#I’m still trying to find the enjoyment from this show despite not really enjoy in entirely

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

I just thought of a funny joke they really missed out on doing for a after credit scene for the last episode of the Knuckles series.

Where Knuckles returns home, all proud and shit with his lil hat, Maddie and the boys are asking where he’s been this whole time, to where he says that he basically went on a adventure to train Wad, reunite him with his father, yadda yadda.

Then he just says a throwaway line like, “Oh, and some GUN agents kidnapped me and wanted to use my power, and they had weapons that shot out ring portals. I defeated them of course, two of them by trapping them into two rings portals that collapsed onto one another until it exploded into nothing and the other when I threw a giant metal ball on top of him.”

Cut to all three of them being mortified/appalled/confused while he just nonchalantly says, “Have you ever had challah bread? Is it a food to die for.”

[trippinsorrows]

looking through your eyes + thirteen

authors note: welp. the gala is finally here, friends! i hope you enjoy. well, the enjoyable parts.

ya'll remember that promo where kevin and sami tried to jump roman and he was furious, throwing shit out the ring, yelling at solo to position sami for the spear? that's how angry our collective favorite grump gets in this one...

if any cw/tw’s are missed, please let me know, and i will add them!

cw/tw: violence against women, scene of torture, fighting violence, language, angst, fluff, livid roman, and discussion regarding family loss.

song inspo: ‘looking through your eyes’ by leann rimes

masterlist

words: 11k

“Guys, is this really necessary?”

Truth be told, Solana already knows how both of her friends are going to respond. Bayley, however, is the one who briefly rips her focus from finding an x-large size in the top to the matching bottoms she’s picked out for Solana.

“It absolutely is necessary.” She takes a second to gesture to Solana’s outfit for the day. “You’ve come so far in so many ways, including not hiding your body as much, so we have to keep that going.”

“Exactly,” Naomi chimes as she reaches yet another dress to Solana, adding it to the pile of clothes she already has stacked on her arm. “Besides, who doesn’t love shopping with other people’s money?”

Other people would be Roman. Despite her horror at the totals every time Bayley and Naomi sucker her into these outrageous shopping trips, her husband never seems to bat an eye. It’s not unsurprising. She knows he’s filthy rich. But still, just the thought of spending so much money on clothes is a struggle.

And as Bayley adds the two piece suit to her arm, Solana starts to notice there’s a theme in the items they’re picking for her. A lot of bathing suits. Sun dresses. Shorts and thin sleeved tops. All appropriate for summer, of course. But, something else. 

Like a trip.

Curious, Solana suddenly asks, “why are we getting so many vacation type outfits?”

Naomi looks at her with the perfect confused expression. “What?” She laughs, picking up a bright orange top with a low neckline. “Girl, it’s summer. These are summer clothes.”

“But all these bathing suits—”

“Because we finally got you to embrace a two-piece, so now we need to make sure you have plenty of em’ whenever you and Roman decide to go for a swim.” Her wink makes Solana look away to hide her blush. She doesn’t regret opening up about trying to eventually consummate her marriage, but the way Naomi and Bayley never waste a chance to crack an innuendo can be….a lot at times.

“I’m gonna go bring these up front.” Solana gestures to the heavy stack of clothes that she’s holding. The second, or maybe third, stack they’ve accumulated for her. There’s always a check-in regarding if Solana likes it or not, which she appreciates. Even if they’ve become exceptionally good at distinguishing whether she doesn’t like something because it’s just not her style or whether she doesn’t like it because of insecurity. And when it’s the second one, they never hesitate to invoke their veto powers, instructing the cashier to ring it up.

Solana finds the sales girl from earlier up at the register, messing around on her phone as the line is non-existent. Her emerald green eyes dart up from the screen and an almost crooked smile falls on her young looking face. Solana would guess she’s either in her late teens or early twenties. 

“Got more for me?”

Solana giggles. “Just a little.” 

The girl also laughs, accepting the new pile and adding it with the others. She turns back around with a bit of skeptical look. “Hey, uh, can I ask you something?”

Curious, Solana nods. “Sure.”

She leans over the counter, red hair sprinkling past her freckled shoulders. “How did you meet your husband?” Eyes widening a bit, Solana’s surprise at the question must show. “I’ve seen you come in here a couple times now over the past few months, and every time you spend more than what my parents probably make in a month combined. And your ring is so beautiful. I guess I’m just kind of wondering how I can get lucky too. Cause your husband clearly loves you a lot to spoil you so much.”

Love…..

Not until this very moment has Solana ever thought about Roman and the word love in the same sentence. Hell, in the same universe. 

He’s….he’s done so much for her. Changed her life, for the better, in almost every way. And she’s gathered that he must care for her to some extent. Why else would he do the things he’s done? But love….that’s such a strong word.

Too strong.

Not to mention, he’d made clear to her the first time he came to visit her at her job that he could never love her. He was very honest about that, and in a weird way, she appreciated it.

But…..but he also said that she was a business arrangement, and nothing about the way he treats her feels like a business obligation.

So…..

It’s such a big thing, a big thing she’s not sure she wants to tackle in public, let alone while standing in front of a complete stranger. 

“He’s really great.” That’s the answer nonanswer that she settles on. “I just….I got really lucky with him.” Because she did. God knows she did.

“Fair,” the girl laughs. “Well, if he has any younger brothers who are kind and generous like him, I’m single.”

Solana smiles a bit when her attention lands on the word brothers. Siblings. Family. 

It takes her back to a few months earlier, the night he rushed off because of conflict with this Cody Rhodes person. The night he shared with her he also lost his mother at the age of ten.

But…..but there was more.

Brief glimpses, flashbacks almost of a different night. Her body pressed against his. His strong arms around her. Comforting her almost.

“....all of my siblings….”

“.....only one…..”

“....alone….”

And though she can’t make out everything, can’t remember verbatim what he’d shared with her that evening. there’s enough bits and pieces that she’s able to string together a coherent, heartbreaking realization. 

It wasn’t just Roman’s mom he lost that night.

He lost his entire family.

He was the only one who made it out alive. 

There’s a crushing, cumbersome weight Solana feels in the back of her throat as well as the pit of her stomach. She knows better than most how devastating the loss of family can be, but to lose your entire immediate family in one night. As a child?

That’s a pain she can’t even imagine.

Roman makes a lot more sense now, his coldness, the constant aloof disposition. The way he always has his guard up. Beyond just his title as Tribal Chief. How can one not lose trust in most and all things with a loss like that?

How can one love after a loss like that?

Realizing her epiphany is unfolding behind the sales girl, Solana manages to murmur out a, “I’ll keep that in mind” before excusing herself. She just needs some space. Needs some—

“Solana?”

The woman in question is close to the entrance of the story when a voice, both new and familiar, calls her name, forcing her to turn around. And it’s when she does so that Solana realizes why it’s familiar.

“Dom?”

It’s been years since she’s seen him, and he looks both the same yet different. Facial hair that seems uneven and unconnected with a hairstyle to match, bangs almost entirely obscuring his bushy eyebrows. He’s dressed in all black, clothes draped over his still slim build. Once upon a time, she would grow nervous around him, insecure of herself in comparison to someone she thought was so much more attractive than he actually was. Now though, she just wants to pretend this unexpected encounter never happened.

“What are you—”

“Did you get bigger?”

And there it goes. One simple question asked with almost a hint of a mocking smile, Solana is briefly reverted back to those days of deep rooted insecurity. Where she’d hold her stomach in around him and always only order salad the few times he took her out.

For a second, she’s tempted to cross her arms, suddenly regretting the top that doesn’t entirely connect with her high waisted shorts, exposing a strip of skin. 

“Damn. I really thought you would have gotten yourself together by now.” He scoffs, crossing his arms as he tilts his head. “You still not putting out? Cause your tits are actually not that—”

“Shut up.”

Solana isn’t sure who’s more surprised by her interruption. Him or her. Perhaps him, because his smile is dropped, replaced with an almost scowl.

“What the hell did you say to me, mami?”

But instead of cowering, instead of her anxiety growing at him, a man, moving closer to her. Trying to intimidate her. Solana doesn’t back down.

She doesn’t back down because she’s not scared. 

Chin lifted, she keeps her voice firm and unwavering. “You don’t get to talk about me anymore. Not my weight. Not my body. None of it.” Seeing the shock in his eyes at her actually standing up for herself, not allowing him to talk down on her like he always would, makes Solana’s assertiveness that much more fulfilling. “Now leave me alone.”

She turns to walk away when she hears footsteps behind her. “Where do you think—”

Call it the result of her training or the fact that she’s still very much in her feelings and head about her heartbreaking realization regarding Roman, Solana hasn’t a clue just what leads her to spin around and connect her fist directly with Dom’s nose. However, as soon as she does it, sees him stumbling back into a rack, she slaps her hands over her mouth.

“Oh my….” But instead of apologizing, instead of feeling terrible for hitting another human being, she finds herself almost laughing. A shocked, amused smile hidden underneath her palms. Her first is hurting a bit, but that sting is dulled by the satisfaction of his dumbfounded facial expression.

It’s a bit short lived though as he straightens up and starts to stalk toward her. “What the hell? You crazy puta—”

“What the fuck did you just call her?”

Solana turns to see Bayley and Naomi. It’s hard to distinguish who looks more pissed. Who looks more ready to commit murder.

Naomi steps forward. “I know you did not just call her a bitch.” She turns to Bayley. “That’s what puta means in Spanish, right?”

“It sure does.” Bayley answers, coming to stand beside Solana. Protectively. “He called her a crazy bitch at that.” She scoffs, dressing him up and down. “Everyone knows you’re an idiot, Dom, but I didn’t think you were that stupid. Who the hell do you think you are talking to her like that?”

“He’s my ex.” Solana answers, partially unsure why she would let slip a piece of information that could only make the situation worse.

Naomi’s mouth drops open, one thumb gesturing to him. “Dirty Dumbass Dom is your ex?” Her eyes widen even more. “The one who said—oh hell no, Solana. We’re kicking his ass.”

Bayley lifts her hand, effectively stopping Naomi as she moves forward, no doubt ready to lay into him. Head tilted to the side, she smiles. “No….I have a much better idea.” Solana is understandably confused as Bayley tells Naomi, “I still have my stuff in my trunk.” 

Naomi’s eyes light up. “Oh, this just got so much better.” She turns towards the sales associate who’s been watching everything unfold from a distance like it was a TikTok storytime. “Hold the items, please. We’ll be back in a little bit.” 

Solana turns around to see the girl just give a thumbs up and shrug. “Do what you gotta do.”

Dom groaning in pain is what makes Solana turn her attention back to him, only to see him doubled over, holding his crotch as Naomi hits him in his back and starts guiding him out the store. “Get walking. Now.”

“I’m not going any—-” He cries out once again when Bayley kicks him in his face. 

“Shut your bitch ass up!” She curses in Spanish, motioning for Solana to follow them. “Come on, girl.”

Confused but following suit, Solana asks, “what are we doing?”

Naomi answers with intentional vagueness. “Having a lil’ fun.”

Something tells Solana they have different definitions of fun. 

But she remains silent as her two friends quite literally drag Dom out of the store, through the rest of the stores until they reach the parking lot. She’s again surprised when they take him over to Bayley’s car. She unlocks it and opens the trunk, pulling out a black bag that she hands to Solana. Solana starts to peek inside when something else catches her attention. 

Bats. 

Metal bats. 

She has two. One of which she reaches to Solana.

“I—just what are we doing?”

Bayley’s smile is nothing but mischievous. “Having some fun.”

Naomi suddenly pulls out a knife and presses it to his throat. “Take us to your car. Now.” 

Dom is quieter than she’s ever known him to be as he follows Naomi’s directive, leading them to his fancy pickup truck that Solana, even with her limited knowledge about cars, can tell is worth a pretty penny. 

They make him unlock it to ensure it's actually his truck before Bayley starts to circle it. She nods, as if impressed. “Nice. Can tell you’ve put a bunch of upgrades in.” Solana’s mouth drops open as Bayley takes her key and slides it along the truck as she walks. “Might need a paint job though.”

“What the hell! You—” He’s silenced by Naomi kicking him in his back, forcing him to the ground, knife still pressed against his throat. “You’re all fucking crazy!”

That only makes Bayley smile as she directs Solana to lay the bag on the ground, bending over and pulling out a portable bluetooth speaker. It’s only when seeing the glitter, paint, and glue that Solana starts to put two and two together.

“Are we—”

“Uh huh.”

She gasps. “But, we can’t—-we…..” And suddenly, she’s trailing off, thoughts of all of the cruel, unkind things Dom would say to her, the way he would put her down, fat shame her, bringing her to tears. The memories help her tune to change a bit. “C—can we?” 

Bayley stands up and places a hand on her shoulder. “Solana…..you are Solana fucking Reigns. Wife of Roman Reigns, the Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table.” Out of the corner of her eye, Solana can see Dom’s eyes go wide as saucers. He clearly wasn’t aware of this. Of her marriage. Of just who she calls husband these days. “You can do whatever the fuck you want.”

Bayley’s hype is effective as she pulls out her phone, connecting it to the Bluetooth speaker. A small smile falls on Solana’s face as she hears the familiar and oh-so fitting song. 

Right now,

He's probably slow dancing with a bleach blonde tramp

And she's probably getting frisky

Right now,

He's probably buying her some fruity little drink

'Cause she can't shoot whiskey

Bayley gestures for Solana to move closer to the truck. “Your ex. First hit is yours.”

“Solana, wait, please. I—I didn’t know you were with him.” Dom’s pleading and begging is desperate and embarrassing. He looks like he’s on the verge of tears. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

Sorry.

For some reason, that word has never made her feel so irritated. 

“No, you’re not.” And without a second of hesitation, she takes the bat and swings it against his passenger window, effectively shattering it. On the side, Bayley and Naomi cheer her on, Solana not even needing encouragement as she moves around to the other side, doing the same to the driver’s window.

Bayley howls out, “let’s fuckin’go!” She takes the bat and brings it against the rest of the truck, creating dents, scratches, and anything else that can desecrate what she’s sure makes up for other deficits. 

Solana just took out the mirror on the passenger side when she hears Naomi aggressively yell at him not to ‘fucking move.” And Dom doesn’t, just watches helplessly as she moves over to the bag, pulling out the glue and glitter. She smirks in his direction, lifting the materials of destruction. “Time to glow, bitch.”

Solana laughs as Naomi rips open the door and starts pouring the deadly combination of glue and glitter all over the interior. 

I dug my key into the side of his pretty

little suped up four wheel drive

Carved my name into his leather seats

Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights

Slashed a hole in all four tires

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats

The ironic and iconic lyrics serve as a manual and guiding force for Solana as she catches the tossed keys from Bayley who’s on the hood of the truck going HAM on the roof with the metal bat. Solana finds herself feeling almost giddy as she effectively slashes all four of his tires.

This is the last thing she ever saw herself doing: completely destroying her ex’s car without a care in the world, but it’s also exactly what’s happening.

And she can’t even say that she feels any regret about it.

Doesn’t feel bad about it.

Why should she? He never felt bad about any of the shit he did to her. 

And she especially doesn’t feel bad as she finds herself carving her name not only in his leather seats but the outside of the truck as well.

Naomi looks over at Dom who is now actually crying and laughs. “Look at it this way, Dom. We’re only doing this to your truck. Imagine what he’s going to do to you once he finds out what you did to his wife.” It brings her a great sense of satisfaction to see the terror in his eyes. 

It also makes her send out the brief video she recorded of Bayley and Solana beating the shit out of the truck with bats to her group chat with the men.

Naomi: Just doing hot girl shit. 💅🏿

Their replies start coming in only minutes later. 

Jimmy: Idk what’s going on, but I’m turned tf on. 

Jey: Why ya’ll females always go after our cars and shit? 

Roman: Why the fuck is it everytime you two take my wife out, it’s always some shit?

Roman: What the fuck is going on?

Naomi: Because you all asked so nicely 😐, turns out Solana used to date Dom back in the day.

Jimmy: Rey’s boy? The fuck? She too damn fine for that weasel. He could never handle all that ass.

Roman: One more time, Jimmy. Just one more time.

Jey: Naomi, please give us the rest of the story before Roman make your ass a widow.

Naomi: 🥴 Anyway, she told us some of the stuff he used to say to and about her, and honestly….even more trash than we thought.

Roman: Like?

Naomi: We promised Solana we wouldn’t say anything. Just know he was mean to her. So I guess she ran into him and he said some out of pocket shit, she got upset and PUNCHED him!!!!!!!

Jimmy: Soso HIT someone?!? 

Naomi: Sure did!

Jey: Damn! Our Soso growing up on us!

Roman: I wanna know what the fuck he said to her.

Naomi: Ask her when you get home. 🙄

Naomi: So we’re fucking up his truck while he watches helplessly. 😊

Roman: The dead don’t need cars anyway.

Roman’s chilly response is both given and, in her opinion, well overdue. She’s never heard anything nice or good about Mysterio’s boy, so she can only imagine the full extent of what he put Solana through. 

It’s why she’s mostly pleased by how Solana allows herself to let loose, to get her receipt. She deserves it.

As Solana and Bayley pour glitter in his gas tank, Naomi casually calls out, “what should we get to eat after this?”

________

“I committed assault and vandalism in one day. One.”

Roman smiles as he adjusts his tie, partially thankful his clearly distressed wife is unable to see his humored response to her frantic worrying. 

“That bitch got what he deserved, Solana.” Part of it. But, Solana doesn’t need to know Roman absolutely plans on making sure she never has to run into that alelo ever again. No one will. “You shouldn’t feel bad.”

She really shouldn’t, because he can only imagine what was said to her, the treatment she received from that piece of shit. None of which she deserved. All of which makes him want to say fuck the gala and get straight to torturing the fucker.

Through the mirror attached to his dresser, he watches the bathroom door open, Solana stepping out, a robe only partially covering the length of her red dress. Leaning against the door, she crosses her arms, clearly in her head over what he partially wishes he could have been present for.

He would have taken the metal bats to Dom himself versus the truck.

But, he’s also him, and she is her. 

Two very different people. 

Roman moves across the room, pulling her against him as her hands lay on his chest. “You really mean to tell me you didn’t feel the least bit good at fucking his shit up?”

And he sees it, the way she’s fighting back the agreement. He reminds, hands moving to undo her robe. “You’re not ever required to be nice to people who are cruel to you, Solana. You owe them nothing.” She seems to be mulling over his words as he pushes her robe off her shoulders, watching it fall to the floor. “Fuck….” She always looks good, but there’s something about seeing her in the red, the way the dress hugs her curves, taunting him, testing his resolve, that has them wanting to ditch the gala for an entirely different reason. “God, you’re beautiful.”

Her smile is bashful, but he’s pleased to see her not look away, to maintain eye contact as she murmurs a quiet ‘thank you’. She gasps a bit, informing, “Oh, I noticed earlier you were running low on your medicine, so I called it in and picked it up for you.”

That takes him off guard. It was on his to-do list. Somewhere on there, he’s certain. But for her to go out of her way to take care of it for him, it makes him feel something he can’t really explain. 

Solana’s smile dims a bit as she gently reminds, “you’ve gotta stay on top of that. It’s—it’s important, Roman.”

“Yeah…” It’s a response to her, but he’s still very much in his head over whatever this strange ass, yet somehow comforting feeling is. Fucking confusing ass shit. Clearing his throat, Roman forces himself to get his head back in the game. “Solana….” His tone is something different, something that makes her a bit nervous, that weighs down her previous smile even more.

She does her best not to reveal the alteration in her happiness level. But, she can just tell the mood is about to shift a bit. “Yes?”

To his credit, his hand moving in circles on the small of her back gives her a bit of comfort. Eases the weight of whatever he’s about to share. “Tonight..tonight I need to be on. Focused. The fucking annoying part about these things is that everyone’s there to see if they can seek out some type of soft point. Some kind of weakness.” 

This confuses her. Soft point? That’s not an issue for Roman, and she points out as such. “But, but you have no weaknesses.” 

Something flashes in his eyes and before she can say anything, not that she necessarily would, he’s back to explaining himself. “I don’t want you to think that I’m being cold with you. I’m not upset or avoiding you. I just—”

“You need to show them why you’re the Head of the Table.” His latter explanation provides the previously missing clarification. Reaching for his hand, she offers a gentle smile. “I understand.” 

“Do you?” For a second, it almost sounds like there’s a sense of urgency to his tone. Like he needs to know that she knows it’s nothing personal against her.

And it’s not really until this moment that Solana realizes there are two sides to Roman Reigns. The side that she sees, the almost gentle, caring side. The man who always goes out of his way to ensure her comfort and safety at all times. The man who’s changed her life in ways he’ll probably never be able to fully understand.

Then there’s the other side. The side that makes his name alone strikes fear in even the strongest of men. The most violent. The most diabolical. A god among men. 

Two completely different sides of the coin, but still a single coin.

This other side though, the side only she gets to see because it’s reserved for her. The side that might even be considered a form of vulnerability…..he only shows that with her, only shows it to her.

A….safe space, of sorts.

She is his safe space. 

This second, or maybe third, major realization of the day only makes that love aspect so much more confusing. Though it makes her heart swell to know she can provide that for him. That she can be that for him.

Pulling from floating thoughts, Solana brings herself back to the conversation at hand. “I do.” She offers an explanation of her own. “I know I asked if you’ll stay with me the whole night, but—but, I don’t think I need that.” And before he can protest, she gives the valid reasons why. “I didn’t know Bayley and Naomi would be there. I’m fine with them. I just—I didn’t want to be alone in a room full of people I don’t know.”

“I would never leave you alone.” He brings his hand to the back of her neck, informing in a low voice. “I might not interact with you much, but that doesn’t mean I’m not watching. 

“I know.” She cuts him off, again working to reassure him that he doesn’t need to be so focused on her. It’s clear there’s a task for the evening, a box that needs to be checked. And she doesn’t want to interfere in any sort of way. “I’ll be fine.” With a half smile, she reminds, “especially if there’s a bat nearby.”

A genuine smile grows on Roman’s face as he pulls her into him, Solana resting in his safe embrace. Being in his arms is starting to become one of her favorite things. “My fine ass, bat swinging wife.” She giggles against him as Roman drops his hand to her ass, giving a slap. 

“Let’s go.”

________

The minute the SUV door opens and Roman climbs out first only to offer his hand as Solana steps out behind him, her gaze taking in the beautiful mansion that looks like something out of a movie premiere, her anxiety starts to rise. Taking in the scene around her, she’s met with an actual red carpet leading up the steps to the mansion that has large, glass, double doors with swirled marble intricate designs that match the stone of the building. There’s a line of cars both behind and in front of their SUV, indicating guests are still arriving.

That makes her feel at least a little bit better.

She didn’t want to make Roman late. Even if something tells her he wouldn’t care one way or the other.

It’s not missed upon her how he gives her hand an almost gentle squeeze and rubs his thumb over her knuckles all the while keeping his gaze up and focused. She sees how his light eyes subtly survey the perimeter as he leads them up the steps. She stills when two large men dressed in black suits wearing earpieces, guards clearly, stop them with a raised hand.

“Please walk through—-”

“Do I look fucking stupid?” Roman’s question needs no answer as he motions for Solana to walk ahead of him through the metal detectors that separate attendees from entering. Slowly, with a bit of anxiety at somehow setting them off even though there’s no way for her to, she does so without incident. Roman does the same looking every bit annoyed as he feels, but it makes her feel a bit better when he takes hand in his again.

“No weapons allowed.” Is all he says. Calmly. Simply. Without anything else. She nods, figuring as such, but a brief sideways glance at her husband, and she wonders how beneficial that actually is when he, himself, is a walking weapon.

She’s more than certain he’s killed before with his bare hands. Not a weapon needed.

Solana takes in the setting before her. Circular tables litter the first and second levels of the beautiful building, intricate, opulent centerpieces decorating each table. A live band plays some unfamiliar song as guests mingle about, many of which are admiring the various art pieces that occupy almost all of the walls. The lights are dimmed and the smell of lavender and honey penetrates, creating an almost calming atmosphere that starkly contrasts the fact that almost everyone in eyesight is a part of the crime underworld. Trained, brutal killers. 

Including the man who continues to soothe his thumb across her knuckles. 

“Come on.”

Solana stays close besides Roman as he leads them through the sea of people. Many of which, men primarily, seem to settle their gaze on her, her chest, only to travel up to see the man beside her and smartly redirect their attention literally anywhere else.

In some sort of strange way, that brings a sense of comfort to her. To know that just his presence wards off any and all unwanted attention. Makes her feel safer.

Then again, she’s not sure if any environment exists where Roman doesn’t make her feel safe. 

She feels even better when she realizes where he’s led them. A table full of familiar, equally welcomed faces. 

Bayley is the first to greet her. She stands up from the table, and Solana is in awe of her teal dress that hugs every curve beautifully. “You look fuckin amazing.” She reaches over, pulling Solana away from Roman and into a hug. “Aren’t you glad you went with this one?” She gestures down to the dress.

Solana laughs and nods. “Yes. I am.”

Naomi and Jimmy are also standing now, forming an almost line to hug Solana. Naomi pulls her in even tighter. “How's the fist?”

Solana gasps as Naomi laughs only for Jimmy to crack his little joke. “I made sure ain’t no bats around just in case you get upset again, sis.” 

Allowing him to hug her, Solana rolls her eyes and murmurs, “that’s not happening ever again.”

“You might wanna watch your shit, Big Dog. Soso believe in breaking shit when she gets angry.”

Feeling a bit defenseless, she grasps at straws. “It was—it wasn’t like that.”

Jey scoffs, pointing out after downing some of his wine, “girl, we saw you on that video. You was swangin the hell out of that thing.”

Cheeks flushed, Solana sits down in the seat Roman has pulled out for her. Right next to him. Bayley on her other side. She looks over at Naomi. “I can’t believe you sent it to them.”

“Are you kidding? Our sweet little Solana beating the shit out of her ex’s car with a bat? That’s Kodak worthy.”

She rolls her eyes, eager to take the attention off herself as she notices Jey’s seat beside him is empty. “Is Nicki not coming?”

Naomi answers with a chuckle. “Girl, Nicki got banned years ago after she—”

Jey quickly jumps in, depriving Solana of a story she’s certain involved some type of altercation between him and his wife. Their marriage truly does not make any sense to her whatsoever. “Aye, we don’t need to rehash the past.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Naomi leans over and whispers, “I’ll tell you some other time.”

Solana hopes she follows through on that. Roman asks the twins something in Samona, the three of them starting a dialogue in a language only they can understand. And judging by the serious expressions on all of their faces, she surmises that it’s business related. 

Especially when Solo and Paul join the table. It’s almost like the ladies don’t exist after that, but it doesn’t bother Solana. It can’t when Roman already made it clear what tonight would be like.

It’s nothing personal. 

Just business. 

Bored and kind of eager to explore what seems like one of a kind masterpieces, she turns to Bayley and asks, “can we go look at the art?”

Bayley scoffs. “Hell yeah.” Standing up and adjusting her dress, she remarks, “it’s better than sitting here doing nothing.” Glancing at Naomi, she asks, “you wanna come with us?”

Naomi sucks her teeth. “Girl, you don’t even have to ask.” 

Solana smiles, grateful for their attendance and companionship. 

Roman’s deep voice cuts through with a simple two word command. “Watch her.”

She looks back at him, offering a small smile she hopes will settle any concern he may have about her. He doesn’t need to worry about that. Just needs to focus on himself. 

Linking arms with the other ladies, they move through the crowd, starting with the art near the entrance and making their way around. Solana seems to be the most intrigued by the pieces selected, trying to detect a theme in each one. Naomi and Bayley, however, seem to settle for a combination of roasting and admiring. More of the first than the latter. 

“Oh fuck, I was hoping they didn’t show up.” Solana is in the midst of deciphering a piece of abstract art when Bayley’s almost steel exclamation pulls her from her focus. 

Confused, she asks, “who?”

Naomi answers, subtly gesturing across the room. “Don’t stare. It’ll draw attention to us.”

Solana does her best, but it’s hard not to when she sees a set of new arrivals, most of which are absolute strangers, faces unseen prior to this very moment.

But one is not.

One is a face she saw, a person she spoke to, just days prior.

Brandi. 

She’s holding hands with a tall man, striking blue eyes Solana can see from nearly across the room, bleached blonde hair that somehow compliments his tanned skin. There’s a boyish look about him that Solana would guess is a facade, something that deceives people, cleverly hiding the fact that he’s just as much a killer as the guests around them. 

Before she can ask who he is though, Bayley offers introductions. “That is Cody Rhodes. And the pretty lady on his arm is his wife, Brandi.”

And just like that, Solana’s stomach drops. Her mouth feels dry. “Wife?” Solana looks back and forth between the couple. “Brandi is Cody’s wife?”

This just got a lot more confusing and complicated. The kind woman whose young daughter Solana ‘rescued’ is married to Roman’s greatest enemy? The man he hates most?

And suddenly Solana is thinking about her interaction with Solo after she mentioned Brandi’s name. 

He knew.

So, why didn’t he say anything to her?

Why didn’t he say anything to Roman?

________

Roman ignoring Solana for the majority of the night ends up being a lot easier than she anticipated. 

It’s quelled by the fact that she’s had one hell of a day, several major revelations clogging up her mental space. 

Remembering what Roman told her about his family.

Trying to figure out if she’s in love with Roman.

Trying to figure out if Roman could ever love her.

Accidentally helping out his sworn enemy’s wife.

Her personal guard being aware of this last piece of information yet saying nothing to her or her husband. 

Even though she’s sworn off alcohol after the last drunken disaster, there’s a burning temptation to walk over to the open bar and request something that can at least take the edge off. 

Something to help her clear her head.

It’s after dinner, and Roman, Paul, and the twins are moving around, briefly speaking with various guests. Roman and Paul, in particular, seem to keep the conversations perfunctory before moving onto the next one. Clearly checking off certain, necessary boxes.

Solana again is viewing artwork, doing whatever she can to distract herself when someone unexpected comes up to her.

“Hey.” She looks to her side to see no one other than Solo. He looks almost….nervous. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Does she want to talk to him at this current moment in time? Not really. But, something tells her she needs to. 

“Yes.”

Solo guides them to a corner that’s as close to secluded as they’re gonna get at the crowded event.

“Listen, I…..I wanted to apologize to you.”

Solana’s eyes widen. The surprises just keep coming. “Wh–what?”

“I know….I know I’ve been ass.” She wouldn’t necessarily use that word to describe his behavior and disposition, but it’s not exactly an inaccurate usage either. “It’s just….before you came around, I was just getting my chance to show Roman I deserve a seat at the table with him and my brothers. Then he assigns me to you, and I just feel like I’m not proving myself no more.”

Solana started to figure as such. Guessed that maybe he resented her to a certain extent because he’d essentially been assigned as her adult babysitter. That would probably annoy anyone.

“But, at the end of the day, Roman is the Tribal Chief. His word is final. I have to respect that.” He sighs, shrugging. “And as his wife, I gotta respect you too, which I ain’t been doing, so I apologize.”

Solana has never really been one to be on the receiving end of apologies from people. It’s still an uncomfortable experience as she murmurs an ‘it’s okay’ followed up with her question about his omission. “Why didn’t you tell me who Brandi was? Or tell Roman?”

He sighs loudly, voice lowering a bit as he explains his actions. “You’re new to the family, so you don’t know the history between Cody and Roman. Telling him would only kick off some shit. I figured if she came around again, then that I would tell you.” His explanation makes sense, Solana nodding slowly. He too doesn’t seem to want to upset Roman if possible. “I’m sorry for that too.”

She shakes her head. “No. I—I get it, and—I’m sorry, too, that you got stuck with me.” 

Solo smiles a bit. The first time she’s ever seen him do so. It feels…..odd. “You ain’t so bad.” He then asks, brow lifted a bit. “So, we cool?”

Solana swallows. What reason does she have for them not to be at this point? Everything he’s said makes perfect sense. “Of course.” Offering a small smile, she says sincerely, “thank you, Solo.” 

He nods, not saying anything else as he walks off.

Left alone, blowing out a big breath, she looks around. Solana spots the hall that leads to the ladies room. Making her way through the crowd, she walks in and goes into the first open stall. Relieving her bladder is an unexpected, small but significant enough type of relief. It feels similar to the peace she now has with the whole Solo situation. 

Solana walks over to the sink, pumping some soap into her hands, activating the motion sensor to shut on the water as she rinses, watching the suds empty down the drain. 

“Hey, sis.” 

Solana’s head snaps up the second she’s met with the voice she hasn’t heard in months. Her brown eyes, through the mirror, locking with an almost identical set of brown. The only difference being the glimpse of emotion that’s always been unfamiliar to her but a resident friend of his.

Hate.

Solana moves as quickly as she can, but it’s not fast enough, because he’s got a fist full of her hair. Wes yanks her head back and shoves her away, providing him the access he needs to bring his hand across her face, backhanding her so hard that it makes her double over in pain. 

Feeling an unfamiliar wetness, she feels her cheek, only to see blood on her fingertips. A glance at Wes' hand shows that the rings on his fingers must have cut her. 

But she can’t focus on that too long because his hand is wrapped around her neck as he thrusts her against the adjacent wall, searing pain shooting across her back at the violent impact.

She claws at his iron grip, his dark eyes narrowing against her. So much hate. “You dumb slut, did you really think you could hide forever?” Her eyes shut, her mind screaming Roman’s name in a way her mouth cannot. “Were you stupid enough to believe he could protect you from me?” Solana winces as he tightens his grip. “You’re a weak, stupid bitch and you always will be.”

Weak

Slut

Stupid

Dumb

Bitch

All words that she’s heard before. Cruel names she’s been called over the years in conjunction with beatings. Beatings like this that have left her bloody and broken. Feeling empty. Feeling like every hurtful thing she’s ever been called. Feeling that weak adjective that he’s always made her defining trait.

Solana closes her eyes and starts to retreat to that mental place of superficial security, bracing for what’s sure to be a beating like no other. She tries to return to that spot in her brain that’s accepted that this is her reality, and there’s nothing she can do about it.

The only problem is that that place doesn’t exist anymore.

She can’t find it.

She doesn’t feel weak or dumb or stupid. Doesn’t feel helpless and victim to his sadism.

Not even in this moment with his hand wrapped tightly around her throat. 

No….

She feels something else. 

Something much stronger, powerful, fueling.

Anger.

She’s pissed the fuck off.

It’s when she sees his other hand pull out a knife, that for a second, a brief moment, she hesitates. She hesitates, momentarily paralyzed by the fear and trauma that single item has brought her over the past twenty years. But, she closes her eyes and centers herself, tapping back into months of training, of sparring, of fighting.

Snarling almost, her rage and determination growing synchronously, Solana lifts up her leg with all the force she can muster, her knee coming into direct impact with Wes’s crotch area. Instantly, he releases her, dubbed over, groaning and cursing. Solana’s a bit lightheaded, but she powers through it, quickly grabbing the vase of flowers on the counter and swinging it with all her might over his head.

“Fuck!” He grunts, falling to the ground, his knife tumbling across the intricately designed tile flooring. 

Rushing to grab it, he does the same, but she manages to outpace him. Her speed gives her the upperhand. And with a cry of her own, she slams it down directly into the palm of his outreaching hand.

Wes howls in pain as she rips it out and kicks him in his side, watching as he tumbles onto his back. Solana slams her heel down on his other arm, pinning it and forcing the knife through his right hand this time. 

He cries out again and she backs away for a second, tempted to drive it through another part of him when he growls with all the rage and pain, “I’m gonna fucking kill you, you bitch!”

His threat, unlike countless times before, doesn’t frighten her, doesn’t make her tremble and cower in fear. 

It just pisses her off even more.

“Come on.” Solana motions for him to come at her, for him to climb off the ground and fight her. “Come on!” Using the bloody knife, she takes and slices it across her dress, allowing her more freedom and fluidity with her movements. Kicking the material to the side, she crouches down, egging him on. “Hit me, you son of a bitch!”

Finally to his feet, Solana sees him ready to charge at her. Her eyes never leave him, studying every single movement of his bleeding body. And just when he’s about to slam into her, she jumps to the side, watching him slam into the wall. Solana doesn’t waste a single second as she rushes behind him, lifts her leg and kicks him in the head, intentionally trying to drive her heel into his neck. His shouts of pain further her drive as she drops her leg, snatches him by his hair and slams the knife down into his shoulder. 

She jumps back as his body plops to the ground again, Wes rolling over and writhing in pain, profusely bleeding from several parts of his body, black suit staining dark, bloody red. Solana moves toward him, utilizing every bit of strength coursing through her body as she lands brutal kick after kick into his side, intentionally aiming for his chest. A kick for every broken bone, every bruise, every cut, every burn, every time he waterboarded her to the point where she was unconscious. Every fucking thing. She only stops when she hears the satisfying crack of one or several of his ribs. 

But, it’s not enough. It’s not enough because all she can think about now is all the times he made her bleed, made her scream, made her flail with fear and terror. It’s his turn now. 

Kicking off her heels, she grabs him by the collar of his suit jacket. “Come here, you bastard.” He’s heavy, and it’s a strain to drag him, but she does just that, pulling him into one of the stalls. Solana shoves the back of his head into the toilet and holds him down face first into the water.

Wes flails against her, but her grip is just like her spirit. Strong and unrelenting.

“How does that feel?” She taunts, tears streaming down her face because as vindicating as this moment is, it still doesn’t strip away the pain of years of abuse and torture. Yanking his head back, pleased by the way he coughs violently, gasping for air, she continues to mock him with the same taunts he always threw her way. “Say something, bitch!” Solana slams his head back down into the water. Repeating the same act of torture he utilized on her for years. 

She does it until she feels her strength starting to wane, eventually releasing his clumped body down as she backs away, leaning against the counter. 

Chest moving up and down from her heavy breathing, exhaust settling in as adrenaline fades out, it’s only then she turns to look at her reflection in the mirror. Face reddened, hair disheveled, red dress stained with his blood splatter, a mixture of her blood from the cut that probably wont need anything more than a liquid bandaid, and tears running down her cheek, yet she’s never felt fucking better.

This….this is liberation.

It’s freedom from shackles of fear. 

Fear of the one person she never thought she wouldn’t be terrified of. And yet, that same source of so much heartache lies before her: bloody, bruised, broken. 

All because of her.

Commotion outside the door and banging against it alerts her to the fact that somebody has clearly caught onto her absence. Roman, most likely. 

Body suddenly very heavy, she moves over to the door, leaning back against it, eyes landing on Wes who’s coughing up blood. For a brief second, she feels a sliver of sadness, if guilt. But just as quickly as it’s there, it’s knocked out the way, replaced with pride. Roman’s words from earlier in the night returning and cementing her satisfaction.

“You’re not ever required to be nice to people who are cruel to you, Solana. You owe them nothing.”

And fewer have been crueler than the man before her.

Voice and body trembling from the weight of it all, Solana affirms with all the emotion and sincerity through her body. “I am not scared of you anymore.” She turns the lock, stepping out of the way to avoid the avalanche of bodies about to enter. “And I never will be again.”

Sure enough, it sounds like a stampede. Solana closes her eyes, stealing a moment to rest and relish in her inner peace.

“Solana.”

His voice is urgent and pressured, and seconds later, he has her in his arms, holding her against him. She breathes in his scent, comforted by his arms around her.

“I’m fine.” She knows he needs to hear it, needs to hear the words come from her mouth. Even if she knows she probably looks anything but, clothes and body splashed with her brother’s blood. 

“Solo!” Roman’s voice is filled with unbridled rage that, any other time, she’d probably tremble at. But, in this moment, it’s valid as hell. And beyond that, she knows without a doubt now that he would never make her the object of his anger. “Pick him up!”

Solana sets her gaze on a barely conscious Wes as Solo drags him out of the stall. 

Jimmy and Jey being present, Roman’s fury, and Solo holding him in position are all the things that  alert her to what’s about to happen. 

Jimmy whistles, taking in Wes' battered appearance. “Damn, she beat the hell out of you!”

“No.” Solana says it too quietly, too softly. She has to place her hand on Roman’s chest to get his eyes back on her. “No.”

“I don’t want you to kill him.” And before Roman can protest, ask her if she’s lost her fucking mind, she steps toward Wes, explaining to all parties but directing her wishes to him. “I want him to live in fear….to know what that’s like.” Eyes burning with a fresh set of tears, she emphasizes. “It’s his turn to be scared.” Head tilted, scoffing a bit at how pathetic he looks, she mocks him one last time, “who’s the bitch now?”

Without even thinking about it, Solana lifts her hand and connects her fist directly with the side of his jaw, knocking him out cold. 

“Goddamn!” Jey shouts with all the amusement in the world as Roman pulls her back into him, lips pressed against her temple.

“I’m okay,” she reiterates, holding onto his sleeve. “I promise.” She is. Maybe better than she’s been in some time. 

Better than she’s ever been.

Roman steps back for a second and slides his jacket off, placing it around her. 

Solana reaches for his hand and gestures for the door. “Let’s go.” He still looks so angry, so furious, but she knows it’s not toward her. Nevertheless, he doesn’t need to stay in this headspace. Not with his high blood pressure. Not with his health at stake.

Roman says something to Solo in Samoan and begins to guide her out of the bathroom that’s been completely destroyed in the fight. A crowd of most of the guests has gathered around, clearly curious and wanting to know just what the hell happened. It’s fair and almost expected. 

But, despite looking like everything she’s just been through, Solana doesn’t shy away from the stares and whispers. Doesn’t necessarily care. Because as ironic as it is, this might be the most confident she’s ever felt in her life. 

But, it’s when she sees Cody and Brandi that Solana just knows something is about to go wrong.

Cody smirks, calling out loud enough for all to hear, Roman especially. “I guess women and children aren’t off limits after all.” 

There’s more to it. There has to be more to it, because the second Roman rips his hand away from Solana and charges at Rhodes seems to take even the instigator off guard. Instantly, Jimmy and Jey are rushing toward their cousin as he lands a blow against Rhodes that sends him flat on his ass. 

“Roman!” She calls out after him, moving in his direction, only to feel herself being restrained. She looks back and catches Bayley and Naomi looking with worried expressions. 

“We need to get out of here!” Naomi urges, but Solana can’t seem to look away from what’s turned into an all out brawl. Jimmy and Jey struggle to hold back their irate cousin as he spits venom against Rhodes who looks just as pissed off now, blood running from his nose.

“I’m the head of the table!” 

“I’ll whoop everybody’s ass around here!”

“This is my kingdom, you little bitch!”

“I can’t just leave him!” Solana pleads, trying to pull away from Bayley who clearly has no intentions on letting her go.

“He’ll be fine, Solana. But, he’s pissed the fuck off, and now Rhodes is pissed, and it’s about to be a shitshow that if he was thinking straight, he would never want you around.” Naomi explains and adds on, “the twins won’t let anything happen. I promise you that. Now let’s go.”

And despite everything in her screaming not to, to stay with him, to somehow find a way to help him calm down, there’s a logical part of her that knows the girls are right.

Even with him clearfly only seeing red as she continues to shout at Cody, the other man also being held back, barely, by his men. 

“There ain’t a man alive who can touch my button. If I had one, you wouldn’t be able to locate it. Can’t no man knock me out! I’m tired of being humble! I’m tired of letting people think they got a chance! The Tribal Chief is heads and shoulders above everybody! I run this all!”

Roman is almost a different person, so consumed by his rage, no doubt most of it because of Wes, Cody just being on the receiving end but not just taking it without responding with threats of his own.

“Time and place, you narcissistic son of a bitch!”

“Not everyone is fucking scared of you, Reigns!”

“I’ll fight you any fucking day!”

Solana’s eyes briefly lock with Brandi who’s also being rushed away, and she swears, she sees what looks like an almost sympathetic expression. Like if she could, she’d apologize.

It makes Solana frown.

Naomi pulls on her again. “Let’s go, Solana.” 

Security for the gala is now rushing over as some of Roman and Cody’s men are now throwing fists as well. Solana hates this. Hates how this has all played out. But, she also knows that she does nothing to help the situation by hanging around and risking getting hurt.

That’ll only upset Roman more. 

So even with a tremendous amount of apprehension, she allows them to guide her out, never once not thinking about the man she’s almost certain she more than cares about at this point. 

________

Solana is up and alert the minute she hears him enter their front door. In the living room, lying on the sofa, her go-to spot when waiting for his arrival, she partially expects him to walk in and meet her. The way he has several times before now, but this time is different.

Heavy footsteps don’t bring him to meet her. They instead carry him past the living room, through the kitchen, and outside the backdoor. 

Instantly, she’s sitting up. 

She goes to follow him when Jimmy and Jey enter the house looking every bit the night that they’ve all had. 

It’s a stupid question, and she knows as such, but she can’t help but ask. “How is he?”

Jimmy is the one to answer, blowing out a breath. “Honestly? Still pretty pissed but calm enough to come back home.” He then shares, “I tried to get him to sleep it off at my place, but he wanted to come back here.

Good. Solana doesn’t say it, but she sure is thinking it. Not even from the perspective of her being uncomfortable being in this big house all by herself with just Dulce. That’s maybe a part of it, sure. But, the biggest thing is that this is their home. And if he needs something, she wants to be there to help him with whatever that is.

“It’s okay. I can watch him.”

“Solana….” Jey cuts in, stuffing his hands in his suit pocket. “You know he would never hurt you, right? I know he was definitely on one tonight, but—”

Seeing where this is going, she cuts in, calm but firm. “I’m not scared of him. I—I know he would never hurt me.”

They seem to be pleased by her answer but still a bit hesitant, Jimmy offering, “if you want, I can stay over tonight. Make sure—”

“He’s my husband.” She swallows, nothing unwavering about her reiteration. “I’ve got him.”

Jimmy and Jey still look unsure but follow her wishes. Each giving her a hug before reiterating to call them if she needs anything. She’s thankful for their support but mostly their making sure Roman made it back home safely. 

Solana carries Dulce up to her shared room with Roman and closes the door to avoid any unnecessary interruptions. It’s only then she finally makes her way back downstairs, venturing through the living room and kitchen to the backdoor. Hand on the knob, Solana doesn’t hesitate to turn it, bringing her to the man she’s had on her mind nonstop the past few hours.

Roman’s hulking figure is plopped down on the edge of the patio chaise lounge. His button down shirt is discarded, his muscles stretching against the cotton of his white undershirt. Playing with the sides of one of his shirts she threw on after her shower, Solana sees there’s no need to announce her presence.

He’s already aware. 

With calmness that contrasts his demeanor just hours earlier, he advises, “you should be asleep.”

His voice is hoarse, heavy, weighed down with something he seems keen on internalizing. No matter how much it wrecks him on the inside. It brings a frown to her face and a pain to her chest. 

Swallowing, Solana moves closer to him, calmly countering, “you know I won’t sleep until I know you’re okay.”

“Okay….” Roman chuckles, and it’s almost bitter. An almost ironic tone as he repeats her chosen word. “Solana, nothing about tonight was okay.”

Her heart grows even heavier than it’s been following tonight’s events.

It tears Solana up to see him in this state. To see and almost feel his turmoil and not be able to do anything about it. Because he doesn’t want help. Because he’s so used to handling everything on his own, as he’s stated to her multiple times before.

But, that’s the thing. He’s not alone.

She just needs to get him to see and understand that. 

Setting aside any reservations and trepidation about her next steps, she closes the distance between them, kneeling down on the patio stone directly in front of him. Naturally, his eyes lock with hers, and for a second, she sees a tremble of his nearly impenetrable wall. “Roman….” One hand on his knee, the other reaching to grab his hand. “Please….please talk to me.” His eyes briefly dart away, a sign of her words doing something to his resolve. “Whatever….whatever happened tonight, let me help you work through it.”

He sets his focus back on her, the hand under hers lifting to cup her face, thumb ghosting over the cut she cleaned, tended, and sealed with a liquid band-aid. “You got hurt tonight….”

“I don’t care about that.” Her dismissal is aggressive but slides into something soothing almost as she reiterates. “I—I care about you.”

His jaw clenches. “I lost my temper tonight.”

“I don’t care about that either.” Again, she’s dismissive, pushing aside anything that could prevent him from hearing her right now. Really hearing her. “I wasn’t scared of you. I’m—I’m never scared of you, Roman.” Swallowing, she stands up and moves herself on his lap, relieved when he wraps his arms around her. “But…I was scared for you.” She pushes back some of his hair that came out of his always neat bun during the brawl. “I just….I wish you would talk to me.”

But, she also knows that she can’t force it. Can’t make him. Even though it physically aches her to know he’s dealing with so much and won’t let her help.

Won’t let her be there for him the same way he’s been there for her.

“Cody and I grew up together. We were….good friends.” Solana isn’t sure she’s still breathing as Roman begins to explain in a low voice, his hand moving soft circles against her side. She says and does nothing, not wanting to do anything to risk deterring him from this rare occurrence of vulnerability. “We…we bonded over being groomed to take over our families legacies. His…his father was good friends with mine.” 

Friends….

It feels almost impossible to imagine Roman and Cody as ever being anything more than sworn enemies. She’s not sure she’s even seen a deeper level of hatred than what she saw in their eyes tonight.

“It was my 10th birthday. We were gathered at the house to celebrate, and it was fine, until it wasn’t.” Roman grows quiet, as he clearly hesitates. She starts to tell him that he doesn’t have to, that she doesn’t want to trigger him. But, he continues. “I don’t remember everything. Just the sound of bullets, screams, and then heat from the fire that someone set.” Fire… Solana’s eyes naturally drop to his tatted arm, tribal ink covering burns he clearly received that night of pure hell. Eyes watering, she continues to listen to him relive what sounds like a night of horror. “I was the only one who survived. My parents, my aunt, uncle, and my seven brothers and sisters were all killed.”

 “Oh my god….” Her heart literally breaks in that moment, hearing him confirm what she’d remembered just earlier in the day but didn’t want to actually believe. It’s just too devastating. To lose his entire family in that manner, all while celebrating his birthday of all days….it seems inconceivable.

Solana isn’t sure she’s ever felt this much sympathy towards another human being. 

Roman’s voice, however, never wavers. She can see he’s doing his best to simply recall and not feel. “And it wasn’t until I was 14 that a mutual friend of ours at the time, Seth, let it slip while he was in one of his manic states, that I should talk to Cody about what really happened that night.” His voice takes on a darker, angrier tone, and she can feel him shift underneath her. “So, I did, and I found out….that his father was responsible for the hit. That he betrayed my father. And that Cody knew the whole fucking time.”

There’s understandable anger in his words. Anger at such cruel betrayal. “For four fucking years, he pretended to be my friend. Pretended like he didn’t fucking know that his father was the reason my family was all dead.” His voice dips into something low, something much darker. “I can’t tell you…much after that, because I was so angry that all I saw was my rage.”

Solana brings her hand to his chest, a comforting placement, though she’s not certain anything could comfort this level of trauma. 

His expression is blank as he shares coldly. “I killed them all. His parents. His siblings. Everyone. I left him the same way his father left me: alone.” He swallows thickly, still not looking at her. “I told you before, Solana. I’m not a good man.”

“That’s not true.” She finally speaks, voice hoarse,  eyes watering at the truth of it all. She had no idea he’d been through so much. Lost so much more. “I don’t think I’ve met a man better than you, Roman.”

She’s never met any man like Roman.

Moving her hands to cup his face, it settles her a bit that he’s finally looking at her again. Closed off and back to being unreadable, it’s still eye contact. And she’ll take it. She’ll take whatever she can get from him. “No one….no one can know what it’s like to lose like we’ve lost. I….I get you. And….and I think you get me too.” Sniffling, she shakes her head, never wanting to invalidate his experience. “And no, I know….I know it’s not the same, but what I do know is that I haven’t felt alone since…since being with you.” She hasn’t felt a lot of things since being with him. Hasn’t felt the same amount of depression and emptiness. Just happiness and joy. “And I don’t want you to feel alone either, because….because you have me, and….and I’m not going anywhere.” Her tone drops into a soft whisper. “Haría cualquier cosa por ti.”

Because I love you.

But, that can’t be stated. Not aloud. Not right now. Maybe not ever. It’s not what he needs. Because it’s for selfish reasons. Because it would make her feel better to verbalize what she’s finally realized what she’s been feeling towards him. What she feels for him.

Love

“Besides….” She offers a small smile, messing with his beard, knowing the weight of this conversation might be too much for him, offering him a bit of a detour. “Who else is gonna bail me out the next time I fuck up someone’s truck?”

He cracks a small smile, and it makes her heart swell. It’s the best thing she’s seen all day. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you cuss.”

Relieved to hear a growing lightness in his voice, she buries her head in the crook of his neck, murmuring, “guess you’re rubbing off on me….”

Roman brings his hand to her hip, tugging her closer, kissing her temple. Lips pressed against her forehead, he murmurs. “I’m proud of you.” That means so much to her. His approval. “Cause while I hate to agree with my dumbass cousin, Jimmy was right. You whooped his ass.”

Solana can’t help it. She laughs into his chest, looking up while biting down on her bottom lip. Voice quiet, she expresses both a question and agreement. “I did, didn’t I?”

He rolls his eyes but nods, bringing his hand to her cheek, thumb and index finger lightly cupping her chin. “Sure did, baby…“ He doesn’t say anything after that. He doesn’t need to. Neither does she. She just nestles closer to him as he stands up, still holding her, grip protective and firm. 

Like he has no intentions of letting go.

Solana prays he never does. 

Because while Roman Reigns is the last person she ever expected to end up with, to care for, to love…..that’s exactly what’s happened.  

That’s exactly who she’s with.

Exactly who she cares for.

And exactly who she loves.

________

Xavier stands in front of the hospital bed, a hospital bed he was still in days prior, where his son stood before him as they schemed together to create what he thought was a foolproof plan. It’s a plan, however, that didn’t go the way he intended.

Far from it.

Wesley was always supposed to attack Solana in the bathroom, was supposed to rough her up a bit to see if Reigns would come to her rescue, the prediction being he’d move to kill Wes but Solana would interfere, would stop him.

Because his stupid second born has always been a victim to her love mentality. Would be blinded by whatever fruitless hope she still has that some part of him or his son loves her. Because they’re family.

But, that didn’t happen.

His son attacked her, yes, but the bitch fought back.

And now he watches helplessly as a brutally beaten, stabbed Wesley is laid up in the ICU yet again, but this time in a coma. Limited brain activity. 

Prognosis….not well.

And it’s all because of her.

Xavier is a prideful man, but even he can admit he never saw this coming. Never anticipated Reigns would have the girl trained, never thought his weak ass daughter could be capable of something like this.

Capable of almost taking away his son. His heir. 

Xavier is seething and would shoot her dead right now if he could, but he has to be smart. Especially after tonight, which wasn’t an entire loss.

He snatches his phone, sending out a text. 

Xavier: I want that bitch DEAD.

Xavier: We’ll proceed with the plan.

Because while most will see Roman’s outburst as expected given Cody Rhodes was present and almost everyone knows the history there, Xavier knows better.

Xavier knows that Roman’s rage was primarily at the fact that Solana had been attacked, confirming what he suspected.

And he’ll give the bastard credit. From what he heard, Reigns did a great job masking his feelings for her, practically ignoring Solana the entire night. 

Never showing his hand.

But, he did.

He does care for her.

And just that thought brings a wicked smile to Xavier’s aged face. 

After all these years, the impossible has happened. 

Roman Reigns finally has a weakness.

________

translation: "i'd do anything for you."

[thorough-witness-enjoyer]

In the face of recent news about our beloved Destiny, I think it’s more important than ever for us as a community to come together and support each other in numerous ways.

It’s been a very hard week for all of us, especially those who lost their jobs and outlet for their passion in mass lay offs. Losing a position that allowed you to craft magnificent stories alongside some of the most ambitious people in the gaming industry, especially in worrying economic circumstances, must be excruciating to deal with and I wish the best for all those laid off from Bungie.

For us fans, it hurts more than anything to see the game you care so much for get put in headlines for how little that care is shared amongst the people responsible for making decisions on it. I’ve been into Destiny since it first dropped, making it the love of my life for nearly two-thirds of my whole existence , and to hear about how it’s just another product to be sold when it’s everything and more to me is just despairing. I wanted to become a writer and concept artist to create a game for others that made them feel as cared for as I did when I played Destiny and now I’m sitting here seeing all the people who helped foster that feeling be treated as another expenditure.

It’s awful, a lot of us are feeling really uninspired and betrayed at the moment, not sure we even want to see what will happen to this masterpiece of a game in the hands of the current executives. We are also dearly missing the developers, artists, writers, and more who made Destiny more than a fps looter shooter.

But it is times like these where we are torn and confused that we must uplift one another and not let the bitter taste of Bungie’s actions make us speak with hostility. This is not about decisions on whether to support Bungie or the actual game, but about refocusing on what truly makes Destiny enjoyable to so many.

Its world is immersive with care put into every story and that clearly shows in just how eager fans are to create masterpieces for it. It was never playing the game or the notoriety that kept me coming back for more, but the joy of creation I could share with others.

It stings to see a disinterest in nursing the potential of the Destiny universe from the executives with motivations other than monetary gain, but when the executives won’t care, we can. There are still employees at Bungie who adore their work and we can continue to support them by speaking up against horrible industry practices and show that we won’t abandon their efforts to make Destiny what it is.

Make ocs, write fanfictions, follow the former employees wherever they go, draw til your heart is overflowing, join Discords, roleplay, share headcanons, create aus with friends, do whatever keeps Destiny alive and flourishing for you!

Destiny will never die to me, even when it’s long forgotten and the servers shut down, because Destiny made me who I am and I intend to repay that gift an infinite amount of times over. The characters and universe will be alive and well to me until I die, regardless of the fate of the game and Bungie.

So go out and prove that Destiny’s themes of the power of community and hope are more than just morals behind a screen, that they are life changing messages that we will carry on despite hopeless news!!

Reblog charming artists, message people about ships you enjoy, leave questions and tags that contribute to conservations, write essays about what Destiny means to you!!

My messages and inbox for questions are always open if anyone would like to talk (I’m trying to get better at answering them, even if they are months late)! You are all welcome here and I want to start reblogging and liking more freely even if those things scare me sometimes!

We can decide our fates and we can decide the fate of Destiny’s presence in our lives as well! We can choose to care when others won’t and refuse to make our enjoyment debatable!! In troubling times, we should be able to reach out into the dark and find hands to hold onto tight!!

[wickmitz]

lo and behold, here’s my sexuality list for some of the lackadaisy characters! i am well aware most of these aren’t canon and that i’m being a little ‘too fruity’ with it, though that’s alright! these are just my opinions and, frankly, i don’t want nor need them to be canon in any way -- they are just aspects added to the characters mostly for my enjoyment. some of these are subjected to change ( due to a variety of reasons ) and some of these i may consider ‘canon’ in the sense that i read the characters with these headcanons in mind. i could also write an essay on some of the hcs listed here, but for the sake of simplicity i kept them as brief as i could … but without further ado, lets get on with it! :

rocky : he’s rather confusing, sexuality wise. tentatively would say he’s bisexual to some degree given how little someone’s gender matters to him, and that he also falls under the asexual umbrella ; being either demisexual or greysexual perhaps! he mostly just yearns to be loved and to serve as an invaluable object in someone’s life, taking his devotion to the extremes even if it’s unasked of him to do so. i don’t think he actually thinks about romance and any of his romantic feelings for people are more so vague and metaphorical … while he wouldn’t turn down a relationship, especially with someone he ‘desires’, i don’t necessarily think that’s his goal either. rocky is too easily caught up in outside factors to function normally in a traditional romantic sense, and any such activities that come with dating is the furthest thing from his mind. he likes being someone’s number one, their one and only, the most important force in their life … but if he can achieve that without romance, then he’ll be fine with that too. rocky will die for his crush ten times over but is rather okay with never getting to kiss even their hand. he’s an enigma!

freckle : transgirl and she’s too nervous to figure out the rest of her identity as it stands, though would probably be best described as demisexual. might have a phase where she adopts the lesbian label due to a preference for women only to find out she’s still attracted to men … swears off labels after this due to embarrassment! overall, freckle’s whole thing is about exploring her gender identity more than anything else ; finding a skin that’s actually comfortable for her to wear and easing some of that inner turmoil and anger inside of her. wiggling into something that feels freeing rather than being eternally tied down by her mother’s intense catholic views. ivy helps freckle out a ton too, making for a great mentor when it comes to embracing femininity and enjoying the girlish birthright of crushing on stupid boys, and speaking of ivy …

ivy : heteroflexible plain and simple! is primarily interested in men while showing little to no attraction towards girls, and wouldn’t have ever dated one had it not been for freckle transitioning. she staunchly refused to break up with freckle after, and decided ( rather brazenly ) that she’s got a girlfriend now and that’s really cool actually!! plus she now has a loophole to present to viktor so he doesn’t try to kill her paramor. love wins <3

viktor : straight. he is not sexually nor romantically into men, sadly. has mostly sworn off love in general though, so he doesn’t think about this stuff as it stands ; and he’s kinda behind on all these terms anyway. but despite this, he wouldn’t be opposed to being life partners ( or being in a qpr ) with a man if things fell that way. see my mini essay on vikdecai for additional info on that!

mordecai : transman, homoromantic(?), and asexual … mordecai keeps all of this under lock and key, with the only people knowing about his trans identity being atlas, mitzi, and viktor ( who all found out through various means ) -- though serafine and nico also heavily suspect it themselves. he’s more oblivious to his homoromantic inclinations though, as well as his asexuality to an extent. will typically dismiss his repulsion towards touch as something else he’s just being ‘neurotic’ about, rather than holding any real significance. the reason for the question mark near homoromantic is simply due to the fact i could see mordecai still being interested in women! so i sort of flip between homosexual labels and demiromantic labels for him. but he definitely, and without a doubt, has a heavy male preference regardless!

mitzi : straight and polyamorous … kind of. she’s experimented with women before ( on the road, most notably ) and has no qualms about being with them sexually or doing minor romantic acts with them either. she’s just never been particularly attached to them the way she is with men, hence her more serious relationships being exclusively with the opposite gender. still, she’s more casual and loose with her sexuality than most are, and is more than willing to be with a girl if it suits her needs or makes her happy. might become bisexual down the line after meeting women that fit her type, or she might always be straight with a few ‘exceptions’ … being kind of heteroflexible in that regard! and as for her polyamory, while she enjoys that lifestyle and could commit to it again, she much prefers monogamy now, usually. see my mitzi’s type post for more info on all of that!

zib : oh boy. i don’t think zib cares for labels and prefers being an unlabeled mess of a thing ( calling himself and resonating with ‘queer’ is as far as he’ll probably ever go ) but to make this simple, he’s sort of a … bisexual, genderqueer, demiromantic, and polyamorous cocktail. and even those labels are almost too restricting for zib, who’s rather unashamed and free where it concerns existing as his disastrous self. he likes men, he likes women, he likes people who aren’t men or women, he likes people who are both … he’s a man, and sometimes a woman, or at the very least enjoys dressing like a woman … he likes casual and multiple partners … he struggles with more traditional romantic commitment but wants it nonetheless … etc, etc. he’s sort of everywhere! views life through a simplistic lense of ‘if i like it, then i like it’ and doesn’t bother with it further.

wick : a man who is straight by design and default, since his type is as standard as it can get … aka being primarily interested in curvy women who are extremely feminine. he still likes all manner of women though! but he’s not really into men really, even if he’s extremely open minded about lgbtq+ overall and almost wishes he could have a queer experience of some kind. if only because everyone around him thinks he’s gay or has assumed it at some point in time. though there is some wiggle room despite this! wick could become romantically attracted to a man, i think, if certain things aligned -- but will never be attracted to them in a standard sexual manner. it’s too complicated for me to thoroughly explain here ( and @churchwick is more qualified to talk about this than me anyway, as the wick expert ) yet i do think wick could fancy himself an exception or two. he’d be rather awkward about the whole thing though </3

serafine : lesbian who barely ever bothers with men and isn’t shy about showing off her lady-type preference. she also has some gender stuff going on, occasionally embracing he/him pronouns alongside her feminine ones whenever she so pleases. operates on very hedonistic grounds too, constantly adorning herself with pretty girls until her arms are full and keeping her furniture warm, since she sleeps better that way if nico is unavailable. enjoys taking in girls who are ‘blind’ and need to be shown the truth … likes offering them a better life within her cult and by her side. although it’s worth noting that serafine is rather casual with her conquests and hardly ever takes on a permanent and more personal ‘lover’, but she’s semi open to the idea of it regardless. she is merely going through life and enjoying wherever it leads her, after all.

nico : i’ll be honest, i have no clue! i do not think about nico enough to have an opinion on his orientation, but it felt wrong to seperate the savoy siblings, so here he is anyway. he’s certainly cisgender and is extremely comfortable with being a man. and, like his sister, he’s more prone to casual arrangements rather than actual dating. i could see him being pansexual perhaps! i don’t think he cares for gender much, and will go for anyone who is ‘hot’ enough or ‘interesting’ enough if that makes sense. he’s a little shallow about it! but again, those are just my rather quick thoughts on the matter. i seriously need to think more about nico sometime, whoops.

lacy : extremely repressed bisexual! she is rather inexperienced with dating in general, having been strictly study focused in school and now that she finds herself as wick’s secretary, she still has little room left for a love life. her entire schedule is mostly just wick, wick, wick, and wick … keeping sable stone & quarry afloat business wise while also tending to her employer’s personal health and safety as well. such a busy life ( on top of tennis and the occasional lunch with friends ) has her rather closed off to meeting men or being courted by them, with her crush on wick being no help in this regard either! she is rather content with his company and has made little effort to seek out new men to converse with, or engage with women in a flirtatious manner. but eventually she’ll have a rather violent bisexual awakening that sends her reeling and leaves her confused, a little caught up in the almost teenage throes of envy, admiration, and hate towards the women she’s attracted to. over time she’ll get over herself and her perpetually reserved demeanor enough to explore this side of her -- though it will come with many bumps along the road and won’t be as seamless of a transition for her as it would be for some people.

church : homosexual through and through. he’s unmarried and is taking great advantage of the pansy craze happening underground. engages in more casual relationships with the same rotation of men due to a.) not caring for romance and b.) also being keenly aware of the fact that there are plenty of people out there who would use this to ruin him, blackmail him, or worse. so to say he’s extremely careful and secretive about it all is almost an understatement. hasn’t ever required a beard due to his disdainfully bored personality … but not having a wife to feign care towards leaves him with ample room to explore and carry himself as he pleases behind closed doors. if anyone knows the ins and outs of some queer scenes in st. louis, it’s him, surprisingly. and he’s rather tight lipped about the whole thing.

atlas : like the man himself, nobody knows, not even me! he definitely loved mitzi, though whether or not he was equally into men is a mystery.

so tada! those were my very brief and incoherent notes on the lackadaisy crew and what’s going on with them, sexuality and gender wise! i originally planned to discuss other characters here as well, like asa, the arbogasts, ruby, virgil, etc … basically anyone else i could think of, or whoever else that was listed on the lackadaisy characters page that i hadn’t covered yet. although to be frank, i don’t have many thoughts on those characters where it concerns their orientations! so i left them alone for now. maybe one day i’ll update this or make a part two -- who knows! though i’m more than content with this being my list for now haha

[kafus]

Hey, I was super skeptical of the new anipoke for the longest time because I've seen too many kids' shows be hyped as super deep and stuff but seeing how excited you (and others) had been about it I decided to give it a try.....

And emm....

It's just a kids' show as far as I can tell ^^;

Is it a case of just having a weak start and it gets better.......? Am I missing something.....? I watched the first couple episodes and just didn't really see the depth it had seemed like there was gonna be.....

/gen

you gotta keep in mind that when i’m talking about horizons, i am talking about it with, at the time of writing this post, 65 episodes of context/lore and things happening and character development. i’m speaking from the POV of a longterm viewer with a Lot to talk about - horizons has good character writing and character development and layers/new intrigue get added to the lore as the show progresses in ways that i (and others) find personally satisfying. it does not dump all this on you in the first two episodes by any means.

that being said i have never meant to come off like horizons isn’t a kid’s show or something; it is one and it does kid’s show things and for all the ways i think it is much better and has genuinely good writing in comparison to older seasons of anipoke in particular, it’s not going to be a show that children cannot watch at any point. if the idea of watching something made for children that has childlike aspects to it puts you off inherently, you may not enjoy the show. i just don’t think “being a kid’s show” says anything about a show’s inherent enjoyability or quality, personally. and i think horizons, despite being a kid’s show, is also enjoyable for adults

tldr; horizons’ complexity comes from the way it builds its character and lore over a long runtime and is also definitely still a kid’s show, but kid’s shows can have good plot and depth so i don’t really think it matters. if that’s not ur cup of tea that’s fine tho

[total-drama-shark]

Do you have a favorite romantic relationship from each season?

Yoo it's been a while since I've been asked for my td thoughts :) I answered an ask this before that you can check here but I’ll provide additional info in this one.

TDI

I have to go with Duncney in this one, their dynamic is strong and their storyline is very well handled IMO, Gwent was a more long term and endgame couple for this season but the issue with them is that their relationship status always seemed to reset every episode regardless of how much development they got in individual episodes, so it felt like it wasn’t going anywhere when it should, they liked each other since ep 1 but by the start of ep 16 they were still at that exact same status. With Duncney though the development they get in an episode carries on to the next, making it all cohesive and neat :)

TDA

I don’t think I was a big fan of many canon couples this season, Duncney was very hit or miss, Gwent broke up, Bridgeoff was hitting constant bump in the roads. I’d say Lesharold but I’m not sure if they count given they weren’t an official couple, and I preferred them in TDWT even though they had less screen time there. So I guess that really leaves us with Nizzy, but again I prefer them in TDI and TDWT. Guess TDA just isn’t my season.

TDWT

Aleheather my beloved, we love an enemies to lovers and a WT Heather W (Heather’s win is canon to me). While I admit the writing wasn’t perfect when it came to consistency, one episode Alejandro flirts with Heather to tease her while another he doesn’t want people to think he like her, it’s our first properly well done endgame relationship in a season IMO. Seeing their constant complicated conflict is an absolute treat and it’s one of my favorite canon couples period.

TDROTI

Sometimes I wonder if I like Zoke because they’re cute or I can project so much onto them, that doesn’t matter though because my fave this season is Samkota! Dakota’s development learning to be less superficial in her judgement, learning to care for people, and finding someone in her life who not only actually likes her and cares for her as a person, but loves her? My heart <3 Sam starting out awkward messing up while trying to compliment her or finding things they have in common to being able to successfully swoon her is also adorable :)

TDAS

Unpopular opinion? I love Scottney, both how the season started presenting it as sorta like a Duncney 2.0 with Scott being the bad boy to Courtney’s uptight good girl, but also how they later go about it with Scott actually just being a mess with no experience in romance and Courtney somehow still being charmed by him despite knowing just how pathetic he is at trying to be romantic. It’s cute, it takes me back, I wish it last longer.

TDPI

Jashawn is considered the saving grace of Pahkitew by various people in the fandom, and while I enjoy the season more than your average td fan, I do admit it’s a highlight. They’re sweet and cute and it’s an a character screwing up and having to reevaluate their life viewpoints and priorities to be able to truly learn how to love someone and make up for their mistakes is a great development and one I don’t think we’ve seen before! The best we’ve seen the show handle couples having interpersonal conflicts I think.

TDIR

Rajbow is an obvious one here, like even if I didn’t love them what other couple was there? Chemma? Hah, no. But luckily I do love them! I’m glad TD’s first queer characters/couple are mlm, since in the earlier seasons the mere idea of queer dudes was the butt of a joke rather than actual representation, it feels like this is making up for that. Bowie’s confidence and smarts contrasting and bouncing of Raj’s himbo energy and his still discovering his sexuality is very nice to see and very enjoyable. I hope to see them develop this couple further next season :)

Thank you again for the ask anon! I love answering asks like these :D

[wfagamerants]

With my Jamboree hype still in full force, I decided to revisit both previous Switch Mario Parties as a refresher, with some 3, 6, Star Rush and Top 100 on the side to help with some things I wanted to compare.

Mario Party is one of my favorite series in anything and I have been vocal about my relationship with the Switch games being rocky. I was curious to see if the benefit of hindsight changed my views on them.

The answer is one No and one Yes, with some no sprinkled in.

Super Mario Party

This is the big one for me.

From the Hudson games, to the first five NDCube titles, I unironically enjoyed every previous entry, as is well known with all the cheerleading I do for 10 and Star Rush in particular and even Island Tour has some good stuff well worth experiencing.

With all that in mind, it probably comes as a surprise THIS is the one Mario Party I genuinely can’t stand and a revisit did not change my mind one bit.

Not like I didn’t try either, even with my enjoyment of the other NDCube games, of course I was excited to see the old formula back, but that only means so much when it doesn’t do it well and that’s what I really do think is the case here.

Going point by point, as I like to do, I wanna start with one thing I do find praiseworthy…despite not liking it that much, the character roster.

Mario Party usually doesn’t have much going on in terms big roster numbers, so to see one push so far is genuinely refreshing and they did need to put work into it, given the amount of characters that needed to be updated (Hammer Bro and Dry Bones) or never had a playable MP outing period (Pom Pom, Goomba, Monty) not even mentioning all examples here, that stuff is commendable.

I’m just personally not that big on the selection. Losing the Toads really hurts and I am generally more in favor of less mook centric rosters, even if I like all the ones on offer. Pom Pom to me, even as someone who loves the boss characters like the Koopalings, King Boo, Petey, King Bob-omb, etc, is just a really lame and unappealing character, no better than Boom Boom who at least had Strikers to make me warm up to him.

Bowser being playable is also iffy for me. I love the big guy, but taking him out of his usual role has some very drastic consequences in function and flavor, which I am very happy Jamboree is addressing, to give us the best of both worlds, but more on that later.

Objectively, this is a good roster, it’s just very not for me.

Another thing I find praiseworthy and do enjoy is the hub. Dropping regular main menus in favor of an interactive hub where you can walk around and chat with characters is a cute concept I want to return.

Once we get to the actual board gameplay though, the cracks start to show right away.

Everyone already complained about it, even when the game was new and generally praised, but yeah. 4 boards is an absolutely abysmal number and that could at least be salvageable if they were all good and fun to play on but….you already know where this is going.

I will say, I do love the themes. As much as I think the previous games did more with the NSMB tropes than they are given credit for, it’s great to go back to something more original again. They are cool themes, they are visually great, that stuff all works out.

Too bad they’re really bad boards.

It’s been talked about to death, but yeah, the boards are incredibly tiny and small boards don’t even need to be bad. DS had smaller boards and did such a good job with them you barely felt it, on top of to me, being a Top 5 Mario Party.

Not only are Super’s boards even smaller than the ones for the game that HAD to scale them back, but they are also very linear, with little in the way of interesting gimmicks or alternate routes.

You can call most MP boards, aside from deliberately linear ones like Pagoda Peak, basically big circles or squares. That’s fine, they are BOARDS after all, it’s more what you can do on them that matters and makes you not even notice that.

King Bob-omb’s Powderkeg mine feels like the closest to  an aversion to this and even it just amounts to choosing either the smaller circle or the larger circle, to run in circles in. There is simply nothing interesting going on and the events are too basic and lame to distract from it.

What doesn’t help is that Super made some changes to fundamental aspects of MP we take for granted and it really says a lot about how well thought out those elements were.

For one thing, the Dice has been reduced from a 1-10 to a 1-6. This was already a thing in 9 and 10, but in those games you were all in the same vehicle and progressed together, it was way more about wanting the best result out of your current situation. In Super, being a classic style MP again, it just makes progression feel fundamentally more sluggish, since cutting down the dice numbers so hard means you will go by nature, much slower and the odds of barely going anywhere are way higher.

There is also just the general lack of truly threatening obstacles on the boards. This especially shows with Bowser being playable. Gimmicks like him being on the board like MP1 and MP4’s Bowser’s Gnarly Party are off the table, as is him having his own board or game specific ideas like Bowser Time in MP7. Instead of Bowser Spaces we now have Bad Luck spaces.

They Suck. Really hard.

The penalties are just not threatening and the game feels rigged to prioritize the tamest one. The coin penalties barely hurt, losing an item is really not that big a deal here, the star moving is rarely anything but a non-punishment, etc. They do get a bit more punishing during the last 3 turns, but not only does that window give them little time to come into play, but even losing a star is less of a big deal than it would usually be, for one particular reason.

The economy in SMP is totally out of whack. 

Now second and third place also get coin rewards in minigames, which WAS a thing in 9 and 10 as well, but in those games that had more of a purpose, given the much more limited control during board play for everyone. In a classic Mario Party though, this already has implications and it only gets worse with other elements thrown in.

It just doesn’t feel that rewarding to be good at minigames,  because even if you play well, you may not even build up much of a lead, with Hidden Blocks, Hidden Block items and Lucky Spaces that can give coin rewards in abundance and ALL that is combined with how little everything costs.

Stars cost only 10 coins and combined with how small the boards are, getting to one rarely feels like a hassle. Even stealing a star only costs 30 coins and items are remarkably cheap and that’s on top of there being so few events that really threaten your coin count. King Bob-omb is really the only one that makes a real attempt there.

All of that results in really dull board play. More than ever the game really is all about the dice roll, with nothing from the board layout, to events, to the items, doing anything interesting to let you strategize or anything like that.

There’s also the small annoyance of them finding it necessary to give you needless tutorials and tips, like when you open the map or getting an item for the first time, which you can’t disable. 

On a final note for the board play are the allies and ally spaces, as well as custom dice, all taken from Star Rush. A lot of people dislike them, but I do find their implementation to be the most interesting thing on SMP’s boards. Supremely unbalanced, it needs another pass there, but I can see interesting potential for it in a MP with boards of more substance.

There is also Partner Party, which is essentially the Star Rush mode of the game and as Star Rush fan, I should love it.

Eh.

I appreciate the thought, but you can’t do free for alls, There are way fewer opportunities to get and especially steal allies and the boards continue to be void of anything interesting. Even just playing the 4 boards it had once each, with the minimum Turn count of 10, felt like a slog.

Then there are the minigames, which I often see praise for and honestly, they’re okay enough, but I do find the overall selection pretty meh.

It has genuine highlights, Slaperazi, Croozin’ For A Broozin’, Don’t Wake Wiggler and Fuzzy Flight School all being ones I really like for instance and I don’t hate the motion controls, I think they work fine.

It’s really not so much that there are a lot of bad minigames and more that it misses types I really like. There are no platforming minigames, no brawling minigames where you just punch and kick other players off of a platform, only one mashing minigame, etc. That’s on top of the fact that I feel a lot of the rumble minigames are really samey. There are like three separate minigames where you use the rumble to select the biggest/most of the thing you are meant to get.

There is also a general major sense of reduced player interactivity that plays into this and the most blatant example of it for me is comparing Hammer Drop from Mario Party 1 (and Superstars) to Super’s very own Lightning Round.

They are very similar coin minigames, but there is a major difference that sets them apart. While the hammers and lightning strikes both aren’t much of a threat, Hammer Drop lets you jump to swipe the incoming coins and coin bags, even jumping on opponents and hindering them or even ground pound opponents to hold them back. In Lightning Round, that interactive element doesn’t exist and everyone is just slowly running to the coins, while dodging total non-obstacles.

That example sums up a lot of why I find SMP’s minigame selection to be just not as interesting as the rest of the series and it also contributes to a stylistic difference I am not fond of at all.

I always loved Mario Party for being a more zany kind of Mario game, putting the characters in all kinds of wacky scenarios and to be fair, Super isn’t FULLY devoid of it. It’s still a rare time you see, say, Peach, helplessly chased by a giant Wiggler or Broozer army entirely as a gag at her expense one moment and then the next she pilots a big Sidestepper mech to whack Bowser with hammers with. That stuff is just awesome.

Super just has very little of it, due to the lack of interesting board gimmicks and action-heavy minigames and even what is there is heavily scaled back. Like characters just go into their dizzy animations when a Bob-omb blows up on them, rather than flying off-screen and said Sidestepper mech minigame just flings the characters away with a generic flail the game uses for almost every single negative event, as opposed to the other MPs which will just totally crush the character.

Is it pure flavor? Yeah, but I like flavor, flavor is good. MP just has a particular personality to it that Super doesn’t capture. It has plenty of personality in other areas, but it is missing a particular aspect I thought helped make the games really energetic, competitive and cartoonishly charming. It’s as if Mario took a page out of Wario’s playbook to be more wacky and I miss that.

Having said all that, one area the game does quite well in are the side modes. Champions Road is a perfectly functional ‘’Play all the Minigames’’ mode and Toad’s Rec Room hosts some minigames I honestly wish had regular play counterparts.

River Survival is decent, not something you can go back to much, but it’s a neat concept that at its hardest, does offer a challenge and its own minigames are pretty enjoyable for the most part.

Sound Stage meanwhile is the big star of Super as a whole for me. I love the rhythm minigame approach, there is a great energy to it, it’s got some lovely charm with all the dance animations for the cast (Waluigi’s moonwalk being the best, just sayin’), it’s just a good time. At most I wish I found the music more catchy, but it does its job at being fun to play along with.

I didn’t mean to be as negative as this likely came across, but it is just how it is. While it has some content I really like and ideas I think have potential, SMP on the whole I just do not like at all. It brought back the classic formula, while totally butchering it and it’s just all around lacking in so many things I like about the series. I went back to it to see if time and benefit of hindsight changed my mind and sadly no, if anything I have only grown to dislike it more.

Mario Party Superstars

By contrast, Superstars won me over on several things I was iffy on. I still have my gripes, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

One not pleasant surprise since the game came out, to start similarly to the Super section, is the roster. It’s small, it’s lame, we all know that. Of course character choice rarely affects anything in MP, but as I said, flavor is good and besides: When a series makes this much money and makes so heavy use of reused models, animations and voice clips across games, I do expect it to at least be able to compete with games that came out in the 2000s in terms of content in all places.

Speaking of which, this game is a bit funny to evaluate because it is all remakes of older content, but there is still plenty to talk about.

First there are the boards, five in total. Only one more than Super in terms of quantity, but they are all so much better than all of Super’s boards combined that they may as well be four boards more than Super had. That said a 6th board would have been appreciated, ideally they wouldn’t have just a N64 focus, but if they really wanna then at least give 3 a second board.

The board selection itself is quite pleasing. It has Horror Land so that alone is already a slam dunk, but there is a good quality level all around. The lack of a proper finale board is felt and I would have rather had a second MP3 board than two from MP1, simply because the former has much more interesting board design, but as it is, it’s fine.

Peach’s Birthday Cake made me roll my eyes when I saw it, but it turned out to be the most pleasant surprise of the whole game. The addition of items, a shortcut ramp and Bowser also doubling as a short-cut, if with a penalty, along with the lottery being moved, makes getting around and actually getting stars is far smoother and quicker. This also makes star stealing Piranha Plants far more of a threat, since there actually is something to steal now and that’s on top of there also being coin stealing Piranha Plants now.

This game turned what I thought was easily the worst Hudson era board and turned it into my second favorite one in this game. I am still stunned to this day and the improvements made to it show some really smart thinking that makes me optimistic for Jamboree’s new original boards.

The other boards haven’t seen any major changes and that’s perfectly fine. Playing Yoshi’s Tropical Island with items is a fun new experience though.

The actual board play has improved a lot, on top of playing on actually good boards, the coin distribution after minigames has been reworked to give the winner 10 coins again instead of only 8, with second and third only getting 2 and 3 respectively, making minigame wins far more of a benefit to build up a lead again. Stars are also back to the usual 20 coins and Bowser is back and as punishing as his spaces always are, so seeing harsh loses through that and the returning Chance Time brings back a ton of value to coins and stars that they largely lost in Super.

One new addition that’s consistent across all boards is Lucky Spaces, functioning the  same as in Super. The coin and item rewards you get from those can be really extreme and coupled with how many of these spaces there are, it gives the game a pretty chaotic feeling at times. For this particular game, I’m cool with it for this game, but ideally future games cool it a bit with these things.

There are also some nice QoL additions that once again, give me a lot of confidence for Jamboree. The generally increased game speed is a plus. Getting to choose between random Bonus Stars and the classic three is a feature that always should have been there. Getting to save up to 8 sessions, even online ones, is incredible and having the option to speed up board event scenes is a godsend for ones you may see many times in a row.

So yeah, the board game portion to me is a total hit in this game. The minigames are where I get more mixed. Not counting item minigames there are 100 in total and over half of those were already in Top 100. Not a bad thing by itself, but it does make some choices made bother me even more. Also not a fan of the N64 focus on the minigames as well, since it not only throws out a lot of good minigames, but it also screws over the GameCube and Wii & Wii U minigame packs, which would have been really cool options with a bigger selection.

Despite the latter gripe, I think the selection is….okay. It has it’s winners, particularly Hot Rope Jump and Dungeon Duos, but also some really notable stinkers like Spin Doctor, which wasn’t even in Top 100, so they deliberately picked that over something like Camp Ukiki or Apes of Wrath from the same game, genuinely bewildering. Duel Minigames in general really got the short end of the stick with only 5 in total and of all things, they pick stuff like Spin Doctor (which is at least okay) or Mass Meteor (one of MP6’s few stinkers).

Top 100 wasn’t perfect in that regard either, but I found its overall selection way more consistently solid and satisfying.That and bringing back certain minigames a third time just baffles me. Piranha’s Pursuit is a really bad minigame in all its incarnations, that can way too easily turn into a free win for the one player. It was a weird choice in Top 100, but bringing it back again in Superstars, without any changes for the better, really pushes it.

It’s still largely a good selection, it’s just easy to see the cracks when you have older versions to compare these games to and some did get butchered a bit. Tidal Toss’ hitboxes for the biggest waves not matching the visuals in particular being a NASTY example.

The characters also make far more grunts in many of the minigames and...yeah they can get pretty insufferable, especially with how small the pool of voice clips in this game is, compared to say, MP10, which had two minutes worth of clips for everyone.

There is also a case where the game still feels like holds back on bit on Mario Party’s old personality, with alterations to some minigames, for some examples:

You don’t see losing players bounce away in the lava anymore in Bumper Balls, they just vanish.

Several minigames replace more distinct damage poses with the generic flail, even if the more appropriate animation is elsewhere in Superstars.

The characters just lamely fall off the record in Dizzy Dancing, instead of crashing into the walls.

Squared Away lost it’s ending animation, which was already a thing in Top 100, the only time it took something like that away, but that had an excuse due to it using a generic minigame results screen like the other NDCube games did before.

Even taking the slapstick aside, replaying 3 in particular really revealed how many small things got cut for more generic animations. Hide and Sneak in particular has the characters just all do a heads down ducking pose, as opposed to the original where everyone had a distinct one, like DK adjusting his tie or Mario lying down.

Again, all this is flavor, but it sticks out even more when you are remaking content and if the roster is gonna be that small, going the extra mile on a few things would be appreciated.

It feels weird too, because the game oozes personality in so many other areas.

The title screens are all lovely.

The board ending pics and loser elimination sequences at the end of a round are very classic Mario Party.

The way characters literally pull out maps when you study the board map is amazing.

The dismayed reactions everyone has when landing on a Bowser space are great.

The Stickers are a fun evolution of taunts that can express way more.

Really, the game is full of great personality, it’s just in the minigames where some of the old charm they had gets weirdly sanded off.

Lastly there is online which is as functional as one could hope for. Has its hick-ups, but for Nintendo standards it’s fine. It’s not a disaster ala’ Mario Maker 2.

All nitpicking aside, this is a good game and a good Mario Party. I don’t think it’s one of the best ones, but the QoL additions and generally really solid board gameplay show the potential for it is there.

More than anything it feels like a testing ground to study the old board designs and test out things like the online, rather than something meant to be big on its own. I didn’t even touch on side content because there really is nothing to discuss.

Good game, but I was waiting for the next big thing and now it’s finally happening.

Super Mario Jamboree

My thoughts back here still apply and are very up to date, since we haven’t seen anything new since:

Playing the other two games again just really put into perspective how many things already got improved from one game to the next and it makes me all the more hopeful for Jamboree.

I have no doubt it will be the MP I have been waiting for all gen and I couldn’t be more excited~

[muninnhuginn]

Hi Mun!!! I wanted to ask if you have any other kdramas or cdramas you would want to recommend? :0 I still need to catch up with Stranger/Secret Forest, but I’m curious if there are any others I should check out too!

That I do.

Okay so I'm trying to decide how much to factor in enjoyment vs quality here because I have a few shows I really enjoyed but are, um, well, you have to let some stuff pass.

I will mention that my tastes in terms of romancey stuff tends to lean towards non-existent or subtle and so that's largely reflected in my recs. The only exception to this on the list is Flower of Evil. (I didn't intend it but this list doesn't actually have any main BLs/GLs either. A lot of people ship various combos of the main three in MLC and WCL though.)

Shows below cut in no particular order:

Flower of Evil

(modern kdrama)

I wasn't sure how to start with this one so I'll just nab the description from Wikipedia as it's actually fairly accurate here:

Baek Hee-sung is a man who hides his identity and past from his wife Cha Ji-won, a detective. On the surface, they appear to be the perfect family: A loving couple with a beautiful six-year-old daughter who adores her parents. Cha Ji-won and her colleagues begin investigating a series of unexplained murders and she is confronted with the reality that her seemingly perfect husband may be hiding something from her.

I don't want to spoil much about this, but it's very cat-and-mousey. It's evil with the cliffhangers. At one point, it briefly becomes a buddy comedy between a guy and another guy he kept in his basement. And there is one scene where people just sit in a car crying for two minutes. So, like, it has the range? I think of it as a guilty pleasure kinda show personally, but it's probably the closest to Beyond Evil of the shows on this list.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook

(historical cdrama)

Full disclosure: I have only recently finished this and it has somewhat taken over my brain so I can't claim to be in any way unbiased here. Li Lianhua is a lying liar who lies who may or may not be the fallen hero Li Xiangyi (he is). He wants to get by pretending to be a doctor and minding his own business, but unfortunately, the plot is out to get him. And so he, along with Fang Duobing, end up investigating various crimes as Li Lianhua tries to find the body of his former senior to lay him to rest before his own body gives out on him.

My favourite thing about this show is a) Li Lianhua, and b) the dynamic between the main trio. The levels of trolling and identity porn at any one time are through the roof. It's a comedy until it isn't.

Reset

(modern cdrama)

This is the incredibly rare type of show known as a decent *modern* cdrama. It's a timeloop show and is fairly short at 15 episodes. It's about two strangers who are trapped on a bus that keeps exploding and their attempts to uncover why and how it keeps happening. Being a modern cdrama, some of the police stuff can be fairly... heavy-handed, but I think the writers do what they can despite that, and it does use the different bus passengers to explore different societal issues, which is neat.

Overall, it's a bit of a mystery show, a bit of a character drama, and a teensy bit of romance which is for the most part nicely underplayed.

White Cat Legend

(historical cdrama)

This is waaaaaay more down the enjoyment end than quality but I'm having such a good time here. This is originally based off a manhua (I've only read pieces of it myself) but mainly just takes the characters and some story beats and does its own thing. I watched the donghua first and tonally that was an interesting experience in how it raced between funny cat shenanigans and reckoning with the nature of war crimes (though the donghua stuck much closer to the og source overall). But the live action so far is staying firmly silly (I'm midway through so it will shift at some point, I'm sure, just can't see the tonal whiplash being as bad as in the donghua).

Anyway! To explain what the show actually *is*, it follows a guy who has been cursed to become a cat (in the manhua/donghua this means he's like a walking furry but the live action has it more of a werecat/shapeshifter deal which is good because I could not handle that cg 24/7) and his attempts at running investigations as part of the local court. This is not helped by being the only competent guy in the entire place. Still, at least his underlings are *incredibly* entertaining in their failures. So, most of the show is investigating crimes against a backdrop of Li Bing (catto dude) trying to uncover the origins of the curse and why the old court and his father died. There's also a purple dude with whom he has History and an italian vampire. And vice president shangguan, who is one of those rare female characters you get in historical cdramas where the show is actually normal about her existence *without* just entirely brushing over the implications of her being in her position as a woman.

Move to Heaven

(modern kdrama)

This is a genuine rec where I'm not going to say you have to let quality pass or whatever because it's objectively good and doesn't have a high entry barrier. It may be good to watch an episode at a time depending on your mood though rather than trying to marathon it or anything.

This show basically follows the 'move to heaven' team, who are summoned to clear out the belongings of the deceased. Each deceased person has a story associated with them and as part of tidying the belongings away, there's an element of investigating to find out what their story was. It can be a tearjerker at times, but it can also be incredibly sweet. Also, it has a canon autistic character where it actually strikes a really good balance in terms of not infantilising him whilst still having it make sense why he wants help with certain things.

Nirvana in Fire

(historical cdrama)

This is my beloved. My favourite cdrama of all time. But I suspect it may not fit for you if Secret Forest doesn't. Still, I'll mention it and say to look up the diagrams to keep track of all the characters in the early episodes (...yeah, it's that type of show).

Anyway, this show is about a terminally ill man who takes on a secret identity or two as he plots to take revenge/bring justice (depending on who you ask) for the crimes of the past. This is part of the 'lying liar who lies' subgenre. It's much more serious and complicated overall than Mysterious Lotus Casebook despite the superficial similarities, but it does have its lighthearted moments.

Misc. shows that didn't make the list

I'll mention Signal (kdrama) and Kairos (kdrama) because they both have neat time travel mechanics, but with huge stipulations here. Signal is the objectively better one of these two and the male mc in Kairos is unbearable at times but at the same time Kairos has enough good points to keep me watching. The friend trio of female mc (they're just besties frfr) and the villain romance subplot especially. Signal had potential to be amazing, but for me, some of the time travel mechanics fell through and it was almost BBC Sherlockian at times with some of the 'profiling' deductions.

Signal's premise is that there's a walkie talkie that links the past and the present between a current day consultant profiler (with a distrust of the police despite now working for them) and a past police officer who is dead in the present day. It follows various cases between the past and the present that are interlocking with each other, with the overarching mysteries being present day profiler's backstory and past cop's death. I feel like this started out decently, went hit-and-miss, had a few episodes where it was absolutely amazing, and then lost steam somewhat, though the ending hit the main points.

Kairos' premise centres around a mobile phone. When a phone is disconnected, the number ends up being assigned to someone else. So, the two main characters, living a month apart in time, have the same number and thus can communicate with each other. The male mc in the future has recently found out that his wife and daughter have both died and the female mc's mother has gone missing. So they've both got a scenario they need the other person to help them with and as they change things, more new problems keep cropping up. It's a show where the premise is super interesting, but I personally found it a very frustrating watch, not least because of characters making decisions that were in-character, but incredibly stupid and *not* in the entertaining way.

Also, as I didn't include any BLs/GLs, I'll mention that I cannot in good conscience recommend Guardian (cdrama), but it's such fun trash and it has Shen Wei. It's a bit like shows like Torchwood and Buffy in that it's ostensibly modern era but there's magic (sorry, 'aliens') and a team that's meant to be keeping on top of it all led by Zhao Yunlan. He meets Shen Wei and then proceeds to *keep meeting him* at various crime scenes because Shen Wei sucks at this whole low-key deal.

On a similar note, Couple of Mirrors (cdrama) is a republican era GL. The two leads are well-written, but it's basically like two different shows mushed together (a soap and an assassin/cat-and-mouse chase). It has Yan Wei though! It's about a popular writer meeting a photographer (who is also an assassin) and them both discovering that the writer's husband really and truly sucks.

[alln64games]

Super Mario 64

JP release: 23rd June 1996

NA release: 29th September 1996

PAL release: 1st March 1997

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

N64 Magazine Score: 96%

Starting off with a bang, one of the Nintendo 64’s launch titles just happens to be a revolutionary game that’s one of the best games on the system. It didn’t just show the world how platform games could work in 3D, but it set the standard for movement in 3D as well. Despite it’s legendary status, Nintendo have never given us the port that this game deserves. Super Mario 64 doesn’t need a full remake, just a little bit of sprucing, widescreen and an updated camera.

Luckily, fans of the game have done this themselves by fully recreating the game’s engine on PC, with lots of options to set it up the way you want. There’s some much more graphically impressive options than what I chose, but I wanted it to look similar to the original game, with just crisper textures and some of the 2D objects replaced with 3D ones.

The movement of Mario still feels amazing all these years later. His move set is brilliant with all of his moves (minus the special hats) available form the get-go, it’s just a case of learning it and figuring out the best way do move. Most people will start off ding taller jumps by doing the backflip, but then transition to the quick turn jump to get up to the tall platforms. Even now, it’s an absolute joy to control.

The camera from the original game is the main part of the game that now feels clunky. It was pretty amazing when the game came out, but it’s one aspect of games that has improved over time. Luckily, the version I played lets you turn on a more modern analogue camera, which (along with widescreen) is really all Super Mario 64 needs to feel modern.

The levels are small, but it’s a style that really suits the game. They’re packed full of secrets, with six stars to find in each one (plus an extra star for collecting 100 coins). Once you collect a star, you’re thrown out of the level, which does mean you have to re-do parts of levels multiple times, but there are sometimes changed to the level depending on which star you collect. There is a mod that lets you remain in levels, but I feel like this alters the game too much, and is itself fiddly as you need to work out when you need to manually leave the level.

Each level has a very distinct feel to it and I enjoyed every level in the game, with the exception of two of the water levels. While some have generic themes (lava, water and ice), the levels are still built in unique ways, and even matching themes (like the two snow levels) don’t feel like a reuse due to the level design.

Other than a couple of stars that include the wing, metal and invisible caps, you can also complete levels before moving on, or just do a couple of stars and try somewhere else. You only need 70 out of 120 stars to complete the game (far fewer if you choose to do glitches), but it’s enjoyable collecting them all.

To unlock different sections of the castle (and access more levels), you need to complete Bowser’s levels. There are three in total (the last one being to save Peach) and these are much more linear platform challenges, which creates a nice change of pace. At the end of these you have to face off against Bowser, grabbing his tail and spinning him to throw him into bombs, and I’m still absolutely dreadful at aiming my throws.

The final section of the game has some outstanding levels.

Wet-Dry World is the third water level of the game, but this one stands out much more due to the mechanic of raising and lowering the water levels. There are different ways to move upwards depending on the water level, and you’ll need to make use of these to collect all the stars.

Tiny-Huge Island has you using pipes to swap between a giant Mario and a mini Mario. You get to see cute tiny goombas or have to fight ones that are much larger than Mario. It’s not Mario’s size that actually changes, but the level itself. It’s an absolutely adorable level full of joy.

Tick Tock Clock is actually a lot smaller than I remember, but is focused on well timed jumps. The unique aspect of this level is that the level entrance is itself a clockface, and where the minute hand points alters the speed of the objects in the level, or even stops them completely. I have quite strong memories of trying to figure out what was happening when this happened as a kid.

The final main level, Rainbow Ride, is more linear than most levels, with different segments connected via magic carpets. You’ll need to jump off the carpets to avoid obstacles, but if you take too long, the carpets will vanish. This level requires you to have learnt how to master Mario’s moveset.

Super Mario 64 is still an absolute joy to play, especially so with an updated camera. I think a full remake would alter the game too much, as the level design and movement is integral to its identity. It just needs a bit of sprucing up, and I really hope we get an official version that does this at some point.

This was an amazing start for the Nintendo 64. Not only was this game integral to the development of 3D games as a whole, but the gameplay and levels still hold up today. Games keep trying to be bigger and better, but smaller and varies levels are also a great approach.

“The best game ever?” Possibly, but then it’s so far ahead of anything that comparisons seem meaningless.

- Zy Nicholson, N64 Magazine #1

---

Remake or Remaster?

As the fan-made PC version shows, Super Mario 64 still holds up really well and just needs some basic improvements. A remastered Super Mario 64 would be perfect.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of Super Mario 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

Other versions

2004: Super Mario 64 DS. This version featured altered levels, more stars and extra playable characters. The extra content was well received, but forcing previous stars to certain characters was frustrating. The controls also don’t work very well on the DS. The touch screen minigames were a brand new addition and were well liked.

[quu-kii]

Ranking Crash Bandicoot Games by Soundtrack

I love video game soundtracks, and the Crash games have great ones overall. So for fun, I’ve decided to rank the games by their osts. I try to take various factors into account such as the volume of songs as well as their average quality (high volume of songs with high quality > low volume of songs with high quality), and I value a weaker soundtrack with a few tracks that I love higher compared with one where the overall quality is perhaps a bit higher but has weaker best tracks.

More detailed thoughts I have on each of the soundtracks are below.

Best Tier

1. Crash 2

Fav tracks: The Eel Deal, Hang Eight, Piston It Away

The quintessential Crash ost. The songs all have this punchy-ness to them, are catchy, and match the levels/areas they feature in perfectly. A big plus is how the death routes and bonus stages for each level type also have their own unique songs. It’s an ost I really appreciated just from listening to it while playing the game for the first time, compared to some other Crash osts where I really had to listen to them a bit more after finishing the game to appreciate them, like with Twinsanity and WoC (no knock against these osts though since I love them as well).

None of my individual favorite warp/stage/bonus/boss themes are from this game, but feel like I just need to put this ost at the top for how much I appreciate its overall quality and cohesiveness.

2. Wrath of Cortex

Fav tracks: H2 Oh No, The Gauntlet, Fahrenheit Frenzy

I love the electronic vibe of this ost as well as how each level has its own unique track. The style as well as the variety of songs make for a smooth and easy listen each time I put this ost on. The biggest weakness in the ost for me are the songs Banzai Bonsai and Tsunami (this one gets better in the later section though) which I just don’t like and wait to pass whenever I get to them in a listen of the ost.

Another weakness may be that there is not that feeling of cohesion or Crash-like feeling found in other Crash games (I somewhat feel like this could be the ost for any other game). This doesn’t affect how much I enjoy the music overall, which shows with how high I’m ranking it despite the issues I pointed out.

Excellent Tier

3. Crash 1

Fav tracks: The Lab, Heavy Machinery, Generator Room, Dr. Neo Cortex

This ost is amazing for how perfectly it adds to the atmosphere of Crash 1. Because of the atmospheric nature of the ost, the individual tracks are not as catchy compared to other Crash games. However, I still find them to be great compositions and very enjoyable to listen to overall. And I love the dark feel of much of the Cortex Island level themes. This game also introduces Cortex’s theme which I think is one of the best musical pieces in the whole series. This first version is my second favorite of his theme variations, and its dark tone fits well with Cortex’s more seriously evil nature in this game.

4. Twinsanity

Fav tracks: Rock-Slide Rumble, Slip Slide Ice-Capades, Classroom Chaos - Crash

The ost of this game is truly unique with how it is composed of only acapella songs. I actually did not appreciate the ost that much while playing the game and even found it annoying at times, but listening to it afterwards on its own I was like, “Wow, this ost is actually amazing.” The style of the music really suits the wacky, off-kilter feel of the Crash world and feels overall punchy kind of like Crash 2, the music styles being completely different notwithstanding.

For some reason I also find Rock-Slide Rumble to be one of the most emotional songs in the whole series. It gives feeling of finding a path of hopefulness when all hope seems to have been lost, or a feeling of beating the odds in a trying circumstance, or something similar. I’m not sure if anyone else feels this way.

5. Crash 3

Fav tracks: Dr. Neo Cortex, Pyramid, Prehistoric

It was difficult for me to place the ranking of this game’s ost since on one hand I find the ost kind of limited with less songs than other games. For example the bonus stage tracks are all variations of each other, and the same goes for the death routes, which is a downgrade from how Crash 2 had more distinct songs for the bonuses/death routes. The main melodies of both the Crash 3 bonus stages and death routes are great though despite the lack of variation.

And for the main ost, some songs I’m not overly a fan of, like the Arabian theme or themes for the non-platforming levels. However, for all these faults, I find the good songs in Warped to be some of my favorites in the whole series. For example, I find Cortex’s Warped theme to be the best variation of his theme and the best boss track in the whole series (and perhaps the best track period of the series). The Pyramid and Prehistoric level themes are also some of my favorite level themes in the series (Future theme is amazing too). The game also brings the incredible and iconic Warp Room theme which is basically the main theme of Crash with the amount of games it features in. The extremely high highs combined with shortfalls made it a difficult ost to place in a ranking, but I’ve tried to best I could with it.

6. Crash Bash

Fav tracks: Warp Room, Manic Panic, Loading

Such a great overall soundtrack. It’s awesome how most of the levels have unique themes with little repetition (this always gets plus points from me whenever this happens in a game, not just with Crash). The loading screen track is of special note with how awesome it sounds. Loading screens aren’t usually anything of note in other games, but here it is just because of the ost. The Warp Room theme is also amazing in this game and perhaps my favorite in the series. The tank level songs are especially catchy here, though my favorite minigame song would definitely be Manic Panic, which I love the dark feel of.

Great Tier

7. Crash N. Sane Trilogy

Fav tracks: Dr. Neo Cortex (CB3), Pyramid, Generator Room

When it comes to the N. Sane Trilogy ost compared to the osts of the original games, I just overall prefer the PS1 osts. The PS1 tracks just have this oomph to them which the remakes are lacking, even though the tracks are still enjoyable to listen to.

One track I actually find to be better in the remakes is the CB2 Hang Eight bonus level. There’s just this extra feeling of etherealness to the song when it gets to its peak in the remake version which I love so much. And one track I find the most butchered in the remake is the CB3 Prehistoric theme with how it’s missing those heavy drum beats from the original which gave the song a powerful feeling.

Besides the few outlier songs, my feelings on each of the three games’ osts is generally the same as what I already described with the PS1 games. And even though the remake osts are generally not as good to me, I’m still glad they exist since they just give me another well made modern rendition of the osts to listen to.

8. Crash Nitro Kart (console)

Fav tracks: Hyper Spaceway, Assembly Lane, Clockwork Wumpa

I love this soundtrack. I find it to be one of the most atmospheric osts in the series next to Crash 1 with this feeling of chill but also seriousness to it. It’s also cool how all the hub areas have different osts too compared to in CTR where all the areas have the same music but with a slight variation. I have to mention the title ost too, which is amazing with its bombastic yet measured feeling.

The standout here among the track themes is definitely Hyper Spaceway, which I consider as Velo’s theme and perfectly fits his threatening presence as well as giving the feeling of stakes and urgency in the final race. There’s this slightly more lighthearted feeling part to this serious song (:28-:42) which feels like it gives me insight into Velo’s character with how he truly has fun with the races. Another interpretation I get is that this part of the song almost feels taunting, as if it’s representing Velo playfully taunting the player.

A somewhat weakness with the ost is that as with other more atmospheric osts, the melodies are not as catchy compared to other games, but I still really enjoy it.

9. Mind Over Mutant (console)

Fav tracks: Bandicoot Sanctuary, Danger… IN SPACE!, Purple Fog

It’s hard to pick out individual favorite tracks from Mind Over Mutant as well as Crash of the Titans (console versions) since I kind of view both soundtracks as just single continuous pieces for whatever reason. Bandicoot Sanctuary definitely stands out to me here though. It’s the first theme you hear when setting foot outside Crash’s house and definitely helps set the mood of the adventure to come, and plus it’s catchy.

Overall I really enjoy the dark, jungle-y feeling of the ost which matches the more wild atmosphere of the games as can be seen even from Crash’s more feral looking redesign. The ost also overall has this rich, deep orchestral sound to it (I’d say it’s the closest to cinematic in the series) that I really like.

Very Good Tier

10. Crash 4

Fav tracks: Cortex Castle, Jetboard Jetty, Main Theme

I don’t know what to make of this ost even though I’ve listened to it in full at least like 100 times. When I think back on the ost while I’m not actively listening to it, I don’t find it too memorable. But when I’m actively listening to it I do enjoy it, and especially I find every song starting from Out for Launch to the end of the game to be bangers. One thing I do love is how each level has its own song, and this is the traditional-style Crash game with the most levels too, so there’s just a great amount of songs with variety to them to enjoy in an overall soundtrack listen.

I’ve read a comment before about how the weak feeling of the soundtrack might be due to instrumentation of the songs, like with the overuse of marimba, and I think I want to agree. It might be part of the issue at least.

Another issue is that I think there was an overuse of mixing Cortex’s theme in this game. It’s true that I think his theme is one of the best in the series, but it does leave a little less impact when the theme is overused, and both his boss themes here I find to be way below the level of any of his trilogy boss themes. Here’s a ranking of his main boss themes across the games by the way: CB3>CB1>CB2>>CB4(2)>CB4(1).

11. Crash of the Titans (console)

Fav track: Haughty by Nature, Temple of Zoom

Basically all of the same comments I had for MoM’s ost also apply here (I like the orchestral sound and dark mood), as both are extremely similar stylistically. It’s just I find this ost to be the weaker of the two.

12. Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled

Fav tracks: Drive-Thru Danger, Twilight Tour

I have difficulty ranking this ost. It has the CTR songs which I’m kinda eh about, but it also has the CNK songs which I really like as well as the original songs for new tracks. I’m trying my best to make the ranking compromise between these three components.

For the CTR remake songs, it’s actually a more even contest for me here between the remake and original compared to with the N. Sane Trilogy and the PS1 trilogy. For the trilogy I definitely prefer the PS1 osts, but here it’s not so clear. Probably the PS1 versions overall win out, but I like the fuller, richer sound of the remake osts too. And for CNK, I think I prefer the original songs here too, though the remake songs sound almost comparable, a big exception being Hyper Spaceway which sounds much better and more intense in the original.

For the new songs, I love Drive-Thru Danger and Twilight Tour is excellent as well. In general the new songs are just better overall compared to the CTR ones. They really did a great job for the music in these new tracks.

13. Crash N-Tranced

Fav tracks: Warp Room, Volcano, Egypt

This ost feels like a miniature Warped, with the same strengths and weaknesses. Basically the soundtrack is limited, but the highs are very high. The Warp Room theme particularly stands out for being an absolute jam and probably my favorite version of the Crash main theme. The rest of the songs are mostly just remixes of previous Crash songs, but very good ones. They also sound distinct from their original versions and don’t just sound like watered down versions of the originals (*cough* The Huge Adventure).

14. Crash of the Titans (GBA)

Fav tracks: Skull Caves, Lumber Camp, Dingodile

The ost for this game is shockingly good. In no way did I expect this out of a game in the series I never hear talked about. Each of the 15 stages plus the 4 bosses have their own theme, and they are great quality themes on the whole. This seems to be the GBA Crash ost with the greatest variety to the instrumentation and complexity to the songs as well. There is a bit of a dark flavor to the music overall which somewhat matches with how the console game also has this feeling of darkness to its ost.

Good Tier

15. Tag Team Racing

Fav tracks: Astro Land, Tomb Town, Bowling

This is a very oddball sounding ost with both acapella and orchestral elements that matches so well to the mood of the shady amusement park the game takes place in. I haven’t included any of the race track osts to my favs, but that doesn’t mean I dislike them. I just kind of like them overall and have a hard time distinguishing a specific favorite.

16. Crash Team Racing

Fav tracks: Overworld theme, Dragon Mines

Maybe it’s a hot take, but I’m just not that big a fan of CTR’s ost. All the tracks are fairly enjoyable to listen to while racing, but none really stand out to me as big favorites. I really like the overworld theme though, and it’s neat that it seamlessly transitions to slightly different versions for the different hub areas. And for track themes, I like Dragon Mines for the industrial flavor it has though. They got rid out the industrial sounding part in the background in the remake though, so I only really like the song in this version.

17. Crash Nitro Kart (GBA/N-Gage)

Fav tracks: Tiny Temple, Barin Ruins, Android Alley

The ost for CNK’s GBA version really surprised me with its quality. The songs are totally different compared to those in the console version. I still much prefer the console version ost, but this ost isn’t bad at all, and the songs are arguably catchier here. Something notable is that the US version of the GBA ost has songs that are cut off earlier that the JP version, which has the full songs (the N-Gage version also has the full songs). I have no idea why they did this, but I am considering the full version of the songs when evaluating the ost. The major shortcoming with the ost is that the songs are fairly short and repetitious, even with the full versions.

18. Crash Boom Bang!

Fav tracks: City 2B, City 2A

Just an all around solid ost with an upbeat, lighthearted feel to it, perfect for a party game. This game may have other issues, but the music is not one of them.

Ok Tier

19. Crash: The Huge Adventure

Fav tracks: Sewer, Dr. Neo Cortex, Underwater

Borrows most of its music from the original trilogy, though the songs here are mostly just watered down versions of the originals without much to make them feel distinct like in N-Tranced. I do really like the take on Cortex’s theme here with this extra cool drum beat part it has. The Underwater theme here is the one remixed stage song which really feels distinguished from the original, and I really like the version here.

20. Crash of the Titans (DS)

Fav tracks: Dingodile, Cortex’s Lab, Wumpa Jungle

This is the one Crash ost I hadn’t re-listened to even once after playing the game, since I just brushed off the ost as not good. When listening to it in full again for this ranking, I don’t think it’s that bad really. It’s fairly pleasant to listen to if not remarkable, has kind of this upbeat vibe to it, and brings to mind old flash games with how it sounds.

There are a few songs I like here, like Dingodile’s boss theme. Speaking of Dingodile, he has an excellent track record with boss themes. His themes in Warped, Twinsanity, Crash of the Titans (GBA), and this game are all great while having all different melodies, which is impressive to me. There’s also his remixed N. Gin theme in The Huge Adventure, which is pretty good too though not at the level of the others to me. Anyways, CoTT DS’s ost is perfectly adequate.

21. Mind Over Mutant (DS)

Fav tracks: World 5 level, World 5 map

A lot of this ost is just somewhat soft/weak sounding remixes of MoM songs, and those base songs are good so the soundtrack itself doesn’t end up being too terrible.

Meh Tier

22. Crash Purple

Fav tracks: Area 5 Tech Park, Boss Battle, Crashin’ Down The River

It’s an alright ost with a fairly lively tone to it and heavy on the use of bass in the songs. It feels like it’s sorely lacking variety in the sound and instrumentation.

23. Crash Nitro Kart 3D (Zeebo)

Fav tracks: Solar, Egypt

Listening to the zany main menu theme makes me feel like I’m about to go crazy. This whole game, soundtrack included, gives me big bootleg game vibes. There’s barely any songs here (5 total besides win/lose jingles), but two of the three track themes are pretty decent to me. I would have liked the Solar theme to be longer though since even though I like what is there with it’s chill space vibe, it’s extremely short and repetitive.

[synchodai]

I don’t mean to be too negative but uptil now I could kind of see how people could perceive certain events differently and choose to look at the events in the show as fair somehow but after the finale I just genuinely am baffled that the son for a son thing wasn’t addressed at all like truly had everybody in universe forgotten about b&c. I don’t wish to be so conspiratorial about this but it’s just such a exhaustingly annoying move that rhaenyra gets a whole scene of literally sewing the kid’s head back on and when it was about exploring daemon’s pain then we get such unique framing but for the green side we genuinely don’t even have a single acknowledgment like dude I feel a bit drained right now cuz I’m at a point where it’s like how is nobody seeing through this agenda and I really am hoping and praying that actual critics don’t give this episode glowing reviews cuz the writers have been shown to change things up as long as the audience is extremely vocal about it but I desperately need things to change even slightly

Hello, anon! Thank you for sharing your opinions with me. It's okay to be negative sometimes. Criticism is necessary for improvement after all. And I understand how people whose favorite characters are the greens will find this show extra frustrating to watch. Jaehaerys barely being mentioned and Daemon never being punished by Rhaenyra but somehow the blacks aren't narratively punished for that atrocity is such a travesty.

So I feel your frustration, but if you feel drained from watching the show and interacting with other viewers, then maybe it's not worth watching anymore if it brings you no joy. I only enjoy it because I detach myself from how other people see the characters and events. I try not to have my personal enjoyment be affected by how my favorite character will be treated or perceived by others. It's super validating to see someone criticize and love something as I do, but if they don't share my feelings and opinions, I try not to let it hamper me to the point that it drains my joy. And remember, you can always block people for any reason — even if it's just for having takes you disagree with.

Season 2 is definitely less consistent and well-written than the first season, but it had a writers strike to deal with. So I'm optimistic things will get better next season. However if your favorite character is one of the greens, I can understand why you would likely tune out at this point. I am deeply sorry to those on team green who were promised something else in Season 1 and ended up with...well, Season 2.

If it makes you feel any better, this show isn't without its critics — same for when Game of Thrones was at the height of its popularity, there were many who voiced their dislike of it despite rave reviews (me included). I stopped watching after they introduced Talisa Maegyr and never looked back. I guess you just have to find out when enough is enough for you, anon. I hope if you can't find pleasure in watching the show anymore, at least you can still enjoy the many fanworks that take the greens in a different direction and are more faithful to the source material. You'll always have the books that made you so invested in this world and these characters in the first place.

[bengiyo]

8 Shows to Get to Know Me

The rules seem pretty simple, just to list 8 shows to get to know me. Some people have explanations and some don't so we'll see.

I was tagged by: @negrowhat, @farewellnverland, @wanderlust-in-my-soul, and I think @introvertedkeni. I’m sorry for putting this off, but I have watched so much stuff in my life. 

1. Star Trek: Deep Space 9

I’ve been watching Star Trek since I was seven days old with my dad, and Deep Space 9 remains my favorite series. I like how it makes the future feel like a real place that people live in. Unlike the other shows, we can’t just fly away from our problems. We have to live with them and with our differences. I admired Benjamin Sisko so much. I have a deep love for Nog, and he and Jake are one of my first ships. I regularly return to this Star Trek more than any of them, and it’s an easy way for me to mention Babylon 5, without which this show would not exist. This may be the black sheep of Star Trek, but it is the show that I think legitimizes Star Trek the most. 

2. Yu Yu Hakusho

I grew up in the heyday of Toonami, and I find myself returning to Yu Yu Hakusho even as an adult. It’s one of the rare shows I think is actually more enjoyable in its English dub. I just enjoy how different each arc feels, and the Dark Tournament is still one of the most compelling tournament arcs in anime history.

Also, Smile Bomb is still the best intro song ever used IMO.

3. Black Sails

I put this show just under the Wire in terms of how well I think it built on its own mythology over its runtime. The philosophical ideas at the core of this show are so potent, and it’s one of the few shows that isn’t necessarily about the queer experience in which the desires of queer people are the driving forces of the narrative. It’s amazing to think that this is a Treasure Island prequel blandly described as “Wet Game of Thrones,” but it’s one of the most compelling shows about anti-imperialism I’ve ever experienced. 

4. The Fosters

I started watching this show because I saw two lesbian civil servants raising all dem kids. In this show we have a black assistant principal and a white police officer who are raising the cop’s oldest son (a pianist), their adopted latinx twins Mariana and Jesus, and then they pick up Callie and Jude. Jude was queer, and I was thrilled to finally see a show about queer people raising a queer child. The actor who played Emmett on Queer as Folks (Peter Paige) was one of the showrunners. I think this show became a hot mess after season 1a, and instead started focusing on the kids way too much. However, I have an undying love for Stef and Lena, and the Jonnor pinky touch is still the best we’ve ever had. 

This show is objectively not that good, but this is one of the few shows during the time of the Clexa Incident and the Great Lesbian TV Purge that went through that unscathed. I also spent a great deal of time fighting off Brallie fans in the era; I do not miss that. We just didn’t have a lot of options at the time, and this show was a beacon of frank queer life that I desperately needed.

This is another show who I think has a perfectly selected intro. This show also is a case study in the shift from ABC Family to Freeform. 

5. Avatar: The Last Airbender

I was almost 15 when this started airing. It was my first time having to track a show down because of the erratic airing schedule. I think this show has one of the most satisfying arcs in all of TV history, and it is my default show to use when I talk about how to do a serialized story well. Avatar fans can refer to specific episodes so easily and quickly, and yet we can appreciate how each episode contributes to the global narrative. It really is a masterpiece.

6. What Did You Eat Yesterday?

As much as I have fun with BL, it’s really the queer shows that stick with me. A show about two gay men in their 40s trying to maintain a committed relationship despite their differences, and grounded around the meals they share together? This was always going to be one of my favorite shows of all time. I adore Shiro and Kenji, and I hope to have a partnership as good as theirs someday.

7. One Day At a Time

I’m a sucker for a good sitcom. I was excited about the revival of this classic and centered around a Cuban-American family in which the daughter comes out as a lesbian. Also, Rita Moreno is here. This is one of the Netflix cancellations I will never forgive. The finale of the second season is one of the most memorable cries I’ve ever had in television. I adore this cast so much. This is a show that is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

8. Moonlight Chicken

This is Aof at his best, and I don’t foresee anyone making anything that will replace this show for me. If I Told Sunset About You fixed the Love of Siam (2007) sized hole in my heart, Moonlight Chicken is the intergenerational queer family drama that I need as an adult. What we need as adults more than anything is a little bit of kindness and a great deal of compassion. Aof has so much care for all of his characters, his actors, his crew, and the viewers. This is one of the most gentle stories I’ve ever experienced about some extremely difficult topics. The intergenerational love flowing out of this show is so strong. I have been forever changed by this show. 

tagging: @shortpplfedup, @liyazaki, @flukenatouch, @kyr-kun-chan, @elnotwoods​, and anyone else who wants to participate.

[honestandrandom]

HOW HAVE I NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS UNTIL RECENTLY??? IT CAME OUT LAST YEAR AND NO ONE TOLD ME???

Watching this new Transformers movie made me realize that I do in fact still have a huge crush on Bumblebee. I’m so not sorry for saying this out loud. 10-year-old me calling Bumblebee “cute,” and then proceed to have a crush on the sentient yellow robot for years.

I enjoyed watching this movie, and the fact that this is the sequel to the Bumblebee movie that came out in 2018 proved that this new Transformers movie has zero connection to the previous 5 Transformers movies. The Bayverse Transformers franchise is dead, and thank goodness this new Transformers franchise is a complete reboot which started from the Bumblebee movie.

I could never forgive Bay for what he had done to Transformers. I hope the new Transformers franchise would be better than what Bay did. The Bumblebee movie still remain superior to me for a lot of reasons.

As for Rise of the Beasts, it was an enjoyable movie but I still doesn’t like how it took place on Earth. I wish the settings would be on Cybertron because those 3 minutes opening scene in Bumblebee movie was so epic. But I also understand why this movie had to take place on Earth, after all based on the Bumblebee movie’s credit scene the autobots all arrived on Earth.

As for the human characters, well I do not find them unlikable but they just aren’t written so well in my honest opinion. I still find Charlie from Bumblebee movie a lot better actually. And thank goodness for few human characters now because the robots have more screen time which I and most Transformers fans have been wanting for years, but the G.I. Joe crossover would definitely have more human characters in the next movie and I honestly doesn’t like it one bit. I’m still not sure how they would handle the crossover.

This movie also clearly trying to make Mirage as the new fan-favorite autobot but I’m not feeling it at all. The writers definitely tried to give Mirage the Bumblebee treatment but it’s not easy to just dethrone Bumblebee. I liked Mirage and he’s funny but still I couldn’t find something special about him that would make him be the next big fan-favorite character.

The scene where Scourge killed Bumblebee was also a way for the writers to give more spotlight to Mirage by keeping Bumblebee dead for half of the movie. The moment Bee came back to life (thanks to the raw energon that resurrected him), Bee immediately stole the spotlight from Mirage. I don’t think there are characters that could rival the popularity of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. I hope the writers won’t try to kill Bee again, he’s Hasbro’s money-maker and is way too important to them just like how he is also too important to Optimus, plus his popularity is way too big. Killing him off permanently is a bad decision.

Also, when will Bee going to get his voice back? I need Ratchet to do whatever he can to make Bee able to talk without having to use the radio. I need Dylan O’Brien back to voice Bee just like he did in the Bumblebee movie. His voice is perfect for Bee, really captured the young and heroic character that Bee is.

Lastly, Charlie not coming back in this movie saddens me. I loved seeing her and Bee, and them parting ways at the end of the Bumblebee movie hurts me. I hope they get to reunite in the next movie. Would be cool for her to meet Noah too, and him being so surprise seeing another human who is also a friend to an autobot. The fact that Optimus said to Bee, “I know one who was good to you” after Optimus said he couldn’t trust humans then Bee said that they are his friends, means Bee told Optimus about Charlie. I wish there’s a deleted scene showing Bee telling Optimus about her.

This movie was epic and yet scary because I feared for the autobot’s lives here. I truly wanted them to survive and glad that they did despite the villains in this movie are stronger. I also wonder what happened to Sector 7 from the Bumblebee movie? The last time we see of them, they were still looking for Bee and Charlie due to some misunderstandings but Agent Burns let them go after warning them that his friends are looking for them.

Final one, I swear…I’m excited to see the next installment and hope the crossover will go smoothly. This is the thing that took me by surprise because I didn’t expect it at all. The credit scene with Noah’s friend was hilarious but I guess the friend will join Noah to help the autobots?!

[badwithten]

Winter Warfare | CHRISTMAS EVEL - STRAY KIDS ADVENT CALENDAR

PAIRING Hyunjin x fem yandere!reader

GENRE horror

WORD COUNT 3.8k

SYNOPSIS Secret Santa was something you wouldn't miss for the world, so when your manager suggested a workplace event you were thrilled. Instead of one gift on Christmas, each workday you surprise your secret Santa with a new present on their desk. It started with small trinkets and chocolate. But on the 8th day, you decided to show your secret Santa how much you really cared. 

WARNINGS yandere behaviour, implied self harm, murder, y/n is really mean to hyunjin (not to his face though, in a letter but :(( still)

A/N uhhh im editing this at 5am so if its kinda jank my bad

MASTERLIST

When it came to Christmas, you hadn't matured at all. Yes, you were an adult with bills and responsibilities, but you couldn't help the joy that built up inside whenever the weather began to cool. Or when the dark night throughout your city started to be replaced with bright lights hung up by store owners. From the small changes such as stores playing Mariah Carey nonstop to the bigger changes in your life, a tree in your lounge and the smell of pine throughout your apartment. 

This enjoyment of the holiday session was not only reflected in your home life but also seen at your workplace. It didn't come as quickly as it did in your home, but not long after December started there was tinsel and lights decorating your otherwise dull office space. A tree near the entrance of the break room. Your receptionist handed out candy canes to every child who was dragged along to meetings with their caregiver, with school closed it was unfortunate for those whose parents worked full time, sitting in an accounting meeting was one way to spend your winter break.

Despite this meeting being not of importance, you're still embarrassed at entering five minutes after it has started. You stand at the door of the conference room, hand hovering over the handle. You're not sure if it's your lack of sleep or excess caffeine consumption or both that's making you so anxious. Before you get a chance to open the door yourself, the golden handle disappears away from your hand. Your eyes move from your feet up to the face in front of you.

A man with long blond hair looks at you with wide eyes, mouth parted in surprise. Your expression matches him as you take a moment to process. He wears light grey suit pants, and a cleanly pressed button-up shirt tucked in at the waistline. Hyunjin was the culprit, leaving the meeting five minutes in. He steps forward, forcing you back as he shuts the door.

“Shouldn’t you be in there?” You gesture to the room he just left from, confused why he was leaving so early.

“What?” 

“The secret Santa meeting, you are doing it right?”

“Oh wow,” A smile emerges on his skin, taking his lip in between his teeth to stop a laugh. “I’m heading to the meeting now, but you’d find it is actually in room B,” He points to the door down the hall from where the two of you stand before gesturing to the door behind him “Not room A”

Your hand comes up to cover your mouth, half laughing, half trying to hide your embarrassment.

“It’s ok, we’re both gonna be embarrassed walking in there,” With an arm around your shoulder and eyes on his wristwatch, he walks down to the correct door. You joined the company only a month after Hyunjin did, yet you were still a year younger than him which allowed him to treat you as if you were his younger sister. A playful relationship you enjoyed within the serious nature of your work. “almost ten minutes late”

Removing his arm he quickly grabbed the door handle, nodding at you despite the shaking of your head and panic in your eyes. Holding back his laughter, he bowed with his arm over his waist, opening the door for you to enter first. All eyes landed on you as the door swung open, soon they were at the figure next to you, presumably Hyunjin.

“You’re late” The anger in your boss's eyes was almost unbearable, you knew he had a low tolerance for this type of behaviour, even for something as silly as a secret Santa meeting. “Sit down, right now”

The two of you silently take your seat across the table from each other as your manager continues explaining the rules of a game you know all too well. With the rules ingrained in your mind already, it allows your thoughts to wander. Your eyes focus on the man sitting in front of you. Despite him only seeing you as a younger sister, he was so much more to you. 

Your heart swelled anytime you were around him, beating fast and hard as you tried to contain your excitement. You met him through work and at first, your relationship with him was awkward. You had never had a coworker so attractive and charismatic so when he initiated the conversation with you first, you just froze, cheeks burning hot. It was honestly embarrassing how much he impacted you.

As your relationship with him grew you tried to push those feelings away. Not only had you developed a strong friendship that you didn’t want to ruin with unrequited feelings, but you knew you had no chance with him. You saw how other people in the office looked at him, this was also their first time having such an attractive and charismatic coworker. 

Every now and again these feelings would bubble back up, and despite your efforts to keep them down, Hyunjin would light you back up and force you to act like a nervous wreck around him once more. One of his favourite ways to do this was physical contact. Of course, whether it was an arm over your shoulder or simply playing with your hand while you spoke, it was never intentional. Your interaction with him earlier bought these feelings back, and each time they emerged it was stronger than the last.

“Y/N?” When you snap out of it you see your manager standing next to you, holding a box filled with paper and the names of your coworkers. “Don’t tell me you’re not doing it this year?”

“Of course not” You smile at him, reaching in and grabbing a name out of the pieces of paper left. As soon as your arm has left the box he wanders off to the person sitting next to you.

Looking at your lap, you unravel the paper. ‘HWANG HYUNJIN’. Trying your best to swallow your heart down isn’t enough, you're choking on your feelings. You now had a way to show him how you felt, you knew it was a long shot and you had a lot of competition. But you weren't going to back down from a challenge.

You couldn’t contain your excitement at the fact you got Hyunjin for secret Santa. It was the perfect match-up, you knew everything there was to know about him. Right after work, you went to the store. Picking up all his favourite chocolates, snacks and art supplies. Things you knew from your previous outbursts of your crush. You felt childish calling it a crush, but the things you made it do were childish. Things you put behind you. This time you were going to do it correctly, instead of sneaking around you were going, to be honest about your feelings. After wrapping the array of gifts you had bought him, you sat down with your laptop and opened your notes.

“Dear Hyunjin,

I know this secret Santa isn't like the ones in the past, instead of one gift on Christmas day I have chosen to spread out your gifts through the days. You should have received the first week of them by the time you are reading this letter and I hope you enjoy each and every one! By the time Christmas comes around, I’ll give you the rest of the roses you are getting today. This time, it won’t be anonymous. I hope you can accept my feelings after this letter. Because the truth is, I love you and have for a while now. Ever since the day I started working at this office I have had feelings for you. Every day when I wake up and go to sleep, my first and last thoughts are of you. Every time I see you I get butterflies. Every time I get to talk to you my heart lights up. I’ve never felt this way about a guy before and every time we talk I know you don’t feel the same way I feel for you and it makes me sad. But at the end of the day, the truth is that I’m always thinking about you. I will always love you and I need to tell you.”

You wipe away the stray tear that falls down your cheek, stopping it from hitting your laptop. You didn’t even notice the tears building up in your eyes as you typed. But he bought out these feelings in you. 

Printing out the letter and putting it away in an envelope with a kiss was the last of your prepping for secret Santa. Now all you had to do was wait.

You had been observing Hyunjin's reactions to your gifts all week. He was pleasantly surprised each day. Enjoying his snacks and paint sets. His previous reactions determined your actions today, but you felt as if it was the right decision. You made it to the office as early as you could, concealing three roses in your bag and heading into the break room. Moving as quickly as you could, you lay the roses down in his cubby hole where he kept his bag throughout the work day. Lastly was the letter, which you were hesitant about, but being hesitant in the past only left you with regret. One last kiss you placed on the envelope before leaving it to be found by its new owner. Anxiety built up as you sat in silence, waiting for the tall blonde man to enter the office. 

A laugh that was all too familiar to you echoed down the hall. You sat up, picked up your phone and sipped on your coffee. All behaviour that you played off as natural. His smile stays bright as he enters the room and lays eyes on you.

“You’re here early kid” He walks past, bag in one hand as the other comes to flick your forehead. You let it happen although you still flinch at the impact.

“Yeah, I went to bed too early last night and couldn't sleep this morning” The lie comes off of your tongue more naturally than most things you said. It was your language. 

He takes a deep breath seeing the roses in his cubby and you freeze at his reaction. The sharp pain of anxiety reemerges in your chest. He picks up the letter, leaves the flowers and puts his bag away. His poker face is almost non-existent. Instead, his face drops, dread replacing what was joy only moments earlier. “You ok?” You ask, trying to be calm about the situation.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later” He stuffs the letter away in his bag before leaving the room, leaving you in silence once more.

Your day was painfully slow, each second that passed slowly chipped away at what was left of your positive mood. Despite the bad reaction you got this morning, you couldn’t let him know you were upset. So you worked as you normally would, laughing anytime Hyunjin stopped at your desk to deliver a one-liner about your manager. 

But when the pain truly hit you was when you sat in your bed, listening to Hyunjin ramble down the phone about how uncomfortable he was with the letter he received. He mocked the writing you used, discussed how angry he was that someone would use secret Santa as a way to convey his feelings and how he was worried about the day the person would come forward and tell him face to face. The cherry on top of all of this was how he felt about you. Oh, how lucky he was to have such a good friend like you! And that’s all you'd ever be.

A friend.

You lay awake long after the phone call. At first, you were silent, staring at your wall while you tried to contain the pieces of your broken heart. When that didn't work, it came out in cries. Violent crying shook your entire body with your sobs. All you could see was pure red anger by the time your tears had dried out. You wanted Hyunjin to feel that same red burning pain.

Sitting back at your laptop, you opened up another note.

“Dear Hyunjin,

I hope you are happy with yourself. You have thrown away the one chance of love you will ever get. You are good looking and you let that get to your head, it has turned you into a nasty selfish human. Do you think everyone just loves you? Well after today you have lost a friend. You will soon have no one if you keep this act up. And even if you decide that some girl is up to your high standard, she will never love you the way I did. Notice that Hyunjin? Past tense. The passion inside me is still there but now it is full of hate.”

In a hurry you print out the paper, not bothering to find an envelope to seal it in. Instead, you grab the small cardboard box next to your printer, shove the letter away and reach for the roses from the vase of water that sat in. But unlike yesterday when you were careful with the thorns, it pricks your hand. The pain shocks you out of your mad furry, making you drop the sharp flowers against the floor. Looking down you see a small drop of blood forming against your palm.

Mesmerised by the colour, you turn your hand allowing the blood to drip on the paper. The red looks nice against the white of your letter. Decorating the words and sealing in your pain. But Hyunjin deserves more than just a drop of your pain. Picking up the flowers once again, you use the thrones to paint him a bigger picture of what he has done to you.

You arrive at work early once again, bandages on your arms are covered by your long sleeve shirt. You shove the box into Hyunjins cubby and don’t bother to wait around and see his reaction. You want to see his fear, his disgust, out in the open. You want to see him try to hide it as panics, knowing someone in this room has done something evil because of him. Without knowing, a grin has grown on your face.

“You’re happy” Looking up from your desk, you see the man himself but in a much better condition than you had anticipated. He has a bad poker face, if he had seen what you left him he would not be this ok.

“Just excited for Christmas” The holiday that started this all was only four days away now. And your excitement was still there somewhere, it was buried deep below the anger you had for the man standing in front of you. “You opened your present from your crush this morning?”

“After yesterday I’m gonna wait til I’m home” His voice is low, just in case whoever left the love letter yesterday is listening. “You know me, wouldn’t be able to hide anything on this pretty face” He leaves back to work, blowing you a kiss on the way out.

The kiss sent you back down into a pool of love. You didn’t hate Hwan Hyunjin. You were madly in love with him and he had a letter that said otherwise. As much as the bridge between the two of you had burnt, you weren’t going to let it float down that river. You needed to salvage the rubble of what was left. 

You needed to get that letter.

You waited in the parking lot until you saw Hyunjin leave, then another couple of minutes just to be safe. Once you knew he was out of sight, you left in your own vehicle, driving towards his house. If you were correct about his routine, he would shower as soon as he got home. Although his routine did not usually include a gift from someone he perceived as a freak. 

With your car parked down the road, you got out and made a quick walk to his yard. You were lucky that you were correct about his routine, seeing the light in his bathroom turn on. You needed to move fast and quietly. But not to be too sneaky as to alert his neighbours, you had done this many times before you shouldn't need to worry, but you had never done it with him at home.

Making your way up his porch, you flipped over the flower pot next to his door and grabbed the spare key. His lock was loud, but you prayed it was not louder than his shower, which you could now hear running. The risk of sound was one you had to make, you had no choice. You needed to get to that box. With a click of the deadbolt and a creak of the door, you were in. You left the door unlocked, needing to be able to exit quickly. 

Despite not being the first time at his house, you were still unfamiliar with the layout, making you lose time as you searched for where he could've left his work bag. Finally, you see the bag on his bed and you make your way to it. 

You once again find that your best efforts were not good enough. As soon as your hands are on the box, you hear the shower turn off and the bathroom door open. With no other option, you find yourself under his bed key still in your hand as you watch the box rise and fall on your chest with every deep breath you take.

Soon your attention is turned to the feet walking along the wooden floor. With a hum he sits on the bed, stretching down and pulling on a pair of socks before standing again and dropping the towel to bunch up around his now-covered feet. Despite only being able to see his feet and calves, this is the most intimate you have been with your love. Without thinking, your hand reaches out. You want to feel him, his bare skin against yours. But as he reaches down to pull on his underwear and then pants, you stop. Lying flat against the hard wooden floor once again. You just need him to leave, to go to the bathroom once more, to go anywhere but here. One moment is all you need to leave. Sure once he returned he would notice the present is gone. But in no way would he connect that to you. 

Instead, he stands silently. Presumably doing something on his phone or looking at himself in the mirror. Each second that passes you find it harder to hold your breath still, taking shallow breaths to stay quiet leaves you out of breath, only making it harder to not make a noise. With each breath comes panic and that panic only amplifies as you hear him ringing someone.

First, you feel your phone vibrate again and it's too late. Your phone starts ringing out. You're frozen. Knowing you have been caught, knowing that it's over for you and Hyunjin. You watch him jump at the sudden noise, he's scared. But all you are is upset. You know that it's game over for you, but you can't help but silence your cries.

You watch as he steps away from the bed slowly. “Hello?” His voice is shaky, nothing like you're heard him speak at work. When he doesn't get a reply, you watch as he slowly lowers himself to the ground to investigate. His face drops when he makes eye contact with you. “Y/N?”

He stands back up, shocked to find you there. At first, you think it's relief in his voice, happy that it's you under his bed and not someone wanting to rob or kill him. It brings you a sense of peace that maybe this won’t go as bad as you imagined it to. But as you pull yourself out of the bed and into a standing position to explain your situation, you see that is a pure terror on his face. He’s pale, chest rising and falling so fast you think he's about to explode.

“What are you doing here Y/N?” His voice is still shaky, even more so now as tears begin to roll down his face. He makes eye contact with the box you still have tight in your grasp. “Are you my secret Santa?”

You say nothing, following suit in the tears decorating your own cheeks, but with none of the fear. 

“Give me the box Y/N” His voice is stern and filled with anger. You shake your head no. “Y/N! Give it here, I’m not asking”

When you still refuse, he pulls it out of your hands. There's no fight from you, you know it's over and you are frozen in place. As he opens the box and witnesses what you had left for him, the satisfaction you had imagined feeling this morning is now replaced with guilt and regret. If he looked scared before, he is petrified now. He doesn’t even need to read the letter to feel sick about the situation.

“Is this your blood Y/N?” You nod yes.

“How did you get into my house?” You shrug your shoulders, refusing to make eye contact with him. “Y/N!” He snaps, making you jump. “Please please please” He begins to break down as the full gravity of the situation weighs on him.

“I’m sorry” You finally break your silence, your words were broken, and you truly feel remorseful. 

“You need to leave Y/N, now” 

“What?” You step forward, making him jump back but you're quicker. Holding onto one of his hands. “I can’t leave you, not now”

“What are you talking about Y/N? This is insane, yes you need to leave” When he goes to pull his hand away, you tighten your grip, making him yelp in pain.

“I’m not leaving you Hyunjin” You smile for the first time since you got here, eyes shaking with tears as you try to find some sort of peace. “I love you”

“Please, you’re hurting me” The strong man you knew from work is gone. The man you loved is replaced by a scared dog. One that needed to be out of its misery.

“It’s ok, it’s over now” Pulling him closer with the grip on his hand, you readjust the key you still held and plunged it into his neck. His eyes go wide as his hand desperately tries to stop the spray of blood. You let go, watching as he falls to the floor in a panic. He paints his room red. One last picture before he gets to spend eternity with you.

[xbuster]

I know that you didn’t like Guardians 3 (I personally loved it even though I don’t really like superhero movies anymore), but I’m curious as to what your thoughts on James Gunn’s work with superhero stuff before it.

To be more specific, brief thoughts on Guardians Vol. 1 and 2, but more about your thoughts on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.

I did watch Guardians 1 and 2, but I actually haven’t seen The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker despite being a DC fan.

I really loved Guardians 1 when it came out, but I was also like 15 and I was at my height of MCU interest. Since I never rewatched the movie, I don’t know how well it holds up or if I was just in the right mindset to enjoy it. I’m sure it’s still a fine movie, but the comedic parts of the movie might not be as enjoyable now that I’m tired of that kind of humor. Like Guardians 3’s humor was genuinely awful, it was one of the least funny movies I’ve seen in a while and it makes me wonder if Guardians 1 actually was like that too. The villain was forgettable, but Star-Lord and Rocket were fun. I liked Groot too. Didn’t like Drax or really care for Gamora though. So I’ll say that I DID really like it when I saw it, but that was nearly a decade ago and I’d have to rewatch it to give my updated opinion. It set up Thanos, which I thought was cool, until they really introduced Thanos in Infinity War and I realized he was nothing like his comic book counterpart, so I stopped caring about him.

I have less to say about Guardians 2 because I don’t really remember much about it besides Ego. I can’t remember any of the jokes besides a vague feeling that I found Drax even less likable. I also couldn’t be bothered to care about Groot anymore. I thought the baby Groot thing at the end of Guardians 1 was cute, but I was hoping he’d be normal again. The new Groot was lame. Idk Ego was alright, I guess. The twist that he killed Star-Lord’s mother was a good one and the most memorable part of the movie. I just… don’t know why they called him Ego. Ego is a living planet, not a Celestial. Like… just make a new character at that point. I used to be really interested in seeing how the movies would adapt Marvel characters, but that’s just not Ego. At all. It was just a more forgettable movie over all besides the Ego stuff.

Now, I didn’t watch The Suicide Squad because I didn’t really like the first one. I realize it’s completely different and Starro’s in it, so maybe I should give it a watch eventually because I would like to see Harley Quinn done right for once. If she’s actually handled well in that movie.

On the other hand, I didn’t watch Peacemaker because I don’t really watch any live action superhero shows. I tried watching Agents of SHIELD when that happened, but it was so boring that I gave up quickly and never bothered with other Marvel shows or even the DC ones for that matter. Like I’m a huge fan of the Teen Titans (from the comics), but I didn’t even watch Titans despite that having my favorite hero, Nightwing, in it. Neither have I seen any of the recent Superman shows despite being a big Superman fan. Maybe I’ll try one if someone can really sell me on it, but I just never bothered with Peacemaker for that reason.

So over all, I have like a middling opinion on James Gunn. Like Taika Waititi. Some of the stuff they make can be entertaining, but there’s just as much stuff they put out that I just don’t care about and it mostly stems from an over reliance on a style of comedy I just don’t find funny anymore. Like oh the subject of Waititi, I tried watching Thor: Love and Thunder because, despite not really liking Ragnarok or any of Thor’s movies, Thor was one of my favorite superheroes from Marvel when I was reading more Marvel comics than DC, but I couldn’t finish the movie because it was just SO. BAD.

Sorry this was a lot, but there’s just a lot that goes into how I feel about Gunn’s stuff after about a decade of watching his Marvel movies. I just really hope he doesn’t fuck up Superman. I’ll never forgive him if he does. Don’t just make Krypto a vehicle for unfunny jokes…

[pacificovertures]

top five media of all time!

good as in i like it or good as in good quality? (does it matter? i have impeccable taste in everything) i’m gonna go with “stuff that’s had the most impact on my life/personality/etc.

the idolm@ster: full stop this series raised me through adolescence and so i’ll defend it until my body is dead and cold. it requires a bit of tolerance for anime bs, so i don’t recommend it to everyone AND i have really strong opinions about. basically everything. i genuinely think that im@s taught me more about how to grow as a person than anything else, especially with regards to accepting help from others, believing in myself, and dealing with complicated feelings. also the music fucking slaps idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

company: see the other post about why i like company, but as a result of getting me into sondheim stuff it’s opened up a lot of opportunities to meet new people and understand life and relationships better as a whole

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind: there’s a reason i watch this movie at least once a year even though i usually hate rewatching stuff. when i saw eternal sunshine for the first time in my high school film class, it was like a switch flipped in my brain: “wow, love is real”. the idea that love doesn’t have to be perfect, that two deeply dysfunctional people can find love, fuck up, and then commit to trying again is so unbelievably healing. for a self identified romantic, i hate love stories, but this one gets a pass.

passion: high regards for a show that i can’t even listen to without taking 999999999 psychic damage but it did dramatically alter the trajectory of my life so it has to get another nod

no longer human: the newest addition to this list, but i did really enjoy this book. if you count falling into a depressive fugue state for almost a month “enjoyment”. the way that alienation and inhumanity is captured here is such a “ha ha relatable” moment when i know it really shouldn’t be, but the self doubt and fear really resonated with me. the most important bit is the epilogue, where it’s revealed that—despite his self hatred and self destruction—yozo was still viewed as a kind person? that kinda broke me. i would like to be an admirable person… probably…

honorable shout out to my “songs of all time” spotify playlist which is the list of songs that i consider the best