#so the other char was right to crit him

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 75

Nord VPN again? So what ... oh gods no ... no, please don't sing, Sam. Please don't sing ... crap ... full-on Rodgers & Hammerstein ... we're in Hell ...

Laura: "Now I see why it took you so long for sound check."

No more announcements? Just straight into the game then ... big things are brewing then, clearly ...

First time in a little while we're jumping into COMPLETELY unknown waters ... so what now?

Wait, that was COLM?!!! Blimey, Sam ...

Ah yes, the Ashton Greymoore origin story ... how many superheroes are we gonna have on the party by the end, then?

Chetney's velvet jogging suit keeps him warm ... XD

No, no more jumping ...

"Flying is the best climbing" ... LOL

A tight warm crack ... I'm so glad Sam didn't pick up on the potential innuendo this time ...

Ashley rolls a Crit Fail ... of course she does ... Fearne: "I have no traction with my hooves!"

Low ceiling = much inconvenience ... so FCG turns himself into a lowrider ...

Oof ... this place is totally giving me flashbacks to The Descent ...

Slickshimmer oil? Oh yeah ... might come in handy ... and now Chetney's just making it weird ...

Oh yeah, she can just Wildshape ..

A lil snowbat ... awwwww ... yeah, she will be completely blind, but at least she can eccolocate ...

Oh, here we go then ...

Shit, it's a full blown drop further down ... but tight ... oh boy, this isgonna be problematic ... fuck, that's just it? Crap ...

IT JUST STOPS. So what now?

Bat sonar it, Fearne! Oh, it's just a blockage? Hmmmm ... so what do we do about it, then?

Orym tries to pry through ... pop! Oh crap ... here we go ... A CHARRED SKULL?!!! WTF? Laura (angrily): "Matthew!"

Claustrophobic Fearne forgetting she's currently a bat ...

Sam's fake teeth are still there ... Matt: "I hate it so much ... don't put it BACK!"

Crap ... whenever everybody has to keep doing individual checks it's such a worrying thing ...

The coins are melted onto the rock? That can't be good ... please tell me this isn't a fucking lava tube ...

DISASSEMBLE Letters? Really? Chetney is WAY too enthusiastic about that idea ...

Chetney: "Consent I all I need. I got a whole bag of tools." O.O

FCG ALMOST gets stuck ...

Great, now Imogen IS stuck by her ankle ... crap ... Matt: "This is my nightmare. That I'm inflicting on all of you." Damn it ... Marisha confirms this is most definitely a thing ...

Fuck this is getting worse all the time ... this really IS turning into The Descent ...

She takes her boots off and is FREE ... okay ... and now she's stuck on FCG ...

Good roll + bad roll = logjam ... of course it does ...

And now Letters is clanging down the passage like a ball bearing ... crap ... and he crashes right into Orym ... fuck ... now they're both FALLING ... crash! Ouch ... Orym (winded): "Take ... your foot ... out of my gooch ..."

Imogen drops hoping one or both will catch her ... phew! That was almost bad, but ultimately okay ...

Bones. A fuckload of bones ... charred and melted bones and other stuff ... and it's HOTTER in here ... crap ...

Flashes of intense heat ... please tell me there isn't a fucking DRAGON in here ...

Odd, unpredictable low vibration in the rock ... not a good sign, I'm sure ...

Black volcanic rock, and it's newer ... crap ... fresh lava flow, clearly ... DEFINITELY not a good sign ...

FCG casts Detect Magic ... ooh, magic ring ... cool ...

DO NOT go digging through the suspicious volcanic floor ...

Oh, they're doing this after all ... maybe let the others KNOW what you're doing first, guys?

Laudna is UNIMPRESSED with this plan. As she should be ...

Stoneshape ... gods this is DUMB ...

Just LIGHT? Please just be light ... and now it's hotter ... okay, so what's down there? DO NOT just fly down through there! Are you an idiot?

Literally the floor is lava ... yeah, I saw that coming ... XD

NOT a whole lake of lava ... oh, so there are CREATURES here ... imps? SERIOUSLY?!!!

Another communication about further plans ... Laudna: "Are you absolutely insane?!!"

A rock water slide to JUMP the lava? Are you SERIOUSLY considering this plan?

Ashton goes first and RAGES as he goes to try and widen the passage ... oh boy ... a Nat20? Really? Because he's an Earth Genasi AND a Titan this actually WORKS ...

Laudna is dislocating herself to fit through and then FORGETS to pop the joints back into place ... ye gods ...

Fearne is going to fly down and try to COMMUNICATE with the impish things ... right ...

This is a BUST ... yup ...

A whole load of chaos as they try to formulate a plan ... oh boy ...

Okay, here we go ... Ashton cracks the floor and NAT FAILS so the WHOLE THING just gives out ... crap ...

That was almost VERY hairy ...

No way out? Crap ... Travis: "We came down here for NO REASON."

Fearne tries to speak to them ... they're less freaked than just curious ... wow, they ARE cute, aren't they? :3

Oh wow, they're being BORN out of the lava blow ... wait, that one just DIED?!!! Already? Whoa ...

Who's the Elder? Oh, the one that just died ... of course ... another one: "I'M the new Elder!"

Oh, they KNOW about the Shard? Okay ...

Wait ... the Shard is IN the lava itself ... so what happens if they TAKE it?

They have no concept of time ... of course they don't ...

Elder: "Others have come and angered the Spark." Okay then ...

Ashton's going to try and touch the lava? Really?

This whole thing is like NINE FUCKING LEVELS OF SUPREMELY STUPID ...

Cue chants of "Rock! Rock! Rock!" Like in Galaxy Quest ... XD

Ray of Frost? Okay ... please don't trigger the explosion ...

Fuck, Ashton's going straight in ... wait, what ring? He needs to atune first ... aaaaagh ...

So he's flying over towards the bubble, then ... it's CALMING DOWN? Is this a good sign or really bad? And he's Raging now ... fuck, he's IN THE LAVA now? Oof ... ouch, this is gonna be SO NASTY ... an Investigation Check? RIGHT NOW?!!! 22? Wow ...

He HAS THE SHARD!!! Get the fuck out of there, man! 12 ... crap ... no joy? Imogen tries to communicate with him and just picks up a lot of cursing ...

Ashley: "This is so dumb ... I'm gonna jump in." O.O

FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!

I mean if ANYBODY could actually DO THIS ...

Telekinesis? Really? And Matt will actually allow it ... oh, nice roll ... Holy fuck this is actually working?

Go go go ... be strong, Ashton ... Nat20 for 28 total? Oh shit ... IT'S WORKING!!! IT'S ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKING!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Lava shower! Crap!

Ashton is FUCKING GLOWING ORANGE right now! Holy shit ...

Oh man, the imps are all dying? NOOOOOOO!!!

That was horrible but also totally worked ...

Ashton is really hot. LITERALLY.

Holy shit ... this gas actually HEALED Ashton's original cracked damage somewhat? Seriously? Oh, and he's just full on shirtcocking it right now ...

Wait, yes ... give it to Fearne! Give it to her! Let HER be the Empress!

He tries HOLDING IT to the crystal in his head and thinking through it ...

AND ALL THE TIME HE'S STILL TAKING FIRE DAMAGE!!!

Do not SMASH IT Ashton! Are you NUTS?!!!

Imogen holds it in the air so it won't keep burning him ... oh, that is beautiful and powerful ... like the fish in the meme ... XD

Laudna wonders if they might actually be in the belly of a Titan ...

Imogen TOSSES Chetney the Shard to make him do Grim Psychometry on it ... ouch! XD

Oh this is just INTENSE ...

Ashton is going to press it to his chest WHILE HE RAGES?!!! Oh shit ... and another 9 points of damage ...

Ashton: "I don't think it's FOR ME. I mean it's for me ..."

Yes. Seriously. Give it to Fearne.

Marisha fretting about rolling for Arcana because she's been rolling SHIT all game ... oh! Nice! Marisha: "I need Travis talking shit to me all the time!" Good roll!

A Funnel? OH SHIT!!! The Harness! They gotta go to Joe!

A flash of light? What the hell?

Ruby Vanguard? Crap ... and Reilora? Double crap ... oh fuck ... IS THAT FUCKING LUDINUS?!!!

Laura: "Telekinesis! I'm gonna throw the lava they're above AT THEM!!!"

Matt: "And we're gonna come back to that zfter a break." AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Crap crap crap crap crap ... how bad is this gonna be?

Aaaaaah! Battlemap! Cue Wizzkids plug!

Holy shit ... nice terrain ...

Nice reminder from Liam that Ashton is currently doing this half naked ... and not the polite half, either ... and what about Fearne?

Shit this is REALLY bad ...

Ludinus succeeds his Dex roll? Of course he does ... but ONE of them fails ... okay, then ...

ROLL INITIATIVE!!!

Ashton up first ... SUPERHERO IT, BOY!!! He Rages ... he's getting heavy? Oh, Gravity effects ... here we go ... he's shielding FCG? Even though he's low on hit points right now? Ballsy ... he grabs the Shard and tucks it behind him ... so he takes MORE damage next round? Bloody hell ...

Imogen tries to grab the skinny Reiloran with Telekinesis snd he fails to save ... yanks him into the lava! Matt tells her to roll EIGHT D10!!! Fucking hell ... 50 POINTS OF DAMAGE!!! Fucking hell indeed! Then she Quickens another spell for bonus action, Mindwhips the big Reiloran ... it saves so only takes HALF damage ... 7 points? Oof ... not too impressive, then ... mostly just made it angry, then ...

Orym is up! Gets close as he can so he can CUT THE AIR with Seedling to hit the submerged Reiloran ... and that is IT for it ALREADY!!! Wow ... second strike to the soldier with a vine, succeeds and drags HIM in too ... Holy shit, that's a FUCKLOAD of damage ... and HE'S DEAD TOO?!!! Holy fuck, wee man!

Ludinus came to offer an OLIVE BRANCH? Really? Oh crap, he just recognised the staff ... what's THIS mean? What's he doing?

Fearne is now DANGLING OVER THE LAVA!!! Shit ...

Reiloran JUGGERNAUT?!!! I'm sorry? Oh lawd he comin! Orym has to make a strength save? Crap ... and it's a fail ... and he's just DRAGGED into melee with it ...

Chetney grabs the Shard, slips it into the Bag of Holding, then goes invisible! Okay ... now he just BOLTS for Imogen ...

All FCG can do is hit Ashton with a 3rd Level Cure Wounds ... 17 Points back ... it'll do ... then he gives Fearne a Bonded Blessing ...

Fearne's turn ... what CAN she do? Just spells, but attack rolls are at a disadvantage ... crap ... Wall of Stone? She wants to completely encase Ludinus ... oh yes, that sounds sweet ... yes! Do that! Do that! Holy shit, and it actually WORKS too ... but she's still stuck ...

Laudna's turn ... she Quickens a spell for Mirror Image, then Blights the Reiloran. And he FAILS ... okay then, that's 8 D8 of Necrotic damage! Here we go ... 32! Sweet!

The last one just holds his action? Hmmm ...

Ashton burns a Chaos Burst and ALMOST knocks the Reiloran into the lava ... second same ... hmmm ...

Imogen chucks a bunch of lightning at all of them ... oh shit, boom indeed! Now none of them can SEE!!! Okay ... that doesn't ACTUALLY change anything for Fearne, though ... then she casts Blade Ward on herself ...

Orym steps under Ashton's legs and detects Chetney close by from smell alone ... XD ... attacks the Reiloran and hits him with THREE Pushing attacks ... he fails so he is now IN THE LAVA!!! 33 points of damage! Nice ... and now he JUMPS on the Reiloran's head, slashes away down on him ... Action Surge? Okay ... bang bang bang ... but Matt keeps rolling SO WELL ... one more try ... HE GETS THE HDYWTDT!!! YES!!! He kills the fuck out of him and jumps back off again! Now he's just SOLIDIFIED in the lava ... Orym you absolute WILD MAN!!!

Ludinus casts Dimension Door to bamf out of the wall ... crap ... he raises her EVEN HIGHER ... She can't break free ...

Fuck, is he gonna JUMP AWAY with her?

Chetney clicks his Boots of Speed, gets close enough to Ludinus to ... do something he CAN'T do because it's ALSO a bonus action? Crap ... so he DOESN'T do that but just holds his action instead ... crap ...

FCG pulls Spiritual Weapon on Ludinus ... since it's a hostage situation, he makes it a hsnd holding a pepperbox pistol right to his temple ... JUST hits him ... nice damage, but doesn't do anything major ... then shoits a Sacred Fame at him too ... which he fails to save against ... ouch! Nice ... he's looking rough but still strong, apparently ...

Fearne casts Wall of Fire on Ludinus? Wow ... can he Counterspell? Nat20? Crap ... that didn't work, then ... Ashley tries to work out what else to do ... and just tries to negotiate instead? Hmmmm ... roll good, Fearne, be charming ... 18?

Laudna unleashes her Hound of Ill Omen upon Ludinus! Okay ... Phantasmal Force? Oooooh ... and he has DISADVANTAGE?!!! But he still succeeds ... crap ... but it's now the pooch's turn! Attack hits! 10 damage and heneeds to roll a strength check ... FAIL!!! He is now PRONE!!! Nice ... but he STILL maintains concentration ...

The last guy attacks the Hound ... and KILLS IT!!! What? Seriously?

Ashton gets as close as he can and tries a Wormhole Strike on Ludinus! Fuck ... and it HITS!!! Nice! 20 damage! Second misses, though ... crap ...

Imogen casts Lightning Bolt on BOTH of them ... defender fails, but Ludinus STILL makes his save? Shit ... that's a lot of dice though ... 42 points on the defender ... and he goes DOWN in a smoking heap ... AND LUDINUS' CONCENTRATION IS BROKEN!!! Fearne is FREE!!!

Orym runs in and chucks 2 daggers at Ludinus, misses with BOTH because he's prone ... nuts ... nothing else he can do ...

Ludinus gets up, steps past Fearne so she has an attack of opportunity ... he starts brewing a Sphere, Laudna Counterspells ... but it's a LEVEL NINE?!!! Holy fuck ... did she just CRIT?!!! SERIOUSLY?!!! Oh my gods she fucking DID IT!!! Nice! So he tries to Counterspell HER? And he FAILS?!!! OH MY FUCKING GODS!!! Amazing ... suddenly the dice gods are with us! So hejyst keeps walking ... INTO THE LAVA? AND JUST DISINTEGRATES?!!! Bloody hell ... he was a FAKE!!! Bugger ...

Fearne TRIES to grab the stone he wore ... it's cracked ... nuts, only MAYBE a clue now ...

Smart thinking, might be a good idea to run ... but first LOOT THE BODY that DIDN'T burn ...

Fancy robes ... NOT damaged by the lava? Handy ...

Time to Teleport out, then ... but where to?

Oh, Whitestone? Yes. Go there. Definitely.

Here we go, then ... aiming for the Sun Tree ... they jump ... and Matt calls it there BEFORE they roll ... oof ...

At least they killed his villain speech before he could deliver it ... but yeah, that was one HAIRY fight ...

[freyayuki]

Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia Cid Raines and Lilisette Banners

The Anachronistic Protector event just started in the Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia (DFFOO) mobile game. This event came with 2 banners.

Anachronistic Protector Banner 1

The Anachronistic Protector banner 1 features the following chars and their weapons:

Cid Raines from Final Fantasy XIII - Burst or BT only

Lilisette from Final Fantasy XI - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, LD, and Force or FR

Jegran from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD

Shelke Rui from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD

Missing Raines’s Burst and Lilisette’s FR. Also missing Jegran’s 15cp, 35cp, and Ex. The only weapon I have for Jegran is his LD, and it hasn’t been limit broken at all. IIRC, got said LD from a free draw a while back.

Anachronistic Protector Banner 2

The Anachronistic Protector banner 2 features the following chars and their weapons:

Lilisette from Final Fantasy XI - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, LD, and Force or FR

Jegran from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, LD, and BT

Shelke Rui from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD

Have everything on this banner except for Lilisette’s FR and Jegran’s 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and BT.

Thoughts about Lilisette from Final Fantasy XI

I like Lilisette from Final Fantasy XI (#ad) well enough but wouldn’t call her a fave or anything.

She’s a pretty good support, buffer, healer, and debuffer. Her Force weapon is pretty good too. It’s a generic FR so it’s really easy to increase its HP damage bonus.

The conditions required to increase the HP damage bonus of Lilisette’s FR are as follows:

+30% whenever a char deals critical BRV damage

+5% (this is per debuff and it maxes out at 40%) whenever a char attacks a debuffed enemy

Lilisette provides a party-wide crit up buff so as long as she’s in the party, all chars will always deal critical BRV damage even if an enemy can’t be broken.

Lilisette provides up to 5 debuffs so you just need 3 more to fulfill the second condition of her FR.

With Lilisette’s FR, each char can increase the HP damage bonus by up to +70% per turn.

Unfortunately, Lilisette doesn’t have her own Burst weapon yet so she’s not as good as other support chars who can provide additional auras via their own BTs.

Anachronistic Protector Banner 1 Free First Multi-Draw Results

As part of the Winter Festival campaign, we get a free multi-draw on both of the Anachronistic Protector banners.

Banner 1′s free pull gave me dupes of Lilisette’s 15cp and Shelke’s 35cp. Bleh.

Anachronistic Protector Banner 2 Free First Multi-Draw Results

My free multi-draw on the Anachronistic Protector banner 2 gave me dupes of Shelke’s 15cp and Lilisette’s 15cp. Meh.

Reasons to Pull on the Anachronistic Protector Banner  1

I was eying the Anachronistic Protector banners with interest since Lilisette seems to have a pretty good generic FR, I was missing multiple weapons for Jegran, and I still don’t have Raines’s BT.

Was kinda, sorta interested in Cid’s Burst weapon. Right now, I’m still trying to decide on whether I want to bother fully building him and maxing him out or not. But I can’t and don’t want to build Raines if I don’t have his BT. I talk more about this in another post.

Not interested in Jegran so it doesn’t matter to me that I’m still missing a lot of his weapons. Even if I get his relics on this banner, won’t bother to build him.

I’ll fuse the dupes of his stuff if I get them but won’t bother to max him out or anything. Have no plans of using Jegran in any fight.

I’m not sure about Lilisette though. I mean, yeah, her FR’s good but - what I found myself thinking was if I really need this weapon. And do I really want to bother building Lilisette even though she doesn’t have a BT?

Right now, my Lilisette has her 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD already fully MLB. She has her Bloom Stone and triple perfect Artifacts. She has up to her second armor maxed out. She even has 2 RF Spheres.

All of Lilisette’s Summon Boards have been completed. But I only unlocked parts of her Character Enhancement Boards, particularly the tiles that would give me her LD Call and LD extension passive.

I got to use Lilisette a few times before. But since mine isn’t fully built, couldn’t really bring her to deal with really hard battles.

Ever since I got her LD, I’ve mostly used her as a Call ability. Lilisette’s Calls debuff enemies. Her LD Call can also heal.

My worry is that even if I pull for Lilisette’s FR, and even if I get it, I might not bother to use her at all.

Because what I just noticed was that I have a lot of Force weapons in my inventory that I haven’t bothered to build at all.

When the banners for those weapons showed up, felt like pulling so I’d toss a few or even a couple hundred tickets on said banners. I talk more about these pulls in other posts.

I’m really pleased whenever a Force weapon shows up but the problem is that the cost to max out FRs is really high.

FRs that haven’t been maxed out suck. They can only be used once per fight and they give such a low HP damage bonus. On the other hand, a fully limit broken FR can be used twice per fight and it gives a high HP damage bonus.

To fully max limit break a Force weapon, you need 12 High Power Stones. You can get these in various ways such as by clearing time-limited missions. You can also use 20 Power Stones and have them exchanged or converted to 1 High Power Stone.

We don’t get a lot of High Power Stones. We get a lot of Power Stones but these are also used to limit break the other weapon types (15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD) so I can’t just max out all the FRs I get.

Right now, it feels like it’s been forever since I actually bothered to max out an FR. I think the last Force weapon I MLB’d was either Tifa Lockhart’s from Final Fantasy VII or Rinoa Heartilly’s from Final Fantasy VIII.

Also fully built these 2. They’re currently my go-to DPS. I just pick one of them depending on the situation (Tifa’s a physical DPS while Rinoa’s a magical one) or who I feel like using at the moment.

Since Tifa and Rinoa showed up, plenty more chars have appeared with their FRs like Celes Chere’s from Final Fantasy VI, Dorgann Klauser’s from Final Fantasy V, and Aranea Highwind’s from Final Fantasy XV.

But although I was able to get lots of these new FRs, somehow, I just couldn’t bring myself to max any of them out. I was really reluctant to spend the resources needed to fully limit break these FRs. In the end, I just opted not to.

I always found myself thinking that I was probably not gonna use them anyway. Nowadays, my go-to team is usually Tifa or Rinoa for DPS, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret from Final Fantasy XV or Sherlotta from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time for support and healer, and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII as a secondary DPS.

Even if I get Lilisette’s FR, I don’t think she can replace either Lunafreya or Sherlotta since she doesn’t have a Burst weapon of her own.

And yeah, Lilisette’s FR is good, but Rinoa and Tifa have their own Force weapons. They’re my DPS so I use their FRs over Lunafreya’s and Sherlotta’s.

Sephiroth doesn’t have his own Force weapon yet so he can benefit from Lilisette’s FR.

He’s no longer the top DPS anymore but I still like to bring him to fights as a personal challenge of sorts. I talk more about that in other posts.

I guess if I want to try using Sephi as more of a main DPS than a secondary one, I can make use of Lilisette and her FR.

I can also try using Lilisette in a Dimensions’ End: Transcendence Tier. That’s actually my plan for the other chars whose FRs I’ve been able to get.

But that would mean having to build them some more or as close to max as possible which is why I haven’t done anything with any of them yet. I guess I’ll see about building them if I actually end up needing them.

As a support char who is actually pretty good, Lilisette is more likely to see use. And I do kinda want Raines’s BT. 

Anachronistic Protector Banner 1 Tickets Pulls Results

So that’s how I found myself going back to the Anachronistic Protector banner 1. Currently have 414 tickets on hand.

So I tapped on the Ticket Draw button then selected the Draw 10 button. I thought I’d see the usual regular blue orb even a gold orb. Was definitely not expecting to see a force orb.

Of course, I was hoping to get Lilisette’s FR but I didn’t think it’d show up this quickly or at all. Was expecting to see the usual bronze and silver trash and gold dupes.

Needless to say, this was a very pleasant and welcome surprise. Super pleased to get my very first copy of Lilisette’s FR.

And as if this 10-draw wasn’t already more than good enough, it actually gave me 2 copies of Lilisette’s FR. Nice! Now I only need 8 High Power Stones if I want to fully MLB this FR.

Was down to 404 tickets when Lilisette’s FR came home. Still don’t have Raines’s Burst and didn’t even get any of Jegran’s weapons (not that I’m interested in the latter) but it’s fine. Done with this banner now.

Lilisette from Final Fantasy XI

Fused one of the Lilisette FRs that I got to my main copy to limit break it. Then I equipped it to Lilisette.

On a side note, I really like the appearance of Lilisette’s FR. Also like the swirling effect thing it has when she’s equipped with it.

Decided to buy Lilisette’s High Armor, which I also equipped to her. Also gave her an RF E Sphere so now she has triple RF Spheres.

For now, that’s all I decided to do. Was thinking about fully building her but can’t seem to bring myself to do it. I’m really not sure about maxing her out.

And I’m still not entirely sure I really need her anyway. I guess for now, she can stay in this state. At least I have her and can build her in case I need her.

Conclusion

So, what about you? Did you pull on either of the Anachronistic Protector banners? What do you think about Cid Raines, Lilisette, and all the other chars featured on these banners? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia game account

[the-nysh]

I saw a manga with a man saying this about his 15 year old son in a life and death fight " the pup left his home to chase his own dream once a bird leaves its nest he is an independent man a real man has the freedom to choose between life and death and a guy ( who cant interfere but wouldnt stop the father) asking how can you say that if this continues your son will meet certain death and the father remarking I can always have another son thoughts

Well yikes. As if a 15yr old kid would have the perspective to know any better to make such lofty informed decisions about his own mortality. If this isn't some old school shonen power fantasy or something, it sounds like a shitty absentee father trying to bs any excuse to justify his own powerless inaction and avoidance when the moment matters most. Cause he has the choice between saving or losing his boy forever. He'd rather completely skirt any responsibility and rationalize to himself that it's ~ok~ to leave his 15yr old kid to die when things are 'too hard' to interfere.

Poor kid, if this is all the paternal 'love' he's ever known - to be seen as replaceable and thrown away like trash whenever he's in trouble or makes life-endangering mistakes, because his own dad is too cowardly to actually step up and be a father, to help correct and guide him on the right path. If his negligence is the only sorry excuse and extent he 'cares' for him. (Why even bother having kids at all if he's chill with them failing and dying before him? No way to ensure any legacy like that either, so what really is his point in having 'another' one if he can't even be there to support the one he already has.)

I bet he's the type who'd use up and abandon his wife too with some shitty excuse to make himself feel better about his infidelity and escapist 'manly freedom' too. So many red flags all around; his kid meeting certain death in a fight will be the least of his problems when, even if he survives, his neglected mental heath would still remain in the gutter. I won't be surprised if the kid grows up in spite one day to kill him or worse. So the other guy is completely right for criticizing him, but Reigen ripping this poor excuse of a 'dad' a new one would be the most satisfying icing on the cake.

[seelestia]

my day was great!! it’s the weekendddddd~ hru lia?? have you eaten and drank your water??

to stand by the pillar of fortitude himself you must persevere and remain steadfast through the trials, little one- lmao it's ok we'll nurse them back to health!!! ( ayato fully knows he can heal himself with magic but since you're panicking and fussing over him he decides to not tell you ;) )

ikr prefect!ayato is such a good concept slkdjflskdjf

LMAO I TOTALLY AGREE HE WOULD BLACKMAIL ME THE MOMENT HE SAW ME SWOONING OVER ZHONGLI

o h ? hehehe i feel like ayato would totally go :0 when he sees your protective instinct flaring up. kinda backfires for you tho, cause he probably finds if even more endearing and he just falls for you even more <3

ye!!! he has the potential and background to become a villain but he’s not!! i think that’s even more impressive ✨ pff imagine him and professor yae’s “banter” in class…. all the chilling smiles and the tension in the air as they throw veiled passive-aggressive comments back and forth… all the students are like “o archons please get me out of here-“

i-it is…. gosh…. he’s so….. hhhhhhhh i love love love his jp voice. so much. ohhh i like that take!! slytherin al haitham <3

awee that’s a very cute imagination - us just picking up these smol little chibi characters by the scruff of their night and plopping them down to the appropriate miniature hogwarts houses' common rooms hehehe

giant rock frog bahahahhah omg- if you want a full shield bot i think you can probably have more? otherwise that should be enough?? if you want a 50:50 my brother said 30-40k should be good, and for the rest just focus on geo dmg + crits… but dps zhongli on the other hand... lemme see if i can get his build-

(jesus christ that crit dmg lmao)

GLADLY i mean you would be invited to the wedding either way so ikr??? he would look so good aldkjaksjdlajsdkakljd i’m frot hignlkjd

ohoho. hmmm. for fluff, definitely “childhood sweethearts”, “soulmates”, and “reincarnation au” <3 for angst, whatever trope my request was (is that even a trope lmao), and i totally agree - “right person, wrong time” is so </3 “terminal illness” probably? or stuff like “amnesia” or “accident/surgery/being in a coma” is also very very nice….. ooooooh this is giving me request ideas ✨✨✨✨

WAIT REALLY??? awh that’s too bad… ok have this then - if you ever try to see the chasm from sumeru, it looks like the great wall of china or something, it's amazing:

(ignore the charred grass klee was having a little too much fun there lmao)

^ additionally, zhongli, babysitting klee. run, hilichurl, run for your life-

oh, poor poor gimel. i created a teleport waypoint just for farming zhongli’s pillars. literally went there every day just to beat them up 🤕

awh dw about it!! you were on vacation and all!! <3 and i see you hehehe

rin jieeee, i'm super sorry for the late reply but i am here !! >:) NAURRRR, has your hubby's ancient fossil soul possessed your body??? snap out of it 🤨 (/j) seeing the word, persevere reminds me of the ayato angst drabble i wrote and now, i'm writing another angst fic about him for your collab <//3 aaaaa, i really wanna ramble about my vaporize wip to you but that might ruin the surprise, so maybe i should keep it hush-hush??? fjejkskdwk

IKR??? ayato is a character whose personality would flourish as a villain like if he weren't the son of a noble clan in inazuma, imagine his potential... as a fatui harbinger. albeit, i think both him and pantalone share those rich, classy vibes so they gotta fight for that spot in the ranks (/j) BUT AYATO AS A FATUI HARBINGER?? GOODBYE 🏃🏃🏃

i swear, he'd no longer need a bodyguard if he has me <//3 if i hear anyone say anything less than likable about him in the streets, it's on sight (/j) as a samoyed puppy in human form, i shall protect him !! tho, i can't help but think about what animal would suit him... i wanna say fox, but that'd somewhat make ayato a blue version of miko AND I LAUGH AT THAT 😭

your love for alhaitham really did grow immensely, it seems... has he dethroned kazuha??? *gasp* 👀 (/j) rip, @/meizuha, it is now time for @/meitham to shine <3 speaking of, have you finished the sumeru archon quest??? i just got around to finishing it a few days ago but it sure was memorable when alhaitham appeared fkekwdk ty for the tips~ my zhongli has about 46k HP now, and he's a shielder who gives occasional burst DMG (around 30k) since he has the catch r1 with accidentally 250% energy recharge 🫣 your crit DMG is smth else, you are spoiling him, helpppp. (/lh) i can understand because that shall be me when ayato rerun arrives <//3

awww, i can see the link between your fav fluff tropes here 👀 like the sense of being connected thru time and just an intuition of knowing that you're simply meant to be together :( this suddenly makes me think of a reincarnation au with zhongli, oml. there is something about you. something familiar but he can't place his hands on it like searching for a way out amidst a hazy fog. he has never met you before, or has he? your name is lost at the tip of his tongue — but as he looks into your eyes — memories surge forward and the disbelief in his voice echoes, "y/n?" weird, you've never told him your name.

AND THE ANGST TROPES, SO TRUE. smth about external obstacles that hold back a character just hurts because it feels like they can't do anything about whatever that fate has thrown at them, aaaaa. <//3 amnesia trope, in particular, has sm potential imo because the sheer devastation when you realize that all those memories of you loving that person are now lost? just like that? and when your own beloved stares at you so blankly as if you're a mere stranger, your heart can't help but shatter.

oooo, it does look like the great wall of china from that angle! hoyoverse really said irl inspiration, huh 🤧 BUT THE WAY THE HILICHURL GAVE UP??? it saw babysitter zhongli and fled. (/j) and as someone who also has klee, the charred grass is a familiar sight~ at least, she's not fish blasting this time but idk if sumerians care that much about their grass... klee gets banned from sumeru city era??? 😭 also, i don't remember if i've asked this before but what five stars do you have in your acc rn, rin jie??? i know that you have zhongli, itto, kazuha, xiao, and jean — is there anyone else i'm missing??? 👀

[genshinconfessions]

HI can u like can u review my builds ... ik i have some chars unbuilt uhh so yea | uid : 620861853 | ok thank u sm anksankzsnxkcankca SRRY M SO AWKWARD AAA

hiiii ik we're still on hiatus but i'm stressedly procrastinating so here goes!

and also pls remember that these are just our personal perspectives on your characters; if they work for you, then they work for you and you don't need our opinions for that!

---

venti:

i don't have venti but from what i've heard, you want to level his burst since that's godly crowd control. from what i've also heard, his swirl reactions can be deadly, so you might want to up his EM as well.

his crit rate/dmg ratio looks pretty good! low, but we love seeing that 1:2 ratio ahaha. and his weapon looks fine, energy recharge definitely helps him. as for artifacts, i think that you might want to change his circlet to crit rate with substats of crit dmg. and like i said before, upping his EM and levelling his burst may be useful.

diluc:

his crit rate/dmg ratio is a bit off :") and i would not put him on a phys build (i know you said he might be unbuilt). as far as i know, diluc's best as a pyro dps.

and i wouldn't stack so much atk on him right now with the artifacts, especially with his circlet. for the circlet, i'm usually always going to recommend crit rate, or in certain cirumstances crit dmg. granted idk if any of his things scale off atk, but personally i would get his crit rate up first.

mona:

so apparently mona can be played in a few ways, one which requires some dmg (nuke/quick-swap burst) and one which does not (freeze support). either way, though, her best weapon is def not otherworldly story ahaha even thrilling tales is better (even the best if you're using her as freeze support).

i see that you haven't built her at all, so i suggest looking at the support guide that i hyperlinked above. but to summarize said guide, if you're using her as a nuke, prioritize crit rate/dmg on artifacts as well as EM. if you're using her as freeze support, prioritize energy recharge and artifact set bonuses.

raiden:

hmmmm i'm not sure how you're building raiden, actually. i would not, however, have her on dragonspine spear because she's not meant to do dmg in that way. raiden's selling point is her burst, which is a freakishly awesome buff for your OTHER characters (so i'd say level that talent first!). because her burst or skill does dmg even when she's off-field, she's totally DPS material so i'd focus on getting her crit rate/dmg to a good value, still keeping the 1:2 ratio.

and no more atk circlets!

edit: before anyone sees this, i remembered that raiden is an ELECTRO dps, not a phys dps. so i think giving her an electro dmg bonus goblet wouldn’t hurt!

klee:

first off, klee is a pyro dps! ik you probably just put a random artifact on her, but her goblet should not be hydro dmg bonus HAHA it should deffffinitely be pyro dmg bonus. also, you almost always want atk sands and DEFINITELY crit rate circlet.

see, you have godly crit dmg because of widsith, but it's very hard to do consistent damage when you only get godly dmg 5% of the time LOL. so def put her on crit rate circlet.

also, most catalysts' talent priority lies in their normal attacks.

ayaka:

i can tell that your ayaka is not build yet, and honestly i'm not the best person to ask for this (karfield is the ayaka main) but put her on 4pc blizzard strayer (atk sands, cryo dmg bonus goblet, crit rate circlet); def change her weapon to smth that boosts her atk, crit rate, or crit dmg; and level her burst.

kaeya:

unlike a lot of ppl here, i use my kaeya as cryo dps, but it seems like you have a pretty nice phys dmg build! my only complaint once again is the crit rate/dmg ration. also, i'd have put him on a phys dmg bonus goblet instead of atk goblet.

amber:

huh. i actually don't know how you're building her HAHA partly because i rarely see anyone building her, but also because i personally would have switched her and venti's weapons, but i guess if you're running a pyro dps, the weapon makes sense.

that being said, her crit rate/dmg ratio is decent, but i'm not entirely sure why you stacked her up on so many HP artifacts. i don't remember if she scales off HP, but i would def put her goblet on pyro dmg bonus and circlet on crit rate.

and since i don't use amber at all, i'm not sure i can say more than this. but the helper guide definitely has great advice, and once again, play how it works for you!

- katheryne from liyue

[nemrut]

Epic 7 Balance Adjustment Patch for 08.07.21

So, we got a bunch of buffs for a few characters. Have to say, mixed feelings about these:

ML Ken

The ML Ken buff is one I really wanted but it is one that, on paper at least, doesn't fix his problems. His current issues are that for one, there are a lot of strong, meta units who do not trigger counters, like Landy and Spec Tene. They can hit him with no fear and kill him. Then there is LQC, where her S3 is guaranteed to burst down all but the most tanky of ML Kens. And then, lastly, there are a ton of debuffers, with the addendum that there are also a lot of cleansers atm, so the last point is the least troublesome.

What really screws over ML Ken is that these problems have different solutions regarding his gear. You can build him with lots of def and hp, to make him super tanky that he can survive a hit or two, but then you run the risk of not doing much damage. Similarly, if you go for high ER, which his buff kinda leans towards and which makes that slightly easier, you can resist debuffs better but also at the cost of the other defense and offensive stats.

Now, with his buffs, he wants no crit chance at all and can make do with slightly less ER on his gear. That is good, I guess. The CR push is weird because ML Ken is one of the few units who wants to be as slow as possible, so he can maintain his buffs longer since he doesn't really want to attack. ML Ken wants to be hit and then counter. So, a CR push may make him fire off his slightly improved S3 faster, but that also means he is getting rid of his buffs faster and once his S3 is on cooldown, that CR push becomes an outright liability.

Similarly, a 30% increase to his ER is not harmful or anything but it is also not really that helpful? Sure, it makes it a bit easier to reach a higher ER stat but if go for the higher HP and DEF route, while also trying to maintain some ATK and crit DMG, the 30 % ER might as well be nothing because serious debuffers have over 100% effectiveness, some over 200%.

A buff I would have liked to see would be like, either give him lifesteal in his s2 or s1, so that one can switch his artifact. Or he gives himself a def buff and/or there is DMG reduction. I guess giving him an ability that ignores the anti-counter abilities would be a bit lame.

He basically needs to be harder to kill, or he needs a way to matter in the current meta where counters are countered.

Hmm, maybe they could have given him immortality, so that he survives one round, making him a real problem on the field. Not too happy with this but maybe it turns out better than expected.

Operator Sigret

Her buff is just straight up great and that is, I guess, the problem. She was buffed even though she really, really didn't need the buff. I do admit, if I had her, I would have less of a problem with this, lol.

She went from good to even better.

Holiday Yufine

Now, she has some interesting buffs. The increased burn chances on her S1 are neat enough, but then she gets a permanent evasion of 20% which remains no matter what, but which is increased to 70% at full health is excellent. She still needs a shield at the start to maintain her perfect health and with that the evasion, but it is easier to endure the initial attacks now and stay in the game for longer. Her Soulburn for her S3 is also appreciated, which means she can cleanse and CR push her team more. Great buffs, making her stronger and more useful for the roles she is supposed to play.

Violet

Violet has gotten a bit of a rework there, and I am kinda digging it, at least on paper. His S1 gives him now a CR-push, which is pretty good for him with his changes. His S2 cleanses two of his own debuffs, heals him, grants him an extra turn, and now he gains a 15% crit chance and crit dmg buff which can't be dispelled for 3 turns (in effect two with his extra turn mechanic). Instead, the 35 % evade has been removed from his S2 and instead taped onto his s3. Now, when his S3 is available he has the 35% evasion where after he evades, he counterattacks with his S1.

This seems like a really good fix for his general usefulness. Now his S2 can actuallly be molad, he is slightly easier to built with the reduced crit chance and crit dmg requirements, his counters give him a speed push. I dunno how viable this makes him for the current meta, especially with units like carrot and Spec Tene running around but he is definitely improved. I saw some people say that this makes him worse on arena and GW defense because the Ai will use his S3 at first opportunity, when he won't have the focus necessary to reset his S3 thus making his evasion evaporate but the thing is, Violet has been awful on defense for a while now. At least this way, he will be starting with evasion, which was his greatest drawback, next to being a single target unit.

Earlier, he needed to take a turn to activate his evasion, so it was rather easy to cleave a violet defenses because he only had the evasion from dreamblade or talisman. Now, that will be harder.

This may not be enough to make him that strong in the current meta but at least he is an option now. Agains the right teams, especially in RTA, he can be wheeled out and do some mayhem.

Elena

Elena got a 5% additional dmg reduction and receives a 20% CR push in her S2. This is pretty good. My Elena is speedy and high ER so she can cut into enemy turns and fire of her team invincibility, which is why i was running her with Magahara. Still gonna do that, so instead of 30% CR push, now she will be getting 50%. That means I can give her gear which is slightlly slower but has more ER so she will have a higher chance to resist all the debuffs.

Rather happy with this one.

Cidd

I don't use Cidd, not much interaction with him outside of a handful of times where I met him in pvp where he dismantled my team piece by piece. This buff seems to make him stronger but can't really say what it will mean for building him.

Mercenary Helga

Her buffs seem alright, but I don't know if that means she is inherently more useful now. Maybe she will be better for one of the one shot comps or things like expedition. More def break is always useful and while all earth heroes are almost nonexistant in pvp, hunts, expedition and that new game mode where I am not sure when exactly it comes, she should be useful there.

And with regards to the Artifacts, well, Doctor's Bag still looks awful. It is better than previous where it seemed to me that it was unusable, with almost every soul weaver artifact being better than it in almost every scenario, but once every 3 turns just means that at most it will be used twice on a particularly fast soul weaver. Maybe I am not seeing the utility, though.

As to Shepherd of the Hollow, it is on my Kayron because my other heroes are using the better artifacts and I don't expect that to change. Still, seems to be better than before but dunno about making that artifact particularly good. Not a lot of thieves who benefit from having lower health outside of Kayron and even on Kayron, Dust Devil is still better.

So, some interesting buffs but a bit disappointed. Had hoped for more. Maybe next time we get something for chars like Sez and Luna. And definitely something better for ML Ken.

[make-it-mavis]

Homesick (Entry #28)

(cw: drugs/addiction) ----------

01/14/88   2:45 PM Hey.

Even if I didn’t let myself believe I had an addiction, I could not deny my blatant downward spiral. 

My second hit of GC really woke me up in that regard, I think. I felt completely justified while immersed in my hallucinations, but realizing what I’d really been doing all that time was humiliating and, honestly, a bit scary. If I’d taken that hit during gameplay hours, I’d have gotten my game unplugged. I’ve never exactly been a gentle sweetheart, but I’d like to think I’m not a violent maniac. I just wasn’t myself. I can’t afford to lose track of myself.

So I tried to pull myself out of that nosedive. Put a stop to the downward spiral and reclaim control of myself. Wanting to quit was a step. Promising myself that I’d quit was a step. But they weren’t exactly headed in the right direction. Thing is, I was so deep into the dark, I didn’t know which way led out anymore. I’m sure I thought I was walking out, but I was just venturing deeper. Very efficiently. Led by the light of three little words:

Just one more.

I needed that last hit and I was going to get it. With no credits to speak of, and a decent sum of the arcade afraid of me, the method seemed clear: Intimidation.

It was risky. If the Surge Protector caught wind of it, I’d be in a heap of trouble. But he’d been off his game for a while, for reasons I didn’t know at the time. I’d be able to duck him easily -- the real threat was my, I dunno, victim blabbing about me. Anyone else’s word was better than mine to him. 

I’d have no luck trying to intimidate a dealer; they’re too experienced, certainly deal with threats a lot, and are familiar enough with how the SP works to screw me over and still get away unscathed. No, there was another opportunity I had to take advantage of. All the frightened sprites, never taken a buff before, turning straight to GC to chase the bad things away. Newbies. 

I’m not proud of what I did. Honestly? I’d even say I’m ashamed. Like I said before, I don’t really care about appearing kind, but I never really want to be cruel. Sometimes, my will to survive just trumps that. If I need it, I’ll get it. And I needed GC. I didn’t want to believe it, but I did.

So, what did I do? I waited in Jungle Hunt, a little ways off from where my usual dealer meets her customers, scanning for any sign of movement. I ran through in my head what to do if things went south. I brought a real knife with me just in case, but I was very weak from impending withdrawal and buff use. I’d lose a fight if it came to that. I’d just have to really sell my scary vibe and hope for the best.

Finally, after Devs know how long of perching in a tree trying to think through my pounding headache, I saw someone pushing through the undergrowth. I put your charred goggles over my eyes, pulled your scarf up over my nose, and dropped down.

They screamed so loud when they saw me in their path, I heard birds call and fly off in the distance. 

“Hand it over,” I said.

I don’t remember what their voice sounded like, but they stammered, “Wh-What?”

I pulled my face gear down to try to see them properly, but… didn’t succeed. Through split second frames of static, I could see that their pixels were blurred out from head to toe, no matter how hard I blinked. I could at least tell that they were bigger than me, but that doesn’t exactly narrow things down. Most sprites are. All I could decipher was the lovely yellow ‘?’ block wherein my prize was held, and that was all that mattered.

“Hand it over,” I insisted.

They stepped back. “The… The block?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, your heart. Yes, dumbass, now give it here before I take it.”

“Well…” they stood a little straighter. “W-Why should I?”

Good on them for trying.

“Because GC is a dangerous and highly addictive buff known to cause corruption in overdose. I’m doing you a favor.”

“Bullroar,” they said, “don’t pretend you care about me. I know you want it for yourself.”

“No crit.”

“Well, you can’t--” their voice cracked, “can’t have it. I paid good credits for this, so… so you can go ahead and do the same. I’m not scared of you.”

I laughed. “Sure you are. You’re scared of Turbo, ain’t ya?”

They flinched. “What? N-no I’m not.”

“Yes you are. You’re terrified of what he did. And that horrible, haunting, homicidal demon? Maybe you haven’t heard, but he and I--” I crossed my fingers, “-- were pretty close. We shared everything. I’ve heard sprites say we shared two halves of the same code. You know the one difference we have that’s keeping me from doing what he did?”

They had completely backed up against a tree. Even through the fog, I could see them shaking. They seemed too petrified to answer.

I leaned a little closer, “Motive. He found his reason. I’m still waiting for mine. So, you can give me that GC…” I flipped out the knife and pointed it where I assume their face was, “...or you can give me a reason.”

That hit the mark.

“Okay, okay, just take it!” They quite nearly threw it at me. Once it was in my hands, they tried to make a break for it, but I overtook them easily and cut them off.

“Ah, ah! We’re not done here,” I said. “One last thing. Keep your mouth shut, and we’ll never have to speak to each other again. If you so much as breathe a word about this to the Surge Protector, I’ll know. You can if you want, but before you do, just ask yourself how much you value your game. Yeah?”

“Y-yes--”

“Speak up.”

“Yes ma’am!”

I snorted. “Weirdo. Alright, get outta here. Thanks for the GC.”

I went back to my game to take it, still taking that monumental risk. My fear of corruption was still not real enough to spur any caution in that regard. A lot of me was still pretty freaked out over being out in public for too long, let alone being in public and high off my ass. I thought of all the sprites I’d seen before I was attacked, the unwitting GC addicts lying completely vulnerable on the port station couches. I thought of how easy it would have been for me to do whatever the hell I wanted with them, if I weren’t a better sprite. I couldn’t put myself in that position. The risk of violence felt so much more real than the risk of some enigmatic fate that could only belong in nightmares. Nightmares aren’t real. Murderers are. 

So, I got back to my den. I took some deep breaths, and tried desperately to find something close to a good state of mind. This hit had to be better than the one that landed me in Fix-it’s apartment. It would be my very last, so it just had to count. 

I took it.

Y’know how sometimes you fall asleep and it feels like the entire night lasted only a blink?

I blinked, and I was staring at my reflection. It took me a minute to even realize anything happened. I was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the river, hunched over like a vulture, staring at my own bright-blue-eyed face. My eyes were dry and shot, as if I hadn’t been blinking. I tried to move, but my legs had gone completely numb beneath me. That’s also when I realized I was, for some reason, completely naked.

I could also already feel my high beginning to taper down. I’d lost the entirety of my trip. That fact felt like a rock in my gut.

I don’t think it was so much the fact that I missed the high itself that bothered me. Yeah, I was disappointed. I’d gone through all the trouble of threatening some poor slob to get that high, and I didn’t even get to experience it. But more than that, I started to feel disgusted with myself for risking so much for something that wasn’t even worth it.

I was even more pissed at myself for how badly I wanted more.

Feeling like complete garbage, I painfully unfolded myself and lowered onto my back in the mud. I stretched out my stiff legs until my heels felt flowing water.

That’s when things, as ever, got weird. Really freakin’ weird.

I heard a voice mutter my name. It was cold and distorted, so much that I almost thought I had imagined it (which I technically did, I suppose). A quick glance around offered no insight. I heard it again, and realized I was piecing together words in the babbling of the river at my feet. That was enough for me to brush it off completely as harmless tricks of the ear and lie back down. Until it formed a full sentence.

It asked, “Are you gonna ignore me forever, or what?”

Okay.

I replied with my own question. “Ballpark, how high am I right now?”

“For any buff other than GC, you’d be in the high-as-balls ballpark,” it told me, “but as it stands, you’re almost done here.”

“Great,” I sighed. “That’s what I figured.”

The voice scoffed. “Well, no need to pout about it.”

“I’m not pouting. Maybe I’m a little pissed that this last high crapped out on me so hard.”

“So what? Just take another one.”

I paused, and I stared up at the stars silently for a minute. I suddenly felt so profoundly exhausted. Rubbing my eye, I said, “Yeah, I’m not doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Whatever subconscious BS this is. I’m not gonna sit here arguing with my inner demons or some stupid crap. If you wanna be a sentient river and splash around my feet, knock yourself out. Just don’t talk to me.” 

“Well, you’re in a mood,” it might have rolled its eyes if it had any.

“That’s talking. Zip it.”

“You really want to lay your grouchy ass down and waste the rest of your high?”

“What the hell else am I gonna do? Other than make small talk with-- with whatever the hell you are.”

I heard a smile in its voice. “I’m just your voice of reason.”

I frowned. “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re the exact opposite of that.”

“Okay,” it said in a challenging tone, “Say something smart, then, if you’re so reasonable.”

I didn’t answer right away. I took a moment to realize that I’d been thinking more clearly than I’d been able to for a long time. Not crystal clear, not enlightenment -- I think I was just more or less able to let some things sink in. The loudest and most important of these things was,

“This is over.”

It paused, as much as a river can pause. “Come again?”

“I can’t… I can’t keep doing this. This was my last hit.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because if I take so much as one more, I’ll freakin’ corrupt, that’s why.”

It scoffed. “If that’s what you’re afraid of, take it outside your game.”

“I don’t wanna die either, dickweed.”

“You won’t!”

“Yeah, I almost definitely will!”

“No, you won’t,” it hissed firmly. “Something like this can’t kill you. Not after everything you’ve survived. If you were anyone else, you’d have died a long time ago, but you’re not. You’re Make-it freakin’ Mavis. You survive.”

It was right. It was so right, in ways it didn’t intend to be. Shame squirmed around in my belly -- the very same self-disgust that made me grateful you couldn’t see me. But this time, it was too much. This time, the weight of it shifted something inside me.

“You’re right,” I said.

“Yeah, see?”

“You’re right,” I nodded, “I’m Make-it freakin’ Mavis, and I can’t let this kill me.”

“...What?”

Acid boiled in my chest. I was scolding myself, and it did not feel good. I didn’t want to think about the things I’d done, but I chose to rub my own nose in it. “What the hell have I been doing? Why am I slowly killing myself like this? This is pathetic. This is cowardly. This is running away with my tail between my legs. Make-it Mavis doesn’t run away. Pathetic cowards do.”

“Interesting take,” it said slowly. “So what are you gonna do now?”

“Not more GC, that’s for sure.”

“I see. So you wanna stop running away from your problems, and instead…let yourself get crushed by them. You survive, girl. Sometimes that means fleeing when you know you don’t stand a chance.”

“I do stand a chance,” I grit my teeth, “so long as I’m still breathing.”

“Okay,” it sounded distinctly unimpressed, “so what’s your game plan? Just how do you plan on fighting the pain? You think you’re ready for that?”

“I…” I sighed and rolled onto my side in the cold mud. “I’m not. But I don’t want to die.”

“Well, that’s admirable. Most sprites in your position probably would -- I mean, c’mon, let’s see…”

“Don’t.”

“Your life as you knew it is decimated. You lost both your jobs, you lost your favorite pastimes, you lost your place in society, you lost your coded gift of creation that literally defines you. You’ve only got three allies in this -- one of which you’ve already pissed off enough to lose, another of which you lied to so you could do this, and another of which you literally do not know how to be nice to. Wreck-it hates you now, and Tapper and Fix-it won’t be far behind. You know why? They’ve got a lick of sense in their heads, which is more than can be said for your best friend, who, by the way, is dead.”

I didn’t respond. I just pulled my knees to my chest and listened to the river flow by. Nothing it said hit too hard. I heard that very same script in my head every time I was sober. Hearing it out loud from this imaginary being just sort of felt like my problems were being propped up in front of me, so I could see just how tiny I am in comparison. So I could see that it was a losing fight.

“You got nothing now, Mavis. You’re more alone than you’ve ever been,” the river said casually. “Power to you for not wanting to give up, but who’s left that’s worth the trouble of playing it safe?”

I took a moment. I was not about to lose this fight.

“Me.”

It paused, and then sputtered a short, watery laugh. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Me, damn it,” I snapped, sitting up to stare at the plain riverbank. “You think I’ve got nothing now? Glitch, I had nothing when I was plugged in. But you know what? I made it. I made stuff to live for. Anything that’s ever made me happy, I got to experience because I was there for me. I’m not going to risk throwing away all that survival just so I can get high for a few hours. That’s stupid, that’s pathetic, and that’s beneath me. I owe my own safety to myself.”

It gave a weird, bubbly snort. “Just yourself, huh? That’s pretty pathetic. Pretty telling of the miserable life you lead. No one’s there for you, so you gotta be your own best friend, is that right?”

“No. No, my real--” my breath caught for a second, and I had to stop to breathe, “-- my real best friend would have been here for me, too. And I… I owe it to him to stop running away.”

At that, it outright cackled in a way that made my skin feel tight. “You say that like he wouldn’t be running right alongside you!”

“He wouldn’t. He’d see how stupid this is.”

“Nah, you’d rope him into it. You’re an expert enabler, don’t you remember? Whose hand-made buffs won the title of ‘Turbo’s First Addiction?’”

I felt sick. “That was a long time ago. Neither of us knew any better.”

“If he were here, you’d take GC together, and you’d both get hooked, and he’d corrupt. And it’d be your fault.”

“You wanna act like you know him better than I do?”

“Did.”

“Shut up,” I hissed. “I know what he would do. Like Tapper said… about if he saw me like this. He’d see that it’s ridiculous. He’d see that I’m better than this, and he wouldn’t sit back quietly about it. He’d tell me. He’d tell me right to my face, with no sugar coating. And he’d be right to do it.”

“I think you’re hoping that he saw you as better than you actually are.”

“I’m not, actually. Fix-it does that. T didn’t. He actually--” I had to breathe again, feeling myself beginning to shake. “He saw--... He saw me exactly as I was. He knew I’m a bit of a-- y’know, a goblin most of the time. But I-- I think that’s… just the way he liked me. He knew everything I wasn’t. But it just seemed like he was only interested in everything I was.”

The river did not speak, but I could swear the water ran colder on my toes. It seemed to be waiting impatiently for me to finish.

I closed my eyes and spoke mostly to myself. “I owe it to him to stay everything that I am.”

“Why?!” The river suddenly snapped, and it rushed by faster than before. “That lying son of a glitch doesn’t deserve it! He’s the one who got you into this mess in the first place! He ruined your life! He LEFT you! He broke his freakin’--”

Splash. 

I kicked my heel hard into the water. It was hardly enough to upset an entire river, but I’d had enough of this stupid hallucination. At first, it seemed to work. But I heard words between the babbles again before too long.

“Yeah,” it said, almost breathlessly, “yeah, it hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Shut the hell up,” I grumbled, pulling my knees to my chest.

“Me? You’re the one who screwed up. You let him get into your head. And the pain will never go away. Not ‘til the day you’re deleted, and even then, who knows?”

“He didn’t get in my head,” I lied poorly.

“Ha, ha, ha,” it laughed humorlessly. “No, no, I see. We’re way beyond brains now, aren’t we? He didn’t just get into your head, he shot straight freakin’ through it and took a chunk with him -- the chunk that’s sensible enough to know not to let him get into your heart.”

I dug my nails into my leg. “Stop it.”

“So he got in. He laid his roots, and he laid them deep. Must’ve really hurt like a glitch when he yanked them all out, huh?”

Despite myself, I felt my eyes start to sting, if only over how badly I wanted to wring the nonexistent throat of the river. “You’re not gonna make me take more GC,” I warned it. “So just give up.”

“I can’t make you do anything,” it said. “But you haven’t got much time left in this high. After this, you’re really on your own, until… who knows, maybe forever. But I’m still willing to help you, if you’ll just let me.”

I muttered, “I don’t need your help.”

“Who else is gonna help you?”

“I DON’T NEED ANYONE’S HELP!”

I lunged forward so that my hands sank hard into the muddy riverbank, and my pounding heart skipped two beats the moment I saw my reflection form on the rippling water.

It was, once more, the face I had seen reflected on my broken paint can -- bloodied, misshapen, hated, and alone.

I screamed and swiped at the water’s surface, as if I could claw the image out of it and tear it to pieces, but thankfully, I didn’t have to. Once the water settled into its course again, all I saw looking back at me was me. Naked, muddy, bright-blue eyed, but me all the same.

And the river did not speak again.

I was overwhelmed for so many reasons. One was from living through the very stressful past few minutes, another was for finally letting go of my escape I’d been so in love with before, and another was from pure relief that I came out on top of that fight. I wasn’t sure I was going to. It all just welled up in me and spilled over in tears. I was so disgusted by how much I’d been crying lately, but I couldn’t help it. I just sat in the shallow water and let it out. 

After a while, I decided to get cleaned up so I could go get warm. I was freakin’ freezing, and the albeit quick bath I took in the river offered no help. I wasn’t even sure where my clothes were, but once I stepped out of the water, I didn’t even get to start looking for them.

I lost time. A big chunk of it. 

A shock of pain and a blue flash later, I found myself crossing Grand Central Station, fully clothed, but cold and damp, as if I’d put my clothes on without drying off. I was pointed straight for Pac-Man’s.

I’d made the decision to quit GC. My addiction had other plans.

Dread welled up in me. I’d come out hunting for another hit, completely puppeted by my subconscious. I was just strolling right out as if on a daily errand. I tried turning back many times, only to lose time and regain consciousness much closer to the game. Again and again. I was so vulnerable, just right out in the open. Anyone could have stopped me, arrested me, or attacked me. But no one did. At the time, I was too concerned with the fact that my body was dragging me to my potential death against my will to notice. But now I can see just how haunting it is that I avoided any sort of attention. I was locked into a death march, and it seemed like the whole arcade was just standing aside, clearing a path for me.

I lost time like hiccups. I made it into the Pac-Man port. I rode the train. I stepped into the maze. It took me seconds to appear in what I’d later recognize as a far corner, staring down a Game-Changer. It floated there so simply, so unassumingly. So invitingly.

I hated myself so wholeheartedly in that moment. After everything I thought I’d just defeated, I was back at it. And I couldn’t stop myself. Once I saw it, I couldn’t even try to turn back. It was like a gamer had taken control of my sprite.

I strode forward and let it burst against my pixels.

Unlike the first time I took GC, this time didn’t hurt. At all. I felt it breathe into me, and just like that, I felt lighter. So light, I wasn’t too familiar with gravity anymore. My head swam, and I stumbled forward against the wall and slid to the floor. I took weak, shallow breaths, and I knew I should have been afraid. Maybe part of me was. 

But once I couldn’t turn back anymore, most of me was just relieved to be getting away one last time. It wasn’t long before that lightness floated me away. 

My eyelids grew heavy. I didn’t try to fight it at all. I just let my eyes fall shut and my neck go limp, which, honestly, felt so good to do. It was as if I’d just really fallen asleep for the first time in over a month. Which, as far as I could perceive, I did.

I woke up to a growing sting in my eyes, like mornings where you’d open the blackout shutters to let the blinding sunlight scorch me awake. There were no shutters, this time. But, as it turned out, it was the same sunlight.

I cracked my eyes open against the brightness, and when I did… I saw your game. Completely intact. I was looking at the trees at the edge of your little trailer park, and they were dry as ever. There was just as much junk and litter strewn about in the dirt as I remembered. Even the Twins’ trailers were right where they ought to have been, a stone’s throw down to the left of me. Which had to mean yours was sitting right behind me.

I’m not sure how to describe how I felt right there. I was confused, for sure, but I was also confused as to why I was confused. I felt sort of like… when you walk into a room, and you forget why you came into it at all, but you know it was for a reason.

I pushed to my feet and found them wobbly. I turned to look at your trailer door, and I paused. Something about it sort of made my stomach ache. I wanted to go in, I’d even say I felt compelled to. But I also really didn’t want to see you. For reasons I couldn’t remember, I was pissed. I was drunk. And I was also… scared. Somehow.

Then, a whisper of awareness came into my head before disappearing again, as quickly as it came. I’d done this before. This was no ordinary buff trip. It was a memory.

Up until that point, I’d thought I didn’t remember the last time we’d spoken before the incident.

Apparently, I did.

[hlupdate]

A hand­shake can quell polit­i­cal unrest and sti­fle impend­ing war. It can, with a bit of spit, val­i­date a gentleman’s agree­ment, end a years-long roman­tic rela­tion­ship or send a young heart rac­ing. But it all depends on the two par­ties involved.

Daisy, 21, felt a seis­mic jolt when Har­ry Styles, 25, wear­ing a striped jumper and rings on three of his five fin­gers, clutched her hand two days after this year’s Met Gala in New York, when she served him gela­to at the shop where she worked.

“He decid­ed on a small mint choco­late gela­to and I made his and the one for his friend and I said, ​‘Can I just say I absolute­ly loved your Met Gala look’ and he said ​‘Thank you very much! What’s your name?’ And I said, ​‘Daisy’ AND HE FUCK­ING EXTEND­ED HISHAND AND REACHED TO SHAKE MY HAND AND I ACTU­AL­LY FUCK­INGSHOOK HIS HAND WHAT THE FUCK,” she wrote on Insta­gram after The Shak­en­ing. ​“Like I didn’t even say any­thing to gas him up besides ​‘I loved your met gala look’ and his fine ass went and shook my hand! WHAT A BEAU­TI­FUL FUCK­ING HUMAN BEINGTHAT HE IS GOD BLESS HIM AND I HOPE HW [sic] LIVES FOREVER.”

For Har­ry Styles, a hand­shake can be a roman­tic ges­ture, con­jur­ing a potent rev­er­ence in its recip­i­ent, like the time he met Gucci’s cre­ative direc­tor Alessan­dro Michele. ​“He was as attrac­tive as James Dean and as per­sua­sive as Gre­ta Gar­bo. He was like a Luchi­no Vis­con­ti char­ac­ter, like an Apol­lo: at the same time sexy as a woman, as a kid, as a man,” Michele told me, has­ten­ing to add: ​“Of course, Har­ry is not aware of this.”

No, Styles has no idea the pow­er he wields. In per­son, he’s tow­er­ing, like some­one who is not that much taller but whose rep­u­ta­tion adds four inch­es. Styles has a seda­tive bari­tone, spo­ken in a rum­my north­ern Eng­lish accent, that tum­bles out so slow­ly you for­get the name of your first born, a swag­ger that has been nursed and per­fect­ed in myth­i­cal places with names like Pais­ley Park, or Abbey Road, or Grace­land. Makes com­plete sense that he would be up for the role of Elvis Pres­ley in Baz Luhrmann’s upcom­ing biopic. He was primed, nay, born to shake his hips, all but one but­ton on his shirt cling­ing for dear life around his tor­so. Then the part was award­ed to anoth­er actor, Austin Butler.

“[Elvis] was such an icon for me grow­ing up,” Styles tells me. ​“There was some­thing almost sacred about him, almost like I didn’t want to touch him. Then I end­ed up get­ting into [his life] a bit and I wasn’t dis­ap­point­ed,” he adds of his ini­tial research and prepa­ra­tions to play The King. He seems relaxed about los­ing the part to But­ler. ​“I feel like if I’m not the right per­son for the thing, then it’s best for both of us that I don’t do it, you know?”

Styles released his self-titled debut solo album in May 2017. The boy­band grad was clear­ly unin­ter­est­ed in hol­low­ing out the charts with more for­mu­la­ic meme pop. Instead, to the sur­prise of many, he dug his heels into retro-fetishist West Coast ​’70s rock. Some of the One Direc­tion fan-hordes might have been con­fused, but no mat­ter: Har­ry Styles sold one mil­lion copies.

Despite its com­mer­cial and crit­i­cal suc­cess, he didn’t tour the album right away. He want­ed to act in the Christo­pher Nolan film Dunkirk. To his cred­it, his por­tray­al of a British sol­dier cow­er­ing in a moored boat on the French beach­es as the Nazis advanced wasn’t skew­ered in the press like the movie debuts of, say, Madon­na or Justin Tim­ber­lake. Per­haps he was fol­low­ing advice giv­en by Elton John, who had urged him to diver­si­fy. ​“He was bril­liant in Dunkirk, which took a lot of peo­ple by sur­prise,” John writes in an email. ​“I love how he takes chances and risks.” Act­ing, unlike music, is a release for Styles; it’s the one time he can be not himself.

“Why do I want to act? It’s so dif­fer­ent to music for me,” he says, sud­den­ly ani­mat­ed. ​“They’re almost oppo­site for me. Music, you try and put so much of your­self into it; act­ing, you’re try­ing to total­ly dis­ap­pear in who­ev­er you’re being.”

Fol­low­ing the news that he missed out on Pres­ley, his name was float­ed for the role of Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action remake of The Lit­tle Mer­maid. How­ev­er, fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Styles on the big screen as that idea, too, has sunk. He won’t be The King or the Prince. ​“It was dis­cussed,” he acknow­ledges before swift­ly chang­ing the sub­ject. ​“I want to put music out and focus on that for a while. But every­one involved in it was amaz­ing, so I think it’s going to be great. I’ll enjoy watch­ing it, I’m sure.”

The new album is wrapped and the sin­gle is decid­ed upon. ​“It’s not like his last album,” his friend, rock ​‘n’ roll leg­end Ste­vie Nicks, told me recent­ly over the phone. ​“It’s not like any­thing One Direc­tion ever did. It’s pure Har­ry, as Har­ry would say. He’s made a very dif­fer­ent record and it’s spectacular.”

Beyond that, Styles is keep­ing his cards close to his chest as to his next musi­cal move. How­ev­er, the air is thick with rumours that his main wing­man for HS2 is Kid Har­poon, aka Tom Hull, who co-wrote debut album track Sweet Crea­ture. No less an author­i­ty than Liam Gal­lagher told us that both big band escapees were in the same stu­dio – RAK in north-west Lon­don – at the same time mak­ing their sec­ond solo albums. Styles played him a cou­ple of tracks, ​“and I tell you what, they’re good,” Gal­lagher enthused. ​“A bit like that Bon Iver. Is that his name?”

Har­ry Styles met Nicks at a Fleet­wood Mac con­cert in Los Ange­les in April 2015. Some­thing about him felt authen­tic to the leg­endary front­woman: ground­ed, like she’d known him for­ev­er, blessed with a win­ning moon­shot grin. A month lat­er, they met back­stage at anoth­er Mac gig, this time at the O2 in Lon­don. Styles brought a car­rot cake for Nicks’ birth­day, her name piped in icing on top. By her own admis­sion, Nicks doesn’t even cel­e­brate birth­days, so this was a sur­prise. ​“He was per­son­al­ly respon­si­ble for me actu­al­ly hav­ing to cel­e­brate my birth­day, which was very sweet,” she says.

Styles’ rela­tion­ship with Nicks is hard to define. Induct­ing her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York as a solo artist ear­li­er this year, his speech hymned her as a ​“mag­i­cal gyp­sy god­moth­er who occu­pies the in-between”. She’s called him her ​“lovechild” with Mick Fleet­wood and the ​“son I nev­er had”. Both have moved past the pre­lim­i­nary chat acknowl­edg­ing each other’s unquan­tifi­able tal­ents and smooth­ly accel­er­at­ed towards play­ful cut-and-thrust ban­ter of a witch mom and her naughty child.

They per­form togeth­er – he sings The Chainand Stop Drag­gin’ My Heart Around; she sings the one alleged­ly writ­ten about Tay­lor Swift, Two Ghosts. One of those per­for­mances was at the Guc­ci Cruise after­par­ty in Rome in May, for ​“a lot of mon­ey”, Nicks tells me, in a ​“big kind of cas­tle place”. She has become his de fac­to men­tor – one phone call is all it takes to reach the Queen of Rock’n’Roll for advice on sequenc­ing (“She is real­ly good at track list­ing,” Styles admits) or just to hear each other’s voic­es… because, well, wouldn’t you?

Fol­low­ing anoth­er Fleet­wood Mac con­cert, at London’s Wem­b­ley Sta­di­um, in June, Nicks met Styles for a late (Indi­an) din­ner. He then invit­ed her back to his semi-detached Geor­gian man­sion in north Lon­don for a lis­ten­ing par­ty at mid­night. The album – HS2or what­ev­er it’ll be called – was fin­ished. Nicks, her assis­tant Karen, her make-up artist and her friends Jess and Mary crammed onto Styles’ liv­ing-room couch. They lis­tened to it once through in silence like a ​“bunch of edu­cat­ed monks or some­thing in this dark room”. Then once again, 15 or 16 tracks, this time each of his guests offer­ing live feed­back. It wrapped at 5am, just as the sun was bleed­ing through the curtains.

Even for a pop star of Styles’ stature, press­ing ​“play��� on a deeply per­son­al work for your hero to digest, watch­ing her face react in real time to your new music, must be… what?

“It’s a dou­ble-edged thing,” he replies. ​“You’re always ner­vous when you are play­ing peo­ple music for the first time. You’ve heard it so much by this point, you for­get that peo­ple haven’t heard it before. It’s hard to not feel like you’ve done what you’ve set out to do. You are hap­py with some­thing and then some­one who you respect so much and look up to is, like: ​‘I real­ly like this.’ It feels like a large stamp [of approval]. It’s a big step towards feel­ing very com­fort­able with what­ev­er else hap­pens to it.”

Wad­ing through Styles’ back­ground info is exhaust­ing, since he was spanked by fame in the social media era where every god­dam blink of a kohl-rimmed eye has been doc­u­ment­ed from six angles. (And yes, he does some­times wear guyliner.)

Deep breath: born in Red­ditch, Worces­ter­shire, to par­ents Des and Anne, who divorced when he was sev­en. Grew up in Holmes Chapel in Cheshire with his sis­ter Gem­ma, mum and step­dad Robin Twist. Rode hors­es at a near­by sta­ble for free (“I was a bad rid­er, but I was a rid­er”). Stopped rid­ing, ​“got into dif­fer­ent stuff”. Formed a band, White Eski­mo, with school­mates. Aged 16, tried out for the 2010 run of The X Fac­torwith a stir­ring but aver­age ren­di­tion of Ste­vie Wonder’s Isn’t She Love­ly. Cut from the show and put into a boy band with four oth­ers, Louis Tom­lin­son, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, and called One Direc­tion. Became inter­na­tion­al­ly famous, toured the globe. Zayn quit to go solo. Toured some more. Dat­ed but maybe didn’t date Car­o­line Flack, Rita Ora and Tay­lor Swift – whom he report­ed­ly dumped in the British Vir­gin Islands. (This rela­tion­ship, if noth­ing else, yield­ed an icon­ic, can­did shot of Swift look­ing deject­ed, being motored back to shore on the back of a boat called the Fly­ing Ray.) One Direc­tion dis­cussed dis­band­ing in 2014, actu­al­ly dis­solved in 2015. They remain friend­ly, and Styles offi­cial­ly went solo in 2016.

It’s been two years since his epony­mous debut and lead sin­gle, Sign of the Times, shocked the world and Elton John with its swag­ger­ing, soft rock sound. ​“It came out of left field and I loved it,” John says.

After 89 are­na-packed shows across five con­ti­nents grossed him, the label, whomev­er, over $61 mil­lion, Styles had all but dis­ap­peared. He has emerged only inter­mit­tent­ly for pub­lic-fac­ing events – a Guc­ci after­par­ty per­for­mance here, a Met Gala co-chair­ing there. He relo­cat­ed from Los Ange­les back to Lon­don, sell­ing his Hol­ly­wood Hills house for $6mil­lion and ship­ping his Jaguar E-type across the Atlantic so he could take joyrides on the M25.

“I’m not over LA,” he insists when I ask about the move. ​“My rela­tion­ship with LAchanged a lot. What I want­ed from LA changed.”

A great escape, he would agree, is some­times nec­es­sary. He was in Tokyo for most of Jan­u­ary, hav­ing near­ly fin­ished his album. ​“I need­ed time to get out of that album frame-of-mind of: ​‘Is it fin­ished? Where am I at? What’s hap­pen­ing?’ I real­ly need­ed that time away from every­one. I was kind of just in Tokyo by myself.” His sab­bat­i­cal most­ly involved read­ing Haru­ki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chron­i­cle, singing Nir­vana at karaoke, writ­ing alone in his hotel room, lis­ten­ing to music and eaves­drop­ping on strangers in alien con­ver­sa­tion. ​“It was just a pos­i­tive time for my head and I think that impact­ed the album in a big way.”

Dur­ing this break he watched a lot of films, read a lot of books. Some­times he texts these rec­om­men­da­tions to his pal Michele at Guc­ci. He told Michele to watch the Ali Mac­graw film, Love Sto­ry. ​“We text what friends text about. He is the same [as me] in terms of he lives in his own world and he does his own thing. I love dress­ing up and he loves dress­ing up.”

Because he loves dress­ing up, Michele chose Styles to be the face of three Guc­ci Tai­lor­ing cam­paigns and of its new gen­der­less fra­grance, Mémoire d’une Odeur.

“The moment I met him, I imme­di­ate­ly under­stood there was some­thing strong around him,” Michele tells me. ​“I realised he was much more than a young singer. He was a young man, dressed in a thought­ful way, with uncombed hair and a beau­ti­ful voice. I thought he gath­ered with­in him­self the fem­i­nine and the masculine.”

Fash­ion, for Styles, is a play­ground. Some­thing he doesn’t take too seri­ous­ly. A cou­ple of years ago Har­ry Lam­bert, his styl­ist since 2015, acquired for him a pair of pink metal­lic Saint Lau­rent boots that he has nev­er been pho­tographed wear­ing. They are exceed­ing­ly rare – few pairs exist. Styles wears them ​“to get milk”. They are, in his words, ​“super-fun”. He’s not sure, but he has, ball­park, 50 pairs of shoes, as well as full clos­ets in at least three post­codes. He set­tles on an out­fit fair­ly quick­ly, maybe changes his T-shirt once before head­ing out, but most­ly knows what he likes.

What he may not ful­ly com­pre­hend is that sim­ply by being pho­tographed in a gar­ment he can spur the career of a design­er, as he has with Har­ris Reed, Palo­mo Spain, Charles Jef­frey, Alled-Martínez and a new favourite, Bode. Styles wore a SS16 Guc­ci flo­ral suit to the 2015 Amer­i­can Music Awards. When he was asked who made his suit on the red car­pet, Guc­ci began trend­ing world­wide on Twitter.

“It was one of the first times a male wore Alessandro’s run­way designs and, at the time, men were not tak­ing too many red car­pet risks,” says Lam­bert. ​“Who knows if it influ­enced oth­ers, but it was a spe­cial moment. Plus, it was fun see­ing the fans dress up in suits to come see Harry’s shows.”

Yet tra­di­tion­al gen­der codes of dress still have the minds of mid­dle Amer­i­ca in a choke­hold. Men can’t wear women’s clothes, say the online whingers, who have labelled him ​“trag­ic”, ​“a clown” and a Bowie wannabe. Styles doesn’t care. ​“What’s fem­i­nine and what’s mas­cu­line, what men are wear­ing and what women are wear­ing – it’s like there are no lines any more.”

Elton John agrees: ​“It worked for Marc Bolan, Bowie and Mick. Har­ry has the same qualities.”

Then there is the ques­tion of Styles’ sex­u­al­i­ty, some­thing he has admit­ted­ly ​“nev­er real­ly start­ed to label”, which will plague him until he does. Per­haps it’s part of his allure. He’s bran­dished a pride flag that read ​“Make Amer­i­ca Gay Again” on stage, and plant­ed a stake some­where left of cen­tre on sexuality’s rain­bow spectrum.

“In the posi­tion that he’s in, he can’t real­ly say a lot, but he chose a queer girl band to open for him and I think that speaks vol­umes,” Josette Maskin of the queer band MUNA told The Face ear­li­er this year.

“I get a lot of…” Styles trails off, wheels turn­ing on how he can dis­cuss sex­u­al­i­ty with­out real­ly answer­ing. ​“I’m not always super-out­spo­ken. But I think it’s very clear from choic­es that I make that I feel a cer­tain way about lots of things. I don’t know how to describe it. I guess I’m not…” He paus­es again, piv­ots. ​“I want every­one to feel wel­come at shows and online. They want to be loved and equal, you know? I’m nev­er unsup­port­ed, so it feels weird for me to over­think it for some­one else.”

Sex­u­al­i­ty aside, he must acknowl­edge that he has sex appeal. ​“The word ​‘sexy’ sounds so strange com­ing out of my mouth. So I would say that that’s prob­a­bly why I would not con­sid­er myself sexy.”

Har­ry Styles has emerged ful­ly-formed, an anachro­nis­tic rock star, vague in sen­si­bil­i­ty but des­tined to impress with a dis­arm­ing smile and a warm but firm handshake.

I recite to him a quote from Chrissie Hyn­de of The Pre­tenders about her time atop rock’s throne: ​“I nev­er got into this for the mon­ey or because I want­ed to join in the super­star sex around the swim­ming pools. I did it because the offer of a record con­tract came along and it seemed like it might be more fun than being a wait­ress. Now, I’m not so sure.”

Styles – who worked in a bak­ery in a small north­ern town some time before play­ing to 40,000 scream­ing fans in South Amer­i­can are­nas – must have wit­nessed some shit, been invit­ed to a few pool­side sex par­ties, in his time.

“I’ve seen a cou­ple of things,” he nods in agree­ment. ​“But I’m still young. I feel like there’s still stuff to see.”

[stylesnews]

The Face - Volume 4 . Issue 1

A hand­shake can quell polit­i­cal unrest and sti­fle impend­ing war. It can, with a bit of spit, val­i­date a gentleman’s agree­ment, end a years-long roman­tic rela­tion­ship or send a young heart rac­ing. But it all depends on the two par­ties involved.

Daisy, 21, felt a seis­mic jolt when Har­ry Styles, 25, wear­ing a striped jumper and rings on three of his five fin­gers, clutched her hand two days after this year’s Met Gala in New York, when she served him gela­to at the shop where she worked.

“He decid­ed on a small mint choco­late gela­to and I made his and the one for his friend and I said, ​‘Can I just say I absolute­ly loved your Met Gala look’ and he said ​‘Thank you very much! What’s your name?’ And I said, ​‘Daisy’ AND HE FUCK­ING EXTEND­ED HIS HAND AND REACHEDTO SHAKE MY HAND AND I ACTU­AL­LY FUCK­ING SHOOK HIS HAND WHAT THEFUCK,” she wrote on Insta­gram after The Shak­en­ing. ​“Like I didn’t even say any­thing to gas him up besides ​‘I loved your met gala look’ and his fine ass went and shook my hand! WHATA BEAU­TI­FUL FUCK­ING HUMAN BEING THAT HE IS GOD BLESS HIM AND I HOPE HW[sic] LIVES FOREVER.”

For Har­ry Styles, a hand­shake can be a roman­tic ges­ture, con­jur­ing a potent rev­er­ence in its recip­i­ent, like the time he met Gucci’s cre­ative direc­tor Alessan­dro Michele. ​“He was as attrac­tive as James Dean and as per­sua­sive as Gre­ta Gar­bo. He was like a Luchi­no Vis­con­ti char­ac­ter, like an Apol­lo: at the same time sexy as a woman, as a kid, as a man,” Michele told me, has­ten­ing to add: ​“Of course, Har­ry is not aware of this.”

No, Styles has no idea the pow­er he wields. In per­son, he’s tow­er­ing, like some­one who is not that much taller but whose rep­u­ta­tion adds four inch­es. Styles has a seda­tive bari­tone, spo­ken in a rum­my north­ern Eng­lish accent, that tum­bles out so slow­ly you for­get the name of your first born, a swag­ger that has been nursed and per­fect­ed in myth­i­cal places with names like Pais­ley Park, or Abbey Road, or Grace­land. Makes com­plete sense that he would be up for the role of Elvis Pres­ley in Baz Luhrmann’s upcom­ing biopic. He was primed, nay, born to shake his hips, all but one but­ton on his shirt cling­ing for dear life around his tor­so. Then the part was award­ed to anoth­er actor, Austin Butler.

“[Elvis] was such an icon for me grow­ing up,” Styles tells me. ​“There was some­thing almost sacred about him, almost like I didn’t want to touch him. Then I end­ed up get­ting into [his life] a bit and I wasn’t dis­ap­point­ed,” he adds of his ini­tial research and prepa­ra­tions to play The King. He seems relaxed about los­ing the part to But­ler. ​“I feel like if I’m not the right per­son for the thing, then it’s best for both of us that I don’t do it, you know?”

Styles released his self-titled debut solo album in May 2017. The boy­band grad was clear­ly unin­ter­est­ed in hol­low­ing out the charts with more for­mu­la­ic meme pop. Instead, to the sur­prise of many, he dug his heels into retro-fetishist West Coast ​’70s rock. Some of the One Direc­tion fan-hordes might have been con­fused, but no mat­ter: Har­ry Styles sold one mil­lion copies.

Despite its com­mer­cial and crit­i­cal suc­cess, he didn’t tour the album right away. He want­ed to act in the Christo­pher Nolan film Dunkirk. To his cred­it, his por­tray­al of a British sol­dier cow­er­ing in a moored boat on the French beach­es as the Nazis advanced wasn’t skew­ered in the press like the movie debuts of, say, Madon­na or Justin Tim­ber­lake. Per­haps he was fol­low­ing advice giv­en by Elton John, who had urged him to diver­si­fy. ​“He was bril­liant in Dunkirk, which took a lot of peo­ple by sur­prise,” John writes in an email. ​“I love how he takes chances and risks.” Act­ing, unlike music, is a release for Styles; it’s the one time he can be not himself.

“Why do I want to act? It’s so dif­fer­ent to music for me,” he says, sud­den­ly ani­mat­ed. ​“They’re almost oppo­site for me. Music, you try and put so much of your­self into it; act­ing, you’re try­ing to total­ly dis­ap­pear in who­ev­er you’re being.”

Fol­low­ing the news that he missed out on Pres­ley, his name was float­ed for the role of Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action remake of The Lit­tle Mer­maid. How­ev­er, fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Styles on the big screen as that idea, too, has sunk. He won’t be The King or the Prince. ​“It was dis­cussed,” he acknow­ledges before swift­ly chang­ing the sub­ject. ​“I want to put music out and focus on that for a while. But every­one involved in it was amaz­ing, so I think it’s going to be great. I’ll enjoy watch­ing it, I’m sure.”

The new album is wrapped and the sin­gle is decid­ed upon. ​“It’s not like his last album,” his friend, rock ​‘n’ roll leg­end Ste­vie Nicks, told me recent­ly over the phone. ​“It’s not like any­thing One Direc­tion ever did. It’s pure Har­ry, as Har­ry would say. He’s made a very dif­fer­ent record and it’s spectacular.”

Beyond that, Styles is keep­ing his cards close to his chest as to his next musi­cal move. How­ev­er, the air is thick with rumours that his main wing­man for HS2 is Kid Har­poon, aka Tom Hull, who co-wrote debut album track Sweet Crea­ture. No less an author­i­ty than Liam Gal­lagher told us that both big band escapees were in the same stu­dio – RAK in north-west Lon­don – at the same time mak­ing their sec­ond solo albums. Styles played him a cou­ple of tracks, ​“and I tell you what, they’re good,” Gal­lagher enthused. ​“A bit like that Bon Iver. Is that his name?”

Har­ry Styles met Nicks at a Fleet­wood Mac con­cert in Los Ange­les in April 2015. Some­thing about him felt authen­tic to the leg­endary front­woman: ground­ed, like she’d known him for­ev­er, blessed with a win­ning moon­shot grin. A month lat­er, they met back­stage at anoth­er Mac gig, this time at the O2 in Lon­don. Styles brought a car­rot cake for Nicks’ birth­day, her name piped in icing on top. By her own admis­sion, Nicks doesn’t even cel­e­brate birth­days, so this was a sur­prise. ​“He was per­son­al­ly respon­si­ble for me actu­al­ly hav­ing to cel­e­brate my birth­day, which was very sweet,” she says.

Styles’ rela­tion­ship with Nicks is hard to define. Induct­ing her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York as a solo artist ear­li­er this year, his speech hymned her as a ​“mag­i­cal gyp­sy god­moth­er who occu­pies the in-between”. She’s called him her ​“lovechild” with Mick Fleet­wood and the ​“son I nev­er had”. Both have moved past the pre­lim­i­nary chat acknowl­edg­ing each other’s unquan­tifi­able tal­ents and smooth­ly accel­er­at­ed towards play­ful cut-and-thrust ban­ter of a witch mom and her naughty child.

They per­form togeth­er – he sings The Chain and Stop Drag­gin’ My Heart Around; she sings the one alleged­ly writ­ten about Tay­lor Swift, Two Ghosts. One of those per­for­mances was at the Guc­ci Cruise after­par­ty in Rome in May, for ​“a lot of mon­ey”, Nicks tells me, in a ​“big kind of cas­tle place”. She has become his de fac­to men­tor – one phone call is all it takes to reach the Queen of Rock’n’Roll for advice on sequenc­ing (“She is real­ly good at track list­ing,” Styles admits) or just to hear each other’s voic­es… because, well, wouldn’t you?

Fol­low­ing anoth­er Fleet­wood Mac con­cert, at London’s Wem­b­ley Sta­di­um, in June, Nicks met Styles for a late (Indi­an) din­ner. He then invit­ed her back to his semi-detached Geor­gian man­sion in north Lon­don for a lis­ten­ing par­ty at mid­night. The album – HS2or what­ev­er it’ll be called – was fin­ished. Nicks, her assis­tant Karen, her make-up artist and her friends Jess and Mary crammed onto Styles’ liv­ing-room couch. They lis­tened to it once through in silence like a ​“bunch of edu­cat­ed monks or some­thing in this dark room”. Then once again, 15 or 16 tracks, this time each of his guests offer­ing live feed­back. It wrapped at 5am, just as the sun was bleed­ing through the curtains.

Even for a pop star of Styles’ stature, press­ing ​“play” on a deeply per­son­al work for your hero to digest, watch­ing her face react in real time to your new music, must be… what?

“It’s a dou­ble-edged thing,” he replies. ​“You’re always ner­vous when you are play­ing peo­ple music for the first time. You’ve heard it so much by this point, you for­get that peo­ple haven’t heard it before. It’s hard to not feel like you’ve done what you’ve set out to do. You are hap­py with some­thing and then some­one who you respect so much and look up to is, like: ​‘I real­ly like this.’ It feels like a large stamp [of approval]. It’s a big step towards feel­ing very com­fort­able with what­ev­er else hap­pens to it.”

Wad­ing through Styles’ back­ground info is exhaust­ing, since he was spanked by fame in the social media era where every god­dam blink of a kohl-rimmed eye has been doc­u­ment­ed from six angles. (And yes, he does some­times wear guyliner.)

Deep breath: born in Red­ditch, Worces­ter­shire, to par­ents Des and Anne, who divorced when he was sev­en. Grew up in Holmes Chapel in Cheshire with his sis­ter Gem­ma, mum and step­dad Robin Twist. Rode hors­es at a near­by sta­ble for free (“I was a bad rid­er, but I was a rid­er”). Stopped rid­ing, ​“got into dif­fer­ent stuff”. Formed a band, White Eski­mo, with school­mates. Aged 16, tried out for the 2010 run of The X Fac­torwith a stir­ring but aver­age ren­di­tion of Ste­vie Wonder’s Isn’t She Love­ly. Cut from the show and put into a boy band with four oth­ers, Louis Tom­lin­son, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, and called One Direc­tion. Became inter­na­tion­al­ly famous, toured the globe. Zayn quit to go solo. Toured some more. Dat­ed but maybe didn’t date Car­o­line Flack, Rita Ora and Tay­lor Swift – whom he report­ed­ly dumped in the British Vir­gin Islands. (This rela­tion­ship, if noth­ing else, yield­ed an icon­ic, can­did shot of Swift look­ing deject­ed, being motored back to shore on the back of a boat called the Fly­ing Ray.) One Direc­tion dis­cussed dis­band­ing in 2014, actu­al­ly dis­solved in 2015. They remain friend­ly, and Styles offi­cial­ly went solo in 2016.

It’s been two years since his epony­mous debut and lead sin­gle, Sign of the Times, shocked the world and Elton John with its swag­ger­ing, soft rock sound. ​“It came out of left field and I loved it,” John says.

After 89 are­na-packed shows across five con­ti­nents grossed him, the label, whomev­er, over $61mil­lion, Styles had all but dis­ap­peared. He has emerged only inter­mit­tent­ly for pub­lic-fac­ing events – a Guc­ci after­par­ty per­for­mance here, a Met Gala co-chair­ing there. He relo­cat­ed from Los Ange­les back to Lon­don, sell­ing his Hol­ly­wood Hills house for $6 mil­lion and ship­ping his Jaguar E-type across the Atlantic so he could take joyrides on the M25.

“I’m not over LA,” he insists when I ask about the move. ​“My rela­tion­ship with LA changed a lot. What I want­ed from LA changed.”

A great escape, he would agree, is some­times nec­es­sary. He was in Tokyo for most of Jan­u­ary, hav­ing near­ly fin­ished his album. ​“I need­ed time to get out of that album frame-of-mind of: ​‘Is it fin­ished? Where am I at? What’s hap­pen­ing?’ I real­ly need­ed that time away from every­one. I was kind of just in Tokyo by myself.” His sab­bat­i­cal most­ly involved read­ing Haru­ki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chron­i­cle, singing Nir­vana at karaoke, writ­ing alone in his hotel room, lis­ten­ing to music and eaves­drop­ping on strangers in alien con­ver­sa­tion. ​“It was just a pos­i­tive time for my head and I think that impact­ed the album in a big way.”

Dur­ing this break he watched a lot of films, read a lot of books. Some­times he texts these rec­om­men­da­tions to his pal Michele at Guc­ci. He told Michele to watch the Ali Mac­graw film, Love Sto­ry. ​“We text what friends text about. He is the same [as me] in terms of he lives in his own world and he does his own thing. I love dress­ing up and he loves dress­ing up.”

Because he loves dress­ing up, Michele chose Styles to be the face of three Guc­ci Tai­lor­ing cam­paigns and of its new gen­der­less fra­grance, Mémoire d’une Odeur.

“The moment I met him, I imme­di­ate­ly under­stood there was some­thing strong around him,” Michele tells me. ​“I realised he was much more than a young singer. He was a young man, dressed in a thought­ful way, with uncombed hair and a beau­ti­ful voice. I thought he gath­ered with­in him­self the fem­i­nine and the masculine.”

Fash­ion, for Styles, is a play­ground. Some­thing he doesn’t take too seri­ous­ly. A cou­ple of years ago Har­ry Lam­bert, his styl­ist since 2015, acquired for him a pair of pink metal­lic Saint Lau­rent boots that he has nev­er been pho­tographed wear­ing. They are exceed­ing­ly rare – few pairs exist. Styles wears them ​“to get milk”. They are, in his words, ​“super-fun”. He’s not sure, but he has, ball­park, 50 pairs of shoes, as well as full clos­ets in at least three post­codes. He set­tles on an out­fit fair­ly quick­ly, maybe changes his T-shirt once before head­ing out, but most­ly knows what he likes.

What he may not ful­ly com­pre­hend is that sim­ply by being pho­tographed in a gar­ment he can spur the career of a design­er, as he has with Har­ris Reed, Palo­mo Spain, Charles Jef­frey, Alled-Martínez and a new favourite, Bode. Styles wore a SS16 Guc­ci flo­ral suit to the 2015 Amer­i­can Music Awards. When he was asked who made his suit on the red car­pet, Guc­ci began trend­ing world­wide on Twitter.

“It was one of the first times a male wore Alessandro’s run­way designs and, at the time, men were not tak­ing too many red car­pet risks,” says Lam­bert. ​“Who knows if it influ­enced oth­ers, but it was a spe­cial moment. Plus, it was fun see­ing the fans dress up in suits to come see Harry’s shows.”

Yet tra­di­tion­al gen­der codes of dress still have the minds of mid­dle Amer­i­ca in a choke­hold. Men can’t wear women’s clothes, say the online whingers, who have labelled him ​“trag­ic”, ​“a clown” and a Bowie wannabe. Styles doesn’t care. ​“What’s fem­i­nine and what’s mas­cu­line, what men are wear­ing and what women are wear­ing – it’s like there are no lines any more.”

Elton John agrees: ​“It worked for Marc Bolan, Bowie and Mick. Har­ry has the same qualities.”

Then there is the ques­tion of Styles’ sex­u­al­i­ty, some­thing he has admit­ted­ly ​“nev­er real­ly start­ed to label”, which will plague him until he does. Per­haps it’s part of his allure. He’s bran­dished a pride flag that read ​“Make Amer­i­ca Gay Again” on stage, and plant­ed a stake some­where left of cen­tre on sexuality’s rain­bow spectrum.

“In the posi­tion that he’s in, he can’t real­ly say a lot, but he chose a queer girl band to open for him and I think that speaks vol­umes,” Josette Maskin of the queer band MUNA told The Face ear­li­er this year.

“I get a lot of…” Styles trails off, wheels turn­ing on how he can dis­cuss sex­u­al­i­ty with­out real­ly answer­ing. ​“I’m not always super-out­spo­ken. But I think it’s very clear from choic­es that I make that I feel a cer­tain way about lots of things. I don’t know how to describe it. I guess I’m not…” He paus­es again, piv­ots. ​“I want every­one to feel wel­come at shows and online. They want to be loved and equal, you know? I’m nev­er unsup­port­ed, so it feels weird for me to over­think it for some­one else.”

Sex­u­al­i­ty aside, he must acknowl­edge that he has sex appeal. ​“The word ​‘sexy’ sounds so strange com­ing out of my mouth. So I would say that that’s prob­a­bly why I would not con­sid­er myself sexy.”

Har­ry Styles has emerged ful­ly-formed, an anachro­nis­tic rock star, vague in sen­si­bil­i­ty but des­tined to impress with a dis­arm­ing smile and a warm but firm handshake.

I recite to him a quote from Chrissie Hyn­de of The Pre­tenders about her time atop rock’s throne: ​“I nev­er got into this for the mon­ey or because I want­ed to join in the super­star sex around the swim­ming pools. I did it because the offer of a record con­tract came along and it seemed like it might be more fun than being a wait­ress. Now, I’m not so sure.”

Styles – who worked in a bak­ery in a small north­ern town some time before play­ing to 40,000scream­ing fans in South Amer­i­can are­nas – must have wit­nessed some shit, been invit­ed to a few pool­side sex par­ties, in his time.

“I’ve seen a cou­ple of things,” he nods in agree­ment. ​“But I’m still young. I feel like there’s still stuff to see.”

[dreamscapeadvent]

Intrepid Party pt. .6

This is, for the most part, the beginning of a RWBY fanfic. Canon-continuation, diverging into a universe of my own. I'll eventually put what comes just before - an edited version of what I posted months ago - and the rest as it develops.

As I said before, I hope I do the characters justice.

It's mostly first-draft. Lay on the lit crit.

---

The rock in Vergo's boot was slowing him down, if the hike through End's after-path wasn't bad enough. He wanted to stop, sit down, yank off the boot and dump its contents, wiggle his toes in the air. He would watch End's bright, silvery vortex wander away, and he would go find a rift that didn't deliver monsters to their doorstep. Vergo stopped and put his hands on his knees, looking accusingly at the white tornado his diver party was following. They'd only just dropped into its direct trough minutes ago, so the rest of the men were excited enough to give Vergo a headache.

“Pull your weight, scav!” said the tall, sonic-pike wielding diver in front of him, having looked back as though expecting - correctly - to find their caboose slacking. Vergo only groaned and trudged forward, knowing better than to complain.

The leaders of their party, the tall, beastly brothers Taiko and Timpa who “brought glory and riches to End” - far enough to be out of earshot - were following close enough to the rift that Vergo thought there was a chance it'd TAKE something, for once. He imagined the two being plopped on an alien world bloodied and confused, with otherworldly divers stabbing them in the chest before they could get their bearings.

Of course, not many others believed that was how the rifts worked. And only the most monstrous of the rift's deliveries survived the apparent trip. Vergo coughed on End's metallic air and decided to remain being mad at it anyway for being so selective.

“VEEEEERGO!” came a taunt and a wiry, gangly diver with another sonic pike bounded back from the middle of the group with his two typical lackeys. Vergo kept his head down and tried not to limp on his rock.

“Come on, buddy!” It was that seething kindness that made his hackles rise. Shouldn't this asshole be digging through the dirt? “You can't find anything for the town if you're always trying to catch up!” A few divers cackled as the gangly one craned down to look up at Vergo's lowered face. “Need HELP, buddy?”

Vergo merely plodded onward, trying his best to seem preoccupied with the dive, his heart beating fast. He was a small man, awkwardly shaped, so he'd been used to this kind of treatment since he was little. He wanted to retort - say he was fine - send these idiots back to their hike, maybe ask them why they weren't paying attention to the dive - but he knew it'd only be ammunition. So he stayed silent, kept on while the carrion feeders circled.  

The tall one - Vergo struggled to remember his name- stopped directly in front of him, halting the rear procession. “Looks like you could use a hand,” he said with a barely-veiled sneer. Vergo tried to look around him at the receding backside of the one who had first told him to keep up, actually concerned about being left behind - but the stage was set for the gangly bully and his audience. “This looks like a good spot,” he said, and used his weapon to whip some dirt up at the small man, who barely had time to shield his eyes. Among the sound of falling dirt and pebbles, the silence was deafening as the troup watched.

Vergo stood frozen for a second before kneeling down to feign investment in the new little furrow. He scrunched his brow, rubbing some of the unearthed dirt between his fingers.

“No such luck,” he said quietly - but before he could finish the last word a boot kicked more dirt in his face, getting in his mouth and eyes. He cried out and sputtered, rubbing at his eyes, which burned and screamed for the intrusion. Didn't they know this soil was rogue? The gods only knew what End put in it! But Vergo heard only laughter as he fell back, both spitting and trying not to scratch his eyes. Yeah, a tiny piece of metal with the dirt in his mouth. He fumbled for his canteen and uncorked it over his squinted eyes.

“Vergo's wasting water!” he heard another say.

“He's not even trying to use the help we offered,” said the first voice. Vergo's heart picked up again, seeing the man kneel through blurry, watering eyes. He instinctively fell back on his ass and scrambled back. “Just wasting everything, eh, Verg’?” Tall and gangly picked up something Vergo had dropped, turned it over slowly in his hands, shaking his head. His shock baton. “Can't even kill the stragglers with this thing you made.”

“Catro!” came a call from toward the middle of the group. Vergo rubbed his eyes, seeing a little better. His abuser had stood up at the call looking to the messenger with a relaxed smirk. His followers looked like animals after thunder.

“Yeah?” he called back. He dropped Vergo's shock baton, who barely caught it before it landed on his crotch. Vergo wheezed, grasping, and rolled over, his weapon trapped between his legs.

“Taiko's callin’ for the stray,” the voice called back with a hint of distaste. “Get him up there and form up the rear.”

“Can do!” Catro shouted, then pulled up a still doubled over Vergo. The small man struggled to right himself, gingerly pulling his weapon from where it stuck locked between his knees. Catro smiled with predator teeth. “Go be useful, knot-tier.”

Without a word, Vergo set up the path eyes-down, fighting nausea, passing other divers examining the fresh rift soil. Oh, he thought. They must be close to the rift itself for the black soil of its prowling grounds to look this undisturbed. He had to fight two urges as he delicately made his way past the other divers, all at least a head taller and several grades rougher than him. The first urge was to stop, kneel, and run his fingers through the fine, mostly pristine soil.

The second was to turn and run away as quickly as possible. Diving behind this monstrosity was inSANE.

As though feeling left out of his thoughts, End itself bloomed into his vision as he topped a rise in its wake-path. Vergo froze, wide-eyed, before what his brain called an apex predator: a thick, blue-white finger of god stretching from the ground to an angry vortex of dust in the sky - End looked like a tornado without spin, a slightly tapered column of angry light surrounded by perpetually shattering mirrors. It was the biggest rift Vergo had ever seen, and he'd never been this close to it before.

What made him want to turn around and run in that exact moment was that End wasn't moving.

“-can outrun it if it turns around,” Vergo suddenly heard just below the rise in front of him. Two large men in faceted leather armor stood with their backs to him, regarding the frozen rift.

“Yeah, that's not the problem,” said the other. Taiko, and his brother. Two separate survival instincts started to have a staring contest in Vergo's head. “When was the last time you saw 'er stop still like that?”

Timpa turned his head, grimaced through his beard at his twin. “Wasn't that…”

“When that thing took out bunch of Jimba's guys, yeah.” Taiko barked a surprising laugh at his twin. “Dear cousin was pulling ahead of us, Timpa. End gave us an edge.”

“Yeah,” Timpa said, “but what's it giving us, now?”  

Vergo stood frozen on the rise, his leaders below him, his fingers unconsciously tightening around his shock baton. For the twins’ part, their hands only moved to check their armor as the three of them looked on at the uncomfortably stationary rift, which shuddered for a moment before going still again. Taiko’s hand found a loose knot under a plate on his armor, and he seemed to remember something he was waiting on - he turned and saw Vergo, who jumped at his name.

“Vergo!” Taiko said, turning on a massive heel. “Get over here! Where've you been?” Vergo tried to don his most apologetic face as he slid down the rift soil, nearly tumbling forward. Taiko gestured with both hands impatiently. “I’m gonna lose this plate!”

Trying and failing not to look over Taiko’s shoulder at the rift, Vergo felt a huge, gloved hand clap him on the shoulder as he reached the leader with the weak knot. “You look at that thing too long,” Timpa said, “and you can be the first that tries to kill what comes out of it!” Timpa threw back his head with loud laughter, earning a few well-needed chuckles from the advance divers surrounding the leaders’ stopping point. He leaned forward, grabbing and releasing Vergo’s arm with a little shake. “You fix my brother’s armor, knot-man.”

Honestly, Vergo preferred Taiko and Timpa to the divers like Catro who seemed to have a lot to prove.

Taiko turned his torso to look back at the rift, forcing Vergo to strafe around him as he undid dependent knots before fixing the armor.

“What’dya think we’ll get?” he asked Timpa quietly, seeming to pay the little knot-tyer little mind. “Never seen it pause this long.” Timpa’s response was a thoughtful, guttural growl accompanied by a meaningful stabbing of the butt of his pike into the dirt.

“Something dead,” he said after a moment, loud enough for everyone to hear. “One way or another.” More than a few surrounding divers made sounds of affirmation.

Vergo’s eyebrows furrowed as he began re-tying knots, pulling plates back into place around Taiko’s torso. Why were these men so eager to kill? His whole family had been divers where he came from - they’d been wary of junk that came through their rift that was slightly radioactive, or even sharp. There were sometimes tiny, dead alien animals - but they were usually barely recognizable pieces of meat or char, and Vergo’s family had burned them. The idea of living monsters coming through End still boggled his mind. He eyed a long scar on Taiko’s underarm. He supposed… maybe just a bit… that these men had reason to fear their rift’s treasures.

“Maybe,” he muttered, “it’ll give you a lifeless thing that you can use or sell.” Vergo barely realized he’d spoken aloud until he recognized the deeper-than-normal silence between the two brothers towering over him. His fingers froze. Then he heard quiet laughter bubbling up in Timpa’s chest, slowly building like rolling thunder, before it erupted out of him, making him toss his head back in genuine mirth.

“That’d be the day,” Taiko said, looking down at the little man with an unreadable expression. Vergo immediately got his fingers moving again, noticing the lack of comment on his prior silence. The surrounding divers shared looks of annoyance.

“Where’d be the fun in that?” Timpa said between gasps of laughter. “The achievement?” Vergo tried to pretend he hadn’t said anything, hastening his work on Taiko’s armor, but the other leader wouldn’t let him go that easily.

“Is that what you want, boy?” Taiko said, raising his arm to let Vergo finish, who grimaced. He was half again Taiko’s senior, probably. When Vergo tried to stay silent, Taiko raised his voice. “Speak up!”

“Y-yes,” he said. “Yes.”

“And why is that?” said Taiko. The advance divers around them had fallen silent, listening. “Don’t you want to earn your keep?”

“I want to feed my family,” muttered Vergo. “If I have to kill something…” he considered his words. “... I want it to end up on the dinner table.” Surrounding spits of laughter.

“Boy,” Taiko said, leaning forward. “If what crawls out of End - with what you’re gonna sell to feed your family - doesn’t eat you, you sure as hell don’t want to eat it after it’s dead.”

“Last week,” Timpa said, making a wide gesture with his arms, palms inward, “big toothed worm, HUGE. Didn’t want to burn after we finally put it down. Pried a tooth out, brought it back to town, and it couldn’t even be shaped into a pendant.” He clapped Vergo on the shoulder again. “Good sport, though.”

“The machinery in the building that it came though in, though, paid its weight,” Taiko said. “Not the goddamned monster. You about done?” he added, gesturing at the rift. Vergo looked and felt his heart palpitate. It was difficult to tell by looking at its column, but the ground beneath it was crawling away - End was on the move.

“LEZGOHHH,” shouted Timpa. Vergo nearly fell over. “Get ‘er shit while it’s fresh!” Divers were stirring, scuttling, stowing food and checking weapons. The group started to move forward, led by a trudging Timpa, like predators following the herd. Recovering, Vergo finished his work and Taiko loped off behind his brother with an impatient grunt.

Before he could gather his things, Vergo felt an impact and bolt of nervous pain from the back of his knee, knocking him down - he knew it was Catro, and swallowed his cry of distress - no fuel for the fire, he growled at himself, eyes shut tight.

“Get up, Vergo!” the man shouted, jogging ahead. “Go and get your bread!” Vergo wanted to hate him, but - as he tended to do - pushed his thoughts towards supporting his family.

“Bread,” he muttered, getting to his feet, shambling after the group. But then, he didn’t have far to go.

They’d stopped cold.

He could see the brothers’ heads at the front of the crowd of divers, frozen solid, looking at something in End’s fresh wake. There was nervous, confused muttering, and the sound of shifting feet and packs being laid down, blades powering on. It didn’t sound like a group of hunters seeing prey, Vergo thought.

Unable to see what’d stopped the group, Vergo scrambled up the side of the rift’s wake-trough and squinted over their heads at what had quieted them. His first thought: yellow.

His second thought: this was hell, and hell was confusing.

The monster, a short jog ahead of the group, was a tallish young woman with wild blonde hair, wearing some kind of leather riding outfit complete with boots and jacket. She was staggering, trying to lift her hands from her knees to stand upright. She doubled over, instead, and vomited square in the middle of End’s fresh rift soil.

There was no doubt she’d come from the rift, being nearly otherworldly, disoriented like he’d heard monsters always were after exiting, and directly in the middle, right in front of them. But… she was standing.

What came through a rift and just stood?

The woman straightened, seemed to just then see the group of rough, armed men before her, and wiped her chin on her sleeve. She staggered one more time, trying to find her balance, before calling out, seemingly without a care in the world.

“Yo!” she shouted. It struck the group like a wave. “Any of you seen a girl with cute little kitty ears?”

[eddiemunsonssoulmate]

Ready to hear about Session 4 adventures? Because Gaia had it’s fourth session yesterday and holy shit, finally some combat!

We started out on the elevator where we left off last session and decided to go into the dwarven city. We saw a huge bridge that lead up to it but it was full of zombies. We decided to attack them, knowing that we’d get another wave from behind. It was a tough fight but after a Thunderwave and Eldritch Blast mix of Teivo and Vel, we could block the path of the backwave while Nardos, Arc and some other’s cleaned the bridge completely. As soon as we got some space between us and the wave from behind we just ran straight into the city.

As expected, the city was full of hoards of dead dwarves. It used to be 500 dwarves in there so it was just full of them. We found a house to take cover, pushing furniture in front of the door and windows so we could rest after the fight on the bridge.

Given that we were surrounded we had no other way than to split the party, one group to distract the zombies while the other ran to the citadel.

The only free way was in the sewer so Ronar, Teivo and our Drow Twins got into there, getting up at some spots to cast Thunderwave, causing the zombies to get into that direction. We all watched enough The Walking Dead to know it would work. We are prepared ok.

During their time of them down there, Arc found a book while waiting in the house with another part of Lilith inside of her. The part in Vel merged with the one in Arc and Lilith got way stronger, showing Arc some memories of Vel which included sexual intercourse with men, traumatizing the young boy just for fun.

The house gang then ran towards the citadel where they met up with the sewer gang. Turned out that Ronar had fallen into the water filled with piss and shit because he was smelling terribly.

While standing inside the citadel we got attacked by some more zombies but Nardos used his scythe to kill them all quite quickly but Arc got hurt and fell unconscious due to a double crit fail. We took quick care of him and thankfully a dwarf that was alive opened the door for us, taking us inside to the around 80 civilians that survived the attack of the Necromancer.

Arc got a short rest to get back up on his feet while the others gathered informations from the survivors. Nardos gave out food and water and they were all really thankful, especially the children. (I almost cried ok)

One of the elder dwarves locked the necromancer into the throne room. He told us that their king gave his life to save his people, distracting the necromancer so that the elder could put magic runes on the doors. It was really tragic and the loss of their king hit the dwarves hard.

One of the guards took us to the armory where we could pick up weapons if we wanted but we didn’t need any. The only interested thing in there was a locked up door that only the king could enter because only he had the key on him.

So we went into the thronroom, starting an epic fight with the necromancer. Of course he already killed the dwarven king and used him to protect himself. He was a fighter, probably a battlemaster so we had a hard time. He used a bastard sword and a waraxe, hitting us hard. Our melee fighters surrounded him so he couldn’t get away.

The necromancer had a circle around him that absorbed magic energy and we didn’t know what would happened if we stepped in there so Vel kept an eye on him, ready to use counterspell any time.

Nardos cut the arm of the dwarven king off, hoping he couldn’t attack anymore but of fucking course it reattached himself to it’s body again. Dwarven King was pretty pissed and almost killed Nardos but thanks to Second Wind and Arc’s cure wounds, I could heal myself.

The King then attacked Ronar who was already hurt and too stupid to play his rogue. He just kept standing next to the enemy instead of taking a few steps back so he got downed and failed two of his death saving throws (But hey, he just has to play a fucking Wisdom Rogue with no con modifier. Of course he can easily stand next to an enemy with 28HP -__-)

The battle was tough and seemed almost hopeless until the necromancer used a magic hand to get Vel close to him, whispering “I’ll see you soon” and then vanishing. (Here @loonyloopy had some war flashbacks from the other campaign where the same happened to her char Aisling. She’s just a magnet for necromancers)

The enemy was gone, the dwarven king destroyed, only a mess of bones and clothes. Our rogue took his cape because #asthetics, Baerva our NPC took his axe, Nardos took the sword to sell it later and Vel took the key to the locked room in the armory.

Going back into there Vel was able to teleport himself into the room, picking up a magic curved elven blade, a studded leather armor and also found a black katana that was basically screaming “I’m cursed” and it also gave out a necrotic aura. When our rogue player heard of that he came all over himself probably because he loves Katana’s and wanted it but Vel had no reason to take it with him so he left it there (causing our rogue player to almost cry, sorry not sorry)

We went back to the surivors and told him of their king’s fate, causing them to cry :(

After that we went back into the throneroom, checking it because the elder one told us there would be a secret passage back outside, given that the way over the bridge was blocked now. We all basically knew it was under the throne (it’s always under the fucking throne) but we all rolled too shitty to find it. So Arc took a seat on the throne until Teivo got his good roll, finding a hidden button and sending the throne + Arc right down into nowhere. Nardos tried to grab him but wasn’t fast enough (Str builds are not that good at Dex) and that’s where we stopped.

Next session is on Tuesday aka tomorrow and I’m really curious where we’re gonna go next and if Arc surivived the fall.

[jwslw]

d20 stats for the weapons from Bulletstorm

Does anyone even remember this game?

Bulletstorm Weapons

Peacemaker Carbine

The Peacemaker Carbine (PMC) is a basic weapon the player is given at the start of the game. This is the only weapon you can't swap out — you will always have the Peacemaker Carbine with you. The PMC appears to act  like your standard assault rifle, but actually has the ability to be charged via the R2/Right Bumper/"C" key (PC), joining 100 bullets to fire a single lance of energy, which instantly burns the target's flesh, leaving them a charred skeleton. It is unknown where the mag for the charged shot is loaded. It also was suggested that the PMC could be equipped with attachments.

Trivia

The PMC may be a reference to the unfinished "Peacemaker" weapon from the original Unreal, a game also published by Epic Games.

Its abbreviation, PMC, also means Private Military Contractor in real life.

Heavy Echoes in Act 7 will use overcharged shots that are powerful enough to put Grayson at a near-death state.

When it's primed to charged, Grayson pulls back the cocking lever.

The player can't drop the PMC, unlike the other weapons; except in the unlikely instance that the player is lucky or unlucky enough to get a glitch that allows you to swap out the weapon.

All friendly NPC's use the PMC.

The PMC looks similar to the Lancer/Retro Lancer from the Gears of War series, also created by Epic Games.

The weapon appears to have a red dot sight with a simple ammo counter - the counter is just a bar that decreases the more you fire it - under the dot.

Peacemaker Carbine PL 6 Damage: 2d6            Magazine: 50 (box) Critical: 20            Size:  Large Damage Type: Ball           Weight: 7.5lb Range Increment: 90ft              Purchase DC: 19 Rate of Fire: A            Restriction: Mil+3

Peacemaker Carbine (Charge Shot)  PL 6 Damage: 4d10 Magazine: 6 (Int) Critical: 20 Size:  N/A Damage Type:  Ball/Fire Weight: N/A Range Increment: 60ft   Purchase DC: N/A Rate of Fire: Single                  Restriction: N/A

Special: Arming the Charge Shot is a Move Action

Anything within 5ft of a target struck, must make a DC 15 Reflex save or take  half damage.

Weapon list                   Range PDC/

Weapons Dmg Type Crit Inc  RoF  Mag   Wght  SZ Res

Gravity Boots 2d6* Bludgeon   20x3 N/A N/A  N/A    5lb^  Small^     27/mil

Energy Leash 1d3* Electricity 19-20 15ft  N/A  6(Cell) .5lb    Tiny 28/Ill

*Non-Lethal Damage

^Weight/Size per boot, cost per pair

Gravity Boots

The Gravity Boots are an improvised weapon in Bulletstorm that allows the user to attach themselves to buildings or can repel enemies if kicked or slid into. A kick is an attack that can be done with the Gravity Boots. By pressing Circle (PlayStation 3) or "B" (Xbox 360) or "E" (PC), Grayson Hunt or your character in anarchy will perform a forward kick, sending the target flying. A slide is basically the same thing as a kick, but Grayson does a "homerun" style slide to kick an enemy. The kick is the only melee attack Grayson possess, unless one counts sliding as a separate attack. It slows enemies down for a few seconds in a Gravity flux field, which makes getting skillshots easier (except Burnouts, which just fly away from you). It is one of the easiest ways to push enemies back next to the boneduster shotgun. The Kick is used for many Skillshots such as Bullet Kick and Voodoo Doll.

Players can also kick hazards into enemies such as explosive barrels, a charged Cannonball, even other enemies with a flail attached to them. When an enemy is kicked they automatically lean towards an eviromental hazard though this doesn't mean players shouldn't aim their kicks. This also works the other way so when players kick environmental hazards towards enemies they will fly towards foes. Sliding towards an enemy will also cause the player to kick him though these enemies usually fly closer to the ground. Many enemies can avoid kicks from the player like the flaregunner and all the creeps. You may be lucky to kick a fast opponent but at the same time you may get shot or attacked by other opponents so try to avoid target fixation.

Trivia

Only Creeps can avoid kicks unless backed up against a wall or stunned from a previous attack..

At the end of Act 1 Chapter 1, Grayson, all pumped up from battle, kicks open a gate that swings back and hits him and he laughs about it.

d20 rules: When active the boots grants a +10 circumstance bonus to climb and balance checks, as a full round action, the wearer may kick an enemy within 5feet at their highest attack bonus.  In addition to taking damage a targeted creature make a DC 20 Reflex save.  If the target fails their save they are engulfed in a “gravity field” and thrown back 5 feet per point of non-lethal damage dealt by the kick and moving at a maximum of 15ft per round.  While engulfed, they can take no actions and are considered flat footed.  If  the targets path is clear they drop with no additional damage (unless kicked into the air) if a solid structure blocks the target's path, the bubble is automatically broken and the target receives falling damage equal to the distance they would have fallen.  A target can be kicked back, strait-up, or diagonally up or down and back.

Energy Leash

The Energy Leash is a whip-like energy rope used as a leash which can pull enemies towards Grayson Hunt and causes them to travel in slow motion for a limited amount of time. The Energy Leash is capable of two "attacks". The first is a simple grab-and-pull attack, and the second is the Thumper.

The Thumper is an attack in which Grayson grabs an enemy and flicks his wrist up and then down. When he flicks his wrist up, a ball of energy follows the invisible control line of his hand; when his wrist goes down, an area of effect explosion happens. This explosion throws enemies and miscellaneous objects (such as guns and barrels) into the air, and puts them in a sort of stasis field for 10 seconds.

Trivia

The Energy Leash is an "instinct moderated weapon" which are apparently illegal to use.

The Leash cybernetically links to its user, and attaching it can be a painful process.

Energy Leashes have built in radios, flashlights and databases that keep track of Skillshots.

Grayson obtains his Leash from a fallen Final Echo Soldier.

When Gen. Victor Sarrano used his leash on Ishi, he was able to control him, presumably through the cybernetics embedded in Ishi's brain.

The Energy Leash's effect is similar to both the Grapple Beam from Metroid Prime 3 and the Stasis Module from Dead Space.

D20 Rules:

Whip (The Energy Leash functions as a standard whip [max Range 15ft, no increments, +2 bonus on disarm attempts and attempts to be disarmed, trip attacks with a successful and can avoid a counter trip attempt by deactivating the Leash.]  As a Move Action the  wielder can initiate a grapple to hurl a target backward 15ft or drag them upto 15ft closer to the wielder if the target fails the opposed check.

Winch/Pulley(The Leash allows the wearer to make Strength check against targets upto 15feet away [+6 equipment Bonus to strength checks].  

Ground Pound (as a Full-Round action, the wearer can make a grapple check [+4 equipment bonus] against a target upto 15ft away and slam them into the ground [target remains prone for 1d4 rounds plus 1 round per size category larger than small).  If the target fails they are slammed against the ground suffering 4d6 points of bludgeoning damage and causing any hostile characters and unattended objects into the air, traveling 5ft per point of damage dealt to the primary target [float in the air for 1d6+1 rounds], anything caught in the air plummets to the ground taking appropriate fall damage at the end of the duration.  

Power source(The Energy Leash uses a special bio-metric power system for normal operation and will not run out of power.  For the ground pound, a special rechargeable battery that can hold upto 6 charges is used.  Recharging the Battery is a move action per charge.

Two-Way Radio (Range 100miles)

Homing Beacon (+4 to Search, Survival and Navigate checks made to locate other people with energy Leashes)

KillSkill Database (statistically identical to a Cellphone Modem)

Flash Light (provides light equivelent to a Daylight spell into a 20ft radius)

Chaingun

The Chaingun is a weapon featured in Bulletstorm. It fires high caliber rounds, as it is able to tear through body parts. It also has a substantially high fire rate to compensate for its low accuracy, and runs on battery power when detached from a power source.

The player can choose to use the gun mounted or rip it off its mount and carry it until the battery is depleted. Grayson cannot carry the Chaingun on his back, so if he changes weapons he will drop it. The Chaingun is the best firearm to get the Full Throttle with, in which the player kills two or more enemies without letting go of the trigger.

Trivia

When the Chaingun was originally shown in the E3 trailer, it had unlimited ammo. To compensate, the Minigun easily overheated. The newer version present in Bulletstorm still possesses unlimited ammo, and still overheats. However, the Chaingun now runs on a battery, limiting its usefulness.

The battery will drain while you have the gun equipped, regardless if it is being fired or not. However, if the player drops the Chaingun it will no longer drain. This can be taken advantage of to conserve "ammo" and wait for the next wave of enemies to spawn before picking it back up.

The Chaingun is known for easily getting head shots at far range.

The Chaingun is the only weapon without an alternate fire.

The Chaingun is extremely useful for taking down hordes of enemies, mostly because of its high rate of fire.

Twice during the full game, Grayson can use a Chaingun with an unlimited amount of energy.

The Chaingun is not, in fact, a chaingun. Chainguns, by definition, only have a single barrel.

The Chaingun is used by Mini-Bosses at multiple times in the game.

In a weapon trailer for Bulletstorm, Cliff Blezenski says that the Chaingun "is a extension of Grayson's penis."

Chaingun (20mm) PL 6 Damage: 4d8   Magazine: Linked Critical: 20     Size: Huge Damage Type: Ball   Weight: 65lb Range Increment: 90ft     Purchase DC: 27 Rate of Fire: A   Restriction: Mil+3

Special: After every 1d4 rounds of continuous fire the Chaingun must cool down for 1 round  The chaingun is typically mounted on a turret mount for infinite battery life, if removed from the mount, its internal battery has enough life for 2d4+2 rounds of operation

Screamer

The Screamer is a revolver which is both powerful and accurate, making it a contender for the easiest weapon to quickly headshot multiple enemies with.

Finding it marks a point in the game in which the number of Skillshots available to the player dramatically increases.

It is the second weapon to be found by the player within the game world, after the PMC.

The Screamer has good range, accuracy and power - which is slightly offset by the single-shot firing rate.

When Charged, it fires a flare-type projectile which can kill enemies via explosion. The Charged shot can also set any nearby enemies on fire, which is convenient for setting up Afterburner Skillshots.

Screamers are carried by various Creeps and Skull Flaregunners.

Trivia

The Screamer has the most skillshots involving its charged shot.

It bears a basic resemblance in function to the Boltok Pistol from Gears of War. Like the Boltok Pistol, it has a lower firing rate, but makes up for it with higher stopping power and accuracy.

Screamer PL6 Damage: 2d8   Magazine: 8 (Cyl) Critical: 20 x3   Size: Medium Damage Type:  Ball   Weight: 4lb Range Increment: 50ft   Purchase DC: 21 Rate of Fire: S                  Restriction: Lic+1

Screamer (Flare) PL6 Damage: 3d10   Magazine: 1 (Int) Critical: N/A   Size: N/A Damage Type:  Fire   Weight: N/A Range Increment: 30ft     Purchase DC: N/A Rate of Fire: Single         Restriction: N/A

Special: Priming the Flare is a move action

Reflex Save DC 15 to avoid catching fire

Burst Radius 10ft, Ref15 for half damage

Flailgun

The Flailgun is a weapon featured in Bulletstorm. It fires two grenades that are strung together by a chain

Flailgun

The Flailgun in Grayson's hands

which will detonate after a few seconds but can be activated early by a button on top of the gun. The Flailgun's alternate fire is activated by pulling a lever located on the top of it, making fire shoot out of the pipes on the gun super-heating the chain, causing the chain to cut through enemies like butter. Tying an enemy up with the flail gun and kicking them into a crowd of enemies will result in the Gang Bang and/or Homie Missile or Smart Mine skillshot. Also, firing the Flailgun at an enemy's head and detonating it gets the Grenade Gag skillshot.

Trivia

The Flailgun was custom built.

The two grenades that are shot from the Flailgun will detonate after a certain amount of time but they can also be detonated remotely by a button on the top of the Flailgun's grip.

If fired at the feet of an enemy, it will trip them.

The Flailgun can be fired at Trishka and other friendly NPCs except for Rell and Whit, they will say something.

The gun is primed to charge when the lever on top of it is pulled.

Flailgun PL6 Damage: 4d6           Magazine: 2 (Int) Critical:  N/A         Size: Large Damage Type: Con/Slash        Weight: 18lb Range Increment: 50ft              Purchase DC: 12 Rate of Fire: Single            Restriction: Ill+4

Special: Burst Radius 5ft, Ref 15

Remote Detonation, Detonates as a Move action or on its own after 2d4 rounds

Trip: Can be used to place flails as remote mines and use flails to make ranged trip attacks

Entangle: As a Full Round action the shooter may make a ranged touch attack against a single target, success means the target is wrapped up by the Flail, the target is treated as helpless and must spend a Full-Round Action to break free by making a DC22 Strength check or DC 25 Escape artist check

Chain Blade Round: As a move action, a single specialized chain munition can be loaded into the Flailgun, this chain-blade deals 4d8 points of Slashing and Fire damage to   everything in a 15ft by 30ft area, a DC 17 Reflex save can be made to negate damage  

Boneduster

The Boneduster is a weapon featured in Bulletstorm and is first found in the level Worst Family Fun Vacation Ever.

It is a four-barreled shotgun that shoots extremely powerful compressed-air shells, which will push your target away from you. This allows the player to then interact with the environment or completely rip the enemy in two.

When charged, the Boneduster will send out a shockwave which is so powerful it can cut through cover. At far range, the Boneduster does little to no damage.

Skull Shotgunners also use Bonedusters and are quite dangerous. They are easily identified by their size, and buffalo skull masks.

Trivia

It is hinted in this video that the inspiration for the Boneduster may have been from Cliff Blezinski's desire to include a shotgun-esque weapon in the original Unreal that was never completed. The weapon was named the Quad Shot and had four barrels, like the Boneduster.

When it's primed to charge, Grayson cocks the gun, unlike using normal mode. It is unknown how it is charged this way.

When charged, the shockwave can kill a Miniboss in one hit, granting you the Bossed skillshot. This one hit kill only applies when dealing with the Chaingun-wielding Miniboss, or after knocking off the armor of the other two varieties.

Boneduster (12gauge) PL 4 Damage: 4d4   Magazine: 4 (int) Critical:  20  Size:  Large Damage Type:  Ball   Weight: 10lb Range Increment: 15ft    Purchase DC: Rate of Fire:  S   Restriction: Lic+1

Special: -1 point of damage per range increment

Heat Wave: As a move action, the shooter can load a special round that occupies all four chambers, this round deals 4d8 Fire damage to everything in a 30ft Cone Ref DC 15 for half damage

Head Hunter

The Head Hunter is a sniper rifle with controllable bullets in Bulletstorm. If a player uses the scope, they can lock onto an enemy with the shot and control where the bullet goes. Time will slow significantly once the bullet closes in on its target, allowing the player time to adjust the shot. The Head Hunter's charge shot is an explosive round. Once a target is hit, the player can move that enemy around and then detonate the charge, killing multiple enemies in the surrounding area.

Trivia

The Creep Sniper doesn't use Head Hunter's steerable radio control bullet, obviously for gameplay balancing purposes.

The Head Hunter uses a revolving magazine, which explains why Grayson spins the magazine after he loads the gun.

Only Creep Snipers and Grayson use Head Hunter in the game.

The Head Hunter is similar to a weapon in Singularity named the Seeker Rifle which allows the user total control of the bullet from the second it is fired but does not require a target to lock on to.

Head Hunter PL6 Damage: 4d6   Magazine: 5/6 (Cyl/Int) Critical:  19-20   Size: Large Damage Type: Ball     Weight: 14lb Range Increment: 150ft    Purchase DC: 28 Rate of Fire: Single   Restriction: Mil+3

Special: Scope: +75feet RI, Move action to acquire target

Guided Projectile: As a Full-Round action, the shooter may designate a single target within 2 range increments, the attack against that target receives a +4 bonus to the attack roll, but, the shooter is treated as Flat-footed and provokes attacks of Opportunity

Explosive Rounds: The Head Hunter has a secondary magazine for explosive rounds, switching feeds is a move action, explosive rounds deal concussion instead of ballistic damage have a 5ft splash (2d6 Conc Ref 15 negates), splash damage can ignite flamable objects/gasses.

Reload: Swaping cylinders is a full round action, reloading upto 3 explosive rounds is a move action, reloading 4-6 is a full round action

Bouncer

The Bouncer is a portable cannonball launcher originally used for mining. The launcher fires a high explosive cannonball that can rip enemies apart with a single shot.

The Bouncer's primary fire, activated by tapping the trigger, launches one ball that explodes on impact with any surface. Holding the trigger allows for the player to detonate the ball when he or she chooses, allowing the player to bounce the ball into hard to reach areas. The charged fire launches a ball bounces repeatedly, exploding with each impact. The charged ball can be kicked or leashed into enemies.

Trivia

The Bouncer has the same name as a weapon from the Ratchet & Clank series and both weapons have similar functionalities.

Single Weapon

Name(Caliber) PL Damage: 6d6   Magazine: 3 (Int) Critical: N/A   Size: Huge   Damage Type: Concussion   Weight: 95lb Range Increment: 50ft   Purchase DC: 29 Rate of Fire: Single   Restriction: Mil+3

Special: Burst Radius/Ref (20ft/DC 17 for half)

Bounce (Can be used to make Skip-Shot attacks without the Feat)

Charged Shot (As a Full-Round action, a special bouncing round can be loaded into the weapon, this bouncing shot will travel 1 range increment and then begin bouncing in place, dealing the listed damage each round to anything that passes through the burst radius,  the special round will continue to bounce for 1d4+2 rounds and any character can send the shot traveling 1 range increment with a successful DC 20 Strength check)

Penetrator

The Penetrator is a weapon in Bulletstorm. It shoots a rocket-propelled drill that impales enemies and will stick them to surfaces, other enemies, or send them into the sky.

Once charged, two things can be done: the weapon can be used as a melee weapon if rammed into an enemy (sliding into two or more enemies using this method will grant the Drilldo Skillshot) or the charged drill can be controlled when inside an enemy's body by pulling the trigger while aimed something or someone else.

If you leave the body in mid-air then you may kick the body and send it hurtling towards oncoming enemies, impaling their friend onto them as well. When fighting minibosses, you can launch the drill into the stomach of the boss and then kick it even further in their belly, killing them. Another thing that you can do with minibosses is when the boss is stunned, you can go behind him and kick him, doing so will make his butt cover to fly up. If you shoot the Penetrator into that area before the cover falls down, you will get a nasty surprise instead of the usual flame like on the Fire in the Hole Skillshot.

Single Weapon

Name(Caliber) PL Damage: 4d12   Magazine:  1 (Int) Critical: 19-20   Size:  Huge Damage Type:     Weight: 80lb Range Increment: 120ft   Purchase DC: 30 Rate of Fire:  Single   Restriction: Mil+3

Special: Over Penetration: If the shot Kills (by raw damage or  failed Mas Save) the Drill will peirce through the target and make a secondary attack against another attack against a second target upto 2 range increments away (previous attack bonus -6), if the secondary target is struck, it is knocked back 1 range increment.  If a target struck is forced to make a Mas Save and succeeds, they are knocked back one range increment.  If a target struck is backed into a wall by the Drill, they become stuck to it, and must make a DC 25 Strength check and a Full Round action to free themselves.

Guided Drills: As a Move action the wielder may load a special guided drill into the Penetrator, Once loaded, the Drill can be steered by the shooter as a Full Round Action (granting a +4 bonus to primary and if necessary to the secondary attack as well, stacks with the -6 penalty)

Ammunition

Name Quantity Purchase DC

PMC bullets    50 15

PMC Grenade     1 8

Leash Ground Pound     1 17

Screamer Bullets    40 15

Screamer Flares     3 15

Flailgun Flails     2 12

Flailgun Chain-blade     1 12

Boneduster Heatwave     3 16

Head Hunter Rounds    20 12

Explosive Head Hunter     6 13

Bouncer, Standard     3 18

Bouncer, Special     1 21

Penetrator, Standard     1 10

Penetrator, Guided     1 14

[beacon-of-chaos]

Defenders of Aura - A Battle Century G Campaign Diary

Session 10 Two hours later... We remain on the island mourning the loss of our friend. Ax... is dead. His heart has stopped and he no longer draws breath. For some reason that hasn't stopped him talking in his sleep, nor his body being burning hot, but it's still very tragic. His mech also completely vanished the instant Juyon knocked him out. We have no explanation for this whatsoever. We've intercepted communications from the Chinese being broadcast across Aura. Neovara has fallen and the invaders are encouraging the rest of the world to surrender. There's also another secret signal being broadcast by the general of Novak, saying that the Chinese are lying. Neovara is still under siege, only the capital was taken, and there is resistance across the other colonies. Soko is the nearest to where we landed so it looks like that's where we're going. We've found a crashed plane that we can jury rig with our mechs' boosters to get us to the next island, in Soko. As Spectre now has a spare seat in his mech, we strap Ax into it and load it onto the plane and take off. En route we get a distress signal coming from somewhere over the ocean. It's not much of a detour so we check it out. As we fly over it, we see debris from a spaceship floating in the water. A large piece of hull on the top carries the text "Cruel Odysseus". No life signs detected. We travel the rest of the way in silence. Arriving in Soko we see there is a battle already in progress. Chinese forces are squaring off against a group that we recognise as being Zeta Team, one of the newly formed mecha squadrons. They are also being assisted by one of the African commanders in a mech of his own. Scattered troop battles are also occuring in between the mech fights. Seems like they could use our help. Soko is an archipelago, and the city we've arrived in is made up of several smaller islands connected by bridges. We arrive on the western island, Zeta team is pinned down on the south west, and the enemy forces are moving in from the East. Juyon and Fiona move across the bridges to intercept the Chinese mechs heading towards a large concentration of Soko troops. Spectre, with the unconscious Ax sitting in Eric's seat, spots a heavy artillery unit and jets across the water to take it out before it does too much damage. Sinclair moves south to aid Zeta team, beginning by hacking the systems of one of the enemy mechs and forcing it to give another mech a nice big hug, pinning it down. As the battle rages on, we get a communication from the African mech; air support is incoming, we just need to lure the enemy into an open area to prevent too much collateral damage. There's a large area to the south that fits the bill so we plan to herd the enemy there. Fiona and Juyon battle side-by-side against two mechs while Sinclair supports from afar, easily dodging enemy sniper fire without even needing to use his cloaking shield. While Spectre closes in on the artillery and takes some pot shots, Ax briefly stirs, shaken awake by the battle. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of grabbing Spectre's shoulder, who had forgotten he was there. One reflexive (we assume) punch later, and Ax is out again. Eventually the Chinese troops are coralled into the courtyard on the South island and the air support arrives. It's... the white drones we fought back in session 4. The ones built and controlled by Sara Wong. She's still on our side... right? The enemy squad is hit hard and the remaining mechs begin to retreat. It's at this point that Ax awakens once more but this time something is different. He makes a willpower check and crits. This awakens some latent magical power inside him and a fireball erupts from his fingers, bursting inside Spectre's mech, scorching the both of them. The GM kindly decides not to kill them both; instead we rule that they just end up looking like Ash Ketchum after a run in with Charizard (i.e. charred but okay). Luckily for us Zeta Team has an outpost with a hospital nearby we can take them to. Ax and Spectre wake up in the hospital a few hours later. Spectre is looking a bit rough, and his spiky green hair has been incinerated, but he's doing okay, no stat penalties or anything. The miracles of modern medical science at work. Ax, on the other hand, seems to have regenerated his wounds and is left without so much of a tan. He's coming down from his biofuel high though, so he's not exactly feeling well. His stats are halved for the rest of the session. The doctor's are rather amazed that he's up and walking though, considering he has no blood left in him. His memory is fuzzy too, so we fill him in. In a tactful way. Ax: Oww, my head. I can't remember... What happened? Sinclair: Do you remember going insane and killing a lot of people? Fiona: Or aiming your weapon at me? Spectre: Ax, you owe me money. So very tactful. We eventually piece together what happened, Ax telling us about Sara and the biofuel, us mentioning the whole rampage followed by shouty glowing. We also talk with Zeta Team, the leader of which is an Auran, one of the native aquatic aliens of this planet. He tells us that we were the reason he joined up, inspired by our exploits. All very flattering. The African commander gives us a status update on the war. The next country over, Varel, was being protected by Gamma Team, A.K.A the team that Adam Westfield and Sara Wong are part of. He says he's heard of strange experiments going on over there; experimenting on humans with the biofuel (I really wish we could come up for a better name for this stuff) that Adam was involved in. Ax has unfinished business with Sara Wong and we need to find out what Adam might be up to, plus Varrel could be in trouble too. Ax is given a temporary replacement mech until we can find out what happened to Riggnarok and we board a transport to Varel. The city we arrive in seems to be deserted. There are no signs of combat however, just some suspicious scorch marks scattered around. Never a good sign. Varel is a hub for scientific research and there's a research centre up ahead that seems like the best place to get info and possibly find survivors. We exit our mechs and head towards it, but as we round a corner we see there are two mechs standing outside. One is a bizarre, semi-organic machine like nothing we've never seen before. The other one is Adam Westfield's mech. These guys should be on our side, so we take a punt and send them Neovara Military codes. Adam's mech immediately begins scanning the local area and, upon finding us, the organic mech rushes straight at us! Sinclair opens a wormhole with his new power; it doesn't get the team very far away, 20 metres or so, but it's enough that we avoid the falling rubble from the building the monster just ran into. We curse ourselves for leaving our mechs (The GM admits he was surprised we did this) but it's tricky to get back to them without being spotted. Adam seems to be scanning the area for us, so we come up with a daring plan. Or a stupid one. Hard to say. Fiona has noticed the hatch on Adam's mech and decides to try and climb up the mech to sneak up on Adam, so she and Sinclair sneak up while Ax distracts the mechs. Ax unleashes his new fire powers on the organic mech, but it barely scorches it. To make things even worse, what ever organic material it's made out of is regenerating. Gee, I wonder if this thing is powered by biofuel. Spectre and Juyon do the sensible thing and run for their mechs. Fiona makes it to Adam's mech and begins climbing up. Sinclair tries to hack it into submission but its systems are too well protected for that. Fiona tries to prise the door open but it's locked tight. To make matters worse, a blast hits the mech from out of nowhere, sending Fiona to the ground, breaking her leg. A pink mech shows up and picks Fiona up before anyone can get to her. A voice emits from the mech: Sara: Hello Fiona. Thrown any books at anyone lately? Fiona: Oh, **** off. GM: Was that in character? Fiona: Yes! Sara seems unusually aggressive right now, suggesting some biofuel use of her own. Meanwhile, Juyon and Spectre begin taking on the monster mech. It's fast and moves in close, leaving them to use their melee weapons against it. When it charges at Juyon, he skewers it with his sword. This seems to have no affect on it, and the creature simply moves forward along the sword and begins crushing Zweilander's head with its hands. Spectre moves in and uses a magneburst, a short range energy blast, to get the monster's attention. Adam seems to do something and the creature moves back towards the others, causing Sara Wong to drop Fiona (ouch) and flee, though not before Sinclair can fire a tracking beacon on Sara's mech. Ax and Sinclair help Fiona back to her mech, and the group forms up again. Adam's mech seems to be without weapons for some reason, so it hits us with a targeting jammer and calls over the monster, which is bloody and beaten, but still moving and regenerating. The rest of the battle goes quickly; though the monster was fearsome, Juyon and Spectre had already done a large amount of damage and they were able to finish it off. Adam surrenders after. ...Except it's not Adam. The cockpit opens and out steps Wong Yu, another member of Gamma Team. We try to question him about the location of Adam Westfield and why the hell he just attacked us, but he just spits up blood and tells us to get lost. Sinclair does a quick medical scan to find that Wong seems to be suffering from heavy internal bleeding. Nothing to do with us and there's no way to help him. In moments, he is dead. We're pretty freaked out and confused at the moment, so we head inside the research centre to try and find some clues. The place has been emptied, not until the biofuel plant we recently visited. In one of the computer labs we find a body, that of Emily "Sweets", another Gamma Team member. She has multiple bullet holes in her back. In her hand we find a memory chip that we plug into one of the computers. It's a journal. One belonging to Adam Westfield. I have a long version of the log that our GM gave us, but I need to ask for permission before posting. The gist is that Adam has been manipulating everyone from the word go. The President is in his back pocket, though there's no mention of whatever dirt he may have. The plan to create a war between Novak and Neovara, mention of the biofuel, and even talk of Sara Wong. Apparantly she discovered the way that the biofuel can link a living creature with technology, and she discovered it by experimenting on and AI called... Sinclair. Woah. After this the journal takes a turn for the weird. Adam seems to becoming more maniacal and paranoid, no doubt due to biofuel exposure. He plans to kill off his allies who are "plotting against him". Sara apparantly blames him for driving her and us apart, so she has to go too. There's talk of strange powers of heat and energy emerging, and of... absorbing people. Guess we know what those scorch marks were. Adam wants to "ascend" by stealing people's memories and skills. He plans to do so by opening some kind of faultline and releasing biofuel into the atmosphere. Sara injected Ax (or "the fool" as Adam calls him) to not only gain more power by forging a link between them, but to create a hero to stop Adam. It's at this point that we leave the building to find ourselves surrounded by the Chinese army. The Chinese General herself arrives and we hand over the journal in the hope that perhaps we can work together. They decide that we need to be taken in for questioning. Session ends. I'm too tired to proof read this right now, so please excuse any spelling mistakes or plot holes I may have made. Bonus quotes: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...postcount=1295