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sinnaea · 10 months

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The Stakeout

A little scenario between Wesker, Rebecca and Jill. This is an explicit work so I will only post what is mostly SFT and link the full fic at the end. Enjoy 💜

Warning(s): Non-consensual touching Rating: Explicit

Summary S.T.A.R.S members Captain Wesker, Officer Jill Valentine and the rookie Rebecca Chambers stay in a hotel room to stake out a potential drop house across the street to catch a big-time drug lord. The first night is a sleepless one for the rookie when rising tensions and unlived feelings for her teammates suddenly break free.

Rebecca Chambers was always the type of person who could sleep anywhere. On a couch after spending hours playing video games. In a cramped car during a long ride. And even at her desk at the S.T.A.R.S. office to try to sneak in a little nap.

But not tonight.

Over the next week, she and her fellow S.T.A.R.S. teammates, Officer Jill Valentine and Captain Albert Wesker, would all be on a very important mission. They were assigned to stake out an unoccupied storefront that potentially served as a drop house across the hotel they were staying in. Their goal was to catch some big-time drug lord plaguing the streets of Raccoon City. One of Rebecca’s very first assignments on the force could be a huge breakthrough in her young career if they were to catch their man. At first, it all seemed very exciting to the rookie officer.

Until they arrived at their hotel room.

The rookie’s heart dropped and mouth went dry when she first stepped into the room. It was spacious with updated and clean furnishings and even somewhat luxurious as the room also had a wet bar installed. The problem was the room had only one bed. Captain Wesker had chosen this room in particular because it had the best view of the drop house. And Wesker had chosen the rookie for this mission because he needed someone unassuming looking to walk the block to have eyes on the streets. There was a high school nearby and Rebecca could easily blend in with the students as they walked to and from school. The captain and Jill were veterans on the force and their faces were easily recognizable by the citizens.

So, Rebecca laid there wide awake on the bed in the dead of night right in between the slumbering Jill Valentine and the unmovable Captain Wesker. She inhaled deeply and sighed through her nose in frustration toward the ceiling, trying desperately to quiet her mind and get some sleep. Jill and Wesker both slept on their side, facing away from Rebecca which provided her more space.

At least it’s a king size bed, the rookie thought. But three grown adults in one bed sharing the same blanket made the rookie sweat in addition to the restlessness within her.

In some form of comfort to ease her mind, Rebecca thought about her admiration for Jill and secretly viewed her as her role model. She wanted to be just like her; brave, quick-thinking, and confident in her actions and physical looks. The physical looks especially.

Jill was more than just average. Rebecca recalled a time she walked into the women’s locker room at the station and saw Jill toweling off after a hot shower. The rookie’s face instantly fevered so hot that she could have fainted at the sight. The veteran stood with her leg bent on a bench as she slightly leaned forward and dried her hair with a towel. Her skin glistened under the fluorescent lighting as beads of water droplets defeatedly clung to her body, not wanting to let go. Every part of her body was toned right down to her cut abs yet there was a softness in the curvature of her hips, breasts and cheek bones. Rebecca shielded her blushing face and apologized profusely for walking in on her. But Jill leaned upright as if presenting her breasts to the rookie and laughed and brushed it off like it was nothing. She never saw Jill the same way after that incident.

And then there was Captain Wesker. Enigmatic, audaciously bold yet tactful. He had a rather artful demeanor whenever Rebecca would speak with him as if he could read her thoughts and was many steps ahead of her in their short conversations. The shadowy cast of his tall and muscular build always towered over her. His deep, slow yet intelligently articulated voice filled her ears. His eyes were always shooting daggers at her as if he was silently challenging her in some way. Sometimes she would feel shaken by his intimidation, but he intrigued her and not only in a slightly fearful way. Being a prodigy just like Wesker, Rebecca loved a challenge and saw the captain as someone she could greatly impress and potentially conquer his cunning. And hopefully this mission could prove it.

However, there were some challenges Rebecca had hardly approached. Simply sleeping right next to two people she highly respected and had secret infatuated thoughts for was an entirely new game to her. And she was still sweating in the middle of the cool spring night. Jill had the right idea to wear shorts in her sleep while Rebecca wore striped pajama pants that would be more suited for a person with juvenile interests.

Careful to not disturb her teammates, Rebecca slowly bent her arms and pushed her small body to slide up and rest against the headboard. Her hands hooked on the elastic band of her pants but hesitated to pull down. Watchful, her eyes observed Jill but she was unbothered. Then, to Wesker who was still as a statue. What seemed like forever, she silently inched and shuffled her pants down to her knees until…

Like a creeping unfelt tremor beneath the sheets, the captain began to move. The once stone statue of the man was temporarily brought to life when he flipped onto his back and laid on his other side, facing Rebecca. Frozen, her eyes trembled at the sight of her captain’s head so close to her bare thighs and panties. The light breath exhaling from his nose brushed gently against her smooth skin and sent goosebumps down her side. She wanted to say “screw it,” pull her pants back up and just try to sleep in a hot sweat. But she was already pretty far down and she took the risk. Eyebrows furrowed in concentration, she bent her knees with her legs emerging up and out of the bed sheets. She tightly pursed her lips as she finally slid off her pajama pants. A short sigh of relief released from her lungs and she meticulously folded her pants and tucked them in between her pillow and the headboard.

Rebecca closed her eyes for a brief moment to enjoy the cool air drying off her body before carefully sliding back under the bed sheets. At first she relaxed on her back, but the sight of the captain just in the corner of her eye felt heavy on her. And the bright red glow from the digital clock on the nightstand next to him was a little distracting. She flipped onto her side toward Jill; the better view. Moonlight shone through a crack in the heavy curtains of the large window and onto the bed, acting like a calming night light.

Success, Rebecca thought in satisfaction and her eyelids began to droop.

“You’re like a mouse, you know?” Wesker’s deep but hushed voice suddenly jolted Rebecca awake. Her body slowly crinkled up in a defense response. “You think I don’t know you’re moving about, but I do.”

Rebecca remained silent in an attempt to fool the captain that she was fast asleep. But he could not be deceived. The tension from her stiff body imbued his senses like hot steam hitting his face and her breathing had nearly halted. One could not deceive a deceiver, especially a rookie.

“Do you know what that makes me?” Wesker continued.

Blood drained from Rebecca’s face and she was now in a cold sweat of forebode. Her body curled up even more as her nails dug into her arms. Her mind panicked for a brief instant and she wanted to shake Jill awake to be rescued, but there was something strangely alluring about the situation just now. A sort of intellectual gravitation captured her brain. The tone of Wesker’s voice sparked some fear within Rebecca, but she perceived this situation as another challenge she wanted to conquer. The grip of her nails that clawed at her arms loosen and her curled up little body rehydrated as she straightened out and relaxed more. Without turning to face him, she responded in a soft whisper, “What does that make you, Captain?”

There was an unruffled quality in the rookie’s voice that the captain disliked. The bed hauntingly creaked as Wesker crept closer to her, pressing his large body against the entirety of Rebecca’s backside. His arm slithered up and over her torso and he squeezed her like a python suffocating its prey. His curled lips moved in close to her ear and he whispered with bared teeth, “A snake.”

Rebecca laid frozen again. The weight of Wesker’s muscular arm felt heavy against her chest and her quickened breathing became more audible. But she wasn’t letting her fear overtake her mind. Her head-on nature and the new rush of adrenaline invoked her daring side. The rookie challenged her superior. “Will you eat me, sir? And disturb Jill’s sleep?” Concealing a smirk, her lips twitched as a flicker of arrogance began to make itself known.

Wesker’s body felt like he was in a disquiet shiver and Rebecca thought she had him cornered. But in reality, a growing sinister chuckle resided in the back of his throat, laughing at her remark. “You really need to get to know your teammates better, my dear,” he patronized and tutted. “Jill takes sleeping pills. Sometimes taking more than she needs. If you witnessed a fraction of what we’ve been through in the military and as officers, you would absolutely quit.” He was challenging her back and went even further. “Watch.”

Wesker’s arm reached over and uncovered Jill’s limp body from the blanket. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rolled her over onto her back. A small, groggy groan escaped her mouth and she turned on her side and faced Rebecca. Completely unaware of her surroundings, Jill licked her lips and continued on in her deep sleep. Her arms rested lazily in front of her, squeezing her breasts together and creating more cleavage above her blue tank top.

“Would you look at that?” Wesker said with a smirk.

Rebecca’s gaze wavered at the sight of Jill’s chest in less than an arm’s reach away. She swallowed and bit the inside of her cheek, legs tensing and toes curling.

“Just like a snake, I’m always watching,” the captain continued. His touch was now snaking its way up Rebecca’s thigh, slipping underneath her shirt and finally cupping the bottom of her small breast, nearly enveloping the entirety of it with his hand. “And I’ve seen the way you look at her. Now’s your chance to not only just look, but prove to me you are worthy of being here.” He squeezed her small tit and lightly rubbed her erect nipple. “Touch her.”

Rebecca instantly felt light-headed with lust. This had to be a dream. Her hand rose up and held onto the captain’s forearm as he continued to massage her. The other hand slipped in between her clenching thighs. Her pelvis grew warm and her clitoris tingled. She didn’t want to seem flustered in front of the captain, but she did not know if she had what it took to fulfill his demands.

“But sir-” she began. “She’s sleeping.”

“Precisely,” he replied. “Let me give you a bit of encouragement.”

Wesker reached toward Jill again, hooking his fingers onto her tank top and pulling down, revealing one of her supple breasts. His hand gently caressed the soft and rounded side as his thumb brushed repeatedly over her nipple. The corner of Jill’s mouth and cheek twitched into a half grin then quickly faded away.

“Just like this,” he said as he pressed his groin against Rebecca’s rear. “She doesn’t even realize.”

After witnessing that small movement in Jill’s face, Rebecca was almost certain she would wake up. But she burned hot with temptation. Jill’s exposed chest peacefully resting just inches in front of Rebecca. Her thighs squeezed tighter around her hand.

Wesker grabbed Rebecca’s arm, pulled her hand from between her legs and guided it toward Jill’s chest. “Go on.” He then pressed his hips against Rebecca’s rear again and began to grind his half hard manhood against her tailbone through her panties. Giving her a bit more encouragement like the little devil on her shoulder whispering in her ear.

With her chest silently heaving in excitement, Rebecca’s hand rose with a slight tremble and cupped the bottom of Jill’s breast. She felt warm and soft yet robust. Jill moaned sleepily at her touch but didn’t move. Rebecca’s jaw wavered to stop a moan of pleasure releasing from herself.

“That’s it,” Wesker whispered. “You’re doing well.” His fingers glided down Rebecca’s abdomen and stealthily slipped inside the front of her panties.

To continue reading the spicier parts, please click the AO3 link. And as always, thank you for reading!

#resident evil #resident evil fanfiction #albert wesker #wesker #rebecca chambers #jill valentine #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #ao3fic #resident evil wesker #weskertine #wesker x jill x rebecca #chambertine

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biosurvive · 1 year

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@bioresilient -> "Will you be our best man?"

Having lunch with Jill was as normal in his routine as his work outs and a cigarette before long flights. It was a surviving activity from their days in Raccoon City, trying different restaurants until they had a sort of hierarchy in their minds and today was the latest place that offered Mexican cuisine at a decent price. The best part about dining with your friend was the good mixture of conversation and comfortable silence where the two satiate themselves with their food rather than babble on about whatever shit was bothering them or hefty complaints about the brass in the upper offices at HQ.

It was why Chris was surprised in a deer-in-headlights sort of way when Jill took a break from munching on her burrito to ask him such a serious question. He knew Jill and Claire wanted to tie the knot, and it wasn't such a backwards or old fashioned way where Jill asked for permission, rather he just assumed it would happen eventually with the fact that the two of them had been together for such a long time already. It was a nice thought, the two most important women in his lives being that special someone for one another, and a comfort knowing he wouldn't have to be a dick to some random woman that either of them chose to date. It wasn't necessary, Jill and Claire had one another and he couldn't be more happier, unfortunately he almost choked on his taco and he tries to not look too awkward as he abruptly coughs into a napkin and wipes pieces of shell from his stubble.

" Of course I will. " He responds after finally catching his beath, a bashfulness melting into his tone after the admittedly embarrassing display. Deciding not to risk another inhalation of corn tortillas, he begins picking at his tacos with a fork. " I figured I'd play some sort of role for one of you. Being that person for both of you? It'll do wonders for my ego. " He playfully jives, in between bites of rice and beans. After he swallows he nudges her leg with his foot beneath the table, his expression softening to make sure nothing was lost in translation. " Time and place. I'll be there for both of you. Besides, you've been family since the day we met, something I'm sure your future bride agrees on. "

Another pause, and a sip from his cola and his soft expression melts into one of faux pondering. " Can I curse in French at the courthouse? It'll liven the event up, especially if any of the employees there are homophobic. One dirty look and I'll call them le connard in a second. " A jest, one he follows up with a chuckle and another nudge of his foot. Even if there were issues on Claire and Jill's big day, Chris would be on his best behavior, there wasn't a chance he'd risk ruining the event for either of them.

" I hope you know that when I get married I'm making you officiate, and we're all going to be black out drunk. I won't have it any other way. "

#bioresilient #!!!! they are so important

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pen-emue · 3 years

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Just because Tommy's stream today wasn't a capital-L Lore stream doesn't mean it didn't contain moments of Good, Valid roleplay that deserve to be acknowledge

As much as I do appreciate the effort that goes into heavily scripted streams like Quackity's most recent one, I worry that more frequent streams like that will decrease appreciation for the casual improv and roleplay that the server was built on. I do love both, but the latter really makes the server feel alive in such a magical way.

Definitely role play it would be rude to dismiss:

Niki and Tommy's interaction. Tommy said, paraphrasing, "Niki I'm alive again." He was in character and so was she, and even Ranboo and Techno went half into chatacter for that scene. This was so so important for Niki's arc. She was wary and distrustful of Tommy but still allowed him to take supplies from the city... because that's what she's built it for, to help people in need. Think back to her and Jack's conversation about anarchy when they parted ways. Niki believes in sharing if she has enough. Niki is on the path to healing and a tenuous truce with Tommy is a huge step in that direction.

Half-rp bits that could be canon if we believe hard enough (let's be honest at this point we know that's how it works):

Just like the whole thing... everyone hanging out and vibing. Yes even Techno. Techno is there for Ranboo who's canonically working on the tower with Tubbo and Tommy. They don't even have to canonically make up. Just because you have past beef with someone doesn't mean you automatically try to kill them on sight. Why would Techno care if Ranboo has friends? The Syndicate believes in freedom for its members. He doesn't have to know how close they are or their secret long- term plans. Hanging out can just be canon. Techno was just passing by, said hi to Ranboo, bullied Tommy a little, griped on how he'd a horrible raccoon who steals everything, traded him some armor because he's a sentimental dude despite himself, then moved on with his day. Perfectly in character.

#dream smp #technoblade #ranboo #nihachu #tommyinnit #dreamsmp

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collecting-stories · 3 years

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Cardigan - Rafe Cameron

Request: heyy for the ts anthology, can u do one for cardigan with rafe? love ur writing🤍

TS Anthology Series | Outer Banks Masterlist

_ . ◦ ⭐︎:*.☾.*:⭐︎◦∙._

The summer you turned thirteen was the same summer your dad showed up again. Driving the same lemon of a car that he’d pulled out of the driveway in when you were six, he looked like he hadn’t aged. Or maybe you just didn’t remember him all that well because his face felt the same but you were different. When you missed your best friend’s birthday, a trip to the gymnastics gym on the mainland and a towering cake with fondant replicas of all her favorite things, she was rightly pissed.

Thirteen felt monumental, like the movie the two of you had snuck onto your mom’s Verizon bill, and you had both made a pact that you would be there for each other no matter what. That promise included birthdays and, more seriously, dads who showed up after seven years of radio silence because they didn’t want to “miss anything else”. But you didn’t mention your dad because hers was so great and you felt a little like you were floating on an island and no one could understand you enough to reach it. But then you missed her birthday and she swore not to speak to you and that felt more crushing than the dad thing until her brother stepped in. Always the one playing referee in when you fought, Rafe was a few years older and, in your mind, a lot smarter.

It felt pretty important that an older boy would make the time to talk to you, especially when he had to know that his sister was avoiding you at all costs. He’d just gotten his permit and, like any good brother, showed up in the car he wasn’t supposed to drive with a minor in the passenger seat, to take you around the island for the afternoon.

“My mom said she thinks we’re gonna move.” You mentioned, less casually than you would’ve hoped. The windows in the truck were rolled down and you had your legs up, feet placed precariously on the window ledge. There was a particularly nasty bruise on your knee from falling off your skateboard three days ago and a few short hairs you’d missed shaving. You were relatively new to both shaving and skateboarding so there were bound to be mistakes, you just wished they were less visible.

“Off the island?” Rafe asked, concern etched into his tone. You assumed the concern was for his sister, what would Sarah do if you moved? Who would put up with all her antics?

You shook your head, “to the cut.”

“Why?”

“She can’t afford the house on her own anymore and my dad has been lousy with child support.” You repeated back all the things she had said to you. Why she didn’t take him to court like the other kid in your grade with divorced parents was beyond you. Rose told her that it was the only way to ensure he paid what he was supposed to but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to hold him accountable.

Can’t believe you’re gonna be a pogue.” He said it like it meant something worse than you moving to the mainland.

“It’s not forever. My grandma’s house is there, we’re gonna stay with her until we can get back up on our feet.” You shrugged, “at least my dad’ll stay away then.”

But you dad wasn’t the only one who kept their distance. It felt like the distinction over your mother’s life choices held a greater impact on your friends than they had let on. A year into pogue life and Rafe seemed to disappear almost completely. It had always been an odd kind of friendship in the first place but you’d thought that it could’ve withstood a change in address.

Sarah kept in touch, unbothered by labels or mailing addresses. She’d been to your grandma’s a hundred times before you moved and she continued to go there to see you after. The two of you played in the backyard, doing tricks on the trampoline until gossiping about kids at school became more important than cartwheels. You’d lay there whispering as if someone might overhear, telling each other stories from the week that you were separated. Rafe always came to pick her up, staying in the car and honking the horn for her but never coming over to see you.

It felt a little lonely even though you technically retained most of your friends.

In tenth grade you got the role of Eponine in the teen camp production of Les Miserables that the local theatre was putting on. You were technically sharing the role with another girl your age but you couldn’t help being excited nonetheless. The boy playing Marius was in two of your classes, a senior who had lofty city dreams and a nice smile. He flirted almost constantly with you, brushing your hair back, telling you how pretty you were, inviting you out after practice. You told Sarah you were “pretty sure” you were on your way to having your first real boyfriend.

But maybe the ominous casting of Eponine over your life should’ve been hint enough that things weren’t destined to work out that way. The boy who played Marius had an actual girlfriend, home from vacationing with her family in time to watch her boyfriend on stage, and you were supposed to accept that he was just “connecting to the character” when he was with you. Either way, your On My Own struck a different chord in you and after the show was over you didn’t join the other cast members in the lobby to greet people.

“So when you get to New York...do I get to leak all those videos of you and Sarah doing your Genie in a Bottle routine?” Rafe asked, pulling a chair next to you at the makeup table. Yours was halfway off but you’d stopped scrubbing at your face to stare at yourself in the mirror. Self-pity was a powerful procrastinator.

“You’re supposed to be in the lobby.” You pointed out, ignoring his comment, “I look like a ghost raccoon that just climbed out of a dumpster.

“Now there’s an analogy.” He laughed and picked up the cotton pads you had sitting on the counter, soaking one in micellar water and turning your head to face him.

You bit your bottom lip as you tried to keep your composure. It’d been a while since you and Rafe had been alone and last time he was just your best friend’s cute older brother. Too old for you and way out of your league but you were fifteen now and seventeen didn’t feel so far away.

But Sarah was your best friend and she would be mortified if she found out that you had even entertained the idea of her brother, let alone had serious thoughts about it.

“I’m sorry,” you said as he swiped the cotton pad over your cheek.

“What for?”

“I know we’re all supposed to go out tonight for dinner but I kinda just wanna go home.” You replied.

“Sarah might’ve let it slip about-”

You groaned, “don’t even say his name.” You weren’t sure if it was embarrassment at having let yourself totally believe he liked you but hearing Rafe bring it up made you feel even worse.

“Hey, you’re so much better than that loser,” He insisted, “I’ll beat the crap outta him though, just say the word.”

It was that same year, just as school was ending, that you turned sixteen. A short stay in the cut at your grandma’s house had helped your mom get back on her feet. A new job, better than the one that let her go, afforded a moderately sized house back on Figure Eight and a birthday with all the friends that had left the two of you behind.

Sixteen felt a little more important than thirteen had, especially because, for two whole weeks, time suspended and you were technically only a year younger than Rafe. You still hadn’t told Sarah that you liked her brother, though she did seem a little suspicious when the crush on your co-star dissipated almost overnight. The boys of the past had no hold over your growing infatuation with Rafe. Maybe it was foolish but you couldn’t help thinking that maybe it wasn’t.

Especially not when he showed up at your house the same way he had when you were thirteen, though this time he had his actual license and not just a permit. He told you it was birthday drive around the island, that he was in charge of stalling you while Sarah set up a surprise party at your house.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to tell me that it’s a surprise.” You teased, sipping at the iced coffee that Rafe had brought you when he picked you up. You swished the ice around once before sipping again.

“It’s a party either way.” Rafe replied, shrugging his shoulder.

“So, we’re just driving around until she texts you?” You asked. Rafe turned into the Island Club, circling the parking lot once and then turning back around.

“I’m yours until Sarah says otherwise.” He said, the words erupting butterflies in your stomach. You could practically feel yourself heat up thinking about what those words could mean if he wasn’t just your best friend’s brother.

“Well...then do you wanna go to the beach?” You suggested, “Jaxon showed me this really cool spot on the south side that’s practically hidden.”

“Jaxon?” Rafe sounded judgmental when he said the other boy’s name, whether he meant to or not.

“Yea, we’ve been on a couple dates. You know him, he took me to prom,” you supplied, thinking of the way Rafe had sulked on the staircase while you and Sarah had gotten your pictures taken on the front lawn of Tanney Hill. The last picture in the bunch, despite his sulkiness, was of you and Rafe. You’d asked and he had obliged, coming down onto the porch to take a picture with you before everyone left for the dance.

It was your favorite picture, even more than the countless ones of you and Sarah or the few of you and Jaxon. He was just a place holder anyway, someone to take your mind off the thing you couldn’t have. Not that it was working, especially when you were driving around with Rafe at the moment.

“I remember him.” Rafe replied, “so this special part of the beach?”

“It’s so pretty.” You confirmed, “Sarah and I went there a couple weeks ago but she only ever wants to sunbathe.”

“Don’t say it like you’re surprised.” He said, pulling his car off to the side of the road when you told him to.

You were out of the car first, letting the door fall shut behind you as you headed up the wooden ramp to the beach. The drop off at the top was a little steeper here than anywhere else, the beach mostly desolate. You stopped at the top of the walkway, turning back to wait for Rafe. He was standing at the bottom of the ramp staring up at you.

“Are you coming up or what?” You called.

“Yeah,” he nodded, walking up the path to you.

“I know Sarah’s planning a big birthday for me, but I’d much rather have this...” you admitted, “just like, coming out to the beach with you...”

“Oh yeah?” He asked, grinning down at you.

“Don’t tell Sarah,” you joked, “she’ll be mad-”

“Why, cause I’m your favorite Cameron?”

Maybe it was being sixteen or maybe it was that you were feeling particularly bold, out here on the beach with just Rafe, no threat of prying eyes to interrupt you. Either way, you had been thinking about telling him for a while now and it felt like the time...even if getting rejected ran the risk of ruining your birthday.

“I know I’m just Sarah’s best friend but...I really like you Rafe.” You said, “and I know it’s like a million to one that you like me back but I just felt like I would explode if I didn’t tell you.” You waited a beat for him to say something and when he didn’t you kept talking, “Sorry, I know this is so weird-”

“It’s not weird.” Rafe cut you off, “I’m just shocked that you seriously think I only see you as Sarah’s best friend.” His tone was teasing as he brushed a piece of hair behind your ear and cupped your cheek. “You’re so much more than that.”

It was Sarah who told you, days before your eighteenth birthday. She’d seen Rafe with someone else when her family took a weekend trip out to Chapel Hill to see a game. There was a girl there, hanging all over her brother. He swore she was just a friend, told Sarah not to tell you, but Sarah wasn’t dumb and she wouldn’t help her brother cover up an indiscretion. So she told you flat out that her brother was cheating on you.

When Sarah first found out that you and Rafe were dating, she had been as mad as her thirteenth birthday. How could you go behind her back and date her brother? The anger dissipated slowly, over the course of the summer it became clear that were not going to leave her in the dust for Rafe. She wasn’t wholly supportive of the relationship but she was supportive of you and if Rafe was who you wanted to be with than she’d be happy for you.

But if she had to choose, it would always be you over Rafe.

“I didn’t want to tell you, I really thought about not saying anything but...you deserve to know.” It was the justification she used as your face fell, all the giddiness from planning your eighteenth birthday fading in the blink of an eye.

“He cheated?” And it felt like a punch to the gut. “Are you sure?”

“He said she was just a friend but...I don’t hang on my friends like that.” Sarah remarked.

You fiddled with the phone in your lap, Sarah’s comments turning over in your head. You could refute them, tell her that you’d just talked to him the night before and he told you how excited he was to see you, how much he loved you. He’d used the word love...that had to mean something right? You could call him, ask him straight away if he was actually cheating, but you suspected that he would only lie to you. And if he wasn’t cheating, if he did tell the truth, would you believe him? Sarah was your best friend and once she had planted the seeds of doubt in you, they seemed to flourish there.

You didn’t say anything else about it to Sarah that night and when Rafe called to talk, like he always did, you pretended that everything was fine. But that could only last for so long. A week before your party, on the same special part of the beach that Rafe had first kissed you, things ended. Rafe had sworn to Sarah that the girl at school was just a friend but he couldn’t lie to you, and he didn’t try to either.

“It was a mistake,” he insisted, as if it was the type of thing you could brush off.

“But you still made it.” You replied.

“I didn’t mean to.” Rafe didn’t have any good reasons for why he had cheated on, only that he had and that, since you now knew, he was apologetic. “I don’t even talk to that girl anymore. She meant nothing to me.”

“Obviously she meant more than we did.”

Rafe had been it for you for a long time. He seemed so out of your league and you had thought a million times that you would’ve done anything for him. He was the ideal for everything that you wanted and for a while, when you had it, had him, it had felt like a dream. But now you were waking up to reality and it wasn’t a sunset on the beach.

“I love you.” He said it like it was something you were neglecting to remember.

“Not enough.”

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miawinters · 3 years

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I think Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness isn't good bc the same cookie cutter plot, had a weird antagonist with a weird motive, the pacing being too fast, focused too much on American issues like RE6 (which I thought most ppl didn't like), didn't affect the series in any way, made Claire ooc and side lined her, probably more things I'm already forgetting, but I think the most frustrating thing is how capcom still treats Claire and Leon's relationship.

Sherry plays a significant role in Claire and Leon's relationship (even if RE2 remake cut it out) and capcom's repeated dismissal towards her as a character really doesn't make sense. I think Leon is now on par with Chris for the series' cover boy, especially concerning the CGI content (even if RE:ID was probably to capitalize off of Resident Evi 2 Remake) and it truly does feel unnecessary. Chris's character just kind of goes all over with each new title he's in, but Leon has kind of been turned into this almost (?) bootlicker, with the occasional line showing he's jaded or whatever, but overall still complaint with his job and showing no desire to change anything. That might just show capcom's writers not knowing what to do with him, as well as other characters, but it still doesn't make sense.

As I said before, Sherry is important concerning Claire and Leon because they both spent so much effort trying to protect her. Claire leaves her in Leon's care post re2, and Leon only parts with her because he thinks he is saving her. It should be a very easy and obvious route to expand upon their characters together, but for some reason Capcom is incredibly opposed to it, basically acting like Sherry as a character doesn't exist. Without Sherry, Leon and Claire don't quite have much of a reason to be interacting honestly, besides the shared experience of Raccoon City. RE:ID feels like Resident Evil Revelations in that Claire and Leon are paired together like Chris and Jill due to their shared, initial, ordeal in their debut games, but beyond that none of the characters develop at all. The idea is anticipated and welcomed because we all loved the original games, but then the final product is out and Claire is ooc and Leon as well, arguably. The two are also no longer equals, with Claire being sidelined and Leon seemingly needing to watch out for her (for some reason). The worst part is that Sherry's influence does subtly carry over past RE2, but at most through a misogynistic portrayal of having Claire interact with children over and over, but also never mentioning Sherry again, Leon also doesn't try to leave his job despite complaining about it occasionally, but doesn't remember why he joined. Their last interaction, out of three, was also an argument, which conflicts with Claire and Leon indirectly helping each other out throughout the entirety of RE2.

I recently watched Jujutsu Kaisen, and I wished the pacing wasn't as fast as it was, but I'm in the middle of reading the light novels, and It shows little short stories of the characters in between the original series' high action, fast-paced story and I wish Resident Evil could do something similar as well. capcom has made every single CGI movie/show in just about the same way with Leon being a hero and taking down some big bioweapon, but these extra pieces of media literally don't need to be like this. The series isn't lacking for characters to expand upon, but unfortunately the series only seems to now focus on Chris and Leon (who aren't even truly the Main character and don't even develop when they are in the spotlight).

These extra pieces of media, along with re revelations/revelations 2, try to tie into existing main games with some little easter egg at the end to try and keep the timeline normal, but they don't even need to do that. All four of the CGI media introduces characters and kills them off because there's no explanation for their absence in later titles, but if the focus wasn't on characters with such a big presence (Leon/Chris). then it'd be excusable. They could focus on minor characters we haven't seen for a long time, or even something as simple as Leon and Claire coming together to try and do something about sherry's situation. Capcom in general just has a huge issue with trying to address anything post Code Veronica, and it really shows, but honestly it shouldn't be that hard since Resident Evil 3 truly did set up some sort of ending, and I don't get what they're doing :/

#personal #resident evil infinite darkness spoilers #long post #i lied im making the post but only because tumblr refreshed my dash again as i was scrolling 🙄#anyways re:id not good. wish it was. leon had funny lines tho #also this isnt a review but more a complaint abt leon/claire's treatment

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whythehellnaut · 3 years

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Why’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City review

I haven't written a movie review since pre-covid, even though I've been seeing a lot of movies lately. I think I want to talk about Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City though. This was interesting to me because it was both a terrible mess of a film and a heartfelt love letter from fans that actually care about the games and were making what, honestly, should have been the first RE live action movie. Basically, it would have been great if it came out in 2002, but... not so much 19 years later.

So, I'll start out by pointing out that, yeah, it was really dumb. Leon sleeping through a tanker explosion 20 feet away but waking up to a gunshot is one of the most hilariously dumb things I've seen in cinema. Wesker saying, "We should split up," in a post-Scream era (let alone 2021) is facepalm worthy, even if there's a good reason for him to say it in the plot's context. You can kind of guess how the rest of the movie goes just by hearing those two things, because that's not even the end of the stupid crap that happens in it. The acting is cheesy for the most part, outside of Donal Logue carrying the second act with his awesome performance as Chief Brian Irons. The dialogue and directing suffered a lot, the CGI was pretty mediocre at best, and I'm pretty sure there's some plot holes. It really is a B-movie in almost every aspect.

That said, even if there's a so-bad-it's-good feel to it, I couldn't help but sort of love this movie subjectively, because of its references to the games. Where the first RE live action movie had nothing in common with the games outside of the names Umbrella, Raccoon, and Nemesis, and was obviously a generic zombie movie with a game's name slapped onto it as a cash-in, Welcome to Raccoon City could not have been made without paying attention to all the trivial minutia of the games. My god, there are so many references that made me smile. A Jill sandwich joke that actually kind of works by showing Jill and Chris' chemistry, the trucker's burger, the stuffed animal in the orphanage, the Ashford film, the garage, the goddess statue, the club and diamond keys, the piano, if you know what I'm talking about, then you know. Lord, not a minute went by without the filmmakers letting the viewers know that they played the games and love them as much as we do. And that's important to have in a movie- creators that truly love the source material and aren't doing this as a way to make easy money.

The story was basically the best way to combine RE1 and RE2 into a single movie with a runtime of under 2 hours. Not to say that it was very good, though. As I said, it suffers from lazy writing and directing. But if you know what makes the stories good in the games, basically everything from them is here as well. Heck, I'll even give them a little credit for originality- they took Lisa Trevor, a very minor side character in the game, and gave her a slightly more important role that made her an unexpected badass. Considering how much I loved how sympathetic that character was in the game, how they kept that sympathetic nature in the movie, and then built her into a minor hero, I just felt so, so proud of her as a fan. This is why I feel there was a lot of love put into this movie- someone on the staff truly loved Lisa Trevor and made a point to do her character justice.

I have to point out a few missteps that I think fans will be upset about, as I am too, and they're in some of the character writing. Claire, Leon, and Wesker are disappointingly far from how they should be, personality wise. Claire is the protagonist, so I understand giving her a generic role, but she ends up being too serious for the fun, quirky college kid she should be. In attempt to make Leon the naive, underdog rookie cop he's supposed to be, they ended up making him a weenie that sucks at his job and needs Claire to practically teach him to shoot. Wesker is a totally different character. The badass mastermind is now a strong, but weirdly emotional pawn who seems to feel remorse for his inevitable betrayal. No idea what they were thinking there.

Hopefully that will help you decide if you want to see this movie or not. I can't give this a thumbs up, because if you aren't a fan, you'll be pretty lost and just see this as a dumb zombie movie, but I can't give it a thumbs down either, because as a fan, I was thoroughly entertained and felt somewhat fulfilled, despite its shortfalls. If you liked the original movie series, then I think this might satisfy you as well.

#resident evil #movie review #resident evil: welcome to raccoon city

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imjusthereforbatfam · 4 years

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Never-Ending Encore, Chapter 1

Summary/Intro: Okay. Ignoring all the death and dying, Eden Smith is a fairly normal person. So maybe not everyone grows up on a farm and gains a new “cousin” every few years, and— I mean, yeah, most people don’t have a mother who definitely used to kill people for a living, or have a father who walked out when they refused to become a superhero, or ran away to Gotham without telling anyone they know, or— or— Okay, FINE! Maybe Eden ISN'T entirely normal. Can’t you just let her eat her cookies and die a couple times in peace? Sheesh!

Pairing: Jason Todd/Red Hood x OC

It’s supposed to be a little silly mixed with a little sad so just go into it with that in mind plz. Hopefully it’s not GOD AWFUL.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Chapter One:

It was, for once, a quiet night in Eden’s apartment. Her upstairs neighbors weren’t hosting an orgy or starting World War 3, the baby downstairs wasn’t crying bloody murder, and her next-door-neighbor wasn’t screaming at the TV.

Out on the street, it was equally quiet. Sure, a car alarm had gone off a few minutes ago, but there was no drunken shouting. No random gunshots, no gratuitous explosions in the distance. In fact, for what must’ve been the first night since she’d moved there, the city of Gotham actually seemed at ease.

Maybe that should’ve put Eden on edge. Maybe it was some kind of warning, a calm before an inevitable storm. But it was the first sense of peace she'd felt in months. She couldn't just ignore it. Instead of curling up on her bed with her headphones full blast, questioning her life choices, she sat out on the fire escape and enjoyed the calm night.

Her apartment was situated just high enough to peek over the rooftops of most of the neighboring buildings. The outline of Gotham’s tallest skyscrapers stood in the distance and car lights twinkled on the nearby highway like stars. Out here, a thick stench of smog and rotting trash usually choked the air, but tonight a soft breeze blew it away. A soft mixture of brick, iron, the herbs she was growing, and her freshly baked cookies took its place.

If she closed her eyes and tried – really, really tried – it almost felt like being back home.

The thick blanket wrapped around her could just as easily be protecting her from splinters on the front porch. The distant sound of cars could be a gust of wind blowing through the trees or the horses playing in the field. Her freshly baked snickerdoodles couldn’t be Mama’s – nobody’s cookies ever tasted as good as Mama’s – but Eden could at least pretend she’d made them at their small bakery at the edge of the road.

She ate another, savoring the warm, chewy center and trying not to focus on the difference in taste. She was baking most of their goods by heart by the time she was ten years old. Blindfold her, tie one hand behind her back, and Eden could still probably make anything on the menu without much trouble. But for some reason, here… things didn’t taste the way they were supposed to.

They still tasted good, she assured herself as she took another bite. It was probably just the store-bought ingredients she’d had to settle for. Or the city water. Or that they made her miss home.

Eden frowned. She quickly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, pushing the idea away. She had more important things to worry about right now than cookies and tastes. Like her newest job.

She'd landed a new role just last week and the sooner she could be off-script, the happier her director would be. She only spoke in three scenes of this show, but that was two more than the previous one and she was on-stage for several more. The better she did, the better her referrals would be. The better the referrals, the more work she would get, and the closer she would be to getting bigger roles. When she got bigger roles, she’d get even better referrals, which would land her even bigger roles, and so on and so forth until she could afford an apartment in a, uh… less interesting part of Gotham.

Even in this hotbox-of-crime neighborhood, her studio apartment somehow cost more than twice the two-bedroom house Kit and her boyfriend were renting back home. And the insurance fees in Gotham? Outrageous. But sadly necessary considering all the nutzo shenanigans that went down in the city. As much as it would kill her to work in an office, those insurance companies probably made some serious bank, so getting a “real job” at one at some point wasn’t totally off the table.

Eden huffed, unclipping her reading light to turn the page of the script and attaching it again. She had a good thing going now, but she was more than aware it was borrowed time.

Eventually, Frank's money would run out. Eventually, she’d need to call home and explain herself. Eventually eventually, she’d have to actually go home. She’d have to face everyone’s feelings of hurt and betrayal, including her mother’s, which would most certainly be laced with Louanne Smith's particularly frightening brand of ice-cold wrath. Eden would also probably get mugged or murdered in this insane city at least twice and have to listen to everyone's “I told you so"s.

But that wasn’t right now. Right now, Eden had it okay.

She had a small, shitty apartment in a huge, shitty city where she would most certainly die if she wasn’t careful, but at least it was her own place. No overbearing mother always staring over her shoulder, no runaways taking her bed for the night, no rag-tag group of semi-siblings gobbling up her time and space and arguing house rules when she fought back. This was her space, damn it, and she didn’t have to share it with anybody unless she wanted to! Not that she’d want anyone else coming to such a colorful part of Gotham in the first place, but still! It was hers.

And nobody here knew her. There was no history she had to take into account every time she stepped outside; no old rivalries or mishaps that mapped out which side of town she was and wasn’t safe on. In Gotham, you just plain old weren’t safe no matter who you were, where you were, or what you’d done. Eden had learned that quick. She almost preferred it some ways. It was easier than the small-town, passive-aggressive grudges and back-stabbings she'd grown up around.

Not to mention she had Gotham’s robust, ever-growing performance industry at her disposal. Despite all the insanity and crime that surrounded them – or, perhaps, because it surrounded them – the wealthy here demanded a constant stream of grand symphonies, operas, ballets, and so forth to distract them. Performers in Gotham were paid better than anywhere else in America. They had to be. With how often performances were interrupted by madmen and villains here, it had to be worth the risk.

For Eden, that risk wasn't something she really needed to consider. If something happened, she'd be fine. She always was. She was "lucky" like that.

And besides, fewer people willing to risk getting shot or blown up in the middle of a performance meant fewer people at auditions! Getting to be on stage, getting to follow her dreams... That was why Eden had left the farm in the first place. And Gotham was the best place for her to achieve those dreams as quickly as possible. So things were okay.

Really! Even if she was a little homesick, even if this dirty town was too crowded and too crazy, even if guilt hung over her like a knife... things were okay.

In fact, at this exact moment – in the strange but welcomed quiet of the night, practicing what she loved, eating still-warm cookies out in the open air – things felt better than okay. Things for once, actually, genuinely, felt good.

Then, a shadow flickered over her.

Eden froze.

Her free hand hovered over the plate of cookies. She’d been turning in such a way, leaning over the stair she was sitting on to reach the plate, that all her weight was now pushing into her toes. It was a hard position to hold without falling over. Blinding, too. Her head was cast down, facing the cookies and not at all in the direction of the shadow.

She wanted to move. Just enough to right herself and let her look somewhere beyond the metal grating underneath her. But Eden could practically hear Mr. Monroe, her old coach, scolding her.

“Hold position!” he’d say. Then, after noticing her shaking knees, he would trill, “I said hold, Eden! Keep your limbs still. Breathe carefully. I don’t want to see a single sign of life. In this moment, you are a prop. You are the scenery!”

The fire escape gave a small, almost unnoticeable shake as something dropped near her. Eden's limbs jerked instinctively. She shut her eyes, silently cursing, hoping it was just a raccoon.

Did Gotham even have raccoons? Eden hoped very much that they had raccoons. Giant, mutant raccoons that could cast large shadows and make fire escapes shake when they landed.

“You planning on staying like that all night or…?” a distorted voice asked.

Heartbreaking News: Gotham City does not have mutant raccoons.

---

Chapter 2

#jason todd x oc #red hood x oc #jason todd x reader #Jason Todd #jason todd fanfiction #red hood x reader #Never-Ending Encore #original character #oc: Eden Smith #idk what i'm doing #help #my writing #cross posted on ao3 #plz dont kill me #Fluff #angst #eventual smut?

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thephantomporg84 · 5 years

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[REDACTED] be complaining reg. the reactions of having "placed the cultist island Fortuna off the coast of Florida" while having the gall of "It’s the story & the way it’s told that should fucking matter" & "Who cares? It’s fictional geography, you idiots." Feels a bit like failing World-Building 101. I mean, Red Grave based on London would also be a callback to Dante's early concept of being a Brit.

Someone already sent me the whole post of hers that I’m pretty sure you’re referring to lmao. I’m in a particularly cunty but pleasant mood rn, and analysis is kind of my thing, so lets’s break it down, shall we?

Maybe someone can send this her way and… learn that tiny little brain of hers a thing. 😉

It’s fictional geography called world building, you idiots Karen after the cut:

‘I love how a number of shitheels have screeched amongst themselves on this hellsite about how I had placed the cultist island Fortuna off the coast of Florida or somewhere around the Gulf US states (re: the fanfic & project link in my header), whining that it should’ve been in Europe, namely Italy.’

An admission to stalking profiles is not exactly the best way to start a self-righteous rant or advertise your… magnum opus, but go off, I guess.

‘Not only that, but they whined about “plotholes and inconsistencies” without elaborating on what the latter are. The asshole who made the rant was annoyed when I used a poem as a spell in the story (“if I heard that, I’d turn off my PS4.”), but I’m sure she didn’t bitch about the cutscene before the last Agnus boss fight in DMC4.’

Like the movie The Room (2003), it’s just easier to say “all of it” is bad because “all of it” contains plotholes and is inconsistent in tone, has terrible half-baked ideas and plot threads that remain unresolved and/or do nothing to further the plot, is rife with poor + inconsistent characterization, has a lack of any knowledge how the medium it exists in is made, and in general makes me wonder how much pottery enamel you’ve been huffing to think any of this was a good idea. Howeverrrr, in contrast to you, Tommy Wiseau is kind of odd and weirdly charming both in general and about his terrible movie — he’s found glory and success in its terribleness. You, in contrast, remain a miserable cunt with delusions of grandeur.

Dante and Agnus’ Shakespeare bit is actually a pretty well known trope called Ham-to-Ham Combat. Dante and Agnus are both ridiculous Large Hams in DMC4, and when two Large Hams meet, in general, they are likely gonna try to ‘out-over dramatic’ each other. This can lead to a scene becoming either really funny or really corny (or both) really fast. If things go too far — and they do, in this case — the scene can become a Hormel Event Horizon.

‘…but they LOVE the plotholes & inconsistencies if Capcom makes the latter, and writes a terrible story! And Crapcom’s canon for DMC is as straight as a paperclip or a dog’s hind leg. Hypocritical pricks.’

Subjective opinion is not, and never will be, objective fact. People are, as of when I checked again in the last ~5 minutes or so, absolutely able to enjoy whatever media they want regardless of what the general consensus on the quality of that media is.

As an example, I enjoy The Room (2003) despite its terribleness and it never fails to make me laugh, while your magnum opus makes me want to huff pottery enamel so the pain will stop despite you thinking it is the work of an idiot savant.

‘They were also mad that I wrote Dante as a wiseguy who is a little more low-key about it due to the circumstances— instead of being a pathetic manchild airhead that tries too hard.’

You didn’t write Dante.

You wrote Reboot!Donte — a fucking terribly out of character version of him, at that.

‘I was primarily concerned about moving the story along. I didn’t care about where a fictional island is supposed to go.’

You literally had one (1) job, Karen.

‘…Meanwhile, not a single character in DMC4 had an Italian accent, so uh, why should I give a flying fuck where I put it?’

Haven’t you been like… shitting on the DMC staff… for terrible writing… this enti— You know what? You’re obvs way too dumb to notice that contradiction, so I’ll let it slide.

Just… a word of advice, if I may? Don’t ever watch dub TV shows. That last brain cell would fuckin’ just burst all over your carpet.

(Actually, don’t watch subtitled shows either. An extremely popular anime that was set in Italy just wrapped and all the characters — le gasp! — spoke fucking Japanese. You would shit.)

‘I wasn’t paid to write any of what I wrote, but be my guest & send a PM if you want to throw money at me. By all means, do that.’

Oh, thank fuck, because they would have been ripped off, big time.

[ btw, you sound p. jealous of people that write/do creative work/commissions for ko-fi/payment tho. Not a good look tbbh. If it’s any consolation, though, I don’t get paid for making fun of you and/or analyzing your dumb bullshit, either. :( ]

‘The pricks at Capcom didn’t even bother giving us a proper DMC4 and it was a half-assed game, with the latter half being hasty filler material. The “special edition” they coughed up in 2015 was just glorified overpriced DLC.’

Ya know, you gotta be pretty far up your own ass to think this much of your opinion. And I’m saying this as a person that’s pretty far up her own ass like 85% of the time.

‘And another thing, Redgrave City in DMC5 seems to be in England, yet no survivors speak with English accents or slang/dialects.’

Pretty sure no survivors had speaking roles.

If you played the game you’d know this.

‘Meanwhile, Dante and Vergil had lived there when they were kids (until age 8), but they both have ordinary American or Canadian accents. Furthermore, how did the twins make it to the USA or Canada? According to the little booklet in the DMC1 game case, Dante’s office is in modern America.’

You know that invoking the imagery of a specific place without naming your location is normal and standard practice, right? Overwatch even does this (For Ex: Byōdō-in (平等院), Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan is the inspiration for Hanamura, Château de Duingt, Duingt, France for Château Guillard, etc.)

Furthermore, you know the original DMC was a rejected first draft of Resident Evil 4, right? This is what retcon is for. You at least know what retcon is, right?

‘…That information isn’t very important, but I’m bringing it up to illustrate a point that being a fucking pedant about geography in a fantasy game is idiotic, even if the setting is akin to modern Earth.’

So is freaking the fuck out and sending death threats over a fantasy game but you didn’t let that stop you either lmfao.

It’s actually super important to establish your scenery and the way your world operates, especially in a written work in which readers are dependent on your vision and your descriptions, and if you were a decent writer, you’d know this.

‘It’s the story & the way it’s told that should fucking matter.’

YOU HAD ONE (1) JOB, KAREN.

‘What US states are the Arklay Mountains located in?’

General description puts them in the U.S. Midwest. Raccoon City itself is stated to have a population of ~100,000 at the time of outbreak, and the only city in the Midwest that matches that population in 1998 is Springfield, Missouri, with a pop. of ~110,000.

Springfield is on the Springfield Plateau of the Ozarks region of SW Missouri. So they’re part of the Ozark Mountains.

This all took less than ~3 minutes to google, btw.

‘Where is “Zanzibar Land?”’

I actually just wrote a comprehensive answer to an ask a few weeks ago about this. It’s actually stated to be in Tselinoyarsk (Целиноярск), the (fictional) area of the former USSR in which Big Boss carried out the Virtuous Mission/Operation Snake Eater in 1964. Tselinoyarsk itself is heavily implied to consist of parts of Kyrgyzstan and/or Tajikistan. If you played MGS3 you’d know how important the setting and the varied environments/climates are to the game mechan-

oh yeah wait you believe in segregation of story and gameplay mechanics. I forget you’re completely tone deaf sometimes lmao.

How far is ‘Salem’s Lot or Derry from Bangor? Who cares?’

Stephen King does, quite a bit. He even has a map on his website of ‘his’ fictional version of Maine:

My disappointment is immeasurable, Karen.

#anonymous #replies #porg drama #derelict-stranger #derelict stranger #dmc #devil may cry #dmc5 #devil may cry 5 #dante #dmc dante #dmc fanfiction #dmc meta #writing #ao3

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rpdwong · 5 years

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[LET’S TALK RE2MAKE] Claire, Sherry (+ Leon) and Found Families

The Found Family trope is probably one of my favourite fictional tropes. Give me those relationships where a group of characters with nothing in common find each other and they become “home” and support each other, no matter what. It’s a powerful message: you choose your family. If you’re lucky, you might have a nice biological family that loves you. But that’s not always the case, and people should bond over something more than their blood ties. I think Claire and Sherry’s (and Leon to some extent) story in RE2 rings very true to this trope, and I was looking forward to watching how it developed in the RE2make.

Once again, I was happily surprised—to the point where I was almost teary eyed at certain scenes. I love Resident Evil with all my heart, and I cry at literally everything, but RE doesn’t usually have dramatic tension or sadness that hits that hard. But Claire’s scenario in RE2make did manage to get me and man, Claire and Sherry deserve a hug, a shower, all the puppies and parrots.

Sherry’s strangled relationship with her parents was explored in the original game. But, as I mentioned in my previous Let’s Talk RE2make about Ada and Leon, the game had its shortcomings when it comes to storytelling, simply because it’s a product of its time. I know RE2make is probably not most narrative driven game (we have BioWare games and, even though I haven’t played all of their games, I know Naughty Dog is praised for this) and it could do better, but when it comes to Resident Evil it IS a huge improvement—and this shows with Sherry’s character as well as Annette.

You see the strained relationship between mother and daughter in their brief encounters, you can also see that the Birkins were REALLY shitty parents, but Annette did care about her daughter—though that doesn’t really excuse her behaviour, but people are complicated and this is how it is.

So we have this poor little girl with huge abandonment issues, running around a police station looking for her mom, though she knows Annette doesn’t always have time for her (you might think NOW she should). But she is scared, she’s been chased by a monster (and as far as I remember, I think she’s aware the monster is William, right?? I really need to replay all scenarios, just writing all this from memory), alone and defenseless…

And then she meets Claire.

I think it’s important to highlight that Claire is also very young here, just 19 years old. A BABY AS WELL. We know she’s capable of looking out for herself, but it’s still a terrible situation, she might even be still worrying about Chris’ whereabouts here (depending on which scenario you play). But Claire, despite having no obligation to take care of Sherry, looks after her and decides to help her find her mom/escape.

Claire even takes it upon herself to save her from Irons. Again, Claire could just have walked out once she makes it out of the station—but she doesn’t. So, for once, there is somebody there for Sherry. Someone she can rely upon and trust, who makes her feel protected, as any child should (especially in a situation like this).

When Claire rescues Sherry from the dumpster, after she’s been infected, Sherry asks her why Claire is doing all this. Claire answers: “Because I care.” Then I start crying, because this is so beautiful. It’s not that Annette doesn’t care, we know she does in some way—but she’s still terrible with Sherry (that conversation they have over the CCTV makes me want to punch Annette so, so badly) when the girl needs her the most, needs that reassurance that “hey, everything’s going to be fine”.

Claire is the one who gives her that, who genuinely cares about her and shows it. It’s great that Claire also calls out Annette on her shitty behavior a few times (when she finds Sherry and later on before fighting G 3). When they’re on the cable car, Claire wants to give her the pendant back. Sherry rejects it, because it was a gift given by her mother, when all she wanted was for her to be home and spend time with her. It’s a sort of memento of everything that’s wrong between mother and daughter, in some way. Doesn’t help that, later on, we find out the pendant is the key to get the vaccine. We could say this is Annette’s saving her daughter in some way, but I also think it’s just another link to Annette and William’s job, which was the problem in the first place.

In the end, the bond Sherry and Claire develop is that of a newfound family. Thankfully, for the first time, Capcom has given us confirmation on what the hell happened to Chris and Claire’s parents, and we know they died in a car accident. So she only had her brother as family, which is why Chris is so important to her. The reason she travelled to Raccoon City because she hadn’t heard about him in a whole month. Maybe she even knew about the mansion incident, so she was getting worried something might’ve happened (though I don’t think Chris would tell her much, just to protect her).

But the thing here is that Sherry doesn’t even have a Chris. She has nobody, she’s alone. Claire can relate to being parentless, that’s why she bonds with Sherry (as she tells her to comfort her at the beginning). But, just as she had Chris, Sherry deserves that one person she can trust and rely upon—and that’s her now. They become family during this terrible experience, because Claire moved heaven and hell to save Sherry when no one else did. She was there for her when it mattered, unlike her parents (disclaimer: even though I really like Annette’s evolution in this game and she’s a good character, you can see I hold a grudge against her— it made me so angry how she treated Sherry!).

Now, I mentioned Leon in regards to the Found Family trope, because I think he more or less is a part of it. Leon, Claire, Sherry and Ada are all the “original” Raccoon City survivors (we have Jill afterwards, but since her story is completely isolated from RE2 and in a different game, I don’t think it counts for this). Ada’s a complicated case because of her role in the story and she only makes contact with Leon (except for that tiny moment in the original, where she retrieves Sherry’s pendant) and she doesn’t actually escape with them.

But Leon and Claire are our heroes, they make it out alive of Raccoon City and they help Sherry in the process. Even though in the RE2make Leon and Claire interact way less than in the original, and Leon doesn’t even meet Sherry until the very end, I think that last scene still resonates in the audience as a family moment, in which Leon is included.

In the original it’s all fun and games, until Leon says the “It’s up to us to take out Umbrella” or Claire says “I have to find my brother”. They have made it all more light hearted and fun in the RE2make, which I also think is much more realistic than just HEY WE HAVE TO BRING UMBRELLA DOWN or Claire immediately leaving, as RE3’s epilogue implied. After all she’s done for Sherry, she wouldn’t just leave her like that.

I have heard of two main criticism regarding the ending I’d like to address before finishing up this thing:

a) Sherry is way too cheerful after having just lost both her parents (and especially her mom, whose death affects her more). I can understand this and it is a valid complain, but I also think it could be a coping mechanism. That’s why she even jokes with the “You guys could adopt me!” because now she’s lost her real family, but has found a new one in Claire, and hey, this new guy seems to be on Claire’s good side and he’s helping and taking her to safety. I mean, I’d LOVE to be adopted by Leon and Claire, who wouldn’t??? I also think this is a case of Resident Evil not being ever really 100% down to Earth. RE endings always end up in a hopeful note, sometimes even cheesy. It’s a way to comfort the player as well, after all the terrible things we’ve been through with our characters. I think this is just another version of that, and it’s so beautiful to watch Leon and Claire holding Sherry’s hands and walking into the sunset. There might be problems ahead, but hey, they made it out! They are alive! It’s less cut and dry than the original, and it gives you a feeling that they’ve all bonded over this experience. And this is so fitting with what we know from RE6 Sherry. She talks about Leon and Claire with the utmost admiration, tells Jake they’re the reason she’s alive and she just wants to live up to their example. I think this ending resonates with that feeling she shares in RE6 and it’s beautiful.

b) Capcom is pushing Leon/Claire as a pairing. Ok, let’s open this can of worms. First of all: I hate shipwars, they are pointless and a waste of precious fandom time, and I don’t ship Leon and Claire, never have in my whole life, but I do see the appeal and it’s clear some of their interactions in the remake are kinda flirty. And this is all fine. Now, I don’t think their interactions at the end are the flirty ones.

When Claire jokes about the “one helluva first date”, she’s answering Leon’s comment when Sherry asks them about the girlfriend/boyfriend thing (where he points out they’ve just met, literally). Then Leon’s answer to Claire is clearly a reference to what has actually happened to him with Ada. That being said, Capcom was probably teasing the idea in a fan servicy way, but it’s still all in-character. Sherry’s the one pushing all those things here, and it can be explained because she’s just a 12 years old girl and is wondering who Leon is and why Claire knows him, since they’re happy to see each other alive. Hence the adoption comment later on. Sherry craves a family and, right now, these two people are practically her world after having suffered terrible things.

I do see Leon and Claire as sort of parental figures to Sherry, or at least the big sister/brother vibe, but that doesn’t mean Capcom is pushing anything here, IMO. My only gripe with all this is that I liked the idea of Claire being one of the few female characters that had 0 romantic tension with Leon, but still I don’t think we can call it that since they barely interact and it was just flirty banter. (I do enjoy, though, that their interactions are friendlier than in the original and they keep cheering each other up with those “We’re gonna make it!!). And hey, they’re both VERY PRETTY. If I were Leon, I’d get all flustered around Claire and viceversa. As some people have pointed out, both characters have a record of being flirty in general with other people, so this isn’t out of character for them either. In any case, I don’t think this is what’s happening in the ending scene and, even though it’s a nice fan service moment for people who do ship Leon and Claire, it can be seen just as a easily as a Found Family moment without any romantic connotations. Both work perfectly and leave every fan happy, no need for ship dramas. They ruin everything and it’s not worth it.

Seriously, that image of the three of them walking together into the sunset, holding hands fills my heart with happiness <3 Whether you ship one thing or another, don’t let anyone or anything rob you of the beauty this moment holds for Resident Evil history.

#claire redfield #sherry birkin #leon scott kennedy #resident evil 2 remake #resident evil 2 #meta #mine: meta

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theredwonder · 5 years

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Tell us your favourite quotes from your character. Give us an idea of who they are from five things they’ve said. Then tag your friends!

Tagged by: @americanalien @pathtotruth (because you kinda tagged me haha) Tagging: @pcrfectforayear @spoilertagged @murder-popsicle @kryptonfresh @ YOU

ok, these aren’t specifically my favourites but i generally like them and they tell you a lot about who tim is as a character

“Batman taught me to learn from our opponents. Fine. If they can stop cars by driving into them, then so can I.”

– Robin #129 – War Games: Act 1 Part 5 – Alamo High

One thing I hate about fanon Tim is how he’s the goody-two-shoes of the kids. He can be a little shit and really petty when he wants to be (just like Cass), and will absolutely use people’s words against them by twisting it around to his advantage. He’s sly that way.

“He’s got physics on his side. But I got an “A” in physics.”

– Robin #70 - War Beneath the Streets! Part Three: The Survivors

I use this as my promo quote because it’s cute and it really shows Tim’s worldview. He isn’t afraid to admit when he’s outgunned but can also be pretty confident to the point of prideful when he feels he’s in his zone. But at the same time, it also really shows his youthfulness and the context by which he measures himself against the world. He’s considered good according to a pre-existing framework of understanding competency, and I think his dependence on external validation can be a point of weakness at times.

“No one’s dead until you see the body. And sometimes not even then.”

– Robin #166 – The Big Leagues

This one is all about Tim’s work ethic and his view on investigation. I hated the whole We Are Robin thing with each Robin saying what Batman told them being a hero or Robin meant (I don’t know, I only saw panels and didn’t read it). It sounds catchy and everything but if they didn’t take a holistic approach to hero-ing then it’s a massive failure on Batman’s part to impart on them the importance of being thorough. And Tim is thorough. He is insanely diligent, which is what makes him such a great investigator, because he will exhaust all options before committing to anything. Which also resulted in Tim believing in time travel in one of Batman’s tests and got scolded for it, but guess who figured your sorry ass got lost in time Bruce huh? HUH?

And yeah this also foreshadows his journey to find Bruce when he was lost in time.

(Also, side eyes rebirth when Tim “died” and Bruce just gave up. Bro, your son went to the ends of the earth and his sanity and worked with the fuckin Demon’s Head to get you back and you just gave the fuck up. rebirth Bruce doesn’t deserve Tim)

“This is my life. It was my decision. I wasn’t ready for this! I vowed loyalty to you. Your word is the word. But that goes for Robin, not Tim Drake. You had no right to reveal my secret. I kept your secret. Sometimes at the risk of my life.You sent her here alone because you were afraid you’d run into Alfred! And that would blow your secret. So you just gave mine away.”

– Tim to Batman (Robin #87 – Secrets Revealed

So Tim really struggles with his identity a lot in the Robin series. From the beginning, he has seen himself as very much two different people - Robin and Tim Drake - only to have his identities slowly merge as he grew into the role and loses his connections outside of the hero-ing world. But this also shows when Tim isn’t afraid to stand up to Batman and give him a piece of his mind. He’s generally really quick to anger, which is something that is lost in fanon as well, and won’t hesitate to take it out on someone he feels deserving of it.

“If I were no longer Robin…that would mean that no more innocent people are being threatened. No more criminals going around breaking the law. No one was living in fear of their lives. No more crime or wrongdoing. It would mean that mankind had entered Utopia, and I’d be happy for humanity. Because that would be the only circumstance under which I’d quit the game.”

– Young Justice #7 – Conferences

Ok, this one is really........ this is pretty much the core of Tim’s heroic moral compass. He can never stand by and do nothing. As long as someone needs help and he is able to give that help, no matter in what capacity, he is driven to do it. Regardless of promises, self-doubt or consequences, Tim will do what needs to be done to the best of his ability at the first sign of trouble. As a result, he will never be able to hang up the cape, even after all the terrible losses he’s faced.

Bonus:

“Like a panther, he moves fast and low. In truth, more like a raccoon or a ferret. But don’t tell him that.”

– Detective Comics #802 – City of Crime Part 2: The Secret Keepers

Because Tim is still a smol cutie

#ooc #long post #headcanons

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theycallhim-thewintersoldier · 5 years

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anyway I fixed the ending of that movie, or at least the one half of it.

Pepper didn’t like the wreath of flowers. They were too lively, too bright. Ivy might have looked nicer. Tony would have suggested laurels and she’d have shaken her head at him.

If he was there to suggest them.

She can’t image he cares much where he is.

It was strange after so long, with some of her relatives and Happy being their only guests to suddenly have a full house of all these people she used to know, used to be friends with. In better days she and Maria would get coffee at five, or six in the morning on their way to their respective jobs but it was New York City and they were never the only ones there.

Sometimes, rarely, and uannounced, Natasha would join them.

Natasha Romanov who went from competition who speaks Latin to ally to friend in less time than it took her to learn most newcomer’s names. Natasha who smiled when she found out that she was moving to New York with Tony.

Sometimes she misses that anonymous constant buzz and chaos of the city but the quiet is better for Morgan, and she feels far safer, and she feels far more confidant in Morgan’s safety too and that’s the most important thing.

Morgan....

Everyone looked at her with so much pity that it almost made her angry. Pepper’s own grief was acknowledged by the guests--

by the mourners.

by the family.

--but no one really knew what to say to Morgan, what to do with her. She couldn’t help but think of Barton’s children and how they’re coping. They had been so lucky to avoid anything like this and Pepper wants to talk to Laura about how...how did she approach this the first time a pet died, a grandparent took sick, how do you tell a child that someone is never coming back?

Her daughter wasn’t even crying, just standing there quiet and still and thoughtful like any of the adults.

it broke her heart.

The lilies of the wreath at least looked nice against the burden they were to float out with, the black and the blue and the silver, even if they wouldn’t have fit the--

It wasn’t up to her. She hates funerals. She’s been to too many of them, but none thank God had been recent and she debated for so long about letting Morgan come today until she decided to ask her

“If you don’t want to come, or if you want to leave at any point, let me know.”

If she told Morgan she couldn’t come then she would have regretted it for the rest of her life. No funeral would ever be easy but Pepper hadn’t been to one until she was twenty five and it wrecked her for weeks.

They’re lucky, they can afford the best child therapists in the country for Morgan if she needs it, and it’s Pepper’s opinion that every kid could probably benefit from a visit or two.

And she knows it she’s a Cinderella story, even if she hates to think of it like that becuase she did work her way up to being Tony’s assistant and she earned the CEO role and has full confidence--as does the board--that even if Tony had been utterly indifferent to her she would have still earned it.

She’s not sure if she’s holding Morgan’s hand for her sake or her own, but when her daughter’s grip loosens she lets go without squeezing it. It would be unfair to take any kind of support from her when she’s only just old enough to understand what’s going on.

None of this is made easier by the fact that she can see Clint and Laura crying; Rodgers--she never did get to first name basis with him, always wary of his presence becuase it never meant anything good

I don’t want him in my house...-- she can’t work out in her mind if Tony would be alright with that or not. Oh, she knows he’d say “it’s your house, you’re in charge,” but still...

Rodgers was crying too. Stone-faced like the soldier he still was in his head but fresh and half-dry tear trails went down his face. Maria must have noticed too becuase Pepper caught her trying to make eye contact with her, but Rhodey passed between their sightline and almost startled her.

“How are you holding up?”

“All things considered? We’re functioning,” she smiled for him. It almost felt honest.

“I can’t believe he’s not here. It’s not...” he doesn’t have to explain to Stark’s wife why it doesn’t seem right. Pepper wasn’t part of the team but she was part of the family.

“I know.”

They stand aside and watch as the Bartons finally lead their kids away from the dock. Lyla was crying softly into a tissue. Little Nat looked like he was about to throw up. Rodgers’ friend, the one that Pepper absolutely was not going to let into Tony’s home (if he’s here or not, technically her house or not, absolutely not), was cringing as if trying to keep from full-on sobbing.

Pepper had offered the team help on finding any whereabouts of Natasha’s family. Of course the team, but it didn’t feel like enough. Now watching Laura put Natasha’s necklace on Lyla, Pepper can’t believe she didn’t think of it before: aside from the team, Natasha had her own family even if she wasn’t related to them by blood.

When they walked past them on the way up to the house, Morgan reached out to hug Lyla, and then Nat. Pepper had managed to keep from crying so far, but she can’t hold it back now. Over the heads of the mourners she could see the wreath now sinking into the water, Natasha’s stinger cuffs and SHEILD badge falling to rest. Originally her necklace was there too, the one Lyla had chosen, the arrow to remind Tasha of them as if she could have forgotten. ‘To point you home’ was what Laura told Pepper was Lyla’s reasoning on the arrow symbol. That, and Lyla’s parents were both ace archers. Lyla had taken the necklace off the wreath and clutched it with a yelp just as she was about to set it in the water.

“Have they told you anything yet?”

“They’re going to amputate his right arm most likely, but they’re more worried about keeping him stable.”

“He’s stable?” Rhodey asked with genuine joy.

“As of eight hours ago; and...just barely. Dr. Pym and recommended the team; they’re the best biomedical--”

“Yeah that’s what Dr. Strange said.”

“Is that really his name?”

“Apparently, according to the spider-boy. Have you seen him yet?”

“They didn’t want non-family in the room,”

“Come on, before....you know, the two of you basically adopted the kid.”

Pepper grins a little.

“I said Peter was our son and May was my sister.”

“They bought it?”

“They were patching up multiple, actual, outer space aliens. They were trying to keep a man’s heart beating that could already not beat on it’s own. I didn’t think they were about to run background checks on us."

“Has Tony said anything yet?”

“Mumbling a little this morning, I told him if he was trying to crack a joke then save his energy; but I don’t think he was coherent at all.”

“Jokes are good. Is Morgan...?”

“Doing better than I thought,” she sniffles slightly, pulls herself together even if the tears don’t stop falling “She said that if they take his arm, he won’t be able to pick her up anymore. She doesn’t really...Nat hasn’t sunken in yet, but she’s shaken up, scared.”

“And you?”

“I don’t--I feel guilty. All this grief and I’m just---happy we’re okay.”

Rhodey’s quiet for a moment. He’s been to enough funerals of servicemen and enough funerals of friends and family to understand what she means.

“We’re down one level headed member here. Without Nat, it’s just us now acting as the voice of reason for these idiots.”

“Rhodey...”

“I shouldn’t be joking around,”

“There are aliens. Actual aliens. A god. And the royal family of Wakanda. In my backyard with me right now. Nothing...i don’t know what joking sounds like anymore.”

“Don’t forget the talking raccoon.”

“I am actively trying to forget the talking raccoon.”

#endgame #fic

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unplcnned-variable · 5 years

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so last night I said I was going to post an info-dump-thing about resident evil OCs and I actually finished it lmao

I know no one is probably interested but!! I’m gonna post it anyways! partly because I didn’t save the file lol

Reina:

All of Reina's important info can be found here.

Reina is still in contact with Chris and Rebecca, mostly through email and phone. She rarely sees them in person anymore, which sucks, but at least she knows that they’re doing okay.

Even tho she's terrible at it, Reina still has a passion for photography, and takes pictures of everything she finds interesting.

She has a whole folder on her computer that's just pictures of Emilia and Rodger. It's titled "Motivation". Emilia cried when she saw it the first time.

After what happened at the Spencer Mansion, Reina started to write a lot about the hazards of bio-organic weapons, and what people can do to fight against bioterrorism without literally fighting it. Obviously, she doesn’t have access to tons of info, but she does what she can. She still writes about other things, of course.

Originally, she considered joining the BSAA, an option which was brought up by Chris, but she eventually decided against it. After all, Reina isn't a fighter - but she does her part by informing the public about the truth, even if not many people listen.

She also taught Emilia and Rodger how to use firearms, in case they ever got caught in a situation like she did.

Reina struggled with separation anxiety for a long time after Spencer Mansion, and the Raccoon City Incident didn’t help, but she slowly improved over time.

The song "Johnny Boy" by Twenty One Pilots radiates Reina energy tbh

Emilia:

Emilia is the kind of lady who LOOKS like she has herself together, but under the facade is a life that's being held together by duct tape and coffee.

She primarily works as a travel agent, which is how she met Reina, but likes to pitch in at local business when she has spare time.

Emilia never experienced a bioterrorist attack first-hand, but she's seen what it does to people through the affects it had on Reina, and later, Rodger.

Although she now works for a travel agency, she originally wanted to become a medic of some kind. After her college plans fell through due to lack of financial support, she scrambled for a job, and ended up with that career. She’s considered looking for medical-related jobs again, however, she’s not entirely sure if she’d still be good at it.

Not gonna lie, she probably reads the zodiac section in every magazine she comes across. It's not that she necessarily believes it, it's just that she likes to think that she knows what's coming next.

Terrified of spiders. Most bugs, come to think of it. She doesn’t hate them, she’s just scared of them. She always specifies that she doesn’t want them killed, just removed from where she is.

She and Reina were away on business matters whenever the Raccoon City Incident happened, but were just a bit outside the city whenever Rodger & Friends got out and sent word that they were okay. That’s the closest Emilia has ever gotten to a real Umbrella attack.

Although Emilia was, and still is, an extremely rule-abiding person, she tends to loosen up whenever Reina is around. She claims that Reina's a bad influence, though it's all in good fun.

Tbh the song "Light On" by Maggie Rogers reminds me of her.

Rodger:

The kind of guy to threaten to fight things two times his size, including B.O.W.s. He’s trying to match Chris Redfield’s attitude, but he’s just a little too happy-go-lucky to really get it right, if that makes sense.

Rodger was 15 whenever the Raccoon City Incident happened. He escaped with the Adesso Twins (Eleanora and Amore), two kids who went to the local high school.

He knows Leon, but didn't actually escape alongside him - Rodger and the Adesso twins just happened to run for the RPD when hell broke loose, figuring that the police could help them. Rodger did his best to help out with puzzles, but he and the twins eventually ended up parting ways with Leon. He tries to keep contact with him, but it’s gotten difficult over the years.

He totally joined the BSAA when he got old enough, as did Eleanora, but they were both assigned to different teams.

Rodger is the kind of guy who pretends to be super rough tumble, but inside is actually really excitable and sometimes he accidentally lets that shine through. It's always covered up pretty quickly, but it does happen.

He was pretty devastated when the news came out that Chris went missing. The guy was highkey his role model / hero. Of course, that made it all the better when he learned that he'd been found again.

Rodger was 5 years old when he was adopted, and he'd spent most of his previous five years in an orphanage. His biological parents were a poor couple from Canada, who couldn't afford to support themselves and a child. He has yet to meet them, but kind of hopes to someday.

He honestly kind of has a crush on both Eleanora and Amore, but he in general has a closer relationship with Eleanora, simply because it's difficult to really get to know Amore.

The song "The Fear" by The Score makes me think of him, or possibly "Growing Pains" by Alessia Cara.

The Adesso Twins:

This will probably be the shortest bit because these two are relatively new.

The Adesso Twins are, well, twins. They can never seem to get straight who is older (PS: it’s Amore).

Eleanora Adesso is the tougher of two, and was originally looking towards a career in boxing before she took up a job with the BSAA. Like her brother, she also gives off a cold vibe, but she’s much easier to get along with overall.

Amore Adesso tends to be a 'negative nelly', as Rodger puts it. They don't always mean to come off as such, they just tend to look at everything in a very analytical way. They honestly kinda remind me of Arcade Gannon, just with less sarcasm and more dry humor. They mean well, I swear.

Hhhh I'm tempted to make them HUNK’s kids because a.) I want to, and b.) I can, but on the other hand, that might be cliche, and I don't know if HUNK is really the kind of guy to have a family (plus he works for Umbrella, which would make a big conflict considering their professions), so I'm. Hmm. I dunno yet. I think it all depends on your idea on what HUNK is like when he’s not on the job.

Amore found purpose in studying B.O.W.s and trying to find ways to cure Umbrella-made viruses, instead of joining the BSAA, like Eleanora did.

Eleanora makes me think of the song "Stay Frost Royal Milk Tea” by Fall Out Boy (yes, that is the song titled), and Amore makes me think of "This is Home" by Cavetown, though this might change in the future.

#ocs #stennie's stuff #info dump #ghjbkjdfhsd I'm nervous about posting this too but I'm hoping it's alright #it was a lot of fun to make!!!#also sorry if the math and ages are a little off I was tired when I tried to do it lol #ask to tag #I guess?? because bioterrorism??? idk??#anyways here goes nothing lmao #resident evil ocs #reina bailon #emilia bailon #rodger bailon #amore adesso #eleanora adesso

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extraneousdominomask · 6 years

Text

Of Heists and Hustles - The Abridged Version

[Night in Zootopia. The Nope Diamond is travelling to The Museum, and all the cops are helping. All the cops except]

Judy: This sucks! I wanna help!

Nick: I am ambivalent.

[The Cooper Gang waits nearby, ready to steal it!]

Sly: I'm a thief!

Bentley: I'm a hacker.

Murray: I'M THE MURRAY

Sly: This sucks. I'm bored.

McHorn: Oh god! We're all getting beaten up by a giant shirtless cat!

Sly: Amazing!

[Sly meets Tai Lung. He is giant and shirtless.]

Sly: I have stolen the diamond!

[Tai Lung hits him very hard.]

Judy: Stop right there! You're under arrest!

[Tai Lung hits her very hard.]

Tai Lung: I will now kill you.

Sly: Not if I heroically intervene! It's my Establishing Character Moment! I do nice things but for selfish reasons maybe!

[Everybody fights. Nick throws the diamond. Judy throws herself after it. Both land in a river.]

Nick: I am anxious!

Tai Lung: I am leaving.

Judy : I am the world's greatest cop!!!! but also cold and wet

[It's still night. The same night and everything! Tai Lung is running across rooftops.]

Tai Lung: I am the best at running across rooftops!

Sly: Get on my level, amateur, you don't even know I'm following you.

Tai Lung: What?

Sly: Nothing.

Bentley: Sly, what's happening?!

Sly: A bad guy tried to steal the diamond and hurt a policewoman. I am following him because I hate him.

Bentley: Your libido will be the death of us all.

[It's The Museum. The curator of The Museum is Black Panther. Yes, really.]

Okonkwo: Thank you for saving the diamond. I hired Wolf O'Donnell to protect it, but he hasn't been written into the story yet. Would you like to come to my fancy party on Friday?

Nick: Heck yes!

Judy: As long as we don't die horribly before then, ha ha!

[Awkward silence.]

[It's a gross warehouse. There are hyenas.]

Shenzi: We're hyenas!

Banzai: Except now we're also bikers!

Tai Lung: Move aside. I hate you.

[A tiny nerd uses a telephone.]

Peridot: I'VE SPENT A LOT OF EFFORT ENSURING MY BOSS IS A SECRET!

Mastermind: Ironically, it is transparently obvious who I am.

Sly: I've just taken photos of all of you!

Tai Lung: What! I will now kill y-

[Murray hits him with a van.]

Murray: let's BOUNCE

[It's the ZPD morning briefing! With your host, Chiiiiiiiief Bogo!]

Bogo: Let's get this over with. I have strict orders to distract from the fact this entire chapter is exposition by utilizing

Sly: snazzy scene transitions!

Bentley: ...why did you yell that?

Sly: Just run it, Hardison.

Bentley: This is Tai Lung. He punches. This is Peridot. She hacks. These are the hyenas. They're dumb, and, furthermore, stupid. Squeezing them might reveal the mastermind, who I have been unable to identify.

Sly: And what about

Judy: the oddly attractive raccoon, Chief?

Bogo: He's Sly Cooper. He and his friends steal things for fun, mostly from other criminals. But sometimes they don't, I guess. We have an Interpol agent coming to help us. That is all.

Nick: Wow, I wish all our briefings could be this short. That just leaves

Sly: Nick and Judy!

Bentley: Yes. Nick and Judy. They are friends who fight crime.

Sly: I will befriend them also. Get me a telephone.

Judy: I just got a text! Sly wants to meet us.

Nick: Guess we better investigate.

Judy: Sounds like a plan, my dearest friend who I love and share a house with!

Nick: So are we boning or what?

Judy : Unclear!

[Nick and Judy are in a park, reading a newspaper of wacky mayoral candidates.]

Nick: Look at all these wacky mayoral candidates! Like Toriel Undertale! And Scar!

Judy: "Scar" is a dumb name.

Nick: Yes.

Clawhauser: It's me, Clawhauser, over the radio! Bogo wants to see you, Nick!

Nick: Heck. Don't die, Judy.

Judy: Okay!

[Nick leaves. Sly enters.]

Sly: Wanna team up?

Judy: Only kinda!

Bogo: Come in, Wilde, and meet our Interpol liaison.

Nick: Great, some stuffed-shirt two-bit - ¡dios mío, zorra muy bonita!

Carmelita: Hello, I'm Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox. And I should hope you mean that to be translated literally, not colloquially.

Nick: You work for Interpol?! That completely invalidates my significance as a street-level officer in Furry New York.

Carmelita: True. But remember: Star Fox.

Nick: Star Fox?

Carmelita: Yes.

Bogo: Wilde, you've been chosen to work with Carmelita because you know the city like no-one else.

Carmelita: Pretty good justification for why I'd team up with a complete rookie, right?

Nick: If I don't have Judy helping me I might cry. Just a heads up.

Bogo: In a somewhat out-of-character move, I will grant Hopps freedom from usual department rules.

Carmelita: In a very out-of-character move, I am okay with this.

Nick: The important thing is that I got what I wanted.

Carmelita: Congratulations. Now if you'll excuse me, I should go get my ninety minutes of daily sleep.

Bogo: Wilde, for god's sake, learn some independence. Hopps could die at literally any moment, you ever think about that?

Nick: Yes!!!!! Constantly!!!!!!!!!! It consumes me from within!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bogo: Well, good. As long as you're aware.

Nick: Star Fox?!?!

Judy: Yes.

Sly: Go arrest the hyenas to find the mastermind.

Judy: Smart plan. But my partner isn't gonna like this.

Nick: I don't like this!

Judy: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? Just once!

Nick: Fine. Just once. Oh, also, the Interpol inspector is a fox, and also also, Bogo is letting you help me help her. Secretly.

Judy: Wow! Wow to all of that!

Nick: Yeah. Now let's go to Ruby's bar.

[It's Ruby's bar.]

Ruby: I'm Ruby, from the show RWBY!

Blake: I'm quiet.

Finnick: And I'm here too.

Nick: oh god

Judy: Are you two not friends any more?

Finnick: It's genuinely unclear in canon if we ever were.

Murray : Time for THE MURRAY to make like a Cold War superpower and instigate a proxy conflict!

[He does. There are many kicks. The hyenas go to jail.]

Tai Lung: Heck.

Carmelita: So Nick and Judy think these hyenas are connected to the diamond heist?

Bogo: I'll be honest, Inspector, I just let them do whatever and they work things out eventually.

Banzai: You'll get nothing from me, copper!

Nick: [is Nick]

Banzai: here is every secret i've ever been told

Nick: So apparently the mastermind is Scar? That's ridiculous. Let's go bother him.

Peridot: HECK!!!!!!!!!!

Carmelita: Great work in there, Nick!

Nick: I was not a con artist!!

Carmelita: ...Cool! See you later.

[It's a slideshow.]

Bentley: Here's the slideshow for my new plan. We'll need three things: alarm schematics,

Sly: Right,

Bentley: an entire subway train,

Murray: NICE

Bentley: and an invitation we'll have to rob from an innocent old man.

Sly: Okay :)

Bentley: ...

Murray: ...That's... kinda evil, Bentl-

Bentley: Yes. It is.

[It's Scar's house.]

Scar: Hello, I'm Scar.

Judy: Are you the bad guy?

Scar: No, I'm Scar.

Nick: How's Mufasa?

Scar: That's unimportant. I'm Scar.

Judy: Are you connected with these hyenas?

Scar: Oh , I'm so sorry, but I haven't "seen" them in years >;3

Judy: ...can we arrest him for making that face

Nick: That legislation hasn't been finalized yet, sorry.

[They leave.]

Nick: Scar basically admitted to everything, but in a way that gives us no evidence. We've got nothing right now, but I'm sure it's him.

Judy: But why? Why steal the diamond?

Nick: Well, everyone loves us for saving the day. If he manufactured a similar situation, he might actually get voted in as mayor.

Judy: A transparently evil fascist using misinformation to win an election? Come on, Nick. This is 2016.

Nick: goddammit judy

Clawhauser: It's time to read Tai Lung's Extended Backstory File!

Carmelita: And I am here as well.

Clawhauser: Oh gosh! He's mostly evil because his dad died! And he did the manslaughter! Mammalslaughter...?

Nick: Yep, it's true. Doing one crime will ruin your life forever. Gotta tick off the Social Commentary box for this to be a real Zootopia fanfiction...

Carmelita: I remain unsympathetic to him in light of this information. My role in this and all narratives is to stick stringently to the Lawful part of Lawful Good. Never trust criminals. No matter how handsome they are.

Nick: But this doesn't explain why Tai Lung is helping Scar become mayor.

Judy: The mayor's office can pardon crimes! Somehow! Even though that really only applies to stuff like parking tickets, not an international crime spree of theft and probably murder!

Nick: In fairness, Tai Lung mightn't know that, Scar just needs to convince him.

Judy: Let's go with that, yes.

[A smol cat stabs Banzai with an umbrella.]

Banzai : Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Kill Nick!

[Carmelita shoots him with her Huge Gun.]

Carmelita: Writhe, little man.

Nick: He went savage! But only a little bit...

Judy: What evil genius put this together?

Peridot : AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! LEGS... SHORT! HNFF

[The Cooper Gang steal a subway train.]

Murray: This is the BEST DAY EVER

[Tai Lung attacks.]

Murray: I change MY MIND

Sly: Go on without me, guys! I'll handle him alone! By which I mean I'm immediately calling Judy for help.

[There are many kicks.]

Judy: Wait! I know your tragic backstory!

Tai Lung: Then go make a gifset.

[His attempts to murder them do not abate. However, Sly and Judy save each other.]

Judy: Gosh, you're amazing!

Sly: No, you're amazing!

Judy: Gosh...

Sly: So are we boning or what?

Judy: Unclear!

Tai Lung: Enough of this vague romantic tension! You're boring me stiff!

[He bores into them until they are stiff.]

Murray: Oh my god Sly and Judy are dead wait, no, they're just sleeping.

Bentley: Yes. We're all terrified two protagonists will die halfway through the story.

Carmelita: Alright, losers, shut up and follow my lead. Time to demonstrate my full prowess as an officer.

Murray: Oh, wow! Are you gonna shoot him?

Carmelita: Murray, please. I'm an Inspector with Interpol. My tactical knowledge is a little more advanced than that.

Tai Lung: I'm going to drown these tiny fools! And there's nothing anyone can do to stop m-

[Carmelita proceeds to shoot Tai Lung in the face multiple times. It is very funny.]

Nick: I've found a way to weaponise his previously-established backstory!

Bentley: Thank god. We've justified that otherwise pointless detour.

Nick: Shut up and hack that telephone, Specs.

[The telephone rings.]

Murray: It's for you!

Tai Lung: Ahoy-hoy?

Nick: It's me! Your boss! Quit it.

Tai Lung: Pop quiz - what's my motivation?

Nick: Uh... you're doing these crimes to not be a criminal any more?

Tai Lung: Close enough. I will begrudgingly follow your suspiciously merciful orders.

Nick: We did it!

Bentley: Nice work. Say, does this look like a flash-bang to you?

Nick: Wh- OH GOD MY EYES

[Judy is propped up on many pillows.]

Nick: Okay, you didn't die this time, but that was pretty close.

Judy: Bring on Round Two!

Nick: I am genuinely begging you to take the day off. More for my sake than yours.

[It's Black Panther's office in The Museum.]

Wolf O'Donnell: And it's me! Wolf O'Donnell!

[Audience applause, cheers, howling.]

Okonkwo: Hello, my vaguely trusted employee. Can I help you?

Wolf: Yes. This job has much more master thieves than advertised. Pay me much more money.

Okonkwo: Your concerns are valid. However, I'm afraid I have no money to spare.

Wolf: ...well then! Forget I said anything. Not important ;)

[Peridot is watching cartoons illegally online - yes, specifically, that's what happened - when Tai Lung appears.]

Peridot: YYYYYYYYYYYYOU MESSED UP!

Tai Lung: Eh.

Peridot: I'M GONNA FIX IT!!!

Tai Lung: Off you go, then.

Peridot: NYEH

Sly: Always treat a lady to chocolates after she saves you from being drowned by a snow leopard.

Bentley: Terrible news! Murray's sick! He's come down with a serious case of Can't Be In The Plot Right Now!

Sly: Perfect! What a convenient excuse to invite Judy to fight slash commit crime with me!

Bentley: Sly, can we please talk about the underlying issues pushing you into this uncharacteristic behaviour?

Sly: No.

[Nick and Carmelita must do computer things.]

Carmelita: I like you, Nick. I'm gonna tell you a bit of my backstory - lord help me, I'll even banter with you.

Nick: Wow. Well, it's an honour being under you.

Carmelita: So are we boning or what?

Nick: Unclear!

[Judy has had the entire day off. She is ready to die.]

Judy: I am ready to make some terrible decisions!

[She receives a text from Sly.]

Sly: check out this hot selfie i took at an active crime scene

Judy: Wow! What an attractive terrible decision!

Sly: want to help me beat up a small nerd?

Judy: i'm there! [rabbit emoji] [raccoon emoji] [gun emoji] [computer emoji]

Peridot: CLODS! STEP INTO MY DEATHTRAP GAUNTLET AND DIE!

Sly: How about................... we don't do that?

Judy: yeah okay

Peridot: NO!!!

[Peridot locks them into an employee lounge, forcing them to Bond(tm).]

Sly: So basically I'm doing this for my dead dad.

Judy: Interesting. Isn't he dead, though?

Sly: Hmm, good point.

[Nick receives a text from Judy.]

Nick: uhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Carmelita: What's up, buttercup?

Nick: On one hand, I should probably keep this a secret. On the other, Please Help.

Sly: My arc is that I can't stop stealing.

Judy: Mine is that I'm probably going to h*cking die.

Sly: Haha wow!

Judy: Hey. Hey, Sly, guess what. I know your tragic backstory too. That's rough, buddy.

Sly: Thanks, Judy. I appreciate it. Y'know, you'd make a pretty good thief.

Judy: And you'd make a good cop!

Sly: Um, funny story,

Nick: You drafted a falsely amnesiac Sly Cooper into Interpol?! That's not a funny story at all! That's melancholic, and deeply concerning!

Carmelita: Look. In my defence... I wanted to bone him.

Nick: That's not-!

Peridot: CLODS! STEP INTO MY DEATHTRAP GAUNTLET AND DIE! PLEASE?!

Nick: Let's cut the power.

Peridot: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nick: I lied. I actually was a con-artist.

Carmelita: I know, Nick, I've seen the movie.

Sly: You should communicate more clearly with your partner.

Judy: Good suggestion, internationally wanted criminal. I'll get right on that, just as soon as-

[The power goes out and the doors open.]

Judy: Oh, cool, we can beat up that nerd!

Sly: Finally!

Peridot: THIS IS A BAD NIGHT FOR PERIDOT

Tai Lung: Ugh! I'm here to save you.

Nick: They're gone. But we can still arrest Sly - Judy, cuff him!

Judy: Um... no.

[It's breakfast time! Judy... actually, y'know what? I'm not gonna comedically abridge this part. Chapter 16 of this story came out very, very well, especially since I don't consider serious emotion one of my strengths. I might suggest you just go and read it if you're interested. It's the emotional culmination of the separate arcs for Nick, Judy, and Sly/Carmelita that build through the story, and I'm still very pleased with the results. Anyway. It's sad.]

[The Cooper Gang's sad too.]

Murray: I messed up!

Sly: Yeah. Me too.

Bentley: Oh, shut up, guys. You'll feel better when we successfully heist a diamond, I assume.

[Sad, sad, droopy ears.]

Judy: I am so depressed I am willingly performing traffic duty.

Clawhauser: I can't even cheer you up, and I'm Clawhauser!

Judy: She who is tired of Clawhauser is tired of life.

[At The Museum, Wolf is giving a helpful pep talk.]

Wolf: What do we want?

Wolves: Loads of money!

Wolf: How do we want it?

Wolves: From anyone!

Wolf : [tearing up] I'm so proud of you all.

[Nick and Carmelita try to find the Cooper Gang. All they find is a chocolate shop.]

Carmelita: This makes me feel angry!

Nick: I am dead inside. ...Moreso than usual.

[The bad guys are doing okay, really.]

Peridot: I'M VERY SORRY!

Mastermind: Sorta don't care. Is the Night Howler(tm) ready?

Tai Lung: We're using Night Howler on someone?

Mastermind: Oh, we're using it on someone alright >;3c

Tai Lung: how did you do that over the phone

[It's the fancy party! Wolf's manning the door.]

Wolf: I'm casually bullying a guy in a wheelchair! Just in case you weren't sure I was an antagonist.

Scar: Here is a bribe so I can carry skip the security check.

Wolf: I love my job.

Sly: Hiding in the rafters is making me feel a little better.

Tai Lung: Same.

Sly: Agh! What are you doing up here?!

Tai Lung: Right now? Just mocking you for having empathy. Loser.

Judy: Oh, hello, Carmelita. What's up?

Carmelita: This is a little late in the story, but: we have so much common ground. Don't repeat my mistakes. You have deeply impressed me in the threeish days I've known you, and I'm lucky to have met you.

Judy: W-wow. The feeling's more than mutual.

Carmelita: So are we boning or what?

Judy: Gosh, I hope so.

Nick: You enjoying the party, Scar?

Scar : Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhhh >:3cccc

Nick: Soon, Nicholas. Soon.

Toriel: Excuse me, I seem to have misplaced my child. I'm a competent mother, I swear.

[Judy looks for Toriel's son, Asriel, but instead finds only a crime!]

Wolf: Gimme the diamond!

Okonkwo: What treachery is this?!

Wolf: I've received purely electronic communication from someone claiming to be the Cooper Gang, saying they'll pay me big money for this diamond.

Okonkwo: And you... trust that?

Wolf: Well, not any more. Clearly, Cooper is trying to fool me!

Okonkwo: Clearly.

[Wolf leaves with the diamond. Okonkwo obliterates a wolf with a single punch. He is, after all, Black Panther.]

Okonkwo: Officer Hopps, please help me evacuate the entire museum by claiming that a heretofore-unmentioned fireworks display is about to start, which is mandatory for all guests to attend, but will not actually materialise.

Judy: Wow! You are smart.

Okonkwo: Yes.

[Everyone leaves, miraculously.]

Tai Lung: Time for you to get poisoned by Night Howler!

[Tai Lung gets poisoned by Night Howler.]

Tai Lung: The - the shadowy figure who never so much as told me their name betrayed me?!

Sly: Oh, honey.

Asriel: Golly! I exist for only two things: bein' adorable and wanderin' heedlessly into deadly situations!

Sly: I've known this kid for only half a second but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

[Something almost happens to him.]

Sly: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[He saves the good good boy. The Cooper Gang regroup-er gang.]

Wolf: You'll pay for this, Cooper!

Sly: who in god's name are you

[There are many punches. Nick, Judy and Carmelita show up.]

Nick: We haven't resolved our issues yet!

Judy: But that won't stop us from DOOR!

[DOOR!]

Sly: Is everyone okay?!

Judy: Yeah, but the three of us are stuck in here with Tai Lung!

Nick: And I'm stuck out here like a tiny orange idiot!

Murray: Don't worry, Jak & Daxter reference! Me and Bentley will try to open this door offscreen!

Bentley: Yes, now's as good a time as any to exit the narrative. Frankly we've been secondary characters for this entire outing.

[Bye, guys!]

Carmelita: I have a novel idea - let's beat up the bad guy, with violence.

Sly: I love you so much.

Nick: Don't worry Judy, you can do this! You're amazing!

Judy: Thanks, Nick. I genuinely needed to hear that. What about you?

Nick: I can do something else. Because I'm also, separately, amazing.

Sly: Hey, cool, People Are Good At Different Things! That's the moral of my whole franchise.

Nick: Here's one for you - Nick Wilde Is The Best. That's the moral of mine.

Judy: Go get 'em, tiger.

[They go get the snow leopard as Nick go gets the lion.]

Nick: Ladies and gentlemammals, I know who's behind this.

Toriel: Is it me?

Nick: Actually, no! It's Mufasa!

Scar: What?! No! I'm ten times the jewel thief Mufasa is! ...Which, um, is zero. Because ten times zero is still zero.

Nick: Let's discuss this somewhere quieter, where it would be hypothetically easier to stab a police officer to death.

Scar: Excellent. Yes.

Scar : Why yes, I am exactly the kind of person to own a cane-sword.

Nick: Contrary to appearances, I am perfectly competent at my job! You're under arrest!

Scar: Curses! But I still have Peridot.

Nick: You really don't. She's gonna abandon you the second my excellent partner stops Tai Lung.

Scar: Ah, but will she?!

[She does.]

Judy: Oh god, Sly is dying!

Carmelita: No! Not like this...

Sly: Oh. Wow. You're... actually really sad. I'm fine actually. It was a prank. Epic... fake internal bleeding to steal a diamond prank! Y'know, that old... um... SMOKEBOMB

Peridot: I WILL NOW MAKE LIKE A LAWN CHAIR AND FOLD.

Nick: Just as I predicted! Everything's done, we can go home.

Judy: But Nick, we need to resolve these emotional arcs!

Nick: uuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[The roof!]

Sly: I'm sad. I ruined everything.

Judy: No, Sly. Not doing crimes is good, actually.

Sly: Source?

Nick: We are definitely not boning.

Sly: More's the pity. Maybe next time.

Carmelita: We might still be, though. Despite everything.

Sly: Hooray! Let's smooch!

[They smooch. I've been publishing fanfics for over six years - well over 200,000 words in the last two years alone - and for so long this was the only kiss in any of my stories. And I wonder why my numbers are low.]

Sly: I'll start making the world a better place by robbing Scar utterly blind! Catch you all later!

Carmelita : No, Sly, we'll catch you.

[Everyone laughs. Sly flings himself from the rooftop.]

Nick: Hey, Carmelita, let's be penpals.

Carmelita: Sure. That sounds like a mildly diverting interquel. I'm gonna get hammered on champagne now, so I'll leave you kids to your Feels.

[She does. Nick and Judy make up and stuff. Whatever.]

[Night in Zootopia.]

Epilogue! The bad guys go to jail, Carmelita learns how to email, Wolf disappears, Finnick gets a job at The Museum because I guess his presence in this story needed to go somewhere, the Cooper Gang's failure means the diamond is safe, Sly has a protracted existential crisis he claims is just him "figuring stuff out", and Nick and Judy - surprise surprise - are still friends. But are they boning? To this day, it remains unclear.

(At this rate, probably not.)

Woah, that was so much faster!!! I wrote this whole thing in under a week. I'm just gonna stick to this format from now on...

#sly cooper #zootopia #of heists and hustles #my writing

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pixelgrotto · 6 years

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The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, part six

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resident Evil 4 is next, and the playthrough continues!

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

#pixel grotto #video games #now playing #resident evil #biohazard #resident evil zero #rebecca chambers #billy coen #capcom

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