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onewithnomightypowers · 3 years

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clandestine (chapter 1)

PAIRING: Tom Holland x fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Y/N is an up and coming actress, married to a once hotshot actor, Harrison (Haz). What happens when her co-star, Tom, makes her realise that she is stuck in a loveless marriage. A marriage starts crumbling and a new romance stars brewing.

Chapter 1: too wise to trust

A/N: y/n is bisexual but not paired with a women. the characters have been aged up. the characters in no way portray how these ppl are in real life. i do not encourage cheating. i hope you guys like it as much is i do. if you want to be tagged them pls tell me. also comments are appreciated as they motivate me to write more and i love to know how you guys feel about the story.

warning: cursing, mention of miscarriage, mention of sex, mention of cat calling, angst. fluff?

word count: 1.4k

important: character thoughts are bold and italic, flashback is in italic

masterlist series masterlist chapter 2

She picked up her makeup bag from her vanity and started walking towards her empty suitcase which was wide open on her bed. “What time is your flight?” Haz asked while walking into their bedroom. “I think it’s at 6:30 in the evening but the car will be here to pick me up at 4”, she replied whilst folding her clothes.

“So we have at least an hour to us”; he pulled her by the waist and started kissing her neck. She tried pushing his chest away but failed miserably. “Haz, I’m not in the mood, please stop”

“Fine. But you have been saying that for months now”, he was frustrated.

She ignored his words like always.

He was right. They hadn’t had sex for at least five months now and it was starting to gain on Harrison. Their marriage, which had been ‘couple goals’ according to the internet, was now slowly falling apart. It was clear that Y/N was falling out of love but she couldn’t find grounds for it. She couldn’t reason it by making him the villain because he was a good man who, in theory, had done nothing wrong. Though, to her, it felt like he had. Maybe he didn’t love her enough or maybe all had gone astray when they had lost their baby last year.

“Will Tom be there?” his words felt like venom, entering her bloodstream.

She placed her hand on her forehead, trying to indicate that she did not want to have this conversation or the inevitable fight, again.

“Of course he will be there, he is my co-star. You should get off the internet, it’s feeding you poison”, she said in an almost nonchalant way. Trying her best not to give him the satisfaction of a reaction to his name. His name, which did not mean anything to her. Tom was her colleague whom the internet liked to ship her with, but he was just a friend. Haz found it hard to believe this because the internet told him so. Their relationship was so far gone that he had no other way of knowing what was going on in her life.

His wife was so far gone. She was as distant as the sun is from the moon. The distance left coldness between them. The kind of cold that you feel when you pass a stranger. She was a stranger to him and the only reason he could think of was that she and Tom were having an affair. This was not true, but the ache in his soul found comfort in painting Tom as the villain.

“I don’t believe you”, Haz spat out.

She threw her heels inside the suitcase in anger. “What do you not believe? That Tom is my co-star? Is that what you don’t believe?” her voice was louder than before.

“I don’t trust him.” Haz matched her voice.

“Do you trust me?”

Trust? Her? How can I trust a stranger?

It was his turn to ignore her.

She zipped her bag, put on her shoes, and left the room. “Fuck you”, she cried before slamming their apartment door and leaving for London.

Y/N had first met Tom at a cast and crew dinner in New York, six months ago. Greta, the director, had invited both her and Haz but he had decided to opt-out of the ‘fancy’ dinner. Y/N was excited to meet her new co-stars and mark the starting of a new project, a new phase in her life.

It was cold in New York, she figured she shouldn’t wear a dress. She put on black stockings underneath blue bell-bottoms to keep her warm. She wore a dark grey American Eagles t-shirt and over that, a tan leather trench coat. She liked commuting via subway because she believed ‘nobody gives two shits about who is sitting next to them on the train’; and a town car was much slower, especially when it had been snowing. She stuffed her heels in her purse and wore her commuting shoes.

Tribeca to West Village was a good ten minutes train. Her travel was mostly uninterrupted except for the catcalls which felt like the usual to a native. Just before ringing Greta’s doorbell, she got out of her Converse and wore her heels.

Y/N entered a packed house. Almost everyone was there and she was late. But someone was to arrive even later than her. She examined the room, everyone was mingling with each other. She didn’t know anybody there except Noah Baumbach from the time she auditioned for ‘marriage story’. She didn’t get the part but still loved the movie. She realized Tom was missing.

Greta pulled her into a conversation about when the production of the movie would start or something like that. She wasn’t really paying attention. She was so eager to meet Tom that her eyes couldn’t stop roaming around the room, trying to find him, and just when she thought he wouldn’t show up, he did.

Everybody’s head turned towards him when he entered the living room. It was as if every person in the room wanted him, including her. His dark brown hair, falling into place like a domino, had snowflakes in them.

“Excuse me”, Greta gave a small smile to Y/N and walked over to Tom. She greeted him and politely touched his back. “Now that everyone is here we should take the party to the dining hall”, she said in a loud and cheerful tone.

Following Greta, everyone started moving towards the dining hall. Tom sat right across Y/N on the grand dining table. “Hi, I’m Tom”, he introduced himself in his thick British accent. “And he’s English”, Y/N said, adding to her list of things she found captivating about Tom.

“And?” Tom gave her a confused look.

Shit. I said it out loud.

“I-I mean hi, I’m Y/N”, she tried to cover up her mistake.

His dark brown eyes on her, made her thoughts run wild. It was wrong enough to feel right. The dinner was served and small groups of conversations were taking place. Somehow the whole table took on the topic of bisexuality. Y/N felt obligated to take part in the conversation, being part of the community herself.

“I think bisexuality is a gateway to being gay”, Tom said to the whole table.

“You’re being bi-phobic, Tom”, Y/N called him out. All eyes were on her now.

“And how do you know that?” Tom asked Y/N.

“Because I am bisexual, and any decent human being would know that”

“Are you calling me indecent?”

“No, I’m calling you bi-phobic”

“But aren’t you married to a guy?”

“That doesn’t change my sexual orientation, and you’re being bi-phobic. Again.” There was silence, everyone was listening carefully.

“Okay, so please explain to me how I’m being bi-phobic?”

“Just the fact that you believe bisexuality is a gateway to being gay and me being married to a guy, means my bisexual card has been revoked, portray your biphobia”

“I am a little confused”, Tom said while reaching for his wine glass.

“Someone who is bisexual is attracted to both men as well as women. It isn’t a gateway to being gay, it is a legit sexuality of its own”,

“Hmm, I suppose I stand corrected. I’m sorry if I offended you or anyone. I will go home, do the research and try to be more open-minded”, said Tom, smiling.

“Good”, Y/N said, feeling accomplished and impressed by Tom’s ability to accept his mistake.

Haz would have never accepted that he was wrong.

Y/N felt wonderstruck. Blushing all the way home. She hoped Tom knew how enchanting it was for her to meet him. She wondered if someone was waiting for him at home, like someone was waiting for her. She wasn’t quite sure whether Haz was waiting for her to reach home or not.

She reached home to an empty bed. Not knowing what to make of it, she got ready to sleep. 2 AM and Haz was still not home. She didn’t try to reach him because she knew all phone calls would go straight to voice message and all messages would go unreplied. She closed her eyes, feeling indifferent towards Haz. Even in her sleep, her mind echoed Tom’s name. She was unaware of the treacherous road ahead of her. And that gave her comfort. His thought gave her comfort.

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wlwinry · 6 years

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Congratulations on reaching your milestone!! Ooh these are nice prompts - glad you’re doing non-romantic options. Can I please request Zeldris and Estarossa with 19? Thank you!

Here you go, Ellie! Enjoy the two adolescent demon brothers on their hunt for pirate treasure! Ah, sort of…

Estarossa exists in the past ‘cause I say so. Plus, Zel hasn’t met Gelda yet

“This is a whole new level of moronic, even for you.”

Estarossa’s grin was dark and gleeful, as if he knew exactly what he was doing and how it would tick Zeldris off–which, he realized, somewhere between exasperated and utterly disgusted, he would. “Come on, little brother, tell me you don’t want to find pirate treasure. Tell me to my face that you’ve completely abandoned your fifty-seven-year-old obsession with pirates and mercreatures and that you’re gonna walk away from a literal pirate map.”

He shook the map in question in front of Zeldris’s face, flicking sand onto his skin. He ignored it in favor of scowling at the older demon, whose grin was widening. He turned away with a huff, crossing his arms–no need to look at the obviously fake map. No matter how tempting it was (and it wasn’t, it totally wasn’t. Not at all). “First of all, as you said, I was fifty seven. That was like, thirty years ago–plus, it’s probably fake, or a trap, or a fake trap. So no, we’re not going treasure hunting.”

There was a laugh from high above him, and Zeldris bit back a curse as wind wooshed past him, four black wings beating at the air audibly. “I can’t hear you over the sound of me treasure hunting,” Estarossa crooned. “The gold’s gonna be mine, Zel!”

Don’t listen to him, he’s an idiot, don’t listen to him, he’s an idiot, don’t listen–

“I always knew you weren’t brave enough to actually be a pirate~”

Oh, that is it.

Zeldris launched himself into the air, beating shadowy wings furiously to catch up with Estarossa. It was unfair, he thought, scowling as the wind whipped at his face, that he was smaller and more aerodynamic and Estarossa was still the better flier, those wings of darkness guiding him like he’d been born in the skies. Meliodas, of course, was the best of them all, but Zeldris was used to being able to best the middle brother at most things. Flight…

Well, flight wasn’t one of them, and probably wouldn’t be anytime soon. But he’d poiuwrqbe damned if he was gonna let Estarossa beat him at following a map, especially when his big brother was notoriously good at getting lost. Someone had to be there to pick up the slack when they eventually wandered into some volcano or something.

And maybe he was still a tiny bit enthusiastic about pirates. Just a little bit–but who could blame him? Dastardly swordsmen and sirens, warriors and wild-cards, rebels and rogues… His infatuation with those legends had been as much of a “rebellious phase” as he’d allowed himself, especially when other demons started remarking on how Meliodas would strain and bite at their father’s reigns, 43poiuwrqeternally testing how far he could push, how much he could get away. Zeldris wished he was brave enough to try something like that, but every time he got up the courage to try and backtalk or imitate his brother, dark eyes would immediately flick to him, full of threats and promises, and the words would die in his throat.

Not because he was scared–he definitely wasn’t. He was totally, completely unafraid of their father, yes, he was brave, he was brave, Cusack had said so and even Meliodas, whose praise was hard-won and always left the receiver in desperate need of more. That quality was what Father said would make his older brother a good heir, that strange charisma beneath all the ice.

Meliodas was never afraid of Father, though, not even when he was at his worst. Zeldris didn’t know whether he admired or hated him for it.

“Hey, look!” He balked in midair as Estarossa whirled to him, black eyes sparking with delight. They were hovering over a thick pine forest, Zeldris realized, peering down at the dark, spiky carpet of trees stretching for miles in every direction. His brother’s grin was bright and mischievous, one gauntlet-covered hand pointing at a strange forked tree that split into three individual trunks. He drifted closer, intrigued despite himself, only to jolt back as Estarossa jabbed his finger triumphantly at the tree. “See? It’s on the map!”

Once again, the map was waved in his face; Zeldris sneezed as the remaining sand swept over his face, swiping at the itchiness with his sleeves. Estarossa didn’t seem to notice, instead babbling on about the next thing they had to look for–some kind of rock formation?–before darting off, leaving Zeldris no choice but to follow along, growing more bewildered (and more nervous, loathe though he was to admit it) by the second.

They found the rocks, a bizarre arch formation carved by wind and water, a massive fog bank swirling beyond it and the ocean glimmering blue beyond. Estarossa burst through the strange gateway it created with a laugh, already scanning the map for the next clue while Zeldris hovered before the massive, looping archway. It looked…unnaturally smooth, twisting intricately out from the mountains splitting the realm of the demons in half–as though one of the giants of Britannia had wrought it from the depths of the earth far below them, like a god’s hand had carved it open.

“Estarossa, I don’t think–”

Zeldris cut himself off, blinking in confusion as alarm slowly settled over him, whirling in a circle as his eyes frantically scanned the area. There was no sign of his brother, none at all, as though the fog had swallowed him whole. “Estarossa?” he called again, before a flush of embarrassment crept up his neck. Of course his brother couldn’t hear him at this point, he was probably caught up in that damn map, deep in the fog, expecting him to follow.

Gods, Zeldris hated fog.

He swallowed thickly, before shaking his head with a scowl. If Estarossa wanted to be an idiot, he could do it on his own. Zeldris had come here to get away from the war for a bit, to remind himself that there were things beyond killing and destruction and the constant clang of metal on metal, the cloying stench of death and dying.

Ocean. He’d go to the ocean and look for Estarossa later.

Zeldris arced over the swirling fog (and tried not to think of what monsters lay below, the creatures that could surge up to swallow him whole, the lurking beasts who might eat his brother), reaching the seashore in a matter of moments. He alit on the sands, boots sinking into the soft whiteness, footprints trailing in his wake as he started walking–wandering aimlessly, mind suddenly blank without the usual burn of purpose, without Father’s orders whispered in his ears or Meliodas’s words guiding him. He hadn’t had a moment to himself in…in ages.

Maybe he shouldn’t have bothered trying to arrange this leave of absence if he was just going to waste it like this.

Right before he turned to leave, though, a chill ghosted up his spine, bone-deep cold radiating through several points on his shoulder–as though icy fingers were trailing over it. He whirled with a gasp, and felt dread settle deep in his stomach. Oh my gods–

But there was no one. No one and nothing but an open treasure chest filled with masses of gold, and a gleaming executioner’s blade laid atop–one engraved with words in a language he recognized as an archaic form of Daemontongue. I rise only for the worthy.

Slowly, as if moving on their own, his fingers fit themselves around the hilt of the sword. It felt as though it were made for his hand, perfectly balanced, expertly crafted, shining like a star come down to their dark world. Zeldris raised it, the blade seeming to glow as the reflection of the sea glinted off of the silvery steel. What…

“Hey, Zeldris! Where are you?”

He jolted as Estarossa’s voice echoed from the fog banks crawling along the edge of the sands, instinctively sheathing the sword at his side. “Coming!” he called back, shadows sweeping up into wings again. “Gods, I wish you’d been eaten by a fog-monster…”

“Hey!”

As he disappeared, a figure swirled up out of the sea-spray–a short-haired woman with glittering eyes and an empty scabbard at her side. A dark smile curved her lips as she watched the young demon retreat, one hand sweeping her tri-cornered hat onto her head as a ghostly ship slowly bobbed out of the mist hanging low over the sea.

Only the worthy rise. The ghostly captain’s eyes stayed trained on the fading figure being swallowed up the fog, her smirk only widening as she turned back to the sea. Aye, you’ll be one to watch, little prince. Worthy indeed.

#prompts #nnt

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tattooloading854 · 3 years

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Commandos Battle Pack Mac Download

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Welcome to the November issue of About This Particular Macintosh! Wewelcome you back for another outstanding issue of your favoriteMacintosh Internet magazine. This month we find the Macintosh world ina somewhat astounding juxtaposition. While the iPod reigns as theundisputed leader in the digital music player market, other PC makersare struggling to rein in increasing demand for Macintosh products.There will be more on Apple’s results a little later in this column.

PC Download Buy now Release date: 2013-10-29. Battlefield 4™ Final Stand is one of five expansion packs included in Battlefield 4™ Premium. Battlefield 4™ Final Stand moves the fight into the grand Russian wintry landscape as the war closes in on its epic conclusion. In an effort to change the tide of the war a Pan Asian Coalition. Buy Commandos Pack. $14.99 Add to Cart. Package Details. Title: Commandos Pack Genre: Strategy, Action Developer: Pyro Studios Publisher: Kalypso Media Digital Release Date: Apr 13, 2010 Languages: English Read related news Single-player. Welcome, Officer! This mission pack pack for the 1999 released Commando: Beyond the Call of Duty adds 6 new missions to the game, sending you to various fictitious locations in Germany, 1943. Download & Installation. Mission Pack v2.151 – Installer; Resolution-Hack – Optional.

Capture This

Most Mac users are familiar with iPhoto, the photo management componentof Apple’s popular iLife suite of products. In October, Apple releasedAperture, a photo management and image processing solution designed for professional photographers.Aperture also comes at the professional-grade price of $499.

Video Raised the New Gadget Bar

The holiday shopping season is again upon us. All around the world,consumers by the millions will be buying the latest electronic gadgetsfor friends and family. Trumping the digital music player competitiononce again, Apple released video versions of the iPod just in time tosatisfy the excessive spending appetites of holiday season shoppers.

The day before the introduction of the video iPod, Apple executives intheir quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts stated inresponse to an analyst question that the then-unnamed new product wasincluded in the company’s conservative holiday quarter financialforecasts. We’ll see come January if Apple hands its investors one moreholiday season surprise.

Evolution and Intelligent Design

Communities across the country are debating whether or not the theoryof Intelligent Design should be taught in science classrooms alongsidethe evolving theory of Evolution.

Mac buyers need not engage in such a conflict when it comes topurchasing a new computer. The recently updated iMac is an evolutionarystep in Apple’s product development, while evidencing the next stage ofintelligent home computer design.

The new iMac has a remote control for the new Front Row multimedia experience and a built-in iSight video camera.

The Quad

A quad is often described as a rectangular open space surrounded bybuildings or one of four children born at the same time with threeother siblings. In this case a quad is the latest in chip technologyintroduced into Apple’s Power Mac product line.

Sporting dual-core G5 chips, the new Power Macs provide users with enhanced performance and fresh video card options.Representing the last of the four October new product announcements,the new Power Macs should be quite popular with buyers in highereducation, allowing students who often walk through a quad on the wayto classes the opportunity to use the best in Apple technology toadvance their pursuit of knowledge.

Record-Setting Results

When ATPM began publication over ten years ago, many PC industry punditsand Wall Street analysts considered that Apple’s best chance for survivalwas as a strong division or semi-independent subsidiary of a muchlarger technology company.

Today, Apple remains an independent, publicly traded company and is nowconsidered one of the most successful technology and consumerelectronics companies of our time. While the company finds itself in apleasant juxtaposition due to its success in both its personal computerand consumer electronics businesses, the company is also experiencingrecord-setting results. For the fourth fiscal quarter and the mostrecent fiscal year Apple reported the following:

For the three months ended September 24, 2005, Apple Computerreported revenue of $3.68 billion and net quarterly income of $430million. For the full fiscal year ended the say day, Appleannounced revenue of $13.93 billion and net income of $1.335billion. The quarterly and fiscal year results set new revenue andearnings records for the Cupertino-based company. In the fourthfiscal quarter Apple shipped 1.236 million Macs and 6.451 millioniPod digital music players. Apple ended the fiscal year with about$8.261 billion in cash and short-term investments.

In other news Apple announced that Timothy D. Cook has been named ChiefOperating Officer.

Our November Issue

Before we look at what our November issue includes, we’d like to alsoinclude you among our writers and editors. If you’re a Mac enthusiastwith a desire to share your skills and insights with the greaterMacintosh community, please contact our managing editor.

Pod People: Kool and the Nano Gang

“Just the thought of losing you, scares me half to death.”

FileMaking: Welcome to FileMaker 8!

Charles Ross detours from his round of tutorials and takes a good lookAt FileMaker 8.

How To: Serving Up a Tune or Two

Can your Mac and your stereo really make beautiful music together?

How To: Upgrading Your Cube’s Video Card

When your Cube needs better video performance (or a bigger chunkof video RAM), it’s possible to upgrade the stock Rage Pro 128 tosomething better. This article covers replacing it with ATI’s Radeon7500 32 MB card.

Desktop Pictures: Gateway Arch

Lee Bennett found the St. Louis Gateway Arch itself to be morephotogenic than the topside view.

Cortland

Chad finds himself beginning a new phase in life while Cortlandcollects the last of a client’s bill.

Frisky Freeware: FinderPop

Frisky the Freeware Guinea Pig checks out FinderPop.

Review: AirClick and AirClick USB

Though Apple now offers a remote control for iPods, GriffinTechnology’s AirClick may be the better choice.

Review: Commandos Battle Pack

Fight for the Allies in squad-based combat missions across Europe.Commandos Battle Pack contains two games from the real-time strategyseries: Commandos 2: Men of Courage and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin.

Review: Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 3rd Edition

Digital photographers, whether they’re seasoned pros or brand new tothe field, always have questions. Derrick Story’s new edition of theDigital Photography Pocket Guide has all the answers in a trim fieldguide that all digital photographers should carry.

Review: OmniGraffle Pro 4

OmniGraffle Professional 4.0 adds several welcome features to analready well-rounded application.

Review: Portectorz

Remember when your PowerBook’s ports were covered by a plastic door?RadTech offers a silicone-based solution for the latest Apple portables.

Also in This Series

Welcome (and Goodbye) · May 2012

Welcome · April 2012

Welcome · March 2012

Welcome · February 2012

Welcome · January 2012

Welcome · December 2011

Welcome · November 2011

Welcome · October 2011

Welcome · September 2011

Developer: Feral Interactive

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Price: $50

Requirements: 500 MHz Mac with Mac OS X 10.2, 256 MB RAM, 1.85 GB disk space

Recommended: 867 MHz Mac, 32 MB VRAM, 2.5 GB disk space

Trial: Feature-limited (Commandos 3 Demo)

The Commandos Battle Pack includes two games, Commandos 2: Men ofCourage and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin. Both are real-timestrategy games from an overhead viewpoint, similar to Myth. Thestorylines follow WW II missions that take advantage of the commandos’special skills and span much of Europe.

In each mission, you control one or more members of an elite Alliedunit, usually facing off against vastly superior German forces behindenemy lines. The size difference means that stealth plays a big role,so save the trigger finger for the first-person shooters.

The Green Beret’s knife will silently dispatch enemies, but hidethe body afterwards.

Installation

Both games install from the DVD, and you need it mounted to play.Included are print and PDF versions of the user manual. Keep the manual closeat hand for Men of Courage, but you’ll need it less during DestinationBerlin.

Note that the printable Keyboard Guide uses the default settings forMen of Courage. Destination Berlin, however, changes the defaultlayout. If you want the same layout for both games, select “UseCommandos 2 shortcuts” from the setup options. This can affect howcomfortable you feel moving from one game to the other.

Gameplay

Both games progress in a similar way. An intro storyline lays out themission objective and shows you which commandos are involved (usuallytwo or three, sometimes just one). Study the layout and movement ofNazi soldiers and vehicles on the map, explore buildings to find ammoor equipment, and slowly work your way through the objectives.

You start with the training missions, and it’s a good thing, too.(Don’t worry, they’re not insultingly simple.) After finishing them,you’ll have a better understanding of how to switch between commandos,use weapons, and maneuver around enemies.

You do a lot of crawling to avoid alerting enemies to your presence.Watch their fields of vision to find openings. You can usually get veryclose to soldiers without their knowledge—if you’re quiet about it.

Each commando’s name says something about his skills: Sniper, Thief,Spy, etc. The cut scenes and in-game responses have decent voiceacting, giving each a little personality. (Too much would probably be adistraction.) Typical objectives include blowing something up, stealingsomething important, or contacting Allied spies already in the field.

Grenades can take out small vehicles and groups of enemies.

A major difference between Men of Courage and Destination Berlin is themission help. In Men of Courage, you start with a primary objectivethat gains secondary goals as the mission proceeds. A checklistmeasures your progress and gives you pointers to the next importantlocation.

In Destination Berlin, the creators apparently decided that was way toomuch help. You get a vague goal description, a little introconversation, and no friendly checklist. It’s like night and day andcan be very frustrating when you start playing Destination Berlin. Tocompound that, its manual is very sparse on gameplay. The Men ofCourage version at least includes weapon-usage notes and more detail onthe game controls.

The game supports Internet multi-player through GameRanger. However, Iwas unable to find GameRanger opponents after checking a number oftimes. If you do choose multi-player, Men of Courage has a co-operativemission mode, but Destination Berlin has competitive missions such asCapture the Flag.

Graphics

The game graphics show care, even if they’re slightly dated. The mapsin both games have sophisticated layouts of 3D areas, but are renderedwell for an angled 2D viewpoint. There are four fixed outdoorviewpoints, which you switch between as needed. Indoors, you can freelyrotate the camera. Sometimes, building angles hide spots you want toinvestigate, though (which can be frustrating).

The Sapper confronts a Nazi inside a town building.

Destination Berlin adds great weather effects, such as a drivingsnowstorm or plodding rain. You can zoom in and out to see actionacross the map, but play slows down notably when zoomed out. Playerswith good 3D cards will benefit.

Play Control

Control in both games is much like Myth and other overhead real-timegames. You scroll around the map, direct characters to one or morelocations, and do a lot of clicking because fine-tuned locations arehard to specify on a wide view. Changing perspective is easy enough,but Commandos does little to solve the persistent interface issues of“Go there! No, there! Not around the fence!” and “Can’t you seethe tank bearing down on you? Run!”

The Nazis respond to actions with some intelligence, but all Commandoactions are up to the player. (However, you can tell them to watch an area andshoot anything that walks across it.)

Adding backup commands to your players would be a huge help, such as“Duck if someone starts shooting at you” or “Retreat to this safe areaif a patrol comes around.” The clumsy nature of the controls basicallydemands a stealth game, since actually shooting it out with enemiesquickly exposes how slowly your players react.

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The red view means the Nazis have seen you. Get ready to reloadyour game.

Annoyances

Passing one of the Destination Berlin’s tutorial missions requires theSpy’s “Distract” skill. Thanks to IGNfor noting that it requires a Control-click to open this command menu. Themanual says nothing about it, but you can’t finish the training missionotherwise. After the Spy dons an officer’s uniform, Control-click theaction commands.

Settings

My 32 MB Radeon 7500 video card provided clean graphics at 800x600pixels, but action slowed down when zoomed out on the map.Higher-performance cards with more VRAM will no doubt perform better.

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Tips

Learn and use the functions keys instead of clicking through the menus.

F5 makes enemies glow red.

F7 highlights boxes and building entrances.

F9 does a “quick save” of your game.

F11 is “quick load.”

You’ll use F9 and F11 a lot as you work through the mission, usually torecover after making a strategic mistake (i.e., wandering into a hailof bullets).

Bugs

In 30-plus hours of gameplay, the game crashed a few times, but therewere no repetitive bugs. Check the Feral Interactive site for updatesjust in case, but there were no patches at press time.

Summary

The two games have interesting storylines and challenging missions, butcome with a third game called “How many times will you click in thewrong place and reload your game?”

There’s obviously care in the graphics and level design, and thechallenge of overcoming hordes of enemies with just a handful of troopspulls you in. If only there were situational commands and improvementsto the player movement, it would rate a Very Nice. As it is, Good willhave to be good enough.

0 notes

purplelizardman · 6 years

Text

Writing Compelling Character Backstories

I often receive compliments on the character backstories that I write and the DM never skims my backstory. It wasn’t always this way: I used to just think of a cool character and write about it.

But then I’d get into the writing and before I knew it, I had multiple pages about this REALLY COOL character.

The DM would skim it and none of the backstory would really come up, much to my disappointment.

When you hand the DM your 4 page backstory.

Over time I developed a method to save myself from writing backstory that would go unread and, consequently, save the DM’s time.

A good backstory is:

Brief

Relevant

Connected

If you can write a backstory that does all of these you’ll be in good shape.

Brief

“Brevity is the soul of wit.” -Shakespeare

People are busy: you and the DM. Be considerate of your time and the DM’s and don’t put a lot of extra detail into the backstory. Instead, crystallize it down into the essential points and let your character’s personality and backstory be revealed through roleplaying.

Backstory gained at the table is worth 100 times backstory written on paper.

Reducing backstory down to its essentials also serves as the first gateway of quality: if your character backstory cannot be expressed in 3 short paragraphs or less, then your character concept is not well defined.

Don’t believe me? Let’s try a few examples:

One of the Maiar of Valinor, came to Middle Earth to oppose Sauron. Came to Middle Earth as part of the Istari, taking the guise of an old man in the hopes that the kings of Middle Earth would listen to his counsel. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire.

Strained relationship with Saruman because of the gift of the Ring of Fire. On a quest to destroy the one ring and prevent the return of Sauron.

Refuses to be bound by any authority except the Valar who sent him to Middle Earth. Like Hobbits.

That was Gandalf right up until The Hobbit.

Let’s try another one:

Brother was kidnapped and tortured by gods who feared he would one day be their undoing. During the kidnapping, he received a scar from the War god, Aries.

Was the youngest captain of Sparta’s armies. Received the (super cool) Blades of Chaos from Aries and became his champion, before Aries tricked him into killing his wife and daughter.

Now on a quest to redeem himself by killing the rampaging War god, Aries. Really likes breaking things and yelling a lot.

That was Kratos up until God of War 1.

The examples go on and on. If you cannot reduce the concept down to 3 short paragraphs, then you need to further define your concept.

This leads us to the second part of the method:

Relevant

Everything that appears in your backstory needs to be relevant. This means that it:

Ties the character to other characters, events, or places in the world. -OR-

Develops the characters ‘feel’ either via aesthetics (keep it minimal) or personality and disposition

That’s it. Describe where your character came from, an event or two of significance, their general disposition, and their motivation for adventuring.

Protip: It’s often helpful to your DM to provide a few ‘hooks’ on the side. A hook is something or someone that your character will pursue. No DM is offended if you hand them three hooks and say “Here’s three things my character REALLY wants and will leap for every time.”

This brings us to the last part of the method:

Connected

Tabletop RPGs are a social game: don’t have an anti-social backstory. Write in events and reasons for your PC to be connected to the others in the party.

DO NOT write a “lone wolf” backstory that gives your character nothing to care about and no reason to adventure with the group. While great roleplaying may allow such a character to develop at the table, that’s rarely how this backstory unfolds.

Instead the lone wolf often makes it difficult for the DM and other players to motivate their character, resulting in bogged down sessions and the character frequently being left out of decision making.

Instead, incorporate the other party members even if it’s just a brief sentence “Likes hobbits” “Values friends” “Unusually enthralled by warforged” etc…

Lastly, if your character is entering the game after level 1, make sure to tie in some motivation that is relevant to the current plot. This could be a reason to pursue the big bad evil guy, a desire or need to seek the plot McGuffin, or (if the others players are OK with it) even a close, personal relationship with one of the other Player Characters i.e. friend, cousin, sister, etc…

Troubleshooting Tips

Writing is messy work and tabletop games can make it more messy. If you’re having trouble applying this method, here are some tips to make it easier:

What if I can’t write just 3 paragraphs?

Tabletop games are imaginative games and sometimes we can’t constrain our imagination to a mere 3 paragraphs. That’s OK!

When that happens, write your full story and keep it for yourself, think of it as the “Detailed Version” of the backstory that has the details you need if the DM or the other players ask for more information. Then take one sheet of paper and the Detailed Version: you’re going to use it to write a few things on that one sheet of paper:

Appearance – No more than 2 sentences describing your character’s appearance

Demeanor/Outlook/Personality – No more than 2 sentences describing their personality and alignment

Backstory – No more than 6 sentences describing backstory

Adventure hooks/goals – Write 3 adventure hooks or character goals: things the DM can use to motivate your character

Relationships/contacts – Write 1-3 contacts or relationships that are important to your character. It could be another PC or it could be their mother, sister, best friend, teacher, etc…

If you are still stuck at this part, approach it kind of like writing a dating profile: keep it light, make it interesting. Save the detailed backstory for yourself and use it to build your own character knowledge.

A sample 1 page backstory sheet (click for download)

When you are done, format your 1 page document so that it’s easy to read and hand it to the DM. No DM should consider it too much and most will be thankful to have all this information clearly described on one page.

What if I don’t know who I’m playing with or the major plot?

This is a common problem with new people joining a group or creating a new group. In this case, first work with your DM to discuss what a good character motivation would be, they will usually be able to give you a vague idea without giving away too much of the plot.

If you’re still having trouble, talk to another player and consider having your characters acquainted i.e. friends, cousins, adventured together before, went to wizard school together, etc… this can make it easier to build party cohesion and make character introductions flow smoother.

A Real Play Example – Zan Zalladar the Insane Mystic

Below is an example of a backstory used in a real game. It was for a character being introduced into a higher level campaign. My previous character had been violently murdered and the party was in the far reaches of the arctic, meaning that the new character would have to come from one of the crew that was manning the expedition along with the PCs.

The character joined up right before the “planar exploration” phase of the game and I wanted a backstory that really reflected the heroic aspects of high-level play. While this is a bit on the longer side, it fit really well into the campaign and provided solid motivation for the character to stick with the party: he was a spy and the party was pursing leads straight to the doorsteps of the gods.

Zan Zalladar was the oldest son of a wealthy merchant until his vessel met misfortune and sank during a long voyage. Seven years later, Zan emerged from a harbor in the human lands to find that his father had passed and his three younger brothers had taken control of the entire inheritance after presuming Zan to be dead. Eerily calm, Zan chose not to fight his brothers for the inheritance and, instead, enlisted in the navy. He has been serving on various ships ever since.

If you ask Zan Zalladar what happened during the seven years he was away, he will tell you that he was taken to the kingdom of the god of the ocean and there it was that Zan fell in love with his daughter. The god of the ocean did not think him worthy and so, to prove his worth, each day he was given a task to perform; each day Zan Zalladar completed his task and was allowed to stay another day. Love flourished between Zan and the goddess daughter of the ocean. However, no living mortal is allowed in the domain of a god for more than seven years and so at the end of those years Zan was sent back to the surface with the blessing of the ocean god and a promise of betrothal to his daughter should he ever return.

Zan knows there is only way to be reunited with his love: to become a god. Each day Zan works to prove himself, to grow and master and exceed himself. He will be reunited with his love or he will die trying.

The DM really liked the backstory and ended up tying it one with one of the major antagonists of the campaign (an aboleth). The big reveal, worked out between myself and the GM as the character progressed, was that the character was actually insane and working for the Aboleth who he believed to be a god.

This is one of the longest backstories I’ve used in a long time, but it was worth it to capture the mythic feel as of our campaign. Practicing brevity is difficult and it takes time to master, but if you keep honing your writing skill you will save yourself and the DM a lot of time and unread backstory.

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Writing Compelling Character Backstories was originally published on Friendly Neighborhood Lizard Man

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