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talenlee · 2 months ago

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How To Be: Jacket (In 4e D&D)

In How To Be we’re going to look at a variety of characters from Not D&D and conceptualise how you might go about making a version of that character in the form of D&D that matters on this blog, D&D 4th Edition. Our guidelines are as follows:

This is going to be a brief rundown of ways to make a character that ‘feels’ like the source character

This isn’t meant to be comprehensive or authoritative but as a creative exercise

While not every character can work immediately out of the box, the aim is to make sure they have a character ‘feel’ as soon as possible

The character has to have the ‘feeling’ of the character by at least midway through Heroic

When building characters in 4th Edition it’s worth remembering that there are a lot of different ways to do the same basic thing. This isn’t going to be comprehensive, or even particularly fleshed out, and instead give you some places to start when you want to make something.

Another thing to remember is that 4e characters tend to be more about collected interactions of groups of things – it’s not that you get a build with specific rules about what you have to take, and when, and why, like you’re lockpicking your way through a design in the hopes of getting an overlap eventually. Character building is about packages, not programs, and we’ll talk about some packages and reference them going forwards.

…You like to hurt people, don’t you?

Examining Jacket

Jacket is a character from the Hotline Miami universe of games, which is already, immediately, going to present some issues with a translation to Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. Hotline Miami is a frustration-driven arcade action game where the player character can take exactly one point of damage, or if you have a special ability, two specifically from guns, and all but like, five enemies die in one hit from any weapon. The way Hotline Miami works is wildly different from Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition, which is instead a game of attrition based combat with a lot of safety nets to ensure that enemies have multiple opportunities to make choices and that player characters have multiple safety nets to keep them from completely leaving the game abruptly.

There’s also an aesthetic challenge, where Jacket wears a brightly coloured outfit with modern fibres and design, a rubber animal mask, and an array of guns and lead pipes and knives and whatnot he accumulates from the environment around him and flings them at people when they’re not useful any more. At the heart of what Jacket is doing and how he behaves is a very modern thing, and translating that to 4th edition is going to require some prioritising.

There’s also a specific detail about Jacket as a roleplaying game character, which is that he doesn’t talk. Like, at all. And on that note:

Nonverbality In A Group Game

If we’re talking about ways to carry the vibe of Jacket, though, one of the things I think is most pertinent is that Jacket doesn’t talk. Given that D&D is fundamentally a game about talking to people until talking fails, and then you do violence by talking to other players, obviously a character who can’t talk is going to present a bit of a challenge and ways to think about that.

This isn’t a new topic for me, in the context of discussing making D&D characters with disabilities, like Amara from Dragon Prince. My normal maxim when it comes to representing a disability for a character in a game, being it an inability to hear, see, or vocalise, is that any given character is already capable of accommodating their life in ways mechanics don’t need to reflect. If a character with a movement rate of 6 is in a wheelchair, that character has a movement rate of 6, because the point of a wheelchair is to make the person using it more mobile. Most people can’t cover twelve meters in six seconds non-stop while carrying a huge load, we’re already talking about characters whose physical limits are more about story and vibes than they are about measuring circumferences of wheels.

With that said, that’s about why a Dungeon Master shouldn’t be doing things that impose unnecessary penalties on those characters and leaves their ability to determine how their disability interacts with their reality as a choice for the player.

I’ve also written about how a character choice is not a good reason to be unhelpful to your other players. In the article on Harrow Nonagesimus, I describe the idea that just because Harrow is a drowned feral rat baby of a person doesn’t mean that you, the player should be using the in-character behaviour (she’s obnoxious and uncooperative) as a tool to make life hard for other players. That idea is that when you make a character who deliberately objects to in-character interactions you need to make sure you’re doing the work out of character to enable pulling her around with the other players.

What Jacket brings to bear, though, lives in a third space here. Jacket is typically represented as being nonverbal, as in, ‘does not talk,’ which is distinct from being unable to talk. Nonverbality is often attributed to a psychological cause rather than a physiological one, and there’s an unfortunate bias towards treating it as a ‘lesser’ disability. And complicating this is that Jacket isn’t ‘truly’ nonverbal. We don’t have any evidence that this character does not or cannot talk. This is more of a common fandom interpretation which, when I went to investigate, I can’t find hard proof for. It makes sense, since it’s a behaviour defined by an absence, but also, Hotline Miami is a game whose narrator can be broadly described as ‘kinda unhelpful.’

Whether or not he truly is isn’t the important detail, just how players can use this detail about his character to inform their relationship to their character. To that end, this is another way in which you need to communicate meaningfully with other players about what you are and aren’t going to do and why, especially in any situation where the characters should be freely communicating. As an example, in combat, it might be very easy to explain your plan out of character for your next steps to other players (so they can act accordingly) and then everyone can play along with how they work that out in character based on knowing your character. To that end, having a consistent idea of what the character is like and what they should be doing serves everyone really well. If your character is an inscrutable mage who keeps secrets, the things that kind of character could do from scene to scene is very different to what a character that approaches enemies like a handful of ball bearings in a dryer.

In Payday 2, where Jacket is a playable character, the player has to have a way to communicate wordlessly with players in a game about coordination. In that game, Jacket has a tape recorder that they play sound clips from, which are very much obviously not Jacket’s voice. You could have a Jacket with a notebook, or if that feels too thoughtful, just making some familiar gestures. Even better, if you want to play with the idea of Jacket as this infinitely isolated mega-weirdo, you can talk to another player in the group, ideally someone thoughtful and clever, and discuss ways that their character could teach Jacket some basic hand signals.

Remember, this character is probably going to wear a mask if you’re trying to have the Jacket vibes. You could play this character so that out of combat, they have a very expressive, open face, where they can clearly communicate feelings and intentions to people, to better highlight the dehumanisation and terror of the masks.

I think this is a fun roleplaying quirk, but it’s also something I would be mindful of to make sure I’m not being annoying. Don’t think ‘I can’t participate in these scenes because my character is nonverbal’ think about what you can do while people are talking, the things your character can bring to bear.

Basically, Jacket doesn’t have to talk, but you have to talk to the other players at the table and make sure you don’t use Jacket’s nonverbality as an excuse to be difficult. Everyone is trying to have fun at the table.

Unifying Jacket Theory

What is there to Jacket that cooks down out of the syrup? When we talk about defining a character and translating them across spaces, sometimes it can be about considering what they’re for, rather than what they specifically exhibit.

To that end, I would forward that any build of Jacket in 4th edition needs to hit on three core ideas. Jacket is:

Reckless. Jacket travels to places with almost no preparation, arms himself with whatever he finds at the site, and engages in combat without forethought. Putting himself in danger isn’t even a concern.

Violent. Jacket hurts people. Whatever Jacket is doing, he’s doing it with the language of physical force. Whether at range or in melee, Jacket is a character who shows up to hurt people.

Mobile. What gives Jacket freedom to move the way he does is speed. In Hotline Miami, the player character rockets along and in some cases can move comparably to a bullet. Being able to ricochet from point to point is a big part of what makes Jacket dangerous in the closed quarters of the nightclubs and hotel rooms that Jacket attacks.

Another element here is that Jacket, in the games is modal until he’s not. That is, Jacket chooses a mask at the start of each scene but doesn’t change the mask from scene to scene. One of the problems of Hotline Miami though is that you pretty quickly reach a mask you work best with, and stay using it, no matter what, and that mask is usually Tony, because Tony is grossly overpowered. If you’re a speedrunner I understand it’s usually Brandon. This means that while there are a lot of ways for Jacket to be, usually when translated to another source, Jacket has one mask because you’re only going to see him in the violence, not before it starts.

Jacket changes weapons constantly, something that 4th edition doesn’t really encourage.

These elements – of adding randomness and unreliability to a game that normally works on predictable attrition – are the kinds of things I think are best handled by bespoke Magical Items and talking to your Dungeon Master about them. I wouldn’t recommend a build that swaps between a dozen items unless I had no alternative (ala Red from Pokemon), and I think there is a lot of room for something exciting and interesting for a Dungeon Master to create.

There is no single fixed build core for each of these builds. Instead, I’m going to make a build for Jacket that’s one single form, inspired by one single mask, that tries to capture the essence of the character in the moment of someone seeing them. This Jacket will be a person who takes off their mask for ‘normal’ life and puts it on for violence.

Glossary Note: Conventionally, the term used in D&D for this mechanical package is race. This is the typical term, and in most conversations about this game system, the term you’re going to wind up using is race. For backwards compatibility and searchability, I am including this passage here. The term I use for this player option is heritage.

Hydrogen

The Avenger is a striker, highly mobile, and has a unique mechanic that lets it roll two dice for every attack against their chosen enemy. This means you’re rarely going to critically miss targets, you’re going to hit more often and you’re going to get critical hits more often. Avengers also get access to Channel Divinity.

For this build, I’d take either a Human for the extra feat, or a Half-Elf with Knack for Success rather than a multiclass attack. What I’d focus on early on is the feat Righteous Rage of Tempus, and pick up a big, heavy weapon so I can force a critical hit on one of those Oath of Emnity targets.

For an Avenger build, one cute thing you can build for in the late game is to multiclass into Artificer (really) and use a Paragon Power Swap to pick up Vorpal Weapon, which lets you score critical hits on an 18-20. That is a big effect, but it’s not comparable to the Jagged Weapon, which is cheaper and available at a lower level. I try to focus these builds on making sure the character is available as soon as possible, and that means no muckery.

The point here of the basic version is to never get unlucky.

Pressure

There’s another option for playing a character whose job is to run around at high speed on the battlefield, bouncing from place to place based on the opportunities presented to you. Plus, it’s interesting and different compared to the striker builds that obviously present themselves to a character like Jacket.

The Battlemind is a class that takes a little time to blossom. You’re going to need Lightning Rush. It’s a type of defender that needs to do a lot to actively keep on top of what enemies are important, wants to keep highly mobile, and wants to avoid heavy armour. There’s even an attack that’s available later on (Brutal Barrage) that has a very videogame feeling of ‘I hit the guy twelve times so they fall over.’

Roller Mobster

Alright let’s talk about true, deep, and abiding recklessness. You know how you can encourage people to be really reckless? By putting the healer in front of them over by the position of the enemies. You know how you can represent wildly different mental states compared to people? Psychic powers! You know how to make me, personally, very happy about playing a melee support character? You take the Ardent.

Speaking of builds that work well with a level 7 power, though, Ardents get Forward Thinking Cut. This kind of reckless Ardent is a melee based, Charisma-and-Constitution character, who wants to spend their time provoking attacks of opportunity in order to amplify attacks that come at them. It’s a rare example of a character who wants a Lesser Badge of the Berserker because you’d rather people take a swing and miss as you cruise on past.

Junk Drawer

If you’re willing to wait a long time, there’s this oft-forgotten option called the Wilden. They’re a modal culture who can change their modes based on long rests, which is a bit like the masks. While not well supported, if you wanted to, you could take a Wilden Avenger and pick up the Treeborn paragon path, which comically, lets you do some very Jacket things (like score crits more easily, move through people quickly, knocking people off and over). On the other hand it involves making a Wilden, which is hardly a powerhouse option.

Conclusion

This one is a big beast of an article. It’s a long interrogation of a character that exists in a wildly different space to what 4th edition D&D offers. The important thing when you approach characters like that, for my tastes, is not a universalisation of mechanical information but rather a correct interpretation of the vibes. Find the vibes, find how you can remake those vibes, and any translation work like this will go more fluidly.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#How to Be #Dungeons &amp; Dragons #Games #Making

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sevensfantasia · 9 months ago

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edit: 2.14.24

thanks for taking an interest in my page! before you follow, here is a general overview of my page and some stuff i ask you to tag if i follow you

if you have any issue with these, especially my dni list, please block me

if you need anything tagged that isnt tagged, please let me know! i want to make your experience as comfy as possible

note: my blog runs on a queue that is at 1000 about 90% of the time. if i like something, odds are it is in the queue and will eventually post

link page can be found here

this is lengthy, so more after jump!

(general what i post, what i tag, dni list, and what i need tagged included)

what i post

the yakuza games

genshin impact

honkai star rail

obey me

a3!

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red dead redemption

cute animals

zodiac

graphics

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xoxo droplets

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the soul calibur series

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aesthetic stuff such as flowers and sunsets

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my tags

yakuza, judgment games may be tagged with judgment too

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personal blahness tag retired due to it bringing back bad memories

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i tw sensitive content. i either go tw: (sensitive thing) or tw (sensitive thing)

i also try to tag spoiler/spoilers. i do a general rule of after 1 month of me seeing something or it being out for 1 month+ , i don’t spoiler tag then

what i need tagged

insects

spiders

body horror (a little blood is ok because i play m rated games)

ships!!! (please tag your ships. i don’t ship anything, but there are some ships that i am super uncomfy with due to age difference and things bringing back bad memories and whatnot)

dni if

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cg/gg/hydra fan; fuck em and the toxic vibes they bring to the np community

old scu fan; what they (a large chunk of scu) did to jakka re: their chats is super fucking shitty, fuck em

serval x gepard shippers

jing yuan x yanqing shippers

brian knight fans, only because i talk shit about him a lot and it's for your protection, not mine :3

pro AI users - your precious AI steals content from artists and writers in the fandom, and you should feel bad :3

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empty or untitled blog - this is always going to lead to at least a block. i will likely report you for being a bot

#about me #took out some repeating stuff

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alexandriteobscuraarchive · 4 years ago

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S1e1 - The Crossing aesthetics

#counterpart #counterpart aesthetics #I have to fill tags up to 5 so my muse tags go untouched lmao #none of these are gonna make sense to anyone but myself and my two pals but...Howard #he needs more aesthetics and whatnot on this blog!!!#;;muse: howard (alpha)#;;muse: Howard (prime)#;;general: Counterpart #;;muse aesthetic: howard (prime)#;;muse aesthetic: howard (alpha)#;;muse aesthetic: howard (crossings)

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cursedsunoo · 3 years ago

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Hiii congrats on hitting 1k!! Though i didn't get a chance to joing the event, i still wanna congeatulate you!! I've been in your blog for a quite a while and i'm a say that you're such a good writer!! I'm inlove with you alreadyyyy. I know you have an event but if you don't mind and if it's fine with you can i ask for a enhypen reversed?? Like them being a fanboy of idol! reader,, just their reaction when your group change from cute to sexy/girl crush etc. your choice!! And if itsn't too much also their reaction when reader notice them maybe on live or tweet??? It's okay if you don't want to do it!! As long as your comfy!! I still love you anyways <33 please take care darling

% . . . NON-IDOL!ENHYPEN’S REACTION TO THEIR IDOL!CRUSH DOING A SEXY THEME

#WARNINGS — reverse idol au

#PRONOUNS — they/them

#A/N — i decided to just do the first part of this - i may however do a part to (maybe even make the visual tweet and whatnot lol)

% . . . HEESEUNG

he honestly doesn't know how to feel — he's so used to seeing you in lighter colours while you sing with a lighter and more carefree tone, so seeing you dressed in darker clothes as well as some more revealing clothes throws his head for a spin (he's not complaining though, you're still his bias and you still look good with the concept switch)

% . . . JAY

jay isn't too picky with concepts, but he does have to admit seeing you take on this new and sexy concept piques his interest quite a bit — it wasn't until you did this new concept that jay had decided that he needed to collect all of your photocards for this comeback (he will sell his soul to get a photocard of you doing aegyo while you look sexy as hell — the contrast drives him nuts)

% . . . JAKE

low-key love's the cutesy aesthetic more, but hey — you look good both ways. jake is an avid follower of you and will deadass support you through every concept, music type, or group change (consider him a solo stan, he doesn't care) but jake is devoted to everything you do (he's respectful about it though)

% . . . SUNGHOON

hoon doesn't know how to feel — he's so used to seeing you in a lighter concept, that seeing you take on something so different and drastic in comparison to your other themes has sunghoon both confused as hell as well as drooling. his phone theme is now your concept and he now has all of your songs on repeat (he will find a way to choreograph a performance to it)

% . . . SUNOO

unless you look outwardly uncomfortable in the clothes for this concept or express your disease for it, sunoo is backing it up all the way — you could do a paper bag concept and he'd still eat that shit up. moral of the story, sunoo is more concerned with if you like the concept more than his own feelings towards the aesthetic and music

% . . . JUNGWON

a lot of your fans had been expecting some sort of concept switch and a lot of speculation had surrounded a darker concept in contrast to your cutesy one, however, despite this prior knowledge of a concept switch, jungwon deadass was not prepared — when he saw the concept photos, he literally just turned off his phone (he had to process this newfound information before he went back to it)

% . . . NI-KI

he was a fan of you're before when you did the cuter and lighter concept, but when your fans find out about and see the concept switch, ni-ki becomes a super fan at that point — the dances fit his taste more, the aesthetic is more badass, and is something more up his ally (he loves everything you do though, honestly — if it has your name on it, he's backing it up 100%)

TAGLIST — open

@fiantomartell // @wonderwrench // @ddeonubaby // @minspalette // @msxflower // @gimmethatcoffee // @hoonbrry // @squiishymeow // @bubblejunnies // @jakehugger // @blaqpinksthetic // @minhyukmyluv // @enhacolor // @icywhatim // @missmorosis // @norboko // @abdiitcryy // @ddeonuluvs // @genderlessflower // @ilandsghost // @jwisungzen // @rinyx // @chewychubchuu //@heelariously // @clarakyunisageek // @odetoyeonjun // @peridaunt // @sk4tersoobin

#ɞ — enhypen #ɞ — heeseung #ɞ — jay #ɞ — jake #ɞ — sunghoon #ɞ — sunoo #ɞ — jungwon #ɞ — niki #enhypen x reader #enhypen imagine #enhypen reactions #enha x reader #enha imagine #enha reactions #kpop x reader #kpop imagine #kpop reactions #reverse idol au #idol!reader

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aelin-queen-of-terrasen · 4 years ago

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Could you please write “‘i didn’t want to tell my friend who my real date last night was so i just pointed at a random stranger (you) but now they’re storming over to interrogate you and you’re playing along??? okay’ au”. Jurdan?

Sorry for the late, hope you'll like it!

chapter - two | beautiful disaster

Full Masterlist

Beautiful Disaster Masterlist

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I've been in the club for a half hour now and I already wish I wasn't here.

Vivienne ditched me in favour of dancing two minutes after we arrived; funny how she is the one who insisted we need more 'sister time.'

"I'm bored," I complain when she gets off the dance floor. "I wish you'd let me leave—it's not like I'm having fun."

Taryn is beside her, looking a little too drunk herself. She clings to Vivienne like a timid child to her mother, eyes wide as saucers and an awestruck expression on her face—I don't know what she's pleased about. She stumbles towards the bar, ordering more drinks. Vivienne turns to me, expression purposeful and determined.

She says, "We barely see you! You're always out—even dad doesn't know where you are." Her words sound like a lament, though I'm almost sure she doesn't notice my absence often and if she does, it doesn't bothers her enough to enquire after me when we're both sober, apparently.

"I know where she is all the time," Taryn tells the two of them, a giggle escaping her lips. "I know your secret, Jude."

I stiffen, but manage to keep my face nonchalant and voice amused, unaffected. "You do now, do you?" It's almost to easy to lie now, to speak half truths, to be deceitful and clever and guarded all the time. It should bother me but it doesn't. I'm too scared she knows I'm working for Dain, too scared Madoc could find out and gods know what he'll do when he does.

Taryn nods. "I saw you sneaking out of the house at nights!" Then, she giggles, "I know you have a secret lover."

I relax, tension released from my muscles when the words settle in. She thinks I have a secret lover, which isn't that far off but my real secret is safe. A blush creeps onto my cheeks as I think of Dain, my apparent secret lover and boss. I can never tell when we went from thinking of each other as best friends to lovers but he's one of the very few people I almost trust.

"You have to tell us who it is, Jude," Vivi says, clapping in excitement. She's ridiculous. "Oriana will be so happy!"

I stare in horror. I don't like where this is going. I can't tell them who I'm sneaking off with but I can't deny their suspicions lest they follow me out on my nightly escapades someday.

The two of them cheer loudly, drawing some attention and shouting 'Tell us!' in chorus when I see him.

"Cardan," his name escapes my lips in surprise, quieting the loud pair. Then I realise what it sounded like, and I rush to correct them but it's too late. Neither of them wants to hear much now.

"Ohmygod, Cardan Greenbriar?!"

"I suppose they have the whole enemies to lovers thing going from them," Vivi tells my twin sister.

"He's so cute."

"I don't even—" Jude is cut off by Vivienne's answering squeal.

"Think of all the double dates—" everyone is looking over at us, "and Madoc will be furious, that's a plus."

Taryn hums her agreement. "That's why Jude can't tell Madoc, isn't it? But Jude, we'd never tell him—" and her words are cut off with a sharp gasp when their eyes land on the entrance, and they notice him leaning against the wall.

His eyes are fixed elsewhere, but then they sweep around the whole room and land on me. Faintly, I can hear my sister's teasing comments but it sounds so far away, and he seems like he is too close for comfort. I wonder how he can do that—make me feel like the world is collapsing around me with all but one look; how he can intimidate me without ever coming close.

"Aw, they're making fuck me eyes at each other," one of my sisters coo.

Entirely too fast, he's gone from my sight and I come back to reality. I drown out all comments about him, giving vague, evasive answers to each question. It feels like he's still looking at me with that impenetrable gaze, though he's nowhere to be seen.

I fetch us some drinks, and soon find other topics to converse about. I'm hoping they've forgotten our conversation, when I stumble upon a sight that makes my heart stop dead inside my chest. He's standing there with a drink in his hand, and from the opposite side of the dance floor, my sisters make their way towards him.

I run towards him, pushing through the crowd. I stumble, almost falling into him and he rolls his eyes. "Falling again, Jude? This is the second—"

I hold up a hand. "Shh, you have to leave—my sisters think we're—" but before I can make my request of Cardan Greenbriar, my sisters have arrive. I can't let them know I lied—they'd wonder what I'm hiding from them and it won't end well. I have too many secrets to protect.

"Cardan Greenbriar," Taryn breathes out. She sounds a little starstruck.

Cardan narrows his eyes at the newcomers, an amused expression on his face. In front of his graceful manner and controlled movements, everyone else looks like a fish flailing in the air. He doesn't have that cruel gleam on his face, but I stay on my guard. Whatever my grievances with my sisters, I can't help being protective of them.

He says, "You didn't tell me you had such a pretty sister, Jude."

Taryn flushes at the compliment, and I wonder what he's playing at—or if, perhaps, this is another attempt to rile me. "We're twins," I mutter under my breath, though it comes out louder than intended and he hears me.

"Of course you'd find Taryn pretty—she looks like Jude, after all." Vivienne smirks, "You don't need to pretend. Jude told us everything."

"She did?" He can't hide the confusion from his face, but it's gone in a minute.

"Yes! I'm glad you're dating Jude. Just know if you hurt her, well, she'll hurt you back worse so..." she trails off with a sweet smile. I didn't know when my eldest sister got so scary, but she looks positively terrifying now.

"Dating? Jude?" Cardan quirks an eyebrow at me. "Yes, I'm, uh, doing that. Am I not, sweet Jude? I'd never hurt her, not unless she asks me to," he grins at his innuendo, sending my sisters cackling too. I can't bring myself to share their amusement, too busy wondering what he's playing at.

"Aw, he's blushing!" Taryn coos at him, words near slurred. "When did this happen? Why didn't we know? Ooh, Jude, how long have you been fucking? Wait, have you even had sex—" Vivienne interrupts my twin's barrage of questions with an apologetic smile and a quick 'you both should make a date night out of this' leaving me alone with my worst nemesis.

The moment my sisters are out of sight, he cocks his head to the side. "Jude. Am I supposed to know what that was about or will you explain?" There's no sneer in his voice, just curiosity with a touch of amusement.

"A misunderstanding," I clear my throat. "They wanted to know, uhh, who I'm dating, and I looked here and they assumed it was you."

His lips twitch upwards, as if he's entertained by my reply. I bristle at the mocking look, but I know my anger will only provide him satisfaction. His lips are curled in a small smirk, and he has never looked more beautiful. There's an air of confidence around him, a careless, unassuming grace in his movements that makes him look so intimidating and yet, so appealing all the same. The top two buttons on his black shirt have been left open, and reveal more of the serpent tattoo around his collarbone. I have the strangest itch to trace it with my fingers but I dismiss it as curiosity.

He turns on his heel without another word, then looks back. He frowns, "Are you not following me?"

"Should I be?" I don't recall him asking me to go somewhere with him.

Cardan makes an 'isn't that obvious' face, and I give him an impatient look in return. He tells me, "I was about to get another drink, but apparently, we have to get drinks, have a date and whatnot now. I do loathe the idea of making someone unhappy."

"And if this makes me unhappy?" I ask, even as I walk beside him to the bar.

Almost absentmindedly, as if I'm daft and it's the simplest answer in the world, he gives me a blank look. "You're Jude. No one can make you unhappy." He orders drinks for the two of us, and it occurs to me that I'm talking to him, and it's not a part of my plan.

But maybe this coincidence might help me earn his trust. He's never so affable as he is when he's drunk.

We talk, if you could call it that. Mostly, it's just us remaining in a silence that feels too loud, each of us too aware of the other's presence and Cardan's occassional remarks laced with dry humor. And if upon hearing one of those sharp remarks, I let a loud laugh escape my mouth, or if I look rather flushed, I blame it on the alcohol I consume. It isn't until Vivienne informs me Madoc is home and he's asking for me that I remember all the ways this mission can go wrong if I'm not careful about it.

We're in the cab, and I'm almost dazed as I recall every remark Cardan made. "He's quite the catch," Vivienne must have seen the confusion on my face because she adds: "Cardan, I mean. I quite like him."

I make a face at her. "He's a disaster."

"A beautiful disaster," she corrects me with a suggestive look. I don't bother arguing with her this time.

═════════⚠═════════

tags:

@courtofjurdan // @thesirenwashere // @nightbringer // @queenofgreenbriar // @jurdanhell // @sweetlyvillainous //@clockworkgraystairs // @blog-lady-vi // @the-dark-swan //@storiesandschemes // @fangirltrash74 // @augustintodarkness // @queen-of-glass // @jurdan7 // @aesthetics-11 // @mijaldraws // @hades-flame // @sensitivehighlord // @annejulianneh111 // @b00kworm // @mysweetvillain // @doingmyrainbow // @curlyredqueen06 // @chaotic-fae-queen // @thewickedkings // @thesurielships //@df3ndyr // @clouds-and-peonies // @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln // @thefolkofthefic // @st00pid231 // @iminsanenotobsessed // @abookishfreak // @maddymelv // @iammissstark

#the cruel prince #the folk of the air #cardan greenbriar #jude x cardan #jurdan #mafia au #jurdan fanfic #jurdan mafia au #beautiful disaster #aelin-queen-of-terrasen #thr folk of the air #tfota fanfic #tfota fanfiction #holly black #the wicked king #queen of nothing #the queen of nothing

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yumenosakiimagines · 4 years ago

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it's lovely to see new enstars imagines blog out there!! i wanna request nsfw ritsu drabble where he and his fem!s/o are making out and it quickly gets heated🔥 biting, marking, a bit of bloodplay bc its ritsu we're talking about! Thank you and hope you have a nice day💕

Make out sessions and vampire antics are always fun to write, thanks for the request anon! This is not completely nsfw but I hope it’s to your liking anyway! Have a good one! Trigger warning: blood

A shiver run down my spine under Ritsu’s gaze, something about the way he was looking at me as he closed the door to the empty classroom told me he was up to no good. His crimson orbs had a mischievous glow, and I could only gulp while he approached me, hovering over me in no time. His lips met mines in a feverish kiss; it was as intense as it was needy, my body seemingly burning where it met his. He teased me by running the tip of his tongue across mine, pulling away to catch his breath just as I parted my shivering lips to grant him the access he seemed to be begging for. His mouth slid down to the crook of my neck, were the first two buttons of my uniform always undone like that?

“(Y/n)-chan, you said you’d let me have some if I went to practice. I even stayed overtime to help Suu-chan.” He reminded me, his lips so close to my skin I could feel them moving when he talked.

“I know but-”

“Your pulse is bounding, are you perhaps getting excited?” He interrupted me. His fingers, feather light, went up my neck towards my face, and for a second I thought he was tracing my veins. There’s no way he was actually doing that, right?

“R-Ritsu!” I tired to complain, my voice as weak as my will.

I had always sort of expected my boyfriend’s antics to be nothing more than his commitment to the vampire aesthetics he had apparently inherited from his brother, so it was certainly unexpected when his sharp fangs pierced my skin. The moan that escaped me was just as unanticipated, and my hand flew to cover my mouth in embarrassment. His free arm snaked around my waist, bringing me impossibly closer.

“You’re all mine, right?” Ritsu wondered out loud, and all I could do was nod my head, seemingly in a trance. The black haired boy chuckled, his hand making its way to the back of my head. “Then you wont mind it if I leave a pretty mark riiiiiight here, no?”

He emphasized his words by swiftly dragging his tongue against the skin that connected my collarbones and neck. I shook my head no, scared of letting my voice get to loud; some students and teachers were still at school because of club activities and whatnot, and we’d get into huge trouble if we were caught red handed- yet again. Nothing sounded less appealing than an hour long lecture about proper school etiquette from Kunugi-sensei, followed by an even longer one from the Vice-president of the student council, so I just had to keep it down. I was sure the abused skin was red, purple and blue already, and it’d definitely be a pain in the ass to cover it, but that thought didn’t linger in my head for more than a mere second or two. Ritsu bit down onto me and my mind went blank, drunk with the feeling. I let out a shaky breath, shutting my eyes closed. He nibbled onto the soft flesh, undoubtedly teasing me.

“Harder.” I whined, my grip so tight around the fabric of his shirt my knuckles were turning white. “B-break the skin, Ritsu. Please.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, wasting no time in burying his tooth deeper into my skin. His mouth latched onto the side of my neck and he groaned, his grip on my hips tightening as well. He sucked slowly at first, like he was testing the waters. It was a weird feeling, a mix of pain and pleasure, a burning sensation clashing with his ice cold lips. I threw my head back against the window and he got the clue, sucking a little harder. A myriad of moans left my lips, with some curses and pleads mixed in. Part of me felt like I could cum just from that feeling alone. A tiny bit of blood trailed out of the corner of his mouth as he pulled away, looking livelier than ever.

“Ah, I knew it. (Y/n)-chan’s blood is so sweet I could become addicted. You’re coming over tonight, right? ”

#ritsu sakuma #ensemble stars #enstars #ensemble stars imagine #ensemble stars x reader #ensemble stars one shot #spicy

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inscmniia · 4 years ago

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* jeon jungkook , cis male + he/him | you know moon daehyun, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, eight years? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to call my name by the unlikely candidates like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole impulsive decisions commemorated in ink upon his skin, black and blue under his eyes from self-imposed, monster-fueled all nighters and not a stitch of color to be found in his all-black wardrobe thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is october 30th so they’re a scorpio, which is unsurprising, all things considered.

please LOOK AWAY from the state of my blog -- i haven’t made one of these suckers in actual years so i’m incredibly out of touch! but hello, hi i go by cece and i’ll be joining you with just one of my little messes for now. hopefully more to come but time management and whatnot. my friend told me this was a nice chill little group for someone who maybe fell out of touch with rp but wants to get back into it and so here i am.

and without further ado, here’s daehyun!

QUICK FACTS

- professional gamer & twitch affiliate of notable success, lucrative enough to sustain a much more lavish life than he lives

- bisexual legend; very much out although he feels the need to constantly remind his audience he is not, in fact straight

- plans to move out to LA and is pressured by his agents to do so but he’s also very much a creature of habit (and probably has connections here so ?)

- outward aesthetic is very grungy eboy -- all black clothes, a sleeve of tattoos, knuckle ink, the whole nine yards -- and his natural reclusiveness in public gives an off-putting air but he’s actually just? kinda shy

BACKSTORY

moon daehyun was born to impulsive young korean parents who were abroad in the states at the time they were making all their mistakes. a pregnancy happened to be one of them. growing up with dual citizenship; dae spent his childhood in korea. life just outside of seoul wasn’t particularly bad though he did feel as though his parents neglected him -- to the point where some of his few friends’ strict upbringings seemed enviable.

his parents’ happiest memories seemed to be of their (prolonged) time in the us and so it was ingrained in a tiny dae that maybe america would lead to his own happiness too. despite being told that he had a pretty face that was made to be famous, an idol or an actor maybe, dae shirked away from attention as a youth. with mediocre social skills at best, dae dedicated himself instead to excelling academically, aiming to earn himself a scholarship that would allow him the chance to study abroad. his cold shoulder towards real life relationships earned him a reputation as something of an ice prince as he grew into his looks.

gaming took a hold on him from a young age. it was easier to find social communities without needing to be exhaustively social in online spheres. he could shut down from the world for a while and log into something where like minded people shared a lot of his own insecurities, goals, dreams. he didn’t think he’d one day get to call it his career but he also didn’t think he’d be so naturally gifted at it either.

fast forward to early high school age and dae already had built himself a following online which, in turn, made socializing seem slightly easer. people liked him on the internet so surely he could handle a few friends in real life. he was still a little awkward but his boy next door doe eyes carried the rest of the burden into making himself a solid little friend circle. they were the only thing he regrets leaving behind once he made his childhood dream of studying abroad a reality.

at 16 he was offered early admittance and a scholarship to whatever the closest decent college is to irving, nc and jumped at the chance. he was studying something he thought might benefit him as a fallback but by that point had already been exposed to the idea of gaming for profit and capitalizing on his online persona so would he need his business degree? maybe not. but was he going to take the opportunity it offered? absolutely.

LIFE IN IRVING

did america bring all the happiness he’d been imagining since he could dream? not quite but it did bring success and, after all, isn’t that the precursor to happiness? college life was a bunch of firsts for the previous recluse. his first learned language and the struggles that came with it, his first relationship(s), his first experiences with questioning his sexuality (beyond just joking flirting with his guy friends online), his first taste of alcohol, his first best friend, and his first breakup.

he’s not only settled here but he’s thriving. as he had planned, he graduated and got his degree without too much struggle but the real life changing moment came in stages. professional gaming didn’t exactly make his parents proud but daehyun didn’t exactly care. he was planning on seeing this path to its end and reaping the reward. besides, it was so much easier to slip into his online persona, shedding the shy socially awkward irl exterior and adopting a charismatic, desirable charmer demeanor instead. he’s got sponsorships, affiliate money, and a semi regular streaming schedule over and above tourneys (which do occasionally require a trip out to the west cost or, in rare instances, worldwide)

PERSONALITY

- still tends to give off an icy first impression; the all black wardrobe and plethora of ‘self expression’ impulse tattoos will do that

- passionately loyal to his friends and those allowed on his inner circle

- tends to get jealous easily but doesn’t know how to express it in a particularly helpful way. he’s not used to wanting things and not being able to work his way into getting them.

- CONSTANTLY tired during the day time and practically nocturnal. his personality consists of caffeine and i don’t know how to explain it any better

- probably spends too much time on tiktok; could be successful on tiktok too - someone sign him up. is that a personality trait?

TL;DR bisexual bilingual gamer boy ice prince who takes some getting used to but is actually a good boy dressed in all black the end.

#irvingintro #( intro | daehyun. )

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kenobbii · 4 years ago

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tagged by @benoitblanc to answer some questions (and hopefully reveal some stuff y’all didn’t know yet! maybe)

name: jo

gender: she/her

star sign: capricorn

height: 5′4″ i think? had a realization the other week that it’s maybe more like 5′3″ & 3/4″ :(

time: 9:10 PM

birthday: january 3 (and i’m sad about my birthday this year, last year was loads of fun)

favorite bands: um. umm. i realize the bulk of the music i listen to is not from any bands... i genuinely cannot think of any this is so scary

favorite solo artists: harry styles (and like, a lot of film score composers)

song stuck in my head: “tolerate it” by taylor swift because i was listening to some evermore in the car earlier

last film: white christmas (1954) while decorating the tree last night!! my favorite tradition every year

last show: great british baking show s6 e5 because i finally bit the bullet and started watching with sandi and noel and prue but skipped to their second season when they’re (hopefully) more in the swing of things

when did i creat this blog: fall? 2015. but it was SO different. like unrecognizable, basically a different blog entirely. this one i “started” to make pale/b&w and aesthetic url-ed in like... late 2016?

what i post: harry potter, star wars, marvel, any multifandom items related to similar books or movies and whatnot... pale/b&w

last thing i googled: “black crested night heron,” because there was one sitting in our front tree all day and we thought he might be sick. turns out they’re nocturnal and rest all day and fish in the canals at night (to be fair, i didn’t know what he was all day and had to figure it out, otherwise i would’ve figured from the name alone that he was nocturnal)!

other blogs: none! just little old me and some spare urls shh shhh shhhh

do i get asks: um, not as much as i’d like to! although i say this but when i do receive them i sometimes get so happy i stare at them in my inbox and then forget to reply for weeks :/

following: i literally am too embarrassed to say. hundreds and hundreds. i haven’t gone through and sorted out inactive blogs in AGES and i need to so so badly.

followers: 1,486 - SUPER close to my goal of 1.5k by my birthday!! any help is so appreciated

average hours of sleep: 7

lucky number: 36

instruments: used to play piano. mostly forgot :(

what am i wearing: a reddish orange fitted crew neck that i got for my sister for christmas last year that has the silhouette of one of the little aliens from toy story in black, and i’ve changed out of my black jeans since starting this to multicolored lipstick print pajama bottoms, big fuzzy socks, and slippers

dream job: interior designer

dream trip: i really really want to get to disneyworld at some point, especially since i was too young to remember the times my family would go. i also am dreaming of visiting london and ireland

favorite food: fettucini alfredo has to be one of the best foods

nationality: american, although i have very white heritage from europe, but all of my family has been in the us for a while now, so truly just american

favorite song: i don’t know! it’s always always changing. i always cry when i hear “yoda’s theme” though so there’s that

last book read: order of the phoenix for an impromptu book club with a friend

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: the star wars universe (or should i say galaxy) but like, the star wars “legends” universe which i just call canon because the books are so good, darn it! the mcu, because as much as earth is constantly being ravaged by alien threats and whatnot, man what i would give to hang with those guys. although, i’d just be in the universe and not necessarily interacting with the characters, so maybe that’s quite a boring choice? anyway, finally i’m going to say the lord of the rings universe because someone please take me to the shire

this was the longest tangent and whatnot ever but i had fun! so i’m gifting the fun to the following people: @earthbendcrs @sleepsongs @ginnypcttcr @eggnogthor @cinderllas and really anyone who wants to join!

#feel free to join or ignore or really whatever!#it's quite long but i had a lot of time on my hands tonight #and like every night now for break #arwen tag #benoitblanc #mutuals #tag game #text

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gothamstreetcat · 4 years ago

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things i’ve been tagged in as of late (a masterpost):

I. tagged by - @avacrwder

hardcover or paperback / rent or buy / reads in silence or reads with music / standalone or series / annotations or pristine pages / ebook or physical copy / dog ears or bookmarks / mismatched series or complete set/ going to the library or taking whatever editions they have there / cover matters or you don’t judge / lend books or keep them to yourself / enjoys lit classes or despises them / browses shops or orders online / reads reviews or goes in blind / unreturned books or clean library record / rereads or once was enough / fanfic enthusiast or a stickler for canon / deep reader or easily distracted / must read the book before seeing the movie or order doesn’t matter / has neat bookshelves or messy bookshelves / skips ahead or resists temptation / reads aloud or in your head / guesses plot twists or never sees them coming

II. tagged by - @marthaskane

describe my blog tag meme

icon: camren bicondova wearing black lipstick with her hair tied up and in a turtleneck shirt aka the closest embodiment to me i’m going to get. i did try to recreate this photo for my blog but i suck at taking pictures of myself

content: i think when i started this blog it was a lot of spooky content and caryl content (walking dead). i am so sorry for the people who followed me for walking dead content and are still here, somehow. my blog has more or less morphed into a gotham blog and i am very happy about that. however, i will reblog any other content relating to the goth aesthetic, patrick melrose, good omens, and whatever holds my interest for more then five seconds

letter color: white

url: gothamstreetcat

header: an edit i did featuring batcat in an old catwoman comic no one can seem to stand

blog title: ‘bruce wayne die-hard’ I saw the word ‘die-hard’ once and decided i was going to use it

III. tagged by - @harlee-n & @lgbtrogues

Rules: tag 8 people you’d like to get to know better!

favorite colors: mostly black but i do like other colors in certain circumstances

last song I listened to: yesterday when i wrote this my playlist landed on taylor swift’s ‘peace’ and i’m sticking with it! but i’ve been listening to a lot of her last two albums these last couple days. particularly; london boy, cornelia street, illicit affairs, and i forgot that you existed

favorite musicians: i don’t think this answers the questions but i really like rock and roll and usually listen to the same bands and whatnot constantly. it’s shameful

last film I watched: fantasy island and it honestly wasn’t that good

last tv show I watched: degrassi

favorite character: do you want to see how many times i can type bruce wayne’s name onto this post? selina kyle is also top tier for me. lucious fox and alfred are both criminally underrated. death from sandman, crowley from good omens, joel miller from the last of us, lara croft from tomb raider. i love bridgit pike, harley quinn, poison ivy and jason todd because he needs more love then fans give him + probably a dozen or so other character’s i’m forgetting

sweet, spicy or savoury: savoury and sweet

sparkling water, tea or coffee: coffee first and foremost, sparkling water second (i like polar the best) and (iced) tea last

pets: i have a cat named isis (from batman tas) and a dog named coco

IV. tagged by - @avacrwder

rules: tag some people you want to get to know better

ships: mostly batcat

last song: betty by taylor swift

last movie: answered above

currently reading: not really anything right now

currently watching: right now i’ve been replaying the last of time in my free time

V. tagged by @avacrwder

top ten favs (i suck at top ten anything since there is very little that sticks with me and I ‘love’)

MOVIES:

it chaper one (2017)

birds of prey (2020)

joker (2019)

aquamarine (2006)

13 going on 30 (2004)

the rocky horror picture show (1975)

Holloweentown (1998)

it (1990)

spiderman into the spider-verse (2018)

spiderman (2002)

BOOKS: (i don’t even read books like that anymore but i’m also putting books i have on my audible)

good omens - neil gaiman & terry pratchett

between the devil and the deep blue sea - april genevieve tucholke

patrick melrose - edward st. aubyn

nos4a2 - joe hill

it - stephen king

miss peregrine’s home for peculiar children - ranson riggs

the perks of being a wallflower - stephen chbosky

ellen hopkins YA novels

perfect- natasha friend

milk and honey - rupi kaur

MUSIC:

daughter

elana tonra

dilly dally

ac/dc

halestorm

hayley williams

taylor swift (i’m putting taylor on this list because even though i don’t listen to her as hardcore as others, i genuinely do think she is very naturally talented)

ozzy osbourne

shunkan

the cure

TOP TEN (CURRENT) (TAYLOR SWIFT) SONGS: (since that’s all i’ve been listening to the last couple days)

peace

my tears ricochet

illicit affairs

seven

paper rings

london boy

i forgot that you existed

daylight

cornelia street

the man

TV SHOWS:

gotham

jenna marbles (youtube)

pennyworth

good omens

degrassi

the harley quinn show

birds of prey (2000)

touch

desperate housewives

batman the animated series

(+ BONUS) VIDEO GAMES:

the last of us

the last of us part II

life is strange

life is strange II

the tomb raider franchise

particularly angel of darkness

elder scrolls: skyrim

the sims 4

alice madness returns

the batman games

VI. tagged by - @avacrwder (i am so sorry but i just copied this from the post you tagged me in)

Elements | tag

AIR

i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch small animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE

i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing

WATER

i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love dimly lit diners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids’ shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words

EARTH

i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan* / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love the chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER

i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally

* i’ve been making more of an effort to add vegan alternatives to my life. i want to go vegan completely but lately i’ve just been really down and wanna eat whatever i want. however, my favorite switch that i made was finding a vegan coffee creamer i like! it’s the silk almondmilk creamer and if bees had knees they would live wherever that creamer is made. it’s the best.

i am so sorry for everyone who tagged me in things and didn’t may it onto this post. thank you all so much because it does mean a lot to me. i am going to tag everyone i love but please know participation is always optional. you can either do one of these, all of them, or none. i also think one of these asked for my current time, it is 10:32 in the afternoon

tagging - @avacrwder (you know i had to tag you just one more time) @marthaskane @brvceselina @apple-grass-and-smiles @stevie-harrington @waynesmanvr @saltybatman @queergordon @keepswingin @sonyarebecchi @selinascatnip @jennasmarbles @twoheartsoneclara @drawing-cookie @harlee-n @yoko-goto @honestmrdual @clara-oswin-oswald @callmeredhood (+ anyone who wants to)

#guys. i am so sorry #i had this all worked out yesterday and then deleted the post #i'm so sad #tag games #about me #my brain nearly fried at the top tens

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chaoticscience · 4 years ago

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General Information

Hi there! Welcome to my HLVRAI blog - I finally decided it would be nice to have a place to stick everything related to it that I reblog/post where it doesn’t get buried by aesthetic posts and other whatnot If you’d rather follow an all art blog, I’ve set up Black Mesa Scrapbook, which will be my personal HLVRAI art blog!

- About -

Follows from ThatCrazyShaman You can call me Gordon or Bubbs c: I’m Pangender/Androgynous, and use they/them pronouns - though you’re also free to call me he/him if you want to use some flair This will mostly be a blog for general HLVRAI reblogs, but I’ll also be posting some original HLVRAI-related content over here, too! Including content related to the AUs my S.O. @b3nrey made, and the dumb antics of our kinsonas ♥ If you’d like to see my art [as I add more of it on here], check out the #my art tag!

- Rules and DNI -

Please DNI if:

- You are LGBTphobic - that includes acephobic and panphobic! - You are pro-MAP in any way, shape or form; I don’t tolerate pedophilia - You are a TERF - You think mentally ill people are all inherently dangerous or need to be babied - I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen because people do this kind of shit The only real rule here is don’t be an asshole - if you choose to interact negatively with me, I have every right to block you That being said, if I share something that is a problem at all, feel free to prod me about it [nicely, please], and I’ll be happy to handle it accordingly!

This blog is meant to be a positive space for myself and anyone who views it - if you ever need something tagged, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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pixel-cat-1 · 5 years ago

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I just finished The Outer Worlds

I don’t really ever use this blog for more than reblogging stuff, so this is probably coming out of left field for anyone who follows me, but as you see in the title, I beat The Outer Worlds not a couple of minutes ago. I have some thoughts I’d like to talk about while their fresh, and this is as good a place as any to do that lol

So, what did I think of it? Overall, I think The Outer Worlds is okay game that ultimately fails to meet up in many regards to not only Obsidian’s golden child, Fallout New Vegas, but in some departments even regular ass Bethesda games from years ago. And that’s honestly such a shame, because TOW had so much goddamn potential and yet I finished it and felt practically nothing for the entire last level and final ending sequence.

The main issue I think is that ultimately speaking, TOW doesn’t necessarily do anything different from any other RPG I can think of, and it doesn’t do anything like that super well.

For example, the combat’s good on a technical level. The controls and mechanics are fun to use (especially the dodge system), but the enemies tend to either range from “complete curb stomp bitch babies” to “bullet sponge that’ll kill me so fast I won’t even know what happened.” Most fights weren’t particularly engaging, and I was basically handicapping myself but not using the companion abilities for about 75% of the game (I don’t know why I never tried pressing the d-pad buttons, but yet again, when I can just shoot shit and huff an inhaler, I didn’t need to think too hard). The disparity of how difficult the game can be is often confusing, and I was more often limited because of my ammo count more so than my ability to play the game.

The RP aspects can be good at times. There are plenty of skill checks that reward you for being a smart little egg, and a part of RPG’s I like is being able to avoid combat and make people happy, and generally make myself useful, so that was fairly fun. Overall the dialogue options and the performances by most VA’s left me not feeling like I was being hindered in acting and responding to situations how I’d like, so at the very least, that didn’t let me down.

The music was overall enjoyable, although very forgettable, and sometimes a bit all over the place: there’s Western-y guitar ambient tracks, also some more techno-y ones? Elevator music that sounds like they got it from a royalty free website. This kinda wish-washyness ties into multiple issues I had with the game I’ll get into further on.

The graphics are good, which isn’t necessarily shocking anymore because every game looks good. There are some aesthetic choices I liked, that being things like the Art Deco style architecture and advertisements from the loading screens. Terra 2 is gorgeous as all hell, with the skybox being particularly amazing (I’ve often fantasized about Earth having rings, so this partially fulfills that fantasy). Monarch is overall also very well done, with making it look and feel like a hostile shithole with ravenous wildlife. The looming gas giant overheard also does a good job of making me feel dread, which is about as much of that feeling I ever got. However, the game never really maintains a distinct “style”, rather it collages a bunch of them at once. Because for all the aesthetic of the Art Deco style that they do for cities like Byzantium. there’s like 10 levels/areas that are just generic as all hell “sci-fi space shit” that you’ve seen before. And then there’s Scylla, which is so fucking boring in design I don’t know why it’s even in the game.

This creates an issue where it’s like they wanted to make the game look Bioshock, but some people wanted something out of Mass Effect. But some people played Borderlands, and wanted to go for the wacky space bandit and hostile environment feel. But they also wanted to stick it to Bethesda, so they made is vaguely look like a Fallout game as well. It’s hard to describe in text, so I’m just gonna post these and show it best I can

^ It looks like space Bioshock here

^ And here it reminds me more of Borderlands than anything else (it’s a lot easier to see if you look at it from the ground, rip)

Scylla is literally just a rock. As far as I can tell, you could probably fucking avoid the damn thing if you avoid side quests. There’s fucking nothing there. Just enemies, a few side quest things, an empty town and a giant terraformer thingy that’s interesting to look at for like 4 seconds. And despite what you’d think, no, there is no low gravity. That would’ve at least made this place have some interesting gimmick or mechanic, but no. It’s just a fucking dumping ground for side quests. God. Fucking. Damnit.

All science-y buildings just look like this for the most part across all levels. It’s not bad, just very generic and same-y.

The Groundbreaker’s fairly interesting, until you realize that all it is is essentially a giant corridor front to back. Actually, scratch that, it’s two corridors! One of which is this Back Bays area overrun with criminals. How do you get to this clearly dangerous and isolated part of the ship? Well a fucking elevator smack dab in the middle of the pavilion of course! So anyone can just go up or down into this apparent no man’s land part of the ship by literally going into it via an elevator. Dear god.

^Monarch definitely has one of the best looking environments in the game, tied with Terra 2 down below

But what absolutely fucks the game overall is despite how much effort they put into making everything look nice (regardless if you actually like it or not), the overall level design in terms of function and whatnot? Mind numbingly boring.

All levels are really small maps with (at most) a handful of major buildings or towns depending on the scale, and the rest is just a bunch of abandoned buildings with some enemies, or a crashed ship or something. There's just...nothing going on with half of these dungeons.

Also the vast majority of buildings have a “Quarantine” sign out front or is locked in some capacity, which means you could have 4-5 buildings in a random batch of them along a road, but only 2 you can explore. And since all the fucking interiors across multiple planets look the exact same, it leads to an incredible feeling of sameiness in a game that has you running around an entire solar system. How the fuck even??? I’d argue fucking Fallout 3 handled this better. At least there was more to do! More overall dungeons and levels! Did I miss something? Am I just fucking stupid and I missed the all the good shit?

Combine this with the wish-washy aesthetics and music, it leads to an incredible feeling of not really knowing what to make of things. You’ll just be sprinting around, shooting all the red things on the compass just to get it over with by Monarch. And when you realize that LMG’s are just...the best weapons in the game as far as I could tell, and there’s no real downsize to them, you’ll just fucking run around gunning everything down while some forgettable track plays in the background until some enemy with a weirdly large health bar forces you to think for a bit before you get back to running around and shooting shit again.

Despite this though? I still overall enjoyed the combat. I liked running around and becoming the 4th Horseman. Plus with the mechanics overall being fun to use, it wasn’t really that bad. But I can’t say on an objective level I think it’s good for a game to feel like that. Because despite how heavy handed I’m being right now (and will be throughout the rest of this impromptu review), I don’t hate this game.

Sound design is overall very good. Guns make satisfying shooty shooty bang bang noises, and as I said before, the VA’s are overall very good all around. Parvati stands out as the most interesting character to listen to in general. She has a lot of informal speech patterns that makes her distinct, and is generally a treat to listen talk. At worst, you get a character like Nyoka, who doesn’t sound bad by any real means, but for a lot of her dialogue, I felt they should’ve slowed it down and focused on getting her emotions down. But it certainly wasn’t bad.

Storywise? This game wasn’t particularly interesting. I’m gonna put the keep reading thing here because I want to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t played yet and cares about them. Long story short, I think the game was good, but very disappointing given what it could have been. I enjoyed myself for the most part, but often found the lack of anything super special to really hold it back from achieving something I think the gaming industry needed in an era of, ironically enough, hyper greedy corporations with no morals to speak of.

So, what did I think of the story? And I guess by extension, the side quests. Overall, I think the main story was...not very good. There was a lot of good stuff inbetween though, and a lot of side quests and little things definitely were enjoyable. But the plot is just not nearly as engaging as it should be. Given how short it was though, that might’ve been a mercy.

The story, as roughly as I can summarize is, is that you’re a colonist frozen on the colony ship “Hope.” It’s been adrift for 70 years, but you’re woken up by a guy named Phineas Welles (he’s basically Doc Brown, but nicer). The Board (which consists of the 10 companies who own and run the colony/solar system) try to stop him, but they fail, and you’re escape podded onto Terra 2, near a dying town called Edgewater. The pod accidentally kills the contact you were to meet, so now you’re gonna steal his ship and use it to do shit basically.

Along the way, you pick up a ragtag band of miscreants and general shitheads and kill a lot of people and wildlife in a quest to stop the corrupt Board from running the colony harder into the dirt than they already have. It’s very by the numbers, more or less. I guess.

The immediate issue is that, despite being able to join the Board and betray Phineas if you want, there’s absolutely no fucking reason to do that. Not a single goddamn reason, other than for the evulz. This creates an issue where I feel no reason to deviate from the Phineas side of the story. And I know what someone might be thinking “But Pixel! The Board is supposed to be evil!” And I am absolutely aware of that. But the thing is, so was Caesar’s Legion in Fallout New Vegas. And yet, that faction is often considered just as interesting and compelling a faction for the game as the NCR or Mr. House. People will, to this day, still argue over who had the best idea for solving the Wasteland’s issues. Because despite how evil the Legion is, they still had very valid points about the NCR and how horribly corrupt and bloated it was. And there was absolutely an argument to be made about how safe they made their lands for those under their ownership. Stuff like that that makes you actually consider and think about whether or not you're actually making the right choices for the whole of the New Vegas wasteland, and by extension the rest of the Western part of America.

Here? There’s no contest. There is no necessary evils. There is no good reason the Board does anything. No logic, no reason. All they can do is fuck shit up even more, and that makes them such a boring, vague antagonist that there was never a moment in my mind I actually considered working for them. Any potential moments they had to sway me or dashed aside by them constantly proving how they could never actually fix the problems they made. And if that was the intention? Then Obsidian fucked up.

People remember the villains that raise a point a hell of a lot more than they do villains that are just evil for the sake of it (there are obviously exceptions, for an RPG? you need a compelling villain). And that’s why no one will remember this game in a decade. It pales so hard in comparison to New Vegas, it’s not even funny. It’s on par with Fallout 3, at best. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing if the whole point of this game was to make a statement against an increasingly morally bankrupt Bethesda.

Let’s look at, per se, Skyrim. Paarthurnax was a supporting character with an interesting backstory: he’s Alduin’s brother, who is the main antagonist. He is a dragon that secludes himself on the top of the tallest mountain in Skyrim, who meditates and focuses on suppressing his inherit evil dragon nature. Despite this nature, he chooses to be good. And he asks a very compelling question.

"What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?”

In a single sentence, Skyrim asked a more though provoking question than the entirely of The Outer Worlds. And if you played F:NV, then it’s probably weird to hear that, because F:NV was full of moral and philosophical quandaries. So where did it all go?

The thing is, people forget that the Obsidian that made F:NV is dead and gone. The actual people who made that game have all moved on from that company. This is the child trying to replicate the success of it’s parents, without entirely understanding exactly what the parent did to achieve what it achieved.

The biggest difference between F:NV and TOW is that F:NV really forces you to think. TOW just doesn’t require that, at all.

Phineas good, Board bad. No thinking required.

I think the real warning sign is at the beginning of the game as well. Edgewater, the first town in the game, is dying. People are leaving and the town's also dealing with a disease epidemic. The town’s leader’s answer? Cut off power to the deserters, and force them to work harder despite the fact the town’s basically dying because of the overworking and disease. Despite the fact there’s not even enough medicine to heal everyone, and they have to play favorites with who lives and who dies.

What the fuck logic is this? Why would I ever choose that?

The only other choice, unless I missed a compromise solution (which I would’ve wanted) is to route power to the deserters and finish off the town more or less. The deserters wouldn’t take in everyone though, so a lot of people would die anyways. But even then, she’s still clearly the more competent leader. There’s not a goddamn contest.

It just continues like that the whole game. I rarely had to think about who I’d side with. because the solution is obvious. The literal only reason I’d side with the corporations is if I was being evil, nothing else.

The best the story gets is when you need to make a compromise on Monarch between MSI (a corporation who got the boot from the Board) and the Iconoclasts (Religious people who are anti corporation). If you work with the second in command of the Iconoclasts, you can depose their extremist, dipshit leader and work out a truce. Which is good! It rewards the player for this too, when these factions come to help in the final level of the game (and when you see specific characters you could save helping out, that also make it feel like your decisions had an impact). You see the two factions...standing next to eachother, which isn’t much, but it’s about as much change you see in the game.

Which is also another thing that TOW fails to accomplish: a sense of longevity with my decisions leads to me feeling that, despite making the right choices, nothing really changes.

Going back to Edgewater, you’d think after a while, I’d come back and the town would be entirely gone or something, right?

Nope.

Some NPC’s stood outside the factory forever, as did some guards. There weren’t any lights on. That’s about it.

Well, certainly the Deserters must give me more quests to help out, which can lead to me establishing them and helping them help the Edgewaterers, right?

No. Very quickly you realize there’s very little do or talk about with NPC’s after you do monumental decisions. The only functional difference is an opinion slider, which is another imitation from F:NV that means fuck all. The only in game things it affects is: a) The prices of venders of that factions

b) Whether or not that faction will shoot you on site.

That’s it as far as I noticed. The best idea they had, that being that factions can love you, but also fear you just doesn’t do anything. As far as I could tell, at least.

I’d love to be wrong, because I was so excited to see what would happen to entire settlements and after I helped them. After I made important decisions that’d change the face of the colony. And I felt so disappointing when it became apparent little actually mattered.

The companion sidequests aren’t too much better. The pacing is so weird, sometimes, depending on how available certain planets are. Parvati’s was especially jarring, despite it being the best written by far.

It basically is you helping her get with an engineer chick from the Groundbreaker. It’s pretty adorable overall, and without a doubt has some of the better writing character wise, but the pacing was so fucking weird. It initially starts with you getting Parvati to talk to her about engineering stuff. They say they’ll email and stuff about engineering stuff. which is neat. So I run around, finish up all the side quests on the ship as I can, then head back to my own ship. I did not go back to my ship at all during this.

When I come back, Parvati immediately tells me that she and the engineer, Junlei, have been messaging and getting flirty and now she has a crush and it’s just like “Dude, were you texting her while we murdered all those bugs in the engine?”

It’s doubly funny as well, because Obsidian wanted to avoid the player having romanceable characters. Which makes about as much sense as you think. Once source said the reason was that they wanted you to focus on roleplay, and not trying to bang anyone you found hot (okay?). Another just said they weren’t ready for it. And I believe it. As much as I think romance would’ve been another good thing to add depth to this game, I bet you they’d have fucked it up. It’s just funny. Even Fallout 4 had pretty acceptable romances.

Granted the system was fucking basically “Kill shit together until you wanna bang” but fuck, it was something! It also doesn’t help there’s a bunch of cuties all over this game: Huxley stands out as an adorable muffin who becomes a generic NPC at the end of the MSI/Iconoclast questline, despite the fact you can even repair her journal terminal with zero indication at you can do it, which is good! Let me just do things to be nice! But she literally just sits there after you rescue her with a few dialogue options which goes away after the peace deal, and it's so fucking frustrating that I want to enjoy the characters more, but none of them seem to have more than a paragraph's worth of depth to them and it's so sad.

Even the companions are like this. At the beginning I’d try and talk with Parvati about anything, but the only dialogue options would be about getting her out of the party, and that’s it. I can’t ask her what she thinks of things, or of the current quest/situation. There’s such a weird lack of depth in a weird amount of areas, that it felt almost worse than playing a Bethesda game.

I think the penultimate disappointment of the game is, fittingly, the final level, Tartarus. Which is fitting, because it feels very hellish. Not the planet mind you, or the prison which it takes place in, but just the complete lack of anything super special. It’s just the same kind of environments you’ve already run through, but bigger and with more bullet sponge bad guys. Which is funny, because jumping around and killing an army on a purple hell planet that has perpetual lightning storms would’ve been sick as fuck, but nah, gotta run around on Scylla instead of anywhere else compelling.

In my playthrough, MSI, the Groundbreaker, and the Iconoclasts came to help me deal with all the fucking goons, which was mostly cool because I didn’t have to deal with the tediousness of killing every last one of corporate goon myself.

This is about as big of an impact your decisions come to as far as I’ve noticed. Which isn’t saying much.

You meet the Chairman of the Board here, by the way. I just shot him and kept moving. shrugs

There’s also a last minute villain in this Sophia person, who is also apparently on the Board? It’d help if there was a list of the Board people, which could’ve been on a terminal somewhere. Maybe I’m dumb and never found it, which is plausible.

The final boss fight, (I hesitate to call it that) is just somewhat large robot. It’s a bullet sponge with respawning combat drones flying everywhere and they’re very annoying. I died once after around 10 minutes of fighting, then using Parvati and Felix’s (he’s another companion, he’s also okay I guess) combat abilities I knocked it down and layed into the robot’s weak spot. He died very quickly.

So depending on how you do it, the final fucking boss is either stupidly hard or mind numbingly easy. I don’t know which is worse.

So you go past the dead robot, gun down Sophia in one shot, and save Phineas. You basically become the leader of Halcyon, there’s a F:NV-esque slideshow and commentary about your actions that somehow is worse that New Vegas’s, credits roll, and you sit there thinking “That’s it? That’s really it?”

Yeah, that’s it.

It’s such a let down, especially because this was supposed to be Fallout New Vegas’s spiritual successor. But all it does it make me want to play that game instead of this one.Which is probably what you should do regardless if you pick this game up or not.

There’s a bunch of other mechanics and stuff I never brought up. There’s technically a character customization screen, but you literally only see your character in the select menu, and there’s no third person. There’s a barber in Edgewater who’s also a doctor, and yet you can’t even get a haircut from him (again, failing to match up to even Fallout 3).

There’s these Mods you can put on armor and guns, and you find them by the bucket full so you’ll always have those. Just get an aim stabilizing one for an LMG and you’ll be fine. You can also tinker your armor and weapons, making them stronger if you spend credits on it (why not the armor and weapon parts, I’ll never fucking know). You can repair your stuff at a workbench, which is advisable. Just take all the weapons and armor you pick up, take it apart for parts, and never worry about it again. You’ll get money from quests, so buying those parts is meaningless and a waste of money

There’s also hacking and stealth and stuff. Stealth is such a non...thing in the game. There’s no silencers, but since all enemies decided to put cotton into their ears, there’ll be plenty of times I shoot someone, and a guy ten feet away heard fucking nothing. Plus there’s this disguise mechanic where you pick up ID guards and get a hologram disguise that wears out as you walk (passing speech check from suspicious guards restores it), so it’s not like sneaking around was ever a priority. Just put your points into the speech. Stealth is a dump stat more or less.

Oh yeah, Parvati’s an ace lesbian. Which is nice that they handled that way in a non-dipshit way (you can also identify as ace in certain dialogue with her in her companion questline, which is funny considering they never let you fuck anyways, so it’s weird that you even have the choice). My only complaint is that they should’ve put this representation in a better game.

What’s funny is that, despite everything, I don’t even hate this game. I feel a remarkable numbness, followed by a desire for something better. I spent about a week burning through it? If I had more free time, I could’ve finished it sooner probably. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. It was pretty fun for what it was, but knowing that this is somehow supposed to match up to what F:NV was is sad, and a sign of how bad the gaming industry had fallen.

The only difference here is that unlike the Outer Worlds, I can’t purge the rot of the gaming industry with a haelstrom of plasma bullets.

Would I recommend this game? I guess. There’s still some fun to be had, but don’t expect anything too major or interesting. Get it on sale, it;s not worth $60 right now. There’s apparently DLC coming out for it eventually? I might play it, and I might post an update to this review, or make a seperate post for that eventually. Depends on how well this one does? Or if the DLC makes me feel enough emotion to type something out like this in 2 straight hours.

#the outer worlds #fallout #obsidian #bethesda #skyrim #review #parvati holcomb #felix millstone #phineas welles #huxley #i might make a post about other miscellaenous grievances #but don't count on it

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