#i truly enjoy seeing the game crash when I teleport | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

deejadabbles · 5 years ago

Text

Spells of Defiance (Atem x Reader x Yugi) Chapter 1

One: Atem

One //// Two //// Three //// Four //// Five //// Six //// Seven //// [Eight coming soon]

Summary: The Circle of Magicians protects the world from rogue, murderous fey. The police who keep bloodsuckers and flesh-eaters in check. You've hunted vampires for years, earning a reputation as one of the best magicians in that field; but what happens when an encounter with a particular vampire makes your already fragile loyalties split?

Supernatural/Demon Hunter AU. Vampire!Atem x Reader x Incubus!Yugi (yes, a polyamorous relationship). Warnings for cursing, vulgar language, violence, and some sexual themes.

This is a fic I’ve already posted this on my AO3 but I wanted to spread the Yu-gi-oh x Reader love here on tumblr.

A.N: For those of you who are new to this story, I want to mention that I took commonplace supernatural/fey lore and mixed it with my own ideas. I also took some inspiration from the original Yu-gi-oh series, like calling magic users "magicians" instead of witches or sorcerers. Hope you guys enjoy the ride~

Warehouses and abandoned buildings. Why was it always one of the two? Honestly neither were all that abundant in terms of being empty and isolated enough to be a useful hidey hole, but this one had managed to find one worthy of a Batman villain. Boarded up windows, isolated from the brunt of the nearby city, and not queued for any restoration projects. Good. That meant you could let loose without worry for innocent bystanders.

The creature screeched as you threw him to the ground, sputtering and hissing at your feet, but stunned all the same. The ones who trained you to fight these creatures knew what they were doing when they branded your right palm with the magician's enchanted seal. It helped channel your magic and you called up a flame bright, hot, and particularly threatening to the fanged thing before you.

"Let's try that again," you asked evenly, despite the thundering of your heart and heat of adrenaline that a fight always gave you. "I'm going to ask a question about your boss and you're going to answer me. Simple as that."

Apparently recovered from your last attack, your target snapped his head back up at you, fangs bared, hissing, eyes bulging, and body taught for an attack. You were ready when he leaped and you threw your fire spell at his airborne form. The screech of pain didn't surprise you, what did was the fact that the beast endured the pain enough to charge through the flames and closer to you! A reflexive dodge wasn't quite enough this time and you felt the vampire's fangs sink in deep and hot into the flesh of your right wrist.

You stifled the shout of pain as both of you stumbled to the ground, him pinning you down with one hand on your throat, the other on the arm he was clamped to. Another surprise came in the form of white-hot pain searing through the flesh of your hand. That wasn't right. Vampire bites didn't cause such pain. You looked over to see the enchanted seal on your hand pulsating in time with the stabs of agony.

'What the-' Just as quickly as the thought came you shook it from your mind. 'Focus, damn it!'

Though the seal was there to help you channel your magic, it was not completely necessary and you charged another spell into your left hand. Fire crackled on your fist as you drove it into the vampire's temple. It reared back with another hissing wail and a second punch, this time to the gut, caused him to fly back and crash into one of the half-rotted walls.

Pain still throbbed in your right arm as you stood and you chanced a glance at the wound. As expected the fang wounds were healing instantly, the vampire's toxin doing its job. Still, the fact that your magician's seal hurt at all was cause for concern.

No time to think about it now, however. Your eyes snapped back to the vampire. He was poising himself on all fours, a malicious brand of mirth in his eyes as his tongue lapped at the smear of blood on the corner of his mouth.

"Hmm, you taste good, little magician. I gonna enjoy sucking you dry." His voice was like nails dragging across metal, just an add-on to make your skin crawl all the more.

Then he was leaping at you again, but your willingness to play the fighting game was gone with his last attack. Time to end this. He closed in, likely thinking himself victorious, but you pulled your dagger out in a flash. The silver blade slashed across his face, gouging and burning deep. The pain made him fall to your feet and you could actually hear the sizzling of his skin.

"Fire and silver, a blood-sucker's biggest weaknesses. Honestly, it's almost unfair how much advantage I have over you, vampire. Now," you grabbed him by the collar, his twig-like frame making it easy to hoist him up into the air, "unless you want me to start making fancy burn marks on your skin with my silver friend here, you're going to come with me quietly. Then, you're going to tell the Circle of Magicians all you know about Marik."

He struggled against your grip, his strength returning, though all you had to do to make him wilt was hold the flat of the silver blade dangerously close to his face. "If I talk, the Vampire King will kill me! Besides, if he doesn't get to me first, the Circle will kill me anyway! They burn any rogue fey they come across."

"True," you conceded, "they don't take kindly to human killers like you. But, if you came with me, I can promise a quick death." For dramatic effect, you quirked an eyebrow at him, "Will Marik give you the same if I throw you back to him?"

The vamp was sweating now, eyes darting all around, feet weakly kicking in a fit. Then, his posture stiffened, "I have a better idea."

Much like he had with the fire, he took the pain of the silver and kicked you hard in the gut. You dropped him reflexively and he took the chance to run at one of the boarded up windows. What was he- it was three in the afternoon!

"Stop! The sun-"

Too late, he crashed through the wood and into open sunlit air. It didn't take long for the sun to ignite his body in flames. He was just dust by the time you got to the window and looked at the ground below. You cursed under your breath, slamming your fist into the frame of the window. He was your only lead in this case and chose suicide by sunlight over facing Marik's wrath. The Council was not going to be happy about this.

Teleportation spells had never been your forte, but you were desperate to get back to the Sanctuary, take a long scalding shower, and dive into your next possible lead, given that your last had just thrown himself into the sun.

The Sanctuary was the headquarters for the Circle of Magicians. It was a sprawling structure, only two stories high but crossed enough square feet to be considered quite an impressive castle. Well, a human realtor might throw it in that or the mansion category if they even knew about the place. Enchantments assured that no one besides a magician with a palm seal, or a visitor escorted by one could enter the Sanctuary grounds. Why they called it that name was beyond you, the place was a haven for no one, truly.

The other magicians paid you and your bloodied clothes no mind as you walked the halls, knowing that unless you were collapsing on the floor from injuries, there was little cause for worry. Life in the Circle did that to a person. Made one desensitized to blood and gore, or just about everything horrifying really. One does not sling spells and hunt demons for a living without such a particular defense mechanism.

Still, the idea of rinsing off the blood was a heavenly concept. Luckily most of it wasn't your own, but vampire blood had a particular stench to it. You turned the water on hot and had just removed your jacket and shirt when the door to the showers was thrown open. A familiar voice practically shouted your name as a brunette rounded the corner of your stall.

"Mana, what is it, what's wrong?"

"We have to go, now! They got tired of waiting and they moved his hearing up- they're putting him on trial now!"

Ice filled your veins in an instant. "What?!" How could they possibly-

"Hurry! You're the only one interested in proving he's innocent!"

Mana took the liberty of shutting off the shower head as you threw your shirt back on. Somehow, taking off a wet, putrid garment only to put it back on was more uncomfortable than having it on originally, but that was only a passing thought as you bolted out of the door with your fellow magician.

To most, the idea that a member of the Circle was concerned with the innocence of a fey was laughable. The Circle and its members hunted fey who stepped out of line and when one was accused of crossing that line, there was usually evidence enough not to question it. Or so they liked to say.

This time there was evidence, however. The problem was that you were the only one who knew about this particular man's innocence and the Council seemed disinterested with your testimony.

You had been tracking the vampire cult ruled the mysterious Marik for a while and had busted several of the follower's hideouts. They were human killers and were trialed as such, but then, you had found him. He got to the abandoned house before you, already disposed of two cultists and had a third by the throat when you burst in. At first, he had asked you to leave the situation to him, much to your annoyance. Of course, when back up in the form of nearly a dozen vamps showed up to kill their intruders, he was all too happy to accept your help. Honestly, you would have been in bad shape if it wasn't for him watching your back as well.

It was a short battle, but he proved himself worthy of your alliance in those moments- but then your own backup had come. Seeing a vampire covered in blood had been all that the other magicians needed to pin him down and place a binding spell on him, so that he could be carried back to the Sanctuary and put on trial with Marik's followers. Mana was right to say you seemed to be the only one who gave a damn about his innocence.

The doors to the trial hall came into view, but so too did the last person you wanted to see right now. The built blonde was leaning against the wooden doors and he smirked that condescending, almost sickening smirk when he turned his shaded eyes toward your thundering feet.

"Well well, come to watch the show?"

"Out of my way, Keith," you didn't bother hiding the hiss in your tone, wanting every ounce of intimidation you could muster.

His smirk only lengthened. "Aw, are you mad that your pet's being put down? Seriously, why do you give a damn if they put the cross to him? He's a vamp, a pretty old one from what they can tell, too. Probably killed plenty of people in his day."

"He's innocent, the Council needs to hear what she has to say!" Mana pipped up, actually daring to step between you and Keith to glare up at the man. For such a small girl, she could glare like a champ.

"The Council don't give a damn. We found him at the cult house, he's a vampire, pretty obvious he's following Marik."

You let out a growl and started to push past the blonde, "I don't have time for this, out of my way!"

Even if you hadn't hated Keith to the bone since you trained together as kids, you still would have acted on instinct when he grabbed hold of your arm. Fire was called to the seal on your palm and you turned into the force he pulled you back with; using the momentum to ram the heel of your hand into his gut. The contact was brief, but your fire spell had enough to work with and his jacket quickly caught fire. He'd survive, but the profanity-ridden distraction was enough for you to push open the doors to the trial room.

They gave a resounding crash from the force you used, effectively drawing everyone's attention as you entered and threw the doors shut behind you. The Council was a gray-haired, wrinkled lot, who all donned the same robes as they sat on their chairs, raised high on a platform so that the one on trial felt small beneath them. Of course, even with the trouble he was in, you doubted this vampire ever felt small beneath anyone.

And oh had they tried.

Not only was he bound by the usual enchanted chains, but a binding circle glowed on the floor around him, something that was usually reserved for the most dangerous fey. You were surprised that he could move at all, but he still turned his head at your arrival and locked eyes with you. Even under threat of death, Atem's eyes looked so calm.

You couldn't get lost in those eyes now and you gave yourself a mental shake before you could. That's when you noticed a third precaution the Council had taken to keep Atem in line. A muzzle of all things. The fact that he had yet to fight back against any of his magician captors meant nothing apparently.

"What do you think you're doing?!" shouted one of the council mages.

You met his glare head-on, approaching the center of the room to stand beside Atem as you spoke. "I'm here to give my testimony to the Council. I stand by my initial report that the one on trial is innocent."

Silence for just a second, then some whispers, and finally: "Yes yes, we know what your report said. However, since you have yet to bring us a live member of Marik's cult to confirm that this man is not also a member, we must take action."

"Hold a moment," drawled a third voice, looking at you with a somehow lazy interest. "Wasn't she just on a mission to capture a solo agent of the cult? Were you successful in capturing it?"

Shame boiled up from your gut. The feeling was not unfamiliar, however, the feeling not being a result of the Council's disappointment was. You didn't care about your failure in their eyes. No, you were ashamed because you had failed the vampire beside you.

"No. When I apprehended him, he committed suicide by sunlight rather than betray his master."

The second who had spoken clicked her tongue. "I see. And do you have any other proof, besides your word, that the vampire is innocent?"

Again shame reared inside your chest. You could feel Atem's eyes looking at you out of their corners. Would you see disappointment there if you glanced back? Instead, you kept your eyes locked on the magicians before you.

"No. But my word should be enough. What reason would I have to lie?"

The one with lazy interest shrugged, "You would not be the first magician to cover for a criminal fey."

"But he isn't a criminal!" You tempered the volume of your voice in an instant, knowing that yelling would not make them hear your plea any better. To show composure, you took in a deep breath. "Our duty is to protect everyone from rogue, murderous fey. That protection doesn't end at humans, we're supposed to protect other fey as well. Force a truth potion down my throat to prove I'm not lying if you want. The vampire known as Atem is innocent."

The Council fell to whispering between one another again and in that reprieve, you noticed Atem shift beside you. Finally, you looked at him again, just a slight turn of your head. The muzzle prevented him from speaking, but he didn't need words, his eyes said all they needed to. The potent emotion behind them actually caught you off guard. Damn, you had only known him a few days but somehow, his eyes had this strange effect on you. Feelings that were foreign to you stirred and you clenched your jaw as if that would keep them at bay. He seemed so...thankful. You just hoped it was enough.

A councilman spoke your name and the two of you turned your attention back to them. "We have taken your testimony under great consideration. However, the other vampire we caught the day Atem was apprehended gave his own testimony. He insists that this vampire is also a follower of Marik's cult. We must be thorough in our purging of this threat. The vampire on trial will be executed in forty hours."

"No!"

Your exclamation was lost as the councilman clapped his hands and a boom echoed out from them like thunder; their version of a gavel. One by one the members rose from their seats and Atem was suddenly tugging at his chains.

"Best not fight, vampire," said another councilwoman, her tone cold as she waved her hand, casting a spell.

The marks on the chains glowed and Atem could only give a closed-mouthed shout of pain as he was brought to his knees. The light of the binding circle around him rose, making a transparent cocoon to further encage him.

No, no! This was cruel. This was wrong! They didn't give a damn about justice!

"Stop! You don't have to hurt him!"

The one who was so disinterested during the trial still sounded quite bored as he said, "Remove her, please, before she does something else foolish."

You had barely even registered the magicians who had been standing guard by the door, but now they closed in on you. You couldn't strike them like you had Keith, especially not with your superiors right there. They dragged you out with minimal force, but you could still hear Atem's struggles as they closed the doors behind you.

You had never been placed in security details, your gift for fire spells usually landed you on hunting missions for vampires and other fey weak to the element. Still, you knew the prison wing of the Sanctuary well, and it was not unusual to see you there. You used that to your advantage, leaning up against the wall by the door that led to the wing, waiting for the late shift to start. This time period would ensure the most privacy, the least likely for anyone to overhear what you had to say to Atem.

Finally, you heard footsteps and you knew the inspection crew was done making their daily rounds in the cells. Still wary that they might bar you from entering the wing, you took a step back, hoping to go less noticed by the group. The doors opened and the crew stepped out, barely taking notice to you as they continued down the hall, likely on their way to get something to eat. Only one gave you more than a passing glance.

Mahad was head of security at the Sanctuary and, though fair, was one of the more likely magicians to shoo you away, knowing exactly why you were there. He paused in his steps for a second, his blue eyes locking firm on your own. Then, he only sighed and gave you a very pointed look that conveyed a very firm order of: 'don't do anything you'll regret', before he continued on his way as well.

Even if you had planned some rule breaking plot, you knew there was little chance of executing it now. If his guards found Atem's cell empty, he would waste no time in telling the Council who he saw. He was a fair, good man, but ultimately a follower of the Circle's law.

The mark on your right hand allowed you to enter the prison wing without question after you pressed it to the flat surface where a handle would normally be on the door. The cells had a low occupant rate, like usual, but they had still shoved Atem deep within the prison; isolated even from the few other prisoners. The hallway was dark and you couldn't see Atem even as the silver-coated bars of his cell came into view.

He must have smelled your scent on their air, however, because even though he stood in the center of the cell, his back turned to the bars, he addressed you the moment you reached them. "You shouldn't have come."

"It's not against regulations for me to visit the cells."

Atem sighed before finally turning towards you. "I don't want you to get into any more trouble because of me."

You only shrugged. "I just...I needed to see you after all that. I'm pissed that they made a show out of your trial. We only take precautions like that with high-level fey and you've shown no violent tendencies since they arrested you. A muzzle for god sakes!"

The scarlet eyed vampire managed a smirk before his eyes glanced over your new, clean clothes. "You made quite the entrance. Fierce and bloodstained. You looked like Sekhmet incarnate."

His tone said that he was saying the last bit to himself, almost absentmindedly, but you found your curiosity piqued. "Sekhmet, that's the Egyptian goddess of war, right?"

Atem nodded. "In a way. She is a warrior goddess, but, also the goddess of healing. Strength and gentleness intertwined perfectly."

Something in his eyes said that the hearing was not the first time the comparison of you to a goddess came to his mind. Again, unfamiliar feelings bubbled up and you swallowed hard, throwing a very firm lock on the sensation. Still, him speaking of ancient gods of the sands said a lot. Hunt vampires long enough and you get pretty good at telling whether one was turned in the last few decades, centuries, or even farther back. Everything about Atem spoke of an old world neglected by time. His skin, though pale from centuries or more of having to avoid the sun, seemed to have once had a richer complexion. His clothes, though not unusual to the modern eye, had a timelessness to them. Plain cotton shirt, dark pants, and metal jewelry that looked forged by rough hands instead of a factory's machine. Had he possibly come from the time of Sekhmet and pharaohs?

"Thank you."

His words brought you out of your musings, and you had to blink a few times to realize what he'd said. "Why are you thanking me? Nothing I did seemed to make a difference."

Instead of a smirk, he actually gave you a smile, a soft, genuine smile. He stepped closer to the bars, close enough to stay just out of reach of the silver's burning effect. "Still. You did not give up on helping me. If I'm honest, I would have never suspected anyone in the Circle would care for a vampire at all. Yet, here you are, defying your leaders and putting your reputation on the line, for me. A creature you've been taught to kill first and ask questions of later."

And there it was. What most fey thought of your kind. Magicians were the worst of police, the kind who kept peace by any means necessary and told the very people they clenched their fists around that it was for their own good. You had been born into that life, spending your whole youth under the Circle and training to serve them. Even with either constant teachings that magicians did what they had to in order to keep the peace, you saw their prejudices and their cruelty for what it really was. Did you really deserve a thank you for being slightly less brutal than that?

"The Council is wrong," you whispered and if it weren't for the stone silence of the prison wing, he might not have even heard you.

"That may be, but you've done all you can, and I thank you for that."

Lies. There was more you could do and...and that defeated, resolute tone of his last words made your next decision firm. There was more you could do. You had thought about it every moment since the end of his sentencing. It was the only way and it didn't even seem that hard of a choice. You weren't going to let them kill Atem.

You almost acted on the thought now, but caught yourself quickly. You had to be patient. You had over a day to plan, and there were more opportune times than now to execute said plan. Besides, you figured that if you brought it up now, Atem would just deny your help and stubbornly stay in his cell. Await death rather than risk your safety like some damn chivalrous knight. Maybe when he spent all whole night in the cell as a condemned man, he'd be more willing to let you help him escape.

Again you were brought out of your musings when Atem called your name.

"May I ask one more favor of you?" he asked with some small hesitance. "There is someone very important to me, he is likely already frantic that he hasn't heard from me these past few days. Tomorrow, could you go to him and tell him what happened? Tell him how sorry I am that I let myself get caught up in this- that I let my need for revenge bring me here." Heavy emotion had marred his speech and Atem had to draw in a breath to steady himself. "I just want him to know that I didn't abandon him... And how sorry I am."

"What's his name?" you asked, the gentleness in your voice surprising even yourself.

"Yugi. He owns a magic shop in Domino. He is...very special to me. What I regret the most about all of this, is not being able to see him again."

You chose your reply carefully, you didn't want him to catch on to the plan brewing in your mind yet. You couldn't let him know how determined you were to make sure he saw this person again. Not yet.

"Don't worry, Atem. Yugi will know exactly how you feel." You needed another topic, so he couldn't analyze your words too much. Your eyes scanned the small cell and finally took notice to something odd. "They didn't give you any blood to drink?"

"No. I was assuming they would wait until hours before my execution to feed me. A last meal of sorts."

"Idiots. If they starve you too long you'll go into a blood-rage and they'll actually need that magic muzzle."

You had seen enough vampires in blood-rages over the years. It was a gory affair that should be avoided at all costs. Even a vampire as peaceful as Atem would turn into little more than a rabid animal when starved; the bloodlust overriding any sense of humanity.

Not only was that something to be avoided, but he would be weak as a sick child by tomorrow.

The bars of the cell were wide enough for you to get your hand through, so, you pushed back the left sleeve of your shirt. He must not have suspected you to offer, because shock flashed in his eyes when you slipped your hand passed the bars and bore your wrist to him.

"Here," you had to clear your throat, the words having come out as little more than a whisper for some reason. "You need to eat, take some of my blood."

Shocked turned into something hard and almost pained as he took your hand and pushed it back towards the silver bars. "No. You've done more than enough for me as it is, I won't take your blood too." He flinched in pain as the silver burned him, his fangs flashing in reaction.

"It's alright, Atem." You pressed closer to the bars, pushing him back out of the silver's reach, but did not withdraw your hand from his grip. "I need you at full strength and it's not as if I don't know what I'm doing. I trust you, I know you won't take too much. Besides," a playful grin lifted your lips as you waved your right palm at him, the seal there visible even in the dim light, "it isn't like I'm helpless to stop you."

Honestly, all you really needed to do if your blood tasted too good, was jerk him hard enough to slam him against the bars and he'd let go of you on reflex from the burning if nothing else. You decided to keep that thought to yourself though.

Those eyes of his burned into yours, a silent way of asking if you were absolutely sure. When you answered back with unwavering certainty in your own gaze, his shoulders finally relaxed just a bit and he closed his eyes with a sigh.

He turned your hand so the inside of your wrist faced him and he lifted it slowly, as if giving you even more time to change your mind before the skin met his mouth. You took in a slow breath as his lips parted, revealing long, thin fangs just a second before they bit down. The slight sting was nothing, quickly being replaced with the curative lacing his fangs that numbed any piercing sensation, as well as the feeling of blood passing through the wound.

Even if vampire bites did hurt longer than that split second, Atem had a special kind of gentleness about him. He held your arm in a firm grip so that the instinct to pull away would not tear the punctures any larger, and you blushed when you realized that his thumb was running soothing circles along your forearm just below the bite.

You knew that some vampires survived by making pacts with humans or other fey, offering some kind of service in exchange for letting them drink small amounts of said partner's blood to survive. You had assumed Atem was one who chose animal blood over a human or fey host, but the way he handled you with such care made you reconsider that assumption.

Finally, cold air hit your wrist as he pulled back. Though, even more heat rose in your cheeks when you felt his tongue dart out to collect any blood that spilled before his curative healed the wound. The hand that had run so gently over your arm moved to cover the place he bit, though there wasn't even a scar or sign of wound at all now. When he looked up at you, the hands cupped over yours tightened just a bit.

"Your face is flushed- do you feel alright?"

In his worry, Atem tried to step closer to you, but the bars ensured his distance. You were quick to alleviate the guilt and shame taking his features.

"I'm fine, Atem. Not even light-headed." You paused a moment, making sure he didn't need any more reassurance, then asked, "Think it'll be enough to get you through the night?"

"Yes, more than enough." His mouth opened to say something else, but he must have thought better of it, because instead he only said, "Thank you. Now please, go get something to eat, it will prevent any fatigue or dizziness."

You actually scoffed at that, "I know how to handle blood loss, Atem." Indeed, the aftermath of a particularly nasty fight with a murderous werewolf came flooding back to you.

"Still, I've kept you down here too long. Get some rest and...again, thank you."

#atem x reader #yugi x reader #yami x reader #yugi mutou #Atem #yami yugi #poly relationship #poly reader insert #atem x reader x yugi #yugi x reader x yami #series: spells of defiance

64 notes · View notes

rwbyconversations · 6 years ago

Text

Why Oscar’s writing has been disappointing

Stories rely on their characters. You can tell a grand, sweeping narrative that spans continents and timelines but if you don’t give a rats ass about the people at the center of these events, viewers won’t care. Stories with high kill-counts like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Attack on Titan rely on audiences forming an attachment with characters very quickly, so that the possibility of their sudden death is all the more painful for the viewer. Long story short, if you can’t make an audience care about your character, it can be hard to keep them interested.

RWBY has overall done a fantastic job at getting people to fall for its cast; I’m a case in point with how hard I’ll go to bat for Emerald and Mercury. But be it the obvious choices in the main cast, the wide array of villains to obsess over. The fandom even has a few eccentric folk who stan for people not seen in years! (shoutout to CFVY fans, who knew you’d get rewarded over the whole Coco in Chibi thing by getting a book?) But rather unfortunately, while one character has managed to earn a fanbase happy to see them get content, the writing has consistently failed one particular character, through constant refusals to allow them the screentime they deserve and often putting it in the wrong places when they do get morsels of time to shine each year.

Oh no, not you. I’ll get back to you before this hiatus is out.

... actually why are his gloves orange of all colors? And what’s with the banages, is he planning on cosplaying Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs at an Atlas convention during the off-season?

Yeah, no, I’m talking about Oscar Pine. First introduced in Volume 4, Oscar has now been a part of the main cast for half of the show’s runtime. In that time Oscar has developed psychosis, met a ticket-punching man, got stuck in a house for a month, fought a teleporting staircase man, was involved in a train crash, bought new clothes, and stole military property.

Notice something? Nothing in there mentioned Oscar getting character development. Or rather he does... but it’s always offscreen. Oscar is infuriating in the sense that he has a lot of wasted character potential to be one of the best characters in the show- a simple but efficient design, great voice work from Aaron Dismuke and a charming personality that makes him a likable hero. But in spite of that all, Oscar constantly get the shaft when it comes to his screentime showing him developing from his problems, and each volume so far has had Oscar be faced with a trial that would make for a truly fascinating character arc, only for him to get over it while the camera’s focused elsewhere. And that’s what I’m going to focus on in this essay- I’m going to go over why I think Oscar’s writing has been consistently mishandled, and my hopes for the character in Volume 7.

God damn I don’t like doing this, I want to like the farm boi most of the time

1) Volume 4: All these voices running through my head, I’m on fire, face burning red

Oscar is introduced very early in Volume 4- as in, he’s in the first episode and is the eighth character we see onscreen after the villains. Oscar is in fact, if you don’t count Ruby’s character short, present in Volume 4 before the title characters. His first episode is... a lot of nothing, mostly just Oscar doing some farming. Oscar’s introduction does a good job telling us a bit about his character without him saying much- he’s prone to daydreaming while working on the farm, clearly not enjoying himself and his work. It matches up with what we learn later, that Oscar dreams of becoming a hero. It’s a stock motivation, and a stock background, but a simple and effective way of setting up a hero who desires the chance to prove himself in the wider world. His intro scene is a nice, quiet beat between the dark opening of Evernight and Salem, and the more frantic action of RNJR fighting the Geist. But overall the time the fandom was wondering what was up with Oscar- he wasn’t in the OP and nothing had set him up before now and yet here he was, getting focus before the main girls.

It takes until Oscar’s second appearance, three episodes later in Family, that we get the real reason for his importance- Ozpin’s in his head, but it would take another three episodes, in Punished, for this to be elaborated on in an unintentional Christmas gift from Rooster Teeth; Ozpin’s in his head due to their Auras and souls merging thanks to Ozma’s pact with the Archangel Asshole a few centuries back, and now Oscar is starting to act like an Assassin’s Creed character with all the memories that are in his head that he didn’t create. It’s a cruel irony for Oscar- Ozpin plays on how Oscar wants to be more than just a farmhand to try and get him to go to Mistral, but Oscar’s body language and face make it clear that this wasn’t how he saw himself getting some new life choices. Rather tragically, Oscar finally gets the chance to be part of something bigger but the manner in which it’s offered to him is anathema, as it’s coming from a literal voice in his head who claims to be a dead headmaster, and more importantly, he was never offered a choice- this was thrust upon him, a young 14 year old child who never asked for this burden of responsibility. And the last shot of Oscar in this episode already has him cracking under that burden, stuck on his knees and unsure what to do.

(also btw Oscar’s Aunt tells him to clean his hands but Oscar’s model has gloves on all the time, so... how would he clean his hands? Or does he read books with dirty gloves? Eww)

It’s an interesting place to leave Oscar, at the metaphorical and and spiritual crossroads, and means the viewer wants to see Oscar’s next actions and the deliberation between the easy, boring life he knows or risking everything on a voice in his head telling him to try his chances in the big city. Sounds pretty interesting, right?

Not to the writers, unfortunately. Because when we next check in with Oscar three episodes later during Kuroyuri, Oscar’s already on the road to Mistral with his backpack all ready to go. That deliberation, the consideration, Oscar eventually choosing to trust Ozpin and go along with his plan? All done offscreen. Similarly, Oscar goes from treating Ozpin’s voice as an irritating thing to be annoyed has been chucked out a window- now out on the open road, it doesn’t “feel crazy” anymore. It just feels like such a cheap way to handle Oscar’s writing- rather than show his development naturally, it just fast-forwards until it reaches a point where it skips all that. And unfortunately, this isn’t the first or last time Oscar is victim to the writers fast-forwarding through his development moments. Given how much of Oscar’s arc hinges on this crucial first step, it just seems inane to me that of all of the potential Oscar scenes to cut... him coming around on Ozpin and making the call to leave was what got the cutting room floor. Especially since nothing in his Kuroyuri scene was all that essential for Oscar in contrast, barring setting up the the mystery Hazel and Ozpin’s past.

Oscar doesn’t appear again after his encounter with Hazel until the finale, when during the montage of Ruby’s letter (that consists of half her dialogue this season) we see Oscar on the train to Mistral, which really only caused a problem thanks to all the people who used it to ask why RNJR didn’t take a train. He also appears in the post-credits scene, meeting Qrow at a bar and asking for his cane back, the volume ending on Oscar extending the cane experimentally.

Being blunt, I feel like Oscar should have been cut from Volume 4 and just introduced in Volume 5 with the bar scene. Volume 4 already had to juggle far too much in RWBY and Cinder’s plots, and adding Oscar to the mix unfortunately meant the screentime for some characters had to suffer- especially Yang. His time this season ultimately goes nowhere and only gives him a basic background that most fans would have already guessed from his character design, and the already wobbly Jenga Tower that was Volume 4′s screentime didn’t need more blocks thrown on top. I like a fair few things in Oscar’s arc, but it’s content that ultimately I’d have been fine having left on the cutting room floor. Hell, if nothing else, Oscar’s first scene should have ended with Ozpin’s reappearance, that these are two separate scenes is mind-boggling and left the fans wondering what the hell was Oscar’s purpose for weeks.

Oscar’s debut arc has its ups and downs, much like the volume itself. His intro scene and argument with Ozpin are both well-executed and show the viewer the vocal dynamite of Dismuke’s performance or just set up his base character, but for every good thing to come of Oscar’s arc, it’s fraught with issues- most notably, his scene of choosing to leave his home being omitted and beginning the unfortunate tendency for Oscar to get the short end of the stick when it came to development and agency, which undermine his choice to leave. But overall, Oscar built himself a small but dedicated fanbase with his debut volume, even immediately shooting up to become a potential target for Ruby’s affections in the fandom shipping wars. It was a rocky start, but surely now that Oscar was going to have his plot merged with RNJR, he’d be able to handle his screen-time more effectively, right?

Right?

Volume 5- Two for one on meatsacks

Volume 5 is Oscar’s worst volume so far, being blunt. It’s a lot of people’s worst volumes though (Cinder, Ruby, Weiss, Mercury, Adam, mine) that at least he can share the load. It doesn’t help that he’s not in half the damn thing because his body is being used by Ozpin to regale the audience with expositon that makes them actively yearn for the sweet embrace of death... or just the return of the World of Remnant shorts. Oscar’s first scene in Volume 5 is just a recycling of the Volume 4 post-credits scene, which raises the question of why the scene was used in Volume 4. I don’t think it’s even touched up, they literally just copy-pasted it. Much like his first scene in Volume 4, his intro scene this volume is intercepted by comedy relief- last time it was Jaune’s miserable attempts at being a strategist, this time it’s Drunkle Qrow.

... You know, this scene ages poorly in hindsight given how just one volume later Qrow’s alcoholism is treated with ice-cold severity.

Episode 3 follows up on this and gives us Ozcar’s first major scene of the volume, and unfortunately also sets up their dynamic this volume. Oscar gets some awkwardly charming moments with Ruby but overall the scene is dominated by Ozpin taking over for the first time and explaining his reincarnation powers alongside setitng up RNJR’s plot for the season- “training.” An episode later sees the entirety of this training, with Oscar and Ruby engaging in hand-to-hand combat and Oscar getting a lore dump from Ren (in hindsight this is novel not just because they’re outside during it but Ren’s the one delivering the infodump and not Ozpin). Ozpin barely even factors into the episode barring some fisticuffs and a generic speech at the end. But the scene is overall just pointless to the narrative beyond loosely setting up Jaune’s own Semblance unlocking, and this is the last we hear of RNJR “training” for the upcoming trials at Haven. Hell, even though the story makes a point of noting Oscar still hasn’t unlocked his Semblance, that still hasn’t come up two years later. This scene really only pays off in one immediate way:

This is Ruby’s sole contribution to the Battle of Haven after getting KO’d by Emerald outside of just yelling orders for offscreen fights, and all this helped do was begin to convince people that “MERC’S A BAD FIGHTER WITHOUT EMERALD.”

Lighting the Fire’s training scene is one of Oscar’s only major scenes where he interacts with RNJR to boot for the entirety of Volume 5, and it’s quite sad that nothing really comes of it. It just serves to highlight how little Oscar interacts with the other kids, as most of his dialogue this season is just as Ozcar.

Necessary Sacrifice then, should be great on paper. It’s an entirely Oscar and Ruby scene with Ozpin only chiming in at the end. It has Oscar confronting Ruby and himself on his fears and how Ruby can put up a brace face, and Ruby finally gets to open up a little about losing Penny and Pyrrha at Beacon. But the scene just falls flat on its face and botches the execution. Putting aside Ruby’s own problems in this scene (her speech feels incredibly pre-rehearsed, as if she spent hours practicing it in the mirror to ward off anyone actually prying into her life). Oscar’s anger and fear come out of left field with nothing setting this up in his prior scenes this volume. Ruby needed a scene where she talked about losing Penny and Pyrrha, but it should have been during Volume 4, with Jaune. Having it now with Oscar feels like the writers apologizing for having Ruby get shafted for screenitme during Volume 4... during the volume where she gets shafted by literally everyone else. The scene is frustrating to me, it could and should have been a lot better (musically at least I love the reprises of When It Falls and Lets Just Live), but it just feels like a hasty patch note. Oscar doesn’t really develop from the situation and his fears are just forgotten for the rest of the volume.

Oscar then proceeds to basically sit out Volume 5 barring Chapters 11 and 12. I still don’t get why he wasn’t part of the dinner scene with RWBJNR, since it would have been so very easy for him to be part of the dinner and get the chance to interact with the rest of the kids. Oscar wants to be a hero, so let him... actually interact with heroes his age. Have him brought up to speed on the crazy adventures the team have, let them get to interact with Oscar without having to deal with his backseat driver. You could even make something tragic of the scene where Oscar is forced to go away so Ozpin can take over, and the team’s faces fall flat when Ozpin gets right to talking shop which leads to the YOU TURNED THEM INTO BIRDS exchange. But otherwise, the rest of the House scenes revolve around Ozpin talking. The kids talk past Oscar, and again, you can very easily make something tragic of that as Oscar could grow to resent Ozpin because none of the others see him as himself, just a puppet on strings. But again... Oscar’s just not allowed to develop onscreen in this show.

And perhaps the worst thing about all this is that whenever Ozpin actually is called out on his tactics, one of the most pressings ones in his possession of Oscar,a 14 year old boy, is never used as fuel. Granted, yes, Ozpin has no control over who’s his next host but surely someone, somewhere is going to opine how morally bankrupt it is that Ozpin essentially conscripted a child not even old enough to get a learner’s permit into his eternal shadow war. It’s times like this that my theory that Jaune was going to be Ozpin’s original replacement before the backlash to Jaundice made them backtrack looks more and more possible.

The Haven Battle episodes quickly have Ozpin force control away from Oscar, but it’s not like Oscar did much before then anyway other than serve as the conduit for another lore dump on Hazel’s backstory. He doesn’t try and learn why Leo defected and manages to trounce the headmaster so well one wonders how the hell Leo got put in charge of a combat school. After that, Ozpin takes over (and we admittedly get some of the coolest fighting in the actual Battle of Haven in Ozcar vs Hazel) and Oscar only briefly returns in the last seconds of the finale to drop the sequel hook that they need to get the lamp to Atlas.

Volume 5 is just a bad season for Oscar- this is the one time we don’t get his eternal phantom of offscreen character development because it’s not fair to say Oscar has any development in Volume 5. He’s immediately forced to the back to serve as a projector through which Ozpin can put the audience to sleep, most of his actual scenes are irrelevant or just feel like a waste of time and he basically sits out the entire finale. It’s just infuriatingly incompetent writing- we’ve gone from Oscar being a waste of time in Volume 4 to just being a waste of a character in Volume 5 who barely gets to express himself. Little is done with Oscar that could not be achieved by putting a tape recorder beside a lampshade and calling that Ozpin’s new host. Volume 5′s bad for a lot of characters, but at least most of the rest of the cast had good seasons beforehand to show how well they could be handled or written. Oscar didn’t have that, and while ultimately the blame was placed more on Ozpin for hogging the time, Oscar’s critics began to grow and he was derisively seen as just a plot device to let the writers bring Ozpin back and serve as a mission marker for the heroes. One more bad season for Oscar could spell the end to his character ever having a warm reception among the fans and critics. Drastic action would need to be undertaken in order to regain trust in Oscar.

3) Volume 6- Tossing out the baby with the water

So the big plan to give Oscar some screentime... was basically cut Ozpin out of the story entirely. Oscar is almost entirely himself after the fourth episode, it’s the longest run of episodes with Oscar as himself that we’ve gotten in the show to date and Ozpin doesn’t even surface until the finale. There’s a lovely line of Oscar’s in episode 4 that finally lets him address some of the fears and concerns he should be rightfully worried about- “I’m just going to be another one of his lives, aren’t I?” Oscar’s tone is just so bleak there, it works super well and it was nice to finally see Oscar expressing human emotions. It even my cynical heart hope that Volume 6 would finally see Oscar get the limelight he had been denied for two years running.

But then the ball is just dropped hard. Oscar’s left in a background role for the Brunswick episodes, stuck working on a tire while RWBY encounter the Apathy. What’s already a somewhat rushed resolution to the whole plot of “RWBY express concerns about going onward to Atlas in light of Jinn’s revelations” now leaves Oscar, the guy carrying Ozma’s soul in him, out of the moment. He just gets to be tired and tell Blake to make food if she’s hungry.

Argus at least alludes to putting Oscar in the driver’s seat for his own solo arc where he explores the city alone after Jaune physically assults him (why didn’t anyone stop Jaune from hurting Oscar two people saying Jaune’s name with all the concern of someone stubbing their toe just feels cheap). Even though I was cold on the episode as a whole, Dead End did set up the wonderful idea of an Oscar episode, one where he maybe forces Ozpin to come out so they can talk frankly for the first time in two volumes. Maybe they could even rip off Avatar (some more) and have Oscar meet Ozma himself, using his conversation with the two as his own chance to rally onwards and decide to bring the fight to Salem. It could have been a really sweet moment of him backing Ruby up in her desire to keep going, the two forming a mutual bond of bolstering each other’s hopes as they carry the burden for their team.

But no. Because I can’t have nice things, in an otherwise near-perfect episode where I actually got Mercury and Emerald screentime and the lovely Pyrrha statue scene (which I low-key feel like Oscar should have been a part of but that’s a subject for another day), Oscar just gets over his issues, buys a new outfit and dodges past his problems, getting to develop past them, off-screen, for the third time in a row.

As far as I care, Oscar stole the money for this costume from either Qrow or Jaune and I don’t care if Miles says to my face he earned the money legit, I’m keeping that headcanon. Also, why are his gloves still orange? They don’t fit the rest of his costume.

If there was anything that got cut from Volume 6′s final half, I’d bet money on it being Oscar’s solo arc. Kerry himself has admitted during the RWBY Rewind for the finale that stuff got cut, and it’s very likely (going off comments from Miles that The Lost Fable was a huge resource drain) that this content was going to be part of the entire episode that was cut (Volume 6 initially had 14 episodes but around Christmastime this was remedied down to 13). It’s actually downright insulting and infuriating that Oscar got the shaft again, especially when Volume 6 finally seemed to be addressing the issue of Oscar never getting growth or focus. He was free of Ozpin, and with Ozma’s history revealed it was the perfect time for him to embrace the past forced upon him and resolve to become a hero. But no, the episode count went down so we had to wave goodbye to Oscar’s agency again.

Just think of how beneficial it would be for Oscar to actually confront his sorta-not-really ancestor, who may have had to watch as soul after soul gets consumed for him. Has Ozma ever had someone tell him none of this was his fault? I feel he needs it.

If I was a more suspicious person I’d say it almost feels deliberate, that someone on the writing team doesn’t like Oscar and is purposefully keeping his growth offscreen out of childish spite. But three volumes in a row now, Oscar’s growth has felt artificial and fake, and leaves him feeling like an afterthought. I know it’s not a problem of RWBY not being able to write new characters well, just look at how fleshed out and beloved Maria was after just her debut season. But Oscar just can’t catch a break and it’s frustrating to watch. In a volume that otherwise made huge strides in solving many of the pre-existing issues in Volumes 4 and 5, that 6 still refuses to treat Oscar with anything other than mild apathy is just mind-boggling.

Like, what was even the point of having Jaune say Ozpin was just pretending to be Oscar? To make Jaune look irrational? To plant the red herring in the viewer’s minds? The rest of the volume itself shoots the idea down hard, and it feels like it was going to be used during Oscar’s potential cut scene, but again... it was cut. I can only go off what’s in the volume and unfortunately, Oscar in Volume 6 is only marginally better than he was in past Volumes. Bless his heart, Aaron is trying to save this character but the writing itself is dragging Oscar down every chance it can get.

4) Volume 7- The potential breaking point

Oscar’s character is currently in a make or break spot, and Volume 7 will either finally solve his growth issues or this will be it and his fandom will reach a boiling point. The worst thing is, it’s a very easy solution to fix Oscar.

Just put his character development onscreen.

That’s it, the golden answer to all of Oscar’s problems is to just stop cutting his development and agency short. Oscar has potential to be the most tragic character in RWBY- someone who wanted to be a hero, only for the responsibilities to be forced on him without his consent. He’s someone who the rest of his companions oftentimes don’t see as a person, just a walking telephone to their boss. Imagine how dehumanizing it would be, especially after Qrow’s “Don’t lie to him, we’re better than that” line? Imagine being someone effectively living on borrowed time because sooner or later, your consciousness will be absorbed what makes you you will be but a distant memory? Oscar could easily be a shining example of character growth, he could easily have a great arc of learning to deal with the burdens of Ozma’s struggle, of being the target of Hazel and Salem’s ire when he did nothing to earn it. But it needs to be soon, or all the potential in the world won’t be able to save Oscar.

Perhaps Volume 7 will have a flashback to Oscar in Argus having that confrontation with Ozpin and getting his new outfit. Perhaps Ironwood will be mistrusting of Oscar claiming to be Oz, and Oscar will have to step up and prove he is who he says he is. Qrow never apologized to Oscar for punching him, so an apology would serve both Qrow and Oscar’s arcs as Qrow reignites his spark to fight. A potential confrontation with Salem where Oscar may try something the previous Oz lives didn’t could work wonders for Oscar. Volume 7 could still easily have Oscar get spotlight, but with how many plates the season is already planning to spin (Tyrian and Wattts going to Atlas, Cinder and Neo going after Ruby, Weiss dealing with her family, Ruby learning about the Silver Eyes with Maria, a likely return of Faunus racism for Blake and Yang, Atlas class warfare, the token reminder that Pyrrha died so Jaune, Ren and Nora can be sad, etc.) I’m already accepting that Oscar is the most likely candidate to get the boot again. It’s happened before, and I try to avoid being a sucker who falls for the same thing over and over. Definition of insanity and all that.

5) Conclusion

Oscar is... I hate to say this again, but infuriating to me writing wise. He has so much potential as a character in terms of his growth but despite having had main character status for half the show’s runtime now, it’s hard to really care. Oscar keeps getting the short end of the stick, and if it turns out that the whole reason he got shafted for years was because of M&K’s mystery fetish, I might actually throw a chair out a window.

What makes it worse is that Oscar is not a character with no hopes of being salvaged! There is a very easy way to remedy the problem and it’s just to let him have his time to shine and develop offscreen. Flashbacks covering the lost events such as his leaving his farm or gaining confidence in Argus (or even giving Oscar a character short specifically to address these issues) might be belated and feel like damage control- let’s be fair, after Adam’s short this wouldn’t be the first time they resorted to doing damage control in their shorts- but it would be a step in the right direction and show the team are committed to working to salvage Oscar. But they want to do it, it has to be now. If Oscar leaves Volume 7 suffering from the same problems, he might as well get killed off in Volume 8 because that will be it for his character, no one will defend him and Oscar will fully become the heroic Cinder in that no matter what, you can rest assured they won’t get onscreen development from anything that happens. In the meantime, all I can do is hope that this time, things will work out for the farm boi. There’s a goldmine of a character here guys, someone’s just gotta put the work into finding the first nugget.

In short, Oscar can be a great character, if the writing lets him become it onscreen. But until then, it’s going to be a frankly depressing journey to get there.

Thank you for reading.

#rwby #oscar pine #ozpin #ruby rose #rwde #rwby analysis #ozma #salem #james ironwood #hazel rainart #aaron dismuke #rwby4 #rwby5 #rwby6 #rwby7 #jaune arc #qrow branwen

154 notes · View notes

cosmiciaria · 6 years ago

Text

World of Final Fantasy Review! (Spoiler free)

I know the game is pretty old by now. It was released in October, 2016, before Final Fantasy XV wrecked the fandom. I've always wanted to give it a shot, but the apparent light-hearted approach didn't suit me well – so I waited for a decent discount in PSN, and I finally managed to get it in my hands! Disclaimer: this is a review of the vanilla version of the game. Saw there's a big expansion adding quite a a lot of stuff, including gameplay mechanics, so… either way, the game is quite enjoyable as it is, I don't deem an expansion necessary in my case to make me like the game more.

So yes, this is a GUD game. Even GUDER than I'd thought it would be. Like REALLY. Real good.

I'm not explaining myself. You see, this game seems made for younger generations. It was the result of the 30th Square Enix Anniversary, and it's the cocktail boiling in the cauldron every Final Fantasy fan wanted to have. It's a crossover, it's the perfect fanfiction across all the universes we've learned to love and care in this franchise. It's a love letter to fans, and I want to stress this idea, because… this game is great, is awesome, is moving, but only if you're an FF fan.

I mean, you'll still enjoy it for what it is, but… there are a thousand nods and references to the previous FF games that you won't get if you at least are not familiar with their premises. I, for instance, haven't played many of the mainline FF, including I, II, V and XI. I knew about their characters and some of its most characteristic thingies (like Gilgamesh being from FFV), so I still could get some of the references, but it's not the same.

It's not the same, because, like I said, this game is a love letter to fans. And it shows.

But – wait, are those chibis? Is this a children's game? What are you talking about? I know it's hard to take chibis seriously, but hear me out – this game is more serious than it seems at first sight. I expected nothing but RPG tropes and I did get many of those, but DUDE (pun intended) did I had a great (TRAGIC) time with those twists and turns!

So we follow Lann, a fifteen year old ginger boy who goes to work at his usual café. He doesn't seem to notice the Pokémon – I mean, the Mirage on his head, a cute white little fox that seems to defy the laws of gravity by gripping to his hair. In the café, Lann meets Enna Kros, a mysterious woman who asks for a very sugary coffee. Minutes later, we meet our other protagonist, Reynn, Lann's twin sister, who crashes into the place to tell her brother that there's nobody anywhere. Lann is like, hey, there's this woman over here, but truth be told… the neighborhood is empty.

So this woman, Enna Kros, introduces herself and tells them that she's a goddess of some sort (her nature is, eh, well, never fully explained and that's fine). She reveals they are in a place called Nine Wood Hills, a land that looks like it's stuck in time and space. Lann and Reynn had forgotten what the hell they're doing there, or who their parents were, or anything, so Enna Kros gives them (or more like, reminds them of) the Prismariums: the ability to imprism Mirages, like the little fox I mentioned, and bend them to their will. The purpose, she says, is to catch as many Mirages as they can, across Grymoire, the world she's the goddess of, and collect memories about their past. Then the little fox is introduced as Tama, a very important Mirage that is going to accompany the twins for the rest of the journey.

Off they go to Grymoire, and this is where the crossover starts: here people are tiny (chibis) called Lilikins; Reynn and Lann remain normally proportioned (Jiants), but they can turn into Lilikins whenever they want. Jiants had disappeared from this world a hundred years prior, so the twins kind of attract everyone's attention. This only feeds the mystery that shrouds this pair.

Grymoire is full of towns, regions and dungeons. Across all these places, the twins will irremediably come across the chibis we all know and love: the FF characters. Their storylines are so well intertwined that you forget that they belong to an original game, for their personalities and backgrounds fit this story very well. We have a Bahamutian Federation who's conquering everything in its stride, except for a few kingdoms that still fight against it. The League of S, the resistance group, wants to recruit as many people as they can, and it's up to the twins to help this insurgence grow. But this is not everything: it seems that in the Federation there's a prophecy, a Crimson Prophecy, that foretells the arrival of two Jiants twins who are Mirage Keepers…

The story gets more and more complex, until it reaches a point where I couldn't believe my eyes. And this was a game for "children"! But I won't spoil it for you. Instead, let's talk about the gameplay first!

I said Pokémon earlier – It's the closest approximation and I'm not lying. If you wanna be the very best, you gotta catch 'em all. Mirages will appear as your ordinary enemies in dungeons, and every first time you encounter one, Enna Kros will give you a new prismarium to imprism them in it. But to do this, you first have to create a prismunity: a chance that leaves the Mirage vulnerable to the imprism. This prisminuty is quite easy to achieve in the early levels, but they get more and more difficult and specific to attain as you progress. Each Mirage has an ability tree to develop, in which you'll spend SP points, and most Mirages have also evolutions (is it Pokémon enough yet??) that you'll be unlocking once the requirements are met.

Catching Mirages is not everything, though. Mirages are actually useful: you can equip them. Since we don't have equipment or ability tree for the twins, the Mirages are our only source of power, so their stats and their abilities become our own when we fight. Each twin in Jiant form can 'stack' on their heads a Medium and Small size Mirage, and in Lilikin form, they can stack on a Large Mirage and still have one Small Mirage on their heads. The stack becomes your shield in battle, and at first it looks ridiculous, but once you understand how it works, you can create MAGIC out of its mechanics. Careful because the tower you form can topple and your Mirages can fall from your character's head in a quite funny animation.

Twins don't have ability trees, I said. Well, that's partially true. You see, in the ability trees of the Mirages, every now and then you can come across a Mirajewel: this is the equivalent of a skill card in the Persona franchise – meaning that you can equip that Mirajewel into Lann or Reynn as you please. The Mirajewel doesn't lock to just one character, you can switch it between the twins as you like. The slots for these Mirajewels take a while to unlock, though, and it's related to the twins's levels.

Battles are your good old friend turn base combat. And it's great. IT'S GREAT. Like really. They can STILL do this and it's still loved, I don't know why people say that turn base combat is outdated and old fashioned. It's pretty slow paced, but fear not, because there's an ACCELERATOR button that lets you fast forward battles. Isn't it convenient? In fact, everything in this game is so convenient it makes me wanna cry: you wanna leave the dungeon? No prob, just use this unlimited teleport stone; wanna change your Mirages for others? Never fear, you have a save point every half hour. You wanna fast travel to this place? Nine Wood Hills got it covered for you. You're not enjoying this minigame? You can skip it and still advance in the main story! You kinda not dig this new menu we created for this game? Try the old style FF menu and play like you did in the old FF titles!

Really. Everything is there for you, at your disposal. The option to choose how and when you play is available, and it's kind of heart-warming they did this. I just wish every new FF could work like this one, on terms of gameplay! This game is SO Final Fantasy that I wanna cry a river.

Alright! Too much gameplay. What about characters?

Lann and Reynn are just hilarious. Their interactions are natural and casual: they truly make us believe they're twin brother and sister who deeply care for each other. Each of them has their own quirks, like Lann being quite slow, always saying "dude!" and protecting his sister at all costs; and Reynn being determined, direct and fearless, but also hiding her nervousness behind blurting trivia into the void whenever things seem to get nasty. There's one particular funny scene in the game where Reynn is angry with a Cactuar and she wants to, basically, punch it to death, which she can't, because Cactuars have their agility skyrocketed to high heaven more or less, and her hysteria is so relatable that you want to get yourself inside the screen and pat her on the head.

On that note, voice actors for the main protagonists were a delight. I was kind of surprised to discover that the guy who voices Lann also voices Shiro from Voltron: I couldn't recognize my favorite gay spaceship leader anywhere in this upbeat character, but there were moments where Lann became serious and angry, and damn, did that Shirogane emerge! All the other FF characters that we know have their original actors returning –not only that, but also we hear some characters from the older FF games that had never ever had, in any other media, voices. I swear my control almost fell to the floor when I heard Vivi f*cking SPEAK.

The FF characters remain in their personalities and they're never out of character. They bring about a thousand references from their original games, that are not forced at all. The script is clever enough to blend these moments inside the main story in such a way that you never see them coming, and more than once I was at the verge of tears, specially with Tidus and Yuna who belong to, I may very well say it now, my favorite Final Fantasy game (Oh I never wrote a review for FFX, even though I played like six times). I won't tell you, just play the game and discover these scenes for yourself. They make the game ten times more loveable. There are also instances of 4th wall breaking so beware yourself for a good laughter. Read the Mirage's Manual, I fully recommend it.

The game has all the RPG tropes you can ask for: the mandatory ice, fire and water levels, the really really bad guy you can tell he's bad because of his demoniac appearance bad villain bad oh bad he's bad because reasons, treasure chests, chocobos, cactuars, tomberris, flans, malboro menaces and anything you can expect from an FF game. But this isn't a copycat of previous installments. Towards the second half the game shows its true colors and we're faced with an original story, with huge twists that left me open mouthed, and you forget about the first few hours of the game that seemed taken straight out of any other FF, because, you know it, honk's got real. (Oh, btw, Lann used 'honk' every time he should've used the f-word, it was so funny, once he says 'shut the honk up' I'm cryinggG)

On the music department, I just couldn't really get into it. There were some boss fights that caught my attention but that's all there is to it. Nine Wood Hills background music gets under your skin after a while of continually listening to it, and sometimes it plays during important sequences, so I guess it's the most memorable piece of music. On the other hand, we have remixes of all those FF's themes we liked so much that play during certain characters' arcs and they may bring more than one tear to players' eyes (I did NOT cry when Suteki Da Ne started playing I did NOT). Visuals are nice and all – you can tell it had less production than, let's say, FFXV, its contemporary companion in release dates, but damn, some places were vivid and realistic! And lighting and shadows were real enough! And who cares about an anime appearance or chibi characters when everything SHINES and the story is good either way!

This game made me for some reason ship Cloud with absolutely everyone? What the honk?

All in all, this is a Final Fantasy game in all its glory, and it shines bright in many aspects I believe it was done even better than most of the newest games in the mainline. I just wished it had a more 'independent' story, in the sense of what I first mentioned: that this is a game for fans, that the experience would be very different if you haven't played the majority of the FF titles (and even some spin offs!). Still, the main story holds up well and at the end of the day, the main characters are the twins, not Cloud or Squall.

I do have one or two tiny complaints: there are some FF titles vanished to oblivion in this vanilla version. Firion from FFII only appears in the expansion and Balthier from FFXII, although he is a free dlc, he's not part of the story and he doesn't even have a page in the people's compendium, his appearance being the only silent presence of that title in the game. Also there's something spoilerish I wasn't really fond of – I'm just gonna say, without revealing anything, that I don't like how certain character was handled. And no, I'm not speaking about the masked woman. Anyway, that's all I can complain about, actually.

I think credit must be given where credit is due. And this game is due a lot of credit. For its amazing gameplay, giving us a taste of what we've been asking for years, and for the good use of the Extrauniverse to weave this story for us. Interactions between characters are a delight because of how well written they are. And there's a lot of post game content so, here I go, the route to platinum!

If you enjoy FF, then you'll love this game.

14 notes · View notes

nekoladyproductions · 7 years ago

Text

Pacific Rim 2: Uprising Thoughts and Feelings (Spoilers)

First thing off the bat: not nearly as good as the first film but I don't judge things based off of it's predecessors. I like to watch things as individual movies due to a number of reasons, one of them being so I don't overhype myself and end up hating a franchise because of one product not living up to par. Okay? Cool.

I want to get the cons out of the way first because that's the easy part. The look of the film is not nearly as impressive as the original, which is strange considering the previous film came out half a decade earlier. The colours don't pop as much and the camera work has lots left to be desired. There were strange zooms and pans that didn't work out for the movie and made some serious scenes not so serious due to the strange camera work. Most of the time, however, it wasn't interesting at all.

Not enough kaiju. Like. Three kaiju. And a mega kaiju. How dare.

Too many characters I don't care about. Like the nerd kid who died. I don't even remember his name outside of "Boob Job Kid" because his father is a plastic surgeon and the fact that people will proceed to call the movie racist because he was the only Indian recruit. 😐 (Sucks he died though because he was a cute character regardless, even though it was hella obvious he was going to be the one to go down because of how wimpy he was and some foreshadowing.) There's also Vik, a hard ass girl who's friendship works like brawling in Skyrim and who coincidentally looks like my ex girlfriend and has the same haircut. A bunch of others too idgaf. They should have stuck with Jake, Nate, Amara, Shao, Hermann, and Newt. Those were the ones who mattered, not the bajillions of other characters.

I do not judge a movie based on special effects, and here's why: it does not impede my overall enjoyment of a movie. I am a fan of old movies with practical effects, and most of the time, even though real materials were used, they look fake, and most of the time faker than CGI. I also watch almost exclusively animated films, which aren't realistic looking at all. Movies, especially ones that do not take place in our reality (Nightmare on Elm Street, Marvel, etc) cannot look like real life no matter what you do, so I find it tiring whenever someone complains about the graphics. I care about immersion with characters and writing. The visuals are only there to represent objects and creatures. I have never, and will never, judge a video game by it's graphics nor will I for a movie unless it is something along the lines of The Amazing Bulk, in which they didn't put any effort in at all. The CGI was not a problem for me, nor did it put me out of the film.

...

Except for one occassion, when Newt was looking out onto the drones and the camera panned out. It looked very out of place and that was jarring for me, but that was the only instance of the visuals in the CGI department pulling me out. Everything else looked fine to me. Then again, I might be biased because I enjoy much more rough looking films. I don't like too much polish.

The pacing, however, was hot garbage. The action scenes were perfect but everything else was... Not. The kaiju didn't come in until much later. Normal scenes were either too long or too short, and all scenes that were meant to be emotional were much too fast, like with our two gay science buddies and the family getting crushed. Like, bro. With the timing and look of the scene it was borderline comedic.

---

The characters are weaker here, I am not going to lie. Hermann, Shao and Amara are the only good guys with motivations that are easy to follow through without any confusion. Jake isn't a very good protagonist. A lot of his story is quite vague, and his past with Nate is fuzzy and possibly homoromantic if you "turn your head sideways and squint". Amara is a young girl of roughly 15 who labouralsy built her own mini Jaeger called "Scrapper", and became involved in the training program after being caught by the cops for building an unregistered Jaeger. She built the Jaeger because she had a hunch that the kaiju would come back. I mean, being 5 years old and watching your entire family getting stomped on by some macro scalie's wet dream would make anyone paranoid of another attack coming.

I'm gonna get this out of the way; the Jaegers were not used for normal civilian police work as I've seen at least one Tumblr user put it. That is ridiculous. The only logical way to stop a Jaeger is with a Jaeger. The one time saw the blue beauty bot come out to play is when Scrapper was found by the cops and tried to escape detainment. The drones were also being placed on military BASES around the world in case of another kaiju or more homemade Jaegers started popping up, not to flatten a robber or punt a rogue helicopter in Saudi Arabia.

Back to characters.

Gottleib isn't a fucking mechanic/chemist. Like, I get it. They needed someone who worked closely alongside Newt after he went corporate, but Hermann even said life science isn't really his schtick. He's many things, but that field of science was N-- ohhhhhh. Fuck. I forgot that they linked brains for a moment. Oh my god while typing this I just got smashed with a wave of fridge brilliance. Never mind.

Oh, but as I said, Hermann has motivation and is the only character outside of the main villain to be quite passionate in the movie. He was an absolute treat to see on screen, and was the true hero of the film. But that's a pro, not a con. Sorry.

There is one thing that truly upset me in the film and I am sure most of you know by now, but Mako died in a helicopter crash very early in the film before she was able to get more than a few lines of dialog. I get that they wanted a tragedy early on, but it was just so disrespectful to can one of the main characters from the previous film in such a gruesome fashion. Not to mention her message was more or less a MacGuffin to get the Gipsy Avenger to a secluded space to duke out with Obsidian Fury for that sweet, sweet tomato surprise.

The reason why the kaiju came to fuck shit up is dumb but also makes sense in a way. People have pointed out that Mt. Fuji is not the only place to get ahold of rare elements but the plan was to blow up the mountain and chain react with other volcanoes, so the logic lies that it is easier to go to a volcano that already has the minerals needed rather than meticulously searching for other places with these specific materials and then go somewhere. It wasn't specified what these materials were EXACTLY, so whether or not the monsters could have just kamakzied at Yellowstone is unknown, or rather kept intentionally vague so there wouldn't be even more plot holes added to the pile.

If you want to know what the hell I am talking about, the film explains that the Precursors sent the kaiju that teleported from the rim were all on their way to Mt. Fuiji to cause a huge volcanic domino effect, cover the earth in volcanic ash, and kill all life as we know it for the Precursors' gain, which is still largely unknown. Kaiju blood isn't just pretty, but it reacts violently with certain rare terrestrial elements and minerals. Mt. Fuji is the only place in the world that is not only an active volcano, but has such a high concentration of what the Precursors need that sending these large beasts on suicide missions will guarantee success on killing all life on the planet with as little hassle as possible. It's easier to go to a small grocery store with everything you need in one place versus going to a mall with a bunch of different stores spaced out with everything you need in different places and in different amounts.

Once again, kinda dumb, kinda generic, but it makes sense once you break it down.

---

Some are saying that the movie sucks the military's dick, and yeah I can kinda see that but not really. I might be desensitized at this point due to the sheer amount of military cock-sucking Hollywood does but I am just not seeing it here. Independence Day and Michael Bay films are super obvious with their gross idolization of American armed forces. I don't think a single, real military branch was even mentioned in the film and the fighting was controlled by some military-esque figures, sure, but the movie featured two rascals growing up to being responsible in battle. Once again I just might be desensitized at this point so if anyone has any points they want to give they can elaborate in the notes. I'm genuinely interested.

Okay, now we're getting into some actual spoilers here.

Shao was set up to be the villain of the film. She is a woman who owns a weapons manufacturing company that created remote controlled Jaegers that are safer for use and easier to handle. With how things were going, the film led us to believe that her company was remote controlling other decommissioned Jaegers so that hers would get approved and she gets loads of money.

H O W E V E R

When Gipsy got a hold of the rogue Jaeger, Obsidion Fury, and peeled back the helmet, it wasn't a human or a computer. It was a kaiju brain. Oh dear.

You seemed to have noticed that I haven't really mentioned Newt very much in this little thoughts and analysis. As it turns out, he's the main villain in the film, and boy is he one hell of a bad guy. Whenever he drifted with the brain in the first movie, he got a connection. Then he shared it with Hermann, making it Hermann's first time... But not Newt. In a disturbing/funny scene in the movie, we get quite the shocker. Earlier he mentioned someone named Alice, whom we assumed to be his spouse.

It was that kaiju brain. He fell under control of it.

If you recall from the first film, kaiju work as a sort of hivemind that is connected through both our dimension and theirs. Whenever he connected with it, his brain was shortly apart of the hive. His brain couldn't handle the power of the brain alone. They took him, but slowly. He kept coming back for more and more, for a reason unknown--an urge, perhaps--until he eventually lost himself to the mind and became completely under their control. Possessed, if you will.

The reason why he sold out to Shao and went away from Hermann was to get private access to powerful robots that he can personally tamper without anyone noticing. He took brains harvested and studied on by PPD and implemented them into the robots in secret so that they can destroy the Jaegers owned by PPD and revive the portal into our own world. It wasn't him. It was the kaiju.

Pretty much no one was anticipating that. Some call it stupid, I was on the edge of my seat. Newt is my favourite character from the first film and I love me some villain angst so I was satisfied.

Okay, time for the pros. (Even though I cited some anyway)

The action kicked all kinds of ass. It was fast paced, yet you knew what was going on which is somewhat of a rarity in modern action films. No misuse of shaky cam, no editing tricks, no seizure-inducing jumpcuts that Nolan is infamous for, no 10 million missle follow-throughs like Bay (there was one though). It was fun, it was exciting, and the only colourful moments in the film. The camera work wasn't revolutionary, but it did serve its purpose and made the last/only kaiju battle something epic.

The acting is decent. I am not sure how old the child characters' actors are, but they were good for the roles they were in. Most child actors are quite shit--not gonna sugar coat it. That's actually one of the reasons why I'm avoiding IT and A Wrinkle in Time. John Boyega was of course charming and smooth, even if his character was quite shallow. Everyone knows that Hermann and Newt absolutely stole the whole show. Their acting was marvelous! Charlie Day does very well as a villain and I hope to see him in more antagonistic roles in the future. You believed him to be evil, but not quite there. You knew that he was there somewhere, but at the same time you believe that he means business.

Oh my god, that twist! At first, you think Newt is just kinda being douchey because he got so wrapped up in money but no. Oh no. All of the weird little things, the brushing off of Hermann but still wanting to be around him just later, inviting him to see his "wife". Having little glimmers of his past self but fading away. It all makes so much sense when the reveal is dropped. He said it in a way that he tried to come off nonchalant but his voice cracked and his eyes moistened. That's good ass acting, Charlie. Holy fuck. People underestimate you, and that's a shame. The movie wanted me to believe that he was being controlled by the enemy and I did. I fucking did.

He genuinely cares about Hermann, and confirmed by Charlie he has romantic feelings for him that are reflected by Hermann. During the confrontation he was trying to stop choking Hermann, and thankfully Shao came in and broke it up before he could do any further damage. Hermann stopping Shao from killing Newt because he knows he's still there, he saw it.

The photos on the desk, the yearning, the dialogue. Ten years away. They would have been together if it weren't for those accursed aliens.

The story itself wasn't too great until it got to the third act. Everything came together and everyone brought their all for it and it showed.

Dude the DeSiGnS. Those Jaegers were so sleek, dawg! Each one was really cool! My favourite was Scrapper. Everyone says that she's just BB8 but I say that she is a reference to old-school gundam where the younger members of a team would usually have the smaller bots. A lot of those characters tend to have faster moving mechs with much more evasive maneuvers and with a cuter design. I'm sure people are associating her with BB8 because both are cute and can roll. The kaiju weren't as cool looking with the exception of the Mega Kaiju that Newt stitched together with his machines.

Ohhhhhh, yes. There's a Mega Kaiju. If there were categories in this film, it would have surpassed Category 6. Fuck me man, probably Category 8 or 9! That fucker was HUGE! AND COOL! And scary. That thing took out three Jaegers and it had to take a Gipsy nose-diving from the stratosphere and hitting direct impact to kill it. The only way that Jake and Amara survived was Shao controlling Scrapper to smash-roll them into safety.

Oh yeah. Shao is a badass. Forgot to mentionnnnn.

The music, like with every film it seems, served its purpose to get us hyped when we needed to be and cry when we needed to. I've noticed that unless your score has a different genre (John Carpenter films,) has a catchy melody (Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?) or has unique instrumentation (anything that graces Danny Elfman's fingertips) it tends to fade out into the generic. Orchestra is fine and dandy and all, but we don't keep flicking back to video game soundtracks because of its supposed grandeur. It gets stuck in our heads, keeps us coming back. Music ties us to our souls, man! And music ties a movie together.

Generic music makes a generic film. But at least it isn't shit, or barely there. Or so loud you can't hear dialogue, another problem most films have during big scenes.

In Conclusion

This film is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. Most sequels aren't. This is a stepping stone movie. What's that?

A stepping stone movie is a sequel that isn't that great used to setup a bigger, better movie. This is the Iron Man 2 of Pacific Rim.

To be frank, there's a lot of similarities to Iron Man 2 in this film. Military fuckupery, evil corporate masterminds, extremists, drones. Lots of it. Even though Iron Man 2 sucks, it was the tie into Iron Man 3, arguably one of the best Marvel movies in the MCU. They are called stepping stones because most of the resources needed for the better project are used for the finale movie, but you need something to tide over the audience/help go into the other film if the plot needs some explaining to do that can't be done in one movie/set up certain things and concepts that simply cannot be done in one movie lest you want a clusterfuck a la Batman v Superman.

It isn't the greatest film, but it is not a dumpster fire either. It all depends on perspective. If you want your fancy tickled if you like stuff like Tokusatsu and action movies, go for it. If you just want a fun time, go for it. If you want to see something Pacific Rim but not something crazy good, go for it. If you are a die-hard fan, however, you may want to avoid it if you want to see it as perfect as the original. There are PLENTY of problems with the film and I understand when fans express their displeasure, but please for the love of everything lovely, do not attack others who do like the film.

Don't call them names, don't stomp on their opinions, and don't accuse them of being this or that because of two unfortunate deaths in the film involving POC with one of them being a woman. There are lots of POC in the movie and yeah it sucks that two nonwhite people died, but just remember to not immediately assume that something or someone is racist due to this. The last thing I want is someone to feel guilty by being shamed on the internet for enjoying a harmless movie that had an Asian woman and an Indian boy die in it.

All in all, I give this movie 6.5 to a 7 out of 10. Not the best, not the worst. Could have been either.

#movie review #movies #pacific rim 2 #pacific rim 2 uprising #spoilers #pacrim 2 spoilers #lady's thoughts #i thought it was decent #guillermo del toro

2 notes · View notes

halfwayinlight · 4 years ago

Text

Series: Precious Commodities Chapter: 2 The Let Down Rating: PG Pairing: Will Riker/ Deanna Troi Notes: continuing part two of Precious Commodities, set in the midst of Menage a Troi. For @nothingeverlost. Once I finish beta-ing it, I’ll cross-post to AO3

Security was a precious commodity, and Deanna is acutely aware of how little security or control she has right now. Moments ago she was teleported for at least the third time in, well… she didn’t know how long it had been. And as she felt herself de-materializing again, her stomach rolled and every nerve seemed on edge.

It took several long moments for her to realize she had been returned to the brig. That it was Will moving toward her as she instinctively backed away. Her legs were like a baby deer’s, colliding with the edge of the padded bench and forcing her to sit down hard. “Gods,” she huffed, realizing she’d lost the blanket again. It’s harder than ever to regain her bearings, and the cold around her is permeating. She drew in her legs, curling up to conserve what little heat she had.

“Hey,” Will’s voice dropped, and he went stock-still, keeping a few feet away when he realized that she’s only now starting to reorient herself. “Your things are right here,” he picked up her dress and her tights that he had neatly folded and stored on the other bench.

Some clinical corner of her mind recognized the coaxing behavior. When she didn’t reach out for it, he settled the items on the bench within reach before he returned to the entrance to glare at their captors who are engrossed in their chess game.

Her control on her emotions teetered on tenuous, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her own bed in the Fifth House under the heaviest blanket she can find and sleep for a few days. It’s the last thing she would’ve expected a few hours ago when she and Will first arrived on Betazed. When they took their stroll through the gardens, and she had sensed the joy and the desire from Will. Emotions that were going to be so easy to give in to. That she wanted to give in to.

Right now, she wanted to kick something. Or punch it. The padded bench is tempting, but it’s probably not as padded as it looks. She should know that because she’s achy from however long they lay there. Whether it was a phaser or something else, Deanna was certain that they had been unconscious for at least a few hours. She’s still struggling to shake off the after-effects of it. It made her feel out of sorts, and had left her with a dull headache.

It was out of respect for her that Will had moved to the doorway. He had not only turned around to give her privacy, but he was also guarding her and staring daggers at their captors. Deanna has never minded nudity, but she detests being cold. It’s always cold on the Enterprise, and she’s adjusted to it somewhat. It was such a relief to be in her home planet, and now she’s on this ship that is far too cold and smells strange. And the Ferengi stripped her not only of clothing, but also of a part of her identity for a second time because the blanket her mother had handed her didn’t make the transport with her.

Every layer of clothing she pulls on helps, but there weren’t enough layers. She struggled to pull on the tights because of the cold, because she’s shaking. And aches and tiredness were wearing down her defenses. Deanna found herself staring at the dress—her favorite dress. A new one. One that she had found earlier in the week in a short break between conference meetings in a favorite boutique in Medara. She loved the beautiful, bold colors and had so looked forward to enjoying a holiday and indulging in all the delights and liberty of home.

“Oh,” she gasped as she struggled back into clothing, pain making itself suddenly known as she tried to slide her arm through the shoulder strap.

It caught Will’s attention, and he rejoined her. “Deanna?”

“I’m fine,” she protested defensively, gritting her teeth as she attempted to get her body to cooperate.

He found the small zipper, and he’s always had this uncanny ability to find those little zippers and hooks. It was something she used to tease him about, even having some dresses specially designed years ago to make a game of it. “Remember what happened to your emerald dress?” he asked softly, persuading the zipper a little lower and easing the fabric around her.

She nodded and swallowed down a surge of her own tumultuous emotions. She’d gotten exactly one night out of that dress. Dinner and dancing. A walk in the gardens, where they had found a private little grove. Eventually his impatience and urgency had overtaken his skill. Later, she’d had the material repurposed into a handbag. But now Will’s hand has found her left arm, guiding it through and stopping completely when she hissed in protest.

“You’re hurt,” the words were blunt and clinical. “Hold still, let me…. I can get this.” He examined the angles and the give of the fabric and stepped close enough that she could absorb a little of his body warmth. He shifted and pulled the material nearly to the point of tear, but managed to get it to settle properly before zipping her up. “Can I see?”

She hadn’t realized that she was holding her arm close until he asked. Instinct made her flinch before taking a short breath and nodding. “It’s been achy since you woke me,” she admitted, unable to bite back a murmur of discomfort even though he’s only lifting the off-the-shoulder-strap to examine it. No bruises, yet, but it’s tender enough that she couldn’t quite put it out of her mind.

“What do you want to bet their doctor’s idea of medicine is leeches and miasmas?”

The sarcasm was meant to lighten the mood and make her laugh, but she couldn’t even summon a smile right now. “I don’t like this. I don’t like that mother made me leave her.”

His concern narrowed, and it was startling to suddenly realize how intently that concern focused singularly on her. “You’re guarding. Even with a crash course in first aid and triage, I can see that.” His fingers ran over her bare shoulder, trying to warm up her up a bit. “How’s your shoulder?”

“Fine,” came her reflexive answer, and she trembled when he took another step closer before carefully pulling her against him. She tried for a long, painful moment to hold it together before shuddering and letting the gasp and first tears out against his chest.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured into her hair, hands and arms finding their familiar holds and letting her feel his solid presence. She urged him closer, crying silently all while frantically grasping for some semblance of control. They’re stuck on a strange ship. They don’t even know where they are. He has her mother—. “Imzadi,” his mouth was by her ear, voice pitched low and soft for her, let go for a minute. I’ve got you,” he repeated firmly, tightening the deep hug he has her wrapped up in, knowing she needs the pressure to ground her.

It’s her job to keep everyone sane. Quite literally. Or at least to do her best to keep them sane. She has her own counselor that she meets with regularly over subspace. Honestly, they need more counselors on so large a starship, but the reality of it is only just starting to make itself known. And it will be some time before anyone higher up in Starfleet realizes it’s truly a necessity.

But in these moments she could let herself feel. Feel the weight of her own emotions. Rage. Cry. And her body trembles at the intensity that she doesn’t quite know how to name or to expel. The coldness of the room, the ache in her arm, and the intensity of the trade agreements have left her drained of her usual resilience. She’s angry and upset. Frustrated that the universe won’t even let her have a vacation when she needs one. Angry that her own annoyance kept her from oskoids and uttaberries as she’s suddenly acutely aware that she’s so hungry that she feel hollow. And in that moment, she can feel herself deflating.

His arms are there, supporting her and easing her onto the padded bench. Her comforts right are his presence and the utter disregard of their captors. At least she could have her emotions in some semblance of privacy. For a person who spends so much time digging into everyone else’s minds and motivations, she craves the deepest privacy for her own feelings. She could count on one hand the number of times she’s really lost control of herself on the Enterprise. One of those times involved a ceremonial gong, but she doesn’t want to remember that right now because it reminds her that she’s hungry and that her mother is with…him.

“Better?” he murmured into her hair, his thumb stroking her temple tenderly.

She sniffled and nodded, wishing so much that they were able to stretch out and relax, to let him play with her hair while she drifted after they’d had their fill of each other. She wasn’t sure she even had the energy to muster up a kiss right now. “Thank you, Will,” she rasped, and she allowed herself relax against him.

For someone who is so tall and conspicuous, Will could be subtle when he needed to be. But she could sense his attempt at subterfuge, so she still flinched when his fingers ghosted over her left arm. “How big of scene do I get to make over this?” His face was a careful mask of control, but his voice carried a steely coldness.

“Later,” Deanna insisted. “Nothing’s broken.”

“Are you sure?”

Her right hand lifted, and she rubbed her eyes and nodded. “I must have landed on it wrong. Get us out of here, and Beverly can fuss over it later.”

“She’s a professional Mother Hen,” he scoffed before looking back down at her and raising and eyebrow. “I could kiss it and make it better.”

It finally earned him a ghost of a smile and a soft sigh. “This wasn’t what I had in mind when I thought about us ending up alone on vacation together.”

“You thought about us alone together?” he’s teasing, but it has lightened the mood.

“I’d rather be stuck here with you than anyone else,” she admitted.

Will smiled before bending down, pressing a light kiss to her bare shoulder and rubbed his hand along her right arm to warm her a bit.

“Human mating rituals are so unnecessary,” their guard was at the opening, appalled and clearly offended that his charges were more focused on one another than on their plight at his hands.

“You should be so lucky,” Will muttered before glaring over his shoulder. “What do you want?” he asked languidly.

The Ferengi scowled, or at least it seemed like a look of contempt. It was still strange to only sense her mother and Will. Deanna couldn’t feel his emotions. And to her, the Ferengi expression seemed to be one of perpetual scowl. Though she knew it was only her bias and their inherent features that made it so. “You are our prisoners. We will ask the questions.”

Contempt practically dripped from Will as he rose to his full height and gave a lazy turn. Sharp blue eyes flicked over the Ferengi before he stalked past Deanna and dropped indolently onto the padded bench between her and the opening. They would have to go through him before they had any hope of reaching her. “If you’re going to starve us, then I have nothing to say to you.”

It was almost comical to see how much it angered the guard to be so deliberately ignored. She and Will settled together, his side pressed against hers to lend warmth. Their captor ranted for a while, stamped his foot, and asked any number of questions. Had it been at a lower tone, Deanna would’ve napped through it. But it was all sound and no force, so she rested her head against Will’s shoulder.

Was one vacation too much to ask for? she queried, idly tracing the soft purple fabric of her dress.

Easy, Imzadi. His arm slid into its familiar place around her waist. Think about the garden. And the muktok. We’ll see it again. Let me work on a plan, and not too long from now we can take a nice stroll on shore of the Opal Sea on the holodeck. Not a Ferengi or another soul in sight.

What he wasn’t saying was that it would be different. It always was. By necessity. Somewhere in that second year or so on the Enterprise, they’d reached a comfortable agreement: when their shore leave and vacation overlapped, it overlapped. They enjoyed their time and each other. What happened off ship, stayed off ship. But a starship, especially a flagship, necessitated a certain formality. And he was the First Officer. And they were both senior staff.

There was no way to judge how long the tirade from the guard lasted. But they sat unmoving, staring at the wall across from them. She flinched, but Will managed not to, when the Ferengi finally slapped at the force field in anger. He stalked away at last, and a few minutes later a tray with some items materialized on the small table at the back of the cell.

Will was the one to investigate. He moved slowly, not wanting to give the offering too much importance, though she knew he was at least as hungry as she was. She was thankful he was the first to taste the offerings. While Deanna enjoyed plenty a gourmet dessert, she was never as gastronomically curious as he was. And it was more than mere curiosity. She was always more sensitive to everything than he was—from the temperature, to emotions, down to food and spices. While she loved her role in diplomatic relations, it had taken some work for Beverly to find just the right concoction for a hypospray that she could reliably use before their meals when they were invited by hosts and ambassadors. More than once she had ended up in sickbay from a combination of spices or foods that her sensitive system simply couldn’t handle.

He finally brought everything back to the bench, offering up a flat item that was somewhere between a loaf and a biscuit. “Can I offer you an appetizer?”

Her first taste was cautious. It was dense, and didn’t have very much in the way of taste. Right now it wasn’t up there with chocolate by any means, but at least it wasn’t gagh. “If this is your idea of a small café for lunch, you’re slipping.”

“I’m wounded,” he countered, leaning back as though actually offended. “How about a rain check?”

Her eyes lifted to meet his, and though she had sensed his disappointment with how their leave was turning out, the intensity of it in his gaze was stronger than she had expected. We both wanted so much more. It took several moments to chew the bite enough to swallow it down with the help of a sip of water. “How about this… Angel Falls. The next time we return to earth?”

He lifted his cup to hers, and they clinked the plastic material together gently. “It’s a date.”

#imzadi #otp: imzadi #will riker x deanna troi #will riker #deanna troi #commander riker #counselor troi #star trek tng #verse: precious commodities

1 note · View note

nash-bby118 · 7 years ago

Text

He’s a Monster....Does it Matter? Chapter 6

Finally got to writing this chapter! I decided I’ll post the summary every couple of chapters.

Notes: OCxCrowley....I guess that’s it. Other then this is a pretty long chapter.

Summary: Crowley deserved to be loved so he will in this fic. One night, Crowley and Lexi meet at a bar. She's weary of him at first and keeps her guard up. But the more she talks to him, the more she sees similarities between them. Not to mention the fact that she felt herself falling for him. And she was falling hard.

Soon, they become close friends and maybe something more. Something they both needed in their lives. The downside to it all? She doesn't know he's a demon & he doesn't know she's a hunter. When they do find out about each other's secret life, no one wants them to be together anymore. Things become weird at first. but they soon learn to deal with it. Besides, everything will be fine, right?

Enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Friday Night Fun

Yet again, I’m home alone while Faith and Kevin are off at dinner and spending some alone time together. in the meantime, I decided to sit back and play some video games in my room.

As I was just starting to get into my favorite game, (Note: Think about Halo for Xbox because that’s pretty much the type of game I’m going for.) I thought I heard knocking coming from somewhere.

“Hm? You guys hear anything?” I took out one ear bud and looked at the pets that didn’t seem to hear anything. “…Guess not.”

Just when I started to put it back it, the doorbell rung cause Coco to run out of the room barking.

“Wonder who that could be?” I asked myself, keeping my game paused and turning my music player off.

The doorbell rung again as I got to my feet so I grabbed my phone and rushed downstairs to the front door. Coco was barking up a storm so I picked her up in my arms and looked out the window.

To my surprise, it was Crowley. It’s been a while since the last time I had seen him so I was confused and surprised to see it was him.

Putting my phone in my pocket, I then opened the door, keeping Coco in my arms. Crowley smiled when I finally answered.

“Hello, Lexi.” Crowley said.

“Hi.” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Just dropping by to say hi. Are your friends home?” He asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m home alone.”

“That’s excluding this darling old pup.” Crowley reached forward and started petting Coco, whom enjoyed it.

“Yeah.” I chuckled. “And a few cats upstairs.”

“Can I come in?” Crowley decided to ask.

‘Meh….fuck it.’ I thought to myself with a shrug and stepped back, letting him inside.

“Where’d the other two go?” Crowley questioned, shutting the door for me.

“Dinner.” I replied, putting Coco down.

“Without you?” He asked.

“They’re bringing me something home. It was just a date between them.”

“Ah. We should go on a double date sometime.” He smirked.

“Yeah we should.” I replied without skipping a beat. “But that’ll have to wait for another night.”

“So what were you doing before I came?” Crowley asked.

“Playing video games in my room.” I said.

“Well, would you like to go out for some fun?” He asked curiously.

“What did you have in mind?” I raised a eyebrow.

“Why don’t we pay your friends a surprise visit?” He suggested. “Won’t be a official double date but it’ll be close enough for the time being. Then maybe we can do something afterwards.”

“Hmm…” I hummed, thinking about it. “…Okay. Why not?”

I don’t feel like he’s going to hurt me anymore so why not go out into the town and have some fun? It is a Friday night after all.

“I just need to go get ready.” I added.

“Fine by me.” He nodded and started heading towards the living room. “I’ll wait here until then.”

“Alright.” I nodded back and headed upstairs.

I did feel a little uncomfortable leaving him alone downstairs but Coco was still with him so I only hoped she knew what she was doing since she didn’t seem afraid or suspicious of him.

Once in my room, I saved my game and turned it and the TV off before finding a nice shirt and flannel since I know they didn’t go anywhere too expensive and fancy. Plus we might do something afterward anyway.

After getting changed, brushing my teeth and hair, and anything else I needed to do, I grabbed my purse, put my phone in it, and rushed downstairs a little too fast than I care to admit.

“That was quick.” Crowley got up as I came down and saw I was wearing a black shirt with a green flannel over it. “You truly remind me of certain people that I know.”

“Why? Because I have endless flannel?” I asked in a snarky tone as I put my tennis shoes on and took my keys out of my purse.

“Ah, so it’s going to be a night full of snark, yeah?” He asked with a smile.

“Battle of the snark? Sounds good to me.” I chuckled.

“Well, while you finish with that, I’ll turn the lights off down here.” Crowley said as I was finishing tying my shoes.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.” He replied and went to do it. “Does Coco need to be in a cage?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine.” I said, standing up straight. “We just can’t let her bolt out the door.”

Crowley nodded understandingly as he came over to where I was after turning the lights off.

I patted my hips and realized I almost forgot my gun.

“One second.” I said and rushed back upstairs.

Once it and the holster was on my hip, I double-checked to make sure my permit for it was in my purse still and then headed back down.

“Didn’t want to leave without it?” He motioned with his head to my hip.

“Never know.” I shrugged and he shrugged back.

“Ready now?” He asked and I nodded happily. “Come on.”

Crowley opened the door and came out behind me, giving me a few seconds to lock the place up.

“Hey, how are we getting-” I started after I put my keys in my purse and was just about to turn around to face him. “-Here.”

My eyes widened when we were outside the steakhouse that I never even told him about. I glanced over to where he was standing, eyeing him suspiciously with a frown.

‘So that theory of him being some sort of monster was correct.’ I thought to myself right as he gave me a look.

“I’m not a…monster…” He said, reading my mind and I stared at him in a questioningly way. “It’s hard to explain, but you have nothing to fear, Lexi.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked, almost quietly and he nodded.

“I swear.” Crowley responded also somewhat quietly. “Let’s just have a good time, alright?”

“…Okay.” I said, starting to feel bothered.

“Come on, darling.” He took a few steps forward and I followed behind him, keeping a short distance between us.

‘Fuck….what if he bugged the downstairs? Or did something? Him being able to teleport explains how he can easily find me…’ I thought to myself as we walked inside.

I took a deep breath and tried to relax myself, knowing how tensed I looked to everyone else.

“Hi.” I greeted the hostess.

“Hi.” She greeted back. “Table for two?”

“Actually, we’re here to surprise my two friends. They arrived about 10-20 minutes ago under the name Faith or Kevin.” I replied.

“Ah here they are.” She smiled as she found their name. “Would you like to sit with them? I believe they were seated in a booth so there’s room for the two of you.”

“Sure. Thank you.” I grinned.

“Okay. Give me a few seconds and I’ll have a waitress show you the way.” She said and I nodded, stepping back towards Crowley but keeping that distance.

“Right this way.” Another girl with two menus said and led us to them.

Once I saw them, knowing they didn’t see me, I made a beeline to them.

“Boo!” I quickly sat down next to Faith and giggled when she got scared, suddenly feeling relaxed since she was with me again. “Ha! You should’ve seen your face!”

“What are you doing here?!” She began to laugh too, Kevin was already laughing.

“Was bored so Crowley and I decided to join you.” I said, nodding to him.

“Hello.” He said as he and the waitress caught up.

“Oh well… we already ordered.” Faith said.

“Actually, I don’t think the kitchen started on your orders yet so I can add theirs and you’ll get it all at once.” The waitress replied.

“Oh okay.” Faith shrugged. “Join the party, I guess. Here, why don’t I sit with Kevin and you two sit here?”

I nodded with a nervous smile and got up so she can move.

“Separate checks?” The waitress asked, handing us menus once we were situated.

“All on one. I’ll take care of it.” Crowley replied, glancing to me.

“Thanks…” I said.

“Yeah, thanks man!” Kevin added.

“You’re welcome.” Crowley nodded.

“Drinks?” She asked.

“Whiskey.” Crowley said immediately.

“This large and what looks to be a strong drink sounds good.” I pointed to a little menu on the table.

“Did you forget we’re suppose to go out later after here?” Crowley asked, worried he may have just screwed over the one friendship he was starting to finally have.

I shrugged.

“Oh! The county fair is going on. We should go there after here!” Faith suggested and I looked at Crowley.

“Good for you?” I asked, feeling some sass still inside me. “Or don’t you want to get your expensive suit dirty?”

“Fine by me, love.” Crowley replied, quickly.

“Okay.” I turned from him to Faith “I guess that’s the plan.” I then looked back to the waitress. “Just a normal beer for me.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be back for your orders.” The waitress said,

“So what made you decide to join us?” Kevin asked.

“Felt like crashing your night.” I said without thinking, then smirked at my own sudden response.

“Apparently she’s full of snark tonight too.” Crowley added, smirking as well and Faith giggled.

“Sounds like it.” She said, noticing my shoulders tensed when Crowley put a arm behind me, knowing that I had since relaxed around him before.

----- after dinner because I’m lazy -----

“How did you guys get here?” Faith asked as we walked out of the restaurant sometime later.

“My car.” Crowley lied than started patting his pants. “Oh. I think I left my wallet inside. Lexi, be a dear and come help me find it. Why don’t you two head to the fair and we’ll meet you there.” He suggested.

“Okay. We’ll catch up there.” I said, noticing Faith’s look.

“Are you sure?” She asked and I nodded. “Okay.”

I followed Crowley inside and back to our table.

“I know you’re lying about your wallet.” I said once we reached it.

“I know you do.” Crowley said, turning to me. “Just had to get them away before…” He trailed off, when I frowned.

“You aren’t…not in here.” I muttered.

“Why would I do that in here?” He whispered back, and looked out the window, seeing them exit the parking lot. “Come on, Lexipup.”

I once again followed behind him as we exited the building and walked behind it.

“Okay. We shouldn’t be seen here.” Crowley said, stopping.

“How can you teleport?” I found myself asking.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, slowly coming up to where I stopped a few feet away.

“I do but I also don’t….” I frowned, not looking at him but keeping my right hand near my gun.

“Why don’t you want to know?” Crowley asked.

“I don’t know….I guess… I was finally starting to trust you but I feel like I shouldn’t now.” Crowley frowned when I said that.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” He replied after a moment. “You can still trust me. I swear I won’t hurt you. I have really enjoyed your company and didn’t mean to ruin it.”

“You haven’t…yet.” My left hand rubbed my right arm, still hovering by my gun on my hip. “Will you tell me what you are?” I finally looked at him.

“I can’t.” He finally said, now looking away from me. “It’ll ruin everything. Just trust me, okay? Nothing bad will ever happen to you. You‘re my friend, aren‘t you?” Crowley glanced back to me.

After thinking about it for a moment, I nodded.

“Yeah. I’m just not sure if I can trust you anymore.” I replied. “You gotta understand something….happened and now I can’t trust people so easily. Especially with a chance of them being a monster.”

“What?” He stared at me when I said the last word.

“What?” I asked.

“What did you just say?” Crowley asked.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Can we get going now? Please?”

Crowley looked down for a moment and nodded his head in agreement. Sooner we ended the conversation the better the night would hopefully be.

Before I knew it, we were outside of the fair and decided to sit on a bench and wait for Faith and Kevin to come.

“Lexi,” Crowley started suddenly.

“Hm?” I hummed, just staring out into the parking lot.

“Were you…ever in a bad relationship and that’s why you said ‘monster’?” He decided to ask, thinking I surely didn’t know about actual monsters but didn’t want to invade my privacy and risk ruining things further by tapping my forehead and finding out himself.

“No but I had a ex-friend that caused me all sorts of trust issues.” I replied, lying.

“Ah.” He went.

“Plus, since you won’t tell me what you are, I don’t really know what else to call you after…yah know.” I added.

“Ah.” Crowley went again. “Look, I’ll cure your curiosity one day. Let’s just enjoy tonight for what it is.”

“Fine by me.” I agreed. “Just promise me one thing.”

“….I can’t promise a lot of things…” He admitted.

My frowned deepened as I watched the cars.

“….So you can’t promise me that you aren’t a bad guy just manipulating a young mind and possibly tricking me?” I say quietly.

“…I already told you I won’t hurt you. You have nothing to fear.” Crowley responded. “Do you feel safe around me?”

“That didn‘t answer my question.” I replied, avoiding his eyesight.

“I‘m….no. I‘m not a bad guy. Just someone looking for a new friend and I could tell that night in the bar you were looking for one too.” He said.

“I suppose so.” I said and shook my head. “Okay. Let’s drop this. I’m not sure how I feel about you being able to teleport but let’s just enjoy this night and hopefully forget about this conversation.”

‘Fat chance of that happening.’ I thought to myself. ‘There’s no way I’m letting my guard down…even if I do still have a crush on him…now I’m glad I was never in a relationship. This shit is hard to deal with.’

“You can say that again.” Crowley chucked.

“What?” I finally looked at him.

“Ah. Finally got you to look at me.” He smiled slightly.

“I guess so.” I gave a small smile back.

I looked away and took a deep breath, relaxing myself and making it so my shoulders weren’t tense anymore.

We sat in silence for the following 10 or so minutes until we saw Kevin and Faith park and come up to us.

“You got here fast.” Faith said. “You beat us here.”

“What can I say, he’s a speed demon.” I smiled and I could tell Crowley was smirking beside me when we stood up.

‘Only I hope he isn’t a actual demon.’ I thought to myself.

“Well, let’s head inside.” Kevin said and we walked over to the ticket booth.

Crowley was about to get his wallet out when Kevin stopped him.

“Here, let us pay for you since you paid for our dinner.” Kevin said.

“Thanks.” Crowley said, partially surprised.

Kevin nodded as we paid for our tickets and headed inside. On the way in, I grabbed a schedule that mentioned the music acts and other things like fireworks.

“Hey, there’s fireworks going off tonight.” I said as I walked with it in my hands before we stopped to talk.

“What should we do until then?” Faith asked and I shrugged.

“I don’t care.” I replied. “Nothing really to do other than walk around until we’re bored, eat even though we already did, check out the animals, and play some games and win some prizes.”

“Why don’t we get some desert? Then we can walk all that junk off by looking at animals.” She suggested.

“Fine by me.” I said and looked at the guys who nodded.

“Guess that’s what we’re doing.” Faith said and we started walking towards the food.

On the way, I rolled up the schedule and put it in my purse.

---- Later ----

A few hours later, we were now laying down on a hill a little outside of the fair, waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Over the course of those few hours we mainly walked around, enjoying the fresh air and walking off the fried deserts that we had along with the ice-cream we later got too.

Even before the fireworks we were mostly silent. I think all four of us was enjoying the silence and just stargazing until the fireworks started.

Later when it was over, I decided to just go home with Faith and Kevin so Crowley walked with us to their car.

“Have a good night.” Crowley said as we reached it.

“Thanks. You too.” I said, turning to him.

“Bye, Crowley.” Faith waved and he gave a small wave back before turning and walking away.

I leaned back on the car as I watched him walk away and sighed.

“Fun night, huh?” Faith asked, next to me.

“You can say that.” I replied, closing my eyes.

“What’s wrong? You seemed nervous and tense around him all night.” She questioned.

“I’ll tell you in the car.” I opened my eyes and the back door.

“Okay…?” She said, confused and did the same with the driver’s door.

As soon as we were all buckled in, she started the car and got into the line of traffic so we can go home.

“We’ll be here for a while so what happened?” Faith asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

My head was resting on the window and I was looking out into the night sky before I turned towards her.

“He’s…something.” I muttered.

“I know he is. Go for him already!” She urged but I shook my head.

“Not what I meant.” I replied.

“What could you have meant?” Kevin asked.

“He….disappeared…teleported….with me…” I said, unsure as to how I should put it.

“He…what?” Faith asked, not hearing me since I spoke quietly.

“Teleported.” I stated. “When I said he’s ‘something’ I meant he’s definitely something.”

“Oh…” Faith said, understanding now. “What do you think he is?”

“The only thing I can think of is a demon. But why would a demon go around making friends unless he’s that bored?” I asked.

“Or…maybe he knows we’re hunters so he’s trying to manipulate you.” Faith said.

“I don’t think he knows we’re hunters. If he does, he hasn’t said anything or shown that he knows. But he did say that I can trust him and don’t have to be afraid of him.” I huffed. “I don’t know…my brain says stop seeing him but my heart says otherwise.”

“What about your hunter instincts?” Kevin asked.

“They’re saying to watch my back and be careful but still see him.” I said.

“Then do that until you know for sure what he is and if he’s lying.” Faith said and I just closed my eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

#Supernatural #Crowley #King of Hell #Mark Sheppard #Fanfiction

5 notes · View notes

glapplebloom · 8 years ago

Photo

Starlight is truly a powerful pony. She got me to like Trixie.

It begins with Trixie trying to learn magic. Thanks to Starlight, she finally did REAL magic: transforming things into a Teacup. She gets too over excited and ruined Starlight’s Tea Cakes. Trixie was too excited to apologize and decided to replace the Tea Cakes with pretzels. We then notice a smoke cloud coming out of Starlight’s horn.

Later, we find out Twilight and friends are going on a Friendship Retreat. In short, a vacation. So Spike, Trixie, and Starlight are going to be Castle Sitting. Back in the castle, Starlight (reluctantly) tries to teach Trixie how to teleport objects.

It is here we learn that Starlight’s Magic is tied to her emotions. This could explain how she can rival Twilight despite not being an Alicorn. Starlight is very passionate and this episode shows how bad it can get. Good news, she successfully taught Trixie how to teleport. Bad news, it was the Cutie Map.

Might as well talk about what Twilight and the girls are doing. They’re doing a game called Manehatten Escapes, in which they get locked in a room and have to escape by solving riddles and clues to escape. This sounds fun and would be cool to see in real life. Dash wants the girls to beat the record which is only an hour.

They completed everything in time, but before they turned the key they decided to sing a song about friendship. It is because of that that they lose the record by two seconds. Starlight called it too.

Back in the A Plot, Starlight bottles up her Angry Magic while she and Trixie looks for the table. Each place has no results and Trixie doesn’t seem to care. But when she noticed that Starlight is putting magic in her bag, she unintentionally unleashes it and infects the three ponies above.

Starlight is drained as those three go violent on Trixie. Eventually, Starlight drains the magic back from them and reveals that she is angry at Trixie. Trixie apologizes and tells her that she doesn’t need to hide her feelings. She then remembers that the last thing she was thinking was the Spa because that was the first time they met each other.

That was really nice and it ends with them getting the table back just in time. Of the two episodes, this one was much more fun. I enjoy the dynamic of Starlight and Trixie. It sort of reminds me of past duos like Dexter and Dee Dee or even Abbott and Costello.

This episode is canon, but much different. Starlight is making Tea Cakes, but it is for the rest of the group. Trixie convinces Starlight to teach her how to teleport and wonders who to use use it on. Lightning Dust decides to volunteer. Starlight thinks it should be an apple (which Lightning places on her head). So instead of a table, it was Lightning Dust that disappears.

Starlight begins to worry about Lightning since a spell like that could be dangerous. She does bottle it up, but it is Gilda who she talked about. Gilda, who had experiences with anger taking over, originally thinks it is a good idea. Eventually, even Gilda thinks it isn’t a good idea.

Luckily for Gilda the rest of the events happened exactly. They find Lightning Dust in the Spa, as in being a patron. Starlight, learning her lesson, expresses her anger when Dust revealed she was at those places moments ago. It is then she shows that the teleporting spell gave Lightning Dust teleportation powers. She can now teleport to wherever she thinks.

She still needs to learn because she continued to crash into walls thinking of the places she wants to go.

#season 7 #mlp review #Green Lantern Apple Bloom #trixie #starlight glimmer

10 notes · View notes

thesunglassesgamer · 8 years ago

Text

The Talk, Chapter 8

Almost didn’t get this one out in time. From now on, there won’t be weekly updates, only updates when I have time/motivation. That way there’s less stress and, hopefully, more quality. I hope you enjoyed it, or if not, left early enough so that you haven’t wasted your time. Comments, suggestions and criticisms please.

The sound of feet rapidly hitting the floor and heavy breathing filled the hallway. Sweat began to drip down everyone’s faces, besides Tom and Glossaryck. The smell of sweat and fear mixed in with the mildew to become truly gut-wrenching. Star’s and Elizabeth’s wands lit up the cavern, allowing them to see the branching hallways in front of them. The jail cells that had held the monsters and rats were wrecked and empty, but no one stopped to ask why. They only cared about running, running far, far away from whatever noise had started laughing in Ludo’s chamber. They had to get away. Because… why?

“Glossaryck!” Marco blurted out in-between breaths. “Why- Are- We- Running?”

Glossaryck didn’t turn to face Marco. He simply continued gliding through the caverns, leading the group from tunnel to tunnel. “Because we’re in danger.”

Marco looked at the small blue mentor with disgust. “What danger?” He had a feeling that whatever answer Glossaryck was going to give would either be annoying or cryptic. With Marco’s luck, it would be both.

Glossaryck turned to grin widely at the exasperated boy. “What danger aren’t we running from?”

Wonderful. It had been both. Marco would’ve let out a deep sigh if he hadn’t already been breathing as hard as he could. Instead he rolled his eyes and gave Glossaryck another contemptuous glare. “I just saved you. The least you could do for us is talking like a normal person.”

Glossaryck’s smile grew larger. “I’m not a normal person, Diaz. And besides, you didn’t save me; you saved your own ass.”

Marco blinked, then frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

Glossaryck turned back around to face where they were going. He kept the tone of his smile as they continued onwards. “Marco, Marco, do you really think that I-“ Glossaryck stopped abruptly, causing everyone behind him to crash into each other. Before they could give him crap about it, though, he pointed forward and solemnly commanded, “look.”

Looking up, they saw a green cloud slowly expanding towards them. It seemed almost alive, that gaseous being. Wondrous little shapes came in and out of existence as whatever it was became larger and larger. The formless mass silently spread to take up the entire room ahead of them, moving with supernatural grace. They all looked awestruck at the being, except for Glossaryck. He quickly turned ‘round to face the dumb-founded group of teens.

“This is the danger,” he spurted out, face empty of wit and humor. “We need to-“ But as he spoke, the green cloud came out from behind them. The green cloud leisurely, yet somehow rapidly, surrounded the entire group. Sweat started to drip down Glossarycks face. “Well, that- happened.”

Marco, Star, Tom, Jackie, Jam and Elizabeth blinked their eyes several times and then jerked their heads around, as if only just comprehending then and there that they were screwed. Jam’s face grew grim, and he closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate. Jackie’s face grew pale and she grabbed onto Marco, who, being even paler than her, grabbed back harder. Tom, Star, and Elizabeth started to shoot magic spells out into the fog. Their spells had no effect on the gas, passing through it without so much as changing the gas’s course. As the fog swirled in its entrancing, vicious cycle around them, Star’s face lit up.

“Marco!” Star ordered, voice crisp with terror. “Dimensional Scissors!”

Marco’s eyes went wide, and he slapped himself in the face. “Ugh, of course,” he muttered, silently cursing himself. He fumbled through his pockets to find the stainless pair of magical scissors. With a quick swipe, the portal was open, and they were gone seconds later. As they crashed into the Diaz’s living room, the fog moved to get into the portal. Milliseconds before it could cross over, Marco zipped the portal closed. They were safe. Finally safe.

Everyone collapsed into the various furniture around the room. The physical demands of combat and sprinting caught up to them, and the only noise that could be heard was heavy breathing. A full minute passed before Elizabeth looked up and asked, “Uh, so… what now?”

Marco stopped his heavy breathing and glanced towards Glossarycks book, and then Glossaryck. “Mission success, I guess.” He looked towards Star, who was relaxing comfortably. She had calmed down very quickly, faster than Marco had ever seen her calm down from a serious occasion. “When did you guys leave?”

Star shrugged. “Shortly after you ditched Jackie.” Her voice was light and bubbly, although Marco thought he could hear a hidden blade beneath it. “She told me what happened, I pouted, she smacked some sense into me, Tom appeared for some reason-“

“I wanted to borrow your stuff again,” Tom explained dully.

“-We talked to Buff Frog, found the cave, and went after your arrogant butt.” She gave him a disappointed look, as though she were a teacher with a struggling student. “Honestly, Marco: Ludo, by yourself? You’re smarter than that.”

Marco grew defensive. “Hey, Jackie doesn’t have any combat experience and you were pouting. What were my other options?”

Star looked at him blankly. “Waiting for me to stop pouting?”

“That would’ve taken too long. It would’ve felt like I was trying to make up for something I hadn’t been thinking about.”

Star sighed, letting her eyes fall to the floor. “You already hadn’t been thinking about it. For two weeks.”

Marco grimaced. She was right. “I hadn’t realized that you had… listen, Star, I wanted to prove that I still cared about you; that despite Jackie, you’re still my best friend and that I love you. Risking my life seemed fairly reasonable at the time.”

Star shrugged. “Yeah, I… I guess.” She looked up and gave Marco a worried stare. “But you would’ve died if it hadn’t been for…” Star’s gaze travelled from Marco to the two oddly dressed teens that were giving each other death stares. “Those two.” Star cocked her head to the side, now curious. “Who are you?”

Elizabeth and Jam stopped their staring contest of doom to give their attention to Star. “I’m” they said in unison, then frowned at each other. Their staring battle resumed, neither paying anyone else in the room any attention. Jackie, who’d been relaxing beside Marco and getting ready to punch him at the opportune time, sat up.

“What’s up with them?”

Marco scoffed. “Like I said earlier, they’re… uh… my future kids.” His two future kids nodded together without breaking the contest. “The girl’s name is Elizabeth and the boy’s is Jam. Elizabeth, supposedly, comes from-“

“Wait,” Star interrupted, suddenly mesmerized with the brown-haired girl. “Those things on her cheeks. Those are Mewman marks.” She looked dumbfounded at Marco, then suddenly pumped her fist into the air. “Hell yeah, not out of the game yet!”

Elizabeth pumped her arm into the air likewise, a stupid grin overtaking her face. “Go team Starco!”

Jackie looked at Marco with an odd expression. He shrugged. “And so the other one is… mine?” Jackie sounded very much like she was choosing her words carefully.

“Yes indeed, mother,” Jam sounded off confidently. He pumped his hand into the air as well. “Go team Jarco!”

Marco rubbed his eyes. “They say that they’re from two separate futures and that they’re trying to secure their existences.” The two nodded. Elizabeth decided to speak up first, keeping her words bland as she stared daggers at Jam.

“Marco and Star get married in my world, go to Mewni, live happily, etc., etc. Then one day, future Glossaryck tells me that there’s been a problem with the timeline and to go back to this time and place. Something about a foreign entity.” She pointed to Jam. “And here he is, trying to mess up the timeline.”

Jam scowled. “From where I come from, Jackie and Marco get married, the starcolypse happens, and the world looks like one of those Micheal Bay movies I was told were awful. I find a way to travel through time and find out that there’s an anomaly in this place at this time.” He pointed to Elizabeth. “And what do I find? This girl messing up the timeline.”

Elizabeth’s glare grew darker, and in turn Jam’s scowl grew fiercer. They slowly got closer as their stares intensified. Tom, who had walked out of the room to get some OJ, walked back in and chuckled. “You two get any closer,” he remarked wittily, “And you’ll be kissing.”

The instant repulsion that sent the two back into their respective chairs was so quick that Marco thought they had teleported. They blushed, then stared daggers at Tom. He looked unamused. “You’re kids are fond of staring, Marco.” Tom’s wit continued on past Marco’s future offspring to Marco himself. “Looks like you forgot to teach them not to do that.” Marco looked daggers at Tom, then realized that he was imitating his kids. He sighed. He’d been sighing a lot recently. He made a mental note to consider it latter.

Marco looked over to Glossaryck. He’d been floating in the background, lazily watching everything unfold. “Any answers?”

Glossaryck shrugged. “You need to communicate better with your friends. All of you. Except for Jackie. Jackies cool.” Glossaryck snapped his fingers in Jackie’s direction. She nervously snapped her fingers back, confused. “Also if you two are from different timelines,“ Glossaryck pointed at the angsty children of Marco, “How come both of you are here now? You’ve already messed up time enough for neither of you two to exist.”

The two teens, as well as Marco and Star, perked up. “Huh?”

“Two timelines can’t coexist. Not even for an instance. So why are you two doing just so?” Jam and Elizabeth looked at each other with blank stares, then looked up. They shrugged their shoulders. Glossaryck grinned. “Food for thought.” Then he took his book and went up to Star’s room. Everyone looked up as he ascended.

“Wow,” Marco declared. “What a dick.”

#Starco #Jarco #star vs the forces of evil #whooooooo #im busy now so bye #for a bit

7 notes · View notes

terryblount · 6 years ago

Text

Fallout 76 Review: Semi-Wasted, Semi-Wonderful

By now you’ve likely seen Fallout 76’s overwhelmingly bad reception. Mainstream sites have roasted it, the internet has mocked it, and retailers have slashed the price of it. The oft-heard critical terms are glitchy, soulless, broken, cash-grab, early-access, and junk. All these and more hang over Fallout 76 like a condemning toxic cloud.

So is this game simply trash? Is it unworthy of any attention? Well, it’s certainly true that Fallout 76 is broken, buggy, and sometimes unplayable. If we gave review scores here I’d probably give Fallout 76 a 4 or 5 out of 10. It has potential, but it’s simply a malfunctioning game rife with incompetent programming and faulty systems.

This leaves me in a strange position. After 65+ hours of play, I’m still eager to leisurely explore, build my character, and craft ever-more-powerful gear. I clearly see the numerous and unacceptable issues, and yet I find myself quite captivated by this mostly-dead Appalachia open-world.

In a world full of glitches and server instability, is inner-peace possible? Do we even dare to ask?

How can I enjoy Fallout 76? Am I insane? Just plain stupid? Bought-off by Bethesda? For those who dare to dive in, I humbly ask you to read this lengthy review in which I explain why Fallout 76 is both a technical disaster and a potentially powerful gameplay experience.

First, Let’s Roast: So Much Broken Stuff!

In case you haven’t read and/or watched how embarrassingly broken this game is, let me give you the highlights of the low points.

I’ve had about 14 game crashes, 20-plus server disconnects, 7 or 8 sudden maintenance shutdowns, and probably 30-plus lagging out episodes taking up to two minutes to resolve. The servers are less stable than the results of my last psychiatric evaluation (dual-burn!).

I was playing the game for five minutes to get final screenshots for this review…and then BAM.

In the worst case when the game does disconnect you, you might log back in and find you’ve lost the last five minutes or more of progress. Or maybe you won’t have. It seems to depend on the servers’ moods.

Particularly disturbing is how the quest log will sometimes fail to load. I’ll get in game and all my quests have simply vanished from the game world. Oh joy! Sometimes they’ll load in a few minutes. Other times I have to reconnect over and over and hope the game manages to scrounge up all that pesky quest data stuff.

This trash heap represents Fallout 76’s programming. A big mess of junk, basically.

One particular quest was deleted from my quest log and reinstated about eight times over the course of a week or so, but finally the servers dug deep and registered my completion. As such, finishing a quest is often a momentous occasion not because of stellar writing (it’s not) or amazing rewards (they’re not). Rather, it’s kind of a miracle the game could momentarily function well enough to allow proper quest completion.

To make matters worse, the quest system itself uses a checkpoint system that fails to save your progress for many quests given but not begun. For instance, let’s say a robot at point A gives you a quest to go to point B. Despite the game adding this quest to your journal, if you quit your game without going to point B, the quest will be deleted as if you never began it. Idiocy is what this is.

Ah, the dreaded T-pose in the wild! Stop breaking my immersion! Go away; nobody likes you!

Then there’s the broken artificial intelligence. About half the time enemies will glitch out in numerous mystifying ways. You just never know if they’ll slide around in a “T-pose” or teleport back and forth or glitch out of world or die instantly or be naked or invisible. Who knows, maybe they’ll even behave properly!

And we mustn’t forget about the persistent and unacceptable lag. Remember the 1990s on dial-up internet with all its hitches and delays? Fallout 76 not only remembers but emulates this with very obnoxious momentary pauses between major actions like looting, shooting, and building. At best, it’s a split-second annoyance. At worst, it’s seconds on end of bandwidth befuddlement. Do you even network code, Bethesda bro!?

The servers couldn’t be bothered to load super-mutant clothing. Very embarrassing, really.

The framerate and performance is often quite fine…except when it’s totally dismal. In typical fashion, Fallout 76 can sometimes run very smoothly, but then the programming strangles itself with all those bits and pixels and things grind to a stuttering, halting mess. This is a seriously dysfunctional game engine.

On your end as a player, your attacks often won’t register and animations won’t play. When they do play, you’ll often shoot or swing right through enemies. If you thought previous Bethesda games had bad combat, wonky movement, and glitchy animations, Fallout 76 takes it to a new level. More like 76 times more glitches (ultra-burn!).

A more surface annoyance is how the game refuses to remember my username and password. And why can’t the keyboard/mouse and controller be swapped on the fly? This is 2018, isn’t it?

Oh, and the game can’t even exit properly. I usually get stuck at a frozen game screen when quitting, even when using Alt-F4. I then have to invisibly open the Task Manager, type “fa” to select the “Fallout 76” program and then use Ctrl-E to end the task. If you didn’t know how to do all that…then you’d probably have to restart your computer or something. Fun!

So are you excited to play Fallout 76 yet?! Did I mention not only is the game priced at $60 retail but there’s a micro-transaction shop full of outrageously over-priced stuff that should be in the game to begin with? Yoda voice: Greedy and incompetent, Bethesda is!

$4 for a map, $14 for a rocket decoration, $4 for a door texture. Such blatant greed.

There’s my Fallout 76 roast. Disdainful derision for a flamboyantly flawed Fallout. If you are dead-set on hating Fallout 76, stop reading now and go in peace. Or read on and hopefully see why there may still be something worth salvaging in this massive mess.

What Player Would Enjoy This?!

Ok. That was a lot of broken stuff, wasn’t it? This is why, as a reviewer, I cannot recommend or endorse Fallout 76 in its current state. It’s truly one of the most broken triple-A games ever released. And yet, there is much here to enjoy and for a certain type of player.

This is key: Fallout 76 will only appeal to a more-limited range of players because it’s absolutely not the typical Bethesda RPG experience. I believe there is unique captivating joy buried within Fallout 76, but it requires defiant digging and self-determination.

There’s a vast world out there, full of treasures…if you look closely and carefully.

Let me explain by starting with what types of players won’t enjoy Fallout 76. Firstly, story-driven players won’t be satisfied. There’s only a bare-bones narrative told with holotapes (audio logs). There are no cutscenes or reveals or payoffs. There’s no characters to truly care about.

Action-focused players won’t be pleased. There’s almost no well-designed combat encounters. Most combat is awkward and clunky. There’s no sense of progression like in mission-based shooters, and the combat “Events” are mostly terrible (often broken) wave-based affairs.

Role-players won’t find much of a role to play since there’s not a single character to have a back-and-forth dialogue with. Shakespeare said “all the world’s a stage”, but Fallout 76 is more like an abandoned stage days after the last debauched performance, everyone gone and everything in disarray.

MMO-fans won’t find much to celebrate because Fallout 76 is the anti-social multiplayer game. Instead of advertising how you can get a job and become a hero or villain like many MMO-style games, Fallout 76’s “selling point” is how all those interesting interactions are as dead and gone as all the human NPCs.

This is where all the NPCs went. Thrown in dumpsters, never to give out quests again.

Speaking of everyone being dead, we finally get to the target audience of Fallout 76. The archeologists. The anthropologists. The wanderers. The nomads. The explorers of the unknown. The ones who are energized by solitude and find rest in their own private world.

Fallout 76 calls out to those who dream of having Disneyland all to themselves without the masses getting in their way. Put me in my own world. Let me explore. Let me discover. Let me escape the shackles of someone else’s story. Set me free from the madness of human interaction. This is, ironically, the mantra of Fallout 76.

A whole world to explore at my own pace, in my own way. To me this sounds like heaven!

Now you probably think I’m nuttier than my last peanut butter and jelly sandwich…but stick with me here, I’m going somewhere delicious with all this.

Self-Amusement Park: My True Story

Let me tell you a true story. When I was about 12 I went to an amusement park near my home. The whole park was rented that day by my friend’s mom’s employer, so we had full access to the massive park with only a maybe 200 of us instead of the usual 2,000+.

Just out golfing, enjoying the crisp, newly irradiated greens. And looking snazzy!

It was glorious. There were no lines and no crowded streets. I’d run from ride to ride with my friend. We’d go together a few times, then we’d split up and do what we wanted. It felt like this was my park. This was my world, created just for me to explore and enjoy.

To this day I remember this event as my best theme park visit ever. This experience was much better than all the other fancy super-crowded parks I’d go to in the subsequent years. Those other mega-parks were always chock full of people, reminding me I am but one of thousands, at the mercy of the crowds.

Here is where Fallout 76 resonates with me so much. Contrary to what I’ve said above, I don’t hate all human interaction. However, I want that interaction to be limited and optional and realistic. I don’t want to feel like I’m 1 of the 10,000 “Heroes” going on some quest-checklist to save the day like many online games.

The world is full of little locations such as this, pieces of lore to fit together however you like.

As a result, Fallout 76’s system is actually very enjoyable for me: there’s up to 24 players scattered around the massive world, which means I’m usually on my own. However, I always know other players are out there, released from my same Vault, exploring just like me. This setup gives an added realism and human connection to my exploration in a mostly non-distracting and beneficial way.

To put it another way, I can be alone but not lonely. Fallout 76 isn’t forcing me to team up and be social, and it’s not relegating me to an offline-only world populated by shallow NPCs. Just like my day at the amusement park, I have a big world to explore, but there’s others out there to create a contrast to my isolation. For me, this is a wonderful feeling.

Fallout 76’s Star: The Appalachia World Itself

Let’s get back to some specifics and describe the game world. Fallout 76 features not only the largest but also the most meticulously crafted game-space Bethesda has ever created. The attention to detail, little touches, and overall sense of place makes exploring the huge West Virginia Appalachia landscape a delight to me.

What a breathtaking, compelling, and expansive world, and it’s all mine to discover!

Truly the natural environments are stunning and impressive. This is a huge step up from anything Fallout 4 offered. Sadly, the man-made locations and buildings are mostly recycled assets from Fallout 4, and it’s almost all inferior to the creatively crafted natural artwork.

I cannot overstate how impressed I am with Fallout 76’s natural world full of truly unique biomes and locales. The lush green and bright red forests. The haunting mucky mires. The rocky moon-like crags and mining outposts. The otherworldly irradiated flora. It’s mesmerizing and graphically impressive!

There are some fantastically dangerous locales to explore…better bring a gas mask!

Most importantly, the world’s full of typical Fallout story tidbits. Husband and wife farmers about to lose everything suddenly hit it big only to have the world get nuked the next week. A bank robbery gone wrong made irrelevant by Armageddon. These stories get pieced together as you carefully find corpses and notes and so forth.

Thanks to the superb quality of the world itself, I find myself logging in and relaxing as I settle in to another session of wanderlust, being transported to what feels like a real place I can live and breathe in.

Such a quaint and calming scene. There’s beauty in simplicity. And those rocks are looking nice!

Sometimes I’ll just meander to a few locations and admire the views, takes some photos, and maybe find a note from a dead inhabitant. This leads us to what I’m calling my three pillars of Fallout 76.

My Three Pillars of Fallout 76: Wander, Discover, Examine

So we’ve already made it clear that this isn’t a game about story or characters. So what is it about? I personally view Fallout 76 as my solitary world to get lost in, and I find something very peaceful about walking through this vibrant world full of dead people and abandoned civilizations.

This simple process of journeying has kept me energized for a good 65+ hours, and I believe this is the fundamental gameplay loop of Fallout 76: wander, discover, examine. Let me explain each one.

I really love this photo. The ambience and mood is so gloomy yet soothing in a way.

First, I wander. I argue this game is for the wanderers, the nomads, those who see an inherent value in simply going forward to find what’s there. This feeling of wanderlust has never been truer than in Fallout 76. The game’s very premise is thus: the world is destroyed…go out and study what has happened…there’s nobody to help you…so forge your own path or die trying.

This mostly open-ended story structure is a tough pill to swallow for many fans because we’re used to Bethesda giving us all the major quest paths. This idea that we must blaze our own trail is what sets Fallout 76 apart, in an often misunderstood way.

Going out and seeing the sights for yourself is such a huge part of Fallout 76’s draw.

Moreover, many players will be sorely disappointed at how many “empty” locations there are. Many will ask, “What’s the point of yet another destroyed building to walk away from with only a backpack full of junk?” And yet, for us wanderers and explorers, the process of finding new places is, in itself, a worthwhile endeavor.

Now the second pillar: to discover. To discover is to live. This is the compelling truth that drives many of the world’s researchers, archeologists, and anthropologists. These are the ones that must discover, no matter what it may or may not lead to.

Some will ask what nonsense I’m talking about. It’s a big mental-shift to go from the quest-based discovery of prior games to this more free-form discovery of Fallout 76. Many players will hate it, but that indicates they perhaps haven’t discovered the joy of discovery!

One of countless little scenes set up to make you wonder and laugh and get immersed!

There’s so much to find and learn about in Fallout 76! The world is full of visually interesting locales and buildings and towns and bunkers! Uncovering a cabin hidden in the woods, now silent and empty; this is a joy to us archeologists! Let’s excavate the truth as best we can. We may never know exactly what happened, but we’ll try!

Coming across a scene of decaying bandit corpses, all at each other’s throats. Listening to a holotape stashed nearby that explains the philosophical disagreement that led to these deaths. Fallout 76 is so wonderfully full of this environmental storytelling, with dead bodies in curious positions and hints at how life failed to survive. The anthropologist in my eats all this up!

This is Greg. He fell off a ladder and died. A note warned him to be careful. He paid it no mind.

This brings us to the third pillar: examine. Let me tell you another story. I was in a summer program when I was a youth, going into the hills and digging up dirt to attempt to find old Native American arrowheads and other relics. We’d go there and dig and dig. Often we’d find nothing. Sometimes we’d find a few items that might be part of past civilizations. There was an urge to connect with the past and to find something hidden, which pushed us forward.

As many of us grow up, we lose this sense of wonder. We don’t have the patience for it perhaps. Fallout 76 is a rare game that asks us to slow down and study its world, much like how many of us remember playing and loving the game Myst back in the 1990s (another game that was criticized for being sort of empty, without much plot).

Here’s a mundane computer workstation. I thought this was a really nice setup for a photo. I like the cardboard box, unsure if it should fall or hold strong. That’s how our life can be at times.

This is where many label Fallout 76 as wasted or worthless. The gamer who wants to blow through five quests in 30 minutes and unlock that special weapon and become the hero…they probably won’t understand why people would bother with Fallout 76. And that’s fair for them: this isn’t their type of game.

And yet for me, some of my best times in Fallout 76 has been my own personal journey that started with wanderlust, blossomed into discovery, and finished with contemplative examination of the past. This seemingly basic process has compelled me to continue playing Fallout 76, pushing through all the horrible bugs and issues, akin to pioneers trying to avoid freezing to death or being glitched out of existence by diseased programming.

Helvetia: A Case Study

Still unsure if Fallout 76 is for you? Consider this case study that encapsulates this wander, discover, and examine philosophy that I claim makes Fallout 76 so captivating to a select group of players.

Welcome to Helvetia! It’s a nice place…or was…at some point…probably!

As I attentively stroll through the beautiful Appalachia countryside, I stumble upon a quaint little German/Swiss town, once a tourist destination but now lifeless apart from the roving ghouls. I’m filled with excitement because I know I’m going to discover and learn more about this world I love.

Questions fill my mind. Who lived here? What happened to this place? We’re they happy? What will I find as I go from house to house searching for answers? On the video-game side, I wonder if I’ll find a decent weapon blueprint or some higher level power armor.

As I explore the boundaries of the town and make a first sweep, I find no quest or higher purpose. Instead I find an art exhibit, a voting location gone haywire, and an old plundered inn. I spend maybe 20 minutes carefully sifting through the broken furniture and junk.

A swing-set for children. What manner of fun did kids have here? Where did it all go wrong?

There’s some notes here and there, and I do find a holotape. I hunker down in a safe corner and listen. It gives me a rare glimpse into the actual lives of the now-very-dead townsfolk. I also find a big score of tasty honey from the derelict-but-quaint local honey shop. Great!

All this exploration is done mostly quietly and peacefully with just a little combat to clear out the ghouls. After about an hour I’ve “finished” this location. I leave with the satisfaction of knowing I’ve explored another piece of post-war West Virginia history. Thus ends my time with Helvetia.

Helvetia if this Was Fallout 5: A Thought Experiment

Does my story bore you to death? Does my experience sound dreadfully dull? To some it will. These are the players who will likely curse Fallout 76 for, quite simply, not being Fallout 5. Part of the issue is it’s so easy to reimagine this town the way a fifth Fallout would have done it. For the sake of curiosity, let’s be creative and come up with our own Fallout 5 Helvetia.

This man was a writer…perhaps one of Bethesda’s, which explains the lack of storytelling…

If this were Fallout 5, this location would have been a vibrant town full of NPCs. You’d probably meet the town leader who gives you a grand quest to reinstate the annual town celebration day, requiring you to decorate the town or sabotage the whole event.

There would have been a deranged-ghoul who gives you a quest to kill the local honey shop owner because he believes the honey is a mind-control agent. You’d be able to side with him or turn him in. You’d later run into his family on the other side of the map, telling you of the time he ate some irradiated honey and nearly went feral.

Perhaps there’d be an upbeat German/Swiss companion you could recruit, dressed in a colorful blend of that culture’s traditional clothing and scavenged parts. She’d talk in an accent of course and have a quest to find her lost loved ones.

This photo is meant to calm our hearts and open our minds to the creative space…or whatever.

Did I mention you’d be able to buy a player-home? You’d then decorate it with a bunch of fun German/Swiss trinkets as you complete quests for the townsfolk. By the end, they’d adopt you as their local town hero, possibly building a statue to you unless you choose to role-play a humble character.

The above structure is the well-established (some would say tired) Bethesda role-playing design, and this is what many wanted Fallout 76 to be. They didn’t want a Helvetia that’s empty and dead, and I can’t argue with their feelings. All this stuff would have been pretty fun no doubt, and there’s clearly a huge appetite for standard Bethesda/Fallout quests and role-playing.

The flames are the hopes of Fallout fans as Bethesda burns down our dreams of Fallout 5.

But here’s the bottom-line: Bethesda chose to not make a typical experience, so it’s not reasonable for me, as a reviewer, to expect it of Fallout 76. They made it clear from day one what this game would be. Maybe that was a poor choice, but as a reviewer, I cannot judge the game based on a different game I wish they would have made.

And let me go a step farther, at the risk of upsetting some people. In a way, exploring Helvetia was a fresher experience for me than if it was the usual Bethesda Fallout stuff. Going the dead and desolate route let me express my own inquisitiveness in a bolder way than if all the stories were right there in front of me in living NPC form.

Engaging with and helping NPCs has its joys of course, but in Fallout 76 the joy is in helping yourself to discover and learn about this world. I strongly believe piecing the fragments of this broken world together is enriching in its own way. That drive to know what used to be and how it all was lost is what makes Fallout 76 worthy to me.

A Tangent: We’ve Done this Before: Fallout Tactics

Speaking of people’s desire for Fallout 5, this isn’t the first time us Fallout fans have gotten something radically different than what we wanted. And ironically, this isn’t the first time us old-timers have played Fallout with friends.

Look! It’s Fallout with friends! Well, actually they’re total strangers…but I can pretend!

Way back in 2001, it had been 3 years since Fallout 2 took the CRPG world by storm, and we had all been waiting year after year for Fallout 3. And yet we didn’t get it. What we got was a weird multiplayer Fallout forgoing story and traditional RPG elements. Sound familiar? It would take a full 10 years to give us a proper Fallout 3 (although it was reimagined/mainstreamed by Bethesda).

For many, this Fallout Tactics was written off as a fake Fallout, and it certainly wasn’t what most fans wanted. Still, many of us accepted it for what it was and made the best out of it. I have fond memories of building my Tactics team and facing off against friends on our LAN.

Fast forward to today. We all want a proper Fallout 5, one that returns to form with the intelligence and wit and depth of Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and New Vegas. And yet here we are with a multiplayer Fallout forgoing story and traditional RPG elements. Sigh…

Fallout 76 questing: you sit by skeletons and act like there’s choices and consequences.

To add insult to injury, I fear it will take us another 10 years to once again get a proper Fallout. Bethesda is busy with their new game Starfield. And then there’s Elder Scrolls VI. That probably puts us out roughly 10 years…a distant dream at best.

Therefore, it’s no wonder why Fallout fans are upset. Fallout Tactics was the last PC release for a decade, and it’s possible Fallout 76 will also stand alone for countless years. At least Fallout Tactics was competently made…Fallout 76 is not.

Anyway, I think this comparison is fascinating, and it helps explain how crestfallen so many Fallout fans are. Even if Fallout 76 released perfectly stable and bug-free, nothing can replace a real Fallout 5 in the hearts of many. And that’s understandable.

Back to the Review: World Size and Nuke Farming

Let’s get back to some actual review stuff. First off, how much content is here? To give perspective, I reached level 40 after 45 hours of playtime, and at this point I’d explored most of the left side of the map with maybe 55% of locations remaining. The Challenge tracker put my quest and event completion around 33%. So this is a big game world.

In regard to nukes, the first one I saw was at 25 hours, but it was way far away from me. At 50 hours I was at a location that got nuked, and I engaged in cooperative high-level play with a bunch of level 100+ characters. I got annihilated by the end-game enemies, but it was fun to get a glimpse of what high-level players do in the end-game.

This is the landscape after a nuke. Bask in the beautiful orange haze! So lovely! Warning: real nukes aren’t lovely; they’re terrible and should never be set off, even if you’re very, very angry.

I’m now level 60 or so at 65 hours of playtime, and I’ve engaged in quite a few end-game nuke farming affairs. Too bad the framerate and game performance tanks when you’ve got a nuke going off and 10+ players all crammed in a small zone. Maybe after another 20 patches…

One of the big draws is late-game legendary item farming (and high-end crafting), and I do think it’s pretty fun to try to farm a great new weapon to rework your character build around.

Character Builds and Perk Cards

Speaking of character builds, one of the few design decisions that has been mostly praised is the perk card system. Gone is the static character builds of the past that lock you into one path. Now you slowly collect new perk cards you can freely equip and unequip at your leisure.

The perk card system really is a fun and interesting way to build your character! Strength FTW!

Every player level lets you pick a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute (up to level 50), which allows for more (or upgraded) perk cards to be equipped to the attribute you select. It’s good fun deciding if you want a super-Strong or super-Lucky or very Agile or Perceptive character.

It’s also a real pleasure to slowly open new packs of cards and decide how to build your character. Do you focus on shotguns, survival, or something supremely wacky? There’s some really fun cards and returning favorite features like the Mysterious Stranger.

Even though at first there’s some essential cards (carry weight!), once you reach level 30 or so you have quite a large variety of build options open up to you. And once you reach level 50 and beyond, the depth of the character system fully reveals itself.

Crafting and Base Building

Fallout 76’s crafting is basically the same as Fallout 4. You can disassemble weapons and armor to learn how to craft various parts. It’s fun to slowly accumulate crafting knowledge, letting you make some incredibly powerful guns after dozens of hours of hard work.

The base building system is very limited, only allowing one mobile C.A.M.P. location. When you first start, you’re unable to build any of the cool stuff, and it can take 50+ hours or more to unlock even a fraction of the best building parts.

Here’s the first home I built! Very cozy. Very usable. I’ll upgrade someday, but for now it’s home!

There’s certainly a joy to occasionally taking time to build up your mobile base, saving chunks as Blueprints for easy reassembly as you move throughout the wasteland. Many players will likely miss the permanent Settlements and player houses of past Fallout games, but this mobile, more-limited base building fits well with Fallout 76 lore.

Workshops: A Great Idea Poorly Implemented

One of Fallout 76’s new ideas is the workshop system. All over the map you’ll find sites you can “claim” to make your own, such as junkyards and farms. Then you can build extractor units to harvest various resources over time. Other players can attempt to steal your workshop from you, making them “wanted” (Fallout 76’s penalty system), and you’ll fight it out.

Here I am “claiming” a workshop…I could be attacked by another player…but why bother?

The system is great in theory. The idea of claiming land as your own, harvesting certain resources like crystal or gold or aluminum, and defending it from attackers is fantastic.

The problem is in how unstable and fleeting Fallout 76’s world is. If you get disconnected or quit, all your workshop progress is erased since it’s only stored for that specific game session. So it’s not like you can slowly build up workshops over time. Overall, workshops are a wasted opportunity that end up being an occasional diversion instead of a robust, meaningful game system.

Terrible Non-Collectibles

Let me briefly note that Fallout 76 changes all the permanent-buff collectibles of past Fallout games into short-period buffs usually lasting an hour. This is a huge letdown since it renders Bobbleheads and Magazines mostly inconsequential. Nobody is going to alter their gameplay because they get 30% easier locking for an hour after using a certain Bobblehead.

Normally this would be an awesome find! But Bobbleheads are boring in Fallout 76…sad face!

This change also means none of these are true collectibles anymore. They respawn over and over and you can’t collect or display them like so many fans (myself included) have loved doing in prior Fallout games. Now I find myself vendoring Bobbleheads or using them instantly because who cares…

It’s an unfortunate change that takes something so fun and rewarding and makes it mundane and lame. It would have been great fun tracking these down with friends, sharing where we found them, and showing them off at our bases. Fail. Maybe they’ll patch it.

Holotapes, Notes, and Story Quests

I previously mentioned how Fallout 76 is full of various lore tidbits, fed mostly through holotapes and notes. For the record, I’ve found over 100 holotapes, roughly 150 notes, and about 20 treasure maps.

On the quest side, I’ve completed over 10 main quests, about 12 side quests, and a slew of unsorted quests. So there is questing to be had…it’s just limited…and without much cohesion.

Enemy Diversity and Challenge

It’s unfortunate that Fallout 76 reuses so much of Fallout 4’s enemies and assets. Still, it’s nice to see a wide variety of new and interesting creatures included. There’s some really creative and funny takes on irradiated wildlife in Fallout 76. However, the majority of the time is spent fighting the four or five main enemy types, which gets repetitive very quickly.

Look at that cutesy-wootsy fox! I bet he’s got a nice pelt for crafting! C’mere Mr. Fox!

The game challenge overall is as one would expect from a Bethesda title: easy. Tough enemies do spawn, but I mostly died because of the terrible or broken AI, glitches, or other technical issues. But nobody really plays Fallout for the combat challenge I would imagine.

Sound Design, Music, and Radio Stations

Fallout 76’s sounds are mostly rehashes from Fallout 4. There’s a few nice additions with fantastic environmental sound effects in places. Bubbling, steaming, grinding, and chirping world sounds create a nice ambient backdrop for exploration.

I’m sneaking into this Super Mutant camp! Must be very quiet! Nobody set off a nuke!

The biggest standout is the absolutely phenomenal instrumental soundtrack by Inon Zur. He’s been doing the Fallout music ever since Fallout Tactics interestingly enough, and I think Fallout 76 is his best work yet. It’s truly brilliant, creating such a warm yet despairing mood. So good!

There are only two actual radio stations in Fallout 76: classical and the standard early to mid 1900s tunes. It’s all fine, even if we’ve been hearing some of these songs for years now in prior games.

In case you were wondering, Atom Bomb Baby is just as glorious in the Appalachia as it was in Fallout 4. Truly an epic song!

Online Events: They’re Bad

Fallout 76 includes a couple types of “online” quests, and both are pretty bad. There’s “Events” and “Daily Quests” that repeat on timers. Sadly each of these quest types tend to be very generic, very tedious, and very fetch-questy.

The “Powering Up” Events are quite tedious…running around repairing stuff for a minor reward.

Most players will probably attempt these quests once and realize how unfulfilling they are. Overall Bethesda did a terrible job creating fun and engaging repeatable quests…not surprisingly really.

Photo Mode and Photos as Loading Screens!

Fallout 76 has a fantastic photo mode that’s super-fun to use as a sort of selfie-documentary, visually recounting your personal game journey. There’s so many wonderful and wild places for photo opportunities! And remember how I said this game is for anthropologists and explorers and archeologists and stuff? They love to take photos, trust me on this one!

Photo mode brings much happiness and joy! Here’s me chilling with my raider buddies!

I’ve personally taken over 80 photos during my 65+ hours exploring West Virginia, and it’s a trip down memory lane to go into the Photo Gallery and see the way my character has visually and geographically progressed throughout the game. Good times.

Not only is there a photo mode, but Fallout 76 uses your photos as loading screen artwork. This may sound minor, but it’s pretty much the best feature ever invented. Too much? Ok, but using your own photos as loading screens is the best feature you never knew you needed.

Even if Fallout 76 goes down is history as utterly hated, the one thing it’ll always have is your photos as loading screens! They’ll never be able to take that away from you, Fallout 76! Never!

Couldn’t We Have Had a Few NPCs?

I want to say I agree with all the criticism that says Fallout 76 did NOT need to have every single human/ghoul NPC be dead. Bethesda could definitely have included a handful of NPCs here and there and still delivered the core Fallout 76 experience.

This is as close to a NPC dialogue as you’re going to get: some text on a computer screen.

Some traditional Fallout quests and NPCs and dialogue wouldn’t have ruined the game. Therefore, it’s easy to look at the game and feel like Bethesda was just lazy and didn’t want to do all the hard work of writing dialogue and quests and choices and consequences. That’s logical criticism.

But Bethesda claims this is how they wanted to make the game. No dialogue. No proper NPCs. Fair enough I guess…but there’s still plenty of other ways they could have added more quality quests.

Fake Conclusion: The Fallout Future

The future for Fallout 76 is as bright or dark as Bethesda wants it to be. There’s great potential to fix all the bugs and lag and issues and to deliver quality (free) content for months to come. There’s also the unfortunate possibility Bethesda won’t ever stabilize the game, will add even more egregious cash-grabs (loot boxes), and charge big money for lame expansions in the future.

My faith in Bethesda is in as good of condition as this decimated cathedral.

I honestly have very little faith in Bethesda. I don’t trust them at all. Fallout 76 could get turned around like Final Fantasy XIV or The Division, but will that happen? Final Fantasy XIV took three years with a full relaunch, and The Division took a year and a half of extreme patching to make it into a truly solid, deep, and expansive game.

Does Bethesda have the will, the competency, and the moral compass to do what’s right and needed? Only time will tell.

Proper Conclusion: Semi-Wasted, Semi-Wonderful

As stated at the very start, Fallout 76 often is broken, usually buggy, and sometimes unplayable. And yet it’s also one of the most beautiful and detailed post-apocalyptic open-game-worlds ever created. Appalachia is the star: so exquisitely detailed and captivating. And when the game functions there’s dozens upon dozens of hours of brilliant exploration to be had.

Despite the enthralling exploration, the game definitely lacks quests, a sense of permanence, and a traditional video game plot. The cooperative play can be lots of fun, whether it’s low-level basic exploration or end-game nuke runs with a crew of 10+ other highly-geared Power Armor players. And yet stability issues are the greatest threat to your fun.

What else will emerge from Bethesda’s vaults? Can they unleash Fallout 76’s potential? Maybe.

Ultimately, there’s no way a serious review can overlook all the faults, but sometimes there’s joy to be had even in the most busted of video games. Just be aware that only a certain type of player will enjoy Fallout 76’s bleak, mostly-dead world of self-guided gameplay.

If my review piques your interest, then the safe bet is to buy Fallout 76 for cheap…in a year…if they’ve fixed everything…and over time you may come to appreciate the joy of wandering, discovering, and examining Fallout 76’s strange and creative Appalachia open-world.

At the very least, let’s agree using your photos on loading screens is genius. So Fallout 76 isn’t all bad, right?

Vibrant, huge open-world

Beautiful scenic views

Captivating exploration

Piecing together the lore

Character build diversity

Perk card flexibility

Coop when you want to

Base building and expansion

Crafting and upgrading gear

Atmospheric soundtrack

Fallout vibe when working

Server instability

Serious latency issues

So many bugs and glitches

Quest tracker issues

Lack of NPCs, dialogue

Clunky, awkward combat

Lame events and daily quests

Cumbersome menus

Recycled Fallout 4 assets

Ugly up-close details

Insulting micro-transactions

Playtime: 65 hours total. Nick’s explored about 75% of the map, having almost completed the final quests. He’s engaged in end-game content, built many homes, and crafted hundreds of weapons and armor. He’s eager to finish this review and get back to living the life Appalachia!

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using an Intel i7-3930k CPU, 32GB of memory, and a nVidia GTX 980 Ti graphics card.

Also read the Fallout 76 PC Performance Analysis.

Fallout 76 Review: Semi-Wasted, Semi-Wonderful published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

0 notes

kameron78-blog · 7 years ago

Text

12 Reasons You Shouldn't Invest in chronos game

Chrono Trigger

The chrono group of games are a few of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed RPG series ever released, which is impressive, considering only two main games exist in the series. Part of the reason for this is the incredibly detailed and complicated storyline that deals with time travel in a way and care not generally handled in most video games. But what exactly happens in the game's respective to these laws of your time travel and for that matter? What exactly are those laws, what exactly are the actual events of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross? How do they come to move and where are they at the end of the ultimate entrance in the series Chrono Cross? They are hard questions to answer so in this three-part series, I will attempt to clarify the entire lower of the chrono world from the beginning to the finish of time, and everything the complexity among part, one will focus on chrono cause part two on Chrono Cross and lastly, in part three, I will attempt to describe why and the way the events that came to pass could actually occur, discuss some speculative ideas and explain the last time travel in the universe.

It ought to be said that is aimed at people who have played and finished both video games. That said, I will make an effort to keep part one free from any Chrono Cross lawyers. However, attempting to spell it out the events of Chrono Cross without spoiling Chrono Trigger can be tricky, to say minimal with that. I hope you enjoy the . Let'S start, instead of starting off where in fact the game starts at 1000 Advertisement in truce, town, with crone awaking about Abed we're going to go in the past first to the very beginning of time, we'll get to chrono and gang later. But we still have a few million years before that, several million years ago, animal species started inhabiting the planet, namely the Reptoids, the news headlines and the eighth like humans. As the new mainly held themselves in concealed caverns, there was constant war between your humans and the Reptoids for control of the planet.

During this time period, a young human named ila becomes key of her clan, while a Reptoid named as Allah becomes the leader of the Reptoids. So they battle for some time until one day a star is discovered in the sky, ila calls it la voz with la signifying open fire and Vause, signifying big in their primitive language. This star crashed into the world, destroying the Reptoids tyranno layer along the way. La voz works out actually to be an alien being that has come to globe to drain the planets energy, so we can create new spawn of itself to go to more planets and pretty much eventually ruin the world, probably novels furries into the planet and begins his era. Long feast - and here we have our first break up in the timeline now, let's just say la voz - didn't crash in to the planet and single-handedly eliminate the Reptoids. What if he thought globe looked super lame and instead went to Mars or something who have received the war?

Chrono Trigger SNES Version

The humans will be the reptiles well, seeing as the reptiles were more intelligent and had a larger grasp on technology at the time they would have we will call this what-if scenario. The rep type timeline remember that, because it will make a difference later in this timeline. Instead of the humans controlling the punish, the reptiles do anyway back to the initial timeline. So a few million years approved by there's an glaciers age group and, what's left of the decimated reptiles, perish off a bit of lava, gets separated or broken faraway from him and retains sort of sentience. That is called the freezing fire, see while lavell's continues to be chillin out close to the Earth's core. The frozen flame is on the surface and through ish lavas can communicate and take notice of the surface world. The humans come into contact with this flame, which drastically progresses the revolution, to the point that some humans have the capability to wield magic. This recently buffed human race establishes a great Kingdom to visit using their newfound power. The kingdom of zeal, as the magic wheel in humans populate this new kingdom of floating fairly islands. The filthy smelly, non magic humans are stuck on the barren frosty earth to reside in caves, fast forwards.

Several million years and a few key people are delivered Queens eel who rules within the kingdom provides birth to two children, Janice and shala. Now, if you'll remember one personality in this whole group of s, remember shala. She'll definitely be brought up again. Three experts are also born. Gasper, Melchior and Balthazar Melky begins working on the mama machine. A doobie has two queens you which, when the iced flame is put into, will harness even better la voz than ever before. Catapulting, the people, even further in development, Shahla receives a special pendant made of a special materials known as desire stone to regulate the mam on the sheep. Mel cura also uses the wish stone to forge the ruby knife which can use to destroy the memoir machine. He'S then, banished to a mountain. Let'S the mad mother machine is turned on and novice is awakened, displaying the humans precisely how powerful he truly is.

Story of Chrono Trigger

By destroying the entire kingdom of zeal in one fell swoop. He creates wormholes in tiny space which send the three gurus and Janice to different time periods. Gasper eventually ends up by the end of your time, Melchior somewhere before 1000 Advertisement beltasar somewhere before 2300 advertisement and Jana's for some time before 600 AD. The human race is set back. Thousands of years as the magic users in smelly earthly humans must coexist in this cataclysmic new world. They begin the rebuilding process. Some of these humans find shila's pendant and they keep it in their family for generations. Another few million years passed by the humans are rebuilding. Slowly, they begin the structure of kingdoms once again, notably the kingdom of Guardian, which worryingly finds the frozen fire, which includes survived all of the hardship. Various other metropolitan areas and kingdoms also get built, such as poor and chorus.

The middle ages begin Janice, arrives in this new world for the moments ago, witnessing his planet destroyed. He is discovered by a creature named Ozzy who takes him in increases him and renamed some mages to to his marvelous powers. Meanwhile, a naive Glen becomes the squire to the hero Cyrus about this time. Madison Asya are terrorizing the population in an attempt to gain more power to gain revenge on labels for destroying his home and family mages confront Cyrus and land near the top of dem Darrow Mountains. Cyrus is unfortunately killed and mages transforms mix into an anthropomorphic frog. Mages. Now self-confident in his power starts summoning labels in his castle, believing he can take his revenge. He is, as you often will tell killed in this fight. Sad face. The world proceeds. Spinning Davos is nearing the maximum of his power. However, having slept for millions of years sometime before 1080, some important people are born, chrono Luka and Beryl morrow. Oh soon, Lunas Nadya is the princess of Guardian. Lucas. Mom loses her legs after one of her husband's innovations malfunctions Melchior fresh from the zero Fiasco, sets up shop close to the hostile community of Modena a few years later, Luca and her father invented the telepods, a teleportation device that they aid to show off at the upcoming Millennial, Good - and here we actually start the game. Okay, too much to take in prior to the game even starts, but wait you may ask the events I've just described and exactly how they happen in the game. Why is this? Well? What I've just defined is the timeline occurring without the impact of any time-travel shenanigans, save for a lab of sending the Guru's and Janice through time.

They are the occasions that occur until the start of the game. Now what would happen if kroner on the gang didn't finish up vacationing through time before we begin time travel? Let'S continue down this timeline first, so a couple of hundred years handed down by and humanity's in a pretty good state thanks to advancements created by Luca in artificial cleverness, then, through the calendar year 1999 ad, the worst scenario involves pass your day of novels, exactly like Zeile, all Those an incredible number of years ago, books, goes up and destroys about 99 % of the human population of Earth, sending humanity once again back into the brink of extinction. Lavos begins his reproduction process on top of death Peak few century. Recent humanity is barely clinging on to existence, due mainly to machines known as enter trunks. Balthazar shows up from his wormhole and begins working on a time machine known as the epic. For this time. A pc known as Mother Brain organizes a automatic robot revolution that seeks to obliterate the remaining humans that are still alive. This succeeds, the human race is destroyed. Lobos'S offspring leaves the broken planet in an attempt to find more planets to drain Lavos stays on earth before end of your time and virtually the planet earth is destroyed. Just what exactly is the end of your time? Well, essentially, it's a pocket of space beyond the normal time flow in which usually, nothing at all can enter.

That was until Gasper arrived at the end of your time, thanks to labs. But what, if novels, never landed? Understand that rep tight timeline I mentioned before it'll - become more important within the next , but in overview, the rep tights flourished and built a thriving civilization. In this they advanced into a competition known as the Drago nians and created a being known as the dragon. God comprised of six dragons and differing features to govern the world. They develop a mighty city known as Dyna Palace and we'll leave it there for now and come back to this spot next. , ok, so world ending end of your time, books wins right! Now, let's actually begin the story of chrono cause again, I'm assuming you've already performed the overall game before so. Apologies. If I appear to skim over some of the facts as I'll mainly be nearing this from an important events perspective, ok back in 1080, Crona wakes up and heads into the Millennial reasonable, he matches up with Meryl after running into her and attempts out Lucas new invention, Which Maier also will her pendant seems have a unusual reaction to it, however, and she is sent through a wormhole with time. Chrono goes after her and results in 680. Here he discovers Mara only to see her vanish before his very eyes. Luca shows up and points out what's called the grandfather paradox as it appears that the Queen, in this time, is kidnapped and may end up dying. Unless someone discovers her, she also revealed she created a gate key which allows her to exploit temporal anomalies to achieve time. Travel chrono and Luca experience frog who helped them save in Queen.

I should note at this time that chrono is here after mages has turned n into a frog, but at this time he is still in the process of summoning levels and it is not completed. The ritual Meryl stages back into life and all seems well the three go back to the present day, where oh no chrono is accused of kidnapping Meryl, who is uncovered to the gang as princess Nadia of Guardian chrono escapes from prison with the aid of Luca and Meryl plus they enter a fresh wormhole which will take them to 2300 advertisement, where they witnessed via . The occasions that transpired in 1999 your day of books, resolving to not allow such a fate to occur. They consent to save the world with the power of time travel room. They find a automatic robot named Robo and, with his help, find a new gate that teleports these to the end of your time, where they experience Gasper and have a discuss timer of something chrono and the gang go back to 1000 AD. To discover a way to stop labels through some investigation, they find that la voz was apparently created by mages through the summoning ritual back in 600 Advertisement traveling back to 600 Advertisement. They experience frog yet again, that is initially disheartened? After remembering his first encounter with mages, you know with the whole learning to be a frog thing: they need the legendary Masamune to open up the weight of mages Castle after finding the Masamune broken.

They may be told by Melchior in 1000 AD that a dream stone is needed to reforge the Masamune. You know like the main one he found in zeal, he poisoned towards prehistoric times to discover a fantasy stone upon arriving in 65 million BC. They experience aiyla who informs them the complete war between the humans in the reptiles either provides chrono a desire rock after a night of heavy drinking, however the gate key is taken by the reptiles. After getting it back again, the gang results back to monkey org and the Masamune is recently reforged frog agrees to wheel the Masamune anugrah progresses towards mages castle. After fighting Ozzy and mages generals. They confront the mage in the middle of his summoning ritual after beating mages. He, of course reveals that he didn't create novels which is actually seeking to eliminate him and here's where the first big major time altering event occurs. Mages no more dies drink. Instead, he has carried back to his home time of zeal offered this fantastic opportunity. He concocts a scheme to demolish others before the Mamo machine is turned on. He disguises himself as a prop to Queens Ile, his mother, as he is able to predict events he already understands should come to complete. Meanwhile, chronal and the lads have been carried back to 65 million BC. They help ila in the ultimate struggle with salah and the red tights at Tyranno lair before a celebrity is seen in the sky that celebrity, of course, being novice. They were able to get away the lair before novels crashes, obliterating the Reptoids chrono, and the guy now understood what la voz really is and using the newly produced time gauge happen to be the kingdom of zeal. Here they find out more about La Voz. The actual mama machine is and, moreover, they meet shala and Jack's on meeting chrono Janus claims. One of you will shortly perish Shahla asks the group to rest few milkier from the mountain of war.

The group is promptly, kicked out of zeal and pushed back to their own time at the advice of the Prophet mages, even though shallow jep's after asking Gasper in regards to a way to make contact with antiquity, he mentions the wings of your time the group locates the epoch in 2300 AD, after finding out about Balthazar and arrived back zeal, they rushed to the ocean palace which houses the Mammon machine with the Mammon machine being activated. Crona plunges the Ruby knife into it, which transforms the knife into the muscle ooh, but it appears to have no influence on the activate English novels, awakens major Saville himself and starts his ever so stupid plan of attacking levels head-on. He is quickly defeated, however, not killed. Chrono then stacks up to the creature, his friends watch as he gets obliterated by the mind-boggling power of La Voz. The world gets damaged, just like it do before, except this time. Some things will vary because of this of chrono and gang being. There Shahla manages to save lots of everyone on the ocean palace by the, for that lava sends two different schedules, including her mom, queen zeal shala is then used by lavell's to a location called the darkness beyond time which we will get into later. The ocean palace appears to rise and becomes the black omen with queens eel inside still wanting to make use of the momma machine, so chrono is inactive, bummer and the rest of the group continues to be stuck in this time zone. Just like the world nearly finished. The survivors escaped a ship commandeered by a seal general known as Dalton, who we may talk about in a later .

He tries to take the epic for his own, but fails miserably unable to deal with Kronos death. The group finds mages, who now reveals that he is actually Janus and he says that there could be a way to save chrono. He joins the group speaking with Gasper by the end of time. He indeed says that there may be a way to save chrono. They receive the Chrono Trigger from him and, following his instructions, have the ability to return to the moment of Chronos loss of life and replaced him with a fake clone, therefore taking chrono out of this instant in the revived Crona weeks them back again safe and sound. These days there is only one thing remaining to do: destroy la voz. There are always a myriad of side quests. You can do at the end of the game, a few of which delve into deeper backstories, but I'm only heading to say a few as this was working long enough as it is. You can find basically 3 ways in which the player can combat books. Now they can go straight for him, battle Queens Ile at the dark omen or enter the darkness beyond time. Fighting with each other Queens Ile is rather straightforward.

You enter, you kill her and you go to LUMS the other way either with the DS version of the overall game is more important to the story. We'Re informing after some comprehensive questing the man enters the darkness beyond enough time the place where time lines go to perish. Here they made another version of mages. After Lavos has been defeated. They encounter the desire devourer a fusion of novels inshaallah, who's being stuck and bound by levels. Shallows will has been altered by this creature, stating that she desires to destroy all of presence. After a short but futile battle with the creature, the group is incapacitated and what little humanity is left in shala tells her brother to live his life to the fullest before the dream.

Devourer consumes everything which she is beyond help. She sends him for an unspecified place with time where mages discloses that he has no recollection of who he's. However, he must find something important. While it's not been verified, it is generally accepted that he occupies the name, guile and journeys to the El Nino archipelago, where in fact the occasions of Chrono Cross will take place. In the end, that final showdown is imminent. The parody commences the ultimate combat with levels by incapacitating, its outer shell and going inside the creature when they battle the inner primary frustrated and exactly how that one creature has dictated the fate of humanity. The group discovers the power to defeat the Beast. Your day of La Voz is averted and a new timeline is for ages, while photo cause, has multiple endings. We can more or less piece together. A canon ending from the info in the game. Chrono marries Meryl and becomes the king of Gardea frog and Isla came back to their respect to frog chrono trigger x, while Robo results to a presumably new future in 2300 advertisement, we will not be hearing the end of him. However, the most important character to note in the epilogue is Luca through a cutscene as she actually is walking through the forest, she notices an empty baby with a very familiar looking pendant attached. This is where we end chrome technique. Hey everyone thanks a lot for watching this . I must say i appreciate it big shout out to the guys at chrono compendium, as I structured the majority of my research, on their exhaustive analysis of chrono result in now. I understand many people will most likely have questions. So please leave your ideas in the comment section below and let's get some discussion heading.

http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgtype=Homepage#/nintendo snes

0 notes