#and with things he established in the world of the games

[kissedsuns]

♥︎ 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆, lando norris

fem!reader. minimal suggestive behaviour. pet names. lots of fluff. established relationship. kissing. ₊ 𓂃 masterlist.

as many know, lando norris is quite the busy man, professional when required yet terribly unorganised, his tight schedule allowing him to pardon his tragic mess of a house when he simply cannot tend to it. lando is also known to have one of the sweetest girlfriends to walk this earth, which would obviously be you.

he loves you, that much he is most certain of— lando is very much aware of your feelings for him, that you love being able to look after him, you’re his angel, the girl of his dreams...

but sometimes, he feels terrible that you have to come to his home and maneuver through all of his clothes shamelessly tossed onto the floor, or several boxes cluttering up the space of his bedroom. they were already unboxed, but lando hadn't the time of day to rid his house of such a mess.

he was embarrassed. his lifestyle is far too chaotic to be meshing with yours.

he was about to head off to austria for yet another race weekend, and you intended to stay at his place instead.

even when lando mumbled a honeyed “it’s no fun without you.” into your hair, you reluctantly turned him down; usually not one to refuse him of anything when he looked at you with that specific softened green colouring in his eyes.

“you’ll be stuck here in this shithole. do you seriously want that?”

“lando, i already told you,” you caressed his cheek softly, legs dangling off the side of the bed where the two of you were perched. your foot would occasionally brush the side of one of his gaming consoles that were thrown onto the floor. “i don’t care about the mess. it’s okay.”

to lando, you were the most understanding girl in the world.

“alright, alright, sweet thing,” he planted two soft kisses to each of your rosy, flushed cheeks. “i’ll be back before you know it.”

on his way out, luggage in hand, you swatted his ass cheekily, earning one of his hilariously girlish yelps.

with him gone, it gave you an ample amount of time to relax.

you managed to spend the rest of the afternoon pampering yourself with a face mask, a bubble bath, and a fresh coat of nail polish in a dreamy shade of pink.

as the evening rolled around you found yourself sprawled across his bed, lounging in a matching pyjama set paired with your favourite fluffy socks. lying on your stomach with your legs kicking in the air, you flipped through a glossy magazine brimming with juicy, but unnecessary, celebrity gossip.

it was peaceful, until your mind began to wander. your eyes trailed across the room, really taking in just how cluttered your boyfriend’s space had become.

you knew he wasn’t a messy guy; in fact, he couldn’t stand hoarding or unnecessary chaos. if only he had someone to tidy it all up for him.

oh, if only.

the thought lingered in your mind as you assessed state of the room. you loved cleaning, keeping things neat and organised was practically second nature to you. but lando would never expect, let alone rely on you to tidy up his space.

still, the longer you observed the mess, the stronger the urge to help grew.

so, that is precisely what you did when you scrambled to sit up and set the magazine aside.

you got busy, plugging in your airpods as you gathered lando’s scattered clothes and tossed them into the washing machine. once that was sorted, you tackled the empty cardboard boxes, discarding them properly and clearing up some much-needed space.

junk was removed from his gaming setup, his helmet display shelf was dusted and reorganised to the way it was (before it got a little crowded and lando forgot to take care of it), and finally, his apartment looked a little more cozy.

it would be a few nights without him, which you didn’t mind. it just gave you more of an opportunity to do some harmless decorating!

you took that time to slip away to a lovely flower shop and couldn’t resist picking up a few bouquets of tulips, creamy white roses, and some lilies too. you arranged them in mismatched glass vases, placing one on the dining table, another on the coffee table, and a smaller one on his nightstand.

you also thought his bathroom looked a tad bland, and lando knew it too, so what better way to fix the problem than a little scrubbing up?

you also couldn’t help but notice his bathroom looked a bit plain, and you knew lando thought it too, son what better excuse to freshen it up than with a little scrubbing?

the sink and mirror was left spotless, his scattered toiletries were neatly grouped on a tray (which you made sure to clean as well), and you borrowed a sweet, vanilla candle from the living room to set on the counter.

you stepped back to admire your work, adding a few final touches with a proud smile on your face.

there were only a few days left until lando came home, and you kept yourself busy, finding little things to do and spaces to tidy up.

you were just lounging on the couch, the sun finally setting, just minding your business watching some girly series in a small cami and lacy shorts that you could never see yourself watching with your boyfriend.

you didn’t make any attempt to move as you heard the front door lock click and the sound of heavy footsteps making their way towards the living room.

sock-covered feet pad along the hardwood floors when you finally heard the lock of the front door turning. lando was home later than usual— a fact you were entirely too aware of since you were impatiently waiting for him to return.

usually, you’d stir awake to him smearing kisses all over your face and mumbling sweetened words about how much he missed you over the race weekend, but now it was your turn to give him a little surprise.

“baby, i’m home, hellooo?” he sang, grinning from ear to ear.

you were not exactly sure how to approach him, hesitant in your movements before you saw him in front of you in all his glory.  

“hi,” your voice was meek, careful not to startle him too much in his vulnerable, barely functioning state.

lando was in the process of mindlessly kicking off his shoes when he looked up; a tired smile tugging at his lips when you practically tumbled into his arms.

you mumbled something to him which was muffled against his chest when he rested his big hands on your hips in an attempt to steady you.  

“hey, princess,” he murmured into you hair. “did ya get up to much?” he reluctantly pulled away in order to look at you properly.

“you tell me.”

his brows climbed his forehead, moony eyes staring down at you in bewilderment before being ushered towards the bedroom. it took him a minute to take in his surroundings, but when he noticed the lack of dirty socks and a lot of open space to walk around in, his face lit up.

“i just wanted to keep myself occupied while you were away,” she says bashfully, almost as if waiting for his approval.

“you did this? all by yourself?”

you nodded, looking up at him with pure adoration swimming in your eyes. 

“you’re so fucking perfect, baby. i don’t know what i did to deserve you, but you’ve turned my place into a goddamn dream.” he couldn’t help his mouth from twisting upwards at the way your eyes rounded out in response to his words. 

“you’re just saying that,” you dismissed him with a playful scoff. 

“m’being so, so serious. look at this—look at you. you didn’t have to do any of this, but you did. you always do. god, how’d i get so damn lucky?” he swooned, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek; overwhelming you to no end. 

his gaze sweeped over every detail, from the flowers to the perfectly fluffed pillows on the bed.

“sooo, i take it that you like it?”  

he let out a sigh. “sooo, you’re really askin’ me that?”

a giggle escaped your lips, head lolling slightly, “just had to be sure… do you?”

with a roll of his eyes, he quickly closed the gap between you, giving you a kiss so casual and natural, it made your lashes flutter rapidly. sticky gloss transferred onto his mouth that he didn’t even bother to wipe away.

you pull back slowly, breathless smiles on both their lips. you wanted to linger there together, wanted to stay in their own little bubble.

“does that answer your question?”

but with his lips on yours, in that moment, it didn't matter to you in the slightest.

you cheekily yanked him back in for another kiss, giving his fluffy curls a little tug. you felt him smile against your lips, and you couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of his room getting messy again ... your clothes scattered across the floor as he hoisted you up and practically threw you onto the bed, completely ruining the freshly made bedding!

all that hard work for him to just make his room and you all messy again?

but with his lips on yours, none of that mattered in the slightest.

©KISSEDSUNS 2024.

[bokutosbabe]

HIII this is my first time requesting so it's fine if you can't do it! But I'd like a Spotify wrapped event please! My top artist is Mitski and her "My love mine all mine" thank you so much! Hope you have a nice day/afternoon/evening!!!

so glad to be your first ask!!

if your top song was my love mine all mine by mitski, i'd pair you with...

sae itoshi

જ⁀♡⊹｡° shine it down here

♡ a/n — for my spotify wrapped event! - masterlist - **this event is now CLOSED**

♡ content — sae itoshi x gn! reader, gn! reader, soft sae!!, established relationship, mention of sae feeling unfulfilled

♡ synopsis — sae itoshi didn't know how much he likes nights in with you until tonight

The night was quiet, the kind of stillness that felt rare in Sae’s whirlwind of a life. Moonlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting faint silver patterns on the living room walls. You sat cross-legged on the couch, a soft blanket draped over your legs, flipping through the pages of a book. Sae was beside you, one arm stretched across the back of the couch, his other hand absently twirling a loose thread on your blanket.

It had been weeks since his last game, and even though his calendar was still packed with meetings, sponsorship obligations, and training sessions, tonight, he chose to stay. With you.

“You’re quiet tonight,” you said softly, your voice breaking the silence.

Sae’s gaze lifted from the thread in his fingers to your face, his teal eyes unreadable for a moment before softening. “I like this.”

“This?”

He gestured loosely to the space around you both—the blanket you shared, the faint hum of the world outside, the warmth of your presence. “It’s peaceful.”

Your lips curled into a smile. “You sound surprised.”

“I am,” he admitted. “Most things in my life feel like I don't have enough time to appreciate them," the words coming from him made your heart squeeze with...sadness? joy? you weren't sure. "But this, being with you, I feel like I could stay here forever.”

You tilted your head, watching as he leaned back against the couch. His expression was relaxed, but there was something vulnerable in the way his fingers brushed yours, hesitant, like he was afraid you might slip away.

“I don’t think I tell you enough,” he said, voice low, almost hesitant. “How much this—how much you—matter to me.”

Your heart fluttered at his words, rare and carefully chosen. You shifted closer, your knee brushing against his thigh as you placed your hand on his.

“You don’t have to say it all the time,” you replied gently. “I know.”

He looked at you then, really looked at you, and for a moment, the composed, untouchable Sae Itoshi was gone. In his place was someone raw, someone who didn’t always have the right words but wanted to try for you.

“You keep me grounded,” he murmured, his thumb tracing slow circles on the back of your hand. “Even when everything else feels like it’s slipping through my fingers.”

The weight of his confession settled between you, a quiet but profound reminder of what you meant to him. Sae might not always know how to show it, but in this moment, under the soft glow of the moonlight, his love for you was undeniable.

SOFT SAE!! SOFT SAE!!

i hope you liked it!

likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated!

[steddieas-shegoes]

back in the crease

for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'traffic'

all of my holiday drabbles will be from the bear hugs universe. many of them could probably be read standalone, but will make the most sense and be enjoyed best if you read that first!

special thank you to @thisapplepielife who discovered the ebug hero david ayers last week and said "bear hugs steve would" and you're so right! i had to combine it with another ebug situation that happened recently in the hockey world to make it fit the prompt.

rated t | 939 words | no cw | tags: established relationship, fluff, goalie steve harrington

🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅🥅

Steve didn’t ever think he’d get a call when he applied for the job. There were three others on the list last he checked.

So much had to go wrong for him to get called.

Apparently, so much went wrong.

And now, he’s stuck in traffic during a snowstorm, trying to get to a game that starts in less than ten minutes so he can dress to be the backup goalie. Providence isn’t an easy drive even in the best of conditions, and these are far from the best of conditions.

Eddie is home with Rory, even though they desperately wanted to come. Steve told them there was no way they were risking the roads with him this late.

He’s glad he insisted.

He’s been at a dead stop for 20 minutes and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be moving any time soon.

He glances to the backseat, where he’s thrown his hockey bag and sticks, in too much of a rush at home to bother taking Rory’s stuff out of the trunk first. He’s not even sure if he remembered to pack everything after the last practice session he went to for Rory.

He looks ahead at the cars in park along the side of the road, the ones in front of him in the same position, and he makes a decision. It may not be a smart one, but it’s the only one he knows to make.

He unbuckles and turns his hazard lights on, shutting off the car. He sees someone a few cars ahead doing the same. This is crazy.

The craziest thing he’s done since signing up to do this.

He steps out and grabs his sticks and bag from the backseat.

He locks the car.

And he starts walking.

Three miles is not going to be pleasant, and with all his stuff on his shoulder, he’s not sure he’s gonna make it in time. But he has to try.

The snowfall isn’t heavy, but the roads weren’t salted in time, and people who haven’t been prepared for winter are holding up the people who are. It’s the same every year, but usually he can avoid long drives.

He spends the first mile power walking, and he can hear people shouting at him, but he’s ignoring them. Steve is focused on the one goal: get to the game.

The second mile is harder, and he has to pause a couple times to adjust his bag and take a few deep breaths. He stays in shape at the gym, but he doesn’t want to use up all his energy walking to this game, especially if he ends up in the net.

He thinks his phone is going off in his pocket, but he doesn’t have time or enough hands to check it.

The last mile is easier because someone has managed to clear most of the left lane of cars. No more weaving between trucks and vans, just a mostly straight shot. People are cheering for him, probably recording him. He doesn’t care.

He just has to get there.

He does. He’s late, but he makes it.

They rush him to the locker room to change and he misses most of the first intermission because they don’t want him going to the bench when the puck’s in play. He’s borrowing a jersey and it’s a little too small over his gear, but he doesn’t think he’s even gonna have to get on the ice, so it’s fine.

Except halfway through the second, the goalie gets a puck to the neck. At first, he seems like he shakes it off, like the shock got him more than the actual pain of the shot. But then he calls for a switch and the coach pats Steve’s back and he’s back on the ice.

It’s not Boston, so it’s not quite the same, but it’s close enough. It’s the colors, and it’s the atmosphere. It’s the same type of Bruins pride he had for such a short time, that meant the world to him, that gave him so much happiness in the time he had.

He doesn’t let himself get emotional until after they win, though.

Luckily, the Providence Bruins are a pretty defensive-minded team, and he only faced eight shots the entire third period. He saved them all.

Helmet taps, cheering, stick taps, and then he’s back in the locker room. He’s sore, but he thinks it’s more from walking three miles to get here than the game.

He gets first star of the game.

Eddie’s calling him as he’s unlacing his skates and he answers because that’s more important than whatever plans the guys have after this win.

“Rory is right here, so I can’t say what I’m really thinking, but I think you need to hurry home,” Eddie is talking fast and Steve is flushed red from the implications.

“Well, hopefully my car is still where I left it,” Steve says.

“Dad!” Rory steals the phone. “That glove save at the end was so good, you didn’t even have to try, it was like…like…natural!”

Steve laughs. “Thanks, green bean. It’s way past your bedtime, though.”

“But I wanna stay up until you get home.”

“It could be morning before I’m home. I’ll be there when you wake up, okay?”

“Fiiiiine,” Rory says and passes the phone back to Eddie.

“I’m serious. You need to hurry home.”

Eddie hangs up and Steve opens the Uber app. Hopefully his car is fine, and traffic should be better by now, but if not, he may have to spend a few hundred dollars on an Uber home.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Hello!!!

I love your works, would be able to do a suegiku x gn!reader?

I adored your headcanons and would love to see jouno and Tecchou interact with the reader based on your writing

Tysm!! <3

Interactions between you, Saigiku Jouno and Tetchou Suehiro

Self-Aware! Saigiku Jouno x GN! Reader x Self-Aware! Tetchou Suehiro

Description: Some general headcannons about relationship between you three.

Warning: OOC, English is my second language. Some slight spoilers.

_______

💧��� At first, there would be some tension between you, Jouno and Tetchy. Not only because of the "Fictional characters turn out to be real,l and they heard everything I think about them, and they are aware about fandom" factor. This tension almost exclusively came from the Hunting Dogs duo.

💧🌸 Hunting Dogs, Sigma and Bram did appear later, than other characters, it's a fact. And, after they gained self-awareness and joined the rest of the Cast, the inner nervousness appeared. They are afraid, that you won't have a good opinion about them. They don't have too many scenes for you to form a 'stable' opinion. Moreover, most of them, except Sigma, "hurt" your established favorite characters. Yes, they could flood your Mayoi Account with cards and presents, but it will be just a part of a casual app game. Not something from the cannon. They will remain nervous until they get to the Real World.

💧🌸 So first interactions between you, Tetchou and Jouno were awkward. You weren't sure, how to interact with anyone from BSD Cast, too nervous of saying something wrong, and Hunting Dogs duo were dreadfully waiting for a moment you lash out at them for hunting ADA (and, in case of Jouno, arresting Dazai).

💧🌸 It will take some time. Small steps. At first, all of you will have small talks during dinners, discussing your days or last news. Then you will start hanging out (joining Hunting Dogs' morning training). At the end, when you three felt comfortable in confessing your fears to each other, you three will become closer.

🌸 It's on you and Jouno not to let Tetchou go to the kitchen unsupervised. Yes, he can eat whatever he wants, but, sometimes, he wants to share food he made with others. And not everyone can refuse. So, no sole trips to the kitchen for you, Tetchou.

💧 Jouno became an expert in Real World Music. He found liking in wearing headphones and listening to whatever he could find in the web. Quite often you and him can be found snuggling under the blanket, listening music/audiobooks/podcasts.

🌸 Tetchou decided to protect you from in-person scamming attempts. His glare can make scammers reconsider their actions. In some cases, they would even confess their crimes.

💧Jouno wants to try all existing hobbies. During the weekend, he and you (and, sometimes, someone else) will try to do different things. He tried knitting, sewing, painting, sculpture, gardening and aren't planning to stop.

🌸 Tetchou, after he learned about what would happen, if they gained self-awareness later (a.k.a. his fight with Kenji), felt guilty and decided to apologize to you and Kenji. There were no hard feelings between you three, so, you at the end you three decided to hang out together.

💧Jouno got into trouble with Bram and Kunikida after the chapter with him scaring Aya was released. You had to hide him in your room. At the end, everyone calmed down, but, sometimes, Bram and Kunikida gave Jouno heavy glares.

🌸💧 Tetchou tried to create a training regiment for you. However, he can't understand, that there is difference between normal people and super soldier. Jouno is making sure that Tetchou is keeping in mind the difference, while training with you.

🌸💧 Jouno and Tetchou start liking trashy comedies and over the top action movies. They like discussing them while watching. Their comments make it a worthwhile experience.

🌸💧 These two are terrible with understanding modern memes. So you often have to explain them slang.

🌸 When you are sad, Tetchou will be more of a "talk to me" guy. He will listen to your problems, offering advices or just singing you praises.

💧 When you are sad, Jouno will keep you company, not saying a word. He might start trash-talking about people who upset you.

💧🌸 They are polar opposites. But, they have something in common. They like you and want to be close to you.

[beeceit]

You have some fair points, and I definitely am not saying that someone who has done well and truly evil things cannot become a good person if they work at it. It's more that I can't read early red hood comics without looking at the man behind the curtain

During the time Jason was dead they essentially retconned his character by insisting that he was violent and unskilled and bound to be a criminal, but none of that was ever really present. They also try very very hard to push the idea that being from crime ally meant he was inherently evil and Bruce was trying to change fate by teaching him to be good

The real world reason is they needed readers to trust that Tim Drake would be safe, because the only way to make Batman not a monster for taking on another Robin is to make Jason's death not Bruce's fault but Jason's. But instead of focusing on how it was a brash decision made in a moment of panic to save an innocent- his MOTHER of all people- and pushing extra for Tim to be trained to keep his personal feelings and vigilantism separate, they decided to make it so that Jason was just inherently a bad Robin and was bound to die regardless. (Which would still make Batman a terrible mentor and guardian for letting him continue fighting if he "always knew" but they gloss over that)

But one of the biggest differences between Tim and Jason is their backgrounds, and they NEEDED Tim to be better than Jason so readers would believe in Robin again. So Jason, being a homeless kid from crime alley, becomes a loose cannon and violent and reckless. And Tim, being a wealthy trust fund kid in an elite boarding school, becomes the opposite. Nevermind how Tim shows more recklessness than Jason actually did. Their actions and motivations are painted completely differently

Everything Jason does as red hood feels like such a sudden change of character because the resurrected Jason essentially IS a new character based on a game of telephone between a select few of his Robin era comics and a real life decade of slandering his character while he was dead.

Talia was portrayed as horrendously evil at this point (which was probably heavily influenced by racist writers tbh) so a lot of it could definitely be attributed to her training and manipulation. I personally interpret it as her setting up a test to see if Bruce would accept Damian, if she groomed the son he already loved into a monster and he still could love him, then their already monstrous son would be safe with him. That and the trauma of his death are the only real in story reasons that feel like explanations for why he could change so much. But it still feels wildly out of character for who Jason was established to be before his death, for him to do things like stripping Dick and Damian (who was like 10 at the time) to their underwear and putting them in front of cameras to let Gotham vote to expose their identity

I think a writing team who genuinely knew and loved the Jason that really existed before his death would have handled him way differently. I can see Jason coming back harder, I can see him coming back hurt and angry. I can even see a true to himself Jason still becoming a crime lord and lethal force because he loves Crime Alley and Batman neglects it, so he has to fight back for Crime Alley in the only way he knows will work

And instead he got written by people who decided his natural hair color was ginger and Bruce forced him to dye it black, even though in this continuity Jason already had black hair when they met

Of course the past is already set in stone, what happened was what happened. I just really wish he was handled with more care and respect than he was, instead of just becoming a vessel for the violent classism of the writers

I used to give the 'lazarus pit madness' trope for jason so much shit unless it was a REALLY good fic that did something interesting with the idea. But the more I read of pre52 red hood the more I'm just like "yeah no I have absolutely no idea how I'd reconcile all this heinous shit he's done without finding a way to make it not his fault actually"

I hate the 'jason was always a monster and bruce couldn't save him' nonsense so much, he was literally just a homeless little boy. MY BUDDY LITERALLY WILLINGLY WENT BACK TO BEING HOMELESS BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO HURT PEOPLE FOR MA GUNN EVEN THOUGH IT MEANT GIVING UP FOOD AND SHELTER AND DECENT TREATMENT

jason sweetheart I'm so sorry dc butchered you like this my god

When the characterization is so inconsistent the fandom has to resort to literal magic to explain it.

But seriously, I haven’t read a whole lot of Jason as Robin but from what I did read he was so tiny and just wanted to do good. It’s a disservice to every character involved for Bruce to adopt him because he thought he’d be a criminal otherwise. It implies Bruce thinks of every kid living in poverty as a shoe in for crime and not as some of the most vulnerable individuals in low SE areas. Which is just…so bad considering he’s 1) a rich white man stereotyping a large group of people and 2) someone that fights crime because of an act of violence commited in front of him as a little boy. A Batman that doesn’t believe in the goodness of a child (especially one like Jason who, like you said, gave up basic necessities for the sake of his morals) and protecting it in a way he wasn’t protected is a very very weird Batman to me. So it turns Bruce into a white knight and redhood into confirmation of Bruce’s stereotyping and paranoia.

If it was just Jason thinking that’s why Bruce took him in it would be a completely different animal. I might have even enjoyed reading about how Jason rationalized their changed relationship after he came back swinging (literally) and thinking that it’s some innate characteristic about him that drove the wedge between him and Bruce before he even realized it was there. But it’s very much not just Jason. EVERYONE. FUCKING. SAYS. IT. And tbh that kinda ruins everyone just a bit in my eyes. If not agreement and support for Bruce’s bs, they’re at least silently complicit in perpetuating it.

But beyond that, it also makes me think of Devin Grayson’s run where she kept fucking talking about how dick was “meant for crime” or would have obviously been a criminal if it wasn’t for Bruce. This was built on frankly awful stereotypes regarding Romani people. I bring this one up because the combination of the two does not make Bruce look as good as the writers seemed to think.

But if we ignore the bs involved and take the reason for Jason’s adoption at face value, I think it offers an interesting comparison between him and Damian. Jason is presented a child destined for a life of crime who eventually became one of The Villains despite Batman’s efforts. Damian was an heir destined for crime who eventually became one of The Heroes because of Batman’s efforts. Idk it’s just interesting to me.

[procrastinationcentral]

here's why i liked lis: double exposure

[DE SPOILERS BELOW] this is unpopular, but double exposure is overhated. even with the absence of pricefield and the incredibly weak ending (which is a huge sticking point to many people in this community), there's a lot of good things about DE that got overshadowed with hate. so here 's what i liked about it!

Hannah Telle, her voice acting was great as per usual and her nomination at the game awards was definitely deserved (even if she didn't win)

At the beginning of the game, if you right click to rewind, Max will say something like “old habits die hard” and that was a nice call back

Aged up Max, it was great playing as her again and I think the art team nailed her character design compared to how she looked in LIS1

Safi, Vinh, Amanda, Loretta, Moses, & Gwen were great characters

Someone Was Listening by dodie SLAPS, and the use of the song when Max shifts into the Living World for the first time was amazing

The VFX for Max’s timeline shift ability was sick, and the timeline shifting was fun to play with

Realistic animations and a great snowy environment- huge props to the art teams, I just wish we got to see more of it

Safi’s voice acting and motion capture overall, her actress did a great job

The one conversation at the start of Chapter 4 between Safi/Max talking about their powers

Detective Alderman showing what happens if you interact with the split timeline

The twist with Max holding the gun, that was chilling

The concert scene with Amanda was fun, and I liked going on the date with Vinh

The scene where Safi, Max, and Vinh expose Lucas (so deserved)

I loved the friendship between Safi and Max, I wish we got to see more of that before she died. Safi on her own is an interesting character and I’m interested to see what D9 does with her after this

The sequence where Max chases Max (Safi), it was such a rush it was exciting

Safi’s power in Chapter 5 freaking out and causing her to shapeshift into different people

The darkroom nightmare scene in Chapter 5, I was actually flipping out bc I was worried Jefferson was gonna jumpscare us

Moses and the gingerbread house scene was so emotional. It really showed how close he was to Safi.

Moses’ reaction to Max picking the ‘nerdy and dirty’ mug lmao

As with all the games, I liked reading the texts and Crosstalk messages. The journal was cool to read to see what happened after the events of LIS 1, but I wish it was as comprehensive as it was previously. But I chalk that up to Max being too busy to keep a proper journal

Also, it’s so nice to see Max as a professional, established photographer! I was worried she’d be doing other stuff and stepping away from photography, but it’s so cool to see her transform from a meek art student to an award winning photographer. Character progression wins!!!

[the-lazyyy-artist]

Pairing: Kunigami Rensuke x GN!Reader Synopsis: He left as a hero, and he returned cold and heartless. What adventures have made him like this? Would you still love him? Themes: angst, post-WC! Kunigami, set during Blue Lock's two-week break after their win against JP U-20 (chapters 150 - 153), reader is hopeful, Kunigami lost all humanity, established relationship, if you squint a little it's kinda like Epic's OdyPen lmao Author's Note: Epic The Ithaca Saga is ruining my brain chemistry. A mutual and fellow writer already created something like this but I wanna put my own twist on this hehe!

@thebestsetter ✨

Kunigami Rensuke was a hero before he became yours.

He always believed in goodness, helping everyone else, and acting like a big brother to those who needed his guidance. It's no wonder his morals bleed through his play on the field. To win each game fair and square while he showcases his skills. Watching how he turned into a knight in shining armor every time he stepped onto the field, defending his team from the enemy and scoring his goals was mesmerizing.

So, when he was invited to the Blue Lock Program, you weren't so surprised.

"How long will you be there?" you asked him once while you were on his bed, watching him go back and forth around his room, packing a small duffle bag of the things he might need in the facility. "That's something I can't answer right now, love," he replied, "it's something they never clarified in the letter. But let's say 2 or 3 months, give or take."

"Take care of yourself in there, okay? Show them the hero that you are," you reminded him, smiling up softly as he zipped the bag close. He was ready. Ready to face a new adventure, new challenges, and new foes and allies. You can feel the excitement radiating from him. "I will. Then when this is all over, I'm coming home to you with stories from my training."

"You're not leaving me behind, are you?" you teased, reaching for his hand. On his ring finger was a promise ring, the same one you wore. A symbol of his love for you and his promise to marry you. Your fingers gingerly held on to his ring, feeling the rough metal against your skin. "I will never. I'll always take you with me, remember? I'll be back before you know it."

3 days later, he left with a kiss, a promise, and a vision of him taking over the world with his aspirations.

A few weeks in, you received a call from him, happy and excited to talk to you. He told you about the things he's learned, the friends he's gained, and the foes he's made. He spoke about an Isagi, a Chigiri, and a Bachira, and how these people made him feel stronger with how they all blended on the field. You were proud to hear him grow and find friends.

"How did you get your phone anyway? I thought the letter said phones aren't allowed?" You asked him.

"We were given a star system where goals are exchanged for points that we can use for different privileges," Kunigami explained, "I exchanged my first goal for steak, and shared that with Isagi. Now, I exchanged two of my goals for my phone so I can talk to you."

Always so considerate. Your hero never changed despite the changes he's experienced in Blue Lock. With every point he earned, he'd always exchange it for phone time to call you and tell you about his adventures.

Suddenly, the calls stopped.

You're sure Kunigami wasn't the type to never make a goal. Was he getting into harder challenges in there? No matter how hard it was, you knew your hero would never back down.

Right?

It worried you. You kept looking at your phone, waiting for a call. You kept replaying your conversation weeks ago about a possible second selection and how it would play out, and you worried it was even more challenging than the team matches. Would he get out of it alive? Triumphant? Of course! Since when did you start doubting your hero?

You began to twist your ring, anxious about Kunigami as the days went by, each one feeling longer than the last. It's making you sick. He was never the type to just disappear without saying anything.

The announcement of an exhibition game with Japan U-20 made you feel hopeful again. Knowing your hero, he would be part of the starting 11. You saved enough for the tickets for you and your sibling to watch him play live. You were excited about what skill he gained in Blue Lock, and if he improved to be the best version of himself.

But why wasn't he there?

You know Isagi was there... Chigiri... Bachira... but where was he? Where's your hero?

The win was a blur. How can you even cheer for his team when he isn't there? It's impossible that he's benched too. Kunigami was never the type to warm the bench for the whole game. You wanted to ask Isagi... Maybe Chigiri because Kunigami has talked about him the most. Bachira might know too. But it's impossible to reach them, especially with how they disappeared into the building after the game.

"Where are you?" you whispered into the empty stadium.

Maybe it's time to let go. No. Kunigami made it clear that you would never let go. You'll wait for him to call. You'll wait for him to send you some kind of sign. Anything. Letting go is never the answer, he would say if he's beside you. So, with every passing day after the match, you never went anywhere without your phone, hoping soon he'd call.

How cruel must fate be that the only time you let your guard down was on the day he decided to show up?

Your mother opened the door for him, a gasp leaving her lips. She led him to your door and left him to talk to you. From the outside, Kunigami tensed as he wrapped his large hand around your doorknob, hearing your voice spilling out as he opened it slowly. And for a moment, Kunigami would like to believe nothing has changed. For a moment, all he could see was the light he held on to.

There you were, sitting on your desk as you studied with headphones on, singing one of the songs from the playlist he created for both of you to listen to. Clearly, in your little world, you didn't hear Kunigami enter and close your door behind him. Kunigami sighed, and then he opened his lips to say your name.

Oh, it felt like a lifetime since he spoke your name. Kunigami felt a piece of him remembering what it was like to say your name the first time he met you.

"Y/n."

No answer.

"Y/n," he said once more, a little louder. He saw you perk up a little.

You don't know if you're just imagining things or if Kunigami's voice sounded nearer than how you'd usually imagine it on the days you missed him. And then...

"Y/n."

You removed your headphones, standing up so quickly that your chair toppled over and fell to the floor with a thud. In front of you right now was your hero, the man you waited to return. You held your breath for a moment as you took a good look at him. He looks... he looks...

Tired. His build was bigger, but he looked tired. His hair was a thick mop of messy orange, his eyes...

"Rensuke?" You spoke with caution, "Is it you?"

Kunigami felt like he could fall to his knees the moment you spoke. But he wouldn’t allow himself to do so. You stepped away from your desk to walk to him, holding out your hands to touch him, that this wasn't a dream. He was cold, his cheeks, at least.

That was enough to break you. You embraced him, crying and grateful that your hero had returned. "You're back," you sobbed softly, "my Rensuke, you're back to me." You felt him lift his hands, but instead of embracing you, he gripped your shoulders and pulled you away from him. "Y/n," he spoke, his voice ragged but soft, "I'm not entirely back."

"W-what do you mean?" you asked, your teary eyes, wide and confused, looking up to meet his dull orange eyes. This was the first time you've seen him so lifeless. What the hell happened?

"I'm not the Rensuke you once knew. That version of me is gone."

"What?"

"I'm not the hero I promised you to be."

"What... I-I don't understand. What happened, my love?"

Rensuke looked at you with a slight hint of vulnerability. He must not show weakness. It was drilled into him that he'll be ruthless, he'll become irrational if it means becoming the best that the world will see. But with the sight of you, it felt impossible. "They... changed me. I'm not the hero we both envisioned to be. I... I had to become cruel and let go of my beliefs... The Rensuke you fell for because he believed in doing the right thing fair and square is dead.

"That's why I decided you can no longer love me, Y/n. Because I can't."

You're not hearing this, right? Yet, he sounded so sure. His voice was firm, the same one he would use on his teammates.

"Who are you to decide that?" you asked calmly, reaching for his hand again. Your gaze lowered to his hand, callused and tired, yet the ring was still there. A little worn out than the last time you saw it, but he's still wearing it. Your fingers worked on twisting the ring off his finger, causing him to tense up.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a hint of panic in his voice. You looked up at him with determined eyes. "You once told me when you got these rings for us that if we no longer love the other, we should remove our rings.

"I'm removing yours for you, Ren."

The ring was almost off his finger when he suddenly closed his hand. You looked up at him, and there he was, the Rensuke you fell in love with. "Don't, please..."

"But you said you can no longer love me," you reasoned, still holding his hand. Rensuke stared at you, his walls slowly breaking down at the reality of what he just told you. A stupid, stupid decision because he can't stop loving you.

The whole time he was in the Wildcard Project, the only thing that made him hold on to the little humanity he had in him was the promise of forever in your arms when he returned. The ring on his finger comforted him on nights when he almost gave up because his dream of becoming the best came from you. He promised he'd bring you with him and that he'd come back to you. So, he persevered and came out triumphant... but at what cost?

"How could you even love a cold-hearted man, my love?" he asked, his voice now a mere whisper, slightly cracking, "I have nothing left in me but the drive to win. I am no longer the warm man you want to be with for the rest of my life. I did all I could inside that facility for us to reach our dream, but they drained me. How can you still love me if I have nothing to give you any more?"

"I would still love you because no matter what, you're mine. You're my Rensuke, the man who made me believe that love as pure as yours exists in this world," you replied, "I don't care how much you've lost in there. As long as you return in my arms, I know a part of you that loves me and believes in us is still in there. I know you're still in there, Ren."

And with that, Rensuke broke down in tears in your arms. The place he had always longed for in the days he felt so alone. The warmth that he always yearned for in the coldest and loneliest nights. He's home. He's here.

"If you didn't care about me, you should've removed your ring a long time ago," you added, "but the symbol of your love for me is still there. A little worn, but I know you still have love for me.

"I've waited for you to return. This is all that matters now."

"I love you," Rensuke said between his tired sobs, his orange eyes sparkling with a little bit of life. He's still in there, the hero you loved is still in there.

"And I love you."

[windcarvedlyre]

In the post I just reblogged I especially like the wording of

he's genuine when he calls the others his friends, but it's still second to seeing himself as their stepping stool for their hope

because I think that summarises Komaeda pretty well. I've been thinking about that for ages but struggled to fully iron out my thoughts. Here's my latest attempt to.

Komaeda can be (relatively) normal sometimes

It would be incorrect to say Komaeda never sees people as anything but their talents and/or is constantly subservient to them. He at least tries to socialise with other people as, well, people, not always making things about their talents, even if a lack of filter and difficulty empathising with people outside of things that can be logically inferred create problems for him anyway. On top of proactively pushing his views in conversations and trials he can still, say, tease Souda for Sonia's avoidance of him:

And in the prologue he pretty much threatens Hanamura over his predatory behaviour:

and later follows up on this by intervening when Hanamura tries his bullshit on Sonia again anyway. If he stuck to his ideology 100% of the time, acting more like he does as Servant in UDG, one could argue he could have stood back, avoided imposing his will on an Ultimate in any way and left Sonia to 'overcome' that 'hurdle' herself, but it seems like he has some limits.

Additionally, he's aware that he can weird people out, and in at least FTE 5 he links his ideology to that:

but despite his filter issues he still manages to hold back his more extreme views- plus most of the paranoia we see in Island Mode- throughout the prologue and most of chapter 1. Was he trying to make a good first impression? I've talked about his Shot Through The Heart event and its implications before; that fear of pushing people away by being weird could easily extend beyond Hinata. Either way, he has at least some ability to tone himself down and engage with people more normally- at least in the short term and if his mental state is relatively good. He seems more openly self-aware in the prologue and chapter 1 as well.

This is all before we even start to unpack DR2.5; I touch on the ideology aspect of it later, but it also establishes that he subconsciously has a more nuanced understanding of his classmates' relationships with talent and a desire to be friends with them on more equal footing.

However,

His ideology still overrides that a lot

One of the themes Kodaka claims to have written him with is "the fear of someone you can’t empathise with/someone that can’t empathise". While he can be more nuanced during low-stakes socialisation, whenever he's engaging with the killing game himself his complexes go into overdrive and seem to take precedent over any empathy or sympathy he has for others.

Positive outcomes and anyone he sees as having potential to bring them about get abstracted into 'hope'. Death and suffering get abstracted into 'despair'. He tunnel visions on the former 'outweighing' the latter because that's how the world works for him.

Those things aren't really quantifiable in practice, though. How can you weigh a horrifying kidnapping against winning a lottery when you're already rich? Or getting accepted into the institution you revere against developing terminal illnesses that could kill you before you even graduate? But that's how he sees things. Telling yourself that everything you're going through will be worth it might be the only way to live with his luck without crumbling. Relatedly, an ideology under which everyone's potential is predetermined and there's no point in striving for more:

might resonate an awful lot with someone whose life is more of a rollercoaster he feels strapped to than something he's ever steered. He's had a lot of extremely good and bad things happen to him that he's never really done anything to earn; all he can do is roll with the punches and hope he gets a chance to make his existence useful eventually.

DR2.5 indicates that some deep part of him does resent this, resents the concept of talent as he views it, and would rather excise his concept of 'hope' from his mind entirely and effectively advocate for the opposite:

which could track with this exchange from his final FTE in DR2, which doesn't say that would be good but doesn't say it's bad either:

But an emphasis should be placed on deep. The hesitation of the latter makes it sound like it's not something he's allowed himself to think about much. If his ideology is partly a coping mechanism, if he allowed himself to consciously question whether his idea of 'hope' is actually worth the 'despair', whether his lack of a real talent means his life actually has less worth, whether a talented/talentless binary that determines the course of people's lives without them having any agency even exists in the first place, et cetera... he would also have to acknowledge that his life is hell. That the world has been extremely unfair to him, that no amount of lottery money can compensate for a life without love, and that maybe he has potential that might never be fulfilled because of his terminal illnesses. Maybe everyone else that has died in ways he'd attribute to his luck- much likelier than not to be 'talentless' like him- had worth too.

But he doesn't do that, at least most of the time, so processing the killing game through his talent/hope complex it is.

And it's one thing to apply those ideas to his own suffering, but when he finds himself in a situation with other people... where deaths are inevitable and he has some ability to influence this... it gets ugly.

When you crush whether people live or die and the wide range of ways the survivors could be affected by that into two abstract quantities, fixating on one value being larger than the other, the lives of anyone with talent become interchangeable. He speaks about his classmates as a collective here- 'Ultimates' and 'symbols of hope' and 'everyone' and 'them'- even though his actions would require anything from one to all but one of them to die. Because it doesn't matter who specifically dies (he's happy to orchestrate a murder with anyone) or how many (siding with a murderer is on the table for him as long as their 'hope' has potential to outweigh everyone else's).

It's fitting that when he eventually lived up to his promise, dying to make himself a stepping stone for hope, he didn't even know who it was that he spared or took with him. It was chosen at random. This gets visually hammered in the way the Closing Argument gives everyone but him the grey silhouette treatment.

Whether he was trying to increase the hope of the talented or take out a bunch of fellow terrorists with him, his treatment of them when it came to murder cases reduced them to one aspect of themselves in a way that was utterly dehumanising. I feel like there were still cracks in that- signs he, for example, felt bad about what happened to the Ultimate Imposter- but that's something I want to save for another post.

In non-killing game contexts like UTDP and DRS he doesn't toy with anyone's lives in the same way; the above behaviour was technically making the most of a preexisting awful situation (at least from his point of view) and we only see him force people into new ones as Servant. It still seems to be the case, however, that he doesn't really mask his views long-term and they affect how he interacts with Ultimates to the point of making them uncomfortable. The post linked at the start covered a great Komaeda-Souda DRS scene on this; the Komaeda-Momota UTDP scene below is also really relevant.

Momota correctly clocks that Komaeda's admiration of him is... maybe not quite aimed at him as a real person. He drops it because of Komaeda's reaction- presumably he'd misattributed the off vibes to Komaeda being inauthentic- but it still feels like Komaeda's engaging with him as some abstract vessel for talent and hope to some extent.

-

I feel like there's more I should cover here but this took way longer than expected- it's now past 5am- so I'll stop there. Hopefully it still illustrates the main point: Komaeda's a character full of contradictions and that very much applies to his views of the talented. He doesn't completely reduce people to talent-based caricatures but part of him still kind of does, and the degree to which that affects his behaviour varies a lot with the circumstances he's in.

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 52 – DAILY THEMES

WORKSKINS & FORMATTING

An Avengers Powerpoint Party by gogglor

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 4,769 Tags: Avengers Tower, Humor, Team Bonding

Summary: The Avengers threw a Powerpoint Party. These are their slides.

Reasons why I love it: This is the best thing I've read in a long time, holy shit, it's so good! The whole fic is hilarious from start to finish and suits each character to a fucking T, but the last chapter with Steve's powerpoint really takes the cake, especially the beginning, oh my god, I was laughing so hard. Definitely check this one out, because it's my new favorite thing.

Sex v. Work Performance - A Self-Study by Tony Stark by FestiveFerret

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: M Words: 1,039 Tags: Spreadsheets as Foreplay, Crack, Tony Tracks Everything

Summary: Hmm... Looks like you've accidentally wandered into some of Tony's private files. Wonder what this one could be? Maybe you should give it a little click and find out...

Reasons why I love it: This is such a cool idea! I can practically hear Tony’s voice in my head with every line in the spreadsheet, it feels so TONY to want to gather data on anything and everything, even his sex life. Plus, the underlying romance is super sweet, and the ending made me laugh out loud. Definitely check this one out if you haven’t, and while you’re at it, also take a look at the other fics Ferret wrote for the Steve Tony Games, because they’re all amazing.

explosive by imaginestevetony

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 0 (Images) Tags: Crashing Twitter, Daily Bugle, Social Media

Summary: One of the times that Tony and Steve broke Twitter.

Reasons why I love it: Steve and Tony absolutely WOULD crash the internet like this, and I am here for it. I love how the whole world is eating the information out of their palms to spread gossip, and Steve just drops the bomb of the century on them like it’s nothing. This fic is fantastic, and I really hope you go and check it out for yourself!

see it with the lights out by astrhae

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: G Words: 1,855 Tags: Established Relationship, Instagram, Married Life

Summary: Tony goes on a business trip, and he does not - not at all - get jealous of Dodger hogging his husband's chest, a territory otherwise known as Tony's pillow. (or, Steve goes on an Instagram spree and Tony misses home)

Reasons why I love it: I love all of the picture choices here, it really feels like a look into Steve and Tony's life. And the way Steve dispels Tony's jealousy and homesickness is so fricking sweet, it made my heart melt into a puddle of goo. Definitely check this one out, it's amazing!

Caught Up in Our Stories by gogglor

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 41,203 (30-35k without formatting) Tags: Multiple Genres, Magic, Idiots in Love

Summary: “Tony, listen to me," said Steve. "This isn’t you. You’re not a PI, you’re a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist superhero. You and everyone else who lives in the tower have all been put under a spell, and you need to come with me to break it.” I suppose that’s what I get for saying I’ve heard it all before, thought Tony. -- Someone's cast a spell on Avengers Tower that has changed each floor into a different kind of story, and trapped the Avengers inside. Steve mounts a rescue mission, starting with Tony Stark, PI, a noir detective who's got a thing for blonde bombshells who bring trouble to his door.

Reasons why I love it: Okay, I am declaring this fic a must-read for everyone in this fandom right now, because this is the most creative thing I’ve ever seen on AO3. I’m serious, drop whatever you’re doing and go read this fic. I was dying laughing through most of it and just staring bug-eyed at all of the different types of formatting, like – god DAMN the amount of effort it must have taken to write this makes me literally speechless. Also, I will never get over the sentence, “Once upon a midday sucky, six great heroes were unlucky”, I probably laughed at that for ten minutes straight. Anyway, if you’re going to read just one of my recs, make it this one, because it’s just that fucking good.

[sonicjustbecause]

Sega mandate one by one - what I think

Game characters cannot have relatives unless they're established in the game canon (Cream the Rabbit, Battle Kukku XVI, Eggman and Shadow the Hedgehog being the only exceptions, as they're the only game-related characters to have physically present parents (Black Doom, Great Battle Kukku XV, Gerald and Vanilla)). (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate, which may explain why Tundra Walrus aka the post-SGW version of Sherman Walrus is a thing)

I can live with this... Though I like Uncle Chuck

Sonic cannot get overly emotional (which is often paraphrased or misinterpreted as "Sonic can't cry."), since Sega considers it completely out-of-character for Sonic to act like that. (Though we did see Sonic cry in some instances such as Scrapnik Island #4 (albeit with Mecha MK. II's tears) and Archie STH #254).

This one is a bit extreme if not too much extreme. Crying Sonic happened in games (SA2), Sonic X, Sonic Prime... the issue is that eyes had to stay dry (even if this don't make sense). Or that we could not be allowed to see his face. This applies on Japanese media too (and is not a Japan issue since lots of character cry in japanese media, is just Sonic)

Sonic seems to be allowed to cry only when he does it comically

I don't say Sonic must pull his quills when desperate, that would be stupid. But if the contexts requires him crying, he should.

I strongly disagree with this mandate.

The planet cannot be named, as "Mobius" cannot be spoken or mentioned as the name of the planet, and it is not allowed to be called "Earth" either—The only name SEGA confirms that it's simply "Sonic's world". (Though Mobius is used in the Paramount universe)

I'm neutral about this. But Moebius is a nice name, it should stick around the fandom.

Characters restricted to one of the two different time periods cannot appear in the other time period and vice versa. As Mighty, Ray, the Hooligans, Trip, Battle Kukku Army, and possibly even Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles are restricted to the classic time period and are banned to appear in modern material. And even though the infamous "Two Universes" mandate being retconned since November 2022, the characters restricted to certain time periods are STILL unable to appear in the other time period and vice versa.

This one is fair. There are already too many characters in the sonic franchise, most are not even interesting. I would even cut off more characters (In reality I would do nothing with this , that would be unfair toward the fans)

Sonic always has to win. Even if Eggman does get the upper hand for a short period, Sonic has to immediately overcome him.

It is not what happens in most stories? (not only Sonic's)

None of the game characters can have a steady relationship, and Amy cannot like anyone but Sonic. Sonic and Amy cannot date at all as they would lose their dynamic. (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate)

This is fair.

Characters and material from other licensed properties and past incarnations of the franchise (Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Sonic Underground, the OVA and Sonic X) cannot be used. This is due to a combination of legal issues (at least in the case of the nasty legal battles regarding the Archie Sonic comics, since their entire character roster and the SATAM cast are now hanging in legal limbo) and, per word of Ian Flynn, Sega simply not being keen on giving attention to past incarnations of Sonic that aren't their own and wanting to keep the focus on Modern Sonic product, and have thus forbidden using them. Elements and characters from the Paramount films and even the Sonic Boom universe (except Sticks) are also forbidden.

This is also fair, too much is too much. (personally I would save uncle Chuck and Stone, but here things are more complicate than just mandates)

No characters can be killed-off.

Fair

None of the cast are allowed to change their wardrobe or wear any different wardrobe at allunless approved.

At least they should change according to the outside temperature.

According to Ian Flynn, Sega says that Team Dark are not a consistent thing and the name is strictly a marketing term. In other words, the three of them are not an organized team and often spend most of the time doing their own things, and seem to work for G.U.N. as freelancers as opposed to agents in their employ. Shadow apparently also doesn't consider Rouge and Omega "friends" (though Sonic Battle shows that he prefers to call them his "allies" instead, given his emotionally distant personality).

Disagree. They, at least Rouge and Shadow, have been shown to be friends. Rouge in games tried to cheer up Shadow many times and to stay on his side in his bad moments. Shadow also did something like this once.

Omega is a machine that is learning how to recognize emotions. in Snic 2006 he felt guilty when he aknowledge what the would do un the future.

Male characters that aren't humans, can't wear pants.

Quite extreme.

Naming the animals Mobians is banned.

Already talked about Mobius. Same applies here

Characters and elements from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are off-limits too, likely due to a combination of the game taking elements of the Archieverse, the game being non-canon, SEGA keeping Knuckles as the last echidna, the lawsuit of Electronic Arts/EA and SEGA by Ken Penders from 2011 and to not to get into trouble with Ken Penders despite him not owning the characters.

Fair. I liked Sonic Chronicles personally, but Penders seems to be uncontrollable over the echidnas. His stories in Archie often get a little bit too weird.

[itsbenedict]

Did anyone else play Cluefinders as a kid? They were these edutainment point-and-click adventures, sort of... Indiana Jones by way of Scooby-Doo? These were my jam back in the day, and I went back to them to see how they held up.

And the answer is... uh, there's a surprising range of quality!

Basic Cluefinders knowledge:

The Cluefinders are a group of mystery-solving teens, who, uh. It's not entirely clear how they find clients, but they're apparently world-renowned for it.

Joni, the redhead with the glasses, is the leader. She is spunky and belligerent and likes to punch problems until they're not problems.

Owen, the green shirt kid, is Shaggy. He talks in surfer dude slang and likes to eat. He's just Shaggy.

Leslie is Velma. Just Velma. That's kind of it. She uses big words and knows about science and things.

Santiago is also there. He has a phone? I think his trait is that he has a phone.

Laptrap is the mascot character and the game's menu. He is a hovering robot turtle thingy. His job is to be scared of things and complain about them. Both entirely reasonable reactions to the things that are happening! He is nonetheless treated as an embarrassing wet blanket and deserves better.

3rd Grade is weirdly the best one, I think? And the first one they made, indicating that the budget dried up at some point. It's this kind of mystery about an evil dragon that's been terrorizing a magic jungle full of living plants and talking monkeys and stuff, and it's got like 20 different educational minigames that teach and test various skills. The writing is like, very stupid and for-kids, but not offensively so. It all comes together with a twist villain that they foreshadow pretty well over the course of the game.

And there's musical numbers!

Fun stuff! I was kind of surprised by how well it held up. The others... did not, as much.

The fourth grade one is... bad. It has this structure where there's just four minigames, and you have to do them over and over and over and over again to get enough "Cairoglyphs" to proceed. Proceed how? An old man decrypts them and tells you clues. What clues? Don't even worry about it. Once you get enough of those, we switch to a second phase of the game that's also doing four minigames over and over and over again, this time to get gems to get past way too many doors in an ancient temple. It drags things out so much.

And the rest of it is... truly bizarre. Everyone's drawn totally off-model. It's narrated by a talking dog with a Brooklyn accent who's treated like a core member of the group despite never showing up again, and concerns... uh, a plot by an evil egyptologist to resurrect Set and take over the world? Maybe? It's very weird and loosely-sketched. Like... nothing connects.

The badguy is a comically extreme Dan Backslide ne'er-do-well, and he's the only part of the game that's any fun. I love him. He does not have a motive. He does not have a reason to kidnap "the professor" who the player's stated goal is to save. The professor appears to only exist for this guy to gloat to about how evil he is to. He dies almost immediately upon realizing his ultimate ambition when the evil god he resurrects predictably fails to recognize the authority of his summoner. Could not be more stereotypical, but the voice actor is clearly having the time of his life and the energy is infectious.

The rest, though... The Cluefinders' connection to this kidnapped professor is something it has no interest in describing, apparently banking on the audience's willingness to accept that they must just be walking in on an episode of a show whose background was established earlier (it wasn't).

It's hard to even describe how silly the climax of this one is. You... collect gemstones from talking mice on behalf of a sinister cat, who lets you into a temple where various ancient Egyptian gods congratulate you on being so smart and give you entirely useless superpowers.

Joni gets "bravery" (a costume change, she was already brave), Leslie gets "intelligence" (a costume change, she was already the Smart One), Owen gets flight (a costume change, useful precisely Never for any of the puzzles that involve finding a way to cross over a pit), and Santiago gets "strength" (a costume change, useful precisely never for any of the puzzles that involve finding a way past a heavy stone door). Then, in short order, you arrive at the villain's lair somehow, too late to stop his evil plan! But then, you do anyway! By, uh...

...you, um... it all happens in a cutscene, and I couldn't follow the mechanics of it at all, but there was some kind of mechanism in the temple? And they had Santiago lift up some pillars? And this somehow resulted in Set falling into a bottomless pit and that's the end?

I... I dunno, man. I dunno what happened here.

The 5th Grade one is pretty wild. There's like, a floating island that eats people? It collects castaways from across various time periods, somehow, and shlorps them down into some bottomless pits that appear out of nowhere, and you gotta figure out what's up.

The writing is like... weirdly... I wouldn't call it good, but the writers put their actual-writer hats on for it. There's one minigame that's like a reading comprehension thing, where there's all these lore journal entries from various survivors ruminating on their situation (and they're broken up into paragraphs and scrambled so you have to put them in the right order for the entry to make sense), and you get this kind of background on the culture clash of castaways from different time periods banding together to avoid being eaten by the island (and ultimately failing).

Gameplay's pretty bad, though. 3rd Grade had 20 different minigames, 4th Grade generously had 13, and this one's got eight. In terms of reusing content by making you do the same thing over and over to bypass arbitrary obstacles, it's one of the worst offenders.

There is this guy, though:

There's a minigame where... god, it's such an off-the-wall justification for the minigame, but- it's a geography minigame about reading maps and stuff. There'll be various cities or states or countries on a map, and you start at one and need to reach another target one, and you have a bunch of rules written down like "don't pass through Illinois" or "you must cross the Mississippi river twice", and then use a limited number of options to chart a path from point A to point B that satisfies all the conditions. Kind of fun, honestly.

But this guy- the fluff for it is that he's the notorious Cryptile Thief. He stole everyone's cryptiles, and to keep them safe, he threw them into, uh...

...this small grove of piranha plants. He knows how to get them back, because he knows some safe paths through the evil flytrap cluster, somehow. But he wrote down his paths in code, basically, in the form of those constrained maps. No explanation is given for how he mapped real-world geography problems to flytrap-safe loot routes, but supposedly it Just Works. Problem is, he got locked up by the villagers for stealing everyone's cryptiles, and can't get out.

(No, it is not explained why in the world the villagers had a bunch of cryptiles and why they valued them or what he was trying to accomplish by stealing them.)

But then while he was in the stocks the ground opened up and slowly devoured all the other villagers one by one, including the ones with the fucking key, so unless someone goes and saves them, he'll be stuck here forever. It's kind of grim! It's unclear how the time-warping aspect works, and how long this guy's actually been here. Is he immortal and he's been here for three hundred years, or did all this happen yesterday? He acts like it was yesterday, but there's also a crazy old man castaway who acts like it's been decades at least.

Anyway, 6th Grade was, if I recall correctly, about an underground army of sentient mutant plants plotting an invasion of the surface world, but this was apparently when they discovered 3D graphics and did a lot of experimental bullshit under the hood that no longer works on modern computers. It kept crashing on room transitions when it was trying to do fancy 3D effects. Womp womp.

The only other one of these I played (besides some sort of... weird day planner software that wasn't really a game) was Math Adventures, which I remember being my favorite as a kid but I couldn't tell you why. It was based around this logic cube thing, where- after completing minigames for villagers- you'd get clues that would let you eliminate possible culprits, until you got down to one and could corner them.

Culprits of what? There's this remote Himalayan village where the village's treasures have all been mysteriously stolen. Somehow the Cluefinders get wind of this and go to solve it, and then... you play eight minigames over and over again.

Structurally, it's very weird. You corner the culprit, and invariably it's one of the minigame host NPCs who just says "okay, yes, I took this thing and hid it here, but it's because I was being threatened by the yeti! So we're cool, right?" and then the village chief goes yeah, "we're cool, we're not going to have you face any consequences for this." (If they went to jail, how could you play their minigame fifteen more times?) Repeat, yes, fifteen times, until you've recovered all eight treasures. Yes. There's duplicates of these priceless unique treasures, for no apparent reason. I think they designed it around eight and then decided to double it to pad it out???

Some of the minigames are cool and challenging, like the one where ice blocks fall from a conveyor belt and you have to form them into valid math equations. Others are...

...a really shoddily-implemented breakout clone where you have to catch numbers to solve equations, but the game can only handle three numbers onscreen at once so actually being good at breakout is actively disadvantageous because breaking too many blocks at once just breaks blocks. Or... uh... the second one there, where, um... hese blobs of purple goo with numbers on them come down a track, and you need to shoot them at these shelves to splat the right numbers into place based on the graph to the left. It gets insanely hard later in the game, because there'll be three rows of shelves and three graphs and the graphs will stop conveniently locking to the marked numbers so you have to try and eyeball whether that line on the line graph which bends between 20 and 30 is doing so at 26 or 27. If you ever get one wrong you instafail and have to reset. Ugh.

(Why is this happening in a library? What are we accomplishing? How does any of it help this woman remember a clue to the mystery? Not one second of thought is spared for these questions.)

Anyway the ultimate culprit was the only NPC who doesn't have a minigame and only shows up in the opening cutscene to loudly blame the stolen treasures on the yeti and insist that everyone give up on finding them. This was not even surprising to me when I was eleven years old. Very lame.

I never had any of the rest of them! I'm kinda curious to play them and see what I was missing, even though I kind of don't expect any of them to have been good.

Anyone else remember these things? Or know what was going on with the one with the scary clown rollercoaster or the evil toy store?

[solitaireships]

Listen, there are a lot of critical things you can say about Veilguard’s writing, and David Gaider’s absence in the writing and tone is felt, but acting like any issues people have with him are just twitter beef over little things and not him being anti-Asian, being part of the weird handling around mixed people in the games, and him being gross about pan people is crazy

[tev-the-random]

"Aw man, what are they gonna do with Shadow now that he got his closure with Maria's wish and everything? What sort of story can he possibly have after that?"

*points frantically at Sonic 06*

[droodlebug]

i'm for sure not finishing veilguard. i set it down a while and tried again and ahh i'm just not enjoying it. the characters dont have a depth im looking for.. the insertion of a writer's white guilt onto the elves that are based on real life indigenous people and have been in-games enslaved and treated horrifically and are the ones who don't have "real" gods that are actually just blighted tyrants. everything with taash and the qunari. the gameplay was fun for a while but then it made my hand so numb i couldnt do anything for a week. the last straw was taash's gender talk that suddenly turned into picking a cultural identity for them to align with out of nowhere and then soon after learning that Another antagonist is of course an elf. starting to feel like their implying that all elves become evil when given power jfc. i think i'm actually done with it it started making me feel gross and bored. i don't care if you enjoy it or not, everyone's got a different threshold it just crossed mine.

[lilacerull0]

lilamichele is like what i'm always complaining about. it's better to have an enemy who understands the vision (no matter how scary the enemy is) than trying to articulate yourself to idiots because you can't argue with someone who doesn't understand what you're saying in the first place

[narwhalandchill]

methinks about that one leak way back of admittedly highly uncertain reliability but was nonetheless claiming that childes character during early genshin development (at least at one point) was unaligned with the fatui and instead written as like the actual canonical travel companion to aether/lumine in the games story.

and then like. looks at his constellation quite literally depicting and directly linking him to an interdimensional being endlessly voyaging among the stars.

its curious. preeetty curious.