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my-personal-place-to-write-blog · 1 year

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After Brandish TDR and Zwei: The Arges Adventure, I’ve played Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection (simply known in Japan as Zwei! II).

Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection is the sequel to Zwei: The Arges Adventure (known as Zwei!! in Japan). Zwei II is a game made by Nihon Falcom that came out in 2008 and honestly I really didn’t expect to love this game.

Ragna Valentine, a treasure hunter, got waylaid en route to his destination and gets attacked by a nefarious cat and a mysterious teenager. Following this altercation, he crash-landed his plane on the floating continent of Ilvard - his destination, almost costing him his life. Alwen du Moonbria saves him, and in exchange she seeks his help to take back her castle. They form a pact to help each other, and this is how the game starts.

Their journey allows them to come to terms with their own past but also to learn about themselves and about one another (and, in the meantime, prevent the demise of Ilvard).

I would love to say more about it, but the story, while simple, is really good and consistent, the pacing it’s great and the character writing is also really good (it’s good not only for the two main characters, but for the other character as well). The characters are also really ridiculous sometimes, but they have their own stories to tell.

"Time to learn some arcana with Gallandeau"

With all of this said, I want to briefly mention one character here. Gallandeau is easily one of the best comical character made by Falcom in general. He is really hilarious but he is genuinely well done. He steals the show by becoming more than a one-off mascot character. He is also capable to give advice when needed (the biggest example of this is after you finished a certain dungeon around midgame and the main duo is temporarily broken up. You will see him standing outside at the entrance of the mine - while he’s sunbathing at the sun - and he’s giving motivational speech to a certain someone who’s trying to escape from everything instead of facing the truth he just learned. This guy will actually face the consequence of his action, trying to be a coward and feign ignorance after all isn’t the solution to the problem).

I would love to say something more, but I need to go into spoiler details, which is something that I don’t want to do, so I’ll stop here. The development you see through Ragna and Alwen’s journey is just great.

Service Penguin, an actual character that you will meet in the game (it's a girl who’s dressing as a penguin)

Last thing to mention here are the NPCs. There are less NPCs to talk here compared to other games from the company, but just like in other games with their dialogue they reveal new aspects of their personality, their struggle and how they are living and react to what’s happening in the land.

Yes, you can talk to animals in this game

The humor in this game just works, both in the story and in gameplay section (not even the dungeons aren’t safe from a few jokes here and there).

Brandish :D

Zwei II is an isometric dungeon crawler with plenty of different layouts for the levels while sharing a few common themes: usually for the dungeon you will need to clear the first level; after that you will reach a junction (with a save point) which splits in two different paths: one will give you an upgrade for Ragna’s weapon while the other is the actual main path for finishing the dungeon.

"Obstacles? Burn them all"

Inside the dungeons players must defeat the enemies while solving the puzzles (which can be simple or more tricky to solve, but the game gives you some clues on how you can solve the puzzles) that the games throw at you when you are searching for exit. The layouts and the puzzle are different for every dungeon, and it really helps that the game isn’t repetitive as the first one when it comes to the design choice (it’s still worth pointing out that some of them have repetitive environments but, regardless of this, they still looks cool).

You'll get ranked based on how well you did in both dungeons and boss fights (bronze, silver, gold and platinum medal to your rank).

The camera in this game is fixed, but it works really well overall to progress through the stage and doing the platforming section. Also it’s mostly good against the boss but some of them might be a little bit difficult to defeat when you have to circle them and dodge their attacks.

Zwei 2 combat is fun. While it’s not something really complex, the game continues to give you new things to keep the combat fresh and, in the meantime, continue to improve. As you progress, you will unlock new skill, new magic, new Gears and new Arcana which gives new tool to the player for clearing out the enemies.

You have two characters who function as one: when you are close to the enemy you will use Ragna and fight them with melee attack, when you are far from them, you will use Alwen to hit them with ranged attack - you need to figure which spell is the best for fighting the enemy. You can switch between the two of them easily, you just need to press a button on the controller. You can also try to avoid the enemy attacks with the jump button. Jumping is also useful while traversing the dungeon.

It’s important to choose the right place for attacking and focusing on eliminating the more threatening enemies at first and just like I mentioned before, your tools will continue to increase while going forward so you can use a lot of different combos to take them down. Your kit is really responsive and solid, the combat is fun and finds new ways to challenge you right up until the end.

Another element to mention in regard to the gameplay is the pet system, which makes a return from the first game. Just like in Zwei!!, the pet accompanies the player while you are exploring the dungeon: they fight alongside you and while they are doing this, they help gathering the various collectables that the games gives to you.

One of the available pet of this game: a robot

Boss fights are tough fights in which you need to recontextualize how you use your kit: each has its own gimmick that makes this happen. I personally think that the boss fights are well designed and really fun.

However, there are two boss which I don’t like much (I find both them frustrating): one of them (the vine monster) is really difficult to hit and actually a pain to fight overall, the other one it’s a boss that you fight in a graveyard around midgame (I’m calling her in this way to avoid spoilers). You can hit this boss only at specific timing, after she does her move. In paper, this is interesting; the main problem is related to her speed. Everytime you hit the boss, the speed increase and it becomes faster. The timing to hit her is fairly strict (in the meantime you need to be careful as well to avoid her attack).

All the other boss in the game don’t have this problem, so exactly I don’t know what went wrong with this one. In fact, a lot of them are extremely cool to fight (for example, in late game, you will fight a boss which manipulates the gravity and this boss is excellent at making you switch between Ragna and Alwen). This game has a lot of fight that use this mechanic, that said I won’t mention them here in this mini-review.

The food experience system returns from the first game, and it works in the exact same way: enemies drop various kinds of food, which give you different amounts of EXP when you eat them.

If you collect 10 of the same type of food, you can trade them for 1 food item that gives you higher EXP than the 10 combined. Food is also the main source of healing that you have, so you get EXP while healing.

I love this game Falcom, but Carbonara isn't made in this way. You only need 3 things for that: pasta (spaghetti to be more precise), eggs and bacon (and then salt, of course).

I described this system in my review of Zwei 1 (near the end of that post, I'll put a link here so you can check that one out)

While playing the first game I actually didn’t realize how interesting this system is. Since the two main playable can’t get EXP while fighting, they will never be over-levelled compared to the enemy. You are free to kill all the enemies that you want and you’ll just collect food. And the moment you have it, you can choose when you want to use it for levelling up, when you need it for healing, and so on.

Sure, you can grind for food (and I actually did this in the first game in order to brute-forcing through it, personally I don’t think that the gameplay didn’t age really well in the first game) but if you do that, it’s your choice. The game discourages the player to grind (especially since you can get better food with trading) for that, and thanks to this system, even if you do side-content, you cannot become stupidly overpowered (and making the game a joke in this way). Unlike the first game, I didn’t need to go that much in the previous stage to get food for level up and when I did it, I simply collected it to have more things to exchange but like I said before, you choose what you want to use and when. In any case, I was never over-levelled, if anything else I started a lot of stage under levelled and I ended up levelling up during that (or I just used them again the boss – and you will probably need them for this – and levelled up in this way).

The G-Coliseum is an amazing diversion from the main dungeon, the battle arena fights are fun to go through (special mention to the last fight in the gauntlet, it’s really challenging). You can also beat again all the various bosses that you fight in the main story and see the trophies that you have collected in your journey in the Coliseum.

Pokkle and Pipiro, the protagonists from the first game, appear in this game. While this game have some reference to the first game, the story are actually disconnected: it's not necessary to play it to enjoy this game.

You can deliver the treasures which you find in the dungeons in the Adventurer’s Guild in exchange for money and improved guild rank. You will either find or buy some apps that you can equip to serve various in-game functions. A lot of these item are the usual one that you will find in other action-RPGs (a minimap, a window that shows the enemy names and HP, etc.) but some of are really weird (for example, a travel scale, a pedometer, a math game etc.).

The game has 3D, cute-looking visuals. Characters are displayed in small proportions, making everyone look young despite their age. Backgrounds have great composition and unique look, and the addition of foggy effects at some areas help to make it look more atmospheric.

The ost is fantastic, as usual. It’s a pleasure to listen to the ost of both Zwei games, really. Here I’ll list some of my favourite one:

Ordium Shrine

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Gloomgeld Woods

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A Prayer to Espina

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Mechanical Girl

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Prepare Yourself

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Help Alwen (Rushing in ver.)

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Spirit Fortress Melchizedek

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Zwei's localization is fantastic, XSEED has done an excellent job with it. The English dub is also excellent (not that I can judge the Japanese one, since it’s not in the game); the only problem is related to the mixing: some cutscene have the BGM to be louder than the voice dub, so it’s better to lower just a little bit the BGM in the menu to avoid this.

This game took me almost 39 hours for completing it (I did a good part of its side-content in the meantime).

This is the last game that the company released on PC before moving entirely on the handhelds and home consoles ever since. The game bombed hard in Japan because of this, releasing this game only on PC back in the day was a wrong choice. Considering how the games ends, it’s clear that Falcom originally planned to make other games in the series, but alas, this never happened. I don’t think that it will never happen in the future, which is a shame really.

Zwei II is definitely a good game and one that I enjoyed a lot, a game that deserves to be played.

#zwei #zweitheilvardinsurrection #falcom

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what---i-dated-a · 3 years

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Okay so I didn’t wanna derail this post because I think it’s a really good analysis of Parker’s character and her development into the Mastermind but it DID make me think of something and y’all know how I love to analyze and to go on my Nate Is Such A Dad rants so here we are

So the thing is, all three of the younger members of the team showcase different aspects of the Mastermind skillset.

Eliot is an observer, he is constantly absorbing information, analyzing it, filing it away in case it could be useful later. The repetition of ”What? It’s a very distinctive (blank)” and “What? I dated a (profession)” or similar lines are consistent evidence of this skill. He remembers things that the average person doesn’t even notice in the moment. He is constantly aware of what is going on around him, constantly watching. He knows how to insert himself into a situation as needed, knows how to adapt to unexpected circumstances. His vigilance and ability to think on his feet mirror Nate.

I’ve said it before, Hardison is the heart of the crew. He’s the one who cares. They all care, of course, but Hardison wears that on his sleeve. He’s invested. He digs deep into every case that they come across, dives into every job, does the research, forms the profiles, gets hands-on and involved even from behind his computer screen. (As an aside, I think it’s an interesting choice to take the character who has the least reason to be in the field, and make him the most visibly emotional person on the crew, rather than playing the ‘cold detached tech guy’ card.) Because he cares so much (and a little because of his ego, let’s be honest), Hardison doesn’t quit. He sees things through. Just like Nate.

Parker, meanwhile, is analytical. She’s a planner. She spends her free time plotting how to break into high security facilities for fun. Like the post I linked says, she’s the one who thinks of the details the others don’t remember to worry about. She’s (usually) able to set her emotions aside and look at things from an objective perspective. She sees the obstacles in front of her, and figures out if she needs to go over, under, through, etc. She is constantly treating the world around her as a puzzle she needs to solve. Again, a trait she shares with Nate.

And Nate is, yes. A dad. More to the point, he’s a dad with no child, a parent who lost his son, and he has no one to pass his knowledge and wisdom on to. That was taken from him. So what does he do? He finds surrogate children in his crew, and he teaches the three of them as best he can. He offers them advice, tries to help them improve and be the best they can be. Gives them little lessons and nudges them along, sets puzzles in front of them and helps them solve them. Because that’s what good dads do, and Nate is a good dad.

So then, what makes Parker the heir? It’s not that she was inherently more suited for the position than the others; they all had different traits that made them capable of ascending to that particular throne.

The difference is that Eliot and Hardison, for the most part, feel like Complete People. (I mean in their own perception, mind, not the perception of the audience, all the characters are beautifully well-rounded from a writing perspective, and no character is every really truly Complete.) They have their area of expertise, and while they dabble in other areas, they aren’t bothered by the role they play. Both of them are confident in who they are as a person, if not always happy with it (both have their fair share of anxiety and neither thinks that they’re perfect, far from it).

Hardison makes a couple of forays into stretching beyond his current abilities, but he gets in over his head and it sort of bites him in the ass. Considering how smart he is, I have to wonder if he has some of that Gifted Kid Syndrome, where if he’s not instantly perfect at something, he doesn’t want to do it. Because he tries at running things and seems to more or less decide he’s happy doing what he does.

Eliot, meanwhile, is too protective of the others to worry about being in charge. He doesn’t want to lead; if he’s in the lead, he can’t watch their backs. He teaches them a lot so that they can hopefully defend themselves if he’s not there, but at the end of the day, there’s no one he trusts more to protect them than himself. He’ll take charge when he needs to, but he’s more than happy to hand it back as soon as possible.

Parker, though? Parker doesn’t think she’s a Complete Person. She’s confident in her skills, but not much else. She’s uncomfortable with people and constantly being made aware of the fact that she’s Not Quite Normal. There’s nothing wrong with the person she is, of course, but try telling that to the people who keep giving her weird looks (including Eliot, he’s not getting off the hook for that one). She knows she’s different, and while she’s okay with who she is on a certain level, she also feels like she’s missing out on things, some of which she decides that she does, in fact, want.

So when Nate goes to teach, Eliot and Hardison learn what they need to, file that information away to pull out when it’s relevant, and more or less carry on with their business. But Parker absorbs it and makes it a part of herself. You can see, as the show progresses, how she goes from asking Nate questions just because she’s trying to solve The Puzzle That Is Nate, to asking him questions because she wants to solve the same puzzle he’s solving. Eliot and Hardison view Nate as an ally, a teammate. They don’t learn from him anymore than they do each other, or Parker and Sophie. Parker, on the other hand, very much views him as a mentor. More than the others, she sees him as what he’s trying to be to them, however subconsciously: a dad.

#leverage #excuse my rambling #I just have a lot of feelings about the dynamic between these characters #Nate Is Such A Dad #nathan ford #alec hardison #eliot spencer #parker (leverage)

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one-piece-aus · 3 years

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Whumptober Day 13

Rosinante x Reader

"What's over there?" You pointed at a dim glow in the distance of the cave.

"I don't know, maybe a way out," Rosinante guessed. "Or trouble. Stay behind me."

Creeping slowly down the cave, you tried to recall how you ended up in this situation but nothing came to mind. You only woke up chained and hanging from a wall next to someone else that was in your position, neither of you could remember anything aside from your own name and the abilities you possess. Thankfully the other guy was helping the two of you get out of this place but...

"Woah!" Rosinante waved his arms frantically, trying to keep his balance and not fall into the pit below which he didn't notice before. To his relief, you caught the back of his shirt collar and pulled him away from the edge. "Thanks, [Y/n]."

"It was nothing," you told the clumsy blond, monotonously, grateful he didn't see your slight blush. "I'm sure you would the same for me... So, how do we get across?"

"Let's try to look for a way around," Rosinante suggested as he began patting the walls, you follow in suit.

This place is some puzzle game that you were put in, Rosinante figured that out after the previous obstacles you passed, but it was hard to tell without a proper light source. Your eyes have been adjusted to the dark but you still couldn't read anything, and certain things were easily missed if you only relied on your eyes.

"Hey, I think I found a way." You were crouched on the ground feeling for where the edge started & ended, and you discovered something. "It's a narrow path, we'll have to crawl our way across but it should reach the other side."

"You go first, you'd be better at navigating where to go," Rosinante stated. "I follow right behind you."

"Alright," you nodded and led the way. You could hear Rosinante slipping up a few times, and you asked if he was alright, he always answered with a simple "yeah". Not too long into it, you came to a fork in the road. "Left or right?"

"You take left, I'll take right. It's better to know which path is the correct way so if the other needs to they can backtrack and take the other path."

"Right, right, okay..." you mumbled to yourself as you started crawling. "I take left."

As the two of you made your way over, nothing appeared to be different from the two paths until you got near the other side.

"I made it!" Rosinante exclaimed as he reached the end, clumsily rolling over the ground.

"Great, I'm almost there-" You felt the path grow warmer, pausing your sentence and movement, you glanced down. "...That's strange, the temperature is rising..."

"What do you mean it's risin-"

Burning flames sparked into your hearing range. You couldn't glance behind you but from the pale facial expression Rosinante had, you knew it wasn't good. You picked up the pace, racing unknown danger. The surface became steamy, and sweat started to drip from your body.

"Almost there, almost there..." you kept telling yourself as the heat rose higher. "Almos- ah-!"

You placed your elbow on some loose rocks and they trembled down into the pit. You crawled back a bit then felt around with your hand, you came to a dead end. Your heart froze, a wave of fear washed over you creating panic.

"No... no no no!" You heard the flames draw closer. "Rosinante, I hit a dead end."

"Jump."

"Wha-? No, the gap is too far, I'll never make it."

"You're going to make it, I'll catch you," Rosinante reassured you, he stepped closer to the edge. "But... you're gonna have to stand."

"Okay..." You know this was a matter of life or death, and if you were being honest, falling seemed less painful than burning to death. Cautiously, you rose to your feet, trying to maintain your balance. You inched closer to the edge, briefly glancing at Rosinante who had his arms held out for you. Could you really trust him to catch you? Well, it's not like you had much of a choice, you didn't see any other options avail- "AhhhhhHH-!"

Flames tasted your right arm and lower left leg, feeling the sudden pain caused by the fire you jumped away from the danger. As you were in the air, you might've had your life flash before your eyes if you had any memories, then you felt strong arms take hold of you and you fell forward into someone.

Taking them with you, their back hit the floor and they cushioned your fall. You glanced up to see it was Rosinante, he caught you, you were in his arms. You didn't know if you were just so happy to be alive, or if it was your life preservation instincts kicking in your system, or if it was just a sudden confession but...

"My hero," you whispered to Rosinante, then reached to his lips and kissed him passionately. You pulled back sooner than you'd like since you still needed to catch your breath.

"Uh-um- you've- you'd- you did the- the- the- same thing for me," Rosinante stuttered, unable to look you in the eye. You smiled at him and went to cup his cheeks but flinched away when a burning pain struck into your hand.

"Ah-!" you hissed and looked at your arm to see it was bright red.

"That's a nasty burn," Rosinante stated, scanning your arm. "We need to treat it."

"Yeah... I just hope this won't leave a permit mark."

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mc-lukanette · 3 years

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It had been impossible for Luka to not hear about the party going on at Adrien’s house, especially given the music blaring out of the mansion. He hadn’t had anywhere else to go that day, so he figured he might as well check it out.

He stopped, however, when he noticed Marinette lingering outside the gate to the mansion, looking discouraged. He looked around, seeing that no one was nearby, then slowly approached, concerned.

"Marinette?"

She stiffened, looking up at him in surprise. "L-luka!"

He offered her a gentle smile. "Hey. Something wrong?"

She pursed her lips, brows furrowing with worry. Looking away, her eyes darted around at nothing before she sighed in defeat.

"They—they won’t let me in. I thought the guys were up to something, so I came to check it out, but…"

"They’re not letting you in?" he echoed. Frowning at the gate, he added, "That doesn’t sound like them."

Granted, he supposed he didn’t know them all that well.

He considered the situation, knowing full well that he couldn’t just leave Marinette this way, then asked, "Maybe you can come in with me?"

She glanced back at him, hoping hesitantly. "You think so?"

He didn’t immediately answer, not wanting to promise anything without being certain. He turned towards the mansion, letting his guitar rest on his shoulder to look as casual as possible.

When the camera emerged to stare at him, he didn’t flinch, simply giving it a two-fingered salute and smiling.

After a moment, the camera pulled back, seeming not to acknowledge him at first until the gates actually opened up. Luka smiled, giving Marinette a knowing look to tell her to follow after him.

She looked briefly surprised, then beamed and got up to join him. He couldn’t help feeling a little light as he headed towards the mansion with her, vaguely imagining that she was his plus one.

Together, they wandered up the steps, where Adrien’s bodyguard opened the door to wait for them. Luka was about to head inside with Marinette when the bodyguard shut the door just enough to prevent it.

"Ah—" Luka glanced up at him, thrown off.

The man grunted, tilting his head in Marinette’s direction. Luka glanced at her, watching Marinette stare at their current obstacle with the disappointment he saw earlier.

"Why can’t I come in?" she asked. "Is it just because I’m a girl?"

Another grunt, this time much rougher, was the response.

Luka blinked, thoroughly confused now at the concept of this party. He supposed part of it was because he’d lived with Anarka and Juleka - both female - but he couldn’t understand the desire to shut a friend out of an event due to gender alone.

"Marinette’s with me," Luka insisted, "and I’m saying that it’s okay for her to come in. I wouldn’t go in without her."

"Luka," Marinette uttered. Luka chose not to look at her, intent on staring down the bodyguard until he let them pass.

The man stared back, almost squinting at him, then side-eyed Marinette. Just as it seemed like the bodyguard might change his tune, however, he instead huffed and slammed the door shut, causing Luka to stagger back from the volume.

Luka gaped, shocked that Adrien’s bodyguard would honestly refuse someone who was supposed to be friends with Adrien while still letting grown adults in. He couldn’t tell who was behind all of the decisions being made about the party, but part of him acknowledged that he might need to re-evaluate his impression of Marinette’s friends.

"...It’s okay."

Luka looked over, seeing Marinette staring down at the ground. "What?"

She gave him a sad smile, clasping her hands together in front of her waist. "It’s okay. You should go enjoy the party. I’m sure it must be really fun, so don’t let me stop you." She turned, starting to head back down the stairs. "I should be back with the girls anyway."

Luka frowned. It wasn’t like her to give up, at least not from what he saw of her while she faced off against Bob Roth.

Unless… that was it? Maybe she didn’t care as much because it was only her who was being left out?

No. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

"Wait," he called out, careful not to trip down the steps as he caught up with her and gently grabbed her hand.

She stiffened, surprised, then glanced back at him with furrowed brows. "W-what is it?"

"It's not fair," he replied, his gaze firm. He glanced up at Adrien's room, almost glaring at it. "...We'll find a way to get you in."

—————

"So!" Marinette did a small twirl, then struck a pose for him, leaning casually to one side and sticking her hands into her oversized pockets. "How do I look?"

Luka swallowed, his throat dry as he began to consider that maybe this had been a mistake. After calling Juleka and the other girls to inform them of what was happening, "Operation: Infiltration" had become the next course of action, which meant getting Marinette a disguise that allowed her to blend in with the guys at the party so she could be let inside.

And she looked really good. A little adjustment to her eyelashes made them look more stylized than inherently "girlish," while her hat - spun around backwards for flair - hid all of her excess hair. Even her smile had been turned just lopsided enough to be considered a smirk.

She’d also taken inspiration from his wardrobe, which is to say that she took directly from his wardrobe. His clothes were large on her, but that was the idea, as it helped hide her figure and anything else that might’ve given her away. The hoodie - his hoodie - went down to the center of her thighs, while the length of her pants were cleverly hidden in a pair of boots, which was the only thing of Juleka’s that she sported. She’d also used her hair ties to keep the sleeves of his hoodie from extending past her wrists, and it made Luka loathe the thought that he could’ve seen her with her hair down had she not dealt with it in the privacy beyond the divider.

Realizing that his mouth was open, he placed a hand to cover the lower part of his face, eyeing her up and down for what must've been the twentieth time. He had no idea that her looking so different would have such an effect on him, though it wasn’t as if he was oblivious to the fact that his orientation centered entirely around Marinette.

Once it registered with him that he hadn't answered her, he blushed and met her gaze. Taking in a breath, he began, "Ah—"

Marinette pouted, cutting him off by asking, "It's too cute, isn't it? It's written all over your face!" She leaned further to the side and let out a disappointed huff. "I don't want to be cute! I want to be cool!"

She lightly batted at the tuff of hair that she'd allowed to stick out of the hat, inadvertently showing off the black nail polish she'd used to match Luka. "Is it the way I did my hair? Maybe I should go with something else."

"No—" Luka blurted out, his blush spreading further across his face. "Marinette, you..."

He cleared his throat, forcing himself to calm down to give her a reply she deserved. Of course she was cute, but...

"Marinette, you are cool. You're really cool."

And she always had been.

—————

Luka’s eyes scanned the crowd party as he took a sip of one of the party’s drinks. Really, he was just gazing upon the scenery, but still, his eyes never missed Marinette when she passed by.

Every time, even when it was only the brim of her hat, he recognized her. His eyes would be drifting and he'd just see her, casually. His eyes wouldn't stop moving, but his mind screamed at him every time.

Marinette!

He pretended that he was fine. If anyone asked, he'd chugged his soda too quickly and the choking fit he'd had turned his face red.

They seemed full of gullible people; he was sure enough that they’d buy it.

As he looked across the room once more, Luka's mind screamed again, but this time, his gaze locked onto Marinette instead of continuing on.

Because Marinette was standing next to Adrien, locked in some sort of conversation with him. Luka's heart missed a beat at the sight, forgetting its tempo and having to restart from the beginning.

Of course Luka wanted what Adrien had, and of course he was jealous that someone else had Marinette's affections, but it wasn't something he would call a bitter jealousy. He wasn't mad at Adrien, nor was he upset with Marinette. In fact, he didn't regret how his heart sang. As long as Marinette was happy, he accepted whoever she loved.

And if that was Adrien, then that was just the way it was.

It was why he was surprised when she turned away from Adrien and looked at him instead. She smiled, then glanced back at Adrien to wave at him.

Wait. What? Why? Luka was sure that her and Adrien hadn't been talking for long, and if something had gone wrong, why was she smiling so much?

Marinette then headed in Luka's direction, furthering his confusion. Was she... was she smiling at him and not Adrien?

She took a breath as she reached him, temporarily dropping the roughness in her voice to lean in and whisper, "It's so hard making it around these crowds! I’m glad I was still able to find you."

Luka nodded despite how puzzled he was. He looked back out at the crowd, taking a few seconds to find Adrien, who didn't seem at all put off by the conversation he'd just had.

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, "Did something happen with Adrien?"

Marinette pulled back, then blinked at him, surprised to be asked. Nevertheless, she shook her head and responded, "No, not really." She smiled. "He wanted to chat more, but... I told him that I came here with someone, so..."

She trailed off, staring down at the floor and tapping the toes of her shoes together.

Luka frowned, concerned that she'd done this for his sake. "You could've kept talking to him."

"I know." She blushed as well. "But... it's more comfortable here."

He attempted to drown his emotions with the rest of his drink. "Thanks. I’m glad you can be so relaxed around me," he said, setting his cup aside as casually as he could.

She beamed, though her attention was soon diverted as she stared off toward the other side of the room. "Ah! Luka, look!"

Without warning, she grabbed his hand, being drawn towards a crowd that was gathering. "I think those guys are gonna start dancing!"

He let her lead him, both not minding and honestly being fully distracted by her hand on his. Even though hers was smaller, the warmth made it feel like the opposite.

Then, he remembered where they were, why she was dressed the way she was, and what they were currently doing.

"Net," he urged quietly.

"Hm?" She stopped, then stared at him with a slight tilt of her head.

He directed his gaze down to their hands. "If people see, they might think we're..."

Marinette blinked, apparently needing a few seconds to understand. "...Oh!"

To Luka's surprise, she waved dismissively. "That's okay. I don't think anyone cares about that anyway. I mean, have you seen the vinyl they’re playing?"

That wasn't exactly what Luka had been referring to, but it still surprised him to see Marinette brush the notion off. Surely, even when disguised, she cared if Adrien saw her with someone else, right?

Or... she didn't mind people believing that they could be together?

He blushed. Maybe he should just text Juleka to tell that he won't make it through the night.

The fact that Jagged Stone had apparently been in the room since they got there, yet he only noticed when Marinette pointed him out, did not help that thought.

[continuation]

#lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #episode: Party Crasher #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

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miss-dr-reid · 3 years

Text

This is calm, and it's, Doctor #8

Warning: some domestic abuse, but nothing gory

On the drive home, my head was filled with memories of yesterday. How cute Spencer was when all he wanted to do was win a game of chess. Pretty much passing out on his lounge while waiting for dinner. Dancing the night away and waking up surrounded by fuzzy, cuddly, Spencer blanket. My heart beat hard, my head filled with joy.

Does Spencer feel this way about me? There's no reason he would. We barely know each other.

I arrived home and jumped straight in the shower. Washing my hair felt so good, I stood there, massaging for a while, relieving my head of the stress from the last week. I scrubbed my body and shaved everything baby smooth.

Stepping out of the shower, I reached for a towel from the rack, grabbed it and patted myself dry. I wrapped it around myself and looked in the mirror, memories of the first night I spent with a guy after leaving my ex.

~ I had arrived home and was finishing up having a shower, I reached for the towel rack, only looking when I couldn't feel one. When I looked, I was surprised to see my ex sitting on the toilet. A look of anger on his face...

"Have a good night?" he retorted.

"Doesn't matter to you, but it was great." I retaliated, hating that he made it in to my house without my knowing.

"As if. No one can make you feel the way that I can. I make you feel so good, baby, don't I?" He said, getting up off the toilet seat, coming toward me, one hand hiding behind his back.

"Fuck off. I don't want you anymore. I already told you." I said, backing up, ripping a folded towel off the counter behind me, "You need to leave, right now." Even though my voice was stern, he was still coming for me.

I didn't want to fight, so I ran, he tried to grab me on my way past, but I was still wet, so I slipped out of his grip. I ran straight for the front door, flinging it open and banging on my neighbours door. She didn't hesitate to open it, seeing me on the other side. I shoved my way in and she locked the door.

We moved away from the door, to her room and she grabbed me a spare shirt, I dropped the towel to put it on and was shocked to see red all over the towel where my hand had been pressed to my chest. I looked up at her who noticed it as well. She was on the phone to emergency serviced and asked for an ambulance to be added to the people on dispatch.

I didn't even realise he had got me as I pushed past him. the adrenaline was pumping through my body. I picked the towel back up and pressed it to myself once again. Waiting. He was banging on the door, demanding to be let in. He left soon after, knowing how this would end if he didn't.

The police arrived after what seemed like forever, followed by the EMT's. They were let into the apartment and the EMT suggested I go to hospital. I opted to get myself there after they deemed that the cut was not bad enough to need emergency surgery. I gave my statement to the police and thanked my neighbour for letting me in to her place so quick. ~

That was the last time I saw him. I moved out 2 weeks after that, changed jobs and finished studying. I looked at myself in the mirror, lowering the towel, lowering the towel, revealing the scar I still have on the outside of my breast, right where it meets my chest.

I covered up and went to my room, deciding what to wear.

'Something nice, but casual enough to walk places.' I tho9ught to myself. I landed on a semi-fitted sun dress and my favourite lime-green bikini. I wore some flats that I was easily able to slip on and off. I threw my hair into a messy bun and decided it was good enough.

I grabbed a few things, like sunscreen and a towel and popped them into a beach bag that I had stored away. I was ready to go. I checked my watch 11:15. Taking one last look around the place, I took my stuff and left. On the drive, I couldn't help but drive past Spencer's place, just for fun, and only 2 minutes later, I arrived at the cafe where I had met the boys for the first time.

The clock on my dash read 11:37, plenty of time to sit and wait before the boys would be here. I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the head rest. My mind wondering back to last night, wish that Spencer would think of me the same way I think of him. Maybe I'm just being desperate, but thinking about Spencer causes me to smile, every single time. I can't help it.

The loud knock on my window cause me to jolt from my thoughts. I looked out the window, seeing Morgan's face on the other side as his hand reached for the handle. Once the door was open, I climbed out and locked the car. Derek hugged me, which I returned, squeezing him slightly, he smelt good. We let go of the embrace, stepping back from each other, he looked me up and down.

"Looking good, mama." He says with a wink.

"Ha, you too." I winked back, "I thought you only had eyes for Garcia."

We stood there laughing for a bit, until I saw Spencer come around the corner, his face buried in a book, he was only ever looking away from it to see if there was an obstacle in his path.

"Ah, pretty boy." Morgan said, turning to look at him. Spencer's face still glued to the book, he didn't look up until he was inside. Derek decided it would be a good idea to sneak up on him and we entered the cafe behind him and stood there watching. He looked around to try and find Derek and I, to no avail. He pulled out his phone and started dialing. Derek and I giggled to ourselves, but Spencer wasn't paying attention as he was listening to the ringing on his phone. As Derek's phone rang, he didn't even reach for it, instead watching Spencer as he spun around to see us right behind him, all of us giggling.

We greeted each other, and Spencer walked toward me, his arms going outward as if coming in for a hug. I gave him a puzzled look, and accepted his embrace. The familiar smell of his cologne filling my nose, I took in a deep breath before releasing him.

Morgan bro-hugged him and we all laughed at how silly everything had just been.

"Let's grab lunch!" I exclaimed, I was starving.

We sat around a table, our chairs evenly spaced apart. The guys picked up menus, but I already knew what I wanted. After deciding, Derek and Spencer got up to order, insisting on covering my lunch. They came back and Derek decided small talk would be a good idea.

"So, Y/N," he smirked, "Is there anyone special in your life?" his eyebrows wiggling.

"Yes and No." I started, staring him in the eyes, not sure how to proceed, "I met this guy recently, I think he's great. I'm not sure if he's interested in me though. I'm also not sure if I should ask him how he feels. I mean, we only met not that long ago, so it might be too soon, you see..." I trailed off, rubbing my thumbs together, avoiding even a glance in Spencer's direction, so as though to not give anything away.

"Non sense!" Derek remarked, "If you feel a certain way about someone, you gotta tell them, babygirl. So, who is he?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter, you don't know him." I replied, trying to brush him off, but he wouldn't have it, and insisted I give him the identity of the 'mysterious guy' that I was keeping secret from him.

I remembered back to the car ride with Emily, all the little things she told me about Spencer.

"Walter..." I trailed off, smirking at myself a little, "He's cute and tall and quite smart." I could go on about all the little things I found adorable and attractive about Spence, but if I made the list too specific, Derek would piece it together too easily.

Spencer's ears perked at the name, and he looked at me with a puzzled looked, and I couldn't help the small smile that came across my face. Derek was still trying to figure out who 'Walter' was.

Derek noticed us looking at each other, looked between us, his eyes narrowing as he examined my face. His concentration broken by our food being put on the table in front of us. We all thanked the waitress and started eating. I had a chicken salad wrap, Spencer had a cheese ham and tomato toastie, while Derek had a burger. We all ate, barely saying a word, enjoying our meals.

I was the first to finish, Spencer was done soon after. We started talking about work things. We started picking on Derek who was having trouble defending himself as he tried to finish his food quickly.

"At least I don't hide behind books to avoid my feelings." Derek spat back at Spence, who just shrugged his shoulders. "And how about you, miss Perfect? Sucking up to Hotch and showing off in front of everyone on your first day, making us all look bad! You can't fool anyone with your goody-two-shoes act!" he finished by taking a sip of his drink.

I clasped a hand to my chest in fake offence, "Oh no! ME make the fantastic Mr. Morgan look bad?! how could I? His beautiful physique and wonderful words which help him pull all the ladies, tarnished! what ever will he do?" I stopped when I noticed Spencer silently giggling to himself at the sight before him. I couldn't let him get out of this. "Oh no no, Doctor. You're not getting out of this that easily. Your big brilliant brain is beautiful, but you need to work on understanding innuendos. The amount of things that have been said to and around you, that go straight over your head, we need to get you cultured."

He was confused. He didn't understand why he needed to understand jokes, why it mattered so much, and really, it doesn't. He's perfect in my eyes.

We sat there talking for a bit more until Derek decided it was time to go. We got up, left a tip on the table and headed out. We walked to y car and leaned on it, Spencer choosing to stand.

"What now?" I asked.

"The beach." Derek answered, "Don't worry pretty by, we'll find somewhere with shade so you can sit and read." Spencer's expression calmed at the sound of not being forced to swim.

We decided to go in one car. My car was elected because it was closest. I climbed in to the drivers seat, Derek in the passenger and Spence, in the back.

On the car ride, I changed through radio stations, trying to find music. Derek was confused by it, but Spencer knew what was happening. With the back coming along the corner, we all kept our eyes peeled for a parking spot.

I saw a spot, near a decent sized tree, which had a bench in the shade underneath it. Perfect. I pulled into the spot and we all climbed out. Derek and I, grabbing our beach bags and Spencer with his satchel that he has with him literally everywhere he goes.

The three of us walked single-file, me leading, to the bench. Spencer quite happily sat and pulled out his book while Derek and I set down our bags. I took a moment to take in the scene. Closing my eyes, I listened to the water, the crashing of the waves, so welcoming and calming. The smell of the ocean was so refreshing, the scent filling my lungs with every breath.

Opening my eyes, I saw Morgan had started removing layers until he was just in his swim trunks. I followed his lead, undressing down to my bikini. My skin looked so pasty compared to his caramel skin.

I grabbed the sunscreen from my bag, and started on my arms, chest, legs but of course, I can't each my call back properly. I looked over at Derek, with almost output dog eyes and he held out his hand. I have him the tube and turned around.

"You know, Walter should be going this guy you.." his suggestive tone caused heat to rush to my face as my eyes lifted to look at Spencer, who's eyes were glued to the pages of his book.

As he finished, he threw the tube down to my bag and ye inlled,

"Last one in is a rotten egg!"

Without hesitation we both ran for the water, laughing the whole way. With sand flicking up behind us as we ran, we reached the water in no time. We leapt over the small wave as we reached the water, the splash from the land was cool and refreshing. After a few more leaps, I dove in under a wave, losing sight of Derek.

The Cool water consumed my body. The waves in my hair, the current caressing and flowing over me. As I resurfaced, I couldn't see Derek. I assumed he went under too, and started looking in to the water, trading to see his figure.

With my head still looking to the water, a splash came from my side, Derek sat there unleashing a wave of splashes as I tried to deflect and return. Laughter erupting from both of us as we unleashed a wrath of splashes on each other. He finally stopped with a breathy laugh and so did I. He started to swim toward me and I couldn't help but splash him one last time, playback for what he'd started.

"Alright," he laughed, "You win." He made it over next to me. As our breathing solved, we both looked at Spencer, who's attention seemed to never leave his book.

"How can we get pretty boy in the water?" He suggested. We decided a plan and set it in to play, and I was the bait. I watched Derek swim far enough away and began acting. It needed to be convincing or Spence Rodney buy it.

I started waving my hand in the air and started yelling out for help. Using his name a couple of times in the process helped a lot. His head finally snapped up to see me, my head bobbing under the water a few times, and to see Derek no where near close enough to help. He jumped up, ripped off his shirt and used his feet to remove his shoes.

He ran for the water and jumped in. He made it close enough to me that he was commited to swimming and I started laughing. Derek, who had been watching, had made his way over too and joined in with my giggles. It wasn't long until Spencer had his arms wrapped around me, trying to get my head above water. I looked into his eyes and batted my eyelashes, a small smile coming over my lips.

"Sorry." I said quietly as Derek patted him on the back, telling him of our plan.

"if you guys wanted me to swim so bad, you should have just asked." Spencer said, releasing me and staring me down with betrayal in his eyes.

"C'mon Reid," Morgan started, "you wouldn't have come in if I had simply asked. And besides, didn't it feel good holding a beautiful woman in your arms?" His eyebrows wiggling as Spencer studied me, both of our faces going red at the suggestion.

Derek swam off with a 'catch me if you can' look on his face.

"Sorry for doing that to you." I apologised to Spencer.

"No, he's right. I wouldn't have come in if he had asked. I'm not much for swimming, not in open experts anyway. I much prefer somewhere I can see the bottom. Even though the percentage of shark attacks is pretty low, the chances of getting stuck in a rip are quite high. I don't think I'd put up much of a fight against one..." His voice trailed off as he watched Derek get further away.

"I'll save you if that ever happens." I said, winking at him. He laughed and started after Derek, I followed. The swim turned into more of a race rather than us trying to catch Derek.

We stayed at the beach for a few hours. I could feel my shoulders and nose burning. We had been having so much fun, I had forgotten to reapply sunscreen.

"Maybe we should get going," I suggested, "at least in to the shade?" I noticed Spencer's face was also red and I felt bad because he didn't even apply sunscreen. The three of us retreated to the shade.

I picked up my towel and patted myself dry. I slipped on my dress and we packed up our stuff ready to go. We stopped at the public showers to wash our feet before getting to the car.

"Who's still keen for icecream?" Derek asked as we reached the car. My sunburn wasn't 'burning' as of yet and I was still keen on icecream.

"I'm keen, but we shouldn't be too long. The sooner I get some cream into this bad boy, the better." I replied, pointing to my nose and shoulders, while putting my seat belt on. Derek looked over his shoulder to Spencer who simply said,

"Sure." With a shrug of his shoulders, pulling his book out of his bag.

The icecream shop wasn't too far away, so o didn't burger with the radio. Instead, Derek and I joked around with each other during the drive.

This one is longer to make up for the day's I've been missing. It's been sitting in my drafts for days because I keep getting distracted. I'm so sorry, please enjoy. :)

#spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff

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pinkprimrose05 · 3 years

Text

GX Month Day 18: This Wasn't in the Rule Book

@gxmonth

Ao3 Version Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33473653/chapters/83310418

Why yes, it's prompt bending time! Wish this day came a bit later into the month so it was closer to the release date of Duel World ARC-V but, oh well, what can ya do? ...Oops, looks like I spoiled the chapter. Yes, this year's AU prompt also doubles as a celebration of ARC-V coming to Duel Links, and it's probably the one prompt I'm most excited to write because hoo boy I've been waiting for this moment for sooooo long! 8D

~~~~~

"Manual Reboot Successful. Initiate Sign-Up Process? "

"Initiating Sign-Up Process. Establishing Connection...Please Enter WORLD_ID."

"Response Recorded. Initiating Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6..."

"..ERROR. Failed to Connect to WORLD_ID SERIES6. Continue Sign-Up Process and Retry?"

"Response Recorded. Continuing Sign-Up Process."

"Response Recorded. Aborting Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6...Connection Aborted"

"...Sing-Up Process Completed. Initiating Log-In Sequence..."

"ERROR."

-----------

Yuuma sat by the river, waiting for something big to happen.

He knew he wasn't support to be there. Tour Guide hade explicitly told everyone to not get close to the Gate during new world maintenance, but being his curious self, he guiltlessly ignored the warning. Why? Because of the aforementioned new world, of course!

From what he knew about it -which wasn't much, but Juudai-senpai had been rambling about all the different Duelists, Decks and weird game mechanics that they might see for two weeks straight and that sort of gave him a general idea-, this new world thing was a pretty big deal in Duel Links, and with it being so covered up, Yuuma was all too hyped to see what it was like for himself, consequences be damned.

He'd tried world-switching to no avail, as he sebsequently found out that the game wasn't only staggering log-outs, it was also staggering travelling through Duel Worlds for however long he was stuck here. He'd tried asking everyone he knew about it over his D-Gazer too, but that didn't work, and neither did begging a sleepy Kaito to try and hack the game for more info..

..Which led back to him sitting by the river, kicking his legs back and forth as Emperor's Key swayed in the morning breeze, dangling from the string in his hand while he kept waiting, waiting, and waiting some more...

"Yuuma?"

"Eek!" The Xyz Duelist practically jumped five feet into the air upon hearing his name being called, thoughts racing in frantic circles as he turned to see someone approaching...then immediately relaxing when he realized exactly who that someone was.

"Three!"

Michael Arclight smiled, waving gently as he tottered to the river bank and sat down next to Yuuma, who sighed in relief at knowing he wasn't in grave trouble for getting caught near the Gate. The two traded greetings, then settled into silence as they gazed at the horizon, at the clear sky and rising sun of their Duel World's landscape. If it were him, Michael would be content with just staying like that and admiring the view, but the ball of excitement next to him wasn't about to share that sentiment anytime soon.

"Sooooooo..." Yuuma began "What are you gonna do today?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" His friend gave him a puzzled look, and Yuuma made a broad gesture with his arms in response, as if that was supposed to mean something.

"You know, about the, uh, the new world? Are you gonna visit that? Duel people there? I don't know what to expect from it to be honest, it's the first time for us and I'm reeaally excited and also curious and I can't wait to see what will happen...but we can't find out anything before the maintenance ends, and it looks like it's gonna take a while and I'm getting bored so, what are you gonna do?"

Michael hummed thoughtfully, glancing at his Duel Disk "Well, I was thinking of waiting until things settled down before doing anything about all of this. A game this big can get quite unstable with such a huge update, you know? That's why I came here anyway, and..." the pink-haired Duelist blushed faintly "..I may or may not have decided to ignore what Guide-san said about the Gate in the process. Please don't tell anyone I was here?"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Yuuma said, mimicking a zipper sound as he ran two fingers along his lips for effect "No one will ever know of your super classified one-time incident of breaking the law...not that that law made sense anyway. I mean, COME ON..."

Michael giggled, listening as Yuuma launched into a full-on rant about how meaningless them 'closing' the Gate area was. He wasn't exactly wrong though; if it was about as dangerous as Guide said, surely there would be some obstacle or lock to stop people from getting too close, right? Surely she wouldn't just count on everyone to not be reckless enough to ignore her, right? Unless...

Unless the error she's dealing with here might cause serious backlash if she tried inputting a new command that also interacts with the Gate, in which case-

Any other thought that would have followed that trail instantly vanished when the Gate suddenly exploded with blue light, and in that moment, Michael's world went quiet.

-----------

"Unacceptable! This is unacceptable! I have a fucking job interview in two hours, how am I supposed to get ready in time for that??"

Yuusei sighed, running a hand through his already mussed hair for what was probably the eighth time in thirty minutes. Tour Guide's sudden announcement of an emergency maintenace -one that somehow overlapped with the new world's- had put everyone on edge, even more so after they found out they couldn't log out until it was over. As a result, every single Duelist currently in the 5D's World had gathered at the Deck Editor and unanimously decided to wait out the maintenance period there...but some of them weren't particularly happy about being stuck in the game for however long it took.

Chief of those was Jack, who kept pacing next to the table Team 5D's and co. clustered around, all while throwing several uncharitable insults at Guide, Isono, Kaiba, and basically everyone affliated with the Duel Links staff.

"Why do they have to keep messing up every time they launch one of those new words?? I swear, if I see any of those little-"

Carly instinctively covered her ears when the Resonator Duelist let out a particularly nasty swear, and Crow shot him a miffed glare from behind. Yuusei sighed again, then slowly pushed himself out from his chair to rest a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Jack, please go get a cup of coffee and cool down." He said in an uncharacteristically pleading, tired tone "We're all stuck here, we all have important things to do, and some of us haven't slept for twenty-six hours. It'd do everyone a lot of good if you stopped yelling at empty air for a while."

Jack crossed his arms and huffed, but forced himself to simmer down regardless.

"...Fine. I'll go get myself some coffee and 'cool down' or whatever, but not because you asked me to, it's because I need some fresh air." And with that, the former King of Duels strode out of the Studio, coat flapping dramatically in a gust of wind before he went completely out of view.

"Good riddance." Crow let his head drop on the table with a low thud, raising a thumbs-up in Yuusei's general direction, and while he normally wouldn't agree with that sentiment, the Synchro Duelist was currently grateful for the calmer atmosphere of the place, now that Jack was gone. He slid back into his chair, hoping to get some shut-eye to compensate for staying up for all of the night before...

"Guys, we have a problem."

...Or not. Yuusei looked up in time to see Bruno -No, stop it, that's Antinomy- dropping in the chair between him and a barely conscious Kiryuu, the computer in his hands flashing with several warning signs overlapping on top of strings of code, which kept appearing and disappearing at a seemingly random pace. This, the noiret decidedly thought, peering intently at the screen, definitely doesn't look good.

"The energy output is spiking around the Gate area and the ones close to it." Antinomy explained to no-one in particular, his usually passive face set in a stressed frown as he clicked away at the keyboard "It appears that whatever issue that caused this emergency maintenance has gone completely out of control, and while we don't know exactly what that means, compressing so much energy in a certain area, no matter how broad..."

"...is bound to make it blow up." Yuusei concluded, eyes widening as his mind caught up with the implication behind that "This means the Duel Studio and everyone in it will be affected if anything happens to the Gate."

Antinomy nodded "Exactly. It could be that someone is trying to log in, and that's why I'm asking you to go and- dammit!" He swore, fingers moving across the keyboard at a far more frantic pace when the computer let out a series of long, loud beeping sound. Yuusei was pretty sure he got whiplash from how fast he turned to see what was going on-

-but before he could register more than the word "ERROR" bolded in blue across the screen, he felt a shock of static, and then...nothing.

-----------

"Automated Reboot Successful. Log-In Sequence...Complete."

"Connecting to WORLD_ID SERIES2...Connection Successful."

"Linking with.."

"..Sakaki Yuuya."

-----------

The first thing he felt when he came to was a gentle breeze tousling his hair, rays of sunshine lighting up his eyelids, and droplets of water spraying his face every couple seconds. It wasn't raining, that much he gathered, which meant that he'd most likely spawned near a fountain or a river, since there was no trace of the salty scent of seawater in the air.

Yuuya opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was a fountain to his left, its marble structure adorned with a ring of green leaves that carried all kinds of colourful flowers, water flowing from it center and from the sides. Pushing himself up, the tomato-haired Duelist looked around, taking in the rest of his current surroundings, and the first thing that caught his attention was a huge, round portal thingy that hovered in the air, with glowing lines of blue circuitry running through its silvery white perimeter.

That must be the Gate, he thought that's how I came here.

A bit further ahead was what seemed to be another portal, but this one was rectangular in shape, unlike the Gate's circle, and it was completely blue as well. Yuuya watched as the portal rotated in place slowly, the other side of it coming into view with the label 'Duel School' appearing on top of it. Curious, he reached out a hand to touch the portal...

...only to pull back immediately when the pixels forming it fizzled and crackled with electricity, shocking him.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Yuuya clutched his stung hand with the other, hissing in pain at the contact before letting go of his hand. He sucked in deep breath then slowly exhaled, wiping the tears that formed at the corners of his eyes before turning away from the Duel School to keep walking (and to will away the sick, fleeting memory the shock had sparked for a moment).

Yeesh, that wasn't a great first interaction... he grimaced, waving his hand in the air in hopes that it would calm the stinging pain down But that doesn't mean I can't find something good if I keep looking. I wonder where all the other Duelists are.

The path he was walking down split into two at the end. Yuuya turned around, chancing one more look at the admittedly beautiful yet strangely desloate area he started in. He chalked its emptiness up to it being quite early in the morning...but then again, it wasn't morning for everyone around the world, so maybe it was just that the area was mainly used as a terminal, which would explain why he was the only one there...

Wait.

He shouldn't be.

Switching his Duel Disk on with a quick swipe (which was an honestly stupid action in hindsight because damn his hand stung hard from that), Yuuya dialed the very first contact on his list, running the hand with the Disk strapped to it through bi-colored bangs and pushing them out of his face as the device rang once, twice, three times. Where was everyone else? He, Yuzu and Gongenzaka had logged in at the same time, and Sora had told them he'll jump in right after, so why was he the only one to come out of the Gate?

*Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din-*

"Hello."

Yuuya blinked, then did a double take at the soft, young voice that came from the other end of the call. That...that wasn't Yuzu. He swallowed.

"..I'm sorry, who am I talking to?"

A few moments passed before the voice replied "My name is Sera. You must not recognize me, but please don't worry, the owner of this device is safe and sound, and if you wish to talk to her, she is here with me."

The line went silent then. Well, almost silent; Yuuya could hear bits of chatter and the sound of someone fiddling with the Duel Disk...before said someone decided to blast his eardrums full-force, like she always did.

"Yuuya! Where the heck are you?!" Yuzu cried out, and he found himself smiling at the familiar loudness "I've been looking for you everywhere!!"

He winced when her voice cracked on the last word, hand running through his hair again as he laughed nervously "Sorry, sorry! I...honestly don't entirely know where I am yet. Thought we'd start at the same place, but I guess we didn't..." He glanced around for any sort of landmark to pinpoint his position, then remembered where he came from at first and settled on that "Um, can you see the Gate? I'm standing close to it."

There was a beat of silence, then an audible sigh. "I see," Sera muttered at length "Sakaki-san, I think you have logged into a different Duel World than the one Hiiragi-san and I are in at the moment..because we're standing right in front of the Gate."

It took a full ten seconds for Yuuya's brain to register that, and when it did, all that came out of his mouth was a drawn-out "Whaaaaaaat??"

"...You skipped the rest of the tutorial, didn't you?" Yuzu's voice carried a hint of amusement and fondness, before assuming a more serious tone "Okay, look. If you check your Duel Disk, you'll find two arrows in a circle at the top left corner. Click that, and you'll get a list of the five different Duel Worlds in the game. Sera said that something happened before we came here that stopped everyone from travelling between those worlds, and apparently there was a sixth world that we were supposed to log into but didn't...anyway, the highlighted name will show you the world you're in. I'm in the fourth one right now..."

Yuuya listened as Yuzu explained what happened to her after logging into the Duel World, following her instructions all the while. A quick check told him that he was in the second world, the one labeled 'Duel World Series 2'. He nodded along his friends' words, and when she finished, he took yet another look at his surroundings.

"Alright, gotcha, I'm in the second world." He said, and it was then that he decided to head left "I guess I'll go take a look around the place, see if I can find out where everyone else is, and wait until we can all switch to the same world. It's great to hear you're alright, Yuzu. Take care!"

"Hey, that's my line!" She quipped in response, and Yuuya could practically hear the playful grin on her face "But seriously, I'm glad to know you're doing fine too. See you later, Yuuya."

And with that, the line went dead. Not even bothering to turn his Disk off, Yuuya broke into a quick jog, humming a cheerful tune to himself and grinning widely as he started rhyming the tune to his steps. Yuzu was fine, she was okay, they'll find each other soon enough and meet up with their friends, and they'll have tons of fun exploring the game, just as they planned.

Yeah, that's the spirit!

He only slowed down when the smooth, metallic path turned into dirt, patches of grass growing randomly in the way and on the sides, as well as a pair of trees and a few stray daisy bushes. A huge structure that felt so very out of place loomed ahead of him, its futuristic design and neon blue lines contrasting sharply with the simple greenery surrounding it, despite only being separated from that by a ring of gray tiles at the end of the dirt path. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a floating label above it that spelled out the words "Duel Studio", and a sliding door that opened on its own when Yuuya came close. The Pendulum Duelist stepped through-

"Ack!"

-and promptly crashed into a blur of black, stumbling backwards as a result. Leaning on the now-open door for support, Yuuya nursed his head with his free hand, letting out a small sigh before he looked up to check on whoever it was that he bumped into...and froze when he locked eyes with them.

That shade of gold was...familiar.

Yuuya's eyes widened, and the brunette facing him mirrored the action for a split second, before his shock faded into a passive scowl that clashed with his fluffy, Kuriboh-like hair. Yuuya opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't sure exactly what, but the taller male turned back to the Duel Studio, subtly motioning for him to come along, and whatever it was that he wanted to say went out of the window.

"Follow me." His voice -slow, deep and clear- carried a distinctly authoritative tone as he strode ahead, and after a moment of apprehension, Yuuya found himself trailing behind. The guy looked like he knew where he was going, and didn't exactly seem opposed to talking to him, which meant he could possibly get some answers to the pile of questions building up in his head, and well, weird gut feelings aside, that was actually a good thing.

The two sat at a round, red table in a distant corner, and then just...stared at each other. Yuuya waited for the Kuriboh-haired Duelist -at least, he guessed he was a Duelist, judging by the strange custom model of a Duel Disk on his left arm- to say something, anything, but nothing came out, and he wasn't sure exactly how to start the conversation, so...he kept waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And then decided that was enough waiting. "Umm...are you even gonna say anything?" Yuuya asked after a full four minutes, half expecting to get no response..

..but the guy actually rolled his eyes at him, like he'd asked a stupid question or something "What are you expecting me to say?"

Huh. Okay, this man was kinda bad at conversing. Yuuya held back a sigh, plastered on a smile instead, and tried again.

"Hmm, how about an introduction? That sounds like a good start." He held out a hand "Nice to meet you, I'm Sakaki Yuuya. And you are..?"

The brunette's stared moved to Yuuya's outstretched hand, then back to his eyes...and then he sighed, holding his own hand to his temples as he mumbled something in a foreign language Yuuya couldn't make out (but assumed was an exasperated statement, based on the tone of what came next).

"Dear Lord, why is it that every single one of them turns out to be a child?"

"Huh?"

"You can see Duel Spirits," He said, pointing at Yuuya. It wasn't even a question, just a factual statement he threw as casually as someone discussing the weather forecast "and you most likely have a special bond with at least one of your cards, that may even go as far as your very soul being bound to it. Is that correct?"

A few moments passed in silence, and then: "How did you-"

"I knew that was the case. Listen to me, Sakaki Yuuya; I do not know the exact extent of your knowledge about the nature of this world, or that of the darkness you possess, but know this-" gold eyes narrowed dangerously, and Yuuya flinched in spite of himself "Duel Links is not just a game. There are greater forces behind the creation of the Duel Worlds, ones that can tamper with your memories and thoughts, even call back beings that were supposed to be gone forever and link different dimensioms. Your status as a Legendary Duelist means you are directly involved in everything that might happen in the new world, so proceed with caution, or prepare to deal with the consequences."

Yuuya reeled back in his chair, face going white. He stared down at his pendulum, gripping its dimly glowing crystal tightly in his hands -had it been doing that for a while? He had no idea. His head was starting to feel light, his throat got all choked up, and he was sure he'd be shaking if not for how tense his muscles were. What- what had he gotten himself into? If he'd known it was more than a game, if he'd known they'd be thrown in the middle of crossfire again-

Deep breaths, Yuuya, deep breaths.. He told himself before he got too lost in thought, inhaling sharply. Calm down, let it out slowly, relax.....yeah, there we go.

"Why are you telling me this?" The teen asked once he was certain his mini-panic attack was over, and he must've been imagining things because he could swear he saw a ghost of a smile on the other's face when he replied.

"In all honesty," he began slowly, the edge to his voice almost completely gone "I have had enough interdimensional conflict to last me a lifetime, and I would really rather not deal with any more of it if I can. I assume you understand where I'm coming from here?"

Yuuya hummed absently, and that seemed to be a satisfying answer to the brown-haired Duelist, who pushed himself out of his seat and turned to leave, but not without allowing himself another final sentence.

"Very well then. For your own sake, as well as everyone you may care about, I hope you're actually smart enough to follow my warning. Until we meet again...or not."

And with that, he walked away, disappearing behind the staircase to the right. As soon as he went out of sight, Yuuya let his head fall down on the table with an unceremonious flump!, making some inchoerent noises when the sound of some lady announcing the end of the 'Maintenance Break' blasted over the intercom above his head, and he became distantly aware of other voices and some footsteps sounding not too far from him.

*tap*

Alright, so he and everyone else have basically jumped into yet another grand scheme that caused conflict across different dimensions, but this time the stakes weren't as clear as in the Interdimensional War.

*tap-tap*

The thought was admittedly daunting, and he was a hundred percent sure no-one he knew would like to go through something like that again..

"Oi."

But on the bright side, it seemed that they weren't the only ones dealing with this sort of thing, which meant they could easily find many allies in the different Duel Worlds...yeah, if they kept an eye out, they should be all right-

"Oi!"

Yuuya's head snapped up when he realized someone was calling out to him, and when he looked up, he was greeted with the smiling face of..

"You again??"

..the same Kuriboh-haired Duelist?

"Sorry, what?"

Yuuya did a double take. Yeah, no, that wasn't him; the eyes were colored soft brown instead of hollow gold, and he was wearing a red jacket instead of a black robe too- Yuuya mentally scolded himself for overlooking the differences (but also found it somewhat funny because, you know, he had to deal with this kind of confusion more than once before).

"Nevermind, I think I confused you for someone else. My bad." He gave the red-jacketed brunette a sheepish grin, gesturing at the empty chair opposite to his, then watching as he placed his also strange custom model of a Duel Disk on the side of the table before sitting down himself, fiddling with the device all the while. Even the way he composed himself was different; this guy felt far more lax and chill compared to the other one, and it made Yuuya relax a bit in turn, the silence that stretched between them feeling more comfortable.

"So, let me guess..." Red Jacket began a bit later, leaning a bit forward with a curious glint in his eyes "You're one of the new kids?"

A small nod "You can say that, I guess. I'm Yuuya, and you?"

"Yuuki Juudai. Pleased to meet you, kiddo- wait, I can call you kiddo, right?"

"Sure, unless you're somehow younger than me, which I doubt because of the..height difference."

Juudai smiled again "Aight, kiddo it is then. I gotta say though, I'm impressed you managed to switch worlds that fast. Took me a whole week to realize that was even a thing."

He laughed, and Yuuya chuckled with him. "Actually.." he said afterwards, rubbing the back of his neck with a small, bashful smile "A friend told me about it, and I couldn't even use it when I first arrived. Something about an error happening with the new world and shutting down the whole game, I think? Yean, that locked out the switch thing for a while, and it stopped everyone from logging out too."

"Woah, for real?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Damn," Juudai slammed a hand down on the table "you sure had one heck of a first day, kiddo. Guide must be freaking out with all of this going on."

Yuuya blinked, confused "Guide?"

"Oh, you don't know her?" The older teen asked, quirking an eyebrow "She's, ah, the Duel Spirit of Tour Guide From the Underworld. Pretty much the one who manages this place, since the actual owner doesn't give a shit about the shenanigans happening around here, and she also runs the Duel School. You can go hit her up if you have any questions about the game; she's a great help for new players."

"A Duel Spirit..." Yuuya echoed quietly, stare moving down to the Deck slot of his Duel Disk. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at Juudai and asked "So anyone can interact with them here? The spirits, I mean."

"Of course! It's part of the game's charm, y'know?" He answered, throwing a wink at Yuuya before continuing "Being able to hang out with all your monster friends, even if you might not see them in real life..I don't think anyone would pass up on something that cool."

The younger Duelist smiled at that, hand subconsciously touching the top of his Deck, which earned him several happy murmurs and a particularly loud roar as well "Yeah, that does sound pretty cool. I gotta try it sometime later."

"You totally should." Juudai agreed, taking out his own Deck and shuffling through it as he added "In the meantime...would you like a good ol' tabletop Duel? My old-ass relic of a Disk is being particularly laggy today, and I heard you had this cool summon mechanic with the backrow zones- what was it called again? Pendant? Pending?"

"It's Pendulum Summoning." Yuuya clarified, tentatively taking his Deck out of its slot when Juudai did the same "And uh, sure, I can show it to you if you want."

The brunette's smile turned into a wide grin as he whipped out a pair of folded game mats from his pocket and placed them on his and Yuuya's side of the table, putting each of their Decks on the far right before punching a fist in the air "Heck yeah! I'm finally the first to Duel the new kid with the new cards, this is gonna be a lot of fun!"

"Definitely!" He nodded, his own smile widening as he drew his starting hand with a little more flourish than necessary for a tabletop Duel- not that he really cared, what mattered at the moment was that, even if he was going to have to fight again later down the line, he was going to enjoy Dueling to the maximum as long as he could. No use worrying about the future, all he came here to do was have fun, and fun was he going to have.

Watch out, Duel Links, here I come..!

"LET'S DUEL!!"

~~~~~~~

THE END, finally. This, for whatever reason, took me three weeks to finish alongside the other prompts (okay actually Yuuya's POV slipped from me and I barely managed to end it where I did), and I couldn't even make it on time ffs. There goes my plans to deliver all chapters on time...but I at least hope you enjoyed reading. ...Oh yeah, you may have noticed by now that I left some loose ends here and there (like the conclusion of the chapter for the residents of Duel Worlds ZEXAL and 5D's, AKA those poor souls who got a mass reboot error and received no answers as to why), and to that I say...nothing. Yeah, you gotta wait a little while longer to see what happened to them after the reboot. That said, I shall now take my leave and return to the land of Ao3, see y'all on...someday by the end of the month, I guess.

#gxmonth2021 #yugioh gx #yugioh zexal #yugioh 5ds #yugioh arc v #too many characters to tag

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ghost-in-the-stalls · 3 years

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Had a real weird dream last night lemme tell you. Putting it under a read more because it's long as hell.

I dream a lot about malls

Some of the dreams are about other things where I just happen to end up in a mall. And often those are usually the same mall. And usually only one spot of it- the emptier area outside the movie theater.

But there's a consistent theme across these dreams of the feeling of being lost. Or at least being in a rush to get somewhere when I dont know exactly HOW to get there, or being in need of a vehicle or something to get to my destination.

Usually, though, the mall isn't the focus of the dream. Navigating through it is crucial to whatever im trying to accomplish, but the only dream I had where the mall itself was the focus was honestly a really weird one. I dont remember much about it.

But I just woke up from a dream where mall were kind of the focus but also part of the problem.

It started off with myself, one of my sisters, my mother, and my maternal grandparents all on a train together. I was way younger than I am now, but somehow still old enough that people weren't as concerned about what i did. We were going from our hometown in New York to Montreal- but for some reason my brain threw geography out the window. Because this trip also included traveling through Russia and Japan.

Anyway, partway through the trip some stuff of mine somehow fell out the window?? And because the train was going slow at the moment, I thought we were stopping. So I hopped out to get my stuff, only for the train to then speed ahead without me. The area was still full of people, though, like it was a bustling park on a nice day and not a section of busy train tracks. A worker came over and told me to follow a certain girl to walk me along the line to get to my destination.

So I started following her along with some others. We walked in a line, but then she started walking faster. There were a group of 3 who were following us and trying to get to us. They were clearly bad but I think it was because they had mistaken us for someone else. The main problem was that if they caught us, it would take time to convince them we weren't who they thought we were (if we COULD even convince them) and that would put us too far behind trying to catch up with the train.

So the girl started running, and the line behind her could keep up with her just fine. I was at the end of the line and for some reason was the only one who couldn't keep up.

This is where the malls came in. For some reason we stopped traveling along train tracks and started traveling through malls. Each mall led to the next if you got through it in the right way. And I could see the progress. Signs were in French, then the Cyrillic alphabet, then seemed to be Japanese.

The malls were all crowded and because I'd lost the group (and was also occasionally being tailed by this group of 3) I was in a major rush and was desperate to get through and catch up to my family.

So the dream then became about me frantically traveling through these malls, making turns on instinct and desperately searching for any sign of where I had to go next. Along the way I saw lots of graffiti in small hidden areas in the mall. These areas werent really hidden or closed off, but were ignored by all the other people. The only ones who inhabited it were people who had chosen to stay there. They didn't have anywhere else to go and had decided this was their home now. I kept going through the malls, frantic, trying not to dwell anywhere.

Occasionally the group of 3 would almost spot me again and I'd have to outrun them. But even when they weren't around, I was trying to move as quickly as possible to get back to my family. I had left most of my stuff on the train, so I didn't have anything with me that could help. No phone or money or anything.

The other thing is that I wasn't sure how much time was passing. I knew it was passing, but I never seemed to see the night. The malls were always bright and packed regardless. I found myself never having to stop for food or sleep or even a break. But I knew time was passing and it scared me that it didn't seem to be effecting me or these malls.

Eventually, though I don't completely remember how, I caught up to my family. They were all happy to see me safe and had been very worried. They cried a bit and I did too, but I just kept crying. I couldn't stop. We were on the train again, now and we had couches with pillows and blankets instead of normal seats. They'd left space for me to curl up between them and I remember finally feeling safe again but so tired. And I couldn't stop crying. Because I was finally safe but I almost wasn't. I'd almost lost everything.

Then my mother and grandparents started talking about some address. And I realized I had seen the address in the graffiti in one of the malls. I realized there was something weird going on with the graffiti from the malls, and for some reason it compelled me to go back through. In my mind, as long as I made the same turns I did the first time, I'd be okay and end up safe again.

The problem was that I was acting purely on memory of knowing in the moment what turn to take. For a while it worked okay. I could tell again that time wasn't passing as it should be, and I was scared and lost again. But for some reason it was worth it to find and notate that graffiti I'd seen. So I could put the pieces together and figure out what it all meant.

But this time around I got truly lost in the malls. The intuition wasn't there like it was the first time so I was acting only on memory. And eventually my memory failed me. I started going in circles in one of the malls. When I'd finally got to the end of the mall, a met a group of kids who were familiar with it. They were from the area. And the parking garage I had to go through to continue had the gimmick of being an actual maze.

And unlike before it was now nighttime. The parking garage wasn't lit up and you couldn't see anything. Anyone who wanted to travel through it had to use their own light of some kind. This group of kids led me through though and we were talking as we went. They lived in the area and confirmed for me that I'd made it to New York state. Everyone had a weird accent, so I asked if we were in NYC. They said no. When I asked where we were, they said they didn't know actually.

I know the state well enough that I was ready to ask a bunch of questions to see if I could figure out where in the state we were. But then things got scary.

We ended up climbing through an old playground to move forward. (This is a theme across a lot of my dreams too, including the mall ones. Everything in the world becomes a maze. A puzzle to move through. An obstacle.) The plastic playground tunnels were kind of falling apart and there were some we had to nudge in place properly so we could continue. Then something really scary happened.

The plastic was bent enough that the little doorway we had to go through to continue got blocked when you didn't hold it up as you went. Most of the group went through ahead and then the door collapsed again before myself (once again at the back) and a guy could move through. It took us a moment to figure out how to nudge the plastic back in place properly so we could move through.

When we finally got it, we saw the others on the other side. Only they seemed to be dead. They were all sickly green-pale. They had maggots all over them and their skin was stretched thin in certain spots in a way it really shouldn't be. I screamed, and they all sat up like I'd just woken them up from a nap. They were confused about why we'd taken so long- it had been days for them- and they didn't seem to understand that they genuinely looked dead.

The dream started hopping around more from that point on. But I returned to running lost through the malls and trying to get home. If I happen to see graffiti on my way, I took notes of it. At least so I could feel like I hadnt gotten lost again for nothing.

Eventually I happened across my mother completely at random. We were thrilled to see each other and we both cried. She said it had been weeks since I'd gone missing again. We didn't leave the mall right away and I just remember wishing we would sooner. I was so scared of getting lost again- like the malls would pull me back in if I didn't get some distance from them. Soon after, I woke up.

I've only been awake a little while now but I'm still really unnerved by the dream. I remember how sad and lost and scared I felt. How I couldn't stop crying when I was finally safe, because I was still so traumatized from being lost in the malls. I remember the feeling of being in seas of people but feeling so lonely. So many people gave me smiles as I passed and were polite and pleasant to me. But I felt so scared and threatened nonetheless. And when I was finally safe, the feeling that it would stick with me anyway. That I'd remember that fear for a long time to come. Thats what made me cry so much.

Anyway fucked up shit right?

#my writing #i guess #this was intense #im gonna go lay down again tho #because im tired and its cold and i have a sore throat and i just want to curl up in bed

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pollylynn · 3 years

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Title: Shade WC: 900

“Oh, is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?” — Victoria Gates, The Greater Good (6 x19)

A/N: If you care, there are spoilers for the Nikki Heat books in this, specifically for Raging Heat.

Nuance is exhausting. It’s his bread and butter as a writer—at least when it comes to his protagonists—but in the real world, nuance exhausting. He has spent the days investigating Peter Cordero’s murder building a wonderfully hard-nosed, terribly unlikable character around Gates’s sister only to have that house of cards huffed and puffed at by the genuine horror on the woman’s face when she realized what villainy her attitude—her words—had led Stephanie Goldmark into.

And he’s nowhere close to ready to deal with the nuances of the Captain herself, even if this case has sort of dropped those right on top of him like a paradoxical ton of bricks. He has, over time, come to cringe at Wally Irons—the broad, bumbling character he had dashed off in an hour so dark it still haunts him. Mourning Roy, drowning in anger with and longing for her, finding himself abruptly banished from the work that represented all he’d had to hold on to, he had dashed off a caricature—unkind, uninteresting, without nuance.

For three books now, going on four, Wally Irons has made him cringe, but he’s also been a guilty pleasure. He’s easy to write: A nemesis with utterly simple, utterly transparent motivations and only one game mechanic—pathological aversion to risk. Captain Wally behaves as he is meant to behave on every page—unlike a certain Detective Heat—and in his heart of hearts, he thinks it’s rather rude of Gates to go upsetting his caricature apple cart. He thinks that she could stop and think about his needs before she goes and gets interesting.

But she is interesting, isn’t she? He thinks about the simplicity of the story Beckett has relayed to him in whispers—the promise of a big get in exchange for bending the rules, for letting just one thing go. He thinks, with surprise and no small amount of residual hurt and pang of conscience, of the other story Kate has relayed just tonight of her first glimpse of the Captain’s complexities—a conversation from years back when he was the one pleading for this, for her to wait, to find another way, to not sabotage the political career of the man he called friend.

Who holds him accountable?

You do your job, whatever the cost.

He could write her—he could continue to write her—in the spirit of Wally Irons as rigid and plodding. He could continue to write her as a scold and an obstacle to justice. He could continue to write this character utterly without nuance, but he’s stuck on this Quis custodiet ipsos custodes vibe that’s obvious and vital and almost exactly the epiphany he’d ended up writing for Nikki in the very book where he’d first introduced the stupid, cringe-y, seductively easy to write Wally Irons.

He’s stuck on the metaphor of jigsaw puzzles. He is a box guy, He is inclined to grab the lid and take in the big picture. He is inclined to dive in and work from the top down, which is—come to think of it—how he has ended up with a four-hundred-person guest list. Because he just knows, globally, that Connelly has to be on the list and that has to be sprawls all the way out to Wes Craven.

He just knows, and that has something to do with the fact that he is the kind of guy who ends up having assembled amorphous, isolated sections that have nothing to do with one another before someone like Gates has finished turning every piece face up and sorting things into corners and middle piles, and his sudden awareness of this distinction is exhausting. These metaphor and nuances and complexities are exhausting, but that doesn’t mean that tackling them isn’t worthwhile.

His head is spinning with it all. His mind is spiraling in the dark when it should be switched off for a peaceful, nuance-free night. It’s not, though, so he kicks off the covers and heads for his desk. He opens Raging Heat to some early chapter with good old, reliable Wally in it. He plants a seed. He shifts to pen and paper. He sketches out the arc of the thing, what beat will best fall where. He turns back to the laptop and almost has a heart attack at the sight of Kate, squinting at him in sheer exhaustion, standing a foot away.

“Castle, what are you doing?” she rasps.

She reaches out to shut the laptop, but he stays her hand. “Killing Wally Irons. But then I’m going to tackle the guest list. I think we have to flip all the pieces over first. We have sort out corners and middle pieces and have a strategy—“

“What?’ She shakes off the hold he has on her wrist. “Castle, it’s the middle of the night.”

“I know.” He stands. He curls an arm around her waist and usher her briskly back to bed. “It is the middle of the night, so I’ll just kill off Wally Irons and come right to bed.”

She’s too tired to object, and too sleep baffled to fight. “And then the list. Tomorrow the list.”

“The list,” he agrees. He kisses her forehead and delights in the way the furrow in her brow smooths swiftly away at his touch. “Tomorrow, the list. The jigsaw approach.”

A/N: Jigsaws? What? This is aggressively not a thing.

images via homeofthenutty

#Castle #Caskett #Castle: Season 6 #Castle: The Greater Good #Kate Beckett #Richard Castle #Victoria Gates #Nikki Heat #Fic #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Fan Fic #Fan Fiction #Writing #Interrogatives?

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cateringisalie · 3 years

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Village: Resident Evil ramblings

(Some spoilers)

Ethan Winters is a goddamn idiot.

I say this without a shred of nostalgia; I first encountered him in RE7 and feel less than nostalgic towards the guy. RE7 without the benefit of the former entrants was a FPS horror and pretty good. Though you couldn’t escape that the characters you remembered were the Baker family and Mia; Ethan was a walking camera with a gun and some very simplistic emotional responses (fear, rescue wife, escape, swear occasionally). Having now run through the whole sequence of games, Ethan stands out starkly as the blandest and least interesting protagonist the series ever produced. He is possibly worse than Piers. Village updates Ethan’s personality. A bit. Well. Not really. Still got that fear, still got the swearing. Still got a mind to escape. But rather than rescue his wife, it’s about rescuing his daughter. I mean; Mia was gunned down and shot a further 9000 times by infuriating series stalwart Chris Redfield a little under ten minutes into the game proper. Not that Ethan really comes to terms with the trauma. By minute fifteen of the game the van you’ve been shoved in by Chris (who doesn’t shoot you for no reason he feels like explaining) has crashed and Ethan’s daughter is missing. Mourning Mia doesn’t actually enter into Ethan’s thought process. Goddamn idiot. Not to say that life with Mia was exactly picturesque; a few years after RE7 the couple are now somewhere nebulous in Eastern Europe in a very lovely house with a distressing number of empty wine bottles in the kitchen. A happy marriage this does not seem to be given Mia doesn’t want to get into the events of RE7 anymore, but Ethan does – but also failing to understand that the cover-up of the incident might be why no one is talking much about the whole mess in Louisiana and that bringing it up both distresses and angers Mia. But; the inciting incident has occurred and we’re propelled into our new scenario. Ethan; once again fish out of water, and its not like we have a choice. This is not to say Village does not repeat the same narrative trick of changing POV character, but there is both less of that, and the Half-Life-style regimented first person view jarringly completely goes out the window in the last quarter. It was less than consistent at points, but sparingly when occasionally and jarringly camera angles shifted to depict an introduction. But the game is also perfectly happy to render whole FPS sequences with gun visible and everything as it plays out a story beat, so... I don’t know? Fortunately Ethan’s environment and the setting are much more interesting. The unnamed Village is a satisfying knot of tangled streets, locked doors and environmental obstacles. Enemies don’t respawn per se, but additional enemies are added on subsequent visits to the effective hub of the game. There’s livestock to kill and give the Duke – the merchant playing a similar role to the pirate-like guy from RE4. Duke’s an entertaining character (some have objected to his physical and hugely overweight depiction); chatty and far more knowing than he will let on. He has a dangling thread come the end so perhaps will reappear elsewhere. He’ll sort the gun upgrades, supplies, let you sell treasure and point you towards your next destinations. Which is just as well as the human population of the village dies out somewhere between the first and second hour. No one left and any futile attempts to save people end in almost hilariously disastrous tragedies (no Ethan, don’t go higher in a building that is on fire). Leaving you with Lycans, zombies and gargoyles to fend off. Occasionally there’s some bigger foes on the level of the Executioner from RE5 but nothing on the level of the Tyrants. That kind of thing is left to the Village Lords. The villagers – before they all die – have a curiously unfamiliar religion and praise a figure known as Mother Miranda. She reportedly kept the village safe, but something has changed and now the Lycans run amok and without restraint. Not hard to pin that the reason for the change is Rose’s arrival (or could it be Ethan? COULD IT? No. Man is a goddamn idiot). The only door out of the village you can open is to Castle Dimitrescu and... It feels unnecessary to even get into what awaits. Given fandom have been so noisy about the tall lady and her vampiric daughters since the first trailer. She is so very, very tall. The castle is the first mode of Village. Possibly closest to RE7; Dimitrescu’s daughters are vulnerable based on certain environmental details (read the notes!) but otherwise should be fled from. Dimitrescu herself is invulnerable to everything bar one weapon and you need to work at getting that, so she needs to be fled from. Otherwise, explore the castle, find treasure. Sneak. Solve puzzles. It all looks suitably gorgeous and you get multiple chances to see if as you loop through the rooms and unlock more doors. The Village macro mechanics wrought as micro here. There’s a canny hint at a late reveal in the blunt utility of in-game mechanics to be had too. But – really should have been obvious given their prominence in the trailer – given Castle Dimitrescu is the first level, it means we must say goodbye to the very Tall Lady with knife hands and move onto someone else. In between levels, we get the first reinforcement of a tease from the trailer; the symbol of the Umbrella corporation. Its engraved into a location called the Ceremony Site. Its daubed on a cave wall as high as the Tall Lady. Its on the strange structure you insert the yellow flasks each Village Lord guards. And it means... almost nothing. RE's meta-plot has always been a mess and everyone’s favorite pharmaceutical company hasn’t been so active for a while, so the idea that we might be getting into some interesting weirdness with them again is oh so appealing. And yet – I was disappointed. Despite the repeated glimpses of the familiar white and red logo, the connection ultimately comes down to one letter I found at about 7/8s of the way through. Oswell Spencer – founder of the company – visited the Village years ago and saw the cave painting and adopted it as his logo. Oh. That’s... underwhelming. The same letter does at least prod at wiring Village’s latter reveals into the formation of the company along with tying in some parts of RE5 but if you thought this would be the company or the family dynasty origins or anything like that, you are in for a disappointment. It’s a tease and one that goes nowhere and does little. Oh we might now see how Spencer got into the whole inadvertent zombie making mess but its not a factor in the plot of this game nor does it really change the stakes of the previous. Perhaps I should be glad it’s so frivolous given other retcons in certain other franchises, but it feels so suspect to have drawn the attention and then shuffle the implications out the side-door. At least the other village lords have their own appeals. The second level is RE once again stealing PT (the PS4 demo to announce Silent Hills) given Konami outright don’t care about it anymore. Stripped of your guns and inventory, it’s a claustrophobic puzzle level requiring you to hide with mechanics familiar to both Evil Within and Alien Isolation. That same loop of rooms as you seek out puzzle solutions and hide from a staggeringly distressing malevolent entity. The third is combat light until the final confrontation; the fight staged in a flooded village – oh and Chris who still doesn’t shoot you but refuses to explain anything. And the fourth cheats. Heisenberg is thoroughly entertaining and grabs two levels for his own; an assault on a stronghold and his horrible cyborg factory outside of town. He has Magneto metal powers. Heisenberg is the camp villain to outdo the other camp villains. He’s having fun, he kinda likes Ethan and is oddly on his side. He found time to put together massive signposts to direct Ethan onto the last two levels (a good thing too given his lack of sense). But both levels are lacking. The Stronghold is a relentless firefight against hoards of mook enemies; the factory is overly long and maze-like. I am as tired as Ethan when he exclaims “What more?” And after Heisenberg is dealt with; the long, convoluted lurches to the ending. First person goes out the window. The game dabbles in characters toying with your understanding of what was going on but in a strangely limited way and completely ignoring the other implications of the reveal. Suddenly you mow down more and more enemies than ever before, bullets scarcely a concern. The final reveals of who/what/where/how come through. Not exactly explicable for what’s on-screen, but the effort’s been made to tie Village’s overt supernatural tendencies back into a world setup in RE. Its not magic and those are not truly werewolves. And the villain’s motivation is! Hugely disappointing. Connected as it is to the Umbrella letter, you might hope for something completely out there, but its unsatisfying and feels pretty sexist too. Or at least lacking in imagination to an astonishing degree and yet here we are. The game feels sloppiest as the final boss fight arrives flitting between characters without the shaky but workable character hand-offs RE7 deployed. Back in first person mode to talk to Duke one last time before engaging in.... a relatively simple boss fight. All the boss fights have been pretty easy – there’s nothing on the level of RE6’s sometimes horrendous contextual fights, or the annoying two-player RE5, nor the demanded accuracy of hitting specific weak-points as in RE7. And I don’t mind that. Unload all your weapons and keep your health up. And victory. There are fix-it fics already, but really, I don’t see the point in trying to fix the issue these people have. There’s an obvious setup for a game past this one with a strange throw-away reveal in the end-sequence (whither RE9, Revelations 3 or something else there are no clues as yet). There’s a spoiler for the sting given the end-credits lists a character who didn’t appear in the main game. The sting itself might wind up drawing on the sting from Revelations 2. Village is not RE at its best, but is at least more in the spirit of goofy, campy nonsense than 7. It at least is more at home with playing with the trappings of horror while not actually trying to be outright scary. As with 7, the villains are more interesting and more memorable than the good guys. And – as I found out after completing the game – we were robbed of Ada Wong dressed up like a Bloodborne character somewhere in the game. And that I think is the biggest shame of all this.

#village spoilers #resident evil village spoilers

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howtotalktoagirlonfacebook · 3 years

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Exactly How To Attract 999 Of Women 5 Alpha Male Tricks

Hey individuals. Beardy as well as Kay, right here from Mantello agents. And also today we're talking about just how to be a lot more attractive. If you have actually ever before asked yourself exactly how to make a lady crazy for you, these techniques will collaborate with 99.9% of females individuals. It's true. Have you ever before seen a guy with a woman that's method a lot more eye-catching than he is, and also you're left damaging your head, attempting to identify exactly how he landed such a stunning partner.

You tell on your own. Oh, he's probably rich or something, however that's not the fact. The reality is he's possibly discovered just how to bring in females using these techniques. We're about to share with you. If you have actually been striving to increase your level of tourist attraction, yet aren't getting any type of outcomes. You're possibly doing one thing that guys assume make them much more eye-catching, however actually repulses most ladies.

And also at the end of this video, we're mosting likely to share that a person Impressive fail you ought to stay clear of in any way prices. Number five, the pull as well as push. You're questioning exactly how to be a lot more eye-catching as well as obtain your crush to like you. Well, it all begins with what you're stating, as well as I don't imply with your mouth fellows. There are some attempted as well as proven body language methods to make her chase you.

As well as I make sure you have actually listened to the majority of them before stand up straight and tall point your feet in the direction of the girl you have an interest in as well as square your shoulders. These are conventional alpha male body movement strategies that everyone understands. However right here's what you might not know after you have actually revealed that you're solid as well as confident using your body language as well as have actually acquired her passion.

Attempt this masterful alpha method to truly establish the hook it's called the pull as well as press. It's kind of like a trickery except for the last minute fraud, yet it's the excellent type of secret method that the sexiest of hot males make use of to gain control of any kind of flirtatious scenario. Right here's how it works. So you're talking with a woman that you simply met and also you're both nervous as well as there's a lots of stress after a couple of conversational exchanges.

Strike her with a spirited compliment, or if you're really feeling actually certain and endure, a scheming sex-related innuendo, attractive teasing is complicated, but not constantly off restrictions, if you can implement it well, which implies happily in the ideal setting. As well as without coming off as weird, if you're not confident making use of sex-related innuendo, maintain it PG 13 with a lively compliment.

And afterwards. Here's the critical component. Simply go down the mic and also walk away. Now here's the other extremely essential item to executing this flawlessly. You have to casually walk away to a location where she can adhere to, since the main goal is to get her to follow you. And currently you have her chasing you as opposed to vice versa.

So don't walk away to the men's restroom or to your intimidating group of person buddies rather had somewhere neutral, like the bar counter or an alcoholic drink table and also remain approachable. The technique is to leave her. Somewhat puzzled, but with the door wide open so she can conveniently approach you. Number 4 outfit to thrill and spark conversation.

No trick scenario is that she doesn't follow your Lea right away, guys. That's flawlessly okay. Because the alternate outcome is that she's returning to her. Good friend's a little confused and also entertained by your habits. While you maintain on your own close by open readily available and also very friendly. She's going to rate laughing back to her good friends with exhilaration concerning the mystical guy that sort of hit on me.

Then just walked away. O M G I'm so baffled right now. And her close friends are gon na ask, Oh, mg, what person? As well as she's going to claim that individual right over there putting on the that's why this next component is so indisputably vital. The following words out of her mouth should not be. This type of homeless looking man over there and also the hooded sweatshirt.

Instead, you desire her to be able to define you in a more favorable light, and that's why dressing well is a no brainer. As well as if you go to all interested regarding just how to look a lot more appealing by clothing, well, you reached start on the ideal foot as well as you can do that with today's sponsor Thursday boots. You've all heard us state it in the past, yet women always check out it individuals footwear, right?

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Number three, be the casual alpha. Possibly you're not just asking on your own, exactly how can I look extra attractive rather? Maybe you're asking yourself, how can I look extra Jak poderwac dziewczyne przez messengera eye-catching than every person else, men, this is just one of the age old methods to obtain women to chase you. And also it will definitely assist you maximize your appearance as well as one of the most effective method that admittedly takes.

Some method to master is the casual. Alpha, the nonchalant alpha man does all points alpha. He's a ruthless Dewar kind of a go getter. He's confident. As well as most importantly, he couldn't offer to ShipWorks about what other people think of it and fellows that's the key. Yes, you have to function faithfully to be your most appealing self, but trying also hard is shateringly apparent as well as comes off as being hopeless as well as clingy.

Being chronically uncaring is so efficient at making women nuts concerning you for a difficult mess of reasons. But the major factor is that everyone wants what they can't have, and everyone is mystically fascinated by that, which they can't manage and fellas, that's why being a bad-ass loose could not care.

Less alpha male is so damn irresistible. Oh, you know, what else is irresistible key, manly expertise, proven to obtain women to stress over you, yet the most detailed old Sanskrit degree wisdom regarding the artist's deductions completely worthless. If you do not recognize the main factors women believe you desire attractive, yet Hey, do not flip out due to the fact that I'm going to share a few of that valuable details with you at the end of the video clip.

So hang tough up until the end to figure out exactly what the majority of guys are doing to transform 99.9% of women away. Second, obtain her done. Of all the extremely practical pointers for males to look eye-catching. This one is probably one of the most possible. When we think of attractive guys, we believe tall, good-looking, physically fit, symmetrical face functions as well as stuff like that.

As well as while it's all real, the art of tourist attraction goes well past those standards. One of things that alpha individuals do that females can not stand up to is that they seem to be really effective day. Get shit done day in day out. And here's why women find this so appealing having the ability to handle a job or an obstacle and persist shows that you understand how to take advantage of your possessions, to achieve an objective, an irrefutable sign of leadership, to squash your ability to remain focused, to obtain her done as a sheriff fireplace.

Trigger you prospective to be not only a successful individual, however a successful partner as well. And that fella's is how you make a woman promptly. Like you. Leading, prioritize your interest. The very best of all the ideas to look a lot more attractive has nothing to do with any individual but on your own. As well as due to that, you remain in complete control of this one.

All cooled Camille wants roadway without passion, male is a plain unrealized force and also possibility without your interest, you're simply an intricate biological meat puppet, but with your passion for something nature and the outdoors, a sport, a price, whatever it is. You immediately end up being bigger than on your own.

And that is something you're squashed will not be able to disregard something. 99.9% of ladies find resistible. It's what makes you one-of-a-kind and establishes you in addition to the remainder? So if you're unsure what your passion is, or if you've simply been disregarding it recently, see to it you get it back on the front burner and also make it a priority today.

Do not bury on your own. Academic studies of destination are numerous and the extent is extremely wide, yet there is one item of common ground that scientists continually find concerning the legislation of attraction. And that is that also in the 21st century of online dating and also social media folks often tend to come to be brought in to those they're around and interact with routinely.

Like classmates colleagues or colleagues one huge and all too typical blunder alpha men often make is to cut themselves off from opportunity while they're out there in the world, kicking ass and also taking names much lesser guys are scooping up the single women simply because they're present in quest of their passion and obtain shit done.

This, they neglect to require time off to put themselves out there, which leads us to our last verdict. The fastest way to drive females away is to be chronically preoccupied with your daily grind and ultimately inaccessible. So bear in mind. Quit working so hard periodically, it is very important to pause and put on your own out there to develop an opportunity for your crush to notice you.

Or if you don't have a crush after that to go find one in the first place, gents, today, we're revealing you 12, purely instinctive, absolutely subconscious indications that a woman likes you by this point. You recognize, it's not always easy to understand if a lady is actually interested. Is she playing games or is it genuine?

What could be chemistry field flirtation for one lady? May only be standard run of the mill kindness for an additional. Which's why today we're showing you 12 subconscious indications of tourist attraction and also the one shateringly obvious indicator that a girl is most definitely not brought in to you. Number 12, she breaks from her besties.

Hey, have you ever before saw exactly how girls constantly start the night out by only dancing with each other? The reason for that is due to the fact that they feel most comfy with their closest friends. Which in many cases is other girls, yet it's a legislation of nature. A girl in her team are hard to divide. Not just are they usually friends, yet they likewise act as kind of bodyguards for each other by keeping away any type of undesirable attention.

So what are we getting at women stick together at the very least semi unconsciously out of a feeling of safety and security. And also what that suggests is that if a lady you're talking with separate herself from her squad to socialize with you alone, you far better think she's interested due to the fact that not just is she leaving the enjoyable crew that she was available in with, she's also revealing her buddies that she recognizes she remains in excellent hands with you.

And also they don't have to worry. Number 11, the following in the huge, large bulk of instances, body movement, isn't only non-verbal, it's additionally mainly non-conscious. As well as most of the moment it informs you every little thing you need to know. So, what should you try to find first? One of the greatest, many fundamental body language giveaways, when it involves tourist attraction is to merely lean or fall in towards the other individual.

Think about it. The women fall in to obtain closer to men. They do not such as possibly not. To make sure that indicates if she's literally leaning in your direction, even if it's from a considerable range. She's probably feeling your ambiance. Number 10, answer seeking. Right here's something to remember the following time you speak with a woman prior to you obtain a possibility to state anything, that girl has actually instantly unconsciously developed a story about you in her mind.

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However the only thing exists are unavoidably some components on the story that are missing out on. Now, if she doesn't appreciate the missing out on parts, she'll carry on and will not seem fascinating. Yet if she's interested. The only point entrusted to do is to obtain some of those inquiries responded to. So if you're speaking with a girl as well as she keeps looking for out more regarding you, that's virtually most definitely due to the fact that she's allow her interest lug her away towards view number 9, face exploration, as you recognize, well, over fifty percent of communication is entirely non-verbal as well as ground zero for that quiet and also subconscious communication is what takes place through facial expression.

Just like a woman will certainly constantly find a way to obtain her inquiries answered regarding you. She'll also be exploring your face to discover as high as she can. And the reason is easy. While your words claim one thing, your facial expressions speak on a different degree. And in a lot of cases, a more honest one. So if she appears focused on your eyes and mouth and also your nose as well as cheeks, it's not since she's attempting to make you stress over nose hairs or that area is cutting today.

It's simply her naturally attempting to discover your quirks. You understand, the little things she actually likes about you as well as how you truly feel. Number 8, she's a soft group. Here's a real age, old examination of subconscious destination. Next time you're with a lady, claim something, you know, is in fact sort of stupid, not clearly stupid, but just a little, you recognize, low initiative.

If she giggles immediately, you recognize, she enjoys you, you may've noticed this with other individuals, a woman laughing as well as smiling at a person that actually hasn't stated anything. All that amusing. Well, right here's the thing regarding making a lady laugh. A lot of the moment, what you claim does not even require to be unbelievably amusing or perhaps that original, since 9 times out of 10, below's, what's truly occurring behind the scenes.

When a girl laughs at something you claim it's usually driven by the truth that she's enduring purposely strengthening the tourist attraction. That's currently there. Basically. She currently suches as, you intends to make fun of right stuff you claim to see to it she remains to like you. No, as with everything in life, there are exemptions to the policy, yet if she's simple to get a laugh out of, that's commonly good information.

Number 7, stoke matching. Almost the only point far better than speaking with a woman you like is to talk to a lady that's equally excited to speak to you in the dating video game. That's, what's known as chemistry and all chemistry begins and also upright an entirely subconscious level. So exactly how can you tell if a girl is thrilled to chat?

Well, there are a couple of means. If you message, she texts back rather swiftly. If you see each other in public, she does not wait to find up as well as say hi, and if you approach her, she makes a few adjustments to her position, her hair, or her clothing. Exhilaration takes lots of types, gents. However if you pick up that she's eager to speak or amazed by your attention, that's what you want to see.

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Number 6 sensory override touch is among those things that's driven by a pretty primal part of the brain before we ever before also talk. We learn how to communicate with get in touch with first and not just do people require to be touched, they likewise need to touch so much. So actually, That when our restraints are overwritten by something like claim solid destination, we'll touch without also thinking of it.

Now as a whole, our culture has a tendency to be rather touchy about touch and for good reason, due to the fact that also for ladies relatively innocent touching can be high-risk. Generally, girls are on high alert and also totally mindful about how they literally involve with others. All to say that if a woman is touching you, it's because her natural need to get closer is outweighing a rather engaging need to be careful.

Hey people, if you like my knowledge, keep watching because we have actually obtained 5 more signals that a lady unconsciously likes you. As well as at the end of this video clip, we're going to show you one extremely misinterpreted signal. That individuals generally miss out on. All right, allow's start. Number 5. Conceal off for the same reasons why women might hold back on touching a person.

They such as, she may also maintain her faces from handing out her tourist attraction. Generally women camouflage their interest by sort of squashing out their expressions, straight lips, neutral eyebrow line, marginal movement all around, you understand it, when you see it. And also it becomes part of the reason why. Some women get the online reputation of being a little cold.

In some cases it's simply how it is. So what does that mean for you? It implies that if a lady is smiling, raising her eyebrows, making eye get in touch with, and essentially lifting up her facial expressions with the timeless signs of overlooked passions. It's due to the fact that she's determined that you're a hero. She can rely on sufficient to let her safeguard down.

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Number 4, the auto look. All right currently. This one's a classic while repeated as well as extended eye contact is clearly an excellent thing. There's one other, widely known absolutely subconscious free gift that a woman sent to you modify is the laugh and appearance or what we such as to call the vehicle appearance. Right here's exactly how it works.

The next time you're in a group of the woman. See if you can find where she looks, when something amusing takes place, if it's you who she's checking out, that's her naturally choosing you to share that enjoyable moment with this is a body movement sensation. That's quite well-documented by psychologists. People in a group,

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jq37 · 5 years

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so...... thoughts on the first ep?

**spoilers for start spreading the news**

What is UP you guys? The new season of Dimension 20 is out and your girl is back (implies I left, which is false) with only the hottest of takes.

Usually I vomit up my opinions with little rhyme or reason and, don't worry, I'm not changing that format any time soon. But, because of the structure of the episode, I think it'll be easier to use headings and go through each character/element of this. So let's do this y'all!

The Setting

I think the best thing you can do as a writer or a creative person in general is the make something that only you could make, you know? Like, make the thing that only someone with your specific life experiences and weird brain could have come up with. And I really think that this is that for Brennan. I already talked about this in other posts, but the version of NYC that Brennan created for this game is that to me. Like, magical NY has been done, but the specific details? Who else could have written, "The annual SantaCon is actually Santa dumping all of his defective clones into NYC where the magic barrier that keeps normals from seeing magic will disguise them and the protectors of the city will be able to deal with them"? That's so specific and so wild and so New York and so Brennan.

And I haven't lived in NY for so long but I've had one winter here and the way he describes what it's like to walk down the street during winter in the city is so real. Like smelling garbage then laundry detergent then sugared nuts from those corner stands and you're freezing and then baking in the subway in your coat. That was so so real. (I will be saying this phrase a lot so get used to it now)

And I like that he didn't make the obvious choices, you know? Like we've had three, like, magical figureheads across D20 and those are usually classic old, white, possibly British roles, you know? Like a Gandalf or a Dumbledore. But he had Aguefort in FH and now Esther and Alejandro in TUS. I just think it's cool that we're getting some different archetypes to fill these roles instead of the same dude c.p'd in again, you know?

Also, the fantasy NYC map is so dope. I wanna go back and try to read everything on it when I have the chance.

Pete

Ally is a DRUG DEALER. I thought Pete was gonna be a stripper but he's a DRUG DEALER. Honestly, I could have figured this out sooner if I'd just checked Urban Dictionary like I did just now and found out that "plug" means "someone who is a resource for obtaining something valuable that would otherwise be difficult to obtain" or, more simply, "drug dealer". But I'm glad I didn't because it was much more fun to find out in real time.

Ally makes some character choices sometimes that are too specific to not be rooted in life experience and that whole microwave cheese monologue was one of them.

Pete's official diagnosis is that he has "a lot going on."

Ally almost won MVP line of the episode with, "Shot my tits off." Murph losing it in the background killed me almost more than the actual line.

I really, really want Pete's doctor to be a recurring character because he is wild in how wild he isn't. He has so much wild stuff happening around him and he is in a wild line of work but he seems like a relatively stable guy. I love him. Also, the completely wrong cadence he used to say, "lgbt ally" was gold.

Is Ally ever gonna have a character with a good relationship with their parents? One time? Ever?

I literally don't even know how to begin to address the wild magic trip Pete went on. Like, I don't think Ally knew what they were doing when they decided to be a wild magic sorcerer. I don't think they knew what kind of challenge they were issuing to Brennan. And after seeing the wild nonsense Brennan consistently came up with for Jer'ih'meh in Bloodkeep, I can't want to see the insanity he spits out for Pete.

"You're the one who they they wanted to play a wild magic sorcerer."

Also, Brennan just using lyrics from "New York, New York" for whatever dream demon or whatever was going on in that trip was, like, equal parts clever and hilarious. Sidenote, do you think all the ep titles are gonna be from songs about NY? I mean, there are enough songs I bet.

Pete has this thing where he constantly lands on the exact wrong part of the situation to focus on. Like later when he gets stuffed in the magic closet at the hospital and he's like, "Hospitals are so advanced, also go much is this gonna cost?" Ally's comic timing on that is always perfect.

WILD that that was the first intro. Like, way to kick off the new season with a bang. I really wonder what this episode would have felt like if this was the last intro or if the intro for the two normal people hadn’t been right at the top. Actually now that I’m editing, I feel like we almost got the intros from least experienced w/ this stuff to most experienced. Because Pete is a total noob. Sophia is also a noob but she has met Kugrash at least once. Then you have Ricky who’s only been in this for about a year. Then Kingston who probably has more experience than Kug by years but Kug has been a rat man his whole life (presumably). Finally Misty who is probably like a BS amount of years old and steeped in this stuff. Honestly, if I was DM’ing, I might have fudged the die rolls to look exactly like how it turned out.

Sophia

Emily describing her character and slipping into her character voice gradually as she went on was so pro.

"Like if Fran Dresher went on an Amy Winehouse bender." I love her.

"Did you not want baby bangs?"

"She's a WHOO-OAR."

I'm gonna die if Brennan make than woman an actual succubus because of an offhanded comment.

My favorite thing is when Emily is saying some nonsense and she can barely even get through it without breaking. Also, Murph is so visibly amused by Emily's entire intro. It's great.

I love that both of the "normal" characters spent most of this episode intoxicated in one way or another.

So Emily absolutely won the episode in my eyes for coming up with one of the sickest burns I've heard and in real time. A dude tells her to read his dick and she, after only a momentary pause, says, "No I'm not gonna read your dick (beat) because I don't read short stories!" Brennan doesn't even make her roll. He just narrates her success. The table goes wild. The bar she's at goes wild. Zac specifically is cracking up. Like, I feel like this is gonna be a little bit of a deep cut reference but did any of you ever play the Monkey Island games and do the insult swordfighting? That's what that scene was. Amazing.

Murph's, like, entire posture and expression (@ 1:24ish) when Emily is saying Sophia thinks she saw a giant rat man who gave her an egg sandwich and Gatorade is total gold.

"Gotta kill some brain cells to kill the ones with the memory of Dale in them."

OK so funny story (funny to me at least) at the Fantasy High live show, I was talking to some other girls who were there and we ended up talking about how the small of a woman's back is basically the worst place you can casually touch them outside of the really bad places and how viscerally terrible it is so when Brennan said one of the trolls touched one of the girls there and Sophie/Emily was like BIG NOPE, I had a That's So Raven flashback to that conversation immediately.

Emily leaps into action...and rolls a nat 1 to fight a bunch of trolls. She actually does really well in the rest of the fight though so that's good.

Oh, also Siobhan made everyone dope themed dice boxes!

Ricky

I hope Dimension 20 runs for the next 10 years and I hope Zac plays a good, big, doofus in every single season.

"He's basically like Superman if Superman were Japanese." Love.

Also, I love the distinction that he's 5' 8" but buff.

Ricky surrounded by a raging fire: First of all, that's a cool bear.

I like the way that Brennan skinned the cleric and paladin powers for this game so they're more about values than deities. I was wondering how it was gonna work in this setting and I think this was such a cool way to handle it.

I really think Brennan has a great handle of presenting certain things in such a way that it's interesting for the players as well as the audience. Like, when Ricky is trying to escape the burning apartment, he puts an obstacle in his way that forces him to use his Paladin powers (to create water specifically). It's not really a hard "puzzle" or something he has to roll for, but it introduces to the audiences that he's not just a firefighter. I just think it's really cool that he's able to pull off narrative things like that without actually controlling the characters. (And, props to the players too, of course, for being so consistently entertaining).

"Mr. March."

Ricky in the middle of the winter: I'm not as tan as I used to be.

Ricky rooftop runs like a freaking superhero.

OK, this is barely related to what I'm talking about right now but it's important to me that you all know this. I commented in an earlier post that Ricky clearly had circus music playing in his head at all times and then I was like, "Hmm, I wonder what that one circus song is called." You know, the song that you think about immediately when you hear the phrase "circus music" so I looked it up and APPARENTLY it is a CZECH MILITARY MARCH known alternately as (brace yourselves) ENTRY OF THE GLADIATORS and THUNDER AND BLAZES. I kid you not. That's actually what that song is called. I called my brother and told him immediately. OK, back on topic.

Is a questing blade a thing? I feel like it's a Thing from legend or fairy tales or something but, when I Google it, I come up with basically nothing.

Does Ricky have a thing for Esther or is he just a super awkward texter and nice guy who does not want to be set up by his sister for a different reason?

I need Brennan to explain how the Santa Question works in this world. The question being, "Why don't parents freak about the gifts they're not buying?" and, side question, "Why don't poor kids get presents?" My go-to answers are always, "He Jedi Mind Tricks into thinking they bought them," and, "He has to work within each family's socio-economic means in order to not be obvious." So there are def plausible answers. But, like, this is something I like to see addressed when we're doing the "Santa is real," thing.

"I grew up with twins and one of them was worse than the others so that makes sense."

"Is Santa good?"/"The ethics of it are alarming, I won't lie."

So, my paranoid thought for this episode is I'm a little Concerned that someone down the line (maybe Esther, but hopefully not) is going to take advantage of Ricky's Big Dumb energy and his "It's the right thing to do," mentality and manipulate him into doing something Not Great. Like, it's not based on anything besides mainlining a ton of media over the past 24 years but I'm just gonna keep an eye out.

Re the Santa/Peppermint Zombification: Hey Brennan, turn your location on. I just wanna talk.

I have to say, from the bottom of my heart, what the hell?

That creeped me out in the same way that episode of Adventure time where Princess Bubblegum (infused with the primal elemental candy energy or whatever) turned everyone into Candy people and everyone started singing Let Me Call You Sweetheart. What a weirdly specific body horror thing for me to encounter more than once. That one peppermint tooth thing is gonna haunt me.

Kingston

I gotta say, props to Lou for pulling a complete 180 on the kind of character he picked this time around. He went from playing this super extra rich pretty boy to this salt of the Earth quasi patriarch and he's just as comfortable with it. Kingston is so real. I went to church with like 50 guys like him back home.

Why are you fighting so hard about free food Kingston? Take the free homecooked food Kingston!

The intensity of his, "I will be here until I die," was hysterical.

Mentioned this before but I love the flavoring of the cleric class where instead of being attuned to a deity Kingston is basically attuned to the entire city. Also, the perks are excellent. Bus service anywhere for free. Sign me up.

I like that Ricky's sister works at the hospital. It's a really cool potential connection for later.

"We're gonna take the thing outchyo butt. We're not gonna deny you medical services."

"Aint nothing wrong with being a freak." --Kingston Brown

Fantasy creatures having to deal with updated tech (like the Toll bridge trolls talking about EZ-passes) is one of my fave urban fantasy tropes.

"I've got a really sweet smelling man here!"

"Yeah, my tooth fell out and now it's a candy. Hey, how much is this gonna cost?" This is what I’m talking about. Priorities my dude.

I love that Kingston knows Pete's weird mob doctor. It seems like part of his deal is that he just knows everything about everyone in the city (within whatever parameters).

Pete says, in quick succession about Ricky, "I feel like he would bully me," and, "He seems like a golden retriever," which I feel are almost mutually exclusive statements.

Kugrash

Well, I asked what kind of druid nonsense was happening in Central Park and the answer is Murph apparently.

I really wish I could have been there when Murph announced he wanted to play a literal rat.

"I am the shit that feeds the flies. A dumpster druid."

"Wherever you are rat Jesus, I love you." You're killing me Brennan.

Aww Kugrash goes around feeding the homeless and stuff. He's like this grumpy ass rat man who really cares about the community.

"Santa you fucking bum." --Kugrash

"I'm sorry are you a rat?"

The idea of a roach with a hobo sack pisses me off because it's adorable but roaches are the worst.

"Is Santa dead?"/"I don't know. I'm not religious."

"Santa Claus is real and he's DEAD."

Brennan loves to use the modifiers "full" and "fully" and I have picked it up irl and in my writing.

"Let's get a little fucked up and go see if Santa's dead!"

Just that whole squirrel interaction.

The sixth borough huh? Interesting. I see you Brennan.

Also, the detail that Kug's clothes are made from old MTA vests is great.

Misty

Siobahn is playing basically exactly the character I thought she'd be playing but she's doing it so much better and more extra than I could have imagined.

"A lady would never say her age, so I won't."

Is her pianist magic or something too? I have my suspicions.

So Misty gets some kind of bard and/or fairy high from praise and adoration which is interesting.

What kind of weird, morally dubious and/or unpleasant fae thing is Misty gonna have to do soonish? It's not gonna be good. Fae stuff never is.

DON CONFETTI

"I don't study magic. I just *am* magic."

So many of these intro vignettes end with, "You don't know that...but you do know who does." Like I said before, I really love the weaving together of all the story threads to get everyone in the same place at the same time in an organic feeling way.

Also he makes all these transitions sound cinematic, like he's writing the description parts of a movie script and not narrating in person.

Public Library! I knew we'd end up here eventually but I didn't know it'd be pretty much immediately. Like, if you're going w/ the "NY is magic" premise, the library has to figure in, you know?

Emily immediately having Sophia recognize Ricky as Mr. March was such a funny and on point character decision. I love how one-off, spur of the moment lines end up being running jokes because other players pick on them and drop them an hour later.

"Are you a rat?"/"Yeah, I'm a rat man!"/"I'm sorry if that was rude."

Brennan: The lions are alive and they're boyfriends.

Misty and Siobhan both are genre savvy enough to want to nip a knights/knave door puzzle situation in the bud.

Ricky on escape rooms: I'm not very good at them but I can definitely try my hardest. (Guys, I love him so much.)

Love me some MC Escher steps.

Underrated Misty line: It's all infernal to me.

Misty's little, "Ugh" at learning they have to go to Times Square is the real NY experience.

Is this Alejandro dude gonna die? What's the over under on this dude eating it very soon?

Misty encouraging Pete to shoot Alejandro is so needlessly chaotic which is a common fae trait and I really hope this escalates.

I dunno what Murph rolled for initiative but he looks like he just shamed his entire family line.

And we’re fighting an army of crazed Santa clones next week! We have literally just started and we are already fully off the rails. I cannot *wait* to see where we go from here if this is the *starting point*.

#dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #asks #anon #Anonymous

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artyrogue · 4 years

Text

Blind Date Gaming: Pac In Time

Tonight's date was an interesting one to say the least. It was with Pac-Man, the iconic game character from Namco that helped build video games as a mainstream activity! The only issue was that it wasn't...JUST Pac-Man. No, it was a pun and a spinoff all in one. It was... Pac In Time!

Soak in the colors, 'cos from here out we're mostly back to 4-color palettes.

I've seen some of the other Pac-Man spinoffs before and they just never felt right. There was some dumb point-and-click game on the SNES where Pac-Man clearly had a lobotomy, some pinball game, and that one where he was fighting a bunch of nerds on some floating platform called 'final destination' or whatever. So yeah, they're typically lame attempts to make a buck based on the identity of one of gaming's most well-known IPs. I didn't expect much, then, going in. It was a bit bias of me, sure, but I was still willing to give it a chance. The first thing I was presented with was a super-long, slow-scrolling wall of text with absolutely no music or sound throughout the whole thing. Brilliant first impression, that.

'Crazy events' here means 'binge eating countless unmarked medications within the confines of a series of neon-infused tubes with occasional spontaneous manifestations of fruit and/or keys'.

Okay, okay, sure. Some ghost witch sends Pac-Man back in time and now he has to travel through different zones to find a way back to the present. That could have been summed up much more succinctly; in fact, I basically relayed all the information you need to know right there. It also really doesn't matter at all in the long run, so my heart reaches out to the poor writer whose hopes were squandered when Pac in Time didn't end up being their gateway to better writing gigs. What matters isn't the story here, it's the gameplay! So what do we have?

It's a platformer. A pretty floaty one at that. You always slide all over, with momentum that takes a bunch of effort to dissipate. Jumping follows the Mario 64 school of gaining height in each successive jump, but it really doesn't seem necessary. It's quite bad and takes some getting used to. There's an additional aspect to the game that helps bring puzzle aspects to it: powerups. You're given a few in each level that give you different abilities and can sometime pick up (or lose!) them along the way as well. They don't really seem to fit into the typical Pac-Man lore, though. Unless there's some fanfic where Pac-Man can shoot fireballs and swing around like Spiderman?

Yes, that is a screenshot of Pac-Man shooting a Kamehameha at a shark. This is fine.

Some levels are pretty interesting, but a lot of them are short and kind of dull. Most of the time you don't even end up using half of the powerups they give you. I will say, though, that the grappling hook was well-programmed and a lot of fun to mess around with. Sometimes there are issues canceling grappling momentum when an enemy is right in front of you, but otherwise it's liberating to swing like a monkey through a level in mere seconds.

Wheeeeee!

Somewhere around world 3, though, things start to take a turn for the worse. For the most part, enemies are tame and take a major backseat to the puzzles and powerup adventuring. In the jungle world, you start to see some annoying and poorly-programmed enemies marring your fun. Some foes relentlessly track you down, some change their velocity in unpredictable ways, some blast into the center of the screen as soon as you approach, and more. It starts feeling more like I Wanna Be the Guy, a game I loathe not for its toughness, but for it's cheap death tricks and poor design. Games like that aren't about skill as much as they are about rote memorization. That's...not fun to me. Make the obstacles visible, not surprises. I'd rather spend time memorizing something useful. Although apparently my brain seems to define 'useful' as being able to list the first 386 pokemon and recalling room layouts for a mall that has been dead and destroyed for like 15 years?

I suddenly have flashbacks to Super Meat Boy, although that game was fair and up front with its obstacles. This buzzsaw popped outta nowhere, which I guess is standard in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

I had to look up a walkthrough on a certain level, too, where the only way to progress was apparently to walk off a cliff into a pool of lava. Then, an invisible air stream carries you across the lava to safety. Jumping the gap kills you and does not reveal an air stream, there are no indicators that walking off is a good idea, nothing. Just know the trick or be stuck. Great. The walkthrough on GameFAQs even says that the walkthrough's writer was stuck on this level until someone gave them a tip. That's...not exactly a good sign of game design. There were other annoyances, like teleporters teleporting stones higher than you: if you walk into one too quickly after pushing a stone into it, the stone appears above you and crushes you to death. Also, many levels host a plethora of arrow signs that don't make lick of sense.

Right, right...I get it now. It's all so clear where I have to go!

I got through world 4, and looking up a gameplay video reveals there are 4 more worlds to go, but I had my fill. This date isn't going anywhere I want to be. So yeah! No second date here. I've also found via the comments of that video that the game is actually a reskin of another game on DOS called 'Fury of the Furries'. They basically just turned the main character into Pac-Man and made some lame music tracks that sound like the one ditty from the arcade game. Even the enemies and final boss are the same. Boo! Get some originality or keep the Furries! I mean I know the internet in general has some hangups with them, but I've never had a bad experience with a Furry myself, let alone felt their Fury! Although if the world followed this game's lead, all furry conventions would turn into massive Pac-Man cosplay events, and I would definitely pay to go see that.

I found a furry! Except it kind of beat me to a pulp, but I guess I deserve it since I stole his game.

Before I end this, am I crazy or does part of the Beach world theme sound vaguely like some Mega Man track? Listen here and skip the first 50 horrid seconds to get to the part I mean. I swear, it sounds like something I've heard before, but I can't tell which track it was. Mega Man has too many Men to keep their themes straight. Maybe I should invest my useless memorization into Mega Man theme recall instead.

And so ends another date. I'll be looking around for something else, thank you! I will say, though, that today's Sprite of Passage is a keeper. Put this as a war decoration on your uniform and go speak of the fierce battles you went through to earn it! Don't be surprised if no one gives you any sympathy or anything though. They might instead give you the number of a psychiatrist. Maybe that shrink will give you pills and you can lay them out in a maze to eat them or something? Pac it all in!

They finally, really did it...YOU MANIACS!! YOU BLEW IT UP!! DAMN YOUUUU!!

#blinddategaming #gameboy #pacintime #pacman

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