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brawltogethernow · 5 years ago

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So, I don't think I've ever asked you this... what IS the whole point of the Spider-Sense? It really seems like something that only exists for writers to ignore or work around when they want to inject Legit Tension into a story.

I’ve thought about this power so much, but never with an eye to defend its right to exist, so I needed to think about this. The results could be more concise.

Ironically, given the question, I have to say its main purpose is to ramp up tension. But it’s also a highly variable multitool that a skilled creative team can use for...pretty much anything. It does everything the writer wants it to, while for its wielder always falls just short of doing enough.

I went looking through my photos for a really generic, classic-looking example to use as an image to head this topic, but then I ran into the time Peter absolutely did not reimburse this man for his stolen McDonald’s, so have that instead.

A Scare Chord, But You Can Draw It

That one post that says the spider-sense is just super-anxiety isn’t, like, wrong. It’s a very anxious, dramatic storytelling tool originally designed for a very anxious, dramatic protagonist. I find it speaks to the overall tone of the franchise that some characters are functionally psychics, but with a psychic ability that only points out problems.

Spidey sense pinging? There’s danger, be stressed! Broken? Now the lead won’t even KNOW when there’s a problem, scary! Single character is immune to it? That’s an invisible knife in the dark oh my god what the fuck what the fU--

Like its counterpart in garden variety anxiety, the only time the spider-sense reduces tension is in the middle of a crisis. But in the wish fulfillmenty way that you want in an adventure story to justify exaggerated action sequences, the same way enhanced strength or durability does. Also like those, it would theoretically make someone much safer to have it, but it exists in the story to let your character navigate into and weather more dangerous situations.

For its basic role in a story, a danger sense is a snappy way to rile up both the reader and the protagonist that doesn’t offer much information beyond that it’s time to sit smart because shit is about to go down.

Spidey comic canon is all over the board in quality and genre, and it started needing to subvert its formulas before the creators got a handle on what those formulas even were, and basically no one has read anything approaching most of it at this point, so for consistent examples of a really bare bones use of this power in storytelling, I’d point to the property that’s done the best job yet of boiling down the mechanics of Spider-Man to their absolute most basic essentials for adaptation to a compelling monster of the week TV series.

Or as you probably know it, Danny Phantom. DON’T BOO, I’M RIGHT.

DP is Spider-Man with about 2/3 of the serial numbers filed off and no death (ironically), and Danny’s ghost sense is the most proof in the formula example of what the spidey sense is for: It’s a big sign held up for the viewer that says, “Something is wrong! Pay attention!” Effectively a visual scare chord. It’s about That Drama. And it works, which won it a consistent place in the show’s formula. We’re talking several times an episode here.

So why does it work?

It’s a little counterintuitive, but it’s strong storytelling to tell your audience that something bad is going to happen before it does. A vague, punchy spoiler transforms the ignorant calm before a conflict into a tense moment of anticipation. ...And it makes sure people don’t fail to absorb the beginning of said conflict because they weren’t prepared to shift gears when the scene did. Shock is a valuable tool, too, but treating it like a staple is how you burn out your audience instead of keeping them engaged. Not to go after an easy target, but you need to know how to manage your audience’s alarm if you don’t want to end up like Game of Thrones.

The limits of the spider-sense also keep you on your toes when handled by a smart writer. It tells Peter (everyone’s is a little different, so I’m going to cite the og) about threats to his person, but it doesn’t elaborate with any details when it’s not already obvious why, what kind, and from what. And it doesn’t warn him about anything else-- Which is a pretty critical gap when you zoom out and look at his hero career’s successes and failures and conclude that it’s definitely why he’s lived as long as he has acting the way he does, but was useless as he failed to save a string of people he’d have much rather had live on than him.

(Any long-running superhero mythos has these incidents, but with Peter they’re important to the core themes.)

And since this power is by plot for plot (or because it’s roughly agreed it only really blares about threats that check at least two boxes of being major, immediate, or physical), it always kicks in enough to register when the danger is bearing down...when it’s too late to actually do anything about it if “anything” is a more complex action than “dodge”.

Really? Not until the elevator doors started to open?

That Distinctive, Crunchy Spider Flavor

The spider-sense and its little pen squiggles go hand in hand with wallcrawling (and its unique and instantly identifiable associated body language) to make the Spider-Person powerset enduringly iconic and elevate characters with it from being generic mid-level super-bricks. Visually, but also in how it shapes the story.

I said it can share a narrative role with super strength. But when you end a fight and go home, super strength continues to make your character feel powerful, probably safer than they’d be otherwise, maybe dangerous.

The spider-sense just keeps blaring, “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! God, why aren’t you doing something about this!?”

Pretty morose thing to live with, for a safety net! Kind of a double edged sword you have there! Could be constantly being hyperattuned to problems would prime you for a negative outlook on life. Kind of seems like a power that would make it impossible for a moral person to take a day off, leading them into a beleaguered and resentful yet dutiful attitude about the whole superhero gig! Might build up to some of the core traits of this mythos, maybe! Might lead to a lot of fifteen minute retirement stories, or something. Might even be a built in ‘great responsibility’ alarm that gets you a main character who as a rule is not going to stop fighting until he physically cannot fight anymore.

Certainly not apropos of anything, just throwing this short lived barely-a-joke tagline up for fun.

One of my personal favorite things about stories with superpowers is keeping in mind how they cause the people who have them to act in unusual ways outside of fights, so when you tell me that these people have an entire extra sense that tells them when the gas in their house is leaking through a barely useful hot/cold warning system that never turns off, I’m like, eyes emojis, popcorn out, notebook open, listening intently, spectacles on, the whole deal.

It also contributes to Peter Parker’s personality in a way I really enjoy: It allows him to act like an irrational maniac. When you know exactly when a situation becomes dangerous and how much, normal levels of caution go out the window and absolutely nothing you do makes sense from an exterior standpoint anymore. That’s the good shit. I would like to see more exploration of how the non-Parker characters experiencing the world in this incredibly altered way bounce in response.

It’s also one of many tools in this franchise hauling the reader into relating more closely with the main character. The backbone of classic Spidey is probably being in on secrets only Peter and the reader know which completely reframe how one views the situation on the page. It’s just a big irony mine for the whole first decade. A convenient way to inform the reader and the lead that something is bad news that’s not perceivable to any other characters is youth-with-a-big-exciting-secret catnip.

Another point for tension, there, in that being aware of danger is not synonymous with being able to act on it. If there’s no visible reason for you to be acting strange, well...you’re just going to have to sit tight and sweat, aren’t you? Some gratuitous head wiggles never hurt when setting up that type of conflict.

Have I mentioned that they look cool? Simultaneously punchy and distinctive, with a respectable amount of leeway for artists to get creative with and still coming up with something easily recognizable? And pretty easy to intuit the meaning of even without the long-winded explanations common in the days when people wrote comics with the intent that someone could come in cold on any random issue and follow along okay, I think, although the mechanic has been deeply ingrained in popular culture for so long that I can’t really say for sure.

It was also useful back in the day when no artists drew the eyes on the Spider-Man mask as emoting and were conveying the lead’s expressions entirely through body language and panel composition. If you wiggle enough squiggles, you don’t need eyebrows.

Take This Handwave and Never Ask Me a Logistical Question Again

This ability patches plot holes faster than people can pick them open AND it can act as an excuse to get any plot rolling you can think of if paired with one meddling protagonist who doesn’t know how to mind their own business. Buy it now for only $19.99 (in four installments; that’s four installments of $19.99).

Why can a teenager win a six on one fight against other superhumans? Well, the spider-sense is the ultimate edge in combat, duh.

Why can Peter websling? Why doesn’t everyone websling? Well, the spider-sense is keeping him from eating flagpole when he violently flings himself across New York in a way neither man nor spider was ever meant to move.

How are we supposed to get him involved with the plot this week???? Well, that crate FELT dangerous, so he’s going to investigate it. Oh, dip, it was full of guns and radioactive snakes! Probably shouldn’t have opened that!

Yeah, okay, but why isn’t it fixing everything, then? Isn’t it supposed to be why Peter has never accidentally unmasked in front of somebody? ('Nother entry for this section, take a shot.) That’s crazy sensitive! How does he still have any problems!? Is everything bad that’s ever happened to characters with this powerset bad writing!? --Listen, I think as people with uncanny senses that can tell us whether we are in danger with accuracy that varies from incredible to approximate (I am talking about the five senses that most people have), we should all know better than to underestimate our ability to tune them out or interpret them wrong and fuck ourselves up anyway. I honestly find this part completely realistic.

*SLAPS ROOF OF SPIDER-SENSE* YOU CAN FIT SO MANY STORIES IN THIS THING

The spider-sense is a clean branch into...whatever. There is the exact right balance of structure and wishy-washiness to build off of. A sample selection of whatevers that have been built:

It’s sci-fi and spy gadgets when Peter builds technology that can interface with it.

It’s quasi-mystical when Kaine and Annie-May get stronger versions of it that give them literal psychic visions, or when you want to get mythological and start talking about all the spider-characters being part of a grand web of fate.

Kaine loses his and it becomes symbolic of a future newly unbound by constraints, entangled thematically with the improved physical health he picked up at the same time -- a loss presented as a gain.

Peter loses his and almost dies 782 times in one afternoon because that didn’t make the people he provoked when he had it stop trying to kill him, and also because he isn’t about to start “””taking the subway’’””’ “‘’“”to work”””’’” like some kind of loser who doesn’t get a heads up when he’s about to hit a pigeon at 50mph.

Peter’s starts tuning into his wife’s anxiety and it’s a tool in a relationship study.

It starts pinging whenever Peter’s near his boss who’s secretly been replaced by a shapeshifter and he IGNORES IT because his boss is enough of an asshole that that doesn’t strike him as weird; now it’s a comedy/irony tool.

Into the Spider-Verse made it this beautiful poetic thing connecting all the spider-heroes in the multiverse and stacked up a story on it about instant connection, loss, and incredibly unlikely strangers becoming a found family. It was also aesthetic as FUCK. Remember the scene where Miles just hears barely intelligible whispering that’s all lines people say later in the film and then his own voice very clearly says “look out” and then the room explodes?? Fuck!!!!

Venom becomes immune to it after hitchhiking to Earth in Peter’s bone juice and it makes him a unique threat while telling a more-homoerotic-than-I-assume-was-originally-intended story about violation and how close relationships can be dangerous when they go sour.

It doesn’t work on people you trust for maximum soap opera energy. Love the innate tragedy of this feature coming up.

IN CONCLUSION I don’t have much patience for writers who don’t take advantage of it, never mind feel they need to write around it.

#spiderman #peter parker #spiderverse #spidey #marvel #danny phantom #one day you'll see what i'm doing with it in the project i'm collabing on w/ my brother and then you'll all be sorry and hopefully impresse #mirrorfalls #asks answered #essays

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nxfelibatae · 5 years ago

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pose || jimin x reader [pt.3]

When the opportunity presented itself there was no way you were going to let it go, only 10 days to make a boy fall in love, It must have been easy, but you let yourself be carried away by your feelings, and nobody should risk their heart to the ones who are addicted to play with it. Love disguises itself in many ways and it hurts when you find out it was all a lie.

pairing: fuckboy! jimin x reader!

word count: 7.3K

genre: Fluff, slight angst, light smut, how to loose a guy in 10 days AU

warnings: Alcohol use, sex references, slow burn, swearing. Everybody it's kinda lying. That's pretty much it.

A / N: inspired by the movie How to loose a guy in 10 days. First work here so please be nice guys :(. It's a two people work.

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

PART 3

Day 10

'Wake your ass up!' Nayeon screams from the other side of your bedroom door 'Breakfast is ready and if you don't come out I'll eat everything on my own, you know I'll do it!'

A groan came out of your mouth when you heard her walk away from the door. Pressing a pillow against your head and closing your eyes tightly to combat the noise and the annoying daylight making its presence between the curtains of your room, wasn't too helpful, you could hear her shout your name again, followed by another threat about going in to get you out of your hair.

You knew that the only reason Nayeon was being so considerate was because she wanted to know the details of your get away with Jimin. Was it proper to call it a date? It was weird to even think about it, but you actually enjoyed it. As you open your door to avoid another shout from Nayeon, you let the smell of bacon and pancakes invade your nostrils.

The kitchen isle had always been the place to have breakfast, any day of the week. Being an apartment of two students, a dining room was not affordable and you would rarely use it. You let all your weight fall into one of the high chairs in front of the ivory table, you were clearly tired due to the few hours of sleep. Nayeon looked at you and gave you a mischievous smile as she places a plate in front of you.

'It smells really good, Nayeon. Thank you. ' A grateful smile takes place on your face, Nayeon smiles in response as she sits across from you with a large cup of coffee. 'How did you get home last night?' The tone of your voice was curious and concerned, since the night before you had only checked her room to make sure she was still alive, ignoring completely the fact that you didn't know how she got home safely.

'Oh, Mark called a taxi for me. He made sure I got home safe, he followed the driver in the app ... '

Your eyes widened in surprise. After the events of last night, the most logical thing for you was that Mark brought Nayeon home, because in your opinion his attitude was flirtatious towards her in various ways. Nayeon laughed loudly at that, assuring you that they were just friends and that he was just being nice.

'How sure are you about that?' You asked curious.

'Hundred percent sure.' Her tone drips on confidence. She takes another bite of bacon, grabbing it with her tiny fingers. She has the habit of eating with her hands sometimes.

'And that's because ...'

'He has a girlfriend, you silly,' she spits smiling 's * She arrived like five minutes after you ran away with your new boyfriend. Small, good-looking, likable, you know? But obviously Mark wouldn't leave her standing there just to take another girl home, so I told him not to worry and that I could get back on my own, he was really nice and called the taxi for me and offered to pay for it , but I rejected his offer, once I got home I texted him to let him know I was safe in bed. ' taking another bite of bacon, she finishes her story.

‘I see...’ you murmure, avoiding as much as you can the whole date with Jimin topic. You were worried about Nayeon taking too seriously this whole situation with Jimin, when it was really just a game, a story to write an article about. The idea of Nayeon giving you advice wasn't what made you anxious, it was her messing with your head, giving you wrong ideas of what you felt you had under control. Did you actually have it under control?

‘So...’ she says smiling like the Cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland.

‘Nayeon...’ you warn, not letting her mess around with questions. It was too early in the morning, or at least for you, to talk about this topic and let it spin around your head again.

‘Come on!’ She whines with sad puppy eyes. ‘I just wanna know how did it went. Where did you go? Was he nice? Was he a gentleman or is he the asshole everybody says he is with girls? Did he tried to kiss you?’ You felt overwhelmed with every question that Nayeon threw at you quickly. When Nayeon was curious or excited about something, she could speak really fast.

Blinking a few times and after taking a sip from your coffee, you took a long breath to begin answering your best friend's questions. ‘We went to grab some dinner as we said we would. He took me to this 90’s styles restaurant not far from where the party was and he was actually...nice I think? I mean he was polite, he didn’t looked at the waitress as I thought he would, he opened the door for me when it was necessary and he also paid for the food. We talked a little bit, exchanged phone numbers and before I knew it was 4:00 am, so he brought me back home and yes, he tried to kiss me at the front door but I told him I wanted to take things slow and then slammed the door almost in his face after I said “get home safe, good night”. That’s it, that’s all it is to tell’ you took another bite of a pancake drowned a little too much in maple syrup, not giving much attention to the fact that you had a date just a few hours ago and you almost got kissed at the door.

‘I am not surprised at all that he tried to kiss you, actually. I am surprised about the whole polite thing he’s playing, you know? I’ve never heard of Jimin doing that with other girls’ she says frowning.

‘Maybe he’s trying to act different with me, but…why?’ You say with a shrug. ‘Anyways...I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would, you know?’

‘You mean you like him?’

‘I mean, yeah? Not in a romantic way, I just think he’s nice, I don’t know how to describe it.’ Your shoulders rise to emphasize your indifference.

The conversation is quickly interrupted by the doorbell, the two of you look at each other confused wondering who could be, since none of you expected visits.

‘Maybe is the mailman, I don’t know, can you check it? I'm in the middle of my pancake.’ you two laugh when you shove half of the pancake into your mouth.

Nayeon runs to see through the peephole and let out a gasp when she realizes who it is.

‘Who is it?’ words cannot be understood because your mouth was still full.

‘Umm, I think is for you.’ She answers with an excited smile as she holds you by the shoulders.

‘But, I said I wasn’t expecting anyone.’ Pieces of pancake flew out your mouth making Nayeon feel grossed out about it.

‘You might want to finish that quickly, because Jimin is waiting for you outside with a bouquet of flowers.’ Your roommate says wagging her eyebrows mischievously.

‘What?!’ Her words took you by surprise and thanks to the exaggerated amount of food inside your mouth, you started to choke. Nayeon took action and started tapping you on the back as you took a few sips of coffee to help the food down your throat, what was going on? Why is he here? You thought he would text you to set a place to meet at, not appear unannounced at your doorstep.

‘Are you okay?’ Nayeon asked worried about your condition.

‘I am, but what is he doing here?’ You murmured just to make sure he won’t listen to you.

Nayeon and you start arguing under your breath, while on the other side of the door a desperate Jimin rings the bell again.

He thought about the flowers on his way to your house caught by a red light that made him stop next to a flower shop where this beautiful flowers were displayed, he immediately thought of you, which seemed very strange to him, but at the same time made him think about the points he could earn with that detail.

Jimin made a left turn where he found parking, his next move on you was to take you on a romantic date, girls love that kind of things he thought.

‘Hey man, how much for the flowers at the front?’ Jimin asked taking his sunglasses off as he entered the shop.

‘The Roses or the Lilies?’ Asked back the florist cleaning his hands of what the floral foam had released after arranging a new bouquet.

‘I don’t know about flowers, the red ones?’ Jimin answered not really sure about it, the florist just laughed at his lack of knowledge.

‘The roses are 68,000 won’ The florist walked directly to the bouquet followed by Jimin, ‘I see you're the passionate type.’

‘I’ll take them.’ The florist took them to the front desk where the tools and wrapping paper were so he could arrange them ‘Why you say that?’ Jimin asked while watching how delicate the florist was with the flowers.

‘Well, red roses signifies enduring passion, that's why.’

He smirked a little at the comment ‘Do they?’ Jimin handed the money and left immediately, as he crossed the shop’s door he puts the sunglasses back on.

That was weird.

The sound of the motor made him put his feet on the ground, leaving the subject completely aside.

Buying flowers for a girl was not something normal for Jimin and now he was outside this girl's place with a bouquet that until now he had realized had cost him at least three whole meals at his favorite restaurant.

After arguing for what seemed like forever to you, Nayeon eagerly pushed you towards the door, encouraging you to open up even though your hair looked like a bird's nest. Taking a long breath and trying to straighten your hair as much as possible, you open the door revealing a smiling Jimin in ripped jeans and black boots.

‘Hi.’ He said, caught up by surprise after your random look in mini shorts and stained blouse. ‘These are for you.’ He pushed the bouquet towards you.

Smiling you took it, appreciating the gesture and the bright color of the flowers. ‘Thank you...’ You took a step outside as you closed the door behind you, not letting Nayeon hear any further your conversation. ’I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.’ A nervous smile appeared on your face when you put a tuft of hair behind your ear.

‘Well, you did say that the second date depended on me so…’

You giggled at his answer. ‘Jimin I meant that you could text me so we could hang out again. I was not telling you to show up at my door by surprise.’

Jimin knew, you delivered the message very clear, but with the clock ticking against his favor, he had to take every opportunity and risk to make you fall for him as soon as possible, reason enough for him to buy the flowers in the first place too.

‘Right. I knew that.’ He started his next move, trying to be cute and looking embarrassed, a quality he really lacked. Jimin is usually described by his friends as the most scoundrel in the world. He knows that playing the innocent guy is a risky move but, again, all risk and opportunity had to be taken in this situation.

An awkward silence took over the situation, mostly due to the fact that Jimin appeared without a warning, catching you in the middle of a bite and wearing pajamas which to be honest, were very short and embarrassing. Who in college sleeps in pajamas from their favorite cartoon?

Jimin, on the other hand, finds them funny, even a little cute. That's probably why he thinks it's a good idea to make them a topic of conversation, ‘Nice pajamas.’

‘No please. They are embarrassing.’ You let out a laugh, covering your face with one hand in embarrassment.

‘They are not!’ He says with a bright smile, relieving the tension and the awkwardness between the two of you.

You laugh a little, lifting your sight just to see his beautiful smile. Something tingles in your head, a question, ticking in your tongue, ready to be spit out. Why did he wanted to see you so soon? Why was he so interested in you?

You clear your throat a little ‘Jimin I…I don’t wanna sound rude but…what are you doing here? Honestly.’

The question took him by surprise, causing him to blink a couple of times before answering, still not looking into your eyes, shifting his foot from side to side as if he was kicking an imaginary rock, he looked like a child, making your heart sink.

‘I just…I wanted to see you again, you know? I had a really great time yesterday, maybe take you out one more time, during daylight, so we could have more time together?’ Now he was looking at you with puppy eyes, his eyes make your heart fluster a little.

‘So you drove all the way to my apartment just for a maybe? What if I wasn’t home or what if I say no?’ you ask, really curious. If Park Jimin is who everyone says he was, it didn’t make much sense to you that he would sacrifice his Saturday morning just for a maybe from a girl, right?

‘You were worth the shot.’ he says as he shrugs ‘Besides, you still haven’t said no.’

He does have a point. You bite your lip, thinking how to answer, how to tease him. ‘You haven’t even asked properly…’ now you look at the flowers, leniently caressing the petals, trying to look nonchalant.

Jimin sighs, not angry or pissed, he looks like he’s having fun, smiling and holding a laugh, you guess. ‘You really want me to say it, don’t you?’ Hand runs through his hair, slightly stretching the ends. He really thinks about it, because never in his life has he said the words meaning them, his tongue lingers when he finally asks ‘Would you like to go out on a date with me? Again?’

Your face is adorn with a smile of victory and a little flash of ego in your eyes. But now that he has said the words, you find yourself not knowing what to answer.

So then you look again at his eyes, sparkling with hope and with impatience, and you feel confused, because Jimin it’s supposed to be rude, dumb and an asshole, not cute and nice.

‘I don’t know…’ you bite your lip again, playing hard to get, hoping that he shows his true self, getting angry and leaving, telling you that in the end his not going to waste his time begging

‘Pretty please?’ His tone is soft and he takes a step forward, taking your hand, stroking your check slowly.

And just like that, Jimin finds himself doing what he never does, at least not for a date. Beg. In his head, he’s sending prayers, wishing he could control minds to tell you what to do, wishing for you to say yes because now he feels like his pride is damaged.

But you don’t see it like that, you are being tricked without noticing, because you confuse his desperation with sweetness and softness, finding yourself actually wanting to say yes, and not only for the article and the whole playing with a fuckboy thing.

Jimin genuinely believes he’s getting a no for an answer, preparing himself for the worst and to take his damaged pride back home, closing his eyes when he sees you’re about to speak again to deaden the blow you’re about to deliver.

‘I…’ you look everywhere, trying to place your sight in something more than him, nervous due his proximity. ‘Could you wait for a couple of minutes? So I can put myself together a little and place this beauties in some water?’ You surprise Jimin and yourself when you spoke.

Jimin is relieved one more time, releasing the air he didn’t know he was holding until he heard you. Without erasing the apparent joy on his face, he answered 'I'll wait right here' so you let him go, disappearing once again through the white door of your apartment. Jimin felt a déjà vu when he saw you and with both arms crossed he leaned back on his motorcycle, letting the sun spray him for a few moments as he felt the heat envelop his body.

Inside, you're not surprised to see Nayeon standing by the door, probably just walking away from it to spy on you.

'Is he leaving?' She asks.

‘You ask as if you hadn’t spied on us thru the peephole, Nayeon, don't play dumb with me'

She forces a smile, as you pass her the roses Jimin was so kind to buy for you and ask her to put them in water, rushing to your room, trying to look decent in record time.

20 minutes later, Nayeon gives you a last good look at your outfit and hair, somehow she managed to get her hands on you after she saw the plaid shirt and the damp hair in a high ponytail.

You looked fresh now, with a lightweight tank top that Nayeon pulled out for you and moderately dry hair falling onto your back. You started to regret washing your hair at this time, you felt the heat consume your body due to the humidity which would probably make it fluffy after the motorcycle ride.

With a denim jacket in hand and the apartment keys in the other one, you waved Nayeon goodbye closing the door behind you, taking mental notes of every advice she gave you before you headed out.

'Don't let him kiss you just yet, just tease him about it. Flip your hair a couple of times and reject him if he tries to hold your hand. Let him know he has to earn it but send 'i like you' signals all the time. You're trying to confuse him, you got me?'

Actually, the answer was no, all the tips Nayeon had given you were contradictory to each other, even unruly, you only managed to nod to avoid keeping Jimin waiting any longer, probably dying from a heat stroke.

As you walked towards Jimin, he turned his head in your direction showing his smile.

Is he always this smily?

‘I’m sorry it took me so long.’ An awkward smile formed on your face when you were right in front of the boy.

You stared for a few seconds, seconds that were enough to re-analyze Jimin's facial structure, he was really handsome, you didn't understand how someone like him with such a reputation could have noticed you, not that you were less than the other girls, it's just that the situation didn't seem real.

'No worries' he says adopting an upright figure as he holds out your helmet. 'It's still early and there's some places I'd like to take you' He watches you carefully, taking another look at your body and your features now in broad daylight. Jimin would certainly have tried to get closer to you if he had seen you before the bet. The difference would have been in the insistence, since at the first 'no' he would've backed up.

Once he hears the little click on the snaps that fit the helmet to your head, he extends his hand to help you get on the motorcycle, wearing that bright smile of his. Giggling at the gesture, you accept the hand.

This time you place your hands around Jimin's waist without hesitation, he smirks and starts the engine. You could get used to this, the motorcycle thing. It was really relaxing, feeling the wind in your face, the sounds around you, everything felt…right. You let yourself go just like last time, for a moment you think about getting a motorcycle but your parents wouldn’t be too happy about it.

You don't know what exactly is going on with you, maybe it's Nayeon's words in your head repeating itself over and over again about sending signals, but you only act in automatic placing your chin on Jimin's right shoulder and getting closer to him when a fresh smell reaches your nose, it doesn't take long for you to realize is Jimin.

He even smells really good, does this guy has any flaws?

‘Okay, what do you think about me choosing your ice cream flavor and you choosing mine?’ Asks Jimin entering the ice cream shop after you.

‘I don’t know, you look like the kind of person who has really bad tastes.’ Your nose scrunched.

‘You didn’t think that when we were at the diner.’ He answered getting close to your face, you started to panic and remembered Nayeon's words, “Don’t let him kiss you just yet.”

‘I’ll let you have this one, sir.’ You say walking away to get to the counter where all the flavors were exhibited, ‘You have to try that one for sure!’ Jimin who just got next to you looked to where your finger was pointing.

‘Pickled Mango? That sounds gross.’ You let out a laugh when you see Jimin shake in disgust after reading the name ‘If I try that one you have to try the pear and blue cheese one.’

‘No! I refuse!’ you complain laughing ‘Let’s just get normal flavors.’ you say frowning

'Oh... so you'll chicken out?' he says, rising an eyebrow and looking at you with tease.

'What? No! I just don't want to get sick by eating ice-cream thank you very much.’ With crossed arms you stare at him, you don't let him get into your head, being firm and looking right into his eyes.

'Yeah, sure' he smiles widely. He remains quiet for a couple of seconds, looking around to se how many people were in the store, your stomach sinks due nerves, trying to defy what is his next move.

Jimin takes two steps to the nearest customer, a lady with her son enjoying her ice-cream in a cup. He taps her shoulder nicely. 'Excuse me ma’am, did you know this establishment accepted animals such as chickens?'

Your eyes almost pop out of their sockets when you hear Jimin speak. The woman only manages to blink several times, while Jimin looks in your direction, almost mocking at you. 'You see, I thought that girl over there was my date, but it turns out ...'

It took two big steps for you to reach him, interrupting him and pulling him by the arm at the same time. 'I'm sorry.' you say with an apologetic look at the woman. 'He just got out of rehab, he doesn't know what he's saying, he's still detoxifying'

Jimin forms a wide 'O' with his mouth at your words, shouting 'Rehab?!' enough audible for several eyes to settle on you with an offended tone. But Jimin was unwilling to give up, unsurprisingly, so with a big drag of air, he yelled into the establishment.

'Hey everyone! I'll just like to inform you that my date chickened out and it's no fun at all'

You try to push him harder to the counter, where the girl who served the ice cream was, but Jimin is heavy and taller than you, making the task complicated.

He continues yelling, dragging everyone's attention to you, struggling to push a man to the exhibitor. You stop for a second the fighting to place your hand over his lips, hoping it would make him keep his mouth shut 'Jesus, Jimin, stop that, people are staring at us.’ He then continues to laugh loudly, making his eyes disappear for a couple of seconds.

'Come on, let's get you some ice-cream' he says giving up and walking slowly to the counter one more time.

You end up choosing normal flavors and while you left the ice cream shop you could swear that everyone looked at you with a bad face, we weren’t that noisy, were we?

‘Don’t worry about them, I guess they’ve never had fun before!’ Jimin screamed to then close the door behind him while rolling his eyes.

'You are quite shameless, aren't you?' you say looking at him funnily.

Jimin smiles and licks his cone. 'Come on, let's walk. The place is near here'

Ten minutes later and a couple of Jimin's bad jokes later, you walk by the Han river feeling the spring breeze and the humidity of the river on the skin when walking.

The conversation flows the same as the day before, Jimin is actually fun and is not afraid to express his jokes publicly even if it means getting a few looks from the people who walk near you in the same way.

While you're with Jimin, you try to remember Nayeon's advice and come up with a way to put it into practice, so you constantly move your hair from side to side when speaking.

Jimin noticed it. He had seen the same trick so many times, more than he can count with both hands, but he lets it go, for him it was a sign that his behavior was working to get you.

Leaning against the railing for a few minutes after you said you couldn't eat and walk at the same time, earning yourself a round of teasing from the boy, you feel his shoulder casually rub with yours as he slowly approaches his hand to yours. He is about to take it, but Nayeon screams in your consciousness and intelligently you change the cone of hand to prevent him from grabbing it.

'So...' you say to liven up the atmosphere a bit. 'Engineering major uh?'

Jimin leans against a single arm on the railing, putting his body in your direction, as well as his attention. 'Impressed?' he says with an air of greatness.

Something sparks inside you, with a need to lower it from the pedestal where he placed himself without reason for a simple comment. So you say back 'Not actually.' the surprise is evident on Jimin's face, almost annoyed, but you find the way he reacts when you annoy him funny, so you continue, imitating his posture. 'I'm impressed that you haven't quit yet, tho.'

'Oh so you're saying I'm dumb?' he says with a pout, putting his index finger directly to his chest.

You frown and smile 'I never said that, Jimin. I just think it's funny that you have time to party with such a complicated major.'

'Proof that you can find time to have fun' he answered.

'Why did you choose that major?' you ask curious. Jimin shrugs a little before answering. 'I like math and it's kinda cool, you know?'

The answer impresses you, Jimin doesn’t really look as the type of man who likes mathematics. 'You like math?' you say giggling 'Why do you like such a hard subject?'

The wind blows hard and a lock of hair flies between your face and your cone, preventing you from eating calmly, but you manage to push it away with your free hand before it touches the ice-cream and gets sticky.

Jimin hesitates before answering, because he has never actually discussed this with a girl. They usually only talk about them or try to find topics of conversation between silly fights they have had with their friends or the manicure and the time it takes to do them.

Sure, Jimin has talked about this with his friends, normally Taehyung and Jungkook are the ones who ask these questions or tease him about being a nerd, but never a girl.

'They just make sense to me...' he clears his throat and you notice a twinkle in his eyes before he starts to speak again 'Look it's like...you have this puzzle, right? But you have a missing piece. So, someone, comes in and tells you “here’s a way to get to the missing piece” and when you solve it and find the missing piece and everything fits, it's amazing. They are perfect, numbers are perfect.' you notice how Jimin moves his hands when speaking and you catch yourself smiling at the effusive way he explains something simple, showing how much he actually likes what he does, your smile gets bigger as the wind blows once more, even stronger than the last time, making your hair tangle and cloud your sight a little. Jimin is quick to act, so with one hand, he slowly puts the hair behind your ear, stroking gently your hair a few seconds after it's in place. 'They are perfect just like you.'

You blush at his words, tickles present in your stomach, not like butterflies, but more like ants in a run, trying to find a place to hide when it rains. Jimin notices how the cone trembles in your hand making him smirk, you realize you are not so immune to his charms as you thought. Then, with a vow of courage and a smile as bright as diamonds, he takes a step forward, shortening the distance between your lips and his.

But Nayeon jumps back into your head "Don't let him kiss you just yet" so you take a small step back, smashing what was left of your cone right in his face.

You start to laugh at the Jimin’s new face covered in ice cream, it was priceless, but when you notice he wasn’t laughing with you, you stop. After a few seconds he laughs throwing himself at you, seeking revenge and trying to get rid of the mess you've left on his face.

He gets a little of ice cream on your nose before you stop him to help cleaning his face, running the napkin over his cheek and chin while he looks at you carefully, when you get close to his mouth he feels shivers down his spine, you didn't seem to notice it and he was grateful for it.

'Why did you do that?' he says between giggles. You keep laughing, searching for a better reason than “My friend told me not to."

'You were being boring.' you say as you crunch your nose a little.

'You were the one asking boring questions in the first place!’ He responds trying to sound awfully mad but failing, betrayed by his laugh.

‘Well I am getting bored, let's do something else!' you attack, finishing to swipe the remains of ice cream, now you feel your fingers sticky but you believe it was wroth it, after all, you avoided Jimin's kiss like the plague and got something to laugh about, something you hadn’t done in a long time. At least not with anyone other than Nayeon.

‘When you said “let’s do something else”, I didn’t think you would choose a bar.’

After the ice cream fight, you decided to change the date a little, you headed Jimin straight to Itaewon where bars abounded, you had already shown a sweet side, now you wanted to show him your rough side.

‘I come often to this bar with my friend Nayeon, I like it because they have pool tables, good music and great alcohol.’ you explained as you took a seat at one of the empty tables close to the door.

‘You really don’t look like a girl who go to bars.’

‘Is this like our thing?’ You asked taking off the denim jacket. Jimin looks at you with confusion so you continue ‘I mean, assuming things about each other.’

‘Well what do you assume of me?’ Asks him while going through the menu.

‘Well, you look like a guy who can’t commit to a relationship.’ Jimin quickly looks at you trying to figure out if you were joking. You weren’t, but you liked to make him feel nervous and uneasy, it made you feel in control. ‘I’m joking,’ he laughs a little not being so sure ‘But you do look like a guy who has a lot of secrets, am I right?’

‘Not really, I think I’m an open book, you know…easy to read and all that philosophical shit.’ You two laugh at his words. ’When I said that you didn’t look like a girl who go to bar I was thinking about you not liking parties. And I know this is not a party, but it looks like it happens from time to time.’ Jimin turns his head around the place looking at everyone.

‘It’s different, I can’t explain how, but just trust me, it’s different.’ You say, defending yourself against Jimin’s mention of you not being a party girl.

The night flows good, Jimin orders some beers and you order some shots here and there, mostly for you because Jimin says he has to drive, and you are more than okay with that, you don’t really want to die at such young age.

After a couple of drinks you felt more relaxed. Thank you alcohol. That same chill vibe coming from the shots makes you feel active, wanting to do something else than just talking to the handsome guy that it’s sitting right in front of you. With your arm resting in the table and your chin in your hand, you speak ‘Do you know how to play pool?’

Jimin looks thru his glass, seeing your pretty smile from the amber liquid he’s drinking product of his second beer of the night, sticking to his promise of staying sober. He nods, looking at the tables and paying attention to the ‘pop’ sound off the balls colliding one with the other.

‘We should play pool then, are you down?’ You ask with a big smile letting Jimin know you were still okay, he had started to worry about having to take you out of the bar carrying you like a sack of potatoes.

‘Sure, the winner chooses the next date.’ Jimin smiles and stands with no hesitation, waiting for you to do the same.

‘So you really think there will be another date after this one? You are a very confident man Park Jimin.’ You say standing up and pocking his chest with your index finger after every word, you wobble a little and Jimin holds you making you both get way too close, you could feel his breath on your head and your eyes couldn't help but look up to his lips.

Maybe it’s the alcohol clouding your thoughts and shutting up Nayeon’s little voice in your head, because for a second you really think about kissing him, thinking that perhaps this was the only moment where you could do it without regretting it because if it wasn’t good or if he rejected, you could blame it on the booze and then move on, but when you were about to go in for it, Jimin pushes you away a little without being abrupt, to separate you from him.

‘Look there’s a free table over there.’ He says grabbing you by the arm and pulling you to the pool table that was available a few feet from you, trying to get there before anyone else.

You grabbed a cue stick and so does Jimin, you break, making one of the solid balls enter one of the holes in the table. ‘I guess you are strips.’ a wink escapes from you.

‘Is it here when I find out you are actually a professional pool player?’ Jimin asks as he sees you settling into a new position to finally shove another of your balls into a hole.

‘I’m not a professional but I’m good at it.’ Another ball goes in.

‘Are you even gonna let me play?’ He laughs without taking his gaze off your concentration face, he’s actually really impressed by the fact that even when you were a little drunk you managed to focused on the target, striking perfect points as you get the balls in its place.

‘I hope so, sometimes I’m on a streak and it’s hard to know when the other player would play.’ Jimin stands next to you and just when you are about to hit the cue ball, he hits you with his hip making you fail the shot.

‘Hey! That’s cheating!’ You laugh, hand on your hip while you laugh a little, with the stick in your left hand.

‘What are you talking about, I just tripped.’ Jimin tries to play it cool but he looks like a little kid, you laugh even harder when after his attempt of making you loose, he make the cue ball go in one of the holes.

‘You made me lose so you could just play that awfully?’

‘The stick slipped from my finger.’ He frowns and pouts.

‘Excuses, excuses. Let the big girls play.’ You take the cue ball out of the hole and position it in a way that is favorable to you, bending over to the pool table.

When you were about to hit the ball you feel how something, or rather someone, brushes slightly his hand over your butt, touching it almost as not wanting to, you believe that maybe they were trying to go unnoticed. You snap, getting in to a straight position due to the touch you did not consent.

‘Why did you touch me you piece of shit?!’ You scream with your face turned bright red due to your anger, turning around to face the person, it was just one of those kind of macho greasy dudes who were too drunk to function.

‘Excuse me? What did you just called me?’ He looked at you with disdain.

‘You heard me loud and clear, pig.’ You spit your words without stopping to look him in the eye for a second, firm and alert position, he was not going to get away with this.

‘Hey man...’ he says looking at Jimin as he speaks. ‘Is this bitch here with you? You should control her, she’s drunk and crazy.’

‘She wouldn’t be angry if you hadn’t touch her.’ Jimin steps forward, putting you behind him while getting closer, face to face with the guy with anger in his voice.

‘Nobody touched her, it’s just her imagination. Didn’t you heard me? She’s drunk’ the guy looks so confident in his words, you almost feel intimidated. Almost. ‘Just look at her, why would someone want to touch her?’ he looks at you head to toe with disgust ‘I guess you are really needy to be fucking with that.’ Those were his last words before Jimin's fist hit his face, making him fall to the ground.

Blood boils inside Jimin's veins due the comment of the guy 'Look, I'm not really looking for a fight but you're screaming for one right now. So I'll give you exactly 30 seconds to apologize to her if you don't want to end up in the fucking hospital, my friend' Jimin squats down to look at the guy in the eyes, feeling a bunch of looks and people staring at him, someone takes a step forward, maybe a friend of the guy he just hit ready to step in for his friend, but before anything else happened and as Jimin starts to get back up, the guy grabs him by the neck of his shirt, putting him under his body and starting to drop punches.

You see them switch places on the floor a couple of times, fists crashing against each other faces, you try to make your voice louder enough to break through the sounds of the bar, you don't know what else to do to get Jimin to stop punching the guy. The situation escalated quickly from the moment you opened your mouth, you didn't want this to happen and you were hoping someone would step in and separate them but they were busy watching the show.

Gladly, one of the bartenders and some other worker, came and step in between the fight, lifting Jimin from the guy who was now on the floor, no longer fighting back. Jimin it's trying to calm down, breathing heavily while you come near him, taking a closer look at the damage on his face. 'Grab your stuff, let's go. That will teach him not to mess with girls for a long time' His face is red, product of the rush of blood, with a deep frown and a split lip that he cleans with the back of his hand.

‘Come on, sit right here.’ You point at the little stair outside your place, getting in to your apartment to look for the first aid kit to clean Jimin’s wounds, that was the least you could do for him. ‘I’m so sorry our date had to end like this, I feel terrible, I should have stayed quiet.’ You said as you came back taking a seat next to him, he looked at every movement you made while taking out the things you’ll need from the little white box.

‘You’re kidding? A woman who stands for herself is awesome. I’m sure that if I didn’t hit him, you would have done it.’ You finally let a little laugh after everything that happened.

‘I guess so…’ your eyes meet for a couple seconds and before anything else happened, you look away ‘This may sting, but it's only for a second. Here I go.’

He nods, but when the cotton soaked in alcohol touched his wounds, he tried to hold back a scream to not disturb the neighbors or scare you, avoiding making you feel worst than you already have.

‘Where did you learn to fight either way?’ You asked, tapping slightly the cotton on his lip cut.

‘When I moved here I had to change, so I could adapt better to this city, just like you. I guess you didn’t arrive speaking fluent Korean, right?’ He laughs to then close the eyes due to the alcohol stinging.

‘That’s true, I just knew the basics.’ You put on an ointment on his wounds before putting everything back in the box. ‘You are good to go.’ You said standing up and shaking the dirt from the back of your pants. 'Thank you, Jimin. For defending me back there, even if didn't go that well for you'

'You don't need to thank me, it was the right thing to do.' he says relaxed. 'Don't worry about this, I've had worst.' he points at his fresh wound. ‘Despite everything I had a great time.' he scratches de back of his neck.

You hug yourself in nervousness and smile back at him 'Yeah... me too' You look at each other, not really knowing what was next, the air starts to blow once again, making the weather a little bit cold.

‘I’ll better get going.’ Jimin says putting his hands inside his pants pockets looking up to the starry night, he walks down to his motorcycle and just when you open the door to go inside he turns to just tell you he will text you next time before arriving without any notice.

You let out a little laugh, only nodding and telling him to text you as well once he's safe and sound back at his apartment. 'Goodbye, gorgeous.' he says gently.

You don't close the door until he waves goodbye at you before he starts the engine and you see him leave. Once you see him disappear into the night you close the door and lay your back on it, just thinking how great the night had gone.

<--PART 2

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otherpeoplesheartachept-2 · 5 years ago

Text

Crack!

Carry On Countdown Day 18

Length: 959 words

Genre: Crack (clearly)

AN: This was heavily inspired by (and a few lines directly lifted from) a tik tok by @anitjessclub. Also I’m not sure this super qualifies as crack but I thought the tik tok was funny and applied quite well to oblivious! Simon.

Simon didn’t need to take Greek anymore; he couldn’t use it for magick. But he figured, why let the skill he’d acquired at Watford go to waste? He was pretty decent at learning the language.

Plus, it was a delicious tool for combating Basilton in their unofficial game of whispering love confessions and dirty thoughts in foreign languages to the other’s ear. (Of course Baz knew Greek too, on top of French and Latin and some Chinese but, the boy would take what he could get.)

He also kind of had a friend in his Greek uni class! Noah was quite shy at the beginning of the semester, but they’d warmed up to each other. Before and after class every class they’d talk about random shit happening in their lives. Simon loved having more friends, Normal friends. He’d always enjoyed surrounding himself with friendly people.

He was a little late to class this week but Noah had left a seat next to him empty. He waved when he noticed Simon enter the class. Simon smiled and whispered “Did you get new glasses?” as he shrugged off his backpack and slid into the chair.

“Yeah.” Noah blushed a little, keeping his eyes on the professor. The boy blushed at practically the drop of a hat.

Class went smoothly, until the end when Simon got completely lost.

“Hey mate, do you mind helping with that last bit?” Simon asked as all the students were packing up.

Noah pushed up his glasses. “Oh sure, um…” His cheeks went pink. “It’s basically li-“ but before he could actually start explaining Simon pulled out his ringing phone.

“Shit, sorry, I forgot Baz was picking me up today.” He wore a sheepish smile.

“No that’s cool. We can talk about it next time.” Noah scratched the curls on top of his head. They were a much duller brown that Simon’s.

“Great! Wanna walk out with me?” Simon asked, feeling bad he had to rush out so quickly. Noah nodded and finished putting his note book into his book bag.

As they exited the building Simon spotted Baz leaning against a tree, staring at his phone.

“Well, there he is. See ya later!” he waved to Noah as he did a little jog to his boyfriend. Noah gave a small wave in return.

“Who’s that?” Baz asked without glancing at the other boy.

“Noah.” Simon replied before planting a small peck on the pale boy’s cheek. Baz hummed happily. Then he laughed a little.

“You’ve started cuffing your jeans?” Simon looked down at his trousers confused.

“Yeah? They were a little too long.” Baz laughed some more at his boyfriend’s oblivion before properly kissing him.

The next week after class, and after Noah had helped Simon with some tricky verbs, Noah got extra fidgety.

As they’re both packing up in the empty classroom he speaks. “This might be a personal question but, are you bi?” He’s red before he gets half way through the sentence.

Simon pauses his actions. Slightly confused he answers, “Yeah? Why?” We’re in the same language class, shouldn’t he know? Simon thinks.

“Well so am I but-” He rubs his elbow “-I don’t know how to tell my parents.”

“They don’t know?” Maybe he’s missing a parental experience that would make this conversation make sense but, he can’t shut up about new vocab around Penny and Baz, so it’s odd someone’s parents wouldn’t know.

“No, I haven’t really told them or really, anyone, before.” Noah is even more nervous confessing this. His eyes are glued to the floor.

The other boy really does not understand where this is going but tries to get it. “Why is it such a big deal? Are you worried they won’t understand you or something?” It seems like a long shot but it’s the only reason Simon can come up with. He supposed that could be an issue.

“Well yeah I’m worried they won’t understand me; they’re straight.”

WHAT???? Is all Simon’s internal monologue provides him. He cannot for the life of him figure out how that plays a part.

His brow furrows. “Okay, um, my friend Penny is straight and still speaks two languages. What’s wrong with being bilingual? Are they racist?”

At this Noah turns impossibly red. He opens his mouth to explain himself but simultaneously looks like he never wants to speak again.

“Are you okay?” Simon is seriously concerned for his friend. He slowly reaches a hand to the other boy’s shoulder but Noah quickly jerks away and starts grasping at his things on the desk.

“Oh yeah, no it’s um it’s not really a big deal it’s just.” He pauses, his face scrunched up in pain, quickly exhaling, “I didn’t mean bilingual.” He pushes the strap of his book bag over his shoulder. “Sorry, I’ll, um-”

“Oh.” Is all Simon can manage while his mind races a thousand kilometers a minute. He presses a palm into his eye socket. “Shit, sorry.” He adds, desperately trying to figure out what he’s supposed to say now. Baz is certainly right about him being too oblivious for his own good at times. “I mean I have a boyfriend, but I’m probably the worst source for advice on coming out to parents.” At least he knows NOT to bring up the fact that he’s an orphan right now. This is not about him.

It seems to help. Noah looks less like an anxious bird ready to take flight at any loud noise.

“Though, if you ever need support or someone to talk to about it or anything, I’m here.” He tries offering a sympathetic smile.

Noah gives a small smile in return, his face still burning. “Thanks. Um. It feels good to finally tell someone.”

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mandakatt · 5 years ago

Note

Thanks for writing for Fire Emblem: Three Houses and for being totally awesome. ^-^ You're one of my favorite writers. ^-^ Thank you for sharing your stories ^-^ I plan on getting the game soon and I'm really excited! ^-^ It's also my first Fire Emblem game so I'm kind of anxious D: The battle system is what's worrying me. Are there any tips you could give me Ms. Wonderful Mandakatt Queen? 👑

Hiya Doll!

....w-wait. I’m... I’m one of your favorites?

I-I....OH MY GOSH!

Anon-san, I get to love you forever and always yes?

And you call me a Queen too? PFF, I am the Queen of silly shenanigans maybe. *gently kicks at an imaginary rock, as she blushes more.* T-Thank you..!

I will also admit that this is the first Fire Emblem game of this type. It’s so different from all the others that I’ve played, and I lovingly call it Otome Battle Chess - It is an Otome game hidden within an RTS. You cannot convince me otherwise. =p

The combat system does feel like the other games, and I can tell you that it has what’s called a Casual mode - which means that if you lose a unit in battle, it doesn’t die, simply retreats. [I doubt I will ever play this game on normal for that reason. Too many good beans I refuse to lose.] And it also feels rather forgiving too, especially if it’s your first Fire Emblem game.

Your first playthrough I would follow what the game recommends to make your units into - for upgrades and training. [ @silverdriftdragon recommended this till I get used to this one and I’m super duper thankful for that tip! ] and then your next playthrough you can change them up if you like.

It is so worth picking up, and I’m just a little upset with myself that I didn’t dive into this game when I first got it. But it’s got me well and hooked now. So there’ll probably be so many more words/stories from me on it. XD

But when you do start playing Anon-san, come back and tell me of your adventures in Fodland! I would love to hear about them! ♥

#aksjdalkjdad #manda is flailing in the tags again #you are too kind Doll #OMG #*flails more*#thank you so much #and I hope you do enjoy fire emblem when you play it!#it's such a fun #and interesting game #Anonymous

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melissalfinch · 5 years ago

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Catching Pokemon Vs. Catching Covid-19

Applying lessons from the Pokémon franchise to the Coronavirus pandemic

Now that we finally have something we’ve always complained about being short on, which is time, some of us are conflicted about just what to do with it all. We’re growing bored of binge-watching, online-tutorials, the same routes we take to walk to the markets, and holding our phone during Facetime, and feeling discouraged each morning we check our unemployment benefit for it to still say zero after applying about 3 weeks ago. So here’s a simple and effective solution for you to abide the time with, feel productive, happy and even a little philosophical if you achieve a certain attitude. It’s time to play Pokémon Go.

Let’s talk about the simple and relatively obvious five benefits of playing Pokémon Go. First off, it gets you outside for some Vitamin D. Second, it raises your heart rate and improves circulation from the steps you take. Next, some of us might enjoy some window shopping without feeling pressured to go inside the shops because there’s no salesperson judging you from behind the counter. Fourth, you acquire unique, stylish and sanitized remote friends by catching Pokemon and connecting with other players around the world, with the exception of the Pokemon named Koffing of course. You might just want to walk the other direction if you see him on the map. It’s okay. That kind of discrimination is found acceptable these days. I’m sure he gets that all the time. And fifth, you get to concentrate on a fantastic animated screen in the game as a distraction from confusing news reports that probably sent our zombie-like fingers scrolling down like a bored classical music conductor this morning. It’s a good mental break that your mind requires for strength, similar to the benefits of meditation.

When the game was first launched it became another form of social distancing. People were just looking down at their phones, out in the streets wandering quietly, not making eye contact, feeling anxious about running out of balls, often loitering outside of businesses that were designated Poke stops, not spending any money. You get the idea. It’s not too different from the attitudes the majority of society have been infected with today. So does playing Pokemon Go in the streets/sidewalks break the social distancing orders? No and here’s why. Playing the game doesn’t actually require you to go very far and sometimes to go outside at all. Of course you should wear a mask if you feel inclined to take a walk, but you can also drive to the stops to collect goodies. No, you don’t have to play while you’re driving. Pull over, stop the car and open up the game. You thought you had me, didn’t you? The creators of the game, Niantic has actually made the game compatible with traveling less and playing more remotely by giving out more virtual gifts to attract Pokémon to you in the comfort of your own bed. In an effort to look good with the Coronavirus pandemic they have also cancelled many of their in person events and made them remote as well.

If I still haven’t sold you on playing Pokémon Go, don’t worry. There are a lot more in the Pokémon franchise you can occupy your time with. For instance, come up with a catchy villain motto like the one by Team Rocket to repeat when faced with the enemy or simply to abide by the 20 second timed hand-washing ritual, like the one recommended by PoGo Joel recommends in his YouTube video. https://youtu.be/SADIK0zxfig As a healthcare professional

Catching Pokemon Vs. Catching Covid-19

and Pokémon master, his girlfriend has become accustomed to his love for Jessie’s and James’ creed while he washes his hands. And let’s face it, the Team Rocket motto which is kind of lengthy, starts out with a good message.

Jessie: “To protect the world from devastation.” James:“To unite all people within our nation...” They go on to say some other crooked content like “To denounce the evils of truth and

love,” but like most villains in cartoons, they provide comic relief and sometimes viewers will actually feel sorry for them when their emotional baggage comes tumbling out. Or you could always exercise your rap skills by rapping 32 names of Pokémon which is done at the end of every episode in the premiere series. It’s easier to remember their names instead of trying to remember the names of the members of the Trump administration who Mr. President has fired in the last few months for challenging him. When battling Pokemon, it’s important not to be a sore loser. I bet Krabby would be the first Pokemon Trump would fire. As Pokémon villain Meowth advises “Don’t want the bad guys slipping in.”

Believe it or not there are some valuable lessons to be learned from Pikachu and his posse. For instance, here’s a great lesson about not hoarding: In the game Pokemon Go if you have duplicates of characters you’ve caught, you send them to the professor to get candy to help one of your other Pokémons evolve. Lesson here: Grow, evolve, share the toilet paper you hoarded last month. It’s okay. We all get impulsive. You thought it was a good idea at the time. Now you can make up for it by sharing. According to YouTube vlogger TrueGreen7, there’s even more profound wisdom to be gathered from the games, films, and cartoons series we can apply to this crisis. https://youtu.be/PE8NKsIEZa8 Such as realizing that good things come in small packages.What seems to be weak at first can grow strong with patience and TLC, just like raising the Pokémon Magikarp. He seems like a pathetic joke when first caught but you can eventually evolve him to the powerful Gyarados. Here are a few other bits of wisdom to chew on: Preserve games. Don’t use rare coins, and save your money. If you don’t know something, look it up. Pokémon design always has a purpose. Ignorance leads to hate. Playing games your own way is the most enjoyable. Don’t impose the way you play a game onto others. It’s just a game. Become familiar with etymology, the study of the origins of names. Learn about other countries’ cultures and language for a better understanding of worldwide concepts. Understand the importance of balance and danger of extremes. Don’t sacrifice ideals and ignore truths. In addition, it’s not always black and white. There are never only two sides to an argument. You can always compromise. Look at things from a different perspective. One Pokémon character by the name of Clay says “There’s always room for folks to grow and change, ain’t there?” Another character named Elesa remarks “It’s important to keep trying, to learn about the differences between yourself and others, to learn that being different is ok.” Then there’s Drayden who says that it’s ok to listen to the opinions of others and where they’re coming from, but once you stop listening to others and decide that your opinion is right, you cannot be forgiven.

Amusing yourself with light-hearted, charming entertainment such as the world of Pokémon and other uplifting fandoms in a time like this is certainly a positive use of your time. It’s good to escape for a little bit and turn off the news for a while. Try to take a few steps away and get a change of scenery even if it is a virtual one. Innocent and wondrous entertainment

Catching Pokemon Vs. Catching Covid-19

gives some of us endorphins and a good serotonin boost.This is just another way to get through it that helps me, gives me something to connect to with other people like my Pokémon Master friend up in Canada, who’s been playing for years. It’s a reason to get out of the confines of my studio apartment and it gets me to stop zoning out while eavesdropping on neighborhood chatter easily heard sometimes even when my windows are closed. So before you start walking to the market when you go outside, don’t be so afraid and hostile to others about catching Covid-19, think that you’re out to catch Pokémon instead. Because what you have hidden in your balls just might be the creature that’s going to combat this thing.

#coronavirus #pokémongo #pokémon #pokemon #pokemongo #gaming #anime #mobilegames #gamer #killingtime #blog #fandom #geekery #japaneseanimation #creativewriting #pandemic #covid-19

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friendlyneighborhoodmadscientist · 6 years ago

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Settle in folks, here’s a story from my most recent gaming session, it’s pretty long but it was such a transcendent moment I have to share it with all of you. Due to length I’m going to try to put it under a cut.

So a bit of background information. We are playing a Kingdom Hearts game and have been for… A while. We can’t quite remember exactly how long. It’s a custom system of the DM and my design (THAT I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE BUT CAN’T GET DISNEY OR SQUARE TO TALK TO ME ABOUT IT).

Our PCs:

Lonnie Clawford, a snow leopard from Zootopia, with an affinity for Ice, and focused on Power abilities (like Terra). Lonnie is functionally immortal in combat, kind of anxious, and grew up in Zootopia’s foster care system until she was like 12 and was picked up by our Master. Played by @thepioden

Lydia, a young woman from The Corpse Bride (in our defense, we knew it was Tim Burton and forgot it wasn’t Disney until we finished the world) with an affinity for Moon (blame Saïx) and focused on Speed abilities; her combat style focuses especially on aerial tricks and abilities. Gravity is a suggestion at best for Lydia, she’s a hopeless romantic (“MISSION OF LOVE” is a common refrain from her), and she grew up an orphan on the streets until she was about 5-6 and was adopted by our Master. Played by @tsukidoesthething

Polaris Caelestis, a young man from ??????????? (likely a Final Fantasy World; we didn’t learn my last name until halfway through the campaign so far) who was found as an infant by their Master in the void between worlds (earning him the nickname “Space Baby” from his friends). He has an affinity for Thunder and is focused on Magic abilities. Pol has spent the most time with his Keyblade, tends to try to solve every problem with his knowledge or magic (earning him the nickname “Mage-Wrists” from his friends), and he tries to be a Fixed Point for his friends. I play Pol.

By this point, we have journeyed through so many worlds. Atlantis, The Rescuers, Wall-E, Princess and the Frog, Wreck-It Ralph, Secret of Mana’s Japan-only Sequel, Zootopia, Corpse Bride, Treasure Planet, The Incredibles, Monster’s Inc. And we have ended our first ‘lap’ in Chrono Trigger. We arrive in the bleak, dead, post apocalyptic future, and pick up Robo/Prometheus as our companion. Together, we visit the remains of human civilization, lightly perform a few miracles for the survivors, and end up making our way up to Death’s Peak. All the while, an oppressive feeling of despair, desolation, and Darkness is mounting. At the summit, we find ourselves face to face with a Lavos-Spawn. A horrible tick-like monstrosity the size of a bus that at least in our game was ALSO a variety of Heartless.

So, it’s already not looking GREAT for us. As the boss fight begins, our DM starts this music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nReqeBSp_WY

Our DM hands us each two notecards taped together along the edges; on one side was a Whisper of Darkness, and the other was a new keyblade (with some flavor text) the Darkness forced us to use.

Lonnie declined to share the Whisper of Darkness she received, but she was forced to use Shattered Steel:

“If someone has to take hits, let it be you, because you deserve them. Maybe you will be remembered fondly if you keep real heroes alive. Better to spend yourself until you’re battered, broken, and shattered, than to let them see what you really are.”

It lightly corrupted her heart with Darkness if she gave or received a buff, which she does automatically when she stands next to an ally.

Lydia heard this Whisper of Darkness:

“Your mother would have lived if you had not abandoned her and run to spare your own petty feelings. You always have, and you always will flee when you fear pain, and it will always harm those you claim to love and protect.”

And she was forced to use Broken Wings:

“Only unburdened hearts can soar. When you think about what you could have done differently, you only drown in doubt and loathing; cast it aside, and the guilt and regret hang around your neck like unseen weights. Better to give up the skies before you crash, broken, to the ground.”

It lightly corrupted her heart with Darkness if she went into the air or used an ability while aerial.

Polaris heard this Whisper of Darkness

“You spout the tenets of hope, desperate to distract yourself from the ugly truth. Your identity is staked upon it; if there really is no hope, no redemption, then you yourself are a cruel lie to those around you.”

I was forced to use Endless Night:

“Light brings not hope, but casts how much is lost and beyond relief into painful clarity. You cannot heal all wounds, and insufficient healing does more harm than good. Better to do nothing, and turn away from a night you cannot dispel.”

It lightly corrupted my heart with Darkness if my MP pool changed.

With each boss fight thus far, our DM showed us an “Information” notecard that gave a hint to the boss fight’s gimmick.

This one was completely redacted out in permanent marker.

Needless to say, the boss had abilities that forced us next to each other, knocked us aerial, and drained our MP. On top of this, our characters could not communicate.

It was bad.

We fought futilely for a time, and I did crit the bastard with a melee attack to the face, but after we dealt about 100 damage, the boss rewound time and healed itself to full. We were on the ropes; I had nearly been knocked out, Lonnie had nearly been halfway corrupted, and Lydia … well she was actually kind of the MVP but it was still Not Great.

Prometheus spent most of the fight trying to get our attention and was very concerned about how atypically we were behaving. He pulled us back, out of the fight and out of the worst of the boss’s aura. Prometheus started playing some recordings of his creator, a Professor Ashtear (likely a descendant of Lucca, but our DM created the character from whole cloth). As the recordings played, the music swapped to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvEJSvgl9Us Our DM’s delivery of the below was quite frankly superb.

“Okay, diagnostics are complete; everything’s in the green. Ready to go offline and get some upgrades?”

“Professor? I have a concern.”

“What’s up, 66?”

“I understand the mission and I will assist to the best of my capacity, as always. However, my calculations all project that I am insufficient for the role I have been given.”

“That’s what all this preparation is for.”

“Acknowledged, but am I not a sub-optimal model for integration? A military unit such as a mobile defense platform--”

“--Wouldn’t have what you have. It’s nothing in the numbers, 66, it’s something you’ve got to feel in your heart.”

“I am a robot. I do not possess a heart.”

“You don’t think so? I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe one day you’ll understand, but in the meantime I guess you’ll just have to trust that you’ve been chosen for a reason. Do you trust my judgment?”

“Of course, Professor.”

“Then believe in my trust in you. Fate has a way of putting us all where we are supposed to be. And if you have doubts, check in with me, or Lumie, or the people you’ll be helping. You won’t ever be alone. Not really.”

“Acknowledged, Professor.”

“But not really understood, right? Hm, maybe a good first step would be to give you a proper name... I think I’ve got just the one. See you again when you wake up, Prometheus.”

“No. I appreciate the thought, Prometheus, but we can’t cut out the groundwork we’re laying for short term gain.”

“But if we do not take any measures to accelerate our action plan--”

“I’m under no illusions. The work ahead of us will exceed my lifetime. Even optimistically, I will never live to see the fruits of our labors. Neither will Lumie, nor any child of hers or grandchild. The world’s going to get worse --a lot worse-- before it gets any better.”

“...Regretfully, I have reached the same conclusions. You are not perturbed?”

“Of course I am. I’m a problem-solver. It’s what I do, and I’ve always been very good at it. To be confronted with something like this, where there’s no possible way I can see it resolved? Especially when it’s so important? It’s a bitter pill to swallow, some days. But I’ve come to peace with it, because I know my efforts won’t go to waste. What I do now, I do to fling a light into the future. Every step I take is one that Lumie can follow forward. She can take what I’ve started and advance it a little further. The rest, we can entrust to you, and to those who come after us.”

“Future generations may not be as capable as you are. How can you be certain that they will know how to use what you will leave behind?”

“I can’t. All I can do is have faith. I won’t be the last good man in the world. Where there’s life, there is always hope. Besides, you’ll be there to tell them what I’ve done, right? Our legacies live on in the hearts we influence. If I know that, through you, my example will continue to guide and inspire --even if it’s in ways that I can’t expect or imagine-- then I can rest easy in the knowledge that I’ve done all I can do.”

“Understood, Professor. I will remember.”

“Registration complete. Administrative access and privileges have been successfully transferred to Mistress Illumina Ashtear.”

(coughs) “Excellent. Thank you, Prometheus. When you go down, would you mind sending Lumie up alone, first? There are some things I want to make sure to tell her before I say goodbye to the rest of the family.”

“...As you wish, Professor.”

“Something on your mind, old friend?”

“Regret. If I had returned to escort you here sooner, your condition would not have degraded so acutely. If I had prioritized repairing the medical facility over stabilizing the foundation, Mistress Illumina might have had time to treat your symptoms or cure them.”

“Maybe. Or maybe we’d have lost a promising young mind to that mutant attack that we’ll need in the future. Maybe the building would have collapsed, and all the functioning medical equipment would have buried Lumie and me both. Or maybe all of that would have worked out and we would have learned that there was nothing that could be done for me anyway.”

“Those are only negative hypotheticals. There are an equally infinite number of positive alternatives, and the only concrete data I have to analyze is from this negative outcome.”

“Listen to me, Prometheus: we all make mistakes, believe me, I know. Heated words regretted, or necessary words left unspoken; time not spent, or misspent. Things we’re not proud of, and can’t do over, and good intentions that don’t work out the way we thought they would. But what do we do when we break something?”

“Attempt repairs.”

“And if we can’t fix it, make something new from what you learned. The only way a mistake leads to a wholly negative outcome is when you choose not to face it. It can hurt. Sometimes it can hurt like hell, but that pain will shape you, whether you acknowledge it or not. It can slow your hands from doubt, or it can guide them with purpose.”

“I do not understand, Professor.”

(coughs) “That’s alright. You will, one day. For now, let me just say this: don’t forget me, but don’t let me haunt you. Keep moving forward, Prometheus, even if you stumble. Be who you are meant to be and do what you’re meant to do. Live on. It’s all I’ve ever hoped for you.”

As these recordings wrapped up, Prometheus turned and addressed the monster directly, (DM’s robot voice is exquisite), and the DM swapped the music track to his leitmotif from his original game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaUNpJAgD4w

“I understand. You are not the creature that has taken so much from this planet. You are its offspring, leaching from our remains as you prepare to invade another world and repeat this heinous tragedy. Defeating you will not restore our resources, or the people we have lost. It will not save our planet; it will only spare a host of strangers I will never meet. And I understand now, that this is a worthy cause.”

“I am a robot. I was not designed or built for this battle. I still have reservations about my aptitude for the role and responsibilities I have been given. I have no statistical evidence to prove that I can prevail. But fate has a way of putting us all where we are meant to be. I have no compunction in my code to fight this battle, but I feel an imperative to achieve victory. It is irrational, but I understand it. Logic and concrete analysis compel me to doubt. My belief in those who chose to invest their hopes and dreams in me instruct me to ignore the odds.”

“I understand now. I am Prometheus, and I am alive. When we prevail over you, I will take what I have learned down off this mountain, and I will get back to work. I will let myself feel loss. I will let myself hurt, and I will grow to be more than I have been. I will continue on, as I know those I have left behind would want me to. I am alive. Their memories are alive in me. There are still people I have to protect. This world is still alive.”

The Professor’s voice sounds one more time. “Where there is life, there is hope.” A woman’s voice answers. “Where there is life, there is hope.” (The phrase echoes again and again, on down through the generations. Finally, the whole host of voices, Prometheus’s among them, rings out in a shout.) We were offered the opportunity to roll an Insight check to join in. Lonnie and Pol rolled first, and we BOTH got nat 20’s; with that, he didn’t even make Lydia roll, and we three joined our voices to the chorus: “WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE!”

With this, the DM said we were fully healed, the corruption to our hearts gone in an instant, and the DM instructed us to open the sealed notecard-packets. On the back of the corrupted keyblades were new purified (and mechanically magnificent) ones for each of us (also with flavor text).

Lonnie received Resonant Glass:

“No one voice can sing a chord. If I fear I am unworthy for the melody, then let me be the harmony. If I doubt the character of my soul, let me raise my voice with those that know me best, that I may hear my heart resonate with theirs.”

Lydia received Reclaim the Wind:

“Hopes and dreams have ever been the wind beneath our wings. If I sin, then let the hope to mend what may yet be righted and lift my face to the skies --not to avert my eyes, but to pursue the dream of my better self.”

Pol received First Light

“Not even the brightest star can light the void alone, and a beacon saves only those that pursue it. If my spark must pass before the Darkness, let it seed an ember in the hearts of those that chase the Dawn, a reminder that every night ends.”

Prometheus addresses the boss one last time before the fight begins anew: “Now, Spawn of Lavos. (Dukes up) Prepare for termination.”

It was electric; we all could perfectly visualize the moment. I think we all had tears in our eyes at one point or another.

The DM changed the music one last time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWSB3qL5qs8) and showed us an Information card about how we could disable the boss’s temporal rewinding. Furthermore, any Dual-Tech/Team Attack we performed with Prometheus would automatically critically hit.

We kicked its spiny ass.

#RPGs #Kingdom Hearts #Chrono Trigger #Homebrew #Great Moments

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calendulatia · 5 years ago

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[ LFRP ] Canary - ( tumblr/Discord )

❝ we who are born of the earth, rooted in all things, are bound to return to it. ❞

🔓– A lock icon denotes the presence of an additional something significant to be discovered only via roleplay. The more locks there are, the more difficult it will be to learn or come by this information.

☾ General Information ––– -

Name: Canary. 🔓🔓🔓 Epithet: Lichenpeal. Gender: Nonbinary. Age: You can’t be sure, really. 🔓 Race: Nu Mou. Birthplace: Somewhere within the Rak’tika Greatwood, presumably. Current Residence: An overgrown hovel a way’s away from the settlement proper. Were it not for the stone arranged about it, you might have missed the doorway entirely, and even then the masonry has been all but reclaimed by the forest. It seems built into the earth itself, disappearing into the side of the gentle slope leading up and away into the trees... not too unlike a barrow, you realize, with the air around the entrance alive with the presence of the wood. Standing there you suddenly feel a strange tickling at the back of your neck, like a hair or thread dragging lightly across your skin. You look back up. You feel compelled to knock on the door. Relationship Status: Single. Sexual Orientation: Asexual. Occupation: Apothecary. Herbalist. Diviner. Blue Mage. 🔓

☾ Physical Appearance ––– -

Hair + Fur: Straw-colored Thick. Long. Worn loose save for a scattering of braids decorated with thread and bits of bone. The fur on their tail and arms appears crimped like a sheep’s wool and feels much like the same. It’s not unusual for both it be rather unkempt from walks through the wood; they don’t seem to mind the twigs, leaves, and clumps of dirt that cling to them long after they’re home. Eyes: Moss green... although, as you look more closely, the left eye seems lighter than the right. Height: 4 fm 9 im. Distinguishing Marks: White-tipped fingers. Claws that are kept aggressively filed down at all times. Lighter hands than is typical for Nu Mou. Common Accessories: Spools of variously colored threads. Skulls and bones from forest creatures worn on lengths of string. Mushrooms. Lichens. Gold earbands. Earrings fashioned in the style of old church bells that ring with deep, dolorous voices.

☾ Personality & Tidbits ––– -

A strange Nu Mou of indeterminate age beholden to the wood. Though they live apart from others of their kind and people in general, they receive most visitors with a smile and an invitation to share a cup of tea. Quiet and courteous, Canary seems very much the kind of host you would care to have out in the middle of the wild Rat’tika, and yet you cannot help but feel unsettled whenever you stare at them for too long -- as though discovering inconsistencies in a painting that prove it a forgery. Like a smile with too many teeth their presence fills you with the sense of the uncanny, reminding you of a delicious meal that puts you to ill hours later. Something about them seems the conversational equivalent of seeing something always just beyond your field of vision, just at your peripheral, but just as soon as you realize your uneasiness you feel yourself soothed by their comfortable, welcoming manner. After all, it feels this cup has been brewed just for you.

Talents: Tarot spreads. Tea readings. Preparation of herbal medicines. Communing with beasts. Weaknesses: Disruption of the natural order. Things that are unnatural. Voidsent. Tidiness. Virtues: Pleasant. Soft-spoken. Knowledgeable. Intriguing. A natural host. Flaws: Difficult to read. Quietly intimidating. Unmovable when they believe they are right. Perhaps too much of an enigma to be trusted. Spiritual Views: Absolute reverence for life, death, and the natural cycle of one that leads into the other and over again forever and always. They are bound to no specific deities, believing instead in the will of the wood and the inevitability of nature reclaiming that which is rightfully its own. Hobbies: Gathering. “Tending” their garden and mushroom patch. Collecting new teas and bones. Fears: Wide open spaces. Clothing without pockets. Temperament: Phlegmatic-Melancholy. Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.

☾ Traits ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious / Spirited

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

☾ Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Rather often, but you’re certain what whatever it is in that pipe, it certainly isn’t tobacco. The fragrance is as uncomfortably sweet as it is spicy; the aroma makes you sick to your stomach. Drugs: The contents of all these vials and jars is a mystery. Whatever labels they once bore have long since worn away or peeled up, leaving you staring at an array of dull, clouded glass bottles haphazardly wrapped in brittle parchment. Really, anything could be inside them. Alcohol: The Nu Mou occasionally reaches for a flash tucked into the sleeve of their robe and takes a quick drink. You can’t see the liquid, but even from here the smell is pungent, and you swear you see the already crimped fur covering their body curl all the bit more with each swig.

☾ Hooks ––– -

Region-related connections.

☆ The Rat’tika Greatwood - The Nu Mou rarely strays beyond the border of the forest, and so those living under the boughs or visiting from afar might have the luck of crossing their path. They do not make it easy to find them, but they also do not make an effort to hide. If you’re meant to encounter them you surely will. After all, anything can happen in the wood...

General connections.

★ Blue Magic - Canary’s Blue Magic shares far more in common with FFXI’s iteration than FFXIV’s, most notably the ever present danger of falling prey to “the beast within” as they assimilate and make use of the essences/souls of creatures. As a result their magic is far more feral and ancient than what has been established in-game, and their combat style + weaponry also differ wildly. They will not give out this knowledge to just anyone who comes by and asks, but they are also not above it... Should someone be willing to prove themselves worthy of the art, Canary might potentially teach them. Barring this, they could be a potential connection for Blue Mages or magic-users in general. ☆ Medicines + Divinations - In need of a reading or some traditional mending? Canary peddles their strange wares out of their forest hovel for a fair price. First divinations are free -- considering it your proper meeting -- but subsequent knowledge requires something equal in exchange... ★ Friendships + Rivals + Enemies - Always open! I am interested in any and all of these as options. ☆ Have an idea for something not already here? - Please feel free to pitch it to me! I would love to hear what you have in mind!

☾ OOC Information ––– -

Genres: Character development! Platonic relationships! Business contacts! Enemies! Rivals! Spooks! I’m into lots of things with my dirty danger muppet! Playstyle: No Nu Mou in-game, so all roleplay with Canary will take place through tumblr and/or Discord. Length: I like to write one paragraph at the absolute least, tending more towards a few to several (or even pages), but I will often do my best to match my partner’s reply length unless encouraged to do otherwise. Server: N/A. Timezone: CST. Availability: Threads will be passed back and forth as our schedules/writing mojos will allow! Contact Information: You are always welcome to poke at me here or my main blog over at @sunlitpeony, be it through asks or messages! I will give my Discord out privately to interested parties.

ft. art by drowsydraws !

#ffxiv #ffxiv rp #;; chants Nu Mou Nu Mou over and over again in the distance

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annakie · 5 years ago

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Thoughts on a DW Rewatch & Mass Effect replay.

So I’m in the Eleven / Clara half-season now.

Also I’m now replaying Andromeda. I have thoughts, about both. I’ll start with Doctor Who then label it when I get to Mass Effect stuff.

Oh my God this gets long and rambly. Apparently, I have a lot of thoughts.

So, season 702... I’m ready for it to be over. I miss the Ponds. I felt like most of the first half of this season was pretty great, honestly. I’d forgotten how fun some of those episodes were, I think at the time we were anticipating a new companion so heavily that it was harder to appreciate those episodes? I feel like there was a lot of criticism levied towards them that now I felt like was a bit too much. The western episode was kinda meh but still not bad.

I’m not sure what exactly it is about these Clara / Eleven episodes that I’m still not connecting with but I’m in the middle of the Crimson Horror episode (which is a Vastra/Jenny/Strax heavy episode and enjoying it more than anything else so far this half-season.

*edit later* NOPE NOPE NOPE I’D FORGOTTEN HOW THE DOCTOR FORCES A KISS ON JENNY. GROSS. SUPER GROSS. SHE’S A MARRIED WOMAN, A LESBIAN AND DID NOT CONSENT TO ANY OF THIS. BAD DOCTOR, BAD.

Honestly even with some excellent guest start acting, the Russian Submarine episode was STILL a slog and the ghosts in the 1950′s episode no better. Like they still weren’t ridiculous and unwatchable but... just didn’t feel fun or interesting at all? The Journey to the Center of the TARDIS episode was decent, and I felt like that wasn’t nearly as cool as it should have been..

I remember reading a criticism of these episodes early on where they said that the biggest fault is that they failed to give Clara any real characterization or solid personality other than “girl the Doctor is obsessed with”. She’s SUPER IMPORTANT but not only do we not know why at this point but it really doesn’t feel... earned? I don’t recall it ever feeling earned that Clara was supposedly always so important? “The most importantest companion EVAR!”

And as someone who stanned the hell out of a character who was hated in the fandom for “replacing” a previous companion I’m checking myself to make sure it’s still not because I Miss the Ponds. Like, I don’t HATE Clara, I just, at least at this point in the rewatch, can’t find any reason to really LOVE her? She’s there, she’s fine, Jenna-Louise Coleman is doing a great job with what they’re giving to her but... I don’t know. It all feels... off.

I had forgotten all about the “the Doctor rides a motorcycle up the side of a skyscraper” moment and something hit me in that moment that made me remember that wow people hated that moment. It felt really... shark-jumpy somehow.

I love Eleven, but this half-season isn’t connecting with me, AT ALL. It feels like the writers just went and dug through a bunch of rejected script ideas, polished them up and were likle “let’s just do this until Matt Smith is gone.” I’m anxious to get to Twelve.

Mass Effect Stuff

OK TECHNICALLY I haven’t finished ME3. I still need to do the party and the goodbye scene, (Citadel Epiloge Mod installed) but I’ve gotten all the Stuff and done all the missions in the arena. I just wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye yet, so I started Andromeda a bit early.

-----------------

OK look I had a point I wanted to make and never quite got where I wanted to go with it right here. I’m too tired of trying to fix it, so this stands as written.

This playthrough had me ruminating a lot on Kaidan and Garrus. I really love both of those characters, though in my heart I’ll always primarily love Kaidan, I’ve done the Garrus romance and wouldn’t mind playing that character again to see the romance one more time. In ME1, I bring Kaidan everywhere all the time, and pick which other companion I bring to the story-based missions based on what I know is gonna happen like I’m sure most people do. Wrex for Therum, Tali for Feros (though I REALLY wish you could switch before going to see the Thorian), Liara for Noveria, Ashley on Virmire, Garrus for Ilos/Endgame. I rotate through all five for sidemissions.

In ME2, Garrus is my always-bring companion, with Garrus + Miranda being my favorite team. Except after the Omega relay, where characters with Throw really shine with all those husks running at us, Jack holds the bubble, and Miranda and Thane, who both have Warp to help take down the Reaper Baby, are the preferred team. Also so Miranda can tell TIM to fuck off.

Then in ME3, once the game opens up, Garrus is back on the perma-team, with a preference towards bringing Liara along... until we get Kaidan back. And then I realized I didn’t bring him to a single thing except a side mission or two until Earth. Mostly, this is because I’m following the Kaidan Banter guide and it turns out Garrus is a real banter hog for most of the missions. At leat he’s not James, who I literally never use unless I’m going on an N7 mission and feel bad that I haven’t taken him off the Normandy in awhile. I mean, even Javik gets more play. Also EDI doesnt leave the Normandy til near the end when all of a sudden she gets real important.

But Garrus is always on the team for Priority Earth. And that always felt like the way the main game should end, with your two favorites. (Also what kind of monster wouldn’t bring Wrex to the combat-centric areas of Citadel DLC? I keep thinking I should have runs where I bring other people but... Wrex is my other fave and we don’t get him with us AT ALL since ME1.)

I love Garrus, so much. And I was thinking with this whole parallel DW rewatch / Mass Effect replay think I’m doing right now how both Rose Tyler and Garrus Vakaraian are characters that were ruined for me for awhile due to their respective... overly enthusiastic fanbases who a small percentage of were dicks to people who loved other characters. The Kaidan tag (and from what I understand Thane got some of this too, but not nearly as bad) was a pretty hostile place for awhile (and yeah I used to check the Garrus tag too and there was a small amount of tag-invasion there but uh, like 5% of what the Kaidan tag got) which made loving the character of Garrus a lot harder for awhile. But when actually watching seasons 1 & 2 / the end of 4 of DW, or actually playing the games, those characters are awesome.

Fanbases can be amazing or terrible, and time and time again I think you start to realize that no matter how great a fandom is, there are going to be a few people who can only enjoy themselves by feeding on drama, or on lifting up what they love by stomping on other people/characters/plotlines. Going back through my blog reminded me that even the TAH fandom had some of this, with a small percentage of fans being real dicks to two prominent female characters in favor of their favorite ship, which soured even that just a tiny bit.

It’s not fair to characterize everyone who loves a popular thing as someone who does this. It’s also hard to avoid completely because there will always be jerks, or young/new people who don’t realize what bad form they’re showing. I did learn by trying to fight it for a year or two, that responding might help that one person not do it again, but it’s not going to stop overall. Maybe yelling a lot about Martha Jones did change some people’s minds. It still isn’t that good of a look now, even knowing that in general I was pretty polite and logical about it. I might respond to an odd comment now and again in some favorite character tags, but in general, turns out that kind of fight just isn’t worth it.

And those fights seem so stupid in the light of everything else happening in the world today.

Anyway, don’t be a dick about the things you don’t like.

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I also wanted to say, and I know I said it in a few other posts about this ME3 playthrough, but seriously I cannot believe how much ME3 is a changed game because of the modders. I cannot imagine ever playing ME3 again without these mods. There were so many small things that I kept thinking I should take note of to talk about and I’m sure I forgot 90% of them, but there’s things like... adding in mentions of the Andromeda Initiative, closing a few plotholes, mentioning Emily Wong, adding in many more Spectre console options which end up having their own plotlines, adding in an entire plotline about the VI civilization that had previously only been talked about in like, social media or Cerberus News Network posts, having the Normandy be so much more populated, seeing so many more other species on the Citadel with more variety in clothing for those species that have clothing / could have more variety, way more female Turians.... every time I play ME3 the game is more and more like the game we wanted when it came out.

I am kind of itching to go back and replay it even now.

But hey, instead, its time to talk about Andromeda.

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So first of all, yes, mods for Andromeda. A few appearance mods, a lot of convenience mods.

After having recently played DA:I and I think Andromeda and DA:I are a lot more similar than Andromeda and the previous trilogy, I had decided it was time to cut down on the stupid stuff Andromeda does, like “Oh, you want minerals? Spend 10 minutes in each mining zone finding the PERFECT place to gather materials or you’re fucked” No, thanks. I’ll mine but give me that “one probe placed anywhere and you’re done” mod.

Make the modifications and crafting materials I use actually matter. 2% damage increase is nothing. Make my squadmates not suck because I remember doing 90% of the work myself before and that got exhausting with the number of spawns.

I tried to not go overboard so things feel like cheating, but there’s enough out there to just get rid of the stupid stuff, and it’s nice. And works together a lot easier than the DA:I mods did.

One thing I did do was install the Multiple Romance Mod. I enjoyed it in DA:I, even though ultimately I only did 2 full romances. I am **NOT** romancing Gil or Cora with the mod, I just wanted to experience all the content available for female Ryders at once, since I’m not going to have the energy to replay this 100+ hour game enough times to see every romance on its own. So I am poly-romancing Liam, Jaal, Vetra, Suvi, Peebee, Keri, and if it lets me, Reyes when it’s time.

I’ve only gotten all the way through Andromeda once (where I romanced Liam) My second playthrough was right after my first and stalled out about halfway through (was romancing Jaal.) It was one of those “I’m totally gonna get back to this! (She didn’t.)” things. I’m gonna be honest, I enjoyed the Liam romance and was enjoying the Jaal romance, I’d done a fling with Reyes but not the full romance my first time through and the fling with PeeBee on my second. Reyes was probably my favorite out of all of them. So this time I decided.. let’s see which I love the most, all at once. I don’t know if I’ll do this in the future, but this game is too long to not see all the content I wanna see, TBH.

And you know, I still really do like Andromeda. It’s a GOOD game. And I’m forever going to be mad that we’re not going to see how this story ends. This story deserved to finish being told. Like, there are a lot of very legit criticisms about Andromeda, but it didn’t deserve the harshness it got. And the worst thing about it, and DA:I both is that... there’s just a little TOO MUCH of it. 100 hours is an amazing amount of game but... it’s also just too much. For now I’m not trying to 100% this playthrough. My plan is on each planet to get the planet to 100%, take out the Kett or whatever major base, the Remnant Architect, and yeah probably clear out the sidequests that show up on the map, but fuck quests that are like “visit random Kett camps until you find the right datapads that don’t show up on the map!” or “scan random blobs in the forest that don’t show up on the map!”

So like, do the content, not the filler.

I still hate the vaults. The first one is cool. The rest are tedious. But they’re mandatory.

I love everyone on this spaceship though. They did the Tempest stuff SO WELL. All the companions I think are... good? There’s no one I don’t like, even the non-squadmate shipmates ship have so much interaction and so much to do/say. It’s not like “a bunch of randos and Joker, with occasional appearances by Chakwas and the Engineers” There’s no randos, it’s just a few people you have real interactions with, and its great.

The lack of enough beds in the bedroom will never not annoy me. There’s 4 beds for... Lexi, Liam, Cora, Suvi, Kallo, Vetra and Gil? Even if Liam slept on his couch, and Vetra put a bed in her supply room... still doesn’t add up. What, do Salarains not sleep or something? Does Lexi sleep in a medical bed?!? Peebee sleeps in the escape pod, Jaal brings a bed with him, and Drack’s like “Eh I’ll just sleep in the kitchen”. WHAT? THE KITCHEN?

I mean sure there weren’t enough beds, even with the sleeper pods, on the Normandy either, but somehow that was less disturbing.

Also, I know you’re supposed to HATE Director Tann but I love Kumail Nanjiani so I find it hard to be a total dick to him, even if he usually deserves it. If he wasn’t an anti-Krogan racist I think it’d be easier to like him. He was thrown into a pretty shitty situation and... did actually hold things together for some time. He’s not doing anything out of malice. He’s a dick, but also doing what he needs to do to keep the Initiatiave going. Oh, except for being a anti-krogan racist. (Honestly, I also think “until he turned Cerberus Udina was just doing his job pretty well” too, so...)

Taking some screenshots as I go. I mostly just take screenshots for me now. I have a few thousands screenshots from a dozen or more games rotating through my desktop background, and I keep adding to it, and love it.

Anyway, I’ve gotten Eos, Voeld and Havral to 100%. Time to go save the Moeshe. I’m having fun.

*edit from later* I’d forgotten that... idk if the dialog they recorded for Jaal was the first thing they recorded for him or they used a different VA or what but on the Save the Moshe mission his voice is VERY DIFFERENT and oh man, that is still bad.

Might take a break for when Onslaught comes out for SWTOR, though. I haven’t really played SWTOR in months. Oops.

#personal post tag thingy #annakie's mass effect stuff #doctor who stuff #hey this gets REAL RAMBLY sorry not sorry

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megareviews · 6 years ago

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Spring 2019 First Impressions

The Spring list is late as usual (is it usual if it’s only the second instance?), but at least I’m closer to the beginning than last year. I’ve reached 50% completion on the doing this for an entire year consistently, so nice.

Aikatsu Friends!: Kagayaki no Jewel (Aikatsu Friends!: Jewel of Radiance): Aikatsu is relatively low on my priority list of magical girl megaseries.

Bakugan Battle Planet: This show actually premiered last semester, but in English, and this season is when the Japanese dub started. Either way it’s somewhere deep in the Bakugan series, which is based off of what are probably my least played children’s toys.

BAKUMATSU Crisis: Second season of an otome game adaption that looked okay when I started it, but I still haven’t watched past the first episode.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (Bokuben / We Never Learn): The main show that I know the source material of, and it is just about meeting my expectations. An average guy who has to study rigorously to maintain his average grades is put in charge of tutoring the two smartest people in his school. This might not make sense until it’s explained that he has to tutor them in their worst subjects, because those subjects are the ones they want to major in for college. It’s a nice theme of working hard for what you enjoy situated in a rom-com with some haremy aspects and an unusually high density of goofy faces, so watch it if you like those aspects.

Bungou Stray Dogs 3: I still need to see what they did with HP Lovecraft in season 2

Carole & Tuesday: What happens when a runaway rich girl and a poor orphan girl meet up on Mars? They form a band of course. A tale of two lonely souls finding each other and become a little less lonely in a big world, making music together. It looks great and it sounds amazing, so this is definitely a priority watch.

Chou Kadou Girl 1/6 (Amazing Stranger): Imagine Buzz Lightyear from the original Toy Story except in a 20 -something guy’s house and then failing the don’t move when humans are around rule almost immediately. That’s what this show is.

Cinderella Girls Gekijou CLIMAX SEASON (Cinderella Girls Theater CLIMAX SEASON): For somebody who doesn’t watch idol shows, the theater shorts are pretty fun, though I’m not nearly caught up in this one to say how this season is going.

Diamond no Ace Act II: Oh boy there’s so much baseball this season and a lot of it is sequels.

Fairy Gone: There��s a lot of things going on in this show but I think I can simplify it to military use of fairies to give soldiers super powers. The protagonist has been taking jobs as a mercenary to find her sister who was split from her after their village was burnt down. Then at an auction that she works as a guard, things start going wrong and the thief who appears is none other than that sister. The first episode ends with the end of a three way fight between security and the girls, so I’m not sure where the show’s going at all. Maybe if the show didn’t flash back to the protagonist’s village burning down three times, there would be a little more time to give direction.

Fruits Basket (2019): I never know how to deal with reboots for shows that I can remember, but haven’t seen the original. I know there’s people who turn into animals and a “do the carpets match the drapes” joke, and that’s about it from the 2001 anime.

Gunjou no Magmel (Magmel of the Blue Sea): After a new continent appears in the world, explorers flock to it, not always as prepared as they should be for venturing into the unknown. The main character works at a company to rescue explorers from mishaps along with a few others. The worldbuilding is interesting and the main character’s black lightning is pretty cool looking, but his attitude and decision making abilities kinda put me off for now. That and the comprehensibility of the subtitles I was watching fell off a cliff halfway through the episode.

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine (Cinderella Nine in August): So far it looks like a pretty standard club building show based around women’s baseball. It looks nice and we have 4 club members as of the first episode, so they should make it to at least full team of nine pretty quickly. It looks nice outside of an odd montage near the end of the episode when the club plays a game with some local kids, and the character designs are a bit more memorable than the usual baseball cast. I appreciate the fact that they’re playing hardball, but I’m not the type of person to watch anything sports ever.

Hangyaku-sei Million Arthur 2 (Operation Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur): All I know about this show is that there’s a bunch of characters named Arthur and that it’s a sequel.

Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu (Hitori Bocchi's ○○ Lifestyle): When one of the most socially anxious kids in elementary school gets separated by her only friend when they go to different middle schools, her friend gives her a quest: to become friends with everybody in her new class. She’s got a real go-getter attitude, but from feeling physical pain from trying to talk to a stranger to fainting when somebody actually responds to her, she’s got a rough path ahead of her. It’s a really fun show that gets you rooting for the main character in her attempts of communicating with others in a normal manner.

Isekai Quartet: Four of the biggest isekai series in one short mash-up is a recipe for confusion. Especially since they’re all put together in a school setting where no fighting is allowed, even if there are holy gods and undead abominations in the same class. Anything can happen with all these people taken from their original normal lives, tossed into various fantasy worlds, and then slam dunked back into a relatively normal setting.

Jimoto ga Japan (I’m From Japan): I cannot find a trace of the anime anywhere online and I am glad of this having read the manga. It is just a really dumb comedy about Japanese prefectures that I struggled to read a few chapters of before giving up.

Joushikausei: A silent anime, as in there’s no spoken words, about a few high school girls. It’s an interesting concept, but I found it a bit uncomfortable to watch, mostly due to the whimpering and other nonverbal noises the girls were making.

Kedama no Gonjirou (Gonjiro the Yarn Ball): A children’s show that hasn’t been licensed and no group is fansubbing it, how unusual… It actually looks interesting though so I might search for the raws to check it out.

Kenja no Mago (The Magi’s Grandson): A child raised by a powerful wizard in the country reaches an age where he can move out to the city and attend a magical high school. Unfortunately for him, his parental figures only taught him combat and magic, so he doesn’t really know how to sustain himself in the reals world. It is a decent concept but there’s a 50/50 chance of any scene looking nice or looking awful, and the scene transitions all look like they were made in Powerpoint.

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slaying Blade): A happy family of coal sellers is destroyed in a night when a demon strikes. The eldest son was out due to a combination of work and a blizzard, and when he returns he finds all but one of his family members completely cold and covered in blood. This last member is rushed down the mountainside for medical aid, only to turn into a demon on the way down. A meeting with a demon slayer turns tricky as he tries to protect his demonized sister who’s fighting between killing instincts and her love of her brother. The opening promises some beautiful animations and the overall show isn’t slacking either, so overall it’s a very promising show.

KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-: It’s the TV version of a boy band movie tetralogy which is also a sequel I think?

Kiratto Pri☆chan Season 2: A sequel to a idol anime that I reviewed last year. I think this is one of the first times a sequel has shown up that I also reviewed the first season of, though unfortunately it was for a show that I didn’t watch fully.

Kono Oto Tomare! (Stop this Sound!): One more club building show for this season, this one about a Japanese instrument called a koto. After all the upperclassmen of the club graduated in the previous year, only the main character is left in the club, and needs more members before the club gets closed, the usual. The first new member is a seemingly delinquent 1st year who is surprisingly diligent. There wasn’t too much interesting or unique other than the topic of the club, so music fans might find this more watchable than I.

Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO (YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World): The first episode for this kind of front-loaded introducing characters and pulled out its premise of parallel dimensions and a device to navigate them towards the end, which means I’d probably have to watch another episode to figure out how I feel about it. It’s nice to not have a giant exposition dump take up the first episode of a show, especially since it will have two cours to tell a story, but I didn’t feel any particular gravitation towards the characters by this point, so I won’t be prioritizing any follow-up on it.

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin (Midnight Occult Civil Servants): With a job at a place called the Nocturnal Community Relations Division, the first thought of the type of people dealt with is most likely not going to be fairies. Our main character is taken from a world of the ordinary to being able to see and talk to the supernatural creatures that live locally, called Anothers. His co-workers are equipped with magically enchanted police tape and other trinkets to help solve issues that occasionally arise between Anothers. I like the modern fantasy setting, and the fairly low level fights with the supernatural so far, so there’s promise in where the show goes.

Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (Ao Can’t Study): While the name Ao is usually blue, or sometimes even moth, in this case, it stands for Adult Only, the 18+ rating in Japan. This is due to her father’s profession, an erotic writer, and surprisingly, the main character hates her father for naming her that and spends her entire life studying to get into a college far enough away from him. This is thwarted by a guy confessing to her and filling her mind with romance and lewder thoughts, with the help of her father. I hate this as a concept and don’t watch this.

Mix: A semi-sequel baseball anime. I say semi, because from what I’ve gathered it is recommended but not necessary to watch the original first.

Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!? (Why is my Teacher Here!?): It’s about a male student and his teacher, ending up in awkward situations together, like being trapped together in a men’s bathroom stall. A show of pure fanservice through and through, so there’s not much else to say.

Namu Amida Butsu!: Rendai Utena: What started out as an action about cleansing impurities from the world gives us a quick bait ‘n switch to a slice of life about gods bumbling about in the human world attempting to be competent humans. I found it irritating to watch, and it was very clearly based off of a gacha game, which do not have a good track record of making good shows.

Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma (Nobunaga’s Young Bride): A modern age middle school teacher way down the ancestral tree of Oda Nobunaga meets the bride of the man himself, who traveled to the present from the day of the original Nobunaga’s death. She’s no older than when she left her original time, which leaves her at 14 years old, with no knowledge of modern day Japan so she’s stuck with the main character’s family and decides to be the new Nobunaga’s bride anyways, which… is weird.

One Punch Man 2: A big sequel of the season, and one where people have been waiting with wary anticipation due to the change in animation studio and director. It definitely looks a lot stiffer than the first season, for action and non-fight scenes, but the story is a bit more interesting in my opinion, as the show starts working on fleshing out other heroes and why they fight.

RobiHachi: the first episode of this really is a springboard for setting up what the plot and cast will be, just about starting right at the very end. We’ve got an ultra gullible man in debt, a genius teen with no sense of purpose, a robot rabbit helper, and their spaceship that blares its own theme song when it transforms into a mech. They set off to find a legendary planet that grants happiness after a couple of hijinks on their starting planet. It’s a very busy show, both visually and plot wise, but still an enjoyable experience if you can keep up.

Sarazanmai: 50% connecting with other people through oversharing with them, 50% kappas stealing souls from other people’s butts. It’s hard to describe the show but I’m having a good time, and the art is gorgeous, and special care is taken with little details in the show. I’d say watch the first episode definitely, and then decide whether or not to follow up on the rest of the show.

Senryuu Shoujo (Senryuu Girl): The focus of the show is on the Japanese poetry type of Senryuu, mostly because the main character can only communicate with others through writing these poems. Thankfully, she’s got some good friends and is in her school’s Literature Club, so she has plenty of practice and is around people who appreciate her work.

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san (Meddlesome Fox Senko): The fox gods of the world have a duty to protect humans, and are becoming more proactive in seeking out humans with negative emotions before those emotions go out of control. In comes the male lead of the show, an overworked businessman who has basically just been going through the motions of life by this point. One of the fox gods appears in his house, doing the cooking, cleaning, and other tasks to help relieve the main guy’s stress. It’s comfy and there’s some funny moments, but I feel like the show would be better off as a more episodic show featuring various humans rather than just the one that it looks like the show will focus on. I’m also worried about the romance genre tag that the show has.

Shingeki no Kyojin 3 Part 2 (Attack on Titan 3 Part 2): I’m still on episode 5 of the original series, with no particular motivation to make it any further. More people die in bloody explosions probably.

Shoumetsu Toshi (Lost City): As the title of the show would imply there is a city that has been lost to humanity, as in, it just disappeared one day. The main female character is the only one who survived the city disappearing, and is targeted by a mysterious group due to that, and she tries to return to where the lost city used to be due to a message by her father who went missing with the city. In addition there was a monk with super powers who was standing on a motorcycle’s handlebars facing off against the main girl who could summon her Lost bodyguard with a bunch of guns but that was kinda just thrown in at the end.

Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu! (Strike Witches 501st Join Fighter Wing Takes Off!): Oh god it’s been so long since I’ve consumed Strike Witches content. This is a slice of life spin off of the original series, so the context is recommended, but not necessary. The animation is also very much on the rough side for a ten minute long short.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki (Yatogame’s Observation Diary): After briefly being disappointed in the lack of heavy Nagoya dialects encountered in Nagoya, the main character runs into a classmate who happens to have one. In addition, all of her favorite foods and animals are popular or famous in Nagoya, so he sticks around with her for meeting his ideals of what a Nagoyan should be. They then travel the city as part of the photography club to see all the sights of the city.

Youkai Watch!: Despite what it looks like from the title, this is pretty deep in a line of sequels of Youkai Watch.

#Megareviews #first episodes #anime review #Spring 2019

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inkpotlanterned · 6 years ago

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11/11/11 Tag Game

Thank you to @yetmorestories for tagging me and check out their endearing answers here.

Rules: Answer 11 Questions, Ask Eleven Questions, Tag Eleven People!

1. Who is your favorite ship to write? Dave Strider x Karkat Vantas (Homestuck) *eye emoji* From my ocs, Ritchy x Elliot which is more platonic than romantic but still the easiest pairing for me to write and I would certainly perish for their relationship.

2. Least favorite character you’ve created? Oh boy. They are all my children and I love them all. Even the bitches.

3. What was your first fandom, if any? Homestuck. *eyesx2*

4. Ever had any characters get together unexpectedly? Lucy and Elliot were supposed to be friends.

5. Do you collect anything? The hearts of scorned boys. Just kidding. I'm less a collector and more of a hoarder of information. I ask a lot of people the same question and then save all of their answers in a list (I have a list of MBTIs, let me know yours.) I've got so many notes on my phone about random things. People have asked me for homework I did two years ago and I've been able to dig it up and give it to them.

6. Do you consider yourself a gamer? Unfortunately, I am predisposed for getting super into things. So gaming isn't compatible with my goal of becoming an author. I avoid getting into games because I know it could easily take over my life/writing. That said, I love playing freestyle games like Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Guild Wars 2. I also recently got into Clash of Clans but only to support a friend determined to make the best clan ever. (I play support classes in combat games because I suck at fighting.)

7. Do you have any other creative talents/hobbies besides writing? Mm. Maybe not a creative talent or a hobby, but I'm a great card player. I don't like playing games of chance and prefer strategy or lying games (BS, Thirteen, Spades/Hearts, Blackjack). I'm great at setting traps to catch lies, tracking cards in my head, and changing my disposition on a whim. A lot of adults I've met have jokingly said I'll love gambling at casinos (I wouldn't) to which I respond, "I don't gamble; I make bets."

8. Least favorite book you’ve read? Oh no. This question... it's impossible to answer. How can I possibly proclaim a book as bad??? Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. No doubt, no doubt. It's been 4 years and I'm still mad and I'll probably die mad about it. If you liked this series, I respect your opinion, but also you cannot convince me that it was good writing to completely replace the old cast, even going so far as to rename the main protagonist and change her to the point that she was unrecognizable. Maas should've just written a new series if she was tired of her old characters.

9. Favorite writing music/background noise? A busy Starbucks or classroom. I focus best with an undercurrent of babble to tune out. Probably because of years of studying at Starbucks from 6-10pm everyday after school. I've conditioned my brain to ignore noise though which means my ability to listen to lectures has uhhhh degraded.

10. Have you taken any classes/been trained as a writer? I took a semester of Creative Writing and it led to some of my favorite short stories.

11. Tell us about a project you’ve abandoned if you’ve got one? Oh boy. Okay. There are so many though. Space Pirates probably counts as abandoned whoops. I just want to mention that part of the plot was two siblings destined to inherit a throne, but the cost of the throne is that the planet takes away whatever you love most. The older sister is terrified of dying, but knows that if she is chosen to rule, her brother will die so she spends a lot of time preparing herself to die, determined to ensure her brother will become ruler. Her brother does become ruler, but she doesn't die. Instead, he loses his hearing because he loves his music more than her and it's kind of shattering. There's also a prohet who can see the immediate future and feels trapped in it which sucks. I’ll probably make a midnight post about all my WIPs bc why not.

Ok my 11 questions are: 1. What is your earliest memory of becoming interested in writing/reading? 2. Do you have a process for getting into The Zone? 3. Do you write down notes when creating characters and what do they focus on if you do? 4. Do you prefer worldbuilding or character building? 5. What is your MBTI and is it accurate? 6. Has any author profoundly affected your writing aspirations/style? 7. What advice would you give to younger you when they started writing? 8. Which characters do you find easiest to write? 9. Are there any characters in media/literature that you strongly identify with? 10. What's your favorite board game? 11. What is one thing you're proud of in your writing?

Tagging: @the-real-rg, @sulfurousdreamscapes, @somuchtowrite, @magsiswritingnow, @onedayiwillfind, @sleepy-and-anxious, @editronchi, @write-the-stars, @ananya-writes, @crazybunchwriter, @writings-of-a-narwhal

#tag game #personal #11/11/11 tag

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alexsmitposts · 5 years ago

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Lebanon: The Israeli Parking Lot We Helped Make It was the morning of 9 January 1984. The command “Battle Stations” came over the 1MC of the USS New Jersey. As we took our stations I remembered the conversations aboard ship in the preceding days. I remember wondering about these “enemies” our officers and comrades seemed so anxious to eradicate. And then New Jersey’s main battery of 16-inch guns opened up, for the first time since Vietnam. A Rumor of a War Like all the other sailors, my heart had been struck by the news that 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers had perished in a terrorist attack on the barracks of the 1st Battalion of the 8th United States Marines at Beirut airport. We were all angry over the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. For us, the situation was surreal. In my rack on either the USS Iowa BB-61 or her sister ship USS New Jersey BB-62, I’d listen to 80s tunes from Bon Jovi or Prince, then take the duty in ship’s living hell of an engineering space, buried inside 60,000 tons of reinforced steel. Then there we were, in striking range of the evil the world has battled since forever. Or, so we were told. “We’ll turn Lebanon into a parking lot,” I remember one Senior Chief from WEPS saying. “Yeah, by the time we’re done there won’t be nothing left but a crater,” a shipmate who was a boatswain’s mate chided. In the galley of the great ship, on deck, in our racks, on duty in the boiler rooms, the bravado and the fear of unknown battle echoed each day. Then our ship shuddered as the recoil of our 16-inch guns fired 1900 pound projectiles at Syrian anti-aircraft positions miles onshore. That “enemy” was unknown, unseen, and as mysterious to us young sailors as any mythic combatants. For all we knew, great Hector, or the general Hannibal may have been on the other end of our guns. It was a strange time. We were proud to serve, and I was arguably the proudest of all. But something nagged at me, even without knowing the political situation. All the Wrong Places As it turned out, the combatants underneath those mighty guns were, in fact, shooting at our comrades. We really were supporting our comrades. Only we should never have been there in the first place. The catastrophe that is Lebanon has seen so much death and destruction. The U.S. Marines, French Legionnaires, Israeli IDF forces, Palestinians, Syrians, Iranians, Hezbollah, and hundreds if not thousands of civilians died in the months before and after the bombing of the Marine barracks. So, although I am ashamed of what our leaders forced us, soldiers and sailors, to do, I am proud to have done my duty to protect my shipmates in harm’s way. I would do it again, even though I now know the truth of matters in American foreign policy. What none of us knew back then was that the whole mess in Lebanon came to a head when the IDF invaded the country on June 6, 1982, in something called Operation “Peace for Galilee.” This was supposed to create a 40 km buffer zone between the PLO and Syrian forces in Lebanon and Israel. In reality, it ruined any chance there will ever be peace in the region, and it will have cause the deaths of millions of people before it’s all over. The PLO had been attacking Israel from inside Lebanon, so the Israeli leadership figured they’d turn what was a paradise into a living hell where chaos would rule. Lebanon, it’s a kind of “no man’s land” now. And if you think Israel is not just as evil as any regime in the Middle East, read all about something called the Sabra and Shatila massacre. An Unpopular Truth For those who recall, this was the United Nations called Israel’s role a kind of “genocide.” It was a moment where Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had more or less encircled Israel’s perceived enemies so that terrorists of the Phalange Christian Lebanese right-wing party could rape, torture, and kill people inside the encirclement. I am sorry, there is no soft way to put what happened to 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, in Israel’s war on her neighboring countries. As I type this, a harsh thought comes to my mind. Some will take this wrong, but here does. Am I the only one who notices that Palestinians, Syrians, Libyans, Iraqis, and other Arab people are the only ones listed in these genocides? 3,500 in Sabra and Shatila in 1982, 1,417 Palestinians in the Gaza Massacre of 2008-2009, 2,205 Palestinians in the 2014 Gaza War, 400,000 dead because of the Syria Civil War, 655,000 are dead in Iraq, 122,000 in Libya to get rid of Gadaffi, and God knows how many in Yemen and other places where we intervene either for oil or to prop up Israel. If I am hurting feelings here, rest assured it will pass. Unfortunately, the children of all those dead will remember. And there lies the real Armageddon laying in wait. “Another One Bites the Dust,” by Queen. This is the last tune I remember a shipmate playing as he bragged about how much “good we’d done off the shores of Lebanon.” We’d relieved some of the crew of the USS New Jersey, and were headed back to the Gulf Coast and our ship, USS Iowa, being outfitted with the deadliest hardware possible in Pascagoula, Mississipi. As I served my country, my captain, and my comrades in the years that followed I wondered every day about America’s role in the world. And lately, I’ve often wondered who survives crises unscathed in the way Israel has. I have many friends there, and each has his or her own perspective. But the leadership, the premise, and the one-sided casualty list haunt me every day. The fact we cannot even talk about it – this sticks in my brain like a thorn. What does it all mean? Wars of the Reprehensibles Back then I did not know who the heck the now notorious Donald Rumsfeld was, but after the barracks was bombed, then U.S. Middle East envoy Rumsfeld arrived in the Syrian capital within hours of the attack and met immediately with Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam. It is interesting, ironic, and a bit sad that there is still no official statement on who was actually responsible for blowing up the equivalent of 21,000 pounds of TNT underneath the Marine Barracks at Beirut Airport. “Rumors,” say the Iranians and Syrians were behind it. Rumsfeld, the Bush presidents, and others who are now termed “warmongers” have their suspicions, but even President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger never came forward and named those responsible. As for Lebanon, I cannot leave off here without framing the importance and culture of this amazing spot of land on the eastern Mediterranean. Lebanon has witnessed civilization for more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. This was the land of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, who flourished for over a thousand years (1550–539 BC). Once an Ottoman satellite, the region was run by the colonial French for a time. Lebanon was referred to as the “Switzerland of the East” during the 1960s, but the Civil War of 1975 ripped the country to pieces. Many experts attribute this civil war to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled to Lebanon when the state of Israel was established. According to some historians, shifting the demographic balance in favor of the Muslim population set the country upon itself. My opinion is that Lebanon was a functioning republic that became just another victim of the Cold War. Soviet interests, versus the western hegemony, and the special case of Israel, these were the ingredients of paradise lost. The situation in Lebanon today is really an echo from before the time of the Israelites, and facets like the rebellious nature of the Mardaites of old. Leveraging ancient sects and ideologies, it’s still the way of the Great Game. But where does this leave us? We cannot change who we were. Nor can we change who we are. We can, however, change the future, and who we will become. I said it earlier. I am ashamed of what they made soldiers and sailors do, but proud to have done my duty. And herein lies a great opportunity. Since we know the end of war. Since we know our leaders and the elites manipulate all of us, we can reshuffle our world and our future. If I want to believe the Twin Towers caved in upon themselves on 9/11, I can forget what I learned playing with my building set as a kid. If cheap gas because of the Iraq war makes me forget about invisible weapons, I can choose to forget. If millions of refugees do not swarm into Atlanta from Syria, what business is it of mine if there is war? Or, I can decide the world is my business. I can decide I am responsible. We can be responsible. We can change the world. We can have that lasting peace. But we can’t do it by following “them.”

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general-loki · 7 years ago

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Title: Mid-Afternoon Radiance

Series: Disgaea 4

Ship: Valvatorez/Fenrich

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Takes place before the events of the game. Pretty fluffy.

Summary: Fenrich continues to find himself displeased with Valvatorez's work as a prinny instructor. How could a demon so grand stay in Hades this long? Despite Valvatorez's supposed contentment with this place, Fenrich plans a new way to stir him out of the usual and hopefully out of Hades. Everything is laid out perfectly when something gives him pause and to make matters much worse warden Axel gets in his way.

[Read on AO3]

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“Could you imagine? Rebels? What a strange thing,” Valvatorez chattered in his usual way—far too passionate for Fenrich to really handle physically at the moment. He'd only mentioned the news of snuffed rebellions far outside their walls to make conversation. They didn't often speak of what happened outside Hades. But every so often news would make it's way down and Fenrich would gently pass it the vampire's way.

This was not because he anticipated strong results. But maybe something—anything—would knock his dear lord out of this degrading slump of an existence in Hades. Regardless of how the conversation would go, Fenrich tried and, at this point, he figured that was the best he could do.

“The demon realm is in constant strife recently. At least more than usual,” Fenrich noted, in an attempt to draw out that bit more.

“And yet it is always this way too. Demons rise and fall, that's simply how it is.”

Except for one notable who had sat up at the top for quite some time, but Fenrich let that linger. Some demon had to take that spot— although it was a crime that this demon was not Valvatorez and instead some less noble demon. The thought gave Fenrich plenty to stew on, leaving him a bubbling mass just under the skin. He carried it well, but what an injustice to be in constant view of.

“Rebels typically have some sort of cause, don't they?” Fenrich said after a moment of thought.

The idea seemed almost fresh to Valvatorez, the vampire settling back in his chair, his hand resting at his chin as he fully considered the possibility. Some complication crossed his face as his look darkened. “That I cannot say. I don't know these demons. I don't believe I ever will. At the moment my responsibilities lie with the prinnies.”

An internal groan in frustration whipped through Fenrich's entire consciousness, but manifested outwardly as a troublesome smile. He had been so close to something. Perhaps this was something he could work with. That matter he could handle after their break. He didn't need too long.

“Of course, my lord,” Fenrich answered as he stood up from the table. The light conversation gave him a bit more strength than his usual. “For now, I believe there are a few things I would like to check up on...I'll return shortly.”

Valvatorez's eyes followed Fenrich's form as he dipped into a slight bow, as he always did. When the two met gazes once more, he spoke. “You know where you might find me at any hour. As reliable as you are, I don't have to worry about that.”

It felt a little like his chest was collapsing from the sheer weight of those words. Fenrich struggled a solid few seconds before he found himself. Valvatorez was really such an impressive demon—that he could trust another demon to know his daily life so well and not be anxious! Surely the sensation it invoked was sheer awe.

The easiest way out led Fenrich to his typical answer—the safe and easy one that had become quite practiced: All is for my lord.

Valvatorez took it with the same sure but slight smile as always and nodded once—a single sign that Fenrich might yet leave alive and in one piece.

Fenrich's flight from the scene brought him toward one of the smoldering lakes of Hades, the glow of the surface so intense it brought a red haze over whoever stood near the edge. This blood orange hue flooded Fenrich's features as he found himself in thought at that threshold, the heat surely keeping the wheels in his head turning. Silence filled the stretch of stone paths. Fenrich couldn't help thinking.

He thought of his lord how he met him—the way those images of him lurked in the fringe of his thoughts constantly. This thought of his lord restored to such that ideal plagued him. There was no better demon to serve and he knew no honor greater than being at Tyrant Valvatorez's side. It nagged at him in ways he dare drive any kind of stake into. It was a specter he could live with. To some degree.

Fenrich's wheels kept turning, always in the hope of a better fortune. There had to be some way to push Valvatorez toward the upper levels of the demon realm. Some way to get him to take blood. He was more than willing to sacrifice his own—how ever unideal. If only some simple conversation could turn his dear lord from this awful responsibility—this terrible promise!

That was when it struck him. Their simple conversation. Fenrich stared into the swirling pools before him, his eyes wide. It was drastic, but he could make it happen. Like a man possessed, he charged off toward one of their supply stores at the edge of their training facilities. He kicked his way through the doors, hands still lodged in his pockets. The doors snapped to the stone walls with a slam and with a peer through the darkness within he spotted exactly what he would need. The weaponry was at least still here. Fenrich hurried back outside, moving at top speed between training groups of prinnies. He could hang around and pretend he was keeping them in line, that was easy enough.

The best candidates were the newcomers. The old ones wouldn't fall in line until the rest had toppled. He eavesdropped and spied—eying those who would fill in for this portion of his plan. Something twisted inside him—something uncomfortable. Rather than confront it, he made his marks—prinny groups to remember for very soon.

Within the hour he saw everything was laid out perfectly. A sprinkling of weaponry dotted curious points of the Hades compound—all placed as stealthily as possible. When Fenrich was done, all that remained was seeing to the blast and that there would be echoes of rebellion among the fools his dear lord watched over. Once they were stupid enough to rise up, they would have no choice, of course, but to quell it. Surely enough of them would wind up outside Hades that the two of them would have to leave or as Fenrich was hoping more fervently, the chaos of combat would draw Valvatorez toward blood. This would have to work. A prinny rebellion was unheard of under Valvatorez's strict watch, but it wasn't impossible.

Fenrich took a few steps toward the group of prinnies he planned to incite into this mess when he stopped.

There really hadn't been much trouble with prinnies under Valvatorez's watch—something his lord was deeply proud of. He thought too clearly of Valvatorez's small smile, the tiny one he would have after a day of work that went well. The look in his eyes. The gaze Fenrich's way. The tiniest sensation of warmth that tightened in his core.

Fenrich stopped dead in his tracks.

Something was wrong.

Could there have been a flaw in his plan? He mentally doubled over his tracks—the storage areas stocked to be blasted to cause chaos, the weaponry laid out within reach, the obviously susceptible newcomers. All of those things were laid out perfectly, but what did he not have? What burned this unacceptable anxiety into him?

He wavered at the ledge for a long few minutes, his thoughts doing uncomfortable laps.

Maybe it was that this wasn't meant to be. Not right then. There were so many variables after all. If something happened more organically perhaps Fenrich could tip things his way—or maybe get that ball rolling, but this was unsightly.

If word of such a thing got out Valvatorez's reputation would simply sink further. He could not quell one rebellion? He struggled with prinnies? No, the picture was unacceptable. Playing so nice for the Corrupternment didn't sit that well with him either. Valvatorez was meant to be above that as well. He might have to relent and accept some small steps first however.

With a heavy sigh, Fenrich took off to reclaim what he'd laid out for the most part, cleaning up like there could have never been a rebellion in the first place. The world would be as Valvatorez would have it for now. Fenrich told himself the time would come. It would show itself.

All of this put him a lousy mood, much worse than usual at least. It was in this state, while handling a load of knives to be put away, that he crossed paths with someone he didn't want to see at all. Across the platform stood the warden Axel—a blowhard with no redeeming qualities. More unfortunately, the mouth on the face that begged to be punched opened and he spoke.

“Well lookie here, it's nice prinny instructor's main squeeze! Just the tree I wanna bark up. Where's big guy? Uh, the little guy,” Axel chattered in just such a way that Fenrich wasn't sure he retained anything but the questionable and insulting parts.

“What do you want?” Fenrich asked out flat instead of acknowledging the question. Or any of it. Acknowledging Axel alone was enough a pitfall.

“Whoa easy. I just wanna borrow some extra prinnies. There was a minor-major explosion in the kitchen and I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one cleaning that up. Or rebuilding. Anyway, hook me up with some spare flippers,” Axel near ordered, his hand brushing back some unruly hair. Fenrich thought about crushing in his entire face.

“Submit the order like anyone else.”

“Wait wait--!” Axel's yelling was the only thing that stopped Fenrich from taking too many more steps back toward home. “I just happened to be out, that's all! I'll take the delivery part off your hands; you don't want to make things easier on your master?”

Fenrich dropped the crate of knives on the ground with a clatter and a heavy thud. Axel jumped slightly from the sound, immediately trying to play it off like a purposeful motion with faux grace. Fenrich adjusted one glove to his hand, his gaze on the motion as Axel was left sputtering a start of some kind of continuation he couldn't get off the ground.

“We're going. Just do it the right way next time,” Fenrich said just as flat as he typically spoke to this demon—not that they saw him often. It was always a minor alarm when the warden came out—partially because the demon couldn't do anything right, but also because he was a fool who would probably only come by to gloat about something. They didn't entertain his whims very often. Namely never.

This time however Fenrich led the way. If they did him this favor, he would owe them after all. That he could deal with. Axel followed behind Fenrich in a hurry, but keeping a few safe paces behind him. He tried a few times to make conversation, but the werewolf walled him off. He couldn't recall what he was saying—that much he felt pretty sure about.

Soon enough the pair crossed paths with Valvatorez between checking training halls. He looked surprised when Fenrich had company with him, his head very slightly tilted at the sight. He halted his business to face the two of them, his tone a bit less like the casual sort of chattering away he tended to share with Fenrich.

“Warden Axel, we don't see you often in this corner of Hades. What might you be seeking from us today?” Of course his lord would recognize when they were being sought after for something and not cheery company. Nor did he seem all that interested in keeping Axel's company for very long.

The warden straightened up and cleared his throat, trying to pass as some sort of official. “I was passing by and remembered I need to borrow some prinnies for some repairs. I thought I'd come and grab them.”

The air felt a little tense for a moment as Valvatorez sized up the warden and his request. After a second he turned with a flourish of his cape and took over leading the way. “Of course. You may have to settle for a group in training, but perhaps this will be a good exercise for them.”

“Yeah yeah, no problem, see?” Axel said with a grin directed Fenrich's way before he followed closer at Valvatorez's heel. Everything about that look left the werewolf seething. He took up the rear behind them, but he hated it. This little bastard was going to see comeuppance eventually.

With time. Surely with time.

Today seemed bent on testing his patience.

The trip over toward the group Valvatorez had in mind was oddly quiet for him—like contemplative about the way he held himself at his shoulders that told Fenrich he had something to sort out. It was possible he was focused on his work as well, but perhaps the warden put a troublesome thought in his head. Why did he have to show on this day out of all of them?

It didn't take long for the instructor to do his job and round up the prinnies needed as well as supply them with enough direction and fear that even a fool like Axel could handle them. Or if he couldn't, Valvatorez would likely blame himself.

This was Axel they were dealing with. He had a success rate of near zero. Thinking of the weight of that on his lord, Fenrich kept a sharper eye on the warden as they and the troupe of prinnies filed out together. It wasn't until the group was nearly where they would part ways that the werewolf spoke up.

“We better see all of these back in one piece. Lord Valvatorez isn't done with them,” Fenrich said, his most authoritative tone in play as he paired it with a stance that read back alley stabbing incoming.

Not missing the veiled threat, Axel postured back, but to little effect. “You're definitely forgetting who's in charge here. This isn't gonna be an issue. Lay off, okay?”

All the frustration of the day welled up right in Fenrich's core and as the leak started he took an aggressive step forward. “That doesn't really sound like any deal to return them.”

Valvatorez looked like a lingering thought finally struck him. “I suppose I should have you sign the form and waiver. Warden or not, I should still have a signature.”

“Finally asking for my autograph, huh? I couldn't turn down a fan. Who'da thought the old prinny instructor was one? Okay, I can sign your whatever.”

“Waiver. That you acknowledge these prinnies are in training and any fault is not our own.”

“Sorry I don't remember that film—I did so many ya'know—but I'll sign it for a fan.”

Fenrich silently boiled aside the two of them, Valvatorez producing the form and a pen soon enough. The warden took it up and signed over the entire blank space of the document, no care for the lines or instructions. Valvatorez accepted the document well enough, folding it away safely.

“Cool! I'm out, maybe I'll grace you with another visit soon. See ya, Vals, big guy!” Axel said with a wave over his shoulder, taking off with the prinnies tailing behind him obediently enough.

Fenrich was sure that with that display those prinnies would not listen to a damn thing this demon said. Already this was shaping up to be a fine slice of annoyance. He could not stand to see that kind of disappointment in Valvatorez right now—not when he seemed so free of this particular anxiety. For now, he let Axel go—at least for a few minutes.

He turned to Valvatorez and bowed his head. “My lord, I'd like to volunteer myself to follow them for a while. To keep an eye on the prinnies and be sure they'll follow orders.”

The usual small smile didn't follow with the look up Fenrich's way. Valvatorez's eyes contained something else—it wasn't suspicion, but some kind of concern. “I've trained them well, but I do suppose they aren't finished yet. You can't follow all our trainees, but I suppose this is a good opportunity to. Please report back to me how they fair, Fenrich. I would appreciate that.”

Fenrich bowed fully. “Of course, Lord Val. I will return shortly,” he replied almost in a hurry. His patience could hardly stand this. He had to do something. They parted with little more fanfare—Fenrich rushed off to catch up, but kept out of sight so he might eavesdrop and eye if the prinnies behaved, but more important, he could pick a spot to drop from. Soon enough his hiding spot from above produced an opportunity and he took it.

Axel and the prinnies hadn't gotten too far from their main section of Hades when Fenrich landed behind them—not masking his presence or intention at all. The werewolf stood, his hands in his pockets, gaze intense, all focused on the back of the warden's head until he turned his face.

“I want hear it from you that you're going to return these prinnies. No more joking around.”

The demand shot right over the warden's head. “Uh hello? I said it's not an issue. I won't say they'll be like the same number or in the same shape, but I'm not worried.”

“I'm telling you to give us your word that you'll have them returned. Properly.” A little lower dip in this sound of his voice and anything sounded threatening enough. Even someone as thick as Axel could start to get the picture—and it was clear his gears were starting to turn.

The warden turned to face Fenrich properly, back straight, just barely looking down his nose at him. Somehow, he was still grinning. “Hey, your boss is a fan. I'm not gonna do a fan wrong. I'll probably return your prinnies.”

“Probably” didn't keep Valvatorez's name out of any worse gossip. Nor was it going to please him.

Nerves already thin, Fenrich raised his voice just a hair. “He isn't a fan. And I'm looking for a guarantee.”

“He's definitely a fan. And you got as much of my word as I'm gonna give some prinny instructor's steward. Chill out dude.” He laughed rather suddenly. “Oh I get it, you're jealous you didn't get a signature too. I can hook you up, but I'm charging for this one. Nothing less than two hundred hell, okay?”

At those words Fenrich took a more aggressive stance, very ready to finally punch Axel's face, which begged for it, in. His fists clenched and he braced to charge. Somewhere a part of him had been aching for a fight—it had been ages. He had every excuse. Nothing about today was working—it might as well fall to pieces. Muscles remembered everything he needed to do—he'd visualized it clearly enough—he'd hit his mark.

Before the werewolf could close the gap between them, Axel shrieked and panicked. In that state he grasped one of the nearby prinnies and threw them with everything he had. Fenrich really only caught the surprised and sorrowful cry of “dood” as the prinny arched and exploded mere feet from his position. His body recoiled, arms braced ahead of himself for the blast he had no option but to eat at this point. He'd closed his eyes at the last second and he certainly felt the wind of the blast, but no major impact. He wondered if somehow this prinny was a dud, but when he opened his eyes, he was met with an unexpected, but somehow familiar view.

Before Fenrich stood Valvatorez, his cape outstretched to help protect his steward from the blast, some of which the vampire seemed to have soaked up himself. His usually pristine outfit showed signs of searing and burning—perfect edges scuffed from the hit he took for Fenrich.

The ache to fight in Fenrich's core turned to something else—like a nostalgia far too warm to hold as close as he felt compelled to.

“Lord Val...” was all he could murmur, still in awe of this demon—this terribly brilliant demon.

Valvatorez stood tall despite the damage he took, soon lowering his cape so he might look back Fenrich's way more easily. “Are you alright, Fenrich? You did not look quite ready for this outcome.”

“You know this would happen...? No, of course you did! My lord, you never cease to amaze me,” Fenrich found himself saying—almost out of habit, but the awe in his voice was perhaps a bit more than usual.

It drew a light smile to Valvatorez's face, one that endeared itself to Fenrich's memory on sight. There was something unspoken there—something the vampire let be for now as he set his sights on the jumpy warden ahead of him.

“Warden Axel, please forgive my companion. He was concerned over the state of the prinnies. They're yet untrained and there is no guarantee of their perfection to my liking. Please be aware that you must bring them back soon so I might complete their training.”

Of course Valvatorez would get to the heart of the matter—none of the petty stuff that wore on Fenrich's nerves. Such a demon truly deserved to be at the very top of the netherworld.

Axel however was still so frazzled he didn't seem to know what else to do besides agree. “Uh yeah...sure I'll bring 'em back...No problem...”

“Very well. It's in your hands now—it's your responsibility to both myself and those fledglings you've borrowed. I know you'll see to the seriousness of your task. The Netherworld does not function with prinnies of poor guidance,” Valvatorez announced and would likely continue on much of the same track. It sounded like he had more, but Axel gathered himself as much as he might.

“Y-yeah I got it. Cool. Later!” he said, forcing the issue and taking off with the flock of prinnies. Valvatorez looked a touch disappointed his speech was cut off, but it gave him time to turn his attention around on Fenrich again who had remained somewhat stunned behind him.

“I don't believe you answered my question,” Valvatorez began. He offered Fenrich his hand to help him straighten up and the werewolf took it gladly. It was a grasp that neither dropped.

“I'm fine my lord. More importantly, how are you? You should hardly be asking me. You took that blast head on.”

“And I'm still standing, aren't I? What sort of demon did you take me for Fenrich?” he asked back, almost playfully.

This was no time to be playing, especially while he was injured and yet Fenrich couldn't find it in himself to be angry. Not with that sort of question pointed his way. “Of course you'd be fine my lord, but this is still a wound I would not have you sustain in my place...Again even.”

Valvatorez rested his free hand on top of Fenrich's cupped in his other, a very gentle pat following the touch. “You had come out here for my sake. It's the very least I can do for you.”

He couldn't help but hold Valvatorez's hand a little tighter. What else could he could, but hold tightly onto such a moment? Onto such trusting words? There truly was no other demon quite like Valvatorez—every day he asserted such a thing, but with such sacrifices he only made it more clear. He could not believe he could stand at his side so steadily. How did he deserve such a rescue again?

“My lord, I hardly know what to say.”

“If it seems difficult, then do as you always do. I certainly don't mind that,” the vampire offered quite kindly.

Fenrich bowed low, nearly touching lips to the hand he held so closely. It seemed so obvious, but perhaps that was the best he could do. “All is for my lord,” he spoke quietly, a heated desire and a hazy promise together.

While his head was still down, Fenrich felt a slight shift below his lips, the turn of Valvatorez's hand atop theirs together, now lightly grazing fingers by his cheek—his mind unable to grasp how purposeful such a touch might or might not be. It left him crumbling under such a possibility—his mind in tatters. That his lord even had words still for him seemed like too much.

“You're a fantastic demon, Fenrich. The work you do at my side I couldn't replace. Your protection is only what I should do in return for all you do. There is nothing you need to pay me back—nothing new you need to promise me. Your vow is still plenty strong,” Valvatorez said, speaking in a hushed voice limited for just the two of them.

A rush flooded over Fenrich's thoughts and tongue, leaving him both captivated and trapped within his own thoughts. How could such a demon as Valvatorez truly exist? How could he be so lucky as to meet him? To have such a vow that kept them side by side? An ache told him to seek Valvatorez's fingers once more, to be so thrilled once more, but he held himself back. Instead his spare hand sought the vampire's other still wavering near his ear to try and weave their fingers together. The lord looked surprised as their fingers weaved together so easily, palms meeting.

“Lord Val--”

The thought was interrupted as Valvatorez's knees seemed to give away and he dropped. Fenrich used their held hands to draw him closer, effectively holding the vampire up against him rather than letting him hit the floor. His small weight pressed up against him, that seeming to be the best he could do. He looked up from his place with his cheek at Fenrich's chest, the vampire's eyes looking weary in ways he'd probably tried to mask.

“It seems I've overworked myself a little today,” was all he was willing to admit.

Affectionately, Fenrich embraced Valvatorez very briefly, surely only to help hold him up for a moment as he dipped a bit lower so he could scoop the vampire up from behind his knees, his other hand braced at his back. Valvatorez made a slight sound at his sudden upward movement, his eyes wide when they were briskly much more even and close to Fenrich's.

“Then you're going to go right to bed and rest for today. This time you won't argue?” Fenrich said with a smile of his own. That he was content was no secret. Rarely did he get to feel quite so warm, so comfortable.

“Is this really how we have to return?” Valvatorez asked instead.

“I won't let you risk hurting yourself more. We're close. Please bear it for a little while, my lord.” The smile on his face said Fenrich was not bearing this at all, but rather enjoyed it. Perhaps he was simply still glowing from the kind words of his dear lord. Surely Valvatorez would understand. And for once he did not argue much more. Words were not much needed for the rest of the trip, perhaps any would have distracted from the moment before, but mostly Fenrich couldn't get any of it out of his head. It lingered on his mind even as he brought Valvatorez to his chamber and helped him at least get comfortable. As Fenrich laid him down, his arms still tucked a bit under him, Valvatorez reached up his way once more, this time his palm making solid contact with Fenrich's face. It struck him that perhaps he missed the first time with his poor balance.

Heat flooded Fenrich's cheeks at the soft touch and the softer still look on Valvatorez's face. Despite what he had weathered he could still look this formidable—just in ways Fenrich could hardly describe. A different sort of formidableness that left him frozen in his lord's hand, unable to speak any sense.

“I could not manage here without you, Fenrich. I won't have you leaving this room without knowing that.”

Those words leave Fenrich both iced in place and burning alive at the same time. Only a demon so grand as his lord could have such an effect on anyone. Surely this was simply another power of his lord! One he had no idea what he could safely do within it. This trap sealed him and yet urged him closer too. Valvatorez's fingers slipped ever forward, sliding along his neck to gently rest there—fingers curling around to drive that urge for inches closer. It seemed like a blur, but somewhere in that desire for closeness, their lips met so lightly—a wisp of a touch that Fenrich felt down his entire spine. No words left him, just a warm breath and a desire for more.

Valvatorez loosened his hold and lowered his hand to rest over his own chest. He looked a fair bit more worn out than Fenrich had realized. He may have been terribly overdue for rest. He would have someone come by and be sure he was healing at an acceptable rate. It was slower, but he was still healing—as far as Fenrich could tell. Eventually duty took back his mind and he drew back.

“You have made yourself clear, Lord Val. Take care of yourself for a moment...”

“I have,” he muttered and seemed to relax further—his eyes closed. Fenrich checked to be sure he was alright before backing off once more. He would have to part to see to help and while he was sure the vampire was fine, maybe a bit of distance and a walk would help. All he could was think of the feeling of their lips meeting and all the heat that wouldn't leave his face.

He had a job to do certainly, but his lord never did quite make it so easy. But he would not leave Valvatorez's side for anything. No other demon was quite as honorable—nor did they take up his thoughts so completely.

#Disgaea 4 #valfen #valvatorez #fenrich #disgaea #my writing #fanfic #mid-afternoon radiance

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leoncinodelcielo · 6 years ago

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“True Self”

So a recent zodiac meme went by on my dash and it had one line for Libras (Tsuna’s sign) that gave me pause.

"Do you think you are only worth love if you conceal your true self?"

This... fucked with my head, because it definitely applies to Tsuna and at the same time raises the philosophical question of which version of Tsuna is his true self?

Effectively this is an ouroboros, because both answers to this are valid and yet not completely correct.

Tsuna is absolutely the high-strung, anxious, academically-challenged bottom of his class who would like nothing more than to hide from the world at large and play video games and honestly kind of resents that his life has become a whirling maelstrom of chaos with him as the eye. He’s the guy who cannot fucking believe what bullshit Gokudera gets up to unattended, is absolutely creeped out by Mukuro’s sexually ambiguous claims that he wants to possess Tsuna’s body, confused at how he ended up essentially the older brother of a very very young Italian mobster and basically just wants to sit in a corner, stare at his life, and yell NO, STOP THAT NOW from the top of his lungs. (At the same time, all these people are his friends and he wouldn’t trade them for the world, but he has legitimately one of the most exasperating social circles I can think of for someone who had no fucking friends this time last year.) He’s definitely the person who doesn’t want to be a mafia don and definitely lacks the emotional capacity for violence and hard-heartedness that would come with properly taking the title of the 10th head of the Vongola Famiglia, but doesn’t want to turn it down unequivocally because it’d mean losing most of his friends (or so he thinks.)

He is also quite certainly the person who will put life and limb on the line not just for his friends, but everyone’s friends, the person made of 100% steel resolve and out-of-the-box, on-the-fly thinking who can take two very disparate ideas and smash them together for a solution that doesn’t mean sacrificing any more lives to save the world. He is absolutely the most worthy successor the Vongola Sky Ring has had since Giotto died back in when-the-fuck-ever he died, a ferocious combatant who fears neither death nor dismemberment, someone who can take charge of a group and unite the chaotic elements in his life into a singleminded force to confront a threat. He is absolutely the person who can make Byakuran and Xanxus see a common enemy as a common enemy and prioritize that threat over their respective base desires to either taunt the other or lash out at the other.

Both of these are truly Tsuna, and yet at the same time, neither is fully the truth. As Tsuna ages he will get closer and closer to being more like the latter description, but at the end of the day, his true self tips and tilts and balances between these two extremes.

At the same time, that question definitely rings true no matter what state he’s in. When he’s in his more everyday state, he worries about people hating him for being such a failure, and part of his resolve to stop others from being hurt is born from the very real fear that someone very like the people who experimented upon Mukuro will try to trick or manipulate him into a place where all he is good for is combat. Neither and both are his true selves, but he feels the need to mask both from the world, and it’s super fucking unhealthy. Elements of each aspect of him make him feel as if people will find him unworthy of love if they find out.

#meta; i am a disappearing act done poorly

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myupdatesystems-blog · 8 years ago

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Most Important Aspects of Your Game

New Post has been published on https://myupdatesystems.com/2017/04/05/most-important-aspects-of-your-game/

Most Important Aspects of Your Game

So you’ve decided to plunge yourself into the world of game development, have assembled a team of mighty warriors to tackle all the big issues and are ready to create the next best game in the industry… trumping WoW, Guild Wars… (you get the point). You’ve chopped up all your brainstorming and assembled some really keen concepts for a storyline and you’re ready to go. But amongst all the programming, the character concepts, the dungeons, and the quests – what are truly the most important aspects of your game that will determine whether someone enjoys themselves? Read on, and allow me to share with you what I think.

When we do decide to take that plunge into the development of a new game, there are five things you should consider very carefully, and pay a great deal of attention to. There are probably more of these that will hinder or help you along your way, and your ordering may be different than mine, but these are what I always hold to be the most important. Over the next week we will reveal each aspects, and at the end of the week culminate with the complete article. For today we’ll begin at the top, with number 5.

Number 5: Storyline

When crafting your game, there is no better inspiration for features and activities, quests and dungeons, than your very own highly developed and custom tailored storyline. Some may balk at this statement, claiming that storyline is easily overshadowed and un-necessary when you have intense graphics that make your fingers tingle, or when you have combat so intense that you’re literally ducking out of the way from behind your monitor. While these things definitely contribute to an awesome game, and can lead to a lot of excitement (in fact, they’re on the list too!), they cannot make up for a lack of storyline. One thing many players crave whether consciously or not, is a strong storyline that leads them into caring about the game – it entices you – and makes you feel as though your wildest dreams may in fact be possible in this environment. Storyline can be simple and to the point while being so flawlessly done that it serves as the crux of the entire game (EVE Online: We’re flying through space, blowing people out of the sky…) and at the same time being so rich and deep with lore (the complexities in lore and story surrounding EVE is so great that it entangles even the most basic ships and inventory items) that it compels players to write their own histories.

Not only does storyline help players become engaged with all that you’ve slaved over and worked for, but it helps you the developer along the way. If you’ve been smart, and from the beginning dreamed up an intoxicatingly deep history of your game setting, it will constantly serve you throughout development. It will provide clues into what features want to be a part of the game, what doesn’t need to be included, and what does or doesn’t fit. An architecture professor of mine once said, when referring to the site analysis portion of architecture that we could find out a great deal about what we should be building on the building site by simply visiting the location, and “envisioning the invisible building that wants to be built”. This is true in architecture, and it is especially true in game development and dreaming up your storyline/game setting.

Storyline may be important, but is it more important than a snazzy game setting so rich and vibrant that your tempted to stay indefinitely? Well, maybe – just as long as your 3d representation isn’t bogged down by hundreds of thousands of nasty polygons or quads. Why in the world is Artwork important, anyway?

Number 4: Artwork

I’ve heard many, many times that the artwork/3d models/characters found in your game won’t make or break things. I agree with this in that it won’t make or break the entire game, but artwork and professional looking/feeling models definitely help you out along the way. Think of any movie you’ve seen recently where the sets were absolutely incredible and stunning – one such example (although not necessarily as “recent”) are the Lord of the Rings movies. Throughout the entire set of movies, rich and diverse settings are abound, and help the immersion factor like you wouldn’t believe. Would the movie have been “broken” by less awe-inspiring scenes? Probably not, because in the case of The Lord of the Rings, there were a lot of other incredible aspects. Did the awe-inspiring scenes make the movie just that much better, and give it just that much *more* to drool over? Yes, Definitely. The same kind of effect can be seen in the game industry. I play games that have incredible graphics (EVE Online) and other that don’t (Dark Ages). I am however, addicted to both of these games for different reasons, but you can bet that the stunning environment in EVE certainly helps to inspire its large player base.

Additionally, your artwork can seriously effect the mechanics of your game. Many developers over look an incredibly important aspect of their 3d models – poly count… That’s to say, the number of triangles (or *shiver* quads) your game has. Many of the free 3d models you may find on the internet are gorgeous, but are so incredibly detailed that using them in a computer, real time environment would not be wise because you are typically trying to appeal to as many systems as possible. Console systems have the luxury of (for the most part) assuming that everyone’s running on an even playing field. Those of us developing games strictly for the computer don’t have this luxury. Suffice it to say, it’s important to find quality, low poly game content, and there’s certainly enough of it out there that there’s no excuse for you to be shoving your game full of characters that are in the 10,000 poly range (many online companies limit their avatars, or characters, to around 2500-5000 polys).

The lower your poly count on your 3d models, the smoother your environment is going to run on the widest range of computers… usually. One thing to keep in mind throughout this entire process is how your engine handles polygons, and to find out what the ideal poly range is that you want to aim for for characters and scenery. In most cases higher character polys are more acceptable, with scenery (buildings, trees, etc) being lower in poly. Another engine specific feature to keep in mind is whether or not the engine supports Level of Detail (LOD). LOD for those who may not know is a system where the engine will use very low poly versions of a model if the player is far away, swapping the model in and out for high quality versions the closer you get to it. As far as I know, almost every engine out there supports LOD, but some like Active Worlds do not.

Down the road we go with Number 3: Music! Some may say (and argue) that music for an online game should be included into the category of “Artwork” – while this may be true depending on how you look at it, music in a game is incredibly important *aside* from your 3d models and 3d characters and so it receives its own spot.

Number 3: Music

In many ways music is the heart and soul of any environment you may create in 3D – it is literally the sound trick to which events occur, players win battles to, return home to, etc etc. Music is a vital tool used to set the mood in any setting, and without it your game will feel dead and like something is missing. In many ways, music helps to express for the player the mood of a specific area, it enhances and emphasizes what you are relating to your player. Do you want them to feel sad, anxious, excited, fearful? Because hearing is one of our primary sense (seeing, smelling, etc), one could argue that it is just as powerful in linking and creating memories. It should be one of your *top goals* to make people remember your game – making your game memorable is one of the tricks in making it both enjoyable and something that people will tell their friends about. Hearing, and the music in your game is one of the more subtle qualities that plays a huge part in how an environment *feels*. Think about what your favorite movie would sound like without sound and music?

This highlights another important aspect that is a sub category of music: sound effects. While music is the key that gives your environment some feeling and life, sound effects are what make the environment tangible and feel realistic. When a player is able to knock over a trashcan and as a result they hear the clanging of aluminum and tin rolling down the concrete they’re standing on, the player has an increased feeling of interaction with the environment. Think of the effect and life the environment takes on when a player goes from walking on stone, where their shoes may be clacking, to walking on dirt or mud, where the sound would naturally change quite dramatically. making good games is about mastering small (but powerful) details that immerse your player.

Many independent developers may shy away from placing such an importance on the music played in the game because in some ways it can be hard to come by for people with limited budgets. While music can be expensive (alright, no foolin’ it IS expensive) to have custom made, you can find some great deals on royalty free music for purchase online. In many cases these tracks are professionally made, and available for flexible licenses – either for independent folks, or commercial studios. It’s not uncommon for instance, to find 5-6 tracks on an indie license for around $100.

GarageGames.com has some great deals on music and sound effects – the sound effects found there are definitely a deal. You can find the page directly by visiting their content packages.

Gamedev.net also has some great resources relating to music in games, and provides a nice directory of sites containing stock and royalty free music. Check it out here.

At a later time it would be nice to include a directory of our own of some great music resources. Look for that later. In the mean time, let us know what you think about Music and Sound Effects inside of games that you’ve played, whether you thought they were effective and important to your gaming experience… And if you don’t agree, you can let us know that, too!

Now that we’ve covered much of the meat of your game (Storyline, Artwork, Music), we’re going to delve a little bit farther into game design and really define the skeleton of your game – the backbone, the thing that ultimately keeps people coming back to your game day after day. Storyline, artwork and music are important things that will really make your game feel complete, and make it less likely that people will stand in your local village, and look around wondering “What’s missing?” But ultimately when it comes to the development of your game, we’re now getting into what really matters. That brings us to today’s post…

Number 2: Game Flow

When it comes to game design in today’s world there are really three primary types of flow that you game can follow. What exactly is game flow? The game flow, or structure of your game, is how players interact with it and storyline events, quests, missions, etc. It determines whether players can branch out and make the game what they want it to be, or if they’re locked onto a track that guides them into their pitfalls and excitement. Appropriately the three types of flow are as follows: Sand box, Roller-coaster, and a hybrid mix of the two. In many cases the way in which your game engages people, and how it forces them to interact with the environment and progress in the game will determine the types of players you attract to your game.

The most “traditional” game play style, or rather the most frequently used in the past has been that of the “Roller-coaster”. This type of game play is just as the name implies – users begin the game (get on the ride) and are carefully lead through the build up, the climax of storyline, pitfalls, exciting twists and turns, and ultimately the game ends with a rush of excitement. This could also be equated with the experience reading a book gives where there is a definite beginning and a definite ending of things. Many RPGs out there fall into this category, where your goals in the game are explicitly defined (conquer the evil demons of the sea and save the pretty girl) and while these games are a lot of fun, in some ways this system doesn’t always work as well in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG’s) where you have dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people interacting with one another. This isn’t to say that there aren’t MMOs that pull it off (Guild Wars specifically comes to mind), and this isn’t to say that MMORPG’s that go the route of the Roller-Coaster aren’t wildly fun (as Guild Wars is). This IS to say that in more recent years people have begun to favor a newer breed of game where the options appear limitless, and if instead of rescuing that pretty girl from the evil demons of the sea, you want to go and be an innocent farmer… more power to you!

Enter the “Sandbox” games. In more recent years there has been a big push to these sandbox’s where people can do what they’d like. Similar to roller-coaster games, the name is synonymous with it’s real life counter part, the sandbox. The idea is that upon entering the game, if you decide to ignore the over arching and present storyline (remember our pretty girl), that you can do just that without any significant consequences. This type of game play is sometimes said to appeal primarily to hardcore style gamers, although I’m not sure I fully buy into that philosophy. Often times I’ve found many casual players in sandbox type games who simply enjoy socializing with one another, mining together, exploring, etc, without all the insane time commitment of pursuing the major storyline events. In many of these games political and religious systems can be found, as well as a variety of job occupations. From what I’ve seen however, these games tend to be far more time intensive than roller-coaster games, simply because of the amount of time you need to pour into your character to forge your own path (and be successful at it). While some many not agree with me here, I would say EVE Online is definitely classifiable as a sandbox, as a majority of EVEs content, gameplay, and activities are created and inspired by the players themselves. GTA3 is also considered by many to be a sandbox game. That in itself is an important note: in sandboxes you will normally find a wealth of systems run by the players themselves, like guilds and factions – usually there is also an economy in game that is facilitated totally by players selling their personally made goods.

Finally, very recently we’ve hit a time when some people are discussing ways to make what you could call a mix between sandbox and roller-coaster games. I have yet to come across a good example of how this has been done (or how someone is working on one), I’ve only heard slight mention of it here and there. From what I gather though, there would be a few central over arching storylines taking place at one time, giving users their choice of how to proceed, and along the way providing ample opportunity for players to branch off onto their own paths, while still allowing them to come back to the big storyline. Some may again classify this primarily as sandbox, but I would argue that if at any time there is a great deal of direction coming from quests, storylines and developer driven content, that you begin to get more into roller-coaster elements. If anyone has run into what you’d consider to be a good example of a sandbox roller-coaster hybrid, please let me know! If you’ve ever read one of those “Choose your own ending” style books that plagued elementary and middle schools, you’ll understand what a sandbox roller-coaster hybrid might be like. While the player has choices (perhaps many, many choices!), things are still ultimately “guided” by an over all storyline, while leaving room for player created content. At the end of the day though, all of that is easier said than done.

Ultimately, deciding on what game system you use, or “Game Flow” method you use is going to be vital in developing your game. Like storyline, it will give you direction and more easily help you to make decisions about whether or not a specific feature would fit into your game. Not only will it help you to make decisions, but as a result it will help to shape your game. Direction and determination are absolutely mandatory in game development, and deciding on a Game Flow will at least help you in the direction department 😉

We’ve covered some incredibly important aspects of your gaming environment – from visual stimulus, and the sounds that pull your travelers deeper into your game, to the stories that inspire and the game mechanics that help shape your players’ characters. However, at the end of the day there is one aspect that will bring everything home and determine whether or not your game is bursting with eager players, or an emptied ghost town.

Number 1: Activities, baby!

While friends within games come and go, quests are released and beaten, items are unveiled and later trumped – at the end of the day the gaming community is not unlike society at large; we are a disposable group of people. We love to love the hottest items, spells, houses, quests, but eventually they become something of yesterday and cease to draw as much excitement from the people who have been hanging around your game for a while. Many games falter because they fail to recognize that new content is a must, even if the content you already have is incredible. The typical gamer can crunch through your average game in less than a month and if you’re planning to release a game that has a monthly subscription, or the need to retain players for an extended amount of time, that’s bad news for you. Ultimately the solution to “What next?” and “Why are people leaving?” is to imbue your game and all of its nooks and crannies with valuable content and *things to do*. It is from this area that it seems most of the discontent for games comes from which means that it is not only imperative to have plenty of activities in the game when it first releases, but to follow up on those activities with new things to explore, find, and participate in in the following months and years of the games life span.

Not only does providing and planning activities in the beginning stages of your game design help create a game that will be fun to play, but it may also help to inspire other areas of your development as well. Events can inspire your storyline, and your storyline can help to give you ideas of activities and new plot lines, for example. In many ways this aspect of your game is what will help to build and foster the social community within your game, which is ultimately what ties people to specific games: the friends and community that would be left behind if they were to leave.

Ideally, there are a whole host of event and activity types you can create within your game. Some of them are global style events that involve almost everyone active in the environment at the time. Examples of such events would be those relating to real world holidays like Christmas, Halloween, etc. More often than not those are time periods in games where if there is nothing new going on, your game will lose out against real life in the excitement category. People will choose to spend time doing things other than playing your game, if this is the case. Now, while we at TGS appreciate family time and all, this is bad news for you. Create global events that match up to real life events that will make being inside your environment during this time fun, exciting, and provide the extra bit of holiday spirit for your players. There are also events that are recurring, such as player run elections and hunting parties that give your players something to do year round. Optimize these activities and make them readily available to players so that these are things they can easily take part in and enjoy.

There are countless numbers of events that you can include in your game to make things feel more lively – we’ve just covered a very small number of them here. Perhaps in a later post we can create another article in order to inspire you a bit more in this category. We’ll see! An important thing to remember when judging whether or not “activities” are your number one priority: an online game is at its best when there are ample things to participate in with others. When your game is one which does not foster socializing, it will more than likely become quiet and empty, and let’s face it – do we expect people to play (and pay for) an empty online game? Food for thought.

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