#and to have so many people in this game say ‘i couldnt make it; it didnt work out for me’ just felt really refreshing

[crittertalez]

its so interesting to me how everyone is like man kris must HATE tenna in like the same exact way people were saying kris must hate ralsei like idk . i think kris is going through a lot and they just feel awkward. they dont even seem to hate asgore despite the way hes just so. um. asgore. idk if they necessarily LIKE tenna in chapter 3 but i sure doubt they fr hate him

[icewindandboringhorror]

I'm so heavily anti-advertising that all pitches sound goofy silly to me/I can never take them seriously, so I have no idea how I'll manage to to advertise my game even if I do finally finish it soon-ish lol...

[elegyofthemoon]

ok but do i want to actually sit and read through all the clockie animation stuff so i have better foundation for what i want to say? i guess

[darkmatilda]

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 | 𝐬.𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: you’re constantly confronted with a deceptive projection of your own mind when you start noticing a certain profiler with pretty eyes in unexpected places and people. The diagnosis is simple — you’re losing your mind.

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬/𝐭𝐰: spencer reader x diva!chemist reader, takes place somewhere before the vegas fic, diva’s pov, alcohol consumption, count how many times she mentioned his hands lmao, reader hooks up with a random guy, i’d say she’s ovulating but maybe it’s just typical spencer reid withdrawal symptoms idk

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 1.3k

𝐚/𝐧: request | i was planning to write this time a fic outside the series, but this request really spoke to me and i couldnt resist <3

Your attention was split three ways.

To your left came the quiet sound of music, soft enough to allow for conversation over pool or beer, lyrics that passed through your head and immediately left it again, not forcing your foot or the hands resting on the bar to move to its rhythm. Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay…

In front of you, ice was slowly melting in a glass. Finely crushed, not cubes.

To your right...

A voice — gentle but engaged. Engaged in what it was saying, threads occasionally interrupted by a swallowed throat, a short pause after which he returned to the topic with ease. It was a book. At first, you were focused. You realized that the two of you had never actually talked about your literary tastes. That is, sometimes you mentioned titles. You backed your arguments in discussions with specific works, even compared yourselves in your verbal sparring to unbearable characters, but not once had you simply shared what you genuinely liked. What you reached for for pleasure, what had kept you up all night.

So yes, at first you were focused, and although you didn’t show it, you were also pleased. But it was evening, and at some point he rested his tired head — more precisely, his chin — in the palm of his hand. While speaking, he unintentionally applied pressure to his throat, to his vocal cords, and it seemed as though each of his words carried a slight vibration. It dispersed into the space around you, but because of how close you were sitting, it reached you. The small distortions gave his voice a pleasant murmur. You wondered how it would sound if he suddenly lowered it to a whisper. He’d probably have to come even closer for you to understand the words. Before them would come his scent, the movement of his lips near your ear, possibly brushing it by accident — which would make him freeze in embarrassment and glance sideways at your profile, uncertain, checking if you noticed.

Depending on your mood and the level of his awkwardness, you’d either point it out or let it pass in silence. That level would have to be perfectly balanced. Not too high for him to pull away. You wanted him to respond — to respond with a snort filled with fake nonchalance, but also to barely perceptible stumble over his words. You’d gone through this pattern dozens of times. Still, you found it satisfying.

A shadow of a smile formed on your lips when you realized your own analysis. How predictable he was when you broke it down into smaller parts over your drink, and yet so often surprising when you had a spontaneous, face-to-face conversation.

Speaking of the drink, you reached for it. But instead of touching the glass, you touched someone’s skin. A brief accidental brush — the man who had just been planning to grab his own quickly pulled his hand back. A hand. An unfamiliar pattern of veins on its back. An unfamiliar hand.

You turned your head sharply in his direction — the man with brown hair but green eyes, just tinged with brown at the right angle, gave you an apologetic smile.

You didn’t return it. What’s more, you didn’t take another sip that evening, deciding that maybe you’d had enough. Instead, you shook your head slightly, in disbelief at yourself. 

Fatigue. It was probably the fatigue.

*

The next time, the music was much louder.

In fact, it was bombarding your mind, not letting a single thought occupy your head for more than a second. You didn’t see that as a flaw. Wasn’t that the whole point? You couldn’t hear your own thoughts, let alone the words of the guy sitting across from you. You wanted to dance and have fun that night at the club, not focus on whatever it was he was trying to say to you.

You regretted that the friend you’d come with was currently a little occupied — in the arms of some woman in a sparkly skirt. She was much better company and a much better dancer. You didn’t intend to cling desperately to someone’s side — you never did — but something made you pause. And no, it wasn’t the guy right in front of you, more like a strange feeling that suddenly came over your body. A feeling that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, a feeling that carried the trace of someone’s longing gaze.

Well, you were so used to those — especially in places like this — that it almost escaped your notice. Almost—because it was too strong for that.

You turned your gaze in that direction. It took effort to find it. The eyes that sent it were constantly being obscured by moving bodies, yet somehow the look never broke.

Your hips suddenly slowed their fluid motion — you couldn’t stop scanning the crowd, even though you wanted to. A certain suspicion crept in, a theory that almost forced you to confirm it. You gave yourself one last chance to suppress that need. One last chance — wasted the moment you were sure you’d seen a familiar face.

You scoffed in disbelief. Many hours later, you would scoff again — that time calling yourself an idiot for not even asking the obvious question first what the hell would he even be doing there? The last person to voluntarily step foot in a club.

But in that moment, you didn’t consider any of that — you slipped easily through the gaps between strangers’ limbs, not quickly, but with purpose.

But it was like trying to catch smoke between your fingers.

The comparison came to mind as you watched the cigarette loosely dangling from your friend Olivia’s lips, shifting slightly whenever she cursed under her breath, rummaging through her microscopic, bright pink purse in search of a lighter.

You were standing outside, the night air acting not only as a refreshment but also as a sobering agent. Which you definitely needed.

“I swear it was here…” she muttered in frustration, still digging. Determined girl — she’d always been that way. Suddenly, she caught your gaze. “By the way, why did you want to come out so badly? Something wrong?”

With your arms crossed over your chest and one hip pushed out, without hesitation, like a doctor giving a diagnosis, you answered:

 “I’m losing my sanity.”

Taking it as a joke, she twisted her lips into a smile.

“Your sanity’s always been questionable,” she snorted. She stomped her foot, pulling the cigarette from between her lips. “Fuck! It must’ve fallen out somewhere…”

“Need a lighter?”

Right on cue, a voice appeared between the two of you. Or rather, an offer. But the first thing you noticed was a hand, holding out a metal lighter toward your friend.

Your forehead tightened, and driven by some mysterious impulse, your gaze immediately travelled up toward the man’s face. You immediately recognized him as the guy you’d danced with for a moment—the one who’d tried to hit on you. Blatantly assessing, you dropped your gaze back down to his hand, then to the friendly smile on his lips as Olivia accepted the lighter. Again. The hand, the face.

He seemed…cute. 

Not a compliment, just an observation you could’ve made at first glance. There was a lot more you could say about him later. Though, far less about his personality, and much more about his build—shoulders harder than you liked, hair too short to properly thread your fingers through.

The hair thing really disappointed you, but oh well.

Aside from that, there were plenty of things you could simply fill in yourself. A solution loudly approved by the dim light in the bedroom, the kind that fixed all the details that didn’t matter anyway.

[munv]

Cld i also request for diasomnia + ignihyde w raiden ei! like reader really love ur character! reader fics AKAJSJSHDH sorry if its too much </3

DIASOMNIA / IGNIHYDE X RAIDEN EI !READER

No because thank you SO much for requesting this. My inconsistency was coming back and I literally needed something that would make me work

MALLEUS

He notices you immediately. It's in the "thunder literally crackles around me too so I noticed yours from like 20 miles away" type of thing. Ancient fellow meets ancient fellow and it's one of those times where conversation isnt necessary. He realizes that you might also not be human after a while and he questions you about it.

He's a little scared that you might not take a liking to him anymore since he doesn't want to come off as brazen, yet he cant help but be curious.

Only to find out that you're a god of you're own country? He stares for a moment, slowly processing it and goes "is that so?". Not in the "I don't believe you and you're crazy way". It's in the "we now have a lot more in common" type of way.

He indulges in your oddly specific sweet tooth, bringing you little snacks and stuff to try together since you both have no idea what normal people eat.

LILIA

He laughs. In your face. First meeting.

Lilia is a good 700+ years old. So when he was face to face with someone who has been one for over 3000? He questioned for a moment if he would become that stoic (miserable) by the time he finishes 1000.

He pokes around your exterior, trying to see if he could possibly rile up a storm out of you. You dont strike him, so he takes that as a go ahead to keep it up. He teases you endlessly, noticing how you are exactly like malleus and way behind on trends and such. Although he isnt as shut in as the both of you, he is somewhat well versed in the latest things.

He doesn't find himself surprised when he gets you a phone and it ends up sparking up because you couldnt control your quiet excitement when you got it.

SILVER

He treats you gently, and he finds himself careful to not overstep any boundaries you have placed around yourself. Not because he finds himself scared, but because he genuinely respects you. He nods when you speak a few words, he opens doors for you, braids your hair under trees.

You're surprised when a bunch of animals follow him around, especially when he actually does a good job in braiding your hair. The flower additions into it? You love that too.

SEBEK

If you thought that silver was your no.1 admirer? you got another thing coming. Sebek basically explodes. Because at first? he sees you as a rival to Malleus, but over time? he grows to respect you if not, just as much. He begs you to train him and share your ever so "godly discipline". He constantly screams and yells about your noble aura and your gentle heart.

You've never met someone who could be so loud, yet loyal at the same time. Still, you give in and hand him a sword and just tell him "strike"

It's like that meme where its the avatar's saying "I can't help you bro, you jus gotta feel it". He never gives up though, and continues even if hes failing your training regimen, you've began to respect that about him, despite his outlandish tendencies to basically preach your praises on campus.

IDIA

He has a total meltdown. He hides, he panics, he screeches. "THATS A LEVEL10000 BOSS?? BRO WHY ARE THEY HERE?". Whenever he texts you, he realizes that you're one of those people who just give simple responses. "Yes." "No." "Thank you." “Why are you like this”

Idia thrives online but when he actually has to meet you face to face? he's a little nervous. Scratch a little— He basically screams bloody mary when you slightly lift your hand. Yet, he still enjoys your company. Despite him referencing you to his many different video game bosses and being chronically online with his odd slang? He finds comfort in your humble yet demanding ways.

"you're highkey scary but..lowkey chill?" You blink at him. "yes?"

He turns you inner realm into a video game setting.

ORTHO

Ortho finds himself doing extensive research on you. Your powers, your limitations, where you're from, If it's possible for you to overblot, all of the above.

He cheers and zooms around you in excitement whenever he sees you. Maybe he's just attracted to the lightning you emit, who knows. He likes hugging you and such.

If he wants more research? he goes to you, hands over some dango, and starts scanning you for 6 hours straight. Idia wonders how its possible for you to stay still for that long.

It comes with the meditation you do in your inner realm ever so often, you explain, and ortho is just scanning you casually without a care in the world.

He really likes the little zaps that you give him, he finds it ticklish, and he cute little giggles fuel you even more. “That tickled, again!” You blink, sigh, and zap him again, listening to him squeal in glee.

“Again!”

You smile at his childlike wonder

[hewinked]

you ever have fandom drama go down with literally all the big blogs for one fandom that you love so much, and then all the blogs you follow just start throwing tomato's at each other?

yeah thats pretty much me with the danny phantom x dc crossover tag argument thing rn

also im of the opinion that, this is kinda always how crossovers worked? you tag it with both fandoms it includes? and the tag thing is not that bad? or atleast ive had not that much trouble finding only solely danny phantom content

and i mean, danny phantom is an old fandom objectively, the only new content being some comic books which alot of people didnt read because they didnt wanna or couldnt spend money on it

it makes sense that even alot of old fans would get into dp x dc, and that because dc is such a big and active fandom in comparison, that a lot of dc fans would get into the crossovers, and become new danny phantom fans via the crossovers

but ik alot of people are arguing that they shouldnt be, because they think that dc fans have never even seen danny phantom because of small details they get wrong or mix up, which is like a whole nother "if youre in this fandom you have to know everything about the media or youre not a real fan" shaped problem that I dont care for at all

the truth is most of them probably are just going off of what they remember from their childhoods because ALOT of people watched danny phantom as a kid, and just havent had time to rewatch it fully, so yeah, theyre gonna not remember some things and have to fill in the blanks themselves or go off of what other fans say

and as far as im aware anyways, this isnt really just a dc and dp thing? Im in the miraculous ladybug fandom and fic wise alot of it is now danny phantom or dc crossovers, but ive heard no complaints and given no complaints (despite not liking them myself) because thats mainly on ao3 and you can just block it

the point im going to make is actually, that alot of the fandom on tumblr is reliant on ao3 in the first place, and like on ao3 this definitely isnt a problem, because you can block a tag easily and most people on ao3 know better then to not tag something that they have in a fic

thing is? people are used to that. it is considered heavily heavily impolite on ao3 to not tag a fandom or thing you have in the fic.

and most tumblr users are or started as ao3 users. its pretty much the same etiquette on here.

but somehow when you go on tumblr with specifically danny phantom fans? somehow people are offended by it?

thing is, same as on ao3, on tumblr you can block a tag and filter.

but lets say you are blocking that and still seeing dc crossover stuff like so many people are complaing

then isnt the problem logically that alot of these people just arent tagging the dc stuff properly then? because i imagine thats what you should be trying to block so.... why be mad that theyre tagging danny phantom when thats one of the correct tags to be using? so that anyone who wants to see crossovers plus regular content can?

like im just saying thats the logic i follow

and thats not me tryna say go and blame em for that either, im just saying youre kinda angry about something that its okay to be mad about, but you have put yourself in the wrong because your mad about the wrong thing anyways.

also even if youre mad about it, maybe stop bullying and critizing literally anyone who's writing dc and dp? like encouraging people to write what they like is the name of the game, you guys know that right?

you know you can just nicely comment without being passive aggressive or rude, and tell them that they should tag their posts a little better? and not take your anger out on them because they personally obviously dont sway the whole fandom by themselves? do you know that?

you also dont have to make big ol rant posts about how much you hate dp x dc writers for writing a crossover, that will hurt those writers feelings, and that you know will make all your followers mad at all those innocent writers also, right? you know that you don't have to and shouldn't be making posts like that right?

[paiges-1vur]

late night confessions… as always enjoy loves <3

you and paige had been friends since the 7th grade. ever since that one day she scored on you in gym basketball everything became a competition, another chance to win at something. you had been inseparable for the last four years. always hanging out after paiges practices, going to see her play at her games, even going on family vacations together. you did absolutely everything together. as a junior at hopkins paige had started to gain more recognition in the basketball world. and she deserved every ounce of it. she was getting D1 offers, coaches flying to watch her play at aau tournaments, all the works. and you were there through all of it. all of the emotions. the smiles, tears, and celebrations.

it was late, almost 1 in the morning and you couldn’t seem to fall asleep. you were just scrolling your phone. you get a notification, and its from paige. “you awake love?” your a little shocked by the love, but laugh it off. paige is always flirting with people jokingly. “yes paigey, what do you want.” yousay sarcastically. “can i come over?” you stared at the message for a second. you cant help but smile at her request. you quickly text a reply. “cant sleep?” followed up with a “yk what sure come whenever” she replies almost immediately. “make sure to dress comfortably, i plan on having lots of snuggles and snacks.” you laugh to yourself and reply “okay paige ill make sure im dressed appropriately.”

she didnt reply for another two minutes. you spent those two minutes staring at the ceiling, wondering why she couldnt just take some damn melatonin and go to bed. you loved her but sometimes she just couldn’t seem to leave you alone. she texted you again. a sefie of her in her car, with sweats and a hoodie on, showing her outfit while she was sitting down. “okay im coming” she texts. you reply quickly, “bet that” and then “those sweats are so cute can i borrow them sometime.” they actually were really cute sweats and they looked really comfy. all of paiges basketball clothes were comfy honestly. you had ransacked her closet too many times to count. she texted back, “if your lucky i can give you them tonight.” the message caught you off guard. what did she mean by that? while your thinking she texts again, “be there in 5” instead of replying you decide to just turn your phone off. you make a quick stop in the bathroom to make sure you look halfway decent before she arrives. your hair stays in the messy bun it was already thrown in, and your paiges hopkins basketball sweatshirt stays on, along with your plain grey low waisted sweats. you look in the mirror, and put a touch of perfume on before closing the light off and going back to your bed.

she ends up coming 10 minutes later than she said she would be. “im here, open the door” she says, when you don’t immediately reply she texts again, “unless i have to climb through your window to see you” you laugh and run to the door opening it. “someones late” you say giggling. “better late than never, love” she replies smiling down at you.

“its really late, why did you come over?” you ask. she responds, “just wanted to see you” shrugging. she gently grabs your hips, pulling you a tad closer to her. “im gonna get cuddles now, hm?” you smile and start to pull away, walking her to your room. “yes paigey lots of cuddles.”

as we walk into my dimly lit room she grins excitedly, pushing you onto the bed gently. she quickly gets on top of you, straddling you. “all the cuddles you could ever imagine right now love-” you look up at her ontop of you “p this doesnt look like cuddling. what are you-” she laughs, gently pinning your wrists above your head as she leans down to place careful kisses along your jaw. “shh, don’t worry about it, babe.” your instantly met with confusion. your intrigued for sure, but mostly confused. “are you okay? i thought we were cuddling but this doesnt look like cuddles” you say as she pauses placing kisses along your jaw. she lets out a hum, nipping at the crook of your neck before responding. “mmm.. i just wanted to have a bit of fun first, doll.” her breath is hot against your skin and you can feel her hands slowly moving down your sides.

you have to speak up. “paige” you say, as firmly as possible. she immediately looks up at you, stopping her kisses momentarily. her hands lay still where they were roaming. “p-paige i thought we were friends-” she bites down on your neck gently before pulling away, looking you in the eyes, her grip on your wrists now loosened. “oh come on love, we are just friends.. having a little fun-” her fingers are now slowly tracing along your abdomen. “well when you said you were coming over i thought this was just another movie night” you explain innocently “you didnt give me any warning. why are you in such a mood, what were you thinking about before you came over?” she pins your wrists down again, holding them tighter. she leans down to your ear, kissing it gently. “mmm.. nothing for you to worry about love.. just wanna have fun.” she rolls her hips against yours just slowly enough to make you whine.

“nothing for you to worry about..” she says again. she smirks and does it again, using her legs to stop you from getting away. “you like that, doll..?” she gently begins to kiss along your neck again. your feeling more and more aroused by the second, but also just as confused. “paige.. were you thinking about me tonight? is that why you couldnt sleep, why you had to text me and come over?” you ask from under her. she laughs quietly before slowly kissing down along your collarbone now. “you know me so well, love~ of course i was.. always thinking about you.” she slowly bites down on your collarbone. she laughs quietly and rolls her hips against yours again, making sure to do it much faster this time. “mm.. you know what i was thinking about.. i just couldn’t stop and it’s your fault~”

your still confused why your friend was acting this way. especially someone like paige who was so close to you. “why all of a sudden were you thinking about me, how is it my fault” you defend yourself, planning to stop whatever shes starting. “you just.. make me so needy at night..” her one hand leaves your wrists in order to gently hold onto your jaw, she slowly drags her thumb across your bottom lip. she leans down to your ear again, her other hand slowly begins to trail down your waist again. “i.. m-miss.. you-” her fingertips gently slide under the waistband of your sweatpants, moving against your waist slowly.

“p-paige what do you want from me?” you squirm under her as she teases you with her fingers. you close your eyes awaiting her answer. she laughs again, noticing how weak you get just from her touch. “i want you, love.. that’s all i’ve ever wanted..” suddenly you think about the last four years of your friendship. has she always felt this way? and why was she just telling you now? she slowly begins sliding her hand under your sweats, but doesn’t go in any further. “is this about my recent breakup p… did you not like him?” you cant help but stop talking and notice her hand creeping down your sweats. she smirks at you, knowing how she has you wrapped around her finger. “mmm i didn’t like him at all love.. always touching you as if it’s his right..” her fingertips tease you, still under your sweats.

“paige” you say, pausing. “i never liked him either.. i always wanted.. something else.” her eyes immediately widen at what you hinted at. your confession catches her off guard. she swallows hard, her grip on your wrists tightening. her hand once again goes back down to the waist band of your pants, this time not just teasing. this time going further than before….

am i evil for ending it off like that?? (yes) im sorry but i got lazy lmao. let me know what you want to see more, or less of from me! ive been on a writing KICK recently so lets see how long it can last. dont be shy to spam anons with any requests/ideas! (also im always up to hear constructive criticism about my writing from you guys! i want to better my fics for you all) please let me know if you liked this, and i cant stress enough how much i love seeing your anons and messages! <3

[alicentsgf]

Love love LOVE your post about how high level sports culture transfers into the wilderness environment in YJ and i think it can also apply to the survival/staying on the team aspect. I’m not a soccer player but i do a contact sport (competitive cheerleading) and when you get knocked down you can’t be down too long before you get up again. If you’re bleeding, bruised, or sick, tough shit, because you have to prove you can keep going in order to stay on the mat/field/whatever. making too many excuses for yourself even if it’s for “valid reasons” is a sign of weakness because you have to be willing to put yourself through pretty much any physical or mental discomfort in order to beat out the competition. if you’re not 100% dedicated to the game then you can’t win and there’s a certain amount of respect lost, even if you otherwise get along.

Specifically Jackie reminds me of girls i know from cheer who were made captains for personality reasons but had less of the inherent talent and drive to win than some others did. in a wilderness environment there’s no institution to protect her position of power so she loses the team’s loyalty pretty fast once it’s shown she’s not as ruthless as them

Tysm !! Yeah that was definitely the thing with Jackie. Her death became almost inevitable because she wasnt playing for the team anymore. Allie's fate is meant to foreshadow jackies - she wasnt keeping up, couldnt "play under pressure", so she gets literally 'frozen out'.

The thing is I personally dont think its that Jackie didnt have that ruthlessness, so much as she wasnt someone who could find motivation in the threat of loss. some people are like that, and in a competitive sports setting its a superpower rly. she always only let herself see the possible win and that spurred her on, not the threat of losing or the frustration of letting in a goal you shouldnt have. its why she was always the one able to rally the girls. its why she was captain. she could focus all that negative energy they had into a positive team outcome. you go two goals down in a first half you need a captain who can point out the positives and rally you to make a comeback against the odds, not one thats seething in the corner or barking at you for your mistakes. the circumstances of the wilderness and reading shaunas journal took that from jackie. she had nothing left, nothing to spur her on anymore, she was clearly depressed and convinced she was basically as good as dead already. as a striker when jackie lost the ball its wasnt necessarily expected that she'd be the one to win it back, shauna was her defensive mid, always there to pick up the pieces. jackie never learned how recover the ball and go again without her, so she dies.

Jackie put in the hours to be a good enough striker to take them to nationals when we know she canonically perhaps wasnt as naturally talented, fast, or technical as some of her teammates. to me that says something about her drive and ruthlessness on the field. she became captain because of that mindset. a positive, winning-focused mindset, that unfortunately just didnt translate to the wilderness well because 1) shaunas betrayal tore up her plans and hopes for the future, giving her nothing to fight for 2) this is an environment where the grudge/anger/threat-based mindsets thrive

[tagamantra]

realities, maximalism,and the need for big book™️

some gubat banwa design thoughts vomit: since the beginning of its development i've kind of been enraptured with trying to really go for "fiction-first" storytelling because PbtA games really are peak roleplaying for me, but as i wrote and realized that a lot of "fiction first" doesn't work without a proper sort of fictional foundation that everyone agrees on. this is good: this is why there are grounding principles, genre pillars, and other such things in many PbtA games--to guide that.

broken worlds is one of my favs bc of sheer vibes

Gubat Banwa didn't have much in that sense: sure, I use wuxia and xianxia as kind of guideposts, but they're not foundational, they're not pillars of the kind of fiction Gubat Banwa wants to raise up. there wasn't a lot in the sense of genre emulation or in the sense of grounding principles because so much of Gubat Banwa is built on stuff most TTRPG players haven't heard about. hell, it's stuff squirreled away in still being researched academic and anthropological circles, and thanks to the violence of colonialism, even fellow filipinos and seasians don't know about them

this is what brought me back to my ancient hyperfixations, the worlds of Exalted, Glorantha, Artesia, Fading Suns... all of them have these huge tomes of books that existed to put down this vast sprawling fantasy world, right? on top of that are the D&D campaign settings, the Dark Suns and the Eberrons. they were preoccupied in putting down setting, giving ways for people to interact with the world, and making the world alive as much as possible.

one of my main problems with gubat banwa was trying to convey this world that i've seen, glimpsed, dreamed of. this martial fantasy world of rajas and lakans, sailendras and tuns, satariyas and senapatis and panglimas and laksamanas and pandai... its a world that didn't really exist yet, and most references are steeped in either nationalism or lack of resources (slowly changing, now)

i didn't want to fall back into the whole gazeteer tourist kind of shit when it came to writing GB, but it necessitated that the primary guidelines of Gubat Banwa were set down. my approach to it was trying to instill every aspect of the text, from the systems to the fluff text to the way i wrote to the way things were phrased, with the essence of this world i'm trying to put forward. while i wrote GB mainly for me and fellow SEAsian people, economically my main market were those in the first world countries that could afford to buy the book. grokking the book was always going to be severely difficult for someone that didn't have similar cultures, or are uninterested in the complexities of human culture. thus why GB had to be a big book.

in contemporary indie ttrpg spaces (where I mostly float in, though i must admit i pay more attention to SEAsia spaces than the usual US spaces) the common opinion is that big books like Exalted 3e are old hat, or are somewhat inferior to games that can cram their text into short books. i used to be part of that camp--in capitalism, i never have enough time, after all. however, the books that do go big, that have no choice to go big, like Lancer RPG, Runequest, Mage, Exalted are usually the ones that have something really big it needs to tell you, and they might be able to perform the same amount of text-efficient bursting at the seams flavor writing but its still not enough.

thats what happened to GB, which I wanted to be, essentially, a PbtA+4e kind of experience, mechanically speaking. i very soon abandoned those titles when i delved deeper into research, incorporated actual 15th century divination tools in the mechanics, injected everything with Martial Arts flavor as we found our niche

all of this preamble to say that no matter how light i wanted to go with the game, i couldnt go too light or else people won't get it, or i might end up writing 1000 page long tome books explaining every detail of the setting so people get it right. this is why i went heavy on the vibes: its a ttrpg after all. its never gonna be finished.

i couldnt go too light because Gubat Banwa inherently exists on a different reality. think: to many 3 meals a day is the norm and the reality. you have to eat 3 meals a day to function properly. but this might just be a cultural norm of the majority culture, eventually co opted by capitalism to make it so that it can keep selling you things that are "breakfast food" or "dinner food" and whatnot. so its reality to some, while its not reality to others. of course, a lot of this reality-talk pertains mostly to social--there is often a singular shared physical reality we can usually experience*

Gubat Banwa has a different fabric of reality. it inherently has a different flow of things. water doesn't go down because of gravity, but because of the gods that make it move, for example. bad things happen to you because you weren't pious or you didn't do your rituals enough and now your whole community has to suffer. atoms aren't a thing in gb, thermodynamics isn't a real thing. the Laws of Gubat Banwa aren't these physical empirical things but these karmic consequent things

much of the fiction-first movement has a sort of "follow your common sense" mood to it. common sense (something also debatable among philosophers but i dont want to get into that) is mostly however tied to our physical and social realities. but GB is a fantasy world that inherently doesn't center those realities, it centers realities found in myth epics and folk tales and the margins of colonized "civilization", where lightnings can be summoned by oils and you will always get lost in the woods because you don't belong there.

so Gubat Banwa does almost triple duty: it must establish the world, it must establish the intended fiction that arises from that world, and then it must grant ways to enforce that fiction to retain immersion--these three are important to GB's game design because I believe that that game--if it is to not be a settler tourist bonanza--must force the player to contend with it and play with it within its own terms and its own rules. for SEAsians, there's not a lot of friction: we lived these terms and rules forever. don't whistle at night on a thursday, don't eat meat on Good Friday, clap your hands thrice after lighting an incense stick, don't make loud noise in the forests. we're born into that [social] reality

this is why fantasy is so important to me, it allows us to imagine a different reality. the reality (most of us) know right now (i say most of us because the reality in the provinces, the mountains, they're kinda different) is inherently informed by capitalist structures. many people that are angry at capitalist structures cannot fathom a world outside capitalist structures, there are even some leftists and communists that approach leftism and revolution through capitalism, which is inherently destructive (its what leads to reactionaries and liberalism after all). fantasy requires that you imagine something outside of right now. in essence read Ursula K Le Guin

i tweeted out recently that you could pretty easily play 15-16th century Luzon or Visayas with an OSR mechanic setting and William Henry Scott's BARANGAY: SIXTEENTH CENTURY PHILIPPINE CULTURE AND SOCIETY, and I think that's purely because barebones OSR mechanics stuff fits well with the raiding and adventuring that many did in 15-16th century Luzon/Visayas, but a lot of the mechanics wont be comign from OSR, but from Barangay, where you learn about the complicated marriage customs, the debt mechanics, the social classes and stratum...

so thats why GB needs to be a (relatively) big book, and why I can contend that some books need to be big as well--even if their mechanics are relatively easy and dont need more than that, the book, the game, might be trying to relay something even more, might be trying to convey something even more than that. artesia, for example, has its advancements inherently tied to its Tarot Cards, enforcing that the Arcana guides your destiny. runquest has its runes magic, mythras (which is kinda generic) has pretty specific kinds of magic systems that immediately inform the setting. this is why everything is informed by something (this is a common Buddhist principle, dependent arising). even the most generic D&D OSR game will have the trappings of the culture and norms of the one that wrote and worked on it. its written from their reality which might not necessarily be the one others experience. that's what lived experience is, after all

*live in the provinces for a while and you'll doubt this too!

[ganondoodle]

okay i typed this in a reply but i need to say this more detailed here too, the way totk dealt with horses (and stables) is bad and worse than botw imo (yes i can rant about that too, these weird choices are in every little spot in totk, its almost impressive)

in a game that lets you build cars and stupid flying maschines, towers that shoot you into the stratosphere AND teleporting points all over the place, the chance is already low that you use a horse- though i would be one of them bc i love horses and hate building and didnt find it fun at all-

(also i almost never used any parts i had with me bc you cant put them back and your dumb vehicles despawn as soon as you dont look at them- also a negative thing about that system that reinforces the feeling of actually using it being more punishing than rewarding with the added bonus of the good ol saving your health potions forever problem)

-and something i DID like was that you can have more horses and the ... one.. new color (the lil spots but only AFTER you do that one quest in the spy post)

the stable points seemed like a neat idea, but like so many things, are utterly cheatable, imo the system should have only given you a point when you visit a new stable, so you actually have to go around and visit them all

(also .. add new stables, like mini ones or sth that dont offer beds- you dont need that anyway- so you have more places in which you can get them ... why did they remove some of them anyway, shouldn there be MORE now that the land is supposedly healing/being repaired? especially the one next to the big canyon, its so empty there it would have the perfect place for sth like a new settlement or a big boss arena but no its more empty than it was before, why?? and then putting yet another repeating annoying quest there in that weirld empty place?? i just dont get it)

letting you farm points by sleeping at a stable or bringing in a horse gives you LESS incentive to actually go around the world bc you can just farm it there

(and if that was done so youd 'discover' the malanya talks to you in your sleep 'secret' ... that is literally told to you, and if its bc you dont want to force players to go around and find every stable to get all those rewards ... why do you have 140 or whatver caves then with the majority of them being the literal same thing over and over ... to make people actually use the sleeping thing there? .. why, who uses that anyway, and farming points by sleeping there .. what the hell does that add? AND THEN the stupid sleep over tickets, probably the most nothign reward ever, dont count?? i dont think i ever used one- it just all doesnt make any sense, everything plays against each other)

the upgrading system for your horse is .. once again, a neat idea horribly executed, you have to go find malanya to upgrade them, and similarly stupidly like the fairies, they only tell you what food you need for what upgrade when you are there .. or when you are sleeping in the special tm bed at a stable, randomly, one food, bc the quantity changes too

which is just so ??????????? let me go and do a quest that rewards you with a lil booklet in which you can look up what an upgrade costs, or let the stables have that, either as a list or in the menu when selecting a horse or something?? (also why the hell is malanya in a different spot anyway, like, it feels like a modder just plopped them over there, their og spot is just empty now - except for yet again a stupid filler quest for .. another big horse and a yaaaaaaaaays crystal shrine quest- ... the spot is even still called spring of the horse god .... its so stupid, just like the fairy shuffling around, like you really couldnt think of a better way to reuse that concept other than to ... move it to a different spot in the same map and map level???? and not change anything in their og spot except idk, put a hole in the map ... for one of them like .. its like they moved them around last minute just to have the semblance of things being 'changed' with no regard what makes a change actually feel like one and what just feels like, pick up thing, click on random spot on map, drop thing- its like that for the fairies and shrines too, its so dumb and .. feels disrepectful to botw and how much thought seemed to have went into these spots that were clearly built about those things)

and like it couldnt get WORSE, they cut off the paths that horses follow automatically with one of those miasma buttholes (sorry its just a hole cut into the map, it doesnt even look like miasma burst through, it just .. cut out) a monster camp (that RESPAWNS, i thought those camps you clear with a quest would stay clear, but that would make sense, so of course it respawns and you can do the frame rate killer quest over and over yippieee) or otherwise like, with a big rock or a broken bridge-

and there is NO WAY to create a new path or fix or move anything in a game ABOUT BUILDING supposedly, like you needed more reasons to never use a horse????? i liked jsut hopping on and letting them follow a path and chill looking at the landscape, you cant do this here, and you cant even excuse it with 'its bc of the theme' as in, stuff is destroyed bc calamity 1.5 or whatever bc nothing in the game makes it feel like theres anything actually at stake, but the real crime is to make it not be fixable. WHY??? link moves entire buildings with ease but cant move one freaking rock that fell into a river?????? you swing around logs like a club but cant fix a bridge so your horse can get over it??????????????????????????????

[nocturnal-phantoms-fandoms]

Polish Marauders - Where would they be from?

A breakdown of each Marauders Era Character possible place of residence/origin, had they all been Polish, that nobody asked for.

(partially inspired by @lilacella world wide moodboards, that reminded me that 2 years ago my mutuals played this little game “what if the marauders where from X country”. I think I have finally matured enough to actually make such a post)

Starting with the easiest one:

Sirius

Sloth’s Polrius™ is from Warsaw and obviously I agree with this assessment. He needs to be from The Big Important City.

However I do like the idea that he moves (at least temporarily) to Poznań, which has been dubbed Poland’s “queer capital�� by some people.

He moves out the moment he gets the chance - to get away from his family, to meet new people, and to finally get to know himself (this is a pun. the name of the city might be coming from the verb “poznać” which means “to get to know” - someone or something knew, oneself, etc - or "to recognize")

Things Poznań is known for include: St. Martin's croissants, City Hall and its Goats (all pictured below), Pyrkon (fan convention; its name draws from the poznanian word for potato: pyra), funny dialect (see: pyra)

James

(this one is based on my assumption that James’s parents lived in Godrics Hollow as well, before James and Lily got married)

Godrics Hollow could be Gryfice or Gryfino (both small towns) near Szczecin. They take their names from the Griffin dynasty also known as House of Griffin that was founded in the 12th century. Both towns, most counties and the whole province have red griffins in their coats of arms.

You know. Like Godric Gryffindor?

Anyways.

Gryfino is right next to the Enchanted Crooked Forest and I mean. Just look at that. It does look like a Harry Potter location.

(I like the name of Gryfice better but Gryfino is located closer to the Crooked Forest, so Im sticking with that one)

Now things are getting a bit less straightforward.

Lily and Severus

For them I have 2 suggestions.:

Łódź - used to be the industrial centre with many textile factories. Since the name of Spinner’s End hints at the involvement in textile production - either cotton or wool spinning - this impression of Cokeworth being involved with textile industry stuck with me (tho I dont think we are ever told what was Cokeworth actually producing). However, Łódź is the 4th biggest city, not a small town like Cokeworth, and isnt as much of the textile industry anymore.

(Upper) Silesia - the other highly industrialised region, focused on mining (mostly coal), metalurgy etc. It has its own regional language called Silesian (I am not a linguist so idk whats the status of Silesian - some say its a dialect, some say its a separate regional language and are currently trying to get it recognised as such. idk its complicated (like everything about Silesia tbh). you can read some articles on wikipedia in silesian tho.). It fits the Cokeworth vibe a bit better, but it could also be compared to Wales (region focused on mining ✅ has a distinct dialect/language ✅ complicated history/relationship regarding the country/state its a part of ✅)

(with this one I ran out of creative juices and couldnt find any nice photos on unsplash or wikipedia so I used the posters by Ryszard Kaja. side note: Katowice is the capital city of the Silesian Province but its not the only province that can be referred to when talking about Silesia. like I said its complicated)

Remus

While trying to decide where he could be from, my first thought was: he has to be from the south of Poland - in that case, Sirius and James can make fun of the way he speaks (it doesnt matter how strong or noticeable one’s dialect is, I feel like southerners will always be made fun of). If Remus is from a town/village in the south he can hate on Warsaw people bc thats the preferable pastime of people not from Warsaw apparently (this also applies to Lily and Severus ofc)

So.

If we assume that Wales = Silesia (only for the purposes of this tumblr post!), then he can be from Silesia (as I mentioned: mining ✅ distinct dialect/language ✅ kind of a separate-ish region ✅)

But. If we want to lean into the sheep aspect of Wales (rather than the coal mining aspect) I would suggest Podhale - one of the mountain regions in the south. It is big on sheep ✅ has a rather noticeable dialect ✅ and having lots of sheep means: lots of woollen sweaters ✅ (crucial for Remus characterisation in any and all AUs)

other points for your consideration:

there is a breed of shepherd dogs originating from this region (Tatra Shepherd Dog, in polish: Owczarek Podhalański) (its quite large but sadly white not black like Padfoot. i still think it counts for Wolfstar points)

there is a fanart of Remus (and Lily) inspired by folk attire from Podhale region

pictured: Morskie Oko (in English: Eye of the Sea) also included in @polaroidcats Remus moodboard for my Erasmus AU; oscypek - regional smoked cheese from sheep milk; folk attire from Podhale region from this postcard, Tatra Shepherd Dog and Zakopane Style architecture (Zakopane is one of the main towns of the Podhale region)

Peter

I genuinely have no idea. We have no canon info that I could base any headcanons on. lets not talk about how I initially forgot about him all together. There are a few towns that used to be made fun of for no reason, so maybe he could be from one of them for the meme sake? I dont know

Hogwarts

How do they all meet? In Poland people would rather go to local high schools (as in: within their province). But if we want to gather people from all over the country our best shot is a university - and the oldest one is the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Cracow) founded in 1364.

ending notes

Im not worrying about the details or technicalities now, like how do they meet if they pick different majors at the uni (because then their classes won’t even share buildings). This is just a silly headcanon post that took me way too long to put together than it should

Im sorry if I disappointed anyone by not including more characters. I said "Marauders Era Character" instead of just "Marauders" bc I wanted to include Lily and Severus too. I dont know where I would place any other characters bc in most cases I dont have enough info (like with Peter...)

I hope Im not spreading any misinformation with this post. I wish I could say more on the topic of dialects and regional langauges and explain how it all works in Poland but im not a linguist and dont feel qualified enough lol

Poland is divided into Województwa which is anglicised as Voivodeships. However I decided to refer to them as “provinces”, even if thats not the correct term, for simplicity/brevity sake

all photos (unless stated otherwise) are from either unsplash.com or wikipedia. and yes i made all the moodboards

[thatdeadaquarius]

That language SAGAU but the Reader can only communicate writing on paper.

Either the Reader is mute and they (characters) don't know/understand sign language or they somehow lost their voices on their transmigration to Teyvat and can only write now. But the characters are left trying to decipher what the Reader wrote.

Examples:

Kaeya: "I may say, that was very unexpected your grace. One such as yourself should be more aware of who you are."

Reader: "wat, y u sayin dat?"

×

Gorou: "Oh, your grace! Careful now. I am most certain that you stepped on something unsightly right now. Let me clean your feet, your grace."

Reader: "r u srs rn? Fml"

Ooooo, this is nice, this is niiccceeee /ref

this would be the energy⬇️

Man I love this show, I gotta finish it (it’s Komi Can’t Communicate for those who want to see it) where she basically is too shy/introverted to speak (non-verbal neurospicy it seems like to me actually lol) and really wants to make friends and do normal things despite not speaking, her main way of communicating is writing (and her first guy friend who can just read her facial/body language really well lmao)!!

☆

Sun: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them)

Planet: Headcanons-ish?

Stars: dashes/mention of most characters

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: Reader/”you” are mute/lost their voice, & Trigger Warnings: None Known.

☆

This kinda falls into that post I made abt texting lingo, abt us being nigh incomprehensible when using texting lang. (its basically a code lol)

but i think it’s always neat to see nonverbal rep so here we are (also i think imma go ahead and say it is both selectively mute but also enforced by video game laws!)

u know a good explanation would be for this is actually abt how we technically are only allowed to freely communicate when we’re in chats,

so I could see that still being the only way we can commnicate in Teyvat (look am i little excited abt taking “video game world” a little too literally in every genshin AU ever- maybe.)

tbh i could see so many allogenes having to either learn to make room for you in convos and u also having to get wayyy more expressive in body language/facial expressions

tbh i think itd be pretty easy to get ur meaning, like in a battle or smth fast-paced where u couldnt write, like how Tinker Bell can?

if u dont know what i mean just search “tinkerbell scenes peter pan” on youtube and u can see ppl just having a full conversation with no words with her, which i think would deffo happen with ppl like Kaeya, Lisa, Lumine, Venti, Heizou, Ayato, Yae Miko, Thoma, Beidou and Itto surprisingly i could see it (ppl in the distance just think theyre all talking to themselves sometimes when ur not as visible hehe)

OMG they get u nice gifts for writing all the time, like the newest compact pens from Fontaine, the finest small, medium, and large notebooks from Inazuma,

like a little compact pocketbook so u can easily fit it in pockets!

u know Im absolutely sure you could literally start the texting appreviation trend in Tevyat like this-

like just so it’s easier to communicate with you, a lot of people are willing to adapt/take on abbreviations like “ttyl, gtg, wth, lol, lmao” even stuff like “etc”

lol u start a whole trend in the writing letters business, hehe silly medieval Teyvat is silly and medieval

yknow I think the quieter vision users would definitely find you to be peaceful to be around and easy to understand just with writing (also deffo most likely to adore the soft moments together of just ur pen scribbling and the sounds of nature or a cafe or something around them),

tbh i also think these ppl would be motivated to talk to you alone, or get you away to just talk the two of you for all the reasons above, like Xiao, Aether, Kazuha, Ayaka, Chongyun, Zhongli, Diluc, Sayu, Ei, Sucrose, Eula, Ganyu, Ningguang, Tighnari, Alhaitham omg he might literally be able to take his headphones off around u bc youd be in such quiet spaces all the time, and bc u dont talk he doesn’t have to worry abt u getting loud either lmao

…and then ofc, there’s the bitches that try and guess what ur writing ahead of timeeee 😭

bein all like, “Uh… you.. would like.. to go to… a restaurant… to get some- OH OH I got this one this time! Some pita pockets! …Oh. A drink. Right. Sorry, again.”

definitely Itto, Cyno, Heizou, Xingqiu, Fischl, Amber, Collei, Dehya, Wanderer, Childe, Venti, Keqing (she just used to being fast ok), Kaveh lmao

☆

I hope my reply was a little fun!! THANK U FOR SENDING THIS I LOVE THIS SM!! Man it’s so hard to make you feel my appreciation for this idea thru the damn screen

like how do i send a virtual hug

ANYWAY, if you or anybody else had an idea for celebrating 1000 followers lmk bc i am STRUGGLING with this same issue for that,

like how to make u guys feel my love 😩 ❤️‍🔥

☆

Safe travels ignihideous,

💀♒

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonderss / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi

[smash-64]

Best part of the review was this

Games I played 2023 - Part 1

As yet another year closes, I have been looking back at the games I’ve played over the year, and spent about a month trying to write them up. I feel like I got the system down for this, as it’s a fun tradition I’m glad my friends have encouraged. With refinement of my note-taking, and being heavily opinionated, comes very lengthy retrospectives/reviews. So elongated, in fact, that I need to split this year’s goty list into two parts. It didn’t feel like I played many more games than I have in previous years, but I certainly have a lot to say. Also, I skipped my Resi breakdowns last year for reasons you can read about when I post it, but it’s back this year >:)

I’m still not sure what to call these, but I lean more towards retrospective- so be warned! Spoilers of varying degree and strong opinions moving forward.

~~~

Hitman: World of Assassination Trilogy, PS4

So... IOI did a complete overhaul of the Hitman trilogy, renaming it the World of Assassination trilogy, and streamlining all purchases to two primary options - base game and DLC. No more complicated bullshit! (Also their patch notes were some of the most entertaining I have ever read lmao) One thing that came with this massive overhaul was that everyone who has the base game can now access a few things - for free - that you couldn't before. Mainly, the freelancer mode. With this mode, we have access to 3 of the DLC maps and get to play a campaign that's a kind of mix between the story campaign and elusive target mode. Elusive Target missions are ones I didn’t really cover in last year’s review, and that’s because I didn’t play them enough to feel I should speak on them lmao.

In the elusive target mode, you're given a brief with a target to kill, dropped into the map, and you have to find and kill the target with no further assistance. It was pretty fun, but they are tied to real time- in that there is something like a 3 day window to take on the elusive target, and once it's over you can't retry. If you die, you're locked out from attempting again. It's a one and done kinda thing. I appreciate that- it makes the stakes much higher and places a huge focus on the stealth and recon aspects in particular; especially due to the fact that you cannot use your hitman senses to highlight the target in this mode. However, getting only one chance is a little sad, as the first few times I played last year felt a little discouraging when I’d made a simple mistake (or even had my controller give up on me) and I’d be locked out from trying until the next mission drops. And while I appreciate the ‘real time’ sense of these missions… Man, it just sucks if you’re an adult who gets busy between work and life and just don’t have an hour or two to sit and dedicate to figuring out these targets within the allotted time. They’re really fun challenges and it just seems like a bit of a shame that the accessibility I’m whining about goes directly against the point of these missions in the first place lmao. There is still a gallery where you can replay old elusive targets, but I haven't played that much... Cause what I have been addicted to, is the freelancer mode.

Compared to the story mode, in freelancer mode, you don’t have any story missions to help guide you into setting up a kill. And, just like the elusive targets, the stakes are higher and more self driven – you need to take down syndicate members in various levels leading up to a ‘boss’ level, where you’re required to pick out the syndicate leader based on limited intel and kill them.

It’s fantastic.

As I’ve played through the year, I’ve seriously levelled up the way that I play and approach kills. At the start of the year when this mode just dropped and I was utterly addicted to it, I sucked so bad and often had to restart campaigns after fumbling too badly – and I didn’t care! It was still super fun and it felt like I was learning more about the way the game worked so that I’d be more prepared for next time.

The targets aren't the same as the main story campaign the elusive targets; in the missions leading up to the syndicate leader, your targets are just randomly selected NPCs. When you do get to the leaders, they're more similar to the story targets, but due to there being so many (with the intent to confuse you and make you more observant while you identify the correct person) and them not being as basic as an NPC, there's still that free-er feeling as you play. It's honestly up to your creativity with tools/items/weapons and your knowledge of the levels to be able to pull these off. Some levels I’d be able to speed through in under 10min, others would take over an hour, or anywhere in between. Levels that I really enjoy, and therefore know pretty well by now, are SUPER fun to play because I already know the floorplan, I just need to figure out how to get to my target and how I'm going to kill them. It's completely up to you if you wanna try and get through it without getting caught, or try and make a mad dash after making some VERY public executions. While freelancer mode is very free-form, there are also mission objectives that reward bonus xp and currency for completing. Each level will have three objectives based on the type of syndicate you’re fighting, and a special objective you choose before each level. These are all optional, but in hard mode, the special objective becomes compulsory. I quite enjoy this, and I’ll often pick campaigns based on what maps and objectives I’ll be tasked with and strategise around that.

The other massive thing within freelancer is that you have a hub. A really nice hub. Its a big swanky house in the middle of nowhere, and the more you progress and gain xp, the more you get to play interior decorator. The focus of the place is the weapons storage area, which is where you’ll also be selecting and setting up your missions. Any weapons and items with rarity that you find or buy while out on missions will be taken back home and stored for later, and as you unlock and dress up other areas of your house, some tools and items will be lying around for you to take with you too. These are things like gardening tools, a stethoscope to be used as a fibre wire or a banana to help create distractions and accidents. It was really fun to work hard and bring home a bunch of awesome weapons, and it really hurt when I failed and lost all of my favourite gear.

I believe this is my first time playing a rougue-like style game, and once I got a grasp on how it generated targets, it was incredibly addicting. I also found it quite fun to play through the handful of DLC levels that are freely available here, as I haven’t bought the DLC and played through their missions yet myself. One of my favourite maps to play was the Bank in New York, and I quickly found a little exploit that I loved using. You usually spawned in the underground parking garage near the security room and the vault, and on the wall next to the security room was a locked cabinet with a bottle of chloroform. You could start every level by gassing all the security guards in the room by pouring chloroform in their air conditioning filter, pinch the vault keycards and unlock it, and then treat yourself to a nice handful of the in-game currency. Like, you could pick up 3 coins that were worth a couple hundred dollars each, and then pull the server and wire a couple thousand to yourself, and all before you actually started killing anyone. Unfortunately, about halfway through the year, this was ‘corrected’ by devs and there’s no longer chloroform near the security, and no more coins. I don’t know if its just misremembering, but I swear that it’s a little harder to get into the vault now too. I get it, sanctity of the game and whatever but… this is a completely single player mode. There was a patch added to change the wording of the stock market thing you unlock in your personal vault at home to make it clearer that you’re essentially playing a coin toss where you could lose most the money you’ve accumulated, but thats another element that has the potential to give you heaps of money if you’re lucky. This isn’t a huge and genuine complaint, but it is annoying and I miss starting off my bank missions by looting the vault. I still loot it almost every time I play, but it doesn’t hit the same anymore…

Anyway, all this to say that the new freelancer mode is awesome and that I’ve been having fun playing it all through the year. I’ve also been slowly chipping away at hidden objectives and such during the story campaign, which has been interesting. There’s so many ways to set up kills for all of the targets, and there’s heaps of funny easter eggs to unlock too. I also wanna mention how much I appreciate the sound design of the game, the game actually does a great job at communicating info with the audio cues – so much so, that when trying to play the game muted while I’m on the phone with a friend, I fail miserably because I’m missing important cues without that audio.

Overall, this has been a game that I’ve been playing a lot over the past two years now, and I enjoy heaps. It’d definitely crept up towards the top of my personal favourites, and I can’t wait to keep playing more.

Freelancer Safe house Theme

Safe house Outdoors

~~~

Mario’s Super Picross, SNES

I mostly played this around the Christmas and New Years period last year, struggling and losing my mind in the summer heat! (It reached 40°!! I don’t have air conditioning in my apartment it was hell!!! And we can expect similar this year!!!! I hate summer!!!!!)

I really like picross as a concept, it’s like if sudoku had a baby with colour by number puzzles. It’s simple! And it allows for some pretty challenging puzzles, especially when you get to bigger canvases.

Mario Picross was fun enough, and the unlockable Wario Picross was certainly a challenge! I just felt a bit disappointed by the fact that all the puzzles were just random things, and nothing related to or even resembling anything Mario. Like?? I dunno, it think it would’ve been fun to have the puzzles be the sprites of various items and characters from Mario games, and even recreating scenes from certain Mario levels in the larger puzzles. The only Mario element here is that the man himself congratulates you at the completion of every level, which is nice, but man. I really wish I could’ve been filling out a mushroom or a power star or something, that would’ve been fun.

The general UI and controls were fine, but I still like the Twilight Princess Picross the most out of all. Also the music was kind of annoying, so I barely played with volume. I’d just have my switch on the couch and play muted while I watched video essays or Bob’s Burgers lol. The exception is Wario Puzzle 1, CERTIFIED BANGER!

There’s not much more I can really say. If you’ve played Picross, you know what to expect. It’s a good brain teaser, I wish it was Mario themed instead of random general stuff, but it was fine. I played it and enjoyed it for the most part.

Wario Puzzle 1

~~~

Nonograms Prophecy, Switch

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, IT IS A SCAM. IT IS ACTIVELY HOSTILE TO PICROSS PLAYERS AND CONTAINED PUZZLES THAT WERE UNSOLVABLE.

I initially bought this as a cheeky little impulse buy for my birthday. I like picross, what can I say? It was on sale on the switch store and I took it as a sign – unfortunately, it was a bad one.

At first glance it is a pretty simple, if bland, Greek God aesthetic in a black and gold cut out style. I’ve never really been particularly interested in the mythos, and never more than a passing interest- but this is literally just using the aesthetic for a game that has absolutely nothing to do with Greece or it’s religious historical culture.

Same goes with the soundtrack, a nice and simple acoustic guitar, but it is the ONLY song in the entire game.

Onto gameplay; due to the limited colours, it was incredibly difficult to see which square I was hovering over to mark, and when the numbers are greyed out they are practically invisible due to the value being almost the same as the background colour it is on top of. To make matters worse, the numbers grey out arbitrarily, which fucks up the literal point of playing the game. How are you supposed to play the puzzle if you can’t see the number of squares you’re supposed to fill out?

There’s also little things that should be standard on all modern digital versions of picross that are absent or poorly implemented here. You can’t press and hold to fill in multiple tiles, you cant x out a square you’ve coloured and instead have to clear it first and then x it out (and vice versa, why add that extra step in?) and the coloured puzzles have multiple of the exact same colour, with the only difference being inside the code and not visible to the player. How am I supposed to know which of the THREE SEPERATE BUT IDENTICAL SHADES OF PINK I’ve placed in the wrong pink zone?

There are some things that were interesting qol, like when filling out a chain of squares, a number would appear to show you how many you have filled. This would be an interesting and helpful addition to gameplay IF IT WORKED CORRECTLY. There was also an option to fill out an entire row with the L+R buttons, if it was one that had to be completely filled. That’s about the only thing in here that worked and was appreciated.

I gave up when getting past the piss easy early levels, and then realising that the puzzles were fundamentally broken and showing an incorrect number of tiles to fill. It was so shit, and this was noticed on my second or third day of playing, so I contacted Nintendo for a refund. I don’t usually ask for refunds, but this time I did.

Fuck this game, put effort into making a real picross before putting it on the eshop, fuckers.

~~~

Zelda Picross, 3DS

I’m pretty sure this is a fangame, and considering that – it’s pretty nice! Though, I am of the opinion this would be better on PC, as there were times where I could barely see the details of the puzzle, despite playing on a 3DS XL.

The whole game looks like a mix between the SNES and GameBoy Zelda aesthetics, with covers of various songs across the series in a similar sound. It definitely feels like a passion project, and for that, I can only commend it.

Now, onto the meat of it. This is actually a solid Picross, and a great taste to wash my mouth out with after the shit I had to get refunded. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it was good fun and I enjoyed my time with it, which is all that matters, right?

To play each level, there is an over world where you select and unlock levels to progress further. And, surprise surprise, the puzzles you fill out are all generally related to the Legend of Zelda! This traversal made it kind of feel like a massive Zelda dungeon, which was really fun! Another charming aspect is that you have hearts- except instead of enemies attacking you, you lose a heart every time you hit an incorrect square. I actually really liked this, as it feels so linked to Zelda, but also feels appropriate here. As you progress, you can unlock more hearts too, which is helpful for the boss levels. They entail two large back-to-back puzzles- which means if you use up most your hearts fumbling in the first boss puzzle, you better be extra sure you know what you’re doing in the second. To get to the bosses and unlock more paths, you’ll often have to travel through the over world maps and collect items. To unlock them, you’ll need to solve a picross puzzle depicting the item you’ll be getting. THAT’S ALL I WANT BABBBEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!

Apart from it getting a little cramped and hard to read in later levels, my only other criticisms are that the colour palettes are pretty muted and a bit bland looking, which can be detrimental in some levels. Each of the puzzles have a different theming based on where you are, which is a great touch- but on levels like the ones in Death Mountain, there’s not enough visual change to tell the difference between filled and unfilled squares. Some are worse than others, but I think forgoing some of the fancy details here for readabilities sake would’ve worked in their favour. There’s nothing wrong with having cute details and art in the borders and background, but I think it ended up being too cluttered as it is currently. Another part that got a little frustrating, particularly near the end, what that the cursor doesn’t stand out enough and I get lost! I can’t see it most of the time, there’s not enough contrast for it to stand out, and even with the rows and columns highlighted, I’d still fudge choices cause I’m one square off!

Overall, considering my main issues with this game are that it’s visually not polished enough for my tastes, I’d say this was a pretty great game. I had a lot of fun playing, and it reignited my old ideas to make a pircoss fan game of my own someday… I’d honestly recommend playing just for the interesting way they’ve presented adventure mode, it was really good!

~~~

My Nintendo Picross - The Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess, 3DS

Ahhh… My favourite picross game…

There is just a certain polish to this game that makes it stand out above the rest for me. I don’t feel like I even have to say much- you just read my other reviews. You know what I’ve complained about, and the kind of things I value in a picross game. I’m sure you can assume this one is pretty good.

I don’t really care for the second mode here where the numbers are semi obscured by covering two rows and columns, instead of each set of numbers being their own. It’s playable, but not my favourite, I vastly prefer the classic picross experience. That said, I would’ve loved more than just one level of the massive level, as it was quite fun to zoom in onto chunks and solve a picross that is just one square of a larger one.

Controls handle well and feel intuitive, the puzzles are fun and fit the theme. I like this game a lot.

Tutorial / Inside a House

Hyrule Field Main Theme

Ganondorf Main Theme

~~~

Castlevania, NES

This has got to be the most fun I’ve had with an NES game… like, ever. I thoroughly enjoyed so much about it, and in a way I feel that it reinvigorated my love for video games.

Despite not knowing what to do for the first few hours that I was playing, and not realising I could save within the collection I’ve been playing on to pause and pick up later, I didn’t care that I kept starting over every time I jumped back into the game. It’s a classic 80’s game, after all. How else are you supposed to play if you don’t continually replay the early levels as you try to push forward a few more screens?

However, I am glad for modern conventions like state saves and the like, as although I was loving it, I do have sensitive eyes and was struggling to play for my usual extended gaming sessions. Towards the end of my playthrough, I took advantage of save states and a few cheeky walkthroughs to get the best experience, as the game IS filled with a bunch of 80s bullshit, too.

The plot is VERY simple, and that’s something I enjoyed- as though there wasn’t much text (or subtext, for that matter) it was easy enough to follow along with. Dracula is the big bad, and we gotta storm his castle and take him and his monsters out! The visuals of the game are more detailed than I expected them to be, filled with a charming mix of monster movie and early gothic horror styles. While simple, the sprites for both Simon Belmont and the various enemies and bosses you encounter are filled with character, and with backgrounds that were filled with details- I only wish I could’ve played this on a CRT to experience the full depth! I find the CRT filters on LCD TV’s never truly mimic the way the pixels would bend and blur on those old screens, and simply opt for simple scan-line overlays that barely cut it.

As expected for a controller that consisted of basically a d-pad and two action buttons, the controls for this game are stupidly simple. This didn’t stop it from having an interesting weapons system, one that was surprisingly more complex than I initially understood it to be! Your main attack is your trusty whip, which can be upgraded a few times to have a longer reach, which is SUPREMELY helpful, and definitely felt when it’s taken away as you get hurt. The other method of attacking is via the subweapon system, which drop at various points from enemies or interactable elements of the levels. Along the way, you can collect hearts that are dropped- but these are not health. This took me a bit to figure out, as I kept dying and wondering why my health was so whack if I had been collecting so many hearts! Turns out, the hearts are more of an ammo counter for your subweapons. Once I figured this out, it really changed the way I approached the combat, and soon figured out which subweapons I enjoyed the most. I really liked the range of throwing the crosses like boomerangs across the screen, and throwing holy water to stun enemies while I whipped the hell out of them. There’s a bunch of other subweapons, those were just what I used most often, but it leaves room to experiment with what you want to keep on you, or where you want to swap out as you come across more subweapons. The more I played, the more I began to build strategies around what kinds of subweapons I had, and found that this system is actually a lot more nuanced than I assumed it to be in my early hours of play! Btw, if you want health, instead of hearts, you need to find a delicious roast leg in secret compartments in the wall. Mmmmmmm wall meat~

While the combat makes up the ‘action’ part of this game, the other part of it is platforming. Now, I really liked it once I got a feel for the controls, but it IS filled with a good dose of 80’s jank that is hard to get used to with modern gaming fingers. However, maybe it’s just because I am a cranky gamer, or because I grew up playing stuff of this era from my dad’s hand-me-downs… I loved the platforming here! I wanna reiterate just how detail filled the locations are, as it’s just dripping with character and creates a fun atmosphere to platform across. Although some stages had areas that were difficult to figure out what exactly was part of the platform I could walk across, you start to pick up cues and understand the visual language the devs are talking in. The platforming was a genuine challenge, there were times where I felt that 80s jank getting in my way, but there were also plenty of times where I felt I was so close, and that I just messed up what I was supposed to do. It helped that I could change the window boxed borders around the game, and had the gorgeous illustrated game cover to the side. It was me and Belmont’s mini skirt against the world!

And, it would be remiss of me to go this whole review without mentioning the music. IT’S GORGEOUS. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW HARD IT WAS TO JUST CHOOSE 3 SONGS TO LINK AT THE END, THERE’S SO MANY INTERESTING TRACKS!! Considering the limitations of the 8-bit era, there is such a depth and masterful composition to these songs that it was a genuine treat to listen to. Of course I’ll be linking the classic Vampire Killer, but for such a small OST, there are so many bangers! It was so nice hearing familiar motifs across various songs, and honestly just fun hearing what I consider to be amongst the best of NES’ sound. I feel like I could listen to some of these tracks for hours, but I already have with how much I spent in some levels!

Maybe this earlier era of gaming is just something easier for me to connect with quickly, but I can confidently say that I have no nostalgia clouding my vision, as I never got the chance to play this growing up. It’s something that I always wanted to play, and it’s a series that has come to mean a lot to me the more I play and learn about it- but seriously. What a game. It’s difficult, but not in a way that makes it impossible to just pick up and start playing. If you want a challenge, and haven’t already, I cannot recommend this game enough.

Stage 01 Vampire Killer

Stage 13 Heart of Fire

Stage 16 Out of Time

~~~

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, NES

This game fucking sucks. I love it.

In a similar style to Zelda II being a strange semi-rpg side scroller, Simon’s Quest is a bit of a departure from the simple action platformer it’s predecessor was. Though, I’d argue that this strange shake up feels more at home here than it did in Zelda II, as Castlevania was already a side scrolling game. Expanding it to exploring a whole world instead of exclusively Dracula's Castle is an interesting step, and despite the fumbling that is mainly down to poor translation and console limitations – this game was a surprising hit for me.

We continue on from the last game, following Simon as he deals with a curse placed upon him in the previous game when he defeated Dracula. To lift the curse, we must travel across the lands and retrieve Dracula’s body parts in the hopes that reassembling and defeating him once and for all will cure Simon. To do this, we must travel the land and find helpful hints and items within the various villages scattered about, and fight our way through the castles of Dracula’s loyal followers, who guard his body parts from people like Simon. The clearest way that the curse shows itself in this game through the day/night cycle, where enemies are twice as strong (or Belmont’s twice as weak), zombie-like creatures invade the villages, and all the villagers lock themselves away. I find this so fascinating because the sheer ambition of this narrative style is really pushing the limits of the NES – whether or not it was successful is to be elaborated on, but they tried and I love that.

This leads me to the perfect place to start discussing the gameplay itself, which is… ehhh… a bit of a mixed bag. As I just mentioned, the transitions from day to night are ambitious- but not great in practice. The cycle lasts about 3 minutes real time, which is far too frequent and actively destroys any and all pacing or momentum you have going. It also feels disproportionate for a cycle, the nights drag on FOREVER and the days barely last. It especially sucked when I was trying to get to a specific town with the express purpose of trying to talk with someone or buy something, only for it to turn to night just as I’d arrived. It’s just so poorly implemented due to the hardware limitations, and regardless how interesting or narratively involved it is, I’d estimate a good third of my playthrough was spent sitting in a village corner away from beasties and writing notes for this very write-up. This is THE biggest roadblock that turns people off this game, followed closely by the piss poor translation – which is a shame, because if you’re willing to trudge through all it’s failings, I actually think this is an awesome game.

There were definitely moments where I really got into this game, and even spent time thinking about it when I wasn’t playing. The enemy sprites are so cool and expressive for 8-bit, the music is even more banging (who doesn’t love bloody tears!) and there are occasional clever things to do that make it easier to progress, like throwing holy water to see where the false floors are. I also appreciated ‘quests’ like the crystal exchange, it was easy enough to follow despite the weird translation, and it was very clear that I was supposed to buy and trade them once I came across villagers who adamantly DIDN’T want to trade with my lame ass crystal. Even things as simple as coming across the house where you find the morning star merchant was really fun – I never played this as a kid, but that moment felt like a shot of pure nostalgia.

As I mentioned earlier, the translation fucking sucks here; which sucks even more because this has a few rpg elements thrown in, so it is important to actually talk to villagers and see what they have to say. One of the most well known things about this game is the botched translation regarding the red crystal; where, in the Japanese text it was clearer that to activate it and progress, you need to equip it and hold down in the right place. In English, it’s utter nonsense, and I only knew what to do as I had knowledge of this exact scenario. I wish it was translated clearer, as I had already figured out that pressing down was a good way to use the shield, and would bounce back fireballs if I stood still. It already had set up an understanding of the kind of button inputs to use with items, so it’s a shame that the instructions on what to was botched. There were some characters that had funny things to say through the strange choice in words, and I found it particularly amusing going through the village where everyone hates you. I keep repeating it, but I just need to keep saying it, I WISH THE TRANSLATION WAS BETTER. I’d recommend looking up fan translations/translation notes, as there’s a fascinating discrepancy between the two, and the JP version was more successful at setting up a certain tone and vibe amongst the villagers that helped get it just that much closer to successfully pulling off their ambitious ideas.

I can say for certain that the music helped tremendously, and this maaaaayyyyyy be my favourite soundtrack out of the trilogy. Let me replay it a thousand more times and I’ll get back to you. There’s such a bombastic feeling to the tracks when you’re walking around during the day, and at night it feels a little more subdued, but still in a kind of action-oriented way, if that makes sense. It’s dangerous for Simon to be out at night with his curse, but it’s still dangerous for the enemies at the other end of his morning star whip. I also liked the kind of eerie and adventurous vibes the castle themes have- I linked castle 1 cause its a banger, but if you’d be so inclined to check out castle 2, highly recommend.

Platforming in the game is pretty much the same as in Castlevania I, though there were more sections that felt like classic 80s bullshit. I even got stuck in a really weird spot and I found it quite amusing. It sucks a bit that water is an insta death, especially when there are some precarious platforms to jump across, but it wasn’t so bad. With regards to dying, I’m not sure I fully understand it, as you seemingly get three chances before you’re given a game over with the choice to continue. Continuing respawns you where you died, which is great, and the L is that your hearts are reset as punishment for sucking. That’s fine with me, as you’ll quickly rack up the hearts you need again when killing enemies, especially when you have the morning star, as there’s not much else to do during the night.

Before I get into the endgame stuff, I should talk about the rpg shit that’s here. When you kill enemies, you get hearts and experience points. You can level up in every castle, and doing so will expand your health and defence. There are also merchants in most towns, and a strange hooded person selling something special in each castle. Hearts aren’t just weapons ammo here, they are also currency, so there’s definitely an incentive to kill enemies instead of trying to outrun them. It was interesting to see such a basic NES system, but it worked, so I can’t complain. I’d be curious to see a modern take on this game, not only to get a chance for the original intent and ambitions to shine- as well as a more accurate translation for those of us overseas -but also to see if this rpg system should be expanded upon, or left the same. I’m not sure if I have a preference, but it is something I thought about a few times while playing (despite not generally being one for needless remakes and reimaginings lmao)

As the whole deal of this game is to collect pieces of Dracula, reassemble him, and then kick his ass for good, I found it quite interesting that you can actually equip pieces of Dracula! Using his claw and eye were particularly cool when thinking about them in-universe, not to mention they were just practical. Once you’ve collected all the pieces and make your way to Drac’s castle, I thought the set up was awesome. See, the village nearby was completely empty, save for one old lady who says “let’s live here together.” If I’m not mistaken, the town where everyone hates you is also en route to the castle, so it makes sense that they’d recognise and blame their supernatural troubles on the Belmont. By the time you get to the titular Castlevania, you’ll find that it’s completely empty.

How eerie.

I loved this, it was so unnerving, and at this point in the game, you will have battled many enemies and gotten used to keeping an eye out for them – so to enter the final castle and have it be completely devoid of life was something that stood out to me. All you have to do is find your way to the final chamber, and reassemble Dracula. His fight is piss easy, but going with the narrative in-universe, I’m fine with that! Overall, I think what made me connect with this game was how compelling the tid bits of narrative were. Not because it was outrageously complex and ground breaking – but because it gave a fitting, if tragic, context and justification to go on this journey. With the success of the Netflix Castlevania series, and the generally positive reception towards it’s spin off- Castlevania: Nocturne, I’d be incredibly interested in seeing the tale of Simon adapted and elaborated upon. Whether this is through a modern remake or animated adaptation, either would scratch that curious itch for me- but I may just have to write my own fan adaptation in the meantime, ahaha!

Near the end of the game, I did find myself getting lost as I struggled to orient myself. The ‘open’ exploration being horizontal in nature is the main reason for this, but despite this, I found it quite cool how large they were able to make this world feel for a 2D sidescroller. What sucks balls though, is that your ending will change depending on how long you take to gather up Dracula and kill him again – and most players will go through multiple day/night cycles while they play, locking themselves in for the ‘bad’ ending. That’s the one I got, though the way the text was worded didn’t seem all that bad to me. It was a positive, if tragic, outcome, all things considered. Thankfully, in the age of the internet, it’s really easy to look up the other endings – but a few years down the line when I get ACTUAL nostalgia for this game, and not just the feeling that I should've had nostalgia for this as I would've adored it as a kid; I’m certain I’ll be attempting to get the good ending for myself.

It’s clear that despite it’s many flaws, I loved this game, and consider it to be a misunderstood gem. I’d highly encourage putting in the effort to look past it’s shortcomings, find a good walkthrough for backup, and give it a try. It didn’t quite hit all of it’s lofty ambitions due to limitations in hardware, and was also undercut further in the west with the poor translation, but I truly felt the passion the team put into this, and enjoyed it all the same.

Stage Theme Bloody Tears

Castle Theme 01 Dwellings of Doom

Day Time The Silence of Daylight

~~~

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, NES

The opening ‘cinematic’ of this game says everything you need to know about this game: Castlevania is back, and better than ever.

I found it quite charming that the intro had an old film look, with the visuals of the tape rolling to make it feel all the more grand. By this point, the devs knew what they wanted to make- confident in creating the gothic horror imagery they want to portray, and succeeding! I said it eariler, and I’ll say it again – I am so surprised and excited to see just how much detail they managed to put into an 8-bit NES game, and Dracula's Curse is a step up once again.

The gameplay is a return to the familiar style of the first game- though, the second hasn’t been completely forgotten, as at the completion of areas, you have to choice on which path to take as you continue your journey. It’s interesting, and though it doesn’t feel as open as Simon’s Quest, the world here still feels very large.

This is also helped by the fact that there are so many innovations on the gameplay to keep it feeling fresh. There are new gimmicks to certain levels, like swamp water acting like quicksand, water rising levels, and more complexity to boss fights. There are also some quality of life changes I noticed: in Castle II, I often died when platforming as my jumps would be compromised by hitting my head on a block above me and falling directly into water below. Here in Castle III, I noticed that when you jump under some platform bricks, you can jump through your full arc instead of hitting your head on them. Clearly, I died enough this way in II that it was noticed and appreciated here.

The main new thing to this game, however, is the buddy system going on. While you journey, you have the option to come across some friends who will join you. There’s Grant Danasty; a pirate guy who can climb walls and ceilings, and uses a short dagger to attack- Sypha Belnades; a powerful magic user who is weak at everything else- and Alucard, the son of Dracula and bearer of PENIS BLAST!!!!

Okay… He can turn into a bat and fly around the level, and use magic fireballs, it just looks like he’s throwing it from his penis. Out of the three recruitable characters, Sypha is the only one who doesn’t have a boss fight. Grant was turned into a monster by Dracula, so you have to fight and knock some sense into him- after which, he joins you. And Alucard challenges you to a battle, of which he’s using as a gauge to see if you are strong enough to help him with his patricidal agenda. Trevor Belmont is the guy you start with, and who is always available to switch back to, though he’s exactly what you’d expect from a Belmont. This character switching system is quite fun, though I don’t think it’s any secret that I love Alucard and therefore mainly played as him or Trevor for most the game. I did start a replay to make sure I recruited everyone and try out their move sets- everyone has a special ability that uses the hearts as ammo, and has different strengths and weaknesses compared to Trevor’s more well-roundedness (especially when you’ve upgraded his whip!)

The music here is absolutely stunning, people love the Castlevania soundtracks for a reason, and it’s due to the masterful composition of this trilogy. There’s even a familiar deja vu to enjoy amongst all the new tracks.

I honestly don’t have much more to say on this game, I just enjoyed playing it and didn’t feel the need to take many notes, as it’s a solid step up and refinement for the series. My only real criticisms are that some of the sprites readability isn’t very good, and detracts from the detail filled world. The background blended in with intractable objects and resulted in times where I couldn’t clearly see where the stairs and platforms I’m supposed to be using actually were. I found this the worst in 9-01, and struggled with eye strain the most in this game. As I’m playing on a modern tv, I do wonder if playing on a CRT would’ve made this critique a moot point, but I’ll just have to chalk that up to the sacrifice of detailed pixel art in the 8-bit era.

Oh, and I guess I should mention the fight with Death, as it was definitely a challenge- one I found harder than the Dracula fight. So hard, in fact, that my only note on it was: DEATH ON 8-03 WAS INSANELY HARD! SAVE STATE FUDGE FOR DESSERT!

This was just a great time, and I’m tied between recommending this or Castle I as the definitive experience for new players wanting to try the og stuff. I’d say just play the whole trilogy, but I had such a great time with all of these games, and it was super fun playing the game that the Netflix Animated series was mostly based on.

I love Castlevania.

Beginning [Level 1]

Mad Forest

Riddle

~~~

Super Mario Odyssey, Switch

The first time a friend got me to try Odyssey was in late 2019. It was his favourite game at the time, and he really wanted me to play it. I gave it a good 40 min or so, but I really wasn’t enjoying it. I commented that I felt that it was trying too hard to recapture the style of Mario Galaxy and failing, and that I’d rather play galaxy instead. Obviously, 40 min isn’t enough time to truly understand WHY I didn’t click with it, but now, after 25+ hours, I can tell you exactly why.

It’s shit.

I was selling old switch games I never played and was able to take advantage of a deal to get Odyssey relatively cheap, and it was the only switch game in stock at the time that seemed somewhat interesting. I thought I may as well give The Mario Title for the switch a go- and give it a fair go at that. I played through every world until I finished the game, exploring and collecting as much as I could, but there was no way I was going to attempt 100% completion.

The basic rundown of the game is the base Mario formula you’d expect. Peach is kidnapped, it’s Bowser’s fault, go save the Princess. The companion character, your hat, joins you as his sister has been kidnapped with Peach; so you both have a common goal. There’s other details to it, but I really couldn’t get invested and I often found myself very lost plot-wise. In 3D Mario fashion, every new instalment seems to stray further into that vague open-ended, pseudo open world style of gameplay. Having such a loosely connected plot and not much more of it connected to the main goal of collecting power moons lacked the clear motivations I needed to get through the game. Like, what am I doing? Am I just collecting power moons? To upgrade my ship and travel to a new kingdom? To do what…? Collect more power moons?

There wasn’t any charm here for me, and I constantly felt as though the game were hollow and devoid of the Mario characteristics I’d expected as a bare minimum. Perhaps thats a failing on my part, but I DO enjoy games where there’s not strictly a reason why the game is happening, just that it is – but you see… those games are usually mechanically interesting, or just plain fun enough that it outweighs my need for plot to help suck me in. This game was not fun, I don’t think I enjoyed myself at all, maybe save for moments where I was desperately trying to look for positives and begrudgingly noting that one area isn’t that bad… I guess. It just feels shit, and I had a similar problem with BOTW. It may be something as simple as outgrowing the target audience, or being a nostalgiaphille who prefers the games from decades ago ‘just cause;’ but I really feel that there is a disconnect in this era of Nintendo and I’m struggling to enjoy any of it, despite generally wanting to enjoy them.

The main gimmick of this game is your hat friend (who’s name is Cappy, despite being a top hat?), and their ability to possess creatures all over the various Kingdoms and utilise their unique skills to complete platforming puzzles across the levels.

I HATE THIS.

All the possessions are functionally the same thing. The fucking onion that I hate. The octopus with a butthole. The fire thing. THEY JUST JUMP. YOU KNOW WHO ELSE CAN JUMP? MARIO. GIVE HIM A FUCKING IRON CAP OR FIRE FLOWER TO CROSS THE DOMAIN AND LET ME JUST JUMP AND DO ACTUAL PLATFORMING. Some of the possessions are really stupid too. I can be a slab of meat, or a manhole, but I can’t be a spiny? There’s hammer bros, AND FIRE HAMMER BROS, BUT MARIO CAN’T JUST BE MARIO BUT WITH A FIRE FLOWER?? I CAN BE A PIRAHA PLANT IN THE LUNCH LAND, BUT NOT IN DONKEY KONG CITY??? WHAT IS GOING ON!?

I remember complaining about the arbitrary and limiting nature of the possessions to my friend, and he said, “If these were flowers you ran into to absorb their powers the same way you do in Galaxy you wouldn't be bitching.” Yeah, cause then I wouldn’t be some big stone guy with glasses to use bad version of the lens of truth, or some fucking onion. I don't want to be an ONION I want to be MARIO. Power ups in Mario are ADDITIONAL powers using MARIO as a base. These possessions are REMOVING Mario and ONLY letting me use the new power. THAT’S SHIT! I would rather deal with power ups like in Mario Galaxy where it’s an addition to the Mario abilities, or a strategic gain one lose another (like the bee mushroom, you can fly and walk/climb on honey, which Mario cannot, but if you touch water you’ll lose the power, unlike Mario who can swim) Said friend brought up the spring mushroom in galaxy, but I hated that power up for the exact same reasons I hate these possessions! They’re dumb gimmicks that don’t do anything!! Most the possessions are various forms of limited jumping, and if it’s not that, it’s some dumb one (maybe two) trick gimmick thing that controls poorly!! Whoop dee doo!!!

To top it off, the base Mario controls suck too. They felt terrible and really weird for me. The depth perception is the worst I’ve experienced in a 3D Mario; I’d often try to jump off things and be flung in a direction no where near where I directed it, and I couldn’t get the hang of the motion controls. The motion controls on the switch are the worst I’ve ever played; and I asked friends and went through various forums trying to make sure my joycons were calibrated properly, but I can only conclude that the controls just suck. They suck badly. I was never able to perform the cap jumps with any consistency, so I avoided using them and had to get creative in other ways (or just give up on trying to get to particularly difficult-to-reach areas). One thing that WOULD’VE HELPED would be if you were still able to access those particular moves with button controls, HOWEVER you’re fucked if you wanna play handheld only, or just can’t seem to figure out the motion controls. This is yet another reason why I will never understand the switch lite (or the fact that the switch is touted as a hybrid console to play docked or handheld, but it’s clearly meant to be docked with game design that actively fucks over players in handheld modes or are just otherwise unwilling or unable to use motion!), but to not even have a toggleable option to play with button only or motion controls is baffling. WHY IS ONE OF THE MAIN DRAWS OF THE GAME LOCKED BEHIND MOTION CONTROLS!? I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.

The camera was also incredibly frustrating. It was locked onto some kind of predetermined path (one that felt specifically designed to yank away from where I was TRYING to position it) which made exploring even more frustrating. Half the moons of each level that you need to collect are hidden in corners and strange areas that you’re intended to find through exploration, which you do in part with the camera controls. If I’m constantly in a battle with the camera, despite it being one I can supposedly control, what the hell am I supposed to do!? Even when I’d position it where I wanted, as soon as I started walking, it’d reposition itself, but never in ways where I could leave the camera and just trust that it would generally point to where I wanted. What’s the point.

And, not that boss fights are anything stand-out to me in a Mario game, but all the fights FUCKING SUCKED. I hate the controls and I hate these ugly rabbids looking fuckers! I don’t even like the extended Bowser clown kid lineup, but that’s preferable to random ass rabbit characters. GROSS. What’s wrong with Bowser and Bowser Jr? The lack of Bowser’s presence felt sucky to me as well, I missed him and feeling the looming threat and consequences of his actions if we don’t step up and punch his dick. It’s just a wedding. Oh no. A wedding that Peach doesn’t consent to and even though Bowser is evil and pushy, he still has some minimal form of respect to leave Peach alone when she walks out. (Also, did anyone else feel a bit weird when Mario joined in on trying to propose as an alternate option for Peach? Just me?) When we finally got to Bowser’s dick-punching… THAT SUCKED TOO! Shitty icing on the shitty cake. Fart_Reverb.mp3

While I’m complaining about game mechanics, I want to talk about the main collectables – coins and moons. Theres… not really a difference between them, to be honest. Moons are the same deal as the power stars from Galaxy… but dumb. They’re just hanging out in the levels, free for the taking the same way coins are. Even if there were little mini game things to complete before getting a moon, they felt more like an obligation on the game dev’s part to ‘spice it up’ with ‘varied methods of collection.’ Some moons are more special than others for reasons I cannot see- why are some moons given a cutscene when you collect them, but others aren’t? Why is the ‘grand star’ of moons just three moons at once, which feels even more un-special. I also don’t like that there’s no intrinsic stakes to collecting the moons, it’s the exact same value to find a moon by simply walking up to it, or doing a simple ground pound, to something more complicated that actually requires platforming or some other kind of challenge. Some of these moons are easier to find than coins, which is why they feel as devalued as them. I vastly prefer the way this was handled in Galaxy, where there are different tiers of stars to make it feel proportionate to the effort you put in to collecting them. There’s the power stars themselves, which are usually the main goal of any mission and require some traversal and platforming or puzzle solving of some kind to find and unlock. There’s the power stars that are broken up into bits, where the challenge is much easier but spread out so you have to collect all the bits before unlocking the star, and there’s the grand power stars that were usually locked behind a boss fight. There were easily understood stakes with that system, but here in Odyssey, there’s not a single difference between finding a single moon or a cluster of three, other than the physical number. It’s dumb, and it feels lazy and almost insulting that they’d strip it down to something so basic. Kids could understand Galaxy, why do you feel the need to make it even more basic and like a participation trophy?

The thing with the moons being the same value as coins, is that the coins don’t matter either. Coins are the health currency of the game, but also the economic currency. If you die, coins are deducted and you respawn. If you die with no coins… nothing happens. Your health isn’t even restored when you collect coins, which breaks any connection between coins and health to me. If they’re taken away as punishment, shouldn’t they also reward health when collected? There’s not even the classic 100 coins = 1up here. (Did you also notice that there’s not a single mushroom item in the game? Way to go on skipping more Mario iconography!) Coins being as perfunctory as they are, and in some cases even rarer to come across compared to moons, completely deflated any value either of them have to me. Why am I collecting either? Sure, I can unlock more levels if I collect enough moons, and I can buy stuff with my coins, but every level has a seperate local currency that you have to collect to spend within that world anyway! WHAT IS THE POINT OF ANY OF IT!!

Lastly, I want to touch on the visual and audio vibes of the game, of which I feel disappointed in both. Visually, yeah, there’s a lot of detail and it’s pretty and whatever… but it all felt very bland and hollow to me. So many levels are surrounded by a sprawling abyss of nothing, which felt really uninspired and made me miss when efforts were put into skyboxes and distant parallaxed background elements to make it feel dense and detailed without overwhelming the player or the system. A particular example for me is Bowser’s Weeb Ass Castle – for the end goal of the game, it REALLY felt like something you could slap together in Unity (derogatory). Where’s the spectacle, the theatrics? I can’t even recall anything feeling particularly Bowser about it, it’s just a Japanese inspired level…

I couldn’t even enjoy levels that were technically fuller and more detailed, due to recognising characteristics of other bland levels that come before and after. It felt like an illusion, that the levels had so much shit there, yet there was barely anything to do. Gripes with previous 3D Mario entries, warranted gripes, are ‘fixed’ by… doing the same thing. It’s just that it looks prettier with modern graphics, so it’s technically better enough for the devs to say, “nuh-uh! We fixed it!”

Take for example, a big issue many people have had with all 3D Mario games since Mario 64, is how the pacing feels choppy with continually getting spat out at the end of a level when you collect a star. That’s something frustrating that stayed all the way until Galaxy, where even when you could reasonably collect two or more power stars within the one level, you’re forced to exit the level and re-enter it fro each individual star. I can say similar things about botw, and them taking on the criticism of “there’s too much text!! We want voice acting!!” to become a game that had poorly voice acted cutscenes, ALONG WITH WALLS OF TEXT TO READ ANYWAY. In Odyssey, there are STILL issues with the pacing of collecting stars and still being forced to come to a halt while you watch a cutscene or need to re-enter a level, but because it’s not the same explicit getting-spat-out-of-a-level as previous games, it’s somehow the ‘fix’ players have been asking for. Do you see how that’s a non-solution dressed up as the fix made in response to criticism, without the devs actually addressing or even understanding WHY complaints were made about it in the first place? But cause it’s been ‘fixed’ in a weird way, its not only ‘innovative’ for the newest era of 3D Mario, but its alllll better.

So much of this game felt like a very empty identity crisis, barely resembling Mario or the Nintendo polish I’ve come to expect. Mario has always been a weird series with things that really push what it means to BE a Mario game – but I feel for most previous entries in both his 2D and 3D adventures, there’s always been enough recognisably Mario within the game that it’s easier to roll with whatever whacky thing they’re introducing. Galaxy was already pushing it as a ‘recognisably Mario’ kind of game, but at least it was charming with some solid NPCs and a decent, if simple, plot to follow and tie everything together. I’m more than willing to admit that rose-tinted nostalgia glasses may be fuelling the way I’m digging my heels in on this during comparisons to Galaxy, but I feel that Galaxy was the furthest I can appreciate the pushed boundaries of what makes a Mario game, and where I draw the line in no longer being able to connect with and appreciate it.

Apart from looking bland, the game often sounded bland too. The first couple of worlds have very ambient and minimalistic music, which sucked in my opinion – and although there are some great tracks later on, it just made me feel even more like this game lacked the Mario charm I’d been told to expect. The top 3 tracks I’ve linked at the end are all really nice songs, though they sound like they’re from completely different games, and none of them a Mario one. I felt saddened by the fact that I had to play through 5 worlds before I came across a track that I enjoyed, and even then, it was just enjoyable in a general sense, and not in a way that felt like it belonged in a Mario game. When I listen to the tracks I don’t even know WHICH LEVEL they belonged to for most of them, they don’t sound like the music that should be playing when you’re playing, and more like I just muted the game and put on a playlist of other music.

There’s a lot of elements in Mario soundtracks across the games that can be drawn on to further refine and evolve for a new game, but again, I can only describe the soundtrack as an identity crisis. While there are some of the classic tracks we all know and love rearranged for the game, it was so few and far between that it actually felt jarring to hear Mario music in what is supposedly a Mario game. One of the last worlds you unlock is a massive reinterpretation of the outside of Peach’s Castle from Mario 64, and thats the main area that you hear anything that sounds like traditional Mario in this game. It was disappointing, and I found myself too burnt out and cynical to enjoy something that felt like too much like nostalgia bait instead of loving homage. Overall, while listening to the soundtrack again as I write this, it is genuinely and objectively a nice collection of songs.; it just lacks a certain je ne sais quoi and the specific Mario-flavoured cohesion to tie it all together in my opinion.

One thing that I did enjoy- for the most part -were the 2D platformer sections present in every world. In these sections, you go through a pipe and get turned into an 8-bit Mario to platform across an area and get a power moon. In the early hours of my playthrough, I considered this the highlight of my playthrough… but the more I played, feeling frustrated with the intended platforming and level progression of the game, the more I felt jaded towards these sections. They’re genuinely nice, a short section that’s a return to form for cranky old gamers like myself, and accompanying them is an 8-bit remix of the level’s theme, and Mario will be wearing pixel interpretations of whatever outfit you had on. It’s fun! I want to love it more than I do, but towards the end of my playthough, it began to feel like pandering in order to secure old fans as part of the target audience, while also capturing kids and new fans that are more easily excited by putting a hat on a dinosaur and being able to run into things with bad controls.

They’re spreading themselves thin, in a way that feels non-committal in a way that’s overly safe. I would’ve rathered they put more effort into buckling down and making the possession concept a lot stronger, or whatever other weird direction they wanted to go in, and just believe in it. They’ve already built games around the concept of ‘Mario but he has a water gun,’ and ‘Mario but there’s weird gravity;’ but where those games felt more successful is that they felt like they put more effort into exploring that concept in multiple ways – whereas I feel that theres not really anything fun, interesting or innovative about the possessions in this game. For a game that’s only defence against most of my critiques being, “but it’s for kids! And people new to Mario!!” I want to ask, what exactly is this promising for the future of 3D Mario? The whole game wasn’t that memorable, and that mechanic felt so all-over-the-place that it didn’t get a chance to really shine. I can’t really visualise any levels or gaming moments when I hear the soundtrack or think of this game, and I’m a more visual thinker- that should be easy for me! It’s a glorified tech demo, and even that is a generous description in my eyes. It’s just so epic to play a Mario game where you’re encouraged to not play as Mario for most of it! (But it’s all still Mario, because you have his hat and moustache! Duh!)

I feel like I have so much more to say, but it would be getting even more nitpicky and whingy than it already is. I’ve cut back a lot of what I wrote down when playing, this is the SHORT version!

Well, ok it’s the shorter-but-still-a-classic-Rads-review-slash-retrospective. I’m not really sure what to call these, retrospective feels the most appropriate, but yeah. That’s all I’ll say about Mario Odyssey for now. My copy has found a much better home being regifted to my younger cousins who got a family switch last Christmas. They enjoy it very much, and I fucking hated it and what it represents.

Fuck you, Mario Odyssey!

Steam Gardens

Bubblaine

Bowser's Castle 2

[bleep-bloop-boo]

₊˚✧ ✰ ‧₊˚✧ ✰ ◡̈ ✧ INTRO ✧ ◡̈ ✰‎ ✧˚₊‧ ✰‎ ✧˚₊

☆ hi!! im honey!! tho im always open to ANY nickname!! ★ gerbil!! to @fairyycoffin & @i-eat-grass ★ Honey Honeyington!! as declared by @graysonhawthorneswife ☆ she/her pleasee ☆ i am a minor so pls be respectful (NO NSFW PLEASE!!) ☆ PST timezone!! yes, i am a california gurl whos very ✨magical✨ DNI: NSFW blogs, porn blogs, bot accounts INTERACT IF YOU DARE: homophobes, transphobes, radfems, zionists, racists, trump supporters (my inclusivity and pride will make you barf 😊)

omg!! hi!! i havent updated my intro post in like a yearr, its wildd here's my old intro post!! its so chaotic and messy and just a yappicino AND I LOVE IT check it out if you wanna!!

MUSIC

✧ CAVETOWN ✧ ALEX G ✧ MADILYN MEI ✧ MEG MCCAFFERTY ✧ THE FRONT BOTTOMSS ✧ Taylor Swift!! ✧ Olive Rodrigo!! ✧ CHAPPEL ROAN!! ✧ SOFIA ISSELA!! ✧ connan gray!! ✧ penelope scott ✧ naethan apolloo GIMME RECS FOR GOOD ROCK/INDIE MUSIC TO LISTEN TO PLEASEEEE, LIKE FLOOD MY INBOX WITH SONGS

FANDOMS

✧ Percy Jackson (Books) ✧ School Bus Graveyard (Webtoon) ✧ Owl House (Show) ✧ Gravity Falls (Show) ✧ Avatar the Last Airbender (Show) ✧ Hunger Games (Books) ✧ Miraculous Ladybug (Show) ✧ Your Turn To Die (Videogame) ✧ Doki-Doki Literature Club (Videogame) ✧ Jackson's Diary (Webtoon) ✧ Danganronpa Despair Time (Videogame) ✧ SIX (Musical) ✧ Hamilton (Musical) ✧ Heathers (Musical) ✧ The Lightning Thief (Musical) ✧ EPIC the Musical (Musical) IF YOU KNOW/LIKE ANY OF THEM SCREAM AT ME PLEASE, ILL SCREAM BACK PROLLY!!! WE CAN BE A BUNCH OF SQUAWKING CROWS TOGETHER!!!

ALRIGHT NOW IMA YAP ABOUT ME, IMAGINE AS IF IM SPEAKING REALLY REALLY FAST AND BOUNCING UP AND DOWN CUZ THATS PRETTY ACCURATEE okay hi! i love love love making new friends and meeting people!! feel free to pop into my dms or my ask box or anywheree, as long as you arent a weird bot/nsfw accountt!! and also, im always always always ready to listen to you rant or yap or vent, i dont mind and would rather you talk to someone than bottle it up <33 im an enfp, hufflepuff and many people have said im very similar to luz from owl house :DD ive also gotten ty lee from atlaa!! im horrible at social cues and pretty hyperactive if you couldnt guess alreadyy, im a yapper and if i EVER cross ay boundaries please please pleaseeeee just lemme know and i will immediately stopp i also use tons of hearts and say babe/darling/dear/honey and stuff like that platonically and i suck at responding, its not you its me i promise you overthinkers and i have no tagging system, its just a mess of reblogss, and uhhh i think thats all about me!! banner: twinning with @gay--gh0st-deactivated20240722 (theyve deactivated 😔) pfp: THE ONE AND ONLY, AMAZING @bluebird38

WELCOME TO THE END!!

[nitrokiraru]

masterpost of all the times nitro+chiral has referenced their own games! made bc i was bored and i like epic nitro+chiral references

also includes references to other nitroplus games, if there are any refs i missed please feel free to add to the post or lmk and i will add them!

Togainu No Chi references

to start out is the bgm playing in slow damage! credits to this channel called L on youtube for the recording, they also uploaded other vids of n+c bgm being in surodame so shoutout to a real one bc im about to use all of their vids for this post

haunt, shifty, and tactics play in the restaurant!

this next one is not exactly confirmed to be a reference but I always felt like the re:code virus and trip ending cg was a homage to Kau

like??? THE OUTFITS LOOK KINDA SIMILAR IDK!!! i like to think that it is! and considering the fact that honyarara (dmmd artist) was a togainu no chi fan, i wouldnt be surprised if the similarities were intentional

Lamento references

to my knowledge there is not a lot of lamento refs in the other games, but like togainu no chi, lamento's bgm is also in slow damage!

kowaku, kaze ga huku machikado, and ketsui (? the last one is a lil hard to hear but it sounds like ketsui) play in the cafe!

Sweet Pool references

this reference is one i was NOT aware of at all until very recently, so credit to @/slybluehologhost for pointing it out! and for the screenshots if they are yours! their post was the one i found this out from lmao

the CG of one of the first rhyme fights in dramatical murder, is a corrupted version of the Okinaga household cg from sweet pool!

here is the original CG. if you notice it's using 3d resources, something that dmmd didn't actually have a lot of as backgrounds. the reason is because it's leftovers from the previous game!

if you look at the CG flipped, you can see clearly that it is the Okinaga household living room/kitchen!

in my opinion this is one of the coolest refs on this post. bc i played dmmd before every other n+c game, i genuinely didn't notice this when i first played. its something that only people who played sweet pool would notice, and i just find that so nice! just a lil easter egg for people who know

sweet pool bgm is also present in slow damage!

scene [warp02], chills02, and calm01 play in the bar!

another ref in slow damage is the billboard with youji official art on it

prolly my fav official art of youji ever

Dramatical Murder references

dmmd's bgm is featured in slow damage!

track 10, 12, and the video says bgm 22 but i cant rly hear anything? idk regardless the bgm plays when you go to beat up that guy who likes to get beat up by his brother for some reason LOL

another very very small reference that is extremely easy to miss is the fact that clear's nendoroid is in Mayu's room

if you zoom in on the parts i circled, you can see that the nendoroid box says 597. and nendoroid 597 just so happens to be the clear nendo!

under the cut are other nitroplus title refs! (also didnt wanna make this post look too long fndskgjn)

Other Nitroplus title references

Mayu's room is FULL of Nitroplus title references. so much that some of them I didn't really recognize besides the obvious, so i literally had to just go through the character lists on nitroplus games to find what characters they were. ur welcome for this incoming information that you may or may not have known

probably one of the most recognizable nitroplus characters in this room is saya from saya no uta, mayu has a figure of her in the middle! (theres more boxes of her but this was the most noticeable imo)

his figure display has many nitroplus characters on it

to start from the top, the one in the long maid like dress is Petrushka from Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer

Next to her is Franco il Nero from Zoku Satsuriku no Django

i couldnt find anything for who's next to this chara, so i assume its just swimsuit versions of the character Mayu's obsessed with

Going to the 2nd row, though you can just barely see her, i found this character to be Echika from Tokyo Necro

Next (disregarding the obvious figures in between) to her are the two main characters from You and Me and Her, Aoi Mukou and Sone Miyuki!

i find it a little funny that they would put these references in because the audience for the people playing nitroplus games vs the audience playing n+c games are like VERY different but nonetheless, pretty cool!

while not a "reference" per se, sweet pool is heavily inspired by saya no uta!

this is something thats just a generally agreed fact, but i felt compelled to include it anyway because i rly love both of these vns and i love rambling abt them. theyre very similar in the ways that they both got meat n gore, and the main characters dealing with the meat n gore, and the general theme of just isolating yourself from people because of it and not exactly having a happy end. fuminori completely giving up his outside life for saya, destroying friendships n whatnot, and youji locking himself in his room and shutting out people who aren't dealing w his lil problem (makoto). the ending where saya wins and the red road ending shares some vibes imo. its all very similar even down to the soundtrack that had some of the same people working on it, and even gen urobuchi himself (writer of saya) worked on sweet pool as an advisor. so in my head its canon that these two games r brother and sister

thats pretty much it! (unless i decide to add more i swear theres probably so much im missing LMAO) thank you if you read this far ^_^

edit: check notes for other references people have added!

[onskepa]

You know the Mother Moat X reader I requested a while back?

Could you please make one of Ronal X adopted human daughter reader?

Random: (probably not accurate)

Ao'nung: Look at them, they're all freaks!

Y/n: ...Brother, am I a freak too?

Ao'nung: That's different. You're my sister. I don't care if you're a human. You're an exception-

-Death

Okie dokie! I tried my best not to make it nearly identical to Stxeli so I did some change for this one. Hope you all enjoy this one!

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

Pahem

"The sea gives, and the sea takes"

That is the motto, the rule, the statement, the saying in amongst the reef clans. It is the cycle and the rule of the ocean. It is beautiful as is deadly.

To receive, you must give.

Ronal and Tonowari. The Olo'eyktan and Tsahik of their clan has given so much to the sea. To Eywa. They expect nothing in return only to live in their peaceful island.

Their hard work and dedication were noticed. And Eywa believes it was time to give them something special.

It was another day in the island. Everyone is doing their duties, others relaxing among the beach, children playing around. It was just another day.

Except for Ronal. As Tsahik, it is her duty to hold her connection with Eywa and to interpret whatever Eywa is telling her. And today, ever since she opened her eyes to a new day, she cant help but feeling something big is going to happen. Yet cant seem to know if it will be a good thing, or a bad thing.

At the same time, something small was passing the walls that protects the island, it was making its way to beach.

Word quickly spread of an odd floating object getting closer to the beach. Many gathered to see what it was, it even caught the attention of ronal and tonowari.

Both were at the fore front of the gathering crowd, warriors close should the item be seen as a threat. But as the item got closer, the less threatening it looked.

The item in question was made of demon metal. Round and reflective. Ronal felt a pull to the item and went to get closer. Tonowari was right behind her making sure she was safe.

All it took was a touch of the item and the top slid back to reveal...

A human baby girl.

Ronal was shocked and confused. What is a human child doing this far at sea? As far as Ronal remembers, what humans remain have settled with the forest na'vi. And that is days away from where they are.

The human child in question was sleeping peacefully. Only little snores escaped her tiny lips. Gently picked up the child into her arms, the child snuggled against ronal's chest.

Tonowari looked down at the child, feeling just as confused. "A human child? Where are the others?" He looks back at the sea, seeing no ships or other form of demon aircraft.

Ronal looks down at the sleeping child as she answers, "I am not sure...but she was out there all alone. No mother, no father....tonowari, what if they left her to die?" the more she questions the girls arrival, the more scared she thinks about it.

The sea is large, and full of dangerous things. Anything at anytime something could have harmed the child. And no one would have known.

Tonowari holds ronal as reassurance. "Perhaps it was the will of Eywa that protected the child. To bring her to us". It made sense in ronal's mind. All day she couldnt shake the odd feeling. And now she knows why. Eywa has guided the lost child to them. To be found.

Taking in the child was a choice that took time for the people to adjust. Tonowari and Ronal took in the little baby as their own. Naming her Pahem.

And Pahem was a dear treasure to Tonowari and Ronal. While small, she has a big personality. Would laugh and smile a lot, and even got along so well with ao'nung and tsireya!

Both children loved their new little sister and would play games with pahem at the center. Like any child, pahem was no different in crying or being fussy. All it takes is a small pile of seashells or having her ilu toy and she is calm as a clam.

Pahem fitted well into the family. Ronal felt like she birthed Pahem, that she was there since day one. However, time to time, Ronal would look back at the sea and wonder where she came from. Or if her original mother lost her at some point. But Ronal tries her best not to think too much on it.

As time goes on, Pahem began to show interest in anything that has to do with physical activity. Swimming of course is essential to pahem. Has become an excellent diver and can hold her breath for a long time. An astounding professional at such a young age.

She even began to teach the young children and has the patient of infinite stars. She was calm, sweet, but isn't afraid to stand her ground.

Pahem loves her siblings, but, she mostly views ao'nung in high regards. She will follow him more than she would with tsireya. Pahem would copy how he talks, walks, and even eat ao'nung's favorite foods, pahem would try to style her hair like ao'nung.

Ao'nung felt very happy and proud that his little sister would look up to him. So he tries his best to be a good example for her.

Tsireya on the other hand, loves and adores her cute little sister. Would style pahem's long hair into different ways and put cute little décor. Would also enjoy sister time with pahem as much as she could.

Pahem has a soft side for tsireya as she cant handle her sisters cute blue eyes! Tsireya would also scold ao'nung for teaching pahem something that is rough or not lady like.

Rotxo has would tease pahem, often calling her "little nung" and would try to pull little pranks of her. He likes to spend some time with pahem and would show her some tricks of his own. Even share secrets of how to prank ao'nung really good.

Tonowari on the other hand, he is proud to have pahem in his life. She is very small but her heart beats like a tulkun. He would often train her to be a hunter like how she desires, to fight and to train to be the mightiest warrior the metkayina has ever seen. Of course not to push his child to the extreme since her stamina is lower than that of a na'vi her age.

Both ronal and tonowari love pahem for how independent she is for someone so young. Yet they cant help but feel protective of their little girl. So small and anything can hurt her. So when she goes out, there is always someone watching over her from a distance. Making sure no harm comes in her way.

Everything was fine. Everything was perfect.

Until the sully family came.

That day, ao'nung and rotxo took it upon themselves to see who arrived on their island. Them and many other clan members gather to see. Tsireya also came to see to see who arrived, and felt fluttery when one of the newcomers said "hey" to her.

Ronal and tonowari came and greeted jake sully and his family. When uturu was asked, ronal was the first to point out their flaws and distinct traits they have.

"they have demon blood!" She shouts for everyone as she holds one of the children's hands as they have an extra finger.

"mother wait!!" a voice was heard amongst the crowd. The people made way to show pahem. The sully family were very shocked to see a human living amongst the reef people.

"sister, not now" ao'nung stepped in front of pahem as means to stop her from getting closer to the outsiders.

"please brother" she smiles and went around him. "mother, you say they have demon blood, but they are not different from how I look. They have an extra finger, eyebrows, yet I have them too. Let them in mother, they look tired from a long journey" pahem pleaded.

Ronal took in her daughters words and held a silent conversation with her mate. After what felt like long minutes. Tonowari granted uturu. And the sully family were welcomed.

The first few weeks were awkward and odd as the sully family were trying to understand how a human was living in a na'vi clan without being outcasted or anything. And even more confusing as pahem is the chiefs daughter.

When their training took place, pahem became more of tuk's personal teacher as with tuk it took a lot more patience and using different form of teaching methods. Tuk became close to pahem quicker than her siblings and came to love her like a best friend.

the other sully children got to know pahem in different paste. Lo'ak was the slowest one to getting to know pahem as pahem was always with ao'nung. And lo'ak isnt so keen on getting along with the brat.

However one day, lo'ak was doing his own thing when he noticed ao'nung and his goons bullying kiri. A fight ensued making tonowari and jake having to confront the boys.

Lo'ak was angry when jake told him he had to apologize to ao'nung. "just why should I say sorry!? he called my sister a freak!". Pahem was hiding behind the tent when she heard what lo'ak said. Made her feel a bit disappointed towards ao'nung. Her super awesome big brother.

Later, when the sun was setting, ao'nung was sharpening his blade when he saw pahem sit in front of him. "That is a nasty bruise" she pointed out. Ao'nung huffed. "Its fine, doesn't hurt".

Pahem took a moment before sayings what she needed to say, "brother, am I a freak?". That made ao'nung stop at what he was doing and look into his sisters eyes. "What? no no, why would you ever think that?" he moves to sit beside her. Pahem rubs her arms and continues. "You called kiri and lo'ak a freak. Its not their fault for how they look like. They have similar features to what I have. And you called them a freak. How are they different from me brother?" she looks up at him, wanting to know the answer.

Ao'nung felt stuck. He gulped down his nervousness and tried his best to answer. "They are not us, they are not you. You are not a freak. You are my sister, a metkayina. You are one of us. Born and raised here. They dont belong here".

That answer didn't seem to satisfy pahem. "but isn't that the point? They came obviously knowing they have to change everything, leave behind all that they know. So clearly brother, they are struggling, yet they are learning. There is massive progress with them. And it is YOU who doesn't want to see the change! Metkayina or not, my blood is closer to them than it is closer to you. If you continue to bully them then I will get mad and....and.....!! I will hang out with lo'ak over YOU!".

When pahem said that, it felt like a newborn tulkun was laying on his chest. Air left his lungs, and unable to process the threat. Pahem? Leaving him over the baby tail freak? Never!

"ok ok, I promise! I wont bully lo'ak or anyone else of his family. I promise." he pleaded with pahem. "you promise promise?" pahem leaning in. Ao'nung nodded fast. That answer seemed to please pahem and smiles. "ok!" and she sat on his lap and began to chat like she didn't threaten him.

For the moment. All was well in pahem's life.

Aaaaaaaaand that is all for this one! This was cute to write! Until next time! see ya!

Pahem = Arrive