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palimpsessed · 3 years

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Writerly Ephemera

I was tagged by @amywaterwings @mostlymaudlin @tea-brigade @effing-numpties @captain-aralias @bloodiedpixie . This is so cool, so thanks for sharing yours! ❤️

Per Amy: We add little bits of ourselves to our writing, scattering memories and places and phrases and things into our stories. The game is to find five examples of this, of YOU, in your writing and show everyone.

I don’t really feel like I put much of my own experiences into my fic, probably because I don’t feel like I have a lot of experiences to pull from. (That’s not me being self-deprecating; that’s me never going anywhere or doing anything.) So, let’s see what we come up with!

Going to tag here. I feel like I’ve gotten to this late so I’m not sure who has been tagged. Anyway. No pressure, loves. Just saying hi. 🥰 @theflyingpeach @bazzybelle @otherworldsivelivedin @unseelieseelie @wetheformidables @caitybug @nightimedreamersworld @foolofabookwyrm @stillmadaboutpetra

1. I have put the most of myself into A Man of Letters. I have my degree in English Lit and when I was in college, I was at the height of my Jane Austen obsession. So I sort of built my degree around the development of the English novel. My senior thesis was on a book called Evelina by Frances Burney, who was one of Austen’s greatest literary influences. Evelina is an epistolary novel—told entirely in letters. I love the epistolary form, for the same reason I love dialogue and texting fics. It’s such a fun narrative technique and can reveal so much about individual characters. It’s actually a bit like the way Rainbow Rowell uses multi POV in her books. Anyway, my love of the epistle was on full display in this fic, which is ofc told in letters. —Do I share a passage? That’s like...the whole fic 😅 So, idk. Here’s Simon being a disaster as he meditates on letter writing:

Dear Penny,

As I start this letter, I already know I'm not going to post it. I know I won't be able to bring myself to do it, because of what I have to say to you. I do feel bad. It's not that I don't want to tell you. And you know I'm so much better at writing things down than saying them out loud. It's only that I feel like this would all sound better coming from me in person. I just don't think I'll be able to make you understand in a letter. I'm still trying to understand myself. And writing all of this down helps me with that. Even if I'm only pretending to write to you, it makes me feel better, to think of you on the other end. I promise I really will tell you everything as soon as we're together again.

2. Also for A Man of Letters, my fascination with Regency fashions, in particular the dandy, was a major factor. I did an art book about this, comparing how fashion has changed over time, especially in regard to gender. (I also did an art book based on Evelina, since I’m on the subject. I minored in book art. 😁) I always fancied the look of a Regency dandy, so that was my gift to Baz.

Whoever has been working their magic on Salisbury should in fact be the person to whom I offer my eternal devotion. Alas, I am left to flounder under the burden of lusting after a man who is incapable of dressing himself.

The utter and unmitigated shame.

Salisbury wore a forest green wool frock coat that set off the golden highlights in his brown locks. This was accented with a green and aubergine striped silk waistcoat that was trimmed in white piping and felt much too daring a pattern for the man. (I don't care if he was a soldier; it takes a hardier man than him by half to choose a stripe like that.) His charcoal trousers were enticingly snug, but not so much to prove lethal. His cravat and points left much to be desired, though that likely reflected poorly on his ability to keep himself in order, rather than the ability of his valet. (Good God, maybe the man doesn't even have a valet!)

3. When it came to my countdown fic, To the Manor Borne, I had Shep make a reference to Cluedo, because Pitch Manor would be perfect for a real life game. Behind that, is the fact that my family played a lot of Clue and I watched the movie a whole bunch growing up, to the point where my sister and I used to quote it to each other. This was a way to pay homage to that. He also talks about playing the game Murder in the Dark, which was one I played at Halloween as a kid. One of my cousins was dressed as a ghoul with glow in the dark face paint and we were in my grandma’s creepy upstairs. Perfect vibes.

I’ve seen the kitchen and the dining room and the library and the study and the parlor. Walking through this house is like playing Clue. (They call it Cluedo on this side of the pond, because they like to be difficult.) (That was a whole thing. Do not get me started.)

I keep thinking Colonel Mustard’s going to pop up out of nowhere and brain me with a lead pipe.

And:

What kind of games do you play with magickal friends who don't have magic? Twister? Not with the wings and tail. Cards? Baz and Penny would cheat. Or accuse everyone else of cheating if they didn't win. Murder in the dark? With these people, in this house, I knew it would turn literal fast, and also it was like ten in the morning. Hide and seek? Simon and I would hide and everyone else would ditch. Snowball fight? World War III.

4. I’ve referenced Mozart in my fics a couple of times because when I was first getting into classical music, I was listening to a lot of Mozart. My sister had a CD of some of his early symphonies, and my local classical station does “Mozart in the Mornings” which happened to fit in the exact time slot between two morning classes I had my first year in college. I’d go sit in my car with a cup of tea, and just vibe with Mozart as my soundtrack. I’ve name dropped him in both A Man of Letters and To the Manor Borne. Also, Mozart wrote 12 variations on the melody shared by Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, which is a lovely tie in. (I also had the gang sing/cast The Holly and the Ivy, which is one of my favorite Christmas carols, and by strange coincidence was playing on the radio at the same time I wrote that scene. 🥰)

"It's a songbook," I tell him, like he can't figure that out for himself. "Did you know that Mozart wrote twelve different versions of the same song?"

He's laughing. "Mozart did not write Twinkle, twinkle, little star, Simon."

"You know what I mean."

"He composed twelve variations for solo piano on the French folk melody Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman."

"Sure. Anyway, this is for the violin. For you to play."

He's still laughing, and I'm trying to figure out what's so funny, but then he kisses me again, on the lips this time, so I figure maybe I'm still doing okay.

Only one more to go! What will it be? 👀

5. Therapy! Eheheh...😅 Look, it’s no secret the gang needs it. And tbh, so do I. Haven’t actually managed to get myself to go yet, and I think that’s where a lot of my “send them to therapy” happy endings come from. I did it in Use Your Words and To the Manor Borne. I started Chamber by Chamber with SnowBaz already in therapy, and then structured the whole thing around therapy that they give to each other and to themselves. It didn’t really fit in A Man of Letters, but if it had, I absolutely would have done it. I’ve only shared from two fics so far, and since it could kind of spoil the ending to Use Your Words (tho saying this may be spoiler anyway...), here are two snippets from It’s a Kind of Magic, Part I of Chamber by Chamber.

I've been working on articulating my needs. We both have. Ordinarily, I'd be afraid of pushing him away by making demands when he's on the verge of a spiral, but my therapist insists that I can't go on treating Simon with kid gloves. If I never ask him for anything, he'll think he doesn't have anything to give.

And

When I told that to my therapist, she said that I needed to talk it out of me and she'd help me find ways to work through it all. She said I needed to talk it out with Baz, too, so that he'd know how to help me when things got bad again—that was something else she said, that things would get bad again, and that I'd need to be prepared for that. That I couldn't expect things to be easy, and just go away.

6. BONUS! I think the biggest way I include bits of myself is in the AUs I’ve chosen to write. I have three I’m planning that say a lot about me, so I’m going to talk a bit about them here. There is ofc my Scooby Doo AU, inspired in large part by the fact that I watched it all the time growing up and also, my sister continues to be obsessed with it. When we were young, my parents were doing a lot of work on their house and we’d take family trips to the hardware store. My sister and I hated it, so we’d wait in the car with my mom and she would entertain us with “Scooby Doo stories”. Other AUs I’m planning? Troop Beverly Hills—please tell me someone else out there loved this movie the way I did when I was 5. It was very influential to baby me and I remember wishing for nothing more than being able to dress like Shelley Long. So, I’m going to let Baz do it, because I think he deserves it. 🥰 Lastly, tho it will probably be the first I write, is my Cupid and Psyche AU, from when I was heavy into mythology and religion. Since these are all forthcoming projects, I don’t really have a snippet. Instead, here’s Baz comparing Simon to Eros, which is what started my brain on that particular AU.

I am lost. I barely know anything about Salisbury, but I can't help being drawn in. At one time, I could have comforted myself that I was only so smitten with him because he looks like he was sculpted by Praxiteles. That excuse grows weaker with every encounter. He's the furthest thing from a lifeless tribute to beauty in marble as one can be. There is something deep and dark and feral inside of him and I want to claw it out. I want to see it, to let it free. To taste his wildness and his pain.

#tag game #writerly ephemera

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hood-ex · 4 years

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Roy Harper Characterization

I am a HUGE fan of Roy Harper. I’ll defend him until the day I die. I’m always interested to read what other people think about him and how they might interpret his actions, so I was interested to read the issues detailed by roywilliamharperjr. I don’t really like N52 and RHATO was eh, but I was surprised by how conflicted I felt about some of their points.

There were some things I agreed with right away - the erasure of Brave Bow, for example, or outright making his father abusive. Roy’s connection with Brave Bow is integral to his connection to archery, it is something that I personally think means a lot to him, so including it in his origins is essential. Making his father an “abusive alcoholic” is also unnecessary. I don’t like this trope, because it implies that all addicts are abusive. His father was never mentioned to be an addict originally, but that part of his characterization would make sense. Addiction tends to run in the family. What I take issue with is automatically making his father abusive. It’s a trait that often gets lumped in with alcoholism, which can overshadow the tragedy of it. But that’s neither here or there. These were the points I agreed with. But there are some things that really gave me pause.

They literally kept pushing the idea that he couldn’t even be trusted with money since he’ll spend it all on useless junk like ??? Like yeah that the parent that runs a household a business can’t be trusted with money, sure. In Pre52, He was completely independent when he went solo. He even refused to rejoin the Titans at first because he wanted to do things solo and find himself, and most importantly… he was a single father! A responsible father who independently raised a daughter…

Pre-FP was lighthearted, but he was also serious because of what he’s been through and he was smart and great at what he does. N52 changed him into a literal idiot (like I said, Lobdell loved reminding us of this) who can’t handle himself alone and has to crack a dumb joke every second and doesn’t take things seriously and has to be babysat by Jason. Even when they tried portraying to do things like build tech, they still wrote him as dumb. Roy’s always been someone that was good with tech, since he obviously built his arrows, weapons, so many high tech bases, etc. But the N52 chose to portray that intellect by portraying him as a mad scientist… that’s literally what they refer to him as multiple times, or a “rockabilly genius”. Basically, they wrote him so that he could only build tech, but he gets so carried away with it to the point where he either destroys a lot of crap while doing it or if he’s unsupervised, he’ll spend all their money on it. They wrote him as someone who was so irresponsible and had to be kept in check, whereas Roy is actually someone who builds things when he needs to. He’s someone who prefers to spend his time either with his family, training, or volunteering somewhere. He doesn’t spend his entire time building things for no reason, he has to plan something out, know why he needs it and adds it in. Technology is a hobby for him that he occasionally spends time on, it isn’t an obsession and it’s nowhere near being his main focus. He was extremely dumbed down to serve a role of being the dumb guy who’s good with tech.

Regardless of what the writer meant, being careless with money is a trait impulsive people tend to have (impulsivity also tends to be common for people who have issues with addiction). Not dumb people. I never read Roy as dumb. The mad scientist trope is actually indicative of high intelligence. Dumb guys aren’t good with tech. Was he scattered and irresponsible in RHATO? Sure. Are some fathers like this? Yes. Does that make him a bad father? No.

I think having Lian made him keep those impulses in check and he took on responsibility that didn’t come naturally to him, but I don’t see how fathering a child would mean you’ve now unlocked x, x, and x trait. That seems unrealistic. It’s okay to struggle with fatherhood. That is much more relatable and interesting. Roy could struggle with these impulses and still be a good father.

Anyway, this was a very simplistic explanation of Roy’s supposed lack of intelligence, which aren’t defined by any of the listed traits. I can see how he might come off that way, however. Anyone looks at disorganization or bad decisions and immediately thinks the person is a moron. This is not the case.

N52 made him an outcast in the hero community, made the league and all other heroes look down on him instead of being his friends. He looked up to the heroes and wanted to be treated as an equal among them, and he was-- he was just like any other hero, but that was all thrown out to, once again, justify him being an “outlaw”.

I do realize the OP feels otherwise, but I don’t think it was out of the question for Roy. Again, this wouldn’t be the highlight of Roy’s life and it wouldn’t be the healthiest he’s ever been, which I think is obvious, but expecting someone to remain consistent throughout their entire life isn’t realistic. Do I think it was stretched? Yeah. But again, Roy is a complex character, and when someone feels as if they aren’t living up to an ideal, it’s not uncommon to rebel against that ideal. It went a little far, but it’s not that out of the question.

Roy being a dad, and the erasure of Lian Harper. When Roy’s a dad, he was something to fight for. He has a reason to be a superhero and do what he does, to be responsible and to be more mature than he already is. Him being a dad completely changed him and gave him a reason to strive to become a better man than he already was, all for his daughter. He helped so many characters because of how his fatherhood changed him. Him being a father gave him so much happiness and brightness in his life despite the mistakes he made before. On top of that, Roy became a father when he was young. He risked his life just to see Lian and take her in. He could have easily ignored her and left her with Jade, but he chose to actively seek her out and risked his life to do so. He wanted to be a father. He wanted to raise his daughter right and be an inspiration for her, and to me that just shows the kind of man he was.

Being a father is one of Roy’s biggest character traits. It isn’t just some random thing, it was part of his characters for literal decades. It’s so much of who he is and holds so much of his development, and the erasure of it just changes so much about him for the worst.

Okay, so… while I agree that Lian is important to Roy’s growth and development, I do not think a character’s personality should be completely shaped around having a child. I do agree that Roy wanted to be a good father and improved exponentially because he took responsibility for Lian. However, there are a lot of different types of fathers. It isn’t really fair to assume Roy was perfect when he was that young, or that didn’t make mistakes.

So yes, this characterization does change him “for the worst” because he has nothing to keep him accountable. That’s okay. I am personally more interested in seeing characters crash and burn and then being shaped by that experience, not deciding to be better just because they’ve reproduced. Children aren’t bandaids.

This next part is my biggest issue with their post, however. The subject of addiction.

And then there’s his addiction… N52 changed his addiction from heroin to alcohol (it was changed back in Rebirth but still.) Addictions are not and should not be treated like they’re interchangeable. The original drug addiction story, Snowbirds Don’t Fly, was an award winning story that changed the landscape of stories that could be told in comics. It was that good, and changing for just a generic addiction story is pretty ridiculous.

Okay, so… while I get what they are trying to say, in general, addictions don’t stay in neat little boxes. People prone to addiction will often have other addictive behaviors and/or vices. Sometimes they do trade one addiction for another. I realize that their issue is eliminating the heroin from the story altogether, but my point is: addiction is the problem. The object of that addiction is not.

The original story showed that Roy was the one who kicked his addiction away, all because of his will and drive to kick it away. He was the one who wanted to get rid of his problem. With some help from people around him (aka Dinah), he kicked it away and was determined to be a better person because of it. He wanted to become an educator and volunteer to help people dealing with addictions like his, and he wanted to help fight drug dealers and help fight the drug problem. That’s why he joined the DEA– he wanted to help people who went through what he did. Roy appealed to a specific demographic of teenagers that fell low and fell into drug addiction– something that hasn’t been done before with any other character– and he served as a role model as someone who overcame it. N52 just got rid of all that and not only changed his addiction type, but had him be completely be saved by someone else (who he shouldn’t have any relation to in the first place).

Here is where it started to get really cringey for me. This person is very naive if they think that an addict can “kick their addiction away” with “will and drive.” No. It takes so much more than that. Therapy. Medication. Rehab. There is no shame or weakness in asking for or accepting help. Even if they do everything right, most people relapse. Perpetuating the idea that Roy’s willpower overcame a heroin addiction is ridiculous.

N52 focuses on him relapsing and being tempted back all the time, which is against what the character stands for. The whole point is that he’s someone that wants to move on past his mistakes and become a better person and let others see him for who he is as a hero, but N52 keeps throwing his addictions back at him

This is a terrible understanding of drug addiction. Relapses don’t happen because the person doesn’t want to “move on” or get better. Relapses happen because people are human. Relapses are extremely, extremely common, and it doesn’t make that person a hypocrite like the OP suggests. This rubs me the wrong way for so many reasons.

Heroin addiction is insidious. It’s a literal epidemic. The relapse rate is ridiculously high (over 80%). Trying to tout Roy as someone who should never relapse because it “goes against his values” is very naive. It also won’t resonate with actual drug addicts.

The real message should be that it’s okay to let someone help you. It’s even more okay to ask for help. In fact, you need to ask for help. This is not something most people can do alone.

I love Roy Harper and I will defend him until the day I die, but I don’t love him because he’s perfect. I love him because he makes mistakes and gets back up. I love him for how he handles those mistakes. That’s the real success story and that’s what people are inspired by: no matter what happens or what you do, just get back up. Keep going. Keep fighting.

It’s tiresome to see fictional characters held to impossible standards. Mistakes don’t negate good qualities and it doesn’t make them less likable.

How is an addict going to feel if they received that type of message after a relapse? They’re going to think that they went against everything they stood for, not that it was a simple mistake that happens to an overwhelming percentage of people who suffer from addiction. How is that inspiring or encouraging?

Also to comment on N52 “throwing Roy’s addictions back at him” - look, I have my problems with N52, but this isn’t one of them. That is the life of an addict. They have to overcome their addiction every day. It isn’t something you ever recover from completely. That’s why it’s so easy to relapse.

Sorry for the ramble. I know you didn’t even write this originally. I do follow your blog and <3 it, and I just needed to say something about some of these points, especially where it concerns drug addiction, because it troubled me. Roy Harper is an icon.

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I won’t put words in the OP’s mouth, but since Roy is prob the character I know most outside of the batfam, I’ll touch on a few of these points.

1. I agree that Roy’s personality doesn’t revolve around Lian. Parenthood itself is not part of the personality, but a child can impact personality in certain ways. For example, forcing someone to be more assertive, responsible, or outgoing.

You said something about how it wasn’t fair to assume Roy was a perfect father. I didn’t get the impression that was a point OP was trying to make. Roy himself said he went into fatherhood fighting and screaming, so it obviously wasn’t easy for him at first. But I got a sense that OP was mostly highlighting the fact that having Lian is the transitional point in Roy’s life that took him from boyhood to manhood. To the newly single father who works as a private detective and then transitions from Speedy to Arsenal to Red Arrow.

2. I will have to disagree with your view on switching out the heroin for alcohol. I understand what you’re saying about how the addiction to a harmful substance is the main issue. And yeah, in general, the main message of Roy’s drug abuse is that anyone can fall prey to addiction, not just misguided people.

But “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” was inspired by heroin addicts on the streets and in the drug rehab center that the authors encountered/worked with.

The effects and risks of heroin addiction also differ from that of alcohol. They produce different struggles for people to deal with, different withdrawal symptoms, etc. Alcohol can be abused more often because of how accessible it is yadda yadda yadda.

This is why I personally take issue with the two being interchangeable. It may also seem like a minuscule detail that doesn’t really matter (because like you said the focus is the addiction, not the substance itself). But it would be kind of like switching out the murder weapon that killed Bruce’s parents. You may think that the weapon itself doesn’t matter because the focus is on the loss of his parent’s lives.

But everyone knows Bruce’s parents were killed via gun. As a result of that, Bruce has always had an issue with guns in particular. So if we were to switch out the gun with a crowbar (shoutout Jason) in The New 52/Rebirth then that changes Bruce’s character in some ways. It changes his trauma and his association with guns. In his mind gun = murder = loss = grief = failure. The image of the gun is very much so tied into the trauma of losing his parents, which puts significance on the murder weapon.

Readers would be like wtf I thought Bruce’s parents were killed with a gun, why does this say they got whacked with a crowbar? It would be inconsistent writing and it would make readers confused about what was true and what wasn’t true.

So I guess you could say the same thing for Roy and heroin. Heroin is the vehicle he used to try and cope with his life, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug that got him fucked up, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug he suffered withdrawal from, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug he constantly has to fight to stay away from, not alcohol. (Although, yes, addictions can be switched out for other addictions, but canonically, as far as I know, Roy never abused alcohol.)

3. In real life, yes, people with addictions generally need to go to some kind of rehab program to get help. However, if we’re going strictly by what’s shown to us in comics, then yes, Roy kicked his addiction without rehab, meds, or therapy. He quit cold turkey and went through the horrific withdrawal symptoms with Dinah by his side. That’s what’s portrayed in the comic. Roy literally attributes his ability to kick the addiction by getting help from Dinah, Hal, and his friends. Not going to rehab or any of that.

That’s why I think OP possibly found it insulting that N52 portrayed Roy as someone who continued to relapse. Because before N52, he managed to kick his addiction without relapsing. Obviously, not many people in real life can quit cold turkey like Roy did in the Snowbird issue. And before Flashpoint, Roy actually did relapse when Lian died. So I do agree that maybe OP wasn’t very uh… sensitive to the rate of relapse amongst people with addictions.

Anyways, this is just me sharing some of my thoughts on your points. Glad we can have discussions like this. Thanks for following my blog <3

#Roy Harper #drugs cw #alcohol cw #addiction cw #heroin cw #character analysis #submission #replies #anon

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rakuyokoyo · 4 years

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Chapter 285 Spoilers/TBE Spoilers

Days like today, I wish I just sucked it up and published TBE last year. Maybe then I could’ve caught up to where BNHA is at right now (though highkey doubt).

Note: major BNHA manga spoilers, major TBE spoilers

I’ve briefly mentioned a few times about how amazing it was to sometimes see ideas I’ve come up with years beforehand become canon by pure coincidence. In just One Piece alone, an idea that I came up with around a decade ago when I first started Romance Dawn actually showed up with Momonosuke and Trafalgar Law. At first I was thrilled and excited because even though the nuances were slightly different, the main ideas were EXACTLY the same and I’ll point them out once we hit those moments in Romance Dawn.

Something I did not really expect, however, was this to happen with BNHA.

One of the reasons why I love this story from a writer’s standpoint is that I’ve never been able to accurately guess what would happen next in BNHA. The ironic thing is, the one point of the plot I wanted to add but didn’t know how ended up matching with Horikoshi’s idea.

Basically, Kana is a character that mirrors the origin trio in many ways. With Todoroki, their views on family and Quirks foil each other, and I love writing about the two because there’s always something so comforting about they way they’re there for each other. With Hawks, he and Kana see Quirks as both a gift and a curse, and their different philosophies of the hero world is (in my opinion) what makes their love so sad and lonely.

Midoriya’s a bit of a basket case for me because he doesn’t foil quite as cleanly as Todoroki, Hawks, or Bakugo, but rather than having perfect foils and parallels, Midoriya is just someone that becomes important to Kana in every aspect of her life. His relationship with others, his sense of self-sacrifice and heroism, and his determination to be the best and not let his Quirklessness stop him from becoming a hero is a major source of inspiration for Kana. He gives her a purpose, something that’s so important for people like her who’s never even thought or desired a future.

And then we have Bakugo. I always have trouble writing about Midoriya, but for the longest time, I had nothing that I wanted to write about when it came to Bakugo. Todoroki, Midoriya, Hawks covered all the grounds for Kana and then some, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit him in.

But as I developed Kana’s character as well as her backstory, the Overhaul arc became a major turning point for her and it became very clear to me how Bakugo could fit into Kana’s life.

This wasn’t intentional, but rather than focusing on the past which is how Kana parallels with Midoriya, Todoroki, and Hawks, Bakugo and Kana also grapple with their present and the future, and I realized how many similar things Bakugo and Kana actually go through. Post-Kamino arc they’re forced to become quite close due to something devastating happening to Kana. And then... chapter 285 leaks came out today.

Basically, once Bakugo and Kana become close, Kana gets a premonition from one of the main antagonists—an OC named Eve who has the power to see the future with multiple restrictions. Unlike Nighteye’s Quirk, Eve’s Quirk shows a possible future. Whether it’s a very likely or very unlikely future depends on how many times her mirror shows that future, and unlike Nighteye’s, Eve’s future predictions can be changed. Its major weakness is that the future in the mirror may not always be accurate (and no one knows how likely or unlikely it’ll be), but it’s advantage is that if there is a bad future, everyone can take precautions to stop it. Eve is a pretty unique antagonist (after all, how can she ever lose if she knows what will happen in the future?) and there’s a few more restrictions on her Quirk, but this is the main idea.

I intended Eve to show Kana a premonition of Bakugo dying, but I had no idea where to include it. When this arc started and I saw a city about to potentially get destroyed, I thought ‘aha! This is the perfect place to squeeze my original scene in!’

Little did I know Horikoshi would ACTUALLY do it in the arc I intended to! I’ve included three excerpts from three different chapters below.

—

This chapter was written on August 23, 2019, a year before Chapter 285 was leaked. The title is Beginnings of Endings.

Note: some spoiler names/titles/plot will be omitted with an (omitted).

“(omitted)” She snapped, azure eyes vibrant like those of a fire’s. “Dealing with the (omitted) was my problem anyways! Stop sticking your nose into it!”

“Hah?!” He cried, standing up with fists clenched to his sides. “You’re the one who’s being a dumbass about this! The white-haired brat said it, didn’t she? Her futures are reversible if we make an effort!”

Kana gritted her teeth, drawing a fist back. “Shut up!”

(omitted)

“And?” He asked weakly. “What was going on?”

Kana shook her head. “I don’t know. But there was so much debris around us—probably the aftermath of a battle. You were bleeding out in my arms. I-I don’t know if I’d tried Overdrive and it didn’t work, but your wounds just looked so fatal…”

“Did I say anything?” Bakugo asked, crimson irises locked into azure.

“(omitted)” Kana said quietly.

The two continued to look at each other silently for a few seconds, Kana with tears continuing to fall slowly, while Bakugo gave her a quiet, passive gaze.

(omitted)

Dim, grey eyes flashed, engulfing him in light. When it disappeared, he realized that he was seeing the aftermath of a battlefield. Crumbled buildings scattered debris everywhere, but it was almost deathly silent compared to how loud the actual fight must’ve been.

“Bakugo!” He heard Kana’s cry. The girl ran towards a bloodied body in the centre of it all. She was wearing a white shirt with her usual thin ribbon and maroon skirt. Her hair hung loosely below her shoulders, and her skin looked marred and injured.

—

This excerpt is from a different chapter called Where Hands Cannot Reach, written on September 10th, 2020 (two weeks ago).

She suddenly stood up and began to run, much to the shock of Tokoyami and Dark shadow. “Kana!”

“GO!” She screamed, forcing herself to face them. “Go and get help! Do whatever—whatever you can to save him!”

“They’re too far, Kana-chan,” Dark Shadow said. “You’re the only medical support around—”

“If I don’t go, Bakugo will die,” she screamed, shaking her head in despair. “Kei—Hawks might have a chance if you can find anyone else.”

“Bakugo will?” Tokoyami said, eyes widening. “Why... how do you know that?”

Dark Shadow looked down at the hero in his partner’s arms with worry. “But his wings—”

“Focus on his life first and not his Quirk!” Kana cried, reaching into her inner pocket and throwing a glass vial towards Tokoyami who caught it with disbelief. “I don’t know if that’s enough—it probably isn’t, but I need to find Bakugo and Midoriya first. That… that should at least keep him alive. Try to get to Momo if you can—she knows basic first aid.”

Kana sprinted, tears rolling down pale cheeks as she tried to grasp her bearings. Bakugo had been surrounded by rubble in Eve’s vision, which likely meant that he was close to Shigaraki.

—

And finally, an excerpt from The Ending We’ll Write, which was written on July 4th, 2020.

“(omitted)” Kana mumbled, looking at the ground awkwardly at the entrance to his room. Her toes dug into the floor and her fingers fiddled around, cloudy azure pupils averting his gaze. The boy stood up from his bed and reached for the gauntlets on the desk, tightening them around his wrists with a quiet click.

“What do you want, (omitted)?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Kana’s mind immediately quickened with the answers. What do I want? I don’t know. I think I saw a future where you die—today—so I want you to stay home. But I know you won’t do that. I want to be able to come home tonight. Eat shabu shabu or sukiyaki with everyone at the end of tonight with all of our limbs attached. I want this to not be the end for us because there’s still so many things I want to talk to you about, and I haven’t even thanked you or repaid you for everything—

“(omitted)?”

His voice was quieter and without the exasperated irritation that usually came from calling her name.

Why are you looking at me like that? She thought, carmine clashing with azure. Don’t look at me like that. Like you’re the one worried about me.

“If you have something to say, spit it out,” he said, the usual coarseness returning to his voice. “Get rid of that pathetic look, as if we’ve lost already.”

Kana bit back a scowl. “I can’t help but worry sometimes, okay?”

He gazed at her quietly. “How many people do you think we’ll lose today?”

“I don’t know,” Kana said softly, “but what are the chances of no one getting hurt and no one dying? Probably slim to none.”

—

I had to hide so much but I hope this can somehow show what I was trying to do. When this arc first started, I saw it as the perfect chance to include Eve’s premonitions, but I’ve written a lot about it even before this arc ever started. And now to see Eve’s premonition (that I intended on it not being true anyways) actually come to life is sort of insane for me.

To be honest, this premonition was supposed to be a bit more about Hawks and Kana, as the second excerpt shows her decision to abandon Hawks to save Bakugo. But hey, if Horikoshi is going to make Eve’s future canon, I’ll run with it.

I highly, highly doubt Bakugo’s injured (much less dead), but it’s just enough angst for me to work with. Seeing my ideas collide in One Piece was frustrating because I wasn’t able to use my ideas (for a hint and some spoilers, something about Momonosuke was supposed to be Falco’s, and something about Law was supposed to be Amare’s), but this time, I was actually able to integrate my plot and what I wanted from Bakugo almost seamlessly into TBE, so I’m absolutely thrilled.

No updates planned at the moment. I’m just having fun writing all these crazy chapters in TBE! Maybe more things will match up in the future.

-Koyo-

#tbenotes #TBE #mha285 #bnha285

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pythagoreanwhump · 5 years

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🖊! :0

Alright, this is a side character, Maria, but I used her in an RP with @straight-to-the-pain and decided to develop her a bit more

it’s much longer than I anticipated, 1579 words

CW: death, war, torture (duh)

Maria Brooks had ambition. She wanted to be a leader, and one visit from an army recruiter to her school was all it took for her to make up her mind to go to Sandhurst. He tried her very best in every class, but the only one she excelled at without much effort was field combat. Soon enough, she directed every team to secure buildings, called para-jumps, etc. Everything a good military leader did.

But she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to be out in the field risking her life. She didn’t crave the adrenaline rush when you head into a firefight. If she did, she wouldn’t have gone to Sandhurst, she’d just have enlisted and be done with it. What she wanted was a stable job with a future. To sit in an office and call the shots. Maybe she has to do all the boring stuff first, just following orders, but with time, she will rise up the ranks and do the important things. All her subordinates would respect her.

Needless to say, she wasn’t happy with it when she was appointed as the leader of a secret task force. One that spends all their time in the field, risking their lives with no recognition. If they die, their bodies will be left in a ditch somewhere with no one to claim. If they get captured, they’ll spend the rest of their life in a dark cell, knowing no one was coming to them. And if they survive, they’ll get assigned to an inconsequential job in a small town somewhere, listening to phone taps of people discussing the weather until retirement.

But still, she was the leader, right? She lead a team that all listens to her. She doesn’t even have to do any of the dangerous things, she can leave her team to do that. She never understood why her team didn’t trust her. Not until Elias showed up.

Oh, Elias. It was impossible to say that Maria wasn’t bitter when some random Russian showed up and within hours the team was following his every word. He rushed into battle with them, and they fought together, shoulder to shoulder, while Maria shrunk back and did the paperwork. They went to bars after work, joking about the day while she watched them have all the fun. Her team was cold to her. They treated her exactly the way she treated her direct superior. Respect out of necessity, not because she was worthy of it. They only talked to her when absolutely necessary, and that wasn’t much.

Elias tried to be nice to her. He invited her to join after he had driven all the others back to their homes, drunk (he never got drunk even though he drank the most out of all of them. He’s Russian after all). For the first couple weeks, she down a cup of brandy, quietly thank him, and head home herself. He respected that and didn’t try to talk much to her. It was on the third week that she spoke to him first.

She asked him why everyone liked him and not her. He smiled and didn’t say anything. She asked again the next day, and he told her to watch. So she did.

He made the battle plans. “You,” he points to a member of the team and where their position should be. “And you,” the same. “And you,” It was the exact thing that she did. And then he’d add, “And I’ll be here,” He points, “Right behind you guys.”

He rushed into danger. Not because he liked it, but because he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. “Wait,” he’d warn Sam, “It’s too dangerous. I’ll go.”

And after each battle, he’d hang back. Sit next to a team member who got hit by a piece of shrapnel. He didn’t always say anything, he was just there for them. When Gabrielle killed an enemy for the first time, he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders while she sobbed.

One day, at the bar, she said thank you to him twice. Once when he asked her if she wanted to get a drink together, and once as she was about to leave. He wanted to ask her what she was thanking him for, but she was already gone.

The next day, they were planning for a mission. “We need someone to head into the control room, it’s well-guarded,” he said.

“I’ll do it.” All the heads turned to her. “It’s not like I’m doing anything else. Don’t look at me like that. I know it’s dangerous, but I’m not just a cake eater.” She knew that’s what they thought of her.

Simon gave her a fist bump before they went in. She wished him good luck.

Gabrielle was on the gangway underneath her. She was a good shot, killing the three terrorists surrounding her in quick succession, but she didn’t see the one rounding the corner. Maria landed a bullet in his head right as he raised his gun towards Gabrielle. Gabrielle jumped at the sound, turning around to see the terrorist crumpling, a hole on his forehead leaking blood. She looked up into Maria’s eyes and smile, mouthing the words “Thank you”.

They all warmed up to her after that, and she was in every battle with them. She still didn’t like the rush of adrenaline, it made her feel like she was losing control of herself. But she feels good when she saves the life of a friend. That’s what she thinks of them now, friends.

She was the closest with Elias. Two officers who spend their lives in the field. Maria tended to do the reconnaissance while Elias stayed with the team, leading from the inside. That’s why she blamed herself. It was her fault. It was supposed to be her there, not Elias.

The mountain pass. That’s where it happened. He said it reminded him of his hometown and that he wanted to see what it looked like before they had to spill blood there. He missed his home. So she agreed.

Two days later, when she arrived with the team, blood had already been spilt there. Elias’ jacket, blood soaking it and blocking out the camouflage pattern, was waving in the wind, tied onto a tree.

She blamed herself. She tried her best to find him. She’s made rash decisions in the process, some that may have resulted in them narrowly missing a chance to rescue him. She blamed herself. She blamed herself for Elias being captured. She blamed herself for his captors hurting him. And she blamed herself for not saving him.

When he showed up on their doorstep, bones broken and bleeding all over, his eyes with barely any light in them, she wanted to plunge a knife into the person that was with him. The person that tortured him. The nerve of him to come here! She didn’t care that he was undercover, that they were on the same side, that they ultimately saved Elias’ life. He had hurt Elias, her teammate, her friend, and she wanted him to pay. Elias was the only one that tried to stop her. The others felt the same.

Elias couldn’t be here forever. Some big coordinated raids the the organization they were after and they were reduced to small scattered cells. Elias returned to Russia and she got her wish of a stable desk job. Calling in some favors, she was even able to reunite most of the original team.

Well, stable desk job isn’t the aptest description. Most desk jobs don’t involve torture. She’s been trained in interrogation, and she’s damn good at it. She knew torture doesn’t work. If it did, Elias would’ve talked when he was in that hellhole. If it did, SERE training wouldn’t be a thing (and she wouldn’t have scored top of her class for it. She’s still quite proud of that). But the cake eaters seemed to think so. Her team must be rubbing off on her, calling the top brass cake eaters. She doesn’t ask questions. Her methods might not be good, but she knew she was working for the “good guys”. Her superiors never told her anything, and at first, she dug around. She got in trouble for that, and all she found was the atrocities committed by those she tortured. So she followed her orders and contented herself with the little information she was given. She trusted her handler. He knew that she wanted to think that she was doing good, so he gave him whatever proof of it he was allowed. Even when he wasn’t allowed to disclose it, she was content was his promises that it was.

But it weighed on her. What kind of normal person liked to torture others? She was still normal, wasn’t she? Even after she left that post, what she did still haunted her. Screams in her nightmares, seeing the faces of those she had hurt in the faces of passersby.

She asked for a transfer. Back into the fields again. To once again feel the camaraderie forged only by fighting together. She wanted to do something, not just sit in front of a desk for a day and go home, giving everyone she met only a polite smile. That what everything she had wanted when she was fresh out of Sandhurst.

That assignment changed her, but she didn’t regret it. She never will.

#asks #OC asks #just-a-r-a-b-b-i-t #oc: maria #oc: elias #oc: simon #oc: gabrielle

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gascon-en-exil · 6 years

Text

I Liked Fates Before It Was Cool!: Birthright Part 1

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Chapters 6-11, in which Hoshido’s military is extremely disorganized and only regroups because the mere idea of Ryoma is just that awesome.

Chapter 6

Not much to say here. Corrin tells Xander they’re siding with Hoshido against Garon and implores him to do the same, Xander accuses them of being brainwashed and, after repeated refusals, tries to kill Corrin. Following this is a chapter that will probably be finished during the first enemy phase unless Ryoma gets really unlucky. I suppose it makes sense that this is the shortest of the three versions of Chapter 6 as Corrin went to the border already with the Hoshidans. While it’s kind of neat that all the Hoshidan royals are playable on this map as a bit of a preview, note that this is the fourth of just seven chapters in which Ryoma has appeared as a unit prior to his formal recruitment. We get it already, the guy’s an OP powerhouse and a clear favorite of the writers.

This is also where I should probably bring up My Castle, but I don’t have much to say here as it was never a feature I particularly enjoyed. Other FEs have addressed the concept of a base for your army integrated into gameplay far better than this. Genealogy and the Tellius games and others may not let you perv on your units taking a bath or disgust them with your horrendous cooking, but what does that really add to the experience? I know, I know, a bunch of small and scattered stat boosts....

Chapter 7

Oh, silly banter in the middle of an attack while surrounded by wounded and dying soldiers. Never change, FE. But seriously, even if he’s just Cordelia with a dick whose semen produces more Cordelias let’s take the time to appreciate that Subaki is the series’s first playable male pegasus knight. Fates’s take on classes is actually very egalitarian, a fact that often gets lost in its sea of fanservice and subtle story-enforced misogyny and everything about <insert character whose gender/sexuality-related presentation offends you most>. Moving on.

I’m still not entirely clear what happens to the Hoshidan army between this chapter and the preceding one. They really appear to just break ranks and scatter: Corrin and co. go fool around in the astral plane with Lilith, Ryoma and Takumi lead some of their forces toward Izumo (why?), no one cares about Hinoka, and Sakura retreats here to Fort Jinya to tend to the wounded at a makeshift military hospital. It makes sense that the Hoshidan army wouldn’t have the strictest organization thanks to their years of protection under Mikoto’s barrier, but the problem is the game never tells us that and we’re left to infer these things based on the events of the next few chapters.

The Nohrians meanwhile are still on the offensive, but they screwed up by sending Silas’s unit to attack the fort. Silas has an unhealthy attachment to Corrin that frankly rivals Camilla’s, and his abrupt defection here because he wants to hang out with his partially amnesiac BFF undoubtedly bodes ill for anyone associated with him when news of it reaches Nohr. I guess it’s cute in my case that Silas’s obsession with Corrin knows no gender, but the guy probably steals underwear to sniff. Saizo is entirely justified in being suspicious of him.

Paralogue 1

Oh yeah, I forgot all about this chapter. Mozu’s just not as memorably meme-worthy as Donnel, and recruiting her is less frustrating since you’re not forced to make her poke things in her joining chapter. It does make the Faceless seem like more of a threat to Hoshido, although as a consequence playing through this paralogue in Conquest always feels a little weird. This plus the first Castle Invasion were mostly for EXP and support farming. For anyone wondering, I’m going to be keeping most of my characters in their default class sets since I don’t feel like grinding skills or anything elaborate like that. Also, I’m playing on Normal, so I’ve got a lot of latitude in how I play which is how I prefer FE anyway.

Chapter 8

Hinoka sums up my feelings on her and her retainers. Azama’s got some amusing lines and if I knew more about Buddhism his...interesting take on philosophy would probably be even funnier, but that’s about it. And yeah, Hinoka really just does pop onto the scene with no explanation except that she’s also trailing her brothers and I guess everyone really did forget about her. Sucks to be a late development addition.

Iago tosses the conflict ball to ensure the party’s trip to the Wind Tribe village is a rough one, though since Fuga was set on testing Corrin’s worth by sending a bunch of his tribesmen to get slaughtered by their army anyway I wonder why he even bothered. This is a rare case of a desert map that isn’t a frustrating pain in the ass, because it’s small and there are Dragon Veins to reduce the amount of sand. I also like how even on the lowest difficulty of the easiest route the game is already throwing a boss at you with some annoying skills. Fuga’s motivations may be silly, but at least he leaves us with the memory of a good chapter, some cryptic foreshadowing for the Yato, and a shota wind mage who unfortunately continues in the tradition of Ricken stepping away from their archetypical dynamic after Tellius made it just a little too close to explicitly gay.

Chapter 9

Izana, huh...Izana is...

Let’s talk about Zola!

Zola is one of the rare Fates villains who isn’t (always) exactly what he looks like. On first glance he’s just a typical simpering syncophant with a fitting talent for illusions, but he actually comes with a bit of a character arc in Birthright which I have to say I wasn’t expecting. It was almost as unexpected as Leo’s unexplained appearance at the end of this chapter to kick off said arc by leaving Zola exiled. One big problem I have with Fates is how characters have a tendency to teleport around off-screen as the plot demands it, distance between locations or basic geography be damned, but it’s marginally more forgivable here since Leo is shown later in this route to know how to perform literal teleportation.

I believe this is also one of the only times in Birthright where Hinoka gets to do something that affects the plot, so good on her for acting suspicious of fake!Izana. She’ll go right back to being overshadowed by her brothers - including being overshadowed at being overshadowed - soon enough.

Izumo’s role as the designated neutral nation is delved into more thoroughly in Conquest, weirdly enough. Here Corrin and co. get left only with a vague directive to head toward the Bottomless Canyon and some of Azura’s song lyrics. That’s kind of a good thing, because I’ve got nothing on Izana now. I get that he’s an amusing surprise the first time around, but...who wrote him like that?

Chapter 10

Allow me to divert for a moment from the Takumi angst to pick some very large nits with the geography of this game. In the previous chapter Corrin learned that Ryoma and Takumi had been pushed to the Bottomless Canyon, which is nowhere near their location - but hold onto that thought. The canyon is clearly northwest of Izumo, yet the party goes south to Mokushu allegedly in an effort to reach them there. Fates has a bad time in general with giving a good impression of where its events are taking place, partly because the scale of the map is odd and not helped by it being a topographic rather than a political map like in every other FE, partly because there are times like this where the information presented appears to be simply wrong. What’s worse, the major plot development surrounding Takumi’s possession in Birthright does not, at least so far as I recall, necessitate that he have been possessed by Anankos or anyone else connected to the Bottomless Canyon. I’ll certainly be revisiting this when the time comes.

But...whatever. In spite of everyone getting lost except Ryoma (because of course) this is actually a good chapter, with a cramped map filled with environmental hazards to add challenge. The treachery of Mokushu spans all three routes and is one of those set pieces that benefits from development in each of them. Kotaro’s connection to the, er, Christmas ninjas (and elsewhere, Shura) isn’t developed here unless you choose to have them engage him in combat, but that just saves stuff for the other routes.

Chapter 11

Pictured: easily one of the most forgettable playable characters in this game. It’s a shame too, because she’s the only default kinshi knight and her bits of dialogue and few supports offer hints of an interesting backstory that would speak to gender roles in Hoshido. Alas, she’s merely a Corrinsexual.

This chapter itself is filler, but mechanically it’s good filler. Your new OP archer royal gets plenty of targets for his bow, there are some promoted generics to spice things up, and the Dragon Veins can either help or hinder you depending on how you use them. I don’t care for the antagonist fake-out between the opening and closing cutscenes and the chapter proper - where did possessed!Sumeragi the mysterious swordsman go while you were fighting the fliers? - but that’s a minor quibble. Corrin already beat that guy.

A larger problem is with Takumi’s development, or rather lack thereof. As I said last time the events of the opening chapters explain his initial hostility to Corrin (and Azura) quite well, and Mikoto’s death only reinforces that feeling. Why then does that hostility vanish so quickly in Birthright? Just one chapter after recruitment and he’s already turned his characteristic prickliness onto Zola instead, and I don’t recall it appearing much again except in the context of possession. It’s only the route the ends with Takumi as the final boss that allows him space for his feelings to develop organically (albeit in a negative direction), possibly because Conquest is the only one in which he’s not beholden to love Corrin like all playable characters in Avatar-centered games.

Next time: Birthright Chapter 12 - 18

#Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Fates #Fire Emblem Birthright #FE14

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ericjuneau · 3 years

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Scapegoat by Eric Juneau

This story is in no way intended to infringe on the established copyrights and trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. It is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for sale. It may be freely distributed providing that no alterations to the story are made.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names in this story used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person, living, dead, or otherwise, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Scapegoat

by Eric J. Juneau

The following takes place before "Mega Man X".

Commander Sigma did not need an office. Offices were human constructs to provide private space to focus on work. But a reploid accomplished most job tasks by connecting to a computer terminal. They executed at speeds beyond any organic life form's reaction time.

But it appeased the human politicians and militarists to give him an an office. One with a wall-to-wall window behind his desk overlooking the city buildings. They thought it befit his station as leader of the Elite Seventeenth Unit of Maverick Hunters. An office symbolized status--I get one, you don't. Therefore you are inferior to me.

Zero did not have an office.

Which was why he was standing in Sigma's.

"In my time as commanding officer... no, as a Maverick Hunter at all... I have never seen such a blatant disregard for property," Sigma said. "Do you know what was salvageable from the fire?"

Zero pursed his lips. "Judging by the disaster recovery brief, I would say 'very little'."

"I'm glad you had the mindfulness to at least consider the damage you've done." Sigma picked up the data PDA and held it out. "Nothing. Nothing was salvageable. As one would expect when a geothermal reactor becomes engulfed in flame."

"Sir, I didn't have a choice. One of the mavericks' stray shots hit the fission shielding."

"But you didn't have to add fuel to that fire. You turned a manageable blaze into a raging inferno. The entire district had to be evacuated."

"There were no human casualties. Besides, the plant was a lost cause anyway. The fire was controllable. So I let the natural process of destruction do some of the work for us. As far as I know, we have no standing orders to apprehend mavericks. Correct?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean actively trying to destroy them. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero. There are more of them than there are of us."

"We don't know that, sir. Mavericks hide, stay undercover. There may be more of them, but they don't have a unifying force-"

"Until one day when they do. Dammit, Zero. You have clearly learned nothing from this incident. Since day one, I've been barely able to suppress your brutality and mania. Therefore, I'm demoting you, effective immediately."

Zero gasped. "You can't take away my A-Class. That's verified through independent eval-"

Sigma held up his hand. "No, not that. That can't be changed by your commanding officer. But your mission allocation can. From now on, you are only cleared for epsilon-level assignments."

"Epsilon? That's the lowest there is! It's for privates and emissaries, not hunters of any rank."

Sigma leaned in and pointed his finger. "Until you prove you can handle combat with a calmer head, this is your fate. These lower level assignments will teach you there's more to being a Maverick Hunter than violence and destruction."

"But-"

"There will be no argument. Your first assignment is already in progress. Get to it, hunter."

Sigma didn't have to tell him he was dismissed. Zero turned on his heel and left the office. The door slid shut behind him.

In the corridor, Zero accessed his account. Sure enough, the only tasks on his assignment queue were epsilon-level. Everything else had been filtered out.

Worse yet, all epsilon-class missions required a partner. Zero didn't see who the second delegate was on his current assignment, but it didn't matter. The system would notify him or her that the prerequisites had been filled. Reploids didn't need downtime--didn't need sleep, didn't need food, didn't need to relax. When an assignment was ready, so was the hunter.

Whoever signed on must have been a real go-getter if they didn't care who the senior officer would be. He or she was probably hopping at the door like a puppy.

Zero headed to the transportation bay. Nearly as he predicted, his partner chased after him, waving his hand. He was a blue reploid with angular limbs and a young face. Zero recognized him, though they had never met.

"You're Mega Man X, right?" Zero asked.

"Yes. Although everyone calls me 'X'. Honored to be working with you."

Zero nodded. They walked down the corridor, while Zero discerned first impressions. "So you're the original reploid?"

"Yes, sir. Although I'm not technically a reploid, since all existing reploids are based off my design. You know, since 'reploid' is a portmanteau of 'replicated android'. I'm considered the original prototype."

"But you're with the Maverick Hunters now. Why?" Zero asked. "Aren't we essentially killing your children?"

"Well..." X rubbed the back of his head as they walked. "I don't think of it that way. It could be some kind of programming error, or a fatal bug that makes them violent towards humans."

"Then why have they got you pushing pencils? Taking epsilon-level assignments? You should be with the tacticians and intelligence. You know the most about the vulnerabilities and flaws in your own design."

"Well, one is inexperience. I only joined up recently. Another is... I'm a pacifist." X hung his head.

Zero stopped in his tracks. "You're a pacifist? And you joined the Maverick Hunters?" Zero threw back his head and laughed, yellow hair swishing behind him.

X nodded. "But I realized that I could still do something about it. I wasn't intended for combat but I was designed for it. Every one of them is like me. So if they wreak havoc and I just sit there, I'm as bad as them."

Zero nodded. "Noble," he said as they walked into the elevator. At least he couldn't question X's loyalty. Even if he seemed a little wormy, a little naive for a Maverick Hunter, they'd get along fine.

The elevator dropped them off outside the transportation bay gate. Gristle, a hunched reploid with red bug eyes, was manning dispatch.

"Zero, what's shaking?" he said in a gravelly voice. "Whatcha got going on today? You got a chum?" Zero could almost feel Gristle's datacrawler oozing around his mission log. "Whoa, epsilon-class? What'd you do to get the garbage run?"

"Don't ask," Zero said. "Don't want to talk about it." Zero headed into the bay toward the teleportation capsules, with X following. A long row of booths stood against the wall, similar to restoration chambers. Reploids could use these instead of their own internal teleport circuits, which saved on energy and lifespan.

"Hey, hey!" Gristle shouted. "No, no, no. Not for you. Teleportation's only for delta-class assignments and higher. You take a manual."

Zero looked where Gristle pointed. Small personal vehicles--like ride chasers, cruisers, LUVs--lay scattered in the bay. They were necessary to humans who couldn't teleport. But to a reploid, he might as well have been told to ride a tricycle.

"Ha, ha. I recommend the Little Sultan." He pointed to a two-seated streamlined hovercar. "It's a fine day for a ride anyway, isn't it?"

Gristle's laughter followed them to the hovercar. They both got in and took off through the garage's open maw.

True to Gristle's statement, the day was fine—blue skies with crisp, clean air. But weather control systems will do that for a city. The bright sun certainly didn't match Zero's mood. But X drank it all in, like he had never left Maverick Hunter HQ. Perhaps that was true--rookies tended to get stuck in the bowels of labs and workstations.

"Look, a dog park," X pointed out.

To their right a fenced-off square field enclosed humans with dogs, humans with robot dogs, and robots with real dogs, all partaking of the sunny day.

"Sure is nice to see the city without all the destruction. Something to remind us what we're fighting for. What to look forward to when this is all over," X said.

Zero nodded. "What do you know about our mission?" Might as well make conversation, since the vehicle was self-driving.

"We're delivering an encrypted data package to IngeniVox, a technology manufacturer and innovator." X held up a tiny black rectangle.

"You know what IngeniVox does?" Zero asked.

"Primarily, they make the energen capsules reploids use to restabilize their reactor cores. The data we have is the updated hardware design for the power port interface, so IngeniVox can integrate it into their work."

Zero nodded. "Exciting stuff."

X fiddled with his fingers. "Well, I guess, since it concerns reploid power generation, it's sensitive enough they couldn't risk transmission over the HyperNet. So they needed a courier. And since all assignments require a backup..."

"Only epsilon-level," Zero said. "This mission doesn't need a delivery boy, it needs a mailbox."

X cocked his head. "I take it you think this mission is beneath you."

"It's not my typical fare… but you probably love this." Since you're a pacifist, Zero added in his head.

"Well, it's a safe mission. No one's going to come to any harm or be put in harm's way."

Zero barked a laugh. "I like your optimism, kid. "

X muttered "Kid? I'm older than you. I'm older than every reploid," as the hovercar curved around a corner.

Zero did feel a little lighter as they entered the venture district. Here, manufacturing mixed with business development--the epicenter of progress for the city. Every diamond-glass building glowed in the sun, from skyscraping towers to wide aquaponic fortresses.

The hovercar decelerated into the driveway of a small building shaped like a tulip bulb, covered with mirrored paneling. Maybe fifty people worked there at any given time. A modest logo was stenciled next to the door.

Zero and X entered the reception area. Several flat-panel screens displayed a slideshow highlighting "cutting edge" and "hyper automation" among smart looking humans and teal-and-orange backdrops. The couches and tables looked barely used. But there was no one in the room, not even at the reception desk.

"How do we meet our contact?" X asked. "I expected the entrance to be monitored."

Zero checked the reception console. "Computer is locked due to timeout."

"Is the office closed?"

"It's normal business hours," Zero shrugged. The door to the building proper was secured by a thumbprint reader. Zero wasn't about to violate that policy--he was in enough trouble as it was.

X grimaced. "Something's… off. I don't know anymore than that. It's just... a funny feeling."

They waited for five minutes. X picked up a thermoplastic pyramid that was some business award. Zero examined an abstract painting and a potted palm tree. Surely someone would return after a given amount of time. Security logs would record that the door had been opened and there were occupants in the reception room.

Zero tapped his communicator. "Ophi, are you picking up my location?"

"Loud and clear, Zero. You're at the IngeniVox building right now."

"What's the net traffic look like coming from my location?"

"One second." Zero's eyes darted around the room while the operator examined the input/output transmission at their location. "Seems normal. E-mails, phone calls, internet transmission, all within expected parameters."

"Hmm, okay." Zero shut off the comm. "There's still signals from the building, so people are here."

X didn't answer. He was listening. "Something doesn't seem right. I've never felt anything like it."

Zero again turned his eyes to the door. Authorized Personnel Only.

"X, your buster operational?" Zero asked.

"Yes, sir. It's not as powerful as yours, but..."

Zero waved him off. He approached the door, examined its structure. The electronic lock was a basic "prox" card reader with RFID and 512-bit RSA encryption. Nothing special. A coffee maker could have hacked it. Zero emitted a brute force attack via radio signal and the door opened.

Inside was a typical office building--dispersed cubicles, thin carpeting, uniform desks and chairs. The hum of running machines filled the air. But the lights were off--only the windows lit their way.

"There's people here somewhere," X said. "Maybe they're at a company-wide meeting?"

"I doubt it."

The cubicles occupied only a small area on the way to the manufacturing center. Secure labs, glass windows showing big boxy servers. X peeked in one of the conference rooms. A display screen shuffled through natural landscape photographs.

"Maybe everyone is sick?" X asked. "Or has the day off?"

Zero didn't dignify that with a response. They looked in break rooms, conference rooms, computer rooms, closed-off lab stations, and personal offices. No reploids, no robots, no humans. The only moving object they encountered was a motorized vacuum crossing the floor. It sensed them, avoided their feet, and rerouted to the other hallways.

They stopped and listened, but there was nothing to hear. Nothing but some sinister feeling they couldn't figure out.

"Hey!" Zero shouted. "Hey, anyone!"

"Look," X pointed to an open door. "They wouldn't leave a laboratory open like this. It's a sterile room. And that little box has the chemical symbol for ranmatine. That's highly corrosive."

Without meeting a soul, their sojourn was halted by the other end of the building. They descended the fire stairs one floor.

"Never quite had this feeling before," X said. "I think humans would call it the heebie-jeebies."

Zero smirked. "Leave that out of your report," he said. Assuming we live to see the end of this.

The next floor down was much like above, although missing some of the niceties and human touches. No conference rooms. Just a small reception area with wooden floors and an airlock into the manufacturing floor.

"I've seen abandoned buildings before, but not like this," X said. "Not one that seems so recent. Still full of life-"

"Hold it, X."

The two of them froze.

"Did you hear something?" X asked.

"Thought I heard a... something like crying. Human crying."

X cocked his head, listening for the phantom noise. They waited for the sound to come again.

"HEY!" Zero shouted, startling X. "Is there anybody here?!"

"Let's look in here. This looks like their outbound router."

Inside a closet, taking up all the space, rested a silver and ebony server rack brimming with red, orange, and green lights. The rack was chilled to the touch from the running coolant.

But what caught Zero's eye was a device on the floor--a six-inch black box with an upright cylinder. The top of the cylinder beeped softly every three seconds. A human might have missed it among the snaking wires and conversion boxes. But this didn't fit with the setup. Especially when Zero turned it over and found it had no bottom, just circuit boards and loose wires.

"What is that?" X muttered.

Zero was about to respond when his comm board lit up with an incoming signal. From Ophi. "Zero, can you read me? We analyzed the network traffic coming from the building. It's there, but it's garbage. Random strings and repeated requests. Electronic messages from three days ago sent over and over. Like it's sending mock signals to resemble a normal amount of communication."

Zero turned the device over in his hands. "That's what this is. It's a transponder. Sending simulated network traffic."

"Because if it all stopped, an alert would trigger from the service provider," X said.

"But why? You want to make it seem like humans are still at their desks working. What could-"

Zero's and X's eyes were still on the transponder when they turned from the closet. That was why they didn't see the two reploids standing in front of them. Zero recognized their designations--Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox--and that they were mavericks. But that was all his reaction time would allow.

Phase Crane held some kind of rocket launcher on his shoulder. He fired it as Zero and X raised their buster arms. Two globes of milk-colored glop flew out. The blobs made perfect impact with the apertures of their arm cannons, covering them in sticky biscuit dough.

Phase Crane shifted the launcher tube off his shoulders. "I don't recommend you try to shoot us. That's liquid ceratanium. Well… it was liquid. It hardens quickly."

X tried to pry it off with his fingers, but true to the maverick's word, it had already solidified. Ceramic titanium was the only substance that could repel plasma energy. And his arm cannon was clogged with it.

"If you fire now, the shot'll bounce back in. And probably blow your arm off." Phase Crane cackled. "But if you want to try, go ahead, by all means. I'd like to see that."

Zero's lip twitched as Phase Crane laughed. He reared his fist and ran forward, screaming. X followed a split-second behind. Phase Crane and Chain Buffalox didn't move.

Halfway there, Zero's and X's legs tripped a taut chain across their floor. Their bodies convulsed with violent electric current, paralyzed by bands of yellow energy. Then they collapsed on the ground.

###

Zero and X's systems rebooted from the catastrophic shutdown as their bodies were thrown on a concrete surface.

"Maverick Hunters..." someone said after their heads hit the floor.

They were in a lab or product storage room. The air radiated with energen.

Zero and X stood. They were surrounded by six mavericks in total--the two from before, plus Grabber Kangaroid, Grease Caribou, Bullet Frog, and one hulking gorilla-dog in the center: Drill Mongrell. Mongrell sat on a makeshift throne made of old chassis and plastic parts. His fists were the size of industrial pistons.

"Maverick Hunters… hey... hey, you're Zero," Mongrell pointed as if he had seen a celebrity. "This here is Zero."

"No, he isn't," said Bullet Frog.

"Sure he is. Red and white armor, blond hair. Only A-class in the hunters. The Elite Seventeenth, right?"

"That's right," Zero replied.

Drill Mongrell stepped forward. His fist embedded in Zero's torso, crackling with energy. Zero rocketed up and smashed into the ceiling. Gravel and gray dust rained down with him as he fell like rotten fruit.

"You barbarous-" X started forward. Five arm cannons leveled at him.

Zero struggled to one knee, his limbs trembling. "Enjoy that, Mongrell." Zero glowered from under his helmet. He grinned. "It won't happen again."

"We'll see, Zero… pride of the Maverick Hunters. But later." He turned to Grabber Kangaroid. "Put them with the others."

"With the humans?" she asked. "Why not just get rid of them? We could-"

"Not yet. They might help us out yet. Hostages and such," Mongrell said.

As Chain Buffalox grabbed X's arm, he turned to the other mavericks. "Imagine that. Maverick Hunters helping us."

"They'll be begging to help in no time," Drill Mongrell said.

Bullet Frog and Grease Caribou picked up Zero and half-carried, half-dragged him away. The other two marched X at cannon-point.

They were in a sub-sub-basement, deeper underground. The floors were made of smooth concrete and shiny plastic, like a garage. It was cool and dry, had few lights, and no decorations.

The four mavericks took X and Zero to a room with a mechanical hatch covering the floor. Blinking servers stood against one wall in glass cases. Bullet Frog typed some commands into the standing console at the corner of the hatch. It hummed and slid back like a pool cover.

Bright light spilled out from an in-ground vat. Inside was an ultra-clean server room, indicated by the grid of black computer boxes. And people. About fifty people standing within the illuminated walls. They looked up and began moaning and pleading to be let out.

The mavericks tossed X and Zero into the pit. They landed on their faces, clanging on the semi-metallic floor. The other humans surrounded them, helping them up, checking for damage. Women and men, ages from young twenties to eighties. Everyone spoke at once.

"Guess we found the people," X said. "Are you all here?"

"We think so," said one of the humans. All looked dressed for a day at the office--some with lab coats, some with collared shirts. Most were roughed up, but uninjured.

Drill Mongrell stepped up to the rim of the pit, his allies on either side. "Shut up! Shut up, all of you!"

The group hushed down, except for one woman in the back who couldn't stop sobbing. Phase Crane leveled his arm cannon at her. She cried like her atoms were breaking apart.

"Lady, I told you to keep quiet. Shut up or I'll shut you up."

A man came to comfort her, holding her around the arms while whispering "sh-sh-sh-sh-sh..."

"Zero..." X said.

"Quiet," Zero said.

"Now that we have some new guests here, maybe you'll be more willing to talk. I'm going to ask you again. Which one of you is responsible for that energen bomb?" Drill Mongrell asked.

The humans remained as disconnected and frightened as before, clammy skin and glistening eyes. No one said anything.

"You know what I'm talking about. Which one? All right. Maybe you know these two I just dropped in. They're Maverick Hunters. Zero, in particular. Finest hunter in the Seventeenth Elite Unit, headed by Sigma. What you do from here on out, any consequences that come to pass, he's accountable. That's his purpose anyway, to protect you from reploids like us. Ain't that right, Zero?"

Zero ground his teeth. "You could say that."

Drill Mongrell bent to one knee, addressing Zero. "One of these weaklings killed Terror Mongrell. Same model, same system software as me. You could call him my brother. I did. Someone killed him with an explosive energen capsule, right when his back was turned. I want to know which one of these flesh-bags did it, so I can treat them to the same fate. And until I find out, there's going to be more death coming. So you talk to them, Zero." Drill Mongrell stood. "You explain to them what's at stake. Take a couple minutes."

Drill Mongrell walked away. His maverick gang followed.

Without the sight of them, the IngeniVox employees closed in.

"You guys got to help us," a man said. "Please. You don't know what they can do."

"Is anyone hurt? Does anyone need first aid?" Zero asked. The people shook their heads.

"Are you really Maverick Hunters?" asked a woman.

"Yes. Mega Man X and Zero," X said. "We came to deliver some engineering data regarding energen capsule ports."

"Oh, that would be Hadleigh Wilkins." The man pointed to a nearby heavyset Black woman in a white lab coat. Her crispy hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked dumbfounded at being called out by name.

X took the little plastic nubbin from the storage compartment in his armor and handed it out. "Thanks, I guess," she said as it went into her pocket.

"Mister Zero, sir?" asked a scared looking blond boy with lean features. He touched Zero on the arm. "H-hi. I'm Ryan Shetler. I-I'm a software developer. L-listen, you've got to do something. Those mavericks are gonna-"

"All right, Shetler. Calm down. We'll-"

A woman with long pink hair approached. "We've got people who don't even belong to the company down here. Maintenance managers and even the coffee shop guy. We've got to do something before they come back. Evelyn wasn't even supposed to come in today. She just came to pick up-"

"We're going to handle it, all right?" Zero snapped.

"Hold on! Hold on!" X said as they crowded in.

"We've got to stop them!" the others shouted. "They're going to kill us!"

"If you try and attack, they'd kill you all, get it?" Zero shouted. "Humans are nothing to a maverick. Your lives--all your lives--are on a very thin thread right now."

Shetler interrupted again. "We were thinking if we all rushed... I mean, there's fifty of us. Some of us might get hurt, but all fifty at once-"

"You ever seen flesh against a plasma cannon?" Zero sneered. "It'd go through you like a bullet through a garbage bag."

That quieted them down. Except Shetler, who meekly said "But... we've got to do something."

"We will. But someone needs to explain to me what's going on," Zero asked.

The crowd shushed then. Hadleigh sighed and stepped up. "They came in this morning. Burst in, corralled us up. I think they were looking for energen. The kangaroo one broke into the lab where I was, pocketed everything I was working on."

"There were no signs of forced entry," X said.

Hadleigh nodded. "They might have come from underground. Or the roof. I don't think they were looking for a spectacle, just the energen. They searched the building top to bottom, waving their cannons around. Weren't paying much attention to us."

"What happened to Terror Mongrell? How was he killed?" Zero asked.

"Some of the team in R&D, they call themselves 'rogue squad'. I guess they rigged some of the energen capsules to reverse polarity and implode. Snuck up and threw them, then ran away. One of them picked it up. Exploded right in his face. Whole torso disintegrated. I guess it was the big one's twin."

"That's when the havoc started?" Zero asked.

Hadleigh nodded. "They pulled any of us they could find, using us for hostages. Human shields. Interrogated us. Found every last human in the building. It was easy. We all gave in--no one wanted to get hurt or see anyone hurt."

"And you've been trapped here ever since?"

Hadleigh nodded. "The 'rogue squad' is here too, but the mavericks don't know that."

"Why doesn't he just kill you all? Then he'd have his revenge," X asked.

Zero shrugged. "Because it's personal. He must want to do something special he can't get from indiscriminate killing. We aren't dealing with mavericks like we used to. They never used to roam around in gangs, terrorizing humans for pleasure. They used to fight alone, popping up here and there. I've learned never to hold any expectations for a maverick."

"Anyway, we've been trapped here since," Hadleigh said. "Mongrell keeps threatening us unless we give them up. Even the guys in rogue squad don't know which one of them did it."

A woman gasped and covered her mouth as her watery eyes flashed. Drill Mongrell had returned, along with his cronies.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen? What's it going to be?" When no one spoke, he eyed Zero. "You get any answers out of them? Did you tell them to do the right thing?"

"The right thing would be to accept that your brother got what he deserved."

"Not on account of some human cowards."

"He was a moron who broke in somewhere and picked up a strange energen capsule tossed his way. If you're dumb enough-"

Mongrel's arms lit up as bright as his eyes. "I'm not gonna take a lecture from a servile thug like you about right and wrong. Now give 'em up." Mongrell held up his barrel-sized fist and cocked it like a shotgun. A surge of ocher energy rippled through. "Who did it? If I have to wipe out every mealy-mouthed meatbag here, I'll find out. I will."

"You think that's going to bring Terror Mongrell back?" Zero sneered.

Drill Mongrell growled under his voicebox. "Grabber, take two of them. That one..." He pointed to a rotund Indian man with meaty jowls. "And that one..." He pointed to Shetler.

"No!" X shouted.

"Mongrell, when I get out of here I'm going to tear you apart. There won't be anything left of you but dust," Zero said, fighting the urge to raise his useless arm cannon.

"You gotta get out of there first," Mongrell said.

Grabber Kangaroid stepped up. Her belly split across the middle and a large claw emerged. The claw, attached by a chain, hurtled out and clamped around the first victim. The clamp yanked back so hard, his neck wrenched hard enough to snap. Kangaroid caught him and threw him to the side.

Three others clutched onto Shetler's body, but that didn't matter. He flew out of their hands and into the mavericks'.

"Well? Anybody got anything to say now?" Mongrell asked once the cries had settled. No one spoke. "All right then. You can live with your decision." Mongrell stepped back. The mavericks dragged the dazed humans out of view.

Everyone stood in hushed sobs, like trembling zombies. Zero and X could do no more than the same, staring at the space above.

There was no charging of cannon, no hum of a power surge, no voices, no crying or pleading. Just two shots, with no way to shut out the sound. Some weeped louder, but otherwise, the death chill had frozen everyone.

"We've got to do something," muttered Hadleigh.

"We will," Zero said.

###

The hatch advanced, becoming their ceiling and shutting them back in a vault. Bright light from the paneled walls and floors irritated their eyes like gnats. Zero didn't know why the mavericks didn't come back and capitalize on the fresh fear. Maybe Mongrell was more gutless than he let on.

X had gone to circulate among the others, maybe to gather information. That suited Zero fine--he could stand against the wall and contemplate the situation. Strategize. Six mavericks, once seven. Still too many to take on, even with a buster that worked.

X returned. "Did you ever send out a distress signal?" he asked Zero.

"Have been ever since they threw us in here," Zero said. "Signal's being blocked. I can't even connect to you. Something's mangling it. Probably whatever lines this room."

"Lead-corbosite," Hadleigh tossed in. "It scrambles all wireless signals, prevents external hacking. These servers are for data-processing. They're only ever supposed to talk to each other. That's why they put us in here. Easier than trying to grab everyone's phones, PDAs, whatever."

"I found the members of 'rogue squad'," X said. "That's just a nickname they gave themselves. They're the top engineers for the company, innovators. Two of them are willing to submit themselves, but two aren't."

"And they shouldn't," Zero said. "We don't deal in lives. We should be thinking about escape."

"Even if we do, we're useless without our busters," X said.

"I know," Zero said. "We're just arms and legs."

"There's some vorticular acetinol in my lab. It can dissolve ceratanium. If we can get out of here," Hadleigh said.

"Eventually we're going to register as missing, either us or the humans," X said. "Then they'll send reinforcements."

"Too much time passes, they're going to come back here and kill another one of us. Or we'll just start dropping," Hadleigh added. "Haviland has an implant that sends neurosignals from his heart to his lungs and it's not working in here. If we don't get out of here soon, he's going to drop dead."

"Reinforcements?" Zero turned to X. "We are the reinforcements."

X, Zero, and Hadleigh spent an hour brainstorming plans, huddled in a corner. Many began shivering from cold, walking around, rubbing their arms and legs together. The vault wasn't meant for human habitation.

"Do they always come in the same way? Stand in the same spots?" X asked.

"Yes, right there." She pointed.

"How many approach at a time? I figure Grabber Kangaroid will always be one of them."

"The only time there's more than two is when the big one is with, the leader."

X's eyes brightened. "Here's what we could do. Zero and I could press against the wall under where they stand. That hatch opens slow, so they'll be waiting. Probably not paying too much attention. We'll wait until we see them. Then we jump, drag them down. Once they're in, we swarm, all fifty of us."

Hadleigh drew back.

"Just long enough to keep them down and confused while Zero and I disable them," X said.

"What's to stop them from signaling from help?" Hadleigh asked.

"Same thing stopping us." X gestured to the illuminated corbosite all around them.

"You don't think they'll be on a higher alert now that we're here?" Zero asked.

"Not without our blasters." X held up his arm cannon, still covered in hardened goo. Zero nodded.

"It's risky," Hadleigh said.

"Life is risk," Zero said. "If we're to have any chance at all, we have to take one."

"You're telling me," X said. "If the heaviest reploids show up, we might be screwed. I don't think I can take that buffalo one down."

"Surprise will be on our side," said Zero. "We'll also need everyone's help. Every last body."

"I'll start telling the others." Hadleigh stood from her crouch and sauntered toward the others.

X and Zero assumed positions where the hatch opened, comparing data about where they would approach from. Then they pressed against the wall to stay out of peripheral vision. After that, all they had to do was wait.

"Gotta admit, X, you've got a mind for method," Zero whispered. "Me? My central strategy is to rush in and start shooting."

"That's why you're an A-class hunter. You never hesitate on the battlefield. You have the skill that keeps you alive," X said.

"Could also be luck. I may take action, but it's not always the right action. You figure out the right action. There might be a place for you in the tactical division."

X looked down. "I could get people killed."

"You can get people killed doing what I do," Zero said.

"No, I mean I... may not be ready... yet."

"Well, with some training-"

"No, you don't understand." X's voice trembled. "You know my story. When Dr. Cain found me, I was sealed inside a capsule. I was supposed to be there for thirty years so it could test out my neuropsychology. Run simulations and correct the AI network. Make sure I wouldn't pose a danger to humans."

"Right, so?"

"So when Dr. Cain analyzed the capsule's computer, he couldn't find the date I was sealed in. The data was either corrupted or erased or... something. So no one knows how long I was in there." X gave Zero a desperate look. "What if it was less than thirty years? What if every maverick is my fault because they're all based on me? Because I was disconnected too early. And they all have it, Zero. Every reploid has my faulty programming. And there are so many of them, we could never stop them all, and they keep making more every day-"

"X, X, calm down," Zero said. "It's not your fault. You didn't make anyone go maverick. Whether it's a virus or a design flaw, you didn't make any of this. Besides you're doing everything you can to stop them."

"I'm doing everything I can because it could all be my fault," X said in a low tone.

Zero grimaced and huffed, unsure what to say.

A loud thud sounded, followed by grinding metal. The hatch was opening.

###

X and Zero hunkered down as the ceiling's shadow slid across the floor. The humans couldn't hear, but X and Zero, with their ultra-sensitive audio receptors, picked up conversation. Mongrell wasn't one of them.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Mongrell. His whole… thing. They were close, I guess?"

"I never saw it. How many should we grab?"

"I don't know. He said to take one or two."

"Well, which is it? One or two?"

"How should I know? They all look the same to me."

"Maybe he meant we take one big one or two little ones."

"I don't think that's how it works. Each human's an individual unit."

Around Zero and X, the people trembled like chickens in a hen house. Hadleigh made a V sign with her fingers. "Two," she mouthed.

"The bigger ones might be more valuable."

"But more of them means more loss. Humans have a higher reaction to large numbers of dead."

"That's true. Maybe we take one small one and one big one. Like that one standing over there, he looks big enough."

"Hey, you. Step forward. Are you important?"

The silhouettes of the reploids crept over the rim of the wall, shadowed by the overhead lights. Zero and X aligned themselves directly under each.

In perfect synchronicity, they leapt up, kicked off the wall, and bounded over the pit. With Zero and X floating before them, Grabber Kangaroid and Bullet Frog stood stunned.

Zero seized Grabber Kangaroid by the shoulders. X grabbed Bullet Frog's bulbous head. As they fell, they dragged the mavericks down with them. Everyone landed scattered from each other with loud clanging.

The humans mobbed the prone reploids. They held them down anywhere they could squeeze in and get a hand on some metal. The mavericks appeared dazed, making little effort to get up as they were overrun.

X and Zero sprang up, no time to spare. They scrambled toward the mavericks, each heading toward one.

"Voice box," Zero said. Simultaneously, X and Zero plunged their free arms into Bullet Frog's and Grabber Kangaroid's mouths. They clutched the biggest chunk of equipment they could find purchase on and ripped it out.

"Arm cannon," Zero said. The humans spread apart, giving access to each maverick's right hand. X and Zero tore them off with as much strength as they could muster. Grabber Kangaroid and Bitter Frog convulsed in pain and terror. Taking away a maverick's weapon was like ripping out their soul.

"There." Zero sat back. "Can you hold them like that for a while?"

The humans nodded, while the mavericks flailed beneath them. "All of us together, we can do it."

"All right, let's get out of here." Zero turned to Hadleigh. "Where is your lab?"

"I'm coming with you," she said. "You need my keycode to get in. And 'rogue squad' told me there are more of those rigged-up energen grenades in there."

Zero should have said no, but time was of the essence. "Fine."

"Get on my back." X hunched down.

Hadleigh wrapped her arms around X like a human backpack. The two wall-kicked and jumped out of the pit, landing on concrete floor. In a darkened corner, they saw the two bodies that had been shot. Holes torn through their chest cavities, crispy flesh bubbling around the edges.

Hadleigh let herself down. "My lab's on this floor. South wing. Come on."

As they headed south, Zero said to X, "I just sent a message to HQ, but they won't be here soon enough."

"There's still four of them and two of us," X said.

"But we know that and they don't."

Hadleigh led them to a laboratory with a darkened door window. She entered a code on the keypad. The hydraulic lock behind the door whooshed open.

The lab was a mess--equipment scattered on the floor with sparkling glass and instruments. Rubber stoppers, vials, blue stain, frayed wires, along with the strong smell of latex and ozone.

Hadleigh reached under a standing table, where towers of differently-sized canisters were stacked. She placed one on the table. It hissed as she unscrewed the top. "Crap," she said. "There's only enough for one."

"X, you take it," Zero said.

"But your buster is more powerful. Mine's only a Mark-17."

"I can handle myself. I didn't become a Class-A solely because of this." Zero held up his arm.

A light entered Hadleigh's eyes. "I think I know something you can use."

X poured out the canister on his arm and rubbed the viscous goo in. In a few seconds, the ceratanium began hissing and smoking, emitting a foul chemical odor. Meanwhile, Zero followed Hadleigh to the corner of the lab. She bent down to a chest. Inside was a palm-sized gold stick.

"Try this. Hold the hilt away from you and energize it."

Zero did so. A needle-thin ray of green light extended out three feet. It crackled a bit, then stabilized.

"It's a laser sword," Zero said.

"It's an irradiated plasma ray with a hydron blocker attached to an output impedance. And an extended amplitude regulator to control the length. But yes, it's a laser sword." She shrugged. "What can I say? We're nerds. Problem is, no one can use it, because we'd chop off our limbs. No human at least--we don't have the dexterity or control. But a reploid..."

Zero stood clear of any objects. He swooped the sword around, stabbing and slashing. Each swing made a vrrrp-sound that increased in timbre with velocity. He grinned.

"I could get used to this." His mind raced with ways to refine it for combat. The hilt was clunky. It could be longer and have an added guard. Maybe increase the blade width. Make it swing in a more fluid arc. And make it green. Or blue. Both? He couldn't decide.

"Zero?"

"Huh?"

"We're ready," X said. He brushed the remaining chunks of ceratanium off his arm cannon. It had a discolored stain, but nothing that couldn't be cleaned. Assuming they survived this.

"I'm ready." Hadleigh zipped up a squarish bag with a vendor's logo and shoulder strap. It was full of small round globes, each with a band of prismatic light around the center.

The three of them made their way to the grand conference room where X and Zero had woken up. Its windows were made of frosted glass and they could see the mavericks' silhouettes inside. They were talking, scheming, hoarding the energen, searching through computers for data.

Zero and X stood a ways from the room, out of sight. "If we could pick them off one by one, we'd be fine," X said.

"Don't think we're going to have that option," Zero said.

X's eyes traced a path along the ceiling. "Is there a maintenance shaft that cuts across that room?"

"I think so," Hadleigh said. "It's always cold in there."

"You thinking about sneaking in?" Zero asked.

"I'm thinking about a three-pronged assault. Surprise them. I can get through the vents--I'm lighter than I look. You bait them out the door. Hadleigh stands to the side and chucks her explosives at them."

"I don't know if we can take that chance-"

"I'm willing," Hadleigh said. "I think it's a good plan."

"We gotta do something now. They're going to get suspicious when those mavericks don't come back," X said.

"All right. I'll get their attention on me. You drop behind them. Then we all unleash hell."

X nodded. He climbed up some boxes to the ceiling, tore the grate out, and climbed in.

"We'll wait a bit for X to get into position. Let's get ourselves ready."

With quiet steps, Zero and Hadleigh approached the conference room door. Without lights, they wouldn't be seen, as long as no one looked too hard. Hadleigh stood on the other side of the door frame. She silently unzipped her bag. Zero stood a few feet from the entrance. From here, he could hear the dialogue inside.

"It's all about psychology," Phase Crane was saying. "You use fear to motivate them. Humans eat up fear. And you know what they fear the most?"

"Uh, snakes?" came one of the answers. "The dark? Squishy things?"

"No, no. The unknown. That's why I told Mongrell to put them in isolation. They don't know when we're coming. They don't know who's going to die. They don't know where we are. So they stew in their little gray brains for hours thinking of the worst case scenarios. Intimidating themselves. Building up their fear. They do the work for us."

There were murmurs of assent and approval.

"I don't care. I want them to pay for what they did to my brother," came Mongrell's voice. "Go find out where the other two are. Tell them to grab the two reploids, the Maverick Hunters. They're harmless now. Kill 'em outright. Let them know there's no one protecting them."

"Don't be so sure about that!" Zero shouted.

The chatter inside halted. Zero held his sword across his chest. Hadleigh shifted her feet.

The door burst open. Chain Buffalox stood there, steam emitting from his nostrils. Phase Crane behind him.

"Kill him!" Mongrell shouted.

Mega Man X dropped out of the ceiling behind them. Everyone but Buffalox turned around--he was rushing Zero. As soon as he cleared the door, Hadleigh started throwing metal balls of energy inside, one after the other. The room filled with explosions. The other mavericks darted around chaotically as X targeted them one by one.

Buffalox tried to punch Zero, but he side-stepped, severing the arm at the elbow. But that didn't faze the buffalo-reploid--a chain burst out of his arm cannon, embedding into Zero's chest. It lit up with an electric surge, stunning Zero, sending pain through him like red hot spikes. Chain Buffalox retracted the grapple. Zero held out the laser sword as he was brought into Buffalox's range. The green ray impaled the maverick through the chest. Sparks and smoke puffed into his face, and the maverick fell over.

Zero rushed toward the conference room. Smoke and screams and explosions saturated the area. Flames crackling and flashing, glass breaking, a gummy acrid smell that burned the nose. Zero pushed himself through the fog. "X?"

Zero's foot made contact with something outside the door. A body. He waved the smoke away. It was Hadleigh. Her eyes were closed, charred skin and blood above her left eye. Body covered in ash. Dead by explosion, not a stray plasma shot. Maybe one of those jerry-rigged capsules rolled back to her.

"X?" Zero shouted again.

"I'm here!" X said.

At Zero's feet, Drill Mongrell's shape crawled along the floor through the smog. Zero gripped under the maverick's chest armor and spun him on his back. Mongrell cried out. Zero stomped a foot on Mongrell's torso and held the sword to his chin.

"It's over, Drill," Zero shouted.

"Ain't nothing over. They killed my brother, I'll kill you too."

"There's been enough killing today."

Drill Mongrell stopped struggling. He grinned toothily. "All right, Zero. That's fine, then. I surrender."

Zero remembered what Commander Sigma had said. Those mavericks could have been rehabilitated. Reprogrammed. We need soldiers in this war, Zero.

He plunged his sword deep into Drill Mongrell's chest cavity, into the power core. Mongrell gasped as liquid plasma and oil eked out. "I'd rather become a maverick myself than have to work side-by-side with you, rehabilitated or not," Zero whispered.

When Drill Mongrell stopped twitching, Zero unsheathed the sword and turned it off.

"You okay, Zero?" X asked, getting closer.

"Just fine," Zero said.

###

And it was over.

Zero and X rushed back and disposed of the two mavericks held in the pit. The humans had held up their end of the bargain, so X and Zero held up theirs. Shortly thereafter, HQ sent in the cavalry. The humans were treated, the building locked down, and order restored.

X and Zero were standing in front of the doorway when the medical gurney slid out. A body lay under a shroud, carried by the anti-grav lifters.

"A human willing to sacrifice herself, so that us Maverick Hunters could live..." Zero muttered.

"I've learned never to hold any expectations for a human," X replied with a small smirk.

Zero took a breath. "I've always thought of humans as characters in the background. Like sheep that get in the way. I think... I think that must be how the mavericks think too." Zero began to walk away, back to the troop transport. "You know it could be more," he called back.

X turned to him. "Huh?"

"It could be more than thirty years… that you were in the capsule. If they don't know the date, you might have been in there the full duration and you're fine. You were tested fully and the reploids go maverick because of something else. Maybe they get ideas in their head or their programming gets hacked."

"I suppose," X said. Maybe not convinced, but less burdened. "I'm going to stick around, in case they need help with clean-up."

Zero nodded. "See you at headquarters, X." And he walked off.

#END#

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maxattack-powell · 6 years

Text

Coffee Break

***This is an original fic included in The Freshman 1-5 in my masterlist***

Masterlist - go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman and The Sophomore stories. It is a fictional adaptation. I (we) do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed for my adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices The Freshman… and then I found this awesome group of people and their works - I’ve loved it all, very much so. Deciding that I wanted more interaction than the options allowed, I’ve gone through the first book, chapter by chapter (omg painfully slow) to follow the story (95-99% I’d say) and add to it as I felt would benefit.

Basically, I wanted to include certain things that weren’t really full fic size worthy, adding to the story. However, I did add some full size fic moments also… some are included in cannon chapters, some are their own full chapters in between. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their freshman year… with more angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail. So, if you like that pairing then you’ll be satisfied, otherwise sorry James & Kaitlyn fans lol. I even added some parts from Chris’s POV, so that we have a chance to see what he’s thinking, knowing what she experienced.

There will be ADULT and/or NSFW moments in certain chapters - this is a warning lol. I will try my best to make it obvious as it occurs…

Paring: MC x Chris

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

~MC~

Later that night…

MC has been studying at the kitchen table for what feels like days, but she knows it's just been the majority of the evening. However long it's been, it's starting to get to her. Her mind needs a break. Her back and hands need a break too. Everything just screams for her to stop. Zack and Tyler had been studying at the table earlier as well, but each finished the assignments they had, that or they had given up for the moment - she wasn't sure. They both retreated to their bedrooms only moments before, telling her to do something else for a while as they left the table. She sighs and runs her hand through her hair, not noticing a door open down the hall. The roommate quietly approaches her as she rubs her eyes, trying to focus on the books in front of her. "Hey MC, you okay?" Chris slides around her to sit down at the table.

She looks up quickly, startled by his ninja like entrance. "Oh my god, Chris!" She places her hand on her chest, covering her heart. "You scared me."

He gives her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt you, but I could see the exhaustion in you from my door." He pauses and studies her face. "So... you doing okay?" He asks again, his eyes searching hers. She gives a weak smile in return. "Uh, yeah. I guess so. I'm just tired... I could really use some coffee. Or a walk... or something other than sitting in this spot for a moment." She laughs softly. Chris perks up at her words. "You know, that's a great idea. Let's go get some coffee from the café... I need a study break too." He stands up and offers her his hand, not taking no for an answer. She grins and nods, grasping his hand and standing up. MC realizes then that she's been in her pj pants all evening. "Oh no, wait. I need to change real quick." She self-consciously tugs at her Harry Potter pants and faded baseball tee. Chris shakes his head. "Why? It's just the coffee shop, and people go in like that all the time." His eyes slide up and down her form, making her cheeks warm. "And honestly, that looks pretty comfortable..." He raises his eyes to hers. "...why am I wearing jeans?" He quickly asks himself. She tilts her head, about to question what he means when he suddenly takes off down the hall and disappears into his room. She stands there alone, baffled, for about a minute before he appears again. This time in his Henley and a pair of fitted grey sweatpants. She can't help but let out a small, much needed laugh. Chris raises his arms out to his sides, grinning at MC. "Ah, yes. Much better. That's two good ideas in a row MC. What's the third one going to be?" He winks at her. She just snorts and shakes her head, still grinning at him. They both slip on a pair of shoes as he walks to the door, holding it open for her. She quickly grabs her wristlet and phone from the table and pulls him out with her as the door shuts quietly behind them. They take their time walking across the campus, mostly making small talk with the occasional deep personal information thrown in. Chris mentions some of the things he misses from home already, making a fuss about the lack of variety in lobster dishes and Whoopie Pies in particular. MC imitates his light accent with a grin each time he says certain words like lobster, mother or brother, earning her a huge smile in return. "Think that's funny, huh?" She shakes her head. "No, I think it's cute." "Ah... well." He sucks in a deep breath and sticks out his chest, showing her how 'cute' his northern manliness really was, while he tries not to laugh at himself. He soon goes into a rant about the Whoopie Pies. Oh how he missed those. She can't help but laugh as his face turns blissful as he tells her how long it's been since he's had one - the reality being that it had only been a few weeks. "Maybe you could ask your mom for a Whoopie Pie care-package?" She jokingly suggests. He whips his head towards her. "Wha... why didn't I think of that?! I mean, I brought some with me but they didn't last very long." He frowns a little and looks down, grabbing at his tight abs. "I may have a problem..." She snorts at him. "Um, what? I don't see any problem." She raises her eyebrow and bites her lip while ogling his body. He takes offense to her observation, clearly disagreeing. "Hey! I have to work extremely hard to burn off a single pie!" He holds a very serious face, but only for a moment before he busts out laughing with her. "But I'm actually going to do that though... maybe she will ship me a box. I need you to try one of those damn things." He points at her seriously as they walk side by side. "Then you'll understand." She just smirks at him and rolls her eyes playfully and he grins. "So what do you miss the most about home so far?" He gently asks. "Well, I miss my friends. And the things we would all do together. I haven't done some of that stuff here yet." "Oh yeah? Like what?" Chris's curiosity is piqued. "We used to go see movies. Sometimes new ones at the theatre, but other times we would pick someone's house and all camp in for the night. Whenever we did that it turned into a basement sleepover nightmare. Oh man, the pranks I've seen..." Her eyes widen at the horror in her memories. Chris laughs. "Yeah, like you didn't participate..." She looks at him with overly innocent eyes, her hand on her chest as she gasps. "Me? Oh no, no, no. I would never." Her mischievous smile makes him pause in the middle of the path. "Should I be worried? No, better question - should I be checking my lock before I go to bed every night?" He gives her a dead serious look. "Maybe..." She gives him a challenging smile. "Hmm." He smirks at her and catches up quickly with a few strides, right as they make it to the café door. She opens and holds the door for him but he steps behind her and takes the door from her. "Please go in." She smiles and blushes slightly as his blue gaze holds her hazel eyes. "Thanks Chris." They walk up to the counter and get in line. MC looks around and notices that the place is fairly quiet, with a few people and couples scattered about. She's grateful for that, hoping it wouldn't be too noisy. She really needed to relax for a bit. The customers in front of them place their order and move down the counter, letting MC and Chris place their order. He looks to her and gestures for her to go first. She takes in a deep breath, smelling all the different fragrances in the café. "I'll have... a Caffè Mocha. And can you add some cocoa powder on top? Thank you." The barista nods to her and turns to Chris. Chris briefly looks at MC questioningly, humor all over his face. "What? No Pumpkin Spice Latte?" She scoffs at him and crosses her arms. "Pft, no. What are you going to get Powell?" He seems thoughtful for a moment before he nods. "What she ordered, that sounds good. And can you box up some blueberry, walnut and a couple of other kinds of muffins? Thanks man." The barista gets to building their order as they walk down to the register. MC starts to pull out her card, but a warm hand is on hers before she can pull it out of her wristlet. She looks up and meets Chris's eyes. He shakes his head softly and gives her a warm smile. "My treat. Put that away." She pauses her movements for a moment, distracted by his warm hand on hers. "T-thank you." The barista calls their names and Chris grabs the drinks as MC picks up the box of muffins. He leads them to the far, dark corner of the shop, near the window so they can easily look out across the campus. They slide into the booth, taking the same side so they can people watch together. He sets her drink down in front of her as she opens the box to give Chris access. He gently pushes the box towards her. "Pick something, I got them to share." She thanks him and reaches in, choosing a blueberry. "Nice choice, that's my favorite." He beams at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You can have it." She leans towards him, offering it to him instead. Chris shakes his head. "No ma'am. You picked it out, I want you to have it. Besides, I'll eat any of them to be honest." He cough laughs, and runs his hand through his hair, causing her to pull her bottom lip in and hold it, trying not to smile. They sit there for a while, sipping at their lattes and making up crazy stories and conversations for people as they pass by outside. Chris even starts making funny voices so MC joins in. At one point they are laughing so hard she has to cover her mouth with both hands as he bites his fist to stifle the sounds. They both gasp for air, trying to settle down before they draw more attention than they already have. Chris sighs and takes another sip of his drink, placing his other arm behind her on the back of the booth. MC catches herself looking at him through the corner of her eye as he licks the foam off of his mouth. She bites her lower lip as she realizes he missed a good bit, trying to decide if she should tell him, torn over the decision because he looks so cute with a foam mustache. She decides to save him from his plight and begins to point it out, "Chris, you have some um..." She chews on her lip as she raises her hand to point. He turns to fully face her, waiting for her to finish. Though instead of completing her sentence, she continues to raise her hand to his face, softly placing it on his cheek while her thumb rests on his chin. He sucks in a quick breath at the contact, freezing as he watches her, waiting to see what she is doing. She remains silent as she gently runs her pointer finger across his upper lip before gradually pulling her hand away, showing him the foam. Chris's eyes flicker to her hand before jumping back to her eyes as she brings the foam covered finger to her lips. He lets out his held breath in a light groan as his eyes drop to her lips, watching her put it in her mouth and suck off the foam. "Sorry..." She says softly. "I thought that would be easier then trying to explain it." She blushes as he continues to stare. He raises his eyebrow at her and licks his lips again. "That might be the third..." MC looks at him questionably, not immediately remembering his 'three good ideas' comment from earlier. She takes a sip of her drink to excuse her from speaking for the moment, starting to feel embarrassed. As she lowers her cup to the table, she feels that she too has some foam on her upper lip. As she is about to wipe it off with her napkin, her action is abruptly halted. She looks down and sees that Chris has blocked her hand as she began to raise it, still clutching her napkin. He then reaches around, placing his hand on the side of her face, turning her to face him. She swallows and opens her mouth slightly to lick her lips, but Chris interrupts her plans again, this time covering her mouth with his own. He gently licks and sucks at her lips before pulling away, his hand still holding her face in place. Her cheeks are hot, and she assumes very red. Stunned, she blinks a few times rapidly, still looking into his mesmerizing blue eyes. It's his turn to apologize. "Sorry, I just thought this would be more efficient. Yanno, cut out a step." He grins at her as her red cheeks turn an even brighter scarlet. He rubs his thumb across her cheek before he pulls his hand away. She internally sighs at the loss, her cheek instantly cooling. Chris smiles and lowers his other arm from the back of the bench onto her shoulders. He takes a bite out of a muffin, looking back out across the campus, as if nothing unusual just happened. MC tries to hide her excitement, her body still tingling from his kiss. She leans into him and grabs a piece of his muffin, earning a mock gasp. They both laugh before turning quiet and contemplative once again as they finish their lattes. A few muffins later, they box up the rest and head outside. They walk in comfortable silence for a while, both stealing glances at the other when they think they can't see. As MC looks out towards the brightly lit sorority and fraternity row, she feels a warm, firm grip on her hand. She turns and finds Chris looking ahead, a small smirk on his lips. She fights a huge smile as it threatens to take over her face as their fingers interlace together. When they return to the suite door they finally separate and head inside. Zack is the only roommate in the shared space when they enter, waving at them both. Chris tells Zack he's welcome to the muffins, if interested, and says goodnight to them both. He hesitates only barely by MC, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and very quickly kissing her on the top of the head, trying not to draw too much attention. Her face goes hot, knowing Zack probably saw it all. Chris makes it all the way to his bedroom door before he turns, looking over his shoulder to MC with a smile before he slips into his room. MC tries to play it all off and to avoid Zack's smirk. "What?" "Ooooh nothing." Zack sings through a giddy smile. MC shakes her head and sits back down with her pile of books, now more than energized to finish the night. Partially due to the coffee, and partially due to Chris's lips. She scolds herself for becoming distracted again, trying to focus. It was a long, but enjoyable night, her mind jumping back and forth between her homework and the exciting memories of how she felt when he kissed her at the café.

#chris x mc #Chris Powell #Christopher Powell #The Freshman #the sophomore #thefreshman #thesophomore #playchoices #choices fanfiction #choicestoriesyouplay #TheFreshmanChronicles #choices the freshman #choices the sophomore #choices the junior #choices the senior #tf/ts/tj

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monstertrex · 6 years

Text

Walking Simulator Game Developtment

We were given a task of creating a game, walking simulator, within a 4 week period, in which we were grouped up with other 3D animation students and also game design students.

Our groups first steps, were to create a concept and idea for our game. We collected different ideas, from adults experiencing depression, to bullying at schools, to focusing on audio cues to create a story line.

We went along with the idea of creating a story line which gets built up from collecting objects around a house. The story is based on a child's scattered memories, therefore the house that the child is exploring is very fractured, and misaligned, and not how it is supposed to be. The more clues the child finds as to why this house is a blurred memory, the closer the child gets to seeing the house the way it originally was created.

The main story line of this game is to take the player through the child’s traumatic events, ranging from arguments he has with his parents, to the parents divorce, to his pet dying as the final event.

We plan to have the study within the house to be the last place that the child must visit, which contains a fireplace with spikes. The child, having a pet dog, finds out that the father had an argument with the mother, which led the dog to defending the mother by jumping onto the father. The father swinging his arm away and knocking the dog into the spikes located by the fireplace.

We begin our work, by creating concept art for the building variations which the child ventures through, in order to collect his memories together.

I created the house within Sims4 in order to get a sense of scale and how large the house will be.

With the concepts out of the way, it was time to begin the development of our assets. Everyone in our group was given a set of assets to work from. I decided to create general assets - wall and floor textures, arches, shelves, windows, chandelier - as well as some of the study assets and the kitchen assets.

At this point, we decided to create variations of the assets that we are creating, ones which were deformed in order to create a sense of mystery and confusion for the players. I decided to keep the UV’s that I create as the same UV for the deformed version of the same models, as it was going to make it easier to texture everything, and because the models were the same, the same texture could be applied to the models.

The way in which I created the deformed assets is by using the transformation tool, found in Edit Mesh in Maya. This allowed me to select vertexes at different percentages of strength, allowing me to pull the vertexes apart and create deformities.

I done this for every asset that this could have been done on, and just finished off my entire asset list I had.

At this point, I had all of my models finished. I was asked to find some sound effects to use in the game, which I got from a https://freesound.org/.

Another thing that we had lined up to do, is to record voice-overs from a script that another member of the group created while we modelled. We never got to doing this as I got ill, and my voice didn’t sound great for the recording, and no one else decided to offer doing the voice over. The recording got delayed to the last week of the project, which we didn’t have time to create the voice overs and implement into the game at that point.

Next, I had to create textures for all of the models I have crated using Substance Painter.

The last texturing part for me was to create, or find textures to use for walls, floors and ceilings. I decided to find textures to use, online, to save time - due to us running low on time now already, it was necessary to do so.

The problem that I came across when finding these seamless textures online, was that they never had any normal maps for me to use. I looked online to find out how i could create some. I came across a website http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/. This website allowed me to plug in the texture and create a normal map out of it. Unfortunately, the results were not amazing, and so I decided to look further.

Upon searching through Photoshop, I came across a filter on the university computers which was called xNormals. This filter allowed me to create a normal map out of any image I plugged into Photoshop, with various tools to change how the normals appeared and worked when plugged into a 3D software.

At this point, our group fell apart due to arguments as to who is doing what, which assets were missing, delays, and miscommunication. I decided to take things into my own hands as the game designer unfortunately didn’t complete the tasks which we were led to believe, they would have done by this point - a white-box-model in which they had boxes in-placed for assets that they were going to replace when we finished our part of the job, allowing them to create the game, while we created the assets. This did not get done and the amount of time they have left for themselves to create the entire game in, was not enough to even get started.

My job now was to create a simple Unity scene, with zero knowledge of how to use Unity, in which I use only my own assets to at least show my part of the work in which was put into this project, which never ended up working out.

I found Unity to be a very simple and self explanatory program to use. I arranged the scene to my liking, applied the textures to new materials, and created boundary boxes. I used a pre-made prefab of an FPS player controller to create a little character who runs on top of the centre counter top, for them to just see the visuals of the scene.

The last part for me to do in Unity, is to add in the lighting from the objects I made, which like I previously mentioned, is very simple and self-explanatory.

At this point, I was finished - finally!

This project proved to me that team work may not always work out the way you expect it to go, especially when you involve people who use different software to you, and have their own understanding of what your process of creation looks like.

I admit that the project became a mess after the second week, as very little progress seemed to have been made during that time. I got ill, but I managed to still do my part of the job, as well as take on additional challenges, such as finding sound effects to use for our game, and find royalty-free textures to use for walls, and floors, and to also create normal maps based on these PNG files I could find.

I do believe that this game could have been created in the time we were allocated, as long as the game designers understood that it takes time to create assets. The entire project was a 4 week project, and they waited to the end of week 3 to create the actual game mechanics and input the models. We got the blame for the delay due to us taking time to create assets - which was obviously going to happen in the first place, as we can’t create everything in a single week to then leave the rest of the work to the game designers for the next 3 weeks. It was a collaboration process, and they should not have waited for our assets to create the game.

That’s my point of view on the project, and I have learn’t a few things from this, such as needing clarification about process in which everything was going to be made in, and making sure that the rest of the group is doing their part, instead of waiting for things to happen.

#Maya #Zbrush #Substance Painter #Textures #Models #3D #Sounds #Effecs #Unity #Game #Design #Walking #Simulator

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cogentranting · 7 years

Note

I'm curious what you think of the Billy/Susan storylines. I didn't understand F getting a bf, and then having Oliver abruptly kill him off? Was it to propel Oliver/Susan? Susan also seemed oddly developed. For the majority of her episodes, she was painted as someone with a motive sinister to Oliver (investigating while in a relationship with the subject seemed unethical as well) then her role flipped. Was she supposed to become an antagonist or was she supposed to be a girlfriend?

Short answer: I thought both story lines worked well and served their purpose effectively. I really liked the 5x09 death, thought it made for a great episode. And Susan investigating Oliver’s past really excited me. Billy was to show Felicity had moved on, Susan was that + a red herring of sorts.

Long answer:

Billy served multiple purposes and people get most confused by him by trying to put everything under one unifying umbrella. First, he was to show Felicity moving on. This had to happen for several reasons. One of the most important is just that it makes sense for Felicity’s character. Felicity wants to be with someone- when she’s not with Oliver/pursuing Oliver she’s typically pursuing someone else and she’s made it pretty evident that a partner of that type is something she wants. She’s also a beautiful, smart, kind, successful woman, who- through her relationship with the team- has grown exponentially in her confidence, so if she’s looking for a relationship…. she’s probably gonna find one. She also has a distinct tendency to respond to trouble in her relationship with Oliver by getting involved with a specific type of guy. Oliver has his thing with Isabel- enter Barry for the first time. Oliver tells her they can’t be together- Felicity and Barry come close to getting together. Mad at Oliver for not living up to who she thinks he should be- she and Ray get together. Oliver breaks her heart with the lie- right to Billy. Billy, Ray and Barry are all very similar people too. When Felicity is disappointed by Oliver, she tries to find what she’s looking for in a relationship with an OliverLite guy who she thinks will give her the partnership she’s looking for without all the complications that come with Oliver. So it would actually be much stranger for Felicity NOT to have a boyfriend.

Felicity also has to move on to show where she is in her mindset on the relationship with Oliver- she doesn’t have hope for it. Felicity isn’t waiting to see if Oliver will change and/or make it up to her. She’s not looking for a way to fix that relationship. In her mind, that door is closed. Billy shows that in a way that is far more convincing than anything she could say. And this ties into the idea that I’ve been talking about recently, that on Felicity’s side of things, the problem in the relationship is that she doesn’t believe Oliver can change. A new relationship shows that.

So Felicity has to be in a new relationship, but before her relationship with Oliver can start to rebuild that relationship has to end. Option 1: Billy and Felicity breakup. Billy leaves. relatively little impact. Also might put Felicity further in her progression back towards Olicity than the writers wanted her to be. or Option 2: the writers can give Billy additional purpose to make the most use out of their characters. So Billy gets to die.

The plan to have Oliver tricked into killing someone probably came before Billy. It fits with Prometheus’ plans and is a really great twist, has a wonderfully devastating effect on Oliver. (I love it). The question is just- who does Oliver kill? It could be a random civilian. But that doesn’t pack much punch. It would be seriously underwhelming, even if they got teased earlier. It could be Susan but she still had quite a bit of story left (we’ll get to that, don’t worry). It could be a main character but the writers clearly didn’t want to kill off any of their mains. It could be one of the newbies. But that is harder to arrange, and more importantly, means killing of a character the writers weren’t done with or introducing a new character specifically for that purpose. But why do that when you already have Billy who is well known (and likable) enough to make the moment shocking and sad (for the characters at least) and is already leaving anyway. It gives the exit (which I think would have been at that time anyway) meaning instead of just being about moving Billy out of the way.

It ALSO allows for an added dimension to Felicity’s dark arc. Her arc was already in place and Billy’s death adds grief to the guilt of Haven rock and trust issues from Noah and Oliver. And it adds to those well so that Felicity’s arc can be the most interesting for her, and do the most to let her gain insight into Oliver (cuz hey guilt grief and trust issues are Oliver’s big things he took away from the Island).

(Also Billy gives a face to the ACU, which isn’t necessary but is nice. And he’s actually very likable when you don’t view him as a threat to your ship).

Susan! I actually posted a really long play by play of Susan’s scenes here. And a briefer note on why Oliver likes her here. And there’s some other scattered Susan thoughts floating around if you care to dig for them but eh.

Susan is Oliver’s natural response to Felicity moving on. Her being with Billy gives him the message that she doesn’t want him to pursue her anymore. And so he decides, if she doesn’t want to be with him, he isn’t going to ignore that and sit around waiting for her. Oliver, like Felicity but more, wants to be with someone. He always wants to be with someone. Whether or not he decides he can. Especially having come so close to marrying Felicity, having a kid out in the world that he can’t be involved with, being into his thirties and now with a stable job- Oliver is liking the idea of settling down (in terms of love life). So he decides to move on and Susan is someone who was interested, had a lot of traits to attract him, and seemed capable of being an equal.

But Susan isn’t just a straightforward love interest- because as we discussed with Billy, doing that isn’t using your characters to their fullest potential (every love interest has multiple roles- Shado is LI and mentor, McKenna LI and police presence, Helena LI and villain/temptation, Sara LI and family drama + co-superhero. Isabel LI and villain. even for other characters’ love interests- Ray is LI and business rival and new superhero, Roy is LI and sidekick for Oliver, Lyla is LI and face of Argus. To put it all simplistically). So Susan is also conducting an investigation into Oliver. She’s never meant to be an antagonist, but she’s meant to be a potential one. We’re supposed to wonder about her. It’s not so much that they showed her as having a sinister motive- they made us question IF she had a sinister motive. It creates tension, it leads to some great character building for Thea as she wrestles with her darkness, it leads us to question what Oliver will do if his secret comes out, it addresses the question of whether or not there is evidence of him off-island, we see how Oliver deals with a love interest finding out his identity. And I think it serves another important point- it rewards Oliver’s trust. The show is adamant that Oliver has to start trusting people. His team is one thing and they build on that a lot. But Oliver also needs to start trusting people in his day-job two. And he does that with two people: Adrian and Susan. If Adrian is the only person that Oliver lets into his trust during the season, then the season will end up being about how Oliver was right and he actually can’t trust anyone because people end up being serial killers with a vendetta against him. But Susan comes in and rewards his trust by being trustworthy. Because ultimately we’re shown that our suspicions about her weren’t found- despite her investigation she never intended to publish it or expose Oliver and she is loyal to him and ends up being supportive and reliable. Which would mean nothing if the trust wasn’t first tested by something like her discovering his secret. If the only aspect of trust is that “hey this love interest is not a serial killer or working for the bad guy”… that’s a low bar and the connection to the idea is probably not going to be made in the first place. So Susan’s investigation is there to affirm Oliver’s growth.

(As to the ethics of digging into the past and secrets of a man you’re dating– noting that she didn’t intend to publish it– it’s not very ethical. But also… her boyfriend is lying to her about lots of stuff, and we’re watching a show where the main character used to sorta kinda be a serial killer. She’s shouldn’t do it but is that really the line we’re gonna draw? “I’ll support a murderer and torturer but someone who invades their boyfriend’s privacy is too much.”

So yeah. I think Billy and Susan were well-written and used in very effective ways to the betterment of the main characters and the season arc as a whole.

#arrow #askbox #billy malone #susan williams #how does short?#ohhh please don't lead to people trying to fight me on this

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agentredfort · 7 years

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ruby redfort fic masterlist

What is this- geek central?

welcome to the Ruby Redfort fic masterlist, where I do my very best to collect every single bit of fic that’s out there on the internet for your convenience!

I’m not listing these based on quality (and besides, there’s not exactly a lot out there so i can’t pick and choose) so there’s going to be a wide range of fics in this list. any fics that I especially like will be marked as [PERSONAL FAVORITE]. any fics that I’ve added in recently will be marked as [*NEW*]. ships will be tagged!

if there’s any fics that you’ve noticed I’ve missed- or if you’ve written something yourself!- either shoot me an ask or a message via Tumblr and I’ll add it straight away.

Onwards!

A Guide To Love For A Bozo [wattpad] by TeamSpectrum [multichapter, ongoing] Ruby/Clancy

This is a cluby fan-fic written by Agent Baker. Take a look to find out what happens.

despite the sparse description, this is actually pretty good.

Always [ff.net] by mockingjay341 [Oneshot, complete!]

Ruby is suffering from nightmares, but Clancy will always be there to make her feel better.

hella sweet. ruby needs a hug

Aren’t We All a Bit of a Bozo? [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [oneshot, complete!] Hitch/OC

Heather looked across at Lydia as they ate their morning toast. “LB reckons there is going to be a new coding agent today, some kid. You know, the one Hitch is looking after.”

interesting concept!!

Bozo [wattpad] by Kaya_Tano [multichapter, ongoing] Clancy/Ruby

Ruby Redfort, a thirteen year old Spectrum Agent, is facing more than just trouble at work. Her hormones are raging and her best friend Clancy Crew has fallen for her, hard. But Ruby doesn't notice because she is too busy trying to solve her latest case at Spectrum, and how will she cope when one of her closest friends is killed by the notorious murderer The Count, who is supposed to be in a high security prison? And who is the mole at Spectrum who is leaking information to him?

not bad. i’m not a big fan of the ‘spectrum pairs ruby up with a cute boy her age’ plot, but this seems to be decently-written.

Changed at Birth [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Twoshot, now complete!] Background Hitch/Blacker

“They said mum should have killed me with iron,” whispers Ruby.

the folk tale au i never knew i wanted tbh. only halfway done at the moment but it’s such a cool concept and it fits really well??

Convincing LB [wattpad] by Jasmine3103 [Oneshot, complete!]

I really wanted to know what Hitch said in CYD to convince LB to give Ruby another chance. So here is my version.

this was a really good missing scene sorta fic! give it some love if you’ve got a chance, the author seems really lonely to me

Family Ain't Just Blood [ao3] [tumblr] by celestialskies [Oneshot, complete!] [*NEW*]

Ruby looked up, aware that she probably looked like someone had tried to rock her to sleep by dragging her through a hedge backwards several times. Six hours of sleep over three days can do that to a person.

"Couldn't sleep," she muttered. In her tired state, she barely noticed Hitch's expression shift from one of surprise surprise and mild amusement to one of concern.

Ruby can't sleep, and Hitch steps in.

goddamn, i’m always a sucker for unconventional family stories. i actually squealed when I saw this one, which should give you a pretty good idea of how much i enjoyed it

Five times Clancy Crew chained his bikes to Ruby Redfort’s and one time he didn’t [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

The first time it was a mistake- honestly the chain accidentally went through the frame and well, it only held Ruby up temporarily.

this is really hecking cute and is just generally really great. it made me smile a lot. please check it out

Grains of Sand and Love [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] Ruby/Clancy

Being sixteen suddenly brought the barbecues on the beach, adolescent drinking and all the drama that it comes with.

it’s no secret by now that I love this author, this is soft and lovely and good and you should really read it

High School Sweethearts [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] [PERSONAL FAVORITE] Ruby/Del, Hitch/Blacker

There was no way you could look between Blacker and Hitch and think ‘brothers’.

short and oh so very sweet. i think i’m crying. this one is so good, my gay little heart is appeased

hold on tight [wattpad] by w0nderland-writing [multichapter, ongoing]

Ruby Redfort never gets a break, and in this story Ruby goes on an epic adventure in the Grand Canyon.

pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. a bit scattered but mostly coherent.

In which Ruby was right to worry [ao3] by Wolfiethepretzel [oneshot, Complete!] [*NEW*] [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

Froghorn was a constant nuisance in Ruby's life. But as soon as he disappeared she realized she'd rather him be about.

perfect Ruby characterization and some really hecking good bonding/character development. if you read nothing else on this list, at least check this one out.

Look Into His Eyes And Take Your Last Breath [wattpad] by WARNINGwhovian [very long, complete!] Clancy/Ruby, background LB/Baker [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

Meet Ruby Redfort, a super cool teenage wannabe spy. She's been through thick and thin and survived things from a giant sand timer to a legendary sea monster to invisible thieves to mythical wolves. She's already one of the most experienced agents in her agency, Spectrum, without even being an official one yet. She thinks she seen it all. But Ruby's entering a dangerous stage of life where she is vulnerable to many things, lots of things she knows nothing about. But Ruby is unduly worried about the years to come. She's a dauntless girl. But when things start to go wrong in her social life, her agent training in Spectrum and the return of an old foe start kicking off and suddenly, everything happens at once. And Ruby is faced with a choice. A dream job at a top secret spy agency with an astronomical pay, or a scrawny boy who doesn't believe in a dangerous life. Ruby Redfort, the choice is yours.

to my knowledge, the only completed longfic in the fandom so far. although it could do with a bit of editing, the quality is overall excellent and there’s some twists in there that even i wasn’t expecting. I especially loved the Ruby-Hitch dynamic and interactions in this one. If you’ve got a spare hour or two, I definitely recommend that you check it out!

Riding the Rails [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] Crossover with Railhead

“The Guardians want you, Ms Redfort,” says a station worker as Ruby stops her game of Rock paper scissors with Zen.

I can honestly say I’ve never heard of Railhead before, but was super cool nonetheless. it feels super surreal and the details were a+++- go check it out

Rosetta Redfort: Freefall [wattpad] by TeamSpectrum [multichapter, ongoing] background Clancy/Ruby

Ruby's daughter, Rosetta, discovers her secret-Spectrum. A conspiracy to steal a gem that will lead to a collapsing mountain and a giant flood. Will Rosetta crack like a diamond under pressure or will she stand strong?

an interesting take on a future-fic. might not be everyone’s cup of tea but i kind of liked it.

Love is blind, well Ruby is. [ao3] [tumblr] by Neondragon54 [Oneshot, complete!] Blacker/Hitch

It's well known to the entirety of Spectrum not to go into the coding room after Hitch had returned from a mission. Everyone (Blacker) is distracted and more than once has an important agent (LB) walked in on two agents kissing.

Ruby doesn't know this rule.

Goddamnit, now I’m invested in this ship. this is also super good, read it.

Movie Night [tumblr] by goldstarsforall [Oneshot, complete!] [*NEW*] Blacker/Hitch

They got to the cinema a lot earlier than either of the men expected. It was a clear night, the air felt crisp and clean and if they hadn’t booked Hitch would have just wanted to sit in the park and talk.

heckin’ cute lil’ oneshot. a Good Ship. a Good Fic.

Ruby Redfort: Don't Look Around [wattpad] by maybeitsdella [multichapter, ongoing]

Welcome back Ruby Redfort: every smart kid's smart kid.

After making Larva, Ruby Redfort's career in espionage is sending her off the ground running. There's no time to sit at home, with Clancy (who might just have a crush on her), sipping on banana milk, watching Crazy Cops. Not when the Count is still out there, and not when the Silent G is just sitting there waiting for her to fail (or die).

A promising start, this fic looks quite interesting. It’s only got a few chapters so far but I’m definitely going to be following it closely

Ruby's Rule 6 [ff.net] by mockingjay341 [Multi-chapter, ongoing!] [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

Ruby and Clancy have each other's backs - no matter what. So what will they do when they realise that sometimes our greatest strengths can also be our biggest weaknesses?

hell yeah, multi-chapter!! i really love how Ruby and Clancy bounce off each other so far, it feels super real. I’m honestly looking forward to reading more from this author. i haven’t felt this excited for a fic in a while

Silence Is Golden [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

There was a sharp knock at the door. Ruby was finally going to bury the hatchet with Froghorn by asking him for help.

this is possibly the softest thing i’ve read in my entire hecking life. basically just the code team chilling around and bonding and honestly it’s just so sweet and good

Some kinda death wish [ff.net] by Bubbly Washing Machine [Oneshot, complete!] [PERSONAL FAVORITE]

They stood at the bottom of the stairs, in the dark, and argued. "Rube, don't go up there," said Clancy desperately, "just wait for the rest of the team." "Look bozo, someone's gotta take her out before she catches on and splits the scene." Clancy looked her in the eye, pleading. "Please. Wait for backup."

Beautiful little character study- cute and poignant.

Sweating Is Totally (not) Necessary [tumblr] by blackers-donuts [Oneshot, complete!] [*NEW*] [PERSONAL FAVORITE] Blacker/Hitch, Ruby/Del

The phone finally picked up, Ruby knew it was still Clancy’s first few weeks at the desk of Buzz and he was getting a grip with the phone system but it really should be quicker.

This wonderful person wrote this for my birthday, so of course I freaking love it. it’s a great character study and just generally all-round a Good Thing- there was a coding segment midway through that I particularly enjoyed!!

Other Things

The TeamSpectrum Collection on Wattpad- an assortment of short fics, competitions and discussions that’s been put together by a whole lot of users, including me! Definitely worth checking out.

My own wide very small assortment of fanfiction, located over on this page! it’s not included here on the masterlist because- well, posting my own stuff is a tiny bit awkward- but i hope you read and enjoy my work all the same

My ongoing Social Media AU can be found here.

LAST UPDATED: 14/08/2017

#ruby redfort #k speaks #masterlist #fanfiction

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maligknights · 7 years

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Awakening: A Rewrite

Much of Awakening’s story issues could’ve been solved with a quick revision of the script. I think the writing team should’ve checked the outline and the details with a bit more care just to make sure everything was consistent. Maybe a second revision to if not make an honest to god sequel at least make sure the retcons didn’t create bigger plotholes. Honestly if it weren’t for the plothole that renders the whole story useless, most of the shit in Awakening comes from terrible retcons.

Another big issue with the team directing the effort to the 8th Gen FEs is that they got a little too carried away with the gimmicks and new mechanics: the kids idea, although infused with an interesting twist that would allow to use Gens 1 & 2 simultaneously, perhaps was not the best idea to keep the integrity of the story but rather allow the player to keep their MU for the second half of the game. Which if they wanted Robin to be this game’s Julius, they probably shouldn’t have made them an Avatar and give them a scripted death (at least in the bad timeline). Look, the story should serve the gameplay, it’s a videogame, not a movie or a comic. However I think it’s time for the developers to come up with ideas that serve each other, not get in the way (Fates is much worse at this, so I’ll pin it for the next discussion).

Keep in mind this is considering the continuity of both Mystery of the Emblem and Genealogy of the Holy War, as Awakening takes (and then tosses aside) many plot points and lore elements fron these games (I cannot make sense why Valm is here other than the geographical continuity with Archanea and even then it is completely ignored and Valm’s role really isnt essential but rather a detour in both story and level design). All of which SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED IN AWAKENING if the game was at least 50% intended for newcomers. Following the canon your story is based on not only gives it more consistency, but it might have generated more interest in remakes for Gaiden and Genealogy of the Holy War. Just sayin’.

Anyway, here is your ever-needed disclaimer and spoiler warning before we take on the quest of reconstructing Awakening.

As one final disclaimer for this quick specific rant-thingy, this is a quick how I would’ve fixed Awakening, if you wish to discuss ideas or think mine sucks, or if I left out something important, feel free to expose your opinion somewhere on the internet.

I am always open for FE talk. ;3

I think to make the story flow a bit less clumsily, Awakening should’ve stuck with the FE4 formula: Chrom dies in a poetically similar fashion to his father, deepening the wound between Ylisse and Plegia as Robin succumbs to Grima. Chrom realizes right before his death why his father started the war in the first place. Years later, Lucina and the Gen2 characters take on the duty of finishing what her grandfather started.

Throughout the story, we would need to gradually expose the lore of FE3 and 4 as both Lucina and Chrom realize that history is repeating itself. This way we can truly have a sequel to FE3 AND a spiritual (and in this case lore) successor to FE4, plus explain a few things that Awakening just skipped and you wouldn’t be able to make sense of if you didn’t play either. Along the lore of the games Awakening borrows from, it would be important to make the distinction that the arrival of Grima and the war of the First Exalt (which presumably shook the geopolitical foundation of Archanea) created a new Era; justifying some of the changes to FE3’s map layout. Throughout the quests for the stones in both Lucina and Chrom’s campaigns we should revisit some of the most important old locations.

I wouldn’t change much for the first chapters except that the Ylisseans, particularly Frederick to keep him in-character, should be very wary of Robin even if they genuinely have lost their memories. Sure, they start building a powerful friendship with Chrom and the Shepherds which loosens suspicion as Robin proves their worth to them; but they should all be on edge on the fact that Robin is very obviously a Plegian mage and judging by their attire and genius for tactics, could’ve very possibly been a Grimleal. The subject of the Brand should come up for both Chrom and Robin (with the Mark of Grima keeping it a secret between Chrom and Robin, and perhaps Lissa and Frederick).

Emmeryn’s role should also be much more prominent if she sacrifices herself for the good of Ylisse/Future Archanea. Let’s create a scenario where those who pact with Naga can also bring Naga back much like Grima regenerates himself (or how Loptyr can come back through a vessel with enough Holy Blood). Emmeryn heeds her father’s last words as the tensions with Plegia escalate: destroy Grima’s vessel, save the world. Emmeryn as one of the last containing Holy Blood of Naga (the other turning out to be Chrom) attempts the Awakening ritual but years of doubt and the anger that surrounded her father’s death cloud her mind and thus she fails to receive Naga’s power and dies.

This would raise the stakes for Chrom: last of his bloodline, yet if unworthy he will also meet the same fate as Emmeryn and trump their chance to vanquish Grima forever. The story should keep raising the stakes: by the second act of Chrom’s tale, he marries, but his heir carries minor Holy Blood, leaving him no choice but to attempt the Awakening himself as the Exalt’s bloodline has finally begun to wane. A choice appears: Chrom doesn’t have to fully bring Naga back by becoming her vessel but rather restore their bond through a less risky ritual (the Awakening presented in the game, but similar to the ritual of the Miracle of Darna) however, first they must gather the stones to complete the Fire Emblem.

So third act goes very similar to the original: Validar creates a trap by offering the final stone, Sable (formerly the Darksphere, whose powers he may have been exploiting). He uses the power of the shield to perform Grima’s ritual on Robin and reveals the former Exalt’s motivation and also his own: Plegia, formerly Dolhr, have had enough of Archanea and later Ylisse’s shit and demand retribution for the genocidal wars against its inhabitants and threaten to create a new order blah blah. Chrom is dead, enter Gen2.

An easy way to bridge Mystery of the Emblem while also explaining Grima would be to tie in the reforging and separation of the orbs of the Binding Shield: Gotoh and Marth have been gone for millennia, so nobody except Tiki knows what the Binding Shield really does: seal the earth dragons and prevent Tiki’s (and by extent other dragons’) degeneration.

Imagine Grima is Medeus’ heir (son or friend, pick your poison) but without the power of the Binding Shield, he degenerates (as explained in the Archanea mythos earth dragons are last second to the divine ones to degenerate) and is left only with the desire for vengeance he shared with Medeus. (This could also explain why we see so few dragons in the game aside Nowi. Perhaps retconning that since Nowi has a relation to divine dragons or humans she is among the last to degenerate).

An alternative would be that during the First Exalt’s coming as the Shield is broken by time or the orbs are separated to be kept by the new nations as a symbol of peace and whatnot, one (perhaps the last) earth dragon wakes from slumber. Much like Loptyr, Grima bonds with a Plegian human to avoid degeneration and upon seeing how the former lands of Dolhr have been decimated after millennia, his desire for revenge against humans is reignited. Perhaps an added bonus would be that he finds some common ground in misery with Plegians which leads him to bond with their leader.

However in either case, the still somewhat fresh memory of Archanea and Jugdral aids the warrior who would become the First Exalt to do the same with Naga and seal Grima away. By the time Emmeryn’s father is crowned, legend has erased the truth to the Binding Shield and the bloodlines have waned.

This would also explain why Tiki still slumbers in Valm in the newer game (let’s just move her somewhere else, perhaps we can revisit and aged or even abandoned Dragon Shrine?). As explained at the end of FE3, as long as the shield remains complete, she would not have to sleep to avoid degeneration. Plus it would also somewhat justify why the descendants of Marth didn’t have this knowledge. Tiki would go to sleep as soon as the orbs are scattered as ordered by Bantu, Xane or another ally who would more or less know what the deal is and who could pass the information to the First Exalt to seal Grima before their death.

Years after Chrom’s death, Lucina takes her father’s place as Exalt as the last bearing the mark (perhaps we can add a mini arc for Owain, though clearly he has minor blood). However she knows she does not have enough Holy Blood to perform the ritual. But Nah being a manakete, learns/senses Tiki still lives and as she is revered as Naga’s Voice (perhaps saving her relation to Naga as a twist for newcomers) she may have a clue on how to save the Ylissean continent.

Sidenote: If the concept of Holy Blood works the same as in FE4, Owain and Lucina could contemplate the alternative of producing an heir themselves, justifying their possibility for marriage.

As Lucina & co arrive to save Tiki from Grima’s forces, Tiki communicates to Nah the truth about the Binding Shield and sends the Gen2 army to retrieve the remaining orbs (perhaps some already collected in Chrom’s campaign) so Tiki can awaken and lend Lucina her power. (Another bonus: Tiki explains that since Nah has a human father she does not need to worry about degeneration, perhaps hinting at Nowi’s origins and fate).

Lucina should achieve the “Awakening” through Tiki (since Naga’s situation in FE13 is a bit hard to grasp bc she’s supposedly long dead) not necessarily the same way it was handled in Future Past, but rather Lucina reforging the bond the First Exalt made but with Tiki who as explained in FE3, may be even more powerful than Naga herself. With her newfound power and perhaps assurance that Lucina’s bloodline will last longer than her ancestors’, she is ready to put Grima to slumber/destroy him with the aid of the complete Emblem.

We could also retcon the twist that Grima can only be truly vanquished by his own blood thus the “true” ending can only be achieved if you recruit Morgan. Which gives them much more agency in the plot. So by the third act, Lucina & Co. convince Morgan about Grima’s true nature and in turn Morgan realizes that Robin is no longer the loving parent they’ve known (which should have alternate dialogue if Morgan is Chrom’s child and fem!Robin is still a marriage option for Chrom) and he or she decides to help the kids finish the Earth dragons forever. Morgan much like Julia in FE4, would probably have little to no marriage options due to their bloodline.

Of course there are more plot points in Awakening’s storyline, but I wanted to focus on the main conflict for this rant. Now, if you really want Valm back, here’s how I think it could work. As I mentioned earlier, Valm/Valencia is not absolutely necessary to this story as the lore doesn’t really have anything to do with neither Archanea nor Jugdral, which is what Awakening borrows from.

With the FE4 formula, there would be a slight compromise of the marriage system and how it works in Awakening. I propose that instead of substitute children, fatherless kids either simply get a downgrade in stats or are carbon copies of their mothers.

I do want to mention though that it would be extra important to give Robin depth despite the convenient excuse for amnesia if we are keeping the focus on them (and subsequently Morgan) as co-protagonist(s). As explained in my “Worst Sequel” rambling, of course Robin should have much more involvement and character development where they are plagued with the guilt of turning against their countrymen and building a much stronger connection between him/her and Validar. I think retconning Morgan as a whole would be necessary as well, perhaps expanding on Future Past Morgan and overall give them more to do in the plot.

I think the efforts of Awakening (and Fates too, though Fates fails spectacularly) despite their waste can be pretty cool in the end, but the writers really need to ask themselves two questions: How? And Why? Only then we can return to the great storytelling that made FE a cult phenomenon.

#wow this one is longer than i anticipated oooops #fe13 #maligrants #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem #rant #rewrite #awakening rewrite #fire emblem awakening rewrite #fe13 spoilers #fire emblem awakening spoilers #fe:a #fe:a spoilers #salt

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thomasroach · 5 years

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World War Z Review – World War Zzzzz

Developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive, World War Z is a co-op based third-person shooter set in the fictional setting of the book and movie of the same name. Does it do justice to the dark and gritty world of Brooks’ universe, or is this just another mindless zombie shooter?

World War Z Review

World War Z takes place following a massive global outbreak that has seen the majority of the worlds greatest cities fall. During the short co-op campaign, players will explore New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and Jerusalem, spanning 11 different missions. Each of the missions is very much of the same, culminating in a boring and repetitive linear experience that echoes a lack of creativity seen throughout the entirety of the game. In a party of up to four players, each mission is a short, linear run to a defense point before defending a location against massive hordes of zombies. Repeat this design two to three times per mission and you’ve experienced much of what the game has to offer.

While the objectives and path are repetitive and linear, the mundane nature of the experience is occasionally saved by two main points: the environments and the zombies. Each environment for each mission is well crafted, with multiple vantage points and potentially threatening ambush locations, and each is unique enough to immerse you in that regions culture and architectural design. Whether you’re running through the snow covered streets of Moscow or fighting through car-ridden highways and roads in New York, each area feels authentic and occasionally, even ties in directly with some of the movies more exciting scenes.

World War Z, at its core, is a fast-paced third-person shooter with regular defensive objectives. The movement and overall animation quality of the characters feels a little off; not quite smooth, but not janky enough to be terrible. However, the gun-play is actually rather solid. Shots carry an impact, there’s a versatile list of weapons and equipment to aid you in the fight, and the addition of friendly fire forces players to think before pulling the trigger. While some aspects of World War Z suffer, the overall quality of the gun combat is smooth and rewarding.

During much of my time playing World War Z, I felt bored. Between the annoyance of running between three points pushing buttons on consoles and escorting a poorly designed AI VIP, much of the game was unimaginative and lackluster. However, for several brief moments, cry’s of adulation could be heard from my allies. The zombie hordes in World War Z are fantastic. They are absolutely massive in number, often falling from above, crawling up from below or just pouring over the edge of the horizon. At times, it often felt as though they would never end, and if that were true, the game would have been better for it.

The iconic “zombie towers” seen throughout the movie are a constant presence. It’s a sight to see zombies pile atop one another to reach a feast of fresh flesh sitting atop a soundly constructed defensive structure. These scattered moments of excitement and adrenaline fueled action were a lot of fun, but didn’t do enough to make up for the games shortfalls in almost every other area. The hordes themselves are also a bit of a mirage. They are not single zombies, they behave as a pact, as a unit, as a single animated object. While the zombies trying to take a bite from your neck are as every bit real and individual as your character, those in large hordes or at a distance are not.

I understand this from a balance perspective. It would be near impossible to take down each zombie as an individual enemy but at the same time, it’s too obvious. Shooting a zombie on the right of the group, taking away health from the unit as a whole, sees zombies on the other side of the horde drop dead despite not receiving a single bullet. It’s very nit-picky, but something I noticed very early on in my experience.

The short campaign, which I completed after about four hours, is a bit fun but otherwise uneventful. There’s no real reason to replay the campaign, as very few aspects are dynamic and the progression system is incredibly poor. There is no weapon customization, even though the game literally has a menu called “Weapon Customization.” As you use weapons and progress, you unlock different variations with that weapon. One may add a silencer, another an extended clip and eventually, everything, but there’s not much choice. I spent much of the game failing to accrue any weapon experience at all, which may be a poorly explained mechanic or one of the many bugs plaguing the release.

There’s several different classes in campaign (six in total), each boasting different starting weaponry and skills that you can unlock as you progress. Unfortunately, these are as unimaginative and lacking the same impact was weapon customization. Nearly all of the skills are passive, rarely providing any serious reward or gameplay changing improvements. Once you have the ability to change your starting weapon, you’ve got everything you need to tackle most of the lower difficulties.

There is a PvP mode in the game, but the progression and unlocks are entirely separate from the co-op campaign. It provides a more rewarding experience for hardcore PvP fans, but is another reason to not play the co-op campaign for everyone else. A small list of expected game mode variations is present, but outside of the addition of zombies and hordes during PvP encounters, it’s much the same as we’ve seen a thousand times before.

Technically, I had a very poor experience with World War Z. I stopped counting after the client crashed for the ninth time, and I didn’t bother counting the amount of times I was removed from a lobby. I spawned into games in areas that my team had already completed, forcing me to either die or leave in order for them to progress. The AI often fell to the zombie onslaught in areas we could not reach in order to revive, it’s all very disappointing. I also experienced a corrupt save file which lost me several levels, something I’ve not had happen since removing my PlayStation memory card close to 20 years ago.

World War Z has some moments that are an utter blast – the special zombie types and impending doom of a zombie tower bring pure excitement. However, these moments are few and far between, leaving a shell of a game with very little content, a lack of creativity, a near non-existent story, and a disappointingly shallow progression system.

This World War Z review was done on the PlayStation 4 Pro. A digital code was purchased.

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grosserfluss · 5 years

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30 day persona challenge ;

day 4: favorite social link

pretty much no competition. i looked through the rest mostly for formality, but none of them held a candle to p3p’s moon. to be honest, it’s very hard to put into words why shinjiro’s social link is so, so good. much of it has to be experienced and simply felt, acknowledged and understood wordlessly. this is the nature of his entire role within the game, too. to have to explain why shinjiro is so well-done cheapens the meaning and the impact. but i’ll do my best.

personal narrative arc.

a lot of shinjiro’s development within the game is shown, not stated. ( sometimes it’s a little too subtle — not usually a complaint i have — such as his reasons for rejoining SEES. that whole process was rather clumsily implemented, as there was no indication of his relationship with ken beforehand, the decision felt very sudden, and there was no unpacking of it anytime afterward, either. but this isn’t what i’m here to talk about. )

this is very much the case within his social link too, and it’s done masterfully. he never really says anything about feeling closer to you, true to character, as the link goes on, but he shows it in the way he talks to you, in what he talks to you about. one of my favorite things is the fact that, in rank 1, he talks about the first time he and aki got into a fight and says “we were kids. i forgot why.” then, all the way in his rank 10, he finally tells you the story of that first fight. it’s something meaningful to him, and he didn’t forget why; he just didn’t trust you enough at rank 1 to open up about something that a.) shows a side of him he isn’t comfortable showing you yet ( of course it turns out to be a story that shows he’s a Good Egg ) and b.) is a poignant moment for him in a relationship that he treasures. but the game shows you that, by rank 10, he feels close enough to you to tell you.

his social link is also the development of his own relationship with SEES, mirroring his growing relationship with femc. he starts out only talking about aki in his rank 1 and 2: asking femc if he’s eating okay, if he’s fighting well, etc. because of course aki is his only tie to SEES. he’s otherwise an outsider if not for him. shinjiro is a guy that holds the world at arm’s length — ostensibly to protect them from him, but also partially to protect himself from himself — and one of the things i do really like about his entire narrative is that that aspect of him never really changes. more about that later.*

BUT regardless, he does become a little closer to everyone else. by rank 3, he’s asking about the rest of the team, too. rank 4, he’s going out of his way to help fuuka to cook. rank 6 is the climax of his social link where he makes that dinner for everyone, wanting to see everyone happy, wanting to contribute something to the group and, most importantly, give them something to remember him by. the fact that he loves the group enough at that point to even want them to have a fond memory of him shows how much he’s changed and opened up. in my characterization of him, i think he’s an INFJ, and trust me that’s a Big Demonstration for an INFJ. we don’t bother putting in that much emotional effort if we haven’t fully invested in the relationship.

*returning to this now. this is the other big thing i love about how shinjiro is written. i’m kind of cheating here because this isn’t just in his social link, but throughout his appearances in the plot. for all i just babbled about how he grows and comes to trust and care about SEES, he... also doesn’t. he continues to keep his distance, never gets fully emotionally attached, continues to see himself as the outsider, the one who’s never really completely part of the team or welcome, despite other people’s attempts to show him otherwise. ( see: rank 7 when he talks about everyone badgering him about making more food and therefore trying to make him feel included, and him griping about it. ) even with the femc, even when you romance him, he continues to try and keep you at arm’s length.

this is super important because it keeps his development within character. he doesn’t have an inspirational revelation and feel like a suddenly different guy at the end of his social link. he makes meaningful connections but that doesn’t completely override and defeat the internal struggle that defines him and gives him so much of his depth. it makes his arc therefore feel organic and realistic.

and finally, on the subject of organic and realistic, his romance route is one of the most seamlessly executed in the persona games. ( it’s definitely one of the reasons i ship it so hard. ) shoe-horned / awkwardly executed romance options are not a persona-specific issue; fire emblem suffers from it, and i think any game that tries to implement romance options for the mc would suffer from it. but so often in persona, the final romance route option always feels at least a little bit sudden. like you had this great platonic bond going and the character is coming to self-actualization and all this character development and then it’s like oh yeah also you can romance them and uh yes they’re suddenly in love with you or ready to reciprocate your love.

shinjiro’s romance is worked into the rest of his social link. there’s hints of it scattered throughout his dialogue. he’s evidently in love with femc regardless of whether you choose to get that extra last scene with him or stop at rank 10. i’m not saying that every romance option should be written this way, necessarily, since that would run the risk of harem writing, but it was a big part of what made the shinjiro romance route very believable. it didn’t feel sudden or shoe-horned for the sake of making him a lovers option; it felt like a natural culmination of the emotions that had already been building up.

incredible writing

the social link also boasts very strong writing technique on both the global and local levels. i’ll address the global first. one of my favorite things about what they did with shinjiro’s social link is what i like to call “the hemingway effect” because he used it prominently. this is when you write a story, a scene, etc. with something — a narrative fact, an off-screen event, whatever — influencing the story, but you never tell your audience what that “something” is. i think hemingway called it the iceberg effect, but w/e. that “something” then ends up pervading the mood and atmosphere of the story, coloring it, but is never given voice. this leads to really emotionally powerful writing, and, in my opinion, very believable characterization. why? because you don’t know what most people in real life are going through when you meet them. you are experiencing them in a snapshot in time, and you’re not going to know all the things that are influencing that particular moment. you can only feel it through how they talk, act, dress, etc., and guess. but you likely will never find out, or at least not for some time.

this is exactly how shinjiro’s social link is written, except of course we’re privy to the “something” that informs his entire link, but not until rank 7 obliquely and then rank 9 and 10 much more explicitly: that he is preparing for his own death. suddenly, that realization illuminates — it colors — everything that came before. his remarks about making memories, his concerns for everyone else, the fact that he maintains an emotional distance. it gives us so much insight on his actions and attitudes. the fact that the writers decided to incorporate it using “the hemingway / iceberg effect” for much of his link really heightens the emotional impact of his social link.

in addition, on the topic of global writing, i love that you learn a little bit more about him in every rank. and not just a little more, but something new. very often, persona social links only build on one aspect of a character, one main issue or trope that they’re struggling with. and the social link chronicles the journey of their development through said issue. but arguably because they didn’t do that with shinjiro, didn’t feel pressured into developing and resolving The One Struggle, they instead had the flexibility to showcase different sides of him, which made him feel like a real, multi-faceted person that was slowly being revealed to you piece by piece. usually, the rank 1 ( and sometimes 2 ) of any social link is a baseline; it establishes how the character is naturally. for characters also central to the plot, this can often feel redundant. but with shinjiro, they were unpacking new sides of him right off the bat.

rank 1 gives you a little bit of insight into his and aki’s relationship, up until this point only teased in their joint plot scenes but never expanded on. rank 2 adds to that and shows you one of his values: that he believes in taking care of oneself, especially in relation to diet. rank 3 shows you that he cares a lot about other people and thinks about others a lot. rank 4 shows you that he’s a fantastic cook and also expands more on his thoughtful, altruistic, and tsundere personality. it also gives good insight on how he talks to and around other people who aren’t aki. i can keep going, but you get the picture. each rank doesn’t just rehash the same things we already know about him; it builds upon what we know, adds more depth, and adds new sides of him. nicely done.

secondly, the local writing is also very well-done, by which i mean the small details like the dialogue. in particular, his rank 9 scene is quite possibly my favorite social link scene in all the scenes i have seen in the persona games i’ve played ( i’ll admit i haven’t maxed all social links / confidants, so that’s a qualifier, but ). overall, i think persona 3 boasts strong narration, which is a very small thing to look at, but is important.

> You talked to Shinjiro about many different subjects...

> Shinjiro's expression doesn't change much, as usual...

> However, for some reason...

> ...He seems lonesome.

i’m usually on the fence about narration in games because it, by nature, relies on telling rather than showing, but of course due to the limitations of animation, it’s sometimes necessary. and this is one of the times it’s done very well. telling without being heavy-handed and in-your-face. and then, possibly my favorite line in his whole social link:

Shinjiro: Are you done? C'mon, tell me more. Encore, encore!

that one line says so much about his mentality in this moment in time. how much he loves femc ( because he’s in love with her regardless of whether you romance him, fight me ), how desperately he wants to hold onto happy memories of her, how desperately he wants her to remember him and their last moments together happily, and how much he’s willing to go against his own reticent and reclusive nature to ensure that. it also gives light to the more playful side of shinjiro that we’ve glimpsed a little here and there scattered throughout his earlier scenes ( “Tell 'em they need to eat better. They won't listen if it comes from me. Especially Aki...”; “...There's so much wrong here, I don't know where to begin...”; “...Even if it tastes awful, you better be responsible and tell everyone it's great.”; “Nah, stay put. It's way too crowded over here. 'Sides, we're trying to keep it a secret.” ). and because we’ve caught glimpses earlier, this doesn’t feel suddenly out of character; it feels like a natural opening-up, a side of you he’s willing to show around you now because he trusts you.

and of course, the heavy hinting that he gives in regards to what’s going to happen to him, without outright saying it or seeming like he’s trying to push it in femc’s face. that’s a tricky moment to write, because you want it to be clear to the audience, but you don’t want the character to talk like he’s trying to make it clear to the audience. you want him to talk like he would naturally talk — in shinjiro’s case, reserved, conflicted ( even contradictory ), introspective, and philosophical. the writers pulled it off very well. i adore that they accomplished it through core aspects of his personality, namely his tendency to send mixed, perplexing messages when he’s in a melancholy or existential mood ( super INFJ, by the way ):

Shinjiro: You look best when you laugh. ..... So don't cry, got it...?

Shinjiro: I gotta make sure I don't leave anything behind... No doubts, no regrets... .....

Shinjiro: ..... I keep telling you what to forget and what to remember... What to want and to not want... I'm... selfish, aren't I?

Shinjiro: ..... ...Hey. As long as I'm already being selfish, I want you to do one more thing for me. You don't have to forgive me... But forgive everything else... ...You'll understand later. It should be like this for a little longer... I just want it to be... normal...

all without saying so or speaking plainly, he basically tells you he loves you; expresses his anxiety about his own life, its rapidly approaching end, and shows how hard he’s clinging to attempts to exert some control over his last days; and tries to impart his last wish to you while also being self-deprecating and talking in circles around what he actually wants. in true shinjiro fashion, he never clarifies, leaving his message — and all of the emotions and turmoil that define him — up to the femc’s and audience’s intuition and interpretation to understand.

‘nuff said.

relevance to game themes

aigis is the main, big, in-your-face manifestation of p3′s core messages in the sense that she takes the part of the player, in a sense, and we are actively trying to work through the complexity of the game’s themes at the same time that we are watching her do the same.

shinjiro, however, is the behind-the-curtain manifestation of these same themes. if aigis is telling us what p3 is trying to teach us, he and his story show us. because of this, he is massively thematically important to p3. the game’s big theme is the idea that relationships in life are beautiful and meaningful because they do not last, and, subsequently, that things that are gone continue to have meaning even if they’re not here anymore. the narrative of shinjiro’s social link embodies this, from the way he tries to make memories with others so his last days can be happy and normal, to the way he wants others to recall times with him fondly for the same reason. he even outright says it at one point, though too early in the game for the player and femc to connect it to the game’s message:

Shinjiro: Making memories is important. People can go on as long as they have good things to look back on... They'll be able to go on without being led astray...

relationships continue to have impact on us, even after they are gone. and the game uses him to show it to us, too; akihiko continues to talk about shinjiro after he dies, continues to draw strength from him and his final actions ( “he even had the strength to stare death in the face” [ not exact quote ] ), and the femc remembers him and takes strength from him in her final face-off against nyx. he is literally the last voice to lend his support to her. ( and we all know that in jrpg-speak, the last voice is always saved for the most meaningful one amirite. ) he makes a massive and lasting difference on ken, who internalizes the sacrifice shinjiro made for him, the altruism he showed him, and that informs his resolve to stand up to nyx and fight, and to become a better person, someone worthy of the life that shinjiro gave him.

even if we’re not looking beyond his death, his social link is set up to show us that ephemeral things are beautiful. when he makes dinner for all of SEES, it’s written as a powerful bonding moment for the entire group where they can all share in each other’s company and enjoy incredible food. his rank 9 is a very impactful scene where he and femc just spend the entire evening talking about whatever comes to mind, being with each other, sharing that time having fun and telling stories, and even though shinjiro and the player both know it’s going to come to an end, it’s meaningful.

the game doesn’t have to come out and say it. shinjiro doesn’t have to come out and say it. but his narrative is inextricably tied with the message of p3. ironically, this theme is demonstrated by the man who, if you asked him, probably believes that his life was one devoid of meaning up until that last month with SEES. he likely knows that he spent his life running away, and wasted so much of it. this, of course, is why he makes the decision to come back to SEES, to try and rectify that in a way that he feels is satisfying ( by doing so, he continues to run away from other things, but he’s 17 he can’t be perfect ), and why he tries to impart that final lesson to ken with his death. but i find it beautifully done that, unlike aigis, whose story is more of the traditional happy self-actualization narrative in itself, the power of shinjiro’s narrative is one that can only be seen in the meta-text, when you step back and look at how it fits into everything else.

it’s almost like his personal narrative is redeemed by his narrative role in the game. man, i love that.

no one else really holds a candle to shinji, but honorable mentions in order: 2.) kitagawa yusuke, 3.) kamiki akinari, 4.) aigis, 5.) kirijo mitsuru / shirogane naoto / mishima yuuki

#[ misc. ] talk #final word count: 2590 #christ i love shinji a lot whew #i just wrote a 10 page fucking paper here #that's 2/3 of the way to the length of the final papers i wrote for my MA classes #those skills haven't gone completely to waste at least

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koragame · 6 years

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The 13 Scariest Horror Games You Should Play For Halloween Terrors of the SeasonHalloween fast approaches, which means you're likely in the mood to play some spooky games. Luckily for you, there are a wealth of horror games to play that are well worth your time. The genre had humble beginnings in the late '80s, with a wave of fantastic games coming out in the three subsequent decades. And thanks to the rise of indie games, there are more horror games out now than ever before.To help you discover some of the most terrifying horror experiences available, we've compiled 13 games that we find to be the most frightening. Genre classics like Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil Remake, and Dead Space are represented here, but you'll also find more surprising choices interspersed throughout. Regardless of their notoriety, the games we highlight are all ones we that left us with lasting memories.There's a lot of horror-related media out right now that isn't just games. The latest entry of the cult favorite horror film franchise Halloween just released, and it's quite good, so be sure to read our review. There are also some pretty cool Easter eggs in the film that are likely to please hardcore fans. In other news, the second season of Castlevania is set to premiere via Netflix on October 26, and we've got a review of the first six episodes.Which horror games do you think are the scariest? Shout out your favorites in the comments below. Silent Hill 2A lot has been said about Silent Hill 2, so I'll spare you any overt critical analysis I have on this much beloved survival-horror sequel and instead share with you why this game still rocks. The premise alone should be enough to captivate you. As the widowed James Sutherland, you travel to the foggy town of Silent Hill in search of your dead wife, who has somehow managed to send you a letter. As a middle schooler (yes, I played this game in 8th grade), Silent Hill 2's story was like nothing else I had encountered. There were no action heroes, explosions, or convoluted government conspiracies. Just a crippling sense of dread, an eerie atmosphere, and intriguing characters that kept my hands glued to my PS2 controller.Silent Hill 2 expertly handles its myriad horrors, pulling you in with disturbing creatures, clever puzzles, and haunting sound design. I can't help but be in awe of how well it stands up whenever I revisit the game every few years. Its Historical Society area remains one of its crowning achievements and one of horror gaming's most expertly designed environments, brilliantly handling tense foreboding with unexpected pathways and puzzles. There are some slow moments interspersed between its most terrifying ones, but they're never enough to detract from the chilling horror and thought-provoking storytelling on display.If you haven't played Silent Hill 2, you're in for quite a spooky adventure. It's one of the genre greats for a reason, and it only continues to stand the test of time. -- Matt Espineli OutlastRed Barrels' Outlast has always stood out to me for how the game presents its world. Mount Massive Asylum is blanketed in absolute darkness, so the only way to see where you're going most of the time is by using the night vision function on protagonist Miles Upshur's video camera.Because I'm terrified of the dark, I use the camera all the time, and this transforms everything I see into a murky green where faraway environmental details aren't clear and enemies' eyes shine with a ghoulish glow. Also, this mechanic forces me to explore--batteries need to be found to keep the night vision function on the camera working--and Outlast's chilling soundtrack make those unscripted moments of searching very tense.Looking for batteries isn't even the scariest part of Outlast, though. It's the inhuman Variants that create most of the game's scares. Desperately running through an insane asylum while cannibalistic twins, a scissor-wielding mad scientist, and a seemingly unkillable monster chase after Upshur is terrifying. The worst of these Variants, Eddie Gluskin, appears in Outlast's Whistleblower expansion. Gluskin, aka The Groom, is a deranged serial killer who mutilates his male victims' genitalia in order to create the "perfect wife." Watching what he does--in first-person I might add--to the DLC's protagonist, Waylon Park, haunted me for days, and is still nauseating to even think about. -- Jordan Ramee Dead SpaceThree years after Resident Evil 4 squeezed new scares from one of gaming's best horror series, Visceral Games might have perfected the third-person survival horror formula with Dead Space. Players control engineer Isaac Clarke as he and a rescue team land on a city-sized spaceship to find out why it's not responding to communications. They quickly discover the reason is that the ship has been overrun by monsters that used to be its crew, which are nearly impossible to kill unless players use various sci-fi mining tools to hack off the creatures' limbs.Dead Space is a perfect confluence of modern sensibility and old-school survival horror, pairing fantastic graphics and gameplay, specifically its limb-cutting mechanics, with slightly uncooperative controls and the desperate hunt for items to keep Isaac healthy. The game uses everything at its disposal to scare you. Its industrial setting pairs with sound design that makes you constantly feel like you're not alone, and every surface is covered in air vents perfect for delivering popcorn-tossing moments as lethal mutated creatures come squirming out, straight at your face. Visceral tops it off with a spooky story that combines Alien, Children of the Corn, and Evil Dead. -- Phil Hornshaw Devil DaggersDevil Daggers may not be a traditional horror game by any means, but that makes it no less scary every time I play it. It throws you into a dark arena and tasks you with eliminating waves of flying skulls, disgusting, multi-legged beasts, and other demonic monstrosities.There is no winning in Devil Daggers; death is inevitable, whether that comes after 10 seconds or 100 (if you're good). It's minimal in terms of visuals and sound; there's no music to accompany the onslaught of enemies. Instead, enemies produce terrifying but distinct noises. This serves to assist you by letting you know where enemies are, but it also creates an inescapable sense of dread as these horrifying monsters box you in. I find it hard not to jump out of my seat when I turn and see that I'm face to face with a flying horned monster.It's unusual that a game designed around high score runs is scary, and the threat of failure is undoubtedly part of what makes Devil Daggers so tense. But it's the combination of this tension with the haunting imagery and sounds that create a legitimately terrifying experience. -- Chris Pereira Slender: The ArrivalI'll admit to being the perfect mark for Slender: The Eight Pages when it was released for free in 2012. The tiny, minimalist Unity experiment by developer Mark Hadley capitalized on peak Slender Man interest, expounding on the Internet-born folklore creature that was already doing a phenomenal job of absolutely creeping me out. Hadley's little game was a tightly made little nightmare: you're exploring a small, darkened park from a first-person perspective, and you're being hunted by a supernatural creature that you can't even look at without dying. Players try to gather eight pages from around a park, which detail some other poor victim's descent into madness, while the thing keeps appearing in front of you, ever closer. It was a perfect storm of jump scares, ambient dread, and a spooky creation of the zeitgeist at the height of its power.Slender: The Arrival expanded the game with multiple levels, a full story and prettier graphics to fully realize Hadley's original concept. It didn't change the core principle of being hunted, with nothing to help you except fleeing in desperate terror, and hoping that looking away from what stalks you might be enough to save you a few moments more. -- Phil Hornshaw Resident Evil 7: BiohazardTo play Resident Evil 7 is to willingly put yourself in an inhospitable environment. The decrepit mansion where the game begins is filthy, with peeling, yellowed wallpaper, broken drywall, and garbage littering the scarred wooden floor. Wind blows through the cracks in drafts, emitting a low, constant howl. The kitchen, scattered with moldy food and unidentifiable skeletal remains, is unspeakable. You can almost smell the rot.This is not a place you want to be--and that's before you meet the family that lives there. There's the dad, who stalks after you even after you've killed him numerous times. Mom doesn't bat an eye when he severs junior's hand at the dinner table. Somehow even worse is grandma, a catatonic woman in a wheelchair who can appear and vanish any time and anywhere when you're not looking.The game improves on the best aspects of the series, while throwing out everything that had grown stale in recent installments. Playing Resident Evil 7 is a thrilling, crazy, scary-as-hell experience. And if you think it's terrifying on a TV screen, you gotta try it in VR. -- Chris Reed Condemned: Criminal OriginsThe Xbox 360 had a generally strong launch lineup, despite lacking a killer app like Halo. There was a Majora's Mask-lite in Kameo: Elements of Power; sports games like Amped 3 and Madden, and for those who passed on the heavily flawed, but creative Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2 was there to satisfy action fans when WWII shooters were in their prime. With other titles with mass appeal like Tony Hawk's American Wasteland or Gun, who had time for a psychological horror game?That juxtaposition between Condemned: Criminal Origins and the rest of the launch lineup was perfectly clear in the music of the title screen. Half Se7en, half Shutter Island, you played as detective Ethan Thomas, who has to track down a serial killer to prove his innocence after his partner is murdered. Along the way, you're attacked by rattled-up drug addicts and hallucinations of demons who strategically flee, hide behind corners, and fight back in the game's surprisingly effective first-person melee combat.What made Condemned such a memorable horror experience was the feeling of being alone in the grittiest, most desolate parts of town, with intimate combat against people who hated you. You could hear them seething around corners, flanking you in the darkness, and that was all before the game throws demonic hallucinations at you. Sprinkle in a memorable final boss, a couple of solid jump-scares, one of the best uses of Xbox achievements in requiring you to forgo using guns, and a level set in a mall with walking mannequins that culminated in one of my favorite video game moments, and you've got a horror classic. Not bad for a launch-title. -- Nick Sherman Doki Doki Literature ClubDon't judge a visual novel by its cover. Doki Doki Literature Club looks like a simple anime-inspired visual novel packed with tropes; you have a love triangle (or quadrilateral?), the tsundere, the shy one, and the childhood friend as a potential love interest all thrown into a high school club. While the game is front-loaded with your typical story progression, it's expected that you make it past a certain point where things really pick up.Take note of the content warning presented up front as Doki Doki Literature Club uses sensitive subjects and graphic visuals throughout its narrative. It'll subvert expectations in clever and terrifying ways that can be either subtle and in-your-face. Since this is a PC game, it has the unique ability to be meta; breaking the fourth wall is used to great effect and a few secrets get tucked away within the game's text files. There are a few moments that allow the player to impact progression, such as dialogue options or choosing which of the club members to interact with at certain moments. But that's all in service of building you up for when the game reveals its true nature. Even the wonderfully catchy soundtrack gets twisted to create an unsettling atmosphere.It's hard to communicate exactly why Doki Doki Literature Club is one of the most horrifying games because it relies heavily on specific story beats and meta-narrative events, and we wouldn't want to spoil the things that make it so special. You'll just have to experience it for yourself. -- Michael Higham P.T.First revealed during Gamescom 2014, we struggled to make sense of the peculiar game known as P.T.. Presented as an indie horror game coming from an obscure developer, it stealth-launched onto the Playstation Store with little fanfare. But in the hours after its release, fans began to piece together what this horror title truly was. Coming from Hideo Kojima and a dream team of horror talent including the likes of Guillermo del Toro and Junji Ito, P.T. was actually a teaser for Silent Hills, the next planned entry in Konami's revered horror series. The short demo made a lasting impression on those who dared to experience its simple, yet incredibly effective scares--myself included.While the concept is simple--only asking you to make it to the end of the hallway and through a door--the execution was anything but, often presenting players some mind-bending puzzles and terrifying obstacles to overcome. Like many, I grossly underestimated just how overwhelmingly tense and off-putting P.T. can be. What it offered was a hellish descent into madness and dread, featuring fourth wall breaking scares, gore, and the relentless stalking from a ghostly figure known as Lisa. After its completion, I felt that I had a greater appreciation for what horror games are capable of, and P.T. showed immense potential. Unfortunately, we would never see it fully realized in a game. Silent Hills would eventually be cancelled after Kojima's very public departure from Konami, and all we're left with is a demo for game that will never exist, which adds a posthumous allure to P.T. While the game's failure to launch is tragic, the sheer craft that P.T. showed in its short sampling is something that's still powerful to this day.But as it stands, the playable teaser is an eerie reminder of what could have been, which is ironically summed up with the demo's ending. As the main character--played by Norman Reedus--finally makes his way out of the strange house into the streets of a deserted town, he then wanders off into the fog, disappearing from sight soon after. -- Alessandro Fillari Alien: Isolation2014's Alien: Isolation was a bit of tough sell as a horror game. After spending many years as disposable cannon fodder in other Alien games, most notably in Aliens VS Predator and Aliens: Colonial Marines, the Xenomorph was elevated to boss status in Creative Assembly's survival horror FPS. Serving as a sequel to the original film, it moved away from the shooting galleries and action-horror from previous games, and honed its focus on dread, anxiety, and fearing the lone alien creature that stalks the halls of Sevastopol Station.As a deep admirer of the original Alien, more so than the sequel Aliens, I longed for the day where we could get a game more influenced by the first film--with its quiet moments of dread and low-fi sci-fi aesthetic in full swing. What I appreciated most about Alien: Isolation was that it not only respected the original film, but it also fully understood what it made it so scary. As you're desperately scavenging for supplies throughout the corridors, those brief moments of calm would almost inevitably lead to situations where you'll come face to face with the Alien, who is all-powerful and cunning in its approach to slay any human that comes across its path.For more of my thoughts on Alien Isolation, check out my retrospective feature discussing why the game is still an unmatched horror experience. -- Alessandro Fillari Resident Evil RemakeWhen Resident Evil first hit the Playstation back in 1996, it revolutionized video game horror, and created a new sub-genre in the process--survival horror. Its GameCube remake in2002, and subsequent remaster for the PS4, XBox One, and PC, utilized improved graphics and lighting to greatly enhance the haunting atmosphere of the first game.You have the option to play as one of two STARS members (elite police officers), who have come to a mansion investigating a number of strange murders. Unbeknownst to them, this mansion is home to a number of illegal experiments operated by the Umbrella Corporation, leading to zombified humans and creatures attacking the STARS.The entire game takes place from fixed camera angles, and you never know what's on the other side of the door, or around each corner, meaning you're just moments away from walking into a scare. You're given limited ammo and even a limited number of opportunities to save your progress, and this formula works perfectly in tandem with the foreboding atmosphere.In one particular moment, I hadn't saved in hours and was running through a room I'd revisited multiple times in the past with 0 health left--when suddenly zombie dogs decided to jump through the windows scaring the crap out of me. A room I thought was safe had betrayed me at the worst time.This moment alone is easily one of the most impactful scares I've ever had playing a game, and cements Resident Evil as a mastercraft in horror video games. -- Dave Klein Eternal Darkness: Sanity's RequiemEternal Darkness took the concept of Survival Horror--already well-established by games like Resident Evil, Clock Tower, and Silent Hill--and added a brand new element designed exclusively to screw with the player: the sanity meter.Alexandra Roivas returns to her family's estate after discovering her grandfather has been murdered. The police have found nothing, so she decides to look for herself, and finds a secret room with a book… the “Tome of Eternal Darkness.” The game then takes place in multiple timelines and locations, with players choosing who they want to follow as characters battle with, or are corrupted by, ancient artifacts and the Eternal Darkness.This allows the game to utilize a vast array of settings for its horrors, as well having every character affected by a sanity meter, which slowly drains if players are spotted by enemies. Sanity effects range from statue heads following you, to weird noises and strange camera angles. In one particular instance, I went to save my game, only to find the game telling me it was deleting my save. I jumped off of my couch, ran over to my GameCube to turn off the game, only to realize the game was screwing with me, and my save wasn't being deleted. You win that round, Eternal Darkness… you win that round. -- Dave Klein Five Nights At Freddy'sIn the years since the release of the first game, the Five Nights At Freddy's series has gone from popular YouTube let's play game to massive phenomenon. As gaming's Friday The 13th, the horror series manages to get another sequel, even when people are just experiencing the previous game. While the franchise has spiraled out in a big way, the original game still manages to turn a mundane job into nerve wracking nightmare scenario. As the late-night security guard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, your job is to make sure no one breaks into the place, and to ensure that the walking animatronic puppets don't murder anyone--namely you. That second part is important.With no means of self-defense, your only hope is to survive until early morning by blocking doors and obstructing the paths of the roaming animatronics puppets, who desperately seek any humans after hours. My expectations for the game were low, mostly due to how played-out it seemed in the months after its release. However, once I got to play it for myself, I was surprised at how quickly it ramped up in intensity, despite its ridiculous premise.Even though it manages to revel in jump-scares, almost comically so, the tension and moments leading up to those genuinely chilling encounters make for some rather memorable frights. Just when you think you're safe and only minutes away from sunrise, Freddy Fazbear waltzes into your safe room and gets the jump on you. I'll never forget the moment that this game, which I grossly underestimated, got the best of me. -- Alessandro Fillari Source by [author_name] #games #gamer #gaming #game #play #koragame #freegames #onlinegames

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