#it's still pretty much the same??? what are you telling us nintendo

[mioons]

‎   ‎      ‎   ‎‎   ‎     ‎   ‎     ‎   ‎ ╱ ⟡ USE YOUR WORDS 💤

( 🛁 ) 𓈒 𓈒 𝖺𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗄𝗂𝗌𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖺 𝗍𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗍 ╱ 𝒻 𓈒 𝓇𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 808 ── ✦ 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿, 𝖾𝗌𝗍. 𝗋𝗌 ᰔ ::

‎ ‎ 𓊆 𝒸𝑎𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑒́ 𓊇 ୨୧ 𝖼𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗄 ──── 𓈒 𓈒 🧺

LEE HEESEUNG

heeseung and you were both cuddling on the couch with you on his lap and his arms wrapped around you.

you suddenly had an idea and turned your head towards him, .

“what is it pretty girl?” he asked softly, running his fingers through the strands of your hair. you simply pouted your lips, letting him know you wanted a kiss from him.

heeseung caught on fast and gave you a cocky grin before whispering in your ear, “use your words baby.”

you rolled your eyes childishly and answered him, “wan’ a kiss hee, please?”

he hummed in amusement before leaning down to press a kiss on your lips. “how could i ever say no to you pretty girl,” he mumbled against your lips.

PARK JONGSEONG

you tugged onto his sleeve as you two were waiting in line to get seats at a restaurant. jay looked down at you and tilted his head, letting out a small sound of acknowledgment while leaning down in case you needed to tell him something.

“what’s wrong sweetheart?” he asked, lifting his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

and god when you looked up at him like that, he loses all sense of logic, turning into that high school boy that fell in love with you years ago.

you simply pucker your lips out for him, expecting him to automatically give you a kiss.

in normal circumstances jay would definitely do it. how could he deny his girlfriend anything when she looks so pretty and all he wanted to do was to make sure she was happy.

but since the both of them were outside, in a public space, jay wanted to teaser you a little bit. just a little won’t hurt he thought.

jay simply hummed and cocked his head to the side in feign confusion, “hm? i don’t quite understand.”

your brows furrowed in frustration and you folded your arms across your chest.

he saw this and let out a breathy chuckle, “words darling. use your words.”

you rolled your eyes, “i’d like a kiss please.”

the tall man simply giggled before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to your lips.

SIM JAEYUN

the couple were at jake’s house, with him and you playing a nintendo game called animal crossing together.

“cmon jake stop moving! i’m trying to make our characters kiss!” you grumbled and hit the side of jake’s head lightly with your console.

jake laughed softly, reaching out his hand to rub the back of your hand, “i’m so sorry princess. what can i do to make it up to you?”

you looked over at him, squinting your eyes as you pretended to think of something when in reality you were just admiring his facial features.

after awhile, you pointed to your lips, expecting him to give you a kiss as compensation.

“gotta use that pretty little mouth of yours to tell me princess, pointing ain’t the trick,” jake smiled and tugged your hand, bringing you much much closer to him. so close to the point where the both of you were breathing the same air.

“kiss. i want a kiss.”

and without a second to waste, he immediately joined your lips together.

you couldn’t make your characters kiss in animal crossing but at least you got to kiss him in real life. still a win in your books.

PARK SUNGHOON

it was just a another day at the ice rink. you and your boyfriend, sunghoon were just skating around.

you weren’t good at skating so sunghoon had to stay by you the entire time. it didn’t bother him one bit though.

“if i can skate from one end to the other, you gotta give me something in return, ‘kay?” you suggested, looking over your shoulder to flash him a playful grin.

sunghoon simply smiled back and rolled his eyes playfully, “go ahead, but just know you’re not getting anything from me.”

and boy was he so wrong. he had never seen you skate that fast and smoothly in his life, it was like you became a professional athlete. well in his eyes you were always perfect.

when you reached the end of the rink, you held up a peace sign with both your knees and middle finger, smiling widely like a child on christmas day.

“alright alright, you win. what do you want?” he chuckled and skated up to you, immediately placing his hands on either side of your waist.

“hmm…” you whistled while in thought and then pointed to your lips, pursing them for him.

“ i don’t quite understand darling.”

you let out a groan and looked down before mumbling, “want a kiss.. from you..”

and the next thing you knew, all you could feel were his soft lips connecting with yours, both your hearts in tandem.

taglist ╱ @flwrstqr @wonsdoll @won4kiss @dioll @tzyunaes @suneng @jakesangel @wonsprincess

[starsluver]

Random Facts About the Slytherin Boys

Part 1

Mattheo Riddle

In the first year, no one believed that he was related to Voldemort. mainly because no one thought he'd have a child

He also fluently speaks Spanish since he was raised by his mother (ngl I believe that Mattheo is either Guatemalan, Mexican, Colombian, or Puerto Rican) cause his father didn't want anything to do with him until he got older

Had a side part phase for most of his first through fourth year because his mom liked it until his fifth year where he learned how to take care of his natural hair and he takes VERY big pride in it, he literally spends all his money and time on it and REFUSES to let anyone touch it.

He got the scar on his eyebrow from trying to give himself a slit eyebrow in his third year because he'd thought he'd look cool but ended up with a scar and his mom yelling at him but tells everyone he got it from a fight

He got the scar on his nose in his sixth year from banging his nose on a sink but tells everyone that he got from a fight with a guy from racenclaw (Theo's the only one that knows the truth)

Secretly a theatre kid

Has the messiest hand writing, literally no one can read it.

Silver Tooth Kid activities !!!!!!

He had perfect grades until 5th year when he started slacking off cause his dad would always pressure him to get good grades

had a THICK Spanish accent and was kind of used to get made fun of for it. He barely speaks it around people which is pretty much why most people completely forget he's Latino

Made friends with Blaise, Enzo, Theo, and Draco in that exact order

Blaise thought Mattheo looked like he was gonna cry when his mom dropped him off at the train station first year. so he and Mattheo played on his Nintendo DS the whole train ride

Enzo soon met Mattheo in their second year after Blaise introduced them.

Afterward, Enzo introduced Theo to Mattheo that same year. They bonded over the fact no one else understood what they were saying and that they had deadbeat dads

"Blaise, what are they saying?"

"Don't know but at least they're getting along!"

His middle name is Andrés

He grew up with two cats and a dog. He had a ginger cat named Garfield who died from obesity because Mattheo wouldn't stop feeding him table scraps. He currently still has a black cat who he named Loki until later on finding out it was a girl because she got pregnant and had kittens, renames her Kali (inspired by Kali Uchis 😛) he currently has a pitbull named Dodger

He met Draco through Blaise again

"why do you talk like that?"

"why does your face look like that?" In a HEAVY Spanish accent

Used to bite people he didn't like

Sassiest 1st year

He was so obsessed with death note in his third year that he'd put the names of people he didn't like in the book hoping they'd just randomly drop dead. (They didn't)

He had a crush on Padma Patil since his FIRST YEAR TO HIS SIXTH YEAR. And even thought of asking her to the yule ball until he realized she was going with Ron. He beat Ron up as soon as he found out and told him to stay away from his girlfriend. (He never even had a conversation with her)

Theodore Nott

He was SUCH a cute 1st year. All the older girls would tell him how cute he was and he thought he was sooooo cool.

Didn't know English until his second or third year and barely anyone understood what he was saying.

Enzo met Theo when he saw Theo alone on the train ride. Enzo showed Theo his Pokemon collection cause neither of them understood each other and Enzo was basically his only friend at the time.

"anch'io ho quella carta!"

"🤨🤨🤨"

Eventually Enzo introduced him to Blaise and Mattheo. Where him and Mattheo bonded the most

"è un tale sollievo che qualcuno mi capisca!"

"¿que es eso güey?"

Theo met Draco long after through Lorenzo again

"why can't anyone here speak proper English?!?"

"il furetto,"

"Ki sa l menm ap pale de?" (I feel like Blaise is Haitian on his mom's side idk why but I'll explain it in the next part!)

"pinche guëro"

He was named after his father and had two middle names. Niccolo and Brando (the real ones know)

He grew up in the country side of Italy and was a VERY energetic child

He started smoking after a random 5th year asked if he wanted a hit in his 1st year

Perfect grades and handwriting

He's secretly friends with Neville and Luna because they secretly sell weed on the side but also the fact that he was also a loner and refuses to let any of his friends bully them.

Had a crush on Ginny and thought of asking her to the yule ball until Mattheo told him she was dating Dean Thomas (he cried himself to sleep)

[emeraldserenade]

Songbird ~ Joaquín Torres

synopsis: every song you write is about how much you love Joaquín

tw: fem!reader, singer!reader, none?, barely edited.

fic, ficlet, drabble, request

I had a lot of fun at the ren faire yesterday, I was so tired when I got home last night. I got a tiara though! Every song I use is a real song, I'll add the list of songs in order they're used at the end.

➽──────────────❥

You met Joaquín in college, you were there as a music major and needed someone who was willing to be in the video for your final.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you," you walked up to a man that was sitting alone in the cafeteria.

"Hi?" He looked at you with a wide and confused expression.

"You can tell me of fuck off if you want, but I have to make a music video for my final and I need a guy for it. I was wondering if you'd be willing? I'll make it up to you with buying you lunch or something!" You rambled nervously but he just smiled at you.

"Oh, when?

"Whenever you're free, it would just be us and my friends who play the instruments," you explained, taking a hesitant seat across from him.

"I only have one more final tomorrow and then I'm free until I leave to go visit my family for break," he told you, and just like that, the rest was history.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

You and Joaquín started dating a few months after the music video. Joaquín supported you and your friends when you all started to do small performances at bars and other places. Joaquín was at every one of your band's performances in the beginning, cheering from the side. When Joaquín joined the air force, you had to assure him that you weren't upset that he would miss performances. The same conversation had to happen when he became Falcon.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

He was on a stakeout mission when his phone went off, he was tagged in multiple photos and videos from your latest show. He connected his earbuds and started to watch the videos after Sam promised that he was fine to do it.

"I wrote this next song about my boyfriend, Joaquín I know you're watching this somewhere. I love you," you announced before the music started up.

Joaquín had to start another video to actually see the song, it was one of his favorites. Not only because it was about him but because it was your favorite, you loved to sing it. The video started later in the song but Joaquín watched you sing and move on the stage with a smile on his face.

"Oh-oh, who knew I'd be falling like I am with you? Heart's up in my throat, that's what you do. Love is pretty scary when it's true. And oh-oh, we know every step is like walking on the tight rope. Gravity is begging me to let go. Love is pretty scary when it's true. Afraid of heights but you're my parachute. Afraid of heights but your my parachute. Might as well sit back and enjoy the view, oh-oh-oh-oh, you love. Oh, you love me," the clip ended and Joaquín swiped to the next one.

"We'll play Nintendo though I always lose. 'Cause you watch the TV while I'm watching you. There's not many people I'd honestly say I don't mind losing to. But there's nothing like doing nothing with you," Joaquín watched as you swayed side to side a little, a smile on your face. "Dumb conversation, we lose track of time. Have I told you lately, I'm grateful you're mine? We'll watch the notebook for the 17th time. I'll say it's stupid then you'll catch me crying. We're not making out on a boat in the rain, or in a house I painted blue. But there's nothing like doing nothing with you." Joaquín watched the end of the clip before looking up and out the window. There was still no movement so he went to the next video.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

Joaquín was too busy listening and singing to your songs while starting lunch when you got home to notice you walking in. Your tour ended last night but you weren't supposed to get back until the next day; however, you decided to switch planes and get home as soon as possible.

"Baby, stay forever and a day. Learn to play with my body in a hundred different ways, learn to link u all ht edots. ith the soul, with the thoughts. Till' the drums cut you off going ra-tah-tah," Joaquín put the knife down and turned to the stove. He smiled at you and gave you a small wave before his brain caught up to what he saw. "Mi amor, you're home," he rushed to pull you into a hug.

"I am," you melted into his embrace with a breathy laugh. "I've missed you," you mumbled pressing your face into his shoulder.

"I've missed you too," he pulled away and gently pulled your face to his so he could kiss your lips.

✧°˖ . ݁˖︵‿❀‿︵˖ . ݁˖°✧

"I wrote a new song," you announced to Joaquín, your notebook held in your hands proudly. "Do you wanna hear it?"

"Always, baby," Joaquín paused his game and gave you his undivided attention.

"Ok," you cleared your throat for the joke. "Whale shark in the water floating by. Stingrays swim beside him, saying hi. The otters and belugas, they all salute us. Oh, what a beautiful say to stay inside. Oh, the blue blue water makes you look so pretty. Next to jellyfishes swimming in captivity. I know you're far more focused on the deep blue scenery, but I can't focus when you're next to me. Oh, Taroko. Oh, I love you so. Oh, Taroko. Oh, I love you so. Admiring the fossils on the wall. Not trouble about anything at all. The manta rays above us, they stop to say they love us. Oh, what a beautiful day to fall in love. Oh the blue blue water makes you look so pretty. Next to jellyfishes swimming in captivity. I know you're far more focused on the deep blue scenery, but I can't focus when you're next to me. Oh, Taroko. Oh, I love you so. Oh, Taroko. Oh, I love you so. There's Taroko swimming by, and there's Yushan not far behind. And your hand is falling into mine, and with you, I have nothing to hide. Oceanic wonders up above. A beauty that you're more than worthy of. The ocean all around us, the happiness that found us. Oh, what a beautiful day to fall in love. Oh, what a beautiful day to fall in love. Oh, what a beautiful day to fall in love," you smiled at Joaquín at the end, his eyes just looking at you full of love.

"I love it and you," he told you, his eyes running over your face. You smiled at him and let out a small laugh.

"I love you too," you watched as his eyes kept darting around your face. "Are you trying to commit my face to memory or something?" You joked.

"I don't need to, I already do. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be with you," he told you and your stomach fluttered.

"Ok, you big sap," you laughed but hugged him nonetheless.

─── ⋆⋅·𖥸·⋅⋆ ─ ⋆⋅·𖥸·⋅⋆ ─ ⋆⋅·𖥸·⋅⋆ ───

Song List: Parachute by Song House & Kyndal InskeepNothing by Bruno MajorHow Did You Get So Good? by D'lourdes Taroko by August Greenwood

➽──────────────❥

Masterlist | Requests

[honey-milk-depresso]

Batboys x reader who is a game/singer streamer

So I'm assuming that s/o is a singer + game streamer from what I can see soooo yeah! I think I went to focus on the gamer part than singer though. Also I could only do this for Dick, Jason and Tim because 😭 sorry ;-;;;

TT o TT

Batboys with a game (mostly) + singer s/o

Dick Grayson

Don’t even get me started on how hype Dick’s gonna be. You game??? And stream?????? Epic-

Dick has played video games with Tim before it’s just that he sucks at playing the modern one sometimes-, so he probably wants to do co-ops with you and maybe join your streams and play with you.

He sucks ASS though in Among Us because he’s bad at lying when he’s imposter and too trusting when he’s just a crew mate. He’s so funny though when you record him while playing with you and your other streamer friends.

“Awww, look at me and s/o walking together and building snowmen! We are so—”

*Kills him* “…” “s/O WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK UP WITH MEEEEEEE????”*loud sobbing*

Obviously, no, it’s just what you had to do as an imposter and you have to apologise to your sulky boyfriend.

Fun fact: bought your two of those matching cat ears headphones and he’s so sappy, dear god- he loves those earphones.

Also your voice?? IT’S SO GOOD??? You made your own songs and that’s so cool!! No wonder your fanbase is so big, damn-

And he’s obviously your biggest fan! <

Jason Todd

He’s trying, he really is. Because the last thing he played before he died were Game Boys and then he awoken to Wii Games, Nintendo Switches and whatever the fuck those online games are.

Those sus game ads he clicked randomly made him question what happened when he was still dead-

Jason thinks it’s pretty cool you stream gaming content and all, although don’t ask him to play any RPG with you because he’ll rage quit. He will go insane.

Jason keeps insisting on wanting to join your streams in Among Us but like come on- WE ALL KNOW HE’S GONNA START RAGING MORE-

When he gets killed, he calls the imposter a “Joker” 💀 Sometimes you have to calm him down and tell him it’s their role as imposter to do this. Also, when he gets imposter, he’ll kill everyone except you. Like he’s your bodyguard or something and everyone’s out to get you. You don’t even need to be imposter. If you did kill him before, he’ll kill you back though-

He’s okay if you let him play Minecraft together though, he finds it peaceful (on creative mode).

Listens to your songs on repeat while he’s repairing vehicles or hear it live on your stream when he’s reading. Wholesome supportive boyfriend stuff. <3

Tim Drake

Immediately follows all forms of social media you have, and give subs to every time you go live and stream. No hesitation.

He thinks it’s cool you stream games and all, something he wished to do but just doesn’t have much time to do so, and that he has no idea how to start up a fanbase anyways so-

Tim would join your streams every once in a while to play with you and he doesn’t mind any sort of games, he’s pretty good with the controller… well, maybe RPG. Because if he’s doing a multiplayer game like with Genshin needing to join servers and all, most of the time, people wouldn’t listen to his plans and end up dying and then he goes berserk. Only you listen s/o… wHY?? WHY DOES NOBODY LISTEN TO HIS STRATS????

Also, cat ears headphones?? He has one and he looks so cute in it and would ask if you want one too- he only wears those headphones in private though, or in front of you.

Anyways, Tim loves your singing too! Would listen it live or hear it on Spotify if it’s available. If you sing covers, it’s gonna ruin him. He can’t listen to the original track anymore because it’s just not the same-

Overall, gamer boyfriend you got here. <3

[midnight1nk]

hey i was thinking abour Four not fearing death and like. His channel being deleted temporarily killed him in the Lawsuit arc. Do you think the fact that he’s died before has anything to do with how easily he accepts his fate in dire situations?

or do you think he Knows he’s not real. He breaks the 4th wall more than anyone else I feel like.

ooh, the Lawsuit arc! (← says the ace attorney fan)

You may have a point there, but I wouldn't say "killed". It's more of a domino effect of separate accounts, like what would happen in real life, and was put on pause. The SMG4 universe, which happened to exist in GMod, isn't directly correlated to the SMG4 channel. But they do affect one another.

TL;DR 4 didn't die, but he might've thought he did. (Aside from internal guilt and suppressed trauma also affected him.)

[more in-depth under cut bc I will ramble about it]

You kinda have to dip yourself into real-life copyright law for this one, but basically, when a copyright alert comes in, it comes with a set of conditions to make it right bc taking it to court is a serious thing. Especially with big corporations that don't want to deal with the hassle/publicity. Based on what I can tell in the Lawsuit arc, the channel wasn't allowed to make more content with Nintendo's IP. The conditions, at the very least, is for the channel to remove all the videos containing said IP. Sure, the channel could do that, maybe make other content, and the SMG4 Universe would be fine for personal use (not on YT).

That's how it works irl. But in their universe:

They depend on the channel for time to pass, to advance the narrative. Otherwise, they're stuck on pause/the same day.

In the Lawsuit Arc, when the channel gets deleted, every original character can't be "used" anymore but their models weren't outright deleted forever. Because if the channel can tell the narrative, then there's no need for their models to be used. So, not killed. More like they're asleep. (Besides, it would require Nintendo to file a separate order for GMod to delete their models anyway)

But I can see where the "killed" part might've come from: the "sleeping beauty" logic. If a person is in deep sleep or in a coma for so long, are they truly alive anymore? Or are they slowly dying? It pretty much applies here. 4 came back with his model and memories still intact, but when his character wasn't used, he couldn't tell if he was truly dead.

Ask yourselves if you could tell the difference between being unconscious, under a coma, and near death. It's not as simple, huh? That's why the fear of death/the unknown is developed, philosophy about the afterlife or the matrix exists.

So, 4 didn't die, but it was as close as he could possibly get.

I won't consider the 4th wall breaks since those moments are played off as part of a bit. The intention behind a moment could mean a lot, It's how character deaths and stakes in the plot are taken seriously. As if their lives depended on it.

For 4 to accept his fate, a lot of factors behind it do come into play. His guilt, suppressed trauma. And as far as I can tell, the Lawsuit arc could be another one. Plus, if he was dead, it kinda applies that all the other characters that weren't Nintendo IP also experienced death soooooo *shrug*

idk those are my initial thoughts on this, so it probably made no sense, but it's what I could offer to yall now.

thanks for the ask, anon!

[musical-chan]

Hello. I wanted to know after reading through the available story so far(loving it by the way made it's way to the number 2 story of the year for me) if we would ever get more explanation about alternate universes and the sort of mini-worlds like Lorule and how that works. I would also like to know about the world outside of Termina as I don't think you've ever clearly stated that outside of the small area of Termina, there is simply nothing. I also think that the happy masks salesman should be brought up at least as a question to Nocturne as he still does have the mask unless I interpreted that wrong. I just think a little story(possibly written or formatted as tales or passed down stories ) recounting the detail of how the world(and other worlds) works/how it was made would be amazing(if it's not too much trouble it is a very big ask). It would also be interesting to know the changes that you've made from the base LU setup such as turning Legend into two different people. (I also wanted to know how I could submit an art piece cause I drew a tiny one not very good but still art of baby Volvagia).

-Someone who went looking for coal but found diamonds instead

Oh man! The other realms/universe thing is kinda complicated so I don't go into it much. Termina was once a part of Hyrule and was split off into a separate realm/universe to contain it. The Giants helped it become it's own thing so it's analogous to the "main" universe.

As for other universes? I'm kinda expanding on an idea I read in a book once, called "Stealing the Elf-King's Roses" by Diane Duane. There's sheafs of universes, groupings where some are connected and others are not. So the Twilight Realm and Lorule are alternate realms/universes but they're connected to the main one in which everything happens. But then *outside* of our main sheaf, there's actual alternate universes. The "main" one in which all the games exist, of course. Then other ones! Linked Universe, Recalled, Sacred Realm, Hero's Spirit, *whatever!* Alternate realities, where things are different or mostly the same or maybe just one thing was changed.

Maybe I should narrow down my terminology a bit 😂 Universes are alternate realities where everything exists in a different way and realms are the other places that are connected to the universe but are their own separate things, like Termina and Lorule and the Twilight realm. Something like that.

Oh! About Termina!

I did actually mention that there are *more* things beyond the mountains and across the sea. Nocturne specifically mentioned something about it to Oceanis, but he doesn't have a very clear image of what all is over there. The mask really did restrict his power quite a bit. So there are paths through the swamps and canyons and mountains that lead to other cities with other people and tradesmen will travel to Termina for business. Perhaps there is even a land somewhere that one can find THEM. It might come up in a future Father of Time fic. Maybe. Probably. Most definitely. 😇 (I have *plans* for Kafei once Link finishes the Ganondorf War)

Gosh, the Happy Mask Salesman is a complete enigma to pretty much everyone but the Golden Goddesses and they ain't tellin. Some things, like him and the Postman, might always be a mystery in the fic unless there's a good way to tell the story.

You know, it's funny you mention LU. Linked Universe was definitely some of the inspiration for how this started. I even sort of thought when Link grew up, he'd end up in LU but once I realised he got some of the deity power in him, the story was too much it's own thing. But I still want to do a Linksmeet once the Ganondorf War is done! But because I'm not using the LU headcanons, I could base the characters on whatever I wanted. And you know what I decided?

Let's make the Nintendo timeline a *real thing* and go from there.

So with all but a few exceptions, I've made Links be the separate ones they should be. The Hero of Legend was four games, ALTTP, Links Awakening and the two Oracle games. ALBW was years later, potentially several generations later. I did combine the first Four Swords Link with the Minish Cap Link because the idea of having *so many Links* that could split into multiples was giving me a headache. Four Swords Adventures is very much his own Link though! Have a gander at my in-progress height chart for the various Links in the Father of Time universe!

You'll *also* notice that there is an Age of Calamity Link in there as well. :D In my version of the timeline, Hyrule Warriors is in the Child timeline and eventually produces Age of Calamity, which is a separate timeline from Breath of the Wild (which I've put in the Downfall timeline). So two nearly identical heroes who somehow had slightly different lives.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I've still got a TON of ideas for this AU and I'm so excited to be making up more shit for it :D :D :D

And yes, PLEASE, art is always always appreciated! I bet Volvagia is adorable in all way. 💜 Feel free to send it my way. I'm mostly sure I have that turned on? But you can always @ me here and/or point me in the direction of a post in another ask.

[lizzibennet]

i’ve always lived among people who had much more money than my family because my mom worked for rich people and my brother and i always got scholarships because of good grades. and so one of the things that always kind of bothered me was that my friends always had much cooler, cleaner, tidier houses than i did. we’d go to their places after school for homework or just to hang and there wouldn’t be a hair out of place. one of my friends had a mezzanine with comics and a nintendo wii especially for her to hang out with friends. the other lived in a corner house with a tennis court which i always admired when passing in front of and i literally freaked out when i realized he lived there. one of them had a barbie house taller than us, one had a pool, one had a rooftop pool and cherry trees that were blossoming when i was over, etc. and i would tell them wow your house is so cool. mine is so messy and always dirty, and if i want it clean i usually am the one who ends up cleaning it, and i do my own laundry whereas you even have maids everyday! and they’d shrug and be like it’s cool i guess. but it’s not my house, it’s my parents’.

and that would always give me pause.

i’d think about the completely out of place shell dish that lives on top of the living room rack for the sole reason that my mom puts the earrings she steals from me there so i can retrieve them if i leave before she’s woken up. i think about my dad’s “mess closet” which is precisely what it sounds like but it’s where he goes when i ask him for the shoemaker’s glue to fix my jelly shoes and for the mini electric saw he used to saw through one of my dolls’ neck (long story) and where he goes when my brother asks him for specific sized screwdrivers to open up his childhood remote controlled toys. i’d think about the laundry closet divided in two because my mom owns a lot of delicate work shirts and swears i wash them better than her (it’s the same washing machine at the same cycle). i’d think about the four little giraffes besides the tv - according to my mom, tallest to shortest representing my brother, me, my dad and my mom, which my dad has never loved because Obviously He Is Taller Than Me but encourages the cat to curl up next to them to sleep so he can take a picture and send our family whatsapp group named “grimy family”. i’d think about my brother’s car’s engine laying open in the garage because he couldn’t finish it in time before returning to uni and my dad carefully picking it all up and tidying before he returns except my dad really is kind of shit at tidying so it’s all just kinda. laying there. i’d think about my mom washing my clothes on the weekend and laying them at the foot of the stairs because i don’t like when she just shoves my stuff into my room even though clothing in the stairs obviously makes the living room look even worse. i’d think about the medicine books lining the living room table because my mom saw them at an auction and picked them up for me even though i’m not in med school yet and i’d think about the socks my dad leaves besides the cat besides the giraffes besides the tv because my mom often falls asleep watching the novela and gets cold feet and i’d think about the hideous rio de janeiro postal my brother brought me one day when he was on break that hangs in the kitchen and i’d think about the air fryer and the juicer my dad never fucking puts away and permanently now live atop the cooktop which has been broken since 2015 and i’d think about my jelly shoes under the chair where the cat likes to sleep with my smell near and my hair clip that broke the first time i went out with my girlfriend which my mom kept, you guessed it, on top of my representative giraffe because she thinks she wears it better than i do, even if it’s broken, that’s fine, doesn’t it still look so pretty? and i’d look around at the pristine white pillars and granite and impeccably kept real wood and the techy dishwashers and color changing lamps and king sized beds of my friends’ and i’d finally cave in and text grimy family and be like can any of u guys come get me. and 5 mins later my mom would say “your dad and i are on our way”. and i’d breathe a sigh of relief. and come back to the messy house in front of the square. it was either this one or the one between the family that owns the range rover and the police chief that owns the old reformed cadillac and i wanted this one and my dad immediately agreed even though he loves both cadillacs and jeeps and campaigned for the other house before. and i’d lay down in my silly little square front house in my bed with my cat and my parents next door and my brother’s empty room full of his correspondence next to my bathroom full of hair masks atop the cabinet. and i wouldn’t have it any other fucking way

[wfagamerants]

This is a funny thing to discuss. I am obviously not saying we need a new one ASAP, with Jamboree still being so fresh and in fact, I still play it a lot.

What got me interested in writing about this is the Switch 2. With new Nintendo hardware on the horizon, it’s inevitable Mario Party will make the jump there and given the series’ more frequent release schedule, that could happen as early as 2026. 

Thinking about what the new system could mean for MP just gives me a desire to talk a bit more about one of my favorite game series. My affection for Jamboree has not gone down at all since launch, but I did notice some things I feel could be addressed in a future title.

In particular I prepared 10 personal points I think would be pretty darn neat to see addressed in a new game. These aren’t ordered in any way, just general talking points

Fewer, but more focused modes

This is moreso the culmination of several points I’ll get to talking about, but they can also be summed up under this umbrella.

Jamboree has a lot of modes and that’s not an issue by itself. I actually consider it NDCube’s most successful attempt at a variety pack type approach and even the Hudson era games had bonus modes.

Thing is, 4 months later it’s easy to tell I barely touch the Motion Islands much at all, with Party Mode, Koopathlon and Kaboom Squad as the default trio I keep going back to and Party Planner Trek as the charming single player campaign.

This isn’t to say the other modes are bad, even Paratroopa Flight School to me is inoffensive at worst, but for future games I’d be more than cool with focusing the resources on adding even more to the very replayable modes.

Ditch Motion Controls

I don’t mind motion controls and will say they work very well in this game. At the same time, they do feel tacked on, like something they felt they had to keep because Super had it. 

While I do enjoy Toad’s Item Factory and find Rhythm Kitchen to be a cute, if lacking in Sound Stage’s competitive aspect, follow-up to said mode, I find both to lack in replay value. Paratroopa’s Flight School even more so.  That mode really is just a big gimmick that has its appeal, but once the novelty wears off it just doesn’t have much to make you return to it, even with three modes on offer.

Where I start to have more issues with it is Party Mode. Motion Controls are merely an option, but playing without them does lock several mini-games away from play. This hurts because while Jamboree *does* have the most minigames in the series, they are many different types. 

34 of the 112 minigames are not present in Party mode and on top of that, between 5 Duel, Item and Boss minigames each and 10 Showdown minigames on top, that’s another 25 minigames that aren’t part of the regular Free for All, 2v2 and 1v3 rotation. Take out motion minigames from those categories and that’s another 12 minigames off that list, leaving 41 minigames as part of that rotation, which feels quite compromised.

I got used to the single joy con to access all the games, but this isn’t really a situation that should exist. Either go all in on that control scheme, abandon it or offer a button control alternative for Pro Controller players.

Even more customization

Superstars introduced a really cool thing by letting you choose what kind of Bonus Stars you want. Jamboree would add an entirely separate, additional ruleset, as well as the ability to vote for minigames, replacing the roulette. All those are great additions, but what started as a cautious toe tip can easily be turned into a cannonball.

In particular the return of old options such as 50 Turn games or being able to make every character a CPU. They are niche options, but there is a place for all of them. Additionally, the custom minigame pack from MP4, letting you choose what minigames can appear, that’s a no brainer that I am sincerely shocked is only in one game.

Besides that there is a lot they can do. A custom bonus star option where you choose a set of three from all available ones. A toggle to turn Hidden Blocks on and off. A similar toggle for Jamboree Buddies. Really, the sky's the limit.

Mario Party becoming more customizable just offers a lot of room to spice up the game, while also not leaving those who prefer the default way of doing things out, since they are merely options.

Minigame Modes like in the older titles

The minigame modes on offer in Jamboree are…passable. It gets the basics of the job done, but it’s hard to deny that they are very samey. They basically all just amount to win the most minigames or get the most points.

I miss modes like Decathlon, where it was about the speed you complete minigames in or Rocket Rascals, where you win minigames to gradually build a path to the rocket in the middle. Heck, even non-Party Mode minigames can offer potential for such an extra mode, as Bowser Challenge in 10 showed.

Modes like that offer their own rules and gimmicks, which give more of an incentive to replay the minigames outside the board context and are extremely fun on their own. What we have now is passable, but nothing beyond the bare minimum and lacking in long-term appeal.

Returning GameCube and onwards boards

I am a big fan of Mario Party going the Mario Kart route, with returning boards, on top of the new stuff. It’s a very valid way to boost the board count and thanks to the inherent mechanical differences of each game, they feel very fresh anyways.

The purely N64 focus though is something I can do without. The later games to me had a lot of the most interesting boards and frankly, it just feels like N64 bias to appeal to nostalgia. It didn’t land for me in Superstars and I am still not a fan, even as someone who started with 2, played all the games in order from there and got MP1 via a lucky flea market find between 4 and 5.

Even with that N64 focus, it also stands out how much 3 gets shafted and I’d gladly see that changed too. Both 1 and especially 2 have great boards I’d happily put on a favorites list, but 1 is the flawed first attempt and 2 is what truly got the basics down. 3 onwards is where the series could expand and do more elaborate and unique things with the boards, thanks to 1 and 2 providing the foundation and that’s why I would rather see more 3 onwards stuff come back.

More 6-8 and DS-type star gimmicks.

MP6 marked a turning point for the series that I always really enjoyed. On top of traditionally styled boards, there were also boards with completely new star gimmicks. 

Sometimes everyone already starts with stars and it’s all about stealing from each other.

Other times you try to reach the end of the board to get the star and then go back to the beginning to start the process over.

Yet again other times you brave a mansion, trying to figure out the randomly set up paths, to find the room the star is in.

And the list goes on.

Mechanics like that always felt like a natural extension of the MP gameplay and it goes a long way making each board even more distinct from the rest. Roll em’ Raceway already feels a lot like these kinds of boards, but I’d like to see them take it further again.

Bring back Bowser Party

I am a vocal MP10 enjoyer and I’ll say this: Bowser Party would make for a great returning side-mode.

In hindsight it very much feels like the precursor to Kaboom Squad and Coinathlon/Koopathlon and it’s not like boards created for side modes are anything new. Making it more explicitly a side-mode also makes the same kind of content amount that the OG Bowser Party had (three boards, ten minigames) more reasonable than if it was promoted as the main point of the game.

More than anything, I just think it’s a really fun mode and my preferred kind of playable Bowser.

Relatedly:

Bowser

I want the series to make up its mind about Bowser.

I firmly think it’s okay for him to not be playable in MP. The role he plays is just too irreplaceable and Kamek in Super really showed how lame attempts to replace him can be.

Jamboree does go for a compromise by introducing Imposter Bowser and I am fine with that, but even then they lock Bowser out of the Bowser centric bonus modes, Koopathlon and Kaboom Squad.

In general the fact we got two Bowsers running around is further proof how important Bowser playing his usual role is to this series and nobody does it better than him. He has the imposing appearance, the humorous, yet villainous personality, the dangerous hide-outs and minions for minigames and boards.

Sticking with the Imposter Bowser solution would be perfectly fine by me, I just want them to commit to it, if they do so and not lock Bowser arbitrarily out of some modes anyways.

Keep the roster big

It’s hard to say where the series will go in that area, but simply put, I want the character roster to stay in this kind of size area. Be a Super and Jamboree, not a Superstars.

Yeah, characters don’t affect the gameplay, in terms of who you play as, but I am also tired of pretending these games don’t sell more than ever before and by a significant amount at that.

There is a reason Pauline got an entire trailer dedicated to just announcing her. They knew people wanted her, people like having these characters on the roster, there is no reason to cheap out on that.

It’s flavor, but flavor matters a great deal, it’s why people will still pick their favorite character, instead of saying ‘’I don’t care, it won’t affect the gameplay���’. Nobody actually thinks like that and after Superstars and Strikers Battle League, I am done trying to find understanding for bad rosters.

And on behalf of my friend Mod Mamono: Keep Montgomery Mole.

He funny.

Take it easier with Lucky Spaces

Lucky Spaces are a contentious mechanic and I am of two mindsets about it.

On one hand I don’t inherently mind them, particularly in Jamboree, which has enough ways to spend or lose coins that the bonuses that come from these spaces feel like a deliberate part of the game’s economy.

At the same time there really are a lot of them and I feel they should be something more special than essentially a second flavor of Blue Space, that sometimes feels similarly common.

Thinking about it though, making them more uncommon could cause different problems, by giving those that manage to land on them too much of an advantage.

Hard to say what could be done, spaces this powerful do mean playing with fire when adjusting things, but I do feel SOME kind of tweaking would be good.

Those are my main sticking points.

I adore Jamboree. While I spend a lot of this post pointing out things I feel could be done differently, I would still happily call it my third favorite MP.

Frankly, it’s so good I would gladly wait a year or two longer than usual for the next one. I am just a big MP fanboy, so the inevitable prospect of a new one, with new hardware on the horizon, makes me muse what could be, since the future of the series is an exciting one.

[vidreview]

VIDEO ESSAY ROUNDUP #6 [PART 1]

[originally posted august 1st 2024]

at last, it's time for another roundup! things were fairly dry for a minute there. i tend to go through peaks and valleys vis-a-vis video essay consumption, where i'll watch a bunch of them for a few months and then not be able to watch any for a few months after that. this has been especially true as i've been getting back into the habit of making my own scripted essays. did you know i did one about the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials a few months ago? i share this so you can judge for yourself if i know what i'm talking about enough to be worth taking recommendations from. i am a fallible beast, and our tastes are likely not the same! also i'm proud of that video and i'd like you to watch it.

but we're here to talk about other people's work, and let me tell you, the last month and a half has yielded a real bounty. let's jump in.

"Investigating a forgotten Edward Snowden Quote" by Allie Meowy.

edward snowden was a bit of a mystery to me beyond the headlines. all i knew was that he leaked highly classified documents detailing secret mass-surveillance, and that he liked hentai games.

this is one of the funniest, strangest essays i've encountered in years. what happens when the wikipedia page for games based on movies doesn't include Elf: The Movie: The Game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and also you happen to discover that Edward Snowden is on the record as liking "some" hentai games? i'm not even sure what this essay ultimately adds up to, but i had such a blast watching it that i honestly don't even care. a wild ride that's well worth your time.

"a pocket full of stones" by Glouder Glens.

i've been thinking about an interview with People's Joker director Vera Drew where she talked about how many young queer artists have relegated themselves to the anti-recognition of youtube. if her film was proof that there's room in the film fest circuit for artfully essayish digital cinema, then we have no choice but to campaign for the incredible works of Sylvia Schweikert, AKA Glouder Glens, to reach a similar level of recognition. if you've yet to encounter its work, Sylvia's half-essay half-werewolf-erotica about it/its pronouns is a classic, but everything on her channel is a gem (not to mention its excellent short films). lately, Sylvia's been experimenting with the form in a big way. her last essay, "Self Discovery Stories," is artfully vertical, a true phone video that digs deep and hits hard. "a pocket full of stones" takes a huge step sideways, rendered in 4:3 at a scalding 360p and edited with a post-adobe-flash Lynch-esque animation style that rockets you back in time to the earliest days of internet video in the best way. what i wouldn't give to see this one on the big screen, i'm telling you. this kind of work simply doesn't have a place on youtube as far as youtube's concerned, so it's up to us as champions of the medium to share widely what the algorithm will not. definitely heed the content warnings though.

"The Miraculous Horror of Stop Motion" by Henry Kathman.

here's a cozy, enthusiastic dive into the often unforeseen externalities of stop-motion animation, that doesn't outstay its welcome or get too sanctimonious. i appreciate Kathman's use of alternate backdrops to give each section its own mood. through three unique and interesting examples of stop motion, he explores how the medium itself is an artform that can't be streamlined through technology the way so many other forms of animation have been-- even just to recreate the feel of stop motion digitally, you still pretty much have to hand animate it with an equivalent amount of brute labor. it's a satisfying analysis, which is unsurprising from the ever-consistent and thoughtful Kathman. and the soundtrack by Molly Noise is, as always, fantastic.

"The Religious Gamification of Indika" by Pim's Crypt.

i watched an essay a couple weeks ago about Indika which heavily criticized it for being boring and overly talkative, that really just convinced me that i wanted to see someone look at the game on its own terms. Pim here does a great job doing exactly that, wasting zero seconds of the universe's limited window of coherence on lip service to the harsh critical consensus in favor of simply examining what Indika says on its own terms. they explore how the complexities of faith are successfully gameified in Indika, making a compelling case for its quality. i've highlighted Pim in a previous roundup, and i'm happy to see them back with another solid work.

"So What's Up With Those PS2 Castlevanias?" by Trans Witch Reviews.

this one's pretty much what it says on the tin. when it comes to analyzing game franchises long-running enough to have titles across multiple console generations, i'm always drawn to essays that dig into the red-headed step-children no one ever really talks about. like the PS2 Castlevania games. i didn't even know they existed until now! granted that's probably because i never owned a Sony console before the ps4, but whatever. like a lot of games with 2D roots, Castlevania seemed to struggle finding its feet in the third dimension, and the historical consensus seems to have largely landed on "the 2D ones were best." i think this Trans Witch makes a very compelling case that at the very least Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is an underrated classic-- enough so, anyway, to make me want to give it a shot. i appreciate how she highlights the music of the series by focusing on the work of specific composers, though i think she lingers on those samples for a bit too long. regardless, this is a well put together essay made with readily apparent enthusiasm, and sometimes that's all you need.

"Why The Ring Didn't Use Color Grading" by WatchingtheAerial.

an astonishingly thorough deep-dive into the very specific in-camera techniques used to give Gore Verbinski's American remake of The Ring its signature blue look. like a lot of people i always assumed this was accomplished with digital color grading, though unlike many detractors i adore The Ring's visual identity and think it's at least as worthwhile a film as its Japanese counterpoint. this is the kind of video essay i adore-- a technician with extensive domain knowledge utilizing resources laypeople wouldn't know about to answer a seemingly simple question at exhaustive and surprising depth. the real kicker here though is that the creator also wants to recreate this technique for themself, all the way up to tracking down the kind of film stock The Ring was shot on and using it in a 35mm stills camera. i immediately went from this video to watch everything else on his (?) channel, and i wasn't disappointed. here's someone who cares a lot about the labor of shaping and lensing light, and the emotional properties these processes bring to a film. "Collateral & the Death of Neon" is SUCH a satisfying watch if you care even a little bit about the visual identity of city streets across history. great stuff all around

[ganondoodle]

i am so extremely confused on how you can acknowledge belly dancing not needing to be sexual yet. still insist that nintendo is sexualizing young gerudo with the attire. the makeup, heels and how impractical it is to wear the shit they wear in the desert i understand. im not defending those design mistakes. but??? jfc.

oh. so, assuming you are the same anon as before, you WERE asking in bad faith then, or are intentionally missunderstanding what im saying, got it, and now you are trying to twist my words around to fit your little narrative about me being the problem and not mega corporation uwu nintendo with a history of racism (to which this issue is extremely attached to)

so, since you apparently didnt understand what i said, and didnt watch the video i attached either, bc that goes into detail of everything as well, im gonna spell it out once more, and i will even EMPHASIZE words like THIS, so its easier to understand, just for you <3

i did NOT say that the 'belly dance' outfit doesnt NEED to be sexual, i SAID it is/was not sexual IN ITS ORIGIN, BUT was TURNED INTO what boils down to nothing else but a sexy strippers outfit by western people and has been used as NOTHING BUT sexual for decades in the vast majority of media of all kind-

which MEANS, that although in ORIGIN it might not have been sexual, the unfortunate PROBLEM is that through its extreme popularization as such you now have to assume IT IS sexual, bc that is pretty much ALWAYS the intent, people dont even know it as anything but a sexual thing

and before you can even say the "well maybe they didnt intent it a such" blah blah, this is NOT SOLELY about the outfit itself being the only problem here, its the whole package, even if they DID have good intentions or did it subconsciously (which, mind you, should also tell you just how much this kind of picture of middle eastern people has been spread, how common it is to see them like this that its what most people actually think they are like) it nevertheless sends a certain message, and again, ITS THE WHOLE FUCKING PACKAGE, everything, from outfit, to design elements, to dialog, to lore, to even camera angles, you cannot view it as a seperate thing bc it is, inherently, not able to be seperated from everything, its as if you took an incredibly racist caricature, zoomed in and said "LOOK they used a realistic kind of skin tone, its totally not racist!!"

you also called these design decisions "mistakes", but they are not, in fact mistakes, a mistake is when you notice after posting a drawing that you forgot to color in a strand of hair, however, ALL of these design and writing decisions are deliberate, they had to sit down, in a giant team of people, to come up with it, then proceed to design and write it, approve it, make it, and ship it, and saw no problem with it, which is a problem

now, im not saying nintendo personally is telling you "its ok to fuck kids", but things have meanings, and if you are making something, ESPECIALLY using something that isnt of your own culture, you should think about things, and what meanings a thing can have attached to, they are a giant corporation, not a single, very uninformed at best- or very racist at worst, human being, they have the means to do research, but they did not do it or think its fine, maybe even good, which deserves to be called out

i am a big, and longtime, zelda fan, but beign a fan of something doesnt mean you cannot criticise it, or aknowledge that its in many ways flawed, part of being a fan is being able to recognize things that are bad and demand better

if you send me another ask spouting bullshit or purposefully missunderstanding what im saying im gonna punt you into the filthy barrel of blocked porn bots, bc i dont have anon messages enabled to receive shit like this but to allow people who might be too shy to send normal asks to talk to me.

jfc.

[bikwin5]

brothership review

Earlier this year I made a post about pooling money to rent a billboard to tell Nintendo to bring back the Mario & Luigi series, in jest of certain fandom activities. What I didn't know at the time is that my prayers were being answered in a brand new title made by Acquire, known for titles like Way of the Samurai and Octopath Traveler, that I haven't played. But I did play this one because I'll suck up most things that have Mario on them like the foolish Nintendrone I am. The end result of this 44-hour experience left me with a lot of thoughts to type on posts.

This post is spoiler-free up to a certain point

^^^ THESE ARE THE "BROS" INCASE YOU FORGOT WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE

I will preface this by saying I am in fact a Mario RPGhead and have played all the past M&L titles. I didn't play the two remakes but I have completed everything up to and including Paper Jam. I even replayed the two DS games earlier this year just for fun, which is what led me to making that billboard post.

Brothership is a RPG staring Mario & Luigi the famous brothers that you know and love so much. What's different this time is that usually these games' sequels introduce new concepts by throwing another playable character in the mix (Babies, Bowser, many Luigis, Paper Mario). Brothership takes a different approach by keeping only Mario & Luigi playable and shifting the change to the setting instead. This has its good and bad parts.

Without trying to be the type of review that's just a whole summary I will briefly explain what happens: Mario and Luigi get isekai'd to another world, they split apart but then Mario finds Luigi on a big boat-like structure known as Shipshape Island, and with the help of spark plug people they sail around the oceans to unite the broken world of Concordia, finding islands and connecting them to Shipshape. This remains pretty straightforward for most of the game. The beginning cutscene was also strangely similar to a scene from The Super Mario Bros. Movie but thankfully there are no further parallels apart from this coincidence.

The gameplay structure has Mario and Luigi sail the ocean by choosing a current on the map, finding islands on the telescope, and then going to the island and connecting it. Islands can then be revisited easily, and residents from that island appear on Shipshape. Islands often need to be revisited for story or sidequest reasons. There is some more to it, but I think this general gameplay loop is actually pretty fun. Making the world a series of islands felt like a good idea that keeps things fresh for the M&L series. Areas in the past games weren't exactly densely interconnected so I feel like this is a good way to structure the world. Partners in Time in particular might as well have been a series of islands. The environments feel very fresh for the series as well, as I felt as though the past couple of games felt particularly derivative with reusing the same few biomes to explore. Brothership will have you bouncing on flowers, climbing skyscrapers and sometimes going to jail.

Overworld exploration in Brothership has me feeling a bit mixed. In past games you controlled Mario & Luigi, and maybe some other people. In this one you mainly control Mario while Luigi sort of has control but is mainly driven by AI. He is now unethical and must be decommissioned. If you are a big M&Lhead like me you WILL have a difficult time adjusting to this. Trying to make Luigi jump yourself will result him in getting stuck on things. To give Luigi a more unique role there is a "Luigi Logic" mechanic, which consists of watching him do funny things in cutscenes, or putting him in situations apart from Mario. The puzzles that involve this are pretty decent, making good use of the bros' moves as well as their environment, but I can't help but wish I still had proper control of both bros. Does having an AI-controlled partner make this game similar to the famous Dreamcast title Floigan Bros? No, because you can't put Luigi in a VMU and trade him with others' Luigis, but I wish you could.

While Brothership does a decent job at making Luigi's AI not get stuck everywhere, this approach lacks a sort of elegance that the past titles had. In the older games the control scheme was simple: A is for Mario, B for Luigi, and the other buttons are either for other characters or menu-related actions. Brothership takes a completely illogical approach to controls. A is Mario, B is Luigi but L is also for Luigi. X and Y are for hammers in the overworld but not in battle. Luigi uses A in battle menus but B to attack. L for for Luigi but R is for sidequest lists. The right stick selects Bros moves in the overworld -- This one might be a welcome change, as having to swap actions is a frequent criticism of the games, but I never really minded it before. It's sort of a mess and it will take you a while to get the controls right, especially if you have existing muscle memory. At the very least Brothership stews in its own juices long enough that you won't be trying to press L to cancel by the end.

The fighting aspect of Brothership is where a lot of the praise goes, and I have my own compliments and grievances with it. Fighting with only Mario and Luigi keeps things simple enough again, and I don't mind it. You have jump, hammer, bros attacks, and items at your disposal. A new mechanic introduced some hours in is BATTLE PLUGS which are equivalent to badges or cards or whatever the previous games had. These are actually very fun to use when you get into them and I found myself using them way more than I expected, as it feels like they really want you to be using them, especially late game. Equipped battle plugs have a special effect that gets used a number of times, then after they take turns to recharge. This makes their use decently strategic as you have to consider not only what plugs to use but when. Overall a nice addition and I hope the next game has something like this going forward.

If there's anything to complain about the turn-based combat it's the "fluff," something that is not unique to fighting or even this game as a whole but rather most games that have come out in the past 10 years. Brothership LOVES flashy animations, even for regular attacks, which makes the pace of battles go by much slower than they need to. Combine this with enemies that often appear in large groups later in the game as well as loading times and you get a turn-based battle system where nothing is terribly wrong with it, but you can't help but wish things were done with faster. Late-game enemies also spend a lot longer attacking, with attacks that don't necessarily feel more difficult to avoid but they get multitudes of attempts. If there's one bit of excessive animation in battles I do like it's the Luigi Logic segments for bosses, which are more sparse than previous titles. These involve a small cutscene and some timed button presses to deal extra damage to a boss and make it vulnerable, usually with very amusing results. One last thing regarding animations is that Bros attacks could still stand to be shorter, especially ones like Clockout Blow, but I do respect the elaborate finishing animations they put on them, even the older returning ones.

In terms of difficulty... This game has hands, surprisingly enough, and not just the ones that the bros put their gloves on. It takes a while for the game to get difficult but I found myself game overing multiple times in the last couple stretches of the adventure. The first game over was on a tiny island with a surprisingly difficult fight with enemies like 5 levels above me. Brothership is less willing to hold back like other Mario RPGs, it will sometimes throw out OHKO attacks, huge groups of enemies, or remove one of the bros from play. I found myself digging into my stash of mushrooms and nuts fairly often. Despite this there are some forgiving elements, as the game keeps a lot of the battle functions introduced in the 3DS titles -- Fleeing from battles is free, you can retry any battle and the bros no longer avoid attacks slower when one is downed. I was not a big fan of these assistive mechanics but I think complaining about them is reserved for another time. I was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty overall.

The graphical style of Brothership is probably the one aspect of the game that most have no qualms with, including myself. We knew that the Bros look great in 3D as seen in segments from the 3DS titles but we always wondered what a full game would look like until now. M&L Brothership takes the best aspects of the series' style and translates it to current-gen hardware beautifully. Whether it be the character animations or environments, there is always something lovely to look at, if at the expense of frame rate in the overworld sometimes. I especially enjoy the liberal use of squash and stretch so if Mario gets in a battle encounter mid-jump he looks all long and funny.

The music, on the other hand, pissed me off at first. I get it, Yoko Shimomura was probably busy with Mario + Rabbids 2 and now KH4 but I still miss her. Being a composer who has to fill in for her of all people must be a very harrowing experience. I knew she wasn't involved because of the trailer music but throughout the early hours of the game I was like AHHHHH!!! THIS MUSIC IS TOO HAPPY AND BOMBASTIC!!! ITS MADE MES MAD!!!! But then I got over it at some point. The battle theme and Shipshape Island are two of the best songs and also the ones you've been hearing the most, so they got that right. Twistee Island's song in particular made me mad at first because it seemed too happy for a jungle island but it became one of my favourite tracks by the end of the game. If I do have a complaint about the music it would be there could stand to be more battle tracks, one particular point in the story would have been a great time to trigger a more serious general battle theme.

The story of this game is OK I guess. I can't be expecting too much from the narrative of a Mario RPG but it's nice there was a story at all. Having it take place in a different world definitely gave the writers their chance to do whatever they liked, and they sure gave it a lot, as there is quite a bit of dialogue in the game, probably too much. Without spoiling too much I would say I liked most of the story other than some particularly strange end game developments (scroll all the way to the bottom to learn more)

Even though I am a defender of The Origami King and similar related games damn was it refreshing to have a Mario RPG with characters in it again. The early hours in particular introduce you to a LOT of new characters, maybe even too many, but it slows down later and takes time to develop them further. Are Brothership's original characters particularly deep and engaging? Not really but it's a Mario game after all. For what it's worth I do like most of the new characters on a surface level, and what they did with some returning characters was neat too. Princess Peach looks super cute in this particular game's style. Technikki if you are reading this please DM me.

Ultmately the biggest problem of Brothership, and the one that people bring up most, is its length and pacing. "Pacing" is difficult to describe in gaming terms, a 40 hour game can feel like the perfect length or far too long, but Brothership lands somewhere in the middle of that. It feels like a substantial adventure but it also felt like a good number of hours could have been cut out, whether it be redundant sidequests or needless revisiting of past islands. The early hours in particular feel like they hand out new mechanics to you way too slow. I thought this game would be tedious in the same sense as Dream Team with its tutorials but funny enough tutorials take a backseat in favor of... more stuff I guess. I think like 25% of this game's content could have been cut out and it would have felt so much better. Keep in mind my 44-hour playtime included a lot of side stuff but not all of it. Brothership is the gift that keeps on giving, on multiple occasions you think you're going to beat the game in your current session but it just won't stop.

OVERALL... This is not the pinnacle Mario & Luigi game. Brothership is good and worth playing but not the best. I admittedly looked at the IGN review that everyone was complaining about and while I don't agree with everything in it, most of the flaws mentioned are prevalent in the game, although it may have bothered me less than others. You can take my opinion with a grain of salt because I really like Mario. I don't like to think of number scores too much but at the time of this writing it sits at a 78 on Metacritic and yeah, this is a 78 kind of game. Maybe 76. It's good enough to get that green number but it doesn't quite feel as exceptional as the high bar some past Mario RPGs have set. I do think this is a game worth playing overall if you love BROS

THIS IS THE END OF THE NORMAL REVIEW. THESE ARE THE ANTI-SPOILER BROS. DO NOT SCROLL PAST THE BROS IF YOU DO NOT WANT BROTHERSHIP ENDGAME SPOILERS

WHY THE FUCK DOES THE EGG HATCH INTO A CLOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!

The last hours of Brothership are probably the period I felt most polarized by the game. Not only was it extending itself by another 6 hours or so but they also had the nerve to be like, here's a weird fucking guy who likes being reclusive and nothing else, also Zokket was not a real person but Cozette was being brainwashed so it doesn't really matter. Zokket could have been a real guy who died and Cozette could have spawned immediately after and the story would not have been affected.

My first thought after the world changed was like oh neat, they are doing some Dungeon Meshi shit, I like that. But then realizing I had to go around past islands collecting stuff arbitrarily felt like an endeavor. I guess the point is to recap all the characters and their captial b Bonds they had throughout the story but it feels like we saw enough of them already. This whole section I felt like "shiddd i guess i gotta get it over with" but at least it was neat that they put the effort into making every single island be affected by the Glohm with different dialogue.

I still think Reclusa is a fucking weird villain because like, what about him is even remotely reclusive. I get he has like the severed cords on his head to represent that but for a guy who hates talking to people he won't shut up and even goes out of his way to talk to you multiple points during the few hours he's even relevant. His army in the far-too-long-final-dungeon the Soli-tree isn't reflective of this reclusiveness at all, save for the Seedlusa enemies that don't attack unless you leave them by themselves, I thought that was actually really neat.

If I have something positive to say about the last hours of Brothership it's that it really reinforces the Brotherness of Mario & Luigi. Brotherly love? Fraternity? IDK but for a game called Brothership it did feel like this game didn't have enough Brotherness as past titles. The last hours really did reinforce that Mario & Luigi are awesome bros and they support each other and that's cool. If I had to rank the games by Brotherness I would put this under Superstar Saga and Dream Team but above the rest. Speaking of Bros I also really liked the Mushroom Kingdom segment right before the final battle, that was neat as hell and something I would not have expected from a Mario game.

The final battle was actually a little easier than I expected as I had more trouble with Zokket and Glohm Bowser, but it was pretty good. It definitely did some neat stuff that you wouldn't be able to do in a 2D game. I really liked the ending when the Bros crushed Reclusa's skull violently with hammers.

Why am I dedicating multiple paragraphs to this endgame section alone? I guess because these last hours gave me some of the strongest reactions out of the whole game, positive and negative, except for the cutscene when Bowser first attacks Zokket's fortress, that was badass. Also no one wants to talk about this part of the game yet because of spoilers so I had to dump my thoughts here while they're fresh. Most of the people I know who have played this still haven't finished it yet because they're slow as fuck and would rather play dog shit like Persona 5 Royal. Sorry for cussing a lot at the end. You should play Brothership or don't if you want to.

[powderseas]

side order is here!!! its real!!! yippee

what do you think of it so far?

ok so im just gonna spit out all my side order thoughts so far

SPOILERS FOR SIDE ORDER AHEAD!!!!!!

EDIT: I ACTUALLY FINISHED THE GAME WOOO (just one run tho lol) im gonna write my thoughts under the previous stuff

OK SO. i think im a little..? dissapointed..? abt sider order?? like im kinda conflicted abt the lore, also i suck BALLS at the game

the thing is i have done 5 runs so far AND COULDNT GET A SINGLE WIN. the most i can do is up to floor 20.... im literally so bad at this game I ONCE DIED 2 TIMES IN AN EASY LEVEL. im newgen guys.

maybe im not fit for rougelike games but like... idk. i feel like me and the fandom as a whole expected so much more from side order. i feel like if the game is gonna make you replay the same stuff over and over again it should atleast have a SOUL CRUSHING LITERARY MASTERPIECE TYPE OF LORE like OE and Alterna

AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW DIRTY THEY DID FOUR???? literally called them an irrelavent loser and then sweeped them aside... THEY DONT EVEN HAVE A PALETTE ICON???? theyre not even a secret boss smh.... agent 4 had so much potential I WILL NEVER FORGIVE NINTENDO FOR THIS. and like sure the parallel canon level kind of includes four but that thing is literally an npc??? like imagine what they couldve done with the story if they had included four in it:

when four is left out from the squidbeak splatoon they try to prove themselves by siding with marina with her project. it makes perfect sense. marina and four are both scared of being seperated by their loved ones. but four gets consumed by their anger and jealousy and goes full order mode LIKE DO YOU GUYS SEE MY VISION!!!! i will be forever mad that we didnt get this.

also why is murch out of all the chracters have a pallete??? why didnt they put in captain 3 or something????? sheldon i kinda understand since hes also kinda a part of the squidbeak splatoon BUT MURCH??? get the fuck out!!!

negative stuff aside tho. i love pearl and marina so much. THIS IS THE PEARLINA GAME GUYS!!!!! pearl literally mentions that marina and her sleep in the SAME BED???? marina is so autistic. my little autism creature. SHE MAKES DINO ARMS IN THE ENDING SCENE AUGHHHHHGHHH MY HEARTTT i love marina so much AND PEARL. SUCH A SILLY GOOBER. acht is so precious too... BUT I CNAT BELIEVE THAT THEY MADE THEM WHITE*??? ACHT IS NOT WHITE NINTENDO. anyways i love eight and her little found family full of lesbians. they are all lesbians your honor. we are raising lesbians in this house.

so yeah. i hope i can finish the run atleast ONCE. but like. idk i havent finished the game but side order jsut makes me feel. sad... and lonely...?? unlike octo expension where you could see more and more people using the metros and the chatrooms between marina and pearl are just AUUGGHHH OE IS A GAME. ABOUT CONNECTIONS OK. it makes me feel warm and happy and even though eight became traumatized i like to think that she healed and in the process met so many important people in her life.

in side order i dont see anything in eight*??? is she traumatized??? is she vibing??? is she happy to help??? I LITERALLY CANT TELL. side order makes me feel so cold and empty like do you guys understand what i mean. and its probably becasue it doesnt even take place in the real world. and the thing is. i understand that side order is supposed to be everything that OE couldnt be. i understand that. both games have their own quirks BUT. i just cant seem to make myself love it unlike any other story mode in splatoon...... im really trying to be not biased here but yeah. these are my opinions for side order

AFTER GAME THOUGHTS

HELLO. so yes i somehow managed to win the game. and honestly. the final boss was pretty fun and everyone was so cute at the end omg... but i still think that side order is a bit underdevloped.... i dont even know if ill try to %100 is cuz playing it makes me SO STRESSFUL im glad i get to finish a run BUT i will definetly not be touching side order atleast for a while.... but despite i had plenty of stuff i didnt like in side order the ending managed to make me forget all that haha

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 5.0 Patch Notes Breakdown

Nintendo dropped the patch notes for patch 5.0 just about an hour ago, so let's do what we do and take a look at the changes, which won't take long, because there's not a lot of them this time around.

Starting with the Main Weapon section, three weapons are seeing changes:

Splat Brella and Undercover Brella are getting the same change, a one second/half a second decrease to shield recharge time. A lot of things can tear through Brella shield quite fast in this game, so this lets you get back into the action faster. I don't think it was the first change anyone would have asked for, but it's good all the same.

I also wanna mention that Splat Brella is getting a pretty significant bugfix in this patch, further down in the patch notes:

This change should make the shield more reliable, and couple that with the new buff, and the fantastic new kit, and I think Brella players have a lot to look forward to this patch.

Meanwhile, REEF-LUX's spread has been tightened when tap-firing and at one level of charge. I've seen some people speculate this might be a nerf because it'll reduce its paint, but I doubt it'll change much considering how much of a machine this thing is in the ink department, and I think the fact that it's able to splat more reliably without fully charging is going to be very positive for it.

Moving onto Specials:

Killer Wail is being changed to be more reliable, as it'll do more of the aiming for you, meaning you won't have to keep looking at your targets.

Zipcaster can now attach closer to you than it did previously, and the explosion damage and radius when you land has been increased. This means you'll be able to use it in close-quarters combat almost like a Burst Bomb, and Zipcaster actually has pretty good damage already, so it'll combo a lot more reliably with all of the Main weapons that have it like Stamper and Luna. Keep an eye out on this Special once the patch drops, because it might be kinda scary now.

Finally, Tacticooler is getting a nerf, having the period between when you use it to being able to charge your Special again increased by 2.5 seconds. After all of its buffs, Tacticooler has become a staple of the meta game, and this will reduce the frequency with which its most prominent users, most notably N-Zap and Snipewriter, are able to output them.

On that note, let's take a look at Points For Special changes next:

And hey, would you look at that! N-Zap gets hit with another 10p for its Tacticooler. If you've not been keeping up with competitive play, I think some important context is that N-Zap is almost completely ubiquitous at the moment, because it gets Tacticooler so fast that it can have the buff basically permanently if it doesn't die. This is a very deserved nerf, because frankly it shouldn't ever have been 180p to begin with.

The only other change is the Annaki Nova, which also gets an additional 10p, and I think this one is deserved as well, albeit for different reasons. The Annaki Nova is hardly a competitive allstar, but it's range and ink efficiency means that it can very often just spend entire matches farming Inkjets. Weapons that do nothing but paint the ground and spam Specials are not healthy for the game, they're dull to play and even less fun to play against, and I am happy to see that this seems to be Nintendo's opinion as well.

And that moves us onto the final balance changes, the Abilities:

Tenacity will now charge your Special gauge faster when its active. While we can't tell how much faster it is, it's still an uncomplicated positive change. Tenacity is currently very niche, only really seeing frequent use alongside the Hydra, but now more weapons might gravitate towards it.

And finally, Last-Ditch Effort's maximum effect has been reduced from being equivalent to 8 sub slots of Ink Saver Main, Ink Saver Sub and Ink Recovery (that's 8 for each!!! 24 sub slots total on a single main slot!!!!) to 6. This is one of the most explicitly competitive play-targeted changes they've done in the history of the series, because LDE is incredibly popular for its ability to sustain extended fights over the object. One particular thing worth mentioning is that this change means LDE will no longer be enough to give you two Fizzy Bombs on a full tank (though it'll still do that if you have 1 sub slot of Ink Saver Sub, but don't tell anyone I said that). LDE will still be incredibly good, but this will mean it won't be as much of an uncontested obvious pick for your headgear slot any more.

And that's all of the balance changes! This is a small patch, but while I think they could have done more to buff the weaker main and sub weapons, I still think it's a very good patch. The current meta is actually very healthy and diverse, more than its ever been, so some cautious buffs and a couple of nerfs aimed with laser-like precision are all very good!

But let's go over some cool miscellaneous stuff in the patch notes, as well. It's not just all balances changes, after all.

The Grizzco Dualies have been official confirmed! Additionally, random weapon rotations can now have multiple different Grizzco weapons, and not just the same one each time.

Three new songs are being added, separately from the new Deep Cut banger they revealed last week. These are presumably all tracks by that new band we heard in the reveal trailer, H2Whoa.

If I'm interpreting things correctly, the two Splatfest queues will now have different stages available?

Matchmaking is looking like it'll be a bit more reliable!

Not content with dropping 80 banners and 400 titles on us, we are also getting 160 decorations and 140 stickers! That's a lot of stuff!

And that's all of the fun and/or noteworthy stuff in the patch notes. I think. I bet a lot of people will see this patch as disappointing, thinking it should have changed more things. But change for change's sake is not necessarily a good thing, and when the top-level meta is so healthy and diverse, the last thing you wanna do is violently destabilize it. Nintendo chose to approach the patch with a scalpel, and I'd rather that than a hammer.

[squid-ink-symphony]

f1sh and chips headcanons?

IVE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS MOMENT MY WHOLE LIFE

HARMONY:

Nonbinary and kinda indifferent on their gender. Goes by She/They. Doesn't really care if you use other pronouns for them tho.

Aromantic and a lesbian. Is still ok with labeling a relationship as dating even if she doesn't experience romantic love the same way as other people.

Autistic, and doesn't always function super well as an adult on her own. But she's doing her best.

Collects stuffed animals and small toys.

Likes cute things, but some people would label their definition of cute as weird.

Loves bright colors. Crank that saturation up!

Very blunt.

Gets along pretty well with her bandmates. They aren't SUPER close but they are friends.

Knows she is different. Doesn't care. It probably used to bother them more when they were younger, but now she has come to terms with it.

House is very messy.

People are just drawn to her, she doesn't particularly like it.

A lot of people think that because she is blunt and speaks her mind that she doesn't ever lie and take everything she says at face value. He is very capable of lying and will do so for various reasons if needed. Or sometimes just cuz spreading misinformation is funny. Will tell you the sky is bright green with no hesitation and a deadpan expression.

Depressed. Is on medication for it and handles it ok ish...

Video game addict. You can usually find her at home in her pajamas playing some new game surrounded by empty instant ramen cups.

Mostly enjoys creative or cute games like pokemon, animal crossing, or minecraft. Doesn't play them often, but she is the absolute best at fighting games. Could beat anyone blindfolded. Is good at a lot of hard games, but doesn't really like that kind of stuff.

Plays a lot of things as they come out and probably has a blog where she reviews them.

Knows every skip and speedrun strat ever.

Likes platformers, especially 2d ones.

Collects old nintendo consoles/games.

Stims a lot with any object nearby. Likes to play with her bracelets a lot. Will just pick up random things and fidget with them.

Seems to be tired a lot, has bags under her eyes. Stays up late a lot but doesn't mind the lack of energy.

Very clumsy and has poor motor controls for a lot of things. Has to take frequent breaks when playing games or music. Gets hurt a lot bumping into random objects.

Issues with her wrists have been a problem for most of her life due to her hobbies, and she is surprisingly good at taking care of them nowadays. Used to not care but then some serious injuries happened and she realized she couldn't afford to do that.

DEDF1SH:

Bigender! He/She/They probably. Would maybe be open to neos if he found the right ones.

Demiromantic, Bi, and Asexual. Both Acht and Harmony are aspec(not for any reason what no i'm not biased as an aroace person noooo-)

When first getting out of the metro he was VERY malnourished and had a hard time eating food. He has a lot of texture issues and finds most foods unbearable to put in her mouth.

Has since gained her weight back and is looking more healthy.

Is very sensitive to sunlight, and burns very easily even in normal weather with minimal exposure. This is part of the reason she spends so much time alone indoors.

Eyes are also very sensitive to light after being sanitized and living in the deep for so long. This is why he wears sunglasses everywhere.

Is also autistic like harmony. (again, as an autistic person i am in no way biased towards headcanoning characters as autistic ok?) Is sensitive to sounds and wears noise canceling headphones a lot.

Goes nonverbal if overstimulated.

Doesn't talk that much, is more the type to say as few words as possible to get their sentence across.

Likes eating cereal with no milk. It's one of their favorite snacks.

LOVES fruit. They are that meme of the person covered in mango juice.

Just like harmony, his face isn't very expressive. But while harmony always looks like she's daydreaming, Acht often looks angry. This is especially true when she has her glasses on since you can't see her eyes.

Really likes fashion. Likes very femme alternative stuff specifically.

Is already naturally tall, and wears heels everywhere. Towers over most other octolings/inklings.

There are many lasting effects from the sanitization. Including physical and mental symptoms. Acht is slowly recovering tho!

Can play piano, just doesn't. Doesn't remember where they learned to, but it makes them feel slightly sad to play it.

Has amnesia due to the sanitization. Can remember things like skills, but not where they learned them or from who. Doesn't remember much of her past. Doesn't remember much family or friends either. Can picture some blurry faces, but not names or how they knew each other.

Tartar told her about her decision to be sanitized, and she has no choice but to have taken his word for why she decided to due so as she has no memory of it.

Has a hard time adjusting to life on the surface.

Has some trauma surrounding medical equipment, and doesn't like to go to doctors.

I've always Acht having known Marina before coming to the surface, but with Side Order confirming they know each other somehow i will wait to flesh that out until we get more info.

Is confident and somewhat social(especially compared to Harmony) but needs a lot of time to recharge their batteries after being around others.

ParuF1sh:

They both like to make music, and often make silly little songs together. Acht likes to take whatever Harmony hums and turn it into short songs.

Both of them don't sleep much. Harmony doesn't like to because she prefers to spend her time on hobbies n such instead. She also has insomnia, but since she doesn't like sleeping it doesn't really bother her TOO much. Acht on the other hand has issues sleeping due to frequent nightmares. She ends up having terrifying nightmares of her time with tartar or things she can't fully remember from before she was sanitized. Harmony is always there to comfort him when he wakes up sweating and frightened.

Both of them are very picky about food and so their pantries end up being stuffed with lots of their prefered safe foods.

Acht tries to push himself to leave his apartment in splatsville from time to time to avoid being totally disconnected from the world because that's what she did when she first got to the surface and it made her very depressed. On one of those trips Acht ended up visiting Hotlantis because he was just exploring various shops. He really liked the vibes of the shop and the wide variety of items that rotated frequently had him coming back. This is where the two of them first met.

At first Harmony and Acht didn't even notice each other despite Acht becoming a regular to come buy and look at weird little items. But eventually after having to check Acht out so many times she finally started to pay attention to what Acht was buying and noticed they had similar tastes. Then one day Harmony struck up a conversation with Acht and they became friends from there.

I think they are both poly and wouldn't mind if their partner dated someone else. But neither of them have another partner right now.

While they both may struggle with a lot of things they help each other out and manage to get through life ok.

It took a bit for Acht to get back to making music after getting out of the metro.

They like to watch ghibli movies while cuddling for a lot of their dates. They will watch all of them and then just start over with the first one again. I think the movies are comfort media for them. Harmony's favorite movie is Spirited Away and Acht's favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service.

Acht chills with Harmony's fish a lot i think.

Neither of them know how to cook.

Harmony leaves her work spaces very messy, but Acht keeps hers VERY neat.

Acht and Harmony both take surprisingly long to get ready and pick out outfits, but Acht takes much longer than Harmony.

They do a lot of parallel play where they just sit in silence and do their own thing.

Acht hangs out at Hotlantis with Harmony a lot and just keeps their headphones on and chills.

Acht also runs the store when Harmony isn't there.

They both listen to a lot of video game osts and it's probably what Harmony keeps playing in the store as well.

Acht has asked why Harmony doesn't stream playing games, and Harmony just doesn't wanna. She would rather just post reviews.

They swap whos the little spoon depending on the day.

Both of them have terrible sleep schedules.

The first time Acht ever saw a splatfest she was enamored, and now she makes sure to always attend the concerts. Harmony insists on keeping the store open since people are everywhere during splatfests and love to shop. But the floats come through the same streets as the shop, so Acht makes sure to pull her away to watch them at least once. And Harmony loves seeing the music as well.

Neither of them really participate in turf wars. Acht is older than most players and finds it awkward to team up with random teenagers but isn't willing to put together an official team of players her age. But she still likes to take her trusty squiffer out to the practice range to keep her skills sharp. Harmony LOVES to watch her practice.

I was about to go into a whole thing of which team they would pick for each splatfest and why, but i think thats gonna have to be later/if anyone asks for it cuz it may be too long for this post lol

so yeah ill end it there for now. they are my beloveds and i could talk about them forever so feel free to ask questions/send in suggestions/talk about how you view them

here is a goofy doodle i did in 5 mins on my laptop for compensation for reading this far:

[wanderingmind867]

I am bizarre. I say this because I don't understand my own mind. Why am I incredibly easily scared, yet cursed with a mind capable of extreme morbidity? I don't actually know, but I sure wish I knew. Because the things I can and can't handle change on a dime. Sometimes my fear doesn't set in until it's too late, and then my brain is crushed by nightmares and fears. I hate talking about my fears, but I also do it oddly often. Maybe we'll do it again. And if i'm venting about it again, let's start at the beginning.

The first movie to ever scare me was Coraline, written by Neil Gaiman but turned into a movie by Henry Selick. That movie didn't tell me it was a horror up front. My parents didn't know it was a horror. The TV channel didn't warn us. So I got to watch it when I was like anywhere from four to six years old. It played games on my soul. I hate that movie. It is why I hate Neil Gaiman. And I always feel tempted to just scream to the heavens whenever I see the movie or book praised. That movie was my intro to horror, so it's something of great evil to me. It traumatized me. Gave me nightmares and a series of irrational fears. Everytime I see that movie's poster, I still instinctively flinch. It's that rough for me.

And it's weird that i'm so weak and easily scared, since my mom was a horror fanatic. She loved scary movies. It was a point of contention every halloween. She wanted to see the horror movies, I wouldn't let her because I didn't need more night terrors. One or two times I let her try watching them with me in the room. That led to me seeing Stephen King movies. And those also traumatized me. So you can hopefully see now a very common theme. I see something scary, it leaves a scar on my mind, rinse and repeat over my twenty years of life.

But I assume people want more if my trauma to get shared, just so they know how easily scared I am. And if nobody does want that, too bad. I'm making it anyways. Maybe I shouldn't be digging out these old memories, but I don't care. I'm going to. Under the cut, I'm going to just bare my soul. And you're hopefully going to read it and feel my pain with me.

You still here? Good. Now, let's get into it. An extensive list of things that scare me could take all day, but we're going to try and do a highlight reel of it all together: the original Pokemon games for the Nintendo something or other (the glitch pokemon people discovered give me shivers), a horror franchise by the initials of fnaf, another horror series by the initials of dhmis (that one traumatised me for nearly a full year), one by the initials of batim (that one has nearly ruined black and white animation for me), little shop of horrors scares me, as does pretty much every major horror movie. And the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and...well, you get the picture.

I would say Undertale is a unique case, though. Because that one traumatised me, too. But it at least had something charming about it, to the point where sometimes I wonder if I should let myself be reeled back in. But then the question becomes: do I want to risk it and then wind up traumatised? I mean...I would need to be really careful about what I choose to focus on. If I get too wild, I'd get nightmares. I still don't know what that game's fucking deal was. That gaster character...traumatic. I kept wanting answers, but looking only gave me truama. Same with some of those amalgam creatures. I both want to compliment the game and also deck it's creator in the face. I don't like when media throws me up and down, playing evil games with me and my heart!

This post is ending now. I don't think it's good for me to go on a tour of all the things that have scared me. There's so much more to cover, but I don't know if I should continue. But I hope someone puts in the time to read all this stuff. Because I sadly put a lot of work into writing this.

[splashink-games]

Getting to the end is not what's important.

Did I not do a good job?

I am absolutely astounded by SANABI by WONDER POTION.

trying to be as spoiler-free as I can.

Good lord.

I was not expecting such an emotional experience.

Even after I spoiled myself a bit because our daughter (I'm okay to call the child that right? collectively, yours, mine, and our main character's (who is also ours to share)) had some very gif-able moments for me to look up and save.

ugh.

Don't even get me started on how incredibly wholesome the intro sequence is! Or mostly any memory for that matter.

Let me move on...

I heard that this game is often compared to Katana ZERO. I haven't played Katana ZERO but I've watched a friend speedrun it, and I get it, though I can't compare the narratives. But that's not what's important.

SANABI is an incredibly well-told story with fast-pace gameplay. The storytelling succeeds because it gives the player information while keeping that same information from the main character, along with hints to a conclusion that we, as the player, can infer.

and that inference builds and builds, cracking the reality that our main character (MC for short) is experiencing in Mago City until it crumbles.

this is a story is about loss and acceptance.

Our journey with these two vastly different characters, Mari and MC is nothing short of exquisite.

it's hard to put into words without spoiling anything.

each character has a very strong goal. MC is out for revenge, while Mari's is pretty vague until the midpoint, but we can surmise it also as revenge. from the onset, Mari tells you that their goals currently align. and every plot point serves an obstacle in their progress (as it should in a game).

but with every obstacle, their determination and sense of reality is affected. the two grind each other's gears. but also get back to a moderate peace. well, until they can't.

mysteries are thrown around. answers can't, or won't, be given. things happen. the situation changes. Mari and the MC change.

and when the pair finally gets to their destination, it's nothing like they expected. Getting to the end is not what's important.

Mari has an amazing arc. you know what she's after part way through the game. and it becomes clearer how desperate she is. like, what a fascinating character Mari is for being able to act in the manner she does. for being faced with the situation at hand until she can no longer bear it.

MC has an equally fantastic arc. for being such a one-track minded character until he isn't. until he thinks for a moment about everything that's happening. but no answer are given.

it's hard to describe how deeply rooted in emotion these characters are. and I think the experience of them is worth it.

with all that being said, the gameplay was rad.

for me, SANABI puts into perspective how much you can do with a few buttons. for reference, I use a Nintendo Switch-style controller. you never use the B button or the bumpers. you start using Y and left trigger halfway through the game. and I never needed to use the right joystick, even though I could.

my biggest gripe, gameplay-wise, was the ground-less boss fight. I don't know if I'm just bad at the game (I am, though) or if I have a problem with having no ground to stand on. I think the biggest issue is the inability to save oneself at the bottom of the screen. it's a very air-centric fight, so I guess it gets a pass, but it's definitely not my favourite.

everything else was smooth as butter. the introduction of new mechanics was never out of the way. the main mechanics themselves (grappling, swinging, and hooking enemies) were great and ties itself well to the narrative.

even as I was speeding through the finally sequence of the game, I still enjoyed swinging along. in between narrative sequences.

SANABI is a wonderfully crafted game, focused on delivering a thoughtful story with smooth mechanics as its vehicle.

This game is definitely a must-play for anyone!

As always,

Enjoy gaming!