#i guess it's better than missing it completely tho. that would have been extremely disappointing

[fifty-ten]

i thought splatfest was next week (& only found out it was this week because i happened to check splatnet) so i missed half of it … really disappointing

[fushiomi]

Here’s a video on how to reach Liber/Eng staff about the termination of the English server:

[Video ID: Player is in the A3! app, the songs “Insert the Sunshine” and “Slowly Flowing”, both OST from the game, are playing. The player click on the profile icon, (the content isn’t important). They click on their bio and write “Hi” with a kaomoji on the side, then they write a letter “i” and hesitate before deleting it and click off. They exist their bio and leave the profile page. They instead click on the “Support” button which leads them to a page titled “A3! for Appstore inquires”, there’s a hyperlink that reads “For feedback regarding the ceasing of operations”, and below that in smaller writing it reads “Frequently asked questions (FAQs)”. There are four options viable to the viewer, “I want to play on another device”, “I have received my purchased Gems”, “I can’t login. / I got error 904/905/906.” The player clicks on the hyperlink that leads them to a page to give feedback, it has a green banner and says “For feedback edgar ceasing of operations. Below it reads: “Players that have any opinions or feedback on regarding ceasing of operations can do so here. A disclaimer is below that reads “*Although feedback from users will be reviewed, we cannot respond to individual users”. Green text above a box is present after scrolling, it reads “Please input your feedback here.” The user types in “don’t please ahaha you’re (stylized as ur) so sexy” with a winky emoji, they then access their emoji keyboard and place a broken heart. They can clarify “Actually write something serious though (written tho) with a kaomoji of a smiling person, then press done (two exclamation points) don’t spam and remember to be kind (two exclamation points)”. They then click off the page and settings, the video ends with them on the main page of the game. End ID]

Bellow the readmore is what I ended up (actually) submitting, if you want to copy and paste it, please make a few changes! But ultimately what I felt like was needed to highlight:

- Marketing issues and comparisons between other games that handled international marketing.

- The sudden nature of the announcement and how it impacted the player base.

- The fact the game does have a fanbase and has a market (leads back to the point of bad marketing), and that the success in Japan is an example that the game does have ability to be a hit.

- Other options that don’t include terminating the server (such as a temporary hiatus).

—

Other ideas: Events to connect with the fanbase (example: art contests where winners get “X” amount of gems), twitter events (“Y” amount of retweets in “Z” days will give “X” reward”), subtitles of the stage play so international fans have more content to interact with, etc.

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this while still drowsy from crying and sleep medication, so if you’re able to, please help us write something better than… this.

“Hello, I hope this review/feedback finds you well.

As you can imagine, this is about the ceasing operations of the A3! English/International servers, and the opinions and ideas I (as well as other players) have.

I’ve been observing the way the player base has reacted to the news and, not so surprisingly, the reaction has been pretty negative. A lot of players feel overwhelmed with the sudden news, many disappointed at – what feels like – the sidedness of the decision. While we are all thankful for the amazing localization of the game, we can’t help but feel deeply saddened and, in more extreme cases, betrayed at the decision. The game has garnered quite a community, notably in social media sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, as it became quite a vital and comfort game for many.

Alongside seeing the way the player base has reacted, I looked at the graphics and economical side of things and noticed how players in the server have been lowering. Which, alongside the pandemic and loss of profit Cybrid and Liber have been experiencing as of the last two years, is what I imagine is impulsing the decision to halt activities.

With all of that in mind, I personally still think that terminating content to the English server is a bad idea — in the long run, that is.

The last two years have been quite a financial struggle for many, and to decide to end the game due to loss of profit seems hasty. While I understand it’s not possible to continue operations, I think halting operations until further notice would be a better idea.

Instead of completely pulling the plug, halting operations while focusing on marketing would honestly work better.

The marketing of the game has been, for lack of a better word, quite messy. I think there were lot of missed opportunities, marketing the game as found family and card game — where you accompany a group of people to achieve their dreams — would have been a better strategy than saying it was an otome game - which is what led to a lot of player joining and then leaving due to the lack of romance wh the characters. A good example of marketing, in my opinion, would be the Obey Me! franchise or games such as Cookie Run.

I’m saying all of this, but what I mean is, if the team behind it focused more on the advertisement on social media’s such as twitter and ads on youtube where the nature of found family and the true nature of Mankai (a company where family and brotherly love blooms) the game would find and flourish in the demographic, since it’s not unheard of players wanting a game like that — especially in the west.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I think the idea of terminating operations on the English server is a bad idea especially when there is an obvious marker for it, and A3! really does fit it. Personally, I think halting the events and focusing on marketing the game further — truly pushing the game with ad’s (which could include in game CG’s where we see how the boys grow and connect as a family) where the nature of A3! is shown clearly, A3! English server could absolutely bloom into something amazing.

A3! is about not giving up, even when things get tough, and to try and reach an audience – which is why, I guess, seeing you guys give up on it seems… sad and like a truly missed opportunity.

As someone who’s been with the game since launch, the game has so much potential, so please, please give it another try. Focus on the marketing, push it with ads on youtube and instagram, put the boys’ face out there and make the focus of the story known.

Look into the way games such as Obey Me!, the idol games (mostly female based), and other successful asian/japanese games have marketed themselves and try to adapt it into A3!. An example, instagram ads where you can see parts of a CG (let’s say the Muku and Yuki from Act 1) where Muku comforts Yuki, the voice lines there as you hear the game music and subtitles playing. Be honest about the gameplay, it’s not the most exciting, but market it as fun, add more rewards for when you train the actor — more gems or maybe trophies if you train “X” amount of times in a day instead of just a training card. You can even make more Eng server exclusive cards to insensitive Japanese players to also engage with the English server.

I feel like there are so many ways to go about it that don’t include shutting down the game, because shutting down the game truly feels like the easiest way out… but it doesn’t mean it’s the best way.

Anyway, I hope nothing in this feels malicious, I'm simply passionate about it as someone who’s invested hours and hours, almost 700 days of their life, onto this, A3! and the Mankai company feels like a part of my life, and as many others feel as well, I don’t want to let go. Not when I know there’s so many events and games, gachas and character, left for us as international players to experience.”

[miraculouscontent]

Ask Explosion #6

Asks answering previous posts:

Oh, okay! I’m glad, thank you!

(the post this anon is referring to)

Ohhhh.

And fjbgjnfkjgfg thanks >////<

I don’t think there’s much wrong with liking the design itself; I prefer Riposte personally, but that’s just me.

The best way I could put the “insensitive” part (I’m sort of dumb when it comes to this stuff and I talked about it before when I was working on that 3D model of Marinette) is that it’s so heavy on Japanese. I mean, they already have Kagami constantly wear what looks like a school uniform and Tomoe is just like--super heavy Japanese. It’s like the show doesn’t know how to balance “can’t tell at all” (with Marinette) and then “okay this is WAY strong” (with Kagami+Tomoe+Kung Food).

That makes sense! I guess the only problem then would be that the kwami can’t really act as mentors of any kind because “you’re saying this just because that’s all you can say” (like Sass, hypothetically, always willing to give someone a second chance, no matter what; I know that’s not what his power specifically entails but it’s just an example).

I would however definitely lean towards kwami being very strict in one alignment, so Tikki would always be on the path of pure good and thus never want to take/steal/whatever, whereas Plagg is always on the path of “bad,” but there are times where Marinette will have to ignore Tikki while Adrien will have to listen to Plagg.

And yeah, the guardians existing and the kwami not having so much control... not a huge fan.

Someone asked about Chat Noir’s flirting and he claimed that it was “on purpose” (you know, while throwing episodes like “Felix” at us but okay) and then he followed up with this:

There was also this other comment he made a while back when someone tried to make a suggestion to him:

Except he’s missing the point completely. When he talks about constructive criticism, he acts like it doesn’t matter, especially not anymore now that they’re working on Seasons 4 and 5:

(I mean, personally, I don’t think I need “engineering knowledge” to know when a rollercoaster I’d ridden nearly tossed the cart off the tracks and had questionable design decisions, but you do you, Astruc.)

Yes, constructive criticism is mainly for seeing a product improve, but that doesn’t mean ignoring it because, “well you haven’t seen the full product.”

“Animaestro” even has a bit of commentary on it:

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Chat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

(firstly, of course Chat Noir bows to Astruc on that one because he’s Astruc’s sunshine boy, ugh)

Ignoring the fact that a movie/printed book is usually a “full product,” criticism is also to say “you did this thing wrong, don’t do this in the future.” It doesn’t have to be referring strictly to the show. It’s just, “you did this thing wrong and here’s why, try to catch yourself if you accidentally do it again in the future, whether in what you’re working on now or otherwise.”

(He’s also talked about “unsolicited critique” before and I don’t know what that means? Like, dude, this isn’t someone’s fanfiction where I’d actually agree that you can’t go after them for their work. This is professional work.)

Anyway, remember “Chameleon”? When everyone saw the trailer and absolutely flipped out over it, then there were people who were like, “Wait for the full episode!!”?

Guess what? The full episode came out and people were either just as mad or even madder than before.

Astruc wants to have his cake and eat it to. He wants to say that his episodes are “stand-alone,” and that the order isn’t that important, but when people start pointing out issues, it becomes, “No! You have to wait for the rest of the episodes to come out!” and when people do that, it’s gonna be like, “Well, we already did the whole show so it’s not like I can change anything. *shrug*”

Also, just blaming it on “the industry” when everything else has been exhausted:

(He’s literally brought up before that the New York special was meant to have subplots about other characters, so it’s not like he can never say anything when something didn’t fit the “original vision”; I’m not asking him to get on his knees and say he’s sorry - plus, I do recognize that a lot of influence comes from the industry and people like Jeremy - but I expect a little more than the “whoops” he gave when people pointed out that “Weredad” contradicted his statement on Miraculous Ladybug.)

I think the reason people see it the way they do is because of Fu’s line in “Robostus” seems to imply the exact opposite thing happening.

Master Fu: Universe must always stay in balance. For every action, there is a reaction. For every wish, a price to pay in return. Had your robotic friend asked to become a real boy, someone would have lost his humanity in return.

New Asks:

Marigami is acceptable. I’m not crazy about it but it’s likable enough.

Lukadrien though... no, absolutely not. On a conceptual level, because it’s such a slap in the face for Marinette, and on a fanon level, because most of the jokes around it is Luka going to Marinette like he’s about to ask her out and then just asks for Adrien’s details. It’s just... ugh. I hate it (throwing Marinette into the ship still doesn’t help for me though because I’m not into the love square).

Bi erasure is my least favorite thing.

And yeah, it’s like--they set the love square ship(s?) out onto the water, then the Lukanette ship later with the plan to either sink it or just kinda... return it to the harbor if they don’t make a huge fuss about it?

Meanwhile, the love square ship has been in piece this whole time, and instead of letting it sink, they put it on a raft to keep it floating.

Depends.

In LadyBugOut? It’s already written and I haven’t posted it.

For canon? Like, Marinette being super disappointed at her view of Adrien being shattered or? :P

That’s accurate. I dislike about a fourth-ish of Season 1,then about half-ish of Season 2, then like... almost all of Season 3.

So we’ll just have to see what happens in Season 4.

I like Adrimi, but I’m not crazy about it and I don’t really write for it unless Lukanette is already the main ship (making Adrimi just a background ship). Adrien tends to dismiss Kagami a lot (like in “Frozer” and then “Miracle Queen” with him not committing) and I don’t want to see Kagami hurting like that (I agree with the anon completely that Adrien is more at fault than she is). They’re both emotionally-stunted so I usually have them wait it out or something to have them get together.

My ideal endgame is Lukanette while Adrimi is more like “let’s wait, let’s work on ourselves (especially Adrien; Kagami at least has on firm crush and wants to commit to it), and we’ll see where we go down the line.”

I don’t know if they really have the guts to arrest Gabriel. I also think that Lila might pick up the butterfly at the end of Season 5 or something after she’s been “dealt with.”

Chloe also is the mayor’s daughter so even if the law was that strict on teens, nothing would happen to her unless Andre got replaced.

Big yikes.

Maybe that the thing forcing Marinette away from Adrien and causing things to go wrong is the part of the curse trying to prevent the ladybug and cat miraculous from coming together?

So, close enough to be attracted and want to work together, but forcing the ladybug away from the cat to prevent the miraculouses from being used to make a wish?

I CHOKED ON MY DRINK.

ugh

ugh

ugggggggh

I’m 100% sure that Marinette wouldn’t be as uncomfortable around Adrien if Alya hadn’t constantly intervened. She’s the enabler of both Marinette’s anxiety and her crush on Adrien.

I went back and looked at the scene and it does kinda look like it, yes, because it basically goes from the intersection Marinette is in to another intersection that looks very, extremely similar and I don’t see Marinette in that intersection.

It was just a really, really bad transition. I remember being thrown off for a second too so I don’t blame you, anon.

I think Bob Roth’s intent was to scare Marinette away from showing that proof? He probably knows very well that Marinette has all the evidence she needs to make a case and already had a story planned for the press about how “the young talents they found didn’t measure up and the people deserved better.”

He just needed enough pressure on them for them to believe that he had enough authority to silence them.

And then Silencer tried to silence him instead. :3

I don’t think Marinette’s relationship with her parents would change too much. Like, they already let her just go out whenever she wants which obviously Plagg approves off, although Marinette might become more numb to the idea of being grounded because Plagg just teaches her, “hey lol Ladybug isn’t grounded tho,” so Marinette sneaks out all the time.

Yeah, Tikki would probably justify Gabriel’s behavior, and she wouldn’t really be able to get on his case for flirting as Mister Bug because she’s not aware of it.

lol it helps no one to have Tikki I guess.

Adrien overall and then honorable mention to Alya for Winny’s comment about her being Marinette’s conscience (which is probably why they almost never nail Alya for stuff she does).

KHNJFDNGFD THE LUKANETTE QUEEN MONIKER RETURNS >///<

And ugh, the absolute level of bias in that. Even if the video was made in, like, Season 2 (don’t know, didn’t see it), Season 2 still gives examples of why Adrienette isn’t making Marinette happy at all (and has some of the love square failings too).

The name and the fact that they gave it that name tells me everything I need to know.

Goodness gracious.

Yeah, people can talk about character’s flaws. I mean, we talk a lot here about Marinette’s struggles in getting over Adrien (partly brought on by a lot of outside factors but still).

Also, sure, Luka is a “pushover” because he’s one of the few characters who understands Marinette’s tunnel vision and isn’t bothered by it, okay. :P (Interesting that the topic of Chat’s entitlement towards Ladybug but Luka respecting her choices and just enjoying being around her makes him her punching bag).

Every time I hear, “Adrien needs more spotlight!!!” I lose a part of my soul. How people can’t see that Marinette is the show’s true punching bag is beyond me.

[karliahs]

um for prompts idk anything specific but maybe more midoriya gettin angry over stuff and dealin?? really loved the way u handled it in something else to pretend, would love to see ur take on how he deals with more aggressive/harsher anger? idk tho

content warning for discussions of bullying and brief references to (canon) child abuse

“Why did Kacchan do that?” Izuku asks. It’s one of those shards of memory that lingers far longer than it should, muddying over years and re-rememberings, but never completely fading away.

Izuku can remember the question, his grazed knees, the sun shining on the grass. He can remember his mother helping clean him up, smiling a comforting smile and saying, “I don’t know, sweetie. I think he was angry.”

Izuku isn’t sure if the question that comes next comes from his mother, or if it’s just something he’s thought about so much over the years that it’s gotten tangled up in the memory, an unwitting passenger. “Don’t you get angry, Izuku?” someone asks.

ao3 link / continued below

In hindsight, Izuku is sure the thoughts that come next can’t be part of the memory. His five year old self wouldn’t be capable of this kind of self-analysis. But the thing is, Izuku thinks he knows what anger is. It’s not really that distinct from other kinds of overwhelmed, when the world is too loud, too much, too impatient and needling - and so he cries, because this happens every time a feeling is too large to hold all of it inside him, and ‘wanting not to cry’ is always one of those feelings, so there’s no way out.

Izuku supposes he must have thrown tantrums when he was little. Thrown his toys around, fallen on the floor, screamed. He can’t remember doing any of that.

He’s never felt whatever Kacchan is feeling when he pushes Izuku into the dirt. He tries to imagine it, a feeling bubbling over into bright, harsh action, like Kacchan’s explosions. He can almost get there, but after comes a sweep of shame that pulls him back into himself. Izuku Midoriya, quirkless and strange, who causes enough problems without pushing other children over. Izuku, who can feel the aftermath so much more distinctly than that initial explosion of anger. He can’t think about explosions without thinking about wreckage.

…

“Don’t you ever get mad?” Matsuda asks.

Izuku had been on his way to take shelter in the school library over lunch. He’d been distracted, as he walked, wondering if the doors would be open today - the library is sparse and neglected enough when it’s open, but the school’s staffing levels are such that he frequently turns up at the doors to find the whole place shut up and locked, leaving him to try and think of another place where he might be able to spend the next 45 minutes safe and left alone - so distracted that he hadn’t noticed Matsuda until they almost collided in the hallway.

He was lucky, really, that it was just Matsuda, not one of Kacchan’s true entourage, but a hanger-on who rarely missed an opportunity to take Izuku down a peg. In a class without Izuku there, it wouldn’t be that hard to see Matsuda in Izuku’s place.

But something about Izuku’s distracted expression during his taunts seems to have triggered something else, a kind of disbelieving disgust. “Like, ever?” he asks. “Don’t you ever get tired of like ‘thanks, excuse me, sorry for existing and all, good luck with the test tomorrow guys!’” He says this last past in a high-pitched imitation of Izuku’s voice, and Izuku thinks maybe they’ve returned to familiar ground, but Matsuda is still staring intently at him, seemingly waiting for an answer.

He doesn’t have one to give. Half his mind is still on those library doors, and whether they’ll be open when he gets there. The rest is fuzzed over with panic, leaving him with nothing but his polite, stammering default - which never makes it better, but silence never does either.

“Whatever,” Matsuda says, suddenly growing tired of him and starting off in the other direction. “It’s like you like it this way.”

Izuku takes a shuddering breath and turns the corner. The library doors are closed.

…

Izuku tries, later that day, once he’s safe at home, to get angry on purpose. He sits on his bed and tries to summon it up, like the opposite of meditating, reaching for fury instead of calm. For a few minutes nothing happens at all, except that he gets distracted thinking about other things and has to drag himself back.

He thinks about Kacchan pushing him down, and him never finding out why. He thinks about the look on his mother’s face when she came back from meetings during the dissolution of her marriage, meetings Izuku was kept well away from; he thinks about how hard she tried to be normal, but how her knuckles were white where she gripped her water glass.

Eventually, there’s a kind of hot, prickling feeling over his skin. He feels briefly untethered, out of his own body, and wonders if he really did end up meditating after all. Then comes a wave of nausea, so physical that he feels a prickling in the back of his throat. He remembers having the flu last semester, and the nausea that had flooded through him when he’d tried to walk just to get a glass of water - nausea that felt like a warning, like a plea; stop, whatever you’re doing, stop.

He opens his eyes to find he’s gripping his notebook in his hands, so tight he’s bent the spine, leaving little wrinkles of damage spreading out from where he’d held on. He releases his grip and tries to smooth it over, bend it back into shape, but it only looks sadder for his efforts, care shown far too late to help anything.

…

Always, at the root of anger, we find a desire for change. Izuku grips his highlighter pen, unsure. He doesn’t think this passage has much to do with the essay question he’s been assigned, but something about it peaks his interest anyway.

A person enraged is a person committed to affecting change in the world around them. If we all gave in to those desires at every opportunity, we would have a world of tyranny and chaos. However, the alternative extreme is no better - a world of stasis and apathy, drifting, stagnating. When we tell our children to banish their anger, we tell them to cut away a significant part of their own agency. When we tell this to some children and never to others, we invite a different, more incisive kind of tyranny.

Izuku is torn between a desire to slam the book shut, and the urge to try and pivot his essay in a direction that will let him analyse this. He highlights the words in yellow, realising that when he thinks of change, he doesn’t think of anger. He thinks of All Might, defeating impossible odds, saving dozens of terrified people, and doing it all with a smile on his face. What is that if not agency? Can you really not have one without the other?

…

He supposes what he’s doing is building a case, the way he always does. Trying to capture the sum of his understanding of something, so that when he needs the knowledge it will be there. The crucial, long, stuttering thinking will already be done, and in the heat of the moment he can just act.

That’s Hero Analysis For the Future , and he thinks that’s why he’s holding onto these memories too. Almost every aspect of a hero’s life affects their career in some ways; if anger does too, it makes sense that Izuku needs to work out what he thinks. Don’t you ever get angry, Izuku? Don’t you ever get mad? Always, at the root of anger, we find a desire for change. It’s like you like it this way.

Izuku wishes, for a moment, that feelings were as real and tangible as organs. He wishes he could go for a scan and have someone tell him yep, anger’s right there. It isn’t enlarged or shrivelled. It isn’t inflamed or sickening. It isn’t poisoning everything around it.

…

He asks his friends, now that he has friends, specifically targeting those who are more on an even keel - he already knows he can’t relate to big, obvious anger.

“Sure, Deku,” Uraraka answers. “Everyone gets angry.”

“What does it feel like, when you are?”

“Are you gonna take notes?” she teases, but then she’s concentrating, tapping her fingers together, trying to figure out how best to describe it. Izuku still isn’t used to this; if you’d asked him to predict what Uraraka would give him, even though he thinks the world of her, he assumed he’d get a quick, uninterested comment at most. Either his UA friends are so much better than most people, or his calibrations for what friendship is are all off; Izuku suspects it’s a little of both.

“I guess I have two types of anger?” Uraraka muses. “Like, there’s…determined anger? Like at the sports festival, I just got really fired up and wanted to win so bad!” She makes a fist, as if to demonstrate, and man, Izuku likes her so much.

She lets her hands drop. “Then there’s the kind that’s less fun. Like…when your heater is broken and you’re mad that it’s broken, and that you’re cold and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Your heater isn’t really broken, right?” Izuku asks. “It’s been getting really cold out!”

Uraraka gives him a warm smile. “No, Deku. It’s fine.” He stares at her smile for a second too long, trying to grasp the idea of Uraraka being really, truly angry. He thinks it’s like how no one can really know that they’re seeing the same colours everyone else sees. For all he knows, they’re feeling totally different things and giving them the same name; he can’t imagine Uraraka feeling anything in the disjointed, sickly way that rage finds him.

…

Ashido is his next target, and she laughs before realising he’s serious. “Anger feels like anger, you know?” she says idly. “Like…” She holds up her hands in a claw-like gesture, and makes a kind of ‘rrargh’ noise.

Izuku must look slightly disappointed, because Ashido sighs and throws up her hands. “I don’t know, man! I don’t like to think about it. Everything is stupid when you’re angry, and I’m always there, so it’s like I’m stupid. The stupidest thing in all the stupid.”

She looks down at her shoes as she talks, and it’s so unlike the Ashido he knows that Izuku wants to apologise for having asked. Before he can, she lightly punches his shoulder, giving him a smaller, more subdued version of her usual bright smile. “You don’t always gotta dwell on stuff, you know?” she says. “No one’s gonna give you points for it. Chin up! Plus ultra!”

She skips away, and Izuku feels like he understands her both more and less than he did five minutes ago.

…

He doesn’t actually plan to ask Todoroki, but he’s in Todoroki’s room taking back his notes for English class when he finds himself doing it anyway.

“You…get angry sometimes, right?”

Todoroki blinks at him. Slowly, deliberately, he lifts his left hand, cupped in a way that makes Izuku anticipate flame, makes him aware of the ghost of it among his fingers.

“Yes,” Todoroki says simply.

“Yeah,” Izuku says, wanting to smile to soften things but not wanting Todoroki to think he’d been making fun of him. “I’ve been asking a lot of people. People in our class, I mean.” He fidgets with his hands for a second. “I think I’m doing it wrong? I don’t know if I have too much anger or too little, but…I don’t know. I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Todoroki waits patiently while he speaks, all his attention fixed on Izuku. Izuku thinks that’s one of the reasons he likes Todoroki; even for all of his ambition, he gives off this impression of patience that makes it feel okay to talk, to talk imperfectly and at length, now that he’s past Todoroki’s initial barriers. The other ambitious people Izuku knows, himself included, aren’t like that - he’s dogged, determined, but not patient. It comes from starting so far behind everyone else, making it feel as though no movement is ever really fast enough.

Todoroki thinks for a long moment before replying. “It can’t be worse than what’s wrong with me.”

Izuku gives him a small smile. Kind things hover in the back of his mind, wanting to offer reassurance, but he knows from experience that when you offer some glimpse of how you feel about yourself, sometimes the best thing to receive back is just space and acknowledgement, instead of attempts to convince you otherwise that mostly just make you regret speaking up in the first place.

Izuku knows he’s so behind with this, too; having friends, talking to people, trying to give them reasons to be glad that they talked to him. But maybe Todoroki would understand that, out of all of his friends - maybe they can muddle through together.

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately,” Todoroki offers, and Izuku thinks maybe he made the right choice after all. “I used to want to never be angry, so that I’d never act like my father. Now I think if I don’t get used to it, get control of it, I’m more likely to make the same mistakes he did.”

Todoroki flexes his left hand, frowning.

“You’ve come so far, you know?” Izuku says, before he can stop himself.

Todoroki meets his eyes. He’s familiar and strange all at once. Even now that they’ve spent more time together, Izuku can so rarely predict what Todoroki will say or do, just that he likes him, likes the strange angles of him, likes that for some reason he chose Izuku as the subject of his honesty.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Todoroki says, but there’s a softness there, like gratitude.

“I don’t know if it ever does,” Izuku answers, thinking of all the times this year he’s been told that he’s making progress, and how sometimes he’s still convinced that he’s exactly the same on the inside; the same friendless nothing who spent his lunch breaks cowering in the library. “I just feel so guilty for being mad,” he says. “Even if I just sit with it and don’t do anything, it feels so…dangerous.”

The notes in his hands bring him back to that day in his room, trying to be angry on purpose. “One time I messed up one of my notebooks when I was angry, and even though it’s just paper, I felt so bad…I can’t think about anger without thinking about damage, you know?”

He looks up from the notes, from his own scarred hands, to find Todoroki watching him with a new intensity in his eyes. Immediately he wishes he hadn’t spoken, because of course Todoroki knows more about damage than he ever will. “I’m sorry-” he starts, but Todoroki shakes his head.

“I didn’t know anyone else thought about this the way I do. Especially you.”

Their eyes meet again and Izuku finds himself smiling, just from having spoken and been understood - it was still wonderful and new, every time, each moment where he realises he really does have friends. “Maybe there’s a class we can take?” he jokes.

“I think that’s just therapy,” Todoroki says, sounding thoughtful and disappointed in equal measure. “Tell me why you think you’re doing it wrong?”

Izuku gently sets the notes back on Todoroki’s desk, realising with another little leap of joy that he won’t be leaving for a while yet. He takes a seat and starts to talk about being five years old, about the time Kacchan pushed him over and the only explanation anyone could offer was anger.

[horansqueen]

AM Conversations : chapter 47

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34 || CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42 || CHAPTER 43 || CHAPTER 44 || CHAPTER 45 || CHAPTER 46

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his. -4k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

- if you want to be notified when this is updated, please message me or leave a comment!

- note for this chapter: simple chapter, i know. i tried to make it more dramatic but i love them and i like when theyre happy lol. it gets worse in the next chapters tho. :X btw, sorry for this very bad chapter.

PLEASE, i would love to know what you think about Louis and Olivia’s relationship/friendship or what you want to happen or expect to happen to them. he’ll be a LOT more present in the next few chapters so i really need to know.

no request for this chapter! some planned for the next :)

Chapter 47 : Her chapter

OLIVIA

I kept looking at the time on my phone and my leg wouldn't stop shaking. It's only when Louis put his hand on one of my knees that I looked up but even his warm and compassionate smile couldn't stop stress from invading me.

"Don't worry, he'll be there soon."

I sighed but sent him a smile anyway as I looked around the living room. I had invited home a lot of Niall's friends for his birthday and had imagined a nice evening with cake, beer and games but it was already late and he wasn't home yet. He knew I had prepared that since he was very busy these days and I wanted to make sure he'd be there but even if he had promised, he was extremely late. In fact, the word 'late' didn't really apply anymore. I would have used the word 'absent' instead.

Everyone was having fun anyway, chatting and drinking, but I couldn't seem to let go and when the clock told me it was 2am, I knew it was over. My gaze moved on the pile of gifts waiting for him and I just closed my eyes, swallowing hard. His friends started to leave one by one, first with Julie and Liam, followed by Harry and his girlfriend and after half an hour, I watched Louis close the door behind Willie. As soon as it was only us two, I quickly broke into tears and Louis ran to me, catching me before I let myself fall completely on the living room floor.

"Hey, hey, it's okay darling." he whispered near my ear, helping me sit on the couch before I brought my legs up and close to my body. "You know it's because he's busy right?"

I moved away from him, suddenly a bit mad, and sent him a frown.

"I don't give a fuck!" I just let out, feeling my heart beat hard and fast against my rib cage. "I told him, I asked him a million times, and he promised, Louis! He promised!"

I thought he would get annoyed but instead, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. I started crying again, the sound of my sobs muffled by his sweatshirt. He didn't say a word and I was so thankful that he stayed that I just closed my eyes and tried to focus on the beating of his heart to calm down. It took a few minutes but it finally worked and I moved away from him, wiping my tears and placing my hair behind my ears while I sniffed.

"It's not the first time, you know." I pointed out, raising my eyebrows and looking down at my fingers playing with my mood ring. "He's been canceling plans for a few weeks now. I'm just so tired and I miss him. And this time he promised."

"I know darling, I know."

"The truth is, i've never felt so alone." I admitted, feeling my heart break more. "I mean don't take it personal, no offense, I know we hang out and text and shit, but everything is so different without Niall."

"None taken." he said in a very low tone. "I know exactly what you mean."

I looked up in his eyes and I could read how hurt he was. I knew how much he missed Eleanor and how he still loved her and I was not really sure why he didn't just call her and tell her that this breakup was a mistake.

"I know you do."

He sent me a sad smile and brought one of his hands to my cheek, running his thumb under my eye to catch the tears and wipe them off.

"I'm sure he'll have a good reason." he added, making me close my eyes and sigh.

It took an other hour until I heard the key in the lock. Louis and I had turned the lights off to watch a movie but we both fell asleep on it. The screen was blue for some odd reason and the sound of my boyfriend walking in woke me up. I sat up and rubbed my eyes with a frown. His lips curled slightly when our eyes met but I felt my heart shatter at his sight.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up, thought you'd be in bed, it's over 3am."

My lips parted and I saw him turn his head, his eyes falling on the pile of gifts. I saw his traits change as he looked around the room noticing the glasses and the food and after a few seconds, he closed his eyes and sight low.

"Oh my god, you forgot." I pointed out as I got up.

I could feel myself getting mad but after a few seconds I realized that I was not angry. I was sad and disappointed.

"You fuckin' forgot." I repeated slightly louder.

"What? No..."

"Don't lie to me, Niall!" I cut him, frowning more. "I can read your facial expressions better than your own mother."

By then it was impossible for Louis to still be asleep but I didn't look back to confirm it. All I could do was stare at my boyfriend, my lips parted as I tried to keep the tears in again. After a while, he gave in and took his cap off, throwing it on the couch before passing his hand in his hair. I looked at him as the lights from cars outside illuminated his face, and beyond the anger or the sadness, I felt the need and love I had for him overpass everything else. I knew he was busy, and I did understand why, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel like I was losing him slowly.

"I'm sorry Olivia, I really am."

"Everyone was here, we all took time for you Niall, and you weren't there. We didn't even cross your mind of all fucking night."

I wanted him to say it wasn't true, that he at least had thought about me, but instead, he groaned low and let both his arms fall on each side of his body.

"I said I was sorry I mean, what else do you want me to do?"

"That doesn't mean that I have to be fine with it and get over it immediately." I pointed out, making him close his eyes again.

"Look, we can talk about it tomorrow okay? I just want my bed right now."

I knew he was exhausted and so was I, and I knew he didn't want to have this conversation but I couldn't help it. I felt a hand on my lower back and turned around quickly only to see Louis sending me a look that seemed to tell me to relax and I sighed low.

"Yea i'm tired too, i'll leave you guys." he walked to Niall and sent him a smile. "Happy birthday, Neil."

They hugged and I crossed my arms on my chest, waiting until Louis was gone, but when Niall turned to me again, I knew the discussion was over.

"Come on, let's go to bed."

He walked past me and brushed his fingertips on my arm, giving me a small shiver. I didn't move at all and when he was almost in the hall, he turned to me and frowned.

"You comin'?" he asked again, raising his eyebrows.

Every time he touched me, I felt something electric cross my entire body. I didn't care if it was cheesy, it was still the truth. I thought the feelings Niall gave me when we were not dating were intense but now that we were together, it was even worse. I never really believed what I read in books about the chemistry two persons could have, or how special a connection with someone could be, but now that I was living it, I wondered how I could live if I ended up losing him. I just didn't want to think about it.

"Maybe I should sleep at my place for tonight."

"You're not serious." he just let out with a frown, shaking his head a bit. "It's officially been my birthday for a few hours, I don't want you to leave."

"Yea and everyone was ready to party for you on a monday night. It only missed you."

He sighed and brought his hand to his face, moving his thumb and forefinger over both his eyes, rubbing them. I didn't know if it was just tiredness or if it was annoyance but I guessed on a bit of both.

"Please, darling, please stay."

I knew it bothered him that I had kept my apartment even if I spend all my time with him. Almost all my clothes and stuff were in his house and I knew most of my drawers were empty at my place but it didn't matter. I couldn't get myself to get rid of my lease and be fully in his house. I also had a hard time to call it my house and I really had no idea why.

"Please." he repeated.

He blinked a few times but his eyes met mine and he took a step closer. I licked my lips, well aware that he wanted to make a comment about the fact that I still had my apartment. I knew he wouldn't though, and not only because he was tired. It was mostly because his priority was to make me stay the night, and not to start a new argument between us.

"I'm still mad." I let out.

"I know."

He reached his arm out, holding his palm up and I just stared at it for a few seconds. It was a lie, I was not mad, but I was hurt. He had canceled so many plans, texted for rain checks several times a week and even left me by myself at the restaurant or the movies a few times. I knew he was working on a few songs and could spend a lot of time recording until it was exactly what he wanted, but it scared me because I knew the worst was to come. He would have to promote his song and go to interviews. I didn't even want to think about when he'd be ready to get an album out and go on tour, it was too much stress and it was useless for now.

I reached for his hand and quickly but gently, his fingers wrapped around mine. He pulled me with him to our room and when I closed the door behind him, I felt his arms around my waist. I turned around and took a step back as he took one forward. I felt my back press against the door and tilted my head, the left corner of my lips raising up.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to make you sad."

I was happy he didn't try to justify himself and I nodded slowly. My eyes fluttered close when I saw him move closer and his lips pressed softly against mine.

"Thanks so much for staying." He whispered against my mouth.  "Can I hold you against me all night?"

                                                      ---

"Why did you bring me here, Niall?"

It was tuesday afternoon and I was still tired. It felt like I hadn't slept at all the night before. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened and even if I felt like I should get over it, and wanted to get over it, I couldn't seem to.

"I just want to make you happy." he shrugged a shoulder as he pulled on my arm to enter the mall. "I remember you wanted a new game right? Mario something? And you mentioned a pair of earrings you thought were pretty, I remember. Also we can get take out from that thai restaurant you like, and I was thinking-"

I stopped walking and shook my head, cutting him before he could add anything. My fingers slid on his and my arm fell on my side.

"What are you trying to do, Niall?"

He walked closer to me and put his hands in his pockets.

"Are you trying to make me forgive you for last night?" he didn't answer and I knew I was right. "I don't want your money Niall. I don't want gifts and jewels and food. I want to spend time with you. I want you to keep your promises. You can't just buy forgiveness."

His face changed and he looked down.

"You want to make me happy?" I asked with an amused smile, raising my eyebrows.

His eyes met mine and he frowned, clearly unsure of what I had planned but I just grabbed his hand and brought him with me.

"Oh god." he whispered when he realized what I wanted to do, making me laugh even more.

I pulled on his arm to get him in the photo booth with me as he tried to get money from his pocket and I jumped slightly on my seat, pressing my lips together to hide my smile.

"You are a child." he let out, putting his change in the machine.

"Take that damn cap off!" I let out, grabbing it and taking it off his head and ignoring his comment just as the first click was heard.

We both turned to each other and started laughing as the second click happened and when he yelled "grimace!", I pulled my tongue out and crossed my eyes until the third picture was taken.

"Come here."

Gently but quickly, he cupped my face and moved closer. I felt his warm palms on my cheeks and closed my eyes when his lips reached mine. I knew the fourth picture was taken but I brought my hand on top of his and deepened the kiss.

"I did forget and i'm so sorry." he whispered against my mouth before kissing me deeply again. "I'm just so busy  I mean, my schedule is so hectic."

I sighed and pulled away, a bit annoyed that unlike the night before, he was trying to justify himself. Of course, i knew he was busy and I understood. I just felt neglected and even if I knew it was a bit selfish, I couldn't help it. I didn't answer him and just got out of the booth, taking the pictures who were already printed and looked at them. I smiled when I realized he was making an exaggerated surprised face on the first one and chuckled when I saw us laugh in the second one. The way he looked at me made my heart twist in my chest until I felt a presence behind me.

"The second one is nice." he pointed out as if he was reading my mind before pointing the last one, moving his arm over my shoulder. "I'm sorry i'm hiding almost all your face with my hands on this one."

My lips curled in a soft smile as my eyes were glued to the picture. I thought it made the picture even better. The way his hands were pressed on my face and how I could still feel the tip of his fingers behind my ears and on my neck made a shiver cross my back.

"Don't be. That's just how you kiss." I admitted, pressing my lips together. "I love it."

We remained a few seconds in silence, just staring at the pictures of us in my hands, and he finally took a step back and sighed.

"Okay, let's go eat."

I turned to him and raised my eyebrows but he just sent me a smile.

"I'm not doing that to be forgiven, i'm just starving." he shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "Besides, i'm not letting you pick the restaurant. I may even give you the bill."

I laughed and pushed on one of his shoulders gently, making him chuckle too.

"Fine, let's do that." I agreed. "I just got paid this morning. My dad was a bit late on my last pay."

"I was kiddin', there's no way i'm letting you pay anything."

I started laughing and shook my head before raising my eyebrows.

"We'll see who gets the bill first!"

                                                 ---

I thought things would get better but they didn't. I just lied in bed, my eyes wide open and all alone for the fifth night in a row. I knew he was getting prepared to put one of his songs out in a few days and I was aware of how excited he was. Niall was also a perfectionist and I knew he wouldn't come home until it was exactly what he had imagined but for some reason I didn't understand, I always felt nervous when he was not around.

I heard the front door open and it took less than a minute until he was undressed and laying in bed with me. I felt him turn around my way and sigh, probably thinking I was asleep. He moved one of his arms around my waist and pulled me closer with a groan, nuzzling on my nape, and I brought my hand over his slowly.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I wasn't asleep."

I felt him tense and he remained silent for a while until I heard his soft voice again.

"Why not?"

I didn't want to make him feel guilty by telling him that I felt stressed when he wasn't home. That I felt alone and lonely, that I felt sad and bad in general. Instead, I grabbed his fingers and squeezed them hard.

"Can you come home for lunch tomorrow?"

The room fell silent again and I held my breath until he talked.

"Dinner?" he negotiated. I could easily imagine his eyebrows raised and his puppy face. "I could do dinner."

"Be there at 6pm." I just replied, feeling his grip tighten around me and his lips leaving a small kiss on the back of my neck, making goosebumps appear.

"I promise on my life."

I knew he'd be there. Not only because he had disappointed me on his birthday but also because I had made sure he put 5 alarms on his phone. I left the sliding door half opened to hear him walk in and when he shouted "Hello?" and closed the door behind himself, I felt my lips curl. I remained sort-of hidden on the patio and glanced inside to see him frown as he read the paper I had left.

'It's a watergun fight. If I win you owe me a whole day with only me and your phone off. Good luck!'

I saw his lips curl and he chuckled low before looking up.

"What if I win?" he yelled loud enough to make sure I would hear since he had no idea where I was.

I watched him put the paper down and his hand reached for the neon green and flashy orange gun I had left for him. I moved out of his sight and leaned against the wall of the house.

"You won't win, Horan!"

He laughed. "But let's say I do. Then you'll spend a whole afternoon playing golf with me."

I grimaced painfully and leaned my head on the wall a bit too roughly, hurting me slightly.

"You're being unfair!" I yelled again. "Spending time with me is fun. Spending a whole afternoon hitting on tiny rubber balls is not!"

"You overestimate how entertaining you are." he let out, making me frown. I was pretty sure his voice sounded closer than it did before. "And you underestimate how incredible golf is."

"Okay then but if I win, I get to choose what we do and you can't complain."

"Deal."

I heard footsteps and my lips curled into a smirk. Either way, I was going to spend time with him and it's all I really cared about. I missed him more than I could explain and spending a few hours sleeping next to him every day was clearly not enough.

"How do we decide who wins?"

"By who's wetter." I explained, still smiling in an amused way.

"Then i'll win, you can't aim to save your life."

Without thinking, I turned around and moved in front of the sliding door, tilting my head with a smirk, my gun pointing at him. He was right in front of me, very close and aiming at me too, but I just bit my bottom lip.

"There's just one thing you should have asked yourself."

"What's that?" he frowned, suddenly suspicious at how confident I was.

"'Why is my gun so light?'"

His face changed in a fraction of second and when he tried to shoot at me, he realized I hadn't filled it with water. I didn't waste any time and took a shot. He closed his eyes and let out a curse word as I started laughing and ran down the stairs to get into the backyard. I hid away again, knowing he was filling his gun and when he appeared and walked down the stairs slowly, I held my breath.

"I hope you enjoyed that." he let out louder, holding his gun on his shoulder. "T'was the only shot at me you'll get today!"

I aimed at him again but my stream didn't reach him and he turned to me, sending me a smirk.

"Shit!" I let out before running away.

I kept looking back, trying to shoot him but he had better reflexes than me and I missed every time. On the other hand, he hit me many times and I could feel my hair and shirt completely wet, sticking to my back. I ran quick enough to hide again but this time, I stayed curled up next to the patio and waited for him to appear. His eyes roamed around the backyard and I stared at his back and down his pants to make sure he hadn't kept his phone on him. I breathed in and got up quickly, running to him. He turned around just in time to know exactly what I was doing but didn't have time to stop me. I pushed him slightly and watched his arms move in circles as he tried to get his balance back without success and finally fell in the pool.

I was a bit surprised by my own audacity and it's only when his head emerged from the water that I realized I was still holding my breath. He moved his hair out of his face and my heart skipped a beat at how hot he was. His gun was floating, drifting away from him slowly and my lips curled.

"I won." I let out with a shrug. "You're wetter than me. In fact, you're drenched."

"You cheated!" he let out. I could see his feet moving in the water to keep his head out but he remained in place. "Twice!"

"Fine!" I gave in, moving my arms up, capitulating. "We both won. So one day together without phones where I decide everything, and one afternoon playing golf."

His lips curled into a large smile and he nodded slowly.

"Deal."

I watched him get out of the pool and pull on his shirt so it doesn't stick and mold his chest anymore. He passed his hand in his hair and walked up to me, quickly wrapping his arms around me. I did the same and closed my eyes as he hugged me tight and after a while, I felt him lean his cheek against the top of my head.

"I know why you did that, you know." he admitted in a low tone. "I know we barely spend time together anymore. It'll change, I promise. I know i'm gonna have interviews and stuff after my song comes out but I thought maybe you could come with me?"

My smile grew but I kept my eyes closed, hugging him tighter and making him chuckle.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes." I whispered, feeling suddenly lighter. "It's a yes."

[boss-hoody]

A Kingdom Hearts 3: world-by-world review I guess

when I say “Area” I mean parts of the world separated by loading screen OLYMPUS Consisting of 3 areas, Olympus had itself a major upgrade from its past appearances. The Colosseum is nowhere to be seen, (same with the underworld), and has been replaced by a large town and Mount Olympus itself. The third area you visit in Olympus is “realm of the gods”, and the presentation of this area’s entrance was a legitimate “Stop and look at how pretty this is” moment The gameplay in this world was pretty varied, as it served as your tutorial world, teaching you the various forms of movement and combat the game has to offer, as well as showing you early that enemies can have elemental weaknesses. Story wise, Sora is there to ask Herc’s advice on how to regain the power he lost and ends up showing up at the wrong (right?) time as Hades has finally put his 18 year plan into action and released the titans (All four of them this time)

The (very nice) cutscene that brings us into this world is also the one and only mention and appearance of Final Fantasy characters (Cloud and Auron) in the entire game’s story, which is extremely disappointing and a mark against the game as a whole. 4/5

TWILIGHT TOWN I was really looking forward to jumping back into Twilight town, exploring the streets, the tunnels, and all that again. But sadly, Twilight town, while receiving an aesthetic upgrade, only consists of 1 area consisting of Tram common (Now called “the neighbourhood), the forest and mansion, and a single tunnel connecting them (the hole in the wall is gone). There is no exploration of the mansion.

Its also home to the cooking mini game

2/5 (1 point for cooking mini game which is surprisingly fun, and 1 point only because of the atmosphere created by the NPCs and music)

KINGDOM OF CORONA This world is where the game really sines for the first time. Olympus was great, but it was clearly designed as a tutorial area, and Twilight Town lacked anything resembling gameplay content, but Kingdom of Corona makes up for that quickly with a vast forest and a small lively town to explore. Rapunzel constantly wanders off to look at things, which create a number of small character moments and not-quite-mini games you need to do to progress and also helps to make Sora seem more involved. The dancing actual-mini game in the town square was pretty fun once I got the hang of it and realized the symbols on the floor corresponded to buttons based on color, not shape.

Story wise it was a bit janky. The story follows the plot of the movie (Unlike Toy Box, which seems to take place somewhere between Toy story 1 and 2), but Sora becomes separated from Flynn and Punz a couple times, and story progresses without him or us present. At some point Flynn told Rapunzel his real name apparently? And Flynn was knocked out and tied to a boat but we never see it happening. He’s just suddenly tied to a boat an unconscious. Rapunzel’s healing hair comes out of nowhere, as does the song sung to make its magic work. When she rubs her hair on his wound and starts singing as he lay there dying, you might be extremely confused if you hadn’t seen the movie. And by “Might” I mean “WILL”

This world did something interesting with its music that I wish Toy Box had done. When you enter a certain area of the forest, the music (and battle music) change to suit the atmosphere of the area. It was a small touch but it was appreciated and missed once I got to Toy Box...

This is also the first world where we encounter the Nobodies.

4/5. It loses a point for the janky story, but everything else was great

TOY BOX Consisting of two areas, Toy box becomes massive as soon as you leave Andy’s room. It was bizarre running around in a photo realistic suburban street as a tiny toy, (and the fact that you’re a toy in this world is the only reason I like it) and the toy store, Galaxy Toys, is a massive 3 floor area full of toy mechs (seriously they spawn in with regular enemies, you can end up with 5 of them on you very fast).

The mech gameplay was surprisingly fleshed out for a one-world wonder. There are three types of mechs, red, blue, and purple, and they seem to work in a rock-paper-scissors type of deal. Purple has an advantage on red, red has an advantage on blue, and blue has an advantage on purple. Each of the mechs has a different amount of health and firing speed to balance them out further.

The world loses points with me however due to the fact that an instrumental version of “You’ve got a friend in me” is playing throughout the whole world. It became grating very fast and its still stuck in my head.

3.5/5

MONSTEROPLOUS  Taking place almost entirely in doors, this world feels a lot like Kingdom Hearts 2 in the worst way (Hallway, arena, hallway), broken up by rail segments. The “arena” sections at least try to keep things interesting though, with one becoming a  “the walls are a hazard” type of deal. This world introduces us to the Unversed and is actually the only world where they appear, so there’s not many of them.

The battle music in this world was also great. I don’t know, there was just something about it that jived with me.

Story wise, this world takes place after the first Monster’s Inc movie. Sully is the CEO, and laugh energy is the new hotness. Randal is back thanks to his new friend and literally wants to make all children suffer chronic depression forever because, while its not as strong as laughter, sadness is a far more abundant form of energy or something.

Other than that, there’s not much to say about this world. Its not bad, but its not great

3/5 (the fact that it has its own story instead of following the plot of the movie earns it an additional point.

ARENDELLE This was the first world where it really felt like “Disney shenanigans”. Sora was just kind of there while the plot of Frozen happened, and like with Tangled, the story progressed without Sora or us present, and again, if you hadn’t seen the movie, you’d be lost. Unlike tangled, it lacked little character interactions to at least make Sora feel connected in some way.

The boss in this world was a combination of amazing cinematic attacks and a rehash of Scar in KH2, and your Disney buddy for this world was a legitimate surprise.

I enjoyed the reindeer Heartless in this world too. Not only do they take huge damage from fire, but it also melts their antlers, preventing them from using their annoying attacks. However Donald the super-genius would often hit them with Blizzard which would give their antlers back...

2/5

THE CARIBBEAN  This world. THIS FUCKING WORLD Its so good. Its perfect. Its like its own game There’s a huge ocean full of little islands to explore, the under water combat WORKS and is FUN. The primary heartless you’ll run into under water is a fish that changes color, and is weak to a different element depending on said color, giving you something to think about while fighting it. You can just wale on it if you want, or you can use magic and work out its weakness to dispatch it quickly.

You get your own pirate ship. SORA FINALLY LIVIN THE DREAM! The pirate ship can be upgraded for more health and canons by finding white crabs (Can’t explain how that works without spoilers), it has its own reaction commands that devastate enemy ships, OH and there are ENEMY SHIPS. SHIP BATTLES. SHIP ON SHIP COMBAT

Again tho, like with Tangled and Frozen, the story likes to progress while Sora is off dicking around. However, the supporting characters do a better job of explaining what happened while Sora was AFK than anyone in Corona or Arendelle did. The fact that Sora is already familiar with most of the cast thanks to KH2 also helps this along a bit tho. Sora doesn’t feel completely tacked on despite being completely tacked on.

This world suffers even more severely from what it suffered from in KH2 tho. That being IT IS EXTREMELY JARRING AND IMMERSION BREAKING TO SEE CARTOON-ASS SORA, DONALD AND GOOFY CHILLING OUT WITH HYPER REALISTIC JOHNNY DEPP AND CO

Despite the negatives, the gameplay of this world makes up for all of it

7.5/5: Too much water

SAN FRANSOKIO The story does what Kingdom Hearts 3 worlds haven proven to do best and does its own thing. Sora arrives in San fransokyo some time after the events of Big Hero 6. Hiro has built a new Baymax but is still torn up about the original his brother built being lost to the void, and now weird robot heartless are attacking (Hint: Bring thunder) Sora makes fast friends with the crew (as he tends to do) and through helping them with the heartless, gives each member ideas on how they can upgrade their gear.

The world consists of 2 areas. Hiro’s garage, and downtown San Fransokyo, which is basically mini spider-man PS4. While in Hero’s garage, you can choose to explore the city during the day or night. Heartless do not appear during the day, so if you just wanna run around and explore, find treasure and hidden mickey’s, hit the town during the day. But if you’re looking to level up (and this is the final world with enemy spawns so you will be) then you should hit the town at night.

While the downtown area is small (especially just coming off the open seas of the pirates world), it makes up for it in both verticality and density.

4/5 (Extra point added for the presence of Thigh queen Go Go Tomago)

100 ACRE WOOD Its a single area with 3 almost identical mini games, it’ll take you about 20 minutes to get through, there’s a keyblade at the end, 0/5

KEYBLADE GRAVEYARD This is the final world of the game and serves as the site for the final battles with the organization. Its basically a series of arena matches where Sora teams up with one or more of his friends to take on multiple members of the organization at once. It dominoes into the final conflict with the 3 main Norts. Young, Heartless, and Nobody all at once while Old man watches and throws Keyblades at you occasionally. 

Gameplay is all boss combat. Story is all PLOT

5/5 on both counts

THE FINAL WORLD Okay no THIS is the final world. Literally. Its entirely main plot based so I won’t go into any actual detail. It consists of a single room which is a giant cube puzzle (Not like the movie “Cube”, like you’re standing on a big cube thing). Which would be SUPER cool if it weren’t for the fact that Sora’s flow motion abilities completely break it.

Plot wise 5/5 Gameplay wise 1/5

SCALA AD CAELUM OKAY NO THIS IS THE REAL FINAL WORLD FOR REAL A city located in the past, this is the site of the true final battle with Xehanort and his 12 selves. you go up against the 12 all at once (they seem to share a health bar tho so its not that bad) as they utilize their own weapons (Xigbar’s guns, Marluxia’s scythe, etc, etc) to just honestly beat the hell out of you. A small section of town serves as your arena, making this perhaps the most geographically diverse fighting arena in the game’s history.

Once those naughty bois are shut down, Xehanort is like “Wanna see something cool?” and tosses you into a legitimately disorientating arena for the beginning of the final showdown between peace boy and naughty grandpa

There’s no gameplay here outside of combat and plot but its a 5/5 none the less

FINAL THOUGHTS This game was at its best when it wasn’t rehashing the plots of the worlds it visited (Tangled, Frozen, Pirates), but either doing its own thing (you know, the Kingdom Hearts plot?), creating new plots set in the worlds visited (Big Hero 6, toy Story, Monsters Inc.) or somehow doing a combo of the 3 (Hercules)

I found it EXTREMELY disappointing that all traces of original Square Enix characters are just gone. We get a single mention of Cloud and Auron in an exposition dump at the beginning of Olympus and thats it. And before you mention the main Nomura OC cast: they’re owned by Disney, not Square.

The game wrapped up pretty much all the major plot points and answered a lot of long standing questions, but also didn’t answer one question in particular that I’m sure has driven a lot of us into the depth of insanity. It also posses a couple new questions, such as “Who?” and “How?” and “What the fuck?” 

Overall, this game is at its best when its focusing on the main plot, with everything in between feeling more like filler... So a standard Kingdom Hearts game.

In the end, despite the lack of FF, and the falling into disney shenanigans, this was a great game and an excellent ending to the dark seeker saga. Going forward, I hope the future games (and there definitely will be future games, this is by no means the end of Kingdom Hearts) don’t do what this saga did and spread the plot over 200 games on 200 different consoles over 200 god damn years. If thats the case I think KH3 will be my jumping-off point. However, if they’ve come to their senses and choose to release the next saga of games like normal human beings instead of depraved madmen, I am 100% on board. However, seeing as Nomura is a depraved madman (see FFXV development for details) I am extremely cautious in my optimism.

Final score from me is 4.5/5: WHATS IN THE BOX?!

[mallahanmoxie]

rogue one: the Experience

under the cut because i can and i am also full of despair. will talk a lot about cassian andor because i love him intensely and also, it’s gonna be very scattered. generally positive review tho.

first of all i want to say that i have seen a lot of disappointed people and sure, i guess you can demand stuff but i settle easily and i liked what i got. sure, i would’ve loved a lot more things and i wonder if i myself could’ve edited a better version of that movie but it was nice enough and i liked it. being honest, most of these opinions will probably change on a second watch so don’t judge me too harshly

also i, unlike a lot of people, have Feelings over jyn erso but i won’t talk about them a lot so it’s a technically #jynfree zone here

i was a foolish thing and walked into the cinema at the exact showing time and i had to wait fifteen minutes in line for the popcorn i didn’t even eat so i missed the opening scenes but it’s fine because i didn’t really care about any of the ersos prior to this, came just for cassian and was just like “oh it’s just jyn thank god” when i found my spot in the crammed movie theatre

i later regretted that choice = turns out i care about one (1) erso *high fives cassian*

listen. im just gonna get it out of the way. i am jyn erso. it’s fine, she’s terrible, im terrible, it’s fine.

real talk, i enjoyed her even if she was terribly unremarkable. she was endearing, to some degree, and i really really wish rogue one— the rogue one that cared about the rest of its cast—cared more about her. because i do believe jyn has potential as a main character, although more on that later, but it was just stomped down by the writing. her dialogue in the first teaser made me So Excited for her but it didn’t even make the cut. instead, the cuts used just made her seem sloppy and unconvincing. 

great introduction tho. as an adult, the jail/running from rescuers scene was a really nice touch. not as nice as cassian’s (a recurring problem), but it was nice.

it’s just that. look, jyn is a burnt down idealist, okay she’s that piece of coal that looks gray and cold but it was still burning on the inside when you stomp it down. she caught on cassian’s rebel fire so easily that i sincerely don’t think she didn’t already harbour some feelings that weren’t Despair and Rage inside about the whole rebellion. but also, like me and a lot of people, she just doesn’t expect anything any more and would gladly live a peaceful life never looking up to see the imperial flags.

except jyn WOULDN’T live a peaceful life, ever. despite herself, she is adventurous and things Matter to her that she can’t ignore and also that child can’t sit down ever i can see it. 

jyn erso: i don’t care about anything ever also jyn erso: *sees a child crying in the middle of a battle and launches herself to save him despite possibility of dying*

look. she’s selfish and terrible and utterly unremarkable. she’s not a leader. she repeats words—i will never not believe the line should’ve been something like “cassian andor told me that rebellions were built on hope and that’s why im here.” instead. but anyway, not my pen—and she is good at surviving and not commanding and idk. she’s a better person than she thinks she is and yes, im probably projecting but also? i don’t care. jyn erso deserved to be better.

and i said i wouldn’t talk about it so CASSIAN

what a. what a man. just. let me stop to contemplate that. i love diego luna. i love cassian andor.

BEST CHARACTER INTRODUCTION EVER. he shot a man?? right there?? he was so?? honestly props to diego luna i could see the resignation, the necessity, the fight. i love cassian andor.

truly The Face of the Rebellion. the face on the ground. the most unintentionally charming man ever. every word he spoke made me feel like he was igniting a fire within me. i wanted to overthrow a government and join a rebellion and believe in things every time he opened his mouth. 

which is, coincidentally, why he was a thousand times a better protagonist than jyn.

listen, im on the fence on whether or not jyn could’ve been a better protagonist than cassian, because her traits are interesting but not usually what i’d think is deserving of the spotlight, but what i got was what i got and cassian was just a really very tired, raging star that completely outshone jyn’s stardust.

the reunion with the counsel and mon mothma and everyone was terrible for me. i know jyn was excited and i believe i can parse why, but honestly why was cassian andor not in that room

why was cassian andor not in every room

but especially why was cassian andor not in that room

and like, i get that he was Gathering Forces and being a good second lead, following his place like always but even after they got on that imperial cargo ship, every word he spoke seemed a thousand times more sincere than what jyn said. her “plan” at the ship, talking to those men who she barely knew, were rendered extremely unsatisfying after cassian’s sincere, brave “make ten men feel a hundred”

i blame the writing. all of jyn’s words could’ve felt better if she had been written the right way. 

but who cares. i am bitter and will be bitter.

i —

okay i was not going to talk about this. but i’ve known diego luna as a household staple, i made fun of him in my youth when he and gael did rudo y cursi (there’s. a story there.), i once auditioned for one of his movies, and like, i knew him beforehand. and i was very angry about a lot of people talking about cassian being mexican, like that mattered at all in space, like it was more important that he was mexican than he was a capable man etc etc but i sort of get it. it does matter. sincerely believe each of us in that movie theatre were a bit shell shocked one of us managed to get all the way there.

maybe it was just me tho. idk. it doesn’t matter. but it was important.

THE JYNCASSIAN THING (a parenthesis)

as you could guess, idk. i dk. i sincerely do not know. if i ship this. but know this, that beach scene? ended me. that elevator scene? ended me further.

now that that parenthesis is closed,

BODHI MY BOY. MY HANDSOME BRAVE BOY.

frankly, his death seemed awfully short to me. if i hadn’t read the bit of the novelization on his last thoughts and thought back on his face, i would’ve been extremely dissatisfied. otherwise. it was fine

on that, the galen erso thing. i just?? he was a little in love. or something. it was complicated. it was a riddle. not even bodhi knew. but his last words... that was something

good thing i do not give a flying fuck about galen erso

anyway. BODHI.

my handsome son, my desperate son, my frantic son. so brave, so smart, so ready, so eager. my boy with the gaunt eyes and the messed up head and the wrecked heart. my boy with the eternal backpack of doubt and guilt. my boy with a shining heart. my boy that looked at himself and couldn’t live with the life behind him.

i love my boy.

i had read before that chirrut and baze were a married couple and i thought, there goes tumblr again overreacting

tumblr. wasn’t. overreacting.

i just honestly?? can’t believe?? they were actually a married couple???

i cannot believe they were childhood sweethearts too

real talk tho, they just. they were an item. they loved each other.

“look into the force and you will find me there”

dying in his lover’s arms, chirrut style.

i just. i can’t believe.

baze was so heartbroken. i could see him thinking about it. i could see him waiting for death with his eyes on chirrut.

he. prayed.

god. somebody.

i cannot really talk about anything else anymore. i don’t even know if this was a plot film, i literally just went in to watch diego luna in space. 

conclusion:

i liked jyn, bite my ass

loved cassian, will marry him, will pay liege homage to him

bodhi rook is my son, i will feed him and take him to bed

baze and chirrut are amazing and in love and im glad

PS: k2 was easily the best droid ever