#our puzzling encounters considered

[christsizedshoes]

the way the vocalist has a snapback big khaki shorts and white tank top. incredibly transmasc. very gender imo.

go to 2:39 please the way he's using his swag is insane he's spitting bars please look im dying

[aventurineswife]

The Herta's Voicelines about her S/O

Requested by: @queeremogurl

A/N: I hope you like this!!

Aventurine's ver | Ratio's ver | Sunday's ver | Luka's ver | Kaveh's ver | Shadow's (OC) ver

The Enigma of Them

Ah, them. Quite an intriguing specimen, aren't they? I never expected someone with so much... unquantifiable charm. It makes me question my own understanding of connection. But it’s precisely because of their unpredictability that I find them fascinating.

First Meeting: Unexpected Encounter

The first time I met them, I was... intrigued. They certainly didn’t seem like the type to fit neatly into my carefully constructed theories. There was something—dare I say it—entirely human about them. But I must admit, I wasn’t expecting their brilliance. It took me a moment to accept that, perhaps, I was not the only genius in the room.

First Date: Surprising Delight

Our first date, if you can even call it that, was a rather... unexpected delight. I thought it would be a mere formality—an exchange of information, a brief distraction. But they surprised me, as they always do. Their ability to blend warmth and wit with intellectual discourse? It’s an art form. I didn’t realize how pleasant that could be.

Thinking About Them: Uncontrollable Fascination

I often find myself lost in thought about them. They’re a strange paradox—a perfect blend of intellect and emotion, something I never thought I’d find so... distracting. They possess a curiosity I can’t help but admire, even if it does sometimes challenge my own. It’s almost as though they’ve made a science of capturing my attention.

Favorite Times Spent With Them: Cherished Moments

There are few moments I treasure as much as when we’re alone together, lost in a shared puzzle or debate. The way they think—so differently from anyone I’ve encountered—has a peculiar allure. But it’s not just that. It’s the way they make the ordinary feel extraordinary. I suppose, in a way, I treasure every second spent with them. Even if I never quite admit that to their face.

Plans for the Future: Endless Possibilities

Future plans? Hm. It’s difficult to say. I’m certain that they’ll accompany me in whatever mind-bending venture I embark on, though. After all, I’m certain they’ll find the same joy I do in unraveling the very fabric of existence. Whether it’s exploring the deepest corners of the cosmos or simply enjoying a quiet moment, I imagine they’ll be there... possibly making it more interesting than it has any right to be.

Unshakable Trust

I trust them more than I trust most. That in itself is a strange admission, considering my penchant for total intellectual independence. But there's something about them—a sincerity, an understanding. When they look at me, it’s not through the lens of expectation or judgment. It’s... refreshing. Almost as though they see me, not just the image I’ve constructed for the universe.

Irreplaceable

Perhaps I’ve made an error in judgment, allowing them so close. But when the brilliance of their mind and the warmth of their spirit intersect... well, I’m not inclined to let go. I’ll be watching closely—of course. But I trust them more than anyone else.

[sen-rj]

Tea?

Summary- you are part of Levi's squad, but he likes you a bit more than most. A bit more than he probably should. Part 1? Maybe?

Tags- fluff, reader x levi, no reader names or pronouns, cannon verse, captain levi

Notes- (I have not written a fan fiction since I was in middle school so please be kind to me)

If yall want another part let me know! Also, if you hate how I highlight the quotes let me know 🤗

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

The hallways were cold and empty as you walked through them. The only sound being the snores of sleeping soldiers and the occasional laugh from a bunk room down the hall. Your footsteps quiet as you walked towards the captains quarters, making sure not to be seen or heard.

This had been going on for a while now. You're not sure quite where it started, but you could now consider yourself a friend of Captain Levi's. Maybe even more. Most would call you crazy for enjoying his company, or maybe even desperate. But to you, it was more than that. That man drove you crazy. Made you desperate.

You were used to his company, and him to yours. It had been over a year since commander Erwin assigned you to his squad. Not because of your skills as a fighting soldier, but as a trained medic and a smart, critical thinking one. You were with hange, helping with her Titan research and assisting on missions with medical aid until recently. Until Eren. Now, your job, as well as Levi's, was to protect him. Though, you also were expected (by hange of course) to poke and prod at our new titan meat.

You announce your presence at his door with three soft knocks. His response, a quiet and deep

"come in." 

You slowly open the door, looking behind you to make sure no one had seen you enter. Taking off your shoes at the door, you look back at him. His eyes had yet to lift from the papers on his desk. His brow furrowed and resting on hand as he studied the words.

He looks up at you with just his eyes.

"You're late" he states. His voice low as he moves his eyes back towards his papers.

"I know, I got held up with some stuff" you say, walking over to him. "Tea?" You ask.

His eyes meet yours, a glimmer of excitement in them at the mention of tea.

"You know the answer to that." He says dryly, looking away. You grab his kettle and his favorite tea, some tea cups too. Getting to work in the small kitchenette to his right. "What is this stuff that held you up?" he asks, his face still focused.

"Just some last minute details of today's experiments." You say, bringing the water to just below a boil. "They were quite interesting I will say, it's a shame you missed them."

"Anything is more interesting than this" he says, setting his pen on the surface of his desk, leaning back and looking over to you.

You laugh lightly. A sigh escaping as you slowly unwind from today's strenuous work. "We're making great progress. I really think we're on the edge of discovering something great here" you say, taking the kettle off of the heat.

"Yeah? And what's that?" He asks, genuinely curious as to how anything in this world could be something great. Other than maybe you.

Walking over to his desk, you prep the leaves in the cups, slowly pouring the hot water over them.

"I want to run more tests on Eren. His ability to transform really has me puzzled. In normal Titan classifications, he'd be considered an abnormal. So... who's to say that every abnormal we've ever encountered isn't like Eren? Or are there only some abnormal like Eren? And how do I find that out?" You sigh, swallowing down the rest of your words after realizing you had gone on a tangent.

"You make good arguments. I've never thought of that." He admits, watching as you pour his tea. "This is all a big shit show." He sighs. Rubbing his temple with his hands in exhaustion and frustration. When would this all end? How much about the world do they think they know, when really that have no idea. What are they fighting for? He knows not to let his mind spiral, but sometimes the thoughts are too loud.

"It truly is." You hand him his tea and take a seat in front of him.

This had become an almost nightly thing. You coming to Levi's office for tea and brief synapses of each others days.

You were part of levis squad, yes. But you were more of his partner than anything else. You filled him in on the things he is absent to see. The rest of the squad looks to you for direction when Levi isn't there. He trusts you, more than he probably should.

Levi looks at you as you sip your tea. Studying your face as you study the ceiling.

"Have you been sleeping? Eating well?" He asks, looking back down at his papers.

"As well as one in this job can." You admit, looking at him as his hands scribble signatures on his paper. "And you?"

"Enough." He answers dryly. You hum in response.

"You can't live off of tea and hate forever" you tease. A tiny smirk curses the corner of his lips.

"I can try" he says. You laugh in response, leaning back in the chair behind you.

Looking at the stack of papers on his desk, you instinctually grab half of them, turning them in front of you.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asks, but doesn't look up from his own paper.

"Helping" you say, grabbing a pen and beginning to forge his signature. You had it memorized by now. You could write it in your sleep.

He shakes his head and clicks his tongue. "You really don't know how to quit, huh?"

"Mmm" you hum a no back. "And you really don't know how to stop me" you tease. Focusing on his papers in front of you now.

Hours pass when you're hand begins to cramp, and you back begins to ache. You have no clue how he has been doing this for so long.

With a sigh, you stand, stretching your legs and popping your fingers. His eyes look up, following you're body from your feet up to you're hands in the air as you stretch.

"Giving up already?" He asks

You shake your head no. "No, I just needed to stretch." You say, before a large yawn fills your mouth.

"Yeah right. Quit lingering and go to bed. You need sleep" he orders. His words sounding cold, but his intentions were quite the opposite.

"You sure?" You ask, your eyes heavy with sleep.

"Positive. I'll be fine." He says, focused on his work.

"If you insist."

"I do."

He looks up at you seriously.

"You have some serious beauty sleep to catch up on. If you don't start sleeping more you're going to start loosing that charm that got you here." he says, and you can't help but blush slightly at his words .

"You're sweet."

"Get out."

You laugh as you walk towards the door, eager for rest.

"Goodnight Captain."

"Goodnight."

[deliciousangelfestival]

Another Ending - 6 | spy!Bucky

Character: ex!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Summary: It was supposed to be a short week watching over your niece, who loves romance books. She thought you were just a normal aunt, but it turns out you have secrets.

Tags: Spies, action, threat, offense, fight scene, violence, romance, comedy.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 , Chapter 6 , End .

Main Masterlist || If you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee on Ko-fi 🙏🏻

Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. Leave a comment and Reblog, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

Lori was spinning around the room, singing with a mischievous grin on her face, "Aunt is a nasty girl, yeah, she's a nasty girl," mimicking the moves from a viral dance she must have seen online.

You rolled your eyes, wincing slightly as Bucky gently cleaned and treated the wound on your arm. He glanced at Lori with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

Meanwhile, Henry, sitting nearby with a puzzled look, watched Lori's performance unfold. "What on earth is she doing?" he asked, clearly baffled by her antics.

"She's making fun of me," you replied, sighing as you glanced over at your niece. Lori continued her exaggerated dance, clearly enjoying herself.

Bucky, focused on wrapping the bandage around your arm, muttered, "She's not nasty." His voice was calm, but there was a flicker of tension in his eyes.

Lori suddenly stopped dancing and sprinted over to you, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Tell me more about your ex!" she demanded, her curiosity getting the better of her.

You noticed Bucky’s hands falter for a moment as he tied the bandage a little tighter than necessary, his jaw clenched ever so slightly. "He's not my ex," you corrected, your tone firm but tinged with frustration.

Lori giggled, clearly enjoying teasing you. "Yeah... right..." she drawled, drawing out the word as she smirked knowingly.

You shook your head, exasperated. Your niece, always with her head in the clouds, had now latched onto the idea of some dramatic romance after discovering that you had encountered someone from your past.

And that someone was the very reason you were sitting here now, with fresh bandages and a sore arm. Lori’s song and dance were just her way of processing the excitement of what she imagined to be a grand love story, not realizing the pain and complexity it actually brought.

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

24 hours ago

"What you said is pointless because we don't have the data," you replied, frustration lacing your tone.

Henry shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, that might be true, but I know where they hide it."

A groan escaped your lips, and you brought a hand to cover your face. "I hate where this is going."

"Why?" Lori asked, her eyes lighting up with interest.

Bucky leaned forward, his expression serious. "You want us to steal it," he stated flatly, already seeing the direction Henry was headed.

Henry chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. "Steal is such a strong word. I prefer to think of it as... liberating the truth. Recovering what's rightfully ours."

You shot him a skeptical look. "Liberating the truth? That sounds like something straight out of a heist movie."

Lori’s eyes widened with excitement. "A heist? Oh, this is so cool! Can I help? Please, let me help!"

Bucky gave her a wary glance. "This isn’t a game, Lori. It’s dangerous."

Lori bounced on her toes, her enthusiasm undiminished. "I know, but I want to be part of it! I can do it, I promise! You said I was a good actress, remember? I could be the distraction or, like, the tech whiz or something! Whatever you need!"

Henry grinned, clearly amused by her enthusiasm. "See? The girl’s got the right attitude! Nobody would suspect someone like her to be involved in espionage."

You sighed but couldn’t help the smile that tugged at your lips. "Alright, alright. If Lori wants in, then we’ll find a role for her. But if this goes sideways, it’s on you, Henry."

Lori clapped her hands, practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes! This is going to be awesome! I can’t wait!"

Henry clapped his hands together, his smile broadening. "That's the spirit! Now, let's get to work. We have some planning to do."

At Charity Event

The grand lobby of the company was abuzz with activity. Children laughed and played, their faces painted with bright colors. The "Make It Together" charity event, hosted by the company’s CEO, had drawn a large crowd.

Both of you are planning to steal data from a CEO known for holding everyone’s dirty secrets. This CEO also loves to host charity events at his company to enhance his public image and boost his business.

Dressed as a happy family, you and Bucky played the part of doting parents, while Lori, full of youthful enthusiasm, easily fit the role of your daughter. Henry, blending in with the crowd, kept a vigilant eye on the situation.

Henry knew about the vault because he had been there when the CEO proudly showcased it and placed the secret data inside.

As you and Bucky moved toward the restricted areas, you leaned in close, whispering urgently, “If things go south, remember—no matter what happens, save Lori first. She’s the priority.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed in concern. “I don’t think—”

You cut him off, your voice firm but laden with emotion. “This is my only request, Bucky. Please.”

Bucky nodded, his expression serious. “I understand. But I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe too.”

As you and Lori approached the vault with Henry’s directions, Bucky positioned himself by the entrance, watching for any sign of trouble. You worked swiftly with the digital key cracker, trying to stay calm despite the tension.

Inside the Vault

The vault door opened with a soft click, revealing rows of safety deposit boxes and data drives. Lori, playing her role perfectly, had successfully distracted the guard, allowing you and Bucky to enter unnoticed.

“Got it,” you whispered, retrieving the data drive from its place on the shelf. “Let’s get out.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the tense atmosphere. “Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite double agent.”

You froze, hearing that familiar voice filled with spite. Standing in front of you was Romeo, your former colleague. He leaned casually against the doorframe, his eyes locked on you with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

“Romeo,” you said, trying to remain composed. “What are you doing here?”

Romeo’s smirk was a blend of flirtatiousness and anger. “I didn’t expect to see you here, especially not with him."

Bucky stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. “We don’t have time for this.”

Romeo’s gaze flicked to Bucky, then back to you. His voice dripped with sarcasm. “I suppose it was only a matter of time before you chose another. I’m just curious—did you miss me at all, or was it all just part of the job?”

You kept your tone even, but the past echoed in your words. “It was always part of the job, Romeo. Nothing more.”

Romeo's eyes flashed with a mix of fury and betrayal. He leaned in closer, his voice dripping with contempt. “Of all people, you choose to work with him? The most wanted fugitive and the worst traitor?” His tone was laced with disbelief as he gestured toward Bucky with a sharp, accusing finger.

Bucky stepped in, his voice firm. “Well, she chose me.”

The words hit Romeo hard. His face contorted with anger. “Oh, so that’s it? You’re just going to flaunt it in my face? How charming. I always knew you had a talent for stealing—both hearts and secrets.”

Lori, watching from a distance, could hardly believe the scene unfolding before her. She stayed silent, her eyes wide with excitement and curiosity. This is a LOVE TRIANGLE!

You took a deep breath, trying to focus on the task at hand. “Romeo. This isn’t about us anymore.”

Romeo’s anger flared. “I guess some things never change. You always had a knack for making everything personal.”

Before you could react, Romeo lunged, reaching for the data drive. Bucky moved to intercept him, but Romeo’s partner appeared, grabbing your arm and twisting it painfully.

“Gotcha,” the partner sneered.

You struggled free, delivering a swift kick to his side. The fight erupted in full force as Bucky and Romeo grappled, exchanging blows. You managed to push back your attacker, but Romeo drew a knife, aiming it directly at Lori.

Without thinking, you threw yourself in front of her, taking the hit to your side. Bucky’s eyes widened in horror. “Y/N!”

You gritted your teeth, trying to stay upright. “Get Lori out of here!”

Bucky fought off Romeo and his partner with renewed determination, eventually knocking Romeo out cold. He helped you toward the exit, Lori’s worried face visible in the doorway.

Henry, who had been monitoring from outside, was already pulling up in the getaway car. “Get in!” he shouted.

Bucky helped you into the back seat, and Lori followed closely. The car sped away from the building, leaving the chaos behind.

As the adrenaline began to wane, Bucky pressed a hand to your wound, his face a mask of concern. “Hold on, we’re almost clear.”

Lori, her face pale but determined, asked quietly, “Aunt, are you okay?”

You managed a weak smile despite the pain. “I’m fine, Lori. Just a scratch.”

Henry glanced back through the rearview mirror. “Was it worth it?”

You held up the data drive, the evidence of the CEO’s wrongdoings. “We got what we needed.”

Henry grinned, relieved. “Then let’s get out of here before more agents show up.”

The car sped into the night, leaving the confrontation and the chaos of the charity event behind. You leaned back in your seat, clutching the drive tightly. Despite the pain and the narrow escape, you knew you had accomplished your mission.

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

Present Time

Lori was still buzzing with excitement, peppering you with questions about Romeo. Bucky, visibly agitated, clenched his jaw and avoided eye contact, his jealousy simmering beneath the surface.

Meanwhile, Henry was in the other room, trying to uncripted the drive. He took a drag from his cigar but suddenly erupted into a fit of uncontrollable coughing. The sound echoed through the room, making him look vulnerable.

Lori quickly sprang into action, grabbing a glass of water and handing it to Henry with a concerned expression. “Here, drink this,” she said softly.

Henry accepted the glass with a grateful nod. “Thank you.”

Lori watched him closely, her concern deepening. “How long have you been sick?”

Henry looked up, surprised by her insight. “How did you know?”

Lori pointed at the medicine in his bag, her voice carrying a tone of familiarity. “I used to help my mother take care of my father when he was sick. I remember most of the names of the medicines he used.”

Henry was impressed by her knowledge. His gaze softened, though his eyes still held a trace of sadness. “I just found out,” he admitted. “My life is now just counting days.” The doctor didn’t tell him, but he knew. That’s why he doesn’t want to die miserably in the nursing home.

Lori’s expression reflected a deep empathy, recognizing the bitterness in his words that mirrored her own father’s struggles. She glanced at the cigar and whiskey near Henry, then met his eyes with a gentle resolve.

“Do what you love while you still can,” she said quietly.

Henry chuckled, a bitter but appreciative smile playing on his lips. “I will.”

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

As Bucky finished treating your wound, the dim light from the room cast soft shadows across his face. He looked up, his expression serious yet tender.

“You’re in the danger zone, James. Why did you try to find me?” you asked, your voice tinged with concern.

Bucky’s gaze locked with yours, filled with a depth of emotion that made your heart ache. “I realized that knowing I can’t be with you forever is haunting me.”

You studied him, feeling the weight of his words. The room seemed to shrink around you, making the moment feel intensely intimate.

Bucky continued, his voice hushed but resolute. “I know I’m a bad person. I’ve lived my life constantly looking over my shoulder. If I die tomorrow, at least I need you to know how I feel. I don’t want to leave this world with regrets.”

You felt a lump in your throat, a mix of frustration and tenderness. “You’re a fool, Bucky.”

He let out a soft, bittersweet chuckle, a faint smile playing on his lips. “I know.”

“That’s why I liked you,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. The words hung in the air between you, carrying an unspoken promise.

Bucky’s smile grew, and he reached out, gently cupping your face in his hands. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver down your spine. “I’ve always liked you too. Even when I didn’t want to admit it.”

His eyes searched yours, and for a moment, the world outside seemed to disappear. You could see the vulnerability and longing in his gaze, and it mirrored your own feelings.

Slowly, he leaned in, his breath mingling with yours. “If we make it out of this, let’s promise to take whatever chances we can get. Let’s not waste another moment.”

Your heart raced as you closed the distance between you, sharing a kiss that spoke of all the unspoken words and emotions that had built up over time. The kiss was both tender and passionate, a release of all the feelings that had been pent up for so long.

When you finally pulled away, your foreheads rested together, and Bucky’s eyes were filled with a mix of relief and hope. “Let’s fight for a future where we can be together,” he whispered.

You nodded, your heart full of resolve and affection. “We will.”

As the romantic moment unfolded, a sense of quiet intimacy enveloped you and Bucky. But that peace was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a soft chuckle. Both of you turned, your sighs of frustration mingling with the realization that you were being watched.

There, peeking around the edge of the door, was Lori, her eyes wide with curiosity and amusement. You and Bucky exchanged a knowing glance, recognizing that your private moment had been intruded upon.

"Lori!" you called out, your voice a mix of exasperation and embarrassment.

Lori’s face broke into a playful grin, and she quickly darted away, her laughter echoing down the hallway as she ran.

Bucky shook his head with a chuckle, the tension from the moment melting away. You couldn’t help but smile at Lori’s antics, feeling a sense of warmth despite the interruption.

Bucky turned to you, his eyes softening with affection. “Well, at least she’s in good spirits.”

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[ineffabildaddy]

there is no other way to say it (E, 1.5k) - a good omens ficlet by ineffabildaddy

happy birthday @brenna! here's a little gift for you, which is also available to read on ao3 as linked above!

summary: Aziraphale considers the history of the word 'mine', and what it means to him.

1,503 words. cw for sexual content

comments and reblogs are treasured!

-

Before the beginning, the word 'mine' did not exist.

After all, nothing belonged to any of us angels, not really. Even our names - like our robes, and our responsibilities - could be rescinded, or indeed changed, at any time.

If an individual identity was not permitted under any circumstances, then anything which could be described as 'yours', whether physical, emotional, or philosophical, was certainly out of the question. There was simply no need for such a word, so it hadn't been invented yet.

Because we were all working for a common cause, no one had conceived of competing with one another. Of course, there was an established hierarchy, but the angels further up the food chain were even more afraid to stand out than the riffraff. So, there was never a cry or a plea for victory to be mine, as it were. And if there was no sense of competition, there was also no plotting or planning or scheming or machinating, which meant the phrase vengeance shall be mine would not have come in handy, either. All told, we managed perfectly well without the word, myself included.

Until you.

I met you, once, before it all went sideways. We crossed paths only briefly, but during our encounter I found myself grasping for something that I couldn't quite reach. A space in my mind which seemed reserved for something yet to come, something I flew towards at full pace for what felt like hours without actually drawing any closer to it.

After we parted, I swiftly forgot about the blank canvas I had coveted, this desire to know something that couldn't be known. I judged that this fight was destined for another.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I realised the error of my judgement on a singularly hot afternoon in Eden. I was restless, that day, and I felt as if I should search for something to quell my boredom; what, precisely, I didn't know. I was hoping the object of my pursuit would become clear to me once I had found it, and so I flew down from my position guarding the wall and padded barefoot through the garden with no particular path in mind.

The leaves shooting out and up from the trees either side of me were sticky and heavy with condensation, while the sun dazzled so brightly I had no choice but to take cover behind a tall shrub as I approached the edge of a clearing. Shielding my eyes from the light's unrelenting glare with a flattened hand hovering over my forehead, I could make out your figure lounging against a boulder in the full heat of the sun. Your oval pupils were blown wide, and I had never seen a blaze so fierce as the one which, at that moment, swiftly rippled back and forth across your serpentine irises. You were tucking a crimson strand of hair behind the slightly sunburned tip of your ear, laughing low and sleek and textured; I would have compared the sound of your voice to velvet, had I known that such a luxurious fabric would exist sometime in the future.

After tearing my gaze from your form with great resolve, I shifted my focus towards the left and discovered you were conversing with Eve. A longer look around the area confirmed that Adam was nowhere to be found, which puzzled me, because he almost never left his counterpart's side. Abstractly, I wondered what he was doing, and then what Eve could possibly be saying to keep you so enrapt and amused and fascinated all at once.

Then it came. This thought I had never had before. It was suddenly settled in my mind, as if it had been there all along, taking root calmly within me, refusing to parade itself around like the myriad of other new concepts and feelings I had learned since arriving on Earth a short time earlier.

Mine, the thought said, as if it possessed the power to speak in and of itself. Only once, not so quickly that I couldn't memorise it but not slowly enough for me to truly grasp its true nature. And then it was quiet inside me again, and I tilted my head to the skies, squinting in the face of the bulbous star lighting the Earth as if God would peep out from beyond it and explain what I had just experienced.

Had God planted this word in my head? Had God sent it down to me because I was destined to be the first creature on Earth who used it?

If there was anything I had learned over the course of my fragile existence, it was that there were no accidents. Not where God was concerned, and in those days, God was concerned with, well... everything. This couldn't possibly have been random, and yet I couldn't make sense of it.

I snuck another glance at you, searing, furtive. Eve was sauntering away, and your eyelids were drooping languidly shut once you had reclined on the boulder. My footfall was light as a feather as I turned on my heel and crept back towards my post.

Three hours later, I returned. Twilight had fallen over Eden, and I supposed the rest of the world, too, though it felt at that time as if the world ended exactly where the scorching desert began. You hadn't moved from your perch, though your eyes were open, now, as you sat cross-legged, prising flecks of dirt from your fingernails.

I stood beside you. I asked you if you knew of the word 'mine', and if so, what it meant. You shook your head and replied, "I'll tell you something I do know. Something Eve told me today."

Before I could manoeuvre the subject back to its intended course, you began. I hadn't blushed since the day you lit up the stars, but, my, did I blush then.

Though we didn't really know what it was for, we both agreed there was no harm in trying it. So we did, following the method Eve had related to you. Your back thumped lightly against the long shoots of grass covering the earth as you lay down beside the boulder, my flaming sword resting above your head, and you were kind enough to hold the hem of my robe up for me, pressing a hand to the swell of my stomach while I eased the cock God had lovingly made for me into your slick cunt. You talked me through the details, urging me to move within you, to withdraw and then spear you again and nudge you right there until you gasped so sharply into the night air it gave a sleeping bird a fright, the sweet crescents of your tits trembling violently beneath your clothes.

There it was again, while I spilled my gold-flecked essence into the tight, hot core of you. Mine. I wanted to say it aloud this time, but words failed me while we pulsed in harmony with one another.

The next day, you finally did what you had come to Eden to do - that is, make some trouble - and everything changed. I wanted to go over what had happened the previous night, to confess that I still couldn't banish that elusive word from my mind, but we knew Heaven and Hell were watching, so we talked of other things instead. Flaming swords, fruit trees, important things that we rightfully should have been discussing.

It just felt terribly urgent, this problem I had. Selfishly, it felt more important, more tangible, than good or evil or original sin. But before I knew it, we were going our separate ways, and I was bound to my independent duties just as intensely as you were bound to yours.

By the time I learned what mine meant, it was far too late for me to act upon my newfound knowledge. Long gone were the days when we were safely sequestered in the garden, with all time in the world ahead of us and the innocence to proclaim we didn't really know what we were doing.

But then I ran into you again, years later. You had new things to show me, and show me you did, after night fell over the plains of Mesopotamia.

When I slid the thick head of my cock gently out of your warm mouth, stuttering a breathless thank you, you smiled, paying no mind to the droplets of gold and white sheening your reddened lips.

"The pleasure's all mine," you said, and even in those tumultuous times, I was still certain that there were no accidents.

It occurred to me, then, that perhaps you did have the answer that afternoon in Eden, when I asked you the meaning of the word. Perhaps your conversational pivot was your attempt to show me you understood it the only way you knew how.

That word wasn't meant for us, back in those days. But God did what she does best, and pretended not to notice.

[delicatebarness]

good graces: a cry baby story | chapter three

Summary: An anonymous tip is called into the station, after two years will the case finally be solved?

Warning: Violence. Missing Persons. Affairs and Infidelity. Intense Emotional Distress. Interrogation and Suspicion. Potential for Harm.

Word Count: 1221

Spotify Playlist | Support: Ko-FI

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

A/N: Ooo, our first chapter without Steve. - Please feel free to leave feedback or let me know where and how you want the story to continue, this is just as much yours as mine. - B

Cry Baby: @buckys0whore | @thezombieprostitute | @lanabuckybarnes | @mishkatelwarriorgoddess | @softieekayy | @noonespecial90 | @hello-therree | @randomawesomeperson102 | @whoreforbarnes | @thejutvtsupport | @somnorvos | @cjand10 | @plasticbottleholder | @eaterof-concrete | @am-3-thyst

Everything: @hallecarey1 | @pattiemac1 | @uhmellamoanna | @scraftsku35 | @ozwriterchick | @sapphirebarnes | @rach2602 | @thetorturedbuckydepartment | @mrsnikstan

Steve’s words echoed in your head the next day. You were unable to shake the encounter from your mind. Hills eyes held questions as she took in your shaken appearance. 

“Rough night?” she asked, concern etched into her features and laced in her tone. 

You nodded. “Just more motivation to bring them down,” you replied, your resolve hardening. The memory of your confrontation with Steve played, fueling your determination.

Handing you a file, Hill nodded. “I’ve got something that might help. An anonymous tip came in this morning. Someone wants to meet you at a diner tonight.” 

Taking the file, you flipped through the statement. The details were sparse but intriguing. “Specifics?” 

Hill pointed out the address and time in the statement. “It’s a small place on the outskirts. They sounded nervous, so I’m coming with you.” 

You appreciated the backup. “Good idea,” you shot Hill a small smile. “We can’t take any chances.” Having Hill by your side provided a sense of security as the seriousness of your situation called for extra caution. 

As the day wore on, the anticipation grew. You planned your approach meticulously, considering every possible outcome and rereading the added report to the mountain of information on the Avenger.

~

By the time night fell, the tension was palpable as you and Hill drove to the diner. The small, unassuming place stood out in the desolate outskirts of the city. The neon sign flickered, casting eerie shadows that seemed to dance over the cracked asphalt of the parking lot. 

Inside, you felt the eyes of a few patrons on you as you entered. In a corner booth, your contact was already there, her envious demeanor contrasting against the causal setting. Her eyes darted around nervously as you approached. You and Hill slid into the booth across from her.

“Thank you for meeting us,” you said, trying to put her at ease. Offering her a reassuring smile, though your own nerves were on edge. 

“This needs to be quick,” she said, her voice trembling. “He has people everywhere.” 

“We’ll protect you,” Hill promised. “Just tell us what you know.” 

Taking a deep breath, her eyes filled with fear and determination. “My husband went missing about two years ago, and I believe they had something to do with it.” Another glance around the diner, her paranoia evident. 

Hill leaned in, her expression serious. “Who do you mean by ‘they’?” 

“The Avengers,” she whispered, glancing around the surroundings as if expecting one of them to appear. “John… he somehow got involved with them. I found out he was having an affair.” 

Exchanging a puzzled look with Hill, you questioned your contact. “An affair?” 

“Yes,” she continued, her voice shaking. “With the Rogers’ girl. I found out after he went midding. But, I don’t believe it was just an affair; it was something more. And, I think it got him killed.”

“What makes you think that?” Hill asked, urgency laced in her tone. 

“For about a week before he disappeared, John would come home with his face black and blue. He’d make up excuses, for example, falling down the stairs at work,” she pauses, a soft, bitter chuckle escaping her lips. “You know, for someone who was keeping up with a secret affair, he’d learn to lie better.” 

“How did you find out?” you asked, your curiosity piqued.

She sighed deeply, her hands trembling as she spoke. “I went to their bar, hoping to find answers… demanding answers. At first, they brushed me off, declaring they knew nothing, but…” 

You and Hill leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. The story enveloped you as you listened intently, and you gave her your full attention.

“I could see in her eyes, it was almost as if she was about to cry,” her voice cracked with emotion as she continued.

“Who? The Rogers’ girl?” you asked.

She nodded. “I could sense that she knew more, so I waited until I knew she was there without them. Only she wasn’t alone; she had the one everyone refers to as the gang's guard dog or something?” 

“James ‘Bucky’ Barnes,” Hill confirmed, adding more clarity to the wife's story. “That’s not surprising, they have been publicly dating for about a year now.” 

The wide paused, her eyes welling up with tears. “I pointed at her, demanding answers once again. He got in between us, repeating that they didn’t know anything, but I was desperate.”

“Did she say anything?” Hill asked with an intense expression. 

“She admitted it,” she continued, her voice breaking. “She said John wasn’t honest with me– that they had been dating. She apologized, explaining that she didn’t know until she found out he disappeared that he was married.” 

“But, why do you think the Avengers are involved with his disappearance, just over an affair?” you asked, trying to understand her reasoning.

“John started coming home with bruises suddenly,” she replied, her tone growing more frantic. “And not just once or twice– they constantly got worse. He was hiding something. And then, he vanished. The timing, the bruises, the guilty look on her face– I can’t imagine it being anyone else.” 

“So,” Hill spoke up, looking thoughtful. “You think him getting involved with the little sister of their head, led to his disappearance?” 

“Yes,” the wife said, her voice firm. “I don’t have proof, but my gut tells me they had something to do with it.” 

Exchanging another look with Hill, you both processed the new information. Steve’s voice echoed in your mind, warning you to stay away from his sister; provoking him again this soon could jeopardize the investigation. 

“We need to tread carefully,” you muttered. “Rogers’ has already warned us about questioning his sister. I’m afraid if we push him too hard, it could backfire.” 

Nodding in agreement, Hill gave you a small reassuring smile. “We’ll have to find another way to get information. Maybe there is someone else in their circle who knows something.” 

The wife’s desperation was clear as she looked between you and Hill. “Please, find out what happened to John. I just want to know the truth.” 

“We will,” you promised, your voice steady and firm. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, no matter what it takes.” 

Stepping out of the diner, the cool, damp night air felt like a welcome relief from the oppressive tension inside. The intermittent flicker of the neon sign seemed to reflect the uncertainty swirling in your mind. Exchanging a final, meaningful look with Hill, you headed to your car. 

“I think we should call it a night,” you said, your voice carried notes of fatigue. “We’ve got a lot to process, and it might be best to get some rest and think it over.” Hill nodded in agreement. 

Each streetlamp cast fleeting glimmers of light across the windshield, punctuating the silence of the drive home. Once at your apartment, you went through your evening routine with a mechanical detachment. Settling into bed, the weight of the wife’s story pressed heavily on your mind. 

You need this time to absorb the details, sort through the implications, and plan your next steps carefully. Your thoughts were a tangled web of suspicion, concern, and the looming challenge of finding out the truth behind John Walker’s disappearance. And, possibly Steve Rogers and the Avengers’ involvement.

---

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[satoshi-mochida]

Silent Hill f confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC; reveal trailer - Gematsu

Silent Hill f will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store when it launches, publisher Konami and developer NeoBards Entertainment announced. A release date was not announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via Konami:

About

In 1960s Japan, Shimizu Hinako’s secluded town of Ebisugaoka is consumed by a sudden fog, transforming her home into a haunting nightmare. As the town falls silent and the fog thickens, Hinako must navigate the twisted paths of Ebisugaoka, solving complex puzzles and confronting grotesque monsters to survive. Immerse yourself into Hinako’s world imagined by renowned author Ryukishi07, with entrancing music, including pieces by Akira Yamaoka, and beautiful visuals in a gripping tale of doubt, regret, and inescapable choices. Will Hinako embrace the beauty hidden within terror, or succumb to the madness that lies ahead? Discover a new chapter in the Silent Hill series, blending psychological horror with a haunting Japanese setting.

Story

In 1960s Japan, teenager Shimizu Hinako lives in the small, remote town of Ebisugaoka, nestled in a mountain pass. An average teen, she passes the time with nothing particularly special about her life. Until, that is, a deep fog descends on Ebisugaoka, and everything Hinako knows crumbles as she finds her once-familiar home infested with spreading danger, the town empty except for the horrors teeming in the fog. Now, as she navigates the twisting paths of Ebisugaoka, Hinako must solve puzzles and fight for her life in her struggle to survive. Her struggle to reach the inevitable decision that must be made. And her struggle to put an end to that which must be slain. Will she choose to embrace elegance and beauty? Or will her path lead her to madness and horror… A story of impossible decisions, of the beauty in terror, and terror from beauty.

Characters

Shimizu Hinako – The game’s main character. A teenage girl struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. Cheerful and energetic as a child, she’s grown to become much more restrained, and now hardly smiles.

Staff Comments

Scriptwriter Ryukishi07 – “To this day, I remember the feeling of my first encounter with the suffocating and oppressive atmosphere of Silent Hill. It still deeply haunts me, and it still utterly fascinates me. It’s an honor to find myself involved with a series I have so many memories with. I’ve poured all my efforts into this story, so much so that I don’t think I would mind if it was the last thing I ever wrote. To me, the Silent Hill series is more than just a collection of stories, it’s a medium; an amazing, phenomenal way of exploring and experiencing a person’s heart and mind. It’s my hope that players out there will come to appreciate it in the same way. And to all of our overseas friends, I hope you’ll enjoy a look at what Silent Hill might be like if set somewhere a little different, like Japan.”

Creature and Character Designer kera – “I love the Silent Hill series, and it’s been a big influence on me. In particular, I am constantly remembering Silent Hill 2, and the messages on the walls, the music, and the monster designs. So, when it came to Silent Hill f, and bringing the setting to Japan, we had to come up with something that felt just a little different, and I had to really think about how to get that feeling. The monster designs were the hardest. I had to consider everything that’s come in Silent Hill before, and figure out how to take this game in a different direction, but still be Silent Hill. It might not be the exact same blood-smeared, rusting scenery, but I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy our vision and the world we’ve created.”

Composer Akira Yamaoka – “Although this is set in Japan, we focused on portraying it in a way that is based solely on the conception of Silent Hill. While incorporating plenty of Japan’s unique identity, we sublimated it as fiction and expressed this unique culture as entertainment. By doing so, we believe we were able to blend the charm of Japan in a new way into the unique worldview of Silent Hill. We hope that through this game, you will enjoy the look and feel of what makes this title truly Silent Hill.”

Composer Kensuke Inage – “The first time I played Silent Hill was about 20 years back. I’m extremely honored to have been offered such a great opportunity for a series with a rich history. I was in charge of composing the music for the Otherworld, known in this game as the ‘Dark Shrine.’ I have composed music for an unsettling yet beautiful world that uses imagery from shrines, blending ancient Japanese court music with ambient echoes. I wove in various techniques that will connect the player to the protagonist’s agony, internal conflict, fear, and other emotions. I hope you get to experience it for yourself in the game.”

*Other composers include dai and xaki.

Disclaimer

This game contains depictions of gender discrimination, child abuse, bullying, drug-induced hallucinations, torture, and graphic violence. This game is set in Japan in the 1960s and contains depictions based on the customs and culture of that time. These depictions do not reflect the opinions or values of the developers or any individuals involved. If you feel uncomfortable at any point while playing, please take a break from playing or speak to someone you trust.

Watch the reveal trailer and an archive of today’s Silent Hill Transmission below. View the first screenshots at the gallery. Visit the official website here.

Reveal Trailer

English

Japanese

Silent Hill Transmission: March 13, 2025

English

Japanese

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A GRAVITATIONAL WAVE MEETS A BLACK HOLE??

Blog#459

Wednesday, December 4th, 2024

Welcome back,

When two things in the Universe that “always” occur meet one another, how do you know which one will win? Gravitational waves, for example, always pass through whatever they encounter: empty space, dark matter, gas clouds, plasma, dust, planets, stars, and even dense stellar remnants like white dwarfs and neutron stars. They carry energy, which they can deposit into objects they affect, deforming and distorting space (along with everything in it) as they pass through.

Nothing ever seems to stop gravitational waves, with the only alterations to “unperturbed propagation” coming from the effects of distorted spacetime due to the presence of masses and the expanding Universe.

But on the other side of the coin, we have black holes, which have an event horizon: a region from within which nothing can escape. So when the immovable object meets the irresistible force, who wins? While gravitational waves can be emitted from outside the event horizon of merging black holes, if something takes place inside the event horizon, it cannot escape.

So what happens, then, if a propagating gravitational wave generated by a black hole-black hole merger runs into another black hole: one that didn’t play a part in the generation of those waves?

The two main options you’d likely consider are that it could pass though the black hole the way it passed through everything else, or it could be swallowed and absorbed by the black hole, adding to its mass/energy. Here’s how to puzzle out which one would actually occur.

Let’s start with black holes: objects that are not to be trifled with in the Universe. When you’re far away from a black hole’s event horizon, it appears to behave just like any other ordinary mass in the Universe. From the location of Earth, for example, the gravitational effects that we experience from our Sun are indistinguishable from the ones that would be generated by:

a white dwarf,

a neutron star,

or a black hole,

of the same exact mass.

We would still experience the same orbit, with the same speed, the same period, and the same elliptical pattern (and even the same level of relativistic precession) that we experience from our Sun. The only differences that would be perceptible would appear when we looked in the vicinity of the Sun (or whatever replaced it) itself. The bending of background starlight, along with all other forms of matter and radiation, is intensified the closer and closer you get to a compact, massive object: regions that are currently obscured by the disk of the Sun.

Other than the distortion of space from the innermost ~1 degree closest to the center of the Sun, where the curvature of space is most severe, there are no other detectable differences.

But that inner region of space matters tremendously when we consider the impact it has on absorbing various types of matter and radiation. For example:

the Sun, being an opaque object, would absorb everything that it interacts with, like protons, neutrons, electrons, and photons, but would be transparent to particles like neutrinos and antineutrinos,

white dwarfs, being opaque but much smaller than the Sun, would have a much smaller cross-sectional area (perhaps only ~0.01% that of the Sun) but would still be opaque to protons, neutrons, electrons, and photons, and due to its density would begin absorbing a small fraction of the neutrinos that strike it,

neutron stars, even smaller and denser than white dwarfs, have a much lower area over which they absorb protons, neutrons, electron, and photons, but will absorb ~100% of the ones that strike it, along with up to ~50% of the neutrinos (and antineutrinos) that pass through its diameter,

and black holes absorb absolutely 100% of everything we know of that touches or crosses its event horizon.

From a black hole, if you’re an energy-carrying entity, there ought to be no escape.

Originally published on https://bigthink.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, December 7th, 2024)

"HOW TO DESTROY A BLACK HOLE????"

[sheikfangirl]

your puppet zelda headcanons are definitely making me reconsider her as a concept!! i agree she felt very underdeveloped but has a lot of potential. from a gameplay perspective, if you had your way in integrating/rewriting puppet zelda into totk's narrative, how would you do it? i feel like you'd make her infinitely more developed lol

Hey @pitchblackespresso Thank you for your patience! I know, your question has been in my inbox for a couple of days now but I thought it was so interesting I really wanted to take the time to think about my answer before replying. Obviously, I would've looooove if the dev team added more depth to Puppet Zelda, I mean, she's a walking horror movie trope just waiting to ooze angst and hurt!! hdkjlsgjsjniosdgv!!!!! I happen to be a game dev in real life and I play games with a game dev point of view... I always put myself in the team's shoes and I have empathy for them. Making a game is hard work and what they achieved with TotK is insane. Obviously Puppet Zelda wasn't their priority and I can't wait to learn more from the Masterwork book... I would never ever pretend I would've done a better job than them!! Buuuuuuuut! We are here to brainstorm and have "what if" fun! Here are a couple of confused ideas that will, hopefully make sense :) Find a way to boost the "confused Link" narrative. Puppet Zelda was so obviously NOT the real Zelda, I wish the writers had played with our skepticism a bit and made us doubt and consider that she might just be the real Zelda. I want to be manipulated by Puppet Zelda dammit!!! (and be stepped on, but that's another story)!

Trigger Puppet Zelda encounters!! Going to a specific place on a Blood Moon and trigger a Puppet Zelda encounter !

Picture this: Blood moon ambiance, 100 times worse! She could've made Gloom Shrines appear, full of hellish puzzles or just straight up old school dungeons? But...scary dungeons!  Who here is OoT Shadow Temple PTSD? I sure am! Picture The Shadow Temple, but black, red and on Steroids....the kind of weird shit straight out of the original Hellraiser or a PG-13 version of Berserk's Eclipse. Evil Quests? Something that would've been super dark but sadly impossible without the integration of some kind of morality system like games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect (Games I'm also obsessed with by the way) : Having Puppet Zelda give Link Dark quest objectives that would have made us question her sanity and intentions and have consequences on Link.  A Good old fashion Battle We should have had the opportunity to FIGHT HER!!! That would've been HEARTBREAKING!!!!  Bonus: This one is not about Puppet Zelda, but about Link. It seems like a detail but..I wish his model changed as we progressed throughout the story. The closer you get to the end, the more dirty and tired Link would have looked, like Wander in the influencal masterpiece game "Shadow of the Colossus." I hope you are not disappointed by these couple of proposals :) Welcome to the cult! Glory to Puppet Zelda ✋ Cheers!!!

[homunculus-argument]

Random worldbuilding from The Unfinished Book:

While there is no unified, clearly defined LGBT community, the people who would by our definition fall under that umbrella are heavily associated with religion. While the general cultural assumption is that everyone is at least a little bit bisexual - the idea that almost everyone hypothetically could encounter a woman so handsome or a man so beautiful that they'd go gay for them is aknowledged well enough to be a common theme in poetry and literature - being queer is more or less considered a way in which various gods "earmark" their own.

This is considered a matter beyond obvious - there are whole creation myths of how the gods who created the world grew annoyed about how all the humans they made were too busy having and raising their own children to properly focus on worshipping their gods or caring for society at large, so the gods saw fit to create people who would rather love their own sex, or not desire marriage or children at all, to ensure there are some whose hands and minds are free to focus more on the gods.

The Empire tolerates any and every religious practice that doesn't threaten the state, break other laws or cause public disturbance, so while there are some major gods whose temples are in almost every city, the pantheon of gods whose existence is aknowledged is essentially infinite. The churches, temple organisations and schools of various major gods, goddesses and ambiguous divine entities and their devoted priests and servants aren't simply there, but play a part in society and politics, as bankers, historians, librarians, curators, doctors and educators. Some run orphanages.

One big, major player in the field is the order of the Moon Goddess. They don't literally worship the moon, the moon is simply the symbol of the Goddess, whose realm is the perfect logic and structure of the universe, which cannot be touched or even properly comprehended by the fallible and imperfect human mind. Their philosophy is that there is no such thing as a question without an answer or a thing without purpose, and anything that appears so is simply beyond human grasp. While there are Moon Priestesses who aren't trans women, they are few and far between, and still less rare than trans women who aren't priestesses.

This is considered an example of how clear and logical the Moon Goddess is - the dysphoria of AMAB people is culturally regarded as them feeling a calling, a call that cannot be mistaken for anything else, a puzzle with one logical answer that they must personally find and embrace, which cannot be disputed by any mortal force, and can only be denied and repressed for so long by the Chosen Subject before they accept it. Becoming a Moon Priestess isn't an "I don't know what to do with my life so I might as well do this" choice in life, it was a choice that was made for you before you were born.

In the book, the protagonist encounters a trans man on his journey and they travel together for a while. After discovering the nature of how Terrel is, the protagonist isn't baffled by the idea that trans men exist at all - mainly he is unfathomably relieved that this small and boyish youth who drinks, gambles, fights, fucks and commits murder like a grown man is actually older than himself and not, like, thirteen - but astonished that Terrel isn't religious, and doesn't consider himself "chosen" by any god. He just is, and as far as he's concerned, the gods have nothing to do with it.

Also it suddenly makes a lot more sense that his name translates to "son of a hyena bitch", something that no woman would name her own child. He named himself, and his mother is a huge bitch.

[purplesoulcollection]

How he show his love

Lloyd Frontera is a man who carefully considers the potential gains from every challenge he encounters, even if the issue originates with him. He not only resolves these problems but often creates new ones in the process.

To those who meet him for the first time, he can seem quite unpredictable, especially if they don’t see him often. However, beneath a facade that might suggest a devilish nature when it comes to scheming.

Lloyd possesses a caring side that is known only to his closest friends and family. And here's the list for his way of loving (Not a spoiler because i didn't seeing the novel)

I like to think that Lloyd love language is giving a present for us.

He dreams of being a wealthy slacker, someone with plenty of money to splurge on lavish gifts for us. He believes that anything less than extravagant just won't do. (In Korea, he feels limited in his ability to buy nice things, so he channels that frustration in another world.)

He's not really the kind of person who openly expresses his love for us. Sometimes, he even embellishes the truth a bit.

He tends to claim that we love him the most, while Lloyd acts all high and mighty, pretending to love us just because it's expected of him. He's not 100% telling the truth.

When it comes to expressing genuine feelings, he often struggles to find the right words and ends up rambling something opposites from what he want to say. He’s not used to being completely vulnerable, and his past experiences have made him wary of that. He was afraid of losing someone he loved again, like his parents

As time passes, Lloyd's love for us continues to grow stronger. He will become bolder in sharing his feelings and will openly acknowledge that he loves us the most. Plus, he'll plan delightful surprises to bring us joy. like make some future home in advance (Poor Javier who has to work hard to keep up with Lloyd's crazy ideas.)

But i think he's also little bit quality time and physical touch person. But he only doing that when he's not having any work to do and not being distracted.

When the construction begin, he will so busy and choose to shut himself away and make us worry about him.

As Lloyd's partner, we must at least be patient enough to accompany him in silence and remind him periodically that he needs rest and food too…

Lloyd might be feeling frustrated with our suggestions, a bit angry and annoyed. However, he wouldn’t trade our concern for a breakup; he understands that we care about him too.

Since his parents passed away, there’s no one to remind him to take breaks while working on his architectural projects. This often leaves him feeling lonely after he finishes his work, missing the moments when his mother would encourage him to take a break for a warm meal, or when his father would urge him to get some rest instead of staying up too late.

Despite his irritation, experiencing the attention he has missed for so long brings him a sense of happiness deep down, even if he would never openly express it to us. We have to be the one to find it through his behavior.

Lloyd has a knack for spotting his opponent's weaknesses and using them to his advantage, but sadly, that keen perception doesn't extend to his partner.

Having never had a partner before, Lloyd lacks the sensitivity and experience that comes with such a relationship. Understanding his partner's feelings is much more challenging for him than it is with others.

Whether his partner is feeling angry, annoyed, or disappointed, Lloyd struggles to provide what they need.

When he finds himself puzzled by his partner's actions, he often turns to Javier for advice. However, since Javier is just as clueless as him, the biggest possibility is they both end up being more confused than before.

He likes to tease us too (no one can escape that) but he wouldn't like it if someone else did it to us, it's his privilage.

Jealous? Despite he being a scammer, when he's jealous it will show in his face for like 5 seconds before he could control himself and managed to drive away the person who made him jealous by sarcastically condescending with his annoyed face.

Please don't make a situation when javier have to choose either lloyd or us in the danger. Whatever choice he choose he and lloyd will regret that.

If Javier chooses us, Lloyd will feel depressed and deem it unimportant to let him die and Javier will feel guilty in his heart for ignoring the person he swore to protect with his life.

But if Javier saves Lloyd, Lloyd will be sad because Javier thinks we are not important and Javier will feel guilty because he couldn't save the person his master loves.

For PDA, I think he will either be so bold to do it or he being considerate, i will lean on the second.

The first choice is in line with his usual nature, but since when someone in love can be in his usual nature? so the second. Even if he's from korea where the guys aren't really the romantic type, especially when it comes to women.

However, Lloyd stands out by treating us with genuine care and affection. He goes out of his way to help us with things that are tough to manage, takes care of us when we're feeling under the weather, and when we're upset, he keeps his feelings in check to avoid causing us any more pain.

Lloyd can't stand the thought of making someone he loves feel sad. He finds it hard to cope with others' sadness because his own life has its challenges.

He also understands that he has a stronger emotional foundation, and he recognizes that his partner may be more vulnerable, so he chooses to remain calm and gentle, no matter how frustrated he might feel.

But you could say that when it comes to sexual matters, Lloyd is quite naughty, this time his face is the same as his heart. I'm sure that we will be tricked into having a sexual scene that can satisfy him. (bless whoever being not so lucky) ref from one headcanon someone made about lloyd.

His design ring for his lover is probably the most simple within all his gift. because in the past he was not rich at all, so at least the thing that could get him the approval of his deceased parents was a simple ring like his parents' rings, which, even though it looked plain, was the most beautiful piece of jewelry that Lloyd knew.

His wedding is the biggest to show off while making everyone happy with a big party and exciting food and entertainment. Frontera family would make it a huge scene.

He's so happy to get a perfect lover for him.

The End

[lexchxn]

A Triad for Bosses

The Three S's

I had a realisation about Dark Souls.

This is a design insight, and I think it’s one that’s applicable to TTRPGs.

Some Dark Souls bosses (a lot of people’s favourites), essentially have three methods by which you can beat them: 1. Skill |Just outright pracice and precision letting you take a small enough amount of damage to survive while dealing a large enough amount of damage to kill. 2. Strength | Whether through stats or a power solution (either being 10 levels high enough or using a damage type the boss is weak to). 3. Solution | You “Solve” the combat before it begins, either through an item that trivialises the fight or a puzzle that outright bypasses it. These “Three S’s.” can of course mix and match, and I think the Eldemonsoulsbornekiro games (sorry) lean on Strength as a primary pillar, Skill as a close second, and Solution as a surprise tool they occasionally pull out, but I was considering how these principles could and could not be applied to TTRPGs. So... Do they?

First, they require some adaptation. TTRPGs don’t have the bounding boxes that video games do, nor do they maintain as much of a balance between elements like player skill and character build. What adjustments do we need to make?

Well, while Skill certainly continues to exist in the TTRPG space, dice luck can have a very large dilutive effect on one’s ability to express Skill. Skill also, I’d argue, has much more of a direct impact on “Strength” in TTRPGs than it does in video games. Building a character here has, again, weaker bounding boxes than a preprogrammed game.

Strength can vary wildly depending on the style of the TTRPG, but regardless of the chosen book table play tends to be farther away from insurmountable/trivial encounters than video games due to GM tailoring. If you’re in an encounter, there’s typically both an expectation for you to engage with it and knowledge that it won’t waste your time.

And Solution is interesting. Depending on the GM or the story scenario, this may be all but impossible. But it might also be the primary focus of your game. Every fight you take meant to be solved, every combat a puzzle. Also typically, the higher allowance for Solution expression, the more Skill expression has space to shine. After all, someone’s gotta find those solutions!

With weaker availability for Skill expression, a usually tighter box on Strength expression, and Such a wild variation in Solution expression, what kinds of incentives and rewards can we now build into our campaigns? - We can build in Power rewards for their Skill in character creation. - We can prompt Skill growth by facing our parties with difficult tasks they can still achieve. - We can create narrative or prompt creative focus and reward Skill by putting all of our eggs into the Solution basket, waiting for our parties to “Figure it out.”. - We can create a feeling of immense resistance (or outright despair) by using combats that require more Strength. ...and more! Balancing encouragement and reward between these three pillars to create your style of encounter, I would say, covers just about every design you’ll ever field.

Think about the Three S’s next time you’re building an encounter! Hopefully this can provide a solid framework for your next brainstorm.

[catamaurrr-star]

YANQING MASKED FOOL THEORY!!

[CHAPTER 1: WATER]

so yanqing has a Bunch of secret water motifs, such as this moment in his trailer and this entire post i made

plus generally being near water in many of his scenes (his trailer, myriad celestia trailer Cloud Knights Martial Doctrine, On Swords, fighting dhil + blade)

there's also his clothing! his sleeves have a wave pattern

swirlingish designs like water mixing with something else on his Whatever's at the end of his clothes i dont know the name

also i might just be reading too hard but his hair drooping down feels a little bit like water flowing down

misc motifs: his boss's skill names being "CASCADING laceration", his bp pfp being named "yanqing: ODYSSEY", the story where they go on a ship in the SEA, ult name being "amidst the RAINING bliss", swallow motifs and swallows being commonly found near water (source)

[CHAPTER 2: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT]

so why am i telling you all this on the masked fool theory? well the path of elation does have some ties to water! such as:

s: masked fools databank

s: mourning actors databank. this is a bit of a stretch but Bare with me

s: "inquiry into the gods: the sacrosancts" readable

plus, two of our confirmed masked fools have fish/water motifs [feroluce made a great post on sampo and the elation's fish/water motifs go check it out !!!!] and while yanqing doesn't exactly have fish motifs, he sure has a lot of water details on him. and both of them dont really have anything in common in terms of gameplay so its fine if he also doesn't really fit either of their playstyles.

[CHAPTER 3: BUT WOULD HE REALLY]

but now we gotta ask ourselves. WOULD he be a masked fool? he is indeed smiling in almost every picture of him, but it wouldn't really fit with his personality sadly… he has a strong sense of justice and even though he's playful, he never breaks it just for fun. there is a chance that in his backstory, he could've been a masked fool that just happened to forget all his memories. but considering how young yanqing is and was when jing yuan first found him, its highly unlikely unless hes some sort of rebirthing species like the vidyadhara.

(side tangent you can ignore this) an npc does talk about (qingzu) this but i really do not think she is being serious about it. however she does also say jing yuan spent the first 500 years of his life as a crosstalk comedian and yanqing only stayed with him to learn it so it does tie in to the theory a bit. i still really do not believe her since even the trailblazer doubts her words, and they sound really outlandish with little evidence.

the idea of yanqing not being a xianzhou native is really easy to believe though. there's the whole six phased ice thing, but id like to bring something else up to the table. all human character bosses have physical weakness such as bronya, argenti, kafka, etc. cocolia doesn't but your encounter with her in the storyline wasn't actually her, it was a fragmentum echo of her, and even then her echo of war doesn't have physical weakness. so this implies that yanqing isn't human, unless one of the other bosses is also not human. also nobody knows where he came from or who his parents are, even himself.

[CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION]

so basically: theres proof that he could be a masked fool but unless we know his age or know what his backstory is if he just suddenly got amnesia we will never know. he's probably not one and im just smashing puzzle pieces that dont fit together but im going to tell everyone hes secretly a masked fool though anyways because its funny

[aloneatpeace]

Cosmic Chaos

Chapter 22

Series prev next

Recap

Stiles rushes to reunite with you after your trip, only to be shocked when he learns you've been hunting with Sam and Dean Winchester. His excitement quickly turns into concern, but you reassures him that the brothers are trustworthy. Later, Stiles and you return to school to update Scott, only to have their conversation interrupted by Peter Hale, who tries to persuade Scott to join him. The confrontation escalates, leading the you to use your powers against Peter and Derek. As tensions rise, you calls out Peter’s justifications for his actions, but the encounter is cut short. The next day, you meets with Lydia and Allison, discussing an upcoming Halloween party while tensions brew between Lydia and Allison over Jackson.

Earlier On

“Is there is reason why you have this haunted look on your face?” Dean Winchester asks Sheila Bennett, Sam Winchester his younger brother who eyeing the ancient book that Sheila set on the car hood.

“I am sure that you know that wendigos don’t usually bite someone in order to transfer its soul to next victim.”

“Unless it’s felt threatened.” Dean completed looking more puzzled at the words.

“And it just doesn’t bite one but two, and does this ever happened when the two of you went hunting wendigos?”

“How did it know we were coming.?”

 “It wasn’t afraid of us.” Sam speak up making Dean turns to him, the youngest Winchester’s points at now opened book, there a figure of women with a crown on her head on the next page are the manuscripts that related to the figure.

Sheila sighs whispering your name “it knew her presence. Her powers…...she herself should be myth, her raw power could obliterate universe she doesn’t know how much power she holds within her. the chaos magic seems bond with her. and that not just it” she turns the pages pointing at a picture of bird that looks like phoenix with burning fire wings.

“What’s that?” dean ask leaning down towards the book to take a good look with squinted eye scanning the figure.

“I have no idea; would you believe me if I say when I was looking to her magic something akin a shooting star come right into my ritual and chaos magic and whatever this is started repel each other until its started co exit right when she came in.”

Dean exhales “I think I would.” Dean cross his arms “How does this even a problem though. If the power chooses her, a power that something beyond our sense, it might have reason, right?”

“If a wendigo could sense her presence and knows about her existence, about her power it might be trouble.” Sheilla objected looking away from the book with her hands curling into her palm.

Sam shakes his head “I’m sure she can handle them plus her friend is werewolf and you would there too, But the problem is if she does not choose right path, we might big problem though.”

Dean shrugs “I might only know her for few hours but I can say, she’s far from evil.” Sam nod

“She won’t hurt anyone with her power but what if some situations arise, where she has to bend her morals.” Sheila says quickly “chaos magic something I never dealt with, its legend I fear I might not able help her at all.”

“Like when she knows you’re going to die?” Sam said though it sounded like question its was statement.

Sheilla knows that it’s the truth, what you saw was her fate Sheila Bennett is going to die soon and that’s how it should.

Dean and Sam stay silent because they know they have no right to say in this when if one of them had the fate the other would go to hell and back to save one another, they know they would bend their morals for each other, sacrifice in order to save each other.

“Wouldn’t you do it.?” Sam argued with certainty in his eyes “what if she and you were to switch place wouldn’t you do the same” Sheilla doesn’t have a response to his questions. What can she say if she said yes that would wrong and right and if she says no that would be equally wrong and right considering who she is.

“Sam” dean shakes his head at him.

“No dean, you would do it for me and I would do it for you, there is no denying that.” He proclaimed “fearing her would only complicate things, she needs you more than ever so I recommend that you would come clean to her.”

Sheila takes in Sam’s proposition, would she do it will her morals allows her to do so, witches are the protecters of nature and you defy nature by merely existing.

“She doesn’t need anyone that fear when she or us doesn’t even fully know what she is . what she need is someone to relay on.” Sam eyes were watery when he ended his words, he doesn’t know why the slight thought of someone viewing any less than you made his heart ache.

Present

Derek eyes follow his uncle peter with glare as they walk towards their home, peter feet had a bounce in his heel humming a God’s know what song, the mere sight of his uncle…psychotic uncle annoyed him more than anything that he feels like the three of you were far better and bearable.

“You know, I think you actually burned a hole on the back of my head with all your glaring.” Peter glance back at his nephew with mock sadness on his face.

Derek stops in his tracks “You won’t have scott on your side if you threaten them.”

  “Yeah, but being an alpha you have to show that you’re one but it didn’t go well. You know I wasn’t planning this to go this way.” He sighs “I wasn’t expecting her to be there, I thought we meet at hospital considering that’s where we first meet. But she keeps defying my predictions.”

Derek’s jaw clenches as with his hands in his pocket he glances away from his uncle before speaking “What do plan to do with her.?”

 Peter turns to derek with a fake innocence look on his face “Oh, me. nothing.” Derek speeds towards his uncle hands on peters throat his nail digging into flesh, he is slammed to near tree.

“Tell me, now.” Derek demanded his eyes changing a low snarl leave his lips.

Peter lips curled into a smirk “I was wondering how you had gone soft after what happened, but I think I know now.” He kicks derek sending crashing to few feet away.

“Isn’t she something else.” He grins feeling more amused at derek confused look “please don’t tell you think she’s just a witch. I thought you were smarter than this.”

He walks towards him crouching down next to derek “She is far more than just a witch derek. And seems to me she knows who caused the fire all those years ago. that’s something very interesting isn’t it.”

Peter stands up with smile, derek stands up “She’s not some puppet that you can use.” Derek yelled.

“Not a puppet but she would make good pup though. She has the potential. “He teased leaving derek stand with dread settling in him, what does peter knows about you that he doesn’t even know.

“You look like you wanna tell me something.” Chris argent said glancing at you.

You did not think this through at all, as promised Chris Argent drives you to home the two of you sits in silence.

You perk up “Huh, yeah. You know my grams sort known as a witch, right?” He nods “well yesterday me and grams went to a filed trip….and we meet the Winchester brother and along the conversation…they said you guys were Hunters.” Chris hands tighten around the wheels.

Not exactly the truth but some times lying is alright and its not the time to reveal your powers.

“How much do you know about what’s happening here.?” Chris questioned without looking away from the road.

“Not much, just that there is werewolf, an alpha going around killing people. and you’re looking for it and a beta, and that you think jackson is one.” you shrug Chris let out a humorless laugh.

“That is basically everything. “   

You nod hands molded into fist in your lap “if he is one, are you going to kill him.?” your voice came out as whisper barely audible but the silent surrounding made your words audible to Chris. 

With perplexed look on his face Chris turns to you, fear and concern evident in your eyes for the male in question he sighs “No, we have code. We are not going to hurt a teenager. You don’t need to worry about your friend.”

“What If one of you broke the code.” The car comes to halt, for some reason Chris feel this as fact not a simple what if. Questions starts to arise in his mind not even registering you get out the car.   

You lean towards the window “not to sound ominousness but you should tell Allison about what you guys really are, teenagers don’t like secret especially something like this, I know you are trying to protect her but she might not take it that way.”

Without a word you walk leaving Chris perplexed.

“You look beat.” Danny chuckle from his desk turning on his chair to face you, humming you close your eyes before opening a yawn leaves your lips.

You tread inside the house without a care skipping towards the hallway and swing open the door to the room and throw yourself on the bed letting out a loud sigh.

“Half dead but still kicking.”

Shaking his head at your words with amusement danny, standing up he goes to his closest taking out a bag walking towards the bed he put the bag beside you, grabbing your hands he pulls you up ignoring your halfhearted protest.

“I was on hunt for costume, along the way I found this. It was too good to leave it there.” He takes the bag and place it on your lap.

You open the bag mouth opening wide when you take out outfit, its looks straight out of anime game armor outfit the golden and red color goes really well together, that’s not just it, clothing accessories and there is a golden earring as well as hair accessories its truly stunning.

“Danny this is amazing.” You voice was dreamy still taken in the outfit hands tracing the smooth fabric.

“It could be like red riding hood but sexier and cooler.” Danny sits beside you “about sexy do you have stiles cousin Miguel’s number?” scrunching your nose at that you try to think who danny is talking about.

“Miguel?”

Danny nods his head “you know, 6 feet black hair, dark eyes broad shoulders great jawline, clean shave.”

Your lips stretched in to an ‘O’ shape finally grasping about who he was talking about “Oh Miguel! Sorry danny I don’t have it, but you know what I’ll let him know.”

He frowns at you falsely “you’re bitchless.” His lips curling up.

Gasping you hit him “look who’s talking.” Scoffing you take out your phone feeling it vibrate it stiles.

“I gotta go, its stiles.” You put the outfit back as well as your phone.

Danny nod walking you out “Hey, you have anyone taking you to school Halloween party.?”

“No, but I did ask Issac. But I don’t know if he come though” you sigh opening the door holding the bag in one hand. “You gotta save me dance whatsoever.” You add with serious face. 

“Yes ma’am.” He chuckled opening his arms to hug you, hugging him back with a one last way you walk out straight to stiles home.

“yes”

STILINSKI HOUSE

You and stiles peek around the corner watching stiles dad going through the case you glance at stiles “Are we sure, we must do this?”

“Why does feel like we are going commit a crime.”

Stiles shrugs “Well it won’t be first illegal thing we do. Now come on.” He takes hold of your arms grabbing you out before you can escape. 

You and stiles sit down at the table “Whatcha doing?” stiles ask innocently

“Work.”

“Anything we can help with?” you offer with an equal innocent smile Noah looks up at your voice eyes narrowing at you. he shakes his head he turns to stiles

“You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, that would be awfully nice.” He said before going back to the papers.

“Any leads?” you glance down at the papers while stiles pour the drink.

“You know I can't discuss that with you.”  while Noah was distracted stiles pour the drink almost at the brim.

“Okay. There you go, Dad. Bottoms up.” You and stiles watch Noah drown the drink still focused on the papers, you glance nervously at Noah. 

“You know, Derek Hale would be a whole hale of a lot--Hale of a lot...?” his words start to get slurred making stiles complete the sentence

“Hell... Yes... He would be a hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him.”

 Stiles incredulously yells “How do you not have a picture of him?”

“It’s the weirdest thing... It's like every time we tried to get a mug shot, it's like two laser-beams were pointing at the camera.” You glance at the photo and he’s right derek face isn’t on the picture the only way you know it’s derek is because of his stupid black jacket.

“Weird right.”

Noha nod before closing his eyes “Oh, my God... Ohhh! God, that ounce hit me like a brick. And I have said way too much, and if you repeat any of that—"

“Dad, it's us we not gonna say anything. Come on!”

“See, the thing is, they're all connected... I mean, the bus driver that got killed? He was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale House Fire.”

"Terminated under suspicion of fraud." You read out loud handing the paper to stiles

“Exactly.”

 “Who else?” you and stiles ask curiously at the same time making Noah look at the two of you before letting out a laugh.

 “The video store clerk who got his throat slashed? He's a convicted felon-- history of arson.”

“What about the other two guys, the guys who got killed in the woods?” stiles ask. You lean back in your chair crossing your arms over your chest.

“Priors all over their records, including—”

“Arson, they all had something to do with the fire, that burned the Hale house.” Stiles glance at you as you speak.

Series prev next

Does that mean what you saw was truth?.

[deuterosapiens]

And that's that for Echoes of Wisdom! A pleasant, charming game to be sure!

There's good and bad to be had, but it's certainly an unusual game. I'll definitely be going back over it to collect those Echoes I'm missing, which luckily for me, is a scant ten, per the post-game break down. One of which, humorously enough, is the damn carrot Echo used to summon your horse. I did not actually bother to do the Horse Ranch quest until just after my fifth (or sixth, depending on how you're counting) dungeon. Just going to drop a break here though, because I want to talk a bit more freely about this game.

So, there are a couple of Echoes I've discovered fairly trivialize most combat encounters. The Wolfos echo, any of the Darknut series echoes (the Level 3 variant I actually used basically as a blender throughout the entire last act, in the Still Ancient Ruins), and the Chompfin echo for water.

This game does a fair job of combining the "play it your way" mentality of the recent Wild era titles with the more strict flow of classic dungeons' puzzles. While you have considerably more options in this game, they will typically amount to being a variation on the same sorts of themes. Use fire to light torches- whether that comes from a Brazier, a Torch Slug or an Ignizol is entirely up to you, for example.

Let's talk about the key feature that honestly probably amounts to one of the biggest draws of the charming little game: DUNGEONS (and their BOSSES).

Let's see, there's three main dungeons, followed by Hyrule Castle, then three more dungeons (plus the endgame). Which means we follow the Ocarina of Time dungeon structure, which actually means we follow the A Link to the Past dungeon structure, which is appropriate, all things considered.

Each dungeon requires the traversal of a short Still World segment, which will bring Pokémon Platinum fans immense joy, before pissing them off at the memory of the Distortion World's absence in BDSP, and Legends-Arceus. These segments are mostly platforming with little significant puzzle-solving. They are the reason the Old Bed echo appears at the front of my Most Used list. But the weird eldritch, distorted scenery is quite nice to appreciate. It really does a fine job of setting up the game's final boss too.

I'm a bit torn on if I have a favorite dungeon. I definitely have a least favorite, in the form of the Lanayru Temple. Oh sweet Demise, these ice puzzles pissed me off. I did, however, find that dungeon's boss (SCORCHILL) to be quite fun, so we've got serious points awarded. Eldin Temple is weirdly small, and kind of hallway-y, if you get my drift, but it has Volvagia which I absolutely refuse to complain about. Hated the Mogryph fight, though I expect that's because I made it significantly harder than it should have been. The Faron Temple is interesting in that it really tries to hide its linearity: the theme is Jungle Temple and it honestly captures that feeling pretty damn well: the miniboss is also immensely fun, at least in how it is presented to you, though it's not particularly challenging: Gohma is, well, Gohma, so I don't think we're winning any Boss points with it. Vocavor is a boss with an interesting design, but underwater fish bosses have never won any awards and they aren't starting to now (it did bring to mind a Bowser Junior fight in Mario Wonder, so there's that).

Huh.

Oh, right, Ganon. Eh, this is literally the exact same fight as in Link's Awakening and, if I remember correctly, A Link to the Past. Somehow, however, and I cannot for the like of me figure out how, Grezzo has completely thrown off the timing of this fight: for some reason, and I'm admitting this solely for opacity, the Dead Man's Volley sections are timed, and I literally cannot find a better word for it, wrong. Luckily, they are technically optional if you have the right Echo (which you will, as it's given to you in this very dungeon), but it brought me death and therefore annoyed me.

This game follows up with our recent (if you call Skyward Sword recent) trend of having a massive horde battle precede the final boss. Well, sort of a horde- Zelda's Echo casts Echoes of her own that should be a challenging horde, but alas! The Hylian Blender renders this fight significantly easier than any other.

I will have to look this up, bit did anyone on the dev team have any involvement with Kirby Star Allies? Everything related to Null reminds me of Void Termina, and I am struggling to believe this is simply a coincidence.

Speaking of Null, let's talk about Null!

This thing is one hundred and fifteen percent definitely my favorite thing this game presents us with. Null is an entity from the void, imprisoned within the world itself by the Goddesses of the Triforce (sorry, Prime Energy- this bothered ne immensely), imprisoned to prevent it from devouring all life that might appear within the void. A classic primordial horror, if I do say so, and if there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's primordial entities who are world-bent on the annihilation of existence itself. When you see this thing's lair, Earthbound had better jump so far forward in your mind you are given extradimensional whiplash.

If I were a timeline fanatic, I imagine Null would screw it up so damn much.

So, where do I stand here. Where where where.

The ideas behind this game are quite odd, to say the least, and their execution is a bit short. I feel like if this map were larger, and if there were more Echoes and quests, I would have more thoughts on how it plays. I just finished the damn thing and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the actual experience of playing it, which is absurd, really.

This one does feel like a love letter to the franchise's highs and lows, a bite-sized sandbox just screaming "We love Zelda!"

[delicatebluebirdruins]

image id: Picture of Carlos and Jill at the end of OG3 (what I wouldn't give to see remake version) time 07:52:35, saves 63 (I was allegedly on easy and died so many times a few of those saves where from me being a chicken shit over the Nemesis)

first play thoughts this is a ramble sorry (for the next few hours I am on brain power saving mode because the National Book Tokens Hidden Books Challenge is tomorrow and I am excited it's my favourite time of year) confession I skipped cutscenes I'm sorry.

I enjoyed it some bits were very weird and confusing (example when you first meet Carlos you have the option of doing it at the newspaper place and the resturant our first meeting was at the resturant which made his comment when healing Jill that their roles were reversed really goddamned confusing until I looked it up and their meeting in the newspaper place was him sporting a nice bump on the head)

But I didn't like some of the puzzles and thought it was very odd what we had to do basically not explained why we have to do things eg water system in the factory and the fancy marbles in the clock tower (i got fed up many times... I saw one person describe the clock tower as asinine which is what I felt). Nor did I like Nemesis with his rocket launcher inside the RPD (I cheesed it and knocked him out by just pelting him with the assault rifle till he fell. What can I say there was a good corner by the darkroom. I never actually got any of the things he dropped sadly) or just randomly turning up in front of me

Considering how frustrated I was you'd think I would feel strong and a level of catharsis when I did manage to defeat the Nemesis at any moment and i did but it was a very mild and not the same cathartic joy I get when defeating Nemesis in the remake with Jill saying "suck it" or "next time take the fucking hint"... I don't know where the "if you want stars I'll give you stars" line is I think in the final battle with Nemesis and at that point I was running out of time with the missile and decided not to drag out the rail gun fight so I left (why is there i live selection point there? why did the Nemesis survive two hits from the ray gun?)

characters: I don't know how I feel about them other than why? Jill is out in the city doing what exactly? Carlos was someone I didn't actually like much at the start he was supposedly trained and yet? showed off? (the "hero" moment inside the gas station where he leaves to save some people? yeah he didn't get very far because he was exhausted poor baby and Jill thought he was dead? and like if he was dead wouldn't the zombies be right on you? as you were making noise in there)

I straight up hate the first encounter with the Grave Digger because of how horrible it is like the static cam and tight quarters (button mash helped me so much) and I hate the part in the cemetary where the zombies rise from the ground. Because that particular type of zombie is not dead. It looks dead but they are rabid that's it.

so for my hypothesis right now i do prefer the remake now onto the over playthroughs