Mtg battle for baldur's gate precon

Photos upon request
 

amiibo	Condition
Zelda Loftwing	New In Box
Sanrio amiibo cards	Sealed Pack
Inkling Boy - Neon Green	Loose/Mint
Mario Cereal Box	Cereal Removed/Flattened
Isabelle Summer Outfit	Open Box
Cyrus/K.K./Reese	New In Box/Damaged box
Tom Nook	New In Box
Mabel	New In Box

 

Switch	Condition
Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack	Sealed
Aggelos	Complete in Box
Bendy and the Ink Machine	Complete in Box
Cruel King and the Great Hero Storybook Edition	Complete in Box
Disgaea 1 Rosen Edition	Complete in Box
Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition	Sealed
Metroid Dread Collector's Edition	Sealed, a few dings associated with shipping
Monster Hunter Stories 2 Collector's Edition	Sealed
The Mummy Demastered	Complete in Box
Pokemon Sword + Expansion	Cart only, Expansion pass is on cartridge
River City Girls	Sealed, Best Buy Variant
Shadowverse Champion's Battle	Loose
Shantae Collector's Edition	Sealed
Shantae Risky's Revenge Collector's Edition	Sealed
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection	Sealed
Unravel 2	Sealed
Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution	Loose
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap	Complete in Box

 

Wii	Condition
Batallion Wars 2	Game and Case
Castle of Shikigami III	Complete in Box
Okami	Game and Case

 

WiiU Games	Condition
Batman Arkham City Armored Edition	Sealed
Disney Infinity 2.0	Sealed
Mario Kart 8	Complete in Box
Nintendoland	Complete in Box
Star Fox Guard	Complete in Box

 

DS	Condition
Super Scribblenauts	Loose
Witch's Wish	Game and Case, missing manual

 

3DS	Condition
Kid Icarus Uprising (Japanese)	Game, Manual, and Case (No Big Box)

 

GBA	Condition
Boktai 2	Loose
Game & Watch Gallery 4	Loose, Torn Label
Lady Sia	Loose, EU import
Lady Sia	Loose. Label imperfections
Super Puzzle Fighter 2	Complete in Box
Super Mario Advance	No label

 

GB	Condition
Alleyway	Loose
Castlevania Legends	Loose, label wear
Kid Dracula	Loose

 

NES	Condition
Faria	Game and Box. Box has some wear
Kid Icarus	Game, Box, and Manual; Box shows wear; Protective case for box and manual included

 

SNES	Condition
Mortal Kombat II	Loose
Super Scope 6	Loose
Wild Guns	Loose, Bad Label Damage

 

N64	Condition
Bomber Man 64 The Second Attack!	Loose
Pokemon Snap	Loose

 

Gamecube	Condition
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles	Disc and case. Artwork is a little dinged up. No Manual
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Complete in Box, blockbuster stickers on case.
Super Mario Sunshine	Game and Manual. Case included, but the artwork may be a reprint.

 

Sega Genesis	Condition
Genesis 6-Pak	Loose cartridge
Jurrassic Park	Loose cartridge, Sharpie on Label
Phantasy Star IV	Loose cartridge, Label Damage
Quackshot	Complete In Box
Rocket Knight Adventures	Loose cartridge, Label Damage
Spider-Man	Loose cartridge, Label Damage

 

Sega Saturn	Condition
Vampire Savior (Import, Dark Stalkers 2)	Game and artwork, no spine slip. Some creases in the artwork.

 

Sega Dreamcast	Condition
Power Stone	CIB
Power Stone 2	CIB

 

PSP	Condition
Silent Hill Origins	Game and Case

 

PS1	Condition
Castlevania Chronicles	Loose
Chocobo's Dungeon 2	Complete in Box
Crash Bash	Complete in Box
Dark Stalkers	Loose
Dark Stalkers 3	Loose
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver	Loose
Silent Hill	Loose disc
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo	Complete in Box
Valkyrie Profile	Discs and Case, no manual
World of Dragon Warrior Torneko The Last Hope	Loose disc

 

PS2	Condition
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Burnout	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Burnout 2	Loose Disc
Burnout 3 Takedown	Complete, Water Damage on back cover art
Burnout Dominator	Case and Disc, Disc has superficial scratches but still boots
Burnout Revenge	Complete, Greatest Hits
Castlevania Curse of Darkness	Loose, Disc has light scratching
Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Final Fantasy X	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Final Fantasy X-2	Complete; Greatest Hits
God of War II	Complete; Greatest Hits
Grand Theft Auto Vice City	Disc, Case, Poster, No Manual
.Hack Quaratine	Game, Anime Disc, and Case. Missing Manual
Jak and Daxter	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Marvel vs Capcom 2	Cracked Disc, won't boot for me. Comes with case, no manual
Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2	Disc and Case
Need for Speed Underground	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Resident Evil Dead Aim	Game and Case, No manual
Scarface	Complete; Greatest Hits
Star Wars Battlefront II	Disc and Case
Tekken Tag Tournament	Disc and Case; Greatest Hits

 

PS3	Condition
Castlevania Lord of Shadow Collection	Loose

 

PS4	Condition
APEX Construct	Sealed

 

PS5	Condition
Battlefield 2042	Complete in Box

 

XBOX One	Condition
Watchdogs	Sealed

 

Consoles	Condition
Monster Hunter Rise Edition Switch	New in Box (No game code)
Playstation 2 w/FreeMcBoot	Original PS2 "Fat" system. Won't read PS1 or blue PS2 discs. Laser could be ready to go bad, or just need re-alignment. Comes with a Yellow PS2 Memory Card that has FreeMcBoot on it. Free McBoot will allow you to to play games off of a hard drive if desired. No cords/controllers included.
Pokemon Scarlet/Violet Edition OLED Switch	New In Box
Sega Dreamcast	Includes Deck, 1 Controller, Power Cable, and AV Cable
SNES Jr.	Includes Deck, RF Coax Cable, Third Party AC Adapter, and Third Party Controller. Small crack on the corner.
Splatoon 3 Edition OLED Switch

 

Controllers	Condition
Fortnite Joy-Con Set	Comes from the Fortnite Edition Console, never used
Joy-Con Grip	Bagged/Unused - Came with console
Oculus Quest 1/Rift S Left Controller	Used but very good condition. Comes with silicon case
Oculus Quest 1/Rift S Right Controller	Used but very good condition. Comes with silicon case
Platinum Gamecube Controller	Third Party, no nintendo logo, wired, good condition
Joy-Con (Left/Gray)	Good, no drift
Joy-Con (Right/Neon Red)	Good, no drift, Factory refurbished
SNES Controller	Third Party, no nintendo logo
SPIN Z WiiU Pro Controller	Black, Near Mint
SPIN Z WiiU Pro Controller	Black, Near Mint

 

Misc.	Condition
3D Printed Question Block Switch Cart Case	Holds 6 switch carts and 6 Micro SD Cards
Black MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Blue MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Yellow Nyko MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Super Smash Bros Ultimate Nintendo Switch ConsoleBox Only	Empty Box, good condition
Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch Console Box Only	Empty Box, good condition
Pokemon Dialga & Palkia Switch Lite Box Only	Empty Box, good condition
Fortnite Nintendo Switch Console Box Only	Empty Box, good condition
The Art of Splatoon 2	Sealed
Kid Icarus Uprising Players Guide (Imported, no AR cards)	Shows a little wear
Nintendo Switch AC Adapter	Gently used
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Pre-Order Coin	Sealed
Breath of the Wild Sheikah Coin	From BotW Special Edition, Good condition
Pokken Art Cel Pre-Order Bonus	Sealed
Blastoise New 3DS Plates	Plates are mint and unused
Nintendo 3DS Stand	OEM, Came with Kid Icarus Uprising
Kid Icarus AR Card Set (205/404)	Contains 205 different US cards, no duplicates. This is roughly half the entire set. An itemized list can be provided upon request.
Kid Icarus AR - Pit Rally Cry Sealed Pack	Sealed pack of cards that contains AKDE-403,014,086
Shantae Risky's Revenge 2 LP Soundtrack Vinyl	Sealed

 

Cases	Condition
Dot Hack (.HACK) Infection	Case & Manual
Dot Hack (.HACK) Mutation	Case only
Dot Hack (.HACK) Outbreak	Case & Manual
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom	Includes everything but the game
God of War Chains of Olympus	Case and Manual Only

 

Freebies	Condition
Gold Game & Watch Stand	Gold Game & Watch stand meant for the 35th Anniversary Edition Zelda G&W, but likely works with others.
Playstation 2 IDE Connector	Upgraded my HD Adapter to SATA, these are the old/leftover connectors.
Leapster Games

 

Wants	Console
Kid Icarus Uprising AR Cards: AKDE-025 AKDE-039 (Will consider others)	None
Asheron's Call Memorabilia	PC
Game & Watch Devices (Excluding 35th Mario & Zelda editions)	None
Sola to robo	DS
Izuna Legend of the Unemployed Ninja (Case Only)	DS
Little Red Ridinghood Zombie BBQ	DS
Metal Gear Acid	PSP
Classic NES Series: Ice Climbers	GBA
Classic NES Series: Excitebike	GBA
Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario	GBA
Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong	GBA
Classic NES Series: Pac-Man	GBA
Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda	GBA
Classic NES Series: Xevious	GBA
Pokemon Puzzle Challenge	GBC
Night Warriors Darkstalkers Revenge (Case & Manual Only)	Saturn
R.O.B. Accessories	NES
Turbo	Wii U
Blaster Master 2	Genesis

Prices are subjective, negotiable, and do not include shipping.   Photos upon request
 

amiibo	Price	Condition
Zelda Loftwing	30	New In Box
Sanrio amiibo cards	12	Sealed Pack
Inkling Boy - Neon Green	39	Loose/Mint
Mario Cereal Box	15	Cereal Removed/Flattened
Isabelle Summer Outfit	40	Open Box
Cyrus/K.K./Reese	18	New In Box/Damaged box
Tom Nook	12	New In Box
Mabel	9	New In Box

 

Switch	Price	Condition
Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack	40	Sealed
Aggelos	40	Complete in Box
Bendy and the Ink Machine	30	Complete in Box
Cruel King and the Great Hero Storybook Edition	60	Complete in Box
Disgaea 1 Rosen Edition	100	Complete in Box
Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition	200	Sealed
Metroid Dread Collector's Edition	110	Sealed, a few dings associated with shipping
Monster Hunter Stories 2 Collector's Edition	160	Sealed
The Mummy Demastered	55	Complete in Box
Pokemon Sword + Expansion	110	Cart only, Expansion pass is on cartridge
River City Girls	200	Sealed, Best Buy Variant
Shadowverse Champion's Battle	15	Loose
Shantae Collector's Edition	150	Sealed
Shantae Risky's Revenge Collector's Edition	150	Sealed
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection	30	Sealed
Unravel 2	30	Sealed
Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution	18	Loose
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap	40	Complete in Box

 

Wii	Price	Condition
Batallion Wars 2	11	Game and Case
Castle of Shikigami III	75	Complete in Box
Okami	10	Game and Case

 

WiiU Games	Price	Condition
Batman Arkham City Armored Edition	40	Sealed
Disney Infinity 2.0	15	Sealed
Mario Kart 8	15	Complete in Box
Nintendoland	10	Complete in Box
Star Fox Guard	10	Complete in Box

 

DS	Price	Condition
Super Scribblenauts	5	Loose
Witch's Wish	120	Game and Case, missing manual

 

3DS	Price	Condition
Kid Icarus Uprising (Japanese)	40	Game, Manual, and Case (No Big Box)

 

GBA	Price	Condition
Boktai 2	200	Loose
Game & Watch Gallery 4	16	Loose, Torn Label
Lady Sia	30	Loose, EU import
Lady Sia	50	Loose. Label imperfections
Super Puzzle Fighter 2	60	Complete in Box
Super Mario Advance	13	No label

 

GB	Price	Condition
Alleyway	5	Loose
Castlevania Legends	180	Loose, label wear
Kid Dracula	240	Loose

 

NES	Price	Condition
Faria	200	Game and Box. Box has some wear
Kid Icarus	180	Game, Box, and Manual; Box shows wear; Protective case for box and manual included

 

SNES	Price	Condition
Mortal Kombat II	20	Loose
Super Scope 6	22	Loose
Wild Guns	270	Loose, Bad Label Damage

 

N64	Price	Condition
Bomber Man 64 The Second Attack!	250	Loose
Pokemon Snap	20	Loose

 

Gamecube	Price	Condition
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles	14	Disc and case. Artwork is a little dinged up. No Manual
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	16	Complete in Box, blockbuster stickers on case.
Super Mario Sunshine	40	Game and Manual. Case included, but the artwork may be a reprint.

 

Sega Genesis	Price	Condition
Genesis 6-Pak	18	Loose cartridge
Jurrassic Park	10	Loose cartridge, Sharpie on Label
Phantasy Star IV	70	Loose cartridge, Label Damage
Quackshot	40	Complete In Box
Rocket Knight Adventures	37	Loose cartridge, Label Damage
Spider-Man	12	Loose cartridge, Label Damage

 

Sega Saturn	Price	Condition
Vampire Savior (Import, Dark Stalkers 2)	40	Game and artwork, no spine slip. Some creases in the artwork.

 

Sega Dreamcast	Price	Condition
Power Stone	120	CIB
Power Stone 2	160	CIB

 

PSP	Price	Condition
Silent Hill Origins	50	Game and Case

 

PS1	Price	Condition
Castlevania Chronicles	120	Loose
Chocobo's Dungeon 2	100	Complete in Box
Crash Bash	15	Complete in Box
Dark Stalkers	47	Loose
Dark Stalkers 3	47	Loose
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver	18	Loose
Silent Hill	105	Loose disc
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo	40	Complete in Box
Valkyrie Profile	325	Discs and Case, no manual
World of Dragon Warrior Torneko The Last Hope	80	Loose disc

 

PS2	Price	Condition
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance	17	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Burnout	8	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Burnout 2	8	Loose Disc
Burnout 3 Takedown	11	Complete, Water Damage on back cover art
Burnout Dominator	9	Case and Disc, Disc has superficial scratches but still boots
Burnout Revenge	10	Complete, Greatest Hits
Castlevania Curse of Darkness	60	Loose, Disc has light scratching
Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex	10	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi	15	Complete in Box; Greatest Hits
Final Fantasy X	6	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Final Fantasy X-2	6	Complete; Greatest Hits
God of War II	13	Complete; Greatest Hits
Grand Theft Auto Vice City	10	Disc, Case, Poster, No Manual
.Hack Quaratine	300	Game, Anime Disc, and Case. Missing Manual
Jak and Daxter	10	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Marvel vs Capcom 2	60	Cracked Disc, won't boot for me. Comes with case, no manual
Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty	10	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2	10	Disc and Case
Need for Speed Underground	10	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2	10	Greatest Hits, Used, Disc and Case
Resident Evil Dead Aim	50	Game and Case, No manual
Scarface	40	Complete; Greatest Hits
Star Wars Battlefront II	10	Disc and Case
Tekken Tag Tournament	10	Disc and Case; Greatest Hits

 

PS3	Price	Condition
Castlevania Lord of Shadow Collection	30	Loose

 

PS4	Price	Condition
APEX Construct	15	Sealed

 

PS5	Price	Condition
Battlefield 2042	20	Complete in Box

 

XBOX One	Price	Condition
Watchdogs	15	Sealed

 

Consoles	Price	Condition
Monster Hunter Rise Edition Switch	420	New in Box (No game code)
Playstation 2 w/FreeMcBoot	80	Original PS2 "Fat" system. Won't read PS1 or blue PS2 discs. Laser could be ready to go bad, or just need re-alignment. Comes with a Yellow PS2 Memory Card that has FreeMcBoot on it. Free McBoot will allow you to to play games off of a hard drive if desired. No cords/controllers included.
Pokemon Scarlet/Violet Edition OLED Switch	400	New In Box
Sega Dreamcast	120	Includes Deck, 1 Controller, Power Cable, and AV Cable
SNES Jr.	120	Includes Deck, RF Coax Cable, Third Party AC Adapter, and Third Party Controller. Small crack on the corner.
Splatoon 3 Edition OLED Switch	400

 

Controllers	Price	Condition
Fortnite Joy-Con Set	120	Comes from the Fortnite Edition Console, never used
Joy-Con Grip	8	Bagged/Unused - Came with console
Oculus Quest 1/Rift S Left Controller	115	Used but very good condition. Comes with silicon case
Oculus Quest 1/Rift S Right Controller	115	Used but very good condition. Comes with silicon case
Platinum Gamecube Controller	20	Third Party, no nintendo logo, wired, good condition
Joy-Con (Left/Gray)	35	Good, no drift
Joy-Con (Right/Neon Red)	35	Good, no drift, Factory refurbished
SNES Controller	10	Third Party, no nintendo logo
SPIN Z WiiU Pro Controller	25	Black, Near Mint
SPIN Z WiiU Pro Controller	25	Black, Near Mint

 

Misc.	Price	Condition
3D Printed Question Block Switch Cart Case	12	Holds 6 switch carts and 6 Micro SD Cards
Black MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	20	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Blue MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	20	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Yellow Nyko MagicGate 8MB PS2 Memory Card	20	Has Free McBoot loaded onto the card
Super Smash Bros Ultimate Nintendo Switch ConsoleBox Only	90	Empty Box, good condition
Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch Console Box Only	20	Empty Box, good condition
Pokemon Dialga & Palkia Switch Lite Box Only	30	Empty Box, good condition
Fortnite Nintendo Switch Console Box Only	20	Empty Box, good condition
The Art of Splatoon 2	300	Sealed
Kid Icarus Uprising Players Guide (Imported, no AR cards)	30	Shows a little wear
Nintendo Switch AC Adapter	20	Gently used
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Pre-Order Coin	15	Sealed
Breath of the Wild Sheikah Coin	25	From BotW Special Edition, Good condition
Pokken Art Cel Pre-Order Bonus	7	Sealed
Blastoise New 3DS Plates	150	Plates are mint and unused
Nintendo 3DS Stand	30	OEM, Came with Kid Icarus Uprising
Kid Icarus AR Card Set (205/404)	600	Contains 205 different US cards, no duplicates. This is roughly half the entire set. An itemized list can be provided upon request.
Kid Icarus AR - Pit Rally Cry Sealed Pack	20	Sealed pack of cards that contains AKDE-403,014,086
Shantae Risky's Revenge 2 LP Soundtrack Vinyl	55	Sealed

 

Cases	Price	Condition
Dot Hack (.HACK) Infection	20	Case & Manual
Dot Hack (.HACK) Mutation	20	Case only
Dot Hack (.HACK) Outbreak	30	Case & Manual
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom	150	Includes everything but the game
God of War Chains of Olympus	15	Case and Manual Only

 

Freebies	Price	Condition
Gold Game & Watch Stand	Free with purchase	Gold Game & Watch stand meant for the 35th Anniversary Edition Zelda G&W, but likely works with others.
Playstation 2 IDE Connector	Free with purchase	Upgraded my HD Adapter to SATA, these are the old/leftover connectors.
Leapster Games	Free with purchase

 

​
Larian does not underdeliver

I know it's not exactly fan art, but it's the most fitting for this kind of thing. Another fanfiction has it as its flair when it was posted here. Anyway, this is my output for the OnK fanfic train. I hope you guys enjoy! The link to the fanfiction.net page will be at the bottom.
***
With the rise of violence against celebrities also comes the rise of elements that protect against them. A rookie agent finds himself assigned to a famous idol with a promise to defend. And what was supposed to be a training assignment would eventually grow to so much more.
***
The young man grumbled as he trudged the halls of his home towards his father’s office. His hand would rake through his black hair in his face in annoyance while his two emerald eyes with four-point star-shaped irises focused forward. He already knew what was gonna happen and he wished he could refuse. He had been hoping to devote his time to honing his gaming skills with the hope of maybe one day joining a pro-E-sports team. But, because his father was an old man with a small scope of the modern world, he laughed and told him to do something real with his life. And something real meant taking over the family business one day.
Kurosawa Security Services, or simply KSS, is a Japanese family-owned security company based in Kyoto although they have offices all over the country and even abroad. KSS provides everything from security guards for convenience stores to close protection agents for top government figures. They can also provide security consultation and training. The service is rated as the best Japan has to offer with highly trained agents. KSS agents regularly train with the police and military elements like the Security Police and Special Forces Group. And in rare occasions, they would even train with the US Secret Service abroad. KSS is also the best because of the long history of the organization which dates back to the feudal era when Kurosawa Saitō picked up the sword and protected the local Daimyo from an attack. In other words, they had a long time to hone their craft.
Now, what makes a security company like KSS so big in a country where crime is almost non-existent? Isn’t Japan a safe nation? Those would be your first mistakes if you thought of them. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you’re on, good and evil exist everywhere. And good must be protected from evil. That’s why KSS exists.
And soon enough, the company will be in Akio’s hands when it's his father’s time to retire. That’s how the system works, despite what he thinks of it. So, now his ultimate tests will begin. His first assignment.
After walking for what seemed like hours he reached a pair of large doors. He knocked on them and was asked to come in by a voice on the other side, so he complied. Entering, he was greeted with a fairly large office for only one man. And that man was currently seated behind a desk reading through some papers.
“Hey, Dad,” He greeted as he sat down on one of the chairs before across from him.
Kurosawa Tadao put the papers down and then looked at his son before smiling. He was an aging man with black hair that was already greying and blue eyes that had four-point star-shaped irises.
“Hey, Son! How’re ‘ya doing?” He asked.
“Just fine. I was finally getting my KDR up in Black Ops and I was planning on getting my skills up in CSGO later. But, here we are,” Akio answered.
“Staying inside is not good for your body you know.”
“I planned to play basketball tomorrow and I have band with the boys this weekend.”
“It’s still unhealthy because it’s exactly anything productive. You’re 17, Son, you need to start shaping up for your career,” Tadao said.
“I’ve been shaping it up since I was five,” Akio muttered.
“And that’s why we’re here right now. Your first assignment, son! It’s the moment of truth! Aren’t you excited?” Tadao asked with a wide grin as he picked up a folder from the side.
“No, not really,” Akio answered flatly.
“Well, maybe you’ll be excited once you find out who I’m assigning you to. Spoiler alert, she’s an idol,” He said with a grin, whispering that last part as he handed him the file.
“I’m not into idols, Dad,” He said flatly as he took the file.
“Your little brother a good chunk of this company’s personnel, and hell, a good chunk of the population are though,” He commented.
“That doesn’t make sense. Everyone can have different interests. And Goro, well, I guess being tied to a hospital bed for years does that to you,” He said sadly.
“You’re one weird kid, you know.”
“Well, I was raised by the likes of you, Dad,” Akio retorted with a sly grin which made his father laugh.
“Well, you got me there,” He chuckled and promptly silenced himself to let his son read.
“Hoshino Ai? Never heard of her. Although I admit she is pretty cute,” He mumbled as read through the file with her picture on it. He took in her personal information like date of birth, age, physical appearance, and all the usual things. And then he got to a part that listed her status— “What the fuck?! She’s pregnant?!”
“Language, Akio!” Tadao scolded. “Anyway, officially, she’ll be taking a break from showbiz for a while due to ill health. Actually, she’s pregnant and they’re trying to keep it under wraps. Bad for business, because a lot of fans are a bunch of lonely losers, they’ll drop her just because she has kids.”
“Language, Dad,” Akio retorted and shook his head. “Well, teen pregnancy is bad, but it’s unfair for her to be hated for that reason.”
“Yeah, the life of a celebrity is a lot shittier than most people would think. I know, your mother was a singer, she dealt with that too when we were found out,” Tadao said with a frown before smiling a bit. “She
“Please don’t tell me about your romances, Dad,” Akio cringed. “Anyway, Hoshino-sama will be my protectee, huh?”
“Yes. She’ll be heading here with her management agency soon to settle the contract. And then you’ll be heading to the countryside where she can lay low until she gives birth. That’s the basics of it.”
“Alright. Babysit a pregnant teenager and keep her from doing anything dumb. Should be easy enough,” He said.
“Do not underestimate the dangers tied to the entertainment world, Akio,” Tadao reminded. “As I’ve said, a lot of them are a bunch of lonely losers or generally just of questionable character. Some of them will go to great lengths just for attention. Fans can get really wacky after all. It’s already happened before. Not to mention, all the snakes in the industry. Someone might want to up their game so they think about eliminating the competition. You get the point.”
“I’m very aware, Dad, don’t worry,” He assured then sighed. “Just doing this and my studies at the same time? What am I gonna do?”
“That’s rich coming from someone who was planning on just lazing around all day. Besides, you’ve been homeschooling for more than a year already, right? I’m sure you can get a read in every day without compromising your job.”
“Well, it’s not impossible, but it’s gonna suck,” He said then sighed. “Alright, I’ve got this. Not much of a choice anyway. Anything else I should know?”
“Yeah. Remember this, you do not ever let your protectee out of your sight. Wherever she goes, you go. That being said, don’t be too overbearing, and make sure to give her room to breathe. She is a woman, she will want her space. Also, try not to set such a tight atmosphere. Try being her friend, and she’ll be easier to work with. Tomita will meet you tomorrow too to evaluate you. You’ll also be reporting to him your progress during your task.”
“Noted, Dad. In that case,” Akio stood then positioned himself directly in front of the table before bowing. “I shall see this task to the end.”
***
Idol music was not his cup of tea and Hoshino Ai was a complete stranger to him till that moment. He’d spend a whole week with the pre-preparations with one of the senior agents until it was time to meet the latest customers. Then he would meet Hoshino Ai for the first time and they’d make their first impressions of one another.
***
“Are you really sure about this?”
“We’re going to need a shield just in case. Lot’s of wackos around here. Besides, we’ve already agreed to meet.”
“It’s just, there’s a lot of shady dealings in the security world.”
“Are we any better? Besides, KSS is the best this country can offer. I also know the company head personally too, we went to high school together, and he owes me. We’ll be just fine.”
“Um, o-okay…”
“I didn’t understand any of that, but okay!”
“Never change, Ai…”
How do you keep a secret from the world? Simple: you lie. You lie a lot. But then you realize it’s not so simple and every day is spent with fear that everything might fall apart. Just trying to get anywhere was a massive undertaking. For example, right now. Two adults and a pregnant teen in a car. Aside from the teen pregnancy, there’s nothing strange at all about it. But if you knew who the car’s passengers were, then you’d immediately understand.
After a couple of hours of driving (making occasional turns to make sure they weren’t followed and consequently getting lost a couple of times) they finally reached their destination which was a large estate in the outskirts of Kyoto. A guard met them at the gate, and after the driver talked and showed some credentials, they were let in. It took another minute or two until they reached the house where a group was waiting for them. The car group got out of their vehicle with the house group greeting them shortly after. A man with short blonde hair and yellowish-brown eyes underneath some shades stepped forward and led the group.
“Ichigo-san, you’re still about as ugly as when I last saw you,” Tadao greeted with a cheeky grin as he approached.
“Tadao-san, you’re clearly the most repulsive one here. I see you still haven’t taken my advice to get your face fixed,” Ichigo greeted with a snarky expression as he also approached.
Once close enough, they locked hands for a shake before pulling each other in for a hug.
“It’s nice to see you again, friend! How’re you doin', man? No troubles getting here?” Tadao asked.
“I’m just fine. Getting here was a lot smoother than we thought. But we are exhausted,” Ichigo replied.
“I imagine. Remember that time in Second Year when we bought booze with fake IDs and we had to run for it?”
“Ha, how can I forget?! I was terrified the cops would get us!”
As the two men shared stories and laughed, everyone else present could not help but be astonished at how casual the two were being. It almost was like this wasn’t a business meeting.
“Yeah, those were the days,” Tadao laughed and turned to the other two people to address them. “Before we continue any further, allow me to introduce myself. I am Kurosawa Tadao, head of Kurosawa Security Services, and I welcome you all to my home. It’s nice to meet you!”
He then stepped toward the next person. She was a rather tall woman with long strawberry-blonde hair and pinkish-brown eyes.
“And you must be Miyako, his wife, yes?” He asked.
“Yes, I am,” She said with a polite smile as they shook hands.
“You know, I’ve always wondered how someone with a face like his could get married. But here we are,” He joked earning a laugh from her.
“I sometimes wonder why I decided to marry him too,” She commented and they both laughed.
“Huh? What?” Ichigo said but was ignored.
Then, Tadao moved to the last person. She was a short girl with long violet hair with matching eyes that have stars in them. But her most distinct feature was the bulge in her abdomen showing her pregnancy. Moreover, she looked like she wasn’t even 18. This observation made his gut wrench due to feeling pity for this poor girl’s bad decision. Regardless, he put on his best smile and took her hand.
“And you must be Hoshino Ai,” He greeted. “I’ve heard all about you, but since I’m the stereotypical old man, I’m not into your music. Regardless of that, and after listening to a couple of songs, I think you’re doing some very great work in your field.”
Her lips curved into a smile that cured souls as her eyes seemed to shimmer. Tadao kept himself from reacting, but at that moment he knew why she was so popular.
“Thank you so much, Tadao-san! You know, I don’t think I’m that popular to begin with but I’m always so happy to hear that someone like what I do!” She said happily.
He chuckled a bit. “I used to be in a band in middle school and high school, so I still try to stay up to date with the latest musical trends these days. Although, I still don’t know much. I mostly get my info on that from my own agents.”
He glanced to the side followed by Ai shortly after to see three younger agents standing stiffly as they tried to ignore them. They knew exactly who she was. All three of them have her as their phone’s lock screen wallpaper. And it’s clear that they wanted to talk to her, but they couldn’t. And even if they could, they didn’t know how. Ai giggled in amusement while Tadao just stared.
“Anyway, now that introductions have been made, let’s go inside where it’s more comfortable. I know you’re here for business, so let’s dive right in. We’ve also prepared snacks and refreshments inside in case you want some. Ichigo, my valet will take care of your car, so give him the keys please,” Tadao said as he gestured for them to follow.
“Do you have ice cream?” Ai asked.
“We sure do!”
“Yay! Let’s go!”
After Ichigo handed over the keys to a valet, Tadao began leading them into his home with the trio following shortly after. But before that, a mischievous thought entered Ai’s mind and she acted quickly. She suddenly turned to look at the trio of agents who tensed up even more under her gaze. Worse, they realized that she was up to no good just from her grin. But before they could even speculate what she was up to, she suddenly did her signature love heart hand pose with a smile. In a flash, the three agents felt their knees go weak in the presence of such moe cuteness that they struggled to stay upright as they covered their mouths to silence their ecstatic screams. Satisfied with her handiwork, Ai giggled as she left the scene of the crime.
“Um, are they gonna be alright?” Ichigo asked nervously as he saw one of them falling over.
“They’ll be fine.”
They entered the huge house and led them through a series of hallways that were decorated with all sorts of interesting stuff. One of them was some sort of cannon on a towed carriage, except, aside from one big barrel, it’s got multiple little ones arranged in a circle with a crank.
“Kurosawa-san, what’s that?” Ai asked.
“Oh, this? This is a Model 1874 Gatling Gun. It fires a .45-70 caliber round from top-loaded 20-round box magazines with a rate of fire of about a thousand rounds per minute, although, it really depends on how fast you can crank it. It was one of the most revolutionary weapons ever designed and it changed the battlefield forever. This specific weapon here was used by the Imperial Army against revolting samurai during their last stand in the Battle of Mount Shiroyama, the last action of the Satsuma Rebellion,” He explained. “Sometimes I wonder what the samurai were thinking in their last moments just before they were all gunned down.”
“Wow,” Ai whispered in awe.
“Indeed. I don’t even know where my father dug up this gun,” He said before tracing across the black-painted barrels of the old weapon.
“That’s so cool!” She exclaimed happily then fished out her phone from her hoodie pocket. “Can I take a picture with it?”
“Ai, we’re here in business and the man’s likely very busy, so let’s not take anymore—” Ichigo said but was cut off.
“Sure thing! Our meeting is the only thing I have on my schedule today, so I’m basically free to do anything!” Tadao interjected with a wide smile as she took her phone.
What followed next was a comedic scene which was basically an old man doting on his granddaughter while he took pictures of her doing cute things. Meanwhile, everyone else present just stared with blank expressions.
“So much for not being into idols,” Ichigo muttered.
“These are so good! Thank you so much, Kurosawa-san!” She thanked him with a wide smile after going over the pictures.
“You’re very welcome! And you know, we’ve got a lot of goodies in this house, maybe you’d like to take some pictures with them too?” He offered.
“I’d love to!” She squealed.
“Mhmm!” Someone cleared their throat.
Looking in that direction, they saw a young man dressed in a nice business suit who was basically a younger version of Tadao. He approached them with his hands in his pockets and regarded them with a straight expression.
“You’re getting off track here, Dad. We’re still conducting a business,” He said as a matter of factly. “And what happened to ‘no touching of the expensive decor’?”
“Oh come on, son, do you honestly believe I can refuse that?” Tadao complained as he gestured to Ai who maintained a happy expression as she looked at the photos.
“Don’t enable her, Dad. Ma’am, please stop touching the gun, it’s very old and very expensive,” He said.
“Ai, get off of it,” Ichigo ordered.
“Aw, okay,” She said sadly as she backed off.
“Sorry for the trouble, but this stuff is crazy expensive. And oh, I’m Kurosawa Akio, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” He greeted with a polite smile.
“This is my son. He’ll be taking care of the business one day, so I’m bringing him along more now,” Tadao said.
Another round of handshakes was exchanged as the group introduced themselves to Akio. Ai expected the tone and body language of a fan holding himself back, the same kind she’s gotten used to seeing, but was rather surprised when he shook her hands normally with nothing but politeness in his eyes. Strange, now she’s curious. Akio on his part thought that she was a rather normal-looking girl, except for the bulging stomach, and didn’t find anything very special from just looking at her.
“Sorry for messing around. It’s just a really cool-looking thing!” Ai said.
“It sure is, ‘can’t argue with that. They don’t make weapons like these anymore these days. It’s all just big bombs now, which is boring,” Akio remarked.
“I don’t think death and destruction are supposed to be nice to see,” Miyako remarked.
“Exactly,” Tadao stated with a firm voice. “And that’s what we strive for in KSS. Every day must always be boring. Now come on, we’ve got business to attend to.” He said before turning and walking away.
“Is he always like this?” Miyako asked with a sweatdrop, noting the man’s sudden change of face.
“You’ll get used to it,” Both Ichigo and Akio replied in a flat tone.
They finished the walk toward their destination which was a conference room inside the house. The place was quite spacious and cozy looking, especially since it has a fireplace. They all immediately took their seats with KSS taking one side of the table and Ichigo Productions sitting opposite of them.
“Snacks will be brought in a little bit, so let’s get down to business to business shall we,” Tadao said as he placed a briefcase on the table and pulled out some papers. “By the way, everything we talk about will not leave this room, you can trust us. I think I also know the reason why you need an extra pair of hands. Your reason for getting a bodyguard is because you’re worried that you’ll be attacked like that idol that got stabbed recently, yes?”
They all nodded at that. It was already a month old, but the memory of it was still fresh on everyone’s minds, especially since it was covered on national news.
An idol named Hirose Keiko, who was pretty popular and only 16 like Ai, was recently murdered by a crazy fan in her own home. The autopsy report stated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest from severe bleeding after being stabbed three times and that she died in minutes.
The police captured the killer before he could jump off a bridge and took him in for questioning. He said that a Twitter post showing Keiko being all friendly with some guy somewhere made people think she had gotten a boyfriend. This enraged him because he felt betrayed by her actions, therefore he stalked her and plotted her murder for weeks. So, it was pretty awkward for him to find out that Keiko’s supposed boyfriend was actually her cousin and she was at a family get-together at that time.
The news shocked everyone in the country and many celebrities started taking their personal security more seriously. Ichigo was worried for Ai, and Ai was a bit scared herself. She knew Keiko, they did some collaborations together in the past, and she was upset she couldn’t attend her funeral. So, Ichigo Productions, though a bit cash-strapped, decided that it would be a good idea to have some form of security with them to help out in the long run. Especially now that Ai was pregnant… they couldn’t stomach the thought of some deranged lunatic stabbing her to death like what happened to Keiko.
“I don’t think I can forget that. I knew the girl and her agency, they were good people. I hope that bastard gets the chair,” Ichigo muttered.
“You and me both. And don’t worry, we’ll make sure nothing ever happens to you,” Tadao assured. “Alright, now, how do you want to be protected?”
“We just need someone with us to keep the creeps away, especially one that can lie low with us. Nothing flashy at all,” Ichigo answered.
“Hmm, I understand what you want. One or two agents on you at all times at least, covering your front and back. They’ll be in plain clothes too so as to not draw attention. Okay, I’ve got a lot of agents to spare for that kind of job,” Tadao said, as he wrote on a piece of paper.
“What else is there?” Ichigo asked.
“We’re gonna brief you on how we operate and how we intend to do this. None of them are hard to follow at all. The gist is that you need to tell us everything, your schedules, contacts, extra activities, etcetera.”
“So, I’ll basically be followed around everywhere?” Ai asked.
“Basically, yes. But the key difference is that it’ll be by people you can trust. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll be poking around your daily life and infringing on your space every day. We’ll create a system in which you’re safe but still comfortable. In fact, we even have methods to protect you without you or anyone seeing us, but that’s really expensive though,” Tadao explained. “We know our boundaries too, Hoshino-sama, you don’t have to worry.”
“Hmm,” Ai hummed as she considered his words before another thought occurred to her. “Will you kill people?”
“Only if they really force us to. Every agent has a loaded gun with him, but we’re also trained in ways to stop an attacker with non-lethal force. Besides, one of our tactics is that by simply being there, we can discourage anyone from trying anything funny. As I’ve said, the best days for us are the most boring ones.”
“I see.”
“What’s the price tag?” Miyako asked.
“Despite the low elements, you’re still looking at 500,000 yen per month. But…” He trailed off. “But… due to my debt to you, Ichigo, I’ve decided to give you half that price for six months. This is paid like a subscription service where you have to pay every month. Failure to pay means immediate termination of services.”
“Is there anything else?” Ichigo asked.
“There are a bunch more details that you need to know. Legality, protocols, company policy, and all that. But, there’s one detail that I threw in as a condition for this,” Tadao said then placed a hand on Akio’s shoulder who was sitting to his right. “My son will be the one to run point of your protection detail. This’ll also act as his first test, to prove his skill as a protection agent.”
“Although I’m inexperienced, I’m quick to learn and adapt, and I’m ready to take on whatever task is needed from me,” Akio said politely.
Ichigo and Miyako frowned at the prospect of being given someone who was inexperienced in the field. But if he was the son of the guy who runs the place, then he should be pretty good, right? Besides, this is possibly the best deal they’ll ever get, and they weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Alright, that’s fine,” Ichigo said.
“I’m okay with it,” Ai said.
“Although, Akio will be running point so you’ll see him the most often, another rookie agent will also be there to learn too. He’ll be number two. A senior agent will also be dropping by occasionally to check on them and evaluate their performance, although you don’t need to pay him. And in case things get really bad, emergency services and other agents won’t be too far to assist,” Tadao added.
“Ah, alright,” Ichigo said.
“Now, for the rest of everything.”
They would spend the next thirty minutes getting into the details of how everything would be under their care. Snacks and refreshments were brought in at that time with Ai receiving a pint of ice cream, making her very happy. They got into some legal conditions that were implemented to protect both sides. They also got into how the protection detail would work and what to do under certain situations. And of course, company policy.
One such policy is that the client can sue the company for up to 30 million yen for disclosing any secrets entrusted to them without permission. And although KSS can definitely pay that amount, their reputation would be tarnished and they’d lose even more money. That was a fact that allowed Ichigo Productions to rest easier. Ai’s pregnancy needed to remain under wraps.
After a few more minutes and a couple more things were clarified, they finally moved on to the last piece of the puzzle. Tadao opened up his briefcase and pulled out one last set of papers.
“This is the contract. What’s is just a summary of everything we talked about, but I suggest you read it carefully so you’re not missing anything,” Tadao said.
Ichigo Productions took the document and carefully read through it to make sure they were not missing anything. It took another five minutes, but they confirmed that everything was in place.
“A service that tells you everything and makes you read the contract first? Finally!” Ichigo joked.
“We’re the guys that protect the Emperor, not some shady organization! We’ve got a reputation to uphold!” Tadao stated. “Anyway, if nothing is amiss, sign your name and seal on the space provided and we are officially under your employ.”
“Everything’s here. Let’s seal the deal,” Ichigo said.
He grabbed a pen that was provided to him and signed his name on the line at the bottom then stamped his seal on the side. Miyako did the same thing after him. And finally, Ai filled out the last line with her name and seal and even drew a little heart on it. Tadao took the document and looked through it before putting it down and giving them a smile.
“You are now under the protection of Kurosawa Security Services! With Hachiman, the divine protector of Japan, guiding our hands, you will not have to worry about anything as long as we are around! Rest assured that we will take care of you. And anyone that tries to harm you will die a horrible death!” He proclaimed.
“That’s… oddly specific,” Ichigo remarked.
“If you get hurt, we’ll cover the expenses of your medical bill. If you die under our watch, which you won’t, we’ll offer a full refund to your relatives, and we’ll even avenge you. That’s our policy, to treat our clientele as if they are our family,” He added.
“That’s very nice,” Miyako said.
“Only the best we provide our clients,” Tadao said. “And aside from giving you a copy of the documents, this concludes our business. Thank you for choosing our services. We promised not to disappoint.”
“We’ll be watching closely then.”
Both groups then stood up and gave each other one last bout of handshakes to truly seal the contract that was just signed.
“I’ll make sure your men get tickets to one of my concerts in the future!” Ai said and looked at Akio. “Especially you, Akio-san.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you, Hoshino-sama. But, I’m not into idol music,” He replied politely.
“Huh?”
“Please excuse my son. We know he’s a weirdo,” Tadao jokingly said.
“I ain’t weird, Dad. I don’t hate idol music but I don’t exactly like it either. I just like other things,” Akio stated.
“It’s not impossible, but it’s a first for us. Everyone your age we’ve met is into idols,” Saitou said. “Looks like you’re the 10% we didn’t see coming.”
“Please just take it as less worry for you, since I won’t be prying for your attention all the time. I’ll always keep a respectful distance. I promise.”
“That’s all we can ever ask really. Thank you.”
“Now that business is concluded, we can all turn in for the night. But would you like something before you leave? Some more snacks or drinks perhaps? We’ve got a lot here,” Tadao offered but Ichigo shook his head.
“No, we’ve already been here too long, we don’t want to overstay our welcome. Besides, it’s late and we’re all tired. We should be getting back now,” he said.
“Alright. In that case, allow us to walk you out while I get the valet to get your car.”
“Alright then.”
Ichigo Productions prepared to leave while Tadao got on his phone. Ichigo and Miyako started discussing something with each other while Ai simply looked around the room. Her eyes would eventually land on Akio who was looking at his phone. He’d pocket it a moment later and his eyes would land on his protectee’s. She’d flashed him a wide smile, the kind that can captivate any man, while he returned with a simple smile and a nod. Ai began opening her mouth to speak before stopping short when there was a disturbance from Tadao.
“... Really? Alright, I’ll tell them,” He sighed before turning to the group.
“What’s wrong?” Ichigo asked.
Tadao smiled awkwardly. “A small problem just developed on your end.”
They’d find themselves outside again a moment later, watching a scene unfold before them. Ichigo Production’s car, a white rental Toyota Corolla, remained where Ichigo last left it although the hood was open and multiple guys were peering into the engine compartment with flashlights. One agent tried turning the key and starting the ignition, yet the engine remained quiet. A moment later, a middle-aged man with his sleeves rolled up walked up to Tadao while wiping his hands on a rag.
“I think it’s a broken sparkplug, Tadao-san. It just won’t start,” He reported.
“I told you it was broken!” Miyako scolded Ichigo in a hushed voice.
“Do we have spare parts, Hiro-san?” Tadao asked.
“No, we just ran out when our own rides needed maintenance and we haven’t resupplied yet,” He said with a shake of his head. “We can’t run to the shop too because it’s already closed at this time. This thing’s staying here till morning.”
Ichigo and Miyako groaned at their misfortune while the rest of them simply stared indifferently. Tadao then sighed and spoke again.
“Alright. In that case, Hiro-san, please get the van off the driveway and onto the side. We’ll deal with it tomorrow morning. Then please take one of the Land Cruisers and take them back to their hotel. The rest of you are free to leave for home too,” He ordered.
“Hai, Kurosawa-sama!” Everyone replied.
“Tadao-san, are you sure? This is probably too much—” Ichigo began but stopped when Tadoa raised a hand.
“It’s fine, I don’t mind at all. Just think of this as me helping a friend in need. And no, you don’t have to pay,” He replied.
Ichigo was unsure but ultimately allowed it and bowed a bit. “Alright, thank you.”
“No problem,” Tadao replied with a shallow nod.
While the adults addressed the issue of their ride, the two kids remained on the side and simply watched. Akio and Ai were still in their teens, so they were kids in the eyes of the adults present.
“So,” Ai began. “What kind of music do you listen to, Kurokawa-san?”
“Uh, I like rock music of all types from pop to death metal. I’ve been listening to them since I was five. And it’s Kurosawa, Hoshino-sama,” He replied, her sudden question and error of his name catching him off guard.
“Ah, really? Ahahaha, I’m so sorry! I'm not very good at memorizing people’s faces!” She laughed jovially.
“Ahaha, I can imagine. Since you probably see so many faces every day, it’s hard to keep track of them all, huh?” He laughed.
“Ah, yeah! It’s a bit of a problem for me, hehe. Sometimes, I even forget the President’s name too, haha!”
He laughed along with her but internally, he was cringing a bit.
Does every idol have such an airheaded personality? He wondered.
“It must be kinda hard for you too, having to work like this when you’re so young,” She remarked.
“Well, this is my first job ever, so it doesn’t seem hard at all right now. That’s definitely gonna change though,” He replied. “But, I don’t think my job will get anywhere as difficult as yours with you having to put up an act all the time. I don’t think I can handle that.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I really like my job, but sometimes it gets pretty tiring. Taking a break like this is gonna help out a lot!” She said happily before taking a deep breath and looking around. “I think I’ve already said this, but your place is really nice.”
“Mhmm, and this is just our place here in Tokyo. We’re only here now because we need to be closer to some of our clients at the moment. Our main house in Kyoto is even bigger and cooler!” Akio replied.
“You guys are really loaded, huh?”
“For the past few decades, Kurosawa has been branching to other things that make money. We need the cash to pay for our stuff after all. Although, we’re still inferior to zaibatsus like Shinomiya and Shijo (who we provide services to, by the way) but also still better than most.”
“Wow.”
“Mhmm, but money still isn’t everything. We try to take a humble approach to things too. Dad doesn’t like spending money on anything that isn’t important and I don’t buy a lot of things myself,” He added and kept his mouth open to continue when he was interrupted.
“Don’t believe him! He eats yakiniku at least once a week!” One of the younger agents stated as he walked by with a bag over his shoulder, likely on his way home.
“Look who’s talking, idiot! You spend the most out of all of us!” He retorted angrily but only got a laugh in response. He turned back to Ai who was holding a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles, prompting him to sigh in annoyance. “Alright, I admit that part and also I spend a lot quite a lot on video games and band equipment, but only on special occasions. I’m not some pompous rich jerk that throws money around, I promise you.”
“Hmm, alright, I believe you,” She giggled and then thought of something. “You could’ve totally left that part out or outright lied. Why didn’t you?”
“Uh, it was already out, so there’s no point in trying to lie about it anymore. Besides, I don’t believe you deserve to be lied to, Hoshino-sama,” He answered.
Her smile wavered ever so slightly as she processed his answer. I don’t deserve to be… lied to?
“Um—”
“Ai, our ride’s here! Let’s head back to the hotel!” Ichigo called out as one of the company’s Land Cruisers had been brought out to take them.
“I guess we’ll just have to continue this conversation some other time, but it’s been a nice talk. I look forward to working with you, Hoshino-sama,” He said with a wide smile and an outstretched hand.
“Ai.”
“Sorry?”
Ai smiled widely too, her eyes seemingly shimmering brighter as she took his hand and shook it. “Since we’ll be sticking so closely together for a while, you can just call me Ai, Akio-san.”
He blinked. “U-Uh, sure thing, Ai-san.”
“Just Ai,” She clarified.
“Just Ai,” He nodded and smiled widely, happy that she remembered his first know, even if he didn’t know why.
“If that’s what you want, you’re the boss,” Akio remarked, earning another laugh from her. “You have a good night, Ai, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“You too, Akio-san.”
She’d head back to her group a moment later and they were leaving the estate shortly. Akio waved at the car as it drove past him and he could just barely see a human figure waving back through the darkness. As he watched the SUV disappear, he put his hand down and looked up at the sky.
“Wow,” He breathed. “Her eyes are something else.”
He’d retire for the night shortly after without another thought. He’d sleep soundly not knowing that he had just stepped on the path that would define his life.
***
This is the link to the ff.net page. Thank you very much for taking the time to read it, and thank you even more if you decide to support it on ff.net! Please also tell me what you think and/or if you have any ideas you'd like to share here or there!
For now, have a great day, and peace out!
Veritas vos liberabit.
The Truth will set you Free.

I have made it to 740 hours. Don't get me wrong, I'm hooked on this game, but it can get frustrating at times. This is Hardly the first MMO I've ever played, so the priority on Damage and efficiency comes as no Shock to me. However, I think it might be the most out of control I've ever seen in Warframe. I tend to prefer Utility or Support focused gameplay in most games, I play healers, and Tanks, and Crowd controllers, and My favorite thing is map control/Area Denial. Warframe has some of the best Healers, Tanks, and CC I've ever seen, and its all utterly wasted on this game. When I got my hands on Trinity, I read her abilities and got super Excited... Here was a frame that could do so much of the stuff I like to do.... and no one wants to play with her. Sure, You don't get to much flak in Publicly matchmade missions. Just the occasional grumbling from someone who is upset the capture mission lasted 175 seconds instead of 156. But Trinity has no place in the planned lobbies. When you're looking for an endurance Farming crew, No one takes Trinity. Trinity's only niche spot is in Eidolon hunts, and we all know how... unpleasant Eidolon hunters can be. Tanks are also next to useless. Once you learn to use shield gating, Tanks and healers became dead weight. But the archetype that got screwed the worst by the community is the Crowd controllers. A lot of you passionately hate CC. The only 2 circumstances I've ever consistently encountered Toxic players is A: Eidolon hunting. Or B: using CC. Back when I was learning Nova was by far the worst. That was what made me never try learning a frame by just playing it ever again. Limbo was another source of constant toxicity slung my way. Even "Acceptable" CC Like Nekros' Terrify and Khora's Strangledome has earned me flame. Finding my Niche in this game has been a Journey. I'm sad to say I still haven't found a consistent Niche. The simple fact of the matter is there is no content focused towards what I enjoy. Warframe is not a game where I can cleverly utilize mobility and chain skills together to keep others from falling over the brink of death. Controlling the flow of battle is looked down upon, Tanking is seen as a waste, and Utility is only used if it directly helps you do more damage. I've given up trying to have my kind of fun in Warframe. I'll quietly keep collecting things, and I'll keep progressing, but I think I have to accept at this point that Warframe just can't be my main game, despite how much I want it to be.

Since the first Baldur's Gate game, they've been sneaking in easter eggs into paintings. Elvis features on one of the paintings in BG, for example. I just recently realized these paintings on the second floor of the Whistling Gallows Inn in Lonelywood are the Aasimar and Annah from Planescape Torment.
​
https://preview.redd.it/rlrgday42z2b1.png?width=1134&format=png&auto=webp&s=256fc30f7d262d5203fa06b14e6680f07975b71d

Here is my current mod list, I'm quite proud of it. What do you all think of it? Note: 1. A few of the mods are deactivated, they were all copied together. 2. The mods are not listed in order, they got automatically sorted alphabetically when I copied them.
Moonpath to Elsweyr SSE"
Moons And Stars - Sky Overhaul SKSE"
More Informative Console"
More to Say"
moreHUD Inventory Edition"
Moss Rocks"
Moss Rocks - 3D Rocks Patch"
Mrf's Markarth"
Mrf's Solitude"
Mrf's Solitude - Update"
Nate DBVO Pack - MALE PC"
Natural Hair Colors"
NL_MCM - A Modular MCM Framework"
No Grass In Caves"
No Grass In Objects"
No Grassias - A Universal Grass Fix For Grass Mods"
No Recoil"
No Spinning Death Animation"
Nordic Snow"
Nordic Snow - Projected Diffuse"
Nordic Stonewalls"
NORDIC UI - Compass Markers Restored"
NORDIC UI - Interface Overhaul"
Nordic UI - Menu Cleaned and Upscaled"
NORDIC UI - Miscellaneous Patches"
NORDIC UI - Ultrawide Fixes and Patches"
Nordic UI Ultrawide Patch"
Nordic...ish - A TrueHUD preset based on Nordic UI"
Nordic...ish - A TrueHUD preset based on Nordic UI - Recent Item Widget"
Northborn Scars"
Northfires Photoreal Mountains 3 for Majestic (8K)"
NPC AI Process Position Fix - NG"
NPC Animation Remix (DAR)"
NPCs Names Distributor"
NPCs React To Invisibility"
NPCs Wear Amulets of Mara PLUS"
Obsidian Weathers and Seasons"
Open Civil War SSE"
Optional Round Farmhouse Posts"
OSHA-Compliant Sovengarde Mesh Fixes"
Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion"
PapyrusUtil SE - Modders Scripting Utility Functions"
Paragon gems 4K"
Particle Lights For ENB - Aetherium Shards"
Particle Lights For ENB - Alchemy and Enchanting Tables"
Particle Lights For ENB - Apocypha"
Particle Lights For ENB - Blood Splatter Fix"
Particle Lights For ENB - Bugs in a Jar"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dark Elf Lantern"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dark Elf Lantern Particle Patch"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dragonborn Ingredients"
Particle Lights For ENB - Ingredients"
Particle Lights for ENB - Nirnroot"
Particle Lights For ENB - Paragon Gems"
Particle Lights For ENB - Staff Enchanter"
Particle Lights For ENB - Undead Creatures"
Particle Lights For ENB - Wisps - Witchlight"
Particle Lights For ENB - wSkeever Ingredients"
Particle Patch for ENB"
Payload Interpreter"
PELTAPALOOZA - Special Edition"
Penitus Oculatus Questline"
Pickaxe Redone SSE"
Picta Series - Improved Sky Meshes"
Picta Series - Improved Sky Meshes - Cathedral Version"
Populated Skyrim Reborn SSE"
powerofthree's Papyrus Extender"
powerofthree's Tweaks"
Precision"
Prisoner cart fix SMIM"
Pristine Vanilla Movement"
Project ja-Kha'jay"
Project ja-Kha'jay- Moonpath to Elsweyr Khajiit Overhaul"
Project New Reign - Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine"
Quality CubeMaps - HD Cube Maps Optimized"
Quick Light SE"
Race Menu SE - WIdescreen Fix"
RaceMenu"
RaceMenu - Male Khajiit Mouth Expression Fix"
RaceMenu Memory Leak Fix"
Rain Extinguishes Fires"
Rally's Civil War Document Tubes"
Rally's Riekling Outposts"
Reachmen Tribes Names"
Real Rabbits HD"
Real Rabbits HD - SPID Edition"
RealRainSE"
Reanimated NPC Animations"
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO SE"
Remi UnLux Patch"
Remiel-Custom Voiced Follower"
Remiros' Chitin Armor HD"
Renthal's Waterwheel Remastered"
Reversed Daggers Moveset for MCO"
Riekling Barrels SMIM"
Riften Architectural Details"
Riften Docks Overhaul"
Riften Docks Overhaul - Riften Extension Patch"
Riften Docks Overhaul - SMIM Patch"
Riften Extension - Southwoods District"
RS Children - Populated Skyrim Reborn SSE Patch"
RS Children Overhaul"
Rudification - Rudy Candles Expanded"
Rudy ENB Obsidian Weathers ADDONS and REQUiRED Files"
Rudy HQ - Falling Leaves and Needles SE"
Rudy HQ - Falling Leaves and Needles SE - Yellow Leaves Texture"
Rudy HQ - Hay SE"
Rudy HQ - Miscellaneous SE"
Rudy HQ - More lights for ENB - Daedric weapons"
RUGNAROK - Special Edition"
Ruins Clutter Improved"
Ruins Clutter Improved - Fixes"
Ruins Clutter Improved - Portcullis Collision Fix"
RUSTIC ARMOR and WEAPONS 4k-2k SE"
RUSTIC CLOTHING 4k-2k - Special Edition"
RUSTIC MAPS"
RUSTIC WINDOWS - Special Edition"
SABRECAT.by.Kajuan"
SCAR - Skyrim Combos AI Revolution"
Sconces of Skyrim - Markarth Braziers Improved"
Scrambled Bugs"
Scripts, Utilities and Core Files_separator"
SDA - UnLux"
SDA Patch Hub SE"
SD's Horn Candles SE"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Add-ons"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Regional Locks"
Serana Dialogue Add-On"
Serana Re-Imagined"
Serious Civil War Defense for OCW"
Serious Civil War Finale Sieges"
Shaders of Solstheim - Ash and Moss"
Shadow of Skyrim - Nemesis and Alternative Death System"
Show Player In Menus"
Shroud Hearth Barrow Script Fix"
Sigils of Skyrim - Shields"
Sigils of the North - Banners 4k"
Simple Snow Improvements - Giant Obelisks (BOS)"
Simple Snow Improvements - Skyrim (BOS)"
Simplicity of Snow"
SIRENROOT - Deluge of Deceit"
SIRENROOT - HD Texture Pack"
Skeleton Replacer HD"
Skeleton Replacer HD - Lux Patch"
Skeleton Replacer HD - Patch Collection"
SKSE - INI"
SKSE Output"
SKSE Plugins_separator"
SKSE Scripts - v2.0.20"
Sky Idles"
SkyFix SE - HD Blacksmith Signs"
SkyHUD"
Skyland AIO"
Skyland Farmhouse - Farmhouse Door Patch"
Skyland Whiterun - Epic Doors of Whiterun Patch"
Skyland Whiterun - Pompous Door of Whiterun Patch"
Skyrim - A Mountainous Experience"
Skyrim 3D Docks and Boardwalks"
Skyrim 3D Furniture"
Skyrim 3D Furniture - SMIM Patch"
Skyrim 3D Landscapes"
Skyrim 3D Rocks"
Skyrim 3D Windmill"
Skyrim on Skooma"
Skyrim Priority SE AE - skse plugin"
Skyrim Remastered - Caves"
Skyrim Remastered - Glaciers and Ice - IMR Edition"
Skyrim Ultimate Eye Meshe"
Skyrim Ultimate Eye Meshes - Vampire Fixes"
Skyrim Upscaler - DLSS FSR2 XeSS"
Skyrim Upscaler - Patreon BETA"
SkyUI"
Slayable Offspring SKSE"
Sleeping Expanded - Animations and NPC reactions"
Small Nordic Tent Replacer"
SMIM - Quality Addon - Unofficial Material Fix Patch"
SMIM Barrel Expansion - Mead Barrel - Oil Barrel - Butter Churn"
Smoke - Rudy Fix"
Smoking Torches and Candles SSE"
Smooth Moveset"
Smooth Random idle Animation"
SmoothCam"
SmoothCam - Modern Camera Preset"
Solstheim Objects SMIMed"
Sons of Nirn - Whiterun"
Soul Cairn Script Tweaks"
Spell Perk Item Distributor"
Spell Perk Item Distributor OLD"
SpellSword Moveset"
Splashes of Skyrim"
Splashes Of Storms"
Splashes of Storms - Rudy Fix"
SSE Display Tweaks"
SSE Engine Fixes (skse64 plugin)"
Stalhrim Refrozen"
Stalhrim Refrozen - Upscales Textures"
Static Mesh Improvement Mod"
Static Mesh improvement Mod - SMIM - Quality Addon"
Static Mesh Improvement Mod Improvement Mod"
Stockades of Skyrim 3D"
Stones of Solitude - Better Blended Rock Piles"
Storm Lightning for SSE and VR (Minty Lightning 2019)"
Strongholds - Largashbur"
Strongholds - Narzulbur"
Stunning Statues of Skyrim"
Subtle Wind FX"
TAA Deblur"
Take a Seat - New DAR Sitting Animations"
Tamrielic Names"
Tempered Skins for Males - Dressed Version"
Terrain Fixes for CC Mods"
The Eyes Of Beauty SSE"
The Eyes Of Beauty SSE - Elves Edition"
The Second Great War"
The Second Great War - USSEP Patch"
The Taste of Death Improved Shutdown"
TMB Vanilla Armors and Clothes SSE"
To Your Face SE"
Troll.by.Kajuan"
True Directional Movement - Modernized Third Person Gameplay"
TRUE FACES - A Character Enhancement Project"
TrueHUD - HUD Additions"
Unarmed Moveset for MCO"
Undead Snow Elves - Mihail"
UNDERDOG Animations"
Unique Map Weather"
Unique Map Weather - Vanilla Additions"
Unique Skulls HD"
Unique Solstheim Grass"
Unique Solstheim Grass - Complex Grass"
Unofficial High Definition Audio Project"
Unofficial Material Fix"
Unofficial Material Fix - Assorted Mesh Fixes Patch"
Unofficial Moonpath to Elsweyr Patch"
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch"
UNP Female Body Renewal"
Unreal 4K Mammoth Skeleton ReTexture"
Use Those Blankets"
Valhalla Combat"
Vampire Lines Expansion"
Vampires Have Claws"
Vanargand Animations - Archery"
Vanargand Animations - Sneak Archery"
Vanilla Follower Expansion - Illia (VFE)"
Vanilla hair - Salt and Wind"
Vanilla Makeup HD"
Vanilla Warpaints Absolution"
Veydosebrom Regions"
Veydosebrom Regions - Complex Grass"
VickusDickus' Khajiiti Apex Armory"
Wade In Water Redone"
Wall mounted dead animals fixes"
Water for ENB"
Water in Wells - mesh-only animated wells"
Weapon Keyword Unification Project"
Weather of World"
Weathers & Atmosphere_separator"
WEBS SE"
Wedding Outfit Commission"
WeldingMans Smelter"
WeldingMans Smelter - Embers XD"
Whiterun Exteriors Patch Collection"
Whiterun Objects SMIMed"
Whiterun Trees"
Whiterun Trees - JKs Skyrim - Fortified Whiterun Patch"
WIDeadBodyCleanupScript Crash Fix"
Windhelm Bridge Stairs"
Winterhold Statue - Animated with ENB Lights"
Wispmother.by.Kajuan"
WiZkiD Riften and Ratway"
WiZkiD Signs"
WiZkiD Specific Signs"
Wolves of the Wild"
Wood Wall Trap Mesh and UV Fix"
Woodcutter Axe Redone SE"
Word Wall Transparency Fix for ENB"
Wyrmstooth"
XNFRain's Civil War Map Flag Replacer SE"
XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended"
.NET Script Framework"
Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods - ASLAL Patch"
3D Riften Trellis and Roofs"
3D Solitude Market Trellis"
3D Solitude Market Trellis Expansion"
3D Trellis Improved - Gildergreen Plaza"
3D Whiterun Trellis"
3D Whiterun Trellis Expansion"
4K Carts Clean"
4K SMIM Carriage Seat"
4K Tusks"
A Matter of Time - A HUD clock widget"
A Matter Of Time - Legacy Settings Loader"
Actor Limit Fix"
Address Library for SKSE Plugins"
ADXP I MCO elden rim moveset collection (SCAR)"
ADXP l MCO Nordic Animation Complete Pack"
After the Civil War - Siege Damage Repairs"
Alternate Conversation Camera"
Alternate Start - Live Another Life - SSE"
Amber Refossilized"
aMidianBorn Book of Silence SE"
aMidianBorn Matching Armory - Glass Armor and Weapons"
Ancient Falmer Armor 4K"
Ancient Falmer Armor 4K - Armour Mesh Fixes Patch"
Ancient Nord Pickaxe Replacer - Rusted Textures 4K"
Ancient Nord Pickaxe Replacer 4K"
Animated Coffins"
Animated Forge Water"
Animated Static Reload Fix - NG"
Animation Motion Revolution"
Animation Queue Fix"
Another Jump Animation - Female"
Another Jump Animation - Male"
Archery Locational Damage"
Archery Target Retexture 4k"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - aMidianBorn Patch"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - Orcish Environmental Map Fix"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - Steel Armour Fix"
Ashbound - Solstheim Revisited"
Ashlander Nomads Names"
Assorted mesh fixes"
Attack MCO-DXP"
Auriel Bow - ENB Light"
Auriel's Bow and Shield HD SE"
Aurora Fix"
Authentic Eyes"
Auto Input Switch"
Axarien's Animations - Kaidan (DAR)"
Axarien's Animations - Lucien (DAR)"
Baby Chickens - Mihail"
Bandit Lines Expansion"
Bandit Lines Expansion - Dark Elf"
Barter Limit Fix"
Base Object Swapper"
Base Textures & Meshes_separator"
Basic Dining Set Replacer2k"
Bears of the North"
Bears of the North - 4k Textures"
Behavior Data Injector"
Belethor's Sister - Quest"
Bellyaches 16K-8K Dragon Replacer Pack"
Beneath Bronze Waters Start Fix"
Better Beast vampire fangs - fixes and adjustments - Argonian and Khajiit"
Better Beast vampire fangs - fixes and adjustments - Argonian V Fangs"
Better Blended Mushrooms"
Better Books and Letters"
Better Combat Escape - SSE"
Better Dialogue Control Widescreen Fix"
Better Dialogue Controls"
Better Dyndolod Red Mountain Plume"
Better Jumping SE"
Better Ladder UV Mapping"
Better tomboys DAR animations"
Better Wedding Guests"
Beyond Reach"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Armour Fix 2"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Dragonstar Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Female Witchman Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Forrsworn Texture Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Wool Plate Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Dunlain Falls Interior and Exterior House Fix"
Beyond Reach - House Texture Fix"
Beyond Reach - Infant Ogre Inventory Fix"
Beyond Reach - Shaman Fix"
Beyond Skyrim - Wares of Tamriel SE"
Bijin NPCs Civil War Legate Rikke Fix"
Bijin NPCs SE"
Bijin Skin - UNP"
Bijin Warmaidens SE"
Bijin Wives SE"
BiR's Remiel Replacer"
Blended Roads"
Blended Roads - Simplicity of Snow Patch"
Blended Roads Redone - Bridges - 8K"
Blended Roads Redone SE - 8K"
Blended Roads Redone SE - Meshes - 8K"
Blind people DAR animations"
Blood and Ash - Ash"
Blood and Ash - Blood"
Bloodline - Volkihar Family"
Bosmer NPCs have Antlers"
Bosmer NPCs have Antlers - Texture Patch"
Breton NPCs Have Elven Ears"
Bright Waterfall Fix for ENB - DynDOLOD"
Bucket Again - SMIMed"
Bug Fixes SSE"
Capital Whiterun Expansion - 3D Whiterun Trellis Patch"
Carriages and Stables Dialogue Bundle"
Cathedral - 3D Deathbell"
Cathedral - 3D Deathbell - ENB Light"
Cathedral - 3D Mountain Flowers"
Cathedral - Mushrooms"
Cathedral - Plants"
Cathedral 3D Mountain Flowers - Base Object Swapper"
Character Creation & NPC Overhaul_separator"
Chicken Replacer - Mihail"
Ciri DBVO - Live Another Life Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO - LotDB Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO - Wyrmstooth Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO Pack - FEMALE PC"
Citizens of Tamriel"
City & Settlements Textures_separator"
Civil War Couriers Framework"
Civil War Lines Expansion"
CLOUDS"
Clouds All Over - All In One"
College of Winterhold - Quest Expansion"
College of Winterhold - Quest Markers"
College of Winterhold - RS Children Patch"
CoMAP"
Combat Music Fix SKSE"
Combat Pathing Revolution"
Complementary Grass Fixes"
Comprehensive First Person Animation Overhaul - CFPAO"
Conditional tavern cheering (DAR)"
Configurable Commentary Rate Slider"
ConsoleUtilSSE"
ConsoleUtilSSE NG"
Cosmos Lucien Replacer"
Creation Club - Fishing"
Creation Club - Rare Curios"
Creation Club - Saints & Seducers"
Creation Club - Survival Mode"
Creatures & Fauna_separator"
Crouch Sliding"
Curated Bosses for True HUD"
Cuyi's Bosmeri Antlers - SSE"
Daedric Names"
DAR - Dynamic Swimming"
DAR - Dynamic Swimming - Argonian Mastery"
Daughters of Malacath"
DBVO Dialogue Interface ReShaped Patch"
Destination Weddings"
Destination Weddings - Lux Via & NPC's Wear Amulets of Mara Patch"
Detailed NPCs - Immersive Armors for NPCs (SPID)"
Dialogue Interface ReShaped"
Dibella's Blessing"
Dibella's Blessing Patches"
Disable Turn Animation SE I AE"
Diverse Skyrim - Voiced Addon (ElevenLabs)"
DIVERSE SKYRIM SSE"
DLC2dunFrostmoonTriggerScript Optimization"
DLC2dunNchardakDoorSeal Script Infinite Loop Fix"
DLC2dunSeekerInvisScript Fix"
DLC2MiraakScript Fix"
DLC2PillarBuilderActorScript Tweak"
DLC2TribalWerebearScript Fix"
Dodge MCO-DXP"
Don't sheathe bound weapons DAR animations"
Dovah Names"
Dragon Priest - Armour and Weapons"
Dragonborn Voice Over"
Dragonborn Voice Over - Nordic UI Ultrawide Patch"
Dragonborn Voice Over Old"
DragonPriest Retexture - SE"
Draugr.by.Kajuan"
dunFolgunthurBossBattle Script Fix"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked - Decorative Pattern"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked - ENB Lights"
Dynamic Animation Replacer"
Dynamic Dodge Animation"
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X"
Dynamic snow For Map"
DynDOLOD Resources SE"
eeekie's even better Kaidan"
Elder Creed - Valhalla Axe Moveset AIO"
ElSopa - Papers HD SE"
ElSopa HD - Realistic Dark Elf Urns SE"
Elven Weapons for Silence SE"
Embers XD"
Emperor Penguins - Mihail"
ENB Helper SE"
ENB Light"
Enhanced Blood Textures"
Enhanced Enemy AI SE"
Enhanced Invisibility"
Enhanced Reanimation"
Enhanced Volumetric Lighting and Shadows (EVLaS)"
Equip Enchantment Fix"
Equipment & Apparel_separator"
ESO Style Cursor"
EVG Animated Traversal"
EVG Animated Traversal - Bleak Falls Barrow"
EVG Animated Traversal - Flat Footed Quest"
EVG Animated Traversal - Patch Collection"
EVG Animated Traversal - Skyrim Integration Patch"
EVG Animation Variance"
EVG Conditional Idles"
EVG Conditionals Extended"
EVG Conditionals Extended - Modesty Replacer"
EVG Conditionals Extended - Valhalla Patch"
Expressive Facegen Morphs SE"
Expressive Facial Animation -Female Edition-"
Expressive Facial Animation -Male Edition-"
Expressive Remiel"
FA ORCODONTIST - Orsimer Mouth and Teeth Fix"
Face Discoloration Fix"
Falmer.by.Kajuan"
Fancy Sword Moveset for MCO"
Fate Cards Remade - Legacy of The Dragonborn"
Feminize - Crafting Animation (DAR)"
First Person Combat Animations Overhaul 2.0 -SIZE MATTERS"
Fish Anywhere With Water"
Fix Note icon for SkyUI"
Fixed Mesh Lighting"
Fixed Nordic Metal Grate"
Flickering Meshes Fix"
Flies Around Corpses - Audio Only"
Flora & Landscape_separator"
Forgotten Argonian Roots"
Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion"
Forsworn Matriarchs Names"
Fortified Whiterun"
Fortified Whiterun - Immersive Citizens Patch"
Fortified Whiterun - JK's Skyrim Patch"
Frankly HD Dawnguard Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Dragonbone and Dragonscale - Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Dragonbone and Dragonscale - Armor and Weapons - Mesh Fix"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons - Leanwolf Patch"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons - Long Sleeves"
Frankly HD Nightingale Armor and Weapons [SSE]"
Frankly HD Nightingale Armor and Weapons [SSE] - Leanwolf Patch"
Frankly HD Shrouded Armor"
Frankly HD Silver Sword"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards - Falkreath Hue Fix"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards - Fix"
Frankly HD Thieves Guild Armors"
Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice"
FYX - 3D Coal in the Shovel"
FYX - 3D Dock Ramp"
FYX - 3D Farmhouse Walkway"
FYX - 3D Honeyside Deck Floor"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Roofs"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Walls"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Walls - BOS"
FYX - 3D Stockades"
FYX - 3D Stockades - Walls and Gate"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Castle Bridge"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Drawbridge Gate"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Drawbridge Gate - Lux Orbis Patch"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Guard Towers"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Scaffold"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Tree Circle"
FYX - Candlehearth Hall Chimney"
FYX - Fortified Whiterun Consistency"
FYX - Jorrvaskr"
FYX - RavenRock Docks and Fences Round Posts"
FYX - RowBoat"
FYX - SMIM Barrels - Smooth and New optionnal Metal and Wood Texture"
FYX - Smooth Wells"
FYX - The Temple of Mara (ENB Light Windows)"
FYX - Water Splash"
FYX - Windhelm Stable Roof"
FYX Smooth Wells - Invisible Well Fix"
Gameplay_separator"
Gesture Animation Remix (DAR)"
Giant.by.Kajuan"
Gilded Doublet - Ported to SSE"
GKB Waves Reborn"
Glorious Doors of Skyrim (GDOS)"
Glowing Mushroom Collision Fixes"
GOAT HD by Pfuscher"
Goetia Animations - Conditional Shouts"
Goetia Animations - Enchanted Staves"
Goetia Animations - Magic Spell Casting"
Golden Saint Armory Revamped"
GORECAP"
Grass Sampler Fix"
Guard Armor Reforged"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul - Second Great War Patch"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul - UHDAP Patch"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul SE"
Hagraven.by.Kajuan"
Happy Little Logs"
Happy Little Trees"
Happy Little Trees - Aspen Addendum"
Happy Little Trees - DLC Trees"
Happy Little Trees - Reduced Saturation"
Happy Little Trees Add-On - DynDOLOD 3"
Harvestables Cabbages Addon for High Poly Project"
HD CubeMap Collection"
HD LODs Textures SE"
HD Reflective Ebony Armor and Weapons"
HD Reflective Ebony Armor and Weapons - Ebony Mail"
HD Reworked Falmer Architecture 4K"
HD Reworked Horses"
HD Serpentine Dragon and Mesh Fix SE"
HD Skeever"
Hearthfire Oven"
High Hrothgar Fixed"
High Hrothgar Fixed - Lux Orbis Patch"
High Hrothgar Fixed - Lux Patch"
High poly Mudcrab n Retexture"
High Poly Project"
High Poly Vanilla Hair"
High Quality Food and Ingredients SE"
Highlandcow HD by Pfuscher"
High-Poly Inigo Replacer"
Hold Border Banners"
Hold Border Guards - Definitive Edition"
Hold Guard Armor Unchanged SE"
Horker by Pfuscher"
Horses Simply Turn Better"
Hunters Not Bandits"
Husky Wolf - Wolves Use Husky Model"
Husky Wolf - Wolves Use Husky Model - Shell Fur"
Hvergelmir's Aesthetics - Beards"
Hvergelmir's Aesthetics - Brows"
Icy Mesh Remaster"
Icy Mesh Remaster - Overwrite Handler"
IFrame Generator RE"
I'm Glad You're Here - Follower & Spouse Appreciation"
I'm Walkin' Here"
Immersive Armors"
Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul"
Immersive Equipping Animations"
Immersive Equipping Animations - Shadow of Skyrim Patch"
Immersive folded hands (DAR)"
Immersive Interactions - Animated Actions"
Immersive Kaidan Start"
Immersive Load Screen Message Overhaul"
Immersive Patrols SE"
Immersive Rejections"
Immersive Weapon Integration Distributed with SPID"
Immersive Weapons"
Immersive World Encounters SE"
Imperial Centurion Armor for Solitude Guards"
Imperial Guard Centurion Armor SE - 4k"
Imperial Guard Centurion Armor SE - Officer Replacer"
Improved Closefaced Helmets"
Improved Follower Dialogue - Lydia"
Improved Loading Screen Colors"
Improved Table Transition Animations"
ImprovedDialogueLydia - UnLux"
INIGO"
Inigo Riding Patch"
Interface_separator"
JContainers SE"
JK's Riften Outskirts"
JK's Riften Outskirts Patch Collection"
JK's Skyrim"
JK's Skyrim All Lighting Overhauls Patch"
JK's Skyrim and Beyond Skyrim Wares of Tamriel Patch"
JK's Whiterun Outskirts"
JS Attunement Sphere and Lexicons SE"
JS Barenziah SE"
JS Bloodstone Chalice SE"
JS Common Cages SE"
JS Dragon Claws AE Anniversary Edition"
JS Dwarven Oil SE"
JS Dwemer Artifacts SE"
JS Dwemer Control Cube SE"
JS Dwemer Ichor Barrels SE"
JS Dwemer Kitchenware SE"
JS Dwemer Puzzle Cube SE"
JS Essence Extractor SE"
JS Initiate's Ewer SE"
JS Instruments of Skyrim SE"
JS Lockpicking UI SE"
JS Purses and Septims SE"
JS Shrines of the Divines SE4k"
Kaidan 2"
Kaidan 2 - HD Armor Retexture"
Kaidan and Inigo Banter Patch"
Kaidan Extended Edition"
Kaidan LotDB Patch"
Kaidan Lux Patch"
Kaidan Slap da Butt"
Keyword Item Distributor"
KG's AE Draugr Arsenal Reshaped"
KG's AE Draugr Arsenal Reshaped - Unofficial Amidianborn Patch"
Khajiit Has Wares - A Caravan Camp Overhaul"
Khajiit Overhaul SSE Unofficial Port"
Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods"
Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods - Military Camps"
LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Talos with Greatsword"
LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons"
LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons - Orcish Greatsword"
Legacy of the Dragonborn"
Legacy of the Dragonborn - Follower Room Patches"
Legacy Safehouse Plus - LotDB"
Less Distracting Blowing Snow Effects for ENB Particle Patch"
Leviathan Animations II - Female Idle Walk And Run"
Leviathan Animations II - Male Idle Walk And Run"
Leviathan Animations II - Sprint"
Lighting & Water_separator"
Lively cart driver animation replacer - SE"
Lively Children Animations (DAR)"
LOD Mesh Fixes for DynDOLOD"
LOD Unloading Bug Fix"
Logs, Outputs & LOD_separator"
Loki's Wade In Water"
Look Around - Searching Animations For NPCs (DAR)"
Lore-Based Loading Screens"
Lucien - Immersive Fully Voiced Male Follower"
Lucien - Moonpath to Elsweyr Patch"
Lunar Guard Armor"
Lunar Guard Arsenal - Battleaxe"
Lux"
Lux - LotDB Patch"
Lux - Riften Docks Overhaul Patch"
Lux - Via"
Lux Orbis"
Lux Orbis - Riften Docks Overhaul Patch"
Lux Orbis - Strongholds Largashbur Patch"
Lux Orbis - Strongholds Narzulbur Patch"
Lux Via - Strongholds Largashbur Patch"
Main Textures & Meshes_separator"
Majestic Mountains - LOD Pack"
Majestic Mountains - More Accurate Collision"
Majestic Mountains - More Accurate Collision - AME Patch"
Majestic Mountains - More Accurate Collision - Hotfix"
Majestic Mountains Main"
Males of Skyrim - Better Hands"
Mammoth.by.Kajuan"
Mari's flora"
Married NPCs Wear Wedding Bands (SPID - Left Hand Rings)"
Master Chief"
Master Chief DBVO - Alternate Start Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - Beyond Reach Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - Inigo Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - LotDB Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - Lucien Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - More to Say Patch"
Master Chief DBVO - Serana Dialogue Addon Patch"
Master Files_separator"
MCM Helper"
MCO - ADXP - Elder Creed - Blade"
MCO Universal Support"
Medieval Candlehorns and Sconces"
Medieval Torch"
Menu and Load Smoke Removed for ENB"
Mesh patches for Lux and Lux Orbis"
Metallurgy - Ingots Ore and Veins HD"
Mfg Fix"
Misc Dialogue Edits"
Misc. Blended Road Fixes"
Miscellaneous Textures & Meshes_separator"
Mists of Tamriel"
Mists of Tamriel - Rudy Obsidian"
Modern Female Sitting Animations Overhaul (DAR)"
Modpocalypse NPCs - All Vanilla NPCs"
Modpocalypse NPCs - Resources"
Moon Monk's Robes"

Ever since playing Planescape Torment back as a teenager back in 2008, I've wanted to play a Planescape D&D game. I've played some Baldur's Gate before that, and even some 3.5, but these felt mundane next to Planescape's bizzare and utterly magical vibes and philosophical ideas. I've started playing 5e in 2017, played a few games and ran a long running campaign (Forgotten Realms and then Feywild), and it was pretty good, but now I want to run a Planescape campaign.
Thing is, I don't know where to start. Not only what to read, but how to tackle the whole thing. I've had an idea for a campaign, but after a while I've realized it was too "big damn heroes trying to save the universe", and it doesn't really fit the vibe all that well. I'd like to hear some ideas from you guys on how to start, what toread how to set the themes and ideas, where to take inspiration from, and everything that comes to mind in regards to how to prepare for planning and running a Planescape game.

I love the gameplay style of classic isometric rpgs (Baldurs Gate, etc) but the party mechanics are always too overwhelming for me and I end up dropping them early. Are there any games of a similar gameplay style where you only control one character? (Already played UnderRail and loved it)

With round 9 officially happening and completely YEETING all my hopes for a Simo vs Apollo and Leonidas vs Odin matches, I present to you a TOTALLY WILD take since I must be high in caffeine and copium (mostly copium yes).
Heres how I believe the next rounds might go once round 9 is over (who's gonna win Im not gonna say because 1) I am not sure who would and 2) to reduce the chances of my hopes and dreams being debunked by the f*cking mangaka I believe is still among us);
So by the end of Round 9, I believe we will have a glimpse of Sakata Kintoki again as he is about to prepare himself going down to Tartarus and save our boi Siegfried. We gonna see him killing all 72 demons of King Solomon left and right but of course such important place needs to be guarded by none other than the guard dog of Helheim itself Anubis and the reason why I find it odd how this particular Egyptian god was chosen to fight for the gods when in general hes known to choose the Duat (Egyptian underworld) over the natural order of life. Then it hit me; because hes just being hyped to fight for the gods but in actuality he wont be due to his mythological nature plus the fact that the big man of Hel itself, Hades, is gone now and Beelz's whereabouts are still unknown so he most likely had to step down from the fight to watch over the realm just in time to see Kintoki breaking through almost reaching Siegfried. And without any major god left to fend off, we'll be seeing a behind the scenes battle between Sakata and Anubis.
But of course Brunhilde doesn't know about this so the fight goes on. After round 9, she will either be on the defense/offense in securing the next win so she will finally approach Grigori Rasputin along with the valkyrie who will be his Volund and tell him to fight the next round. He will agree and proceed to walk out of the room. But later on when Heimdall starts to announce the next fighters, he will call out to Rasputin and though he will walk out the humans' gate however he will pull a Buddha and switch to the gods' side.
I find the theory of human traitor very odd especially since it's a competition to save the entire race of humans and you will betray them for what cost? And if there was, Siegfried was the oddest choice of them all just because he is a demi-god. But so was Leonidas vs Apollo yet here we are so chances of human traitor has suddenly increased but I just cant imagine Siegfried as a traitor against humanity compared to Rasputin of all people. I mean come on the dude is a monk/priest that claimed his powers were divine so he already had the work dedicated and abilities connected to something godlike. And seeing how he would manipulate all of Russia to get what he wants, what's stopping him from getting what he wants from the gods to serving them as he claimed to be?
So there you go Rasputin turns out to be the traitor after being promised by Odin a special exception among the extinction of humans, having his own Volund too against her will. Who's gonna stop the "Undying Monk of Russia"? This is where ma boi Simo Hayha, the "White Death of Finland" makes his appearance having befriended his valkyrie and turned her into a Volund as he makes his way to the arena while Heimdall makes some quick announcement about our ol' sniper and how bad*ss he is before starting round 10 between Simo vs Rasputin since not only "Undying vs Death" would be a unique theme (outside Anubis as Death), there are stark contrasts that complements the two like being Finnish vs Russian or sniper who fights for peace/freedom vs monk who preaches for control/tyranny.
After round 10, we will go back to Kintoki vs Anubis where we see both are critically injured but after some flashbacks and drama sh*t, both will undergo undefeated main character moments where they proclaim this was the greatest battle they ever had while preparing their final attacks that will conclude to Kintoki's death. Afterwards, Anubis will lay there exhausted to see Siegfried free from his bonds and to hype him up a bit he will kill our poor doggie god as he proceeds to make his way back to Valhalla.
Round 11 will finally be the time Okita vs Loki will take place and that's it just because it was hyped from the start already.
Round 12 Brunhilde will try to finish the match as soon as possible after hearing Susanoo will fight next at the score of 6-5 to humanity but will be surprised to hear that Sakata is missing and even more so when she finds out Siegfried is alive and well, ready to fight the next fight with Brunhilde and we will find out Brun found out about Valkyries turning into Volund because she was already Sieg's Volund. So Round 12 began after introducing the two fighters Siegfried and Susanoo, the legendary dragon slayers who had a history of defying the gods, and it will end with Susanoo winning while Sieg and Brun embrace their final moments together.
And obviously Round 13 will see Nostradamus teaming up with Goll with him explaining he and Brunhilde already had a plan on how they will take on Odin should the time come along with her as his Volund. Though we will see her anxious at first, she will come to terms with it and prepare herself for battle against Odin. And in that round, we will learn more about how Odin and Nostradamus knew it would come to this especially the real importance of Ragnarok (for what purpose I am not sure yet) but yada yada yada Goll's secret power will come to play and be instrumental on Nostradamus' win securing humanity's survival for the next 1000 years.
And yes take this with a grain of a grain of salt this is completely my take not insisting its gonna happen but at the same time think this will happen.
Edit: for rounds 10 and 11 it could interchange idk which will happen first Simo vs Rasputin or Okita vs Loki I'm just certainly optimistic that Siegfried vs Susanoo would be 12 and Nostradamus vs Odin would be 13.

When I posted this on truegaming initially, I mistakenly posted only one paragraph of the full writing due to the confusion with the mobile Infinity app and went unnoticed for three days. I only recently realized the mistake and decided to repost this subject with my full writing.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake was announced to be in development, now titled "Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater". This was the remake I was dreaming of since I beat Metal Gear Solid V: The story, style, and theme of Metal Gear Solid 3 with the gameplay foundation of Metal Gear Solid V.
I have been thinking about what the MGS3 remake would look like for a long time. I believe the remake must address these points in order to meaningfully prove its existence. Here is a wishlist of how the remake can fix and improve upon MGS3.
Gameplay Foundation
Carrying over MGSV's mechanics is no brainer. After experiencing those smooth controls, AI, fluid combat and stealth system, and animations, I never wanted to go back to the clunky mechanics of the old MGS games.
Obviously, some of the mechanics would need to be refit for MGS3's gameplay theme. MGSV's instantly regenerating health system doesn't fit the survivalist motifs, so opt out for MGS3's slowly-regenerating health system from the stamina. MGS3's enemy types like flamethrowers and dogs would work fantastic with the reimagined gameplay. Metal Gear for some reason removed swimming after MGS3, so the remake can deepen this system to utilize for the level design. I imagine the swimming in the cave section could be expanded. Maybe you can even "hunt" the fishes while you are underwater. I am aware MGSV technically didn't ditch the camo index system, rather they just "hid" it from the HUD, but it would be better for the player to optionally turn the display on and off, considering how much the camo is crucial to the gameplay system.
There are also little features that can be integrated into the remake as a changed form. For example, instead of making an electric sound from a bionic arm to lure the guards, as Naked Snake didn't have any bionic arm, Naked Snake can "whistle" to lure the guards. The Far Cry-style tagging system can also be drastically scaled down considering how much MGS3 puts emphasis on the methodical environmental gameplay. Sprinting and getting damage drain stamina much faster so the action-combat approach can have more negative consequences.
Map Design
Tselinoyarsk would have to be much larger to complement the MGSV's mechanics. For example, Ponizovje in the original was a mangrove swamp, and it was basically a one-way railroad. It looks big, but it is just a corridor in gameplay sense. You cannot get through the mangrove "wall". You can have this level at a wide, complex map with multiple approaches to avoid the enemy flying platforms. This goes the same with the EVA escort level, which could be much deeper in terms of the level design.
Similar to how the remakes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 made the series of small levels from the original into one large, seamless map similar to the classic Resident Evil's hubworld, I imagine MGS3's jungle to not be divided by the loading screens into small gated levels. Maybe it can even add reasons to go back to where you have been via optional side quests as the RE4 remake did. Maybe the previous areas you have gone to are now more alert and harder to infiltrate.
Environmental Reactivity
MGS3's notable for an insane amount of environmental interactivity for a 2004 PS2 game, and the remake could expand this more. For example, the wildfire system spreads throughout the jungle as the bushes and trees catch fire like Far Cry 2 and Breath of the Wild. Maybe the flamethrowers intentionally set the forest on fire to make the player difficult to sneak through the flora, which can change how you play.
Maybe Snake can cover himself with mud to camouflage himself in the environments like Shadows of the Tomb Raider. However, there are a few disadvantages to this. Moving in this state leaves muddy footsteps, which allows the enemies to spot and track the footsteps as the guards did in MGS1's footsteps on the snow. Being covered in mud for too long also spreads smell, which makes it easily detectable to enemies. Dipping yourself in the water wears the mud off.
I also think Thief and Splinter Cell-style lightplay and soundplay combined with the camo index could work well in MGS3. In the original, light didn't really matter in stealth. You could destroy the searchlights, but couldn't really "manipulate" the environment until MGSV. Destroying the fluorescent lamps to make the place darker would help the interior infiltration way more enjoyable. Or rain can mask sounds like footsteps so that it is easier for the player to sneak. MGSV's day and night cycle would also work well for MGS3's survivalist motifs. It is harder to sneak during the daylight, but also easier for the player to detect the enemies. It is easier to sneak during the nighttime, but it is also harder for the player to detect the enemies. The cutscene's environments might change depending on time.
I also hope for MGSV's weather system to change the moment-to-moment dynamics. For example, exposure to daytime sunlight or rain drains stamina faster. The remake can add harsher weather and different climates, so Krasnogorje, the mountainous area after you beat The End, can be changed so that it is snowing, which would make the white-colored camos more useful.
The night vision and thermal goggles should only be unlocked as bonuses after beating the game. Not only they are anachronistic, I watched countless Let's Players who ruined The End boss fight by using those visions. Most of the boss fights in MGS3 centered around methodically identifying targets in the thick jungle, so giving the player OP tools was just allowing the player to use cheats.
Speaking of the boss fight, I hope The Fear wouldn't use stealth camouflage that turns him completely invisible. It is insanely out of place considering it's 1964. The difficulty can be amped up by making the boss arena much larger so that it is harder for the player to find The Fear without the invisible stealth camo.
Maintaining Snake's Conditions
Metal Gear Solid 3 is a game with a maximalist design. It tries so many different things and innovative concepts, and none of them cohesively comes together. While the gameplay provides so many tools to screw around in the sandbox, that sandbox is hardly balanced and elegant.
For example, the purpose of the camouflage system is to make the stealth dynamic depending on certain types of terrain. If you are on the grass, you wear grass camo. If you are in the urban environment, you wear urban camo. If you are in the mud, you wear dark camo. This entire concept gets negated as you progress further and obtain more camos. If you can wear different camos anytime, access the entire selection of camo at any time, and do that instantly in the menu, what's the point? Whenever you go to different environments, instead of formulating a plan to move through the terrains or play in different styles according to your current conditions, you just hit the menu button, and instantly switch to the new outfit, then you are fine.
The same goes for the cure system. Damage inflicts injuries, which give you supposedly long-lasting consequences to how you play: Broken bones, sprains, leeches, darts, and bullets. This is supposed to make you avoid engaging in direct combat and change the moment-to-moment gameplay. Those supposed consequences become more or less meaningless when you can freeze time anytime you want and do self-surgery at any time. Every time you get injured, you have to constantly pause for the menu for half a minute. This breaks the flow of the game, especially during the boss battles. Yes, curing yourself does drain the healing resources, but considering how plentiful surgical resources you can get often in the game, it really doesn't matter.
The stamina system has the player hunt and eat foods for better conditions. The problem is that the stamina isn't just the stamina bar on the screen. It's all of the foods you carry. You never have to worry about maintaining stamina when you can carry so many foods at once. You are basically a mobile supermarket. As long as you have foods, which you will have a ton of, the hunger problem is gone. I don't think there was ever a time when my Snake was starving and that meaningfully affected how I played.
It's simply too easy to maintain the perfect conditions: too easy to fill stamina, too easy to cure, too easy to camo yourself, rendering a lot of mechanics pointless. The game constantly makes the player pause the play and screw around the menu during the sneaking, which harms the pacing.
MGSV and The Last of Us Part II have a much simpler injury and healing system (in MGSV, it's a spray, and in TLOU2, it's arrow removal), but if you get injured in those games, you don't freeze time in order to heal yourself. You have to play well enough to time a heal in the middle of the fight and also recognize the time you should heal instead of attacking and moving. The injury and healing are part of the combat dynamics, not separate. This lessens the constant busy work of having to constantly waste time on the frozen menu. Something as simple as a few seconds of downtime in real-time while curing himself solves the balancing problem.
The MGS3 remake should play the menu in real-time so that every time you access the menu would be a risk when the enemies are nearby. The player has to run away from the enemies, position themselves, and hide to access the food, camo, and curing menu to do things in real-time, instead of being able to pull out a bullet instantly.
Inventory System
The later games like Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain balanced the excess problem by not having the player's full inventory all the time. In TPP, you can only switch your outfit and gears by ordering the Mother Base to fulton into your mission area. This makes the player commit to the gear and item selection you picked permission, demanding proper planning and each load out has advantages and disadvantages.
Since MGS3 is a linear progression with no access to the Mother Base, adding something like a bonfire system would be a good way to balance things out. The bonfires would be scattered around specific points on the map, and these would be your small diegetic "bases of operations". Here, the player can even set the day and night. However, accessing a bonfire is not possible during the alert phase when the enemies are nearby. Maybe on the hardest difficulty, you can only manually save or cure yourself at the bonfires.
You should have a stricter limit to how many things you can carry when you are on the move. You can carry only two camos at once, two weapons at once, carry six items at once including equipment and food. You can only access the full inventory at the bonfires. However, as you progress, you can expand your mobile inventory by exploring. Maybe finding a better pouch can increase your max weapon carry limit from 2 to 4, camo from 2 to 5, or item from 6 to 12. Porch and such are permanent character upgrades and can be optionally found in enemy bases. This way, the player can optionally infiltrate dangerous places, which rewards risky actions.
Here are some of the other ideas I have, but I am not sure about how implementation. They can break the game's balance, so they are just ideas I tossed around.

• Since MGS3 puts emphasis on survival, a simple crafting system that allows the player to make booby traps, Molotov, cure items, and other small things fits. However, the fact that you can easily find such items by exploring the bases and finding military-grade items would negate such a feature.
  
• Death Stranding style vertical movement, climbing, traversal tools. I'd love to see it in Metal Gear, but I'd imagine this would eat up the development time and resources and can potentially screw up the map progression.
  
• Maybe Snake can pull up a physical map as a diegetic HUD. Some of the other games do this, such as Far Cry 2 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, in which the player can pull up the map in real-time. Some of the level maps can only be optionally found in the outpost and base or interrogating the enemies.*
  

🐉 Credits for Sakuya Release & Fairy Tail Rerun <:gasp:692908028412035142>
Sakuya Review - <@910463974817005568> New Legend of the Forbidden Ninja Scroll Act 2 Equipment Info & Review - <@98761877273731072>
Natsu Review - <@98761877273731072> Lucy Review - <@767775211977179166> Gray Review - <@372743358847778816> Erza Review - <@361664519736524801> Fairy Tail Gacha and Farmable Equipment Info & Review - <@574197337732284416> _ _
Born as a Human, raised by a Dragon, and [Redacted]
diff - Natsu -
Fire, Demon

STATS

HP - 6706 +999 ATK - 3022 +463 DEF - 2822 +433

SKILL

12s CT - 1900% Fire DMG (PHY). For 8s, reduce Enemies' DMG RES by 10%. 400 BREAK ～～～ Nice little DMG RES debuff, nothing noteworthy but not entirely redundant as well.

ARTS

27000% Fire DMG (PHY). For 25s, increase own ATK by 100% and reduce Enemies' Burn RES by 50%. 1100 BREAK ～～～ A long-lasting ATK buff and Burn RES debuff. Additionally, the Burn RES debuff can be helpful when paired with his True Arts for enemies with innate Burn RES. Otherwise, his Arts will generally not see use for most situations.

TRUE ARTS

68000% Fire DMG (PHY). 100% chance of inflicting Burn. For 20s, Allies ignore 100% of Enemies' DEF. 1800 BREAK ～～～ What’s there not to like about a decent DMG multiplier with teamwide DEF Ignore buff. One of the few units in the game, as well as the only Fire unit able to give teamwide DEF Ignore. Furthermore, the 100% chance to inflict Burn synergises particularly well with one of his passives, which will be covered below.

ABILITIES

When own HP is above 70%, increase own Arts by 3/s, Freeze and Paralysis RES by 100%. ～～～ Amazing passive 3 arts/s generation as well as a nice 100% RES to both Freeze and Paralysis at the cost of keeping Natsu above 70% HP. With heals or barriers in the team, Natsu should rarely fall below this threshold and should be able to take full advantage of this passive.
Increase BE generation by 10%. ～～～ Nothing much to say here, a nice BE boost, although its impact is usually negligible.
Increase own DMG by 100% against Burnt Enemies. ～～～ Sheeesh~ That’s a significant DMG buff against Burning enemies. As stated earlier, most enemies won’t have innate Burn RES and can be burned by Natsu’s True Arts, allowing Natsu to gain a substantial 100% DMG buff against the Burned enemies.

MATERIALS

x1 Fragment of Flogassa
_ _

SLOTS

Newer players are considered to be those who joined during the rerun of Fairy Tail collab and onwards
5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>
Newer Players
Relic “Radeus” ["The Glowing Sanctuary" (Fosradius) Giant Boss Farmable] Harusame [Shaman King Equipment Banner]

Natsu’s Scarf [Fairy Tail Event Farmable]

Natsu’s Clothes [Fairy Tail Equipment Banner] Erza’s Sword [Fairy Tail Equipment Banner]
Optimal
Harusame True “IZANAGI” [Sakura Mira True Weapon] Izumi no Kami Kanesada [Golden Kamuy Equipment Banner]

Cursed Light Sword “Anestra” [Auge Raid Boss Drop]

Type-30 Bayonet [Golden Kamuy Equipment Banner] Angelas’ Royal Dress [Halloween Equipment Banner] Rishley’s Sunset Bikini [Summer Equipment Banner] True "Drago La’cryma” [Angelas True Weapon] Dragon Knuckle EX [TenSura Equipment Banner] ～～～ For general use, stick to ArtGen equipment. For nuking, use regular buff/debuff equips that affects Physical/Fire DMG.
5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>
Same as above.
4☆ <:lbmag:650796593276256266>
Due to the lack of many good 4☆ <:lbmag:650796593276256266> equipment, the slot is flexible for most situations.
Overall Impressions
Being one of the few units and the only Fire unit able to provide teamwide DEF Ignore in the game, Natsu is definitely by no means a useless unit. Although stages which require DEF Ignore are few and far between, he can still act as a competent DPS unit with his high True Arts DMG multiplier paired with his passive significantly increasing DMG against Burning enemies. Moreover, he is able to passively gain Arts from simply being above 70% HP, which isn’t very difficult to maintain, allowing him to perform well in sustained fights. _ _
Juicy Lucy!
fix Lucy
Light, Human

STATS

HP - 6680 +999 ATK - 2950 +492 DEF - 2663 +409

SKILL

12s CT - 1500% Light DMG (PHY). For 8s, reduce Enemies' ATK by 10%. 300 BREAK ～～～ Not much here, the ATK debuff can help with survivability but not very impactful overall.

ARTS

15000% Water DMG (MAG). Permanently increase allies' Magic DMG by 30% (stackable, up to 150%). 800 BREAK ～～～ Damage is typical for a NA, but also gives a teamwide permanent, stackable buff. It is only for magic damage, encouraging the use of magic-oriented units, though in the worst case scenario, she will give herself a permanent buff at the very least. Using Lucy in conjunction with other sources of artgen can allow her to use her NA 5 times to increase the whole team’s magic damage output by 150%, which is quite substantial. Note that this arts deals Water damage, despite Lucy being a Light unit. This can be helpful if bosses somehow negate or resist light damage, but it generally won't matter much.

TRUE ARTS

50000% Light DMG (MAG). For 20s, increase Allies' Critical Rate by 100% + Increase Allies' Arts by [1 × # of Light Allies in the party]/s. 1600 BREAK Note: This unit's Arts Gen is Type E and will not stack with other Type E Arts Gen. More info can be found in the ... artsgen command. ～～～ Decent multiplier for a support unit, but the most important aspect of Lucy’s TA is that it is currently the only light unit that both gives a teamwide crit rate of 100% while simultaneously supplying arts to the team. The only caveat is that Lucy has to be used in a team with at least 3 light units, and preferably mono-light, for her ArtsGen to be relevant.

ABILITIES

When own HP is above 80%, increase ATK and DMG by 50%. ～～～ Light tends to have great healers and tanks, so it is not unrealistic to keep Lucy at high HP most of the time. The reward for keeping her HP close to max is a sizable buff to both ATK and DMG. _ _
Increase DMG to Dark Enemies by 20%. ～～～ Another buff that, while situational, can be relevant against dark enemies which normally abound in the game.
Increase own Arts by 2 for every 10% of max HP lost. ～～～ Seems nice in theory, but in practice, she will gain too few arts from this passive to be significant, as she would need to take 5 times her max HP in damage to gain 100 arts.

MATERIALS

x1 Fragment of Radachne

SLOTS

Newer players are considered to be those who joined during the rerun of Fairy Tail collab and onwards

5☆ <:lbmag:650796593276256266>

Newer Players
Magical Hat “Akashic Eye” [Freedom Fighters: "Last Wishes Passed to the Future" (Grohl & Onfuan) Side Story Farmable] Celestial Gate Key [Fairy Tail Crossover Equipment Banner]
Optimal
Victoire’s Catsuit [Halloween Equipment Banner] True “Exceed Zechs” [Dark Zeorg True Weapon] Magical Hat “Akashic Eye” Dark Blade “Exceed Zechs” [“The Hero and the Cursed Sword” (Dark Zeorg) Event Farmable] True “Proscris” [Diaz True Weapon] ～～～ Nothing out of the ordinary, fill this slot with ArtGen in most circumstances.

5☆ <:lbsupp:650797466354057228>

Newer Players
Lucy’s Clothes [Fairy Tail Crossover Equipment Banner] Magisteel-Toe Boots [Phantom Snipers: Episode 1 (Hart) Side Story Farmable] Lesser Demonheart [General Equipment Banners]
Optimal
Lucy’s Clothes [Fairy Tail Crossover Equipment Banner] Liza’s Smart Skirt [Halloween Equipment Banner] Fight Club Goku Uniform” [Kill La Kill Crossover Equipment Banner] Santa Liza, Seeking Wisdom [Christmas Equipment Banner] Sacred “Silent Treasure” [Mines Farmable] Any 4+ aps teamwide artgen equip ～～～ Fill this slot with the artgen equip that yields the most arts per second available, and preferably a teamwide artgen equip. _ _

4☆ <:lbheal:650797046218883151>

Newer Players
Shako of Aspiration "Betzfald" [Cross the Blaze Part 7 equip] Flower Cane Irurose [General Equipment Banner] Relic “Force Keratos” [“Glowing Sanctuary” (Fosradius) Giant Boss Farmable]
Optimal
Puck's Pouch [Re:Zero Crossover Equipment Banner] Shako of Aspiration "Betzfald" [Cross the Blaze Part 7 equip] Flower Cane Irurose [General Equipment Banner] Relic “Force Keratos” [“Glowing Sanctuary” (Fosradius) Giant Boss Farmable] Holy Night of Fenrir [Christmas Event Farmable] Flexible ～～～ Fill this slot with the most potent healing available, or either cleanse or revive when needed.

Overall Impressions

Lucy does not hide the fact that she is fairly limited to mono-light teams (or teams with 3 light units at the very least). However, she is a strong support for mono-light teams, being capable of permanently ramping the team’s Magic damage with repeated NAs, or contributing to team artgen. Her role is quite obvious and a bit limited compared to the collab’s other units, but she fulfills that role in outstanding fashion. _ _
Have you seen my shirt? I swear I left it right here...
diff Gray
Water, Human

STATS

HP - 6677 +999 ATK - 2999 +459 DEF - 2859 +438

SKILL

12s CT - 1800% Water DMG (PHY). For 7s, increase own accuracy by 20%. 400 BREAK ～～～ Nothing major to note about, the minor acccuracy buff is appreciated when needed.

ARTS

22000% Water DMG (PHY). Permanently increase Allies' PHY DMG by 30% (up to 150%). 800 BREAK ～～～ Coupled with his passive, this allows Gray to increase the team's PHY DMG, including himself in quests with many prestages, making him very useful as a mob clearer.

TRUE ARTS

50000% Water DMG (PHY). For 20s, increase own DMG by 100%. If used for the first time of the Quest, increase Allies' Arts by 70. 1800 BREAK ～～～ Another great DMG buff, albiet selfish this time, to burn down the boss after clearing all those prestages. The added first time effect of a massive 70 arts boost to the team helps if anyone is falling behind on arts when they reach the boss, something that Gray likely won't have issues with given his unique passive.
_ _

ABILITIES

At the start of a Battle, increase own Arts by own Luck. ～～～ The bread and butter of what makes Gray such a good farming unit. When he's maxed at 120 luck, that allows him to use Arts immediately at the start of each battle without having to rely on any BE or equips. With enough prestages, it'll give him a use of True Arts for free.
Increase Water RES by 10%. ～～～ The very minor resistance to Water is appreciated, but I don't think it'll make a difference very much.
Increase Freeze RES by 50%. ～～～ Once again appreciated to protect him from freeze, but it's basically a coinflip as to if he gets frozen.

MATERIALS

x1 Fragment of Freydal
_ _

SLOTS

Newer players are considered to be those who joined during the rerun of Fairy Tail collab and onwards

5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>

Newer Players
Relic “Radeus” ["The Glowing Sanctuary" (Fosradius) Giant Boss Farmable]
Optimal
True “IZANAGI” [Sakura Mira True Weapon] Izumi no Kami Kanesada [Golden Kamuy Equipment Banner] True “Efkeria” [Fen True Weapon] Cursed Light Sword “Anestra” [Auge Raid Boss Drop] ～～～ Snippity Snips [Kill La Kill Equipment Banner] True “Saint Blaze” [Nies True Weapon] Silent Summonstone [“Faith in the Stars” (Ifrit & Palamicia) Event Farmable] Rishley’s Sunset Bikini [Summer Equipment Banner] Gray's Sword [Fairy Tale Equipment Banner] ～～～ The usual ArtGen or nuking equips depending on what you're up to.

5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>

Same as above.

4☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>

Newer Players
Gray's Necklace [Fairy Tale Equipment Banner] Relic “Volkans” [“Trials of the Flame God” (Ifrit) Giant Boss Farmable] Gun Sword “Bray Cannon” [“Weapon with a Heart” (Vicious) Trial Event Farmable]
Optimal
Hatred Claws “Grief” [Subject-β3 Mines Boss Drop] Blaze Coil “Annulus” [Garm Mines Boss Drop] Dark Armor “Evil Death” [“The Hero and the Cursed Sword” (Dark Zeorg) Event Farmable] Gray's Necklace Relic “Volkans” ～～～ Gun Sword “Bray Cannon” [“Weapon with a Heart” (Vicious) Trial Event Farmable] Dark Armor “Evil Death” [“The Hero and the Cursed Sword” (Dark Zeorg) Event Farmable] ～～～ Without Grief, the best you can do here is some ATK or DMG buffs.
_ _

Overall Impressions

Gray comes swinging at farm teams as an effective upgrade to Kazuma from Yu Yu Hakusho. As a Luck unit, he excels at not only clearing waves, but also providing teamwide Arts (for the first time), and even as a decent DPS/Buffer. He provides excellent damage buffs to himself and to the team, with very offensive slots to help in full luck nukes. With all that said, he serves as one of the best Luck units in the game, period. _ _
Boobs.
fix Erza

STATS**  HP - 6696 +999 ATK - 3105 +475 DEF - 2780 +427  **SKILL**  12s CT - 2000% Light DMG (PHY). For 8s, increase own DMG by 10%. 900 BREAK ～～～ Being a small boost to begin with, 10% is a mere droplet in such a large pool of DMG Up buffs provided by Erza's True Arts.  **ARTS**  20000% Light DMG (PHY). For 20s, increase own ATK by 50% and reduce enemies' evasion 30%. 1200 BREAK ～～～ While a 50% ATK boost is pretty decent, you'll mostly just be using Erza's True Arts for the more favorable boosts in damage output and also how you'd want to use her True Arts consecutively to ramp the damage up. However, coupled with accuracy buffs, the 30% evasion debuff can come in handy against highly evasive bosses.  **TRUE ARTS  70000% Light DMG (PHY). For 15s, reduce enemies' Light Resistance by 40% and increase own Critical DMG by [60% × # of times this True Arts has been activated, up to 300%]. 1600 BREAK ～～～ Huge multiplier, potent resistance debuff, and increasingly large DMG up buffs. With passive critical rate as the cherry on top, it will hit harder than a truck searching for isekai victims. Furthermore, it will get more powerful after each use (effects max out at 5 uses, of course). Even without ramping, her True Arts can already unleash a huge amount of damage and provide great damage support for light damage dealers with herself included.

_ _

ABILITIES  When own HP is above 90%, increase own Arts gauge by 4/s. Additionally, increase own Critical Rate by 100% if unafflicted by Status Ailments ～～～

A key component of her kit, this passive is something you'll want to maintain in order for Erza perform her utmost best as a DPS unit. The automatic Arts gauge generation will help greatly in stacking up her DMG buffs, and the innate critical rate boost will ensure maximal damage against enemies with high defense. Against foes with critical resistance, you can bring an additional critical rate boost to land critical hits, assuming that the enemies don't have a resistance value substantially higher than 100% (in which case, you'll bring DEF ignore).  Increase own Light Resistance by 10%. ～～～ The value is pretty negligible, and it's especially so since Erza's not redirecting damage or anything.  Increase own Paralysis Resistance by 50%. ～～～ Being a mere 50%, Erza might occasionally dodge paralysis, but this would mostly reduce the paralysis duration by a bit. Not really special/important to Erza's kit, and you could always just bring a defense item to deal with various kinds of ailments. 

MATERIALS  x1 Fragment of Fosradius
SLOTS**  Newer players are considered to be those who joined during the rerun of Fairy Tail collab and onwards  5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>  Newer Players  Relic “Radeus” ["The Glowing Sanctuary" (Fosradius) Giant Boss Farmable]  Optimal  **True “IZANAGI” [Sakura Mira's True Weapon] Izumi no Kami Kanesada [Golden Kamuy Equipment Banner] Hiei’s Sword [Yu Yu Hakusho Equipment Banner] ～～～ True "Velocity" [Noel's True Weapon] MorNyan Star [A Tail of Mystery (Detective Liese) Event Farmable] True "Drago La'cryma" [Angelas's True Weapon] Rishley’s Sunset Bikini [Summer Equipment Banner] Gem of Ragsherum’s Grudge ["Revenge of the Cursed Armor" (Ragsherum) Event Farmable] Godzilla Earth [Godzilla Equipment Banner] ～～～ Typically bring Arts gauge generation, or bring DMG buffs or resistance debuffs for nuking. _ _
5☆ <:lbdef:650797237286338589>  Newer Players  Relic "Logislett" [“Trials of the Flame God” (Ifrit) Giant Boss Farmable] Guild Flag [Fairy Tail Equipment Banner] Erza's Armor [Fairy Tail Part 2 Event Farmable]  Optimal  True "Flambardo" [Sanstone's True Equipment] Iris's Change of Pace [Summer Equipment Banner] Flexible ～～～ Use your best damage mitigating equipment. For nuking specifically, you'll usually bring teamwide ATK boosting items.  5☆ <:lbphys:650796348194422823>  Same recommendations as the first slot ～～～ Typically bring Arts gauge generation, or bring DMG buffs or resistance debuffs for nuking. Make sure it stacks or doesn't come into conflict with other items.

_ _

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS  Erza can already unleash a great amount of damage on the initial True Arts, and she can increase her damage output until she caps out at a total of five True Arts uses. As such, she can serve as an excellent DPS unit for most content, whether the stage is short or long. The conditions on her passive seem kind of strict, but it ultimately isn't an issue for lengthier content (where it will matter most for her kit) since you're always expected to bring a healer for those kinds of stages anyway. And unlike most ramping DPS units, she doesn't need too much to get the ball rolling, and there aren't really any disadvantages that would deter her usage in general content as she would already be able to deal more than satisfactory damage from the get-go without hassles like stacking Normal Arts or severe health drain.  For nuking, she can provide pretty good damage support, boasting a potent Light Resistance debuff and two 5-star physical slots that could fit more debuffs or buffs to further enhance the team's damage output while also dishing out a fairly large amount of damage herself. As a side note, her innate critical rate and ability to hold fast, hard-hitting weapons like True Grand Destin may be of use for clearing some mob stages on auto (or just in general). _ _

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
Teaser: The Traditionalists last stand...
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 188] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 189 on June 5 or now on patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
The first sign that something wasn’t quite the same about the Greenway was when Frances, Timur and their company spotted horsemen in the far distance. They would have assumed this was Thorgoth’s scouts, but these horsemen retreated toward the Greenway and entered into the broken fortifications.
So the group entered into the Greenway fully armored and armed, ready for a fight. They rode into the underground highway, travelled for a full second day and saw nothing the matter.
Then they entered Kairon Aoun.
The ancient goblin city of Kairon Aoun had been built as a defensive city facing north. As such, the city in the great cavern it was carved out of was stepped into four tiers. To access each of the levels, the attacker would have to fight their way up a ramp that ran up the side of the rammed-earth foundation of each tier.
Every tier’s edge was also faced with a brick curtain wall with machicolations built into the ramparts. This was so that stones and other objects could be dropped, wherein they would fall down the steeply stoped sides and slam into the attackers. Many of these ramparts had fallen into disrepair when Morgan, Hattie and Frances had last passed through here.
Except, the moment Frances and her company rode through the Greenway and into the city, they could see it was alive with activity. New ramparts were being built atop of the old. In the distance, they could see old houses had been demolished and cannon batteries had been set up. Holes in the walls were being patched.
“What’s even lighting this whole thing?” Tara whispered.
Morgan pointed at the ceiling. “The ventilation shafts provide some light. I’m not sure how they ended up lighting the entire place up, though.”
“Combination of mirrors through said shafts and a goodly amount of torches,” said Timur. He glanced at Frances. “Did you know about this?”
“No I did not, let’s hope they recognize us as friendly. Colonel Tara, we’ll take the lead,” said Frances, touching her heels to her horse.
The gatehouse on the lowest level, which was protected by a low, thick wall, now swung open and a wing of cavalry rode out, Erisdalian and Lightning Battalion standards flying high.
Timur immediately recognized the troll that lead the group. “Aloudin! It’s me! We’re back!”
Captain Aloudin, eyes wide, broke his horse into a gallop. Riding ahead of the cavalry, he only stopped so that he could slap his hand into Timur’s. “Your Highness, it is good to see you. Though, you really ought not to take such risks! Who are these new arrivals?”
The prince chuckled, squeezing his friend’s hand tightly. “One of those rumored orphan brigades who decided to defect.” Timur gestured behind him. “This is Colonel Tara, who risked her life along with her troops to help us escape.”
Riding up, Tara unsheathed her saber, which she presented it to Aloudin, only for the troll to gently push it back to her.
“There’s no need for that, Colonel. We do things quite differently around here.”
Tara sighed, returning her blade to her scabbard. “I’m beginning to see that. Makes me wonder why I didn’t try to leave earlier.”
“The first step is always the hardest,” said Frances. She shook Aloudin’s hand as well. “What’s going on here, Aloudin? I know our long term goal was to fortify Kairon-Aoun, but we hadn’t the manpower to spare.”
The captain pursed his lips before they twisted into something between a grimace and a smirk. “We got some important news and new orders. I’ll show you. Follow me.”
One thing that Ayax and Elizabeth hadn’t accounted for when they ran up into the attic was the lack of a water source, and any way to dispose of waste.
So by the next day of their hiding, the trio stuck in the attack were wearing cloth masks, thirsty as hell, and hoping the odor wasn’t going to alert anybody.
“This shit stinks,” Leila growled.
Elizabeth touched a hand to Leila’s cheek. The girl’s color had returned and after some very reluctant healing by Ayax, she was now able to sit up. “You’re right, but I think you’re much better now.”
“I feel better.” Leila staggered to her feet, pushing the covers off of her. “Does Janize know you found me?”
Ayax snorted. “We told her while you were napping. She’s pissed.” The troll walked over. “Do you think you’re ready to move?”
“I take it you’ve come up with something?” Leila asked.
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Yes. You need to convince Janice we need to launch the attack now.”
“Excuse me what? Are you insane? We haven’t—” Leila rubbed her sweat-matted hair with her bandaged hands. “Wait, how long have I been captured?’
“ A week. You were out for one of those days,” said Ayax.
“Then you’re right. Darius will have to make a move now that he knows I’ve disappeared. Wait, Janize doesn’t—Of course she doens’t. She’s cautious by nature. Get her on the mirror right now!”
“You could use please,” said Elizabeth, handing Leila her mirror.
“Leila—”
“Janize, there’s no time. You need to barricade yourself in a safe place with as many guards as possible, perhaps the throneroom and get the attack started by tonight.”
Frowning, the queen’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the mirror with a mixture of confusion. “Love, we haven’t finished preparing—”
“There’s no time! Darius and Scarlet know I’ve been rescued. They’ll attack as soon as they get everything in order because they know you can move to arrest them!” Leila put her hands up to the mirror. “Love, they’ll stop at nothing until you’re dead.”
Janize’s eyes widened and she whispered, “What did they—”
“It doesn’t matter, Janize. Please, you need to issue the orders now!”
The queen exhaled slowly. “Alright. Ayax, Elizabeth, are your forces in place?”
Elizabeth, relaxing a little, smiled. “Martin and Ginger found a way to get to the Water Tower and to deploy reinforcements into the palace. We still need your troops to ensure the Water Tower’s guns are silent and for the main gates of the citadel to be opened to us.”
“It will be done. How are you getting out of Darius’s mansion?” Janize asked.
“When the attack takes place we’ll break out and support the attack,” said Ayax, arms crossed.
Janize pursed her lips. “Then we are going for tonight?”
The three exchanged a glance and all nodded.
“Go for tonight,” said Elizabeth. “Good hunting.”
“Good hunting.” Janize leaned forward, peering intently through the mirror. “Leila, stay alive. No matter what they did to you, you’re still mine you hear me? I still want you by my side.”
Leila blinked. She blinked again furiously and pressed her bandaged hands to her eyes. “I…Janize, thank you.”
Janize smiled. “I love you, dear. See you soon.”
Ayax had turned from the exchange. When the mirror was shut off, she let out a long, shuddering exhale.
“You are terribly lucky to have her,” she said.
Standing up, Elizabeth took Ayax’s elbow, squeezing it gently. The troll placed a hand around Elizabeth’s side, hugging her tightly.
Leila could only bow her head. “I know.”
“Because I probably would have killed you if it weren’t for her,” hissed the troll. She swallowed. “And not because of our agreement.”
The Otherworlder looked up. “Why then?”
Biting her lip Ayax stammered, “I couldn’t kill someone who doesn’t want to hurt me when they have a loved one. There’s no…no justice in that.”
With that, Ayax walked to the corner of the attack. Elizabeth gave Leila a look. “When you’re ready, we ought to call George and the Otherworlders, give them a heads up and communicate our plans.” Elizabeth then ran after Ayax, interweaving her fingers with the troll. They left Leila standing in her corner, in her own thoughts.
Half-choking, her hate-filled grunts punctuated by hacking coughs, Jessica followed Ginger down the sewer.
“I hate you. I hate you so fucking much!” she hissed.
Half-gagging herself from the smell, Ginger glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. “Hey, I just suggested it to you. You wanted to help rescue Leila.”
Two middle-fingers was Jessica’s response along with a chuckle from the Erisdalians that were part of Jessica’s unit and new band of comrades.
Ginger joined them in their chuckling. She knew she could rely on Jessica and the rest of her group. Besides, their attack was going to be much easier than what her fiance was going to be doing up high.
Taking cover behind a slightly holed house, Martin examined the area in front of the citadel.
The Lightning Battalion’s batteries had been keeping up a very long barrage. Mortars and long cannon had pounded the makeshift defense line of houses on Castle Way. After hours of bombardment, they’d breached the line.
The result was flat, rubble-covered broken ground that led up to the moat in front of the citadel and main palace within. They had no hope of knocking down every house. Houses still stood on the flanks of the Citadel, covering the road that led up to the castle’s side gate. There were also a number of houses standing on the main approach, though, this actually was better for their plans. The remaining stone foundations of the houses and charred remains in the gap would be able to cover the advance.
The bigger problem was the walls in front of them were mostly intact and the gatehouse’s drawbridge was up. Their mages could cast smoke or illusion spells to screen their approach, but that would do no good if the drawbridge was still up and the gatehouse in enemy hands.
Martin breathed in and out slowly. No, they were entirely reliant on Janize keeping up her end of the bargain.
Sitting in the throne room, Janize steepled her fingers, eyes focused on the steps to the dais.
Was her decision correct? Was she making the right choice? Had she considered everything?
Those thoughts ran in her head as she studied the carpet. The sounds of her guards and knights preparing the throne room and ensuring the main entrance was secured echoed in her ear. Yet she did her best to ignore them.
If she went through with this, she knew she’d never sit on Erisdale’s throne again. Her brother would be the last to sit on the throne and then it would be House of Conthwaite, the house of a knight and later, his offspring with a common soldier.
How had it come to this? Why had she put herself here?
The image of a fierce Otherworlder came to mind, along with the litany of decisions she’d made. Siding with Darius, rejecting the Alavari as monsters, falling in love and then realizing where she’d gone wrong. The news of the dragons in Thorgoth’s employ.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe there was still hope. At the very least, she still had Leila.
The Otherworlder, George marched up to the dais and bowed. “Your Majesty, we’re ready to open the gates. The Water Tower’s received their orders.”
Janize sighed. “To think that there was a route to the citadel through the sewers.”
George chuckled. “At least we’re making them suffer for it.”
The queen pursed her lips. “Tell me, George. You fought against Ayax and Elizabeth at Lehrbach. You sided against them. All the Otherworlders here sided against them. Why are you willing to fight alongside them once again?”
The teen—no, young man looked away, towards the windows that lit the hall.
“I think after a year of fighting with Darius in earnest, we all realized we’d made a mistake. We’re not from your world, but we learnt enough in our own that this… what Darius was doing is wrong and no different from the worst villains from our world. We weren’t fighting Alavari, we were fighting other humans. We just…didn’t know what to do about it. So when you and Leila told us about the plan, and that we would have a chance to actually fight Thorgoth, to protect people from a world ending threat, we all jumped on it.”
Janize snorted. “You’re going to have a heck of a time convincing the other Otherworlders.”
George sighed. “We all know that, but hey, they are going to need us. I mean we are going to be fighting literal dragons.”
“That is true.” Janize closed her eyes and nodded. “Carry it out, George. Get those gates open and signal the Water Tower.”
George saluted. “Yes, Your Majesty. It’s been an honor and a pleasure.”
Through her spyglass, wrapped warmly in her bright orange cloak, the Erlenbergian mage, Ophelia Voidsailor watched the coast with her spyglass.
Despite the years Erlenberg had fought Alavaria along the northern front, and through all the naval battles on the eastern coast, Ophelia still wore orange. It’d become her calling card of sorts and she knew it gave the crew of her ship comfort to see her strut around. Honestly, she was getting a little tired of the color, but she liked the attention more.
Beside her, looking through his own spyglass, the one-eyed Eustace Windwhistler glanced at the sky. “It’s about time,” said Edana’s brother.
“I know—I see it!” Ophelia exclaimed. Before her eyes, the Water Tower, the main obstacle to the Erlenbergian fleets advance, had lowered the red banner of the traditionalist. A blue banner was being run up and more blue flares were being fired into the sky by some mage.
Eustace looked through his spyglass and nodded. “Signal to the fleet! Follow my lead. We are attacking!”
Flags ran up and down on the galloen Stormcaller, which had been named as such much to her namesake’s consternation and embarrassment. Behind Eustace and Ophelia’s warship, the long lineof Erlenbergian ships of the line ran flags up and down in acknowledgement. The entire line then followed the Stormcaller as it swung starboard toward the bay.
Underneath the Water Tower, Ginger found a ladder had been dropped into the sewer. Gingerly taking the rungs, she climbed up and was helped up by several red-uniformed harbour guardsmen. A petite woman with a musket slung over her shoulder handed Ginger a clean rag.
“Wow you stink, but I’m glad to see you. Captain Belinda of the Harbour Guard.”
“Ginger, yes, that Ginger. Are Darius’s troops reacting?”
“They are indeed. Several regiments have filed out of the Citadel and are making their way here as we speak. How many have you brought?” Belinda asked.
“A whole regiment of crack musketeers are behind me to help you secure the tower. The Erlenbergian fleet is landing marines. We’ll be fine, I’m just worried about the main assault,” said Ginger. She wiped her face and hands. “Show me the battlements. I’ll get my soldiers set up along with yours.”
“This way,” said Belinda, guiding Ginger out.
Ayax and Elizabeth silently crept down the drop-down attic stairs. Behind them, carrying a spare wand, Leila limped as quietly as she could. They could hear shouting in the mansion and the scurrying of people on the lower floors.
The trio paused to quickly grab a drink of water from a nearby pitcher left by the servants for any houseguests, before continuing on. From what they could tell, someone was having a heated discussion in the foye.
As they got closer to the staircase, they soon could figure out who.
“Janize is making her move and the Lightning Battalion must be close behind. The Erlenbergian fleet is moving in and the Water Tower is not firing on them.”
“There’s no need to panic—” “Scarlet, your fucking plan has accelerated Janize and the Lightning Battalion’s timetable! We’re fucked. We’re all probably dead.”
There was a sharp intake of breath. The three heard Scarlet growl, “Alright, I was…overly optimistic that the Lightning Battalion and Janize would split due to that report, but we only need to secure Janize and the Citadel and our position will still be quite strong.”
“I disagree, but Janize won’t have long. My troops led by Vulpina are converging on the throne room as we speak. Otherworlders or not, she can’t hold for long.” Darius chuckled dryly. “We might all die in the attempt to oust her, and hell she may be killed, but we won’t let her have the last laugh.”
Ayax turned to the two humans with her. “Liz, Leila, go. I’ll try to pin them down here.”
Elizabeth blinked. “Wait, but Ayax—”
“Liz, if we lose Janize, we’ll lose the civil war. You got to go.”
Elizabeth briefly closed her eyes and nodded. Grabbing onto Ayax, she drew her troll close to her and into a brief, fierce kiss. “Come back to me, alright?”
Ayax managed a smirk. “Always.”
Elizabeth turned to Leila. “Let’s go—what are you—” The Otherworlder had knelt on the ground her head bowed.
“Ayax, I’m sorry. I promise you can do whatever you want to me after you save Janize, but please, let me save her first,” said Leila, she lowered her head, but Ayax quickly grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her up. It was easy as the girl was still very light.
“This is not the time. I accept your promise, but we’ll talk later. Now go!” Ayax hissed.
Nodding, Elizabeth grabbed Leila and the pair took off in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Ayax took a deep breath and walked up toward the balcony overlooking the foye.
Darius was pacing, whilst Scarlet was biting her finger, one hand gripped tightly around her staff.
“What if they breach the gatehouse?” Scarlet asked.
“There’s no way that force assembling outside can breach the gatehouse. They’ll need—”
“Earl Darius, Master Scarlet, I have waited a long time for this moment.” Ayax leaned casually against the railing, noting the fine, polished grain. “Do you know who I am?”
Darius, eyes staring up at her, took a step back. “Ayax the Blackgale.”
“Daughter of Allaniel the Valorous, who you had murdered,” Ayax hissed.
Scarlet ripped her heavy cloak off and gripped her staff in both hands, which had a number of rings on the fingers. Her eyes narrowed at Ayax. “So it was you who rescued Leila. I thought you would kill her.”
“You certainly tempted me, but she was just the instrument. It was you two who had my parents killed.” Raising her staff, Ayax growled. “Prepare to die.”
Scarlet waved the earl off. “Darius, go, deal with Janize. I can handle her.”
Darius arched an eyebrow even as he grabbed the main door’s handle. “Are you sure?”
Scarlet smirked. “She’s no Frances Stormcaller. Just an angry little troll.”
“I’m a pissed off troll.” Ayax leapt over the railing, throwing several spell cards at Scarlet. The woman waved her hand, magical rings activating to form a barrier. The cards slammed into it, sparking and banging. It would have knocked her back, but the barrier dissipated the force.
No matter, Ayax landed nimbly on the carpet and whirling her staff, slammed it into Scarlet’s barrier. Darius had run for it, slamming the doors behind him. Ayaxs’s blow sent Scarlet smashing through those closed doors, nearly throwing her onto Darius.
The Red Order Mage picked herself off the grown, dusting off her robes. “Ah I see the familial resemblance now you monster. You and your adoptive ‘cousin’ are just fucking irritating.”
Ayax was about to quip back, but found herself pursing her lips as a thought ran through her head. “You know, if you were just a little nicer, just a bit more understanding, you could have gotten along with Frances. It’s really hard to not get along with her.”
Scarlet’s snarl faded and she grimaced. “She wouldn’t have been my student, but Edana’s. Now are you going to kill me, Blackgale, one of the people who helped murder your parents, or are you going to talk me to death?”
Ayax flinched, feeling the swirling vortex of power bubble in her very core as her fury sparked. At the same time, a serene, piercing idea just echoed through her head. It was not really a revelation, more of an observation she’d noticed about Leila, Darius and now Scarlet.
“You all are awfully insistent on dying. Why don’t you all just…give up? Live?” Ayax asked. The pair were circling now, ready to let loose with spells at any sign of weakness or an opening.
Scarlet snorted. “Would you let me and Darius live?”
Ayax paused, watching Scarlet continue to circle. When the troll didn’t move, only followed her with her eyes, the mage stopped and tried to circle in the other direction. Still Ayax didn’t move, she just remained still, staff at the ready.
“If you all surrendered and submitted to a trial, I would,” said Ayax. There was still turmoil, rage, roiling in her heart. Yet, she was starting to feel another emotion that calmed her, despite how odd it felt.
The Red Order Mage blinked, before she sneered. “Then you are a naive fool.” She twirled her staff, the ends bursting into flame as she sang. Fireballs tore toward Ayax.
The troll dodged, not flamboyantly. She just stepped out of the way, shuffling and stepping from side to side. No fancy shielding required, no complicated jumps needed. Scarlet cast, and continued to cast. Whips of crimson magic were followed by cobblestones torn from the road. Ayax had to briefly block those with a quick shield, before twisting out of the way.
Shifting her grip on her staff, Ayax pulled her weapon to her side, as if she was drawing a sword. Crying out a string of Word of Powers, she whipped it across.
The staff suddenly extended, dark-blue magic lengthening it until a incredibly long, thin rod of magic crashed into Scarlet’s side. It sent her tumbling through a hedge and onto the lawn of Darius’s mansion.
Leaping over said hedgerow, Ayax rolled to a perfect landing on the other side. Scarlet had staggered to her feet, wiping blood from the scratches on her arm and face. She was already wincing as she touched her side.
Ayax thought she would be taking pleasure from this. Well, part of her was. She was happy she was kicking Scarlet’s butt. Yet, the part of her that was choosing to be calm, to think and be a good person felt an entirely different emotion.
Pity.
Pity for how pointless this whole battle was, pity for how this woman and her allies had hurt so many and seemed so unhappy with their lives. There was disgust and anger, and yet when Ayax thought about what she had, and what Scarlet lacked, she found that anger seeping away.
“Scarlet, this is your last chance. Surrender now,” said Ayax.
“To you? Not to Edana Firehand, or even Frances Stormcaller? But to their lackey? A second-rate battle mage?” Scarlet spat on the ground and raised her staff again. “I’d rather fucking die.”
The troll sighed. “So be it.”
Author’s Note: Ayax is getting ahold of her anger. It hasn’t been easy to figure out how her feelings changed but I decided to approach it from the idea that she’s matured as a person and has started to take more perspectives, something that she’s always struggled with.

So just started out and have been playing the early fights a few different times at level 2 just to practice, and had some questions, 1 about spellcasting and one about melee fighting.
1) So I took the advice to start with a barbarian so I could just focus on melee combat, but sure enough, picked up Shadowheart and Gale pretty early. Gale especially has so many spells right out of the gate, I have no idea what to focus on. Default had me taking like feather fall and some other utility skill, but in my mind I can't imagine when I'll use them (I'm sure they have uses, I just am dumb enough about the game atm not to be able to use them appropriately), and then most turns I have like 3-4 different damage options, and just end up randomly going for one.
I know it's gonna take me a REALLY long time to learn the details of spellcasting, but for someone just starting out, is there any little piece of advice you can give me that would get me thinking in the right way? Trying my best to always read tooltips/combat log, to get a sense of things, but any advice is appreciated.
2) As far as melee goes, so I have my barbarian, big STCON, and I understand rage seems to WANT me to be in battle. However, in general early on, it seems like range trumps pretty much everything so far. Especially when I can get the upper hand starting a fight, why would I ever want to be melee when I can hop on a hill and just snipe people with arrows? Because hit points in this game seem quite a bit lower than most games, it always seem like enemies closer to me can always pose a bigger threat to me than i do to them, so my party pretty much always tries to keep distance. I am correct in thinking "tanking" doesnt really exist in games like this, correct? I'm just trying to get a sense of how to engage in combat the best way, since hit and run doesnt seem to work with attacks of opportunity punishing me for disengaging.
Sorry for the very general questions, I know these are pretty big topics!

. Hello! ~ i am a 26 year old female from a southern state looking for a friend.
~To describe myself physically, I would say I'm 5'0, I have 5 facial piercings, I'm a medium size, I have short black/brown highlighted hair, I wear glasses and I love oversized sweaters. I would describe my fashion style as soft, alternative or goth.
As for hobbies:
~my biggest hobby is reading. I read one hundred books a year of all genres, I just finished my 40th! I also read manga but don't count that in my 100 books.
~I play video games, I own a pc and a switch. My favorite games being soulsborne, total warhammer, minecraft, starbound, undertale(not a part of the community), baldurs gate, and starcraft.
~On the weekends or when I have free time my favorite things to do are to go hiking, go try new restaurants (I love all types of food, I'm not picky but i am vegan), go to local coffee shops and bookstores. Then come home and curl up with a book.
~I am a mom. I don't mind talking about it.
~I'm currently a full time college student studying literature.
~I recently picked up painting and have been experimenting with acrylics.
~My favorite bands are bright eyes, foster the people, and purity ring! I love allll types of music.
~i have cats, and I love animals! Anyways, I hope to hear from you
A bit about you
*please be over 24+ *please have something in common *I am a mom, if that bothers you, please do not message me, it saves us both the trouble ♡
If not good luck on your journey!
Best, Sophie♡ (^ω)

. Hello! ~ i am a 26 year old female from a southern state looking for a friend.
~To describe myself physically, I would say I'm 5'0, I have 5 facial piercings, I'm a medium size, I have short black/brown highlighted hair, I wear glasses and I love oversized sweaters. I would describe my fashion style as soft, alternative or goth.
As for hobbies:
~my biggest hobby is reading. I read one hundred books a year of all genre, I also read manga but don't count that in my 100 books.
~I play video games, I own a pc and a switch. My favorite games being soulsborne, total warhammer, minecraft, starbound, undertale(not a part of the community), baldurs gate, and starcraft.
~On the weekends or when I have free time my favorite things to do are to go hiking, go try new restaurants (I love all types of food, I'm not picky but i am vegan), go to local coffee shops and bookstores. Then come home and curl up with a book.
~I am a mom. I don't mind talking about it.
~I'm currently a full time college student studying literature.
~I recently picked up painting and have been experimenting with acrylics.
~My favorite bands are bright eyes, foster the people, and purity ring! I love allll types of music.
~i have cats, and I love animals! Anyways, I hope to hear from you
If not good luck on your journey!
Best, Sophie♡ (^ω)

Hey folks,
I'm going to be running a 1:1 CPR game for my wife soon. This will be a one-shot that will hopefully lead into a full campaign. As such, I want it to be the coolest version of Cyberpunk that I can, so I can hopefully stop running D&D 5E. Ergo, I figured this community would be a good one to proofread my intended design and offer suggestions. I've got thick skin; all advice in good faith is good advice to me.
Context: We've never played RED before, though my wife is a fan of the Cyberpunk 2077 game. She is interested in taking the Nomad role out for a spin, so I grabbed the Nomad pregen off the R. Tal website. I've spent the last few days reading the book cover to cover and running some mock combats with myself (you are allowed to make one (1) joke about me playing with myself before I inundate you with compliments - you have been warned!).
However, she's going to want to create her own character if we decide the system's worth playing, so the pregen character won't be played after this session.
Adventure Summary: Arasaka's back in town, baby! A small team of Arasaka employees have infiltrated back into Night City and set up a small covert base in the Unreclaimed Perimeter. Their goal is to locate and kidnap small children who exhibit certain neural mutations that allow them to be used as "Suns" - so-called because they resist Black ICE programs like R.A.B.I.D.s. By kidnapping and training them, the Corporation can start re-building the Internet with a complete monopoly. To this end, Arasaka mercenaries took out the local gangers, buying off some and murdering the rest. The bought-out gangers are now working local security for the Arasaka base.
Arasaka's forces consist of the bought-out gangers (stats as boosterganger, CPR, p 412), Arasaka mercenaries (stats as security operative, CPR, p 413, fanatically loyal and will fight to the death), and a single Arasaka cyber-ninja (stats as security officer, CPR, p 415, fanatically loyal and will fight to the death).
Setup: Player's caravan has just arrived on the outskirts of Night City. The leadership has asked her to grab a couple of local edgerunners and secure the perimeter, just to make sure nothing unpleasant has set up shop in the area while the caravan was peregrinating.
She'll have two NPCs with her, a Solo (Rebekah, mid-30's, gymnast, favors melee weapons and krav maga, which I'm using as reskinned karate) and a Netrunner (Whestley, 13 year old Black kid with a mullet and a gap in his teeth). These two are bullet sponges so I can use more mooks and also a way to show off how important hacking is to the setting. I run these guys like Dragon Age's companions, so they're not taking spotlight from the PC, but rather enabling them to get through obstacles they wouldn't otherwise be able to.
Scene 1: Briefing from caravan leadership, introduction to her companions. Head out into the perimeter in her car. Build paranoia by:

• Highlighting that there used to be other minor gangs in this area, but someone's cleared them out recently (info from Rebekah)
• Mentioning that the local data streams are all being misdirected to avoid giving away a single destination, indicating that someone is using a lot of data traffic, and that the user has resources to cloak their presence (if there's a better way to phrase this in-world, let me know; info from Whestley)
• Finding a recent site of murdered gangers; nearby is a dead merc (no roll to notice)
  • Weaponstech DV 9 to see that the merc is carrying an Arasaka WSA autopistol
  • Reveal Object DV 13 to notice the Arasaka logo tattooed on the dead merc's neck
  • Free frag grenade, plus 140 eddies (mercs carried bribe money to recruit local gangers)

Revelations: Someone is out there, with suspected ties to Arasaka, and looking to secure the location for some purpose that may be inimical to the Nomads. If they report in, the leadership tells them to follow up and find out what exactly is going on, but that they'll have a few outriders mounted up and ready to go if the team runs into trouble.
Scene 2: The team goes on the hunt. There are a few ways to try tracking these guys down. The player might ask Whestley to trace those data streams, or they might start asking any of the remaining residents if they know anything about these newcomers. Alternatively, they might hide out and simply observe.
Whestley can't locate the base without unmasking those data streams, which requires a network key from a merc commo device. Never let an NPC solve a major problem for the player.
The locals know where the base is, but they also know that the mercs send out patrols. Lately, those patrols have consisted of a few local gangers who spend more time at Pat's (nearby saloon) than on actual reconaissance. Those patrols pass by about once every four to six hours.
Hiding and observing, the PCs watch the patrol stop to hassle the nearby residents; apparently these guys want the remaining residents to vacate the neighborhood. When the residents refuse, one of the patrol starts beating a little old lady, which should be a fairly good indicator that this dude is Not A Good Guy.
(To be clear, this patrol is three of the bought-out gangers in a dune buggy; with surprise and luck, they won't even get a shot off at the team).
Revelations: Regardless of how they handle things, the crew at least knows where the base is, even if they try to just tail the patrol back to the base.
If they jump the patrol, they grab a commo device, a base pass, a dune buggy, and a crude map showing the base's location, in addition to two shotguns and half a dozen grenades. In addition, all three of the patrolling gangers are sporting brand-new Arasaka WSA autopistols.
Whestley can use the commo device to accomplish 1d3 exploits getting them inside (since I'm not learning the actual Netrunning rules until I have a PC who wants to use them, I'm basically going to give Whestley a limited-use "hack" that can remove a single tech-based problem), as well as pinpointing the base entrance.
If they save the old lady, the locals will be happy to tell the team about a few kids who've gone missing in the area; one turned up a few weeks back dead in a ditch with needle marks and surgery scars.
Scene 3: Assaulting the base! The team can do some light recon on the base perimeter. They find overhead drones (spotting for the automated grenade launcher), an automated grenade launcher (more than enough to total any vehicle that comes within 400m), and a gateway to the subterranean base (which can only be opened by a base pass).
In addition, there's three gangers sitting near a campfire, playing Go Fish. They won't be fooled by disguises; they know each member of their gang by face (PCs know this).
A ventilation shaft cut into the side of the base gate lets the PCs avoid engaging the defenses, though the drones will still spot them unless they take some effort to counter thermal imaging.
Skills and relevant information:

• DV 15 Basic Tech: "That's a VTOL-capable base gate; there might be a ventilation shaft that could be another way in!"
• DV 11 AV Tech OR Aero Tech: "Those drones carry thermals; they're going to see us coming unless we counter that capability."
• DV 13 Electronic Security: "The base pass also emits a friendly IFF signal, which will prevent the grenade launcher from firing until someone overrides it." (the obvious source of an override code is the three gangers outside)
• DV 17 Wilderness Survival: "There are some escaped designer birds roosting nearby. Panicking them into taking flight could trick that grenade launcher into spuriously firing, or potentially crash one or two of the drones." (DV 15 Animal Handling to trick the launcher, DV 20 Animal Handling to down those drones; +3 to roll if succeeded on Wilderness Survival roll first)
• DV 15 Perception: "Fresh divots in the sand here - something only recently took off from the base gate - an AV?"

Inside, most of the Arasaka mercs are away on a snatch and grab, so once the PCs are past the gateway, resistance is sparse. There are secondary cameras inside the gateway, so the Arasaka cyber-ninja knows they're coming 5 minutes after the team enters the complex. If the gangers are still alive on the surface, they will head down the base gateway and try to pin the team down in the hangar.
Once inside, there are four main areas: the hangar, the labs, the barracks, and the command center.
The Hangar is the first one up, and is mostly empty. There's three slots for AVs, two of which are empty, and a launch area in the middle. Two small offices adjoin the launch area, and a door leads onward. There's a lot of gas the Nomads could use, along with an AV that's been left with its engine in mid-rebuild. A small map of the base is located in one of the offices, drawn on Arasaka-branded notebook paper. The computers are for maintenance and solitaire, and have limited hookups to the rest of the network (if they take 10 minutes, Whestley can gain 1 exploit).
From here, there are two paths forward. One leads to the labs, one leads to the barracks. In the barracks, two Arasaka mercs are dressing rapidly (half armor). The team can refill on ammo, and there's one dose of speedheal available. Two flashbangs are next to a poster of a J-Pop idol singer. The team can proceed to the command center, the labs, or go back to the hangar.
In the labs, there are four children being run against a single R.A.B.I.D program. Whestley is appalled, and one of the kids dies in front of the PCs, thrashing in the grip of malicious code. Whestley can spend 3 exploits to lock the RABID away from the kids, long enough for the team to unhook these kids and get them out.
Also in here is a cyberdeck chip that gives Whestley 1 exploit, a dose of speedheal (in case they missed the one in the barracks), and a laser katana (as Heavy Melee Weapon, allows the wielder to add their DEX stat to damage dealt for 1 minute per day).
As soon as the PCs either save the kids, or decide not to, the cyber-ninja strikes. Accompanied by two mercs, the cyberninja goes for Rebekah first. The ninja tries to break the legs of any kid they manage to unhook, the better to slow the party down. The mercs are very careful not to fire if the kids are anywhere near their targets, so they may close to melee range.
The ninja and the mercs fight to the death.
Once the ninja and mercs are dead, an alert is triggered - the other mercs are only 15 minutes out and returning fast!
In the command center, the PCs can find all the relevant documentation for the project...locked behind an Arasaka-created infinity code that requires a code-key to decrypt (only found in the Arasaka HQ in Tokyo). If the ninja has not previously struck, they will attack the PCs as the PCs enter this area (see the labs for details on the cyber-ninja battle).
Aftermath: Once the Nomads are apprised of the threat, they "Nope!" right the f*** out of there. It's not their problem and they want nothing to do with Arasaka, dead kids, and Black ICE experiments. Anything the crew discovered gets turned over to NCPD.

"Mission accomplished. The survival rate was 4% and valuable human resources were lost, but that is war. The mission objective takes priority over everything else. Holding to that principle is why I have never failed a mission. The Death cannot die…"
Very little is known of the Umbrella Security Service's best agent, save for his codename: HUNK. With a track record of being the sole survivor of dangerous operations, he’s earned the illustrious nickname The Grim Reaper(sometimes mistranslated to Mr. Death or The Death). The Raccoon City incident wasn’t much different, as HUNK was the only survivor of a mutated Birkin’s rampage and barely made it out alive. Always professional, HUNK didn’t let a little thing like a sewer and police station full of assorted B.O.W.s or the threat of a nuke keep him from completing his objective with a cool head.
Note: Since HUNK has one notable canon appearance done multiple times (The 4th Survivor scenario in both versions of Resident Evil 2, as well as Umbrella Chronicles) and half his existence is bonus modes like Mercenaries (RE4 and 3D) and Raid Mode (The Revelations games), this thread’s gonna involve some definitely noncanonical stuff, including Operation Raccoon City. Hover over feats to see what they're from.
Physicals:
Strength:

• Destroys a zombie's head with a stomp.
  
• Knocks back an attacking zombie with a spin kick before snapping its neck.
  
• HUNK loves snapping necks.
  
• Can launch several enemies with a kick.
  
• Splatters grappling Ganados heads with a kick or elbow to escape grabs.
  
• Kicks a door open, knocking over enemies on the other side.
  
• Can launch foes with elbow strikes.
  
• Stabs up through a zombie's head with his wrist blade before kicking them away.
  
• Kills a zombie with a backstab and twist.
  
• Can launch foes back with a thrust of his wrist blades.
  
• Can bust crates.
  
• Kicks open the gates of the police department.
  

Durability:

• Some time after Birkin attacked his squad, killing most of them with a strike, HUNK wakes up facedown in water no worse for wear.
  
• Fine next to an exploding car.
  
• Can get knocked over by a Ganado's shield bash but kips back up.
  
• Can take flaming arrows.
  
• Can take slashes from Garradors. Garradors can destroy a big metal bell and embed their claws in a stone wall with their strikes.
  
• Knocked down by an explosion but gets back up.
  
• Can recover from his own proximity mine going off.
  
• Sent flying by a strike from a pipe wielding mutated Birkin, though he recovers soon afterwards. Birkin can bring down a concrete wall.
  
• Thrown by Birkin after the BOW smashes through some metal security doors. When HUNK reunites with Delta Squad a little later, he's fine.
  
• Can get set on fire without much issue.
  
• Can take strikes from Mr. X. Mr. X is pretty strong.
  
  • Full Mr. X RT here just to be safe.
• Can take bites to neck and leg from zombies and shake them off.
  

Speed/Agility:

• Shoots two Hunters to death as they lunge at him, then dodges an Ivy’s attack before killing it.
  
• Jumps over a counter.
  
• Can shoot arrows out of the air.
  
• Leaps through a window like a cool dude.
  
• Flips to his feet after getting knocked down.
  
• Can pull off a spin kick in his combat gear.
  
• HUNK's iconic backflip.
  
• Umbrella Corps mercs can scale walls easily with their gear.
  

Skill:

• Headshots two Hunters at close range as they lunge at him.
  
• Forget double tapping, HUNK triple taps downed foes. Here's another example if you're tired of looking at the 3DS game.
  
• Quickly takes out two guards in close quarters with a knife to the chest and a neck snap.
  
• Takes out a guard's leg for an easy throat slit.
  
• Invented CQBZ (Close Quarters Quarantined Battle Zone), a combat style adopted by Umbrella Corps mercenaries. Here's some counterattacks involving avoiding strikes, a few funny little slides, gratuitous stabbing, and of course a neck snap.
  
• Will cram a grenade in your mouth, if he must.
  

Misc:

• Ate Tofu.
  
• Despite earlier showings having him pretty callous about his squad's lives, later games have HUNK show some concern for people under his command.
  
  • In a report to Alfred Ashford, complains about information being withheld from his squad and putting them at risk.
  • Gives Delta Squad advice mid combat.
  • Chews out a squadmate for killing Birkin despite their orders, but covers for him when it's time to report.
  • Orders Nighthawk to leave him behind when HUNK is unable to reach the extraction point. Lucky for him that's not an order Nighthawk follows.

Weapons/Gear: The Umbrella Corps gear isn't being used by HUNK, but was supposedly developed by him so I feel it's worth noting.
Blades:

• A combat knife.
  
• Retractable wrist blades.
  
• Seems to have a retractable blade built into his boots.
  
  • Here's HUNK showing off his hidden blades in his Reaper costume.
• The Brainer, a specialized ice axe made for zombie combat. The Brainer's blade can become heated, being hot enough to cut/burn through an Umbrella Corps Bite Guard/arm and helmeted head.
  

Firearms:

• In the on rails shooters, gunfire from any weapon is able to destroy environmental objects. This ranges from smashing through locked doors and busting a dresser to making cars explode or even busting the statue in the main hall of the Police Department.
  
• Custom TMP: A modified SMG.
  
• AK-74: An assault rifle.
  
• H&K P8: HUNK's 3DS sidearm.
  
• MUP: The standard 9mm handgun.
  
• Lightning Hawk: The trusty magnum, great for popping heads.
  
• LE5: Totally not an MP5, guys.
  
• W-870: A pump shotgun.
  

Explosives:

• Hand grenades
  
• Incendiary grenades
  
• Flashbangs in both throwable and launcher forms. These can instakill Ganados Plagas, super parasites which are sensitive to UV light.
  
• Proximity mines.
  

Special Gear:

• Active Camouflage: HUNK can briefly become invisible. HUNK can deactivate it at will, but the camo will also break if he attacks or takes damage.
  
  • The camo returns in Raid Mode, oddly enough.
• The Bite Guard: An arm guard that extends into a small shield that can deflect incoming gunfire. Couldn't find much footage showing it off clearly, so here's the promo poster featuring a bullet deflect. It's coated in a resin that sticks to zombies, preventing them from getting closer while making them into temporary meat shields.
  
• Terrain Spikes: Umbrella Corps boots basically have built in crampons good for climbing and zombie stomping.
  
• Zombie Jammer: This back mounted device generates an electromagnetic field that disorients zombies. While it's active you can even bump into them without provoking them. Of course, if the device is destroyed the horde will notice you.
  

“This is war, survival’s your responsibility.”

Sorry I've been gone for a bit, I had a storyline to finish up and a few bad bouts of writer's block, but I managed to get to this finished up! Here's Season 4, eps 1-13! Be sure to leave some feedback!
Season 4 (March-April):

1. Truth: First change (shared with Lies): Lukanette/Adrigami are clearly established to have been a thing over multiple weeks/a month, with the NY special being the second(?) time they’re truly established. I doubt it’s truly satisfactory, but stuff still has to work within this specific season/the larger narrative, so… eh. Second change: Andrew Hendrol is present for the concert on the Liberty (“I might have to challenge you guys to a battle of the bands one day.”) and slips off to transform into Dragonus just before Luka arrives akumatized. He absorbs Truth/Eyebeam’s (renamed Light Eye) powers then buggers off to appear later in Lies. Third change: Shadow Moth’s design. While I personally like it, it wasn’t terribly popular. So here's a slight redesign: the main body can stay the same with its purple overcoat and black lapels but make the purple a bit darker and the lapel is the same as it was on Hawk Moth. His cowl is now a chromed blue with a peacock feather “eye” right on the forehead instead of his Zuko monocle. His skin turns indigo like Mayura’s and his eyes are like Duusu’s, but more malevolent. The biggest change to his costume is the function of the tailcoat itself: its tail is like a male peacock’s train, long and vibrant blue with pinkish feather eyes in the back, and it opens and spreads in reaction to his emotions. For example, if he’s pleased or angry, it opens up and spreads out behind him, and if he’s exasperated/neutral, it folds back down. Fourth change: Marinette’s transformation into Ladybug is fixed this time around.
   
2. Lies: First change: Marinette isn’t as fan-girly over the Adrien life showing, instead wondering if he’s doing alright with his schedule. Tikki and the others assure her that he’s probably used to it, and she doesn’t have to be so worried about it. Of course, this doesn’t dissuade her nerves, especially not when the modeling session the show films has Lila in it. Second change: The art room scene gets a couple added lines of dialogue (“Adrien. Our parents raised us for perfection, but we don’t need that. We’re already perfect. We’re perfect. Just show me your truth.” “But… I’m not sure what that truth is.” “Let me show you.”) before their class starts. Third change: the Hendrols are present for Prince Ali’s birthday party – it’s why Dragonus skedaddled from the fight – and Andrew manages to hide and transform without anyone noticing, avoiding Lies’ sphere. Even Dragonus can’t risk touching the sphere, even if his cravings for power – much like a vampire – don’t go away.
   
3. Gang of Secrets: First change: Tikki attempts to console Marinette after she talks about worrying about Shadow Moth and Dragonus (“Well, Duusu had always been a bit chaotic. I could imagine that he might be causing Shadow Moth a problem or two. As for Dragonus… he can’t have it much better than you right now, right?”), which cuts to Andrew Hendrol and the Dark kwamis all having a dance party to unknown song that sounds suspiciously similar to “Hips Don’t Lie”. Second change: Instead of the girls just barging up, Tom and Sabine give them permission to go up and check on Marinette. “She hasn’t been answering for us, maybe she will for you.” And the dollhouse doesn’t break from Rose taking off the roof. Rather, Rose trips on something – maybe a roll of thread or a screwdriver or loose paper – and knocks into it. Same result, though, but Alya rightfully calls Mari out: “Okay, Marinette, something is really wrong with you. I’m sorry we can in uninvited, but your parents said we needed to check up on you, and I’m sorry Rose broke the house, but it was a complete accident and you’re blowing up over it. There’s more going on here than just boy trouble, isn’t there? We’re your friends, girl, we want to help.” To which Mari replies: “Maybe I don’t want your help, or your friendship anymore. Get out!” Third change: Dragonus swoops in during the fight and knocks around the Gang of Secrets himself after LB catches Lady Wifi, which inadvertently gives LB time to talk LW into rejecting her powers. Fourth change: Rena Rouge doesn’t look as off in this episode, where her skin was a few tones too light. Dunno if it was intentional, but that still could be fixed. The episode ends as normal.
   
4. Mr. Pigeon 72: First change: a biggie. Alya acknowledges Lila’s number of akumatizations and says, “You know, even if you couldn’t tell me about Lila’s lying about being BFFs with Ladybug, you still could’ve told me – or anyone, for that matter – about how she threatened you in the bathroom. No one threatens my BFF with impunity.” I know a lot of people were upset with Alya’s passiveness over the whole Lila situation, but this line will have impact throughout the rest of the rework. Second change: I found this out on a whim, but it turns out city pigeons are a kind of dove, so Bob Roth wasn’t entirely wrong. Fun. Third change: Andrew Hendrol is watching the evil pigeons transform people outside and figures out he can’t go out, transformed or not, without getting touched. Vorrath: “When has that stopped you before?” Andrew: “I’ve got it.” Cut to later, he invades the fight between the illusions and Mr. Pigeon in a giant mech made out of a sentimonster that he teleported into so he could fight. Overkill doesn’t begin to cover this guy. Fourth change: I’m tempted to change Ladybug’s Lucky Charm suit to her permanent one, but if I did, certain episodes wouldn’t have as much oomph later… hmmm. For now, her suit can stay the same.
   
5. Psycomedian: Honestly don’t know what to do with this one, it’s a fairly solid little episode; funny, love square-y, gives Gabriel some background and Cat Noir some spotlight. I guess I can really just add Dragonus to the mix: Psycomedian tries his emotion-gimmick on him and he no-sells it (there is a lot, and I mean a lot of lore behind Dragonus/Andrew Hendrol, so I think it would be easier to link my original fics with him up to the point I’m at for posting and you can explore his background there, as well as his powers) then proceeds to quickly skirmish with Angrybug: “There’s the fire I sensed when I absorbed your powers! Why don’t you let loose like this a little more? Finish the job!” (Again, lore makes sense if you read my main fics, I’m sorry, but he’s such a big character in my works that I don’t know how to condense it down. I’ll try but expect that later.)
   
6. Furious Fu: First change: I’m really, really confused as to why Fu and Marianne are not referred to as husband/wife or at least married. They would’ve gotten married, right? It’s not a thing that I or the fandom seem to be upset about, I’m just super confused, and if anyone is willing to enlighten me, I’d be thankful. For now, Fu and Marianne are a couple, husband and wife, like they should’ve been since Backwarder or before. Second change: During the fight between LB/CN and Su-Han, guess who shows up but Dragonus. Su-Han freezes for a moment, which gives LB/CN time to snatch the Miracle Box, but Su-Han tries to pull it back. SH: “Ladybug! You did not tell me the Dark Dragon Miraculous was in Paris!” CN: “Sounds like you never asked!” Dragonus: sarcastically “Aw, now you’ve hurt my feelings.” Draws sword and points it at SH. “So you’re the Celestial Guardian I heard about. Head honcho, I’m guessing.” SH turns his aggression towards Dragonus. SH: “You and your kind are a blighted spot amongst the history of the Miraculous, demon!” Lunges. “Heavenly Retribution! The Righteous Will of the Justiciar Breaks the World’s Evil!” Dragonus dodges most of the attacks and matches a few of them, but Su-Han lands one good punch to the stomach. Dragonus: “growls Alright, then. You aren’t as much of a pushover as they are… or the Guardians at the Temple were. If we’re going to talk in metaphors, here's mine.” Flies away from SH and presses center of sword, opening a compartment and pulls out a purple pendant on a chain, emblazoned with a stylized T-rex face. “The grand unity of dinosaurs and dragons humbles the arrogant monk. Rexx, Vorrath, Unify!” (See here for appearance: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42733506/chapters/114090748 use ctrl-F and search "Thero"). “Thero Dragon flies as the Dark Guardian!” This reveals to everyone present that Dragonus has more of the Dark Miraculouses at his disposal and subsequent “oh crap” from Su-Han reveals how serious it is. By this point, LB/CN ran off, Thero Dragon taunts Su-Han and flies off, then doesn’t return until the battle with Furious Fu in the stadium, where he absorbs FF’s powers and briefly fights LB/CN before flying off again, proclaiming that “You haven’t seen the last of Thero Dragon!”. Episode ends as normal, but Su-Han will appear again this rewrite before Ephemeral.
   
7. Sole Crusher: Okay, major change time again. I know a lot – almost utterly ridiculously so – of people do/did not like Zoe in the slightest. But, since I’m trying to stay fairly… fair to the source material (while adding new and interesting concepts), we are including Zoe, only her introduction is going to be quite different. Zoe has come to Paris because her time at her boarding school was cut short due to complete and total bullying, and her own father, a man we know as Robert Lee from Audrey, is too distant to think of another arrangement within NY and sends her to Paris to be with her mother. So, Zoe is going to be quite sullen/angry with her situation, and this becomes apparent when Marinette runs into her. Marinette apologizes profusely, but Zoe gives her a glare and basically tells her to bugger off. Marinette, though, recognizes something is wrong and pries just a little more (and it’s framed as Marinette trying to keep Zoe from attracting Shadow Moth’s attention while simultaneously trying to help), and Zoe reveals a bit of what’s happened – including the one friend – but not the full story nor which family she’s living with. Marinette, being the all-but-Lila-loving hero she is, preps a bag for the new girl. “Even if life has been bitter, it helps to have something sweet!” Marinette says. Zoe gives her a strange look. “What’s your angle? Everyone has one. Why’re you helping me?” Zoe asks, confused and suspicious. Marinette blinks in surprise and shrugs. “It’s the right thing to do, especially when you’re in a new place. I gave you my number if you’d like to chat.” Zoe blinks twice, clearly surprised by the generosity and seeming genuine nature of the girl in front of her. “Okay, then. I guess I should give you mine so… you know.” Marinette holds out her hand. “So I don’t lose it.” The first step to breaking Zoe’s rough exterior has been taken, but said rough exterior still persists when Zoe arrives at the hotel. Another major change: Audrey, while trying to be more supportive of Chloe, still has her preferred child, and that preferred child is Zoe, because, and this will cause drama later, “Zoe is one of only four people in my life who don’t grovel at my feet.” Chloe walks into the lounge/dining hall and hears this and immediately goes nuclear, but her rant is cut short by Zoe snapping at her to “Shut your mouth, you little brat.” Chloe is, of course, horrifically offended, but Audrey breaks it up before it escalates and sends them to get to know each other better… which, given this Zoe, goes about as well as expected. She snaps at all of Chloe’s rules, throws the diamond heels, and when Chloe calls her a “horrible half-of-a-sister”, Zoe throws it right back at her. This back-and-forth continues to school, where Zoe doesn’t bend to Chloe’s whims, but instead blows up at her again – which inadvertently does two things: it proves that Zoe isn’t like Chloe, but she’s quote-unquote “bad” in other ways. Of course, someone – Andrew Hendrol – sees this whole debacle and comments, “Such a powerful response to Chloe’s bratty self, such a temper. Oh, yesss, I like her.” There’s still “scaring Damocles” and “Marinette/girls talk about Zoe and Chloe”, but it’s less of Chloe’s influence and more “wow she’s scary but I bet Chloe had something to do with it.” Marinette and Zoe’s text still goes through, and Chloe still snaps at her for texting Marinette, but Zoe just snaps at her. “It’s none of your business, Chloe.” Chloe, on the other hand, makes it her business and goes back to her notebook, eventually landing on cockroaches in the locker (reused material, really?) to punish Marinette, and Zoe actually stumbles, a haunted look in her eyes. She staggers out of the room (taking the heels with her) and out to the roof, prepping to throw the shoes away in anger (perhaps a metaphor for something more disturbing) before losing the will to and she just breaks, resting her head against the bar and starts to cry. Andre comes up to her, they talk, and Zoe reveals her original dream of acting. “I’m good at it, but then everyone expected a different Zoe and they pressured me and I broke and now I can’t think of acting or anything without getting angry… I don’t like being angry. Not with the people who don’t deserve it, not with Chloe, not with anyone… I just want to be me, but I’m scared that the angry one is me…” Andre sighs. “You know, it might be good for you to… put a little bit of time between your past and now. Choose what you want to put in the Dream Cellar, and once you’ve… adjusted, you can come get it. Or you can leave it. The choice is yours.” Zoe’s akumatization stays the same, the general akuma battle remains the same, except for Thero Dragon Siphoning off Sole Crusher’s powers and stomping a few civilians for big kaiju battle time while taunting Chloe (“You can run, but I know I’m in your nightmares!”), which provides LB/CN enough time to find the akumatized sneakers and break them. The barge scene is a little different: Zoe explains what happened, and while her backstory with the crowds and roaches hasn’t changed too much, she adds, “I had one friend, but even she wasn’t around very much… not enough to help me when I needed it. I don’t blame her, she had a rough childhood, too, but I still pent that up. I’m sorry you had to see my outbursts. I get it if you don’t want to be my friend.” Of course, huggy happiness still ensues, the Bourgeois confrontation still happens, though Chloe’s basis for her demands is “If she stays here, she’ll make me stress out and ruin my perfect me!” and her threat is to crush you like your NY classmates did, while Audrey just rolls her eyes. “Chloe, quit being melodramatic. I understand Zoe’s not been the best sister – which is a discussion we will have later – but she’s not going back to New York now. I’m certainly not going to be responsible for her return fares.” The episode ends with Andre asking Zoe to “Call me Dad. I know your father is… distant, and I don’t know if I can replace him, but-” Zoe hugs him. “Thanks, Dad. Promise me you’ll make the choice to take your past out of the cellar, too.” The episode ends the same, with a much happier Zoe thanking Marinette for everything as a photo album (with dates so we can at least see it was a week or two between this and Queen Banana!) plays across the screen.
   
8. Queen Banana: First change: Chloe’s “half-of-a-sister” bit when she bursts into the art room is now “Giving the lead role to my half-of-a-sister who just came out of nowhere a week ago?!”, and all of the talk of going back to New York is replaced with snappy but ultimately toothless posturing about ruining her life. Zoe, of course, is having none of that and snaps back at her with “The only way you’re ruining this movie is if you pry it from our hands!” The art room scene ends the same way as in the original, but the scene in Bob Roth’s office is changed a little bit: Not as much mention of going back to New York and more mention of Chloe’s pride as she says “You said our hands, which apparently includes the producer’s hands, too. Oh, I love a good loophole!” Zoe is oddly okay with this and confidently whispers to the others “We just need to outlast her, trust me.” Second change: Andrew Hendrol is part of the filming crew – “Live soundtrack design” he calls it, while Chloe calls it useless – and escapes the ‘enchanted sleep’ part of the filming, and is shown to get increasingly more annoyed with Chloe, to the point of risking his secret identity as Thero Dragon by offering to play the fire-breathing dragon suggested by Alya (“Lemme do it, I’ll knock that role out of the park, just let me actually blast her with fire.”). Third change: After Marinette’s rousing soapbox speech, Zoe pats her on the shoulder. “See what I meant about outlasting her?” Fourth change: Not to be outdone, Everett Hendrol, Andrew’s father (who is also present in the theater unlike Gabriel, showcasing the closer relationship Everett has with his son than Gabriel does with his), has also chipped in some pocket change (an amount of several thousand euros in Europe money I guess), so the film is entirely cut off from the city’s funding and Chloe’s interference, and when Chloe runs off, Everett darkly chuckles once as Andrew calls out “Cry me a river, Queen Banana!” (Everett is aware of Chloe’s antics and the Hendrols as a family have no sympathy for those, especially the rich, who act like fools). Fifth change: Again, Chloe’s revenge plan isn’t to get Zoe sent back to NY, she’s going to crush Zoe in a way only she can come up with… which is banana. Sixth change: There’s less of a “my fault” moment from Zoe and that weird “promise” bit is gone, now it’s just Zoe deciding to face down her sister and give her a reality check. “You want to know why we waited until you were gone to shoot the movie? Why we talked Gabriel Agreste into funding it? It’s because no one could stand your bratty behavior! Not because we hate you, not because anyone turned against you, but because you couldn’t swallow your pride and work as part of the team. If this is how you acted as part of Ladybug’s team when you were Queen Bee, it’s no wonder you were kicked off!” Queen Banana gets infuriated, Ladybug saves Zoe, they scooter off into the subway, where Ladybug commends Zoe’s bravery, but definitely winces a little bit regarding Queen Bee. “Chloe, for all her faults, wasn’t terrible as Queen Bee, but she really had attachment issues to the Miraculous, even after I tried… and failed to explain to her that her secret identity was compromised. But I doubt I’ll have that issue with you. Zoe Lee, (insert Miraculous speech here).” Seventh change: Once Queen Banana’s banana gun is glued up and she realizes she’s about to lose and runs, guess what, Thero Dragon drops in front of her, triggering Chloe’s trauma from the Miracle Queen incident. Thero Dragon Siphons off Queen Banana’s banana powers for the fun of it, then activates the power of the Dark T-rex Miraculous, Silver Tongue, which manifests as a purple blast of energy that, if it hits a human target, allows the T-rex holder to manipulate the minds of their target… which Thero Dragon uses to break down all of Chloe’s confidence and restraints, all the while tormenting her with things like “Your mother hates you,” “Your so-called friends despise you,” and “You’re utterly ridiculous.” Ladybug and Cat Noir start driving him back, but he managed to do enough damage as he needed. “I don’t know why you bother defending a traitor,” he says. “She wouldn’t do the same for you.” Queen Banana by now has fallen back, crying, and freeing her from Shadow Moth is an act of mercy, but Chloe still refuses the Magical Charm based on her own (self-nurtured) hatred for Ladybug and Vesperia, both for replacing her and failing to save her from Thero Dragon. Eighth change: Chloe, in her anger, swings at Zoe when she declares her hate, only for Zoe to catch it way too fast and lower Chloe’s fist while she gives her speech, and once Chloe takes the Charm and the akuma is repelled, Andre steps in and reprimands her for trying to hit Zoe, even going so far as to… “Chloe Bourgeois, your behavior is becoming completely unacceptable. You are embarrassing yourself and your family. Give me your phone. You are hereby grounded for a week.” Chloe looks shocked. “WHAT?!?” Andre is stern. “I’ve failed as a father. I should’ve tried to keep your behavior in check when you acted out, and I see I’ve failed terribly. There are so many people we will have to apologize to, especially your classmates for everything you’ve done to them.” The episode ends with Marinette and Tikki wondering if this new approach to Chloe’s behavior will do anything good.
   
9. Gabriel Agreste: First change: Shadow Moth’s monologue is merged with Gabriel’s scene in the mausoleum under the mansion, first with Gabriel with his back to Emilie’s coffin before he turns to face it. Second change: When Nathalie offers Gabriel half of her sandwich, he initially refuses (“You need your strength.”) and she insists, then he crumbles (“You’ll need your strength, too.” “…Alright. Thank you.”). Third change: Andrew Hendrol is not present at the art-room fairy-tale-comparison blah thing, but Zoe’s response to Marinette’s question changes to “My mother has been attempting to treat her kids equally. Unfortunately, that means when Chloe got grounded for a week, I had to miss out on the dinner party. Had I known this was gonna happen, I would’ve put up more of a fight.” Also because of this, Zoe is NOT in Marinette’s room, but she is patched into the whole conversation thanks to Max and Markov. Fourth change: Audrey Bourgeois is throwing glares at Andre (apparently over punishing Chloe) and takes note of the solitary gold-trimmed black mask shaped like a lion’s head. “Don’t tell me he’s coming. You invited Hendrol?” “I had to. Otherwise he’d invite himself and ruin everything unexpectedly. At least now we can expect it.” Continuing the trend, after the Tsurugis arrive at the party, a shiny silver sedan rolls into the front gate, and Everett and Andrew Hendrol step out. Everett is in a pure white suit, in complete contrast to the rest of the party, and the hostility in the air is palpable as the car mogul and his son enter the foyer. “Gabriel.” “Everett. I would… like to welcome you to the party. Though the dress code specified darker clothes for all attendees.” “Really? I didn’t notice that, but even if I had, my black suits are all being cleaned. This is all I had.” “Indeed. Your mask, as requested.” Everett weighs the black lion mask in his hand. “Well, it’s not quite the cut obsidian I had hoped, but given your work, I shouldn’t be surprised.” Gabriel is imperceptibly seething. “I must ask you to stow your device-” “Neither of us will do that, and your little scrambler isn’t going to work on it, either. Your tricks, Gabriel, have been done by men greater than you a thousand times. And I’m the only one still standing.” Of course, when Chloe and Marinette sneak into the ballroom, everyone is giving Everett Hendrol a wide berth as he’s drinking something. Sixth change: The transformation into Shadow Moth from civilian form is still “Nooroo, Duusu, Unify!” I always hated that Dual Metamorphosis nonsense. Seventh change: Andrew Hendrol is fiddling on his phone – the only one that works, but Chloe can’t take it bc he already slapped her hand – when people start to leave Adrien’s room. Eighth change: Gabriel’s threat to Felix is more explicitly “I just need to snap my fingers, and you will be thrown out of here and I will tell everyone the truth about what you did and what you are. Think of your mother, Felix. She’d be devastated to see her only son hauled off for stealing from me… or the Hendrols. Everett is easy enough to provoke, and all I’d have to do is blame whatever I do on you. He’d personally see your life become pure torment.” Ninth change: Thero Dragon pounces on the Collector and Siphons from him, chuckling darkly as he does. “Clever plan, Shadow Moth, clever plan, indeed. But you aren’t fooling anyone.” Tenth change: We get a second epilogue: after Gabriel’s scene, we cut to a scene in the Hendrol mansion. Everett Hendrol is sitting at his desk, watching a chess board on the surface. The white pieces are miniature statues of him and other people, including Andrew, the black pieces are mini statues of Paris’s elite and relations: Gabriel as the king, Emilie queen, Tomoe and Amelie as bishops, Audrey and Andre as knights, Bob Roth and one unknown person as castles, and the pawns are their kids (Adrien/Chloe/Kagami/Felix/XY and three blank ones). The pieces are all at rest like the beginning of a game, but the queen (Emilie) and one castle (as yet unknown) are lying down. Everett just smirks, moves one of the white pieces a space forward, then a black piece. Everett Hendrol declared war.
   
10. Mega Leech: First change: Polymouse or Manimouse for Mylene’s super-name? I want public opinion on this. Second change: Andrew Hendrol is present at the “Stop Project Oxygen” rally and reveals a bit more depth to his character (and potentially a motivation for Thero Dragon): he is very conscientious about the environment, and he becomes increasingly annoyed with the ad and brutally picks it apart. “Two of my best friends’ parents work for the Hendrol Motors Advertising Division and this is exactly what they said a bad ad looks like. Also, Paris’s investors are brainless idiots who barely know how to stand up for themselves, let alone save the planet.” And he snaps at Chloe. “Wasting water? You mean like you do by existing? And don’t get your dad in this, my dad would destroy him.” All in all, he sides with Mylene first. “I’m getting my dad to counter-fund this scheme, he’s already gone to war.” Andrew then leaves right before the Minidiktators show up to transform into Thero Dragon. “After all, they can’t get me if my ears are covered.” Thero Dragon is just brutally attacking Mega Leech by himself… revealing a scary level of contempt for sentimonsters. Third change: The Minidiktator possessing Cat Noir is expelled through his real ear, not the cat one. Fourth change: Ladybug’s suit doesn’t weirdly swap between Lucky Charm suit and normal near the end, it just stays normal. The rest of the episode… ends as normal. Even that scene at the end.
    
11. Guiltrip: I don’t really have too many problems with this episode, nor do I really remember any complaints about (though I’m sure I’ll be corrected in the comments), the most I can really think of is adjusting it to fit my current ideas. So… First change: Juleka speaks clearly and no one’s parroting her words. Second change: While the first half of the episode plays out the same, Andrew Hendrol is noticeably absent, but once the second half starts, he shows up and he’s very unhappy/unpleasant to be around. It’s explained that he had to take a day off for stomach flu (and, little lore bit, he’s always very temperamental after a bout of sickness). As such, he doesn’t have much in the way of patience for the second half’s antics, but unlike Chloe, he’s quietly stewing and not drawing too much attention to himself. This extends to the later fight within Guiltrip (after he leaves the science lab when he realizes the only ones left are him, Chloe, Sabrina and Lila), as his negative emotions as Thero Dragon end up being so bad that Guiltrip gets hurt by them… and he flies off the handle once a bubble pops against him. He cools off eventually, but yeah. Third change: No animation errors. God, this episode was a doozy.
    
12. Crocoduel: First change: Luka acknowledges that Marinette hasn’t been around since Zoe first joined the group instead of not seeing her since their breakup. Gotta love the writers forgetting characters being in places at times ugh. Second change: Fix the animation errors. Third change: About half the partygoers (Mylene/Ivan/Rose/Nino/Alya) know that Jagged Stone is the twins’ father. Fourth change: The sky doesn’t immediately become overcast the moment Jagged and Anarka are akumatized. That was just weird. Fifth change: When Cat Noir complains that he and Ladybug don’t have wings, Thero Dragon flies over them and taunts “But I do!”, he flies up, Siphons from Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock, then pits them further against each other for giggles. Then he reappears to Siphon off Purple Tigress’s power. Sixth change: The Tiger Miraculous transformation phrase is “Paint my Stripes!” not “Stripes On!”. The episode ends otherwise normally.
    
13. Optigami: First change: As an extra precaution to keep potential suspicion from Ladybug away, Gabriel makes sure Audrey invites Adrien’s entire class plus two extra invitations that go to Luka and Kagami. Second change: The first elevator bit with the entire class is stupid, so it’s getting changed to “Andrew Hendrol (who is in the elevator) rolls his eyes and punches the close button while Marinette tries to avoid Alya”. Third change: Andrew Hendrol slips out just before Audrey gets akumatized and discreetly transforms into Thero Dragon, and he immediately picks up on the smell of Shadow Moth in the building. He starts prowling around the building, waiting for the right moment to strike. This moment comes when Style Queen is about to hit the elevator Marinette/Adrien are trapped in, just before Shadow Moth calls her off. He blindsides her with his clamp weapon, then disarms her (literally) with his sword before Voyaging to the floor below, cackling the whole time. Fifth change: When Ladybug realizes that “Nino” is actually a sentimonster and calls out Shadow Moth, “Nino” starts laughing as his eyes glow gold and his body starts to deform into a monstrous shape. Thero Dragon’s voice starts echoing out of it. “And to think you almost got revealed because of an ally’s actions, Ladybug,” he said. “First the Turtle brought out without your explicit orders, then what? Someone betrays you for the Miracle Box? The only way to protect what you hold dear is this: ally yourself with me, and I can grant you access to powers you could only dream of. Consider my offer, because if the trend continues, you might lose more than just your privacy because of a fake butterfly.” Ladybug runs off to get the Turtle Miraculous Cataclysmed. Sixth change: Marinette is a little shaken by the end of the episode and some of her words are a little more barbed than intended, to which she apologizes and offers a solution to the problem faced that day, giving Alya the Fox Miraculous full-time, but gives her a few rules to follow. “If I find out you broke one, I’m taking the Miraculous back. Understand?” The episode ends pretty much the same. Oh, and that phone in the Miracle Box container? It’s (a little clunkily) mentioned that Marinette created the one during a “random creation attempt” session with Alya.
    

So, yeah. Now that I've finished working on my main Dragonus storyline and summer's on the way, I might be able to get the second half (plus the halves of Season 5!) out relatively quickly. As I promised, here is the link to the main Dragonus storyline, I'm almost finished posting it all. It's a divergence from Season 3 with some concepts pulled from the NY special and Season 4/5, but all in all it's a pretty good read (I don't exactly redeem Chloe as much as punch her until she understands that she's been horrible but she definitely becomes better): https://archiveofourown.org/series/2798386
Give me feedback, please! Your feedback helps me make this better!

Join the Fort Worth discord to connect w/other folks in FW, chat & check out different meet ups: https://discord.com/invite/9KUdWdQVdJ
Thought this post would be the first w/o the PSA, but need to include it again: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
[Tuesday May 30th]
Pickleball Clinic 8:30-10:30 a.m. Chisholm Trail Community Center Free Learn the rules and the basics of playing pickleball.
Free Yoga Burnett Park 5:30-6:15PM bring your own mat
Silent Book Club 6:30-8PM Hotel Dryce free Silent Book Club
Geeks Who Drink T&P Tavern 7:30PM
Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night University Pub FW 8-10PM
Trig44 presents Trig Tuesday ft. Dalton Torres, Taylor Ochs, Matt Gumley Tulips FW doors 7, show 8PM
[Wednesday May 31st]
Nature Hike 10-11:30 a.m. Nature Center, 9601 Fossil Ridge Rd. $5 Take in the beauty of the Texas countryside during this morning hike surrounded by blooming flowers.
Lunchtime Music Series Burnett Park 12-1PM Grab your lunch & enjoy the beautiful weather paired w/local artists
We Run Wednesday’s The trailhead at clearfork 6:30-8PM
Fort Worth Film Club May Signature Screening: Lucas before Luke The Stage West Theatre 7-10:30PM
No Pressure w/ Koyo, Illusion, & Fleshwater Tulips No Pressure, Koyo, Illusion, Fleshwater Tulips FW 7PM
Tekken 7 weekly meet 6-11PM, 21+ after 8PM Electric Starship Arcade $10 for the night/ $20 monthly pass Can bring your own wired controllefight stick or they’ll have some for public use If enough people, casual tournament bracket @ 9
BettySoo and Pat Byrne The Post at River East 8PM An intimate acoustic performance $20+
[Thursday Jun 1st]
Happy HouCrazy Crowler Sale 4-9PM Salsa Dance Lessons 7-8PM Neutral Ground Brewing Company
Erick Willis LIVE Rusty Nickel IceHouse 6PM $10+
Summer Menu Tasting Taste Community Restaurant 6-8PM
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Garden Festival Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Greater Tuna Downtown Cowtown at the Isis June 1-3 8PM 2-man comedy show
Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night HopFusion Ale Works 8-10PM
Crimson Wine Tasting at Neighbor’s House Grocery complimentary wine tasting for sipping & shopping. Guests get to try 4 different wines from Napa’s Crimson Wine Group Drop by anytime 4:30-6:30 pm
[Friday Jun 2nd]
First Fri-YAY All day Fort Worth Bike Sharing Stations Free Explore the city on wheels with a free bike rental courtesy of Fort Worth Bike Sharing and the Blue Zones Project — promo code “92020APP.”
Kimbell Happy Hour Kimbell Art Museum’s weekend happy hour 5-7 pm beverages & bites w/live music by the Allegro Guitar Society.
National Donut Day TX Whiskey 6 p.m. a donut + cocktail pairing, burgers, live music, on-site engraving, & a donut hole bar $35
FWSO’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy symphony sounds Radio Highway Performs the Music of the Eagles *The orchestra does not perform on this concert.
Locals Only Hip Hop Haltom Theater 7-11PM
Live Music on the Plaza, Sundance Square 7-10PM every Fri-Sun
Dial Up - A 90's Party Experience Dial Up Tulips FW 8PM $15
Rhett Miller Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall 8PM $44+
D.L. Hughley Arlington Improv Jun 2-4 times vary
That Texas Meskin Tour - THAT MEXICAN OT Ridglea Theater $40+
Special E.D w\ Dude-Man & MORE Doors 7:00pm, Start 8:00pm Lola's Fort Worth
[Saturday Jun 3rd]
Drag with Me! The Show: Brunch Located upstairs at The Red Goose Saloon the ONLY interactive Drag Show of its kind: 2 audience members will be selected each show to be transformed into a Drag Queen themselves, lip sync battle, & win their very own Drag with Me! Crown! Ticket price inc Meal & Show! 18+
FWSO’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Chicago Nights featuring Jason Scheff
Zumba Sundance Square Plaza 9:45am - 11:00am
Goat Yoga Bedford! Generations Park at Boyd Ranch 10-11AM $20+
Catalina Canned Wine Mixer Truck Yard Alliance 12PM themed after the 2008 hit movie Step Brothers. Wear your best tuxedo t-shirt for a wine tasting, photo ops, food trucks, and a Step Brothers cover band. Admission is free, but a $15 wine tasting is offered from 7-9 pm, featuring six wine samples and a souvenir glass filled with frose. Costume contests will be held at 5 pm & 10 pm.
Random Direction artist pop up 1-6PM Love Sammy's chef popup 2-7PM Neutral Ground Brewing Company
CyberPunk w/ APT 75 + P!xel Ampersand 5:15-9PM
Miracle Nights Allmo$t Music US Tour Fort Worth Ridglea Theater 6PM
Ill Nino with Through Fire, Dropout Kings and more The Rail Club Live 6:30PM
WOODEYE (One Night Only) w/ Brave Little Howl + Vacation Dad Lola's 8PM $15
FANCY: Queens of Country Party - 21+ Tulips FW 10PM $15+
WOODEYE (One Night Only) w / Brave Little Howl + Vacation Dad Doors 7:00pm, Start 8:00pm Lola's Fort Worth
[Sunday June 4th]
Panther Island Beer Yoga Panther Island Brewing 10:30AM $20
Sunday Supper Club: Courtney Patton and Bri Bagwell The Post at River East 6PM $25+
The Damn Quails Fort Brewery & Pizza 7PM $10
FW Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy symphony sounds Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles**The orchestra does not perform on this concert
Summer Afternoon Tea at Indulge Enjoy three courses inc chicken tarragon sandwiches, roasted vegetable phyllo cups, and street corn crostinis, scones with clotted cream and jam, cream puffs, madeleines, and shortbread cookies. Tea choices inc black or herbal blend. The tea service is $65 & begins at 2 pm.
[Ongoing]
Riders of the Purple Sage Hip Pocket Theatre until June 11 Fridays-Sundays 9PM $10+ Featuring action, adventure, & romance in the wide open spaces, it’s a classic Western of the silent film era
“Lives of the Gods” until Sept. 3 Kimbell Art Museum $14+ Explore the divinity of Mayan art at this exhibition of nearly 100 rarely seen masterpieces & discoveries

I am beyond excited to enter Baldur's Gate for the first time. I have no idea what awaits me inside this legendary city. What I do know is that it's going to be an experience that I will not forget. The NPCs in the game talk about BG like it's a city of opportunity and innovation, unlike no other, where anyone can start anew. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. There's a place for you there. That's the impression I got from the Tieflings and other NPCs. And I am all for it.
Those of you who've been to Baldur's Gate in previous games, how excited are you to experience Baldur's Gate through an entirely new lens?
(edited for clarity)