scratch enough “it's embarrassing”

“I don't think so at all” simon reassured, pulling his backpack off the chair and hopping out the door “come on, were gonna be late” 

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 GOOD Things About Season Two

Oh, season two... how you hurt me so. 

Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about this game-- S2 of TWDG is my least favorite of all five games. I could probably give you a top TEN things that I hate about season two, but... while I don’t love it, I do believe that there is good to be found in it. That’s what I want to discuss today. 

I did have some help brainstorming ideas for this list, so big thanks to @pi-creates, @kaylee-wolf, @taurusicorn2400, and @daisystarss for bouncing ideas around with me! :D

5. The Lee dream sequence.

This scene is super well done. The only reason that it’s so low on the list is because I tend to forget about it due to all the bullshit surrounding it. It usually isn’t until Arvo shoots Clementine that I remember Lee’s gonna show up and make me cry. Then he leaves all too quickly, and it’s back to the Kenny/Jane bullshit train. 

But pushing aside the shitshow, I love this scene. Of course, emotions are all over the place seeing Lee again given the state he was in at the end of s1. Plus there’s something about seeing baby Clementine again after being an older version of her that gets me. 

Their talk is interesting, too, calling back to your choices about Lilly and Carley/Doug, plus discussing Duck being bit. The part that’s always stood out to me, and I’m sure everyone else, is when Clementine asks Lee why people do the things they do.

And Lee’s response is one that doesn’t just apply to s2, it applies to several characters over the course of the series: “Clem, people don't always make sense... 'Cause bad things happen to everyone. And it's hard to keep bein' yourself after they do.”

As the conversation goes on, he also says, “Well, it's not like math, Clem. Sometimes there just isn't a right answer... but part of growing up is doing what's best for the people you care about...even if sometimes...that means hurting someone else.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“...It’s not that easy.” 

Ugh, it’s so good. It ends with Lee asking what he can say to make Clementine feel better, and it really just hurts because y’know it’s not real, y’know that Clementine’s dreaming all of this and Lee’s going to go away.

Overall a powerful scene that gets me every time. 

4. Clementine walking through the snowstorm

Okay look.... I adore this scene. Everything about it. 

Like okay, we have the stupid bullshit that is Kenny and Jane being literal children in the truck, then we nearly crash. Kenny leaves to look for gas, Jane gets Clementine to drive which dumb idea Jane and she crashes. 

That part sucks, but then the actual greatness begins. Jane runs off with AJ, and Clementine’s left alone with nothing but her gun as she begins her walk through the terrible blizzard. 

It has such a sense of loneliness to it-- hearing Clementine shiver and walk around calling out for help before going silent, the song ‘It’s Out There’ that plays while the wind whips and whistles, and then seeing all the frozen walkers standing around like statues really gives you a sense that something terrible is going to happen. It’s this weird calm before the storm kind of thing that also happens to take place during a harsh snow fall? if that makes sense? 

It’s a beautiful scene but it’s also sad, y’know? Sad because once again, Clementine is all alone. She’s been through so much bullshit, and this bullshit train isn’t even at it’s final stop. She’s alone, she’s still injured from when Arvo shot her, she’s gonna freeze to death if she doesn’t keep moving, she has no idea where the fuck Kenny, Jane, and AJ are, and just... it’s a lot. 

But damn it, it’s so good. 

3. AJ is born

AJ being born is one of the best things to happen in S2, and not just because AJ is a super interesting character himself in S2 or even what his being born does for the story. 

If AJ wasn’t born here, then we wouldn’t have had him in TFS where he finally got to become this compelling character and player in the overall story. Don’t get me wrong, his birth does bring an cool aspect to S2 when you willfully ignore how the hell he’s managed to stay alive and healthy the entire time.

Not only that, but we get to see the start of Clementine’s relationship with him. It doesn’t matter what choices you pick, Clementine shows time and time again that she cares about AJ. She nearly breaks down when she believes he died in the snow before the Kenny and Jane fight, then cries again when she discovers he’s alive. 

I enjoy the big sister aspect they went with for Clementine [it definitely beats ANF’s mom nonsense] and I like the growth it shows with her relationship to Rebecca as well... even though that could’ve been written a lot smoother. Rebecca just kind of does a 180 and they blame it on pregnant hormones which.... eh, okay sure. 

For all it’s flaws, this season gave us the start of AJ and I can’t hate it for that, y’know? 

2. Carver is a pretty great antagonist

I like Carver. I think he’s a great antagonist and I really wish they hadn’t killed him off as early as they did.

I find him to be a fascinating character study, y’know? 

From the very beginning, even before we get to physically meet him, we’re told that Carver is a threat. The cabin group are running from someone, and we can easily put the pieces together that Rebecca might be pregnant with his baby rather than Alvin’s.

Then we actually get to meet him when he comes to the cabin and it’s well executed. From Sarah having a panic attack at seeing a glimpse of him through the window, to his friendly and charismatic nature, to the way he talks to Clementine and just... it’s unsettling.

He’s clever, and he knows that Clementine’s covering for the cabin group, but he’s trying to trick her into giving him info. I also hate how smug he gets when he finds the photo of Sarah, but then he just looks at her, and asks, “You have no idea who these people are, do you?” or whatever and just... something about that, y’know? 

Then his “You have a nice day,” as he leaves and you know he’s coming right back with more people, so the group has gotta go. 

Then of course comes his later scenes where he shows up with his people to the lodge, murders Walter while saying he didn’t want to do it but Kenny left him no choice, and he can possibly murder Alvin if Kenny keeps shooting which is a huge holy shit moment because of how Rebecca reacts. 

Ugh, y’know just the way Carver talks to Rebecca and is so matter-of-fact about the baby being his and how he justifies his actions. Like, we can’t forget Reggie and how Carver threw him off the roof only to turn around like “I liked Reggie, he was chill, but he was weak.”

I dunno man, it’s super well done!

I truly believe Carver could’ve gone down as the best antagonist in the series if the writers hadn’t killed him off so damn early to make more room for Kenny to become the new antagonist of the season. Ugh.

I don’t even have an issue with how he died, either. Having Kenny kill him the way he did makes sense and it’s brutal, it was just premature.

Anyway, Carver’s pretty great. One of the best parts of S2. 

1. Clementine 

I mean, are we really surprised? Clementine is what makes this game playable. She’s the best written, most consistent character [which I know is a bit iffy because we do make choices for her but ya get me] and her growth over the season is the most compelling compared to the other characters. 

Hell, of the four Clementine’s we get across the series, this Clementine is my second favorite! She’s fantastic! 

I also love how self-aware she is that her group is just a bunch of morons and she’s gotta do everything around here, but then the same group underestimates her time and time again even though she’s proven herself to be the most competent. 

And on top of that, she goes through so much bullshit. Right from the start, Christa’s still cold to her after what happened to Omid and the baby, then she gets separated from Christa and nearly drowns in a river, then she comes across a dog that attacks and nearly killing her, forcing her to fight back which kills the dog, and then when she finds some decent people, she passes out and this group thinks it’s a walker bite because their “doctor” is incompetent. They lock her up in a shed because ??? so she has to break in and steal supplies to sew up her own arm, which she does and you feel the pain of it the whole way through, BUT THEN she gets attacked by a walker and has to fight it off before the dumb dumb crew come in to help her. 

And that’s just the first part of episode one. 

It’s like the writers were like “Hey, let’s torture Clem so that we can get easy sympathy points from the audience” and then dialed it back a bit because if you look at some of the initial concepts for this season... oof.

But really, S2 in a nutshell is basically “Clementine does anything and gets punished for it.” 

However, it’s not all bad and a lot of it does make her story all the more interesting as it progresses. She goes from a young girl who needs a group to survive, to a survivor herself who is capable of taking care of herself and those she loves. 

This part pertains to my personal ending for this game-- So, by the time we reach the shit show that is the Kenny and Jane fight, I want Clementine to get as far away from both of them as fucking possible. For me, the best endings Clementine can have is to either go alone, or to go to Wellington. 

Wellington’s my personal favorite because I like the idea of Clementine being in a community with strong walls and people to help with AJ. I mean, we gotta throw out the logic when it comes to AJ surviving because in every single endings, he should be dead. 

Honestly, that’s the only thing that keeps me from shooting Kenny. Hell, in my opinion, walking off into the woods with him instead of staying at Wellington is the worst ending in the entire game-- I’d rather go with ding dong dingus Jane than stick around with Kenny, but for me, neither of those are a good conclusion to Clementine’s story and character in S2

Anyway, endings aside, Clementine is the only part of the story that doesn’t make me side eye the writers the way I do for everything else... well, I side eye them sometimes but S2 as a whole is such a mess that it takes a lot to not straight up glare at them and the amount of fuck ups they had here. 

Clementine is hands down the best part of S2.

--- Honorable Mentions

-Big brother Luke in the first couple episodes -This game does have a bunch of different endings that you can get, which is pretty neat until you realize that they mean practically nothing come ANF and they’re totally unbalanced sooo... nice try? -Uncle Pete is pretty cool -The setting of the ski resort is super nice and cozy until murder happens. -In fact, the snowy nature is visually pretty and the skyboxes are some of the best in the series. 

---

So what do you think? Do you agree with this list? What are some of your favorite parts of Season 2? Are you looking at this and asking where the Kenny entry is? Well, I’m sure if you scroll up just a wee bit, you’ll find your answer. 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Character Deaths That Made Me Side-Eye the Writers 

[corie-the-writer]

Safe

Warnings: kidnapping, torture-ish, death, angst-ish?

You weren't sure what had drawn you to him. It could have been a number of things, but you couldn't pin point the exact reason. Maybe it was his gravely voice, his protective demeanor, the way he rarely smiled but when he did, it made your heart flutter. 

Hank Voight.

The man was fierce, manipulative, untrustworthy, and held a darkness that caused most people to steer clear of the man. Even though he did questionable things within his intelligence unit, you had never questioned his love for you. You knew the type of man he was before getting involved with him, but he had shown you a different side of him that no one else saw. You were okay with the fact that he didn't show much PDA, most people outside of the unit didn't know that you were dating the older man. 

Being a Detective in the same unit as the man you loved was a little tough. Hank had been able to keep your relationship outside of the station for the most part, unless you had done something close to dangerous. He would pull you into his office, slamming the door shut and threatening to take you off the team. That would result in you ignoring him for the remainder of the day, depending on how much he had yelled at you. 

"Listen up, we have a case." Hank's voice caused you to look up from your computer and to the board where he began placing pictures. He had explained that there was a gang related killing due to money laundering and had sent Halstead and Lindsay to the crime scene of the murder. 

You looked to Hank's face to see that he was holding something back, his steely eyes kept glancing to you and gave you a small nod before walking into his office. You waited for a moment and glanced around the desks and then pushed herself away from the desk to walk into Voight's office and shut the door. 

"What's going on?" You questioned. 

"I need you on desk duty." Hank stated as he sat down and ran a hand over his face. 

"What? No way. You're not benching me." You stated with narrowed eyes. 

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you." Hank stated, "For once in your life, do not argue with me about this." 

"What aren't you telling me?" You questioned with a hand on your hip as you stared your boss and boyfriend down. 

"Just...give me some time." Hank stated, "I'll let you know if I figure it out myself."  You couldn't help but to roll your eyes as you stormed out of the office and slammed the door shut behind you. 

- - - - - - Hank had left to talk to several of his CI's because he knew the man that was murdered. He had worked with him several times in order to take down a few gang leaders over the years, and had found out what he had suspected was true. Whoever had killed the man was aiming to make a statement to Voight. He was thankful that he had placed Y/N on desk duty, because he couldn't risk someone using her to get to him, because he would stop at nothing to make sure that she was safe. 

Walking back into the prescinct, he needed to see Y/N just to have a peace of mind. She was his light and was able to keep him grounded by just a simple touch. As Hank walked up the stairs, he stiffled back a yawn as he looked to Y/N desk to see her bright smile, but she wasn't there. Hank looked to her partner, Alvin Olinsky, one of his best friends, "Where's Y/N?" Hank questioned to his long time friend. 

"I don't know. She told Platt she was running out to get some food." Olinsky stated and Hank furrowed his eyesbrows before turning around and walking back down the stairs, "Everything okay?" He questioned. 

Hank knew that Y/N was upset with him because he had benched her, but she had never gotten lunch without him once they had started dating. It was their time during the work day to keep each other grounded from the chaos around them. He was aware of Al's footsteps behind him as he walked through the caged door and straight for Trudy Platt's desk. 

"When did Y/N leave to get food?" Hank questioned. 

"How am I suppose to know?" Platt questioned back. 

"Trudy." Hank stated in a stern voice, his eyes narrowing and watched as she glanced towards her watch on her wrist. 

"I'd say about an hour ago." 

"Get a track on her phone." Hank stated to Alvin as he rushed back up the stairs, knowing that something wasn't right. 

- - - - - The restraints on your wrists were too tight as your arms hung above your head on a metal pipe, your head was spinning as you tried to raise it to figure out where you were. You could tell that your feet were barely on the floor, and there was pain radiating through out your body. You had tried like hell to fight back when you felt a hand go over your mouth at the station as you were getting out of your car, but the gun pointed to your back had stopped you. 

"Well look who decided to wake up." The voice was unfamiliar and caused you to blink your eyes to try to find a face to the voice in the dark basement, "It won't be long now." The man let out a throaty chuckle.

"Who are you?" You found yourself questioning, "Do you realize what you have done?" You found yourself laughing, because you knew that Hank would stop at nothing to find you, "You stupid..." You were cut off by a punch to the mouth and you instantly winced but refused to cry out in pain. 

You felt the liquid on your bottom lip, realizing that the kidnapper had busted your lip, and tasted the familiar liquid in your mouth, causing your mouth to water and without thinking twice you spit the blood on the ground. 

"Why are you doing this?" You questioned, pulling at the restraints on your wrists as you saw the knife in his hand, "If you tell me what's going on, I can help you." You tried to reason but knew it was no use. 

"Hank Voight took something from me, so I'm going to return the favor and take something from him." He stated causing you to furrow your eyes. 

"What did he take from you?" 

"You see, a few years ago, he got my little brother killed while I was locked up. I was the only person he had and I couldn't do shit about it." The man explained, "When I got out of prison, I knew that I had to do something to honor my kid brother, and I didn't know what to do until I realized you and him were together." He stated and then let out a laugh, "How could someone as pretty and young as you be with an old man?" He questioned. 

"Maybe I have daddy issues." You mouthed off, "Using me to get to Hank isn't your best option, because when he walks through that door, and he will, you will be carried out in a body bag." You added confidently which had gotten you punched again causing your head to lower as your world went black. 

- - - - - As you started to come back, you swore you heard the voice of the man you loved, begging to let you go. You tried to focus on his gravely voice, but it seemed so distant, like he was miles away. You felt a sharp pain radiating against your stomach and tried to scream out, but nothing came out. The feeling of the warm liquid caused you to blink your eyes opened as you tried to pull on the restraints. 

"Stop!" You heard Hank's voice as the man who held you captive laughed. Your eyes frantically searched for your boyfriends, you found his eyes burning with rage in front of you, his hands handcuffed to a radiator across the room. You saw that his forehead was bleeding, his lip busted and his eye beginning to turn black and blue. 

"Hank..." Your voice was barely a whisper. His eyes locked to yours, silently telling you that you were going to be fine. He was going to make sure of that. You felt the tears pouring down your cheeks as you looked to the ground. You saw that your white shirt was cut in half and there was blood splattered all over the material. 

"I'm going to make you watch as I drain the life out of her." The man stated as he gripped Hank's chin with his, "I want you to know what it feels like to lose someone you love and not be able to do a thing about it." He taunted. Hank had managed to head butt the man, hoping to keep him away from you, but it only seemed to anger him more. 

"Please, this is between you and me." Hank pleaded, something he had never done before, "Let her go, she has nothing to do with what happened to your brother." 

Hank's pleas fell on deaf ears as the man approached you, his eyes were glowing with rage as he took the knife an ran it across your cheek. You tried to turn your head but he had grasped the curve of your neck to keep your head still. You felt his hot breath on your cheek causing you to shut your eyes tight. "It's such a shame that this pretty young thing loves you." The guy stated, "I mean, does she know the type of man you are? There's guys her age that would show her just what it's like to be with a real man..." His hand ran down your chest, cupping your bra covered breast causing you to flench and he chuckled. 

"I'm going to kill you." Hank growled, "I'm going to make sure that you die slower than your brother did." Hank taunted, hoping to get the man away from you. Hank's eyes were glued to your face as he spoke to the man, trying like hell to get him to step away from you but was having no luck. Hank's eyes narrowed dangerously as he watched the man drag the knife from the top of your chest down to your stomach, causing blood to appear within seconds as you cried out in pain. Hank yanked against his cuffs trying to get free as you continued to cry at the pain the man was causing. 

He watched as your head began to fall, knowing that you were losing too much blood and prayed like hell that the team would show up before it was too late. He had vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to make sure this man would die the slowest death possible. 

It seemed like a life time before Voight heard the car doors shut. His eyes were trained on you, making sure that you were still breathing. The small rise and fall of your chest had him fearing the worst and knew that there wasn't much time left. He couldn't help but to silently pray that you would hang on for just a few more moments, knowing that things were about to end. 

The sound of the door being kicked in caused the man to tense and moved to Y/N and held a knife to her throat as his hand locked into her hair. Hank froze at the sight as the team rushed into the room, guns drawn on the man who was holding Y/N. Hank was thankful Al had rushed to him to uncuff him from the radiator and took Alvin's gun and pointed it at the man. 

"Let her go. It's over." Hank stated, moving closer, knowing that he wasn't going to allow Hank to have his wish. 

"It's not." The man insisted. 

Hank watched as your eyes began to flutter open, your bright E/C staring at him with tears pouring down your face. He felt his heart clench when you mouthed you loved him before whipping your head back to headbutt the man, giving Jay Halstead enough time to get a shot off, going straight through his head. It was the last thing you remembered before you fell limp against the restraints and your entire world going black. 

- - - - - "She lost a lot of blood, her shoulder is dislocated from pulling on the restraints and she has a concussion, but she should be fine. The cuts shouldn't leave scarring, but she's going to be quite sore for a couple of weeks." The doctor had explained to Hank as he held Y/N hand as she laid in the hospital bed, "I suggest that she speak to a therapist to avoid PTSD, she should be waking up soon, so I'll give you two some privacy." 

"Thanks." Hank didn't take his eyes off the woman in the bed. He heard the door close and then moved his chair closer to the bed and pulled your hand up to his mouth and placed his lips on your skin, "You scared the hell out of me." Hank commented lowly, "Don't know what I'd do without you." 

"Good thing we won't have to find out." You croaked out giving his hand a squeeze, "I told him that he'd be carried out in a body bag. Guess he didn't believe me." You tried to joke and saw Hank's lip twich up for a split second. 

"How are you feeling?" Hank questioned. 

"Like I was kidnapped and tortured." You grumbled, "I'm alright, just in a lot of pain. How are you feeling?" You questioned reaching to cup his cheek, to run a thumb across his stubble. 

"I'm fine." Hank stated, "I thought I was going to lose you." Hank admitted, "When you get healed, we're going to discuss this career of yours." Hank added, causing you to crack a smile, knowing that he was going to try life hell to get you to step back from work, "I need you to be safe for my sanity." 

"I'm always safe when I'm with you."

[imatv]

Q&A Intro to VR

A while ago, an old friend introduced me to some students doing a science project who asked me some questions about VR. They were kind of introductory questions, but I’m sure lots of people out there don’t know much about VR yet; so I decided to post my response.

“ Intro

Hey there future VR developers and creators!

My name is Alvin, and I've been working with VR and AR technology for about 5 years now. I recently graduated Fall of 2017 from UCLA with B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in Cognitive Science.

Just after graduating high school (wayyyy back in 2013), I remember getting the first Oculus Rift DK1 in the mail and setting it up. Even though it was a prototype, it was absolutely mind-blowing. I remember putting it on and being INSIDE Minecraft.

After that, I made it one of my goals to keep up-to-date with the industry and so while in college, I made a bunch of random VR and AR projects for hackathons. These include:

AR search - https://devpost.com/software/findar

VR walking - https://devpost.com/software/m-o-l-m

VR dodgeball - https://devpost.com/software/dodgelodge

These projects allowed me to learn a lot about how to make things for VR, and eventually landed me a research position at UCLA, under two psychology professors who studied human memory and human perception.

They wanted to study the human brain with the help of VR. So I built experiments using VR as a tool to put people into virtual worlds so that we can see how the brain reacts in certain conditions.

After two years of this, I was pretty set to go to graduate school, but those plans changed very quickly. A couple of my friends and I were getting odd jobs to develop VR projects for other people, and we were getting paid too!

So, instead of going to grad school, I and my team of friends started a company, called Escality (clever combination of ‘Escape Reality’), and now we make our own VR/AR games and also other applications for clients!

Here's the trailer for our first VR game on Steam!

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhzONE7-NQ0

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/805320/Conjurors_Eye/

Okay enough about me, let's talk about VR!

Answers to Questions

How does VR work?

If you haven’t tried VR yet, you have to do that first. Find any way you can. It will blow your mind. And it'll be a good first step to understanding how it all works.

This video comes close to capturing what VR is like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNjmmLLBGHs, but seriously you need to try it for yourself.

Alright, after that, let's dive in:

A lot of things come together to make VR work, but the main two are: Displays and Tracking

For displays, VR headsets are just screens (like your phone screen or your computer screen) with a bunch of fancy sensors.

But for these screens to make it feel like you're somewhere else, they have to show two images (one for each eye) that are slightly different. This is what's called a stereoscopic display (stereoscopic, meaning two views).

For tracking, well, it depends on the headset. But there's two main types of VR tracking technology: lighthouse (or outside-in tracking) and inside-out tracking.

Here's a good illustration of the difference:

With inside-out tracking, the headset on the player has cameras and fancy sensors (like accelerometers, the kind of sensors used in phones to tell if they're upside down or not). The cameras and sensors work to understand the world around the player and make really good guesses to how the person is oriented.

With outside-in tracking, separate tracking cameras are placed around the room and look for certain markers on the player and/or headset to make a good guess as to where the person is and how they are oriented.

If you want to read more about this, here's a good article: https://www.wareable.com/vr/inside-out-vs-outside-in-vr-tracking-343

When you combine high quality stereoscopic displays with good and fast tracking, you can put that on someone's face, and they'll feel like they're somewhere else! That's VR!

How much money does it take to manufacture a VR headset?

The answer to this question is like the last one. It depends.

For example, let's take the Oculus Rift. It is currently being sold at $400, (released for $600). According to this article, it costs $206 for the parts, not including the labor put into putting it all together.

But if you look at other headsets, like the Pimax, it's being sold at $1000. There's no source for how much that one costs to make (probably a lot more).

How could you transfer VR files to space?

VR files are just regular computer files. If you've ever played a game on your computer, VR is the same thing! A VR game is just another computer game!

The main difference between VR and regular games is in the display (two images instead of one big one) and the tracking (using sensors and cameras to figure out where you're looking / how you're tilting your head).

How are VR movies made?

There are two types of VR environments: VR capture (taking the real world and putting it in VR) and completely virtual environments (building worlds from scratch in VR)VR capture techniques vary widely and usually involves taking a bunch of pictures of the world and mixing/matching them to form a sphere. Then based on where you're looking, you'll see a part of that sphere.

Here's a good article about how VR capture is done: https://www.viar360.com/blog/types-of-virtual-reality-capture-methods-that-allow-you-to-replicate-the-real-world/

For completely virtual environments, these are usually built in a game engine editor like Unity or Unreal Engine. 3D modeling is done to create virtual assets, then animation and VFX tools are used to make them move and look as if they're alive.

Popular 3D modelling software programs include: Blender, Maya, 3DS Max, and many more.

What supplies are needed to film a VR movie?

Assuming you're doing VR capture (taking the real world and putting it in VR), usually you'll need some kind of 360 degree camera. You can refer to the previous answer's link to that one article. Searching up each method for VR capture will give you an idea of what is needed for each technique.

Otherwise, if you're building completely virtual environments, all you need is a computer with a game engine downloaded (Unity and Unreal are the most popular and easiest to learn).

How much does the equipment cost to make a VR movie?

That highly depends on the technique used.

For simple 360 videos, all you would need is a 360 degree camera which costs anywhere between $100 to a couple thousand dollars depending on the quality of video that you want.

For more advanced techniques like photogrammetry and light-field capture, setups can run up to many thousands of dollars.

If you want to create completely virtual worlds, though, that's usually completely free! With software like Unity and Unreal, as well as Blender, you can create entire virtual worlds at zero cost. But it's a lot of work.

How are VR files stored or sent?

Again, VR files are just regular computer files. You can download a game from the internet, the same way you can download a VR game from the internet.

Will the VR video be clear even though they are heavily compressed?

Video files can be encoded at whatever quality you want them to be. They can be 1080p, or they can be 100000000 x 1000000000 resolution. That's up to you.

Whether or not your computer can run something that's 100000000 x 1000000000 is a separate issue (most regular computers today will have trouble even playing things at 4K).

Also VR headsets don't go that high.The HTC Vive Pro has a screen resolution of 2880 x 1600 (1400 x 1600 per eye).

The Oculus Rift has a screen resolution of 2160 x 1200.

The Pimax has a screen resolution of 2 * (3840 x 2160).

When you put a VR headset on, resolution isn't as important as refresh rate (the speed the screen updates per second). Research suggests that 90 Hz screens are optimal for VR use.

That means the screen has to update 90 times every second in order to feel good. Tracking also matters a lot, because with bad tracking, people can get nauseous and motion sick.

As for the video being clear, just make sure the resolution of the video matches the one that your headset supports. If you're using a HTC Vive Pro, make sure it's 2880 x 1600 (1400 x 1600 per eye), etc.

How do you incorporate sound into VR?

Most modern VR headsets have speakers for both the left and right ear. Spatial audio files exist that have data on how loud something is in your left ear vs. your right ear depending on where you're facing.

These types of files are called ambisonic audio files. Youtube supports First Order Ambisonics, and you can also read about this file type here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambisonic_data_exchange_formats#File_formats_and_metadata

VR games do this by default through the game engine code. So, when you play a game in VR made in Unity or Unreal for example, the sound will automatically be built-in and spatial, so that something on your left in VR will actually sound like it's on your left, etc.

Alright! That's all of the questions answered! Good luck on your project! Don't be afraid to ask some more! ”

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles About Tales of Berseria

AKA Allen’s Ramblings XIII, but I can’t really tag the fandom with that title now can I? 

So yes, I’ve gotten in roughly 18 hours of Tales of Berseria and I loved just about everything in it so far. It’s been quite some time since I’ve gotten so engrossed in a game that I’ve played it for hours at a time like this. After dropping Tales of Xillia 2 and Tales of Zestiria because of some issues I had with their core mechanics I was a bit worry this game wouldn’t be worth it and just bought out of loyalty alone. 

I’m glad to say I was wrong. 

This game has been fun so far and nothing has made me frustrated or want to walk away from the game save for me taking a break. If you didn’t like Tales of Zestiria and were hesitant to buy this game because Berseria is basically a prequel to that game’s canon I can assure you Berseria is leagues better, and you don’t even need to know about Zestiria to enjoy it. Now I’m just gonna’ start rambling about all the reasons I’m liking this game so far, so... be ready for that.

The Good Stuff

60 FPS

Now I’m not the type of gamer to care about having high frame rates. I’m a console player, I'm not really able to care too often since frame rates are locked for me. However, the thing that kills my interest in a game the fastest is frame rate drop (looking at you Drakengard 3). Tales of Zestiria had a few moments of it, at least in terms of combat gameplay, but nothing glare. However, Tales of Berseria has kept a constant 60 FPS throughout, and it’s glorious. Everything is just so damn smooth and so damn fluidly. Even the fields are in 60 FPS and damn does it feel good watching these characters move in cutscenes and combat. I haven’t seen any major drops in framerate, so that’s good sign. Hope it continues.

Cristina Vee The Voice Cast

So I was going to just gush about Cristina Vee for, like, five paragraphs, but I think I should talk about the voice cast as a whole and keep this simple. 

The first thing I should say that Tales of Berseria has both the English and Japanese dub available from the get go. Glad to see Namco is learning from NISA and having dual audio be a thing for their games. That said, I’m more of a dubs-over-subs kinda’ guy so I have nothing to say about the original voice cast. In terms of the English voice cast everyone sounds great, believable, and in character. Okay, Laphicet sounds a bit iffy in the beginning and Bienfu... well, he’s no Teepo and I’ll leave it at that. I’m... not exactly an expert on acting or voiceover so I won’t say more than that. 

Though I’ve got to admit I’m surprise how well the woman that plays Noel Vermillion, Mio Akiyama, and Kotori Minami is the same woman playing this female Edgelord so well... then again Cristina Vee also voices Killua from HunterxHunter so...

Anyway, the cast is great.

Combat is Fun

This is kind of what killed my interest in Zestiria, the combat just... didn’t feel right to me. I felt too dependent on Armatization for both fighting and healing myself, and the element section for some characters was very lacking to me. It... wasn’t fun. And Xillia 2 basically made playing as Ludger a requirement since he could use all three physical damage types. That... wasn’t fun either since I mainly played as Alvin and Leia in the first game. Berseria’s combat is a little like Zestiria’s without the Armatization, which makes it a lot more fun me. I can customize my skills and moveset a little to cater to certain enemies, and everyone can more or less fight at both close and mid range. Also, up to four people can play this game again, which is great. Armatization didn’t really allow for 4-player coop in Zestiria, so now I can play this with Infall and Ninjaweeb when we get the chance to met up again.

Story and World Building is Compelling (so far)

I gotta’ say, I didn’t think they’d stick with the whole revenge plot this long. Most Tales Of games usually go from going a simple, but believable semi-medieval quest of justice, to stop the apocalypse and second coming of the Daedric Princes about half way through. In Berseria however, we still have the revenge plot going, it’s just that how we’re getting their and the reasons for Velvet’s revenge are getting more and more... confusing? Morally debatable? I mean, save for Velvet herself, everyone is pretty apathetic to her cause. The world building is sort of giving Velvet some justification for off the “big bad,” but... eh, it’s kind of hard for me to explain. 

Speaking of the world, this game does world building leagues better than any Tales Of game I’ve played since maybe Symphonia... okay, Xillia. I’m really learning a lot about the world through the side conversation and the optional text they give. This game actually makes them worth reading through (and the voiced areas help too).

No Bad Camera Angles (Thank God)

They were a thing in Zestiria, they aren’t a thing anymore... thank God.

The Characters

Like every Tales Of game the characters in the main party are definitely the highlight. Velvet’s Edgelord personality surprisingly meshes well with the rest of the cast. I don’t want to post any spoilers to the game so far, but I’ll just give you the quick rundown of every character.

Velvet is a female Edgelord without the angst and is socially inept at times.

Laphicet is the precious cinnamon bun of the group that surprisingly never hinders the party despite being the child of the group.

Magilou is... Magilou. I think her character trailer says more about her than I ever could.

Rokurou is Brokurou and I think that basically sums up his character nicely.

Eizen is the voice of reason that helps add some more world building with his knowledge of... the world, being a well versed pirate and all.

And Eleanor... I’d be spoiling the first fourth of the game if I said anything about her, but she fits into the party surprisingly well.

The Not So Good Stuff

Okay, so... I’m just gonna’ list off all the not so good stuff of Berseria now. These are mostly nitpicks, but they’re still worth discussing. Keep in mind I’ve been playing Tales Of games since Symphonia, so I might come off as an elitist when I start listing off these points.

While the combat is better than Zestriria it’s still a little too simple for my taste. It basically boils down to mashing the X button once you’ve customized it to fit enemy weaknesses. It works, it’s engaging, but Tales of Hearts R and Tales of Graces F did it a bit better.

The game feels like it wants you to play as only Velvet. She can heal herself quickly by spamming her claw attacks, and her aggressive playstyle fits the general combat flow of Berseria better than most of the other characters save for maybe Eleanor.

Playing spellcasters like Laphicet and Magilou doesn’t really feel as fun as playing Cheria and Malak in Graces F or Beryl in Hearts R... I dunno’, I think that’s just me, but its worth saying.

There isn’t a main healer in the party (so far). Eleanor, Magilou, and Laphicet all have some healing artes (one healing arte each really), but not enough to really keep people alive during the harder boss fights for me.

The game feels like it really doesn’t want you to grind. Being low leveled in an area isn’t too bad so long as you know how the combat works and can sidestep effectively, but at this point I’m roughly level 25 and I’m in an area with level 32 enemies so... my luck/skill is starting to run out.

Duel Boss Fights are hell and I swear the AI cheats... that’s not a nitpick, that’s just my opinion.

I don’t think anyone has artes that effectively attack human enemies, and that makes those duel boss fights a pain sometimes.

This game still only has 4 main elements and its annoying... but more manageable than Zestiria.

So yeah, save for some nitpicks, this game is great and if you haven’t gotten it yet... I’d still wait for a price drop since I don’t like spending more than 50 bucks on a game. 

[animeindoblog-blog]

3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

New Post has been published on http://animeindo.org/blog/2017/11/28/3-gatsu-no-lion-2nd-season-06-07/

3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

「小さな世界 / 手紙」 (Chiisana Sekai / Tegami) “Chapter 56 Small World / Chapter 57 Letter”

End Card

「梅雨の始まり / 蜂谷」 (Tsuyu no Hajimari / Hachiya) “Chapter 58 Start of the Rainy Season / Chapter 59 Hachiya”

Hina’s Predicament

Throughout these two episodes, Hina’s suffering continues on with no end in sight. Her teacher keeps brushing her off, and no one will stand up to the bullies. However, she does find solace within her household, although there’s a dire lack of permanent solution.

I think that we’ve been seeing an exploration of potential approaches, only to find out that these types of situations are truly delicate, and tricky to a fault. Too little effort, and you may as well have done nothing. Too heavy-handed, and some undesired consequences may arise. We see that even Takahashi’s intervention can only provide a brief respite, by momentarily raising Hina’s spirits. In fact, I would argue that his involvement only exacerbated the issue, since it gave the bullies a perfect narrative to push. They wasted no time in framing Hina as being a slut, who was fooling around with Takahashi.

Upon his immediate reaction to the unwelcome news, it was terrifying yet awesome to see Rei flare up in such a way. If we exclude his vulnerable outbursts from the first season, I’ve never seen such powerful displays of emotions coming from him, and it is here that we can see how the Kawamoto sisters have formed a cornerstone in his character development. No longer is he the pushover of old. Rather, he constantly strives to be a dependable person, who can look after the people he cares for. That said, he is still the same old, awkward Kiriyama, unintentionally startling some animals when he suddenly raises his voice in solidarity. Then again, who wasn’t on the same page? I personally feel an indescribable rage towards the bullies first, then towards the teacher above all else.

For someone who usually maintains a solid composure, it’s been really interesting to be reminded that despite being a mother by proxy, Akari is still a young woman with her own insecurities. Although Someji and Misaki are capable relatives, she worries about an extenuating situation, where she will have to go to school and confront the parents of Hina’s bullies. To be honest, I can see why such a concern would be legitimate. Imagine a middle-aged mother, who effectively enables her daughter’s terrible behaviour. Such an individual would be quick to protest her daughter’s innocence, and assert herself over Akari by ruthlessly putting her down. Even with all her love and best intentions for Hina, I could see Akari crumbling under such an unprecedented crisis. Let’s hope that the worst-case scenario doesn’t come about, right? I would hate to see such a beautiful smile getting fractured.

Rei vs Hachiya

In my opinion, this was the best shogi game depicted thus far in 3-gatsu. Due to the opponent, it was highly kinetic and fairly intense. Plus a new kind of difficulty arose. Rei’s perspective fantastically conveyed the unpleasant experience of playing against someone like Hachiya, who would fidget and make loud noises at sporadic intervals during a match. Often times, I found myself experiencing second-hand discomfort and irritation. By the way, these kind of physical reactions are a testimony to Shaft’s incredible directing. Anyhow, I wouldn’t blame people for thinking it’s a cheap tactic to unsettle shogi opponents. However, Hachiya strikes me as someone who suffers from ADHD. For those reasons, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and you could never really deny his sincere passion for the game. Combine all these quirky traits, and you might even find him endearing. I’d say he won me over, after knuckling down on Kiriyama in the post-mortem, while demolishing parfait after parfait.

Concluding Thoughts

Rei forges ahead into the semifinals, and with Nikaidou hot on his heels, I look forwards to seeing what the next few matchup brings. Just how far can his newfound determination take him, or even better, what will he do if he falls short?

So far, the pacing has been nothing short of amazing. Where most other shows would struggle to follow up from a climax, 3-gatsu just seems to naturally transition between moments, continually moving from strength to strength in its depiction of Hina’s problem with bullies. Shaft deserve credit for faithfully following on, but most of my praise has to go to Umino Chica, who set down the entire groundwork that made everything possible. Both her character and story-telling feel organic in their construction,

Anyway, I’d like to play the Devil’s Advocate for Hina’s teacher because reading the manga grants me the benefit of hindsight, thus altering my initial preconceptions. Otherwise, I suspect that I would also be up in arms over how she chose to handle Hina’s situation. While it’s true that the teacher’s passivity is utterly despicable, humans all have their reasons for acting in certain ways. Righteousness is typically the natural course upon which our feelings run, but over time, disillusionment over the system can slowly erode away our capacity to do what’s right. That is to say, we become paralysed by an indescribable fear of failure, to the extent that we’re prevented from taking proper action. Not that it justifies losing courage, when the weak and vulnerable are crying for help. However, it’s completely understandable that not everyone has the same kind of conviction we see within Hina.

Zaiden’s Anecdote

Early on in my school days, I remember that I was quick to stand up for my friends, getting in tussles with larger kids who picked on anyone I cared about. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for those who I thought were my friends. What I’m about to tell you precludes my most bitter memories from secondary school.

This guy who could never beat me at Pokémon battles thought it would be hilarious to dump an entire plate of spaghetti over my head out of spite. Not saying I was perfect, considering I was as arrogant as they come and a sore winner. But what shocked me was that none of my friends tried to help me, stand up for me, and all left the scene as soon as they could.

What’s more, this kid went straight to our Head of Learning, and straight up lied to them about how I was the one who threw food at him, landing me into two weeks worth of detention. The kicker? Not one person who I thought of as my friend stood up for me.

Their shallow reasoning was as follows. Judging by my character, they thought that I would be quick to forgive and forget. That is to say, by not choosing a side, they thought could keep both friendships, even though one side had clearly wronged. And the worst thing? I never got an apology from this scumbag.

The ridiculous thing? My ‘friends’ told me to forgive and forget, and ‘make up’ with the perpetrator. Water under the bridge, making life easy for them. The dumb thing? I did exactly that, just to make my ‘friends’ happy. But he always continued acting like he was somehow the victim, and it felt horrible having to stick around someone who had wronged me in such a vile way without remorse. And what my ‘friends’ did was enable his lousy behaviour. One ‘friend’ told me they let him get away with it, because he never directly hurt them, making it okay for them. Needless to say, I don’t speak to that person anymore.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried at the time, cleaning up the floor covered in spaghetti, while the rest of the school kids in the dining room looked on in glee. Much like Hina, I also cried on some random nights, because I felt really abandoned, and the incident messed me up for a long time. However, I managed to come out stronger, and eventually found the genuine friends I had always wanted. There’s one in particular that comes to mind, that I want to talk about.

End Card

A Heartfelt Message to My Best Friend

Dear Alvin,

I know you sometimes read these Random Curiosity posts. Whether you’ll read this one is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, I just wanted to say, I love you lots and thank you for being my best friend over these past few years!

A lot of people in our secondary school misjudged you, readily dismissing you for being ‘lame’. Not only were they completely wrong, but they utterly failed to see your true worth and value. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful and blessed to have you as my best friend.

While you may be awkward at times, that does not refute the fact that you’re a truly good person at heart, who holds a deep sense of compassion for your peers. You would stand up for me without any hesitation, and properly listen to me when I needed someone to confide in. As I would do for you as well.

Had I known you prior to the spaghetti incident, I know I wouldn’t have experienced such loneliness. As such, it is my regret we couldn’t have been best friends earlier on during our time at secondary school, since I wish I was there to help with your hardships too. I will always have your back, and if I needed someone to have mine, I’d trust you for time immemorial. I hope we can continue to be best friends, till death do us part.

Yours sincerely,

Zaiden