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pokelec · 3 years ago

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A Dead By Daylight Novice Reviews All the Killers' Trailers (and makes suggestions for what they'd change)

Reveal trailers are paramount for an audience's first look at new characters. First impressions are everything, so your trailer for your shiny new character needs to be perfect for what's in store for the video game! I started playing DBD a month-ish ago but watched all the trailers for the killers before I started playing, and watching some of them got me to thinking about how I would have changes some of the trailers. Some require no changes, while others I think need an overhaul.

Disclaimer: This is in my personal opinion, is not objective at all, and I'm only doing this because this is something I've been thinking about for a month and need some sort of release or else my brain will implode.

Under a read more bc this gets long.

The Trapper - The first trailer! For a first trailer, I think this one is pretty spot on. It follows a lot of beats of slasher movies, in terms of following a survivor that's gonna be killed, her encountering dead bodies, and the suspense of the killer looking for her. Considering Dead by Daylight is effectively a playable horror movie, I think this is a perfect intro to the game. As for what this means for the Trapper, aka our Jason substitute, I think it showed him off alright! We saw his bear traps and got a good look at him doing this thing. Pretty good, all things considered!

The Wraith - The Wraith, Hillbilly, and Nurse all features gameplay as the means of showing off what the killers can do. The Wraith's isn't too bad, since it does show off his Wailing Bell power enough for people to understand "This is a killer that can turn invisible, and you may not know he's right next to you until it's too late". I wish it has a more cinematic style, but I'll be forgiving here because DBD was still young when this was made. I also thing it showed the new map, Autohaven, pretty well. I'm not too big of a fan of ending the trailer with his mori, but that could be because I don't find his mori exciting.

The Hillbilly - Next is our Leatherface expy! This one feels shorter, still using gameplay to introduce our new killer but at least shows off his chainsaw wielding and hints at the map associated with him. I like the shot of him revving his chainsaw underneath the tree with the animal carcasses! I don't mind the ending with his mori here because even if it's off screen, getting cut with a chainsaw is brutal enough to leave a lasting impression. Again, I wish it had the cinematic style, but it's fine.

The Nurse - I think the Nurse's trailer is the weakest of the three gameplay-focused trailers. The text intro is... fine, but I honestly think it fits the Doctor more. It does an okay job of showing us her Blinking mechanics, but it also doesn't? Like we see her teleporting to Nea, but it feels lackluster. I do like the ending shot of dead Nea as the Nurse just blinks away. I'm not quite sure how to change this trailer to be more effective in my opinion, if I'm being honest.

The Shape/Michael Myers - Our first franchise killer, and a perfect trailer. The first second in, we hear John Carpenter's legendary Halloween score. Even non-horror fans will quickly pick up which killer this is. The suspense of Laurie see Michael, Michael coming up the stairs, and especially the shot of Laurie and Michael being on opposite sides of a door is *chef's kiss*. We see enough of the Shape to be satisfied and eager for his release. It's the perfect trailer for him AND Laurie imo.

The Huntress - Ah, the Huntress. She is my favorite killer to play as, and I probably have the majority of my playtime on her. Unfortunately, I think her trailer leaves a lot to be desired. It's the start of the 'let's look at the killer from different angles, have them turn around to the camera, and then attack the viewer' trend of DBD trailers. I call for a complete rewrite! Here's what I would have done:

The map is Mother's Dwelling. Two survivors (David aaaand idk Dwight?) are running and hides behind some trees. We hear the Huntress's lullaby get louder, and we see the bottom half of her and her axe as she walks past the survivors. The lullaby gets quieter, and the survivors take a sigh of relief. Then, a hatchet is thrown and lodged into Dwight's head! David screams and runs. We then see our full look at the Huntress as she picks up the body. Her signature lullaby continues as the trailer ends.

The Hag - The Hag's trailer also follows a similar formula to the Huntress' trailer. There is an animation bump, so we get to see the Hag's emaciated appearance in full detail. I'm not too mad about that, since the Hag's appearance is unsettling enough to cause viewer distress and curiosity more than the Huntress' would. However, because this is a DBD original killer, we need to see what her deal is with her trailer. Thus, I propose this:

On the swamp, Ace is repairing a generator but hears another survivor (Dwight?) get hooked. Ace goes to rescue him, but we see as he steps on a rune in front of the poor survivor. The illusion of the Hag pops up, jumpscaring poor Ace (and the audience) but disappears. Ace then rescues Dwight for real, but Dwight quickly runs away. Why? Because the real Hag is behind Ace and lunges at him, biting his neck. Trailer ends.

The Doctor - I now realize that my taste in writing DBD trailers is 'have the survivor do a thing, they think the killer is near, they then relax, and only then are they attacked by the killer'. It's a bit stereotypical, but again, we're dealing with a game centered on the horror genre, so that's why I'm okay with it.

I mention this because that's effectively the story beats the the Doctor's trailer follows. Instead of attacking Feng, however, the Doctor just looks at her run and stares menacingly. Even though we don't see the Doctor's shock therapy powers here, I think the long look at the killer is still effective because of his design. A first reaction I (and other reactors) experienced went from the initial "OMG the killer is here, run girl!" to "Why tf are his own eyes and mouth held open like that A Clockwork Orange scene?!". We also don't linger for too long on him either, so I think this trailer works well enough.

The Cannibal/Leatherface - Another franchise killer, this time good ol Leatherface! This trailer is a little different, using text to draw up suspense. I do like the reveal of "What is his mask made of? YOU.", but I would've loved to have seen some actual Cannibal action, or at least his in-game model doing his Texas chainsaw massacring thing.

The Nightmare/Freddy Kruger - Oh, c'mon, we got one of the most well known characters in horror in this little video game, and all we get for his trailer is some scratch marks and a 'killer does nothing but stand there menacingly and attack the camera' trailer?! I do like the detail that when we see him, it's DBD's version of the dream world, but we could've at least featured a survivor falling asleep and then seeing him for themselves.

(Also kinda sad it's the reboot version of Freddy instead of the Wes Craven version and the survivor is Quentin instead of Nancy Freaking Thompson, but I guess we should be happy he's in the game at all)

The Pig - Largely, I think this trailer is pretty good. I'm not too big of a fan of Amanda just standing there menacingly near Dwight, but I do like everything else. I especially love the security camera shot of the famous Saw bathroom and the cutaway when Dwight's reverse bear trap activates (but we still see a good bit of gore!). It feels very Saw-like.

The Clown - This trailer is pretty good! Even though we don't see the Clown in much action, we get a lot of visual storytelling with the bottles, the circus, and the ring of fingers, all leading up to the reveal of his face. The diagetic music from Kate is a nice touch, too.

The Spirit - This one is alright. There is a lot of focus on Adam, but it does build up tension to when the Spirit reveals herself. My biggest problem with it is the ending card that is used for her. Yes, I know that's traditional for the end of these trailers, but her pose and expression is kinda meh after the face she makes when she's about to attack Adam. Seriously, that couple of seconds haunts me (sorry) otherwise.

The Legion - My other favorite killer to play! It's so funny how I didn't like Legion when I first heard of them but now they're my favorites. I love how the trailer emphasizes that the new killer(s) looks similar to survivors and the brutality of when Frank reveals himself and stabs Jeff. However, the trailer does a disservice to the other members of the Legion. C'mon, that's their whole shtick!

My recommendation would be to end with a shot of Julie, Joey, and Suzie joining Frank (and obviously getting a good look at them) and surrounding Jeff right before they all stab him. This is a little disingenuous since you can't play as all four of them at once (unless you count that one Blighted skin...), but you also can't disguise yourself as a survivor, so... Yeah. They are The Legion! They act as one! Treat them as such in their trailer, dammit!

The Plague - The Plague's trailer is interesting. Even though we don't see her in action, I think it's fine because seeing her puke on people during her trailer might be a bit off-putting. Just a bit. We still get some storytelling with her whispered prayers, the candles and incense thingy, and, of course, her face. I think because the Plague's design is inherently unique among all the killers so far, she can get away with the 'let's just tease the audience by looking at the killer and nothing else' trend.

The Ghost Face - Not too much I can complain about with this one. I do like the wtf factor of 'wait, why is a DBD trailer at a modern day warehouse???', especially if you're watching a trailer playlist like I first did. It all makes sense when you learn it's Ghost Face, though! Also, justice for that poor cashier.

The Demogorgon - RIP Stranger Things DLC. I don't watch this series, but I really like the Hawkins Lab map and I'm going to be sad when it's gone. :(

I love this trailer! When I hear the Stranger Things music, it actually gives me chills. I'm legitimately so sad the DLC will be gone from the stores, but I do own them myself. I need to actually sit down and play Demo, Steve, and Nancy one of these days. Why am I crying? No, I'm not kidding, why is this trailer making me cry? Renew the contract, Netflix, please! I don't want this stuff to disappear forever!

(Is it weird that I've been nagged on for years to watch Stranger Things but it's Dead By Daylight that's actually convincing me to watch it?)

The Oni - This is an interesting case. The "main" theme of this trailer is the contrast of modern day Japan's Yui and her motorcycle vs the literal ancient samurai Oni. I think it works out, and again, I think the presentation makes up for us not seeing too much of the new killer.

The Deathslinger - Oh boy, do I love my cowboys! This trailer is nearly perfect. We establish the western setting quickly over the sounds of some poor bastard in pain. The reeling in of the chains and the closeup of The Redeemer is so great. My biggest complaint with this trailer is that we linger a bit too long on the Deathslinger's face at the end. Yeah, he's creepy with his eyes and his disjointed jaw, but you can only look at a horror for so long before you want to move on.

The Executioner/Pyramid Head - I like this trailer! I haven't played Silent Hills, but I'm at least somewhat familiar with the premise and Pyramid Head. I love the shot of him passing the classroom door window and the sword cutting a rift through the ground. Yeah, my lack of SH knowledge makes me unable to recommend any changes here.

The Blight - I have no changes to suggest. The Blight's transformation is super horrific, reminding me of the typical depiction of Jekyll and Hyde. Honestly, he is so much more terrifying in his trailer and in lore than in gameplay.

The Twins - No changes needed. BHVR is really starting to hit their stride with these trailers! Seeing Victor come out of Charlotte's body is amazing.

The Trickster - We depart from all of the other trailers by using an K-POP music video style. It does a good job at referencing some of his story beats (namely torturing/killing people, recording their screams, and using them in his music), but it doesn't really make me afraid of the Trickster. Sure, it fits with his theme, but I would have preferred seeing more of him, y'know, instead of just looking pretty and making faces? I still wouldn't change the art style of the trailer, though. It's fitting enough for him and a breath of fresh air from the doom and gloom.

The Nemesis - No change needed, mostly because I'm not too familiar with the Resident Evil series, but seeing Jill, the twink Leon, and Nemesis on-screen is a very cool moment. Also can we get an F in chat for Meg?

The Cenobite/Pinhead - This is a perfect trailer. We got the Lament Configuration, we got the chains pinning up Dwight, we got Pinhead himself! What more can I ask for?

If you actually made it this far, thank for reading? I don't think I really contribute anything to the fandom with this analysis, but DBD has been living rent free in my brain for the past month, so I may as well write something, eh?

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wild-blue-sonder · 5 years ago

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Tips for Breath of the Wild Newbies

Or anyone who may be as obsessed with the game as me.

I’ve officially done five playthroughs of Breath of the Wild since I got the game and Switch last year. Even though I’m on my sixth now, I’m still somehow discovering things while playing it! That goes to show how expansive and utterly amazing it is. If I had to choose just one game to play for the rest of my life, it’d be Breath of the Wild without hesitation. It has officially dethroned Twilight Princess as my favorite Zelda title which I never thought would happen. Anyway, if you’re a new player like I was just last year, or a veteran looking to critique some hints and tips, I hope this post doesn’t disappoint!

1: Thoroughly explore the Great Plateau This area is the beginning of your journey, and methodically running all over it will equip you for the rest of your adventure. There are some weapons lying around other than weak Traveler’s and Boko gear, such as a Soldier’s Bow at the top of the Temple of Time (which you literally can’t miss after the first major cutscene), a Throwing Spear in the Bokoblin camp behind the Temple, and a Soldier’s Broadsword under the waterfall of the snowy area. Raiding all the Bokoblin camps will reward you with a few ambers and opals you can sell for rupees early on. Keep the Iron Sledgehammer you get in the Owa Daim shrine and use it to defeat the Stone Talus near Hopper Pond instead of expending precious, expensive Bomb Arrows. Make it a habit to use Magnesis near any body of water, especially bogs. Comb the Forest of Spirits for all its insect and food resources. Lastly, there are eighteen Korok seeds to be found around the Plateau which gives you a good start to upgrading your inventory.

2: Gather Korok seeds early and efficiently Most new players probably want to know how they can carry more gear since it breaks. Hestu provides the solution to that issue and you can’t miss him if you follow the main questline. There are 900 Korok seeds in the whole game but you only need 441 to max out your gear slots. My favorite areas for getting a lot of seeds early on are the Dueling Peaks and Hateno regions (combined to form Necluda), the Lake region, and north-northwestern Faron. You can easily glide to many seed locations from the Lake tower and the top of Dueling Peaks. Zelda Dungeon is the best resource for finding seeds.

3: Embrace the durability system Something I hear from many players is their hatred for weapons breaking, but that system is in place for a reason! There’s tons of gear scattered all over Hyrule and breaking it gives you the opportunity to try out everything. I’m sure you will come to favor certain items as you progress. I hate finding a chest with a good weapon or shield in it that I can’t carry because my inventory is full, so I have to throw something on the ground ‘cause I’m too impatient to come back and get the better thing later. I’d rather break weapons by fighting enemies and gathering resources instead of letting them poof. You will also get the most mileage out of your gear by using it appropriately. Instead of running into monster camps and breaking all your swords and spears on tough enemies, take some of them out with bow headshots. Instead of trying to melee certain enemies, use shield parries to deflect their projectiles and kill them. And don’t use your claymores to smash ore. One last aspect of the durability system is to learn where certain weapons spawn, providing you with an endless supply. For instance, there will always be Iron Sledgehammers leaning against Link’s house in Hateno and a Silver Longsword behind the Ne’ez Yohma shrine in Zora’s Domain.

4: Save Guardian gear for Guardians Guardian gear is most effective against the various types of Guardians loitering around Hyrule. After passing some Minor or Moderate Tests of Strength, hang onto those weapons for Guardian Scouts you’ll encounter in certain shrines, Decayed Guardians posted around certain areas, and Guardian Stalkers which yield the highest amount of ancient materials. You can use Guardian gear against regular monsters, but it’s not as efficient. Shock Arrows are also effective against Guardians if you need something in a pinch.

5: Ignore Yiga Footsoldiers If you see random people on the side of the main roads in Hyrule either whimpering or standing around like creeps, they turn out to be Yiga assassins 99% of the time. I personally find them annoying so I just ignore them. They won’t pursue you unlike the archers and blademasters that poof in to disrupt your questing later on.

6: Use Dragonbone Moblin Clubs to defeat Taluses Dragonbone Moblin Clubs are highly effective and extremely common two-handed weapons that work well for dispatching Taluses in the early stages of the game. The easiest way to get these clubs is to run around at night and wait for Stalmoblins to pop out of the ground; they are commonly found in the Gerudo mountains. It should be noted that these clubs aren’t as effective against Igneo Taluses due to catching on fire. But Frost and Stone Taluses of the plain, rare, and luminous ore varieties will fall quickly beneath the might of the Dragonbone Moblin Club, especially if you hold a charge attack after climbing onto them. It should also be noted that Boulder Breaker is actually the best weapon in the game for farming ore from Taluses, so you can just use that after you get it. I still hang onto Spiked and Dragonbone Moblin Clubs for smashing regular ore if my sledgehammers break.

7: Do not fear Hinoxes, Moldugas, and Lynels These are the three most intimidating monsters in the game, but engaging them is entirely optional. You can hear Hinoxes snoring from a mile away so they’re easy to stroll past or ignore altogether. After a certain heart count they’ll almost always have boosted weapons around their necks, usually Royal gear, and there are three methods for gathering them. You can sneak onto their hand and wait for them to drop you onto their belly, then nab the weapons and carefully jump off. You can engage them, shoot them in the eye once, and grab the weapons while they’re sitting on the ground before running away. Or you can just kill them which is easy if you have Urbosa’s Fury and hold a charge attack with any two-handed weapon. This method will even kill red and blue Hinoxes in one go with a strong Royal Claymore! Moldugas only spawn in specific areas of the Gerudo Desert and you can see their sand ripples from far away, so you can give them a wide berth if you want. But they’re worth engaging for the good weapons in their treasure chests. Again, the best method for defeating them is to use a strong two-handed weapon (Royal Claymores are my personal favorite for their abundance and high durability), hold a charge attack, and make sure Urbosa’s Fury is active. Lynels are obnoxious to fight due to how much they dick around. The key to defeating them is to master perfect dodging because their attack patterns are extremely predictable. Use a combination of high durability and high damage one-handed weapons, such as Royal Broadswords and Lizal Tri-Boomerangs, paired with strong shields. Always try to swoop in on Lynels with the Paraglider from a high point because if they spot you from afar they’ll shoot you with elemental arrows. Speaking of which, Lynels are immune to elemental arrows and weapons so don’t waste them. Just go toe to hoof and have good reaction time.

8: Learn the best locations for farming resources After five playthroughs I’m still working on this one, but here are some tips I can share. Razorshrooms and Zapshrooms are commonly found all over Akkala. Rhino beetles are best gathered in Faron. Equip the Sheikah set, start in Lurelin Village, and run along the beach checking palm trees along the way. Hearty Lizards are also commonly found in Faron. For gathering Rushrooms with minimal climbing, stay in Necluda. Naydra Snowfield yields more Chillshrooms than you’ll know what to do with. To get Gourmet Meat either to sell to Trott or make expensive kebabs, hunt Tabantha Moose and Great Horned Rhinoceros in Hebra; wolves and coyotes tend to yield Prime Meat. Avoid bears because they’re jerks. If you’re in need of the three varieties of Safflina, you can’t do better than farming the Ruins and Great Fairy Fountain of Gerudo. Lastly, if you want a lot of ore for upgrading clothes or selling to get rich, turn on your Sheikah Sensor in Eldin. Of course I wouldn’t leave out the dragons. Farming parts from them can be frustrating because of the elements that hurt you, but you need horn shards for upgrading the Champion’s Tunic. It is easiest to fly at them head-on and use either a Golden or Phrenic Bow, or the Ancient Bow since it shoots straight, then stay in the updraft so you can see where the part lands. In my experience, the best spot for Farosh is on Floria Bridge in Faron. Hylia Bridge and the Gerudo Summit are good second and third areas. The best spot for Dinraal is Tabantha Great Bridge; the second best is near the Eldin Great Skeleton. Climb one of the rock spikes along the edge of the map or up the mountain to catch an updraft and shoot him. My favorite spot to farm Naydra is in Lanayru Promenade. Climb up either of the dilapidated sides and wait for her to come down. You might also catch her while gliding southeast from Vah Ruta.

9: Explore one region at a time I started doing this during my most recent playthrough. Previously I would go around activating each tower as soon as possible to fill in the map, but exploring each area as I reveal it has led to some fun discoveries, like a big stash of gear just north of the Gerudo tower, and certain side quests I’d never done before such as A Parent’s Love. Methodical searching is also the best way to find Korok seeds if you don’t want to use a guide. There are so many secrets in Hyrule that you’ll definitely miss stuff when you have the whole map laid out before you, so consider exploring one region at a time!

10: Try the Expansion Pass content Master Mode is probably the best offering from both DLCs. It does ramp up the difficulty to a certain degree and is worth a full playthrough even though the base game stays the same. There are no red enemies, you start facing off against the blue versions of each monster type. In addition to black and silver, you will fight golden enemies which are quite tough. Monsters also regenerate health which can be frustrating. However, there are way more and better weapons to be found! Floating alongside most bridges and waterfalls will be Bokoblins and Lizalfos guarding treasure chests. Master Mode also gives you much more rare ore. The Champion’s Ballad is enjoyable and has three main parts. First, you run around with the One Hit Obliterator and if the name of that weapon doesn’t sell you, then don’t buy the content. Second, the shrines you must beat to complete each champion song are difficult, good for anyone who complained about a lack of a challenge. Third, the final dungeon is like a fifth Divine Beast and the boss fight is kind of easy compared to everything you had to do to get to that point. But the Master Cycle is worth it. Think “steampunk unicorn dirt bike” and if you have no desire to drive Link around Hyrule on such a vehicle, then you are playing the wrong video game. I can’t talk about the Master Trials since I have yet to complete it, but I loved going on a treasure hunt for all of the EX armors, the Royal Guard uniform being the best. They can’t be upgraded, though, which is a bit disappointing.

Was this post helpful to you? Am I completely wrong about something? Do you have anything to add? Feel free to reblog with your own hints and tips! And let’s all hope that Breath of the Wild 2 measures up to the awesomeness of the first game!

#the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #loz #breath of the wild #botw #link #zelda #gaming #nintendo #switch #video games

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bittysvalentines · 7 years ago

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snowycities gift for sailorminirobert!

Happy Valentine’s Day, @sailorminirobert! I also posted on ao3

Adam met him on a Tuesday. Good things happen on Tuesdays. Any residual hangovers from the weekend (though there haven’t been many of those since he moved out of the Haus) are completely gone, everyone’s a little bit cheerier simply because it’s no longer Monday, he opens the cafe, usually with Bitty, and gets to go back to his apartment for almost a full 24 hours before returning to work for his regular Wednesday shift. The majority of his current favorite shows have new episodes on Tuesdays, and if it’s the midseason there’s usually a hockey game or two to watch instead.

Anyway, Adam loves Tuesdays. And Adam thinks he could very easily love this man.

He said his name was “Ransom,” patiently spelling it out like he was used to being questioned while still completely engrossed in whatever email or Facebook post was on his phone, and though Adam would usually think that was incredibly rude and dismiss the immediate attraction he felt because of it, the adorably concentrated look on his face made it damn near impossible to look away and start his drink, nevermind ignore him completely.

When Adam turned around after completing the drink, mentally preparing himself to have to call for “Ransom” and be snapped at or dismissed, he startled. Instead of the back of a hat and forehead he had been expecting, he was suddenly face to face with the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

He recognized that Ransom was attractive of course, how could he not when faced with the broad shoulders and toned arms clearly visible under a thin and comfortable looking henley? The impressive body, however, in no way prepared him for the beauty of that sheepish smile and those apologetic eyes.

“Hi, sorry, thank you,” Ransom said quickly, reaching for his drink. “I’m starting a new semester tomorrow and the syllabi are pouring in.”

“Lots of work to get started on?” Adam asked, eager to keep the conversation going. He felt himself flush when Ransom let out a quiet laugh and rubbed the back of his neck with his empty hand.

“A bit. It’s not my first year here at least, so at least I’m more worried about the actual classes instead of being the kid that gets lost and stumbles in late to a giant lecture hall.”

“We’ve all been there, man,” Adam replied. “I did that the first day of my last semester, somehow, and I didn’t go to a huge school.”

“Did you go to a school around here?” Ransom questioned.

“Eh, not far. Samwell, in Massachusetts? It’s like-”

“Wait, Samwell? Like ‘went to the Frozen Four three years in a row’ Samwell?” Ransom said excitedly.

“Yeah, dude. I wouldn’t have taken you for a hockey fan.” Adam replied.

“Oh, man, I used to play! I actually almost went to Samwell and played but I got into the seven year med program at Brown and I couldn’t exactly pass that up. Still lowkey cheered for you guys, even when you were kicking our asses.”

“Dude! Samwell was freaking sw’awesome, imagine we were on the same team. What position did you play?”

“Defense,” Ransom replied. “Don’t know if I have the muscle to make it obvious anymore.”

Adam laughed incredulously, his exclamations becoming more high pitched by the second. “Dude! I played defense! Imagine we had been on the same line! Also you’re still totally fit bro no doubt about that.”

Adam saw Ransom pause, but before he could apologize for making him uncomfortable, Ransom’s face broke into a shocked smile, eyes flashing down to Adam’s name tag before meeting his eyes again.

“Wait, are you Adam Birkholtz? Oh my god, I was totally obsessed with your captaining, dude, everyone was talking shit, saying no one could follow Jack Zimmermann and Samwell was gonna fall back off the map but you totally proved them wrong, bro, you had an awesome season!”

“Oh my god, thank you!” Holster said, blushing when his voice came out at a pitch he didn’t think he was even capable of hitting.

Ransom opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Bitty came out of the kitchen wiping at a spot of flour on his apron.

“Holster, have you gotten rid of the soy milk under the-” Bitty started, cutting himself off when he saw the looks on the two boys’ faces. “Oh, I didn’t know you had someone coming to visit, so sorry!”

“Oh, no, I’m just a customer, we just got to talking about some… stuff,” Ransom answered, looking sheepish again. “I’ll just get going then, it was really nice meeting you, man.”

“No!” Adam said too quickly. He barged on without acknowledging the look he knew he was getting from Bitty. “We should… hang out some time, if you wanted. I know you said you’re busy and all but, uh, I really liked talking to you.”

“No, dude, of course, same!” Ransom said quickly, already opening his phone to a new contact page. “Just put your number in and I’ll totally text you. I was thinking about maybe going to this talk at the movie theater down the street about pop culture in cinema later this weekend, one of my professors from last semester is running it and I promised I would make it out, if you would maybe wanna join me?”

“Of course, that sounds amazing!” Holster said, grabbing the phone and entering his name as ‘Coffee Shop Adam.’ “I guess I’ll talk to you later, finalize some stuff.”

“It’s a date,” Ransom said, smiling softly. He waved quickly to Bitty before walking out of the door, concentrating on his phone again.

Adam stopped watching him walk away when his phone buzzed.

My real name’s Justin, by the way(:

He looked through the front window of the shop, making eye contact with Justin. He could do nothing but smile when Justin laughed at Bitty hitting Adam with a tea towel, scolding him for not warning Bitty a move was being made in the front. Waving, Adam watched Justin walk away, out of sight of the window. Even though Bitty was still hitting him with that towel, Adam felt his smile grow even larger.

Good things happen on Tuesdays.

#sailorminirobert #bv2018 #fanfic #bittysvalentines #submission #holsterransom

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adamderiver · 7 years ago

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Night at Hosnian Farms

for @huxloween day 2: corn maze (3.4k, benarmie)

Of all the fall festivities he’s forced to participate in because of high school marching band, Hux thinks their night at the corn maze is his favorite. It doesn’t involve any American football, freshman welcome rallies, or screaming fans. Tonight, the only screams will be ones of fright as First Order High School Marching Band takes on Hosnian Farms’ Corn Maze of Terror.

Drum major Phasma says that the trip is all in the spirit of marching band bonding, and it’s practically tradition by now, since it’s their third consecutive year of driving an hour out of town to Hosnian Farms. Everyone in the band with a drivers’ license—even some with only learner’s permits—fills up their cars with band students and begins the long drive into the early October night.

This year, Hux is stuck riding with Mitaka. Apparently Mitaka’s nerves while playing his clarinet also extend to driving distances farther than ten miles, because his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel appears almost skeletal as he crawls along the highway at an obnoxiously slow speed.

Honestly, Hux thinks he would be a better driver, and he won’t be sixteen for another two months.

“When’s the exit?” Mitaka asks, eyes never leaving the taillights of Phasma’s Subaru.

“Not for another fifteen miles,” Hux says, flicking back to the page of his phone with the map. Since Hux sat in the passenger’s seat, he received the wonderful honor of being Mitaka’s navigator.

“Okay, just let me know when it’s coming up, I don’t want to miss it.”

Hux doesn’t deign that with a reply, choosing instead to watch the cars going in the other direction race past. It’s only eight o’clock, but it’s already dark enough to turn the oncoming headlights into stars shooting across the night.

It’s only been approximately thirty sections before Mitaka feels he must speak again. “What do you think the theme’s going to be this year? Last year it was zombies.”

“I heard that the year before that, it was clowns,” says Thanisson from the backseat. “They would crawl around on the ground and grab your ankles.”

“How would you know? You weren’t even there,” snaps Unamo. They’re both sophomores, like Hux, so neither of them would’ve been in high school for the supposed year of ankle-grabbing clowns.

“If it is clowns again, I’m leaving,” Mitaka says.

“You can’t go home; you’re our ride,” Hux points out, sighing. It’s just like all of them, to suck the fun out of even this. At least he might get to watch some of them scream.

“Right.” Mitaka bites his lip. “Hux, is the exit coming up?”

“Not for another thirteen miles.”

“Okay, just. I don’t want to miss it.”

Even after all of that, Mitaka does almost miss it, having to swing his Prius around the sharp turn in probably the most reckless driving maneuver Mitaka will ever execute in his life. It’s partially Hux’s fault, since he wasn’t paying as close attention as he should’ve been to Google Maps, and if it was anyone other than Mitaka, he’d have gotten yelled at.

Mitaka parks in the grassy field designated “Parking Graveyard” right next to Phasma, who beckons Hux over.

“Hux! Are you ready for this?” She’s practically bouncing with excitement, and that’s saying a lot, considering that Phasma is someone who never bounces.

“I suppose so,” he replies, feigning boredom by looking at his fingernails. It’s a game he and Phasma like to play, seeing who can appear to care the least about everything.

Phasma punches him on the arm, a signal to quit the game, and Hux cracks a smile.

“Everyone, let’s gather ‘round!” she says, addressing the whole band now. “It’s five dollars to get in, and then you’re free to wander the maze…at your own risk.” Phasma smiles wickedly at the underclassmen, trying to scare them.

As they all make their way down the path to the ticket stand, one of Phasma’s other friends shouts, “Seniors first!” and cuts to the front of the line of band students.

“Really?” Hux mutters to Phasma.

“Sorry, Hux,” she says, running to the front of the line. “I hear it’s more fun in the back, anyway!”

Right. If it was anything other than a haunted corn maze, Phasma would’ve stuck with him in the back with the other sophomores. She couldn’t care less about ridiculous seniority traditions.

At the front of the line, Hux pays his five dollars and joins the rest of the sophomores as they have the rules explained to them.

“Stay on the path,” a too-cheerful man with a plastic meat cleaver sticking out of his chest tells them. “Don’t touch our actors and they won’t touch you. And I know there’s gonna be a lot of things jumping out at you, but please try to keep the language clean. There are kids here. Hmmm…what else, what else.” The man pauses, stroking the handle of his meat cleaver. “Oh, yeah! This year’s theme is Butcher Shop Massacre! So should I say, ‘bon appetite!’” He sweeps his arm over the entrance to the maze before backing away into the corn.

The people in front of Hux surge ahead, eager to get spooked by the “actors,” but Hux hangs back. It’ll be more scary if he’s not surrounded by squealing flute players. At the first junction of the maze, the large group decides to take a right. Hux makes sure to take a left, and then he’s alone in the corn maze.

With the floodlights of the parking section fading behind him, Hux is soon enclosed by the corn. The path is only wide enough for maybe two people to walk side-by-side, and the stalks of corn are tall enough to make Hux feel like an ant crawling through a grassy field. The stalks look nearly gray in the darkness, more similar to something from an alien planet than anything more earthly. The October air is just sharp enough for Hux to leave his jacket zipped, and the light of the half-moon barely illuminates the dirt path ahead of him.

Hux can still hear the shrieks and laughter from other parts of the maze, but they somehow seem far quieter than than the whispering of the wind through the stalks of corn around him. It almost seems like the night is conspiring against him, waiting to release its monsters at a moment’s notice.

A rustling sound causes Hux to stop in his tracks. Someone is preparing to jump out and scare him; he’s an easy target now that he’s alone. They’ll probably laugh if he screams, scared by whatever meat cleaver nonsense Hosnian Farms cooked up this year. No, he won’t give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream. He’ll be ready; nothing can sneak up on him.

The rustling gets louder, and Hux thinks he sees a flash of something metallic to his right. He shuffles slightly to the left, keeping his eyes trained on the corn across from him. There’s suddenly no movement. The whole field around him has gone still. Hux lets out a breath.

“Boo.”

The voice is right in Hux’s ear, so near that the person’s breath tickles his neck. Hux’s fight-or-flight instincts kick in, and before he knows it, he’s rounded on the actor and socked them right in the nose.

“Ow, what the fuck, man!”

The shadowy figure staggers out of the corn, a hand over his nose. Hux has to hold back another yelp of surprise at his appearance before he remembers that it’s all just makeup to make the actors look scarier. This man sure has gone above and beyond, with fake guts oozing out of a massive wound in his side, charred flesh decorating his shoulder, and a bloody gash bisecting his face. He takes his hands away from his nose, and Hux realizes that he’s actually younger than he originally thought. The boy is probably around his age.

“Did you not hear Poe say that you’re not allowed to touch the actors?! This is assault.” His low voice is pinched. “I could have you arrested!”

“It was a reflex!” Hux protests. He’s pretty sure that this boy is under no authority to have him arrested.

“Still! You punched me!” The boy takes off his black beanie and runs his fingers through his dark mess of hair. “And you made me break character.”

“Break character?” Hux scoffs. “This is a corn maze, not bloody Hollywood.”

“A good actor brings his best to every role,” he insists, crossing his arms. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Right.” Hux rolls his eyes. “How do you know that I won’t understand? For all you know I’m an acting student myself.”

“Please,” the boy snorts. “You’re in high school. Don’t try to pull this I-know-more-than-you bullshit on me.”

Hux sniffs, slightly offended. He always thought he looked mature for his age, passable as someone quite a few years older. Something about his bone structure, he thought. “You can’t be acting superior either, then. You can’t be older than I am.”

“Yeah, but I go to New Republic High School for the Arts,” he snaps. “So I actually know what I’m talking about.”

Hux wrinkles his nose. “Oh, you’re one of those.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” The boy crosses his arms.

“It means that you’re one of those kids whose parents told them that they’re special and sent them off to become artists and musicians, when really they should be learning how the real world works.” Hux pauses, but the other boy doesn’t interrupt him, so he continues. “Also, you all have ridiculous names better suited for hippies in the sixties than for the modern era. Or you have a normal name, like Henry or Kyle, but your parents decided to be ‘creative’ and add extra letters, or switch up the vowels.”

The boy doesn’t say anything, and Hux wonders if he caused some sort of brain trauma when he punched him. After waving his hand over the boy’s eyes, he blinks and begins to speak. “First of all, I can’t believe you just used the phrase ‘the modern era.’ Second, my name isn’t Kyl-o or some shit, it’s Ben. Ben Solo.” He holds out his hand to shake, and Hux stares at it incredulously.

Hux takes another look at their surroundings, the stalks of corn, the moon, the bloody makeup on Ben’s face, and says, “Seriously? You expect to make friends here?”

“Who says I want to make friends?” Ben growls in what could either be perceived as anger or an attempt at a sensual growl. Hux hopes it’s the former. Ben isn’t exactly his type, with his broad shoulders and the few inches of height that he has over Hux.

Well, Hux’s type also usually isn’t spilling fake guts over a tear in his black hoodie.

“Fine. I’m Hux.” Hux glances at the empty path ahead of them, trying to find a polite way to end the conversation. He suddenly remembers their marching band schedule; First Order HS is playing New Republic next Saturday. “Maybe I’ll see you at next weekend’s football game, when our schools play each other. It was nice to meet you.”

Hux is only able to take one step before Ben interrupts his departure.

“You play football?”

“No, I’m in the marching band.” Hux rolls his eyes and gestures to his thin frame. “Do you really think I have the build to be a football player?”

Ben studies him in the low light, resting his hand on his chin. “Probably not. You wouldn’t look good in all that padding, anyway.”

“Excuse me?” Hux swallows. Was he supposed to say thank you? Was that even a compliment?

Ben shrugs. “You know, you’re just. Good as is, I guess.”

“Well.” Is it awkward to exit the conversation now? Ben has certainly ruined the spooky mood for Hux.

“Well,” Ben echoes him, rubbing his hand over his lips before jerking back a step. “Shit. I’m bleeding.”

Hux looks at Ben’s face quizzically. “Isn’t that the point?”

“No, not my makeup, my nose! You punched me and now I’m bleeding!”

“Oh,” Hux says stupidly, still standing completely still as Ben hops up and down frantically, pinching the bridge of his nose. He tilts his head back, and at least Hux knows what to say now. “Don’t do that. Tilt your head forward so the blood doesn’t run down the back of your throat.”

Ben complies without complaint, tipping his head toward the ground. A couple drops of blood land softly in the dirt, and Hux almost laughs. Hosnian Farms’ haunted corn maze, now with authentic blood splatters.

“I’m gonna go find the medical tent,” Ben mumbles, taking two steps farther along the path before stopping. He looks back over his shoulder, face still marred by both his fake wound and his Hux-inflicted one. “Can you help me find the medical tent?”

Hux sighs. This was not what he signed up for when he got into Mitaka’s car an hour ago. “I suppose. Which way?”

Ben looks back and forth, considering.

“You don’t know?” Hux sighs. He’d be able to muster up some more compassion if Ben just had some damn common sense.

“Hey, gimme a break, I might be concussed.” Ben removes his hand from his nose and wipes the blood on his hoodie.

“That would explain a lot,” Hux mutters.

“It’s this way.” Ben points farther down the path, away from the entrance Hux had come from.

“Okay then.” Hux takes three steps past Ben, but before he knows it, Ben’s linking his arm through Hux’s. Hux turns his head to look pointedly at Ben, who is suddenly close enough for Hux to make out the tiny particles of makeup decorating his cheeks. He just gives Hux a half-shrug.

“I could be concussed. I could get dizzy and fall,” he says, his breath tickling Hux’s cheek. It’s very warm, especially in the cold night air, and Hux has to stop himself from leaning closer.

He always forgets how warm other people are, their breath and hands and mouths enough to set Hux on fire.

They shuffle along silently for an awkward minute, Hux dragging Ben along beside him. Hux doesn’t know why Ben’s long legs can’t keep up with his powerful strides. Maybe he just likes to be dragged.

“You can turn left here,” Ben says, tugging on Hux’s arm.

“There’s no turn here.” Hux gestures to the wall of corn to their left. For the first time, he starts to wonder if Ben really is concussed.

“I know. It’s a shortcut. C’mon.”

“A minute ago you could barely remember which way the damn thing was, and now you think you know a shortcut?!”

“Yeah, it’ll be a lot faster, trust me.” Ben tugs on Hux’s arm again, and Hux sighs and steps into the corn.

When Hux said he wanted an immersive corn maze experience, he thought he was being a bit more metaphorical.

The stalks brush Hux’s arms as he weaves through the corn after Ben, their earthy scent surrounding the two of them as the moonlight reflects off Ben’s dark hair. At this point Ben is pulling him by his hand, staying almost a full step ahead of Hux. Hux doesn’t remember when Ben laced their fingers together, and he’s almost glad it happened without his notice. Otherwise, he would’ve protested, and Ben’s hands are quite warm. They have a quality of security to them, slightly calloused and covering his own. It’s nice in a way that Hux doesn’t want to explain.

Ben leads him in a weaving pattern that Hux is sure can’t be a shortcut of any kind. They seem to be getting farther from the corn maze itself, since the shrieks and laughter of Hux’s bandmates are fading behind them. It seems to get darker with each footstep, Ben’s fake injuries looking more real by the second. It almost seems as if Hux is truly being led out into a cornfield by some kind of monster.

“We’re lost.” Hux doesn’t phrase it as a question, too preoccupied with imagining the search party stumbling upon his missing body, years later.

“No, we’re not.” Ben stops walking between two narrow rows and turns to face Hux, their linked hands hanging in the space between them.

“Then why have we stopped?”

Ben exhales. “Okay, Hux, I’m gonna level with you. We’re not lost, but we’re not headed to the medical tent either.”

“Then what…” Hux’s voice blows away with the wind that ruffles Ben’s hair around his face. His eyes are as bottomless as the night sky and as soft as velvet. “Then what…” Hux tries again.

Ben rolls his eyes to look up at the moon, takes a deep breath, steps forward, and kisses Hux.

It’s a thunderous moment, the blood pounding in Hux’s ears as he melts against Ben, Ben’s warmth, Ben’s soft lips. He tastes like cinnamon gum, as fiery as the blush crawling across Hux’s cheeks. Ben kisses Hux as if his lips can banish the chill from his bones, and the warmth blooms all the way down to Hux’s toes, bright as a bonfire.

Ben pulls away after several dizzying seconds. He stays close enough that they’re still sharing breath, noses nearly brushing.

“Um,” Ben breathes, “was that okay?”

“What the hell, Ben?” Hux whispers back, but his voice is as soft and breathy as Ben’s. “You’re supposed to ask that beforehand.”

“But that would’ve ruined the moment of spontaneity! Plus, you were totally checking me out earlier.”

Hux leans back and whacks Ben’s shoulder with his free hand, the other still twined with Ben’s. “I was not!”

“Yes, you were. The moment was right; it was romantic.”

“Romantic?” Hux repeats, looking at their surroundings. “You think stalks of corn are romantic?”

Ben rolls his eyes. “I was talking about the moonlight, not the dumb corn.”

“Still.” Hux attempts to frown at him. “The moonlight hardly makes up for the fact that you’re dressed like some kind of murder victim.”

“Uh, yeah, about that…” Ben leans in closer again. “You got some of my, uh, blood makeup on your face.”

For the first time since they broke apart, Hux notices that the bottom half of Ben’s bloody gash has been transformed into a red smear. It looks more like Ben was gnawing on Hux’s face rather than kissing it.

“Fucking hell, Ben, what am I going to tell my bandmates?” Hux pats his pockets, searching for his phone to check the damage.

“Here, I got it.” Ben licks his thumb and starts scrubbing it over the corner of Hux’s mouth.

“Stop, that’s disgusting.” Hux shoves Ben’s arm away, stepping back. He finally locates his phone in his jacket pocket and takes it out. He’s missed one message from Phasma: Where are you?? The rest of us are all through the maze and want to start driving back.

Ben frowns. “What? It’s just my spit. We were literally making out a minute ago.”

“That was hardly ‘making out,’” Hux comments as he untangles his fingers from Ben’s to text Phasma back. Be there in 5, he sends her.

“Oh, really?” Ben says, sliding closer. He places his hands on Hux’s hips. “I don’t think I’m quite clear on the difference. Can you give me a demonstration?”

“Ben, I really have to go, my friends are leaving.” Hux steps out of his embrace.

Ben’s face falls. “Oh. Was it the cheesy line? Did I push too far? I’m sorry, but everything was just going so well I thought I’d try to say something smooth—”

“Ben,” Hux interrupts. “You’re fine, but I really do have to go, so if you could show me back to the entrance to the maze…?”

“Oh. Sure.”

Ben still doesn’t move, so Hux hands him his phone. “Put your number in, and I’ll text you sometime.”

Ben grins, and Hux can’t help but smile too. His fake scar almost suits him.

By the time Hux emerges from the corn maze, Phasma looks like she’s about to send out a search party.

“Hux, what the hell, where were you?” She squints her eyes at him. “And what the fuck happened to your mouth?”

Hux reaches up a hand to touch where Ben’s makeup still stains the side of his face. “I was kissing monsters,” he says dryly.

Phasma laughs, not sure what to make of this response. “Sounds romantic.”

Hux glances up at the moon. “You know, it kind of was.”

#huxloween #day 2 #even though it's the end of day 31 #kylux #kylux fanfic #benarmie #my writing

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boy-banders-writings · 7 years ago

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First timer’s luck - E’Dawn [Hyojong] (Pentagon)

Group: Pentagon Member: E’Dawn aka Hyojong aka little shit Genre: fluff (because if it’s not fluff it’s angst which I’ll get to) You just couldn’t resist trying Hyojong’s new game, turns out you’re not that bad.

Spending the weekend with Hyojong meant two things, lots of physical affection and skinship, and playing games or napping the weekend away. Not that you minded, you loved spending the rare weekend with Hyojong. Between his job as a DJ at one of the more popular clubs in the city and his college classes during the day he was always busy.

You were the same though, except you worked from early in the morning till the afternoon and all of your classes were either online or night classes. Your dumbass chose to double major and even though you’re almost done with both, you’re plate is full. So getting to just lay around the living room your legs tangled together was melting away the stress from the last two weeks.

Just like the last Saturday the two of you spent doing almost nothing, Hyojong was reclined back he feet resting on the edge of the coffee table with a game controller in hand. Some of your mutual friends had gotten him into this multiplayer-RPG-Zombie-Apocalypse game (damn Hui and Shinwon) and he’s been obsessed with it since. He was up before you were today, which is insanely unlike him. When you rolled out of bed at 9:30 unable to sleep anymore he said had been playing for at least an hour an a half.

After making something quick for breakfast that the two of you munched on, you curled into his side as he played. You put a relaxing playlist composed of both of your favorite songs to play in the background. You had planned to read ahead for class so you grabbed one of your text books from the table and started.

Maybe ten minutes and six pages of text later you hear someone screaming from the headphones around Hyojong’s neck and his cute little snores. You put the bookmark back in your textbook and sat forward to see what was going on. Hyojong’s character was standing in a house like structure in a closet, not moving while whoever he was playing with was screaming for him to do something.

You gently removed his headphones and put them on, adjusting the mic closer to your mouth.

“Why are you screaming so loud?”

“Hyung? You sound so girly!” A familiar voice teased.

“That’s because it’s not Hyojong.” You rolled your eyes, picking up the controller Hyojong had dropped onto his lap.

“ARE YOU A MURDERER PLAYING IN HYUNG’S SPOT?!”

“It’s (Y/N) dumbass.” You winced from the yelling.

“Oh, hi it’s Wooseok!”

“You play too?”

“Yea, Hui hyung got me into it. It’s alot of fun.”

“Why am I not surprised.”

“Be nice, I’m here too (Y/N).”

“Hi Hui, who else is here?”

“Shinwon, Jinho hyung and Yanan. Hyojong was suppose to be playing but he...?”

“Fell asleep.” You started messing with the controls trying to figure things out. “He got home from work about 3:30-ish. I figured he’d sleep all day but he was up before I was.”

“Wow, you’re an earlier bird too noona.” Wookseok chirped.

“I know, imagine my surprise. Do you guys always have play dates?” You picked, hitting a button causing the character on the screen to shoot the door. “Oops.”

“Sometimes, we were all suppose to play later today when Hongseok has to work all day to cover for someone and I have a tutoring session I forgot about.” Shinwon chimed in, “and hello noona.”

“Ah, okay. Makes sense. How’s my favorite chinese kid?” You mused, knowing Yanan probably wasn’t full functioning yet.

“He is good, just tired noona. How are you?” Yanan giggled out a yawn.

“I was going to be a good student and read ahead for class but you guys are really distracting.”

“I can kick Hyojong out if you’d like.” Jinho popped in, “Sorry, I was getting something to eat. Hello (Y/N).”

“No, it’s fine. I was actually curious, I want to learn to play.” You had figured out how to roam the house, pick up items, reload the character’s gun and open doors and such. The moving around part wasn’t too bad. “Morning Oppa!”

“Really? We can give you a run down if you’d like.” Jinho offered.

“Why do you only call hyung oppa?” Wooseok whined. “Do you even call Hyojong oppa?”

“We’re the same age, so no. I call Hui oppa sometimes.” You shrugged before realizing they couldn’t see you. “Look are you losers going to teach me to play or should I just leave?”

“Can you imagine Hyung’s reaction to Noona kicking his ass later?” You could hear the evil smirk in Yanan’s voice. “I’ll help.”

“That would be funny.” Hui admitted. “Where are you?”

“In some house, wherever you left him from earlier.”

“We’ll come get you.” Shinwon cheered.

About an hour later you were holding your own in the game. Your aim wasn’t that good but you had eyes like a hawk. You were on watch duty from somewhere a little higher than the rest of the guys as everyone searched and worked to kill all the zombies. The only hard part was the moving fight zone. After a zone was cleared the players only had a few minutes to move to the next zone. That’s what was getting your team.

The six of you had cleared five zones already, were working on the sixth when shit hit the fan. To clear a zone you had to eliminate all the zombies within the zone. As you moved the next zone things got harder and this was the hardest yet. The screen said there was 80+ zombies lurking in the 3mile radius of the map. You and Jinho were going off towards the north to plow through the zombies there, Yanan and Wooseok had taken the South and Shinwon and Hui had headed East. The West had the most so the plan was to take that on together.

Separating seemed like a bad idea after the South got ambushed and Shinwon and Hui both died within minutes seconds of each other. Yanan and Wooseok got separated going to take care of the South after Shinwon and Hui died. Just as you and Jinho were finishing clearing up the North a screech from Yanan made you throw the headphones off. On the screen his username popped up saying he was eating alive. In less than five minutes the team had dropped by half.

When you jumped and let out a surprised shriek Hyojong stirred. After a moment, he jostled awake when you jumped again, a zombie barely missing you. He watched you for a few minutes as he woke up and joined the world of the conscious. He smiled to himself, seeing you beside him cross legged and so into the game he loved.

He was impressed by how well you were handling things. It took him a few seconds to check your stats on the side. You were low on ammo and your health was below half but you were playing well. He noticed that Jinho and Wooseok were the only other players still alive. As he watched you play he noticed how well you were actually doing. You had copied some things he’d done before, like luring zombies into a building and throwing in a molotov, or moving up as high as you could and taking the zombies out one by one with a sniper. He was very impressed.

He continued to watch you play until Wooseok died and you panicked, then Jinho was ambushed and killed in the next zone. He could faintly hear the guys giving you tips on what to do and where to go for a supply drop. You had done the best out of their team of six. This was your first time every playing this game, at least to Hyojong’s knowledge, and you were dominating. He sneakily grabbed his phone and sent a few texts to Hui bragging about how well you were doing.

“Ah! Goddamnit!” You yelled, frustration clouding you judgement for a solid three seconds before you whip around to see if you woke up your boyfriend to find a dumb grin on his face. “Ah, morning... again.”

“HOW DID SHE LAST SO LONG?”

“Why do you phrase things so weirdly Wooseok?” Jinho grumbled at his younger friend. “That’s borderline weird.”

“SHE LITERALLY LIVED LONGER THAN ANY OF US AND SHE’S NEVRE PLAYED BEFORE.”

“BECAUSE NOONA’S A BADASS!” Yanan yelled back.

“I’d say I’m surprised but she lives with Hyojong, she can’t have spent all that time with him and not picked up some skills.” Hui reasoned.

A flood of praises came in complimenting you on your game play and how well you did. They kept saying they made it as far as they did with your help, they had never made it past the zone before you died. The last zone you played in alone was new territory. Hyojong sat there a huge grin on his face as he listened to his best friends praise his girlfriend’s skills.

“You might even give Hyojong a run for his money.” Hui picked.

“We’ll have to see later. I have a Saturday to spend with my amazing gamer girlfriend, say bye.”

“Bye Noona! Talk to you later!” Wooseok and Yanan chimed at the same time.

“We have to play again sometime!” Shinwon gushed, “Bye you two!”

Jinho and Hui both said goodbye as Hyojong was turning off the game console. You watched him take the headset and controller from you before setting them on the table.

“What happened to reading ahead?” He sat on the coffee table to face you.

“You fell asleep, someone had to play.” You shrugged. “I didn’t want to wake you up.” You hand moved to his cheek. “You’ve been putting in extra hours at work and I know you’ve got homework out your ass. You need all the sleep you could get. Besides Wooseok was yelling about something. I was going to tell him to shut up, but you look like you have so much fun playing I wanted to try.”

“And what’d you think?” He leaned into her hand.

“After some practice I could kick your ass. They said you were the best player so far, I can totally take that spot.”

He threw himself on you, trapping you underneath him on the couch.

“We can play together later if you think you’re up for it.” He nuzzled his nose into your neck. “Thank you. For letting me sleep. I wanted to sleep later, wake up after you like normal. But we scheduled and early game because the guys will be busy later.”

“They told me.” You threaded your fingers through his hair. “I get it, it’s fun. Just take care of yourself okay?”

“Always. Now, let’s take a nap.”

“But you just woke up Jong.”

“And?”

“Okay, then we can have lunch and play some more.”

“Sounds like the perfect Saturday.” He mumbled into your neck, his sentence already fading into sleep.

“Definitely does.” You couldn’t keep your eyes open much longer between the comfortable position and his body warmth. So you followed him into dreamland, awaiting you time to play together.

#pentagon #pentagon scenarios #edawn pentagon #kim hyojong #edawn scenario #pentagon fluff

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lemondice · 5 years ago

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3 Games I Didn’t Like With Mechanics I Did

For my post today, I thought I’d take a look at a few games that I no longer own and talk about a mechanic from each that I enjoyed (despite possibly not enjoying the rest of the game). These particular 3 are all very solid games, and while I ended up selling each of them, they each had a mechanic I thought it would be interesting to spotlight.

Eminent Domain: Deckbuilding with specialization based on action choice

In Eminent Domain, you have several choices of primary action that you can take on your turn, such as drawing more planets to settle or researching a new technology card, and you can enhance those actions by playing cards with matching symbols from your hand. The twist? When you perform the action, you take a card from the middle that has that action and permanently add it to your deck, the end result being that over time, the more frequently you perform an action, the more specialized in that action your deck becomes. This provides both opportunity and challenge - you can make your deck more focused in an area, but at the same time you have to carefully balance your actions to prevent your deck from becoming too focused in an area that won’t help it late game. A great example of an easy to explain mechanic that adds a good deal of depth.

Evolution: A game whose mechanics perfectly reflect its theme

In Evolution, each player is creating and managing several species of animals, each of which can be given various traits such as a long neck that lets them take food first from a common supply, a fat supply that lets them store excess food from a bountiful turn to use on a more limited turn, and even carnivorism that makes them feed on other creatures instead of the common supply. The object of the game is to collect the most food overall. The result is a hyper-accelerated version of the natural selection process; when there is a lot of food, players will be increasing the size of their creatures in order to scoop up as much of the supply as possible, and no one will invest in defensive traits. When food becomes more limited, players will instead invest in traits that let them compete for food, or turn to carnivorism, and once anyone creates a carnivore, defensive traits become of high value (as do offensive traits for the carnivore). The choices of the players really feel like a reaction to the state created by the world, and while not my favorite game, Evolution would have to rate as the game I would call most thematic.

Civilization - A New Dawn: Powerups with unique abilities + Action selection

There are two different elements I’d like to spotlight in Civilization: A New Dawn, a quirky, complex civilization building game. The first is the action selection mechanism, which is pretty unique and definitely very interesting to manage. There are 5 core actions in the game, each of which can be performed at a level 1-5 strength, and you have them in ordered 1-5 slots in your personal player area. On your turn, you can pick any of those actions, perform it at a strength relative to which slot it’s in, and then it goes all the way down to the 1 slot, pushing all the actions it was in front of up a slot. The end result is an action system that rewards diversification of strategy but still offers you a lot of freedom of choice - you can take a 5 strength action every turn, but it might not be the ideal action you’re looking for, or, if you need a particular action, you can take that action more frequently, but it won’t be reaching the coveted 5 slot and you’ll be doing a weaker version of that action. I hope some other euros steal this system, as I find it to be both clear to understand and fun to play with - it gives a great mix of planning ahead (”Okay, if I take a level 4 warfare this turn, it’ll move up my technology action just enough so that next turn, I can unlock my next tech card” and satisfaction when pulling off a big action.

The other element I’d like to compliment is the abilities you can unlock throughout the game. There are a huge number of upgrades and new abilities you can earn in Civilization, from upgrading your tech cards, building wonders, and getting special trade powers from interacting with neutral cities on the map. The crazy thing is, unlike many euros, the vast majority of these are not numerical upgrades but actually grant you new functionality or let you break the rules of the game in some way. I’m always very impressed when a more traditional, strategic game plays in this kind of space, as when it’s done well it can add a huge amount of fun, variety, and replayability to a game. I think Voyages of Marco Polo pulls off a similar trick with its variable player powers, each of which feels huge and gamebreaking while not actually disrupting the balance of the core game.

#gamedesign #boardgames

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surveysonfleek · 7 years ago

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100.

Why did you close the door the last time you closed one? just closed my bedroom door just coz. Stripes or polka dots? stripes. Do you care if people touch you when they’re talking to you? i don’t mind depending who it is. kinda takes me by surprise when it’s someone i don’t know well. What is your gender? female. Do you think that people think its obvious? yep.

How long did your first date last? hmmm we had dinner then literally chilled in a park and talked for a couple hours lol. so lame. Is your favorite color within 10 feet of you? yes. Highlight of your day? i had the day off work. that’s good enough for me lol. Would you rather be on a boat or a plane? plane. Can you tell when girls (or guys) have eyeliner on? yes. Can you cook? yes but i want to get better! How high is your ceiling? can’t be more than 3m. Whats the worst job you can think of? probably a construction worker working in really hot weather. or anything that requires you to be outside in extreme heat/cold. Do you swear a lot? more than i should. Does the last person you texted have an O in their name? nope. Is everything working in your house? yes. Would you rather have a pool or a trampoline? pool. Does pop give you energy? nah. TV show you love with a passion? the office!!! Do you think you learned anything from the worst night of your life? lol i didn’t learn anything from it. i actually went against what i should’ve done.

Perfect age to get married? whenever you’re ready.

Is it safe to say you own over 20 pairs of shoes? yeah. Name a career path that women are known for taking. modeling. Favorite type of cookie? white choc and macadamia from subway. A quality you look for in choosing a significant other? kindness. What would I find if I looked in your pocket? no pockets. What was your first word? mama. A musical instrument you wouldnt mind learning how to play? piano or guitar. Last time you went to 7-eleven? last week to fill up my tank. A fast food restaurant that you hate with a passion? there’s none that i really hate. probably red rooster. i never eat there. Does everyone in your family have a job? yes. Going anywhere this weekend? nope. Is your room ever clean? sometimes. rarely lol. What does it mean when youre being quiet? i’m tired, shy, lazy. Last person you had a face to face conversation with? mum. Wheres your phone? next to me. Do you know the difference between your and you’re? yes of course. How late did you stay up last night? maybe about 4am? i finished work at 2am. Anyone youre ready to kill? no. Do you need to get a tan? wouldn’t mind one but i don’t need one. What do you want? happiness and health. Favorite TV show as a kid? sesame street, arthur, the simpsons.

Whats a show that you absolutely refuse to watch? the walking dead, game of thrones etc. unpopular opinion i know lol. How many times have you been in love? once. Go camping or go to a party? like none lmao. party over camping though. Do you remember how old you were when you started swearing? hmmm around 12 i started saying ‘damn’ then i think it just got worse during high school. How many years older than you would you date someone? don’t wna put an age restriction on it but i can’t imagine dating anyone over 30. What was the last thing you pinky swore on? no idea. Would you consider yourself a nice person? yes. Are there a lot of mirrors in your house? here and there yeah. Has there ever been a serial killer in your house? nope.

Do you know anyone who looks like Adam Sandler? yes actually. True or false: Glee is annoying. didn’t watch it but the hype was annoying enough. Last thing you cooked? corn bread. Do you use slang often? yeah probably. Wear glasses? yes.

About how old was the last person that hit on you? i don’t remember. What color are your headphones? white. Would you make a good teacher? Why? i would if i had dedicated students. i’d love to make sure they succeed in their studies. Dont you hate those commercials that try too hard? lol i hate any commercials. Is the fan on? the heater. Any special reason why youre taking this survey? because i’m bored and just painted my nails so i’m waiting for them to dry. What does the last text message you sent say? i think i’m getting sick.

Your friend needs you to run to the store to get a pregnancy test. Do you? yeah. Do you log out on facebook when you leave the site? no unless it’s on the computers at work. What color are your underwear? white. How short are your nails? short. Do you like the opposite sex to be dominant or you the one in control? there’s a time for both. Favorite holiday? christmas. If I asked you to point to Ohio on a map of the US do you think you could? nope. i’m not american. Youre locked in a room with spiders. Do you have an issue? depends how many and depends if i can kill them all. Do you wear your most expensive item of clothing often? not anymore coz it broke. Do you eat a lot of food? haha more than i should.

Have your parents ever tried to control your relationship? nope. Have you ever had to give someone directions before? yes. Speaking of which, are you good at understanding driving directions? it’s super simple now since most gps just follow you. reading those thick road maps would’ve been more challenging. How many people do you text daily? maybe three. more or less. Do you play any instruments? Which instruments do you play? very basic shit on guitar. Is there anyone who you call by their last name? one person. What did you do on your last birthday? went interstate for a night then came back. Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you commit the most? gluttony. Has anyone ever told you that you’re incapable of whispering? nope. What is your least favorite subject in school? geography. Have you ever been involved in a custody battle before? nope. Do you know a couple who constantly sucks on each other’s face? i did, this couple from work. they don’t work with me anymore lol. When was the last time you watched a YouTube video? today. Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before? nope.

When was the last time you held someone’s hand? maybe the other day. How many meals have you eaten today, so far? two. Do you think it’s stupid for people to call others “hot?” no. Do you personally think Wikipedia is a reliable source? it’s not 100% reliable but definitely useful to get some info and find resources. Have you ever shopped at Wet Seal before? Did you like it? never heard of it. Do you care about spending money if it’s someone else’s money? yes. What is your favorite Disney movie of all time? aladdin. When you were a child, did you ever want to become a wizard/witch? harry potter style, yes. Would you rather have hardwood floors or carpet? hmmm half and half. Who was the last person you yelled at? Why? my boyfriend. As a kid, did you ever go to camp? yeah school camp. it was fun. Have you ever made out in a movie theater before? nope. Are you currently trying to learn to play any instrument? no. When was the last time you went somewhere you thought was haunted? i haven’t. Who was the last person to compliment you? claudia. How old were you when you got to go on your first date? maybe 16. Would you call your parents over-protective or under-protective? they were over protective when i was a teen but got over it pretty quickly. Did your parents ever let you play in the pits of those multicolored balls? ye. Have any of your siblings ever had a crush on your significant other? no haha. Are you the jealous type? not anymore. When was the last time you felt like you were high on life? idk. Do you know someone who cares about themselves more than their child? no. Do you still watch cartoons on television? nah. What do you usually order at Taco Bell, if you go there? idk if i’ve ever had taco bell. Is there anyone currently annoying you? yes. Do you have freckles? no. How many dogs do you have, if any at all? one. Have you ever witnessed someone being beaten up? from afar. Do you think biting is weird or sexy? both depending how hard. Would you rather be called hot or beautiful? beautiful. who would rather be hot? Have you ever had a pet turtle before? nope. Do you still sleep with your parents when you’re scared sometimes? no. Have you ever met someone with two different color eyes? nope. Have you ever felt like someone was following you? only when i’m driving.

What color shirt are you wearing at the moment? white. Do you enjoy going school shopping? i did when i was in school. Do you think Pug dogs are adorable or just plain ugly? they’re pretty cute. i’d just never get one. Have you ever met someone who completely resembled their pet? no. What was the worst substance you’ve spilled on yourself before? idk. ketchup. Have you ever made out with more than one person in one night? no. Do you think there is a soulmate out there for everyone? maybe. i have no idea.

Do you like short or long surveys the best? in the middle. i hate those really long ones that aren’t anything exciting. Have you ever bought fake money and tried to make it pass for real? no. Are your siblings nice the majority of the time? yes. Do you freak out when a thunderstorm comes along? no. unless i’m driving. i hate driving in the rain. How often do you shower? everyday. Have you ever had to sell something for a school fundraiser? hmmm i guess. How many sodas do you usually drink in one day? none. Have you ever met someone who was completely weird all-around? yes. Do you ever watch any soap operas? as a kid yeah. Have you ever met someone who was mean to everyone? yes. Do you usually have a low tolerance for pain or high tolerance? it depends. anything above my neck i have a low tolerance for. Would you rather eat or sleep? man i’m not sure lol. eat if the food is good i guess. Are you one of those die hard Twilight or Harry Potter fans? nah. i do love hp though.

Do your parents ever force you to talk to your grandparents? i don’t have any grandparents left. Do you think long surveys are boring or entertaining? it depends on the questions. Have you ever learned that someone had lied to you all along? yes. Have you ever wanted to be a lawyer? no. Have you ever had to bail someone out of jail before? no. Is there anyone in your immediate family who was adopted? no. Do you know anyone who doesn’t have any common sense? yes. my boyfriend. When was the last time you bought something? today. Do you think you look anything like your parents? sorta. What are your plans for this weekend? idk yettttt. What color is your significant other’s hair? dark brown. Have you ever applied for a job at Walmart before? no. Would you ever become a foster parent? idk yet, not at that stage in my life where i’ve thought about it. Are you ashamed of anyone in your family? nah. Would rather talk to someone on a landline or a cell phone? cell. Has anyone ever given you a psychiatric assessment? no. What is your favorite amusement park? disneyworld. Did you ever have braces? no. What is cuter: kisses on the forehead of the cheek? i like both. Do you believe in evolution or creation? haha i have no idea. Would you rather take a bath or a shower? Why or why not? shower. Does it bother you when people touch your personal items? without asking, yes. When was the last time you did something sexual? a couple days ago. Do you collect anything? What? perfumes. Are you better at hand-drawing things or painting? hand drawing. but i can’t draw anyway lol. Have either of your parents ever called you a failure before? no. Have you ever suspected someone of cheating on you? no. When you get married, will you convert your last name? idk. i hate my boyfriend’s last name lol. Are your parents divorced, married or separated? separated. Has someone ever left a relationship with you for someone else? no. What’s the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced? just everything that happened from the end of 2008 and start of 2009. rough. When was the last time you went shoe shopping? online about two weeks ago. Are you a part of any clubs at your school, if you still go to school? not in school. Do you know someone who wears a wig? nope. What is your best friend’s last name? dwayne. When was the last time you cried? For what reason? today out of frustration. What is your favorite shop to go to at the mall? there’s a couple. What time do you usually go to bed on the weekends? depends on what i’m doing. Have you ever considered suicide? no. Have you ever been raped before? no. Would you ever consider becoming a marine biologist? no. Did you carry a lunchbox as a child? yes. What is your favorite ‘sweet’ to eat? donuts. Are you someone who usually eats when you’re bored? nah. Have you ever eaten your way through a breakup? no. Who was the last person you texted? my dad. Do you usually buy popcorn when you eat at the movie theater? nah. unless i haven’t eaten before hand. Did you sleep alone or with someone last night? alone. What kind of dressing do you eat on your salad, if any? balsamic. Are you someone who constantly likes to wear hats? nah. Have you ever seen a Lifetime movie that relates to your life? no. What is your Myspace URL? i honestly forgot. Are you someone who likes to wear dresses more than pants? i own more dresses than pants, that’s for sure. Have you ever dated someone who was way overprotective of you? no. What was the last thing you touched besides your keyboard? phone. When was the last time you witnessed a fist fight? years ago. Do you know anyone who lives in the state of California? yes.

Are you waiting for a text right now? no. Is it your summer vacation right now? nah. Do you like traveling? love it. What color are the walls of the room you’re in right now? turquoise and then a couple shades lighter. Do you still make mix cds? no. playlists instead. Are you eating or drinking anything right now? no.

Do you go to church regularly? no. Who’s your best friend? my boyfriend. Are you determined? not really. wish i had more motivation.

Are you always looking for/in a relationship, or do you like being single? i’ve been in the same relationship for nearly eight years. Ever had your heart broken? no. Even broken someone else’s heart? no. Are you confident? nope. When’s the last time you smiled? today. Are you tan? yes.

Any big plans for today/tonight? nope. not anymore. What’s the background on your computer? it just switches between nice shots of cities from all over the world. Do you have days where you just want to listen to sad songs? i guess. Don’t you hate when your plans fall through? yes. Ever maxed out a credit card? yup. How old are you? 25. Who’s the last person you kissed? my boyfriend. Are you hoping they will also be the next person you kiss? yes. Do you ever actually go on dates? not really. we’ll always go out and have dinner but they don’t feel like dates anymore.

#survey #surveys #quiz #bored #questions

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alcyone2305 · 8 years ago

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The Final Fantasy XV Review (1/2)

This will be my review of FFXV. It will include everything FFXV related I either know about, experienced or played myself. And therefore, I’ll split it up. (I already know I’ll still forget some aspects I want to talk about. There’s just so much to look at.) I won’t summarize the story unless I feel it to be necessary.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae (game demo) Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo (game demo) Final Fantasy XV A King’s Tale (game)

Final Fantasy XV Brotherhood (animated shorts) Final Fantasy XV Kingsglaive (movie)

Final Fantasy XV (game)

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae:

Oh, the hype was real. It was possibly the realest shit I had ever experienced. I bought Final Fantasy Type-0 just for the demo. I did try to play Type-0 but it didn’t do it for me. Instead I invested about 60 hours into the demo, leveled up to 91 and recently went back to play it. And I figured out: The skills I used to have are gone. I’m used to XV’s battle system and when I attempt to go back, I find myself internally flailing my arms because WHICH BUTTON DOES WHAT WTF. I won’t go too much into detail. (I probably will nevertheless, oh well.) The first time the characters appeared on screen, I screamed at Ignis. He was the one, I just knew it. The sole fact of him having a British VA I liked sold him for me, no joke. I usually dislike British accents but Ignis had this… certain charm him which just captivated me. I remember watching the cutscenes over and over again, trying to figure out who the fuck was voicing him. Noctis took second spot. His grumpy attitude in the morning after being woken and him being the good-looking protagonist made him settle behind Ignis. And then there was Prompto and Gladiolus. Sunnyboy and beefcake, my least favorites. Prompto received the label of “Every comic relief character to have ever existed” and Gladiolus was called “Manly man ready to break your neck without any emotion”. I know, I was wrong in the end but we didn’t get much. What left the biggest impression on me? The side quests. There was one for every teammate. Prompto had his Catblepus side quest (which they expanded upon in the game), Gladio went on a training/fighting trip with Noctis and Ignis… Oh God… Hold me, Ignis had a stargazing quest. Fuck. So beautiful, so stunning, exactly my taste. Stars, astronomy, an intelligent, good-looking man… Can you imagine how angry I was when the quest wasn’t in the game? Why did they take it out!? It was already done. Prompto’s mini quest was in game as well, even expanded upon. The main quest was good as well. The whole set up of Deadeye roaming the area and demolishing trees and animals was sick. Why wasn’t it in the game anymore? The same as the side quests. It was already done, why didn’t they include it? Did they have to adapt the graphics or other game mechanics? Such a pity.

Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo:

Noctis’s dream world was stunning. It really felt like I was turned into the child and found myself exploring every small inch of the world. It gave us a peek into the journey ahead, with Leviathan and Titan peeking in and out, day and night changing up and us turning into monster we would end up facing. I doubt there was anyone hating or disliking Carbuncle. Our companion lead us through the short story and tried to protect us. When Regis was placing a small Carbuncle on Noctis’s nightstand, we saw Regis cared and loved his son. A short, yet sweet and warm bonding moment Regis exchanged with the sleeping Noctis. Altissia though, oh boy. With Gratia Mundi playing in the background (which is one of my favorite soundtracks of FFXV) I got completely lost in the city. (Even now I easily get lost in Altissia, jfc. Does anyone even know the map by heart????) The transition to the Iron Giant boss fight was cool. Because we learned how to fight as younger Noctis, we felt mature when the weapons and magic switched over to the real deal and we felt strengthened when we were warping around and taking the Giant down. Sadly, it was extremely short. They had already adapted the battle system so I had less trouble playing through it when I started the demo last week. Magic had a playful feeling to it. Firecrackers, raindrops… It was a different take on magic from a child’s eyes.

Final Fantasy XV A King’s Tale:

This part will be even shorter. I didn’t play A King’s Tale but watched other people enjoy it quite a lot. While many find the 2D pixel look appealing, I’ve never been one to grow fond of older graphics. I’m a visual whore when it comes to games. I want it to look good, I want to see clearly. So visually, A King’s Tale doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve only played a few games, but from what I have played, I prefer better visual quality. Nevertheless I found the story absolutely adorable. It gave us a view into Regis’s human side which deeply cares for Noctis. It’s a struggle every parent has to face: The child doesn’t want to sleep so you have to “bribe” your child. Regis does this through telling a bedtime story. Lovely, adorable, heartwarming and yet, the battles are fast-paced and flashy just like the game. As far as I know this game is free so if you want such a feeling in your chest, go and play it!

Final Fantasy XV Brotherhood:

Before I do anything, I’ll express my anger. Why? Because Brotherhood has so much background information about the characters. Information we need to feel and connect to the characters. Why was Noctis in a wheelchair? Why was he in Tenebrae? How did he and Prompto meet? Solely by the game, you don’t get the entire image. Instead you have to rely on additional sources. Thankfully Brotherhood is for free. Maybe you can already guess a trend developing here: Splitting the story up wasn’t a good idea. Kingsglaive, as much as I love the movie, wasn’t a good idea. When you buy the game, you want the entire content to be in there. I paid 90€ for the Deluxe Edition of the game but there was still more information out there. It makes me angry, okay? The dependence on further source isn’t good. The game should be fine standing on its own but considering how bad the story-telling was, it wasn’t doing fine. In fact, it was already on the ground after being kicked in the balls. Nevertheless, you should watch Brotherhood before you play the game. Or do it for the lulz, I don’t know. It’s lovely. There’s an episode on each of the boyband and a little bit more information and battles. To be honest, I loved it. It was just enough to know how Noctis met his companions. Watch it for yourself.

Final Fantasy XV Kingsglaive:

Ah, my bread and butter. The amount of posts I made on Kingsglaive are almost overwhelming. Maybe you can guess: I really enjoyed the movie. Don’t get me wrong; It still had some major flaws (which I had already mentioned). The whole set up of splitting the story up, demanding money for the movie (unless you buy the more expensive version of the game) and putting important information in it was... wrong. It wasn’t good. In the time of DLCs being pumped out almost all the time, we gamers become pissed off very fast. No one likes DLCs because it means important parts of the game are missing (because that’s how DLCs are used when it comes to FFXV). Same goes for Kingsglaive. It’s like an expanded DLC dealing with the story before we jump into Noctis’s shoes. But that isn’t all. We’re introduced to a pile of members of the Kingsglaive. They’re well-designed, each has certain characteristics going for them so we naturally want to know more about them. Now, the problem is… The movie only takes 120 minutes. 120 minutes trying to deal with politics, the struggles of the Glaives, yet wanting to be entertaining and appealing. 120 minutes aren’t enough. They should’ve done either or. Anyway. I’ll elaborate on the characters a bit further. Nyx: Protag, big heart, our hero. Cocky af when it comes to his duty and dealing with the king’s magic. I avoid doing an analysis post on him because he’s the protagonist of Kingsglaive. It’d blast my head off. Libertus and Drautos took three posts; What would Nyx be like? Seven? Eight? Probably. I’d say he was fine being the protagonist, but I feel like I’ve dealt with too few protagonists to really evaluate what a good protag is. I like him, we can relate to him. On the one hand he’s loyal, on the other hand he’s still evaluating the events around him, trying to decide on the best action to take. Libertus: No, I don’t hate him. (I C U, anon.) Nyx’s childhood friend and best friend, very emotional and therefore, acts on emotions which causes a lot of trouble. He’s the one to give out important information to Niflheim’s spies (that’s what I’ll call them) which help sneaking in explosives at the day of the signing. The first half of the movie had me wanting to punch him because he’s just so dumb in my eyes, but thanks to the analysis posts, I finally noticed how bad he really felt for his mistakes. He knows he fucked up, he tries to make up for it. Immediately. In the end, much more likeable and made me want to squish him. Crowe: She deserved better, indeed. Bigger character potential than Libertus since she was introduced as a witty, strong female character who doesn’t need a man to survive. Sadly, she was killed off screen by Luche, that douche. I watched the movie with my mother and she was devastated after Crowe’s death. My mom is usually indifferent about characters in FF movies. (The action overwhelms her, oops). So when she’s actually showing emotion and disbelief, it’s a good indication the character had potential. I’m not saying it’s proof, just an indicator. Crowe was used as a plot device, which is sad. I also explained why Crowe deserved better in one of my posts. Pelna: Ah, our little sunflower and sunshine. With Luna, the only two people I genuinely cared for and felt sad when they died. His death was especially cruel since we saw the impact of Ultros grabbing him. His body just went… lifeless, crushed. Yikes. Pelna was interesting. While working on his analysis, I noticed he emotionally moved me because I unconsciously related to him. He cracks a joke every now and then, still works extremely hard and his friends are absolutely important to him. It was shown through his actions and words which usually only implied his feelings. I love him, okay!? Luche: I’ll try and avoid being biased. He got the most focus out of all of the traitor Glaives. He was part of the protagonist group, yet felt villainous from the very start. Always criticizing, always a party pooper, in the end murdering Crowe and not even caring for what he did. Instead, he even severely injures Nyx and continues following Niflheim’s empty promises. Most of his character was revealed during his last speech after he shot Nyx. His words were overflowing with anger and bitterness towards the king. He was meant to die. Looking back at his death, his was ridiculous because at the moment he needed his intelligence the most, it left him and he gave in to the promise of power. Oopsie daisy. Tredd: His monologue was sick af. I loved the metaphor of the rats in the sewers. In the beginning, I expected him to be comic relief similar to Prompto, but oh boy, I was wrong. He was the second most focused traitor of the Glaives so I felt like he had some weird dynamic going on with Luche. (Maybe I’m wrong.) We didn’t get jack about him though. Most of my analysis was based on assumptions. His analysis post was also the one to have started the series. Drautos: Daddy D, the main antagonist of the movie. He had major reasons to betray the king and everything he stands for. There’s a lot left in the dark when it comes to him so we have to settle for headcanons most of the time. What a pity though. But in his last moments, the last minutes of the battle between him and Nyx, we get a good image of why he betrayed Lucis. We still have to interpret a lot but I think there’s a nice overview of Drautos if you asked anyone in the fandom. Regis: We already knew he was a very emotional king and not the cruel ruler enslaving his city. He had to balance Noctis’s fate and politics in his hands which took his life in the end. The interactions with Clarus were lovely as well. It gave us a feeling of their friendship and relationship. Most of Regis’s emotions were shown when it was about Luna. We could feel how important Luna was to him so Regis tried to keep everyone safe. His death was cruel as well. At first Glauca sliced off a finger, then rammed the sword through the king’s body with excessive force. Almost disgusting. Luna: Many people pointed out how different this Luna feels from the in-game Luna. Someone pointed out the Luna in the movie wasn’t meant to be Luna. Instead, the developer team intended to integrate Stella to the plot. I’m sure a lot of changes were brought up in the last stretches until the release so that would explain the major difference of the two Lunas. It wasn’t meant to be Luna from the beginning but they had no other choice but to go for her. What a pity. I enjoyed her character. Sure, she was dependent on Nyx but she still carried a strong will and her duty on her shoulders like a strong character would. (For further discussion, I recommend you check out my posts about her. There’s much more anger concerning how she was treated overall in there.)

We also were introduced to the Old Wall/Old Kings which are bitchy as well considering they don’t care about the city and Lucis at all. (Thankfully Nyx and Regis both manage to convince them so Insomnia is saved. Kind of.)

The most positive aspect of the movie clearly is its appearance. It feels like the characters are real, not animated, but actors with flesh and bones in front of the camera. It’s incredible. This might be the biggest selling point for the movie. While the fighting scenes are a mess, they’re still impressive and beautiful to look at. Magic is stunning. Every spell feels different from each other and depending on its user, it changes even more. For example: The king’s lightning is one, massive bolt dishing out an incredible force of pain while a Glaive’s lightning spreads into many smaller bolts, focusing on rather the AoE than the power. I don’t mind the advertisements. Considering how much money went into the movie, they need to earn money in return. And it makes Insomnia look much more realistic when we see a brand we recognize. Inside of the city, I love how different it feels when we explore the upper and lower areas. The higher levels are all about luxury, jewelry, cars and art. Once we explore the levels where Nyx lives, it becomes a bit more plumb. Restaurants, bars, street vendors and karaoke bars give us the impression of a much more simple, cheaper life.

And I love the ending. It leaves us with a bittersweet taste on the tongue. While it may seem like a won battle, we know it’s useless and we have to get into Noctis’s shoes to reclaim our throne. My mom is absolutely in love with the Prologue theme btw. Recently she was diagnosed with incurable cancer so she’s already searching for songs to be played during her funeral. (Yes, life is disgusting at times.) And what’s on her track list? The Prologue of Kingsglaive. Why? It captures the hopelessness of the war against Niflheim flawlessly. My mom prefers such songs. (And yet, she loves the Chocobo theme just as much but I think I’ll talk about that once we dive into the XV game review.)

Overall, I loved the movie. Absolutely. It makes me think about the characters we’re introduced and maybe come up with my headcanons about them. If the developers aren’t giving us more, we are forced to use our imagination. It’s also proves over and over again how overflowing with potential the entire universe of FFXV is and I’ll gladly try to pick apart any question being tossed into my direction.

In the next part, I’ll be picking apart the game itself. I’m sure this part will be even longer than this post.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask them. I’ll always explain myself if I can.

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jsmulligan · 8 years ago

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Challenge Accepted

“Maybe he's just waiting for the right competition, sir. Perhaps you should make a more... direct request.”

The words, spoken by Titan Claney Beamard on his way to the Hall of Guardians had rung in Lord Shaxx's ears for a while now. The Crucible Handler had long been trying to get his former brother-in-arms Commander Zavala to take on other Guardians in the Crucible, to show the newer generation how the real legends handled their business. Zavala had turned him down every time. Claney had said the words in an off-hand manner as he passed by, but the seeds had found fertile ground and grown roots.

Of course, Shaxx knew he had to wait for the right moment. There always seemed to be a new crisis, and recent events had not been any different. The Transmission epidemic had hit the Tower and then SIVA has reared its ugly head. Now, however, things were beginning to slow. The Devil Splicers were being pushed back into whatever hole they had crawled out of. Things were calmer than they had been in a number of years. The time had come to make his move. If he waited much longer, who knew what minion of the Darkness would come crashing through and consume Zavala's attention again. So, Lord Shaxx strode into the Vanguard's war-room and threw down the proverbial gauntlet.

“Shaxx? What can we do for you?” Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard greeted him as he entered.

“I've come to speak with Zavala.”

The Awoken Titan Vanguard turned his gaze to Shaxx then. At one time, the two men had been as close as brothers. Both trained under the legendary Lord Saladin, former Titan Vanguard and last of the fabled Iron Lords. Something had split the two, something neither of them would admit to. There was a lot of whispered speculation among the Guardian ranks, with the most popular theory being Shaxx's aggressive action during the Battle of Twilight Gap. Others thought it was related to the Great Disaster, where Shaxx had become the voice of caution while Zavala agreed to the attack. Regardless of the reason, the two men rarely spoke to each other these days.

“Is there some sort of problem?” Zavala asked.

“No,” Shaxx replied, “other than the fact that you have continued to turn down my request that you participate in Crucible matches.”

“This again?” Zavala shook his head. “I've told you, Shaxx, I'm not going to battle Guardians in the Crucible. It would be a waste of time.”

“Yes, you have. And that's why I'm presenting a different challenge,” Shaxx told him. “Claney helped give me the idea. I want to challenge you directly. In a private match. The two of us pitted against each other would show them more than you wiping the floor with a group of Guardians could anyway. I want you to fight me, Zavala.”

Ikora Rey, quirked an eyebrow in surprise, a response tantamount to anyone else gasping in shock. The Hunter Vanguard, Cayde-6, had a much more verbal reaction.

“Oh my. This Tower finally got interesting.”

“You do realize that Claney's latest great idea was to crash his own ship on top of himself?” the Titan Vanguard responded dryly.

“He felt it was the only way to get the job done, and it worked.” Shaxx retorted. “That is exactly what I'm doing here. I've wanted to get you into the Crucible for years, to show the new Guardians what they could be capable of if they hone their Light. You've refused every time. So I'm taking matters into my own hands now. You and me, one on one in a private Crucible match.”

“I have more important things to do than play childish games, Shaxx.”

“Well, actually,” Cayde-6 chimed in, “you don't. Not right now anyway. The Guardians have things pretty much handled.”

“I don't recall asking for your help, Cayde,” Zavala warned.

“That's what's so great about me,” the Hunter Vanguard replied. “I don't need to be asked, I just help.”

“Especially when not asked,” Ikora muttered under her breath, just loud enough for the Exo to hear.

“Ikora, you wound me,” Cayde said, clasping his hands to his chest.

“The answer is no,�� Zavala stated finally. “I would appreciate it if you would not bring this up again.”

Shaxx stood staring across the table at the other Titan, his annoyance palpable. His hands clenched into fists, then relaxed. He took in a deep breath as if he was about to say something, and then let it out.

“Fine,” he spat eventually, and then turned to leave.

“I'll do it.”

Shaxx spun around to see Cayde leaning with one hand on the table, the other twirling a hand-cannon around his index finger. His face was turned three-quarters of the way away from the big man, optics tilted up toward the ceiling as if studying something in the corner. Ikora and Zavala were both openly staring at the Exo.

“What?” Shaxx asked.

“I said,” Cayde began, his gaze drifting to look directly at Shaxx's helmet, “I will do it. If the big, blue boy scout here won't, I'll take you on. Provided you let me choose the match type. We could even put a friendly wager on it.”

“But I didn't issue the challenge to you,” Shaxx intoned as if speaking to a child.

“True, true. But one Vanguard is as good as another, right? I mean, we both hang around in here all day. We're both bald. Sure, I'm a lot better looking than him, but... come on.” Cayde gestured as if to indicate that the last statement would be a given regardless of who he was discussing.

Ikora just shook her head at that. Shaxx mulled it over for a moment.

“What match type did you have in mind?” the Titan asked finally.

“Rift.”

“Absolutely not.”

Cayde feigned a gasp, “Did you hear that, Ikora? Shaxx is afraid of a challenge.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said,” Cayde leaned forward, laying it on extra thick, “that Lord Shaxx, Crucible Handler, hero of the Battle of Twilight Gap, is afraid. Of me.”

“I'm afraid of no one. Least of all you, Cayde,” Shaxx gave a derisive snort.

“Prove me wrong then,” Cayde continued, pressing his luck.

Shaxx stood silent, so Cayde kept talking. Like he always did.

“If you're worried about who will call the match while you're busy, Eris will do it.” He looked past Shaxx to yell in the direction of Crota's Bane, who turned at the sound of her name, “Won't you, Eris?”

“What?” she called back.

“See, she'll do it.”

“This is a waste of my time,” the Titan shook his head.

“I knew it,” Cayde said with a theatrical exhale, “Shaxx is afraid of me. Too scared to accept the challenge. What are Guardians coming to these days, Ikora?”

Shaxx's voice dropped to a register that neither Cayde nor Ikora had ever heard before. “You should be more careful of your words, Hunter. You're on. I'll see you in the Crucible.”

The large Titan whirled on his heels and stalked out of the room, shoulders set in determination. Cayde tried to shake of a chill that went up his no-longer existent spine.

“Well, glad that is settled,” Cayde-6 remarked.

“You do realize that he is going to kill you, right?” Ikora asked, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Oh yeah. Probably a lot,” Cayde admitted before regaining his bravado. “But don't worry, I've got a trick or two up my sleeve. I've got this.”

…

The match was set for the very next day with Bannerfall as the chosen location. Much to everyone's surprise, Cayde somehow managed to cajole Eris into calling the match. Every single viewer across the system was tuned to witness the unprecedented sight of these two figures battling it out. The two men met briefly before the match was set to begin.

“So, did you think about my other idea?” Cayde asked. “About putting a wager on this?”

“I can't believe I'm even considering this,” Shaxx sighed. “What did you want to wager?”

“Oh, I've got a pretty good idea, but I want to keep it a secret for now,” Cayde said with a wink.

“Not that you'll win,” Shaxx responded. “I accept. I hope you enjoy Crucible clean-up detail, you'll be on it for a while after this.”

“Hey, anything to get out of the Tower,” came the retort.

The two went their separate ways then to make final preparations. Wagers were coming in from the Tower and the City, with Shaxx the heavy favorite among Titans, Warlocks, and civilians. The Hunters leaned much more heavily toward their representative.

Bannerfall is a location set in one of the many abandoned Towers that used to make up the fortifications of the Last City. This particular Tower was the location of a major battle in the Faction Wars as well, where New Monarchy had finally put an end to Concordant's uprising. It was a map with large, open areas, but also many small corridors that lead through the structure that a Rift runner could use to skirt around defenders.

The countdown began, and the two men transmatted into the arena.

“Team designations are unnecessary in this situation,” Eris intoned. “We present to you Lord Shaxx and The Fool.”

“You know I can hear you, right, Eris?” Cayde asked.

“Yes,” she replied calmly.

“Oh.”

“Fights as if your very soul depended on it! Run as if the dark forces of Oryx himself were behind you breathing vile incantations upon your necks!” Eris called out, and the match began.

In Rift, the orb did not appear immediately, giving both sides the opportunity to get in position and battle each other for control of the spawn point. Cayde skulked around the outside edge of the map, cutting through a hallway and approaching the courtyard from the open end. He figured Shaxx would expect him to approach from a direction with more cover. He figured wrong.

A flurry of rounds from a scout rifle slammed home in quick succession, scoring the first kill of the match.

“Lord Shaxx records first blood. The Fool trails,” Eris reported.

Cayde dropped back into play just as the first orb materialized. The Hunter Vanguard began to sprint as soon as his feet touched the ground. He heard the report that Shaxx was now the runner and pushed himself to go faster. The respawn zones were directly behind the rifts, so Cayde knew Shaxx would have to take a round-about path to try to score. He hoped the Titan would expect Cayde to try to play defense and that he could catch him off guard by being aggressive.

This time, Cayde guessed right. Shaxx had opted to try to follow the same path Cayde had taken after the initial spawn. It was not a bad idea, but it gave Cayde time to close the gap and take Shaxx down from behind.

“The Fool stops the runner. Darkness descends as the spark is lost. Lord Shaxx still leads due to distance covered as the runner.”

That gave Cayde-6 the opportunity to get into position to grab the next spark, but Shaxx stopped him before he was able to detonate. The rest of the match continued much in that same way. The Hunter's speed gave him the advantage over the bigger Titan, so Shaxx seemed to focus more of his energy scoring points by getting kills. Cayde managed several long carries before Shaxx dropped him, which kept the points very close leading up to the final minutes of the match.

Once more the spark spawned, and once more Cayde grabbed it and ran. He sprinted through a doorway and cut through the C control zone, trying to make his way quickly to the rift. Shaxx attempted to go through the upper level of the building and cut him off. Cayde appeared and Shaxx opened fire, scoring several hits. The next shot would score another kill, but Cayde suddenly dropped to his knees, sliding across the floor and causing the final round to sail over his head. He vanished from view, and Shaxx could no longer stop him from reaching his goal.

Detonation. Cayde took the lead with less than a minute left. Shaxx cursed himself for missing and turned to wait for the next spark. He would have to grab it and score a detonation to win.

The big man crouched and waited, keeping an eye out for the Hunter. A red blip crossed through his motion tracker, and he knew Cayde was running to get in position to cut him off. Seconds ticked by and it started to feel like the spark would fail to respawn before time ran out on him. Finally, the spark flashed into existence, and Shaxx scooped it up.

He took a step toward the A control zone, and there was Cayde. Somehow he had made it completely around the map and appeared in the doorway. It was almost impossible, but there was no time to consider that now. Shaxx cut to the right, having to take the more open route.

Shaxx took several steps and jumped. Channeling his Light, he propelled himself forward. Titans were capable of using their Lift ability in quick micro-bursts to push themselves forward at great speeds. The maneuver was colloquially referred to as “Titan Skating”. A Titan skilled at this could actually outrun any other Guardian, and Shaxx was very, very good. He was closing rapidly on the rift, painfully aware of the seconds ticking by, when he heard something that filled him with dread. A Golden Gun activation.

Desperation forced Shaxx to push himself harder than he ever had. He would never live down a loss in his Crucible. Especially not to Cayde. He had to make it. He was going to make it.

He did not make it.

Fire bloomed in his chest at a shot from Cayde's Golden Gun tore through him. Shaxx burned away to nothing, the spark dropping to the floor. The timer clicked to zero.

“The Fool... won...“Eris was stunned.

Across the system, jaws hung open in shock while Hunters cheered their Vanguard's victory and the credits they were going to be getting because of it. Shaxx's Ghost resurrected him in the staging area, and Cayde transmatted in next to him.

“Good match,” Shaxx grudgingly admitted, holding out his hand. Cayde shook it.

“You too,” the Hunter replied. “And now, about our wager.”

Shaxx stiffened, letting go of the Hunter's hand.

“Oh, don't worry about it, big man. It won't be too bad, I promise. You know that large field just outside the City?”

“Yes.”

“Meet me there tomorrow. I've got a surprise for you.”

This is part of a series of One Shot stories I’ve been posting on fanfiction.net, thought I would post one or two here as well. This is my take on what lead t othe new Shaxx 1 and 2 Grimoire cards.

#Destiny #fanfic #Cayde-6 #Lord Shaxx #Destiny the game #fanfiction #Tales We'll Tell

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solasmancer · 8 years ago

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My Andromeda “Free Trial” Experiences

I’ve recently completed my 10 hour free trial for Mass Effect Andromeda, and this is my overall basic impression, and a few key things to note (spoiler stuff under the cut):

Overall, this is a good game. Nothing about it should be a “deal breaker” for anyone who has a history liking Mass Effect games or BioWare games in general.

Animations: I only encountered one animation issue, and it was very minor. When talking to some NPCs on the Hyperion I noticed that a couple of them had no body animations, as in they were completely stiff from the neck down. I expect that this is a glitch and will be corrected with a future patch. I did not feel any facial animations were horrible,weird, or out of sync.

Character Creator: Well....I never thought I would miss DA: Inquistion’s CC, but I do. I was able to create a Ryder that I am very happy with, but I don’t like how my Ryder looks like 20 other Ryders I’ve seen out there already. Having to select the preset faces and then limiting the ability to change major aspects like mouth or nose shape, leaves something to be desired. I do not feel like my Ryder is unique, and that bothers me.

Graphics Quality: I am playing the game on PC. I built my computer to run DA: Inquisition on Ultra settings. According to the PC specs for Andromeda, I either meet or slightly exceed the “minimum” specs to run this game. I turned up my graphics to Ultra when playing the trial, and everything looked great and I didn’t experience any lagging or buggieness. Now, I have seen posts going around complaining about the “quality” of the facial modeling, and the only thing I have to say about that, is yes many of the human NPCs I have looked at look like they came straight out of ME:2....which if you think about it works...kind of. Andromeda looks like a game that fits into the Mass Effect aesthetic, which I think was a conscious decision made by the development team. What is incredibly, stand-out amazing about the graphics in this game, are the armor and fabric textures! Everything has clean detail in stitching, weave, and pattern. The detail and texture quality on the turians and salarians is outstanding!

Narrative: I feel like this will be a compelling and engaging story. Everything is a mystery to solve, and that mystery drives the story forward. Even the side quests feel meaningful, as they usually involve directly helping someone with a specific need, which all tie into the greater story arch.

Dialogue and Character: Ryder is written very well. All of my dialogue feels natural, and Fryda Wolff’s voice acting perfectly handles every inflection. I always hated how stiff Commander Shepard felt, and I do not get that with Ryder. The companions are all written well. I have my favorites already, but everyone I’v met so far is unique and likable. There are a couple of mildly campy lines here and there, but it’s not worth getting upset over (glaring at you edgy reviewer dude who said this was the worst writing in a game they have ever heard).

The Nomad: There is a big learning curve with this thing. I am using a keyboard and mouse and I can only guess that the Nomad is really designed to be driven with a controller. At this point, Ryder can give Shepard a run for their money on worst driver in space. Or maybe it’s just me.

Spoilers ahead, plus the things that I really didn’t like at all

Liam: I am going to have to play with subtitles on when talking to Liam because my Texan ass can’t understand his accent. That’s a me problem though, not a game problem. Liam is a very cool guy and I love running around with him. He is a fucking BEAST in the battlefield when you get those omni-blades working good. He is the only character I’ve flirted with and to be honest, it was kind of a let down. I almost felt like he was brushing me off :( Tess hasn’t given up on him yet, though. Regardless he will be a very good buddy.

Cora: I was a little taken aback when she seemed so cool about me becoming the pathfinder, to later talk to her privately and see that she was not as cool with it as I thought. She is definitively a total bad ass and yet super professional. I want good things for her.

Vetra: Most best amazing turian. I love her, and her sister Sid. She is going to be Tess’s best friend forever. I don’t plan on romancing her, but she is still just super the best. I know that this doesn’t give much insight into her character, but just trust me on this one.

Peebee: She gives me the impression of someone young, like a teenager. She obviously knows her stuff, though. She’s very bright and bubbly. I look forward to knowing more about her.

Drack: You don’t get to talk much to Drack in the trial. But what I did see is pretty much on par for krogan. He’s Wrex, with more sass.

You don’t meet Jaal in the trial :(

Okay things that are super cool yet super annoying: The galaxy map and traveling between systems. It’s like a first person zooming around space thing, and it’s really really cool the first few times you do it...then it gets old and takes too damn long to go between planets. :( I don’t look forward to grinding away at searching all these systems for resources having to wait between each planet as the travel animation plays.

Memory Shards: This is my only WTF complaint. I am worried about this SAM/Dad/Family Mystery story thing. It feels shoehorned in as a way to tell some sort of rehashed Artificial Intelligence grey area moral compass story about how SAM is actually your Dad’s attempt at keeping your mom’s consciousness alive, blah blah blah. And the act of “finding memories” just lying around...I don’t like it at all. SAM gives you some bullshit explanation, about how you aren’t really “finding” them but that your Dad has put in blocks that will unlock as you progress, until you are ready to know everything. It all gets one big giant eye-roll from me.

#mass effect andromeda

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thehomeschoolhouse · 8 years ago

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A day in the life.

There’s a lot of day in the life blog posts and videos going out right now. So I thought it would be cool to try one out...

5:40 am. The alarm goes off. No matter if I’m actually awake or not I hit the snooze. I just can’t get out of bed quite yet, most of the night was spent being kicked by my two year old...

Somewhere between 5:40 and 6 am: I get out of bed and start my coffee, wake my sister (who is 14 and lives with us) for school. Usually the boys are still sleeping. I drink my coffee, catch up on facebook and emails. This morning I printed out some handwriting worksheets because I’ve been obsessed with everything Bullet Journal (I’m sure you’ve noticed) so I’m re learning cursive and trying to make it look pretty. I also contemplate how to teach the boys to write and read cursive in the years to come.

6:30. Usually by now the toddler has realized I abandoned him in bed and he comes out to the couch to cuddle and get some milk to drink. By now I’m going through my to do list and thinking about what I need to do first in my day.

6:50 If Junior isn’t awake by now I go and wake him up. He’s difficult to awake every morning. It makes me really thankful that we homeschool because it’s difficult enough to get him out of bed in the morning, let alone dressed and fed and out the door for the day. I remind him that if he gets out of bed now he can cuddle on the couch with me and wake up. I’m lucky this morning because that worked.

7:05 We pile in the car and take my sister to school. City traffic is busy in the morning and now that she’s in high school this school is on the other side of town.

7:30 Some days we stop at the store if there’s anything we need to buy, but today we head back home. The boys usually eat around 8:30 or 9 but this morning they were hungry early. I get them cereal, let the dogs out and start laundry.

8:00 The boys are busy eating slowly and playing. We usually have the TV channel Sprout on the tv, I’m trying to remember to use this time to do Youtube play lists I put together every month based on what we’re working on. I usually take this time to work on some computer work. This usually consists of checking email if I didn’t get to first thing in the morning, paying bills and blogging.

9:00 I usually don’t really want to manage much around the house other than the laundry before 9 am. If we were lazy the night before this can cause some stress for me. I’m trying hard to make sure we have the dishes done and the floor vacuumed the night before, so that I’m not waking up with the odds stacked against me. If these two things are done the house is in pretty good shape.

9:30 If there’s not too much house work I need to start, and it’s alright outside, we try to get outside for a little bit. Fresh air, getting out energy... Now that Grayson is bigger and better able to handle colder weather this has really been an improvement in out days compared to the last few winters. We’ve even been sick less and I really feel it’s because we’re getting more fresh air and not sitting inside with the recycled air all day every day.

10:00 We tend to start out school day around this time. We start with a reading lesson and some handwriting practice, then math. We’ve been working on maps and learning about how our city and state fit into the world. Google maps has been a really fun way to do this, so we spend a little time at the computer. Then sometimes we work on some practice work or crafts. We spend between an hour and a hour and a half on this more formal learning.

11:30 I head back down to the basement and put laundry into the dryer. Then start laundry. Today we’re having some mini pizzas and baby carrots. Raw carrots are Junior’s favorite vegetable! I’ll take what I can get when it comes to them eating veggies!

12:00 Lunch is usually ready by now, we eat and then have some down time. Jr can play on the computer or some video games, I try to Grayson to cuddle with me- it’s hardly ever a problem. I take this time to go through my bullet journal, check email, draft blog posts, work in my Etsy shop, or read from my Daily Bible. After an hour or so of screen time I have the boys play legos or find some other toy or activity to occupy themselves with as long as its sort of quiet.

2:00 St start getting ready to do the after school pick up. Grayson still falls asleep on the car ride pretty consistently.

2:45 Usually we head straight home after pick up. I put Grayson in my bed and get him tucked in, he still naps at least an hour or two every day. I suspect that it’s because we stay up kind of late and still have to get up pretty early to do the school drop off. I don’t think I’ll miss having to get around so early every day after my sister is done with school. It’s one of the many reasons we decided to home school. Depending on the day Jr and I head outside while Gray sleeps since my sister is home to listen for him to wake up, sometimes we will play a board game, read books, watch a movie together or just hang out.

3:20 Dad is home right on time as long as he isn’t on call for work. We discuss our days and tell dad about everything we did in school that morning.

4:00 right now I take my sister to the chiropractor three days a week. We are right at the beginning of an intensive program to try to correct her neck and stop her daily headaches and her migraines. Little by little it tapers off until this summer when she will probably just go monthly. Depending on how well she responds to this. It’s almost always a pretty quick trip and we are usually home before 5.

6:00 we have dinner and family time. Then our evening routine starts.

6:30 the boys pick up their toys. They can always bring back out a few to play with for the evening, but the majority need to be put away. This is a harder task because Grayson LOVES to empty all of the baskets and isn’t quite to the stage of actually realizing that he needs to at least help pick the toys back up. Vince or I usually end up helping because it’s not entirely fair to Junior to make him pick it all up when he tends to be pretty good about not getting everything out.

7:30 Pajamas

8:15 brush teeth and have quiet time. We usually cuddle on the couch.

9:00 Screen time ends for my sister. Her phone is collected and we shut the wifi off for the evening. We are trying to get back in the habit of getting the boys into bed at this time too but other than when were all sleeping this is the most peaceful time of the whole day. We usually are too distracted to say good night just yet...

9:30-10 Vince and I can barely keep our eyes open. The boys always insist they are still awake, even with their sleepy voices and through their yawns. We get every one in their beds and say goodnight!

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squadaloo · 7 years ago

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My year in games - 2016

So for the past few years, I’ve been recapping the games I’ve played for the first time in the past year. I was going to do things differently for 2017 as the first 6 months of this year were full of absolutely amazing games and the second half of the year is looking just as good. However, I realized I actually never posted my 2016 games here, so let me do that first! Here are the games I played in 2016 and what I thought of them:

The Witness (PC) - I actually wasn’t that big of a fan of Braid, but I like puzzles so I picked up Johnathan Blow’s latest game. Quite fun with a lot of great puzzles, but suffers from indie art game syndrome where it thinks it’s more amazing and profound than it actually is. Beat the main ending, didn’t beat every puzzle.

Star Fox Zero (Wii U) - The controls in this game get a lot of hate, but outside of a couple of circumstances, I thought the gyro controls made the game way more fun and with some practice became extremely rewarding. However, the game is insanely short, and I had pretty much tired of the limited content after just 5 hours. It has less content than even Star Fox 64 which is unacceptable for a supposedly major release in 2016. Beat the game, didn’t get every medal because I’m not a completionist.

Star Fox Guard (Wii U) - The tower defense game that came with Star Fox Zero. I’m not a big fan of Tower Defense and only played it once for about an hour.

Uncharted 4 (PS4) - Being tired of Nintendo not supporting the Wii U, I decided to pick up a PS4 and so Uncharted 4 was the first game I played. Personally, the only other Uncharted I really liked was 2 (1 was shit, 3 was mediocre) so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The game has an excruciatingly slow beginning, but picks up after a while. Never reaches the heights of 2, but ends up being a fun enough adventure by the end. Beat the game.

Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4) - I like this game way more than I should. The plot sort of falls apart in the second half and the gameplay can be very repetitive, but this is mitigated by the fact that flying around with control of gravity is a blast. It also helps that it has an excellent soundtrack. I actually delayed beating Uncharted 4 so I could play this all of the way through. Actually got sad when I got the Platinum trophy (my first!) since it meant there was no more game left. Beat the game.

Batman Arkham Knight (PS4) - The Batman Arkham games are pretty much all great including, IMO, the non-Rocksteady developed Origins which I feel actually has the best story. Arkham Knight is no exception, although it does have one notable weakness: the Battank. Driving around with the Batmobile is fun, but as soon as it goes into tank mode, the combat becomes repetitive and boring: two things this series has typically done a great job of avoiding. Beat the game, didn’t get all of the Riddler trophies and see the true ending, though.

No Man’s Sky (PS4) - I…actually liked this game? I wanted a relaxing game I could just waste time doing meaningless (but somewhat fun) tasks in for a few weeks, and that’s what I got. I wouldn’t recommend it for normal people though, as it’s lacking content, but by now you’ve probably read about that Didn’t get to the center of the universe because I don’t like losing progress.

Journey (PS4) - I know everybody and their mother loves this game, but I just didn’t. I do not care for games that put storytelling way over gameplay unless they go full in (more on that in a bit), and I really don’t care when the storytelling isn’t very compelling. I felt like I knew where the game was going from the moment I turned it on, and got more and more bored as I was continuously proven right. The multiplayer aspect however, was a very good idea. Beat the game.

Shantae Risky’s Revenge (PS4) - A rather fun platformer. It’s pretty short (I beat it only a little over 2 hours) but it has some fun ideas. There’s two areas that feel like the platformer equivalent of Zelda dungeons which were extremely good, but they only made up about 30% of the game. The rest was more standard (but decent) fare. Beat the game.

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (PS4) - A much better platformer than Risky’s Revenge. It has similar Zelda-ish dungeons but more of them spread throughout the game. The presentation is better with lovely HD artwork, and the game’s sense of humor is excellent. Highly recommended. Beat the game.

Transformers Devastation (PS4) - A PS+ free game which I otherwise wouldn’t have played since I don’t give the slightest care about Transformers. I didn’t make it very far into the game, but it was a pretty fun and very challenging action game from what I had played. Didn’t come close to beating the game as I got a PSVR the next week.

Playstation VR Worlds (PSVR) - And here’s where we get into the wild and crazy world of VR. I bought a PSVR because I was curious about VR and had cash to burn, but I really didn’t try it until this game. VR Worlds is really a collection of 5 tech demos I MEAN FULLY REALIZED GAMES MOST DEFINITELY NOT TECH DEMOS BEING SOLD BY SONY, NOPE. Some are good. Some are not. I’ll go into each game in a bit, but let me just say if it had not come in my PSVR launch bundle, I would not recommend buying it for $40.

Ocean Descent - A simple experience in which you stand in a shark cage in the ocean. At the end of the main dive, a shark attacks the cage. This is the first thing I played in VR and judging by the fact the game comes with the headset in the launch bundle and the fact that it always defaults to Ocean Descent on bootup, it’s basically designed to be a first experience…and succeeds massively. Within seconds, I was giggling like a little boy at how awesome it was. VR is the real deal! There is no gameplay, so it’s a very easy thing to show to non-gamers. I also showed this demo to my parents who are not gamers, and they loved it as well.

Luge VR - It’s street luge you control with your head. The graphics look horrible and blurry, even after properly callibrating the headset. I played it once, and that was enough.

The London Heist - A 40 minute interactive experience in which you help steal a diamond. It’s split between about 70% interactive cutscenes and 30% shooting action sequences. Cutscenes are far more effective in VR and I don’t mind them as much. The shooting sequences are great. However, outside of a choice right at the end of the experience, there’s not much of a reason to replay it other than just for fun. It does have a shooting gallery mode which is somewhat neat.

Scavenger’s Odyssey - A FPS in which you pilot a mech. So far, this is one of the only times I’ve gotten VR sickness. VR sickness, for those who don’t know, is basically what happens when your eyes tell your body it should be moving when it knows it isn’t. This is why most VR games either use teleporting for movement or give you a fixed point of reference while moving (like being in the cockpit of a mech) instead of just giving you standard FPS controls. While this game does try to sidestep VR sickness by putting you in a mech, it also involves jumping and flipping gravity which is what pushed me over the top. I quit for a while but eventually came back and finished it. It’s...ok. Nothing really special.

Danger Ball - An arcade game that’s effectively like cooler PONG except your opponent is in front of you (like in actual ping pong) and you move your paddle by looking in a direction. It’s kind of fun, but in order to put spin on your ball, you have to flick your neck which kind of hurts because I am out of shape and spend all day on a computer. It’s kind of fun, but not something I’d really return to.

Batman Arkham VR (PSVR) - It’s a Batman game in which you don’t fight and it only lasts 40 minutes to run through the story. While this is disappointing, it’s not as much as it would seem for two main reasons. First, the game is only 20 bucks. Second, VR is awesome and being Batman is awesome. The story is somewhat interesting and the VR is probably the most immersive out of any title. The suiting up and entry into the Batcave sequence is honestly one of my favorite experiences I’ve ever had in a game entirely because VR sells it. As for the game itself, I liked that they emphasized the detective aspect of Batman and would have gladly wanted a longer game with more cases even if it still didn’t have combat (although it would be nice). The game has optional Riddler challenge upon completion so the full amount of gametime is probably more like 3 hours, which isn’t too shabby. Love the experience, despite its length.

Rigs (PSVR) - I’m not much of an FPS person, but after playing the demo of Rigs, I decided to go ahead and buy it. Rigs is a team-based FPS in which you drive giant mechs and compete in a sort of sports league. It’s probably the most complete experience currently available in PSVR as it has single player offline modes and online play. It could use more modes and maps (which is why it’s a good thing they’ve announced another map is coming soon) but it’s still pretty fun. I’ve always hated shooting with control sticks on consoles which is why I like that you can aim with your head. VR also makes the scale of the game feel massive which I love.

Windlands (PSVR) - A first person platformer where you use grappling hooks to get around. This is the first VR game I’ve played with full locomotion with no static frame of reference and I thankfully did not get sick. The game itself is pretty decent. There’s some fun platforming but it’s a bit bland as there’s no enemies or major obstacles: just you vs. the geometry of the level. Overall, probably not the best use of VR.

Job Simulator (PSVR) - A game in which you visit the museum of jobs run by robots in the year 2050. The robots don’t exactly know how these jobs worked which leads to…let’s just say inaccurate emulations of Office Worker, Chef, Convenience Store Clerk, and Mechanic jobs. This is a good example of a game that would suck if not for being in VR. There’s something that’s a ton of fun about throwing crap around and screwing with people in VR. The game has a great sense of humor as well. However, the game is light on content (a major pain point with most early VR games) and some of the jobs get repetitive. Still, it’s a good game to show to people who are new to VR and want to see what it’s like to use motion controls to interact with the environment.

Call of Duty Jackal Assault (PSVR) - A free game in which you pilot a ship in space and shoot down other ships. The detail in the ship is great and space combat is way easier when you can look separately of aiming thanks to VR. However, it only lasts about 5 minutes, which I guess is fair given it’s free with no strings attached…outside of the massive terms of service you have to read prior to playing.

Star Wars Battlefront (PS4) - I bought this on sale for less than $8 because of the VR experience coming soon. I never bought it originally because it seemed like every other modern shooter I don’t like where only a couple of shots can kill you and you have regenerating health…and that’s exactly what it is. It can be fun from time to time, but I just suck at it and given the offline AI is stupid, I can’t really get any better either as there’s no good way to train. The VR mission is pretty nice, but only 20 minutes long and features some absolutely horrible voice acting for your playable character that tries its best to ruin the mission.

Bound (PS4/PSVR) - I bought this because it was 50% off at the same time I was picking up Battlefront and it’s got a VR mode and I’m starving for VR content. It’s very artistic like Journey, but the more platformy gameplay makes it feel more gameplay based. Also, the fact that it’s very immersive in VR really helps. Hell, I’d probably have liked Journey a whole lot more if it were in VR as well. I haven’t finished this, however, because the VR camera was kind of rough at launch. They’ve since patched it but I still haven’t returned to it because there’s been pretty much nonstop games I want/put tons of time into this year.

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