#also the only time it crashed for me was when i was playing in handheld mode. as a side note. also it's the best pokemon game

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

are my headphones being weird or does every rhythm heaven song just have the beat really loud in the left ear-

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)

An embarrassment, frankly.

After playing Forces and actually liking it, I figured I'd give a chance to the franchise's biggest punching bag. Turns out that in this case, I agree with the popular consensus: Sonic 06 is broken and unfinished, with a messy story, bad controls, and crippling performance issues. I've heard it described as entertainingly bad, but I just can't go along that far; I had a miserable time with this game. Let's get into it, shall we?

Although I'm still not ready for my Sonic doctorate, I'm progressing well in my studies. I've played enough of Adventure to pick up that Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is trying to be Adventure 3 in all but name (and speaking of the name, this game is not to be confused with the Mega Drive game, or the Master System game, or any of the handhelds or animated shows or comics or movies of the same name... the title is the first of many stupid decisions in Sonic 06). A big group of playable characters, more open levels than what would come later, exploration of hub areas, and a heavy focus on story and cutscenes with interweaving plot threads. It's fine in theory, it's just that every individual piece breaks down in various ways. As opposed to previous Adventure games, there are just three main stories (Sonic, Shadow, and new character Silver who is basically just Dragonball's Trunks) with the other hangers-on popping up only temporarily within certain levels.

Sonic's story, such as it is, revolves around Elise, a filler character who is a gormless and feckless human princess and frequent damsel in distress; she gets kidnapped out of nowhere at least five times and dies in a plane crash once, necessitating time travel-based rescuing. Elise’s role in the story when she’s not being kidnapped is alternately mooning, pining, emotional outbursts, and having a tragic backstory. Also, on several occasions Sonic the Hedgehog literally tells her she should smile more. Textbook misogyny, WTF. On top of this is the uncomfortable subplot about a potential romantic connection between her and Sonic, which always fails to feel earned or appropriate. The one saving grace of the character is the mildly amusing idea that her design is loosely based on the chicken animal that you free from badniks in the early games.

I know it sounds harsh but Elise almost single-handedly drags down the whole "story" aspect of this game. After progressing Sonic's mode you unlock the others and theirs almost feel like real plots, centering around stopping Iblis—the mindless beast of fire who ruined Silver's future—and Mephiles—a scheming creature of shadow—before they reunite. Even these stories don't really hold together though with their disjointed plotting, time-hopping, and contrived interactions. Not to mention the utter humourlessness, and the sheer awkwardness of everything from writing to line-readings to mocapped movements. The fact that it's seemingly incompatible with Blaze's backstory in Rush was annoying to me personally, and ending the story with a closed time loop "it never happened" resolution is just the icing on the rotten cake.

I must also mention another decision made in Sonic 06: why game look like that? It falls into the trap of early HD striving-for-realism and falling far short, but it also feels unfitting for Sonic. After all, the hedgehog himself and his anthro friends are as cartoony as ever (almost expressionless faces notwithstanding), so putting them next to the human-looking humans really jars, especially the redesigned Eggman. And speaking of, his robot army is at its most militaristic and entirely whimsy-free... just another in a long line of missteps for ol' 06.

Now all this could be swallowed if the game was fun to play. You should be able to predict that indeed it isn't. Sonic's playstyle is the stinkiest of the lot, particularly the autoscrolling running sections that feel barely functional and were the biggest cause of lost lives (I did not appreciate starting over a ten-minute level due to these abominable segments). His moveset is simple, just a homing attack and not much else, and without a targeting reticle it's unpredictable. He has some sloppily implemented extra powers that are unlocked in a shop; hilariously they're supposed to drain your special bar but due to some error they just don't, so you can use them infinitely for what that's worth.

Shadow is similar, with a combo attack and ranged stunning bolts, but also has a lot of vehicle sections which while awkward are playable enough; meanwhile Silver plays like an entirely different game. His psychokinetic powers let him pick up and throw enemy projectiles and physics objects. It's janky but his slower-paced, almost puzzley levels felt ever so slightly less like the game was constantly falling apart at the seams. There's 9 playable characters in total and none of their abilities work very well; among the others Knuckles and Rouge were pretty fun with their gliding and climbing completely breaking level design, while Blaze (another big reason I wanted to try this game, an opportunity to play as my favourite character in 3D) has a fun moveset with a double jump and a homing attack that actually keeps momentum and flings you around. Like everything in the game it's slippery and totally jank but in a way that actually feels fun sometimes.

I even sprung for the "Team Attack Amigo" DLC (now only available on PS3!) which remixes the levels for play as Tails, Blaze, and Omega (aka projectile spam bot). I should say that each campaign takes you through the same nine levels, sometimes making them new, sometimes reusing whole segments which gets old. The lowest point of the low are the boss fights, another area where the phrase "barely functional" comes to mind. These are tedious to the extreme with a lot of waiting, and several of them recur in each campaign. The worst is fighting Silver, who can instantly grab you psychically and hold you for a long pause before throwing you, and then catch you again as you recover with no chance to make any input. Wonderful!

The elephant in the room for Sonic 06 is its performance. I guess being rushed to release in an unfinished state actually has its downsides, which take the form of horrendous slowdown throughout the entire game experience. Having seemingly almost any number of objects or any amount of level geometry on screen starts making the game chug, the action not dropping frames but rather slowing to a crawl as you agonisingly float mid-jump waiting for your next input to register. And this is despite having pretty severe pop-in not too far away from your character. For what's supposed to be a fast-paced action game it's frankly unforgivable. And speaking of things that you wish ran faster, the loading screens are interminable not just for their length but their frequency: deign to do a side mission and you'll sit through a long load both before and after a character gives a tiny snippet of dialogue until you're allowed to try it, and if you fail then get ready to do it all again! They really add up!

I could go on: the camera is atrocious, the music is forgettable, Elise is incredibly cringe-inducing—oh wait, I covered that already. To be fair there is one bright shining spot and it's from my new old friend Tomoya Ohtani: the main theme His World stands among my favourites from Forces, a strong melody that mixes rock and orchestral with even some rap and makes it work! Watching the credits four times may have been the most pleasant part and it's all thanks to this song. So that's my big takeaway from Sonic 06: the rumours are true, it sucks big time, don't play it unless you're a real loser like me who doesn't value their time, it's a monument to Sega's staggering incompetence, but hey this one song is really good, maybe give it a listen!

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

CRICKET SIS!!!!

Here for the asks!!! (A truckload of them because yes! 😁)

1. Last game you finished

2. 1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

6. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

10. A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to try

12. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing

13.Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

14. A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

20. A boss you think is really cool

21. A boss that was disappointing

24. A game with a cool art style

Dear GIULIETTA, DARLING SIS! <3 WELCOME, WELCOME INTO MY INBOX (omg you sent me Lilo &Stitch gif, I swear that so us! you adorable as Lilo, and I the little chaotic gremlin lol)

NOW.

ONTO YOUR QUESTIONS, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

1.Last game you finished Answered here!

2. 1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed Mmmm, lemme see: I have to say that I really really REALLY liked Vampire The Masquerade: Coterie of New York (so much so, that I cannot wait to buy VtM:Swansong as well) and Genshin Impact.

6.A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to Final Fantasy, without any doubt. Final Fantasy was the first “grown up” game I took a step into when I “graduated” from Spyro and Crash Bandicoot (other two series that are still very dear to my heart), and I find myself always waiting impatiently for any new game that Squeenix decides to give us. 9.A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved STARDEW VALLEY. I knew absolutely nothing about this game, and only saw some gifs reblogged by mutuals here on tumblr, but the whole “pixelated old-style game” vibe that it had just really tickled my interest. So I bought it, and it was ABSOLUTE love. ABSOLUTE LOVE. It’s relaxing, fun and the characters are just pure awesomeness. I adore it so much. (here, take a look at my bebe Seb here <3)

10.A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to tryMmm, I have to be honest, I have been with the PS team ever since the PS1, and I personally never felt the need to try anything else, but if I were to choose, I would say maybe the old Wii was something that intrigued me but never had the chance to try. 12.A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing LOOK AT THESE BEBES. THIS HIMBO RIGHT HERE, SUN IN MY HEART!. He always brings me such big smiles each time I hear him talk. He is an absolute idiot, and I adore him.

AND THIS SLUTTY SLUTTY IDIOT(most affectionate) THAT DESERVES THE WHOLE WORLD.

13.Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind THIS ONE (technically is from Advent Children, but this is freaking Sephiroth’s theme, so it counts as such).

14.A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons Omg THIS ONE. ABSOLUTELY THIS ONE.

Kingdom Hearts II is such a special game for me, some of the best memories I have are connected to this, and because of this, it just evokes such strong nostalgia. Such good memories indeed. <3

20. A boss you think is really cool These two bastards here have the crown. They are the absolute coolest that I can think of. Magnificent Bastards, both of them. I hate to love them as much as I do fml.

21. A boss that was disappointing

Honestly, Yu Yevon from FFX. It was honestly SO EASY TO DEFEAT, I am not exaggerating when I say that I was so incredibly disappointed. Like, I had a MUCH harder time defeating Yunalesca than Yu Yevon, and that's saying A LOT.

24.A game with a cool art style The Arcana. It’s seriously such an amazing game overall, but the artstyle is truly chef’s kiss. (also, in this house, we love and adore Julian, that kinky son of a good woman fml.)

thanks for all the questions, darling sis! <3

[tmarshconnors]

My Gaming Story

So here we are my next blog and after I did "My Apple Story" I thought it was only fitting that I did "My Gaming Story" You see gaming has played a big role in my life. I really don't know what I'd do without it. It's not simply a hobby it's a lifestyle. Sooo here we go! 1995-2000

Well, it all began in the mid-90s. I started my gaming life in 1995. It started on the PlayStation one. I played so many classics like Crazy Taxi, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear, Tekken, Croc and Grand Theft Auto. Just to name a few. Trust me if I started listing each and every PS1 game we would be here all day.

Also had a Nintendo 64 and a few handheld game consoles too such as the Grandstand Galaxy invader 1000. I also owned the original Nintendo Gameboy.

2000-2009

As the new millennium began I got a hold of a Playstation 2 and oh my how I played that thing. I am honestly surprised looking back it never broke once. Truly a remarkable console it never let me down once. Just like the PS1 if I took the time to list all of my PS2 games we would be here all day. You name the game I probably played it once or twice. I had far too many games In all truth there were only about twenty-five I mainly played.

Some of my games really made an impression on me which I still talk about to this day. One of those games was "Grand Theft Auto Vice City" was such a memorable game, everything about that game I loved. Or some games I'd played just freaked me out for some bizarre reason. Like for example I played the game Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets on PS2 and there was a mission where I had to do something in the Hogwarts Libary. I don't recall what it was but something about that really freaked me out where I couldn't pass it no matter what I did. Foolish looking back but hey. I never did complete it.

Around 2003 I was given something called the N-Gage which is a handheld gaming device and a phone all in one. I never really got along with it. I also got given the Nintendo GameBoy Advance SP but for most of the early 2000s, I played the PS2. Somewhere in 2006 or 2007, my Mother bought me the PSP the handheld PlayStation of the time.

2008-2014

So as the years rolled on into 2008. I was given a PS3 and oh my I loved that device. I spend HOURS on end playing their social game called PSHome it was so far ahead of its time. It was a bonus that it was free. I was deeply saddened to hear when they closed it down in 2015. I guess nothing lasts forever eh? PlayStation Home launched as an open beta in December 2008 and was a 3D social gaming platform that PS3 owners could use to interact with other players and visit various themed areas.

A year later in 2009, my Grandmother thought it was a good idea to buy me the Xbox 360 and with that, it crossed me over from PlayStation.

I am very happy to say I have never looked back. I have many fond memories of my Xbox 360. So so so many games too. Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Blur, Minecraft, Crackdown, Mirrors Edge, Call Of Duty World At War. That's just a few to give you an idea of what I am on about.

2014-2023

Then in 2014, I decided to get the next generation of Xbox. The Xbox One. Well, I must say that was an upgrade to my by this point old Xbox 360. Like before I played that a great deal also. In 2019, I got myself the Xbox One S 1TB. I didn't have it that long. Two years in fact. Before I got myself the new Xbox Series X which really is a powerful console.

 I play games nowadays like Microsoft Flight Simulator or GTA V. My girlfriend recently bought me a Nintendo Switch OLED. It is truly a brilliant handheld device.

Which has sparked my old Mario and Donkey Kong interest. I still love them dearly So there you have it "My Gaming Story" Any questions. Use the ask me anything button on my homepage.

PEACE!

[ooc-miqojak]

Oh boy this is a fun one. I like this better than the 'are you a Millennial/Gen X/Gen Z' polls! Because I'm a Millennial, but I was born in '88 and while I got to play NES at my Aunt and Uncle's house, my first consoles were a SNES at my mom's house, and a Sega Genesis at my dad's house. There was a Goof Troop game I'd invite the other kids over to play on SNES (boy I loved some Donkey Kong as well), and on Genesis I fell in love with Ecco the Dolphin, Boogerman (thanks to my dad, it's a very...'dad' platformer), Sonic, and... I was actually at my other aunt's house enough to consider a Sega Saturn also one of my first consoles, and there was this game... Herc's Adventures! (I had to look it up, I only had the foggiest memory of it - what do you know, its LUCAS ARTS of course. This game STILL looks good for its age!) I played the shit out of it... but PS1 I still remember my mom getting me for Christmas I think, and her being so proud of us for being able to figure out how to plug it all in and set it up, and she proclaimed something about 'Not needing a man's help!' once it was all done, ha! (It wasn't so second nature to set up a console, at that point, to be fair.)

I always wanted to play the Genesis and Saturn more (and don't get me started on the Sega Gamegear, their handheld. I loved it!! But it eats the shit out of batteries. But it was a sad day when my local video and game rental store stopped carrying Genesis game for rent! I was devastated!), but the consoles that really shaped my early years were probably the SNES and the PS1, honestly. Spyro was a game that was STUNNING for its time (and one of the few that got exactly what I wanted all these years later - a glow up! No re-works, just up-rezzes!), and to this day Spyro (the first one...and the second I think?) remains one of the few games I've ever cared to truly try and 100% and find every hidden little thing to be found (I hated/loved the timed flying/gliding missions...timed missions still stress me out). There was also Crash Bandicoot - I have an older stepbrother who has a kid only a few years younger than me, so he ended up being more like the brother to me, and we'd often play Crash Bandicoot together! Honestly I think Crash stresses me out more now, than it did when I was a kid. Maybe my childhood of platformer games being basically the only kind of video game are why I have 0 desire to play platformers now.

I sure as hell loved them at 10 years old, though.

I know generations are centered around consoles, but if play games on PC or a handheld was your first system, then just pick which gen was going on at the time

If you don't play video games then move along

[glassmarcus]

The Handheld Klonoa Games

*Played and Written in July 2022

Allow me to recount the great era of GBA platformers. I'm talking about the age when Rayman 3, Crash Bandicoot 2, Spyro 2 all came out...on the Game Boy Advance. Franchises wanted to take advantage of the portable market so they paired down their gameplay to make a few GBA games. They all have this certain flavor to them. Having pre-rendered "cut scenes", being somewhat of a soft remake of its corresponding console game, being questionably canon. As someone who spent that era without a Playstation, these games were my only window into some of these franchises. Crash Bandicoot is a 2D sidescroller first and a 3D platformer second to me. Spyro was a mid isometric collectethon to me for the longest time. Rayman was also a sidescroller...which isn’t weird at all given the history of that brand. I loved these games dearly growing up, but I had the misfortune of not even knowing Klonoa existed, so I never got to play the portable takes on the series framework.

After playing all 3 Portable Klonoa platformers, I can declare that they have the same vibes as the games I discussed before. While the portable Klonoa games can't interact with the foreground and background, they are more or less the same gameplay wise as the console games. The rest of its peers try to be similar to the games they are based off of, but are noticeably reeled back. Here, not much is lost in the translation, so not much is lost quality wise. Because the same philosophies of Klonoa 1 and 2 can be taken full advantage of, the three portable Klonoa Platformers end up being at the top of this sub genre.

Klonoa: Moonlight Museum is surprisingly great. I think dig it more than the first Klonoa game. It's less of a straight forward platformer you try to master and more of a puzzle platformer that uses Klonoa gameplay. The actual platforming aspect isn't that impressive, but these puzzles get pretty big brained eventually. The stages take advantage of the Wonder Swan’s screen and uses it to give levels verticality which allows for more space for the puzzles to stretch out. The levels start to feel like Zelda dungeons after a while, where you are required to have an intimate understanding of the stage’s structure. None of them are as complex as some of the better dungeons per say, but they are, at their worst, Breath of the Wild tier. There are no bosses and the story is told in a rather bland way so it is not as impactful or complete of an experience as the first game. But it's a more stimulating product moment to moment. You really have to get the hang the elements introduced in each world and how they interact with Klonoa’s abilities. It’s more thought out. It’s also somehow more considerate. I love how enemies don't just respawn without warning and how bomb enemies have a countdown. These are good quality of life additions that I didn't expect from a Wonder Swan game. All it really needs is a map and it's basically perfect in terms of delivering its content painlessly.

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is incredibly consistent. I think the puzzles are a bit harder in the other two, but Empire of Dreams makes up for it by introducing more mechanics to interact with, having color to make out objects and enemies easier, and breaking up the puzzles with action stages. Moonlight Museum was 100% just levels with puzzles you can solve at your own pace. Empire changes the composition to allow auto scrolling levels to test your platforming abilities, Snowboard levels to test your reflexes, and Boss fights to cap off each distinct world. The levels are also designed in a way where it's not as easy to get lost. It's mostly a semi linear puzzle gauntlet aside from a psuedo Zelda dungeon where things are all over the place. It loops you around way better and cuts down on back tracking significantly. There’s not much else to say about this game other that. It’s good the whole way through with no baggage attached.

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament sure has...ideas. The look around feature is welcome for sure. The edgy rival is pretty cool. Tournament arc story and level structure is novel. These are all good ideas, but only a fraction of the ideas present in Dream Champ Tournament. Having a ranking system that requires perfection is an idea. Having the surfing mini game be more similar to a Crash Bandicoot Boulder Level is an idea. Having the boss fights be timed levels is an idea. These aren't good ideas, but they are there. I don't think the good additions outweigh the bad ones, but I appreciate how much they tried for a game that, honestly, would be objectively better if the did the same thing the previous GBA title did. Also these puzzles are nightmares. They are true specters of the night. This might be the hardest puzzle game I've played in a while, sans the later levels in Mario’s Super Picross. But these puzzles aren’t hard because they are poorly crafted, I’m just stupid. And that’s why this game has my undying respect. While it may be my least favorite Klonoa Platformer, I will always feel mentally inadequate to it. And I value that a lot for some reason.

Overall, Empire of Dreams is the best one, but all three of these games are great and have cemented my identity as a Klonoa Shill.

[misano17]

I’ve had this idea rattling around my head for a bit:

poly Eden little mermaid au.

Jun is the little mermaid.

(Long text post ahead)

Hiyori is his bestie and potential future boyfriend lmao. He’s also one of the sea witches attendants, so ehe.

Ibara is also one of the sea witches attendants.

Nagisa is the sea witch.

There is no prince.

So Jun really doesn’t want to be a mermaid, mfer met some gamer guys by the shore one day and decided he fucking hated being a fish man. Ya know, ostracized for associating with humans, infatuated with humans culture in a society that shuns it and also eats humans, not fun for Jun.

His only real friend under the water is Hiyori. Sad for Jun tbh, really sucks buddy.

Anyways Nagisa is getting kind of jealous of this Sazanami guy that’s hanging around his Tomoe. + Hiyori hears Jun’s plight and recommends that Jun gets help from the sea witch.

This combination will not end well for Jun.

So Jun goes to sea(haha) the witch.

(Nagisa and Ibara discuss their little evil scheme beforehand, without Hiyori cuz lying and keeping stuff from your partners is really cool guys I swear.)

Nagisa hides his form from Jun during their deal cuz it factors into his evil little scheme.

Anyways the deal is that Jun must find his true love in three months and get them to kiss him before his time is up, or he will turn to sea foam. Not looking good for a guy that plays league. True love for a gamer, haha, very funny Nagisa. It would have been more merciful to just rip his pancreas out and turn it into mince meat.

(Also no mermaid form for him during this time, once he surfaces he will lose his tail and his ability to breath underwater)

Jun surfaces by the beach house his gamer friends have been chilling in and calls out to them. Natsume, Sora, and Makoto are pretty fucking psyched to be able to let Jun play on a home console now instead of a handheld. (RIP to the Xbox they managed to drag onto that beach with 18 extension cords and a small television, it fucking rained about five minutes after and that bitch got fried)

Also Jun has one of those Barbie movie necklaces, it has like three pearls on it. The pearls are each a different color, one’s white, one’s light green, and the other is magenta. HUH I WONDER WHAT THOSE COLORS MEAN. Jun just thinks it’s an ugly necklace <//3 but when he tries to take it off it feels like lightning is shooting through his extremities and his nerves are being put in a tub of boiling water, so he leaves it on. His gamer friends think it’s a countdown cuz like “Oh, three months”. Natsume thinks otherwise.

Natsume is so fucking smart. Love him for that.

Anyways Jun doesn’t really know how to look for his soulmate or whatever so he just doesn’t <//3 he legit goes “Well, living up here with my real friends for three months is better than living down there miserable for the next seventy years, so I’d rather die here with you guys.” And his friends are understandably sad about this but they accept his words.

Hiyori, who was listening from the little porch next to the beach house cuz ehe, this house is on the goddamn water front, gets real fucking pissed, cuz like “excuse me, real friends?” And “Wait, did Jun just say he is going to die? That is not the deal Nagisa and I agreed to give him, I will not stand for this.”

So he calls out to Jun when his gamer friends leave the house for the day (The house is like their queer little man cave and summer hangout spot but it’s got a kitchen and a few bedrooms so they let Jun crash there.)

As soon as he has Jun alone he is fucking pouncing.

Mfer gives himself legs and struts right up to Jun, who is just trying to enjoy a nice dinner of, whatever it is that Sora left for him. (Hiyori is a sea witches attendant so he has a bit of magic, just enough to change his own form)

Anyways they have a talk and Hiyori really doesn’t get anywhere but they do agree to keep hanging out for Jun’s last three months even though Hiyori is super pissed about it.

After they hang out and Hiyori tries human foods and decides he fucking hates them they share a tender moment and Jun comes to a few realizations about where his soulmate might be but decides not to voice it, Hiyori goes back to the sea.

Nagisa is in for the verbal berating of his life. Holy fucking shit.

After Hiyori’s trounces Nagisa’s evil plan in the market place of ideas (He convinces no one, least of all Nagisa to stop his plan and instead spurs Nagisa on to send Ibara to drive a wedge between Hiyori and Jun)

So, this does not go and Nagisa intended.

First of all Ibara’s meddling doesn’t work.

Hiyori and Jun end up kissing after Jun shows Hiyori around the human town and Jun jokes that this is like a date, and Hiyori decides now would be a great time to see how kissing another man feels when there isn’t water between his lips. The green pearl starts glowing.

Jun is like, “wait, holy shit, does this mean I’m a full human now, I got my true loves kiss :):)”

So Hiyori uses his magic to check, and “Oh, uhm, you’re still a mermaid.”

“What?”

“The seal isn’t complete, you have more than one soulmate.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Jun is not pleased.

Ibara does not know all of this.

So Hiyori kind of sort of tricks him into thinking that Jun hasn’t received a kiss yet, and makes Ibara act rashly, cuz Hiyori knows that Ibara takes any information he is given and formulates plans off of it.

So Hiyori uses the fact that he seems possessive to make it seem like he’d be really upset if someone else kissed Jun or stole his first kiss.

Ibara ends up spending time with Jun to try and make the whole thing seem realistic cuz he’s gonna “Steal Jun from his true love and make him lose the deal”

Bitch catches feelings, Jun also catches feelings, two of the pearls are now glowing.

Jun has two boyfriends now, and so does Hiyori, and so does Ibara. Their communication is on point.

Anyways, Nagisa gets involved.

I’ll continue this more later, I’ve already got all of it in my head I just need to get other stuff done tonight.

[cavewolf]

chris' legitimate pokemon scarlet review broken down into categories for your viewing experience (spoilers duh)

CHARACTERS: love the guys in this game. all of team star are so delightful arven is great and nemona is a new fav rival. i wasn't expecting to like clavell as much as i did but he was super fun. gym leaders for what they are (they play very minor roles but thats just how pokemon is aside from bw1 where they show up at the team plasma castle) are super good i especially liked ryme she's awesome. i felt the character writing was a lot better than last gen and they balanced the 3 rivals a lot better tho this could partly just be because of the three split stories focusing on one each.

POKEMON DESIGNS: mixed bag. loved a lot of them like tinkaton the ancient paradox pokemon and tatsugiri. meowscarada quickly became one of my fav starters i love its design and personality. but some of them didn't really do it for me. especially the bugs

HUMAN DESIGNS: really nice. i'm glad pokemon is continuing to diversify the body types of its female cast. i love the women + girls in this game. mela, eri, geeta, sada, rika, katy (I LOVE HER!!!!) and ryme were especially standout designs for me. the guys have cool looks too. i like brassius' edgier take on a grass gym leader and atticus autism warrior!!!!!

STORY: really good. i'm not kidding like god damn. i loved it in this game. it's easily in the big leagues with sun/moon, the gen 5 arc and pla for me (though i just like pla because it's rehashed pmd lol). the starfall street plotline was cheesy but i loved it , i love to see autism friend groups. they're very sweet. path of legends has an excellent motivator in 'your buddy's dog is sick' and like FUCK dude i'm not letting this guys dogy die!!!! arven is a very sweet character so it's nice to help him out. victory road is more standard fare but i liked the new take on the elite 4 (the interview and there being multiple champions). but obviously the closing act really sells it for me. i've seen people say it makes less sense in scarlet because sada is caveman themed, but i honestly think this made it more interesting. if i was playing violet i wouldve been like ohh yeah of course the guy in the glowy robot space suit is an android but the juxtaposition between ancient and futuristic stuff in scarlet makes it more impactful imo. i like how a futuristic ai can only function with the power of ancient crystals, ties it into both games nicely. plus sada sacrificing herself is a little sadder since i doubt there's more chargers in dinosaur times than the far future (she's double DEAD dead). i'm also just a sucker for evil ai and glitch effects anyway

MUSIC: gooooooood!!! there's been some mixed reception on the gym leader theme but it grew on me. penny's theme is one of my favs but all of the team star related ones are good. the area zero theme is genuinely incredible

GAMEPLAY: it sure is a pokemon game. i had some performance issues mainly loading times before/after battles and after cutscenes. i crashed randomly once during the orthworm mission when i went into its tunnel but nothing to the extent i've seen online (not to say it didn't happen). for what it's worth, i was playing it in handheld. but the basic pokemon battle formula always entertains me. the new gimmick is pretty so i like it.

VISUALS: it absolutely could be better but it's not distractingly bad. it's more just servicable. the updated textures (and sometimes models!) of pokemon look good and the humans look good too. definitely improved some animations (but i missed gloria's unique little tiptoe animation downstairs from swsh). the environment flops a lot, especially when it's not in towns.

[birdsareblooming]

Ok so.

To start this off I need to start with the question, since this is something I've only seen myself ask, "What the hell is going on with arcade machines?"

Firstly I was thinking about steelwool-era stuff. The obvious first thing is the Princess Quest arcade cabinets, playing all three seems to free Vanessa, in HW2 playing the fourth one that may or may not be real (i'm not convinced any reality in that game is real due to multiple factors) you either free yourself or, with how it ends, free Vanny, or getting rid of the glitchtrap bit in the mask itself, whatever. There's at least two cabinets for the balloon boy game, one of which still functions but has some weird glitch shit in it. The other one is in the final boss room next to a cot and numbered scratch marks similar to Vanny's living space. It's theorized these balloon boy games were connected to GGY and/or possessed Greg in the first place.

There's multiple messages about other ones, how certain arcade cabinets don't turn off when unplugged and are moved in weird places. There's the series of messages of a guy (probably cassie's dad) going nuts trying to find PQ1, and ends up rambling about glitching all the games at the same time and how the princess is testing him, all of this in his exit interview.

And then the elephant in the room. In the GGY story itself, the reason Tony starts looking into things is because certain arcade machines have unusually high scores under the same name "GGY." not only is this the name of an achievement in HW2 for beating all high scores, but in case you were wondering GGY arcade machines do exist in SB

list of confirmed afflictions as seen in this video:

Slampire DeathStritch FlipFlopCop Zyfalos Test Tube Terrier Lazy River Fredbear’s NomNomBits Fruit Cart Caddy Cosmic Countdown Free Morphus Crash Data Tower Tipper Monty’s Mini-Golf

and damn that story wasn't lying those high scores are high

and like. with all the theorizing about GGY and all this I started thinking like. "Why?" why have the time to get super high scores? whats with the connection with arcade machines going on? what the hell?

Then lets go back to pre-steelwool era. if you think about it, like every lore cutscene we get is via arcade machine games.

also, i'm calling all of these arcade games because the specific lines, as far as i'm aware, indicate arcade games rather than, say, a CRT game or a handheld (which existed but weren't big until like '89.) Also because arcade games are seemingly always in fnaf locations, and also the only thing we see other than the spring bonnie suit in the backroom (three arcade cabinets)

since fnaf 2 we're beaten over the head with them. most characters the only pictures we have of them is these pixel sprites.

fnaf 3 seems to have the narrative (accessed through various weird means) of beating arcade-like games in a specific way to free spirits. you know. like you do with princess quest. (Also the first two are called "BB's Air Adventure" and "Mangle's Quest" and Mangle's Quest appears as an arcade cabinet in SB but also most of those are references)

However, we know these spirits aren't bound to any arcade machines, they're bound to the animatronics. We know its those kids bc of the happiest day minigame

so how is it connected? why do multiple of the arcade machines in 6 have very deep lore that is being shown if just played a specific way to access?

General question: What the fuck is going on with the arcade machines?

I think I found something of an answer, so stick with me.

So I'm not ghost expert because I currently don't really believe in all that, but there's a lot of ideas of contacting ghosts and what they can and can't interact with. Stuff like spirit-boxes which use frequency changes to sensors to a fucking x-box kinect. As electronics rise in our world the idea that ghosts can mess with them also does. Messing with TVs, lights, etc.

While in the real world this is probably due to faulty wiring and machines being dumb, this type of stuff does show up in fnaf. In the first game alone not only can your doors and lights be fucked with (this effect amplified in HW1 night 5) but on your camera ipad a random animatronic's head will appear with flashing "ITS ME" on occasion. Golden Freddy also appears solely via camera usage. Multiple things change in your view in the cameras depending on random chance. Not only that but every animatronic seems to know exactly where the cameras are to begin with to creepily stare at you. In every game (obv for animation reasons) the cameras will glitch out when they move. So much electronic glitching happens in sister location like so much, handUnit was going through it. also maybe whatever the fuck was going on at the end of SB. For cross-continuity sake, the ghosts in the movie mess with electronics so much they end up crashing down the building for dramatic reasons. Apparently in Silver Eyes they tried to contact via static and it just didn't work. sucks for them.

All that to say the ghosts being able to fuck with electronics are not only a thing but a frequent thing and well established, and I think this is where the arcade games come into play.

In FNAF 2, all the minigames you get are somewhat Puppet-centric. The day Charlie died, the Puppet leading Withered Freddy to the dead bodies, and "give gifts give life." At least one of these games, the giving cake the children, seems to have already been a game that ended up being fucked with. That's a theme with these, especially in fnaf3, a normal arcade game that you have to either wait or play a certain way to see ghost shit. the Puppet seems somewhat in charge for the fnaf3 minigames and probably via fnafworld (another video game) creates those states to begin with. 2 out of 3 games shown in fnaf6 are up in the air as to Charlie making those, but one is, once again, the death of Charlie. All three again you have to play in a certain way to get there. At least for 2&3 the Puppet being the one making these games is highly, highly, likely.

I think most of these games are completely diagetic. (in one way or another, getting there)

But why would Charlie make these games? What's the point?

Communication.

Think back to what I said before, these guys can mess with electronics, and as said before freddy's locations are flooded with arcade cabinets. Think about arcade cabinets, advanced enough for them to communicate through them, but simplistic enough to do it easily or just mess with the game. If the Ipad screen can be messed with and camera screens can be messed with, why not arcade screens?

The one I'm pretty sure isn't diagetic is the Michael decaying cutscenes, and the ones I'm not sure on is all of the fnaf4 cutscenes.

This is when Connie realized another possibility, maybe less so but it's possible. If video games themselves are a medium, they made fnaf games in-universe, at least 1-3 and 4 may or may not have ever been finished. Depending on if the games we play are the same games as the ones in-universe, it's a possibility those cutscenes were added to the fuckn. games on steam by ghost fuckery, that idea makes the fnaf 4 cutscenes more likely bc its personal details about crying child's life that the game dev wouldn't know about.

If anything, this explains why fnafworld is fnafworld. it's like all the other games, you have to beat it a certain way and find secrets to beat it for real and/or free a spirit (the deeper you go the more and more it looks like an arcade game, also). It ends with "The pieces are in place for you, all you have to do is find them. Rest." whoever's being talked to, this refers to the stuff to find the games in fnaf3, in which you give cake to the children and gather them for happiest day. I don't think those children are bound to those games, but it is a medium. Though these games you can contact them, give them something, and gather them for the last one, helping them all pass on.

This could be why, going by to steelwool-era, those messages talk about the princess as if she was, like, a person that he was trying to contact. (The PQ games also now have two games where OMC shows up, aside from the screen in UCN. He tends to show up when people dig to deep.) if the princess is connected to Charlie in anyway, her previous fuckery with arcade games or games in general would certainly make her a possibility.

Again I'm no expert, but I believe one of the dangers of contacting ghosts though any communication system is being possessed through that. which, if glitchtrap has any ghost/agony in that mimic1 program, is probably how Vanessa herself got possessed.

The games are a medium, a communication device. Why bust out a Luigi Board when you can bust out Pacman and wait a minute for Charlie to do some pixel art.

I SOLVED FNAF AGAIN GOD FUCKING DAMMIT

[dadsbongos]

the lov beach episode hori's too scared to give us

Movie/Game/Show: My Hero Academia Dynamic: League of Villains/Reader (Platonic) Warnings: uhh idk actually, dabi's kinda horny ig, i don't usually include this as a warning but swearing (there's quite a bit of it), feminine pronouns Summary: this is just 1860 words of me shutting my eyes, plugging my ears and ignoring the current state of the manga (: (beach episode type beat) ~~~

Pulling the large sun hat tighter on her head, (Y/n) looks over as her leader strolls up to the van Spinner had stolen earlier in the day. She quirks a brow at the man, putting a gentle hand over his handheld and pushing it down when he doesn’t notice her, “That’s what you’re wearing?”

Tomura huffs and steps back, narrowed eyes focusing on his black jeans and hoodie, “What’s it to you?”

“You’re wearing a hoodie in this heat, first of all, and also - it says ‘12 year old in gaming mode’, you’re asking to get bullied.”

“Yeah, well,” he grumbles as he tries to find an insult for the woman before resigning himself to mumble out a, “you look like you raided a college chick’s closet” while returning to his game.

“I think she looks great!” Twice piped up from inside the large van before yelling once again, “Absolutely hideous!”

Dabi nodded slightly from his window seat, pulling the strings of his hood so as few inches of his face as possible were showing, “I agree with him.”

“Which part?” (Y/n) crossed her arms, shooting the man a glare.

“Yep.”

“Dickface,” she hissed, reaching up to swat at Dabi’s arm through the rolled down window before turning to climb into the van, “A dickface who is also wearing a black hoodie in this heat. You two are actual nutjobs.”

“Van’s got AC,” Dabi shrugged off her concerns, still not even looking her way as she settled into the seat between him and Twice, “Didn’t know you cared so much, doll. Pretty sweet of you.”

“If you pass out from a heat stroke, I’m not the one taking you to the hospital,” she leaned over into the midrow seats of the van to glare at Tomura as he sat down, “That goes for you, too.”

“I’m not the one with a fire Quirk.”

“Just get Himiko some blood and she’ll take ‘em in all disguised! Let them die!” Twice pitched in with his own ideas, earning a shoulder pat from the woman.

“Good ideas, big guy, I like them.”

“Rude ass,” Dabi kicks at (Y/n)’s leg.

“I’m your boss, if you let me die you’re fucked.”

“Nobody’s dying on this trip, what the fuck are you guys talking about?” Spinner already appeared exasperated with the group and he’d barely been in the car for a second.

Compress got into the passenger seat as Spinner buckled into the driver’s side, he looked around before noticing an absence, “Where’s Toga?”

Suddenly, the door to Tomura’s seat is lugged open with a force, an overly excited blond teenager jumping over her boss and into the open seat beside him.

“You could’ve just gotten in on the other side,” Tomura clenches a fist to keep himself from slapping Himiko’s arm and causing a deathly accident.

“I didn’t know which side you were sitting on, so I just guessed!” Himiko giggles as Spinner starts the car.

“Asshole,” Tomura shakes his head, “This trip is pointless.”

“Kurogiri wants us to bond and stop fighting all the time,” Compress cuts in, “That’s why I’m in charge.”

“We’re adults- " (Y/n) interrupts herself, “Dabi, roll up the window, we’re pulling out of the safe zone.”

Dabi merely keeps his eyes closed behind his sunglasses and presses his head back against the neck rest of his seat.

“Roll up the window.”

“God, these winds are fuckin’ noisy, huh?”

“I hear ya, man!” Twice shouts before shaking his head, “Dabi, be nice to (Y/n). She’s your elder.”

“By a fucking year! Man, fuck you, Dabi,” the woman reaches over and presses the button to roll up the window herself, “Motion sickness or not, you don’t get to be a douche.”

“It’s actually exactly what it means, doll. Sorry to burst your bubble.”

“Stop calling me doll.”

“Ugh,” he grins at his own upcoming remark, “the princess makes a harsh demand.”

“I’m this close,” she pats his chest to make sure he opens his eyes before holding her index finger and thumb nearly pinched together in front of his face, “to beating your ass.”

“Here,” he reaches up and takes her fingers and clenches them together, “now you have to. As soon as we get to the beach, you have to fight me or else you’re a coward and a liar.”

(Y/n) grits her teeth and snaps her eyes shut, “I’m gonna lose it,” she leans into Twice’s side and looks up at him, smiling at the slightest hint of a concerned look behind his mask, “How’ve you been, big guy?”

“Perfectly fine!” he shakes his head before whispering, “I didn’t piss before we left and now I regret it.”

“Aw, want Spinner to pull over?”

“I think he’ll crash the car if I ask.”

“He’d be killing himself too, so I don’t think he’d be too cool with that.”

Twice quiets down as he notices the woman’s eyes beginning to flutter shut with drowsiness. Then, a sense of guilt beats at him as he sees the serene expression crossing his friend’s face. So calm and sweet - he truly adored his friend, and he wanted to do right by her. So, leaning down, he murmurs, “Sorry for calling you old.”

(Y/n)’s eyes dart open and immediately find Twice, she raises a brow at the man and shakes her head as her eyes slowly begin closing again, “I… it’s fine, dude, don’t worry about it.”

Dabi, as usual, is quick to jump into a conversation that was never his, “Old lady tempers, gotta be careful around them.”

“I swear to fucking God, Dabi!”

“What? What do you swear?”

“Shut the hell up!” Spinner snapped at children in the back seat, “You’re distracting me, loud asses.”

“Dabi started it!”

“I’m ending it!”

“Stop yelling,” Tomura commanded the group, carefully stuffing his handheld into his large front hoodie pocket and resting his head back, “I’m going to sleep and if I get woken up, I’ll kill you all.”

None of them believed him - not at all - but out of an odd respect for their leader’s need for rest, they stayed relatively silent as he slept. Murmurs and whispers being the loudest volume of their voices as Tomura snoozed in the van.

Eventually, Spinner came to the reserved spot on the beach that Kurogiri definitely didn’t hire people to kill civilians over. Himiko leaned over and gently shook Tomura awake as Compress popped the trunk to the van. (Y/n) shifted toward Dabi to ensure he was also awake and starting to feel less queasy before getting out of the middle seat so he and Twice could exit.

“Alright, there’s changing rooms…” Compress trailed off, looking around before sighing, “Nowhere in sight.”

“I’m already fine,” (Y/n) waved off, grabbing towels and an umbrella from Spinner, “You guys can take turns changing in the van while I set shit up.”

“I call first!” Himiko cheered, excitedly bouncing back into the van as the men all walked off to provide the teenager the privacy and distance she needed.

(Y/n) did as she’d said and began laying down towels and propping up parasols in the sand to provide shade. As more and more of her friends collected themselves along the beach, she spotted her almighty leader once again making a fashion mistake.

Bright, neon green and orange striped swim trunks hung over his hips and he didn’t avoid the woman’s stare. She purses her lips, “Who the hell goes clothes shopping for you? They shouldn’t be making executive decisions like this.”

Tomura shrugs, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?! Shigaraki, you have to be fucking with me.”

“I’m not,” he sits down on a towel under the parasol’s shade and returns to his gaming, “It’s probably Kurogiri but it isn’t like I ask him.”

“Holy shit. You’re an actual man-child.”

“Oh no, what gave me away?” he sarcastically whines, rolling his eyes at her.

“You being shameless about it is slightly worse…”

“(Y/n)!” Himiko cheerily calls, “Come join me in volleyball!”

“Is Twice playing?”

The blond looks over to the man in question and nods in approval.

“Are Quirks allowed?”

Another nod.

(Y/n) pats Compress’ shoulder, “I’ll let you take this game.”

Dabi comes up from behind while Spinner serves the ball on the beach, he’s removed his hoodie and now only rests in loose shorts that come to his knees and a white shirt. He scratches the back of his head in an uncharacteristically unnerved manner, “Not swimmin’?”

He earns a small shrug in response from the woman, “I’m not all too committed to the idea. At least not now.”

Nodding slowly, Dabi sits down at the edge of the towel unoccupied by Tomura and begins pulling at the fraying threads.

Sighing to herself, (Y/n) is slightly ashamed at how easily her heart softens upon noticing how uncomfortable Dabi seems. He doesn’t usually show as much skin as he is - which isn’t much - and he doesn’t usually throw himself into events where he’d be forced to interact with the others. He feels naked on the beach and he’d rather be dead than continue to suffer this embarrassment. And so, a body comes down onto the towel with his.

“Want company, misery?”

“Baking to death in the sun couldn’t get worse, even if it’s with you,” Dabi leaned back to rest against the woman’s legs.

“Wow,” (Y/n) fauxly gasped, sarcasm ripe in her words, “You being sweet? I never thought I’d never see the day.”

“Right? Thought I’d be dead by now,” his head tips back even more to lay it’s full weight on her legs, “You’re comfortable to rest on, old lady.”

“I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.”

“You still owe him an ass-beating from the car ride,” Tomura jumped in, a snarky smile on his lips as he spoke.

“I’m starting to think you won’t actually beat my ass,” Dabi grins smugly, “Like me too much.”

“I would destroy you in a fight, Dabi.”

“Hm, well, until you stop being a pussy and actually fight me, doesn’t sound like that’s the truth.”

“I swear to- " (Y/n) loudly huffs and cuts herself off before groaning, Dabi- "

“I’m no God,” Dabi paused to wink like the cheap bastard he is, “Unless you want me to be.”

Before the woman can respond, there’s a “heads up!” shouted by Himiko and a volleyball is hurtling towards the arguing duo. Tomura immediately leans over, not quite paying attention and sticks a hand out to block the ball, accidentally decaying it in the process. The leader comes to a stand and tosses up his hands, “What the shit, Toga?”

“Man,” the teenager whined, stomping her foot in the sand, “you destroyed the ball.”

“You almost destroyed (Y/n)’s face!” Tomura's voice quiets and softens to avoid upsetting the young girl over a mistake, “There’s probably another ball in the trunk.”

“I said ‘heads up’,” Himiko rolled her eyes, sending Twice off to find the spare volleyball in question.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, “Oh, so all better, then?”

“Exactly!”

“No! That’s not how that works, Toga!”

Dabi snickered at the back-and-forth before giving a mock dreamy sigh, “Ahh, the sound of Kurogiri’s bonding plan working perfectly.”

[duskwingmoth]

Sonic the Hedgehog

As I begin my transition to the final stage of grief as a Sonic fan (for the third time) I ruminate on my history in relation to this spiny blue turd

I was born just before there was any potential for “& Knuckles” to become a future meme.  On the relative eve of changeover from SNES to PlayStation.  I am, thus, one of the final artifacts of a world where Sonic was good, and accelerated 3D games but a pipe dream.  May everyone know such innocent times in their future the way US kids did from 1994 to 2001, but I digress.

Sonic Is Eternal, as far as my world begins, and likely as it ends, too.  His successes and failures, and by extension SEGAs, are critical points of change in my personal life, whether I like it or not.

But our fraught relationship began inauspiciously.  Certainly I played a fair bit of Genesis when I was little, but also Super NIntendo, and PS1, and most especially N64.  SEGA, for a time, was a mild fraction of my first experiences with games, and Sonic a fraction of that.  His games were just Too Hard for a clueless girl who didn’t know she was a girl, and was terrified of even the thought of a game over screen in Super Mario World.

Literally I spent half my time in those halcyon days watching Mario fall asleep, rather than actually playing Mario 64.  I am a certified Gamer Girl now, but I amproof that Gamers are not born, they’re spec’d.

But I guess I thought he was cool and wanted more.  Because on my birthday in 2002, I received a tiny little interactive video software minidisc that, idk, you may have heard of, maybe not, don’t blame you either way.

This was my everything.  This was video games.  This is the flashpoint for all I ever was, and all I ever will be.  You can blame me being me on this, unfailingly, forever.

Him especially.

After literal months of playing all 31 levels, rocking out to some sweet music, and (poorly) raising Chao, it was far too late.  You cannot save me, there is no hope left.

I am... a Sonic fan.

I’m sorry.

In grade school I teamed up with a couple kids and started drawing Sonic comics.  Dozens of them.  Infested with one-off OCs with vomit designs and no character.  Almost none of these were ever finished and nobody but us really read them, but that didn’t matter.  We played and talked about every single game, we watched Sonic X, we read the official comics, I think we might have literally mailed a letter to Sonic Team begging to put our OCs in the series -- with no reference images included, of course; it was just a list of names.

And girl, you KNOW we were hyped for next-generation HD Sonic on XBox 360.  You KNOW it.

We disconnected in middle school and haven’t really made any efforts since, so I have no clue what their experiences were with that game. But mine was:

My family dropped several income brackets in the housing market crash and recession of 2007, so I had to make do with what I had for many years.  Sonic 06 was the furthest thing from my mind until I started watching Game Grumps in 2012.

Turns out the game was bad.  Bullet dodged, amirite?

Pff

I bought that game used and had to see for myself.  After all, Arin can’t video game, it may well be actually good?

(src:  Vizionsin on Tumblr)

This jarring sequence of events was a window into a popular understanding that Sonic Was Never Good.  One with a long list of evidence and receipts that only grew longer with every passing year.  Oh Generations is fun, huh?  Have you played it on 3DS?  You think Lost World on Wii U is frustrating?  Welcome back to handheld hell, dumbass!

And frankly, it doesn’t even matter what is said about Sonic Boom.  It doesn’t matter that the cartoon was entertaining, it doesn’t matter that Fire and Ice was a perfectly fine experience, and it doesn’t matter how Big Red Button got screwed over at the eleventh hour.  Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal are the death knell of the entire franchise, ringing out into the void with every Sonic fan desperately covering their ears as the blue hedgehog rots on the noose before our eyes.

B-but I still had hope!!  SEGA turned it around once, they can do it again!  Right?  .......Right???

At some point between the release of those two horror shows and the release of Sonic Mania, I went back and I played Sonic Adventure DX.  A game I remembered relatively fondly, despite all the haters.

And

Uh

Yeah

No

Sonic was never good.

And think about the position I’m in, sick to my stomach of nostalgia in general, when Sonic Mania hits, I buy it frame 1, only to discover that the level design has not evolved past 1994 when it really should have, and the entire game is festooned with these surface-level vapid callbacks that don’t add anything to the play experience.

Imagine my defeated sigh when Sonic Forces comes out and it’s the biggest vanilla wafer of nothing ever devised.

No surprise.

No anger.

Nothing.

Think about the last five years of subsequent, relative radio silence from a series that used to -- at the very least -- not let its blunders last long before they had a new one.  The conversation at large hasn’t had anything new to evolve from, it has only descended further and further into a tightening downward spiral of self-loathing and resentment.  Only hiccuped by the revelation of

Consider how one gross weirdo who Archie Comics employed for a while changed the entire global brand identity of the franchise because SEGA can’t write legal documents to save their life.

Perhaps you may begin to understand a small part of where I’ve been at mentally for ten years.  As much as I may want to be excited, engaged, or even interested in Sonic Frontiers, it isn’t even on my radar.  As much as I want to believe IDW Sonic is a good comic series, I can’t bring myself to read it.  As much as I want to be having fun with and being part of the fan community, where will we be when the next complete fucking disaster of a game comes out?  Some of y’all are barely holding on as it is.

This hedgehog is a wreck, and for all their success beyond him, so is his parent company.

But hey.  I am too.

(src:  TerminalMontage on Youtube)

Maybe this is the turnaround for Sonic, and we’re too battered to see it in the moment.  Sonic Movie 2 was apparently pretty entertaining.  Sonic Oranges is out, and apart from some weird nerds who care way too much about some mid Michael Jackson cuts, nobody seems to be complaining.  I’m also well aware that I’m the odd one out for Mania (and, tangentially, Freedom Planet), and we’re kinda just ignoring that one of the ascended fangame devs is an alt-right shitheel because so much of the stuff you see in the Sonic Amateur Games Expo and Sonic Hacking Contest just.  Gets it.  And has a high standard of quality, to boot.

Maybe this is just me saying “he wouldn’t hit me again, he loves me”.  But that’s a problematic analogy, and not a very good one, at that.  Sonic isn’t real, insofar as he has corporeal form as the creature with abilities the series purports him to be and have, and therefore not only can he not hurt me, he doesn’t even know I exist. Neither do any of the developers, or any of the suits in SEGA’s corporate office.  This is a parasocial relationship in the extreme.

Maybe SEGA will call me back one of these days and say “Yes!  Transgender Tails and Omelette’s West Side Island Adventure is kino AF, big dogecoin material!”  I think that one is especially likely, IMO.

I dunno.

Through it all, I have regularly returned to Sonic Adventure 2.  The swan song of an all-too-short console lifespan stacked with banger games, and no slouch itself.  Only a couple friction points really grate on me with it, nowadays, and that’s saying a lot compared to most people who’ve played it.

It may not be one of my favorite games ever.  It may not even be one of my preferred games in the series.  But it still has that something, that ephemeral energy at the intersection of SEGA hyperpop and cringe but free cool kids.  So does Sonic Heroes, Sonic Riders, Sonic Advance 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Especially Shadow the Hedgehog.

(src:  mkf2308 on DeviantArt)

That energy speaks to me on a primal level.  And the canvas that is this franchise still makes it remarkably easy to imagine a form that is expansive, and caters to weirdos like me, even when I don’t actually want to.

Shit, look at this blog post.  It is filled with post-ironic memery on a level impossible to achieve if people didn’t care about something.  We don’t just care about Sonic the Hedgehog because we’re damaged arrested-development losers.  We are, but that’s beside the point.

That Sonic still gains and holds new fans even after Sonic 06, even after Rise of Lyric, I think that says something.  Most of Mario’s would-be competitors died off, both in 2D and 3D, after one bad game.

Not this mouthy asshole.  Millions of years of evolution pass by, meteors crash into the earth, ice ages freeze the entire planet, and just like crocodiles, Sonic endures.

And perhaps it’s because Sonic is just.  Good.  Turns out we’ve been freaking out over a couple bad games and overblowing their importance.  Could the series be more consistent?  Frankly at this point, I don’t care.  The weird diversity of everything about the hedgehog should be something we embrace, I think.

Alongside a perhaps tempered hope that we’ll get a fun game after all this waiting.

That’s probably what the true final stage of the Sonic Cycle is.  Accepting that we have a taste inscrutable to all the people who are just bad at games, and not giving a rat’s ass what IGN or whoever has to say.  Ascending above all the bullshit, understanding that we all, for better or worse, love Sonic the Hedgehog.

That we are all Sonicman.

[lordkilluazoldyck]

House of Memories

masterlist | guidelines

summary: uh basically your house is full of memories and you don’t wanna move + lots of fluff

warnings: cursing probably idk mentions sadness and crying

author’s note: hi friends have some shoto. also based on house of memories by p!atd & also welcome home by rehab. thank you goodnight

todoroki (pro hero!)

Todoroki was used to living a more luxurious lifestyle. He grew up with plenty of money given that Endeavor was his father and now as the number two hero, he made the same massive salary.

You however, grew up lower middle class. Your working proletariat family provided you with enough necessities to get by and tried to spoil you when they could, although those opportunities were rare. No complaints from you however, as you knew you were lucky to have a home and such loving parents.

Growing up though, you learned to be appreciative of everything tossed your way. You also found it difficult to be comfortable in a rather luxurious setting. Todoroki was aware of this. He wanted you to have the best of the best for anything, but he also knew you’d never be happy living in some penthouse with forty maids running about. So, instead you shared a little house that sat on a few acres of land, fully furnished with your mom’s couch and grandparents’ china cabinet, among various other ages old pieces.

The walls were filled with pictures of you and Shoto as well as your family. Mediocre paintings you made fit the space in between. The house was rather eclectic, but it was cozy.

More than anything it was home.

You knew Todoroki didn’t get to have the experience of having a cozy home, so you made it your goal to give him that. You hung pictures of his family with the photos of your own. You tried to incorporate his family’s furniture as well and gradually came to love the odd mix of expensive newer furniture and homemade hundred year old pieces.

All good things come to an end, though. It was time to move. Todoroki insisted that upon marriage it was customary to move into the home he inherited from his father.

You sat on the floor of your beloved home picking up all the memories piece by piece and placing them into boxes. Your fingers grazed the handprints pressed into the paint on the wall of the living room. Tears welled in your eyes as you realized whoever owned the house next would cover it with new paint.

Walking to the back door, you stood in the screened in porch. The tear in the screen would be fixed, the physical memory of Shoto almost falling all the way through it after you jumped at him from behind the table, erased.

A glance towards the large plot of land had more tears spilling onto your cheeks. Your flower garden that never seemed to grow, despite the copious hours you and Shoto spent working in it, would be planted over. You halfheartedly chuckled as you remembered him laughing as you sang along to the radio, using your handheld shovel as a microphone.

Sauntering back through the house to the front porch brought back the memory of your first Halloween after moving in with Shoto. You carved pumpkins in the driveway and vividly remembered him being clueless about the process, but yet carved a gorgeous masterpiece on his while yours looked like a cross between a bat and a cow.

The gash near the bottom of the driveway held the story of Shoto attempting to back the u-haul closer to the door the day you both moved in. The driveway was too steep and the trailer hitch scraped through it. You remembered him being so scared you were angry, but all it did was add to the memories encased in the home.

The storm door hung crooked because Shoto claimed he ‘didn’t need the directions,’ and the faucet in the kitchen dripped only at night. It was the little things you’d miss the most from this house. You could still see your brother walking through the hallway when he came for Christmas a few years ago, complaining that the water in the shower wasn’t hot enough.

What got you the most, though was the little gazebo by the lake out towards the back of your property. Fairy lights lit the structure and reflected beautifully off the pond water. Memories filled your mind of building it with Shoto. The laughter and happiness couldn’t be replaced. The two of you build it by hand and were damn proud of the outcome.

Shoto proposed to you in that gazebo. The two of you sat out there by the pond with a speaker and a deck of cards. You played cards and laughed, singing along until nightfall. A storm blew in unexpectedly and rain crashed down. Closing up the thin glass around the gazebo, Shoto spoke up.

“Should we just made a run for it?” His eyebrow rose.

“This is kind of cool, though. Wanna just stay until it calms down?” You grinned.

He chuckled and unexpectedly plopped to the ground, pulling you with him. Your head rested on his stomach as you both watched the roof of the gazebo as raindrops spilled ahead.

His fingers rubbed soft circles onto your cheek as he hummed.

“Yn.” He spoke after a little while, his voice hoarse from the silence.

“Hm?” You hummed.

“Marry me.”

You huffed a laugh. “Shoto, what?”

“Marry me,” you could hear his smile. “Marry me and I’ll be everything for you. All I want is the joy of hearing you say you’ll always be mine.”

Your eyes grew blurry with tears as you sat up to face him.

“Shoto, I— Yes.” You kissed him gently. “A hundred times over, yes.”

The rain eventually stopped and the two of you made it back inside, but you decided you’d love to have stayed there forever.

-

The memory of Christmas’s flitted through your mind as you sat on the couch.

Shoto’s excited eyes as he watched you unwrap the ugliest dress you had ever seen, were forever etched into your brain. You acted so excited despite knowing you’d never wear such a thing.

The noise of the lock jingling stopped your thoughts.

Shoto walked through the front door, then.

“Baby, I’m home.” He pushed his coat from his shoulders.

“H-hey, love.” You sniffed and walked to greet him.

His eyes immediately displayed concern. “Baby, hey, baby, what’s wrong?” He wrapped you in his arms and rubbed shapes into your back.

“This is our home, Sho. I don’t wanna leave. I’m not ready to let it go.” You sobbed into his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He held you tighter and rested his chin on your head. “Shhh, no baby. No sorry. It’s okay, baby.” He pulled away to look you in the eyes. “We don’t have to let it go, okay? I didn’t know you wanted to stay so bad.” He chuckled a bit and thumbed away your tears. “No tears, princess. You could’ve just told me you wanted to stay.” He pressed his lips softly to yours.

You gave a small smile. “I love you, Shoto Todoroki.”

He smiled, and pulled you back into a tight hug. “I love you endlessly, Yn Todoroki.”

[repentantsky]

5 Companies That Have Too Much Hype Around Them

Look, we all love our favorite games with a passion, and to an extent that’s fine, but when that passion becomes obsession and that obsession becomes forgetting our own moral compass for the sake of entertainment, it does feel like it’s gone too far. It’s one thing to love what a company releases, it’s completely another to ignore every problem they’ve ever had. Not all of the companies on this list have done horribly un-ethical things, but they’ve at least been anti-consumer, and the fact that people don’t question that enough has led to them sometimes, making horrible mistakes. I am RepentantSky, I love making lists that trash on things that are popular, and these are 5 companies, that have too much hype around them.

5. Nintendo

Already I can hear people getting angry, and in a way I get it. Nintendo is for many people the place where they either begin to play games, or the place they go to keep on playing them when everything else let’s them down, and of course, they put an end to the flipping video game crash of 1983, and no one else will ever be able to claim that from them. That’s all wonderful, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be critical of them. I’ve talked about a number of things they’ve done wrong before, so let me quickly run down the list of some of their anti-consumer practices. They, charge too much for remasters and ports, they don’t drop prices in games, they used to charge for fixing Joy-Cons and now completely deny it’s a problem for legal reasons, despite everyone pretty much having experienced drift, they haven’t been good at getting stock for their items in at least 20 years, and oh yeah, they sell all the content for a remake for $115 on the 3DS, the system and the fans that helped them get by while the Wii U was massively underperforming, all while handing owners of the, at the time, unproven Switch, free content. Nintendo has a tendency to still think like a toy company, and they even used that idea to present the Nintendo Entertainment System as a toy instead of a console when they first game to the West with it, but they aren’t a toy company, their a gaming company that also sells toys, just like everyone else. I get they’ve done amazing things, I own over 150 physical handheld games from them, and a ton of digital games besides, but when they start charging twice what they are worth for SD cards, while releasing games that absolutely won’t fit on the limited space of the Switch, and they simply don’t care when costumers complain, it’s time to at least question their motives.  

4. Bethesda

Boy I used to really rip on this company back when I posted lists on Facebook, but I haven’t done it in a while, so let’s do it again. Bethesda has absolutely spent at least the last 10 years lying to people, Todd Howard, has become famous for it, but I think I might have been the only person who wasn’t shocked when Fallout 76 was the disaster that it was. There were so many things wrong with that game, that I don’t even have time to go over every little thing, but lying, you know the thing that will get another company on this list very soon, was a big thing they did with the game. They promised at one point that they weren’t ever going to charge for items in the game that gave in-game benefits, and they did, allowing ammo and other items to be bought with real money for a time, they promised new, specialized servers if you paid for a yearly service that was way too expensive, and that wasn’t true because people found proof of things missing from what would have been a freshly made, private server, and there’s no excuse for that, games in early access do that correctly, and they aren’t, at least supposedly, even finished yet. I wish I could say that’s all they’ve done, but they also bullied an indie developer over their game Prey, a game they may have bullied the original developer for so they could get cheaper, but we’ll never know because they refused to comment on that when asked, they also refused to update their outdated game engine for years, which caused something they spent over a decade fixing, games releasing with glitches, some of them game breaking. Yet somehow, they have such a fan base that those who love their games will claim the glitches are just part of the charm. That kind of fierce loyalty led to Fallout 76, and even though we make jokes about it even now, the horse DLC from way back in the day, was an indication of everything they’ve done, including trying to charge for mods made for free, meant to be consumed for free, twice. Bethesda is a bad company and they do not care. 

3. Activision/Blizzard

You know one of the worst things Nintendo does that I didn’t really mention directly in the first entry, is limit the amount of time a product is available, instead of just letting it be there for consumption as long as it’s selling (that was what the toy company reference was about if it wasn’t clear). However, Activision/Blizzard are the Kings of doing this, as they not only limited things while they were in control of Destiny 2 to the point where you pretty much had to use real money to get everything, and never mind everything else they did to it, because we’d be here all day going through it all, but they also don’t support games as a service titles long enough for dedicated fans. Crash Team Racing Nitro fueled, is a prime example of this. People weren’t done with that game, and when fans thought for even a split second that an update was going to come to fix an issue, their hype (mine to) was so explosive, it was almost like we were getting a new game, but then nothing happened, because they didn’t care. A lot of companies that do yearly release titles as a service have this problem and nothing exemplified that more for Activision, than Skylanders, a series originally made off the back of Spyro, who didn’t even wait for a year to release new games, as technically between October 21st and November 20th of the year the first game came out, they released three of them, and I’m not even kidding. Two of them, were mobile games! You might have thought I was going to go after Call of Duty, for this, but that horse has been beaten to ground, somehow, more than Skylanders was. They also, for whatever reason, released each expansion on different generations console generations, at different months throughout Fall, like somehow the season of Fall, they needed a release every month, if not two, and so off they went. I didn’t even get into Blizzard, but all I need to say is “Blitzchung” and all the memories will likely come flooding back. There’s also the fact that in two separate years, after gaining massive profits, they dropped hundreds of employees, and hired more than they’d let go, but I guess that doesn’t really matter to some of you, because when they did it this year, with so little warning, most employees found out via the news articles about it, but we all made such a little stink this time around, it didn’t create any media buzz, so I guess that doesn’t matter, you’d all rather play flipping World of Warcraft, like better MMO’s don’t exist. 

2. CD Projekt Red

I know this one comes off a little more fresh in the mind, and they technically only lied about one game, but man, what a series of lies it was. Also, let’s be honest, one major game, does not a great developer always make. CDPR’s previous two Witcher games did exactly what the author of the books thought they would, and that was almost nothing in terms of making a serious impact, and the reason is, they are kind of bad. They aren’t the worst games out there, but there is a good reason why The Witcher 1 and 2 haven’t been ported and/or remastered, despite how important they are to the story of Witcher 3, and that’s because they both suck. Cyperpunk 2077, was in a lot of ways, them just going back to being the developer they were before, the BIG ONE happened. They lied about nearly everything in regards to the game, including how the main platforms where consumers were going to buy it, were actually running well. I made those references to Witcher 1 and  2 for a reason, although if I’m being honest, they actually look better than Cyberpunk did on day 0, and that’s completely unacceptable. The budget for CDPR was basically nothing for Witcher 1 and 2 combined to what Cyberpunk got, but they were so focused on the PC versions because PC ran the game better, somehow (like maybe because they didn’t try with consoles) and they missed glitches that were so bad, the game felt like it was still in beta, if not alpha upon release. The fact that they’ve only released eleven games in twenty-three years, and only two of them didn’t have The Witcher on them, should have told us all we need to know, and yet the game, even after returns, which was another massive screw-job that led to Cyberpunk being removed from the PlayStation store, still sold Sixteen million units, all because of hype, and because apparently, some people don’t care if they’re lied to. Do you want to know what the other game they released is besides a Witcher title? It was flipping Saints Row 2, a fun game, but also one that’s too goofy for it’s own good, and yet suddenly makes Cyberpunk’s release, make sense, because it was all a massive joke, and a parody of good, well running, open world games. CDPR needs to seriously do something, anything different, and never release a game in this poor of a state ever again.

1. Ubisoft

I put Ubisoft at number one for a damn good reason, and that reason is, that everyone seems to hate the company, but loves their games, and I don’t know why. They haven’t been the overall worst company on this list, although they are pretty bad, but the major problem they have, and have had for at least a decade is that none of their games have any identity, they are literally all the same game, with different coats of paint. Sure, an occasional gem sneaks through like Assassin’s Creed IV, but all of the rest of their games have the same visual style (although ACII does seem to be the base for which they create their art let’s be honest), the shooting mechanics they have in all the games that have guns, all feel exactly the same, which is something even Call of Duty manages to avoid most years (guess I took a shot at them anyways) and yet somehow, someway, I keep seeing people getting excited for their releases, and it doesn’t make any sense. Sure, they throw a celebrity actor in from time to time, and the artistic style they use does look pretty cool, but everything is always the same with them, every single time, no matter what it is, and they still keep making money. It doesn’t really make sense either, because a lot of developers do make games that are very similar feeling, see the Life is Strange team or much as well all loved them, Telltale Games, but at least those titles told extremely interesting stories, and developed their mechanics at least a little, which is something most companies do just on principal, but not Ubisoft. They throw out a few Tom Clancy games every time they talk about what their releasing, the Trials and AC games are still mostly a yearly experience, and I’ll say it again, their entire list of releases since at least 2013, the year the previous generation kicked off, have pretty much all been the same. It would be nice if they made more games like Child of Light, but despite the fact that their games will likely never be as popular as Call of Duty, they keep churning out same-y shooters hoping that one day, maybe just one day, they’ll create their own CoD, and it’s just not gonna happen. The saddest part of all is that when they announce something different, something fans have wanted for years, we get The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, which was literally delayed because fans said they wouldn’t buy it unless some actual effort was put into making it, why is this company so popular that it can keep doing this, someone please explain it to me. 

And that’s my list, can you think of any other companies that are too hyped? Let me know in the notes below, hit me up with a follow if you like my content, and give me a reblog, I’d really appreciate it. Have a wonderful life!  

[notveryglittery]

birthday prince (1)

summary: roman gives the performance of his dreams and deceit loves him all the more. words: 1,330 / ship: roceit (roman/deceit)  author’s note: hello!! this is the first part of my Giving The Gay Anything He Wants series for roman’s birthday (june 4)! the ships are all written romantic but i’m not stopping you from seeing them however you want. peep the ao3 end notes for credits on these gift suggestions (bc i can’t decide where to put them in this post)! i hope you enjoy!!

part 1 (roceit) | part 2 (logince) | part 3 (prinxiety) part 4 (royality) | part 5 (dlampts) read on ao3 

— — —

“Darling, may I please open my eyes now?”

“Trust me. We’re almost there.”

Deceit could try all he wanted to hide the excitement in his tone but Roman had no trouble picking up on it. There were hints of nervousness there, too, but Roman was sure that whatever his love had planned, he was going to enjoy it no matter what. Surely, it had something to do with his birthday, given that the week of it had just begun. Usually, Sundays were reserved for family time, but apparently Deceit had had this in the works for a while now, and if they all knew anything, it was to not throw a wrench into his schemes. The part Roman was having a hard time wrapping his head around was the fact that Deceit was giving him such an early birthday gift.

His hand was cool in Roman’s but it held on securely as they walked. They were dressed nicely, with matching accessories. The rings on Deceit’s fingers kept clinking against the ones that Roman wore and as silly as it was, he couldn’t stop smiling about it. During their stroll, the air had been warm and the floor mostly carpet beneath their feet; at the sound of doors opening, however, there was a brief crisp breeze and suddenly each step echoed around them. Roman would know this room no matter the circumstances. A giddy laugh bubbled up his throat.

“What’re we doing here, bee?”

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” Deceit suggested, pulling Roman’s hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

Roman opened his eyes. As he expected, Deceit had taken them to the Theatre. It had always been a pleasant and neutral space in Thomas’ mind. Whereas Roman kept control over the Fantasy Realm or Logan the Memory Archives, the Theatre was available for any of them to use as they needed. It was often transformed for Daydream Scenarios but Roman liked it best like this, in all its original glory.

“Shall we?” Deceit prompted, gesturing down the aisle and towards the front row seats.

Roman might not know what was in store but he had no intention of turning it down. He followed again, resisting the urge to mention Deceit having not actually answered his question. He knew he’d find out any moment now, anyway. They settled comfortably, Deceit not once letting go of Roman’s hand. It was only a few seconds later that the lights dimmed and everything shifted. No longer were they figments of the imagination, sat in a theatre that he had created. As far as Roman could tell (and feel), they were in New York City, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. It was… it was absolutely magical.

And then the opening notes rang out and Roman’s breath rushed out of him.

”How does a bastard, orphan…”

“What… you—”

“Oh, don’t get all flustered now, dear,” Deceit interrupted, equal parts teasing and adoring. “You’ve got a role to play.”

The reds and golds of his suit were replaced in an instant and the 18th century garb he wore now matched that of the actors performing. His hands were shaking but he couldn’t tell if it was because he was terrified or excited. It was probably both.

“Shut up,” he squeaked.

“Happy birthday,” Deceit purred, entirely too self-satisfied.

”And the world’s gonna know your name…”

In a blink, Roman was center stage, in darkness. The show had been sold out, every seat filled. Most of the audience appeared faceless and unimportant to him but, barely, he could see Deceit still sat in the front row. The pride and awe shone blatantly on his face. Roman’s heart was racing. It was adrenaline and fear and joy and nerves and satisfaction. It was butterflies in his stomach and dreams coming true and the sensation of slipping into character and playing his part with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

”What’s your name, man?”

“Alexander Hamilton!” Roman sang as the spotlight beamed down on him.

— — —

Roman threw himself into Deceit’s arms as soon as he arrived backstage. He was out of breath and had been crying since the end of the curtain call but he was blissfully happy. Absolutely nothing could take him down.

“I love you,” he gasped, peppering Deceit’s face with kisses. “That was exhilarating! I just performed in Hamilton! Alongside the original cast! I played the lead role! Oh my god!”

“And you were brilliant,” Deceit said, leaning back just enough so that Roman could see his smile. There was a bouquet in his arms and the flowers were pushing against their chins; it tickled but it smelled sweet. “No offense to Lin-Manuel, but—”

“No!” Roman exclaimed, laughing through his tears. “Don’t you dare besmirch Mr. Miranda’s name!”

Deceit rolled his eyes but relented. He pulled away and offered his gift out to Roman. “I know, they aren’t nearly as handsome as you. However…”

There was more weight to the bundle of roses than Roman would have expected. Upon closer inspection, he found a carefully wrapped package tucked in the middle. He cradled the flowers in his elbow and took the parcel out with his free hand.

“This is for anytime you need reminding of how loved and cherished you are. If for some reason none of us are available to do so, that is.” Deceit was telling him but Roman was transfixed by the handheld mirror revealed as the cloth fabric fell away. It was shiny and gold, with rubies and citrine embedded in the handle.

“I don’t know how true any of it is but,” Deceit began and Roman could hear the telltale start of a nervous ramble. “Rubies are protective stones that bring happiness. Citrine encourages self-expression and creativity. They’re also…” He paused. Roman’s heart felt warm at Deceit’s growing blush. “You know… our colors.”

Before Roman could respond, the mirror flashed pale yellow. He winced and then nearly dropped it because it had started to speak.

“Oh, dearest Roman, it should be impossible for you to be any more attractive than you already are! Somehow, though, the expression you wear when gazing at your loved ones adds still so much to your infinite beauty!”

“Excuse me?!” He yelped, mouth falling open in surprise.

“Good timing,” Deceit said, having seemingly recovered. “And don’t think you can get away with needing it but feeling as if you don’t deserve it. It’ll compliment you whether you like it or not.”

Roman couldn’t even be upset at the blatant callout on his behavior when Deceit looked so pleased with himself. Creating something like this… he had to have taken into account the mirrors’ awareness of its surroundings, knowing when Roman would need it… This hadn’t been a trifling task. Roman thought he might burst with all of the feelings welling up inside of him.

“I love it,” he managed, voice wobbling as tears sprung fresh to his eyes. “I love you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you—” The gratitude dissolved into happy crying, positively overwhelmed by it all.

“It’s the least I could do for you, my prince,” Deceit crooned, stepping closer and taking Roman gently in his arms. “The world would be yours, if I could give it. Until then, I’ll continue to do my utmost in providing you anything you could ever ask for.”

The Theatre melted away as Deceit carefully sunk them out. While Roman retrieved a box of tissues, Deceit took the flowers and mirror and set them safely aside. It took only a few minutes longer for them to be dressed comfortably and in Roman’s bed, wrapped snugly in blankets. He was crashing quickly, from the last of the adrenaline and the final wave of emotions. Everything was just the right amount of comfortable, Deceit’s cooler temperature keeping them from being too warm from Roman’s elevated body heat. He felt cocooned and safe in Deceit’s embrace and knew that there wasn’t anyone on the planet luckier than him.

[octanesimp3000]

The Bunny, The Decoy and the Apex Games #5

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32034451/chapters/79792999

Summary:

With the plan successfully executed, now all you and Octavio would have to do was play the role of a happy couple. But you were beginning to realize that there was still a lot to Octavio that you didn't know about. 

Credit for the idea that Octane has a plush bunny goes to @kryzo-stimz!

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

————————————————————————–

Unfortunately, your squad was not crowned as the Champions this time around. You’d managed to get to the Top 3 before being sandwiched between the final two squads and getting knocked out by a Kraber. 

There was some good news however. While you were not the champions of this round of the Apex Games, you and Octavio were certainly the champions of the audiences’ hearts. Social media exploded after your public kiss on screen with post after post of the clip being shared with the hashtags #SuperSpeedLove and #KissedByTheDaredevil. 

Most people seemed excited that there was romance happening in the Apex Games, thinking that this would up the ante on the battlefield, or they just thought that the confession was cute and were in support of the relationship. Some so-called Octane super fans however had resorted to sending you direct messages on your social media accounts, telling you some not-so-kind things about what they’d do to you if they ever saw you in person. 

As you scrolled through several of these posts that your fans had tagged you in on your social media feed, you couldn’t help but think that the person who had placed the cameras was somewhat of a genius. Since Octavio’s face was still being kept a secret from the public, the camera had been positioned so his face was just out of view and yet, there was no mistaking that you two had shared an oh so loving kiss. 

Although it had only been three days since the previous game, you’d already started to notice the changes that your new ‘relationship’ brought to how you were treated. Earlier in the day, you had been notified about an interview you were to attend later that week but instead of it just being you on your own like you were used to, Octavio had been invited to attend the interview as well. Presumably, the journalists were going to ask you two questions about your relationship which you were not ready for. 

Your relationship dynamic with Octavio had taken quite a change as well. When the other Legends saw you around the dropship now, they fully expected to see Octavio with you as if you two came as a pair and you both didn’t have lives of your own outside of each other. Octavio had also taken to affectionately calling you his little bunny, you weren’t exactly sure why he did it but you thought it was pretty cute so you had allowed him to continue with it without question. 

Not only that, but when you did hang out with Octavio, you two would hold hands or even cuddle if you were hanging out in the common area. The PDA was obviously just an act to convince the other Legends that nothing fishy was going on but you were really starting to enjoy it. You would never openly admit it to Octavio however, it would just make things awkward. 

The first week after a game was always the most peaceful and you were enjoying this moment of serenity in your bed with your laptop perched on your lap when you heard a knock on your door. You moved the laptop onto the bed and stood up to open the door, surprised when you found Octavio with his hair dyed green yet again standing there with his arms laden with all of his computer gear and video game consoles. “Can I help you?,” you asked. 

“Need to put these down pronto. Can you let me in, please?,” you heard Octavio say quickly from behind the mountain of computer parts. You moved aside to let Octavio into your dormitory where he proceeded to dump all of his things onto the carpeted floor, releasing a loud sigh of relief. Before you could ask what he thought he was doing, Octavio got to his feet again and said “I’ll be right back!” before running out the door. 

Octavio made multiple trips to and from his room to your dormitory, each time carrying in more of his personal belongings and leaving them on your floor or on your bed. Finally when you could handle the suspense no longer, you finally grabbed Octavio by the shoulders before he could run off again for the sixth time and asked “Why are you bringing your stuff into my room? Just cause we’re fake dating doesn’t mean we have to live together too, or did the Syndicate add another clause to our agreement that I missed?” 

“No, no! The air conditioner in my room is leaking so I had to find somewhere safe for all my stuff. I couldn’t just leave them there,” Octavio groaned, running his fingers through his hair as he gazed at all of his belongings that were now scattered throughout your dormitory. He hesitated before asking pleadingly “Can I please stay the night here? As soon as the leak is fixed and I can move my stuff back there, I’ll be outta here!”

You didn’t exactly want to share a room with Octavio but you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. You considered suggesting that he camp out on the couches in the common area but you knew that it wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep even for someone who survived mostly on energy drinks and rarely slept like Octavio. After a few moment’s hesitation, you sighed and said “I suppose you could.”

“Yes! Thank you, thank you,” Octavio exclaimed in delight as he pulled you into a tight hug before dashing back out to collect the final things from his room. Ten minutes later, your usually neat desk was cluttered with wires and computer parts as Octavio busied himself with putting it all back together. Apparently he’d had to take it apart to check that nothing had gotten drenched in the water leaking from the air conditioner. 

You sat on the bed, silently watching him at work before deciding to turn your attention to the things Octavio had left on your bed. There were a few superhero comic books whose pages looked well-read, a handheld video game console, a few cans of limited edition energy drinks named ‘Speedy Devil’ after Octavio himself and finally, a medium-sized white plush rabbit. You couldn’t help but smile as you picked the stuffed rabbit up and turned to Octavio, saying “I didn’t take you as someone who collected plush toys.” 

His cheeks flushed a deep red and Octavio made a grab for the rabbit but missed as you’d twisted away from him, holding the toy tightly to your chest. “Give it back!,” Octavio shouted as he leaped onto you without a second thought, trying his hardest to tug the rabbit away from your grip. You began to feel your heart racing uncomfortably as it had back in that building in World’s Edge as you lay pinned underneath Octavio and quickly released your tight grip on the plush rabbit so he could take it away from you easily. 

Octavio clambered off the bed and frowned down at you for a moment before sitting back down at the desk and silently going back to work on his computer, with the plush rabbit placed on his lap. You pushed yourself back up into a sitting position and once you were sure your heart had stopped racing like you’d just ran a marathon, said apologetically “I’m sorry, Octavio. I was only teasing you. I think it’s sweet that you’ve got a plush rabbit, I’ve got a few of my own too.”

Silence followed your words. You were beginning to worry that you’d somehow upset him again when Octavio suddenly said without looking away from the circuit board he was fiddling with  “I used to have a pet rabbit named Navi. He used to sit in my jacket pocket and we’d do all sorts of fun stuff together but he died when his rocket crashed into this planet in outer space. I got this plush rabbit cause it kinda reminds me of him and it makes me feel, I don’t know, happy?” 

He’d completely lost you at the part where apparently his pet rabbit had died while piloting a rocket which crashed into a planet. Surely that didn’t really happen? You knew it wasn’t the right time to ask about it though so you gently placed a hand on Octavio’s shoulder and said with a smile “I’m sure Navi would be glad that you’ve got that little guy there watching over you while he’s out exploring the galaxy.” 

Octavio turned to you with a smile, saying “Navi didn’t really like too many people other than me but I think Navi would have liked you a lot so I guess you can hold his plush counterpart.” He handed you the plush rabbit which you took gratefully, glad that the air was cleared between the two of you again. You placed the plush rabbit on your lap as you leaned back against the backboard of your bed, scrolling through your phone and occasionally showing some memes you found funny to Octavio who upon finally finishing setting up his computer had loaded up a racing game. You began to feel at peace with him by your side - a feeling you felt you could get used to. 

[strongerwiththepack]

I got heat stroke and interaction room and can I have Gordon?

From the Whump Generator. After googling ‘interaction room’ with very little success I had a look at the generator and assumed you actually meant ‘interrogation room’ haha thank-you for the prompt, hope you enjoy x

Gordon & Heatstroke & Interrogation Room

It had been a few months since their dad had returned and, after some hurdles, they were finally settling into the new family dynamic. Scott was going over some Tracy Industries reports with him at the moment. His dad was working towards taking back a more active role in the company so Scott could focus more on his commander role for International Rescue.

It was going to take some time before Scott could fully step back though. Their father had missed 8 years of business growth and technological advancements. He was also earning back trust from the board due to health concerns. They didn’t need to worry, his dad was pushing through physical therapy at an impressive speed. It ran in the family apparently.

His dad was ready to get back in the game and Scott would make sure he was prepared. He was surprised as he felt himself yawning unexpectedly. It had been a long day. He’d had a rescue in the early hours of the morning and gotten back just in time for lunch then spent the afternoon doing paperwork with his father.

The sun was now setting on the beachfront and the sounds of the piano filled the lounge as Virgil played softly in the background. He was tired, but it was more of a content tired opposed to the bone-weary tired he’d often felt before the Zero-XL. He stood up straight to stretch out his back as his father sent away the last report they had written.

And then the piano music stopped abruptly.

“Gordon?” Virgil queried.

And sure enough Gordon was hurriedly making his way in from the pool deck. He froze at his name but kept his back turned to them.

“Yeah?” His brother answered, still not turning his head. Scott narrowed his eyes, Gordon was definitely up to something. He shared a knowing look with Virgil as their father also stopped what he was doing.

Before he could say anything though, Alan bounded over from his position in the den, with his handheld games console.

“Where’ve you been all day?” The smaller blonde whined. “Check this out, I beat your high score on Zombie Bashers.” He thrust the console in Gordon’s face. “Told you I could-wow what’s wrong with your face?”

“Something you want to tell us Gordon?” Scott asked at Alan’s remark.

His mischievous brother pivoted slowly and Scott squinted in the rapidly diminishing light of the sunset. Gordon was wearing a cap and keeping his head bowed which conveniently hid his face.

“Nope, don’t think so Scott. Just gonna head up and get changed before dinner.”

His brother pointed down the corridor before spinning quickly in that direction and trying to sidestep Alan. Then he stumbled, falling onto one knee and holding a hand to his head with a hiss of pain.

Scott was stunned for a second as his father abruptly stood up from the desk, his chair screeching behind him as he did so. He could see Alan panicking as he stood over his brother, looking towards Scott to tell him what to do.

“Gordon!” Scott snapped out of it in time to run over. “What’s wrong?”

“Urgh-I’m fine, I’m fine.” Gordon stated as he got close, quickly pushing himself off the ground. As soon as he did so though he wobbled again, crashing into the wall with a thud.

Scott could see what was going to happen seconds before it did. He was too far away.

“Alan!” He yelled. “Catch him!”

His littlest brother startled for a second and then Gordon was falling. Alan’s reflexes clicked in as soon as he caught the movement. He frantically grabbed his older brother around the waist but it was the wrong angle and Gordon’s momentum pulled Alan down with him. Scott winced as Gordon’s head cracked off the linoleum, Alan only managing to slightly slow the fall.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Alan whispered frantically as he hands hovered over his usual partner in crime who was frighteningly still.

Scott slid down next to them, gently pushing his littlest brother to the side as he checked Gordon over. He could hear his father reassuring Alan in the background and was grateful that wasn’t something he needed to worry about right now. Virgil ran past them, Scott hoped he was getting a stretcher.

Gordon’s hat had fallen off in the fall and Scott could now see the redness of his skin. It was irritated and peeling in some places.

“Is he alright?” His dad questioned behind him, a slight shake to his voice. After 8 years without his sons, Jeff couldn’t quite stomach the injuries anymore. That’s why he was focusing on Tracy Industries and not International Rescue. Scott couldn’t blame him, it never got easier.

“Heatstroke I’m guessing.” Scott reported, pulling his brother into the recovery position. “We’ll get a scan in the medbay.”

Virgil returned with a stretcher and between the four of them, Gordon was lifted effortlessly onto it. Brains was waiting for them as they entered the medical bay.

“Oh m-my” The engineer stuttered as he took out his scanner. The sunburn did look a lot worse in the harsh light of the room. Alan curled up on a chair in the corner as they worked. Scott made a mental note to talk to him later.

His focus was Gordon right now.

*

Gordon squinted in the harsh light and hissed as the movement pulled at the tight skin on his face. He was burning and he reflexively kicked at the sheets that covered him.

“Son?” He heard a gentle query as his head turned towards the voice and opened his eyes properly. The world was spinning but he made out the concerned face of his father. He was so dead.

Gordon blinked again before the nausea overtook him and bile made it’s way to his throat.

“Sick.” He chocked out and then there were hands pulling him into a sitting position and a bucket thrust under his head. He wretched pathetically as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the basin. Someone was rubbing his back soothingly and Gordon turned to see Virgil on his other side and Scott standing at the end of the bed. Yep, he was so dead.

He rested his head on the bucket and groaned.

“I think you’ve got some explaining to do, young man.” His father commanded gently.

“Uhhh” Gordon whined. “I was an idiot and got sunburnt?”

“A little sunburn doesn’t cause you to collapse and traumatise your little brother Gordon.” Scott deadpanned. “You have severe heatstroke, what the hell were you doing?”

Guilt spiked in his chest at the accusation. He’d need to make it up to Alan somehow. Virgil helped him lay back down as he pulled the bucket away.

Gordon placed his arms over his face and groaned. “Can we save the interrogation for later Scott?”

“No.” His brother replied. Where was the sympathy?

“I found a bale of sea turtles caught in some nets just off the shore, okay?” Gordon moaned. “I wasn’t planning on being out as long as I was.”

“Something tells me you weren’t wearing this hat on the water either?” Virgil added waving the cap that had fallen off his head when he fell.

Gordon narrowed his eyes at his brother. No solidarity between co-pilots anymore apparently.

“How long were you out in the water?” Scott asked.

“I don’t know, I left after lunch till whenever I came back in?”

“That was five hours Gordon.” Their dad startled.

Gordon shrugged. “I didn’t really notice, I’ve done longer.”

“Not without any of us knowing Gordon.” Scott reprimanded. “What if you had passed out in the water? None of us even knew you were out there.”

Gordon looked around at the three-stern faces peering down at him.

“I’m sorry okay?”

“No, it’s not okay Gordon.” Scott rebutted.

Gordon didn’t know if it was the heatstroke, the concussion or the guilt he was feeling for worrying his family but he felt his eyes start to water suddenly. He avoided anyone’s gaze a he blinked rapidly to clear his eyes.

A hand landed on his shoulder and his fathers voice rumbled. “Gordon’s had a long day Scott, why don’t we get back to this after he’s had a chance to rest.”

“Yeah, okay” Scott conceded. “Feel better kiddo.” He said gently as he squeezed one of Gordon’s feet. Virgil got up too, squeezing his hand and giving him a reassuring look before he and Scott left the room.

Gordon peered up at his dad who was looking at him with worry still etched into his face. That was not an expression he ever wanted to cause.

He sighed. “Sorry dad, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His father gave a tight smile. “Just get some rest Gordon.”

fin.