Fallen Hero: Retribution release thread! (Book Two) (Spoilers Inside!)

[GrimReaperJr1232]

Generally speaking, I’m ultimately soft hearted. Despite being a villain, my Cyrus can’t simply let people die. They might’ve broken his mind and body, but somewhere, he still has his soul That said, there’s nothing stopping him from killing those responsible for what happened to him; those people gave that up the second they put Sidestep together just to break him back apart.

My Cynthia, meanwhile, is full on murderous. She’s motivated by anger that remains unfocused, so she’ll take it out on everyone and everything, regardless of how illogical it may be. Ultimately, everything is stemming from a sense of abandonment and betrayal from the world around her, so any death is just her striking back at the same world that hurt her.

[Pseudo_Nym]

I like believing I’m a ruthless, irredeemable villain no one could love while constantly finding excuses not to be. I will kill as many people as necessary! I haven’t killed anyone yet… which just proves it wasn’t necessary. And helping Steel save civilians was a tactical decision! Confusing him about my motives is more valuable to me than chasing a nobody like Carter. That doubt will be the slow poison that destroys the Rangers! I’m so evil, it hurts.

[Nm6k]

With my main Step Cyrus I’m planning on slowing taking him from one side to the other and he is probably going to take all the Rangers falling down with him. Like I said before starting in book 3 there is going to be quite a lot of people that will most likely led to him to start putting down “threats” to the plan. HG might be one of them

[yizhens]

@Pseudo_Nym

And helping Steel save civilians was a tactical decision! Confusing him about my motives is more valuable to me than chasing a nobody like Carter

That’s so much like my MC lmao

Add to this going on multiple dates with Herald and Chen and being nice to them just because that way it will be easier to manipulate them. Kisses? Absolutely necessary for the plan to work, that’s for sure, and he will do any sacrifice to achieve his goals

He’s a clown and I’m loving every minute of this

[Sancho]

Step reveal? My Step regret his descent into villainy believing that his actions were wrong but necessary, he’s conflicted between recovering or risking everything to uncover the truth (which is why his villain name is Alethein), he’s generally very cold towards open relationship which is why he hasn’t fallen for Herald yet (idk if he will in the future) but he’s warming up to people to the point that even Steel is friendly to him, he’s a pacifist at best never killing but instead manipulating and beating shit with the traditional fist, he find subtle manipulation a better strategy slowly eroding the city powerhouse influence and gaining the trust of Blaze and the other heroes. But in the end all he wants is a normal life

[EvilChani]

@Sancho

gaining the trust of Blaze

My Step did that, too, but didn’t do what she went there to do because she was worried the people in the room might get hurt, so she made Blaze get out of the room.

I wonder if that will be worth more than achieving the mission there. Just like helping Steel… if that will be worth losing whatever Carter knew (I still have no idea wtf he knew because I haven’t gone into the code to find out)! My MC is turning people to her side, but not getting much else done.

[Phenrex]

I have 3 different Steps? Thusly, “Canonical” even within context of my own mind doesn’t feel entirely clear. My most recent one is Wren [still haven’t done Argent, bugger!]

Wren [NB] is angry at the world and at themself. They kind of are just like “if I am going to be self destructive I might as well drag down my enemies with me.” They named themself “Sidestep,” because they figured it was so brazen that nobody would actually believe it was them. They haven’t killed anyone, not that they are truly against it, but they only are truly angry at a select few and those people will get their comeuppance. They have a secret crush on Ortega, refuse to confront anything about it and instead choose to obfuscate and live out their fantasies through their puppet because they don’t want to deal with all the baggage associated with their original body.

I imagined for the ending where they ended up stuck in their Puppet body in some ways it was a relief until they realized they had no idea what the permanence of it was or whether they could really handle being mind blind the rest of their life.

On an unrelated note, correct me if I’m remembering wrong, but Chen’s name feels distinctively Chinese, and yet IIRC he is supposed to be Korean? I don’t know if that is stupid to mention, but I haven’t heard of many Korean people with either “Wei” or “Chen” in their name. [He specifies how Soo was a Korean American like him?] It’s been driving me milidly crazy since I noticed the discrepancy, I don’t know if I am remembering wrong and he just said “Asian American” or what, bugger I’m tired.

[lo6otia]

@Mosie

I have the backbone of a chocolate éclair and can’t be fully mean to Ortega

Oh, I can so relate to that

My main Step is an anarchist fighting for justice. She won’t kill anyone, she’s helping people and everyone think she’s secretly a hero. Sometimes she thinks that too… Sometimes she wants Ortega just to stop her… She even told him she’s Echo (villain name) in the car and Ortega was surprised, so she managed to fool him. No surprise there, she likes to pull the strings with her puppetmaster’s scar. Then she woke up in her own body, got scarred by Argent and rescued by Ortega.

The most hilarious thing in that playthrough was when Ortega went into the other room to brake up with Puppet via sms. My Step was like, are you for real, you don’t have the courage to tell me in person, so you’re texting me we’re over, so you can have sex with me

My second Step was created to try the Herald/Ortega poly. She’s a mob boss (I love the crew) and wants to destroy the system by taking over.
I don’t know what went wrong in that run but Puppetmaster got too much fun fighting Argent and she ended up telling her who and what she was in the tunnels after the auction. That went better than I thought, so now she’s on Argent/Ortega poly. Which is amazing, because I never go for female ROs. But Argent is on her own level, I really like her

Third Step claimed the name Anathema, got the outside scar, she’s a hero hunter who tries to get them to be better. So another good villain… She’s on Herald/Ortega poly and her puppet and Mortum are lovers. What a mess is that run…

So far I don’t have an evil Step, I’m just too bad at playing a villain

[malinryden]

Chen is not Korean, his army boyfriend was!

[Zaya27477]

Could I ask you something?How to trigger choice ’ familiarity and inevitability’ in. Art museum scenes? I tried to gain puppet 's precognition.but I don’t see this choice.It skip to choice ‘I can’t think …’

Thank you in advance and sorry if it isn’t polite to ask (English isn’t my native language)

[EnaMeena]

I love the angst that being time bomb provides. Maybe I’m heartless, but Ortega’s whole reaction in the hospital after the reveal is such a good hurt to read.

[Mosie]

Thank you so much for the feedback, going through the replies has been delightful!
I’m still undecided regarding some aspects of my main route, but I can safely say my Step will keep being a pining little gremlin for Ricardo and maybe smooch Chen too, cause he makes me weak in the knees.
Also haven’t settled for a career yet, but mob boss sounds fun, cause found family + it’s cool how you can sort of mirror HG’s stitch but without the mindfuckery cause they can genuinely like you.
The revenge scar is very sexy for narrative purposes, but mostly I had to make him shoot the culprit for HB in book one (hoping that it will somehow come back to bite his ass. )

[vera]

I never play as good guys even in games that paint me a hero. My Sidesteps all crave power and are willing to step over anyone who threatens it, but they do it differently.

Mercenary weaves a net of intrigue and aims to become a new Hollow Ground, Attila is dominating through shock and awe and wants to be an ultimate and undisputed ruler of Los Diablos, Anathema wants to collect the power so she can then use it to level the entire city and the Farm off the face of the earth, consequences be damned, so she’s rash and reckless. They’ve all killed before and will do it again.

[Naldek]

My first Sidestep is a careful villain who regrets he was ever naïve enough to be a hero. He is too busy villaining to go dating. He is half annoyed half friendly with Ortega, very openly annoyed with Steel, plays the reluctant mentor to Herald to destroy his confidence and doesn’t have any particular relationship with Argent. His puppet have a friendly relationship with Mortuum that he intends to exploit for his own benefit.

In book 2, he became a mob boss, has no problem killing but doesn’t actually do it that often because he rarely have a reason too (I think he only killed Blaze in book 2). He sent his puppet to the meeting with Hollow Ground because she is expendable, ended up saved by Ortega and thanked her by crashing the car to send her to the hospital.

[Halfbad23]

For me the anti-villain always held more appeal and most of my saves are similar in the no kill rule; this is partly because my own sense of morals irl and the fact that I genuinely don’t understand how or why people would want to be cruel or cause harm to others, especially to someone who has never wronged you or someone you don’t know. If my Step came across someone from the Farm the no kill gloves might come off but so far they haven’t fought anyone they felt they needed to kill.

But the thing that cemented my love of the more heroic runs has been the Steel friendship; I was not expecting Steel’s route to go the way it did and I was struck by how much how much his route could effect Sidestep. While my main RO is Ortega (and I play female so no Steel romance for my main) Steel’s support feels more poignant and impactful than Ortega’s.

Sidestep can muse at a couple of points that Ortega is not impartial when it comes to Sidestep; and meta gaming for a sec you can see Ortega is the easiest of the Rangers to get sympathetic to the villain or to doubt the system. But Step is convinced Steel is the straight laced army guy, who will not question things and do as he’s told. Factor in the bad blood between them from the past and it feels like a bigger milestone for Step’s healing for Steel to want to help and protect them.

For a Friendless or Outsider scar Step having someone they never though care about them say that he will support you is a huge thing. For Revenge scar I think having someone say “I’m part of the reason you went through what you did because I didn’t do enough” and then apologise and want to make it right is also something Step hasn’t had before. While I still love the Ortega romance the most, Steel’s support feels like such a big milestone for Step

[dogue_teeth]

I’ve got three main steps.

Anathema- Esau (NB), Doesn’t feel bad about manipulating people, doesn’t care about saving civs but won’t go out of their way to kill one, loves to beat the SHIT out of Argent (can’t stand that hot pointy sharklady), and is likely to go out in a blaze of glory. OrChenStep romance, Steel makes them so fucking weak and they don’t understand it, they still want to beat the shit out of Ortega but want to kiss him in the same breath, and is 100% on board for being the Ortega/Chen wingperson. Steel is arguably the most wholesome and non-toxic relationship I’ve seen a Step have in this entire series because there’s so few secrets between the two bc he already suspects Esau as Anathema, knows about them being a regene too. Yeets the puppet, and ofc gets fucking stabbed by Mortum for all their friendship; things were going too well for them by book 2 end, after all. Can’t have a happy sidestep, not in this household.

Heartbreak- Isa (F), Has horrible intentions but fails to go through on them. Will manipulate people, only sometimes feels bad about it. Manipulate Argent? Yeah fuck the sharp and pointy ticking time bomb that she can’t control, manipulate Mortum? Shit, I feel bad now, gotta call off the flirting, oops someone’s bombing the mansion but I got shit to do, etc. BaroldTegaStep romance. Losin her shit over the HG resemblance, but makes out relatively ok despite having her kneecaps shattered. I love my polys. Arguably coping the worst out of my steps. 7 gates, Mortum may hate her now and it’s driving her bats.

Sidestep- Joan (F, questioning?), coping? what’s coping? never heard of her. The most suspicious motherfucker of all time. The farm is on her tail from book 1. reckless af but couldn’t give a shit. done kissed the sharkwife at the auction and was absolutely smitten since. OrtegaArgStep, because I can’t do a book 2 run without a goddamn poly. Everyone knows that something’s going on with her and she’s unapologetic about her actions. Not necessarily a murder-crazed psychopath, more a child given a flamethrower and being told ‘now go burn your enemies.’ Would have 9 gates if they weren’t slammed shut with duck tape and ‘it be that way sometimes’.

[Ofuasia_Gaihu]

Finally finished this. Gotta say, totally epic. I really enjoyed every step of it.

These are some of the achievements I got.

Not the Boss of Me: You can’t do this alone, so why not run your own crew? Crime boss is a valid career choice. (10 points)

On Top of the World: You’ve spent too much time being miserable as a hero. Things will be different this time. (10 points)

Second Chances: This is a new lease on life. Why not allow yourself to have a good time? Finally? (10 points)

Unmasking: You revealed the truth on your own terms. (10 points)

Old Reflexes: You saved the civilians in Carter’s mansion with Marshal Steel. (10 points)

Outgunned and Outmatched: The Handyman couldn’t even delay you. (10 points)

Bragging Rights: You’d better get used to giving victory interviews if you keep this up. (10 points)

Firefighter: Captain Blaze of the Guardians wasn’t as tough as he thought he was. (10 points)

Hotel High Jinks: The plan worked; you got what you came for. (10 points)

Hands-On: You visit the Boulevard Casino yourself. (10 points)

Guts and Glory: Meeting Hollow Ground in person is a big step in your career. (10 points)

Common Ground: You’ve allied yourself with Hollow Ground. Great things might come of it. (10 points)

Tangled: What are the red threads Hollow Ground tried to entangle you with? (10 points)

Somebody’s Watching Me: Something strange is going on in the skies over Los Diablos. (10 points)

Fled: You got out at the last moment. Time to rescue yourself. (10 points)

Face-to-Face: You’ve met Dr. Mortum as your real self, outside your armor. (10 points)

No Blindfold: You know where Dr. Mortum’s lab is and have gone there on your own. (10 points)

Therapy: You’re going to therapy, but whether that will help is a different question. (10 points)

Trust: You’ve willingly trusted someone with the fact that you are a Re-Gene. (10 points)

Renovated: Ortega’s apartment still smells familiar, even after renovations. (10 points)

Helping Out: Ortega asked you to help out with hunting down Hollow Ground. (10 points)

Tinfoil: Ortega revealed some wild theories about you and Hollow Ground. (10 points)

Infamous: Everybody knows your name. Your reputation precedes you. (10 points)

Healing: You are slowly dealing with the trauma from the Heartbreak incident. (10 points)

Kidnapped: Dr. Mortum sent Sky-Raider to break you out of the hospital. (10 points)

Kidnapper: You managed to get your real body out of the hospital without incident. (10 points)

Off to unlock the rest. Hahaha

[flazeo25]

Not bad

[Mosie]

Did another run for funsies today and I have to say the “He takes over your puppet while you’re talking with ortega in the car, stripping you of all choices + Fakestep gunning down Mortum’s drone” might be my new favorite ending for the “stuck in the puppet” scenario. It’s both creepy and extremely tasty.

[dogue_teeth]

Ok I was poking at the code a bit and I’ve got some questions if anyone can explain–

Summary

There’s an input called ‘ortegabite:false’ does this mean we get to bite ortega or they bite us??? when and how could I get that lmao. Is that with the Argent poly? It seems pretty on-brand.

‘heraldnsfw’-- eh? does this mean we can do the funk with herald? I’ve been unable to get an nsfw scene with him despite my poly route; does it require only romancing herald, or am I just a very unseductive dumbass choosing the wrong options?
Same thing for Steel nsfw, do I have to ditch Ortega for that scene with him so that he doesn’t feel guilty or like he;s going behind Ortega’s back?

‘labcoat’- can we get mortum’s labcoat? :o I’m thinkin it’s some cute mortum romance shit goin on there and I love it.

Then this one is particularly important to me; how to i get the told_X_horrible (in relation to a traumatic experience in the farm) for all of the routes? It seems to be unavailable for the argent route but that’s ok.

That’s all! Any help with these four variables would be greatly appreciated <3