#Not every story ends the same/How can I fix the mess I’ve made?

[reflections-of-mobius]

[ @thehordemultimuse | Liked for a starter from Azure!]

It was nearly lunch time- at least, as far as Azure could figure. He'd been soaring all over the continent, today- their shoes beating tracks that lasted for miles into the grass and sand. Every now and again, he'd stopped by one of the few remaining settlements of Mobius- helping for a few minutes before taking off for another. It was all they could do, to keep himself distracted.

At least- it had been, until Azure felt a tell-tale tear, the Chaos Energy and fabric of reality warping, splitting apart until it was wide enough for something to come through. He paused, midnight-tipped ears twitching slightly to the side.

"Woah- careful!" He moved to help, presuming the other may have tripped- after all, it wasn't uncommon for those unfamiliar with multiversal travel to trip, coming out of a Chaos Gate. "---You alright, pal?"

[fatgirlwritesscenarios]

Belated Happily Ever After

((A/N: Hello again, all! I’m finally getting back around to uploading the rest of the stories...kind of. This one I can say for certain was a request.))

Pairing: DKxReader

Genre: Angst/Fluff/Friendship 

Word Count: 7,962

Summary: You fell in love with the sun...but it turned out the sun did not love you back and couldn’t fathom loving you back, so you fell off the face of the Earth. Luckily, the sweetest sometimes-tiger, sometimes-hamster you’ve ever known was there to catch your fall until you were ready to face the sun again.

                                                     *~*~*~*~*~*~*

Your professor had a way of making time fly despite the class itself being over two hours long You had never been much of a history buff, the multiple dates you had to recall always being the enemy, but this history course was so interesting and engaging, it was easy to lose track of time. Hence, why you and most of your classmates didn’t even notice that the lesson was supposed to be over about 20 minutes ago, the next class crowding the door and waiting to take their seats.

“Time really does fly when you’re having fun,” you mumbled to yourself, finishing up your notes and storing your materials into your backpack before rising to make your exit.

“Remember to read Chapter 13 for homework, everyone! We’re going to have a very involved discussion next class meeting,” the professor announced, waving at the retreating students before welcoming the next class.

You pulled your planner from your bag with the intention of recording the homework and rifled further for a pen. Exiting the class and quite distracted, you never had a chance to prepare for-

“Finally!”

“ACK! Soonyoung!”

-the energizer bunny that wrapped his arms around you from behind and spun you around, his ecstatic laughter ringing loud in the hall.

“I’ve been waiting forever for you , Y/N,” Soonyoung laughed, setting you down on your feet and ruffling your hair, “What took the class so long?”

“Cut it out!” you demanded, batting his hand away from your hair and readjusting any stray strands, “What is it with you guys and messing with a girl’s hair? Anyway, I guess we all just got really into the lesson and lost track of time.”

“I wish my classes were that interesting…or maybe it’s because you’re just really smart and like the subject, so it comes easy to you!”

“I hate history.”

“Well, whatever! The fact is that we were waiting a long time for you and I’m starving!”

“We?”

“Seokmin was waiting with me, but went ahead to buy our lunch,” Soonyoung elaborated, turning you around by your shoulders and guiding you out of the building, “He should already be with the others, so let’s go! Hurry! Hurry! My stomach’s caving in!”

“O-Okay, okay! I’m going!” you replied, grateful that you were able to conceal the red of your cheeks, but very much aware of the heat burning beneath them.

Seokmin did that to you. Even just the mere mention of him; the sound of his name, the sound of his voice, a simple thought centered around the Child Development major known as Lee Seokmin had your heart galloping through fields of daisies and poppies. It had been one full year since you came to terms with your infatuation for him, but that didn’t keep the butterflies from swarming or your palms from dampening. It just made you an expert on hiding it from him.

With Soonyoung practically dragging you along behind him at a full run, the both of you eventually made it to the university quad, finding your friends lounging in the green not too far away.

“I brought Y/N!” the dancer announced, coming to a stop and smoothly pulling you next to him before slinging an arm around your shoulders like he always did, “Her history class ran longer than usual because they were having too much fun.”

“I thought you hated history,” Joshua mused with a smile, watching you struggle to catch your breath.

“I hate history…but I love…the professor…” you panted with your hands on your knees, eventually keeling over into the grass between Joshua and your roommate/friend, Miaka, “Soonyoung tried to kill me.”

“You were walking too slowly and I’m really hungry,” he whined, dropping down on the other side of Miaka and groaning dramatically.

“You were Sonic-running and I don’t appreciate the forced exercise,” you mumbled, laying stomach down on the grass and willing your breath to even out while remaining oblivious to Soonyoung’s pouting at being scolded.

Just as you were starting to feel better, your heart settling and your breathing steady, another attack came upon you in the form of fingers dancing up and down your incredibly ticklish side.

“AAHH! Nonono! Who?! Why?!” you shrieked, flipping over onto your back and curling up to prevent the onslaught, “Stop it!”

The laugh that hit your ears made your whole body tingle, the sun blocked by your attacker’s head as his smile took its place lighting up your world. In the exact moment your eyes locked with happy brown ones, you swore the birds sang sweeter, the wind was cooler, the sky was bluer and the grass felt like feathers. Everything felt so wonderful that if you died right then and there, you wouldn’t even mind it.

“You’re funny when you’re tickled, Y/N,” Seokmin stated, running a hand through his black hair, messing up his side-part a little bit.

“There is nothing funny about torturing me,” you answered, hoping against hope that the blush on your cheeks and the slight stutter you released wasn’t too noticeable.

He laughed again and held up a white, plastic carton along with a cold can of soda, “I got your lunch. I’m pretty sure I got what you usually like. Soonyoung’s better at remembering your order than I am.”

‘Oh, he’s just the sweetest!’ you gushed mentally, wanting to squeal, but instead sitting up and taking the items that he offered.

“I’m sure it’s fine. I eat just about anything, anyway.”

“She’s like a trashcan.”

“I’m sorry, did the bottomless pit over there say something?”

The whole group sat in amusement at the playful bickering between you and Soonyoung, Seokmin lowering himself down right behind you with his own food and laughing at Soonyoung’s expense. He was sitting rather close, almost forcing himself between you and Miaka with his legs on practically either side of your hips. Again, your heart did somersaults and the color in your cheeks deepened.

“Anyway, how much do I owe you for buying my lunch?” you asked him, beginning to rifle through your bag for your wallet.

Seokmin stopped you with a gentle touch to your arm, shaking his head once he had your attention, his smile beaming at your face, “You don’t owe me anything! It’s on me.”

You just gazed at him for a beat, wondering what good deed you did at any point in this life or others to deserve a person like him in your life. Even if he was just a friend…even if you wanted to be more.

It was hard to tell when this maddening crush of yours on Lee Seokmin actually started, but it felt like it’s been present ever since you entered University. You met both him and Soonyoung at around the same time, both becoming your best friends, but it was the sun-shiny man with a voice as beautiful as a song bird’s that captured your heart. He was playful yet considerate, positively hilarious, and so positive that you felt you could never have a bad day with him around or continue to mope after having a bad day. He made your dark days bright and your bright days even better. He was everything to you…and you wished you could be everything to him, too.

“Hey, Seokmin. Seungkwan. Why don’t you two sing us that song you were practicing? Let us hear how it’s going,” Jun, one of the oldest in the group, spoke up suddenly, disrupting conversations and forcing all eyes on the two mentioned males.

You blinked curiously, looking back at Seokmin, “You two are practicing a song? How come?”

Seokmin chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “We were bored and heard a song that we wanted to try harmonizing on. I think Joshua was playing it on the guitar.”

“And look at this! Said person just so happens to have said guitar with him!” Seungcheol proclaimed from his spot beside Joshua, nudging the other’s arm with his elbow, “You should play it and you two-” he pointed to Seungkwan and Seokmin, “should sing it!”

“Yeah, sing it for us!”

“Come on you, guys!”

“Sing it! Sing it! Sing it!”

Soon, the whole group was chanting for the two vocalists, Seungkwan eventually calming them down with an exasperated sigh of ‘fiiinnne’. The two of them prepared themselves while Joshua tuned his guitar, you focusing on your food while they did so. Soon, the first riffs of the song drifted through the air, followed by the second and third…and then, they were singing.

Voices mixing and blending so beautifully, Seungkwan and Seokmin captivated the group, as always. Their powerful voices snatching every ear; it was both a blessing and a curse to be sitting so close to your crush at this point, struggling to not stare at him too hard and yet wanting to memorize the expression on his face while you still had the chance. He absently played with the back of your hair while he sang, a rush of tingles dancing down your spine. He smiled at you and you smiled at him, nodding your head along to the song and wishing you could melt into his arms…without it being weird.

At the end of the performance, the last note fading out, the trio received a round of applause from their friends, though you smiled the biggest and the brightest at Seokmin.

He leaned in closer to you, whispering playfully, “How did I do?”

“Amazing, as always. I don’t even know why you bother asking me,” you play-whispered back, reaching up to fix his side-part and melting when he smiled at you with a little touch to your arm as thanks.

Suddenly, the campus clock tower started to chime and you froze when you realized how late it was actually getting. “Crap! What time is it?!” you hissed, pulling your phone from your bag and cursing when you saw that it was just turning 3 PM, “My last class starts in 15 minutes and it’s across campus. I have to go.”

“Don’t worry about your trash. I’ll take care of it,” Seokmin offered.

You smiled nearly bashfully, but shook your head, “You don’t have to, Seokmin. I can do it. It’s fine.”

“Ah, you’re so stubborn.” His eyes narrowed into a playful glare, his tongue clicking in ‘disappointment’, “It’s fine to accept help, Y/N. It’ll be one less thing for you to worry about! I don’t want you to be late for class, so I’ll take care of your trash!”

To show that he meant business, the man took the pile of trash from you and reached over to put your backpack in your hands. He then ushered you up and pushed on the small of your back until you took two steps away.

“Go, go! You’re losing time! Make sure to pay attention!”

You stared at him for a beat longer, a silly smile touching your lips as you nodded, “Alright…thank you!”

After bidding good-bye to your group of friends, and promising Miaka that you’ll clear the night to help her study, you took only two more steps before Soonyoung was calling out to you.

“Wait, Y/N! I’ll go with you!” he said, stuffing the rest of his food into his mouth and then moving to stand up.

“Your class is in the opposite direction of mine, Soonyoung ,and it’s going to be starting soon, too!” you objected, frowning when he gave his trash to Seokmin and asked him to take care of that, too, which he happily agreed to.

“So?” the dancer retorted, hopping next to you with a big, cheeky grin on his face, “I want to walk you; make sure you get there safe.” You rolled your eyes as he bid his farewells, shoving his shoulder when he started pushing you in the direction of your class, earning a giggle from him.

“Good luck in class, Y/N!”

You looked back to see Seokmin smiling and waving after you, the dazzling brightness of his grin leaving you breathless, yet re-energized. You returned the gesture and called out a thank you, beginning a light-footed trek to your class with Soonyoung hot on your heels. Not even his teasing could make the smile fall from your face after spending time in Seokmin’s presence, your mind too occupied with his warm smile to even think of good, witty comebacks. You just…floated to class, drunk on infatuation and high on his beautiful voice.

~*~*~*~

It was right around 8:30 PM when you returned to your apartment that evening, mentally drained but feeling rather accomplished. After your last class, you joined a few of your History classmates for a study group and then went to get dinner with them, making sure to leave in a timely manner so you could have enough time to help Miaka study that night, as promised.

You sighed in relief when you got inside, classical music drifting pleasantly in the air; Miaka liked to study to the sound of an orchestra. She said it helped her to focus more.

“I’m home!” you called, toeing off your shoes and moving into the living room.

“And just in time, too!” Miaka greeted, never looking up from the index cards she was working on at the coffee table, “I’m just about done making my flashcard for my biology terms and then you’ll be able to quiz me on them for the test.”

“Sounds good,” you replied, throwing your coat and bag down on sofa behind her before throwing yourself down at the coffee table in front of her, “How many do you have?”

“118.”

“Do you plan on sleeping at all tonight?”

“Nope and I hope you don’t either.”

You rolled your eyes loudly, giggling when Miaka stuck her tongue out at you in retaliation. To entertain yourself while she finished with the rest of her cards, you picked up the already completed ones and started to look over them. A moment of silence passed between you two.

“So, how was your last class?” she suddenly asked, still focused on the cards.

“It was decent,” you answered.

Miaka glanced at you, smiling mischievously, “What, it wasn’t spectacular after being blessed by Lee Seokmin’s wish of good luck? You weren’t floating on air? Hearing angels sing? Citing romantic haikus?”

You stared at her flatly, clearly unamused, “I hate you.”

“You love me,” she shot back.

“I hope you fail this test.”

“And I hope you embarrass yourself in front of your dream man.”

You groaned at her last jab, setting the cards down before flopping back onto the carpet, “Why are you being so mean?!”

Miaka laughed, completing the last card and then reaching over to add it to the pile, organizing them in the process. “Honestly, why don’t you just tell the guy that you like him? What’ the worst that could happen?”

You popped back up, “I could make a fool of myself. I could ruin a perfectly good friendship and possibly lose Soonyoung in the process. I could make him feel so uncomfortable around me that he never wants to see my face again. The list goes on!” Another groan and another flop back onto the carpet. “God…why does he have to be so perfect? Why do I have to have a crush on a guy that’s never going to like me back?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘never’.”

You returned to your sitting position, staring your friend straight into her soul, “What are you talking about?”

“Look,” she started, pausing to choose her words carefully, “It might just be me, but I think he likes you, too.”

“HA!” You laughed incredulously, Miaka narrowing your eyes at you. “Oh, you’re funny, Miaka.”

“But I’m probably not wrong.”

“But you probably are.”

“But I’m probably not,” she insisted, “I mean, look at the way he treats you! He buys food for you without making you pay him back. He’s always encouraging you. He’s always trying to sit really close to you. He asks for your opinions before anyone else’s. He offers to do things for you that’ll make your life easier! The man is practically establishing himself as your boyfriend. All you two need now are couple’s outfits.”

As much as you wanted to argue with her- because you vaguely remember Soonyoung doing a lot of the same things from time to time- that niggling of hope deep in your soul started to work against you. Big time. You started to think…maybe she was right? Did Seokmin like you? Were you more special to him than you allowed yourself to believe?

You chewed your bottom lip thoughtfully, brow furrowing in worry, “But…I don’t know, Miaka. If it’s true…and he likes me like I like him…then why hasn’t he said anything? Why hasn’t he confessed?”

The other woman shrugged her shoulders, smirking triumphantly, “Maybe you’re the one girl that makes him too shy to do it.”

You froze, giving her the chance to continue, “Maybe you should be the one to confess.”

“But…Me? How?! I can’t…H-How would I even-”

“The next time you two are alone.” She interrupted you, holding a finger up, “Conditions are never going to really be perfect, but take advantage of the next time you guys aren’t being bothered and tell him how you feel. He’ll probably be super relieved that you did!”

“I…I don’t know. It’s not exactly the romantic confession I imagined,” you mused, pouting slightly, “I always wanted to be the one that someone confessed to.”

Miaka clicked her tongue before pursing her lips in disapproval, “Do you want this man or not?”

You hesitated…and then nodded.

“Then you know what you need to do,” she finalized, handing you the finished and organized stacks of index cards, “Now quiz me. We can talk about your repressed love life later.”

You glared at her, but took the stacks and set them up on the coffee table, starting to go through the different categories with her. While you worked hard to remain in study mode for Miaka’s sake, you couldn’t help the little voice whispering in the back of your mind: how long would you have to wait before you could confess?

The answer…

*~*~*~*

Not that long at all, actually! About two weeks if we’re going to try to be exact and it was Seokmin himself who gave you the opportunity.

You remembered the Monday afternoon that brought you to this moment, the shriek that filled the apartment after you told Miaka how Seokmin had texted you and asked you to go to a movie with him. She had then started raving about how ‘This is it!’ and ‘This is your chance!’ and ‘He’s totally asking you on a date!’. This was followed up with her planning your outfit for your Friday night outing with him, from your shoes and accessories to what you were going to do with your hair. You had tried to tell her that it was just a movie, nothing big, so a nice pair of jeans couples with a pretty shirt and some cute sandals would work fine.

She wasn’t having any of that, though, and immediately took you out shopping for the perfect outfit, declaring that you couldn’t make a proper confession without looking drop-dead gorgeous first.

“I mean, more gorgeous than you already are,” she had added, giggling girlishly while pulling a multitude of dresses and skirts from the rack at your favorite store.

All of her primping, polishing, encouraging and hyping were what helped you to get through the week without losing your mind in excitement, to Friday night…to this moment here. She truly made you believe that this really was it, that this was the moment you confessed and it would end in happily ever after. Even the ‘date’ itself seemed to solidify it: he bought the popcorn and drinks at the movies for the both of you, draped his arm around your shoulders, he took you to dinner after, got you your favorite dessert. He complimented your whole look more than twice that evening and you even caught him staring from time to time, that giant grin of his ever present.

The night had been a success and this was now your moment, the both of you walking down the pathway through the park, trekking towards the bus stop that would take you home. This was it. Now or never.

“Hey, Seokmin…”

He looked at you expectantly, warmly, while you slowed to a stop with him facing you. “I, uh…I have…something…that I need to tell you,” you stammered, heart pounding relentlessly, cheeks flushing and palms nearly drenched.

His brows furrowed now, his hands hovering over your shoulders, as if preparing to catch you if you fainted, “What’s wrong, Y/N? Are you feeling okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. I mean…I-I will be if I can just…j-just get this out.” You took a deep, shaky breath, fiddling with your fingers and staring at the concrete while Seokmin eyed you carefully, “I’ve been…wanting…I’ve been wanting to tell you this…for a while...and now seems as good a time as it’s going to get.”

Another deep, shaky breath and you forced yourself to lock eyes with him, “I like you, Seokmin. A lot. A lot a lot. I have for a while, now…and I was hoping, after tonight, we could try to make it a little more official. Maybe go on another date?”

He stared at you, dumbstruck. You stared back, sweating bullets, worrying your bottom lip. Your heart was beating out of control and you felt like you were going to vomit from the anticipation. Then Seokmin smiled. It was small at first, then bigger, then bigger still until it was fully, shining smile that you loved so much. It warmed you, comforted you, and you were so sure that he was going to confess back.

But then…he was laughing and you were confused.

“That was a good one, Y/N! You really had me going there!” he said between chuckles, his hand over his heart.

Your brow pinched together in confusion, “W-What?”

“You were so believable!” he said, “I almost fell for it, too! You having a crush on me? Oh, man. Did Soonyoung put you up to this? You two are always playing tricks on me!”

What was happening? What is this? He thought this was a joke? Your own heart was stuttering now, your mind panicking to try and make sense of this situation. How do you salvage it? What do you do?!

“Seokmin, no, I…I wasn’t joking…” He stopped laughing, stopped smiling, and stared at you. “I really do…like you.”

You both were quiet again, but the world was unbearably loud. You could clearly hear the cars passing on the street, the electric buzz of the lamps that lit the pathway, the sounds of the evening bugs. Your ears felt hot, but your fingers felt cold and your heart was pounding so hard you could swear it was just as audible as the cars on the street.

There was still a chance. There was still hope…until there wasn’t.

“Oh…Y/N,” Seokmin sighed, frowning and rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

Oh no…

“I’m…I’m sorry, but…”

What have you done?

“I don’t feel the same way. I like someone else.”

Your heart came to a screeching halt and then dive-bombed right into your stomach. Your hands felt clammy in your own grip as you tried to keep yourself from falling apart.

“O-Oh,” you muttered, dropping your gaze to your feet, “I-I just thought that…maybe…I-I mean, you were always so…sweet to me. Always buying my lunch and encouraging me and going out of your way for me…and asking me to go see a movie with you…”

“We hadn’t gotten a chance to just hang out in a long time and no one else wanted to watch this movie with me,” he explained, looking away from you as well, “And of course I would do all of those other things for you. You’re one of my best friends! But I would never like you in that way. I mean, it’s you. Why would I like someone like you?”

The coldest of winds passed over you and you felt like crumbling into nothing. That’s how you felt now, anyway…like nothing. Seokmin seemed to realize how harsh his words sounded and started to panic.

“Oh, no, Y/N! I didn’t mean it like that!” He took a step towards you, but you took two back. “Y/N, please. That was an asshole-thing for me to say and I’m sorry! I just meant that-”

You held a hand up and when you lifted your gaze, Seokmin could’ve sworn he had been hit in the gut by a train. The unshed tears in your eyes were things he never wanted to see, let alone be the reason for. The smile painted on your lips looked painful and he wished he could turn back time to keep this all from happening.

Regardless, you still continued to smile and took a deep breath through your nose, “It’s okay…Seokmin. I understand. I’m not the one you like and I looked at everything all wrong. It’s my fault for seeing things that weren’t there.”

He had no words, watching you dab at the tears that escaped and streaked down your cheeks, attempting not to smudge your makeup. You composed yourself as best you could, shaking your head.

“I think…I’m going to go home by myself,” you whispered, looking past him to avoid seeing the pitiful look he cast at you, “I can’t be around you right now.”

“Y/N, please don’t be like this. I don’t want to lose my friend.” He reached for you desperately when you walked past him, “I can’t let you walk home by yourself!”

You avoided his touch and stopped just three steps ahead of him, “…You can and you will. Good night, Seokmin.”

And then you left, not once looking back for fear of breaking down. You weren’t exactly sure how you got back to your apartment without breaking out into tears first, but when you arrived, you heard what sounded like Miaka and Soonyoung having some kind of battle from all the shouting you heard on the other side of the door.

You closed your eyes. Soonyoung…you didn’t have the strength to fake happiness in front of him right now, even though you knew how much he hated to see you sad.

With a deep sigh, and zombie-like movements, you walked inside and closed the door. The sounds of Mario Kart met your ears followed by Soonyoung shouting about how Miaka could ‘eat his tail’; his character must be Yoshi…he didn’t like Bowser very much. You slipped off your shoes and took off your coat, wondering how fast you could walk to your room without alerting the other two that something was wrong.

“Hey, Y/N! You’re back!”

Oops…too late. You were already spotted.

Miaka put the game on pause and hopped up from her spot on sofa just as you shuffled into the living room, “So how was it?! Was it romantic? Everything you dreamed of? Did you-”

She stopped once she got a good look at you, her own heart dropping at the broken state you were in.

“Y/N…Y/N what happened?” she asked you, her face contorting into worry just as Soonyoung rushed over to you as well.

You said nothing and it didn’t take long for Miaka to do the math, “You told him…and he didn’t…”

With slow movements and your body shaking with your repressed tears, you shook your head.

“Oh no…Y/N, I’m sorry,” Miaka sighed, but before she could comfort you, Soonyoung beat her to it.

He slid his hands onto your shoulders and made you face him, even as you refused to meet his eyes. The wall of tears built higher and higher, you struggling to keep them at bay; it killed him inside to see you trying so hard not to cry like this.

“Y/N…” he whispered, cupping your cheek, feeling you shaking, “I’m here…I’m right here.”

And that was all you needed, the tears pouring freely and Soonyoung gathering you into his chest. He hated to see you cry, but tonight, he wasn’t going to try and force you to stop. For that, you were grateful…for Soonyoung, you were grateful. He wasn’t the man you wanted, but he was the man you needed right now.

You held him tighter and he never let go.

*~*~*~*

It was four whole months before you had the nerve to even answer any of Seokmin’s texts again. You went from being heartbroken to being embarrassed and avoided the man like the bubonic plague. Unfortunately, that also meant avoiding your other friends as well since there was a chance that you could run into him at any outing they invited you to. Your only saving grace, aside from Miaka, was Soonyoung. He had always been by your side, but ever since the fiasco with Seokmin, he became more…constant, not that you were complaining.

In those four months, he named himself your official caregiver, making sure that you were eating well, resting well, and taking necessary breaks from studying. He would clear his weekend evenings to be with you or take you to hang out with other friends once it was confirmed that Seokmin was not going to be anywhere near the vicinity. The both of you spent long hours cuddling, still teasing one another, and going on little impromptu ‘dates’ where Soonyoung wouldn’t let you pay for a single thing. He complimented you more, texted you and called you, made it his life’s goal to always make sure that you were smiling and laughing. In those four months, he became more than just what you needed. He became what you wanted.

At the start of the fourth month, you were both official after a sweet, quiet, and red-cheeked confession from Soonyoung in the glow of the TV during one of your movie nights. Thinking about it now, a whole month into your new relationship, made you giddy and giggly, especially when you thought back on the kiss you shared that very same night: sweet and tender and a little bit playful, just like Soonyoung.

“Hey, princess.” A pair of warm arms encircled your shoulders from behind, warmer lips pressing a kiss to your cheek.

You giggled and wrapped your fingers around Soonyoung’s arm, turning your head to kiss him in return, “Hey, Soonyoung. How was class?”

He started whining as he plopped down in the seat beside you at the kitchen table, “Long. And boring! I just wanted to be with my jagiya! You should switch classes so we can always be together!”

“It’s too late in the semester, Soonyoung.”

“You’re right, you’ve put too much work into your classes to change them now, so I’ll change mine!”

“We’re not even in the same major.”

“I can learn!”

You giggled at his antics, Soonyoung puffing up proudly at the pretty sound. He lived to see you this happy and giggly and loved the fact that it was because of him your eyes shined so bright. He reached over and took your hand, giving your fingers cute little kisses of affection. You just about melted and begged him to stop making you blush.

“But you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed!” He pinched you cheeks and you made a face at him. “Anyway, what are you doing?”

“Studying,” you sighed, gazing down at the books and papers strewn across the dining table.

Soonyoung hummed, “Did you have lunch already?”

You shook your head, absently reading through your notes. “When was the last time you ate?” he asked.

You paused and stared at him blankly. After a few moments too long, you said, “I…I don’t remember.”

“Princess!” he exclaimed, looking horrified.

“I had to study!” you defended yourself.

“All of that studying won’t mean anything if you die from starvation!” he scolded you, standing up, “I’m ordering us food and you’re taking a break!”

“Alright, alright, fine,” you caved, watching him go into the living room where you and Miaka left the take-out menus.

You smiled to yourself at how caring your boyfriend, your thoughts interrupted by a ding on your cellphone. Checking the screen, your heart lurched momentarily when you saw that you received a message from Seokmin.

‘It’s been almost five months, Y/N. It’s time to get over it,’ you thought to yourself, opening the text.

‘Hi, Y/N. How are you? It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken to each other…I miss you.’

You took a deep breath, steadying your shaking hands as you replied, ‘Hey, Seokmin. It has been a while, huh? Sorry for avoiding you.’

‘No worries. I understand. I was harsh to you that night and I’m sorry,” he responded.

A flashback to that night crossed your mind, his question of why he would like someone like you ringing in your head…but not as clearly as it did a month ago. The sting of it had dulled itself, that you thanked Soonyoung for.

‘You weren’t that harsh, Seokmin. It’s okay. Thank you for apologizing, though.’

He didn’t respond right away, but when another message came through, it was a bit of a surprise.

‘Can we meet up? I need to talk to you about something. I feel like you’ll be the only one to understand.’

What did that mean? You stared at the message for longer than necessary, reading it over and over again. You knew this day would eventually come, where you would have to see Seokmin face to face. You imagined it a little differently, though, where you would meet him by chance out on the University grounds, probably in passing and you two would have an awkward moment of forced laughter and ‘how are you?’ questions before finally coming to terms that you were okay and ready to be friends again. What you never imagined was Seokmin asking to see you to talk about something very important, it looked like. That’s what swayed you in making your decision, but first…

“Soonyoung,” you called out, hearing your boyfriend shuffle from the living room and back towards the dining table, one hand clutching a take-out menu and the other holding his phone to his ear.

He stared at you expectantly and you gestured for him to hang up the phone. “What’s up, Princess?” he asked, taking his previous seat.

“Seokmin just texted me,” you answered, earning a stare back in return as he waited, “…and I answered him this time.”

“Oh…how did that go? Are you guys okay?” he ventured, worry lines appearing on his forehead, which you instinctively reached out to smooth away with your thumb.

“I think so. I mean, I’m pretty sure we are, but…he asked if we could meet up. I think he wants to talk to me about something important.”

Soonyoung blinked in surprise, but brushed it aside to study your expression. You didn’t look anxious or nervous. From that alone, he didn’t see a reason to try and persuade you not to go. He placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it gently as your eyes trained themselves on your phone.

“It has been four months, Y/N, and I know that he still wants to be your friend. He always cared about you and still does. I think he also just wants to know that you’re okay and actually hear it from you this time. He usually asks me.”

Soonyoung’s comforting gesture eased the butterflies in your stomach and only solidified the decision you already made. “So…you’re okay if I go to meet him?” you asked.

“Of course! We’re all still friends and you’re mine now, so I’m not worried about anything,” he answered cheerfully, pinching your cheek.

You giggled and playfully swatted his hand away. He only grabbed yours and laced your fingers together, watching you carefully.

“Do you want me to come with you? For support?”

You didn’t even need to think about it, shaking your head confidently, “No, I’ll be fine on my own. I think this is something we need to do by ourselves, anyway.”

With that, you picked your phone back up and texted him back, telling him that you would be happy to meet up with him. About 30 minutes later –this must be really important whatever he needs to talk to you about- you were waiting for him outside the campus food court at one of the outdoor tables. You sipped on a smoothie you had ordered, an extra one you bought for Seokmin sitting in front of you.

You weren’t going to lie and say that you weren’t nervous. The apprehension was making fidgety, your leg bouncing up and down as you gnawed on the end of your straw. A small part of you thought it was ridiculous now to be this afraid. Like Soonyoung said, it had been four months! The night was over, the embarrassment was over, and you were over the whole thing.

“Y/N!”

You whipped around just in time to see Seokmin jogging towards you, barely giving you time to stand up before he was throwing his arms around you. Frozen, you allowed him to hug you, the man swaying you both back and forth as an involuntary chuckle filled your ears.

“Sorry, sorry. That was impulsive and I probably shouldn’t have hugged you so suddenly, but I’m really happy to see you,” he explained once he let you go.

“Oh, um…sure…no problem.” You gave a small smile and took your seat again, Seokmin doing the same on the other side. Remembering the smoothie you bought for him, you picked up the cup and reached over to give it to him, “Here, I got this for you. It’s your favorite.”

His smile reached from ear to ear as he accepted it, “Thank you! What do I owe you?”

“Nu uh,” you shook your head, playful smile touching your lips, “This one’s on me. Think of it as a little payback for all the times you spotted me for food.”

He chuckled, but nodded his head, “Alright, then.”

Silence reined one more, the both of you trying to figure out what dynamic this was now. Some tension remained, but not nearly as much as you thought there was going to be. You took the time to study him, just as he was studying you. Your eyes roamed the planes of his face, searching for any dark circles or ghost-white pallor. You saw nothing, but the healthy Seokmin you always knew and found yourself hoping that he found happiness with the girl he liked the way that you found happiness with Soonyoung.

“It really is good to see you, Y/N,” Seokmin stated, breaking the ice as the warmth from his smile matched the light in his eyes.

“I missed you, too, Seokmin. I avoided you for a long time and I’m sorry about that…but I just didn’t know how to face you after that night,” you answered, gaze dropping to your smoothie cup.

“I understand,” he voiced lowly, fiddling with his straw, “I was worried, though…I thought I had lost you as a friend. That was the last thing I wanted to happen and it killed me to think that it actually did. I…was scared that you wouldn’t want to meet me today…or at all.”

You were astounded, your eyes transfixed on him. How were you supposed to respond to that? How did you want to respond to that? The answer came naturally.

“You were never in danger of losing me as a friend, Seokmin,” you said, voice filled with conviction.

It was his turn to stare at you incredulously, letting you continue, “I did, however, entertain the idea of not seeing you today. I wasn’t sure if I was ready, yet, but it sounded like you needed to talk to me about something important. Is everything alright?”

Here, he avoided your gaze, a nervous laugh bubbling up in his throat. This had you curious, your head tilting to the side.

“Everything…kind of hurts.” And for the first time since you had known him, Seokmin let his smile drop in front of you, hitting you with a sadness that made your heart clench.

You sat up straighter, leaning forward with your eyes fixed on his face, “Seokmin, what happened?”

“What happened is…what I did to you that night, someone else did to me.” You were confused, Seokmin leaning back in his chair. “The girl that I liked, she didn’t return my feelings. I thought we were hitting it off really well. We spent a lot of time together, had a lot of fun…but when I confessed, she told me that she would never date someone like me and that she never wanted to talk to me again.”

How familiar? You would never wish that kind of embarrassment on anyone, not even the person who made you feel like that in the first place.

“Seokmin…I’m so sorry,” you said, reaching for his hand and holding it, “I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Y/N.”

“I’m not saying it because it’s my fault. I’m saying it because you’re hurt.”

He smiled sadly at you and squeezed your hand, “After she told me that, I couldn’t help but to start thinking if that’s how I made you feel. Like I never wanted to see you again.”

Oh…that made sense and, if you were being honest with yourself, that had been a prominent thought the first few weeks following what happened. You were so sure that he wouldn’t want to be around someone who had made things so uncomfortable between you two and that’s what fueled your need to avoid him at all costs.

“Truthfully, Seokmin, I did think that way for a little while,” you said, releasing his hand to sit up again, “But, I guess I didn’t have much to worry about.”

“You didn’t have anything to worry about. You’re one of my best friends. I was going to fight for you.”

You laughed, as did he, and this time, when things got quiet, it wasn’t tense. It felt…serene. At last, after all these months, the full weight of this situation finally fell from your shoulders. You and Seokmin made up, had closer. You breathed the deepest sigh of relief you’ve ever released and felt relaxed.

“I’m glad to see you doing so well after all this time,” Seokmin added, pulling a silly little grin from you.

“I have Soonyoung to thank for that.”

“I’m glad about that, too! You make him really happy, Y/N. He’s been in love with you since the day he met you!”

“Okay, now you’re exaggerating,” you rolled your eyes.

Seokmin shook his head insistently, “No, it’s true! He told me himself two days after he met you. He said that he met the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with, but as time went on and we all became friends, he got too scared to tell you because he didn’t want to ruin the friendship he had with you.”

You stared dumbfounded at Seokmin, cheeks flushing and heart pitter-pattering against your chest. Suddenly, you released a loud, disappointed groan, throwing yourself back against your chair. Seokmin blinked at you.

“What? What? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Poor Soonyoung! I must’ve drove him crazy talking about my crush on you all the time,” you groaned again, digging the heels of your palms into your eyes, “It was non-stop!”

“Wow, you really did like me,” he mused, making you glare flatly at him.

“I did. You have that kind of effect on people,” you replied, sitting up and sighing, “I’ll have to make it up to him.”

“I doubt he cares much at this point. He has you now! I’m sure he feels all the torture was worth it.”

You giggled and nodded your head, looking at Seokmin and then at your smoothie cup before lifting it up towards him, “Friends?”

He paused momentarily, grinning soon after and lifting up his own cup, “Best friends?”

Your smile grew all the wider, “Best friends.”

You both laughed and took a sip of your smoothies, sealing the deal. Now that the storm of your life had fully passed, you gave Seokmin an apologetic look.

“It was good seeing you again, Seokmin, but I should be going. I promised Soonyoung I would get back to the apartment with enough time for lunch and a movie before studying. Knowing him, he probably hid all of my books to make me keep my promise.”

“I don’t think he’s at the apartment,” he told you, catching you off guard.

“Huh? What do you mean? How do you know?”

“Because he’s trying to hide behind that tree over there.”

You processed his words a second too slow, but when you whipped around to said tree he was pointing at, you found a very familiar figure trying to duck behind the thin base. Your mouth dropped open and you stood up.

“Soonyoung!” you called.

He peeked out from behind the tree, donning a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie in an attempt to look ‘inconspicuous’. Realizing his cover had been blown, he pasted on the biggest, cheesiest grin and meandered over to you.

“Hey, Princess! Seokmin!” he greeted, popping a kiss on your cheek.

You narrowed your eyes at him, making him fidget, “Feel proud of yourself for spying on us?”

“Nooooo! Princess, don’t say it like that!” he whined, taking your hand in his, “I wasn’t spying on you. Okay, maybe I was a little bit, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“I told you I was going to be fine,” you reminded him.

“I know, but then I started thinking what if it didn’t end fine,” he explained, his gaze never leaving you, “I didn’t want you to have to walk back to your apartment alone and sad if the worst happened.”

Oh, how this man made your heart stutter. You couldn’t stay cross with him, your expression falling into a smile as you cupped his cheek and gave him a soft kiss. He laughed childishly afterwards, embracing you right after. Once he let you go, with his arm slung over your shoulders, he looked between you and Seokmin, eyes flashing with worry.

“So are you two okay now? Like, completely?” he asked, almost fearing the answer.

You and Seokmin looked at each other, similar smiles spreading across your faces; “Yup, we’re all good!” you answered.

“Best friends again,” Seokmin followed, the both of you startling when Soonyoung released an excited shout.

“Oh, I’m so happy! I hated seeing you both so unhappy because of each other!” he gushed, cuddling you into his chest, “Let’s celebrate with lunch! I’m starving! And you, missy, are supposed to be taking a study break anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Seokmin, before he starts rushing us.”

Seokmin stood up beside you and before you could start your way into the food court, he grabbed you in a hug and squeezed you gently. This time, you were a little more prepared and hugged him back.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“No problem,” you whispered back.

When you pulled away from each other, and you looked at him, you no longer saw the man that you had the biggest crush on and experienced the most painful rejection from. You just saw Seokmin, your best friend. His smile still made you warm, but didn’t cause butterflies. His laughter still made you grin, but didn’t mesmerize you. His touch was still gentle, but you didn’t crave it. Soonyoung was that man for you, now. Soonyoung was your happily ever after.

It took some time coming, but it got there and that’s what really mattered.

[primadonna-girl-yeah]

The Top 5 Reasons We Love Retro Gaming

1. Games Were Simpler Back In The Day

Computer games have undeniably gotten progressively aggressive and amazing as of late. At the point when you take a gander at any semblance of The Last Of Us, it's difficult to exaggerate exactly how far computer games have come since individuals were playing Pong forty-odd years prior. Be that as it may, for every one of the advancements inside the medium, and for all the brand new thoughts and progressively expand control conspires, there's undeniable value in the amount all the more straight forward things were in the games we played as children.

Gaming today can be hard for individuals without the muscle memory that originates from long periods of committed gaming. Give your mum or father a PS4 controller and in the event that they're in any way similar to mine, they'll invest a large portion of the energy playing the game looking down, endeavoring futile to recollect where every one of the catches is. Utilize the left simple stick to walk, hold X to run, or tap X to run. L2 is point and R2 is shoot, yet R1 becomes shoot in case you're driving on the grounds that in a vehicle R2 is the quickening agent. R3 (that is the point at which you click in the correct simple stick) allows you to look behind you, and to open the menu you have to hold down the touch cushion. Furthermore, that is simply part of the control conspire for Grand Theft Auto 5, extraordinary compared to other selling games, time.

In any event, for prepared veterans, the expanding multifaceted nature of games can turn into a mood killer. Super Mario World is still as instinctive as it returns in 1990 on the grounds that the innately basic structure and get and play nature of the game made it ageless. You can give a child who's never played a Mario game the controller and inside seconds they'll have turned out how to play. This effortlessness is an alluring idea, which is a very likely a piece of the explanation that retro games like Shovel Knight and Axiom Verge are so mainstream today. The more straightforward a game is to play, the more comprehensive and quick the good times. Retro gaming possesses a great deal of that, and that is the explanation despite everything I'm playing Super Mario World twenty-six years after discharge.

2. Retro Games Have Better Music

As gaming generation esteems have expanded throughout the years, we've seen the medium change from numerous points of view. We made the bounce to 3D, we presently have voice acting, and expand cut-scenes recount to muddled stories that adversary those found in TV or on the big screen. Games today include completely organized scores or soundtracks highlighting mainstream music that are just as great as what we'd see in different mediums, yet it feels like we've lost something en route, as well.

I can in any case murmur the signature music to Treasure Island Dizzy on the Commodore 64. I was playing that game about thirty years prior and I haven't played it from that point forward (I've still never beaten it, damn it) however I can even now recollect the signature music that plays out of sight completely. I messed around a week ago and I couldn't let you know whether they had music by any means.

As a result of the straightforwardness of early games, and without voice acting to recount to a story, the music must be great. Other than a couple of terrible audio effects, the music of the game was the main aural incitement that the games gave. There are as yet incredible game soundtracks today, yet they appear to be rare when contrasted with the rounds of my childhood. Uber Man, Castlevania, the early Final Fantasy games, and notorious titles like Zelda, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog - these all included exceptionally essential tunes that stick with us long after the last time we played them. Regardless I recollect how the music for Commodore 64 exemplary Prince Clumsy changes when you spare the princess toward the finish of the game like I was playing it yesterday. We can't generally say that regarding Shadow of Mordor, can we?

3. Games Used to Work Right Out of the Box

One thing that games from days of old irrefutably showed improvement over the rounds of today is that they, well, worked. You'd imagine that it ought to be an entirely principal part of any item discharged to the market, yet it's genuinely amazing what number of games in 2016 ship broken, requiring either days or long stretches of server changes to get the multiplayer working, or gigantic the very first moment patches to fix the entirety of the bugs that made it onto the circle. Today, on the off chance that you don't have an OK Internet association in your home, a few games are really unplayable, and numerous others seriously hampered.

Road Fighter V discharged recently, with Capcom promising that the single-player Arcade Mode, a staple of the arrangement, would be accessible to download in July. Consider the possibility that you don't have an Internet association. All things considered, at that point, you have a large portion of a game. That is not an issue we confronted when Street Fighter II discharged on the SNES in 1991. In those days, we had no Internet going about as a wellbeing net for engineers. Games needed to work directly out of the crate.

Returning and playing Global Gladiators today is as straightforward as popping the cartridge into your Genesis and turning on the power. It works now as it did at that point; precisely as it should, and with no object. This is a numerous extraordinary aspect concerning retro gaming; in the event that you have the game and the equipment, you're practically great to go. You don't have to download drivers, or updates, or fixes. You put in the game, and afterward you play. Much the same as you should.

4. Games Used to Be More of a Challenge

Today, anyone who stays up with the latest with the most recent patterns in gaming will probably know about Dark Souls and Bloodborne, and the notoriety these games have for rebuffing trouble. Gamers rushed to the Souls arrangement in large numbers, eager to play a title that tested them and would not hold their hands. There are no all-inclusive instructional exercise segments. There's little in the method for help. You can't delay it. What's more, every foe can make mincemeat out of you except if you gain proficiency with their assault examples and act in like manner. It's energizing for a game to furnish us with a daunting task this way, however, at that point, I'm mature enough to recall when each game was this way. What's more, more terrible.

Present-day games tend to illuminate things to the player, regularly to a practically offending degree. Popping a plate into a PS4 in 2016 methods hanging tight for the introduce, at that point the very first-moment fix, and afterward when you at long last get a controller in your grasp you go through the following two hours being strolled through the beginning periods of the game like a child on his first day of school. Everyone prefers a touch of help from time to time, yet there's undeniable value in simply being tossed in at the profound end and being advised to do or die.

5. Sentimentality

Sentimentality may appear to be a cop-out the answer; all things considered, thinking back on the past with rose-tinted displays is frequently what enthusiasts of anything retro is scrutinized with. It's anything but difficult to reject sentimentality as a method for advocating the conclusion that everything was simply much better in your day, yet truly wistfulness is a colossally amazing specialist and it shouldn't be overlooked.

Today, we watch refuse motion pictures and weep over the utilization of evident CGI, however, we'll joyfully endure Raiders of the Lost Ark and not try referencing that the liquefying Nazi toward the end resembles he's made out of plasticine. We tune in to the shocking popular music of our young people with an intelligent grin on our countenances while looking down on Justin Bieber's most recent video. What's more, we'll talk about Final Fantasy VII just as it was second happening to Christ, totally overlooking the entirety of the blemishes in the game that we'd hang an advanced game out to dry for. Sentimentality is a sufficient impact to cause us to accept that Sonic the Hedgehog was very great. Presently, that is not kidding.

The explanation a great deal of us like playing old games is essentially a result of the inclination we get playing them. I've played hundreds, if not a large number of games in my time as a gamer. What's more, I'm sufficiently keen to realize that in that time computer games have improved in pretty much every manner. In any case, that doesn't change the way that on the off chance that I load up Street Fighter II I recollect the times of playing it during the school summer occasions with every one of my companions. I recollect the day I finished Toejam and Earl with my sibling each time I hear the initial barely any bars of its ludicrously astounding signature music. Furthermore, I recall the overjoyed rushes we got when we initially got the fatalities chipping away at Mortal Kombat II.

Playing old games, similarly likewise with watching old films or tuning in to old collections, transports us to a period in the past that we like to recall. Regardless of whether its recollections of old companions, friends, and family, individuals we may see each day or might have put some distance between, each old game we load up is a window to the past and that is unique. The most recent Call of Duty is never going to rival that.

[tigerlover16-uk]

In a way its really wierd to me how angry people get over Super. It's clearly just trying to be a simple comedy action series aimed at kids. Though I suppose there is the ageold ruining my childhood thing. But it doesn't really strike me as very provocative to inspire such strong negative feelings. Im just mostly looking at what it's trying to be. It doesnt strike me as tryhard either. The most powerful being is a audience selfinsert that just wants to have fun. Its so selfaware on many levels.

A lot of people obsess over Dragon Ball and want it to remain this (In their heads) perfect, untouched work of art I think. I’ve never agreed with that sentiment, but Dragon Ball IS one of the most iconic and influential anime and mangas of all time and has a special place in millions of peoples hearts. With that kind of pedigree, I get a lot of people having very high standards for any kind of a follow up.

There are legitimate grievances to be had with Super, and plenty of things that can theoretically go wrong with continuing Dragon Ball’s story (Just look at GT for proof of that).

So it’s perfectly reasonable to have concerns… but, unfortunately the Dragon Ball fandom has the same problem as the Star Wars fandom, Sonic fandom, and really a lot of other major fandoms out there: They let their nostalgia and obsession with the series get completely out of hand, and treat every mistake, big or small, as a sign that the end times have come and that the series is ruined forever.

Some of this does come from nitpicky aspects of the series that only certain obsessive fans actually care about and the majority of viewers are actually casually ignorant to (Like power scaling), some of it does come from places of genuine concern (Animation issues and messed up production early on, stuff like the Future Trunks saga ending, the show running in circles with certain characters rather than letting them progress further, etc), but a lot of it is, frankly, people just wanting an excuse to complain because “It’s not like Z!”.

As someone who grew up with the Star Wars Prequels and 3D era Sonic games, and prefers them to both franchises earlier outings (Mostly… 06 WAS a complete mess, nostalgia aside), I tend to have little sympathy for people whining about how a flawed sequel has completely ruined their favourite series and thus their childhood forever. 

And while I do sympathise with more reasonable fans who have fair reasons for disliking it, I think people in general are being incredibly myopic if they think that Super can actually damage Dragon Ball as a whole.

Like, you want to know why I keep comparing it to the Prequel Trilogy? Because for all the handwringing from petulant manbabies about how their precious (Dated and somewhat overrated, FTR) sacred movies had supposedly been ruined forever… the movies didn’t actually hurt Star Wars much in the long run, let’s be honest.

The Original Trilogy still exists. They’re the same movies they’ve always been, and if you don’t like the Prequels you’re free to ignore them and enjoy the original three movies for what they are, since they do function as a self contained story. There’s still plenty of tie in material from the old and new EU for people who want MORE Star Wars content not related to the Prequels too.

And on that note, we’ve had PLENTY of good Star Wars content since the Prequels came out too, with the tv series Star Wars: The Clone Wars frequently being hailed as one of the greatest works in the entire franchise, if not one of the best cartoons ever made, with some Prequel detractors even arguing it SALVAGED those movies. And let’s not forget how the first installment of the sequel trilogy became the first franchise film to gross over $2 Billion at the box office.

That’s not even getting into the fact that the Prequels also brought in a whole generation of new fans and lead to their love of the franchise, myself included.

For whatever problems the Prequels had (Real, imagined or grossly exaggerated), in the long run… Star Wars was fine. 

Even now with the Last Jedi, which many argue is a horrible movie that hurts the overall story of the Star Wars Saga (Funnily enough, I’m actually in that camp this time), I think similar logic applies. I, and other fans may not like it or a lot of stuff the Sequel Trilogy has done, and with stuff like Solo the Star Wars franchise may be going through a bit of a rough patch in terms of public interest at the moment… but honestly, I don’t think things are going to be bad forever.

People will eventually move on with their lives. People who don’t like the Sequel Trilogy can move on and enjoy the old movies while pretending they don’t exist, and enjoying whatever other spin offs they like, while fans who do like the Sequel Trilogy and modern star wars content can look forward to more stuff they enjoy. 

I can complain about certain directions the series has taken, but as someone who’s endured having people tell me that my childhood favourites ruined their lives (To which I have to say… please go outside and get some air, for Christ’s sake), I have no interest in wangsting about the state of things when I have a lot of better things I should be doing.

That’s not to say no one should complain of course, there are legitimate failings to the Sequel Trilogy and Last Jedi in particular and people have every right to complain (As long as they’re not the toxic fanbrats whining about the “SJW AGENDA!” And bulling the cast, those people can jump off a cliff along with the people who bullied Jake Lloyd and drove Ahmed Best to contemplate suicide). In fact, it’s a good thing for people to be critical since actually constructive criticism is necessary and good feedback for studios responsible for these pop culture franchises.

Going back to Dragon Ball, I personally enjoy Super. I think it’s done a lot of good things, though also had various missteps along the way. But despite those issues and while I hope future works take steps to fix and improve on things, I’m fairly happy with the current state of the franchise and eager for more.

I do think you have a point too, anon. Super itself isn’t honestly trying to be anything revolutionary or even on Z’s level. If you actually examine the show as a whole, it’s basically extended filler that mostly serves to expand the universe, create a big sandbox for future stories to possibly build on, and further develop several characters. The only time it really tried to do anything particularly ambitious was in the Future Trunks saga, where we had villains who questioned the state of humanity and there was an ideological battle going on between them and our heroes, mostly Future Trunks.

Other than that though? We got two movie retellings that were basically self-contained conflicts, a small-stakes tournament that mostly served to introduce a bunch of new recurring characters, and a multiversal tournament that, while it did do some interesting thematic stuff here and there… was mostly an excuse to introduce EVEN MORE new characters, give old ones a chance to shine and develop some more, and have a lot of cool looking fights.

Super isn’t really trying to be Z. It just wants to be a fun show for kids and which nostalgic fans can hopefully enjoy. If anything, I think it was mostly a test run to see whether continuing the franchise with more stories beyond the occasional movie was viable.

There’s certainly gripes to be had, but really Super’s status as a fill-in for a time gap in the Z anime to me just makes it feel a lot more low risk than an immediate sequel to the end of Z, since things do still end the same way they did regardless at the moment. It exists for fans to enjoy if they want to, but it can be easily ignored for fans who don’t and prefer the previous series.

And personally, I don’t think it’s really possible to truly “Ruin” Dragon Ball because the story already got an ending. The original manga, and the two anime adapting it, are a complete story on their own. One with a very open ending that leaves the door open for future stories, yes, but it’s a complete story nonetheless. Whatever directions future series may take, good or bad, it’ll never truly change the story as it originally was, because that manga and it’s anime will always exist for people to enjoy as it was intended.

I hate GT and I’ve complained about it plenty, but while I have very personal reasons for why it annoys me… at the end of the day, it’s irrelevant now. We got a different continuation that ignores it, it’s divorced enough from the original canon that I can just go about my days pretending it doesn’t exist, and I got my closure over it with that last re-watch sorting out my feelings on the series. 

So, really, flawed as it is there’s nothing to be REALLY mad about, is there? It exists, but it doesn’t do me any real harm, and it’s there for people who do enjoy it (For whatever weird reason, lol) to watch at their leisure. So in effect, it’s harmless… or at least it will be once we get another post-EoZ series to prove it didn’t completely close the door on those being made.

Dragon Ball’s kind of lucky in that way. It got to a point where it had a satisfying resolution where it can hopefully stand the test of time as a classic work of fiction, but people who want more still have the opportunity for that. 

And people who don’t think it should continue, or just don’t like those continuations, are free to not watch those works and enjoy the series the way they want to. Or, even if they don’t like Super, it’s still possible a better series or other products like movies can be made down the line that they can enjoy better.

Just like with Star Wars and the Sonic games.

I may have issues with Super from time to time, but overall I think it did a lot more good than bad, and most of it’s faults could be improved on in future series. The worst thing it actually did was destroying the original future timeline, but even that’s fixable if they just have another story with Future Trunks coming back and have somebody go “Hey, maybe we can use the Super Dragon Balls to bring your timeline back”. 

I get having personal attachment to the series and it’s characters, I do too. And I get people getting emotional when they feel something they like is being disrespected in any way. If people think the show handled Goku’s character badly or did something to hurt the overall ongoing story, then they’re within their right to complain and be upset about that. TO A REASONABLE EXTENT.

I do also get the feeling a lot of people just can’t handle Dragon Ball having a flawed follow up, aswell. Given that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are influential classics, it makes sense that a lot of people would be unhappy with anything that didn’t live up to that quality. But I think some people do get overly worked up about it.

Fact is, all franchises have both flawed installments, and a number of duds to show for them. Star Trek has bad movies and the bad series here or there (Enterprise). Doctor Who has had bad seasons. Marvel and DC have had plenty of bad comics and media adaptions. Mario and Sonic and Pokémon and lots of others have had bad games or adaptions. But that hasn’t ruined everything that was good about those series, or stopped them from putting out good new content.

Every piece of media has it’s flaws to be frank, and every franchise will inevitably stumble here or there. Dragon Ball has had plenty of duds before Super. The Broly movies, GT, Return of Cooler, Episode of Bardock, a bunch of bad video games most people don’t even bother to remember, FREAKING DRAGON BALL EVOLUTION. And plenty of stuff about the old series themselves has aged terribly (Especially in early Dragon Ball). But none of that has managed to kill the franchise.

We’ve had bad, mediocre and decent though heavily flawed Dragon Ball stories and products in the past, and we’ll have plenty more in the future. And while there’ll be stuff that is worth griping about, really at the end of the day it’s not the end of the world, and people who do get legitimately angry thinking it is need to relax now and again.

I get people thinking that things should have just stayed the way there were, thinking that Dragon Ball shouldn’t have been continued if that continuation wasn’t going to live up to it’s predecessors. And I’m never going to argue that people shouldn’t complain about things (I certainly do).

But realistically, Dragon Ball was going to have follow ups sooner or later. It’s the biggest franchise Toei and Shueisha have, and one of the most iconic series of all time. Whether I or anyone else thinks Dragon Ball needed a follow up or not, it was bound to happen because we live in a world where milking popular franchises is the name of the game. 

People can complain about it, people can and should have issues with flawed products. People can insist on Dragon Ball’s legacy needing to be preserved. But like I’ve said... the series as you loved it isn’t going anywhere. No one is obligated to support everything the franchise does. So I don’t think getting overly angry or worked up about Super or GT or whatever not being everything they wanted them to be is something to freak out over.

Fact is, for all the complaints... a lot of people still love Super and enjoyed it. A lot of people still love Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Super has brought Toei nothing but monetary success, and interest in the franchise is at the highest it’s been since Z finished airing in the West over a decade ago and the franchise went truly dormant for the most part. If anything, I think Dragon Ball actually gets more respect these days than it did for most of the latter half of the last decade, where it became sort of an internet laughing stock in the West.

We’re still getting plenty of high profile and quality products, like FighterZ, which along with Super itself and the movies preceding it has helped draw in a lot of new fans and brought back a good chunk of lapsed ones. There’s a generation of children the world over that are going to have grown up on Super as their first Dragon Ball series, and it’ll be an important part of helping them get into the franchise and the previous series, much like Kai before it. 

And we’ve got a new movie coming out that’s generating a lot of hype and which looks to be giving the franchise a much needed and exceptionally positive visual overhaul, which it’s needed for a while now.

For all the ups and downs, and there have been plenty... Dragon Ball is doing fine. Regardless of what any individual person thinks of Super, Dragon Ball’s legacy isn’t in any danger. The franchise isn’t collapsing, and the overall story and all of it’s characters haven’t been completely ruined beyond repair.

Things could be better. But Z and Dragon Ball could have been better in a lot of places too. It’s okay to be unsatisfied about the current state of things and to voice complaints, as much as it’s okay to be loving the thrill of having Dragon Ball really make a comeback.

Things will be fine. With Super currently off the air, I think now’s the time for everyone to just take a chill and relax. The world didn’t end, and it’s not going to any time soon. (Well, unless Trump throws a hissy fit and launches nukes at everyone but, you know, hopefully that won’t happen).

[terriblevocaloidshit]

Mod Mew Reads! “Don’t Trust Anyone, Not Even Yourself” (PART ONE)

Hihi, guys, and welcome back to Mod Mew Reads! And it only took eight months! Today, we’re gonna be reading something special. It’s gonna be big, it’s gonna be huge, and it’s gonna be personal. Why? Because today, we’re looking at the first three chapters of a fanfiction. 

A fanfiction that I wrote.

That’s right! Today we’re looking at Chapters 1 and 2 of Forbidden Magnetism, my GakuKai fanfiction I wrote three years ago! Is it as bad as I’m making it out to be? Well, let’s not stall any longer. Let’s dive in HEAD FIRST!

Kaito and Gakupo both have new girlfriends, they both love them so much. However, when they meet each other in a practice studio, an attraction that shouldn't be forms between the two. How long can this magnetism last before they are caught? Rated M for later chapters containing smut. Yaoi, boy on boy, KaitoxGakupo. UPDATED FROM MY TUMBLR WITH CORRECT SPELLING.

For a little context, I based this entire fanfic off of this video. The video is five years old and the creator has not updated in three years, but just watching it brings back memories. Hot tip for high school me; don’t make a name for yourself critiquing fanfic and then write a shitty one yourself. Anyways, enough stalling. 

Fate is a bitch.

I still think this is my best opening line of anything ever.

This is the conclusion Gakupo came to after the events that happened. First, he had finally asked Luka out, and, to his suprise, said yes.

Oi, past me, have you heard of this hot new tool called SpellCheck? “Surprise” still gives me trouble, but good lord.

However, he couldn't kiss her, not at the school. Luka had told him her best friend, Miku, also got a boyfriend not too long ago. He had decided to stay after in the school's expansive practice school, to write her a song.

Why was fate a bitch?

Because as soon as he stepped in, his eyes fell on a beautiful person.

He knew immediately who the person was. It was Kaito. He was part of the 'Big Five', the most popular kids at the high school. The most popular of them all was Kaito's new girlfriend, Hatsune Miku. If you were associated with them in any way, you were considered 'popular', or at the very least, 'known'.

The ‘Big Five’ in my mind were Miku, Luka, Rin, Len, and Gumi, if I’m remembering correctly.

Kaito was 16, but he looked around 20. He was tall, with dark blue hair. He always wore his scarf, no matter what.

OH YEAH I FORGOT I MADE THE CHARACTERS TEENS. Spoilers, but they have sex in later chapters, so I wrote underage smut when I myself was underage. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

I know age of consent laws are very iffy, and the AoC in my state is 16 years old, but to me the AoC always will be 18.

He was beautiful.

And staring right at Gakupo.

The events that followed were a blur in his mind. He remembered walking towards Kaito, and the next thing they knew, they were kissing furiously, unable to stop.

Fun fact, the inspiration for this scene was a seen in Brokeback Mountain.

What had lead up to this? 

Well, first off a thirsty 15 year old girl who had an unfortunate habit of fetishizing gay men, but that’s a story for another day.

Gakupo remembered talking to him, remembered him being asked to practice a duet with Kaito that he was going to do with Miku. His memory fogs up, then clears up around the time he hit the wall while making out with Kaito. They didn't want to break the contact, not even to breath, as of they feared that if they did, they could never kiss each other again. Their tongues were fighting for dominance, but it was becoming painfully clear that Gakupo was the dominate one.

The tall one isn’t always the dominate one open up your eyes sheeple.

Finally, the need for air overpowered their want for each other. 

There’s this funny little thing called your nose, try breathing through that.

They broke apart, gasping for air. Gakupo could feel that just the kissing had made them both half hard. He wanted to continue, so badly. However, the sudden realizations that both of them had girlfriends hit him like a bullet train.

YEAH NO SHIT ASSHOLE!!

He pushed himself off of Kaito, and, without another word, left the studio.

What school has a professional recording studio? All I had at my high school was a shitty photo room we used as a storage closet.

If the two boys had been smarter, that meeting would have been just a little fling, and nothing more. 

YOU STILL CHEATED ON YOUR GIRLFRIENDS YOU FUCKSUCKS!

However, nobody could even begin to guess how far out of control this situation would get. And it all started thanks to a magnetism that shouldn't have been felt.

Kabosoi hi ga kokoro no hashi ni tomoru Itsu no ma ni ka moehirogaru netsujou

... What? Once a weeb always a weeb.

—

(AN: So, yeah. That 's the first chapter. More to come! By the way, if this seems like d��jà vu, it's because I've posted this on my tumblr [URL HAS SINCE CHANGED]. I've fixed the spelling errors in this version. Enjoy!)

Sure you did.

And that’s it for chapter one! Sadly, I’m a masochist who loves inflicting pain on myself and we still have chapter two to read through tonight, so let’s fuckin do that shit.

(AN: Alright, still going! On tumblr, I mentioned that I didn't want to write smut. Well, I will soon, I promise you. Enjoy chapter two!)

Here’s a tip for anyone writing smut; let your inhibitions go. otherwise, it’ll be so obvious that you’re uncomfortable.

—-

It had been a couple of days since their 'meeting', and both boys had become a bit restless, unable to shake the memory of each other out of their minds. They couldn't really see each other during the day, and they felt as if they were slowly going insane. They hoped their girlfriends didn't notice.

They did.

Oh, they noticed that you two fucking CHEATED ON THEM huh?!

Luka decided to keep silent about the situation, and not inquire Gakupo. After all, if the problem was truly bothering him, he would've told her by now. She chalked it up to nerves.

Kids, if you’re having relationship troubles, just talk it out with the person, it’ll be so much better in the long run.

Miku, on the other hand, was the talkative type. 

Speakin of which, if this goes up on time, happy 10th birthday, Miku!

She expressed her emotions through many words. Including her concern over Kaito.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Miku asked one day between classes. She needed to know. Otherwise, it would drive her nuts trying to figure it out for herself.

Kaito smiled sweetly at her. "It's nothing, Miku," he lied. He was a performer. He could fake any emotion at the drop of a hat. And no one could see he was faking.

No one, that is, except Miku.

I want to re-write this but like, not have the guys cheat on the girls??? Polyamory, it’s a thing.

"Don't lie to me, Kaito," Miku said sternly. "I won't be mad. I promise." Her puppy dog eyes seem to be staring right into Kaito's soul.

No, trust me, you’ll be pissed.

"I'm just nervous. You're my first real girlfriend. I don't want to mess this up."

I actually ship KaiMeiko more so LMAO @ past me.

Miku grinned. "Was that all? Well, that's a relief! I thought it was something seriously bad. I'll try not to make you nervous."

Kaito was relieved that she believed him. There were truth to his words; Miku was his first girlfriend, and he didn't want to screw up too badly. However, in his mind, making out with your girlfriend's best friend's boyfriend (try saying that three times) qualified as 'screwing up', and was in the subcategory of 'screwing up pretty damn badly'. 

JESUS YOU FUCKIN THINK!!!

The warning bell rang, and Miku gave him a quick kiss goodbye, before rushing to her classroom.

Kaito always felt a spark when he kissed Miku. He always felt like it was right, like she was the one.

But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he had felt that same spark during that meeting with Gakupo.

See, this is something that I liked; Kaito having feelings for both Miku and Gakupo was super interesting to me, and I want to expand on it one day, but maybe in a format that’s... well, less shit.

Also, looking back, this might’ve been me working through the fact that I’m bisexual...

Because of their concern, the girl decided a double date would set everyone at ease. They planned it out, and didn't tell the boys about it until the day of. The boys didn't have any choice but to say yes.

For the girl, the date went just as planned. The park they chose was close enough so everyone could walk there and back, yet secluded enough for them to enjoy the day in peace. They had a nice day, and things felt right.

For the boys, it was a totally different story. Every time they saw the other's girlfriend kiss them, they wanted to say "No, he's mine." But they knew they couldn't. It was as if the girls were trying to make them envious. Envious of a love that they wanted to share with each other.

After the date had ended, and both girl went home, the boys arrived at Gakupo's house. They decided to make a promise: whenever they could, they would meet up at one of their houses, and leave when dawn came around. No one would know except them. It was the perfect plan. As soon as they agreed, they began kissing.

Hey past me, if you actually took time to develop scenes instead of acting like you’re Sonic The Hedgehog and speeding through them, maybe your writing wouldn’t be as shit.

Of course, anyone with half of a brain could see this promise was idiotic and flawed in so many ways.

No, really? I can’t see how cheating on your s/o with their best friend’s s/o is a bad idea, not at all!

—

(AN: The next chapter is just going to kind of be a filler. I'd still read it, but hey, it's just gonna be a filler. Don't kill me. Thanks!)

A lot of these chapters were filler, don’t lie to yourself.

Overall reaction:

Me @ my past self CATCH THESE FISTS.

Oh god oh god that was so bad. Maybe if I snark all of it, we can all heal together. I could see where I was going, I really could, but GOD it’s so bad.

And to all the fucking obvious cheating going on?

Well, thank y’all for reading, and I’ll see you next game!

~ Mod Mew 

*Who’s currently cringing oh god why the hell did I think that was okay at all*

[4colorrebellion]

4cr Plays: Puyo Puyo Tetris

Like many gamers, I have a long-running history with Tetris. I first got a Game Boy back in Christmas of 1993, and it came bundled with Link’s Awakening. Well, being an idiot, I didn’t want Link’s Awakening. I didn’t care that it was free. I wanted some Ninja Turtles sidescroller.

I did get the Turtles game, and it was bad. However, I did give Link’s Awakening a try, despite my earlier protests, and it ended up being one of my favorite games. To this day, it remains my favorite 2D entry in the series. 

Then came Tetris.

A couple of months after getting the Game Boy, my teacher took it away when I got caught playing in class. It wasn’t a big deal - she gave it back later that day. However, when she gave it back, there was an extra game. To my credit, I did tell her that it wasn’t mine. She told me to take it anyways - as long as I promised not to play in class. That is how I ended up with my first copy of Tetris.

Again, being an idiot, I thought this Tetris thing looked stupid. I must have learned a tiny lesson from the Link’s Awakening experience, however, as I did slot the cart into the system that night to give it a try.

I never did learn who that copy of Tetris belonged to, but I definitely owe them. I was immediately hooked. I ran down so many pairs of batteries playing that game. To this day, Tetris is just something I have to have on every handheld system. According to my play log, I’ve put about 75 hours into the 3DS Virtual Console release of the original. I must have put hundreds into Tetris DS. I even have a copy of the mediocre Tetris Ultimate for Vita! 

Whoever you are, anonymous donor of Tetris, I hope you won the cosmic karma lottery. 

I have far less history with Puyo Puyo. And in all fairness, the western world as a whole has far less history with Puyo Puyo. However, I do have one memory from my early days. I never had a Genesis as a kid, but I did love Sonic the Hedgehog. Like a lot of kids I was really into the Archie comics and the Saturday morning cartoon (the good one - the one that, in retrospect, was a total Star Wars knockoff). I did have a couple of friends who owned a Genesis, and one weekend, I went over to see the new games they got for their birthday and watch cartoons. One of those games was called Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. 

In one of the stranger marketing moves of the 90′s, SEGA took Puyo Puyo and inserted Sonic characters. Aesthetically, it’s a mess. Even at the time, my main reaction was that the game looked weird, and that the Sonic connections were only surface-deep. Since I didn’t own any SEGA systems at that point, I never really got into Mean Bean Machine like I did Tetris, but I do have some lingering memories of falling blobs. 

This long, rambling, road leads us into Puyo Puyo Tetris - a PB&J mix of the two long-running puzzle titans. Puyo Puyo Tetris is actually old news in Japan - it came out almost three years ago for every system under the sun - but never made it to the west. However, we have a new system, the Nintendo Switch, and not surprisingly, SEGA has taken the opportunity to both port the game and release it world-wide. 

Unlike a lot of westerners, and mainly because of my Tetris addiction, this is not my first encounter with Puyo Puyo Tetris. I actually imported it for Vita and played a ton of it there. That being said, I am unreasonably excited for the new release for two reasons:

Even though I own a truly ludicrous number of handheld systems, I have some inexplicable need for a copy of Tetris on all of them. I have a new system (the Switch). I need Tetris. No, this isn’t healthy. Let’s just move on.

I’m not exactly fluent in Japanese. I can parse the menu screens, but my Japanese was absolutely not up to the task of making sense of the story mode.

And oh yes. There is a story mode. In a puzzle game. It also turns out that it makes about as much sense in English as it did in Japanese. But that’s OK - it’s fantastic. We’ll get to that more in a minute.

First, it is worth taking a second to explain the western release, because it is a little confusing. They are releasing it world-wide for both Switch and PS4. For Switch, you can buy it either digitally or physically. The digital release, in the US, is $30. The physical version is $40, but comes with keychains. The PS4 version is physical-only, and costs $30 (and does not come with the keychains). This is due to the insane licensing requirements for Tetris. Because Ubisoft sells Tetris Ultimate digitally on PS4, SEGA cannot release Puyo Puyo Tetris digitally. I have no idea why this does not cover physical copies as well, but I am glad - at least PS4 owners can get this in some form. Because there are no other Tetris games on Switch, SEGA could release in both forms. However, if you want this digitally, I’d recommend getting it sooner rather than later.

OK - that was a bit confusing. To summarize, this is out on PS4 and Switch. It is physical-only on PS4, and comes in both physical and digital form on Switch. 

Let’s step back for a minute and cover the basics. 

You are probably familiar with Tetris. If not (What are you doing? Go buy a GameBoy!), the premise is that shapes fall from the sky. These shapes, called tetrominoes, are formed from the combination of four squares - just as dominoes are formed from two squares. You control where those shapes fall, and if you can form a solid line between the two sides of the screen with these shapes, the line will disappear. Your task is to keep forming these lines as long as you can, while the tetrominoes keep speeding up their descent. You get points for each line cleared, and bonuses for clearing multiple lines at once - up to a max of four, called a “tetris.” There are a few minor additions, but the basic formula is beautiful in its simplicity. 

Puyo Puyo is similar. Colored pairs of blobs fall from the sky. Over time, they fall faster. In this case, your goal is to form combinations of four blobs of the same color. These combinations can be in any configuration except diagonal, so you can have a big square, a line, a cross - etc. - as long as they share a color. Like in Tetris, you get more points for clearing multiple combinations at once. You also get more points for combinations with more than four elements. The biggest twist is the concept of chains. When you clear a combination, the blobs above it fall. If you clear a combo, and the falling blobs form a new combo, then you get a huge score bonus. This builds as more chain reactions occur. The key to Puyo Puyo mastery comes in setting up massive chain reactions. 

If you are entirely new to one of the games, they include a series of tutorial videos covering each of the core concepts. I wish they were a bit more interactive, but they do the trick for covering the basics. 

In most of the modes of Puyo Puyo Tetris, you play either Puyo Puyo or Tetris. If, like me, you have a ton of love for Tetris and very little experience with Puyo Puyo, this is a fantastic way to get your Tetris fix and explore a new game. The same would hold true for die-hard Puyo Puyo fans. There are a ton of different game modes, and both Tetris and Puyo Puyo are represented excellently. Both games also mix well. In multiplayer, players can choose their game. In both Tetris and Puyo Puyo, scoring will drop garbage pieces on the other player. This means that they can be combined fairly seamlessly, with one player playing Puyo Puyo and the other playing Tetris.

There is also a fusion mode where you can play both games at the same time, with both tetrominoes and blobs falling on the field. It is exactly as insane as it sounds.

So, getting back to the story mode. Apparently this is a staple in the Puyo Puyo series. I guess - as a Tetris player - I’ve been missing out. The “adventure” mode presents a 10 chapter storyline where the Puyo Puyo cast find themselves (a) on a spaceship, with (b) blocks falling from the sky. The spaceship inhabitants aren’t particularly bothered by the tetrominoes, but are quite perturbed by the sudden appearance of falling blobs. Suddenly, the two groups must unite to stop the… falling puzzle pieces. I wasn’t kidding when I said it didn’t make much more sense in English. It’s kind of delightfully nonsensical. 

Each chapter is made up of a series of levels where you play either Tetris or Puyo Puyo. In each level, you have a set of three objectives to fulfill. At the end, you get a star rating based on how many you passed. This is actually a fantastic way to get better at each game, as you have targets to work towards. I really appreciate this, as I really haven’t played much Puyo Puyo, and this has really helped improve my skills.

The “Solo Arcade” menu offers a variety of game modes to play, as the title implies, by yourself. You can face off against a CPU opponent in either game. You can play the fusion mode that I mentioned earlier. There is a mode called Swap, where you alternate at set intervals between both games. This is really fun, as you have to keep track of where you left off. There is a Party mode where items fall from the sky that activate as you clear lines or combinations. The Big Bang mode tasks you with clearing set patterns without making mistakes. Finally, there are three “challenge” modes for each game. For Puyo Puyo, there is an endless mode, a mode where you complete preset chains as long as possible, and a mode where the blobs are extra tiny. For Tetris, the standard marathon is present (150 lines). There is also a sprint mode where you complete 40 lines as fast as possible, and the “ultra” mode, where you get the best score you can within a three minute limit. 

You can play any of these, except the challenge modes, in local multiplayer as well. Local multiplayer can either be done on the same system, with each player taking a joycon, or over a wireless connection. The online mode also offers the same modes, and you can play either ranked or unranked matches. 

There are a couple of nice additional bonuses. As you play, you accumulate credits that can be exchanged for game skins and voice packs for the announcers. There are also trophies for each game that you can unlock. 

One of my concerns going into the Switch version was the lack of a “real” d-pad on the system. After putting a good bit of time into the final release, I needn’t have been concerned. The split “d-buttons” on the joycon are fine. I actually think they feel better than the Vita d-pad in the game. The game also looks fantastic on both the Switch screen and on a big TV. 

All-in-all, Puyo Puyo Tetris is a fantastic package, and I’m thrilled that SEGA has finally released it to the rest of the world. If you have a PS4 or a Switch, I cannot recommend this enough. It is a packed collection of variants of two of the most important puzzle games in existence, with a huge variety of single and multiplayer modes. I can see this getting a ton of playtime on my Switch.  

[burndownthehousetonight]

((Me and @tinyredartist are never gonna need a different banner for our RPs are we))

Aria was busy cooking away in her apartment. The smells of homemade soup, some roast and fresh bread filled the small, one room apartment, and wafted into the hallway. Manic and Scourge were coming over for dinner after returning from their honeymoon the day prior. She truly had missed her friends while they were gone, although she was glad that they had gotten a vacation to celebrate them.

Aria made a move to set the table, pausing as she counted plates. Would her Scourge be coming? She impatiently checked her phone for messages, but none from the king. The past two weeks had him acting strange. This past week was even worse. She only hoped that Mr. And Mr. Castillo had any idea how to help him.

Her phone buzzed with two texts. One from Terra who was on her break at work, and one from Manic. "We're almost there, dude." Manic's text would start. "We're just stopping to grab some food" There was another text almost as soon as Aria read his last. "Wait that's why we're coming over nevermind" Their van was hurrying away from the fast food restaurant they'd almost pulled into. Whoops. Their honeymoon had left them happy, relaxed, and completely satisfied. They were sad they were leaving, certainly, but they weren't sad to get back to their usual lives. Their usual lives, of course, inevitably leading into some kind of nonsense. But they weren't worried about any kind of nonsense just yet, only whatever Aria was cooking. And soon from Aria's window, she could see the headlights pulling up to her building. Aria rushed to get the soup plated and checked the roast. Dinner was coming along perfectly, and the cookies she had baked earlier as dessert were still warm. Everything was perfect.

Until she remembered that she was in nothing but her underwear and an apron. The mad dash switched from the food to some clothes, settling on a pair of leggings with her girlfriends shirt as a dress. The shirt was loose on the bat, so Aria nearly drowned in it, but it was fashionable and comfortable.

She finished the table with a place setting for Scourge, but an empty bowl. If he showed up, he could have some. When the door was opened for them, Manic greeted Aria with a strangely quiet hug. He let the sudden mushy moment hold for just a few seconds before pulling away. "That place was amazing," Manic said simply. "I get it's a wedding gift and it's not supposed to be big, but- You shouldn't have done that for us, dude." He just smiled warmly, his skin slightly tanned from their little vacation. Scourge responded with a pat on Aria's back of his own. "Smells great in here," he said simply as him and Manic entered the apartment. "Is the king coming?" Aria was surprised by the hug, but nonetheless hugged back. She had missed them both, and the king’s behavior only intensified that.

“In my family it's tradition to send the happy couple as far away as you can afford. That was the best I could do,” she joked, booping Manics nose with a finger.

Scourge was hugged as well, and Arias smile lit up. “Thank you! It was a lot of hard work bit I figured it was worth it! After all, I bet this soup will hit the spot. Tell me all about the resort-”

As she lead them to the table and rambled, she paused. Fixing the empty place setting she collected her thoughts.

“Scourge has been…. Acting oddly. Its an understatement by far but I can’t explain” "I mean, even if he was acting fine, he danced with a Fiona in a wedding dress, dude." Manic shrugged as he sat down. "And he just watched a different Scourge get married." "Maybe he's jealous?" Scourge offered. "Not that petty, though. Heartbroken? Somethin' like that." They didn't know what else to offer. "Hey, we'll worry about that when he's here. Come on, there was a hell of a lot going on at that place! Oh god, where do we start...?" They let Aria finish up table preparations as they gushed over everything that resort had. A large pool and access to a large beach for some reason, a honeymoon suite with a gorgeous patio view, massages, scuba diving, bars and musical performances- they kept going on, listing more and more to seemingly no end. "...and they're supposed to be trained, but dolphins are terrifying as hell," Scourge said. "I ain't trusting 'em." “That’s not it. It wasn’t the wedding or anything like that… It's… It's just weird.”

She listened in as they described the vacations and how much fun they had. She was glad they had fun, but as they sat for dinner Aria seemed upset at the empty plate…

The soup was warm and inviting, and tasted like someone’s grandmother had cooked it. Aria ate her fill hesitantly, looking to the door every few seconds.

“He’s… Do you guys think I’m annoying?” "Annoying?" Manic put down his spoon for a moment. "What are you talking about, you're alright. What, just because you've got pep and energy and all that?" Manic smirked. "You think I ain't at least twice as annoying?" It was a delicious meal, and they were taking the time to enjoy it as much as they wanted. They couldn't ignore Aria darting her look to the door so regularly, and with the empty space at the table, it was clear why. "He's a king," Scourge delivered bluntly. "He's got responsibilities and shit, he's probably just busy. If a Scourge thinks someone's annoying, they'll tell 'em to their face. We ain't polite or nothing." “That’s not it… Its just hard to explain. He’s been distant and maybe I drove him away… Wouldn’t be the first time.” She shrugged. Appreciating the effort made by the two to cheer her up.

“Besides, when I called him to ask if he could grab something for me he sounded… Off. Overtly formal. Its just not like him… And Glare said he had nothing to do today… Maybe if you two talk to him he would feel better? It's just been really bad, its almost like he’s not the same person. Maybe I should have gone to try and de-spirit the old hall instead.” "Wait, he went in there?" Manic said, looking almost scared at that fact. "No wonder, that place is all kind of messed up- God, I'm thinking that and the wedding must've hit him hard. Maybe he's just coping." "It sounds like she's pretty sure it wasn't the wedding," Scourge commented. "We'll talk to him." "After dinner, of course." Manic said, already going to take another bite of roast. "Besides, we didn't even get to Rouge visiting. Yeah, one day, she just flew down and landed on our balcony... ..." They tried their best to stay away from talking about the king during the meal. And they had plenty stories about small luxuries and their usual less legal thievery shenanigans to keep her entertained, even if she was fidgety about the empty seat at the table. Aria smiled at stories that usually would have made her laugh, and remained neutral on stories that would have made her smile.

By the time the meal was done, Aria split the leftovers into a container for the couple to take home and a container to save for her mate when she returned from work.

Aria flopped on her couch, still distraught. Maybe ask about her art? Or work? Either way, the silence was uncomfortable. The green couple certainly noticed these changes in her behavior. They weren't just easy to see, they were blatantly obvious. "What's wrong, dude?" Manic asked. He put down the leftovers right on the table and sat down near Aria. Scourge took a seat on a nearby armchair. "You're acting a lot sadder than usual, did something happen?" Scourge pieced it together for Manic. "Exactly how weird's Scourge been acting?" “Extremely. He’s been… Forgetful, very forgetful. He forgot who I was until Glare explained it to him. Forgot Glare too. Forgot a lot of things, but he remembered you two… Just didn’t remember where you were… He’s forgotten technology too, he’s having troubles with his phone. I think his trauma is messing with his brain, or he hit his head… He’s also not wearing his jacket, which is incredibly unusual. And he ordered the old hall cleaned and refurbished in an incredibly unreasonable amount of time… He’s not himself. He’s not anyone I’ve ever met. The way he looked at me… I’ve never seen that before.”

She rubbed her arms and shivered. Clearly disturbed. Manic reached over and patted her on the shoulder. "That's insane," Manic said. "That's... I've got no idea. It doesn't even sound like him." Scourge just thought. His first thought was this was some kind of a long con. He acted kind for a long, long time, but played all his cards at once and was screwing everyone over to get... something. He was a Scourge, after all. But would saying that have helped? No, Aria was already disturbed. Doubt would just make things worse. "...Sounds to me like an alternate's in his place." Scourge said gruffly. "How tight's security in the castle, can we get in?" “No, not an alternate. He’s still got the scars from the broken glass. That’s our… My? Scourge. His just not himself. He has not reason to be acting this way…. He’s acting like a Sonic alternate or something!”

Ah, right. Things were backwards here. Scourges were good, Sonics were bad. Up was down, down was up, everything was a jumble.

“But it doesn’t make sense… Why would he remember you two and not me?" "He has to still remember you, somewhere in his head." Manic mused out loud. "Sounds like he's either acting like he doesn't, or he's completely lost it..." Scourge made a motion while Aria was looking away, telling Manic to stop with that line of thought. He shut up. "Talking about it's fine and all, but we ain't gonna get answers if we don't know what he's doing." Scourge said, shifting in his seat and ready to stand. "We're only gonna get answers by snooping around, and you've got the best snoop in the business." Manic stuck out his tongue in a goofy way, letting her know exactly who the snoop was. "You gonna want to come along? Or do you need to meet Terra without anyone knowing?" Manic was still trying to lighten her spirits just a bit. "Don't worry, we don't know a thing." “I’ll come with you two snoopers. Besides, she’s at work and won’t be back until much later… Let me just..”

Aria scribbled out a quick, romantic note to her lover and stuck it on the leftovers. Gently kissing the note to leave a lipstick stain instead of a signature. Their little ritual.

As Aria grabbed her things, her shirt would start to slide off her shoulder a bit, revealing quite a few subtle hickies, covered up to the best of Aria's ability. Manic didn't say anything. Scourge didn't say anything. But they saw. Oh, they definitely saw. The glare Manic was giving Scourge told him that he had so many jokes in mind for how they could tease Aria, but he was restraining himself with some tiny shred of restraint he had left. "Don't you dare tease her," Scourge growled at Manic, running his finger over one of the bite marks over Manic's shoulder helpfully covered up. "Or she's gonna find out about your 'hickies'~" Manic and Scourge were clearly not over the honeymoon. As though they were ever. They sat next to each other and kept flirting while they let Aria grab her things, and hopefully put on some kind of pants or proper skirt. Aria pulled on thick leggings under her mate's shirt and grabbed her purse and her phone. She turned the stove off and checked that everything was clean. Satisfied, Aria scratched over the portal and warped them to the castle.

It was quiet, Glare having gone home for the night as well as most of the servants. Aria walked right into the building and started looking around for Scourge.

“Scourge? Manic and Castillo are back from the honeymoon! I brought you dinner too!” The castle felt wrong this late at night. When all the servants were gone, it felt like they weren't supposed to be there. Like it was a crypt that some nosy grave robbers had stumbled into.  They didn't go into the abandoned wing of the castle for plenty of reasons, but it was clear that some kind of big renovations were going it. The doors were opened, and there were scrapes on the floor showing that furniture had been dragged through and out of the entrances. But they weren't sure they ever wanted to even remember that old castle wing existed. He wasn't downstairs, by the looks of it. "Are you sure he's here?" Manic said. He couldn't explain what it was, but it felt like he was somehow insulting the castle by continuing to be there. The atmosphere had certainly changed, the whole castle now had the same disturbing feeling of being watched.

“Let’s check upstairs. Scourge?!?” Aria called out again, climbing up the main staircase

They passed by that mysterious door that was next to the bedroom again. Its mysteries were less intriguing but still concerning. Maybe something in there could help them? In their minds, if they were gonna be watched, they were gonna snoop right back at them. It was time to get down to work. "Let's split up for a hot minute and regroup right back here," Manic said simply. "No point searching through all these rooms one at a time, right?" "I'll stick with Aria," Scourge said. I.E., I'll stick with her and make sure she doesn't interrupt your trespassing. Manic started walking down the opposite way, creeping back the moment Aria couldn't see him from down the hall. A peep revealed a four tumbler lock. Not too hard, and there clearly wasn't an alarm system. He pulled a set of lockpicks out of his quills and started fiddling away, not needing a minute to get the lock to give way. With a spin of his hand, the lock was gone, and the door started to open. Aria passed by the bedroom, she knew he wasn’t in there because the door was open. Not dangerously out of place, but unusual. The study was empty as well, but books were strewn all over the place. All published within the last two years.

“Okay. The book on architecture makes sense, he’s trying to fix the castle. But economics? History? Warfare? This isn’t stuff he deals with. He's technically a figurehead, not ac-” Aria paused as she looked at a book, gulping as she read the cover. An old book. Older than the two hedgehog combined.

“How to regain your throne from the democracy” Aria read, instantly confused and concerned. “Why would he…”

The door swung open for Manic with a loud groan. Looks like the hinges needed oiling. When inside, turning the light on would reveal what should have been a nursery. A crib with a mobile hanging above it, a changing table, a rocking chair, a small bookcase with children’s books and a big box full of toys. On the walls, pictures hung of a much younger Scourge and a Fiona alternate. His Fiona. She was younger than the one Manic knew, her hair was longer and she had a bit more weight on her, probably from the pregnancy. A few pictures contained their son as well, a tiny indigo child, happy and healthy. He had his fathers eyes.

There was even a photo album on the table a bunch of pictures of Fiona and Luke, with writing explaining how the day went. Obviously it was written for Scourge, for when he got out of jail. Judging by the water droplets ruining the ink on the front page, he had not been able to read it.

This was yet another thing Manic should not have seen. Scourge said nothing to the books. He was all but convinced of his alternate Scourge theory, and this just hammered those points home. The crypt-like feeling of most of the castle was intense here. After everything he'd known of what occurred between Scourge and Fiona years before. The photos of Fiona and Luke weren't easy to look at. He'd seen enough Fionas to last a lifetime, and they were always slightly uncomfortable to seem if their relationship with Scourge was healthy or not. She didn't carry the same kind of edge to her looks, she almost seemed demure in the photos. Luke was utterly precious. He shared nothing in common with his son-in-law, but he couldn't help but think that this was somehow, somewhere, almost his husband's kid. There was a sorrow in the pit of Manic's stomach he didn't want to rid of. He couldn't bear to look at the papers talking about the day of his birth. The emotions from this room couldn't have been half as intense for Manic as they were for the king, but putting into word what this room felt like was maddening. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and thought. He was out as soon as he collected himself, and sped down the hall to find the others. Manic ran right into Scourge's chest. Not his mate, the king they were looking for. And He. Was. Livid. Looks like Manic had been caught.

He would be dragged by the back of the vest, and pushed into the room. Castillo caught his husband, thankfully. The rage surrounding the king was justified, but completely different than what they had seen before.

“I found this little thief snooping around where he should not have been. Get a better control over your concubines and get out,” the king ordered Castillo, filled with quiet but deadly rage.

His tone and speech patterns were different, but this was for sure their king. He radiated power and fear and his presence demanded respect. Aria's ears pinned back, afraid. Motioning for Manic and Castillo to follow orders so she was the last one out. A buffer. Manic was perfectly compliant. He knew he'd screwed up. Aria was perfectly compliant. She was clearly terrified of the king. But Castillo wasn't terrified, and he didn't know exactly what Manic had found. All he knew was this wasn't the same king they'd talked to before, and he'd tried to lay his hands on Manic. "Of course he's a thief," Scourge growled, motioning for Aria to stand back. "You know he's a thief. What the fuck are you thinking, dragging him by the collar?" Scourge approached the king, grabbing him by the throat and clearly ready for a fight. "Touch my husband like that again, and I'll make you BEG for forgiveness." "Scourge, stop!" Manic yelled out, but he wasn't about to step in. One Scourge had a hell of a lot of power, he wasn't going to get between two. Scourge was taking the sudden hold on the king to look him over. The scars were real. He was the same height, same build, same everything, but not the same person. Had something happened to him? "I'm gonna let go, and you ain't gonna make any funny moves." Scourge demanded. "What happened to you?" “You Need To Work On Your Diction As Much As You Do On Your Threats.” He spat out, flipping them so Castillo’s back was shoved up against the bookcase, his feet off the floor and the king's hand on his throat, squeezing a lot tighter. His eyes had changed color, from a light blue to a deep, rich one. Only noticeable when one was super close to his face, full of malice and hatred.

But after a split second they lighted up and the king stumbled back, letting his alternate go.

“Holy shit Castillo, I’m so sorry, I have no idea what came over me!” He rushed out an apology, looking at his hands like they had betrayed him. He back up into the center of the room.

Aria held a hand out. Trying to calm him. “Easy there. Easy. Calm down”

The eyes switched back to the dark blue, although that went unnoticed. “Insolent Women. I Told You To Leave And Never Return!” He growled, grabbing Aria by the base of the quills and causing her to scream from the pain. There was a low, heavy thud and a sudden surprise in the king's eyes. The king fell to the floor, clutching where Manic had just bludgeoned him with a candlestick. Castillo jumped in and wrenched one arm behind the king's back. They didn't want to hurt him too badly. He'd done so much for Manic, he couldn't possibly hurt him too badly. But Castillo had completely different reasons, and a long bike chain he always kept on hand that was tying the king's arms behind his back in a heavy knot. Castillo knelt down in front of the king, lifting his head by his chin and showing off every one of his sharp teeth in a smug smile. "You almost had it." His voice was smooth, even flirtatious. "But your eyes are the wrong color. An' if you don't wanna see your guts, you're telling us where the real king is." The yelp that came when he was hit turned his eyes back to their normal icy blue. “Manic what the fuck?!”

The threats turned them back again, and his expression of pain turned into one of glee and sadistic pleasure. Whoever this was was enjoying the thought of being carved open like a thanksgiving turkey…weird.

“Go Ahead Boy. Spill My Guts In This Damned Room. But It Would All Be In Vain, Because You Will Never Talk To That Spoiled Brat Ever Again. Might I Suggest A Cat-O-Ninetails Whip? Scourge Always Was A Fan Of That One.” He laughed, malicious and evil.

He wasn’t expecting the punch across the face from Aria. Furious, stressed and all around angry, she took it out of the ‘intruder.’

The body on the floor yelped in pain. “Aria stop it! Ow! It's me!” When she did stop, the evil laughter started up again… It sounded familiar, where had they heard that laugh before? Scourge and Manic did nothing to stop Aria's beating. All Scourge was doing was keeping the false king's head tilted towards his own, peering deep into his mind. He was helpless, and Scourge wanted to watch when he would eventually give in. But he didn't see that. He saw the eyes change, sure, but not in expression. The eyes changed to a completely different color in a moment, before reverting back when Aria seemed to lighten up on her pummeling. Scourge's eyes were normally a friendly cobalt blue, but this was darker. The pupils almost looked more slitted, more sinister. This looked like the king for just a few moments, whatever was going on. "Whoever the hell you are, you ain't the king." He dropped his head and let it slam on the ground. Sure, it would hurt the body, but more importantly, it would hurt whatever this dark-eyed creature was. "So what are we looking at here? This some anarchy beryl situation, some kinda drug-drug interaction with chaos energy?" There was more pain to the back of his neck from Scourge's claws, in the hopes pain could somehow draw out the king's personality. "We're getting an answer outta you, punk, so spill it." He knew he could only get an answer out of the real king, if he could ever get him to talk. The king's body had passed out and Aria was panting from all of her overexertion, sniffling as she held back tears.

“That’s not how our beryl works. It drains life forces to charge and when they do charge they grant the used amazing power at the price of their body. This isn’t beryl…. But there’s one way we can test if this is Scourge.”

She called his phone and found it under the books, bringing it over and sitting next to the body.

“Each alternate has a unique fingerprint right? So this shouldn’t work if this guy isn’t our-”

A click from the phone. It unlocked.

“Okay… So this our Scourge…. Did you two hear the way he was laughing? That’s not normal…” "No, that wasn't him." Castillo grumbled. If it was the king, they'd need to make sure he didn't move. The tied king was placed sitting upright in the main study chair. "Sounds like he isn't the same guy we know, but if it's the same fingerprint... ..." "Is he going crazy?!" Manic could only react to the bizarre actions with angry shock. "That's like multiple personalities nonsense right there! One of his is a nihilist, one normal-" "Bullshit," Castillo shot back. "We'd know if he was really insane. Feels more like-" He coughed, considering stopping himself. "Scourge's are Scourges, after all. This could've been some kinda long con, an' he's cutting the act now." "A decade long long con?" Manic rebutted. "We've heard him laugh before, that wasn't his natural laugh! It sounded like- I don't know, but it sounded like someone else!" The two stared down, each adamant about their own course of events, before they came to the same realization. "It was that person... We heard that laugh when we were in the old wing." Manic uttered. Castillo’s theory just made Aria cry, but Manic's realization got her sniffles to quiet down

“Whatever is going on, that person knew about the whipping. No one in the kingdom knows about that except for us, Scourge and-”

Aria paled, looking over at the body in the chair. “That’s why he wasn’t concerned if Scourge got hurt and why he’s trying to take down the throne. That’s why he doesn’t know who I am but he vaguely knows you two and why he’s clearing out the old wing when Scourge was trying to get rid of it… Its-…”

Aria would feel blinding white pain as she was hit in the head with the butt of a sword. Seems like whoever was controlling Scourge's body had gotten free and was holding the swords tip to her neck as she laid on the floor, unconscious.

“Women Should Be Seen Not Heard. What A Shame She Figured It Out, She Would Have Made An Excellent Concubine.” The person controlling Scourge cooed. "Aria!" Scourge yelled out. He wanted to rush forward, but the sword was to her neck and he couldn't move any closer. They just wanted to restrain him, but this person was killing to kill either of them. That was very bad. There were two of them and one of him. That was very good. There was only one way this was going to be settled, but they needed to wait for the right chance to move in. "You admit it then," Manic responded through his fear. He reached into his vest and pulled out a switchblade knife, not bothering with fancy knife tricks and holding it firm in one hand. "How about we get a name before we finish this off?" Maybe if he taunted him with killing Scourge, this spirit would let them get in close... "Don't think we're getting an answer." Scourge picked up the first thing off of the nearby shelf, a blunt and heavy bookend. "We're never gonna find out this fucker's some anti Jules." “Good Boy. You Figured It Out. I Do Have To Admit, You Are Smarter Than My Insolent Son. You Probably Would Have Seen Less Of The Whip If You Were In His Shoes. Alas, The Past Is The Past, Nothing Anyone Could Do About It Now. I Would Advise You Boys Not To Do Anything Rash. Even If You Kill The Body, I Could Still Possess Either Of You. But Its Not Like You Could Even Get Close. I Have Made A Habit Of Killing People That Scourge Cares About.”

He grabbed a second sword, keeping the first trained on Aria's throat. “I Doubt He Told You, But I Can Fight Just As Well With Both Hands. Your Move Boy.” Despite being absolutely pissed at the spirit, Scourge wasn't going to make the first move. He could press down slightly and kill Aria in an instant. He was definitely unhinged, but he didn't seem like he would kill Aria out of the blue. No moves were made. "She's unconcious," Manic reiterated simple, sounding mildly annoyed rather than seething with anger. "What, you're seriously weak enough to want to stab someone when they're down? What happened to your pride, anyways?!" Scourge knew where he was going with this. It was insane and desperate, but it usually worked. Manic ushered the study door open. "If you wanna cut us up, get Ari out of the room and we'll fight you. We're just a thief and an addict, you're a king with plenty of weapons. What kind of king's afraid of fighting a fair fight, anyways?" “Tsk Tsk. Seems Like You’re Not Quite As Smart As I Thought You Were. Tell Me Boy, What Do You Think My Endgame Is?”

An odd question as Jules moved to seat himself in an armchair, his sword lightly nicking Arias throat.

“I Will Even Give You Some Help. Think About The Consequences For The Body And The Mind… If Three People Are Found Dead Where Three Have Died Before. Books About Warfare And Usurping The Throne. The Nursery Torn To Shreds. By The Way, Thank You For Unlocking The Door My Boy. That Was Awfully Nice Of You, Seeing As I Don’t Know Where The Key Is… Everything Is Falling Into Place To Make Him Seem Like The Unhinged One. His Fingerprints Are Everywhere On This Crime Scene. Even If You Run To Tell Someone They Won’t Believe​ You. I Have Covered Every Single Angle Of This And There’s No Way Out. Any Way You Slice It, I Won! And Now, Once I Get Rid Of You Three, I’ll Use His Biometrics To Regain My Body Using The Beryl.”

He laughed as Aria began to stir, moving the sword to pull her up by the throat. “Good Morning. Tell Me Child, How Would You Like To Die?”

Arias only response was to scratch at her neck to pry his fingers off, the king choking her tightly. She managed somehow, to spit on his face. This made the wicked king angry, and he dropped her. Wiping spittle out of his eyes gave Aria the break to crawl as fast as she could to Manic's side. The king had dropped his hostage and one of his swords, and was distracted for the briefest fraction of a second. Scourge saw his chance and rushed the King, grabbing his arm as he took his swing. The blade was mere inches from his alternate's body. Scourge grabbed his arm with both hands and wrenched it around, until it was in too uncomfortable a position to swing. Manic gave Aria a quick pat on the shoulder before darting across at the first opportunity. He kicked the fallen sword so it would slide towards Aria and far out of the possessed king's reach. Their goal was only to restrain the spirit, but he was taking so much control it was hard to see him as anything other than another threat to be taken out. The king broke free of Scourge's grips, Sword pointed at his throat before being swung in either direction, but the distance was fine. Manic had gotten what he came for, and after bundling it in the blink of an eye, Scourge's bike chain was tossed back to him. He swung it around in his hands a few times, sending it too close to who was once the king and sending a threatening snap far too close to his skin. He had a solid five feet of lead, much longer than the spirit's sword could reach. "Alright, asshole." Scourge said with a grin, clutching the chain in either hand like a garrote. "Let's fuck it up~" Manic had taken the snap of the chain to rush back towards Aria. "He didn't hurt you too badly, right?" The spirit merely looked amused, tossing the cape he had been wearing to the side. A whip hung from his belt and he pulled it loose, snapping it in the air to let it rest. A Cat-o-Ninetails, brand new.

“I Believe The Phrase Is ‘Bring It’,” the spirit taunted.

Aria shook her head no, thinking hard. What advantages did they have… Surprise. That was all.

“Scourge, be careful! He doesn’t care about getting hurt!” She called out, a plan formulating. “Manic, do you have any kind of loose powder on you? We need the beryl.” Manic patted himself down. Switchblade, phone, wallet, earrings, makeup- He didn't have much on hand, but he had a small container of setting powder on hand, which he handed straight to Aria. "Gimme a plan and we'll nap that beryl... wherever it is." The metal chain and whip collided in mid air, snapping briskly against one another and tumbling down. But scourge used the extra moment as the short whip fell to snap the chain straight back up in the air, only striking the king for a moment. Just enough to stun him and get Scourge in closer. The whip stung more than he thought it would. He was expecting a sharp pain, but the bits of metal made it sting much stronger than anticipated. Scourge winced in pain and stumbled a bit, using the wince to force himself to tumble forward. He just needed to get close enough to chain him up again...! “Gimme. Stay here and help Scourge if he needs it.” She ran out of the room unnoticed.

The evil king chuckled at the pain of the bike chain. The shorter whip gave him an advantage as Castillo stumbled in close enough. The next crack would send a shooting pain into Castillo's side. Followed by another. The next two on his hands, as Jules got in close enough to drag the other to the ground by the quills, foot pressing his head into the ground.

“I think you weren’t hit enough as a child. Well that can be remedied.”

His jacket and shirt were sliced off, exposing his back and Jules used the bike chain to loop around Castillo’s wrists tightly. A sickening crack as the whip hit bare skin.

Aria had run into Scourge's bedroom, shoving the bed away from the wall with all the strength she had in her. Behind it was a safe with biometric locks. The powder and a cloth allowed her to bypass the fingerprint by using the oils from the last fingerprint to scan. The retina scan was actually set for her, rosy or Glare. A new addition.

Inside was a case. She pulled it out and instantly felt sick from the life draining magic. Regardless she ran back to the study.

“Is this what you were looking for?” She taunted, holding up the cape for the king to see. Manic was sick at seeing Scourge chained up like he was. And the whip- God, the whipping. Scourge bit hard on his own teeth, trying not to give in and wince at the sharp pain as they waited for Aria to get back. "You bastard...! You BASTARD!" Manic had lost it entirely. He didn't even care about pain anymore. Manic grabbed the first thing to his side - a fragile lamp, not that good - and chucking it square towards the king as he rushed him. The lamp did little damage as the glass base shattered and littered the ground. Tiny superficial cuts to him and his husband, nothing more. But Manic wasn't out for mild infury, and he wasn't out for restraint anymore. He was out for blood. Manic held the king down to the ground with either hand, his grip on Scourge's neck getting tighter as he listened to that hideous laugh... Scourge brushed off the pain the best he could and loosened the chain from his grips. He reached out for the king's hands, grabbing his left and desperately clutching for his right as Manic loosened up his hold. They just had to handcuff him more severely, and- Aria's entrance startled all of them, and the power he could feel told Castillo exactly what was draped under that cape. "Good job, kid." Scourge grunted, not letting go. "Toss it to us... Now!" Aria stumbled a bit, already weak from carrying the Beryl for so long.

Aria dropped like a stone, the beryl falling out of the case and scattering around the room. They slowly began to circle the room, focusing in on Scourge. Not Castillo, the king, who started laughing manically.

“Its Too Late Now!! Its All Over!” He shoved the other two off with surprising strength as the beryl circled him.

He parted from Scourge, manifesting in a translucent form as Scourge's body dropped. The beryl spun faster and in a blinding light, Jules set foot on the ground, his body back.

“Ah, Its Feels So Good To Be Me Again.” he cooed, voice obtaining an echo like quality to it.

Scourge groaned on the floor, weakened badly by the beryl and assuming he was having a nightmare. All bets were off. Scourge desperately unwrapped the chain from around Scourge's wrists, desperate to get his weapon back. One sword was all the way across the room from him, but the other was scattered near anti-Jules feet. Jule's whip was quickly kicked away, hopefully out of the true king's line of sight. Manic lunged to grab the sword, but it was already in his enemies hands, and he scuttled back away from the figure as soon as he saw him go for it. "Alright, so what's your endgame now?" Manic taunted, already knowing the true answer. "Point is, it's one on four now." "And your little immune spirit bullshit's worn out." Scourge said, chain whipping around in his hand. The chain he was spinning around was let loose, delivering a single harsh blow to anti-Jules's neck. The end of the chain had been knotted up into a ball as a makeshift flail. Manic grasped the large sword in both hands, Scourge his trusty chain as the two approached their newly mortal adversary. "Got one last question for you, asshole," Scourge snarled at him. "How do you wanna die?" Aria got up off the floor, panting.

“Knock the beryl out of formation, but don’t touch them!!” She called out, using a heavy book to knock one of the beryls to the ground.

Jules laughed at her pathetic attempt to hit him until he flickered back to translucent for a split second . The evil king growled out, realizing his power focused itself around the beryl.

While no one was looking, the true king got up shakily, grabbing his favorite rapier. He weighed it in his hand and turned to his father.

“Stand down. This is my fight.” He ordered, back to normal. Manic followed instructions immediately. He was backed away near where Aria was, looking around him for anything he could throw. Books, bookends, paperweights, anything heavy enough to heave and get the beryl stones out of formation. Castillo followed directions... somewhat. But those beryl were looking irresistible to him. He already had a chain in hand, he just had to... how could he make that slipknot? Could it even work with a chain? But by some stupid attempt and a lucky throw, the chain was wrapped around a large purple stone, immediately dragging it back to Castillo. The power ate at him in a way a Scourge could not only stand, but even enjoy. He wanted to keep this for himself, take over, prove his worth. A particularly heavy book managed to knock another stone far enough away that Castillo was able to lunge and grab it before it tugged back into formation, as both stones now begged to do. "This is our fight," Castillo insisted, forcing the yellow stone into the king's hand. He spun the chain around in his hands so the heavy knotted end was spinning in his hands. "Let's fuck it up." Aria slid the case and the other beryl to the true king, and Scourge put the two they had obtained in there as well. The case clicked closed and Jules was left with four circling him.

“INSOLENT BRAT!” The father called, running at his son with his sword drawn.

It was interesting watching the ensuing sword fight. Scourge was fighting fencing style and Jules was swinging to damage. The fight pushed them backwards and Scourge used his free hand to slap one of the beryls to Castillo.

Jules reached down and grabbed his whip smirking as it cracked. Scourge froze in place and felt his stomach drop. Castillo knew that just locking the beryl away wouldn't stop these other three. There was only one way to fight anarchy beryl, and that was with anarchy beryl. He threw off the halved shirt and jacket he had left on, clutching the red beryl with a death grip and the chain in his other. Pure anger stopped him from feeling the decaying feeling as anything other than a mild annoyance. The powers it granted were a strange focus, like everything had gone robotic in his mind. The chain swirling around in his hand was swirling faster and faster, with greater and greater energy while he built up strength. The first blow knocked a green stone out of the air and towards Aria, with only two circling stones remaining powering the old king. The second blow was square to Jules's left temple, sending a splatter of... was that blood? It almost looked right, but the consistency was strangely off, strangely discolored. The power of the beryl was weakening on Jules. "Let's finish this up...!" Castillo screamed, rushing Jules as he tied a simple slipknot out of the chain...! The power of the beryl was also making the king stronger, and the crack of the whip against Castillo's face was immense. He couldn't tell how much damage it had done, but he knew that his right eye hurt like hell. He tumbled to the floor, dropping his chain and trying his damnest to clutch to his stone with the energy he had. Scourge snapped out of it as he watched Castillo take a strike from the whip. This made him angry. Bright white flames licked at his feet, appearing from nowhere.

In the corner, Aria groaned and curled into a ball. She had been weakened by the beryl's case, and the jewel so close to her wasn’t helping. Aria whined pitifully for the king's help. “Scourge…”

Old rage boiled up again fanning the flames that licked at his feet and enveloped him. His eyes turned black, his quills turned white. His skin lost its color.

Jules was grabbed by the throat and slammed against the wall incredibly hard, yet Scourge barely broke a sweat. The three onlookers in the room could feel the energy exuding from the king as he held Jules against the wall. Castillo covered his eye with one hand and seemed to be panting like a predator desperate to sink it's fangs into it's prey, but the could tell that would have been entirely stupid. But like a miser desperate to take his valuables to the grave, he lunged at the chest of beryl stones, grasping that last one abandoned near Aria desperately. He threw them against the far wall of the room, as far from Aria as they could go while the other Scourge's power only intensified. The bright light in spite of the sudden violence was bizarrely entrancing, almost beautiful to Manic. Jules was as good as dead. If Scourge couldn't deliver the final blow, Manic knew he was going to end up with blood on his hands. Aria was out. Scourge was out. Manic was the only one who could stand up and help the king. He approached the two, standing behind as close as he could get without feeling overwhelmed by the power being generated. He held his switchblade out from behind the two, close enough that only Scourge could reach it. But in Manic's mind, he knew Scourge probably wouldn't need a weapon. "End it." Jules choked and gasped, involuntarily scratching at Scourge's arms to get him to give him air. The king threw the other out of the room and followed him, ignoring Manic. His hand reached out and his rapier came to him.

A beryl was locked away and Jules was left with only one surrounding him. His body began to fall apart like a scene in a horror movie. His skin melted away, his bones clattered to the flood and turned to dust, it all vanished until Scourge was left holding the ghost of his father. His sword glowed with the same white fire he was surrounded in, and he smashed his father across the face with the butt of the hilt. The flames grew and Scourge slashed through his shoulder, the spirits arm falling away like paper.

The ghost king screamed out in pain and Scourge growled, low and with an echo like quality.

“That was for Castillo!”

Slice. The other arm off.

“That was for Aria!”

Slice. A leg

“That was for Manic!”

Slice. The other leg.

“That was for Miles!”

Slice. Cut off at the waist

“That was for Luke!”

Slice. Higher up on the chest.

“That was for Fiona!”

The sword rested against the ghost king's throat, and the king growled.

“And this is for you. Goodbye FATHER”

The spirits head was sliced off, and the rapier was stabbed through his heart as the last beryl fell on its own.

The spirits scream was cut short, and the flames died away as Scourge sunk to the floor and cried.

It was over. They could only stare through the door as limb after limb was removed. Every slice was personal, furious, ladened with decades of anger and lit up by supernatural flames. And as quickly as it started, it ended with Scourge's tears echoing through deathly quiet halls. The anarchy beryl was powering Castillo, and the pain in his eye subsided slightly, although it was far from healing. He opened the case, and started to collect the scattered gems. One in the corner of the room. One behind the desk where the ghost stood. Just gathering them quickly so no one else would have to deal with the burden. Manic pocketed his knife as soon as the awestruck paralysis had worn off. He'd done it. He'd ended everything. Every one of his slow steps was intentionally louder than usual, to give the king fair warning as he approached. He didn't deliver words of wisdom or congratulations or anything, his pep wasn't going to help. And the few jokes he wanted to crack to lighten the mood were so out of place, even he knew they would only ruin things more. He said nothing, in fact. Scourge would soon find himself with his head rested on Manic's chest, giving him some kind of a tangible being to cling to after his ordeal. He hummed a soft melody, although where these notes came from or what they meant, Scourge had no idea. It was elegant, it was simple, and the gentle humming sent comforting vibrations, like a purring cat comforting it's kittens. Aria stood on shaky legs, grasping the door for support. After telling Castillo where to put the case, she stumbled over to the two of them. Aria sat on Scourge's other side and merely hugged her king as well. Her purring added to Manic's song.

After a little while, Scourge gently pulled back and wiped his face, sniffling in order to calm down. “M'okay… M’ okay” he slurred.

The castle's atmosphere returned to normal quickly and eventually Scourge got up to walk downstairs.

“I gotta… Go to…” He mumbled, clearly trying to head outside. Aria heaved herself up using a banister and when Castillo returned, they followed him. Manic stood next to aria. She was holding her own more, but she clearly needed any kind of support she could get. Castillo could see much of the same weakness in his alternate, following him at a close distance. There was no telling when he might tumble, cry, faint, anything. "You actually touched the beryl?" Manic asked Aria quietly, holder her by her shoulder. "That's amazing... We've touched beryls once before, and I couldn't stand it." There was a soft pat on her shoulder. "You're a strong girl, Ari." Castillo had no idea what could have been going through the king's mind. Whatever it was, it was intense, he knew that much. But questions would have to wait until the king was substantially calmer. He didn't say anything, but quietly walked and offered him a comforting look. Their victory march through the castle was weak, depressing, and yet somehow serene. “I feel like shit.” She groaned, leaning heavily on Manic to get the world to stop spinning. Her hair had turned white at the roots and her eyes had lost some color. Nothing a good nap and a bottle of hair dye couldn’t fix.

To Scourge, the victory march was mostly a walk of shame. They left through a side door that Castillo had never noticed and Scourge went straight for the forest. After a few minutes of walking, they came across a clearing with a manmade little river running through it. In the center were two ageing gravestones of white marble, plain but elegant. He went to a small spot next to the little creek and sat next to a tree stump.

“Sorry. I just needed to come see her.” "Do what you've gotta," Scourge said quietly. He stepped back, standing with Aria and Manic. Scourge clearly needed space. There weren't benches or seats or anything. Instead, Manic held tight onto Aria and guided her so they were both sitting on the grass. Castillo relaxed into his normal position, as though nothing had happened. Someone needed to stay casual. Castillo couldn't deny that the power of those stones was enticing to him. But now wasn't the time to think about these things. He didn't say a word to Manic as he comforted Aria and ruffled her hair. He didn't say a word to Aria as she took time to regain her posture. He only glanced from far away as Scourge took some time to meed with his Fiona. Aria purred quietly, laying back in the grass and breathing in clean air. This place was sacred in a way, truly felt like a place filled with love.

The stress melted away from the girl and the king merely let his fingers dangle in the water of the stream where fish swam. Thinking. His rapier discarded by his side.

“I'm… Sorry.” The king finally said, to no one in particular. There wasn't a response. The cold castle walls were imposing, especially with the spirit present. The forest might have felt similarly cramped. But this clearing was quiet, welcoming, serene. The grass was healthy, the fish content. After such an avalanche of emotions, the chance to sit somewhere this pleasant almost felt like whiplash with how suddenly everything shifted. He wasn't saying anything else. Castillo bit the bullet and stood to his feet. The rustling of his jeans was audible over the gentle ambience. Castillo slowly knelt a short distance from the king. "How're you holding up?" Scourge took a deep breath. “I don’t know… I feel… Lighter. Like this big weight was just lifted off my shoulders… How’s your back?”

He pushed the other around gently so he could inspect the marks. They had healed mostly from the beryls powers.

“You’ll be fine, you’re tough,” he said with something that might be considered a smile, patting his back gently. "Never worry about me," Scourge said as he turned to face his alternate. His right eye was bright red and scratched, but didn't look like it had any damage beyond a scratch. "I've had worse." He sat for a moment, not sure what else to say. When he came to a certain realization, he started to grin. "Maybe I shouldn't be walkin' around without a shirt?" He clearly didn't take any kind of shame from that comment. Scourge held him by the arm and helped the king to his feet, leaning over to grab him his sword and put it back into it's holder. "The worst of it's over," he said, trying to be gentle without sounding too soft. "Put your sword away, we'll lock up the beryl, we'll clean the study. You call up your doctor or friends or- whoever the hell you need. Get your brains in order." He looked up at the sky, not sure what else to say. Tiny specks of starlight dotted the midnight sky. "Gorgeous view." “Easier said than done. Not many therapists believe in ghosts.” He shrugged, looking up at the sky with a soft smile.

“Yeah, Fiona loved it here. This was our spot, our sanctuary. She loved sitting near the river to listen to the sound but this spot has the best view of the stars. I dug out the little river for her to give her both.” He recounted, smiling up at the wide expanse of the universe.

“I’m sorry for dragging you and Scourge into this. Seems likes you all get hurt because of me on the constant.” Aria said to Manic, staring up at the stars. "Don't apologize for anything," Manic reassured her. "You didn't wanna see us getting attacked, anyways. You're fine, dude." Manic flumped back first onto the grass and stared up with the others. The gaze they shared at the starry void held as everyone tried to collect their thoughts about everything that had just occurred. Theyer wasn't much they could say to make anything better. "We'll find you someone," Castillo assured the king. "If they exist, there's gotta be one out there who'll believe. An' you know we're here to listen and talk." It was the least he could do to comfort him. Comfort... "We've got some of Aria's home cooking at her place. Wanna hop over for some comfort food?" Aria rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of nature. The songs that the wilderness sang were her childhood lullabies and the open sky was her blanket. The tranquility was needed.

When her name was spoken she perked up. “Did you call me?” She asked the green duo.

“Yeah, he said you made dinner… Thanks kiddo. It means a lot.” He ruffled Scourge's quills and they all walked over to sit on the soft grass for a few minutes while Aria regained her strength to portal them to her home. When Scourge was on the grass, Manic gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. He didn't have Castillo's problems with looking mushy, and if the king didn't have his back injuries, he probably would have pounced and given him a large comforting bear hug. But it was enough. Castillo sat down with Manic, and Manic ended up reclining against his lover. "My cooking ain't that bad," Castillo offered after a while, letting the cool air brush over them. "I could whip somethin' up fresh. What's a good comfort food, anyways? Mac and cheese?" "You aren't cooking it," Manic interjected, trying not to sound too goofy, only light-hearted. "I can boil water without starting a fire." "Fine, but Aria's gotta hide her paint cans first." Manic gave him a playful punch in the arm. Sure, they felt a bit overwhelmed by how much had just happened, but Scourge and Aria didn't need to see that. Anything to make them feel better. The word ‘whip’ made Scourge wince a bit, but he hid it.

“Well I mean, I’m all ready to warp whenever you wanna,” she insisted. “I don’t want to eat paint can spaghetti!”

“Seconded. Let’s go!” The king insisted, helping everyone up. He hung behind as the others went on ahead, gently kissing his fingers and pressing them to the two graves. They could rest finally. And so could he. Manic pretended to peek behind and look at what the king was doing. "Hey, Ari." Manic asked quietly as they started walking away from the clearing. "Do you know anything that like, helps him calm down? I don't want him to have a total breakdown, we gotta keep him comfortable." There was a beat before Manic spoke again. "I mean, Scourge here's gonna have to nab a shirt and cover up his back, you think you'd have any that would fit him?" He looked down at the giant shirt Aria was draped in. "Hell, you have any that fit YOU?" “I don’t think that will be necessary. He should be fine for now… But Castillo, if you can, go find his jacket, it should be in his room. Take a shirt from there as well, he won’t mind.”

Aria looked over at Manic, judging him. “Don’t you look at me like that. I’m not the only one who borrows clothes from my significant other. I recall you wearing black leather and flames at one point...”

She was teasing him of course, giggling as Scourge walked up. "Hey, I didn't wear it!" Manic protested back. "I just used it as a blanket sometimes! A lot! And sometimes wore it." Castillo walked through the castle halls, almost slowing down just to take in the feeling of the castle. It felt right again. Even if everything that had happened was far from alright, it was over for now. And hopefully, forever. He knew exactly where the king's room was. Castillo was aware that lingering to look at any of the photos would just cause him grief, so he kept away. There was no reason to think about Fiona or Luke now. He just had to get in and out, grab a shirt and jacket, and not worry about the history of these rooms. He noticed the nursery door open across the hall. He silently closed the door, it's contents a secret from him. His snooping had done enough already. The three met at the back exit to the castle, Castillo now wearing some kind of a fancy dress shirt. "Hope you don't mind, but my old clothes are kinda screwed." He shrugged and handed the jacket over to Scourge, as well as a roll of bandage tape from his bedside. "You two ready?" Aria and Manic were teasing each other back and forth, Aria cracking jokes at Manic's lovesick expense. If she had to put up with the eyefucking he had to own up to it.

“Hey, thanks. I don’t mind at all, I hate that shirt.” He shrugged and Aria looked offended.

“I got that for you for Christmas!” She protested, scratching her portal open and acting all pouty. There was a silent look between Manic and Scourge, both surprised by this comment and slightly amused as to whatever was going to come from this. Even if they knew Aria wasn't really going to chew him out for that, their glares still told Scourge they were very, very sorry for whatever would happen. They stepped through the portal into Aria's room. Castillo and Scourge walked over to the sitting area and fell into the cushions, Castillo letting out a long, heavy sigh. Manic picked up the leftovers on the table and walked over to the kitchen, starting up the stove to heat up the soup properly. A quick rummage through some of the foods in the closest cupboard was a box of macaroni and cheese, plain and simple. Just that and one set of leftovers, that would be good. One set? "Ari, didn't you leave more leftovers out earlier?" Manic asked, looking towards the counter. The container and the kiss-stained note were both gone. The shower was running, which no one noticed as Aria chewed Scourge out playfully, tugging lightly on his ear. He laughed and pretended to be in pain, stumbling over to the couch as Aria went behind a screen to collect some clothes. She knocked on the bathroom door.

“Babe? Its me. The boys are here so I grabbed you some clothes. Can I come in?”

The bat answered in the affirmative and Aria slipped into the bathroom. She didn’t leave for 20 minutes and when she came out her hair was wet but her shirt was dry. The Scourges noticed and exchanged a look. Both them smiled in that mischievous way that unsettled Aria.

Terra only briefly said hello before falling into bed and falling asleep. Aria sat on the edge of the bed, petting her mate gently. Now that Manic had access to actual cookware and utensils, there wasn't much concern about letting him handle the food as Aria was left to her girlfriend's whims. Pasta boiled, soup was warmed, and a comfortable set of scents filled the room. "Here, she made some roast and soup and stuff." Manic placed a plate down on the wood coffee table, with the reheated roast and a slice of the warmed bread. The soup was served alongside in a small bowl. "I just made some mac and cheese fresh, that's a pretty good comfort food, right?" "Didn't wanna grab a bowl?" Scourge asked. "Hey, don't judge!" Manic put the saucepan filled with macaroni and cheese in front of the king. A wooden spoon was sticking out of the pot, his evident utensil. "That's the best way to eat it, you know that! This was the first time he noticed those stares the Scourges were giving each other. "What're you guys smirking at?" "Ohh, nothing,” Scourge teased, happily eating the food set before him like a starving dog. Jules had forgotten that eating was a thing it seems.

Castillo’s eyes directed Manic's gaze to Aria's and Terra's wet hair, then raised his eyebrows as if to say, “isn’t that odd?”

Aria pulled away from her mate gently, closing the screen they had put around their bed so the tired bat could sleep. She claimed the leftover cookies for herself and sat on the floor. Oblivious to the conversations, she happily munched on cookies. Manic didn't seem phased by the realization. "I thought that just always happened with those guys?" He said without a trace of irony. Castillo laughed and let Aria munch away, not the one to ruin things this time. Manic took the time to stand up, walk to the kitchen, take a spoon, and walk back just to steal a scoop of mac and cheese for himself. Scourge was holding up for now, but there were still questions that needed to be asked. "You gonna need a ride to the castle after this, or you fine crashing here?" Castillo's question was just as much pointed at the king as it was to Aria. When Scourge managed to stop eating for a few seconds and swallow, he shook his head.

‘I think I’m gonna run home. I need to think and clear my head. Besides, crashing here is awkward when you’re third wheeling,” he shrugged and continued to eat his food

“You wouldn’t be third wheeling, but I understand,” Aria insisted. They were all really tired. "You sure?" Manic was finally letting some concern through. "We'd be happy to, dude. We ain't got much going on." "Running helps a ton," Castillo told Manic. "You should try it." "Whatever, dude." Manic said back. "I think Scourge and me are gonna try and find a hotel..." There was a loud yawn. "Ah man, we're probably just gonna crash in the van." "You guys take care," Castillo said back. "Especially you, kingy." Their walk to their van wasn't quite as casual as their conversations in the apartment were. "Damn, he's taking this well." Manic pointed out. "Do you think he's gonna be alright?" "Eventually," Castillo admitted. He didn't bring up his suspicion Scourge was much worse off than he'd ever let on, but now wasn't the time. Everyone was tired, and they just wanted to crash. The king finished his meal, washed the dishes and then hugged Aria goodbye.

“Call when you get home. Call anytime.” She insisted, voice muffled into his jacket. He pet her quills gently.

“Of course.” He said his good nights and sped off into the city, pushing himself to the limits, as fast as he could go. After half an hour of running as fast as he could, he jumped onto the roof of the castle and laid on his back, sweating and panting.

He looked up at the stars and thought. He would think for a long time, and wouldn’t go back into the castle until morning. He mused to himself, as he watched the sun rise.

“Its a new day.”

[commenter2]

ideas/suggestions Insomniac should consider using for Ratchet & Clank games (warning long list )

About 9 months ago I made a post that questioned what would happen next for the Ratchet & Clank franchise (here is the link if you want to read it http://commentron.tumblr.com/post/145432109598/whats-next-for-the-ratchet-clank-franchise). Since I have been making and posting a lot of my ideas on various things, I thought I make another one about ideas I have that I think have the potential to be in a Ratchet & Clank game, or just suggestions about certain things that the people at Insomniac should consider.

Insomniac shouldn’t try and use anything from the R&C reboot into the current R&C universe- I have noticed that Insomniac Games tend to reuse old materials from old games, like weapons, species and enemies, and reuse them in news games, or in some cases expand on them a bit. For example, after A4O (though happening in ACiT as well) several weapons like the Combuster, Warmonger, and Mr. Zurkon have been reused in games. Not enough, after Terachnoids were mentioned in briefly TOD they were a big part in ACiT and had parts in other games and the comics, same goes for the Zoni, who were a mysterious race as well as the secret Great Clock but after ACiT they were mentioned a lot more in future games to the point where the Zoni were a type of religion (even having saying like “for the love of Zoni”).  The biggest example is that after All 4 One, things like the art style, some pictures, and even enemies from the game were used in later games as well, like FFA and ITN (though to be fair there have been other enemies that have been reused in other R&C games).

Knowing this I fear that after the release of the reboot, Insomniac will try and put things from reboot, like the new characters, enemies, and the plot of that game into the current R&C universe, which I think they shouldn’t as it could mess with the continuity of the series big time.

That’s why I think Insomniacs should just make the reboot game, and any other possible reboot games in the future, take place in an alternate universe, which should please fans both fans of the current R&C universe and the reboot universe.

More Ratchet & Talwyn moments- If you follow me on tumblr or deviantart, you may know that I am a big fan of Ratchet & Talwyn (or what fans of the ship call it Talchet) however not that many people know of there relationship, mostly because the relationship wasn’t confirmed until a panel at a gaming convention (here is the link to it if you want to watch, go start at 15:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXj8NJULu0).

Sure there are moments in the videogames and comic book series that show there feeling for each other but I feel like there should be more, not only to show that they are in the relationship to people that don’t know or believe it exist but also please the fans that do know there in a relationship. This can be fixed easily by putting in more romantic moments with Ratchet & Talwyn in the games, like flirting, or kissing, or even people mentioning there relationship in the games, one example is Qwark giving Ratchet romantic advice and/or sometimes tease Ratchet about not being one of the single guys anymore like him and Clank.

A Gadget that could be used as a weapon- After thinking back on old Ratchet & Clank games I remembered that some games have a gadget or two that could be used in combat in someway, like the Sonic Summoner, Refractor, and the Glob Lobber, so I thought maybe Insomniac should do this again. This got me thinking of my next idea.

A Flamethrower/Freeze ray combo weapon- I’ve noticed that in most of the Ratchet & Clank games there is always some type of Flamethrower or Freeze weapon in them, this got me think that what if Insomniac made a weapon that is part Flamethrower and part Freeze ray.

I could see it as having the same appearance as the Incinerator, mostly the part of it having the 2 nozzles that are stacked above each other. One shoots fire and the other that shoots frost, and every time after the weapon is used, the gun switches nozzles. Still don’t get it, lets say the first time you use it, it shoots fire. After your done using it the nozzles rotate, so that the next time you use the weapon, it shoots frost.

As I said at the end of the previous idea, I can also see this as a type of gadget as well, as it could be used to burn fallen trees or blocks of ice to get to places, or used to freeze bodies of water, make ice platforms, and put out burning fires.

Give characters more development/screen time- I have noticed that some characters have been put into the background, some characters that come to mind are Big Al, Aphelion, and Talwyn Apogee, and I am worried that they will be written out for good over time, but I have some ideas on how to fix it.

For Big Al I see him being a part of a game that either takes place in the Solana galaxy or be in the Polaris galaxy at the time for some reason, like a vacation or thinking of opening another store there. I could see him being the one who starts the “collect all RYNO plans” mission and builds it for Ratchet or having a part of helping Ratchet save the galaxy from the villain of the day by giving them either gadget they need or be like the gangs technical support and give Ratchet advice on how to get into places or how to use gadgets he obtains. He could also be good for the trilogy idea I mentioned in my previous post, where he helps Ratchet and the others stop Tachyon and his forces by not only using his knowledge to providing gadgets/devices as well as ship upgrades to Ratchet but also help find clues to find what stopped Tachyons forces the first time.

Aphelion should be a bigger part of the series cause not only is she the only true thing that remains of the Lombaxes to Ratchet but she is also used a lot by Ratchet & Clank but rarely has any lines or have a true role in a game. I was thinking she should talk to Ratchet and the other characters more. Maybe in one case, she teaches Ratchet something about the Lombaxes, or gives air support on ground missions but Ill get to that idea later. Maybe if Insomniac does another trilogy, like my return of Tachyon idea, maybe she uses her knowledge of the Lombaxes to help Ratchet find a clue to defeat Tachyon.

Then there is Talwyn Apogee, an important character who is not only a lot like Ratchet in a way, via a fighter, parentless, and good with machines, but also his girlfriend. She also has a lot of potential and tons of stories she could be a part of, one is finally solving the Max Apogee mystery and one of her getting over her lost of Cronk and Zephyr, maybe by going on an adventure to save Ratchet (another idea I had a while ago http://thenicecommenter.deviantart.com/journal/Ratchet-and-Clank-video-game-idea-278449290).

Bring back the use of the kinetic tether- In QFB, we were introduced to the kinetic tether, an upgrade to Ratchet’s wrench that not only grant him/the player the ability to latch the wrench onto objects to do various things, like move objects from distances, but also gave his wrench the look it has today. Sadly the gaming mechanic so far has only been used in 2 games and well as appear in one of the R&C comics. I just feel like with all the things Insomniac put into there games, they should at least try to put in the concept as well, even if it means cutting back on other things like Swingshot obstacles, maybe make it as a key item you need to use it to find collectibles.

Change the Grind boots, Gravity Boots, and Hoverboots back to there normal designs- Ever since A4O I have noticed that the following boots have changed in design dramatically to the point where they all look the same in appearance with the exceptions of having different colors. At first I thought it was just a result of the new designs the people at the newly opened Insomniac building was doing for the games (like A4O, FFA, and ITN) but after playing the R&C reboot game I noticed that they did the same thing for that games Grind boots and Magne boots.

Now I am willing to let go of the Grind boots and Gravity/Magne boots but changing the Hover boots is something I can’t let go of. They are relatively new in the franchise yet they change for some unexplained reason in Full Frontal Assault, sure they made it so that Ratchet’s shoes on his average outfit look like the old Hover boots design but still.

They should either make them look like what they did in ACiT or change it so that they don’t look like the other boots and give a small explanation on why they look different. My suggestion is that they say Ratchet (as the Smuggler said in TOD) decided to make them better so he reverse engineered the new pair from his old ones, however he was able to save the original boots and now wears them as regular boots in remembrance to not only his father but also Alister Azimuth. This could also explain why whenever he appears in his classic outfit, that was introduced in TOD, he wears boots that look like his old Hoverboots.

Have story DLC for the games- In this day and age most games offer additional downloadable content for people to buy to have more fun with said game, and the Ratchet & Clank franchise does this to but on rare occasion and when they do its mostly to get a weapon or armor. On several occasions I have noticed that it would have been an interesting and profitable concept to include a DLC that adds more to the game’s plot. One example of this is ITN, it would have been interesting to have played a level about the events that led to the capture of Vendra Prog, instead we got an app called Before the Nexus. Another example is the R&C reboot, unlike the original, the reboot lacks several planets/areas from it and having a DLC where you could go to some of the cut planets would have been fun. The story for that could be that unlike in the movie (spoiler alert) Drek survives and gather his forces to get some more items to complete his planet, which in the end leads to R&C fighting Drek like in the original game.

A weapon upgrade hunt side mission- This idea I got from looking back at QFB and ACiT, as well as Wolfenstein: The New Order. For the past few games now there has been a side mission where you can look for the all the holo plans of a RYNO so you can make it into a useable weapon but what if the game designers did a twist on this.

What if in a game Ratchet obtains a rifle like blaster as a reward for completing a mission, or as a prize from a combat tournament. It turns out the gun has several weapon upgrades to it, each making the weapon stronger in some way (like rapid fire, a refractor turning the one blast into multiple blast, and something that makes the blast more powerful) but they were discontinued as having all the upgrades on the weapon made it too powerful and dangerous, just like a RYNO. This causes a side mission where you can go to planets to gather all the weapon upgrades to build the super weapon. Also maybe instead of getting a scene or Ratchet holding the found upgrade into the air we get a scene of Ratchet adding the upgrade into the weapon.

Don’t make a “get all skill points” trophy- I mention this before briefly in my first R&C idea post but I just want to point it out again. In the HD Collection, all the games had a trophy where you had to unlock all the skill points to get it, to me this was a hassle to unlock especially since some skill points are a pain to get. If Insomniac ever does another collection they SHOULD NOT do this, especially considering some of the skill points in TOD and ACiT are a hassle (especially in TOD).

Reuse gadgets ?- Since Insomniac Games has been reusing weapons in the past few games then maybe they should do it with some gadgets as well, not counting the gadgets Ratchet always carries around though. One example is the Geo-laser the Zoni gave to Clank in TOD, I could see it coming back as a tools to get through places, maybe some of which lead to collectibles like Gold bolts. Another tool is a hacking device since there hasn’t been one in a game since TOD (not counting the one in the pS4 reboot game). Another gadget I can see returning is a hacking gadget like the Hacker or Decryptor, as the hacking feature hasn’t been used in a R&C game (besides the reboot) since Tools of Destruction, plus having an old hacking gadget would be easy to put in both design/code wise.

Multi-step boss fights- I’ve been thinking about boss fights and I have noticed that there are some boss fights where you go through obstacles while you fight the boss, some that come to mind are the fights with Momma Tyhrranoid, the VX-99, and the boss fight with Mr. Eye. I was thinking that they should do more of these in future games, as it’s a good change from just shooting at the boss. I had an interesting idea that is sort of a bit like the VX-99 boss but bigger. In this fight after shooting at it for a bit, Ratchet gets eaten by a giant matter eating robot (kinda like Unicron from the Transformers franchise) but instead of dying Ratchet escapes, and while inside destroys some of the robots vital parts to stop/slow down its rampage and after destroying a few of its important parts finds a way to get out and escapes but the robot is still active and tries to kill him so Ratchet must fight him via the shoot boss strategy. This idea could also work for an organic monster as well (except they attack its organs and escape through either one of its orifices from its head or a wound the monster got).

Ratchet using Azimuth’s Praetorian OmniWrench as the melee weapon- We know that Ratchet uses a wrench as his melee weapon but in the R&C comic series you see that he uses Azimuths wrench in the adventure, and I think it would be cool to let him use that in a game. I can see it not only having the same attacks that Ratchet can preform with his normal wrench but also have a feature where after building up attacks Ratchet can release a burst of energy that the Praetorian wrench is known to release. Another feature is that Ratchet can use it to charge generators, which would be an interesting new mechanic for a game.

Bring back “NPC assisting Ratchet & Clank feature”, at least for a game- In games such as UYA, Deadlocked, TOD, and ACIT, there was a feature where a character or characters fought along side Ratchet during fights, some of which were main characters of the game. I liked this feature cause it was a good change from letting Ratchet do all the fighting while the other characters sat by the sidelines. I was thinking the people at Insomniac should bring this feature back for a game, especially if they plan on doing another trilogy. Remember when I mentioned about Aphelion providing air support for Ratchet, they could use that for this feature, I could see there being a gadget/feature that Ratchet could use in big battles, where he could mark where Aphelion could perform airstrikes and in a few seconds she can shoot at the area from the air with a bombardment of laser blast and maybe a missile or two. 

What do you think of my ideas, do you find any of them interesting ? What do you think the next Ratchet & Clank game will be like ?

[indiikaa]

Meeks CinemaSins’ Wreck-it Ralph

This is what I did last weekend when I slowly went insane. It’s under the cut, btw...

Because my ISP has decided to fuck up our service for the past four days, I have been stuck watching BLU-Rays. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many BLU-rays to watch, so I’ve been mostly watching one of my favourite movies over and over again. Which movie? Wreck-It Ralph.

Now, when this happened before, I did this hilarious Watch Through where I wrote down EVERYTHING I thought was weird, funny, or just wanted to point out in The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Kind of like Cinema Sins but with more humor/ insight. I decided to do it again with Wreck-it Ralph because I mean, come on.

 START

 v  When you pause, Chris Hardwick talks to you.

v  Why did Ralph never make a house in the dump like he does at the end of the movie beforehand? Sleeping on Bricks has to hurt.

v  In the intro, Felix doesn’t actually fully fix the building, there are still broken windows near Ralph.

v  Is the bulldozer sentient by itself or if there someone inside it?

v  Where does the bulldozer live?

v  You can see a lake and a nice forest behind the Niceland apartment, with a nice walk around it; why doesn’t Ralph live near there? He can move his stump there!

v  Despite what everyone says; Zombie is definitely from Night of the Living Dead, a real arcade game about Zombies with Hatchets. I swear.

v  Bowsers hair looks very... not Bowser.

v  Kano put that heart away that’s gross.

v  Why is Clyde the only Pac-man ghost we see at Bad-Anon? Are the others at Tappers? We see them in Game Central Station, so they must have gone somewhere.

v  Does Eggman wear a rubber jacket? Cause... wtf Eggman.

v  M. Bison should bring snacks.

v  Zangief is a good friend, he even saved Ralph a spot on the tram!

v  That Turtle looks like he’s enjoying his book...

v  Beware of roaming packs of Space Marines.

v  Why was Q*Bert unplugged? They never tell us why!

v  I get that DJ Hero was a thing and all, but... WHY?

v  So Pac-Man, Sonic, Skrillex, Some sun dude, A turtle named Glen from Frogger, A bartending Clown, Mario, some gram crackers, all the Nicelanders and Felix were invited to the party, but no one invited Ralph? They wouldn’t have a GAME without Ralph!

v  Why don’t Ralph and Felix move like the Nicelanders?

v  Gene is such a pompous asshole. Like, there’s absolutely no reason for it.

v  You mean to tell me in 30 years, no one’s even taken the time to get to know Ralph? Ralph is better off without the Nicelanders.

v  Gene, that was totally unnecessary.

v  I agree Felix, let’s just eat the cake.

v  Gene just makes the situation worse. Ralph should wreck him. Not that way.

v  Why are all the splatters pink? Shouldn’t they be multi-coloured?

v  I see a Space Invader!

v  Tapper has to be busy every night. Like, so many games, One bar game...

v  How did the Metal Gear Solid exclamation mark get into the lost and found? Metal Gear doesn’t have an arcade version...

v  Markowski’s callsign is “Hold Em!”. No seriously, his shoulder pad says his callsign.

v  Or it could be Ace, because all the cards are Aces.

v  You can see the port that Q*Bert would have been plugged into.

v  There is absolutely no way that Fix-if Felix JR. and Hero’s Duty would be plugged into the same power block. Not unless you want a shit ton of cables that cause a tripping hazard.

v  Why does Calhoun not wear the same uniform as everyone else?

v  Literally she’s more vulnerable because she has less protection.

v  Unless it’s coded that she can’t get hit by a Cybug.

v  The girl literally screams, but then seems not to care the next second. Wtf is with that?

v  Okay so I have a few beefs about Sugar Rush, but the main one this early in the movie is this:

As we learn later, the roster changes every day. This gives us a total of 9 racers per day, as it’s a

3x3 column. Remember this.

 v  The Nicelanders are all worried, it’s their fault that their game is Out Of Order.

v  They’re all surprised that Ralph Gamejumps. I would too if I was treated like dirt.

v  It took Ralph ALL DAY to climb the tower? It takes him maybe 3 seconds to climb to the top of the Niceland Tower. Nope, not buying it.

v  If Hero’s Duty is only the landing strip and the tower, with the drop off vehicle at the end of the landing strip, where do all the AI live?

v  What triggers all the eggs to hatch when the game starts?

v  Why are there stairs when the First Person Shooter AI-Bot thing has wheels? It won’t be able to make it up the stairs, unless they turn into a ramp.

v  Baby Cybugs are adorable.

v  Okay, Ralph just activated so many baby Cybugs. Why did they not hatch?

v  Sonic, you weren’t even hit by that, why did you lose your rings?

v  To think about it, why are there even escape pods at the top of Hero’s Duty? Is it so when it’s Game Over and they made it to the top of the tower, that the AI can escape?

v  Why does Sugar Rush have its name written in mint sticks?

v  Pocky Pussywillows. Yummy.

v  Who gave Sarah Silverman a microphone?

v  Why do Double Stripes break? There is no reason for anyone to know this except for Ralph’s inconvenience.

v  No, seriously, I’m hung up on this tree thing. Why in a game about racing is there a rule about not touching double-stripe tree branches? Unless it’s a part of a race track where you race through the trees or something and the track gives way under you if you go across a double stripe area...

v  When Ralph is hanging from the Double Stripe branch, why does it take so long to disappear?! The others were instant!

v  Okay so why are Hero’s Duty, Sugar Rush and Fix-it Felix JR. all plugged not the same extension? That’s impossible, since they’re all across from each other in separate sides of two isles.

v  Some of the Graffiti is hilarious, but I don’t think Arcade Games would know who Leroy Jenkins is. Or Aerith for that matter.

v  How can Burger Time be Now Playing, if the arcade is closed?

v  Where the hell does Calhoun hide that giant gun? Know what? Never mind, I don’t want to know.

v  Those FIFA guys keep walking around in the background in the same loop cycle.

v  14 of the Sugar Rush racers show up. If you look closely, most of the background ones are wearing the same thing – Parkas, Bows or hats with pig tails. Are they just bad re-skins of the same character, or all different characters?

v  Wouldn’t that get confusing to the gamers though? It’s the same character design but just a different colour.

v  The 9 racers of the day were: Rancis Taffyta, Blue Pigtails, Candlehead, King Candy, Pumpkinhead, Blue Parka, Snowcone hair and Green Bow. I’m going to guess that you can’t have more of the same “character” on the roster because that would confuse players, or would it?

v  Unless their all related.

v  What would players who have played Sugar Rush in other arcades think if they saw King Candy, if you know his story? Would they be like “Who the hell is King Candy? Where’s Princess Von Schweetz?”

v  What if you’ve never won a race? Are you just not allowed to race?

v  All the Racers names:

Taffyta Muttonfudge, Crumbelina Di Caramello, Gloyd Orangeboar, Adorabeezle Winterpop, Citrusella Flugpucker, Nougetsia Brumblestain, Sticky Wipplesnit, Minty Zaki, Snowanna Rainbeau, Rancis Fluggerbutter, Jubileena Bing-Bing, Swizzle Malarkey, Candlehead, Vanellope Von Schweetz and King Candy.

 v  Looking at the names, none of the racers could be related in any way, so why are half of them just reskins of the other half?!

v  Who names their kid Rancis?! No seriously, check the scoreboard, it says his name is Rancis, not Francis.

v  If Vanellope is really a glitch, why would her picture appear next to her name? Wouldn’t it be a placeholder icon? Or wouldn’t her name be all glitch?

v  Someone didn’t lock up the narrators memories.

v  Why is there a random cupcake standing on a pedestal like that? It makes no sense.

v  Police Brutality.

v  Taffyta, his name is RANCIS, not Francis. Get it right.

v  How does King Candy know who Ralph even is? Vanellope didn’t know who he was, but if it isn’t obvious that there’s something up with him...

v  More Police brutality.

v  Ha ha, Disney bought Star Wars just to use Darth Vader’s breathing noises.

v  Okay, so if Vanellope is at the Junkyard “fixing” her cart, why doesn’t she make one out of the thrown-out carts instead? There’s wheels, full carts with no engines; so all she’d need is an engine to go.

v  Only 10 of the racers show up, so one of each duplicate racer can come gang up on Vanellope’s car.

v  Wtf is Snowanna’s car even supposed to be? (Snowconehead)

v  At least Vanellope gets Rancis’s name right.

v  Why are they so offended with her car?

v  Who died and made Taffyta Queen of the Racetrack? Oh right.

v  Why is there a broken stoplight? Who killed the stoplight?!

v  That Jawbreaker split really cleanly...

v  Felix, seriously? You are so dense that you can’t see that something is wrong?

v  Turbo Time was next to Fix-it Felix JR..

v  How does Turbo hitting the car a cause for a glitch-out? It makes no sense.

v  And even so, when we learn what happens to Turbo, how did he game-jump for so long without anyone knowing?

v  How does Felix know what Laffy Taffy is?

v  Why is he Fix-it Felix JR. when his uniform just says Felix?

v  Why does his hammer work outside the game?

v  He totally can’t hold her, he’s not even half her size.

v  How DID the Cybug survive the Candy Swamp anyway?

v  How does one enter the Make Your Kart mini-game?

v  Does Sugar Rush have a Make Your Own Racer area too? That would be better than the 4000 different reskinned characters.

v  There is NO WAY that Kart would come out looking like that, from THAT mess. Nope, not happening.

v  Is it like in real racing arcades where you can create a profile, put in your secret code and keep playing from last time?

v  Why is there a Nutrition Facts label in the Security Office?

v  Get it? Their Bear Claws. That’s why they’re C.L.A.W.

v  Hidden Mickey!

v  There is no way that Ralph and Vanellope are faster than King Candy and the cops.

v  Wouldn’t King Candy know about the hidden passage?

v  How does Vanellope know the lollipops are sugar-free?

v  Mentos agreed to this.

v  Wouldn’t broiling hot diet coke smell really bad? It sure tastes bad.

v  Where do the other kids live in Sugar Rush? The trailer park or? We don’t see a village or houses or anything...

v  How many different tracks are there in Sugar Rush anyway? We see at least three – the unfinished bonus level, the one the kids race on, and the one at the end of the movie.

v  Why did Vanellope look around her dashboard for the start button? She literally has only ONE button on her dash! The rest are lights!

v  Why would Racing be the only thing that Vanellope still has in her code? Wouldn’t King Candy have taken that out too?

v  Why is the Contra code something in an Arcade?

v  I don’t think Sugar Rush was made by Nintendo.

v  I don’t think it was even on the NES, not with those graphics.

v  Why is King Candy’s profile so much bigger than everyone elses? Is it because racers think he’s a super rare character or something?

v  Technically, wouldn’t he glitch out because, he’s not from Sugar Rush?

v  Great example of PTSD.

v  Why does Felix refer to Ralph as his friend? He hasn’t done anything to warrant calling Ralph a friend!

v  When did Vanellope have the time to make Ralph the cookie medal?

v  Why did King Candy return to where he last saw Ralph and Vanellope anyway?

v  If King Candy took the medal out of the pot, wouldn’t the game glitch and Vanellope be unable to race? Technically she bought her way in with the game thinking the medal was a coin, so why not?

v  According to King Candy, Sugar Rush is next to Dig Dug.

v  King Candy knows a lot about what happens when a game is unplugged. Was that the fate the twins had when Turbo Time was unplugged or? Did Turbo just sadistically watch his game get unplugged and watch the twins glitch out trying to get out?

v  How can Ralph hold onto Vanellope when she glitches?

v  Vanellope is seen glitching off the tree, why doesn’t she just glitch off before Ralph breaks the kart?

v  Wouldn’t Ralph have seen the other Nicelanders in Game Central Station when he was heading back to Fix-it Felix JR.?

v  Why did Gene stay behind? To shove it in Ralph’s face?

v  Gene, he seriously wanted friends and you’re just being an asshat. Good riddance.

v  When Ralph looks to Sugar Rush (Which brings back the question: HOW ARE THEY PLUGGED IN THR SAME POWER BLOCK?!), we see Vanellope in a racing-style outfit. Why don’t we ever see her in this outfit?

v  We also see her driving her actual kart, wouldn’t that tip Ralph off that King Candy isn’t driving the right kart, since he drives Vanellope’s original kart, with added horns and flags?

v  How was King Candy able to lock up memories?

v  How does Sour Bill know how to fix Vanellope’s code? Wouldn’t he have forgotten, or King Candy forced him to forget?

v  Oh hey, I forgot Calhoun was in this still.

v  Calhoun’s GPS sets off the Cybug’s eggs, so why did Ralph touching them with his foot earlier only set off one and not the whole gang?

v  Felix, you hit the broken bar with your hammer. Bar repaired and strengthened itself. You didn’t touch it; you hit it with a hammer.

v  Try using your fists next time.

v  It took 30 years, almost drowning in chocolate milk mix, and being imprisoned for Felix to finally realize what Ralph goes through every day.

v  That “Bad Girl” sign was awfully specific.

v  “Glitch Proof” but what if it’s not actually a glitch?

v  Wow, it took them like 4 hours to clean up the starting track.

v  Hah, she burned out at the start line.

v  Why is there, excluding King Candy, only one male racer?

v  They stole item blocks from Mario Kart. Quick Nintendo, sue them!

v  Who let Candlehead put fire on her kart?!

v  Cybugs are Asexual reproducers.

v  Who is the stupid racer who is only like 10 feet from the start line? Like, really?!

v  How did King Candy know about the secret road?

v  How could no one figure out King Candy was Turbo? Like, wouldn’t he have been missing for a while and wouldn’t people wonder what happened to him after he game jumped?

v  As many have theorized before: Vanellope’s glitch isn’t actually a glitch, it’s an ability, since she can use it at will even at the end of the movie.

v  Why did the sky suddenly go dark? Having Cybugs appear wouldn’t magically change the skyline, unless they ate the code for day.

v  Why would Turbo’s Cybug body looks totally different than any other Cybug? Is it because he’s a “virus” or a Glitch in the game?

v  That was incredibly selfish of you, Ralph.

v  Fucking Bad Guy Affirmation. Tissue time.

v  Okay, I get this is a super emotional scene and I admit to crying in the theater when I saw it, but who’s car did Vanellope steal? Why didn’t she glitch hers out of the crash and go after Ralph with her own?

v  I get the cola is broiling hot but that wouldn’t destroy the Cybugs, would it? In Hero’s Duty, the Beacon is like a bug zapper. This is just hot cola.

v  Why are Ralph and Vanellope drenched? Before, the chocolate didn’t work like that.

v  Why does Vanellope’s code have her hair like she’s had it during the  movie (in a pony tail), and on the side of the box (still in a pony tail), but when she’s Princess Vanellope, her hair is in a bun?

v  I love you, Calhoun.

v  Would racers at Litwak’s Arcade think Vanellope is a super secret unlocked racer or something, because she would have never been seen before?

v  She can still glitch, so there has to be a reason for that in that it’s her special power.

v  So, why are the Nicelanders nice to Ralph at the end of the movie? Did Felix talk to them or something? Why? It makes no sense!

v  Zombie smiling is weird.

v  Wouldn’t the Q*bert guys glitch out or something in Fix-it Felix JR.?

v  Isn’t it taboo to wear the same wedding dress?

v  Wait, why would the racers get coins? At the end, Vanellope gets a trophy. Where do the coins come from?

v  Was it the surge protector responsible for all that graffiti?

v  Doom/Wolfeinstein-Style Hero’s Duty. Okay.

v  Ralph is overkill in destroying the car come on man.

v  Felix looks weird in 64-bit.

v  Look at all the Medals they left behind! There’s no way that between the four of them, they didn’t get all the medals.

v  Overall, Wreck-it Ralph took place over the span of approximately two days. (“I’ll get someone to look at it tomorrow, but if he can’t fix it, it may be time to put ol’ Ralph and Felix out to pasture, like my Nana!” – Mr. Litwak). One of those days, Calhoun is in Sugar Rush trying to find Ralph with Felix; who did she leave someone in charge of Hero’s Duty – Like Cohut? – or?

v  See Timeline of Events to understand that one.

v  Q*bert!

[salty-dracon]

SaltyDracon’s review of World’s End Club. (Spoilers inside)

TL:DR- This game has a fantastic cast and wonderful character moments, as well as the crazy story twists that Uchikoshi is known for. There’s a reason for just about everything in this game, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating at points.

I’ll be honest, AI: The Somnium Files would have been a 8/10 game for me, but the poor writing given to one of the game’s main characters (Iris) knocked it down to a 6/10. As a writer myself I’m pretty sensitive to obvious favoritism given by the writers to a particular character, and Iris was definitely on the receiving end of that favoritism. So I was pretty afraid that any WEC character would have the same treatment.

Nope! All of the characters in World’s End Club are fantastic, and all of them are treated fairly by the narrative. Even some of the more “irritating” characters, like Kansai and Chuko, still ended up being lovable, and the entire cast meshed well enough that none of the characters felt strictly out of place. This included Yuki, who by the end of the game was basically a member of the Go-Getters Club herself.

That being said, there are certain moments that really felt out of place or surprisingly cruel in context. For example, the part where everyone was ragging on Pochi for “doing nothing” the whole trip, after he fixed the freaking train.

One of the biggest twists thrown at you towards the middle of the game is that Pochi has the ability to communicate with you, the player, and that you are “communicating” with each of the characters. This fourth wall break is one I felt was handled relatively well. There are plenty of games where the fourth wall break exists just to make the player feel bad (Undertale) and others where it’s used as a joke or a shoutout (Nexomon Extinction) and yet others where the fourth wall is represented by something else entirely (the entire Zero Escape series, AI: The Somnium Files). I’ve seen too many of the first kind (mostly horror games) to really enjoy fourth wall breaks, so I was happy that this one was tackled with a more positive note. 

Most of the other twists were handled well, like Vanilla’s status as a ghost, Reycho being a robot controlled by Pochi, Pochi being a robot made by MAIK, MAIK’s plans and end goals, and Vanilla’s status as not actually a ghost. Some towards the end felt a little ham-fisted though, like Yuki being a part of MAIK, Reycho being self-aware, and Pochi being a failed “clone” of MAIK. Some I felt were not, like basically everything with Niyan. I would have liked to see Jennu and Kansai bond more over that whole thing.

Some plot points were marred by some ridiculous deus ex machina. What even was the POINT of having Yuki’s amygdaclear cooking KO the cast, and then the cast using Lifeguard to get better again? A product placement? That’s all I can think of, because it was so dumb. So were the three override keys as the final place you get to use all of the characters’ powers- it felt like a ham-fisted “finale” plot point.

I’m trying to find words for how bad the platforming was, but I can’t find any. Nonsensical hitboxes, badly telegraphed attacks, and confusing physics, not to mention that the character you controlled had literally only 1 hp, all contributed to one of the worst platforming experiences I’ve ever had. Box pushing and box pulling are pretty basic as far as platforming goes (and every character could do that). None of the levels felt like puzzles either, they felt like straight progression. The only exception is the Osuta Temple puzzles, which I actually really enjoyed, and I wish there were more like it.

I think what irks me about this specifically is that the platforming could have been so GOOD and so much FUN, but it felt like the platforming segments from Sonic Boom instead. In Sonic Boom, each character had a different power, but those powers couldn’t be used in conjunction with each other. WEC had a platforming section like that only once (the factory in Nagoya, where Reycho and Tattsun worked together to trap the tall robot) which was pretty awesome, but it’s by no means the whole game. I would have loved it if there were more levels requiring each character to use their powers in conjunction, such as Reycho throwing objects to Kansai, or Pai and Nyoro using their powers to get through an area filled with enemies together.

Or hell, just fix the hitboxes. Or give us more HP! Why does the yeti get 3 HP and I get killed instantly by a 3 foot long roly-poly? Well, I guess there’s an implied in-game explanation for that, even if we don’t get it till the second playthrough.

Both the Japanese and English dub cast were fantastic. The translation, however, was inconsistent. (Why did this game shadow-drop on iOS early again? I feel like it messed up so much.)

Shoutout to the final boss’s design, because holy shit that was cool! Cubes with random animal parts? CUBES WITH RANDOM ANIMAL PARTS?! SO COOL!

----------

So, who would I recommend this game to? Just about anyone who’s looking for a fun, casual game with good characters. While the game’s platforming is atrocious, it’s not impossible, and with a bit of thinking and good timing you should be able to get through most of the levels in less than 5 tries. The game is very forgiving with death, which helps. The game is clearly aimed towards 16+, but it’s generally a very lighthearted and happy one, so if you don’t mind a few crazy twists it’s worth picking up.

Who wouldn’t I recommend this game to? Anyone expecting a Danganronpa or Zero Escape experience. This game is NOT a Danganronpa-like or Zero Escape-like, it’s something entirely new and entirely different. It’s more a lighthearted power-of-friendship story with a few WTF moments.

In short, World’s End Club is a game that didn’t make me feel anything more than gamer rage at bad platforming, surprise at a few crazy twists, and love for the fantastic cast and the conversations they had with each other. But hey, if that’s what you’re looking for in a game, it’s worth picking up.

[mobius-prime]

183. Sonic the Hedgehog #115

Meanie in a Bottle

Writer: Benny Lee Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Jason Jensen

So I haven't really been mentioning them, but in lieu of the intro pages that older issues had, lately most issues have begun instead with a full-page illustration relevant to the story content. This one is no different, except that instead of depicting something that actually happens within the issue, it reimagines Sonic as Aladdin, which is honestly very cute. The actual plot of the main story does involve a genie, but it's a very silly story, a rare thing nowadays. Fittingly, Art Mawhinney is the artist, since his style is very cartoony, but weirdly enough, we've actually got ourselves a new colorist for this issue, one Jason Jensen. I have to say, his coloring style is probably the most interesting and dynamic we've seen so far, and while it looks lovely with its more complex shading and somewhat more realistic colors, the style ultimately kind of suffers from being paired with Art's pencils. Don't get me wrong, Art isn't a bad artist by any means - how could he be, with a name like that? - but his style just clashes weirdly with Jason's colors, making for kind of a jarring combination. But enough of that, onto the story! Sonic is playing fetch with the roboticized Muttski near a lake when he accidentally throws the stick into the water. Muttski obediently jumps in after it, and Sonic, worried for his dog's safety, leaps in after him.

I find it a little interesting, his comment about hating water and the implication that he can't swim. After all, throughout the entirety of the comic 'verse so far, Sonic's and Knuckles' swimming skills have kind of been swapped, with Sonic being a decent swimmer who enjoys a nice dip in the summer, and Knuckles being the one who can't swim and is afraid of water. It seems they're finally trying to align Sonic's swimming skills with that of his game counterpart, but after so many issues depicting him swimming without a problem, it's kind of a weird, sudden loss of ability. Anyway, as soon as he grabs the bottle, it shoots him and his dog safely to the surface of the water. Upon opening the bottle, a genie shoots out, and Sonic excitedly asks if this means he gets three wishes. The genie seems annoyed by this question, and decides to give him a little "present" anyway before flying away, zapping both him and Muttski at the same time.

Sonic realizes in shock that he has quickly run out of energy while Muttski bounds ahead, and gets a checkup from Dr. Quack, who confirms his worst fears - the genie straight up swapped his and Muttski's speeds, making Sonic an ordinary runner and Muttski a supersonic robot dog. Man, what is it about this comic loving to take away Sonic's speed through random happenstance? You'd think he'd kind of be used to it by now. He dejectedly, over the next few days, tries to figure out how to control his dog, who is now racing all across Knothole at ridiculous speeds and even offering some speedy help to people in need. After a few days of these shenanigans, Sonic and Muttski are once again playing a game of fetch in the forest, when Sonic spots the same genie floating around nearby and sics Muttski on him. Muttski swallows the genie whole, because it's the best way to keep him from running (flying?) away, and Sonic promises to let the genie back out if he gets his three wishes, to which the genie irritably agrees.

Wait, Sonic! Are you serious? That's your final wish? First of all I actually kind of find it funny that his wishes in this issue were very similar to the ones at the end of Secret Rings, in that he basically uses the first two as a fix-it for all the stuff that's happened over the course of the story and uses the final one to re-trap the offending genie back into its prison, but second of all, don't you think that third and final wish could be better used on, say, world peace or something? Maybe a guaranteed defeat of Egg… man… hey, wait a second, guys! Has anyone noticed the conspicuous lack of Eggman in the past few issues? I mean, I know his city got blown up pretty hard back in StH#110, but this is a Robotnik we're talking about. He's kind of known for coming back from seemingly certain death to torment the world time and time again. No one seems concerned at all with making absolutely sure that he's gone, but I have a feeling that the destruction of Robotropolis isn't the end of Eggman's story…

The Spaz Sketchbook

Writer/Pencils: Spaz

So here we've got something quite interesting! This isn't actually a story, but rather a collection of concept art by Patrick Spaziante, for various characters and machines of issues past, scrapped concepts that never made it into print, and even a few sketches for some upcoming stories! Unfortunately I can't just post every page here - that would be way too many pictures - but they're free to look at on the Archie Sonic wiki for those who are interested in viewing the full thing. I've decided to only include a couple things here, being sketches that I found the most interesting. First up we have a concept for Rob o' the Hedge that was ultimately scrapped in favor of making him look… well… exactly like Sonic.

Seriously, this design is so much more interesting! I mean, sure he kind of still looks like a recolored Sonic OC with a few details changed to make him stand out, but let's face it, that's what basically every hedgehog looks like in the Archieverse. As it stands, this design is way more unique-looking, and has much more visual interest than just making him a slightly lighter-colored Sonic clone.

A few pages in, we have what looks like a large, segmented train of sorts, which has its description box blocked out with a large "CAUTION: SPOILER INFO" sticker plastered over it. There's obviously relevant text behind it, but only a couple of words at the beginning and end show through, giving us a tantalizing glimpse at something that might come up here in a few issues. There's some references to a scrapped arc that takes place on Mobius twenty years in the future that depicts an older, redesigned Knuckles and Julie-Su - hmm, wonder if we'll ever see anything come of that eventually? - and then some pages devoted to plans for a manga-style alternate universe that never saw the light of day, due to the Sonic Super Special series being cancelled.

I include these mostly because they're really cute! I mean, the series has already been going in a much more anime-inspired direction with its art as of late, so it's interesting to see how that has been an inspiration for the art team for quite a while, even before Ron Lim and Steven Butler started really Nihon-ing it up. We conclude with a final page in which every sketch's text is completely spoilered out, but we can take our best guess at what the art depicts just from looking at it.

Two of those designs are pretty obviously Mecha Sonic and a new Mecha Tails, meaning we might be seeing those two get roboticized sometime in the near future. As for the other robots, given their unique designs, we can safely assume that we're looking at roboticized versions of Flying Frog, Lightning Lynx, and Predator Hawk. The top left robot is a little more ambiguous, but I just cheated and looked at the wiki, which informed me that it's a roboticized Drago. Man, how did this big ol' string of roboticizations happen, huh? It's almost like Eggman might not be truly gone…

Ultimate Power (Part Two)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Jensen

So, we can pretty safely assume that Mammoth Mogul is up to no good. Harry drops him off at the hospital in Echidnaopolis just as Lien-Da leaves the building, and he walks in, gloating in the doorway over his former enemy lying so helplessly in the middle of all the life support gear.

It's kind of amazing how in the span of barely over a dozen issues, Penders has managed to take Dimitri from a hated villain that we're certain wants to conquer the world, and rebrand him as a tired, ancient old man just trying to do the best for his people using the only means he knows. These issues have really given a much different perspective on Dimitri that we've never seen before, painting him in a much more sympathetic light and even making us root for him in some respects. After all, I know I certainly don't want him to die here, and more and more it seems like the real danger within the modern Legion is Lien-Da, with a whole hidden agenda of her own.

Unaware of the brewing catastrophe, Knuckles, Julie-Su, and the Chaotix are hanging out in a park, generally enjoying the time they have together. Knuckles explains to everyone how his fur color changed from Rad Red to Gross Green, and demonstrates some of his newfound powers by producing a bouquet of flowers from thin air, much to Julie-Su's delight. I can't say she's the type of girl who I would have expected to be so happy with flowers, but hey, I can see her maybe being touched by a gesture that's so normal, in contrast to her messed-up past. Knuckles sobers the mood up, however, by saying that he really needs to go see his father about his powers, which begs the question of why he hasn't done so before now, and leads everyone away to the Brotherhood's new, temporary place of residence, what with Haven being wrecked and all. In the Legion's own secret base within Echidnaopolis, Lien-Da converses with what appears to be her assistant, Gae-Na, about Dimitri's state of being. The base appears to be small-time, something Lien-Da has had recently set up by a few loyal underlings of her own without Dimitri's knowledge, as she discusses that if the echidna's main council votes to not go through with reunification she's ready to go through with her "backup plan." Knuckles and co. enter the temporary Brotherhood base, noting how run-down it seems in comparison, but upon heading into the main room they're met with a nasty shock on screen…

Well, I'm sure nothing but good things will come of this…

[reflections-of-mobius]

"If you've got time to worry, then run!"