#might post all the mcs sheets together when they’re done

[day-night-darlix]

my fbi agent, watching me google a bunch of stuff about russian military uniforms and russian military/police issue knives:

[obeymebabes]

Alone Time (Satan x MC)

Warnings: None. 

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KITTY BOY! I always overlook Satan, but he is such a sweetie. Bless him for being such a great nerdy catdad.

Summary: After his birthday party at The Fall, he requests to spend the night with you, alone.

~

“Are you sure they won’t notice that we are missing?” You asked, holding the birthday demon’s hand as you both slid out of the back door of the club. His blue-green eyes met yours, a sly smile dancing across his face.

“They’re all rather tipsy from the demonus, I doubt they will notice. Not to mention it is my birthday after all. I wish to spend the rest of the time with you, and I should get to do so.” The blonde demon answered, guiding you down the late night Devildom streets. 

Taking in the fresh air, you smiled and leaned against him as you walked, feeling his grip around you tighten, you were enjoying his company as he enjoyed yours. 

The night was calm. The only sound being the cars driving down the empty streets. 

“Satan?” You questioned, grabbing his attention. His eyes shifted from the ground beneath him to you.

“I just wanted to let you know that I am really proud of you for winning the bibliobattle. You did amazing up there. Better than I could ever do.” A small smile formed on the Avatar of Wrath’s face. 

“I couldn’t have done it without you, you know. Had you not helped me practice my presentation I may not have secured the win.” His voice was gentle, he slowed to a stop as you reached the front gates of the House of Lamentation.

“MC, I want to thank you, for helping make today really special. I am glad that I have you here with me. All I want is to spend this time with you, to enjoy your presence, just us. Will you grant me that wish?” Satan softly held your hand between the both of his, his eyes looking deep into yours, patiently waiting for a response.

“Satan I didn’t just sneak out of your own birthday party with you just so I could get in trouble later. Of course. I want tonight to be just us.” Watching a content smile form on the demon’s face, you both headed inside. 

When you both reached his room, he cleared a spot on top of one of his many piles of books and placed his first place trophy from the bibliobattle in clear view to whoever may walk in. He was very proud of his win, and wanted to make sure everyone knew that. Alongside the trophy he set his new limited edition book that you gifted him for his birthday. 

“How would you like to come with me to the library and cuddle by the fireplace while I read you one of my favorite novels?” Satan asked while graciously leaning against one of the stacks of books. With a smile and nod from you, he brushed his hand through his hair and turned to get a blanket he had stored nearby.

Seeing him grab the blanket sparked an idea.

“Oh! I have an idea! We could make a little blanket fort and cuddle up in that. It’ll be so perfect!” Your cheerful smile was melting Satan’s heart. He couldn’t help but smile more and grab his pillows and blanket.

“I’d be delighted to build a comfortable fort with you. Will you go grab some extra pillows and blankets while I start to get everything set up?” He asked, heading towards the door. With a simple nod, you headed off to go grab the rest of the supplies that you might need for the blanket fort.

Upon entering the library you could see a struggling Satan, confused as to how to actually build such a thing. Giggling to yourself and resting the blankets and pillows you had gathered on the floor, you headed over to help him.

“Hmm.. Ooo! Come help me grab a few chairs from the dining room! They will be the perfect height!” You excitedly dragged the Avatar of Wrath with you down the hall to the dining room. Satan managed to grab two at once while you were left carrying one. They were heavy, but they were the perfect height to be comfortable with a ton of room to spare. 

Once back in the library, you set up the chairs in a circular shape, leaving an open space in front of the fireplace to allow the warmth to find its way in. After, you took a giant sheet that you had acquired from a spare closet and draped it over the chairs, and added another to cover any spots that may have been exposed. After crawling inside, you asked Satan to hand you some pillows to sit on so you both weren’t left on the hard floor.

Lifting up the sheet to keep the fireplace exposed, Satan crawled in, settling himself comfortably on the mound of pillows you had carefully placed. He handed you a blanket and looked around at the interior of your not so small blanket fort. 

“I have to say I am impressed at how well this came out. It is quite cozy.” He commented, shifting to get closer to you.

“I’m glad you like it. I tried to use what I could to make sure it was perfectly cozy for the special birthday demon.” You snuggled up to him and looked at the book he had rested beside him.

“I believe I have the perfect book for tonight.” He carefully picked up the book and set it comfortably in his lap. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s a magical memory book, from all of my favorite memories of us together. I simply wished to go back through them with you, after all, you are the greatest birthday gift I could’ve ever asked for, and I didn’t even have to.” 

Looking up at him, he was already looking back into your eyes. The love and passion that lingered in his eyes was enough to warm even the coldest of hearts. Satan may be the Avatar of Wrath, but he was so gentle with you, making sure to cater to any and every need you ever had. With a confidence boost from his words, you sat up and wrapped your hand around the back of his neck, gently pulling him close enough to steal a kiss from him. 

Initially he was stunned by your sudden act of affection but eventually melted into your kiss, his hand carefully caressing your face. When you both parted, you could feel the contentedness radiating off of him. 

With no further words spoken, you both settled into a comfortable position as he carefully went through the pages of the memory book. Letting the dim light of the fireplace dance across the sheets, you could feel your eyes get heavier. Satan’s breath slowed, as the warmth that radiated between the both of you pulled him closer to sleep. 

Without any memory of drifting off, you had woken up to a bright flash of light. 

“Shit!” A voice called out.

“You are going to wake them up, shhh!” Another voice.

"Great job idiot, they're awake."

Opening your eyes slowly, rubbing the sleep from them, your eyes were left focusing on a gleaming Asmodeus with his D.D.D. in his hand with a very eager Mammon behind him. 

“Good morning sleepyhead! Hehe!” Asmo’s voice called. You looked around and tried to get up to find yourself wrapped tightly in Satan’s arms, who began to wake up from your movement.

“So this is why you both snuck out last night? Luckyyyy!~” The Avatar of Lust giggled, snapping a quick, probably unflattering picture of you both. “You both look so cute together! I can’t wait to post this to Devilgram!”

"Don't even think about it." Satan was now wide awake, and by the scared look on both Asmo's and Mammon's face, you could tell he wasn't thrilled about such an awakening.

[pseudofaux]

Hi Pseu! Ahh I'm so excited to catch you when your requests are open! Your work is so beautifully written and such a joy to read <3. Could I please request a NSFW drabble for a poly relationship with Zero x MC x Edgar? Edgar's always been a favourite of mine but I just finished Zero's route and what an emotional ride. I absolutely adored the dynamic between Edgar and his "dear protégé" and I would love to see how this would play out in a poly relationship. Thank you so much!! :)

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (lollipops and jellybeans!) 😍🥵 I could see this triad going many different ways, but here’s what came to mind first. Thank you for asking! I (finally) played Edgar’s route so I could get a better handle on him for this and every time he and Zero were in a scene together it gave me a thrill. They’re fun. ♥️ I hope you see and enjoy this!

(Requests are currently closed, I’m finishing overdues now. A masterlist will go up when they have all been posted. Thank you for reading!)

“I don’t want to just talk, you see,” Edgar said. “I have some pride.”

“...I’m not sure the word ‘pride’ covers whatever twisted thing you have,” Zero said tightly.

“I don’t have to follow your orders here,” Zero said, soft but sharp. He was already standing ramrod straight beside the bed, and already scowling, so it was his tone that gave away how much Edgar’s needling had gotten to him.

Said needler, in his seat at the end of the bed, grinned much harder and even sharper. “You do if you want to please her,” Edgar said. The words were very light and dangerous, spoken out of that smile. As always, it made her breathe a little faster, made her want to shift her thighs against one another.

That’s probably why Edgar was holding her knees apart on the bed, to keep her from doing it and to feel whenever she tried. The soft, clean sheet underneath her still felt cool under her skin, but she knew it wouldn’t last.

Zero scowled, but kept any other thoughts tucked behind his tightly-shut mouth. She thought they might be thinking the same thing: that Edgar didn’t get to call the shots just because he was Edgar. She reached for Zero’s hand and gently squeezed.

“You make me plenty happy,” she whispered. The frustration melted out of his body when he sighed.

“And I know you can do even better,” Edgar said sweetly. “And I know you want to. So get her by the jaw. You don’t have to grip, you just need to cage her in with your touch, you know how to do that.”

“I do,” gritted Zero.

“Then do it.”

She thought if she didn’t tire them out they would probably have their swords out on the field later. They could move together in the most luxurious dance, perfectly matched. But today she would not be surprised if they zapped her with static when they put their hands on her body. There was a fierceness at bay…

She liked it. She felt bad for liking it. But she did!

“Please don’t fight,” she said anyway.

Zero looked conflicted. When she looked down her body at Edgar, he raised his best you don’t fool me brow. She was grateful for the way he began trailing his fingers over her thighs— an excuse to giggle. It did tickle, after all. That was how Edgar always touched: light to tease, and then he’d grab whenever he was done playing.

“We’re not here to fight,” Edgar said softly. “Of course not. But remind me, what are we here for, Zero?”

The sweetness of the Ace’s blush, the adorable consternation… she squeezed his hand again. She knew he didn’t like wriggling on Edgar’s hook as much as she did.

“I am here to make Alice happy,” Zero said, and she relished the firm squeeze he gave her right back. “But I’m beginning to wonder if you’re just here to talk.”

Zero rarely skewered back like that. She felt her legs tugging against Edgar’s grip, trying to come together. Some kind of friction, anything, she needed it!

“‘Just here to talk,’” Edgar repeated, dialing up his faux shock. “I suppose we should proceed, if you’re impatient.”

“Still just talking,” Zero said evenly. He was suppressing a smile, and she giggled again. When he met her eyes, he let the smile out and helped guide the back of her head off the mattress. He was careful of her hair and the angle of her neck and, well, everything— Zero always treated her with great care. That was his way of loving her. It was why what they were about to do was so exciting.

“Squeeze either of my hands if you need to stop, okay?” They had been together so long that he didn’t blush, but he was Zero so he waited for her soft sound of agreement before he moved his hands to her jaw and shuffled the step forward that brought his cockhead to her lips. “We can pause for a minute or stop entirely,” he added. And then her tongue was on him, curling down over the beautiful crown of him, so he hissed out half a breath and let her play.

“Good girl,” Edgar breathed. She couldn’t see him with her head like this, but she knew just the dark, beautiful glimmer that was shining in his eyes. She wasn’t sure he liked anything as much as the sight of her with a cock in her mouth, and when it wasn’t his, he could focus more, as he’d tersely explained. Right now he was focusing on slipping off her panties, lifting her by her bottom one cheek at a time and pulling down on the pretty scrap of cotton and lace.

Zero stroked his thumbs over her jaw. It felt like being petted and she moved herself into the touch. He wasn’t moving her at all, only making the space where she was the best place for her to be. Just when she considered stretching her neck to try to take him deeper, he started to move closer. Bumped a vulnerable recess of her mouth and kept going.

Her moan was cut off. He didn’t leave it anywhere to go. Some small sound escaped her nostrils, but she was so happy to have him deeper in her throat that it was more a sigh than anything else. She could feel her breasts gently moved by the effort of her shoulders and neck. It reminded her of wind over a meadow, soft and pretty.

She didn’t know if Edgar was watching her chest, but if he was he apparently decided it wasn’t enough, because he traced the seam of her slit with one gentle touch. She could feel the way she made his finger wet, and how more arousal trickled out of her at his touch. She had never been good at lying. Her body never even seemed to try.

“Who is fucking who up there?” Edgar whispered. They were so quiet they could hear him perfectly. He slipped two fingers in as far as they would go and she whined so hard around Zero that he swore. Then muttered an apology and stroked her jaw again.

“I don’t want to just talk, you see,” Edgar said. “I have some pride.”

“...I’m not sure the word ‘pride’ covers whatever twisted thing you have,” Zero said tightly. She put a hand on the outside of each of his beautiful thighs and tried to pull him closer. He felt so smooth and good in her mouth, so natural and lovely.

“You wound me! Don’t you know how proud I am to see my cherished protégé flourishing so well?” Edgar waved his fingers in her, moving the way she liked, the way that made her aware of every wall and every part of herself. His fingers were slim but strong. His touch meant business even when he teased.

Zero’s fingers dug into her skin. Just a little. She loved it.

“You enjoy the sight because you’re a voyeur, not a mentor,” Zero managed to grit out. She sucked as hard as she could, like it would punctuate the observation with her agreement.

Edgar laughed and slid his other hand back underneath her bottom, so he could squeeze it. “It’s pride,” he said. “And I’ll prove it. Whichever one of you comes first... gets a spanking.”

Sometimes Edgar did get to call the shots just because he was Edgar.

[goofygomez]

An analysis of The Last of Us Part II and its themes

I’ve seen a lot of people share their experience with playing The Last of Us Part II, and it’s safe to say most of it has been largely negative. It’s no secret this might be one of the most divisive games of all time, and it will probably stay that way for a long time after. I personally adored this game. I believe this is the masterpiece of masterpieces, and it’s the only game to ever top the emotions I felt when playing the first game, although I will say in terms of raw story (with nothing else like gameplay to support it) the first game is still a bit higher on the list for me.

But for all intents and purposes, when considering all aspects of this game, I think this is the single greatest accomplishment in game design and storytelling I’ve ever seen in a video game. That being said, I would like to try and respond to some of the criticisms this game has gotten, and furthermore, I’d like to try and analyze some of the themes I noticed when playing the game. Keep in mind this is MY opinion, and should not be taken as fact. This is just my experience, and I’ll respect yours one way or the other.

Take this as a MAJOR WARNING that there will be spoilers for both games in this post.

With that, let’s start with the common criticisms:

1.       “They killed Joel for no damn reason. He deserved better.” This is an easy one to tackle. For one, Joel most definitely did not deserve better. Even though we might love him for being the first game’s MC and have grown attached to him, there’s no way we can or should look past the fact that he, Joel, is a bad man. He even says himself in the first game that he and Tommy did some questionable things to survive in the 20 years between the outbreak and even during the events of TLOU. While he may be perceived as the hero of the franchise, when you look at his rap sheet, you start to notice he’s not so great after all. Take the ending of TLOU as the most glaring example, where Joel has been told Ellie must die in order for the Fireflies to develop a vaccine. His first and only reaction is to kill every single Firefly he sees and murder the surgeon who would have killed his “baby girl”. Would I have done any different in his shoes? Probably not, but that’s the beauty of the first game. Its ending and the ambiguity of Joel’s morality given his actions is one of the driving forces that make the first game so spectacular and why it’s still being discussed 7 years later. Now let’s talk about the second point to this criticism: “He died for no reason”. If you recall, the people who killed him were former Fireflies, one of which (Abby) was the daughter of the surgeon whom Joel unceremoniously killed. In their eyes, they had every right to go after Joel. Like Anthony Caliber, one of the best TLOU speedrunners, said in one of his recent livestreams, “Joel signed his own death sentence when he killed Marlene and the surgeon back at the hospital in TLOU1”. While it may seem overly zealous to us as players who have grown to love Joel, if the roles had been reversed would you not do the same? Would you not want revenge for the killing of your father? And isn’t that exactly what Ellie is doing in this game, which most players justify in this hatred of Abby?

2.       “Joel was out of character in giving out his name and trusting strangers. They dumbed him down for the sake of plot.” As I recall, Joel literally gave Henry and Sam his name and followed them out to their hideout barely 30 seconds after meeting them and beating the shit out of Henry. Joel may be an untrusting person at heart but he always does so with reason. The most common reason people give of this is “He didn’t trust the guy asking for help in Pittsburg and ran him over so why trust Abby and her gang”. First of all, that was literally the one situation Joel had already been on the other side of, and knew perfectly well it was rehearsed. On the flipside, he and Tommy had just saved Abby and literally mention there’s no other way to go other than with her because there’s a huge blizzard and a herd was after them. And especially now, after Joel has been living in Jackson for 4 years now and has been living comfortably in a community very obviously open to new people. Abby’s group gave them no reason to distrust them, and giving out his name, in any other situation, would have made no difference in the outcome. It was just unfortunate they happened to be after him.

3.       “I hate playing as Abby, why are they trying to make me sympathize with her?” That’s the whole point, they’re not. The entire game, you keep rooting for Ellie to find and kill this woman who wronged you, and when you’re forced to play as her, you’re understandably angry. You’re upset, and you feel you have to slog through this seemingly endless section of the game. But as you keep playing, much like I did, you start seeing the other side of the story. Abby is not the villain the game paints her out to be when she killed Joel. She’s another human being with human emotions and a very real reason to hate Joel and to want him dead. As I said before, Abby is doing exactly what Ellie eventually does after Abby kills Joel.

4.       “Why would Ellie go through all that effort to not kill Abby in the end?” I will touch on this in the analysis of the themes, but simply put, it was about breaking cycles.

Now I’d like to start defending how and why I believe this is a masterpiece by first taking a look at one of the admittedly less touched upon parts: gameplay. This aspect usually takes a step back when it comes to narrative-based games, and it is obviously not the most resounding part of this game, but it is clearly not taking a back seat either. The flow of both combat and mellower scenarios in this particular game is astounding. When battling opponents, the AI feels like one of the most intelligent I’ve ever seen in a video game. The way the enemies communicate between each other, telling the others when the player is out of ammo or when they’re flanking to create much more nuanced fight sequences, coupled with the expanded worlds Naughty Dog has come up with to create a seamless experience when fighting hordes of enemies without it feeling stale or repetitive, is one of the most immersive gaming experiences I’ve ever had. Each encounter feels unique and challenging in some ways you may not have felt before in the game, and by the end you’re so immersed in that feeling that going through the Santa Barbara group (to me, at least) was almost automatic and I could see so many different options for me to approach each situation as it came my way.

Likewise, Naughty Dog have managed to turn the puzzle solving from the first game, where you simply had to find a dumpster to step on or a door to open with a shiv, and incorporate the environment and world into it, finding clever ways to get over obstacles without simply having a step-up ladder be the end of it. The mechanics that went into the rope puzzles, breaking windows to get to previously unexplored territory (which is admittedly not new in gaming, but still a cool concept to add to the franchise) paired together with so many more new little features to bring the world they created to life, and bring you into it as well.

As always, and as was the case with the first one, you can’t talk about The Last of Us without talking about the soundtrack. The haunting score created by the masterful mind of Gustavo Santaolalla, a fellow Argentinean like me, brought to life some of the most heart-wrenching moments and the most beautiful ones as well, in a way that can only be achieved with amazing sound design and music. The main theme song, which is a sort of homage to the one from the first, takes a much darker approach, choosing instead to focus on the bass and that resounding low voice in the background, setting the tone for the rest of the game: a much darker, grittier, and grounded experience that will pull no punches. Santaolalla managed to create a score that mimics the first one in melody and rhythm, while succeeding in mirroring it to create a more dissonant accompaniment to the gruesome story you’re brutally killing your way through.

Another aspect of the game that deserves all the praise it gets, and one that people seem to at least be in consensus about, is the graphics and animation design. I can safely say this is hands down the most beautiful, gorgeous, astounding, breathtaking game I’ve ever laid my eyes upon, and that might not be enough adjectives to fully encapsulate how I feel about the graphics in this game. One can argue all day about the morality of the characters in the game or the balance between right and wrong that Naughty Dog so masterfully plays with in the story, but one thing is for sure: The graphics design team deserves so much credit for actually bringing the story and the characters we know and love to such vivid life. You can see it in the little things, like the veins in Joel’s arm as he plays “Future Days” by Pearl Jam and the facial expressions Ellie can make if you stand in front of a mirror during the museum flashback; you can also see it in the larger things, like the jaw-dropping backdrops that range from a beautiful mountain range in the snow to the downtown Seattle skyline. No moment will be wasted by stopping your pace to just admire the absolutely gorgeous view you’re presented with every time you enter a new game world. The attention to detail in animation is also not lacking at all, with so many little actions being given special treatment as we see Ellie patch herself up and still having the actual bandage over her arm instead of disappearing like any other game, or the way Ellie’s fingers perfectly (and correctly) play chords without resorting to generic hand gestures. You can see the love and care the developers have for this game in every tiny crack in the game that simply takes your breath away and that sometimes you won’t even see from the vastness of the world around you.

And finally, the story. It is definitely a divisive story, and Neil Druckmann did warn us it would be. There were times, namely the moment they switched the POV to show me the first 3 days from Abby’s perspective, when I was genuinely wondering what the hell they were thinking. My faith in Naughty Dog never wavered, though. I kept playing because I thought, “There must be some reasoning for this.” And to my greatest relief, it finally clicked for me a few hours into Abby’s section. Namely, the moment where she meets Lev and Yara, two Seraphites that defected after the former shaved his head. At first, it seemed weird that they would be cast out for such a stupid reason, but then you start to get to know them, and you understand the real reason they had to leave their religious cult. As I said before and will say again, this is a game about perspective. Up until that point, I just wanted Abby dead, albeit with some guilt since learning that it was her father Joel killed in that operating room. But seeing Abby’s willingness to help total strangers, much like Joel did at the start of the game, was what sold me on this game’s concept. The purpose of this story is to make you feel the regret and the weight of the actions you impart on the world, as you can see the carnage Ellie left in her wake during your time as Abby, seeing Abby’s friends butchered by either Ellie or Tommy, realizing they’re no different than the villains we have such tunnel vision about. The ending is something I’ll get to in the themes, but I just have to say I love the way it’s such a parallel to the first game’s ending, up to the point of divisiveness in the people who actually played and finished the game (which at the time of writing this is less than 4% of players).

Now onto the themes. One of the things people always praise about the first game, and rightfully so, is its themes and how well it portrays them through certain characters to create a cohesive and coherent story that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you root for the “heroes” of the game. This time it’s not much different, with the minor exception that this time, there are no heroes. Just like Neil Druckmann said many times during the development of Part II, “While the first game was about love, this game is about hate”, which is one of the main themes.

1.       Hatred: I can safely say there have been very few times of my gaming life where I’ve been so viscerally angry (in a “good” way) while playing a video game as I have as I tore down through countless enemies that got in the way of me and my target. This game will let out the worst parts of you in ways you can’t even imagine, and will make you take a look at the way we glorify violence in video games without the usual preachy tone of “video games cause violence”. Like I said before, this is a game that mirrors the first one while paying homage to its themes. To take a page out of Abby’s book, it’s like a coin. There are always two sides to it. On the one hand, the first game’s main theme was love, and how loss and grief can be overcome with it with the proper care and time. The Last of Us Part II shows us the uglier side of human nature, which is anger, despair and a natural desire for revenge (another theme). Both games show us the natural progression of a grieving person, but both of them take wildly different approaches. Granted, we don’t know how brutal and vicious Joel was right after losing Sarah, but it’s safe to assume he was nothing short of a monster, which eventually didn’t really help in dealing with that loss until he found love and hope in a little girl whose safety was now his utmost responsibility. In Ellie’s case, she’s still in that first stage. Ellie as a character has always been reckless and foolhardy, and her actions in this game are a testament of how well Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross know their characters. The entire game, right up until the final moments where she’s about to finish Abby off, her actions are fueled by a rage and desire to exert justice onto those who’ve wronged her. In other words, she’s looking for revenge.

2.       Revenge: Both main characters have at least one thing in common, and it is their desire to avenge their father/father figure. I truly believe that Joel’s death was not only justified (from a storytelling perspective) but also crucial to the development of a sequel that both enhanced the world of The Last of Us while building onto it with new ideals and perspectives. The idea this time is definitely not one we haven’t seen before in so many other mediums: “Revenge is bad and is never worth it” Seems trivial to even suggest it when we all know the outcome, but The Last of Us Part II manages to not only build upon the idea that revenge is a double-edged sword, but it also manages to balance the perspectives within that cycle to attempt to explore the psyche of the characters we’ve put into the boxes of “hero” and “villain”. And subsequently, they manage to break that characterization by showing us both sides of the aforementioned coin to see, in no unclear terms, that the consequences of our actions when dealing with vengeance always circle back to expose the nastiest side of our nature. It stands to reason that we, as the player, would at first be on board with Ellie “finding and killing every last one of them”, and demonizing Abby for not only killing but torturing possibly one of the most beloved characters in gaming history. We want her dead. We want her to suffer for the crime she’s committed. Yet, in our quest for vengeance and justice, would we not be succumbing to the same cycle that brought Abby to killing Joel in the first place? Did she not think, from her perspective, that she was entirely justified in killing the man who had not only destroyed the one chance humanity had against the Cordyceps, but also murdered her father in cold blood? Are we not the same as Abby for wanting her dead after she kills one of our own? When does it end? And that’s the real question. This whole thing, the lust for revenge that can only be quenched with cold-blooded murder, is just another facet to our complex and grey morality as human beings. It’s natural for us to feel angry and upset at this, and I believe all the hatred people give this game that stems from it forcing you to play as Abby is the exact nature the game is trying to bring out of us and show to us in a mirror.

3.       Cycles: While this may not be such an obvious catch as the first two, it’s still very much ingrained in the inner workings of this game’s narrative and how both characters view the world according to their reality and perspective. The concept of revenge, as stated above, is a repetitive one. One that causes cycles and events to repeat themselves if left unchecked, and The Last of Us Part II plays with these masterfully. Starting the game with a heartbreaking moment and setting the dark tone for the rest of the game is what starts the first part of this cycle, which is Ellie wanting to avenge Joel’s death, much like Abby avenged her father’s death after 4 years of despair, planning, and training. Ellie’s desire to kill Abby is what leads her down the path we would characterize, were she some random character and not the main one of the franchise, as the villain’s route, going down a dark path that prompts her to mindlessly and mercilessly slaughtering countless people whose names you hear from their friends’ mouths when you kill them, to the point where you end up getting to Abby’s closest friends and companions and murdering them too, not unlike Abby murdered Joel. It is a sobering feeling to realize the character you most love and root for is, in the eyes of the other main character, as much of a villain (if not more) as we as players make Abby out to be. It is at the end of the game, which a lot of players had qualms about, where Ellie is beating Abby within an inch of her life that she realizes this is not worth it. Killing Abby will not bring Joel back, and will certainly not bring her any satisfaction, as showcased by how traumatized Ellie was after the killings of Abby’s other friends and the fact that she still kept seeing Joel’s lifeless body as she attempted to drown Abby on that coast. Then, as we are mercilessly choking the life out of her, which is yet another example of the visceral anger the game elicits from the player, we see a different memory of Joel. One of hopefulness, where Joel is playing the guitar and smiling. It is at that moment that Ellie realizes the only thing she can do now is to move on with her life and accept Joel’s death as something that happened. To add onto this realization, it’s probably good to mention that Ellie must have seen some of herself in Lev in that killing Abby would have left him (if not dead) in a state much like the one she, Ellie, was at the start of the game. Coming back to the theme of cycles, if Ellie killed Abby, what’s to stop Lev from coming after Ellie the same way she came after Abby, and so on and so forth. Both these things coupled help Ellie finally break the cycle and go back to the farm, where she’s greeted with the consequences of her actions in a more emotional and real way than the PTSD: Dina being gone and Ellie leaving her guitar behind, symbolizing her letting go of Joel’s memory and accepting her reality.

The game scares us; it scares me. It is a harrowing experience that will only get better with time and will, in my humble opinion, go down as one of the greatest games of all time for years to come. No matter the context, and no matter the medium, I wish it were easy to find such real, emotional, and powerful pieces of art as this one more often. But alas, we will have to wait and see. As someone whose name I can’t seem to remember said: “This will mark the gaming industry and divide it between ‘Before TLOU2 and After TLOU2”

[resetmypatientviolence]

Call Me Walker (Drake x MC)[NSFW]

Note: I apologize for the angst I’ve been putting out. To remedy this, please enjoy some pure af FLUFF & SMUT (Flut? Sluff?) of Drake x Jaela as they deserve some happiness in one of their many AU’s they can exsist in outside of the Supposed To Be series. This is directly inspired by this post by @lilywoood.

Word Count: 2,204

Pairing: Drake x Jaela

Rating: M

Warnings: Some smut, nothing crazy. Lots of fluff.

Summary: “Is Drake going to call us Walker after we marry him or is he going to call MC by her name?” - @lilywoood

Suggested Song Accompaniment: The Walker-- Fitz and The Tantrums (just cause)

“Drake, no, I’m serious. This is a serious question,” Jaela says, leaning over the bar, unable to keep a straight face. Drake laughs, pushing hair out of her face, fingers trailing down her cheek. His face is red from whiskey and laughter of the night.             

“You can’t be serious, Abdi. What kind of question is that, even?” Jaela sips whiskey, leaning forward even more. She smirks when Drake’s gaze falls to her chest and he groans under his breath. That and he’s putty in her hands.

She reaches and grabs his hand, her engagement ring flashing under the dive bars warm light. The music is loud, but all she focuses on, as always, is Drake. “I am. What are you going to call me when we’re married? Walker? Abdi?” 

He shakes his head, hair falling over his eyes, just like she likes. The bartender makes a drink behind her. He doesn’t mind; or at least he didn’t tell Drake or Jaela that he didn’t. They’re always here after all. It’s their spot in Cordonia, when they could finally have their spot. “You know, I haven’t thought about it much.”             

Jaela clicks her whiskey-laced tongue, eyes glittery with intoxication. “Oh, just like you weren’t thinking about anything the night of the Ball?” She jokes, but her smile falters. The Homecoming Ball. The night she thought he lost him, forever. “Sorry…”    

  Drake shakes his head and squeezes her hand, sipping the last of his whiskey. “Well… I was lying then. But now…” Drake’s thumb runs over his grandmother’s ring, a perfect fit on her finger. Jaela still didn’t—couldn’t—believe it. “You’re still going to be Abdi, Abdi.”          

“And Walker,” she corrects, walking back around to sit next to him at the bar, pulling the stool and nearly sitting on his lap. Drake sucks in a breath, eyebrow raised. She grips his knee, drawing circles on it. “Duchess Jaela Abdi-Walker of Valtoria… has a nice ring to it, huh?”           

 “Oh, very. Maybe except for the Duchess part… but I’ll manage.” Drake pulls her into a kiss, nipping her red lower lip, sending shivers up and down. Right when he deepens it, Jaela’s hand sneaking up his thigh—their telltale sign that it’s time to go home and to the bed, or table, or shower… or bar… the door slams open and Maxwell’s voices rings out. Together, they groan, brown eyes opening at the same time, lips still locked.             

“Called it!”            

Drake and Jaela separate, smiles returning as Maxwell, Hana, Liam, and Olivia surround them. Hana immediately loops an arm through Jaela’s. “Hmm… that obvious where we’d go?” Jaela says, standing up and straightening out her dress, stumbling in her heels for a second. It was only three glasses… after all that champagne….           

 “Just a bit,” says Liam. “It did take a while to realize you two had disappeared from your own rehearsal dinner without Bastien noticing, somehow.”  

“I’m even impressed,” Olivia says, interlocking her hand with Liam, hip popped.

Jaela smirks and locks eyes with Drake, her fiancé. Husband, tomorrow. They both knew a wedding of this scale would be all too much—but promised each other from the start that they’d find times to make it their own. Escaping the rehearsal dinner, barely keeping their clothes on in an alley, and settling in at their bar was one of the many moments stolen and secured for their enjoyment and joyous memories of their time planning their wedding.             

“Now… you know tradition… it’s time to get you two to bed.” Jaela rolls her eyes as Hana and Olivia lead her away, stealing one glace at Drake, bartender already preparing three glasses of whiskey for the boys.             

“Since when have we been traditional now, Hana?” Jaela giggles and trips, still looking back at Drake. Olivia rolls her eyes and loops her arm with Jaela’s. 

“Hana, you’re on water duty this time. This night is not going to be a repeat of the bachelorette party.”            

“Night, Abdi,” he says, holding a glass high. Jaela beams, blowing him a kiss, blushing like she did the first time he called her that—though that might have been from anger. She can’t remember anymore, but that doesn’t matter.            

Tomorrow she marries Drake Walker. 

*            

“Say it.”            

“Say what?”            

“Oh, you ass!” Jaela laughs, shoving Drake in bed. They’re tangled up the white sheets; dawn peeks over the horizon, light pink and blue and perfect and she can’t believe it’s morning after their wedding. She’s tired, but her eyes are still bright. Maybe they’re both a little whiskey drunk from their sleepless night.

  Drake grins and rolls on top of her, pinning her wrists down. Her smile falls and she bites her lip, warmth and chills running through her at the same time. He, however, doesn’t lose the smile. “Hmm… what was your question, Abdi?” He kisses her neck and she groans. His naked body is warm—and marked with her bruises from the night—and his lips are trailing soft kisses exactly where she likes them.             

“I don’t think I asked a question…” she murmurs, capturing his lips once they reach her jaw. A hand frees her wrist, running down her curves, squeezing the flesh, fingertips kneading, until he grips her thigh and hitches it up, Jaela gasping in surprise. They deepen their kiss, biting and sucking on each other’s lips, sloppy then expert, hips rolling, but not touching—only teasing of what to come. Finally, her free hand grips his hair, pulling his head back. She’s breathless and so is he.             

“Again?” She licks her lips, anticipation building the longer they stare. He nods, going for another kiss, hip thrusting, but Jaela moves her leg, brushing against his hardness. Drake gasps, nearly losing grip of her thigh. “Mm, but first—”       

She easily pushes him over, straddling his waist in seconds, hands on his chest, nails pressing. She hovers over him, smirking. Oh, she wants him. Her core is burning, breathing unsteady the longer she draw this out. His eyes darken with desire. “You’re killing me Abdi.”            

Raising an eyebrow, she runs her nails down his chest, Drake sucking in a breath. “Call me Walker.” She lowers, slightly, but enough to feel him brush against her. They shudder together—she can barely keep it together, but she needs to win this battle… somehow.             

Drake takes her hands in his, supporting her. “You’re such a tease, you know that,” he whispers, looking her up and down. He licks his lips in his pause, eyes flashing before he grips her hips, Drake and Jaela meeting each other at the same time. “Walker.”

 *            

She likes the social engagements far more than he does, but Jaela can’t help but think some of him rubbed off on her. To be fair, they’d been married only but a month. She still wants to be locked up in their cabin like they were two weeks ago, but duty calls.             

Jaela sips her drink, eyes darting around the ballroom. Hadn’t she done enough mingling? Where was Drake? Enough reasonable time had passed where they could slip out and not be noticed.             

“Walker,” says a voice in the crowd, but she just sips her drink again, leaning against the wall, royal blue dress brushing the floor. “Walker,” it repeats and Jaela finishes her drink.             

“My god, Walker.” Drake’s breath in her ear makes Jaela jump, nearly dropping the glass.             

“Shit, Drake! You scared me!”            

He laughs, winding an arm around her waist, drawing her close. “I thought you liked it when I called you Walker, Abdi.” Jaela cracks a giddy smile, like she always does, whenever he says it. Her heart flutters, pressing her leg on his inner thigh. Drake downs the rest of his whiskey.             

“Oh, you know I do. Still have to get used to it. Took me a while for you when you called me Abdi.” She rests her head on his shoulder, looking out at the people, all the nobles. Somehow, two commoners became Duke and Duchess of Valtoria. The Walker’s. A pleasant chill ran through her.             

“Heh. Knew you always hated it at first.”            

“Hate? Nah,” she says, turning to face him, a devilish smile on her lips. She grips his tie. He gulps. “Made me want to get to know the man who refused to call me by my name. You have horrible deflection skills, you know that, Walker?” Their lips are a hair apart, pupils dilated. Out of the corner of her eye, Jaela notices Liam shaking his head.             

“Yes, but thankfully, I have better sneaking the hell out of here skills.” Now, their lips are brushing together.             

“Mm, that you do.” Jaela’s tongue flicks out, touching his lips. A small moan escapes from his throat, Jaela feeling him grow against her leg.            

 “The secret passage?”           

 “If we can wait that long, Walker.”

*            

Jaela strokes her daughter’s hair, the three-year-old curled in her bed, sound asleep. Drake, carefully, puts away the book they read to her that night. He reaches the doorway and shuts the light off, the only light coming from the night light, shaped like a fairy princess in the corner.             

Holding her breath, Jaela tiptoes out of the room, filled with everything imaginable and more for her. Drake shuts the door, both letting out a breath. It was the nightly routine, made better when they both could be at home, but it only worked half the time. Typically she’d cry out and demand they read her another story, and so forth. Tiring, but worth it.             

“She’s getting better at that,” Drake says, picking Jaela up and carrying her to the living room. She stifles a giggle, arms securely around him as he whisks her away.             

“It’s cause she’s growing up, but you won’t seem to acknowledge that.”            

“Ah, no. She ain’t growing up, ever.”            

“Just think of the day we don’t have to deal with Dr. Seuss ever again.” 

“The Cat in the Hat is a masterpiece, Abdi.” Jaela rolls her eyes and he sets her down on the couch, the sun sinking low, twilight at hand. She looks outside, smiling. The forest looks stunning. Life is beautiful. Perfect. 

She picks up a book from the coffee table, pausing to look at her wedding band. How far they’ve come in six years… and how much more to go. Drake returns, two whiskeys in hand. Jaela shakes her head, holding up her water.

“Not tonight, I’ve got that meeting early, remember?” Drake shrugs, setting the second glass on the coffee table and sitting down, picking her legs up to rest on his.

“Can’t complain. I’d rather sit here longer with you, anyways, Walker.” A familiar smile curves on her lips. Every time he says it, Walker, her heart soars. He matches her expression, their eyes locked, lost in the moment. Sure, she’s called Duchess Abdi-Walker, sometimes just Abdi or just Walker by others—but nothing gives her the greatest pleasure than hearing that name off of Drake’s lips, taking her back to their wedding day. Crowded—too crowded—with nobles but she doesn’t remember that. All she does remember is the first time he called her Walker, whispering it the second after they kissed, husband and wife. She loves him so, still. And more, everyday. 

Jaela removes her glasses, a new feature of her thirties, eyebrow raised. “You know what Lia called me today?” Drake sips the whiskey, a smirk on his lips.  “Don’t you look at me like that!” she laughs, playfully poking his stomach with her foot.

 “Okay, okay… what did she call you?” 

“Abdi!” Drake laughs, loud, then covers his mouth, glancing down the long hall towards her room. Jaela snorts, grinning, eyes bright. He lowers his hand, smiling wide too and rests a hand on her ankle, thumb rubbing against the bone.

 “Okay… that might be my fault there. This time. Her learning how to climb counters was all you.”

She waves a hand, heart swelling the more she looks at him. “Pst. That was one time. She’s just smart.” Jaela bites her lip, locking eyes with Drake, a smile that she kept trying to contain for the past week breaking through. “All I’m saying is… you’ve got to be careful. I don’t want our kids calling me Abdi or Walker in public.”

First, he does nothing. Then, Jaela sets her book on the floor as the realization dawns on him. “Did you say kids?” He nearly spills the whiskey and they scramble to meet each other on the couch, faces in each others hands. There are tears in both of their eyes as Drake stares, jaw dropped. “You’re?”

She nods and they kiss, Drake pulling her close, arms tight around each other, lost in the world of joy. Of growth. Of love. Finally, they separate, Drake nearly speechless. Jaela wipes away his tears.

“Just a few weeks,” she whispers. “But I’ve got an appointment in the morning. I’ve already made sure you were free. You wanna see our baby tomorrow?”

Before he could answer, hand already on her stomach, a door opens and there’s a pattering of feet. They pull apart, smiles contagious. Tenderly, Drake kisses her cheek as Lia draws closer. “It’s your turn tonight, Walker.”

[hopoo]

DEADBOLT Q&A

I tried to answer every question as honestly as I could, so I hope this is a good read. If your question isn’t there, it’s either identical to another one asked or joined together with another question. Cheers!

Q: In total, how much time does the campaign of Deadbolt span? It’s hard to tell, what with it being infinite nighttime and all.

A: I would imagine a month-ish. It is implied that the Candles are doing some sort of investigative work between missions, which would surely take some time. Q: Did you have any major inspirations for the visual design of DEADBOLT? A: John Wick is obviously the biggest one! Q: What would hopoo do if someone made a game completely based and inspired from Deadbolt and its… Concept? (with permission and not) A: There’s no way DEADBOLT is that unique in settings or thematics – ultimately, you know what’s right and what’s wrong when you’re inspired by a work, and so will everyone else! If you feel obligated to ask for permission, maybe you’re not exploring enough original ideas? Q: When will we get modding? if so could we get a simplified modding kit? Any plans for updating dedbort, even just the map editor? Feature for adding custom sprites, rotation tool, copypasta tool, just to name a few… A: So the thing with that is that the map editor is only half the equation – while the map editor may be writing stuff to files, it also has to be interpreted on the end by the DEADBOLT game itself. Therefore, adding features that aren’t supported in engine simply won’t work – it won’t know what youre talking about. While rotation is supported in the engine, it doesn’t know how to read that from the files, etc. I also am trying to avoid any legacy issues where old maps are required for old versions of DEADBOLT, or vice versa. Q: When is deadbolt 2 coming with werewolves and mummies A: Werewolves aren’t undead you dingus. But mummies could be cool.

Q: Will the stuff that came with the release of Deadbolt on Play Station, will be added on PC? A: Nope, that was sorta our deal-sweetener for getting on the Sony consoles. Q: Will we ever see expansion levels for Deadbolt or would we get Deadbolt 2 instead? A: DEADBOLT 2 maybe sometime

Q: Does Ibzan is gay? A: I haven’t really thought of the sexual orientation of any of the characters, and I definitely don’t want to pull a JK Rowling and retroactively assign them. So in terms of canon, that just hasn’t been explored.

Q: Would you prefer deadbolt 2 to be in 3d and 2d? Would you do a sequel? A: DEADBOLT is probably the narrowest design space I’ve worked with – there’s no dodging, insta death, insta travel attacks. By the end I felt very stretched out in terms of enemy design, and for that alone I’d think 3D. But hey, I may also just hate 3D by the end of RoR2 so who knows :^). I’d love to do a sequel one day, most likely from the perspective of Ibzan. But who knows! Q: Did Ibzan want to kill the Fire, or just try to reconcile with it? A: He just wanted to talk – but who knows what would’ve happened after the Fireplace rejected him? Q: Would you be interested in going back to the world of deadbolt sometime in the future? I remember hearing somewhere a 3D concept would be interesting to work on. A: I wish I was talented or driven enough to write comics for it – I think DEADBOLT is more about the stories of individuals, compared to RoR who is a story of the universe. I wrote the Cassette Tapes to reflect that. Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d change about Deadbolt? A: Hmmm… I just wish I somehow could expand more on the lore and gangs, and what their goals were. Gameplay-wise, it was a tad too short. I liked doing a few standard stages, and then a mix-up stage (sniper, trap, boss, etc) – maybe we could’ve fit in a few more rotations. Q: What’s your favourite loadout? A: Death/Taxes and Flashbang, like a scrub. Q: Would you ever be interested in restarting the asset suggestion thread A: I consider DEADBOLT to be done – as a 2 (now 3!) man team, we financially can’t do the games-as-a-service thing like most big companies can for smaller games like DEADBOLT. I also intended DEADBOLT to be a one-and-done thing as a contrast for Risk of Rain, which we updated for years after release.

=CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT= I personally also think that EVERY game getting a bunch of DLCS and updates and patches for a long time is, in a way, exhausting as a player. I think it makes it hard to feel satisfied when you finished a game and it’s over and you feel completed in the journey, knowing it’s not ~technically~ over until the devs stop patching. I think it’s great for some games (mostly multiplayer-based ones), but some games you just gotta let… finish, on a good note. Semi-open ended endings are always unsatisfying, in my opinion, and so recently it just feels like you don’t ever complete a game. …On the flip side, we are planning on doing lots of post-launch support for RoR2 because it’s actually inline with our design goals, so don’t fret! Q: Will bugs like Scythe not having a cover sprite or some enemies not having a falling sprite (which causes the game to crash) be fixed? A: Which enemies have been missing a falling sprite? They should be resorting to idle, not crashing. Bosses? Q: Just wanted to say, you guys are my favorite games studio, hands down. Now for the question: Now that the Reaper has completed his task and is allowed to rest, what’s next? Is the Fireplace going to keep him resting for a while? Does our MC have another task to accomplish? A: The Fireplace has never let a reaper “rest” before - the reason he is allowed to rest is because Ibzan never got to, and the Fireplace is trying something different with you. This is unexplored territory for the both of them – presumably he just pets his cat and gets bored before getting back to work. Q: What happens to everyone else in the afterlife? A: People who aren’t in the Place? Who knows, and who cares about boring happy afterlife 😊 Q: I had a question about the lore. There’s mentions of places outside the city, across the river Styx. What are they and what are they like? A: The Styx connects the other realms together, including (presumably) wherever the demons came from. This is explored lightly in one of the demon cassette tapes. Q: Will you ever expand more on the world of deadbolt or are you 100% done with it at this point? A: Nope definitely not done, really wanna explore more one day Q: What’s your office address? For post and stuff, maybe I want to send you a box full of A4 sheets of paper with a thousand hoopters on each. A: Maybe this is the paranoia in me but I’m not comfortable posting my address online – you can just tweet it at me a thousand times instead Q: Did Ibzan think the flames would give warmth to the Dredged or was he just lying to them and using them for his own gain? A: He was lying to himself, but he did truly believe that this was going to work, because this (at the time, anyways) seemed like the only way out. Metaphor woawoawo Q: Could you add some sorta DEADBOLT reference into RoR2?  Will the Reaper be playable in Risk of Rain 2 as a bonus? A: Definitely references happening in some form, but playable might be stretchin’ it a bit, especially since it’d be taking up the slot of some more in-universe secret character. Q: How excited are for RoR2? A: Honestly very nervous for the reception, with very big shoes to fill as a sequel for RoR. I just hope people like it, and that we don’t get burnt on 3D because there’s so many possibilities in the future for our games in 3D. Q: How are the Demons born? We know they’re made in birthing chambers, but then is it just like humans or is there anything specific needed for a demon to be born f.e. skeletons>suicide, zombies>overdose, etc. A: Demons aren’t undead and don’t naturally exist in the Place, which is why they have to be smuggled over – they exist in whatever version of hell is in the DEADBOLT universe, and are natural denizens of the underworld. Q: was izban hot before he died? A: The hottest Q: do all the nightclubs canonically have chris c. as the dj A: Yes Q: I love Deadbolt very dearly and i’ve listened to its soundtrack (particularly “Now I Am Become Death”) more times than i can remember. What’s your favourite tune from Deadbolt ? A: Defunktorum or The Proverbial Dust Biters Q: In the Hardmode Cassette Tape it talked about a Reaper that wasn`t the current Reaper that we play as in the Game. Was this Reaper Izban? Since in the tape, he talked about the fireplace as his friend and that could be why he wanted to go back to the fireplace through the portal at the end of the game, to revisit his friend. A: Yes yes and yes. This was most heavily implied in Ibzan’s “home”, which parallel yours. Q: Will RoR2 still have opportunities to create silly messy builds like covering the screen in missiles or releasing an endless stream of Thqwibs? If so, how are you working to mitigate the performance impact of those crazy builds? A: Yep! Currently we have a system that detects the average particle count in a scene and slowly adds a chance non-important effects (like hitsparks or impacts) don’t ever spawn. This will at some point also involve turning off expensive effects and reducing particle LODs. Q: I really love the attention to detail to the characters, environment, aesthetics and gameplay mechanics. Its themes on the criminal underworld and the supernatural give a unique identity in a high-octane/stealth pixel action game I have not seen before. Additionally what prompted or inspired you to make DEADBOLT in the first place? A: DEADBOLT in its entirety was supposed to be not-Risk of Rain. It’s a gorey, violent, moody singleplayer puzzle-stealth game. We were just burnt out from the Risk of Rain experience, and we also wanted to flex our design muscles a bit and show that hey, we’re not just a one-trick pony of gamedevelopment :^) Q: I just played through this game on PS4/Vita over the weekend. Huge fan of Risk of Rain. Even bought it through Limited Run Games. So I had to pick up Deadbolt (Didn’t previously know you had made it either.) and I love it. Its a super solid experience. I’m not sure I have any questions about it. I guess I was curious if co-op multiplayer was ever considered in development? Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see what you guys make next. A: Nope, because of the reasons above – we wanted a single player game, since RoR was a multiplayer one. Q: First of all, congratulations!! I really loved the game since came out, I bought it for my birthday, since risk of rain made me fell in love with all the pixel art in it, deadbolt didn’t disappointed me!! Everything in it I love it! Thanks for the game!! Now the question You already answered about how the skeletons or vampires came to be in that Place, how the vampires are killed by their lovers, but, how a reaper, becomes to be a reaper? I mean a candle said “I’ve never been so close to one” A: Originally, the reapers were actually supposed to be from suicides – if I remember right, the reaper when going down the stairs to the docks still has the hole in the back of his head in his sprite. Currently, it’s not explored how a reaper is made – I think a bit of mystery is always needed in making a believable universe J Q: Lorewise how many reapers are there total? Why are they incredibly fragile compared to the undead? What makes the reapers not undead? A: IIRC there were 4 fireplaces in the final stage, which was supposed to represent the way the fireplace was communicating to all reapers in the field. Q: Do you like turtles? How about corgis? A: Yes, and yes (although there’s way too many in Seattle now). Q: Did you have any idea Chris would break out a whole band’s worth of musicians for the soundtrack? His work was superb and the OST remains my absolute favorite to this day. A: DEADBOLT OST was actually done with many people – it must be in the credits somewhere! If I remember right, there is at least a drummer and a musician.

Thanks for all the questions, and happy hunting :)

hopoo