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recentlyheardcom · 11 months

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday reinstated all charges, including a murder count, against a former police officer who shot and killed a driver through a rolled-up car window — a confrontation police initially described as the officer shooting the driver after he lunged at him with a knife outside the car.Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom agreed with prosecutors that the facts of the case should be established at trial.Former officer Mark Dial, 27, was charged with murder, manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts in the Aug. 14 shooting death of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop. Defense lawyers argued the officer could have feared for his life because he thought Irizarry had a gun, and a municipal court judge dismissed the case last month for lack of evidence.Prosecutors quickly appealed, asking for the charges to be reinstated. The family of Irizarry, who was Hispanic, has said Dial, who is white, took an innocent life and should spend the rest of his life behind bars.Dial, who bowed his head after Judge Ransom issued her ruling from the bench, was taken into custody without bail.The defense is "obviously extremely disappointed,” Dial's lawyer, Brian McMonagle, said outside court, but he added “we can’t wait to go to trial. The facts here are undeniable. Mark Dial did not commit a crime.”Irizarry's aunt, Zoraida Garcia, who ducked out of the courtroom just before the ruling because she feared becoming too emotional, said, “Today, I see that justice is being served. He’s going to jail.”Another aunt, Ana Cintron, 50, said she was glad the judge decided the case should go to trial.“I think we needed that as a family, we need that as a community, just to build up the trust, because a lot of the times it’s lost. Something like this really made us think twice,” she said.Dial and his partner have said they followed Irizarry’s car after it sped past them at high speed in a bike lane and rounded a corner, driving erratically and finally going the wrong way on a residential street before pulling into a parking space. Police body camera footage showed Dial firing a total of six rounds about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to the sedan. The footage also showed Irizarry holding a knife near his right leg.Dial’s partner, Officer Michael Morris, previously testified he saw the driver holding a knife with a black metal handle that could have looked like a gun and the man started to raise it as Dial approached, and he “screamed that he had a knife,” although he could not remember his exact words. On cross-examination, McMonagle played surveillance video with audio he said sounded like someone saying “gun” and then Morris saying “gun, knife” and Morris agreed.Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco, however, argued Wednesday that a trial was needed to determine what was said and by whom as well as a number of other facts in the case that are in dispute. She said the defense refers to the case as a “tragedy," suggesting “something bad happened but nobody did anything wrong — but Mark Dial did something horribly wrong.”At that earlier hearing, McMonagle had argued Dial was “firing while trying to take cover” in the belief the driver was armed with a gun. He said the charges should never have been filed by District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat and longtime civil rights lawyer who has clashed with police since taking office in 2018.Police initially claimed Dial shot Irizarry outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but were forced to backtrack after then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said a review of the officers’ body-worn cameras “made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened.”Dial, a five-year member of the force, was suspended after officials said he refused to cooperate with investigators. Police said Dial was fired Sept. 18.After Municipal Judge Wendy Pew dismissed the charges Sept. 27, a wave

of flash mob-style ransacking of stores erupted in parts of the city, with masked people carrying out merchandise. Apple, Lululemon and Foot Locker outlets were among the stores targeted in the downtown business corridor.Thieves targeted other parts of the city as well, ransacking pharmacies, a hair salon, a cellphone store and at least 18 state-run liquor outlets, resulting in the closure of all 48 stores in the city and one in a neighboring suburb.Scores of people have since been charged with crimes such as burglary, theft, conspiracy and riot in the mayhem, which authorities said was fueled by social media. Those doing the ransacking were not affiliated with earlier protests, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford has said, calling those responsible “a bunch of criminal opportunists.”McMonagle told reporters Wednesday he might seek to have the trial moved out of Philadelphia, citing various comments by the mayor and other public officials as evidence Dial might not be able to get a fair trial in the city. The district attorney’s office declined comment “until such time as we are back in court with the defendant.”

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simfulwoohoo · 4 years

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little photo shoot before Lily’s birthday party!!

#the sims 4 #simblr #ransom legacy #RLG1 #lillian ransom #harley ransom

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 2 years

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War Correspondent AU Pt 2

After they're returned to their cell, Kara glares at Kieran-- Lena-- with a scowl. She doesn't like being made a fool.

"I thought we were past secrets."

Lena settles back against the wall, closing her eyes in the hopes it would ease the pounding of her head and the throbbing in her face.

"Not a secret," Lena mumbles.

"No?" Kara drawls.

"Just hate their guts."

Kara huffs, but accepts her answer. She too slumps against the wall behind her, but wishes that she could help crack Lena's nose back into place, which now sports a sharp bend in the cartilage.

"Now what?" Kara asks.

Without opening her eyes, Lena smirks, visibly pleased with herself.

"Now we wait."

With Lena's identity revealed, the press goes crazy, but in their little prison their captors decide to try and ransom Kara and Lena. Before any progress is made, however, a well paid private black ops team strikes the compound, breaking Lena and Kara out and killing any aggressors in their path.

They both receive the best medical care available, before being flown home. The press is there to receive them, however Lena is more concerned with the fact that her adoptive family is also present.

Putting on a show, she returns the embraces of her father and adoptive mother. Lionel squeezes ominously tight, promising that Lena *will* return with them to the manor, and that there *will* be words before the day is out. Lillian's hug is loose and perfunctory, but covered by shooing both women into the town car waiting for them on the tarmac.

Kara is somewhat welcomed as a guest, but she correctly suspects that they simply want to keep her under control until they decide what the rescue narrative will be-- and what was to be done with Lena, now that she's been found.

Kara waits in the corridor as the Luthors duke it out, Lena included. There's anger and betrayal at the way Lena left, there's anger and betrayal at the way Lena was raised, there's anger and betrayal at the way Lena joined the press. ("The press Lena, really??") As though it was done to spite her family, who held great disdain for the field. Which it was, at first.

It takes hours, and no consensus is reached by the time they finish for the night, but Kara is pleased that Lena remains adamant that she will NOT be forsaking her career to preserve the family name. ("It's one thing for Kieran Walsh to be a member of the press, but you've now claimed your heritage, and I will not have you ruining this family by remaining in such a lascivious position!")

Nevermind that Lena is a Pulitzer winner, or that she's helped Kara break stories on more human rights violations and war crimes than any other team in the industry. All the family can see is the press that waits outside their front door, slavering for a crumb to publish in the tabloids and other trash publications.

When Lionel and Lillian have stormed out of the study, Kara enters to join Lena where she's slumped on the couch, exhausted. She's in a cast and a sling up to her shoulder, and Kara can tell it's bothering her.

She tosses Lena the bottle of prescription painkillers the medics had provided them during treatment. Lena swallows two dry, wincing as they scrape her throat on the way down.

"You're right," Kara tells her, breaking the silence.

Lena looks at her, one eyebrow arching in question.

"Their guts are very hateable."

This earns her a bark of laughter, then a groan as Lena braces her bruised ribs. "Ow. Don't make me laugh."

"Not my fault you think I'm a comedy genius."

Lena just huffs, neither confirming nor denying. They sit in comfortable silence for several minutes, before Kara continues.

"Thank you," she says solemnly.

"For what? Bringing you into this shitstorm? Not something to thank me for."

"This shitstorm got us out of there. I kinda like keeping my head where it is, so-- yeah. Thanks."

In the gratitude is the acknowledgment of what it had cost Lena to play the Luthor card-- how it had reconnected her to a family she never wanted to be a part of again, and has now been sucked back into. A family she might not be able to escape a second time.

"You're welcome."

#supercorp #war correspondent au #no powers #the rescue #the aftermath #the tenderness

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mermaidsirennikita · 2 years

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Who are some of your favourite Historical Romance heroes? (This doesn't have to be a recommendation post, although that's always appreciated, just wanted to give you a chance to talk about your favs)

Aww, thank you! I do have a good number of favorites.

Derek Craven, Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas--Always and forever, such an archetypal hero. I was just re-reading his complete meltdown after he believes Sara is dead and it's just... perfect. I love that he's this self made man who's trained himself to be super smooth and domineering and competent, but he completely loses his marbles around her. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when her ex shows up at her parents' house when they're meeting Derek for the first time, and he accuses Sara of being filled with "insatiable lust" and Derek like, physically throws him out of the house and is like "WHAT THE FUCK DID HE MEAN 'INSATIABLE LUST'" and she's all "he meant my insatiable lust for you, dearest". While her dad just watches.

Sebastian St. Vincent, Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas--Another archetypal hero because Kleypas just... nails a hero. Whereas Derek Craven is the archetypal brutish self made man who's soft for his heroine (but not his dick... that's very much hard) St. Vincent is the archetypal slutty slut slutty scoundrel, Theeee Rake. A standout moment for HIM is the "I'M SEBASTIAN ST. VINCENT I CAN'T BE CELIBATE". I think what's great about Sebastian is that he's truly such a piece of shit in Lillian's book (while also being super hot) but he grows in a very natural manner in his own.

Kev Merripen, Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas--A truly self-loathing man who hates himself and his lust and basically everything about himself. I really enjoy a hero who hates himself, and honestly, I don't know if there's a Kleypas hero who hates himself more than Kev. I think his story is really bold in that he does something kinda shitty and reprehensible, but it makes total emotional sense and he has to come back from that and become deserving of Win.

Dorian Blackwell, The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne--He's..... so hot. And so wounded. And so hot. And he hates himself so much. I just love him. I love the way he wears an eyepatch sometimes; I love the way he wears leather gloves always; I love that he has a voyeurism kink; I love that he likes to tie Farah up so she can't touch him during sex; I love that he hates himself for fucking her roughly but then gets super into it when he realizes she's super into it; I love that he's just like "yeah I killed those people" super casually because it doesn't register to him that This Is Bad. I remember literally having to put this book down at points because I was overwhelmed by how much I loved it, and while I adore Farah, Dorian is the piece de resistance of the book.

Carlton "Cutter" Morley, Seducing A Stranger by Kerrigan Byrne--I think Byrne does such an amazing job with this hero. Because he really shouldn't work in his own book. Cutter (who's just Inspector Carlton Morley at that point because you've gotta unlock his secret past) is the uptight good guy to Dorian's sexy bad boy, and he should just STAY that way. And he keeps popping up in the series to be like "CAN Y'ALL STOP DOING CRIME" and it should be annoying. But he like.... Clearly is just waiting to cut loose. And when he finally does it is wild and supremely hot, and I just do love a starchy hero who loses his shit when he finally meets the woman who undoes him. He shoots, he scores.

Ransom Seymour ("Ainsley"), Waking Up with The Duke by Lorraine Heath--My fucking cinnamon apple....... Ransom is always the voice of reason in the first two books of the series he's in, and when it's revealed that he's actually been a pining mess over his best friend's wife (who hates him) the entire time... It's too much. He's like this total gentleman of a hero, while also fucking like a champ. And he buys flowers from little street urchins, overpaying of course. Be still my heart.

Henry Stanford, When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath--Dude. He's a sad widower who was once a virtuous man? He was a virgin when he married his late wife? But now he is like... Shit. This guy was really fucking hot. All the self loathing hot. And of course, the immortal "I want to taste rum on lips" moment (he replaced his carpet after... it's fine). His total deluded justification of debauching the virginal innocent 19 year old family friend? His refusal to believe he can ever love again? GOD.

Jack Dodger, Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath--The dude who is probably the reason why the above dude is such a fucking DOG, because he was raised by Jack Dodger and it's fine. Jack is such a good self made scoundrel hero, and I'm not too proud to say he made me shed a tear. He has such a sad past, and he's like this deeply good guy wrapped up in a very hot bad boy package. Also: the heroine sees his dick and passes out. So. Like.

Griffith Stanwick, Scoundrel of My Heart by Lorraine Heath--Another hero who's like "I'm so bad, I have such a chip on my shoulder" when he's actually a fucking puppy. Griffith defies my distrust of a second son hero and literally embraces it, while at the same time being this deeply wounded guy who doesn't feel like he can offer the heroine what she deserves. It's catnip.

Colin Sandhurst, A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare--Such a good fun hero, Like, he's got his damage, but he's a good time and clearly a great lay, and I think he was a great conduit for Tessa Dare's sense of humor. He has some of the best lines about his heroine being a sword swallower... that were ever written.

Griffin York, Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare--A HOT SAD BOY. I love a hot sad boy. And this hot sad boy ruins his own life because of like, a legitimately awful tragedy in his past. Some heroes don't have good tragic backstories, but like... Jesus this is... a tragic backstory. I really felt for him, he just tugs at the heartstrings. I would compare him a lot to Ransom Seymour, in that they're both much deeper than they initially seem, and are also extremely hot dukes who will fuck the heroine's shit UP.

Preston Clarke, The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe--This guy... This motherfucker... First of all, has a delightfully pitiful grovel that I loved so much. But also, he's just such a good example of that titan of industry that you want from a Shupe hero? He's a bit brutal and blunt and likes to be called "my king", which... I wasn't mad at. And he was completely bowled over by his heroine.

Clay Madden, The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe--A dangerous hero who wants revenge but plays himself. What's not to like? Clay is super sexy, and at the same time super sad. He's a classic alpha hero who gets in the way of his own happiness. And he legitimately comes off as someone who could fuck people up in a bar fight, while also like, whispering soliloquies about nymphs in his heroine's ear while fingering her. Great job.

Julian Haywood, The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham--What can I say? I love a dom hero. And Julian is very explicitly a dom (like, professionally) but is also uptight and intense and wants to be admired and seen as an upstanding gentleman. He has these insecurities that make him hold back, but he's been longing for the heroine for soooo long. It's a deadly combination.

Michael Lawler, A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean--God, an asshole. Bourne is just a douchebag. He tricks the heroine into marriage for personal gain... But also because he's secretly in love with her, probably. He has to be completely broken down before he can be worthy of her, which is what I truly love in a hero. I adore a broken man.

Henry, Duke of Clayborn, Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean--Bro I can't.... get into why exactly I love him... Because this book isn't out yet. But suffice to say there's a scene where he does something and she responds to it and he's like "we'll revisit that at a later time" and it has been stuck in my head ever since I read it.

Galen Vachon, Indigo by Beverly Jenkins--THIS FUCKING GUY. He's so hot, and he's so gone for her early in the book? Like, he's a classic rake but he knows that he wants Hester and he's not fucking around. And he's so seductive? But he does offer one of the most magnificent grand gestures I've ever read in my entire life.

Anyway, these are not all of them but they are some of my top faves!

#romance novel blogging #book recs #..... sorta

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xanthippe74 · 2 years

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Five Self-Recs Tag Game

Thanks to @ghaniblue for tagging me in her five favs post! Here are my five, in no particular order, with a few words about why I’m proud of each of them—plus a little piece of trivia for funsies.

🔹 A Hiss to Build a Dream On: My first completed fic! I was very proud to have written anything at all, much less 10K words, after literal decades of being unable to put the stories bouncing around my head onto paper. Also, I love Ron in this. His dialogue made me laugh so much as I was writing it.

Bonus trivia: Who knew that T-shirt and coffee mug websites were the best places to find terrible puns about any subject?

🔹 Knockturn Soulmates Series (Vortex and Riptide): I’m proud of my worldbuilding for these stories, especially the political and social factors that shape Knockturn Alley and its residents. I reread both stories a few months ago, and I think I saw real improvement in my writing in the 18 months or so between them. It was very encouraging!

Bonus trivia: When the idea of Draco in Knockturn Alley x Auror Harry first started floating around in my head, I thought about writing it as a secret relationship fic instead of a Soulmate AU. But the latter tied in with Draco’s redemption story much better, so I’m very glad I went in that direction.

🔹 Follow the Water: I’m proud of how much I was able to enjoy the writing process for this one. I felt like something lovely was unfolding as I wrote it, which was magical. It probably helped that it’s a wholesome, feel-good story. I’m trying to remind myself (as I work on this year’s HD Wireless fic) to fall in love with my own stories and not worry about how they will be received.

Bonus trivia: I was heavily inspired by the children’s books I read aloud to my kids when they were littles, especially Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons” series.

🔹 On Your Shore: This was the first time I attempted a bit of mystery/suspense in a story, and I think it turned out well. I’m also proud of the pacing and sticking to my resolution not to throw Astoria under the (metaphorical!) bus to achieve a Drarry HEA.

Bonus trivia: I was very close to giving Draco a dog to bring to the Outer Hebrides, but decided it wouldn’t fit into the serious tone of the story. Instead, Lillian the cat got a role and I saved my elderly corgi idea for Safe As Houses.

🔹 The Last of What the World Left You: I’m proud that I stuck it out and finished this one. I really struggled to maintain the grim/angsty tone and keep Harry in Grumpy Hermit mode (as opposed to the earnest, kind Harry that I usually write). And at one point, I needed to create a spreadsheet to sort out the order of the scenes in the middle two chapters, they were such a mess. But I did it! And I’m happy with the result.

Bonus trivia: I’m still waiting for someone to comment on the meaning of the dog’s name and tell me that I’m very clever, lol.

I’m not sure who hasn’t been tagged for this one yet, but if anyone wants to do it, please give it a go and tag me so I see it!

#my writing #drarry fics #tag game

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nekoannie-chan · 10 months

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Week 49 Reblog Masterlist

Welcome to Week 49 2023 or Week 205, as always, fics would be listed in the order I read them.

I hope you enjoy it!

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

♥ You can check my reading guidelines here.

♥ You can check my masterlist here.

♥ You can check my main reblog masterlist 2023 here.

♥ You can check my December reblog masterlist 2023 here.

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

𝙺𝚎𝚢𝚜: 💛 ᵒʳᶤᵍᶤᶰᵃˡ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ

💜 ʰᵒʳʳᵒʳ

🖤 ᵈᵃʳᵏ

❤️ ˢᵐᵘᵗ

💚 ᶠˡᵘᶠᶠ

💙 ᵃᶰᵍˢᵗ

🧡 ᶜᵒᵐᵉᵈʸ

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

This is the list of the fics I read and recommend in Week 49 2023:

Starting over (Brock Rumlow X Reader) by @e-dubbc11 ❤️

New perspective (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @violentdelightsandviolentends 💚💙

First date (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @marvelsmylife 💚

Back and forth chapter 1: Snap back (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @anika-ann 💚💙

Secret (Yelena Belova X Reader) by @blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms 💚💙

Dangerous places 3 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @kaunis-sielu 💚💙

Imagine Steve coming to be with you (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @imamotherfuckingstar-lord 💚💙

DYNAMO part 1 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @emwritesstuff 💚💙

Mirror sex (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @flightlessangelwings ❤️

Being Captain America’s assistant (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @multifandomworldsposts ❤️

Property lines (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @kechiwrites ❤️

DYNAMO part 2 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @emwritesstuff 💚💙

Fresh start part 6 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @sunvmars💚💙

Prove it (Stucky X Reader) by @1-800-jjbarnes ❤️

Dating Steve would include… (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @she-who-writes-for-multi-fandoms 💚

DYNAMO part 3 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @emwritesstuff 💚💙

In between (Stucky X Reader) by @afriendlyblackhottie ❤️

Clean/is it over now? (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @prettyinpink350 💚💙 🖤 ❤️

No good in goodbyes (Ransom Drysdale X Reader) by @shadeysprings ❤️

Trusting the Captain part 5 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @cevansbaby-dove 💚💙

Dating Brock would include… (Brock Rumlow X Reader) by @she-who-writes-for-multi-fandoms 💚

A monster, a Captain and a Soldier (Stucky X Reader) by @witchywithwhiskey ❤️

Free use (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @lillian-gallows ❤️

Unbreakable chapter 5 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @crazyunsexycool 💚💙

Wonderstruck chapter 6 (Wanda Maximoff X Reader) by @messedupfan 💚💙

Dangerous places 4 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @kaunis-sielu 💚💙

Copy Cap (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @ultralightpoe 💚💙❤️

All tied up chapter 1 (Steve Rogers X Reader) by @jen-with-a-pen 💚💙❤️

#Annie recommends

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constant-eggs · 3 years

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Here are my thoughts on why Kara waited so long to tell Lena that she is Supergirl.

I know that Kara gave a lot of reasons, I think they were all partially true. The most consistent reason seems well intentioned enough: that it was to protect Lena. This is the one Lena ends up ultimately accepting. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Between Lena’s own enemies trying to assassinate her, and working closely with Alex and Kara as Supergirl, Lena’s life is always in jeopardy. In the 100th episode, the writers try to double down on this narrative when Kara tells Lena right at the beginning, she is kidnapped, Kara reveals her identity, and then all of the Superfriends die. Again, this doesn’t make much sense. It’s a possibility, of course, that Lena would be kidnapped and ransomed, but James and Winn were similarly vulnerable knowing Kara’s secret early on. They were lower profile than Lena, yes but they were also at that point less adept at saving themselves, as Lena has shown herself to be time and again. Also, had Lena known about Supergirl sooner, she could have gotten a watch to call Kara. If anything, Lena was in more jeapardy not knowing Kara’s identity.

Kara’s other go-to reason was that Lena was distrustful of Supergirl and loved Kara, so Kara wanted to separate the two parts of herself so she wouldn’t lose her best friend. This reason feels a little closer to the mark. As Supergirl, Kara was suspicious of Lena making Kryptonite and inadvertently put her in the villainous Luthor role. When I initially watched the scenes it gave me whiplash how Kara spoke to Lena as Supergirl vs. out of the suit. This isn’t a condemnation of Kara, it seems like in order to stay sane that Kara has had to compartmentalize her “Supergirl ego” and her “Kara” one. But then of course once Kara tells Lena who she is, Lena is baffled by the cognitive dissonance of Supergirl and Kara actually being the same person. She understandably fears that Kara saw her as a villain all along.

The other two major reasons Kara gives (one in a deleted scene) were that Kara felt like she had waited too long, and that a part of Kara didn’t actually trust Lena afterall. Because the scene was cut, who knows if the latter reason had any truth. But the first reason fits well enough with the others. Kara had good intentions, but time past, lies snowballed, and now the pair were three years into their friendship. And Kara knew that Lena had trust issues and didn’t do well with being lied to.

Here’s what I see as the missing part of the puzzle. Kara didn’t tell Lena because having one person, the person aside from her sister she is closest to, know her as just Kara, was Kara’s tie to feeling normal. Lena the-genius- CEO-Luthor knew Kara as a non-super journalist and loved her anyway. Most importantly though, Lena not knowing Kara had powers meant that Kara got to be vulnerable sometimes...sometimes Lena got to save her. And sure, Kara usually didn’t need it, and logistically would have to figure out how to save them without revealing herself (like landing the plane or stopping Mercy during her faceoff with Lena.) But still, Lena would put herself in front of Kara, take the reigns, and show Kara that she didn’t have to figure out everything on her own. This extends to not just during battles, but emotionally. Lena helped Kara up after altercations when Kara was used to propping herself up. Lena would specifically ask about Kara’s relationships with her other friends, family, and romantic partners, and in those moments Lena would treat those problems with the same level of importance as Lena taking down Lex or whatever issue of the week. Kara though has a tendency to put her “human” issues on the backburner to focus on the greater good, but Lena was her outlet to maintain that humanity, and have those other parts of her life remain priorities.

It’s too bad, because Lena also extended a lot of that grace and kindness to Kara as Supergirl. When one of Lillian’s henchman was harming Kara with Kryptonite, Lena still physically tried to intervene and said not to hurt her. Lena also knew that Supergirl wasn’t harming people (during the Red Daughter saga). There were plenty of other instances that Lena showed compassion for Supergirl and the only way I can wrap my brain around Kara not internalizing them are because Kara needed to maintain that separation for herself. I know that as an audience we’re past all of this now, but it still doesn’t sit entirely right with me that ultimately Lena apologized several times (when Kara made it seem like as long as Lena came back and apologized she would forgive her) but then she wasn’t initially forgiven. It also rubbed me the wrong way that Kara threatened to treat Lena “just like any other villain” even though Kara knew that being perceived as such was Lena’s greatest fear. It unsettled me further that Lena had to perform again and again in the finale. Between helping to save William, building Kara the suit, saving Kara’s life from Andrea etc. Kara said she kept waiting for Lena to let her down. But by that, did she mean by betraying Kara or by not performing and succeeding? (And again I think unintentionally Kara would feel that way.) But that line of dialogue really did leave me wondering because Lena could have done her best, and failed, and still very much have been sorry, but then would Kara have not forgiven her? I’d like to hope she would have, because if not, Lena performing for Kara’s validation isn’t too different than her trying to earn love from Lex and Lillian.

These are just ramblings. I know that Kara did her best, hell she tried to alter the timeline for Lena to salvage their relationship. But ultimately, Kara saw that because those instances failed that the takeaway was that she needed to play tough cop with Lena (and pretty much absolved herself of her own actions in the process) instead of holding onto the nuance of the situation. One of them didn’t have to be entirely right or wrong, and it would have been nice if after Lena’s third apology, if Kara would have said again, and “I’m sorry too. You deserved the truth. I know you’re not a monster.” Or hugged her. Or something. Oh well.

#supergirl #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #forgiveness #trauma

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entitleddrysdale · 4 years

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Ransom stared at his son with pride and hope in his eyes. He had dreamed of this little boy for so long. His eyes drifted to from Nathaiel over to Lillian. She was nestled against Natasha's chest, suckling from her breast.

Ransom felt like his world grew two people bigger and he didn't really even know his world wasn't complete.

He smiled at Lily then at his wife whom had made his life perfect.

@natasha-romanova-anon

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porta-decumana · 3 years

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Introducing Lillian Willows...

Formally, I guess, because I’m basically making her into a secondary character on this blog, although Kaida will still be my focus! A full profile/page for Lillian will be made in the near future but I just wanted to do an intro post for her because I regret not really doing one for Kaida when I started posting here.

CW: References to alcoholism, abuse, domestic violence.

BASICS// Name: Lillian Willows Age: 25 years old Gender: Female Sexuality: Heterosexual Race: Hyur, Midlander with some Highlander Ancestry

RESIDENCE & FAMILY// Place of Birth: Quarrymill, The Black Shroud Current Residence: Quarrymill, The Black Shroud Parents: Harald Willows & Fiona Willows Siblings: n/a Significant Other: Avannaut of the Redbelly Bandits (married) TALENTS AND SKILLS// Job Stone Acquired: Red Mage (Canonical Verse), White Mage (Dark AU) Classes Trained in: Botanist, White Mage (Dark AU) Additional: Lillian is self-taught at reading and writing. She did this in order to learn more about botany so she could provide for her family. However as a side effect of this, she also took up poetry writing, though is very hesitant to show anyone her works. She is surprisingly eloquent for a woman that grew up in the slums of Quarrymill, her house no more than a 2-room shack with little in terms of luxuries. She bases most of her speech after high society in hopes it will make people see past a woman who is a mere notch above destitution.

PERSONALITY// Likes: Walking in the woods, flowers, feeling in control, poetry, romance novels, the color purple, butterflies Dislikes: Hypocrisy, alcohol, strangers, when people raise their voices Description: Lillian has an outward demeanor that would likely make a winter in Ishgard seem warm. Life has not been exceptionally kind to her-- she was born into a happy home that turned cold and sour by the time she was five years old. She has only known a life in which her parents argued and that has constantly acted as a source of fuel for her to get out of the house. She works nonstop to provide for her parents and herself, knowing her mother too mentally broken to do much other than knit and her father too drunk to get out the door some days. Botany provides an escape for her and the escape provides some semblance of peace-- enough to keep her sane. Her outward personality is no-nonsense, strategical, and efficient in everything she does. Lillian acts to survive until the next day. It’s for these reasons she comes across as uncaring. Inwardly, however, Lillian is more attached to good morals than she would like to admit. But her rage is palatable; a tedious build of frustrations over her life that she fears one day will swallow her.

HISTORY//

Born in Quarrymill to Harald Willows and Fiona Willows. Harald is an ex-Ala Mhigan veteran who was discharged after receiving a near fatal blow that left him with chronic pains and Fiona is a Gridanian native with a history in weaving and botany.

Harald begins turning to alcohol to deal with his depression/chronic pain. Fiona and Lillian are subjected to his drunken rampages. Lillian is 5 years old when this starts.

Lillian starts learning writing, reading, and botany, getting started with the help of her mother but largely teaching herself. She continues her studies through her childhood.

At the age of 21, Lillian is kidnapped by Redbelly bandits looking to make gil off of ransoming her. One of the Redbellies, Avannaut, convinces the others to let her go. She returns to Quarrymill and does not report the incident. Avannaut and Lillian run into each other a week later and Lillian offers to teach him reading and writing as a “thank you” for letting her go. This turns into a romantic relationship that is kept secret from everyone else.

When Lillian turns 24, Avannaut proposes to her and they wed in secret. Lillian remains living with her parents and sees her husband occasionally. Avannaut eventually decides this is not the life he wants for her and decides to enlist in the Ala Mhigan army, since they will not know him as a bandit. Lillian lets him do this reluctantly and Avannaut leaves for Gyr Abania, becoming an archer in the army. He tells her he will send for her when he has enough gil for them to buy a home in the Ala Mhigan Quarter. This is around the events of 5.4.

Avannaut goes missing and Lillian is distraught beyond belief. In a bid to find her missing husband, she goes to Gridania in hopes she can hire an adventurer to track him down with the pitiful amount of coin she has to offer. The story from here will be written in fic-form but will involve her finding a Red Mage job stone.

And then, of course, there’s the Dark AU version of Lillian...

The Dark AU -- Dawn’s Last Light/Matron of the Boughs (contains fic spoilers)//

This AU exists alongside Kaida’s Dark AU, Dawn’s Last Light, which is featured in my longfic, The Last Light of Dawn. In this verse, Garlemald launches a massive invasion against Eorzea and the Black Shroud sees all of the Padjal slain but Kan-E-Senna. The Elementals go wild, many of them perishes or giving in to a berserk-like rage as the aether is disturbed greatly during the invasion. In a gambit to right the destabilized aether in the land, a handful of Elementals approach the fleeing members of Gridanian society and grant them blessings that make them into a new generation of Padjal. Lillian, who loses both her parents as Quarrymill burns, is selected. However, her grief over the loss of her family and her husband, Avannaut (who presumably died in the invasion), is so great that it overcomes her. She discards her name, taking up the name Almeria instead, and vows her vengeance. When Kan-E-Senna decides to surrender to the Garleans, Almeria turns on her and her fellow Padjali colleagues. She assassinates them all and tosses them into the depths of the Palace of the Dead, not knowing she did not successfully kill Kan-E-Senna. She declares to the remnants of Gridania that the peace talks were unsuccessful, resulting in the deaths of all of the other Padjal, and is crowned as their loving Matron. She then begins her plan to take revenge on Garlemald.

#lillian willows #long post #character profile #hyur #midlander #verse; dawn's last light #verse; the matron of the boughs #almeria

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blackjack-15 · 4 years

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Hunting For Some Buried Story — Thoughts on: Ransom of the Seven Ships (RAN)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. Like with all of the Odd Games, there will be a section between The Intro and The Title called The Weird Stuff, where I go into what makes this game stand out as a little strange.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: RAN; STFD; mention of FIN; GTH; mention of SPY.

The Intro:

We’re two-thirds of the way through the meta series officially (yay for meta #20!), and what a way to cap off that marker: with the last of the Odd Games.

And my land, how Odd it is. And that’s ignoring that in August of 2020, this game was very quietly discontinued — speculated to be because of the…well, pseudo-brownface in the game.

Oh yeah, we’re starting with that little bomb.

Before we truly begin, however, let me state one fact: the controversies over this game do not make it any more interesting, unfortunately. I don’t know how a game can be both this objectively bad and this objectively boring as a mystery, but RAN is an example of many, many impossible feats in the video game industry (boring yet bad, controversial yet uninteresting, finicky yet sluggish in controls, so it might as well begin as it means to go on.

I’m also stating here for the record that I’m not really going to focus on the social aspect of this game; it’s always been out of the scope of these metas to focus on current events or social issues, and race is such a hot button issue that no matter what anyone says, someone gets mad. Besides that, it’s really not an interesting tack to take with this meta, not when there’s so many things to talk about regarding RAN as a game and/or as a mystery. If you came into this meta expecting a breakdown as it relates to any social issues, this might not be the meta for you.

If you came for a beat-down on RAN, however, you’re in the right place. Get comfy.

Ransom of the Seven Ships had all the pieces in place to make it a great game; we’ve got Bess and George in the (weird, plasticky) flesh, a fascinating and beautiful location, a historical background based in Spanish exploration, the Age of Piracy, and treasure hunting…all of these are great, honestly, and it’s part of what makes RAN so offensively bad — it could have been really great.

Instead of a wonderful game based around pirate treasure, however, Nancy plays games with monkeys, drives on the world’s slowest golf cart, and trusts the only other person on the entire freaking island when he says he didn’t kidnap her friend. Even though he is the ONLY OTHER PERSON ON THE FREAKING ISLAND.

This game is based off of a Nancy Drew mystery entitled “The Broken Anchor”, which actually is fairly close to the plot of the game — the girls win a contest (though in this case it’s one they didn’t even enter) to go to the Bahamas, Nancy arrives (with Carson) and can’t contact Bess or George, there’s a mysterious treasure, etc. etc. In part, I think, RAN’s problems come from following the book too closely, as there’s really very little to the plot of the book. Game plots necessarily have to have a little more meat to them, as you can’t spend the whole time with Nancy pontificating on the scenery or food (as she is wont to do), and RAN is missing a lot of meat.

Specifically, the meat that it’s missing is any suspects at all. Like I said, there’s only one other person (other than Nancy, Bess, and George) on the island, and it’s ‘Johnny Rolle’ — a self-professed fisherman and loner who’s boat has been wrecked by the monkeys.

There are way too many effing monkeys in this game, side note. How I wish the monkeys were a side note.

Nancy, despite her normal M.O when a kidnapping of a friend has taken place, just kinda rolls with his story and accepts it, digging pointless holes in the sand while he definitely has Bess trapped. And then there’s the weirdness with the monkeys trying to kill her as she scales a sheer cliff wall.

Honestly, if I go any more into it, I’m just going to end up tearing it apart piece by piece, and that’s for the Fix section. So let’s move on to the specific things that make this game truly the capstone of the Odd Games.

The Weird Stuff:

This game is, first and foremost, a story about personal revenge — or, at least, that’s the big takeaway, no matter what HER actually intended for it to be about. After being busted by Nancy (and Lillian, and Ralph, but he apparently doesn’t care about them), Dwayne sat in prison stewing over his ignominious defeat at the hands of a teenaged sleuth until he heard about the supposed treasure on Dread Isle. His greed for the treasure combined with his hatred of Nancy began to fester together, culminating in a slightly complex but ultimately stupid plan to get both money and revenge.

This is a motivation unlike any we’ve encountered. Sure, a handful of Nancy Drew villains have sworn their revenge on Nancy (most notably at this point in the series Helena from VEN), but no one has actually done it — until Dwayne.

This should have made the whole game feel intensely personal — and indeed, bringing back tokens and things from Nancy’s past cases and locations should have built to that. However, the game never really comes to a fever pitch of a feeling of someone is watching Nancy and actively hates her, even though it makes a few attempts. More than any other game, Nancy should have been scared here — and it’s odd that she isn’t.

The second odd thing here is the returning villain. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all — I love the idea of a returning villain — but I do think it was a mistake to pick Dwayne Powers. At this point in the series, STFD was hardly a well-known game, and was generally unplayable due to technological advances.

Yes, later STFD would get a bit of a sprucing up and become playable again (and this game, funnily enough, would be relegated to the ‘unplayable’ pile — Dwayne never can win, I guess), but that didn’t matter at the time that RAN was coming out.

There were several better choices — VEN’s Helena, SHA’s Shorty, DOG’s Emily (who had already received a mention recently in DAN) — so why go with Dwayne? Did they pick him on purpose because no one would suspect (or rather, remember) him? Was he the most obscure villain they could think of? Mitch Dillon (who never appeared really) from SCK would have been an equally obscure but somehow more frightening choice. I’m really at a loss to figure out why they chose Dwayne, of all people.

The third thing that makes this game odd is the lack of suspects. Sure, they give a hat-tip to the Gibsons perhaps being hidden on the island (which, let’s just say, they shouldn’t have — never use as a red herring something that would have made the game so much better), but Dwayne/Johnny really is the only suspect.

I have no idea if they were rushed, if they thought that his different identities counted as extra suspects, or if they just wanted to try something different with this game, but it in no way worked. It’s so mind-bogglingly simple to figure out who kidnapped Bess that it makes Nancy look like she’s quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

The last Odd thing that I’ll hang on is how incredibly out-of-character Nancy is in this game. We’ve only seen Nancy work kidnapping (or supposed kidnapping) cases a few times in the series as a whole — FIN’s Maya, RAN’s Bess, and GTH’s Jessalyn — but in both FIN and GTH Nancy takes them very seriously, being harsher and more impatient with less time for people’s lies and stories than she usually is, and really feeling the pressure of the clock.

It makes sense; even discounting the Missing Mom trauma that sits deep within Nancy, the first 48 hours of a kidnapping are basically the only window that she has, statistically speaking, to find the victim still alive and okay. She nearly flies off the handle at the suspects in FIN, and digs uncomfortably deep even at very touchy subjects in GTH.

It then stands to reason that, with FIN in the past and GTH in the future, that Nancy would react similarly in this case. Bess is one of Nancy’s best friends, and the friend that we’re shown most often (think of the flashback in SPY; Bess is the one who comes over after Kate and Carson’s fight) around Nancy, like in CRY.

You’d think that, in the face of Bess’ unambiguous kidnapping, that Nancy would be raising hell — contacting anyone she could, taking no prisoners, ripping Dwayne’s tarp down, turning the island upside down, etc. — but instead, she’s calm, almost relaxed, spending time playing games with monkeys and driving aimlessly around the island.

It honestly makes no sense that she’s like this. This is one of a small handful of games where Nancy is deeply, personally invested, where she has a quick running clock, and where the stakes are deadly yet somewhat unknown.

Nancy comes into this with no background, no contacts, no ability to really look things up, and no help — George’s meager efforts do not count — and yet she acts like there are really no stakes. It doesn’t make me dislike her, it doesn’t make me fold that into her characterization — it just makes me say “wow, the writing is really bad here, huh”.

The Title:

Ransom of the Seven Ships is an amazing title; there’s really no getting around this fact. And for the bare bones of the game, it’s more than a suitable title. You’ve got the word ‘ransom’ doing double duty — meaning both treasure and the price to return someone who’s been kidnapped — you’ve got the ships indicating pirate treasure, and that also tells us we’re probably on an island.

Honestly, this is a far better title than this game really deserved (which is half the reason for this meta: turning the game into something that deserves its title). It’s certainly far better than “The Broken Anchor”, its source material, while keeping a pirate-y nature about it. While it’s a little different than most Nancy Drew games’ titles have been up to this point — as they’re usually “The (Adjective) Noun of Location” or “The Adjective Noun”, that’s not a bad thing at all.

This title really does make me sad with how wonderful it is. It deserved so much better. Same with Ship of Shadows, which is also boss.

The Mystery:

Having won an all-expense paid vacation to Dread Isle in the Bahamas (which should have been their first clue that something hinky was afoot), Bess invites Nancy and George along with her. Nancy arrives the day after the cousins, having stayed for a later flight because of a prior engagement with Carson, and is greeted by a frantic George who tells her that Bess has been kidnapped, that the owners of the resort – the Gibsons — aren’t there, and that she’s been worried sick.

Nancy, naturally, senses something Amiss, and sets off to explore the islands, beginning from the pink sand beach where Bess’ water powered golf cart (yes, I know) is still sitting. She discovers Bess’ shoe next to the only other person on the island — a fisherman named Johnny Rolle from Jamaica — and sets off to explore the rest of the island.

Along the way she finds notes from Bess’ kidnappers, instructions on digging for treasure, twisting island paths, and monkeys. So many friggin monkeys. All of whom Nancy must appease in order to progress in her hunt for one of her oldest friends.

Yeah.

As a mystery…well, what is there really to say about the mystery? It should have been over the second Nancy found Bess’ shoe right outside Dwayne’s camp where a Suspicious Tarp Just Big Enough To Hide the Body of a Young Adult was hanging. An intelligent way to draw it out would be to have Nancy discover Bess there, but for Dwayne to pull a fast one on her and trap her below…but this isn’t the fix section, so let’s just move on past that.

If you weren’t going to add in any new characters or suspects, it might be best to have this game flip from a whodunnit to a howdunnit/howcatchem after the first third; as it is (aka since I’m going to add far more characters in The Fix section), we’ll move right along to the suspect in question himself.

The Suspects:

Yes, I know that this part should just be “The Suspect”.

Believe me, I know.

Wearing a whole cornucopia of masks, Johnny Rolle — aka John E. Poole — is an Australian accountant, hiding from ‘bad clients’ by painting himself brown and adopting a horrible (and horribly stereotypical) Jamaican accent. Nancy discovers his ‘true’ identity by finding an ID with his name on it while he’s still in the ‘Johnny’ disguise. Of course, this ‘true identity’ isn’t his true identity as all…

Dwayne Powers —aka Owen W. Spayder — is sitting underneath the bad wig, bandana, brownface, and horrible accents, and is voiced in this go-around by HER’s chameleon of many voices, good ol’ JVS. After hearing about Dread Isle’s rumors of treasure and their monkey research lab shutting down from a volunteer at his prison (yes, we’re already way too complicated for this game), Dwayne started planning to get the treasure and get revenge on Nancy at the same time.

As the culprit…man is Dwayne horrible. He’s so stupid that it really kills me that Nancy actually falls for his act, because it makes her even stupider. It’s not a good plan, it’s not well thought out, it’s not even a complete plan — it relies on too many unknowables. What if Nancy and George had just stormed his camp and found Bess? What if Nancy figured out it was him? Like, I know Dwayne is an egotist, but this is just dumb.

Before I eviscerate any more, let’s just move on to the few good things in this game.

The Favorite:

The best thing about RAN (other than its music, which as always is super good) is honestly its location. Dread Isle is beautifully and uniquely rendered, and doesn’t look like any other game with the pink-sand beaches, beautiful horizon line, and foliage all befitting a Bahamian resort.

I also like the idea of a returning culprit; while it wasn’t handled well here, I do think it’s a great idea as quite a few culprits have promised revenge on Nancy at the end of their games. Do I think it would have been better if it was Helena, who promised revenge only 2 games ago, rather than going back 18 games to a game that most hadn’t played due to lack of availability? Of course; but the idea behind it was sound.

I don’t have a favorite puzzle or favorite moment; even Dwayne’s dramatic reveal is ruined by the fact that Nancy is at all surprised that he was wearing a disguise and, once again, that the only other person on the island was responsible for kidnapping her friend.

The Un-Favorite:

As far as this section goes…there’s a lot that I don’t like, but there are a few things that stand out more than the rest as truly un-favorite.

My least favorite thing about this game, as you might be able to guess, is that it makes Nancy seem so stupid. We’ve had 19 games of Nancy (mostly; this meta series does go over the exceptions) figuring out clues, chasing bad guys, and solving puzzles without breaking a sweat, and then for this game she’s fooled by some makeup, a wig, and a bad accent? At least in STFD Dwayne put some effort into his work; this is just sad, and it’s even sadder that Nancy falls for it.

My least favorite moment in the game is probably the first conversation with ‘Johnny’. Nancy finds Bess’ shoe, gets strung up in a trap, and then believes that the guy sitting a few feet away is innocent and telling the truth? It’s a moment that truly sets up what a crap shoot this game is about to become, and that alone is enough to make it my least favorite.

My least favorite puzzle is anything to do with the monkeys; playing games with them, scaling the cliff, talking to them, talking about them — literally anything. I don’t like monkeys on a good day, but to have so many puzzles in the game revolve around playing their stupid little games with them? Not a good thing at all. Especially since getting around the island (and, of course, the monkeys live quite far away from anything else on the island) is so aggravatingly slow and clunky — it makes everything feel like a total slog.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Ransom of the Seven Ships?

My gosh, just remake the game.

More seriously, there are quite a few things that I would do in order to make playing through RAN a little more enjoyable and a lot more story-driven (and in line with Nancy and George’s characters). As always, I’m trying to keep this as close to the actual game as possible with few or no huge changes, so Dwayne will still be our culprit, Bess will still have won his giveaway, and Dread Isle will still be the spot of El Toro’s treasure.

The first thing I would do is get rid of Dwayne’s brownface/first disguise, and have him be the Australian accountant named John E. Poole, running from Bad News clients who he didn’t allow to cheat come tax day. That sets him up as a good guy to begin with (if a little foolish to cross such powerful clients), and gives a reason why he’s not staying at the resort (he’s trying to hide and not leave a paper/money trail at the same time). He should be staying in a little homemade hut, not with a Suspicious Tarp Obviously Hiding Bess, as he would have had to been on the island for a while to perfect his disguise (and seem trustworthy to the people at the resort).

I would also have the game take place on Nancy’s 19th birthday; if we assume she was barely 18 at the time of STFD, that makes it about a year that he would have been plotting and escaping and setting up this contest and such. It also makes sense as to why Nancy would have a banquet-thing with Carson and why Bess invited her and George — it’s a fabulous birthday party trip, even for the well-off Nancy Drew. That would also add to her anger — this was a great present that Bess (and George) gave her, and Dwayne has just straight-up ruined it.

Another change that would help the atmosphere is to have at least half the game take place at night. I would have the game take place over roughly two days — it ends the night of the second day — so that you can see the island at night. A lot of the demands made by ‘the kidnappers’ should be done at night — treasure digging, in particular — so as to not be more disruptive to the island than a missing persons case would already be.

Of course, one of the biggest things to do would be to add more suspects.

The Gibsons — both of them — should definitely be there at the resort. I’d have one half of the couple be in the resort during the day, and the other at night, so Nancy can interact with them both differently and have different tasks/discussions with them. Perhaps Mrs. Gibson is an expert on the island’s ‘lore’ — El Toro’s treasure and stuff — while Mr. Gibson is more up on island life and is the law enforcement liaison for the island (who can effectively deputize Nancy to help with the search for Bess).

I would also add one other guest who was supposed to check out right before the first note from the kidnappers came in, and is now stuck on the island until the case is solved. What I’d probably do is make them a Secret Australian (to contrast with Dwayne’s fake Australian accent) — sporting an English accent due to a posh upbringing and studying in England for most of their school life, living in England somewhere (maybe near Blackmoor Manor for a cool Easter egg) — who is Very Grumpy about this and thinks Bess ran off to explore and just got lost. I’d probably make them unhelpful to the last — even when Bess is found and had definitely been kidnapped, to just shrug it off and to board the plane to get home as quickly as possible.

The last person I’d add in is someone working the desk — specifically, an older teenager who is very cagey about themselves and how they know what they know, but who seems to know a lot more than they let on. This person would, of course, end up being a member of ATAC, and once Nancy figures it out, would be able to connect you with help from the Hardy Boys. This ATAC member would be scoping out the Gibsons for evidence of getting guests under false pretenses, but would ultimately change their suspicions to Dwayne and help Nancy and George catch him. Through this ATAC teen, the Hardy Boys could use outside information to give Nancy information about monkeys, the island, treasure, El Toro, and anything else that she encounters, as well as spread their feelers out about the Gibsons, the other guest, and John E. Poole.

I would of course want to improve the tone, which would be helped by having more people on the island — Nancy should feel scared that Bess disappeared with this many people around, and it should feel personal. As the game goes on, even with the added help, the walls should feel like they’re closing in. I would include way more second chances, traps, threatening notes, maybe even recordings of Bess screaming or scared or in pain — something that might push the rating to E+ because, quite frankly, the situation calls for it.

Mechanically, I would put way less focus on the monkeys; they really shouldn’t control everything on the island. Keeping them for a minigame and location is cool, but they definitely shouldn’t have their place of prominence in the game.

I would also remove the fact that you can control George. Out of all the games where I think controlling people other than Nancy would be great, this is not one of them. As worried as Nancy should be, this is George’s cousin — practically her sister, from how close their families are and how much time they spend together — and George would probably be in a State. Sure, she can help with some of the tech stuff, but the player definitely shouldn’t be playing as her in this game. It just feels forced, and it’s not necessary.

Would these changes make RAN a fantastic, award-winning game? No, honestly, they wouldn’t. In order to do that, you’d probably have to scrap the game entirely and start over with even barer bones. But I do think it would help to make it at least better and more playable, and I think that’s a win. Let RAN be remembered for its returning villain and its kidnapping plot, not for being the game that everyone skips during a replay of the series.

#nancy drew #clue crew #nancy drew games #ransom of the seven ships #nancy drew meta #RAN #video games #long post #my meta

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