#slowly but surely we come closer to something playable

[ratmakesgames]

making prototypes for important animal info panes!! duck bison fucking love when grass is 51%

[cloudenthusiast2]

To be a human - Scaramouche x reader - Part 7 (Final)

You knew committing to a relationship with Scaramouche would be no easy task but you loved him dearly and unlike others, you believed he wasn't evil. But as a mortal and the devoted protector of your village you were too much of a good person, too much of a human compared to him and your differences slowly start to show.

Previous: Part 6

Length: 4000 words

Trigger warnings: blood, mentions of loss

A. note: Scaramouche is my favourite character in the game and I really love him. But I couldn't help and feel awful when he said those words in Inazuma. Look, I don't think that Mihoyo is gonna let the huge opportunity slip and not make him playable (for which we need to have at least a tiny bit of friendship with him and well, right now mc straight up hates him) but in case that does happen, in case he doesn't get a redemption arc, I made one myself. I wrote this to redeem him in my own, and hopefully your eyes as well. I hope you enjoyed reading this story of that little bastard as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It was fair to say that Scaramouche was stunned by the sight of the local people.

Certainly not because he suddenly grew fond of them. It was rather because the way they appeared out of blue when little Yu gave them a sign. She let out three short whistles and the forest came to life in front of the harbinger.

Old men and woman, little children and whole families walked towards them. It was clear even for Scaramouche that they looked uneasy and hostile. They surely wouldn’t have appeared in front of the fatui if it wasn’t for Yu.

The sixth harbinger was astonished.

Because they would trust someone, especially a child so much.

Because there were so many of them.

He counted the people walking towards Yu. Way more than he’d thought there would be.

These people were injured, dirty and exhausted. But they were alive. And all because of one person.

‘Impressive’ he thought to himself.

Yu talked to them, explaining why the fatui was there and promising that they’re not in danger any more. The people seemed less at ease in his presence now but the harbinger still felt the piercing gazes. If looks could’ve killed he would have been dead in an instant.

He knew they all blamed him for the things that had happened. Maybe they even thought he was the one who made the abbys attack their village.

But Scaramouche got used to these types of glances during the years and he did not care about them any more. All that mattered was that they were able to help.

He stood behind little Yu who was still clinging onto her doll. Scaramouche stared at the bloodstains on the toy as she asked the people of Qingce to help find you.

The thought to promise them money crossed his mind but the instantly threw it away. He just somehow felt that it would be very wrong.

These people won’t help him because he can pay them. They won’t help because Yu asked them to either. They will help because you had been guarding them for years.

Mentioning your name caused them to stir up, to get loud and the all of a sudden the whole crowd was ready to go and search in the mountains.

It was obvious how much they loved and respected you. Maybe even more than Scaramouche used to, he realized.

Yu turned to him and nodded.

‘I think we can go now.’

‘How are you going to search everything?’ the harbinger asked as he crouched down to the child. It wasn’t needed since he wasn’t much taller than her but it felt like the right thing to do.

Yu’s eyes wandered to the hat. She reached out and gently touched it.

Scaramouche normally would’ve ended the person who messed with his hat but when the child did it, he somehow felt no urge to do so.

‘It’s because so many people are watching’ he explained to himself. But it still felt a bit weird not being annoyed.

He cleared his throat so Yu would focus on him again.

‘We know this place well’ she answered, letting her arms fall back to her side. ‘We will split up and warn each other if we find something.’

‘My people are out too.’

‘Then call them back.’

The harbinger glared at the child. She really was fearless, wasn’t she, huh. First touching his hat and now disrespecting the fatui.

‘You know…’ he crossed his brows as he began to speak but Yu quickly cut him off.

‘Everyone is afraid of them. And they’ll just be in the way. They don’t know the mountains, do they?’

Scaramouche clenched his teeth together. But he had to admit that the girl was right.

He stood up and walked towards the agents standing by a nearby bridge. They were there since the people appeared to make sure they don’t try to do anything to their harbinger.

He gestured to bring them closer then stood and crossed his arms.

‘First, I want to know how a big group of fatui agents were unable to find anyone when there was a whole village hiding in the forest’ he questioned them with a glare.

The agents were bowing already but now they bowed even deeper.

‘F-forgive us, our lord!’ a pyro agent answered. ‘They’re locals and we…’

‘Spare your apologies, I don’t care.’

Scaramouche closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. He really didn’t care, he only snapped at them to let out a little frustration.

‘Call back everyone from the mountains. And let these people do what they want. Anyone who disturbs them in any way shall be punished.’

‘But my lord…’

‘Do as I say!’

Scaramouche turned his back to them and the agents hurried away. He watched as the people of Qingce split up and began their search in the forest, around the destroyed village.

He looked up to the mountains. Clouds hid the most of them, they were so huge, so high. And there were so many places you could be.

Was is it even possible that you were alive?

Scaramouche never lied to himself and this was the first time he wanted to. He simply just didn’t want to accept the small chances of finding you. He wanted to feel hope.

‘You better be alive, Y/n’ he muttered to himself. ‘For your own sake.’

For his sake.

*

‘Have you taken a look around in that cave too?’

‘I haven’t but I can go if…’

‘Stay.’

Scaramouche climbed to the cave and looked into the hole. It was smaller than it seemed from below and inside it there was absolutely nothing.

He quietly let himself down. He jumped on a bigger stone on the path under him, the bells violently jingling on his hat.

Little Yu asked nothing. It was obvious from the harbinger’s expression that he found nothing.

The air began to feel a little chilly in the mountains. The sun was getting ready to go down and let the moon take its place.

They’ve spent their whole day with searching. They’ve found absolutely nothing so far.

There were a lot of traces left behind the abbys order and the monsters. It was also clear that the fight continued outside of the village as well. Corpses of dead monsters bordered the narrow paths.

But your body was nowhere to be find.

Scaramouche looked up to the sky. The first star had already appeared. And with that, their last piece of hope started to slip away.

‘We haven’t looked there yet.’

The harbinger snapped out of his dark thoughts and glanced at the child in front of him. She pointed at a smaller mountain nearby.

‘That’s very far away from the village’ Scaramouche claimed. ‘We’d be just wasting our time.’

‘Then where do you want me to go?’ Yu asked.

The man let out a sigh. She was right, they’ve already looked through every bush and searched every rock on this mountain.

He started walking towards the other one without saying anything, and Yu silently followed him.

In the valley below them, lots of figures were moving and changing places. The locals still haven’t given up even though it was getting colder and darker with every passing moment.

A red dot appeared. Then another. They started lighting torches.

Scaramouche felt like choking. He touched his throat and fastened his steps.

He tried to banish the horrifying thoughts from his head but his desperate tries were unsuccessful.

You’re dead. They’re only going to find a cold body and not you. You’re dead and it is his fault.

He shook his head to quiet the voices and to get back into focusing on his search.

This made him realize that he hadn’t seen little Yu in a while. Scaramouche stopped and turned his head to check on the girl.

She was behind him a few meters away. Her movements were too slow to keep up with the harbinger’s.

‘Are you coming or not?’ The man growled at her. ‘Hurry up.’

‘Sorry…’ She was out of breath, quietly panting. ‘You can leave me behind. I know I’m just slowing you down.’

Scaramouche rose his brows at the young child who was not even tall enough to reach the ground from a bigger rock. Was she really that aware? What should he do now? Just leave her here? He was willing to do that, to be honest. The sun was about to completely disappear.

Yu grabbed the side of the rock. She let her feet down, trying to get down safely but she was too tired – the little girl stumbled and fell.

Scaramouche didn’t even realize he was reaching out – but a moment later he found himself holding the child in his own arms.

They stared at each other, the sixth Fatui Harbinger and the kid from Liyue. It was impossible to tell who was more surprised, the one holding or the one being held.

But it was the man who found his voice first.

‘Don’t think I’m gonna carry you like this to the other mountain.’

‘I didn’t think that’ she answered quietly.

Scaramouche cleared his throat and opened his lips. But before any other words could’ve come out of his mouth, a sharp whistle cut through the air.

They both jerked their heads up.

The sound was coming from below, south to the village.

The whistle was repeated – two short, two long ones.

‘They’ve found her’ Yu said.

*

Scaramouche had no memories of how he got down from the top of the mountain.

All he remembered was the crazy pace of his heartbeat. The darkness invading his head. That terrific feeling clenching his heart, incredible, deep fear he’s never experienced before.

There were many people standing in his way in front of a big cave. He pushed them away as he rushed to get closer.

It was dark. Everyone stood with a torch in their hands. He heard the whispers but the words were incomprehensiblenext to the loud beating of his own heart. There were figures but they were blurry, everything was blurry…

Until he saw you.

You were laying on the ground. Your body completely still, your chest not rising nor sinking. Your clothes torn, bloody.

There was so much blood.

He stumbled and fell on his knees in front of you. A local turned to him and spoke but he understood nothing. His hand was shaking as he reached out to touch you.

You were… cold.

He forgot how to breathe and just stared down at your body. Your messy hair hid your face and that just didn’t feel right.

Why was this happening?!

Everything was supposed to become alright after they’ve found you!

How dare you be dead, how dare you not wake up to his touch, to his wishes, to all wishes around you…!

‘Balladeer!’

He snapped out of the blurriness when someone grabbed his arm. An old lady with a serious look tried to pull him back.

‘Let go of me!’ he hissed, pushing her away. He groaned when the grip became stronger instead on his arm. Pain in his heart and body blinded him as he shouted. ‘I said, let go of me or else…’

‘Please stay out of the way of my people’ the lady asked in a calm tone. ‘She needs serious help.’

‘What help can you provide when she’s dead?!’ he screamed at her in a hoarse voice. ‘You stay away from her!’

‘Please calm down. Y/n is not dead… yet.’

Scaramouche slowly closed his eyes. The words echoed in his head.

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. She’s not dead. Yet.

He took a deep, shaking breath. The cold air in his lungs cooled him off a little.

You were alive. But also, only barely. He finally understood what that meant. But he couldn’t let himself feel any relief nor fear…

He was a harbinger, he was part of the Fatui under the rule of the almighty Tsaritsa. He was Scaramouche, the Balladeer who simply could not allow himself to show any vulnerability in front of mere mortals.

Even if it was about you.

Even if he wasn’t the same person any more.

‘Bring a healer’ he said in a lower tone.

‘We don’t have any vision bearers among us’ the lady answered. ‘But we’ll do everything to keep her alive.’

Scaramouche nodded and stood up. It took a lot of strength to tear his eyes from you but he forced himself to do it and turned around.

‘Alert my people and tell them to give you all that you need’ he told the locals as he fixed his hat. ‘Tents, medicine, food, everything.’

The people stood there in silence for a few seconds, not knowing whether to obey him. They only moved when the old lady from before thanked him. Then they finally set off towards the village.

Scaramouche wanted to turn back and take a glance at you one more time to make sure you’re really there and not just a hallucination. But suddenly little Yu appeared in his sight and that made him stay.

‘She’s alive’ the girl whispered. The mask she had worn so far finally broke and her expression was an expression of a little child. She seemed tired, sad and a little happy. ‘I’m so glad… Scara.’

The harbinger nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. His heart was still beating fast with fear but those heavy weights on his shoulders finally started getting lighter.

He felt something touching his hand and he opened his eyes to the sight of Yu holding onto him.

This type of physical connection was very far away from what Scaramouche would tolerate coming from a human but he felt way too tired to resist. He just let the little girl clench his pinkie and they both watched silently as some helpers grabbed your body and moved it to a safer place.

*

You felt like something that had been sitting on your chest for a while finally moved. Something even bigger, a huge, scary type of darkness slowly left your body.

It left you with the first breath you were aware of taking in a long time.

You let out a small sigh. And opened your eyes.

There was a fabric cover above you.

You were in a tent, safe and sound. Alive.

The first thing you noticed was the temperature. It was warm, welcoming and comforting. Lot of soft blankets covered your body which hurt badly but the pain was dim.

You tried to look around but your head was too heavy. You could barely tip your head to the side.

But the sight was worth it.

Your breath was taken away one more time. You just stared in silence and you could feel your eyes widen in shock.

‘You’re awake.’

Scaramouche closed the book he was reading and looked at you with a straight face.

‘Finally.’

He put the book down with a slow movement.

Mixed emotions invaded you. You fell from relief to happiness to fright in a span of a few seconds. You were alive and Scaramouche was here with you, but – why did he seem so distant? Was he still angry at you even after everything that had happened?

You almost let fear overrun you. Almost.

But your gaze fell on his hands and he couldn’t hide his true feelings from you any more. His hands were visibly trembling as he still held onto his book.

Little did you know he could have not read a single word written in the last couple of hours. He just sat there and watched over your sleep, not dozing off for even a second himself.

The shaking of his hands became even more obvious and he couldn’t hold himself back any more.

He moved closer and placed his trembling palms next to the sides of your body. He looked down on you from above and as you stared back at him, you could clearly see something that wasn’t there before.

The usual cold, emotionless blur was nowhere to be found in his dark eyes. Instead, there was pain. And a lot of it.

‘How dare you do this to me?’

During the years of your relationship, he’s grown to be comfortable in your presence but he never ever showed any signs of vulnerability in front of you and you just accepted that it’s probably never going to happen.

It was shocking, almost scary seeing him like this.

The desperate expression on his face softened and he let his head plop on your shoulders.

‘Scara’ you whispered. Your voice was hoarse and dry but it was your voice. You were able to speak.

The realization of how unlikely your survival was suddenly hit you and your eyes teared up.

‘Scara, I… I really thought I was gonna die…’

‘Then you’re stupid’ he answered, speaking into the blankets covering your shoulder. ‘You should know that you can’t die without my permission.’

You laughed through your tears. They streamed down on your face, straight into your ears. But even that felt so good. Crying was a sign of being alive from the very beginning of life and you never understood that so much than at that time.

‘Don’t… leave me ever again.’

You didn’t event think, the words just left your mouth.

‘Don’t worry.’ Scaramouche finally got himself together enough to sit up and at least pretend that he was alright. ‘You have successfully proved you’re not capable of taking after yourself so now I’m definitely stuck babysitting you till the rest of our lives.’

His movements said otherwise though. The way he caressed your cheek to dry the tears up showed that he’s not just stuck. He wantsto stay.

Just what kind of thinks did he go through in the past days? – the question occurred to you.

To think about it… why did he even come back? How did he hear what happened? And your people?! Were they safe?

So many questions echoed in your head and you couldn’t even put most of them into words that made sense. So opened your mouth and quietly asked:

‘What happened?’

‘I want to know the same’ he said. ‘What happened? How did you get so far away from the village? How are you alive in the first place?’

You thought back to the night. Pain stabbed you instantly and you had to close your eyes for a moment to calm it.

‘I don’t remember much. But I think the abbys wanted to take me with them. Is that… possible?’

‘I heard all kinds of things about them’ Scaramouche nodded. ‘It is very possible. Continue.’

‘There isn’t much to say… Obviously I tried to resist but there were too many of them. They probably realized I would be just a burden. I remember a mage knocking me out. But they didn’t kill me…’

‘Well, given your injuries, they must’ve thought there’s not a lot of time left for you. It really is a miracle that you’re alive.’ Scara stated. ‘And you were in that wet cave for an entire day too. You were nearly dead when we found you.’

‘We?’

You stared at him and your heartbeat dropped.

‘You mean…’

‘Yes’ he sighed. ‘That people of yours.’

He went silent for a moment then rolled his eyes.

‘They helped me out… I guess.’

‘So they’re all alive and safe?’ you asked and couldn’t help but laugh in relief. ‘That is so amazing! Thank you, Scara!’

‘Thank yourself, idiot’ he snorted. ‘You were the one who kept a whole abbys army away from them after all.’

The harbinger shook his head.

‘I hate that you were so reckless to do that… but I have to say I’m impressed. We should spar again sometimes.’

‘Aren’t you afraid you’re getting your ass kicked?’ you grinned.

‘I compliment you one time and you get this cocky?’ he crossed his eyebrows. ‘I have to put you back into your place, I see.’

You laughed and as you were finally strong enough to move a little, you grabbed his hand. He had to oppress his smile with force.

‘And how did you know… we were going to be attacked?’

The question made his task much easier. The harbinger’s face turned back to being serious once again.

‘I have my connections’ he answered briefly. ‘But you don’t have to worry, the fatui had nothing to do with the attack.’

‘I would never think that’ you rushed to make your words clear. ‘I just… hope that my people feel the same.’

Scara shrugged. Then averted his eyes as he thought of someone.

‘I don’t know about the others but there’s one person who clearly does.’

‘Who?’

‘That girl… Yu or whatever her name is.’

You stared at him in surprise. You’d never thought the day would come where he mentions a child and doesn’t frown. And to think that it’s Yu as well! Yu who was normally wary of strangers and such a gentle child…

Just what happened to him? – you asked yourself again.

You searched for answers in his eyes but it seemed like there were things that even this new type of Scaramouche, this more vulnerable and open one wouldn’t tell.

But it was alright. Maybe you didn’t need to know. You were just happy to be there and experience it yourself.

‘How is Yu?’ you asked.

‘Alright’ Scara muttered.

‘Her mother?’

‘Oh, her… Well…’

He hesitated for a moment and that was enough. Every good and warm feeling was instantly replaced by cold ones and you found yourself sitting up in dread.

‘Please tell me… She’s not…’

‘Hey, don’t sit up! Lie back right now!’

When you didn’t obey, Scaramouche pushed you back with his own hands. He was right, your body started aching terribly from moving and the physical pain almost outgrew the pain in your heart.

‘Is she…’

‘Yu’s fine. Don’t worry.’

‘No! I need to talk to her!’

‘You won’t.’

You clenched your teeth together in despair and Scara flinched. He saw himself in you when you did that. Earlier this day his expression was still this full of pain.

‘Scaramouche!’ you said, calling him by his first name which he suddenly realized, he hated more than that stupid nickname. ‘I will go and talk to her and you can’t stop me!’

‘I…’

‘Just think about everything you felt while I was missing! I know you don’t want me to go away again but you need to understand.’

‘All I’m trying…’

‘Maybe I really am cocky to think that it was painful to you but if I’m not and it really was, then just imagine that Yu feels like that too right now. And on top of that, she has no hope whatsoever. She knows that her mother is dead and there’s no…’

‘Oh, to Celestia, can you shut up for a moment?’ Scara interrupted you harshly. Then he frowned and quickly continued. ‘What I was about to say is that under no circumstances should you get up with these injuries. But you can talk to Yu.’

‘I can…?’

‘Yes, idiot. I’ll call her over.’

You stared at him in silence.

‘You’d… do that?’

‘Yes.’

‘So… you won’t mind if she stays with us?’

‘I guess not?’

‘Not even for a long time?’

‘I said no, stop asking these stupid questions.’

You were speechless and just gazed at him without saying anything for a long time.

You had mixed feelings about the Scara you woke up to so far. But this had finally convinced you that he really has changed into something better.

A slow smile formed on your lips. It grew bigger and bigger and it completely lit your face up.

‘You’re grinning like an idiot’ Scara claimed but nothing, not even his salty remarks could take away your happiness any more.

‘Scara, I really love you.’

‘You better do.’

He stood up and turned away as quickly as he could to try and hide the blush on his face. He knew if you saw that, you’d be teasing him about it till the rest of your lives together.

You were still grinning “like an idiot” as he was rushing to leave the tent. But even though he was in hurry, before he’d stepped out, he made sure to turn back and say:

‘I’ll be back.’

[marshmallowprotection]

Hello quick question: Would Unknown run away from Mint Eye(that's the name right?) with mc? Let's start by saying that I'm new into this fandom and I don't know a lot about the characters so if my question is stupid then I'm sorry. But I'm not THAT ignorant and I know for sure that Rika manipulated unknown, and how he thinks that his only goal in life is his "hacker-job" to help her and pursue his revenge. But what if mc (whom he "loves" in his own way) managed to convince him (with whatever supernatural power given by God), to make him open his eyes and see all those lies... What would he do? Would he acknowledge them and run away or just ignore all that/freak out/ pretend it isn't true since if what Mc says is right, then what's the meaning of his life? I can see why he wouldn't do that, but since in this scenario both are in love with each other, maybe with the PoWer Of LOvE they escape or start REVENGE against Rika.. together..because I'm a hopeless romantic.

Thank you in advance and sorry for my English, it's not my mother tongue!

Welcome to the fandom, first off. Now, honestly, if you're only aware of Unknown and not the main details of this game when it comes to his identity, his experience, and what he's gone through, as well as a lot of the major elements that encompass who Unknown is, it's hard for me to explain this without spoiling a good chunk of the game to you in its entirety.

I should say that you know that Unknown and Ray are clearly similar since you've noticed that. There's a reason for that and it has a lot to do with things that you'll learn later on when you get closer to doing Seven's Route and Jumin's Route. Since you should play Casual, then Deep, then Another Story, in that order. The ideal playing order is like Jaehee > Zen > Yoosung > Jumin > Seven > V > Ray.

Don't have to play that way, but that's how you slowly learn everything Route by Route instead of being smacked in the face with all of the information. Some people wanna know right away and a lot of people want to find out immediately, either way, enjoy how you're playing the game!

I need to say that there is a reason why Unknown doesn't have a playable Route. Realistically, you mean nothing to him as a romantic option in the context of where he is canonically. You're his eyes and he wants to use you. You're a cute little tool to get what he wants and that is revenge. If he can use you to destroy the people that hurt him, he'll do it.

It's not a... romantic thing to him in the slightest, even if we can try to create and find ways to make that happen in our fanfiction. It's not impossible for him to come to care for someone, but it's something that would be extremely difficult. It's almost impossible.

You can't just tell him the POWER OF LOVE saves anyone it wants. He is a traumatized man who has been broken by manipulation, drug abuse, and worse. He's bitter, he's detached, and he's angry. He'd be the one to laugh in your face if you told him that. He's committed to his revenge. He wouldn't leave Mint Eye for you. There might be a lot of moments where he pauses when you say something?

But, he's not leaving Mint Eye. I don't think people ever seem to quite grasp what cult manipulation does to you and Unknown is wholly into this mindset that this is all he can have, he's going to take it and he's on a path that will burn the people who hurt him to the ground and then himself.

He wants to burn like a comet, explode, and find rest.

He wants what he wants.

Realistically, he gave up on hope years ago. So, yes, there's a reason why he wouldn't leave with you. Now, there's still a chance for you to take that risk with Ray but that's another story entirely and you'll be able to find that out when you get to him! God, it's hard to be able to explain this without spoilers.

Like, I'm not saying Unknown couldn't come to love you and care for you, it's possible, but... as far as leaving the cult? God, that's not very likely. If you're his assistant, I have no doubt that when he brings you to Mint Eye, they make you drink elixir to induct you, you might not have to drink like he does but...

God.

Yeah.

There's a lot that I can't spoil.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

What are the top 5 *saddest* moments (ALL seasons) in your opinion?

Oof, the saddest moments? Alright, this should be fun, especially since I gotta narrow it down to only 5 moments. 

I’m basing this personal list on scenes/moments that usually get a strong, emotional reaction every time I play through the series that stick with me after the game is over, or it’s something that I’ve never gotten over in all the years that I’ve played these games. 

As usual, I’ll go from “least” to most sad, starting with #5.

5. Javier burying Mariana

Yeah, this one gets me. I hate it so much and it’s just... it’s just so sad. Like, Javi watched Mari, his niece that I’d argue he was the closest with, get murdered right before his eyes, completely unable to do anything to prevent it since it came out of fucking nowhere... and then the way his voice breaks as he says his goodbyes as he buries her and... ow. 

It’s not a long moment and it’s probably not a moment that’d make it onto a lot of lists but I think it’s the fact that it’s so unfair, y’know? We all know Mari’s death was bullshit, and having to be the one to slowly bury her physically hurts me. 

Just... Mariana deserved better, and Javi didn’t deserve that pain. Sigh. 

4. Sam attacking Clementine, forcing her to kill him

Listen, if a game presents me with a dog [or any animal] companion with the sole intention of killing it off to score an easy emotional reaction out of me it automatically gets 2 outta 5 stars deducted in the final rating. 

So... fuck S2. I will give it the teeny tiniest bit of credit since Sam attacking Clementine and her having to decide his fate does hit the player over the head with “Clementine can’t be alone yet” and “this season is despair” shit this season has going for it, so it technically does serve a purpose... but fuck S2. 

Clementine wasn’t the only one traumatized from that event y’know. I dread it every single time I’m forced to go through with it during replays and it’s sad. Sam dying is sad. I’m just glad S4 was smart enough not to kill Rosie off. 

3.  Clementine and AJ in the barn

Yeah, I cried. Like... a part of me was completely in denial that they’d kill Clementine off, which I was right about, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have a reaction to Clementine and AJ’s “final” moments together in that damn barn, okay? 

Like, AJ’s fucking crying, Clementine looks like she’s already dead, she’s trying to make sure he remembers all the rules before she dies, and then you gotta make one final request to either have AJ leave her to turn or prevent her from turning, both of which I hate. 

Then, I started thinking about Louis and how he was gonna take the news that Clementine died and just.... UGH. 

On top of that, I think the knowledge that this was the last episode I’d ever get to play for the first time really struck me, and that sure as hell didn’t help my feelings. I didn’t sob the same way I did with Lee, but there were tears and they were not happy. 

2. Lee’s death/leaving Lee to turn

Yeah, I sobbed. What of it? 

Look, I played this game with it came out in 2012. I was obsessed and after realizing that Lee was bit and probably going to die, I still held out hope that they wouldn’t kill him off because he was the playable protagonist. 

I was but a mere dingus child and I paid for that. 

Lee’s death is always a hard one. Always. But here’s the thing... if you’re like me, you have Clementine prevent Lee from turning. From a storytelling standpoint, I’d argue that it’s “better” in the sense that there feels like there’s more closure, you didn’t have to force Lee to become one of the monsters and leave him to be like that for years to come, and it’s just super fucking tragic. 

For years, that was my ending. Never questioned it. Never looked up what happened if you didn’t shoot him because “There’s a reason no one picks that one-- shooting Lee is the *right* choice.” 

Yeah, uh-huh, but then I stopped being a dingus and gave the other ending a shot and I’ve yet to recover. 

Like, fucking fuck everything-- leaving Lee to turn just... *distressed pterodactyl noises*

So yeah, it doesn’t matter what final choice is made, Lee death is the fucking worst. 

1.  Thank you for playing

aka “Realizing that TFS is the last game in twdg, Clementine’s story is over, I’ll never get to see Louis, Clementine, AJ, or my Ericson children again and it’s all over, no more episodes will come out and I’m just an emotional mess don’t look at me--”

Judge me all you want for putting this as #1 but fuck it, it’s #1 for a fucking reason and that reason is it’s the fucking saddest thing. 

That entire scene of AJ walking around the dorm that’s full of collectibles, reacting and placing them all while you get closer and closer to placing Clementine’s hat on the desk just.... it gets me. It fucking gets me every time. I’m so emotionally exhausted after that damn “Thank you for playing” message pops up as AJ leaves to join the others and the music swells and then roll credits and I just

I can’t. 

I’ll never get to see muh boy Louis again. Clementine, AJ? My Ericson children? Nope. Never again. It’s all over. 

Well, until Robert Kirkman decides he wants to fuck shit up I guess but that’d be the worst tragedy of them all so we’re gonna ignore that. 

So yeah... there’s my list. 

I’m curious-- what are some of your saddest moments? We’re all different and I’m sure you guys have plenty of differing moments that made you cry or that you’d deem the saddest. I’m genuinely interested! :D

[maggyoutthere]

I can't believe I actually fINISHED THIS HOLY SHIT-

The chapters are more than 4000 words long combined. I literally never wrote something this big damn. As much as this is supposed to be satire of bad creepypastas, this little shit found its way into my heart. I'll treasure it as probably the best thing I've written, like, ever XD

‼Tws for blood and body horror

First part here

Second part here

Sonic: Battle of Metal and Blood (Part 3 - Finale)

Synopsis: Local teen faces off against whatever is haunting this game and dies(?)

The game took a while to load again.

I was already making backup plans in my head in the case this didn't work. I could always ask people online if anyone had ever known about this game, even get my brother to help me record some clips of it to post on forums and sites. If that didn't work, maybe try and dump the file on my PC? That could be dangerous; if it was making the console crash and restart, I didn't want to know what it could do to my computer.

I was thrown in the same level. Well that was weird. It was the exact same jungle, or at least it looked like it at first. I could tell it was now supposed to be night time since everything had almost a dark blue filter over it, even Tails, who I was playing as this time. The night filter made the level a bit harder since I couldn't see some things properly, but it was still playable. It looked just like any Sonic game from that time, but I knew something was definitely up with it. I just flew over some badniks and made my way across the level (I missed smashing stuff with Amy's hammer so I just tried to escape that level as quickly as possible)

I entered the same clearing, fearing what would happen to Tails this time. Guy was 8, and I doubted SEGA would let their employees just kill off a kid on screen; but again, as far as I knew this game wasn't even supposed to be here. It could've been some unhappy worker or employee gone rogue making a statement. It wasn't helping to be honest. As I followed the exact same route as Amy, I found Metal Sonic again, still stepping on... something. It was too dark to see what it was. It just made squishy and disgusting noises as he pressed his foot on top of it. For an old game, the audio design was pretty unsettling and well done.

I didn't want to get closer to the guy, so I tried flying over him and getting to a checkpoint or something, anything besides confronting that thing. As soon as I made Tails take off from the ground, Metal came flying at him. I almost shrieked as I tried getting the little guy away from that thing, immediately making him land and sprint out of there as fast as possible. In all that panic, I didn't even notice when he tripped over whatever Metal was stepping on and fell on his face. No matter how many buttons I pressed or how hard I pressed them, Tails wouldn't get up. Metal catched up with him and the screen went black as soon as the two collided.

Those same red eyes were back on screen, staring straight back at me. I was with my face glued to the television from all the anxiety that little chase scene gave me, so I jumped back when the thing looked back at me. It felt like it was looking directly at me.

"I want ears like yours"

There it was again

"I want arms like yours"

"I want a mind to think and a heart to feel like yours"

I wanted to punch the screen; I had no idea what was going on. This was starting to get unsettling. Then, I was back in the main menu, the game's menu. It didn't crash this time, at least that. Tails was gone, like Amy. Now, Sonic was there, facing his metal faker. The two looked like they were about to punch each other in an epic pose. Visually it looked great, but then it hit me. "Battle of Metal and Blood"; did it mean faker versus organic? So the two were going to fight again? Maybe we could still get a happy ending of some sorts.

I didn't even flinch. I pressed continue.

The jungle was gone. I was in some facility  now, playing as the blue hedgehog himself this time. The level layout was much different this time; there were more loops, enemies, spikes and so on. Maybe it was only because I was playing as Sonic this time, so I could just speed my way through the level without having to worry about smashing enemies or flying away from them. I got through the level and ended up reaching an empty room; Metal Sonic was there.

I had never been much of a player myself; I'd rather stand by the sidelines and watch as more experienced people got through all the hard levels. Sure I played a lot when I was a kid but I hadn't carried that with me to adolescence. Now I had to do it myself. Hours of playing Sonic CD as a 12 year old, don't fail me now.

The boss fight music kicked in and a large door slammed shut, covering the way out. It was actually kinda hard landing a hit on the guy; I was supposed to dodge his attacks until he got tired and stopped, then parry on certain parts of the walls and spin dash at Metal Sonic as many times as I could while he was down. The thing was: I was awful at parrying. I sucked at anything that involved aiming, but I was somehow able to pull it off well enough to send the guy to his knees after around 20 minutes of dodging and parrying things.

When I hit him for the last time, it looked like I'd split his face in half or something. There were some pieces of Metal Sonic's shiny blue cover scattered around the arena. He just stood still for a while covering his face. Did I do it? Was he deactivating or something? My fingers were getting sore from holding the control and mashing buttons so hard. He wouldn't move on his own, so I just made Sonic approach him to maybe give the final blown.

As I got closer to him, Metal immediately lashed at Sonic again, trying to hold him down. You could see his face a bit better and… it was kinda red. What was that? Was he changing to another phase or something? The screen went black again.

Staring back at me were no longer those two red beacons; there was only one this time, as Metal Sonic did have half of his face completely torn apart. The uncovered half of his face was a bloodied, pulsating mess of flesh and wires. Coils, staples and stitches kept the mass of muscle and whatever else he had inside of him crudely stuck together. Two different colored eyes were shoved in one eye socket as the whole thing now oozed with blood and oil.

"I need quills like yours"

"I need a body like yours"

Was that… what Amy and Tails…

"I need an organic body like yours

to become the Real Sonic"

What… the fuck… I was too shocked to even move as it cut back to the game. Metal Sonic had successfully tackled Sonic to the ground and had started clawing at his face as if trying to rip it out of his "loathsome copy". As I saw a pool of blood appearing under them, I told myself that was enough and got up to pull the cartridge right out of the console. This was just sickening. As I got closer to the console to pull the memory card out, I realised something that made me start worrying about this in a different way. As I got a good look at my Playstation 2, I realized it wasn't plugged in. It wasn't receiving any power at all. It was only connected to the TV.

How had it been working then?...

I slowly backed away from the console, and when I looked back at the screen, that darned thing was looking back at me. It was looking at me as I was trying to stop it, peeking at the side of the screen as I went to turn off my Playstation. That thing knew I was there. No no no, this couldn't be happening. I started shaking as I realized there was something looking back at me though the screen. Its red eyes pierced into my soul, and I didn't know how to stop it.

"I WANT A SOUL… LIKE YOURS"

I shrieked as I finally pulled the cartridge out of the console, throwing it against the wall to my side in pure fear. The screen immediately went to static and the Playstation opened by itself, the Sonic Gems Collection DVD taunting me. That was NOT just a game. Whatever it was, whoever it was, I was terrified to even pick up the memory card. I put the DVD back in its box and turned off the console. I tried taking deep breaths and getting some sleep; it was late, I'd drank a lot of coffee. Maybe all the coffee I was having had created this fever dream. I begged for that to be the situation. Still, I got no sleep that night. My eyes were focused on the TV right in front of my bed, its bright red ON/OFF button giving me panic attacks each time I thought I saw it moving. If I didn't know better, I'd have believed the thing had been watching me all night.

Would it come for me next?

I ended up passing out around 5AM; I was constantly checking my phone to see the time and messaging my friends. I tried explaining the situation to them but they thought I was either messing with them or that I had somehow dreamed the whole situation. I was dead-sure I hadn’t though. I woke up around 2PM and, according to my brother, I looked like shit. Not even he would believe me when I told him what had happened last night; I couldn’t have dreamed the whole thing up even if I wanted to. There had to be something to prove it was all real… the memory card. If I played the game in front of him, he’d have to believe me. After getting breakfast, I pulled my bro back to my room to show him the game. I hesitantly went to pick up the memory card I had thrown against the wall yesterday, but it was no longer there.

“What are you looking for?”

“The memory card; it was right here! Help me look for it!”

“You mean this one?” he pointed at the Playstation.

The fucking cartridge had plugged itself back on the console. What was that thing, and how was it doing that?! The TV screen lit up with static as me and my bro jumped back; we looked at each other in panic and confusion as no one had even touched the TV. We could feel the electricity flowing through the air, giving us chills and making our hair stand up. My brother grabbed my hand as we saw the darned thing appear in front of the static, its shiny metallic cover still split in half. I froze in fear with my little brother to protect right there; I should’ve done more, I should’ve gotten rid of that cursed thing as soon as I unplugged it from the console last night. That thing placed its hands against his side of the screen, its fingers twitching as the blood made the metal hinges rust and creak. The edges of the screen leaked with blood as if he was trying to break this barrier that separated him from us. It looked at us the same way it looked at me; ready to take what he believed was his.

“I… WANT… SOULS LIKE YOURS… AND I WILL HAVE THEM…"

[faroreswinds]

Data Mining: Prologue - An Inevitable Encounter

Going through the data mining, I thought it would be logical to go through the chapters... well, chapter by chapter. So of course, we will be starting out with the basics... the Prologue! 

This will be split into three type of sections: The Events, as seen in the Event viewing, Explore, AKA the monastery dialogue, and Battle, the chapter that takes places in the chapter. Not all chapters will have some of these sections.

As a disclaimer, I will not be looking at every piece of dialogue- rather, I will be showcasing the dialogue that looks interesting or is important overall. 

If you want to see more of this little analysis project of mine, please check it out here. Please remember this is a work in progress and posts will be continuously updated as I come across more information. 

Please feel free to update me on anything I missed or whatever, and I will try to include it in the posts if I feel it is important/ cool. 

The Events: Before Battle

Before the events, there is a short opening movie that gives us a little taste of mystery and takes in Imperial Year 91, over a thousand years before the game takes place. The scene takes place in a large battle, where we are met with Nemesis, an imposing figure. We see his extremely dangerous power that goes beyond human limits (extreme strength, fire from his weapon, able to land from extreme heights), etc. The scene eventually pulls back to show the size of the battle and ten glowing dots, signifying 10 of the 12 Relic bearers. 

Of course, at this time we are unsure what this entirely means, but for the new player the editing would imply at least ten other powerful warriors similar to this terrifying man. 

Finally, a woman called Lady Seiros enters the scene and eventually engages with Nemesis in battle. The two have a long, tough fight, before finally Seiros sucker punches Nemesis to the ground and pins him down. She asks him if he “remembers the Red Canyon”, of which Nemesis’ eyes go wide at the question, before Seiros proceeds to brutally stab him to death screaming that he took everything she loved from her. Once dead, Seiros takes his sword and holds it close to her cheek, saying that “he’s gone now, Mother”. A new player would be confused, but she is, of course, referring to Nemesis’ slaughter of her people at the Red Canyon, and that his sword is made from the bones of Sothis, her dead mother. 

Following this, we go through a quick series of stills that shows the history of Foldan (but only with context, of course) that somewhat reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. We are first shown an ape, an ancient city, a woman standing over a city of people (Sothis), a sea battle (perhaps, but boats for sure), a modern skyscraper, then- blink and you miss it- a bright red light over the modern buildings, perhaps implying the destruction of the modern times due to the war between Sothis and Agartha. 

To finish off the cutscene, we are then introduced to a young girl with green hair and pointed ears sleeping on a throne, who then wonders how you got here and is surprised by your visit. 

Then, there are two events that take place before the Prologue Battle:

Dreams of a Throne

A Skirmish at Dawn

Dreams of a Throne is a short and basic event. We the player, as Byleth, speak to Sothis, who is unnamed at this time. 

There is not much to say about this event, other than it is clear that Sothis is a) not a mortal and b) not human. 

She also has no patience for any of your tomfoolery, and you must answer her question with “I am a mortal”. 

She then asks for your birthday (surprise, it’s the same day as hers!) then says it all feels familiar before taking another nap. 

The event then shifts to A Skirmish at Dawn, where we meet a new face: Jeralt, Byleth’s father. He is waking you up from your dream about Sothis, preparing to go to another job in the Kingdom. 

You bring up your dream with Jeralt, but you can choose what to tell him: whether you dreamed of a massive battle, or of a young girl. Telling him that you dreamed of a massive battle gives you information that such a battle like that hasn’t taken place in over three centuries. As for the girl, he’s never met such as one as her, and Byleth have mentioned her before. Byleth has also mentioned a battle before as well. 

This tells me that the opening scene is more than just setting the story for the player, but an actual dream being had by Byleth. 

It is then a mercenary comes in and tells Byleth and Jeralt that there are three young people being chased by bandits, and Jeralt decides to help them and the battle begins. 

By the way, I just want to make a special note of:

That Jeralt and Byleth were not alone and actually have a band of mercenaries, even if they aren’t playable. 

Battle- A Skirmish At Dawn

A Skirmish at Dawn is a simple, introductory battle. The title indicates the battle taking place in the early morning, as dark turns to light, similar to the events from the opening scene when Seiros fights and defeats Nemesis. I will not be getting into the symbolism of the light and darkness in this game since there is a lovely analysis already done by electricprincess96 pertaining to this topic, but I still wanted to point it out nonetheless. 

There is not too much to say from the dialogue battle. It’s the first battle after all. The most interesting thing is how surprised everyone is that there are mercenaries in the village. 

Kostas also notes Byleth’s blank stare:

The Events: After Battle

After the events of the battle, when you defeat Kostas, there is another cutscene before the next event takes place. Kostas jumps up, attacks Edelgard, Byleth defends her by putting himself in harms way he is a mercenary, right? He does know how to fight without just jumping into harm’s way like that, right? and then time suddenly stops. Sothis, rightfully, gets mad at you, then yells at you for trying to get her killed. 

I won’t be getting into what this may mean in this post, but will eventually make a post focusing on the relationship between Sothis and Byleth for a closer look. 

Sothis then says Byleth does not know the value of his own life, then proceeds to say she will guide him. She then calls herself “Sothis” or, “the Beginning”. 

And at last, we move to the next event:

The Girl on the Throne

An Unexpected Reunion

The Prince, the Princess, and the Heir

Sothis clearly has amnesia, and her memory is slowly returning. This is also reflected in another line. 

I also want to point out her line “Should I force you to leave?” which seems odd. Perhaps this dream space is a real place, outside the realm of the reality we know?

After that, we finish the scene with Sothis sending Byleth back, and saying this line: 

Of course, a new player would not know what this means, but she is referring to Byleth’s Crest of Flames. It is interesting that she seems to know this, despite having her memory issues. 

I also want to point out her magic circle she makes just as she sends you back.

The worlds are kind of hard to make out, but essentially it says “The goddess always lives in heaven and Foldan. It is watching over us. I am the mother of all living beings. As support of all mindful things.” Feel free to correct me on this. 

Now we get the last small cutscene of the prologue, where Byleth saves Edelgard once more without being killed this time. 

Just as a small reminder, Edelgard can be see holding the dagger Dimitri gave her years ago, but a new player would not know this at this time. 

Now that the battle is over, we meet Alois and the Knights of Seiros enter the scene and we move into the event An Unexpected Reunion. 

We get a bit of Jeralt’s history here from Alois:

And then a little insight into the Knights of Seiros:

Which is... well, it makes the Knights seem strong and very capable, a force to be feared. 

And finally, we get the last event: The Prince, the Princess, and the Heir (I find it interesting that Dimitri’s title comes first, rather than Edelgard’s). 

This is a pretty heavy event since it is a chance for the player to get into the three lords a bit. 

In the beginning, we are talking with Edelgard. 

More history on Jeralt, and Edelgard seems pleased to know that Byleth was unaware that Jeralt was a captain. 

Claude explains that they had been doing training exercises nearby when the bandits attacked, and he ran away and the other two followed. We then get a nice little bit on insight into their world views: 

(Little extra tidbit, but Dimitri actually tries to recruit you first.)

We also get a little insight into their nations (as well as how they view it... sort of).

Almost done. The final interesting dialogue to look at is Byleth’s impressions of the three young lords. 

And then finally, they are on their way to the monastery. 

And that’s the end of the prologue! 

Let me know if there is anything else interesting to look at or if I missed something! 

Next: Chapter 1- Three Houses

[bassds]

A Sacrifice For Love

So...24 hours have passed since Kingdom Hearts III released in Japan, and sure enough, people have finished it that fast, and as I said, it’s time to post this. Ironically, this might as well be legitimate in the canonization, seeing as how the epilogue actual sets things up for the next future installment alongside UX and NOT what we were all hoping for...unless the secret movie somehow does, but I doubt that. All I’m gonna say is, Nomura, if playable DLC was something on your mind, you NEED to fix this whole thing, because you can’t just skip over a crucial moment like that and then out of the blue, everything is fine at the end except for one thing. Look guys, I’m not one to force things on others, but if you’d rather have something somewhat sensible to tie in to the ending; I got you covered, and you made as well consider it my headcanon to the actual game canon until Nomura decides to explain what Sora actually does. Why does this man love mindfucking us so much... So, as a precaution, this small story will be hidden under the Read More option so the ending isn’t spoiled for those who’ve yet to play it; nothing is stopping you from doing so though, venture at your own accord; this was mainly for me and those that submitted and watched the leaks, and have since been emotional wrecks on the inside. You HAVE been warned. Now without further ado...I hope you all enjoy, because damn it, it’s all I have to go on in my mind right now.

Sora watched on as the other Guardians of Light left the Keyblade Graveyard through the portal he opened up, smiling to see them off and promising to return soon. But no sooner than they were gone and the portal closed, Sora could no longer hold back the raw emotions he felt flooding through him as he screamed and tossed his Keyblade to the ground, falling to his knees as he cried, banging his hands against the cracked ground. “It wasn’t suppose to go like this! Just...just what good am I!?”

“Kairi, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Let me keep you safe.” Her words had haunted him throughout his battle against Xehanort in the sacred territory of Scala ad Caelum. He wasn’t going to lie to himself; while Xehanort needed to be stopped for the good of the worlds, during their struggle, deep down, he wanted revenge. While at the same time; he knew her death was also his fault as well; if he had been more prepared, he could have stopped Xemnas from making off with her.

“I’m kidding myself...I don’t...I don’t even know WHERE to start looking for you, Kairi...or if you even exist in any form anymore.”

That horrific moment was engraved into his mind, and his heart; seeing Kairi floating helplessly and unconscious as he had dashed up the cliffside in an effort to save her, only to witness Xehanort delivering the killing blow; her body shattering before his eyes.

“Why her!?”

He never did receive a proper answer; only remembering the old master had called it motivation to get him to act out as he willed.

Sora rose his upper body up as he sat on his knees, aimlessly looking out around that vast wasteland, seeing the sunset’s light beaming off the metal of the countless Keyblades that has been left there during the first Keyblade War.

Soon, the sun’s light began to grow stronger as the thousands upon thousands of Keyblades began to radiantly glow by themselves; and soon he found himself enveloped by the intense light, and soon found himself staring at the white hair teen he had seen in his earlier vision when they fended off the Demon Tide.

“What are you willing to sacrifice? To gain back the one closest to your heart, I mean.” he asked.

“It’s Kairi...I...I’ll give anything to have her back with us! She’s that important to me!” Sora proclaimed and stood up.

“Are you sure you want to do this? She most likely still exists in some form; but she may not have a way back to return with you. What will you do?”

“Like I said: anything.”

The teen closed his eyes and smiled. “Looks like your mind is settled then.”

Sora looked down as his pocket glowed brightly and quickly stuck his hand inside, finding it was Kairi’s charm that was radiating with light.

“Let us help you then.” the teen said and summoned his Keyblade forth and held it up; the lights from the other Keyblades converged on the tip, and in one fast motion, he shot the light out toward Kairi’s charm, and in response, it shot out a beam of light toward the ground, slowly opening a portal in front of them.

Sora looked up at the teen in amazement as he was met with a goofy grin similar to the one he always did.

“That portal...it’ll take you to the one very close to your heart. But remember, if you want to save her, be prepared to give it everything you have. You ARE willing to give anything, right?”

“I am...no matter the cost, if it’s for Kairi, it’s a choice worth making.” Sora replied and walked over to the portal, preparing to jump in, before hesitating for a moment. “Thank...thank you for this...whoever you are.”

“Ephemer.” the teen smiled.

Sora wiped away the last of his tears and took a deep breath before plunging into the portal to retrieve the princess he held so dear.

Ripples formed beneath her each time her bare feet took a step; it wasn’t water she was walking on however; in fact, she couldn’t have know what it was, as Kairi’s dulled out eyes stared out into the vast nothingness, walking through the dark mist that made up the weird sub-space she was in; the only light faintly illuminating the area was the light inside her heart radiating off her nude body;

“K….ri….”

The emotionless Kairi slowly reacted, hearing a faint voice; while her presence of mind wasn’t in control, her heart was.

“Ka...ri….”

“Who...” she slowly muttered as her dull eyes looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Kairi!!!”

The voice now resonated with her heart, as her dull eyes began to show signs of life once more and she looked up, an incoming ball of light was heading towards her. Soon, the approaching light blinded her for a few moments, and her now life-filled eyes laid right onto the floating figure in front of her as his body glowed as bright as hers did. “I...I found you...” his voice cracked a bit as he looked at her.

“Sora….Sora!” she uttered out and extended her hand out, with his meeting it as they pressed them together, before clasping the other firmly before Sora hugged her tightly.

“I thought I lost you...I thought for good...”

“Where am I?” she softly asked and looked around at the pitch blackness that surrounded them. “How did I get here?”

“It...it’s my fault, Kairi...I was too weak to do anything...” he looked away in shame.

“I...I remember Xemnas grabbing me. After that; it’s all a blur to me. I can’t recall anything.” she replied.

Sora’s hands still gripped her tightly as he felt his hand slink down her back...and there, he felt it.

“Kai...your back...” he motioned to her as she carefully moved her hand best she could, touching his, until he grabbed the top of her hand and placed it firmly against her back...she could feel some sort of scar there.

“What happened to me?”

“It was Xehanort...” he gravely responded. “He ended up forging the χ-blade, but to do it...he had you dangling there in front of him, and you were out cold. I tried rushing to get you, but...”

“But what?” she asked, almost fearful of the answer.

“He killed you...right in front of me, Kairi; one second you were there, and then your body just shattered like glass...and you were gone, and I couldn’t do ANYTHING to stop it.” he grimaced and let the tears flow once more.

“I’m dead?” she asked softly.

“But...it doesn’t matter. I’m here to take you home.” Sora softly replied and looked into her eyes.

“But how? You said my body was destroyed. How can I come back?” she asked.

“Kairi...listen. I need to say this now, because I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance again...”

“Sora...what are you saying? You’re coming back with me, right? You came to get me so we both could go back to the islands...didn’t you.

Sora just put a finger to her mouth to close it. “Sharing that Paopu...was the best thing I could ever dream for. It made me realize how much you mean to me, and that no matter what, our destines are always intertwined, just like the legend says. That moment showed me how much I really love you, Kairi...and that I would do anything for you.”

“Sora...” she felt her heart flutter as his finger left her mouth and his hands gripped her shoulders.

“And if that means giving up MY existence to make sure you get yours back, then it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“What? No, you can’t, Sora! Isn’t there another way?”

Sora shook his head.

“Then...then let’s just stay here. I don’t want to go back to the real world without you by my side. Please, Sora...you’re my world, and without you...it wouldn’t even be like living out there.” she pleaded futilely; but who was she kidding; what WAS here even, anyway?

“Kairi, please...”

“No! I won’t allow you to do this, just to give me a second chance at life. My life would be empty without you in it. I refuse to let you rob me of the future I wanted us to share! Remember; we promised Roxas and Namine that we’d be together every day so that they could be together; but not just for them, I wanted that too. I wanted to spend every day of my life with you...” she cried softly. “I wanted us to grow closer together; maybe even have a small family of our own someday with a few kids…I...I don’t want that dream ripped away from me, Sora. I don’t want to lose you!” she leaned in and cried on his chest, Sora instinctively holding her close.

“I promise, Kairi...I’ll find my way back and come home to you...but right now, the only thing I want is for you to be alive again. So live for the both of us until then...alright?” he said pushing her back so he could stare into her eyes. “Our destinies are intertwined now, so never forget that. You’ll never be truly alone.”

“Sora...” she choked, almost unable to find her voice.

“Wait for me, okay?” he asked as he cupped her face in his hands.

Kairi softly cried and rested her hand on his before looking up at him. “Lazy bum...”

Sora smiled at hearing his old nickname before moving in and slowly taking her lips into his; their first kiss. He could feel his heart beating profusely at the action, and in a way, he could feel hers beating as well; their light beginning to cast rays across the dark sub-space they were in, before their bodies vanished in the bright light altogether.

The two of them sat on the trunk of the paopu tree, gazing out at the sunset as everyone else had fun down in the sand. They sat as close as they could, hand in hand as they slowly turned to face one another; Kairi staring lovingly at him as a tear streamed down her cheek.

Slowly, Sora began to vanish, until finally, he wasn’t there at all.

But deep in her heart, she knew he’d be back; she never had any reason to doubt his words.

[followthru4]

                                     Monday Evening, 7:00pm

Rhys surprised Sage by taking her to a live concert; Their first official date together. He knew he had to make it memorable. Just as memorable as giving a lap dance at his job, the Red Room. Money was good for Rhys now. His college tuition was paid off for the remainder of the school year and he had enough stashed away to pay for next year as well. He was still uncomfortable with the idea of being a male dancer, and his mother still didn’t know. Rhys told himself he would stop after he was able to stack one hundred thousand simoleons.

Sage and Rhys took their seats at a table located stage left. Rhys managed to catch a reservation for the night just in time. The woman on the phone told him it was their last available table.  

Sage: “Rhys, this is beautiful.”

Rhys: “So are you.” He smiled, looking into her eyes. Sage felt her spirit jump a bit. Something about this man was giving her all the feels, slowly, but she was willing to let him in.

Sage: “You know you didn’t have to do anything like this, right?” She stated, admiring the ambiance of the concert hall.

Rhys: “I know, but I still did. You’re worth it.” He said rubbing his hand on hers. Sage was shocked. He was really putting it on her tonight and she was loving it.

Just then a waiter stopped by and took their drink order. There was no food menu, however he did mention chips and salsa were available. Rhys ordered red wine for he and Sage, as well as the complimentary snack.

Sage: “So what made you choose a concert?” She smiled, very curious as to what his answer would be.

Rhys: “I wanted to do something original, spontaneous as well. How did I do?” He asked stretching out his arms.

Sage: “It’s perfect Rhys.” She smiled, still dumbfounded by his gesture.

The two enjoyed glass after glass of top shelf, aged, and exquisite French red wine. They discussed the near completion of their Freshman year of college, their majors and most difficult classes, as well as their hopes and plans for life after college. All of this while bobbing their heads to smooth jazz before them.

Rhys: “How about we get out of here? I have a part two planned.”

Sage (blushing): “Part two? I can’t take anymore of your chivalry, Rhys.” She giggled.

Rhys stood up and slowly pulled out her chair. Next, he stuck out his arm as to gesture her to hang onto it. “This is just the beginning, beautiful.” He stated as they headed towards the concert hall’s exit.

He called a sUber and the two rode for forty five minutes, driving out of Newcrest. This fair fee has to be over fifty dollars already. Sage told herself. Once the sUber stopped, Rhys walked around to Sage’s door and opened it. Sage exited the car, took Rhys’ arm again, and followed his lead. She could hear the sounds of waves crashing and echoing off one another.

Sage: “Oh my gosh, Rhys.” She stated as they reached their destination. They were at the cliff’s in Windenburg, looking out onto the ocean. The deep blue waters swaying and flowing towards the shore. “It’s beautiful out here tonight. I haven’t been to the cliffs since I was a little girl.” She looked at Rhys, wanting to kiss him, tackle him to the ground, and allow whatever their bodies wanted to do. She managed to regain her thoughts, when Rhys spoke.

Rhys: “Yeah, it does look gorgeous out here tonight. I actually never been up here. I just looked it up on Smoogle.” Sage laughed and proceeded to take a seat with Rhys on the cliff overlooking the ocean.

Sage: “It’s so peaceful out here. My grandpa used to take me and my siblings fishing right over there.” She pointed East, singling out a fishing dock. “Those were the good days.”

Rhys: “Is he still here?”

Sage: “My grandpa? No. He passed away when I was twelve. It was very hard on all of my family.”

Rhys: “I’m sorry to hear that. He’s still with you though, you know?”

Sage (smiling): “Everyday.” She moved closer to Rhys, as he took her into his arms. Everything just felt right in that moment. The scenery, the date, the way Rhys held her close. She was truly enjoying every second with him. That’s when she knew he was the one.

Rhys: “Hey Sage?” He asked releasing his arms from around her body. Sage readjusted herself so that she could face him and make eye contact.

Sage: “Hey Rhys.” She responded. Rhys found it cute, and funny.

Rhys (laughing): “No, for real.” He finished his laugh and spoke again. “I really like you. I’ve liked you since the first day I saw you in Business Communications. You’re smart, talented, caring, gorgeous, fun, friendly, honest, non judgmental, understanding, peaceful, nice, loving, giving.” Sage cut Rhys off, wondering where he was going with all those adjectives.

Sage: “Rhys, where are you going with this?” She asked giggling a little. “I mean, I appreciate the compliments.”

Rhys (smiling): “Right.” He laughed, took Sage’s hands into his, and stood up. “Sage, I want this forever. I know that already, and it doesn’t have to happen overnight. We can take as much time as we need. But Sage, would you please do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend tonight?”

Sage smiled as bright as she did that night in San My. Rhys could never forget the look she made when she was happy. She glowed, as bright as the night sky’s moon. Sage processed Rhys’ words and emotion. He was so raw with her, she loved it and wanted to be sure she understood all that he was giving.

Sage: “Yes Rhys. I would love to be your girlfriend.” Rhys and Sage hugged each other tightly. Wow. She’s my girl. He thought. Damn, my feels are definitely legit. She said to herself.

The two released one another from their hug and locked eyes. Sage looked away from Rhys for a quick second as her butterflies returned again. The kind of butterflies that started at your shoulders and ran all the way down to your toes. She tried to shake them off, but to no avail. Rhys noticed Sage was shying away. He didn’t know why, but he took it as nervousness. He didn’t want her to know that he felt the exact same, so he allowed his body to respond instead. Rhys placed his hands on Sage’s cheeks.

Sage: “Rhys…” She let out, trying to let him know how extremely nervous she was. How she had never kissed a boy before, how she had no idea what she was doing. She didn’t want to ward him away with her lack of knowledge in this situation. Rhys didn’t listen, instead he softly placed his lips onto hers. Got damn his lips are soft. She thought to herself. “Mmm...” She moaned as he lead the way into minutes of passionate kissing. With each second that went by, both of their lips still attached, Sage felt herself falling further and further into Rhys. As if she were sinking from the top of the cliff they stood on, to the waters beneath them. Fuck! I’m going to fall in love with this man. He’s fucking perfect. She told herself.

Rhys removed his lips from hers. Never forcing his tongue into her mouth, although he felt Sage probably wanted him to. He knew she was unsure of herself by how timid she was with him. He didn’t want to scare her by rushing things. He smiled at Sage and took her into his arms again. “We can leave whenever you’re ready.”

Sage: “I’m in no rush Mr. Big Baller.” She stated as they sat on the cliff and continued to take in the tranquil surroundings of the ocean.

Rhys: “What are you up to this weekend?” He didn’t have any plans yet, but was curious if she were free so that he could organize something. “My father is having a get together at my house. He asked me to come. I do not want to go.” She stated rolling her eyes. “Why not? You’re not close with him or something?”

Sage: “Oh, no. Nothing like that. My father and I are too close if you ask me.” She laughed. “It’s just, he has his crew of friends from work that I cannot stand. I really don’t want to go alone.”

Rhys wondered what friends she was talking about. He suddenly remembered his mother told him that his father and Sage’s father were friends. He really hoped Sage wasn’t referring to his father as one of her father’s ‘crew of friends from work’. He didn’t want to risk anything, so he didn’t volunteer. Until… “Would you mind coming with me? I mean, you could meet my parents, if you want.” She smiled.

Dammit. So much for dodging that bullet. He thought. “Sure. Yeah, I’m down.” He forced with a smile.  Sage returned the smile and kissed him. “Thank you.” She said looking at his eyes, and then his lips. She wanted to kiss him all night long. Hell, she wanted more than to kiss him but was okay with moving at his pace. After all, she was a virgin and wasn’t sure if Rhys knew, or if he was one as well.

Author’s Honorable Mentions: @necrodogmtsands4s for the super cool, playable drum set. 

Previous | Beginning | Next

[bcdrawsandwrites]

FFN Link AO3 Link dA Link

Fandom: Coco

Rating: K

Genre: Angst, friendship, hurt/comfort

Characters: Héctor, Chicharrón

Warnings: Broken bones

Description: They knew Héctor would hit a low eventually, but they didn’t realize he’d come crashing down as hard as he did. Chicharrón decided he might as well be the one to pick up the pieces, since no one else was going to.

Notes: these two are such weird friends and I had to write something about their friendship okay

When he didn't come out of his shack for a day, no one could blame him.

When it had been a week since he'd stepped foot outside, even then, they could understand.

One week turned into two, and they wondered if he was even still there.

Three weeks rolled by with no sign of him, and while they worried, they would give him space. They knew he needed time to grieve.

But by the time a month had gone by, Chicharrón had decided he'd had enough.

People saw the old skeleton stomping a warpath around the rotten boardwalk, and there was no question as to where he was going.

"Chicharrón…" Prima Chelo stepped toward him, hands outstretched. "Leave him be. He's still—"

Chicharrón struck his cane against the board he stood on, knocking a chunk of the wood into the water below. "Grieving? A month later?"

"But his wife—"

"His wife, your husband, my sister—we've all been through the same thing," he growled, glaring at the old lady.

"You know what he's going through, then! We all do!" Her yellowed hands curled into fists at her sides.

"Exactly." And Chicharrón kept moving, his cane keeping a steady rhythm against the boardwalk.

"Don't do this to him, Cheech! It won't help him!"

He swung himself around, stomping his cane and splintering the wood beneath him. "And letting him sit and rot will?"

Chelo met his hardened gaze for a moment before hers finally softened. Her arms drooped down at her sides and she hung her head, ashamed.

After regarding her for a moment, he heaved a sigh, resuming his mission.

"Good luck, primo," Chelo called after him. He ignored her.

Finally he turned at a fork that led him to his destination. The shack looked as dilapidated as any of the others, but Chicharrón clicked his non-existent tongue when he noticed the water levels. Shantytown had flooded recently, and while everyone else had fixed up their own homes as much as they could, he couldn't imagine the resident of this one had done anything about it.

Someone could have at least stepped in to help him. Cowards.

He didn't stop to consider that he was one of the ones who had been neglecting his primo.

Stepping up to the doorframe (which had only a tattered cloth covering it), he decided he'd be polite.

For a moment.

Raising his cane, he struck it against the doorframe twice.

No response.

Striking the doorframe again, he lifted his head and raised his voice. "Héctor?"

No response.

Well, that was enough politeness for one day.

Grasping the curtain with his free hand, he yanked it aside, a few of the rings holding it in place popping loose. He stepped into the house, and immediately recoiled as his bare feet sank into two inches of water. The scent of mildew, not uncommon in any given place in Shantytown, was even more pronounced in here, the drawn curtains keeping the stench trapped inside.

Disgusted, but undeterred, his gaze swept around the shack.

The first thing he saw was the guitar.

It had never been a nice guitar—few items that were brought to Shantytown were—but it had been playable. There were times when the whole town would gather to listen to the music Héctor managed to coax from it. He would sometimes play with joy, sometimes with sorrow, but always, always grateful to play for others.

"When my wife gets here," he had told Chicharrón once, grinning as he tuned the strings, "I'll play 'Poco Loco' for her. Did I ever tell you I wrote it about her, when we were alive?"

He had. Enough times that Chicharrón had swung his cane at him and asked him to shut up about it, only half-jokingly. Héctor had never minded, always going right back to strumming the bouncy tune on the guitar's aging strings.

Said guitar had been smashed into roughly seven pieces, each of them equally waterlogged.

He tore his gaze away from the ruined instrument, still searching the shack. There were innumerable papers floating in the water, the writing on them too faded to read anymore. Bottles were scattered around, some sitting atop a worn table and chair, others smashed in the water below. In one corner hung a hammock with a threadbare blanket dangling into the water, and no sign that it had been used in some time.

After taking in the state of the little shack and not finding what he'd come for, Chicharrón's ribcage suddenly tightened.

Dios mio, had it actually happened? When no one was brave enough to check on him? When he was alone?

Anxiety hammering in his ribcage, Chicharrón walked around the shack, searching in the dim light for something he was all at once terrified he would not find. Water sloshed at his feet, and he nearly tripped over a broken bottle half-hidden in the murk. Just as he began to think that maybe he was too late, he paused, spotting something in the corner.

He'd overlooked it more than a few times—it may have just been a pile of clothes and broken junk—but now that he looked closer, he could barely pick up on a hint of yellow bone in the dim light.

Oh, he was going to punch him in his stupid face when this was over.

Héctor was huddled in the corner, curled up in as tight of a ball as his gangly limbs would allow. His face was buried in his knees, his arms folded tightly along his chest, and he was sitting in the water. If he'd moved at some point, Chicharrón hadn't noticed. In fact, Chicharrón wouldn't have been surprised if Héctor hadn't moved at all for some time now.

He was still here, though. Chicharrón could work with that.

Stepping in front of the young man, he nudged him in the side with his cane. "Héctor."

Héctor did not move.

"Héctor," he said again, jabbing him in the ribs.

This time Héctor flinched, but did not respond otherwise.

Chicharrón frowned, lifting his cane and tapping it against Héctor's jaw (or as close as he could manage). "Héctor, if you wanna keep the rest of your teeth, answer me."

Slowly, slowly the young man lifted his head, finally meeting Chicharrón's gaze. His eyes were barely open, exhaustion and grief etched into his features, making him look much older than he actually was. For someone who had been doing nothing but sitting around for an entire month, it didn't look like he'd gotten much sleep, if any.

Héctor stared at him, blinked wearily, and let his head drop back onto his knees.

Oh, that did it.

In a few quick movements uncharacteristic of his age, Chicharrón thrust his arm out, seized Héctor by the collar, yanked him forward, and struck him across the face. "Knock it off!" he growled. "You've been mopin' around for a whole month now. Get up."

He looked more alert now, at least, blinking a few times as his vision came to more of a focus. Once Chicharrón was sure he wasn't going to just slump over again, he let him go.

It took Héctor a moment to start moving. His bones creaked audibly as he rose to his feet, and his legs were shaking. When he began to wobble, he braced himself against the wall with his left hand, his right arm hanging limp at his side. Water dripped from his soaked, musty clothing—what had once been passable-quality blush charro suit.

"Where did you even get that thing?"

"Oh, you know… I just… let's just say I owe someone a few dozen favors."

"What'd'you need a fancy thing like that for?"

He'd hesitated. "I've… been counting the years, and… Imelda's in her seventies, now…"

"Sí. And?"

"If… if I can make this last a few years… I-I want something nice to wear. For her. When she gets here."

He'd been true to his word—he'd kept the suit in as nice a condition as anyone without access to a washer could manage.

Well, until now, apparently.

Chicharrón stepped back to appraise him—the suit was a wreck, and Héctor himself wasn't looking much better. He then looked around the shack, at the standing water surrounding them and the ruined items littering what had once been the floor. Both the house and its resident would need fixing up, but one was more important than the other.

Sighing, he hobbled toward the doorway, gazing out at the overcast sky past the doorframe. When he didn't hear anyone following, he glanced over his shoulder. Héctor was still braced against the wall, watching him.

Chicharrón struck his cane against the doorway. "Get over here, idiota."

It took a moment as Héctor glanced between the wall and the doorframe a few times, but finally he moved his hand from the wall and stepped forward—

—and immediately faceplanted, splashing water onto part of Chicharrón's outfit. Chicharrón gave a cry of disgust while a few miserable bubbles rose up around Héctor's head.

Rolling his eyes, Chicharrón yanked Héctor up by the hair as the other skeleton coughed and spat. "You forget how to walk, amigo?" he asked, cocking an eye ridge. Underneath his exhaustion, Héctor seemed to have the hints of a sheepish smile on his face. "Don't gimme that. You don't got any muscles that can atrophy any more."

Once Héctor had braced his arm against the floor, Chicharrón let him go, and watched as the younger man shakily rose to his feet. He didn't look like he trusted himself to try walking again.

"You fall over again and I'm draggin' you through town by the heel."

Héctor drooped at that, looking helplessly at Chicharrón for a moment before tentatively reaching out to wrap his left arm around the shorter man's shoulders.

"What, you wanna ruin my shirt, too?" Chicharrón grumbled, but made no other protest. Instead he switched his cane to his left hand so he could wrap his right arm around Héctor, easily supporting his meager weight.

Héctor was trembling, he noticed, and he wasn't surprised. At the tail end of winter, the water wasn't exactly warm.

Once they were both sure Héctor's legs weren't going to give out beneath him, they finally stepped out of the house, Héctor blinking in the overcast light.

Their exit didn't go unnoticed.

"Cousin Héctor!"

"Héctor, you're back!"

"Good to see you again, cousin!"

"What happened to you guys?"

A weary smile managed to cross Héctor's face as he walked, but Chicharrón met the cries of greeting and concern with a glare, which eventually silenced them. Some primos seemed to take note of their condition, and Chicharrón watched with no small amount of satisfaction when they crept around him carrying buckets and a towel, among other things.

About time.

Finally they reached the bungalow, and Chicharrón reached behind him with his cane to pull the door shut. That accomplished, he shrugged Héctor off of his shoulders, letting the younger man stumble as he hobbled over to one of his cluttered shelves. "Now get that wrecked suit off of ya," he said. "I got spare clothes 'round here somewhere. We'll see if someone can salvage somethin' from that suit of yours later."

He didn't hear any sign that Héctor was disrobing, but he did hear a loud sneeze somewhere behind him. The corner of his mouth quirked in a smile. "Heh, well, a handkerchief wouldn't be a bad idea, but you might wanna wait 'til it's dry first." He rifled around the shelves, shoving aside a stack of newspapers. "That's what you get for sittin' in cold water for a week."

A sniffle and a moan answered him. That was some amount of progress, at least, but not enough.

"Hurry it up," he said, catching a glimpse of fabric sticking out from under a pile of empty bottles. He yanked it out, sending several of the bottles crashing to the floor, only to find that it was an old dishrag. Eh.

Still keeping a metaphorical ear out for what Héctor was doing, Chicharrón resumed rifling through his shelves until he heard the pop of a disconnecting bone behind him. Frowning, he turned around.

Héctor was sitting on the floor, wincing badly as he carefully pulled on his right hand, his forearm sliding out from under its soaked sleeve. Confused, Chicharrón watched as the younger man finally removed his arm and set it on a nearby table.

The ulna was cracked through.

It wasn't exactly unheard of for Héctor to return to Shantytown with broken bones. Several years back he'd cracked a rib, and only a year ago he'd lost one entirely. But those had both been on Dia de Muertos, each after one of his ridiculous yearly stunts.

It was March.

Chicharrón glanced from the arm back to Héctor, who was staring at the floor and looking ready to curl up on himself again.

Scowling, he limped over to Héctor and struck him in the side with his cane, eliciting a startled yelp from the young man. "Get up and get that sopping wet mess offa' you!" he growled. When Héctor scrambled to his feet, Chicharrón looked him in the eye, and jerked his head back to where the disconnected arm was sitting. "And get outta the way. I think I still got some tape in that cupboard behind you."

He had barely seven inches of duct tape left, but he found a leather strip he could use for the rest. Incidentally, said leather was sitting by a bundle of old (but clean) clothing, which he tossed back to Héctor with the dishtowel he'd found earlier as he set to work on the arm.

The break was close to the end of the bone, where it would connect to the humerus. If the broken end got lost, he wouldn't be losing much of the bone, but he also wouldn't be able to keep the arm bones connected properly. Working carefully, Chicharrón began wrapping both the leather and the duct tape around the bone simultaneously and from different ends. If he could wrap them over each other, it would decrease the chances of either falling off.

Every so often he'd hear a whimper or a stuttering gasp behind him, but otherwise Héctor managed to keep fairly quiet during the whole procedure. As well, he finally did hear the sound of heavy, wet material getting tossed to the floor.

He let the silence hang over them for a moment, and waited until heard cloth wiping over bone before he spoke.

"You knew there was no point in gettin' that suit."

Silence again.

Chicharrón rubbed his thumb over the duct tape, making sure the tape was smooth. "No fancy suit or bouncy song was gonna change her opinion of you."

"H-how…" His voice was a hoarse croak. "How d-did you know she—"

"People don't get left off their family's ofrendas by accident." He took the disconnected arm by the hand, holding it back to Héctor without looking. "I know it, and you know it."

Héctor wordlessly accepted his arm back, and Chicharrón gave him a moment to slip into the clothing he'd tossed him earlier. When he turned around, Héctor was sitting, wearing a too-big unbuttoned shirt with a pair of worn capris, and looking over the patch job on his arm. A few seconds later he covered up the duct tape with his hand and stared at the floor.

"Well?" Chicharrón rested both hands on his cane.

Héctor's face twisted. The difficulty he had in getting the words out had nothing to do with how long it'd been since he'd last talked.

"...She h-hates me," he said, and hung his head.

Truly, a shock to no one but Héctor.

Chicharrón sighed, tapping his phalanges against his cane rhythmically in thought. "Who else you got?"

Lifting his head, Héctor looked at the man in confusion.

"On the other side. Who else you got that remembers you?"

"...Óscar. Felipe. M-my brothers-in-law. A-and… my Coco."

"That it?" Chicharrón grunted. He'd never been great with math, but he was able to make a rough calculation. "So you got… what, twenty years? Thirty, if you're lucky."

Héctor moaned, covering his face.

Rolling his eyes, Chicharrón nudged the man with his cane again. "Stop it and listen. You are not gonna spend the rest of your afterlife grievin' over someone who'd rather give you a crack on the arm than a decent conversation."

Shakily Héctor raised his head, giving Chicharrón a look. "So… I should spend it… listening to someone who'd like to hit me with a cane…?" he croaked.

"As long as you're not sitting around and moping!"

Heaving a deep sigh, Héctor hunched forward, looking deep in thought. "…Coco," he muttered.

Ay, here we go. Chicharrón rubbed his forehead.

"I-I�� can still try to see her," Héctor said, a smile crossing his face. A slightly-manic smile. "E-even if Imelda d-doesn't—" He choked, swallowing once, twice.

"Héctor—"

"You said you don't want me moping, Cheech!" he cried, his rough voice cracking. "S-so I'll just go back to plotting! Like always—" He broke off into a sneeze, and shuddered.

"Yeah, fine, get yourself sick n' busted up again." Chicharrón shrugged in exasperation. "Guess there're worse ways to waste your afterlife. But don't let me catch you huddled up in your shack again when it don't do any good."

"If, Cheech, not when." Reaching up, he grabbed the shelf behind him and used it to pull himself to his feet. His legs were still shaking, but not quite as badly as they had been before. "It'll work, eventually."

For as bad as he still looked, he was at least up and moving, and that was what Chicharrón had set out to fix in the first place. Mostly.

"Gracias for the help," Héctor said, rough voice turning a bit more gentle. "And… for the… clothes." He tugged at the edge of his shirt, which hung off of him like a paper bag.

"Mmmhmm." Chciharrón leaned on his cane again.

Héctor looked like he was going to say something else, only to give another loud sneeze. Grinning sheepishly, he began stumbling toward the door. "Well, I'd… better go fix my house." He opened the door and stepped outside. "And… figure out a plan for next Dia de Muertos."

This again. "You're loco, Héctor," Chicharrón called after him, hobbling toward the doorway.

Héctor stopped on the boardwalk. "Optimistic," he corrected without looking back.

"Denial." Chicharrón leaned against his doorframe. "Learn the difference. It's gonna wreck you."

Slowly Héctor turned to face him, giving him a sad smile. "We're all wrecks here, Cheech. Does it really make a difference?"

Chicharrón eyed him for a moment, and shrugged.

Seeming pleased he'd gotten the last word in, Héctor turned back toward his destination. "Buenas noches, Chicharrón."

"You owe me for those clothes, Héctor!" Chicharrón called back, and smirked when he saw the younger man flinch.

He watched as Héctor stumbled out of sight, and turned back into his bungalow.

The ruined charro suit was still sitting on the floor, and he gathered it into his arms, looking for a spot where he could hang it out to dry.

"I can't remember if it was exactly this color… but I think it's close enough to the one I wore when I… when I left."

"So what?"

"Maybe if I wear it, play her song… it'll feel like I haven't been gone at all."

"Pshaw. After what, fifty years?"

"...It's worth a shot?"

Chicharrón shook his head. A lot of good that did him. He tossed the worn fabric over the ropes that supported his hammock.

But… he stood back, looking over the suit again. Not an hour or so ago, Héctor had been wearing it, and sitting in standing water in his shack with no intention of moving. Now, he was out fixing his house and plotting his next bridge-crossing scheme. Both were futile efforts, surely—the town would flood again, as it always did, and Héctor would get hauled off to jail next Dia de Muertos, as he always did.

Denial couldn't keep a man going for fifty years, though. Maybe he did have something going for him.

...Or maybe he was just loco.

We're all wrecks here, Cheech. Does it make a difference?

Maybe, maybe not. They were all heading toward the Final Death anyway… might as well let 'em do what kept 'em going. But one thing he knew for sure…

Héctor wasn't going to find him huddled up alone in his house, in the end.

(A/N: the idea that Imelda was the one to break Héctor’s arm comes from @im-fairly-whitty, who gave me permission to use the idea in this fic!)

[shanewissnerfmp2]

Essay part 2- Bullet force full-

A mobile first person shooter that is playable on PC- I first thought about using this when I was working on We all die young (last project) as I thought I could use it in the story to be like a VR training simulator that is used in the story. I thought about using it again in a similar way but instead use it to create a story with it. I thought about doing voice acting to go with it and trying to add different characters and a story to it.

I planned on getting game play footage and experimenting it and editing to see if I could actually do what I hoped. It turns out I could but it would be difficult as I need to go switch between different game modes. So the game can be played online and offline but the problem with that is that I need to try to get both offline and online footage to work together as one has real players while the other has bots and both are very different from each other.

I decided to take a break from this and try to find footage of office buildings and the Pentagon and people in VR suits or at least one person in one. Once I found it I started playing around and trying to find sounds I could mix with the footage.

Before I officially started to edit I started to try and build up a story. I wasn’t sure what the story would be about and after a while I had few ideas that seemed do-able.

My first was about the life of a game streamer and all the different people they meet on a day to day basis on the game and after a while how repetitive it is. The ending of the story I hadn’t really thought about but I was thinking that it would either end with the streamer slowly descending into madness or slowly realizing that there’s more to life than the game as he starts to meet more people and make closer relationships with them outside of the stream.

My second was about a VR training exercise that is being experimented in the Pentagon and seeing how they could use this to try and train soldiers and agents. This idea was the one I was going to go with the most but it meant a little more work.

Once I had chosen and finalized my choice I started to try and find a way to put all the footage in order so I started to storyboard the second idea but as I was doing it I realized that some of the footage I had found I couldn’t use so I started to try and find different footage of the pentagon but most of them were all bad quality and free or great but I had to pay, so I decided to try and go ahead without it, but after I while I realized that it was harder to come up with a story and I started to slowly lose interested.

But after going through Artgrid I found footage that could potentially work but the only problem was the quality of the video. The graphics in bullet force aren’t bad but they’re not great and compared to the footage I found they were terrible. Both footage were computer generated but the new was higher quality and I was worried that it might not fit in with the gameplay so I was hesitant to use it and thought about using that in a separate video.

I decided to go ahead and not use the footage which was annoying and try to go ahead but I wasn’t able to go and get the outcomes I was hoping for so I decided to either take a break or give up on that and pay more attention to the other footage and try and do some stuff with that.

I had thought about doing voice acting and sound effects. I had looked around for some but I wasn’t able to get the things I needed so I thought about trying to make my own but I didn’t know how to and where to start. Until I was pointed in the direction of Foley artists- A foley artist is someone who re-creates sounds for film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. They replace sounds that cannot properly be recorded on set. Foley studios have viewing screens, and props, as well as recording equipment to record sounds as they watch the film.

I liked the idea of making my own sounds but I still affected the problem of not having the right things needed so I put that on the back burner and went on to do the other work.

The reason why I was interest in doing this was because I wanted to look at different aspects of life and I was thinking about VR and how people use it to either escape, and do things and experience things they’ll never be able to in real life and I was thinking about what if the military was able to use this for army training and what this would mean for the world and warfare if VR equipment was used and implemented into it and the idea of that was something I liked and I wanted to try and work with that and experiment with it to see what I could do.

[sun-writer-blog]

The Campaign - Introductions

The First of a series about The Party’s first D&D campaign. This is sort of just setting the stage and more is going to come soon, but if you have any suggestions please let me know! And if you like it let me know as well - that’s great motivation to keep writing.

    Trying to explain Dungeons and Dragons to someone who had never played before was usually pretty difficult - not because the game was complicated, but because people always seemed to think they knew how to play it already. “It’s simple” Max started, staring down at the simple game board and pieces in front of her, “I roll for the number of tiles I can move, right?”

    “No, not at all, actually.”

    Max narrowed her green eyes and punched Mike in the ribs. “What do you mean no? That’s how every game works.”

    “Not this one. Just let me try and explain it, okay? I’m the Dungeon Master. That means I come up with the story and I play all the NPC’s-”

    “Non-playable characters” Dustin supplied, his smile radiating throughout the dimly lit basement. It was his idea to get The Party together to actually play through a campaign, and using the new Supercoms they had all gotten for Christmas (Eleven was the most excited about her present) he organized the day, time, and snack situation. It was a Friday afternoon when they began - right after school, so Max and El could just go straight to Mike’s house. His parents were gone on a vacation and Nancy had offered to babysit - which really meant she would be hanging out with Jonathan and Steve Harrington would be babysitting. Which really meant he would be picking up (and paying for) the pizzas. Dustin had even made sure it was okay with Chief Hopper - who only agreed because Steve would be watching over the whole thing, and he had gotten a job working at the Police Station after graduation instead of joining the family business or going to college. It was a good Plan C.

    “If they’re non-playable, how come Mike gets to play them?” Max asked stubbornly.

    “Because I’m the Dungeon Master. It’s like I’m the story-teller-”

    “Or a teacher at school-” Lucas chimed in.

    “So we’re the main characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Leia, and Mike is like, Darth Vader and the Emperor and all the random characters like R2D2 and C3PO and the aliens in the Cantina-”

    “Okay, Dustin. I get it.” Max was rubbing her temples. “What else?”  

    Mike looked like he was really coming to life as he continued. “So you play as your character, and you can do basically anything. There’s some governing rules and an overall direction for the story that I came up with, but you guys decide how it progresses. You can kill everyone in the town, or you can talk to them, or whatever else you want.” It took another hour for Mike to try and explain the combat and spellcasting system to Max, but she finally groaned in agony when Mike was trying to explain Armor Class ratings and just made him start the damn game already. She would learn as they played.

    Eleven, on the other hand, was very invested in every word that Mike spoke. She was quiet the entire time - which is how she usually acted when she was learning something, whether it was at school or watching TV or during Hopper’s “Word of the Day”. Her brunette hair had grown longer over the past year, but even though it was longer it was still curly and El found herself twirling those curls whenever she was learning something in the same way that Mike liked to fidget. They had all created their character sheets already - part of Dustin’s preparation for this marathon of gaming - and now Eleven sat with that sheet in front of her, a note pad, two pencils, and a too many dice to count. Mike was now setting the stage for the adventure, and as he spoke she found herself slowly descending into the world he was shaping, as if the game board itself was enveloping her and her friends. She always loved language - it was something she struggled with the most in school, and so it felt the most rewarding to learn - and she soon found that Mike wasn’t just good at making up stories, he had a real talent for them. They had all agreed to create Level 1 characters for Max and Eleven’s sake (“You would die if we took you on our real adventures!” Lucas insisted), and so this was a completely new experience for everyone.

    “It has been several years since the events of the great war in Dirkshire. Despite an uneasy truce, hostilities are still high between the tribes of the land: the Golden Hammers and the Emerald Leaves. The Golden Hammers demand a technological revolution of the mutually occupied land, while the Emerald Leaves want to preserve their agrarian and rural way of life. Your village has never been involved directly in the combat during the great war, but now you find yourselves in the neutral ‘No-Man’s-Land’ between the two kingdoms. You live on the banks of the Eretes river, but run off from the Golden Hammers factories have recently been harmful for your fishing community and the Emerald Leaves hunting parties have been growing closer to the outskirts of the forest, leaving your wild game supplies at risk. The Village Chief gathers the leaders of the community together, and this is where your characters meet and introduce themselves to one another. Roll initiative to see who speaks first.”

    Everyone did as they were told, and Eleven won with a Natural 20. She cleared her throat and stared down at her character sheet. “The Village Chief hushes everyone’s bickering” Max prompted. “Tell us your story..”

    “My name is Jane” she started, then bit her lip slightly as she read her backstory. Mike had helped her write it, and she practiced reading it out loud to him. Even though she had been in school for a few months now, her fluency wasn’t very good and it always made her self conscience to read. “But I prefer to go by Eleven because I am the eleventh of the Great Mages of this village, and the daughter of the Village Chief. I know much of the History of this village, and although I am young I have learned much of the great war and both the societies of the land. My flaw is that I really want to go out and see the world, no matter if that adventure is dangerous.” El let out a small sigh and set her piece of paper down. Mike smiled at her, and his eyes seemed to say Good job. She allowed herself a quiet smile in return.

    “Next, The Cleric.”

    Will cleared his throat and with the confidence of someone who has played this game many times before began to speak. “My name is Will, and many call me Will the Wise. I am the oldest human here, and although I may appear blind, the Goddess of Light whom I follow has gifted me with Truesight. I know many powerful spells, and I remember when the river first became polluted and when the game first became thin. My Goddess has called me to this life, but I am very stubborn and I don’t like to listen to anyone else’s opinion besides my own or my Goddess.”

    Lucas went next, describing how his character was a Hunter who often went to the forest and was particularly upset with the Emerald Leaves. Dustin was a Dwarven warrior who had fought in the war for the Golden Hammers but had recently settled down in the village after the war was over, putting his life of combat behind him. Max was the last one to go, and after a very heated discussion with Mike about the fact that zoomer was not technically a class she could choose from, they had reached a mutual agreement that if she could make up all of the stats and backstory so that is made sense, Mike would allow it. It was clear that Lucas had helped with this process.

“My name is Max and I am a Rogue Zoomer, which essentially means that I start with a mount - he’s a horse and his name is Dart.” At this, Dustin smiled softly and mouthed Nice name. “I am a merchant from out of town, but my fisherman are telling me that the river is being polluted and it is affecting my business. My flaw is pretty obvious, I’m greedy.”

Mike cleared his throat and nodded his reluctant approval“You all already know why this meeting has been called” he began in an old, wise voice. “We need to decide what to do about the threats to our way of life. It seems as if the Golden Hammers and Emerald Leaves are going to attack one another again soon. Our village is on the edge of both of their kingdoms, and it will likely become the battleground of this second great war. We have diplomats from both of their kingdoms in town, and if we speak with either of them I’m sure they could tell us more about their plans to woo us to become an ally of either kingdom. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

[intrepidguardian]

Tumblr Aether Revolt Set Review - White

Aerial Modification

A- Instead of just trying to create an actual flying machine, just attach a blimp directly onto a car

S- I want to make a creaturless vehicle deck

BP: : I regroup these cards (Aerial Modification and Siege Modification) together since they serve the same purpose: animating vehicles for cheap. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these cards, especially Siege Modification being used in Standard alongside Consulate Dreadnaught to get a huge beater for cheap. Besides MAYBE standard and for sure limited, I don’t think it’ll see any play though.

IG - Probably too expensive for Standard.

Aeronaut Admiral

A- This is the dude who decided to attach blimps directly onto cars. This is the man. The genius.

IG -  Closer to being Standard-playable but the body is very fragile for a four-drop. The number of vehicles you would need on the field as well as capable pilots probably pushes this out of playability. Additionally, all the best vehicles fly anyway.

Aether Inspector

A- He's totally checking out that ass IG - Part of a cycle of energy-using fabricators. Probably more for Limited formats.

Aethergeode Miner

A- This guy is my friend and I trust him. Like what do you got there, friend, a rock!? FOR ME!? I DON'T REALLY NEED A ROCK BUT THANK YOU!!!! I WILL TREASURE IT!!!!!!

S- I think this card is going to do good. It can produce energy and use it to blink. It has everything I wanted in a white creature (if only it was human..........)

BP - I really like this card! It’s a 3/1 for 2cmc that protects itself and triggers Revolt & ETB effects! The design of this card is very neat and I’m sure we’ll see more of her in the next few months!

LU - I am not sure what to make of this card. Could be hard to remove if not dealt with immediately, but won't be great in combat and won't be very impactful late game. 

IG -  Good enabler for the new Revolt Mechanic. Despite having only one toughness, the fact that this creature can protect itself by using the energy it creates after it declares an attack means that your opponent can be left in a bad spot with blocking.

 Airdrop Aeronauts

A- Frank, look at that guy down there. I'm gonna spit on him.

IG -  Super-cool limited card.

  Audacious Infiltrator

S - Kojima Production's Death Stranding looks great!

IG -  I got a jar o’ gremlins. I got a jar o’ gremlins. I got a jar o’ gremlins. And guess what’s inside it!? Again, we see the two-mana 3/1 in white. Not being blocked by artifact creatures actually isn’t awful – dodging random servo tokens as well as all vehicles is decent.

 Call for Unity

S- It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite cards, Doors to Destiny. Unlike Doors, this card effects all creatures so that right there is amazing. Too bad about the high mana cost, though.

BP: : A pretty cool Cathar’s Crusade-like effect! Definitely will see A LOT of play in EDH, a big maybe for Standard but with a cost of 5cmc I doubt it…still a potentially powerful card!

LU - Revolt is looking like it will be a strong mechanic, but I think this card is a bit too slow for Standard.

IG -  These kind of cards always strike me as too expensive to play. A W/G deck with some ramp and Eldrazi Displacer could use this as a centerpiece.

 Caught in the Brights

A- It was only a matter of time when they introduced vehicles that they also had to create a card that lets you hit crap with your car. Also that poor gremlin, my baby :( 

S- I honestly felt this card would have been good, had it not been for the recent banning of Copter. It might still see play in standard or limited, but it probably won't have that much impact because we still have Stasis Snare.

BP: I have to talk about this card since it’s very good in the right setting! It’s essentially a 3cmc exile at sorcery speed if you have any vehicles. I’m sure the RW Vehicles deck will play this to deal with Emrakuls and you can deal with her fairly easily with this; though it’s at sorcery speed, which sucks a little, but it’s still very good.

IG -  Probably doesn’t make the cut in the format with other options. A+ flavor though.

  Consulate Crackdown

S- I think this will be a staple in EDH. Goodbye manarocks

BP - I hate this card, so much. (I play an artifact heavy deck in standard…). This will be a sideboard all-star in the standard meta for a very long time. Sure 5cmc seems a lot, but you get a one-sided artifact wipe and with a cmc of 5 it dodges Fragmentize & Natural State. It’s super good in standard and will for sure see EDH play.

LU - Basically artifact hate if you are running white. Great versus Metalwork.

IG -  I understand what the idea probably was behind this card - control decks already have a way to mass-remove creatures, but they need a way to clean up vehicles that were left behind. The problem is that most of Mardu or Red/White usually have a mix of vehicles and creatures. Confiscating a bunch of vehicles might not save control players on turn five when three creatures and a Gideon are ready for the crackback

  Countless Gears Renegade

A- I like that flavor text because that is literally how I'm going to raise my kids

IG -  Three-power for two mana in white is a good rate, but unless you can consistently have a one-drop that can trigger rally, getting this to go on turn two is pretty rough.

 Dawnfeather Eagle

A-  WHY DIDN'T GANDALF JUST CALL THE EAGLES!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

S- There's probably better options in standard right now, so this probably won't see any play- even from me

IG -  Too pricey, but a really cool effect.

 Deadeye Harpooner

S- This may be a good card in limited, since it is a kill spell on a body

IG -  This effect hasn’t’ been in white in a while. Destroying a creature and getting a 2/2 body is a good rate in a good tribe. However, Fairgrounds Warden has a very similar effect and has seen almost no play, so it might be a while before this card breaks through.

 Decommission

A- You don't even have to look at this card, you just hear this name and know it's a white spell that's going to piss you off

IG -  I guess Naturalize is in white now. As the art suggests, being able to hit Metallurgic Summonings and other big artifacts/creatures is a big boon, and these cards are always welcome additions in the sideboard.

 Exquisite Archangel

S-I want to donate this card to an opponent and then kill them with poison counters

BP: This is just an EDH card really, as it’s too expensive for any other format. It might see some fringe play in Standard but don’t expect it to become a staple; EDH will love it for sure though.

IG -  Stabilizing seems like it would be easier with this card if you can force your opponent to attack around it, but a lot of the aggro decks in this format can go through this with a removal spell.

  Felidar Gaurdian

A- Saheeli's Best Friend ™

S- If it weren't for the infinite combo, I would love this card because it is a cloudshift on a body!

BP: Never underestimate blinking effects, especially for permanents! This card paired with Saheeli Rai goes infinite, just as an example. Always keep an eye out for cards like these since the potential for combos/synergies are very high.

IG -  Combos with Saheeli Rai for infinite Felidar Guardians a-la Splinter Twin. The fourth point of toughness helps out a lot, making the combo resilient to unassisted Harness Lightnings.

  Solemn Recruit

S- I think it's a pretty solid dwarf card for standard because it's revolt triggers every turn because it's easy to activate and get bigger

BP -Pretty cool for standard. 2/2 double strike for 3cmc that slowly grows is always nice since it forces your opponent to deal with it or they’ll die fairly quickly. The White Human deck is probably going to want this card, even though it’s a Dwarf.

LU - Could be a good early game card for white, but is very susceptible to removal. I think I would rather play Aerial Responder over this right now. 

IG -  Boy, we’ve come a long way from Mirran Crusader. If there’s a Revolt Deck in standard, this card is probably a part of it, but any deck that would want to make room for this and a bunch of removal and pump spells would probably just be better off playing Electrostatic Pummeler.

 Sram, Senior Edificer

S- Does white need draw spells? No. Am I happy is had draw spells? Yes.

BP - This is a very interesting card! The first thing that comes to mind is pairing it with 0cmc equipments to draw a bunch of stuff and enable some standard combo decks. It also works very well in Voltron EDH decks. I’m sure we’ll see this card a lot in EDH, maybe a bit in standard.

LU - Maybe not the strongest card, but with all the vehicles in Standard, I think there will be some decks that want him.

IG -  Very excited for this card in Modern alongside Puresteel Paladin. As far as Standard, I’m not quite sure this card has a home yet. Maybe as a one-of in Mardu Vehicles if the meta demands more card advantage?

 Sram's Expertise

S- One of my favorite deck types is token decks and I feel this card would be a good centerpiece to a servo token deck.

BP - 3 1/1s for 4cmc and a free spell is pretty awesome. I’m CERTAIN we’ll see this card in standard, the potential value plays of it seems very high.

LU - In my opinion the worst of the Expertise cycle. Servos are not that impactful, and I just don't see it getting much play. Maybe would fit it some artifact decks.

IG -  Not a lot of people are excited about this because of its vulnerability to Spell Queller, but the value in being able to put so many creatures on the field in addition to an Oath of Ajani or a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar could breathe life into what was once a dominant GW Tokens deck.

  Thopter Arrest

A- BAD BOYS BAD BOYS! WATCHA GONNA DO!? WATCHA GONNA DO WHEN THEY COME FOR YOU!!?

BP: Functional Oblivion Ring, always a nice card to have as an option. Definitely a good removal for white decks in standard and a nice addition to Enchantress decks in EDH.

IG -  An alternative to Stasis Snare that can hit cards like Aetherworks Marvel or Vehicles that aren’t being crewed. Something to keep in mind for sideboards.

[dulceybot]

Well, it has been A Year.

Yep, not really sure how else to put it other than A Year.

I guess I could say it’s been a year for change in some ways. Certain things have happened that I’m going to have to get used to, some better than others, but mostly just different.

My brother and I started a new tradition - we go to computer game conventions now. Haha, something we’d been wanting to do for a long time but never really looked into it. Anyway, we had a blast at PC Gamer Weekender this February and have day tickets for EGX Rezzed next year.

Over the summer I started working on my family tree. I may or may not be a blood relative to a past American president. Kinda hoping I’m not.

My family from the other side of the country sold their house (the one that I visited them at every year) and even though I should still be able to continue to see them each summer by staying at nearby hotels, I know I’m not going to be seeing them as often and I can kind of see this tradition slowly fizzling out at the years go by. Even so, we had a good run.

Then at the start of this month my grandmother passed away. She had been suffering with dementia for many years and lived in a couple of care homes during that time. Fortunately, the one she spent her final months in was lovely. 

First day of the Christmas holidays was her funeral, where I reunited with some family members, and even met other relatives for the very first time, and we agreed we’d try to stay in touch more. Whether or not that will happen, it’s too early to tell, but we’ll see.

The next day I was diagnosed with asthma, which I have likely had since my mid teens but my breathing has definitely deteriorated this winter. Still getting used to my daily medication (which may or may not be indefinite - depends on my next few checkups) but in all honesty it’s not exactly a shock; I’m quite allergy-prone as it is and I also suffer from eczema and hay fever so hey, what’s one more to add to the list? It’s good to actually have it diagnosed so I can treat my attacks from now on - kind of a luxury after what I’m used to!

Something else that I did for the first time this year (which is actually on this blog) - Inktober! This is something I thoroughly enjoyed and plan to make a new tradition of mine. This year, I used the official prompt list combined with my list of Steam games (each day I drew a new bit of fan art). I definitely want to use the prompt list again next year, but I don’t know whether I’ll do fan art next time or something different. I do enjoy doing fan art though because it pushes me to try drawing in styles I maybe wouldn’t think to try out on my own otherwise.

Other things have not necessarily changed, but have progressed. The computer game I’m co-directing in my free time has really come along this year. Our current aim is to complete all the assets required for a playable demo that we’d like to release in 2020. And this year, that deadline has started to feel more realistic. It’s been a long journey so far and will continue to be a long journey. After all, it’s not our day job.

Speaking of day jobs... that’s something that hasn’t changed this year. But it is something I wouldn’t mind changing over the next year. It’s not that I hate my job; I do feel appreciated there and have made a lot of progress since starting, but somehow, despite all this, I don’t get any sense of fulfilment. I’m not getting closer to my long-term goals. It’s time to move on!

Wow, okay, that’s an essay. Sorry, internet. Bet you’re thrilled about that. Anyway, happy new year to those of you in a time zone ahead of me. Can’t wait to hear all about your futuristic hover cars and holidays to the moon. Will be joining you all in the distant future shortly.

[danielstolz]

Danny’s Best Games of 2018

Here we go again. 2018 was a very transformative year for me, taking new turns, exploring new areas, and finding the new me. It was a year full of beautiful human-constructed chaos, which left everyone of us wanting to escape the real world. And we all know that the best possible way of escape is: dru... Eh, I mean video games!

2018 was a weird year for gaming. It seemed like everyone was sleeping and secretly working on something big while releasing just filler-titles. AAA-games were either non-existent or more of the same action-openworld shtick we’ve seen a hundred times. I was rather disappointed by the big players this year.

But the Indie scene flourished. It’s like someone opened the floodgates and all the creative small gems suddenly started rushing in. I’ve played around 20 games this year and I still have 30 games left that I want to check out, mainly indies of course. So as always: If your favorite game isn’t on the list, probably I didn’t play it, or I played it and it just sucks. As easy as that. Here we go:

10. Bad North

The RTS. A long forgotten genre that seemed to be dead for the last few years. It used to be one of the biggest genres back in the days and then suddenly publishers decided that Its just a niche-thing. But it’s slowly being resurrected by MOBAs and bite-sized strategy games like Bad North. This little Gem is polished to perfection. Bad North is a randomly generated RTS in which you try to defend tiny but gorgeous islands from incoming boats of enemies. The beauty of this game comes in its simplicity. There’s only 3 types of units and the only thing you have to do is positions them accordingly. Sounds simple, but it gets nerve-wrecking really fast, especially when you only have 2 units left and 5 boats are approaching. Bad North gives you a few tools and you need to improvise strategies on the spot often having to compromise. Tightly designed and visually striking, Bad North is the finest indie-RTS I’ve played.

9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Smash Bros used to be a fun party game where you could beat your friends up, but over the years it turned into something much bigger. Not only is Smash celebrating the history and legacy of Nintendo, it also celebrates the entire medium itself. It shows us the best of videogames, having a blast with your friends, or honing your skills online for the next big tournament. Everybody can enjoy this game and when creator Masahiro Sakurai said “Everyone is here!” not only did he mean the characters from franchises across the entire medium, he also meant people from all different kinds of backgrounds. This is a game where a professional veteran can have a great time with someone who never even held a controller in his hand. The best Smash to this date where “Ultimate” isn’t just a marketing term, but an understatement.  

8. Artifact

Artifact is 2 of my favorite things combined: Dota and digital card games. When they first announced it I was skeptical. It seemed like Valve wanted to simply jump on the Hearthstone hypetrain to grab some additional cash. Then I heard that Richard Garfield was going to design it and I was sure that this is going to be something special: and it truly is. Not only is Artifact juiced out the max it’s also one of the best designed card games I’ve played in recent memory. Every decision you make is crucial, and the randomized board and item pool keeps you on your toes even when you seem to have the upper hand. I’ve never felt like I’ve had worse cards than my opponent, which Hearthstone made me feel constantly. Let’s talk about the controversy surrounding Artifact: its cost. You need to pay 20 bucks to play the game which will give a few starter decks and 120 random cards. Additional cards cost you extra. This sounds crazy, but I think this business model helps the game stay competitive, while just being the regular business models for every other non digital card game. People aren’t used anymore to pay for stuff. But hey: they just miss out on the best cardgame of the year.

7. Minit

In an age where games need to be 100+ hours long and have to have a billion dialogue options and a massive storyline with thousands of quests, it’s refreshing to see a game that just oozes simplicity, charm and only takes you a few hours to complete. Minit is that wonderfully delightful game. Every playsession takes you exactly 1min before a curse kills you. Minit takes this little concept and blows it up into a full game, filled with incredibly clever interactions that play with the medium and make up for a wonderful time. Like the old man who takes forever to tell his story... far longer than a minute. Minit not only makes you think, but it makes you think in ways not explored by previous titles. It’s refreshing, lovely and a beautiful contrast to the current trends in gaming.

6. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

This is just a Kickstarter bonus game for another Bloodstained coming out in 2019, and it was one of the best games I’ve played this year. Somehow whenever developers take an old NES game-concept and make a modern reimagining of it, it never disappoints. This time it’s Castlevania and it’s the best Castlevania ever made. I’m not kidding, this hidden gem is better than Castlevania 4 and Symphony of the Night. The levels are tightly designed, the difficulty is just right, the game has multiple paths for different playthroughs, the bosses are incredible, the visuals are stunningly beautiful, the sound is crisp, the music is catchy and all that while just being a sideproject for a bigger game.  This is a classic Castlevania like it come out back in the 80s and nails everything right on the head. You can play this through in just one sitting and you won’t be disappointed. Sometimes the only thing you need is a blast from the past.

5. Dead Cells

This action-roguelike finally came out this year and it devoured me. Dead Cells is a loot based 2D-dungeon-crawler that picks you up the beginning and won’t let you go till the end. The gameplay is hypnotizing, running, rolling, fighting your way through hordes of enemies, collecting gear and trying to get closer and closer to the end. A journey filled with failure, triumph and the occasional rage-quit. And after a few hours you realize that you didn’t look at the time and wasted your whole afternoon. Dead Cells captures you with this unbelievable sense of flow, which you can’t escape. Everything feels natural and you really start losing yourself in the combat trying the be faster every run, trying to get an even more ridiculous combo. Dead Cells is a game of flow, a game of mastery, a beautiful exercise for your fingers. And after all those hours you realize that none of it was time wasted.

4. The Messenger

While Bloodstained:Curse of the Moon brought back classic Castlevania, The Messenger seems to reimagine classic Ninja Gaiden. Or does it? The Messenger hides itself under the skin of the recent trend of revivals and throws a curveball at the player. Or should I say a barrage of curveballs, The Messenger is a Metagame a cleverly selfaware exercise in how often you can break the rules, twist the plot, and change the whole game itself. I think this is the game that breaks the 4th wall more often than anything else I’ve ever seen You could even say that there is no 4th wall. The Messenger is all that and in addition it’s a wonderful Ninja Gaiden game. The gameplay is smooth and the Metagame aspects of it make you lose yourself in a game that doesn’t really want to be a game. Sometimes it just wants to be clever, or funny, or it just wants to screw you over and throw another new thing at you that breaks all the rules all over again. I don’t wanna give away too much because this is something you need to experience on your own. What a whacky, weird and gorgeous experience.

3. Yakuza 6

Over 6 games and this is the long awaited and dreaded finale. Yakuza 6 is an example of how to end a show with the most over the top way. I said show because essentially that’s what Yakuza is. The great thing about this show however is that you get to play it, and that you probably will get off track while doing so. I spent hours showing off my skills at the mahjongg parlor, after beating a street gang that tried to harass a girl and his boyfriend, afterwards I flirted with a bunch of hostesses, created a clan and then got dragged in a big Yakuza conspiracy while trying to defend my baby from being murdered. I didn’t make that up. That just happened. Yakuza 6 turns it down a notch, however, there are less playable characters, less minigames, less plot-twists, less of everything to be honest, all this in order to serve the main story which is the star of this show. One character means more focus and more finesse. While Yakuza 0 was all about the twists, Yakuza 6 offers a thrilling, heart gripping story that resolves the whole narrative in such an epic and iconic way that It’s hard to stop playing. Yakuza 6 is a masterclass in building up tension and never letting it go. You’ll get sidetracked but you don’t want to get sidetracked, you wanna know how the story continues and trust me you have to know.

2. Celeste  

Celeste is a game about depression, a game about atmosphere, and a game of mastery and finally overcoming your own personal problems. Most games tell a story and then there’s gameplay. Celeste tells a story through its gameplay. It’s an example of how to use the medium as a compelling and unique way to tell a story. Not only does Celeste tell a story through its mechanics, but it also invokes an unforgetable atmosphere through the beautiful pixel aesthetic and the ear melting music by Lena Raine. All if this is accompanied by the best designed levels I’ve seen this year, pushing the boundaries of clever level design. Celeste is challenging, but that’s what it wants to be. Showing you how hard it is to deal with personal drama. It certainly helped me a lot and shows how videogames can be much more than entertainment. Celeste is a game I won’t forget.

1. Into the Breach

This game... is a designers wet dream. If you’d asked me if there’s a perfectly designed game, then my answer would be Into the Breach. We started off the list with bite sized strategy and we’ll end with that. Into the Breach is a randomly generated turn-based-puzzlegame, which shines with perfection. What makes it special is that this game has perfect information, meaning that the player knows everything. Every move in Into the Breach has to be perfect and if you make a mistake you cannot blame the game, because you knew everything. You just need to make the right decisions and that is incredibly difficult. Into the Breach may not look like much, but it’s the most tightly designed I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t boast with flashy visuals or a gripping story, Into the Breach knows exactly what it is, and it’s nothing more. A minimalistic yet perfect game that can entertain for hours on end. This is the new golden standard when it comes to gamedesign.

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Hack Money Roblox No Further A Mystery

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