#when you and your sibling are tragically separated by fate and miss each other more than anything but also they’re still an ANNOYING ASS—

[electric-plants]

sibling reunion was obviously very emotional and sad but also i liked how at the end the traveler got FULL annoyed sibling mode at their twin for not mentioning the not going to remember thing lol

[singingaboutwishingx]

What If? (VFD!AU Jacques Snicket x Olivia Caliban fic)

The tragic fate of Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban might have been avoided if they had met ten years earlier under somewhat different circumstances. Of course, everything may have turned out exactly the same because the universe works in mysterious ways. Nonetheless, let us glimpse into the lives of two twenty-year-old volunteers (of different graduating classes— VFD separates by birth month, not year) pulled together on a mission. 

••••••••••••••••••••

It was an instant connection. They were two volunteers fresh out of their apprenticeships, and had been called into action to solve the mystery of a kidnapping. They met at a café, ordering sugarless tea and scones that would go untouched. 

“Well, Jacques Snicket,” Olivia started, sticking out a hand towards her new partner, “I’ve heard quite a lot about you: tied for top of class with your twin sister, master of disguise, and very fine deckhand. It’s nice to finally meet you.” 

He shook her hand firmly. “I’ve heard much about you too, Olivia Caliban: top of your class and human encyclopedia, with the most gorgeous hazel eyes I’ve ever seen.” 

Olivia looked at him a moment, not quite sure how to react. She decided to go with her honest reaction. “You’re bold, Jacques Snicket. I quite like that. It could be useful.” 

“I did get perfect marks in the Honeypot section of Espionage 101.”

The left side of Olivia’s mouth quirked up in a smile. I could get used to that, Jacques thought. 

“Let’s get to it then, shall we?” Olivia stood up and put a few bills on the table. 

“We shall.”

••••••••••••••••••••

They rescued the kidnappee and sent the kidnapper to jail in two and a half days, astounding the board. Never had they seen such a pair so gifted and well suited for each other. 

They were assigned more and more cases, all of which they solved with blinding speed. All the while, the balloon of sexual tension between them expanded until it popped, and they couldn’t take it anymore. 

••••••••••••••••••••

They were filling out paperwork in the kitchen of Olivia’s tiny apartment when it happened. They wrote accounts of the case, facts and figures, and initialed countless lines, keeping up steady banter all the while. Eventually, Olivia had to go pick up her mail, but Jacques was blocking her from the door.

“You wanna move out of my way, Snicket?” 

They locked eyes. 

“Make me.”

In one swift motion, she rose to her toes and looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. Jacques’s response was immediate, hands around her waist to try to get her closer. 

It burned with passion, this kiss. It was months of pent-up emotions flooding out, every snarky comment flying away in a desperate attempt to be nearer to each other. They kissed on and on, finally slowing when they could barely breathe anymore. 

They stared at each other in disbelief, which melted away to shy smiles. 

“Well, Olivia Caliban. I think it’s safe to say that you’ve effectively convinced me. Please. Proceed.” He stepped out of her way and extended an arm as a gesture for her to go.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave just yet.” Olivia smirked. 

“And why is that?” 

“Beacause,” she replied, slowly pulling him in by his tie until they were just shy of touching, “I realized that I’m not quite finished with you.”

A slow smile crept onto Jacques’s face, and he suddenly whirled her around and lifted her onto the counter so they were the same height. He took charge this time with a kiss that lacked the frantic quickness of its predecessor, replaced instead by a slow, solid, and steadiness. 

Jacques moved his lips to her collarbone, drawing out a quiet sigh. He intended to make that noise much louder, which he did. Olivia moaned in pleasure, eyes fluttering closed in pure delight. 

“Let’s just stay like this forever.”

Jacques tore himself away, a half smile gracing his swollen lips. “If we did, how would you kiss me? Be logical, Olivia.” 

“How could I have missed that?” she asked in mock surprise. “We’ll have to make it right, then.”

They did.

••••••••••••••••••••

Making out while they were supposed to be doing paperwork became a regular thing. They’d fill out forms until they couldn’t stand it any longer, exchanging knowing glances and then flying at each other. They both realized that there was something more than sexual chemistry, and went on a trial date. Then another. And another, then deciding that they were more than one type of partners. 

Olivia met Lemony and Kit, who yanked her brother aside to tell him that Olivia is perfect and you’d better not screw it up. Jacques reassured her that he wouldn’t. 

Olivia and Lemony really hit it off: two literary fanatics who could write with the best of them, and she and Kit got along well, too. They both were kind souls with sarcastic streaks, and they often spent time together drinking tea and talking shit.

Jacques was thrilled at how quickly Olivia won over his siblings. Olivia was as well, and wished that she could introduce him to her family, but she had none left: her parents  had died when she was three and her brother, Thursday, had disappeared right after she started training at VFD. She always blamed herself for his disappearance, though she never understood why he had suddenly gone missing.

She opened up to Jacques about all of this, and he just held her for a while before speaking. 

“Olivia, we’re you’re family now, and we Snickets take care of our own.”

She looked up at him with a small smile that was seemed sad but grateful. “Thank you, Jacques.”

They sat a moment. 

“You know,” she began again, “I never expected it to be like this when we were assigned that kidnapping case, but honestly, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.” 

“I guess... I guess fate was on our side.”  

“I guess it was.” They grinned at each other and Olivia couldn’t resist kissing him.

That boy is too damn attractive for his own good, she thought.

••••••••••••••••••••

Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban were truly in love. I am happy to say that in this world, their story ended well. They went through life together. Jacques had Olivia, and Olivia had Jacques. Love prevailed for them, and that is all we can hope for ourselves.

  Requested by Anon

[pixelgrotto]

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, part six

Resident Evil Zero starts with a bang and a wonderfully tight example of level design, as new STARS member and series cutie pie Rebecca Chambers investigates the Ecliptic Express, an Umbrella-operated train that’s become the testing ground for an early version of the zombie virus. On the train, she meets an escaped convict named Billy Coen, and the two of them have to blast their way through tight cars filled with bio-weapons and a great number of leeches, which play an important role in this game, before finding a way to stop their Orient Express outta hell.

I adored RE Zero’s Ecliptic Express, partly because I have a thing for old locomotives and also because it reminded me of 1997 adventure game The Last Express, but with zombies. The environment also felt wonderfully fresh, since aside from the ruined Raccoon City briefly featured in RE 2 and more prominently in RE 3, the majority of the series has, thus far, been content to fall into a fairly standard cycle of settings - mansions, ruined industrial complexes and underground laboratories. What better way to inject some variety into this mix than with a Gothic train, perhaps the perfect environment for a survival horror game thanks to its many rooms, narrow hallways and plentiful hiding spots for the walking dead? Unfortunately, the Ecliptic Express is more or less the highlight of RE Zero’s environments, and once Rebecca and Billy crash the train and end up in an old Umbrella training facility, the game once again falls back into the trope settings that Capcom was content to recycle. This was a disappointment, but RE Zero injects some unusual, experimental shifts into the gameplay experience that make up for packing its most atmospheric surprises into the first hour, though not all of them are entirely successful. Chief among these is the partner zapping system, which has players controlling two characters at the same time and occasionally separating them to solve puzzles, like when Rebecca has to stand on an elevator to reach a higher area and Billy has to work the controls. It’s good stuff, since if one thing has become clear to me since beginning this RE journey, it’s that the series has always harbored fantasies of being a partner affair but never was quite able to figure out how to do it. Previous games would only feature very brief sections where another character accompanied you, and the rest of the time, they would keep making ridiculous excuses for why they needed to split up, kinda like members of the Scooby-Doo gang. With Becca & Billy, finally this nonsense has been done away with, and while you now have twice the amount of inventory management to wrangle with, it’s great to finally explore these secluded, dangerous environs with some backup. The fact that Becca & Billy are actually good characters with chemistry helps, and while it’s understated, the story gradually forces them to trust each other more and more. It all stays mutually respectful and there’s no forced romance angle (even though I totally ship these two), but when Billy gets into a bit of a tight spot near the end of the game and Rebecca desperately shouts out his name in panic, you can sense how much she’s bonded with him through their shared night of terror.

I mentioned inventory management, and this leads me to RE Zero’s other big surprise - the magical connected item boxes that have been a series save point trademark are completely AWOL in Zero, and players can actually drop their stuff anywhere, a first in the franchise. Apparently, the devs implemented this to take advantage of the nonexistent load times of the cartridge-based Nintendo 64, which was supposed to be the original platform for this game. (Prototype footage of the N64 version exists and looks impressive, though the ROM’s never been leaked, unfortunately.) I’ve also read that they did it to bump up the difficulty level and intentionally go back to the essence of Sweet Home, the grandpappy of the series.

I thought Sweet Home was a fantastic hidden gem, but the limited inventory space and necessity to drop your items was actually my least favorite part of the gameplay, since it led to lots of housekeeping and backtracking where you’d realize you needed a particular tool but had left it on the ground ten screens away. And this problem exists in RE Zero as well, which is probably one of the lead criticisms that the game faces on the internet. In my opinion, Zero’s backtracking is nowhere near as bad as in Code Veronica, but there were definitely large stretches of the game where I was simply picking up all my crap and moving things to save point rooms, which I basically converted into makeshift item storage halls. There are also a lot of items in the game, like the hookshot, which take up two slots in Becca & Billy’s precious inventory space and aren’t used for a long time only for the game to suddenly drop a “hey you need this to progress” moment, which is liable to piss folks off. I can understand the devs wanting to make things harder, but there’s a fine line between challenge and annoyance, and Zero’s inventory wrangling occasionally enters the realm of the latter. It would’ve been best if the team had given players the ability to drop their stuff and included the traditional item boxes, but unfortunately, it seems like they were operating under the mentality of “we’ll give you ONE freedom but take ANOTHER away, muahaha!”

In the end, I was able to forgive most of the item problems thanks to the fact that I liked Rebecca and Billy so much, and I had more fun with RE Zero than most of the fanbase, which tends to view it unfavorably. If I were to rank all the classic Resident Evils, I’d actually put Zero right under REmake, RE 2 and RE 1, and in my eyes, it’s better than RE 3 and Code Veronica, which end up on the bottom of my list for different reasons. (RE 3 is competent fun but kinda by-the-numbers, and Code Veronica remains the only Resident Evil game which really felt like a slog the more I played of it.) 

Why then does Zero end up getting so many apathetic reactions? Well, it’s probably because aside from the inventory management problems, this game feels a little unnecessary, which is an issue that most prequels suffer from. Zero was advertised as revealing the details behind the tragic mission of the Bravo STARS, the team that you learn was slowly massacred over the course of Resident Evil 1. Unfortunately, aside from Rebecca and a few token cameos, the Bravo guys are barely in the game at all, and most of the plot revolves around the background of Umbrella and a case of backstabbing and industrial espionage where one of the original founders, James Marcus, was killed by his colleagues. Marcus, who created the zombie virus via experiments with leech DNA, was resurrected by the very leeches he experimented with, and now he’s out for revenge.

All of this is vaguely interesting, but if I’d been a hardcore RE fan back in the day and was promised a prequel that revealed the fates of the Bravo STARS only to be given a side story about a dude and his leeches, I’d probably go WTF. Capcom dropped the ball on their storytelling by providing something that nobody was really asking for, in other words, and I’ve found out through my meanderings on the Resident Evil Wiki that The Umbrella Chronicles, a spinoff game for the Wii, actually delves deeper into the deaths of Bravo team. That’s the sort of stuff Zero should’ve focused on in order to feel more needed in the grand scope of Resident Evil. Another option might have been to ax the prequel concept entirely, which leads me to another thought that’s only appropriate to bring up now that I’ve finished all of the “old school” Resident Evil games.

If it had been up to me, I probably would have plotted the course of the series differently after RE 2, which contains an interesting nugget of information hinting at an Umbrella Europe base that was never expanded upon to its full potential. The game seems to indicate that Jill, Chris and Barry are going to Europe to investigate and shut down this facility, and just about EVERY strategy guide, article and bit of speculative message board posting I can find from around that time was obsessed with this concept. It seems like everyone thought that Resident Evil 3 was going to be a rollicking European adventure…and it wasn’t, it was instead a game that took place at the same time as RE 2 and explained how Jill escaped Racoon City. Code Veronica never really expounded upon this tidbit of lore either - we get a very brief intro with Claire Redfield investigating an Umbrella headquarters in Paris, but then suddenly she’s captured and the vast majority of that game takes place on an island near South America.  I can’t help but feel like a massive opportunity was missed here, and if I’d been in charge of Capcom’s scenario division for these games in the late 90s, I would’ve changed the plot of Code Veronica and basically made that one Resident Evil 3 (which it was originally going to be if Capcom hadn’t wanted to keep the “main” RE games on a Sony console). I would’ve made it an adventure with Jill, Chris and Barry in Europe, and near the end I would’ve brought Claire in to join them and fight alongside her brother. Then, I would’ve made a spinoff game simply titled “Resident Evil: Nemesis” or something of the sort, and taken the general “escape Racoon City” plot of RE 3…but had it star Rebecca Chambers.  See how nicely that would’ve worked? Fans would’ve gotten their detailed peek at Umbrella Europe and the return of the classic combo of Jill + Chris + Barry. The weird Ashford siblings and Code Veronica doofus Steve could’ve still been incorporated into the story. Meanwhile, Rebecca could’ve starred in a game that felt necessary, since the beginning scenes of destroyed Racoon City were some of the best bits of RE 2, and there’s no reason why she couldn’t have met escaped convict Billy Coen while escaping the city. They could’ve worked together to flee from Nemesis, and I guess the mostly forgettable mercenaries of RE 3 could’ve made an appearance as well. 

Sadly, I don’t work at Capcom, and they planned these games totally differently. We finally would go to Europe proper with Leon Kennedy in the next RE game, but that one would mark a shift in both storytelling and atmosphere, as Resident Evil quickly transitioned away from its horror roots…and into the realm of fast-paced shoot ‘em up action.

Resident Evil 4 is next, and the playthrough continues! 

All screenshots taken by me. For more, check out this Twitter thread showing my step-by-step progress through the game.

[maxa-postrophe]

About Fire Emblem - Conquest

Wow it was longer than I thought! Don’t worry, this is a one time thing only!

This text will explain my perception of the story of Fire Emblem Fates : Conquest. Expect some ranting,  spoilers (if you didn't play the game yet) and a lot of english mistakes (sorry for that). Also, I still have the final maps (27-28) to complete so I can't talk about the end of the game.

 This game... ah, well, to begin with, I must say that I liked this game  despite its flaws, as it's a really solid tactical rpg game. It's seem very odd why I want to write such a wall of text on a game, because it's not the only one with a story far from perfect, but, let's say it's professional deformation. As a comic author, I'm often thinking about stories I watch. I 'm not saying I would have done better, but this story in particular made my brain race for some reason.

As you already know, fates is about the hero/heroine Corrin choosing between two nation : Hoshido and her/his real family, or Nohr and her/his adoptive family. of course whatever story you choose, expect internal conflict, tragedies and drama. Since Nohr is the "invading ntion ruled by evil king", you can expect Conquest to be a thorny path. And, boy, I didn't exect that many thorns.

1 - Of Black and White

To put it bluntly, the story doesn't make mystery about making it a war between the white country of good and love versus the black EVIL country ruled by an EVIL king with EVIL monsters and basically anything EVIL you can find. And that's okay. The point is to support your adoptive family you care about and the nation you grew in, despite their flaws, over your newfound family whatever well intentioned they are. So by trying to end the war from the inside, you're between the hammer of our real family you're fighting and the anvil of your king (and adoptive father) you will betray.

On paper, I find it more interesting than magically making Hoshido an awful and demonic country all of a sudden. However, like everything, if you're not balancing some things, it falls. And in this case, it's a big, loud, hard fall. Hoshido and Nohr couldn't be more caricatured. It's not only black and white, it's plain PURE white versus EVIL black. From the first chapter, you discover a country that seem to be in an eternal night, dark and hostile, and aside your adoptive siblings who are pretty cool, you have all the time to see EVIL king asking you to do EVIL executions, then proceeds to do a couple of EVIL tricks like an EVIL terrorist attack, then you discover Hoshido and everything is  in light and there is flowers and everything is so welcoming (except Takumi, thank you for being an asshole in this ocean of sugar)... and in this time you don't have many occasion to sympathise with your Nohrian family, so they don't mean that much for the player at this point, so, in the end, when the game asks me to choose... I really, really searched for a reason to do so, and I didn't find any, aside "the nohrian royal family is kinda okay". I understand that siding with the ones you grew up with should be the "natural choice" I'm not talking about the country because the main character is spending most of his time in a tower so he doesn't know much about Nohr in the end), but the game made a terrible job at this and it doesn't seem natural at all. Anyway, I chose Conquest so hello, Nohr.

problem : The game concept IS to fight Hoshido's army, but your goal is to dethrone Garon. In other words, the main plot is contradicting the gameplay. And since the developers didn't want to make Hoshido look remotely bad in any way, all those battles against the white country seems really forced. Honestly, you could have kept the whole black and white stuff, only by making minor tweaks. The game suggests that Garon was originally not a bad ruler. I also read (may be false though) that one of the original ideas was that Nohr was a poor country so they had to invade Hoshido who was wealthy and didn't want to share anything... so the ideas are there for making an interesting setting. Unfrotunately, the gme don't say anything about that. Can't you at least explain us how this war originated? Plus, a lot of Nohrian characters are nice, aside from a couple of psychos like Camilla or Peri, when you see someone like Arthur, who is basically Captain Nohr, or any other nice people fighting with you, you can expect they wage war for a reason, right? But no, get only muhahahaha we will conquer the world and exterminate everyone.

There is a mission about a vassal country of Hoshido, telling you that Hoshido too had some expansionist views, and since Hoshido is basically Japan, that didn't sound all that surprising, and I was really motivated about this imperialist side , thinking at least you could liberate a vassal counrty, but, hey, guess what, turned out is was a dirty plan, and the local chief is a total scumbag, because you know, you HAVE to be on the evil side, always, and Hoshido are GOOD, always, so when you're freeing any Hoshidian people by pure chivalry spirit (misplaced, you chose the evil path, why being so wary of ethics, now?) they express their gratitude by... actually they don't express their gratitude, because you're Nohrian scum, and they would totally do the same in such situation because they are the good people, so why just thanking you?

 And that's it, the only dot of black in all this white is the latent xenophobia of hoshidian, which will consider "Nohrian" as an insult by default. But honestly I'm not sure this racism thing is on purpose. I mean, after all, Nohr is the agressor, and they show an impressive display of dirty deeds, so in the end, such a behaviour isn't really  a surprise. And considering it's fantasy japan made by japan people, well... let's say there is room for doubts.

2 - You shall Suffer

I said it at the beginning, reading at the main plot, your hero can expect to suffer, and in Conquest, you will suffer even more. However, there is a thin line between telling a tragic story and create cheap drama. There is a simple rule , which is, not any chapter of a story can be a climax, because if there is too much dramatic spikes, it becomes flat. However, in Conquest, you know that something unpleasant will happen EVERY. FUCKING. CHAPTER. It works for some time, but, chapter after chapter, the process grows duller, to the point I was rolling eyes at each dickish move after a certain point. I am honestly really surprised Hinoka didn't die yet and Sakura didn't suicide herself at this point. It becomes really baffling in contrast with the support dialogues or paralogues who are often lightheaded and comical. Don't misunderstand me, I am welcoming the oxygen brought by those sequences, but those bubbles of humour and the dark, emo story are totally separated, so those two parts doesn't mix and it feels... really weird.

Come to think of it, it could have been a way to balance it : My Castle phases are those instants of peace of friendship that helps Corrin to remain strong and don't succumb to suffering and sadness... but you can't really say this is lampshaded.

One  thing to note is Garon HAS a real reason to act like a total dick with you, which is likely to make you suffer so much it breaks your spirit, so you can become a vessel for Anankos, so, as unpleasant as it is, this incessant display of cruelty has at least a plot motivated reason. However, this point is never really addressed, since your hero may be sad and discouraged, but we never see any sign of losing his sanity, so as soon as it becomes obvious hat the role will be fulfilled by Takumi (poor Takumi....joking, I hate Takumi), every additional dick move by Garon or Iago only seems to be gratuitous excuse to cause easy drama. So yeah, another missed occasion to make a more consistent storytelling, I'd say.

3 - Sockpuppet Rebel

Changing things from the inside is a tough task, and, as a hero, you're prepared to suffer and to dirty your hands...but, only to a certain extent. Honestly, I understand your avatar's problem. While you're trying to take the burden, you have your ethics and moral code, and don't want unnecessary bloodshed, so, at leas at the beginning, being hesitant and unresolved is fairly understandable. However, I got the impression that the creators were half-assed doing it. I'm not saying that Corrin should have turned into a cold blooded monster, mind you (could have been interesting, though), but from a practical point of view, the main character is making very weird decisions on a regular basis. So, punishing rebels, obeying your father's orders however vile, is okay, but, trying to get rid of Hans or Iago, for example, seems out of question. I can understand for Iago as it's kind of the first counsellor, but Hans, while still under Garon's protection to a certain extent, is a mere thug. You have the entire royal family on your side, you're a Nohrian prince yourself, and considering how he behaves, showing disrespect or even tried to kill you, you have plenty of excuse to execute him at least a dozen of times. You will tell me "But Garon could execute you". No, he can't. The game forgets it, but we're talking about a country. This country has several factions, every member of the royal family have vassals, which means lands and troops. No matter how ruthless Garon can be, he absolutely, definitely can't take direct action against you as long as you have the support of your brothers and sisters, and punishing you for killing a stupid thug can’t justify the risk of a massive rebellion. And even without that, he can't kill you, he needs you alive as a vessel for Anankos.

Also, having the entire Hoshidian family imprisoned which means virtually the end of the war, isn't even raised as an issue because "it's neutral ground it's not right to do so". yeah, if there was a lot of countries, and if Nohr was wary of being invaded by a coalition after seeing a neutral place violated, I could understand, but since there isn't any other country of importance, well... this is a massive strategy mistake, even if you don't kill them, you could have keep them captive (and they die later anyway, so...).

So, my main gripe is the hero appears too passive, he is not working towards his goal, he is pushed by the current and can't seem to take a decisive initiative. You basically do everything Garon tells you for THE ENTIRE GAME minus three chapters! And since you are the "player", it's pretty frustrating, right?

 Now, you will tell me, yeah, but your nohrian family are spineless retards, they wouldn't move an inch to save you. Well it's true to some extent. Again, it's not like Conquest is totally wrong every time. Xander chooses to be blind by living with his memories of the good Garon the King was at one point. And regarding he others, they lived under terror of their father since their birth so, yeah, I can understand that they won't oppose openly to their father, and acts out of fear. Camilla even states something along those lines. In order to convince them to kill Garon, you must conquer Hoshido's throne... that sounds pretty good. But actually, I was imagining more something like an official coronation ceremony, where all important people of Nohr could witness that Garon became a monster, something that would prevent a rebellion because the king was assassinated (again, I recall this being stated in the game). But in the end, the only witnesses are your own family, so in the end, it's not that different than attempting to assassinate him more or less anywhere, except the only sacrificed life here would be yours (instead of countless hoshidian people). In the end, it's "all this for only that" ? Plus okay, let's imagine Garon isn't a slime monster.... well, does that change anything ? He is still an evil ruler, he is still committing war crimes and devastating foreign countries, so, in the end, it doesn't change much to the problem : Garon must be suppressed, I think even your stuck up adoptive siblings could understand that after a while, right?

4/ Routes

When you think about it Conquest could have been, with some tweaks, a splendid standalone game. less gratuitous drama, less black and white morality, less passivity, more boldness, more work on characters and even politics, less "I want to do something adult but not too much don't forget ethics", and you could keep a lot of current elements.

But the thing is, Conquest, Birthright and Revelations are meant to be a package, so, we don't have three games in one here, we got one game split into three, which means there are some holes that are left on purpose. Conquest is the hard path, the path of thorns. It's also the hardest of the two starting routes; so you can expect be rewarded to your effort, like a more satisfying end, or interesting plot points. However this would have deprived people buying Birthright, and, more than that, Revelation would become useless. And they WANT you to buy Revelations, so, no, you won't have your satisfying end (from what I read, revelations isn't that satisfying, though). So the reality is that they chose to sell you an incomplete game to make you spend more money on the other routes, making the flaws even more apparent.

5-Lost in translation

A last word about the localization. I understand that a good adaptation isn't about literal translation, however, changing characters personality (Effie for example who is supposed to be timid) and thus their dialogs is unacceptable, even if it's for minor support conversations. It doesn't matter that "original lines aren't better". translation isn't about thinking I can do better than the original. It's about keeping the core of a work and bringing it to you. I heard it's not the first time and I will really be careful about that in the future, because I don't want to ask myself each time "okay, but did he really say that ?". Also, censoring part of the game is also something I really don't like. I understand it's for a minor stupid petting game, I understand people not wanting to play it or reading embarrassing lines, but in this case, please, make it an option to deactivate it from the game, because whatever you call it it's "removing content", and I don't like the idea of having "removing content", especially from a game which already is already incomplete story-wise. But you wouldn't want age restriction to lessen the amount of copies sold, right?

In conclusion

As solid as the game is from a gameplay standpoint, it's leaving to me an intense frustration, that you can feel through the need of writing this huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge wall of text. A lot a ideas, likeable characters and a story with a lot of potential, all of that was wasted to me. I really hope the next game will not repeat the same mistake and sacrificing a great potential on the altar of a commercial strategy.

[suaine]

Yuletide letter 2017

*cracks knuckles* Alright, let's get this party started. At first, there are a few things to know about me, none of them very important:

I will read almost anything if you write it with passion and kindness. That doesn't mean it has to be fluffy and happy all the time, though I do prefer a general trajectory toward happiness. If you can, I would like you to write this story because you believe in it, not because you want to please me. I'm usually easily pleased, and there aren't a lot of things that will turn me off.

That said, please avoid writing about death or rape, graphically or just their impact and aftermath. Both things are hard for me to deal with and even if it's canon I'd rather not have to be exposed to it during the already super emotionally taxing holiday season.

Generally I love all self-indulgent tropes. There is nothing too cliché, no path too well-trodden. I love adcenture stories and cracky fun slices of life and everything in between. I'm equally into swords and sorcery as well as space ships. There isn't a well-crafted AU I don't love if the characters stay true to themselves. Feel free to go a little bit wild.

Fandom: Star Wars: Aftermath - Chuck Wendig

I didn't expect to be able to sign up so I couldn't nominate everyone else on the team, but feel free to include them all or any of them in combination. I just want to hear more stories about these idiots, Sinjir most of all. After Rogue One, I'm full up on tragic heroes, so if you can find hopeful, loving paths to put them on, please do.

Oh, my relationship with this canon is a difficult one. I still haven't dared to read the last book and I'm trying to get to a place where I can forgive fate and Chuck Wendig for personally giving me hope for my fave pairing (Jom/Sinjir) and crushing it under the bootheels of miscommunication. (Basically, we tweeted, he was vague, I misunderstood, I thought Jom/Sinjir was gonna happen, and it really hurt when it didn't) But! I'm absolutely 100% in favor of Sinjir getting a happy ending EVERY WHICH WAY possible, including but not limited to any pairings you might enjoy, and I'm more than happy for you to sell me on them.

I love the team so much, every single damn one of them. I love the snarky bits and the hopeless bits and the resilient bits. I love that this is not the happy ending we expected from Return of the Jedi and I love Rae Sloane.

I honestly don't know what kind of prompt I should give you. I've enjoyed stories of Sinjir showing up in TFA times, I love alternate universes where things played out differently, I love introspective pieces and action-y bits. I love the humor that is always inherent in Wendig's writing.

Fandom: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

I absolutely love and adore this game and I found my perfect route only to realize that in the scope of the game it couldn't happen - Robert needs to take care of himself for a while, a year isn't nearly enough to put him back together. But we can try. The player character can absolutely try. In many, many ways. Also, I love any and all iterations of Amanda and Val interacting and maybe more.

I absolutely enjoy every route in this game, though some characters resonate more with me than others. Robert is the one that I feel closest to, maybe because he's quite damaged in very specific ways. Maybe it's because if you play your cards right you get to fix his relationship with his daughter and I actually have two fathers who will never be as big a person as that.

The core aspect of the game for me is giving Amanda every happiness she desires, she deserves to be loved and appreciated and she deserves to grow into exactly the woman she wants to be. Val and her interaction were my favorite amazing surprise.

I'm actually quite invested in a future where Robert gets better and realizes that the player character (let's call him Jake) has always been there. I'd like to see that recovery, soft, playful, unassuming friend dates, supportive moments, nighttime monster-hunting adventures.

Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF

The last few months I've fallen into an awesome hole: catching up on a 100+ episode webseries that has 4+ hours of footage per. It. Was. Ridiculous. And amazing. And I accidentally once read a comment (on youtube) about how Matt separated Marisha and Taliesin because jealousy. I adore Marisha and Taliesin's friendship but also I can't help but go extra defensive when I read stupid stuff like this: so, tell me about the many ways that Matt and Taliesin love each other, all the bonding, whether bromance or romance. The three of them once went to party in the desert together for a few days. Also, I loved the team playing themselves but d&d style during Liam's one shot - why not put them all into Exandria, but as themselves (and adult)? Adventures!

I mean, what is there to say? I'm really invested in the entire group's happiness and love. It's pretty obvious that they're close and I love that so very, very much. I've been crying like a baby at the latest episode (114) and how much they care about each other and their characters, and the last few minutes of ep 113 were really intense after Laura realized what was happening. I love how sometimes the lines between character and actor get a little bit blurred.

I don't really have a lot to add to the optional details, maybe all I need to say is this: feel free to go anywhere your heart takes you.

Fandom: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic  

I adore Theron Shan and his ridiculous squib/secret agent/mama issue plot. He's everything I ever wanted from a Republic character - pragmatic and still idealistic, hopeful and sarcastic, complex as the force itself. I love stories about his tech abilities, about his smarts and his work ethic, and how deep down he is much more like his mother - and Revan - then he would ever admit. (OMG the Revan connection is such a narrative kink for me. Revan (girl Revan for me, incidentally) is such an influence on how I see the character - grey, but still undeniably good.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that means more to me in TOR than Theron in love with my lightside male Sith Warrior. Obviously, you're in no way obligated to include my player character, but whatever you want to write I would ask you to consider that fact your canon for the story - please don't break them up or write him with other people. You don't have to include this in particular, but please don't negate it.

I haven't played the newest chapters because of time constraints and I don't know a whole lot of spoilers except that... something happens... with betrayal and Theron? I honestly didn't want to read up on it because often experiencing it makes it very different to whatever might show up on a twitter rant. Here's the thing: betrayal and the sith warrior. Theron being a double agent to save the love of his life by breaking his heart. Just saying. That makes one hell of a story.

If you want to write something romance free, how about the early days of Lana and Theron's partnership? The minituae of running the alliance? Theron doing his job because he's a competent, sarcastic assholes. Theron making peace with his mom. Theron making peace with the force.

Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery

I love everything Star Trek and this new thing feels very much in line with everything before even where it's completely out of left field (I mean, the hairless klingons take some getting used to for sure). Michael Burnham is the best, but I would literally love any story about any of the characters, as long as it feels like Star Trek. I missed this world and this universe and this SPACE so much. Tell me everything, anything, DISCOVER.

Okay so obviously this is a developing fandom that's going to fucking explode. This is an amazing thing to be at the start of. I love everything Star Trek and as of today which is just a few days after ep 4, I love everyone on that boat except Lorca who I very much love to loathe.

Michael is amazing. My gay mushroom man is amazing. Tall gangly alien is amazing. Twitchy redhead is amazing. The klingons are super weird cannibals. I want to see exactly where Discovery is going – all the weird alien planets they can explore. There's a war, sure, but that's not a warship, it's a science vessel. Let it do science.

I personally love all the tropes Trek ever gave us and there's basically so many to choose from that it would be too hard to list them all. You want to give an old episode plot a new coat? Go for it! You want to explore some cute character moments? Be my guest! You want to write cute ship fic about mushroom man and doctor snarkadoodle? Please, please do.

Fandom: Folgers "Home for the Holidays" Commercial

Folgers is a yuletide fandom if I've ever seen one. Pretty much all the stories are yuletide stories and I've read them all. I think it's obvious why we're both here and neither of us can pretend that this is wholesome and pure. But here's the thing: just because something is problematic doesn't mean it can't be fun and happy. I mentioned in another request that I'm full up on tragedy, so here's the deal: a Folgers story where they get what they so obviously want and figure out a way to be happy.

Two things: yes, porn is totally acceptable though obviously not required. You can, but you don't gotta. And AUs are also a perfectly lovely way to explore this kinky as hell prompt. I think we're both here for the kink – if not, I'm not sure why you offered this fandom at all and this is your get out of jail free card: just dump this request in a dark hole and never think about it again. Some of my other requests have quite accessible canons and I won't be offended if I show up on the pinch hit list. I've been there, it's not a terrible place to be ;)

If you want to go AU, please keep the delicious and terrible fact that they're siblings who so very obviously want to bone. I'm with you, friend. We're both in this kinky hole together. I'm not into this fandom for realism – angst, sure, that's what makes it great, but that doesn't mean we can't have a totally unrealistic romantic comedy style happy ending. Think Do Começo ao Fim.