2017 Goals

So while I actually did complete my resolution this year (To stop bottling up my emotions and stop hiding how I feel, which, despite all the sadness and stress it definitely caused, was better than holding it all in) I want to make another set of small goals for myself for next year, in hopes it actually is a better year. A couple personal goals won't be listed for whatever reason, so no worries. This is mostly gaming/art/writing goals, since this year I really slacked on the art and I regret that a lot. So this is more like a checklist for myself than anything.

- Art
   - Actually do some things with the Children's Book characters
   - Fire Emblem Fates: You of the Dark (Don't worry, I know what that means)
   - Maybe re-do some references for old characters of mine
- Writing
   - Just more writing in general, hopefully with less vent/depressing poetry
- Blog
   - Hoping to have anywhere between 10-25 followers by the end of the year
   - Hopefully better content, enough that people will start commenting on my posts, so I can have a nice little community growing
- Gaming
   - Platinum KH: Chain of Memories, finally
   - Platinum Demon's Souls, FINALLY
   - Start and platinum Bioshock 2
   - Start and platinum Bioshock Infinite
   - Fully Complete Shadow the Hedgehog (All 326 paths)

I'll probably add more to this at some point, but this is just what I have in mind right now. I'll see you tomorrow for a short New Year's post and then on Monday I have a nice idea for my first real blog post of the new year. I hope all of you have a wonderful night, stay safe and be responsible, especially if you party it up or drink tonight. Goodbye 2016, and I will see you later! :D

Looking Back at 2016

So I won't be the first to tell people that 2016... generally sucked. I myself have been going through a lot of things this whole year, with the worst of it happening in September and throughout Autumn, which upsets me because Autumn is my favorite season and I never want it to be filled with bad memories.

That's not to say it didn't have happy times, though. Met a lot of new friends, did some things for people that made me feel really helpful, my poetry and art has improved a little, I've platinum'd quite a couple games, and I started this blog!

I know I say this, a lot, but I really do appreciate everything that happens with this blog. With, currently, 7 followers, and somewhere between 1500 - 2000 views on the blog, I'm happy with how this is so far. I know it could be better, but it could also be worse, like that month where I didn't have a computer and I KNOW my blog posts were very lackluster during that time, except maybe for the Sun and Moon Demo and maybe a couple of other posts. Otherwise, nah.. not a wonderful month.

I always hope I receive more followers or more comments or something so I can have more chances to interact with others and have a nice little community, you know? Of course I'm not gonna moan and groan about it, I'll take what I can get. And if a small amount of followers is what I can get right now, that's fine. That's far better than having absolutely nothing.

I hope that next year I can improve on my blog posts and maybe attract a few more people to the blog. My goal for next year is honestly just to make it to maybe.. 10-12 followers, tops. If I ever pass 10, I'll be super surprised but also very happy and excited. But as long as I see my posts getting at least 1 view, it works for me, because that means SOMEONE, somewhere, is interested enough to look at something I put up, even if they never come back.

So, going into 2017 in two days, I hope I can strive to make this blog and myself a whole lot better. And I think you all so very much for your support the last few months as I've started this blog. It means the absolute world to me, even if I can't show it in the best of ways. Tomorrow I'll put up some things I hope to do next year, maybe it can be something of a teaser for next year? I'm not sure. But until then, I will see you later! :D

Tales of Xillia Trophy Guide

Welcome to the trophy guide for Tales of Xillia! All trophies are linked to titles ingame, and every title has a progress bar to show you how close you are to the next level of the particular title, making progress tracking very easy. As such, there won't be much info from me, except a couple of important things, like the skills and linked skills, but otherwise, this is very straightforward. Let's begin!

Lord of Xillia The mark of complete Xillia mastery. Thanks for playing!

As always, collect all of these trophies to get this shiny platinum!

Enemy Sage Achieve a target number of entries in the Enemy Book. Awarded to Xillia's truest enemy enthusiasts.

The target number is 275. Some areas are one-time only, so fight as many enemy battles as you can, as well as work for the Devil's Arms and the Coliseum in Xian Du for additional entries. Jude and Milla each have exclusive bosses, so this is easier to do in NG+ if you wish. Track progress with your titles menu.

Item Fanatic Achieve a target number of entries in the Item Book. Awarded to Xillia's most avid item collectors.

The target number is 700. You'll find items EVERYWHERE, so just be very thorough with your search and look around everywhere and buy everything you can once you have a lot of Gald to spend. You'll get this eventually.

Sub-event Superhero Complete a target number of sub-events. Awarded to Xillia's most curious questers.

The target number is 90, and since MANY of these are missable, I'm going to provide a link to the guide I used while I played this game during Jude's story. This wonderful guide made by greenzsaber on PS3T was an extremely helpful guide and helped me get this trophy on my first playthrough so I didn't have to worry about this during my clean-up playthrough with Milla for the final couple of trophies. I'll link it right now!

greenzsaber's Sub-Event Guide

Obsessive Skit Viewer Unlock and view a target number of skits. Awarded to Xillia's most dedicated couch potatoes.

The target number is 220. Some skits have extremely sensitive timing, so there's a way easier way to do this if you're too worried.

When starting New Game Plus, hopefully you have 3000 GRADE to spend on the skit viewer. Then, in the library, just view every skit until the trophy pops. It seems like it'll take a while, but this is how I got this trophy, as by the time I finished Jude's story I was missing maybe.. between 2-7 skits, so I was pretty upset with that. Then, after, just reload your save and spend the GRADE in a better manner and move on.

Treasure Treasurer Find and open a target number of treasure chests. Awarded to Xillia's finest treasure hunters.

The target number is 300. Just search everywhere, you know what a chest looks like. There are well over 300 in the game, so, again, be thorough with your search.

Loot Lord Find and gather a target number of random treasures. Awarded to Xillia's most precocious packrats.

The target number is 800. Random treasures are the sparkles or small bags on the map, and are represented by blue/white bags on your map/radar. However, it can only be 800 INDIVIDUAL spots, and there are well over 800 in the game. These spots respawn and change every time you enter an area again, so be sure to keep a close look out for them.

Pirate King Discover a target number of Aifread's treasures. Awarded to Xillia's most adventurous outlaws.

The target number is 50. Aifread treasures are the treasures found in purple crystals. You see a small bit of information on one not long into the story, before you meet Elize for the first time, and they are typically found in trees or on walls. Some are easy to see, others aren't. Just be really thorough, and some of the treasures are extremely useful and helpful to you.

Jet Black Buzzard Trade in a target number of Jet Black Feathers. Awarded to Xillia's finest feather collectors.
The target number is 459. In Sharilton, there's a trader who is also linked to a sub-event about the feathers. You can only hold 255 feathers at a time but that's a lot. You can find them anywhere, mainly from random forage spots on the map, and random treasures on the map. It's just a grind to get the amount you need, but it's worth it in the end. Plus, you can trade them in for some rare materials for your shops.

Item Shop Magnate Upgrade the item shop to its maximum level. Awarded to the most valued item shop customers.
You obtain materials from forage (sparkling) spots on the map, and generally from battles. You can use these materials at your shops, or use Gald, to upgrade the shops. As you put in more materials and your shops gain more levels, you obtain better prices and better items in general, so it's always worth it. Shop levels are consistent through the game and you can inherit shop levels in New Game +, if you wish.

Weapon Shop Magnate Upgrade the weapon shop to its maximum level. Awarded to the most valued weapon shop customers.
See Item Shop Magnate.

Armor Shop Magnate Upgrade the armor shop to its maximum level. Awarded to the most valued armor shop customers.
See Item Shop Magnate.

Accessory Shop Magnate Upgrade the accessory shop to its maximum level. Awarded to the most valued accessory shop customers.
See Item Shop Magnate.

Food Vendor Magnate Upgrade the food vendor to its maximum level. Awarded to the most valued food vendor customers.
See Item Shop Magnate.

Monster Exterminator Achieve a target number of enemy encounters. Awarded to those who live for combat.
The target number is 800. An encounter still counts even if you run from it. You'll have to grind a lot, but the grinding can help with levels, Devil Arm strengthening, and some other trophies below.

Specialist in Rare Monsters Defeat a target number of rare monsters. Awarded to those with a knack for monster hunting.
The target number is 75. A rare monster has a yellow triangle over its head, or is a Bacura enemy (A rotating 3D square enemy). You MUST defeat the enemy for it to count. A somewhat easy way to farm them it to repeatedly go between Sapstrath Deepwood SW and Sapstrath Highroad SW, and look for a the enemies inside the Deepwood. If nothing, leave and re-enter. Repeat until your sanity is low.

Combo Artiste Perform a combo that exceeds a target number of hits. Awarded to those whose combo skills pay the bills.
The target number is 100. An easy way to get this is to spam Sylph with Milla and the Minimum Damage skill found in an Aifread Treasure inside the Old Vicalle Mine, and maybe the Risk Ring for everything to have 1 TP usage, or have Auto-Items ready to roll for TP. Then, find a durable enemy, like the tortoise enemies in Rusalle Highroad, and spam Sylph. You can get over 100 hits with it, easy.

Sadist Exploit an enemy's weakness a target number of times. Awarded to those who know how to hit where it hurts.
The target number is 1350, but it's not as scary as it sounds. Whenever you see "POWER HIT" appear, you've added 1 to this total, so if you find an area where you see a lot of POWER HIT pop ups, stay there for a bit and grind a while. That's what I did early on.

Leader of Links Perform a target number of linked artes. Awarded to those who understand the value of teamwork.
The target number is 1350. Unlike Forger of Chains, this one isn't as super grindy, as it can be done before Overlimit status, and every linked arte chain you do towards the next trophy will count towards this as well. It's still very grindy though, and you can only do it as the small segments of the Overlimit bar get filled and prompt you to do a linked arte.

Forger of Chains Perform a target number of linked arte chains. Awarded to those who strive for battle perfection.
The target number is 1350. This is definitely a longer one, as linked arte chains are only able to be done while in Overlimit status. Your artes menu can tell you what artes can be used for arte chains. As you get more artes and more Over Extensions, you can perform more chains during Overlimit. Try to bang these out as soon as possible, this is a very grindy trophy, sadly.

Skilled Delegator Utilize Auto-Items a target number of times. Awarded to team leaders who know how to delegate.
The target number is 400. I believe that, by default, Auto Items is on, but if not, just double check. Auto Items have to be set, however. Certain sub events give you additional slots for items to use with Auto-Items. It seems like a lot, but being stocked up on items and having some nice choices for Auto Items will make this easier. I definitely recommend Life Bottles if you want to make sure somebody is going to get you back up if you die. However, once you start getting artes like Revive or Resurrection, you won't need the bottles on AI anymore.

Sous Chef Trigger a target number of food effects. Awarded to those with an affinity for fine cuisine.
The target number is 800. Every food item has an effect, and when you look at your food in your inventory, it will tell you how many battles the effect lasts. One food effect is equal to one battle. If you manage to start this early, you can work on this while you bang out the monster encounter trophy.

Snap Pivot Adept Perform Jude's Snap Pivot a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Jude in battle.
The target number is 150. As Jude, backstepping an enemy attack at the right moment will cause Jude to vanish and instantly appear behind the enemy, allowing you to get a quick attack in from behind, so they can't guard. The timing is a little tricky at first, but you'll get it in no time. 150 seems like a lot, but it's not too bad, you'll be doing this a lot.

Spirit Shift Adept Perform Milla's Spirit Shift a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Milla in battle.
The target number is 150. For Milla's artes, sometimes you can tap Circle instead of holding it, and the arte will change, such as Fireball becoming Flare Bomb. Using Fireball is actually an extremely quick way to do this, as Flare Bomb comes out very fast and uses little TP. 150 sounds like a lot, but it's really not too bad.

Charge Adept Perform Alvin's Charge a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Alvin in battle.
The target number is 150. As Alvin, holding Circle after performing an arte will charge his weapon, making it glow white. If you're not super-grinding this trophy out during endgame or anything, just use Alvin every so often and charge when you can. 150 seems like a lot, but it's not as bad as it sounds.

Teepo Switching Adept Perform Elize's Teepo Switching a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Elize in battle.
The target number is 150. To switch Teepo on/off in battle, just press L3 (press the left analog stick until it clicks) and Teepo will switch. Hold L3 and he will keep switching back and forth. You can do this on regular enemies that can't really make you flinch. A very easy trophy to obtain.

Arte Tuning Adept Perform Rowen's Arte Tuning a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Rowen in battle.
The target number is 150. Rowen's artes can be sometimes influenced with the left stick or the Circle button. The easiest way to do this is to just use Fireball, as you just have to keep hitting Circle as you use it for Arte Tuning to take effect. Certain Lilium Orb skills will make this even easier to do.

Elongating Staff Adept Perform Leia's Elongating Staff a set number of times. Awarded to those who've mastered Leia in battle.
The target number is 150. Elongating Staff works identically to Snap Pivot with Jude, so the same process applies here. Her staff grows and glows white upon success. You will also hear a chime. Even while it's elongated, you can continue dodging enemy attacks. As long as you hear the chime, you're set.

Yeoman Healer Witness Jude's Restore skill a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Jude.
The target number is 150. While linked with Jude, if a power enemy knocks you down, Jude will rush to your side to pick you right up, pretty much immediately, so that you can fight again immediately. Bosses can knock you down easily so if you're working on this, bosses are a good pick for some grinding. Otherwise, finding power enemies isn't hard, but the higher your level, I've noticed, the less likely you are to be knocked down. To do this, I used Alvin, and I set everybody's AI to do nothing except the skills. Alvin had no equipment, but wasn't in danger of dying, so he kept getting knocked down and Jude kept healing.

Skilled Binder Witness Milla's Bind skill a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Milla.
The target number is 150. Arguably the worse skill to grind for, Milla will randomly use Bind when her and her link partner are on both sides of the enemy, and once you start attacking, she might use it. She's more prone to doing this with speed enemies, as you can check in battle. I had to work a lot to make her Bind and sometimes she would do it more while with another partner, but I did finally get it eventually.

Deft Breaker Witness Alvin's Breaker skill a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Alvin.
The target number is 150. While linked with Alvin, attacking an enemy that tends to block your attacks will prompt him to fire his gun to make the enemy flinch and give you a chance to deal damage. Bulky enemies like dragons, golems, and tortoises tend to block often, so keep Alvin handy if need be.

Soul Drainer Witness Elize's Teepo Drain a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Elize.
The target number is 150. While linked with Elize, running low on TP will cause her to exclaim, "Go, Teepo!" and once Teepo drains some TP from the enemy, she'll say "Sharing is caring!" This means that Teepo Drain was successful. Using high TP moves is one way to get this quickly, or if you're like me, just spam Demon Fist until the only words in your head are Demon Fist.

Spirit Guardian Witness Rowen's Auto Magic Guard a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Rowen.
The target number is 150. While linked with Rowen, any time an enemy uses magic against you, Rowen will automatically use Auto Magic Guard on himself and you, protecting you. Getting to 150 is very easy, as some enemies use magic a lot and Rowen will always be on a roll with it, he will literally stop anything he's doing just to defend you, provided he's not knocked down on the floor.

Career Thief Witness Leia's Item Steal skill a set number of times. Awarded to those who partner well with Leia.
The target number is 150. While linked with Leia, if you knock an enemy down with an arte, Leia will attempt to steal an item from the enemy. A successful steal adds 1 to the counter, but you can't just steal from one enemy constantly. This isn't too bad. During Chapter 1, there's a point where you only have Jude and Leia in your party for plot reasons, so use that chance to get an early lead on Item Stealing.

Black Belt Learn a target number of Jude's artes and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Jude in battle.
Jude must reach level 99 and completely max out his Lilium Orb, obtaining every skill and arte inside as well, to obtain this trophy. This goes for the other 5 characters as well.

Lord of Spirits Learn a target number of Milla's atres and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Milla in battle.
See Black Belt.

Mercenary Legend Learn a target number of Alvin's atres and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Alvin in battle.
See Black Belt.

Graduate Channeler Learn a target number of Elize's artes and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Elize in battle.
See Black Belt.

Genius Tactician Learn a target number of Rowen's artes and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Rowen in battle.
See Black Belt.

Grandmaster-to-Be Learn a target number of Leia's artes and skills. Awarded to those who have mastered Leia in battle.
See Black Belt.

Scholar of Rieze Maxia Complete Chapter 1 of Tales of Xillia. Nice work! We're just getting started...
Story related, can't be missed.

Traveler of Rieze Maxia Complete Chapter 2 of Tales of Xillia. Well done! The adventure continues...
Story related, can't be missed.

Exposer of Rieze Maxia Complete Chapter 3 of Tales of Xillia. Great job! The climax is just ahead!
Story related, can't be missed.

He Who Acts With Conviction Complete Jude's story. Congratulations on completing Tales of Xillia!
Jude-Story related, can't be missed.

She Who Upholds Her Conviction Complete Milla's story. Congratulations on completing Tales of Xillia!
Milla-Story related, can't be missed.

World's Greatest Warrior Defeated the Golden Mage Knight. Awarded to the world's most formidable fighters!
You must obtain the Golden Key from beating the game, and then collect all of the Devil's Arms. After, you can enter Magnus Zero from the end of Fezebel Marsh. Magnus Zero is sort of like Nifilheim or Gladsheim from the Symphonia games, but not as frustrating. You go through places you've been to already, with very strong enemies, and you have to go through portals to reach the end and face the Golden Mage Knight. Magnus Zero can be used for your treasure and loot trophies, so bear it in mind! The Golden Mage Knight is tough and copies your party and their artes/styles, so be extra careful. Defeating him unlocks the power of your Devil's Arms so you can start destroying everything easily!

And that's it for the Tales of Xillia trophy guide! I love this game, and even though this guide doesn't seem like a whole lot, again, it's because the game does a wonderful job at keeping track of your trophy progress, because every trophy is linked to a title in the game, and it helps a lot! I hope you enjoyed this guide, and I thank you for reading it all the way through, if you did. As always, I will see you later! :D

*This game took me a total of 6 days and 4 hours to complete, from my first trophy to the platinum. My first trophy was "Snap Pivot Adept" which was achieved on June 3rd, 2016 at 11:55 AM. My final trophy was "She Who Upholds Her Conviction" which was achieved on June 9th, 2016 at 4:37 PM, along with the platinum, "Lord of Xillia." This platinum trophy is the 44th platinum trophy I have received.*

Tales of Xillia

I remember when I first learned of this game, back when Vesperia was the latest game that came out (It was probably Graces that was the most recent but at the time, Vesperia was the latest to me) and back when I thought Xillia was pronounced ex-zill-E-uh. But the first couple of screenshots looked beautiful! Everything looked amazing, and being a Tales fan, I really wanted to play it.

Well, skip ahead to the end of May of 2016, when I went with my sister, my niece, and my mom to the mall, just to have a nice day out together, and while we're out, we pass by a GameStop, so I head inside, just to check stuff out and see what they have. Well, I quickly learn they have Tales of Xillia, among plenty of other games I'd love to play. Knowing there was a chance I could get Xillia that day, I decided to get it! I didn't play it until late that night though, I was relaxing after I got home and I wanted to chill out from the long day. And man, was I hooked.

To be completely blunt, it took me roughly 6-8 days to platinum this game, from the beginning to the end, with a Jude playthrough and a Milla playthrough, and it was so much fun! In fact, come 2017 I'm probably going to replay both stories again, because I definitely should go through it again. Hopefully I also manage to get Xillia 2, because I hear that has branching story paths, and I love that!

But like all Tales games, I have so much fun playing the game, I love all of the characters, I love the story, I love the differences between Jude's story and Milla's. I love everything. My usual party in this game consists of Jude, Milla, Rowen, and Elize, with Alvin and Leia filling roles occasionally, depending on what's necessary or depending on story locations.

But that's really all I have to say on Xillia for now. Look out for the trophy guide tomorrow. It really won't seem like much, honestly, because the game does a wonderful job at keeping track of trophy progress, and always has a progress bar with numbers so it's easy to follow and really useful, too. So it may be lackluster but it's still something from me to help others out. And of course, story spoilers will not be happening because I hate spoiling story elements, you know?

Shadow the Hedgehog

I always have a soft spot for games that people generally wouldn't like. For example, I love Sonic 06 because of how stupidly fun it can get just by abusing the glitches and exploiting them to make fun things happen, like using the Purple Gem as Sonic and seeing if you can skip an entire level with the infinite jumping ability; or using the Sky Blue Gem to launch yourself high into the air and get over invisible walls, or even skip huge chunks of levels (Like Sonic's White Acropolis). It's just a lot of fun to me, and Shadow the Hedgehog is no different. The difference is that Shadow isn't a buggy mess like Sonic 06 is.

Shadow the Hedgehog, for those unaware, was created from a fan suggestion of making a game where Sonic uses a gun. They gave the role to Shadow, as they believed that Sonic couldn't and shouldn't ever use guns. As for everything else with this game, well.. I have a soft spot for games that have branching paths that utilize a choice/morality system. Nearly every stage has 3 missions for you to do, and the one you choose to complete will send you to another level based on what choice you make. There are a few exceptions to this. Every final stage (stage 6) has no Neutral mission. You can only do Hero or Dark, and the choice takes you to a different boss. As for the remaining 15 stages you'll randomly reach during your multiple paths, only "The Ark" lacks a Hero mission, while "Lost Impact" lacks a Dark mission.

Despite how "edgy" they make Shadow look, and his overuse of saying "Damn" quite often, it's still a rather enjoyable game. The music is, of course, wonderful, and the stages, even the dark and depressing ones, still feel full of life because of everything happening in each level, not to mention your involvement. Like.. you're pretty much always active or always doing something while in each stage.

All in all, though, this game is a lot of fun, but it's also a completionist's nightmare, with 5 special keys to find in each level, and 326 unique path combinations. So if you REALLY want to say you've completed this game, you have to beat the game and get the Last Story beaten as well. You have to get A Ranks on every stage and complete Expert Mode. And then you have to collect all of the special keys and do every single path combination. This is something I'm working towards in 2017 and boy am I going to be in for a tough ride!

As always, thanks so much for reading, as always, I appreciate very moment you spend here. Make sure you stay warm as the weather gets progressively colder! I will see you later! :D

Quick Schedule

Here's a quick look at the plans up to Thursday. This will reveal the Trophy Guide as well, so if you don't want that spoiled for you, don't look too far down okay? Anyways, here we go!

Tuesday(27th): Shadow the Hedgehog
Wednesday(28th): Tales of Xillia
Thursday(29th): Tales of Xillia Trophy Guide

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone, or whatever holiday you celebrate around this time. As I said yesterday, no huge post today, just because it's Christmas and all. I hope all of you get some awesome stuff and I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your family or friends or whomever you love, and I hope you all have something to smile about today as well. Thank you so much for always being here, your continued support of this blog is a good enough Christmas gift for me this year. Even if you've never spoken to me, supporting this blog, even just by looking at it once, still means so much to me, especially after the last few months this year, it means an awful lot to me.

Merry Christmas from me, and as always, I will see you later! :D

Elemental Dreams

*Now while this is indeed another short poem thing, it's about Eevee, so it's a Pokémon thing, which means it's a game thing, and it counts xD And there won't be any post tomorrow, save for a Merry Christmas post, so here's the heads-up and I'll have a nice post ready for Monday. Enjoy the work and have a wonderful holiday! :D*

I have the same dreams every night,
Of different choices I can make one day.

In one I breathe fire,
And I'm very fluffy!

In one I can swim forever,
And I look like a mermaid.

In one I become really spikey,
And I can shoot lightning from my mouth!

In one I dance with the Moon,
Just like Papa!

In another I dance with the Sun,
Just like Mama!

In one I dance in the grass,
I smelled like fresh flowers.

In one I stood on a mountain,
And I played in the snow all day!

In one I danced with the flowers,
And I was extremely joyful!

And then in the last one,
I was just the same as always.

I asked Mama one day,
"Mama, what do these dreams mean?"

She told me,
"Honey, it just means you don't know what to be one day.
But you can be whatever you want to be,
And your Papa and Mama will always love you!"

Plans for the Week

So, I've been a little busy lately, which is why I've been uploading some of my writing in order to give you guys SOMETHING, you know? There's still the usual trophy guide coming next week, but I'll keep it a secret until the game is revealed on Wednesday, but I know exactly what it's going to be. In the meantime, I'll be trying to get out actual posts about games and stuff, not just poems and things that, while I'm sure you're enjoying a bit, I know it'll get boring pretty fast. No schedule as I'm going to play this by ear and just see what happens, since it IS the holidays and all, so I don't know how busy I may be some days or not. Until then, thank you for putting up with my uploads and having patience with me, I really do appreciate it! :D

Cinders

*So a bit of a backstory. I wrote this years ago, to test my ability to write a short story. Well.. 5 hours and about 10 drafts on Gmail later, WHILE TYPING ON MY 3DS, this is what came of it. I'm not good at short stories, by any means, but I'm proud of this. And the funny thing is that one scene came to me in a dream one night and I wanted to continue that story and build around it the following day. I know that this isn't the best thing ever, but it means a lot to me and I've kept it all these years. I hope you enjoy :)*

It's not so often that a Pokémon returns to Professor Elm's Lab. Cinders was one such Cyndaquil. I live here in New Bark Town with my mother and my little brother, Luke. Luke was a sickly boy, and at the age of 5, it was heartbreaking... I'm only a few years older than him, yet at 9 years old, I really never understood his sickness. Mom never talked about it either.

"I'm sorry honey," she would say. "It's just something I don't want to trouble you with. Luke is still such a little boy. You're nearly 10. If everything is okay, Luke will live to be at least 10 before passing away..." I could feel the heartbreak in her tender brown eyes, tears running down her face. Instinctively, I threw my arms around her. I was tall enough that Mom could hold my head to her breast. To her, Luke and I were everything to her. It was understandable... Dad couldn't bear the stress of Luke being able to die so young. Mom understood, despite her broken heart. I felt so bad for her, she's been through so much, and her young boys were all she had left...

Cinders came to Elm's Lab a week ago. The poor thing had a bad trainer. He disciplined his Pokémon when they wouldn't win... That Cyndaquil was never really into battling. The poor thing is more timid because of his trainer. But after a week and no progress from the Lab, Luke and I got increasingly curious.

"Barry," he called up one autumn afternoon, "I wanna go see that Cyndaquil! I'm worried about it, but I can't go out alone! Can you take me there please?"

"Sure, Luke," I said sleepily. "Just give me a second to get dressed."

I got out of bed to see how I looked. My hair, brown like Mom's and somewhat wavy, was askew and messy. I quickly brushed it and threw on my jeans and shoes. I was putting my black hoodie on as I was heading down to see Luke.

Luke looked up at me with those gentle blue eyes of his, smiling. He was always so energetic despite the illness he's always had. He had on a little brown jacket.  It used to be mine, until I got too big for it. I didn't mind giving it up for Luke. I just wanted my brother to be happy. He placed his tiny hand into mine and smiled. He was excited. He loved to go outside... People admired his happiness. It was brave.

"I wanna go see that Cyndaquil.  I dunno what's happened but I'm really curious."

"Well, I think Mom's there, so it should be okay."

His grip gently tightened and I walked him to the Lab. It was still kind of early so nobody was up and about. We went inside and were greeted with smiles from Mom and Professor Elm, who came up to us as we entered.

"Hello boys," he said calmly. "Have you come to see Cyndaquil?"

"Yeah, we have. Luke got really curious and wanted to see it."

"He's right over there. Just be careful, he's really afraid and scared, so please don't be loud around him."

He led us to a little room. Cyndaquil was there, and upon seeing the poor thing, my heart broke... The little guy was shaking and whimpering, but what hurt the most was that, upon looking a bit closer, he had little cuts and bruises on it. I gasped lightly at the signs of abuse, tears welling up. Just then, I saw Luke slowly walk closer to it. I got worried; Luke had never really interacted with a Pokémon before. I was about to go after him when Mom gently held me back. I looked up at her and knew that, just by her smile, she knew Luke would be okay. I looked on in wonder.

Luke approached Cyndaquil slowly. The poor thing whimpered more, but Luke gently extended his hand. He left it on the surface of the desk, letting Cyndaquil know it was okay.

"It's okay," he said. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"Cynda..?"

It was almost as if Luke and Cyndaquil knew what they were saying. My eyes widened a little as the little Pokémon took hesitant steps towards Luke's hand. Luke was really brave, I thought. Cyndaquil gently sniffed his hand before laying his tiny paws on Luke's hand. Cyndaquil, as if by instinct, looked up at Luke and gently nuzzled his chin. His fur was warm, as expected from a Fire type. We could all see the Cyndaquil offer a little smile at Luke. Luke returned the smile and gently pet Cyndaquil.

"I don't believe it," Elm spoke quietly. "Luke managed to get Cyndaquil to smile simply by being kind."

"Don't Pokémon have an instinct that helps them identify who they can trust or bond with?" I looked up at him.

He nodded. "Yes, and it seems that Cyndaquil would be happier if he lived with you and your family."

Elm walked over to Luke and lightly put his hand through his short dirty blonde hair.

"Luke, would you like to keep Cyndaquil? You're a kind boy and I'm very sure that he would be happy to spend time with you."

"I'd love to!"

"Then he belongs to your family now. Take good care of him," Elm smiled at Luke.

Luke gently picked Cyndaquil up in his arms and gently held him close, as if to keep the little Pokémon warm, despite him being naturally warm. It was very nice to see. Mom and I smiled. I finally went over to them, Mom following behind me. I looked at Cyndaquil, who looked at me, reaching out one paw. I gently held it and smiled. Cyndaquil appeared really happy too.

"What are you going to name it honey?" Mom asked.

Luke looked up for a moment in thought.

"I know," he finally said. "How about Cinders?"

He looked back down at Cinders, who appeared really happy. It let out a happy "Cynda! Cynda!"  to confirm that it liked the name. It was a happy day for us. Luke was the most excited. We took Cinders home and we put a few bandages on his cuts. He seemed really happy about it. He hadn't seemed used to care. He also didn't have a Pokeball. He liked being out in the open... It was almost as if he was more like a pet than a Pokémon to train. We didn't mind and Cinders enjoyed every moment of the love and care. Luke was always playing with him and Cinders was happier each day. Mom and I were happy for him.

"I'm glad that Luke has a little friend now.  He's always happy with Cinders. It's really touching. Cinders seems a lot more playful than what he seemed when we first saw him. I just hope Luke will be okay."

"Don't worry Mom," I said confidently. "Cinders doesn't seem like a hostile Pokémon."

"You're right honey. I'm just glad they're happy." She smiled, and we continued to watch them play.

I don't have a day-to-day remembrance of what happened next, I apologize. However, everything significant is still fresh in my memory.

I remember that winter. It was getting closer to Christmas. Snow was all over. It felt like a frozen blanket, as cliché as that phrase is. It was on the roofs, the ground, everywhere. It wasn't very thick on the ground. The ground layer was actually kind of thin. It was a bit late, maybe about 8 o'clock at night, and it was gently snowing outside. Mom was baking Christmas cookies. Luke was explaining our Christmas tradition to Cinders. I could hear giggles and eager sounding "Cynda?" sounds from the living room. I understood it as, "And then what?" As Mom baked, I went to sit with them. Luke was deep in conversation with Cinders curled in his lap. Luke was also petting him. I felt that sense, almost as if we've had Cinders since he was a baby.

"...so we do this every year, Cinders. We put up that tree and while we sleep, Delibird delivers presents to us. If you've been good, you get what you wanted. If not, you get coal."

"Cynda cynda?" Cinders pointed to the cookies on the table.

"The cookies? Delibird goes to every house all over Johto! It eats some of the cookies to refresh its stamina so it can keep flying!"

"Cynda!"

I smiled. Cinders was truly the only friend Luke had, since Luke didn't go out much due to his illness. I was happy to see him so full of happiness. Same for Cinders. It'd only been a couple months but they had a spectacular bond. Even the Professor was amazed.

"It's very very rare," he explained to me one day. "A Pokémon that has been through abuse yet can open up completely to a stranger is amazing. I suppose that Cinders never really had been loved by its trainer. And not just Luke, but your whole family has taken him in as one of your own without a second thought. To Cinders, it was the best thing he's ever gotten. That's why he's so happy with all of you. He feels truly loved and cared for."

Later on, Mom asked me a favor. Luke was sleeping and Cinders was lying by the tree. She had given me measuring tape. I looked at her, tilting my head.

"I want you to measure Cinders for me," she said quietly. "I'm going to knit him a little sweater for Christmas."

I nodded. "Sure Mom, I'll do it."

Honestly, I felt nervous. I hadn't measured him before, and I didn't want to hurt him by accident. But I still went towards him, being quiet. Knowing it'd scare him if I didn't wake him, I gently pet him.

"Cinders?" I whispered?

"Cynda?" he quietly responded, opening his eyes.

"Would you mind if I measured you? Mom needs to know, she's making you something."

He nodded with a smile and extended his paws, as if to hug me, and waited patiently. I measured his body and arms. I then got ready to measure the neck, but as I was about to, his expression immediately shifted from happiness to extreme fear. He trembled and put his paws to his neck. He was whimpering and tears ran down his face. I put it down, instinctively holding him close, petting him slowly.

"Shh... Don't cry, Cinders... I promise I won't hurt you."

I gently put him down. He let me measure his neck. As I did so, I made especially sure not to hurt him. He had plenty of room to breathe. Upon keeping my promise and finishing, I thanked him, hugging him. He nuzzled me happily, appreciating my kindness. He smiled before going back to sleep. I handed the measurements to Mom, who smiled.

"Thank you, Barry. Goodnight and sweet dreams honey."

"Thanks Mom, goodnight."

As I drifted off to sleep, I couldn't help but wonder how Cinders would feel in the morning. It would be his first Christmas. I was happy knowing that we would make him very happy. I fell asleep quickly, feeling worn out for some reason...

When I woke up, it wasn't on my own like normal. I was awakened to the feeling of tiny paws against my chest and being licked. I felt my cheeks being licked and I woke up, smiling as Cinders was waking me up. I chuckled a bit, petting him.

"Good morning to you too, Cinders," I said happily.

"Cynda!"

"Did you get me up just because it's Christmas?"

"Cynda," he nodded, smiling happily.

"Then let me get up, buddy, so I can join you all."

He scurried downstairs as I got up, yawning. I noticed that I fell asleep in all my clothes last night. My grey shirt was wrinkled, my sleeves rolled up a little. I suppose I rolled around in my sleep a lot. I can't really recall. I shortly went downstairs, where presents were waiting for Luke and I, and even one for Cinders! I sat down next to Luke, Cinders squeezing between us. Luke opened one of his gifts first. He smiled as he revealed it to be a sketchbook. Luke had always been good at art, so he always had a sketchbook handy. I took one of my gifts and opened it. I was surprised to see a journal. I thought it'd be nice to record my thoughts. I never realized I'd be using it to retell you, the reader, the story. Our other gifts consisted of some pens, pencils, and clothes. Finally, we helped Cinders open his gift. It was the sweater that Mom was knitting last night. It was a warm auburn color. Mom even went the extra mile and stitched Cinders' face in the middle of it. Cinders started to tear up. We got a bit worried, but after we looked at him, he was smiling. We were relieved to see he was happy. Luke hugged him close, smiling.

"We love you, Cinders! We're glad to have you as part of our family!!"

Cinders was at a loss for words. Feeling as if I knew what Cinders wanted, I sat closer to Luke. Cinders, with his tiny paws, tried his best to give us a hug. Smiling, we both hugged him back. Together we helped Cinders get dressed in it. Mom made the hole a little bigger so Cinders' neck wouldn't be stuck and so that he could easily breathe. We smiled as Mom took out her camera, taking pictures of Luke, Cinders, and I. It was a happy day for us, going by pretty quickly. We all figured that we'd be happy like this for a long time to come. Unfortunately, nearly a year later, the worst happened...

It was a very cold December evening. Over the last few months, Luke had been sick, very sick. He's been coughing and vomiting, sometimes violently. Mom has been a wreck, and Cinders and I have been worried about Luke. We visit him in the hospital whenever we can. Professor Elm looks after us when Mom stays. His wife doesn't mind him looking after us; she understands how hard it is on us and Mom. Though she also shared concerns about Luke.

"The poor boy," she said one night. "Has he always been so sick?"

"Not this sick," I explained, "he's been somewhat okay, and last year he was fine, full of life. Cinders was part of that reason. He was okay during the earlier parts of this year, but after August, Luke started getting sicker and sicker..." I looked down at Cinders. He was scared. He didn't want to lose his best friend. I completely understood his fears. I held him tighter, gently petting him.

Just then, the door opened. Professor Elm was just getting off the phone. His face looked grim, ashen, as if he had just heard terrible news. I instinctively held Cinders closer to me. He looked at the three of us.

"We need to get to the hospital, immediately."

"What's wrong?" I asked, terrified of the answer.

After a long pause, he spoke with difficulty.

"Luke is dying."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I gasped in unison with Mrs. Elm, who had taken the news as grim as I had. Cinders looked up at me quickly, tears falling. He gave a sad "C-Cynda?" and I didn't know what to tell him. "I can't lose him." was all I managed to choke out. We arrived at the hospital in roughly five minutes. I was in my hoodie, holding Cinders close to me. He was in his knitted sweater he received last year. When we got to the room, I nearly burst into tears on the spot. Luke was on oxygen, his heart rate was slow, there were IV's in him. I trembled in fear, only staying on my feet so I didn't scare Cinders, who was also trembling. Mom was sitting next to Luke, her fingers running through his hair. Her usual neat and tidy auburn hair was messy and all over. Tears stained her cheeks and face. She was humming to him like she used to do when he was a baby. I could feel Mom's thoughts. She was horrified. Dad was already gone; she couldn't bear to lose her baby boy either. I took a seat and sat with Mom, letting Cinders rest on Luke's chest. Time felt sluggish, as if it slowed down. After what seemed like hours, but were only minutes, Luke began to stir. Again, we collectively gasped. Cinders immediately licked his cheek gently, much like how he wakes me up sometimes. He slowly pet Cinders with his free hand that Mom wasn't squeezing.

"I'm sorry Cinders... Everyone... I didn't mean to worry you...”

"Don't be sorry," I said, looking at him tearfully. "You're going to be okay... right little bro?"

"I... I don't know, Barry..." he coughed a bit and caught his breath.

"D-Don't speak h-honey," Mom was trembling, about to cry. "Y-You need your strength..."

At that point, Mom excused herself with a nurse. We could tell she was crying. Professor Elm took her place. Luke seemed pleased to see him.

"Thank you, Professor... For letting me have Cinders... For letting our family show him love... You've always been a father-figure to me... What'll happen to Cinders if...?"

"Cynda cynda!" Cinders shook his head, vehemently denying that Luke would soon be gone.

"Barry... Come here please...” he said to me.

"Yeah bro..? What is it?" I took his hand; I felt it grip mine, as if gripping to life.

Luke had a knowing look in his eyes as he spoke to me.

"Tell Mom I love her... And Barry...” I felt his pulse slow down, his grip start to fade. I gasped and squeezed his hand.

"Luke no! Don't go! Come back!" I was crying now, desperately hoping a miracle would happen.

"Take care of Cinders.... I'm sorry..." were his final words. His grip loosened completely, his heart stopping. Cinders and I were crying harder, shaking him, calling out to him. Elm gently held us close, as the realization his us hard, like a punch to the gut.

Luke was dead.

The funeral ceremonies came and went. It felt like a blur. Mom was heartbroken, often crying or putting on fake smiles to help Cinders and I think it was okay. But it wasn't. Cinders rarely smiled since that day. He missed Luke. He was as much of a brother to Cinders as he was to me. Mom wanted Luke buried nearby, so we could always visit his grave. I waited to ever visit... I still couldn't accept the horrible truth. But a few months later, on a chilly spring evening, we visited him. I had nine candles and a match. Shivering and fighting tears, I lit the first 8, putting 4 on each side. I felt a tap at my leg. Looking down, I saw Cinders in his sweater.

"What's wrong, Cinders?"

"Cynda..."

"I know... I miss him too...”

I knelt by him and noticed he was looking at the last candle I had, reaching for it. I could tell from his eyes that he wanted to help. I gave him the candle. Cinders lit it with a gentle ember, almost as if a flame too hot or too intense would harm the candle. He placed the ninth candle in the middle of the grave. I read the grave quietly. It said:

"Here lies Luke. He was a boy full of life and love. Never forgotten, may his spirit find peace and rest in this hometown."

I couldn't handle it anymore. I dropped to my knees, covered my face with my hands, and cried. I couldn't bear it anymore. My baby brother had died, and our family would never be the same. I felt Cinders climb up my arm and lick my cheek. I sniffled, taking a look into his tearful eyes. He felt how I did, but his soft gaze told me what I needed to think. He's never coming back, and there's nothing we can do about it. I held Cinders close and went inside. When I put him down, he curled up on the floor, sadly. Mom had called me in to give me something.

"I made this last night... Give it to Cinders, it'll keep him happy, which is all I want right now..."

I looked at it. It was a stitched doll, it looked just like Luke! Every last detail was perfect. I looked up at her.

"Mom, this is perfect... Thank you, he'll love it." I kissed her cheek and went to Cinders, who looked up with a confused "Cynda?"

"Look who it is, Cinders," I smiled and handed him the doll. "It's Luke!"

"Cynda? Cynda!" Cinders happily hugged the doll, smiling up at me knowingly. We learnt a very important lesson from this.

It doesn't matter what happens. Your true friends will always be there for you if you treat them like you wanted to be treated, and that there is always a way to remember those who are gone. Cinders never left us. He stayed with his family, for all of his days.

Stars

Stars (Written on December 11th, 2011)

Like props hanging on the stage,

With a painted sky of night,

Like the fur of a raven, dark and serene,

Gliding through the lunar skies with determination,

Determination painted on its soft eyes.

Without the wires they meditate in the air,

Levitating like a magic carpet from the Arabian Nights.

Stars, like Heaven’s nightlights,

Bathing us in the dreams of the Milky Way,

Guiding us to the bosom of Morning’s loving shine.

Twinkling eyes of children pasted to the canvas.

Golden like Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur.

Bright like the eyes of a puppy or kitten

That had first opened its eyes.

They softly pulse in the horizon,

Jellyfish floating in a sea of no water.

Mysterious like the lost city of Atlantis.

But these children of the moon need not worry.

They are seen and watched over by Zeus and Athena.

Together the stars are a worldly game of Connect the Dots,

Mystifying us with the Constellations

Like Ursa Major or Minor and Orion’s Belt.

And as dawn approaches and night succumbs to day,

The stars wave goodbye with a bright smile on their faces,

And await night once more,

Where they will play in harmonic bliss.

Recompiled

Recompiled (I forgot when I wrote this but it was somewhere in 2014)

As I grow I learn many things,
Meet many people,
Build upon friendships,
Eventually forming bonds.
But what becomes of us in this dream called life?
Friendships can become meaningless.
Bonds turned into smoldering ash!
Don't you see?
All of this "life" we're given..
Nothing but data and calculations.
What if? Why? How? When? Where...?
All questions answered in our little solace,
Our cyberspace.
And what happens when we dream?
Little stories of what if and what's to come,
All recompiled here,
In our cyberspace.
And as we confront these machinations of our lust for knowledge,
We ask ourselves...
Is this real?
Is this a dream?
But who's to honestly say?
So all we can do is store all of our thoughts together,
Dormant or not.
And where are our thoughts as we clash swords with our "friends?"
Bickering and fighting,
Nothing less of a battle to the death in an arena.
But I ask again...
Where are our thoughts when we need them most?
I would say the answer is clear...

All of our thoughts and memories and dreams..

Recompiled together...

In our cyberspace...

Snowy Eclipse (Haiku)

(Written Feb. 9th, 2016)

Snow flurries falling,
Heavier as the night falls,
The moon approaches.

Flurries all night long,
As far as the eye can see,
A lunar glow starts.

Basking in the light,
And continuing to fall,
A snowy eclipse.

Well, I Have my Answer

You voted and the poll is over. And it's decided that I will now include poetry as part of the things I upload now. As I said before, a lot of my writings are.. dark, or at least have some not-child-friendly language, but I'll definitely give warnings before the actual poems, this way nobody can say "Hey, Cyndrqwill, this piece of writing has a bit of bad language in it and my young child read this! Wtf why would you do that and not warn someone!?"

Of course, even with warnings, it's won't stop people from reading the things. But the warnings are a nice safety net, in my opinion. I hope you look forward to them, I'll upload one tomorrow! Thanks for voting!

I'm Sorry..

I'm sorry.. today... wasn't a very good day for me. I honestly don't want to go into detail about it, it was just.. super stressful.. everything that was wrong has been resolved but my head is pounding and I just.. need to rest, because I don't feel good. At all. Like I feel sick, honestly. Tomorrow will be poll results, of course. I'm sorry for no post, again today.. Thank you for understanding.

Swapdoodle

I've never really been into FlipNote and I never got into SwapNote. In fact, SwapNote's SpotPass services were discontinued by the time I even got my 3DS so I couldn't exactly use it to its full potential. Then I learned about Swapdoodle, the successor to SwapNote, for all intents and purposes. Having played some 3DS drawing games since then (Disney Art Academy Demo, Miiverse drawings) I decided to download Swapdoodle and see how it is. And honestly, I don't have a strong attachment to it.

However, that does not mean it's boring. It's a very fun and silly little app that lets you exchange doodles and stuff with your 3DS friends and you can buy new pen colors, get more storage, new stationery, doodle lessons, and you can add stickers. Badges obtained from Nintendo Badge Arcade are also usable as stickers for your notes. It's nothing super spectacular, but it's not dull and boring either. There's always a happy tune as you draw, Nikki's tutorials are very helpful, and it's also something that can really chew up some time if you have fun sending multiple notes back and forth between one or more friends.

I like Swapdoodle. It may not be the best thing ever, especially not after I'd been spending a lot of time with Fire Emblem Fates and Pokémon Sun, but at the same time it's very fun and enjoyable. If you like drawing or just being silly with some 3DS buddies, definitely grab this game. It's a freemium, for all purposes, but it's still free to download and doesn't take up much space either.

Skyrim Trophy Guide

Welcome to the trophy guide for Skyrim! A quick thing to note, I will NOT be covering the DLC as I do not own the DLC for Skyrim. So this means no Dawnguard, Hearthfire, or Dragonborn trophies will be on this guide. And even so, those don't count towards the platinum, they only count towards 100% of the trophies in the entire game. So with that said, let's just get right into it!

*Please note that I, of course, won't be talking about story-based trophies, due to the fact that Skyrim has a pretty awesome story and I would definitely rather you discover it for yourself!*

Platinum Trophy Collect all other 50 Trophies for this Trophy.

Well, the flavor text beat me to the punch. You know the drill.

Unbound Complete "Unbound."

Unbound is the tutorial, and you will receive this trophy as soon as you finish the mission.

Bleak Falls Barrow Complete "Bleak Falls Barrow."

Simply complete Bleak Falls Barrow as you go through the story and this will be yours.

The Way of the Voice Complete "The Way of the Voice."

The Way of the Voice is a story mission and cannot be missed, unless you choose not to do the game or do some serious sequence breaking glitches, but I don't recommend that.

Diplomatic Immunity Complete "Diplomatic Immunity."

Almost halfway there now, just get through Diplomatic Immunity to receive this trophy.

Alduin's Wall Complete "Alduin's Wall."

Story related and cannot be missed.

Elder Knowledge Complete "Elder Knowledge."

Story related and can't be missed.

The Fallen Complete "The Fallen."

Story related and can't be missed.

Dragonslayer Complete "Dragonslayer."

Great job, you beat the story! That was awesome!

Take Up Arms Join the Companions.

Head over to Jorravaskr in Whiterun to start this series of quests. Typically you'll find the Companions fighting a giant when you first enter the farm areas outside of the city, you can talk to members there as they return home and one will mention heading to Jorravaskr if you want to become a member.

Blood Oath Become a member of the Circle.

You have to complete quests for the Companions until you're given the quest "The Silver Hand." After completing a part of the quest, this trophy will pop.

Glory of the Dead Complete "Glory of the Dead."

Complete the Companions quest line and this shiny trophy is all yours. Well done, Companion.

Gatekeeper Join the College of Winterhold.

Simply join the College and do a quick starting quest and you're all set to be a mage.

Revealing the Unseen Complete "Revealing the Unseen."

Complete more quests and this trophy will pop after "Revealing the Unseen."

The Eye of Magnus Complete "The Eye of Magnus."

You're a master mage now, you completed the College quest line! Great job!

Taking Care of Business Join the Thieves Guild.

In Riften, there's a man named Brynjolf who will give you a simple thieving task. Complete it or fail it, you'll then be asked to find the Thieves Guild down in the Ratway. Meet him in the Ragged Flagon and this trophy is yours.

Darkness Returns Complete "Darkness Returns."

Yep, next trophy down is completing all of the quests for the Thieves Guild. I hope you had fun with this line, because it's a lot of fun to do.

One with the Shadows Returned the Thieves Guild to its former glory.

After finishing the quest line, you have to do a number of jobs for Delvin and Vex, the random jobs that never end. After completing roughly 5 missions in each city, Delvin gives you a bigger job for one of the cities you've been doing jobs in. Completing this bigger mission gives the Guild influence in that city. Repeat for all 4 major cities and you'll have one last step to do before you get the trophy. Just make sure you still have your Thieves Guild armor or this trophy won't pop!

With Friends Like These... Join the Dark Brotherhood.

At some point or another, a bartender in Skyrim will mention a boy named Aventus Aretino, who is found in his home in Windhelm, and you have to pick the lock to enter the house. After completing his mission, you'll eventually get mail from a courier, a paper with a hand mark, simply saying "We know." Sleep in any bed at that point to get this quest line started.

Bound Until Death Complete "Bound Until Death."

You have a lot of work to do to get this trophy, so get to it and complete those contracts!

Hail Sithis! Complete "Hail Sithis!"

Great work, you finished the quest line! Congrats, Assassin!

Taking Sides Join the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Army.

It doesn't matter what side you join, the quest lines are the same, you're just on different sides. You get the side mission for joining one side depending on who you follow in Unbound, so if that's easier, just do that. Otherwise, go to Solitude or Windhelm to join the Imperial Army or the Stormcloaks, respectively.

War Hero Capture Fort Sungard or Fort Greenwall.

Just some misc. missions for your army to go through, just take 'em one by one. BE SURE TO SAVE OFTEN AS THIS QUEST IS ONE OF THE MOST BUGGY IN THE WHOLE GAME!

Hero of Skyrim Capture Solitude or Windhelm.

It's time to finish the Civil War quest line! Whichever side you picked, this is your final push, so give it your all!

Sideways Complete 10 side quests.

A side quest is a quest you can get that is not put under the "Misc. Objectives" tab and isn't one of the faction quests. There's a very decent amount of them and you'll get many as you go through the game so talk to people often.

Hero of the People Complete 50 Misc. Objectives.

Misc. Objectives are more commonplace than side quests, so 50 is not difficult, especially considering some of these objectives are pretty quick.

Hard Worker Chop wood, mine ore, and cook food.

You'll find places to chop wood all over the world, ore and pickaxes are typically found within mines, and as long as you have ingredients, go find a cooking pot and make some food. Easy as pie!

Thief Pick 50 locks and 50 pockets.

50 locks is an easy goal, as you'll be wanting to lockpick everything you can in order to level up your lockpicking skill. As for pickpocketing, that's a bit harder. For better success, always do a quick save before you pick a pocket, just in case you get noticed. If it doesn't automatically remove you from the inventory menu, you successfully pickpocketed someone.

Snake Tongue Successfully persuade, bribe, and intimidate.

As there are many opportunities to do all of these, and some missions with the Thieves Guild will require some of these 3 actions, this is almost impossible to be missed if you're trying to do everything you can in this game. After successfully doing each of these once, you're set!

Blessed Select a Standing Stone blessing.

After Unbound, as you make your way to Riverwood, you'll come across an area with 3 Standing Stones, each designed to help increase the skills for each skill tree. One for Warriors, one for Mages, and one for Thieves. Simply pick one of these blessings and you're done.

Standing Stones Find 13 Standing Stones.

They're all over Skyrim, and you'll definitely run into them as you travel. Just keep an eye on your HUD as you travel the map and explore.

Citizen Buy a house.

This is another easy one. Typically it requires you to be Thane of a hold, but some holds require you to buy a house before you can become Thane. Pretty easy one, the house in Whiterun is, of course, the easiest to obtain.

Wanted Escape from jail.

Simply anger some guards by hitting them, then submit and go to jail. Use your single lockpick to get past the bars on the floor in your cell, then easily make your escape. You can always save beforehand if you don't want to lose everything just to go to jail.

Married Get married.

After you obtain an Amulet of Mara, which can be bought from Maramal in Riften after asking about temples and marriage, equip it and eventually a woman, or man, depending on your character's gender, will ask if you're interested in them, at which point saying yes will initiate a wedding ceremony at Riften. Simply go to your wedding ceremony and this trophy is yours.

Artificer Make a smithed item, an enchanted item, and a potion.

Easily done, as there are people who will do tutorials on how to actually use these crafting stations, and these tutorials will walk you through the basic steps needed to use these in the future.

Master Criminal Bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds.

Typically this involves murdering one person to get the bounty to 1000 easily. Save before doing this so that you can go back to being a normal citizen after you've finished your life of crime and get your trophy!

Golden Touch Have 100,000 gold.

Takes a long time, but some quests will be a huge help, like receiving 20,000 gold through the Dark Brotherhood questline. This is not cumulative, you need to actually have 100,000 gold on hand for this trophy to pop.

Delver Clear 50 dungeons.

Pretty easy, most areas with unique icons can count as a dungeon. To clear one, you have to essentially kill every enemy inside. When you check your map, if it says "Cleared," then you're set. You'll obtain this one as you bang out the other trophies.

Skill Master Get a skill to 100.

Self-explanatory, just do actions until one hits 100. If you have patience, using the spell "Muffle" if really handy, as it can be used quickly, regardless of whether or not other characters are around or not, and it quickly boosts your Illusion skill. If you can get it, "Detect Life" is a great way to gain exp for Alteration.

Explorer Discover 100 Locations.

This will naturally come to you as you play normally.

Reader Read 50 Skill Books.

Certain books will level up your skills when you read them. They're all over the world, and once you've read 50 different books, you'll have this trophy.

Daedric Influence Acquire a Daedric Artifact.

See Oblivion Walker.

Oblivion Walker Collect 15 Daedric Artifacts.

Several of these are found when starting quests at a shrine. Generally just play the game normally and you'll find them. Some decisions you make could potentially lock you out of the Artifacts, however, so if you're unsure about a certain choice, you can always so a quick save to be able to head back if you messed up.

Dragon Soul Absorb a dragon soul.

See Dragon Hunter.

Dragon Hunter Absorb 20 dragon souls.

You'll fight dragons often as you travel through Skyrim, especially to obtain Thu'um Master and also be able to use these new shouts, as most require dragon souls to actually use each new level of the shout. After getting 20 souls, cumulatively, you'll have this trophy.

Words of Power Learn all three words of a shout.

See Thu'um Master.

Thu'um Master Learn 20 shouts.

This requires you to learn all of the shouts in the base game. Additional shouts from the DLC do count towards this, so if you have the DLC, you have more leeway. You must learn one word from every shout, you don't need to have all 3 words to obtain this trophy. You can talk to the Greybeards for help in finding some of the shouts, as they will point you in the direction of, if I remember correctly, roughly 8 or so shouts, so they're very helpful. Dragon altars typically always have a shout hidden, so look for those dragon symbols on your map or HUD.

Apprentice Reach Level 5.

See Master.

Adept Reach Level 10.

See Master.

Expert Reach Level 25.

See Master.

Master Reach Level 50.
Leveling up is pretty easy, you gain exp from generally everything you do. Reaching Level 50 does take a while, but it's not as hard as it seems. You'll get this as you bang out the other trophies and do quests and story missions.

And that's all for this trophy guide! I hope you enjoyed it, and if this guide isn't enough to be of great help, well, there's always better and more informative guides out there. In any case, I appreciate you reading this guide and I will see you later! Stay warm!

*This game took me a total of 3 years, 4 months, and 2 weeks to finish, from my first trophy to the platinum, with a long hiatus in the middle of it. My first trophy was "Unbound" which was achieved on May 23rd, 2013 at 4:09 PM. My final trophy was "Thu'um Master" which was achieved on October 6th, 2016 at 3:43 PM, along with the platinum, "Platinum Trophy." This platinum trophy is the 46th platinum trophy I have received.*