#this is my first time drawing connor and it is deceptively hard

[rinksrats]

hockey screencap 3/???

[walker-journal]

Moon’s Ebb (POTW, Adam, Orion, Nell, Connor)

Context: As the Hunter’s Moon is coming to an end, Nell, Orion, and Connor confront Adam. 

Location: Dark Score Lake (Glass), Sunrise

Content Warnings: Passing Descriptions of Gore (not detailed), Mental Instability (Hunter’s Moon)

Time had become meaningless to Adam long before the faint glimmer of light had appeared on the far horizon, softening the night to a livid bruise where black was not quite blue yet. 

The glass surface of Dark Score Lake was a mirror to the sky, a little flicker of the nascent sun discoloring its eastern shore.

The moon was still brilliant burning ivory in Adam’s veins. How long had he been killing? Hunting? Sprinting nonstop through the forest and urban alleys? Adam didn’t know, the surges of endorphins that’d swelled higher and higher with each kill had made him numb to any fatigue or pain. Everything was just manic anticipation, climax of evisceration, and hot spilt blood keeping the night’s chill off his skin. 

But as the sun’s tiny candle challenged the moon for supremacy, a hint of rational thought managed to push its way through the Hunter’s thirty six hour high. He remembered that his name was Adam and...maybe...he was forgetting something. 

But there were footsteps, smells, more heartbeats approaching. Adam rose from the dismembered mass of skinless flesh and exposed ribs that’d been a person before his knife had gone to work. He stepped over more once humanoid shapes of carnage, leaving a trail of bloody footprints across the lake’s glass.

It had only been a day and a half since they’d left one another by the very same lake, and as Nell’s tracking spell led her and company towards Adam, the scenery was much changed. There was a new ball of tension in her chest, uncertain what might come of this confrontation, but hoping that she, Rio, and Connor would get the hunter back with as little pain as possible. The bloody figure approaching from the horizon wasn’t one she’d ever expected to need be wary of, but at this point it would be foolish to approach without some sense of caution. She paused at the lake’s edge, having no desire to test her and her friends’ balancing abilities when it came to finding purchase on the slick surface of the glass. If things did get physical in the end, it’d make for terrible footing. Murmuring to Rio and Connor, she wondered if Adam could already hear their voices. “I think we should stick close. It’d be easier to pick us off if we fanned out or anything like that.” But at the same time this was meant to be a deescalation, and huddling together might appear as more of a risk. Unfortunately there wasn’t a handbook on talking down murder-infected, super-powered humans. Then she spoke to the reason why they were here in the first place. “Adam?” she began tentatively, trying her best not to appear as a threat or worth killing— as if she were speaking to some creature she’d stumbled upon in the extensive forest of White Crest. “Are you ready to go home?”

The night was giving way to dawn, distant streaks of purple leaking into the blackness of the sky. Even without the spell, they might have been able to find Adam with just the trail of blood and destruction. Bloody hell (literally), this was a mess. Connor hadn't known Adam that long, but he'd seen something in him the first time they'd met down by the river. All he'd wanted to do was help and end suffering. Now, he was causing it, a human wrecking ball who had become a force unto himself. "Imagine how bad it would've been if he actually had turned into a wolf," Connor murmured to his companions. 

He stuck close, like Nell had said, though he didn't really know why they'd needed Rio here, the lad was deceptively strong. Connor had practically got a semi watching him break that lock with his bare hands back when they'd first met. He stood up a little straighter when they finally caught up to Adam. Connor felt the need to project strength, not in a machismo sort of way, but in a please-don't-pick-me-off kind of way. The kind of body language that said I'm here for you, and please don't kill me. "You alright mate?" he asked. "Been on a bit of a bender, yeah? Come and sleep it off. I have some weed cookies in the car that’ll really take the edge off." 

Orion had kept his arms crossed the entire trip to the lake. Part of him wasn’t convinced he should even come along at all. But despite the anger and confusion, the idea of Adam getting hurt because of this still made Rio sick to his stomach. “Yeah well, wolf or not, Adam is still plenty dangerous on his own. So be careful.” He had no idea how much Connor knew about Adam, and despite maybe not deserving the luxury of privacy, Rio had no interest in outing Adam to anybody. The plan seemed simple enough. Keep Adam safe, keep Nell and Connor safe from Adam. Rio stayed back while Nell and Connor talked to Adam, opting instead to eye the man, covered in blood. His breath caught at the sight, but he tried to make sure that nothing gave his fear or anger away. “Be careful. He seems… off.”

Adam ran a gore-caked fingernails absently through hair matted with blood and stray sinews. However, the bloodshot eyes staring out from the Hunter’s scarlet-spattered face didn’t contain much sign of recognition. Even when Adam’s chapped lips smoothed in a languid smile, the soft expression didn’t march the monomaniacal intensity of his gaze. 

It seemed to take Adam a bit to realize that they were addressing him, as if he’d simply expected everyone to start ripping each other apart the way nature intended.  

“Home,” he questioned in the warm baritone whose tone was soft but unsteady on the edges of the syllables. “I uh,” Adam’s facial muscles flinched at some thunderous sound. “Your hearts are racing,” he claimed eagerly. “Fast so fucking fast...god you’re so alive …”

In a single motion Hunter made a standing jump whose high arc carried him forty feet forward, slamming down near the lake’s shore. Glass shattered outward in a fractal spiderweb from the impact point. 

“You’ve come to take my edge off Connor,” Adam repeated softly as more glass shard snapped during his advance on the group, fingers spinning a knife whose edge had been nicked over hours of sawing through bone and gristle. 

Nell nodded carefully as Adam seemed to question the concept of home, resisting the urge to draw a weapon of her own. No doubt that would only escalate things. Still she let her magic gather as Adam launched himself closed in a feat that would have been impressive had it not also proven that the hunter was far stronger than any of them could hope to be at the moment. “Yeah- home,” Nell repeated evenly, trying to lock onto Adam’s gaze and pull his focus. “You could see Terry- have some food. Have you eaten? It’d be nice. I could come too, if you wanted.”

Instinctively, Nell took a step between Adam and Connor, remembering how she hadn’t wanted the exorcist coming in the first place. Her eyes flickered to the way the twirling knife reflected the first light of the day before returning to Adam, knowing that any movement he’d make would probably be impossible to fully dodge at this point with how juiced up he was. A shield spell teetered on the edge of her lips. While she hoped she wouldn’t need it, it was ready to be uttered nonetheless. “What about the whole getting the moon in us?” she asked, latching onto one of the things the hunter had said earlier. “Maybe that’s what Connor was talking about. Rio might even want to, as well. All together, right? Find something to get us going.” If they could just outrun the last of the moon, maybe this would work.

If Connor hadn't been convinced that Adam wasn't quite your average human before this, well, now the jig was up. He did his best not to flinch. Shit, he did his best not to crap his pants and run the fuck away. Yeah, his heart was racing - good fucking observational skills, Adam - because he was terrified, and he tried really hard not to look it as Adam jumped what appeared to be about half the length of a football pitch. No wonder Nell was so intent on keeping Connor out of this. Now, he understood, but he wasn’t about to back down. 

"Yeah, take the edge off," Connor repeated, nodding. "We can have some drinks, get you a shower, you can sleep all this off." But somehow, he knew it wasn't quite that simple. He just wanted Adam to believe it could be, even if just for a moment. "Come on, my Jeep's parked not too far off. It's nice and warm." And hopefully not about to be stained with my blood. 

It hadn’t seriously crossed Orion’s mind that they might be in danger until now. Sure, Adam had been acting weird and Rio knew how dangerous Adam could be. But he wouldn’t hurt them right? Even if things were weird and Adam wasn’t in the right frame of mind. But looking at him now, Rio wasn’t sure if anything. This wasn’t Adam at all. Not the Adam that Rio had gotten to know. Nell and Connor wanted to talk it out with him. But it was hard to focus with the smell of blood overwhelming Rio’s senses. It was so strong that Rio was starting to get dizzy, but he tried to force himself to move ahead. Rio had no chance of fighting off Adam. But Rio had the best chance of surviving if things got physical. Both Nell and Connor were on the right track, talking softly at him, even asking to join on on the fun. Could Rio manage to play along without completely losing his cool, and maybe his dinner? “Adam... please listen to them. Can you put the knife down?”

Unnatural power burned in Adam’s veins like a fever, filling him with a savage vivacity even beyond his already superhuman abilities. But sweat trickled down Adam’s forehead, cutting thin lines through the blood covering his face as the hints of dawn spreading across Dark Score Lake’s mirrored surface started to erode the moon’s grip. “Terry uh...no like..I haven’t,” he mumbled while momentarily meeting Nell’s eyes, a flicker of humanity surfacing in a state of confusion. 

But his head snapped around at Connor and Orion’s words. The Hunter actually seemed about to assent their request to come with them and put the knife down before a tensing of muscles in his shoulders signaled that train of thought breaking apart. 

“Rio you need to let the moon in,” Adam insisted with manic intensity as he offered his gory knife to Orion handle-first. “Never be afraid again,” he asserted with what a lunatic shade of genuine compassion touching his voice. “Nobody’ll ever hurt you again,” Adam pressed, continuing to reach the knife’s handle unto Orion as if ushering him into some ancient rite.

“You’ll need to bleed one though…”

Adam moved with a speed impossible even for a Hunter, lunging forward to grab at Connor with a whiplash celerity, apparently intending the Exorcist as a sacrifice to induct Orion into the madness. 

Nell could only watch as Adam moved so quickly he nearly blurred, her brain taking an extra second to even realize that the hunter had grabbed for Connor in the first place. It wasn’t ideal, but if she squinted enough it might actually lead to a better situation. Adam was offering Rio his knife, and though she suspected the moon-addled hunter might have another weapon stashed elsewhere, if Rio took the knife— it’d be one weapon down, wouldn’t it? “Go ahead and start it Rio,” she said quickly, hoping he’d get the hint of accepting the weapon, a semi-peaceful way to at least momentarily disarm Adam. 

She glanced towards the sun another time, willing it to rise faster with an irony that wasn’t lost on her. After all, hadn’t it only been a day and a half ago she’d wanted it to slow as it set over the horizon? The three of them still needed to burn time, and try and stretch these moments as long as they could. This time she stepped towards Rio, standing alongside Connor as another selection to be carved. “Why don’t you do me, though? I’m used to sacrifices and stuff, you know?” It wasn’t the strongest argument, but perhaps she could finesse some way around actually getting sliced if Rio chose her, whether it was illusion magic or some other option she’d yet to think of. Or maybe he could stall between his two choices, buying them a few more moments of dawn.

“Wait, wait, this wasn’t what we agr--” Connor never got to finish his words before Adam moved with preternatural speed, grabbing him so firmly that he thought he was in a vice. He struggled to talk, to breathe with Adam’s grip so tight on him. “Adam, no, don’t--Rio, don’t do it!” He knew Rio wouldn’t actually do anything, but Adam he wasn’t so sure of. He could feel the heat of Adam’s body against his own. “This… isn’t exactly how I fantasised about you holding me, buddy,” he joked morbidly. Maybe he could break Adam with humor. God, he reeked. Like a butcher’s slaughterhouse. He looked at Nell and Rio, eyes searching their faces. They had to have some kind of plan, right? He instinctively fought against Adam. Plan or not, he wasn’t going to just let it happen. It was no use. Adam’s body might as well have been made of concrete with the amount of give it had. Once the sun was up, they were going to have to have a real fucking long conversation. If he made it that long. “Adam, please… just let me go. It’ll be okay.” 

Even by hunter standards, Adam was incredibly fast. When Adam had offered the knife towards Orion it hadn’t take any time for him to begin shaking his head to decline the offer. Stalling or not, Rio had no interest in holding onto the knife that had been used to kill people. But before Rio could even find words, Adam had already reached forward, grabbing onto Connor and locking him into place. Rio jumped at the sudden movement, covering his mouth with his palm to stop himself from screaming. This couldn’t be happening. “Fine! Okay? Fine.” Despite the cold biting at his face, Rio was sweating. A mixture of the sweat and tears that he knew would be coming stung at his eyes, but Rio didn’t dare wipe at them. Hearing Nell nudge him along, Rio held out a shaky hand and carefully wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the blade. All the anger that he had held for Adam on their way here had been replaced by fear. If Rio didn’t do something, Adam could grow tired soon. Connor was too important for Rio to hurt, but if he didn’t what would stop Adam from finishing the job for him? Nell’s suggestion broke through Rio’s panic. He had seen her in action before. He knew he could trust her. “Not him. Please. I care about him.” Rio tried to keep his voice leveled as he slowly swung his arm around and pointed the bloodied edge of the knife towards Nell, “I want her.” The words made Rio’s voice crack, but he kept his expression hardened. He just wanted this to be over. If they could just hold out for a bit longer. “Tell me what to do.”

Orange spread across the mirrored lake, refracting rays of mauve and gold dawn through the surrounding trees. Dark Score Lake’s glass filled with radiance as if morning had been poured into a bowl. The moon became wane and faint in the brightening livid sky. 

Adam was sweating in the manner of a fever breaking or an amphetamine high being finally being flushed from his system. At Orion’s request to kill Nell instead, Adam hesitated, looking at the Exorcist struggling in his submission hold for a moment as if truly comprehending who Connor was for the first time. “Yeah me neither,” he affirmed to Connor, unpinning the other young man’s arms, remaining his bicep from the crook of Connor’s neck, and freeing him from the hold. “I wish I hadn’t…”

Adam’s bloodstained features turned between Orion and Nell, dilated pupils deep pits seemed to drink in the morning shadows still cast by the overhanging trees. The unnatural power that’d been coursing through Adam for these past days and nights ebbed as those shadows grew shorter with the rising sun. That inexhaustible vitality gradually gave way to a weariness more appropriate to someone who had been running and fighting nonstop, the last faint traces of the Hunter Moon's power and sheer mania were perhaps the only things keeping him from collapsing. 

“Why are you crying,” he asked Rio hoarsely. “I don't want to either …,” Adam shook his head as if struggling to think over some painful sound, “Stop..stop it!” 

He seemed to regain focus, pointing from Orion to Nell. “You need to do it, because it’ll...” Adam bit his chapped bottom lip as that murderous clarity of purpose burned its way out of his veins. “We need to do it now! C’mon slash her just…get her life all over you!” 

Adam’s hoarse voice broke as he tried to shout at Orion, dilated eyes filled with both confused mania and tears. “C’mon! Do it!” 

“It’s okay, Rio,” Nell said reflexively, not wanting to cause any more distress than was already at hand. Sympathy twisted in her gut as she watched the struggle that was beginning to emerge in Adam’s voice, the dawn warming her face ever so slightly as the sun continued its determined ascent. Apparently it was just as eager to end this night as the little gathering on the side of the lake was. While the hunter’s words began to border on hysteria, Nell turned back in the direction of Adam, moving slowly with deliberate and careful motions. It seemed like he was cracking as more glimmers of the person she knew were shining through here and there. Maybe this was the time to try and wiggle through those slivers of light, and see if he could be pulled through them into the brisk, morning air.

“Adam—” she started gently, reaching forwards in an attempt to take his wrists in her hands, not unlike the way she had when they’d performed her supposed last magic together. “I don’t think you want to do this. Not really.” She tried to find his gaze with her own, even with his eyes as crazed as his were. “You don’t wanna do this. Connor doesn’t wanna do this. Rio doesn’t wanna. And me-” she paused with a shake of her head before continuing on. “I don’t wanna die, Adam. Not like this. We’re your friends. And you’re our friend.” It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it was the best Nell knew how to do in their current situation. “We can go to the house and get you cleaned up- and you need to rest and get food. I bet Taki would wanna see you.” Maybe trying to jog his memory of past recollections would bring him back. 

Connor gasped like he was experiencing oxygen for the first time as Adam let him go. He lay there for a few moments before being able to muster the energy to stand. It hadn't hurt, at least in the physical sense. Nell's protection spell had taken care of that. But God, it had shaken him. It was almost as if Connor hadn't believed Adam could do this until he was right there with a knife to his throat. 

"Not her either," he pleaded, standing upright, a little shakily. Something was changing in Adam, light returning to him as the streaks of orange leaked into the sky. "Not Nell! Dude! C'mon, Adam, look at her. You know she's right. We don't wanna die, okay? Nobody else has to die. I've seen death. It comes back to haunt me. Literally. Trust me, man. You don't wanna cause any more of it." Connor looked at Nell, Adam, Rio, desperation filling his gaze. He just had to keep him occupied a little longer, just had to keep delaying. He nodded at Nell's words. "Come home with us. Please." 

It was harder and harder for Orion to maintain his composure throughout this. Tensions were high between everyone. Connor’s fear, Nell’s pleading and Adam’s own conflict. Something was changing, a shift in Adam that was slowly becoming more and more apparent. He was growing desperate, as if time was actually running out. The frantic voice cut at Rio. He had never heard Adam sound like anything other than the calm and collected persona he put on. Even when he was injured or exhausted he had always tried to keep the image going. Now, in between these two moods Rio thought he may actually be the most dangerous he had ever been. 

“Listen to them. Please.” Rio joined in with Nell and Connor, begging the man to stop whatever he was doing. The knife became harder to hold the shakier his hands got. As much as he wanted to hold onto it just in case the worst would happen, the toll of the weapon became too heavy for Rio to keep hold of. The knife slipped from his hand and hit the grass below. “I can’t do this. You know I can’t do this,” Rio admitted, knowing full well that the real Adam knew Rio would never be able to do what he had been asking. He held up his hands in surrender and took a few steps forward, “Please don’t hurt them. If you have to do something… if you can’t fight this. Pick me. Don’t touch them. It’ll be over soon, okay? Just please keep fighting this.” 

“You have to!” Adam grabbed the knife from the ground and sprinted towards Orion in one seamless blur of motion, attempting to thrust the knife inches away from  the younger Hunter’s jugular. 

“Struggle! Fuck it! You need to struggle Oreo,” Adam yelled in hysterical mania, voice a harsh crack against the rustling awakening of birds and breezing branches of autumnal golds. “I’m going to kill you! You're going to die!” Adam kept pressing the dagger almost at Orion’s throat, seeming to threaten and beg the other Hunter at the same time. “We need,” he swallowed as the words came up fast. “This is all there is Oreo! Kill to live! Nothing else! Dammit, I will fucking open you up!” The knife pressed closer “C’mon let it in! “

“Please..,” Adam plead as morning burned away the night’s shadows

But even though Orion had told Adam to pick him and the next kill to restore the his rush of vitality and adrenaline was an inch away, Adam hesitated. The window of opportunity to renew himself with the moon’s power one last time shut. The sun rose over the trees and in its light Adam was just a mortal man again.  

“Oh god…”

Adam looked down at the knife in his bloodstained hands, caked to the nails with gore. Revelation came in a subtle softening of the Hunter’s imbrued features. Mania became confusion. Confusion calmed to clarity. Clarity deepened to opened-mouthed horror. Ay last horror became a cascade of despairing weariness, tears of sheer exhaustion finally coming after days and nights of carnage. 

“It wasn’t a dream,” Adam rasped thickly, the charnel-house stench of murder clinging to his clothes as dawn washed away the touch moonlight.

[ladye11e]

Deception pt 40

The conflict between the Assassins and the Templars is getting out of hand. Lies, deceit and subterfuge, now you must pick a side...

Tagging @geekgoddess813 @i-wontgivein @imakemyownblog @sweet-flash @ermergerd517 💕💕

Link to the full fic so far is Here.

Connor stayed at the docks until the ship was out of his sight, feeling, numb, about what he had just done. He had just saved his best friend, but the price of betraying his family for it was almost too much to bear.

Suddenly remembering the letter that you had given him earlier, he drove out of the marina and back to the side street he was in before, confident that there still wouldn't be any prying eyes about here. He leant over to the glove box and pulled it out, resting his hands on the steering wheel as he held it in the tips of his fingers, debating whether to read it or not. Did it matter? You had already tried to explain, but he hadn't wanted to hear it, far too angry at the time. But now he had calmed down and was thinking slightly clearer, he actually did want to know what would push you to do this.

He knew you better than most, well enough that you most certainly would have a damned good reason for it. So folding the top back and tugging out the folded sheet of A4 paper, he smoothed it out as slumped back in his seat, already rubbing his temple with his free hand as he began reading.

My dearest Connor,

You know I'm crap at these things, but for you, I've tried. I'm sure you've figured out a lot by yourself by now, but please, PLEEEEEEASE don't be angry at anyone else but me. I've been working for the Templars for six years as I said, but it was Master Auditore that sent me there to find and assassinate Shay. A piece of cake really, but then I started to find out things about the Brotherhood that I didn't agree with. Not things I'm going to tell you, but like you always said to me when I first started, follow your gut and do what you think is right, and everything will be okay? So I did. And then I went and fell for the man that I was sent to kill. You know me, gotta do everything the hard way!...

He let out a heavy sigh as he carried on reading the rest, some of which he already knew, some of which he didn't. Now he was feeling slight, empathy, he still didn't agree with what you did, but now could at least understand the reasons why. Just as he was coming to an end, he nearly dropped the letter and had to re-read the last bit three times more, not quite believing his eyes as the printed words finally sunk in.

... I donated $100,000 to the children's centre that you volunteer at, in your name of course, so expect them to dogpile you when you go in next. I know this doesn't make up for anything, but I hope it's a start. Must go, you're about to find me in my apartment.

All my love,

(Name)

Now that was something he didn't expect, and he sat there in a state of shock, wondering for a moment where you could have gotten the money from. But then it finally clicked, and he was somewhat proud that you had tried to turn this around, even if it was 'blood money'. He flinched slightly when a couple of loud raps came from his window, winding it down because in the sudden onslaught of rain; which he hadn't even noticed had started, had made it so he could only see a blurry outline of a person through the glass.

"Jacob?! What are you doing here?"

"You gonna let me in? Or let me freeze to death in this pissing downpour?"

Connor almost cursed under his breath when he stuffed the letter quickly into his pocket, before unlocking the doors as Jacob hobbled around to the passenger side, jumping in and shaking himself off, making everywhere instantly sodden.

"Right. Are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on? Or do I have to beat it out of you?" Jacob sneered, grinning when Connor rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"You could attempt to, but we both know what the outcome would be. And I do not know what you are talking about. Nothing is 'going on'?"

Both of them sat there staring at each other, unflinching as they tried to look for a telltale sign of how much they knew, but they were equal in the stubborn department and nothing was let on. It was Connor who spoke first, but that was to change the subject completely when his gaze dropped ever so slightly to Jacobs' hands and saw that they were swollen, knuckles red raw and gashed open.

"Do we, need to take someone to the emergency room?"

"Hmm? Nah, don't think a brick wall needs the A&E. Anyway, what was with the evil eye back at the manor? Why didn't you want Auditore to know that we'd seen that asshole on the Jackdaw? And I know (names) not dead, so where is she?"

Connor froze and, bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood as he fixed his gaze on the raindrops trickling down his window screen, anticipation balling in his gut as he wondered how on earth he could have found that out.

"Bit obvious, you're not exactly cut up about it for starters. You used one of them Doppelthingys, didn't you? Knew that weren't her."

"Jacob..." Connor whispered as he carried on babbling about his theory, scratching his chin and nodding to himself in determination that he was right.

"Doppelfinger? No, that's not right..."

"Jacob."

"Ah ha! Doppelganger! That's it, one of those! And she's off hiding out somewhere..."

"Jacob!!"

He abruptly shut up when Connor roared out and slammed his fists on the dash; sending a crack rippling all the way across, trembling as he collapsed back into his seat and rubbed his face harshly.

"I promise you, that was (name) in my trunk. If you think for one second that I am not 'cut up' about it, push me further, and see where that gets you."

Jacobs face dropped, and for probably the first time in his life, he actually felt slightly panicked. He had seen Connor angry before but never towards his friends, and after what he had seen him do to Ezio, he made a smart decision for once in his life and decided to let it drop, even though he was almost certainly feeling the same way.

"I think... I need a drink. You coming with?"

Numbly taking his hat off and shaking the water off it; fiddling with it before he put it back on, Jacob scooted out back out into the gloomy weather when Connor shook his head once, leaving him with his thoughts. Now that he was alone again, Connor groaned as he saw the extent of the damage he had caused in his anger; thinking briefly how he was going to explain how it occurred, but he dismissed it quickly as he had bigger worries on his plate right now.

His stomach churned at the thought of helping a Templar, but he didn't have a choice. Well, he could kill him he supposed, and the thought had crossed his mind more than once, but he couldn't do that to you, even after everything that's happened. After weighing up his options of how he was going to pull this off; as he knew where Ezios facility was but had never actually been there, he threw a minor strop as he reversed out of the alleyway and, headed towards the suit store.

As he wasn't authorised to use the entrance at the back of the facility, Connor banged on the front door loudly to call the attention of the assistant, who was still about locking up for the night. He looked unnerved as he opened it up; even though he knew who was stood before him, but he was wary as he didn't know what would warrant such urgency.

"I need to speak to Ezio." Connor blurted as he barged in.

"I'm sorry sir, Master Auditore is, indisposed at the moment. Perhaps you could come back in the morning?"

Connor pinched the bridge of his nose as his last nerve had been struck; dismissing the little bit of patience he had left, and grabbed the assistant with one hand by his lapel, lifting him in the air and holding him an inch away, growling in his face.

"Take. Me. To. Ezio. Now."

The now petrified salesman pulled at his collar so stop himself from choking and nodded furiously, wheezing when Connor dropped him back down to his feet and gestured towards the back of the shop.

"There... W-was no need... Follow m-me..."

Drumming his fingers on his arm impatiently on his crossed arms while the aide opened up the hidden door upstairs, Connor barged into the facility as soon as it was open, spotting the very man he wanted to see leaning against a console at the other end. He couldn't help the twitch of his lips when he saw that he had his shirt sleeves rolled up; droplets of blood spattered up one side, and he was slightly dishevelled as if he had been working out.

"Connor? What are you doing here?"

"You should think about replacing your man at the front, it did not take a lot of convincing to get him to let me in. I came because I wanted to know more about this hunter (name) was attempting to find, possibly, ask him a few questions of my own?"

Ezio smirked when Connor clenched his fists tightly and looked around for where Shay could have been held captive, his eyes landing on an almost discreet door to his right; the only one that didn't have a sign on it to indicate what it was.

"I see. Well, I shall leave Niccolò where he is, for now, it isn't often he comes across someone as, formidable as you. As for the hunter, unfortunately, his lips are staying sealed, even though I tried to convince him otherwise. Perhaps you will have better luck?"

Connors initial instinct was proven right when Ezio led him to the room he had spotted on his own, raising his eyebrow when he stopped at the threshold and hovered his hand over the keypad, not yet opening it but standing there thoughtfully.

"Two things before you go in. Firstly, he is restrained, but you should exercise extreme caution. We are not sure what he is capable of."

"Hmph, I do not think that will be necessary. The second?"

"Principessa. She is, where she is supposed to be?"

Thoroughly confused as that was a bizarre way to put it, Connor merely nodded as he didn't know what to say to that with prying; which would no doubt aggravate the master again, standing behind Ezio and slyly peeking over his shoulder as he keyed in the code to open the door, quickly memorising it before glaring into the pitch black room when the door opened.

"Enjoy. Please leave something for the rest of us, hmm?" he chuckled. "Press the buzzer when you are finished."

Slowly walking in, Connor squinted when the door slammed shut and the overhead lights flickered on; for what he assumed they had been turned off for sensory deprivation, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed again until his eyes adjusted to the brightness. It appeared that Ezio hadn't wasted any time in 'questioning' Shay, Connor was almost shocked when he saw him bound to a metal chair that was bolted to the floor, seemingly beaten to with an inch of his life. Clothes torn, deep bruises already emerging on his neck and shoulders, and from what he could see of his face as he was slumped forward, he was barely recognisable as most of it was stained crimson.

"That was, very dense of you. I thought you might have had some brains.

Shay lightly groaned and lifted his head to see who was talking to him; which wasn't easy as one eye was completely swollen shut with the other following close behind, straining against his bonds and spitting blood on the floor when he made out who it was.

"You. I'm gonna burn this whole place down when I get outta here, then I'm gonna make good on my promise!"

Connor just stood there with an amused smirk on his face as Shay continued to struggle; quite surprised at the amount of fight he still had left in him, sliding himself along the wall until he was just underneath the security camera. Slowly and deliberately he reached up and pulled the cable out of the back of it, before crouching down in front of Shay, holding what was left of his gaze when he looked down from what he had done.

"You have gotten yourself into quite a predicament. You should hold your tongue, unless you would want me to change my mind?"

"Change yer mind about what?! Torture me, kill me? Seems like ya favour both," Shay snarled, throwing his head forward in attempts to headbutt Connor, but of course, he missed.

In retaliation Connor snapped up and grabbed Shay by the shoulder, delivering a hefty blow to his gut before leaning over to growl in his ear, "That was for threatening me. And this..." Another hit, but harder this time, making Shay gasp as wheeze as the wind was knocked out of him. "Was for sedating me. Twice."

Resuming his crouched position in front of him, Connor waited for Shay to catch his breath and slid his hand in his jeans pocket, curling his fingers around the very thing that would make Shay more, cooperative.

"Now. Are you going to behave? Or shall I walk back out that door and leave you to your fate? In an ideal world I would have chosen the latter, but as I have come to realise recently, not everything is as simple as I would like it to be."

Shay was now thoroughly confused as he now only paid any attention to what Connor was saying, flicking his eyes back up to the camera briefly before going to Connors' face again, who now had his head cocked and eyebrows raised.

"Ya know I'm kinda busy here, so if there's something ya want, make it quick." Shay sneered, now gritting his teeth defiantly.

Connor didn't say anything as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and, held his fist right in front of Shays nose so he could see it properly through his obscured vision, a sly smile creeping up his face when he finally uncurled his fingers and revealed what was nestled in his palm, Shays breath hitching as expected when he saw your necklace.

"Would you like the opportunity to give this back to who it belongs to?"

[vlkwsouthpens]

THE COVER SELLS THE BOOK!!

I am thrilled to share with you an interview I did with my cover artist. And she is an artist. I found Karen Kalbacher on Fiverr, as FuzzyM, back in 2013 when I wrote my first book, Now Arriving…Sister Station 1. She has become more than an illustrator, I’m proud to consider her a friend as well. I thought it might be interesting for you to discover what goes on during the creation of a book cover. I hope you will enjoy the interview. I’ve included some samples of her work. I’m sure you’ll agree this woman is loaded with talent!

      1. I see you are also a children’s writer and ghostwriter (so many talents!). Which do you enjoy more, the writing or the illustrations? At heart, I’m a writer. I love seeing a plot come together and creating new and interesting characters and worlds. It comes a bit easier for me, so that helps. That doesn’t mean I don’t love being an artist and creating illustrations, I do. The fun is in the challenge. I like taking another person’s idea or world and bringing it to life for them. It also involves a lot of communication with the client and feels more collaborative. I’ve always had a hard time choosing between them and took several English courses before choosing to major in art. Who knows if I made the right choice? 2. For a new client, what services do you offer when creating a book cover, and how much input do you like from the client? I create covers based on the client’s needs. I can do photo editing, add titles to an existing image, or I can create an entire design from scratch. I normally design in Illustrator to create vector-based graphics. This has the distinct advantage of being easy to resize while maintaining quality and being editable. When a client is new, I like a lot of communication. We are both feeling one another out. I can’t see inside the client’s head, so I ask a lot of questions about style, colors, feel, and often ask for images of covers in a similar vein to what they want. I want the author to love their cover. It’s important to me that we both love it at the end of the project. It’s a lot easier for us to get into a grove if the client has ideas. Blank canvases are intimidating. I can work a lot faster if the client hands me something. It can be as simple as a list of wants and a color they hate/adore. 3. What is your favorite genre to create covers for and why? Wow, I specialize in Cozy Mysteries at the moment. I love them because the settings are always new and intriguing. There are often a lot of elements that have to be balanced like red herrings, Easter eggs, and pets. It makes it like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble and balance. That appeals to my artsy side. My second favorite is children’s books. I love bright colors, the characters are kids or animals and they are deceptively simple. I’d love to break out into more fantasy covers. I don’t get to draw unicorns nearly enough for my taste.

  4. Give us a glimpse into the process of creating a book cover. I like to talk to a potential client before we get a gig going. It’s a chance for us to feel each other out and see if we’re a match. So, generally, I will have a short conversation with you about the size of your cover and what your needs are. After that, we set the price based on the amount of work involved. The client will then send me all the pertinent details. I’ll look at everything sent to me. If there’s a mood board, I will consider what elements are similar in the images the client likes. This could be as simple as colors, shapes, or composition. If there’s no mood board, I will sketch out a thumbnail with the elements the client has requested. This is mainly to see how to balance them on the page and for me to get a feel for the image. Then I’ll sleep on it and let my subconscious work on it. I might also send it to the client if I think it will help them visualize what I’m doing. After marinating, I’ll take the sketch into Illustrator. I’ll hunt for reference photos to help me create the detailed versions of what I’ve sketched. I tend to start with the backdrop. It’s usually complete so I can move the elements around on it like a stage. I add the main element (body, sleuth, kid, dragon,) and move them around until I like it. Then I detail it. I add bagels to the sleuth’s breakfast plate. I add toys around the dog. I find the light source and shadow everything. I might also add highlights. Finally, I drop the titles on top. I will send an almost done version to the client to get their input. The client and I normally go back and forth a bit to shape it into their vision. I’m done when the client is happy.

  5. What has been your most challenging cover/client to do and why? Every cover is challenging, that’s why I enjoy doing them. Sometimes you and the client can’t see eye to eye and that’s frustrating for both. I used to ghostwrite for a client. When she asked me to also create the cover, I was excited. But it just didn’t work. We couldn’t get on the same page. I would send what I thought she wanted. She wouldn’t like it. She would try to describe it better. I would try again. We just ended up aggravated. She wasn’t a bad client. She was a good person. She had just chosen the wrong artist for her vision. We weren’t a match. We went on to ghostwrite together for a while after that. I think an artist is like a psychiatrist, you need to shop around for the one that really gets you. 6. Describe for us the perfect client. Most clients are perfect clients for me. It’s not hard. They need to have a vision even if it is stick figures on a piece of paper. Anything to work with is better than nothing. They need to communicate with me. I’m friendly, I promise! Most importantly, they need to respect me. I will make a zillion changes for a good client. A rude client gets whatever is stated in the deal. They should be enjoying the process. We should have fun together. 7. Life can’t be all about books; what other interest do you have. Did I read something about knitting doll? Hobbies? Who has time for hobbies? I’m kidding! I love walking. I’m lucky in that I live near a little park and within easy driving distance of a dozen more. I am a knitter! A corner of my living room had a laundry basket overflowing with yarn. I have created doll patterns from scratch and I do a lot of fingerless gloves, scarves, hats, and the occasional baby blanket. I have a podcast called Eh, it’s Something to Do that I record on Wednesdays with Rick Connor. I’m also an avid reader. My apartment is brimming with books and art supplies. It’s a bit chaotic. 8. What is on the horizon for your business? Right now, I am looking to expand my client base. I would like to expand into pet portraits, do a few more children’s books and possibly start publishing my own line of books. I would like to do more writing gigs for individuals or businesses. I would like to branch out and so a horror story cover or fantasy. On the practical front, I am constantly learning new Illustrator tricks to improve the quality of my work. 9. Give us a few samples of your work.

  10. How can you be reached? Share your links below. Find me on Twitter: @1fuzzymonster Find me on Instagram: @1fuzzymonster_Karen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1FuzzyMonster/ Blog: https://karenkalbacher.com/ Direct link to my portfolio: https://1fuzzymonster.wordpress.com/portfolio/ 11. Any final words for us? Choosing someone to flesh out your vision is an important decision. A good artist/writer will take the time to get to know you. They’ll be enthusiastic about your project. I love my clients. I consider them friends. I look forward to working with them on multiple projects. It’s very rewarding.

Be sure to check out the above sites and see for yourself just how talented Karen is! I know my readers love her covers.

A Special Interview! THE COVER SELLS THE BOOK!! I am thrilled to share with you an interview I did with my cover artist.

[minhthangcoi9993-blog]

Review Game Detroit: Become Human

It’s a testament to the breadth of Quantic Dream’s branching storylines that I felt terribly guilty as the credits rolled after my second playthrough of Detroit: Become Human, as I’d played against my personal moral compass to test how far I could push the story’s exploration of the morality of artificial intelligence. This was very much the opposite of my mostly peaceful first run, and Detroit obliged my wickedness to a surprising degree, leaving a trail of bodies of those who had previously survived in my wake. And while it never seems to know when enough heavy-handed expositional dialogue is enough, Detroit: Become Human manages to be a frequently moving melodrama that bends to your choices with meaningful results.

Each of those playthroughs took around 10 hours to complete, and during that time Detroit’s pace rarely lags thanks to the deft juggling act it performs, alternating between three android characters across multiple chapters: Kara, a housekeeper who must care for a little girl named Alice, Connor; a prototype police model whose assignment is to round up ‘deviant’ androids, and Markus; a carer model who believes androids should share equal rights with humans.

The trio of performances is excellent. Bryan Dechart is delightful as Connor thanks to his deadpan innocence, which makes for a great foil against the whirling dervish of his cynical partner, Clancy Brown’s Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Valorie Curry brings quiet strength to Kara, and excels at selling her love for her ward, Alice, who is quite possibly the least charismatic video game child to have ever existed. Jesse Williams employs all of his dreamy Grey’s Anatomy warmth as Markus and is never unlikeable, no matter how you choose to play him.

Based on your choices, you can change their personalities and the tone of their individual stories. In my first playthrough, for example, the relationship between a humble Connor and the android-hating Anderson played out like a knockabout buddy comedy. In my second, I let Connor’s ambitions take over, and his story was of a different genre.

Though Markus appears to fundamentally remain endearing no matter what you do (unlike Connor, who really can be played as a hero or villain), there’s a tug-of-war going on within him that throws up some of Detroit's most interesting moral quandaries. Kara’s story seems less tonally flexible but is the quietest and most intimate, which provides a welcome contrast to all the running and explosions you can opt into in the other two stories.

Play more Jelly Doods

Hot new 60 Second Burger Run

For the most part, supporting characters adapt to the way you choose to play, but there are occasional misfires. When I played as ‘nice’ Connor, for example, Anderson was far too aggressive toward him to be believable. When I played as ‘mean,’ or even ‘indifferent’ Connor, his fury made a lot more sense. At one point, Markus gained a lover very abruptly, and I felt I’d missed a slow burn somewhere. It’s noticeable when your choices feel they’re going against the grain of a more robust story.

I found all three of Detroit’s central characters to be dramatically interesting, which meant putting them in compromising situations – or worse, killing them – was a real fear throughout. It’s testament to the writing and performances that I found making decisions “just to see what would happen” teeth-clenchingly hard.

I'm a Real Boy

The backbone of Detroit’s story – meaning the one that’s relatively fixed in place despite the choices you make around it – is big, ambitious fun that takes Phillip K. Dick's question of whether androids dream of electric sheep to the nth degree. In doing so, however, it does suffer from a multitude of plot holes. Marcus appears to gain magical android powers when it suits him; Hank is impressed when Connor solves the most basic of mysteries; and one twist makes absolutely no sense if you look back on that particular storyline after having finished.

These were noticeable (and often pretty funny), but they weren’t deal-breakers for me. Detroit is audacious and silly as hell, but it’s got real heart to it. There were enough moments of quiet tenderness to keep me emotionally invested, and the stakes were suitably high - particularly in its final act - to keep me thrilled.

With this in mind, there is a lot of clumsy exposition and dialogue I was willing to forgive, as one would while watching a fun B-movie. But occasionally, Detroit ignores the standard writing rule of “show, don’t tell” to such an extent I was yanked out of the story. Bad guys spout monologues that spell out Detroit’s themes in capital letters. (There’s a compartment for androids on public transport, in case you didn’t get what Detroit was going for here.) Select side characters, like Hank’s harrowed police chief and the inexplicably wise and mystical Lucy - are loudly cliched, so we understand what their roles are without any real character development.

With the remarkable performance-capture technology – and performances – Quantic Dream has at its disposal, there’s no real reason for such heavy-handedness. Nor do I think Detroit is incapable of subtlety; some of the scenarios here are unusual and profound. But I wish its ideas had more room to breathe before being trampled by someone spelling out the meaning for us.

Characters are certainly capable of non-verbal expressiveness. The level of detail you can see in their faces is astounding; facial hair, blemishes, freckles, and moles are rendered in stunning detail, particularly in checkerboard 4K on the PS4 Pro. The animation is just as good; as Kara and Alice hurry through the rain on a freezing night, hunched over and miserable, I could have been watching two humans from the side-streets.

The world here feels very real, too, built with a sense of history. This is a miserable, dark version of a future Detroit where androids are so omnipresent that they’re old news, sold in chain stores for the price of a discount mobile phone. Little details from the sidelines tell the story of a burst tech bubble, like basements filled to the brim with discarded models or a street performer advertising the fact he is playing “human music.”

Though the path you are guided through in Detroit’s world is as linear as previous Quantic games, I felt like there was more time to enjoy these beautifully detailed environments. One of my favourite sequences involved chasing graffiti tags to find a particular location, which ended up being an eerie, silent excursion in a forgotten corner of the city. There’s also a marvelous scene in an abandoned amusement park which still creaked with enough life that I got a sense of what it might have been, once upon a time.

The way you interact with Detroit’s environments hasn’t evolved much from Quantic Dream’s usual formula, which is unobtrusive and mostly works. Action sequences are generally executed using timed button presses, swoops of the thumbstick, and occasional motion control, which evoke the action you are performing on a case-by-case basis. An android detective mode allows you to scan your environment to reconstruct crime scenes, and fast-forwarding and rewinding through these is a lot of fun, as is a new ability to ‘pre-construct’ scenarios before you execute them. I would have liked the opportunity to play around with the latter ability more than I was allowed to, in fact.

Like Beyond: Two Souls before it, though, Detroit: Become Human struggles to justify its multiple fight scenes with meaningful interactivity. Clicking on buttons at just the right time while struggling with an angry android encourages a welcome sense of participation in the fight, but you have to screw it up disastrously to fail. I understand that making combat a proper challenge runs the risk of introducing an immersion-breaking sense of trial and error, but I was left wishing the stakes were just a little higher after I ‘won’ each fight without really trying. Why make them interactive at all if the input feels so meaningless?

Of course, the way you play Detroit is primarily through the choices you make within it. While there’s that backbone of a story that can’t be shattered, which can occasionally result in frustration when it makes a decision for you to keep you from straying too far off the beaten path, I found its branching paths to be multiple and deep. Quantic Dream has been smart in making this multitude of paths transparent through flowcharts introduced at the end of each chapter, showing you just how differently it could have played out if you’d made another choice, enticing you to play through again.

Not every alternate choice leads to a drastically different story, but some will. Sometimes it might lead to the same result, but by a surprising new means. Sometimes it might change your relationship with another character and unlock a path that wasn’t there before. Sometimes it might result in death, whether that be of a supporting character or one of the central trio (they can all die at points throughout Detroit), or a dramatic action sequence with unexpected consequences. Comparing endings, not only between my first and second playthroughs but with other players, was astounding, particularly when I assumed everybody’s story had wrapped the same way as mine and found that nobody’s had.

For me, this is the biggest draw of Detroit. One playthrough really isn’t enough to see what it has to offer, and characters and world-building are interesting enough that it was a pleasure to go back to see what I’d missed in scenarios that are deceptively complex.

The Verdict

Detroit: Become Human is a poignantly pulpy interactive sci-fi drama where your choices can impact events to a greater and more satisfying degree than in most games of this type. Though I wish its story had been handled with a softer touch, especially considering the subtlety that can be conveyed through its tech and performances, its well-written and acted central trio were vital enough to me that I found myself feeling genuine distress when they were in danger and a sense of victory when they triumphed. Most importantly, Detroit offers a multitude of transparent branching paths that entice further playthroughs, and choices have a permanence that raise the stakes throughout.