#i love this crossover so much all the designs are god damn awesome

[bee-enthusiast2]

POISON TRAINER HATSUNE MIKU ABSOLUTELY PLAYS SPLATOON, YOU CAN'T LOOK AT THIS-

AND CONVINCE ME SHE DOESN'T

[meg-noel-art]

003 for Bow! Thanks!

Bow! YES, good. My main dude Bow, here we go:

1.) How I feel about this character:

Bow is great, I've loved him since day 1. He's the classic good guy, lawful good, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. MORE ROLE MODELS FOR BOYS. Bow is honestly the most open and heartfelt of the main trio, which is shockingly refreshing. He's a good and loyal friend, a strong and brave fighter, and really freaking smart. He replaces Entrapta as a strategist and tech master for the Rebellion and LIKE? PROMOTE THIS BOY? He deserves it? But Bow also has his own insecurities. Super personal ones with his family that I very much related to and I know plenty of us did. He's trying to prove himself just as much as everyone else, but he does it with positivity and a kind heart.

I remember Noelle saying in her stream that Catra was an example of every Etherian and it made me SO mad, when Bow is right there!?! He also clawed his way to his position, worked his ass off for it, and never tried to screw anyone over in the process. Bow is a model Etherian if there ever was one. @ me Noelle.

2.) Any/all people I ship romantically with this character:

I like most Bow ships. Bowfuma is cute, Seahawk and Bow is cute (idk the ship name tho I'm sorry fjajfjfj), Kyle x Bow is a big yes. But I'm not SUPER invested in his romantic life.

I do not, however, ship Glimbow. To be explained below:

3.) My favorite non-romantic relationship with this character:

Glimmer! I adore these two as friends. It's definitely a personal stance for me. I'm a super lesbian and grew up around boys who were my best friends. They always ruined it by being boys and crushing! Rude. But my point is, I would LOVE to see more platonic male/female relationships in media. Especially media directed towards a younger audience. Society stuffs "childhood crushes" down out throats from an early age. And that's fine if it's the case. But it's also totally fine to just have a guy/girl be a good friend. Bow reminds me greatly of a guy I basically consider my brother.

I've never gotten anything but that sort of relationship between him and Glimmer and that's what I like about them. They're best friends who love eachother and would do anything for one another and that's where it ends.

4.) My unpopular opinion about this character:

Not sure if I have one? I'm not too opinionated about Bow. I like and accept most headcanons and translations of him. I think he's a really pliable character and that's awesome.

5.) One thing I wish would happen in canon?

Idk can we meet his apparently 12 OLDER BROTHERS PLS?? I realize that's a lot of character design but you can't just casually drop that and walk away!! (They can and will, I know.)

6.) Favorite friendship?

Adora. And also Entrapta. He's really sweet to her and talks to her in a way she understands. God damn it Bow you're so pure.

7.) My crossover ship?

I mean...it was just a joke on our Discord earlier but ok... I'm REALLY feelin Bow and Adam(He Man) he and Glimmer date twins and it turns into a romcom wherein everyone lives happily ever after!! Himbo x him, Bow.

Thank you!!❤🥺

[takaraphoenix]

Review: Descendants 3

Listen, I know that first big number is supposed to be like uplifting and “Oh wow how awesome” - and the number itself is awesome, but the scene? Yikes.

Not only did every single villain, regardless of their crimes get banished to that island, the fact that there are this many orphans and abandoned kids – because none of those kids actually sleep at a house with their parents – who have been imprisoned for close to two decades with no trial and no committed crimes is absolutely horrifying. The good guys just... decided that dozens of children should never ever be granted a first chance at all. And it took Ben to come up with that and even then they only granted four kids a chance and only on movie three, some more get to go, still not all even though they should have really learned their lesson and realized those are children?

I'm sorry, I love this franchise, I really genuinely love this franchise, but that premise is still absolutely horrifying and makes the great Disney heroes more villainous than the actual villains, because even for most of the actual villains, a life-long sentence really is more than the crime at hand deserrves.

The whole premise is just genuinely upsetting and this movie in particular just drives home how messed-up it really is. It's like from movie to movie, they focus more and more on just how messed-up that premise is and yes, sure, this one has a very satisfying ending on that matter, but that doesn’t make it any less messed up, you know?

Moving on.

Hades as a punk is amusingly ridiculous. Though I do absolutely love that this movie they finally address the whole “it takes two to make a baby” issue. Gotta admit, Hades/Maleficent is a god-tier ship. (Though I would have loved to hear who the other parent of the others are...)

I just love the solo number from Audrey?  I also love that she gets more focus now, because honestly? I find her a fascinating character. Sure, she's kind of a bully toward the VK's, but every time we hear Leah talk, we hear where Audrey's words come from – she's been raised and formed by them and she has been pushed and pushed toward one direction from her and instead of being compassionate toward her granddaughter, Leah is now blaming her for ruining the family?? I just love a complex character who isn't Just Bad or Just Good. (Also Sleeping Beauty is my favorite and Aurora is my princess, so I might just be a tiny bit biased toward her daughter too.)

There is also something insanely stupid about them keeping all of the important, strong artifacts in a museum and not in a vault. Like all people of Auradon are super mega duper nice and good guys. It's a very problematic assumption and ridiculous to think that no Auradon citizen has ever like... stolen something or committed any crime at all? Or is the fear of being banished and having all your descendants also be banished for the smallest crime that keeps the citizens in line...?

I absolutely adore Evie. She really is the voice of reason and she knows how unfair it is that only the four of them got to live in Auradon. I love her so much.

Gods, I am absolutely in love with evil!Audrey?? She's perfect. Not just the shallow attempt at making her the bad guy like in the first movie, where it was kind of a stretch considering Mal's mom literally tried to murder her parents so like I wouldn't be the first in line to become Mal's bff either and then Mal publically steals Audrey's boyfriend... But this is... such a good arch for her?

I also love that Facilier is actually... seemingly.. a loving dad? Like, they have their own little dance ritual and all? I do love that while Maleficent and Cruella didn't really care about their kids, the Evil Queen and Facilier are shown to care about their kids, even Lady Tremaine seems to care about her granddaughter? Because being a villain doesn't make them 100% evil.

What this franchise is doing really well is broadening the world, exploring it more, even if I don't agree with the main premise of said world. The way it introduces more characters and develops them is awesome. I just love all the characters! And the cast really helps too, because damn, it's such a great cast.

And my Uma/Mal shipping heart is very delighted by the fact that Mal and Uma team up here?? Their dynamic is incredible. I already loved it in the last movie, but this movie explores it so much more thoroughly and they play off each other so well.

And I might just OT3 Uma/Mal/Audrey.

Harry being jealous of Jay and Gil bonding is also very adorable. Gil is just... such a pure character and seeing his amazement at everything is a delight to watch.

That CARLOS IS THE ONE WHO GETS TO “TAME” BEN... My shipper-heart really likes that?

To get back to my opening points about how wrong this world's judgment calls are – damn, that scene of Hades in Audrey's bedroom was fucking amazing. “When you guys try to destroy the world, it's an error in judgment. But when it's one of us? Look 'em up, throw away the key. Right, Beast?” - very powerful, very amazing, love it. I love that they brought up just how fundamentally wrong this world's design is and that things aren't black and white (that, however, does not make it any less uncomfortable that this world operated like this for so long!). The conclusion, Mal's speech at the end, it was incredibly satisfying and it was the right decision.

I am... genuinely, really in love with this movie? I was a little afraid the third one would mean a drop in quality, because sequels tend to do that, but this franchise just... keeps getting better with its sequels? The music is amazing throughout all three movies, the characters keep getting better the more they get to do, I'm obsessed with the costume and character design, honestly you had me at the whole Disney princess crossover premise already because that part of the premise is absolutely my jam. This was a more than worthy conclusion for the Descendants franchise and that makes me incredibly relieved and happy.

[datura-foxglove]

Akira/Ren-Ren?

Anon, you have to know when I saw this ask I was tempted to sit here on my laptop and gushed out about this gorgeous boy. Unfortunately it’s already 12 am and I was running out of energy because I just pulled an all-nighter yesterday. Now that I still have about 55% of my energy left after a full day, let me throw a whole essay at you (just kidding, my friends already stuffed my mouth plenty of times with snacks just so I will stop rambling about this boy. I won’t put you to the same pain)

First impression : Eh... doesn’t look that impressive. From design only, Minato is still unbeatable as protagonist. (I managed to avoid all the goddamn spoiler on youtube, though I get spoiled that there will be a traitor on the team)

Impression now : HE. IS. JUST. SO. GORGEOUS??? ON THE OPENING HE THREW HIMSELF OVER THE WINDOW, WHAT IS WITH THAT SLOW MOTION AND BEAUTIFUL SPARKLES. NO, MY HEART----

And then at the end of the game, I was just crying my eyes out and screams “OH MY GOD HE SHOT A GOD IN THE FACE WITH A GUN.” as an avid SMT fan, that was the last bullet needed for him to completely steals my heart. Damn that was awesome. As in general, I just love double-faced characters? (why am I not surprised that I usually like Gemini characters) But from all the Persona protagonists, the execution of Ren’s double faced characteristic is executed so well with his double life as Joker and Ren? As a bonus, his dialogue choices are so wild compared to Minato’s apathetic and Yu’s chad ones. So he is like the combination of everything I liked in a character : double-faced, a troll, great empathy, not hesitant to make his ideal a reality despite having to dirty his hands, repressed anger that blew up in cold fury, black and messy hair, quiet but his body movement speaks more of his moods, absolutely excellent with his hands, stupidly brave, and many more that I have to cut before this truly became a 10k words essay. And his smiles. HIS SMILES. That means his soft, shy smile, his proud grin, his arrogant and cold smirk, EVERYTHING. Oh my god he is truly a debonair with his smile I CAN’T--- I also love how people keep saying that he has a catlike attitudes : love jumping from high places, breaking things, probably will purr if cuddled, sheer grace and amazing flexibility plus balance... as a cat owner, those really attract me. He loves reading books, playing games, and a great cook too how could he be so perfect---

*cough* Uhh... yeah, I love him. I also love how he essentially adopt his friends and confidants? He is like ‘oh, society doesn’t want them anymore? They are mine now, no return.’. His whole groups and confidants are people who the society rejected but he accepted them all. He doesn’t give up on them like how most people are and his confidants returned that loyalty by... well, being his confidants. Though his loyalty to his confidants also means that he is stupidly self-sacrificing and I can’t--- everytime I played NG+ I have to see him being beat up by the police and I’m absolutely livid and sad that he has to go through that. He also knows flower language because he works in flower shop oh my god Ren if you any more perfect than this I will go down my life from now on disappointed that no man will ever be like you--- okay, I seriously has to stop. This is getting too long and you all will see me crying for this boy at this point.

HE LOOKS SO GOOD WITH RED AND BLACK AAAAA--- (DATURA STOP----)

HE WEARS HEELS---- (You guys thought my post about Hibiki is long? Well once I started talking about this boy I can’t stop save me aaaa----)

Favorite moments : THE WHOLE GAME? Ehem, well if I have to choose, his last fight with the last boss is my favorite. It’s just so satisfying to see him breaking the chains around his Persona (which can be a symbol of how he breaks down the chains that society has bound him with) and evolved it to his ultimate Persona which then proceed to shot a god in the face. Plus his last words of ‘steal it, Satanael’ and ‘begone’ are just like cupid arrows to my heart. Aaaaaa---- the ending where he discarded his glasses is also really melting my heart. It’s like he is telling us that he doesn’t need his mask anymore. Also that moment when he jumped down the window, and don’t forget---- (STOPPP--)

Idea for a story : Well, I’m working on a time travel fix it fic. I already got 3 chapters worth of at least 5k words, but I won’t post until I got at least 10 chapters because I have this terrible relationship with multiple chapters fics and commitment. So yeah, probably have to wait a bit with that one. I also have that crossover plot bunny with Devil Survivor, and the obligatory vampire!AU because I’m a sucker for that trope ever since I was in middle school damn it :’D

Unpopular opinion : I prefer his anime name, Amamiya Ren, than his manga one, Kurusu Akira. Both have nice meanings, but I like Ren better mostly because lotus is my favorite flower beside datura. Not to mention despite it’s flaws, I still like the anime better than the manga (my favorite is still Mementos Mission though) and Akira feels like such a common name in anime/manga that Ren feels more unique.

Favorite relationship : As a ship? Akechi. Well to be honest I love them as a ship or just as friends. I love them because they acted as foils to each other really well. Does it excuse Akechi for nearly killing Ren? Oh hell no (why did you think I write Akechi suffering in all of my fanfics?), but that also gives more complexity to their relationship. And I love angst. Which this pair gives really, really well. 75% of their fanfics are angst and I’m living to be torn asunder again and again. The sheer potential the two of them could have is absolutely interesting and my curious mind can’t stop thinking of what we could have had with two wildcards in the team. Atlus, why. (Here is hoping P5R will give me everything I want).

I also love Ren with Futaba. Futaba is just the best little sister material that I enjoyed their relationship so much, as siblings. Well Sojiro had basically adopted Ren at the end of the game so they are canonically sibling anyway. ALSO DID YOU SEE THEM DANCING IN P5D, THEY ARE SO ADORABLE.

Favorite headcanon : Ren is an absolute cat lover and when Morgana joined the team he was ecstatic inside. His phone is filled with Morgana’s cute photos and that is why he submitted to all Morgana’s orders to go to sleep. But he is also a cat and he absolutely purrs if someone plays with his hair.

[danceswithunworldly]

Rate My Jenny

Alright Jenny has gone through a lot of different looks, I will rate each Jenny on a scale of 1 to 10 1 being n o and 10 being most valid. More under the cut, theres lots of pictures its a long post

Original Manga:

Psychogenie

The original babe, Messy hair, bright eyes, has an actual body, probably blonde, needs more representation, cute smile, looks like a friend to me 10/10

Devilman 1972:

TentaMom

Not the design we are used to but damn is she powerful! Tentacle hair, can hypnotize children, wants to spare children from pollution but has a bad technique of doing so, 6/10 teefy chompers +1 so 7/10

OVA design concept art and full sized Jenny from CB World: (following ova designs)

Its My Turn to Use the Xbox

SO MUCH HAIR very similar to the original but a much bigger head, sharp teeth, kinda looks like a night/light fury dragon with that closed mouth, wants a turn on the Xbox, let her, she looks like she could make you disappear. 8/10

CB World:

“Sister Satan I love you”

Very good eye contact sweetie. Pudgy. soft, delightful eyelashes, squishable cheeks, precious little girl must love and protect her and if you dare talk shit about her I will kill you 10/10

Amon Apocalypse:

METH AUNT

no, just.... no. The weird coonskin hat style mullet? uncomfortably muscular legs?? the dishplate eyes!? spider legs for eyelashes? Gloves and socks??? This is cursed, this is not my Jenny, this is an abomination. Get this out of her Jenny deserves better than THIS what the FUCK this is -666/10

009 Jenny:

Pointless

she literally had no purpose in this crossover, it was almost like they wanted to make a devilman series after this and it was scrapped because there was a lot of pointless foreshadowing.HOWEVER the purple hair is a nice look, not so fond of the eyecolor it looks more like “caution:radioactive” however this is the only Jenny most like the original manga Jenny and I have to give her a +1 for that, and shes really creepy and cute at the same time. 9/10

Devilman Crybaby:

M o t h e r

Oh boy a human design! Vapid and doll-like, yet has a soccer mom/milf vibe effortlessly blended into a solution with Secretary Barbie, and reduced into this delightful woman. Oh also nipples, helloooo Totally not a demon how dare you assume, shes trying her best leave her alone

Demon form is amazing, not entirely like the original but VERY FLUFFY OH MY GOD and the FEET so cute, they curl. A+ smile, awesome fucking party power, probably a metal head when she was younger and would trip out at all the parties and BACK TITTIES 10/10 step on me mommy

Devilman Grimoire:

Nightmare Creature

Still better than Amon Apocalypse Jenny. This one is a lovechild between Jenny and our favorite Addams Family hand [insert fingering joke here] Hair is wavy yet wild, fidget spinner eyes so you know shes cursed, big smile though, probably would run away if she came after me, I don’t like creepy disembodied hands crawling around. 4/10

Violence Jack:

“I got drunk and got this weird tattoo, also my licence has been suspended would you believe that?”

“Technically” human most likely a blonde, cute face, weird... (tattoo? birth mark? im guessing here, body paint? its not her face thats for sure, but i cant read spanish or japanese) Loves her jeep, I’m so glad she has found her perfect car because oh my god look shes having so much fun. Squishy thighs, This is the metal head we warned you about. The only time nagai has ever drawn tits that showed some sign of gravity’s existence. 8/10 

 Mazinger:

Super Mecha Transformer Jenny

oh, okay then, carry on ma’am you look busy

5/10 Not my jenny but thats a fuckin cool design okay?

Gekiman Devilman:

Thicc’n’Juicy

hot.... uuhhh anyway Super Fluffy Jenny redrawn in Nagai’s improved style, very soft, wife, great smile, shes just overall amazing 10/10

Devilman Saga:

*screaming*

Marry Me

Sweet Jesus I have no complaints, Look at her shes so cute, shes got a leather-fishnet top but she has a cute fuckin bow on the back and a super comfortable skirt, nobody said shes a style guru, shes a fucking disaster and I love her. Shes doing so good. Shes so cute, big beautiful Jenny eyes, soft fluffy yet still messy hair? big eyelashes, did i say shes cute? mysterious, delightful. No demon design yet but i assume it will be a lot like Gekiman’s overall 10/10 even without that design. Personal score: 9999/10

Bonus:

uhhhhhhh fuckin..... still better than Amon Apocalypse i give this a 420/666

[mx-bright-sky]

Masterlist for all my bnha AUs

you can ask me about any of these, at any time. I love to talk about my ideas. asking about them will never ever both me.

Warning: the descriptions on the aus are accurate, but not at all written seriously, and i got more bored and wacky as the list went on, enjoy

Ones that have been published on AO3 so far:

Green Lightning: vigilante!izuku au, featuring gadgets, a smug ferret, loopholes, and Shinsou and Hatsume as main characters + two OCs

My Neighbor Midoriya: best friends au with Shinsou and Izuku, featuring lots of fluff, Tsuyu in the Izusquad, actual Bakugou character development, and the complete disregard of just about everything that happens in canon

A Shadow In An Empty Room: ghost quirk!izuku au, featuring NANA SHIMURA, ghostly puns, and lots of various ghosts which may or may not eventually include Touya Todoroki

Crossover AUs/ AUs where the characters are just in the setting of another story:

Hero Emblem: Awakening: Fire Emblem: Awakening au, featuring prince Shouto who adopts random hobos he finds on the ground, izuku who is the random hobo on the ground and also has amnesia, incredibly fed up royal guard Iida, awesome big bro Natsuo, and Shigaraki who hates the good guys because Endeavor is a dick, which is Understandable Have A Nice Day(TM)

Hero Emblem: Fates: Fire Emblem: Fates au, featuring izuku with more low key amnesia, family feud medieval edition, More Shinsou Love, and other worldly shananigans. Also no one dies because I Said So. (also, like in the game, after the chapter where the crossroads comes the audience will get to choose which path to take, and i might end up writing all three paths which would be exhausting but Worth It(TM) )

Hero Emblem: Echoes, Shadows of Valentia: FE: SOV au, featuring an author who Definitely Does Not Have An Obsession with fire emblem, they swear, secret prince Shouto, rowdy boy Izuku, general good friendship, and Darth Vader twists that I saw coming from a mile away in the original game

Rune Hero: Rune Factory 4 au, featuring more amnesia izuku because that’s just how the games i like happen to start, weirdly, Dragon Dad Might, incredibly badass moma Inko, and as much or as little fluff as anyone wants

Puella Magi Izuku Magica: Madoka Magica au, featuring pain, suffering, and ooowwwchhh feelings, but also in the end (because of time shenanigans) everyone lives i promise

Delta Rune au that I don’t have a name for, featuring Shouto eats moss, Shinsou eats chalk, Izuku has the power of fluffy boys, and I Don’t Know Who Lancer Is Yet, But It’s Either Eri Or Prototype Bakugou, Help Me Choose, People

Magnus Chase au that I don’t have a name for either, featuring Norse Mytholigy shenanigans, literally a ray of sunshine Izuku, magic elf Shouto, I Forgot Who Blitzen Is And I’ll Edit It In Later, Fuck, Valkyrie Jirou, chaotic good kids of class 1-A that fuck shit up as a Family, shapeshifter Shinsou, and some good wholesome momojirou

Fossil Fighters Champions au and i’m starting to realize i’m not good at naming things yet, featuring It’s A Pokemon AU But With Dinosaurs, where are all my fossil fighters kids at, Literally A Skeleton Man Toshinori, and low key causing the end of the world by accident

Mekakucity Heroes: Kagepro au (finally something else that actually has a name), featuring One Big Damn Family, whoops I think Kirishima is dead, Bakugou is more depressed and less of a bitch, Izuku is actually 150 years old but is basically 15 in body and spirit so details details, Actually, Technically Everyone Is Dead, But Not, everyone has crazy powers but not the same powers that their quirks are, and Kagepro is fucking weird and also niche so probably a very small fan base here

Sword Hero Online: sao au but it’s 1000% better than sao in every way and makes sense, featuring Everyone Is A Gamer, Bakugou being that douche who cusses people out online in chat, Izuku playing DPS, Kiri playing Tank, Uraraka playing Support, and a story that actually has an end and doesn’t drag out forever

AUs set in the BNHA universe:

Shinsou with One For All AU, featuring bffs Izuku and Shinsou, again, because that’s just my brand at this point, Izuku having a quirk and it’s basically that he’s a dnd character (luck and dice rolls), not much else because I came up with this idea like yesterday and haven’t had a lot of time to plan rip

A Bit Of Irony: Hisashi Midoriya is a villain au, featuring slightly pyrophobic Izuku, bonding over garbage fire dads, and a lot of other things that I don’t want to give away just yet but it’s good trust me I promise

Mirrored Fate: Okay, it’s an au of the above where Izuku has both his parent’s quirks, featuring not really a villain and doesn’t actually want to hurt people but is kinda stuck here Izuku, Shouto befriending the technically not a villain, villains not every getting the hint that Izuku will never stop helping the heroes with shit, and Izuku eventually getting saved I promise

again, because I cannot stop, it’s another au that sort of follows the one above but in this one it’s Villain!Endeavor and Number 2 Hero!Hisashi Midoriya, featuring absolutely horrible garbage fire dads, the number two hero spot must be cursed to make you a douche unless if you’re Hawks, a villain second only to All For One who just wants to beat the shit out of All Might, and like izuku in the au above, shouto helping the heroes at literally any opportunity because the villains can’t catch the hint that these kids are just good kiddos

Shouto and Izuku swap AU, featuring Shouto Midoriya as achey brakey bone hurt juice boy, Izuku Todoroki as oh god stop the feels no, Shouto taking absolutely none of Bakugou’s shit except he can’t actually physically do anything to stop it, making friends and being nice out of spite, and Shouto using support gear which may or may not include a taser which solves a lot of problems to be honest

MY Hero Academia: it’s bnha but I do literally whatever the fuck I want to it when it comes to fixing things, featuring a sentient narrator who is too sassy, Izuku staying quirkless, Bakugou being less of a douche and then getting actual character development, no Mineta, well designed costumes, and much much more

Is It A Crime To Have A Good Time: Fun little one shot where the villains just spend the day at an amusement park. Not doing malicious things, mind you, but just general petty things, such as popping kids’ balloons, cutting in line, playing bumper cart in the go karts that explicitly say ‘do not use like bumper karts’, etc. 

Secret Identities: au where it’s only 8% of the population that has quirks and so they’re more like vigilante heroes that you see in comic books, featuring identity hiding shenanigans, accidentally falling in love with both a person’s secret identity and real person, oblivious lesbians (written by a hella oblivious lesbian), and hiding quirks badly

AU where kouta replaces bakugou and bakugou replaces kouta, featuring an actually decent childhood friendship, Kouta being incredibly done with his reckless bff who just got the ultimate quirk of breaking his bones, and becoming a hero to stop your best friend from getting himself killed smh

it’s bnha but I randomized who ends up in Class A and who ends up in Class B, featuring lots of Class B kids, and honestly, isn’t that enough to make you want it?

The Purrfect Hero: CAT QUIRK AU!! featuring cat boy Izuku, lots of obscure cat facts, absolutely always fucking tired and has sleepy bitch disease Izuku, sometimes knocks things off tables on accident, sometimes knocks things off tables on purpose, feels like he doesn’t get taken seriously, and immediately bonds with Shouto over mmm left side warm and bonds with Shinsou over ‘OH MY GOD YOU’RE A CAT’

Underground Avengers: okay, you know how in like episode two when All Might is explaining his injury he says he got it in a fight five years ago, and we as the audience now know that it was against AFO??? Okay, in this AU, the result of that fight was reversed and AFO won and All Might is in hiding and unable to use his quirk anymore, featuring dystopian au vibes, Aizawa Is Always A Mom, secretly used to be a pro hero Inko, and actually on the side of the good guys for once Stain even those he’s a bastard and I hate him in canon

there’s probably more that I’m forgetting, but I’ll edit it and add what I’m missing later

[falcophoenix]

continuing my descent into khell with dream drop distance, in progress reactions

-time to see what this test is about

-THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU KID, I NEVER PLAYED IT BUT I RECOGNIZE IT

-ohh again new type of creatures okay

-ORGANIZATION CLOAK

-wow even more characters, this is one solidified crossover.... did squeenix do twewy? that would make sense. guess kh isn't all final fantasy

-X-blade again

-i feel like context is lost on me cause i never played TWEWY but ughh

-ahh damn it's terranort

-note to self look up TWEWY later

-HUNCHBACK AAAAA YES

-wow they kept frollo racist, im still so used to the villains being watered down in the very first game

-NOOO QUASI

-i think square just wanted to recreate the movie scenes cause that was a lot of focus on a 1:1 scene

-even flashbacks, definitely focused on the recreation

-frollo's actor is really good, dead on likeness

-shit even the burning scene

-GO QUASI BOY! SANCTUARYYYY!

-damn even the climax scene remade to detail, square showing a lot of love and i dig it

-still awkward to have the MC just be a standby witness with occasional two cents

-oh shit vanitas

-quasi bb.... (i think ill stop gushing about this section we all know the movie)

-oh damn alternate ending with riku

-OH SHIT ANSEMNORT

-oh hi axel WAIT SHIT AXEL WHAT

-THE ORG MEMBERS ARE NORMAL AGAIN WHAT HOW

-oh hey it's the TRON sequel i didn't see

-i fucking love the TRON worlds it's so aesthetic

-didnt tron become the mcp in kh2 where tf is he

-oh there he is, oh hi photorealistic people (the dad looks and sounds so much like Ego i swear)

-i have a feeling they're gonna allude to roxas here

-ohh i get the feeling terranort is after vens heart inside sora (spoiler from the future: i was wrong)

-the former org! good guys now! i hope!

-the mechanic of parallel paths for sora and riku to affect separately is a really interesting one that works surprisingly well narratively

-i should watch both tron movies later

-OH GOD PLEASURE ISLAND, SORA DON'T DRINK OR SMOKE ANYTHING

-poor sora getting gaslit left and right

-that poor whale

-OH NO MINNIE

-i cant get over they freely say the brand name so seriously

-oh interesting riku is inside the whale instead

-terrible flashbacks of kh1 i hated the whale level so much

-OH SHIT DUPLIRIKU

-rofl nightmare getting gradually more pissed while kids banter and ignore it, you never see the monsters have quirks

-i like how the baddies have much more screentime and written more like themselves

-EEYY LEA

-AWW MUSKETEERS IS THIS LIKE THEIR PAST TOGETHER or an alternate reality

-mickey is a sharp cookie!

-i like to think this is how the royal gang all met as youths training together before mickey married minnie and became king

-good to see donalds not an actual coward like the cartoon. their friendship with sora trancends all realities! they really are his best friends! thats so sweet!

-GOOFY YEETED

-OH MY GOD FANTASIA WITH THE CLASSICAL MUSIC

-YESSS IT LITERALLY IS FANTASIA

-ITS SO UNCANNY AND AWESOME TO HAVE THE GENERIC GAME TRACK REPLACED BY REAL CLASSICAL SCORES

-aww sora composing the main game score! how cute!

-aw i love the solidarity between mickey and riku, just like sora and donald&goofy, they've forged such an inseparable bond it's adorable

-HOLY SHIT NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN YESSSS

-again i love the inclusion of the real scores

-LEA IS LEARNING TO KEYBLADE OH BOY

-xehanort chessmaster

-oh hey its edgy city

-xigbar is such a shit lol

-i kinda don't understand how this plan works but okay, wibbly wobbly timey wimey

-this first person perspective is disturbing for some reason

-hi venxas

-the sad children

-i guess they're explaining how the supposedly heart-less Nobodies could still act emotional

-i knew the Org was gonna be vessel fuel but woah Xigbar

-EVERYONE IS HERE

-*the nomura clothing design is an actual plot point*

-i guess terranort isn't actually terranort, they showed him at the island several times so who tf is he

-oh young xehanort okay then

-ouch vens throne

-vens armor

-they're still connected weh

-ohh thats where rikus voice came in

-riku like goddammit the darkness again

-AGAIN CLOTHING SIGNIFICANCE

-aw ye riku gon do what terra couldn't

-dream eaters are so fuckin cute i want one

-YAY MICKEY

-and there's Old Nort

-poor mickey lost his closest friends and blamed himself for the longest time wehhh

-huh. seven guardians, thirteen dark, makes sense

-WHAT UP LEA

-sup saix

-DONALD N GOOF EYYY

-EVERYONE IS HERE

-woahh nightmare ven is badass

-island of spiritual questions

-eyyy og ansem!

-sora you goof

-aw yay riku good for you!

-"cant get my keyblade to-- -SHWING-" L E A

-sanctuary is such a weird song

-eyy glimpses of ven (wehh), aqua and young nort

-I KNEW KAIRI WAS GONNA BE A WEILDER AND BE THEIR SEVENTH

-goddammit re:coded is next after all

[winsister91]

Crash Trickster Racing

Summary: The angelic master of mischief interrupts a game night that’s getting steamy…

Characters: Dean x Reader, Gabriel

Word Count: 1649

Warning: Language, implied smut, fluff? Is this what is known as crack? IDK

A/N: I can join in my own challenge right? lolol Out of all the things I’ve written, I think this takes the crown as the dumbest. Have I seriously just done a kinda sorta SPN CTR crossover? I should be shot. Pretty niche market here I guess, apologies to all you youngsters/non-gamers who probably have no idea what Crash Team Racing is. 

My Masterlist!

~ Dean and forever tags are open! ~

Dean taglist predominantly from @spnfanficpond . Let me know if want to be added/removed!

“Dean Winchester,” you laugh in triumph, “You suck!”

You throw the Playstation controller to the floor, doing a ridiculous victory dance. The result now was 12-1, in your favour. The only reason he won that one race in Crash Team Racing was because he started it without you while you went to grab a drink.

“You are inhumanely good at this stupid game,” Dean sulks, throwing his own controller down and folding his arms, “If it was a real race, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Whatever,” you shrug, sticking your tongue out and shaking your butt in a tease as you turn, “Victory beer!”

You skip to the kitchen, grinning like a child. As you go to open the fridge, Dean’s hand forces it closed again. He swiftly takes you in his arms, picking you up onto the counter and biting down your neck. You giggle as tingles wash over you, throwing your head back to grant him access.

“Distract me all you want,” you gasp as he moves around to the other side of your neck, “You still suck at Crash.”

“Maybe,” he growls, taking you to a higher place with a deep kiss on your collarbone, “But I know what I am good at.”

“Thank god you do,” you exhale before his lips forcefully clash into yours, instantly allowing his hungry tongue to do battle with your own.

He lifts you onto his hips, you wrap your legs around him and the tongue battle continues. You rake your hands through his hair, your core fluttering with excitement when those beautiful olive eyes of his pierce lustfully into yours. He carries you through the room and into the corridor leading to his bedroom. You giggle, pulling your t-shirt up and over your head on the way. He hums at the sight of you, kicking his door open and bringing you inside.

“What the fuck?” he stops and freezes. The sounds of numerous engines rumbling come to your ears and confused isn’t even the word. You look around, this was most definitely not Dean’s room. It was…outside? Pixelated?

“Okaay?” you jump down from his hips, looking around. You’re at the start line of a race track in a blocky cartoon world? It looks like the Coco Park track…it is Coco Park. Perfect in every detail. There’s a flash of white light and suddenly you’re in a racing kart. You immediately try to pull yourself out, but some invisible force is holding you there.

“Dean what’s going on!?” your shriek.

Dean is in the kart next to you, also struggling for freedom, he curses under his breath. “God dammit Gabriel where are you!?” he shouts viciously.

“Oh no…” you groan, rolling your eyes.

“Now is that any way to greet a buddy?” that familiar chirpy voice comes. Gabriel melts into view, laying on the flat rectangular texture of grass at the side of the road, “I’ve always thought you two were such a cute couple, but man it gets monotonous. A playful argument, sex, self-deprecation, sex, get drunk, sex. The result is always the same!”

You and Dean share a worried glance.

“You’ve been watching us?” Dean shakes his head in disbelief.

“Ew!” you shout.

“Who needs soap opera’s when the Winchesters exist? But its rapidly declining into a porno” he chuckles, snapping his fingers and appearing in a third kart between you both, “Now come on, this is fun! She says he sucks at Crash, he says he could win a real race, let’s combine the two!” “Could I have some dignity please first!?” you cross your arms, remembering you are topless, only a bra and pants on show.

The angel tuts and with a wave of his hand, your t-shirt appears back on you, “It’s game time,” he grins eagerly.

The unforgettable sound of the air horn count down echoes in the air, you can see the in game lights hovering above you. You get your game face on, thinking, Fine! Whatever! I’m gonna kick your asses.

The last siren blares and your foot is pressed firmly down on the gas pedal. The kart shoots forward, much faster than you expected. You squeal in terror as you crash into one of the item crates, the blocky shards of wood flying over you. This moment makes you realise the game’s hud is in your eyesight, like it’s imprinted on your iris. You see your lap time ticking away in the top corner of your sight, and a mini map of the track in a bottom corner. This is insane, and awesome. A box in the top centre of your vision is flicking through pictures of the in-game weapons, stopping on the missile. You grin mischievously before worry hits you. You can’t use a freaking missile! You’ll kill them!

While your mind had wandered, you realise you’re making a bee line for a red bottle, left on the track by Gabriel. You jerk on the wheel hard to try and avoid it, but it’s too late. You crash into it, sending the kart into a spin and you scream hysterically. Your vision becomes blurry and your car a stuttering slow mess as it clumsily bobs along with a black rain cloud following and raining on to you.

“Shit!” you shout in frustration, bashing at the gas pedal, but it’s fruitless while the bottle’s effect is in play.

“Oh yea, feel free to use the weapons!” Gabriel’s voice echoes omnipotently in the air, “They’ll not really hurt you!”

The cloud vanishes and you shoot forward again. Now you’re determined.

You can hear Dean laughing and clearly enjoying the ride, turning back to you and mocking while you try to catch up. You ignore him, focusing on the damned archangel further ahead. You spot a huge red button in the middle of the steering wheel, the angel in your line of sight and you slam it. The missile blasts out of the front of your kart and your grin returns. You watch in glee as it soars away into the distance. Then your face drops as the explosive turns and hones in on Dean.

“Uh oh,” you mumble, remembering these things are designed to aim at the person directly in front of you in the standings.

The rocket explodes into Dean’s car sending him flying in the air in a cartoonish fashion. You hear him cursing you as you speed past.

“Bitch!!!!”

“Sorry not sorry!” you squeak sheepishly.

With Dean now falling far behind, it’s a full on battle for first place between you and Gabriel. Damn, he’s good. You question as to whether he’s tweaked things, being in control over this world he’s created after all. His car is way faster than yours. You can barely keep up using all the tricks in the book, grinding around corners and hitting your boost in a specific timing. Hiding TNT boxes behind the item crates for when another lap comes around. You fire numerous cannons at him, but he frequently swerves away or conveniently has a shield every time one does hit.

“Oh come on!!!” you scream, gamer rage coursing through you as he dodges another one of your traps, “This is bullshit!!!”

You hear another familiar noise and you sit wide eyed. Oh no. It’s an electrical noise, sounding like waves, you turn and see what you dread. A huge intimidating blue ball of electricity flying through the air, its aim to hit everyone in its path. You can see Dean with an evil grin behind it, clearly the culprit as it’s an item only granted to those in last place. There’s no outrunning it, you have no shield in your possession. You brace yourself.

You squeal as it passes over you and your car is flung into the air. Holding on for dear life, you breathe a sigh of relief after spinning in the air and finally landing back on the ground, dazed. Gabriel falls victim to it too, a wail coming from his kart in front of you.

You can hear Dean laughing as he speeds past you both, crossing the finish line and becoming enveloped in a flood of confetti.

“Well done you,” you grumble as you and Gabriel cross the line with glum faces. You were so pissed at coming last.

“I think it’s safe to say I am the ultimate champ at this now?” Dean pokes his tongue out, folding his arms smugly.

“Bite me,” you hiss, “You got lucky with the stupid OP weapon.”

He raised an eyebrow at you, blowing you a kiss in a mock fashion which makes you wanna go over there and part kill him, part ravage him.

“Oh, guys come on now!” Gabriel raises his hand in disbelief, “The sexual tension in the air is just…so obvious plot wise!”

“The winner of your god damn race…” Dean starts calmly before ordering, “says, put us back in our god damn room right now!”

Gabriel rolls his eyes, “Fine, this isn’t the last you’ll hear from me,” with a snap of his fingers, you’re back at the bunker, sat on the floor of the bedroom. Gabriel is nowhere in sight.

“Rematch!” you squeal, jumping to your feet and marching for the door.

“Now just wait,” Dean chuckles, stepping in front of you and pulling you into a tight embrace, “…where were we first?”

In a moment of de ja vu, you find yourself being hoisted back onto Dean’s hips, violently pulling off your t-shirt.

“Really?” Gabriel groans, sat in a place unknown watching a huge TV screen where he watches people’s lives for entertainment, “There’s more sex here than in Game of Thrones…” He tuts, changing the channel with a fistful of popcorn.

Tags! @aprofoundbondwithdean @manawhaat @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @nichelle-my-belle @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @notnaturalanahi @bkwrm523 @salvachester @whispersandwhiskerburn @roxy-davenport @impala-dreamer @deathtonormalcy56 @samsgoddess @frenchybell @scorpiongirl1 @for-the-love-of-dean @mysupernaturalfics @spn-fan-girl-173 @deandoesthingstome @jelly-beans-and-gstrings @fiveleaf @deansleather @curliesallovertheplace @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname @waywardjoy @mrswhozeewhatsis @imadeangirl-butimsamcurious @kayteonline @supernatural-jackles @wevegotworktodo @ilovedean-spn2 @quiddy-writes @babypieandwhiskey @wi-deangirl77 @deantbh @supermoonpanda @sinceriouslyamellpadalecki @deanwinchesterforpromqueen @chaos-and-the-calm67 @memariana91 @plaidstiel-wormstache @teamfreewill-imagine @chelsea-winchester @fandommaniacx @writingbeautifulmen @revwinchester @lucibae-is-dancing-in-hell @castieltrash1 @supernaturalyobessed @ohwritever @ruined-by-destiel @inmysparetime0 @winchester-writes @deals-with-demons @maraisabellegrey @faith-in-dean @winchestersmolder  @bennyyh @clueless-gold @deanwinchesterxreader @melbelle45 @winchester-family-business  @4401lnc @sofreddie @sis-tafics @chelsea072498 @arcturuz

[vohskyfire]

Top Ten 2017 Games

That time of the year again, the end of the year is upon us. And as such, this will be my last post for this year on this website.

2017 has been a year of a LOT of good games. In fact, it’s argubly been the year of some of the best games ever made being released. Nintendo dominated this year with the Switch, several games have been said to be the best games of all time, and Microsoft shot themselves in the foot, again, with the Xbox One X.  So odds are there’s a lot of great games out there that people love.

Keep in mind, these are just my personal picks for the top ten. If your favorites aren’t here, don’t worry, they’re still great too! Just one rule though.

No ports. Aka no Skyrim, no Doom, no Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokken Tournament, etc. Let’s get this started!

10: CupHead (Xbox One)

I’ll be honest, the first time I saw CupHead I wasn’t exactly sure what to think of it. It looked like it was a tribute to the old cartoons from the 50s and that gave it a bit of a nice feel to it. But I didn’t expect the game to be anything fantastic. Especially given Microsoft’s recent track records with exclusives (Looking at YOU, Halo Wars 2). However, come to my surprise, CupHead is a great game! In fact, it’s so good it’s the only Microsoft title to be on this list. So what exactly keeps it from being in the top 5? Well....

It’s hard. Like, brutally hard. Make no mistake people, this game will kick you in the teeth if you try to go into it acting like you aren’t going to die. In CupHead, expect to die. A LOT. And yes, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean the game sucks. No one ever says that unless it’s someone who absolutely hates challenges. But sometimes, you gotta give the player a chance to BREATHE. And while boss fights are doable once you learn the patterns, people who AREN’T patient are going to break their controllers. A lot.

Overall, Cuphead is a good game. But goddamn does it make you fight to survive.

9: Crash Bandicoot: Insane Trilogy (PS4)

Crash is back baby. Crash is back. Okay, he’s SORTA back, but hey, it’s nice to see that Sony wanted to have their mascot back! Last year when they showed this off at E3, I went “Welp. There goes Microsoft’s chances to getting back into first place.” (At the time of this post, there is no Xbone Port yet) Seriously I was hyped, if Crash was coming back, then there was a huge chance that Spyro could come back as well. Now Insane Trilogy is an HD remake of the original 3 games, updated to modern times. And damn. Just DAMN. These games looks absolutely stunning. Gameplay wise they are just like they should have been from the past as well. That’s a good thing....aaaaaaaaaaaaaand a bad thing.

Crash 1 is still the hardest of the trilogy, mostly because the game was not MEANT for speed run purposes, and some of the hitboxes in Crash 1 are still as bad as they were back in the day. And while having Coco being playable is a nice touch, she doesn’t really change that much in the games. She’s basically just an alt skin for Crash, and most of the death animations that Crash goes through she’s spared. It’s still a wonderful remake of the original three games, and I am very happy to see that it sold incredibly well. Maybe Activision and Sony might work together from now on to do MORE Crash games? Or at least, you know...give us a Spyro trilogy remake too? That’d be nice. Anyone? Please? ...No? Skylanders still? O-Okay.

8: ARMS (Nintendo)

Oh yes. Now we’re getting into some Nintendo titles. (Be prepared, there’s a LOT of them here.) ARMS is basically what I would like to call the ‘Splatoon of fighting games.’ When they did the full presentation of ARMS back in January this year, I was one of the view that didn’t seem to out right hate the concept of ARMS. I thought it looked like a blast to play, plus fighting games are awesome. ARMS thankfully to me, did not disappoint. In the months of waiting for Splatoon 2 and other Switch titles to come out, ARMS was there. And for what it’s worth? The game is a blast to play. Simple controls that one can get use to, wonderfully designed characters, beautiful music, intense hype as hell battles, and being able to combine different arms with one another based on your fighting style is a great thing. Many hours were put into ARMS trying to get more unique ARMS to use in battle.

That’s...kinda where some of the good stops. The game’s great, don’t get me wrong, but there were some things I feel ARMS needed to be more active on launch. For one, a better story mode. Arcade mode is basically what you get. Info on your fighter, what they’re fighting style is like, and that’s pretty much it. There’s no story building, no interactions between characters, and that can KINDA hurt a fighting game this year when you have Injustice 2 showing how to do a story in a fighting game. Mind you, this is just a MINOR flaw to me.

Overall, ARMS is a lovable experience. And I’m glad to see that it got all the support they said they were going to give it. Maybe the comics will be just as good, or at least have more stuff for ARMS 2. (If they make it.)

7: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Nintendo)

If you would have told me that this game, this game, would be on this list this year or that I would find it to be one of my favorite games this year at the start of January? I would have smacked you in the mouth. I should make this clear to everyone.

I. Hate. The Rabbids.

When I first heard about this game from that huge leak from Ubisoft, I first thought “What? Are you shitting me? Mario and Rabbids crossover? And they have GUNS? What the hell is this? Is this gonna be MARIO OF WAR 4 where it’s a third person shooter? Come on Nintendo.”

Then E3 happened. Oh boy, did I get proved wrong by Ubisoft.

Kingdom Battle isn’t ANYWHERE close to the over done third person shooter area. It’s bright, colorful, charming, actually kinda funny in moments (that’s saying something given the Rabbids’ history) and believe it or not...

Actually...a LOT of fun.

No, seriously. This is one of the most fun games I’ve played this year. Bar none. It’s hard to believe I’m saying that about a Rabbids game that’s crossed over with Mario of all franchises, but it’s true. The game is the first huge strategic game on the Switch and I’m happy to report that the game plays damn well. Think of it like Xcom. Where you actually have to think out your strategies and make certain you know the map well enough.

The only kind of flaws I could give the game is that well...it’s kinda short. Four worlds, each with large maps to do battle, and the story is just kinda...there. Like they explain how the two series meet and everything, but it’s just...there. Not like I expected a huge story from a Mario + Rabbids game, but it would have been interesting to see them go a BIT more into it. Ah well, the DLC will probably cover that.

6: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Nintendo)

And here we have the first Fire Emblem game on this list (Someone’s gonna get upset somewhere). Shadows of Valentia is the first game that uses the classic gameplay the series has been known for that I’ve played since Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Which we’ll get into why THAT game sucks another time...) and to be honest? This game really really contends with Awakening as my favorite FE title.

I love a lot of things about Shadows of Valentia. The storyline is enjoyable, the art style is absolutely beautiful, the music is GODLY, the battles are intense and force you to be on your toes, the character models look absolutely gorgeous for a 3DS game, and the characters are wonderfully written. No joke, Alm and Celica, as ‘bland’ as they can be, are some of my favorite FE characters now.

The only thing I can really say that is sort of a draw back to this game is that...well, how it will test your patience. No joke, the maps are fantastic and the gameplay is a joy to go through, but GOD in heaven above, do some maps want to test your will to continue. Especially maps that have the annoying spell known as UPHEAVAL which damages everyone in your army on sight AND...ahem, let’s save that rant for another time.

Over all, Shadows of Valentia is a great remake of the second game in the series. If you have a 3DS, which is going to be put to rest soon, I would recommend getting this game. It’s fantastic.

5: Fire Emblem Warriors (Nintendo)

Annnnnnnnnnd there goes some of the older FE fans booing at me liking this game. Yes, the game is only Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates. Yes, some of the other characters (Celica and Lyn) are the only representatives of their games, yes some characters have the same moves as others. But you know what? I don’t care.

I. LOVE. THIS. GAME.

It’s fun, it’s stupid mindless fun, and enjoyable. I know most fans may not like the fact that it’s three games over the many others, but to me? I am happy with the choices they’ve made.

Combat is smooth and stylish, like Warriors games tend to be, the animations are wonderful, the controls respond perfectly, and just seeing the way that characters interact with one another is fantastic. I love hearing them call each other’s names when they do a dual strike together. I love how over the top some attacks can get, and I love the ability to switch between units on the fly.

Yes the story’s a lil stupid, and yes they should have included other games in the franchise too, but I like it. If you want to turn your brain off, this is the game for you. It got into my list because I’m a fan who doesn’t hold favoritism over others. Just don’t be rude to people who don’t like the game, and vice versa and you might find a gem.

4: Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo)

Yeaaaaah, there’s a lot of Nintendo games.

If you would have told me that Nintendo was going to show off not only Metroid Prime 4 and a new classic Metriod game this year at E3, I would have called you a liar. And to my surprise, they did it. They actually did it. Prime 4 during the new stuff for Nintendo Switch, AND during the after presentation, a new Metroid title to be released this year.

Samus Returns is what I would like to call one of the best looking, and best playable, games on the 3DS. This game I could even consider it to be a swan song. Everything from classic Metroid is here. Charge shots, wall jumps, bombs, beam upgrades, etc. It’s all there. As an official remake of Metroid 2, people were happy to see that Nintendo not only DID care for Metroid, but it shed some light as to why AM2R was taken down. There’s really not much to complain about when it comes to this game. It plays well, responds well, and really teases at more future Metroid games down the line. To which I say...please give us more.

I wanna see Metroid Dread. Do it Nintendo.

TOP THREE.

Oh boy...these three were hard to decide their order. I’ll give short paragraphs for them as I feel I’ve dragged this list out long enough. That and really, I don’t have complaints for these three. These three are the best of the best. Hands down. The best games this year easily.

3: Persona 5 (PS4)

This. Game. Holy shit this game. RPGs live. And Persona 5 has shown the world, and more importantly Square Enix, that turn based RPGS still live. And goddamn, is this game amazing. Fantastic story, fantastic characters, fantastic music, spot on battle system, wonderful dialogue, wonderful artstyle, wonderful EVERYTHING. GET THIS GAME.

2: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)

Easily the best 3D Mario game ever made. No seriously, it’s fantastic. If you own a Switch, you need to get this game. It’s beautiful and is just a charm to play through. Also god DAMN does it play so smooth.

1: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)

I know. Predictable. But you know what? I don’t care. This game, this game is my favorite game this year. From exploring Hyrule, fighting enemies, discovering what meals to cook, the wonderful story, and just how much of a riveting experience it has been, I can NOT put this game at number 1. It was the first huge game this year, and I feel it deserves the praise that it’s been getting. I spent many hours playing this game, and I am glad to say that it’s my number one game this year.

And that’s how we send off 2017. Let’s hope 2018 is a good year for games as well!

PS: Also Splatoon 2 is a huge honorary mention.

[onemoreepitaph]

The Saga of the Swamp Thing and the trouble of writing comic book reviews.

So, I recently finished finished reading The Saga of the Swamp Thing (or as it’s known in more modern terms, Swamp Thing volume 2). As with every comic (and most things) I finish, I want to review it. This poses a problem, as Swamp Thing is 171 issues covered by a massive amount of different staff members with low cohesion beyond canon. Pasko’s Swamp Thing is vastly different from Moore’s from Collin’s from Millar’s and so forth. This makes it difficult to review as one piece even if I can define it with a beginning, middle, and end. I’ve reviewed comics before without problem. Even comics with multiple directions (such as Miracleman) but not on such a massive scale.

Really, the writing isn’t even the thing that makes it hard to review. I can cover disjointed writing. It’s the disjointedness of everything. In visual mediums, I like to review the visual design, and swamp thing has passed through the hands of so many artists that even recalling all of them is incredibly difficult. I can give kudos to Tatjana Wood’s coloring for by far being the most consistent thing in this comic book. So rather than formatting this like I like to on my other blog, I’m going to give this a more messy crazy whirl.

(If you’re here after Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and just want to know if you should read the rest jump down to the very bottom (past issue 171))

To start off, let me acknowledge that this is a sequel, and should be treated as such. Since the end of the first volume, Alec Holland is Swamp Thing again (this happens in Challengers of the Unknown, but for all intents and purposes treat the last 2 issues of volume 1 as non-canon, life will be better that way.) Swamp Thing finds a peculiar situation, a man trying to kill his daughter whilst declaring her the anti-christ. Swamp Thing saves her, and thus starts on his next great arc. Unlike the individual stories of volume 1, volume 2 is more arc based. This is for better and for worse, the stories have more character, more plot, and more impact, but also this can lead to dragging and near filler. Generally I’d say it’s just alright in the first few arcs, they’re interesting but unmemorable. The story really picks up in issue 16 with a few character reintroductions, and we’re off to the races from there. Swamp Thing is a famous comic book, and for good reason. The next arcs are a work of brilliance, taking the horror hero concept through some truly interesting reconstructions with absolutely brilliant writing and amazing visual design.

While it’s no painting, the cohesion between writing and visuals is near perfect. You can tell the team was skilled and in alignment. The Love and Death arc of this series is both an amazing story, and the arc that broke the comics code. This marked the evolution of swamp thing from the newspaper stand kids’ content to the saga of respectable storytelling we now hold comic books to be (at their best at least). But no gold rush lasts forever, and the other side of the 50 mark the series begins to cool down into an interesting but only somewhat above average niche it slides into by 100. After that, the series gets turbulent in some interesting ways, which each consecutive writer having drastically different visions and some moments that changed the story almost as much as The Anatomy Lesson did. Your mileage on the post-100 side of swamp thing will probably vary a LOT, with different tones both thematically and visually throughout the rest of the series. If you were to show me issue 166 and tell me it’s the same comic as issue 66, I would find it incredibly difficult to believe you (assuming I weren’t accustomed to these massive changes.) I can say however, that the final ending of the series is a true highlight. It pulls from the legacy of the character into quite a unique finale. 

So, here’s the question. Do I recommend Swamp Thing volume 2? Short answer, yes. Long Answer, maybe? It’s status as an un-cohesive story makes it hard to recommend. Most people would recommend issues 21-64, but I’m not sure I agree. I do recommend it from the start, knowing that it will get better. Issue 64 is a great ending, and the only good drop off point until the very end. I can with little doubt recommend up to there. Beyond that is less of a solid go. I firmly believe if you carry on past that point, you will at some point grow distaste with the series. It can be all over the place, and at times I thought to myself “I’d enjoy this story if it were it’s own thing and not Swamp Thing” but I found the experience to be worth it in the end. The transition from 64 to beyond is a bit rough, as 64 feels like a good point to end end the series, but it continues on with a writer who’s clearly not as good as the writer before him. When Nancy A. Collins comes along in the early 100s, she drastically changes the tone, and with Millar starting work on the series it becomes almost unrecognizable as anything before it. I do think, despite all of this, it comes together as one good piece. I think most people will grow to dislike the series at some point, but only temporarily. So if you find yourself at issue 64 and want more, I advise you to carry on, but know it will be a crazy and imperfect experience. 

Rating this series in final is difficult, at any point it was somewhere between a 6 and a 9, but usually floated around 7. Overall I think I’ll give it a 7.5, albeit a very interesting 7.5

So, here’s the gloves off spoilers in section. If you’ve never read any of swamp thing volume 2, I implore you to take your leave here. This is mostly for those who have read Moore’s run. I’m going to do a run by run break down. Martin Pasko’s run (1-19) is fine. I found it enjoyable, mostly towards the very end, and it lays the groundwork for some stuff that will pay off later. Really, throw issue 20 into this as well, as it’s just an ending piece for this run. I think it’s a fine enough lead up to the Moore run, but if it existed in isolation I wouldn’t remember it one bit. I recommend it for first time readers, but if you’ve already read beyond it there’s no real point in going back to it. The Moore run (20-64) explains itself. It’s famous. It’s pretty awesome. I generally liked it, even if I didn’t love it. It’s not my favorite Moore work because I don’t think it builds on itself all that well, but the good parts are damn good and art and prose are excellent. I really feel like the space arc was definitely in the territory of “more neat than interesting” but it was a good read nonetheless. oh god my cat wants attention he’s so adorable aaaaaaaa Everytime i type he paws at me for attention ok he went to go do something else. Okay so, Rick Veitch (65-87). Veitch worked as an artist with Moore, so he and Moore are very much on the same page. Despite Moore closing the book in 64, Veitch reopens it with something that feels consistent. The nearly logical next step, the problem is Veitch is not Moore. Veitch had a shitty job, of following that up. He did it the best he could, but he just wasn’t as skilled. If you want more Swamp Thing, it will give you that, but if you want more ground-breaking comics kino, you’re out of luck. It’s a fine read, but the gap is noticeable. The other problem with Veitch is that due to the issue 88 fiasco, his plot didn’t finish by his own hands. Some people read just Veitch, but his ending isn’t an ending. He was supposed to be followed up by Gaiman (who wrote the excellent annual 5), but the issue 88 fiasco made Gaiman also back out. While this was a pretty damn respectable move on Gaiman’s part, it makes me sad wondering what that run could have been. Doug Wheeler (88-109) came in and finished up the arc and then wrote his own war epic, Quest of the Elementals. While Wheeler is a lot of the times criticized as being the bottom of the barrel for Swamp Thing, I found him to be about on par with Veitch. Interesting, but not remarkable. I do give him credit for having an actual ending to his run, which I suppose could be used as an ending point for the series but it’s clearly an arc ending and not a story ending. Then Nancy A. Collins comes in (110-138). Her Swamp Thing is tonally quite different. It’s a much slower, toned down Swamp Thing. A lot of times people describe it as being closer in tone to the pre-Moore era. I liked how it spent more time developing the supporting cast and actually giving Swamp Thing time to be at home with his family. The run was almost comfy until right after the move to Vertigo, it stopped being so. I don’t know why, but on the way out Collins decided to break the status quo, leaving a really unhappy ending. The early parts of her run were some of my favorite parts of Swamp Thing in awhile, but the ending was just upsetting. This is followed up by a one issue Black Orchid crossover, which is neat I suppose. Then we get to Millar (140-171). He starts out his run working with Grant Morrison in this 4 issue story that’s almost pure insanity. It was interesting, but really was a prologue to Millar’s greater run to come. At first I did not like Millar’s run at all. A fuckload had changed. The art was in this simplified, dynamic style that contrasted abrasively with the prior style. The story had become lonely and quite a dark downer, but it picks up. The first real arc, Parliament of Stones, is the biggest offender of being both a downer and not very good. I think from here, it really starts to improve. It still is pretty dirty and down, but it’s got a bit more humanity to it rather than just being shitty for shitty’s sake. The last stretch, Trial by Fire, was quite fantastic. It makes real good on the size of the Swamp Thing legacy, running this clearly Alan Moore like story, and just keeps pulling brilliance out until it ends on an ultimately upbeat note.I see why Millar’s run is the most recommended past Veitch, but it really is rough getting used to. Ultimately though, it justifies both itself and a lot of the weight that the series has gained.

[smoothshift]

Tokyo Motor Show 2017. Disappointment on many levels. (Albums) via /r/cars

Tokyo Motor Show 2017. Disappointment on many levels. (Albums)

And it isn't how you think. Well, it was to a certain extent, but I'll bitch about Mitsubishi a little later. Overall it was a fun time and plenty of neat things to see. The trip up to the front steps of Tokyo Big Site was amazing, and the walk back was intense. Massive winds threatened to blow my wife away! Here's a little bit of a run down of what I saw. Sorry for pictures that appear more than once. Imgur was acting fucky for me.

BMW

The Europeans did not disappoint this year at all. Maybe with color choices, on the Z4, but I fucking love the new Z4 look and the rims on it. The new 8-Series is amazing looking. The ass on those are fucking huge and amazing. Both the Z4 and the 8-Series look to have a sweet looking paddle shift setup. Nothing particularly revolutionary, but I am a sucker for color splashes like the paddles have.

Alpina BMWs are looking amazing. Subtle bits here and there. Awesome stuff. Also I think I'm going to have to buy a M2 for the wife.

Album

Mercedes-Benz

Ever see a world championship F1 car up close? It's fucking cool as hell. Ever see a hyper car with a F1 powerplant up close? Fucking bonkers. The Project One. Thing just screams speed. Raw carbon fiber accenting sexy curves and a rear end that is something I haven't seen in all my years. It is a fucking great white shark. Check them rims. Check that exhaust. Check all of it. Amazing detail.

Also sounds like my wife is in love with the AMG GT. Can't say I blame her, but she will get the M2 before I can spring for the GT. Also Maybach. Jesus, Maybach. If I were rich, unable to drive the Project One, and unable to drive the multitude of other cars I dream of, this would be the car I'd have toting my ass around.

Album

Honda

Oh Honda. I love you Honda. I don't really care for your Type-R and how it looks (picture of me in the seat tells the story), but I can't hold it against you. Keep doing your thing. As long as you bring all you other cool shit over to the States. The retro look on the cars they had up on the spinners with a jazz band playing around them were amazing looking. The Honda S660 was glorious. Nothing else gave me such a big smile. Funny watching all these people attempt to get into the car, fumbling around wedging their legs into it. Used to Miatas and small cars, I slid right into it and loved every moment inside it. Thing can fit inside my cube at work. And also a NSX. Sorry, but the thing doesn't seem to have the same punch and character the original one. Seems like a mash up of other super cars.

Then the Honda Motorsports section. Bummed out and hyped all in one go. They had the McLaren F1 car there, and you could sit in it! ...Only if you were under 13 years old. But you could sit on a MotoGP bike at an extreme angle like you were driving! Picture looks like I was having a shit. Had their oh so mighty engines on display including the VERY RELIABLE F1 motor along with their Indy motor and Super Formula motor. The Indy motor is freaking tiny compared to the F1 motor. Also had Sato's Indy 500 winning car as well as their Red Bull super Formula car.

Album

Lexus

LS+. Lol the LS+. I get that the front grill is the thing for Lexus, but what the hell Lexus? It looks like diamond plate. I mean I get that you don't need to have much air flow, but that's what you come up with for you grill? Looks cool otherwise when looking at the side profile. LS500 looks crisp and if anything, looks like the standard fair of luxury car. Not a bad design, though.

The RC-F. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNGG. Sexy was what the designers had in mind with this car. Or racerboi, but whatever. Thing is beautiful. Carbon, carbon, and oh, hell why not, MORE CARBON!

Album

Mazda

Didn't bother with the known bits like the Miata. They had the same Miata that we have had for the past year. The KAI Concept, though? I want that to be the new Mazda3. It looks amazing. It's a normal car that has amazing lines. It is an interesting car, looks interesting and looks interesting to drive. Look at the ass of the car. I want.

RX-Vision. They only had the sedan "Coupe" out when I was there. Thing was longer than the Century seemingly. Thing is wide as hell. Rear fenders stuck out by a mile. You see it in person, and it just really doesn't work that well. Pretty disappointed, honestly.

Album

Nissan

No new 370z on display. Leaf Nismo, though. Yippy? Oh, I also got a shot of a GTR and a Skyline. You fuckers love those, right?

Album

Toyota

Fuckers have a god damn cat bus. No fucking joke. Last set of pictures in the album. No Supra concept. Bummer. LMP1 car, that was sweet shit. The GT86 mule for their electric sports mind exercise is awesome looking. Wish they had an option for the GT86 to look like that car. Century was there and amazing looking. If the term regal was a car, this car would be such a term.

Their concepts were fun. Electric with more lambo doors than you'd think. Also they ask for help and say thank you!

Album

Mitsubishi

Oh fuck. Just fuck these guys. Hope they have sleepless nights. And when they do dream, they dream of crying children non-stop. Eclipse is a crossover. A boring as fuck one to boot. Just shit. Oh, and a new Evolution. Coupe on stilts pretending to be a crossover. I don't know what to call it. A jacked up rabbit? It is fucking sad that THIS is what the Evolution legacy has come to.

True disappointment.

Album

MISC

Bunch of other cool shit at TMS that was their own thing separate from the bid manufactures. Formula SAE were rocking all sorts of their High School Formula cars. Neat little kit car that is hyper car looking with a nasty looking V8 with ITBs that was registered to drive on the road. Autonomous driving smart car with LCD front grill, cause they can. Yamaha doing something with two wheels in the front of their scooters and bikes. They also made a toy hauler with the dumbest looking tires I've seen yet. Just all sorts of cool things.

Album

Final thoughts;

Fun trip. 10/10 would go again. Also Tokyo was fun as always. Wife and I loved the hell out of TMS and everything around it.