#Shennanigans abound!

[theoriginalladya]

As Luck Would Have It (update) - Day 5 - Afternoon, Part 2

Summary: What do a mini-Irish invasion, a murdered leprechaun, and an old flame have in common? Joker’s not amused by any of them.

~~~

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Male Shepard & Kaidan Alenko, Male Shepard & Abby Williams, Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Steven Hackett/Karin Chakwas, Steve Cortez/James Vega, Jack|Subject Zero/Samantha Traynor

Characters: Caleb Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Tadhg Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Niamh Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Kaidan Alenko, Karin Chakwas, Steven Hackett, Samantha Traynor, Jeff "Joker" Moreau, John Shepard, EDI, Ashley Williams, Zaeed Massani, Steve Cortez, James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Bakara - Eve, Urdnot Grunt, Urdnot Wrex, Kasumi Goto, The Illusive Man - Jack Harper, Jacob Taylor, Kelly Chambers, Rahna, Brigit O'Halloran (OC), Jack|Subject Zero

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hallmark Movie AU, St. Patrick's Day, Past Relationship(s), Green Beer, bartending, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Shenanigans

Series: The Town of Norman

Chapter 15: Day 5 - Afternoon, Part 2

Excerpt:

“If it helps,” John said, “I’m pretty sure Joker had that planned out before the big leprechaun was sabotaged.”

Kaidan thought about it.  “...No.  I don’t think that’s gonna help.”

“Caleb is not so easily appeased?” John asked with a grin.

“Caleb might be,” came a voice from their left.  “Why does he need to be appeased?”

John turned to look at their town’s newest temporary resident as Kaidan sat up.  Caleb, wearing a suspiciously cooperative dark green shirt under that omnipresent jacket, was walking up to them.

He held up a pair of water bottles like a peace offering.  “Thought you might want these.”

“Are you running a delivery service as part of your bar?” John asked lightly as Kaidan snagged one of the bottles.

“No,” Caleb said, just as airly.  “I just know how Kaidan gets in a crowd.  And it’s always good to stay hydrated.”

He gave John a funny look at the energy behind his laugh, and not for the first time, John wondered if he shouldn’t put more effort into making sure Caleb and Garrus met before the man had to go back to Ireland.  It’d be one more way to make sure the guy remembered Norman.

He’d fly over there himself if Caleb didn’t call every few months.

~~~

Read Full Chapter || Read from the Beginning || Read Series

Spotify Playlist

What started as an offer to lend out my Irish Shepard, Caleb, for some St. Patrick's Day shenanigans has turned into a full blown collaborative effort with @happychica, and I couldn't be more delighted! Thank you, my friend, for allowing Caleb, Tadhg, and Niamh into your sandbox to play! This has turned into such an amazing adventure, and we've only just gotten started! And huge thanks to @screwyouflightlieutenant for the fabulous commercial breaks! (I love these soooooooooo much!)

[hannah-writes]

Maribel, body swap, 3 sentence

When she blinks, it’s to the sound of Liz’ voice overhead, her words thick and fast and washing over her head like water; she frowns and pushes herself up with Liz’s support and the first thing she notices is that she feels different. 

“Maria,” Liz is saying, looking right at her, a hand catching the side of her face to turn her head, “Maria, it’s gonna be okay, we don’t know what happened but you blacked out and-”

She interrupts, feeling a creeping horror crawling along her skin as she registers the emptiness of her mind where Max and Michael are supposed to sit, the peripheral awareness of the people around her in a similar-but-different way, the colour of her hands, the weight of her clothes, the pendant around her neck that she grips tightly and has to resist yanking off because it won’t hurt her. Liz is saying Maria’s name again and she turns her head, meets Liz dead in the eye and says, “I’m not Maria.”

[bsaka7]

Something else missing in the maxiel literature (as you correctly pointed out) is edibles fic. there’s BARELY any drug use fics which I actually love, but within that subsection there’s like……… almost no edibles fics :(

literally!!!! where's the subgenre of daniel shotgunning max huh!!!! you cannot look at daniel and tell me that man does not love a good blunt lol. truly i also love edibles so of course i also love this ask. offseason shennanigans COULD & SHOULD abound!!! u could do so much with just. laughter i think. unfortunately and frankly i do not have any particularly fun ideas on this despite how much i like the idea!!

[operationrainfall]

Title Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes Developer Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. Publisher Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. Release Date January 18th, 2019 Genre Action Platform Nintendo Switch Age Rating M for Mature 17+ – Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence Official Website

Let me clarify something really quick. Travis Strikes Again is NOT No More Heroes 3. That was my initial assumption, and it’s important that those of you reading this understand the difference. See, Travis Strikes Again is a gaiden game, and that shows in many ways. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very much No More Heroes, and is pungent with that insane musk the series is known for. Suda51 has crafted an entry that often defies expectations and regularly defies logic. But in some ways, it’s very much the first of its kind. The question then, is if that’s a good thing? And more importantly, does Travis Strikes Again make up for the nine-year hiatus since the Wii?

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Travis Strikes Again starts with an epic cutscene that I’m sure most of you have already seen. Badman, the father of the murderous, bat-wielding Bad Girl, wants revenge on Travis for her death. He hunts him down, and finds Travis roughing it in his outdoor trailer. Banter is exchanged, winks are made at the audience, and then things get especially weird. Apparently, at some point Travis found a nigh impossible to locate game console called the Death Drive Mk II. Think the Virtual Boy combined with VR and you’re on the right track. Somehow the game machine suddenly comes to life and sucks both Travis and his assailant into a strange game world, and thus begins our story.

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In the first world, Electric Thunder Tiger II, Travis quickly finds out that the Death Drive games are all full of dangerous bugs, who are all out to kill you. The system itself was created by an ahead of her time genius, Dr. Juvenile. Not only does her system draw in the players, but there’s also a myth about the game cartridges, called Death Balls. By collecting six of them, the owner can have their dearest wish granted. If that sounds familiar, then just wait, cause Travis Strikes Again has a shit ton of references to popular culture, from anime to other video games and much more.

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While I was drawn in quickly by the opening sequence, once you beat the first world the plot meanders unexpectedly. Badman was initially hellbent on murdering Travis, but after they both come out of the game, it seems things have changed. The game doesn’t really address this change of heart, mind you, and you’ll see Badman wandering the trailer between stages. Though his presence does serve a functional purpose for co-op, his sudden lack of menace really hurts the urgency of the story. It wasn’t clear to me what exactly was happening, and it isn’t til much later that it seems apparent Travis and Badman are suddenly working together. It’s possible I missed something in the copious amount of dialogue in the game, but if not this sudden shift was puzzling. Thankfully, while the story in no way is actually about Travis vs Badman, the other tangents it goes on are pretty interesting by themselves.

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Each of the Death Ball titles is a reference to popular culture’s past. For example, Life is Destroy starts off with a bloody sequence that made me instantly think of Night Trap. Another, Golden Dragon GP, has vector graphics that strongly reminded me of Tron. They all have their own vibe, and that goes double for the epic Archive material about them. These materials are a nod to old Nintendo Power style magazine coverage, and feature commentary, art and even secrets that you can check out in each level. I was frankly stunned by how much work went into making a bunch of flavor text that the majority of gamers won’t even bother reading, though I’d say those gamers are missing out. The essential flavor of this game is one that embraces and parodies the video game phenomenon. I loved all the little nods to classics, both obvious and more esoteric.

My only real complaint is that the stages themselves don’t start offering really standout features until later in the game, about four stages in. Keeping in mind there are only six stages in the game, that was a bit of a letdown. Mostly because without unique aspects like Golden Dragon GP’s racing, stages mostly break down to ‘fight all the enemies, kill the boss, rinse and repeat.’ I guess part of my issue with the relative monotony of the experience is I have fond memories of the NES-styled minigames from No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. The amount of diversity in those was really great, and though they could get frustrating, I enjoyed their inclusion. Which brings us to the combat in Travis Strikes Again, and how different it feels from the rest of the series. Note that I didn’t say worse, but it is worth covering how significant a departure it is from the first two games.

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More Travis on Page 2 ->

While the first No More Heroes games were action adventure games more in the vein of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, it would be easier to compare Travis Strikes Again to Gauntlet. You’ll wander forward, get gated in areas with enemies, and need to kill them to proceed. Don’t get me wrong, there are still recognizable features like how Travis “charges” his Beam Katana and flashy super attacks, but in every other way they are something different. For one thing, you have zero control over the camera now, and Suda likes to move it around to display the action in unique ways. Some stages will have a top-down view, others you’ll be able to see a more open area, and some function like 2D platformers. Another stark departure? There are no wrestling moves (well, almost), no blocking and no QTEs during regular combat.

Things have been stripped down in many ways, though perhaps not bad ones. Yes, I had fond nostalgic memories of the combat in the first games, but after watching them again, I realized something: there was a lot of unnecessary and frustrating elements to the combat before. I don’t miss playing around with the camera, I don’t miss blocking tons of attacks and I don’t miss the QTEs, but I do still wish there was a bit more nuance to combat here. You have a weak attack you can literally swing rapidly in succession, a heavy attack, jumping attacks, a dodge and that’s pretty much it. Beyond that, there is a feature where you fill up your katana charge meter and, when full, can unleash a massively powerful series of attacks, as well as skills. Skills are totally new to the series. As you progress, you’ll unlock skill chips, and can equip up to four to any of the directional buttons. By holding L and pressing a directional input, you’ll unleash the skill. There’s a wide range, from lightning blasts that stun foes to bombs that detonate after a set amount of time to a healing field and much, much more. Each of them has a cooldown until you can use them again, so it behooves you to use them sparingly and carefully.

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Point being, it probably doesn’t sound much like a No More Heroes game right now. And that’s both good and bad. While I did grow to enjoy the combat, it tends to get a little monotonous, at least for fighting regular enemies. The variety comes from the enemy diversity (there are a lot of different types) and playing around with your skill loadout. Another unique aspect is that Travis gains EXP and can use it to level up. Sadly, all that does is increase his ATK and HP. I really would have loved a skill tree or something similar. I also miss learning optional techniques in the first games. But having said that, there is one area where Travis Strikes Again truly feels like a Suda51 game: the epic boss fights. Though there are only six total, they each are dripping with style and creativity. From a teleporting serial killer to a old man in a wooden mech suit to a supernatural skeletal avenger, you won’t get bored with any of them. Best of all, they all battle very differently, which requires you to fight smart, pay attention to attack patterns and not rush in blindly. I tried hack-and-slash a couple times, and was always met with painful failure. While it goes double for the boss fights, all these tactics are also important for regular combat.

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You’d think this review was almost done, having covered the plot, style and combat, but there’s another area that I need to spend more time: the references. Earlier I talked about some of the popular culture nods, but I doubt you understand the extent of them yet. One example? Practically all of the T-shirts Travis can buy in this game are from indie games. Even some that aren’t out yet, like Wargroove. I had a blast rocking out with Bit. Trip. Runner, Hollow Knight and Dandara shirts, but there’s so many more. Despite having beaten the game, I still need more cash to purchase all of them, as there’s 60+. But that’s not all. Another area where you see Suda’s love for gaming is in the text-based interludes between stages. No, you didn’t hear me wrong. There are many sections where Travis rides on his Schpeltiger with his kitty Jeanne and searches for more Death Balls. These segments are completely linear, but god are they entertaining. All sorts of crazy cameos abound, such as Travis searching in a Romanian Castle for a certain Count, to characters popping in from The Sliver Case and The 25th Ward, to even more I’m afraid to ruin. Best of all, during these sections Jeanne is magically able to talk, and she’s one sassy feline, even for a fat cat. One of my favorite nods is whenever you boot up a Death Ball, and the Death Drive logo sounds, reminding me of Sega’s old tune. Point being, if you love fourth wall breaking shennanigans and referential nods to pop culture, Travis Strikes Again is chock full of it.

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As for the aesthetic design, for the most part I love it. There’s a purposefully grungy, old school vibe to the way every stage is presented. While it may seem primitive, I suspect it’s a completely intentional move on Suda’s part. After all, the Death Drive Mk II is supposed to be an old, esoteric game system, so why wouldn’t the stages on it look like old games? Having said that, there’s a lot of beautiful art in the game. While the bosses are all full of color and chaos, the enemies are also varied and strange. Going with the “death” theme, each of the bugs has a skull face, and their bodies can be wildly different. Some are humanoid, others have tentacles and some are gargantuan hulking beasts. I also loved the variety of art used in the game introductions, as well as the green-hued art in the Travis Strikes Again text segments. The one area I felt that the art fell short, however, was how small the character models generally were. Often that was due to the camera placement, but when comparing it to the older games, it was really striking. Musically, the game is a wonder. Each stage has their own tunes, and the sound effects are perfect. Travis grunts, swears and yells as he fights, which does a great job of conveying his intensity. While there is a bit less profanity than in previous games, there’s also less voiced dialogue. While unfortunate, again it makes sense given the focus of the game taking place in a old game system. After all, most older games didn’t have voice acting. Overall though, the art and music come together beautifully to represent this strange game.

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Most of my 14 or so hours with Travis Strikes Again were positive, but there are some areas I feel it could have improved. A more minor complaint is the load times. Frankly, they are way too long, lasting upwards of more than a minute. Another complaint regards the combat. Though it’s pretty simple, there is real satisfaction to be had when you’re going for a high score, since doing so requires smart dodging to retain your katana charge. The problem is that a couple of factors work against you: the camera placement and enemy aggression. If you take too much damage, you’ll lose your charge level, and many times I would get hit by a projectile from off screen doing just that. Later in the game, they introduce some rather aggressive foes, including one that fires a barrage of bullets at you. That same enemy also likes to rush you, pushing you into the corner, and attack you frenetically to keep you from responding. This made it very hard to retain my full katana charge for extended periods, and of course the game grades you on exactly that.

A similar complaint is that your chip attacks can be interrupted by enemies, and then you have to wait for them to recharge. This was beyond irritating, especially when the game gets super frantic later on (and I played on Mild). Also, apparently some skills don’t work on some enemies. Once I tried using my standby Wing Chip at a foe, which fires a paralyzing bolt of electricity, only for it to be unaffected. It would seem some foes have elemental protection to certain attacks, but given there’s no bestiary, I was never clear on that. And while this last one isn’t about something Travis Strikes Again does wrong, it is about something shockingly absent from the game: the gratuitous violence. I remember blood gushing, beheadings and all sorts of mayhem in the first games, but that’s barely present. Again, that may be an intentional thematic choice by Suda, but if so it was a bit perplexing.

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In the end, I did enjoy Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, but it felt like a placeholder until we get No More Heroes 3. It’s not all bad, and I did enjoy a lot of it, but when everything is coupled with a very perplexing ending, I wasn’t sure what to think. Thankfully, it’s pretty inexpensive at $29.99 for the digital version, and if you are a completionist, there’s a lot to do after you beat the game, such as finding secrets, buying T-shirts and getting better scores. I only managed to get one A in my time with the game, and many Cs and a couple Bs. If that wasn’t enough, a recent update added New Game+ and the Spicy difficulty, if you feel like a tough guy. And if you bought the physical version, you’ll be able to try out two DLC adventures in coming months (or pay for them individually digitally). Sure, the game didn’t go at all where I expected, and played rather differently from previous games, but it’s also a good reminder of the mad genius of Suda51. His capacity to constantly take risks and reinvent his games is impressive, even if it does occasionally provide mixed results. If nothing else, at least it seems likely we won’t have to wait too much longer for the next game…

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3.5″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

REVIEW: Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes Title Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

[theoriginalladya]

As Luck Would Have It (update) - Day 5 - Afternoon, part 1

Summary: What do a mini-Irish invasion, a murdered leprechaun, and an old flame have in common? Joker’s not amused by any of them.

~~~

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Male Shepard & Kaidan Alenko, Male Shepard & Abby Williams, Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Steven Hackett/Karin Chakwas, Steve Cortez/James Vega, Jack|Subject Zero/Samantha Traynor

Characters: Caleb Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Tadhg Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Niamh Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Kaidan Alenko, Karin Chakwas, Steven Hackett, Samantha Traynor, Jeff "Joker" Moreau, John Shepard, EDI, Ashley Williams, Zaeed Massani, Steve Cortez, James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Bakara - Eve, Urdnot Grunt, Urdnot Wrex, Kasumi Goto, The Illusive Man - Jack Harper, Jacob Taylor, Kelly Chambers, Rahna, Brigit O'Halloran (OC), Jack|Subject Zero

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hallmark Movie AU, St. Patrick's Day, Past Relationship(s), Green Beer, bartending, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Shenanigans

Series: The Town of Norman

Chapter 14: Day 5 - Afternoon, part 1

Excerpt:

Waiting for Adi to snag her low-five from the only tax accountant who had more tattoos than his cousin Pete, Kenneth froze at the sound of a man’s voice overlaying a woman’s laughter.

The voice, he didn’t recognize. But the accent.

The accent…

Swinging Adi up into his arms - much to her delight - Kenneth stomped over to the anticipated white plastic table. “You!”

The man was a few centimeters taller than him, his dark hair cut stylish. Bright blue eyes watched him over a politely curious smile. “Aye?”

Jamming a finger at the man, Kenneth said, with perhaps too much force. “You’re Irish.”

The man’s smile hitched a little higher as Adi pointed at him too, but with a smile of her own instead of Kenneth’s frown. “Aye.”

Swinging his finger around to indicate the crowd, Kenneth demanded, “Will you tell these bloody sods that I’m not.”

The man laughed, understanding immediately the grave and endless suffering every March brought, though he seemed determined to be in a better mood about it. “Are you suggesting the locals might not be able to tell us apart, Mr…?”

“Papa!” Adi said helpfully, patting the side of Kenneth's head. “I’m Adi!”

The man inclined his head. “Hello, Adi. Tá áthas orm bualadh leat.”

“He even speaks it,” Kenneth said as Adi returned Ms. Williams’ wave. He sighed. “I realize I can’t tell Boston from New York, but you’d think the name might give it away.”

~~~

Read Full Chapter || Read from the Beginning || Read Series

Spotify Playlist

What started as an offer to lend out my Irish Shepard, Caleb, for some St. Patrick's Day shenanigans has turned into a full blown collaborative effort with @happychica, and I couldn't be more delighted! Thank you, my friend, for allowing Caleb, Tadhg, and Niamh into your sandbox to play! This has turned into such an amazing adventure, and we've only just gotten started! And huge thanks to @screwyouflightlieutenant for the fabulous commercial breaks! (I love these soooooooooo much!)