#fun fact the example actually uses part of the code word system i made for them | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yelena-bellova · 4 years ago

Text

Don’t Be Afraid: Poe Dameron x Solo!Reader - Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: Team Effort

Series Masterlist

Plot: Finn and Rose lay out their plan for Poe and Y/n.

Warnings: one or two curse words, semi-graphic description of violence and injuries, angst with Poe fluff interspersed

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: How I managed to write a 4.2k chapter based on a five minute scene, I have no idea lol. This one was really fun to write though. Enjoy!

—————

“Okay, just give it to me one more time, simpler.”

Finn and Rose, a maintenance worker I’d seen around base, had just laid out an extremely complicated plan of how we could escape the First Order. Poe sat in the center of the room while I stayed seated at my mother’s side. Parts of it made sense and others were harder to understand. Tech was neither of our specialties, I could make things float and Poe blew stuff up.

“So the First Order’s only tracking us from one Destroyer, the lead one,” Finn began explaining once again.

“So we blow that one up?” Poe inquired, his eyes lighting up as he looked between Finn and I. Case in point, tech wasn’t his forte.

“I like where your head’s at, but no,” Finn replied.

I chimed in, “You’ve blown enough up for one day.”

Finn continued, “They’d only start tracking us from another Destroyer.”  “But if we can-“ Rose spoke up, only for Finn to talk over her.

Finn stepped closer to Poe, motioning with his hands, “If we sneak on board the lead Destroyer and disable the tracker without them realizing, then we can-“

“They won’t realize it’s off for one system cycle,” Rose stepped forward, “About six minutes.”  “Sneak on board,” Finn said as Rose pulled up a holographic schematic of the Destroyer, “Disable the tracker. Our fleet escapes before they realize.”

I had my chin propped against my fist as I watched a hunched over Poe absorb the information. It wasn’t the craziest plan I’d heard all day and with Finn and Rose knowing their stuff, we could trust them to have thought each step through. Poe hummed as he contemplated while Finn stared hopefully at us.

“It actually makes sense,” I commented neutrally, there were still a lot to think over if we went through with this. The fact that we’d be going behind Holdo’s back being a prime example.

Poe rose and took a few steps in my direction before turning around and waving his finger between Rose and Finn, “How’d you two meet?”

The two of them looked at each other and judging by their faces, there was definitely a story to their meeting they were dancing around,   “Just luck,” Rose answered innocently.

“Yeah? Good luck?” Poe asked, coming closer towards me.

“Not sure yet.”

“Poe, Y/n, we gotta do this,” Finn implored, “It’ll save the fleet and it’ll save Rey.”  Poe came and joined me next to Mom, looking between the two of us. He carefully slipped his hand over hers, the gesture warmed my heart. Poe had lost his mom at such a young age, I knew he had always seen Leia as that type of figure in his life. The possibility of losing her was a difficult weight for him to bear.

Loss. A concept I’d become overly familiar with over the past couple of days. Four days ago my mother was well, my father alive, our fleet secure and Poe never having left my side. Adding in the fact that Rey, Chewie and R2 were off who knows where and could be walking back into this mess, my anxiety had quickly blown through the roof. I needed to do everything I could to ensure my loved one’s and the Resistance’s safety, whatever that entailed. I inhaled to address Poe, but a different voice came out,

“If I may be the sole voice of reason,” 3PO interrupted, “Admiral Holdo will never agree to this plan.”  I looked back over to Poe and gave a half shrug, “We’re not going to come up with anything better.”  “Yeah,” he sighed and nodded, “You’re right, 3PO. It’s a need to know plan,” he turned around, “And she doesn’t.”  The protocol droid stammered, “That wasn’t exactly my-“  I stood up and went over to him, placing a hand on his metal arm, “3PO, I need you to go against every instinct you have right now. If you don’t trust them, trust me at least.”  “All right,” Poe agreed, strutting towards the table with the Destroyer holo projected above it, “You guys shut down that tracker, we’ll be here to jump you to lightspeed.”

“The question is,” I came to stand next to Finn, “How do we sneak the two of you onto Snoke’s Destroyer?”

“We steal clearance codes,” Rose suggested.

Finn shook his head, “No, they’re bio-hexacrypt and descrambled every hour. We can’t get through their shields undetected, nobody can.”

I chewed on a nail as I wracked my brain for anyone who could help us.

I snapped my fingers once it hit me, it seemed like Poe had just come to the same conclusion I had.

“Maz,” I declared, jogging over to the other side of the room and switching on the holoprojector. I punched in a few numbers and said a silent prayer that she picked up. The others crowded around me as we waited for her to answer,  “Do we know if she’s still on Takodana?” Finn inquired from my left side.

“No idea,” I replied, “It’s a long shot but if anyone could do it, it’s her.”

Just as I’d finished my sentence, Maz appeared in front of us,

“Baby Solo!” she greeted loudly, “I’m so glad to see you’re okay.”  “You too, Maz,” I smiled, “I wish I was calling under better circumstances but-“ 

“Poe Dameron! Alive and in love I’m assuming?”  I snuck a glance at Poe, catching the small grin he gave me, “Incredibly so.”

 Finn awkwardly cleared his throat, snapping us back into reality, “Maz, we need your help.”

“Back in trouble again? So soon?” she replied.

Finn laid out our plan for her in detail, explaining her part in sneaking him and Rose onto the Destroyer.

“Could I do it? Of course I could do it,” she exclaimed as she adjusted a gun in her hands, “But I can’t do it. I’m a little tied down right now!”

Blaster fire echoed around her and caused us to jolt backwards, 3PO and BB-8 letting out exclaims.

“Maz? What is happening?” Finn asked.

“Union despite,” Maz ceased her fighting momentarily, “You do not want to hear about it. But, lucky for you, there’s exactly one guy I trust who can crack that kind of security!” Max rolled and dodged a few shots, “He’s a master codebreaker,” she loaded her gun again, “An ace pilot, a poet with a blaster,” she fired a few blasts confidently.

“Oh my,” 3PO said, “It sounds like this codebreaker fellow can do everything.”  “Oh yes,” Maz replied, a distant look in her eyes and her voice low, “He can.”  The four of us awkwardly looked at each other before she began speaking again,

“You’ll find him with a red plom bloom on his lapel, rolling at a high stakes table in the casino on Canto Bight.”

“Canto Bight?” Poe repeated, looking to me and Finn defeatedly, “No, no, that’s…Maz, is there any way that we can take care of this ourselves?”  Maz adjusted her goggles and began adjusting a device on her wrist, “Sorry, kiddo. This is rarified cracking. You wanna get on that Destroyer, I only know one option. Find the Master Codebreaker. And Baby Solo?”

I looked up to Maz as she sighed, “I’m so sorry about Han.”  I exhaled slowly and gave a hint of a nod, “Thanks, Maz.”

We parted with a goodbye greeting in an alien language and Maz flew off on a jetpack, the holo cut out then.

Poe looked distressed at the thought of sending Finn and Rose to Canto Bight, not that I wasn’t. But I’d seen Finn in action, he was undoubtably smart enough to navigate the situation just as he had on Starkiller.

Finn held out a hand towards Poe and I, a cloaked binary beacon resting in it. I was about to ask why he had one, when I remembered earlier in the day my mother had mentioned how she’d given Rey an identical one. It was how she would find her way back to the fleet. Once again, Finn’s personal stake in this was to protect Rey. That was his driving force. His eyes pleaded with Poe, who took it after only a few seconds of deliberation.

“Okay, we need to get you guys on an escape pod,” Poe said, “The problem is that you’ll show up on our radars.”   “So we need to have someone on our side on the bridge who will cover for us,” I finished his thought.

Poe ran through a list of names in his head, “Connix is our best bet. If you can make sure they get to the pod unnoticed, I can talk to her.”  I turned to Finn and Rose, “You two should probably take BB-8 with you as well, if Poe’s alright with it.”

This was probably going to be the most difficult part of the plan; getting Poe to temporarily part with his beloved droid. He looked down at Bee and let out a grunt of acceptance, “Yeah, he’ll be able to help you guys.”  “We’ll take care of him, I promise,” Finn assured Poe, he’d looked out for Bee once already and could do it again.

Whoa, do I get a say in this at all?  “Would you rather sit here with Poe and I and wait for the Destroyers to blow up the ship or take a trip to Canto Bight and help save the fleet?” I asked as I rested my hands on my hips

…I say I go with Finn.

“Good choice,” I replied before looking back to Finn and Rose, “Let’s get you guys in a pod.”

They nodded and the five of us, made our way out of the room.  “I’ll comm you when I get a hold of Connix,” Poe said quietly to me before we parted down different hallways. I gripped my communicator tight in my fist.

Once it was just us, I turned my attention to Finn and Rose, “Okay, how’d you two really meet?”

“I was going to take a pod to get the beacon as far away as I could. To protect Rey,” he answered.  I chuckled quietly as we turned a corner, “You’ll go to the ends of the galaxy for her, won’t you?”

Finn didn’t say anything, just kept his eyes focused on our path ahead. But I had no doubt that his cheeks had heated up at my comment.

“Rose, how do you play into this story?”

“I stunned him once I figured out he was trying to escape, I was planning to…” she trailed off, scared to finish her sentence.

“I don’t bite, I promise,” I said as we made our way through a quieter hall, nearing the escape pod bay.

“I was going to turn him in for desertion,” she replied meekly, probably worried I’d dislike her for the fact that she’d wrongly accused my friend.

“Attagirl,” I patted her shoulder and she cracked a smile, I already liked her.

The escape pod bay was never guarded and didn’t have anyone but maintenance workers in it typically. That’s why I was so surprised to see someone outside the entryway.

“I’ll handle this,” I whispered before taking the lead and strolling casually towards him.  “Commander Solo,” the young man addressed me confusedly, “What are you doing here?”  “I’m giving our latest recruit a tour of the ship,” I answered easily while gesturing to Finn, “Everyone is required to know where the escape pods are so if you wouldn’t mind letting us through?”  The man looked me over, disbelief written over his face, “On whose authority? Shouldn’t you be on the bridge?”  I raised an eyebrow, I was no stranger to dealing with young cocky recruits, “My own authority. Last time I checked, I outranked you. Now step aside.”  As I attempted to move around him, he stepped in front of me, “I think I’m going to have to call someone down to fact check your story.”  “To fact check my…?” I scoffed and pinched the bridge of my nose, how the hell was I supposed to get this guy to leave? An idea formed quickly, though I wasn’t thrilled about attempting it but there weren’t any other options.

I sighed defeatedly and slowly waved my hand in front of his face, “You will step aside and let us through.”  He tilted his head and chucked heartily, “What the hell was that?”  I shook it off and concentrated harder, repeating my movements, “You will step aside and let us through.”

“Y/n, what are you doing?” Finn whispered from behind me, I waved him off with my free hand.   “Alright, I don’t know what weird shit you’re trying to pull, but it’s not working.” 

Ignoring his comment, I silenced all other thoughts in my mind and focused entirely on what I wanted him to do,

“You will step aside and let us through.”  Like clockwork, the asshole straightened up and said, “I will step aside and let you through.”  I waved my hand again, this time more confidant it would work, “You will return to your quarters and…take a nap.”  “I will return to my quarters and take a nap,” he repeated, promptly leaving us and heading to his given destination.

My lips quirked up at what I’d accomplished, I’d never tried to use a mind trick on anyone. I’d heard about them over the years and my uncle had mentioned them in stories he told me as a child. As weird as I felt, invading someone’s mind and bending it to my will, it would come in handy in situations such as these. I’d have to add it to my arsenal. Shaking my head to clear it, I led Finn and Rose into the bay.

“So, are you going to tell us what that was?” Finn asked slowly.

“Jedi mind trick,” I answered, searching for the pods, “I’d never tried it until now.”

“Wait,” Rose gasped, “Are you a Jedi?”

“Not a Jedi,” I answered just as quick as when Poe had brought up the subject, “But I have a lightsaber, it’s complicated.”

“Whoa…” she said under her breath as we approached a pod, I entered a code in the keypad to authorize their departure.

“Solo,” Poe’s voice came through my comm, “You there?”  “What’s the word, Dameron?”  “We’re clear.”  “Copy that.” I replied.

The pod doors opened as I pressed a button, Rose was the first to climb in but stopped in the doorway,  “Thank you for helping us,” she said, “Not a lot of commanders listen to maintenance workers.”  “Don’t mention it, it’s people like you keep this whole operation going,” I replied with a smile, “You probably do more work than I do.”  With that, she grinned and entered the pod leaving me and Finn alone. We both let out a heavy sigh, neither one of us were fond of the idea of being split up. Especially with Rey already on the other side of the galaxy somewhere.

I embraced him bittersweetly, “You better come back in one piece.” 

“I will,” he promised as he tightened his arms around my back. 

Finn had quickly wormed his way into my heart, into Poe’s too. He fit perfectly in the Resistance and among us, there was no question as to whether or not he belonged here. The thought of him not making it back caused tears to spring to my eyes. It was crazy to think I’d only known him a few days when it felt like saying goodbye to a lifelong friend.

“Listen,” I pulled back to see his face, “I haven’t thanked you for what you did on Ilum. You saved my life and I…”  “Y/n, you don’t need to thank me for-“  “Yes, I do,” I interrupted, “I will forever be in your debt for what you did. You allowed me to come back to my mom, to Poe, to this fight. So yes, I do need to thank you, Finn.” 

He looked so awkward accepting my gratitude, like it was one of his first times doing so. Then I remembered that the compliments Poe, Mom and I had paid him were probably some of the only ones he’d ever received. My heart hurt for him all over again.

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a sheepish smile before giving me another quick hug, “If you want to pay off that debt, just protect that beacon.” 

“You know I will.”  We parted and the only thing left for me to do was kneel down and hug Bee, “Stay safe, it takes two of us to manage Poe.”  Keep him safe while I’m gone.

“Easier said than done, but I’ll try,” I laughed.

If Rey gets back before we do, will you tell us?  “Of course, buddy.” I said running a hand over his head, “If we made it through the past few days, we can make it through this.”  With that, Bee rolled away into the pod behind Finn. I gave them and Rose a salute just before they closed the door, sealing themselves off from me. Yeah, if we made it through Jakku, Rathtars, Takodana and Starkiller, surely we could make it through this…

I hoped.

——————

Poe and I met back up in my mother’s med bay room, he had returned before I did. 3PO was still standing faithfully at the computers, monitoring Mom’s vitals.

“Any change?” I asked as I came to stand next him to read the levels myself.

“Unfortunately, there has been no change in the Princess, Mistress Y/n,” the droid responded.

That was as close to an inside joke as 3PO was capable of. Long ago when the Resistance had been formed and Mom took on the new title of General, 3PO had a hard time stopping referring to her as Princess. He still did it on accident sometimes. I’d told him that if we were talking just him and I, he could call her Princess. I’d always loved the thought of my mother being royalty as a kid and the title was still comforting to hear.

“Okay, thanks anyway,” I sighed, walking away to pull my chair next to Poe’s. He was still positioned at her legs, watching her intently, waiting for any sign that she was awake. I sat down beside him and laid my head on his shoulder, looping my arms through one of his.

“Finn and Rose get away okay?”  I nodded gently, my eyes never leaving Mom’s face as I silently pleaded with her to wake up.

“Don’t you have things to be doing?” I inquired softly, “I’m the one that Holdo grounded, not you.”  He chortled quietly before sobering back up, “Not really, I’ll go check in with a few people in a bit. Other than that, this is where I’m supposed to be.”  I snuggled a little closer to him, as much as the chairs would allow. His devotion to me and Mom was nothing short of heartwarming, I appreciated him more than I’d ever be able to sum up in words.

Without realizing, my eyes had begun to droop shut and I let out a small yawn. The exhaustion of the past few days hadn’t worn off yet.

Poe kissed the top of my head softly, “Get some rest, I’ll wake you up if anything changes with her.”  I sleepily nodded and allowed myself to drift off, my last thought was an image of Finn, Rey, Poe and I sitting around a cantina table laughing about our separate and shared adventures. 

———————

I found myself among the familiar flames once again.

The bodies were still strewn around me.

The thick smoke filled the air.

My lightsaber was clipped at my waist now.

A new single scream erupted this time.

I spun around and watched my younger self run to two bodies lying face down. She fell to her knees and wept over them,

“Mama! Papa! Wake up! Wake up!”  My heart broke at the gut-wrenching memory that was resurfacing, consciously and unconsciously. My parents death had faded over time till I couldn’t remember anything other than the tears I’d shed in the alleyway on Naboo. I hadn’t remembered finding their bodies or screaming their names. Not until now.

“Wake up, Mama! Wake up, Papa! Wake up!”  I cried forcefully as I watched the younger me lose her entire world. I began to stumble towards her just as a hand stopped me, pulling me back by my shoulder.

 “Y/n,” the calm voice said, undoubtably the unidentifiable figure in brown, “Don’t be afraid.”  My sobs wracked my body as I continued to listen to the younger me wail, “I thought I wasn’t afraid anymore.”  “Don’t be afraid,” the voice repeated, I could hear it clearer than I’d ever been able to. I could have sworn that I’d heard it before in my life...

Just as the hand let go of me, a piercing red blade shot through my abdomen. The air in my lung drained instantly, the pain searing hot as the hole burned through me. As it was violently ripped out of me, I was turned around to face a maskless Ren. Just as I’d left him, blood trickled down the side of his face where Rey had cut him,

“Don’t be afraid,” he gritted out, “Of what you could be.”  I attempted to scream, but nothing came out. The only noise was the younger me crying out, “Wake up! Wake up!”

—————

“Y/n, wake up!”

I awoke gasping for air, Poe was knelt in front of me with his hands gripping my arms. After I’d blinked a few times, I could see there was concern etched deeply in his face. I was still panting relentlessly, trying to slow my breaths but failing miserably. I looked around frantically at my surroundings, we were still in Mom’s med bay room. Turning to her, she was in the same position she’d been in when I’d fallen asleep. Safe to assume there were no changes while I’d been out.

“You’re okay, I promise.” Poe whispered as I continued to try and catch my breath, “It was a dream, you’re okay.”  I ran my hands through my hair and placed my elbows on my knees, Poe’s hands slid down to hold my calves. He allowed me all the time I needed to calm down, but I couldn’t do so hunched over in a chair. I needed to move. I rose from my seat and walked quickly over to the window, trying to focus on the stars we were passing. 

“Mistress Y/n, are you quite alright?” 3PO asked with concern.

“3PO, shh,” Poe reprimanded through his teeth.

I shook my head and waved Poe off, “It’s alright, I’m okay, just…a little shaken.”  “Can I be of service in any way?”

“No, but thank you, 3PO.” I replied, looking over my shoulder at the droid. He nodded and returned to his task at hand.

Poe hesitantly made his way towards me, I chuckled breathily at his caution and motioned him over. As I turned back to gaze at the stars, his arms wrapped around my waist and his chest pressed against my back. I leaned back into him, enjoying the warmth that seeped through the layers of clothing and how his comforting scent surrounded me. I laid my arms across his, my hands coming to rest on top of his. In the moments where I felt like I was free falling, Poe was the soft patch of earth for me to land on. I knew he’d catch me every single time.

“Do you remember your mother?” I asked out of nowhere, my breathing finally having calmed down.

“Yeah, not as much as I wish I did,” he answered wistfully, “My dad has holos of her back home, those help keep the memories alive.”  I hummed as I continued staring out the window, scouring every corner of my brain for a better memory of my family than the one I’d just been gifted. Nothing. I couldn’t remember my father’s smile, I couldn’t remember my mother’s melodious laugh. Not a thing. Just the blood seeping from their chests and my piercing screams.

“Why are you asking?”

 “I don’t remember anything about my birth parents except their death,” I answered calmly, “I wish I could remember who they were.”  “Is that what your dream was about?” Poe craned his neck over my shoulder so he could look at me.

I nodded but was still too shaken to turn away from the stars, staring at them seemed to be keeping my panic at bay.

“I think…I think they may have been Force users,” I said.

Poe was silent for a few seconds, simply intertwining our fingers and rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. He was probably searching for the right thing to say in a situation that was so new to him,

“How can you know that?” he finally asked, “Can you know that?”  I shook my head, “I don’t know, it’s just a…feeling. It was just a theory I had but for some reason after that dream, it feels very real.”

Poe dropped his chin to my shoulder and I rested my head against his. I had a sneaking suspicion that this might be our last moment of peace for a while. I tried to drink it in, savor it, because waiting outside this bubble we’d created for ourselves was chaos.  

“This plan has to work,” I breathed, “I couldn’t save my parents, I couldn’t save Dad, but I’ll be damned if I can’t save the Resistance.”

----------

A/N: And the plot thickens...I promise not to string you guys along for too much longer as to who the parents are but ugh, I love a good slow build. I’ve also figured out a schedule for chapters, tentatively there will be a new chapter every Friday. It could change and I could drop two chapters in one week sometimes but for now, every Friday.

Taglist: @m1rkw00dpr1ncess @springfox04 @constantdisgrace @holybatflapexpert @seninjakitey @tammythompson-singslikea-muppet @leilei-draws @eternal-fandoms @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @imaginecrushes @eternallyvenus @thescarletknight2014 @simplybarnes @captain-america5 @breyasficletblog @caseymcflurry @stumbleonmywords @april-14-blog @i-ievu @ultrunning @desperatelytryingtosavemyself @caswinchester2000 @meraki-loki @lovinnholland @wishing4wishes @fruitloopzzz

Star Wars Permanent Taglist: @paintballkid711 @katrynec @caswinchester2000 @theliterarymess

#poe dameron x solo!reader #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron series #poe dameron fanfic #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #star wars #star wars fanfic #star wars imagine #star wars fanfiction #finn x reader #rose tico x reader

146 notes · View notes

lavenderek · 4 years ago

Note

So you're saying you don't think "underage" fic is gross. Is that what youre saying?

well, no. yuck. what i’m saying is, what exactly and specifically do we want to happen?

there should not be explicit fic about underage characters, got it. so what age can they not be under? 18? 16? what country’s laws regarding the age of consent do we prioritize? like, i think it’s gross that the age of consent is 16 in some places, but i’m an american, so i would, wouldn’t i? so ok, what if we hedged it a bit and put the age as like, 14? that way it’s not little kids, it’s all teenagers. but no, gross, 14-year-olds are children. fun fact: so are 16-year-olds. they are also children.

what about fic about two teenagers having a consensual encounter? should all romantic or sexual fic have to be about adults only? your answer to this may very well be “yes,” and that’s completely valid. a teenager writing fic might disagree. somebody who’s a big fan of a show that’s about a bunch of teenagers might disagree. should there be an adults-only section on the site? there’s already a “stop, you have to be 18″ box to check before you can access explicit fic, so how do we verify a user’s age? they can just lie about their age and click through anyway. you have to be 18 to make a youtube account and i’ve had one since i was 13. i remember very deliberately choosing a new birth year when it asked for my birthdate.

then you get to slightly greyer areas like large age gaps, or heavy role play between consenting adults. i have absolutely witnessed fic that’s clearly written to be CP, but it’s tagged as age play. so like, for all intents and purposes this is CP, but if you roll in like “hey, this is fucked up,” they can be like, “oh, so you read this picturing actual children, sicko?? you have a problem with two adults doing shit in the bedroom??? how dare you!!! don’t like don’t read!!!”

it’s kind of like on porn sites, how they make like nasty inc*st stuff but call it “stepmom” or whatever, like oh, they’re not actually related! sure, joseph, thanks for covering all your bases

so we can’t ban kinks. or can we? should we limit depictions of serious addictions or domestic abuse too? torture, or even body horror? these are generally accepted to be dark content.

i’m not trying to engage in whataboutism, i’m naming actual, relevant questions about shit that’s disturbing in real life (no offense to kink people who follow codes of consent and conduct) and can be incredibly upsetting to encounter online. shit that i can’t imagine wanting to read, let alone write.

these are the questions that we, you, i, people pro-a*3 and people anti-a*3, are all asking, and not a single one of us can or should answer them unilaterally.

so it’s like, oh, okay, so there should be no oversight at all? should there be no rules? no, obviously, that would be horrible, i don’t trust any of these fuckers to conduct themselves civilly. so there should be some rules, but not too many rules. that’s what we have now, and clearly the way things are now isn’t working because a lot of users are reasonably very upset.

should there be a voting system, and rules are set by a popular vote? should certain words be flagged and you can’t post the fic with that word in it? should there be a thing where when you post a fic, you have to select the ages of each character and that’s listed at the top of the fic? what if they age during the fic? should there be a flagging function, where you report someone for not using sufficient tags? users will find workarounds for all of this. you know they will. so mods will have to be very specific about the rules and introduce, like, a vetting system for it. which is a lot more manpower and a lot more chances for subjective judgments.

all of the above is why it operates on a tagging system instead. i’m gonna be real, i only go on a*3 to read comments on my own shit lmao, and even when i did go on there more often i never went in the tags searching for fic. so is there a blacklist function? is there a flagging function?

if there is a flagging function, maybe they make it so that if the flagged user has violated the rules, their account is suspended and their fic made private for the duration and until they add necessary tags.

cool, a compromise. but uh-oh, it turns out Mod A agrees that this fic is n*ncon, but Mod B thinks it’s just vague, not n*nconsensual, and doesn’t feel comfortable banning the fic. or it turns out User didn’t post anything flaggable, they were reported by somebody who is targeting them for some reason, or by someone who is more stringent about n*ncon than somebody else would be, like, it’s gotta be enthusiastic and verbal consent or else it’s skirting the edges too much.

it’s like, we’ve already witnessed censorship (please take this word usage gently, i know it’s touchy but it’s the word to use here) being a problem here on tumblr with their stupid nipple ban. there’s a double standard regarding whose nipples are explicit and whose are kosher for public consumption. people have to appeal their shit getting flagged and sometimes nothing gets fixed regardless. i’m sure other people are pleased that there’s less of a chance of them accidentally scrolling past a picture of a hard dick at work.

so you get it, this is a problem that’s more complicated than “all of x should be banned and if you post it there’s something wrong with you,” a belief you’re more than entitled to hold but can’t base, like, fanfic legislation off of. you get it you get it.

you get it, but like, what is the fucking deal with those “fandom moms” who go off on soliloquies about the days of old or whatever the fuck whenever this topic comes up? what about the weirdos who are like, “what’s next, banning gay fic????” yeah, if we allow gay marriage you can marry a tree, that’s how it works, thanks tiffany.

but no, the reason they do this is NOT that they think lgbtq content is comparable in any way to CP. the reason they do this is that this exact problem has taken place on every site that has ever hosted fic. and many previous sites did think lgbtq content was comparable to CP. it was categorized as adult content and hidden.

that’s why a*3 exists in the first place. it was to avoid godmodding and absolutism. it’s supposed to be more or less self-governed. i don’t want there to be CP on a*3 any more than you do, but i also don’t trust randos to decide what is and isn’t acceptable content. this topic is not new.

i’m in support of stronger government regulation in real life because it can be argued that certain actions and systems violate human rights. everybody deserves food and shelter, for example. the same can’t be argued in this case because some creep writing CP doesn’t violate my rights. i find it offensive and i don’t think they should be writing it, but my right to click the back button is intact. there is no institution making it impossible or even difficult for me to not read fanfiction. the creep could just as reasonably argue that their right to post what they want is being affected.

why is this response so long? is it because i can’t shut up? yes, but also because this is a complex issue and that’s why nobody has taken significant action on it.

people are also big mad.

i’ve never understood this impulse to see somebody not doing a thing you want them to do and assume it’s out of malice or incompetence, anyway. i don’t know anybody who volunteers for a*3 but it’s my assumption that given the choice to have us all pissed at them, or have us all not pissed at them, they would choose to have us not be pissed at them. it just seems like the reasonable reaction to have. and like, i’d be pretty shocked to part the kimono and find out they’re all CP-loving gargoyles and a*3 actually stands for A lot Of child abus3. that is the reason i have not been like, “fuck a*3.” because what are they supposed to do, you know?

there’s no simple or inarguably morally right solution here. the princess is in another castle. just post fic on tumblr, i guess? make another hosting site that’s exactly like a*3 but romantic characters can only be like, 21?

i actually think the legal age in the US should be raised to 21, not joking. your brain literally and biologically isn’t finished developing at 18. teenagers lack the world experience to make decisions that adults make.

somewhere there is an 18-year-old or a person who moved out and became self sufficient at 18 who hates this sentiment. there’s a teenager in an abusive home who would be intensely demoralized by the prospect of having to remain beholden to these people for three more years.

and there’s a parent who is relieved to know that their kid can’t be preyed on by army recruiters for three more years. there’s a person who got into a car crash with a teenager who misjudged whether or not they could make a turn who’s like, yeah, she could probably have benefited from a few more years.

nothing is as simple as it should be. i agree with you, but i’m not willing to pass blanket judgments with regards to actions that should be taken. and honestly, given how little i actually go on the site, i don’t even have a dog in this fight. so all my opinions on it are moot anyway.

(side note, if you are in an abusive home and you can’t make your own bank account, or if your bank account is monitored by your abusive parents, maybe try venmo? you can get a debit card that pulls directly from your venmo balance. a surprising number of places accept venmo payments, and this way you can save up money in secret.)

anyway uhhhhh seeya

#who is this even #haters #long post #please DO NOT REBLOG

8 notes · View notes

constablegoo · 4 years ago

Text

@astralglam filed a report .

mint: does your muse view themself as virtuous & moral? what do these words mean to them?

OHOHO. hey hi ily. this is, of course, one of odo’s deepest ongoing battles, and the moment he stops questioning it is the moment he becomes a founder.

the founders grant themselves god status. GOD! status. they just reach out and pluck it. Within their range of power, the founders become unquestionably Just and Virtuous and Moral, their Word becomes Law, it becomes “the way things are” and “fact” and they create their own reality stemming from thousands of years of intense xenophobia. they’re above it all. gods don’t make mistakes, right? sure, maybe changelings were hunted and feared ages ago but they still fear it, and that drive for Order and Control over the galaxy is now encoded into their genes and they place a companion structure into the genes of every other species they control, subjugating them to the founders’ own cozy position as Gods, or-- ‘gods’. the founder (i rly don’t like saying “female” founder so she’s THE Founder. she speaks for the link.) makes it quite clear on many occasions that the founders are not here to negotiate. they fully intend to control EVERYTHING at any cost. it is absolutely chilling when she cuts garak down with: “they’re dead. you’re dead. cardassia is dead.” and draws the line between the dominion and everyone else miles deep into the sand.

that same genetic coding is one of the first semi-concrete things odo comes to understand about himself and, horribly, he’s landed into conditions under the occupation that very easily could have taken advantage of a less meticulous or stubborn changeling. no, odo says initially (and incorrectly), i am not bajoran** and i am not cardassian and i stand apart from either side of this conflict and so i am bound to PURE Virtue and Morality because of it. he can’t be bribed or bought or won over, and he won’t allow for anything less than a kind of incorruptibility. this effectively wins him allies (and enemies) on both sides, however -- that’s just not how the universe works. the truth of it is that no matter how much he tells himself he is not a part of their regime, his working with the cardassians makes him a collaborator in that he has then recognized their authority and ultimately upheld their legitimacy, even if he never agreed with the cause, even if he was also on some level a casualty of it. at some point when he moves past ‘contract’ investigation and begins to work permanently, he falls into the trap of thinking Order is the same thing as Justice... huge yikes. in that moment he becomes a true and apathetic villain, but he’s subsequently haunted by the resulting execution of innocents. it shakes something up in him. years pass and he still wonders, what other mistakes has he made? what other less direct consequences of his ‘neutral’ arbitration exist? he (and everyone around him) has to live without really knowing, and it’s a constant reminder to him of the power he holds and it informs his understanding of what Real (and imperfect) Justice Means.

**sidenote but later in s7 he introduces himself as ‘from bajor’ and AAAAAA. its good. very good. yeah, you’re bajoran, odo. he gets it now.

Mirror odo is really the ultimate example of an odo having taken those instincts to extremes in an environment that rewarded him for them -- there is no guilt there, and even a sadistic kind of pleasure in it. i’d argue that gaia!odo is another, less extreme example of an odo who’s been alone too long and lost sight of things when he single-mindedly (and against kira’s wishes) chooses her (one person) over 8000. like holy shit? NOT ok? uhhuhhhhfff. anyway. very fortunately, neither of these are OUR odo, but act as great foils to reflect on the worst (bastard cop) qualities or potential qualities of our goo pushed to highly visible extremes, which star trek just loves to do all the time.

but regular/prime odo isnt exactly a rule-follower, either. throughout his life, he frequently takes things into his own hands, uses his abilities to his advantage, spies, wiretaps, eavesdrops, and yes, harasses [quark] sometimes -- he develops his own set of values and personal rules and follows them; even starfleet comes in wary of him and how he operates and hes on thin ice. but because of possibly his most redeeming quality, odo is able to adapt those self-ordained values toward something increasingly honest: for how rigid he can be in personality, he is HIGHLY influenced by the world around him, listens hard to what his friends and allies have to say and adapts that feedback; this allows him to evolve and grow and take important matters to heart. he becomes more flexible and better able to hold onto what’s really most important after locking into a decision, because above all else, he is passionately committed to doing the Right Thing. he PLEADS with himself in things past, “your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.” by his tendency to push back against what is laid down as ‘law’ (something he becomes more and more aware of and effective at doing) as not always being good or right, or necessarily even creating Order (the thing he’s driven genetically to want), he prepares himself to challenge the most deadly voice of authority -- that of his own people.

so... yes and no. odo’s role and persona as ‘your average security chief’ might dictate that he be virtuous and moral, but he so obviously can’t fit the same exact mold as others in his position -- he has these insane abilities and this mind-consuming nature and it requires he tread with extra care, but he also has a potential for more adaptive, more nuanced morality. he has to build up his own definitions to the words, constantly examine and tease and test them, or else he risks straying too far from what he really wants to achieve -- harmony, honest justice. he has to accept that he’s a part of the system he operates in (not, in fact, alone or isolated! something he actually wants), and know that he is not exempt from making the wrong choice, just like anybody else.

carnation: what is your muse’s relationship with their gender? how do they express or not express this relationship?

ODO AND GENDER!!! i love odo and gender. let’s take this one step at a time. he starts out as an amorphous glob -- he has no gender. there’s no basis for assignment, no culture of difference, and all the goos are goo. odo takes on the shape of the first living thing he sees / the thing he sees most frequently: dr mora. he adopts an image of masculinity from mora and he adopts the hair. that’s about it, and it’s pretty much arbitrary. (maybe the hair is simple enough for his skills, too?) the next people odo meets are also these very masculine, military, cardassian leaders, so again -- this is all he knows! this is neutrality. i imagine it takes him some time to work out what the differences in gender are, and sex, and orientation, romantic vs sexual stuff, all of that. it’s all got cultural baggage he knows nothing about and does not experience, and he’s also dealing with multiple, clashing cultures to boot. since he doesnt have any strong inherent leaning, he simply opts out. he/him becomes his default because thats where he started, thats what he’s been able to successfully present and how people know him, and, terrifyingly, under cardassian rule, it probably offered a bit of safety, too, which was obviously something he needed at the time.

way way way way way down the line in season seven, odo asks kira to (paraphrasing) look at me. what do you see? [i see you.] but this is NOT me, this is only a shape ive assumed in order to fit in. she says, yes, i know that. but this is who you have chosen to be. “a man. a good and honest man.” (i knowww shes not really talking abt gender here BUT) its hard as a trans person not to read the metaphor. he’s chosen to express SOMETHING. he’s chosen something other than what he was given (neutrality) and although he doesnt personally buy into what ‘masculinity’ “should be” (ie the ferengi, smh) / would certainly not argue he doesnt feel non-binary, this is how he has presented all his life, its how hes been treated, and it is what he has chosen to adhere to. there’s a choice in that, kira’s right, and now it reflects something about him.

parallel this, i’ll mention the “female” founder again bc of course there is no discernable reason for her to have a gender -- other than to appeal (im not talking sexually here although there’s,, obviously weird shit happening with the link... yike) to odo in the sense that until that point odo has lived with “gendered” individuals and, i think importantly, kira is with them when they first meet. i think its safe to say the founder saw her, figured she was a friend/ally to odo or at least familiar to him, and took her general representation to appeal as a friend/ally.

otherwise... why, honestly? the founder’s got NO love of humanoids lmao why would she bother.

anyway i’d like to see odo experiment a bit. because when hes safe, he can!! aside from his own doubts and insecurities about shapeshifting, at some point he really has no reason not to, at least a little bit. really, it should just be another thing to practice, much like becoming a convincing rock or a leaf, its just that there are other significances in the cultures around him. i’d just like to see him loosen up a little. have fun. grow ur hair out a bit, odo, why are u still looking like ur terrible dad.

#astralglam #geez ok anyone who reads these are gods #thanks for letting me let some frogs out of my brain #like a lot of frogs #⌀ EVERY SIXTEEN HOURS I TURN INTO A LIQUID! [ about. ]#⌀ YOU HAVE NO SECRETS FROM ME. [ asks. ]#long post /#long as hell post /#sorry hopefully everyones asleep i dont wanna do readmore bc im a nuisance asjdfa

5 notes · View notes

emptymanuscript · 4 years ago

Text

Why I hate writers

So I ran into this “Magic System Challenge” over on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicbuilding/comments/m0nal6/magic_system_challenge/

And its one of those things where it both matches what I think and that I don’t think is a very good idea.

At the heart of it is this:

Things to avoid:

Elemental magic.

Magic that is inspired by modern physics and chemistry (since enlightenment to present) and its academic language.

Magic whose primary limitations rely on the user's concentration or stamina.

Magic that is inspired by modern physics and chemistry (since enlightenment to present) and its academic language.

Our current understanding of energy (preservation and transformation). So no mana, power crystals, soul as the powerhouse of the cell, thermodynamics, and energy talk.

Explanation on anything happening on the atomic level.

Academic categorization, unless it's about actual legality. Magic that is heavily compartmentalized and categorized, aka heavily dissected and structured by scholars. (e.g.: The 3 laws of x. The principal of y. The 5 axioms of z.)

Magic whose primary limitations rely on the user's concentration or stamina.

This to challenge people “who considers magic to be a serious part of their stories,” to escape how the sub has become “an ant mill, where people are trapped in inspiration feedback loops where they can't go past clichés.” Which is important because “Fantasy is literally an infinite ocean, yet we and professional writers choose to only wet our feet.“

Now to be honest, I don’t actually disagree with the observation. Most of Magic Creation not just on r/magicbuilding but nearly everywhere is pretty standard fare. If you spend a day reading r/magicbuilding, honestly, you’ll have seen most of what there is no matter where you choose to look. And vice versa. So, for the most part, it’s pretty dull. You’re just not going to get the lean up out of your seat, “OOooh that’s cool,” out of 99.99% of magic systems.

Where I start to diverge is the idea that this is a problem. The truth is, for 99.99% of stories that are actually about magic, the magic system doesn’t particularly matter. It has to be serviceable, it doesn’t have to be extraordinary. And that’s the reason most professional writers have the same shit different day. They know their energy is limited and they’re going to spend it where they need to spend it, not on fluff that most people only think they care about.

And yes, most fantasy readers only THINK they care about magic systems. It is to my eternal disappointment that Henry Ford never said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses,” because there’s a lot of wisdom in it. A major part of what you have to learn AS A WRITER, is what readers want. And it’s hard because Readers tend not to know. They have excellent observations about things they have enjoyed and fair extrapolations from that about what they think they will enjoy in the future but those are not actually the same thing.

And that top avoidance is the perfect example. That attitude that elemental magic was done to a dusty death was prevalent in writing circles as far back as 1992 when I first got in to writing circles. It was stale. It was cliche. Don’t do it.

But everything changed when the Fire Nation Attacked. Forget the story in Avatar, from this moment on, Elemental Magic reigned. It was everywhere to the point where it was quite literally inescapable. You were lucky to run into magic without an elemental component. Even some of the most innovative magic in the most complex of fictions had some. So, what does everybody trying to learn the craft do? They do exactly what they should do and they whip out some minor variation on their favorite system, which for oodles of people is this system, the one presented in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

So, yeah, it’s a little stale now. Because we’ve seen ten thousand versions of this one system. But remember how it was BEFORE that blast of Fire from the Fire Nation. Stale. Dead. Please don’t. Which begs the question, should we have told Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Aaron Ehasz please don’t do this. It’s so overdone. We’re so tired of elemental magic. EVERYONE is tired of elemental magic.

No. Of course not. It would have been shooting ourselves in the foot. Because the problem isn’t elemental magic, the problem is the story being told WITH elemental magic. Avatar sang because they used Elemental Magic as a driving force to tell stories about the major characters. Aang is an airbender and air likes to flow past and avoid. It likes to play and show off. Air does not buckle down. Air does not stand firm. Air does not charge aggressively. At least not in the same way that fire does. Not in the same way that Earth does. A:tLA made it’s magic mean more than mysticism or tools, it made it integral to how everyone acted and interacted and how the world itself fit together. I would say that it didn’t matter what magic was used but of course it’s the very opposite of that, the magic was so important to the story that it defined it. Any magic that is tied that deeply to the story is going to work.

The more intimately any feature of a story ties to the other features of a story, the better it is going to work. Because stories are whole things. Not collections of bits. You can make the best wall ever made and it’s not going to do anything for you if it can’t fit with the rest of the house. The best wall is the wall that fits best with your house. Because that’s its job.

Which I think leads me to my second point of contention.

“those who considers magic to be a serious part of their stories.“

And who the hell else is there on r/magicbuilding or anyone paying attention to that here or anywhere? If you don’t think magic is important, you’re not going to read about magic. Duh. So why specify?

I spent some of last night discussing with some other people the nature of how higher levels of education will reject writers who are interested in science fiction, fantasy, and horror simply because of that interest and for no other reason. Speculative fiction is a mark against you. It just is. No particularly good reason. When I was talking about getting into the PhD program at my Alma Mater, one of the PhD students who sat in on our classes was literally excited for what I was going to bring to the program. I was second in the class in marks. And I was turned down. It’s not about what you can do. Speculative Fiction isn’t wanted. It’s considered not as serious. It’s fluff. Stuff you might do for fun but not really for serious study. And Serious of course is the word that’s putting me off.

What do you mean by serious? Who is serious?

I think I know the answer which is why my rant is here and not on reddit because i don’t want a fight.

I think Serious is code for people who think like me. A Serious writer is a writer who pursues the same goals I am pursuing. A serious magic builder is someone who wants to do with magic what I want to do with magic. I am serious. Because I am smart. Because I am clever. Because I am well read. And you, who disagree with me, are not.

And I find that people don’t care that this sort of thinking has been leveled at them. If anything it makes them blinder to the fact that they are discriminating for no particularly good reason. I can’t be X because X was done to me. Unfortunately, not the way the world works at all.

Which leaves me in a bitter tasting conundrum. Is the challenge a good exercise? Probably. It’s a good way to experiment and branch out if you’ve been doing things a steady way for a long time. Is the challenge a good idea? No, I don’t think so. Because it has too much of that elitist I know best thought behind it. Intrinsic to all of it is the conceit that these certain ideas, that are so popular for a reason, are bad if you’re a decent serious writer. There’s nothing wrong with any of them and certainly nothing wrong with anyone who wants to have a go at them.

And I just wish there weren’t so many writers who felt the need to piss on everyone else’s party and say otherwise.

So... jog on

#writing #creative writing #writeblr #magicbuilding #rant #no point to it really

4 notes · View notes

nellied-reviews · 4 years ago

Text

Super Energy Saver Mode Re-listen

Hellooooo! My Wolf 359 re-listen has hit episode 6, and guess what that means? Yup, you got it!

Super Energy Saver Mode

In which Eiffel struggles to name his top five lanthanides, Hilbert blows things up again, and the Hephaestus might be haunted?!

I'll confess, going into this episode I could not remember very much about it. The title felt familiar, I vaguely remembered that it was one of the episodes where something on the Hephaestus stops working, but other than that? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. So that was exciting.

And you know what? I can kind of see why I didn't retain much from this episode! Plot-wise Super Energy Saver Mode just doesn't do very much. There's not a complex solve or fix for the issues that come up, or a clever work-around. Instead, Minkowski and Eiffel just... figure everything out and fix it competently?

In retrospect, there is, of course, one big, plot-relevant, spoilery thing that happens. But even that is basically left unresolved by the episode’s ending, which aims to create a creepy atmosphere than anything else.

Because that is what this episode does well. Without the additional job of being plotty, Super Energy Saver Mode can just concentrate on being atmospheric. Coming into it pretty much blind, in particular, meant that I appreciated the tension baked into the episode - even once I remembered what was going on, I really enjoyed how spooky this episode felt.

As per usual, though, we don't start with the creepiness. Instead, we start with Eiffel chatting about something mundane - namely, the fact that it's the crew's 500th day in space!

It's something that I think, on any other show, wouldn't actually be all that mundane. There are a whole bunch of spacey series where I could imagine a pretty decent episode being built around the crew trying to host some sort of anniversary celebration. But here, 500 days isn't something to be celebrated. It's not a bad thing, per se. But it's not a good thing. It's just a thing, a reminder of how worn down the crew are at this point, and how many days they have left on the clock. We get the impression that this mission is more of a long, hard slog than anything else - and thus we're reminded again of how little Goddard cares about its employees' wellbeing and morale.

Eiffel and Hera are having an unofficial party, though, with just the two of them, which is sweet. In practice, of course, this just means that they're spending time chatting while Eiffel avoids work. But it's really cute, and I find the banter about top five lists and the various criteria that Hera uses to come up with them soooooo funny. I mean, Hera judges "Stick It to the Man" songs by active political regimes at the time of composition, and complexity of choral progression, which I love for reasons I can't quite pinpoint?

The sequence also shows how differently Hera and Eiffel think. Eiffel very immediately and intuitively forms an emotional connection to things like music, but can't even fathom how Hera just knows things like the 900th digit of pi, or all of the lanthanides. Hera, meanwhile, has so much more information and raw data at her metaphorical fingertips than Eiffel, but doesn't quite connect to it in the same way, and doesn’t entirely get how Eiffel does. It's not (like with the Dear Listeners) that she can't connect to music, or fundamentally doesn't get it. But she's working on a different scale, judging by different standards. And she's not embarrassed to mess with Eiffel because of it, or to talk about it with him. Really, it's a textbook example of how to hang out and be friends with somebody while still thinking and relating to the world differently - which I think is a large part of what I like about Eiffel and Hera's friendship.

Their fun little interaction gets interrupted, sadly, by Hilbert requesting extra power for his lab, which we can already tell will end badly, because come on, it's Hilbert. But what is interesting is how irritated Hera seems afterwards. I mean, she does the whole "I am not programmed to get upset" spiel, but nobody's buying it, and when she confesses that she doesn't like Hilbert's tone, there's definitely a lot of annoyance there. It reminds us, after seeing Hera's machine side, that she's still a person and still has emotions - a balance that Wolf 359 is generally pretty good at. Hera's allowed to be an AI, with the non-human worldview that that entails. But at the end of the day, she's still a character with emotional depth and nuance.

With that in mind, then, Hera admits that she doesn't like Hilbert's tone - which is totally understandable - but also that she's mostly worried that somebody's going to get hurt as a consequence of Hilbert's recklessness - which seems to be validated when the station's power cuts out and Hera goes offline mid-sentence.

Eiffel, given the circumstances, remains remarkably calm, but this does mark the point where the episode shifts genre to become what is, in effect, a haunted house story. It's set on a space ship, sure, but all of the beats from this point onwards are pretty much the beats you might expect if Eiffel were, say, spending the night alone in his late grandfather's crumbling old mansion, long rumoured to be cursed. It's paranormal horror at its finest, complete with weird voices and jump scares and a bunch of "it's probably nothing" moments.

I noticed, as well, that there was barely any music from this point onwards. There is some (shout out to the creepy little theme with the ghost-like, theremin-sounding wail and the soft bass guitar!) but it's subtle, and very much secondary to the sound effects, which suddenly get very loud. For as long as the power is off, we get all sorts of creaking, groaning and echoing - and with it a sense of just how big and empty the Hephaestus really is. Hera's constant presence and the electronic noises around the place do a lot to mask that, normally. But now we're hearing the silence, and it is eerie.

Adorably, Eiffel's first instinct is to ask himself, "What would Commander Minkowski say if she were here right now?" This leads into a huge and surprisingly detailed fake argument, of course, which is hilarious in and of itself, but there's also just something kinda sweet about how immediately Eiffel assumes that Minkowski would have a handle on things. Eiffel still complains about her a lot, at this point in the series, so the respect that this little moment betrays feels fresh and sort of unexpected.

Eiffel's not wrong to trust Minkowski, either. Once she shows up, the episode's main problem - Hera being offline - gets solved quickly and remarkably efficiently, with Eiffel doing the legwork and Minkowski giving instructions, and honestly, it's in moments like this that I remember how technically competent Minkowski is. I think I tend to remember the more military, combative bits best, with her stalking round harpoon in hand or shooting folks, so it's nice to be reminded that the Commander can also handle things like repairs just fine.

Of course, that means that the episode's main tension is never actually about the power outage. The sudden silence and the threat of life support running out add to the episode's general atmosphere, sure. But the thing we are most anxious about, as the episode plays out, isn't the ship's newly-accessed Super Energy Saver Mode. No, instead of that, we're given a new mystery, and it's a doozy: what's up with that voice Eiffel keeps hearing?

It starts almost inaudible, but in the end Eiffel hears the words loud, clear and terrifying: "You're not the first." Which, like, terrifying much? It's vague and ominous and very chilling, especially with all the distortion that's going on.

In retrospect, of course, we know that this is our first encounter with Captain Isabelle Lovelace - indeed, it's one of the very few encounters that we have with the real, non-alien-duplicate Isabelle Lovelace, for whatever that's worth. We also know that she doesn't mean any harm - she's trying to warn the crew, in fact.

Strangely, though, knowing that doesn't actually this any less effective as a ghost story. After all, what are we hearing, but the voice of a dead woman, warning the crew about an even worse monster lurking in their midst? The Hephaestus, Lovelace's recording reminds us, is indeed haunted, if not literally then at least metaphorically, by the ghosts of its former crew and the traces that they have managed to leave behind.

With or without hindsight, then, the episode is creepy, hinging ultimately on the idea that there might be something not quite airtight in Hera's programming, that there could be something hiding - or deliberately hidden - just underneath her code. In making that the focus of the story, the episode opens up the tantalising possibility that something might fundamentally be wrong with the Hephaestus and its systems. The show's very setting is destabilised and made frightening - and that's a genie that you can't just put back in the bottle once you decide that you're done telling ghost stories. Instead, the feeling that something is not quite right persists even after Hera comes back online, and still haunts the episode as it draws to a close, since we don't actually get an explanation of who Lovelace is. Instead, it remains a mystery. A spooky, weird, always-in-the-back-of-your-mind mystery.

It's a bold move, and it feels a lot like what happened with the plant monster, which is also at large at this point. I'm beginning to suspect that this is a thing we're going to see more of, too - big, obvious plot threads that are ostentatiously waved in front of us, then dropped, apparently without comment.

It's something I think these early episodes could do more easily, since the expectation that loose ends would be followed up on wasn't quite established yet. Later on in the series, everything gets more serialized, so if something like, say, an alien duplicate of Jacobi turns up and is left dangling, we can reasonably expect that it'll get addressed at a point. Earlier on? We've not got those expectations. This might just be the sort of show where weird, scary voices are brought up and then never mentioned again. It might be the sort of show that lets a plant monster loose and forgets about it for the rest of the series.

When it turns out, then, that that isn't the case, even in these early, apparently inconsequential episodes, it feels like a bonus, and we get, in hindsight, a little thrill of recognition, as we realise that no, there was a plot there the whole time. It's a satisfying feeling, at least for me, and it's 100% what's fuelling this re-listen.

So yup. Super Energy Saver Mode. An exercise in atmospheric spookiness, an enjoyable haunted house story and just generally a pleasant surprise. Solid work, really.

Miscellaneous thoughts

Eiffel is talking about an 830 day mission, if I've done my maths right - with the possibility of Command extending it! That is one long-ass time to spend in space with three other people!

I want to know Eiffel's top five Stick It to the Man songs so badly

"Ooookay. Maybe this isn't one of those wait and see things. Maybe it's one of those... imminent death things."

Wait Hilbert had to amputate multiple of Minkowski's toes???

Bless her, Hera sounds drunk when she's coming back online ^-^

#wolf 359 #wolf359 #w359 #wolf 359 relisten #super energy saver mode #nellied reviews #creepy episode this time #featuring a very familiar voice #distorted beyond all recognition #also Eiffel and Hera being cute

24 notes · View notes

moonchildsaurora · 5 years ago

Text

The social butterfly of a Tech Genius

»»—— Crew Member #6 of Space Pirates ATEEZ ——««

all aboard The Perihelion, welcome to the co-pilot’s log system! here you’ll be able to access the crew’s profiles should you wish to read about their journeys: (no nsfw content)

[CAPTAIN] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

an underestimated intellect with huge love for the cyber world and technology

you hear him before you see him in a crowd

a Drex’un who was born and lived his life in the technology-thriving city of Vollurn up until he was invited to join Hongjoong and Seonghwa on their journey

[database file: Drex’uns are often described as demon-borne even though not all bloodlines are derived from infernal ancestry. Purely for the fact that prominent horns protude from their heads, a prehensile tail that’s used for grabbing things and will coil around their legs when upset/nervous, sharp canines and eye colours that cover the entire sclera. Depending on bloodline, some Drex’uns have elemental abilities]

Mingi isn’t sure about his bloodline as he never knew his parents, though his intelligence goes far beyond that of an average being’s. Not only does he process knowledge extremely fast, his memory is remarkable; able to recall even the tiniest details and his ability to analyse/break codes allows him to have free reign in the cyber networks

his teal-coloured horns and tail have onyx gradient tips, adorned with a few gold jewellery (his actual ears are also pierced with hoops) to complement his molten gold eyes

making heads turn, be it for his energetic presence or fashionable attire; “just because I grew up on the streets doesn’t mean I have no pride for my looks”

learnt to be resourceful and street-smart at a young age, knows all the short cuts and side alleys of the city like the back of his hand (he’s had a lot of time to wander around). Also found out that he had a knack for by-passing security systems whenever he needed shelter for the night

frequents the ‘Merripalace Arcade’ where it’s both an underground hangout for tech whizzes and the cyber battlegrounds for competitive players. The first visit gave him a taste of a different kind of freedom and an introduction to the world of hacking. It’s probably one of the few places he’s felt a part of a community; no judgement of your species nor your background but rather your digital reputation is more valued and the sort of technological talents you bring to the network

if there’s one thing Mingi is a natural at it’s socialising, he could walk into a club alone and come back out later with a new social circle if he so wishes

“ok who DON’T you know here?”

“just look at that face, how can you say no to him?” – Mingi is walking proof that Drex’uns can pull off the puppy-dog face and get away with it

he was gifted a second-hand mirage drive by Einux, a Nagzoid [database file: a reptilian humanoid being with serpent ancestry so they tend to have more snake-like features] who became a shot-term mentor figure after Mingi unintentionally helped crack a system code for a database Einux was commissioned to work on (because Mingi thought that guy was just really bad at math on first glance)

[database file: a mirage drive is pretty much a miniature tablet with a hologram touch-screen and every tech whizz would protect theirs with their lives; especially when were layers of secret activities and programs stored into it]

“you remembered to wipe clean the data trail and replace the originals with the dud files right?”

“yeah of course...does planting a virus in the system that will cause ‘Time Warp’ to play every time they try to click open a file counts?”

“Mingi, I…….”

Einux introduced Mingi to his network of contacts and helped set him up with his first commission, safe to say Mingi was at a loss for words when he got his first pay up front (and that was just the deposit)

by the time Yunho had come across Mingi at the Tech Institute, he had been in the cyber scene for 4+ years already and never once had to deal with someone catching him in the act

Mingi.exe has stopped working

he’s met a couple of Sheirzois before but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t lowkey checking out the blue-haired giant whilst panicking on the inside, he’d argue there’s always time to appreciate beauty

two options popped into his mind then and there; either he bribed his way out (as his mentor taught him) or he attempted to maybe throw some punches and then make a getaway

(expectation) looks like he’s intimidating & can fight vs. (reality) he’d probably cry if he hit someone & is just a soft boy all-round

extra trivia: ironically for an infernal being, Mingi doesn’t deal well with anything supernatural/ghosts-related. Once Woo and Yeosang pranked him, Yunho helped a little but he doesn’t need to know, and convinced him that the basement storage hanger was haunted after totems started appearing in odd places along with ominous noises. Mingi was so ready to abandon ship before Hongjoong did damage control & Jongho promised he’d fight all the ghosts for him

was already metaphorically weeping at the thought of having to empty his money pouch but turned out that Otis (his multi-coding bot) had somehow manage to win the Sheirzoi over along with an invite to drinks

“I’ve got many questions for you regarding your efficiently adorable bot”

“…and I to you as well, BUT first do you have a name? And secondly have you been to ‘Le Apollon’? Coz if not they make some really mean Northern Drops there!”

Yunho turned out to be one of the most chilled individual Mingi has met and he didn’t mind the other’s enthusiastic discussions about all technological inventions, and was even just as enthusiastic to share with Yunho about his own passion for cyber tech

one too many drinks later Mingi was accidentally spilling secrets he definitely wasn’t meant to and even ended up dancing on the table at some point, all while Yunho hyped his new friend up on the side

was forever grateful that Yunho never ratted him out to the authorities and consider him shook for the 2nd time in that day when he was offered a roof over his head, a more permanent one too

“do you want to be the big spoon, or is it my turn? We can rotate!”

thus the bromance of all bromances was born

living with Yunho not only meant Mingi would wake up to good vibes, but more than often would wake up to either the screeching of the smoke alarm or “HOLY SMOKES WHERE ARE THE WATER PODS? DID WE RUN OUT OF THEM? AGAIN?!”

putting out accidental fires became second nature to Mingi, initially he’d aggressively fret over Yunho but now he’s come to accept such is the life of a chaotic bright inventor and this is fine

in fact when Hongjoong and Seonghwa came across their humble abode (thanks to Yunho’s cleaning bot) it was an iconic first meeting over smoke. Yunho did most of the talking when Hongjoong pitched his desire to recruit a crew for space voyage, Mingi too busy sitting there staring at the two new-comers with shooting stars in his eyes and hearing about the prospects of an adventure. Within that day the crew had gain 2 more members, because Mingi and Yunho are a combo package deal

“oh has the system be glitching? If you don’t mind, would you like me to have a look at it?”

Hongjoong did a happy dance on the spot knowing that not only did he now have a talented inventor on his ship but also a gifted tech genius, he put Mingi in charge of managing the mainframe systems along with intel collecting this decision that Hongjoong would later semi-regret because (at times) the word “self-control” doesn’t seem to exist in Mingi’s vocab

Seonghwa adopted him and Yunho pretty easily and space mum’s cooking is Mingi’s fave, occasionally using his puppy-dog face he’s perfected over the years to his advantage in gaining extra midnight snacks (being everyone’s baby, no one’s really immune to this)

“Hwa you’re supposed to be the one disciplining the kids!”

Mingi and Yunho were known to be the chaotic fun duo, but with Wooyoung is just chaotic – not to mention he got his Yunhogizer confiscated by Hongjoong for almost a week after, “I thought we were all comparing assets, Wooyoung sent his to the group chat so I figured this was some kind of crew bonding”

also was one half of the reason that the ‘whatever happens at the Tav/clubs, stays at the Tav/clubs’ rule got implemented and one-night sexytimes were banned aboard The Perihelion after Jongho witnessed a random still semi-nude humanoid trying to sneak out of Mingi’s room without being noticed (Hwa went on parent-mode and panicked yell whilst covering Jongho’s eyes)

Jongho avoided Mingi (out of sheer embarrassment) for a few days and that was pretty devastating, considering how close the two became in their friendship that Mingi was one of the very few people in the crew whom Jongho was openly clingy with at times

no one can argue about Mingi’s loyalty to his crew/new family, and under his care-free flamboyant exterior he’s a genuine listener and will not hesitate to offer his shoulder for his family to lean on whenever they need it

recently he’s created new software to enhance Seonghwa’s cybernetic lenses (as a birthday gift) that’d allow him to see clearly miles ahead, in the dark and lock-on tracking function. What Mingi failed to let Hwa know was that he still hasn’t disconnected the sync link to his mirage drive and therefore if, for example, an image was sent through it’d appear in the other user’s field of vision

“wait for it, wait”

“what exactly are we waiting for Mingi? And why are you giggling over a screaming pink…starfish?” (that’s Patrick Star by the way)

seconds later there was a clamouring from the bathroom, the solid sound of someone falling before, “MINGI!”

“that my good lads, is what we were wa-oh whoops gotta go!”

(moodboard made with love, by @s1ardusk ♡)

#ateez headcanons #atzinc #atinyforatiny #aurorateeznet #ateez scenarios #pirate ateez #pirate ateez au #ateez au #ateez imagines #ateez drabbles #ateez blurbs #song mingi #ateez mingi #ateez writing #ateez fic #Perihelion Crew #pyx writes

48 notes · View notes

rosecorcoranwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Video Games as Interactive Storytelling

As I previously established, video games are a worthwhile form of storytelling, combining the best aspects of books, movies, and comics. They are unique among mediums, however, for being a truly interactive form of media. They are games, after all, and thus incorporate aspects play and choice.

Environment

Because you, the player, control the character, you experience the world as if you were in it, much more than in any other medium. You explore the environment. You fight the boss, and experience the struggle of battle. You help various NPCs, or non-player characters, with tasks. You make friends and allies, and fight alongside them. Although I never like my favorite characters getting hurt in any medium, when people attack my allies in video games, it's personal.

And that's what video games do: offer an incredibly personal experience. Unlike books, movies and comics, where you have to read from start to finish, video games let you meander and spend time in the setting. In games like Zelda, Okami, or Dark Souls, you can discover secrets that aren't necessarily part of the main plot. These can include hidden areas or side quests. Sometimes these add to your understanding of the story or make the main plot more emotionally impactful. For instance, I actually did all those side quests for people in Okami, so the cutscene during the final boss fight was personal to me. I helped those people; they were lending their strength to me.

You can also gawk at the extra details of the world. One of my favorite examples of this is in Skyrim, where you can read books of short stories or admire intricately carved Nordic architecture, neither of which are important to the story or gameplay, but which make the experience more complete and immersive. I like to wonder at the fact that some person was paid to write those stories and design those carvings; they’re neat little details that someone at the studio thought were important enough to put into the game.

Even a game as linear and straightforward as the Ace Attorney series allows for a sort of exploration. Though you can only "move" through a series of set-like locations during the investigation stages, you can click on almost every object in order to hear banter between you and your assistant. While this doesn't generally offer much in the way of world or story building (unless the object turns out to be a crucial piece of evidence) it does let us experience more chemistry between the characters, endearing them to us even more.

Choice

Games in which the player’s choices effect the story obviously offer an interesting experience. Certain games have binary choices—send this character to the safety of the cathedral, or to be experimented on in a laboratory!—while others have branching trees and dozens or hundreds of possible endings. Many games incorporate a morality system, where the more bad choices one makes make for a darker ending, with the best result being the “Good ending” and the worst result, the “Bad ending”; many games opt for multiple bittersweet conclusions.

While some such games have fairly blank-slate, player-insert characters as protagonists (that is, they don’t have too much personality, because the player can fill that in), others have very specific motivations, while still offering choice. My sister was describing her initial frustration, in Red Dead Redemption 2, that she could only make not-so-good choices in some of the side quests. This makes sense, given that you are playing as an outlaw in a gang, but was still annoying in a game that claimed to give one choices. She was later delighted, though, after something important happens to the character (spoiler: they find out they have tuberculosis, which not only makes them sympathize with one of their former victims of the same condition, but also forces them to come to terms with their decisions, as time is running out), and good options start opening up. The way the game presented choices made sense for that individual character while still giving the player the freedom to reject certain choices if they want. Masterful!

Happenstance

I will say, however, that player choice is not totally unique to games, as Choose Your Own Adventure books were and occasionally still are a thing. Programmers can program in more possible choices than can be contained in a physical book, but the storytelling principal is the same. More interesting, I think, is video games’ ability to create random happenstance. What do I mean? Depending on what the player does when, they might stumble onto a part of a game in a different way than other players.

For example, in Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, musical themes for each location play during the day, while nighttime has only sound effects. As anyone who has played Ocarina can tell you, the Gerudo Valley theme is some of the coolest, most adventurous music in the franchise, and it starts playing in the canyon, before you arrive at the desert. In order to get to the desert the first time, you jump your horse over a broken bridge, which feels pretty awesome to a first time player. But for me, it was more. I arrived on horseback at the canyon at dawn, rode to the edge as the castanets of the Gerudo Valley theme started playing. Just as I jumped, the sun came over the horizon and the guitar began! I could have sworn there was even a lens flare, but that might have been my imagination reacting to the epicness of what was happening. It was a totally random, unrepeatable event, and I’ll never forget it.

In Okami, I never knew that going through some torii gates led into mystical areas while going around them led to ordinary shrines, because I always went a certain way. Thus, my mind was blown when I discovered, after following a little sparrow girl through a gate, that what had once been a solid wall was actually a pathway. It wasn't until my second play through that I went around the gate of the first shrine, which led to a glowing portal to a celestial world, and discovered nothing but an ordinary statue in a moss-covered cave. I never knew!

In another Zelda example, every player had a different experience of their first Blood Moon in Breath of the Wild. Blood Moons are events that serve to replenish the enemies in the area, but in-game are meant to be the malice of the main enemy infecting the environment and causing monsters to resurrect. They happen at random, and are preceded by the music changing, the light dimming, black wisps issuing out of the ground, and, of course, the full moon turning red. My brother first experienced it while looking at some goats in a pasture outside an inn, while my sister experienced it after climbing up a tower to reach a treasure chest. Never having heard that Blood Moons were a thing, their thoughts, respectively, were, “What the HECK is wrong with these goats!?” and “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry! I’ll put it back!” I’m sure others have their own fun stories of their initial horror at what was happening.

Social Interaction

Cast your mind back to when this whole diatribe of mine began (many weeks ago), when I mentioned a coworker of mine saying that video games don’t inspire social interaction. Just the opposite is true, and it always has been.

One of the first, if not the first video games was the two-player game, pong. Though not actually a story game, this led the way for more two player, and then multiplayer games. Kids used to go to each other's houses and play Mario Brothers or Bubble Bobble; now, they interact with friends and strangers across the country in online, multiplayer games. There are even games that have “emotes”, special moves you can do to communicate with other players without voice chat. Others let you vote for another player as the MVP of each round to show your appreciation. Lest you think it’s all online, Nintendo is keeping in-person multiplay alive and well with games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Smash Brothers.

Single player games, too, invite interaction. Pre-internet, people would spread hints and strategy and cheat codes by word of mouth. “How did we know how to do that move without reading the manual?” my sister asked, recalling some odd special move in an older game. “I think a friend must have told me, and they probably heard it from one of their friends.” Nowadays, internet forums and Let’s Play videos serve the same purpose: a community of gamers helping each other out and spreading information about games.

I myself have talked repeatedly about what my brothers and sister experienced in their playthroughs. Some of this is because some games are too hard for me (like, every game FromSoft will ever make), but a lot of it is just because there was one TV and not enough time for me to start my own game. I’ve never actually played Sekiro or Bloodborne or Last Guardian, but I’ve watched people play all of them from start to finish, so I still have that experience. My brother and I both gasped when we first encountered a Mist Noble and its enchantment in Sekiro (and my advice, “Kill it with fire!” worked like a charm). My sister and I squeed over the griffin-dog-thing’s cute antics in Last Guardian. Unlike books, comics, and movies, which are best enjoyed in silence, video games invite conversation during play.

Online streams offer a similar experience. Even here, choice rears its head. Some streamers play it straight, from start-to-finish, with little editorializing. Others derp around doing a lot of nonsense, or add hilarious commentary, often adding their own layer of storytelling to the mix. Viewers of said streams can type comments in real-time, so that the streamer interacts not only with the game but with his viewers, and the entire experience is like one big conversation. Who said video games don’t inspire social interaction?

Community

Right about now is when I connect this new form of storytelling to something ancient. Books are the new songs and poems, movies are the new plays, and comics are the new tapestries and hieroglyphics. What, then, are video games? As I said before, they take elements from all of these other mediums: video games are the new bard adding their own lyric to a song, or the actor playing a well-known role a different way, perhaps due to choice or happenstance.

But mostly, video games are the new play, that most primal and primordial of all human storytelling. We play as soon as we can think, and play act as soon as we can walk. Children assign themselves roles and act them out together. Humans are communal creatures, after all, who process narratives by interacting with other humans.

To some extent, all storytelling is like this, as it is one human telling something to another rather than keeping it in their head. Video games, though, bring back the communal aspect of storytelling. Wanting to take part in stories—whether as a child going on adventures with friends, or an adult participating in a narrative ceremony, or anyone telling a story around a fire to a group of rapt and responding listeners—is part of being human.

At some point, however, that part of life got chopped off and shunted to the corner, as if adults shouldn’t desire narrative play unless they are writers. Thus, video games are put down as childish, or geeky, or not as valid as books. Oddly, they are stereotyped as being something beloved by loners, which ignores the vibrant and vocal gaming community.

I’m not sure where the animus towards gaming comes from. Why is immersing oneself in an imaginary world while staring at a book is considered high-brow, but doing the same while staring at a screen considered low? I don’t know, nor do I want to. What I do know is that some of the most unique, innovative, and emotional, stories I’ve ever seen have been those in video games, and I hope that in the future, more people give them a chance.

And those, dear readers, gamers, viewers, and story lovers of all stripes, are my thoughts on video games.

4 notes · View notes

derekscorner · 6 years ago

Note

Between KH2 and KH3, which game did you like more, both story and gameplay-wise?

Ah is this that KH2 vs 3 debate I hear is ongoing? Well if you’re in for a sit I can answer that.

Gameplay:

From this angle I quite bluntly find KH2 Final Mix more fun. I’m not going to argue what was arguably better or worse, gameplay preference is a matter of…well preference no matter how many wish to deny this fact.

Not that you do but I”m sure some lover or hater of one will see this and try to retort. o3ob

Anyway; I felt Kh2 final mix was more technical and “harder” if I had to describe the feeling. Like 3 KH2 is normally overly easy but when put on critical mode it’s technicalities shine.I had to learn tactics, I couldn’t spam X or △, and I learned uses for summons. Which I found ironic since the 2 summons are far more useful when you dont initiate their moves.

Like if I let Stitch wander the screen he’ll deflect projectiles and keep my MP full. Chicken Little is a great early Magnet substitute and Peter Pan+Tinker Bell gives you a Phoenix Down.This was an improvement to KH1 in which only Tinker Bell was a spell with decent combat use. 1′s other summons had more supplemental uses imo.

KH3′s summons were nearly win buttons I felt. Simba in particular, while damn spectacle, felt broken. I never bothered to learn them as I didn’t need them. Which I’m sure they have their own uses but I’m not really fond of many control schemes for them so I opt out of it.

In terms of the magic system I felt 2 and 3 were opposites. In KH3 magic is far too powerful, something many have noted. And while you dont ‘have’ to use it that’s not an excuse for a problem. You should choose not to use it not force yourself to ignore it for challenge.

KH2 on the opposite spectrum made magic nearly useless I felt. Many enemies didn’t stun nor have elemental damage. Fire’s AOE animation was good for early Critical game and Blizzard helps that first Hollow Bastion visit but many enemies shrug the base spells off later.In contrast, KH2′s Magnet and Thunder spells can be OP. Reflect in of itself is practically the only spell you’d ever need to use due to it’s nature.

So while many have long rants on either’s magic system I dont really think one trumps the other. each one is equally flawed with issues I dont see ever being addressed.

In terms of keyblade combat I preferred KH2′s because I felt like Sora was automated in 3. I spam X cause I’m a scrub at timing presses (DMC5 is helping me overcome that) and due to this I noticed real quick that Sora’s combos just felt really automated.

Like I’d press X for one hit and get three. In contrast, KH2′s combat is harder. Sora animates combos as fast as my lazy ass can spam X and I’m not floating around like a final fantasy god.

I’m not really sure how to put this feeling into words but I do feel Kh2 keyblades are funner or snappier to combo whereas in KH3 I’m playing a watered down FFXV with it’s hold/press X for combo string.

Both games are so similar outside this issue that I dont see no reason to list likes or dislikes. If anything, from here, KH3 had great quality of life changes. The menu system was easier on the eyes and I’d be a damned soul if I didn’t admit I like switching keyblades mid-combat.

I also really appreciate KH3 finally using Re:Coded’s keyblade ideas. It’s been there since that DS game yet no one every expanded on making keyblades unique since. It was a very foolish step backward to me.

I love that keyblades level up, I love that each one has a preference and the only way that could’ve been better is if they adapted Coded’s system entirely and gave each keyblade (or most) it’s own unique combo.

KH2 quite frankly just falls short in a hindsight perspective since keyblades were “stat sticks” and you only ever chose weaker ones for an ability. Which, back then, was a huge step up from KH1.

So KH3 wins in this area I also dont really hate on Kh2 for it since KH2 is a product of the era. This idea of keyblades growing with you didn’t happen till Re:Coded.

As for Shotlocks…I dont like them. I hated them in BBS and I hate them here. It’s not even a comparison to KH2 type of opinion. I hate Shotlocks, I never use shotlocks so I’m going to skip those.

I mean sure, KH2 had limits but the only limits I use are Knocksmash so I can’t exactly praise KH2′s half of that either.

And when it comes to Forms vs Transformations I think both have pros and cons the other lacks. For example, some Transformations are really cool, I love the hammer weapons or the dual pistols.

I also believe the staff transformation is what KH2′s wisdom form should’ve been in terms of how it does magic or basic attacks.

That said, I also really dislike many second forms keyblades have. I never evolve the pistols into the bazooka, I never turn the hammer into the drill, I have those second forms. It’s to the extent I prefer keyblades that have one form such as the staff.

I’m also not fond of the Kingdom Key’s 2nd form change. It’s a neat throwback and I love the outfit recolor but I dont find it fun to use.

Between the two games my favorite forms are Valor Form, Anti-Form, and the Staff Transformation. Odds are I wont use anything else unless I feel particularly bored.

I might use others more often if KH3 forced me to rely on them for tactics but as of right now it does not. This may change with 3 gets it’s Critical Mode DLC. Similar to how KH2FM forced me to rely on forms I hate like Wisdom or Final.

As a concept I will admit that I dislike transformations. I dont like the idea of keyblades becoming magical swiss army knives. KH3 pulled the idea off better than I expected but I dont like it all the same.

The only, and I mean only, thing I felt KH2 did better was tie forms to a meter. In KH3 the commands appear randomly (and often) and I dont gain consequences for using them.

In KH2 this was tied to your Drive Gauge. You had to plan what you used and this is an issue I felt KH3 had as a whole. Rather than shotlocks, I’d have preferred that Focus Gauge to be reserved for my summons and forms so that I could have better control of what I picked and to reduce how broken they are in-game.

The rest is miscellaneous opinions so I’ll rapid fire:

Gummi Ships: always hated them, BBS did Gummi Ships best. Point goes to KH3 here since I can at least skip most of it.

Minigames: I’ve never found a KH minigame fun. No one wins here

Worlds: KH3 wins this aspect too. World towns have actual people in them and when it uses original plots the worlds are quite good. I also appreciate the power to explore and soft platform again. It gives me a more immersive feeling than later titles ever have. (although I feel KH1 was still better than both here)(entirely because of how many small details/cameos/secrets a KH1 world had compared to sequels)

I dont really have a more technical opinion than that. I do however think Arendelle was a horrendous world and I hate to even be there. For a myriad of reasons….reasons that would be a rant post of it’s own.

Lil Chef: I never use the food. I dont care if it’s a good spot for ingredients. If I want to cook stuff I’ll do some irl or play FFXV.

Enemies: KH3 used nobodies more than KH2 did and I find that a damn crying shame. I also felt Unversed were underutilized. KH2 still takes the point here due to the combat points I mentioned above.

KH3 fodder is prettier and can be more elaborate but KH2 is funner to play and destroy them in so KH2.

The Disney Rides: I don’t use them, they break the game. I do like the choo choo though since it’s situational to specific battles. KH2 has nothing akin to these so there’s no comparison, I just wish the rides could be disabled or that they worked more like the train. (set to key fights)

KH2 vs KH3 Commands: Eh both aren’t that good. KH3 spams you commands to shift through and KH2 has so many for spectacles sake that the games get easy. There is no winner here, if anything KH2 should’ve restricted these like KH3 restricts the Train ride summon.

Final Fantasy: I dont like FF games but I consider the ones of Kh1 part of the main cast. Their alternate KH selves are important to me. The lack and fading of FF over the years is quite honestly something I dislike and 3′s total lack of them is inexcusable to me. KH2 takes this point since I got to at least meet Leon and crew again.

Then there’s the story.

Anyone that’s followed the blog or met me knows I strongly dislike the direction of KH’s story. It’s not a matter of things others debate, I do not like it. I hate it and I’m still teetering on quitting.

I wont even go into the points cause I’ve made a whole series of posts about my story gripes. I wont link them since this isn’t a shameless plug, I just want to iterate that my issues with the story has driven me to make 20+ tangents plus the older more angry rants.

Others liking it is fine I think, I get easily annoyed if someone tries to excuse something out of nostalgia or adoration, but generally anyone that likes it while admitting faults or agreeing to disagree is fine. (you do you folks)

If I had to rank them I feel KH2 is where a lot of issues started and I feel a lot of issues got worse after since the sequels tried to “fix” that mess. If left alone KH2 would’ve been a poorly written entry and a good stopping point for any disillusioned fan.

KH3 as a contrast tied up everything after 2 up til 3 itself. I do not consider the story good, the pacing is very jarring because it lacks a mid point, it’s weighed down by all the BS prior to it.

I do not feel attachment for the “trios” of the series, I find the repetition of them annoying. I find it a shame most have more dev time than the originals they’re cloned based on.

And I frankly dislike Xehanort as a villain. He’s not interesting, his motives seem to switch with several report entries and I dont eve get the satisfaction of ending him like I did Xemnas or Ansem.

I was entirely indifferent to the entirety of this game’s narrative as I played it. Something that worried my friend @blackosprey because I was so tired I could not even care enough to hate it.

I did fine the trios reunions well done. I dislike them for a list of reasons but they were coming back anyway, their fates sucked prior, so those were well done. I finally felt hype when the LW appeared (only to vanish, fuck you nomura) and in the final battle.

The ending was confusing to me. So many got a happy ending so I fail to see the logic of Sora vanishing. The Luxu reveal, which I found fucking hilarious, was the only sequel bait needed.To have Sora just up and die felt like a stupid decision and I’m sure many more found it insulting.

And when mentioning Luxu I dont mean it in a sarcastic fashion. I genuinely find him funnier in retrospect due to this retroactive change. Nearly every line or scene he’s said is now funny as hell because he’s this ancient troll. I consider it the first legitimately earned twist Nomura has made in ages.

Still, KH2′s writing and story isn’t great either. I could rant why, I have ranted why, but despite it’s flaws it was an “ending” to me.So if asked 2 or 3 I will pick 2. The writing in Kh2 is bad for lots of reasons but if I ignore the Ansem reports it’s no a story about Xehanort.

Ignoring one KH2 report let’s me live this simpler story of Sora and a scientist gone mad and the journey to stop him. It had a lot of stupid things or one of the worst “twists for twists sake” moments ever in the ‘two ansems’ reveal.

But still, I can play Kh2 and be in a KHverse where Xehanorts, Keyblade Wars, Ceremonies, timelines, sleeping worlds, data world abuse, and clones upon clones dont exist.

It’s not nostalgia so much as everything I came to dislike was post KH2. KH3 was all about these things I dont like. My favorite for key and nostalgic reasons is KH1, my pick of the question is Kh2.

KH3′s best assets that can’t be contested was it’s graphical evolution. I played KH3 three times back to back due to this, I came away from KH3 wishing KH1 or 2 looked like this. No game prior contests the look.

So all in all, as I reread this, it’s largely a mixed bag. Neither game is grand but I prefer KH2 because combat is more fun to me and it’s not tied down by a narrative and mythology I’ve come to hate.

I can play KH1, CoM, and KH2 and never be annoyed about something I loved going in a direction I hated.

#kingdom hearts #kh3

10 notes · View notes

benjaminernando97-blog · 5 years ago

Text

How to Choose The Sims 4

Events, like the lengthy poster sessions, are a vital portion of the Workshop. The Sims 4 now may also take pleasure in the background music together with enjoying a date by using their girlfriend of boy friend. Get The Sims 4 Download at no cost, make your own family and enter in the dream home.

The Most Popular Sims 4

You are the person sort of a complete city. With it, you will be able to earn a trailer. You may also opt to use a combined venue should you need to conserve space on earth.

On those chilly or hot days once your Sims would prefer to remain in and relax by reading an excellent book or simply lounging, they may use the sunroom at the summit of the stairs. Entrepreneurship is so tough that it's highly recommended to put in a bathroom and just a bed! Now they can import the house and its goods from one place to another. The Upside to The Sims 4 Maybe you must require the computer system to begin finding out vampire tradition to be able to prevent them! There are too many variables to create the guarantee. Moreover, you can make all these activities occur in a number of settingsthe possibilities of the clubs are essentially endless. The Benefits of The Sims 4 The graphics cannot be faulted. It offers an incredible graphics and visual. As an issue of course, recording Sims 4 gameplay isn't a difficult endeavor. It will now also take care of providing you with automatic updates for your game, allow you to meet others who play the same game if you want to and much more. Downloads are actually expected to fully replace physical games in the not too distant future in the identical way that things happened in music. Experience new heights of creativity. The Hidden Gem of The Sims 4 It is possible to also play as a scientist and make new inventions. It's possible to use the cheat at any object too, so apply your imagination. Despite these new additions, there are things you ought to be mindful of. Additionally, there are more customization alternatives for clothes and furniture, to which you may add your own personal touch with colors and patterns. The beds could be made out of unique headboards and footboards. In addition, there are new and unique varieties of door decorations available with a range of frames, hinges and knobs. The Appeal of The Sims 4 As an example, even though the atmosphere is achieved the sensation of camping is a little poor. There's a distinctive effects machine it is possible to set up either inside or outside. It was actually pretty fun, but the deficiency of any customized content and that you need to pay monthly killed it quick. In addition, there's nothing new to say regarding the music as it's unchanged. You may take part in holidays and make your own holidays provided that none of the traditions violate challenge rules. Cats and dogs can finally have various forms of illnesses, that can be readily cured by veterinarians. The Sims 4 Explained Don't forget this is an expansion, which means you will initially must find the main Sims 4 game that you can discover on our website. It's the very first game pack on the console edition of The Sims 4. This is an enjoyable expansion pack of the game where you're able to party with different Sims. This permits you to concentrate on the essentials and develop your Sims' talents throughout the game's numerous pursuits. If your pleasure is puzzle games, you'll locate a wide variation to pick from right here. Also, it is a good chance for you to begin playing the SimCity saga in case you haven't played at least one of these titles before. The Sims Freeplay is a totally free model of EA's popular digital life collection of games. The he also has an editor, which helps gamers to create their dream houses and mansions at the start of the game. The Sims 3 is the newest edition of the popular digital life strategy game from EA. The Ultimate Approach for The Sims 4 New careers also have been added. All you have to do is to search from Download Sims 4 for Free and you'll be shown unique choices to get this done. To make certain you have the suitable torrent for Sims 4, be certain you read the comments which people have made for the torrent. Among the distinctive facets of this edition of The Sims is that as soon as you reach level 13, your playable adult sims will begin to be given the choice to retire. If you would like to play SIMS 4 for free, you came to the correct location. The sims 4 trainer cheat will make it possible for you to customize the keys if you wish! Where to Find The Sims 4 Then opt for a property to reside in after you make your sim. If, for instance, you use the ID to purchase alcohol and you're under 21, you're able to also be charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol along with the fake ID charge. Whatever the case, irregular or not, this is going to be a snappy one. Top Sims 4 Choices Also it lets you take quick screenshot of your computer screen. It is going to then automatically initiate the download or, if your browser doesn't permit that, click the underlined words to begin the download manually. Script mods are a special kind of Mod that has to remain within a zip file so as to do the job. The entire collection are available just by searching `modest' on the site. Otherwise, make certain the home is in the correct folder by following the instruction within this guide. It was produced by the user named Deaderpool. What Does The Sims 4 Mean? As the past couple of paragraphs have hopefully made clear, there are lots of unique tactics to progress in The Sims 4. You can select the personality kinds of your Sims, together with their objectives and ambitions. You Sim will delight in an experience in the club dependent on the overall characteristics you have come up with. Exactly like in real life, you will need to find work. There's also field work at the top levels. The skill is also relevant within the temple, as you can on occasion use it in order to get through obstacles. The Dirty Facts on The Sims 4 As a consequence the PlayStation 4 hardly breaks a sweat regardless of what is happening in the game. It was deprived various elements of the basic gameplay because of a low budget. It provides a lot of amazing features. When selected, you are going to receive a little additional information regarding the game and its compatibility. The clock won't begin ticking until you operate the game for the very first time, but once it begins it ticks away in real-time, so you will probably wish to leave it until you're able to find some solid sessions in. Moreover it's possible to select games in line with the user score. Sims 4 Secrets Every time a playable ghost is made, the ghost is going to be the very same age as they were when they died. It's possible to even celebrate unique holidays including Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you adore pets, but wish to create other types of animals, continue reading to learn how to hack The Sims 4 and do exactly that! The Sims 4 - Is it a Scam? The warden was not too contented. If, for instance, you use the ID to purchase alcohol and you're under 21, you're able to also be charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol along with the fake ID charge. A felony fake ID offense can lead to a year or more of incarceration, and at times up to 10 decades. What to Expect From The Sims 4? If you do add more sims, you'll certainly wish to bring a couple more computers and easels, but it is a worthy investment. You're able to sell baked goods alongside different foods. Thus far, five expansion packs are released. To obtain added information on the sims 4 apk please look at http://mobilesims4.mobi/ Entire buildings and rooms are now able to be moved throughout the lot. There's also an immense selection of objects (homes, workplaces, shop and so on) you can pick from and combine anyway you would like. Drag the seed from your inventory on the ground where you would like to plant it. The Key to Successful The Sims 4 Players may publish their creations in the Gallery for different players to download in their game instantly. The notion of the game is like Sims 3 which is predecessor edition of Sims 4. The Game is truly different from the previous chapter Sims 3, but it isn't bad. The SIMS 4 Product Code Generator is critical to produce your own Sims and play with this. If you would like to play SIMS 4 for free, you came to the correct location. The sims 4 trainer cheat will make it possible for you to customize the keys if you wish! The Most Popular Sims 4 You will be asked a small amount of basic info about your video card and in case you'd love to create shortcuts. The best thing of it all is that we'll still offer news, absolutely free updates, and fixes about the app to our free and paid users. You cannot lose out on this, especially since we're offering a completely free download for a limited time. The entire collection are available just by searching `modest' on the site. Oddly enough, Fishing isn't a social skill. The excess memory is necessary because 512MB is needed for a Windows Vista Capable machine. Here's What I Know About The Sims 4 Like a true company, you want to put a lot of work in before you may delight in any success. If you get the expansion, then it's going to keep you busy for some time. This provides parents the ideal excuse to introduce their children to The Sims without paying at first, therefore it's a remarkable prospect. If you'd like all of these together, you'll have to graft them. It is possible to customize these traits to fit your needs. It's certainly feasible to create a living with the new skill. How to Choose The Sims 4 The clubs which you find in Get Together are a little more diverse. Whether you must move an entire room or even your complete house, that's now an option which didn't exist before. In addition to this, to break up the daily routine you may go to sick Sims around town in their houses. Granite Falls is a little area, but it hosts lots of cabins your sims can camp out in. EA, have a seat, this might take a while. Now, the players may import the home and its goods from 1 place to another. Life After The Sims 4 Here are a few of the features provided by this popular game Sims Creation The Sims are in fact the characters in the game. It's the very first game pack on the console edition of The Sims 4. If you wish to join others within this game, utilize The Sims 4 Download PC and find the game at this time! This permits you to concentrate on the essentials and develop your Sims' talents throughout the game's numerous pursuits. If your pleasure is puzzle games, you'll locate a wide variation to pick from right here. Gaining fame makes it possible for players to obtain new perks. Item description The Sims series is among the most prosperous game franchises of all times. The he also has an editor, which helps gamers to create their dream houses and mansions at the start of the game. He may be one of the best selling PC games of all-time, but it is a series that has never been known for hefty bench marking like Crysis. The Sims 4 - Overview You will get legitimate work at home part time jobs new easel which you need to begin using rather than the old one since it permits you to paint increased quality paintings. SimCity 4 includes more user interaction in the practice of construction and upkeep of a variety of buildings. An expert conference provider handles all the particulars of each workshop and offers administrative support throughout the year. If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on The Sims 4 Take a look at the significant changes detailed right here, and choose if you're likely to give it a go. Possessing certain skills can enable you to have a great result, but you could also utilize supplies to help animals or escape dangers. It is possible to pick from 0-9 to select your very own necessary level. It is possible to use your own creativity to boost fun within this game and relish every emotion with expressive practices. You may take part in holidays and make your own holidays provided that none of the traditions violate challenge rules. Cats and dogs can finally have various forms of illnesses, that can be readily cured by veterinarians. The One Thing to Do for The Sims 4 You will get legitimate work at home part time jobs new easel which you need to begin using rather than the old one since it permits you to paint increased quality paintings. You don't need to be concerned about the price tag. There are two ways the corporation could go about doing it. The Most Popular Sims 4 Some cheats can be typed right into the dialog box we described above, and others are going to require an extra command. You've got to back out of first person mode when you desire a sim to interact with a different sim in another room. You cannot lose out on this, especially since we're offering a completely free download for a limited time. Their patches DO break things supplied by other creators, and it may include things like mods, customized content, or both, based on what changes EA makes the decision to include in a patch. It's possible to use default EA cheats and also other cheats readily available on our website. Enjoy every one of these incredible features and more by getting the total version Sims 4 download. Lies You've Been Told About The Sims 4 If you're, for example, the very best criminal in SimNation, you may have a really villainous reputation, but it doesn't make you famous. If, for instance, you use the ID to purchase alcohol and you're under 21, you're able to also be charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol along with the fake ID charge. Possession crimes are likely the most often seen, and you may be charged with a fake ID crime even when you never attempt to use it in order to try, for instance, to illegally buy cigarettes. Lies You've Been Told About The Sims 4 Every time a playable ghost is made, the ghost is going to be the very same age as they were when they died. There, you'll locate the five lodgings you're able to rent, together with a great deal of visiting Sims. If you adore pets, but wish to create other types of animals, continue reading to learn how to hack The Sims 4 and do exactly that! If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on The Sims 4 If you're thinking about how to advance since you're not a particular mood and a pedestal requires you to be before you are able to activate it, you have to head back outside. There's no fixed commitment for the purchase. For instance, wheelchair usage is the end result of several conditions and may be put into place easily to represent a large selection of disabilities. It is possible to use your own creativity to boost fun within this game and relish every emotion with expressive practices. Seasons again really just brings plenty of character to any sort of sims life. Well, you can for example new emotions felt by our characters, completely new dialogs not to mention area you will see for the very first time. The Meaning of The Sims 4 If you do add more sims, you'll certainly wish to bring a couple more computers and easels, but it is a worthy investment. Evidently, the huge addition inside this pack is the spa. The pack comes with a wide assortment of different things. Entire buildings and rooms are now able to be moved throughout the lot. There's also an immense selection of objects (homes, workplaces, shop and so on) you can pick from and combine anyway you would like. Drag the seed from your inventory on the ground where you would like to plant it. The Sims 4: No Longer a Mystery We've got a whole scope of sims 4 skill cheats. Even you can choose the best way to die for the sims. You can also make your own sims. Taking a gamble on it's risky. You can also locate a strategy guide on the internet to play this game more beautifully. Gaining fame makes it possible for players to obtain new perks. The Sims Freeplay is a totally free model of EA's popular digital life collection of games. The Sims is believed to be the most effective real life simulator game ever made. He is the first game in the series. The Secret to The Sims 4 As the past couple of paragraphs have hopefully made clear, there are lots of unique tactics to progress in The Sims 4. Thus far, I'm having a fantastic time playing The Sims 4 in first individual. You Sim will delight in an experience in the club dependent on the overall characteristics you have come up with. But this doesn't indicate that having a Sim that fits the necessary role would block the creation of the homeless. There's also field work at the top levels. Should you do, the moveobject ability is going to be lost. Using The Sims 4 If a Festival is in the very same neighborhood, there is not any loading screen. Unlike the last chapters, FNAF 4 happens in your own house. After you enter map view, choose the destination and the amount of days you would love to stay for. We must move forward and attempt to complete the season well, Dendoncker told Wolves' official site. EA, have a seat, this might take a while. The new freelancing career will allow sims to work at home, and pick up gigs they must finish in front of a deadline. Sims 4 Secrets As a consequence the PlayStation 4 hardly breaks a sweat regardless of what is happening in the game. In addition to undeniable technical inadequacies, it has been stripped of large amounts of content compared to the Sims 3, indicating a very long series of paid downloadable content coming soon. If your game still freezes then you've got to improve your device. Take pleasure in the power of the real-life simulation game in a digital world where there are not any rules. There's no need of any online connection to play game. Moreover it's possible to select games in line with the user score.

Choosing The Sims 4

Not all Expansions are made equal and what excites one particular player could be lackluster to another. You get to dictate the sort of life you would like your Sims to live and the role they need to play. Let's start to make your very first Sims and delight in the digital world where there isn't any rule.

You're able to offer numerous tasks to your sims and the sims will carry out the task depending on their present-day mood. The new XBOX ONE isn't hacked yet but the very good news is you are able to download The Sims 4 XBOX ONE game code free of charge from our site. The sims 4 trainer cheat will make it possible for you to customize the keys if you wish!

1 note · View note

n3rdsplace-blog · 6 years ago

Text

What is a computer? 1.0

We live in an era where we cannot imagine our lives without computers. We use them for everything and everywhere; at home, at work, school, we even carry them in our pockets. But have you ever asked yourself what exactly is a computer?

Today we will cover the pure basics of the computer. What is the computer, what is its purpose, and we'll mainly touch on the topic of history.

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

Computers were designed years and years ago. People always created inventions that could help them in everyday life with their labor work - they invented tools like hammers, axes, knives etc... And then the idea sparked...what if we create a tool that could help us think? And that's how first "computers" were invented.

They already had them in ancient times - but in a very different form from what we know computers for now. The first "computers" were actually calculating devices. Most known is the abacus, this was the first invention that we know of, that was already able to assist people with simple operations. It was invented around 2500 BC in Mesopotamia and was a simple machine made out of beads and rods.

It wasn't until the industrial era where first electronic devices were invented but more sophisticated electronic devices or the so-called early computers weren't seen until the 20th century. The first digital electronic calculating machines were developed during World War II. The speed, power, and versatility of computers have been increasing dramatically ever since then.

The earliest appearance of the word computer was actually in around 1613 in the book by Richard Braithwaite, and it wasn't a machine at all, in fact, it was a person who did calculations. It was also considered as a job title and it stuck around for a while. It wasn't until the late 1800's when the meaning of computer started shifting and started referring to devices.

There were many mechanical devices created in the 17th century that were already able to solve a lot of mathematical functions, in fact, those machines were so successful they were used for the next three centuries. But those machines weren't accessible. They took hours, days to generate the result and were extremely expensive. Some major inventions, for example, were Napier's Bones (1614, invented by John Napier), The slide rule (1633, William Oughtred), The rotating wheel (1642, Blaise Pascal) and many more.

Let's talk about Charles Babbage now. "Father" of the first computer.

Charles Babbage is known for being the father of the first computer. He created and developed two concepts in his life. One being the Difference Machine and the other being The Analytical machine. He was also assisted by the world's first "programmer", who was, in fact, a woman, by the name Ada Lovelace. None of the machines were actually built when Charles Babbage was alive, as he stumbled across funding issues. However, in 1888, Henry Babbage, Charles son, was able to complete a portion of this machine and create basic calculations with it and demonstrated it years later in 1906.

Fun fact: The Difference Machine was actually fully built, based on the original Babbage's concept in 1991 at the London Science Museum. This machine weights around 3 tones, costs 500 thousand dollars and works completely.

Quite a revolutionary invention was also Hollerith Tabulating Machine, that was also built out of mechanical parts BUT it was already dependent on electricity. Calculations with his machine were much faster and it was the Hollerith's company that later on with years grew into the worldwide known company called IBM.

1ST GENERATION COMPUTERS

The first computer without mechanical parts was ENIAC, built in 1946. It was 1000x faster than the Tabulating machine and its weight was over 80 tons. The size of the machine was approximately the size of a big classroom. ENIAC and other computers that followed and for the storage of data used vacuum tubes, are sorted into the 1st generation of computers.

1st generation of computers was around from 1940 - 1956 and those computers were only able to solve one problem at the time and were using the vacuum tubes.

2ND GENERATION COMPUTERS

In the year 1956, the 2nd computer generation was created. Those were the first computers that used transistors instead of vacuum tubes.

3RD GENERATION COMPUTERS

In 1964 the 3rd Generation came and lasted to 1971. Those computers had integrated circuits and they replaced transistors with silicon chips. That increased the speed and efficiency of computers and were also the first computers that were able to solve many problems at the time.

4TH GENERATION COMPUTERS

The Year of 1971 was the revolutionary year and it's also the start of the 4th computer generation and computers that we use now, also belong into this group. They are known for using multiple integrated circuits, built onto a single silicon chip.

The birth of personal computers, known as PC'S was in 1981. The computers were simple and reliable. They kept developing, causing the drop in price and improvement in quality. Although the components of computers are getting more and more complex - that allows the use of the computer to be simpler than it was ever before.

So now that we traveled through years and years of computer history I wonder...What is a computer?

Well... A computer is an electronic device that manipulates information or the so-called data. It's instructed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Computers follow sets of programs and these programs enable computers to perform an extremely wide range of different tasks.

But a computer can't run those tasks if it's not complete... So what is a complete computer?

A complete computer consists of hardware and software. To make it simple, the hardware is any physical parts of the computer. Which includes all of the computer components such as a monitor, keyboard, speakers, mouse and internal components (processor, hard drive, etc...). While the software is any set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do.

Fun fact: The computer sees data as numbers - 1's and 0's and those numbers are the so called binary code. Then, computers combine the numbers into more complex things such as photos, videos, movies, websites, games and much more.

PC’S

When most people say computer, they're talking about personal computers. This can be either a laptop computer or a desktop computer - the difference between the two is minimal and mainly based on the portability of the computer.

Personal computers, also called PC'S come in two main styles. PC and Mac. PC's are the most common type of computers and there are many different companies that make them. They usually come with the Microsoft Windows operating system while the Mac computers are all made by the company called - Apple. Apple's computers come with the Mac OS X operating systems but we will talk about the operating systems in the future posts.

And for the end of this post...

Computers now come in many shapes and sizes. Smartphones, tablets, game consols, and now even TV's have built-in computers although they might not do everything a desktop or a laptop computer can.

There's another type of computer that plays a significant role in our lives but not many people are aware of them. They are the so-called servers. A server serves information to other computers on a network. In fact, every time you use the internet, web servers deliver the web pages that you want to see to your computer. Servers are also used in many offices to store and share files.

And this is how I am ending my post for today. I know, it's a lot of information but there are so many facts I left out today. The history of computers is extremely wide, in-depth and overall very interesting. So feel free to explore it, educate yourself about it, because I am sure, you'll find a piece of history that you'll enjoy. In the next post, I'll touch the subject of computer components or the so-called Hardware. So make sure to follow my blog and stay updated on my new posts.

Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!

-B.

Sources:

Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (Paperback) by Paul Freiberger

https://www.computerhistory.org/

https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/

http://people.bu.edu/baws/brief%20computer%20history.html

1 note · View note

pixelgrotto · 6 years ago

Photo

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, part six

Resident Evil Zero starts with a bang and a wonderfully tight example of level design, as new STARS member and series cutie pie Rebecca Chambers investigates the Ecliptic Express, an Umbrella-operated train that’s become the testing ground for an early version of the zombie virus. On the train, she meets an escaped convict named Billy Coen, and the two of them have to blast their way through tight cars filled with bio-weapons and a great number of leeches, which play an important role in this game, before finding a way to stop their Orient Express outta hell.

I adored RE Zero’s Ecliptic Express, partly because I have a thing for old locomotives and also because it reminded me of 1997 adventure game The Last Express, but with zombies. The environment also felt wonderfully fresh, since aside from the ruined Raccoon City briefly featured in RE 2 and more prominently in RE 3, the majority of the series has, thus far, been content to fall into a fairly standard cycle of settings - mansions, ruined industrial complexes and underground laboratories. What better way to inject some variety into this mix than with a Gothic train, perhaps the perfect environment for a survival horror game thanks to its many rooms, narrow hallways and plentiful hiding spots for the walking dead? Unfortunately, the Ecliptic Express is more or less the highlight of RE Zero’s environments, and once Rebecca and Billy crash the train and end up in an old Umbrella training facility, the game once again falls back into the trope settings that Capcom was content to recycle. This was a disappointment, but RE Zero injects some unusual, experimental shifts into the gameplay experience that make up for packing its most atmospheric surprises into the first hour, though not all of them are entirely successful. Chief among these is the partner zapping system, which has players controlling two characters at the same time and occasionally separating them to solve puzzles, like when Rebecca has to stand on an elevator to reach a higher area and Billy has to work the controls. It’s good stuff, since if one thing has become clear to me since beginning this RE journey, it’s that the series has always harbored fantasies of being a partner affair but never was quite able to figure out how to do it. Previous games would only feature very brief sections where another character accompanied you, and the rest of the time, they would keep making ridiculous excuses for why they needed to split up, kinda like members of the Scooby-Doo gang. With Becca & Billy, finally this nonsense has been done away with, and while you now have twice the amount of inventory management to wrangle with, it’s great to finally explore these secluded, dangerous environs with some backup. The fact that Becca & Billy are actually good characters with chemistry helps, and while it’s understated, the story gradually forces them to trust each other more and more. It all stays mutually respectful and there’s no forced romance angle (even though I totally ship these two), but when Billy gets into a bit of a tight spot near the end of the game and Rebecca desperately shouts out his name in panic, you can sense how much she’s bonded with him through their shared night of terror.

I mentioned inventory management, and this leads me to RE Zero’s other big surprise - the magical connected item boxes that have been a series save point trademark are completely AWOL in Zero, and players can actually drop their stuff anywhere, a first in the franchise. Apparently, the devs implemented this to take advantage of the nonexistent load times of the cartridge-based Nintendo 64, which was supposed to be the original platform for this game. (Prototype footage of the N64 version exists and looks impressive, though the ROM’s never been leaked, unfortunately.) I’ve also read that they did it to bump up the difficulty level and intentionally go back to the essence of Sweet Home, the grandpappy of the series.

I thought Sweet Home was a fantastic hidden gem, but the limited inventory space and necessity to drop your items was actually my least favorite part of the gameplay, since it led to lots of housekeeping and backtracking where you’d realize you needed a particular tool but had left it on the ground ten screens away. And this problem exists in RE Zero as well, which is probably one of the lead criticisms that the game faces on the internet. In my opinion, Zero’s backtracking is nowhere near as bad as in Code Veronica, but there were definitely large stretches of the game where I was simply picking up all my crap and moving things to save point rooms, which I basically converted into makeshift item storage halls. There are also a lot of items in the game, like the hookshot, which take up two slots in Becca & Billy’s precious inventory space and aren’t used for a long time only for the game to suddenly drop a “hey you need this to progress” moment, which is liable to piss folks off. I can understand the devs wanting to make things harder, but there’s a fine line between challenge and annoyance, and Zero’s inventory wrangling occasionally enters the realm of the latter. It would’ve been best if the team had given players the ability to drop their stuff and included the traditional item boxes, but unfortunately, it seems like they were operating under the mentality of “we’ll give you ONE freedom but take ANOTHER away, muahaha!”

In the end, I was able to forgive most of the item problems thanks to the fact that I liked Rebecca and Billy so much, and I had more fun with RE Zero than most of the fanbase, which tends to view it unfavorably. If I were to rank all the classic Resident Evils, I’d actually put Zero right under REmake, RE 2 and RE 1, and in my eyes, it’s better than RE 3 and Code Veronica, which end up on the bottom of my list for different reasons. (RE 3 is competent fun but kinda by-the-numbers, and Code Veronica remains the only Resident Evil game which really felt like a slog the more I played of it.)

Why then does Zero end up getting so many apathetic reactions? Well, it’s probably because aside from the inventory management problems, this game feels a little unnecessary, which is an issue that most prequels suffer from. Zero was advertised as revealing the details behind the tragic mission of the Bravo STARS, the team that you learn was slowly massacred over the course of Resident Evil 1. Unfortunately, aside from Rebecca and a few token cameos, the Bravo guys are barely in the game at all, and most of the plot revolves around the background of Umbrella and a case of backstabbing and industrial espionage where one of the original founders, James Marcus, was killed by his colleagues. Marcus, who created the zombie virus via experiments with leech DNA, was resurrected by the very leeches he experimented with, and now he’s out for revenge.

All of this is vaguely interesting, but if I’d been a hardcore RE fan back in the day and was promised a prequel that revealed the fates of the Bravo STARS only to be given a side story about a dude and his leeches, I’d probably go WTF. Capcom dropped the ball on their storytelling by providing something that nobody was really asking for, in other words, and I’ve found out through my meanderings on the Resident Evil Wiki that The Umbrella Chronicles, a spinoff game for the Wii, actually delves deeper into the deaths of Bravo team. That’s the sort of stuff Zero should’ve focused on in order to feel more needed in the grand scope of Resident Evil. Another option might have been to ax the prequel concept entirely, which leads me to another thought that’s only appropriate to bring up now that I’ve finished all of the “old school” Resident Evil games.

If it had been up to me, I probably would have plotted the course of the series differently after RE 2, which contains an interesting nugget of information hinting at an Umbrella Europe base that was never expanded upon to its full potential. The game seems to indicate that Jill, Chris and Barry are going to Europe to investigate and shut down this facility, and just about EVERY strategy guide, article and bit of speculative message board posting I can find from around that time was obsessed with this concept. It seems like everyone thought that Resident Evil 3 was going to be a rollicking European adventure…and it wasn’t, it was instead a game that took place at the same time as RE 2 and explained how Jill escaped Racoon City. Code Veronica never really expounded upon this tidbit of lore either - we get a very brief intro with Claire Redfield investigating an Umbrella headquarters in Paris, but then suddenly she’s captured and the vast majority of that game takes place on an island near South America. I can’t help but feel like a massive opportunity was missed here, and if I’d been in charge of Capcom’s scenario division for these games in the late 90s, I would’ve changed the plot of Code Veronica and basically made that one Resident Evil 3 (which it was originally going to be if Capcom hadn’t wanted to keep the “main” RE games on a Sony console). I would’ve made it an adventure with Jill, Chris and Barry in Europe, and near the end I would’ve brought Claire in to join them and fight alongside her brother. Then, I would’ve made a spinoff game simply titled “Resident Evil: Nemesis” or something of the sort, and taken the general “escape Racoon City” plot of RE 3…but had it star Rebecca Chambers. See how nicely that would’ve worked? Fans would’ve gotten their detailed peek at Umbrella Europe and the return of the classic combo of Jill + Chris + Barry. The weird Ashford siblings and Code Veronica doofus Steve could’ve still been incorporated into the story. Meanwhile, Rebecca could’ve starred in a game that felt necessary, since the beginning scenes of destroyed Racoon City were some of the best bits of RE 2, and there’s no reason why she couldn’t have met escaped convict Billy Coen while escaping the city. They could’ve worked together to flee from Nemesis, and I guess the mostly forgettable mercenaries of RE 3 could’ve made an appearance as well.

Sadly, I don’t work at Capcom, and they planned these games totally differently. We finally would go to Europe proper with Leon Kennedy in the next RE game, but that one would mark a shift in both storytelling and atmosphere, as Resident Evil quickly transitioned away from its horror roots…and into the realm of fast-paced shoot ‘em up action.

Resident Evil 4 is next, and the playthrough continues!

All screenshots taken by me. For more, check out this Twitter thread showing my step-by-step progress through the game.

#pixel grotto #video games #now playing #resident evil #biohazard #resident evil zero #rebecca chambers #billy coen #capcom

7 notes · View notes

phroyd · 7 years ago

Link

America, can we talk? Let’s just cut the shit for once and actually talk about what’s going on without blustering and pretending we’re actually doing a good job at adulting as a country right now. We’re not. We’re really screwing this whole society thing up, and we have to do better. We don’t have a choice. People are dying. At this rate, it’s not if your kids, or mine, are involved in a school shooting, it’s when. One of these happens every 60 hours on average in the US. If you think it can’t affect you, you’re wrong. Dead wrong. So let’s talk.

I’ll start. I’m an Army veteran. I like M-4’s, which are, for all practical purposes, an AR-15, just with a few extra features that people almost never use anyway. I’d say at least 70% of my formal weapons training is on that exact rifle, with the other 30% being split between various and sundry machineguns and grenade launchers. My experience is pretty representative of soldiers of my era. Most of us are really good with an M-4, and most of us like it at least reasonably well, because it is an objectively good rifle. I was good with an M-4, really good. I earned the Expert badge every time I went to the range, starting in Basic Training. This isn’t uncommon. I can name dozens of other soldiers/veterans I know personally who can say the exact same thing. This rifle is surprisingly easy to use, completely idiot-proof really, has next to no recoil, comes apart and cleans up like a dream, and is light to carry around. I’m probably more accurate with it than I would be with pretty much any other weapon in existence. I like this rifle a lot. I like marksmanship as a sport. When I was in the military, I enjoyed combining these two things as often as they’d let me.

With all that said, enough is enough. My knee jerk reaction is to consider weapons like the AR-15 no big deal because it is my default setting. It’s where my training lies. It is my normal, because I learned how to fire a rifle IN THE ARMY. You know, while I may only have shot plastic targets on the ranges of Texas, Georgia, and Missouri, that’s not what those weapons were designed for, and those targets weren’t shaped like deer. They were shaped like people. Sometimes we even put little hats on them. You learn to take a gut shot, “center mass”, because it’s a bigger target than the head, and also because if you maim the enemy soldier rather than killing him cleanly, more of his buddies will come out and get him, and you can shoot them, too. He’ll die of those injuries, but it’ll take him a while, giving you the chance to pick off as many of his compadres as you can. That’s how my Drill Sergeant explained it anyway. I’m sure there are many schools of thought on it. The fact is, though, when I went through my marksmanship training in the US Army, I was not learning how to be a competition shooter in the Olympics, or a good hunter. I was being taught how to kill people as efficiently as possible, and that was never a secret.

As an avowed pacifist now, it turns my stomach to even type the above words, but can you refute them? I can’t. Every weapon that a US Army soldier uses has the express purpose of killing human beings. That is what they are made for. The choice rifle for years has been some variant of what civilians are sold as an AR-15. Whether it was an M-4 or an M-16 matters little. The function is the same, and so is the purpose. These are not deer rifles. They are not target rifles. They are people killing rifles. Let’s stop pretending they’re not.

With this in mind, is anybody surprised that nearly every mass shooter in recent US history has used an AR-15 to commit their crime? And why wouldn’t they? High capacity magazine, ease of loading and unloading, almost no recoil, really accurate even without a scope, but numerous scopes available for high precision, great from a distance or up close, easy to carry, and readily available. You can buy one at Wal-Mart, or just about any sports store, and since they’re long guns, I don’t believe you have to be any more than 18 years old with a valid ID. This rifle was made for the modern mass shooter, especially the young one. If he could custom design a weapon to suit his sinister purposes, he couldn’t do a better job than Armalite did with this one already.

This rifle is so deadly and so easy to use that no civilian should be able to get their hands on one. We simply don’t need these things in society at large. I always find it interesting that when I was in the Army, and part of my job was to be incredibly proficient with this exact weapon, I never carried one at any point in garrison other than at the range. Our rifles lived in the arms room, cleaned and oiled, ready for the next range day or deployment. We didn’t carry them around just because we liked them. We didn’t bluster on about barracks defense and our second amendment rights. We tucked our rifles away in the arms room until the next time we needed them, just as it had been done since the Army’s inception. The military police protected us from threats in garrison. They had 9 mm Berettas to carry. They were the only soldiers who carry weapons in garrison. We trusted them to protect us, and they delivered. With notably rare exceptions, this system has worked well. There are fewer shootings on Army posts than in society in general, probably because soldiers are actively discouraged from walking around with rifles, despite being impeccably well trained with them. Perchance, we could have the largely untrained civilian population take a page from that book?

I understand that people want to be able to own guns. That’s ok. We just need to really think about how we’re managing this. Yes, we have to manage it, just as we manage car ownership. People have to get a license to operate a car, and if you operate a car without a license, you’re going to get in trouble for that. We manage all things in society that can pose a danger to other people by their misuse. In addition to cars, we manage drugs, alcohol, exotic animals (there are certain zip codes where you can’t own Serval cats, for example), and fireworks, among other things. We restrict what types of businesses can operate in which zones of the city or county. We have a whole system of permitting for just about any activity a person wants to conduct since those activities could affect others, and we realize, as a society, that we need to try to minimize the risk to other people that comes from the chosen activities of those around them in which they have no say. Gun ownership is the one thing our country collectively refuses to manage, and the result is a lot of dead people.

I can’t drive a Formula One car to work. It would be really cool to be able to do that, and I could probably cut my commute time by a lot. Hey, I’m a good driver, a responsible Formula One owner. You shouldn’t be scared to be on the freeway next to me as I zip around you at 140 MPH, leaving your Mazda in a cloud of dust! Why are you scared? Cars don’t kill people. People kill people. Doesn’t this sound like bullshit? It is bullshit, and everybody knows. Not one person I know would argue non-ironically that Formula One cars on the freeway are a good idea. Yet, these same people will say it’s totally ok to own the firearm equivalent because, in the words of comedian Jim Jeffries, “fuck you, I like guns”.

Yes, yes, I hear you now. We have a second amendment to the constitution, which must be held sacrosanct over all other amendments. Dude. No. The constitution was made to be a malleable document. It’s intentionally vague. We can enact gun control without infringing on the right to bear arms. You can have your deer rifle. You can have your shotgun that you love to shoot clay pigeons with. You can have your target pistol. Get a license. Get a training course. Recertify at a predetermined interval. You do not need a military grade rifle. You don’t. There’s no excuse.

“But we’re supposed to protect against tyranny! I need the same weapons the military would come at me with!” Dude. You know where I can get an Apache helicopter and a Paladin?! Hook a girl up! Seriously, though, do you really think you’d be able to hold off the government with an individual level weapon? Because you wouldn’t. One grenade, and you’re toast. Don’t have these illusions of standing up to the government, and needing military style rifles for that purpose. You’re not going to stand up to the government with this thing. They’d take you out in about half a second.

Let’s be honest. You just want a cool toy, and for the vast majority of people, that’s all an AR-15 is. It’s something fun to take to the range and put some really wicked holes in a piece of paper. Good for you. I know how enjoyable that is. I’m sure for a certain percentage of people, they might not kill anyone driving a Formula One car down the freeway, or owning a Cheetah as a pet, or setting off professional grade fireworks without a permit. Some people are good with this stuff, and some people are lucky, but those cases don’t negate the overall rule. Military style rifles have been the choice du jour in the incidents that have made our country the mass shootings capitol of the world. Formula One cars aren’t good for commuting. Cheetahs are bitey. Professional grade fireworks will probably take your hand off. All but one of these are common sense to the average American. Let’s fix that. Be honest, you don’t need that AR-15. Nobody does. Society needs them gone, no matter how good you may be with yours. Kids are dying, and it’s time to stop fucking around.

Written by a very smart man!

Phroyd

#gunsense

44 notes · View notes

olicitysecretsanta · 7 years ago

Text

Rings - Olicity Secret Santa 2017

Dear Carol ( @tdgal1 ),

I wish you a very merry Christmas and I hope this fic will be a nice addition to that for you. I tried to write you a fluffy fake dating soulmate AU, even though I’ve never written a soulmate fic before. At about a thousand words I realized I wasn’t even halfway through the story, so here’s a five thousand word fic for you, I hope you enjoy it :)

Lots of love,

Sietske ( @sweetme86 )

*–*–*–*–*

Title: Rings

Rating: General

Tags: #Olicity #soulmate AU #fake dating #no island #OSS2017

Wordcount: 5087

*–*–*–*–*

Legend said the Mark only appeared when one’s soul truly recognized its other half. In the seventies this had been reinterpreted to mean that you needed to sleep with your soulmate to make the Mark appear and in some instances, that did work. Of course, it also occasionally happened when people didn’t sleep together, but sex was a fun and easy way to connect to someone.

It didn’t take long for movements to emerge that protested using sex as a trigger, especially when cases of a true soulmate connection were found less and less. People were pointing fingers at promiscuity being the cause of the diminishing amount of soulmate matches.

The truth of the matter is that no-one knows exactly why soulmate matches are found so few and far between, that finding your one true match has become somewhat of a legend. Oliver Queen used to proclaim loudly and for everyone to hear that “it’s not a crime to try and find my soulmate, is it?”, whenever faced with paparazzi asking him about his very active love life.

The wink and suggestive smile that accompanied a statement like that had Felicity rolling her eyes at her screen. It’s not like she really kept up with the guy, but as a Queen Consolidated employee she had decided to do some research on the recently re-emerged ‘heir to the throne’. A little over a year ago she found herself in Starling City because QC offered her a job far away from her past. Though the playboy billionaire hadn’t gone completely unnoticed in her periphery, he also wasn’t someone she’d given a lot of thought.

It was rumoured – though never confirmed – that his parents had been soulmates. After Mr. Queen’s unexpected death, his wife had become somewhat reclusive and Oliver Queen had disappeared from the limelight and most likely from Starling City entirely. His best friend and partner in crime still made the gossip rags occasionally, but he too seemed to have cleaned up his act quite a bit.

A little over a week ago, every local news station was buzzing with the news of Oliver Queen’s return to Starling City and the rumours mostly seemed to revolve around his possible future within Queen Consolidated. Granted, the gossip rags were more interested in the ring on his finger and whether it concealed a Mark or perhaps implied a serious relationship.

Felicity didn’t care what the gossip rags were writing, but was interested in his possible involvement in his family’s company. If Oliver Queen truly was going to play a part in Queen Consolidated, it might have repercussions for her, hence her digging through old news-articles and video of one Oliver Queen.

She had been keeping a low profile at QC, trying not to stand out too much, but doing enough to ensure she got to keep her job. Her boss had always been eager to lick the heels of his bosses, and with Oliver Queen possibly returning her boss might just be looking to set an example of his 'expert leadership’.

The whole Cooper fiasco hadn’t left her uninterested in coding, but it had been a serious reality check regarding the power of a well-crafted virus. She enjoyed working with computers, helping systems run smoother with a line of code so clever she considered it to be poetry, but she never again wanted what happened with Cooper to happen again.

The ring on her finger was a result of the Cooper-fiasco. She figured if her love for Cooper was able to blind her so much so that she didn’t see his true motives, it would be exponentially worse in the event she ever – against the odds – found her soulmate. Soulmate matches happened rarely, but she was rather safe than sorry.

She knew like no other how much a person could change in just a few years, so when she was only able to find evidence of Oliver’s past digressions and next to nothing about his current exploits – or the last five years of his life for that matter, she decided to call it quits. Of course, she could dig a little deeper, but that would require hacking and she’d mostly given that up after the call that informed her of the fate of her ex-boyfriend a few years ago.

Felicity told herself that it didn’t really matter anyway. She’d been able to hang on to this job long enough without drawing unwanted attention; as long as she didn’t give her boss a reason to really notice her, the appearance of Oliver Queen shouldn’t have an impact on her position.

*–*–*–*–*

“Felicity?”

Her head snapped up at the voice that had rapidly become familiar in the last three months. “Oliver.” She slowly let go of the tension that had involuntarily lodged itself in her throat when his greeting startled her out of her coding zone.

She had tried so hard to stay under the radar, but apparently Mr. Queen’s hearing was better than she’d counted on. Her so-called boss had been trying to make himself seem better than he was when Oliver made his rounds through all the departments and Felicity had scoffed at the man’s blatant lies.

She thought she had covered it up well enough by following it up with a bit of a cough, but Mr. Queen’s eyes had found hers with a laser-like focus. He insisted she call him Oliver after that, and for some reason he kept singling her out in every meeting since.

“Anyone ever tell you to start wearing a cowbell or something? Stop sneaking up on me!” She tried to hold on to her glare when she looked at him, but as usual the amusement in his eyes was too contagious and any annoyance melted away like snow landing on not yet frozen ponds.

“I wasn’t trying to be sneaky Felicity, your focus on your work is simply stronger than should be humanly possible. Which is why I’ve come down here actually, could you take a look at this?” He handed her a folder and a USB. Why he insisted on paper copies when he could save a tree and stay digital was a mystery she hadn’t yet solved.

It was one of the very few mysteries she hadn’t really tried solving.

If he stayed digital he wouldn’t have a reason to travel down eighteen floors and see her in person, it would be a good idea to convince him to just email her when he wanted her to do something.

He was probably wasting precious time.

He must have better things to do than deliver projects to her personally.

He was being groomed to take over as CEO after all.

So why hadn’t she tried to convince him of this yet?

She told herself it was because he was smart enough to figure this out himself. After all, he’d come back from obscurity with an MBA to his name and had managed to convince the board of directors to put a Queen back at the helm of QC, be it on the condition he shadow the current acting CEO –Walter Steele – for a year before taking over.

Before she made the conscious decision to do so, her hand was already plugging the USB drive into the computer. A frown made its way to her face after flipping open the folder in her hands though.

She chanced a look at the man standing in front of her desk, but he was studiously looking at something behind her. Strange, as the only thing behind her was a blank wall. His fingers were rubbing together and if she were a gambler she’d wager he was, nervous? She’d never seen him nervous before.

“Are you sure this is the right folder?” She asked him.

His eyes flitted to her, to the folder and back to her in the span of a second. “Mmhm, yes,” He told her before his eyes went back to the apparently riveting image of the wall behind her.

Right.

“These are what, files on your family?” She was flipping through the pages that each held a portrait picture in the top right corner of the page, followed by basic information she imagined finding on résumés or if your mind went a less innocent direction, perhaps on police files. She recognized his sister, a guy she remembered seeing in a few articles regarding his sister, his mother, and finally Oliver himself.

It didn’t happen often that she was lost for words, but she had no idea what to make of this. He had developed a tendency to come to her with more delicate problems in projects he had taken an interest in, but never something with this much personal information.

She noticed him standing stock still at her desk and again not meeting her eyes, before she went back to skimming through the folder.

In addition to simple facts like age and education, there was more personal information provided too. The sheet on his sister contained a few anecdotes seemingly written from the viewpoint of a big brother; the guy on the next sheet was listed as his sister’s boyfriend of six months; according to the information on his mother, she was someone that put her family before anything else. There wasn’t much on Oliver, other than his current activities, a couple movies he liked and some other titbits that seemed more appropriate to talk about if they were on a date.

She closed the folder and tried to catch his eye, “Oliver, what-”

“There’s more detailed information on the USB, but I figured it might be best to just start with the basics.” He had started scuffing the toe of his shoe against the floor, which was odd. His fingers rubbing against each other usually was the only nervous gesture that he didn’t seem to be able to contain.

She looked up at him incredulously. “More detailed information? Oliver, why do I now have dossiers on your closest family?!” She whisper-shouted at him, looking around to make sure they were alone.

“We’re friends right? I mean, we’re friendly. That…” He seemed to be gearing himself up for something, “Yeah, you- you tell me things that aren’t – you know – always about, well- sometimes we… talk? About- Not always about work stuff. And you tell me when I’m being an idiot. I’m not sure why but I feel like I can trust you?” He huffed out a laugh as he hung his head.

She expected him to keep talking, but as the silence grew thicker she couldn’t help but blurt out, “Was there a question I missed somewhere in that mess or did you suddenly just go mute?”

She scrunched up her face as soon as the sentence escaped her, she wasn’t usually this rude. Especially not to him.

“My sister is too romantic for her own good and has gotten it into her head that I need to start dating again. She’s so happy in her own relationship I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s actually delirious because of it.” The words came so fast she had to take a moment to process.

As soon as what he was saying filtered through though, her eyes found the ring on his left hand.

He wasn’t entirely wrong, they did sometimes talk about other things than work. Well, she babbled, he listened. They hadn’t ever talked about something as personal as their dating lives (or absence thereof). They both wore a ring, but most likely for very different reasons.

“Dating?” She shoved down the anxiety his words caused. “I don’t mean to pry, but you’re wearing a ring. Why would she try to get you to date?” The question made her chest ache, she didn’t want to discuss his ring, or her own for that matter.

He chuckled, “yeah, you’d think wouldn’t you. She’s been very, enthusiasticabout her own relationship. Shares more than I ever wanted to know about my baby sisters love life. I don’t think she’s ever believed you could fall in love without having found your soulmate, but ever since meeting Roy she’s over the moon, says the fates just can’t keep up with her. She doesn’t seem to realise that when she says stuff like that it only makes me call her Speedy more often.”

The soft look that had taken over his awkward fumbling while talking about his sister made her smile at him. “You’re still wearing a ring though. Can’t make it much clearer you’re not interested” she said, “And it also doesn’t explain why you felt the need to give me all sorts of random information about your family”.

Oliver wearing a ring wasn’t something she really dwelled on. When he had started showing up in her corner of QC more often, she took comfort from it. Wearing a ring had become a way to turn your back on the idea of a soulmate. Traditionally people exchanged rings during a wedding ceremony, some bearing the delicate designs inspired by the Mark that appeared circling the third finger of ones left hand. Some people chose a ring designed wide enough to cover an existing Mark or even to hide the fact there wasn’t a Mark there.

She figured she could deal with him worming his way into her life, because they both weren’t interested in finding a deeper connection.

“I know,” he replied. “Thea knows I don’t have a Mark and thinks I’m only wearing the ring for the public eye. People around here have a hard time letting go of the person I was before I left.

"She’s not completely wrong, it is easier to fend off unwanted advances with a ring on my finger, but it’s not the entire story. But I don’t really want to talk the entire story through with her.”

He started shuffling his feet again, maybe he would finally explain himself properly. His mouth opened twice without any sound coming out before he groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. She thought she heard him say “Why is this so hard?” But couldn’t be sure as his hand was still covering part of his face.

“Just spit it out already!” She threw her hands up before sagging back against her office chair.

“Come to the pre-Christmas weekend with me so my sister stops trying to set me up with people” he said, in the same tone of voice he used to ask her help with a project.

She blinked, “What.”

“The pre-Christmas weekend? I told you about it last-”

She cut him off mid explanation, “Yeah I remember. And I heard you, all the words came through crystal clear. It’s just- the words aren’t making any sense. You… you want me to what, be your girlfriend for your family’s weekend getaway? Your Christmas getaway, with your, you know, family. As your girlfriend”

It took him a while to answer, and she had just started hoping she was just having a really elaborate case of word confusion when he said, “Yes”.

*–*–*–*–*

“I still can’t believe you wrote me files on your family.” They had been driving for a little over an hour and the view had become limited because of the trees on either side of the road.

He answered without hesitation, “You are always very thorough in any research I ask you to do. You come well prepared to meetings and you’re usually two steps ahead of everybody else. I figured I should do the same if I had any chance of convincing you to go along with this ridiculous plan.” He took his eyes off the road for a second to smile at her.

There was a tug in her belly as their eyes connected and she studiously ignored it, opting to keep her focus on the foliage around her instead. The sunlight filtering through the leaves left the air around the car tinted in a faint green. There were spots of snow on the ground between the trees, and any sunlight that made it that far created sparkles in the snow.

The world was beautiful out here.

*–*–*–*–*

She wasn’t entirely sure why she had agreed to this. Butterflies were wreaking havoc inside her from the moment the car slowed down- they had arrived.

The cabin –palace, she corrected herself- was gorgeous, the combination of wood, rock and enormous windows took her breath away. She felt a hand settle in the small of her back and looked up to see Oliver had already put their luggage on the wrap-around porch and had come back to the car, where she was still standing, gaping at the most luxurious mountain cabin she’d ever seen. Her nose and cheeks were tingling and she was pretty sure the cold had turned her normally fair skin red.

“Come on, let’s get you inside. Thea and mom are already here, I’ll introduce you.”

He smiled at her slightly panicked face, “They don’t bite you know”.

At least the nerves of meeting his mom and sister made it easier to ignore the tugging in her belly for now. “I know! Well not know know, because I’ve never met them, but I’m assuming. Most civilized people don’t bite. As far as I know.”

She threw him a desperate look, “Don’t let me babble when I meet them, they’ll never stop setting you up with people if they think I’m a crazy person!”

His responding chuckle calmed her down and made her feel a little less cold while they made their way to the 'cabin’.

*–*–*–*–*

“Ollie!” His sister almost knocked him over in her enthusiasm, “and you brought a friend? I didn’t think you were being serious!” She winked at him before looking Felicity up and down.

“Don’t be rude Speedy. This is Felicity, I would appreciate it if you could act like a normal human being- don’t want to scare her away now do you?” He teased before turning to Felicity again. “Felicity, meet Thea, my sister and bane of my existence.”

She pressed her lips tight together, but her eyes betrayed her mirth, “Nice to meet you Thea,” she said as she extended her arm, “Oliver’s told me so much about you.”

Thea ignored her gesture, instead going in for a hug, “I’m not as bad as he’d like you to believe, promise,” She whispered before bouncing back on her heels. “Mom went for a walk, but said to tell you to get settled in the blue room, she’s had it made up for you two.” Already walking further into the house, she said over her shoulder, “Dinner’s at seven, don’t make me sit through it by myself!”

*–*–*–*–*

The next morning after breakfast, Oliver took her on a tour of the cabin. He had a story for pretty much every corner they turned, and none of them were really about the cabin itself.

Everything he talked about was linked to Thea, or his best friend Tommy, “You see this nick right here?” He pointed to a scratch in the woodwork next to yet another bedroom, “Thea was running after me and Tommy again, but instead of letting her catch us, we kept dodging her. This is where Tommy dodged right into a side table with this huge vase on top. He managed to catch the vase, but the corner of the table dug its way into the wall.”

There was a smile on his face she’d seen a lot since they made it to the cabin, and it tugged on something deep inside her every time without fail. If she’d known this would happen she might not have come. It wasn’t supposed to happen, this was never supposed to happen. He was a friend, nothing more. The only reason she was here was because he didn’t want a- she cut that thought off before it could fully form. 'Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, aren’t you Smoak’, she berated herself. He wore a ring for a reason, hell, she wore a ring for a reason.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Oliver continued, “It’s a miracle he managed to hold on to the vase, because Thea barrelled right into him as soon as he stopped running.” He looked at her and the smile slipped off his face.

“Are you okay Felicity?” He asked, concern lacing his voice.

“Yeah, sorry, I spaced for a second there,” she forced a smile back on her face, “you’ve got a lot of history here, it’s a shame you don’t get to share it with someone special.” The minute the words left her mouth, her heart skipped a beat. Why would she even go there?

She mentally cursed her wayward thoughts, making their way into the real world without her permission. They hadn’t really delved deep into their histories, but they covered the basics before coming here- neither of them wanted a romantic relationship. She just wasn’t sure that was completely true anymore.

She sighed, releasing a deep breath, “Sorry, my brain’s a bit scrambled. I didn’t sleep very well, strange environment and all that. Ugh,” she put her hand to her head as she scrunched up her nose as she continued, “here I am, complaining of a lack of sleep when you were bent like a pretzel all night, your back must be killing you”.

“TMI guys, T. M. I.” Thea said as she walked towards them, “I was coming to get you for hot chocolate, but I’m gonna look for something to wash my imagination away first.” She started backing away the way she’d come. Right before she was out of sight again, she said, “Tell me, what’s the best way to get rid of mental images? Bleach or vinegar?”

Felicity leaned into Oliver’s shoulder to smother the giggle that escaped her, even as her cheeks flamed a deep red. Oliver pulled her into a hug, as though they had been used to physical contact for years instead of days.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s find that hot chocolate”. His hands slid from their place around her, down her arms until he was holding her hands in his. They started walking, following Thea’s footsteps towards the kitchen.

She didn’t notice they were still holding hands until they were in the kitchen and he had to let go to pull her seat out for her.

*–*–*–*–*

Dinner that night had been strange. Would have been strange even without Thea’s not so subtle digs about pretzels and other bendy snacks. She’d hoped sitting across the table from Oliver would give her a little respite, because all day they’d been in contact in some way or other and it was messing with her head.

It was like they were magnetized and with every movement or turn their fingers would brush, or his hand found its way to the small of her back or to her shoulder. Walking around in the snow outside had been nice too, but she had to hold on to his arm because her boots didn’t have enough grip on the icy paths around the cabin. She just didn’t want to fall on her face!

All that contact had only led to more frustration though, because it wasn’t just her. If it was, she could’ve easily pushed it down, ignored the pull. But he felt it too, she was sure of it.

So she sat across from him, instead of next to him. He’d been giving her strange looks during dinner though, and as soon as dessert had been finished he claimed the mountain-air had wiped him out and went up to their room. Instead of joining him, like the pull inside her told her to, she curled up on the couch near the fireplace, staring at the fire.

The warmth from the fire and the excitement of the day’s events had her almost nodding off right then and there, if it weren’t for Thea joining her. The younger girl was uncharacteristically quiet, perhaps picking up on the strange tension between her and Oliver. They were sitting in silence next to each other for a while, before Thea was carefully choosing her words.

“He’s been avoiding relationships since his first girlfriend dumped him, that’s not a new thing.”

She pauses, like she’s not entirely sure how much she wants to share, “She got angry because her Mark didn’t appear after they slept together.” Thea’s twisting her fingers together in her lap and doesn’t look up at Felicity.

Curious as to where she’s going with this, Felicity looks at her but stays quiet, letting Thea search for words, “With dad dying and everything that came to light with it, he didn’t want anything to do with romantic relationships. When he came back home with that ring on his finger, I really thought for a second he’d found someone, that he wasn’t so lonely anymore. But he’d only closed himself off more, it’s like he didn’t come back at all.”

Thea looks up at Felicity then, big wide eyes with so much innocence and hope. She looks so much younger than she had all weekend, “A few weeks ago he started to change, mentioned this blonde genius every now and then.

"I’m glad he has you now, I think he’s finally coming back home.” Completely unaware of how much she rattled Felicity, she gives her a quick hug, whispers “goodnight” and leaves Felicity sitting on the couch.

*–*–*–*–*

By the time she gets to their bedroom, Oliver is already asleep on the couch. She’d told him the bed was big enough for two friends to share, but he’d insisted. She stands there for a second, taking in the silhouette of his slowly rising and falling chest, before pulling herself away to get ready for bed.

She’s staring at the ceiling for what feels like forever, letting her mind play through every interaction she had with Oliver over the past few days. She’s pretty sure what she’s feeling isn’t one sided, but Oliver hasn’t given her any indication he wants to do something about it. In fact, he seems to have been pulling away ever since dinner.

Even if he was interested in more, he wasn’t the only one with a history that influenced the way he saw romance. She wasn’t wearing her ring for style. Letting someone in terrified her, so why was she even trying to analyse every look and touch Oliver gave her? She rolled over and groaned into her pillow, before remembering she wasn’t alone in the room.

On the outside she froze up, but her heartbeat thundered in her ears, not allowing her to listen for changes in Oliver’s breathing. She didn’t know how long she’d been laying there, willing her heartbeat to calm down so she could hear any other sounds in the room, but while she was waiting she finally managed to drift off to sleep.

*–*–*–*–*

Felicity woke to the sound of Oliver brushing his teeth in the connecting bathroom. She was still groggy from sleep as she padded her way over in her sleep-shorts and t-shirt. Her hair was a tangled mess and she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she entered the bathroom. “Morning” she said around a yawn, before grabbing her own toothbrush.

He looked at her with a soft look in his eyes that was in direct contrast to the way he’d been looking at her last night. He probably hadn’t been awake for long either, as he was still in the sweatpants and shirt he was using as pajamas. He spit and rinsed before replying with a quiet “good morning”.

There wasn’t a lot of room for him to pass her on his way out, and she felt the heat of his body on her back when he paused right behind her, rested his hand on her hip and pressed a kiss to her temple. He continued on as if this wasn’t out of the ordinary at all, until he was back in the bedroom. Felicity blinked hard, wondering if perhaps she hadn’t woken up at all yet. On autopilot she rinsed out her mouth and dried her hands. A pinch to her arm convinced her that no, she wasn’t still sleeping.

In a daze she walked out of the bathroom, only to walk right into Oliver. He looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights.

So she wasn’t crazy for being confused.

They stood there for what felt like an eternity, just staring at each other, until Oliver finally breaks the silence, “You weren’t- This wasn’t- God Felicity, I didn’t bring you here for this, I swear.”

He swallows. Her hands are in his- how did that happen? He folds their hands together before putting them flat against his chest.

She can feel his heartbeat against her hands, as the heat of his skin slowly seeps through his shirt and into the palms of her hands. Her own heart picks up speed and that weird tugging feeling she’d started experiencing the last two days comes back in full force. It almost physically makes her take a step closer to him, but she’s already standing as close to him as one person can stand to another without being pressed together entirely.

There’s an instinct telling her exactly where this is headed, and though she’s been so afraid of it for so long, right here right now, with Oliver so close, she feels safe. Safer and more at ease than she’s felt in a really long time.

She looks up and he’s right there, looking back at her. There’s so much tenderness in his eyes, but she can see badly concealed fear lurking in the shadows. The kind of fear that is only present when faced with hope you thought was crushed long ago.

They might have very different reasons to fear love, avoid the possibility even, but the essence of it is the same. They see each other for who they are. And just like that, she knows it’s okay to be scared, she’s just not going to let it hold her back anymore.

She lifts her face up as he leans towards her, his hand sliding over her shoulder to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair. She can’t help the giddy smile that takes over her lips right before they connect to his.

Neither of them notices the appearance of the beautifully detailed matched markings, wrapping around the ring-fingers of the hands still entwined between them.

*–*–*–*–*

#olicity secret santa 2017 #arrow #olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic

78 notes · View notes