#and focused pretty much exclusively on this one battle

[makeste]

Just out of pure curiosity, isn't this a horrible way to experience the story lmao?

I'm not saying it's for everyone, but it's worked for me personally so far. more than I would have expected, tbh!

honestly though, this might sound kind of backwards, but a big part of my decision to read these chapters early had more to do with me NOT wanting to be spoiled. let me explain.

I went on hiatus from the BnHA manga beginning in January 2022. I remained completely spoiler-free for almost eight whole months without the slightest issue. then August happened. :')

the thing is, despite my taking a break from the manga, I didn't stop reading fanfiction. in fact I probably read more fic than I usually do, because I missed the series and the characters. it may sound odd that I had the time to read fic but couldn't use that same time to catch up with the manga instead, but they're very different things as far as mental load and time commitment. one is very passive, almost relaxed, while the other requires me to be quick-witted and mentally engaged (at least if I want to do a halfway decent job). something which I wasn't really capable of being at the time. so yeah.

anyway so at the time I generally thought of fanfic as a relatively safe activity, spoiler-wise. and to be fair it was. right up until the single most popular character in the series fucking DIED in the most grisly way possible while fighting the main villain, right in the middle of everyone's fucking summer break. after which pretty much the entirety of fandom erupted into "BAKUGOU DIED??!" and "HE DIED THINKING ABOUT IZUKU??!" and "BABY BOY WANTED ALL MIGHT TO SIGN HIS TRADING CARD?!?!" and "RAIN!?!?" etc. etc. pretty much 24/7 on all social platforms for weeks on end.

so what I learned from that experience is that no matter how good you are at dodging spoilers, it is literally impossible to do so when something THAT momentous and life-altering happens your favorite character who also happens to be fandom's most beloved blorbo. hell, I didn't even get spoiled on AO3 initially; they got me over on YouTube of all places. literally nothing I could do to prevent it. and after that, no matter how meticulously I avoided all of the fics tagged with "362: Light Fades to Rain spoilers", I still kept getting caught off guard because people would casually drop spoilers into untagged fics as well. so I had a bunch of additional little details spoiled for me unexpectedly and I was pretty much defenseless against it. pretty much the only way I could have avoided it all would have been to stop reading Kacchan whump entirely. which, idk about you, but to me that would have been a far more horrible fate. :p

anyway so fast forward to last month, and Kacchan finally came back, and you bet your ass I spoiled myself for it immediately. because I knew it would still take me forever to get caught up The Right Way, and in the meantime I would once again be leaving myself at the mercy of the internet. at least this way I have control over where and when and how I find out. and I got to experience the moment via the manga itself, rather than a third party. and I have to say, this way was vastly preferable to the alternative.

and at the end of the day that's pretty much the same rationale I had for giving in and reading 404 - 406 as well. I knew that once Kacchan was back, the pace of the Final Battle was going to start picking up, and things were going to start happening, and I'd rather read all of those things for myself! like just for example, there's close to a 100% chance the "Kacchan" line from this week would have been spoiled for me in someone's fic if I hadn't read 406 beforehand. just little things like that. anyway so this way, no matter what happens to Kacchan and Deku from this point forward, I'll get to read it fresh and experience it in a way that I unfortunately never got to with the chapter 362 moment. and so to me, that's more than worth the trade-off.

[frenchkisstheabyss]

୨୧ ʝαɯႦɾҽαƙҽɾ (ƚɯσ) ୨୧

୨୧ Pairings: rich boy!yunho x chubby!fem!reader, rich boy!choi san x chubby!fem!reader, rich boy!hongjoong x chubby!fem!reader, rich boy!seonghwa x chubby!fem!reader

୨୧ Genre: graduate school au/angst/smut/a lil bit of fluff emerging

୨୧ Summary: It was never your intention to infiltrate one of the most exclusive social circles at your new university, seducing rich boys to get who and what you want. Wait, no, it was.

But your actions have consequences and, when the one who brought you into this turns out to be more devious than you expected, are you prepared to face them?

୨୧ Word Count: 1.6k-ish

୨୧ Warnings: you're the villain, yunho's the villain, you truly all are in your own ways for this series, sugar baby origins, heavy angst, backstabbing, a fight breaks out, punching (not you), blood, drinking, yunho's a player, manipulation, strong language, mutual masturbation (f & m), fingering, creampie (in a sense), slight vaginal penetration (for teasing purposes), gagging (panties in mouth), cum eating, jealousy, soft dom reader vibes, pet names (pretty girl, baby, babe, good boy), oral sex (f receiving).

୨୧ A/N: This is part two in a series. You can find part one here. This entry focuses more on your relationship with Yunho, the dynamics within the boys' friend group, and why you're here at all. The next entry will be San focused with the focus shifting to Hongjoong last because every game needs a boss battle, ya know?

Watching Jeong Yunho tongue down a girl at the bar, you can’t help but wonder, “Can she taste me on his lips?” Or is she too drunk to tell that his breath still smells like pussy? It’s not that you’re territorial when it comes to him. That couldn’t be further from the truth. But his little attempt at trying to make it happen? It’s cute.

He can kiss her all he wants. Whisper in her ear how pretty she is. Tell her how he’s had a crush on her since he saw her walking across campus the other day. She’ll fall for those puppy dog eyes the way they all do. Fast forward 48 hours and she’ll be blowing up his phone wondering why he hasn’t called her back.

Only he won’t answer because he’ll be at your place again, same as he was tonight, his mouth too stuffed with your panties to get out more than a few broken syllables. Yunho’s never prettier than when he’s on his knees between your legs, stroking himself inches from your exposed core. “You wanna fuck me, Yunie? Hmm?” you tease, spreading yourself open for him.

It’s pure gold to watch the panic on his face when he can’t figure out where to look. Your angelic face? Your supple tits? Your clit coated in his precum? That’s when you know he’s close and start to play with yourself just to get inside his head. “Please let me feel you” is what he’d beg if he could speak. He’s done it before when his mouth wasn’t as full. But tonight he can only “Hhnhh, hmm, hmph” as he presses his tip to your slit, each whip of his wrist growing pathetically sloppier.

“Go ahead, Yunie baby. Be a good boy and cum on me.” Eternally the tease, you sink down onto him blessing the head of his cock with the fainest stretching of your slit. It works like magic and he’s shivering, decorating your pussy in a thick glaze of cum. His eyes never leave you, refusing to miss a minute of you fucking his cum into your core with your fingers until you’re unraveling beneath him.

“We can’t have sex.” That was the rule he made when he pulled you into this twisted plot against his so-called friends. It turns out he’d find it much harder to stick to than you would. Oh, the fun you’ve had torturing him since. He thought himself immune to the very charms he sought to exploit for his own gain. Now he’s spending two nights a week masturbating with you in your bed and cleaning you up with his tongue. Always his tongue.

So, the question remains, “Can she taste me on his lips? Can she taste us on his lips? Or are they always too drunk to notice?” 

“Another drink, gorgeous?” San asks, rising to go grab himself another. Looking up at him from your chair, you’re immediately taken by the handsome dimpled smile on his face. Jeong Yunho, who? Is that a singer or something? “I’d love another drink. Thank you. Just let me grab my wallet.” Hongjoong jumps into action, reaching across the table before you can lift a finger. He takes your hand with such grace that you feel like some kind of princess.

“Don’t insult us, pretty girl. You don’t pay.”

“You guys that’s really sweet but I can’t—”

San squats down to eye level, sweeping your empty glass into his hand. “You heard the man. You don’t pay, pretty girl. You get me?” He winks at you, playfully pinching your chin. “I get you, Sannie. Thank you” you sigh, twirling your hair around your finger. As San makes his way over to the bar, your attention shifts seamlessly to Hongjoong. “Thank you too, Joongie, for everything. You’ve been so good to me since I got here.” Hongjoong grins, biting his bottom lip. You poke your tits out when you say good, your voice taking on a sultry tone.

“You’ve been so ‘fuck me with your tongue til I’m gushing’ good to me, Kim Hongjoong.”

He swallows hard, fighting to keep his composure in the crowded bar, “Don’t mention it. Any friend of Yunho’s is a friend of mine. Gotta take care of you, right?” “What about Yunho?” Yunho questions, abruptly shattering the sexual tension brewing between you and Hongjoong. Yunho picks up his beer, drinking down what’s left as he pulls up a chair. “I was just saying,” Hongjoong continues, “That she’s your friend and the three of us have to, you know, take care of her.”

Yunho gives you a cutting glance, knowing very well what that consists of. You shoot one right back at him that says this isn’t a game he wants to play. Quickly changing the subject, Yunho scans the bar, “There are usually three of you. Where’s Seonghwa? I thought you guys traveled in packs or something.” Hongjoong laughs off the comment, having grown accustomed to the slight digs that Yunho makes towards them.

Before Seonghwa there was Hongjoong, San, and Yunho. They were the ultimate trio, spending all of their time together and raising all sorts of hell. Enter Park Seonghwa, the hyper organized, ultra proper son of some famous attorney. Hongjoong spoke two words to him and that was it. He graduated to main cast member, relegating Yunho to the tortuous role of side character but not for much longer. 

“Seonghwa’s actually—” 

“What did you do?” Seonghwa shouts, charging into the bar and heading straight in San’s direction. Whatever he’s upset about, it’s enough to blind him with enough rage that his fist’s cracking into San’s face before the other boys can intervene. San stumbles backward, a hand over his face to check for blood. Hongjoong runs to block Seonghwa before a full on fight breaks out. He pats him on the shoulders, doing what he can to calm him down while Yunho checks on San. 

“Talk to me. What’s going on?” 

“Someone came into my apartment and they—my project—my laptop—everything’s deleted and I can’t get that back. I can’t—” Seonghwa tries to catch his breath but explaining himself only makes him angrier, the tightness in his chest growing unbearable. 

“Hwa, he wouldn’t do that. You know San.” 

“Do I? You two are the only ones with keys to my apartment. I know you wouldn’t but him?”

Yunho gathers a bunch of tissues in his hand, holding them under the crimson river cascading down San’s face. “You think I broke into your house to delete your work?” San laughs, unphased by the hit, “You really are fucking full of yourself. Why should I give a shit what you’re doing?”

“Because you’re jealous of me. You’ve always been jealous of me!”

“Jealous? Of you? You’re joking.”

Pulling another handful of tissue from a napkin holder, Yunho tries to play peacemaker, “Can you guys not do this? We’re all friends.” “Friends?” San scoffs, “You don’t even like him!” Hongjoong approaches San, his patience running thin, “You’re talking too much now.” San sprinkles the floor with bloody napkins, his face stained red. “I’m not your lap dog, Joong. You can tell them what to do but not me.” 

This entire time you haven’t moved. You can’t. Yunho had mentioned, when your panties finally vacated the space between his cheeks, that you might want to focus your affections on San tonight. Something was happening. He refused to tell you what though and now you know why. You would’ve never let him do something like this.

You were only supposed to hook up with them, maybe make them a bit jealous of each other. Jealous enough to give Yunho the chance to snake his way back into Hongjoong’s good graces. But this? Tomorrow marks two weeks on the dot since you’ve started working the front desk at one of Seonghwa’s fathers’ offices. Since then you’ve found yourself spending a lot of time with him, learning more about him than what’s in his pants.

Seonghwa's someone who takes pride in his work, the medical research he wants to pursue is important to him. This recent project was something special, monumental even. He promised he’d show you all of it when he finished and you actually found yourself excited for the day it’d happen simply because he was too. How could Yunho do something so cruel? How could he take it all away? 

“Could you give me a ride home?” San asks, snatching his jacket from the back of the chair, “You can drive my car, I just—I can’t focus on the road right now.” “I—uh—sure, of course” you stutter, tossing on your coat and collecting your things. San gives you the keys to his Lamborghini, holding your hand as he guides you towards the door.

Passing Seonghwa you try to look at him, silently check to see if he’s okay, but it doesn’t even seem like he knows you’re there. The crisp night air hits you, easing the rising nausea as the reality of what you’ve done—what you’re doing—sets in. “Hey, babe, you okay?” San asks, his arm around your waist. Even with a bloody face, he’s still irresistibly cute.

You cup his cheek, examining the cut on his nose, “Why don’t we get you home so I can fix you up?” “Fix me up? You my nurse now? Gonna make me all better?” Make him all better? That’s laughable. You exist in his life—at this school—for the sole purpose of making things worse and, even with your heart breaking, you aren’t sure there’s any way to stop it.

So you lie, “Of course. That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?”

[sroloc--elbisivni]

Fic roundup: Heart Pirates, post Winner Island

After seeing @purplehairedwonder's post rounding up her fics from the aftermath of the Law-Blackbeard fight now that it's been animated, I thought I'd make one putting together as many as I could find or remember. These are ones where it's the main focus--I realize it does feature in like, various longfics, as a background/inciting event but my goal was to sift out the ones that are focused on it. If there's one that is post WI focused you know and love I'm missing feel free to toss the link in the replies and I'll update the list. I've done some minor sorting into sections for Lulaw, Heart Pirates crew fics, bad end, and various, and within those things are listed alphabetically.

Lulaw

a beating heart by Heartprts (jiaaa27)

After successfully escaping Egghead, the Straw Hats are on their way to Elbaf when two individuals made their way to the Thousand Sunny. The ensuing events led Luffy to realize his feelings for the dying captain. Prompt: confession | heart swap | i thought i'd lost you

A Thing Both Terrible and Beautiful by purplehairedwonder; E, 3.5k, complete.

Law wants it rough, wants it to hurt, because it’s what he deserves after losing everything. Again. Luffy knows he needs something else.

as I hold your hollow heart by betsib; M, 25k, complete.

The Straw Hats pick up Bepo and an unconscious Law after the events at Winner Island. Luffy is more than ready to help him, but when Law opens his eyes, he is a stranger. Meanwhile, Law wakes up in Dressrosa, with Doflamingo's symbol tattooed on his chest and servants calling him "Corazon".

Ballast by SyrupFog; NR, 7.3k, complete.

Law stands at the helm of a ship that isn’t his. They need supplies, they need to recover (he needs to recover), they need to go back. He can’t— he doesn’t have another choice. They have to go back to Winner Island as soon as possible, as soon as they’re able. There’s just no other option, here. Not for him. Not when his entire crew, save for Bepo, is somewhere out there. They’re strong. They must have survived. Law needs them to have survived. Law and Bepo have commandeered a small marine vessel, but there's a ship that simply won't stop following them, and Law-- Law's having nightmares.

Bet by Salemmcit0; G, 1.3k, complete.

Luffy wants to take care of Law while he's wounded, and he lets him. Both pirate crews are freaking out. And betting about it.

Broken Hearts by Dragon_Fallss; M, 33k, complete.

After retreating from Blackbeard, Bepo takes Law to the Thousand Sunny for help. Law's broken. And on top of that, the virus from the battle makes a surprise return. He now has to deal with his grief and a new body. And Luffy is so kind it's painful.

Call You Mine by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead; T, 8.8k, complete.

“Who would even be crazy enough to date Straw Hat Luffy?” “It’s gotta be someone who’s pretty strong,” one of the bar’s patrons mused. “I don’t see Straw Hat falling for a weakling.” “Strong enough for Straw Hat, and crazy enough to accept his advances,” another patron mused. “There aren’t many people that can say they’d meet those requirements.” “It’s pretty much just the Worst Generation, right?” someone else pointed out. Law scowled at his drink and wished Penguin wasn’t such a busybody. “Makes sense. Those Worst Generation guys all seem pretty close. When they’re not trying to kill each other, anyway,” the bartender pointed out with a shrug. Law had to admit he was right, at least when it came to Luffy. The idea of Luffy dating someone in their exclusive little band made sense to him, too. Or: Five times Law was jealous of Luffy's mystery boyfriend, and one time he realized the mystery boyfriend was Law himself.

Dead Defend No Honour (Day 9 of LawLu Week 2023) by KhepiAri; G, 2.7k, complete.

What if Luffy found out, Law lost it all at the hands of Blackbeard? Will he let Law suffer alone, or will he drag him back to Sunny?

Dissecting a Captain by devils_regrets; E, 10.8k, complete.

Law's anguish and hatred drives him to lash out at the Straw Hat Captain, but Luffy of all people knows that's not how to heal the heart.

Grounding Exercise by heart_sen_ya; T, 2.5k, complete.

The panic didn’t leave Law’s body, but he managed to slow his movements, grip tightly at his first mate’s sleeve. “Bepo?” he huffed. “Real?” The question hung heavy between them. “Yes,” the word was dripping with sorrow, with apology. “Not dreaming. I’m sorry, Captain.” Tattooed fingers curled deeper into Bepo’s sleeve. Law leaned forward into him, his body screaming in protest. He didn’t care. How could he? Here he was, alive amidst tragedy. “Again,” he hissed, vocalizing the thought. “Again?'' The word tasted like poison.

Healing of the heart by Tchell1; G, 10.5k, complete.

In the aftermath of Law and Black Beard's battle, Law is left broken and hopeless. Monkey D. Luffy will not allow Law to fall into despair.

Look Who's Laughing Now by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead; T, 13.2k, complete.

I really like Torao, Luffy thought contentedly. I like him, too. The words felt like a warm echo of his own thoughts, bumping against the inside of his skull in a gentle but insistent way. That was weird. But not the weirdest thing Luffy had ever experienced, so he ignored it. “Did you get something in your eyes, Mugiwara-ya?” Torao asked. “They look a little pink.”

Loss & Regret by CaptainButterBuns; G, 1.4k, complete.

Blackbeard has dealt a crushing blow to the Hearts and Law is left to deal with the trauma but an old ally could be just what he needs to help him through it.

Lost and Found (You) by purplehairedwonder; T, 7.5k, complete.

Five times Law and Luffy almost lost one another and one time they did something about it.

My Heart in Your Hands, My Hands around Your Heart by purplehairedwonder; G, 1.9k, complete

In Luffy's lowest moment, Law takes Luffy's hand and promises that his story will not end. In Law's lowest moment, Luffy takes Law's hand and promises the same.

My Heart, Fragile in Your Hands by purplehairedwonder. T, 2.3k, complete.

“I failed them,” Law whispered, and it felt like a confession—like at church in Flevance. Confession was supposed to absolve someone of their sins, right? He doubted there was a god anywhere who could absolve him of his. And yet, he confessed at the altar of Luffy. “They were my responsibility, and I failed them.” Or, Law wakes up in the Sunny's infirmary after Winner Island.

On fire by Suwym; T, 367 words, complete.

Law has lost practically everything: his father, his submarine, his crew, and that vivre card.

Our Hearts, Made Whole in Each Other by purplehairedwonder. T, 2.3k, complete.

Luffy cupped Law’s cheek with his hand, softly grazing his thumb over a yellowing bruise. “Torao is so pretty,” he said quietly, a note of awe in his voice. Law flushed. “Torao’s heart is beating so fast.” “Yeah,” Law agreed, swallowing. “It is.” Luffy’s, despite a few flutters, was beating steadily in Law’s chest. Law, on the other hand, felt pinned to the spot, one hand holding Kikoku and the other in Luffy’s grip. “You should stay.” Law blinked. “What?” “You should stay,” Luffy repeated. “On the Sunny. With me."

Passing Showers by daggermoon; G, 6k, complete.

In which Law is extremely irritable, lost at sea with an idiot strawhat burrito, and very much out of his depth. ______ He is helpless, no more than an insect in a puddle, clinging to a leaf in order not to drown. Even worse, he has a particularly dumb fellow insect to take care of. Now part of a series *grins sheepishly*

Tattoos by Salemmcit0; G, 4k, complete.

Luffy takes Law and his crew to Swallow Island to build a new Polar Tang, and retouch his tattoos. Nobody knew that Mugiwara-ya was planning on getting one too.

The Heart is a Thing to Be Broken by purplehairedwonder; T, 5.5k, complete.

The Straw Hats learn about Winner Island.

The Lost Case by felsefeslegen; M, 24k, WIP.

SPOILERS AFTER 1081 IN THE MANGA. What happened to Law and Bepo after they defeated by Blackbeard and lost in the ocean? How will they survive and what will happen after Law and Luffy meet up in Elbaf? --- After the total defeat of Heart Pirates, Law and Bepo washed up on a deserted island. After that the thing made them survive became their nightmare, they were rescued from there like a miracle. Yet, Law was broken enough to hurt both himself and others. And mostly, Luffy.

Then Came You by Raiya

„Please Captain don’t die.“ Law could hear Bepo repeat the words over and over. The seawater around him felt like it was holding him in a breathtaking grip, but maybe it was Bepo carrying him. Law did not know if he was unable to move because of the water or his injuries but it did not matter much, he barely could keep himself conscious but tried his best.

These Petals Surface And Scathe by Cooknumber3; T, 17.8k, complete.

What had begun as a flicker of curiosity in Sabaody had turned into an unfortunate crush by the time Punk Hazard rolled around. Dressrosa saw it deepen into devotion, and it sweetened on Zou. Then Wano came and went, leaving him with something he now has to recover from. (Or: Hanahaki disease is cured by confession, not reciprocation. This is the aftermath, where Law tries to move on.)

What once was lost, now found by Callunar; T, 7k, complete.

Transcription for Chapter 1082 OFFICIAL!!! THIS IS DEFINITELY WHAT HAPPENED IN CHAPTER 1082. DON'T LOOK AT ANY OTHER SOURCES, JUST TRUST ME.

You didn't have to come by Salemmcit0; G, 1.6k, complete.

After parting ways while leaving Wano, Luffy can't stop looking at Law's vivre card. Days later the paper began to disintegrate. Or, Luffy goes to look for Torao as the Winner Island encounter is going on Day 1 of Lawlu 2023 week - Loyalty

your hands in mine by betsib; T, 1k, complete.

Luffy has always liked Law's hands.

Your Heart, Broken in My Chest by purplehairedwonder. T, 3.6k, complete.

Luffy was far from an expert at having someone else’s heart in his chest, but he was pretty sure what was happening with Torao’s heart wasn’t normal. AKA, Law and Luffy switched hearts after Wano, and Luffy feels Winner Island happen.

10 Days of LawLu 2023 Day 6/8/10: Holding Hands/Hurt & Comfort/Confessions by Straw_Heart3; M, 4.6k, complete.

The aftermath of Law's fight with Blackbeard on Winner Island.

Heart Pirates major role

A Last, Beating Heart by HyperbolicReverie; G, 1.4k, complete.

“Oh, my wonderful crew,” you think, thoughts hazy as bits and pieces of yourself begin to drift in the currents. “Oh, my dear, brave little boys. I hope you can forgive me for not being able to carry you further. I can no longer be your heart.”

Your journey has ended. But this? This you can do.

A Swallow's Cry by Heartprts (jiaaa27); T, 3k, complete.

Klabautermann: a spirit that dwells in ships, an incarnation of a ship that has been well loved and cared for. Tangs, surgeonfishes: a family of marine fish with a distinctive characteristic of having scalpel-like scales at their caudal peduncle. or Polar Tang fought for her family, to her very last breath.

At Our Dream's End by chioccowine; G, 2.5k, complete

A snippet between the Heart's captain and his first mate after chapter 1081 - - - “But, Bepo...” his captain’s body shivered as he uttered softly, like the blossoms of the epiphyllum under the moonlight, silently withering in the gentle wind without anyone knowing. “What lies at the dream’s end? What lies at the end…when there’s nothing left to dream about?” Bepo sniffed to hold back his tears, and he reached out his paws determinedly. Like how the three of them used to do for him when he was still a little cub, he hugged his captain tight, sheltering him from the long freezing night.

Bioluminescent Hearts by Harmonica_Smile (Rescue_Remedy); T, 5.7k, complete.

"No bodies?" Blackbeard fumed. Doc Q and Stronger had bounced across rocky Winner Island when that bear had gone all Sulong and knocked them out. Van Augur's range for warping wasn't that great, and was tricky over open water. He could sharpshoot the skin of a hangnail, but the bear was fast. If he'd managed to get a shot in, they could've finished the Mink off, and pulled the shitty doctor from the water, taken his heart and returned triumphant. Once the horse had woken up.

blessed, not cursed by Heartprts (jiaaa27)

For a few years now, Jean Bart feels like his life is cursed. It all happened too quickly; one moment their ship capsized, and the next moment he's wearing an explosive collar. It was the start of all the curses.

Caught by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.2k, complete.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad death, Hakugan thought as he felt darkness beginning to encroach on his vision. He’d been on the crew of a Warlord, had helped in the fight that defeated two Emperors, and had seen more incredible, unbelievable things than he would have once thought possible; it had been a much more fulfilling life than he would have had if he’d stayed in his boring, backwater home in the North Blue. He would never regret agreeing to join Trafalgar Law all those years ago. He only hoped that his captain would somehow live on to fight another day; as long as Law lived on, so would the Heart Pirates.

Celebration by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.6k, complete.

As the Heart and Straw Hat Pirates celebrate the jailbreak of the imprisoned Hearts, Shachi tracks down a guilt-ridden Law and offers his captain some moral support.

Cursed by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.4k, complete.

After Wano, Jean had never been prouder to sport the Heart Pirates Jolly Roger on his back, tattooed over the slave brand that had marked him as cursed for so many years. But they had failed Law on Winner Island. Jean had failed him on Winner Island.

Clang, Ding, Zing by Mekachu04. G, 489 words, complete.

Still, it surprised him when Kidd approached him first, a thick pad of blank newsprint that Law hoped he'd gotten permission for before liberating from Franky's workshop. Kidd dropped the heavy booklet on Law with no preamble. an *extremely* short snippet of two very much down on their luck pirate captains dealing with their recent losses. More light-hearted than it sounds.

Food by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.2k, complete

“Sorry for borrowing your kitchen without asking. I just...” “It’s fine,” Sanji said easily before starting to roll up the cuffs on his sleeves to his elbow. “You wanted to make something for your people, didn’t you?” “I...” Clione blinked in surprise. “Yeah.” “I get it,” Sanji said. Once his cuffs were rolled up, he crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the counter. “It’s how people like us show our love, right?” Sanji went on. “Through our cooking.”

going through by aghhhhhh; G, 1.1k, complete.

Hakugan has an idea. Written for Heart Pirates Week 2024 Day 8: Hakugan and Caught

Heart to Heart by MorWicked; G, 1k, complete.

The Heart Pirates have been destroyed, and now they need to help each other remember what matters most. ----- Digging his fingers in amongst the flotsam of pebbles and broken shells, Law wrestled his harrowed anatomy into a position somewhat less prone. Slumping against the familiar form of his salvation, Law found it a little easier to breathe. A heavy paw settled over his shoulders, somehow easing the gravity of devastation even as it rested in a fashion that belied a bone-deep exhaustion.

'homeless heart' by fab_ia; T, 4k, complete.

“They’ll make it,” Bepo says. “They always have before, haven’t they? From the North until here…” It isn’t survivors' guilt. Bepo refuses to call it that, at any rate, because that would mean expressing some degree of doubt that the rest of them have managed to survive. He isn’t sure that he’ll be able to keep going if he lets go of that hope, if he doubts them for even a moment.

Last nights with Tang by Lyy30; G, 6.5k, complete.

Ikkaku has her first and last conversation with Tang.

Loyalty by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.2k, complete.

The only solace the Hearts had after being taken captive by the Blackbeard Pirates was the revelation that Bepo had gotten Law away from the battlefield. They’d all sworn in Wano that they would do whatever it took to protect their self-sacrificing captain, and any of them would have made the same choice, had they been able. They were the Heart Pirates, and Trafalgar Law was the beating heart at the center of the crew. They would hold out until Law came for them, and they would give the Blackbeard Pirates nothing.

Low Battery by killyhawk; T, 1.5k, complete

Two times Shachi carried Law, and one time he couldn't.

Night by purplehairedwonder. T, 1.1k, complete.

Their rescue comes at night.

Wish the 4 of us stay together forever by Horsehead_557; G, 837 words, complete.

Penguin, Shachi, Law and Bepo are all waiting outside to see the shooting star while drinking some tasty hot chocolate until Bepo suggest that they make a wish

Bad end

Broken Hearts by CaptainButterBuns; E, 736 words, complete. Graphic Depictions of Violence + Major Character Death warning.

Law has bitten off more than he can chew with Black Beard and the Heart Pirates pay the ultimate price.

Forced Disease of Despair by ProfessorDatenix; E, 6k, complete. Law/Blackbeard and Blackbeard Pirates. Rape/Non-Con warning.

Law gets turned into a woman in the battle against the Blackbeard Pirates near Winner Island, but something goes wrong and ends up captured by them, being completely at the mercy of mean that want to show their new slut what it means to be a captured woman by an enemy ship

From the Ashes by purplehairedwonder. T, 10.8k, WIP.

Blackbeard takes Law and the defeated Heart Pirates captive after their defeat at Winner Island.

Some version of you. That I might not have, but I did not lose by ImpassiveMoon; T, 3.2k, WIP.

Law doesn't escape Winner Island. Luffy and the Strawhat Pirates, sailing high after their escape from Egghead Island, find out far too late. A butterfly flaps its wings and creates a tornado. What then would a beetle do? A god? Brace yourself. For D will bring a storm.

The promised I have to keep by Horsehead_557; G, 3.35k. Graphic Depictions of Violence + Rape/Non-Con warning.

the young captain taking out his den-den mushi and vivre card luffy like calling the other captain while looking at his vivre card cause it makes him feel like that torao is infront of him “wh-where is” luffy panicked he cant find torao’s vivre card - in something happened to law and they cant do anything about it

the steps to an foretold conclusion by aghhhhhh; T, 3.2k, complete.

Law was always going to die. He is on the altar, heart torn out for the sun.

to the victor go the soiled by Anonymous; E, 8k, complete. Rape/Non-Con warning.

Law had been Doflamingo’s slave-concubine for some years before escaping the clan in his late teens and starting his own crew, but no-one left Doflamingo’s harem. Doflamingo was excited that Law now had a hole that he and other members of his crew had not yet sampled. Variety was the spice of life and all that. Another thing Doflamingo liked was how docile the constant fucking from Blackbeard’s crew, the transformation, and the specially designed seastone adornments had made Law. Straight into the PWP. Hurt, no comfort. If it's not your thing, click right back. Tags are not for show

Other

Aftermath by purplehairedwonder; G, 1k.

The aftermath of the fight at Winner Island.

A Most Surprising Alliance by Cygnus_the_Harper; G, 13.3k, complete. Users-only.

After the battle on Winner Island Bepo and Law flee across the ocean. Finding themselves stranded on a winter island they try to pick up the pieces, find a plan for moving forward, and worry about their crew. This was written after the cover page art depicting Law napping with a leopard and a bottle of vodka. It was such a fun picture that I had to write the adventures of Law and Bepo on that island, and their eventual rescue.

A Promise Fulfilled, 13 Years Later by betsib. T, 5.8k, complete.

Rosinante wakes up on Minon Island on the exact spot where he died, 13 years later. He's surprised to find Law is now a notorious pirate, and sets out on a journey to find him. Written for CoraFest 2024.

a victory every year by betsib; T, 6k, complete.

Law finds himself imprisoned in Impel Down, injured and possibly dying. His only company is Doflamingo, who tells him Luffy has been captured too. All in all, not the best way to spend his birthday.

A Wave Across a Bay by Sleeping_Songbird; G, 785 words, complete.

The aftermath of The Hearts fight with Blackbeard.

Beautiful Savior by Captainkreuger; G, 1k, complete.

Cavendish and his crew save Law and Bepo after Blackbeard defeats the Heart Pirates.

Faded by meowmystery; T, 819 words, complete.

Alone with his thoughts, Trafalgar Law begins to think his past over, which he has done over a million times. No matter how much he tries, he can't seem to come to a conclusion. Is there really an answer?

Fem Law on Winner Island by SilverSphere; G, 1.4k, complete.

This is just a canon-divergence drabble of Law getting stuck as a girl on Winner Island : )

Give Us a Little Love by cptrum; G, 2.3k, complete.

Law and Bepo get away from Winner island, but now what? Bepo is stuck trying to help an injured Law and also get his crew back. A what happened after chapter 1081 (since we still have zero resolution for that).

Hurting by lostsometime; T, 808 words, complete.

It hurts different, is the thing.

In the Light that Falls at Moonrise by Rimetin; T, 12.7k, Smoker/Law.

"The Captain,” the mink repeats, “trusts you.” Smoker chews on his cigars, letting his head fall back again. “Yeah, you said that.” “And you trust him.” Smoker and Law speak with their respective seconds-in-command, gain some valuable insight, and come face to face with some difficult to admit facts. Part 3 of Bitten by the Cold

Magneteers by Mekachu04; T, 2k, WIP.

After fleeing Blackbeard, Law & Bepo have been rescued by the Strawhats. Luffy is more than happy to help Law find his ship and crew, but his crew rightly points out that finding a submarine under the water is a big ask. If only there was someone they knew who could find large metal things and easy move them around. Possibly bring a sunken sub up to the surface with his magnetic abilities. So they detour to hunt down the Kidd Pirates. Unfortunately for Law, Shanks found Kidd first.

Polar Bear, Ocean Blue, and A Glass of His Dreams by chioccowine; G, 8k, WIP. Shanks/Law.

In order to bring Black Beard down to his demise, the Captain of the Hearts seized the opportunity to propose an alliance to the notorious red-haired emperor. The young captain’s willing to offer anything - - As he had nothing to lose.

Salt for Salt (Bone For Bone) by Friendly_Neighborhood_Asexual; NR, 2k, complete.

Bepo didn’t know how long he had been swimming, only that his lungs burned and his limbs ached and that he could not stop until his captain was safe. Law was tucked firmly under his arm, pressed close to his side with all the strength the mink could afford, and Bepo couldn’t tell if he was still breathing anymore. He couldn’t dwell on that though - wouldn’t dare to entertain the thought that he might be - his captain was strong, strong enough to survive Doflamingo, strong enough to survive Kaido and Big Mom, strong enough to bring emperors to their knees. Law would be strong enough to survive Blackbeard. Bepo didn’t know if he would be strong enough to survive Law’s death.

Seeing the Light by CaptainJoJo; T, 1.4k, complete.

Law doesn't want to talk about it and Luffy isn't pushing him.

Suns Will Sink to Shade by Rimetin; T, 7.3k, complete. Smoker/Law.

Smoker gnaws on his cigars, puffing thick clouds of off-white smoke. “I’m trying to help you, brat.” “I didn’t–” Law cuts himself off. It dawns on him then that he did, in fact, ask. Involving Smoker was his own express decision, however impulsively made. Bepo certainly hadn't made it for him - hell, he hadn't so much as questioned it. And he hadn't been the one to bring the rumors, either: it had been an innocuous bit of conversation Law overheard, and his traitor brain had latched onto it. Pushed to his breaking point and beyond, he'd heard Smoker's name and only thought refuge. Fuck. Smoker and Law talk some things through. Plans are made. (now with art!) Part 2 of Bitten by the Cold

The Aftermath by RitsukoRyoku; G, 3.5k, complete

This is how I envision the aftermath of that fateful battle as the Heart Pirates recover and recuperate.

what we have left by betsib; G, 716 words, complete.

Bepo and Law are picked up by the Straw Hats after the events on Winner Island, and Law proposes another alliance.

When Stars are Silver by Rimetin; T, 7k, complete. Smoker/Law.

When the air around him thins and fills with bluish static, Smoker knows exactly what it is. He turns in his chair just in time to catch two of his meditating rocks poof out of existence, replaced instead with… A man and a polar bear. SPOILERS for ch. 1081. After Winner Island, Law finds Smoker. Part 1 of Bitten by the Cold

I II II L by darkrogue1 (Lily_Haydee_Lohdisse); T, 764 words, complete.

Bepo worries about his Captain

[jadeazora]

I'm hoping that Amethio at least gets something next arc (maybe he gets done with his training with Hamber, and knowing Friede and the other Explorers are off chasing down Rayquaza, tries kidnapping Liko/Terapagos towards the end of the arc, but Friede and the crew coincidentally make their return about the same time and we get another battle between them or maybe Liko and co. manage to better fend him off this time?) and we can finally move forward and get some actual development on him as a character.

Like, he hasn't interacted with Liko since pretty much Ep6, they've generally focused pretty exclusively on his rivalry with Friede, I really hope that they build more past that since I'm still thinking he might join up with the RVT crew eventually or at the very least, something happens that causes him to drop his loyalty to Gibeon and leave with Zirc and Onia. (Maybe all three of them join up, or they try to protect Amethio by forcing him to go with the RVT, while they stay behind and try to hold off the other admins as best they can?) But giving him some interaction with the other kids would be some good groundwork and establish more of a dynamic with them.

There's also Terapagos having that strong hostile (?) reaction to him back during their raid on Diana's castle. I've speculated on a familial connection to being why he's with the Explorers (he has strong daddy issues vibes), but it's possible his ancestor could be the one responsible for Lucius's disappearance, which would be a very interesting connection to see them build off on with Liko.

[black-arcana]

ARCH ENEMY Shares Music Video For New Single 'Liars & Thieves'

Swedish/Canadian/American extreme metal titans ARCH ENEMY have unveiled their latest single, "Liars & Thieves", from their upcoming album "Blood Dynasty". The LP announcement and the start of the pre-order phase coincided with the beginning of ARCH ENEMY's European co-headline tour, "Rising From The North", with IN FLAMES on October 3 in Glasgow.

Throughout the tour, "Liars & Thieves" has already been performed live, as the band teased the release of the new single on stage. Now, with the release of the digital single, fans worldwide can finally experience the track.

"Liars & Thieves" delivers a powerful message of resilience and inner struggle, wrapped in fierce melodic death metal with intense lyrics about battling deception and enduring hardship.

"Our second single from 'Blood Dynasty' is here," says ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott. "'Liars & Thieves' is a fast, heavy-hitting track, with a melody that's been getting stuck in people's heads — don't say I didn't warn you! We've been playing it live recently, and it's been an absolute beast in the pit. Now, it's time to check out the studio cut!"

He continues: "The accompanying video has been captured out here on our ongoing European tour by director Jens De Vos, highlighting the passion and metal madness of these amazing shows where fans and band are one!"

"Liars & Thieves" was mixed by Jens Bogren and mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios.

ARCH ENEMY's twelfth studio album, "Blood Dynasty" will arrive on March 28, 2025 via Century Media Records.

Amott previously stated about the effort: "This new album pushes the boundaries of what we've done before — it's everything you've come to expect from this band, and then some! We can't wait for you to hear it and feel the energy we've poured into every track. Welcome to the 'Blood Dynasty'!"

"Blood Dynasty" track listing:

01. Dream Stealer 02. Illuminate the Path 03. March Of the Miscreants 04. A Million Suns 05. Don't Look Down 06. Presage 07. Blood Dynasty 08. Paper Tiger 09. Vivre Libre 10. The Pendulum 11. Liars & Thieves

Next to the limited deluxe editions that feature two exclusive bonus tracks, fans can direct their attention to the limited liquid blood vinyl that is exclusively available in the band stores and limited to 666 copies.

"Dream Stealer" marked ARCH ENEMY's first new music since the release of the "Deceivers" album, which came out in August 2022.

"Dream Stealer" was mixed by Jens Bogren and mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios. The video was directed and produced by Patric Ullaeus.

Two months ago, Amott told Pulp Magazine about "Dream Stealer" and ARCH ENEMY's plans for new music: "We've been staying busy for sure and are really focused on writing and recording new stuff in between the touring we're doing. I'm kind of always coming up with new musical and lyrical ideas though — I just keep going as it's what I enjoy doing anyway. Making music is a natural process, and it's pretty much a daily thing, so it can be hard to pinpoint exactly when everything was conceived. I do, however, actually remember that the initial seed for 'Dream Stealer' was written during a songwriting session I did with Daniel [Erlandsson, drums] in Los Angeles, California, two years ago, and then it's been rearranged and updated a lot till it reached its final state that you're now hearing."

Asked if it was a conscious decision to go back to the "classic ARCH ENEMY" direction and approach with "Dream Stealer", Amott said: "I've seen some seriously great feedback from the fans, and that's always very encouraging, of course. Personally, I don't know if I’d necessarily say 'Dream Stealer' is a throwback to the sound of the past, but I get what they mean — the song has the energy and speed that is very exciting and infectious. Maybe there is a hint of vintage ARCH ENEMY in there, and why not? I'm looking forward to playing it live on stage — I think it is going to be intense as hell."

ARCH ENEMY played its first concert with new guitarist Joey Concepcion on April 24 at Musinsa Garage in Seoul, South Korea. The show was part of ARCH ENEMY's 2024 Asian tour.

Last December, ARCH ENEMY announced that it had "amicably" parted ways with longtime guitarist Jeff Loomis.

Jeff, who was the main songwriter in his previous group, NEVERMORE, joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014, but was not involved in the writing for the latter act's last two albums, 2017's "Will To Power" and the aforementioned "Deceivers".

Photo credit: Katja Kuhl

[slightly-gay-pogohammer]

As a non homestuck, what deos that mean👀

ough i wanted to be vague and quick but no i wasn't im so sorry fnsdmag tw for transphobia mostly i guess

homestuck ends. it's a somewhat open ended ending and they dont show the "proper" final battle, but it was implied in the comic already how it was going to go. a lot of people remained disappointed in that, but i personally think its a good one

people keep pestering hussie, creator of the comic, to continue the story

hussie, well known troll (haha) who more often than not both praised and made fun of the fandom directly in the comic, writes the epilogues. they're mostly awful and they're the umpteenth big fuck you to the fandom really; one is the "shipping" ending where everything goes bad bc everyone focuses only on shipping, the one is the "fighting" ending where everything goes bad and everyone fucking dies basically. it has some good ideas, there's more fourth wall breaking, but overall its an inconsistent sexist and misoginistic mess made out of spite by someone who clearly didn't want to work on homestuck anymore

it also features character assassination, be it "this character who's entire plot was about not wanting to be alone anymore is now a sex-crazed maniac who doesnt take no as an answer", "this character who was groomed all her life to be a dictator actually becomes hitler" or "this character who a lot of people hc as mtf is now ftm, but specifically in a timeline, in the other they still identify as female". you could argue it's bc the story is about one of the characters having a villain arc and managing to take control of the story and rewrite them, but he's also regressed to be someone who's obsessed with a character we were told he wasn't in love with anymore AND also says transphobic stuff so.

hussie actually opens the epilogues with one of the character saying pretty clearly that they're "beyond canon", and makes sure that everyone known that anything written outside of the comic itself, including sidecomics, videogames and the epilogues themselves, is as canon as you want it to be. unfortunately homestuck fans cant read and that + the fact that the epilogue end in a cliffhanger, homestuck 2 has to happen

hussie wants nothing to do with it and leaves the project to someone else. they give little to no details of the plot if not a few plotpoints, one of which being the fact that a character must be named yiffany

one of the people who was supposed to work on hs2 and the tie-in visual novel games "friendsim" starts fights with readers on twitter and is later on outed as a really bad person of the biphobic and ableist variety

on a minor note, some updates are patreon exclusive, and not in a "they'll eventually be posted" way, but in a "either you follow the patreon or you dont get the whole experience" kind of way

the story also has to follow the aformentioned sexist transphobic racist bullshit, to which they add terribly written "bury your gays" plot and also cheating!! no matter the timeline my girl kanaya gets shafted and cheated on and by now im gonna be real it really smells like lesbophobia in here

also futa jokes. like we all agree that the candy jade situation is fucked up right

in all of this, "what pumpkin" actually starts drama with a youtuber or something. idk. it's the team that sells the hs merch it's even more complicated. oh and also the videogame being so delayed that's a whole can of worms too.

anyway hussie actually says that they dont give a shit no more about homestuck and sell the rights to someone else. first thing we're told is that they're going to drop the 2 from the title of homestuck 2, turning it into homestuck: beyond canon. pretty much openly saying that no, this has nothing to do with homestuck, and it's officially Not Canon.

[lostlegendaerie]

Do you have any backstories concocted for Drew?

Oh man. OH MAN. DO I EVER.

I think I talked about this on a @torchickentacos post about the Deoxys movie but let's look at what we know about Drew:

He's from LaRousse City, a movie exclusive location that's super high tech that features it's own battle tournament

He cried when he lost his first Contest (according to Solidad)

Rosalia is his first Pokemon and he gets VERY upset when any of his Pokemon are injured and generally seems to baby them (except in one instance, but we can talk about that another time)

He can put on An Obvious Show of a suave coordinator but he dislikes doing it and will drop the act around friends (Fan With A Plan, Spontaneous Combusken)

For his origin, it's such a weird contrast to have your Grass-Type Coordinator rival come from the all-robots professional battle island city. He was in the perfect environment to do Battle Frontier (is that the name?) or other similar things, but he goes clearly in the opposite direction. However, it's clearly important to him and he needles May about being nervous/gimmicky with her frisbees. Additionally, he challenges Ash to a battle (and wins) specifically to make a point about type match ups not being everything and Coordinating needing battle skills as well. Coordinating is his Pokemon Journey, and he thinks people don't take it seriously enough.

Drew is very hard on himself, too; Solidad said he cried, but they're clearly on good terms now so he may not have been upset at her so much as upset at himself for letting his Pokemon down. He shows May a similar side by complimenting her Pokemon but reminding her that she needs to work on herself as a coordinator (specifically that her indecision will make her Pokemon confused when she's learning about combinations and that Bulbasaur doesn't listen to her very well in Fan With A Plan and shouldn't be used on stage). He also cites feeling "weak like (May)" as his reason for getting upset at Absol for not doing well. Aside from that specific instance right around a contest loss (I think) he babies his Pokemon and is very often seen treating them with Potions in background shots. He cares deeply about his Pokemon, and pushes himself very hard to do well with them.

That being said, he dislikes being the center of attention himself. He deflects compliments and avoids signing fan-made merchandise, and is clearly uneasy around the star-struck Brianna. While he always attempts to be graceful in his interactions with fans, he can be pretty scathing when it comes to coordinators like Harley and Jessie who dress up and make themselves part of the show. (He would NEVER have survived Sinnoh Coordination) Even when giving May the roses, he downplays the act and pretends they're for her Beautifly instead for the first one and a half, slowly abandoning the pretense without ever saying it out loud. And if we pretend him never discussing Solidad to May was intentional and not sloppy writing, Drew is someone who keeps people a bit at arms reach and avoids directly being friends with anyone who hasn't fully earned his respect.

So OVERALL I could absolutely see him having a falling out with a more Battle-focused family and leaving home with no intention of returning except to prove them wrong about Coordinating; very strong artsy son of a business-focused family energy, here, especially with Roselia. He picks a FLOWER, one that is both beautiful and dangerous, to be his partner when he leaves LaRousse. That feels spiteful and deliberate.

So that's why he's probably Ghetsis' long lost son, whose insistence of heading off on a Pokemon Journey that focuses more on peaceful displays of power than strictly combat would have influenced or been influenced by N, but the abandonment caused Ghetsis to crack down every harder on controlling his remaining child so that his company would have an heir and, failing that, fled to Unova to establish power in a different way entirely in a worst scenario Gozaburo Kaiba analogy. :)

[c4ndyy-apple]

Pizza Date

Summary: Gruvia pizza date. That’s all! 

Also on: 

AO3 & FFN

He’s so pretty. 

Juvia idly stared at Gray while they were watching their current show together. Recently, Gray had ever-so-smoothly gotten into the habit of getting Juvia to come to his apartment for dinner most evenings after hanging out at the guild. 

They spent almost every waking moment together, until one of them went on a job or Gray said he would walk her home after they were done hanging out. She knew she just had to continue being patient and he would work up the nerve to actually say anything to her about his actions. 

For now, they were in a limbo of knowing each other's feelings and neither of them really doing much about it. 

Juvia’s attitude hadn’t changed, other than being more patient with Gray in moments like this. While Gray’s attitude was slowly evolving. He was treating Juvia like a boyfriend would - walking her home, taking her out for food, watching shows together, dancing exclusively together at events. The list could go on really. 

Juvia knew if she pushed him too far, all this lovely progress would be lost. So, she stayed as calm as she could when he asked her what she felt like eating that night when they were sitting together at the guild earlier that day. 

Simply stating she was a little tired and felt like a pizza takeout. Although her voice didn’t shake, her face was almost glowing red at that moment she was sure of it. 

They were currently relaxing on either end of his couch, as they usually do. With Gray focusing a little too hard on the show, and Juvia trying to watch the show but inevitably getting distracted. 

His shirt had been thrown off hours ago, Juvia was nearly 100% sure that he had left it at the guild this time. His black sweatpants were low on his hips as he slouched with his feet resting on his coffee table. 

It took all of Juvia’s strength to not jump into his lap and wrap her arms around him when he looked like that. He was being everything but physically attentive in recent weeks, which just made her want him that much more. 

As her finger twitched in consideration, just to lean over and touch his arm, his doorbell rang, making both of them jump and look at the wooden door to his living room. 

“Guess our pizza’s here. Do you mind getting plates?” Gray spoke smoothly, looking at her with his usual calm demeanour. Totally oblivious to the battle in her mind. 

“Yeah,” she managed to huff out and scurried towards his kitchen as he made his way to the front door. 

She quickly reached for two plates and placed them on the countertop in front of her. She fanned a hand before her face, trying to cool down and get rid of her impulsive thoughts so that she could try to enjoy the rest of her evening with Gray. 

“Alright, here we go.” Gray swerved into his kitchen with a large pizza box and various small boxes on top. “I hope you don’t mind a regular stuffed crust, they said they ran out of that garlic cheese stuff that you like.” 

He remembered my favourite cheese?! 

“I also ordered some cookies for us to have afterwards. I know you’re a huge sweet tooth and they’re also so good from this place too. You’d really like the-”

Juvia cut off his words by storming up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face down to kiss him directly on the lips. 

He, first of all, made a confused step back which she mimicked by stepping forward, refusing to let him go. After a beat, he wrapped one hand around her waist and placed the other on the back of her neck. He kissed her back just as hard as she initiated. The force of his affection brought her back to the counter where he had placed the pizza. 

She let out a small moan as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. At the noise he grabbed her impossibly closer, his fingers grabbing her hair to tilt her head to his desired angle. 

Her arms detangle from around his neck to grab at his face, neck, hair, wherever she could reach during this mindless makeout session. 

Gray allowed her to touch him wherever she pleased in those moments, without hesitating she skimmed one hand down to the waistband of his sweats to pull their hips together, making him groan deeply into her mouth. 

This was officially the best day of her life. He was actually kissing her back! 

She pulled back suddenly when she realised what she had done. Staring up at him total shock, only to him staring down at her while heavy breathing. She blinked twice before looking down at their tangled arms. He still had one hand in her hair, while the other was so low on her back, he may as well take a handful of her ass while he was at it. 

“Well, that was overdue.” Gray breathed out, making Juvia look up at him again. A soft smile graced his face before he leaned his forehead on hers. “Sorry that you had to make the first move. I was really trying to find an opening without making it seem like I was only inviting you over to.. Well, you know.” 

“Juvia would be fine if you wanted to invite her over for that,” she smiled shyly up at him before removing her grip from his waistband to rest her hand on his chest. 

Gray chuckled at her statement. 

“Yeah, I know.” He muttered. “But I have more respect for you than to take advantage of that fact.” 

He kissed her softly on the cheek before burying his head in her neck. Juvia let out a breath before leaning her head against his and holding him just as tight as he was her. 

She was completely lost in the moment they were sharing. Thinking about how warm his body felt against hers, how surprisingly soft his hair was, and how his breath gave a slight tickle on her neck. 

While lost in her imagination, she heard a deep rumble come from between them and then a laugh burst from Gray. 

“Oh, I guess we forgot about the food!” He leaned back from her with a glowing smile on his face. “Come on, let’s eat.” 

He slowly let go of her and reached for a couple of slices of pizza to load onto his chosen plate. Juvia, now on auto-pilot, silently followed suit by arranging her own plate and then back to the couch. 

Without thinking, Juvia sat in her usual spot on the couch and rested her plate food on her lap. What surprised her was Gray taking the spot directly beside her to eat together, casually raising his closest arm to wrap around her shoulders while he used his free hand to eat his own pizza. 

Why is he acting like this is normal behaviour for him? 

She tried to keep up with the light commentary he was making on whatever show they were watching, even making some comments herself, although she had totally lost track of the name and plot by now. 

When her plate was empty, Juvia leaned over to rest her plate against the table. Gray quickly followed suit with his own.  

On his way leaning back, he used his free hand to lift Juvia's legs to rest over his own as he leaned in to kiss her again. 

Out of shock, Juvia leaned away and blinked at him which caused him to pause.

“You good?” She felt his thumb rub over her thigh as he spoke. “Juvia?” 

“What’s going on?” Juvia managed to stutter out. 

“Well, I was hoping we could make out on the couch right about now.” Gray said with a slight blush. “But no rush if you’re not ready!” 

He was about to lean back when Juvia grabbed him back. 

“No!” She yelled “I just- I really like this affectionate side of you. It’s really sweet.” 

“Ahh, sorry. I guess now that the ice is broken I was getting carried away.” Gray looked at her dead in the eye and tilted his head to the side. “But isn’t this how guys are supposed to treat their girlfriends?”

Juvia squeaked and covered her mouth with her finger tips. 

“Girlfriends?!” Her voice was muffled by her fingers and she looked at Gray with huge eyes.

“Well, yeah? I thought we were on the same page about that for a while now.” Gray looked more confused than Juvia looked surprised. 

“Wait, don’t tell me I forgot to ask you!” Gray, now looking back at Juvia with equally wide eyes, shot back and put his head in his hands. “Oh no, I really thought I asked ages ago. I had a whole plan and everything when we went to that butterfly exhibit.” 

Watching Gray be the one to freak out over the nature of their connection for the first time, made Juvia relax and even giggle a little. Which made him look at her with absolute devastation. 

“You know, you don’t really need to ask me. It’s not as if my answer is a secret.” Juvia smiled kindly and sat up straight on the couch. 

“Yeah, that’s true.” Gray smiled at her and grabbed both of her hands. “You deserve to be asked though.” 

“No.” Juvia shook her head. “I deserve you.”

[rolandrockover]

Halloween Special

First of all, I am one of those who have never, and I emphasize never ever, seen the Paul Lynde Halloween Special from 1976 in my entire life.

So I could easily be persuaded to claim that this production could only have any real meaning for anyone who sat in front of the television as a child and watched the recording on the original broadcast date. It should go without saying that this circumstance has more than often provided the decisive impulse for a lifelong fan existence, and I'm not talking about the one and only Paul Lynde, but once more about everyone's favorite band, of course.

And even if the television had happened to be switched on in my parents' house on 29 October 1976 and actually had US reception, I think I was still a little too focused on maintaining a reasonably steady balance between my dignity and my diapers as a newcomer to this material world to recognize what was going on in the flickering box with regard to my future beloved rock artists. If my baby carriage had been next to the TV. Anyway, so much for me personally.

But none of this should be a reason enough for me not to take on this challenge, after all, it's Halloween, the perfect setting for the likes of us. So let's sit down and watch together as Kiss impatiently storm the stage of the Paul Lynde Show and perform playback and short versions of their selected hits, all of which come from the then best-selling studio album Destroyer (1976).

Paul (Stanley), at the beginning, almost seems a little insecure and innocent like a young fawn, which nevertheless quickly gives way to his newfound Sturm und Drang post Destroyer performance extraordinaire. And it should, because after all, he has to lift two of the three performances almost exclusively on his shoulders, and the cameras hardly want to let go of him. And it should come as no surprise, because it's almost uncanny how young and handsome he looks. That can hardly be just the make-up.

Gene remains fully in rock n' roll jump demon mode, at least as long as the band performs, but thus only acts in the background and almost invisibly, see above, and when he is allowed to speak is pretty reminiscent of his appearance in Attack of the Phantoms (1978). But the fire, when spitting, is real in this case, and no low budget special effect.

For Beth, Peter gets to do what Eric Singer has been condemned to eternal fan death for years by all those old schooled real fans, namely sit at the piano and pretend he's actually playing the orchestral background music single-handedly while laying his voice over that shapely crust of frosting in real time. Gently, but equally anonymous. Maybe that was somehow for the best.

And Ace, well, Ace mostly just stands around stoically and bravely shakes his upper body left and right beyond his center, occasionally letting his tired arms hang out like a windmill, which may have something to do with his guitar playing. Ace is Ace and has always been Ace. What else can I say?

There's also one or two forced one-liners in the margins, devised by routined TV writers who, in the mercy of us all, we'd be better off saving. If Sean Delaney signed off on it, he must have been obviously pretty lenient. And that's basically it. More or less, because I only watched the Kiss segments, I just couldn't face the rest.

Only... those sequences with Margaret Hamilton, you know, the green witch from The Wizard of Oz (1939), reprising her role in full costume, almost 40 years after that fantastic movie. And there's just this one thing that still gives me pause, because of this little photo I stumbled across.

Did Gene get her laid or not? The witch. In full witch uniform and demon battle armor, of course. I mean, without wanting to be indiscreet, I think there should be reason enough to suggest that he kinda did (1).

What kind of sight would that have been?

Burn Witch Burn, Oo-Ooh?

Side Note:

(1) Anyone who has read Gene's biography Kiss and Make-Up (2001) should have no major doubts about this possibility. And if you had a culinary preference for sea food before, you might not have had any afterwards.

I highlighted the Kiss segments. The first includes Detroit Rock City, and the second Beth, some talk and jokes and King of the Night Time World:

Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976) (1)

Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976) (2)

[startgamc]

Headcanon - Blueberry Academy And The Pressure to Succeed

Uva/Naranja Academy and Blueberry Academy could not be more different from one another. This may seem like a pretty surface level observation, but the fact of the matter is that the culture surrounding battling and achievement in particular is much more intense than it is in Paldea.

To expound upon this, when we first arrive at Uva/Naranja, we're greeted with the concept of the Treasure Hunt. Yes, classes are still imperative but the truth is, where you choose to focus your studies ultimately is up to you. There is a lot of freedom within Uva/Naranja to follow one's passions, and that is reinforced by the faculty that are proactively involved in the lives of their students. That's not to say that Uva/Naranja is perfect by any means, as evidenced by how they handled Team Star. However, your education and what you do with it is much more in your own hands.

By contrast... Blueberry Academy seems to put an intense focus on battling and competition among its students. There do appear to be plenty of extracurricular activities available to the students, but battling appears to be the main focus of this academy. Between the exclusive use of double-battling, the competitive strategies that we see in Pokemon battles from non-E4 members, and the reactions of onlookers when their Champion loses a single match, it's pretty clear that the students hold themselves and each other to a higher level of battling.

Where does this culture come from? Likely it stems from the faculty first, but perhaps paints a broader picture of Unova's views on battling. We don't get the opportunity to see more than just one class during our introduction to the academy, but the class itself is very much hands on, practical experience. This may not be the case for every class, but it certainly lends itself to the impression that faculty expect you to be of a certain skill level when going into their assignments and to achieve the expected results.

And of course there are the random trainer encounters throughout the Terrarium. Each student seems to be focusing on their teams and trying to competitively improve so that they can move up or impress other trainers.

This all culminates in the Champion Battle against Kieran. All of these students gather together to watch, and the moment that Kieran loses, all of them turn their backs and walk away as if it was never worth their time to begin with. This is in stark contrast to the way the final battle against Nemona is perceived in Mesagoza. And while yes, Kieran certainly did not help the matter with how he behaved prior to the match, there's still no celebration or fanfare in this battle, even for the victor. It feels more like the students watching went well that Champion was short-lived. Anyway...

I would not be remotely surprised if Drayton's loss to Kieran had a similar energy.

Let's take a moment and move back to the Teal Mask too. Yes, there are other factors that do contribute to Kieran slowly losing it, but each battle does become more personal for him. That loss streak really gets to him over the course of the trip, perhaps because it's happening so consistently against someone he assumes to be a peer. And if the academy he attends already has a very intense curriculum when it comes to battling, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

We don't know how well Kieran was doing at Blueberry Academy before the Kitakami trip, but we can at least infer from Drayton that he had a lot more fun battling prior to those events. My guess is that Kieran was having his fair share of wins and losses.

And what of the faculty when it comes to Kieran's mental health? No one appears to have stepped in or tried to talk with him. The only faculty member directly involved in his battling is far more absorbed in the knowledge she can glean from him, rather than listening to and understanding a teenager's desperate cry for help. To me this implies the teaching staff do not have nearly as much care when it comes to how their students are faring if they're getting results in battles.

The academy is failing at checking the mental and emotional well-being at all levels if they're fine with allowing a troubled kid to no only run himself physically ragged, but inflict this same kind of punishment on other students for being weak in battle.

So what is the result of this? Bleuberry Academy is fostering highly competitive young trainers who will absolutely take on Unova, more than ready for all of its challenges and battles, but it appears to have a negative impact on the socialization of its students as well, where winning becomes a priority for everyone involved. Of course, not all of the students fall into this mental trap, but those that do may end up drowning due to the pressure and expectations of Blueberry Academy's ever lofty expectations.

[ralofofriverwoods]

Ask game back at you!

10. if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer

silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem?

11. what do they have in common with you? how

are they different? would you get along with

them?

18. their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

19. are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

If they wear jewelry, what kind? Do they prefer silver or gold? Do they have a favorite gem?

Farlian wears a sneak ring and the galdur amulet, so she goes mostly for function over looks. Normally the ones she uses are pretty to begin with, so aesthetics tend to work in her favor, but that's just an unintended bonus. Her earrings also have some smaller enchantments like bug repellents and whatnot. Her fav jewelry metal is for sure gold, the more yellow the better! Her fav gem is garnet. It goes well with gold and ancient amulets :)

Virthik tries to avoid wearing jewelry when out exploring, but he has a few rings and bracelets just in case. He always wears a water breathing ring tho, he's got a big fear of the water. He likes iron and ebony the best because it doesn't reflect light much, but he exclusively uses silver for any earrings or rings he'll use for extended periods of time. He's allergic to some metals so he doesn't use jewelry he finds. He likes sapphires the best, but diamonds are what he uses for battle gear.

Zuft'zahr wears arguably the most amount of jewelry, between all the stuff he braids into his hair and just has like. Embedded in his clothes. He likes being pretty, what can I say? He prefers gold as well, but as long as it looks nice he'll wear it haha. His fav is ruby, but he uses amethyst as well.

What do they have in common with you? How are they different? Would you get along with them?

Farlian ough she's basically me but op. She's got almost all of my interests and dispositions on the various factions of Skyrim, shes got a sibling(a sister instead of a brother), she prefers being a jack of all trades(master of none), she's basically if I didnt have anxiety n stuff lol. Shes a lot less worried than me about stuff, and shes a lot less bothered by what other people do and think. I think we'd get along pretty well, for no discernable reason certainly

Virthik gets a lot of the sadge feelings so he's also pretty close to me haha. He's also got my hatred for super hot temps(mostly just Arkansas summer lol) and he likes climbing up trees :3. He's a guy so that's different than me certainly, but he's also a lot more brisk and blunt when he talks to people. It's kind of a side effect of being tired a lot but he also just does not have patience for most people lol. I think we'd get along in the way that two best friends can sit in a room and not talk to each other at all, and have that be bonding and hanging out time.

Zuft'zahr is more stoic like I apparently tend to be, and he's kind of a perfectionist. Hes also the one that got all of the focus traits(the other two are great at not focusing on anything for too long) and he's the most artistic of the bunch too. He's got a wizard tower that he puts all his art in over in dawnstar :). He's a little bit more politically inclined than me though, in the way that he actually vaguely keeps track of it instead of trying to avoid it like the plague. We'd get along pretty well I think, I'd love to exchange paintings with him.

Their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

Farlian doesn't care about the first two much, but killing she tries to avoid. At least when it's innocent people.

Virthik check check check and especially. Hes got no qualms with any of them as long as he's not killing friendly animals.

Zuft'zahr he prefers to not lie, but killing and stealing are most certainly on the table!! Mainly because he doesn't like people lying to him, so he doesn't lie to others if he can help it.

Are they quick to anger? What sets them off?

Farlian not necessarily? She mainly just tries to avoid people that piss her off, when she is angry she gets very petty though. The type of person that would weld all your silverware together(or steal all your important keys) if you pissed her off.

Virthik gets angered easier, and if it gets too bad he is out for blood. Has been known to seek an eye for an eye, and when it's not possible he normally rounds up on the revenge amount. He also tends to cry when it's more of a frustrating type of anger, but hes usually not around people when that happens

Zuft'zahr he does get angry rather easy but he's good at controlling it. He makes it simmer out faster and just tends to be more frustrated rather than blowing up completely.

They all get angry at a variety of things, so it's hard to pinpoint a direct one, but betrayal is one of the things that they all hate the most. Safe to say they all despise the fuck out of mercer frey, and would absolutely go to hell just to stab him one more time.

[hungnitan]

Wuthering Wave (WuWa) DAY 1 Review

Wuwa finally opened their server today (May 23) so as DAY 1 player I gonna write a little review :

For now I finish main quest and stuck at level 21 quest and already try some bosses too~

PS : if you're Asia players but not JP KR CN I suggest play at SEA server for better connectivity~

For beginner banner I think they're pretty generous, guarantee one non limited 5* for max 50 pull with discount 8 ticket for 10 pull means max pull are 40, after you get 5* the banner gone and change to focused non limited 5*. But if you asked me, most 5* kinda groggy and some 4* are better. Imagine genshin non limited banner and you're good (I gonna take Yangyang route until endgame lol)

And into banner currency, same like most gacha games except guaranteed at 80 pull and they added one more for limited weapon. Tbh I still don't understand for whoever reason they seperate limited character and limited weapon currency...

For story tbh I don't understand anything (lol) but I gonna pointing at skipable story. Yups, some main story can be skipable. Look at left above button from screenshot below, skipable means it just showing us something or any useless info but non skipable means some info important enough to read.

Additionally, all side quest can be skipable~

Nonono even if there's skip button, I won't skip cutie Yangyang holding a cat scene 🤣

Now onto negative things, their loading very slow ! It include entering the game, loading after domain farming, even teleport. Imagine everytime you want to teleport only to wait like the one element attached on right below side Genshin loading.

Resin usage. Or what WuWa called it. I know it's 240 energy but it balancing with 60 cost energy every raiding an ascension and weekly boss... But if we think we don't need to farms relic artifact means it's balancing each others

This one more into bugs/their developer side don't know but for mine it's clunky movement, my joystick movement kind of slow respond means sometimes I can't walk straight or climbing switch to glinding even climb straight on ladder...

(this bug seems exclusive for android only, so yeah too bad on us android user lol)

Plus low graphic eventhough I use medium quality, my eyes hurt bc of blurness everytime I want to see anyone faces... This one need to fix asap, I'm one of players won't read any stories aside main bc of can't look straight at NPC blur face~

Aside that I like the gameplay, despite their clunkyness movement, the battle phase which pretty same like HI3 PGR are unbelievably smooth. Which indicate more question like why their normal state are more laggy than battle one (lol)

Plus good test run with how to use their characters. It have the best ways to show players how to use each of them in simple ways and it still one of my many question why Genshin can't add their test run character just like WuWa and HI3.

Verdict : I know this sounds like die hard fans but from WuWa I just realize what a breakthrough hoyo makes with Honkai and Genshin...

For how long I gonna play this game I guess depends, if nothing much change in one year eventhough I just got Jiyan it means uninstall. First of all, please fix clunky movement and graphic problem or Kuro just throw an useless money on this project~

Oh and adding can't play more than half hours per day, better take it slow I guess~

[quirkwizard]

In a previous post you said that if a character should be nerfed it would be Tomura, how exactly would you handle that?

So how would you change Shigaraki post All For One transplant?

So I was going to talk about how I would change things with Tomura and All For One taking him over, but this one just simply became too long. I’m also focusing more on Tomura exclusively and not other ways you could mitigate this, like putting him against characters that could better counter him besides just by using “Erasure”, or other issues it may cause, like that general arms race he started with all this. If any of you are interesting in any of that, feel free to ask.

As I said before, one of my biggest issues with this entire shift is just how powerful it makes Tomura. Your final villain can and should be powerful, but the jump that Tomura makes is so huge and sudden that it hurts the story. After Tomura's time in the tube, he can destroy whole areas with a touch, is stronger than All Might in his prime, has every single power stored by All For One, and that's not even getting to the growths. Any one of those would make him extremely dangerous, but all of them together is just overkill. It ends up putting Tomura at the top of the food chain without any intermediate steps or challenges to that position. And because he is so powerful, there isn't anything anyone can really do to him. They can either wail away at him to no effect or get ragdolled, effectively making any fight with them totally pointless outside of one other character. It's not even like there's any counterplay with other powers because most of the people going against Tomura are purely physical fighters. And because Hori refuses to kill characters, it becomes this battle of attrition where neither side can do anything to the other until Izuku shows up.

Personally, I think the best answer would be to drop one or two of these powers. Because even if he only had half of his powers, Tomura would still be a massive threat to the world and to the other characters. I would definitely drop the flesh creations first, I just don't think they were needed to make him more threatening or the fight more interesting. Otherwise, the problem comes in how all three aspects are so plot relevant that it's hard to imagine removing any one of them without rewriting a lot of parts. So if we can't do that, we could weaken some of them or give Tomura more weaknesses in general. First and foremost, his physical augmentations. I will never understand why you would make Tomura stronger than Prime All Might. That is just such a leap from everything we've seen of what the doctor is capable of, even with the other Nomu. You could still make him powerful enough to be a threat if he was more on Hood's Level, or even the USJ Nomu. Given what we've seen, those too are still pretty far above the rest of the characters. And if he needs it, just let him augment his body with other powers, like All For One was doing before.

You could reduce the power of "Decay" as well. Maybe don't make it capable of wiping out whole cities in a single touch, or remove one of the other buffs the Quirk got, like how it's able to transfer so fast or so easily. At least remove how much control he has, since that barely seems to matter with how he uses it. Another problem I would add is that his body is incomplete. That could have been an interesting weakness. Because of the heroes' efforts, the perfect vessel had a major Achilles heel in how his body was breaking down and barely holding together under all the strain. But no, by the next arc, Hori reassures us that everything is going fine for Tomura. You could have easily kept that aspect to make him more vulnerable or even play it into Tomura rejecting the changes he is going through. On that note, Tomura actively fighting against All For One could lead to him developing some weaknesses. Like the changes he is undergoing aren't working right because the body is rejecting them. An attack suddenly gets stopped because Tomura regains control, an internal fight leads to an opening for the heroes to attack, or Quirks aren't combined how they are supposed to because Tomura isn't having it.

[gatormeister]

First time watching Gundam Thunderbolt

Okay. I did not know this was an ongoing story. So anyone exclusively watching the anime have been waiting on a third season/movie for seven years now? And after Bandit Flower ends right after introducing who I can only assume is the main villain? I can appreciate your patience.

Anyways.

Thunderbolt is just plain great. I loved it. I stand by the Full Armor Gundam looking kinda goofy, (I genuinely believed the three extra shields were all that constituted the Full Armor in the name when I first saw it in Gunpla form on digital store fronts,) But I have to admit it looks pretty fantastic in motion.

Speaking of Thunderbolt Original suits, they are all fantastic. The Full Armor, the Psycho Zaku, and my favorite of the three; the Atlas Gundam. I just love the white, yellow, black color scheme. It's very striking.

The actually show/movies those designs are attached to are pretty good too. December Sky is the better of the two current movies I think. It's mostly self contained, you can watch it and not have to worry about how things continue on or any plot points left hanging. It's both an eccentric and stylish visual feast, and a brutal and crushing view of the one year war at the same time. Here we are in the middle of a dead colony and its surrounding space where neither side is all that well equipped save for some experimental mobile suits that are no doubt only there for field testing. All the soldiers on both sides of the conflict are miserable and broken, clinging to just about anything to keep themselves sane while throwing themselves into an endless meat grinder. Their one and only purpose being to kill the enemy before they themselves are killed, it's just about all they can do until they both end up tearing themselves apart.

Then Bandit Flower is very much about a specific mission and enemy they have to fight. Yeah, it takes a turn to a more standard, more familiar Gundam framework afterwards, and really I can't fault Thunderbolt for that. How long can something like December Sky go on before it just ends up repeating the same points over and over. It makes perfect sense to move forward in the way they did, and Bandit Flower does exceptionally well placing the characters and loose threads of December Sky into this more objective based plot.

Io and Daryl are both incredibly well written and performed, bouncing off their respective side characters perfectly. I love how Bandit Flower focuses on amphibious mobile suit battles, it's such an underutilized aspect of the series. All these amphibious Zeon suits that look goofy as all hell are put to fantastic and wonderful use here. I mean I'll be honest, I never expected something that looks like the Acguy could look so cool in a series.

So yeah, Thunderbolt was exactly as awesome as people said it was, I have no complaints other than I can't wait to see more of it... however many years that may take.

The next stop on my Gundam viewing journey is Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, SEED Destiny, and eventually SEED Freedom. SEED Destiny is hated, I know, but I feel like I need to at least see it through if I'm going to watch SEED at all. It's either all in or all out, I'll be back to share my thoughts once SEED is over.

[wfagamerants]

As I mentioned from the start, while this blog won’t be entirely Mario/DK/Yoshi/Wario focused, this particular universe will be the main thing I like talking about, so I figured it would be fun to look back on everything Marioverse that has happened this year and give a opinion on it.

Gonna go step by step and then give a final opinion on the year as a whole. Compared to the Paper Mario essay, this isn’t gonna be analytical in nature, just some quick thoughts on everything wahoo.

Mario Kart Tour

This year actually did offer me a surprising amount of things I like. Petey returning as a driver, the Dr. Mario stuff and Wario’s Shipyard are all stuff I would love to see in a regular Mario Kart. That is also a key word though.

I don’t play Tour and this year hasn’t convinced me to do so either. Compared to what other mobile games like Fire Emblem Heroes, Sonic Forces Speed Battle or Puyo Puyo Quest do, I simply don’t find Tour’s content impressive. Games like these tend to offer a huge amount of content from their franchises’ history to entice you and to me, are a compensation for putting up with mobile game annoyances.

Tour offers more than average for a Mario spin-off, but that’s not enough for me to give into checking out a mobile game and while I do like a lot of alts, it’s flooded so much with alts of the same characters again and again, that I wouldn’t have fun going for that. I like Mario, but one of his dozens of alts could have gone to DK or Wario or Waluigi and I would be a bit more intrigued. Variety is the spice of life and GACHA temptations (I know the GACHA is gone).

Also, quite a number of Daisy alts this year, but no Classic Daisy. I am not pleased.

Wario Cup

Get It Together’s Wario Cup ran for most of the year, concluding around the time of the game’s first anniversary.

The concept of an online competitive leaderboard mode is genuinely brilliant and something I hope comes back in future games. There were plenty of pretty chill Cups that were fun to go for the highest rank for and it had a lot of cool ideas for unique challenges. While it didn’t compensate for a proper online multiplayer, Wario Cup at it’s best was a great addition.

That said, there were also a number of bad Cups and I can’t lie, those were nasty. Putting the most limited characters into the worst kind of situations for them, with little room for error, just doesn’t make for a fun experience and instead turned into an exercise in frustration.

The first 9-Volt, Kat and Ana Cup was so bad it even made me reconsider my opinion on the character gimmick. That did go away when I replayed the regular stages and never had the same issues, but it does bring forth the worst case scenarios of how character balancing is handled in this game.

On the whole I still went out of Wario Cup more positive than not and GiT remains my new favorite WarioWare, but the mode does really show off things that future games need to address.

Wario’s 30th Anniversary

Nintendo didn’t acknowledge it.

Didn’t expect anything else, would have just been cool to be proven wrong.

Mario Kart Booster Course Pass

To put that one simply: I feel like I got precisely what I paid for.

The tracks do feel cheap, but the price and quantity make me perfectly comfortable to consider these tracks a bonus, ala’ the Super Mario Kart tracks in Super Circuit. Getting to experience some of these Tour exclusive tracks and remakes is something I genuinely get a kick out of, even if they could be presented in a nicer way and used the anti-gravity more.

While Wave 2 and 3 have the better selection on the whole and the Custom Item option is a surprisingly big addition to suddenly drop, Wave 1 still has my personal biggest highlight in Ninja Hideaway. This is one Tour track I always wanted to try and I am amazed by how good it is, like you could tell me it was made for a normal Mario Kart from the start and I’d believe it.

In the end though, this is still Mario Kart 8. Still a phenomenal game and I am enjoying the new stuff, but I have also been playing this game since it released on the Wii U, so my revisits aren’t that long-lived. 

Mario Strikers Battle League

I feel comfortable talking about this game now, but if the next update changes my opinions in any way, I’ll do a quick follow-up.

BL is a bit of an unfortunate case, I really can’t say I don’t like the game, because so much about it does land for me.

- The core gameplay is fun, even more so in multiplayer. I do miss some of the insanity of Charged, but at the same time, that never felt entirely intentional to me.

- The animation work is still fantastic and full of character. Sucks that there is only three post-goal animations per character and two of them you will see a ton, but it does make up for that with the huge amount of animation work elsewhere, especially in-field.

- The music’s good. It still has a visual identity. I like the Gear system (not so much grinding for coins). The updates are making the roster slowly come together. The online is….as functional as Nintendo Online can be for now, that all checks out.

That stuff is all good, but it is held back by an aspect I was really worried about, the update practice.

I’m not kidding when I say the game at launch felt incomplete and even now it still doesn’t feel like it’s all there. Strikers was never the most content dense series, in fact, BL still beats out the first game in content quantity, but even then you get this constant sense something is missing.

In particular, I dearly hope a stage hazard toggle will get added next update. Stadium gimmicks really helped Charged’s staying power, by changing how to play in each of them. Be it a muddy field that makes you slide like crazy or Thwomps that threaten to crush the players.

BL just has nothing like that and it also leads to the gimmick of combining two stadium halves feeling undercooked and unfinished. It could lead to a lot of crazy combinations, if each half had its own hazards, but as it is now, it’s only purpose is to show off how you made your half look in the Strikers Club.

BL is still getting at least one more update, possibly more, given the timeline only listed them as updates for 2022 specifically and I hope those add something substantial. The game needs it.

(Hey, the new update was announced an hour after I posted this!....they didn’t do anything big and it’s the last one. Sucks.)

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

This one was oddly the one where I had to collect my thoughts the most, despite my opinion being the most straight forward.

On the whole, I have a hard time telling which of the two games I prefer. Sparks of Hope to me manages to carry on every strength of the original save for one little thing and it makes for a great experience.

Between the cartoony, charming presentation, the music and general personality of the game, everything has been left intact how I liked it in the first game. I was also happy to see what kind of gameplay possibilities the free movement, instead of using tiles, enables. I was skeptical, but was won over as early as the tutorial.

The game in those areas really does nothing  but expand. Far more freedom with what team to build. The overworld gameplay has been greatly expanded upon. More interacting with NPCs. More mechanics. Actual involvement of Mario mooks in battles. All this stuff is wonderful and I was surprised by how much this game genuinely scratched my itch for new Mario RPG content.

The one thing about the game I am bit lukewarm on is, possibly ironically, the Mario content.

There is stuff there for sure, I mentioned Mario mooks now taking art in battles. Yah also got Sparks and a Spoiler character we all saw coming. Bowser being playable now is of course also a delight, then again I have no issue with how anyone in the game is portrayed.

Thing is, at many points, it feels like the Mario stuff takes a backseat, especially compared to the first game.

- The Toad and Toadette escort missions are gone, with both only making minor appearances now.

- All the Spark Hunters are Rabbids and all the important NPCs you meet are Rabbids.

- You don’t get stuff like Rabbid Kong, Bwario or Bwaluigi here. Yoshi and Jr are also MIA.

- None of the stuff from the Season Pass is headlined by a Mario character, unlike the first game, which had a Donkey Kong campaign. The new antagonist for the second part of the Pass is also another Rabbid.

- You have 5 playable Rabbids and only 4 playable Mario characters. I was genuinely a bit shocked that SPOILER wasn’t unlockable in any way shape or form.

Don’t get me wrong, everything that’s here is fantastic and I enjoyed myself all the way through. The Rabbids are still the best they have ever been and I really love them now and the Rayman(!) announcement is one of the most hype things for me in quite some time. All this is great, I just feel this crossover is on the uneven side and that feeling gradually snuck up on me.

Time will tell what the Season Pass holds in full. It does promise more characters in plural, so I strongly assume SPOILER is being saved for that.

Mario Movie

After a long time of not knowing what to expect, we finally got a look at the movie and yeah, it’s gooooood.

It’s visually stunning, the characters are great, the DK love is insane and it is so purely, proudly, Mario.

I have more to say on this one, but I am saving it for another write-up I got planned.

On the whole, a solid year even with ‘’only’’ two new games released. The Mario movie and Sparks of Hope do a lot of heavy lifting here, but there was a lot for me to enjoy.

The one main thing I feel was missing was highlight on the multiplayer spin-off front, so to speak. The Mario Kart stuff is nice to have, but not mind blowing and Strikers is a highlight in many areas, that just doesn’t come fully together, because of its content problems.

I am disappointed by the lack of Mario Party DLC. I like Superstars, but it has things about it (eh minigame selection, lack of minigame modes, tiny roster, etc) that DLC would do a lot to fix. Ideally the game was testing ground and they are working on a new game already, that builds on Superstars’ reception. With how the game relies on old content and 52 of the minigames were already in Top 100, it does feel like it was made for that kind of purpose.

That aside, I do feel this was a fine year for Mario, now I’m just curious what’s next. The well of established and recurring series is running dry. Maybe Baseball is next? Maybe something new? How about that rumored Donkey Kong game? Wario Land anyone?

Time will tell.

[bojanus]

I posted 5,740 times in 2022

26 posts created (0%)

5,714 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@/haboat

@/coredesignixandnekonee

@/ankle-beez

@/demilypyro

@/inocent-doodles

I tagged 1,784 of my posts in 2022

#grayson - 298 posts

#me - 91 posts

#sylvia - 90 posts

#erik - 69 posts

#tyler - 52 posts

#geo - 52 posts

#dawn - 44 posts

#papa - 43 posts

#gus - 41 posts

#stephanie - 40 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#regardless if that is dunking on a human being who has to deal with hundreds upon thousands of those types of messages directed at her

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Me, grabbing my twitter-exclusive friend and trying to drag him: PLEASE come to tumblr... pretty please it could be so much fun it will offer u twitter capabilities and more

Him, unphased: No twitter is where comedians can post short, un-edited thoughts, like just throwing things out there casually

Me: You could do that on tum-

Him: Tumblr is for schemes

13 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

#4

Okay I've had enough time without my roommate, missing-roomie hours, gonna blog like a divorcee until she comes back

43 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

#3

I've changed my mind about board games maybe they're good actually

160 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

#2

Okay I'm loving the Sonic 2 posts about the wonderful bonds between the characters and all the fun moments BUT

Why is nobody talking Stone visualizing Eggman in that maid outfit???????????

207 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What can Magical Girl Shoujo and Action Hero Shounen manga/anime tell us about perceptions of womanhood and manhood? And how different priorities for genders get expressed in media

Let’s imagine a typical Magical Girl Shoujo anime. It usually starts with a normal girl, on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who suddenly discovers some magical artifact or innate part of herself that connects her to a magical destiny. There is usually no choice in the matter; she is (along with some select friends) the only one who can do the magical move that prevents demons/aliens/enemies from destroying her home (or even the whole earth). Her status as a magical hero is not one that’s earned, but rather a responsibility thrust upon her.

Meanwhile Action Hero Shounen tends to be about a boy, also often on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who goes on a deliberate journey to attain a particular status or power. In some cases he may get one advantageous power at the start, but it’s usually up to him to make it useful and achieve his dream. His story often involves trials, tournaments, and intense battles that slowly ramp up until he becomes the most powerful (or achieves whatever status he dreamed of). That status is one that is earned, not given.

Do these differences sound familiar? If so, you may know about the theory of Precarious Manhood (Vandello & Bosson 2013 has great coverage on the subject). The theory suggests that womanhood is secured (or forced) naturally as a girl grows up; she just is a woman, and that status is generally not called into question on a regular basis. Meanwhile manhood is something that must be earned and can be easily lost; a man must continually “prove” his masculinity to maintain that he is a man. We see this reflected in the two genres I described: The Magical Girl just is the hero, while the Action Hero must become the hero. These genres are targeted towards the demographic of their main characters, kids and teens, and they reflect the values, struggles, and anxieties those demographics carry.

The Magical Girl genre focuses on a lot of girls' fears about growing up—there’s a sense of power that comes with it, but it comes at a cost. The conflicts in these shows often aren’t centrally the monsters or battles, but rather interpersonal dramas and work-life balance. To a teenage girl, having a friend group falling out can feel catastrophic, reflected in how a Magical Girl may cause a literal catastrophe unless she can get everyone to work together to defeat an enemy. Another huge conflict is balancing saving the earth and maintaining friendships, romance, work, and grades. Lots of girls get pulled in many directions at this age, and if one is expected or needs to help out around the home she has yet another responsibility on her plate that makes time management a relevant issue.

See the full post

1,265 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

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