#but that's too long so you'll get it broken up in better chunks

[charmfamily]

(SEMI) CHARMED KIND of LIFE EPISODE 0: PILOT, PART V

#TS4 Story #Sims 4 Story #Story Simblr #TS4 #The Sims 4 #Realm of Magic #Glimmerbrook #(Semi) Charmed Kind of Life #SCKoL #Charm Family #Minerva Charm #Damien Charm #Emilia Ernest #Gemma Charm #You have no idea how long I searched for a 'texting under the table' pose and I did not get what I wanted but I made do. #The girl don't listen worth a damn does she? #It took so much self control not to post all 11 panels of what is supposed to be the whole of Part V #but that's too long so you'll get it broken up in better chunks

[pendragon-of-chaos]

When the requests where Open again,.we can get a King of Chaos Arthur witha very Shy s/o??

I made it as a small scenario since I thought it would fit better, but ended up being a little bit longer that my usual small scenarios. Still not as long as a full on x Reader, so I don't know how to label it. Hope you like it!

King of Chaos Arthur with a very shy S/O: Small scenario

"Do not fail me. Once. Again."

A slam on his armrest and the reunion was dismissed. Arthur's knights had failed once again in trying to capture the four knights of the apocalypse, or at least just one of them. The king was furious. He gave them powers, clues, advice, and they returned nothing (Or what's worse, they returned defeated by four teenagers)

No one dared to lift their head, Arthur hadn't given the order even if he had finished talking. They knew a wrong movement from their part would mean receiving a punishment, and Chaos' punishments weren't merciful at all

The silence was suddenly broken by the creeking of one door, from where one head peeked shyly, followed by a quiet "I'm sorry!" and the door closing to its initial state

After a few seconds Arthur got up from his throne and walked towards that same door

"You were lucky today, you can go now" He said, without giving them a mere glance. His knights saluted in unison and waited for him to leave the room.

Outside, Arthur walked through the hallway with no expression on his face. That was until his lips turned into a smile when he saw a familiar silhoutte.

"Y/N! My love! ~ "

A flustered girl turned around to face him, playing nervously with her hands.

"I didn't know you were still talking with them, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'm sorry"

"No, no, you don't need to apologize at all. It was my fault, I was taking too long to finish it. But now that is over I can give you all my attention. Tell me, what did you need?"

"It's nothing important really, I just wanted to ask you something. I saw from here a piece of land full of flowers, but I don't know how to get there. Do you perhaps know how?"

Arthur looked at the ceiling and continued walking

"Hmm... let me see which island you are talking about and I'll tell you"

Since Camelot was made from different chunks of land floating around, it offered a wide selection of landscapes. Flower fields, rocky hills, some mountains here and there, even paths surrounded by ancient statues and pillars; everything intertwined with each other. Some of them were easily accesible, others had magical places which permitted the entrance via spells, some were connected by floating rocks that didn't give off safe vibes if you were to be honest

Arthur walked up to one of the windows near them and looked outside, finding the place his S/O had mentioned floating in the middle of nowhere as expected

"Okay, now I see it. It seems like you'll need to take a floating path starting from the big one down there... but maybe I should talk to one of the knights to accompany you, just to make sure you reach the field safely. What do you think? I would do it myself but those knights of the apocalypse have been giving me lots of work lately"

Y/N smiled nervously at the suggestion.

"One of your knights? Is it really necessary? I mean, I don't want to bother them, I'm sure they have more important things to do as you just said"

"Don't worry about it, there's always someone available. What about Pellegarde? I'm sure he will be happy with it"

Arthur looked back to her smiling sweetly, waiting for her answer

"Pellegarde... you see... he's very friendly and all, but he has too much energy... I don't even know how to answer him sometimes. Last time he accompannied me I couldn't stop thinking about how he must have thought that I'm a strange one..."

"I don't think Pellegarde thought about that, I'm sure he thinks you are quite adorable ~" A small laugh escaped his lips with a subtle blush on his cheeks. "But what about Ironside then? He doesn't talk as much as him"

Y/N looked down to the floor, putting her hands behind her back while thinking about it.

"Yeah... but at the same time it's even more uncomfortable knowing he's there, watching, but no being able to maintain a conversation with him... He's kinda intimidating, as if I was doing something wrong the whole time"

Arthur touched his chin with his hand, thinking about the scenario and nodding along her words

"I think I understand it. He takes very seriously his job... maybe Mortlach would be a better option?"

"I guess? But I heard he's taking care of Ironside's son when he is on a mission". She shrugged, looking back to the king.

Arthur arched his eyebrow, still smiling, tilting his head softly in a confused way while separating himself from the window.

"My sweet Y/N, you don't seem to enjoy any of their presence, is something bothering you? Did they do something to you? You can tell me, I can't let anyone hurt you. They will receive their punishment even if they are my most precious knights"

"It's not them, don't worry!" She shook her hands in the air, sighed deeply and spoke with a soft voice while lowering her head. "They aren't the problem. You know I'm not that good at being alone with people and having to make conversation with them... I prefer to just be alone by myself, or at least with you, you are the only person which I can be comfortable and talk easily around. But I understand you are busy most of the time. I hoped you could tell me how to get there and get going by myself, but that doesn't seem like an option so I'll just wait or think about whatever other thing I can do"

"Oooh... so that is the problem, mmh..." Arthur closed his eyes, trying to come up with a solution under his S/O's gaze. "If that's so, I need to check the next appointments and see what I can do. I would let you go by yourself but I prefer going with you"

He opened his eyes and looked at her smiling S/O, giggling to himself and patting her head.

"Thinking about it, it will do me good after all these bad news I've been getting. Well thought my dear Y/N, I wasn't expecting less from you"

#4kota #mokushiroku no yon kishi #four knights of the apocalypse #arthur 4kota #nanatsu no taizai #arthur nnt #Arthur4kotaxreader #arthurxreader #4kota arthur #4kota arthur x reader #4 knights of the apocalypse

[thebramblewood]

What advice would you give to a simmer just starting out writing stories with their sims? How do you build engagement with your posts? How do you write such addictive stories?

Wow! Okay. Buckle in because this will be a long one. I think the most important thing is writing for yourself first and foremost. Don't let your passion be driven solely by engagement (though it's impossible not to be motivated by it a little bit!) but by your own desire to see your project through. I've been a creative writer forever, and 75% of that writing has been written for an audience of one. But sometimes a character or concept will grab me by the throat and refuse to let go, and that's what keeps me invested. I unfortunately can't tell you how that happens. It usually feels like a happy accident. But when it does, it comes through, and readers will want in on it too. That being said, here are some tips for actual presentation:

Engaging visuals. I don't think Reshade or fancy editing is a requirement, but I can't pretend I didn't see a huge uptick in engagement when I started using it. Now, that may also be because I started thinking more about the composition of a shot. Diversify your angles and perspectives, and don't be afraid to zoom way in or out! Move that camera around as much as possible! I know very little about the technicalities of film and photography, but I think the more you practice, the better your eye becomes for what looks dynamic.

Legible captions. I'll be brutally honest: when I'm scrolling the dash, I'm less likely to stop for story posts if the text on the images is not immediately readable. I've by no means perfected this, but I've tweaked my own text over time to make it larger, and I find that very light colors with a black border is almost always the best option. I also try to visualize leaving space for the text to fit as I'm taking shots (though I sometimes forget).

Text-only transcript. My controversial opinion is that I don't like reading transcripts because it's easier for me to engage and follow along if I can see the images and words interacting. BUT I still think it's important to include them, so I always have one under the cut. If you'd rather not do captions on images at all, I personally find it more engaging for the text to be broken up throughout rather than in a big chunk at the end. This is especially helpful if you're writing more descriptive prose, as most people (including me) unfortunately have very short attention spans.

Adaptability! It's helpful to have an outline (whether it's in your head or written) of where you want to end up and how you're going to get there, but the most fulfilling part of writing for me is in giving myself license to follow new ideas or let old ones evolve, even if that means going a bit off-track. Also, it's tempting to establish a formula and lock yourself into an aesthetic from the start, but if you feel like something isn't working, don't be afraid to change it up! You'll be unhappy if you stick with it just for consistency's sake, and you'll rob yourself of opportunities to experiment and have fun. I think readers also appreciate a shake-up so that things never start to feel stale.

That's a lot, I know, but hopefully some of it helps. I've only been doing this here for a few months, and I'm also still figuring things out!

#asks #kieraplaysthesims #long post #what a surprise! this writer can't shut up about writing!

[ping1n]

Thaumcraft thoughts again but this time I'm thinking gameplay rather than lore. Comparing 4 and 6.

To start off, 6 is obviously unfinished. This alone means in a comparison w/ no addons 4 wins without a doubt.

Still, even without addons there are interesting points to make here based on what we saw in thaumcraft 6 and what we might have seen if azanor didn't fall down a well or whatever.

Fundamentals: The first tab of the 'nomicon is far more straightforward, and much less likely to give a new player an aneurysm as soon as they open the book. The only part of this I dislike is how long it takes to get to golemancy. The research system is explained on this tab, but we'll save that for last.

Auromancy: Auromancy in 6 is far more fleshed out than in 4. Plus, I personally prefer the casting gauntlet to wands. It feels much more thaumcraft, and less fairy tale magic. You're using your gauntlet to force the world to your desires. It's badass. And the modular focus system allows you to accomplish so much more. The excavate focus in 4 is a joke. It's slow, the range isn't great and it doesn't do enchants. It makes you feel sad and wet and pathetic. In 6, you make a plan silk touch excavate lvl 2 focus and you tear out 5x5 blocks of raw stone. You feel like a thaumic god, shaping the world to your desire. Is it balanced? Absolutely not. Having auromancy draw from the chunk-based vis system is hilariously broken. Vis cost doesnt matter because you move 8 blocks over and all your magic is back. But so much in thaumcraft is underpowered for the required time and effort compared to other mods, that it's nice to feel powerful for once. Ofc its limited by the small amount of effects in base tc6, but we're going to discount that for fairness.

Golemancy: The tc6 (and possibly 5? idk I never played that version) version of this mechanic is much more useful and interesting. Making golems is a pain in the ass now but theres so much more depth with the customization system. And not having to make a new golem for each task in your process makes life much easier. Though it must be said with how cheap golems were in 4 you could get a golem-based farm up and running much faster. It suffers in some areas, combat golems being pretty much useless except as bodyguards, in which case they try their best ig.

Artifice: The new arcane bore is slightly less expensive and clunky, but it's still ass. Splitting artifice and infusion was an excellent decision. The vis generator is a great addition, though it feels simultaneously underpowered and overpowered - it's basically free, but the generation is so bad you need a few to get the same power as an IE windmill and you'll burn through the aura eventually.

Infusion: Again, splitting this into it's own category is common sense. There are a few interesting new things in this tab: the verdant charms, especially the feeding one, are excellent QOL. The stabilizers and upgrades are good too, but I dislike having to purposefully destabilize an infusion to unlock the research, especially as its essential for what little endgame there is in base. I think the eldritch and void stone altars are new in this version, but they're unobtainable in base.

Alchemy: Tubes work better now. It's a fun time. The transducers are better tho, and can easily trivialize essentia organisation. Hedge alchemy I think is also new, and it adds some nice utility. Aversio is a nicer name than telum and no one liked Arbor anyway.

The Eldritch: Lol. Lmao.

And finally, Research:

NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO STOP RESEARCHING TO GO MAKE A DAYLIGHT SENSOR? OR GET A PHIAL OF AN ASPECT ONLY FOUND IN SHOES? OR WAIT FOR A SPECIFIC PHASE OF THE GODDAMN MOON?? WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT IM ACTUALLY RESEARCHING?

It's somehow simpler and infinitely more tedious than the tc4 mechanic. At least that was a minigame, albeit a tedious, frustrating game that required multiple thaumonomicon dives (or, yk, an online tool). It also doesn't make sense. Nothing I'm doing here relates to what I'm trying to learn. In 4, the research pattern often had fun nods to what you were actually doing, like having Venenum in a research about poison, or linking all the primals for a late game research. Celestial observations suck. I sleep at night I'm not gonna grab my scribing tools and paper to scribble a drawing of the moon. MC Eternal lets you buy curiosities, which just makes everything so much nicer.

Moving on.

In terms of things I would have liked to not be left behind in 4, firstly I'd like my goddamn outer lands please. Also centivis, but without nodes it really wouldn't make sense. Tbh the whole chunk based aura system is a bit meh, it breaks a lot though it is convenient.

I was going to discuss addons in this post but this is already really long and I'm tired so I'll save that for another day.

#modded minecraft #thaumcraft #thaumaturge #infodump #video games #modding

[eldritch-spouse]

the post with the masochistic( I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE THAT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME)s/o and the biting part made me wonder how the others feel about it. Do they like it or dislike it and since Vinnel's condition prevents him from staying consistent for too long will he just lack doing it and receiving?(I feel non-canon wise he'd be afraid to be slurped up)More specifically how would Morell and Grimbly react?Obviously taking a bite out of Morell is deadly but is it still impactful if it's like a small bite?Will my mosquito vampire find it odd?

Hope you a a good day!

Do they bite?

[Nah fam, I got 'em on a leash. Excluding Breg for this.]

Fasma's fangs might feel a little weird in your skin, since they usually mold a little, unless he's feeling hostile. He will bite if you ask him too, though not very hard, and he'll never extend his fangs either. Generally, he prefers doing it with his second form's blunt teeth. In his standard form, Fasma does not want to get bitten. At all. He's tiny, you're gonna take a chunk off him!

Vinnel could only ever bite you in a really good day in terms of physical consistency. These days are rare as snowflakes and he makes the most out of them. Besides, he's learning how to slowly expose very specific parts of himself without much danger. He has a myriad of broken sharp teeth and he will bite. Hard. Just to make you scream. You can bite back, but the taste will probably repell you at light speed.

Gallon prefers nipping rather than full on biting, and you'll have to nudge him a tad to make him use more teeth. He'll never use the sharper ones, those cut very easily. You can definitely bite him, though it doesn't have an erotic effect, and mostly just results in you coughing his slime back out- Which he finds hilarious.

Morell is like a crocodile. When that jaw clamps down on something, getting him to let go is near impossible. Those teeth may be blunt but they are not fucking around. Though Morel does like to bite, he's very gentle about it and never does it in places with low fat. Don't feed this urge, he might just take a real chomp out of you someday. I also don't advise you to bite a poisonous monster. Ever. Best case scenario you get a high, worst case you die.

Santi looooves to bite! He's all about teeth and tongue, and he's not shy about it. Though, he'll always be chaste about it unless given permission to draw blood. Pain can be very quickly transformed into pleasure, and he knows just the right balance to keep you on your toes. Most demons love the taste of blood anyway. You better bite him back, as hard as you can, make him howl. He'll almost be disappointed if you don't.

Grimbly is someone I recommend you don't let bite you much, if at all. Given the fact that's how he feeds, by biting others in zones where the skin is particularly thin, his brain might jumble and he'll fully extend his fangs, perforating your body a great deal. Grimbly is aware of this, but still risks nipping you from time to time. You can bite him, but not too hard, he'll feel threatened.

Ludwig is not a demon that bites a lot, and for good reason. When wrath demons get into it, they go hard, and if Lud were to accidentally draw blood, it would only drive him to bite harder, grind his teeth, stretch the skin. Listen, he doesn't want to maul you, so the most you'll get are brief, squeezing bites. He loves it when you bite back, it revs him up beyond measure, since wrathful couplings are especially wild and harsh, though you better lean out of the way when he snaps his teeth back at you.

Patches does not have a mouth normal enough to properly bite you. It'll just look sad and dumb. He doesn't even have lips. He uses magic to handle his food, chewing is not exactly necessary. Because, again, he can't really chew. That being said, you're more than welcome to bite him. Put him in his place, bite hard, wherever you want. Listen, if you really wanted to, I'm positive Patches would let you bite his dick. And that's that on that.

Sybastian... My gal/dude/person, have you seen those teeth? Please, never encourage this half-feral bozo to bite you. But you can bite all you want, even softly on his tongue, that gets him hard real fast...

Krulu will bite you only ever in very private settings and solely to mark. Never more than the very tip of his teeth is used, otherwise you'd get mauled. I advise you not to bite at all unless you want to get immediately put in your place.

Physically cannot bite

Nebul; Fank-e.

#Krulu oc #Patches oc #Vinnel oc #Fank-e oc #Nebul oc #Gallon oc #Morell oc #Fasma oc #Ludwig oc #Grimbly oc #Santi oc #azuresnake #Sybastian oc

[homerforsure]

one line, any fic

rules: pick ten of your fics, scroll to somewhere midpoint, pick a line chunk and share it, and then tag ten people.

Tagged by: @gayhoediaz, @mellaithwen, @princessfbi, @renecdote, @nymika-arts, @rewritetheending, @thekristen999 Thank you!

I'm picking the 10 fics with the least number of hits. Not because I think they're, like, slept on masterpieces or anything. It just makes things easier for me and maybe you'll see something you haven't before.

you can think you're in love when you're really just in pain

“We could leave it all on the table and just graze as we go? I really wanted to have more done by now. You think your sister could have picked a better time to come back from the dead.”

sometimes the shadows burn too bright

He’ll never do it if he knows that Eddie’s dreaming about dead teenagers and how their blood turns to Buck’s blood every time and Eddie’s entire body screams to reach for him, but he never can.

but i called from the dark and you picked up the phone

Lightning flickers in different corners of the sky, seven, eight separate pulses. Like a memory game where someone might ask him to remember what color, what order, what corner. It’s almost, well, not pretty, but mesmerizing. Hard to look away.

sunlight through the haze

“I’m going to hug you now, okay?” Buck says and Eddie laughs again, holding his arms open so Buck can step in and wrap his arms around him. Eddie responds easily, indulging Buck, but when Buck doesn’t let go, something changes. A little bit of the tension that’s been making its home in Eddie melts away and Eddie lets out a slow, shaky exhale, squeezing Buck tight.

Mr. Saturday Night Special

Through gritted teeth, Nick said, “This table is full up. So you’re just gonna take a little walk back here with me-” He pushed Buck backward with only the suggestion of pressure on his throat, angling him toward the next table up in their line and walking Buck right up to the chair there until his legs collided with it and he want down- “And sit by yourself like a big boy. Is that clear?”

and if you swear that you're alright, i'm not gonna try and change your mind

There’s a part of him that’s on fire. Screaming in the dark because everything is wrong and it’s been wrong for so long and if it’s not his fault why does he feel like none of it would be happening if he was just better? Buck feels distant from everything. Maddie across the country. Eddie throwing his hands up like a force field to keep Buck from getting too close with his messy, raw emotions. He feels distant from himself. Sad and broken and scared and pretending not to be. Buck’s scared all the damn time. One more foundation-rattling shake is going to crumble him to pieces.

love me back to life

His eyes slipping closed, Eddie tipped his face up to the ceiling, something like beatification in his expression as he held himself still until he got comfortable. Held himself still for Buck who wouldn’t forgive himself if Eddie was hurt.

all tomorrows come from yesterdays

Picking at the label on his bottle, Buck says, “I don’t know. All I ever seem to do is fuck it up. Maybe… Maybe I just need to give up on all that, you know? Focus on work. Focus on my friends. Leave the romance to somebody else.”

in case of emergency

Letting terrible hypothetical scenarios play out in all their terribleness is a fun game that Frank likes to play now and again. Sending Eddie into his own mental Dark Side Cave like some cardigan-wearing Yoda. They can be exhausting sessions where Eddie finally pulls on a thorn that’s been in his side, that he’s been ignoring every time it aches, and draws it all the way out to see how deep it goes.

if the world should turn too fast, i'll slow it down for you

He thinks that maybe Eddie doesn’t know that part yet. There’s a place inside him where being given everything he wants feels like taking something he doesn’t deserve. Like he can have this, can have them, but only if he remembers his place.

I think probably everyone who wants to play already has and I know I missed a bunch of posts so sorry if any of these are doubles! Tagging: @littlespoonevan, @kitkatpancakestack, @evanbucxley, @merriestdiaz, @clusterbuck, @starlingbite, @lovebuck and YOU, if you want to play!

#oh god this post is so long i'm so sorry #I'm tired of hearing my own voice #tag games #am writing

[krissiefox]

BLACK SNOW (HALF LIFE 2 MOD) (PC) REVIEW

Black Snow is a survival horror mod for Half-Life 2 that takes place on a huge floating chunk of arctic ice. You play as a researcher who seems to be the last survivor in the outpost, after it was attacked by a strange force. Throughout the story of the game, you'll learn more about the base, your fellow (but now very dead) researchers, and a little bit about the strange life-form that attacks when you're in pitch darkness. Eventually you'll find a vehicle that can help you escape this nightmare, but first you need to find fuel, a key, and parts for it - thus your quest begins….

(spoiler warning)

Without giving too much away, I will say that I like how the "monster" in this game is something you can't see, which makes it quite terrifying. It is manifested by some sort of fungal colony that was unearthed (un-iced?) by the research team, and can only thrive in pure darkness, so as long as you keep the lights on, you're safe.

Many story points are kind of vague, but I did enjoy the tried and true survival horror formula of reading computer entries and written notes throughout the game to learn more about the world. The ending was vague and kind of confusing, so I didn't much care for it since I had gotten invested in the game's world and was rooting for the protagonist to escape safely.

(spoilers end here)

Using Half-Life 2s source engine, the game shines with the same level of gorgeous atmosphere that HL2 itself does. The ambience is wonderful and eerie, and whenever you're outside the buildings it feels genuinely chilling. The graphics are very nice, outside of the occasional visual bug (some doors open into a strange blinding light and there was a broken wall model that looked jarringly disconnected from the wall it had been added to). While it does borrow some visual assets from existing source games, there's plenty of original sound and art assets to make it feel unique, too.

The game-play is mostly good, but does occasionally suffer from clunky controls on certain puzzles. I don't want to be too harsh on the devs with these controls - as annoying as they were - because it feels like they were doing the best they can to simulate a custom menu in source engine, using some odd trickery. Most of the custom menu screens would display the controls at first, but then they'd fade and not come back alter - I think ti would be better if they'd stuck around, because I really struggled in places like the x-ray puzzle. It may have helped to make these menu-like puzzles work in a "physical space" instead, something like the occasional physics puzzles Half-Life 2 had. There's a bit of a screw-up in that the game tells you that you can check your inventory as soon as you start, but the button for doing so doesn't actually do anything until later in the game. One game-play theme I did quite like was how progression in the game sometime consists of finding a way to light up previously dark and deadly areas - making an area that was once terrifying and unknown now feel safe and explorable was a cool way to keep growing the game world as the player progresses.

One thing that did really hurt my enjoyment of the game was the over-use of darkness. Ominous dark shadows make for great spooky scenery, sure - and with the monster needing shadows to be able to move around, it makes sense that the game doesn't give me a flashlight. But nevertheless - In the games very first area, I got stuck, not because I had trouble with a puzzle, but because the environment is so dark I couldn't even see the items I needed to pick up to get out of the first building. Later in the game, I encountered an area that expected me to navigate several stairways and find a door in pitch blackness while being attacked by the monster. At this point I almost gave up because I wasn't scared or excited anymore, just annoyed. Thankfully, I did find a source engine console command "create_flashlight" which will spawn a light source in whatever area you're standing in. I didn't like having to cheat like and ruin the atmosphere just to get past an area, but I play video games for fun, and being stuck in a game because you simply can't see anything, isn't fun.

Overall, I do still recommend Black Snow because it does have a great atmosphere, some solid scares, and lots of interesting backstory to explore, but it does also have some very clunky moments that I don't think you should feel bad for using cheats or a walk-through video to get by. If you enjoyed the cold and isolated feeling of the Penumbra horror games, or perhaps John carpenters The Thing, you may dig on this one, too!

You can download the mod here:

Also, since I liked the ambience in this game so much, I will be doing some recordings of it, too - so keep an out for those if you like spooky source engine soundscapes! post,

#horror games #horror #survival horror #horror video games #Black snow #hl2 #half-life 2 #half-life 2 episode 2 #source engine #mod #half-life 2 mod #hl2 mod #KrissieFox Game Reviews #Game Review #Review #long post #john carpenter #the thing #penumbra #penumbra overture #penumbra black plague #arctic #snow #ice #cold #black snow hl2 #black snow mod #black snow game #black snow half-life 2

[monocrom3r]

⏵supernova⏴

⏵chapter one — new world⏴ 

⏵genre: superpower au, an action adventure thriller with a mystery to solve ⏵word count: ~2k  ⏵rating: T-M ⏵warnings: minor language, things that go bump in the night, second person pov is a private investigator ⏵summary: You've wandered in and out of a dozen cities in your time as a P.I., and the people are always the same: childish, selfish, predictable. But Nova City is different — something has been warped, broken, and before too long you find yourself in the crossfire between the mysterious Operation Hourglass and the ruthless Guerrillas. When push comes to cataclysmic shove, what good can one gumshoe do against forces of nature with a serious grudge match to settle? You're not too sure — but you're sure as hell gonna find out. 

⏵author's note: hello! monocromer here (mc or chrome if you like), and welcome to the first chapter of supernova! I got a bug in my ear about an ateez superhero/villain au, and even though I've got other writing I should be working on, this concept would not rest until I started getting it down on paper in earnest. this series should float somewhere in the T-M range ratingwise, with the sort of violence one might expect from a heavier marvel movie or a lighter episode of invincible; as for intimate content, if we float towards 'minors dni' territory, then you'll get a strongly worded warning at the head of the relevant chapter(s). thanks so much for checking out my work; I'm looking forward to sharing this with you over the coming weeks! 

⏵author's note pt. II: if the last little chunk of this looks funky or like it's missing words, the mobile version appears to be eating some sentences! read on desktop for best experience (unfortunately!)

________

This story will test you. 

It will pose some difficult questions and then challenge your initial response. It will entice you to think about clichéd, long belabored words like hero and villain, justice and vengeance,  good and evil. And at the end of it all, it will see if you are ready to bring action to answer. 

So, are you ready? 

Begin.  ________

The city unfolds before you, a concrete labyrinth tangled with rusty scaffolding and neon signs, headlights and streetlights reflected in ankle deep puddles that haven't seen rain in days, and yet never seem to dry up.

The shutter of your camera snaps another shot as you shift your weight, leaning across the center console of the tiny red coupe that’s seen you through half a dozen cities like this one, angling for a better view of the motel window down the street. 

Another day, another infidelity. Just when you think Nova City might have something better to offer you, another case brings yet another disappointment. But it's good, honest work.

You watch as your target rips open his shirt, revealing a jungle of chest hair. Something glints back at you.

"Ah. That'll be the piercing," you mutter, zooming in and taking another half dozen shots before lowering your camera. You sigh, running a hand through your hair. The man dives out of frame, and you can faintly hear a squeal of delight from the co-pilot of his rendezvous. 

...well, it's work. 

You turn the key in the ignition, smacking the dashboard with your palm a few times before the engine finally roars to life. Even without a map, you know every twist and turn of this part of town, driving down alleyways littered with street food vendors and nightclub flyers.

Parking around the corner, by the meter you know has been busted for months, you cut down an alley to the back entrance to the printer's place. Fortunately, the guy you use for your glossy 8x10s works late, at least for you.

Unfortunately, he’s also a bit… eccentric. 

"Hey, Sherbert, open up," you call, pounding on the door. 

After a few moments, the door opens a crack. A furrowed brow peers out from under a tangle of red hair, and you can just make out a black silk robe and a pair of... bunny slippers?

"Detective." Sherbert opens the door a hair wider, scratching the greying beard threatening to overtake his features. "You're out late."

You hold up the memory card, and he plucks it from your grip.

"You can pick 'em up tomorrow mornin'," he grunts, "I've got company."

"Oh," you muse with a smile, "Company?"

His jaw tightens, a faint squeaking sound as his teeth grind ever so slightly together. Sherbert would prefer you not even know he has a blood type, let alone a — 

"Well,” he huffs, “It ain't my parcheesi club."

The laugh is no sooner out of your mouth than the door slams shut, locking behind him.

"I'll be back at nine," you call through the door, "Sharp!"

You lean back against the door, stretching out the cramp in your neck that inevitably results from too many hours spent contorted in the driver's seat. 

Across the street, a neon OPEN sign with a steaming mug lures your attention, and you cross, weaving your way through passing cars. There are a handful of patrons in line as you make your way inside, stepping carefully over a laptop cable here and a backpack there. Must be finals season for the college students...and here you could have sworn it was just the holidays, just yesterday...

You shake your head, fighting back a yawn as the man in front of you steps away towards a table. The barista behind the counter looks up, but doesn't speak. He nods in your direction as you approach, twirling a permanent marker in his fingers. 

"Evening," you say, looking over the menu on the wall. "Anything you recommend?"

"Coffee," he replies, voice low and quiet. "Or tea."

You wait awkwardly for him to get just a little more specific, but he stares blankly back at you, brows set in a straight, neutral line. 

"Well, sure, yeah." You glance down at your watch. Probably too late for caffeine, but that's never stopped you before. "Americano, then, please."

"Hot or iced?"

"Hot."

He reaches for a paper cup, ticking boxes on the side, then turns away without another word, working the espresso machine. You pay with a swipe of your card, then loiter near the register, rolling your shoulders to the tune of several satisfying pops and cracks. The barista returns with the cup, hand already on the low gate that separates customer from cashier, and stops short.

"You can sit." He clears his throat, as if that were too many words for him to get out in one go. "Could have. I would have brought it to you."

"Been cooped up in a car all day," you explain. "Stretching my legs before I head home, little nighttime walk, that kinda thing. 

His expression doesn't change. "Ah."

You stretch out your hand, and after a beat he hands you the cup. 

"Thanks."

You turn for the door, and are surprised to feel a sudden grip on your arm. You turn back to look at the barista, his eyes suddenly wide and awake, glimmering in the fluorescent light. For a moment, you find yourself breathless as he holds you tightly from across the counter.

"Don't walk too far," he says, voice stronger and clearer, but still quiet, interwoven with the din of the coffee shop, "Strange things happening out there at night these days."

"Strange?" You haven't heard anything in the news, and you tilt your head, questioning, "What kind of things?"

"The bad kind." He releases your arm, brushing his hands on his apron, smoothly resetting back to the way you'd found him: a blank expression, twirling his marker in hand. 

"Right. Well... have a good night, then."

He nods once in your direction, then turns back to the espresso machine, busying himself with cleaning.

A deep breath fills your lungs with crisp, cool air as you stroll through the night, the chill of spring not yet yielding to the warmth of summer. You take the last few sips of your drink — the coffee's good, not too bitter, and you sigh contentedly as you toss the empty cup into a bin and glance at your watch. If you hurry, you can get home in time for a long bath before a good night's sleep. A shortcut behind the chicken place would get you to your car ten minutes faster, and that's all the incentive you need. 

Sure, it requires hopping a fence or two, but you didn't become a private eye for nothing. Even as a teenager, a locked door was more an invitation than a deterrent, and you would have gotten away with the perfect grades you hacked into the system if an overzealous TA hadn't ratted you out. 

You huff, remembering. Never could stand a hero complex. You wedge the toe of your boot into the fencing and begin to climb, leaping over the top and landing with a splash in the alleyway. It's not enough to put you off, but you do grimace, wriggling your ankle in an attempt to leave some of the grease and grime in the gutter. 

"All this water..." you mutter, glancing around, and something curious meets your gaze.

The manhole cover in the center of the alley, practically spotlighted by a flickering bulb somewhere overhead, is crooked.

You draw closer with slow, even steps. Very crooked, like there's something wedged in there. Even as you watch, some kind of liquid is pouring out, oozing towards you. You pull out your phone, following with your flashlight, and freeze.

Not liquid. Bodies, forms, small shapes moving, creeping, slithering out of the manhole... one skitters over your shoe, and you resist the urge to shake it off. 

Rats. Dozens of them, clambering out of the gap in the manhole that leads down to the sewers below. It's unsettling, but it's not the worst part. 

They're entirely silent. You've never seen anything wild be this quiet, certainly not in the city. Your mind clouds, and you force yourself to breathe, slow and even. 

Something's wrong here.

As if to reward your intuition (or perhaps punish it), the manhole cover suddenly shakes violently. 

Run, something inside you says, but your body won't move. You twitch a finger towards the pistol hidden beneath your jacket, but it's as far as you can manage until the metal disc finally bursts off the gap and lands with a clatter on the asphalt a few feet from you.

"Why you hesitating?" a voice calls, words low and long and deep, like something ancient and abyssal, some creature from the depths that can't, shouldn't, mustn't see the light of day...

Run. Your lips are moving, making the word, but no sound comes out. Not until two limbs emerge from the manhole, long and sinewy, cloaked in some dark fabric that's dripping with sewer water, heaving the rest of its body up from below. 

A breath hitched in your chest exhales into a sharp gasp, a rattled sound that has you digging your nails into the heels of your palms, heart pounding. The way it moves, the way it sounds as it sucks in a tsk through its teeth...

"Why you waiting?"

It's when you see the face emerge, all but hidden in shadow, teeth glinting in a wide smile in the dim light, that you finally run. 

You just have to get past it. You can see your car, there, at the end of the alley. It's not even out of the manhole, yet, it can't catch you, it can't be fast enough. You sprint towards the fence, closing the distance in long strides, boots splattering the asphalt as your hands reach out for the fencing…

And cry out, searing pain lancing through your leg as a crack like a thunderbolt rips through the alleyway, and something sharp wraps around your ankle.

You don't have to look over your shoulder to know the source. It tugs sharply, suddenly, and your boot skids across the asphalt as you grab at the fencing, digging your fingers into the wire desperately, scrambling as your fingers begin to scrape, scratch, bleed —

And just when you feel your ankle yank backwards again and begin to pull your fingers from their grip, the tether goes slack. The alleyway grows quiet, leaving only your ragged breathing and the faint drip of water. After a few moments you turn, grip still tight on the fence...

The thing, whatever it was, is gone. There's something wrapped around your ankle, yes, a leather cord the thickness of a power cable, but its end is connected to... nothing. You take a few tentative steps into the alley. You're alone, now, thrusting the only evidence that anything ever had you at death's door into the pocket of your coat — and feel it resist. Your breath catches, and you tug at the end in your hands, following it, kneeling down as you find the end... 

Not the only evidence, it seems. Buried an inch into the concrete with the end of the cord speared on its tip, is an arrow. You wrap your hand around it and tug, but it doesn't budge. Setting your teeth, you pull harder, and manage to free it, the aluminum shaft flexing rather than break. 

You look around, then up. The alleyway is as quiet as before, as quiet as it should have been.

Unwilling to tempt fate further, you make short work of the fence, ankle nearly buckling as you find the sidewalk again and make your way over to the coupe, arrow tucked under your arm, fingers working the cord in your pocket.

There's a soft hissing sound as you approach, and you stop cold, holding your breath... before your eyes widen in recognition.

In the (now flat) tire of your car, a mere few feet away from the fence that nearly trapped you to your death, is another goddamn arrow.

________

Like I said — this story will test you. It will ask you if you've always made the right decision, when faced with the choice between dooming someone to their punishment or extending a hand to save.

Because someone does need saving here, Detective. 

And it's not you.  ___________

#ateez fanfic #ateez fic #ateez ot8 #superhero au #monocromer #a monocromer original series #supernova #ateez #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #mingi #wooyoung #jongho #ateez x reader

[apeekatthestars]

Okay, so this feels long overdue. It's been way too long since I last journaled, work has been too hectic, and I've just had a long cry last night. Ever since Charlotte quit, it's been starting to feel like I don't have enough hands - like my mind is just listing out things I need to do after I finish the task at hand, while my hands are still doing said task. It's been...a lot. To be fair, while the assigned tasks are insane, a major part of the stress has been this skeleton submission for Stephen Ng's case. I'm honestly very hopeful that the matter will get wrapped up before the hearing, but we do still need to lodge the written submission. I'm on the 4th draft, and Mike keeps telling me my drafts are wrong - which is fine, which is normal, and so I have just been churning out more and more drafts, each one 20 to 30 pages long, in an attempt to finally get it right. I've stayed up working on drafts until 2am twice already, on top of an insane workload on all my other files. The straw that broke the camel's back was yesterday - I literally just did what he told me to do, and it was still fucking wrong. I think the problem is that he says things like "Quote their Defence" and assumes I know what he means - but there are a lot of ways to quote things, and I've never seen a skeleton submission that looks like what it appears he wants, so that's a lot of very costly trial and error. I just...feel very broken and tired, and I want to just walk away from this whole career. I'm clearly not made out for a career in law. My mind simply isn't adept enough. I can't process things on the spot. That rules out oral advocacy and legal discussions. And nobody's mind seems to work like my mind, so people say things and I don't understand them on the spot until I've had time to transcribe recordings of our conversations and read them back. And I don't know the law, and it feels like it's too late to rectify such a fundamental thing.

Alright, that's enough feeling sorry for myself. I have my limitations, that much is certain. However, that doesn't mean I'm giving up without a fight. If I can finally figure out what a "proper" skeleton submission is supposed to look like, I can create a list of questions and a protocol, so that I know the tone I'm supposed to strike in future. This will be a massive win in terms of my career. I'm so close to it - maybe the next draft will be a winner, now that (hopefully) Mike has finally expressed what changes should be made. We can do this. Stupidity isn't a sin - we can work around it and still get what we deserve.

Am I doing something wrong? No, we're not. We are learning as best we can. Draft 1 was very different from Draft 4. Next time we have to do a skeleton submission, we can skip directly to Draft 5. That is learning, right there. There is no need to feel ashamed, and there is no need to feel guilty for not being faster. Your mind is about to crack. You need a break, and you are going to get one.

It just...feels like there are so many things piled up on my plate, that it's unconscionable to not use any part of my long weekend to clear up some of the backlog, particularly when a lot of the backlog was due yesterday. And I should not have made the mistakes I made - I know better. I owe it to my bosses to put in the extra work when I've not been helpful. But if that's the logic, then you'll literally never get a break. Work will always be this urgent. Always. And you're still learning, so you'll just be doing trial and error for like a decent chunk of your time. Your inability to do all the work on time is not a failing on your part - you always just do your best, after all. The fact that the work can't be done on the spot is about lack of manpower. No matter how hardworking you are, your efforts will just keep crashing against the towering demand. So you have to take the time to take care of yourself, to keep yourself from crashing and burning out. You are already in the right place - you are learning and working as hard as you can. Take a deep breath and feel proud of how far you've come. Take a good long rest. Look at the sunshine and the trees and all the beauty and love in this world beyond the narrow scope of your career. Life is long. You are smart and hardworking, yes, but you are also bright and happy and curious about the world. Estella alone cannot make progress on the part of the entire Elsandria - everyone needs to grow in order for Elsandria to become stronger.

It's been a long while, but how is everyone else doing? Joey was depressed and starved for a while back there, but now that we're re-reading the Belgariad and playing Stardew Valley, things are not so bad. But it would not hurt to find new things to get into. Maybe we can re-learn Spirit Island, or Root, or another digital board game. But it's hard to magic a new interest - these things are supposed to just happen, after all. We can create a list of shows and books that we can get into?

Yumi has been completely thrown to the side in Estella's mad rush, but we can restart the skincare and the teeth brushing. With Admira, I've discovered that waking up on time comes a lot easier when I've had sufficient rest. Work permitting, I do want to be in bed, listening to a bedtime story by 11:30pm on Monday and Thursday nights, and I want at least half a weekend day actually doing something fun. These are structures we need to enforce. As for journaling? It really should be a lot more regular, but it's hard to make time for that when life is just go, go, go. I guess it's just going to have to be whenever I feel the need to journal.

And Kalyra? It's hard for Kalyra to do much of anything when I can't put together the time to go explore the city. But she's an integral part of our personality - she brings the wonder and the magic. God forbid the day when her light dims. It's a long weekend. If you don't let her out now, when will you? This is about your dedication to yourself and Kalyra - take care of her now.

We have to go explore the city this long weekend.

And play Stardew Valley, of course. Maybe try the Avatar books.

The world is a vast place. There is beauty hidden in every nook and cranny. Go find it.

#journal #me

[protagonistheavy]

Incantation seems like a REALLY interesting perk for DBD, but I'm having so much trouble thinking of when best to actually use it, because it feels like in most games, you're rarely going to have the golden opportunity where everything lines up well enough to make it a not-dead perk.

Because that's something to consider too: if you don't go into basement and commit a 2 minute-long ritual, you don't get ANYTHING out of this perk. It has very high potential to do absolutely nothing if you can't even find the chance to go down there, so right away, it's losing out to better/simpler gen perks like De Ja Vu, where you're guaranteed to get value at some point.

But there's also the injured + Broken penalty that immediately follows when the ritual is completed, making it even more difficult to figure out a proper time to do the ritual. Because once you do that ritual, you're broken for the whole rest of the trial... so doing the ritual too early means you're vulnerable for much longer.

Buuut on the other hand, waiting too long is also detrimental. I mean the obvious is that if you don't do the incantation before the gens are all done, well then it's definitely a dead perk lol. And if you wait for there to be just one more gen left to do, then you're not getting technically as much gen progress done as you could have, had you done the ritual earlier when there were more gens available.

Sooooo. When do you use this perk lol? And why wouldn't you just run other good gen perks, or just bring a Brand New Part and have none the stress? At the end of the day, successfully casting the ritual only ups gen progress by 1/6th of the total amount... that's sooo little considering you're out of the game for up to two minutes, or at best, other survivors ALSO leave the game and come join you to make it faster...... whiiiich gradually makes it more obvious to the killer what's happening.

I guess the best play is when basement is on the complete opposite side of a tight three gen, you can do this and maybe surprise the killer lol. Waiting til the end means you avoid the broken penalty for as long as possible, and you also get to skip the troubles of managing a three gen situation. At this point too, adding a chunk of gen progress to these remaining gens is also more significant, since it's more likely these gens already have progress on them. I think doing this at the start of the game is the worst use of Invocation, since you'll be injured the entire rest of the game and easy to tunnel out, and while you do get technically more gen progress overall, you're applying it to gens so early that it doesn't make a huge difference in the long run, and the killer now has more ample time to regress these gens.

Sooo yeah maybe BHVR wants to rethink some of these numbers? Or maybe consider a different penalty than broken? I don't think it would hurt either if the effect just did more repair progress overall, 1/6th is so little for how long you and potentially other survivors are doing otherwise nothing at all. If you want better gen progress, there's just many better options -- you're better off bringing a boon perk if you really wanna do the "sit down and setup an advantage" deal, you're committing much less to get a better team effect.

[lindseymccue10]

Script Writing

Lights up as JULIA and SAVANNAH finish their duet on stage

STAGE MANAGER. Take five everyone!

JULIA. (To Savannah) Wanna go fill up my water bottle with me? 

SAVANNAH. Would love to.

(They both walk off the stage and start heading to the water fountain in the hallway. The STAGE MANAGERwhizzes past the two girls while on the phone)

STAGE MANAGER. It has to be there in under thirty days and if it doesn’t get there it’s really not my problem.

(The two girls look at each other with a slight grin)

SAVANNAH. (Whisper sings to JULIA) Dramaa! 

(They giggle in unison as JULIA starts to fill up her water bottle)

JULIA. Y’know, our duet might be the best number in the whole show.

SAVANNAH. I agree. It’s such a powerful song. No one can even come close to us—except for maybe Jake’s solo at the end. He really has come a long way since the vomit incident. (She pretends to gag then starts to laugh as she catches JULIA’s eye)

JULIA. (Begins to laugh as well) Can you believe how embarrassing that must've been? Singing in front of the whole school just to end up blowing chunks on every soprano—he should just be glad I’m an alto. 

SAVANNAH. (jokingly offended) Juls let’s not forget I was one of those sopranos! 

JULIA. (jokingly apologetic) Oh shoot. Now I remember it correctly. You were directly in the splash zone, yikes...

(They both become hysterical as they start walking back into the auditorium. The STAGE MANAGER pushes past them in another rush while still on the phone)

STAGE MANAGER. I swear I will not be paying a return fee!

(Savannah rolls her eyes at Juls as they take a seat in the chairs)

SAVANNAH. Besides all this craziness, how has life been?

JULIA. Eh, it's okay. I mean, it would be better if I didn’t have to take stupid biology. I’m so nervous for the exam, like you don’t understand. (Dread starts to take over her body)

SAVANNAH. I definitely feel that but I’m sure you'll be fine. I wish we could just take choir every day and all day, Ms. Dorell is my girl.

JULIA. Yeah, it’s a dope class, it’s quite literally the only motivation I have to get through the week until Fridays.

SAVANNAH. For sure. By the way, they're gonna have to recruit someone else to throw the cast party, I am never throwing another party again because I did everything myself. 

JULIA. (Immediately begins to plead with Savannah) C’mon Sav you have to throw it! You have one of the nicest houses in the whole district and I swear this time I’ll stay extra late to help with clean up. (Puppy dog eyes) Pretty please? For your duet bestie?

SAVANNAH. (Playfully rolls her eyes) I can't with you. (Realizing that JULIA won’t let up) Fine, but you're on bathroom duty and you have to get two freshmen to stay and clean too.

JULIA. (Extremely pleased) Deal. I appreciate you, queen.

(STAGE MANAGER as he’s walking onto the stage visibly flustered)

STAGE MANAGER. (To someone standing off stage) It’s not there anymore, it’s broken. What do you want me to do? (Turning to face everyone sitting in the chairs) Sorry about the extended break, as you can see nothing is going my way today like usual. We’re gonna run the show from the top. PLACES! (He runs off stage, prepared to take care of something else going wrong)

(as the two girls begin to stand up, SAVANNAH begins to stretch and yawn)

SAVANNAH. Welp, looks like I’ll see you in approximately four numbers.

JULIA. (Making her way towards the stage, visibly tired and unenthusiastic) Yay, can’t wait.

[desertofsnowflakes]

Incorrect Order Chapter 5 (Nessian AU)

A/N: Do inform me if you wanna be added/removed from the taglist! If you happen to find my storyline similar to another fic or one of yours, I'm extremely sorry, I might've just not known. All characters belong to the author Sarah J. Mass. Enjoy!

Summary: Don't first impressions always affect the way you see someone? Well, what more with the Nesta Archeron? Nesta meets Cassian at few unexpected places and to say it didn't go well was a major understatement. Certain circumstances make them become enemies to tolerable company to friends to lovers.

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, an angry Nesta and a heart-broken Cassian

2094 words | Incorrect Order Masterlist | Read on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nesta had never been one for small talk but in his presence she spoke as if she was excellent in small talk. They spoke of all unimportant things and ended up forgetting the important stuff; their names. Again.

Feyre sent an invitation for her first anniversary party as she did for every other occasion. The only thing different was that Nesta never bothered to pay heed to her invitations before. After the day in the alley, however, she decided she was going to turn over a new leaf. This was her first step.

She checked her reflection on the side-mirror. She tried to keep her outfit and make-up as simple as possible. She only wore a white ruffled-sleeved blouse with a black pencil skirt. Her hair was braided into a coronet. She looked good, but not as good as she’ll look if she took her own time to do a detailed make-over. She let out a breath and braced herself for the inevitable little chat with her sisters.

“Nesta?” a bewildered voice breathed. She whirled around to face her younger sister, Elain, looking up at her, a small smile playing about her lips. “You’re here,” she said and flung her arms around Nesta. Nesta automatically wrapped her arms around Elain’s smaller frame. Eventually, Elain pulled back.

“No offense, but I really thought you wouldn’t be coming,” Elain said.

Nesta felt as if the smile on her face couldn't be wiped out for the next few hours. “Honestly, I didn't think I'd come either. But here I am.”

She nodded and pulled Nesta to the garden the party was held at.

“I did this,” Elain said. “This garden, I planted and groomed all this.”

“No wonder why it looks so beautiful,” Nesta replied.

She flushed and said contemplatively, “You're so different now, Nesta.”

“I hope in a good way. Where's Feyre?”

“Let's go meet everyone first.”

Nesta shook her head. “I— I need to talk to both of you before I meet everyone else. ”

Elain hesitated then said, “Can you wait in that room? I'll fetch Feyre and come.”

Nesta nodded and headed to the door at the end of the garden Elain pointed at. The room was classy, much like the exterior of the house. She was struck by the simple yet grand theme of Feyre's house. She knew he and his brothers were rich but she just didn't understand the extent of their wealth. Till now.

“What are you thinking?” Feyre wasn't the type to blindly trust people. It took more than coming for her anniversary to persuade her that Nesta's intentions were good.

Nesta faced Feyre, her youngest sister, who stood before her, gorgeous yet fierce in a simple but elegant blue gown. She shrugged, “Just thinking that I'm glad my sisters were well-provided when I couldn't take care of them.”

Feyre’s face didn’t change, she just gestured towards the couches. “Have a seat,” she said.

Nesta sat down, “You both look splendid,” she said. Feyre said that the gown was a gift, Elain thanked Nesta and offered the same.

Nesta cleared her throat. “I need to tell the both of you something. Many things, actually.”

Elain nodded encouragingly. Feyre said, “Go on.”

So Nesta spoke. She apologised. For how she wasn't there to fulfill the role of an elder sister. For how she failed to attend Feyre's marriage and many other occasions. For all the rude words she spoke to them. For shunning them. She apologised for being self consumed. For everything else.

She also promised. To try harder. To become better. To be a good sister and sister-in-law. To be with them at all times, especially when they needed her. And they listened.

“I know these words aren't enough, but I'll try to make it so,” she finished, her hands clasped with both her sisters on her sides.

“You said you'll try, Nesta. We will too,” Feyre said.

“I see a very bright future ahead of us,” Elain said.

Nesta couldn't help the tears anymore. She folded her arms around her sisters and tucked them close. Her sisters. Her beloved sisters she now knew she'd do anything to protect.

“I see a very bright future too,” Nesta said.

Nesta pulled back after what felt like an hour and looked at her sisters' tear-streaked faces.

“I love you,” the three of them said simultaneously. Nesta giggled. Elain laughed. Feyre stared.

Nesta gently brushed the tears from both of their cheeks. “I don't want to see any of you crying.”

She hugged them again, willing the hug to convey everything she didn't say out loud.

“Now, now, enough snuggling. We've got a party to attend and people to meet, remember?” Feyre said.

***

Cassian was anxious. He had always hoped Nesta, his sister-in-law, would come for the gatherings they had; be it family dinners, or birthday parties, or the random meetings they had when they just got tipsy and played games. He hadn't seen her face-to-face before. All he knows about Nesta are from the descriptions from Feyre and Elain. That, too, was minimal. One of them would quickly change the topic to something pleasant the moment traces of an emotional breakdown were visible. Every time he hoped, he was let down. She never came. He vowed he would stop hoping and instead just go about and act as if she didn't exist. But that never happened. Every time his family met, his treacherous heart would start hoping only to have a chunk of it fall off when she failed to attend. Today was no different.

Then there’s the woman who he’d been talking to the whole afternoon. He was a tangled up mess of emotions and doubt and confusion. He had been sort-of pining after Nesta. She was exactly the person he’d like. Apparently she was drop-dead gorgeous, witty and… feral. Feyre said that. Feral. She’d be someone worth seeing. She was totally a worthy opponent. It’d be fun. But the other woman? Mother above, she was ethereal. More than ethereal, in fact. Words can't contain what he had to say about her.

He was damn near killing Az for calling him right when they were about to exchange names. He really can't believe he was a hairsbreadth away from knowing her before it was all ripped away. Now they were back to square one. He didn't know anything about her.

Azriel clapped him on his back so hard that he almost stumbled and fell. Or probably that was because he was too distracted. “All good Somm?”

“Mmm-hmm,” he replied noncommittally. He busied his hands with re-rinsing the champagne flutes and wiping them clean again. He did this two times already. Still.

“Mood is sour today, Cass?” Az teased, mock-frowning.

“Nah,” Cassian said wryly, “it's as sweet as honeydew. Especially today, when my chat got interrupted.” He glared at Azriel.

“Now, now, that is a story for another day. For now though, I think I've got something that can cheer up your brooding self.”

“What is it?” he mumbled.

Az grinned. “Nesta is here.”

***

Feyre and Elain took Nesta on a quick tour around the house. Feyre’s paintings were hung on the walls throughout the whole house. Nesta grimly noticed that there wasn't a single picture of her. There were even paintings of their father whose heart had long stopped beating. But none of hers. If only she didn’t push herself away, Nesta would’ve been a happy part of her sisters’ lives.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Feyre took her hand in hers. Elain tucked herself to Nesta’s side, wrapping her arms over her slender shoulders.

Nesta already met Mor, a stunning blonde woman, and Amren, a slightly intimidating and short person. Now she only had to meet her brother-in-laws.

“Let’s go meet the boys!” Elain said brightly.

We walked back to the garden. Feyre seemed to get more and more elated the closer we got to the garden. Huh. Probably falling in love would do that to someone. Anyway, as long as her sisters were happy.

They stepped through the doorway. The garden was decorated with more banners and streamers hung on the back of chairs and on the low branches. Again, it looked opulent in a simple way.

There were three men in the centre of the garden, gathered around a table. They all were slightly similar, broad shouldered, tapered waists, muscular limbs. Three of them wore formal shirts and pants clinging to their frames. The one in the middle was Rhysand, she supposed. She smirked internally. Of course Feyre ended up with this guy. She's got a good taste. Must've gotten it from the oldest sister.

The one on the right, though. His figure felt familiar. Very, very familiar. She couldn't quite put a finger on it yet.

“The one on the left is Azriel, the one on the right is Cassian,” Feyre said, and Nesta nodded.

The boys must be really engrossed with their conversation. They hadn't noticed the three of them yet.

The guy she thought was familiar threw his head back and laughed. She gasped. That laugh. She'd know the laugh anywhere. Indeed, when he angled his face so that she could get a glimpse, she knew she was done for. She swallowed with much difficulty.

“I need to go,” she said quickly.

“Go? But— but we haven't cut the cake yet. It's still early. We've got lots more fun stuff,” Elain said.

“You said you'll try, Nesta. Only, this doesn't feel like 'trying',” Feyre said.

They sounded… hurt.

Mother above, I'm doing this wrong.

“Nesta?” Elain asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Feyre added, “you look pale.”

“Y-yeah it's f-fine. Kinda. My head hurts,” she said, accidentally clutching her stomach. “I-I mean, yeah my head hurts. Very badly. I gotta go.” She looked helplessly at both of them. “I'm so sorry. I really am. It's just— I think I need rest. I'll recompense. Probably dinner in three days?” They both shared a look and agreed.

Nesta was already walking away. “Love you both,” she threw over her shoulder.

***

“Feyre!” Rhys called. He beckoned Feyre and Elain to the table. He didn't see Nesta.

Cassian lightly kissed Feyre on her cheek once they made their way to the table and said, “Gorgeous as always. Happy anniversary!”

Feyre grinned, but it showed traces of disappointment.

He frowned. “Hey, what's wrong?”

She just shook her head and mumbled, “Nesta.” Rhys's face hardened. His brother was never fond of Nesta. He said that she was why Feyre was always worried.

“Where's Nesta?” Az asked, craning his neck to see behind farther.

“She… left,” Elain pointed, revealing a figure disappearing behind the gates. A figure he knew all too well. Shitshitshitshit.

His head snapped back to his brothers. “That is Nesta?” he damn near shouted.

Rhys scowled, “Yeah.”

No wonder why she's so beautiful, he thought dumbly before running after her with a quick “I'll be back.”

***

Nesta was wrong. In all her happiness of being reunited with her sisters, she completely forgot how even a small thing can break one's smile. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She kept her calm demeanour, but inside, she was a raging storm of emotions.

One step in front of the other, she kept reminding herself.

She kept walking. Even when she heard footsteps. Even when the steps got louder. Even as he got close enough to cease running.

But not when he called her name. She halted. Locked up her emotions. She knew she shouldn't but she turned around anyway.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

“Nesta,” he breathed. She tried to hold back her shudder. It was from the night air, she told herself.

“If you have nothing to say, do let me know. I'm not going to wait forever,” she said. Harsher than she intended to. But she didn't care, at least, that's what she told herself.

Cassian winked, “I'm honored you came, sweetheart. I'll pass the credit to my influence on you. ”

She ground her teeth against the truth threatening to fall off her lips. Yes, I came here because you made me happy. And I thought that if I tried, as I did with you, I can rebuild my relationship with my sisters.

***

Cassian did something stupid. He grabbed her hand. Her eyes snapped to his, burning with anger. Like the day they first met.

He gave her a crooked grin that he knew would drive her mad. Well, more than she already was. He tilted his head to the garden, “The party is that way, love.”

She snatched back her hand at continued walking. Like a fool, he followed. “I spoke to my sisters. Told them I won't be staying tonight. And that we'll have dinner in three day's time. Does that satisfy you? Now, can you stop following me?”

“Something's wrong. What's wrong, Nes?”

“One,” she ground out, “don't call me that. Two, I'm a grown-ass woman; I know how to take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter.”

“You did. That day,” he said quietly.

She whirled on him, “Is this you taking back favours? Because I'm not interested. You want money? Take it. Tell me your price and fucking take it! Don't tread on my heels because you helped me, okay? I've got way better things to do.” She paused, “And don't follow me, Cassian.”

She turned and stalked away.

You want money? Take it. 'Take it.' As if he were a beggar, asking for alms. As if they weren't laughing at each other's jokes not more than an hour ago. As if he didn't spend a week taking care of her as if she were a part of his soul. Maybe she was.

But that was before, Cassian thought as his heart cleaved into two perfect halves. No— it smashed to a million tiny pieces.

He waited till Nesta was out of his line of sight. He turned and walked back to the garden, leaving his heart behind.

taglist: @shadowsinger07 @im-someone-i-guess @saltyfortunes @cressjacquine @julian-blackthorn-supremacy @champanheandluxxury @zemiraa @ladygabrielli1997 @nehemikkele @heartless--aromantic @sv0430 @ddsworldofbooks @irenethaleia @sjm-things @dontgetsalmonella

#writeblr #kepper's writing #sarah j mass #sjm #sjmaas #sjmverse #a court of thorns and roses #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #a court of frost and starlight #a court of silver flames #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf #acotar au #nesta archeron #nesta #cassian #nesta x cassian #cassian x nesta #nesta and cassian #cassian and nesta #nessian #nessian fanfiction #nessian au #incorrect order

[cottoncandyjester]

Hey guys im sorry I haven't been posting, honestly tumblr is making it hard to. every single story I write tumblr crashes then deletes it so it's been HIGHLY frustrating...guess I need to invest in a laptop or a better phone

Sorry this was so long I always want the boys' back stories to be only 2 parts

This story contains: death, torture, abuse, toxic relationships, murder, violent themes

"you're too soft! They are sinners theodore why are you being so damn sensitive"

Theo winced at the punch his father landed which caused him to stumble back his back hitting the table which held their latest victim, a young woman that theo cleaned up and dressed in his mother's clothes, he didn't like the sight of her all bloody and mangled it made his heart sting.

Theo never helped to Kill any of these women, only cleaned them up and made sure they looked beautiful in death it was his way if asking for forgiveness.

When he was ten he idolized his father but it's been two years since he caught his father and been training under him to take his place and all that love vanished he found himself feeling nothing but hate and disgust for his father, what made matters worse was the fact that his mother had to take half the brunt of his father's anger.

"I won't do this anymore, you're wrong. Women aren't devils, mother is an angel and I wont hurt her"

Theo's harsh remark earned him yet another punch in the face this one knocking him down as he spat out blood the metallic taste making him sick to his stomach.

"you're a damn fool boy, I'll make you see her filth"

With that his father left him in the attic to starve for the night which was always a common occurrence. As he laid back on the floor the boy let out a dry chuckle.

"Just a little more...then you'll be the one burning in hell father"

Theodore felt everything go black and it wasn't long until he had passed out soon waking back up in bed with his mother caring for his wounds. He could smell her sweet perfume and hear her soft humming, something about those things made his heart flutter in the purest of ways.

"you should be careful theo, you know making him angrier will only result in pain"

"it's okay, we'll leave together one day..just me and you.."

There was silence after that and for a while things were okay, the family was quiet during dinner and once it got late theo figured his father would have went to bed forgiving him for his outburst in the morning.

Theo woke to the sound of two metal objects clashing together, the sound was enough to stir him awake though when he tried to move he realized he was tied up against a chair. That clashing noise he heard was his father sharpening a few knives, the sight made theo's blood run Cold.

"f-father?"

"god told abraham to kill his son, and abraham was about to do it like a loyal sheep. God will make you do awful things theodore and as a man we must do them"

Theo frantically struggled against the ropes binding him only feeling more and more stressed as his father stepped closer and closer thing soft steps of his shoes making theo feel like he had to puke.

What's going to happen to me?

Am I going to die?

Theo felt his father press the tip of the blade pressed softly against his forehead on the left side of his face, the cool metal only brought theo to reality more, his father was going to kill him cause god said so.

"i-i know we are nothing alike but please-"

"we are absolutely nothing alike! You are exactly like your mother a sissy little housewife! You were never going to be a good man or husband! When I asked God for a son I thought he would send me one I could be proud of!"

Rage fuelled theo, he wasnt sure why but something about what his father said made him want to scream, his father was wrong... absolutely wrong.

"I'll be a perfect husband, and a better Father than you"

As soon as he said those words theo felt the sharp pain of his father pushing the blade into his skin earning a sharp inhale of breath trying not to show too much weakness. Theo kept thinking about his mother and how in a way he was protecting her, their goal were to run away safely together.

"we might have one thing in common theodore, you have a devil in you just like me..it's time to show you just how tainted you are"

With that theo felt a harsh intense pain as his father dragged his blade along the boy's face earning screams coming from him as he thrashed and tried kicking but his father pressed his knee onto the boy's legs now carving his skin off in such a slow and unbearable way that it was driving theo crazy

"accept your sins theodore! This is your punishment for being unloyal!"

Theodore couldn't stop screaming as the knife raked down his face roughly cutting a large chunk of his skin clean off, the pain was so great he was close to fainting but his father came prepared and injected him with an adrenaline shot.

"p-please f-father please please please..."

Theodore at this point didnt know what he was begging for, maybe death? The overwhelming taste and smell of his own blood was making him sick and not to mention there was a lot of blood pouring down his face.

I'm dying.. god has forsaken me

"may you be reborn as a perfect child next time"

Theo kept his head down but felt a soft kiss on his head before hearing footsteps walk away from him before the door to the attic closed, his father left him to die!

Theo swayed side to side hoping to get free, if he could just get to his father's desk and grab a knife though without his glasses seeing things far away was near impossible though he could see the shape of the desk.

"mother needs me, I can't die.."

Theo grunted in pain as he fell forward which wasn't his plan but he'll take it, with every fiber of his being he crawled and scooted along the ground towards the desk before seeing a knife handle over the edge of the desk. Thankfully his legs were tied just his arms so with some embarrassing attempts to stand of even kneel before turning around to grab the knife with his hand.

Before he could cut himself free he heard banging on the attic door before a crash, the sound was enough to startle him into cutting the palm of his hand and dropping the knife

"argh! I-it hurts!"

Soon the attic door opened and rushing towards him was his loving mother, her frantic questions and worrying about him made him feel far better especially when she untied him from the chair.

"I'm leaving tonight theo, my fiancee is waiting for me outside"

"t-then let's go mother! Now is the perfect time to go!"

There was a tense silence after that as theo felt his mother bandage his wound up, his mother was hiding something and he didn't like it.

"w-we have a little girl and he's very protective of her and well with how your face looks now you'll scare her and I don't want to bring any baggage from my pa-"

Theodore felt as if his head was spinning, what was she saying? He did everything for her he almost died for this woman and she saw him as baggage to toss away before going to her new family.

"y-you're going to leave me here? J-just like that?! I protected you from him! I made sure he never hurt you! Were you ever going to bring me with you?!"

"keep your voice down theo, please calm down you're scaring me-"

"I'm scaring you?! I'm the one scaring you?! How could you?! I'm your child! I love you!"

He watched his mother look down shamefully and slowly back away clearly afraid of what will her next words do to him. Theodore was feeling a little unstable at the moment, his own mother just betrayed him can he truly trust no one in his life?

"your eyes just...look just like him. I can't theo I'm so sorry I can't it's too painful for me.. you're too much like him"

That was the thing that broke theo all together, it was like his brain just snapped and no clear thought came just pure anger and pain. How could she think that?! Theo thought he was nothing like his father absolutely nothing!

"no! I'm nothing like him! Nothing! He's abusive and a horrible man how could you say that!? I thought you loved me but you're just like him-yeah you're like him not me! I'm pure! A good person"

Theo couldn't stop himself, before he knew it he had grabbed the knife he dropped earlier, the large blade held tightly in his hand and scaring the one person he thought he can trust.

"w-why do you want to leave me? You're just embarrassed of me..you don't want me around cause you hate me"

"no no no baby I love you I just-"

Theo swung the knife slashing his mother's arm, hearing her cry out in pain made him only smile as he gazed at her fearful expression. His sense of reason was vanished and all he wanted now was to show everyone how much they hurt him

"maybe if you were a better mother I wouldn't have gotten hurt all the time, maybe if you weren't too busy being a good wife instead of a good mother I wouldn't be in such pain!"

"t-theo please I just-"

"why couldn't I just have a normal family?! I prayed for one! So why!?"

Theo slashed at his mother again and again over and over sloppily slashing at her without caring about where he aimed. He was far more focused on releasing all this pain and betrayal he felt

"why doesn't anyone want me?! Why don't you want me! I want you so what's wrong with me?! Why am I so broken?!"

Theo ignored the sobs and begging for her to stop, they were not processing clear enough to him he just wanted to hurt them to hurt them in ways they hurt him. Her thrashing soon stopped but it wasnt enough for theo, he moved ontop of her now raising the blade and slamming it down inside her chest his eyes glossed over as he did so.

"I'm not like him, I'm nothing like him! I'll be a good father! A good husband! I'll never abandon my family! Never! Never ! Never!"

The knife slipped I his hand and when he tried to catch it he grazed his hand before hearing the knife clatter onto the ground, theo panted heavily before looking at his hands seeing hands were lightly bruised from gripping the knife so hard, he then looked down at his mother and her horror stuck face.

"look at what father did, I told you we should have left before...it's okay I'll protect you"

Theo reached out taking the scarf his mother wore before putting it on himself before pressing it to his nose and taking a deep inhale, the sweet scent gave him shivers.

The sight of his dead mother made the boy tear up but he honestly didn't realize he was the one who had did such a thing, it was something he refused to accept. Now gripping the knife he once had before he creeped down the attic stairs each step more and more anxiety fuelling, from the quiet sounds it seemed like his father was asleep.

Theo had never acted out so violently than when he saw his father sleeping soundly in bed, once again much like before he had completely snapped now walking over and plunging the knife deep into his father's side earning a painted grunt along with his father's eyes to snap open

This caused theo to panic and he did the first thing he could think of which was to bite his victim's ear using that time to shove the blade into his father's chest before biting his ear off and spitting it onto the ground in a feral snarling mess.

"t-there's your demon... y-you're just like me"

"I'm nothing like you! Nothing!"

Theo gripped the knife blade shoving it deeper til it became stuck and his father stopped breathing, what struck theo as odd was the lack of struggling..didn't his father want to live? That escaped his mind as he tried wiggling the blade out of the corpse only to whine lightly at how stuck it was

"heavy, too heavy"

Theodore decided his next plan was to change out of his bloody clothes except for his scarf of course and to turn on the gas stove as high it can possibly go, he used his bedroom window to escape since his mother's boytoy was still waiting for her outside.

One match, it took one match to burn the place down starting the fire in his bedroom and letting it spread. A few minutes after theo jumped out the window the house roared to live now completely on fire.

Theodore only 12 years old had killed his parents and burned the place down, he had no one else to turn to no family or anything so he turned to his local church. They sent him to a boarding school where he grew up and found a passion for medicine as well as helping others.

His dark past always haunted him, he was known as the boy whose family died horrible deaths. There were always rumors about what happened that night some say that his father killed everyone before burning the place and stabbing himself others think that his mother's lover killed them all in an angry rage. Theo would always just shrug and laugh it off thanking God that he's alive

Those dark desires of having a family only grew as he grew older, it became a twisted obsession that festered stronger and stronger by the time he was 18 he was already waiting for marriage..after all a good husband waits for the perfect bride.

"theo? Hey theo? Hello earth to theo?"

Theodore snapped awake only to see his sweet darling staring at him worriedly, he must have fallen asleep in his office again. Theo simply smiled as he stood from his chair

"what's wrong?"

"well, dinner's ready have a good dream or something?"

Theo chuckled softly before running his fingers through his hair trying to come up with a suitable answer

"just dreaming about the past my angel, though I should focus on the future with you after all the past is the past..."

#yandere imagines #yandere #yandere ocs #yandere oc x reader #tw death #tw toxic behavior #tw yandere #tw religious themes

[burgerpocalypse]

Back 4 Blood Beta

It's not good. I don't recommend buying or playing this game. Avoid it. If you like it, you're actually wrong.

I'll be directly comparing Back 4 Blood to Left 4 Dead because it's the same development team (supposedly). I'm also in an especially unforgiving mood, so this will be an outwardly hostile discussion of this terrible product. If you think I'm just being overly negative and want the game to fail because I'm an asshole, well, yeah, I am, but this shoddy product deserves considerable ire and I won't be convinced otherwise.

Some publications and individuals are calling it good, a worthy successor to L4D. They're wrong. L4D was a charming, polished, streamlined game. B4B is passionless, janky, and complicated. It makes mistakes that L4D solved or cleverly avoided, and introduces critical issues that ruin the experience.

Game Feel

Shooting feels weak and unresponsive, slows your movement speed, and requires aim-down-sights to have any accuracy.

Basic movement is slow and plodding. Sprinting drains stamina almost instantly, and is barely faster

Melee attacks rapidly drains stamina and has dubious reach; shoving enemies provides almost no benefit unless you have a specific perk card.

Zombies (or Ridden, a terrible, thoughtless name for zombies) shumble at you like they're competing for the Jank Olympics. One zombie can drain your health bar in seconds through sheer jankitude.

Players will regularly be yeeted, and it will seem like you just experienced an unintended bug or glitch rather than a deliberate force.

You're constantly taking damage from random, unidentifiable sources.

In summary, the game feel of this particular game is woeful.

Characters and Monsters

I hate the player characters. Well, that's a lie. HG, the prepper guy, or whatever his name is, is the only one I don't hate. He doesn't say cringeworthy lines, and he has a definable personality beyond broad emotional traits or bog-standard tropes. Player animations are also jank

The Ridden, which I will reiterate are named terribly, are indistinguishable from each other, players, and the environment. The common zombies are of the same color and height as players, so you're gonna probably be shooting teammates a lot, especially when everyone's covered in blood effects. Special zombies are awfully designed, to the point that I have to complain about them for the rest of this section. They:

are unpredictable, in a bad way

have entirely too much health with easily missed weak points

do far too much damage from unreasonable distances

move faster than the player's default speed, and can charge for extended distances

often appear in multiples and crowd chokepoints

The Hocker operates like the Smoker from L4D, but can lock down multiple players at once, chunk your health from great distances, and repeatedly jump from vantage point to vantage point at random. Its name is also stupid.

The Snitcher calls more zombies if you shoot it, which isn't obvious at all until you end up shooting it and call more zombies. It's also a key mistake that the developers of L4D avoided through rigorous playtesting, which allowed them to see that a similarly designed enemy was completely unfair, resulting in it being cut from the final release. Its name is also stupid.

The big fat guy can douse you in health-draining bile from 50 meters away, is difficult to kill, and has a variant that charge you and explode. This like they took the Boomer and made it worse in uniquely awful ways, just to see if they could. I don't remember the name, but its probably stupid.

The big arm guy can thwack you for 50% of your health bar, pin you in place, is also difficult to kill, and has a variant that is even more difficult to kill. I don't remember his name either, bu its definitely stupid.

The final one I can remember is the one that sits in a flesh pod and ambushes a player that gets too close, pinning them exactly like the Hunter would. The flesh pod blends into the environment in an especially egregious way, and the enemy itself looks stupid. Its names is also probably stupid.

Difficulty

I've cut my teeth on L4D and other coop shooters. I've beaten all the official campaigns on Expert. This game is stupid hard and unforgiving to such a degree that I fully believe that the developers do not understand at all what made L4D fun.

As players lose health, they also accrue trauma, which reduces maximum HP, potentially down to 40 HP. This cannot be recovered, even after respawning at a safe room or midround, unless you find a special medicine locker, which costs copper to use.

Levels are far too long, and there is never, ever any room to breathe. Players are constantly assaulted by zombies from all angles with no sense of rhythm or dramatic tension.

Levels also have no flow. Players will feel as though they are randomly wandering with no sense that they are being led in a particular direction. In L4D, the player characters would constantly be making observations about the environment (i.e. "Up that ladder!" or "We can use X to get across"). While L4D used tooltips to point out important objects, B4B relies entirely upon them.

Players have an elaborate inventory and currency system that is confusing and unreliable. Instead of providing healing and ammo at the start of each level, players have to buy it with copper. Like, literal in-game microtransactions. Each player has a unique wallet, though any copper picked up is given to all players equally. The copper system is an unnecessary addition that serves to slow down the start of a round.

Players can hold one offensive, healing, and support item. Medkits are not given a specific item slot, but instead compete with bandages and pills for inventory space. Guns and melee weapons also have tiers and ranks that are ill-defined. I have an extensive list of gripes I could go on about with this system, but I'll list some key issues:

There are too many items of each type, and they are too plentiful in the environment to be worth spending copper on

Ammo is broken into 4 types, which can leave you with lots of ammo for a weapon type you aren't using and no ammo for the gun you're actually using

Weapon attachments and ammo upgrades do nothing but provide confusion and force you to stop and stare at a stat screen to understand what it is you're adding to your gun. You also can't transfer them between guns, so you'll eventually have to swap a lower-tier gun with great attachments for a higher-tier gun with no attachments

Some offensive items do not behave in the way you expect them to, or provide so little value that they aren't worth using

Bandages and medkits operate identically, offering no interesting decision-making opportunities

The efficacy of healing items in general is needlessly reduced by players being able to heal by killing enemies, as well as trauma reducing max HP to the point that they don't provide any value

The Legacy of Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead provided a tightly packaged experience that nearly anyone could pick up on, and has a satisfying core loop that kept me coming back for years in spite of its many obvious glaring flaws. It was not bogged down by unnecessary progression systems or overly complex mechanics.

Since Valve allowed the series to shrivel and die, there has been no refinement of the mechanics that give L4D its magic, only inferior imitations that do not understand why things were they way they were.

Warhammer: Vermintide fails by being too complex, with vast differences between player characters, and an awful gear system that locks players out of higher difficulties with an arbitrary power system and random lootboxes

PAYDAY has zero polish, an unfathomably dull progression system, uninspired characters, awful artificial difficulty, and generally wastes the player's time with crushing amounts of busy work and waiting around

Back 4 Blood could have been great, but it completely misses the point. I'm going to try and play more of it while the beta is open, since I'm a miserable masochist, but also because some small part of me still wants to like it.

I'm sorry that this was so long and uncoordinated. I also apologize if you do enjoy the game. I just hope that I was able to provide a unique perspective of some small value to someone.

Thanks for reading. Sorry there's no interesting art to look at. I only put that comically small cover image there because it made me feel slightly better.

#back 4 blood #turtle rock studios #left 4 dead #video games #review #sorry for the rant

[bearpillowmonster]

Horizon Zero Dawn Review

The game that critics have been raving about for years and I just haven't played. I heard a lot of people say "this needs a movie" but they say that about any game that dares to be a little bit cinematic because I personally disagree.

That first part is rough, the story seems so in your face, predictable and bland but I think the problem is that it didn't know how to put in its exposition. I think it naturally builds up as it goes on, getting bigger and broader, it's just those first experiences that can be a slog because you're pretty much learning what style you're going to play in.

I got more or less everything I expected, crafting, a skill tree, various weapons. What I didn't expect though are dialogue options. You can choose normally up to four paths, an intelligent one, a compassionate one, and a straightforward one. You don't have to worry about the stress of trying to reach a specific ending because there's really only one, the only thing that affects it is the amount of people that are in it. So does that make the choices irrelevant? Yes and no because there are different dialogue options and like I said, which means that you can get certain characters to like you more given the option you choose but not in the same way that relationship points work and I definitely felt the draw to do that whenever I came across my first side-quest.

Side-quests are interesting, I love tracking things in games, though it's rare that you actually get the chance to do it and here you have a good amount of opportunities. Is that all though? Far from it. I actually found myself searching for side-quests because the first two were so satisfying. It really only began to show its hand a bit more after those quests. As I mentioned, there are a lot more RPG elements than I first imagined but it starts to send you on scavenger hunts, especially that Dreamwillow one, that one I actually laughed out loud at every time I was turned away. It also starts to gatekeep to where it recommends that you be a certain level which is...odd? I mean at face value it looks like you could rock basically any combat situation that isn't context sensitive. Leveling up gives you abilities but they're more like Deus Ex on that front, where it's just for preference and upgrading, not necessarily strength. The only thing you improve on offense wise basically boils down to having the right materials or units to buy weapons then a matter of finding modifications. Other than that, leveling up seems to just increase your health. It really just depends on the quest too because I'll play one above my level and be fine then play another that's actually under my level and feel stuck.

Now I only played it on normal mode so something like "Ultra Hard" is bound to be more demanding but as far as actual side quest content, I feel like they have potential but just need tweaked, give me more stuff for major characters that affects their standing with me. Rather than having each quest be contained in its own story, have it affect you later in the game, let your actions be shown, give it rewards and consequences. There are some really great side-quests but there are also some crappy ones, it doesn't pass that threshold that most RPGs fall under or anything. However, I did find myself doing side-quests at my own free will and the ones that I didn't like or couldn't do at the time, I just skipped and focused on something else, I felt a lot more freedom with this game, like I didn't feel forced to grind or do a certain number of side-quests or really do anything. It encourages you to explore and play the way you want to play and I respect the heck out of that. Maybe it's different for other players though.

Perhaps my favorite actual side thing was the Cauldrons for those who actually played this, you'll know why. For those who didn't, just know that it's cool and let it be a surprise for when you go to one. You might expect these big set-pieces and bosses like Uncharted or GoW, but it's not really like that. I genuinely think that this is more video-gamey than it lets on which certainly takes up its runtime. One addition to side-quests that I would like to see is one where you don't know it's happening. For example, in this game, you'll come across random hunters who are attacking or being attacked by machines but rather than just going on about your day and them going on about their's, I want to fight off the machine and the person say "You saved my life, my name's Jara, I live in the town nearby and want to repay you." so you go there and there's trouble so it starts up a side-quest. Now don't get me wrong, there are PLENTY of instances of people getting attacked actually being a mission but most of the time someone in town will just tell you "I haven't seen this person in a while, can you go check on them for me?" It's the art of subtlety and also just doing a good deed and getting rewarded for it. It's a conscious choice and split decision rather than just another checkmark on your list to complete.

Now I won't bother listing the characters and rating them but there's a certain aspect that has me really enthused So, Aloy is an outcast and a lot of these side missions and scenarios reflect her, you'll see the way she can relate with other characters, making it almost poetic in a subliminal kind of way. Then they add this tribal and futuristic setting to it where Aloy acts as the medium, there are parts of the game where she questions the tribe because they cut themselves off from technology and just don't know any better and we as a viewer know that but having the main character view things in 'our' lens is pretty genius. To top that off, they give her enough personality to be her own character while giving us enough power to influence her so that we ourselves can REFLECT WITH HER. It's not her character that I'm impressed with, it's the layout of the story.

So, how is the main story? It's kind of like the Flood scenario in Halo if I'm being honest. I'm not going to spoil anything but it's passable, like I said, it's not like an Uncharted and it's not like a movie. The visuals just look good at times (I took all the pictures in this review myself and so much more!). I'd call it a futuristic/tribal mix between Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Skyrim but I see elements of a lot of things. (Also since it's post apoctalypic, you find items that we see in modern day, like how they call keys, "chimes"! They think they're windchimes because there are no more cars! I love that!)

It actually does a pretty good job at being an open world considering that there are tons of things to do on your routes as well as collect but it's not so much so that it seems unfeasible, as I said, I found myself doing a good chunk of the side stuff just because it was fun to do and I'm not even close to a completionist for any game. If you mess up, healing plants will still be there. As long as you save, enemy parts will still be there. A place can be cleared out and conquered so that enemies don't come back. The actual towns are peaceful so you can't get mangled by any bots outside of scripted instances.

The graphics are pretty good but I can see some error here and there, nothing necessarily game breaking but the animations and AI are definitely janky at times. It's pretty obvious from the get-go but I'll do my best to specify and give constructive criticism on what I found wrong with certain aspects of the game. Rost is slow, like slower than walking speed but that's not to speak for all NPCs, some run, some you don't need to follow, it was really just him. I've had NPCs who fight but miss every single time on simple enemies (that might not be a bug, that might just be a funny bit that someone decided to add in). Sabretooths have jumped through walls (granted the walls were kinda broken but I'm not sure if those big boys can fit when they can barely find the entrance) I found myself jumping to a ledge or on a rope but not land it and just drop (it really boils down to loosening the hit box for that). Which to add on to that, I would like more places to climb and jump to in general (other than stupid mountains). I felt like there wasn't really enough that I could climb and the places that I could, could've been a bit more obvious that I could, maybe even make it viewable with your focus if you don't want it to be visually outstanding. There's a day and night cycle and while I like that, I found some of the contrast to be annoying because I could be staring a ladder right in the face and not even know it sometimes because it would be so dark. I'm not going to complain too much about it because I didn't turn my brightness up, I just left it at default and I would assume the PS5 version fixes some of those little things.

Now, this one is kind of a gray area: Hiking up mountains. Skyrim, Fallout, and Death Stranding went too far and gave little to no barriers. They had you looking for sweet spots that weren't there in order to cheese your way through an area either on or off a beaten path. But I would compare this to something like GTA where it's not as bad and does have its limits but might need tightened up some more because I can certainly get to places that lead to nowhere.

I've made headshots that don't make contact or damage while using precision. Part of that problem was that they could be high up in a tower (which have spikes sticking out) and I would hit ABOVE the logs, to make a headshot but since it was in that vicinity, it registered that as the spikes' hitbox so it wouldn't cause any damage and just alert the enemy (same if I was in the tower, looking down). Input lag where I hit up button on the D-Pad to regain health and I have to keep pressing it. If I had to guess, you have to meet the requirements of not taking damage, staying still, etc in order for it to actually work but it doesn't really have a reason to do that and it doesn't "tell" you that those are the requirements (as far as I know).

During the final boss, one of the enemies hit me into a rock wall, trapping me inside of it and the boss was already half health so I really didn't want to have to restart (I also didn't know how far back the checkpoint was) so I kept shooting stuff and eventually the boss destroyed the wall, allowing me to get out (timed section, by the way). There have been a few times where a tree or leaf or something is obstructing a cutscene and sometimes there will be a mech in the background screaming over the NPC talking, which I'm sure is due to the cutscenes being real-time which is still pretty impressive. Now are these errors all the time? No, not at all, I'm just pointing out that some times these things happened and that I felt it needed ironed out but I wouldn't call this half baked or an unfinished product or anything, it's nowhere near that level. I get that there are so many NPCs that it's hard to account for them all with facial animations but whenever they're talking, it seems pretty static and sometimes the lips don't line up. There's this one guy who says that he got lost in a sandstorm but he's standing in snow. Again, little nitpicks in an otherwise great game.

Now, I got this game for free as a Playstation promotion but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be great, I played a little bit of that Ratchet & Clank reboot that was offered and I wasn't impressed, I quit after the first few worlds and was glad I didn't buy it at launch, (despite being a classic PS2 R&C fan) but we're not here to review that. I also played Abzu and loved it but it was short so it was definitely worth a play but maybe not 60$ (I actually think it's 20$ at this point though). With this game, it's the whole complete edition with DLC and everything, it has the length, so it really just boils down to "Would I have spent money on it otherwise?"

I think I would've if I knew more about it because I think it just got better and better after that first part of the game. It's marketed a bit differently than what I ended up getting but I found myself pouring hours into this game and loving it for one reason or another. I actually bought Shadow of the Colossus along with it (which is considered a cult classic) but I liked Horizon so much better, definitely worth its full price in my opinion. (So your promotion worked on me Sony, congrats) It has its problems but the potential is there and I feel like a sequel would probably iron out a lot of my troubles with it, so it's definitely a franchise worth investing into.

If you're interested in what I thought of the DLC alone (if you didn't get the Ultimate edition and are wondering if the extra content is worth it) I have a separate post that goes into that here.

#hzd #horizon zero dawn #review #game #4/5