#his name is stealth and he is AWESOME

[biohazard-inevitable]

So fucking tired but also SO excited cause tomorrow I get to wake up and go pick up my new pc setup that I worked my ass off for and also my mic is coming in the mail its gonna be SO COOL to have it all setup finally!!!

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Sweet Pumpkin Chapter 1

Summary:  Bucky is struggling with the dating world and knows that if he ever hopes to have a serious relationship, that he needs to get through his touch deprivation issues.  It’s not that he doesn’t want to touch people, or them to touch him, but after decades of pain he doesn’t know how to accept physical intimacy from others, or how to give it himself.  He hires Y/N, an intimacy coach and professional cuddler, who comes highly recommended.  Will his heart be able to distinguish between a service given versus real love?

Warnings: mentions of past violence and past sexual assault, language, physical intimacy, eventual smut

**curvy reader

Next chapter

Bucky had walked out on his date.  He rubbed his face harshly in embarrassment and shame.  She seemed nice, but was overly flirtatious, and kept reaching out and touching his hand, his arm, even ran her fingers through the front of his hair, then had all the audacity to trace her finger over his lower lip.  He’d pulled back harshly at that point, excusing himself to the bathroom, but instead swerved to the host stand, paid for the food and ran like his life depended on it.  He’d gotten home and immediately showered, scrubbing the spots she’d touched nearly raw.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be touched.  He actually wanted it…craved it.  But not like that.  She was a stranger, and had felt some kind of entitlement to his personal space right off the bat.  

He’d heard of people who suffered from touch starvation.  Sam had hinted at it once when Bucky flinched away from the friendly touch of a fellow agent they had been working with on a stealth mission.  Bucky knew he had a problem, but didn’t realize just how bad it was until the date.  He sighed harshly as he dried himself off from the shower and got into his pajamas for the night.  He picked up his phone and texted Sam.

B: What was the name of that intimacy coach you had mentioned? 

S: Y/N Y/L/N.  I’ll send you her info.

Bucky thanked him once her contact information popped up on his screen.  He braced himself as he clicked on her phone number.  He sent her a message, being vague but asking for help.  He didn’t expect to get an answer back, seeing as how it was almost 11:00 p.m., but was surprised when she texted back within a few minutes.

Y/N: I’ve been wondering when you would reach out.  How does Friday at 7:00 p.m sound?

Bucky gawked at her message.  

B: Do we know each other?

Y/N: No, Sam just talks too much.  ;) 

He rolled his eyes.  Of course Sam had already talked to her about him.

B:  Now I’m worried.

Y/N:  Don’t be.  

B:  Okay.  Friday at 7.

Y/N:  Awesome.  Here’s my address…

***

Friday at 6:57 Bucky stood outside her door.  He was fighting off his panic and stress.  He needed this.  This would be good for him.  If he ever hoped to move on and have some semblance of a normal life he’d have to be able to accept love from others.  He wanted this.  He swallowed harshly and sighed before knocking on the door.

There were shuffling sounds from the other side and then it swung open.  A woman stood in front of him that looked like the physical embodiment of softness.  She was short, plump, and dressed in an all-off-white sweater and sweatpant outfit that looked like it was made of faux sherpa.  She smiled up at him pleasantly, her eyes twinkling.  

“Sergeant Barnes?” she asked.  

Bucky just stared at her for a moment.  Even her voice was soft.  He nodded before clearing his throat.  “Bucky.  Y/N Y/L/N?”

“Yep,” she nodded.  “Come on in.”  She stepped back and held her arm out as a welcome gesture.  Bucky gave her a quick, tight smile before walking inside.  As she shut the door behind him he looked around her apartment.  It was just as soft as she was.  All the colors were muted with pastel greens, more off-whites mixed with rich browns from wooden accents littered around the decor.  There were plants all along the windows, and since nightfall was setting in she had an array of small lamps on and candles lit around the main living room.  In one corner of the room was a large mattress covered in the softest looking blankets and pillows he’d ever seen.  Every surface seemed soft and cozy.

“Are you thirsty?  I can get you some water, soda, juice, even alcohol if you need some liquid courage,” Y/N asked from behind him.

Bucky turned to look at her.  She was watching him, the side of her mouth upturned in a small smirk.  He felt like she could see through him, making him feel unnerved but also strangely understood at the same time.  “I’m alright for now, thank you.”

Y/N nodded and then walked past him to one of the large chairs near the furthest window.  “Well, how about you make yourself comfortable and tell me why you’re here?” she said, plopping down on the chair and grabbing a notebook and pen on a small side table sitting next to it.

Bucky blinked before toeing off his shoes and hanging up his jacket on the hook near the front door.  He slowly walked over to the chair opposite her and sat down.  She was watching him again, the smirk never leaving her face.  “Well, uh, I’m not sure how much you already know about me and my past,” he started, his hands wringing in his lap, not quite meeting her gaze.  

Y/N hummed.  “Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, born March 10, 1917, which would make you 107 years old now.  Grew up in Brooklyn, New York.  Drafted to join the army in WWII, where you were unfortunately captured, experimented on and tortured by Hydra.  You’re best friend and newly made Captain America, Steve Rogers, rescued you and other prisoners and then made a team called the Howling Commandos.  You were a sniper.  You fell from a train during a mission and were presumed dead in 1943.  And then reappeared decades later as the fist of Hydra, the Winter Soldier, where you were brainwashed and forced to do their bidding.  From there it gets a bit muddy with specifics and government cover ups, but you made it out the other side a free man.  And now I’m assuming you’re here talking to me of all people because after all that, you now struggle with being physically close to others because you’re afraid of more pain and being taken advantage of, yes?”

Bucky blinked at her in shock, slowly nodding his head.  “Did Sam tell you all that?”

Y/N shook her head.  “I do my research.  Sam said you’re a great guy who just needs some help.  And any friend of Sam’s is a friend of mine.”

Bucky slightly smirked back at her.  “And how are you friend’s with Sam?”

“I was in his grief counseling support group at the VA,” Y/N said.  

“Well you know an awful lot about me, but I know nothing about you.  Makes me feel a bit out of my depth,” he confessed, his eyes narrowing at her.

“What do you wanna know?” Y/N asked, setting the notebook and pen back down on the side table, lifting her feet up to sit criss-cross.

Bucky took that as an invitation to get comfortable and leaned back in the chair more.  “Same stuff you know about me would be a good start.”

Her smile widened.  “Alright.  I’m Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N.  Born Y/B/D.  Grew up in Queens, New York.  I came from a military family, but never joined myself.  I lost my brother to an IED in Baghdad.  My parents died a year later from a car accident.  Then I was sexually assaulted by a close friend.”  Bucky frowned.  “I went through a few years of severe depression, got some serious therapy then help from an intimacy coach.  It made a huge impression on my life so I decided to get licensed and trained to be one, too.  Now I’m here,” she said, looking around her apartment.  “Any questions?”  Bucky shook his head.  “So what are you hoping to accomplish from this?” she asked him, reaching for her notebook again but not opening it.

He sighed again, looking down at his hands.  “Sam and I talked about being touch starved.  I’ve been through…a lot of shit,” he paused, swallowing harshly.  “A lot of pain, in all different forms.  But I want…I want to be able to open myself up to physical i-intimacy in the future,” he stuttered.  “I went on a date the other night, and she was nice, but she kept touching me, and I couldn’t…I…” he shook his head, closing his eyes and frowning.

“Where did she touch that bothered you?” Y/N asked softly.

Bucky shifted in the chair, opening his eyes to glance at her.  “My hand, my arm, but it was worse around my hair and my face,” he said quietly.

Y/N nodded in understanding.  “That makes sense.  Our heads, hair, our faces, are a lot more intimate than people think they are.  So to have what I’m assuming was a stranger just randomly touch your hair and your face was triggering.”  Bucky nodded.  “Would it be okay if I move my chair close to yours?”

Bucky glanced at the space between their chairs.  He slowly nodded and Y/N stood, dragging her chair close to where he was sitting.  She sat back down and scooted the chair a little closer so that her crossed legs were next to his legs.  She gave him an encouraging smile.  “So how does it feel having me sit close to you like this?”

Bucky looked down at the few inches that separated their legs.  “It’s fine,” he said.

Y/N nodded then scooted closer until her knees were touching his knees.  “How about now?”

He could feel a small uptick in his heartbeat, but he breathed through it.  “It’s…okay,” he said.

Y/N moved away from him, keeping the inches between them.  “So not very comfortable,” she said with a knowing smile.  Bucky huffed a silent laugh.  “How about if I shook your hand?” she asked, sticking out her right hand.

Bucky quickly shook her hand. “That’s fine.”

“Because it’s formal,” Y/N assumed, her eyes narrowing at him.

“Yes,” he agreed.

She nodded again and released his hand.  “Can I hold your hand?”

Bucky blinked rapidly.  “Okay.”  She waited for him to reach his hand out first, then leaned forward and slowly grasped his hand so that she was holding his fingers.  They sat like that in silence for a moment.

“How does that feel?” Y/N asked, watching his face intently.

“It’s…”  Bucky was breathing deeply, trying to keep any panic at bay.  He couldn’t tell if it was the contact itself or the fact that it was contact with a pretty girl that was making his heart rate spike again.  “It’s nice.”

Y/N smiled and then her thumb swept over his knuckles slowly.  “And that?”

Bucky suddenly felt a rush of emotions.  He couldn’t understand why, but something about her firm but gentle grasp on his fingers grounding him and then the soft affection of her thumb across his knuckles brought tears to his eyes.  “That’s really nice,” he whispered, not trusting his voice.

Y/N kept holding his hand, her thumb randomly rubbing across his knuckles and squeezing his fingers lightly.  She leaned forward a little more.  “If I gave you permission to touch me, would that help?”

Bucky quickly sniffed then looked at her quizzically.  “Touch you where?”

“My hands, my arms, my face,” she said.  “The same places you were touched and unsure of.”

Bucky glanced at each spot on her body where the girl on the date had touched him.  “Maybe,” he shrugged.  Y/N let go of his hand and put her hands on her knees.

“Would it be easier for me to look at you while you do it or close my eyes?” she asked him.

“Close your eyes,” Bucky nodded.  He wasn’t sure he could handle her deep, knowing gaze while he was allowed to touch her.

Y/N smiled at him then closed her eyes.  Bucky looked at her for a long moment before reaching his hand out.  He touched her right hand first, laying his hand flat on it, then paused.  She didn’t move or flinch, her eyes staying closed.  He then slipped his hand up to her forearm and gave it a light squeeze.  Bucky then lifted his hand toward her head.  His fingers were shaking as he slowly moved some of the hair at her forehead away like his date had done.  Then his fingers traced down the side of her face until he was cupping her cheek.  

Bucky sat there the longest.  Y/N didn’t move, her face completely neutral as her eyes barely moved behind her eyelids.  She was completely trusting in him.  “Open your eyes,” he whispered.  Y/N opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times as she looked at him.  He stared at her, taking courage in her kind eyes.  “She touched my lips,” he said, frowning in trepidation.

Y/N merely nodded at him.  Bucky inhaled deeply, then watched as his thumb moved along her cheek until he swept it across her lower lip slowly.  She still didn’t move, her gaze never straying from his eyes.  When he was done he dropped his hand from her face, but didn’t lean away.  “How did that feel?” she asked quietly.

“Good,” he answered just as quietly.

Y/N’s smile reappeared.  “Good.”  A ping from her phone had her breaking eye contact as she glanced at it.  “Wow, it’s already time,” she said, leaning away from him.  She smiled at him again.  “I’d like for you to keep coming, Bucky, so we could work toward building your trust and comfort level with touch.  Would you like to continue?”

Bucky nodded, his own smile brightening his face.  “Yes, I’d like that.”

Y/N smiled even wider.  “Then I’ll see you next week.”

@mishkatelwarriorgoddess @cjand10 @railmesebstan

[babyhatesreality]

what if someone else tries to discipline stucky's babygirl?🥹🥹 like, some random dude who considers himself a daddy got mad for something she did?? i think daddy stucky would absoluty go ✨bersek✨

Oh....*Berserk* is putting it mildly....

But let's back up a bit first. You've been with Steve and Bucky long enough that you're truly and deeply one of the family. And with that, it means that you and your friends have gotten into plenty of trouble before at each other's places. You've been put in time outs by several of your extended family members- mostly Tony, Pepper, Natasha, and Bruce. There's a rule in the tower that if you're little and misbehaving while in their care, anyone in the family is allowed to give a time out. Of course it means you're in big trouble when your primary caregivers find out, so you don't ever MEAN to get into mischief. It just ...sometimes ...happens! Right?? :D

But there was this one time that SHIELD was introducing a group of new operatives. They were the ones who would be running some of the simpler operations that didn't require super strength, stealth, or swag. But they would have access to and contact with the Avengers, and so were brought into the Tower for training.

There was this one new recruit named Kenneth. He was tall, had a firm jaw, strong enough to handle pretty much anything- and had an extremely overblown sense of his own worth. He had decided (without asking anyone or confirming anything) that he was on his way to becoming the first civilian Avenger simply because...he was that awesome. Which he was not, but that comes later.

Since this new operatives team would also be responsible for looking out for low level threats to the Avengers themselves, they were briefed on all the Littles and Caregivers in the tower. So if, God forbid, something happened, they knew the chain of command to help take care of the Littles in a crisis situation- mostly getting the Littles to the correct Avenger.

Welp, as with most other things, Kenneth didn't feel these rules applied to him either. He knew that if he were ever to encounter one of you "littles" (as he put it, complete with his own stupid air quotes and a dumb look on his face), he'd make sure that he'd show his authority, and that would prove he could be an Avenger. *Sidenote-it's funny how these dude-bros' egos work, isn't it?*

One day Daddy and Papa had brought you upstairs with them, as had the rest of the caregivers with their own littles. It was an easy half day, and barring anything suddenly popping up, there was just regular paperwork and classified debriefings to meet about- a safe day for you all to be up there. The other littles were playing a game of tag in the big rec room, but you were feeling a little cranky from a rough night and just wanted to be on your daddies' laps. You would hop down off Bucky's lap ten minutes into a meeting to climb onto Steve's, and then back again ten minutes later. Hey, you were happy, they were happy, it was all good.

You politely asked if you could go get a drink of water, and after insisting that you could be a big girl by yourself, Bucky let you go down the hall to the kitchen area. And that's where you ran into Kenneth, who was sneaking up to the meeting, trying to make up some excuse as to why he needed to be in this Avengers-only debriefing (he was pretty sure they weren't even going to question his right to be there, but it was always good to have a plan B, right?).

He immediately identified you, and stopped you in the hallway by grabbing you by the shoulder (wrong move #1). "And where do you think you're going, little girl?" he asked you snidely (wrong move #2). You immediately stepped back, trying to get yourself out of his grip. You didn't know this guy, and you weren't supposed to talk to strangers. And no one was allowed to touch you without your permission. Daddy and Papa taught you well.

But Kenneth took that as defiance before you even opened your mouth, tightening his grip on your arm (wrong move #3...you get the idea). "You are not supposed to be wandering the halls by yourself, are you?" he sneered. "Some caregivers, just letting a helpless little girl wander around unguarded." He leaned into your face. "Someone could get hurt."

That scared you, as it sounded very threatening, so you shook your arm again, trying to pull away. "Please let go," you said through gritted teeth, trying to be polite (he was in the Tower after all, and no one got in without SHIELD's permission), but really wanting to kick this guy in his private area. Instead, Kenneth yanked your arm so hard that you cried out, and started dragging you towards the meeting room. He shoved you down onto your bottom right outside the doorway, then pointed a finger at you.

"You stay right there, little missy, and don't even think about moving. You've been very bad and you're in big trouble," he scolded, unwarranted. You just glared at him but didn't move. He didn't even bother knocking on the door to the meeting room- he just barged in.

"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes? I've got something that you both need to see, immediately," he said arrogantly.

You heard the shuffle and scramble of your daddies moving quickly, and you knew they were panicking about you. But the second they got out of the doorway and saw you cowering on the floor with a glower on your face, they both stopped, confused.

"Baby, are you okay?" Bucky asked frantically, dropping to his knees and reaching out to you. You threw yourself into his arms, relieved.

"What happened? Why was she sitting on the floor?" Steve asked as he got down next to you and Bucky, brushing your hair away from your face and scanning you as hard as he could, looking for injuries.

"She was wandering around the halls, unsupervised," Kenneth replied lightly, the arrogance dripping off of him. "Then she was defiant and disobedient when I tried to help her."

" 'Tried to help her'?" Steve repeated, slowly standing up to face Kenneth. Anyone with half a brain could hear the steel in his voice and see the rage in his posture. Even Kenneth turned a bit pale at the fury he'd unknowingly invoked. "What...exactly...did she need help with?"

"Well, er...um..she wasn't supposed to be in the hallways-"

"She had permission to be there," Steve interrupted him. The aura of controlled anger about to snap that was radiating off your Papa was something to behold- you'd never seen him like this before and it was AWESOME. "She was getting a drink from the kitchen." He turned to you, smiling softly, but his vibranium-infused posture didn't change one bit. "Lovebug, were you able to get your drink?"

"No, Papa," you said simply.

"I see," he said, turning back to Kenneth as his gaze turned back to razor blades. "So you kept my baby from getting a drink when she's thirsty, you stopped her without permission and tried to get her to disobey OUR directives, and you barged into a classified meeting." He pinned the now completely pale Kenneth to the wall with only his clear cut steel blue gaze. "Anything else, baby girl?" he asked you without turning his head.

"He touched me," you added, then turned your gaze to Bucky, who was still holding you. "And it hurt my arm."

Bucky set you down gently, then stood up and faced Kenneth.

Kenneth was only able to remember three things from that moment until he woke up in the hospital. The first being the insanely loud thundering of crumbling concrete mixed with a strange whooshing sound that he couldn't immediately identify. There was also a cracking and a crunching that seemed to be coming from inside of him, but that didn't make any sense either...

The second thing was the fact that he was no longer in the hallway- he seemed to have somehow transported to another area that he was pretty sure was about three rooms away from where he'd just been standing.

The third thing was the sudden and overwhelming pain screaming all over his body. He had just enough time to realize that the Winter Soldier had thrown him through 3 solid walls before he blacked out.

When he woke up in the hospital, among the machines and IVs, he found a small cardboard box with all his desk items in it.

[in1-nutshell]

I have been thinking a lot about the neutral teen not buddy Who is skillied in combat and edgy, like maybe they keep meeting with smokescreen and eventually properly meet the others?

Another Buddy we haven't seen in a while, lets see how this works!

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy the edgy neutral assassin meeting with Smokescreen again

SFW, Platonic, Cybertronain reader

It was a couple of days before Buddy realized the bot they had been chatting to wasn’t another Neutral.

He was an Autobot.

One of the new recruits named Smokescreen.

That was their mistake for assuming.

They originally thought of just ignoring him since he did give them a nice talk.

But soon enough they found it nearly impossible to ignore the mech. He seemed to be everywhere Buddy was going and they did not want to draw attention to both.

They weren’t going to lose the only other nice bot in this war.

Not again…

Ultimately, they decided to maybe talk to him again. At least then they would be able to talk with peace of mind that no one would be watching them.

Hopefully.

Maybe they could even get him to see their side of the war, maybe join forces.

Become an assassin duo.

Oh, how were they kidding, Smokescreen was not assassin material.

He was more Wrecker material than anything.

Not good for stealth.

Buddy waited at the same place again a month later.

They found him seated in the same spot.

They quietly joined him when he waved and patted the ground next to him.

His grin grew once they sat down next to him.

“Hey! It’s been a while!”--Smokescreen

Buddy nods and takes the spot next to him.

“I saw a cool looking bird heading north with a whole other group of the same one. Where do you think they’re going?”--Smokescreen

“Maybe they’re heading home? Doubt it’s because of any cold temperatures.”--Buddy

“Why would they want to get away from the cold? That white stuff that falls from the sky is awesome!”--Smokescreen

Buddy chuckles a bit.

“Yeah, it kind of is when is falling.”--Buddy

He didn’t say anything about the war much to their surprise.

Or maybe it was because he didn’t know who they were yet.

Smokescreen talked more of the things he saw around while on patrol.

This little routine continued for about another two months.

It was a nice change of pace for Buddy.

A little breather from their usual activities.

“I have a question.”--Smokescreen

“Yeah? And what would that be?”--Buddy

“How come you haven’t offline me yet?”--Smokescreen

Buddy stiffens.

“You came across one of my friends not too long ago, you spared her. But we’ve been meeting for a while now and have had multiple times that you could have…you know. So, why?”--Smokescreen

Buddy looks down, playing with some of the sand.

“I’ll admit. I didn’t know you were an Autobot before, I thought you were another Neutral. When I realized that you weren’t I planed on just ignoring you.”--Buddy

“Why not…”--Smokescreen

“You were nice to me. It’s been a while since I had any nice talk like the ones we have. Nothing with the war, nothing about political views… just peaceful things.”--Buddy

“So, if I wasn’t so nice to you—”--Smokescreen

“You wouldn’t have made it back to your team.”--Buddy

“…”--Smokescreen

“…Listen I know this could change our thing and that you probably want to leave… I’ll respect your decision and I won’t—”--Buddy

“Who says I want to leave?”--Smokescreen

Buddy looks at him with wide optics.

“Any bot with any common sense would leave.”--Buddy

Smokescreen chuckles a bit.

“Well, I have been told I lack some of that.”--Smokescreen

“…You really want to keep meeting? Even after all I admitted?”--Buddy

Smokescreen pats their back.

“I still want to be friends with you Buddy. You’re a good bot.”--Smokescreen

Buddy smiles at him.

Both look back at the horizon in silence

Smokescreen did bring up the option of bringing them to the base to meet the others.

But they declined.

They didn’t want to give either side any idea that they were going to join a side.

He pestered it a couple more times before just dropping it.

Smokescreen knows he’ll wear them down eventually.

But for now, he was happy being their friend outside of the base.

[microwavedautism]

I don't know if there's a Warframe community on here, but I started playing 3 days ago, and I'm having a lot of fun!!

↓ Rambling Below ↓

I really love how the movement feels, and the gun sounds are very pleasing for some reason.

I only have Volt at the moment, but the Austim has latched onto him and I fear I will not be able to play another frame, his first ability is just so useful AND satisfying 😭

I LOVE the accessibility options this game has, being able to have a permanent highlight on the enemies helps SO much it's actually insane. I can finally play a shooter game without losing track of the enemies, or just not being able to see them, it's great! I do wish there was an option to toggle sneak on and off instead of holding the button down, but it's very rare that I actually use stealth so It's okay.

So far I have only bought the starter weapon pack, and the Rajhin skin pack, but both have been amazing, my Volt looks awesome and he has a cool gun (I spent my platinum on an awesome sword too!!), but I'm tempted to buy the Ember Heirloom pack, for the skin and the platinum, even though I don't have Ember yet. Maybe I'll buy her with the platinum from the pack? Or maybe the 'female heroes' pack I saw. It was named something similar to that anyway.

I'm not really sure what I'm doing, there are a lot of mechanics to learn and I'm trying to avoid spoilers, I've been told the story is really good after all, and I don't want to risk anything by looking at tutorials and such.

I did have a look at all the Warframes though, and I want to build Inaros, Banshee and Hildreyn, they seem interesting! A few of them have abilities that seem just a bit too complicated for me unfortunately. Which is a large part of why I enjoy Volt so much, he's very simple.

I've gotten.. a little bit through the story, I'm like, sworn to the Red Veil or something, and I am at Mastery 3. So, not too far but not just starting out either! I just reached, I think it's called, Deimos. It's the cool red firey planet!

That's all I can think of to say right now, just thought I'd get my thoughts out, if you've read this far I hope you have a nice day !!! :]

[local-hyena]

Rhythm Thief is a game published by sega in 2012. It's a rhythm game that follows the thief Raphael, also known as Phantom R. Raphael's goal is to find his father, but he gets tangled up in a bigger mystery : anime Napoléon came back from the dead as a Zombie to become an emperor once again. As a french person, this plot in impossibly funny.

All in all, this game is awesome ! I really l'île the character designs, they are simple but efficient. The characters all have different personalities, my favorite being Charlie. Though, I could easily find a bunch of cons to this game : I feel like the characters could be deeper. The story is okay, it does its job as being a video game's red string for the different rhythm minigames.

Speaking of rhythm minigames ! They are very fun. They become more difficult with time, and some of them are really difficult (the one in which you control Charlie with the console's gyroscope was the WORST). With rhythm comes music. Rhythm Thief's music is really cool ! Very jazzy, exactly the typical-french-accordion type of tune, you know ? As the game takes place in Paris, the city is intensely romanticized. However, the mysic used during rhythm minigames are a bit... lacking ? Don't get me wrong, some of them are great ! Some of my favorites are the one in which you shoot at knights while controlling Vergier and the final battle against Graf, as well as the first stealth rhythm minigame. But qome lf them are just rhythm, not actual music, you know ? There are also a handful of sound-based puzzles, which are fairly easy, but I'm not complaining. I'm currently playing a Professor Layton game and I am clearly not clever enough for that.

Another thing that bugs me : thourough the game you will find hidden objects. Once you finish the game, there are three additionnal chapters yoi can unlock by finding all those collectibles (I don't know the english terminology for this game) : sounds and hidden partitions, and another chapter you unlock after getting an A score for ALL rhythm minigames. The problem is : sometimes, you can access a location only once in the game, and some of these hidden objects are in these one-time locations. So if you miss one you will have to start all over again. I just finished the game earlier, so I don't know if I missed collectibles in those areas, I still have to check. Getting all A scores will be a pain in the asssss uurggggg.

ALSO THE ENDING. SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN NAPOLEON WAS NOT THE ACTUAL NAPOLEON ? WHAT DO YOU MEAN RAPHAEL'S FATHER IS STILL WITH THE REAL ACTUAL ZOMBIE NAPOLEON WAITING FOR HIM TO BECOME STRONG ENOUGH ?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE LAST QUOTE OF THE GAME IS "I WILL GET THE PLAN TO NEXT PHASE" ??? WAS THERE SUPPOSED TO BE A SEQUEL ??? WILL THERE BE ANSWERS IN THE ADDITIONNAL CHAPTERS ??? WHAT THE FUCK ????

Also there is a dog. His name is Fondue. This is a very important piece of information.

The game also features fully-animated cutscenes, which actually look great !

In conclusion, Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure was an awesome game ! It is great for all fans of rhythm game, but it also features elements of visual novels and puzzles. In my opinion, it has a general vibe similar to Professor Layton, Ace Attorney and Doctor Lautrec (though I haven't played this one yet...), so check these games out too !

[kanerallels]

Okay here are my many, many thoughts on Jedi Survivor. I'll keep the spoilers beneath the cut, so all who venture forward have been warned!

The way the game started out was so fun!! The stealth heist! The crew members Cal was teaming up with! Being on CORUSCANT of all places!

I really, really love the gameplay over all. It felt like they took the last game and just improved these tiny little details that I remember from the first one. Tiny things that would seem stupid but also made the game play that much smoother!

KOBOH MY BELOVED IT'S SO MASSIVE SO BEAUTIFUL SO GORGEOUS I LOVE IT THERE VERY VERY MUCH

Also I don't know who decided we should get Fast Travel but I would die for them

I'll probably make a separate post about this, but Cal introduced BD-1 to almost everyone he met-- ALMOST. Not Dagan, and not a couple other people that it was clear he didn't trust. And I for one LOVE that detail

Jedha was so fun other than the fact that I almost died every fifteen seconds

CERE!!!!!!!!! AND MASTER CORDOVA!!!!! WORKING TOGETHER!!!!! WITH THE HIDDEN PATH!!!!!

The Merrical was *chef's kiss* absolutely amazing. They are so April and Andy from Parks and Rec I love them

As a fan of the High Republic books, I thought the Nihil references, along with Dagan Gera and Santari Khri, were pretty neat! He was a fun villain to fight

I really really loved... pretty much all the Greez content? How happy he was to see Cal, and the fact that he had a room set aside for him, and the fact that he ventured back out into the fight just to keep Cal safe. I was mostly neutral on him during JFO, but Battle Scars made me really, really love him, and this game definitely built on that! Also I love that he named his saloon after his grandma (I think?)

Rayvis was an interesting villain! I liked him a lot, especially the final battle with him. They did a good job developing his character

Speaking of villains... I do be feeling some emotions about Cal's fight with Masana Tide. I'm a redemption arc girlie at heart, what can I say? But I see why they did what they did

RICK THE DOOR TECHNICIAN MY BELOVED

THE PONCHO!!!!!!!! THERE WAS A PONCHO!!!!!! I GOT TO WEAR MY BOSS BATTLE OUTFIT TO THE FINAL FIGHT!!!!! IT WAS AMAZING

That one scene where the whole crew was at the campfire together and for like five minutes it felt like everything was going to be okay warmed my heart so much

Yeah I don't remember what happened after that (obvious lie)

I like the new open world features, and the bounties you get to hunt, and the customization and stuff! And those Force tear things are terrifying, but I've completed two of them, and plan to do more as time goes on!

Kriff. Okay I gotta talk about the Horrors at some point. Thanks to my lack of self control, I'd seen some spoilers and knew that Bode was gonna betray us. I didn't know about Cordova (sad) and I didn't know about Bode's secret (SO MUCH SHOCK THAT WAS AN AMAZING PLOT TWIST)

I will say, Cere's final battle against Vader was SO FREAKING COOL IT WAS AWESOME PLAYING AS HER

I also love the fact she set Vader on fire. It's ironic

AULSDKFJLSDKJFLSDKJFLSDKJF AND HER LAST WORDS REALLY JUST SHOT ME IN THE CHEST I'M FINE OKAY I'M FINE (more lies)

Uhhh the Tanalorr plot line was pretty cool! I like the idea of there being somewhere safe from the Empire, to prevent Cal from being killed for plot convinience

Bode's betrayal... yeah I'm not gonna talk about that. I'm not ready, and honestly I have an objectively awful take on the whole situation that no one will like

OKAY THE SCENE WHERE BD-1 REUNITED WITH CAL AFTER HE CHASED AFTER BODE AND JUST LAUNCHED HIMSELF INTO CAL'S ARMS I DON'T THINK ENOUGH OF YOU GUYS KNOW THAT I WOULD DIE FOR THIS DROID

The part where BD-1 was going to scan the trontoshell, and Cal called him BD and THEN BD-1 like he was his mom, full naming him into safety. I love it so much

OH ALSO BD AND KATA'S DYNAMIC IS SO HECKING CUTE

(can you tell I love BD-1?)

I also really, really loved Merrin's entrance. Ten out of ten, the only thing I would change is that Cal should have immediately proposed

Oh! And Merrin and Kata's relationship is so fun I really really like it

Ummm yeah I think I've addressed everything there is to talk about (the most obvious lie yet) so yeah! The brainrot is still strong with me so I might end up posting some screenshots and more thoughts later on!

[catnipster69]

Clear Coat

Sam had a bounce in his step, and Dean was immediately suspicious; he just didn’t know if it was minor like sneaking vegetables into Dean’s food, or major like—like working for the British Men of Letters. That still rankled.

A few days later, Sam seemed completely normal. Which was suspicious. Dean interrogated him. “Are you sneaking vegetables into my food or something?”

Sam stopped the spoon three inches from his mouth and then put it back in the bowl. “There are vegetables in chicken soup, you know.”

Dean shook his head. “You know what I mean: where there shouldn’t be vegetables, like in zucchini bread.”

Sam quirked his lips. “‘Zucchini’ is literally in the name.’”

“Never mind.”

A week later, Dean woke from a confusing dream. A glance at his clock showed 12:00 exactly. Discomfited, he got up and opened the door to the hallway. Was that a voice? He walked past Sam’s room: empty. The voice got louder as he made his way through the bunker, towards the garage. Definitely Sam.

Dean peered around the entrance. Sam was on the floor in front of Baby, chanting while a brass bowl belched white smoke.

“What the fuck, Sam?!” Stealth abandoned, Dean ran to where Sam was sitting.

Sam just kept chanting and didn’t look up. He reached a crescendo, threw something into the bowl, and a mushroom cloud of smoke erupted, obscuring Baby completely. “There!” Sam declared. He stood up and grinned at Dean, who had stopped two feet away. Was that a maniacal gleam in Sam’s eye?

Dean regretted not grabbing a weapon of some sort. “Are you—is this some kind of possession?” He felt his stomach drop.

Sam (if it were Sam) laughed. “No, not possessed. But look!” He gestured at the car, like Dean should be noticing something.

Dean glanced at the car, but his eyes were drawn back to Sam. “So? It’s the Impala…”

Sam answered, “Right. I guess it wouldn’t be visible. I did a—a spell. It keeps the Impala clean and shiny. You never have to wash her again!” The grin was back on his face.

Dean spluttered. “Uh—you did what? Are you a witch now?”

Sam blushed and then shrugged. He mumbled, “Thought you’d like it…”

Dean felt like a dick. Sam had done something awesome, and here Dean was… “I do like it. I was just surprised.” He reached up and cupped the side of Sam’s face. “This is literally the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

Sam brightened then started babbling about the “fall equinox” and one of Rowena’s old spells and how there was another one he wanted to try on the engine.

Dean let him run down and then licked his lips. “So. Should we try it out?”

“Hmm? Oh!”

After they made a mess on the hood, and after Dean caught his breath, he exclaimed, “Huh! Guess it works!”

[ordinaryschmuck]

Finished the main story campaign in Spider-Man 2

What I liked

There were some AWESOME action set pieces. Sandman's boss fight, the prison transfer, Kraven's den, chasing Black Cat, and hunting the Lizard just to name a few.

The swinging is still fun and I LOVED the web-wings. There are times when I go in for a glide, hoping to get to the checkpoint without needing to swing. It's more addicting than it should be.

LOVED Kraven. Probably the best adaptation of him yet with an interesting motivation that makes sense for a character like him.

Miles' little story with Mister Negative is ALSO interesting, and I like how it ended, especially with what they do with Martin in the end. It's pretty good.

The boss fights are a huge improvement, adding in a health bar that lets you know how far along you're kicking ass and making each fight feel like a battle WON. It's frustrating that I got MY ass kicked more times than not, but each time I finally beat the boss it I EARNED that victory.

That brief moment where I was killing people as Venom was super fun in a sick way. PLEASE make that Venom Spin-off game, Insomniac. We want you to just for gameplay alone.

Peter giving into the madness of the symbiote is handled pretty well. It DOES feel like he becomes a little more evil quicker than he should have, but I blame that on me going through the game's story mode and actively avoiding the side missions until I finished the campaign. Everyone's gameplay experience is different and something that feels fast in the story might not feel as fast to others.

MJ's stealth missions are actually pretty exciting this time...a bit bullshit that SHE can take care of certain goons, but at least I'm not wasting time hiding anymore. And that final mission with her was surprisingly fun and intense.

I liked those prequel scenes of Peter as a teen. Really sold how young he was when starting out as Spider-Man.

What I Didn't Like

THAT GOSH DANG PARRY SYSTEM! I'm willing to blame my own lack of skill for this, but I HATE parrying. I almost NEVER get it right, and it sucks when fighting foes where parrying is a requirement to beating them. And it's extra bullshit when the game throws in attacks you HAVE to dodge and get super FUCKED when you parry instead. It made combat more frustrating than fun, and actually hurt my enjoyment in the combat, which I INTENSELY enjoyed from the first game and the Miles Morales spin off.

And don't even get me started on those horseshit checkpoints! Every time I start over, I am filled with DREAD that I have to do all that annoying difficult shit all over again because I didn't get to this exact point the game wanted me to get to.

It doesn't make sense that Kraven has goons. He works best as a solo act and I don't get what his minions get out of working for him. I know it's to give us more people to fight against, but it doesn't work for me.

Norman Osborn is surprisingly underutilized in this game? Like, with how much of a prominent role Harry has, there's not much of a need for Norman, nor a valid reason to be there other than get pissed off over what happens near the end. It feels like his character was an afterthought, which is strange for someone who's meant to be the Green Goblin soon.

Harry's character...gets worse the more the game goes by. He started out interesting as someone both clinging to the past and trying desperately to pick up his life right where he left it. But as the game goes on and it tries to push this...idea with him, it doesn't really work as there's not enough time to properly develop it. It was a good idea with not that great of an execution.

Miles' suit...I don't hate as much as the rest of the people who played the game, but I do think it's nonsense that Miles made it while the city was being destroyed. Yeah, Peter made a new suit in the end of the last game, but there you can argue that it's for practicality purposes in order to get the upper hand against Doc Ock. Miles just made a new suit because he thought it looked cool...It does not.

AND WHERE ARE THE AVENGERS?! It didn't make sense that they didn't show up in the first game, and it makes even LESS sense now! Like, you really expect me to believe that NONE of the Avengers were available at the moment? NONE?! Not even Hawkeye?! At this point, I expect the third game to end a similar way Peacemaker did, where Peter and Miles are carrying away a bleeding out MJ after this big apocalyptic fight, and the Avengers show up JUST as its over only for Peter to go, "You're too late, assholes!" And now that I say it...that would actually be pretty funny. But it's still nonsense that they're not there!

And that's about it. 8/10 game, not as great as the first one, but still pretty fun.

[nixtwix]

Oc revamp...again

y'know what I'd on't think imma have a cohesive design for this character yet so imma just post her recent concepts and whichever y'all like, cool I might go with it who knows. mighty make a proper version of the classic sketch I was going for.

oh yeah, and this sketch of her in a dress I made during the angle mission in sonic speed simulator.

now for about her: nix is relatively the same, tired, cautious toward travelers and towns folk, has healing powers along with speed and stealth.

now for the small additions: after the scar from forces, nix is blind in her left eye she barely see's anything through it. so unlike her classic Varient, she can't really tree jump or speed throught the forest, as well as she used to. and relies heavily on her hearing abilities, her right eye, and he memory of the forest. she not only has a strength in blow darts but also in potion making and thanks to tails, tinkering. she uses spare parts from defeated badniks,or abandoned bases to make prosthetic legs, or if a critter is terribly wounded, they use the badnik husk to maneuver and in a way survive, kind of like an iron man suite or wheelchair. of course she has to check it in with tails to make sure it doesn't get overwritten by eggman, and she has to repaint them fully so no one accidentally breaks the badnik husk being controlled by the animal. her speed: like before, she can catch up with sonic, however due to her eye and being stuck somewhat prisoner during forces, she's very out of tune with her own body, and is more likely to trip and fall. also she has problems spin dashing and curling into a ball to attack, feeling more dizzy as she does it, so sticks to attacking from afar, or using her Environment's to an advantage especially in high up places (thanks to Ray teaching her that little trick so that she can't just blow darts while hidden, she can maneuver if she needs to.) she can slightly heal just fine though, and thanks to her jade wisp friend, she's able to go through walls to get to patients faster if there's an emergency. her Chao: Ghost Chao: White and purple, name: Binx. Personality: skittish,shy, startled easily. but wants to help where they can. likes: nix,nature,mysteries, helping Dislikes: light, unknown travelers, loud noises. abilities: to posses badniks/scramble technology, bioluminescence. (the ball on its head lights like a candle, so any light that isn't his own scares him.) Mochi chao: a white,pink and green Chao with a yellow floating ball. she's a bit older, leaning towards hero, and keeps things in line, while learning to bake. (which causes a lot of messes in the cafe) she's sweet, playful, but determined. Snips: a dark omochao. found while nix was rummaging through a crashed egg fleet for parts when she found it, thinking if binx could posses it. however it overrode systems. kicking binx out, and caused a giant ruckus, to were nix has to put a pumpkin on its head to calm it down. its the most hostile of the Chao, but very protective, biting any foreigners, scaring critters away, and sometimes teasing binx. as for the design from A-2 thats probably going to be when she's older, or she wears it on a different time, while A-4 might be closer to her riders design. so yeah :) (also with the SSS event, I found it awesome how the whole map of autumn forest was exactly how I imagined it. and the way the waterfalls were designed just of my goodness. and the camp was so cute! playing it kinda helped flesh out how nix would be if a situation like a badnik ambush arose and I just...it was awesome, I wish I could complete it it was so fun.)

[lancer-the-blue]

Episode 3 let's gooo! It's been some good shit so far

Gods damnit the Temple of Spinjitzu looks amazingly beautiful

Also cutest baby Riyu sleeping must draw

Awww I'm loving Arin's enthusiasm it's infectious

"Maximum awesome!" Stealing this

Ha love Lloyd fucking with Sora like that hilarious

Riyu's beaten his cutesness score! Look at him doing push ups! LOOK AT HIM

Awww that pic of Sensei Wu in the back hits hard

Lolz I know Lloyd ain't buying their shit but I love the idea of there being a multi cultural event at the crossroads celebrating different cultures, sounds amazing

Haha the Spinjitzu course fucking up is kinda funny "it always worked when Wu did it!" Priceless

"I was suppose to be doing that?" Adhd Lloyd confirmed

It's genuinely really wholesome Lloyd trying to mimic Wu ngl

Them be really judging Lloyd's facial hair? Gods this is so goooood

"TRUST ME IT'S THERE, NOW TRAIN" gold! This dialogue is pure fire!

Aaaaahhhhh the opening is so goooood, why can't it be a tad longer damn it

Gods I'm loving the call backs to Wu training Kai annnnd that Arin is naturally good at the training course by default because he innately knows Spinjitzu again the attention to details us amazing this season

Calling it here Lloyd knows they're planning to go to the Carnival

"Sneaking out will improve our stealth skills even Lloyd would appreciate that" gods damn it Sora is written so goooood

Is Riyu getting bigger or is the model just a bit off in that scene

Gods Riyu's disguise is so cute

Haha person charming, loving these call backs to previous seasons

LUBO LUBO

Gods I love frog guy so much!

Frohicky? Really *that's* his name?

Haha love the French snail people

*is that one of Kalimaar's siblings*

Also Lubo making is rain is peek

*is this the end of Lubo?' Noooooooo!

Gotta appreciate them reusing a lego set design more than once in the show ngl

That Hypnobrai being a chick really calls into question why Scales' partner wad pink lolz

*WAIT LLOYD DIDN'T NOTICE THEM GOING AND IS GENUINELY OBVIOUS*

"They snuck out! We would of never done this to master Wu!" Says the guy who *literally* released the Serpentine

"Ha that's a lie we totally would of" low key made me snort

"No Kreel, Lubo is spending Lubo's money. Lubo Lubo" the queen, the icon. *I love this ball shaped machine*

Kreel is kinda iconic too ngl

*did lubo just eat his money*

"Lubo defies you" that's hilarious tho

"Wait did I learn something from training today?" Ionic line ngl

Love Lloyd being socially anxious ngl, it's bemusing

OH MY GODS IT'S A SHRINE TO THE NINJA IT'S TUGGING AT MY HEART STRINGS

Awww they're too young to remember the ninja that's so heart breaking

No legit this is making me sob

"Naww it's the beard" oh mfg this show mannnnn

RIYU'S STILL DRESSED LIKE THAT

That burn against Lloyd ooof, also again attention to detail. You youngens don't get how spoiled you are with this fancy smansy new quality writing you got here

"You can't be a villain everybody loves you"

"Do not type cast me!!!" Lmfao this show mannnn

This guy is fucking psycho tho

This guy is iconic, banger after banger after banger iconic characters this season so far

IT'S AN EVIL NUTCRACKER

"This is like that nightmare I had" "it's a nightmare everyone's had" again fucking bangers!

OH IT'S A GREATEST SHOWMAN REFERENCE

OMFG Kreel giving Lubo relationship advice *I can't*

"Lubo's always free uphere" crown this fucking king!

Dawww Lloyd being supportive, also shadowing Arin's path to wanting to be better than he is

Damn Raz's voice is *deep*

And ep is over, again solid 8/10, maybe a 7.5 for not being as snappy as 1 and 2 but that may be nitpicking

[marsmarvel02]

So, I played Princess Peach: Showtime! last night, and I have some thoughts.

Warning: Spoilers for the entirety of Floor 1 under the cut.

Opening

Wow, the music is good.

I love Grape's design! So... unique!

Grape's name, however, is ... ehh. It could be worse, but I'd still prefer something a bit more intimidating.

Why does Stella have to make crying baby noises when she's upset? It makes it hard to take her seriously and it's honestly just really grating to listen to.

Stella's design, while not the worst thing in the world, just seems a bit... off to me. I can't place it, but something about her just looks... weird.

Why is light magic named "Sparkle"? It just sounds a bit... goofy.

Swordfighter-1

Wow, the loading times for levels are... a bit much.

Why does the "level loading" music have to have that long, low horn that sounds almost exactly like the noise older Nintendo games make when they crash? The first time I heard it, I freaked because I thought there was something wrong with my copy of the game.

Why did they make B the action button and A the jump button? In every other game I've played, B is jump! That button switch has actually made me die a few times in a later level, and generally made me bad at parts that require jumping with quick reflexes.

Wow, this game IS easy.

The pre-transformation sections of levels where you just run around swinging your ribbon at stuff are honestly kinda boring.

Oh man, Swordfighter Peach looks AWESOME!

Again, the game is still really easy, but blasting your way through hordes of Sour Bunch members makes you feel INCREDIBLY powerful.

And I love the acrobatic and flashy dodges too.

Why does the very imposing knight with the hammer go down in one hit? Seriously, all you need to do is jump over his shockwave once and oop, down he goes.

The end boss is CRAZY! Who'd've thought that a Mario (spinoff) game would have you fight a giant killer plant that ISN'T a piranha plant! Also, wow, this random spinoff gets original bosses and Mario Wonder doesn't.

Jokes aside, though, I love the thorny flower bud boss. Does it have a name?

Ninja-1

Normally stealth levels in games are the ones that everybody hates, but honestly this one is GREAT!

Again, the game is still pretty easy, but stealth-attacking enemies and taking them out in one hit also feels POWERFUL.

I love how the guards can't tell where Peach is when she has a freakin' SPOTLIGHT shining on her. Or when she's pressed up against a wall and her GIANT YELLOW PONYTAIL is sticking up above her camo paper.

Why does being spotted make Peach turn into a log and then teleport to just before whatever stealth section you failed? I mean, I get sending you back to try again, but what's with the log? Is it a reference to some ninja trope I'm not familiar with?

Oh man, the chase sequence is SUPERB. Especially the wallrunning bits, and

When the enemy drops one of the scrolls, and Peach somehow uses it to summon a giant wave to ride. It makes no sense, but it's FRICKIN AWESOME.

Honestly, I'd really like it if the wave chase had ended with the enemy dropping a second scroll, and Peach using it to summon another crazy setpiece. (Hey, I just realized, that wave is a "dramatic setpiece" both in-universe and in the video game sense.)

Patissiere-1

Once again, the section before the transformation is... rather slow.

Honestly, I was expecting this to be the "annoying gimmicky minigame level", but I'm pleasantly surprised. It's a gimmicky minigame level, sure, but not an annoying one.

While getting above the minimum required to advance in the cake-decorating and cookie minigames wasn't too hard, I can see that I'll have my work cut out for me when I come back to get all the Sparkle Gems.

This isn't too bad, but it's annoying how in the cookie minigame there isn't any visual indicator that you're about to overmix something.

Cowgirl-1

One word: AWESOME!

Again, the ease at which you can lasso enemies and throw them around makes you feel powerful.

Oh, and that barrel-throwing fight sequence manages to simultaneously be both awesome and hilarious. I don't know why, it's just funny in the best way.

Crazy Thought: Cowgirl Peach tests her barrel-lassoing skills against Donkey Kong.

That horse chase sequence is pretty fun, but it's also where I died a few times because I lassoed when I meant to jump.

And, to top it all off, the boss fight against the leader of the robbers is epic. My only disappointment is that, when he's charging around the arena after you, you can't matador him into those piles of gem boxes landing the first hit revealed. I understand why you can't, but I still wish you could.

Floor 1/First Main Boss

It appears that Peach understands as much as I do that, while forcing open the door that's obviously full of dark magic might be a bad idea, it's also the only way to progress the game.

I'm not sure what to think about the fact that you need Sparkle Gems to open the Spooky Floating Door. I mean, the cost was low enough that it wasn't a problem for me, but I could see it frustrating someone who isn't very good at the game (especially since doors on later floors will probably use the same mechanic), and speedrunners are probably going to HATE it.

Why is the evil version of Sparkle named "Darkle"? It just sounds stupid.

WE'RE FIGHTING A GIANT DISCO CHICKEN!

Oh man, Disco Wing is awesome. Especially the part where THE GRAVITY FRIGGIN' FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN!

It's funny how the only time Disco Wing does that giant rolling attack is when the arena has been changed in a way that makes it possible for Peach to dodge it. Disco Wing, you could've won easily if you'd just done that attack a few times at the start of the fight!

Crazy Thought: Disco Wing meets Hole Punch from Paper Mario: The Origami King.

NINTENDO, I WANNA REFIGHT THE DISCO CHICKEN! LET ME REFIGHT THE DISCO CHICKEN!

So, after fighting Disco Wing I finally checked out the dress shop, and THERE'S A DISCO DRESS! That is DEFINITELY what I'm wearing for the rest of the game (or at least until beating the next floor boss unlocks another crazy dress pattern.)

Disco Wing's boss theme wasn't very disco-y for some rea- WAIT, I JUST CHECKED THE OFFICLIAL SOUNDTRACK AND ALL THE MAIN BOSSES HAVE THE SAME THEME?! Nintendo, WHY??! Now I won't be able to hear Juno Songs make covers for each individual boss!

In conclusion, Showtime! is definitely a straight A of a game so far. If it keeps on being as good as it was, I might even consider pushing its grade up to an A+.

[soriastrider]

so my brain has been consumed by thoughts of a dirkjake doctor who au for the past like full day and ive been rambling about it in discord so im gonna post some of it here too

so we have

time lord dirk, where jake is his tardis. dirk's not like a direct substitution for the doctor plot-wise but there are definitely similarities

his official time lord title is "Prince" along the lines of doctor, master, etc. but he only really uses that for formal stuff. otherwise he goes by "timaeus" except to very close friends, so he's still got the one-name mysterious space guy (tm) thing going on lol

jake happily messes with his own chameleon circuits to make himself look like ships from his favorite movies and whatnot (dirk, exasperated: dude this is supposed to be a stealth operation. you can’t go in looking like the millennium falcon)

can jake project a humanoid version of himself? there is extreme angst potential if not, but also i am weak and i want them to be able to hug lol. so i'd say he probably can, at least sometimes? maybe dirk figures out how to make it work, idk. we'll see

anyway the main idea is dirk running around the universe having adventures and making friends while being desperately in love with his spaceship boyfriend :)

(thank you to everyone in discord who has been indulging my nonsense and giving me ideas haha)

also roxy and jane would make such great companions, especially roxy. i'll put this under a cut because it's kinda long (and a bit suggestive lol)

so like

dirk meets roxy and they become friends. she definitely figures out something is up with him and eventually gets him to admit he’s an alien. he sometimes mentions his boyfriend but he’s cagey about it, and roxy is so curious. eventually dirk offers to take her somewhere in his tardis and of course she says yes, that sounds fuckin awesome. and when they get into the ship dirk smiles a bit and says something just a little too affectionate to jake as he’s setting coordinates, and roxy instantly knows

she points at dirk like oh my god. you’re fucking your ship. holy shit this is your boyfriend?? and dirk, who pointedly does not want to talk about this because he knows she will never let him hear the end of it, is just like what no. idk what you’re talking about. roxy’s like no dude you just made an emotion on your face, that ain’t normal

and jake decides to be a menace and just says hello miss roxy, dirk’s told me about you! it’s so nice to meet you! also i am the one fucking him :)

dirk chokes on air and roxy laughs so hard she almost asphyxiates herself

anyway roxy immediately starts pointing at levers and switches and asking dirk "sooo what do you use this for?" *eyebrow wiggle* "what do you really do with that 'sonic screwdriver?' ;)"

dirk nearly perishes

(but also. there is additional extreme angst potential in the fact that dirk would be absolutely devastated to lose his companion-friends...)

[verosvault]

🚨 Spoilers for Fantasy High Junior Year Episode 5 | My Live Reaction Commentary! 🚨

I saw @halevren do an AWESOME blog about their episode thoughts and I was also typing my live thoughts during the episode and decided to post mine as well! 😆😆🥲🥲👍👍

Legit help! It's 5am. I have work tomorrow and I can't freaking sleep cause I'm SO ADRENALINE- ANXIETY-THOUGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE! 😭✋

I love how funny episode 5 is starting off 😂😂

Brennan like..."no after bit???" 😂🤣💀

"Can she even run?" 😂😂

THESE CAPTIONS!!!

[KITSCHY MALL MUZAK]!! WHAT?! 😂😂

OMG! THE DOME IS SO PRETTY?!! 😱���

I'm SO STUPID BECAUSE ONE OF MY EARLIER THEORIES ABOUT THIS MALL FROM THE FIRST TRAILER FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR WAS THAT IT WAS AN UNDERWATER MALL CAUSE EVERYTHING WAS SO BLUE!!! 😂😂🤣🤣💀💀 EITHER AN UNDERWATER MALL OR LIKE...AN ICY MALL! 🤣🤣💀💀

OMG!!! ALL THE PUNNY MALL NAMES!!!:

-"THACO BELL"!!!

-"OCHRE JELLIOUS"

-"BARDS & NOBLES TOMEVENDORS???"

-"ARMOUR ZOMBIE & LICH"!!! 😭😭😭

Those spiky red things SCARE ME SO BAD! 💀💀💀💀

IT'S SO GOOD THAT- CAUSE WHEN I FIRST SAW THE TRAILER FOR FHJY! AND IN LIKE EPISODE 2 WHEN CASSANDRA HAD SOMETHING SHARP AND RED IN HER BODY OR IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHEN SHE WAS TALKING TO KRISTEN! I WAS LIKE "OMG! THOSE RED SPIKY THINGS FROM THE TRAILER IN THE BATTLE!" AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A DUMB THEORY BUT I WAS FREAKING RIGHT! 😭✋

Bro! This battlefield is insane!!

Cassandra is so mad 🥲🥲🥲

FIG'S COUNTERSPELL! RIP!

OMG! 😂 A GLEAMING ASTRAL SURVEILLANCE EARPIECE! CRYING! 😂

BRENNAN! WHAT DO YOU MEAN A SIGNIFICANT D4 ROLL AND IT'S A 1 AND THAT'S GOOD?! BRENNAN EXPLAIN PLZ RN!!! 😭😭😭

CASSANDRA IS SCARING ME FRRRRR!!!! 😭😭😭😭

Hmmm I'm wondering if the goal here is to try to get that sharp red thing out of all these people it went into? Or if they just kill the person? Cause it's like..these are technically innocent people...right???

KINETIC JAUNT!

FABIAN'S AC GOES UP TO 25?! 😱😱😱

OH DANG! THAT 13 IN THE BOX OF DOOM FOR LOU TO NEVER HAVE TO ROLL FOR FABIAN TO JUMP ON FURNITURE EVER AGAIN WAS SO BRUTAL! 😭✋

OH NO!!! IT'S KALINA'S TURN!!!

RIZ'S MINI LOOKS SO FREAKING GOOD!!!

YOOO!!! NAT20 STEALTH FROM RIZ!!! 😱😱

I LOVE HOW THEY PLAYED RIZ'S THEME SONG OVER HIS TURN!! I LOVE RIZ'S THEME MUSIC SO BAD!!! 😭😭✋✋

I love how Riz is just flossing with also the look of the MOST CONCERN EVER ON HIS FACE 😂 But he's just dancing and pretending to be happy 😂🤣💀

Ally constantly emphasizing that they knew nothing about D&d when they made their character and that they're stuck with a character who has a -3 to Dex 😂🤣💀

I LOVE CONOR COUNTERSPELL! 😂👏

NOOO KRISTEN!! ;00

ALLY ROLLED A 0 INITIATIVE! CRYING! 😭✋

Poor Conor Counterspell! 😭✋

Wait! This is what Ragh's Mom absorbed?! 😱 Bro! Zac is SO FREAKING SMART!! 😱

Zac's always the player to figure stuff out yet he always plays like- the dumbest characters 😂😂💀💀

KRISTEN'S NAT20 TO PERSUADE CASSANDRA!!! OMG!!! 😱😱😱

Why is Brennan getting up?! 😭😭

YAY!!! CASSANDRA IS HEALED!!! YAY!!!

"We gotta honor NAT20s. It's the rule of the show." 😭

Dang! Steel wind strike does a lot of damage! ;0

".... SHRIMP????" 😂😂😂 EMILY IS LOSING IT!! 🤣🤣🤣

NOOOO!!! THE SHRIMP!! BRUH!!

OMG NO WAIT!!! CASSANDRA HAS A SHRIMP ALLERGY?!

WASN'T LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THE ADVENTURING PARTY EPISODE FOR EPISODE 4 LAUGHING ABOUT HOW A SHRIMP PARTY WOULD BE THE THING THAT WOULD KILL CASSANDRA?!!!!FORESHADOWING MUCH?!!!! 😭😭😭😭

NOOOO!!! CASSANDRA IS STUNNED AND ALLERGIC TO SHRIMP!!! 😭😭😭

NO CAUSE I KEEP REPLAYING THE SHRIMP SCENE CAUSE I'M SO UTTERLY CONFUSED AND WORRIED!!! 😭😭😭😭

Fig is wagging a finger at the fire elemental! LOL!! 😂💀

BRUHHH MURPH SAYING THAT THIS IS RELATED TO GILEAR!! BRUH!! WE'VE BEEN KNEW THAT SINCE EPISODE 1! 😭

LOL TO FIG SAYING SHE THINKS SHE NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL 😭😂

WAY TO GO CONOR!! 😂😂

FIG SEES A VISION OF WHAT?! HUH?!

"IT WAS NOT YOURS TO TAKE"??? HUH??! WHAT?!?!

ADAINE NAT20 ON ARCANA EXCITEMENT!!

OMG FIG'S VISION!!! 😱😱😱😱

NOOO!! CONOR!!! 😭

OMG!!! NO!!! KALINA!!! ;000

WHY DID SHE SAY RAGH'S NAME?!!!! ;0000

I'M SO SCARED!!! PLEASE TELL ME KALINA ISN'T EVIL AGAIN!!! FREAKING SOMEONE TELL ME PLEASEEEE I'M SOBBING!!!! 😭😭😭

OH NO! FABIAN WANTS TO STAB KALINA!!! 😭😭😭😭

Oh he missed even though she still casted shield which was weird

NO KALINA!!! GET AWAY FROM CASSANDRA PLEASE RIGHT NOOOWWW!!!! 😭😭😭😭

FREAKING WHYYYYY NOOOOOO

FREAKING WHY?!!!! WHATTTTT??!!!

I'M SO FREAKING STUNNED

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY!!! NO WAYYYYY!!!

KALINA'S EYES WENT RED!!! OMGGGGGGGGGG!!! CAUSE THE RED FREAKING STARS IS RAGGGEEEE!!!! RIGHT?!!!!!

OMG I'M GONNA DIE!!!!

KALINA WHYYYY!!! WHY WOULD YOU SLIT CASSANDRA'S THROAT?!!!!!

NOOOO I'M PISSSEDDDDD!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!

NO THIS IS PISSING ME OFF NOOOO!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭

KRISTEN'S GOD IS DEAD AGAIN!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

KRISTEN IS GONNA FAIL JUNIOR YEAR AND HAS TO GET HER BACK!!! NOOOO!!!

IT'S RIZ'S TURN!!! PLEASSEEEE!!!

CASSANDRA PLEASE!! I'M BEGGING YOU DON'T DIE PLEASSSZSZZZ!!! 😭😭😭

MURPH SAYING "I'M SO SCARED OF KALINA"!! BRO SAME!!! BRO SAMMEEEEE!!! BROOO SAMMEEEEE!!! 😭😭😭😭

BARDIC SHRIMPSPIRATION!!! 😭😭✋✋

OH NO!!! THAT ONE NAT1!!!

Gorgug still has Zelda's mixtape!!! 😭😭✋✋

Kristen hugs Cassandra! 😭🥺

Oof! Box of Doom! 🥲

Dang!!! Ally didn't succeed on ANY of those box of doom rolls! 😭 but I really liked the choices Kristen made and what she did! ;((( it was still really powerful and brave and strong....the choices Kristen made of what to do ;(((((

BRENNAN!!! WHY IS YOUR FACE LOOKING LIKE THAT!!!!

NO ADAINE FAILED!!! WHAT'S CIRCLE OF DEATH?!!!!

I'M SO FREAKING NERVOUS FOR REAL!!! 😭😭😭😭

OMG I'M SO SCARED

OMG YES!!! THANK GOODNESS FOR ADAINE BEATING THE DC ON THAT COUNTERSPELL!!! THINGS WERE ABOUT TO LOOK FREAKING GRIMMMM!!! 😭😭😭😭

I'M SO CONFUSED!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!

BLOCK LETTERS YES?!?!?!?!?! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

I'M SO SCARED!!! WHO AND WHAT IS THAT VOICE REACHING OUT TO KRISTEN!!!

I'M SO SCARED!!!! 😭😭😭😭

I'M SO CONFUSED!!! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS HELP!!!

YESSSSS!!!!! A NAT20 FROM FIG FOR THE SHRIMP JUMP!!!!

I LOVE FIG!!! 😭😭😭 SHE'S SO AMAZING!!! 😭😭✋✋

BRENNAN IS WEARING "THE SHIRT" NEXT EPISODE! I'M CRYING!!!

I'M CRYING SO BAD!!!

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL!!! I'M SO FREAKING SCARED!!! 😭😭😭 WHY IS FANTASY HIGH SO SCARY?!?!?!? 😭😭😭😭

[ladylynse]

You went above and beyond with the description of that stealth suit, my word!

I had guessed Tarrlok would have the basic black stealth suit like Zuko and Katara had when they went searching for the Fire Nation soldier that killed Katara's mother, but a double functioning suit like that that could fit in at a party and do sneaky time work sounds awesome! Quiet fabric, blends in the dark easily...

As for those pockets, I can only guess what he uses them for. Swipe a ring from a tipsy noble at his party here, lift a necklace there, maybe hide some intrusion tools...

Very fun! Thank you! - Tarrlok anon

(re: this ficlet)

I debated a basic suit, but then I went with this. *grins* Glad you enjoyed it! Pockets can be so useful, and the uses you've named are doubtless part of how that suit has been used. Especially if he needs to swipe a signet ring to seal a forged/altered document because the person in question is not (quite) foolish enough to leave one lying around.

[hellohimawarihana]

My Thoughts about Hirogaru Sky Pretty Cure Henshin

Sparkling Hop! Refreshing Step! A Clear Jump! Here goes another henshin review with Hirogaru Sky Pretty Cure! It’s basic theme are heroes and skies, and a bit of royalty.

Series-wise it's fine, pretty much filler that somewhat drag the main story back in middle of the series for as far as I can tell but it did gave many new trends that happened throughout the series (check 'Breaking Old Trends' in this page for more), a twist of who's the real main antagonist is in the finale, how the final ending goes, and overall it's a good season for 20th anniversary (more like celebrating 20th work, actually...) in the Pretty Cure franchise.

With all said and done, let's dive in into the sky of my thoughts and Sky Mirage, Tone Connect! Hirogaru Change!

Cure Sky

The one that got me impressed for the first ever blue lead Cure. At first time I watch this I thought the beginning was eeh but switching to dark background left me a good impression. And it’s bouncy too! Also one thing to note that Episode 1 lacks hair ribbon as she doesn’t go with it until next episode where it was included.

Cure Prism

Befitting her sweet girl personality, hers is more slow and gentle. But it felt lacking compared to the others.

Cure Wing

Another bouncy and smooth transformation for the first ever official male Cure! I like how his gloves are formed and how he moves mid-transforming. It’s awesome!

Cure Butterfly

Impressive too, but I felt it’s a bit stealthed because of the animator, but it’s still good regardless. Also a bit surprised she wears shorts for her base dress.

Before moving into the previously secret Cure though, I would note that Wing and Butterfly are the only Cures whose solo transformation happens once in their debut. Okay, moving on.

Cure Majesty

Another impressive transformation in my book. The beginning is nice and different from previous Cures (considering that she grows up first before transforming), and it’s smooth too and fits the royalty theme for her. I especially like the part where she walks at the platform during ‘Step’ part and after the shots of her outfit she behaves like a princess with holding her overskirt. Also she's the only one without 'Hirogaru' in her roll call.

Side note: During her proper debut episode I really like how Elle imagines herself with mundane ways in order to becomes Cure Majesty again with same pose as the first three Cures, it’s really funny and my favorite part of the series.

As a Whole

As usual, they did had few things in common. First off, the transformation starts with hair, then they say ‘Sparkling Hop!’, ‘Refreshing Step!’ and ‘A Clear Jump!’ with transforming part between those speech. Each Cure’s pose are different from each ‘Hop’, ‘Step’ and ‘Jump’ part, and from what we seen Sky and Wing jump and land into the disc platform for the third part while the other three are jumping mid-air, leaving the simple disc platform showing ‘Jump’. Then after they complete their transformation the dark background changed back into the beginning before the pose where the Cure name was included in the latter background. It’s the first to have something like this and it’s impressive.

While it’s the norm that the Cures often transform together, for this series the staff put some interesting twist for this formula. During “Tone Connect!” scene it focuses on different Cure depending on whose is the focus in the episode, then does the “Hirogaru Change! (name of the Cure)!” on those focused Cure. Speaking of which, this is the first season since StarTwi to lack “Pretty Cure” in their transformation phrase.

Depending of how many Cures are present, the transforming part differs:

Duo: The first half of transforming part in ‘Hop’ and ‘Step’ part are the focused Cure, then the second one. For ‘Jump’, it’s the reverse.

Trio: The focused Cure does the phrase, and comes first for transforming clothes, then the other two Cures starting from Sky (or Prism if the lead Cure is the main).

Quartet: Same as Trio but with four Cures. For ‘Jump’ part, the two Cures will have their process with Sky and Prism (or Prism and Wing if Sky is the focus).

Full Team: The focused Cure does the phrase, and the transforming clothes went for the other four save for the last part after ‘Jump’ (functions similarly with Quartet version). So far, we didn’t get the version where Butterfly is the focus.

Though not all transformations have their transforming part, and can jump straight to the roll call if time allows. Examples are Episode 23 with Prism-Wing-Butterfly then Episode 36 with Sky-Prism-Majesty and finally Episode 50 with full group. There’s even the part where Sora/Sky and Mashiro/Prism attempt to transform where they’re in their midwinter clothes only to realize that it didn’t work (another funny part for me) but it’s a rare occasion for Cures with civilian clothes during henshin which didn’t happen since MahouTsukai (the last time it happened in that series outside regular Miracle-Magical’s hand is the version when they and Felice are children as civilian) or Otona if you count the spinoff (for different Cures that did done this, but considering how henshin works in that series...).

Back to the regular things, the final pose is cool too! While the first version didn’t gave me much impression, I like how it gets better as more Cures join the fray, leading to this picture above. Good stuff.

I also like how they do the transformation play to cheer Elle up. Check my reblog post here.

Oh, and not to disappoint you but I won't cover power-ups here because Hirogaru Sky lacks one. But to me it's refreshing on how their ultimate attack has them in regular forms which we don't have since All For You in HugTto!. It should be used more for the future Pretty Cure series.

Before we finish, let’s look at the minor Cures that weren’t part of this category but still deserves mention. If you remember the Halloween episode, we’ll get...

Cure Pumpkin

I’m not going to split factions for fans for this one but Battamonda’s henshin is surprising to me during my first watch of Episode 39. I like how outfit comes first before hair which is rare in terms of way it performs in this series. The way his hair goes and how he gets his pumpkin head after roll call are my favorites for this one.

And now for another surprise Cure who is actually the predecessor of Cure Majesty and she’s from late-story arc, it’s...

Cure Noble

Another surprising henshin on my first watch with different way of transformation than her successor Cures. It’s pretty awesome, even if it’s short and how it start with hand and foot is pretty standard for general transformation sequence. Also how her hair is curled is another favorite part of her transformation. And at first I thought she shares the same name as Majesty until she reveals her actual name due for having the same roll call.

For gifs go here, courtesy to @warriordreamer95.

And that's all for henshins in the series, and if I'm going to rank for the Cures (the main, not including minors) it would be this:

Sky

Wing

Majesty

Butterfly

Prism

That covers for Hirogaru Sky and let's welcome the next series with Wonderful! See you in the next post!