everything-aboutkpop-blog

[rainbrella]

whats the No cat look like from the left side? Does it say Yes? I need to see the other side of this kitty

Not as exciting but I think it kind of looks like “Mi”

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Good news! My plan to fix the fact the pompadour wig kept sliding off my head with barrettes worked!! And so…

The quality of the photos isn’t the best, since my brother and dad are at work, and my mom can’t take pictures due to her CP, so I had to take them myself on my little tripod in my hallway. Not the best way to get a photo taken, ha.

But!! I think the outfit turned out so good!! I wasn’t going to cosplay as Mondo to Comic Con this year, since last year my modified hairstyle didn’t turn out very good and I didn’t look much like him. But now! Now I actually kinda look like him and if there are any Danganronpa fans at the con they might recognize who I’m dressed as, ha. Bryce Papenbrook (voice actor for Makoto) will be at Comic Con signing with the Demon Slayer cast, so maybe I’ll try to get a ticket for that autograph, even though I’ve never seen Demon Slayer. The kids at work like it, though, so getting an autograph there would be worth it for that anyway, ha.

Anyway, what do y’all think??? Is it good???

[lasesmed]

I spent an inordinate amount of time designing this

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

ok one person liked that post so you're all getting my in-depth puzzle analysis based off of jesse schell's metric of what makes a good puzzle, exclusively for the puzzles in ieytd1 because those are the only ones i've had the time to dissect.

First thing's first, before we talk about how well IEYTD1's puzzles have upheld the puzzle principles, we must understand what the puzzle principles are. In total, there are ten of them, some more self-explanatory than others:

 Make the Goal Easily Understood (Without a hunch as to how to even begin, a player will be hard pressed to spend the time solving your puzzle)

Make It Easy to Get Started (Even if you know what your goal is in the grand scheme, if you don't know the first steps to get there, you'll be at a roadblock the second you start)

Give a Sense of Progress (Your player may be on the right track, but without knowing that for certain, there's a risk of abandoning the path forward)

Give a Sense of Solvability (A puzzle should never be obtuse to the point of being obsolete. You're here to play a game with your player, not to stump them. You both want them to have fun)

Increase Difficulty Gradually (If you throw players into the deep end too quickly, they may end up backing out. Coax them gradually, build their confidence, and show them they can do this)

Parallelism Lets the Player Rest (If a player gets stuck on one puzzle, let them work on something else for a little while... If they have other things to do, they won't hit a roadblock as quickly)

Pyramid Structure Extends Interest (What's better than a linear narrative of puzzles? One, two, or even three solutions from prior puzzles coming together to solve one big finale!)

Hints Extend Interest (If a player can't solve a puzzle, don't expect them to keep ramming their head into a brick wall. Make sure they're being steered in the right direction)

Give the Answer! (Contrary to popular belief, it's not a bad idea to allow your player to have the answer- so long as you do it properly. They function similarly to clues, and can be important. Sometimes, the player may not know they have the answer at all up until they finally need it)

Perceptual Shifts Are a Double-Edged Sword (Consider any riddle that forces you to think outside the box. Where it may be satisfying to either solve or receive the answer, you either get it, or you don't. There is no chain of reason rather than a rule you must break to see the puzzle from the correct perspective. While fun in certain contexts, it is a huge gamble for a potential player)

Right. Now with our method of judgement out of the way (with our biases leaning towards Schell, considering he was the one to create the rules our puzzles must follow), lets get onto the missions themselves, and see which ones adequately follow and embrace the rules of the principles:

Friendly Skies

Easily understood goal

Easy to get started

Sense of solvability

Hints

Friendly Skies really is a great tutorial mission, if not a rather short one. But what’s probably its best attribute is its setting, believe it or not. Not being in a plane, but being in a car. Right off the bat, it hits not only one, but two of the 10 puzzle principles: It’s easily understood, and easy to start, and the two complement one another rather nicely. 

It’s highly unlikely that a player would have never set foot in a car before. It’s a familiar environment, and partnering that up with their objective (that being to steal the car without becoming a fatality), the gears begin turning in the player’s head before half a minute’s even passed. You have to steal the car. Okay. Key’s not in the ignition, so you have to find a way to turn it on. There’s only so many places you can look, and you- familiar with cars, of course- know exactly what each of those places are…

One of my favorite parts about this puzzle from a tutorial standpoint is not only the fact that it teaches the player the ideal thought process for engaging with puzzles in the series, but the actual location of the key is probably one of the last places you would be searching for one. Meaning that it’s likely the player is going to find all the clues they’re going to need later in the level before they actually progress to those sections of gameplay.

I have to say the same with the bomb manual hint- it doesn’t just allude to a future puzzle, but also to the sort of thought process that you’re going to have to use for the entire rest of the game. The game’s not just going to hand everything over to you for free. You have to really pay attention, make your own deductions, and if you don’t, you’re not always going to get the proper leeway to recover from it.

Another thing to note- on the subject of hints- is that the game goes out of their way to show you exactly what button you need to push to activate the grenade canons. What it doesn’t do is give you any way of figuring out what each of the other buttons do. In this level in particular, that’s not much of an issue, but in future missions I’ll touch on it more. 

As an introductory level, Friendly Skies is pretty smooth. Of course, though, there’s one notable gripe that I don’t even think I need to mention. That being the game prohibiting you from using the knife as a screwdriver. A conscious choice on the developers’ behalf- and if the handler’s lines didn’t make that obvious, they’ve mentioned it themselves on a few occasions. They were aware players would want to use the knife as a multipurpose tool, and directly disallowed it.

While I have no confirmation on the matter, I have to assume that they did this because they wanted the player to experience the toxic gas- either to teach them to take risks, or to show them that some hazards are less immediately lethal than others. Whatever the case, though, it comes at the consequence of teaching the player something that isn’t true: that levels have one concrete ‘solution’ that the player must stick with.  One of the things IEYTD is known for is their leniency with puzzles. Their speedruns and achievements encourage the player to experiment and find different methods of solving the same puzzles. So, while it’s not the worst decision in the world, I find it odd that they would choose to send such a misleading message about their gameplay mechanics in the tutorial level, of all stages. Beyond that, however, Friendly Skies is a great stage for easing new players into the gameplay, if not a bit flat in comparison to future missions.

Squeaky Clean

Sense of progress

Hints

Easily understood

Easy to get started

Sense of solvability

Difficulty of scaling

Squeaky Clean is certainly a bold jump forward from the tutorial, going from one of the shortest missions to one of the longest in the entire game. Out of all of Schell’s principles, its strongest one is the player’s sense of progress.

Nearly every time the player accomplishes something, the environment changes around them. And while it may not exactly correlate to what it is the player’s done, there’s still an innate sense of progression through the new obstacles. Broke the glass to the lab? Now you’ve got to deal with security systems. Got access to a new chemical? Better hope you can blend in, because you’ve been noticed by an operative. Even if the player isn’t certain on what their next course of action is, they still know they’ve made progress in some form or another.

I also have to say that the hints- while occasionally a little too indirect for some players- encourage thought and memorization. Especially by the means of giving the player one of the chemical reactions (the purple and green smoke bombs) before they’ve even touched anything. They can observe the compound, and if they mishandle it enough, see what the reaction is. If they cross compare it to their cheat sheets, it doesn’t take long to identify what each specific chemical is, and how to match up the ones on the periodic table to the formulas to create their own.

I will confess, though, that in many ways, Squeaky Clean is quite poorly constructed- especially for a second level. As aforementioned, the jump from Friendly Skies to here is quite immense; to the point where even spawning into the level might give the player some whiplash.

Squeaky Clean is neither easy to understand, nor easy to start, as opposed to its predecessor. Of course, no matter how well the player performed in high school chemistry, they’re not even going to know where to begin disarming a chemical bioweapon. It isn’t always bad game design for a player not to know how to solve a problem presented (more often than not, figuring that out is what the puzzle is supposed to be). But in a circumstance like this one, it can quickly become rather overwhelming.

What’s more, the player has gone from a closed off car with all the tools at their disposal, to a packed laboratory that’s completely unfamiliar to them. Even if, hypothetically, they were aware of how to make an antivirus, with so many new tools introduced at once, it’s hard to know which ones are relevant. Will they need to freeze chemicals? Will they need to burn them? How would they know which chemicals are safe to burn? Are there any other tools they need to uncover before they start? And what does that red button do? It’s good to get your player asking questions, but less so when they’re asking them all at once.

By far what has to be the biggest hurdle in this mission is its difficulty scaling. Both in regards to the level itself, and its position as the second level in the game. The lead up to the final puzzle is slow, cautious, methodical- and it has to be when you’re working with chemicals you haven’t even heard of before. But the climax of the mission throws all of that out the window when it introduces the player’s first timed puzzle.

There are many issues with this. There’s no build up to prepare the player for an encounter of that nature. On a first playthrough, there’s zero indication you’ll be remaking (or that you should be premaking) chemicals that you’ve already made until the timer’s already begun. And even beyond that, time trials introduce frantic behavior, which a level such as this one doesn’t benefit from. 

The player, in their haste to complete the objective, may accidentally put the wrong combination of chemicals into the mixer and blow themself up. They may create the wrong chemical compound, making a canister they don’t actually need. They may properly make the chemicals, but may destroy the vial on their way to use it. Not to mention, since you’re several stories in the air, if you accidentally drop it with that new telekinesis mechanic you’re getting used to, you’re not getting that thing back. And worst part of all, it’s at the very end of a mission. If you die- for whatever reason- it’s back to the very start. As great as it feels to actually succeed at the mission, players may never get that satisfaction if they build up too much tension from the trial and error. Even if- to a particular extent- trial and error is what the series is known for, it’s different when you know what to do, but circumstances beyond your control make that objective more difficult.

Deep Dive

Parallelism

Hints

Answer

Easily understood

Difficulty scaling

Deep Dive is notorious for being a cramped and uncompromising level, and those with claustrophobia tend not to rate it very highly. However, in regards to its puzzles, there are a variety of things it does very well. 

One of the highlights of this level in regards to the puzzle principles is its use of parallelism- and it’s the first puzzle in the game to actually employ it. Though it’s only relevant for about the first quarter-to-half of the mission (depending on how quickly you can make it through everything else), the player is given free reign to handle a myriad of small tasks, complete with a checklist so they’re not left in the dark on what’s left to do. Much like the act of finding the key in Friendly Skies, this also acts to introduce the player to the shape and feel of the level, and the resources held within.

This is also one of the earliest examples of the player receiving an answer to a puzzle- granted, it’s in a roundabout way of needing to piece it together themself. While the grenade hint is far more ambiguous, relying on resourcefulness and not moving too hastily, the self-destruct code serves to test the player’s competency under pressure. Despite presenting the player with the answer, the puzzle itself isn’t made much easier. 

Though speaking of competency under pressure, it’s what the entire level is known for. And despite that being the theme for that particular mission as a whole, it doesn’t change the fact that its difficulty scaling is less than desirable. Ironically enough, it suffers the exact opposite issue that Squeaky Clean did. Whereas the previous mission was slow and steady up until the last possible moment, Deep Dive keeps a brutal tempo pretty much all the way through, with no chance to breathe until the mission’s over. 

The game takes some initiative to alleviate the actual input the player needs to do (for instance, implying that the player specifically needs a pin to neutralize Zor’s grenade, thereby making the fire extinguisher unlocked and primed by the time it needs to be used), but- same as the last level- it can very easily lead to trial and error as the player hacks away at each individual malfunction, having reacted too slowly to understand what to do in the time they were provided. The challenge of the mission comes from being quick on your feet, but there’s only so many things a player can keep in their head all at once.

Also, while it’s not necessarily the biggest issue to be found in the stage, I find myself fascinated with the way that it’s presented in the introductory briefing. Certainly it was meant to tie back in with the motif of unexpected change of plans, but it’s the first time a mission briefing doesn’t at all aid with the puzzle the player will be facing. The escape pods are mentioned by your handler, true, but very briefly, and with nothing good to say about them. So when the player enters the mission only to find themself exactly where they were told not to be, chances are they’re already at a loss as to how to handle the situation. To reference a specific principle on the list, players’ ease of understanding is likely to be low.

Thankfully, the game does a good job at combating this potential paralysis spot by specifically giving the player a list of tasks to complete. And while this helps, the player is doing them because they have no other plan of attack, instead of in accordance to (or in spite of) a potential strategy. I would even argue that the wording of the briefing could have made the onboarding a little easier to understand. Say, if the player was warned that the escape pods are often tampered with, or that one wrong course of action could lead to a mouthful of saltwater. It still communicates the same feeling of dread, but now the player has things to look out for. I should make sure there aren’t any traps in here. I need to make sure I’m ready for any leaks. Instead, the player is left at the bottom of the ocean with the pre-instilled knowledge that they’re going to die any second. And while that’s probably true, it doesn’t make puzzle solving (or puzzle identifying) any more intuitive.

Winter Break

Sense of progress

Parallelism

Pyramid structure

Hints

In regards to well crafted and engaging levels, Winter Break just about knocks it out of the park. Ironically enough for being just about halfway in the game, it’s probably one of the most methodical levels sans the tutorial itself. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t still exciting, or any less well constructed than the others. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Similar to Deep Dive, Winter Break has a heavy emphasis on parallelism. However, unlike the previous level, the amount of tasks that the player is able to complete at one time is vastly increased. This greatly helps with the pacing of the level; the more things the player is able to do at any given time, the less likely it is they’ll be sitting around, butting their head against one specific thing.

This specific puzzle format also introduces an elusive principle yet to be discussed: pyramid structure. The climax of the mission can only be unveiled once the player has found the security chip, and the Zoraxis orb, a process comprising of four separate puzzles the player can tackle at their leisure. Though a casual player may not even realize the leeway they’re given, there’s a greater sense of reward that comes from all of their actions leading to one high stakes encounter.

The hints in this level come in a wide variety, from diagrams on sheets of paper, to clues hidden within picture frames, to secrets unveiled through the classic art of bookshelf scouring. An important thing to note though, beyond the ways in which the hints are given to the player, is the order. More specifically, all hints that focus around the final objective are locked in the same location as those two key items. Even if the player doesn’t understand their importance initially, by the time they actually need to put that knowledge to use, they’ve already primed their minds with the information they need.

The ebb and flow of the difficulty is to be greatly admired as well. Working in tandem with the parallel puzzle solving, it keeps the player at a comfortable pace the whole time, riding the line between peaceful downtime and engaging action moments. Winter Break’s traps are also noticeably more readable than some of the prior missions’.

The bear archer’s method of attacking leaves plenty of room for the player to identify the hazard and react accordingly, and in regards to the final act’s lasers, the player is given ample time to study their speed and direction before it becomes an immediate threat. Not to mention the lasers only activate upon destabilizing the first crystal, ensuring the player knows what’s expected of them before the situation gets dicey. Even the deer gas feels more like a puzzle to solve than a hazard to evade, seeing as a player would only recognize it as a key to a lock after a thorough examination of its diagram.

Overall, Winter Break manages to be cohesive, readable, engaging, and exciting, without sacrificing player experience in the same way some prior levels did. As it stands, it’s probably one of- if not the best constructed level in the entire first game.

First Class

Difficulty scaling

Easily understood

Answer

Hints

Sense of solvability

First Class was Schell’s first level post IEYTD1’s official release, and the team intended to go in a far more experimental direction than their previous missions. Though they accomplished the task on numerous levels, their puzzle implementation was equally as unusual, and not always in the best of ways.

If there’s anything the mission can be commended on, it’s the difficulty scaling. By this point in the game, players are well equipped to handle most threats that come their way. While the mission doesn’t pull any punches, it has a pretty comfortable flow, working its way up from slow and experimental deduction to pushing the limits of the player’s reaction times. While a surprising number of the puzzles in this stage have lethal consequences for failure, most of them still remain feasible and fair.

… Except for the birthday puzzle, anyways. It’s potentially the weakest puzzle in the entire series, all due to its surprising complexity. The game asks the player to keep track of three variables- the day of the week, the date of the month, and the number of the month itself. On top of that, they’re given nothing to help them keep track of the information they’re given. There’s no method of writing it down, and with a headset strapped to their face, counting on their fingers isn’t even an option at their disposal. The player only has three attempts to punch in the number correctly. And what’s worse, there’s no indication on whether the date needs to be arranged month-to-day, or vice versa.

It has the potential to be quite the frustrating roadblock, and certainly puts the game’s sense of solvability into question. The variety of feedback the player receives is far too slim for all the tasks they’re expected to perform. Even if the panels behind the numbers lit up for each unsuccessful attempt (yellow, perhaps, for a correct number in the wrong spot, and green for a correct guess) would at least take some strain off of the player’s shoulders. But by the time it takes to return to the puzzle, should the player have failed it before, they may have forgotten what combinations they previously tried.

This mission is also one of the slim few examples of an answer being presented in a way that isn’t exactly intuitive. Though phrased in a way that would imply it a clue, when the handler contacts you over intercom, he straight up gives you your first objective. Find clues to light up certain buttons in the panel on the wall. Seems simple enough on the face of it. But its usefulness as an answer can only get the player so far, if only because of one specific reason: it’s a spoken answer. 

In a perfect world, a player may find and open all four panels as soon as possible at their handler’s request. But what’s most likely the case is that a player will be quick to enter the most obvious code- the one etched into the phone casing, before promptly forgetting about the instructions all together. Which poses a significant issue as far as the defector’s request is concerned. At best, it takes stumbling into a new hint for the wall for the player to recall the buttons’ existence. At worst, they may tear the entire train car apart, seeking for the clue that they don’t even know they’re missing.

We must also take the opposite into consideration- what if the player is too obedient to the handler’s command. After all, he specifies four total doors… But two of the four possible hints could have been literally flung out the window by the player, with no indication of it being a bad course of action. It’s a strange case of revealing a little more than necessary- even for the standards of the answer- and the player may end up relying upon the advice, even to their own detriment. 

There’s also the context of the mission itself to touch upon, and the ease of understanding (or lack thereof) that comes with it. In a way, it’s similar to Deep Dive’s briefing; the context you’re given contrasts with the actual scenario at hand. While it becomes obvious rather quickly that you’re not on vacation, and while it doesn’t take too long for your handler to explain what he’d like you to do, halfway through the mission you end up… completing the objective. The remainder of the level is a gauntlet of Zoraxis operatives (and one spear wielding man), steadily ramping up in intensity. 

Though it’s not exactly a detriment to the level, there’s a heavy sense of sporadicness throughout the latter half of it. It feels less as though you’re playing the level, and more as if you’re outlasting it. It proves a fun challenge, though there leaves a strange sort of “Now what?” feeling in between obstacles that can make the pacing feel a little stilted. While it can be exhilarating to perfect after a bit of practice, an initial playthrough takes a bit of bobbing and weaving through the occasional pocket of confusion.

Seat of Power

Sense of progress

Hints

Difficulty scaling

For as late as it appears in the game, Seat of Power is one of the quicker missions the game has to offer, when it comes to repeated attempts. This doesn’t make it easy by any means- quite the contrary, most of the speed of a second playthrough comes from a thorough understanding of the mission’s mechanics.

The mission’s strongest puzzle principle would have to be its sense of progress. While future IEYTD titles would really push the boundaries of evolving setpieces, Seat of Power was a pretty good starting point. The world around you is snappily responsive to your meddling, and the further you probe at Zor’s head controls, more tools and mechanics reveal themselves to you.

And that isn’t even mentioning the way that the level’s NPCs react to your actions. While they serve as lethal puzzles in their own right, they also convey that the player is doing something right (or if not exactly right, then on the right track).

In many ways, this particular mission has some excellent hints. Between learning about Professor X-Ray, to being steered towards the conclusion that there’s one placard too many for the number of seats at the table, the reveal of the goggles sparks a sense of excitement as the pieces click together. Even if the player stumbles across the solution, the recollection of the hints gives them the same feeling of satisfaction, despite the fact that a puzzle wasn’t exactly ‘solved’, per say. 

However, in other ways, the hint system in Seat of Power is deeply flawed. The control panel you unveil rather early on in the level is a great example of this.

In order to solve the second wave of puzzles, the player is expected to experiment with the buttons at their disposal. While experimentation is hardly foreign to the series by this point, hidden within the control panel is one button that kills the player instantly, unless certain conditions are met. And what's more, there’s nothing in the level that would even vaguely point the player to that conclusion.

It’s made even more frustrating by the fact that the tools you need to avoid that death can only be found if you push the button to the right of it. I Expect You To Die was originally an English exclusive title. With that audience in mind, it seems rather obvious that players who would read text from left to right would also push buttons in the same order. For how much care the game seems to take to warn the players of the threats around them, this one being so haphazardly strewn in feels almost like an intentional kill.

Unlabeled buttons- if you can recall- had a similar presence in Friendly Skies. However, at least in that mission, buttons the player needed to know about were labeled, and optional buttons were left undisclosed. It would have been quite easy for the same premise to apply here, with the button that unlocks the gas mask being referenced in some sort of note floating about the office, or some text scratched on the side of the button panel, with the poison gas button left the same. Or vice versa, where the trap was clearly labeled, but the resource to defend oneself against it was up to the player to decide. 

In a level that hinges on the player pushing all the buttons at their disposal, it seems suboptimal to ‘train’ them into being wary of doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do. Oh, I probably shouldn’t push buttons when I don’t know what they do, the player might think. Which, while very true, doesn’t help much when they’re left with little other choice.

Of course, I don’t believe I can talk about Seat of Power without referencing the Madrid puzzle, either. While your handler states very bluntly in your briefing that you’re going to Madrid, expecting your player to hold onto key information for a level they haven’t even entered yet is quite a tall ask for any player. But even beyond that, the developers admitted that no one listens to the handler anyways.

To aid with this, they attempted to sprinkle in some Spanish themes in the set dressing to better set the tone. While this certainly helps to a certain extent, the people who it helps are those who can identify the culture they’re being presented with. In that regard, the puzzle becomes more akin to a trivia game, or a riddle, where a player needs context derived from outside of the experience in order to solve it. Generally not a very good practice in escape rooms, both in the real world, as well as virtual ones.

However, the other- perhaps far more pressing complication with the Madrid puzzle is assuming that the average person knows where Madrid is on a map. For the geographically uninclined, this is a very bold assumption to make. Thankfully, it’s not a mistake they repeat in their future installments.

Seat of Power is generally a very engaging level, once one can finally wrap their minds around the little quirks about it. It has a unique pacing system, and finally introduces the player to the concept of an overarching plot. It’s just that some of its decisions on puzzle mechanics seem a little half baked- especially this late into the game.

Death Engine

Easy to get started

Sense of progress

Hints

Answers

Easily understood

Death Engine was originally set to be the game’s final send off, and as a result, the developers didn’t want to pull any punches. It was players' final trial, and they would have to put all the skills they learned in their prior missions to the test. As a result, this particular mission throws threats at the player almost as quickly as it possibly can. But that doesn’t mean that the difficulty scaling is completely unfair. It scales at a rate proportional to most of the other missions; it simply starts a few degrees higher.

Deaths in Death Engine normally come quickly. There’s little room for the player to revert any errors that they make. The agent can’t just shake off an electrocution, or being bathed in radioactive waste. However, the very first threat they encounter (a setpiece threat, rather than something caused by the player’s actions) gives the player enough time to process what the issue is, and to react accordingly. It’s the most lenient hazard in the entire mission, but still sets the tone for the level going forward: dangers will be quick and uncompromising, and going forward, a lot more unforgiving.

Death Engine also waits until the player is well accustomed to their location and the tools at their disposal before they throw the next, far more lethal timed encounter at the player, in the form of Solaris’ direct radioactive assault. Though they also have the decency to warn the player ahead of time with vocal cues. Though the puzzles are meant to test the full extent of what the player’s learned, it doesn’t feel as though the game is throwing impossible odds at them.

Though, what may seem impossible to the player is the mechanisms of their space shuttle. At a passing glance, it seems incredibly overwhelming to have all of these tools at their disposal. However, the mission actually tackles the easy to start principle in a pretty ingenious way- one that Schell would take with them into their future installments.

Yes, the player has several dials and buttons and resources at their disposal, but after the laser’s backlash ripples through your shuttle, only some of them are actually functional. While this seems to only introduce problems to the player, it actually does them a great service: 

The player can only engage with one to two portions of the ship at a time- typically just one, as far as a first playthrough is concerned. True, the shuttle has a rather extensive list of information about all of its components and how they operate (a rather useful aid, and quite a good example of the answers principle coming into play again). But the hands-on experience of swapping power and seeing what new tools are unlocked is a far more effective method of communicating the rules of the stage to the player.

This use of fuse swapping also serves as another principle, in a roundabout sort of way. It communicates steady progression with each ‘fuse-specific’ puzzle solved. The gravity adjusting puzzle feels rewarding to complete in its own right, but there’s an extra sense of satisfaction that comes from ripping the fuse out of that section of the fusebox. I’m done with that, the player thinks to themself, onto something else, now.

Even Solaris aids in the player’s sense of progression to an extent, hurtling canisters of radioactive waste at them only after they’ve made a significant amount of progress. While it’s jarring to be given a new obstacle to face, a villain turning from cocky to antsy is just about the clearest tell there is that the player is making a good amount of progress. Not to mention the entire encounter turns into a (admittedly incredibly lethal) tutorial on how to actually use the shuttle’s external arm- something that will be critical to actually finishing the level. 

Death Engine was meant to serve as the player’s final hurdle; the ultimatum of their career as a field operative. While it’s by no means a cake walk on a first playthrough, its puzzles remain understandable and fair. While it’s unlikely the player will make it through the level completely unscathed, the difficulty doesn’t rest at a point where it overrides the sense of satisfaction they feel by the end of the mission, as well as the end of the entire game as a whole. For a grand finale, Death Engine serves its purpose rather expertly, setting the standard for the series’ subsequent final acts.

[feralferretxp]

Drew my headcanon design of human Bang again. Been awhile since I did.

(two alts because i couldn't choose lol)

[fincalinde]

I am no artist and I freely admit it. Generally I'm just doing silly doodles for my friends, but I thought this one was funny enough to post.

Inspired by that timeless classic, Mean Girls.

[cloudybori]

They gave Fyora titty physics

[lambshackleglory]

started learning uke :3 its only been a week so dont judge me too hard but heres the beginning to brave as a noun. drop some suggestions of songs to learn !

[itsdb97]

my mother's cat is very gougar-like imo...

[sobekc]

thinking of making a slightly shameful self-insert werewolf character/story even though I’m absolute dog shit at making characters and narratives

[pokemonruby]

very slight ff rebirth spoilers /

still no proper explanation as to why vincent was snoozing away while his son sephiroth was terrorizing nibelheim bro just cannot afford to care even after all these years. i mean mood

[gallusrostromegalus]

In the latest installment of me Terrorizing Medical Professionals, I got my Wisdom Teeth extracted because one decided to be an asshole and the other 3 were pending assholery, and demonstrated to my dentist that it's entirely possible to out-metabolize Ketamine if you start moving ASAP and also have a freakishly powerful liver.

So yesterday I had my one-month Checkup. It went pretty great, and the dentist asked if any part of my mouth was bothering me.

"Yeah, there's a sharp bit of bone coming out through the side from the extraction in my lower right jaw. The bone spur itself doesn't hurt, but it keeps cutting my tongue, so can you just pull it?" "Oh. Sure! Let me go get everything to do that." she said, and went to go get the tools for the extraction.

...Then there was some kind of confusion at the front desk I could overhear, with someone showing up with an urgent problem and they had to juggle the available staff, so she came back a bit later with the Pliers, said something about something taking "long enough" and went in.

It came out in two pieces, and the most discomfort I had was like, a 3/10 from the extraction itself, but mostly from keeping my mouth open.

...About halfway through, the Hygienist came in, apologizing for being late getting back from the front desk.

"Oh good, you have her the Novocaine!" the hygienist sighs with relief.

"What?" Said my dentist.

"What?" said the hygienist.

Both of them turn to look at the very full syringe on the tool table behind me.

"Honestly this is bothering me way less than the shot would." I said, lightly dribbling blood, and they both turn to me in horror.

"I really hate needles." I explain.

"What." says the dentist.

"Woah." Says the hygienist. "You would have done great in like, The Civil War."

Which is probably the funniest thing anyone's every said about my dangerously high pain tolerance.

Anyway, it was a one-off issue, and a non-issue for me because I think a normal person would have stopped her, so I go back in August if she doesn't recommend me to someone else for terrifying her twice in as many visits.

[psychoticwillgraham]

sorry for the shaky camera, she’s fast lmao

[bunnyyyuu]

includes: gn! reader, aged up! boys, i dont know what to put here u get the point

what are the boys packing?

MEGUMI — perrrrrrrfect like the rest of him

6.50 inches, reasonable girth, uncircumcised, curve to the right, pretty pink tip, one big fat vein running on the underside of it. it's very nice. like i said, it's perfect. he fits so snugly inside you, reaching the most head-spinning spot inside you. you don't need two hands to give him a handy, but you definitely struggle to take him in your mouth. his tip is super super sensitive also. he blushes every time you ogle it like it's the most beautiful thing ever, but he stops caring when you absolutely worship his perfect cock.

TOGE — short boy, short dick

4.75 inches, on the thinner side, circumcised, oh so subtle curve to the left, light salmon pink tip, veerrry veiny (like big fat veins that he NEEDS you to lick). it's cute! it fits! to his credit, he is great with it and it fits just right in your pretty mouth. not too much, not too little. he makes up for his lack in size with his tongue and hands, don't worry. he’s a little embarrassed about it being too small, but, of course, you reassure him. though he wouldn't mind if you made fun of his size a little.

YUUJI — a great size <3

5.50 inches, really fat, circumcised, no noticeable curve, tip is really pink (especially when you tease him for hours), also extremely vieny but they're less prominent than toge’s. the length is perfect and cozy tight inside you, but his girth stretches you out until you're seeing nothing but stars. same with your mouth—it is a challange to stuff all that thickness in your throat. he leaks like a lot. a gust of wind will have this bitch leaking pre like a waterfall. his balls, too, are super fat. please play with his balls!!!

YUUTA — wtf? freakishly huge??

8.25 inches, super duper girthy, uncircumcised, curves to the right, the most beautiful pastel pink tip, a few cutesy veins. like many before me, i declare that huge massive dick yuuta is canon. it's scary, terrifying even. he’s muscular—can't be the second strongest without being musclar—but he’s still pretty lean and lanky, but he has such a long, fat dick that it is insanely jarring. a shower, for sure, but that's okay. he’s so humble about it; “is it really that big?” he blushes when you're gawking and rambling about how there's no way it’ll fit your first time with him. spoiler alert, it does not fit. it stretches you out and splits you open like nothing else ever could. he feels so guilty about it, yet it always makes you cum so hard you almost pass out so he feels a little better!

[voidhope]

The Other Woman

—

Synopsis: Where Miguel leaves Y/N to go back to a different version of his old wife found in another universe.

Pair: Miguel O’Hara x Spider!Reader

Tags: ANGST!!, long term established relationship, heartbreak, marriage, cheating, mental health, cold/distant Miguel

—

A/N: Hi! I don’t really write at all!!

I have been a silent reader on tumblr for years but this idea has been playing in my mind so much I had the urge to write it. I have been down so bad for Miguel been on his tag like 24/7 indulging in all the content creators have been putting out. So I’m excited to join in giving content, however keep in mind I kinda suck! Apologies for any mistakes, anything confusing, or it not being well written enough. Honestly could have made this into multiple parts with better details but nah. Tried my best ^^ since it’s my first time, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Honestly tbh we all don’t have a solid grasp how the whole canon thing and multi universe works yet so!! A lot of what is written is made up to suit my storyline so please don’t get mad about the inaccuracies.

I love a good angst and today’s story will be EXTRAAA angsty!!! As well kinda long!!

—————————————————

The moment that changed your life was while working on an experiment during your college finals. You were a proud and gifted physics major that was so passionate about discovering and exploring what the world didn’t know.

You had snuck into Alchemax late at night. You wanted to show your professors just how much you could do with the right tools. Next thing you know, playing with their machines, you had spawned a spider right in-front of you. The glowing vibrant red spider had sunk its jaw into your hand.

Your life did a complete turn and you spent the rest of that week freaking out while changes to your body were happening. Causing you to fail your semester after missing exams. Things felt like it could only get worse when a massive blue suited masked man showed up out of nowhere in your dorm interrogating you.

“Where’s the spider?” He had a strong grip on your shoulders. You couldn’t focus while trying to process why this man had what seemed like claws sticking out of the ends of his fingers.

“I don’t know, it like died after it bit me!” You exclaimed nervously at the freakishly strong man. Trying to reach for anything behind you to use as a defense weapon.

“Dios mío no me digas eso…” He groaned loudly letting you go. Having the opportunity to grab something, you threw a sanrio plushie at him. Only causing him to wave his arms in annoyance. “That spider is from my earth and somehow you brought it here. Now you’re a spider-man.”

And the rest is history…

—

You learned that the man was Miguel O’Hara and when he found you he was just starting his missions with the multiverse. You being the few of the firsts to join his team.

Your situation was quite bizarre and he called you an anomaly for a long time, spending hours studying you and also training you. You ended up being the one case that can’t be explained no matter how much effort was put into monitoring you.

Almost like it was meant to be. Your universe remained perfect with its current spider-man doing fine. No big collapse of a black hole or anything. When you got bit by a spider from Earth-928 your DNA merged with that universe making you fit in perfectly. You were one of the only spider-people with an uncertain timeline with new canons being created depending on what universe you were in.

What changed from you being just a piece of research for Miguel is when he then realized that maybe you were a gift from the multiverse. After all the grief and pain he’d went through the universe had given him this person that worked out perfectly no matter how hard he tried to push them away. You fell head over heels for him and vice versa, all while canon events were being created with both of you together.

You were there as his team grew, slowly turning into a family. Then both of you getting married finalizing that this was your home. Everything felt perfect. Although a relationship with Miguel could have its up and down days, nothing could ever tear you both apart. Or so you assumed.

—

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Miguel couldn’t look at you.

“When did this start? Please be honest with me. Did I do something wrong?” You begged at him. You knew he was acting off recently but never did you think it would result to this.

You watched as he exhaled deeply staring at the ground. You felt like you couldn’t breathe as you studied his face trying to grasp onto any emotion he was showing. The atmosphere in his office felt so cold. You so badly wanted to catch his gaze and find the warmth and love his red irises used to give you. He was doing everything to push you away. He was abandoning you.

“You did nothing wrong. I met her during a mission 4 months ago.” Was all he replied.

“Who is she?” Your heart kept breaking. His face hardening as the question slipped through your lips. You knew Miguel wouldn’t leave you for just anyone. Deep in your heart you knew what this was about. He never responded but he didn’t need to when you saw his eyes flicker over to his monitor screens. You followed his trace and saw the photo of Gabriella in the corner.

“Does she have another version of your daughter?” You tried again. This is what made him look directly at you. Miguel kept opening and closing his month unsure how to tell you the truth. You weren’t stupid and he knew that. After everything he couldn’t just walk out on you with a lie.

“No.” He paused thinking of how to finally share the truth without it ruining you. There was no way out of this. “She is a younger version of herself. There is no Miguel in her universe and she’s not important to the timeline. She lives a regular life. I-it’s a chance for me to start at the very beginning.”

You felt your heart being ripped out of your chest. You processed the words carefully. She doesn’t have a child yet… Not only was he leaving you for her but he was going to fall in love with her all over again and start a family with her. A family you wanted so badly to have with him.

“What about with what happened last time you tried to live a life in a different universe?” You didn’t understand how this was happening.

He was always so carful he would never do anything to cause that again. Everything you had witness Miguel work so hard for to keep safe for years. Sleepless nights, returning bruised and beaten, frustrations and constant stress. Was it all for nothing? Is he throwing all his work away?

“This is different.” He turned away from you. “I pushed myself then into an already established life. This time I am creating that life. After all the research we did on you…” He knew that this was going to tear you apart. “I learned that if done right I could have a child from two different universes that won’t disrupt anything.”

It clicked to you then that all the research he was doing on you lately was for this. The research he did on you that time was different, personal, intimate even. As he was testing your DNAs together and seeing the outcomes. He mentioned a child and you were foolish enough to assume he was doing research to see what it would be like if you both had one together. You were giddy even as you watched him work. You had both spoken about having a family together in the past but had been too busy with spider activities. You thought it was a sign of him getting more serious about it, knowing how badly he wanted one. You would have never thought he was doing it to see how he could get back his previous child. The one you could never give him.

You had truly believe that Miguel had recovered from his obsession that his grief gave him. He accidentally destroyed a whole universe needing that life back so badly. You had spent late nights watching him re-watch clips over and over of what he had lost. It slowly stopped once your relationship blossomed with him and you thought he was ready to move on and start new. Why would you have never thought that with such a perfect opportunity presented to him that he wouldn’t drop everything for it.

“I think it’s best that you leave.” He spoke with a soft tone. As if not looking at you any longer will make the problem go away. You couldn’t wrap your mind around how he was just throwing you away like this. As if he wasn’t making you dinner, giving soft kisses, whispering I-love-you’s not so long ago.

You felt too choked up to ask anymore questions. Your throat tight and painful as you held back tears from escaping in-front of Miguel. You just nodded and headed straight out the door not being able to handle another second in that room. Your knees and hands were shaky as you speed walked into the nearest bathroom and let it all out.

—

It didn’t take long for everyone else to know something had happened. Everyone had gotten used to seeing you and him sitting together at lunch. You would make him cute lunch boxes and everyone would gag a bit while watching the two of you smile together. Some cringing seeing their scary boss being so soft around you. It was a big surprise when Miguel started to eat alone with a bag of take out food and you no where to be seen.

His teams he sent out for missions were all confused when you weren’t assigned to anything. Knowing you were one of the best, one of them slipped out a “Call for Y/N!” In the middle of fighting an anomaly too strong for them. Miguel only looked away.

It wasn’t until a new woman showed up in Miguel’s office with a grip around his waist. That’s when the spider-community realized that this was way worse than they thought.

—

You on the other hand had spilled everything to Hobie when he caught you that day leaving the bathroom with puffy eyes. You had been staying with him in his universe until you could gather yourself together to return to HQ. You knew you were going to leave for good, but you needed to go back to retrieve all your things. You couldn’t stay with Hobie forever. Worse that you weren’t from there.

You still had some hope that Miguel would come looking for you and tell you that he was all wrong. However almost two months had passed and not a word from him… That’s when you knew it was time you should return to what you once knew.

Stepping into the portal Hobie followed close behind you. He told the few others who were once close to both you and Miguel that you would be visiting. Stepping through the portal you were immediately greeted by Jessica and Peter B Parker.

“Oh, Y/N.” Jess sighed your name sadly while pulling you into a hug. You felt like you wanted to cry all over again. Missing your friends so much. Peter B came behind giving you a hug on the side.

“He’s on a mission right now.” Peter spoke up. “It might be a long one too but don’t waste anytime just incase.”

You nodded pulling away from them. Looking up around the headquarters building faintly smiling at the past memories you had here. You started heading to different areas gathering all the little things you had left around. Hobie had stitched for you a cute backpack with different scraps of patterned clothes and covered in patches of punk band logos but made with hammer space technology. Making it fun for you to fill endless of your things in the bag.

The last stop was in Miguel’s office. Doubt started to fill your mind; maybe he already threw out all of your stuff. Why would he even keep it after all of this? What no one could warn you of was the other person sitting on his platform.

“Hello!” She chirped at you. It felt like the air in your lungs had just been punched out. You knew her too well. From all the photos and videos you had seen peaking over Miguel’s shoulder. However seeing her in person was something you had never expected. You knew it wasn’t the original her but it was a copy paste image for sure.

“Hi.” Was all you managed to choke out. She was beautiful, stunning. You could see clearly now the similar features she shared in another universe with her daughter. The parts that Miguel didn’t have. She kept smiling kindly at you, almost in a graceful way. You started to feel all your insecurities start eating you up from the inside. How could you have ever compared to her.

“What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” Getting off Miguel’s platform she walked closer to you. The room started to feel suffocating.

“Y/N.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! It’s nice to meet other girls around here.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you realized she had no reaction to your name. So Miguel never told her about you… Or that the fact was he was still even legally married to you.

“My boyfriend isn’t here right now but, if you want, I can tell him you stopped by.” She continued as you stayed silent.

“Oh, no it’s okay. I just came in here to get some stuff.” You rushed as you really wanted nothing to do with Miguel at all. You almost worried that he might even get angry knowing you got to speak with her. If he already dislikes you this much you couldn’t even imagine how he would feel if you got in the way of this for him.

You started heading over to the familiar drawers around the room. Grabbing your old hoodies and shirts finding your most comfortable of things here. You treated this place as one of your safe spaces as you used to spend so much time here.

“Oh I didn’t know these were all yours! I was wondering why this was all around. When I came here I wanted to do some spring cleaning but Miguel wouldn’t let me touch anything.” She followed besides you. “It’s so mind blowing seeing all this technology. We don’t have any of this where I live-“ She continue rambling but you started to zone her out. You felt like you were about to have a panic attack any minute. There was one question that kept burning in your mind.

“Are you and Miguel already planning to have a child?” You blurted out. Your eyes widened a bit as you surprised yourself. She let out a loud laugh.

“Oh dear no! We have only been together about 6 months. You must be new around here so you must not know much about us.” She chuckled.

In some cruel way you were hoping she would have said yes. You had that twisted hope of maybe Miguel just keeping her to have a kid and ditching her after he gets Gabriella and run back to you. In reality he was playing the long game, he really meant it when we said he was starting over. “He’s never mentioned kids anyways. I’m not even sure if he’d like them or do well with them.”

With that statement she made you looked at her appalled. Anyone could see in Miguel how good of a father he could be. Just in the way he takes care of the society he built here. You started to realize that she really has been left in the dark. She doesn’t know anything. She probably doesn’t even know that she’s a replacement of another self. You wondered why Miguel was doing this. It felt like he didn’t just toy with you but with her as well. A man you came to love for how selfless he was, to realize now everything was for his own personal gain. Suddenly you started to feel bad for her. You couldn’t dislike her, she wasn’t doing anything wrong and she doesn’t even know.

“I got all my stuff. Nice to meet you.” Was all you could say as you zipped up your bag and turned straight around out of there. Not giving any glance back at her, you left to one of the empty training rooms to recollect your overwhelming thoughts. All of the self healing you tried the past month thrown in the garbage.

It wouldn’t be too soon that news of you going around the building was returned to Lyla. You had cut out all coms while you were gone so she immediately popped up on your watch when she found out.

“AH-“ You jumped as the tiny AI was suddenly in front of your face.

“It’s so wonderful to see you Y/N. Oh my god!”She started. Then she went on rambling about how she knew everything and had seen everything. How she didn’t agree with what was happening and was doing everything she could to convince you to stay. After 5 minutes of her rambling you stopped her to let your emotions out.

“Lyla, Lyla It’s okay. Just stop. It’s all complicated I know, but this didn’t work out. I wished Miguel just cheated on me like all the other fucked up normal men out there. That I walked in on him deep in another random girl. Though painful I could have tried fixing and fighting for us. But instead what I got was him emotionally cheating on me and chase after something he knows I can never give him.” You felt yourself choke up. “I can never ask him to give up what he longs and dreams for just for me to be happy. I lost this battle the moment he laid eyes on her.”

Finding comfort in the AI your husband made. You’ve created a bond with Lyla that Miguel found cute but you knew now this might be the last time you’ll be speaking with her.

“You can give him a family y/n… you guys have been married two years now. I know you’ve both set the thought aside until the multiverse issues are better but you can fight for him. You have to snap him out of his fantasy. He still thinks about you.”

“Lyla you know deep down truly he never just wanted a family. He wanted exactly what he had. What he lost. Which should be impossible but being by his side seeing how insane the multiverse is… Good for him for believing in something so hard he’s found himself even a third chance to do it.”

“I hate that you’re being too kind about this situation.” Lyla paced around you.

“I love him so deeply Lyla. You know that very well. It’s so hard to suddenly hate him. I am angry, but I’m also emotionally drained I can’t do this.” You let out a deep sigh. “I’ve watched him long for this family when we just met. For some stupid reason when things worked out for us I thought I would be enough… When we got engaged and he would spend some days at home with me not even coming to HQ. I thought he was finally moving on not just from his grief and past but from the weight of his work. I saw a bright future for us.”

“You can still have a bright future with him! You moving here gave him a new canon event, another chance at life in his timeline. Here in his own universe! He’s just too obsessed and he’s lost himself in that.” She exclaimed with her hands up.

“Our canon event was our wedding.” Your frowned deepened. “But the universe didn’t say anything else after. It doesn’t say our canon event means we are suppose to live happily together forever I guess.”

“I’m just trying my best to be optimistic. I rooted so hard for you and Miguel when you joined the team. I know you can remember the amount of times I would force you both in rooms.” Lyla recalled.

“And I’m grateful for it… Even if this didn’t work out. I was given precious memories, not just working with you and being on this team but falling in love with Miguel. I know I’m being all depressed and hopeless but I feel like even if I move on I’ll never be able to replace him and find a relationship like this again. However he threw me away so easily and maybe he never valued me as much as I did to him.” You felt your emotions bubble. “I became who I am here. I’m going to miss everyone so much.”

“You can still stay here and work with us.” She edged on.

“I can’t just sit around here begging at his feet to return to me or moping around doing missions while watching him with someone else. I want to hate him so badly. I know he’s your boss and you’re basically hardwired to do everything for him and you’re trying your hardest to fix what you think is his right path. But think of me a little more and how miserable it’ll be. I’m the only one hurting here.”

Lyla paused and stared at you with an almost glossy-eyed look. While she worked she could see the inner term-oil Miguel was hiding and the emptiness he was turning to since trying to start new in the other universe. It just wasn’t her place to hold this conversation and he was the one who needed to get a grip of himself and really think and talk with you. She can’t be the one trying to mend the pieces for both of you together. What Miguel did was so wrong. She knew you were right and she didn’t want to see any more damage be caused to you.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She looked up at you sincerely. “I hate this outcome for you. Not only are you loosing your husband but your home. When was the last time you’ve even been in your universe?”

“Like a year ago for a mission…”

“Exactly! Even if things are over with Miguel, you have all of us here! I wish you could stay. I understand you leaving, I really do. I know a lot of us will try visiting you but I’m tied to Miguel…” You started to see how it clicked for her too that it’s most likely you might not see each other for a long time. “Even if a spider-person is visiting you I can’t just show up on their watch… It’ll go back to him and I know you wouldn’t want that. I know I’m an AI and I can’t hold real emotions but I mean it when I say I’m going to miss you.”

Tears poured down your cheeks as her words hit you. Going back to your universe is going to be a struggle. You have nothing there now. However nothing can compare to the pain of the outcome you’ve had with Miguel, and you needed out of here ASAP. Your mental health getting worse the longer you stay. Even the other spiders you have come to love can’t bring that spark back right now. You needed genuine time for yourself, even if it’s self destructive, instead of putting on a fake smile everyday here.

“Bye, Lyla.” You whispered. She nodded and waved her hand goodbye at you before disappearing. You took your watch off your wrist placing it on a nearby desk. With it you pulled the divorce paperwork out of your pocket neatly sealed and already signed on your half. Opening a portal you took your last glances at the place you spent so many loving memories in.

Tears blurred your vision as you stepped through the portal. Once your legs landed on a rooftop of a building in your dimension, you racked out full sobs falling to your knees.

You were always just the other woman.

—————————————————

Thank you so much for reading!! I know it was a longer one ~

would anyone like a part 2? If so anyone want a angsty or happy ending? I think it’ll be more in Miguel’s perspective as well!

EDIT: You can now read PART 2 here

[ii2ko]

MY PRINCE CHARMING!

— synopsis. like all fairytales, the princess always has her prince charming. but they never really explained how that prince courted her.

pairing. 1A boys (katsuki bakugou & shoto todoroki) x princess!reader | genre. romcom, fluff | mlist

reminders! your quirk is "summon", so basically you can summon anything and anyone to your liking along with it under your control! :3 you an activate it either by saying it out loud or manifesting it in your head. (ex. manifesting a whole army and ordering them to take down the enemy is possible.)

KATSUKI BAKUGOU, who's very well known for being brash, tries asks you out with(out) aggression.

“hey princess, come over here for a sec,” bakugou calls out to you from across the classroom, reclining in his desk with his feet up.

right now, you can't tell if the nickname "princess" is just his way of being rude or if it's meant affectionately in a mean way with hidden sincerity. either way, you haven't quite gotten used to it yet. leaving uraraka and tsuyu behind, you make your way towards his desk; which feels like an eternity in his opinion.

“what's your problem, bakugou?” you retort, unintentionally sounding harsh. “what's with your attitude princess?!” he growls, “just cause you’re coming from some stupid royal family doesn't mean you can talk down to the world’s soon greatest hero.” bakugou says in your face with his stupid grin. but right now, not only is he standing a little too close for your liking, but small explosions are going off in his right palm. is he trying to have a conversation by threatening you??

kirishima interjects, sweat dropping as he attempts to defuse the tension between his best friend and the class's princess. “I'm sure she didn't mean for it to come off that way!” he looks at you, hoping for agreement. “yeah, man! you just need to chill.…” denki adds on, but his voice trails off quietly. “also, you should just spit out what you wanted to say.” He says the last part a little louder before whistling and avoiding eye contact with the hot-headed guy who swears at him.

“spit what out? a threat or—“ “yeah! a threat that I'll crush you in training today, pretty girl.”

...

"bakubro,—" before bakugou can realize his mistake, you (along with kirishima and denki) beat him to it. “did you just call me pretty?”

finally, it dawns on him. and he feels like dying when realization hits. “what? no, I didn't. I called you ugly.” “nuh-uh. you called me pretty.” “no, I didn't.” he huffs with a tongue click following, “did all the tiaras and stuff you wear brainwash you and get to your stupid head?” you giggle slightly at his reaction as he looks away, hands in his pockets, ready to walk away from the whole situation. well, he’s trying to salvage his pride. you’ll give him that.

“stop fuckin' laughing brat!” he yells, clearly embarrassment took over. “dude just tell her already!” denki groans, hands in his face as he's already frustrated with how his friend's so freakishly good at stalling a confession. “bakugou, dude... I'm just gonna hang with mina.” kirishima comments, trying to give the two of you some space alone. “yeah, same here," denki agrees while giving a sly teasing smirk to his exploding friend as they both stand up and make their way towards their pink-haired best friend.

and now, it's just the two of you. you in front of his desk, and him with his back turned to you, head down.

“uh, I don't think there's anything interesting on the floor for you to be looking that long.” you tease him, “shut up...” nice. you got him to talk. “is that all? so much for a threat.”

"go out with me."

so straightforward. “...speak up bakugou. I can't hear you!” I said... gooutwithme.” “still can't hear you~!” “I SAID GO OUT WITH ME DAMMIT!” he practically screams as small explosions go off. nervous much?

also as he screamed at you, the multiple heads of your classmates turned towards you and the boy who's most likely going to blow your head off after kissing you trying to comprehend what they just heard.

“show some respect towards your crush!” you deadpan, “shut it!”he scoffs as he finally faces you. “…is it yes or no?” the now less embarrassed or angry (you really couldn’t tell) asks quietly, surprisingly audible over all the chatter about the two of you.

“it would've been nicer if you did this properly,” you say. "wh—?!” “but sure, I accept your challenge of beating you to a pulp in training.” “…” bakugou stands there, looking at you with a mixture of confusion and a ‘what the fuck did you just say’ with slightly pink blush visible on his pale skin.

“...It's a yes, idiot.”

suddenly, he can breathe properly and releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding. “stop playing around, brat,” he smiles at you as you laugh.

he was nervous over nothing, just like what his friends said.

SHOTO TODOROKI, one of the most strongest guys in your class... no, in UA, verbally expressed he was amazed with your quirk?! is he flirting with you..?

“yn, please excuse my sudden compliment, but I must say your quirk is amazing. especially with your control, it definitely suits a girl like you.” the half-n-half user tells you, straight in the face even. you think you probably– no most definitely look stupid in front of him with your flustered expression, speechless too... “o—oh! you think so?”

...you wish shigaraki could decay this whole school right now and turn you into dust.

todoroki keeps his gaze on you as a small but evident smile shows on his lips. “yes, I think so,” he says in a more softer tone. you think it's much better than his stoic voice you often hear. “is there anything i said wrong? or made you uncomfortable?” you also think about how cute he can be without trying, and you hate it.

quickly brushing off his earlier statement, he sighs and fixes his stiff posture as response. “that's good to know. I wouldn't like upsetting a princess after all.” todoroki smiles at you before turning his heel to leave. “I will be taking my leave now yn,” how nonchalant could he be? “take care. I'll see you at the dorms.”

after todoroki bid farewell, leaving his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway, you found yourself wishing he would stay a bit longer.

“wait!” you hastily exclaimed suddenly, reaching out towards him with an arm, but then stopping with a twitch. the volume of your voice higher than you intended, making you shock yourself. todoroki turns around, puzzled by your abrupt gesture. it was probably just a reflex, he thought, dismissing the sudden movement. because surely, you wouldn't want him to stay for anything else, right?

in a surprising turn of events, you sheepishly invited him for lunch or dinner after exams, revealing your want for him to stay.

“um, sorry. would you like to have lunch, maybe dinner? sometime after training and exams.”

having practically asked him out, you blushed as he smiled, agreeing and taking out his phone. “what’s this for?” you inquired, still a bit pink in the face. “well, I do need your number for our date, don't I?” the icy hot user replied with an 'obviously' look on his face.

if you weren't red before, you definitely were now; perhaps even resembling a sunburn. did he just activate his fire quirk or something? the air kept getting hotter the longer you both talked.

“oops! my apologies for that...” you muttered nervously, inputting your number into his phone, adjusting your own contact details as well. 'yn! (≧∀≦)'

SAVE CONTACT ? YES | NO > YES | NO

“cute emoji.” todoroki plainly says, with a hint of adornment in his tone as he looked at your newly saved contact name. he thinks he’ll start using those emojis often. “haha, I know right…”

giving back his phone, you offer walking back to the dorms with him.

“I would like that, as much I like being in your company.” okay. he's definitely hitting on you now. “todoroki... sorry for my sudden ask, but are you flirting with me?” you say a little quickly with a flushed face, looking the other way to avoid his gaze. as you do that, he stops walking.

noticing his presence gone and a few steps back, you look back and suddenly you see his expression as one you’ve never seen before.

“t—todoroki?” you call out to him with a tone tinged with tinged with a new found anxiety and concern due to his sudden silence. unsure if he’s flushed of getting caught or genuinely contemplating if he was or wasn’t. but one thing you were sure about was how crazy the two of you must look, standing in the middle of a hall way going back and forth on each other.

besides all this, you hurriedly apologize for catching him off guard, trying to ease any discomfort you might’ve caused (you hope you haven’t, or else you really wish the league of villains would take you the moment you leave the building.)

“ohmygod, please excuse me for just asking that out of the blue, you really don’t have to—“ “yes. I was.” “huh?” “I was actually flirting with you,” the dual colored hair boy who stands in front of you, smiling bashfully; his gaze struggling to maintain eye contact but always seems to meet yours.

“sorry, was I moving too fast?” todoroki asks you with the gently and sincere tone that you could listen to on repeat. wait, what the hell? he’s just trying to ease the tension between you.

“no!” realizing you responded too hastily, you try to regain a normal composure and talk to him; but your words fail to come out right “ah, sorry… but no! you weren’t, I was just… um…” lord, your words were really failing you. so you think of the only thing sensible to get you out of this situation,

“walk away from me!” you commanded him, and in doing so he does. involuntarily. you gotta thank your quirk for this, honestly.

“wh- wait, yn!” todoroki calls out to you in a shocked but confused tone, “turn me back, right now!” he says as his body still walks away from you, having no control over your quirk.

as you hear him ask to be released, you immediately regret your decision on using your quirk in him.“come back to me.”

after hearing your latest command, he feels grateful as his body obediently changes direction and approaches you, coming within 10 steps. now standing before you, he nervously sweats, unsure of what to do or say. meanwhile, you avert your gaze, looking down as he gazes at you. “i’m sorry I was too nervous!”you exclaim loudly as you attempt to leave, but he interrupts you before you can manage your grand escape.

“please don’t go,” he pleads, his voice barely above a whisper. you stop in your tracks from the surprised by his sudden change in demeanor and how gently he reached out to your arm. looking up at you after a moment of silence, with kind eyes laced with a loving intent, he takes a deep breath and musters up the courage to speak. “what I meant was, don’t be sorry.” he smiles, “and don’t leave.”

you swear you feel a heart attack coming.

“I’m sure you’ve already known, but I just wanted to say...i think you’re amazing. and i would really like to get to know you better.” you feel your heart skip a beat as you realize his true intentions. (as if he didn’t tell you from the beginning) a smile spreads across your face as you reply, “I would like that too.” and in that moment, the nervous tension dissipates, replaced by a sense of excitement for what the future may hold.

“so what do you say,” todoroki starts again; “do you just wanna start the date tonight?” he asks, a hopeful like look casted upon his face. who could say no to a face like that? you gleem at him as the corners of his mouth curl upwards more, feeling a sense of relief.

as he stands there, now going walk with you towards the dorms, he thanks himself for getting over with his own nervousness and complimenting you.

BONUS: “y’know, I didn’t actually know i was asking for a date.” you admit to him as you lean on the kitchen counter, watching your new boyfriend trying to chop chives. “really?” he stops cutting, now looking at you with a surprised smile. “yeah, really…” you chuckle, “I thought I was just asking for you to hang out.” your dual wielder boyfriend laughs, “well I’m glad I took it the wrong way and started flirting with you.” he sighs as he resumes to cooking. “yeah. me too.” you smile at the scene unfolding in front of you.

“stop fucking flirting. it’s making me sick.” “oh shut up bakugou.”

HI GUYS!!! finally posting this after it’s been in drafts since like may I really like how this turned out especially todoroki hehehehehehehheh can u tell I really like him. but anyways, I’m thinking if I should do a part 2 with deku and uhh idk. but anyways!!!!! hope u guys like this 𝜗𝜚.