#they still haven’t added the last character I tried getting into the database

[desperatecheesecubes]

Shiva not giving a single shit is delightful

[desertofsnowflakes]

Incorrect Order Chapter 2 (Nessian AU)

A/N: DO inform me if you wanna be added/removed from the taglist! If you happen to find my storyline similar to another fic or one of yours, I'm extremely sorry, I might've just not known. All characters belong to the author Sarah J. Mass. Enjoy!

Summary: Don't first impressions always affect the way you see someone? Well, what more with the Nesta Archeron? Nesta meets Cassian at few unexpected places and to say it didn't go well was a major understatement. Certain circumstances make them become enemies to tolerable company to friends to lovers.

Trigger Warnings: Abuse and Swearing

1957 words | Part 1 | Read on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cassian was waiting. And waiting. And waiting. He waited for the day he would forget the woman’s face. He waited for the day he could close his eyes without seeing her blue-grey eyes blazing in anger. He waited for the day he wouldn’t burn his bacon because he was thinking about her.

He had mused, how the face of a stranger was branded into his mind vividly. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t wondered if they’ve known each other before or have seen each other somewhere, anywhere before the day in the mall—even if on photographs or at an event or at another shopping mall. Still, he desperately wanted to forget about her. He wanted to forget that she ever existed. He wanted to forget their encounter in the mall that day. He wanted to forget everything about her, even though deep down, he knew what he wanted was far from forgetting her.

But he couldn’t afford this. He couldn’t afford to think about her at all times. He was getting distracted at work. His part-time job as a martial-arts instructor and as a sommelier was in a precarious position if it went on like this. He nearly tore one of his student’s muscles in his centre and got at least 5 orders wrong at the restaurant he was working at.

On a Saturday noon, Cassian decided the best way to clear his head was to dive into a war book or reread Secrets Of The Sommeliers for probably the millionth time.

* * *

Nesta flinched at the sudden ping of the oven timer. Again. She’d been thinking about him again. This was the fourth time in the whole week when she burned her cheese sandwich and she was getting so tired of this. She urgently needed a way to stop thinking about him. To stop seeing his insufferable grin whenever she closed her eyes. To stop thinking about him at almost all times.

It struck her as odd, the fact they didn’t even know each other’s names but she kept seeing his face as if they’ve known each other before. She gasped. What if they had known each other before? What if they were probably neighbours from Nesta’s old house or classmates or maybe they went to the same college. Nesta shook her head.

But why should she care? No, she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care what his name is or if he even has a name. She doesn’t care if she’s had the misfortune of seeing him before or if that was the first she’s seeing him. Or so she kept telling herself. She couldn’t afford to have him occupy her thoughts. She had better things to do. But all these excuses weren't enough to stop her from still thinking about him.

Nesta looked at her clock. It was a Saturday, almost noon. Maybe reading a spicy book or two will help.

* * *

Cassian loved the House of Wind library and bookstore. They had a variety of books in almost any genre. He'll admit though, that some of the librarians here are better left alone. He was lucky he came here often and therefore knew a handful of the merrier librarians. He made a beeline for his favourite section, books related to wine, best books for sommeliers.

On his way to the shelves he had committed to memory, he realised that there was a big poster about their annual Free Premium Membership Fest where 20 fortunate, early birds would get their membership card updated to premium with a number of privileges. Cassian's whole being was elevated. He missed the last fest they held and had been waiting for the next fest. He wondered how he could forget such an important thing. Oh. Right. Of course. A certain lady was occupying his thoughts. He sighed. He forgot about that too.

He was quite disappointed when he reached the counter. The fest started yesterday and the computer stated that there was only one person left till 20. What truly disappointed him was that Clotho wasn't at the counter as she usually was. Maybe she'll be in the—

“If you're done staring at the computer maybe you could deign to move so it can really serve its purpose of being a public property?” Cass froze. He'd know that voice anywhere. This was the voice taunting him at all times. “And if you have coffee in your hands, I'd suggest you turn slowly.”

He smirked. So she knew who she was talking to.

“Well, looks like the damage would be lesser this time since your clothes aren't white,” he observed.

“I figured black would hide stains caused by ogling, clumsy people better than white,” she said. “Now, if you could move, I want to register for the Membership Fest.”

“Register? What do you mean by ‘I want to register for the Membership Fest’?”

“A register, you know,” she teased, “Something like a form where you fill your details if you want to join something?” She smirked at his glare.

“Well,” he said, “if there is a register let me fill it first.”

“Because your ego is bigger?”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” he dead-panned. “I came here first.”

“Here as in the counter or the library? Because I’m pretty sure I stepped into this library first.”

Cassian quickly checked the database where the information of all members appeared. He turned back to her with a self-satisfied smirk. “The database shows otherwise, sweetheart.”

She scowled. “I don’t believe you. You might’ve tampered with the information.”

He moved slightly to the side to give her a better view. Her scowled deepened.

She rounded on him. “You,” seethed. “You did—”

“Hello,” a new, shy voice said.

“Hey, Gwyn,” they both said in symphony.

A look of surprise crossed over her features before it faded away. When the woman turned to Gwyn, she wore a huge smile. “Oh, look, she smiles,” he muttered, earning him a glare.

“Is the fest still on?” Cassian asked.

Gwyneth Berdara, one of the joyful librarians here, said, “Unfortunately, not. We just got our 20th member.”

Cassian’s face fell. He noticed the same of the woman too. Gwyn, always the optimistic one, said cheerfully, “Maybe we could reserve one for the both of you next year?”

They both murmured their assent before Gwyn offered her farewell and went back to the staffroom.

The woman turned back to him. “This is all your fault,” she hissed and stalked out of the library, leaving Cassian more confused than ever.

* * *

Nesta went to the library to find solace or at least a semblance of it. Seeing the man there, however, left Nesta more rattled than she would care to admit. Rattled, and angry. Angry at the universe for giving them these unfortunate encounters. Angry at him for following her wherever she went. Angry at herself for feeling such futile emotions. Angry at her body for reacting to him.

She was also upset that she didn’t get a free premium member cr

Nesta was so occupied with her thoughts and emotions that she didn’t realise she was taking the wrong route. She wasn’t familiar with this part of Velaris. She also didn’t realise she was being followed. It was distinct, the sound of hushed breathing, of the soft thuds of footfalls. The footsteps sounded heavier which most probably meant it was a man. She couldn’t really be sure, though. This was a person who was not experienced in stalking but was trying hard enough.

Nesta knew she shouldn’t panic but couldn’t help the bout of fear that crashed through her. Nesta tried to stay calm. She tried to make sure she didn't quicken her pace. She tried, cauldron, she really did. But her fear was slowly overpowering her senses. She felt the urge to run away from her stalker.

But that wouldn’t be wise. Running away from her stalker isn’t a good choice. It wasn’t smart. Who’s to know he wasn’t armed? What if he was faster than her? What if her stalker was faster than her? He might be stronger too. He could over power her and cage her in. She didn’t even know what his motive was.

Then, Nesta made a ridiculously huge, dumb mistake. She turned to an abandoned alley. At least it looked abandoned. She let out a frustrated breath. Running away was at least better than getting stuck in an alley. So much for ‘that wouldn't be wise’. She looked around, trying to get a sense of where she was or if there were any means of escape, however meager it might be.

Suddenly, she was slammed to the alley wall. The rough cold stone was unforgiving and unyielding under her cheek. Her windpipe was closed off and she was struggling to get some air in. She fought to get free but her captor —a man, as she guessed— was too strong. Somehow, his hands felt familiar to her. As if she were long acquainted with this person’s touch.

“What do you want?” she gasped out.

He chuckled, the sound grating through her very bones.

“My little Nesta,” he whispered, his hot breath ghosting the shell of her ear. “Ever the stubborn one.”

That voice. It was one that she couldn’t forget as hard as she tried. Tomas Mandray, her ex-boyfriend, was someone not easily forgotten.

“Tomas,” she said. She couldn’t bring herself to be nice. Not now, not after how he treated her. “What the fuck do you want? Let me go.”

“I see you haven’t changed at all.”

“I can say the same of you.”

“Mhm. You broke up with me and then you called the police. Got me stuck behind bars for two fucking months.”

“Good riddance,” she muttered.

He slammed her head against the wall. Hard. Blinding pain shot through her. He yanked her hair so hard she was afraid chunks of it came out. Her head only throbbed harder.

“Manners were never your cup of tea,” he hissed.

“You were not that kind either. You were an empowering, possessive bastard and I don’t regret watching you grovel to the police for freedom for one fucking moment and I won’t ever.”

He growled and slammed her head against the wall again. She cried out and was pretty sure she heard something crack. She felt the metallic tang of blood on her lips, streaming from her nose freely.

“Oh, you will. You’ll regret everything. Every. Single. Thing. For your whole god-damned life. I’ll make sure of it, bitch,” he promised.

He tightened his grip on her hair that sent another wave of agony through her. She caught the glint of something in the fading sunlight. A knife. Of course he had a knife.

He had a knife while she was a mess, kneeling on an alley, completely at the mercy of one of the people who hated her the most. Pathetic. So, so, pathetic. She hated herself for whimpering. She hated herself for being this weak. She hated that she had gotten panicked enough that she turned to an alley, where no one would know.

Here, in this unknown alley, with the person she hated the most, Nesta Archeron was going to die. She was going to die a death as unknown as the place she was in. Maybe even without her sisters knowing. Shit. Her sisters. If only she showed all her love to sweet Elain and brave Feyre, if only she even went to meet her brother-in-laws, Rhysand, Azriel and Cassian, maybe things would’ve been different. She closed her eyes, fighting the emotion in her throat. I’m sorry Elain, Feyre, Rhysand, Azriel and Cassian, I’m so, so sorry, was the last thing in her head before she felt acute pain and succumbed to the dragging talons of oblivion.

taglist:

@im-someone-i-guess @shadowsinger07 @saltyfortunes @cressjacquine @julian-blackthorn-supremacy @champanheandluxxury @zemiraa @ladygabrielli1997 @nehemikkele

[prettywordsyouleft]

To Be Continued - Part 2

Summary: As an author, you had created Brian Kang for your current trilogy series to represent the ultimate man that everyone would love, along with Charli Evers - your female protagonist. What you hadn’t expected was for him to find a way out of the story and begin shaping up your world instead

Pairing: Brian Kang x female writer (ft. Park Sungjin)

Genre: writer au / romance / fantasy

Warnings: fictional characters coming to life / a bit of angst here and there / Sungjin as a cop (or does that only affect me?) >_>

Word count: 2205

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue 

Once you stopped laughing with your panic, you did what any other logically thinking person would do and rang the police. And you waited at your front door, not touching anything within your home in case you tampered the evidence further. You were already scolding yourself for eating the food prepared for you. What if it had been poisoned? You thankfully didn’t feel any worse off with your cold, if anything, you felt loads better.

Still, the anxiety ran high within you until the two officers finished checking everything over.

“It looks like the person who did this knows you intimately,” Constable Park said with a brief frown. “We’ll run the fingerprints we’ve managed to find through our system to see if they’re in it but I’m not sure what more help we can give you, Miss L/N.”

“Thank you, Constable, I appreciate your efforts all the same.”

“You said you’re a famous author, right?”

You grimaced. “I wouldn’t say famous.”

“I’ve heard of your name before,” Officer Yoon mentioned with a sheepish grin when you glanced at him in surprise. He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “My girlfriend reads your stories.”

“Ah. Please tell her I said thanks.”

“Could I actually get your autograph to give to her? I’d be in her best books for-”

“Dowoon!” Constable Park cut in sternly, causing the taller man to shrink back.

“I don’t mind,” you offered and headed back to your office for a pen and paper. You stopped when you noticed your favourite pen was missing. Surmising it had been moved during the police search; you reached for another pen and then wrote down a quick message for the young officer’s girlfriend before signing it.

You stopped again, staring at the message still displayed on your screen.

Your biggest fan.

Constable Park was back at your side again and you glanced up at him. “You mentioned just now about me being known and the message here…”

“Just make sure you keep the doors locked and maybe invite someone around to stay with you for the time being. As harmless as it’s all been, we do have more than one fingerprint detected today. Since you live alone and haven’t had anyone over in some time, we can confirm there was a second person in here last night. I know it’s easy to spend time being grateful to your avid followers but be careful with who you share your personal information with.”

A chill shuddered its way down your spine and you nodded hastily, taking the card the man held out. He smiled comfortingly. “If you have any other problems, Miss L/N, this is my direct line. Contact me right away, okay?”

“Thank you, Constable Park,” you replied weakly, reading the card and finding that his first name was Sungjin. You smiled when you looked back up at him. “I appreciate it.”

“Alright Dowoon, let’s head out and I’ll be in contact when we’ve checked the database,” Sungjin – Constable Park – stated and you nodded once more as you handed the autograph to his colleague. Dowoon grinned bashfully and thanked you all the way back to your front door, where you fare-welled the pair.

And promptly locked and latched the front door.

You had lived alone since your early twenties, too independent to work well with roommates. Whilst you had started out in a small, frigid apartment, you had cherished the space alone to create your fantasies into novels. You had only moved to your modest villa within the last year and adopted Binks, the only company you needed on a daily basis outside of your characters.

You weren’t recluse by any means, you just preferred your own company. Socialising was exhausting for your introverted ways, and even though you wanted to play it safe, you slumped down on the couch after the police left and groaned at how exhausting today had been so far.

“I’m sick, that’s adding to it,” you said out loud, and then caught yourself doing so, snapping back upright in your position. “I talk out loud to myself a lot, don’t I?”

Of course, your belongings didn’t reply. And Binks had gone into hiding when Sungjin and Dowoon were here, being afraid of men entirely.

Thinking over the care the stranger had given to even your cat, you decided they had to be female. It didn’t ease your mind any assigning a gender to this person. But it did help you feel as if you were getting somewhere with the mystery behind it.

“And once the police run all the necessary checks, hopefully, I’ll have more answers,” you announced, groaning when you had realised you spoke out loud again. “Oh, whatever! I don’t have to keep my thoughts locked up inside my head or spoken through my fingertips into a word document either! My house, my life!”

And with that, you got up and went back to your desk where you tried to seek out some normalcy for the rest of your day.

You checked emails before conversing with Lily who was animatedly retelling you of her reactions to the final part of the manuscript you sent her. You mentioned to her about what happened too. Lily, however, seemed to be more concerned about something you had written, after exclaiming over your safety. You watched the video screen where your editor, and probably the person who knew you the most aside from your mother, struggled with something.

You frowned. “What is it?”

“You didn’t put your usual The End at the final part for me.”

“Yes I did,” you corrected, leaning back in your chair. “You know me. I always put it at the end of every manuscript so you can’t nag me for more words. The End means I’m not adding to this story anymore!”

“You didn’t put it, Y/N,” she repeated, glancing up at you curiously through her laptop’s camera. “You put something else.”

“Look, I’ll prove it to you,” you announced with pure conviction, clicking on the word document icon on the taskbar and then stopped momentarily when you finally noticed that the story was still open. “That’s strange. I know I closed out of it last night.”

“Out of what?” she asked as you clicked on the tab and watched the document appear on the screen.

You immediately gasped. There, after the final scene of Charli and Brian, was no longer The End as Lily had announced. Instead, the words, To Be Continued had been placed there.

“I didn’t put that there,” you whispered and Lily laughed, unconvinced.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Y/N! Who else would have?”

“I sent it to you right after I finished and I swear I had The End written there.”

“Maybe your writing muse changed it on you,” she teased but you didn’t join her in the amusement. She sensed your shock and blinked a couple of times before focusing back on you. “You really didn’t do it?”

“What if they changed the whole story?!” you shrieked as you jumped to the worst conclusion, scrolling up until you found the line that Brian had spoken to Charli about waiting for an eternity for her. You relaxed a little when everything appeared to be in order. “Maybe I’ll name the third book in this series, Eternity.”

“Wow, just like that, you calmed down,” Lily observed and then nodded. “I like that.”

“I don’t know. I’m just a little sensitive.”

“You were taking medicine last night for the cold, right?” You nodded at Lily’s question and the woman smiled knowingly. “Maybe you took too much at once and hallucinated a little. Or blacked out and can’t remember much.”

“I’m changing it back to The End,” you told her, typing it as you did so. Closing the document, you smiled brightly at the video call. “I’m not adding any further words to Captivated, you hear me? You work your editing magic and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Yes, Boss!” she cheered, waving to end the call and you powered off your laptop then, making sure to shut the lid down as well.

After finding Binks, you scooped him up in your arms, checked all the doors a final time before heading off to bed for much-needed rest.

You were still a little sick, after all.

You awoke to the sound of your phone ringing the following morning and blearily reached out to silence it. “Hello?”

“Miss L/N?” a deep voice asked and you sat up a little, blinking away your sleep. “This is Constable Park. We met yesterday regarding your intrusion issue?”

“Sungjin,” you immediately said and then gripped at your blankets at your first name slip-up. Clearly, you were still grappling with becoming alert enough for proper etiquette.

He chuckled lightly. “Yes, shall I call you Y/N?”

“If it makes the situation still work well, be my guest.”

“Well, I’m not sure how happy you’ll be to have me calling you by your name, Y/N, in a moment.”

“No?”

“The results are in and there’s no fingerprint matching that in our database. Whilst that’s bad news for us to immediately act upon it, it doesn’t diminish the fact that someone had been there either.”

Despite being under your blankets, you ran cold, wrapping your spare arm around you to try and warm yourself back up. “I see. Does this mean you can’t do anything?”

“I’m afraid so. If you find anyone suspicious in your house or lurking around the outside, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?”

“Of course, thank you, Sungjin.”

“You’re the first person I’ve been called out to that’s called me by my first name, you know.”

“Do you find me rude for doing so?”

“It’s refreshing,” he admitted and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of being something different for the man. You then bit at your lip, realising you were overreacting all because a man in uniform had stepped into your home.

Okay, so Sungjin was really handsome. And you were deprived of seeing such handsome outside of your stories. Whilst he was no Brian Kang, he would definitely make for a great love story counterpart in a new world. Perhaps he helped the main protagonist and became her protector. Or maybe –

“Y/N?” Sungjin said and you blinked rapidly out of your racing thoughts, coughing a little to cover your embarrassment. “You okay?”

“Sorry, I’m still recovering from this fever,” you admitted, fanning at your face for effect. “Did you say anything else?”

“Yeah, I just told you to keep safe, okay? I don’t need to be worrying about you needlessly, right?”

Oh, you were so going to get up right after this phone call and start typing out these ideas flashing through your mind. However, you gave a moment more to the police officer and confirmed you would call him at the first sign of trouble before ending the call.

Springing up from your bedding, you dashed into your office and perched on the edge of your chair as you opened your laptop and turned it on. You were relieved to find everything in your office in the right place as you opened a new word document and tapped furiously on your keyboard to get down all your ideas for your new police officer au story.

And when you were finally done, you leaned back in your chair and giggled. You weren’t always inspired by people who stepped into your world, but this was solid content you couldn’t ignore.

“Perhaps it’ll help me live out my Sungjin desires too,” you admitted sheepishly before glancing at your pen stand. You remembered about the missing pen and searched on top of your desk and then scooted your chair back to look on the floor. “Where did you go, favourite pen?”

Not finding it anywhere, you pouted right as your stomach grumbled. “Ah,” you said weakly, clutching your stomach in your hand. “I best feed myself and Binks. Hopefully, that pen will turn back up.”

Once you had eaten and quietened Binks’ demands for his morning affection, you got dressed and readied yourself for a trip out to the grocery store. Next, you had to write out a list of what you needed and went back into your office, sitting down at your desk and reaching for some paper.

Your attention turned to your laptop, where you found your favourite pen sitting upon it. “What the…”

And looking up at the screen, another message awaited you.

 Sorry, I didn’t realise I had taken it with me after writing you the notes.

 Glancing around yourself, you froze with the fear that rose within. You hadn’t heard anyone inside the house during this time. Yet, there was proof someone had come in again. You looked to the window, it was firmly shut. There was no way anyone could have gotten inside the house without walking passed you first.

You then started to shake.

Had they been in here all night long again?

Just as you went to get up and fetch your phone to ring Sungjin back, you noticed a second tab open on the document screen.

It was Captivated. And once again, the last words read, To Be Continued.

_________________

Part 3

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[DAY6 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

[ijustwant2write]

Two Sides-Brock Rumlow x Reader

(GIF credit to @rockbumlow​)

Tags: @amirahiddleston @bloodorangemoonlight

Requested by anonymous: 'Hi! Could I please request something with Rumlow? Maybe the reader part of strike but is super shy but it comes across as very aloof and the only reason she’s shy is because she’s nervous around Rumlow?'

Characters: Brock Rumlow x Reader, (there are made up characters in this story too)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

(Y/L/N)=Your last name

Warnings: Shyness, bullying, self pressure, loneliness, swearing, fluff, sexual tension

(A/N: I got waaaaayy too into this)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ready for another day agent (Y/L/N)?" Matt, a fellow agent asked, way too perky for my liking.

"You ask me that every morning." I dryly said as we stepped into the elevator.

"And I always wait for an answer. I still haven't got one yet."

"We're here for work."

Matt sighed.“You know we’re on the same team right? It wouldn’t hurt to engage in some friendly conversation.”

I didn’t reply, hating that I couldn’t think of anything to say back. I knew it came off as rude, I wasn’t stupid. Despite being able to think on my feet during a mission, map out strategic plans when entering new territory, and making snap decisions when fighting enemy, I could never come up with a conversation starter. It had been a struggle since I was young, though I knew who to blame for that. My parents were strict military people, they didn’t believe that a child needed that nurture in their life as long as they had a routine. Hence why I was in the position I was today, part of the S.T.R.I.K.E team for S.H.I.E.L.D, the one member everyone hated.

As soon as we stepped out of the elevator, Matt spotted other agents he knew, instantly catching up to them. I masked the hurt, following far behind towards the briefing room. We had another big mission coming up, one which was vital to us. If we were successful, we could close this case that had been open for over ten years. Everyone greeted each other in the room, some making an effort with me, others completely blanking me. I didn’t take offence. Instead, I took a seat, flicking through the files handed out to us, already knowing it inside out. There was no social life at home (not that there was much of one for a S.H.I.E.L.D agent anyway), but I always refused the celebratory drink after a mission; I couldn’t risk embarrassing myself, not when I had built my way up through the system.

"Sir your asses down," Rumlow walked in, wearing his usual combat gear like the rest of us,"let's get this over with, we all have the same loathing for paper work."

"Except for (Y/L/N)." someone sniggered, though it was ignored.

Rumlow set up the screen in seconds before beginning. I listened to every word that left his mouth, entranced into the way he spoke. He was just so flawless, a sculpture of a man. His handsome features added to his intimidating stature, and he was able to talk his way out of anything. Training beside him hadn't been too bad either. But like everyone else, I hardly spoke to him, feeling the stuttering and awkward conversation building up in my throat.

"Agent (Y/L/N), can you tell us the intel you found on our killer?" Rumlow called me up front, gesturing for me to take over as he leaned against a wall.

I hated how everyone looked at me. Not just because of the pressure, but I knew how much they hated me when I was in this position, having to listen to the bitch of the group instruct them all; and they were going to hate me even more once I told them what I found.

Holding onto the tablet, I swiped through my research, pulling up a picture of a woman's mugshot on the big screen, causing everyone to be confused.

"So when I was looking on the database for any similar records to our killer, I couldn't find any men. I know that everywhere we have been, the security footage has suggested that it is a man, but upon further inspection, it turns out we were wrong."

Matt interrupted me."You're telling me, that all those agents, including us, were wrong?"

My hands gripped onto the tablet, trying to hide my shaking. Don't back down (Y/N).

"Unfortunately yes. But that's not any of our fault. She has led us in this direction to throw us off the scent."

Matt scoffed, glancing around at the others.

"Just look at the kills," I opened multiple tabs, showing her past work,"I've never seen any men murder people like this. And looking through our database backs that up. I know it may set us back, but I've managed to find quite a few leads on the people that she's worked for."

"All of that work, for nothing." one agent huffed."How could she have got away from us?"

"I have never seen this sort of disguise technology before. And she's a woman, it's easier to not be noticed."

"This is the twenty first century you know, "

"And yet when tasked with finding a killer assassin, you all instantly thought it was a man. I wouldn't be presenting this information if I didn't believe in it."

"Alright, sit down agent." Rumlow nodded, and I practically scurried back to my seat.

My heart was pounding, I had been more scared of that than going into any mission. It was no surprise to me when I caught people glaring, rolling their eyes at me or simply frowning. I had proven that our months of work were a waste of time, we would have to revisit so many sites just to get a basic understanding of this woman. The briefing went on for another hour, discussing how we should change our plans, what the best and fastest course of action would be. Once finished, everyone rushed to leave, though I took my time, not wanting to be stuck in an elevator with them all. As I finally stood, gathering up my folder, Rumlow slowly closed the door.

"You've got some big balls there (Y/L/N)." he chuckled, leaning his elbows on top of a chair.

I stuttered like an idiot."Uh-uh, th-thank you sir?"

"Took a lot of nerve to present that new information, your team wasn't very happy."

I said nothing.

"Give me something to work with agent. You only make it hard on yourself." he wasn't harsh with his tone, but I still found it upsetting.

"It's...I-" I couldn't think of anything to say."It's work."

"It's work, right." he rounded the table to stand in front of me."Just don't think it would hurt to bond with them, at the end of the day, they're your allies, not your enemies."

"Yes sir."

We stood there, staring at each other as if it were a stand off. I felt that I had dissapointed him in the only way I could, by not being a team player. I had never put that as my strongest point, I worked a lot better by myself, but unfortunately, my skills were best used in this team. When he leaned away, I took that as a sign that I was dismissed, quickly leaving.

As I left, I could feel my pulse racing, my throat welling up as if I was about to cry. I loved doing this job, but I found it so hard to make friends, or even be casual with colleagues. All those years growing up in silence, and now it was being used against me. I couldn't let Rumlow down.

As the day went on, the team and I tried to gather as much intel as possible, and all was quiet in the room. Some of them overexaggerating their gestures when flipping through files or typing away. It made me feel more and more small, keeping my head down until this day was over.

"Right, lunch break!" someone called out, making me jump.

They all started to leave, and I heard mumbles of asking me to lunch, though that was followed with disagreement. I followed behind as we piled into the elevator, starting to descend.

"(Y/L/N)," Matt said,"you wanna eat with us today?"

I could see everyone's reflections, no one wanted me there. I opened my mouth to say no, but then I had another idea.

"Yes."

Their expressions changed from annoyance to shock, all exchanging glances. Some chuckled, others hollering and whooping that I was finally joining them. I was still hesitant to go with them, trying to keep up with so many conversations as we made our way to the canteen. They did most of the talking, I was a good listener. It was as if I was in a high school movie, hanging with the popular kids, being allowed to sit at their lunch table.

"So what made you change your mind?" Matt asked as we tucked into our food. Everyone else was involved in other conversations.

"Hm?" I sounded, still having food in my house.

"About coming to lunch with us?"

"Um...I need to be a team player."

"Did boss man say something?"

I looked down at my food.

"You don't have to be scared of him, he can't hear you."

"I...I guess so."

"Are you scared of him?" Matt teased.

"I'm not scared so to speak."

He gasped."You're intimidated, and not because he's the boss!"

I ducked my head."Can you not be so loud?"

He lowered his voice."I've seen the way you look at each other. It's very sexual."

My eyes widened."What?! What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh, she swears! And don't worry, I won't say anything to the others."

"Oh my god, I swear nothing is happening."

"But you wish it would."

"Matt."

He laughed under his breath, hiding it from the others."Hey, we don't get to see a lot of other people outside of work, it gets to you."

I carried on eating, thankful that my turtleneck was hiding my blush. I could have easily stopped it there, closed myself off again. But I was turning over a new leaf, I had to bond with my team, Rumlow had said so.

"OK, you want to know the real reason I'm quiet all the time?" I mumbled.

"Yes! Especially since that was probably the longest sentence I've heard from you."

"I grew up as an only child with really strict parents. And when I say strict, I think that Director Fury would be more of a doting father than mine was. So I've only known how to live a military lifestyle, which is why I'm here, obviously. And I guess, with people who are in charge, I feel like I can't dissapointed them. That's why I do so much extra work, not because I'm sucking up to Rumlow like you lot say. If I dissapoint, I get punished."

"Punished?"

"It's so stupid I know. But that's all I did for my parents. Work, work, work until they're happy. And we are one of the best teams within this whole organisation, it's only natural that we have to get good results."

"You out way too much pressure on yourself. You could never do anything wrong. I mean, did Rumlow yell at you for throwing away all of our work this morning?"

I ignored his jab."I guess not."

"Exactly. You know what, I'm starting to like you."

As the end of the day, I headed to the changing rooms to get into my gym clothes, ready for an evening workout. I had thought about lunch and how surprisingly well it went. Just as I was removing my jewellery, I heard two other people enter, thinking nothing of it until I heard my name.

"Did you see (Y/N) earlier?" a girl said, I couldn't recognise the voice.

"Yeah, how weird was it to see her with other people?" her friend replied.

"I actually started believing those rumours about her being a robot."

They giggled. I heard them shut their lockers, footsteps heading towards me. Quickly opening my locker, I used the door to block my face. Luckily they didn't see me, and I only closed it again when I was completely certain they were gone.

Don't let it get to you, not anymore.

Once the coast was clear, I carried my water bottle and towel into the training centre, heading straight towards the treadmills to warm up, when someone called my name.

"Quickly warm up," Rumlow instructed,"I need someone to spar with."

He was by the punching bags, going back to his workout. I stood there, surprised by the demand in his voice. Realising I was just stood there staring, I slowly turned around to get on the treadmill. Beginning the steady jog, I could feel my palms become sweaty, though not from the exercise. Was this a test? Or was he wanting to remind me who I was, put me in my place?

You haven't done anything to piss him off, idiot.

Not wanting to waste his time, I stopped running, the treadmill slowing down beneath my feet. Making my way towards him, I tried to big myself up in my mind, grow my confidence in a matter of steps; it shattered as soon as Rumlow looked at me.

"Come on then." he jabbed at my arm, stepping onto the sparring mat.

I took a deep gulp, almost tiptoing onto the mat. He had his arms up in a defensive stance, and I copied, bracing myself for impact. As we slowly circled, trying to figure out the others tactic. Some feeling in me surged, and I boldly threw the first punch. He easily blocked it, though I was able to get a jab at the stomach. We both tried hitting each other, achieving some as well as blocking. I got braver with every movement, managing to trip him over, though I followed soon after as he pulled me down with him.

We were rolling all over the place, both struggling to take control. I groaned, using my shouting to make my attacks stronger. But this was tiring, Brock was a great fighter, hence why he was in charge of the team. The day had been so emotionally training, and like an idiot, I was letting it get the better of me.

"Alright," Brock chuckled as I managed to gain control, tapping my arm,"that was a good fight."

I didn't ease off at first, wondering if it was a trick. When he stayed still, I slowly climbed off him, only to be flipped onto my back, Brock smirking over me, with a wild look in his eye that was doing things to me.

"Go to dinner with me." he blurted out.

My eyes widened."W-what?"

"You heard me."

"Uh-uh, sir I-"

"Just one date, that's all I'm asking. And before you say anything about work protocol, I say fuck it."

I could feel his grip loosening on me, and once again, I pushed him so he was the one lying down. However, I wasn't pinning him down the way we had been trained; luckily for me, no one else was in the room, and I was able to straddle him, hands resting on his firm chest.

What the fuck (Y/N), you can't just act out your fanatasties in the gym?!

"Pick me up at seven on Saturday. Surprise me." I confidently said, though I felt that I could faint at any moment.

He bit his lip, that seductive motherfucker."Your attitude has changed in a day."

"Do you like it?"

I hadn't meant to sound sexual, I was genuinely asking.

"So far, so good. Hopefully I'll get to see more of this on Saturday."

I stood up keeping a leg either side of his waist, looking down at him."You're very presumptuous. Don't get too confident just yet sir."

Saying nothing more, I walked back over to my water bottle and towel, purposely bending over as I knew he was still watching. I didn't even glanced over my shoulder as I left. But once I was out of sight, I let out the quick, heavy breaths from my mouth, sounding like I was hyper ventilating. Who was that back there? It certainly wasn't me! Where had that come from and where had that confidence been all my life? But the rush, the thrill of teasing him, that was amazing! Knowing that he wanted me, and that I wanted him, but still denying his advances. I had missed out on this my whole life. All I knew was that on Saturday, I wasn't going to hold back any more.

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 74

Warning, PLEASE CHECK TAGS IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THEN DON’T READ. Tag lists are closed

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 74: False Freedom

*****So this chapter contains Dub/Con so you have been warned.******

Ten days. Ten days you were without conscious thought. It’s been ten days since you were able to see out of the windows of your eyes. Ten days of pure blackness, of being confined with the creature. Only the dying embers keeping you company, but they were slowly receding around you, your territory shrinking, the monster creeping closer. On Earth, you weren’t free.

But now you were face to face with him, with your own personal demon. His eyes peering into your soul, knowing that he was controlling you. Seeing you struggling to hold on. Watching you behind the glass.

For once his helmet was off, but his voice was void of emotion. “You will come with me to Exegol. He has requested your presence.” You wondered who he was. And why he needed you to be there.

You wanted to respond, but you couldn’t. Kylo still having control over you. You know he was watching you internally scream and beg him to let you go. You were lashing against the grip of the black creature that held you back, that held you down. You were powerless to him.

But your body betrayed you as he took your arm and escorted you to the shuttle that would take you to the Supremacy. You could feel the darkness taking over as you were strapped in. When you gained consciousness you were finishing dinner, you felt yourself regain control of your voice.

“You will join me in bed tonight, Kitten.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command. You watched as his eyes watched you, knowing there was little you could do to resist him. He was a beast that had already captured its prey, now was no time to fight.

You tried to move your body, but you only had control of voice. “Why are you doing this?” The sound of your own voice seemed foreign on your own ears. You hadn’t had control over yourself in over two weeks.

He was agitated now, something about your question was angering him. “As I said before, this is for your protection. I do not know his full strength and the only way to protect you now is by occupying your mind, putting up a wall you can not do yourself.” But who was this man that threatened you, that asked for you?

“And killing my family? Was that putting up a wall too? Or was that so you could have me all to yourself?” You knew that there was nothing you could do now to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to. You were completely at his mercy.

He scoffed, he was acting like the villain in this story. “We gave them a merciful death. Our enemies would have watched them tortured, to try to get to you. I did you a favor.” His face sneered at you, there was no remorse for what he had done. You felt the tears fall down your face, seeming to have control over the windows now. Allowing you to show some emotion. “Making me watch the first order murder them was a favor?” You wondered just how far he was willing to go to ‘protect’ you. Your family was dead, your friends brainwashed, your planet seized. He was a monster.

His eyes narrowed at you, one twitching with anger. “Remember, you are the First Order now.” Yes, you were the face of it now. The Empress.

You tried to remember back to when he told you that he wanted you to rule for him, but the memory was becoming murky like it had been tainted. “You’re right and I have control over nothing, not even my own body.”

His eyes grew dark as he leaned forward, his body language as threatening as it could be. You felt the internal hold on your body release, and then you felt the Force wrap around you, holding you now from the outside of your body. “You want control, here you have control.”

You struggled against the invisible grip. “You know that’s not what I meant.” “But this is what you are going to get.” He then commanded you up with the Force, your feet levitating off the ground. No control over anything as the tendrils wrapped themselves tightly around you. You were being taken to the bedroom and put on the bed.

You were afraid, this was not the same man who left you weeks ago. “Please don’t do this.” You felt the bed dip with his weight as he crawled up over you. You wanted to push him off, wanted him to get away from you.

His eyes feasted upon your flesh, seeming to mark exactly where he was going to bite into you, like his last meal. “What am I not supposed to do? You are my wife are you not?” His eyes focus on your chest and crotch, taking you in like an object to be defiled.

Your voice broke as you pleaded to him “I am, but I don’t want this, not like this. I want you freely, no Force to hold me down, no Force inside my mind.” For some stupid reason, your love for him was still fighting the fear and terror you felt for him. Trying to remind you that you love him with every fiber of your helpless being.

His demeanor shifted for a moment, it softened. “Promise you won’t run away?” He seemed vulnerable in that moment, and it made your heart yearn for him. Your voice was quiet, your crying calmed. “I promise.”

You felt the tendrils release you, the black entity inside your mind leave you. You were yourself again, but for how long? You weren’t really even able to enjoy this freedom as Kylo began attacking you with kisses, biting love marks into your skin. You heard fabric ripping as your dress came off of you. The Force wasn’t holding you down but his hands were.

You felt conflicted at the situation. Should you be letting him do this? After all he’s done? But your body betrayed you, giving in to his touches and kisses. Every fiber of your being overcome with joy knowing that he was next to you, that he was loving you. It didn’t take him long to get his clothes off. He wasn’t fully erect yet, but that wasn’t unusual.

You struggled against his hold. He was still resisting giving you freedom. “May I please have my arms back?”

His voice was harsh, “Why?” His grip tightening, you were sure that you were going to bruise.  

“You haven’t let me touch you when we’ve made love. You’ve always just held my arms down.” You wanted to be able to touch him, but that never seemed to be an option. You wanted to hold him, maybe that would help this broken man.

He complied, but then a hand wrapped itself around your neck. “I need control,” was his explanation. He used his free hand to stroke himself hard.

You were being choked. His hard pounding thrust caused you to force yourself harder into his hand. Cutting off blood flow to your brain, but not oxygen. Your hips rolled upward as you struggled. He wasn’t going to kill you, but that didn’t mean you didn’t need to be afraid. But again your body was betraying you, your slick was pooling between your legs.

Once he was done making himself hard, his hand found its way to your hot core, plunging a finger in without any warning. He was pissed, and so it seemed that you were not going to get any more warm-up than absolutely necessary. After a couple of thrusts, a second finger was added and then a third. When he thought you were prepped just enough he forcefully split you in two. His pace rough and quick, unrelenting as he pounded into you. You lacked the ability to speak for a different reason, his hand still clamped tightly around your throat. He was vocalizing groans, snarls, the occasional fuck. His lips and teeth covering you in deep dark bruises. This was the first time that he seemed to break skin, you had a bloody bite mark on your breast. The man fucking you was truly a monstrous savage.  

Unlike before he climaxed before you, but he left you feeling empty as he pulled out. You were flipped over, your face shoved down into the mattress as he took you from behind. Yes, you might have had your arms free, your mind free, but you were far from freedom. There were tears in your eyes as you finally reached your orgasm, he was close to his second. Gone was the loving man you once thought you knew, now he was a creature that haunted you, something born of nightmares. A demon trapping you to your own personal hell, but you could help but feel pleasure at your release. Your body still overjoyed at the things he was doing to you. Your body and you slowly becoming two separate entities as he occupied you, both in body and mind. Your tears staining the mattress.

When he pulled out he released all over your cunt, covering your crotch in his hot cum. His grip on your head holding you face down on the mattress released. His hands now attached themselves to your thighs. A long hard swipe fo his tongue changed your tune entirely. Lapping you up, now this was a delicious pleasure. His enthusiasm for your combined juices seemed to return. He hooked a finger inside you to try to scoop out as much mixed cum as he could, after a while the finger just seemed to massage your walls as you produced more and more arousal. His tongue occasionally thrusting in and out of you, before you came to your climax. Your legs collapsed under you as Kylo’s touch left your body, and his weight left the bed.

He went into the bathroom where you heard the shower run, for the first time since you’ve been married he had abandoned you on the bed. He wasn’t returning to clean you up. When he came back, there was no good-night kiss, no real acknowledgment of your existence. He turned off his light and seemed to fall asleep. You tested your own strength as you tried to get off the bed. You limped into the bathroom, the woman in the reflection haunted you, the love bites no longer reminded you of sweetness, but pain. They were marks of ownership, pure ownership over your existence. You turned on the shower and let the scalding water try and wash away the pain in your heart, but it couldn’t. Not before you lost control over your mind once more. The black creature invading your sanctuary. You wondered when the next time you would be guaranteed moments of freedom.

When you came to you were stuck behind the glass. No control over yourself. You were now wearing different clothes. You wondered how many days had passed by, how many days he had stolen from you. For some reason some stupid part of you was still in love with him, believing that he was actually protecting you. But now you were descending to the surface of Exegol from what you could observe. You were going to meet him, whoever he was. You were surrounded by the knights and Kylo, a blaster placed on your hip. You could sense the nervousness from the knights. If they were afraid, you should be too. You weren’t sure if you were being led to your death or not, but you were afraid either way.

Kylo wore his helmet, his lightsaber in his hand, ready to jump out of the craft when you landed. The knights assumed similar positions. You were the only one strapped down, but you could feel Kylo’s Force around you, like some sort of protective bubble. When the exit ramp lowered, it looked like you were released directly into the gates of hell. Chanting was heard in the distance. You felt yourself lose full consciousness once more.

[asphalt-cocktail]

Codebreaker- Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Girl in the Chair

Summary: Zero isn’t the absence of value, in fact, Zero is perhaps one of the most valuable people among the ghosts. Being coined their ‘guy in the chair’ meant that Zero was a ghost among ghosts and is only called from her spot in the shadows when she and Four are the only people who haven’t been caught on camera by a large criminal organization.  

A/N: What’s up cuties! AC here again, back at it with a brand new series! I’m not going to lie, not a lot happens in this chapter it is really just to establish sort of a background on the characters, get the plot rolling, and establish some tension between these two. I am trying to make this one a slow burn fic with a lot of sexual tension and pinning, maybe there will be smut, maybe there wont. It all depends what the people want! The taglist is open so please shoot me an ask if you would like to be added!

Pairing: Four x F!Reader

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Violence, illegal activity, guns, kind of kidnapping, language, tension is building, very politically charged content, not proof read

Series Masterlist

Asks

Tag list is located at the bottom, please send an ASK if you would like to be tagged or if you would just like to chat about the fic/life in general and let me know if the tags do not work.

Beads of sweat trickled down the back of your neck while you sat, kneeling in front of the mess of wires and metal parts. It was so god damn hot in this stupid shed. They really couldn’t have housed you somewhere else?

Of course not, you were a grunt worker, the low man on the totem pole, a peon compared to everyone else in the organization. That was why you were stuffed in this hot dusty shed in the back of someone’s house. Mike probably didn’t even know you name, he only cared that you could make his products work.

You were a 23-year-old engineering PhD student studying materials. Your dream was to create more ecofriendly and cheap filters for water so that it could be easily accessible to those in impoverished areas of the world. Water is a basic necessity, not a right. So how the fuck did you wind up here, making bombs for what may or may not be an ecoterrorism group and hacking into large corporate databases on their behalf?

Well, you hang around the wrong crowd long enough, you’ll eventually find your way stuffed in some guy named Mike’s shed who believes Lions should be fed tofu.

You really didn’t mind it, aside from a few wacky ideologies Mike held, he and his troupe were relatively nice and stood for what you stood for: clean water, properly paid migrant workers, and sustainable living.

You wiped the sweat off your forehead with the back of your greasy and dirty hand as you tinkered away, piecing together a small pipe bomb. It was for your next target, a large family corporation that had a penchant for exploiting migrant workers by promising benefits and paths to citizenship in exchange for low, nearly inhuman pay. What they stood for make you feel sick, so you honestly didn’t feel bad knowing that this pipe bomb was going to be used to blow one of their corporate office entrances to bits in the middle of the night when no one was there.

It would serve as a warning.

After you finally finished connecting the last few bits together you carefully wiped it down and placed it inside the packaged box, then disposed of your gloves and changed your clothes, making sure to put your old ones in the burn pile. It seemed a bit excessive, but the last thing you wanted was to have anything linked back to you with bomb residue on it.

You sat in front of the computer, back slightly hunched over the keyboard while the lighting from the screen illuminated your face “Are you sure you don’t want the light on?” Mike said turning towards you

You let out a deep and irritated sigh, “What are you, a fucking idiot?” You a snapped as your eyes continued to stare at the security footage that rolled on the screen, “We’re in a van about to set off a bomb do you think turning on a light, so I don’t damage my eyesight is more important than getting caught?” Mike shrugged, you had a point.

You checked the clock 12:30am. It was time.

You grabbed the burner phone and flipped it open, dialing the number that would set off the timer. You gaze caught a small flicker of movement in the corner, a shadow that shouldn’t have been there. Your heart jumped when you saw a security guard walking to the front door, “Fuck,” You said, “Fuck, someone is in there, I have to disarm it!” You felt panic flooding through your veins and your heart rate began to increase.

“[Y/N], there isn’t enough time,” Mike snapped, his voice causing you to jump, “You won’t make it and you know it.” He pointed out, “It’s fine, what’s one less corporate pawn.”

Your breath hitched in your throat as you watched the seconds roll past on the security footage, knowing there were only minutes until it detonated, you could make it couldn’t you? You burst out the back of the van, gripping your laptop tightly to your chest and began to run as fast as you could. You tripped over your feet, stumbling in the grass and picked yourself right back up. You flipped open the burner, 1 minute 37 seconds. You could see the building coming into view and could feel your lungs burning, you honestly couldn’t remember the last time you had run that hard and that fast.

The closer you got to the building, the closer the bomb got to detonation. You clenched your jaw, ignoring the burning in your thighs and pressed on.

Your efforts were useless, you realized that when you woke up on the ground covered in rubble with your ears ringing. You coughed, your lungs felt chalky and your eyes burned from the layer of soot that had built up in them. When your vision finally cleared you could see grey and black dust settling and that the majority of the corporate office had been destroyed.

Fucking hell, your pipe bomb shouldn’t have been that strong. It should have just been enough to collapse the front entrance. You struggled to get up, the pain in your arms was excruciating and the dizziness in your head made it seem almost impossible to stand. You cried out in pain when you finally pushed yourself up, I need to get out of here, you thought. You still had that stupid burner phone on you.

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” You turned to see an EMT coming towards you, his voice hammered against your ringing ears and his figure looked fuzzy, you really needed to get the fuck out of here.

“I’m fine, I don’t need help.” You barely recognized your voice from how hoarse it was.

“Ma’am, you’re bleeding, you need to sit down.” The EMT grabbed your shoulders and you shrugged them off, once again yelling in pain.

“Get off me.” You said stumbling as you thrashed against them.

It wasn’t until you felt the cold barrel of a gun nipping at your temple that you realized this wasn’t an ordinary EMT, “You’re going to come with me, got it? Or do you want the feds finding your ass.” His voice was harsh and sent a shiver down your spine.

You nodded your head, wincing at how tightly he was squeezing you before he threw you in the back of the ambulance. He drove for what seemed like ages only because you were fading in and out of consciousness. When he finally stopped, he woke you up, slapping at the sides of your face. You harshly turned your head way “What the fuck?” You croaked once more and tried to twist away only to find that you were hand cuffed to a gurney.

“How did you hack into the security system?” He was obviously done with formalities.

“You can’t prove anything.” You hissed.

“Where did you get the supplies, and how have you and your organization been able to go under the radar with these attacks for so long?”

“Bet you’re a fucking fed,” You spat, you couldn’t stand the cesspool that was more commonly known as the American government.

The guy smiled at you, flashing a perfectly aligned smile, “I’m not a cop. I just want to know how you’re so good at navigating the deep web and creating explosives.” He seemed genuinely interested, and it didn’t seem like you denying things was going to get yourself unhandcuffed anytime soon.

You let out a shaky sigh and shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m an engineering student I just wanted to buy Adderall to help me study for finals, so I bought it off the deep web, then Mike invited me to join his wanna be ELF group and I joined.” You answered honestly.

“Wanna be ELF group?” He his eyebrows arched with amusement, “You realize they have been using your explosives all over the country, did you really think that their attacks were only focused in this area?” You really hadn’t been paying attention to how many devices you would make or what Mike wanted you to order from the deep web, you would just do it with no questions asked, “There were six bombs planted in that building, you realize that don’t you?” You furrowed your brows with confusion, there was only supposed to be one at the entrance and what did he mean by all over the country?

You shrugged and let out a long sigh, you had really dug yourself into a deep hole “I don’t ask questions, I just make and order whatever he gives me on the list.”

“Why?” His question caught you off guard and he repeated himself, this time leaning in closer.

“Jesus, what are you going to do, kiss me?” You said turning your face away, “Give me some space, you smell like fucking garlic.” After he backed up you continued “I think that the American government is a cesspool on the face of society and they just stands by while people suffer. I’m sick of it.” you answered honestly.

“I’m Wade by the way.” He said finally introducing himself, “Don’t worry, I already know who you are.” He said brushing your response away, “Anyways, how would you like to join a group of people who are going over some real nasty people. I’m talking top of the line scum.” You arched your eyebrow with interest and urged him to continue, “This isn’t some small-time gig, I’m talking about taking down whole governments.”

“Do I get paid?” you quickly asked.

Wade couldn’t help but smirk, “No,” He laughed, “But don’t worry I’ll take care of your expenses.”

“What like some glorified sugar daddy?” You asked making a weird face at him.

Wade shrugged his shoulders “Something like that,” He sharply inhaled, remembering one important detail “Oh, right one more thing, if you’re going to join you have to go completely off the grid. You know like fake your death, no contact with your family, that sort of stuff.”

“No student loans?” Wade nodded his head, seeing interest sparkling in your eyes, “Fine with me, it looks like I died anyways with that fucking blast.”

After that meeting you were given the number zero.

Zero isn’t the absence of value, in fact you might have been one of the most valuable people on the team. The only problem was that the team didn’t know who you were. They didn’t know who ordered their supplies, or how One knew everything about everyone, or how their records were able to be so easily erased.

From what you saw they all seemed like nice enough people, but you preferred your ‘girl in the chair’ position and behind scenes work.

One even promised you that he would only call on you in a special occasion. Right now, seemed to be that special occasion considering he was ringing you up at 3 in the morning.

“Someone better be dying, One.” You said immediately upon answering your phone.

“No one is, not yet at least.” You could hear the stupid grin behind his voice, “I need you for a mission.”

You sat up in your bed, “Mission? No, I don’t do missions, I sit in the chair.” You said, panic arising in your voice.

One let out a sigh, “Well, you do now. Be at the base within the hour, we have a team meeting.”

So, you were thirty minutes late for good measure. There was no way you were going to be the first one to show up, it would have been hell having to sit there and explain the same story over and over again as new faces entered the room. So, you walked in the room, confidently late.

You might have been a little too confident because the sound of several guns being cocked and pointed in your direction as well as everyone being on guard caused you to freeze, “Easy, easy, guys. Christ you’re like a bunch of fucking animals.” One said quickly running in front of you with his arms up, “Put your guns down, and you” He said turning and pointing in your face, “You’re late. I told you an hour.”

You shrugged, “I didn’t want to be the first one in the room.” You said stuffing your hands in your sweatshirt pockets and walking around him, taking your seat on a stack of pallets.

One pinched his forehead and let out a deep sigh, “Well, now that everyone’s shown up you can go ahead and introduce yourself.” He said nudging your shoulder.

You gave an awkward wave “Hello, I’m Zero.” You introduced yourself and gave a short nod “Nice to meet you all.”

“Tell them what you do, it’s not fair knowing why everyone else was picked.” One sounded like a scolding mother

You sighed “What is this the first day of college?” you quickly retorted, causing a few of the team members to cover their mouths, hiding their laughter “I’m the codebreaker, the supply man, the explosives expert, the guy in the chair. Whatever you want to call me, just know I do the behind the scenes work.” You tried to not sound too prideful on your position.

“We have a supply man?” You recognized the thick British accent that came from Four.

“Where the hell do you think all your ammunition came from?” You asked him, “Did you all really think One did this all on his own?” their silence answered your question. You scoffed “Tch, One couldn’t navigate the deep web if he ever looked at it, probably would end up buying shit from some cop,” You spat on the ground when you mentioned law enforcement.

One rolled his eyes before continuing with the meeting, “So, as we know we’ll be needing to split up for the next few assignments which, is why I called in Zero to so kindly help us.” He paused for a moment to allow everyone to soak in the information, “Zero, you and Four are going to be sent to gather first hand intel on our target, Vincent Beck.” He cleared his throat “Two and Three were caught on camera sneaking around and Seven, Five, and I have our own assignment.”

You furrowed your brows “I couldn’t erase their footage?” You asked, somewhat shocked at what you were hearing.

One let out another, long sigh, “No, you tried to get into their data base, and they put that virus on your computer, remember?”

You remembered now, that stupid virus that caused endless popups to show up, once one was closed two more would show up, “Right,” You mumbled, chewing on your bottom lip.

One tossed you and Four your files, “Read up on those and come up with a plan, at noon the plane takes off, but I want to debrief at 11.”

And with that you found yourself in Four’s trailer, sitting on his lumpy couch “I’ve never done this before.” You admitted, “I only know how to gather intel through the computer.”

Four’s knee bounced, you didn’t know if it was because he was anxious or because of the constant need to keep moving, “I haven’t either,” He tried to sound reassuring, “But I think it’ll be fine, One usually knows what he’s talking about.”

You pursed your lips and gave Four a skeptical look, “Does he though?” You weren’t very convinced.

The blonde-haired man shrugged, “Yeah, he’s kind of a goon sometimes but he usually figures it out.” It sounded like Four wasn’t very convinced either.

“Well, do you have a plan for this?” You asked leaning back against the uncomfortable and cheap couch.

Four frowned “Got nothin’, you?” You could already tell this was going to be a disaster.

You paged through the file, “Vincent Beck,” You hummed, tapping your finger on your chin in thought, “Well we can’t do a guns blazing approach, we both are better suited for sneaking around, plus the fighting is going to come later.” You mused aloud.

“We just have to talk to him and build some trust, right?” He asked, building off your thoughts.

You nodded your head, still intently reading the file, “This guy is a real sicko,” You said frowning, “Human trafficking? Who the fuck even does this shit?” the details you read caused your stomach to churn, “We have to get as much dirt on this asshole as possible, really gain his trust.”

Four cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably “What if… what if I posed as a potential client?” He swallowed thickly, you could tell that the details of Vincent Beck did not sit well with him either.

You stared at Four, a long hard gaze, “That could work, we can get a way in, gather information on his sales, inside people, so on and so forth.” You rubbed your face, exhausted from your early morning wakeup call, “What about me?” You asked.

Four gave you a cheeky grin, “You can be my assistant.”

You scoffed, dropping the file on the floor next to you “Your assistant? Absolutely not.” You said shaking your head, “I can be a business partner.” You answered, a small smile playing on your lips.

Four rolled his eyes, “You’re a computer nerd, you don’t know about business.” He retorted.

“Yeah, and you’re a thief, what do you know about running a business?”

Four clutched his chest feigning hurt feelings “I’m hurt, truly,” He responded, “Running around with a band of thieves has a lot of business tactics behind it, plus, I know how to talk with other criminals.”

You crossed your arms over your chest “Know how to talk to criminals,” You scoffed “I talk to criminals every day-”

“Yeah- through a computer” Four scoffed right back at you.

“Wow looks like you two are getting along well.” You turned to see that One had let himself into the trailer.

“We’re getting along just fine.” You snapped at One.

“That’s why the two of you are screaming at each other like that, right?” the sarcasm was dripping from his voice, “Anyways, what’s the plan?”

Four leaned forward, anxious to share the idea he came up with “Okay so hear me out, we just need to get close to this guy and gather intel, no actual fighting right? So,” He pauses for what you can only assume is for dramatic effect, “What if I pose as a client, and Zero is my assistant?”

You shook your head “No, I already said no to the assistant.” you quickly said.

One tapped his chin with his index finger, “What if you posed as his girlfriend?” he suddenly said, going along with the idea.

If you would have had a drink in your mouth, you would have spit it out right then and there “Girlfriend?” You almost couldn’t believe the words as they left your mouth, you shook your head “No, I’m not doing that either.”

One stared at you “Do you have a better idea?” He challenged, “And I don’t want to hear business partner, what are you going to buy for everyone in his company? No, Four is going to go in there and say he was referred by one of his previous clients and you are going to pose as his girlfriend.” You moved to argue him, but One put his hand up “Nope, no questions that’s it. Wheels are up in an hour.” He stood up and moved to leave the trailer but stopped “Do the two of you have anything other than sweatpants to wear? You’re going to want to pose as someone with money to make it appealing.”

You sheepishly averted your gaze and Four let out a soft ‘uhhh’ which proved that the two of you really had nothing other than athleisure in your closet, “Fucks sake,” One said shaking his head, “Buy yourself some real clothes when you land so you at least look the part. Zero, you can figure the money out, I know you’ve been sifting through my accounts.”

You scratched the back of your neck and let out a small laugh, have you been slowly taking a bit of money out from One’s bank account? Yeah. But did you care? Nah, he was literally a billionaire and constantly had money flowing in from stocks and other investments.

Your plane ride was short, but most of it was spent establishing your fake relationship with Four while Five slept and Seven and One piloted the plane, “What are our names going to be?” Four asked, “I was thinking could be Jason, or a Roger, or something like that.”

You let out a sigh, you could tell this was going to be a long mission, “Why can’t we just use our actual names, no one knows that we’re still alive and we can just make up last names.”

“Wouldn’t it be fun though-”

“No,” You sharply interjected, “I think that it would be a lot easier to remember our own names since we have a lot of other details we need to remember, like how long have we been together?”

Four ran a hand through his neatly coifed hair, “What about a year and a couple months, you know couples always track little stuff like that.”

“A year and three months?” You asked, he nodded, you checked that off your list and moved onto the next thing, “Okay what about how we met?”

“Childhood friends?” Four suggested.

You shook your head, “No, I’m too lazy to remember all that info, plus we are from two different countries.”

He nodded his head, “Right,” He said, feeling slightly stupid, “What about a business conference?”

You quirked your brow, this actually sounded like a good idea, “Okay, we can meet at a business conference, you know grabbed a few drinks then the rest is history kind of a deal?” a thought popped into your brain, “Oh!” You said, “We need to lay down some ground rules.”

“Rules?” Four asked quirking his eyebrow at you.

“Yeah, rules, you know so we don’t weird the other person out.” You tried to reason, Four’s mouth made an ‘o’ and he nodded, urging you to continue “Number one, no PDA.”

Four rolled his eyes, “We’re supposed to be fake dating, we have to at least make it convincing.”

You let out a sigh, “Fine, no graphic PDA then.” He nodded in agreement, “Number two, no parading around with other people, this has to be convincing” You paused and waited for Four to interject, when he didn’t you continued “And three, stick to the story, no changing it up or adding onto it without telling the other one.”

“That’s it? Only three rules?” Four questioned, you nodded your head “Sounds simple enough.”

The two of you sat in silence for a moment before you glanced over at Four, feeling his eyes on you and caught the surprisingly charming smile he shot in your direction, “How about what I do for work? Can I say I’m inheriting my father’s business?”

You shrugged your head “Yeah, sure, just make sure it’s something you can actually talk about. Rich assholes love talking about what made them rich.”

“Yeah, any opportunity One has to brag, he leaps at it.” Four said laughing, you couldn’t help but join in.

The plane landed and after a short drive you found yourself in LA on a ritzy road with expensive shops. You felt out of place in your stained sweatshirt and beat up shoes, but who was going to stop you from entering with a platinum credit card?

After what seemed like hours’ worth of pointless shopping you and Four finally had a sufficient enough wardrobe gathered up to pass as wealthy couple and were able to check into your ritzy hotel. You and Four made your way up to the hotel room, floor 27 out of 35, the view of the city was absolutely breath taking. You had honestly never seen anything quite like it, “Wow,” You gasped dropping your many bags onto the floor and walking towards the large window that looked over West Hollywood.

The skyline was a mix of pastel pink and orange that had the dark shadows of tall buildings cutting jagged and rectangular shapes out of it, it looked as though it was something straight out of a magazine.

You’d also never been in a nicer hotel, it was large and spacious with a kitchenette, and one large bed covered in white sheets. You felt like there was a rock in your stomach “Why is there one bed?” You asked, furrowing your brow.

Four shrugged “One made the reservation, not me.” He said throwing his duffle bag down on the left side of the right side of the bed, opposite the window, “Guess it’s to seem more realistic? If the room gets searched, they won’t have to wonder why we use separate beds.” That was a far-fetched idea and part of you knew it was just One fucking with the two of you, “Don’t worry, I don’t snore.” Four joked, shooting you a cheeky winking at you.

You looked at him, slightly taken back by his blatant flirting, it caused your stomach to clench “Right, well,” You cleared your throat “I hope you’re not a blanket hog either.”

You sat on the bed, your laptop open and on your lap. It wasn’t the most ideal position, but you had to make do with what you had. Your fingers flew across your keyboard, satisfying clacks filling the large hotel room while you gathered information on Beck’s previous clientele. You turned towards Four who was mindlessly scrolling through his phone, “So for tomorrow, Beck is going to be at a vineyard for a tasting, that is where you’re going to approach him.” You said looking at Four to make sure he was paying attention. He wasn’t. You reached over, lightly kicking him and grabbing your attention, “Did you hear me?” You chastised.

Four jumped and sheepishly looked at you, “Yeah, I did, tomorrow we’re going to a vineyard and I’m going to talk to Beck.” He repeated looking at you and setting his phone on his chest.

You nodded, relieved that he was actually listening to you, “Good,” You said exhaling lightly “So, your referral is going to be this guy,” You said turning your screen towards Four, he leaned in and nodded his head “But what Beck doesn’t know is that Mr. Harrison is in prison and unable to answer any calls he may have regarding the validity of your referral.” You paused, giving the blond haired man a moment to soak in the information before you continued, “So, what you’re going to do is you’re going to introduce yourself, make some small talk, and then Segway to talk about your business associate Mr. Harrison. Mention something along the lines of special products and how high quality and reliable Beck’s side business is, say whatever you have to say to butter him up.”

“So I just need to kiss his ass?” Four asked for clarification.

You nodded your head, “Exactly, and for good measure we’re going to bring a bag of cash that I’ll be carrying.”

Four hummed, “Clever plan,” He complimented, you felt your face heating up, “You sure this is your first time in the field?” He gave you a skeptical glance before settling beneath the sheets and reaching to turn off his bedside lamp.

You shut your laptop, “Yeah, I just sit back at base most of the time, One didn’t even take me along to Italy,” You said and leaned over, putting it on the floor.

“You’ve been with us since Italy?” Disbelief filled Four’s voice.

“Yeah, I helped One track all of you down, he might be good with magnets but gathering info isn’t really his forte.” You said and sat up, shifting your pillows around before you laid back down, pulling the blankets up to your chin and burrowing in, “We better get some sleep, big day tomorrow.”

Four rolled onto his side, “Right, well, night.” He mumbled.

----

Your sleep was restless because of you nerves, you kept tossing and turning, sighing when the sheets got tangled in your feet until Four finally said something, “Stop moving, for the love of god.” He mumbled against his pillow, not bothering to even open an eye to look at you.

“Sorry,” You whispered, “I just can’t sleep.” You said smoothing your hands over the blankets that covered your chest.

Four let out a long, deep sigh, “Well try,” He was obviously someone who valued sleep and did not take kindly to be woken up.

When you finally awoke in the morning you stretched, feeling your back cracking as you groaned “Fuck,” You sighed, sitting up and looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, right, you were on a mission. Four walked out of the bathroom, his hair still wet and messily towel dried, and wearing a white tee-shirt and boxer briefs.

You felt heat creeping up your neck and flushing your face at the sight, he turned around, feeling your eyes staring holes into him “Morning,” He greeted.

“Morning.” You answered back.

Four rummaged through the bags of clothes you bought yesterday, frowning “What do you even wear to a vineyard party?” He asked tossing several shirts aside.

You pursed your lips “A well-tailored suit?” You suggested, pulling the blankets back and grabbing your own things before heading to the bathroom, “You done in here?” You asked poking your head out the bathroom door.

Four looked up at you, still frustrated over his outfit of choice and nodded “Yeah, ‘m finished.” He said turning his attention back to the bags.

The hot water from the shower soothed your stiff shoulders and the steam filled your nostrils, you let out a soft sigh slicking your hair from your face and scrubbed your hair and body, freeing it of the filth that had built up from your travels. Your shower seemed to put the nerves you held over the meeting today at ease even if it was only temporary.

When you walked out of the bathroom, dressed and almost ready to go your gaze caught Four, “You- you clean up nicely.” You complimented.

It was true, he did clean up nicely. His hair was neatly slicked back and the buttons on his crisp white button down were taut against his fit chest, threatening to give way if he moved just right. His collar was upturned and a tie loosely hung around his neck. He turned, drinking in your figure a ghost of a smirk playing on his face “So do you,” He said casually struggling with his tie.

“Need help?” You asked, walking towards him your hands reaching for the tie as you closed the gap. You were close to him, nearly chest to chest and could smell the cologne he had bought the other day. You fiddled with his tie, tying it properly and tightening it comfortably against his neck, “There,” you said placing a lingering touch against his chest.

The two of you stood for a moment, staring at each other before you forced yourself to be the first one to pull away, quickly grabbing your purse and slipping your shoes on. Your throat felt tight, you needed to get some fresh air quickly before you went mad.

Taglist: @lapofthemusicgods​, @chonkyhambs​, @teageowen​, @l0ve-0f-my-life​, @takemetoneverland420​

[entropy-game-dev]

The Best Birthday Postmortem

Hey all! Voting/rating was recently enabled for all games in the #GM20 gamejam - if you downloaded and liked the game, we would really, REALLY appreciate it if you rated it using this link! You can also download and play the game here as well, of course, otherwise this postmortem might not make too much sense!

Gameplay Summary:

You are throwing a birthday party for your 19 best friends and yourself. You bought 20 gifts online, but didn't really think about who to give what to. So, on the day of the party, your goal is to talk to each of your guests (and you can also display your own thoughts pulled from a random selection) in order to figure out who would like what present the most. Each gift-guest combination has a rating from 0 to 1, and your goal is to give all the gifts away while scoring as high as possible!

What went right:

Tutorial: Learning a very harsh lesson from the last game, this time we endeavoured to have a proper tutorial that explains each action in turn and was planned from the beginning of the game. You can't progress the tutorial until you do each action in order, which is helpful as the thoughts button and giving gifts to yourself would not be very intuitive otherwise. Not having done a tutorial in this fashion before, I found relatively nice ways to advance the tutorial and to limit user actions as well. As tutorial states were cumulative, actions were only ever added and it was easy enough to add a series of if tutestate > whatever to the controls which Lucinius had neatly set up.

Scope: Yes it's a new record for us, we finished and submitted the game a whopping 4 hours before the deadline! This was in contrast to the last two gamejams were we were submitting in a rush and the quality of the last features were were adding had suffered. I can't really say if we're getting better at estimating our workload or we're getting more efficient at working, or it's just been luck, but honestly like most complicated aspects it's most likely a combination of a variety of factors. I thought I bit off more than I could chew regarding the 20 character and present designs, PLUS the animations - and admittedly, those animations were the last thing that got done - but we did get there in the end, which is the most important thing.

Art: After a day or two of experimenting with a 32 colour pallette (obtained from the always-useful Lospec, I realised that for what I was trying to achieve, 32 colours wasn't cutting it for me and so I swapped over to a 64 colour pallette. Now, while I did notice more and more things that annoyed me about it over the course of the week, I've been taking notes of, and I'll be producing a modified palette for next time around. Nevertheless, I was able to stick with it and produce a mostly unified set of asset - with the caveat that I did have to resort to outlines on characters and presents because the skin and floorboard colours were very similar.

Reusable code: I think we made a lot of progress here - not only did we use some modular code from past projects here, we got a lot of useful code out of this project. Of note is the work Lucinius did converting bbTextbox (highly recommended, by the way) into a box that can have multiple "boxes" worth of text, with controls for fast forwarding, skipping, and even a yes/no choice system for future projects. This was also our first time working with GMS2's new camera system, and we also got some nice code and functions out of that. Well, Lucinius did, I didn't have much to do with it...

Pair (🍐) programming: I think we both found that when we were able to work together and discuss/bounce ideas of each other, we were at our most efficient. There was a lot of stuff I wasn't familiar with that I could quickly ask Luc, and likewise some code I was more familiar with - like bbTextbox and database management, he could ask me about. I'm pretty sure most of the hard problems were solved working together which means we complimented each other well!

What went wrong:

Dialog: Yes, there was a lot, and no, that isn't the issue as such! The main issue here was that the majority of dialog and characterisation was hidden behind presents, and it was unrealistic to assume that players would be doing multiple playthroughs to see each character's reaction to different presents - there were about 6 lines per character that could be read just from talking normally to them, and then another 20 lines per character for the gift giving portion. I also tried hard to give the characters relationships to each other outside of the party, but namedropping characters without some sort of reference (either a visual aid or maybe a colour coded system) probably didn't work that well. Also, there were about 80 different thoughts you could pull up but I had forgot to randomise the seed at the beginning of each game so you'd see the same thoughts in the same order! Ugh!

Score system: Tying in to this, the score system was designed as such that characters would score your gift from 0 to 1 in order to provide a max score of 20. However, I think there might have been too much emphasis on scoring, because during playtesting, my guinea pigs were worrying too much about who got what present, without really understanding that the score isn't that important and it was more about the experience (seeing what each character had to say). Compounding this, the dialog was not completely explicit on who wanted what gift - and this was by design, because I wanted to lessen the focus on giving THE PERFECT gift to each character, but the ambiguity only served to highlight my players' anxieties! 

Workloads: Content is seriously hard work - it took me a good 2 days to write up all the text for the game and 3 days to do the tilesets, designs, and animations. That meant that Lucinius was left to do most of the heavy lifting on the programming side, and given that we work well programming together, I think that portion of it could have been much more efficient! Of course, I helped out where I could but in the end I was mainly contributing in terms of dialog and art, not programming.

Timings: Furthermore, due to our schedules, we were mostly programming separately except on the weekend and the final night! We of course, had a chatroom where we were able to leave each other messages and had a project management system backing us up in terms of tasks etc, but the main body of work was done asynchronously, which was not bad, as we got it done, but we could have been a bit more coordinated and efficient had we been able to work simultaneously.

Final thoughts:

Overall, we were both really really really happy with what we were able to achieve. It was honestly pretty smooth sailing from start to finish with quite a bit of time spent on the dialog system (with good reason, mind), and we produced something that was pretty well received by the people who played it! Still haven’t played/rated it? Check it out here!

[regentcorpse]

Added after I wrote this, I know my grammar is a mess in this. This post is 2223 words, longer than most high school essays which averaged 1500 words. If you don’t want to read all of this it has been separated into paragraphs and most of the conversation points are in the last three paragraphs. This sentence was added in after word count, the original post was on Facebook which is why the link in this does point to my own blog: My sentence structures are not correct, and this is Facebook and I don’t give a crap about that here. I did try to do my best to make it somewhat understandable with several ideas and conversations all in this. Also I didn’t originally separate it into paragraphs. If a sentence seems out of place at the start or end of a paragraph, my bad. But please read, comment opinions, not angry but constructive to build a conversation. I also don’t know how but this became more like an info blog post, but valid points and openings for conversations are made.

These newish Apple features like the Memoji, like it’s aight but still lacking in so many hair styles and facial depth, forehead, chins, and noses. Hopefully the will add a lot more features to be able to make it more like you, in a cartoon version. I’m about to check out the full bitmoji app to see what all they have, but I feel like apple should of used bitmoji, and since Apple has a version, I know android does. How is their version in your experience? (Please reply even if you don’t know me, I want to have decent conversations with people, but I hardly have anyone to talk to about random stuff like this.) Also the fact that Apple has Memoji in their database of words and not Bitmoji, is extremely weird, and pointless not to have it.

I don’t know how I feel overall about Apples decisions on these updates. They seem to be trying to almost build a legit social media around their platforms, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make something like Google+, which will most likely fail all together as a product, not because it will be awful but because we already have the social media giants that control most people’s lives, work, and reputation.

Facebook is for memes mostly and socializing with like minded people with their pages and groups. Not to mention that so many people use their marketplace now as well, which did shock me that it took of with other apps offering the same thing before Facebook did. To those who didn’t know, yes, Facebook stole that idea from OfferUp and LetGo(I think there was another around before the marketplace.)

You have Snapchat, the goofy fun social media where you can have personalized stories, private or public, and I may be wrong but they are also the ones that introduced the idea(maybe didn’t originally have the idea, but did introduce it, I think. Let me know if I am wrong please, I would like to know.) Next, the thing that made Snapchat big originally was the disappearing pictures after 10 seconds, which you couldn’t edit when the app first came out, the initial release didn’t even have filters or all the extra stuff they have now, it was so basic and simple and blew up. Another thing that made Snapchat big in the same way, disappearing photos meant disappearing nudes for both male and female, only that at first they could be screenshots, that didn’t notify you. In a future version, they disabled screenshoting photos from the default system buttons, but of course people found ways and made apps to get around it. Snapchat then started to block accounts for using those apps, then came the solution of notifying users of screenshots and then recordings when Apple released that feature. I know Snapchat probably wasn’t the first to make the goofy photo filters, but they did make it so much easier and almost more advanced with their simple facial mapping(yes it is simple since it’s meant to work with phones without facial recognition and all the other fancy face features.). Now Snapchat is a place to socialize in groups, or privately with friends through photos, messages, and video. Another big use now is the porn industry, where I think it’s safe to say only females succeed at making a lot of money with. It also seems to avoid spam bots and stuff. I’ve never received anything from a fake user or bot, besides their built in Snapchat bot, so that is honestly impressive and I applaud them for trying to keep it safe and friendly, except for the usual douchebag guys that send dick picks and stalk girls no matter their age. Danger lurks at all corners of the internet, and making friends is easier now, and just an add and a message away sometimes. But be careful who you add and honestly block anyone who harasses you or sends you unwanted images. And report them, help improve internet society and safety. This goes for all social media platforms.

Instagram is built solely around the personal sharing of photos to a feed and nothing else really. I know everyone was shocked that it became as big as it did, considering you can do the same thing in Facebook, and easily share other peoples photos to your friends. Although it is just photos, the people on there that are successful, actually do influence people and promote sponsors and their products. Some use it to get money, for their more explicit content. It followed Snapchat in adding stories, then filters, and has been successful in its endeavors. You can find everything legal on their as well as some illegal content such as drug use. As mentioned above, yes bots and fake accounts exist, be weary in who you talk to and exchange messages and photos with on here as well.

Twitter has been around for a long time and honestly, I see it being the first to die, due to overall lack of community and now with all the user interface updates and whatnot, it can be difficult to understand how the social environment of it works. Basically you get I think 140 characters to insert into the status prompt or whatever you/they want to call it. I personally don’t use it much, I get on there to see any updates from game companies and some of my favorite authors and music artists. I do this maybe once a week or two. I honestly don’t understand the point in twitter nor how getting followers and conversations started on there, if you have any suggestions for me please let me know if you are still somehow reading this.

Tumblr, ye olde blogging platform, one of the best until the pornography bam that yahoo added once their app was removed from the Apple store after I think being reported for child pornography. A lot of people lost their blogs and thousands of followers and countless hours of work. Many others had a lot of their content censored by a community guidelines photo or by being completely removed. So yes we can all agree that it’s a good thing they are trying to do what they can to combat child pornography of Tumblr, but a lot of people saw this as a complete change of environment for tumblr, whether being used for art, music, porn, pizza, cats etc.. Another big complaint that caused this change is how easy it was to lie about your age and turn off the content filter that got rid of the majority of inappropriate content. It was literally just a search option, then they tried moving it to your phone settings to the app setting in there to turn it off, which was still too easy. I can say you will still see pornographic content on Tumblr, mostly by accident, but there are people still posting getting around their image search algorithms. Past that to summarize, it’s basically a bigger version of Twitter, allowing for blog posts of most media types now, they have a reblog button to repost on your own page(these also get their own sub domains where it follows such as mine regentcorpse.tumblr.com. This is not for promotion, just an easy example(it’s a new blog with only like one blog post, but yes is my personal blog.) You can use your own domain if you own the address and route it to tumblrs name-servers, which most domain hosts have guides available to help you understand the process and set it up. They follow Wordpress in allowing themes which are only visible in a web browser and not the Tumblr mobile app, but on mobile you can edit the color scheme and fonts to what they have stock. To be like twitter with the features of Wordpress except custom plugins, it is a phenomenal platform still where you can truly be yourself and no one actually has to know who you are, you just post the content you love, the content you create(except for the porn content that a lot of people now went to Snapchat and Twitter for, and probably some private instagrams). You can find almost everything you heart desires within lawful reasons, I mean honestly you could probably find someone to buy illegal stuff from like guns, drugs, etc but I’ve never looked for that type of stuff on there. I love cyberpunk culture and there are so much content around it on tumblr. It also has pretty decent privacy setting for a blog, which can be password locked I believe and you can set permissions for it to be only people you follow or follow you, or no one or everyone can message you, ask questions(which can be anonymous), and submit content to your blog(also can be anonymous). The tumblr community can be toxic but also so helpful and beautiful seeing some of the ways people come together on there. It can range from legit bugs to books and quotes to programming and even professional use.

There is also LinkedIn, which is a very professional platform where you can add your professional resume and skills and may get recruited to jobs. I remember something like this tried to launch on Facebook but I do believe it failed out, as I haven’t seen anything about it or a link since they probably removed it.

So this leads me to ask What would an Apple Social Media Platform consist of? How would they try to outdo the others, and how would they make it appealing enough for people to use/switch to. Yes Apple is a big name, but so was google which failed at social media. They had good ideas but went about it completely wrong.

I feel like Apple would attempt to make a platform around creativity and art of all types. I feel like it would be a platform that would combine GarageBand, IMessages, Memoji, and all their other great apps into one. If they added collaboration on projects a lot easier in that aspect, and didn’t force themselves into everyone(Yes, Google that’s a shot at you.), they could make a truly great platform where we could see great things made by groups, communities, artists, and I could see them adding some sort of collaboration for web developers and programmers, which I would like to see knowing that Facebook, the corporation not social network, owns Oculus, and they already have a lot of resources for developers. Do you think Apple might be working on a social media platform, or do you think they will just keep adding out of place features? Do you think they would succeed in it or absolutely fail? Do you think Apple would stand a chance against the other giants that have been around and built up their user base? Also another issue is how exclusive Apple is with everything, just the fact you can log into Apple TV and watch it on a Windows Pc is a miracle. Do you think Apple will make it exclusive or would they put in the effort of being their media platform to everyone no matter their device? Remember everyone had a MySpace, now you never even hear about it, Facebook was a surprising switch with it having limited functionality and basically no customization options for your profile like MySpace and some other media’s had.

I want to hear your thoughts, opinions, and speculations about this, let’s start an open and friendly conversation, no hate or trolls, I don’t want all of that and your comments will be deleted and I may even block you from seeing posts like this on your feed and my page. This is at an end because my thumbs are tired and my phones dying and Facebook is lagging from how much I just put on here, but seriously comment, let me know what’s running in your mind, even what you would like to see change in social media in general or even in specific ones. I hope you all do open a nice and positive and informative conversation, I want to see that on Facebook more and I want to make friends I can talk about this type of stuff with in depth or even as broad as mostly common knowledge.

[mayorjaystown]

Let’s Talk About Animal Crossing on the Switch

I can’t stop thinking about animal crossing on the switch. It’s taken up all the free time in my head. With E3 fast approaching the hype keeps building. So, I thought I’d make a post talking about my concerns and hopes for what’s coming. I tried to include things I don’t think other people have covered yet/ I haven’t seen anyone cover yet. But there will be some rehashed points.

To begin, i tried to vision what animal crossing on the switch would be like. In this conversion to the switch console, there were a few problems that came up. In this post I tried to organize my thoughts as best I could but you do have my apologies if this is messy. 

Here goes my predictions, concerns, and hopes for Animal Crossing on switch:

something we’ve never seen before.

I’d like to first ask how different nintendo is going to make the game. Animal Crossing through its new releases has stayed pretty much the same but with a few tweaks in between, sometimes facing criticism for how almost nothing changes. But the switch console has a small history of shaking things up. with Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, they gave Zelda fans an entirely different game that was very different than its previous by introducing an open world. With Super Mario Odyssey it appears very similar to super mario galaxy but in this game mario can fling his hat onto enemies and possess them ? ( I haven’t played odyssey but I know this is a new thing for the mario games). And my last example, Kirby Star Allies. I’ve never played any Kirby games but it appears to be that this is the first time multiplayer is being involved ? I could be wrong but that’s how its advertised. This all leads me to believe that something is going to be added. Some different amazing feature that will say, “Don’t buy the past Animal Crossing Games! Buy this one on the Switch ! It has *this * feature that the past animal crossing games don’t have!” this is my big prediction for the new game. i just don’t know what new thing they could offer..

my concerns.

1. Nintendo Online

One thing that would extremely effect my opinion on the whole thing is Nintendo Online. You know, having to pay for having access to online features? When Nintendo Online first showed up, I was very upset. The idea of having to pay for online services was crazy to me. This was because I don’t have a PlayStation or Xbox or at least haven’t played on one in years. Now I don’t really mind. $20 for 12 months? just a month after that initial purchase and it feels free because I got over the dent in my pocket. But I am just one person and this is how it was for me. I’m sure for some other people they are stuck playing offline because that price is something that they just can’t afford. Moving aside that for a second I’d like you to think about how many features in ACNL require internet. Dream addresses, going to a friends town, reading a qr code, etc. 

Nintendo Online is something I didn’t think about until I considered solutions for different problems that came up while I made this post (that I’ll discuss later.) But, for example dream suites and visiting your friends town. It just feels weird to have to pay for things like that. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like that’s how it’s going to be.. sadly. Maybe they’ll introduce a new feature that would make paying for Nintendo Online worth it.

2. qr codes and designs

Currently on my 3ds it’s easy to work with patterns and qr codes. Making my own designs and taking pictures of other peoples qr codes is really easy. But a Nintendo switch presents a couple problems there. First is the obvious problem, the switch doesn’t have a camera. But I’ll tell you what, your phone does. I have Spaltoon 2 and it can connect to the Nintendo Switch app and that app can do a lot. So maybe I’d need to read qr codes with my phone instead. But there’s still a problem there. I usually use my phones screen to read a qr code, and I’m sure many other people do that too. There’s a solution to that as well but at that point it’s just less convenient than new leaf for the 3ds, and from a business standpoint, I’m supposed to be wanting to play the switch version more that the 3ds. So here’s where I remembered Nintendo Online. Maybe they could make an online database of designs and then qr codes become out of the question. Say, you go into the able sisters shop and theres an option to browse designs online. Kind of like how in the sims 4 you can have a profile and upload houses or families. I’m not really sure how much I like this option but it’s possible? Maybe. Alright now second problem with qr codes and designs, making them. Like I mentioned earlier, I have splatoon 2 and drawing on that is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But making a design in animal crossing is just pixel art so maybe it wont be that bad.

3. Save Files

The Nintendo Switch let’s you have multiple profiles on one console. Hopefully each one of those profiles get’s their own game. I don’t want to have to share a single town with everyone who uses my switch.

and that does it for my concerns. here’s my...

Hopes and Rambles:

Since the Switch only has one screen, the user interface will probably be like Animal Crossing City Folk from the Wii. It’s been forever since I played that. What im really curious about is the camera position. since there are two joy sticks on the switch, will the camera view be like breath of the wild or odyssey ? Something to think about.

different skin tones! maybe asking where you’re from to determine a skin tone. i know you could get tanner in new leaf but come on. easier way please.

 a separate pocket for tools.

I wish I didn’t have to go to my home or pull up my phone to see what an item or shirt looks like. I would like new sprites but that little leaf is so iconic I doubt that would change.

New furniture. I know there’s already so many sets but I don’t think more could hurt. i love the classic and sloppy series. 

im so curious as to what the title is gonna be and how the story is gonna progress. are timmy and tommy gonna be grown up ? is tortimer die?

i think my biggest concern is whos mayor. i  really just want control. control over what the town looks like. for me the more control the better. 

[captainimprobable]

A Good Weird (A Lapidot Oneshot)

This is the first thing I’ve written in two years!!!!!!!! It’s messy, it’s sloppy, it’s not up to par for me, but it’s something and I’m so incredibly happy that it’s finished.  Hopefully one day I’ll be back to what I was. But for now, here’s this teeny tiny one shot. Also the formatting’s weird. I’ll chalk that up to Tumblr, though Ao3 Synopsis: Peridot tries to help Lapis through her first thunderstorm ~~~~ “Percy, I just…I can’t do this anymore.”

The barn was deadly still.  Apart from the conversation happening on screen, the only sounds that could be heard were the distant calls of birds in the trees outside and the combined breathing of the two gems watching in rapt attention.

“I know we’ve spent a lot of time together this summer. I know we’ve gotten pretty close.  But…”

Peridot, eyes glued to the television set, began excitedly tapping Lapis’s arm.  Lapis absently waved her away, mouth open in awe, eyes never leaving the screen.

They’d been waiting for this moment for months. All those hours speculating, all those charts and graphs, countless hours spent theorizing and wondering.  It had all come down to this.  

The unaired Camp Pining Hearts TV movie that Steven had found somewhere in the bowels of the Internet.  

The two gems held their breath.

“I’ve decided.  I’m leaving the Blue Team.”

The rest of Paulette’s words were drowned out by Peridot’s excited scream, punctuated by her fist punching the air in triumph.  

Lapis rolled her eyes, but the effect was softened when she offered Peridot a faint smile.

“I told you, Lapis! I TOLD YOU she’d do it! Strategically speaking, Paulette leaving the Blue Team is the only thing that would assure their victory.  Though I am impressed with her willingness to sacrifice herself for the good of the team.  I may have to reevaluate my previous analysis of her character arc.”

Peridot paused when she realized Lapis was shaking her head.  

“What?”

“I’m not buying it.”

“Not buying…what exactly?”

Lapis steepled her fingers together, resting her chin on her conjoined hands.  She leaned in toward Peridot conspiratorially.

“There’s no way Paulette decided this on her own.”  

Peridot gasped.

“What are you insinuating?”

“I think someone put her up to it.  Remember her whole ‘Forever and Always’ monologue in season 3? She’s not selfless enough to give up her Color War standing just like that.”

Peridot considered this, head cocked at an angle.  “That would mean…she was blackmailed?”

Lapis nodded sagely.  “It makes the most sense.”

Peridot’s eyes widened. “Lazuli, you’re a genius!” She tripped over herself in her scramble to jump down from the truck bed.

Lapis laughed.  “Where are you going?” Peridot was already out of the room when she responded with a yelled “To restructure my charts!” ~~~ Peridot was still scribbling furiously ten minutes later when Lapis burst into the room, a wild look in her eyes.  She didn’t even look up as Lapis scanned the barn.

“Good, you’re here!” Peridot exclaimed, not noticing her roommate’s obviously distressed state.  She kept talking as Lapis searched the room, completely ignorant of everything going on around her.  She didn’t even notice when Lapis started to throw things.

“I discovered that your version of events makes the most sense if you try to-“ A toilet seat flew through the air, coming so close that it ruffled Peridot’s hair.  She blinked, just seeming to realize that bathroom appliances do not frequently fly on their own.  

“…What are you doing??” she trailed off, as Lapis continued on what looked like a mission to destroy the barn.

In response, an engine came flying at Peridot’s face.  She managed to avoid it by panicking at the last minute, throwing her hands in the air in defense, and accidentally using her metal powers to stop the errant piece of debris.

Peridot squinted her eyes open, wondering why her face was still in one piece. She was greeted with an engine floating steadily in front of her. “Lazuli, look what I did-“ she paused, considering the engine. “-totally on purpose! Am I amazing or what?”  She dropped her hands to put them on her hips to stand in a more heroic pose. The engine, unimpressed, fell to the floor with a loud BANG.

When Lapis didn’t respond, Peridot finally remembered that she was in a Roommate Situation.  Tired of being ignored, she cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed. “LAZULI, WHAT IN HOMEWORLD ARE YOU DOING???” Wondering if that might have been a little too confrontational, she added “AND CAN I HELP?”

Lapis jumped, as if she’d forgotten Peridot was there.  She stopped throwing things, but her eyes continued to dart around, flicking from Peridot’s face, to the floor, to the rain lashing against the little window near the roof of the barn ceiling, never settling on one thing for more than a few seconds. With nothing left to throw, she wrung her hands together nervously.  Her wings emerged from her back in preparation to fly, but with nowhere to go they just hung limply, flanking her like two fading, dejected ghosts.

“Someone’s attacking us,” She finally announced.  “We’ve got to pack up our stuff and get out of here”

Peridot, instantly on the alert, squatted as if to make herself a smaller target and scanned the barn.  “Who is it? Is it Homeworld?” She paused, eyes widening. “Of course it’s Homeworld! Oh man I knew this would happen someday, they’re finally coming to get me- Wait,” she glanced at Lapis, finally taking in the fact that they were still alone in the barn.  “Where are they?”

“You don’t hear that?!” Lapis’s voice rose, almost becoming a shriek.  They both paused to listen, but all Peridot could hear was the storm outside.  Then it dawned on her.

“Oh!” Peridot smacked her palm with her fist.  “You mean the rain?” She reached out for Lapis’s shoulder, but pulled back quickly when Lapis flinched.  “That’s okay,” she said, putting her hands up in front of her, the way one might approach a terrified animal. “I was afraid of the rain, too, but Steven taught me-“

“Not the rain,” Lapis interrupted, teeth chattering. “The…the searchlights. The rumbling of a spaceship getting closer.  We just…we need to leave NOW.”  Lapis’s wings began to move, preparing her for flight.  This time Peridot grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from flying away. ‘Wait,” she said, using the calmest voice she could muster. “Please, Lapis, just wait.”

Lapis’s eyes looked stormy, mirroring the weather outside. Peridot internally congratulated herself for that truly poetic metaphor, keeping her eyes on Lapis’s face.  Finally, Lapis retracted her wings.  Another booming sound, and she shrank down against the wall, protectively covering her head with her arms.  

“So why are we risking our lives by staying here?” Lapis’s voice came out muffled.  Peridot gingerly sat down too, making sure to leave a good foot between her and Lapis.

“Because it’s all normal.  The lights, the sounds. It’s not a spaceship, it’s just this…thing that happens on this world.  Another weird Earth thing, like seasons, or bathrooms.”  Peridot rested her head against the wall, watching the rain streaking down the window.  “But it’s…” She paused, a small smile on her face.  “Well, it’s a good weird.”

Lapis poked her head out of her arm cocoon and considered Peridot. Then, in a very small voice, she muttered “What do they do in those bathrooms anyway?”

Peridot nodded sagely, then confidently replied “I have absolutely no idea.”

Another rumble shook the barn, and Lapis retreated back to her safe position.  

“I just…” Lapis faltered. “I don’t like when there’s a threat I can’t even see.  It makes me feel…out of control.”

Peridot let out a breath.  “It’s okay if you’re scared, yknow.”  When Lapis didn’t answer, she continued. “I was scared basically all the time when I first got stuck here.”

Quiet settled over the barn, punctuated only by the heavy drops of rain falling onto the roof.  

Finally, Lapis said in a quivering voice: “There’s nothing to fight. And that freaks me out.”

As if determined to prove her point, thunder chose that moment to shake the barn.

Lapis bit her lip so hard she nearly broke the skin.

“OH!” Peridot snapped her fingers, hit by a sudden thought.

“I’ve come to realize that, while Homeworld is obviously advanced far beyond earth technology, they still underestimate the tech humans do have.”  She pulled out her tablet, holding it close enough to her face that the glow of the screen reflected off her gem.  “The last time anyone studied the earth was thousands of years ago, and they haven’t updated any of their information since.  I’ve taken it upon myself to do that.” She looked around, as though expecting applause.  When she didn’t get it, she turned back to her tablet, a little crestfallen.

“Anyway, there’s this database humans use that I’ve found pretty useful in the past.”  She typed “HELP SCARED OF THUNDER” confidently into the search bar, a shaking Lapis looking over her shoulder.

“Usually your best bet is to click on the first response,” Peridot said knowingly, subsequently clicking on “Did you mean: Help my dog is scared of thunder?”

“You don’t even know what a dog is, do you?”

“Shut up, Lazuli, I’m trying to help you.”

Peridot cleared her throat.  “Okay. According to a human named “Web MD”, step one is to “Make the room you’re in a Safe, Welcome Space.”

The two gems surveyed the room, taking in the fixtures of their daily life: Five toilets, check.  Half a truck sticking out of the wall, check.  Cans hanging from the ceiling in no discernable order? Got em.  

Lapis shrugged. “I guess that’s…good enough?”

Peridot nodded, looking toward the pile of broken televisions all replaying the same somber line.  

“Seems incredibly safe and welcoming to me!”

She peered at Lapis. “Are you…feeling better yet?”

Lapis raised an eyebrow, a peek of her usual attitude peeping through the fear.  “Um. No.”

Peridot huffed.  “Fine. Part 2.” She scrolled down. “Consider a snug garment, like a blanket or sweatshirt.”

Lapis rolled her eyes, managing to look derisive even as her teeth chattered. “I don’t think this is actually helpful.”

Peridot pursed her lips. “Are you or are you not shivering?”

Lapis, shaking so hard her eyes were rattling, immediately answered with an uncertain “I’m….not?”

Peridot didn’t even say anything.  She just stared.  Finally, Lapis sighed. “Fine,” she conceded.

Peridot smiled, happy to be right as usual.  She chattered on as she procured the blanket that usually adorned their truck bed and brought it back to Lapis’s prone form.

“Apparently this is supposed to “make you feel safe and warm”, she announced, settling the blanket around Lapis’s shoulders with much more gentleness than she usually practiced.  

A few seconds passed, during which they both realized that Peridot’s hands were still on Lapis’s shoulders.  Peridot immediately jumped backwards as though her palms had been scalded. “Sorry,” she muttered, shiftily continuing to watch Lapis from her new position three feet away.

“Uh. Yeah.”

A comfortable silence reigned for a few minutes. And then-  

“Is it working yet?”

“No.”

“Ah. Alright.”

Three and a half more seconds passed.

“Now?”

A still shivering Lapis glared at Peridot, but her expression softened when she realized how earnest the other gem was.

“Maybe it’s working…a little?”

Peridot’s face broke out in a smile, and Lapis could swear she felt a little warmer.

Regardless, another shiver inadvertently escaped her.  

Peridot gave a frustrated groan.

“I don’t understand! My research was flawless! What kind of idiot is Web M.D???”

“Are you sure you followed it exactly?” Lapis asked, now unwittingly invested in the plan’s success, regardless of whether it affected her or not.

“Yes!” Peridot said, furiously scrolling through the website once again. “There must be a different approach, or maybe a- oh wait!”

“I didn’t realize there was a part three! Okay, this part is called ‘Cuddle With Your Pet.’”

Lapis leaned in, trying to read over Peridot’s shoulder as she continued to read aloud.

‘To further comfort your dog, it is suggested that you initiate human contact with him.  Touch will reassure your pet that they are not alone, and the extra warmth will calm him down.’ Excellent,” Peridot exclaimed, “We’ll just do that!”

“Uh, okay.” Lapis furrowed her eyebrows.  “Do you know what cuddle means?”

“No idea. But it shouldn’t be too hard to-“ A green blush appeared on Peridot’s face, and she quickly turned the brightness of her tablet down.

“Oh. Um. Well.” Peridot coughed, looking at everything but Lapis.

“What’s wrong?” Lapis squinted, inching closer to get a better look at the screen.  Peridot stood up very suddenly.

“Oh, there was just…a picture explaining,” she said, in a clear attempt to appear offhand.  It was not successful.

“Okay, what’s the picture of?”

Peridot’s blush deepened. “Nothing! It’s not- it won’t- nothing!”

Lapis laughed, unable to imagine what could make Peridot look this flustered.  “Okay,” she said.  “Now you have to show me.”

Peridot coughed and looked up, as though willing Lapis’s imagined alien spaceship to abduct her and take her anywhere but there.  Finally, she wordlessly turned the brightness back up.  The horrifying picture of a dog and its owner snuggling under a blanket leaped back onto the screen.

Lapis went quiet. “Oh.”

“Haha yeah,” Peridot said awkwardly. “That’s. Obviously not something we’re going to do. Gems-“ Peridot clapped her hands together. “Well. Gems just…we don’t do things like-“

Lapis remained silent, appearing very interested in a spot of the barn floor.

“Well.  Contact..I mean..casual touch is just…not something we-“ She nodded decisively.  “Anyway! We’ll do something else!”

“Let’s try it.”

“And besides, it probably wouldn’t work anyway, our bodies aren’t that warm in the first place…“

Lapis coughed, and said it a little louder.

“Let’s try it.”

“-completely miniscule idea that- What?”

Peridot paused her monologue, noting that Lapis seemed to look a shade blue deeper than usual.  But she chalked that up to her imagination.

She felt her heart beat faster as Lapis lifted the blanket off her left shoulder, definitively not looking at Peridot, but still providing a clear invitation.

“Are you sure? Maybe we could do something else, we-“ Peridot’s words stumbled to a halt as Lapis rolled her eyes again.

“Peridot…shut up.”

Peridot gulped, looking torn. “O…okay.”

She made her way to the wall at a snail’s pace.  Checking to make sure Lapis was still okay with it, she gingerly sat down next to her. When Lapis threw the corner of the blanket over Peridot’s back, her hand momentarily brushed  Peridot’s shoulder.  

Peridot gulped.

For a few moments, silence reigned, and Peridot realized she was suddenly hyper aware of everything.  The way the each lightning strike lit up different parts of Lapis’s face, turning each plane a different shade of brilliant blue.  How Lapis’s thin arm felt against hers.  

After a few tense minutes, during which Peridot refused to relax, Lapis let out an unexpected giggle.

Peridot jumped. “What?” she asked, talking loudly in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

Lapis leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes. “This is just so….”

Surprising?

Terrifying?

…Nice?

“Weird,” Lapis finished decidedly.

Peridot’s face screamed emerald as she hastened to untangle herself from the blanket.  Embarrassment didn’t even cut it.  “Well I’m sorry this was such a disappointment to you, maybe next time I’ll just leave you alone, excuse me while I go STICK MY FACE IN THOSE TOILET BOWLS OVER THERE, that should really do-

“Wait,” Lapis grabbed Peridot’s hand, definitely blushing now.

“It’s…it’s a good weird.”

For once, Peridot was speechless.

Lapis looked up, eyes finally settling on Peridot’s face. “You can come back, if you want.”  

Peridot gave a small nod, and let Lapis slowly guide her back down the wall. Lapis grinned in spite of herself.  

“Hey Peridot?”

“Yeah?”

Still holding her hand, Lapis rested her head on Peridot’s shoulder.

“I hope it rains again.”

[naixatloz]

The Metacritic Speedrunning Guide

Good evening, Gamers. Plenty of games have received excellent speedruns over the years. But have you tried speedrunning a website?

Metacritic is a brilliant untapped well in terms of content, since 2011. (But more likely to have been possible since the site’s launch in 2001.) The site contains numerous exploits for moving scores up and down to your heart’s content, with the bare minimum being done in terms of patching them.

But first, we need to understand how the site works.

How Metacritic creates scores.

To start off, not every game listed on the site is displayed on it’s main listing. and that is due to one simple issue.

Critic reviews.

For a game to join the prestigious goal of being on Metacritic’s database. It needs 4 or more Critic reviews.Users can still review a title that hasn’t reached this level, but said changes will never show on the main directory listing.

(Technically speaking, Cory in the House is one of the best user reviewed games on Metacritic, but as there’s only 2 critic reviews. It is unable to reach the top of the charts.)

Once a game acquires the prerequisite number of critic reviews, the site assigns a percentage score to it. Sending it to the directory.

Unsurprisingly, some obscure and/or niche games with a small set of high scores have hijacked the charts on a few occasions, such as with  OUT OF THE PARK BASEBALL 2007. Which floated high with it’s almost perfect score of 96 before MC hastily removed it from the site’s database.

The same issue also applies to user scores, though this is considerably rare without someone deliberately fiddling with the site. As demonstrated by Metal Torrent.

Note that this game only received the necessary 5 reviews needed to add it to the database before shooting to the top.

Actually planning out your speedrun

To start, you’ll need to pick a game. and what would you like to try with it.

Do you add a specific amount of reviews? Change the score to a specific number? Or even try your hand at raising a game to the top or bottom* of the charts yourself?

*Nᴏᴛ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ, ᴡʜʏ ɴᴏᴛ sᴘʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴀ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴠᴇ?

Be sure to consider how many reviews a game has already, as well. Something with around 100 or less reviews is manageable for making major changes to, for example. Here’s what happens when you double the amount of scores by adding 10s or 0s on a game with a small amount of reviews.

Impressive work, right? You could try a game with much more reviews. But it would be especially tedious to accomplish, maybe you could save it for a charity event?

As for why this is possible. This is because of 4 major flaws in MC’s security.

Very little effort in disabling disposable E-mail services, when one is disabled. Plenty more take their place.

A very limited form of IP checking, limiting the creation of new accounts to one per hour. But with no way of permanently banning IPs from making new accounts.

No checking scores to verify if they’re legitimate. Everything is just dumped on the site immediately.

The site doesn’t verify if the person scoring the game even owns it, much less has played it yet.

The first and second points are pretty much your only real stop-gap before starting a run, but it’s very easy to check beforehand.

When making an account, there’s 5 fields that need to be filled. The username (can be any random short string of characters.) The E-mail (which is filled twice.) Your password, and the usual CAPCTHA.

The password is particularly restrictive, requiring any 3 of the following.

Lowercase Characters

Uppercase Characters

Numbers

Symbols

However, the check for said password is done after verifying the E-mail isn’t blacklisted. Meaning that if you deliberately type in an unusable password. The site won’t tell you that until after you put in a usable E-mail.

It should also be possible to skip the whole process of finding a usable disposable E-mail service by using G-Mail’s “E-Mail Alias” functionality, but i haven’t fully tested it.

Once that’s done, you should receive an E-mail from Metacritic on the disposable address you provided. Clicking the link in said message is required to change scores on the site. So don’t forget it!

As for the second point, this is where things get a bit difficult.

After the last few incidents revolving their ridiculous security, they made one small change to their servers. Which is the aforementioned timer. Problem is, there’s still nothing stopping you from acquiring a few proxies. swapping between them as the hour time limit ticks down. Points 3 and 4 are completely unchanged. Which means situations like that are still happening.

i’m afraid i can’t really help you much when it comes to acquire said proxies. But it’s not too hard to accomplish.

After this, just add your scores to whatever game(s) you’re going to run, and repeat, generating a new E-mail for each account, until you reach your goal.

and that’s basically it, it really is that simple to speedrun. Only being limited by how willing you are to push yourself into doing the same repetitive task over and over. So good luck, and tell the world all about your favorite obscure games!

[bffhreprise]

Entry 322

 I didn’t join in when James guided everyone in magical practice, being allowed to sit and watch, but I roamed the room watching instead.  “Magic is real.”  The words repeated in my head over and over as I saw the things these people could do.  The first step, from what I was told, was getting to a point where I could see the energy floating around us.  From there, he’d be teaching me how to orient the energy into spells.

 When James called the lesson over, I was honestly disappointed, wishing I could see more spells in action.  What was practiced was nothing like what James had performed, but each little spell delighted me.

 “Iris, do you have time to work a little longer?” questioned James as the others either practiced a little longer or wandered out.

 “Yeah.  I was planning on it.” I replied, hoping he didn’t really think I was bailing out so quickly on my second day.

 “Excellent.  I appreciate your enthusiasm.  Don’t forget to take advantage of our numerous benefits too.  Oh!  If you paid for Ancient Tribes of Earth, we’ll refund you, since the game is also a perk for employees here.

 “Never tried it.” I replied with a shrug.

 He stared at me, blinked, and kept staring for a moment.  Ignoring the fairy who obviously still wanted his attention, he said, “Let’s go get your account set up.”

 “Huh?  What about work?” I questioned.

 “Consider yourself being employed to play the game for the next couple hours.” he replied, guiding the way.  James obviously enjoyed the video game, gushing praise about the graphics, options, and gameplay.

 When we reached the foyer, there was a crowd of people carrying presents of numerous sizes.  James stopped and asked, “What’s all this?”

 The fairy had vanished and was no longer sending images to my head, which was a bit disappointing now that I had grown accustomed to her… ramblings?  What would I even call a bombardment of sensations to my brain?

 Mila curtsied and said, “Courtesy callers with gifts for Lady Pendreigh, Master.”

 The entire group of people bowed to James, spotting him after Mila curtsied.  

 “Am I supposed to bow to you?” I questioned nervously.  Once again, I was wondering about my new boss.  Who was he that would have strangers bowing to him?

 “Please don’t.” he replied in a whisper.  “You are very welcome to attend the party tonight if you wish.  My fiancée’s celebrating her birthday today with a surprisingly small party.  Apparently, she’s accustomed to only celebrating once every four years, but I’m not letting her get away with that here.”

 “What?  Why so rarely?” I asked in surprise.

 “She was born on the twenty-ninth and had a most peculiar mother.” whispered James, obviously not wanting the others to hear.  “Unfortunately, the other birthday girl is currently out of town on a job, or we’d be celebrating with her as well.”

 “I’ll be relaying everything to her tonight.” stated Mila with a smile.

 Nodding, James said, “Still won’t quite be the same, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

 Following James into the large, octagonal room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, I asked “Do people normally work on their birthday here?  I can if needed.  I just usually celebrate with my family.”

 “Everyone’s free to take their birthday off.  Most do.  Portentia’s current assignment is like a gift to herself, really.  You’ll never meet someone more motivated than she is.  She’ll quite literally work ceaselessly, never stopping for food or rest, until she’s accomplished a goal if she really wants something done.” he stated matter-of-factly.

 “That’s not healthy.” I told him out of concern for the girl.

 He smiled and said, “Portentia’s incapable of sleeping and doesn’t need sustenance, so she’s very different in that regard.”

 I took a moment to try to make sure I didn’t mishear him.  Someone working here couldn’t sleep, and didn’t need to eat or drink.  I opened my mouth to ask him about that, but didn’t get the chance.

 “Iris’ father is interested in having Best Friend For Hire join in his company’s baseball league, so Iris may be feeling concerned over us competing.” announced Mila, standing behind James and looking humble as ever.

 My eyes had to be bulging in a cartoon-like fashion as I asked “What?  How did you know about that?”

 “Your father sent an email to us a few minutes ago.” she explained.

 “Please tell him that we’ll accept.  We’ll get some practice in restraint.” replied James, smiling again.  “That’ll be for this summer, correct?”

 “Yes, Master.” she confirmed.

 Meanwhile, all I could think was that I needed to stop this.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?  Dad’s really competitive, and um… you… this place… Isn’t that unfair?”

 “Incredibly.” agreed James.  “They probably won’t ask us again next year, but we’ll happily oblige this year.  Making new friends is part of what we do here, but I assure you that all of us have practice at holding back.  I’m not honestly sure what would even happen if I hit a ball with all I’ve got.”

 “Neither the ball nor the bat would survive impact, Master.” insisted Mila.

 “Ha.  Imagine Raine going all out.” he replied with a grin.

 “That would be quite catastrophic for the surroundings.” agreed Mila.

 Still grinning, James looked into my eyes and asked “Going to warn your father?”

 I shook her head and said, “He wouldn’t believe me even if I tried.  I still can’t believe what I saw just this morning.”

 “I do hope you enjoy working for us, even if there’s an adjustment period.” he told me with obvious sincerity.  “Oh, I should mention that the party tonight will be informal, so there’s no need to dress up for it.”

 Nodding and looking around, I asked “You use this for video games?”  The room was gorgeous, though the circle of outward-facing chairs in the center seemed a little out of place to me.

 “Yes.  Ancient Tribes of Earth, mostly.  Ready to give it a try?” he inquired hopefully.

 “I guess.” I told him, never having gotten hooked on video games.  Why would I blow my time pretending to do something when I could go out there and do it?

 “We could do something else if you’d prefer.” he suggested.  “Emma told me that you seemed to like the zoomies.  Kayla was going to join you, but her brother made her get back to work before you were finished with the paperwork.  Whatever the case, you’ll be paid for your time today no matter how we spend it.”

 “Well, shouldn’t I be studying or something.  Mila had said there was a great deal to learn.” I pointed out.

 “There is.” insisted Mila.

 “No doubt, but I can’t believe you haven’t tried this.” he told me, looking as surprised as he sounded.  “Mila’s mother made it.”

 “Her mother?” I asked, wondering how an A.I. could have a mother.

 “Aaliyah Sypher, my secretary, is also the president of Global Princess Entertainment, the company which made this game.” he explained.

 “She’ll be thirteen this year.” stated Mila.

 “Your secretary is thirteen!?” I asked incredulously.

 “She looks far younger.  You’ll see.” he replied, looking amused.

 Before I could organize my thoughts on how to get a better explanation, two of the enormous mirrors lit up, showing an opening video of a dazzling, fantastical world.  “A thirteen-year-old made this?” I questioned aloud, not being able to picture a girl that young making such a life-like video, much less a whole game.

 “I believe she was twelve at release.  She might have been eleven when she started working on it.  Hard to say.” stated James in reply.

 “Very.” agreed Mila.  “Mother enjoys confusing people with her age.  If you don’t mind, I can import your information for account creation directly from our company database.”

 “Uh… sure.” I told her.

 Smiling and motioning toward one of the screens, Mila said, “There you are.  Simply input your account name and password.”

 “What about payment?” I asked, noticing the monthly subscription section, which was greyed out.

 “Free subscription is one of the perks you have as an employee of Best Friend For Hire.” explained Mila.

 “So it’s not taken out of my pay?” I confirmed.

 “Of course not.  The Master would be devastated if Mother secretly charged employees.” insisted Mila.

 I nodded and followed Mila’s instructions as I went through the process of designing a character.  Noticing that I missed some options, Mila was quick to point out the extra features, demonstrating that I could change every last detail of my character, even adding precise blemishes to the skin.  She, of course, controlled the screen mentally… electronically…?  This place made things confusing.  Mila’s first character example looked exactly like her, so I asked her to do me, which was just a bit great to see.  My brothers would love seeing me in a video game!  Well, they’d be jealous and want to try it, but this was cool.

 “Make me taller!” exclaimed Iris with a grin.  I always wanted to be a little taller.

 Mila obliged, and then said, “You can also be any of these other species.”  She explained the benefits of each different species while also listing off who-played-what.  Then we continued on to other options.

 “So what do you actually do in the game?” I questioned.

 “Socialize, adventure, and try to save the world from evil.” replied James, his screen… mirror…?  nearly covered in different chat windows.

 “Other than saving the world, can’t you do that stuff in real life instead?” I pointed out.

 “The Master is quite capable of saving the world in real life.” insisted Mila with no sign of joking.

 I had trouble believing in obvious, world-threatening evil in the real world, but I said, “Then that’s even less reason to do it in a game.”

 “But in the game, you don’t have to worry about the ramifications of your actions as much.  If someone dies here, they can be resurrected.  In the real world, consequences are far more permanent.” explained James, sounding all too serious.  He was a wizard, and I didn’t have a clue what all he could do with magic.  Maybe he already had fought evil?

 “Fine, I’ll try it.” I assured him, continuing on with the character creation.   “What should I name her?”

 “Have a favorite name?” he asked.

 “Trixie.” I told him, typing the name in myself.  “These keyboards are so strange.”  The keyboard wasn’t real, just being some sort of projection on a tray.

 “Mother will be disappointed that you didn’t go through the chair tutorial, but no one does the entire thing.” replied Mila.  “Mother is, however, flattered by your name choice.  Her middle name is Trixibelle.”

 “Oh.  That’s cool.” I absently told her.  Then what she had said finally registered.  “Did you already tell her?”

 “Of course.  We talk continuously most days.” replied Mila with a smile.

 James asked me to accept an invitation into his guild, casually brushing off the number of members as if that was nothing.  I could hardly believe tens of thousands of people followed James around in a game world.  How did he manage that?

 Mila showed me how to alter the chat, so I’d only see when people were talking to me.  There were so many options just for the chat program.  I could set filters for keywords that would add anyone mentioning them to my viewable chat as well.  James, on the other hand, seemed to be absorbing everything, despite his chat scrolling by at incredible speed.

 After getting through the initial quests, James and I took some quests together, which was more fun than I expected.  Eventually, I did pull myself away to do actual work, which turned out to be more gamelike than expected.  The company’s tutorials were apparently written by Aaliyah as well, so that explained the similar design, carefully walking through what would be expected, how training worked, and the benefits of schooling through the Institute of Autodidacticism over a normal college.  My parents really weren’t going to believe this place.

[schirdotblog]

The best games I played in 2018

That's what these lists really are, right? Just a list of the best things you played in a year.

I've been keeping track of what I've been playing, and it looks like I played somewhere in the vicinity of 215 games in 2018. I didn't finish most of the games I played, for obvious reasons, but I want to go over some of the better ones I played last year.

I think crowning any one game as being the best of the year is kind of dumb, and limiting it to just 10 means ignoring a lot of stuff that was equally good. I’m just going to talk about a bunch of games I liked in no particular order, and I hope that’s alright.

WHOLEHEARTED RECOMMENDATIONS

WEST OF LOATHING

Two years running now, West of Loathing remains one of the best games out there. It's the king of comedy in games. The jokes are masterfully crafted and there's more options to approach situations than just about anything else on the market that's even slightly worth checking out. I mean, they're so committed to the jokes that they're selling the game for $11.00 instead of $10.99 just because of a running gag (11 dollars? That's absurd. It's not even funny!).

I wish I had more to say about West of Loathing since it's the game I spent the second-most time on in 2018, but it's the sort of comedy where the jokes rely on the particulars of the phrasing and it sounds lame if you describe the jokes in any way other than the way they're told in the game. It's very experiential.

I'm looking forward to the West of Loathing DLC that should be coming out relatively soon. I think that Jick said that that's mostly finished on the most recent Podcast of Loathing.

Go play West of Loathing if you haven't already. It's quite possibly my favorite game of 2017 and 2018.

EVERBLUE 2

I really wish Everblue would get a remaster or a rerelease. It's so good. I mean, it's rough around the edges, but it's a really solid 'chill out and explore' sort of game. I think that the games press of today is a bit less stupid than the games press of 2002, and gamers today would have an easier time understanding what Everblue's trying to do.

Everblue 2 is a diving game where you hunt ruins for treasure, take pictures of fish, and help out villagers in a small town while competing against a big diving organization. If the game were made today by different people, there'd probably be a lot more cinematography and/or visual novel-esque cutaways. There's not, and a bit more art and making the characters bigger on screen probably would've helped sell the story bits and gotten people to feel more emotional than the relatively small characters and understated text boxes.

But, as it is, I think that lack of cinematography and overdramatization helps to give the game a really understated aesthetic. It's like the game's saying "look, just go diving and appreciate the ocean. Human drama's relatively small in the grand scheme of things, and what really matters is finding something you love and pursuing it aggressively." I mean, it feels a little bit off to navigate through the town. The town's done in a relatively static point-and-click sort of style. Moving a cursor around with an analogue stick feels a little bit off and makes me wish I was back in the diving section. And that's the point. The ocean is vast and huge and wonderful, in the game's eyes, and if you're playing as a diver then you'd want to just get back in the ocean ASAP. All the characters are small on the screen to help communicate how small and less-than-relevant all the drama is to the main character. Everyone else in the scene is going off about how "oh no, the evil corporation bribed one of the Amigos to get ahead of you in finding the treasure" but there's no cinematography to any of it so the feeling you get is just like "Yeah, but they suck at diving and I'm obviously going to get there before they do." You'll feel that way because it's a video game, but since the character's a preternaturally gifted diver, I'd believe that the character feels that way as well, even though they don't talk much.

Everblue 2 was surprisingly good, and I really enjoyed my time with it.

TETRIS EFFECT

Apparently there are people writing off Tetris Effect because it's Tetris. That's really weird to me because Tetris Effect is really good Tetris. I mean, I played a few different versions of Tetris in 2018 and Tetris Effect is by far the standout among them. If there's ever been a case for the value of sound engineers being closely involved with the design process, it's probably Tetris Effect. The subtle animation touches, the dynamic aleatoric music, the particle effects that are overblown but not in the mobile game way -- all of it mixes together to create one of the best versions of Tetris out there.

SEGA AGES: PHANTASY STAR

There's something about Phantasy Star that gets me. Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic because Phantasy Star was one of the first RPGs I ever tried, but I feel like there's something that Phantasy Star 1 has that no other RPG I've ever played has ever quite captured. Maybe it's the sci-fi setting. Maybe it's the way that the game moves from top-down overworld movement into first-person dungeon-crawling. Maybe it's just that I really, really like the melody playing on the title screen. Maybe it's the fact that the game is fairly serious for an anime game, with the main character being a noble driven by revenge instead of a high school student being driven by the will of the plot.

Phantasy Star feels like a traditional sort of pulpy sci-fi adventure novel, and I think that's what really strikes me about it. RPGs don't really ever try to tell a straight-laced traditional sci-fi adventure, especially turn-based JRPGs. They didn't back then and still don't now. I mean, just trying to think of other RPGs that do the traditional sci-fi thing -- spaceships, interstellar travel, laser guns, robots -- off-hand, I can think of KOTOR, Mass Effect, Cosmic Star Heroine, Star Ocean, Ar Nosurge uh, maybe System Shock? A Blurred Line? Trials in Tainted Space? It's kind of slim pickings. And that's weird, isn't it? I mean, if we're trying to think of generic medieval fantasy titles, we can go and list off Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Dragon's Dogma, Ni no Kuni, Kingdoms of Amalur, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Age of Decadence, Pillars of Eternity, The Witcher, and so on before needing to reach into the bottom of the barrel for RPG Maker games and porn. It's like everyone writing sci-fi just kind of went "spaceships are lame, let's go do Shadowrun instead", and that's a shame because there's so much room to explore when you have literally the whole universe to work off of.

Genre trappings aside, I think the way that Phantasy Star transitions between top-down and first-person is really interesting at a gameplay level. Top-down exploration, at least at the time, would've evoked lighthearted romps like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, while the first-person dungeon-crawling would've made people feel a bit uncomfortable, since it's so claustrophobic and disorienting, evoking memories of more hardcore games like Wizardry, where traps were commonplace and the difficulty was insane. The contrast between the lighthearted and the deathly serious still comes through, even as this particular rerelease has gone and added automatic mapping and an easy mode that rebalances the game to be more accessible to modern design sensibilities. I could go and be all snide about the easy mode, but the whinging about easy modes is tiresome and the dick-waving around hard modes and difficulty and authenticity in games is dumb. The easy mode cuts out a lot of the grindy bullshit and makes it so that you can finish the game in a reasonable amount of time. It might be a little bit against the original spirit of the design, but it makes the game more enjoyable, and that's an acceptable tradeoff.

I really wish that Phantasy Star were its own genre of games, with new people experimenting with the mechanics every couple of years. Like, when you remember that the only other games that are structured in the same way as Phantasy Star are the NES and SNES Megaten games, right down to being able to talk with the monsters and having a first-person view of the item shopkeeper, you can start to see the edges of one of the most fascinating genres that games never explored. Top-down overworld into first-person dungeon-crawler turn-based RPGs with conversation mechanics has so much room to explore, and it's just intrinsically really gritty and cool. I wish more people would explore it. ... Goddammit, I'm going to have to make it myself, aren't I? I guess I'll go bash my head against that later.

Anyway, Phantasy Star is really great, and honestly one-of-a-kind. The spark of creativity that led to the first Phantasy Star game shines bright, even as the series has fallen off the map.

OCCUPY WHITE WALLS

Occupy White Walls is one of the most distilled social games I've ever run across. The goal of the game is to build an art gallery. Put up a couple of walls, go buy some classical art from the art that's loaded into the game's database, place it on the walls, open your art gallery, and wait to buy more art. The only things to do while you're waiting to get more money to expand your gallery and get more art are fussing around with the art placement, talking to people in the chatroom, and visiting other people's galleries. The fact that there's not some monetization scheme to speed up the timers makes me think that the point of the game is honestly and sincerely to get more people to appreciate fine art. The people in the chatroom are pretty reasonable, as online chatrooms go. Everyone has their own style of organizing their galleries, and their own taste in art. That's interesting to see, and it's honestly just a nice little game.

The game's in Early Access, so this is all subject to change. The game might add microtransactions or ads in a later update, and if they do then just ignore everything I've said.

SLAP CITY

I've been a big fan of Ludosity for a good few years now, and a fan of their cofounder Daniel Remar for even longer. The guys at Ludosity have been improving at making games for a while, -- I think Ittle Dew was the turning point where their output started becoming pretty consistently good -- and Slap City is the point where people have finally started to take notice.

Slap City is a platform fighter in the mold of Super Smash Brothers. Where other games in the genre tried to focus on elements like 'big franchise characters' (Playstation All Stars) or 'the technical fighting of Melee' (Rivals of Aether, Icons: Combat Arena), Slap City focuses on the silly party aspect of Smash, and the part where characters who normally don't fight are given a bigger moveset to fight with everyone else. Slap City captures the essence of what makes platform fighters fun, adds its own twists, and has clearly seen a lot of success because of it. I'm very happy that Ludosity's finally getting the credit and acclaim that they've deserved for years.

VALKYRIA CHRONICLES 4

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is, at present, the best game in the Valkyria series. I was really hesitant to buy this one after the absolute disaster that was Valkyria Revolution, but was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was it not a dumpster fire, it was actually pretty good!

Valkyria Chronicles 4 doesn't do anything especially grand by the standards of the series, but it's refined a lot of the rougher parts of VC1 and goes through a lot of the same ideas. Essentially, it's just Valkyria Chronicles 1 again, but way more polished at the gameplay level and with different characters at a different place at a different point in time. Frankly, that's what the series needed, and I'm going to be really interested to see where they go with Valkyria Chronicles 5. VC4 establishes Valkyria Chronicles as an anthology series, has really started polishing the core mechanics, and the designers are getting better at crafting levels with these systems. If Valkyria Chronicles 5 continues along this path and the designers are given more creative leeway to explore war from a different part of the army, we'll have a genuine classic on our hands.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 wipes the slate clean for the series, but does so in the way that soft reboots ought to. That is, it panders to the existing fans by sticking to the core ideas that made the original good and polishing them. It establishes its own identity, and is worthwhile in its own right, and doesn't lean on the original for a cheap sell. It's a really good game, though they need to distill the experience a bit further for it to be a truly great game.

SUPER CLOUDBUILT

I don't have that much to say about Super Cloudbuilt, but it's still the best 3D platformer out there if you can get past the initial learning curve and avoid the Defiance levels like the plague. I think the designers have learned from some of the weaker parts of their design and I'm really looking forward to seeing what Coilworks does with Sky Tracers. Guys, please buy Sky Tracers when it's released. The guys at Coilworks are getting really good at making 3D platformers but nobody's buying their games. Please buy their games so that they can keep making the best 3D parkour-platformers out there.

GRADIENT ADDICTION I don't know what primordial creative ooze this game came out of, but it’s absolutely delightful. There's a sheer joy of creation underpinning this game that's really hard to dislike.

GLOGWILLETTE Everything I said about Gradient Addiction applies here.

VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE: BLOODLINES Everyone was comparing Vampyr to Bloodlines and it's really difficult to see why they were doing that. I mean, yeah they're both vampire games but Bloodlines is really good and Vampyr is really bad.

Bloodlines is a game that's edgy in the sense that the word was used back around the time of its release. It's incisive. It's biting. It's cutting. They doubled down on the mid-2000s goth aesthetic, and it permeates this game. That's good, because the goth aesthetic absolutely rules.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines has a lot of charm to it. The writing's excellent and the gameplay feels pretty good. It's one of those classics that everyone's heard about, so I'll spare you any more words about it.

Ni no Kuni 2 The United States gets nuked and the President is transported to a fantasy world where a young king is about to get overthrown. He caps a few fantasy assassins with his pistol and decides to help the young king conquer the world.

Ni no Kuni 2 is absolutely delightful, go play it.

LESS WHOLEHEARTED RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT STILL REALLY NEAT

XENOBLADE 2: TORNA THE GOLDEN COUNTRY This is going to be the cult classic of the Xenoblade series, I can feel it in my bones. I didn't play much of Torna because I was burnt out on Xenoblade 2's systems after playing 110 hours of Xenoblade 2 and seeing the writing just getting stupider and stupider and the game not ending.

Torna the Golden Country is a prequel to Xenoblade 2. From what little of it I've seen in ten hours, it looks to be focused on all the most interesting characters of Xenoblade 2 at a more interesting point in the game's history. It's not really my thing right now, but I feel like I'm seeing a lot of the elements that people who are a bit more forgiving in their entertainment consumption than I am tend to really love. There's something here, but it's buried. The quality of writing seems much higher than in Xenoblade 2 and we've got a better protagonist than Rex in Laura and the character designs are much more grounded than the main game, and everyone's got clear motivations. These are the sorts of things you see in cult classics.

It's probably relevant to note that, while Torna the Golden Country is described as an expansion pack, it is standalone. You do not need to own Xenoblade 2 to play Torna the Golden Country. I bring this up because the marketing was really unclear on this.

I should really play more of this one.

CROSS CODE It's absolutely delightful, but I don't have much else to say about it. Starts dragging around the 14 hour mark.

YAKUZA (6, Kiwami, Kiwami 2) The Yakuza games are genuinely pretty great, but none of the ones that came out in 2018 really hit home for me. I'd recommend them to people in a heartbeat if they've never tried 'em before, but I don't have anything much to say about the ones that came out this year.

LABYRINTH OF REFRAIN: COVEN OF DUSK NIS put the cool bits of Hundred Knight's aesthetic into a game that doesn't suck ass.

MARY SKELTER: NIGHTMARES It's been like 8 months since I've played this and I don't remember much but I remember that the art style's neat and that it's one of Compile Heart's better dungeon crawlers. Need to get back around to this one.

GO VACATION An absolutely delightful family party game. The minigames are pretty decent and all the different vehicles makes traveling around the resorts reasonably interesting. I get strong MySims vibes off of this, and the MySims games were great.

There's something delightfully video-gamey about the way that you can initiate a cutscene with an NPC by pressing the A button while your car's hurtling towards them at 60 miles an hour.

B+, would recommend.

ALL OF THE KATAMARI GAMES We heart Katamari.

GAMES THAT EVERYONE ELSE REALLY LIKES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED OUT OF OBLIGATION BECAUSE OF THEIR UBIQUITY

CELESTE Celeste is a neat little platformer that's kind of hollow and empty. It's technically competent and fun enough, but kinda bland. It's easy to recommend, but hard to find anything much to say about it. It's alright, but I don't really understand why it won the indie game lottery this year.

ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSSEY god I just don't care about assassin's creed

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 I haven't liked any of the other Rockstar games I've played and see no reason to play this one. Looking forward to the games industry unionizing so that Rockstar and other major studios stop exploiting their employees.

INTO THE BREACH I'm not into roguelites and this one hasn't changed my mind.

HOLLOW KNIGHT Hollow Knight's got a really neat art style and feels pretty good to play, but the Metroid and Souls styles are getting extremely tiresome.

THE MISSING: J.J. MACFIELD AND THE ISLAND OF DREAMS Didn't quite grab me.

VAMPYR Sucks! har har i did a pun

THE MESSENGER I mean yeah it's a ninja platformer. Seems competent enough, plays fine, has decent melodies.

BLOODSTAINED: CURSE OF THE MOON It's neat, but didn't quite grab me.

GOD OF WAR (2018) I don't want to play God of War.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN I'm burned out on superheroes.

SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE It's fine, and I like it more than Smash 4, but it's missing the creative excitement of Brawl and 64 and Melee.

MONSTER HUNTER WORLD I played it to the start of the high ranks and I still don't get it. It’s fine.

SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE It's competently made and probably worth a look, but kind of a step down from Stick of Truth.

SUBNAUTICA Really good, but I didn't see much reason to continue after I'd gotten the big submarine. Just kind of fell off of it.

RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Haven't gotten around to it yet.

OCTOPATH TRAVELER it's a really bland jrpg that does nothing new and nothing exceptionally well. h’aanit sucks and her speech quirk drives me up the wall.

DRAGON QUEST XI it's a really bland jrpg that does nothing new and nothing exceptionally well. does not take any creative risks. dragon quest 5 remains the only really good dragon quest title.

POKEMON LET'S GO eh.

MARIO TENNIS ACES It's fine.

PATO BOX It's really neat. I should play more of it one of these days.

DELTARUNE CHAPTER 1 Toby Fox remains quite good at making video games.

BEAT SABER It's good.

SPLATOON 2 OCTOLING EXPANSION in the splatfest, the octolings had black shirts and the inklings had white shirts

the octolings are trapped and the only way out is to ride a train under the city. the octolings are on an underground railroad, as it were HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

FORTNITE haven’t played it.

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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Jimmy Cowe of Crimibox, a brand that sells a detective game.Some stats:Product: Detective game.Revenue/mo: $8,000Retention rate: 38%Margin per box: 43%Website conversion rate: 4%Email list: 5,000Location: Brussels, BelgiumFounders: 1Employees: 0Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?Hello, my name is Jimmy and I’m the founder of Crimibox. We develop and sell unsolved fictional murder cases. Our customers receive the police file, photos of the crime scene and bags of evidence. The goal is to catch the killer.Not only do our players (we call them detectives) need to use the items in the box, but they also need to investigate online. They’ll need to check the social media profiles of suspects, analyze surveillance footage, find locations through Google Maps, …Our customers are mostly people who love escaping from escape rooms. We sold more than 4,000 Crimiboxes so far. Our monthly revenue is a bit more than $8,000. Our retention rate (people who bought the first and a second case) is more than 38%.Here's what the game looks like.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?My day job is in the criminal investigations of the Federal Police in Belgium. Every day, I’m seeing dozens of cold cases on my desk. Over the last couple of years, most cases get solved at the detective’s desk instead of out in the field.This involves double-checking witness reports, alibis, motives, … So that got me thinking of creating fictional murder cases and letting people solve it with the police file and online media.Describe the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing the product.In designing the game, our first step is to make a roadmap of our criminal case.We come up with all the different characters involved in the case. The next step is thinking of the steps our detective needs to take to solve the crime. This whole process takes about one month.How does our game work? Our detectives receive a box at home. That box includes the police file, photos of the crime scene and bags of evidence.The first thing they need to do is read the whole police file. They should check all of the possible suspects with Google. Some of them have social media profiles which they should investigate closely.Through those social media profiles, they can find other trails and leads in the case. For example, one of the suspects seems to have a blog. On that blog, the suspect leaves his cell phone number at the contact page.Our detectives could call that number to get more information. In most cases, they will reach a voicemail message, and that could contain another hint.Included with the game is an app. We developed this app for iOS and Android. Within the app, they can use a chatbot to help them with their investigation. They can ask help if they are stuck in the investigation. They can give orders to interrogate another suspect. On that app, they can also search in a fictional police database. That database contains 1000’s of fake people, license plates, …We make dozens of social media profiles and websites. We also bought a lot of cell phone numbers. As you can tell, Crimibox is a true ARG game.All of the police files that our send to our detectives are based on the layout of real police files. The only difference is the Crimibox logo instead of the police logo. We use an online printer to print all the documents and most of the evidence.At this stage, we still use our garage to make and stock our boxes. But it’s a matter of time before we will have to move to a warehouse.We started out with $5000 and haven’t looked back. We did a pre-order campaign for our first case, so we got all the money from the customers first to be able to buy all the boxes attributes. A month before shipping our first boxes, people could pre-order through our webshop.Describe the process of launching the business.We bootstrapped our company. I learned all about making websites thanks to YouTube. To test our concept, I created a Facebook ad with only a few lines explaining our concept.Here’s what it looked likePeople who liked it got the option to leave their email address. We spent about $200 and got more than 1,000 people to give us their email address.We also had one month before the first batch of deliveries when people could pre-order our first case. We sent out an email to our email list, and after 4 hours, we already received 100+ orders.The most important thing we’ve learned was to start marketing before launching. Try to build up an email list before your launch.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?We tried almost everything.Our main source of acquiring customers is Facebook ads. On average we pay 4 dollars for a purchase via Facebook ads.Results of a small Facebook campaign.In the last couple of months, we’ve also been pouring a lot of money into Instagram Stories ads. We pay on average $0.08 for a website visit. After they visit the website, we make sure to do retargeting ads for those visitors.Results of an Instagram Stories campaign.Example of one of our Instagram Stories ads.A quick tip for Instagram Stories ads, test 100’s of photos. We discovered that the text is important, but the photo does the trick. Test which photos convert the best.FB Messenger marketingWe’re also experimenting with Messenger marketing. It’s like e-mail marketing on steroids.We hold contests through our Facebook page. We tell people they should tag a friend to participate in the contest. When they’ve done that, they get an automated Messenger message from our chatbot.The chatbot asks if they want to participate in the contest and asks if we can contact with more promotions or information about Crimibox. If they agree, they subscribe automatically to our chatbot. That means that we can send them easily a message through Messenger. So that way we can build up a chatbot list, just like an e-mail list.The big difference is that we get an average open rate of 25% on our e-mails, and we get an open rate of 95% with our chatbot messages.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?At this stage we are profitable. Our margin per box is about 43%. If we are able to grow, we can order in bigger quantities and get our margin up to 58%.We get about 300-400 website visitors a day with a conversion rate of 4%.We’ve grown our email list to 5,000 subscribers. We also got 800 subscribers to our Messenger chatbot.Next month, we are launching our newest murder case. Perfect timing for the upcoming Christmas period.Our future plans are making enough cases that we can offer a subscription plan to our customers. So they will get a new box every month. If we get that in place, we want to expand to the united states.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?I do believe we got a bit lucky with our timing. Since the escape rooms have been getting more and more popular, we have also received more attention. Our target audience is mostly people who love escaping from escape rooms.What also helped was getting into Messenger marketing. Once I saw how powerful it was, I knew this was another great way to get customers.What platform/tools do you use for your business?We made our webshop through WooCommerce (Wordpress). We tried Shopify first, but we felt we got more options with Wordpress.Our logo was made through a contest on 99 Designs. For small design tasks, we used a couple of designers via Fiverr. For our Messenger marketing, we use Manychat.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Like most entrepreneurs, I’m a big fan of Gary Vaynerchuk. Not only for motivation, but also for some tactical advice like the "$1.80 strategy on Instagram".I have two children so I spent a lot of time listening to podcasts in my car. I’m a big fan of Social Media Examiner, Masters of Scale, The Agents of Change and How I Built This.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Just do it. Do enough tests. If you want to start something new, check if there’s a market.Try testing it through Facebook lead ads. And make sure you saved enough money to start.Where can we go to learn more?https://crimibox.com/en/E: hello@crimibox.comLiked this text interview? Per reddit guidelines, we left some links/photos out. Check out the full interview.