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vg-sanctuary · 3 years ago

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The World Ends with You

Jupiter - DS - 2008

[screenshots from Nintendo Life, jack-reviews.com, and LPArchive; please excuse the low res, I couldn’t find better ones]

TWEWY is an RPG with modern (circa 2008) style and character designs by Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Kingdom Hearts. I meant to write about it the day its sequel NEO: TWEWY came out but missed that by a few days. anyway, I think it's reasonable to call this game the epitome of the Nintendo DS. it has every feature to be expected of any game on the wildly unique handheld: a touch-based minigame with wireless multiplayer and little bearing on the main game, a sleep mode puzzle, touch controls, forced use of both screens, and gameplay and plot designed to be enjoyed in short bursts. it's loaded with cool ideas, some of which are more than questionable, even barring the crazy DS features, hence the remakes. (savvy readers will notice I left out the iOS and Switch platforms and, while there are remakes of the game for both platforms that have extra content and a more elegant combat system, they don't hit quite like the DS original.)

I don't fancy myself an RPG fan for the most part. the usual high fantasy themes and turn based combat are boring to me. usually, if an RPG has either one I'm not interested, and this has neither of those. I decided to try TWEWY while collecting DS games, and the plot and combat had grabbed me within two hours. I haven't mentioned the awesome music and visuals, both wonderfully stylish and unique in the same way Persona's UI is stylish and unique, only this game uses the style on its game world and characters instead of menus.

the premise is the antisocial protagonist, Neku, wakes up in a killing game wherein each day has a mission that he and his partner either complete or face erasure. after a week of these missions he'll be free. I can’t tell you the massive general plot spoiler that makes the whole thing so compelling as it goes on, so this section of the post is sadly pretty short. there is an anime that goes over the main events, but it's only four hours long compared to the game's 20, character development is sometimes lacking in detail or totally inaccurate, and it generally doesn't include the hardships you would go through as a player e.g. having to try a boss five times.

almost everything about TWEWY's gameplay is intriguing, so I'll try to be concise. combat is a strange beast that comes from developer Jupiter's need to use both screens to the fullest. by the way, don't let this wall of text scare you away from the game; it introduces these mechanics much slower and it's easier to understand and use. the bottom screen is gesture-based ARPG combat where, for example, short swipes over an enemy makes Neku use a sword attack or touching somewhere on the screen makes him fire a bullet. the exact gestures and attacks are determined by what pins he's wearing. the top screen asks you to use the d-pad to attack with Neku’s partner and navigate along a tree of cards where getting the right card grants a star; enough of those allows you to use a powerful and health-restoring fusion attack. there's this green light puck that passes between characters when the one holding it does a finisher and multiplies the finisher's damage with each successful pass up to five times, but disappears if held by one character for too long. fortunately the game has an auto mode for the top screen that's roughly equivalent to mashing left or right on the d-pad so you don't have to try to split your brain between both, but you get a little more experience if that's turned off. I love the bottom screen and the idea of the top screen but could never really get my head around doing both at once. maybe the intent was to focus on the character that has the puck and leave the other standing still or spamming defense? (in NEO: TWEWY, the light puck mechanic was changed to beat drop combos, where using a different character to attack shortly after a finisher gives you some charge for a super. no attention splitting, just fun ARPG combat with an interesting combo system that can inform what pins you use.)

turning up the game's difficulty makes enemies stronger and mostly drops different pins. there aren't random encounters: you have to scan for enemies and mostly get to choose which encounters to take. you can choose to fight multiple in a row without getting health back between them and multiply your drop rate multiplier, with enemies getting stronger the more encounters you take. you get your health back when you return to the overworld, which cuts out a lot of the obligatory spending for healing items and the trouble of running out for the player. there are still some pins that can heal you during a battle, though.

leveling up, instead of arbitrarily increasing every stat, only increases your HP, but you can turn your level down to lower your HP and multiply the drop rate of pins by one for each level. other stats can be increased with clothes or food, with different foods permanently increasing different stats and have different calories. each character can only eat so much in a single real time day, which is wack but still interesting. the food system in NEO is similar except without the per-day limit, and I think it's a great idea that gives the player agency in terms of what stats they want to increase and whether they want larger or smaller boosts.

pins can evolve when leveled up enough, but may only evolve if you give them the right kind of pin points, which is like experience for pins. there's PP from battles, from the game's proto-StreetPass mingle mode (that you could only get randomly roughly every hour, from other folks in TWEWY's mingle mode, or from other DSes running any wireless software; thankfully this is removed from the remakes but it's a neat idea), and from turning off the game for up to seven real time days. if a pin reaches max level with the wrong kind of PP, you have to go get another one to evolve it, but I don't think there are any super rare pins that evolve. the game doesn't show what kind of PP you need to evolve a pin, so while it's a cool idea, there's a fair chance that you'll miss lots of evolutions and not even notice.

there are lots of rare pins that can be worn as a set to do something ridiculously powerful, but you have to go out of your way to get them, like the Darklit Planets. it's a set of seven pins that are useful alone, but if worn all together they become three times more powerful. they all drop rarely from bosses on the highest difficulty. I love wacky, mystical, obscenely powerful postgame stuff like this but can't be bothered to actually go and get it. some games give you their best weapons last, which is always a shame because there's nothing to use it on, but in TWEWY, there's a boss rush that saves your best time and lots of bosses to re-fight for their rare pins, so you'll have a reason to fight bosses until you've got every one of those rare pins.

speaking of postgame, TWEWY's is rather extensive, with a bonus day focused on the Tin Pin Slammer minigame and goofy non-canon alternate personalities plus four sort of tedious missions for every ingame day that unlock secret reports for much more lore about the Reapers' Game. (one of the missions for every day is "find and destroy the pig Noise," which mostly have puzzle-ish fights; one is killed by closing the DS and opening it again, which is the sleep mode puzzle I mentioned.) if you get them all, it unlocks a special scene in the ending, but again, I can't be bothered to do that kind of postgame. not all of it, anyway, the bonus day's missions are too tedious for me.

in Tin Pin Slammer, the minigame with almost no bearing on the main game, you use your pins to play kinda-sorta Beyblade. every pin has different stats, many of which are hidden, and different amounts of the different weapons to stun your opponents' pins with. it's a rather extensive side mode and a totally unnecessary inclusion, but really fun anyway, and can be played wirelessly with others. there are some other mechanics that are also interesting but not quite worth adding any more words to this ridiculously long post, including a brand trends system and an interesting way to limit running from fights.

even with all of these words and some pictures, I seriously can't offer a glimpse of the vibes, the combat, the music, the story, the characters, the entire energy of The World Ends with You in a blog post, and in my opinion, it's not the same without the crispy DS sprites or peculiar dual screen combat. if you like the DS, 2000s energy, or action RPGs, this is an essential addition to your library if you don't want to track down a DS copy or you prefer more elegant combat, try one of the remakes instead. you're this far into the blog post, so I'm sure you won't be disappointed. (NEO: TWEWY is very good too and has a free demo on PS4 and Switch; while not the same, it's still worth trying. it carries a modernized audiovisual energy of its predecessor, more elegant combat improvements to other TWEWY systems.)

#twewy #the world ends with you #ds #nintendo ds #nds #retro gaming #my writing

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guerilla935 · 5 years ago

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Modern Role Playing Games For People That Want To Get Into RPG‘s

You may have heard of a little game that’s come out recently called Final Fantasy VII Remake. There has been a lot of talk about this game having inspired a lot of people to play a game that they skipped back in the day or inspired them to pick up another RPG because they were so engaged in it. Final Fantasy VII Remake isn’t going to make it into this article because I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. But if you’ve always been curious about the RPG genre or maybe you have just finished Final Fantasy VII Remake and are hungry for more, I have a pretty good selection of RPG’s that could offer you the chance to get into a genre of games that maybe you hadn’t considered before. The games on the list are primarily “modern” and what I mean by that is the games will not be SNES era games but rather games that are probably more accessible and easier on the eyes. The games are (as always) limited to what I have had the chance to play. And the games that have been selected were chosen based on the following criteria: low complexity of combat, world building, leveling curve (lack of grinding), and visual appeal. Some of you may want to dive straight into the deep end and download some anime RPG on Steam or find a copy of Chrono Trigger or some certain PS1/NES era RPG and if you can do that then you are an absolute trooper but this post will focus on newer titles rather than the classics. Also if you want me to spotlight a game that you want to recommend put it in the notes because I love getting suggested games! And if you have any questions my messages are always open and I have all the free time to answer them. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way here are games that I recommend as good starting places if you want to get into RPG’s.

Kingdom Hearts

(PS2/PS3/PS4/XBOne)

Kingdom Hearts is a cross over series that blended the worlds of Final Fantasy with Disney. What makes this game attractive to new players is the Disney half and what hooks them in is the Final Fantasy half. The game is easy to pick up and keeps you consistently engaged in enough story and new locations to keep you wanting more after the credits role. The combat is easy, only requiring a few buttons and allows the player to advance effortlessly without having to worry about their gear or level. The platforming sections help form a cohesive world that is small enough to allow its player to mentally map the whole game easily. The game still tosses around complex themes and sullen moments so it is still very viable to play for adults even though it may take you a good while to start seeing the fruits of that. This is an easy pickup for anyone that is thinking that just maybe they want to try a role playing game that tells a large story in a manageable amount of time that doesn’t require a huge amount of your brain power to get through.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

(PC/PS4/PS3/XB360/XBOne/Switch/PSVR)

Skyrim is an open ended role playing game where you create a character and exist in a fantasy world full of dragons and wizards. It’s exactly what most people associate with when they think about fantasy and most of the time it is where people go when they want that sort of experience. If you are trying to play an RPG that tells bite sized stories but includes enough world building to have you reading Skyrim history books until 4 in the morning then perhaps Skyrim is a good game to try. The controls are similar to any other first person game so if you are not familiar with that then there is a learning curve attached to it, other than that there is a wide range of difficulties that allow just about anyone to be able to play through the game. The snowy vistas make this game a beautiful option and the way that the scope of the world reaches miles in front of you gives a really liberating sense of freedom. Skyrim has the potential to become a hardcore obsession but also allows a lighter and more casual experience for people who just want to see main stories.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

(PS4/PC)

Ni No Kuni II is a fun game that applies big ideas into digestible pieces. The combat is very simple to learn and fun to exploit. The game adds a strategy mode where you command troops that isn’t awesome but also introduces a town building mechanic that is easy to understand and gives you a visual sense of progression. The story is awesome and keeps the world of Ni No Kuni grounded into its fantastical fantasy setting that borrows a lot from everyday life. The game borrows from the art of Studio Ghibli and is heavily inspired by movies like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. If any of that sounds like it is interesting to you then this is easily a fun opportunity to bring a unique RPG into your gaming library.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

(Switch)

I’m willing to admit two things. The first being that I truly believe that Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum were the best Pokemon games and that normally I would recommend that someone just play that game instead. However, the second is that Pokemon Sword and Shield are the definitive versions of Pokemon that rid the game of the dated mechanics of previous titles. Pokemon is the monster taming game, the game is a celebration of being able to constantly change who you are playing as and it feels endlessly personal. Pokemon is a great intro to turn based combat that does a great job teaching things like elemental weaknesses and speed stats. This is definitely the easiest, most customizable, and cute, way to enter the RPG genre.

Persona 5 Royal

(PS4)

Persona 5 Royal is the definitive version of Persona 5 which is the latest installment in the Shin Megami Tensei spinoff series called Persona. The game is about balancing daily high school life with traveling into another dimension to fight shadows. The game has a lot of things in it, a day to day manager, a dating sim, turn based RPG, fishing, darts, batting cage, etc. Persona 5 also drips with style, from the amazing art to the fantastic soundtrack. The combat takes some learning but if you set the difficulty all the way down it becomes an accessible experience at no cost to the gripping story. You are guaranteed to fall in love with this game if you end up playing it and it’s bound to create an obsession that has you playing Persona 4 as well as Persona 3. This is an intimidating game to start but with the difficulty set low you really can’t mess up the other portions of the game so there is always a good way to make sure you can experience one of the best games on the PS4.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age

(Switch/PS4/3DS/PC)

Dragon Quest XI is the funniest game on this list. The writing also ironically follows plot lines from other media like Marvel Cinematic Universe or Dragon Ball. You’ll also notice that the game looks a lot like Dragon Ball so if you ever wanted a Dragon Ball fantasy RPG then you might be in luck. The story is driven home by its amazing cast and continues to supply the player with things to do way after the credits have rolled. The turn based combat is very traditional so maybe try this game if you don’t mind learning an older style of game play presented in a fun and easy to understand setting. Dragon Quest XI is guaranteed to hook you in with its likeable characters and grand story telling, if you are at all attracted by the promises of dumb humor, excellent writing, and incomparable character development you should plan on purchasing this game.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn

(PS4/PC)

An MMO is an RPG too. And as I’m writing this the current best place to live a virtual life is in Final Fantasy XIV. As someone who has tried almost every free to play MMO on the market I can say with absolute certainty that you get what you pay for and the subscription to FFXIV is worth every cent if you want to get into an MMO. The game is large and intimidating and complex, however, the game is also home to one of the friendliest communities I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with and they make the game as special as it is. This is why people that don’t even like video games are drawn to FFXIV because it is an amazing social experience that also happens to be an amazing MMO experience. The story is the best in terms of MMO story lines and the combat is vast boasting 18 completely unique combat classes. I can’t recommend this game enough and if you have ever considered an MMO then I can guarantee you that this is the one that you want to be playing.

Fantasy Life

(3DS)

Fantasy Life is a game about grinding professions. It looks like Animal Crossing and kind of plays like Animal Crossing would if you could also slay beasts and smith armor in that game. If you are familiar with Life Sim games then this is just the fantasy RPG version of that. The game gives you a job and makes it insanely fun to do that job with fun mini games and a rewarding economy system. This is the “relaxing” game on the list so if you like games like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon and you may want to try more combat heavy games then this is a great Segway into that genre of game.

Diablo III

(PC/Mac/PS3/PS4/XB360/XBOne/Switch)

Diablo III is probably the most famous ARPG which just means that you are looking down from an isometric point of view and are typically facing hordes of monsters to achieve hordes of loot. I would say that Path of Exile might be catching up fast to Diablo but if you want to ease into an ARPG then Diablo III is much more forgiving. The game is instantly rewarding and gives you a lot of customization with your skills and appearance. This game tells an epic story but has too much game in between story beats to make it worth playing for. Although I would recommend this game to a new player that only wants to play an RPG for its gear management and game play versatility without having to sit through endless cut scenes.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

(Switch)

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses you play as the combat teacher of one of three groups of kids. You decide what they learn and how well they get at it. The game is a strategy RPG so you are using your brain a bit more to assess situations than the other games on this list. However, Fire Emblem streamlines the system into something easy to understand that is accessible to most new players. While I don’t recommend this game to every new RPG player I’d say that if you really want a game that makes you think rather than hit buttons randomly than you might enjoy the deeper engagement that this game offers. Note that the Fire Emblem series is known for using a very evil emotional weapon called “party member perma-death” which you can absolutely turn off if you would like a less stressful experience. Or live for the thrill, I won’t tell you what to do.

Final Fantasy XV

(PS4/XBOne/PC)

Final Fantasy XV isn’t a normal Final Fantasy game. It is a road trip that you can’t truly appreciate unless you get distracted. Over the years RPG’s have been known for putting a large amount of side activities in their games, Final Fantasy XV takes its story and encases it in casual game play that involves long drive and lots of fishing and camping. This game is not for everyone but its more casual approach will appeal to a newer audience than a hardened veteran of the Final Fantasy series. People looking for their first RPG won’t be totally swayed by the story here but they will have seen that the journey can be fun if you let it.

So You Wanna Start An RPG

Take it from someone who has played the opening hours of a lot of games and then quit that sometimes you just can’t get yourself to like a game. You owe it to yourself to find in entertainment something that you like. I consider myself more of a casual RPG player, I’ve never beaten any of the classics and I can hardly finish a lot of the RPG’s that I own now. But I think that fickleness makes me a good source to recommend a good RPG for people that may not have the patience to play through a Final Fantasy IV or a Golden Sun. Also remember not to rule out experiences just because people say that they are “bad” because opinions are subjective to you personally. RPG’s have the power to tell moving and important stories, and as a player of them I hope I’ve given anyone reading this some incentive to experience a larger than life story.

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jamesbvck · 6 years ago

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change your mind | three

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (Modern AU, High School!Bucky) Summary: Senior Year: the last year to be a somebody or a nobody. A chance to fall in love, ace that final exam and make memories. After a terrible first impression, Bucky makes it his mission to fix the mistake he made with the new girl. Will they get their chance? Warnings: swearing, fluff A/N: Let’s break the ice, shall we? :D Feedback in encouraged!

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The nippy November weather swooped in too suddenly. The morning walk to school was now accompanied with frosty grass and biting winds. The leaves were beginning to dwindle from the branches of the trees, collecting in large piles on sidewalks and in front yards. It was perfect that the cafeteria was open before first period so you could grab something warm to drink and a muffin then head to class. The cooler weather also gave you an excuse to wear your big comfy sweaters too. It felt like you were wrapped up in a blanket every day.

Upon arriving at school you made a B-line to the cafeteria. There were a few students sitting at a table scribbling in last minute assignments before the bell rang. You walked into the separate small food room and grabbed a paper cup, filling it with hot chocolate and capping it with a lid. To your surprise the pastries were of low quantity and there weren’t any banana chocolate chip muffins left. There must have been a rush earlier. Nothing else looked too appealing, so you gave the cashier two dollars before heading to your locker. You stripped off your jacket, hanging it up along with your backpack. The warning bell rang and you took your history books before locking up.

You weaved through peers to enter Pierce’s classroom, ducking out of the way as one of the boys in your class attempted to toss a balled up piece of paper into the trash while claiming he was Steph Curry, shooting a three. Placed in the middle of your desk was an untouched, fresh banana chocolate chip muffin. You tipped your head, eyes moving to see Bucky at his spot next to yours. His textbook was open along with his notebook and he was jotting down some words. He had his own muffin and a bottle of orange juice in front of him. Slowly you approached the desks, taking the muffin and sat down.

“It was the last one in the caf, figured I’d get it for you before it was taken.”

Bucky didn’t look up from his work, messily scratching out a few words before continuing on. You set your books down and nodded. “How’d you know this was the kind I liked?” You asked.

“It’s the only one with a purple wrapper. They colour code the different flavours,” Bucky finally looked to you, sleepy half smile lining his lips. “Blue is blueberry for obvious reasons.” He used the end of his pen to point to his breakfast item.

You nodded, flipping open your notebook to a fresh page. “Not to mention you’ve gotten that muffin every day for the last two weeks.” Bucky added a moment after.

The second bell rang and Pierce sharply walked into class. The door closed leaving two students stranded in the hallway and ultimately a detention for ‘being late.’ Pierce never seemed to give kids much of a second chance which made him more terrifying than he already was. You weren’t sure how you made it two months in. It wasn’t that his class was difficult, it was more of actually paying attention and writing shit down because the tests and pop quizzes were always so unexpected.

Silently you peeled off the wrapper as Pierce began his class for the day: World War 2, Cause and Effect. The class felt never-ending. You doodled on the margins of your notebook, half day dreaming and mostly trying not to nod off in fear of the wrath you would incur. Bucky stayed rather mute as well, only poking you when you hadn’t finished your muffin and he was clearly still hungry. He happily took the rest and inhaled it within two seconds.

“You will pair up and choose a topic from the list being passed around,” Pierce handed the girl in the front row a stack of papers and she handed them behind her to go around the room. “Tomorrow you will tell me your partner and topic, one topic per pair. Then you will write an 1500 word, double spaced one sided essay about said topic, cause and effect. How did this certain situation affect America during this time?”

You took the paper and handed the rest over to Bucky. There was a list: Propaganda, Art, Clothing, Women in Warfare, it went on in two columns. The bell rang for the end of class with Pierce instructing everyone to pick up their last test that had been marked. You packed up and rose, finding yours at the front table easily. A ninety-two percent was more than enough for you considering you thought you botched the long answer.

Barely down the hallway, a hand caught your elbow and twisted you back. “Be my partner.”

“What? No way.” You shook off Bucky’s hand, shaking your head.

“Come on, you’re like the second smartest person in class.”

Your brows rose. “Who’s the first?”

“Me,” Bucky said in an obvious tone. He flipped his test around to show you his ninety-six percent grade in red marker. You rolled your eyes. “So you know I’m not gonna flake on you.”

Bucky had a point. At least you could maybe get this done in an efficient amount of time. And you already knew him, you didn’t have to make awkward conversation with someone else.

“Fine,” you caved. “We’re doing Propaganda.”

“Cool by me. We can start on it after school if you want, no practice today and we can finish before the weekend.” Bucky proposed.

“Got yearbook with Peggy but after?”

He agreed, “Yeah, sure. I gotta watch my sisters so you can come over.”

Your stomach flipped with immediate nerves. His house? A library wasn’t suitable? Then again was he really going to drag his sisters to the library? That’d most likely be worse. So you nodded, mindlessly agreeing even though there was caution coursing through you.

You parted for second period and joined Steve in English Lit. He shared a lemon loaf his mother had made with you which was beyond delicious. Hey, at least there were more treats to calm your overthinking and Coulson’s class was a breeze anyway.

Your phone buzzed in the middle of class, a new text message popping up on the screen. Unknown number but you had a hunch. You turned your phone to Steve who confirmed your suspicion.

“Sam have your number?” He asked, you nodded. “Probably gave it to Buck. They have second period together.”

“Bucky and I are partners for a history project.”

Steve’s left brow shot up. “Really?” His voice trailed as if he wanted to say some more but he refrained.

“Really, really.” You punched in Bucky’s name as an new contact, swiping to open the text.

Bucky Barnes: 1423 Westmount Blvd. Bucky Barnes: Figured that’d be helpful.

Your eyes rolled, typing back.

You: Damn was hoping to use a phone book for reverse search.

You watched as the tiny blue checkmark popped up in the corner of your message. Bucky had his read receipts on.

Bucky Barnes: Do those still exist?

It was unclear how you got trapped in a ten minute text conversation about phone books, but it happened. Mr Coulson politely asked you to put your phone away which you obliged and apologized. You zipped your phone in your pencil case, feeling it vibrate against the desk with another reply from Bucky.

Your nerves continued to flourish in your stomach throughout the day. Yearbook motored on by organizing the pictures from school events and Peggy had you designing layouts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You were one of the last ones in the room with Peter Parker finishing printing his high resolution photos.

“Those look great, Pete.” You scanned over some scattered pictures on the desks. “You have a talent.”

He laughed softly, awkwardly. “Uh, thanks! Think these are some of my favourite, too.”

You brushed aside a few seeing a couple snapshots of Becca Barnes. You smiled, recalling how Peggy said Peter had a crush. “Don’t stay too late.” You told him, heaving your backpack onto your shoulders.

Peter waved as you left the room, starting your journey to Westmount Boulevard. The walk was a little farther than you believed, definitely your full exercise for the week. You looked up and down the street as you walked. The houses were a little bigger than your neighbourhood but it was nothing like where Tony Stark resided. You counted the house numbers before walking up neatly laid stepping stones to the dark wooden door of the colonial home. The garden was immaculate and Bucky’s Jeep sat in the long driveway. You stood on the porch, breathing in before knocking three times. There was shuffling on the other side, the lock twisting and door opening. Bucky stood with a granola bar in hand, chewing.

“Hi,” he mumbled, sliding away shoes to the side with his foot. He was in sweatpants and a basic navy shirt, opposed to his jeans and green shirt from earlier in the day.

You stepped inside and removed your shoes and coat. Bucky took it and placed it over the banister of the stairs. You only got a quick glimpse of the Barnes home but it was like looking in a home magazine; rustic yet contemporary. It was perfect but did feel well lived in.

You followed Bucky upstairs. Passing by the first bedroom the walls were lavender and there were two beds on either side of the room. The second room had music coming from it and the B on the door definitely indicated Becca was behind the closed door. There was a master on the other side of the hall and finally Bucky’s in the back. He pushed opened the door revealing a rather tidy bedroom. He had some posters, a TV on a dresser and a PS4 connected with a game in pause. His desk next to the window had papers, books and his laptop. Bucky left the door half open, sinking down into his desk chair.

“Kinda glad you chose propaganda. Did a project on it in the tenth grade, too.” Bucky swivelled around to log into his computer.

You slid off your backpack, still a little uneasy being in the house. Realistically there was nothing to fret about yet you couldn’t help but feel out of place. You moved and sat on the end of his bed, unzipping your bag and took out what you needed.

“So,” you finally spoke. “I guess we should start with what is propaganda and how was it conveyed to the public.”

“Radio, television, leaflets, posters,” Bucky listed. “It portrayed a way Americans should think and see of the war, a way to persuade opinions.”

You wrote as Bucky rambled. Surprisingly it was good enough to form a base of the essay hitting basic points and facts. He pulled up Victory Poster images and Careless Talk counterparts; know about the war, help your husbands, brothers and sons, talk about the war yet be cautious of spies. He knew a lot of stuff. You had moved to sit on the floor, back pressed against the bed as you used your knees to hold up your notebook and write. This was going way more smoothly than you could have imagined.

Bucky faced you, feet up on his bed as a footrest. He tossed a hand exercise ball up into the air and caught it a few times. He stopped, glancing over to the door. You followed his gaze seeing a smaller human hovering just outside in the hallway.

“Come here, Jules.”

The door was pushed opened slightly more revealing the littlest Barnes. Her dark hair waved down just past her shoulders, eyes sharp blue just like Bucky’s. She had her math workbook hugged to her chest and a pencil in hand. She looked sweet but shy and suddenly you felt bad for making her feel like that in her own home. She eyed you closely while she crossed the room to her brother.

“This is Julia,” Bucky introduced. “My most normal and favourite sister.” He proceeded to introduce you and Julia gave a wave before showing Bucky her math homework she needed help with. “I’m going to help her with this for a sec.”

It really wasn’t an issue. If it were you, you’d choose to help an angel face like Julia before anything else. You slid your textbook to yourself, flipping through the pages.

Julia sat on Bucky’s lap, showing him the fractions she had to calculate. You couldn’t help but watch for a few moments. Bucky was a natural teacher explaining to her the numerators and denominators, and how to simplify the equations.

“How many times does two go into two?” Bucky asked.

“One.” Julia’s voice was soft and small.

“Right! And how many twos go into six?”

Julia took a moment and used her fingers to do quick math. “Three.”

Bucky picked up her pencil and scribbled down some numbers. “So it’s one over three. Do you wanna do another one?”

She nodded and they proceeded to practice two more equations before Julia felt confident enough to continue on her own. Bucky promised that after dinner he’d look over the rest of her work although he was certain all the answers would be correct. She hopped off his lap, the tiniest satisfied smile on her face.

She skipped to the door before turning back around. “Can I go get a cookie?” She asked Bucky.

“Only if Abby doesn’t see, and bring us one.”

Julia nodded frantically before taking off down the hall and stairs. You laughed lightly, turning back to look at Bucky.

“How old is she?” You asked.

“Ten,” he replied. “She’s a little shy at first but she’s great. A funny kid.”

“Abby is your other sister?”

He nodded. “She must be in the den or something. She just turned thirteen and she’s been arguing with my parents how she should have her own room like Becca.”

Julia was dashing back into the room in no time. She handed you a chocolate chip cookie and one to Bucky as well. “She didn’t see!” Julia mumbled through cookie bites. Her and Bucky exchanged a high five before she was bustling out of the room again.

Perhaps you sized Bucky up too quickly, or maybe there were two sides to him. There was the Bucky that pulled you out of the haunted house when you were scared, the guy who bought you a damn muffin and helped his little sister with homework. But then there was the other Bucky, the drunk side who was a douche and the athlete that knew he was hot shit at school. You couldn’t decipher him, he was a puzzle.

“Mommy’s home!” Julia called out. You could hear her feet stamp down on the steps as she ran downstairs again. Bucky glanced towards the door again and you felt the nerves return to your body.

“I should go. I think we have enough stuff that I can start an outline.” You mumbled, closing your books and shoved them into your bag. You’d only been there just over an hour but there was progress made.

Bucky shook his head, “You don’t have to go.”

You turned your back to him, slinging your bag over your shoulder. “I’ll do the outline then we can finish it another night.”

A quiet sigh breathed from behind you. Bucky had stood up to walk you downstairs. “Can’t do tomorrow. How about after the game on Friday?”

“You sure? Won’t you be tired?”

He shrugged. “Rather get it done before the weekend so I can just sleep it away.”

“Okay.”

Bucky grazed your arm as he went by you, opening the door and headed downstairs. You followed him, gripping the strap of your bag tightly. There were groceries being carried in by helper Julia and you caught a glance at what must have been Abby in the kitchen unbagging the groceries. Bucky handed you your coat as you slipped on your shoes. He stuck his feet in some sneakers and walked outside with you. The hatch back of a silver SUV was open, Bucky’s mother handling a few bags.

“I got ‘em, ma.” Bucky swooped in and scooped up the rest of the bags she had.

You stood off to the side watching the mother and son for a moment. Awkward was an understatement. Did you just keep on walking and not say anything? No, that was rude. Did you offer to help? It looked like Bucky had everything taken care of just fine. Your weight shifted from leg to leg, gnawing on the inside of your cheek.

“Hey, uh, ma. This is my friend,” Bucky hesitantly introduce you to his mother. She poked her head out from behind him, beaming with delight. She was short, maybe five foot four, soft brown long hair that framed her face pleasantly. She had those eyes, those blue ones that could brighten a day just looking at them. “We’re doing a history project together.”

You stuck out your hand to shake, polite smile on your lips. Instead Mrs Barnes pulled you in for a hug, surprising you but it was comforting and not as weird as you thought it’d be. She had beautiful smelling perfume on, something warm and appropriate for the winter weather approaching.

“It’s so nice to meet you, dear.” Mrs Barnes greeted.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs Barnes.”

“Winifred.” She corrected. “No need to be so formal. Mrs Barnes is my mother-in-law.” Winifred took a moment to look you over like an exam, assessing you from head to toe. “James, she is absolutely stunning.”

Bucky grimaced, adjusting the bags in his hand. “I’m going to take these inside. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You nodded, saying bye to him. “I have to go, but it was really nice meeting you, Winifred. Your house is lovely.”

“Come back any time. I usually make too much food for dinner since usually one of the boys are over. It’d be nice to have a new face in the house.” Winifred squeezed your arm gently, giving another friendly smile. You said thank you, telling her to have a good evening then started your trek home.

You missed your mother when you got home, already off to work. A note was left from her on the stove saying there was shepherd’s pie being kept warm in the oven with a few hearts and a smiley face on the sticky note. You pulled the casserole dish out and spooned yourself a piece, taking it up to your room for the night. Idly you ate and typed up an outline, though your thoughts reflected at your short time at the Barnes residence. It stuck with you how Bucky dropped everything to help Julia and then without being asked assisted his mother with the groceries. It was small things but nice.

You laid back in bed after showering and changing into cozy clothes, snuggling up under the blanket. You grabbed your phone off of the bedside table, tapping on the text message icon.

You: So… James?

You barely flipped to another application before seeing the drop down message with a reply.

Bucky Barnes: Yeah. Bucky Barnes: Did you think my name was legit Bucky? You: Could have been. Frank Zappa literally named his daughters Moon Unit and Diva Muffin. Bucky Barnes: Don’t think Bucky is that extreme.

You: Guess not…

You watched as the three dots popped up on the screen for a few moments then disappeared with another few seconds passing by. There was dead air in the conversation, or lack thereof. Truthfully Bucky didn’t need to reply back. School was in the morning, he was probably going to go to sleep soon anyway. Then the dots appeared again.

Bucky Barnes: My mom made more cookies. She said I gotta bring you some tomorrow and share some with the guys. Think she made like three batches.

You smiled.

You: Winifred Barnes, MVP.

You wondered if Bucky laughed or not. It was cheesy but it was nice of his mother to go out of her way to bake for his friends. Friend, you thought. He had called you his friend earlier. Were you even considered that? Your mind spun, too deep of thoughts for your tired brain. You texted Bucky saying you were going to sleep, plugging your phone in and set your alarm. Bucky replied; simple yet sweet.

Bucky Barnes: Goodnight :)

Peggy was smart and brought a blanket to the football game on Friday. You were both bundled up in jackets and shivering from the wind that crossed the field. Natasha had went to the food stand to grab some warm drinks for the three of you. The game was tied and you wondered how in the world the boys played in such crisp conditions. You could see your breath.

Natasha returned and handed you and Peggy hot chocolate pulling the blanket over her legs too. “There are scouts here tonight.”

“How do you know?” Peggy questioned.

“Overheard Sam’s mom talking in line.”

You glanced behind you, searching the bleachers. That was good news for the boys; a scholarship would be incredible. Everyone blended together and a scout probably would have wanted to fit into the crowd instead of being a distraction. You turned back as the offensive line came on. Steve had everyone huddled up to direct a play before breaking and getting into formation. They got a five yard gain, Steve calling another play shortly after.

You watched intently as the ball was snapped back to Steve. He scanned the field looking for an open man. Bucky was blocked and Sam couldn’t get a man off him. Steve went left, faking a throw in hopes someone could get free. Then out from the right a giant lineman tackled Steve, sacking him flat on his back. The crowd gasped, Peggy was immediately on her feet as Steve was motionless. Bucky broke through players, helmet off as he went to Steve, taking a knee beside him and a coach came onto the field.

Your own heart started to quicken at the sight. Natasha eyes were wide and alarmed. Clint was shoving at a few guys on the opposing team which caused a few shouts from dads at the stands. Sam was having a stern conversation with one of the referees, clearly not getting the answers he was looking for. Another minute passed. Bucky gripped onto Steve’s hand and slowly pulled him up to his feet.

“What is he doing? Is he staying in?” Peggy asked, slightly frantic.

Bucky patted Steve’s chest, swirls of breath coming from the both of them like they were laughing about something. Steve readjusted his helmet, calling back his team. Cheers erupted from the spectators as their Valhalla quarterback was back in the game. Peggy sat back down, still tense but there was a big smile of relief on her face. You looped your arm through hers, squeezing lightly for support.

Down to the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Panthers were only up by three. It was crucial to keep possession of the ball and let the time dwindle down. There was tension in the atmosphere. Your eyes darted to the scoreboard and back to the field. Time ticked and small plays were made. A quick timeout was called to regroup and gain focus. Encouraging cheers rang out, clapping and hollering. You felt nervous, this would be a big win and they would be first for the playoffs. You clapped along as Nat and Peggy did. The players took their positions, less than a minute left of play. They could run the clock but it was worth a shot to go for it, 30 yards to the end zone. The ball snapped back to Steve. Bucky was open and Steve drilled the pass to him. Bucky effortlessly caught it, feet motoring. Voices got louder, your heart rate increased hoping for a successful play. Bucky reached the 5 yard mark going to dive in— then a hit. He was taken down by an opposing player. Bucky reached out for the ball to cross the line and from your angle, it looked to be a touchdown.

The crowd was an exploding volcano; the bleachers shaking. You grinned, clapping excitedly at the unbelievable play. But that was it, it was unbelievable as the referee waved it off. The mood quickly shifted from happiness to boos and foul mouths. Your brows furrowed, looking to Peggy who was just as puzzled. Bucky had rolled back onto his feet and invaded the ref’s personal space. You could see him arguing, heated by the official call on the field. He was robbed.

Sam guided Bucky away from the situation, attempting to ease him down. Parents were outraged, the coach was having his own words with another ref but it seemed to be settled. The Panthers still won but it wasn’t the great ending they were looking for.

There was a hum of chatter as people descended from the stands. The little football town was in quite the uproar. You parted from Peggy and Natasha, having told Bucky you’d wait by his car. If he was in a bad mood, maybe it wasn’t best to finish the project now. You sat yourself on the edge of the Jeep’s bumper, shivering as you waited. You watched the parking lot empty of cars until there were only about seven left. Maybe you should have waited inside the school, he seemed to be taking longer than normal. Players retreated from the doors but none were Bucky yet. Your nose was cold and fingers nearly numb.

Bucky appeared a few moments later, head down, hair wet, and a slow pace. You stood up, fidgeting your fingers. A man approached Bucky causing him to stop and adjust the strap of his gym bag on his shoulder. They shook hands and the man began to converse with Bucky, handing him a business card. That must have been a scout. It had to have been. The man patted Bucky’s shoulder, another handshake before he went on his way. Bucky scanned the card for a moment before coming towards you.

“How long have you been standing out here?” He asked. “It’s cold.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t running around a field for over an hour,” you said. Bucky unlocked the doors, tossing his bag into the backseat. You climbed into the front of his car taking note of the leather seats and the pristine interior. The car even still had that brand new smell.

Bucky turned on the engine and cranked up the heat. You began to dethaw.

“Was that man a scout?” You looked at him.

Bucky nodded, handing you the business card. On it was the Stanford University logo, along with the man’s name and title. “Wow,” You murmured. “This guy came all the way from California?”

“I guess.” Bucky didn’t really seem too interested in it, at least not right now.

You read the card again, then looked back at Bucky. “I’m sorry about the end of the game. It was a clear touchdown.”

“That ref hates me anyway,” Bucky shifted the car into reverse. “His kid plays for another school and we got into it one game last season. Kind of ended in a fight.”

“Kind of?” You inquired.

Bucky half smiled. “Yeah, kind of,” he pulled out into the main room, turning left. “We’re going to your place. I’d rather not be in a house with four thirteen year old girls. Abby’s having a sleepover with her friends.”

You nodded. You weren’t in the mood to be questioned either so it was a good idea. Bucky seemed to know where he was going. Obviously he knew were Peggy lived, so essentially he knew where you lived. You continued to hold onto the small rectangular card between your fingers, soaking in the heat and watched the road. Bucky parked next to the curb, grabbing his backpack from behind his seat. You hopped out and walked to your front door, unlocking it and going inside. It was much more homey now; less boxes and pictures hung. Bucky closed the door behind him, heeling off his shoes.

“No one home?”

“My mom’s working a double shift at the hospital. Apparently two nurses called in sick.” You told him.

“Your dad?”

You stopped halfway to the kitchen. The topic of your parents hadn’t really come up before. And truthfully it wasn’t important. “Haven’t seen him since I was eight. Said he had to go out to the store one night and didn’t come back.” You found your footing again, going to the fridge.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Bucky frowned.

“Doesn’t matter.” You handed Bucky a can of Coke and gave a half hearted smile. “Popcorn?”

Textbooks, notebooks and loose papers were scattered across your bed. You sat near the end, legs crossed with some printouts, highlighting important information. Bucky was sitting up against the headboard, typing away on your laptop using the outline as a guide. You and Bucky worked well together, you thought. You’d suggest something but Bucky would take it to another level of expertise. Surprisingly he was pretty good with written word.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Bucky leaned forward and grabbed a few pieces of popcorn.

“What did you say to Steve to get him back on his feet? The hit looked pretty bad.”

Bucky chewed and swallowed. “Told him that Peggy was already halfway across the field and she was gonna beat his ass if he didn’t get up. He just got the wind knocked out of him.”

You smiled, laughing softly. “She was worried.”

“Yeah I saw her standing there. He’s alright, though.”

You sighed softly, sorting through pieces of paper. You snuck a peek at him. His eyes scanned the computer screen, deleting and retyping a sentence a few times. His face was concentrated, mind lost in a deep thought. You thought back to that scout again, and the business card. It was on your desk. You wanted to ask Bucky what he thought about it; did he have other offers? Did he want to go pro?

Maybe you’d ask another time.

“Starin’ at me?” He lightly teased.

You shook your head. “No—uh, was trying to think of how the conclusion should go.”

Bucky hummed, placing the laptop beside him as he rubbed his eyes. It was a little after midnight, it had been a longer game due to all the commotions, so you didn’t get home close to 10:30. You moved away some of the books and papers, crawling over and settling next to him, pulling the computer to your lap. The document was already at six pages double spaced typed up. Editing still needed to be done and a works cited page, MLA format. You could do that on the weekend and hand it in on Monday.

“How does it look?” Bucky asked.

You hit the down key to scroll through. “Good, well, to me at least. Who knows what the hell Pierce will think.”

“He likes you, so he’ll like it,” he shrugged. “Me? Not so much.”

“I feel like there’s a story.” You saved the document, closing the laptop and put it aside.

Bucky had his eyes closed, head tilted back against the wall. It looked like he could pass out any minute. “Sometimes authority figures and I don’t get on too well. Tenth grade, Clint convinced me to skip third with him and I went along. The class I skipped was Pierce’s. We went back for fourth and he caught us coming back in and reamed us, brought us down to Principal Fury’s office. I said some shit that I probably shouldn’t have, talked some shit about how Pierce couldn’t even teach. Landed a three week’s worth of detention and probation on football. Wasn’t even failing his class.”

You listened, trying to imagine it and you could see if very clearly. It was apparent Bucky had a mouth on him, you had witnessed it at the party, him and Tony’s short squabble and tonight at the game when he got into the ref’s face.

“And now you’re back in his class.” You murmured.

“Karma, she’s a damn bitch.”

The corners of your lips tugged upwards as you dug your feet under the blanket. Bucky was first and then somehow, before you could even comprehend, you were out like a light. It was a solid snooze until the AM. The sun peeked through the curtains, a breeze rattling the windows. You rested on your side, nose touching Bucky’s arm that was draped over yours while he laid on his back. Wrists kissed and fingertips grazed.

This was… nice. He was warm.

Bucky’s phone aggressively vibrated against the mattress three times. For a moment he was still, lost in slumber until it occurred again. His fingers became vacant from yours, now only a memory as he slipped his phone out of his pocket. Slowly you peeled one eye open, vision blurred but you could make sense of Sam’s name and three text messages. You blinked a few times and Bucky opened the texts.

Sam Wilson: Guess who just saved your ass, yet again. Sam Wilson: That’s right, I did. Now you owe me 3 pizzas. Count ‘em: 3. Sam Wilson: Poor Winifred was worried sick, James.

Your insides rattled with silent laughter at Sam’s sass. Bucky ran his hand over his face, simply typing back a ‘yeah, yeah thanks’ to Sam. Then there was a follow up.

Sam Wilson: Where are you?

A low and slow exhale came from Bucky’s chest. His fingers hovered for a long while over the letters. Your eye shut quickly when he turned his head to look at you and you prayed he still thought you were sleeping. He was still for a moment, and from what you could tell he discard the conversation and locked his phone. Gently he pulled himself up into a sitting position, combing his fingers through his hair. Both feet set on the ground and he was hunched over. You rolled onto your back, stretching out as you normally would in the morning and yawned.

You had an urge, unsure if it was good or not, to reach out and pull Bucky back down. Just for a minute or two, yet you resisted. This had been an accident with both of you falling asleep.

“I should go,” Bucky barely looked over his shoulder. His voice was sleepy, a little dry in the throat.

“Do you want breakfast?” Your words came out before you could process anything. You didn’t sound desperate for him to stay, he didn’t need to stay. But… it was nice having someone there. You sat yourself up wanting to bury your face in your hands. “Say no, it’s okay.”

“I don’t really want to say no.” He admitted.

You got off the bed, straightening out your shirt and grabbed some sweatpants off your floor by your desk and your phone. “Pancakes. I’ll make pancakes,” you told him, trailing out the room backwards. “Bathroom’s here, by the way.” You pointed to a door just outside your room before disappearing downstairs. You changed in the downstairs bathroom, rinsing your face with water.

Your feet padded against the cool tiles of the kitchen floor. You opened the pantry and took out the pancake mix, retrieving eggs and milk out of the fridge. There was water running from upstairs and you breathed in deeply.

So, now Bucky had been in your house. Not just that but in your room, on your bed, slept right fucking beside you. It was fine, like you said an accident and accidents happened. Yet here you were now in your kitchen mixing together pancake batter for breakfast. You didn’t owe him breakfast. It felt like your head was going to explode.

You had a few pancakes made by the time Bucky came down. He had his backpack packed up and his jacket, placing them against the kitchen table. “Do you need help?”

“No, I’m okay.” You kept your back to him, flipping over a pancake.

The legs of one of the chairs scraped the floor and he sat down. There was silence; a sizzling frying pan and the wind continuing to howl outside. You wouldn’t categorize it as awkward but it was definitely some form of that. You were quiet, Bucky was mute scrolling through his phone to keep himself occupied. You weren’t sure if you should say anything. Was there really anything to say?

Once there was an good stack on the first plate, you brought it to him along with a fork and knife, and the syrup. Juice options were fruit punch, apple and orange but you already knew he’d go for orange so you poured him a glass.

“You’re like my ma,” Bucky said. “Always making sure everyone has what they need before they eat.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Don’t see how it could be a bad thing.”

You finished making breakfast, taking the seat across from him. He cut into the stack, having four layers of pancakes stabbed onto his fork and shovelled it into his mouth. He was an athlete, he probably ate way more than the average human. Bucky still looked tired. He did say he’d sleep the weekend away so maybe he’d go and do that.

“I’ll finish the the end and conclusion and send it to you.” You told him. It was only fair since he mainly typed the entire essay last night.

“You sure?” Bucky set down his fork and looked at you from across the table. You nodded. He held your gaze as he took a long sip of orange juice. “Alright.”

Nerves. There were nerves erupting in the pit of your stomach, a pang but not like the one you had felt before. It wasn’t gut wrenching and painful, but it was still enough to make you wince. You phone vibrated against the table and you quickly picked it up.

Peggy Carter: Is that… Bucky’s car on the side of the road?

Oh fuck.

You dismissed the text and left your phone to the side. That text could be dealt with when the person in question wasn’t in the same room as you.

Bucky cleared his plate of food and got up, rinsing the plate and left it in the sink as you instructed him to. He was slow to pick up his bag and coat almost hesitating. You could tell he wanted to say something due to his pinched brows and lost eyes. You walked with him to the door, leaning against the wall while he tied his shoes.

“See you on Monday at school?” He asked.

You nodded, “Not sure where’d else I’d be.”

He flashed a smile, teeth and all. You pulled open the door for him and watched him go to his car. You stood with the door open until his car was on and he waved. Your hand rose, fingers wiggling with him driving on by. You closed the door, locking and leaned your forehead against the wood with closed eyes. You felt yourself sink and grow sad at the departure. Why? Why now? Just because you learned about him didn’t mean shit. It didn’t, it really just… You were lonely. Lonely in a house while your mother was at work and your friends all had other things to do.

You were lonely as you crawled back into bed seeing the creases of where he laid, and his fragrance still lingered. You tucked yourself under the blankets, pulling them up to your chin.

Lonely, you thought. You had been lonely from years, starting new schools, meeting new faces that all blurred together.

You didn’t want to be lonely...

bucky list: @buckychrist @bvcks @lila-bard @stanclub @stardustparker @buckybarnesppreciationsociety@sweetwaterprincess @demongirl0913 @queenlydias @dontpanc @ohkingsteve @kingsebstan @cauraphernelia @yourwonderbelle @beauty-who-doesnt-need-a-beast @bleedlikerubies @fallenaristocat @bubblybuckybarnes @solarbarnes @my-world97 @mystic-scripture @ragnarokbarnes @kali-rambles @pao-prazz @thorins-queen-of-erebor @eventyyr @abbadontherisingqueen @lovinglokiforever @justasimpleassbitch @red-wallflowers @brooklynightsky @hellaqueerangelofthelord @yknott81 @rvmanova @blame-the-russo-bros @buckybarneshairpullingkink @laurfangirl424

CYM *tags open*: @villainsaremorerelatable @akamaiden @sofreakinmanyfandoms @smolbeanthings @noshitstark @memory-of-a-goldfish @lizfawn @moonstruckhargrove @pizzabarnes@moonbeambucky @csigeoblue @sgtbookybarnes @marco-hvittyvik

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x you #bucky x reader #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #fic: change your mind

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katymacsupernatural · 6 years ago

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Rainy Day Blues

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

800 Words

Written For: @spnfluffbingo and @spngenrebingo

Squares Filled: Gamers (Fluff) and Broken Bone(Genre)

This idea was given to me by @nevaeh-potter15

Warnings: Broken Bone, grumpy reader and sweet Dean

Drip, drop, the rain made it’s way into your hotel room, dripping into the ice bucket you had placed beside the bed. Another bucket was by the table, almost full. Lounging against the back of the couch, you stared out the window, watching the rain continue to fall, wondering if it was ever going to stop.

Dean had gone out in the rain, talking about needing fresh air before he went stir crazy. Sam was at the library, trying to figure out an end to this stupid hunt. And you? You were forced to stay in this stupid motel room, your leg sore and covered in a stupid cast.

It was not fun, being sidelined on a hunt. Getting stuck at some sleazy motel that couldn’t even fix leaks. The channel selection was horrible, and you had already read every book you had packed. If you weren’t freed from this hotel room and soon, you were going to turn crazy.

It was just then, as if Mother Nature was playing with you, that a new leak formed. Right over your head. Grumbling under your breath, you awkwardly stood up, stumbling your way to the bed, plopping down on it.

Headlights flashed through the rain covered windows, turning off minutes before Dean came walking into the room. He had a large plastic bag in his hands, trying to keep it covered from the rain that was not slowing down any time soon. Setting it carefully on the table, he pulled off his coat, shaking the rain from it. “Man is it raining hard out there! I passed at least three wrecks because of it.”

“At least you were able to move around out there in it. I’m stuck here in this stupid, leaky room,” you grumbled, not meaning to be taking it out him. “I’m sorry. I just hate being laid up while you guys do all the work. Being stuck here with nothing to do.”

“I might have just the thing for that,” he spoke up, going back to the bag. “You know how we’ve been talking? About you and I playing video games?”

“Yeah, we talked about setting something up at the bunker. I’d show you all my favorite games. We’d use it as a chance to unwind.”

“Well, I knew we’re going to be here a little bit longer, and I thought you might like this here,” he told you, pulling out a PS4.

“Dean, where did you get that?” You squealed, your hands already itching to play with it. “And how could you even afford it?”

“Remember all those stolen credit cards? They come in handy when I want to make my girl happy,” he told you, setting the gamin console next to the outdated TV.

“Dean, I can’t believe it. I’ve been wanting one forever!”

“I know you have. I stopped by the grocery store to get you some snacks when I noticed a Gamestop in the shopping center. I went in to price them, and ended up going a little overboard.”

With those words he pulled out at least six games, tossing them onto the bed beside you.

“I don’t think I can pick which game to play first,” you squealed, looking at each one, feeling happier than you had in quite some time.

“I like seeing you like this,” he spoke softly, sitting down next to you. “Happy and smiling. It’s been too long, and I’m sorry I haven’t done something before now.”

“Dean, as much as I appreciate this, you didn’t have to do it,” you started to say.

“But I wanted to. You’re special to me, and I know how hard it is to be sidelined with a broken leg. I should have thought of it sooner, and I’m sorry. I’d do anything to make you happy.”

“Anything?”

“Anything,” he assured you.

“How about a night in playing one of these new games?” You asked him.

“I’d like nothing more. You pick the game, and I’ll get it all set up. We can even call Sam, ask him to bring pizza back.”

“Sounds like a perfect way to spend a rainy night,” you agreed, amazed at how sweet Dean could be.

Dean/Jensen Tags:

Forever Tags: @16wiishes @alexwinchester23 @algud @amanda-teaches @andkatiethings @andreaaalove @angelsandwinchesters @anspgene @artisticpoet @atc74 @be-amaziing @bemyqueenofdarkness @bohowitch @buckysmetalgoddamnarm @bumber-car-s @brooke-supernatural16 @brunettechick @camelotandastronauts @captainradicalpassion @chelsea072498 @clairese1980 @darthdeziewok @destiels-new-girl @dont-you-dare-say-misha @dslocum89

@docharleythegeekqueen @emmazach @emilicious-7 @emoryhemsworth @ericaprice2008 @esoltis280 @essie1876 @generalgoldfishldrm @goldenolaf25 @growningupgeek @heyitscam99 @highfunctioning-soiciopath @hms-fangirl @hobby27 @ichooseeternalplaces @imboredsueme @internationalmusicteacher @ithinkimadorable-67 @iwriteaboutdean @jayankles @jensen-gal @just-another-busy-fangirl @justsomerandomarchangel @karlee-fay-my-wayward-son @keelzy2

@leanbeankeane @lifelovelaughangell123 @li-ssu @littleblue5mcdork @lowlyapprentice @luciferslucille @maui137 @mellowlandrunaway @mogaruke @nanie5 @natashacamillaus @newtospnfandom @offbeatwriting @percussiongirl2017 @pilaxia @pizzarollpatrol @plaid-lover-bay25 @roonyxx @ronja-uebrick @rosegoldquintis @roxyspearing @samanddeanmyheroes @sandlee44 @shamelesslydean @sillesworldofwriting

@sgarrett49 @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @smoothdogsgirl @spnbaby-67 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @spnwoman @sunskittlex @starry-chaos @superbadassnatural @thebikiniinspector @theflameontheinside @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @tina8009 @totallovelesson @tunadean @vvinch3st3r @walkslikesummeractslikerain @whimsicalrobots @wildlandfox @winchesterbrothers-inc @winchesterxtwo @winchester-writes @worldwidehansum @yourvoiceislikearose @zombiewerewolfqueen

#spnfluffbingo #spngenrebingo #dean winchester x reader #supernatural x reader #supernatural reader insert #katy writes #supernatural fluff

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driednatural · 6 years ago

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1.6.19

I feel discomfort in my gut; Tool taught me, like other experiences, and other people, to go into it. Search for the discomfort; surrender to it wildly. I did little today and that might have been for the best--may have been the best possible outcome. The first week of the new year has been an uneasy one; filled with a sort of reluctant reticence. I reach out to others superficially only to hide. I smile at others only to hide. Even my sharing of feelings is done in the shadow of hiding--I am afraid I will write without feeling--then the writing is pointless, only an abstraction of an abstraction of what I genuinely feel. I spoke to Diego today after everyone left the Zen Center; he asked me how I was and I say that I have been fine...and then I say something like “except...” and so it goes: “Anxiety has been rising in me again. I want to meet others with openness and freedom but I find myself fearful, anxious” (watchful), watching. I said I have been attached to Letting Go, but find myself reluctant now, hesitant. And he replies that we cannot outrun, nor rid anxiety completely; it will always be there. Focus on how much attention you give to it though; and sometimes we give more attention to the anxiety depending on how helpful it is to in the situation we find ourselves in--sometimes it is useful, other times it is not. Observe that. Center yourself.

What I did today:

Woke up, went outside to sit in the sun on a slab of granite; thought about David Abram talking about imagining how the slab of granite feels in all of its absorption of the sun, laying there on the ground. I attempt to feel what the slab of granite does; mildly unamused, then try again with more vigor and with more interest. I feel it, sort of, as a flickering feeling. I go back inside with my cup of water in hand. I sit in front of my oatmeal--delightfully watery, a nice texture I do not usually have in my oatmeal. I love spicy things lately; whenever the opportunity arises to make a meal spicy without overly adding too many flavors to the food already prepared, I will do so. I do this with black pepper and some sesame hot oil. Later, I turn on the PS4 again and play Persona 5 again; I don’t really want to, have no desire to but my mind is elsewhere and I don’t want to face it. My left eye continues to pulsate from the night before; some damage may have been done from overuse. Mom and Dad went to fill up gas. Dad comes home and then leaves for the casino; very excited to win a few hundred dollars. He’s declared he has tricks now. Actually, he came back home after a minute or two on the road because he left his paper he wrote tricks on at home. He leaves again for Tampa.

I go outside to read Pollan’s book again as I lay out on a yoga mat. I might have read 20 or 30 pages.

In the afternoon...what do I do? I browse Reddit, I think. Have anxiety about responding to the TESL job, have anxiety about asking Park what she thinks I ought to do is in my best interest, think about signing up for a slot to be scheduled for an interview.

After that, at about 4 I rest for 25 minutes; eyes closed to control the pulsing behind my eyeballs. Mom and me go to the public library. I am looking for Maggie Nelson’s Argonauts, and Claudia Rankine’s Citizen. I also look for Eckart Tolle and others like Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, and even Alan Watts in the library’s catalog--to no avail. Conservative readership, I suppose, makes sense. I find Eckart Tolle dvds, and take two of them. Mom waits for me in the parking lot. I meet her there, in the red car and we drive by the lake Austin used to drive us past often. We took walks there at night. Looked at the moon there at night. Came back home and immediately popped in one of the dvd’s into my PS4. Eckart Tolle’s face is unseemly; not terribly unattractive, but lacking in attractiveness. He does not hold the same sort of charisma, or manner of speaking as the other “gurus” or spiritual leaders of America who have similarly large followings--like Dass and Watts. I thought about how I expanded my arena to folks like Tolle, to David Abram, and am continuing to--will continue to, likely. And how Sawyer did not, or maybe he has, I dunno. He seemed to know a lot that I didn’t when I spoke to him before. It’s familiar terrain now--has become familiar and I have expanded to my own terrain for investigation of consciousness, phenomenology, interconnectedness, experience, love.

At about 5:50, I leave home to drive to the Zen Center with google maps on. I arrive at the Zen center parking where I always park--right behind those who live there; I wonder briefly if it is appropriate for me to park there and whether it is troublesome for later guests to park after I have due to my car’s parked position. I enter, say hello through a sliver of a glaze into the next room where we practice, and slip into the lobby area where I donate 10 dollars into their cardboard donation box. In the car, I felt I should have prepared 20 dollars. Felt slightly guilty about this and resolved to resolve this next time I visited.

My meditation session was very good tonight. I reached great peace and unity with my breath--with just being--without the pestering of thoughts. Then the anxiety came. My mind began wondering when the slap would hit. I was vigiliant about this slapping. I realized as long as I kept vigiliant about it, well, there was no use in it. Either the sound would happen, or I would keep watching for it to happen (in my mind, readied), only to wait for many minutes. I thought of how humorous this was. Sandra gave the dharma talk this evening; I had always felt slightly uneasy around her, stiff. She gave a very honest, open-hearted talk and I was grateful for this. I looked at her with equal openness, and smiled as she spoke. Our eyes met. We later spoke on the couch, I was between Mico, and her. My hip touched Mico’s for a while as we all sat there. Sandra and I talked on the couch. She gave me a few parting words reminding me that the mind is simply doing what it always does--thinking; nothing wrong with it. That is its job. She was saying something in the vein of: You cannot escape it. It does what it does. No use in punishing or chasing after peace, always. No use in chasing.

Almost immediately after I commented on my delightful meditation this evening; she said to be careful of attaching to that experience, and that the next time I meditate would likely be different. I said, perhaps better, and she said the same, with both a teasing and honest tone to her voice. Glad to have gotten closer to her this evening. I hope to strengthen my connections at the center even more in the near future.

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shadowdianne · 8 years ago

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woops i meant 83 and 88 but if you're willing to write 86 as well im not complaining!🙊

Thanks for the prompts! I’ve tried to make them the short ficlets I intended them to be but the ask has turned out to be longer than expected so I will probably post the three of them as separated posts soon so it’s easier to read them all without constantly scrolling down lol. I hope you like my intake on them ;)

83 “Enoughwith the sass!”

“Enoughwith the sass! Henry, those aren’t the things you should say your mother, go toyour room and do what she has asked you to do.” Regina’s voice sounded abovethe snarky retort the boy had thrown towards Emma and who he had been sounlucky to have been within Regina’s own earshot.

The teen looked at his brunette mother beforegroaning, standing from the couch where he had been seated at until now andthrowing a dirty glare at the woman still seated at couch. Emma’s only answer waslooking back at him before winking quickly as Regina sighed inwardly, mutteringhow she seemed to have two teens instead of one. However, once Henry left theroom and the sound of his footsteps echoed away from the two women, the formerQueen moved towards the blonde, seating next to her while shooting a quickglance of worry towards the stairs in where the rumbling of a room being tidiedup by a moody teenager could be heard.

Even though both the blonde and herself hadasked Henry how okay he was with having them together and, more importantly,how comfortable he felt with the idea of the three of them living togetherRegina still felt as if walking through eggshells from time to time. The livingarrangement was still something they all were getting used to and so she lookedback at Emma, trying to decipher if something had gone wrong between the, bynow, normal banter between the woman she had in front of her and their son. Thesheriff, however, smiled reassuringly at her before caressing the back of herright hand softly.

“I will go and talk with him later.” The blondesaid, kissing Regina’s cheeks quickly before moving away. “Thanks for beingthere.”

“Anytime.” Regina replied, looking at theirjoined hands. “He is not…”

“Really angry, I know.” Emma interrupted whileshrugging. “That’s why I want to talk with him.”

Regina smiled at the other woman and nodded.The blonde had never acted as the stern parent before they had started to live together;things way to hectic on Storybrooke to really consider what meant to be strictor not. However, ever since they had started to live together, the former Queencould see that Emma was taking another approach within Henry’s life. Somethingthe teen, accustomed to do his bidding, didn’t really like. Which wasunderstandable in a way. Everyone needed some slack but, she thought beforerolling her eyes at how the blonde picked up the ps4 controller Henry had beenusing until minutes before, apparently deciding to keep playing herself, shewas glad to have the green-eyed woman at her side.

Really glad.

88 “STOPINTERRUPTING ME!”

The screammade everyone around the library stop and look at both blonde and pirate thathad been until now enumerating the places in where Facilier could be hidden.The savior was looking at Hook with a stern look on her eyes and for a secondthe silence seemed to stretch as David and Snow moved towards the couple aswell as Henry and Regina, Belle deciding to leaf through the pages of yetanother dusty book, not really sure that whatever that was happening was trulyher business.

“What’s thematter love?” The pirate asked after a few more seconds of silence, smilingnervously as Emma kept looking at him with deep tiredness. “I was only pointingout…”

“I think it’salready clear what is the matter.” Regina finally spoke, glaring at the piratewhen the man turned towards her. Both looked at each other before the pirateturned back towards Emma, brows furrowed.

“Love…”

Emma,however, wasn’t looking at him anymore, her gaze focused on Regina who justnodded at David as the man separated himself from Snow’s side and placing acalming but strong hand on Hook’s shoulder. “How about we go out and try tosearch in the places you’ve already thought about?” He asked to no one inparticular, eliciting a small nod from both his wife and Regina, Emmaapparently seeming immersed in something none felt able to tell what it was.

Everyone knewthat things between the couple had been complicated after the sheriff had toldHook that her answer to the possibility of a wedding was a resounding “no”. Itwas a secret that everyone in Storybrooke had already heard about. However,Emma’s scream as well as her refusal to really talk about what had happened thenight the man had asked her to marry him, had been the real true clue of howstrained things were. Or how complicated everything seemed to have turned forthe blonde who, apparently, seemed keen on not really talking about it. Hookglanced at Emma before spatting some words no one except her was able to hearand turned, not really waiting for David who promptly followed him, the library’sdoor closing behind them as the silence stretched even more between theremaining women and teen.

Regina knewthat it wasn’t really her place, felt that it hadn’t been for the longest oftimes, but at the same time she truly felt like scorching the man alive and forthat she squeezed the blonde’s shoulder as she walked past her, looking at thelist of places the woman had already crossed out before pointing nonchalantlyat another point in the mark. “How about this? I think I can create a spell inorder to create a trap powerful enough to lure him in.”

She sawEmma’s smile as well as the dark circles around the woman’s eyes but she didn’tsay a thing, not until the sheriff answered to her idea with a slightlystronger voice than the subdued tone Regina had become accustomed to hear heruse whenever the pirate was around. Perhaps, she considered as she felt the oldtingles, the ones she had tried so hard to squash, it wasn’t her place but itwas moment to make it hers. Perhaps, she thought before smiling quickly at thesheriff, noticing how Snow and Henry had returned to their places, apparentlytrying to act as if nothing had happened, it was time for her to do something.

86 “Fine,don’t say anything and make me worry.”

The words, said in the raspy voice Regina wouldhave been able to recognize almost anywhere, made the brunette woman look upfrom the book she had been leafing through until now. Blinking owlishly at theblonde woman who was staring at her while leaning at the arc that did its workas the door between the vault’s stairs and the actual room, Regina frowned,noticing the slightly dramatic pose in where the blonde stood as she dangled apaper bag with grease stains towards her.

“When someone texts you asking if you have haddinner answering with silence will only make the other one worry, madam mayor.”Emma elaborated, moving towards her, paper bag still in front of her, the smellof it making Regina sigh and look at the book she had been reading until thennoticing for the first time the dull ache on her neck and the fact that thecandles she had been using had dwindled considerably since she had last lookedat them.

Smiling slightly once Emma’s words registered,she looked at the blonde sheriff who seemed to have just finished her shift bythe way the badge could still be seen gleaming on her belt.

“Is that so, Miss Swan?” She asked, smirkingwhen she heard Emma’s groan at the use of that appellative. Still smirking, shecarefully marked the page she had been looking at and nodded at Emma as sheplaced the bag in front of her. “Careful there, some people would say that youcare about me.”

“And they would be correct.” Replied Emma, shrugginggood naturedly before-pointing at the book as Regina peered inside the contentsof the bag, humming as she saw that the blonde had indeed bought a Caesar saladas well as a sandwich.

“Found something interesting?”

Regina shrugged before opening the salad,picking up the fork that came within the container. “Not yet.”

Emma nodded and didn’t say a thing, chucklingwhen Regina spent the following minutes eating her dinner, not really evencaring to hid the fact that she was starving.

“Careful.” She said once the former queenhalted. “One would say that you trust me enough to see you eat like a child.”

“You will always be the child.” Regina reliedbut she, really, didn’t feel like denying the blonde’s words. Pulling the woman closer by her lapels shekissed her softly, turning towards the book as soon as she heard a gaspescaping her lips. “You will be at the mansion once I’m finished?”

“I will.” The savior replied, looking at herwatch. “See you there?”

“Until then miss Swan.”

“Regina!”

#swan queen #prompt #long post

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daleisgreat · 7 years ago

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Dale’s Top 21 Videogame Experiences of 2017

Howdy, everyone! Welcome to my first blog of 2018, and what better way to kick it off than reflecting back on my top gaming experiences of 2017! I had a blast with my top 11 gaming experiences blog from last year, which was really more like 30-40 moments condensed down to 11 entries. I did a similar thing for this year, but for a whopping 21 entries instead. That is nearly double the fun! Just be forewarned, this is a doozy of a read, so without further ado, let us get onto the list! 21) End-Label-Fever

My buddy Matt introduced me to unofficial N64 end labels that were available online. I became immediately envious and ordered the complete set off Etsy and promptly applied them to all my games. I am still befuddled to why Nintendo never had them to begin with. 20) Quantities are Limited! I ordered several games from Limited Run throughout 2017. If you are unfamiliar with Limited Run, they publish physical versions of former digital-only PS4/Vita games, but true to their name in small print runs that you have usually only several minutes to order online as soon as they are available or you are out of luck. Thankfully I had no problem getting my orders in on them and I was stoked to get the physical versions of games I was super into such as Oxenfree, Firewatch, Windjammers and Read Only Memories. 19) A Certain NES Guide Book

Past few years I have gotten into YouTuber Pat Contri’s work a bit. I first found out about him on an AVGN guest spot, and have been keeping up with his podcasts and videos since. A couple years ago he released a mammoth tome dubbed The Ultimate Guide to the NES Library and as the title eludes it tries to be the ultimate guide by reviewing every American, Europe and Australlian release for the NES and have a bunch of bonus columns and features to round it off. I try to read two-to-four reviews before bed at least a few days a week and I have been doing that for just over a year now. I have found out about a ton of NES games I have never heard of before or knew very little of, plus it was interesting to find out their takes on the games I grew up on. This has lead to me tracking down a few NES games throughout the year such as Roundball, Crystalis and Indy Heat to name a few. I still have a ways to go and am only up through Rolling Thunder on the reviews as of this writing. 18) Mmmmm….Pie The last couple years I have been hearing a lot of buzz about all-in-one emulator machines known as RetroPies. Questionable legalities of the device aside, they have risen in popularity this past year and I inevitably stumbled into playing a couple variations of it at various places throughout the year. One person had a custom arcade cabinet with it installed and we tore it up playing countless arcade fighters and brawlers on it. Another time another friend and I went out of our way to search for obscure versions of Street Fighter ports and had a decent time experiencing the original Street Fighter and surprisingly decent versions of Street Fighter Alpha on the GameBoy Color and Street Fighter Alpha 2 on the SNES. I told one friend my joy last year experiencing the import-only arcade release of Ring of Destruction, and sure enough we found it and slaughtered each other for quite a bit on it. The best RetroPie moment was finding an English-patched version of Super FirePro Wrestling Premium on SNES and the worst was when playing a RetroPie for the first time for whatever reason the first game of the several thousand available on it I decided to play was Shaq-Fu, a game I already own…two copies of…don’t ask. 18) The Return of Bimmy & Jimmy!

I was surprised with the out of nowhere announcement and quick release of Double Dragon IV at the beginning of the year. I am presuming the 16-bit Super Double Dragon is no longer cannon. Got a chance to play it with Matt shortly after its release and I loved how it captured the NES feel of the classic 8-bit brawlers and we had a good time with it until we hit one of the final levels. That level was filled with mazes of mind-boggling auto-scrolling ramps and pillars that pop down from out of nowhere and instantly kill you much in the same vein as that godawful N64 Sub-Zero game, but worse! It was an instant turn-off to an otherwise fine co-op brawler. Limited Run had a nice collector’s edition of it up for sale recently but those memories of those nasty pillars and ramp sequences convinced me to stay away. 17) Now You’re Playing With Super Power! I loved the NES Classic in 2016 and in 2017 I had to make sure to line up in stores a couple hours ahead of opening to procure the inevitable SNES Classic. While it has nine less games compared to the NES Classic, the quality and scope of those 21 SNES games is far greater than the ones featured on NES Classic. Finally experiencing the previously unreleased StarFox 2 was a treat and I made sure to first play the first game I owned for my SNES 20 years earlier in Street Fighter 2: Turbo. Me and my friends Derek and Ryan had a ball taking turns to see how far we could last in the unbelievably-hard Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (it was not all that far). A couple months later I got my brother one for his birthday and we spent many hours failing to make significant progress in the brutally-tough-yet-super-fun Contra 3. I believe we only got to the third level. One day we shall conquer it, and one day I will sit down and take the time to get through EarthBound! 16) Them Damn YouTubers!

I mentioned YouTuber Pat Contri earlier and I think 2017 has become the year where I routinely started to follow several YouTube videogame personalities. Before I primarily stuck with the crew at GiantBomb for most of my online gaming-related videos and still do for most of them, but I like mixing in a little variety from several other YouTubers. I will give a shout out to Pat Contri again for his many podcast excerpts that entertain me, as well as James Rolfe and his Cinemassacre crew for the always-excellent AVGN videos and let’s play streams he posts with his co-host Mike Matei. Gaming Pick-ups and hidden gem list rundowns sound kind of blah on paper, but the man known as ‘Metal Jesus’ and his wide array of mostly likeable guest hosts find a way to make them entertaining and I cannot help but watch nearly every video he posts on his channel. I have been following Jeremy Parish’s writing and Retronauts podcasts for well over a decade and have been a huge fan of his Works line of YouTube videos chronicling countless GameBoy, NES and SNES games. They are exhaustively researched and well-produced and filled with tons of facts and behind-the-scenes info that your average online review likely would not have. Finally I will give a shoutout to two more retro-themed gaming channels, The Gaming Historian and Classic Gaming Quarterly. Both YouTubers do deep dives into gaming’s past and put a lot of work into their videos and as a result they do not have as frequent videos as other channels, but their quality makes up for the quantity. I am beyond belief, but my hat is off to the host of CGQ for making his ‘Let’s Read’ videos where he highlights and notates tidbits from his favorite articles of old-school gaming magazines and somehow makes them must-see material! 15) I AM TUROK! Last year I mentioned how I got a Retron 5, a handy device that allows you to play several retro game system’s cartridges on an HDTV with clean visuals like how I remember them instead of the dreadful fuzziness you get when hooking up old-school systems on HDTVs with the older composite cables that came with the system. I finally finished my first game using the system in 2017, and the game that got that honor was the long forgotten GameBoy….gem….Turok: Battle of the Bionasaurs. It came out alongside the more popular N64 game and was a simple 2D side-scrolling action/platformer game. If you are wondering why that random GameBoy game it is because I spent several summers on a farm with nothing but a GameBoy growing up so these no-frills basic platformers resonate with me in a unique way.

The Retron has the ability to download an exhaustive vault of Game Genie/Action Replay codes onto an SD card from their website and that came in handy here or else I stood no chance of beating this game. Even though the infinite health made dealing with enemies a breeze, the limitations of the GameBoy’s screen made platforming a bit of a hurdle than I intended so I still died plenty of times, and if it was not for taking advantage of Retron 5’s save-state feature I definitely would not have finished it. I have all the other Turok games on GB (there are five of them!) and eventually would like to get through most of them as these simple watered-down GB conversions are nice little pallet-cleansers to start off a gaming session. Speaking of the Retron 5, Hyperkin released an adaptor for it this year allowing it to play Master System and Game Gear games. I picked it up, but kind of regretted it afterwards as it took a few hoops of downloading and applying updates/patches from Hyperkin’s website in a particular way until a couple hours of trial-and-error got it to finally work. I do not believe the effort was worth it though because I have no Master System games and only six or seven Game Gear games. I did make sure to play quite a bit of Game Gear Road Rash immediately afterwards for my troubles. Hey….if I were to track down just five Master System games what would you recommend? Tweet me your picks! 14) The Year of VR….No, Not That VR

I keep hearing about how Playstation VR, Oculus and HTC’s virtual reality sets that came out over the last couple of years have legitimized VR and brought it up to par with core console based gaming. However, I am just not seeing it. The price point is the primary deal breaker for me, and then factoring in the space factor for all the cables and some games that require you to move around is another major deal-breaker too. This past year saw some AAA console games get their full single player mode available in VR like Resident Evil 7 and Skyrim that I would not mind checking out one day, but most of what I see that is playable out there seem like decent little mini-games and shooting gallery variants, but not worth the barriers to invest into a proper VR setup. If you have it and enjoy it, that’s awesome, but I simply cannot justify crossing that line. That said, I still have the original VR monstrosity that is the Virtual Boy and 2017 was THE year it became active again! I was missing the AC power adaptor hub for my Virtual Boy that I misplaced long ago, and I searched for them on eBay and they were surprisingly affordable there, as was a replacement tripod for the Virtual Boy. I also picked up a few more VB ‘gems’ such as Virtual League Baseball, TeleroBoxer, Galactic Pinball, Vertical Force and Wario Land to increase my mammoth VB library to nine games (that is more than half of its complete library, seriously!). I tried a few of them out and was surprised at my lack of TeleroBoxer skills that I need some severe practice at. VB does have a fine pinball game though and I would like to set aside time to finish Wario Land one day because it is one of the few legit quality games on the platform. Suffice it to say, the good ‘ol Virtual Boy will likely be my sole VR system for the forseeable future. 13) Pinball Gaming Love

Like last year, I played a healthy chunk of pinball games. This year it was primarily Zen Pinball 2 and I kept up with its final round of new tables and tried my best to attain each table’s trophy/achievement. I probably put way too much time trying to get that pesky Rogue One trophy. I put in some time into Pinball Arcade and Hyperspace Pinball, but not nearly as much as last year. I really need to put more time into the former because I just got caught up acquiring its latest season of tables and have yet to try any of them out. It is a shame that unlike the Zen tables, purchasing Pinball Arcade tables on PS3 does not carry over to the PS4 version so I am stuck playing them on PS3. I did do the upgrade a few months ago from Pinball FX2/Zen Pinball 2 to Pinball FX3 and am still coming around to it. Zen thankfully allows my PS3 purchased tables to carry over into the PS4 version! I think I am finally getting use to PFX3’s new unlockable upgrades system, but there seems to be a bit too much optional mini-modes available in order to ‘master’ each table. I will give Zen props for making their latest two tables free in honor of the 10 year anniversary of the first Pinball FX. I imagine I will conform to its various new extras and features soon enough, but not as quickly as I thought. 12) Twin Cities Gaming – Part Two

Last year I mentioned how I went to the Twin Cities to visit a couple friends where we engaged in all sorts of gaming awesomeness, and I continued the trend again this year. I first visited my friend Tyler and while checking out the Mall of America we caught a glimpse of this VR Arcade/theme park there that had all kinds of ambitious sets rigged up. We did not test any out, but just surveyed the area to get a good idea of how to plan out a day there next time we return. We did stop in one of the other traditional arcades in the Mall of America however where I finally discovered in the wild one of the Mario Kart GP games that Namco develops. There have been a few iterations of these over the past decade and I believe the version we played was Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. The version we played had a sweet two-player setup that held its own with the latest home versions, and I was delighted to see it bring back some of the two-player co-op features not seen in the series since Double Dash. I made another trip to the awesome Up/Down Arcade with my friend Dick while I was in the Cities and I was thrilled to see they had just as many awesome 80s and 90s arcade units there as it had last year. We also checked out a pinball bar called Tilt Pinball Bar. It was much smaller compared to Up/Down, but still contained everything I wanted out of such an establishment with a good variety of around 25-30 tables from all eras. We spent a good couple hours there competing for high scores while enjoying a brew and I finally got a chance to play the authentic versions of tables I put countless hours into their digital versions in Pinball Arcade with tables like Champion Pub being a thrill to finally play in reality! 11) First Rule of Fight Club… I have neglected online multiplayer on Playstation since Sony started charging for it on PS4. A couple months ago I relented and picked up a three month card because of my friend Chris who I use to semi-regularly play online PS3 fighting games with. Since I activated the subscription we played on three out of four Saturday mornings and had some great sessions in a variety of fighting games. Neither of us are EVO-quality vets by any means, but we kind of have a vague idea of what we are doing out there and are both along the same skill level. We played a ton of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, Street Fighter V and Injustice 2. I dug all three games, and Chris and I talked a lot of friendly smack while we mashed away on buttons relentlessly. 10) Reviewing my first game since 2011…kind of

I adored the first two Syberia games that hit PC/Xbox in 2003/04. I loved their story, atmosphere, cast and writing. While its adventure-genre standard puzzles it featured had me referencing guides online, I did not mind because I had to see what was next for the affable heroine, Kate Walker. I somehow missed the announcements leading up to the third game and was surprised to see it on shelves one day early in the year and I immediately grabbed it without question. That turned out to be a mistake because Syberia 3 is a near-unplayable mess filled with countless glitches and bugs that were previously not part of the franchise’s pedigree. I have no idea how this got the stamp of approval for release. I saw Syberia 3 went on to have more patches and updates after I finished it so hopefully it is not as much of a hot mess as it was when I played it during its first week of release. I wrote a lengthy post chronicling my troubles with the game on a forum I frequent online. Once I realized I rambled on for a quite a bit about the game that it nearly resembled a review, I tweaked a few spots in the original post and made a couple other minor addendums to cover most of the bases of the game. I then submitted it with the lowest score possible to my GameFAQs profile (I am not a fan of how they converted to its five hearts rating system). I have not done a video game review in several years since I switched to focus on reviewing movies on this blog. That said, if you want to see a more detailed account of my disappointment with Syberia 3, then click here to see my first video game review since 2011. 9) Beating my first Mega Man game at Extra Life!!! On my top gaming moments blog last year I recounted how Mega Man 2 became the first game in the series I put serious play time into by beating three stages in it during the annual 24-hour Extra Life charity drive I participate in every year. I beat a few more stages since then, but still had a few more to go and it felt fitting to finish the game off at the next year’s Extra Life! That is exactly what I did, and boy did I feel like an idiot doing so with my lackluster Mega Man expertise. While I still enjoyed my time with the game, I had to exploit save-states for every few screens of progress. I had no idea there was a huge labyrinth of levels leading up to the final encounter with Dr. Wily, which included finishing off all the previous bosses again one more time. I was only anticipating spending another couple hours with the game when instead it took me about five to six hours to finish it off. I still loved every moment of it and want to at least finish off a couple more games in the series someday. I hear that Mega Man 3 is even better than Mega Man 2 so I should at least play that one….right? 8) Off to the Races

Just like last year I played a ton of racing games off and on throughout the year. Like pinball games, starting off a gaming session with 30-60 minutes knocking off a few races of progress before I move onto something else is ideal for me. I played way too much Konami Krazy Racers on the GBA Virtual Console on WiiU. It is a fun little kart racer featuring a unique cast of side characters from various Konami franchises. I also played a ton of Fast Racing Neo on WiiU and loved its take on F-Zero/Wipeout. Before the Switch version of Mario Kart 8 launched earlier this year I got in a few more online sessions on the WiiU version since I imagined most of the player-base flocked to that version upon its release. I am still surprised at how well that version runs online with my wi-fi setup. Other racing games that dominated my time this year were The Crew. I am not really engaging in much of its online content and trying to romp through its story mode, but I do like its take on using the USA as an open world hub. The spiritual successor to Road Rash that is Road Redemption finally came out of Steam Early Access a few months ago and I enjoyed a couple loops through its career mode with my brother. TrackMania Turbo is a fun time-trial based racer oozing with style that has me itching for those perfect runs. JoyRide Turbo is an inferior racing game also with ‘Turbo’ in its title. It is a port of the Kinect-racer on 360 that hit XBLA a year or two later with standard controller gameplay added, and it is ok, but eventually it wore out its welcome. It is not as terrible as Beach Buggy Racing on Xbox One, a budget kart racer for the platform with very loose controls and gets my nod as least enjoyable racing game I played in 2017. Finally, I have been playing a lot of the 360 version of Forza Horizon 2. I loved the first game and its festival/party atmosphere it introduced to the spinoff series and the same applies to the sequel. I am almost done with most of the races in the career mode and after that I can finally move on to the third Horizon which I hear nothing but amazing things. 7) One Game in One Day!

I have referenced here before how I am down with the genre of games known as ‘Walking Simulators’ with much love from me to prior hits in the genre like Oxenfree and Firewatch. Games in this genre cater towards me because they usually have powerful narratives that can be finished in a couple sittings. I wanted to finish one more game before the end of the year so on December 30th I started and finished another popular game in the genre that hit earlier in 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch in about four hours. The game did not disappoint as it focused on the last surviving member of a cursed family revisiting her childhood home and each through an interesting series of flashbacks she experiences each family member’s demise. I enjoyed most of it and absolutely loved its atmosphere exploring the mysterious house filled with literally thousands of books. The big focus of the journey though is reliving those 10-12 flashbacks and they scale all over the place from enthralling, to vague, to underwhelming and head-scratchingly dull. I still very much enjoyed my experience with it, especially since it was one of those rare times where I can plow through a game in a single sitting, but I would rank it a notch or two under Oxenfree and Firewatch. 6) Pound-Town!! On last year’s best of blog I dedicated an entry to my awesome couch co-op gaming nights with friends Derek, Brooke and Ryan, so I will continue that trend this year. We started off the year rotating in and out a lot of our usual favorites but sticking more and more to the social party games featured in Jackbox Party Pack. About halfway into the year another Jackbox-style game hit the PS4 that was a hit with our group called That’s You and it incorporated more unique ways of getting the smartphone in the mix in its games compared to the Jackbox use of the smartphone.

About halfway into the year however we started to play more and more board games. We got a few in the mix in 2016 but 2017 was the year board gaming took off for us. A couple board game/hobby shops opened up in town over the last year or two and it resulted in our group trying out tons of new board games. I must have tried out nearly a dozen tabletop games and some of my favorites were Five Minute Dungeon (a super quick card based version of DnD), YamSlam (think Yahtzee meets poker) and another game I forget the name of where you where a headband and put a card on it while your teammate gives clues to the answer like in the classic game show, $25,000 Pyramid. While we are on the theme of board games this entry I will give a shoutout to Matt and the few rounds of Othello we got in over recent years (new version out on Switch!). Another night Derek and I joined my brother and friends Mike and Justine for an epic night of the board game Zombicide. I have played that game before and do enjoy it, but that game makes rounds of Risk seem like a sprint and you need to dedicate at least several hours to finish a game. Luckily, Mike is a seasoned pro at the game and breezed through its elaborate setup. Somehow, someway we managed to finish a whole game in about five hours, and it was a blast. I feel bad for my brother because he was the only one in our group that did not survive the zombie horde that night. 5) More Love for the 3DS This is another themed entry I am carrying over from 2016. I continue to try and get in a couple hours of handheld device gaming a week on my 3DS. 2017 saw me finally finish Phoenix Wright: Spirits of Justice after a whopping 68 hours!! It easily surpasses Dual Destines as the superior 3DS installment of the franchise as it finally opens up Apollo’s background and it gets all the ace attorneys involved from the Wright Anything Agency and brings back fan favorite Maya back into the fray after a lengthy absence from the series. I am now all caught up on the latest games in the series…in America anyways as I hear Japan is getting spin-off exclusives I am envious of. The other 3DS game I put a ton of time into this year was the remaster of Dragon Quest VIII. It originally hit PS2 around 15 years ago, but this version makes some added benefits for on-the-go gaming like quicksaves and auto-combat which I greatly appreciate. I always liked the Dragon Quest series of RPGs for being simpler, easier to pick up RPGs compared to the average Final Fantasy, and I am digging its art style, score and whimsical narrative thus far after around 30 hours in.

One last game I finished on 3DS is Find Mii and that is a Street Pass Plaza game contained with the 3DS UI. It took forever to finish because to advance in it you need to earn coins via carrying the 3DS around with you in sleep mode to beat simple monsters in a straightforward dungeon layout. There are quite a few monsters to conquer though and it took me banking up many coins to hire countless temporary heroes to defeat in its many dungeon rooms and after nearly three years of off-and-on gradual progress I finally finished it. Huzzah! 2017 saw a far more advanced version of Find Mii released on the 3DS called Mii-Topia which I understand is more of a full-on RPG compared to the intentionally basic design of Find Mii. I think Mii-Topia released shortly after I finished Find Mii and I kind of impulse-bought while on my rush of finishing Find Mii so who knows when I will get to it. Speaking of the 3DS, my brother Joe and I went in together and got my nephew Carter a 2DS for Christmas. Joe got Carter into Pokemon at the beginning of the year by exposing him to the cartoon and the world of Pokemon cards. He is now a devout PokeKid! He never played any of the games though, so I we got him a 2DS and I loaded it up with Virtual Console rereleases of Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Trading Card Game and Pokemon Puzzle League and I made sure to download and install a super-sweet Pikachu theme on the system for him too. When he opened it up on Christmas Eve he gave both us the biggest hugs!!! So worth it! 4) Kept You Waiting? Just like in 2016, I played a good amount of Metal Gear Solid. The first few months of the year I dedicated to trying to finish off Peace Walker. I say trying because I got the first ending to the game, but it seemed premature due to the gameplay style and sure enough after looking up online there was a true ending to unlock that involved beating many more boss fights in a specific fashion that is too particular to explain here in order to truly finish it. I spent way too much time going down this route before ultimately giving up and moving on. I still had a blast with the game and since it did not have a difficulty level setting I guess you can say I did ‘beat’ it on its default difficulty level instead of setting it to ‘very easy’ like I did in prior entries.

I needed a break from the franchise after that fiasco for a few months so it was not until the end of summer that I picked up and played through all of the prologue to Metal Gear Solid V that is called Ground Zeroes. It is like the introductory mission to MGS2 and MGS3 that is a couple hours long and sets up the rest of the game, but it was released nearly two years ahead of the main game. It picks up right after Peace Walker which is why I invested so much time in attempting to see that through. I loved how the new game looked on the current gen with stunning graphical effects that make the series stand out above all other AAA games, and its cutscene production is in a league of its own with a gorgeous set piece that sets up the proper full MGSV experience that came out in 2015, The Phantom Pain. A couple months later I finally started The Phantom Pain. The introductory stage is an experience I will never forget and is more like an hour and a half movie that introduces you to the core controls while Konami takes you on a visual effects smorgasbord with easily one of the best produced opening cinematics I have ever seen, and that is saying a lot not just for the franchise but for games in general. Even if you are not that familiar with MGS universe and lore, please click here and take the time to watch The Phantom Pain’s opening hour play out to see a new level of production caliber that games have rarely achieved. That hour and a half or so of gameplay is what I finished off the Extra Life marathon with, and I was glad to rock a pair of surround sound gaming headphones to it because just as much care was put into the audio as in the visuals and it all combined for my eyes being glued to the screen the entire time. I have only had time to play about four or five hours more of it since, and I am glad I played Peace Walker because it looks like it is carrying over that game’s ‘Mother Base’ central command hub that took a bit of adapting to and I will not be going in to that interface blind this time around. This is a huge departure from previous MGS games as the gameplay is changed up big time and now takes place primarily in an open world. I am still getting use to that part, but I am loving the little I have played so far as The Phantom Pain continues to open up with so many options available at Snake’s disposal. I do miss the traditional codec calls, but I understand why Konami switched it up for this game. Speaking of Snake, I thought I would never accept Keifer Sutherland replacing David Hayter as Snake’s voice but after that opening played out I did not second guess it again.

One last thing about Metal Gear! I referenced earlier how the crew at giantbomb.com are my go to crew for gaming based videos. They occasionally do full play-throughs of games with a second person on hand for commentary, and over a couple years from 2004-06 they went through almost all of the core Metal Gear games. Giant Bomb called the series ‘Metal Gear Scanlon’ because their video-guy Drew Scanlon was playing through the Metal Gear games for his first time while resident Metal Gear expert and published author, Dan Ryckert on hand to lend his Metal Gear expertise. During the course of 2017 I watched their playthroughs for the first three Metal Gear Solid entries. They were a riot to have on in the background and watch in chunks here and there. Here is a link to a few highlight packages from their sessions for those who are interested. 3) Mmmmm….Fresh Meat I have an odd history with the Diablo series. I love hack ‘n slash RPG games, but I have never finished one in the premiere franchises of the genre from acclaimed developer Blizzard. I played a bit of the first chunk of the debut game right around its release on PC, but then my brother Joe started it up and he had more time to dedicate to it than I did so I wound up occasionally watching him play it from time to time instead. The exact same thing happened with the sequel and I saw Joe play that game nonstop for at least a few years. I played the opening couple of missions to the long awaited Diablo III shortly after its release in 2012 at a friend’s but held off picking it up hoping for a console release instead. I was thrilled when it hit console’s the next year and I picked it up on PS3 and Joe and another friend joined us for a few awesome couch co-op sessions of it and we got nearly halfway through the game until it became difficult to arrange nights for all three of us to meet up and continue and eventually the game fell into my gaming backlog abyss. Fast forward four years and Joe and I picked up our routine, bi-weekly Sunday morning gaming sessions that we use to do all the time until a few years ago. You want to know how long it takes to finish Diablo III and its expansion act when you only have time to commit about three-to-four a month to it? Turns out it takes roughly five months to finish it that way, but it was gratifying to finally cross finishing a Diablo game off my gamer bucket list. I am also mighty thankful that Blizzard made the normal difficulty a relative cakewalk for people like me who do not have ample time to set aside to master the game. We did not lose a single life until we got to the final boss, and even then we finished him off on our third try, and it felt so good! Joe-berg I apologize again for making you sit through all the story and dialogue sequences, I know you want to just keep on hack ‘n slashin’, but you know I gots to absorb that Diablo-lore! 2) Is This Really A Thieve’s End? When I hosted my videogame podcast that ran from 2005-2013, Sony’s top-of-the-line action/adventure Uncharted games would always rank high on my year-end game of the year lists. Hell, I even dug the Vita entry, Golden Abyss too! I got my PS4 towards the end of 2016 and it came bundled with the fourth game of the series. I wanted to play it right away, but did not want to nickel-and-dime my way through the game like I do for most games nowadays.

I held off on playing the latest version I heard so much praise for until I requested a week off from work in April this last year when I had a few other things going on in that timeframe I needed time off for. During that time I made sure to set aside nearly two hours a day to make decent headway in that game, and I am glad I did because Uncharted 4: A Thieve’s End is the longest game of the entire series and it took me nearly 20 hours to finish. It took me that long because I did what I always do every time I play through Uncharted and took my time to soak in its lush and beautiful environments while I explored off the beaten path for the game’s trademark hidden treasures. Uncharted 4 ranks right up there with the second game as my two favorite games in the series. The core gunplay and stealth mechanics I had some issues with before got tweaked and are far more enjoyable this time around. This is the first time in the series I did not mind playing stealthy for a change in certain areas. The platforming is just as masterful as ever as I took in every climbing, rope-swinging, and rock-sliding path that was bestowed upon protagonist Nathan Drake. The vintage set piece chase/interactive cinematics are just as impressive as the past few entries as well. I loved the introduction of Nate’s brother Sam to the cast and he perfectly blended into the series. There was one twist with him later on in the narrative that did not get fully explained that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, but other than that the story lives up to the brand’s high standards. Definitely do no skip out on this entry in the series!

Later on in the year a spinoff Uncharted came out subtitled Lost Legacy. It made the bold move of not having Drake as the protagonist and instead casted Drake’s partner-in-crime Chloe from Uncharted 2 & 3 and antagonist Nadine from Uncharted 4 as the two stars. Playing with these two and an open-ended stage that took up a major part of the second act of Lost Legacy combined to significantly change up the core Uncharted gameplay. I approached parts of this game differently than previous installments while still experiencing the aforementioned top-of-class production values from the series. While I hope it is not the final Uncharted game in the series, I hope the series goes on a mini-hiatus for the time being after six awesome entries within 11 years. 1) Zelda + Elder Scrolls = GOTY The hype leading up to the latest Legend of Zelda game in the series that hit in 2017, Breath of the Wild was impossible to avoid. Nintendo finally changing up the core formula of a console based Zelda for the first time since Ocarina of Time and going to an open-world format was something I had to be there day one for. I still recall playing the first five hours of Breath of the Wild and being fully immersed with its its new levels of open-ended gameplay previously unseen in the series. I instantly fell in love with its world, and for its first several hours of gameplay I felt I was playing something truly special. The only times I felt this way before about a game were for Grand Theft Auto III, the first Halo and the first Uncharted. That is elite company to reside with.

Minus a couple short breaks to focus on other games, I have been consistently playing Breath of the Wild since its release and have invested nearly 100 hours into it. Despite that I have yet to finish it and have only vanquished two divine beasts so far because I love losing myself exploring its world. I rarely make use of fast travel points and I never use horses for fear or running past and missing out on hidden areas/secrets in the game. It took me several hours over many attempts to finish the mystical Eventide Island and I did not mind its grueling challenge to figure out how to overcome the unique predicament that island starts Link off in. I remember the thrill of finishing off my first ancient machine and defeating the formidable foes that are the Lynels. I did not mind the weapons breaking frequently since it inspired me to mix up my weaponry and try out weapons I would not have otherwise and there are always a constant flux of weapons available. Somehow, someway, Breath of the Wild is the first game to get me into crafting, something I detested in games prior. That jingle it plays when you make a super zesty dish with bonus attributes is an awesome feeling. I am playing this on the WiiU and my only gripe is that it did not have the option to use the gamepad for inventory management. I guess the rain was a minor hindrance too since it prevents climbing, but those minor two gripes aside did not bother me to invest all this time into it throughout the year, and probably just as much time going into 2018 too. This is easily the best time I have had with any Zelda game ever. Until Next Year…. Phew, thank you for sticking with me throughout this novel of an entry. This was quite the adventure to write, and I give big ups to you if you got through this in its entirety! See you next year for my top 2018 gaming experiences! As a little bonus, if you are not tired yet of clicking through all the supplemental YouTube videos linked above, here is one more that always manages to crack me up when I need to get myself out of a funk, so please click away and enjoy!

#top 10 #uncharted #lost legacy #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #mario kart #pinball #zen pinball #pinball arcade #turok #metal jesus #giant bomb #edith finch #Mega Man #AVGN #cinemassacre #pat contri #street fighter #injustice

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