#i promise never to let prompts go unanswered for this long again lol

[galwithalibrarycard]

Hey, could you do #2 or #33 from the prompt list for beadick?

Hi, Anon! You sent this on December 10, 2017, and then I lost the prompts list I was working from at the time and never wrote you a fic. I finally thought to just check my tumblr history from Dec. 2017, and I found the prompts post! I apologize deeply for taking seven years to get back to you, and offer this fluff in recompense. Enjoy!

Prompt: 33. I cannot help but notice we are sitting-in-a-tree. So, you know, maybe we could think of something to do… verb-wise. (I want us to gerund, essentially.)

Sitting in a Tree

         Benedick had gone through a lot when he moved to Auckland. He’d been a lonely kid, for a long time. But one of the silver linings was the beautiful, perfect climbing tree in the yard outside his house. He liked to sit up there to watch and listen to the birds, to read books, to watch the world go by. It was peaceful. It was fun.

He climbed up there much less often, now that he was a great big Year Thirteen with a reputation to uphold. But some things were worth looking a little silly. And it was hard to be sad when climbing a tree.

So now, when his house had become Beatrice's refuge after Hero's birthday disaster, and Ben couldn't stand the sadness on Beatrice's face a moment longer, he knew what he had to do.

         "Come with me," he said, grabbing her hand, trying to pull her up off his bed, where she'd been moping for the last hour.

She looked at him, her face the picture of skepticism. "Where are we going?"

"Just trust me," he said, ignoring the electricity of her skin against his as he entwined their fingers. "Leave your phone on the desk and follow me. It'll be fun, I promise."

He led her out to the yard, having her keep one hand over her eyes to maintain the surprise.

That was a good thing, because if he got close enough to cover her eyes himself, he might actually die from touching her. It was like a drug, the rush of happiness and heat just being near her now gave him. He felt horribly guilty for feeling happy about anything, but it couldn't be helped.

Beatrice turned her head in surprise when she heard the front door close behind them, but she didn't move her hand or open her eyes. She was still holding Ben's hand, letting him help her down the front porch stairs. By the time they were standing at the base of the tree, Ben was gratified to see she was smiling.

          "Keep them closed," he said, then reluctantly dropped her hand, sacrificing her touch so that he could jump and grab the lowest branch. He climbed up to his favorite spot, where the branch was thick and wide enough for two. "Okay, open them!"

"Where- oh my god!" Beatrice gasped, bursting into shocked laughter at the sight of him up the tree. "What are you doing up there?"

"Come and join me, love," he grinned, holding out his hand and gesturing for her to climb.

“In a tree?”

“Why not? Better than sitting around inside, right? It’s a perfect tree-climbing day!” He spread his arms, indicating the world around them.

"You're ridiculous," Beatrice said, but she started to climb.

"Yesss!" Ben said triumphantly, indulging in a fist-pump. "Keep coming."

"Oh my god," she huffed again as she pulled herself up the lower branches. "I haven't done this in years! When did it get so hard?”

"You've got this, you're almost there," he encouraged, offering a hand.

         Bea allowed him to stabilize her, giving her the boost she needed to make it up to his branch. She fell into place next to him, leaning in against his body as she settled herself. Ben was holding a smaller branch in one hand for balance, but his other hand ended up wrapped around her, resting on her waist, and she didn't pull away.

"Hi," she said, breathing heavily. She was smiling again, bright and beautiful, and he couldn't look away.

His voice shook slightly as he answered, "Hi."

Closing his eyes, he pressed his forehead against hers, and they sat there for a long moment, catching their breath.

           He felt her turning her face away, eventually, and opened his eyes to see her taking in the breathtaking view of Auckland from the tree.

"It's beautiful," she gasped, taking in the trees, the earth, the distant horizon.

Ben was maybe, sort of, kind of in love with her. But that didn't mean he had to be a vomit-inducing cliche. So he did not allow himself to do that cheesy-ass thing where he answered "yeah, it is," while really referring to Beatrice. She was beautiful, but that was beside the point.

           "I told you that you should trust me," Ben said instead.

"Yeah, yeah. But tree-climbing? You're adorable."

“I do my best.”

Beatrice sighed, tucking her head against his shoulder. “Hero and I used to climb trees together. And go to the beach, and ride bikes. Everything was simpler then.”

“She’ll be okay, you know,” Ben said softly. “She’s strong. She has to be, she’s a Duke. She’ll get through it.”

“She shouldn’t have to, though.”

“No, she really shouldn’t. Offer’s still open to punch Claudio in the face, by the way. I’ve never hit anyone before, but it can’t be too hard.”

“If anyone is punching Claudio, it’s me,” Beatrice said. “I know he’s not worth the trouble either of us would get in, but god, I want to, anyway.”

          “You should bring Hero over here, if she misses tree climbing,” Ben changed the subject. He didn’t want Bea to dwell too much on what she couldn’t change. “We don’t even have to be there with her. This tree’s a good place to think. To be alone.”

“Is that why we never climbed it together… before?“

It was the first time either of them had brought up their old friendship, from before they hated each other. It was fragile, delicate. One wrong move, Ben knew, and they could be back in that same fight.

“I’m sorry,” he said simply. “Losing your friendship is the worst mistake I ever made, and I still don’t know what I did.”

“You told me you didn’t believe in long-term friendship. You didn’t want me.” Bea’s voice was small, not angry but hurt. It killed him. He did that to her.

“You were leaving,” Ben said. “For Wellington. And I thought ‘keep in touch’ was just empty words. No one else ever kept in touch, when I moved. I thought it’d hurt less. To end it early.”

“I would’ve kept in touch. I would,” she insisted, and it sounded like a confession.

“I know that now.”

They took a moment to process, watching the clouds go by.

          "So... you know that thing we're not talking about?" Beatrice asked, focused entirely on the loose bit of bark she'd been picking from the branch next to her. "That thing that happened the other day, after we filmed that video?"

"That thing where you kissed me?" Ben said. "Believe me, I have not stopped thinking about it since."

"Me too. I mean, me neither."

Silence fell. The branches creaked around them, a light breeze tickling the leaves and their faces alike. Beatrice succeeded in ripping off the piece of bark, letting it fall to the grass below.

          The endless waiting was unbearable, anxiety thrumming under his skin. Ben was sure she was going to say it was a mistake, that they should never do it again, and he was going to have to act like everything was fine. He was going to have to find a way to climb out of this tree without dropping any of the pieces of his shattered heart. He couldn't take the waiting anymore.

          "So..." He started, heart in his throat.

"So." Beatrice looked up, meeting his eyes at last. She offered a small, hopeful smile. "I can't help but notice we are sitting-in-a-tree. So, you know, maybe we could think of something to do… verb-wise."

"Ah," Ben said. "Essentially, you want us to gerund. Again."

"Yes, you dork. I've been waiting for you to make a move!"

"You should've said so! I didn't want to push-"

She leaned in, grinning, lips just millimeters away from his. “Ben. This is me, saying so.”

And then she put a hand to his cheek to pull him in, and they were sitting in a tree, experiencing a perfect gerund.

        Her lips were so soft, so warm against his. The world was her mouth, her skin, her scent. All he knew was Beatrice, and she was everything.

And then the swoop of fear in their stomachs and the horrible, wide-open sensation of falling. Bea broke away from the kiss and screamed.

They’d instinctively started to tilt, leaning into each other and back, as though they were against a wall and not on a tree branch with no support. Beatrice’s arms pinwheeled in the air as she tried to catch her balance. The horrible future seemed to play out in front of Ben’s eyes- Beatrice falling, falling away from him.

He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.

       Fortunately his arm was still around her waist, and somehow, he scrabbled for the branch he’d been holding and grabbed it. By some miracle, his skinny noodle arms were strong enough, and he kept them both upright.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” he promised as she trembled against him.

“Fuck!” She shouted, clinging to Ben as their heart rates started to normalize again. As much as possible given their close proximity, anyway.

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry, we shouldn’t have-“ Ben started, mortified that his stupid tree-climbing idea almost went so wrong.

“No, we absolutely should,” Beatrice said firmly. “Just maybe on the ground next time.”

“Sitting in a tree not all it’s cracked up to be?” Ben teased.

Bea snorted, and that was all it took before they both started to laugh hysterically. Adrenaline will do that.

        “All right, dickface. Race you to the bottom?” she challenged when she’d caught her breath.

“You’re on.”

        Ben didn’t think he’d ever climbed down from this tree so fast in his life. Beatrice still won, though. He didn’t mind that so much, since he was her prize.

Sitting in a tree was fine, and all. But pressed up against a tree, being kissed by the love of your life until you forget your own name? Way, way better.

[lazzledazzler]

Lazzle's Rune Factory 5 Review

Alright so here are my thoughts and experiences with RF5! This is a big boy so buckle in earthmates...

Obviously this review will contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

Initial thoughts upon playing...

Great opening! I enjoyed the jazz music~ I did feel like it leaned a bit more towards the male player though. It definitely feels like a rune factory game. It's familiar, and controls are easy to get accustomed to for the most part. The mold is there and rf5 doesn't stray too far from its predecessors which is comforting for veterans. That being said, I'm not going to pull any punches and will critique this game harshly. Keep in mind as updates for the game are released not all things discussed in this review will be as relevant overtime!

Let's hear some thoughts on...

The story/plot. The plot is enjoyable overall. I'm not crazy about the whole Seed organization thing but it was a neat idea. They address the Sechs Territory and it is confirmed that the game takes place some decades after RF4. But by the end of it, I didn't feel like I really accomplished anything because it felt like I barely did anything really. Also they left a lot of stuff unanswered. I'm not even sure I understood the message they were sending, if they were trying to send a message at all. The main story is too short, and it doesn't involve enough of the townsfolk. You're basically doing everything yourself in secret the whole time and the townsfolk barely know what's actually going on. Out of the love interests, Lucas plays the largest part in the story, followed by Priscilla and Scarlett. The story feels targeted at male audiences--at least that's how I felt. You, the player, have a larger role in the game, much like in RF3 and I was glad to see this. As of right now there are only two arcs. Praying for DLC 3rd arc...!

Protagonists. The latest protagonists to join the crew of Earthmates are...decent. Their designs are nothing special unfortunately, though I appreciate Alice's more than Ares's. Appearance-wise they lack personality and creativity. Personality wise I am pleasantly surprised with how sociable they are. They're not exactly quick witted and sassy like Lest/Frey were in rf4, or as endearing as Micah in rf3, but they have a certain realness to them that makes their reactions to things believable. I'm certain Xseed will see to making them a bit more sarcastic in their localizing efforts, so let's all look forward to that. Overall though, while I appreciate their mannerisms, they don't really measure up to all the previous amnesiacs we've grown to love over the decades.

Characters. Overall I enjoy all the characters introduced in Rune Factory 5! I feel like there is someone for everyone in this game on some level. The voice acting was pretty good for every character. The designs are very much Rune factory. Like OG runefa, compared to rf4 ( 4 kind of strayed from their usual style) which I like. Characters still have their own signature quirks that you find endearing. Although I would have liked to see more variety? Like we've had mermaids, univir, half monsters, vampires, etc in previous titles but rf5 only gives us the usual (half) elf, dwarf, and then a succubus (physically she doesn't have unique features aside from the ears and heart eyes), and some were-people. I was hoping for something more unique to really give that classic runefa vibe.

Dungeons/Battles. I'm pretty split on this one. On the one hand, the dungeons have more depth due to the 3D aspects. They've included more contraptions that are very fun to see even if they aren't executed that well. So I'm grateful for that. On the other hand, the dungeons are insanely short imo. It doesn't take long at all to get to the boss. The puzzles are also pretty subpar and few compared to RF4. Fighting monsters is similar to the other games. You can lock on now but I only use it when I'm trying to use my Seed Circle. The lock on feature is actually counter-intuitive and makes it harder to dodge. Weapon mechanics have shifted a bit. There’s a feature that makes you invincible to damage if you time the R button dash correctly. Axes and Hammers are significantly slower than in older games? Like. I thought I was in slow motion it was so slow. Lances are also harder to use as well? I'm questioning my sanity here. I don't know if it's a bug or intentional either.

Farming. Not much has changed from previous games mechanics wise. They added new types of special crops which is neat. The camera view changes to overhead when you go near your fields though, and it can make you dizzy/uncomfortable. It actually makes it a bit difficult to see at times so I wish there was a way to adjust the angle. If you are tilling corn or dried weeds to improve the soil, you need to place them separately if you don't want to use the entire stack. Otherwise, it will till the entire stack on the land if you place them all down at once. The flower shop is unlocked late in the story. Weird thing to do considering you need flowers to make medicine. Not to mention the fact that you wont have access to the fertilizer that increases defense against typhoons? During typhoon season? Thinking emoji...

The town. I have to say Rigbarth's design is poor compared to Sharance, Selphia, etc. It's too big and it takes too long to get around. Everything is too spaced out and there aren't enough warp points to make it easier on players. I don't want to walk an entire mile up a hill to talk to one person and then walk all the way down to the beach to speak to another. It doesn’t really feel like a ‘town’.

OST/BGM. Music was good, though nothing really stood out to me where I'd go "damn this slaps" or something. I think they might've had some old soundtracks from rf2 or something because it felt really nostalgic at times.

We need an exterminator. (Bugs Bugs Bugs)

Marvelous, I don't know how to tell you this buuut...your customers are NOT your testers. When you release a game, you need to make sure it's not littered with glitches because customers don't enjoy dealing with them and will drop the game!

Here are some of the types of glitches I encountered:

Crashing. Game would randomly crash or freeze and close at any moment. Sooooo frustrating! Sometimes you get lucky with the autosave feature, but the autosave only activates every morning at 6am in your room and then when you warp to a dungeon level/floor. So when you're in the middle of your daily tasks in town and it crashes, you have to start all over. Marveloussss no one enjoys losing their progress in a game I promise you that much.

Lag. The dialogue bar is seriously slow, especially after loading your file. Crafting/Cooking screen lags. When you press the Y button to skip through dialogue it lags like hell. Pretty much after every time you load the game will lag, the audio will lag if you're in a battle, everything is just. so. slow.

Repeating dialogue. So if you close your game entirely (or if it crashes) naturally you'll reload your file to continue where you left off. There's a bug that will cause all NPCs to repeat the last dialogue that occurred from whatever plot related thing you did last. So for example, if the last thing you did in the story was unlock Ludmilla, everyone in town will naturally have some dialogue about her. But even after seeing all this dialogue and even saving, if the game is closed and reloaded you'll have to read all that dialogue again from townsfolk. It got really annoying after a while.

Monster taming. One time I tamed a monster but once I named it and hit 'ok' the monster never showed up in my barns? Just. gone. Okaaaay then...? Additionally, I expanded one of my monster barns but all of the monsters I tamed wouldn't appear in the added room. You get 4 monsters for each room but the monsters I tamed would show up in the original room. Meaning I had like 7 monsters in one room! I tried to bring them into the newly added room but they would just warp back to the other room. Sad.

Pond Glitch. I fished in the pond located in Sasayaki Forest and left the fish I caught but didn't want laying around the water's edge. If you leave fish around the pond's edge and go to sleep, the next morning you will be teleported to the pond and trigger the fairy dialogue as if you had thrown all of the fish into the pond??? So the dialogue of her telling you she wants 'X item, not this!' will trigger over and over for all of the fish you left at the water's edge. RIP.

Party member Bug. I had Martin in my party and I made him leave. Then when I went into my monster barns to get a monster pal to join me instead it showed me Martin's portrait???? Also I've encountered a bug where I can no longer ask anyone to join my party for some unknown reason. The R &L button prompt was just gone when I reloaded.

Errors. When cooking or crafting, the dialogue box shows up sometimes...

Typos. Random average typo here and there. Not a real biggie but there is one instance where the heroine will use the japanese male pronoun "boku" instead of "watashi" which really convinced me that this game was completely intended for men lol.

Let's talk about Pros

The good stuff. The stuff that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.

Plot Advancing. Now I'm gonna put this as a pro because I'm certain the average player will enjoy this even though I do not. There are now markers on the map to show you where to go to advance the plot. This is all well and dandy, but it also made the story less appealing for me because you don't need to go around town and speak to residents for clues or assistance to advance anything in the story.

3D Graphics The 3D models are all amazing. The interior designs of the houses/buildings are also incredibly detailed and realistic.

Collecting items. Now there's a feature that will allow you to collect items into your inventory just by walking over them. This is pretty neat and welcome for the most part. Once the item is sparkling, you can walk over it and it'll go into your rucksack automatically. This also makes lumbering and mining go much faster. Yay!

The miraculous L pocket. Now you can customize the categories that appear in your L pocket by going to the rucksack tab in the menu. This is a super neat feature that makes things easier on players who want to manage their items in a format that suits them.

Weapon/Tool Toggling. You can now toggle between your equipped weapon and tool by pressing the left or right buttons on the trackpad.

Collecting lumber/material stone. Oh lord this is probably the most welcome improvement moving forward from the previous game. You can now put all of the lumber and material stone from your inventory into its storage at once. This also applies to fodder for tamed monsters. Well done Hakama.

Autosave. This feature is a welcome addition to the series. The game will save your data every morning and every time you enter a dungeon. Autosave has really saved my ass a few times when I made a huge error in judgement so I'm incredibly grateful for this feature. And it doesn't save over your actual save file--there's a separate autosave file at the very top. So if you messed up something but already saved on your main file, you can still salvage your mistake by reloading the autosave! I just wish it activated a bit more often sometimes.

Warping. Now we can warp to each level in a dungeon as well as certain places on the map in town. It's pretty convenient for the most part.

Increased party members. Now you can have up to 3 members in your party! Hooray! Party members act more intelligently than in older games. Scarlett can use the Seed circle to assist you in fights. I think she also tosses healing potions at you occasionally. So far, no one has tossed a dish at me if I haven't eaten like Kiel and Clorica did in rf4. But I have been hit by a failed dish (from reinhardt?) and a healing potion (from scarlett). Scarlett, Priscilla, and Reinhardt are the most helpful when dungeon crawling in my experience. Some of them however, (looking at you Doug) don't shut the hell up with their one line of dialogue they have and repeat it constantly.

Seed Circle. This neat feature allows you to capture monsters. By charging it and releasing you can capture monsters for the bounty system or add them to your party temporarily. If you throw it without charging it, you can stun monsters in place momentarily or grab things from far away. When stunning monsters, it can also give you the monster's drop item occasionally. Unfortunately it uses a lot of RP so it can be difficult at times.

Combo attacks. This is a neat feature that I appreciate and use often for boss fights. They do some serious damage so it's good to save them for the bosses. The actual cutscenes aren't that impressive, and feel kind of subpar when you get down to it but I think it's a start in the right direction.

Farm Dragons. I'm listing this as a pro although I really just see it as a new feature. Farm dragons have fields on their backs that you can place monster barns on and farm on. Giving them certain crystals will give your fields boosts in certain criteria, like length of growth, soil quality, you get it. I personally don't use the crystals because I couldn't give a shit lmao I have men and women to woo here. But if you're into this kinda thing then it's a pro.

Storage. When opening your storage box, fridge, etc. you can actually hit the R & L buttons to switch between ALL of your other storages. Looooove thissss. Great addition. So much faster to put items away in their respective places.

Crafting/Forging. Now we can also use the R & L buttons to alternate between the different weapon types/accessory/gear types instead of having to exit the menu and going back in each time you want to make something different.

Cooking. More recipes have been added. Yay!

Days are longer now. More time to get shit doneeeee ayyyy

Fishing. They've added many more fish to the game! Now the player will shout something when you get a bite, making it easier for you to hit B at the right moment. Nice. Also if you fail or press B too early, the fish doesn't vanish most of the time. Also nice. There is now a feature to fish with another person's assistance. Once a day you can investigate the sign near the fishing station and someone might offer to lend you a hand. Press the B button at the right moments on the slider and you can get a rare fish that can't be caught normally.

Monsters. New types of monsters! Love the designs. Even the monsters that are the same but just have different skins are really neat. They look great in the 3D format too. You can even ride with up to two people on certain monsters! Some bosses had awesome designs while others...were bad.

New Types of Furniture. The carpenter store has a wide arrange of furniture you can buy for your home. It also has wallpapers and stuff which is really neat. Though unfortunately you can't even sit on some of the furniture so that's a shame.

Events. Now there is a system where events are triggered by approaching an icon on the map. This is probably an improvement to RF4's randomized system, though personally I found it annoying because it meant that I had to see the events before I could just enter a building normally. Sometimes I just wanted to get shit done and not have to read through walls of text for someone's love event when I just want to buy something.

Voiced Lines. The protagonist seems to have more voiced lines, as do other characters. Good!

Let's talk about Cons

Not including glitches. Oh boy. So many cons. Where do I start?

Dialogue. Probably the most notable con in the entire game. The dialogue is drastically minimal in comparison to previous games, especially rf4. There is probably a quarter of the amount of dialogue compared to rf4's insane amount of content if not less. Townsfolk repeat themselves. Often. Too often. Am I playing Harvest Moon? Originally I thought it was because the dialogue is randomized, but I think it's actually because more dialogue is unlocked as you raise townspeople's FP. Despite this, there's no linear build up where you start off as acquaintances and eventually become very close like in rf4 because of how sporadic the LP/FP is. Townsfolk don't even talk to each other. One of the greatest perks about runefa is the conversations townsfolk can have with one another. Residents randomly gathering in small groups to talk about anything. Previously you could add someone to your party and sometimes a dialogue will occur if you speak to the right person at the right time with that person in your party. This is nonexistent now. The only time they do this in rf5 is during the festivals. But, it will only trigger if you have unlocked all the characters in each marriageable lineup and they can't be in your party. The residents will talk about one another but that's pretty much it outside of town events. They got rid of all the minor dialogue that occurs too. Trying to sleep in someone's bed while they're right there? They wont comment. Inspecting objects in stores while the shopkeeper is present? Wont say anything. Take a character with you to a dungeon/boss fight? Their lips are sealed. Where's my sense of community? :(

FP/LP This ties into the dialogue issue. The rate at which LP/FP increases is sporadic as hell. You can go from 1FP/LP to 4FP/LP just by giving a gift sometimes. I wouldn't even speak to people and their affinity increased by like triple for no reason. Then it increases by like 2% for the longest time. Argh!!!

Graphics. I don't consider myself very picky when it comes to graphics. I don't really mind that the foliage and scenery are at the level of a ps2 game at best. I tried playing on my television initially, but the lag and camera operability was too much so I fully switched (haha puns) to handheld. One thing that sucked is that I literally cannot tell the difference between medicinal herbs, antidote grasses, and green grasses without the captions because the graphics are so indistinguishable. So when you're trying to pick up multiples of those items by holding the A button, you're just randomly walking over anything green in the hopes that you'll get the right ones...

Lack of Sound Effects. Something I noticed is they got rid of the sound effects that will play when you complete a puzzle or add someone to your party. When you try to brush a monster there's no sound for the '♪' they make when you successfully brush them. So it was hard for me to tell if I had actually brushed them or not. I was a bit saddened by the lack of cute sounds.

Too much free range. From the very beginning of the game, you're allowed to go pretty much wherever you want when leaving town. It was too easy to stumble into high enemy level territory without knowing, so when I was like level 5 so I got KO'd immediately.

Artwork. The portraits seem to be lower in quality somehow. Runefa has always had shitty portrait art imo but this time it's even worse. Many character's eyes looked fucked up. Though the 3D models are insanely good for mostly every character except Terry. Terry's 3D model looks Terryfying and I prefer his portrait.

Festivals. They've added some new festivals. Some I enjoy. Some not so much. They changed the format of the eating contest. It's horrible. Good luck with that one.

L pocket + R button? They got rid of the feature that lets you skip to the other end of your items when opening the L pocket by pressing R button. I really liked that feature because it made it faster to reach my items so I was bummed that they got rid of it.

Gotta go fast. Now when you speak to someone, it doesn't 'stop time' as you might say it did in previous games. So people are still moving about as you speak to someone, making it harder to catch up to people! Annoying!!!

Catch and release? Not in my farming simulator! Say goodbye to being able to toss a fish you caught back into the water. In fact, say goodbye to tossing anything you don't want anymore into the water. Now you just have an army of fish flopping on the ground around you. And with the auto pick up feature, they're probably going to end up in your inventory anyways once you try to move. There are still certain ponds with fairies that you can toss stuff into, but you'll have to deal with the fairy harping at you for giving her something she doesn't want.

Shop Hours. Oh god. The shop owners don't even open their stores at the correct hours? It says open at 9am. If you speak to them they won't open their store until like 9:07??? But Priscilla and Lucy will show up to work their part-time jobs at around 8:30am and you can buy stuff through them before 9am. So the actual shop owners (for the bread shop and general store) are pointless usually. Additionally, if the store is empty (but open) you can no longer add a shopkeeper into your party and then enter their store with them to buy things from them. Why. Just why. When you want to buy something that only a specific person sells (Only Hina sells fish, only Heinz sells misc items) you have to wait for them to finally decide to work in their own store. Wonderful.

Monster Item drops. Maybe I'm crazy but the monster drops are seriously a lot harder to get than in previous games. Especially boss drops. It's almost impossible to get the rare drops now. I don't even want to try anymore. And as far as I know, the only place to buy monster items is through Heinz, but his items are actually misc. items, not specifically monster drops. So you'll be lucky to check his store (whenever tf he decides to actually work) for any monster items you might want instead of farming for the drops. Sighs.

Difficulty. This game is too easy. There is little to no challenge whatsoever. I had to increase the difficulty setting to hard mode and it was still too easy. I beat it at level 139, never once did I need to grind or level. In fact, your character levels up way too quickly for the pace of the story. I had zero trouble with any of the bosses and even the final boss was a breeze. Quite sad. Though because I am not new to the franchise, it's likely that newcomers would have some trouble in the later parts of the story.

Fishing cons. Idk how you fck up fishing but they sure did. You have to stand further back now because the pole is so long that you'll miss the fish you're aiming for. In fact, it's seriously hard to aim period. You'll end up recasting more often than not. Fish come in the various sizes but they don't seem to have the darker or faded characteristics that can indicate whether it's a rare fish or not. The graphics make it hard to tell. The pros that i've already mentioned are welcomed but it doesn't negate the fact that I do not enjoy fishing like I did in previous games.

Mining/Lumbering Cons. You can no longer strike three times consecutively when mining/lumbering. This sucks lol. Even when you upgrade your axe or hammer, powering up the tool does nothing for getting wood and material stone--it only expands the area of your strike. So it takes longer to get wood/stone from stumps and rocks now since you have to strike the full 9 times but it's not too bad. It's also harder to aim now as well so that's also unfortunate.

Seasonal Fields? Kiss them goodbye! That's right, there are no seasonal fields in rf5 because devs are insane! You instead have the farm dragons that seem to look seasonal based on the fact that they are designed after elements like earth, water, and fire. But no, these dragons are simply extra fields for you to use. Here's a spoiler: you're not going to use those fields. You're just not. They're kinda useless unless you're obsessed with farming. Now you have to grow your crops out of season like the sad farmer that you are.

Farming cons. Seeds no longer tell you how long it takes to grow the crop. Why. As of June 29th, they fixed this with an update. But I still had to play the whole game without it so fuck you marvelous. The joystick is really sensitive? So when you're trying to use a fertilizer or something on your field you're likely to place it on the wrong 4x4 tile, wasting your fertilizer. So it’s best to hold down the R button when farming. Also the crops look uglie as hell.

Sleeping and warping cutscenes. Just like in rf4 there's a cutscene when you go to sleep that can be skipped easily by pressing A. In rf5, there's a cutscene to sleep and a cutscene when waking up. It takes a bit more than a second to skip these scenes so it gets annoying after a while. Warping is this new feature that replaces our beloved escape spell. Overall I appreciate the feature but I hate it for two reasons. One: there's an annoying ass cutscene for it each time you use it that could be much shorter. And Two: townsfolk now use warp even when inside the town. In previous games, someone exiting your party in town would just manually run to wherever they need to be. So you could easily chase after them if you need to talk to them or give them something. Now, party members use warp regardless of where you are at the time. So say you have someone at 7 hearts and you want to try confessing to them. You would have them join your party, save your game, and then have them leave your party and immediately speak to them and confess before they can run off. If it doesn't work you reload until it does. In RF5 this wouldn't work anymore because they will warp. Now you would have to save, run around town trying to find this person and hope they accept the confession. Otherwise you'll have to play hide and seek again because reloading your file will randomize the resident's locations (if they are not working in a shop)!!!! I often just waited until a festival day because then they will be at the plaza for most of the day and it has a warp point there.

Crafting/Forging/Cooking. They've removed the feature where you can press Y on the ingredients in the menu to add more of that particular item. I miss this feature :'(

Lacks incentive. There is no trophy room from my knowledge. The final dungeon that is meant to be like the sharance maze/rune prana isn't that hard to beat for skilled players and is only 20 floors. After you beat the main story and this dungeon there's not much else to do really.

Request Board. Unlike in rf4, you need to make sure you have accepted requests before you complete them or else it will not count. Previously, you could complete all sorts of tasks and Eliza would still recognize your work even if you accept their request after the fact. ie, shipping goods, harvesting crops, etc. So make sure you don't harvest your special crops before accepting the request it's for!

Return of the "Loli" Dragons... Yeah you read that right. We got more dragons in children's(???) bodies with skimpy clothes. I don't know anymore????¿¿¿

Can't marry the Milfs or Dilfs. Tragic.

Still no homo. Grow up Marvelous.

Reverse Proposal? Reverse Uno card-- Laid low by the patriarchy. You now have to buy the double bed and craft an engagement ring to propose to your man if you're playing as Alice. Marvelous this isn't what we meant when we said we wanted equal rightsssssss This can be seen as a pro if you're a softhearted babey who doesn't like rejecting bachelors' proposals because you feel bad :'( But this is a con for me because I don't want to spend money and materials on a double bed dammit!!!

Misc. Still can't stack dishes or fish. There's no green elemental fairy???All the other elemental ones are there except the green one? why??? Still can't tame the giant Wooly. Some bosses that have insanely awesome designs cannot be tamed and makes me wanna eat glass.

Let's talk about Love~

Relationships. We want them. And half of us only play these games for them. I've only played as the female heroine so far but I'll be updating this review as soon as I finish with the bachelorettes as the male hero.

Confessions

As usual, we must raise the love points of our beloved to 7 hearts before we can attempt to date them. However unlike in rf4, if you fail at a confession once, you will need to raise the LP up an entire level before you can try again with any chance of success. It's imperative you save before attempting a confession now.

Love Events

Each love interest has two love events that must be seen before you can date them. They're reminiscent of older game's style but I felt they could have been a biiiit more interactive or so? Or involved the town a bit more for some of them.

Dating

Once you get your honey to be your bf/gf, you get to choose the nicknames as usual. Then you can go on dates. The first three (non-festival) dates are actually events. You need to see all three events to get married.

Marriage Event

The final event you need to clear before you can marry your sweetie. In my honest opinion, so far for the boys, these events were rather disappointing. They lacked the drama and angst that sort of 'test' the love between the two when compared to rf4. Also this is a huge con for me personally and a minor spoiler but there are no special cutscenes at the end of the marriage event like in rf4. Instead, the cutscene takes place during your actual wedding. I was saddened by this because it took away the depth from the marriage events and the actual character? As it is just a cut and paste type of thing instead of an original cutscene for each person. They lack individualism this way. Also it kinda felt like a way for devs to avoid gay relationships and cut corners :^/....sus.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...

Children!!!!!! This is actually one of the coolest additions in the game. Just like in rf3, you can have up to 3 children again! Your first child will resemble you, and you will have the option to choose its gender as well as its personality. There are 6 different children, (3 boys and 3 girls), all with different hairstyles, mannerisms, and seiyuus. Your answers will determine which child you get. A year after your first child is born, you will get the option to have a second child. You'll end up with twins, both resembling your partner. You won't get to choose the genders (it will be a boy and girl) but you will get to choose the personalities once more. The children all have canon names too and each kid is incredibly cute. And of course, you're still able to take your kid with you in your party~ ...Though you can only take one kid with you at a time.

So is RF5 good?

Yeah it's a fun game! My theory is that Marvelous forced the devs to release the game earlier than they were ready for, and that's why it's so lacking. But that doesn't mean it's not worth playing! I'd rate it 3.5/5 stars hehe. Not nearly as good as RF4 (full stop 5/5), or RF3 (4/5) but enjoyable nonetheless. I wouldn't recommend it as a first game to play from the series for newcomers though, I feel it's best for vets who can overlook all the cons thanks to loyalty and nostalgia. By the time it’s released in the West, the bugs should all be dealt with too.

So! Definitely buy this game! We want the series to continue and we want RF6 to be better than this--and hopefully Marvelous will make sure of that next time. If you're not a picky person I think you'll enjoy rf5 a lot. If you're like me and have high standards then, well, still pick it up and let it run its course. Then dust off rf4sp and cleanse your gaming palette >;^)

[sicaminion]

//thg+mutant!AU no one really ask for (+my own spin off) i dont even think i have the energy and commitment to ever finish this but whatevaaaahhh for now. Let's just spam this new side blog of mine :))))

{prev.}

.

.

That afternoon Shouyou gave Natsu the bento he promised, wrapped prettily in bunny printed cloth he'd made when working in the printing machine a month ago. Today was Natsu's birthday and as per routine, each year they spent it in the woods at the back of their house. There was a small clearing there, where patches of persistent daisies gathered, facing towards the cliff that looked upon forbidden forest and the endless cloudless sky. Like every afternoons they spend on Natsu's birthday the sky was vibrant with color that day too. Pink, and purple, but mostly orange the same shade of Shouyou's hair.

Hinatas were known for their bright ginger hairs but no one had seen anyone with hair like his before. His wasn't ginger, his was orange. Like orange's orange. Long ago because of his unnatural, striking hair color, when he was little and it's normal for kids to still be without any mutations, people would assumed that he'd be one of the most powerful gifted in history. Old folks said that people with the most powerful gifts were born with some unnatural condition in their body, like the legendary small giant of their district. He had unnatural pupils not unlike a crow, the story said.

Shouyou used to hate his hair because then people saw him differently. The adults were all talking behind his back. They'd whispered and shared conspiracy theories that made him sound like some kind of monster. The other children avoided him like he's a ticking time bomb. 'Mom said that Hinata was dangerous. On the day his gift given he might kill us in accident.’ There were talks like that that made him had no friends till the age of 9. That's when Kouji and Izumi moved in from district 11 to 12.

Kouji and Izumi were both a year younger than him but they already had their gifts present. Kouji could walk himself through any physical matters. That's how he could sneaked from one factory to another without alarming the guards and sometimes helped Shouyou with his tasks. It also helped that his parents worked in the post office so he was the less poorer than the three, thus, he had lesser workloads. Meanwhile, Izumi had the ability to made everything he touched with his two index fingers multiple times heavier (or the opposite if he used both of his pinkies.) The quiet boy would help him whenever they shared the same schedule at the warehouses.

Both Kouji and Izumi had been such great friends to him. Ever since the moment they moved in they'd never been ones to listen to bad rumors about Shouyou. They befriended him then and still did so even when he was declared officially giftless and people started to avoid Shouyou for completely different reasons. ‘That Hinata is giftless, don't come near him or he'll rub his weakness on us!’—other kids used to said to him. It made the quiet, ever polite Izumi rolled his eyes, and spit angry words that would had made Shouyou and Kouji laughed and teased Izumi for losing his coolness after that.

But even giftless as he was, people still sometimes looked at Shouyou's hair weirdly and it made him self-conscious and feeling down that even his friends couldn't cheer him up. Except Natsu, his dearest most precious little sister.

“Nii-san's hair is pretty,” she had once stated proudly in front of other children his age one day when Shouyou came to pick him up from the shabby warehouse where kind Shiba-grandma taught children to read every Mondays and Tuesdays, and they had looked at him weirdly. “Pretty like sunsets and sweet sweet orange! Natsu likes nii-san's hair!”

Shouyou remembered his sister bright smile and the look of adoration in her eyes. One that reserved for her one and only brother that wouldn't be affected by other people's opinions. Because theirs didn't matter. For Natsu, Shouyou's hair was pretty, and for Shouyou, as long as Natsu likes it then he would like it too.

.

“Nii-san here, today's thankyou-bite is katsu.” Shouyou smiled as Natsu prompted him to open his mouth. It was their family tradition—for every birthday, the one who celebrate it should give others a thankyou-bite from their meals. The richer kids probably cut their birthday cake and give it to their loved ones but not the Hinatas—they would make up whatever they could from their meager birthday meals.

“Thank you Natsu.” Shouyou brushed the younger's head affectionately. He made sure he chewed the small bite as long as he could and savored the taste to remember later. Today Natsu was 8 years old. Gradually his little sister would grow up, older and more until the day come when he won't get to call her ‘little’ anymore. Natsu was savoring the food too. Shouyou had seen her praying a bit longer than usual before she started eating. Today was absolutely important for both of them for more than one obvious reasons.

For a moment after Natsu finished the bento there was silence between them. When Natsu took his hand and gripped them between her chubby hands, Shouyou knew what was coming.

“Tomorrow is the day of the reaping,” Natsu started so softly, it almost sounded like she was whispering the words instead. “Nii-san is 15 now.”

“I am.” Shouyou squeezed his sister's hand. “You know what'll happen tomorrow right?”

Natsu nodded. She had her head bowed down that Shouyou couldn't see the look on her face. “They'll make people from the age of 15 to 22 to lined up in front of the podium. You'll be there.”

Shouyou heard the last part told with wavering voices. He lifted up her little sister's face by a tender touch on her chin. There he saw Natsu's eyes had already glistened with tears. “And you will stay with Kouji and Izumi and listen to what they said until I come back,” he told her.

But come back from what? And for how long? The most important questions left unasked and unanswered.

Natsu pulled him for a hug. Her tiny arms squeezed him as she cried quietly as if to hide it from her brother. “I love you nii-san,” she muttered. “I'll wait for you, so please come back.”

Shouyou pulled her in as tight as he could without hurting her. His eyes started to sting but he bit his lips and hold it in. (“You have to be stronger now Shou,” he remembered his mother told him before she disappeared forever, “for both you and her because from now on you two only have each other. Everything is gonna be so much harder but I always know I could lean on you. She would too.”)

There would be times for him to be afraid and scared, to worry and to cry as much as he needed to. Just not now, not in front of his little sister.

Later. He would let go later. Now though, now was for Natsu

.

“I will,” he promised both of them.

—

At night they presented the board and Shouyou was topping everyone with more than 500 points difference. He knew it already but that night he still went to the forbidden forest and cried. When he'd felt better and decided to went back, he arrived at home to Natsu, Kouji, and Izumi encouragements. They all supporting red eyes that night but smiles were shared and hugs were readily given when they gathered around the bonfire at the same clearing Shouyou and Natsu had spent time this afternoon.

Shouyou had also seen some other teenagers and young adults whose name displayed on the board after the announcement. If anyone felt confident they won't get pick after knowing Shouyou's predicament they didn't show it. What Shouyou had seen were grim eyes and sadness, lost and forced smile, shared among children and their parents, between couples, and among friends.

That night Shouyou was reminded once again how they're all just the same one way or another. Oppressed, miserable, helpless, under the tyrants who called themselves The World Government.

—

{next.}

.

.

////alkdjfld this is like prologue leading to the selection and actual hunger games (of kids with supernatural abilities heck yea :) i still need to explain why people in the districts have these powers and shouldn't that made them feeling confident to do revolution anyway? But nah not really, they're oppressed for so so so sssoooo long. They haveave no combat training, they don't even have the number, the resources, or the willpower for that matter. That's also why the WG made these kids go to thg, so they could keep track on the kind of powers the next gen in the districts have and to level the possible threats. They'll sabotage the game anyway and make the most pliable champion win and then the winner of thg will be more or less the WG puppet (and human weapon but sssssshhhh ;)) /////also, aw poor Hinata going to be thrown up to join battle to the death between some questionable characters in the future, all alone giftless (but not helpless! Noooooo) //////THERE WILL BE KAGEHINA OF COURSE!!!!! BECAUSE OTP IS THE ONLY REASON I WANNA WRITE THIS TBH LOL but laterrrrrrr much much later orz

[fuckyeahseekeroftruth]

Howdy! Are you currently taking prompts off of the drabble list? If so, how about “I always want to kiss you,” for whichever pairing you'd like? :)

From this list here. Sorry, it took so long. It’s always a challenge for me to write on request which is why I welcome it! I think this got a tad long lol!

Cullen x Cassandra pairing:

  Cullen not being at the main gate to greet them gave Cassandra pause as the Command always seemed to be the first person waiting for them. When he didn’t show for their quick debrief in the War Room of the chantry, Cassandra became flooded with worry. Making an excuse for a quick exit, Cassandra worked her way back through Haven to Cullen’s dwelling.

  Her knock went unanswered.

  Cassandra slipped inside and her heart shot straight into her throat. Lying flat on his back and thrashing slightly about was Cullen gripped in the throes of his withdrawals. How long had he been like this? Cassandra carefully stepped over the little armor he managed to take off before falling into bed. He was still even in his boots.

  “Cullen?” She touched a hand to his face and worry plunged straight into fear. Maker, his skin felt like fire. Stroking her thumb along his scar, Cassandra called out for him again and this time he stirred. “Cullen? Can you open your eye?”

  His lids fluttered but never opened.

  At least he could hear her. That gave Cassandra some reassurance his mind wasn’t completely lost to the fever. “Listen, I’m going to be right back.”

  Cullen let out a soft moan.

  It was always absolutely heart wrenching to see him in such a state. She placed a gentle kiss on his burning brow. “Stay with me, Commander.”

  Cassandra tried to be as quick and efficient in collecting her supplies from her room without drawing attention to her return back to Cullen’s dwelling. She locked the door behind her to keep anyone else inquiring about the absent Commander from walking in and finding him in such a state. He hadn’t moved. Cassandra didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing.

  Placing her satchel on the bedside table, she worked freeing Cullen from the confines of his armor and boots. She needed to cool him down as quickly as possible. When she got him down to his tunic and leathers, she ripped the fabric of his top as it was easier than trying to wrestle it over his head.

  After fetching a bowl of water, Cassandra sat on the edge of the bed ready to help him starve off his fever. She placed a damp cloth over his forehead and started bathing his face, neck, and chest with another. Worried about the temperature of his skin, Cassandra almost went to get some snow and pack it around him.

  She’d gone and refilled the bowl twice when his breathing became labored and he started to thrash about. He told her that his fever drew out the worst of his nightmares. Twisting old memories with new, leaving him disoriented upon awake as Cullen struggled with what was real and what was a trick of the fade. Talking always seem to help soothe him. Cassandra began to rattle on about her trip to the Storm Coast. She had just gotten to the part of the Inquisitor accepting the bandit leader’s challenge when his large hand covered hers, trapping it against his warm chest.

  She held her breath and waited.

  “Cassandra?” His voice was hoarse and low.

  “Expecting someone else?”

  Cullen’s head lulled in her direction, unfocused amber eyes staring up at her. A delirious, almost dreamy smile, crossed his flushed face. “You’re back.”

  He sounded so delighted by the face it made Cassandra’s heart kick pleasantly in her chest. He would speak to her from time to time in a tone about things that always seemed to be lost on him when he surfaced that Cassandra never brought up anything he said. Even if she desperately wanted to in order to find out if it was only the fever that made him say such things.

  “This morning,” Cassandra informed freeing his hand to keep bathing his skin.

  “Wasn’t there.” His features sobered. “That worried you. Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize.”

  The smile returned as he reached up to skim a finger over his chin. “I missed you.”

  These were the things that made Cassandra wonder if he thought of her in ways that surpassed friendship. He dropped off before she could even think of a reply. She would be lying to herself and the Maker if she said that this man hadn’t caused her more than a few restless nights. Since he wouldn’t remember, Cassandra caressed his cheek like a lover would. “I missed you too.”

  With the Sun dropping low in the sky, Cassandra left his side to light a few candles and lanterns around the room.

  Cullen came too with her gone, panicked. “No! Cassandra!”

  “I’m right here,” Cassandra tried to assure, but it was like her words didn’t register.

  “Stop! Not her!” His cries echoed around the room. “Please! Cassandra!”

  “Cullen, look at me.” Rushing back to his side, she knelt over him to take his face in her hands hoping to quiet him before his screams drew attention from someone outside. “Open your eyes and you’ll see I’m okay. I’m right here.”

  Cullen’s heavy lids opened and he let out a heavy sigh of relief. “They took you,” He mumbled. “Hurt you. Couldn’t get to you.”

  Shaking her head, Cassandra brushed his mused curls from his brow. “No, I’m right here. We’re in Haven.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” He relaxed at her words and Cassandra watched him drift in and out for a few moments until he returned to her with a smile that nearly left her breathless. “Hey.”

  “Maker, you're beautiful.”

  Best distance herself, Cassandra mused only Cullen moved faster than her. She bit back a sigh as he ran the pads of his fingers over her lips. She tried to draw away but found she couldn’t. “Cullen.” He had said many things like this to her, however, this was the first time he touched her in such a manner.

  “Wanted to kiss you. That night outside the Hanged Man.”

  She sucked in a breath at his feverish confession.

  Cullen’s smile grew. “Probably would’ve kicked my ass if I tried.”

  “Probably.”

  “I look at you every day and fight the urge to kiss you. I get distracted in the War Room. You don’t notice,” He said sadly. “Leliana does.”

  Did he? Cassandra thought to their meetings and always found she concluded such moments were due to him being lost in thoughts of battle strategies.  “I wish you would.” The confession fell from her lips in a whisper leaving her mortified. She pulled away before any more could slip out. “Rest.”

  “You stay?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  His fever broke right before dawn and only then did Cassandra allow herself to rest. She pulled up a chair to his bedside, sleep claiming her within moments.

  Cullen awoke with a clear mind and an aching body. He tried to move and fell back on a groan. He was far too weak for that. “Cassandra.” He knew she was there before her honey suckle scent hit him.

  The Seeker came awake instantly. “Are you okay?”

  “Headache, body feels like I’ve been mauled by a couple dragons. You know the usual.”

  She was already moving to sit on the edge of the bed, potions in hand. “Here.”

  Cullen knew it was her nasty elf root brew as that was always to first one she gave him. With her help. He lifted his head to down the liquid in one gulp. The stamina potion followed, giving life back to his throbbing body. It might be his tired mind, but Cullen swore he felt her fingers caress his scalp before withdrawing her hand. “How long?”

  “I’m not sure.” Cassandra placed the empty vials aside. “I returned yesterday to find you already gripped by a fever. What is the last thing you remember?”

  He thought for a long moment. “Evening meal. Scouts brought us word that you would be returning in two days’ time.”

  “So, three days.”

  “No wonder I have to piss,” He grumbled mostly to himself angered that once again he was too weak to fight off his withdrawal symptoms. Maker, what she must think of him.

  “You have to be starving. I’m going to get you some food.”

  He caught her by the arm before she could move, drawing a concerned gaze. “Thank you, Cassandra.”

  Her expression shifted into a soft smile. “Anytime, Commander.”

  He stopped her again this time at the door. “Did you mean it?” Cullen softly asked.

  Andraste’s mercy. Of all the times for him to remember something during a fever. She looked over her shoulder finding his amber eyes watching her intently. Thought her heart was hammering in her throat, Cassandra kept her voice steady as she asked, “Did you?”

  Cullen shook his head.

  “Every day?”

  He flushed. “Yes.”

  “Since Kirkwall?”

  By the light, how much did he actually say? He remembered bits of pieces of what transpired during his fevers, but this was the first time she said anything in response to his ramblings. “You’re avoiding my question.”

  She was, wasn’t she? That was unlike her. Taking a small breath, Cassandra pushed away from the door. 

Cullen began to panic as she was approaching him with an expression he’d seen only in the sparring ring. As silly as it was, he braced himself, utterly unprepared for what happened next.

  Taking his face in her hands, Cassandra pressed her lips to his. The kiss was firm and quick. Long enough to get her answer across. “I’ll be right back.”

  He smiled. “I eagerly await your return.”