#aaa! this was so much fun to write i had a blast

[strawmyberry]

thank u for the kyle tickle hcs... him being the most ticklish out of the m4 AND being weakest to light tickling is SO IMPORTANT TO ME

you get me anon!!! lee kyle is so cute!! so cute in fact- i got a little surpriseeee! thank you all so much for all the kind words on my first fic!! im so glad you guys liked it 🥹 soooo…here’s another one!! i hope you guys like it!! thanks again!!

— ❤️🍓 strawberry 🍓❤️

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

B for Broflovski!

Lee Kyle / Ler Stan

Word Count: 4,229

With Kyle panicking over the “horrible” grade he got on his History test, Stan puts a little extra effort into convincing him that “B” doesn’t always have to stand for “Bad.” In fact, to him, it stands for something a thousand times better.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Stan knew Kyle was a perfectionist. Kyle knew Kyle was a perfectionist. The entire town of South Park knew Kyle was a perfectionist; yet, somehow, despite that, Stan was never really prepared for when Kyle would have one of those days.

“It’s bullshit, dude! I’m telling you; it’s fucking bullshit! Mr. Garrison has some kinda’ personal vendetta against me. I fucking hate him! ‘Fucking asshole, it’s ridiculous!”

Stan had gotten used to walking quickly besides Kyle since Kyle had the tendency to walk and talk, especially when he was in a bad mood. Luckily for Stan, he was pretty good at keeping up.

“And Cartman? Oooh, ‘fucking Cartman? I’m going to kick his ass- I deal with a lot of shit from him. I take it! I suck it up and I take it! But this? I’m done. I’m going to shove my foot so far up his ass- I swear to god-“

Stan had tried a million strategies when it came to this issue, and he had found that the best thing to do was to let Kyle get all of it out of his system. Let him ramble, eventually he’d get tired of it. After that is when he’d be able to talk logically with his, figure out what to do next.

“The only reason he got an A was because he cheated off of Tolkien. But, of course, Garrison doesn’t see it! As if it’s not the most obvious thing in the world! It’s so fucking dumb dude, I seriously can’t- Ma, I’m home! Stan’s here too, we’re gonna go upstairs, okay?”

Okay, Stan had to admit, it was a little funny how Kyle’s rage was like an on and off switch when it came to his mom. He’d be cursing up a storm one second and the next he’d go all Positive Paul on him. He’d shout a quick hello to Kyle’s mom too, because…manners, before following Kyle up the stairs and into his room.

“It just- It pisses me off so much! It’s not fair- I studied so hard for that stupid test!”

Stan would place his backpack next to Kyle’s dresser. He’d proceeded to chase the redhead around his room a little bit, stopping his endless pacing for a second so he could take the backpack off his friend’s back. He’d plop it next to his own before throwing himself onto Kyle’s bed, already getting himself comfortable. Knowing Kyle, this could go on for…god know how long.

“I fucking hate South Park…”

Kyle loved to rant and rave, yeah. It always made him feel a lot better- since he was able to get all his anger out without punching a hole in his wall. But…he could only talk for so long without breathing. So, he’d take a small break, just so he could regain his breath. Kyle would turn back to Stan- only to see the position he was in.

Stan was laying in his bed. Yes- yes that’s what beds are for- but Stan was laying in his bed. Like, laying in his bed. Head amidst a sea of pillows, body sinking slightly into the soft mattress, limbs languidly sprawled across the bed; the whole works. “Oh- sorry, ‘you done?” He’d ask, his words muffled by all of the pillows around his head.

“Uh…no. Not yet. Sorry- I can stop if you’d like-“

“No! No, keep going. I’m all ears.”

“Ooookay…?” Kyle would nod, confused as hell. How long had he been like that? How didn’t he notice before? Why was he messing up his pillows? Well- now he couldn’t remember where he had left off. He’d stare at the bed post as his mind wandered, trying to retrace his steps. Oh! Yeah! Hating South Park!

“…I think today was stupid.” Kyle would start, starting the tirade off slowly. “Everything about it, yeah, but the changing seats thing was really stupid.” He’d continue, the momentum slowly picking up as he spoke. He was getting the hang of it again!

“I mean, I get the changing seats thing. But I told him! I said, “Mr. Garrison, please keep me next to Stan. He keeps me focused.” Which is true because you’re one of the only ones in class who isn’t a total moron. And even when you are- you don’t do it to annoy me- you just-“

“Wait. Uh-go back? …Why am I being called a moron? What did I do?” Sitting up from his extremely habitable position, Stan would raise his left eyebrow; his face laced with confusion. Stan would usually listen to everything Kyle had to say before talking, but that little comment about him just threw him for a loop.

“Huh? I’m not calling you a moron, dude.”

“Uh…you just did though?”

“Did I? Really?” A flicker of his own confusion would cross his face, accompanied by a subtle furrowing of his brow as he stood there for his moment. He’d tap his foot, humming a bit as he thought before it clicked. Kyle’s face would turn white. “Oh shit.” His eyes would widen, quickly holding his hands up in defense. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…I don’t think you’re a moron…sorry..”

“No, I know. It’s okay, man, really!” Stan would give a reassuring smile, letting the comment just slide off his shoulders. “You’re upset, dude, it’s all good.” Stan had gotten used to that too. Kyle was a very…passionate person- he’d go really big when it came to his rants. Stan knew better than to actually take offense to anything Kyle said when he was in one of those moods.

“Yeah…It’s just- maybe I get Garrison not putting us together because we’re Super Best Friends. I mean- I don’t really get it- but I could see the logic behind it. But, at the very least, he could’ve sat me next to someone who wasn’t a total asshole! Sit me next to Craig! He’s quiet! Or Tolkien! Tweek! Jimmy! Butters! I would’ve been fine with anyone! Anyone! Except, Cartman! And guess what happens! Guess who I get sat next to! Guess!”

Stan would nod along as he listened, staying sat up this time instead of going to lay back down again. He wouldn’t really notice he was supposed to answer the question at first. He thought it was rhetorical! After all, he was literally there. He saw all of this happen already. But…okay? He’d play along? “Uh…Cart..man?”

“Fucking Cartman! I’m pissed, but I’m like: “OK, whatever, I can deal with this, no big deal.” But then, I’m in the middle of the test- the test. ‘You know? The thing where you’re supposed to do your own work and shut the fuck up while you do it? And for some goddamn reason-he just won’t shut the fuck up! And I’m thinking: “Is it really that hard to just shut your fucking mouth for five seconds?” But, whatever, I studied for this test so I’m gonna get a good grade on it! Right? No! Fucking no! ‘Cause it’s let’s all dog on Kyle day! And I think his voice was just so fucking grating- I just forgot half of the shit that I studied! He fucked me! He literally fucked me!”

Man. Who needed TV? Who needed Assassins Creed, Indiana Jones, and Lego Batman when you had Kyle Broflovski as your super angry, Super Best Friend? He was basically free entertainment at this point! Stan’s eyes would follow Kyle around the room, and Kyle was moving so much it looked like Stan was watching a tennis match.

“-And you know what really upsets me? ‘You know what just irks me like just a little bit? The fact that I know I’m gonna have to walk in the school tomorrow, and Wendy is gonna come up to me-and she’s gonna be like, “Oh, Kyle! How did you do on the history test? I’m really happy with my grade!” And I’m gonna have to be like, “Oh yeah, Wendy! I’m sure you are!” And then she’s gonna rub it in my face like she always does-“

“What? Wendy doesn’t rub her grades in your face…” Stan would, admittedly, get a little defensive at that statement. This was his girlfriend they were talking about! And…well- she wasn’t here to defend her own honor like he knew she would’ve liked to- so he was gonna do it for her! “Wendy wouldn’t try to make you feel bad about yourself, Kyle-“ Stan would start to say, cutting himself off when Kyle randomly pointed his index finger at him.

“You know what’s funny? I knew you were going to say that!” Kyle would argue, his eyes lit with a combo of satisfaction and frustration. “I knew you were going to defend Wendy! You’re biased, Stan!”He’d accuse. “She rubs her grades in my face all the time! You just turn a blind eye to it because you’re biased!”

“What are you talking about? Dude, if anything, I’d be biased towards you. I’ve known you longer.” Stan would jump to defend himself, rolling her eyes as he did. “I’m sorry if she’s hurt your feelings, Kyle, but I’m sure there’s no bad blood there.” That was a bit of a half-assed apology. Again, Kyle was ranting- so Stan had no idea if he actually meant half of the shit he was saying. He just wanted to resolve the situation.

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure it’s not a big deal to you! You’re not the one who’s gonna be ridiculed for getting a B on the test!” Kyle would retort, crossing his arms as he huffed.

“I’m sorry…what?” Stan looked stunned. Staring at Kyle as if he had three heads, Stan would open his mouth to speak- just to cut himself off before he managed to say anything. He was trying to think of a nice way to put this. Really really hard. “…Run that by me again?”

“Don’t be an asshole! I got a B, okay?! It’s embarrassing- I know!”

“…Dude.” Stan would pinch the arch of his nose, letting out a long, irritated sigh. “That’s what this is about? Seriously?” He’d clarify. “…This whole time, I thought you had gotten an F- or, at the very best, a D. You got a B?” Stan wasn’t even mad, honestly. Actually, he was a little bit impressed. “Kyle…” At this point, Stan couldn’t help but laugh. There was no way this was actually happening. “A B is a good grade, dude. You have nothing to worry about.”

Now, Stan knew he was one to say stupid things sometimes- but this time, he could’ve sworn that what he said was actually a little bit smart. But the look Kyle was giving him? It almost made him doubt himself. Kyle was looking at him as if he had just said he puts milk in the bowl before the cereal. His jaw would drop, holding his hand out in front of him in shocked horror. “…You did not just say that to me.”

“Kyle, seriously, you’re wigging out over nothing!” Stan would try to explain, getting up from the bed. “You don’t need to beat yourself up over this. It’s just a B! A B is, what? …80%? That’s good! That’s really good!”

“I can’t believe you’re actually telling me this right now! You have to be shitting me! Do you even know what the B stands for, Stan?” Kyle would ask, the look on his face saying that he already knew the answer. “Do you? Do you, Mr. Isaac Newton? Care to enlighten me?”

“Jesus Christ…” Stan would grumble, rolling his eyes yet again. He’d stand there for a second, shrugging the question off. “…I dunno, brilliant?”

“Brilliant?” Kyle would repeat. “Brilliant?!” Kyle’s eye would twitch, as if Stan had just said the most absurd thing he had ever said. “No! It stands for BAD. Bad, Stan! B. A. D. Bad!”

“B doesn’t stand for Bad…” Stan would state. “F stands for bad.”

“Bad doesn’t start with a F, Stan!” Kyle would scream, frustrated. “B stands for Bad, Bummer, Buffoon- think of a word that starts with a B- nine times out of ten it’s a negative connotation! It’s the most obvious thing in the world!”

“I know that YOU’D be happy to get a B- but I’m perfectly valid in being upset about it! God!”

Ouch.

The air in the room was tense; and the silence that came after Kyle’s groan didn’t really help that. They’d stare at each other for a solid minute, waiting for the other one to say something. In that moment of stillness, Kyle had to opportunity to realize how mean what he said just sounded. In that moment, Kyle would brace for impact. He expected Stan to scream at him- or storm out the door and never come back. But…Stan didn’t do any of that.

Stan would take a deep breath. A long one. “…Okay.” He’d say, breaking the silence. “You need to chill out.” Kyle would open his mouth to apologize or, at the very least, give Stan a verbal agreement- but Stan would quickly cut him off.

“You broke Baseball Rules.”

Kyle’s eyes would widen. Shit. No. No- he didn’t. Did he? Oh god. No- he definitely did. Fuck! “…Y-You didn’t tell me we were playing Baseball Rules.” Kyle would hold his hands up in defense, backing up slightly.

“I don’t have to tell you when we’re playing Baseball Rules. That’s the whole point- we don’t have to repeat the rules, they’re just in place.” Stan would remind, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face. “You said three really fucked up things about me. Three strikes. You’re out. You broke Baseball Rules.”

Baseball Rules was a game created by Stan, a game that Kyle reluctantly participated in. The rules were simple, whenever the two were in an a little tiff, if either of them slung three insults in a row, they’d strike out.

Stan made the game in order to prevent the two from blowing up at each other, and it worked pretty well! But, admittedly, Baseball Rules wouldn’t be half as effective if it weren’t for what came after you struck out. That worked like a charm every single time.

“Stan, wait…” Kyle would try to reason, glancing behind him quickly to try to get an idea of how far he was from the door. Maybe he could run if he tried hard enough? “I’m sorry, dude…I don’t think you’re stupid, really-“

“I know you don’t!” Stan would cut Kyle’s apologizes short, stepping forward with the attempt of cornering him. “I’m not mad at you! But…rules are rules! If I let you get away with it this time- where do I draw the line, ya’ know? I’m sure you understand.”

Kyle would yelp at Stan stepping forward, quickly turning himself around to dash around him. “Just this once! I’m really sorry- I won’t do it again! I’m not upset anymore-“

“That’s great!” Stan would exclaim. “I’m glad you’re not upset anymore! But it’s the principle of Baseball Rules. I really wish I didn’t have to! I wanna let you off easy, really!” He didn’t. He knew he didn’t, Kyle knew that too. Just like how Stan knew Kyle well enough to know that he’d try to run around him; that’s why he’d turn as well, cornering Kyle officially.

“Stahahan!” Kyle would stumble backwards, his legs hitting his bed. He’d sink to the floor, already beginning to kick his legs. “It’s just a made up gahahame! Plehehease!”

“I’m not even touching you yet!” Stan would tease, wiggling his fingers right above Kyle’s hips. “I’ll go easy, okay?” He’d sink down right after him, sitting down in front of him.

“Noho! Nohot okahay! DohohOHOHON’T-“

“Don’t tickle your ears or your neck. I know, I know!” Stan would cut Kyle’s desperate pleas short, abruptly beginning to drill his fingers into his hips. “You’d think I’d know how to tickle my Super Best Friend. I can’t believe you’d think I wouldn’t! You cut me deep, Kyle.”

“That’s nohot-!” Kyle would shake his head, cutting himself off as he started to impulsively swing his arms in defense. Kyle was way too ticklish as it was, but Stan’s constant teasing was making it a thousand times worse.

“I knowww, that’s not what you were going to say. You were going to ask me not to tickle you, and…” Stan couldn’t keep the shit eating grin off of his face. “…you know I’m not gonna do that.” He’d laugh, fighting back the urge to make fun of how red Kyle’s face was.

“Stohohop ihihit! Plehehease, I’m sohohorry!” Kyle wouldn’t even last ten seconds before pleading for mercy. That was one of Stan’s favorite things about playing Baseball Rules, besides being able to hear Kyle’s laugh. That was always first on the list.

“I know you’re sorry! I forgive you!” He’d reassure, managing to dodge every punch Kyle threw at him. “Let’s do this, okay? You let me get a few words out, and then I’ll let you go, okay? I’ll stop tickling you once I’m done.”

Kyle wasn’t 100% sure how legit that offer was. Normally, Stan would stop when he wanted to- so it really depended on how merciful he was feeling on that day. For all Kyle knew, Stan could just say sike and keep going. But…at the same time, maybe he wouldn’t. If anything, he might as well take the bait.

“Okahahay okahahay!”

“Okay? Great!” Stan would smile, moving his hands from his hips to his sides, squeezing them as he began speaking. “I get that you like getting A’s. That makes sense- everyone likes getting them. But it’s okay to not get them sometimes. You shouldn’t be stressing yourself out about your grades, you’re doing an awesome job with them.”

“Buhut-“ Kyle would start, just to be cut off by Stan suddenly skittering his fingers against his ribs. “SHIHihihit!! Ohoh my goHOHOhod! Dohohon’t doHOHO thahahat!!” Kyle would squeal loudly, his eyes flying open as his kicking and punching intensified.

“I’m not done yet!” Stan would sing-song, poking in between each rib for each syllable. The shit-eating grin on his face would only grow as he continued. “As I was saying; you’re doing awesome, dude! I’m not saying you shouldn’t focus on your grades- i’m saying you shouldn’t stress yourself out about them.” Stan would clarify.

“Your grades don’t determine how smart you are. And, either way, you have some kick ass grades, dude! You are the smartest person I know, Kyle-“

“Thahahat’s nohohot trUHUHUE- OHOH MY GOHOHOD- FUHUHUCK OHohohoff!!”

Stan would jokingly roll his eyes at Kyle’s cackling, shaking his head softly. “I’m barely even touching you!” That was true, all he was doing was fluttering his fingers over his stomach. Of course, he knew how effective that was- he just chose to play dumb. ‘Made things more fun!

“It is so true.” Stan would insist, his tone genuine and honest. “…And if you even try to tell me I know Wendy, I’m gonna roll up your jacket. Don’t fuck with me.” He’d playfully threaten. “Wendy doesn’t count. Wendy- Wendy is different. That’s the thing- you guys are both smart. And we’re allowed to have two smart people in South Park. With the amount of morons we have- god knows we could use ‘em.”

“Kyle, I wouldn’t be calling you smart if you weren’t. You are so smart, dude! You know fucking Pig Latin! Do you know anyone else who knows Pig Latin?”

“YOHOHOU!” Kyle would retort, doubling over with laughter. “YOHohohou knohohow pihig lahatin tohohohoo!” He’d would swing at Stan’s face yet again, not expecting it to horrible backfire like it did. Stan would take the swing as an opportunity to snake his hands under his arms, quickly skittering his nails all over his armpits.

“Because you taught me it, Kyle!” Stan would exclaim, having to hold back his own laughter as Kyle shrieked. “You ran right into my point! You make me smarter! I would be a total moron if it weren’t for you! Do you know the amount of times I’m stuck on something and I think to myself, “What would Kyle do?” You’re a genius, dude!”

Maybe it was the fact that he was laughing so hard, or maybe it was the surplus of compliments Stan was dumping onto him. But, either way, Kyle was bright red; practically screaming with laughter as he tried to sink himself into the floor. An effort that was obviously in vain. His arms were slammed tightly down against Stan’s fingers in an effort to protect himself; of course, not even realizing until after the fact that it was having to opposite effect.

“S-STAHAHAHAHAN!”

“Okay, okay I’m almost done!” Stan would quickly say, yanking his hands out from under Kyle’s arms; moving them back to his stomach, lightly skittering his fingers again. “All of this is to say- you’re being too hard on yourself! You are more than a grade you get on a test- putting aside the fact that a B is already a good grade!

“And- you know what? B doesn’t stand for Bad!”

And with that, Stan would still his fingers. The two of them would sit there, Kyle immediately noticing how Stan didn’t seem to be making any attempt of getting up. He’d still be giggling from the aftermath, eyeing Stan up and down expectingly.

“…One more thing.”

Of fucking course!

“…What does B stand for, Kyle?”

Oh shit. Shit. He was fucked. The truth of the matter was Kyle had no clue. It obviously wasn’t Bad. But…he didn’t really know what answer Stan wanted from him. From the expectant look on Stan’s face, he obviously already had an answer in mind. Kyle would think long and hard, searching every crevice of his brain in the hopes that somehow, someway, the answer would magically come to him.

“…Beheheautiful?”

“Ohhh…that’s a good one..” Stan would say in mock amazement, beginning to turn; as if he was about to get up. Kyle would let out a sigh of relief, thanking the universe for sparing him this time. The funny thing about that, though? He wasn’t. Stan would swiftly turn back around, making a buzzer noise to signify that Kyle had gotten the wrong answer before blowing a quick raspberry on his neck.

It all happened so fast, Kyle didn’t even have time to say anything- the only thing that left his mouth was a screech; jolting so hard that he yanked himself away from Stan, falling onto his side. He’d quickly scrunch his neck, along with covering it with his hands.

Kyle was too busy giggling on the floor to realize that Stan had gotten up, walked back over to Kyle’s backpack, and came back with his water bottle. He’d sit next to him, offering his hand to help him up. Kyle would hesitantly take it, a relieved sigh escaping him as Stan pulled him up- no strings attached.

“Broflovski.”

“Whahahat?”

Kyle would raise his eyebrow with giggly confusion. Stan had never referred to him by his last name. They were strictly on a first name basis! Stan would return the confused look with his own confused look. After a few seconds, his eyes would widen as he realized why Kyle looked so confused. He’d shake his head, beginning to chuckle softly.

“Noho! Broflovski! B is for Broflovski!”

It would take a second for Kyle to understand what Stan was saying. Once it clicked, Kyle would turn to Stan, a fed-up smile on his face. God, he was cheesy. He’d hold out his hand as Stan gave him his water bottle, glancing at him again before rolling his eyes and taking a sip.

“What? You don’t like it?” Stan would tease, elbowing him as soon as he closed the cap to his water bottle. “It makes sense! I thought it was funny! Broflovski! It starts with a B- and it’s your last name! Get it?” Stan would repeat, his eyes bright with excitement.

“The more you repeat it the less funny it gets.” Kyle would jokingly groan in annoyance, even scooting a little further away from him! For bit purposes! Stan would scoot right after him, the giddy smile still on his face.

“…Can I tell you something?”

“If it’s B for Broflovski again, I’m gonna hit you.” “It’s not! It’s not.” Stan would say, the smile on his face never wavering. Kyle couldn’t help but smile with him, ushering him to continue with what he was going to say.

“I’d take a Broflovski for life over an A on a test any day.”

Maybe it was stupid for Kyle to be as grateful as he was for Stan. He knew he had a bit of a temper when it came to things like this- and he knew he could be a huge handful at times. But, for reason, Stan stuck by him. Maybe he was bored? Maybe he had nothing better to do, no one better to be with?

But when Kyle looked at the pure happiness on Stan’s face, he couldn’t help but feel like that wasn’t the case. It made him happy, knowing that Stan enjoyed his company just as much as he enjoyed his- even when he was being dramatic. They were Super Best Friends through thick or thin, no matter the circumstance. That felt…nice.

“Thanks, Stan…that means a lot.”

[httpiastri]

first of all CONGRATS ON 3K!! 💗😫 I've loved your Pepe work and I'm so checking out your other works 😭💗

saw the 3k celly and I couldn't resist myself 👉👈

how do we feel about a small Pepe blurb with the touch starved prompt: "one just casually sitting down on the other's lap and they start internally freaking the hell out" ??

furthermore,, could it be the reader being the one that is touch starved and Pepe just casually grabs em and sits them on his lap and is the reader the one freaking out?? 🤭

🍈 – send me a driver and a prompt from this list of hugging prompts, these touch starved prompts, or these kiss prompts, and i will write a short blurb for you!!

author's note: thank you so much!! and im glad you like them aaa 🥺 i loved this idea !!!! but lol i thought a blurb was 500 words, not 100-200. still doesnt explain why this is 1.2k. 😶 i had time over on my flight so this (and the paul "blurb" ive got scheduled for later) was the result. hope u enjoy :)

3k celly !!

(college!)pepe marti x reader

there are a lot of fun ways to spend a free saturday evening.

but being squeezed into a room with a bunch of drunk students, with music so loud you can barely think? not one of them.

you had been about to refuse your friend's suggestion to tag along, as you always do, before she had uttered the magic words. pepe will be there.

you were already planning outfits in your mind when the words left her mouth, suddenly feeling like no piece of clothing you own is enough to impress him. how could any piece of clothing ever be good enough for someone like him?

disappointment, though no surprise, fills you when your friend leaves you the second you enter the apartment of some guy in her physics class, to search for that other guy she's been crushing on for weeks now. so, here you are, in the living room belonging to some student you don't know, being pushed around by students you also don't know, with some song that you've never heard blasting from the speakers.

thankfully, even in a crowded apartment like this one, it isn't hard to find pepe. the sound of his sweet, intoxicating laughter can be heard from miles away.

he's sitting on a couch in the corner of the room, red solo cup in one hand and phone in the other. he's showing something on his phone to his best friend christian who's sitting next to him, his giggles sending a wave of relief through your body.

pepe's eyes light up when they meet yours, a sliver of surprise in his smile as you make your way over to him. he says your name like it's what he was made to do, like no other words have ever fallen from his lips. "i almost didn't believe your friend when she told me you'd join her tonight," he tells you. "i'm surprised."

"i'm full of surprises," you answer, tilting your head to the side slightly.

"of course you are. like that dress, very surprising." that statement isn't very surprising in itself; your friend, ever the fashionista, noticed your stress over your choice of outfit for the night instantly, lending you one of her favorite dresses with the words you'll look adorable, he won't be able to stay away. but the fact that pepe has noticed you enough to at least in some way collect an idea of the types of clothes you would and wouldn't wear is surprising to send a shiver down your spine. "you look great."

you can't control the redness that threatens to spread across your cheeks at that, but your gaze shifts to the ground to at least lessen some of your flusteredness. pepe doesn't miss the gentle smile that makes its way onto your lips, though. christian understands this as his cue to leave, jumping out of his seat and bolting away in just a second. pepe taps the now free spot on the couch, and you slip down next to him without another thought.

"did you get to the kitchen already?" he asks, gaze burning into the side of your face as you pretend like fixing the hem of your dress is something you actually need to do and not just a way to occupy yourself. "or do you want me to go get you something to drink?"

you shake your head, eyes flickering over to him again. "i'm alright for now, but thank you."

he nods over his cup, bringing it up to his lips to take a sip. the action has the muscles of his arm contracting and… has he always been this muscular, or is it just the light of the apartment? either way, he makes it look so casual – he probably doesn't know he's the object of your current mental assessment – as if the feeling of his jeans against your bare knee isn't distracting enough. "i'm glad you came," he says after he's lowered the cup. "the party was bound to be boring without you."

there it is again; that relief you felt earlier. a sliver of a confirmation that this thing that's been going on between you two these last few weeks isn't just one-sided. unless he's just toying with you, as you've heard certain men like to do, which doesn't exactly help soothe your worries.

but pepe isn't like that, you have to remind yourself. that's one of the reasons you fell for him in the first place; he's gentle in a way you can't credit a lot of men to being, like a mild breeze instead of a full-blown storm.

someone turns the music up even more, something you would've assumed was impossible a minute ago, as if to say you're thinking too much. fewer thoughts, please.

you take a deep breath, eyes meeting his. "i'm glad you're here, too."

"what?"

you let out a short laugh at the way his face contorts as he tries to hear what you're saying over the loud music. "i said," you start, voice growing louder. "i'm glad you're here, too."

pepe nods, though you're not sure if he actually understood or if he's just faking it, before saying something you have no chance of catching. you raise your eyebrows, tilting your head slightly and jokingly bringing a hand up to the back of your ear to hear him better. you did not expect him to lean forward, nor the warm huff of air that meets your ear when he speaks into it. "it's a little too loud, isn't it?"

you nod when he leans back to look at you, the corners of your lips tugging upward at the sight of his own smile. you shrug, trying to figure out a way to solve the issue; you came here to talk to him, not to just sit next to him all quietly because you can't hear each other. you gaze around the apartment, only to find a pair of speakers placed in about every corner of it, which brings back that disappointing feeling from when your friend left you just minutes ago.

but pepe has other plans. before you can interject, his hands find your hips and lift you up to straddle his thighs sideways. it's a swift motion, and he makes it seem like you weigh about five grams, leaving you pretty completely speechless. "i figured we'd hear each other better like this," he says, one hand reaching over to grab his cup again from where he must've placed it on a table nearby just moments ago, while his other hand stays planted on your hip. when you don't say anything, his eyes rake over your face, a hint of guilt in his expression. "sorry, is this okay?"

you take a deep breath, pushing the butterflies in your stomach away for just a moment and gathering the courage to nod. "yeah," you say, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "i just… wasn't expecting that."

the chuckle he lets out vibrates through your body, too. "well, get used to it." that damn smile of his appears again, the one you just can't stop yourself from mimicking. "i like having you close."

as his hand slips past your hip and around your waist, you allow yourself to lean into him a little, impressed by the way you find yourself enjoying your new seat very much.

impressed by the way it feels like this seat was made just for you.

[saruin]

Veilguard anon here. I think the game can be enjoyable! Everything i listed are gripes that are more personal, especially for players who liked DA as being an RPG rather than being quasi-linear.

Honestly save states for me was more of a show of wanting to keep the world consistent across the entire series, and that's extra effort they didn't really have to go through, you know? The changes are small, but it's all extra work that ultimately isn't required. It means more dialogue branching, more models, tons and tons of writing...and it means a lot when a AAA game puts that kind of time, money and energy into something so small. So it being completely removed is in my eyes a show of laziness rather than it being a soft reboot, because EA is worse than it was in 2017 and can't be bothered to spend that money into making the game more detailed.

The best way to put it and how i feel about it is this: i love love love the sims 4. Despite its flaws, it's fun! But it's when you compare it to previous games (and the amount of content they contain) that it's really apparent that it's empty and soulless, and puts on blast how lazy and money-hungry EA has gotten.

So whilst i love and adore ts4, i still wish they had given time and attention to those little details that, even though they don't change much, still show some care and attention put into the game.

yeah EA is the worst .

[silverstarsheep]

I love your fake peppino hour fics and I do hope one or two more happen (whenever you feel ready/up for it/have ideas I don't wanna be demanding or anything) 'cos they're super sweet and I crave that fake pep content >u<

hmm anyway fake pep thoughts.. hmm well I am a sucker for found family-y stuff so I do adore the idea of Fake becoming like family to Pep n both being protective of each other, like, Pep will deck you if you insult Fake and likewise Fake will patrol the restaurant at night and make sure nothing disturbs Peps rest. Also after reading both your fic and another (u probably know the one) I like the idea of them being there for each other should one have a breakdown.

Also dumb headcanon but Fake is an amazing, talented singer! The only issue is they can only sing in Frog.

aaa thank you!! I had a blast writing them, so I'm glad that others had a strong reaction to it as well. as for more in the future, we'll have to see how things go. chronic pain, major depression and life taking it as a challenge to make my life impossible has been making things difficult, and the current idea I have is Quite Large, making it daunting to even start. who knows what'll happen!

but MAN I LOVE FOUND FAMILY, they are brothers your honor, look at how hard they both work to keep each other safe.......

I'm really keen on the idea of Peppy being immediately and inherently aware of Peppino's emotions, especially distress... kinda tying into that whole "false memories" thing. the reverse isn't the same, but maybe Peppino gets good enough at reading Peppy that even small changes in his body language is a tip-off that he's not feeling so hot.

also, Peppy being able to sing is really cute! I don't do much with him being a frog (though I've had some vague thoughts jostle about in my head), but it's fun seeing what other people do with it. ribbit and croak your lil pizza heart out, my man...

thank you for sharing! these made me smile.

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 3

April + May 2023

NON Nintendo Switch Online Edition!!

Alright kind of a slow day today but I have a BUNCH I still would like to get done. So I'm taking a small break by writing some thoughts on some games I beat recently. I haven't been doing a TON of gaming this month cause I've been busy doing work or getting screwed over and in my down time I've been going out a lot, hanging out with friends, and not playing too much. I am currently chipping through my next RPG and I'm ALMOST done with it. As well as random small itch games I've been playing and tweeting about on my twitter. But hopefully when I break through this current RPG and finish up some work I can play more stuff more regularly soon.

Pizza Tower (January 26, 2023) - PC

So, something you may not know about me is that I am actually a HUGE Wario Land fan. Like, a MASSIVE Wario Land fan. I've played them all, and I also played and adored Wario World and Master of Disguise even though they're not exactly the same. But yeah I fucking love Wario. And lately I've been really really excited with the wave of Wario Land-likes we're receiving! This and Anton Blast (which looks SO amazing I seriously cannot wait.)

I wasn't able to pick this game up right away but thankfully I had a friend buy it for me which means the absolute WORLD to me for real. And I gotta say, I had a great time with it! It feels awesome to play, gameplay feels wonderful and additions to the formula like combos and parrying is SUPER cool! And of course traditional Wario Land fare like form changes and the general moveset feels great and while I generally am not crazy about beating levels as quick as possible I feel like the moveset is really good for speedrunning in a way that makes it feel nice to speedrun even for someone like me who isn't into it much.

Of course the sprites are so cute, I love the art style. The characters are cute, I appreciate there being multiple playable characters too that was also a great addition. Enemies are cute, the levels look great and colorful. Bosses are all very cool looking and REALLY fun to fight for the most part. The soundtrack is great, I loved the story. I loved the format and the context behind finding stuff like toppins and paying for boss doors. It's all very cool and feels like a wonderful return for Wario Land.

It's small but I also appreciate Peppino himself for being an old middle aged man with body hair as the cool protagonist who gets shit done and like has a huge hero moment at the end where he saves everyone. I ADORE Warioware but a big issue I had with it is that it kinda removes Wario's coolness factor and his strikingly heroic moments from Land and just makes him... yknow... a greedy fat guy and that's IT. So it's nice to see a fat character being more than that again.

It's been a bit since I played it so I don't remember a ton of my complaints. Off the top of my head the biggest issue I had was that the boss fights are WAY too long. They last forever, you have to do them twice. And then they end on a minigame where if you fail you have to do the whole fight over. It's so annoying and makes each one a total chore where otherwise they'd be REALLY cool. Also I know they're not meant to be scary but I did not care for the screamers in that one level at all. They did not do it for me lol. Lastly, this might be a weird way to start this post. But I know this game had a racist enemy design in it. If it's what I think it is, it's a stereotype of indigenous cultures which has been removed from the game from my understanding. But still. This sucks. It's something we see in indie games WAY too often. Too many indie games feature enemies like this. And I know a lot of old AAA games had this too. But it's not okay. And it's something that really really baffles me that indie devs STILL think it's okay to have enemies like this. Stop it.

Aside from that, great entry in the Wario-Land like genre. Was a blast to play (an Anton Blast aha) while also adding a ton of original stuff to make it stand out. I hope to see more and I hope its popularity leads to even MORE Wario Land type games and more games with cute scribbly art styles.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (March 31, 2023) - PC

A much smaller april fools game that also took me a bit to play. But DAMN am I happy I did. This game was a TON of fun! You never see fake games made for April Fools that are like... yknow... actual games you can play! And this was such a cute and fun little game I really shocked by how much of a good time I had with it!

Usually I'm not super into point and click stuff but man this game was SO cute it didn't bug me at all. Fantastic writing, tons of Sonic characters who aren't written to be jokes (I love seeing this becoming a trend again), fantastic and silly references to the whole series (THERE WAS A FUCKING SONIC RIVALS REFERENCE!! THAT'S SO COOL!!!!!) The art is FANTASTIC, the music is nice, I was really surprised at how good and fun the story was? Like towards the end it becomes a real story with real stakes and a pretty moving ending which was SUPER cool to see! Also it had actual gameplay scenes with real timing and platforming? Which was SO surprising but totally welcome!

I really don't have much negative to say? It was free and it's a small april fools joke that ended up being really cool! I loved the outfits for each character (rouge is so hot) AND it introduced a new super cute and hot Sonic Milf! So I say, it's pretty fucking amazing, actually!

Rocket Knight Adventures (August 5th, 1993) - Sega Genesis

This was a game I didn't really have any intentions of playing, but a friend of mine has been asking me for a bit now to check it out. And after playing Ristar and realizing I've been missing out on a TON of Genesis games my whole life, and a total rando telling me I NEED to play this game. I just snapped, I couldn't not. How could I ignore it after all this praise? So here I am! After finally playing Rocket Knight Adventures!

And my verdict? Yeah it's pretty cool! I like the world it takes place in, I like the character designs (Rocket in particular is VERY cute), I like the sprites and music. This is all around just a pretty dang fun game! I liked the gimmick of being able to charge up your jetpack and dash around. And I feel like it does honestly make pretty good use of it unlike Ristar and Pulseman which I talked about before. My only real complaint is that I think the final bosses kinda suck and are a bit of a chore. But I am a sucker for like, edgy rivals who use the same powers as you.

I will probably check out the sequels when I get the chance, though I've heard they're not SUPER great. I would love a new entry eventually that really goes hard into the rocket stuff and maybe has even more shmup levels cause of course I loved those aha.

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (December 14, 2001) - Gameboy Advance

And last but not least for now, Super Mario Advance 2! If you know anything about me, you know that Super Mario World is one of my all time favorite games! I ADORE the SNES original as in addition to just being a great game, it's actually the first game I've ever played (or at least have memories of playing). And despite the fact the first time I beat Mario 2 & 3 was with the GBA remakes, I had never tried the remake of Super Mario World on GBA until now! But I gotta say, yeah these are great ports!

Super Mario World is just great on its own so of course it's a good game. I still love the sprites, they're washed out here because of the lack of backlight way back when it came out. But I think the new color scheme is nice and still works. I LOVE the music still and it sounds really nice in the GBA soundfont. And there's a lot of really good changes here too! Stuff like a serious playable Luigi, a more serious exit tracker, and having the Dragon Coins function more like Star Coins in NSMB are all GREAT changes that should have been there from the start. But even stuff like additional cutscenes, voice clips (which I LOVE), small sprite fixes on Peach and Yoshi, and the cute fun way enemies roll away with funny sprite rotations when Yoshi spits them out are ultimately not needed but are great changes!

I sort of rushed through this playthrough but I mean, it's Super Mario World, so I wouldn't be surprised if I end up playing more of it and play more levels that I didn't give a shot soon! This is a great port and I still continue to LOVE the Mario Advance games so much! I'll probably have to play it more to see but if I ever get around to 100% completing it I could see this potentially being the ideal way to play Super Mario World which is CRAZY to think about! Good port!

[sickiebabytae]

hi!! if ur still talking drabbles and things could u so something with jimin and migraines 🥺🥺 maybe from overworking himself, and tae helps :(( or jungkook (or both hehe)

thank you sm for the request, anon! here you go :) enjoy it!

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jimin isn't unused to pain. he's experienced it many times, in many ways. though it doesn't make it any easier when said pain catches up to him.

the members had warned him to take it easy, his muscles already having been crying out for a break since a few days ago. jimin had done his best to abide by their requests, but it hadn't been easy. he's never been one to sit back a lot. he always wants to push himself further and harder and improve to the best of his abilities like he knows he can do. it's a much more positive mindset than the one before, though the general premise still stands: keep going. it frustrates jimin to no end having to take breaks when all the others are working hard, so he rarely does. it always bites him in the back.

like how its biting him in the back now. he wakes up to his head stabbing with a sharp pain in the side of his head as he sits up. it ebbs away before he can fully register it, though it still makes the dancer groan and put his face in his hands, exhaustion clinging to his limbs as he moves. he really hopes he can make it through the day. it's a busy one, and he'd just promised Namjoon the night before he'd be able to handle it.

he trudges out of bed, face pinched and arms loosely around himself. he isn't paying attention, so its inevitable when he bumps into one of the others as he makes his way to the living room. he grunts, "sorry."

"jiminie-hyung?" jungkook's quiet voice still feels like pin pricks in his brain. "woah- you look pale, what's wrong?" 

jimin suppresses a sigh. "nothing, jungkook-ah, I'm okay. hyung woke up with a headache, is all."

jungkook doesn't look convinced, though he knows better than to press. "okay… well, go get a drink of water." 

jimin smiles and nods. "I will, thank you koo." the maknae gives him a smile in return before heading off to the bathroom.

jimin continues to the kitchen to follow jungkook's advice and sees taehyung sat at the kitchen island with his tablet open in front of him and scrolling through a webtoon as he holds a toast spread with jam. the younger looks up and nods at jimin in greeting, though does a double take upon noticing jimin's unhealthy complexion and instantly registers that something is wrong. "what hurts?"

jimin startles. "what?"

"what hurts," taehyung asked again. "you're doing that brow-crease thing whenever you're in pain."

jimin smiles, unable to help the amusement that lightens his chest. "aish, taehyungie, it's just a headache. you can calm down."

"it's never 'just anything' with you, jimin, come on." taehyung stands, making his way around the kitchen island to feel jimin's forehead. the action elicits a laugh from the dancer as he swats taehyung's hand away. "I know you're worried, tete, but I'm fine. we've got a long day today anyways and then our schedule clears up a bit. I'll rest when we get home." he promises.

taehyung doesn't hide how unsatisfied he is. he even scoffs. "if you're lying to me…"

"I'm not." jimin pats taehyung's chest. "now come on, finish your breakfast so we can leave."

-------------------------------------------------------

jimin does end up lying. though, in his defense, it's not because he wanted to. he really had thought his headache would stay that way - just a headache. but as the hours of the day trickle by at a snail's pace, jimin wishes he had stayed home and saved himself the misery of the blinding migraine he has now. 

they're still in the throws of a grueling dance practice, but the motions dont come as easily for jimin as they normally do, the song blasting in his ears and making his vision dot with black and his stomach churn. the members usually tease him for always being a beat behind, though no one can find it in themselves today watching the dancer strain to get the moves right. he's panting and sweating the tremble that had started with just his hands has travelled all along his tense muscles. though they don't say anything, or pressure jimin into saying anything either, knowing how he can get. 

they regret their decision, though, when jimin stops in the middle of the song to cradle his head with a whimper. 

taehyung is the first to snap his head over, pausing as well. he makes a signal for one of the others to turn the music off. "jiminie..?"

jimin doesn't reply, just swaying and swaying until his knees buckle.

"shit-" jungkook hisses as he rushes forward and pulls jimin into his chest, picking him up in a bridal carry. "hyung??"

jimin says nothing, burying his face into jungkook's shoulder. the maknae looks up at the others in panic.

seokjin is the first to speak up and break the silence. "jungkook, tae, you two take jimin home. us four will deal with the rest here."

the two youngest don't need to be told twice. they rush jimin out to the front after calling for a van and drive him home.

-------------------------------------------------------

"that was hands down one of the stupidest things you've ever done." taehyung tells jimin, standing above the bed with his arms crossed and a worried pout on his face.

jungkook snorts from where he lays next to jimin, hand gently petting his hair back off his forehead where they've placed a cool compress. "I wouldn't say the stupidest." he glances at jimin. "it was pretty stupid though."

jimin sighs tiredly, eyes drooping shut. after getting a painkiller into him and forcing him to lay down, he does admittedly feel a little better. though the exhaustion from before has multiplied tenfold, and there's still a dull throbbing behind his eyes, ears ringing quietly. "I know, I'm sorry… I thought I could just push through it.."

"clearly not." taehyung grumbles bitterly, biting his lip.

jimin opens his eyes to smile at Taehyung softly. "tete, I'm fine-"

"you said that this morning!"

"I know, but I'm in bed now. and you and jungkookie are here, yeah?" jimin gently takes taehyung's hand into his own and tugs him to lay down in the empty space on his other side. "I'll be okay after some sleep."

"a lot of sleep." jungkook corrects with a pout. "you almost passed out on us."

"okay okay, a lot of sleep." jimin pokes jungkook's cheek. "but I will be okay."

taehyung gives such a long sigh, jimin worries he's going to run out of breath. but then he nods and smiles at his best friend. "okay. on one condition."

"yeah?"

"you don't let yourself out of our sight." taehyung points between him and jungkook, the maknae nodding instantly.

jimin laughs. "fine by me."

he falls asleep not long after, and even though jungkook and taehyung are sweaty and cling to him tightly, jimin wouldn't have it any other way.

-------------------------------------------------------

a/n: aaa I'm back- I know it's been a crazy long time but hiii

I decided the best way to return was just with a quick drabble just to get myself back in the swing of things, but hopefully I'll put out something longer that I'm working on soon :))

and again, thank u to the anon that requested this! I had a lot of fun writing this <3

[amjustagirl]

hi nikki jie i finally finished rereading dream catcher and omg askdkskjdjsa iM -

wOW it was absolutely incrediblee im so full of emotions rn asfjsk i read ch 5 & 6 just now when i was otw to sch to study before cca (pls omg my heart was in shambles i had to take a few min to compose myself aft i reached the library 😭) then i just read the last chapter otw home and im so !!!!! i think ch 6 would be my absolute fave, maybe cuz that was like the climax of the whole story haha, but like it was such a roller coaster like omg all the intensity of keiji trying to save her, and then my soul was healed when they were talking in that dreamscape and him finALLY realizing he was in love with her, and then you stabbed me through the heart when his memories started slipping away 😭 and like this trope of a character giving up their memories of their beloved just to save them has soo much angst potential but is too underrated and you used it so beautifully here and my heart was physically aching while i was waiting for my bus T^T aND ch 7 when akaashi was so upset he still couldnt remember her name, and when he finally heard toya-chan at the florist askdjsj omg my heart!! 🥺❤️ i love all the flower languages and all the sky and celestial imageries that you used here and it was really soo beautiful when akaashi was realizing he was in love with her,, and i also loved how you described all the surroundings (i felt his nostalgia when he visited her village, the shrine dreamscape, the forest shrine) in ch5 especially like it felt sO REAL and there was such a clear image in my head it was amazing,, i think the reveal of her being the florist didnt hit me as hard this time cuz i reread it already knowing it was her, but i remember being so shookt the first time i read it and being so impressed that everything was soo well thought out,, i absolutely loved it and im really glad i reread it heh

oh and omg i almost forgot to mention but if it wasnt obvious i absolutely adore moriko??? i really love how she views the world, how she makes everything so simple; time should be spent with the people you love, and you should do things that make you happy, her deciding to become a florist simply because she loved the look on people's faces when they bought flowers 🥺 she's so reckless and brave and sweet and she's just absolutely perfect 😭

AND you must be annoyed cuz this is like the 192388th time im saying this but 'when the sun loves the moon'??? IM RLY SO EXCITED OMG YOU HAVE NO IDEA askdksjsj ill be looking forward to it!!!! i cant wait to see the outtakes too 😆

and aaa i saw you've been feeling lonely while your husband is back at ns why must sg do this 😭 is he gonna be back soon ? either ways, i hope you feel better soon!! have a good weekend nikki jie!! ❤️ ~ ann :>

i'm just...speechless that you'd even take the time to re-read dream catcher. i think it's one of the pieces that i still can't believe i was capable of writing, especially chapters 6 and 7 - the dreamscape and akaashi's memories returning back to him is prob the best writing i've ever produced LOL (is it shameless of me to say that?)

but yeah i think bcos the fic is set up like a romance-mystery, bcos it has a non-linear timeline, i really had to plot the whole thing out, leave little clues here and there, rely very heavily on the imagery like flowers and sky and stars and fire to really carry the story. it's definitely another instance of me torturing akaashi, but i think his character lends itself very well to a fic like this. i love love the trope of losing your memories to save someone - i think i grew up watching a lot of hk dramas and i can't pinpoint which it happened in, but this trope really stuck HAHA. and yeah there's so much angst, delicious angst there isn't it!

and omg moriko moriko, that reckless, wise, sweet forest nymph. she's...definitely has the sunniness (like bokuto) and i think that initially draws akaashi in, but she has q a lot of layers bcos she's brave and strong yet doesn't even think anything abt her strength, and that's what i think is amazing abt her. she's someone who marches to the beat of her own drum, she doesn't give a flying fuck about the world thinks. she's just unabashedly herself. that's what akaashi ends up falling head over heels for.

HAHA when the sun loves the moon is gonna be a fun ride methinks? it was such a blast to write bokuto's character, and i loved the whole process of coming up w a reader-chan that fits him, that fits his larger than life, bombastic personality. i've definitely poured a bit of my soul into her (like i do with all my readers / mcs) and i hope you'll like her too :)

mr nikki is back! but he's been away playing in some competition so....home alone i guess? haha.

[magickedhat]

!! hello i’m going to ramble bc fox appreciates wren so much but i ALSO appreciate wren and your writing a bunch!!! wren is such a unique and wonderful character in so many ways!! they’re a bundle of energy and mischief and trouble and chaos, but they have so much depth to them as well, and your writing rlly brings them to life. they’re the fantastic sort of character that makes me laugh and smile even tho they also sometimes hurt my heart, especially learning abt their backstory and their parents, and i just agsgd cry sometimes i guess!! and you write them super well!! bc the fact they’re chaotic but still lovable and fun to interact with and learn more about is so impressive!! their mannerisms and speech patterns are rlly charming!! also, the bursts of detail and color you include in your writing, in replies and headcanons and drabbles, are amazing and i appreciate them so much. it always feels like peeking behind a curtain into this whole vibrant, magical, brilliant world you’ve created, and even in little glimpses of it, the amount of care you’ve put into its development is so clear!! i also love learning abt the circus and the other characters connected to it!!! they’re each so unique and even if some of them are Terrible they’re still so interesting to read about agdgd and the circus in general has so much charm and color and magic woven throughout it aaa,,, and your lovely art,,,,, your portrayal is just rlly wonderful okay and your writing flows so well, and i appreciate u and your creations a whole bunch!! <3 <3

LAURA IM LAYING ON THE FLOOR AND CRYING A PUDDLE THAT IS THE SWEETEST THING ABJSBJSBIDIBDIB listen to me!!!!!!!!!! back when i began writing wren and the circus like a year ago i had NO idea they'd all evolve into what the are today and a large part of it was developing everything with u okay!!!! like, a LOT of wren's character development happened thru our threads and the relationships we've built, and sure all our kids STILL have a long way to go but they would not have come this far if it weren't for how wonderful of a storyteller u are!!! all the characters and places u create feel so vivid and real with many, many layers to them, and the fact that we Still have so much to cover in terms of backstory and character development says a lot about how well thought-out the triplets are! (ofc the fact they Keep Secrets plays a huge part too but u get what i mean abkdjsj) and just!!!! wren and fox,,,,, i lov them so much, they are BY FAR the longest slow-burn i've ever written which was so so worth it, and i just adore that their relationship continues to grow organically as they learn more abt each other and figuring out how to Relationship™. i rlly dont know how to end this other than i appreciate u so so much as a partner and friend and i hope we'll continue writing together bc so far its been an absolute BLAST and ily okok thanks for listening ABKXBKABJX

[belliesandburps]

Non-Kink:  Top 12 Best Stealth Action Games

I was inspired by my dear pal, @twistedtummies2, to share a lil bit of non-kink related stuff about myself with’chall.  One thing to know about me is I’m a huge lover of video games.  I may not have as much time to PLAY ‘em much these days, but dammit if they aren’t one of my biggest joys beyond writing and the great outdoors. 

And my favorite genre in all of gaming is the stealth action genre.  Anyone who knows me knows that I adore the Metal Gear Solid series, but I also love a whole bunch of other stealth action games because, to me, this genre is the one with the most meat to come back to.  Stealth action done right is you being put in a room or outpost or whatever with a bunch of bad guys, and trying to carry out an objective without engaging with the enemies.  OR, it’s picking off the bad guys one by one, quickly and quietly.  Oooooor it’s you try to be sneaky, get caught, say fuck it, and wage war with an armada of Russians because isn’t it always Russians.  XD

I love that so many stealth action games can play out so many different ways.  And the feeling of escalation, like trying to be sneaky, and being overwhelmed when you’re caught and having to escape a hectic situation?  That, to me, is more thrilling than ANY set piece or scripted, linear mission from any game I’ve ever played.  It’s why I’ve replayed many of these games time and time again, and haven’t even THOUGHT about most of the biggest AAA blockbusters upon beating them.

Now, this list is subject to change.  I have a few games I need to play and they may beat out a few on this list.  But for now, here’s my Top 12 Best Stealth Action games because on top of being a thirsty old bastard, I loves me some espionage and bandana action.  :P

12) Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

This game gets a lot of flak, but believe it or not, it’s actually my favorite in the Arkham series.  It’s City with a new coat of paint and a few more bugs, but City was still awesome, and so is this game.  It had plenty of clever predator stealth sequences, with more enemy variety to shake things up, that always made wiping out the bad guys swiftly and silently deeply rewarding.  AND it had more stealth action boss fights.  City had Mr. Freeze and a single predator fight rehashed twice with Two Face and Harley.  Origins had Mr. Freeze again, but with new additional options, and a pre-fight stage where you had to stay outta sight.  It also had Deadshot, the best of the three basic “predator boss” types, as well as TN-1 Bane as the final boss, and damn if it wasn’t intense.  With more gadgets and clever ways to mix and match, I think this game would be higher, but it’s still a great one for lovers of more approachable stealth action paired up with excellent brawler combat.

11) Assassin's Creed (2007)

The other AC games may be better, but AC1 is the only game in the series to stay consistent and simple with its design philosophy.  Here are targets for you to assassinate, here are bolstering crowds with beautiful cities to Parkour across or hide within, and at every turn, there are hiding spots but also enemies, making situations escalate organically and entertainingly with each assassination.  Hence why, despite most people regarding AC1 as the weakest entry, it's my personal favorite.  It's the one I replay the most and the one that just stays consistent with what it advertises.  No more, no less. 10) Hitman (2016)

I've yet to play the other Hitman games, and by accounts, each sequel is better than the last.  But you've seen the Jackie boy vids.  What more need be said?  :P

9) Death Stranding (2019)

Death Stranding's kind of a jack of all trades in the stealth action.  On one hand, you have conventional stealth action where you're infiltrating enemy camps and can either pick off all the bad guys one by one or go nuts and fight everybody head on.  On the other hand, you have BT's, whom you sneak around by holding your breath and moving slowly, lest these ghostly monsters drag you out to a tarpit for a boss fight.  The stealth is fairly simplistic but functional.  Combat as is would be fairly shallow, were it not for the sheer quantity of options you have in any given battle.  Seriously, you have a sticky gun that lets you snatch cargo straight off a bad guys back then immediately bludgeon him unconscious with it, and snatch HIS cargo to smash his BUDDY out cold with that in one fell swoop.  The way situations can organically just bleed from stealth to action and give you options for both makes it a blast.  And the boss fights against Cliff and Higgs are almost all I could ask for from stealth action battles. 8) Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020)

I DO wish the game had some stealth action boss fights, but far as superhero games are concerned, no game has better stealth action than Miles Morales.  It hits fast and is deeply gratifying.  You have corridors with as much as twenty plus bad guys, and you can clean it out in minutes thanks to being able to hide in plain sight through invisibility.  Venom Takedowns with let you wipe out a chain succession of enemies all at once.  Corridors have TONS of environmental advantages to wipe out a bunch of bad guys with one move.  And unlike Spider-Man or Arkham, if you're caught, just go invisible, flee, and go right back to picking off baddies in seconds.  It's like playing a predator sequence in an Arkham game on steroids...and in fast forward.  And the sheer volume of enemies you're often up against keeps it from feeling too easy. 7) Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (2019)

This game SUCKED at launch.  Like, it was actual trash that became a chore to finish when it first came out.  But fair's fair, Ubisoft stuck with it and the end result is one of the most customizable experiences I've ever had in gaming.  Like, this game is straight up now designed to let you change the entire experience simply by pausing the game and flipping a new options on and off and have it immediately go into effect.

I hated the injury mechanics of the first game because it slowed you down and led to a lot of random, unfair deaths because you could never predict which attacks would be critical and which wouldn’t.  So now, I can turn them off.  I thought bad guys were brain-dead.  So I can make them smarter.  I thought constantly slowing down when I'm running from bullets was detrimental, so now, I can make stamina limitless. 

I thought some areas had way too many guards to viably take out without co-op buddies...soooo I can activate an entire squad of AI partners all throughout the game with me and there's a lot of coordination you can do with your team for really covert missions...and you can even customize their look to create a team that looks as cool or goofy as you want.  It’s a really dorky thing, but I LOVE customization in shooters and being able to fully customize, not just yourself, but your team to look however you want in missions is really fun.

And if you think the enemies are too easy to take down?  Turn on Terminator mode and have T-800's storming the place.  Yeah, freakin’ Terminators.  XD

The game gives you literally all the options you could ask for to have an experience perfectly tuned to what you WANT to have.  And the options you have make it so the game can feel like an entirely different, borderline strategy game instead of a solid third person shooter.  You can activate a drone now to coordinate your three AI buddies to stop and go where you want, mark targets for them to eliminate and have your eye on the entire battlefield.  It's honestly staggering how many options this game has.  And were the missions not so boilerplate and were the boss fights actual boss fights and not just reskins of basic enemies, this would be one of the best games ever.  As is, it's a genuinely impressive comeback story!  6) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016)

Mankind Divided is the game Cyberpunk WISHES it was (Spoiler Alert: Cyberpunk isn’t very fun or responsive yet).  It's a game with some spectacular level design where there are dozens of ways around any given enemy and tons of options for any mission.  You have a wide assortment of augmentations to let you sneak or fight your way through any scenario and they give you the tools to use your robot powers in really clever ways for navigation purposes.  This is a game where even the simplest side mission has about a dozen different outcomes, and most of them are wholly organic.  What it needed was more...well, GAME.  After all, MD is a third of the game it was meant to be.  But it IS a marvel of stealth action goodness. 5) The Last of Us: Part 2 (2020)

I have a BUNCH of issues with this game, but on the subject of stealth action, TLOU2 is one of the best in the genre.  Every single encounter is highly difficult, but has dozens of variations.  The levels are all designed with tons of varied cover spots and hidden paths to let you navigate as you either pick off the bad guys one by one, or sneak past them.  The enemies range in their weaponry, but possess self preservation, so they aren't just standing around shooting aimlessly. 

And on top of that, combat is brutal.  Every bullet counts, and you feel the impact of every shot fired.  The melee system is simple but complements gunplay fantastically.  So if you wanna save bullets, you can shoot someone in the leg, and as they stagger, you can bumrush them, grab a hammer or brick you find on the ground as you're running and bludgeon them to death to save bullets.  The game also has a great lil "MGS4 Battlefield Stealth" system.  Several encounters have humans and infected, and you can pit the two against one another and either sneak around the carnage or use it to pick off the harder enemies.

The game also has a FAR better predator fight that's basically David's fight in the first game, but with way better mechanics.  The boss increasingly upgrades their weapon each time you attack them, the environment is perfect for this fight, and if you're caught, you aren't just dead, you have a means to escape a hairy situation.  TLOU2 may have been deeply polarizing, story-wise, but as a GAME, it's terrific.  And best yet, once you beat the main game, there's an encounter mode that lets you skip all the BS and just jump right into every single stealth action encounter and boss fight throughout the whole game risk free.  What's not to love about that? 4) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (2004 / 2010)

MGS3 is the first really great linear MGS game.  It ditches that terrible fixed camera, simplifies the controls, and has more than ten rooms where you do any sneaking.  Its best moments are proto-MGSV outposts, where you have an area with tons of guards and multiple paths to your objective, and a whole lot of opportunities to get creative.  It was also the first MGS game that made combat just as viable as stealth.  You CAN actually just punch your way through the bad guys now, and the end result is shockingly fun thanks to all the weapons and more intuitive controls.  But the real star is the boss battles.  MGS3 has some of the best bosses of any video game I've ever played in my life.  And MOST of them incorporate stealth beautifully.  To the point where you can eliminate half the bosses with any of 'em ever even knowing your location, and giving you a plethora of variety in the bosses themselves AND the means in which you fight them.

3) Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013)

Splinter Cell's an odd series.  The story is nonsense yet also pretty drab and simplistic.  Sam Fisher REALLY isn't an interesting character, none of the characters are except the villain and anti-hero scumbag.  But as a VIDEO GAME, Blacklist is the peak of linear stealth action.  MGS3 had boss fights, and THAT was the biggest mark for the game.  And Blacklist only has a single boss fight, which is basically a slightly elongated version of Deadshot's "fight" in City. 

But the moment-to-moment gameplay is out of this world good.  You have brilliant level design that makes sneaking from A to B deeply gratifying, but you also have insane mobility that makes you feel like the biggest badass when you play.  There can be a room full of guards.  And like a game of chess, with the right moves, you can end them in seconds, which requires skill to pull off, rushing the first guy and taking him down, shooting his buddy, then using execute to auto-kill up to three guards you've marked who were in range.  It's about using the systems the game gives you to maximize efficiency on the field.  And you can pick off bad guys using your environment, or climbing a plethora of terrain. 

The game almost plays like Arkham half the times when you're climbing walls or pipes and dropping down on bad guys or shooting them from overhead.  It has a huge variety of gadgets to aide you as well, and combat is incredibly difficult but doable.  Sam can only take a few hits before he's dead, but the means to shake off enemies is fair, and recovering from a slip-up is more fun than it is frustrating.  The campaign has several excellent missions which would satisfy a person as is.  But it also comes with over a dozen bonus missions you can access from your allies, each one taking place in entirely new settings with new enemies and storylines, each one with simpler and more streamlined objectives (perfect stealth, predator missions where you kill all the enemies, and survival waves where you have to fend off increasingly harder enemies).  AND it has the best kind of co-op.  Like Peace Walker, you can play any side mission with buddies.  But it also has missions exclusive to co-op, designed to be fully embraced with a buddy you can play with on the couch or online.  It's a game with tons of content, and all of it is mostly excellent. 2) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

MGSV is the best game I've played.  That's because it's a game that hits all of my buttons.  The outposts are examples of perfect level design.  Each one is designed with a huge array of cover spots and multiple paths, direct or secret, to an objective area.  As a result, every mission allows you to get in, carry out your objective, and get out without raising a stink.  And when you screw up, it doesn't feel like punishment, because the combat of this game is fantastic. 

Everything is highly responsive, so your inputs happen with no delays.  You can go from diving to shooting from the ground in a tenth of a second.  And combat lets you seamlessly go from shooting, snatching guns from bad guys and blowing away with it, to taking breathers behind cover or with a human shield.  The enemy AI is the best the series has ever had.  They have way more self preservation, they're liberal with grenades, have way more variety in their weapons, and actually use turret guns and mortar cannons now. 

The missions themselves can be resolved tons of different ways.  Assassination missions play out like small-scale Hitman missions, without the frustration of screwing up and restarting because missions are so short, you just roll with the punches.  And the overall feel of a mission changes dramatically, depending on your loadout, the paths you choose in the level, your playstyle, and the time of day you select when you start a mission. 

There are only a few major downsides to the gameplay.  The bosses lack variety, like, I REALLY wish MGSV had more XOF assassins like Quiet to confront along with the Skulls and MoF.  Some missions are a bit too samey, and there aren't enough larger scale outposts.  Some more enemy variety wouldn't have been remiss.  And finally, the open world itself is pretty lifeless.  It works to complement the missions, like giving you a whole stretch of land to carry out ambushes or battle the Skulls anywhere you please.  But open world games are best when they have more to react to and engage with, or secrets to find.  Oh yeah, and the main villain should've had a boss fight, a stealth action shootout at that because that’s what the OG plan was until Kojima decided to be slightly more pretentious than usual. 

But beyond that, this game is a freakin' masterpiece.

So why is number 2 on the list even if it's the best game I've ever played?

Because this game exists... 1) Deus Ex (2000)

Deus Ex isn't as mechanically good as MGSV.  It's even that good mechanically, like, playing it now, it feels pretty clunky and not the least bit smooth.  Still fun, but you feel the age.  So why is it number 1?  Simple.  Deus Ex is the most open-ended video game ever made.  It's a stealth action RPG where every, and I mean, EVERY single level has dozens upon dozens of different paths to choose and make your own.  It has class specialization, meaning the build you create gives you a whole ton of new paths and strategies to use for hacking or flexibility. 

Every single mission takes place in a sprawling area.  You have an objective, obstructions blocking your way, and a whole bunch of guards.  You can blaze right to a solution, resolving a situation in minutes.  Or, you can take your time and find any number of different paths to your goal.  And all throughout each mission, there's tons of things to find as you explore.  There's entire other side missions with their own plethora of options.  Lots of really clever flavor text.  Upgrades to bolster your augmentations.  And really ominous messages you can find that'll come into play later. 

The bosses may lack variety but each one is a perfect stealth action battle where you can choose any number of options against the bosses, right down to running away from them and the game outright acknowledging that the boss enemies weren't killed.  Best yet, it's a game designed to be broken.  Unlike Human Revolution, all the bosses are recurring characters you spend plenty of time with.  But you can outright blow them away WELL in advance and the game will acknowledge their deaths and keep going anyway.  If you engage in a boss battle during a designated boss fight, but avoid them or run away, then that boss will turn up again for a rematch later. 

This is a game where you can create your own cover spots or platforms by gathering vending machines and dumpsters and piling them on top of each other.  Where specialization changes the entire feel of the campaign and incentivizes repeat playthroughs just to come up with different builds and experience missions in whole new ways.  And best yet, this is a game where when you're in a hub, whatever you see around you, you can interact with.  If you see buildings in the distance, you'll be able to go in and explore, and there's always something to find. Deus Ex is number one because there will never be another game like it.  It's debatable that no other game will ever be as FUN as MGSV, but no other game will ever be as open ended as Deus Ex because it's literally impossible.  The game is clunky and cheap looking because the engine it was built on was a low-memory one.  They traded in graphics fidelity and more impressive flow for the sake of creating a vast video game with an impossible amount of content to constantly stumble upon.  And unlike all the other games on this list, that open endedness actually DOES translate into the story, giving you dozens of different branching paths to the story, and sadly, only three fairly weak endings, but damn, if the journey up ain't a blast.  

I have a whole slew of other lists I’ve been meaning to post for the better part of two years, and honestly, they’re fun to write.  So, who knows?  Don’t worry though, they won’t get in the way of bellies or burp content either.  XD

[ellewords]

OKAY OKAY SO peter pan haikyuu au i had this idea because i wanna do this as a collab we're gonna use the Disney version but like,,, acknowledging and choosing not to include all the really shitty stereotypes they have in there--

ANYWAY

i had this idea that like. assign a school to a group? so there's the lost boys that's one team, captain hook's crew as another and so on? if that makes sense?? i dont know who to make each team tho. i was thinking maybe karasuno as the lost boys but i also feel like i use the seijoh vs karasuno thing a LOT for any full length fic i plan out (there's been several) so idk

the actual collab just requires a oneshot but my brain went like BRAIN BLAST so

AAA WAIT OMG THIS SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN,, THE BIG BRAIN ENERGY OF A PETER PAN AU,,, ELLIOT YOUR MIND >>>

anyways, if you don't feel like using seijoh vs karasuno,, some fun alternatives could be shiratorizawa/seijoh or maybe even fukurodani/nekoma because the banter between those two groups could be fun,, inarizaki/karasuno would be interesting too because lost boys!karasuno just fits so so well

whichever team you decide to go with, I can't wait to read what you write either way

[bigruntheory]

            “To everything I’ve ever lost, thank you for setting me free.” 

This event happened in Tony William's backyard, Mount Victoria, NSW. Fri 27- Sun 29 November 2020.

This report will swing from serious to joking, but will at all times be genuine with the best intentions; you will just have to try your best to navigate the subtle or dramatic changes for yourself,  bearing that in mind. 

This report is a true (made up on the spot then heavily edited) account of events I experienced within the beating heart of endurance running, the true spiritual home of ultra, the best concept to emerge in running since putting one foot in front of the other:  A Last One Standing Endurance Race. (LOSER)

The Blue Goat Backyard LOSER is a little shorter than the official distance of 6.7 something kms, at just 5.23km a lap, but what it falls short of in distance, it more than makes up for in rugged, uneven, highly technical terrain-  which pretty much makes it Australia’s toughest LOS event. 

Whatever its comparable status, agreed or not, or however you approach it personally, it’s definitely an authentically challenging, scenic course, held within a supportive, fun, party atmosphere: 

 The buzz at the Blue Goat & Fatboy Slim’s Big Beach Boutique II - 

         equally awesome & hazy in my mind- and I was at both. 

These LOS events will work for anyone who enjoys to run.  The Blue Goat Backyard will work for anyone who enjoys to run challenging trails.  And if you don’t like running or trails or a challenge, then they will suit anyone who likes to party while other people do.  So they’re great events for everyone. 

The LOS format will especially suit you if you are on a path to self-discovery, self-transcendence or to just see how far you can personally go and run for, in one go.  You might be surprised to find that in just turning up to have a go, you discover new things about running, runners & yourself.  

 LOS event vibes & hubs will differ somewhat in style, and you can expect them to be as diverse and unique as their hosts-  they should all provide a brilliant gateway for some amazing personal journeys in running & in life.  This one delivered. 

The LOS format, and specifically the way that AAA racing & BMF organise events, means ANYONE of any ability, can come and enjoy the experience of their running lifetime, seeing how far they can go, or set a target of laps or distance and create a PB in a unique, supportive, safe and fun setting.  

When I say party and fun, I mean it. They had the most amazing Britpop and other timeless classics (Creedence/Stones/Beatle’s) blasting out the speaker all day and night; there was also a Robbie Williams song in there.....

Training and attitude will only take you so far- a lairy shirt must do the rest. 

In spite of the bushfires & the pandemic, this event still happened, as seen & predicted by me, which in part is why I felt so deeply that I had to be there. You can’t escape your destiny, really, so you had better make it double awesome when it arrives. 

After last years event ,which slipped under my radar for some reason, Tony’s backyard pretty much got burned to the ground in bushfires which massively damaged the whole Blue Mountains & Hawkesbury areas. There were also floods, which actually helped stop some of the fires but which bought their own destruction. This all happened during the end of 2019 and early 2020, after which everything went tits up, particularly for gyms, trainers & organised racing- due to the reaction to the COVID 19 bullshit pandemic.

                Fun on one of the Blue Goat Bees, earlier in the year.  

Getting involved behind the scene for this years event was great fun.  Seeing it transform gradually until the race day was awesome, it went from burnt sticks, charcoal and indistinguishable trails to looking like a nature trail again by race day.  It still has a way to go, but it’ll get there; it’s still a beautiful course which i parts feels like you are in the Grand Canyon at Blackheath, or the Grose valley, which are only just down the road.  

If I’m correct, I don’t think anyone really thought this event was gonna be on, due to the COVID, but I had no doubt at all… . I knew I had to be there helping out and I knew I had to be there on that starting line and knew I was definitely going there to be the last one standing.  This is not to say that it was time to put my feet up and just waltz in there like it was easy and in the bag - far from it.   I trained hard. Really hard. 

So call me mystic Steve if you like, but months prior to the event I bought a ticket and started manifesting, which is a pretty simple & powerful practice, not to be underestimated at all….it’s very much like goal setting to be honest, except there is a spiritual dimension and much that you can’t explain or prove scientifically.  It works very well with the art of training your body mind & spirit for tough challenges and healing, too, which really go hand in hand. You basically write your story then walk into it. 

                                                                             Law of attraction/ manifestation. 

This write up will cover some matters of running & strategy but mostly matters of the mind, heart & spirit. I present this to the world in genuine gratitude for the experience and I hope that it inspires others to be on that starting corral of an LOS event, wherever that may be, whatever your age, ability or experience.  

                                        How does it all work, this LOS?

Every hour on the hour, you have to be ready in the starting corral to go and run your lap, then back in time to do whatever you need to do-put your feet up, go to the loo, refuel or maybe have a banana & dance like no one is watching you- or in my case, like you are Bez from the Happy Mondays - whatever you do, however you roll, you have to be back in the staring corral to go do just one more lap, again.  It’s really as simple as that. One loop, one hour, make of it what you will and what you can; bring out your soul & enjoy!

  Should you do just one lap, you might find yourself in the position of saying, well why not see if I can do just one more? And so it goes…

These events are happening now, they are quite new & fresh and trust me, they will stand the test of time, because as I keep saying, there’s nothing conceptually better than the Last One Standing Format - it really is the Rock n Roll of endurance running & every event that happens has been a living testimony to that in one way or another.  

Even during a global pandemic, nothing could hold the LOS back; in fact it just got stronger & rose to another level.   While other events we imploding, postponing, being moved virtually and seeing reductions in numbers and interest, the annual Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, usually in Tennessee,  went ahead, on a satellite basis, across the world, live on the internet, and made history with record breaking performances & a once in a lifetime twist to the team dynamic; a twist so good, and a global audience buzz so great, that even the satellite event format will definitely go forward in some form or other into 2021 and beyond…..so many benefits to keeping things local and compet8ing more widely.....

      The Australian Team sporting their AURA gear ready to take on the world.

Each country put a team together, which lifted the LOS format into another dimension. Instead of competing against your own team mates & globally in Tennessee, each country had their own teams on their own loops, competing against other teams. So in effect, this bought teams together and made the connection between the assist & the Last One Standing less of a battle of breaking the other down and more of a battle of building the other up, supporting them and remaining strong for the team.  How good is that to see in  competitive endurance running!?

                  Clint Eastwood, still cool after all these years.

I fell in love with the LOS format when I watched the Clint Eastwood Last One Standing, hosted by AAA Racing in Oxley Park Queensland and it was great to watch many of the same familiar faces, with the same party atmosphere, running together and taking on the world at the World Champs.  Massive, genuine kudos to the whole team from the Clint Eastwood  & The Big Dog satellite event, all runners and behind the scenes – and Sam Penny needs special mention for the GoPro awesomeness, without which I may never have had that fly on the wall buzz of being at the event.

So, runners of all ages and abilities, whatever your goal, this is your opportunity to get up and at it & be part of something life-changing, challenging & massively fun, one short lap at a time.

Don’t go thinking you have to be superman, genetically gifted or even an ultrarunner or even a ‘runner’ Basically just ditch any thought or label that creates doubt or fear or holds you back and simply get up and go for it. You just need to be willing to turn up and have a go & enjoy the experience.

        “Anyone can do anything”  Tony Williams, Blue Mountains Fitness.

So, there was this running race my running mates told me about & I can’t remember when I made the decision to be there but it was also around the time a running mate was talking about helping out building trails and tracks and I know this must sound vague and I’m probably getting my wires crossed but I somehow put these two ideas together & they gave birth to the idea that I needed to be at the Blue Goat Backyard. And that’s how it all began….

Thanks to Tony & Alun – the whole BMF & AAA Racing collective , Fabiano & Sean for being on hand to help and support and look after us through the night and day and Keith for the awesome photos- popping up all over the course to catch candid snaps- all the sponsors, too. T8 for the awesome shorts and underpants, Papadino’s for the Pizzas & the prize voucher even made peace with Tailwind and had a recoverite after the event.

Thanks to all the people I met and worked with on the several bees & for all the care, imagination & spirit that put energy into making this happen- the whole event- not just the LOS; all the work that goes into delivering a vision into reality, planting the seed & helping it grow.  

                            Hawkesbury Trail Runners

Massive shout out to the Hawkesbury Trail Runners!  So glad you all came to support the event you fell in love with last year before a period of tragedy hit the area and awesome to see you at the event (well, sort of -in the heat of the moment and the day, socialising was very short lived due to needing to cool down, fuel up and get back out;  and after the event, I puked up & conked out!) Managed to wave and mumble to a few of you and had a chat with regular run buddies Mike & Vicki.

You all did so well, especially in that fierce heat and I’m  quite fond of the memories of just blurting random stuff out in the zone- the Britpop running the event of your lifetime zone….

Congrats to Jackie and Claudio in their runs, had a brief chat with Jackie in the fierce heat....also to Matt & Jen from Plus Fitness running the marathon and half respectively on a tough course in tough conditions.

All any of us really need to do is turn up and make the most of it, and that’s exactly what everyone did; and that’s how a great event works, really, so let’s all do it again next year!  Mystic Steve predict big things happening in the Blue Goat Backyard for 2021…..!

Whilst I was busy running and didn’t get to join in the party for too long & during the later phases and the high heat was stumbling around like a bull in a china shop, it was huge fun singing, dancing &, running all night and day. The energy I drew from Britpop was out of this world!  I’ve never sung & danced at an Ultra or race before to my knowledge. It just got better with every lap!  

Massive thanks for all the runners I had a chitchat with and shared a song joke or story with, however mish mash it all was, it was great fun all night and day - and apologies for the audible fart and swearing- it was quite challenging keeping this under the radar at times.  

 Everyone who stepped up to that course was a winner whatever the goal, distance or outcome. Sorry if I missed you on the day, or if I didn't miss you but wasn't making much sense in the delirium of hot endurance. Here’s some awesome photos:

Rob heads up to the Corral.

It is said, when you blow this horn, Beer & Pizza arrives

The drone, sounds like a swarm of bees.

In all the excitement I forgot to get a t shirt. 

   Got some awesome car stickers though and part of a Goat’s skull. 

When I’m in the zone I often adopt a different persona and mindset-  I’m not the same often reserved introvert as when you see me under normal conditions; I guess the animated extroversion gets magnified , as you’d expect from anyone giving the performance of their life up on stage.  

There are moments of surrender, where I’m in total alignment with higher self, emitting my frequency with a genuine smile & peace into the world and that is where the practice creates the art.....

    Endurance running is all about finding your inner peace, well, sort of....

        I think Alun’s singing Tom Jones here- I’ve zoned out to Oasis classics

I missed the presentation- seems to be a trend of mine (happened after the Hounslow Double when, after accidentally busting in on the elite presentation, did I mention bull in china shop already? I went and nodded off in the car!) That was the inaugural year when Tony took out the first place in the Double by a long, long way.

After it was all over, I puked up then momentarily imploded and had a lie down.

                         Deep relaxation is really good for you.  

The medics gave me ice packs and aimed a big fan on me (was really nice to have a fan at one of my races, actually, i could get used to that) They took good care of me, so thank you for the care and the cups of tea and water I recall there were two of you and you were lovely.  I had a power snooze for a couple of minutes, which I think actually lasted a couple of hours, and I cooled down, which brought me back to life.

Before this, I fondly recall running up to the corral giving the goats a wave the final time and being greeted by everyone going wild.

                                                   Hello gorgeous.

I blurted out a speech, that I know would've made total sense to everyone if it actually left my lips the way it was written by my heart- the former not sure, the latter no doubts.  Basically gratitude, peace & love, keep going, never give up and things will get better- as in running so in life. ❤️

In spite of it being the hottest day of the year so far and genuinely a tough course we had a lot of laughs and fun moments in the middle of it all. Some of it is a Blur but most of it was Oasis and also notable tunes also from the Stone Roses, Muse, Radiohead, Prodigy, Rolling Stones, The Verve, Doves, Manics, REM and many many more

             Music is medicine & I’m so grateful to my musical brothers & sisters.

There were several different events happening at the same time during the heat and middle of the day and it became a little confusing at times with all the different energies going off around the hub, but once back into the peace & calm of focussing on the running every hour, everything made sense and came together. The music fired me up like a second wind every lap, I thought I was dreaming at one point, like I could not have scripted the day better if I’d have sat there and made up my own story about a perfect day out running around with Britpop classics in the background, because that’s exactly what it was like!  

Again, never underestimate the power of manifestation, positive thinking and the art of raising your vibration so that you attract good, positive people & experiences into your life.

I can’t wait to go to Queensland now and join in for an all weekend running party at the Clint Eastwood. I can see myself dancing and singing my way round that course al day and night and day and.....well, if they’ll let me in!

                           Correct, you also swear and sing a fair bit as well.

I’ve said it before I’ll keep saying it and you heard it from me first: There is nothing conceptually better in running than a Last One Standing Endurance Race. It’s the Rock n Roll of endurance running.  It’s raw, simple, pure & true and it happens in the now. It provides a stage for you to give the greatest performance of your life-  every present moment-  every hour, on the hour & all the minutes in between. It really gives you the opportunity to be loud & proud and really turn up, (not just to be fully in the present moment) your training and turn up your performance to the next level.

                                         Turn up, turn it up & BE LOUD!   

As in running so in life; God calls upon you to bring all that you are to the starting corral and step up into the very highest version of yourself. All your experiences, the culmination of physical mental & spiritual training, as you step into space, out past the music (of Britpop!) into the blinding lights, then the darkness & then the many winding turns that lead us to who knows where, because there is no finish, is no end….. the end is just the beginning, of another loop, another lap- another chance to shine.

                            Competitive mindset bypass. There is no finish, there is no competition, there is no advantage to being the fastest runner, no disadvantage to being the slowest. Anyone who can complete a lap in time to be back ready to go out on another, has an equal chance at being the last one standing to complete that beautiful, identical repetition of what we all love: simply running in nature; one foot in front of the other, moving forward, fully grounded in the present moment; putting the practice of our meditative flow state into effect as best we can.  

The reality of endurance trail running is that it is a tough struggle and your achievements are hard earned.   Such is anything worth doing.  And I’m sure anyone who heard me stumbling, swearing singing & shouting through the dark and the day, will  attest that I am not the exactly an oasis of calm- I’m probably more like Oasis the band.

As many of you may already realise or guess from reading this, I don’t take the competitive, type a personality,  or egoic side of running at all seriously.  I do genuinely regard running as part of a spiritual practice. It can at times be done purely as a spiritual practice, like meditation or Yoga or making music. Running can bring us together, individually and collectively. 

Not every time that  run do I run spiritually, just as not every time I sit down do I meditate or every time I pick up my guitar do I make medicine music; sometimes I just make a noise or just sit or just go and run and zone out to music, However, there is a great light to be found  when you just get out into nature and breathe and move gracefully, gratefully and in complete alignment with the flow of the universe and everything in it. 

The Bluegoat track, like a spiritual path, is rocky, uneven, twisting & turning, it requires total concentration & surrender to the process; still you may trip, slip, maybe fall; there will be blood, sweat  & tears….you need to climb & descend, there are milestones, you meet others at different stages in their journeys and there is no finish in sight; there are surprises, tests and you find yourself back at the beginning with each cycle….

There are tears and laughter and moments you don’t even comprehend at the time. It can be dark and ugly and chew you up and spit you out many times, all day long in fact....until you surrender to the process and let go.....Then you may see, there are obstacles and trials, but they are not in your way; the only thing standing in your way is you – and that’s really more of an illusion you created than a real living person, so you just get your unreal self out of the way and let your best self shine-  & shine it does…. 

You can tell this is lap 1 - my legs are the still the same colour as my shirt.

All you need to succeed, at whatever you turn your mind to, is a single-minded determinism- pure focus & intention of putting one foot in front of the other and deciding not to stop until you have succeeded.  May you spirit drive your machine wherever you may roam, knowing within you , is where you are home,.

So now we know the power of manifestation and endurance and the value of community &  service to others, the plan must be created to use apply energy skills to seed & grow something of genuine, lasting value in this world.  So that’s what’s gonna happen….it’s out there in the Universe, God is my witness, momentum is building,  so watch this space….like, not literally here this is just a web page. 

Whilst I train & participate in events during all conditions, phases & biorhythms, I do love a full moon.   Clear full moon nights are magical & highly energetic; Blue Moon rising at the Blue Goat was perfectly poetic!

I'm not knocking a new moon, by polar contrast, or any other phase, but the energy was just right and I guess I was feeling lucky.

Let’s talk about feeling ‘lucky’ as I’ve already stated my predictions and what I positively manifested with my energies & intentions form the moment I made the instant decision to be at this race.  

I basically created my own luck through being completely honest with myself whether this was something I could achieve.

Did I have what it takes to run at an LOS event? Of course, I did, no doubts at all. Why? Not arrogance or confidence, but the format itself.  You can’t really lose in an LOS unless you are the last one standing!  So going to win is going lose, and losing is glorious in all its forms.   There is no shame in the DNF (Did Not Finish) at all if you’ve given your all. The DNF in other events is nothing to strive for or celebrate, but the DNF in the LOSER is a test to see how far you can go….what could be more pure? And the only one who doesn’t get to fully reach their potential on the day; reach the peak of what they can do on that day, during their race time, is the Last One Standing.

I created my own luck by setting my intention and my energy to creating & following a training program that would enable me to achieve my goals.  I visualised being the last one standing for months and I trained like it was in the bag already, because that was what I felt deeply.

I knew it was my time & I had the God given ability to create my story & walk right into it.  I said many times during the event that it was just perfect and that I couldn’t have scripted it better myself.  I stepped into a higher version of myself that I’d created through some very tough training & some heartfelt actions; in another sense it felt like I was on stage performing.  

Apart from key milestones that marked out the path of consistent focus and intuitive training, as I regained fitness from hiatus, there were some very specific and tough challenges that I set myself in order to prepare for a race of this nature. A race that just goes & goes & goes interminably requires you to leave no stone unturned regards you physical body, your mental ability your nutrition plan & your spirit. Someone once said runners don’t’ run with their legs they run with their arms.  I believe runners. once the body is trained sufficiently, run with their minds- and the mind is fuelled by limitless energy & power of the spirit.  

So you go through every motion of training and preparing your physical body and you feed you mind and your spirit with positive thoughts and genuine love for self & for others. If you don’t see this kind of thing in training programs, then you soon will do just as soon as I can get my shit together…..

I’d watched the Clint Eastwood & I’d watched the Big Dog & I fell in love with the concept of the LOS. I fell in love with all the people in the front row. The runners slogging it out in the Clint Eastwood LOS & the Australian team at Bigs Backyard Ultra satellite event. I decided in a moment that I wanted to be part of it, so I made it happen; the moment I’d made my mind up, everything started falling into place and I was sent signs and opportunities that I had to take without a moments thought. I knew that everything surrounding this journey had to be  centered on other, something outside of, larger than self.

 An ex Army bloke from the UK RunGrahamRun was doing a mental health charity treadmill World Record helping blokes with mental health and suicide prevention.  The run was to complete 21  marathons in 7 days – on a treadmill! . He invited teams to rival of beat him in the challenge. So I supported this and set out to do just 7 marathons in 7 days.

This set me up very nicely for the next opportunity in my path, which was to support Mark Avery doing a 20 marathons in 20 days challenge for Gotch4Life and Run4MentalFitness- an Australian blokes charity helping with suicide prevention and setting up places for blokes to engage in ways that deal with the root of bloke issues.  Safe places to share stories, feelings and concerns without judgement. 

Instead of just marathons,  I actually did ultramarathons and also added in a lot of cycling. I know how to listen to my body and push it through adaptations with fasting, nutrition & specifically focussed rotations across all terrains and relevant speeds and intensities.  You are really just calibrating a complex God driven physical body through a series of experiences in order to achieve a specific goal. 

The goal in this instance was conceptually perfect in that it was technically interminable, ie. kind of eternal.  You simply had to train to go as far as you could go; so you had to see how close to the edge you could get to that point in the training, without breaking yourself.   

I genuinely pushed my limits and discovered more about running and endurance than all the hours my studying had taught me, and infinitely more than debating with ultra coaches online could ever have revealed. I trained and pushed harder and longer than ever before and also balanced that with more rest & recovery and fine tuning than ever before. I applied every technique I knew and discovered exactly what nutrition worked best in all situations. 

After all the training and the experience of others doubts, I thought it would be quite amusing to win one of the toughest ultra endurance challenges in Australia while singing and dancing & wearing a lairy pink shirt and cargo shorts I got from Big W, fuelled up with honey water, bananas and hemp and walnut oil .   I had a plan, a 50 hour plan. It consisted of 30 litres of honey water (1kg raw honey per 10l)  25 ripe bananas, 250ml x Hemp seed oil 250ml x Walnut oil, a few vitamin e capsules and  a few coq10 capsules. 

So let that be a cheeky lesson to all you very serious runners in your expensive compression gear, with your gadgets & gimmicks and fancy nutritional products & lord knows what else you use, slogging away to the beat of your watch, as I did before a great meltdown of over training and loss of genuine joy-  in running and in life.  In many ways the way I run today is a result of hard lessons and failures, or going too far too son, and burning out. I’ve been obsessed with a quicker this a quicker that, gotta beat the last time every time.....lets set an unrealistic goal....it slowly takes all the joy out of your passion like all addictions inevitably do. 

Let this light shine on those who talk the talk so readily in their little cliques and so called training groups, especially those who have personally attacked me and tried to shut me down or censor the story of my training and my experiences for reasons best known to their egos and projected issues. I forgive ya. 

 May the light of my achievements and those of my brothers & sisters- everyone walking the walk- everyone saying I can-  illuminate the dark attitudes of the ‘can’t’do this ‘can’t’ do that-  and the put downs and rationalising words of so called science, and disbelief in your training, thinking , fuelling, wider wellness strategies..... genuine experiences......May my brothers & sisters who are in doubt, or disliking, hating, fearing, not loving, put down the ego, and find a better way.  May my walk inspire others to walk the walk and to never say they can’t do something, or be held back by others as to what they think they can or can’t achieve.  And may I long take all my own best advice back to my own heart as well and never forget it.  

Everyone, today, just get outside  and get moving and enjoy what you are doing and be grateful that you can do what you can do; and you’ll find that you can do a lot more and a lot more and a lot more......  

             Genuine footage from an online Ultra running research conference.

 I know what it’s like to lose things, we all do, but there’s no use banging on about that old story; a great spiritual teacher recently told me that I had to put that down and never pick it up again.... and so it is.  So know this - an event that celebrates losing in all its glory is of divine significance when you are running on a spiritual path.  You ether win or your learn ; and in a race/journey with no winners, everybody learns, which is a glorious & pure win win paradox. 

It takes the biggest fear in endurance running - the dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish) and turns it into a glorious badge of honour. A badge that says you gave your all. You went as far as YOU could go on that day, in that place. There is nothing to fear in the LOS regarding a DNF.  You really cannot lose.....

......unless you win!? Ooops, well, oh well, I think I can handle it. 

I wasn’t quite ready for my glorious DNF just yet, so I became the biggest LOSER.  And I’ll just have to wait and see where my glorious limits truly lie.....

                    I caught quite a tan out there. 

So, after an extended power snooze I revived myself and had some pizza and some Goat’s pish, and enjoyed the hospitality and company of Tony,Alun & Susannah, thereafter kipping on the sofa for the night, where upon I made a swift exit the next morning, before the England v Wales Rugby came on....I think I might’ve predicted the score and dIdn’t want to hang about for it.

Truth is, I had to get back to talk to my son Jack (also race strategy/challenge consultant) on the phone and then on Zoom and told him the news.. He was pleased I won, and notwithstanding the pep talks about the true nature of taking part, he  rightly likes it when I win.  I think it has a positive effect when your son knows that you’ve gone and done something a bit special, even if it might not make full sense to him now, it may well help him in the future, so that's a win win. I actually asked him during one of the training cycles (20 maras in 20 days) whether I should beat everyone on the leaderboard or let the organiser take the top spot. He said nah, beat him, I don’t think he’ll mind if you win. So that’s what I did.... thanks for the tip matey! 

So here endeth the tale of a fantastic weekend and experience, can’t wait for next year, see if we can get double the numbers starting and smash some course records. Hoping to see more of my running buddies on that starting corral with me having a dance and a song and then heading out onto the endless, beautiful loops of our own personal limits...... anything can and always does happen in a race- sorry journey- of this kind.  

You may be next years LOS, with me to help you to go as far as I possibly can, leaving YOU to do just one last loop and be the biggest LOSER on the day?  You know it makes sense.   Big love from Steve. :)

[the-purple-hero]

CNK Story Campaign (Team Spyro)

{{So before I start, I just got a little bored and decided to write out a full thing if Spyro had his own team in Crash Nitro Kart for all the cutscenes. I was inspired after seeing a post with hypothetical teams in CNK, so I thought I’d do my own with a Team Spyro. This will feature Spyro, Hunter and Agent 9.

Note, that this is written in a script type of format because if it were in my regular writing form it’d be a huge writing passage, I hope you guys like it.}}

*Accepting Velo’s Challenge

The cutscene begins giving close up shots of Spyro, Hunter and Agent 9 respectively as they wave and Velo’s crowd cheers.

Velo: Do you accept my challenge?....OUT WITH IT!

Spyro: Y’eesh calm down big guy, don’t need to see ya havin’ a big ol’ fit! Yeah we take your challenge and you’ll see what real speed looks like!

Velo: Then it is decided! You will race across four worlds of my choosing! And if you should win each world’s key. You will earn a chance to race the galactic champion, for your freedom. I even modified vehicles for you to give you a fighting chance.

Spyro: Uh huh that’s all well and good, my pals and I will show you! Lets make somethin’ clear, you’re not gonna have the last laugh here.

Velo: Think you’ll put up quite a challenge do you? Well they all say that dragon, but I do love watching some intense competition!....Now, onto the first world, Terra!

The cutscene finishes with Team Spyro hopping in their vehicles and Sparx joining up next to the little dragon. Spyro gave one last look up at Velo’s holographic head with a look of confidence at the Emperor’s sneer before driving off to Terra.

*Terra’s Champion

Velo: You’ve collected 3 trophies, a promising start! Now you must face Terra’s champion, Krunk!

Krunk appears and bats his chest like a gorilla

Velo: Krunk’s speed is only matched by his cunning on the track

Krunk: They will race me? They look slow, send them back!

Spyro glares at him and holds back Agent 9 who looks ready to aim his blaster

Velo: But Krunk, they’re from... eh...where exactly are you lot from hmm?

Spyro: Psh, as if I’m gonna tell ya that. No way, I’d rather keep it to ourselves can’t have you comin’ and causing trouble if y’don’t mind.

Krunk: Well whatever planet, or world or wherever you came from I’m going to show you a real defeat and send you back with your head hanging low!

Spyro: Riiiight, sure you will, how ‘bout we get goin’ and we’ll see who comes out the victor!

Spyro gives off a smug smirk as both him and Krunk make eye contact, with Agent 9 grumbling behind him and Velo chuckling darkly at the tension.

*Krunk Defeated

The cutscene begins with the crowds surprised at Team Spyro’s victory with one shouting their praises and receiving dirty looks from those near him, and then Krunk approaches the team.

Krunk: Key makes you champion of Terra, also opens all world gates on my planet. Visit when you want.

Spyro noticed that the Terran seemed really sad at his defeat despite his hostility from earlier.

Spyro: Sure thing, not a problem neat skills out there.

Krunk: Really? Thanks! You three aren’t so bad yourselves!

Spyro: Yep, just doin’ our best y’know and trust me we’re gonna win this thing.

Krunk: Hmmm, maybe you will but don’t get too excited.

Velo then appeared back up much to Krunk’s dismay.

Velo: Krunk! Leave my sight!

A beam of light then took Krunk away.

Velo: You’d did well but your nowhere close to winning the circuit yet, onto the second world! Barrin!

*Barrin’s Champion

Velo: You now have six trophies, with these you have earned the right to race Nash! Barrin’s champion! Nash was engineered to always move, he never stops or even sleeps!

Nash: Put ‘em up, put ‘em up!

Nash proceeds to spin around while Spyro shakes his head, Hunter looks confused and Agent 9 looks excited.

Spyro: Y’know this guy, looks like they weren’t kiddin’ he looks like he just had waaay too much candy or something.

Nash: Is that, enough? I need to get moving!

Velo: Soon Nash

Nash: Not soon.... NOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!

Velo is visibly angered by the backtalk and growls at him which shut Nash down and made him back off.

Velo: Excellent

*Nash Defeated

Nash is off to the side looking frustrated and mumbling things to himself and shaking his fins.

Spyro: Guess we made ol’ sharptooth over there mad, you guys doin’ alright after that?

Hunter: You could say that Spyro, but ugh got hit by those fans so many times I don’t know when I’m gonna stop feeling this dizzy, Agent 9 is well...watching Nash because I guess he hit him with something out on the track.

Spyro looks over at Agent 9 who was standing behind one of the pillars and spying on Nash who was starring at the shark who had blasted him during the race.

Agent 9: OOOOH Let me at ‘em!

Just his luck, Nash then runs up to Team Spyro looking very angry and seemed to be still on the aggressive side.

Nash: Gimmie my key back!!! COME ON! HAND IT OVER!

Spyro: Watch it sharptooth, you lost! How ‘bout backin’ off before ya get toasted! Trust me y’don’t wanna mess with this dragon tough guy!

Nash: I don’t CARE! I am not scared of some purple LIZARD!

Before he could say anymore he saw Agent 9 sneaking over but Nash was so focused on his anger he didn’t notice, and realizing what was happening Spyro smirked and stepped out of the monkey’s way.

Agent 9: HehehaHAHAHHA Look who’s here! OOH you’re gonna get a chance to meet MISTER BLASTER!

Agent 9 points his blaster at Nash

Nash: Gah! Nonono get away from me you crazy freak!

Agent 9 chases Nash with his blaster managing to get off a few shots around the coliseum but missed, although making the shark scream and flail his fins around while Agent 9 was cackling like a madman, even Spyro got in on it and managed to blow flames at the shark as he ran past him.

Spyro: How’s that for not bein’ scared of the purple lizard?

This went on for a bit before they are interrupted by Velo’s hologram, ignoring the monkey’s antics and Spyro stopped first.

Velo: Nash! Get out of here I’ll deal with you later!

Agent 9: I’ve got you NOW!

Agent 9 fires one more time hitting Nash in the rear, and he lunges at him but misses him as he is beamed away and led the monkey to have a hard landing with a splat on the ground.

Agent 9: HEY! Stop messing up my fun!

Velo rolls his eyes with a look of disgust, and proceeds to ignore him.

Velo: Well your halfway there here’s where things start to get tricky... On to Phenomena!

*Fenomena’s Champion

Velo: With your nine trophies, you have earned the right to face Phenomena’s champion...Norm!

Norm appears on his pedestal reading a book, not even looking at the team below.

Spyro ends up snickering, along with Hunter and Agent 9 laughed, and even Velo laughed at Norm but then shook his head and came to his senses.

Velo: Don’t let Norm’s size fool you, he’s a demon on the race track.

Norm looked away from his book, crossed his arms and shook his head refusing to race.

Velo: NOOOOOOOO! You ARE racing today, now DO IT!

Norm quickly got down and he turned into some kind of blue goo, and split into two piles of it.

Spyro: What the-?

Hunter: Heh heh, looks like jello

Hunter leaned down and told Spyro with a chuckle

Spyro: Pfft, good one.

But then the bigger pile had a red hat sprout up and they reformed one looking like Norm as they saw him moments ago, the other like a bigger version of him.

Big Norm: Oooh a race! Count me in!

Small Norm waggled a finger at him and looked away, arms crossed again.

Big Norm: I don’t wanna hear it! The deal was that you race in return for me wearing this dumb getup!

Big Norm approached Team Spyro

Big Norm: Besides, they don’t stand a chance!

Agent 9: We’ll SEE!

Hunter and Spyro both glare at him

Spyro: You guys never learn do ya, well c’mon then let’s go!

*Norm Defeated

Big Norm: You know, you did good out there. You got a real shot at winning this thing! Cause you work together!

Spyro: Heh, well thanks! Y’sure turned out to be a pretty good sport ‘bout all this, you two aren’t so bad together yourselves. The last guy threw a fit when he lost...so my pal Agent 9 and I taught him a thing or two.

Agent 9: I got to have a SHOT at him if you know what I’m saying!

Agent 9 waved his blaster around and both he and Big Norm started laughing at the pun.

Big Norm: Ohoho! I know what you mean, good old Nash can get a little upset over even little things but this is a lot bigger of a deal to him, like us.

Big Norm then looks over at Small Norm who was sitting away, and reading again.

Big Norm: Hey! Come over here and make nice!

Small Norm refused and looked away.

Big Norm: Yeah he pretends not to care, but he’s just like me he hates losin’.

Spyro tilted his head and looked over at Small Norm, he understood it didn’t feel good at all to take a loss. But as he did Velo appeared again, looking very angry.

Velo: Norm! Get over here!

Big Norm: Uh oh

Both Norms are persuaded to fuse again by Velo and they do.

Velo: Perhaps I need new ways to motivate you... like... taking your books away!

Norm looks horrified before he is beamed out.

Velo: I thought he had you beat...but you proved me wrong! You won’t be so lucky on Teknee!

*Teknee’s Champion

This cutscene is pretty much the same as the other teams canonically in the game just with the Team Spyro characters.

*Geary Defeated

Geary: My key! How did I lose? I know Teknee like the back of my- my hand! It’s dirty! This whole place is filthy!

Geary proceeds to vacuum the coliseum drawing closer to Team Spyro who are celebrating, he notices Hunter and takes out a brush, cleaning his stomach making him giggle before he moved on to vacuuming his underarm leading Spyro to chuckle at him and look at Sparx who was struggling to hold in his giggles while they were being celebrated, not minding the robot just doing some cleaning.

Spyro: Looks like y’won’t need to go and take a bath he’s doing it for ya

Spyro chuckled, gently ribbing at the cheetah who rolled his eyes at his friend, and was startled as suddenly Velo shouted.

Velo: Geary! You have FAILED ME! As punishment you must clean the trophy podium, and when your done with that... you will clean the entire coliseum!

Velo could now be seen standing where his hologram was, in the flesh and laughing evilly at the job he assigned to Geary.

Velo: You now have all 4 champion keys and with these you can now challenge the most accomplished racer in the entire galaxy... me! And I never lose...

*First Velo Defeat

Velo is visibly angry and grumbles with his two advisers looking concerned, but as he calms down they do as well.

Velo: Congratulations you have won the galaxy circuit, and you put on quite a show am I right everyone?

The crowd cheers victoriously

Velo: You are now free to go.

Spyro: Heh, this was too easy your majesty!

The young dragon spoke with his voice dripping with sarcasm on that last part.

Spyro: Told ya that you wouldn’t have the last laugh here. So now if ya don’t mind we’re gonna head back with Crash and our friends back to their home.

Velo: What? You mean Earth? Oh, but now I have to destroy Earth since you no longer want to race. You can’t go back there, I thought I was pretty clear about that, dragon. You must have made some kind of mistake here yes? Thinking you could just go back now.

Hearing this, Spyro starred into Velo’s eyes looking not too happy while Velo looked smugly down at him.

Hunter: That’s not right!

Agent 9: OOOH you’re playing DIRTY!

Velo: What do you mean? You’re free to go.”

Velo still looked smug since he knew exactly what he was doing, they were free to go but not the way they wanted, he still insisted he would doom Crash’s planet.

Spyro: ...Don’t mess with me greenie, I wouldn’t start playin’ these games with me because I can play them better. If you’re gonna play dirty, we could have a go right here you’re not gonna do a thing to Earth or Crash!

Clearly Spyro was not happy with this, he basically had him where he wanted him because there was no way he was going to let him destroy Crash’s home planet, if he had to fight with him he would if need be.

Spyro: Oh ho I get it, you just can’t stand the idea of actually losin’ to us can ya ugly?

Velo is visibly upset by this remark, but tries not to shout or growl at him.

Velo: Are you certain of that? I would tread carefully dragon, Remember you otherworldly savage, do not dare to challenge me in such a way or else I might have to see Earth destroyed for your defiance!

Spyro: Oh yeah? We’ll keep racing if that’s what it’s gonna take for you to back off from Earth.

Velo: A rematch? How exciting! But there are rules you must follow, you first need to earn all my time relics then we can race for the fate of Earth.

Spyro: If that’s what ya want then bring it on greenie, we’ll teach ya another lesson! You’re so on!

*Final Velo Defeat (Ending)

Velo is visibly fuming and growling angrily even more than last time

Velo Adviser 1: My lord please don’t get angry!

Velo Adviser 2: Your suit is leaking sire!

Velo hits the adviser's hovercraft causing him to go flying. While Spyro stood in front of his friends, thinking Velo might attack in a fit of rage. So stepped in front to defend his two friends...but then Velo unexpectedly in his anger exploded into a pile of rubble.

Team Spyro cough and splutter as smoke fills the area, but soon dispels.

Spyro: There’s somethin’ ya don’t see everyday the bad guy exploding. And here I was thinkin’ we were gonna have to take ‘em down in order to get outta this, I guess that’s one way of doin’ it!

Spyro makes his way to Velo’s scepter standing up on his hind legs and tries to move it from there but trips and it lands on him, the item being surprisingly heavy. Hunter helps him up, just as from the rubble the Real Velo emerges from the destroyed robot.

Velo: It’s mine! you can’t have it!

Spyro: Can’t say I saw this coming, that you were just a little guy underneath all that you sure y’still wanna try me short stuff?

Velo shook angrily, and jumped at Spyro and attempted to knock him down and latched onto him and tried to pull the scepter away while Spyro bit onto it and held it in his mouth.

Velo: GIVE IT! YOU MEDDLING DRAGON!

Hunter came up behind him and tried to pull Velo away but he had a tight grip, and tried to scratch at Hunter’s hands while holding on with the other. Spyro pulled the scepter down with his paws and held it tighter releasing it from his mouth actually working as a distraction.

Spyro: Havin’ some trouble short stuff?

Seemed the distraction worked, as Agent 9 put an end to it with a shot from his blaster at Velo which had him yell.

Velo: OUCH!

Agent 9: HAHA got you!

Velo let go instantly and Hunter was still pulling so he tripped back still holding the Emperor, causing Velo to soar in the air and collide with a pillar of the coliseum and slid down. Landing on his back with a groan and Spyro pushed the staff up and Hunter held onto it for him.

Spyro walked up to Velo who grumbled and scooted away from him, and he snorted with smoke coming out of his nostrils.

Spyro: Not so tough now, are ya?

Velo: Okay fine you win! You can take it, my scepter is too big for me anyway.

Velo laid there and crossed his arms in a grumpy manner.

Spyro: Uh huh let that be a lesson to you, didn’t anyone ever tell ya not to mess with dragons? Well there ya go, guys like us ain’t gonna give up especially not to a baddie like you.

Spyro trotted back to his friends and he held the scepter to the best of his ability and he took his friends, including the Bandicoots back home and after a quick trip back to the Dragon Realms to hand over Velo’s scepter to the Magic Crafters so they could handle it as they saw fit.

Afterward he continued with his visit to Wumpa Island, where he hung around with all of his friends together on the beach and soaking up the sun rays and relaxing after all that racing.

THE END

[aerynwrites]

Forever

Connor/RK800 x Reader

This was requested by @justadweebwithashittydream

Request:  Hey! Congratulations on 400 followers I'm so happy for you!! I was just wondering if you were able to do prompt 28 for Connor? Idk if i'm allowed to give any context (i'm not really familiar with prompts so please forgive me) but could you make it really angsty? Again, congrats!! Thank you so much! aaa!!

Prompt: “When she told you to leave, you should have stayed.”

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, fighting.

Author’s Note: Okay first off this thing was EXACTLY 1000 words and that was super satisfying. and second, this was so fun to write XD, i freaking love angst with a happy ending and I love Connor so this whole thing was a blast. As always i hope you enjoy!

-------------------------------------

“Get out!” 

Your scream filled the house you share with your boyfriend Connor, as he stands helplessly in front of you, LED spinning a solid yellow.

“Please, calm down and just talk to me!” He pleads. 

His words just fuel your rage even more as you grab a coffee mug sat abandoned on the table and throw it full force towards the android, “I said leave!”  

He just barley dodges the ceramic cup, causing it to shatter into tiny pieces on the wall behind him, “Get the fuck out of my house!” you wail.

Your face was flushed red as tears streamed down your face as Connor stepped towards you, calling your name desperately, “I don’t understand what I did wrong!” he exclaimed desperately. 

you shove him backwards towards the door of the house, “You don’t understand?” you screech and point at the door harshly, “Then you need to Leave until you figure it out, because you are not coming back until you understand.” You spit. 

Connor is silent as he looks at you, completely lost on why you are so angry at him. He turns around silently and opens the door, looking from your shaking figure to the world outside. You almost stop him from leaving, wanting him to fight for you and right what was wronged, but you don’t. You just watch as he walks out the door, shutting it with a soft click.

----------------------------------- 

When Connor arrived at work the next day and saw your desk empty, he automatically worried. He spent the previous night at Hank’s house, refusing to tell the Lieutenant why he wasn’t at home with you. He had spent the majority of the night awake, going back over every second of his actions for the previous weeks, trying to find out what he did wrong, but he found nothing. 

A low grumble and squealing of chair wheels brought Connor’s thoughts back to reality as Hank sat down at his desk.

“So, are you finally going to tell me what happened?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what you are referring to Lieutenant,” Connor lied.

Hank scoffed, “I may be old, Connor, but I’m not stupid. With you staying over last night and (y/n) not being here today, I know something is wrong. So, you better tell me so I can help you.” He said bluntly.

Connor huffed and leaned back in his chair slightly, replaying the events of last nights fight to his friend in front of him. Hank listened intently, not interrupting the android until the story was finished. 

“I just don’t understand why she is so mad at me,” Connor said dejectedly.

Hank didn’t speak for a moment, processing the information he was given before finally speaking, “Well I don’t know why she was mad at you, but I can tell you one thing,” Hank offered. Connor leaned forward listening intently to Hank’s advice, “When she told you to leave, you should have stayed,” He said earnestly.

Connor’s LED flashed yellow before quickly turning blue once more, “I don’t understand lieutenant, she clearly did not want to be in my presence. Why would I aggravate the situation further by staying?” 

Hank sighed running a hand down his face, “Because kid, the last thing a women wants you to do is leave. She wants you to stay and fight for your relationship, to show here that you aren’t going to give up when things get hard.” He says.

Connor nodded understandingly as he stood from his desk, “Thank you Lieutenant. I will be back shortly.” He said walking towards the elevator.

Hank swiveled his chair around, “Where are you going? We have work to do!” he calls after the android.

“I’m going to fix things.”

 ----------------------------- 

You sat curled up in your bed sheets, your favorite movie playing on the TV in front of you. You called into work today, feigning sickness. There was no way you could face Connor after last night, not after you reacted the way you did. Sure, you were justified in your anger, but you had no right to treat him that way. You hated yourself. You had pushed the only person who you cared about away all over something stupid. You felt more tears well up in your eyes at the thought but quickly brushed them away when you heard the door to your bedroom open. You turned slightly and sat up quickly once you saw it was Connor.

“I’m sorry,” You both blurted out the same time. 

You don’t speak again, instead you watch as Connor walks over and sits next to you, bringing his hand over to hold yours. You sigh slightly at the contact and intertwine your fingers, happy with the familiar gesture.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, “I’m sorry I made you upset, and that I left you alone last night.”

You felt your heart clench at his words and moved so you were facing him, “No, i told you to leave,” you reminded, “You just did what I asked, you don’t need to be sorry. If anyone needs to be sorry it’s me, I acted way out of line.” 

Connor shook his head and pulled you in for a hug, tucking his face in the crook of your neck, “I should’ve stayed,” he reiterated, “I shouldn’t have run away from the problem, I should have faced it head on.”

you smiled and pulled away from him looking into his warm brown eyes, filled with sorrow and regret. You leaned in and kiss him softly before speaking, “You’re here now and that’s all that matters.” You look from him back to the TV, “Will you stay with me? Just for a few minutes?” you ask quietly.

Connor looked at you lovingly and nodded, moving so he was sitting against the headboard with you tucked into his side. 

“I’ll stay as long as you want.”

you looked up at him playfully, “Forever?” you asked.

He smiled and kissed you sweetly, “Forever.”

[era-the-witchy-birdkid]

Little idea I had

~~~~~~~~~~

“So what do you do for fun that isn't shown in the TV series anyway?” Tim asks after we finish watching the first season of my show. why he is making me watch my awkward hero beginnings with Nightwing and Batman in the same room I have no clue.

Then the question hit me, and I blush hard as the urge to keep my embarrassing secret from Robin, wars with my urge to be truthful as possible to the boy who helped shape who I am and put me on the Hero's path once my accident happened.

Being truthful won, and I hesitantly say, "I write Batman Fanfiction on Archive. My work is pretty popular too. I mostly write Titan Tower AU and stories where you join the Batfamily early though. Granted I can't update as much as I used too because of the ghost attacks." I end with a shrug.

Tim gains a look his eye that tells me he's planning something. "You can still update them even with the media blackout in Amity?"

I nod, "I don't think the GiW even knows what Fanfiction is so it was never blocked. In fact..." I snort back a laugh, "I was planning to release this one shot Titans Tower AU where ol Boxy shows up and messing up all of brainwashed Jason's plans, after I finished exploring the Ghost Zone. But of course I got stuck in Gotham instead."

Tim brusts out laughing, "The Box Ghost loose in Titans Tower," Tim say though the piers of laughter, "I can imagine the chaos that would bring, though how did you plan on ending that encounter in your story."

"Boxy leaving on his own to bother some other poor people."

"You should have totally given yourself a cameo in your story, Boxy is one of your Rogues after all. Plus it pulls into my next point you should use you fans to bring up support for abolishing the 'anti-ecto acts' and get the truth of what's going on in Amity out there."

"Aaaaaa, slight issue I may have written a vent fic where Jason can back as a halfa instead well his whole thing as Red Hood as a way to deal with my emotions after the accident and if I reveal the Amity stuff my fans might realize I'm Phantom and likely Half-Ghost like Jason in that fic is..."

"Aaa, well not the end of the world if people find out your only Half-Ghost so long as you don't drop hints to your human side??? Ow! What was that for??"

With my finger still glowing from sending a week ecto-blast at Tim, I deadpan, "Just making sure you aren't possessed, because I can't honestly believe the second most paranoid Bat just told me, the hero that mostly utilizes the Clark Kent effect to keep my secret identity, secret to purposely break said effect????"

"Clark Kent effect?" Tim asks confused

"You know Superman is an alien who lives and the Fortress of Solitude why would he have a secret identity? So no one looks for it. It's the same with me. Phantom's a ghost he's dead why would he have a secret identity of some alive kid? Probably the biggest reason why my incomplete pallet swap works so well... And I can get away with the name pun."

"You know that explains a lot on why uncle Clark gets away with just wearing fake glasses."

"I know right??? It just makes so much sense it also explains why Bruce figured it out so fast, he just never feel into the same mental trap as everyone else. Which btw Bruce don’t encourage Clark to put on a mask it would break the effect for him because why wear a mask unless he has something to hide?”

“So you can’t put on a mask either?” Tim asks

“No I think so long as I change enough of my outfit people would just think I was settling into the common superhero perception, because heroes wear masks right? How is that project going anyway?” I ask

“Badly we know what we want to do but we can’t find a way to apply it just yet. I have a few ideas though” Tim says with frustration in his voice

“You guys will figure it out you’re the Bats!” I chirp

“Danny, we’re still human and we make mistakes.” 

“I know but in the comics so long as it doesn’t deal with the family’s emotional constipation everything your family puts their mind too gets solved eventually.”

“These kind of conversations will always be a little weird. But even given your surprisingly healthy coping mechanism to deal with your lab accident trauma you should be fine so long as you imply you help Phantom instead of being Phantom, and maybe imply that Halfas are a Legend you heard Phantom taking about after a Ghost Fight that you took inspiration from. Lord knows its believable, because Gothamites are down right stupid with villain attacks and I know Parkers are just as bad from the show.” Tim says patting my back

“I’ll think about it, if only because I’m afraid that Amity Park would get tourists trying to visit the one city with a irl Superhero and I have enough problems trying to keep the natives safe during an attack.” I say bringing up the remote to start season two and a fresh notebook for notes on I what I could do better, though I find myself wincing at the title card. Not Sam’s best moment, like at all. And having to experience the accident twice? Not fun

“Fuck Tourists honestly, I still question Outsiders sanity for deciding to visit Gotham or even Blüdhaven of all places for a chance to see heroes in action. Go to Star city or Metropolis for that, not here” Dick pops into the conversation hovering over the couch Tim and I are sitting on.

“Hey Dick, How are the plans for bring Jason home once he gets to Gotham coming along?” I ask looking up to stare at his face

“Pretty good I’ll say, though I don’t know why we can’t search for him early.” 

“I mean you probably could but right now he is in the clutches of the League of Assassins and I have no idea if he has even been put in the pit yet? Plus going after Jason now could get Damian in trouble.” I say with a shrug

“Who’s Damian?” Dick asks

“Oh fuck, I forgot to tell you about Damian Wayne the son of Talia al Ghul and Batman over there” I say pointing at Bruce who is bent over a laptop and paper likely going over plans to bring Jason home as soon as possible. “Was just so focused on Jason’s impending return to Gotham that other important bits of the timeline fell to the wayside. Let me explain” In the end Tim and I wasn’t able to get into Season 2 of my show that night as I get into what I remember of the tail end of the currently released comics so far.

A more fleshed out Idea, The Danny Phantom TV show exists in the DC universe, and the verses DC media exist in the DP universe. One Day after exploring the GZ Danny falls into Gotham in front of Tim who is a long time Phan since he was stalking Vigilantes on rooftops taking photos. Both sets of media are past the "present" for both universes

There is a bit of confusion and some panicking because both of them realize Danny is stuck for a while when the portal he falls through closed behind him, and Danny doesn't want to end up adopted by Batman. (To bad someone has to take care of him while he's stuck it might as well be the Waynes)

For maximum Chaos have the DP timeline either before Reality Trip or before the Episode with the Ghost King and for the DC timeline a few months before Jason's debut as the Red Hood and I'm thinking Comics wise Danny's universe the Red Robin series just came out making Tim Danny's Robin, though Danny gained a massive attachment to Jason in resent mouths because he can identify with the whole dying thing after his accident. Though he still thinks Titans Tower was way to much, but he has recently got a few headcanons on why Jason was so mentally off because of his new experiences with ghosts.

A few more things that might happen, Titan Tower gets averted thanks to Danny's foreknowledge and Danny's eagerness to test a few headcanons of his on the basically brainwashed Jason mostly testing whether or not pit water is actually the same thing as ectoplasm or not in the hope to bring him back to his senses sooner. Danny is not going to let the miscommunication happen here if he can and will definitely stop the batarang to the throat thing from happening if he can. Batman helps him train and tries to figure out how to change Danny's ghost outfit because it's definitely possible Vlad did not get blasted with the vampire knock off outfit on(mainly because Bruce has aready mentally adopted this child and wants him to have better defenses then the suit he already died in twice thanks to memory blank). And tries to figure out how to bring Danny home... hopefully without using a Ghost portal because Gotham does not need Ghosts on top of everything else.

I fully respect Danny’s “yeah i dont like how the writers made this im going to fix it” and just full sending on it. This is a wonderful idea homie. Danny having the foreknowledge and doing his best to help The Bats while also trying to not be noticed by the entire JL

[babycharmander]

5, 9 (NCY), 18, 21, 29 aaa sorry there's so many! These are good questions

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

blllhhhh how do I choose? DX;; uhh... It’s poooobably still The Rodent and the Robot, though I think Neither Can You is shaping up pretty well? TRatR is a longfic that wasn’t 500% self-indulgent like most of my others and I feel like I managed a nice, coherent plot and got some good character development in there with characters I’d almost never written before, so...? But NCY is turning out a lot better than I expected. It’s more on the self-indulgent side than TRatR is but this is my first time writing ALL of these characters and I think I’m doing okay, so...?

9) In Neither Can You, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

I don’t know if I could pick just one. I’m pretty pleased with the buildup in chapter 5 up to where Héctor is found. Also kinda like the bit a few chapters later when Pepita tries to get Héctor out of his depressed musings (and is only partially successful). But Victoria’s scene in chapter 10 was a blast to write--I had a lot of fun with that one and was laughing as I was writing some of that stuff. Also had a lot of fun with Pepita’s perspective in the chapter after that, though it was a bit of a challenge.

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

As far as fics I’ve posted go, I have ONE unfinished fic--a 15-year-old fic that’s a Kirby parody of the Pokemon anime. I remember I abandoned it upon realizing that it was an impossible task--there were too many episodes of Pokemon (even the first season), and even if I could somehow write a parody of every one of those, I couldn’t match every Pokemon to a Kirby enemy.

I also have an unfinished series--my Cutter-Dagger series (an OC-centric series of Kirby fics based on the main story campaigns in Kirby Super Star). I was several chapters into the next fic before I just stopped. I was in college at the time, and working on tons of writing and art projects for my classes. I think that was also around the time I got into Portal, so I started writing a lot of fics for that, too, and that WIP kinda fell by the wayside.

As far as fics I HAVEN’T posted, oh, yeah, there’s plenty of unfinished WIPs. I don’t like to consider them necessarily abandoned, though--there’s fics in older fandoms of mine that I may decide to revisit should I ever get really invested in that fandom again. A bit too many fics to list here, though (but if you want to ask about a specific fandom I could probably bring up some of them).

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

NO I HATE THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS D

it’s not that I don’t admire other authors--it’s just that we’re sortof in an unprofessional setting, here, and elevating one author kindof seems unfair?

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Hmm... Probably The Reaper’s Bedtime Story? Sorta, anyway. I mean, I kinda went into that one knowing I was going to get very little feedback, if any, since it’s a fanfic featuring three minor characters from a 20-year-old video game that has a pretty small fandom. Still! I think I was fairly happy with that one? Ah well, it’s not a big deal. You can’t write for feedback alone! I had fun writing from Sal’s perspective.

[theheavymetalmama]

Ten Video Games in 2018 I’m Most Looking Forward To

2016 was an absolute garbage fire of a year, 2017 defied expectations and managed to be even worse, and 2018 isn’t exactly off to a great start.

But on the plus side, both years gave us some great movies, TV shows, and of course video-games, and while no signs point to 2018 making the world any better it too seems to at least be delivering some great entertainment. This is the part where I’d usually say something clever and relevant, but I’m just not feeling it right now so I’ll skip to the good part. Here are video games coming out this year that I’m most looking forward to.

10. Hyrule Warriors: the Definitive Edition.

Pretty low on the list because I already have the original game, but I never played the DS version which had content the Wii-U didn’t have. I won’t go so far as to call Hyrule Warriors a masterpiece, especially since I’m hardly a DW fan, but ‘Hyrule’ is a great love letter to the Zelda series and the perfect game to play when I need to relax and unwind, which these days I find myself having to do more and more.

9. Far Cry 5

The Far Cry series is checkered to say the least. Far Cry 3 was a great game, even though the main character was terminally unlikable and the charismatic villain and face of the game Vaas was killed off halfway through via cutscene and was replaced by a villain nobody even bothers to remember. Far Cry 4 was a damn good game, but the main character was really dull, the villain was great but most of him was through a radio, and on the whole the game felt more like an extension of Far Cry 3 than it did a proper sequel. Primal was just dull, and as much as I’d love another Blood Dragon the jokes that such a game makes really only works once. Still, the more I hear about Far Cry 5, the more my interest grows. Especially after the latest video that showcases the...colorful supporting cast.

The Far Cry series catches a lot of flak for use of racial stereotypes, so maybe Ubisoft can prove that among other things they’re at least equal opportunity offenders. And hey, I get to kill cultists in a middle-American town not unlike the armpit I grew up in, so that’s a plus.

8. Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption was an amazing game that defied expectations not just in terms of graphics, gameplay, and aesthetics, but it was also a writing, voice acting, and storytelling masterclass. So why isn’t the sequel higher on the list? Well, because of Grand Theft Auto V. Oh, it’s a damn good game, but the story is an unfocused mess and I find the main characters just...insufferable. Of course taste is subjective and all, but when you look at GTA V’s single player mode and compare it to the online mode it’s obvious where the money and attention went. I just hope the same doesn’t happen with Red Dead 2, so...yeah. Fingers crossed.

7. Bayonetta 3

Bayonetta is a silly series with an inconsistent tone about a magic pole dancer with freakishly long legs who fights demons, angels, and Eldritch abominations with the power of magic guns, magic hair, magic lollipops, magic BDSM, and enough gratuitous boob, ass, and crotch shots to make Megan Fox from the Transformers movies look modest in comparison. Yes it is every bit as absurd as it sounds, and it’s a ton of fun to play. The first two games were a blast and I have no doubts the third one will be any different. Now here’s hoping this one actually sees commercial success.

6. Jurassic World: Evolution

Remember Jurassic Park: Project Genesis that let you build and manage your own dinosaur theme park? That’s this, but with modern graphics and more dinos. Sold!

5. State of Decay 2

Are you sick of zombie games yet? Me too! Luckily in the case of State of Decay, the zombies are just the wallpaper. You could replace them with mutants, demons, monsters, or whatever and the core game would still be the same. The point of State of Decay is gathering as big of a group of survivors as you can while you make the best use of their unique skills, the limited space of wherever you decide to make base, and the finite resources in the area. The original State of Decay was a surprise hit and the new one looks even better, and given that it has 4-player co-op it’s probably the closest thing to Left 4 Dead 3 we’re ever going to get.

4. The Call of Cthulhu

I always look forward to new horror games, especially ones based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The guy was a racist, misogynist piece of shit, but his works are iconic and stand among some of the best stories ever written and the horror games. This won’t be the first game based on the story, but from what I’ve see so far it looks to be nothing short of shit-yourself-scary. Which is a good thing, because more often than not publishers and developers alike completely miss the point. Cthulhu is not the unknown; he’s the unknowable. To look upon him is to go mad, yet time and time again publishers insist that everything must be an action-packed power fantasy and treat Cthulhu like a boss that can be beaten. Thankfully this game seems to be doing the exact opposite, and I can’t wait to play with the lights off. Speaking of which...

3. Agony

A survival horror game where you trek through the depths of Hell itself. Why hasn’t this been made sooner? No, Dante’s Inferno doesn’t count.

2. Megaman Legacy Collection, 1 & 2

For a long time it seemed like we’d never see a proper MegaMan game ever again, especially after the disaster that was Mighty No. 9. Now with MegaMan 11 coming and rumors that Capcom is considering revisiting the ‘X’ and ‘Legends’ brand, what better way to gear up than to revisit the golden years? Some of which weren’t so golden, admittedly.

Before I get to my #1 spot, here are a few honorable mentions.

Yoshi Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Octopath Traveler Shenmue 3 Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries The Last of Us 2 Kingdom Come: Deliverance Kingdom Hearts III Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Darksiders 3

1. Telltale’s the Walking Dead: the Final Season

Go ahead and get your “lol, interactive movie!” reactions out of your system. 

Okay, you done?

Say what you will about the Telltale style of video-games, but the writing is great, the characters are endearing, and they keep adventure games of old alive. Regardless if you like the style or not, the fact that it still finds success in an environment where AAA publishers push harder and harder for the “games as a service” model is extremely important. No doubt the title “The Final Season” will get some smug gamers going “Thank God!” or “Should have happened after season one, lol!” and other such snarky remarks, but it doesn’t undermine the fact that this game will mark the end of an era.

Thousands of gamers watched Clementine grow up, and this will be the last time we see her. Given how the rest of the games have ended and the dozens of horrible things that happened in between...well, let’s just say that a happy ending is extremely unlikely. Still, the games have surprised us before. Nobody thought we’d see Kenny again after the end of season one, then season two was like “Ha, gotchya!”

Regardless of what’s in store, all we do know is that the sun is setting on Clementine’s story. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.