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teamhawkeye · 5 years

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all of the questions for anna? owo

you two coming for my life making me think this much in a single sitting, haha

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Depending on the partner, Anna will merely roll over and go to sleep (or in some cases, even redress and leave) or stay entangled and rest her head on their chest or vice versa, and just relax together, maybe stroke their hair or skin. It all is based on how much attraction, respect, and connection she has with the individual, and how the atmosphere is afterwards.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Anna likes her breasts and legs, the assets she feels most in power flaunting and utilizing. On partners, she likes hands and eyes

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

hmmm…she’s a swallower :3 and likes it when her partner cums inside her, that’s a major turn-on

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Anna really likes to be dominated. She will take charge and enjoys being on top from time to time, but her biggest turn on is being absolutely railed and not having to do much more than take it

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Fairly experienced - she’s been having sex since she was a teenager and she’s had her fair share of partners and has experimented quite a bit with positions and technique.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Doggy style, hands down

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

More serious - very much “down to business” most of the times - but she can be playful under the right circumstances and the mood at the time

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

The carpet does match the drapes - she’s never dyed her hair. But she also doesn’t spend too much time worried about maintenance down there. Sometimes, she might feel inspired to shave, but mostly, she leaves the bush alone.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

With a one-night stand, she’s fairly detached, only there for the momentary physical pleasure. She’s definitely more intimate when it’s with someone she has an emotional connection with or knows from more than just a single meeting at a bar. Eye contact, gentle touches, more soft and meaningful kisses - there’s always more affection and meaning behind the gestures she makes towards someone she genuinely cares about

J = Jack Off(Masturbation headcanon)

Anna masturbates a lot - sometimes, good lays or partners are in short supply, and she can always count on herself getting the job done Often it’s after hours alone in bed or in the shower, but in kinkier moments, she’s done it in her car or in view of a partner to tempt them to join her in something more

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

(light) choking, marking, hands and fingers in general, domination, barebacking, cumming inside her, dirty talk, hair pulling

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Aside from the vanilla answer of the bedroom, Anna’s not too picky about location. So long as they’re not going to be walked in on, she’s down for getting frisky just about anywhere - even semi-public places, if her partner gets her riled up enough. Bent over a desk, in the back of a car, and laid out beneath the stars have been a few of her favorite places not in a bed or on a couch

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Physicality - watching someone doing work and having them exert and sweat, or even something mundane that has them being expressive with their hands and gestures - or asserting dominance/authority.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Water sports, scat, knife play or drawing blood through anything that’s not biting - basically anything too unhygienic or involving bodily fluids that aren’t spit

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Gives more than she receives, but definitely is not gonna turn it down when offered

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

When she’s taking it, she prefers fast and rough. When Anna’s in control, she tends to still set a quick pace, but is a bit more sensual and softer in how she fucks someone. Super intimate moments call for more sensuality and thought, which means slower and gentler to draw out the climax

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Anna is very pro-quickie, as someone who tends to nail and bail. However, if she doesn’t get off, that’s certainly a disappointment, and something she’ll correct shortly thereafter

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

It all depends on the level of trust: with someone she’s comfortable enough with, she’s willing to try new things. Anna’s also fairly “high risk” when it comes to unprotected sex, though she tries to be on birth control most of the time as an adult

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Has a LOT of stamina. Can go a few rounds in a single night/day, and recovers quite quickly after a bout, ready to go again

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

She’s got her fingers and they work well enough for her

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

A fair degree, but never too much - she agonizes when she’s teased too much, so she tries to keep the playing field level so that’s not used against her later, haha

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Fairly loud, more moans and sounds than actual words. A partner always knows how well they’re delivering based on the frequency and volume of Anna’s reactions.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

She’s good at deepthroating - and she’s never had a partner have a bad word about that ;)

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Pretty basic underwear, nylon bikini or hipster-style. Probably a little wet in there, as she often is

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Anna’s young and in her prime - she has a fairly high sex drive. But she can go without for a while - just needs to rub one out every other day at least

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Usually falls asleep fairly quickly - and is awake before her partner, either redressed by then and ready to leave or already out the door. It’s not often she sticks around the whole night

#Deputy Anna Bishop #foofygoldfish #amistrio

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sonnygcomms-blog · 5 years

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PS2 and Me.

HOW IS THE PS2 20 YEARS OLD????

Time really does fly by, I was 15 when the PS2 came out back in 2000 which when I say out loud seems crazy. 15 Year old Sonny G about to start his final year at school, still a virgin and a total nerd(Despite thinking otherwise).

The PS2 really does hold a special place in my heart and it’s 20th anniversary has me feeling all nostalgic to the point where I’ve picked up a second hand console and a heap of games.

My first experience with the PS2 was at a friends house with WWE(Then WWF) Smackdown 3 and GTA 3 and I just remember being completely in awe of these incredible graphics, SD3 had entrances, full glorious entrances complete with titantron videos where as in the previous SD games it was just a video with the wrestler you’ve picked walking in front of it, and GTA 3, HOLY SHIT!!! Long gone are the days of the top down view with cartoony graphics, we are now presented with a living breathing Liberty City. OMG MIND BLOWN!!!!!!!!!!

At this point in my life I had a PS One and a SEGA Dreamcast which I was perfectly happy with, the latter I hold in very high regard and is still to this day one of my favourite consoles of all time and also I wasn’t hell bent on having the newest console straight away(unlike these days when I would 100% throw a hissy fit if I didn’t get the latest tech on day one). The year 2000 went on and I was still happily enjoying my Dreamcast and Playing PS2 at my friends house and truth be told I didn’t expect a PS2 any time soon because we weren’t the most well off of families, My Mum & Dad did their absolute best for me and my Sister and I would never ask anymore of them than that. As kids do, I mentioned a few times that I’d played one and that it was really cool and one day my Mum turned around and said I could have one for Christmas that year, Christmas morning rolled around and to my absolute delight I unboxed a PS2 and Smackdown 3, best Christmas ever!!!! HOWEVER, I didn’t get a memory card so had to buy one with my Christmas money on Boxing Day.

I got so much use out of the PS2 and in a way it changed my life, it certainly changed the way I looked at video games. I could sit here and wax lyrical about the games it introduced me to over the years, so many memorable experiences, the ones that really stick out to me are, Metal Gear Solid 2, Smackdown Here Comes The Pain(Best Wrestling game of all time), Def Jam Vendetta, Gran Tourismo 3(Holy crap that TV advert where the car stops so you can admire the scenery) and the incredible Pro Evolution Soccer Series(which in my opinion is still the best run of football games of all time). There are so many more but I can’t think of all them right now.

I know my mum worked so fucking hard to afford to get me that PS2 and for that reason alone I will always treasure that console as it was the last major gift she got for me before she passed away.

Revisiting the PS2 these last couple of weeks have really made me appreciate just how good of a console it was and still is. The games still look and play fantastic, sure they aren’t in 4K, Sure you can’t earn trophies for playing the games but it takes you back to a time when gaming was much simpler, what you bought was what you got, no install times, no patches and online wasn’t anywhere near what it is today but it made you sit with actual human beings and play games together, which I think in 2020 is a lost art for the most part. Who didn’t bust out a multitap and play Athens 2004 on a Friday night before watching the replay of RAW on Sky Sports 2......just us? Fair.

I don’t know why I felt the need to tell you all about my love for the PS2 but like I said before, it’s 20th anniversary really triggered off some special memories.

Hope you enjoyed my small trip down memory lane.

Sonny G

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cherrehx · 6 years

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shouto todoroki x reader | parents

this plays before the dorms were a thing. sorry for not posting on shou's bday btw.

and i guess a warning since this includes abuse and stuff.

The soundtrack of your favourite game was softly playing in your ears, as you were on some random website, browsing for stuff you wanted. It was Sunday and, being an introvert and not liking to go outside with your friends, you had to spend the day somehow.

Your back ached from the rather uncomfortable position you have been sitting in for the past hour or two, so you stretched, some joints popping in the process. As your eyes weren't concentrating on your laptop, which was currently showing merchandise of someone you idolized, you noticed your phone turning on for a second, as you had just recieved a snap from Kyoka. At first, you wanted to ignore it, but when you recieved another one from Ochako, the risk of it possibly being something important rose.

Grabbing your phone and opening Snapchat, you cringe as your camera showed your face in a more unattractive position. It turned out that both snaps were just meaningless pictures, showing all the girls of 1-A having fun. You sigh,

"I wish I could be with them, but they probably wouldn't enjoy my presence."

"YOU BITCH, WHAT DID YOU SAY?!", you heard your father yell from downstairs. He was literally louder than your music, but that was only natural at least thrice a week.

"I TOLD YOU, THAT THIS FAMILY IS A FUCKING MESS AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, IDIOT!", your mother yelled back, just as loud. You chuckled bitterly once, before hearing something crash downstairs.

"STOP DESTROYING EVERYTHING IN THIS HOUSE YOURSELF FOR ONCE, WOULD YOU?! PLUS, IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOUR CHILD IS---", you quickly switched the music to something loud, so you wouldn't have to hear the rest of the conversation. It was nothing you haven't heard before.

Having played two songs that drowned out the fighting, your door suddenly got opened harshly,

"You useless idiot. Everything was fine, when it was just (m/n) and I. But ever since you came into our life, it all changed for the worst. It's time you fucking disappear.", your father snarled at you. There it was again, the pain you had to endure, even though you couldn't be blamed for being born.

Sometimes, people forget that parents are just other humans. They weren't really taught how to raise children properly. They didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they started a family.

"I'm...sorry.", you apologized, not even knowing what for, really. Your dad was activating his quirk, even if it was illegal to use your quirk if not an emergency or something similar.

Slightly panicking by now, you grabbed your phone and ran past your insane father, his grip almost getting you in that time. Thankfully you went to U.A. High school, where you learned how to deal with dodging attacks. When walking by the kitchen to run to who-knows-where, you saw your mother sobbing, her hand covering her mouth.

"Why...", she breathed out, sucking in air right after.

You couldn't do anything for her, so you left through the front door. She would've hurt you as well, if she were to see you.

"Where do I go now?", you thought to yourself, shivering at how cold it was. You should've grabbed a jacket, there was no way you wouldn't get sick now. Your only comfort was your comfortable hoodie you wore when home. Nuzzling into the fabric, you kept on swiftly walking straight ahead. In the distance, you spied a certain boy from your class, who you had a pretty fair friendship with. You were aware of the fact that he lived nearby, but you couldn't go to his house, no. Sure, you had talked with each other since being friends with Izuku made it inevitable to not talk to the dual haired male. But you still knew close to nothing about him.

"Todoroki? What are you doing on the streets at this hour?", your voice was more gentle than you had expected, but the heterochromatic boy still heard. He turned around to look at who the voice belonged to, getting a happy feeling that it was you.

Shouto had always been fond of you. Ever since he started hanging out with Izuku and therefore also hanging out with you, he had developed a slight attraction to you. He wanted to know so much about you, because you avoided talking about your life a lot. But he would never ask you to talk about anything, really. He wasn't quite sure if you even wanted to be his friend at all.

"I could ask you the same thing, (l/n).", he replied with his calm and monotonous voice.

"I...can't go home tonight.", your eyes shifted to the side, avoiding the gaze of those mismatching eyes staring into yours.

"Do you want to talk about it? I'll surely understand how you feel.", Shouto cocked his head to the side, looking like a lost puppy. You on other hand were rather angry at his response. How would he know what it feels like, living with those kind of parents?

"I doubt you would understand.", you spat. Unexpectedly, he just gave you the tiniest of smiles.

"Midoriya never told you, huh?", he proceeded to take off his jacket, swinging it over your shoulders. You were way too cold to even complain.

"You're so cold, that your lips are turning blue. Do you have anywhere to stay, other than your home?"

You just shook your head no in response, slightly flustered at his actions. The jacket's smell gave you a feeling of home - not yours of course - but a feeling that something was oddly right. He looked nice, standing in the moonlight, the stars shining brightly behind him. His hair was swaying lightly in the wind and his eyes looked at you with an unknown emotion. Shouto's left hand was reaching out to you, awaiting words to come out of your mouth.

"Sorry, I spaced out...", you hugged the jacket in embarrassment.

"Take my hand. I was going home anyway and I can't just leave you out here. That wouldn't be very heroic of me.", Shouto's hand was now intertwined with yours, his warmth - maybe even coming from his quirk - making you instinctively walk closer to him.

"Todoroki, why were you out here in the first place?", you mumbled quietly to the tall male, after a few minutes of walking.

"I was visiting my mother in the hospital. I shall tell you later. For now, let's go inside.", said male replied. That's when you noticed the huge japanese styled house you were going to be entering. This was most likely the cause of his dorm's interior design.

While taking off your shoes at the entrance, you stared a bit in awe. It must feel nice if your dad is the second best pro hero,

"Your house is really nice."

"I guess.", Shouto shrugged, before continuing,

"Let's go to my room, come on."

As you were walking beside each other through a long hallway in awkward silence, you decided to speak up again, just have your mouth shut with the Todoroki's hand. He quickly peaked into the room you were about to pass, sighing in defeat after spotting someone,

"Shouto, what's up?", a female voice was heard followed by footsteps. It couldn't be his mum, she was in hospital.

"You're acting strangely--- Who are you? Oh! Shouto you should've told me you had a lover!", a girl came into view, her hair white with red streaks every now and then. Her eyes were grey and stood out because of the black glasses she was wearing.

"I'm Fuyumi, Shouto's older sister! Very nice to meet you.", she happily went in for the hug.

"(l/n) isn't my lover, Fuyumi. I saved them from two villains as I was on my way home from visiting mum.", Shouto explained without any signs of embarrassment, much unlike you. The whole situation was a little overwhelming, leaving you at a loss for words.

"Ah! Are you ok?", the older girl's expression immediately switched from happy to worried.

"I-I'm fine.", you took half a step back, raising your hands in front of your chest and waving them around quickly.

"(l/n) and I will be in my room. Don't bother us or eavesdrop.", Shouto laid his hand on your shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, before turning around, taking your hand and pulling you forwards. Behind you two was a giggle and the shutting of a door.

"Sorry about my sister. My brother doesn't seem to be home, and my father won't be anytime either, so they won't bug us.", the dual haired boy opened a door to what must've been his room.

You entered hesitantly, your gaze fixating on a pillow laying on the tatami floor, right by a table. Sitting down on it, you wanted to spark a conversation,

"So you have a brother and a sister?"

"Yes. I had another brother, but he's been missing for a few years now.", heterochromatic eyes turned to look you right in your (e/c) eyes, a hint of something bitter in them.

"S---", you wanted to be polite, but you were waved off quickly,

"Don't be.", Shouto softly took his jacket off you, to replace it with a warmer blanket. Then he proceeded to sit on the pillow next to you, exhaling deeply,

"Should I continue talking about my family or do you want to first? I don't mind as long as you are comfortable."

"You can go on."

"Right, so...", as he started talking about his abusive father, the way he treated the family, especially him and his mum, you quickly lost all respect for the hero Endeavour. When Shouto went on about how all of this affected Rei, his mother, to do the things she did and how his older brother disappeared one day, you felt extremely bad. Not only because of the issues themselves, but also because you even dared to think your problems were worse.

"I had no idea, Todoroki.", you held your hand in front of your mouth in utter shock, feeling like you could start crying any second. Out of respect of his boundaries, you asked for permission for your next move,

"Is it ok if I hug you?"

He was quite startled, not being used to getting choices or even human contact in the first place, but he still obliged, even if he looked a little flustered.

In response you launched yourself into his embrace, arms wrapping around his neck, bodies pressing against one another. Shouto was overwhelmed for a second, before melting into the warm gesture, head nuzzling into the crook of your own neck, hands placed on your lower back.

"This is nice, thank you. And also thank you for hearing me out.", he mumbled, his warm breath tickling you. You just hummed as an answer, feeling all the surroundings fade, eyes closing.

"You know why I was outside, but what about you - your parents?", Shouto whispered after a few moments of comfort. When he felt you tense up at the question, his hand started rubbing your back slowly. This gave you strength to talk,

"They don't like me, neither do they like each other, I guess."

"So it's sort of like my situation?", he asked back.

"No, well...Yes? My parents try - or sometimes even succeed in - hurting me, both emotionally and physically. Same thing happens between them. Just now, my dad tried to hurt, or potentially kill me."

Shouto's grip on you tightened even more and you immediately returned the favour. All of the sudden, you felt his chest rise and fall quickly for a second, a stifled sob escaping his lips. You gently pulled him off of you to look him in his face, holding it while tenderly rubbing your thumb on his cheek. His heterochromatic eyes were red and puffy, but his facial expression wasn't pained. He seemed way too good at hiding his emotions, even though he hadn't managed to keep the tears inside.

"Shouto, d-don't...", at the sight, your heart couldn't help but break.

"Sorry, I've made you cry as well. I didn't mean to.", he spoke blankly, blinking hard twice, in order to get the tears out of his mismatched eyes.

"No! Don't apologize. Please. But you shouldn't cry. It's not worth it. I am not worth it.", you pained yourself by saying that. It was such an pathetic and stereotypical sentence, yet you had to say it, thinking it was the truth.

"You are! Damn it...", Shouto huffed, placing his head against your neck again affectionately, before whispering with a sort of raspy, hoarse voice,

"I don't know how to cheer you up. I must admit that. Though my body is telling me to kiss you. But I can't do that. You have to tell me what to do, (y/n)."

You felt flustered, face flushed a deep red at his words. He was the stoic type, so you wouldn't have expected that, but he was also one to speak his mind, so it wasn't too out of character. The fact that he used your first name as well, like you did accidentally earlier didn't help this situation either.

"Be here for me, like I'll be here for you. That's all I'm asking for.", your head leaned against his dual coloured hair, relaxing ever so slightly.

"I can do tha---", the beautiful moment was interrupted by the vibrating of your phone. You had messages, a lot of them, from your mother and father. They were asking where it was you were at, though you just left them on read. You couldn't be bothered with them as off then, so you pushed them away.

"My parents are asking where I am.", you lazily told the seemingly confused male in front of you.

Said male went on to his bed, scooting over just enough for you to get the hint; you had been invited to sleep next to him. Without losing your cool, you walked over and lied down as well. At first it was awkward, but you two warmed up to each other, resulting in a very comfortable cuddling experience.

The next day in school, your friends were surprised to see you and Shouto walk inside the classroom together. You had barely talked to him for all they knew.

"Todoroki? (l/n)? You seem to have become friends! What happened?", Izuku excitedly asked from his seat, angering a certain blond in front of him,

"DOES IT EVEN MATTER, DEKU?! STOP STICKING YOUR NOSE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS, IDIOT!"

"R-right, Kacchan.", he replied all shaken up.

You just smiled in response, still feeling a lot better to have finally talked to someone about what's been going on. Plus, you had earned a new friendship with someone whom you had never even dreamed about becoming close friends with.

For a second you debated whether you should tell the green haired boy why it was that his friends had become such good friends over the span of a day - or rather night. But that depressive talk, the cuddling and facing your parents together in the morning to get your stuff just to leave again, would remain a little secret between you and the Todoroki for now.

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha x reader #shoto #shouto #shōto #todoroki #x reader #fanfiction #fluff #angst #shouto todoroki x reader #shouto x reader #shoto x reader #shoto todoroki x reader

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captzexx · 5 years

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Getting to know...Me?

Rules: Always post the rules. Tag 11 new people you’d like to know better.

1. Dogs or Cats?

Dogs, though I as I am not much of a pet person cats might be more my speed as they just kind of do their own thing.

2. YouTube celebrities or normal celebrities?

Depends on what they’re presenting. I hate a lot of those gaming streams on Twitch and those guys who make millions just playing CoD and being bleh. But I love CR, Retro Replay, The McElroys, and Puffin. So it all depends on what I’m watching and liking.

3. If you could live anywhere where would that be?

Europe, anywhere there. Also I think I’d be happy in one of the Pacific Northwest or Atlantic New England area.

4. Disney or DreamWorks?

Disney. Parks, toys, movies, tv shows, I was a Disney kid, my kids are Disney kids, we bleed for Emperor Mickey.

5. Favourite childhood TV show?

I had a lot as a kid, mostly superhero stuff. Batman:TAS, Gargoyles, Xmen, Spiderman, old Tex Avery cartoons, Looney Tunes. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I’ve stopped enjoying kids programming as I’ve grown up.

6. The movie you’re looking forward to most in 2020?

Black Widow? I don’t get to go to the movies as much as I used too. I haven’t even gotten to see Joker yet and that was my last big ‘I gotta see’. Rise of Skywalker as well, but kids be damned I will not miss that.

7. Favourite book you read in 2019?

I didn’t read much this year or the last few years, luckily my wife got into Audible so in turn...I got into Audible. I listened to the ‘The Testaments’ and was enthralled beyond belief with that story and highly recommend it.

8. Marvel or DC?

DC mostly, I like tights and capes.

9. If you choose Marvel favourite member of the X-Men? If you choose DC favourite Justice League member?

Batman, though I do have a soft spot for Aquaman and Flash. And Ollie. And Wonder Woman. And this is hard to pick one.

10. Night or Day?

As I was younger I was a full on night owl, up til the wee hours of the morning and sleeping through the day like a vampire. Now I’m older with four little persons looking to me for being a live so I’ve had to adjust to being Ben Franklin. Early to bed, early to rise.

11. Favourite Pokemon?

I’m not big into Pokemon, so I only know the oldest of the old ones. So, Squirtle?

12. Top 5 bands:

Carpenter Brut. Hurt. NIN. Beck. Waylon Jennings. Another hard one as my musical tastes change like...every day.

13. Top 10 books.

Yikes. I’ll do series cause...I can.

Gotrek and Felix. Elric of Melnibone. Guardians of the Flame. The Dark Tower. Scions of Shannara. Redwall. SW: Jedi Academy. Catcher in the Rye. Dresden Files. Dragonlance.

14. Top 4 movies

Robin Hood (Disney). Empire Strikes Back. Last Crusade. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

There are many more but those are the top ‘Four’ I could pull.

15. America or Europe?

I want to be Europe but I haven't gone. Yet.

16. Tumblr or Twitter?

Tumblr. Twitter is a cesspool of evil.

17. Pro-choice or Pro-life?

Pro-Choice.

18. Favourite YouTuber?

Critical Role.

19. Favourite author ?

Stephen King.

20. Tea or Coffee?

Coffee. Bitter and dark...like my soul.

Not really, I enjoy both truly just depends on which is easier to get a hold of.

21. OTP ?

OTP? *Googles* Oh. Uh. Susan? Take that for what it is.

22. Do you play an instrument/sing ?

When I was younger I played trumpet and enjoyed it. Then I went full dick teenager and lost interest in...everything.

So I wish I could go back and pick it up again but who knows. I’ll let my kids play piano, violin, and flute while I sit back and wince as they learn.

Tagged by: @dardillien-ward

Tagging: Anyone? Everyone I know has been basically already been tagged so if you haven't.. REVEAL YOURSELF!

#learning about you #ooc #tag answered

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littlefoxesonthehillside · 4 years

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Stole this from fuckyeahsurveys. Appears to be an inactive blog. Anyway.

Put your music player of choice on shuffle and list the first 10 songs “Master of None” by Beach House “Igloo” by Karen O and the Kids “Life in a Northern Town” by Dream Academy “Theme” by Jon Brion (from the Eternal Sunshine score) “Pretty Vacant” by Sex Pistols “Gold” by Interference “At Last” by Etta James “LDN” by Lily Allen “You Drive Me Wild” by The Runaways “Hand Covers Bruise” by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Would you take anyone with you? A secluded island where no one has had covid. I would take people I love with me.

What is your preferred writing implement? (eg. Blue pen, pencil, green pen) Pen.

Favourite month and why? October, because of the colors, weather, and holiday.

Do you have connections to any celebrities (even minor)? List them. None that I know of.

Name 3 items you could pick up from where you are. Phone, sticky notes, picture of my nephew.

What brand logo is closest to you currently? There’s a Warner Bros. logo on my DVD copy of Something’s Gotta Give.

Do you ever play board games or other non-computer games? Got any favourites? I haven’t in a while. I used to like Sorry! a lot. Also Scrabble.

A musical artist you love that isn’t well known I’m not sure who is or isn’t well-known enough to be considered. Do a lot of people know who Josh Ritter is? It’s not like he’s Beyonce levels or anything.

A musical artist you love that is well known Macy Gray.

What is your desktop background currently? This.

Last person you talked to, and through what you talked to them I spoke to my grandmother on the phone.

First colour name you can think of that isn’t in the rainbow Brown.

What timekeeping devices are in the room you are currently in? My phone and my computer.

What kind of headphones do you use? Earbuds.

What musical artists have you seen perform live? Josh Ritter, Glen Hansard, and Amanda Shires.

Does virginity matter to you? No.

What gaming consoles do you or your family own? PS4. We also still have a Wii and N64.

What pets do you have? What are their names? No pets. :(

What’s the best job you’ve ever had? Working for the post office.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Working for Amazon.

What magazines do you read, if any? I don’t read any.

Inspiration behind your URL? It’s just the title of my blog. Speaking of which...

Inspiration behind your blog title? A mixture of the play/film The Little Foxes and the song that goes “little boxes on the hillside” from Weeds.

Favourite item of clothing? Either my Storytelling Festival hoodie or my red zip-up hoodie.

Are you friends with any exes? Not really.

Name at least one book you loved as a child. Magic Tree House.

What’s your native language? If that language has distinct regional variations, which variation? (eg. AU English, US English) US English.

What email service do you use? Gmail.

Is there anything hanging on the walls of the room you are currently in? No.

What’s your favourite number, and why? The number 8. I like the loopiness of it.

Earliest moment in your life you can remember? Something about a birthday party?

What did you have for dinner yesterday? Spinach, rice, corn, and a veggie burger.

How often do you brush your teeth? Everyday.

What’s your favourite candy/chocolate? M&Ms.

Have you had other blogs on Tumblr? Do you have any other blogs currently? I used to have one, but I can’t access it.

If you were suddenly really hungry, what would you choose to eat? It really depends on what I’m craving. Right now, I’m craving pizza.

What fandoms would you consider yourself a part of? Oscar fandom, maybe? Pro wrestling, too.

If you could study anything, what would it be? Film.

Do you use anything on your lips? (eg. Chapstick, gloss, balm, lipstick) No. I’ve always wanted to try lipstick, though.

How would you describe your sense of humour? Goofy, silly, lighthearted, non sequitur. Something in that range.

What things annoy you more than anything else? People who vote Republican.

What kind of position are you in at the moment? Sitting.

Do you wear much jewellery? I don’t wear any jewelry. I am interested in piercings, though.

Who is the leader of your country, currently? Any other levels of government with leaders? (State, region, province, county, district, municipality, etc) Define “leader”.

Last 3 blogs on your dashboard, not including any of your own Guess I’m about to reveal myself as a total perv, but okay. https://takahashikiyotaka.tumblr.com/ https://www.cigardaddy.me/ https://blksocks-silver-gents.tumblr.com/

What do you carry your money in? My wallet.

Do you enjoy driving? Why or why not? I love driving. Not so much on the interstate or the city, but put me on an open country road and I’m in an instant state of focus, concentration, and serenity.

Longest drive you have ever been on? The longest I’ve personally driven is probably to Nashville.

Furthest away from home you have ever been? Florida.

How many times have you moved house? Twice.

What is on the floor of the room you’re currently in, not including furniture? An embarrassing amount of clutter.

How many devices do you own which can access the internet? I think four.

Is there is anything that is guaranteed to always make you happy? My nephew.

Is there anything that always makes you sad?

What programs do you currently have open? Google Chrome, Word, and Excel.

What do you associate the colour red with? Blood and anger.

Last strong smell you can remember smelling? Dish soap.

Last healthy thing you ate? I had eggs for breakfast.

Do you drink tea or coffee, and how much per day? I drink coffee on occasion, but very rarely.

What do you associate the colour blue with? Peace. Balance. Also water.

How long is the closest ruler you can find? If I even have a ruler, it’s probably just a foot.

What colour pants/skirt/etc are you currently wearing? Dark grey.

When was the last time you drank water? An hour ago.

How often do you clear your browser history? Never.

Do you believe nude photos can be artistic, rather than erotic? Of course.

Ever written fanfiction for anything? No.

Last formal event you attended Probably my graduation.

If you had to move your birthday to another date, which one would you choose and why? Christmas. Double presents!

Would you prefer to be at a beach or in the countryside? Both sound nice, but I’m gonna go with the beach.

Roughly how many people live in your town? 141,344 according to Google.

Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? I don’t think so.

Favourite place to shop? Can be a certain store or a place where there are multiple stores Probably Best Buy.

Do you have a smartphone? What kind? If you don’t, do you want one? I have an iPhone 5s.

What is your least favourite colour, and why? Blue, because I associate it with peace and balance.

How do you spell grey/gray? I’ve always done grey, but I hear gray is more prominent in the US.

Go to your dashboard and describe the image shown in the radar section (below the “Find blogs” link) There’s a happy cupcake being chased by an angry chocolate-covered marshmallow holding a lollipop. And it says Cake Bash in pink letters at the top of the image.

What difference is there between how many followers you have, and the number of blogs you follow? 23.

How many posts do you have? 52.

How many posts have you liked? 3,654.

Do you post mainly reblogs, or your own content? Reblogs.

Do you track any tags? No. But I should.

What time is it currently? 4:00 PM, exactly.

Is there anything you should be doing right now? Yes.

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narika-a · 7 years

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Seventeen as the Mafia + How He Met You

[Monsta X] [BTS] [Shinee] [GOT7] [Block B] [NCT]

||| Requested by @dreamiedragon |||

S.Coups/Choi Seungcheol

That type of leader that doesn’t take shit from anyone, except his members because he can’t fight them all at once.

Gets to know and observes people for a long time before recruiting them

He’s very stressed lately as they are a relatively new gang and there are a lot of fights going on with others for territories.

He met you in one these fights when you tried to make a distraction for your gang. You were about to go upstairs to the roof when you bumped into him

“Who the hell are you?” he asked immediately taking his gun out and pointing it at you.

“The same goes for you. You’re not from my gang so I’m here to kill you.”

“Oh really.” he asked smacking the gun from your hand and getting them behind your back. “You chose the wrong member. You see I’m the boss and now I can use you as a hostage.”

Yoon Jeonghan

Looks like an angel and he actually is but in reality he’s the one you should be afraid of the most.

Nobody has seen him kill anybody because his methods are too cruel to do them in public.

Apparently has some beef with EXO’s Sehun. No one dares ask him but it has something to do with Sehun mistaking him for somebody.

By accident you got involved in a weapon dealing incident with him and he has been planing on killing you ever since. You were good at hiding your tracks but he saw you one day in the city and decided to get rid of you just there in the street but then realized that this fight would probably end up in a blood bath so instead he approached you in secret.

“You have to keep quite and come with me, if you don’t want to die here.” he said pressing his gun to your back.

Joshua/Hong Jisoo

Nobody knows why he’s in the gang as he was never invited.

When Seungcheol first noticed Jisoo he thought he’s a spy or something (as he appeared out of nowhere) and was about to kill him when he promised that he’s good at at least something

And he was, to everyone’s surprise Jisoo’s aim and accuracy is the best out of all of them that’s why he prefers snipers.

He was told to get rid of you silently but you noticed him at the last second and he missed the shot causing a massive panic in the street. You used this opportunity to escape which made Jisoo even more angry. He hasn’t missed a shot in a long time and was determined to get you for that. But whenever he thought he got you cornered he somehow managed to miss and after a while he started to enjoy this little game of yours and soon realized that he doesn’t even want to kill you anymore.

Jun/Wen Junhui

Pro at hand to hand combat.

Trains all the members and teaches them different fighting techniques just in case.

His training routine is no joke and everyone is practically dead after it.

He met you before he joined the gang. You were jogging at the same park every morning. As it was really early and not a lot of people were out it became like a habit for him to greet you before he ran past. Eventually he wanted to engage in not only small talk and find out more about you and he started slowing down every single day till he was running at the same pace as you.

“Finally decided to slow down?” you asked.

“Only for you.” he winked. [x]

Hoshi/Kwon Soonyoung

Experimented a lot and finally came up with his own method to make drugs.

They were incredibly popular and so he quickly went up the ranks and now whenever there is deal going on it has to go through him first.

His first idea was to make poison but he somehow made drugs so nowadays he likes mixing different ingredients to try to create a new deadly weapon.

You had the audacity to attempt to take his throne as the king of drug dealing. You were stubborn and despite a lot of orders to report what you’re doing, you made your way around and stole half of his clients. He had enough and thought that the easiest way to fix this problem would be to get rid of you. But he had no idea you thought the same thing and somehow got his whole warehouse blown up. He caught you outside.

“You little shit, now you will have to take responsibility and I’m not letting you go any time soon.”

Jeon Wonwoo

Likes money. A lot. And doesn’t like sharing. At all.

Easiest way for him to get rich was cards that’s why he started gambling at a really young age and now is a pro at it and is amazing at bluffing.

Enjoys tricking his own gang members and actually gets the most money out of them.

Played poker with him once. He lost. Now he wants his money back but you keep denying his challenge. He usually shows up at the most random places just to ask you. You got into your car and almost spilled your coffee when you noticed him sitting in the back seat.

“Wonwoo what the fuck?”

“Come on Y/N, let’s play.”

“Can you get over that already? Get the hell out of my car.”

“I guess I have to take some more drastic measures.” he said taking his gun out. “We’re going to my place.” [x]

Kim Mingyu

Can smuggle anything in and out starting from stolen cars and ending with guns.

Doesn’t stay in the city for too long as he always has deals all around the country.

But when he comes back everyone is extremely happy to see him as he’s mostly chill and just being near him calms the others down.

He met you when he was away on a trip. You asked him for help when your car broke down and he fell in love at first sight. He stayed in the city for more than two months just to keep seeing you and you eventually became good friends when Seungcheol was done with him ignoring his orders and went to get him back himself. Well Mingyu obviously didn’t want to leave you but you didn’t want to go to another city either so he decided to be blunt.

“Y/N I don’t know how you feel about me but love you so I’m sorry but you have only two choices, you either go with me on your own free will or I take you by force.”

Woozi/Lee Jihoon

Somehow the ones who look the most innocent are the most dangerous in this gang. The same goes for Woozi. But he only uses violence when it’s necessary.

His specialty - torture. Favourite methods - teeth and fingernails pulling.

He charms his targets with his cute appearance and then gets every last bit of information they can muster.

You were unfortunate enough to be his target. You were screaming in pain for at least and hour, swearing that you don’t know anything when Seungcheol came in and told him that they got the wrong person. He set his tools aside and stood in silence for a few minutes.

“Fuck!” he shouted shoving everything from the table. You just watched in horror not knowing what’s going to happen next. He turned around and untied you. He was ashamed of himself and couldn’t look you in the eyes.

“At least let me treat you your wounds.”

DK/Lee Seokmin

Is responsible for looking after the gang territories and making sure they don’t get taken over.

Usually doesn’t think twice when someone trespasses and just shoots them on the spot.

But still has incredibly good and friendly relationships with the residence of the areas he’s taking care of.

Trying to bypass through his territories was a big mistake. He noticed you’re not a local and decided to find out what you’re doing here.

“Hey you!” he called you over but you just looked at him and started running.

“What the heck?!” he thought as he started chasing you. You didn’t know the streets well and ended up in a dead end.

“I got you cornered. Now you’re going to tell me what you’re doing here or I will have to use violence.”

The8/Xu Minghao

He’s great at annoying and pissing everybody off easily but it’s hard to catch him as he’s incredibly fast.

That’s why they send him when their is a need to infiltrate, spy or track anybody.

That doesn’t always work out as he likes to make either a grand entrance or exit and by doing that he attracts the attention of anybody nearby.

He was following you to get some information when he lost you. Suddenly he felt a knife press into his back.

“Why are you after me? Who hired you?”

He tried to take you by surprise by turning around and taking the knife out of your hands but he lost his balance and fell on top of you.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” you asked.

“Well this is quite the unfortunate situation you got yourself in.” he smirked. “If you promise not to make a scene our meeting won’t take long.”

Boo Seungkwan

*Jun shows up out of nowhere*

One of the first members who joined and everybody is thankful for that every single day because they wouldn’t have got where they are without him.

The missions he plans have a 99% chance of success.

Failure is not an option for him so he makes detailed strategies for all type of possible scenarios.

What a surprise You showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time and ruined all his perfect planing. The members haven’t seen him this pissed in a long time when he grabbed you and almost dragged you to one of the rooms. He roughly pushed you inside and you almost tripped on your own legs but his gentleman side couldn’t let a lady fall in front of him even when he was angry so he caught you midair and watched how confused you became by the second.

“Sit.” he said pulling you up and pointing you to the chair. “We have to talk.” [x]

Hansol Vernon

Knows anything and everything and the others should learn from him how to get verified information as fast as he gets.

Good with electronics that’s why he never goes anywhere without his trusted computer.

Despite some members protests he tends to sell the rarest info for big amounts of money to the other gangs.

He find out about you when he wanted to sell some info but the gang told him they already have what they need. Surprised that somebody besides him found it, he was determined to track you down. He was even more shocked when he saw that you’re a woman as there was not a lot of them in the industry.

“What? You think only men can do this type of work?”

“No but I find the women who do incredibly sexy.”

Dino/Lee Chan

Despite being the youngest he knew about the mafia world the most.

His father had a gang and was killed during a deal so he asked Seungcheol for help to someday avenge him.

Takes all advice given to him very seriously and tries his best to help.

Some trusted former members of his father gang were asked to take care of him so that’s why you followed him and also joined this gang. He found this annoying as he wanted to escape his past and always treated you harshly but when he noticed that you’re not around anymore he got kind of sad. But to his delight you came back after a few weeks after taking care of business.

“Missed me?” You smirked.

“Please don’t ever do that again.” he said, giving you a surprise hug.

A/N: I wonder if I should make a masterlist but I’m so lazyyy… Anyhow, feel free to request more scenarios, reactions etc. I keep up with a lot of groups, both male and female!! 😄

4K notes · View notes

mortiel · 7 years

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Mass Effect Andromeda Post-Mortem Disquisition

Preface

Recently, I had this impulse that it was about time I sat down and put my thoughts on Mass Effect Andromeda to "paper" in a more coherent manner than previous comments, and in a conclusive way that gives everyone the explanation behind my decisions that they deserve.

This turned out to be an amazingly horrible idea. I'm overly verbose at my most concise of times, and this was a very complicated matter. Needless to say, these penned thoughts now rival the Encyclopedia Britannica in length. Seriously, if you all make it through this in one sitting without falling asleep, you deserve a bloody cookie or something.

Now, as many have noticed, my build guides and live streams for the game have stopped. My future content planned for map guides and strategies have also been canceled.

The reasoning? As a pro-consumer advocate, I cannot justify continuing to make content that supports a game that I personally would not recommend anyone buy. Each build guide, live stream, or other content I make for this game perpetuates the idea that I support the game and that you should buy it. Such is no longer the case. This decision unfortunately took much longer than it should have, as I spent literally months in a state of cognitive dissonance.

So now here we are. To keep things orderly, this will be broken down into a clear format: Opening, Single Player, Multiplayer, Community, and Summary. Mostly so I don't get lost and start wandering around a supermarket in my underwear like a dementia patient.

So, without further distraction, allow me to present my disquisition on Mass Effect Andromeda:

Opening

Mass Effect Andromeda has been a game of unparalleled and divisive controversy. Even the months leading up to launch, there were lines of people in camps looking for both ways to love and hate the game. It was abundantly clear this game had a lot of passionate people anticipating its launch.

Unfortunately, the game made a really poor first impression on people due to issues that were anywhere from aesthetic like facial animations to tedious like stellar flight animations to game-breaking like multiplayer server outages. First impressions are everything, and the game's first impression was reason why the game was received so poorly.

After most of those issues started clearing up so did the criticisms. It was then that one started to get a clearer understanding of what Andromeda did well and not-so-well outside of fixable bugs.

Single Player

The gameplay of Andromeda was, for the most part, a vast improvement over previous games. Before launch, I was vocally concerned about the "sticky-cover" being introduced, especially after playing Ghost Recon Wildlands that has a horrible sticky-cover system. I can happily admit my concerns proved to be unfounded. The game is generally fun to play... Be it driving in the Nomad or in combat.

The worlds were also quite well made, for the most part. The first planet I'm pretty sure had colour-swapped art assets ripped from Inquisition's Breach. Or was it actually the Breach?

[#SharedUniverseConfirmed]

Otherwise, the game looked great. Harvarl was honestly my favourite as far as design goes, but that's not shocking considering is was much smaller than the other planet maps. Smaller maps mean level designers can get more detail in the same timeframe as larger maps with only a small impact on game performance.

Unfortunately, that's where most of my praise ends. See, Andromeda is, as is BioWare's forte, an RPG. It's not an action-adventure game that is focused primarily on action and environmental storytelling. It has a very clear narrative. The problem is that the narrative is largely re-using most of the story elements from Mass Effect 2 while poorly trying to copy the companions from Mass Effect 1.

Why is copying ME2a problem? Wasn't that one of the best titles in the franchise? ME2 was the second story in a trilogy. That kind of story presumes the player already is entrenched in the current environment... Lore, protagonists, antagonists. You should already have your "compass" in the story, but that's not very easy when everything is new.

The examples of this start early with the death of Alec Ryder in the very beginning. The player has no real emotional connection with Alec, so an extremely influential character had no more weight than a red-shirt like Jenkins from ME1. The way I equate that is to imagine if ME2 were the first ME game you played... Shepard dying 15 minutes in would really mean nothing to you as the player. You have no attachment to him by 15 minutes in… Unless, of course, you just spent the entirety of another game playing as him and cultivating relationships with him and the crew.

And then we get the poorly copied companions. In ME1, you have 2 permanent human companions (after Eden Prime) with Ashley and Kaiden. Both fit on the crew because they are assigned to the Normandy by the Alliance military. Personality-wise, you had the Kaiden the emotionally conservative and Ashley the emotionally radical. You other companions: Liara, Garrus, Tali, Wrex... You were able to experience the motivation of why they joined you first-hand:

Liara was a scientist specialising in Protheans, and you needed her help to better understand the Prothean Beacon and information it gave you. Socially, she was nerdy and socially awkward in a "quirky cute" way, making her more endearing to some.

Garrus was a C-Sec officer convinced Saren was bad and determined to prove it even without the Council's approval, and Shepard was in a unique position to facilitate that. Socially, his strong convictions and aspirations to bring justice make him a strong moral compass for some.

Tali found evidence of a bigger plot behind Saren, and, having some insight into Geth enemy you were facing, was ideal for the mission. Socially, Tali's soft-spoken idealism act to brighten the mood of the story.

Wrex claims to "just want in on the action" after you help him take down Fist, but deeper inspection finds that he admires Shepard and sees him displaying attributes he thought of as what a Krogan should be.

Compare that to Andromeda: Two humans, male and female, assigned to the mission with Cora and Liam. Inverse the genders of the ME1 humans, where Cora is the emotionally conservative one and Liam is the emotionally radical. And by “radical" I mean immature. Seriously, he's like a bloody preteen. Sadly there is no Virmire on which to leave Liam.

As far as the aliens go:

Peebee joined because you're investigating Remnant vaults and she is somehow an "expert" on "RemTech", despite only studying it for a few months by herself. It's trying to match to Liara, except Liara had been studying Protheans for decades with teams of researchers. Peebee has the same “nerdy and socially awkward" trait found in Liara, again trying to get that "quirky cute" vibe.

Drack joins because... He likes killing Kett, I guess? It's essentially distilling Wrex into "just a thug" and trying to copy that. Unfortunately, whereas Wrex peels personality layer back like a turtle-shaped onion, Drack never really evolves and grows as a character. You just find out his organs are failing because he's so badass.

Vetra joins because she can help you with "stuff" and serves as a sort of quartermaster for a ship of maybe a dozen people. Despite the fact that her apparent talents in wheeling-and-dealing would be better served to both Tempest and Nexus if she were on the latter not the former. Makes perfect sense if you don't think about it. However, BioWare determined we "need" a Garrus on the crew. Except Garrus was so much more complex even just within the story of ME1. Vetra sadly will never match Garrus' reach and flexibility.

Jaal was the only exception here. Superficially, he's a copy of Javik from ME3 in his archetype, true, but he at least felt like he had a reason for being on the ship: A liaison/ambassador to the Angarans. Surprisingly, his character also has actual depth and dimension, albeit at times he felt like the “man-meat" in a Harlequin romance novel... Surprised he was missing full head of long flowing hair and wasn't introduced to us by galloping a horse down a beach at sunset whilst shirtless. He's the Fabio trope in an alien body, but that makes him interesting nonetheless, even if only comically so.

Why am I focused on the companions so much? Because that has been one of the foundational pillars of BioWare storytelling… From HK-47 to Kang the Mad to Mordin Solus, BioWare has defined themselves by crafting memorable and endearing companions. Mass Effect 3 was all the more memorable because you got to experience the effects of the Reaper War on each of the people you had befriended along the way. BioWare felt as though it lost touch with that cornerstone by recycling character archetypes from Mass Effect 1.

BioWare has not been as solid with major narrative writing of late, however. Case in point, Andromeda’s was seemingly copied directly from Mass Effect 2. Archon is a generic bad guy. You could insert Coryfish or Harbinger-Possessed Collector#212 instead and I'd be unable to tell the difference. His motivation is ripped straight from ME2... I was honestly waiting for him to announce that he was the Harbinger of our perfection at several points. This is honestly the gravest problem to me... So few stories nowadays can give us a compelling antagonist. No one ever makes the bad guy relatable anymore. Saren, despite his reasoning being warped by Indoctrination, thought he was SAVING everyone. Loghain was convinced that fighting Darkspawn would leave Ferelden open to attack from Orlais, which he judged to be the worse of two evils. Eredin's home world was on the brink of annihilation. You hate all of those antagonists because they all did something you find reprehensible as the player, but all of them have motivations that at least you could find understandable albeit going about things the wrong way.

And then we had the conversations. BioWare got rid of the really thematically weak binary morality system… And replaced it with something worse. They tried to copy Dragon Age 2's"mood" choices, where you'd be given choices that would fit a certain personality style you could use to better role-play your character. Which would have been fantastic, albeit I can't imagine why anyone would choose anything other than Snarky.

Unfortunately, the writing team appeared to have not really fleshed that out since you are rarely given a full gamut of choices. Most times you are given the choice between “logical" and "emotional" responses and that's it. Even then, there were times when those two options were the exact same line! This was naturally compounded with the long-standing problem with "summarized conversation wheels" where what the summary of a choice sounds like it means and what your character says are often two completely different things.

The combination of all those things made the main story feel like fan-fiction, not BioWare's famous storytelling.

Then we get the side quests. The MMO fetch quests forced into the game as filler because BioWare had to shoehorn in the "open world" gimmick into a game that really did not need it. It is content padding... It fills the world with “stuff" and keeps the player in the game for longer. Worse yet, larger side-quest arcs were left unfinished. Those both are design choices based on deliberate tactic used to maintain market demand for DLC. I know a lot of people are still angry about not getting any single player DLC, but the truth is that many games are releasing nowadays as DLC-selling frameworks rather than actual full-featured titles, and that's horrible for consumers. This was no exception.

Overall, the sheer lack of creativity in the single player story really lend credence to the rumours of project leadership woes during the process of creating this game. This feels like a game made in eighteen months, not five years.

Multiplayer

Then we go on to the multiplayer. Before the game launched, I had a lot of concerns about the multiplayer when coming from Dragon Age Inquisition that had extremely flawed design choices. Many of the developers/producers were actually very forthcoming with assuaging my concerns. There would be no promotion system that allowed player stratification and the RNG loot table would be more akin to ME3'smultiplayer where you gain items from packs until they reach Rank X and they are removed from the drop table. Seemed great.

My first complaint from the beginning was that the multiplayer character skill points were now tied into the RNG drop table… Whereas ME3 awarded you appearance options for repeated drops of the same character, MEA also added skill points every other drop, meaning you now had to get a character dropped to Rank X before you could use them to their fullest. Furthermore, whereas previously each class had a linked XP pool for all the characters of that class, Andromeda separated them all out. Both were done to extend playtime in order to increase potential microtransaction sales.

The second complaint I had was that powers, weapons and combos all felt grossly underpowered. An often-quoted statistic in games difficulty balance is “time to kill", or TTK. As the name implies, this is the time it would realistically take a player to kill an enemy. The TTK on average in Andromeda was nearly 70% longer than ME3's multiplayer. It didn't make the game more difficult, just more tedious. Enemies taking too long to kill are often called “bullet sponges", and are generally not liked in games primarily because it's a done to make the enemy more difficult, which it does not do.

Then, once the game officially launched (I was playing the multiplayer before launch), the multiplayer matchmaking servers would experience frequent disconnections and almost daily outages. That meant that the times when you could even get into the multiplayer mode, chances of finishing a match would extremely small.

Needless to say, I did my due diligence and carefully outlined these problems to BioWare.

The server issues were a high priority and fixed within the first week or two. Then BioWare started giving new content and balance changes for multiplayer. Fortunately, the feedback that I and many others had given to BioWare helped them to better balance the damage output of players, leading to a more enjoyable experience. My other feedback was ignored, which I waved off because I suspected there wasn’t much to be done about some of the more deeply engrained design problems.

However, ME3veterans would quickly notice that new content delivered was considerably less substantial than what ME3 received. Whereas ME3 received tons of new characters, weapons, and maps in bulk drops every month or two, Andromeda saw a trickle of content… A new character here; A new weapon there… Maybe a map once and a while. The amount and variety of content delivered to the multiplayer was next to nothing, which not how you keep people playing a horde-mode multiplayer bordering on being completely forgettable.

Then Patch 1.09happened. For those not acquainted with this horrendous excuse for profiteering, BioWare released its largest content drop to date… Which saw very little actual new content. Instead they doubled the amount of drops you could get for a single character (from Rank X to Rank XX) and quadrupled the amount of weapons drops in a similar fashion… Now, each weapon had three variants that would start dropping once that weapon was Rank X, each themselves dropping up to Rank X. The three variants, or "augmentations", each had a generic added effect that was the same for each gun. BioWare called it “extending the progression" for the multiplayer.

Now, why was that a big deal? It means you have more to work toward, right? Unfortunately, that's not actually it. See, as I said, all the loot is based on RNG lootboxes. YouPlay some matches, buy some "packs" (lootboxes) and get random items as a reward. There are different grades of lootboxes that offer differing rarities of items. Simple, right? Well, sure, until you start looking at the numbers.

During the same time period (March-September), BioWare has released 28 new weapons and characters in ME3MP compared to 13 new weapons and characters to MEAMP. You'd think that would mean there’d be less “grind” to MEAMP, but unfortunately, this is where things get unsettling:

For those 28 new weapons and characters, it totaled 172 drops one would need to get to max your manifest. With the 13 new weapons and characters in MEAMP, it totals 540 drops to max. This is due to the “S” variants of common weapons, the additional character ranks, and weapons augmentation that pad drops without actually adding anything new. MEAMP has added more than three times as many RNG drops while adding less than half of the new content. And those numbers are only for new content… If I factored in what was available at launch, the difference would be even more insane.

Sounds a bit shady, right? That’s because it is. More drops means more “grind”. More “grind” makes microtransactions look more appealing. I’ve written out thoughts before on how delicate balancing the “grind” of free-to-play games is, where you have to respect the time of the free player while still encouraging microtransaction sales. This is an example of an unbalanced system, mostly because it relies on RNG lootboxes. If you think all I’ve said sounds malevolent now, just wait.

See, this RNG lootbox system is employed by a lot of games, most of which are free to play. It relies on manipulating the player into falling for a mixture of the Gambler's Fallacy and the Sunk-Cost Fallacy.

The former is when a person assumes the statistical probability of past events affect the outcome of statistic events in the future. For example: Losing thousands at roulette is acceptable because it means I’m about to win big on the next spin.

The latter plays off the fallacious logic that the more time/money/effort you spend on something the more indebted to that something you become. For example: Losing thousands at a craps table means I have to keep playing until I win because otherwise all I’ve spent up to now was wasted.

The comparison to gambling is deliberate.

The RNG lootbox system is frankly a manipulative and unethical business practice. Even if the game is rated M, children and young adults still play these games where their minds are still not fully developed, and companies like BioWare are legally allowed to effectively get them addicted to gambling with this system. Most governments don't see this as gambling because the reward has no material value. You know what country has actually taken a stand against this? China. China is the country forward-thinking enough to realise how bad this practice is and have classified it as gambling. "China" and “forward-thinking" are not two words you often hear in the same sentence in the Western World.

I understand BioWare is a business and wants to make money. That's quite fine. Instead, they could employ more ethical microtransactions like those employed by Digital Extremes in Warframe: If I want to unlock a specific character or weapon, I can buy that outright for real money. The cost should be dependent on the difficulty to obtain. To acquire them for free, I have to earn them from more time consuming tasks like playing a specific map, against a specific enemy type, or both. Of course, in order to maximize revenue from the more ethical business model, BioWare would have to commit to releasing a considerably greater amount of new content for the multiplayer than what Andromeda has.

To be completely honest, given the level of separation ME multiplayer has from its single player even in the development cycle and that they are targeted at two separate audiences, I've honestly been suggesting that BioWare should consider spinning it into a standalone free to play title. I think the same should happen to DA multiplayer as well. Then it can see a small team of continuing support with new characters, weapons, maps, and balance changes. All funded by those new, more ethical microtransactions I suggested. But I digress.

Community

Now this is where things get unpleasant. Andromeda itself, despite my criticism, is an overall above average game in its current state. It is not terrible, but also not very good. This is why I used to not recommend purchasing it unless you got it on sale for at least 50% off. That's what I felt the game is worth.

However, what turned that recommendation from "Get It On Sale" to "Avoid Like The Plague" is the community.

While many, if not most, of the community around BioWare games are amiable enough and just enjoy the games, there is a sinister fanaticism that lurks in the dark places of the community. This fringe fanaticism either fervently hates or passionately loves the game, and harbors and intense level of bigotry.

Months before Andromeda was released, videos were being made openly calling for a boycott of BioWare games due to the political ideologies of individuals working (at that time) for BioWare, while others were praising BioWare for those same ideologies. Both positions were a Fallacy of Composition… Assuming that something true of one part of a body must also be true of the whole body.

If only that were the end of it. As launch got closer, so did the intensity of turning any developer interviews or updates into some kind of political clash. In all fairness, this was not exclusive to Andromeda… In fact, I could posit that it might just be a reflection of the then-current state of modern society. Regardless, Andromeda was controversial without ever having posed a single controversial position.

Then BioWare made a mistake. It gave out press copies of Andromeda to review outlets and "influencers”, the latter of which I will be discussing more in a moment. However, while reviewers were under an embargo that prevented them from releasing their review until the day before the game was released, BioWare allowed “influencers" and people that subscribe to EA/Origin Access to play and stream the game for 10 hours one week before release.

By the time professional reviews came out… Which were generally positive… There was so much confusion already permeating the internet. Clear, concise, and fair-minded criticism was drown in a sea of angry denouncement and cult-like devotion.

After a few scathing criticisms and popular memes arising due to issues in the game, a few of BioWare's loyal influencers" set about attempting to counter much of the criticism leveled at the game either by justifying mistakes and design choices or by outright attempting to discredit critics themselves.

Let's take Mass Effect Follower (now known as BioWare Follower), for example. He made a video titled Addressing the Criticism in Mass Effect Andromeda where he attempts to simultaneously justify the existence of bugs in the game while discrediting those that was put forward with comments like:

"Now, the reviews are people's opinions and nothing but that. [...] That should not deter you from trying out the game and seeing if you enjoy it yourself. Some people are not a fan of RPGs or open-world games and from there they're not going to like Mass Effect Andromeda and therefore they're going to write negative things about the game. Plus, as many of you know from being on the internet, some people just like to cause negative feedback. [...] They just want to say bad things about a game just to fuel hate. [...] Try to ignore them if you can."

Yup, he just tells people to ignore all negative reviews, because they either don't like RPGs/open-world games or they are just trying to promote hate. Or like this:

"All the story missions I've played have all felt well written and set up. The side missions I've done are widely varying in what you have to do and they feel like they have a meaning. The random characters I come across feel alive and like they have a purpose for being there."

Which feels like a legitimate public statement written by BioWare themselves. This first point made there I've already outlined my heavily diverging viewpoint, and the second two points are outright falsehoods. Essentially the video asks people to ignore negative criticisms of the game and just buy it based on his questionable claims on quality. Then, for all the bugs, hope that the game would be fixed and hope that the story would get better based on nonexistent future content.

On a small level, I pity channels like BWFollower. Once a channel becomes a certain size, it becomes beholden to the content it makes. When that content relies on an amicable relationship with a corporate AAA developer, a channel might feel pressured to make content that portrays work of that corporate AAA developer in a favorable light or risk being black-listed by that developer. It's an unenviable position, but it's entirely self-imposed.

This kind of content is what's known as subversive advertising, and it's not always done knowingly. BWFollower may not have realized that he was manipulating people into making a purchase that they may not have wanted. Nonetheless, it does not change the effect it had. When you are a public figure... One that a major AAA game developer would consider to be an "influencer", you have a responsibility and a trust... One which BWFollower completely failed. It is about the most anti-consumer reaction to a game possible because it crippled the ability for consumers to get fair and honest information before making a purchase.

Not everyone has money to waste on a game they won't enjoy, and so-called "trusted" voices countering healthy consumer feedback undermines the trust consumers have in those of us that with any measure of public responsibility. This utter deception perpetrated by several similar such "influencers" was, without a doubt, one of the most pivotal elements leading to the consumer backlash against Andromeda. The Streisand Effect, they call it.

Summary

Overall, I think Andromeda was indicative of the overall state of BioWare during the development of Inquisition and Andromeda... Including the upcoming Anthem. They were creatively rudderless, sailing whatever way the wind was blowing, denoting a lack of proper creative leadership and overall project vision.

Now, that may have changed. BW Montreal was merged into EA Motive and Aaron Flynn was replaced by Casey Hudson as GM of BioWare (essentially their top spot in the company). The only beacon of hope that Anthem won't turn out to be as bland as Inquisition/Andromeda is that Drew Karpyshyn (the main reason BioWare games are popular) is the lead writer on the project.

As I write this, the multiplayer is still currently receiving updates but the single player support was ended a few weeks ago. I imagine that Andromeda's multiplayer will continue receiving updates for months to come as they continue to unethically on money out of players through manipulative microtransactions that really should be legally classified as gambling.

Going forward from here, there are several lessons and opportunities for BioWare. They have already made changes to their organisation that may see their content improve. However, I will not presume that. Time will reveal what, if any, effect those changes create.

The lesson I have learned is that corporate greed inevitably diseases creativity. Not only has this experience made me extremely distrustful of BioWare, but AAA game development as a whole, which is honestly for the best. Businesses should not be entitled to your patronage. They should earn it. Something which BioWare has seemingly forgotten.

In writing this, however, the most unexpected realization result from the release of the latest entry of BioWare's most popular franchise: Where their path forward became much less certain to many fans, mine became clear. More information on that will be coming soon.

That, in its totality, is my post-mortem of Mass Effect Andromeda. Feel free to share your thoughts on the game and stayed tuned for some new things coming soon.

Once again, this is Angelus de Mortiel, signing off.

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gavbon · 5 years

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Blue has long been a favourite for those looking for USB plug & play solutions, with the Yeti and Snowball models adorning many channels. Some may not know that Blue also has a range of pro XLR products, but with prices running into the many thousands of pounds, along with the additional equipment required, it was simply not an option for most to look any further than USB powered mics.

Now Blue have attempted to bridge that gap and offer an affordable entry into the world of studio quality XLR microphones. The Blue Ember XLR was first showcased at CES 2019 in January and is aimed directly YouTubers and podcasters.

Blue Ember Specifications & Features

Transducer Type: Condenser capsule Polar Pattern: Cardioid Frequency Response: 38 Hz-20 kHz Sensitivity: 12 mV/PA Output Impedance: 40 ohms Rate Load Impedance: 1k ohm Maximum SPL: 132 dB SPL Power Requirements: +48V DC Phantom Power Weight: 0.38 kg (0.84 lbs.) Dimensions: 219 mm (L), 38.26 mm (W), 31.91 mm (D)

Hand-tuned condenser capsule delivers open, detailed sound

Premium, high-output electronics for maximum clarity and headroom

Cardioid polar pattern with excellent off-axis noise rejection

Compact side-address design fits anywhere and looks great on camera

Works great with home studio audio interfaces

Blue Ember Closer Look

Nestled inside a big foam brick inside the box, the Ember sits alongside an adjustable mount, which is all you get as far as accessories go. Therefore, you’ll also need an XLR cable, along with a pre-amp to power it…but more of that later.

The styling of the Ember sits perfectly with the other mics you will have seen from Blue, with it having a very retro feel to it. In the hand, it oozes quality, with it’s long cylindrical body finished in a grey-blue metallic paint. All metalwork on the unit has a black chromed finish to it, from the XLR housing, though the side logo and all the way up to the mesh grille. The Ember feels really weighty in the hand too, and tips the scales at 380g.

There are no other features on the mic…no volume controls, no headphone jack, no RGB…and that’s because with this being a pro-style mic, external power is required for it to function. This power measures 48 volts, and is known as “phantom power”. This power is provided by using a mic preamp or a mixer, and prices for these vary wildly depending upon the features present, and the brand you choose.

For the purpose of this review, we used another Blue product called the Icicle. This is essentially a preamp, that turns the condenser mic into a more plug & play experience. For YouTubers starting out with the Ember as their first XLR mic purchase, the Icicle looks a good option. The only downside is the price, coming in at £68 on Amazon UK at the time of the review.

The Icicle basically sits between the Ember and the PC, providing the necessary power required through the XLR cable to the mic, and channelling the sound from the mic via USB to the PC. Whilst the Icicle comes complete with a mini USB cable for the PC connection, you will need to purchase an XLR cable. You can plug the Icicle directly into the Ember, but it makes the already long body of the Ember even longer, and for a few pounds, I’d suggest investing in a cable.

The Blue Ember Review: Performance & Final Verdict

Being a tech & PC gaming related channel, I set up the Ember to resemble what the average streamer setup would look like…the mic directly in front of my face, with my mouse & keyboard behind the mic, in front of my monitors.

The Blue Ember features Cardioid pickup pattern, which means that it takes input from directly to the front side of the mic, whilst eliminating sounds directly behind it… in this case, my keyboard. Even during the most frenzied of gameplay sessions, my teammates said that there was very little pickup from the Cherry MX Browns on my keyboard.

The sound from the Ember itself during recording is extremely crisp and clean. I used it without a pop filter at a distance of around 7 inches, and I was impressed how the grill handled plosives (ie. words containing letters like T & P, when it pops & distorts the sound). If you are going to have the mic closer than this, then a pop filter may be required, but for YouTubers on camera I think this distance is likely to be pretty ideal.

What’s hot:

The cardioid pickup pattern works really well in your typical gaming setup, eliminating almost every hint of keyboard strokes.

Much cleaner & crisper sound than any USB mic I’ve ever used.

Does a great job of eliminating pops from plosives.

What’s not:

It would have been nice for Blue to at least include an XLR cable in the box, especially for those users who are taking their first steps into XLR mics. Even though a mic mount is included, you’ll still need a mic stand or boom arm.

For anyone wanting to get into the world of XLR mics, then the Blue Ember is fantastic value for money at £85 from Amazon.co.uk. During the course of this review I have watched many videos on the benefits & pitfalls of studio quality condenser mics, and I can honestly say I’m intrigued, and will be exploring other products with my own home setup.

For those who have only ever used a USB mic, there is unfortunately more money to be laid out however. As mentioned before, you will need a preamp or mixer to provide the necessary phantom power required. A mic stand or boom arm will also be required, along with an XLR cable to connect the Ember up to the mixer. If all of that seems like too much of an outlay, then a USB mic along the lines of the excellent Blue Yeti Nano is maybe for you.

If you are willing to invest in the extra kit necessary, or indeed already have some already and are on the lookout for a new XLR mic that doesn’t break the bank, yet delivers fantastic sound quality, then I would highly recommend you consider the Blue Ember.

Thanks to Blue for sending a sample of the Ember in for review.