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imagine-darksiders · 2 years ago

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Here's a request, how would Strife and Samael react to accidentally seeing s/o naked for the first time? Like they are getting ready to bathe or something and thought they were alone. They didn't know anyone would be there, and when Strife/Sam do see them, s/o is oblivious. Like they realize very quickly "aw shit, s/o is cute...", Inner monologue stuff about s/o and their new feelings. I have a thing for pining. Real romance fluff with a suggestive hint. Nothing happens, this doesn't have to be nsfw if you don't want it to be. I just want your take on their reactions cause I think they would both range very differently. I chose those two cause they are my favorite. If you don't wanna do this one, that's ok too. I just really like your writing and how you interpret things. Thank you again.

Samael:

It's a common assumption among those who don't know him personally, that the Demon Prince, Samael, is a debauched and lascivious snake who would only relish in the chance to catch a human unawares.

It's a common assumption. But so often common is confused with correct.

He's a prince. Be that of Hell or Heaven or any realm in-between, he knows how to behave like a gentleman when needs be.

To his own surprise, he's found himself falling more and more into that courtly conduct ever since he managed to get his claws on the Horsemen's little human, swiped by his own claws right from underneath their noses.

'Nothing personal,' he'd told you while you thrashed and beat at the vast, scaly fingers wrapped around your torso, 'This is all tactics, you understand.'

With the Horsemen focusing all of their efforts into tracking you down – they've yet to work out that he's behind your disappearance – Samael is free to move his players across an unguarded chess board. A classic – if risky – slight of hand.

Oh, he imagines they'll try to kill him once they discover you hidden here in his fortress at Shadow's Edge, but that's hardly of any concern to a Prince of Hell. If he thought the Horsemen were a genuine threat, he wouldn't have provoked them by taking their precious, little human.

They won't be able to deny, when they eventually find you, that he's been nothing if not a most gracious host. You aren't a political enemy, after all, you're an innocent bystander in his game of cat and mouse.

He's placed you in one of the Eastern towers - under guard and lock and key, of course – where every amenity has been made available to you. A spacious chamber, adorned by a luxurious bed with silken, ruby-red sheets. An adjacent nook that boasts a king-sized bathing pool for you to maintain your hygiene....

If anything, you're less of a prisoner, and more of an unusual guest, though such 'special treatment' has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that your affinity for story-telling far surpasses the talents of his own subjects.

All you have to do is recite Earthen fairy-tales to him, plots of films you can still remember, stories from the books you used to read at school, and every single one of them is eagerly eaten up by the demon Prince, specifically those that have happier endings.

Those very stories are the reason Samael finds himself striding down the corridor to your chambers now, with his hands clasped loosely behind his back, the impressive claws at the end of each of his toes clicking sharply against a black-stone floor.

Last night, you'd half-finished a tale of a caterpillar with an absolutely voracious appetite, but you'd fallen asleep just before the most crucial climax. He'd half a mind to shake you conscious again and demand you tell him how the gluttonous little insect earns his downfall through hubris and greed, but in the end, he permitted you your scant few hours of fitful sleep.

Perhaps the ending you have in store will have been worth the wait...

The phantom guards posted outside your room snap to attention as he passes them by, though their master doesn't spare either of them so much as a fleeting glance, stepping leisurely up to the tattered, scarlet curtain that separates your chambers from the corridor outside.

And that's when he hears it - a sound so seldom heard in Hell, it actually startles the Prince into slowing his gait as his scowl comes undone, softening the deep-set creases carved between his brows.

He pauses at the curtain and twists an ear towards the noise...

... Music?

Slowly, he eases his crooked knuckles beneath the curtain and lifts it aside, hesitating for another moment to discern that his ears really aren't deceiving him. That's music he's hearing. More specifically, it's singing.

You are singing.

He's spoken with you enough times by now to recognise your voice in spite of the melodious notes of a song that drift into his ears from somewhere beyond the bed chamber.

But then, he supposes he shouldn't be surprised. Of all the denizens residing in his fortress, who among them is the most likely to burst into song other than the human?

Eyes of liquid fire scan the room and find it devoid of his prisoner, until they land upon the arched entrance that leads into the adjacent bathing quarters.

He recalls how you'd been stunned almost speechless the first time he showed you the enormous pool cut out of an obsidian floor.

He'd taken the liberty to drain it of lava before filling it up again with clean, un-poisoned water – a rare commodity in Hell, given the rate of its evaporation.

“Why?” you'd asked, squinting up at him dubiously.

Samael's face had remained perfectly set like the stone underfoot as he hummed his reply, “I assumed humans preferred to bathe in water. Not molten lava.”

That wasn't what you'd meant, and he knew it, but you'd been sensible enough not to look a gift demon in the mouth, as it were.

Lifting his nose to take a whiff of the air, Samael pads like a graceful predator across the chamber, following the sound of your voice.

Until the day comes when he no longer sits on the throne, he'll staunchly deny that his footsteps fall just a little more softly against the stone in his endeavour to remain unnoticed by the room's occupant.

Deftly, he manoeuvres around a scattering of garments that have been strewn haphazardly about the chamber, quirking one solid, scaly brow at them as he passes. 'Odd,' is all he muses.

Under normal circumstances, you're never seen without your flimsy attire.

Finding his curiosity piqued, Samael ducks his crooked horns and steals into the dark doorway, casting an eye languidly across the baths, only to freeze in his tracks, his whole body going utterly still from the horns on his head to the tip of his long, sweeping tail.

As if the singing weren't enough of a shock, you suddenly come dancing into view, swinging your hips to and fro like a pendulum. You're facing away from the doorway, thank the Void, but that's hardly what the demon Prince is focused on.

Standing there on the first step of the bath, bobbing your hips to the tune of your own song, he sees you.

All of you.

There isn't a shred of clothing present to preserve your modesty, no undergarments, nor a single strip of cloth, not a thread to your name.

Samael's silvery pupils dilate, expanding out of slits until they sit soft and round in his yellow eyes.

Rather perplexingly, he doesn't wheel himself backwards out of the entryway as soon as he registers your state of undress, though he chalks this up to being struck with simple, scientific curiosity at having stumbled upon a human in their most natural state.

Why, any second now, he's sure he'll feel that familiar wave of disgust surge up like bile and turn his stomach, because what is the human body if not a small, featureless sack of squelching meat?

Any second now...

Surely...?

Despite the weak-willed voice in the back of his head trying to convince him to turn away, the demon's eyes remain firmly adhered to you, and his ears twitch and flick towards the sound of your voice, anxious to catch every note you sing.

What is the human body...?

It's very.... gentle, he observes through a sudden haze that knocks him ever so slightly off-kilter.

A golden stare roll up the length of your legs, tracing the path of your spine and lingering on the back of your fragile neck.

There isn't a single, sharp edge to your body. No jagged horns or spines jutting through your skin, no tough and unforgiving scales to protect you from the elements, no natural weapons in the form of fangs or claws.

A body like yours was never intended to cause hurt.

What a flawed design.

What a brave design.

Before he can keep it at bay, a memory of Lilith pushes to the forefront of his mind – of her cruel lips that twist into a smirk and her hateful glares that try to poison his heart as she lays underneath him on their shared bed, claws like knives cutting into his scaly forearms to draw as much pain from him as she can, all in the name of 'making love.'

But what if....?

As the demon Prince gazes down at you, transfixed, the image of your naked body slips seamlessly in to replace Lilith's in his mind's eye. Her feral snarl gives way to something kinder, something sweeter, welcoming.

And suddenly, there you are, spread out in his Queen's place on the red, silken sheets, surrounded by the treasures he's draped you in during a wild and scandalous courtship. For the first time in his life, he doesn't want to ravage the body under his, though maybe he'd remind you that he could, if you'd only ask him to.

No. Perhaps, instead, you'll prop yourself up against the mountain of pillows he'd given you to nest in, and you'll cradle his head in your lap, your clawless fingers stroking gently up and down the space between his impressive horns as you tell him stories well into the night, listening to the crackle of the wall sconces together.

'Is that what it must be like?' he wonders, 'to take a lover who has no interest in power or status?' That must be what the stories mean, when they talk of love for love's sake.

Ah... But that kind of love has no place in Hell. The selfless kind. Altruistic. Here, one either loves to gain power, respect, and to rise through the social ranks, or one simply doesn't love at all.

In all the years he's sat on the throne of Hell, never once did he think he'd find himself so captivated by the sight of a human with no clothes on.

The leathery membrane folded between his wings starts to creak as they gradually spread open, driven by an ancient and well-buried instinct to appear bigger, stronger, more suitable than any other demon in the fortress...

He doesn't even notice that his tail has begun to sweep silently from side to side in perfect tandem with the swing of your hips.

Regardless of his imposing presence lurking just behind you in the doorway, you still don't seem to have noticed that you have an audience, and you likely would have gone on with your oblivious dance had the demon Prince not sabotaged himself moments later.

He never meant to do it. He's certainly never been caught doing it before, not even when he was trying to court an impassive Lilith.

Somewhere deep inside his almighty chest, the demon's muscles begin to quiver, pulsing together as they work to push a strange sound up through his throat - something between a contented hum and an unmistakable, mortifying purr.

You notice the sound before he does, but his reactions are sharper than your own.

Your song trails into uncertain silence, there's a whoosh of air and an enormous shadow flits backwards through the doorway just as you turn around to investigate, curling your arms around yourself in anticipation of finding a peeping-tom.

… The entrance is empty.

The Phantom guards scramble to attention when their master suddenly comes storming out of your chambers, his tail lashing like a whip and his mighty chest heaving in and out as if he's trying to stoke a fire in his lungs.

Gleaming fangs crush themselves together as he thunders aimlessly down the corridor, his only concern in distancing himself from the room of his prisoner.

What was that?

What the Hell was that!?

Of all the ridiculous, humiliating, puerile things for a Prince to do.

A purr...

A purr!

At his age! And one directed at a human no less.

He's Samael! Accuser, Seducer. Prince of Demons and Lord of Darkness. He's well above the feeble allure of the flesh.

... But it wasn't just your flesh that tempted him, was it?

Samael's lips curl to bare his teeth as he viciously swipes the thought away with another lash of his tail.

It doesn't matter, he tells himself resolutely. You hadn't seen him, nobody witnessed the event, you'll carry on none-the-wiser while he strikes the whole mishap from his memory.

The Horsemen will come and take you away, as he intended.

Yes... Just as he intended.

EDIT: Holy shift I just realised I got so caught up in Samael's story, I never wrote Strife's!!!!!!! I'm so sorry!!!!

#darksiders #darksiders 2 #darksiders 3 #samael #samael x reader #demon x reader #pining #big bad dreams of gentle love

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simslegacy5083 · 6 months ago

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NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (7/25/2024) Episode: Raging Success

In the aftermath of her second surgery Noemi was once again forced to delay her plans to start her job with Rainy Day’s tech division.

She did her best to be OK with the circumstances, enjoying time with her family and supporting Luigi’s career, which was taking off like a rocket.

During their time in university Luigi had come to terms with Beau being the better gamer, and that continued with their transition to the pro league.

However, Luigi’s good looks and cheerful nature quickly made him a fan favorite.

Where Beau, and many of their other teammates, often struggled during post game interviews and promotional events Luigi was on fire, the enthusiasm that others sometimes found annoying in one-on-one conversation making him shine with the fans and in front of the camera.

Luigi’s mastery of programming also gave him the opportunity to win major brownie points with his boss.

While many of his fellow gamers were decent at the skill almost none had already maxed it the way he had. When he volunteered to take on the task of sprucing up the team's outdated website, management was skeptical but agreed to let him give it a try.

Luigi completed the project in record time, and even managed to charm an up-and-coming werewolf actress from Hunter’s collective into posing for fresh new banner images, both solo and with him and the rest of the team. His superiors were “over the moon” impressed with their go-getter.

His work on the website and continued success in tournaments quickly earned Luigi his next promotion.

To celebrate the couple once again left Skye with the grandparents and tried for another date night. Their evening at the movies was lots of fun for them and, thankfully, ended under the sheets instead of at the hospital!

In no time Luigi’s popularity at work was leading to endorsement deals! When a request came in to help promote one of his dad’s favorite local cooking channels Luigi eagerly agreed to the contract. There was a performance bonus attached if the campaign did well enough, and he had a plan.

His real-life live-in chef was a celebrity, and an old hand at keeping things fun and light. The father/son duo had an absolute blast with their “family night dinner and drinks” collab. Luigi’s new high-end drone, Yoshi, floated around the kitchen catching footage of banter and bottles flying wildly.

So much time staring at himself in the mirror preparing for the shoot, and on the video afterwards, had the unintended consequence of making Luigi even more self absorbed than before, skyrocketing the pride he’d always felt in his natural good looks to a whole new level.

While editing and adding transitions prior to uploading the footage Luigi realized that he was really enjoying himself. Media production was yet another way to have fun in front of the computer.

He couldn’t wait for another endorsement opportunity to roll in!

It wasn’t long before father and son were celebrating the sensational success of their episode of “TV Dinner”.

Peachy’s participation in the project brought in a much broader fanbase than Luigi could have managed on his own, and their comfortable father/son dynamic and skill in the kitchen were a huge hit with both cooking and mixology enthusiasts.

Luigi’s star was shining bright, and he couldn’t be happier. He’d never set out to be famous, but it felt right. He’d always wanted to impress his watcher and their friends and show the world just how successful he could be. Now no one could possibly deny that he was a “big deal”.

Nothing, he felt, could stop him now!

Rather than cram that huge media station into Luigi’s house I tried out the Elgato Streaming Set mod by Ravasheen.

Its not perfect (not all functionality seems to be available) but it works for most things and I really liked having Luigi do Media Production on his laptop.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

#sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #sims4 #sims 4 nsb #sims 4 not so berry #sims4nsbstraud #sims 4 let's play #sims 4 lets play #sims 4 gameplay

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hamofjustice · 1 year ago

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very slight teal mask and indigo disc story spoilers (the kind that'll probably help decide if you want them or not instead of ruin it for you, probably?) and very long commentary about it. mostly about how they've chosen to advertise it

gonna hit you with my longest run-on sentence yet, here we go.

the fact that we had to datamine the teal mask, a DLC whose only returning character is jacq and does not add a line to or scene of anyone else (well, mentions of heath and clavell, i guess?) due to being available to do at any badge count, the fact that we had to dig and pry in unintended ways, just to finally prove that our implied greatest treasures nemona arven and penny would at least be available to hang out with in the indigo disc...

with no new images footage or mentions of the friend trio of in any of the six months since the DLCs were announced, and ten months after these kids opened their hearts and dorm rooms to us, saying we could hang out any time from now on, and turned out to be statues with one line of dialogue after we had already gone on an adventure with them following us around, helping us in battle, and getting to know each other as we walked, and our rival promised to keep up with our strength forever, then never got any stronger...

and now, in the narrative's timeline, we run off to another country to transfer away from our rival for life's school to one she would fit into perfectly the MOMENT she opens up to us about her problems and how she's so much happier now that we're the first person she can actually connect with and be herself around, and shows clear signs of worry that you're going to leave if she doesn't make you promise not to...

and also shortly after Arven became effectively a high school orphan, who's still treated as kind of a butt monkey dumbass for some reason, when he was putting everything he had into researching how to save his dog, his only dependable family, instead of going to class (i guess he's not telling anybody what he's going through, as usual with these kids)...

because TPC did not think these characters being present in the second DLC in any form and not actually having their newfound, hard-earned sense of belonging ruined by the basic premise of said transfer-student DLC was worth advertising at any point, and only showed off gym leaders Katy and Kofu... and that was only if you even bothered to look at the website to notice the feature at all, because hanging out with, battling, and trading with all of the past characters who aren't present in Paldea anymore is now actually a feature, but wasn't in the trailer...

is fucking mind boggling to me.

why is it a secret that they're in the DLC. why would they not just. tell people that as soon as they revealed the DLC. why is it still supposed to be a secret now, half a year later. why weren't they in the first half. why did they not think we'd be worried that they aren't in the second half.

silly me, why would you want to advertise giving people more of the story and main plot-driving characters, the main thing people defend the rushed game for, or that they might get some resolution, or reassure them that the vaguely happy ending to their sad stories isn't going to be ruined like they've implied it will be? that'd be silly. the only way anyone is going to find that out is through hacking

but at least we were finally able to pry that basic fucking information out of them against their will, the only thing I wanted to know about the DLC before I'd buy it, because they left in placeholder stubs for it by accident. oops. wouldn't want to tell people who were on the fence about getting the DLC this information on purpose or anything. need to keep it a secret

we were able to confirm through our own digging that nemona (and many others) are at least allowed to hang out with us, but the thing that would make both her as a character and me as a Pokemon player happier than we've ever been is if she actually got to enroll with us. why wouldn't she go, right? what do a school and society that don't respect her and an empty home where her parents should be have to offer, compared to living her dream with her favorite person, surrounded by people just like her? who can stop a champion from going wherever she wants? but for that to be the case, one of the "club rooms" we found references to would have to be hers. only us kieran and carmine clearly have what are marked as dorm room objects.

i'm glad we're getting what we're getting, but it's still no guarantee that nemona arven and penny will continue to be important to the story that they were the driving forces of, or get the true resolutions and healthier happy endings that they deserve, or that our "true equal" will ever be any stronger or more important to our character than our home ec teacher, or that they'll ever actually get to be a friend group on screen without life or death situations or harrowing grief being involved

oops! accidentally wrote decent character arcs and relationships in a pokemon game! they're going to spend time together in the postgame! abort abort abort quick shove them off into different countries before they hug

okay that's just me being cynical, they will almost certainly be important to the story, but... TPC has the power to make me not cynical and they keep choosing not to do that. but they do keep making really sappy recap videos using previous cutscene footage, like this attachment and uncertainty is something they're milking on purpose

maybe stringing people along with how much they miss the funny, cute, loving, strong characters, or are worried about these three lonely and isolated kids dealing with parental neglect, ptsd and self loathing, autism and motor impairments, identity issues, and more, whose problems are clearly not resolved yet if they can be at all, will... help sell more plushies and gacha pulls, and get people consuming more spinoffs, or something? idk, maybe

love to stop and helplessly gaze upon penny's depression pile every day before i go do tera raids / link battles with strangers (i don't actually do this but i might if poke portal worked indoors)

that all being said! it's pretty damn cool that hanging out with NPCs in a meaningful way and staging selfies with them and stuff is actually a game feature at all. that much is reassuring. it's a step in the right direction considering 90% of pokemon gameplay for a lot of people takes place after the credits roll and everyone normally despawns or becomes a one liner / repeating boss fight statue, or maybe if you're lucky a Multi Battle partner. it was just implied this game would be different, is all. i just don't know why they've chosen to string their audience along this way. wanting to have friends shouldn't throw up a $35 tollgate right as you go to talk to them that takes a year to open, and over six months to find out if it'll kill them when it opens.

i'd like to see pokemon postgame feel more like an animal crossing life sim type game in the future, personally, and this feature is a step toward that. i'd love if it one of your rewards for completing indigo disc was being able to take anyone you like as a follower as you go about your business and have them get on miraidon/koraidon with you as needed so your movement isn't impeded by it, even if there was no dialogue for it or anything. it's 2023, i shouldn't have to imagine something happening in a video game, or have to fill in my own fanfic to make a story satisfying, it should just be happening, on the screen. dammit. having a follower that goes with you everywhere even if you drive or have a following pokemon already was a feature in teal mask, so why not utilize it permanently?

(is the obvious player arven nemona penny 4v1 battle being saved for the final boss or something, is that why tera raids with them aren't a thing you can just do normally?)

Long story short: The basic transfer-student premise of The Indigo Disc implies that we ruin Nemona's happy ending and rub the one she really wants in her face to go enjoy it with Carmine instead for being more marketable, and I don't think they're even aware of why that would be a problem. Why have we not been reassured to the contrary in the last 6 months? I think a lot of us are waiting for this DLC anxiously instead of eagerly, especially after the first half.

#pokemon sv #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon scarvio #nemona #trainer nemona #arven #trainer arven #penny pokemon #trainer penny #nemonaposting #arvenposting #pennyposting #the teal mask #the indigo disk

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shinysamurott9 · 8 months ago

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2024 Games: Pokemon Scarlet

This is certainly a weird game for me to look at. This wasn't a game I went into with much of any negative bias, unlike Sword, where I skipped it due to the negativity surrounding the game at the time, I did actually buy Scarlet on day 1. But I didn't get too far into it before falling off because of other stuff. So I ended up sitting on it for over a year until now as I needed to complete the game to get the ribbons and marks needed to complete my Ribbon Master Quest. And what I got from it was one of the strangest games I've played yet one I've enjoyed a lot. This is gonna be another really long read so keep that in mind.

So when I initially picked up the game I didn't so that much in terms of Game progression. What I did do however, beyond the basic intro stuff leading up to the school, was at the very start of the game when I saw a Riolu at the edge of a cliff and was like "hey I wanna catch that" but I couldn't get over because I didn't have Korraidon yet. But my experience with Legends Arceus kicked in and came the thought of trying to throw a ball to initiate a battle from the other side of the cliff. Turns out this idea got me way more than I bargained for because doing this warped me to the other side of the gap, letting me break out of the area I was supposed to be and explore the whole region before ever entering the school. I shit you not by the time I was done I had almost half the pokedex and a lvl 40 Skeledirge. It was incredibly funny ngl.

But after that when I eventually got back on track I basically just did the remaining intro stuff until you were set free to explore. At which point I wasn't really feeling it, so I put the game down. DLC flew by, stuff happened and it all led up to a couple weeks ago when I had to pick it up again to complete my Ribbon Masters. I initially didn't really vibe with the game. My first day back playing it was basically just me wandering aimlessly, avoiding the main objectives because I wanted to put together a more substantial team beyond Skeledirge and Tinkatuff and I also just wasn't really feeling any of the mons I had in the box. I also do tend to make a conscious effort to use team members I haven’t used before, but a lot of more interesting stuff available in Paldea were mons I had used before. I think it's a combination of this, almost the entire dex being available to you from the outset if you really want it and me being slightly overwhelmed by that that led to this feeling.

This train of thought hilariously led me to awakening and actually catching Chien fucking Pao with no badges, though I never actually ended up using it due to not beating all the gyms first so it was disobedient til near the end of the game.

This first session ultimately ended when I went to take on Great Tusk and subsequently capturing it. I opted to do the Teal Mask DLC from here, this is where the game started to pick up for me. It was a whole new area to explore, tons of new mons to find and use and a nice little side story to get invested in. By the time I was done I was way happier with the team I was using, including a random full odds shiny, so that was awesome.

The Teal Mask was also where the story really started to click with me I think. SV story is very much a character focused one, with the plots mainly being centered around how the player character helps and interacts with the other characters around them. And to complement that, SV probably has one of the best main casts of human characters in the series. Teal Mask brings in Carmine and Kieran who I both really like. Kieran needs Indigo Disk to be fully discussed but most of Carmine's character is here.

I really like her, she has a really good character design and her character arc, while short, is compelling. She goes from someone who is, almost xenophobic for lack of a better term to someone who grows far more accepting as she helps you recover the masks from the Lousy Three. She's hard on Kieran, in a way that I feel like she regrets as they drifted apart on Indigo Disk, but she does care about him. She does also have a bit of smug bastard energy that I do enjoy when it's done right.

Teal Mask also has... H e r

I'm gonna be real here, I think Ogerpon is genuinely the best legendary we've gotten in general, which is saying a lot in a generation that knocks it out of the park in that regard. Her design is simple but adorable, she has one of my favourite stories of any legendary, not just her backstory but also how she bonds with you and how that plays into Kieran's arc, and her gimmick with the masks is incredibly fun to use in a playthrough. Especially so if you play like me with a rotating team of more than 6, Ogerpon can slot in anywhere with how you can change her type to fill any holes you might have in terms of types.

I think Kitakami was really what I needed to get myself in gear and get back into the game. When I got back to the main game, the path I was inclined to follow most was the Titan path with Arven. This was partially for practical reasons as that's how you upgrade Koraidon, but also because of Arven.

I think Arven's story is amazing. He starts out as kind of a dick, pawning Koraidon off on you and wanting nothing to do with it. But you come to learn this is more from frustration towards his mom, feeling like she cared more about it and her research in Area Zero than him growing up. And also because she's given him basically no help with his current goal, healing his partner Mabosstiff. In a series that focuses on all these grand adventures, which this game definitely still has mind you, Arven is incredibly down to earth. At the end of the day he's just a guy who wants to help his sick dog, which is incredibly relatable.

To get a little personal here, I've basically spent my whole life around dogs. We've had plenty across my family growing up. Of course, most of them passed away as I grew up. They were treated well, it's just how it goes. But it does suck, seeing them grow old as their health deteriorates. So I completely understand Arven going so far to help Mabosstiff doing literally everything he can to help save him. And at the very end, when you get the last Herba Mystica, Arven takes a breather. He seems almost resigned, with motions that feel like he's saying he's done all he can do, and now he can only wait and let whatever happens happen.

There are very few things in anything that make me very emotional, but seeing Mabosstiff get up and bring his pokeball to Arven, and Arven being so overjoyed seeing him healthy again, genuinely gets me a little teary eyed. It's genuinely one of the sweetest scenes in all of pokemon. I think the titans path is also helped overall by having the most ties to the final story, it leading into the reason we go down to Area Zero to begin with, thereby giving it an edge in importance over the other two paths.

Speaking of the other two paths, I think they're also pretty solid.

I actually ended up liking Team Star a bit more than I expected. I like that ultimately they just boil diwn to friend group who found solidarity in each other. But they went too far and were too stubborn to back down, because they don't feel like the school did anything to fix their issues. So Penny has to have you step in to dismantle the whole thing so they don't seriously harm their futures. It's a neat story honestly. Not sure how I feel about their postgame side story. It's neat helping them get back on track with things, I think my main issue is that some of them are hard to recognise. Like Mela and especially Eri look like completely different people. One thing I do really like about Team Star though is all their music is canon and composed by Giacomo. It's genuinely really cool. Especially imagining him just going off when he made Penny's one.

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The gym path was probably my least favourite of the three paths. It's not bad by any means, it's just the typical song and dance we've come to expect from pokemon at this point. I do enjoy most of the gym leaders, they're fun with plenty of personality. Iono and Larry were personal highlights for me. My issue is that I think the gym path highlights a notable issue with how the game doesn’t really lean into it's open world structure very well. Despite a major selling point being you can do the badges in any order, there still is a set order to do them with the levels they're at. While I think it's a good idea for the start of the game, with some badges being objectively easier than others, I feel like this structure would benefit a lot by having weaker gyms scale up to match where you are if you beat a later badge first. Say you beat Larry first. You could then have Katy, Brassius, Iono, and Kofu scale up in levels to match whoever would be fighting next, so you don't just steamroll everything below the gym you beat.

The real highlightof the gym path is unquestionably Nemona. I think she's a really interesting take on the typical rival in pokemon. Instead of going on the same journey as you, she's already become a champion. She is a savant in terms of battling and she worked hard to get to that point, it's like a hyperfixation for her. But she's reached a point where she's far beyond any of her peers and it leaves her almost alienated from them cause no one else is as into battling as her. It's an interesting way to take the phrase "It's lonely at the top".

That's of course where you come in. She follows you on your journey, starting fresh with a new team, even intentionally picking the starter weak to yours for an extra challenge, I love how they actually have a reason for it this time. All the while along the way she helps you to get stronger offering advice in the gyms and helping you keep sharp in battles. All so that you can become a worthy challenge for her. And when you do beat her at the end when she's not holding back, she's ecstatic because she finally has a true equal, or potentially even a new level of strength for her to work towards. It's a genuinely really cool way to handle the rival here. My one gripe is that I don't think we ever see what Nemona's original team was. Maybe she used Orthworm and Dudunsparce as she only uses them in her final fight when she isn't holding back, but everything else is from the team she trained along the way.

Then there's the final story, and the true ending of the game. Where as the other stories were focused on your friends, The Way Home is Koraidon's story. It's in the name, as the story has you delving into Area Zero, the place Koraidon came from in the first place.

Area Zero is easily a standout location in the game. It has an absolutely perfect vibe. It has this pure, untouched feel, not just as if no one has been there in a long time, it feels like somewhere people are outright not supposed to be. And the music conveys this feeling absolutely perfectly. It's especially great because it's motif is heard in other places like Tera Raid dens, and later it's subtle part of the Terrarium themes in Blueberry Academy and the Crystal Pool in Kitakami.

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The vibe of the track, especially the vocal parts, give it a similar feel to stuff from the Xeno series. It's so perfect.

I think it's really interesting to me how Sada, basically the closest thing to a main antagonist this game has, is already dead when you arrive, and has been for some time. But you need to fight through to her machine to shut it down and prevent more Paradox pokemon from coming to the present. It's a pretty simple plot held up by how the characters experience Area Zero itself. All of this culminates in the final fight against Sada's AI. It's a really neat fight that is genuinely difficult. In no small part because she uses exclusively Paradoxes, many of which you could literally have never encountered at this point, giving you an unknown element to contend with. The battle concludes with you taking down her Koraidon with the pokemon you've bonded with throughout the entire game, the one pokemon not affected by Sada's pokeball lock due to technically being owned by her, your own Koraidon, who got you this far to begin with. It's a genuinely great moment as Koraidon overcomes it's fear and takes down it's counterpart who drove it from Area Zero to begin with.

This concludes the main plot, with an Ed Sheeran Jumpscare for some reason, but the story does continue in the Indigo Disk where you become a transfer student for Blueberry Academy. Blueberry is an absolutely fantastic location. The Terrarium is really cool area to mess around in, with tons of new pokemon to find and use, the blueberry Quests are a great addition too. On paper they seem like busy work, but they're so easy to passively complete with solid rewards that they make for a good thing to do in between objectives in the Terrarium. Which really helps for the other main draw of Indigo Disk, the League Club.

I think the League Club is a super underrated part of the DLC. There's a bunch of stuff to do with it by customising the room itself, developing the Item Printer, a great addition in itself, and upgrading the biomes in the Terrarium, letting you get all the starters from Gen 1 - 8, genuinely really cool. The best part of the League Club though is all the character interactions. Initially you'll only meet the BB League E4 in there. But as you play through you'll get the ability to invite basically every notable character in the game there and eventually Carmine and Kieran will appear there too. It's great for fleshing out their characters, and also facilitates special interactions between characters who wouldn't get the chance to meet otherwise.

I love all the little Easter Eggs and references in this DLC too. There's the League Club rooms, specifically monochrome and futuristic, being massive call backs to Unova, each of the biomes being references to old locations like The cliff biome referencing the Nature Preserve, The Savannah Biome references the Kanto Safari Zone, and the Coastal Biome explicitly references Alola. Idk if the Polar Biome references anything, maybe Mt Lanakila? And the Meloetta event? Which requires you to open the camera app with the sepia filter? An amazing call back to the guy from Castelia who remembered Meloetta's Relic Song in Sepia Colored Memories.

And now I get to the story of Indigo Disk. Just as the main game did with Nemona, the DLC went a really interesting direction with the rival trope. You first meet Kieran in Kitakami and while things start out well, your encounter with Ogerpon puts a rift between you and him. He always had an affinity with the Ogre and wanted to meet it for so long, and when he finally meets her, Ogerpon doesn't trust him, despite hearing about her story and admiring it his whole life, she favors you. All the while everyone around him seeks to exclude him by hiding the truth about Ogerpon's story. Even when he goes the extra mile and reveals the true story to the village, leading them to finally accept her after decades, potentially centuries of them rejecting her and her former partner, she still favors you, leading you to fight him for who gets Ogerpon, which you do eventually win.

This kind of breaks Kieran, feeling like you took his place in his story. And in the time between then and Indigo Disk, he kind of goes off the wall a little. dedicating everything to becoming stronger all just to beat you, even becoming Champion of the BB League in the process. But in turn he starts lording over the other members, kicking out anyone he deems too weak despite how arbitrary that might be. This man is literally going insane, twitching about and smiling like a maniac. Part of it is just an act but it's hard to say how in his own head he is.

And when you do eventually fight him, he has an absolutely busted team even including competitive monsters like Incineroar and Grimmsnarl. Yet despite that it's a team that fits him so perfectly. I love when they delve into characters with the details behind their teams, like N using new pokemon from the surrounding area each time you fight him or Ghetsis Hydreigon knowing Frustration and actively hurting itself with every attack. Kieran's team is absolutely perfect in this regard. Every one of his pokemon says something about him all the while putting up one hell of a fight. That's another thing, I genuinely love that that this DLC actually puts up a challenge. BB Academy is called this elite battle school and the trainers sell that idea very well. Every trainer actually uses held items and have actual strats for the most part. The bosses actually have full teams of 6 which is shockingly rare when you're not looking at Champions for some reason.

Once you take down Kieran he and Carmine accompany you to the deepest depths of Area Zero to help Briar search for Terapagos. The under depths are also a fantastic location atmosphere wise and probably the best visual treat the game has to offer. Kieran's encounter with Terapagos is genuinely great, how it's just this tiny little guy that goes up to you because it's the first thing it sees. But Kieran's in such a bad headspace as it is, and after what happened with Ogerpon the very notion that he'd lose another legendary to you causes him to freak out so hard that he immediately Master Ball's Terapagos, which was genuinely fantastically foreshadowed by a Master Ball being the prize for champions in the BB League.

The Terapagos fight is neat enough, very funny that it can outright cheat to kill Carmine's Sinistcha and Kieran finally jumping in to help is great. Terapagos as a legendary is interesting in it's inspiration. It's possibly based on Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise of the galapagos islands. Much like George, Terapagos is seemingly the last of it's kind and despite internally having a 50/50 gender ratio, the Terapagos in the underdepths is always male. Honestly it's wild that a pokemon that can just casually manipulate time and become the source of terastalization used to be a regular species of pokemon.

That being said it's also very vague about what it and the terastal phenonmenon are supposed to be. It can time travel to some extent which is definitively shown with the secret scene at the crystal pool, but also there's all the weirdness with the paradox mons. Some seem to be genuine ancestors to present mons like Roaring Moon but also stuff like Brute Bonnet which just make no sense to have existed millions of years ago. I also find it strange this same phenomenon allows for pokemon to channel different types which is a kind of random pair of traits for terastalization tbh.

Speaking of, the Stellar Type. It's weird. Defensively you basically don't change at all bar gaining a weakness to Stellar Type moves, all three of them. Offensively however, you gain a power boost for every move type, 2x for the users' regular types and 1.2x for everything else, but unless the user is in a Tera Raid or is Terapagos, it only gets that boost once per type per battle. It's kind of underwhelming for something that is supposed to be using every type at once, and feels weirdly outclassed by normal terastalization in most situations.

Once you beat Terapagos, there are two major things available to do afterward. The first is the aforementioned Crystal Pool event, which has Terapagos bring Sada back in time.As a result of her conversation with you, you become inadvertently responsible for Koraidon's name, giving her the white book that led her to the underdepths in the first place and with the right dialogue options, you give her the idea for the AI, effectively making the entire game one giant bootstrap paradox. I think it is actually a pretty neat idea honestly. And it fits pretty well with all the paradoxes in the game already.

Then of course there's the secret third dlc chapter, Mochi Mayhem.

Mochi Mayem is pretty interesting though I have mixed feelings on it. It's a special third DLC focusing on Pecharunt who is the Mythical Pokemon for Gen 9. What I like is that it seems to be a return to form for mythical pokemon in game. After three whole generations of mythicals just being handed to you by a pokemon center guy, Pecharunt actually has a proper event in game that has you catch it yourself. Mochi Madness is also far more elaborate than any of the previous mythical events having a whole extra story that nicely ties up the main game, Ogerpon and Kieran storylines. It's a fun little story that gives us some great interactions between the characters. On that front it's especially nice to see Kieran and to a lesser extent Carmine interact with the main game trio after the two groups being cleanly seperate for the game before now. While I do enjoy all of this, I do have two notable issues with it.

1: Pecharunt

Now I like Pecharunt. It's essentially the trio master for the loyal three, their equivalent of Arceus or Regigigas for comparison. I think it has a neat design and story but here's the issue with that. None of it's story was in the game. Instead Pecharunt's backstory was revealed in a short animation uploaded to pokemon's YouTube. This video revealed Pecharunt was under the care of an old couple who loved it dearly, but, wanting more of their affection, it fed them it's binding Mochi to secure that for itself. But in turn, Pecharunt's possessive nature turned the couple into the worst versions of themselves, making them greedy and seemingly only having Pecharunt around because it would bring them what they wanted. Turning what seemed like genuine care into something far more superficial. This is what sent Pecharunt to Kitakami to take Ogerpon's masks, and we know how that turned out.

It's not that this is a bad story, quite the opposite honestly it's a pretty good one that explores how despite Pecharunt having a lot going for it, with a loving family and comfortable home, it's own toxic traits ended up leaving all that a shadow of what it was. But it all comes back to that one issue that it isn't in the game itself. Now look, I'm a Mega Man fan, I'm more than familiar with important or beneficial information or stories being tucked away in external sources, many of which are far more obscure and inaccessible than a YouTube video. But I do wish they included at least part of this somewhere in the game itself. As it is Pecharunt basically has no story presence beyond being the present threat for the story at hand and being the master of the Loyal Three, a logical assumption with its music and use of the toxic chains.

The other issue however is not actually to do with the the story itself but rather how it's accessed.

2: Mystery Gift

The most common and understandable criticism of mythical pokemon is that they are limited by design. In the past they have always been available exclusively through limited time events available through Mystery Gift. On the surface Pecharunt actually seems to be an improvement in this area. It's distributed the same way but at this point in time, there is no definitive end date for the distribution and that is good. But I'm not sure how long that is going to last, while that isn't an issue right now, eventually the servers it uses will almost definitely go offline. Maybe that's just because that's something I'm thinking about more with the recent closure of 3ds and Wii U online servers, but idk, that eventual but pretty realistic possibility rubs me the wrong way. In this case I think it's especially egregious due to the fact that unlike other mythical events, there is more content than just the mythical event locked behind the Mythical Pecha Berry. Once you beat Mochi Mayhem, Carmine and Kieran will start appearing in the League Club and you gain the ability to invite Arven, Penny and Nemona as special instructors. So without access to the berry, you lose access to all of their interactions in the club room, their true final rematches and their special trade mons, something you definitely want to be aware of if you want a Paldean Tauros, Sinistcha or anything from the Skwovet, Eevee or Applin families with the partner ribbon. To be fair, this logic could well be applied to the DLC as a whole but that at least could still be accessed via cartridges that have it built in.

Before going into the final conclusions on the game as a whole here's some miscellaneous stuff I couldn't really mention before now.

The Partner Ribbon: A massive part of the League Club that I glossed over was that it is the gateway to postgame rematches with every character that can be in the room. That alone is fantastic but if you interact with a charater in the clubroom enough times They'll trade you a pokemon with the newly added partner ribbon, which when it's assigned as the mon's title, they'll be sent out as "Drayton's Duraludon", "Kieran's Applin", "Nemona's Tauros" etc. It's really neat for ribbon collectors honestly. I hope this becomes a staple for future titles, it'd be really cool for stuff like N's pokemon if we ever get BW2 Remakes that properly reimplement them.

I appreciate the new evolutions in this game. Some are kind of odd and arguably unnecessary, like Kingambit or Archaludon, but I still like them. A lot were definitely well deserved like Dudunsparce and Farigiraf.

Continuing Gen 8's train of thought, it is incredibly easy to properly optimize a pokemon for competitive play, it's certainly worked, I'm more interested in competitive than ever. The changes to Ability Patches letting you change between normal and Hidden Abilities freely, Hyper Training now only requiring a pokemon to be level 50, and the easy availability of however many bottle caps and vitamins you need letting you train a pokemon however you want in the span of like 10 minutes tops all help with this. The mirror herb in particular is a fantastic addition here too, letting you essentially copy egg moves from one pokemon onto another meaning you can even get otherwise unavailable moves onto a pokemon. I've already made extensive use of it to get stuff like Sacred Sword on my Samurott or Fake Out on my shiny Incineroar from Wonder Trade (Thanks Evil Cal Zone). Effectively any pokemon can be made optimal for competitive use at this point, and relatively quickly too. Really the only thing you don't have control over is getting lower IVs, which realistically you'd only want for speed if you plan to run a Trick Room team, which to be fair is a somewhat valid critique as I can say from experiencing it on both sides that Trick Room is a very powerful strategy. Everything else though? You're good. If a pokemon you're attached to from your playthrough is good for the team you want to run, you are completely able to build it almost however you want and that is fantastic.

Union Circle is one of the single best multiplayer mechanics ever implemented in a pokemon game. It's already a lot of fun to mess around with your friends in the world itself, but it is also fantastic on a functional level as with the exception of the Box Legends and the DLC Paradoxes, a Scarlet player can naturally catch every violet version exclusive and vice versa. It reminds me a lot of BW2's key system that let players access select version exclusive content like the Regis or White Forest/Black City. For better or worse, version exclusives probably aren't going away any time soon, so if they are to stick around, Union Circle is a fantastic way to handle it.

There are also some miscellaneous negatives as well unfortunately.

The technical issues. It cannot be denied when discussing SV that on a technical level, it is a trainwreck. To be fair to it, it is nowhere near as bad as it was at launch, I never encountered anything too crazy, but it's still not great. Graphical bugs are everywhere, it is very common for pokemon to go into their low detail models and low frame rate animations despite being very close, there's a lot of pop in and the game lags a lot in areas where it really shouldn't, like menus. I distinctly remember going to the Peachy's shop in Kitakami and the game just straight up freezing for a solid minute as it tried to load the menu. A lot of people attribute this to the game being rushed as a result of the strict dev schedules pokemon games are subject to, and that is part of it no question. One thing I will always be firm on is that there was absolutely no need for this game to come out the same year as Legends Arceus. That game could have easily carried pokemon's holiday release with SV coming out the November after. Both games definitely would have benefitted from the extra time. That being said I think attributing these issues just to the tight schedule is oversimplifying it somewhat. I feel like these issues are a result of a perfect storm of variables in tandem with this. To Gamefreak's credit this was a pretty ambitious game for what they've typically done and something they've clearly been building to with SwSh and LA, but that also means that they are likely inexperienced with this kind of game. Combine that with the fact that this game would have started development in 2020, smack in the middle of a major pandemic, which undeniably affected the output of almost all game development studios? It does make sense that it turned out this way when all of these variables are considered. I'll be clear that I have no idea on the specifics that go on internally with Gamefreak during development, I'm only making the best assumptions I can with what I already know and very surface level research. I do hope that with future releases something like this can be avoided. Pokemon Z seems like it could be a step in the right direction being slated for 2025 and I do recall an article discussing how even the CE of the Pokemon Company acknowledged they may be going way too fast with their output and that changes could be considered. Granted being the head of a massive company like that, his word should rightfully be taken with a grain of salt. But still, it I think there is room for a little optimism at this point.

I think Shiny Pokemon were handled pretty poorly this go around. Shiny Hunting is one of my favourite things to do in pokemon so this aspect is particularly important for me. For the third time now shinies appear in the overworld which I have no problem with. But unlike previous instances like Let's Go or LA, shinies are not accompanied by any special particle effect or sound effect on spawn, instead they are just there and it is up to you to notice. On paper this honestly does not sound that bad but as many hunters know there are a disgusting amount of shinies that have barely any change or the changes are very subtle. This is awful for hunting in this game and requires you to be very aware of everything that spawns if the shiny you're looking for doesn't change much.

On the note of subtle shinies, it is an especially big issue for Gen 9. There are so many shinies that barely change for no good reason and it feels like there are far more than any game before now. For example:

Tatsugiri on paper is ok, but the Yellow form's shiny is orange which creates confusion between it and the normal orange form.

All of the future Paradoxes have a chrome color palette which is a mixed bag. It would be a fine color on paper, if not a little boring because they're all the same, but several future paradoxes already have chrome in their color palette leading to the shiny not changing much. Iron Treads is the worst offender but others like Iron Moth or Iron Boulder are pretty bad for this too.

There are of course the several shinies who just barely change for no good reason, making them incredibly difficult to notice in game, either from the lighting or just because the pokemon is so small to begin with. But none of that compares to:

Like come on what the fuck is this? I don't even know what to say about this like, someone saw Gholdengo, changed the color of it's grooves and just called it a day? I really don't like using this word in regard to game development or design but this is just lazy. It's less than that really because this honestly feels like they went out of their way to make a bad shiny. Like you could have just made it like silver or copper or literally any noticeable change to the gold and that would have been way better. But no, just the barely visible grooves. What is even the point of giving it a shiny at that stage?

Though honestly you could argue Gholdengo's doesn't matter that much because:

Shiny Locks! They are arguably the worst they've ever been. I have and always will, despise this mechanic. There is almost never a good reason for preventing a pokemon from being shiny if it is catchable. Recent games have been very bad for shiny locks. This list includes the starters, which is a god awful decision, arguably the worst mons to shiny lock, the various titans, all wild Gimmighoul for some reason, all gift pokemon except for Salvatore's Meowth, and all legendaries, including the ones brought back in the DLC. That last one in particular is awful as a large batch of returning legendaries has become standard implementation mid generation since ORAS, and we've always been allowed to hunt them, so seeing that changed is a really bad precedent for future games. The Pokemon Company know full well that a significant portion of their playerbase enjoy shiny hunting. It's a side of the fandom that is more acknowledged than ever with the official Twitter even recently putting out a very comprehensive guide on all the ways to boost shiny odds. So I really don't understand what they have to lose by not letting us hunt this stuff, it's not like they're doing anything with those unavailable shinies anyway. Literally none of the Gen 9 legendaries have received shiny distributions yet, hell we're still waiting for most of the Gen 8 ones. Imagine how cool it would be to hunt a shiny Koraidon and ride it during your playthrough, or hunting the gift Sinnoh egg and getting a random shiny Sinnoh Starter or even hunting the Meloetta event. So many cool hunts that we just aren't allowed to do because GameFreak said no. This is absolutely not a dealbreaker but it is a really annoying practice that I wish they would just stop doing.

All that being said, I think that about covers my thoughts on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet by extension. There may be more to say, such as how one could criticize how important the DLC could be to having a fully experience with how the game is lacking in some areas, namely post game content without it, effectively making an already expensive €60 game into an over €90 game, the lack of a battle facilty or the general quality of the pokemon roster this time around but I think I've said my piece.

I think overall this game gets a bad rep. One that isn't entirely undeserved. It has many issues which exist for a number of reasons, be they technical, structural or narrative, and those should be critiqued. But that also means a lot of the good parts of this game get overlooked or underappreciated. It's strong enough that I honestly think that if you just fixed even just the technical issues, this would be one of the best pokemon games. But even as it is I can't say I hate this game. I still enjoyed it quite a lot actually. I think given the way recent releases have been experimenting with open area type gameplay, this style of pokemon is likely going to be the new norm. If so I hope they do take a proper look at what SV did both right and wrong to properly refine it. We can only wait and see on that front, with how much cynicism has taken root in the pokemon community, I hope I can be right on that front.

As for where this game ranks on my ongoing tier list of games, I think smack in the middle of B is a good place to put it with how much I enjoyed the game.

#2024 games talk #my stuff #pokemon #pokemon scarlet #pokemon violet #retrospective?#finally got around to finishing this

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broomballkraken · 10 months ago

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Title: Make a Wish, Take a Chance

Fandom: Unicorn Overlord

Pairing(s): Auch/Rolf

Word count: 3369

Warnings: None

Summary: In the realm of angels, Rolf is contemplating his overwhelming feelings for their resident prickly sorcerer. Auch shows up at his campfire, which ultimately leads to them stargazing on the Valleyshallow Bridge.

As they both make wishes upon a shooting star, Rolf has no idea that his one and only wish was about to come true…

It was the dead of night in the realm of angels, and most of the Liberation Army were tucked away in their tents after a decisive victory, in which they wrested the town of Burbury and the Valleyshallow Bridge from Zenoira’s clutches. One lonely campfire provided the only light from the ground, while the rest of the area was illuminated by the moon and the countless stars shimmering in the sky.

Rolf let out a long sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, his auburn eyes locked upon the flickering flames of the campfire before him. Sleep was eluding him, and he would have liked to blame it on leftover adrenaline from the battle. However, that was far from the truth, for there was one thing and one thing alone keeping him up this night:

Auch. Or, more specifically, the fact that Rolf had fallen in love with him.

After tossing another log onto the fire, Rolf sat back, letting out a frustrated grunt and crossing his arms over his chest. Ever since the night after the chicken shape-shifting incident, Rolf had been trying in vain to fight these affectionate feelings off, but to no avail.

At first, he had tried to brush them off as a fluke, but as he spent more time with Auch, Rolf had come to look forward to - and even seek out at times - the prickly sorcerer’s company. That feeling had increased tenfold when Auch began to change for the better, in Rolf’s opinion.

Rolf had always admired how easily magic seemed to come to Auch, but the latter managed to find fault in most everything that he did, and that pissed Rolf off to no end. Auch was damn brilliant, and as Rolf started to help him peel away the layers of self-doubt and rudeness, he saw that underneath it all was a compassionate, ambitious man who cared deeply for those under his command, especially for his fellow sorcerers who looked up to him. It had been an amazing transformation to witness, and the more Rolf thought about it, the less surprised he became about falling in love with him.

Narrowing his eyes, Rolf poked at a log, causing it to topple over and send sparks flying around him. His gaze followed the ones that got caught floating upwards with the smoke, until he was staring straight up at the ethereal night sky. Even though he had come to terms with his feelings, Rolf had doubts about making them known to Auch, mostly due to the fact that he had no idea how he felt about him in return.

Rolf knew that Auch did enjoy his company at the very least, as he often came to him when he wanted to rant about something. The playful jabs they took at each other seemed to lift Auch’s spirits considerably, and Rolf felt much the same. Most of the other Liberation members were put off by Auch’s endless rambling, but Rolf listened to every single word that he said without complaint, even if he didn’t possess the knowledge to offer up any constructive opinions of his own.

Worried that Auch found their conversations boring because of that, Rolf had brought it up the day before, during a chess match after their preparations for today’s battle had concluded. Much to Rolf’s relief, Auch brushed off his concerns, and actually expressed gratitude that he actually listened to what he had to say without complaint. Hearing that made Rolf happier than Auch would ever know, and that was almost as satisfying as winning their chess match had been.

The battle today had been rough, and even though neither he nor Auch sustained any grievous injuries, Rolf was reminded yet again how easily either of them could wind up dead. Because of that, he knew that he shouldn’t keep his feelings for Auch to himself. Nonetheless, Rolf was still held back by the uncertainty of Auch’s feelings for him, and the fear of wrecking their friendship if he did not feel the same way…

“Ah, Rolf. I see sleep eludes you as well.”

Rolf jerked his head up, startled by the sudden break in the silence of the night, and his heart leapt into his throat when he saw Auch standing across the campfire. He was given pause at how the reflection of the flames danced within his beautiful hazel eyes, and Rolf’s nose scrunched up as a pit of longing formed deep within his gut.

“...Rolf?”

“Er, sorry, what?”

Auch sighed and let out a huff, tapping the end of his staff on the ground with his impatience. “I asked you why you’re having trouble sleeping.”

“Ah, right…” Rolf swallowed thickly and rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s just…I’m still a bit worked up after the battle. That’s it.” He wanted to tell Auch the real reason, that he was kept awake by his overwhelming feelings for him, but that gnawing fear of rejection swelled within Rolf’s chest and forced him to hold his tongue.

Auch gave him a slight nod and turned his head to the side. “I see. It is…the same for me.” Rolf raised an eyebrow as Auch’s eyes darted around, never meeting his, which was a bit suspicious.

“A-Anyway,” Auch continued, and his eyes finally drifted up to lock with Rolf’s, “I’ve heard whispers around camp that the best view of the stars can be seen from the Valleyshallow Bridge, and since neither of us can sleep…would you like to go stargazing with me?”

Rolf blinked at Auch, and he was glad that his face was most likely already red from being so close to the campfire, because he felt like he was blushing like a madman. Biting his cheek, he steadied his breathing to try and calm his rapidly beating heart, before giving Auch a slight nod.

“Yeah, sure. I’d…love to.”

“R-Really?”

Rolf smiled when Auch sputtered and his face flushed a deep red; Father above, his animated reactions were so endearing. Auch shook his head before clearing his throat, and Rolf quickly put out the campfire. They were enveloped in darkness for only a moment, until Auch muttered a spell that caused the head of his staff to give off a bright, steady glow.

“That’s a nifty spell.”

“Yes, well, it was certainly helpful when I was stuck researching those dark and dank ruins for Zenoira…” Auch mumbled, and Rolf’s chuckling was cut off when Auch thrust his hand at him. Rolf blinked a few times in response, and Auch huffed as he waved his hand about.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Take my hand, Rolf.”

“Huh?” Rolf’s jaw went slack as he continued to stare dumbly at Auch’s hand, and the sorcerer sighed and rolled his eyes.

“While my staff gives off sufficient light to guide our way, it does not stave off the darkness entirely. I…do not want you to trip over something and fall on my account.”

Auch pursed his lips as he averted his gaze, and a smile slowly spread across Rolf’s face. That prickly attitude of his might have put off anyone else, but Rolf found it to be rather…cute. He finally reached out and slipped his hand into Auch’s, quite literally in fact, as it was very sweaty, and also trembling slightly; Rolf hoped that he wasn’t getting sick.

“Are you feeling alright, Auch?”

“Y-Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Auch said, letting out a dry laugh as he tightened his grip on Rolf’s hand. With an eyebrow raised, Rolf let Auch tug him along, and the archer listened with a fond smile on his face as the sorcerer lectured him on the history of the town of Burbury while they strolled through the quiet streets.

Eventually, the two men reached the middle of the Valleyshallow Bridge, and Rolf was given pause at how breathtaking the night sky looked reflected upon the calm, crystal-clear surface of the river. Rolf cast a sidelong glance at Auch, who was staring up at the sky, and he was suddenly keenly aware that they were now completely alone and away from any potential prying eyes. That, and the fact that Auch was still holding his hand, and Rolf had no plans of letting go himself.

They stood in silence for a while, and just when the roaring of Rolf’s heartbeat in his ears was becoming too much to bear, Auch took a deep breath and turned towards him.

“Rolf…While this view of the sky is rather captivating, I actually asked you here because I wanted to speak to you…away from camp,” he said, and Rolf’s eyes went wide.

“Alright…What’s on your mind?” Rolf asked with the slightest hesitation. He knew what he desperately wanted Auch to say, but he was careful not to get his hopes up too high.

“Yes, well…” Auch took in another long breath and let it out slowly, and his hand slipped from Rolf’s and moved to join the other in gripping his staff. Rolf set his jaw as he tried and failed to keep a frown from crossing his face at the loss of contact.

“After the battle today, I’ve come to realize that throughout my time with the Liberation, I have grown exponentially as a person and sorcerer…and much of that growth can be attributed to the unwavering support that I have received from you.”

“Me?” Rolf’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline as Auch began to pace in front of him, and he felt his face flush while a hopeful warmth flooded his chest. Auch cast a glance along with a small smile at Rolf, and the beautiful sight caused the archer to smile back as Auch spoke again:

“Yes, you. I spent most of my life trying and failing to live up to my mother’s lofty expectations, even after she passed on.” Auch let out another sigh and shook his head. “If I had never met you, someone who challenged my own self-beration and convinced me of my own worth, then I would not have become the man that I am today.”

Auch chuckled as he cocked his head to one side. “Do you remember that day, when I shape-shifted into a chicken and could not change back?”

“How could I forget?” Rolf said as he barked out a laugh. “I think I have little scars from the peck marks you gave me when you tried to stop me from bringing you to Yahna.”

“Ugh, and she still gives me grief about that blunder…” Auch grumbled, and Rolf couldn’t help but think that the pout on his face was rather endearing.

“Anyway, that night, you said that you wished that I could see what you do when you look at me.” Auch paused, and Rolf gave him a small nod of acknowledgment. “I just wanted to tell you that…I do believe that your wish has come true.”

A wide smile slowly spread across Rolf’s face as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the sky, hoping to hide the blush on his cheeks.

“Glad to hear it. All that wishy-washy bullshit was starting to really dampen the mood around here.”

“How rude!”

Auch scoffed and puffed out his cheeks, and Rolf laughed. He was happy when Auch’s laughter joined his soon after, and when their eyes met, Rolf was given pause at the fondness he found in Auch’s gaze.

“Thank you, Rolf, for always believing in me, and teaching me to believe in myself.”

Rolf opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Auch was pouring his heart out to him, so this logically would be a perfect moment for Rolf to confess his feelings. However, try as he might, he could not bring himself to speak, and an anxious pit formed deep within Rolf’s gut; at this rate, his feelings would never come to light…

“Oh!”

Rolf raised an eyebrow at Auch’s loud gasp, and he followed his gaze up, where he saw a large, bright star streaking across the sky. His jaw dropped at the sight, and he turned to Auch when he heard his staff tapping on the ground.

“A shooting star, how fascinating!” Auch exclaimed. He turned to Rolf and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We should make a wish. You’ll need a new one, since your old one just came true.”

Rolf thought that was a bit childish, but seeing how excited Auch was enough to make him smile and nod anyway. “Sure, let’s do it.”

They both turned to face the river, and Rolf placed a hand on his hip as he closed his eyes. There was only one thing that he wanted above all else, something that he longed so desperately for that it hurt: he wished with all of his heart that the incredible man standing next to him could come to love him in return.

Rolf opened his eyes and turned to Auch, and was confused when he saw that he had propped his staff against the bridge and was fussing with the sleeves of his robes. Deciding to be patient, Rolf stared at Auch for a few agonizingly slow minutes, until the sorcerer finally lifted his gaze and locked it with Rolf’s. The determination that Rolf saw blazing in his eyes was intense enough to steal the very breath from his lungs.

“Rolf…I would like to tell you my wish.”

“You know, it won’t come true if you do that.” Rolf let out a chuckle, but his mirth was quick to fade due to the deathly serious look on Auch’s face.

“On the contrary…This particular wish will never come true if I don’t speak of it.”

“Uh, okay…” Rolf’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Auch took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Even if I wasn’t good at expressing it at first, I have cherished every single moment that we have spent together, Rolf,” Auch began, and Rolf’s eyes went wide, his heart beating so hard that it threatened to burst right out of his chest.

“Every conversation - one-sided on my part or not - every chess game, every encouraging word you gave me, and yes, even every scathing-yet-playful insult. All of those moments have changed me, made me a better person, and led me to this moment with you, the man that I have fallen completely and utterly in love with.”

Time seemed to stop as Rolf tried to process the fact that Auch had said the very words that he had been hoping to hear. Well, this new wish of his certainly didn’t take long at all to come true, and the thought made an odd mixture of emotions bubble up within him…

“My only wish is that you could return my feelings-” Auch continued, but he was interrupted when Rolf suddenly burst out laughing. The immense amount of joy he felt was uncontainable, and he also felt incredibly silly for being so scared of expressing his feelings in the first place. The man that he loved actually loved him too, and this was without a doubt the best night of Rolf’s life.

“You…You can just reject me, you know. No need to laugh and make this even more painful…”

Rolf’s laughter cut off abruptly, and when he had composed himself, his heart clenched when he saw that Auch had started visibly trembling, and tears were running down his cheeks. Cringing at his own carelessness, he quickly reached out to grab Auch’s hand when he turned to leave.

“Wait, Auch,” Rolf said, and he kept a firm grip when Auch tried to jerk himself free. “Look at me, please.”

“Why? So you can laugh at me again?” he hissed, and Rolf gave his head a vigorous shake, the taste of bile rising in his throat with his guilt.

“No, that’s not it! I’m sorry for laughing, but I wasn’t laughing at your confession,” Rolf said in a serious tone, and that seemed to be enough to make Auch finally look him in the eyes again.

“I was actually laughing because, well…I made the same wish as you.”

“You…what?”

“I…I love you, Auch.”

Rolf let a light chuckle slip out when Auch’s jaw dropped, and his heart raced when Auch lifted up a shaky hand. He pushed Rolf’s messy hair out of his face before moving his fingers to his cheek, brushing them against his overheated skin, the sensation causing a shiver to run down Rolf’s spine.

“Do you…really mean that?” Auch asked, and Rolf frowned at the uncertainty in his tone. Rolf reached up to take the hand that Auch still had against his cheek, moving it to his mouth so that he could place a tender kiss to the back of it.

“Yes, with all of my heart.”

“R-Rolf…” Auch choked out as more tears ran down his face, but the smile on his face told Rolf that they were happy ones this time.

“I’m really sorry for laughing and hurting you, Auch, even if it was only for a moment.” Rolf averted his gaze and ran his free hand through his hair. “It’s just…I’m really surprised that you feel the same about me. I was so scared to tell you.”

Rolf’s eyes widened when he felt Auch cup his cheek, and his head was guided back so that he was looking at Auch again. “Why were you scared?”

“I just…didn’t think you’d ever return my feelings, and I didn’t want to risk hurting our friendship because of them.” Rolf smiled as he wrapped his arms around Auch and pulled him close, coaxing a surprised gasp out of him. “You’re a hell of a lot braver than me, Auch.”

Auch laughed and dropped his forehead to rest on Rolf’s shoulder. “I don’t feel brave. Father help me, Rolf, that was the scariest thing that I have ever done.”

“And yet, you still did it before I could muster up the courage to do so.”

“...You make a valid point.”

Rolf let out a content sigh as Auch finally wrapped his arms around him to return his embrace. It was as if a massive weight had been lifted off of his chest, and all he felt now was an overwhelming happiness at finally getting to be with the man that he had loved so much for so long.

Auch pulled away slightly and placed his hands on Rolf’s shoulders. “I must admit, this all feels…quite surreal. I cannot believe you actually love me of all people.”

Rolf scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Auch…Didn’t you just say that my first wish came true? You know, the one where you’re supposed to be over this kind of self-berating bullshit?” A smile returned to his face when Auch pinched his chin between his fingers and let out a huff.

“Ah, right you are…I take it back then, and let me say this instead…” Auch cupped Rolf’s cheeks and pressed their foreheads together, staring deep into his eyes with the brightest of smiles on his face.

“Thank you…for loving me.”

Rolf’s arms tightened around Auch, pulling him flush against him. Hearing those words was enough to bring tears to his eyes, but he was quick to blink them away, and he let out a soft chuckle instead.

“You make it really easy, Auch, and thanks for loving me too.”

Auch’s hands settled at the back of Rolf’s neck, and he let the sorcerer pull him down until their lips met in a tender kiss. Their first kiss. Rolf’s face felt like it had been set aflame, and Auch pressed himself even closer as his arms snaked around his neck. Rolf tilted his head to deepen the kiss, and he wished that his absolutely perfect night would never end.

Far above them, countless shooting stars continued to streak through the sky, but Rolf and Auch paid them no mind; all the wishes that they could come up with would never compare to the one that had just come true, for the both of them.

#unicorn overlord #auch unicorn overlord #rolf unicorn overlord #auch x rolf #i am very normal about these two (lie)#fanfiction #jade writes fanfiction

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delta-gambit-au · 6 months ago

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A lil of game-devving (first Dev-Log?)

Today some development while we wait for interviews and other confirmations to the job hunting of Friday -- or at least something I can still do with the mouse. (all of the pictures used above on the block-out are just mere placeholders to fill up the empty gaps)

It's GUI prototyping time!

I've seen before in the past that many visual-novels and even some RPGs allow the player to fast forward dialogues and skip back and forth across them if they were already seen. I had a mind of adding these buttons too but in a less default position, to balance a little the visuals of the GUI.

So, the idea is that the upper and bottom sections would show the zone where the current scene is playing, as some sort of decoration ribbon. Since I already planned the height and width of the main screen where the scene and dialog box will appear, there's a ton of empty space around that must be filled with something! I had an idea of making use of that widescreen space not only to hang the dialog buttons, but also to show a split portrait showing the status of the character from where we are having the POV of the scene.

For example, if we are in a scene from the POV of Tasque Manager, her portrait will appear on both sides. These are to show the mental status of the character, as the player takes decisions that could possibly upset the character or make them happier. The idea is to keep track of this as is the only visual cue (if the player isn't taking mental notes of what are they doing with the current character) to see if you are going through a good route or a bad route.

The mental status of the character will also open venues for other dialogues, just like in graphic adventures of old, you could explore questions for the lulz or just cut to the chase to go faster. It can also lock you from knowing more as other characters that you angered on purpose will refuse to elaborate or will reply with something else, or will see you too upset to let them speak up.

This can serve to further move towards a different path. I plan to add different outcomes to certain decisions depending of your behaviour, though upon release only one path will be available as I want to focus on the main plot-line and add the side paths with future updates for those avid to squeeze the lore of its last remaining juices.

In a sense I believe the paths could be categorized in Light, Neutral, Dark and Darker. Obviously the Darker paths would be the ones with the most downers, and might end abruptly or perhaps open a new unseen chapter, as corruption sets itself in the characters. As said, will only add those in the future if the game gets well received and we manage to stabilize our life enough to dedicate myself fully to the project. The default path will be always the Light one by the way.

And nothing else. Must not forget to add quick buttons to Save, Load and Quit To Title... Though adding them to an ESC menu could be redundant, I rather move these buttons tastefully to improve the looks of the general GUI that the players are going to stare at 95% of the time (that's why prototyping the Game's GUI is a very important part of the development). The other parts that should receive some attention would be the Gallery and the Chapter Selection... I was wondering if adding a list of quick jumps to all the scenes could be done, so you could replay your favourite parts again, or go there to pick a different set of dialogues. In a sense the main bones of the game are just that:

Title Screen

Options

Save/Load

Gallery

Chapter Select

Game

Credits/Disclaimer (absolutely skippable after reaching the end of a chapter)

Yeah, 7 bones. I don't see anything else to add. I believe the most fun part to make would be the Chapter Select. My idea for it is quite unusual and I haven't seen it done before. It could work.

I don't have anything else to show or to ponder publicly at the moment. Hope you enjoy to have a lil glimpse on the developing of the visual-novel as I make it from the scratch.

#[DG!Dev-Log]#game prototyping #making design choices based on use

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umbracirrus · 1 year ago

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Friday kiss tag game

I think I'll retcon this to Saturday smooches because I'm posting this on a Saturday though hehe

Rules: post a smooch between your OCs for Friday. It can be as light as a peck or as intense as a makeout. It can be romantic or platonic or familial. As long as a smooch takes place it’s free reign!

Thank you for the tag @throughtrialbyfire! Not going to tag anyone to do this at this point, though if anyone wishes to say that I have feel free!

I've been looking for an excuse to do some more writing for a little oneshot I'm working on where Elyse and Balgruuf slip out to the Bannered Mare one night, and this kind of managed to work it's way into the plot of that! So there will likely be an expanded version of this at some point soon.

The time period has been left ambiguous, so it could be at a point before they end up together or after hehe :3

“You paid for our drinks, the least that I can do is pay for something to eat,” Elyse hummed as she rose from her seat, the wood creaking on the floor as she gave him a quick smile and reached for her coinpurse. “Just give me one minute.”

Balgruuf was about to tell her that it wasn’t necessary in the slightest, that the entire reason that he had invited her out was to thank her for all that she had done and give them both some time to wind down away from Dragonsreach, but it seemed that her mind was set. She did, admittedly, look much happier and cheerful than she had been in a long time as she leaned over the bar and started chatting to Hulda, a sparkle in her eyes that he hadn’t seen since the day that he had learned of her defeating Alduin that had long since been dulled by the ongoing war.

He knew that they had both been facing difficulties from all fronts because of all that was currently going on, but he had been embroiled in politics and Skyrim’s turmoil since he was a lad– she was just one person, thrust into the spotlight of a land she had only heard of second-hand through her parents, having to learn how things worked through being thrown in at the deep end a few years ago. He… almost felt pity for her. The only reason that he didn’t was because she was working and had worked so hard to overcome the barriers before her, and continued to do so. He was proud of her, not sad for her. And he was glad that he could see her and trust her as one of his closest and dearest friends and confidants.

The sound of her voice getting louder in the distance caught his attention and drew his mind from his thoughts, just to catch sight of her now talking to Saadia and Carlotta as she waited for Hulda, who both seemed to look amused at her reaction to something. The corner of his lips turned up at the sight, watching as she batted at Carlotta’s arm with a pout across her face.

A plate which looked as though it bore some sort of dessert was then placed in front of her, and Elyse looked all too happy to quickly pick it up and return to the table in order to get away from them. When she sat down, it was with a loud, exaggerated sigh as she placed the plate down. Now that she had returned, it was clear that she had ordered a crostata, though it didn’t look like the usual ones he would often see served – the fruit filling looked to be a lot more… vibrant than he was used to seeing. “There wasn’t much available, I’m afraid. You don’t mind sharing some of this with me, do you?”

“Not at all, though as you were the one who paid for it, you have your portion first,” he nodded, now folding his arms over and nodding towards the two other women who had now gone off to whatever it was they had been previously doing. “Though dare I ask what was happening there?”

Rolling her eyes as she picked up a knife to cut herself a portion, she shook her head. “They were just teasing me, that’s all. I don’t come here at night as often as I used to, not since I moved to Dragonsreach,” she explained, sounding as though she was omitting some little details.

As she ate a forkful of her dessert, she suddenly froze up beside him, her eyes growing wide in surprise. He worried for a moment that the crostata had been poisoned, especially given how unusual it looked, but felt relief when she went back for more with an elated expression on her face.

After a few moments though, she hummed and got another forkful as she turned to face him. “Here, try some,” she eagerly smiled, holding out the utensil for him, though not actually allowing him to take hold of it… she wanted to feed it to him herself. He would indulge her if it kept her as happy as she had been so far that night. “Tell me what you think of it after.”

And… he could certainly understand why she liked the taste. The fruit was sweet, hardly tart, and paired well with the buttery pastry. It was, however, a taste which he could not pinpoint, it was something unfamiliar. “It is delicious, Elyse, but what is it? I don’t believe that I have tried any fruit which tastes quite like this before, though does somewhat remind me of snowberries…”

“Strawberries, Balgruuf! Don’t tell me that you have never had a strawberry before?” Her mouth was agape with surprise, before a quiet chuckle escaped from her. “Then again, I rarely see strawberries in Skyrim, so perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised… I don’t think that the climate is right for them to grow. They are everywhere in Cyrodiil, and they are by far one of my favourite things to eat. So much so, my father and I planted a bush of them in our garden in Chorrol to grow them, and it was so exciting whenever the first berry would ripen each year.” A fondness crept into her expression as she placed the fork down. “It’s been years since I’ve tasted one… I almost felt obliged to buy the crostata from the second that Hulda mentioned what it was and that it was all she had left. I don't even know how or when she even managed to get hold of some!”

After a few more moments of what he could only presume was her silently reminiscing, she went back to eating her potion of the dessert. At the point that she had eaten half, she placed her fork down and nudged the plate towards him. He quickly caught sight of the fact that there was the slightest bit of berry juice which had spilled from her mouth, and he went to let her know.

“Elyse, you have got a little something-” he whispered, reaching out for her face and taking hold of her cheek with the intention of wiping it away with his thumb. It took him a few moments to actually carry out that action though, as he very quickly got distracted at the way in which she was watching him so closely, and that her lips had parted just slightly through surprise at that simple little gesture. It was a lot more intimate a moment than he had intended, and he had to clear his throat before he continued. “-on your- your face…”

It suddenly felt very warm.

“Is it gone, or is there any more? On my lips, perhaps?” There was a slight teasing tone to her voice as she caught him staring, and he was certain that she had moved closer to him as she asked her question. There was hardly any distance between their seats at that point.

Two could play at that game though.

“Hm… It looks as though there could be. Allow me to help with clearing it off…” He leaned in, and gently pressed their lips together. The taste of the crostata lingered across her skin, the strawberry sweetness mingling with the honeyed mead they had drank earlier. One of her hands reached out for his own, the one which was presently unoccupied and resting upon the table, her skin radiating with warmth.

After a few moments, their lips parted, though their noses were still touching with how close they were to one another. Elyse almost sounded breathless.

It was… The kiss had been everything, in spite of its brevity. Something that he would not mind indulging in more often… if she were of a like mind too.

The sound of a throat being cleared beside the table made them both freeze before quickly parting from one another, and Elyse’s face had very quickly turned redder than the filling of their dessert. Staring down at them both, with irritation across her features, arms folded, and foot tapping on the floor, was Irileth.

“And what, exactly, do the two of you think that you are doing here?”

#meg has done some writing #dragonborn oc elyse #skyrim fanfiction #balgruuf x dragonborn #the whole strawberry thing is because when i first picked up strawberries in oblivion i was like 'why tf are there none in skyrim'#hence why balgruuf hasn't had any before and elyse is very nostalgic over having some again #because she lived in cyrodiil since she was twelve so had spent years being able to eat them #this probably needs some work doing/some development down the line but i'm liking things as they are :) it's basically a wip :)#i almost posted a kiss scene which I had already written for a later point in the perfect storm but it was very spicy and very spoilery #so i settled for writing and posting this instead #i say that when sometimes there is nothing more intimate than sharing a dessert lol

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gemsgamegems · 2 years ago

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Out of respect of current/future players, and to the developer, I won’t be posting spoiler images BUT I will be discussing minor spoilers so reader beware.

Heheheheeh y’alllll.

So Chronicle 1 has two routes available to play: The Nightmare Prince and Victor. Also known as the last two routes I was least interested in 😂 (the plan was to do all the routes. Eventually. But I wasn’t in a rush for these fools. Except now I love them both???)

On The Nightmare Prince:

I GOT THE GOOD ENDING ON THE FIRST TRY, SUCK IT!!!

Ahem...I mean, TNP is an utter sweetheart, I would die for him, his VA did an amazing job bringing him to life, and the CGsssssssss ahhhhhhhhh I’m so soft 🥺

This route also really deals with ableism in a way I haven’t see much in the visual novel space, and I’m appreciative of the direction the route took, the conversations had, and I hope other visual novels will delve into these topics too. I mean, it’s a reflection of the world around us, so why not?

But yes. I love TNP. And it’s very hard not to use his real name. Please play the route and put me out of my misery guys....

On Victor:

Ohhhhh the grumpy types. Where would the Otome genre be without them?? I love TNP but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me. I dunno. I was so satisfied!

While I didn’t luck out like on TNP’s route, I got the neutral ending, so I’m a little scared to replay right now in case I get the bad ending before the good ones 😭 send help!

Overall thoughts and feelings:

I’m slowly making my way through the Jellyfish Parade backlog (too many fun games, too little time 😭) and I really have to say that while wip Ocean Pearls is still my top favorite, BA comes veeeery close second! I love our girl Aureve (so much so that I didn’t even bother to change her name, nothing I came up with would have fit anyway). Romance is a huge draw for me in my gaming, but nothing makes me happier than seeing the player character have a sense of agency and purpose outside of her romance options. And between the two routes, I loved seeing her pursue her interests and the relationships she develped with the other androids.

(next stop, Diego and Roman!! 👀👀👀💛)

#vn: belle automata #jellyfish parade #post type: review #spoilers #God I am...r u s t y y'all forgive me

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aurelim · 1 year ago

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It always makes me so happy when I see someone sharing my opinions about not liking ROs getting together or with "NPCs" if not romanced! I HATE it. It's one of the tropes I hate the most in IF and visual novels. Of course, I have nothing against people who like it, cause tastes! But it makes me very uneasy unless it's something the player can actively influence. I'm fine with it if it happens only if the MC matchmakes actively, and wouldn't happen "passively" on a playthrough in which the MC doesn't push for it to happen.

If it's "mandatory" it stresses me out. I don't even think it's "jealousy" per se for me though! More like... Well most of the time when I play a game, I will ONLY have one single "canon playthrough", and that means I will only ever romance one of the ROs. Sometimes I'm truly interested in more than one, but I always struggle with forcing myself to romancing another one, since I feel like "betraying" the first RO and "cheating" on them. It feels pretty awful (and because of my canon playthrough thing, I can't make multiple MCs either, or I will feel like I'm "robbing my first MC out of their story"). In very rare instances I manage to force myself to romance more than one character, but the guilt is always strong. And well, if this cheating on the ROs makes me uneasy, the RO "cheating on the MC" too makes it 100 times worse. It both manages to strenghten my guilt, and also makes me feel uneasy in regard to that romance happening with the RO and another character.

Not only that, but there is another aspect - realism is not what I'm looking for when reading IF or VNs. I LIKE the fact the MC is actually the MAIN character, the one the story revolves around. I love how "special" the romances feel if well written, how "made for each other" the MC and their RO may feel. But if the RO can just end up with someone else on another path, and "bypass" all the struggle and highs and lows they went through with the MC and just be just as happy with someone else... well, it's disheartening, because suddenly the romance with the MC doesn't mean much anymore, and is in a way "inferior" to that other romance.

Anyway, sorry for the rant! Long story short, I'm happy you share my feelings!

Oh haha I'm glad you can relate!

The way I play IFs, I usually self-insert. Rare when so many use their own MCs, but I just like seeing my name used in the game LOL. I think I can understand if you feel like you are cheating on your first chosen RO if you go for another. But personally I do not get attached that way. What I do is save, see what the romance option is like, reload the old save and then continue playing. Or I use the back button if available.

I try not to get too attached to a character. That can be hard if the character is well-written. In A Tale of Crowns I could not imagine romancing anyone other than X. Although I tried A and also loved that route too. My heart was all in for X despite this. Don't feel like you're cheating! At the end of the day, IFs are games with insanely good writing and especially if it is a demo you can always replay again! Then again, if the demo is long it may feel like a chore to go back. I've certainly done demos where I wanted to try another route but didn't since that would mean I'd have to restart to the beginning.

I read arguments about how romancing an RO makes it feel special when MC and RO go through a journey of self-discovery. Arguably one of the best things about romance in a game, right? Everyone loves to see that. But for some, if a RO falls in love with someone else and appears to have no self-discovery like MC and them did in a romance route, then it is disheartening.

I don't think of it as disheartening or inferior. Maybe there is problems in the background that the MC does not know about. The RO appears happier with this someone else but there may be underlying problems. There is no such thing as a perfect, happy relationship. In fact, if the MC and RO go through struggles then it is the sign of a healthy relationship! Whatever is going on with the RO and that someone else--that "perfect" relationship will soon show its flaws. From there they would have to work it out.

As you can see, I have written a response that matches your rant. Hope this makes you feel less bad about yourself!

(also i see you have made at least three asks to me and at this point with this subject now up I have to know--which RO from ATOL are you going to romance????)

#if ros #been answering asks like this for a while #have i really started a controversial topic??#i hope this doesnt offend anyone

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boltedfruit · 2 years ago

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So you don't think Joel is a bad person for being selfish? Like is choosing person you love more than the world bad?

I don't think he's a bad person. He's a father who feels immense guilt for not being able to keep his daughter safe, then spent the next two decades keeping his brother and Tess safe, two areas he believes (and did) fail at again. He believes he is a bad person. And from the perspective in the game/show, he's justified. But if we followed Kathleen, we'd of course feel sympathy for her despite the terrible things she's done. He's capable of, and used to, inflicting brutality on others to get the job done, and it's been eating at him for years. He's not the patriot his brother is, and he doesn't trust the Fireflies. He doesn't believe the world is worth saving, it's just something to survive. But then Ellie is put into his care and he's forced to face all he's done, something he probably hasn't done since he and his brother split up in any thorough or meaningful way. Ellie brings out the good in him. She becomes his child and that fear he's been trying so hard to bury and not feel for so long is at the forefront. It's a world filled with death, corruption, and greed, and he's been a part of some of it, but not the worst of it (FEDRA, the Fireflies). He's tortured and murdered and raided but he's no David. And in the show I think it's important we see him take over for a woman when she can't dispose of the infected child’s body because he can and will do the hard things because he can, and to spare others (even if he's not even aware he's doing it). He protected that woman the same way he protected Tess by going with her to meet Bill and Frank (because she wanted a contact sure, but she wanted friends too), the same way he protected Sam and Henry despite his hate and distrust for FEDRA collaborators. The show does a fantastic job of expanding what he know about Joel and others’ lives, namely changing Bill and Frank to give them a MUCH happier ending than the game, without compromising what makes each character themselves. Joel believes he's a monster but he believes he can protect Ellie from monsters. That includes keeping from her the fact he essentially robbed the world of a potential cure, what she believes is her only purpose for being alive and having to suffer through losing Riley, surviving David, and having to kill. He's protecting her from the world, and from the truth of himself, while staying with her like she pleaded with him to.

Now the end of the game/show. He and Marlene are very similar. But where Marlene gave him the freedom to leave with his life and leave Ellie behind, I'm sure if he was in her place he would have killed her to ensure the surgery would never be compromised. My one issue with the entire story is that the Fireflies thought (desperation to save the world aside) that a vaccine could be made just like that. You need to prove immunity, which they did. You need to take samples (not just dissect the brain first thing), but phlebotomy and bone marrow samples aren't very cinematic. You need to test on animals, which they of course didn't have readily available, so they would have to test on humans. They would have to prove it works, otherwise why would Marlene feel confident in distributing it to anyone else? ALSO while FEDRA is almost totally nationally hated and mistrusted, for good reason, the Fireflies are largely seen as a terrorist group. Both sides have supporters and dissenters, but with FEDRA’s resources against the incredibly spread thin Marlene’s, who has a habit of being easily and critically injured, and historically makes bad deals and hires essentially mercenaries like Tess and Joel to ferry her priority asset cross country, how would she realistically safely manufacture and distribute enough vaccine to quell the infection? Even if she has a few people in every FEDRA zone armed with a blowdart and a syringe to administer it to random people, I don't see how a majority would accept a believed terrorist organization to come with open arms offering the cure for what destroyed the world. We've already seen it's on sight for known Fireflies. They're executed in public. Those executioners are not going to readily clasp arms with those they execute. Did Ellie need to die to create a vaccine? Maybe. But did she need to die to gain a single sample? No.

Was Joel thinking about any of that when he realized Ellie was going to die any minute? No. He just knew he had to save her, because he loves her and he knows she needs him (likely less than he needs her).

So I believe Joel is selfish, but not an inherently bad person. Using that logic, you could say Ellie is bad for cleaving David into mush and leaving Sam to turn, or that she's selfish for asking Joel to take her to the university instead of Tommy, because she loves and trusts Joel. They are deeply flawed but not evil.

Would Ellie have gone along with Marlene if Marlene was honest about what they were doing and what that meant for Ellie’s life? I think so. Is it bioethically moral to lie to a child about what creating a miracle vaccine meant? No.

And I think it's important they don't ignore the cycle of vengeance and its pitfalls. Someone hurts Kathleen’s people, she hunts them down and destroys them until she is destroyed. Someone hurts Joel’s people, he hurts them. And then you get the second game.

I don't think he's bad, but choices have consequences. I think he's doing what anyone does in a survival situation, you hold onto and protect who you love with everything you have. His world is Ellie.

#tlou #tlou spoilers #i have a lot of thoughts about the process of making a viable vaccine and the mechanics of distributing it on a massive scale #and then of course there is david who is not so much pursuing revenge as he is grocery shopping

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datcowboyskeleton · 2 months ago

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I’ve started to write stories for the Reeds Prompts available each week! Check out my first if you’d like!

Mental Abuse, Bullying, and Suicide are covered.

#277 - Write a story about an outsider or social outcast who will do anything to fit in

What I’d Do

Ashley sat stationary at a bench. All around her, classmates flocked the cafeteria chattering amongst themselves. She watched them all, assessing her classmates before picking a group. Not too popular, the outcasts stuck together. Maybe if she managed to fit in with them, it wouldn't end up like it had the last time she tried to be liked.

She approached them, almost robotically trying to calculate every single little move. The group didn’t notice her, setting up their gaming devices, showing pictures around the table, acting comfortable, like friends should. Finally, one boy at the end of the long table looked up.

“Hi, I’m Ashley!” she said, then recoiled as it was too bright and cheery.

“So am I,” he answered, looking down at his phone, “welcome to the club.”

They stayed like that for a few long, silent moments. The boy looked up again.

“Are you gonna, like, go away? Or just stare at me, imposter Ashley?”

She laughed, a bit too loud, a bit too long.

“I was actually wondering if I could sit? At the table that is!”

“You don’t look like you’d like it here, ya know? Look like you’d be better off over there,” he answered, before pointing in the general direction of the popular cheerleader girls and football boys.

“Oh, oh no! Not my people, not anymore!”

“Anymore?”

“I was part of a group like that, once, at my old school.”

“Old.. school?”

“I switched today. So, may I sit or not?”

The boy scrunched his eyebrows, but before he could respond, someone with long bangs and split dyed hair patted the seat next to them.

“I’ll let you sit, so long as you tell me what happened at this old school, girl Ashley!”

And so, she sat, inbetween the one with split dyed hair and the other Ashley.

“So story time,” split dyed asked, “or, well, before we do that I’m Riley! But that’s besides the point. Other school? Why don’t you hang out with the popular people anymore?”

“Long story. But I suppose I’ll get started. I used to go to Longview Prep. A boarding school in Chicago”

Ashley smiled. Having just turned fourteen, her parents finally agreed to send her to Longview Prep. A prestigious boarding school for aspiring young academics. Their term had ended only a few days before the fated birthday, and her parents were helping her move in before the next started. Glancing down at her schedule, she found her room number. 327, Levine Wing. Roommates: Brianne Thatcher, Georgia Maidenn, Nevaeh Camppbel.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” her mother asked, a worried expression on her face.

“It’s not too late to back out, sweetie,” her father said, holding her mothers shoulders.

“I’ll be fine you guys! Promise. I’ll call every night, and I’ll let you know if I want to come home, right away.”

Her parents glanced at each other, before looking back at her. Before they could say anything, Ashley embraced them both, grabbed her bags, and bound up the stairs, not once glancing back as she headed for her new room to start her new, perfect life.

“Wait wait wait,” Riley said, “If you went to a boarding school, why are you at stupid Crumbly Public now?”

“I’m getting there,” Ashley sighed before continuing.

“It was good for the first few weeks.”

Ashley smiled, humming to herself on the way to her next class. Her slacks brushed together, her red sweater snug on her frame. Two weeks she’d been gone and she couldn’t have been happier. Her parents had also, surprisingly, figured out that she was alright, so they stopped calling every night. Ashley was ecstatic that they stopped calling, since her new roommates, soon to be her new friends, had made faces every time that her parents called. So Ashley made the calls short, even though she did miss her moms cooking, and their gamenights every Thursday, and playing with her brothers, Asher and Andrew. Even though she missed going to grandmas every Tuesday, and feeling her moms baby bump. But it didn't matter. She was finally going to fit in. She’d make sure of it.

“Ok, wait, second question,” Riley blurted out, “I forgot to ask this earlier, but if you went to Longview Prep at fourteen, how come I don’t recognize you?”

“I was homeschooled,” Ashley answered.

“Riley,” The boy Ashley butted in, before Ashley could get another word out, “stop asking questions and let the girl talk!”

“Ok, so, as I was saying,” Ashley continued, “At Longview Prep I had finally started to fit in.”

“Ok,” Brianne hummed, before pointing at Ashley, “Truth or Dare!”

Ashley thought for a minute before replying, “Dare!”

A Friday night tradition in room 327. Truth or Dare between the quartet. Ashley had finally started to fit in. She fit in quite well actually. Her and her roommates were known around campus as “the queenies” a nickname originally started by some jockish boys. Nevaeh had the ingenious idea to go with it, and on the Saturday trip to town they got tiaras from the local Family Dollar.

Brianne laughed, “Ashley, I dare you to ask out Hunter Wrightsworthe!”

Nevaeh and Georgia both began to laugh.

“Why would you dare her to ask Hunter!” Nevaeh cried.

“Yeah Brianne, we all know he’s so into Ella Domani,” Georgia added, “that’s just cruel.”

“Well,” Brianne answered, “if he turns Ashley down we know he’s a gold digger. Ella’s family literally paid to have a wing named after them.”

“That’s a good point,” Ashley said, finally commenting on her own dare, “I’ll do the dare!”

The four smiled at each other.

“You seem like you had so many friends!” Riley said, “why’d you leave it?”

“I’m sure she was getting there,” boy Ashley said.

“I was. Thank you. So, as expected, Hunter Wrightsworthe turned me down for Ella.”

The four friends sat at a table in the dining hall. Ashley picked at her food, feeling rather dejected. Unbeknownst to her friends, she had actually had a crush on Hunter. A major one at that. So the rejection, in front of the entire Levine wing, stung.

“Ignore him Ashley,” Brianne said.

“What a jerk, rejecting you in front of everyone like that!” Georgia nearly shouted.

Nevaeh shushed them, before leaning in to whisper in Ashley’s ear.

“He didn’t have to wait two days before ruining you like that. I have something that may help, if you want it? Up in the room, we can go right now.”

“That’d be… nice,” Ashley replied quietly.

Nevaeh grabbed her hand, and led her from the dining hall.

“We’ll be back!” She shouted over her shoulder.

Ashley wished that Nevaeh didn’t call behind like that, as all of the heads pivoted towards them. Snickers from other tables arose, and assorted vegetables were tossed at her back. She hunched into herself, still being led by Nevaeh. She stayed hunched in, until they made it to the room. Nevaeh crouched down, and pulled something out of her desk drawer.

“Sticky notes?” Ashley asked.

“What? Sticky notes for revenge?” Riley questioned, “what’re those going to do for revenge?”

“I’m sure she was just about to get there but you can’t stay quiet for five minutes!” Boy Ashley responded harshly.

“Thank you again Ashley. Riley, it’ll all make sense if you let me explain. Nevaehs plan was simply fool proof.”

“We use the sticky notes,” Nevaeh explained, “to our advantage. We stay anonymous, while scattering notes. Maybe on his door about how we hate him, maybe all over campus we plant rumors.”

“Won’t they recognize our handwriting?” Ashley asked.

“Chicken scratch. Simple. Brianne and Georgia can help. I’ll run down and grab them, and your sandwich, while you start writing. Anything goes.”

“Thanks, Nevaeh.”

“No problem!”

The door clicked shut behind Nevaeh. Ashley stared at the sticky notes in front of her. The only other people she’d ever really interacted with were her family members, and people who were the children of her parents' friends. Throughout every interaction with other people, Ashley had never had a reason to insult anyone. So she sat, and contemplated what to do. She sat until Nevaeh, Brianne, and Georgia came back.

“Got anything good?” Nevaeh asked, entering the room.

“No,” Ashley sighed, “couldn’t think of anything good.”

“I know,” Brianne said, before plopping down next to Ashley, “Its always so hard to pick out what to say!��

“Here, let me help you get started,” Georgia said, grabbing a sticky note and pen before scratching something onto the paper.

Ashley leaned over to read what it had said. Josh sleeps with Mariah Grand. Before she could say anything, Brianne started to laugh.

“I see we’re going basic with this one?”

Nevaeh grabbed a whole stack of sticky notes and tossed them into Ashley’s lap.

“If we’re going simple, then let’s mass produce. Ashley and Georgia, you work on rumors. Brianne and I can handle threats and such.”

Ashley looked around in shock for a second, then simply shook her head. It was simple, to not lose friends. Do what they want. So she got to work, scratching down rumors that slowly got worse and worse that sleeping with other girls.

Over time, they set out during the night, and scattered them. The campus didn’t have security cameras since it was hard to reach and they checked every students bag as they returned from Saturday trips to town. The students also opened any mail from home in the mail hall, and only worked jobs on campus.

People took evening walks often. You could see at least a few scattered people at all hours of the day around Longview Prep. So the planting of notes went flawlessly, and their plan even began to work. People stopped taunting Ashley, and instead turned to Josh. Ella left his group as soon as the Mariah Grand sticky note was found, and his friends began to get targeted as rumors of things they had done together got out as well.

“Perfect!” Brianne said at lunch one day, glancing at Josh who sat alone.

“We can probably take them down by the end of the week,” Georgia said.

But the end of the week never came. After the three long and agonizing months, Josh had come to have nothing. Not even a will to live, as his roommates found him hanging from their ceiling fan later that evening. A thorough investigation began at once, since administration had been brushing off the notes until something serious happened.

Ashley's parents were already making attempts to pull her out of Longview Prep, but not before the girls were found out.

“And that’s why I’m here,” Ashley finished, “I got expelled, while Brianne, Georgia, and Nevaeh are serving at least 3 years in Juvenile Detention.”

“Why aren’t you with them?” Riley asked, scooting away with them.

“Because the administration hadn’t done anything about the notes prior to the death, and the other three had harassed people in the same way before. The biggest reason is because I only went along with the plan since I was terrified they’d turn on me if I didn’t.”

“That,” boy Ashley finally said, “is badass. You have my blessing, as the leader of this cult like group, to stick with us so long as that same stunt doesn’t get pulled.”

The rest of the table nodded, and it was then Ashley realized that they had all been listening with rapt attention. She smiled to herself. It wasn’t so hard to fit in after all.

1925 Words

I hope you enjoyed! Come back next Friday for another short story!

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writers and poets #writerscommunity #reedsy

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kyrodo · 2 months ago

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Yeah. So it didn't go as well as I'd hoped when I introduced Choskey into our relationship. Red was mourning his father's death for one, and he got a bit of trauma for me going off to make sure Choskey doesn't think I disappeared from the sleep call. I don't really blame him. And at least things got better since then. I definitely feel we're a bit more distant but after all the times Red complained to me for not doing something together, projects in particular, despite me suggesting unity or suggesting game projects, or constantly being there to motivate him in the garage or giving support without actually defining what he means by it, or constantly keeping me in the dark while scouting something in the parking lot, and being completely unavailable to play anything other than planetside. I wanted to keep Red, just I really did feel like I needed something extra. Moreso when we were at marcus's than I did when I met you. Utah changed him and made him more bitter. But yeah. But Choskey had much better synergy with Red and willingness to love both of us than you did, obviously. And Choskey's efforts to be closer to Red despite Red being antisocial have paid off. Red's depression makes it harder for him to want to socialize with anyone other than me. So I'm glad Choskey is becoming someone who can also be there for him in the times he doesn't feel social. He's helping Red heal in a way I kept finding almost impossible from my perspective because I keep being reminded my attempts to do stuff together were too far between for Red's taste. I am a gamer though. Maybe not one that's great at party games but that's generally what I want to do. And part of the reason I want it to be a relationship thing is consistency and availability. That is the role Choskey fulfilled when I was still too chicken to visit other people. Before lightfost. Now we barely see light but I kinda like having him around now. Even if Choskey is hugging light going to sleep. I like having carboorcat around. I like having bitt around. Now that I'm used to them, understand them, I used to get pretty jealous around them but I don't mind so much. As it is I pet Lupy a lot.

And at this point I get way more attention from Choskey than I felt I was suddenly lacking. There's more supply than demand. But it's a good thing overall. I get more time to do social stuff in vr because of Choskey's work. And things are much better balanced I feel. Red other than family troubles and work is happier, I'm happier from not having to watch Jack's videos every day and having time for people now.

Red and I are planning our next anniversary meal. Also things are a bit more stable on his end now.

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niamhsglobalproject · 8 months ago

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WEEK 3

The first few weeks i had struggled to reflect on level 4 and 5. However i feel as though now, i can really see my collaborative skills developing in terms of resilience. Previously, i would let conflicts between peers (whether small or large) derail the groups progress, take it personally and even let it wind me up so much so that it would negatively impact my work. Sometimes i can struggle with change once the initial thought process is complete but working iteratively requires the reviewing and altering of ideas throughout the project.

So far, there has been compromise with lewis wanting to pursue 3D aspects to the project. The way we were able to do this was to use an isometric viewpoint to have static 3D backgrounds, we could then extend the game into spacial as an added feature or even potentially for cut scenes. This 3D element was also thought to utilise Hemza’s skills as he is very proficient in 3D work in Blender.

Another change that may be difficult for me to process will be Liz joining our group late. During the national project, we didn’t see eye to eye towards the end of the project and even back in the Performance lab last year. I don’t want this to negatively impact our group work or outcome so will be leaving any thoughts and opinions outside of group meetings and will attempt to come in with a fresh mind at every interaction. Giving her the benefit of the doubt and a chance to start fresh.

I think one of the reasons why i am finding it easier to bounce back from these points is the interest i have in our concept. I’m lucky enough that the other members of our group like the features that i brought to the table in my pitch and would like to include and build on them in our final outcome. Lewis has also decided he would like to branch off from us and create a more 3D immersive monument exhibition working with Maria rather than a game, which seems like he will be happier to create something along those lines. Hemza has also decided he would like to work across both groups which is great as he will be a great asset to transposing any concept imagery into 3D isometric stills through blender. This will also free up more time for me and Lace to work on the code for the game.

Over the past two years, i have been able to dabble into different technologies that can be used with gaming. The closest i have gotten would be back in semester 1 of first year using a mixture of blender, a small bit of unity and shapesXR to bring to life three spaces within VR. I used blender the most and felt most comfortable with it out of all of the softwares used so learning Unity will be my main challenge for this project. I also think this will be most beneficial to my future career if game development is what i choose to pursue as Unity is one of the three main game engines used in industry and having even basic knowledge of C# will be a great asset to employers. When researching game engines last summer, i decided unreal engine would be a better suited engine for me as the fee structure, their node based coding, free assets available every month and being a purpose built engine by real game developers really appealed to me. I am more than happy to learn Unity though as it seems like a more commonly known engine across the university/ visiting lecturers and Lace’s brother in law has worked a lot with the software while developing Fall Guys. He has expressed that he would be able to help us if we need any troubleshooting or help with code. Lace is also familiar with the software so even having someone with a bit of experience readily available for questions will make learning easier for me.

Our call with Kyiv was reassuring to see that they were kind of on the same wavelength as us in terms of themes and ways of collaborating. I did feel as though they didn’t know about the portal aspect of the brief but that wasn’t an issue as we can still use their ideas and combine them with our ideas. In particular, i thought Yulia’s and Anastasia’s ideas matched the most with our group. With Yulia’s telephone game proposal, i think we would be able to use the methodologies mentioned in order to create concepts and artwork for the game. I put this on the figma to see if she was interested in using her idea in this way. As for Anastasia, her video game proposal was really strong and fleshed out. Her art looked incredible however she was very set on her overall game concept (a single player JRPG that revolved around regulating emotions). I do feel as though it might be difficult to collaborate with Anastasia as she is very set in her idea in terms of concept and interest in creating character design only. I think we can involve her in the project by seeing if she would like to design some costumes for the nightingale sprites, taking inspiration from Ukrainian fashion.

I think that the reading for this week will be useful when it comes to my essay, I found part 2 very interesting but more difficult to understand in small sections. Part 1 however, was quite motivational in terms of encouraging me to create more. Even if there are failures, the more you create, the more success there will be.

On Wednesday, we sat as a group for the main portion of the day. I decided to get a big piece of paper out so that we could visualise and refine our ideas so that it was clear what we’d be producing. And it would also be easier to brainstorm ideas. From this we were able to come up with a narrative that fit the theme we were looking to go with, which was to have the game set in a primary school. The user would be a student, arriving to school on the train (as the train systems in both Kyiv and Birmingham are significant.), they would then meet the head teacher of the school who would give context to the game and almost tell why the student was there and why the school is as it is. The student/user would then spawn into the studio location in the school. This will be the main space for communication between Kyiv students and Birmingham students. From there, the user can choose if they would like to go to the library, canteen, or playground. The playground will hopefully have some 2 player classic games for the users to play, the library will have information about both locations in the form of interactive books. And the canteen could have something related to the farming aspects of Kyiv but this is still up for consideration.

[ insert images of mind map and narrative plot]

On Thursday, i wanted to try and get started on the game aspect of our project as i knew it would take the most time and effort. I had a teams call with lace as she is also working on the game. We tried to get the collaborative project to work but for some reason we couldn’t get the work that lace had done previously to show up on my end. We spent an hour attempting to get it to work but in the end, we decided for the sake of progress that we should work on separate parts of the game and then combine them into one project once complete. Lace was going to continue to work on getting a hand on the environments/ isometric aspect of the game and then i was going to create the login/ verification so that the user of the game can keep their avatar and username whenever they come back to play the game. I was also aiming to start creating the avatar creation screen.

The verification screen started off strong as i had a YouTube tutorial to follow, i was able to download all of the elements and import the script part of the file. For some reason I wasn’t able to correctly import the main part of the file. I would import it into the project section at the bottom of the screen but when i went to open my packages it wouldn’t show as being in the project. This meant i was unable to progress in this aspect of the project. I spent most of the day either trying on new files, starting the process again or just going through everything i did to ensure it was just as the video had instructed.

By having the user pick between a nightingale and a lion, this will further emphasise the fact that they are in an alternate reality and aren’t in a regular school environment. A lot of cosy games use animals as characters or NPCs. I think they increase the creative aspect of the game’s design and makes interacting with these characters more intriguing.

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nessieart · 1 year ago

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IRIDESCENT GREENS

CHAPTER ONE

Summary: Revna was a little girl when she traveled to Midgard with her grandfather. Though, she can’t remember why. Pairings: ??? x Original Character WC: 2.8K AN: just getting this out of my draft box!!

Tønsberg, Norway. 1803. Two weeks later.

The young couple that took Raven in – the little girl could only remember that name – had tried to search the nearby villages for any signs of her parents. To no avail, and the couple were losing hope on ever finding them. Who would just leave a sweet, innocent girl to defend herself in the middle of nowhere?

The couple, Jan and his wife Ailin, had two children of their own. Two sons, the older Filip, was around Raven's age, 10, or so it appeared. The youngest, Lòni, was 6.

Said children were outside playing while the couple spoke quietly in their cabin. It was a decent sized home for the little family, one large room with a big fireplace, a wooden countertop lined one wall, a basin for water on the other, and a big table separating the space in the center. Two rooms off to the side of the front door led into bedrooms, one for Jan and Ailin, and the other for their boys, and now Raven.

“What if we never find her parents? Or any relative for that matter, Jan?” Ailin worried her hands together, pinching the skin to distract her from the laughter outside. “That poor girl out there has no one in the entire world. What are we supposed to tell her?”

Jan furrowed his brows, his dirty blond hair falling over his forehead when he bent his head down and blew out a breath of frustration. “I don’t know, love, but we can’t send her out there on her own,” he looked out the window and could see his boys running through the tall grass trying to catch up with Raven, her long dark hair shining in the sun. Jan looked at his wife. They both worried for her, “What if… what if we take her to see Amma?”

Ailin’s eyes grew wide, her hazel eyes shining with worry, “You know what people say about her, Jan. Do you think it’s best we take her to some- some…seið-kona, magic-woman?” She paces away from him and back again, “They say she takes the souls of children to stay alive. I won’t take our children and Raven to see that witch,” she hisses out the end of her sentence.

Jan thought about it for a while, looking out through the window to see his sons rolling in the grass with the little girl. Her eyes didn’t seem as sad today as they had been since they took her in. The light wasn't bright, but it was better than the dull stormy green they were the first few days they knew her.

When Raven arrived at their home, she quickly took a liking to the boys. She was good at helping Ailin with housework and better at distracting the boys with yard work by making it a game. Jan and Ailin noticed the girl was full of mischief, always playing small tricks and jokes with Filip and Lòni. The boys loved it, and they seemed to grow attached to Raven in such a short time.

Jan nodded, and looked at his wife, "she can stay - she should stay here," he held up his hand to stop his wife from any objection, "Kurt said I can take extra work down at the docks. It wouldn't be an issue."

***

A month has gone by, and Raven has woven herself into the hearts of her new adoptive family. Jan and Ailin never planned on having more children, but with the abrupt arrival of the little girl, they couldn't find themselves happier with the new addition.

Raven was a smart girl, for seemingly having no memory of who she was or where she came from. She knew things someone two or three times her age would know. What type of plants help with illness, others for tea, or what herbs are best used for sores and open wounds. Many times did the boys' scraps and cuts heal twice as fast whenever Raven prepared a salve.

She had said she 'just knew', when asked about it. Something in the recesses of her mind giving her muscle memory for healing or taking care of someone. Maybe wherever her home was, she too had siblings or relatives that were prone to injury.

It was a cool autumn evening, Raven was gathering herbs and plants near the forest edge. Filip and Lòni played off to the side, running around tree trunks and branches, waiting for her to finish. While Raven was tying the last bundle of herbs together, she heard a pained shout not too far from her.

She looked around, standing up straight with brows drawn together, "Filip? What was that?" She called to him, and a few moments later, he came scrambling out of the treeline, breath heaving and tears staining his face.

"Raven! Raven, please!" Filips frantic cries reach her before he does, "There's a beast in the woods! It-it has Lòni trapped under some roots!" He grabs her by the hand and begins to pull her along, basket of plants left and forgotten.

"What do you mean, a beast? Filip, please slow down!" Raven struggled to keep her feet under her as she was being pulled behind Filip, breath huffing out as they ran through the woods. Not a moment later, they come around a large tree to see an extremely large beast indeed. Hooves beating down into the earth, sending mud and moss flying with each scrape. The muscles rippled under thick fur as it snorted and shook its massive antlered head.

“Elgr,” whispered Filip, his voice laced with fear as he gripped Raven's hand even tighter. “I have never seen one so close to the village,” he tells her. He then points to a mass of tangled roots that act like a cage, half covered in moss and dirt, and a giant boulder tangled in the mess. In the back of the cage-like roots was a small figure, clutching at his knees and face buried in his arms as his sobs and sniffles echoed through the clearing.

The giant Elgr, elk, reared back and beat his massive antlers against the roots, scraping and shaking the moss and dirt free. Some parts of the roots came free as it brought its head back up. Standing at its full height, it seemed to tower over even the highest tree. Raven crept closer on silent feet as she came out from behind the tree, Filip trying to hold her back, but his fingers slipped from hers. He hisses out her name, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

Raven could see scaring across the beast's haunches and shoulder blades. Thick fur cut through to show skin with healed over deep wounds. What looked like spears and arrowhead wounds, some places across its back still had arrows sticking out of it, but it seemed the wounds had healed over, no longer causing pain. The massive antlers upon the beast's head were long and sharp like sword edges, its black fur deep like a starless night sky only marred by the scars upon its body. The heavy hooves beat against the earth again, and Raven swore she could feel it deep in her bones. The elgr thrusts its antlers against the roots again, tearing away more moss and dirt trying to get to Loni.

Without another thought, Raven ran forward and put herself between the roots and the massive beast in front of her. It let loose a loud bellow, it shook the very ground they stood on. Lòni let out a sob as he looked up. He saw Raven with her arms held wide, her hair free from her braids as it flowed long down her back in the wind. Lòni and Filip stared in awe. They swore she seemed just as large as the beast in front of her. She seemed immovable, set in her determination to protect the young boy she thought of as a brother.

ᛒᛖ ᚷᛟᚾᛖ, ᚷᚱᛖᚨᛏ ᛒᛖᚨᛋᛏ. ᛚᛖᚨᚡᛖ ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ ᛒᛖ.

The words flowed out of her without a second thought, they sounded ancient and magical falling from her lips, the boys had no idea what she said, but they noticed the elgr raised its head to his full height and his breath fogged out of him in a giant snort.

Raven’s brows were set in determination as she stared down the beast in the eyes, her own eyes shining with unshod tears. She wasn’t going to let this creature cause any more harm to Lòni, or Filip, or anyone else, for that matter. The beast took a step toward her, his massive face lowering to look her in the eyes better. His eyes flashed with recognition for a moment, his eyes scanning her face before he sniffed at her, and a big exhale brushed the rest of her hair from her face.

Guds datter. Du snakker på gammelt språk. The giant’s voice echoed in the clearing and in her head. Raven dropped her arms and brought a hand to the elgr’s snout. He closed his eyes as she ran a hand up to his giant forehead and back down to his nose. A long exhale left the creature.

“Lòni, come out and follow your brother home,” Raven spoke over her shoulder to the boy. Her voice left no room for arguments, and Loni crawled out from his safe haven in the roots and ran to his brother. They embraced and looked back at Raven. “I will be fine,” she smiled at them. A blueish green glow lit up her eyes and surrounded her in waves of sparkles.

The boys stared at her for a moment, their feet stuck in place as Raven quietly spoke with the massive beast as if they were old friends. In a language, neither of them understood, but they felt the power in the words, the magic in them. With one final look, they left and made their way back home.

Daughter of Gods, you said. What did you mean? Raven spoke in that old tongue she had no idea she knew, but once she spoke it, she couldn't stop.

You are no mere mortal, Child. The elgr answered. You may look like the humans, but you are not one of them. It has been long since my kin has seen one such as you.

Do you know where I am from, elgr?

Frode- he tells her. My name, little one, is Frode. And I do not know where you hail from. Only that you are not of this world. Frode turns his head and nudges Raven to follow, so she does. She places a hand on his leg. She is just above his knee when he stands to full height.

Frode leads her deep into the woods, the canopy high and blocking out any sun from entering, whatever light does filter through. It's barely enough to light the way. Raven clings on to more fur as they delve deeper into the wood. He bends his large head down to her and tilts an antler to scoop her up in it. Raven fits perfectly in the smooth part of his massive antlers, and he can move at a quicker pace now that he doesn't need to wait for her small legs to keep up.

***

They traveled for a while, Raven drifting off into a light sleep as Frode carried them to wherever the destination was. It must have been dusk when Raven was jostled awake, the giant creature shaking his head to wake the girl.

We have arrived. He had said, lowering his head so Raven could slide off and onto the ground. She looked around the clearing, keeping a hand on Frode as they walked closer to the tall wooden building. The house was tall and angular, dark wood seemingly reaching up towards the sky the closer Raven walked towards the house.

A plume of smoke billowing steadily out of the chimney made the house even more ominous as she stepped up on the porch, and when she raised her fist to knock, she looked over her shoulder to Frode. He was still at the path that led back the way they came, his head bowed once to tell her to continue. Without further hesitation, Raven rapped her knuckles on the rough hardwood of the front door. She waited on baited breath for an answer, a noise of shuffling, or acknowledgment of her being there.

The door opened, creaking quietly on its hinges, Raven stepping into the cottage on hesitant feet, her shoulders pulled tight up to her ears as she walked further in the entryway. The house was warm and inviting, a clear contrast to the outside of the rickety building. A few boots were piled in the corner by the door, mud caked into the soles of well-worn boots. Above them were knitted shawls and sweaters, hung up on a makeshift coat rack, and a few wide brimmed hats took up the other spots.

Down the hall, there was a warm glow spilling onto the floor, like waves lapping at the shore, and Raven made her way further into the house. When she reached the doorframe the light was coming from, she could see a fireplace with the embers casting a light glow around the room. Candles lit on the counter and tabletops, a few dozen herbs in bundles drying overhead on one side of the ceiling, and the other had hanging dried meat. The room smelled of burning wood and wildflowers, roasted meat, and sweet cider. A large rippled paned glass window was on the right side of the room, the moonlight from outside pouring into the space and filling it with a serene light.

There was an older woman with her back facing Raven, her silver hair pulled back in braids that fell down her back. As she stood, she spoke into the space, “Come, child, come closer.” Her voice was honey sweet and accented, like Raven’s. The little girl walked further into the kitchen, her eyes scanning the room as she approached the older woman.

"Who are you?" Raven said with more confidence than she felt.

The older woman smiled. She was pretty, Raven thought. Now that she could see the woman more clearly, she wasn't as old as she appeared, maybe mid-30s. Her hair was more straw colored than the silver, and it appeared to be in the moonlight. Her eyes were a deep and dark green, her skin fair. She was tall, taller than the people who lived in her small village.

"The people around here call me Amma," her eyes sparkled in the candlelight as she studied Raven.

"My name is Raven," she supplied, "I have heard the children talk about a witch in the woods. Is that you?"

Amma laughed, light and airy, and she placed a delicate hand on Raven's shoulder. "Oh, my dear, I am so much more than that."

It felt like all Raven's worries and problems faded away at the touch of her hand.

"What brings you all the way out to me, little bird?" Amma ushered her to sit at the table, and she sat across from her.

Raven shook her head slightly, a fog rolling in around her mind. Her brows creased, "I-I was…looking for someone." Her voice lifted at the end, almost like a question. Now that Raven thought about it or tried to, she couldn't remember why she came into the woods.

Amma took the girl's hand, and as she did, the Runes that were long since forgotten on the inside of her wrists lit up. Amma hummed in amusement, “Oh, my my. Someone doesn’t want you getting out now, do they?” Raven's brows furrowed as she looked down at her wrists. She never noticed them before, or did she?

“Do you know where I am from, Amma? I have been looking for my parents, but I have been lost,” Raven twisted her wrist a little, the rune shimmering in the candlelight.

Amma thought for a long moment, eyes searching the little girl up and down. She hummed in thought and waved her hand in the air. A shimmer of greenish gold glow came from her hands as she did. “I might have a notion of where you are from, little bird, but it may take some time. To make sure, you see?” Raven nodded slowly, the Runes on her wrist glowed again. “In the meantime,” Amma continued, releasing the girl's hand, “why don’t you stay here? I could use the help around the house and garden,” she smiled sweetly and folded her hands on the table.

Raven was nodding her head yes before Amma finished her sentence, “I would love to stay, Amma, thank you.”

The woman let out an airy laugh, saccharine, and hollow, “My little bird, you can call me Amora.”

#mcu imagine #marvel fanfic #original character #mcu fanfiction #iridescent greens

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