#some even have little animations when you expand the menus

[gummi-ships]

World themed command menus in Kingdom Hearts 2

[contentloadingandstuff]

Dark Days - Yae Miko x Male!Reader

A/N: That's right, angst is on the menu today boyz. CW: Descriptions of disease, Kitsune!Reader, Reader death.

Creatures of lesser might are naturally attracted to their superiors. The strongest wolf leads the pack, the biggest Hilichurl commands the others, even the fascinating humans flock to the banners of those strongest in body or mind. Kitsune are no exception. 

There wasn't a day in your centuries of life that was lacking in kitsune. Those of your kind that haven't yet reached sapience always seemed to somehow stumble into your presence, guided by some sort of inexplicable magnetism. You and Miko often debated on the reason why these sly creatures could always find you. Maybe they sought to learn from you and follow your lead into ascension? Perhaps it was simply instinct or scent mixed with curiosity, it wasn't clear. What was clear, however, was that you couldn't help but interact with them. Their little ears and cute snouts never failed to make you share some delicious fish or egg with them. 

Foxes didn't make for good pets only, however. They could understand your commands and would carry them out flawlessly, as long as they were within their ability. Their main use was delivering letters from you and to you. What better use than make them the envoys of the Envoys? The irony never ceased to amuse you. 

There were some quarrels every now and then, obviously. These were still wild animals at heart. Sometimes they were moody and would stay away, sometimes you would accidentally step on their tail, earning a squeak and an offended glare from them. When one of these cuties would get too much into playtime, you would get a nibble or two. Neither you nor Miko paid any mind - they were shallow at worst and healed within a single day or two. 

That day wasn't any different. Miko needed to send a message to a Shumuutsuban agent, and she enlisted your help. You called a kitsune over, and before long one emerged from the nearby shrubbery. Just when it approached and you leaned down to attach the message to its back did you notice how dirty and skinny the creature was. It seemed dazed, its steps were unsure and shaky, lacking the usual tact and elegance of your kind’s thread. Regardless, you gave it directions. Just as you moved your hands closer, the fox sank its teeth into your hand. 

You yelped and struck it with a painful, but harmless Electro shock, and it scurried away. Never did you see a fox so snappy, and you were Miko’s husband. Ultimately, you cursed the animal under your breath and moved on with your day. 

Days passed. Absorbed by the soon approaching summer festival, you didn’t pay attention to the minor injury you sustained, even when the red spot didn’t seem to go away as it should. Miko noticed it by accident one day and questioned you. You just shrugged. 

“I guess it’s sunburn? I really should apply some sun cream.”

You did as you said, but even after an entire week of careful treatment, the “burn” was still where it was. More - it seemingly expanded, with the skin feeling just as smooth as the rest of your body. Miko’s curiosity turned into concern when the area became hot to the touch. Something wasn’t quite right with your hand, and yet you claimed to feel nothing out of the ordinary. To test this, Miko pinched your skin and was promptly taken aback by your complete lack of reaction to the stimulus. 

When the heat spread through your whole body, you called in a physician. Much to Miko’s relief, a short examination revealed that it was nothing but a minor infection from a neglected cut. 

Your wife spoke her farewells to the good doctor and took a few days off to keep you company. After all, what good would the medicine do you if you didn’t have the support you needed? Your fever dropped, giving both of you some much needed peace of mind. It was a fantastic opportunity to spoil you, even if kisses or cuddling were out of the picture - Miko didn’t want to bother with coughs, fever or any of the many unpleasantries sickness carried with itself. You were positively adorable, resting in the guest bed and becoming all flustered whenever she brought you tea, food or read you a book. 

But her smile was short-lived. 

Just a few days after the visit, the fever returned, higher than ever. Your forehead was close to burning to the touch. With the fever came sweat - constant sweat, drenching every bit of the sheets and blankets. Shivering, you lost most water in your body almost overnight. 

When Miko saw you in the morning, a cold shiver ran down her spine. You were sitting on the edge of the bed, your eyes wide open and blinking slightly, your skin shiny with sweat. You mumbled to her about wanting something to drink, but your voice was… wrong. Damaged, hoarse, as if your very throat had been scraped and mangled by a knife. There was a thick line of drool flowing from your agape mouth. 

“Water…” You moaned. “Please…”

It wasn’t long before a glass of the drink rested in your hand. Despite your state, your delirious expression betrayed hesitation. Miko stretched out her arm to hold you, but stopped herself shortly. She couldn’t risk catching whatever you had. 

“Honey, please drink it. It will do your body good.” She spoke in a calm, almost motherly voice, soothing and composed. 

With a shaking hand you lifted the glass to your lips. As soon as the water touched your lip, your throat spasmed, forcing you to spit it out. The glass fell to the floor, its life saving contents rejected by your very self. 

Miko spoke not a word more and rushed to the palace. It didn’t take long to explain the emergency, as Ei has been paying visits to your house ever since your condition confined you to the bed. Within less than an hour Ei gathered every medic she had at her service and led them back to you. 

—

Miko leads the humans through her house. Her steps are nervous, yet determination shines in her pupils. Everything will be alright now that the very Shogun brought the best of the best to your bedside. 

She opens your door, able to cast just one pained glance at your restless, miserable form. Your breathing is so heavy she can hear it from beyond the threshold. Miko turns to Ei, who nods at the doctors. They move into the room one by one. Miko turns to follow them, but is stopped by Ei’s arm on her shoulder. 

“Trust them. They know their trade and focus is what they need now.” 

Miko looks down. She shakes her head. “Yes. Of course.”

They sit down in the living room. Miko is fidgeting with her fingers. No words exit the lips of any of the two women. The tension hangs thick in the room, audible sounds of the researchers murmuring to each other being the only to break the deafening silence. 

Before long, the door opens. Miko jumps up and watches the men approach. Their expressions, graced with many scars of experience and age, are bleak. They look at each other nervously. Miko can hardly contain herself. 

“Speak!” She growls. “What is happening to my husband?”

One of them coughs. “It is…”

Silence. 

“Hydrophobia.” Another completes the sentence. 

Miko’s eyes grow wide. A smile of disbelief makes its way to her lips. She scoffs. 

“What? You can’t be serious.”

Reading the room, Ei stands by Miko in silence. 

“Lady Yae Miko, we are certain-” “So what if it is hydrophobia? Treat it.” Her eyes narrow. 

“There is no known cure to the disease. We are sorry.”

“Ah, is that so?” 

She makes a step forward. Her eyes meet those of the medic. 

“Fascinating. Isn’t it your job to cure? If you cannot do that, then what use are you, anyway?”

The man tugs at the collar of his outfit. His eyes dart from the kitsune to the floor and back. 

“You are worthless.” 

Her open hand raises and lands on the cheek of the elderly man, the sheer force of the blow making him reel back. Miko bares her fangs in rage, but before she can do another move, Ei grabs her by her kimono and turns her body to face her. 

“Stop this! Do not raise your hand at them, they are not the ones to blame.”

Miko groans and tries to push her friend away, but the god’s superior strength renders her efforts futile. Their eyes meet. Ei remains calm and collected. The stillness of her features chills Miko’s anger. 

Moments pass in silence.  

“We need to secure him. We cannot risk him going feral and hurting anybody.” She speaks, the decisiveness in her voice plain to hear. 

“I know.” 

A tear runs down Miko’s cheek. She smiles through the choking sensation, wiping her eyes with her hand. 

“I… I just don’t… want him to l-leave.” She shakes her head. “Not yet. N-not yet.” 

Miko lets her gaze fall downwards. Ei issues a command and the doctors re-enter your room. The fox remains paralyzed, her mind too dazed to form a coherent sentence. 

She wants to speak out. Protest. She wants to rip the humans to shreds, limb from limb, she wants to spit blasphemies at Ei for letting all this happen. At the same time, she wants to fall to her knees and kiss their feet, begging them to do something. Anything. 

But her mind knows. It knows that she shouldn't lash out as she sees the scientists take you out of your bed on a stretcher, yet her mind struggles. To understand. 

The stretcher stops next to her. She places her hand on the towel covering your forehead, her finger still bearing the ring that bound you and her together all these years ago. 

“Goodbye, my love.”

Until death does us apart. 

Thanks for reading.

[snackodev]

0.9.4 Town & Guild Update finally out! 🥂

This has been our biggest patch yet with a complete rewrite of all the villager quests~

Below are the full patch notes, but here are the highlights:

Restrictions on villagers lifted: you can now have everyone all at once!

Blueprint shop and other recipes no longer all unlocked at the beginning. All new quests have been implemented to unlock content

Villager quests have been completely redone and new ones have been added

Villager dialogue pools have been reworked to give better chances of seeing all the lines; certain lines that don’t make sense to be repeated as you befriend them will no longer be in the pool (ex: Rejka being confused why you’re talking to him in the morning despite the two of you dating)

UI changes for expanded dark mode, including an all new quest system and UI to go along with it

Crafting recipes can be tracked alongside a quest on your HUD via the crafting menu or a workbench

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS WE’RE FINALLYYYYYY DONEEEEEEE (asterisk kind of asterisk).

This is the biggest patch we’ve done since early access launch and it absolutely, irrevocably, mentally broke the two of us. We prefer to do smaller patches more frequently, but this patch just required so much tech debt to be fixed and systems to be remade there was no other way we could’ve done this.

Well, it’s almost over now. We’re still going to be working on some polish and adding some content that we couldn’t put in (like join quests), but for now, we both really, really need a day off after two and a half months of non-stop work.

It’s been so long I’m starting to make really dumb mistakes, so yeah…a day off would be nice…………

Okay, now that the main points are out of the way, it’s time for enraliYapping! ☝️🤓

🔖 Quest Progression

Gone are the days of MIAO unlocking everything. From now on, MIAO will serve as a gentle nudge for players to discover features about the game, as well as progressing through Mikan’s character arc. I’d like to add some more quests in the near future so you can get to know her own journey through Snacko Island’s revival.

To highlight how much has been changed, areas in yellow are quests that were retained from 0.9.3, everything outside of that I made for 0.9.3:

Yeah…it was a lot…….That’s why it took us forever to test and fix :(

But! I’m really excited to see how you feel about the new progression. Instead of having 300 recipes unlocked right off the bat, anything from dyes, to cooking recipes, to crafting recipes can now be unlocked in a variety of ways, usually through Guild quests.

Guilds each have their own representative(s) that will communicate with you through quests or deliveries. Each Guild rep sort of has their own personality and way of writing, and some of them even have mini story arcs within them, so I hope you enjoy getting to know everyone!

You can also unlock things via villager quests. Not only will you learn a new recipe or unlock a new shop item, you’ll also get to know them better! It’s a win-win!

We want to slowly move away from the whole “talk to NPC, give them gift, rinse repeat” cycle, as well as the “randomly trigger their friendship event when walking around”. With the quest system, we’re hoping to slowly port over those cutscenes, as well as giving players new ways to gain relationship points with the characters.

There are also changes to the quest tracker on your screen!

Now, the quest no longer disappears immediately after finishing, causing confusion. It will now stay on the HUD until you switch maps, or when you get a new quest, or when you track a different quest.

Completed quests with rewards will require you to claim these rewards. There’s a new filter inside your journal to view unclaimed rewards, as well as an animation and icon in the quest tree.

You may also find quests that have rewards on accept. Those will be denoted with a little golden ticket icon.

The quest tree itself was built in our back end SnackoEd tool on the web, and the locations of each node are then ported over into the game. Cool, right? If we were still using the old quest system, there would’ve been no way I could’ve made all these new quests for this update.

Along with the new quests also come new quest types. So, instead of just shipping something, or getting X number of items, there are also quests from villagers that will request you to place decorations or other buildables near their house.

It was a lot of work to rip out all the guts, from the way the game faded to the way the HUD rendered…but it was worth it! Snacko needed to get changed at one point so we could scale more easily, so we’re glad we bit the bullet.

Let’s all give recursive a round of applause for sacrificing their sanity! Yippee!

📝 Coming Soon

In the next couple of days, outside of fixing any nasty bugs, we’ll also be finishing up “join” type quests. These are quests that you can grab from the board and meet up with the villager and go on an adventure together! They’ll follow you around until you bring them home, so it’s a nice way to spend some time with your favourites.

For now, they’re disabled until we push that update, so you may find some “coming soon” cards in your tree or board.

You may have also noticed some quests being labelled as “story”. There’s currently two side story quests after you finish the main story, but I’d love to add more. In preparation for these, I’ve moved off a lot of the front-loaded exposition in the game.

One thing I’ve noticed is that players actually continue to read the journals spread out through the biomes. I wasn’t expecting that… So, I wanted to do something like that without just littering books everywhere. Story quests will be a continuation of that concept, where the burden of world building and lore is no longer stuffed into the mandatory main story cutscenes.

The bookshelf/tutorial UI was also updated into SnackoUI, and I’ve left myself some room and space in the data for adding notes and books you can find in the future for more lore-dumps.

Now that I’ve talked about some of the things that we had to set up the game’s systems for in the near future, let’s go back to what’s already in the game…

📐 U and I

You may have noticed some big changes in the UI! Now, with expanded dark mode, it’s no longer just the dialogue box.

There’s some improvements as well, such as the action prompt image now paired with the item indicator, instead of needing the item name to disappear before you can see which key it is.

The dialogue boxes and choices themselves also got a face lift, along with new animations and functionality. When you’re speaking to a villager about a quest, it should show the quest name on the upper right corner.

The dialogue system was rewritten as a system so we can better add new lines in the future. The old system was…prohibitive, to say the least, and it did not scale well. With these new system-level changes, we hope localization and adding more content in the future will be 100 times easier!

I mean, just look at this… I don’t want to touch this…

Now, we can use a bunch of different ways to get text into the game. Either that’s through our custom back end SnackoEd, or through a good ol’ spreadsheet.

Hehe, there’s a lot, and honestly, I’ve forgotten a lot of the polish we’ve done since it’s been two months since we started. So I hope you guys will enjoy the little touches!

Additional quality of life features added include a crafting recipe tracker. Inside the workbench or your crafting tab in the journal, you can now pin a recipe at any quantity to pin it to your HUD like it’s a quest.

You can also buy things from each shopkeeper when their store is closed. You won’t be able to speak to them directly to expand your house, but you can buy the basic goods from their shop.

🍃 Fast Like the Wind

Yay, there’s new movement tech! Double jumping wasn’t enough, so now we have a charged sword dash and pickax bounce.

When you charge up your sword, you will dash the direction you’re facing. How far you go depends on how much you’ve charged. You can also dash mid-air, and if you time it just right, you can keep dashing and “fly”. I’m not too good at this myself, but I’m sure there’s some of you that will find this a walk in the park.

The pickax bounce is when you’re mid-air, you can bounce off of anything by charging it any amount. The distance you bounce back depends on your initial velocity plus how much you’ve charged.

It makes the cutest little “bink” noise when you pull it off, so maybe you can have some fun just binking your way around town.

We also changed the charging: when you’re charging up any tool, it no longer locks you in place. You’ll move really slowly, but you’ll still be able to move.

✨ Closing Notes

I hope it made sense why we had to take such a long chunk away from updates to work on this one! The way it was done and how many underlying systems needed to be completely gutted and redone was too many, so there was no way to “split it up”, so to speak. We’re really excited to add the new things in that we can have now that the foundation for Snacko is much cleaner and easier to work with. That’s something that will get more important as we add in more features and begin the work for multiplayer.

With all that said, I think the two of us need a day off to just lay down and do nothing.

As always, if you notice anything wrong with your save file or found a bug, please let us know! We’re always happy to help you fix any issues or rectify any errors in your save file.

You can reach us through Discord (just ping us, don’t be shy!) or email.

Thank you for reading my long-winded patch notes, and we really hope you enjoy this one!

Good night!!!! 🐾

[imaginebeyondyourdreams]

The Journey

*This is part of a requested imagine. I might expand on this later, just not right now as I’m also currently working on my book and want to focus some attention on that. Thank you for reading!*

You knew your soulmate was a shapeshifter. Being a witch had its perks sometimes and one of those was finding information on your soulmate before actually meeting them. The powers that came with being a witch were pretty cool too, but you really just wanted to meet your other half. You knew he was a shapeshift, most likely canine, and that he lived on the west coast. You spent the last few months traveling the west coast but to no avail, you still hadn’t met him yet. You hadn’t even met any shifters to begin with. Plenty of vampires and some other witches, but no shapeshifters. You finally stopped in La Push, hearing a rumor from a vampire that their legends said they were descended from wolves. You figured if anyone were to be a shapeshifter, it’d be them. That’s how you found yourself at the little diner in the small reservation. You sat back into the booth along the wall so that you could see everyone that came in.

“Good morning,” a waitress came over, a name tag on her shirt stating her name was Kim, “How are you today?”

“I’m good, thank you, and you?” You really weren’t sure what you were going to do about everything. Even if you met them, would you really want to settle down?

“I’m good, thank you for asking!” She seemed pretty nice and peppy, “What can I get you to drink?”

“Water is fine,” she walked off and was gone for a minute before she returned with your glass, setting it in front of you.

“Are you ready to order?” She asked politely.

“Not quite, but I do have a few questions,” you replied, setting the menu down and looking at her, “It’s not about the menu, though.”

“Uh, sure, what’s up?

“Are there any hiking trails near here?” you wanted to know where the most popular spots were. Shapeshifters wouldn’t bother going near them, “I’m new to town and  kind of wanted to go sightseeing, but I’m more of an animal enthusiast. I want to know where the animals are more prominent and the people aren’t.”

“Um, I’m not really sure, I guess,” she looked uncomfortable, like she was hiding something, “We don’t really get visitors out this way. There are too many dangerous animals around, like bears.”

“Any wolves?” you asked, watching as she shifted from one foot to the next.

“I mean, sure, but why?” her eyes were narrowed in thought as she looked at you quizzically.

“Well, I study them,” you were lying through your teeth but you had to find out if there were any wolves in the area that might be shapeshifters.”

“I’d leave the wolves alone,” she said sharply. You heard the door open and looked over to see a group of tall men walk in and make their way to a booth, some stopping and saying hi to Kim. She turned back to you, “We don’t like it when people mess with our wildlife here.”

“I just study their behaviors, it’s not like I get near them or anything,” you replied, wondering why she was getting so defensive. She kept looking over at the men, who looked like they were intensely reading the menu, which was pretty odd considering they look to be locals and they knew Kim. 

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” one of the men joined Kim, standing beside her, “and she’s right. I’m part of the wildlife preservation team here. We don’t like people around the wildlife. It can upset the balance of nature.” He was tall and had a tattoo on his arm. Now that you looked, all of the men had the same tattoo on their arm. Weird. You silently cast a spell, reading their energy and realizing something seemed off. They weren’t completely human, but they weren’t witches or vampires either. Are these the shifters you were searching for? You had never met one before so you didn’t know what their energies felt like. “You understand?” 

“I’m sorry?” you were brought from your thoughts at his words, not sure when you had zoned out and what exactly he had said.

“I said if I were you, I’d stay away from the woods,” he repeated, staring down at you, “It’s too dangerous.”

“And you are?”

“Sam Uley,” you stuck your hand out as if to shake his hand, he returned it but you felt him burning up. It was like his skin was on fire. He let go as quickly as he could.

“Sam. I appreciate the concern,” you started, looking over to the other men who were all focused on your conversation now before looking back at him, “But I can take care of myself.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, outsider,” he said before walking back to the table.

“Are you ready to order now?” Kim said, her face telling you she wanted to exit the conversation too.

“Sure, I’ll just have the pancakes and eggs, over easy,” you handed her the menu. When she walked away, you reached into your bag, pulling out your phone. You texted your coven leader about what happened, and how you thought they were the shapeshifters. After sending the text, you heard someone clear their throat. You looked up, catching the gaze of the most handsome man you had ever seen. He was tall and kind of gangly but looked like he was starting to fill out with muscles. You saw him freeze for a moment before he smiled brightly, sitting across from you.

“I’m sorry about them!” he reached his hand over the table, holding it out for you to take, “I’m Seth Clearwater.” You shook his hand, feeling a shock when you did, and let go quickly.

“______,” you replied, clearing your throat, trying not to show the touch bothered you.

“So, what brings you around these parts?” he asked, still smiling.

“Searching for something,” you felt like you could be honest with him, like he was pulling it out of you against your will.

“Something? Like what?” 

“More like someone,” you muttered, looking down at your hands.

“Oh, someone?” he cocked his head to the side as he looked at you, “Who?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“I’ve been told I’m a good listener and catch on easily,” he looked like he was really interested in what you had to say.

“It’s complicated and probably will sound stupid,” you insisted, not wanting to reveal to him but at the same time the words wanted to come tumbling from your lips.

“Nothing you say could sound stupid,” he looked a little love-struck to you, and it kind of made you nervous, “I… I mean, I’m sure it’s not stupid.”

“Okay, I’m looking for my soulmate,” you replied quickly, the words coming out like vomit, leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

“Your soulmate?” he smiled again, humming to himself, as if he knew a secret, “That’s a little cheesy, isn’t it?”

“Maybe so, but that’s what I’m doing. My journey led me here, somehow,” you couldn’t believe that you were telling him all of this, but it felt so right. Maybe this was him? Maybe this was your soulmate? And maybe he felt it too?

[rootvegetableboy]

cm dev log #5 - march 2024

march was mostly a resting month for me, so this dev log is a bit sparser than you may have come to expect. i’ve still got a few things to show off though, simple as they are ^_^

[photo ID: a gif of the player character shooting small orange bullets around a room. the bullets have a short sparking-out animation upon impact. end photo ID.]

to start, i figured out destroy animations. this is a great step forward because now my bullets actually make a little sparky explode upon impact instead of just disappearing… and since i figured out the code for this already, it won’t be too difficult to expand & apply elsewhere, like death animations for enemies. that’s the nice thing about coding: once the code works, i scarcely have to touch it again, and it’s easy to replicate.

actually, it’s kind of funny that i’m saying that, because the next thing i did was rework some amount of previous code for my save/load system.

[photo ID: the in-game menu’s save/load section. it has three available file slots, two of which are in use. end photo ID.]

way back in january i talked a little about building this system; i kind of glossed over the specifics but mentioned i had some issues with integration into the larger in-game menu. this wasn’t intentionally misleading, but i realized recently i’d left a lot unfinished in this regard… i hadn’t actually coded a way for the save file to be labelled by the room the file was created in, (the “Wicker - Neighborhood” in the respective january screenshot was just a placeholder) and i ran into a bunch of unexpected issues when i tried to create multiple save files. one of the funnier ones was that every file’s name would change to reflect the most recent one created, even though the files themselves were still distinct in every other way. it was a fun example of how sometimes what the problem looks like is very different from what the problem actually is: it looked like every save file was getting overwritten by the most recent save, but the only thing that was actually being overwritten was the displayed text.

after i fixed all the issues i could find and the save/load menu was working exactly as intended, i turned to my partner to express great relief at being finished with this particular system! and then halfway through my next sentence i realized that there is currently no way to access save files from the start menu, and you can only access them when you’re already in-game… so, still more work to do actually…

[photo ID: the first screenshot shows the inventory holding only the item “Parchment” with the options “BACK”, “USE”, “LOOK”, and “DISCARD”. “LOOK” is highlighted. the second screenshot shows the same inventory, no options visible after “LOOK” was selected, and there is now a textbox that displays “> It’s a little drawing of a ladybug playing the flute.” end photo ID.]

another change i made to the in-game menu was to the inventory. previously, item descriptions were displayed in small text above the inventory window and were not optional to view. the description was always there (provided you had at least one item) and would change respective to the item currently selected. i realized pretty quickly that this would get hard to read if the menu was opened against a light background… so now, the “LOOK” item option will provide extra info via regular textbox for those who desire it. (i’m planning on displaying the player’s HP in a different way for the same reason). i also think something as small as item descriptions are only really sought out by players who enjoy reading in games, so it’s not something i need displayed at all times. this way of handling the text also lets me write longer, multiple-page descriptions if i so desire :-)

aside from this, i made a few small adjustments to combat. the gameplay is still pretty easy at the moment, but the few adjustments i made will let things ramp up in difficulty nicely once i let the enemies also have bullets.

well, looks like that’s it for march. i hope you have a good april! i’ll see you all on may day ^_^

[unnursvanablog]

The movies I watched in 2023

and what I thought of them....

See How They Run: It was a pretty solid movie to start the movie watching for the year. It had fun characters, a nice mystery and just had a really good style to it that I really enjoyed. Just charming overall.

Pinocchio (2022): I loved all those old-feeling special effects, all the props, scenery and costumes in this film. The film felt sincere and imaginative, which I would expect from an Italian film that was almost reclaiming its own fairytale from Hollywood.

The Menu: Some of the speculations and comments that the film presents might sometimes feel a bit stilted at times, but the film certainly offers a fun black comedy with interesting plot twists that you can't exactly foresee as you watch it, and the cast is wonderful.

Troll:  the action was fun, and I enjoyed the folktales and myths features of the story, but damn the plot was so predictable and the clichéd dialogue was so heavily styled from some heroic Hollywood movie that doesn't work in a Nordic film.

Banshee of Inisherin: An incredibly personal, quiet and interesting film that ends up being slightly lengthy at times.

Mr. Malcolm's List:  I adore being immersed in this kind of costume-drama and this movie kind of checked most of the boxes I want to be ticked when it comes to a romance costume drama of this kind. A very fun watch.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: A sincere, humorous, and interesting character story about an older woman experiencing her own body and such things for the first time in her life.

Wakanda Forever: I just thought it was nice, and it's certainly not as formulaic as most of those marvel movies that are coming out right now. But it didn't move me as much as I thought it would.

Viking Wolf: everything about this movie was pretty predictable and typical of such a monster movies. I was a bit bored.

Volaða Land: A rather slow, bitter and sad film, which is totally in the spirit of the subject matter and there are a few humorous scenes in between to break it up, but I still thought it was a bit too long.

Sisu: Incredibly fun action and bloodshed and although the scenarios often felt a bit unrealistic it does feel part of the fun and the film is very exciting and time flies by while you're watching it.

Coccaine Bear: The trailer for this film made it look a lot more fun than it turned out to be. I was tired of the humor present there after about half an hour.

Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thiefs: funny and just the fine little adventure film. I didn't expect it to go super deep on the characters or anything. It is just such a fun popcorn movie, and I was happy with that.

The Last Kingdom – Seven Kings Must Die:  I watched this one with one eye open, not really caring about any of it, but I was just trying to finish it off so I could finally see how the tv show that preceded this movie was going to end.

Nimona: Followed the comic very well and expanded on it and just was one of the most entertaining animations I have seen in a while. There is good humor in it, and the characters are awesome. Loved the animation as well.

Indiana Jones 5: This is just a fun Indiana Jones movie. That’s pretty much it. Maybe the third best Indiana Jones movie in my opinion. You basically get everything you want from Indiana in this one, even though Ford is getting a little tired and it shows.

Hansan – Rising Dragon: It's a grand and spectacular visual film that puts a lot of effort into everything but ends up being a little too long in my opinion.

Dream: While the film certainly has heart and humor, it still felt like the story was in a bit of a hurry to get to the finish line before it's completely earned it.

Harry Potter 7 and 8:  I started watching the first movie with my little niece and then she got into the books (before Rowling went full on terf) and I have sort of just allowed her to enjoy the world that I once found solace in. Now my little aunt had finished the last book and I kept my promise to her to watch the movies it with her once she did.

Lord of the Rings 2: My little niece was once too afraid to watch Lord of the Rings but before the summer she had watched the first one – just not with me. But she wanted to hold on to this until I came over to her part of the country in the summer so we could watch it together. Also this is my favorite of the Lord of the Rings movies.

Polite Society: a strange mixture of Bollywood splendor and very dry British humor that works so fantastically well. A cool action-comedy with very charming characters and all sorts of fun shenanigans and wonderful female friendships.

Zom 100 - Bucket List of The Dead: Japan and Korea seem to be far better at making zombie movies than the Americans. This one was so much fun, before it lost its steam.

Barbie: The only movie of the year I watched twice because it was just excellent entertainment. Colorful and campy yet with a big heart and seemed to have something to say about the society we live in – although through a very narrow lens. Interesting and thoughtful, but sure was interesting that the one that got the most hype from the internet of such a female-centric film the main male character of the story. But that’s also telling of the society we live in.

Downton Abbey – New Age: Although I find the formula that these stories follow little tired now and you tell that from this film how some of the conversations and jabs and almost don’t come natural sometimes, I do think the characters are awesome and I've followed most of them for so long that they do have a dear place in my heart. Downton still makes me cry.

Ehrengard - The Art of Seduction: This film has its funny moments, and it is a fun little period piece. But Ehrengard, the title character, is more of a plot device than a character for most of the film, which I thought was a little silly.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter: A very good horror movie that made me cover my eyes and cry out as I sat alone in the movie theater watching it. Good horror, interesting characters, and thrilling storytelling. Great fun.

Sister Death:  It's has a really cool style to it, but that's kind of the only thing I thought the movie had going for it. There was something about it that made it difficult to follow the story, in my opinion.

The Marvels: It felt like another draft of a script that had been written with the same old story structure that Marvel still hasn't updated in a long time. It still somewhat works, but it's also really predictable and tired. I knew almost what each character would say before they said it, because Marvel has become a real cliché.

In Love and Deep Water: Just a really adorable Japanese romcom movie. Cute characters with a funny little murder mystery lurking around in the background. Just good fun.

We have a Ghost:  a fun idea and the cast was awesome, but wow this script felt stilted.

The Hunger Games – the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Followed the book very well – I haven't read in years, so therefor I didn't do a proper review. There's a lot crammed in there in a rather short period of time, but I thought they were able to deliver Snow's character so the message of self-satisfaction and the promise of comfort and power trumps everything else for many people in this a position of privilege, even if other people suffer because of it. Did everything they needed to do.

This is Christmas: a cute little Christmas movie that, in a sense, is just a traditional romcom set around Christmas. But still it does manages to have a little more going for it than just two strangers falling in love around Christmas and I did enjoy the characters a lot.

1000 Miles from  Christmas: romcoms like this don't usually have the structure of pining and the buildup that I enjoy in a romcom. I thought things were happening a bit too fast here, but the story was adorable and the characters were fun though predictable. And although I thought all the little fact that one of the main characters 'hated Christmas' was a little overdone he didn't seem to be cured too swiftly of that ‘ailment’. But I would have liked more depth to it all, but there just wasn't time for that.

Monster: A heartwarming and heartfelt Japanese film where the three changing perspectives of the film keep surprising you until the very end without feeling too dramatic. Very attentive and compassionate.

[bersergner-blog]

Practice 1_3.3 - Post-Mortem

Characters

For the Characters I threw all my ideas on the page as quickly as I could. I started with your Main Rivals (the Characters you can Recruit) and then designed their supporting cast around their social group. I actually wrote a fair bit of character for some of them, stuff you would uncover through their Quests and Sub-Quests but ended up having to drag myself away from the page to continue pumping out designs. This lead to some of them still being a little half-baked. This would by no means be the full cast of characters even just in the school alone, but it was a great start to highlight the cast.

Next I would go through and tweak and tighten any designs that didn't gel yet or expand on the ones that worked. here you can see Jett Flash getting a make-over (making him blonde, adding a toothpick and showing how his hair flops post-defeat) and Darius Crowley getting a little more personality through his portraits (going from annoyed to furious, to 'restrained').

Next I took one social group the Greasers (calling themselves the 'Motormonkeys' for their love of fixing up classic cars) and gave them the full design treatment, thinking about civilian clothes (their school outfit being mostly the same but with school trousers, shoes and jacket), so we can see how they fully express themselves in their free time. Designing with animation in mind so you can imagine how these characters would move and behave.

UI

I decided to work out the visualisation of the pause screen first. Which would be a little different from your Planner/Status. I still carried the 'school-focused' design with a paper and blackboard version and the option you select becoming more chaotic/punk to highlight your influence/action as a player. I would most likely go with the blackboard version for the pause screen to separate it from the Planner/Character Menu. Could even have the screen be rapidly "wiped away" when you unpause for a bit of flavour and feel.

Environment

I was really eager to try some Photobashing this project, so I threw down a quick sketch of the School viewed from the central island, but sadly due to my influx in shifts at work I didn't get to develop this further. But I hope you can already imagine how climactic a fight in the foreground could feel with the right story buildup. The sun climbing up, painting the ocean read and gold, wind lightly swaying the grass, a creeking gate can be heard in the distance as two gangs of students and their leaders square off in the street.

Animation

Another aspect I didn't get to dedicate nearly enough time to was the animations. Here you can see a rough of Darius Crowley's jab. It highlights his superiority and cruelty in the unusual way he attacks and doesn't even take his hand out of his pocket. I wanted to do a base attack for each of your Main Rivals but sadly, there was just not enough time.

[veemakesgames]

Minor Devlog - August 8th 2023

welcome to the first post about the remake of "Star Bun"! I'm working on graphics and mapping for the first room you'll see in the game: Bun's spaceship

it's pretty bare, and there's some redesigning to be done. for 1 i'm gonna expand the windows so you can see more of the scrolling space background, and later the planet landscape when you land and are in the meat of the game.

The menu is also very unfinished, please dont pay attention to it-

for reference: screenshots of Bun's ship from the original VX Ace game. You may note that it used to be 2 rooms, a main room with a little table and the control panel and the bedroom with a big UFO dome. I intend to sketch some designs of Bun's new ship, but I do already have ideas in mind, most notably it actually making any physical sense lmao-

the original is more like a generic RPG starting house that just so happens to be spaceship themed (the personalized rug looked good at the time, but i'm gonna make it way less of a center-piece, especially since I can fit the detail in less tiles thanks to RPG Maker MV having bigger tiles)

the few people that have played the original build, and even fewer of those that will be seeing this most likely, may remember that something possessed me to use dithering instead of normal gradients in that game's backgrounds, and it fucking Hurt to watch them scroll for any amount of time. I will not commit that same assault on my players' eyeballs this time around, lesson learned, i was just weirdly obsessed with only ever using and showing colors that were in Aseprite's NES palette preset, without ever actually adhering to NES limitations on anything

Planned additions to the remake ship:

the control panel at the front, of course

animated scenery

a central elevator that would be how Bun enters and exits the ship

bedside desk with new sketches and diary stuff to look at

other furniture, maybe?

---

it's not a lot, but that's that. hope to have meatier stuff to show off soon uwu7

[izchone]

nct dream as things that happen in the relationship!

genre: fluff!

tw// mentions of food, a stray cat?

MARK! when you two go out, he would always remember to snap a picture of a small detail from the outing. for example, a picture of your favorite dish on a menu or a picture of the stray cat you saw out on the street when you were going back home from a date. when he’s bored, he would look in that album in his phone and look at all the things you guys did from the first day to a few hours ago. he also sulks when he tries to take a picture but his storage is full <//3

RENJUN! you guys make plant gardens on every windowsill in your apartment. since you always want to expand you guys’ little plant family, shopping for them once a week was a ritual. you picked out the plants while he painted the pots with some cute designs on it. to make it complete, he puts the name of the plant and the date you got it on the bottom. sometimes you get made fun of by haechan by how serious you guys take plants, but who cares.

JENO! dozing off with jeno was a very common occurrence, maybe too often. his presence is so calming that it sometimes makes you fall back asleep in the morning. as a result, he uses this ‘special power’ of his as an advantage. whenever you can’t sleep, he would come to your place. he would sit beside you, talk to you in a very soft voice, and rub your back affectionately. it would lull you to sleep in seconds.

HAECHAN! i feel like he games on the daily, so you trying to play with him is a very fun experience. sometimes he lets you win, but most of the time he doesn’t. he would also ask you if he could teach you how to play the game. after taking his two week video game lessons, you finally won against him, and he didn’t let you win that time. “how could you possibly be better than me??!” you would hear him say.

JAEMIN! when jaemin confessed to you, he bought a little cat plushie for you. on the first date, he bought a bear plushie. on your anniversary, he bought you an elephant plushie. i think you know where im going with this. since those moments, it’s been a tradition to buy a plushie on a special occasion. anniversaries, dates, or even when the other gets a day off. you even have a huge shelf that’s dedicated to just these stuffed animals. the con about this is that they do take up a lot of space and sometimes dust, so some, or like half of them, are in jisungs possession.

CHENLE! everytime he goes grocery shopping, he buys you little chocolates or fresh fruit. he likes the way you give him a big hug to thank him for it. he sometimes leaves little notes on them and put them on your nightstand when you’re asleep. notes like ‘i hope your stomach feels better <3 i put painkillers next to this if you need some’ or ‘wtf where are my airpods. i could’ve sworn you took them’ are usually what you see.

JISUNG! learning new skills together is a nice way of bonding for you two. you would open up the laptop and see all the different things you guys could learn. this could be learning how to cook new dish, learning a dance, or learning how to wash delicate clothing in the washing machine. the main reason why jisung does this in the first place is because he thinks it’s cute when your eyes sparkle at the screen when you finally learn how to do it right.

[creativerogues]

An Amateur DM’s Worldbuilding Thoughts...

I should write my own sea shanties for my nautical campaigns.

There should be a stage in the tavern in case the Bard wants to perform.

I wish I knew more about food so I could write better tavern menus.

A lot of NPCs are probably farmers; potato farmers, fruit farmers, cattle farmers etc.

I should include more diverse NPCs.

Natural disasters can be the basis for an adventure, what’s causing the tsunamis on the coast, what’s making volcanoes erupt and earthquakes happen.

I should use weather and environments to evoke emotions and imagery way more.

Asian hair tends to be thick and straight, whereas European hair tends to be thinner and can be wavy, and African hair tends to be coarse and have very tight curls.

Historical accounts suggest that some women tried to bleach their hair with lemon juice or darken it with indigo or even mud to fit the current trends, so maybe the players meet a lighter haired woman who smells faintly of lemons!

A wizard’s spellbook probably has stains on its parchment from various foods and drinks.

A mute NPC would be a fun way to test myself and see if I can express concepts and ideas to the Party without just saying them.

“Common” often refers to English, but what about different dialects?

I should come up with more fantasy slang and insults.

Some regional fantasy greetings would be a cool way to immerse the Players in the world, such as “Be Pleasured.” meaning “Hello!”.

I should expand on the cosmology of the material plane, what constellations are in the sky, can the Players see other planets if they look up, how many moons does the world have?

The Party, when they're famous enough, probably have random people wanting to speak with them or get their autograph, which would be a great way to break up any monotony caused by shopping montages or downtime activities.

In a busy urban city, there’s probably a lot of street food and street performers.

In a big city, there’s probably a lot of horses and carriages passing through, so the Party probably aren’t walking in the middle of the road unless the road is too small for that sort of thing.

A country is probably broken up into provinces, counties or territories, and cities are probably broken up into districts.

What’s the longest road or trading route in the world? And why is it so popular?

What’s the longest river or mountain range in the world? Where’s the highest mountain located?

Where are the fault lines in the world? Would there be lot’s of mountains or lots of earthquakes there?

Which countries have the best archers or soldiers or cavalry? Which country has the best naval fleet?

If giant animals and dire beasts (like dire wolfs and giant owls) exist, would people try to use them like cavalry, with people flying giant owls carrying power-kegs so they could drop bombs on the bad guys, or people riding armoured dire beasts into battle...

Certain regions probably have certain cuisines, which would be reflected in their tavern menus.

Different cultures have different views on music, as well as different superstitions and different folk tales.

Different cultures have different architecture, from wood or stone buildings to tents to maybe no “Buildings” at all!

Before a person becomes an adventurer, they were most likely a farmer or labourer of some kind.

Wizards and bards would be great translators.

What does the flag or banner of each country look like, or do certain parts of the country have their own heraldry or coat of arms?

People from the Underdark probably eat a lot of fungus, plants and bugs, so most probably don’t even know what “Meat” is!

There’s lot of downtime entertainment that could engage the Party, from underground fight clubs to libraries to arenas and theatres.

Each district or province of an area probably has their own landmarks, from rivers and castles to statues and other more fantastical landmarks like famous magic shops.

Festivals, Fairs and Concerts are always a fun way to introduce players to a new culture or city. Perhaps it's a noble ball that's invite only, or perhaps the festival doesn't even take place on this plane of existence!

Most birds don’t react to super spicy food (like chilli peppers) like humans do, so most bird-like D&D Races (like Kenku and Aarakocra) might absolutely love (or hate) spicy food!

Sunlight entering water can travel about 3,000 feet under the right conditions, but there is rarely any significant light beyond about 600 feet, meaning you could potentially have underwater combat take place in complete and utter darkness!

Does my world have fishing laws? Like do they care about fish population enough to have laws to help prevent over-fishing?

A party member hears footsteps and whispers from outside their room, only to open their door and find another patron of the inn trying to sneak to their room without waking anyone up.

Fantasy street food can be pretty much anything! From chocolate to meat on skewers to noodles or even sausages stuffed and grilled quickly right in front of the Players as they walk through the streets!

It’s definitely a strength check to try and break out of bonds, but it’s a dexterity check to wiggle yourself out of handcuffs or bindings, remember that!

 Hobo Symbols (an actual thing created by wandering adventurers and nomads) could make for a great way to communicate places of interest to a Party of New Adventurers.

I should use Electrum Pieces more often.

Characters with more siblings means more fun and relevant NPCs you could put in interesting positions. For example, imagine the brother or sister of a Party Member working for the opposing side during a war....

The BBEG could have multiple enemies or allies in high and low places, meaning potential new allies and enemies for the Party to make.

If you want your Players to think you’re a galaxy brain DM, drip feed info little by little into parts of the campaign from the very start, both in and out of combat, that way when the big reveal comes along, the Players think you’re a big-brained master of plot and storytelling!

Some taverns could have darkened or tinted windows, since that'll make every drunkard inside think it's still early in the night.

If a band of bards is playing in a tavern, the Party can probably hear the noises from outside.

More taverns should have a dance-floor!

There should be more families in taverns and inns, since most taverns and inns are similar to hotels or restaurants.

The walls and ceilings of a tavern could be filled with all sorts of things: Light fixtures, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, wooden beams supporting the walls. Or maybe something more artistic: Paintings, mounted animal heads, tapestries, curtains hanging above windows and doors, just to give a few examples...

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 6

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

“I still think you should wear the blue one,” Missy says from her spot lying on Dana’s bed, having long ago tired of the lengthy debate over what she should wear for her date with Mulder.

It’s now 5:30 and while her hair and makeup have been meticulously complete for over an hour, she’s found herself unable to decide on a dress.

“I was wearing that when Ethan proposed to me, Missy. It’s tainted,” she replies with a glare, alternately holding up a red dress that hits just above the knee and has spaghetti straps, and a black one that is ankle length and has a halter top.

Missy rolls onto her side with an exasperated sigh. “It’s just a dress, Dana. And the man is already in love with you, I doubt he cares that much about what you’re wearing. You’re overthinking it, Sis. Though I think I do have some sage in my bag if you want me to smudge it,” she adds helpfully.

Dana gives her sister a pleading look.

“Fine. Wear the red one,” she acquiesces, moving to sit up. “I better get out of here before he shows up,” she says, and the second the words leave her mouth they hear a soft rapping on the door. They look at each other, Dana still in her bra panties, and then Missy stands. “I’ll let him in, you get dressed.”

Missy pulls the bedroom door closed behind her and answers just as Mulder knocks for a second time. He gives her a quizzical look and turns to check the number on the apartment.

“You’ve got the right one, I’m Dana’s sister, Melissa. We met once,” Missy says as she extends her hand.

Mulder takes it, nodding with recognition. “Right, I remember. Uh, is Scully, I mean Dana, here?”

Missy gives him a sympathetic frown. “No, I’m sorry. She changed her mind.”

Mulder’s expression falls until he hears Scully call out from behind her “Missy, don’t be a jerk!”

She crosses the living room, pausing by the couch to pull a shoe the rest of the way over her heel, and then arrives in the doorway. Mulder is dressed in a black suit and crisp white shirt, his dark grey tie patterned with little triangles. His hair looks freshly cut, barely long enough to run your fingers through, and he’s holding a small bouquet of flowers. He looks delicious.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Missy says with a mischievous smile, grabbing her satchel from the dining room table and slipping past Mulder out the open door. “You two kids have fun,” she calls over her shoulder.

Dana rolls her eyes at her sister's remark, then turns to see Mulder staring at her with an oddly intense expression, his lips slightly parted.

“What?” she asks with genuine concern, looking down at her dress to make sure nothing is out of place.

He shakes his head gently as if pulling himself from a reverie. “You look...you look incredible. I mean you always look incredible but now that I’m allowed to tell you that you look incredible…” he drags his eyes down to her shoes and back up to her face where he finds a soft smile on her lips. “You’re so beautiful,” he completes.

She looks away sheepishly, pressing her lips together to hide the grin that it would feel too conceited to let show. “Thank you,” she says quietly, then meets his eye. “You look very handsome yourself.”

They look at each other for a beat, and she can tell he wants to kiss her. She wonders if he will, and if she should let him. They’ve already done much more than kiss, but everything still feels so new. Starting over indeed.

“Oh, these are for you,” he blurts out, breaking the tension as he offers her the flowers.

“Thank you, they’re beautiful,” she replies, taking them and going to the kitchen for a vase. She can sense his eyes on her back as she fills it with water then sets it on the table. She feels a little tingle in response, one she hasn’t felt in a very, very long time. “Shall we?” she asks as she grabs a sweater from the closet, avoiding his eye lest she throw him down on her sofa and never make it to dinner at all.

He steps just outside the door into the hall, so close as she locks it behind them that she can smell his aftershave. When they turn to leave, his hand drifts to rest on her lower back and it sends a little shockwave through her, and a flush of warmth between her thighs. Knowing that they can actually do all the things she’s imagined is exciting and scary, and she wonders how long she can wait. Wonders how long she wants to.

———

He steals glances at every stoplight or stretch of straight road, basically any chance he gets to look away without causing an accident, to take in the stunning beauty in the passenger seat beside him. That little red dress hugs her curves in all the right places, the pale swell of her breasts peeking out and rising gently with each breath. He shifts in his seat, willing his dick to behave and not make him look like a sex crazed lunatic. Though he is pretty sex starved, so it wouldn’t be an entirely untrue assessment. Every bit of self control he’d mustered when they spent time together last year has worn thin, and though he knows that she is no longer off-limits, that doesn’t mean she’s ready to get physical. He would have waited forever for her, so what’s a few more days, or weeks. Months? He really hopes it’s not months.

They pull up in front of the restaurant and he jogs around to the passenger side to open the door for her before the valet can get there. She gives him a shy little smile when he offers his hand to help her out of the car, pulling her to stand in the small space between himself and the doorframe so that the front of their bodies are nearly flush. She tilts her face up towards him, her tall shoes still only bringing her to his shoulder. He lets his eyes fall to her mouth, which is bare of any lipstick but naturally pink and pouty. He could kiss her now and not smudge anything at all.

“Sir?” the valet interrupts, holding out his hand in request of the keys.

The spell broken, he gives over the keys and takes Scully’s hand, her slim fingers threading between his own as her thumb brushes against his palm, a secret acknowledgement of the moment they shared. He smiles to himself as he leads her to the front doors of Marcel’s, looking over to see her curious appraisal of the venue. She clearly hasn’t been here before, which makes him happy. They are led by the host to a small table near the window draped in white linens and she gives him a skeptical glance as he pulls out her chair.

“Are you always this chivalrous? Don’t set expectations you can’t live up to, Mulder.”

He chuffs a laugh. “I actually am, it’s not an act. I was raised in a very upscale, old money environment. I can also tell you which fork to use for each course, if you’re interested.”

She lifts her eyebrows in surprise, watching him curiously as he takes the seat beside her, not across. He doesn’t want an entire table between them.

“Really? Where was that?”

“Martha’s Vineyard,” he answers plainly, not ever wanting that to sound like something he’s bragging about. “What about you, where are you from?” He changes the subject as quickly as possible.

She makes a face. “Nowhere in particular. I was born in Annapolis but my father was in the Navy so we moved a lot. The place he was stationed the longest was San Diego so that area feels just a little bit like home, but we’ve also spent quite a bit of time on the East Coast. We lived in Japan for a bit when I was a baby, but I don’t remember it.”

The waiter comes by to take their drink orders and Mulder orders a bottle of red he assumes they’ll have without looking at the menu. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Scully opens her menu and her eyes expand in shock. She closes it quietly and waits for the waiter to leave before leaning towards him.

“Mulder,” she says very seriously, as though she’s about to deliver devastating news, “that bottle of wine is three hundred dollars.”

He leans further towards her so their foreheads nearly touch. “Scully,” he says in an equally serious tone, “I warned you I was going to go overboard.”

He watches her try to suppress a surprised smile as she leans back, eyeing him appraisingly. “You’re quite the enigma, Mulder. With your fancy country club upbringing and expensive taste in wine in contrast to aliens and worn down bachelor pads.”

“Worn down?” he says in mock offense, “Priscilla will be horrified to hear that you said that.” The full-toothed smile he gets in response makes his heart swell, even if he suspects it has more to do with the mention of Priscilla than his winning sense of humor.

Wine and water are delivered, and Scully tries to order the cheapest thing on the menu before he insists that she wants the surf and turf and she acquiesces with a pained look.

“I think you’ve mischaracterized who among us is the enigma, Scully,” he picks up after their menus are collected. “I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered another Navy brat brainiac babe who cuts up dead people for a living.”

“Really?” she asks, eyebrows furrowed as though this is surprising to hear. “I’ll have to invite you to our next chapter meeting.”

“You’re also funny, add that to your list of enigmatic qualities,” he retorts, and she shrugs demurely. “Speaking of enigmas, there was a case I did a little poking around on, about some suspicious deaths in a community of carnies. There was a sideshow act where a man who was tattooed head to toe in jigsaw puzzle pieces ate live animals. He was sometimes called The Conundrum, and other times he went by The Enigma.”

Her eyes light up at the mention of his old work. “Was this an x file?” she asks excitedly.

“Not technically, no. This was just a couple years ago so the files were closed, but every now and then I get a lead and take some time off work to run it down.”

Scully looks a little disappointed. “Have you ever tried to have the X files reopened?” she asks, taking a sip of her wine and making a little expression that he takes as her being impressed.

“Sure, especially at first. The people at the heart of these government-run conspiracies don’t want the files open again, but the main reason bureau leadership gives for now is that I don’t have a partner, and they won’t let me work on them alone.”

“Couldn't they just assign you a partner? I’m not a field agent, but I was under the impression they somewhat randomly pair people off.”

He smiles sheepishly. “In theory, yes. But I haven’t had much success with the partners I’ve been assigned in the past. One might say that I don’t play well with others.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she says with a skeptical look, “you strike me as fairly easy to get along with.”

“Maybe so, Scully, but there’s a significant difference you’re omitting,” he leans forward and lets the tips of his fingers brush her bare knee. “I like you.”

There’s that million dollar grin again. This night is going so much better than he possibly could have hoped.

———

She could not have possibly imagined how good it would feel to be with him and truly be with him. No boundaries, no barriers, no lines to walk between what’s acceptable for ‘just friends.’ They openly flirt and smile at each other all through dinner, casually touching an arm or a leg, holding hands briefly a few times. She feels like a giddy schoolgirl and can’t recall the last time she felt this happy. So when the waiter collects their dessert plates and drops off the bill, she feels a little wave of sadness that the night is coming to an end.

She knows that if she invites him to come up to her apartment, he will say yes. And she knows that if she does that, they will end up having sex. She would very, very much like to have sex with him. But she’s also worried that she’s rushing things and potentially ignoring possible red flags or other signs that they might not be compatible because she wants this to work so badly. She decides she’s not going to invite him up.

They stand on the curb outside Marcel’s, waiting for the valet to bring the car around, and she crosses her arms and shivers against the cool evening air. Mulder notices and slides his arm around her shoulders, rubbing his palm briskly over her upper arm. Not satisfied that he’s done enough, he then moves to stand behind her and opens his suit jacket, pressing his chest to her back as he wraps the jacket around her, folding them both up inside it. He’s warm and firm and she lets her weight rest against him, the back of her head tucked into the crook of his neck. She sighs contentedly, feeling safe and cared for. It’s a feeling she’s really missed, being single.

On the short drive back to her apartment, he slips his hand over the console to rest on the seat next to her, an invitation, and she presses her palm against his, feeling the ache of missing him before he’s even gone. He pulls up to the curb in front of her building and they don’t let go, looking at each other in the dim glow of the street lights.

“Can I walk you to your door?” he asks, and she feels a mischievous smile creep over her lips. She nods.

They walk slowly, hand in hand, through the front doors and up the elevator. When they arrive at her door, she unlocks but doesn’t open it, leaning her back against the frame instead.

“I had a really nice time, Mulder. Thank you,” she says, her gaze lingering on his hooded green eyes and that full bottom lip.

“Me too,” he replies with a shy smile, stepping forward and placing his fingertips cautiously on her hips.

Her pelvis tips toward him unconsciously, seeking out the contact she has every intention of denying herself for now.

“Can I...would it be okay if I kissed you?” he asks, his eyes on her mouth. She opens it reflexively, tilting her chin up further.

He seems to take that as his answer, dipping his head to meet her at her level, and the pillowy press of his mouth against hers feels like such a relief she sighs audibly. His fingers on her hips press more firmly in response, pulling her gently towards him, closer still. She puts her hands on his forearms and slides them up until her fingers are gently scraping through the hair at the nape of his neck, and she feels his tongue slip out to taste hers. One of his hands leaves her hip and she feels it flutter over the side of her neck, cupping her jaw gently as they kiss slowly, languidly, like they have all the time in the world. His thumb brushes over the front of her throat and it somehow feels more intimate than if he were touching her in a more private place. To touch her in a vulnerable spot, one that can hurt and even kill someone, but to do it so tenderly feels erotic and exciting, and she takes his lip between her teeth and bites down gently to encourage him. He emits a little groan and arches his pelvis towards her, the stiff ridge of his erection grazing her belly.

“Mulder,” she says between kisses.

“Mmmmm,” he says in response, brushing his lips over the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t...I think….we should probably say goodnight.”

He makes a little sound somewhere between a whine and a sigh, but pulls away from her.

“I just...I don’t want to rush this,” she says earnestly, holding both his hands in hers. “I want to do things right this time.”

He nods, pulling her into an embrace. She has that feeling again, like she could crawl inside his chest cavity and make a home there, though this time it’s accessorized with an erection pressed against her.

“Sorry about that,” he says without embarrassment, and she laughs.

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” she replies, pulling away and reaching for the doorknob.

“You really, really, should,” he retorts, and she opens the door, backing in slowly. Once she is fully inside and looking at him through the slim crack she’s wedged herself into as though she were trying to keep him out, he leans forward so his face is inches from hers. “One for the road?” he asks hopefully, and she nods.

He presses his mouth against hers, chastely, no tongue, and holds it there for a very long time. Long enough that she starts to feel her resolve cracking. She pulls away.

“Goodnight, Mulder,” she says in a sing-song voice, and he backs away from the door with a dopey smile.

“Night, Scully,” he replies, not leaving until after she closes the door. She knows because she watches him through the peephole as he stands there smiling like a fool before looking up and possibly thanking the gods. Finally, he leaves.

Goodnight indeed. It was such a good night.

[fleckcmscott]

Coffee & Donuts

Summary: Arthur’s thrilled to be part of a crowd. Though the evening doesn’t go perfectly, Y/N’s flirtations make it sweet.

Warnings: Smut

Words: 4,602

A/N: Alright. After the heart wrenching angst of my last piece (which I love, by the way; don't get me wrong! 😂), I had to write another story in which Arthur and Y/N are happy and together. It's inspired by one of Arthur's visions during their kiss. I hope you all like it! Special thanks to @jokerownsmysoul for beta-ing!

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment, feel free to message me, or send me an ask. Requests for Arthur and WWH are open!

Parties and celebrations weren't foreign to Arthur. He'd worked plenty, enough to make him realize what he'd been missing out on. He was well-versed in pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, and balloon animals. But as an adult, those activities didn't satisfy. He wanted to be included rather than paid. Connect with people, introduce himself. Discuss his experiences and pursuits. Feel sufficiently at ease to loosen up a little and have a good time.

Now he was a guest - a certified guest - at Patricia Gorman's fifty-sixth birthday party. The first party he'd been invited to since being the weird kid in class who'd rotated between three worn out sweaters and could never afford a gift.

He'd been a tad apprehensive about going to Burnside. Gotham's nicest borough had a reputation for high rents and low tolerance. When Y/N and he had entered 2E, however, Patricia's greeting ("You made it!") and the apartment were thoroughly welcoming. Crocodile brown walls and forest green shag carpet made the spacious living room a cozy hideaway. Marigolds leapt across the polyester of the T-cushion sofa and its easy-chair companion. The floor lamp's amber, crimped glass shades cast the spacious living room in a glow borrowed from warm autumn days.

Patricia's husband, Robert, was out on an emergency call. An HVAC had gone haywire in a residential building in Hinckley. Her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson had been by for lunch. That meant the only other guests were Matt - Y/N's old boss - and a bottle-blonde in a black halter dress and spike heels, who Y/N introduced as Laura. ("She's Matt's ex-wife," Y/N later disclosed. "He's been trying to win her back since I moved to Gotham.") Both shook Arthur's hand when he offered it, and he felt a little thrill whirl his stomach when Y/N laid claim to him by telling the woman, "This is my husband."

A collection of appetizers served as dinner, a fun and novel menu. The slow cooker meatballs Y/N and he had lugged over on the subway were a bit tangy; he still couldn't believe the recipe called for grape jelly. The deviled eggs with paprika, a pleasant mix of savory and sweet, was a dish he'd heard about on television. Cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches were light and airy, a good match for his iced tea. Only the artichoke and spinach dip gave him pause. Its beans and hot sauce made his taste buds wince.

That unpleasant flavor was quickly forgotten when Y/N pulled him to sit next to her on the sofa, so Patricia could open her presents. She proudly showed off the orange, clay ashtray her grandson had made for her. Arthur, having successfully kept the secret of her light smoking from Y/N, chuckled at Patricia fibbing she'd put candy in it. She thanked Matt and Laura for the champagne, wrapped in a silver bow with a simple "Happy Birthday" tag. The bottle wasn't popped. Upon peeking into the large giftbag Y/N placed on her lap, she made a soft sound. The Dazey whirlpool bath, which attached to the side of the tub and had three strength settings, was a hit. She announced her plans to try it in the morning. The dark blue Rexbuilt briefbag was intended to replace her cracked, leather briefcase, Y/N explained. Patricia ran her fingertips along the expanding inner compartments, the personalized planner that included the credential "CLA" after her name, and flipped through the included steno pads, eyes brimming.

She sipped at her cocktail and put an arm around Y/N. Melancholy tinged Patricia's voice. "At my age, the people in your life tend to stay the people in your life. Whether you like them or not." She reached further and patted Arthur's knee. "I'm glad an old dame like me gets to call you all friends." His throat clenched in gratification, though he wasn't daring enough to squeeze her hand and thank her for deciding he was a friend.

Still on top of the world an hour later, Arthur sauntered to the red and white enamel dining table to serve himself a second slice of upside-down pineapple cake. The evening had gone well, better than a guy with a natural inability to mingle could've expected. He bobbed his head to the beat of "Come Fly with Me." It was a happy coincidence that Patricia's taste in music aligned with his. She'd regaled him with tales of seeing Sinatra and Count Basie on her and Robert's honeymoon in Vegas. Arthur took a bite absentmindedly, wondering how long it would take for him to save the money to surprise Y/N with plane and concert tickets.

The daydreaming didn't last long. Matt's plodding footsteps preceded him, followed by a long sigh as he propped himself on the beige stone of the dining area's accent wall, across from the u-shaped kitchen. He held out a Budweiser and smirked. "Marriage is a hell of a lot of work."

Pleased that he was being treated like one of the guys, like a regular husband with a regular relationship who got to speak about his regular wife, Arthur accepted the beer and considered the comment. Matt's sentiment was hard to grasp. Dr. Sally had said marriage could be difficult, and Y/N's first hadn't survived the ripples of her life. But it didn't feel like work with her. Their arguments were minor. Her nagging him to find a primary doctor for annual check-ups, even though he'd survived this long without one. Or back in Missouri, when he'd told her to stop shielding him and trust he could take anything she had to give.

Arthur adopted a similar nonchalant posture and jutted his hip against the table's edge. "I like it. It's easy to take good care of her." He wasn't able to completely erase the smugness of success from his tone.

"You're what? Two years in with the most headstrong woman in Gotham? She's great and all, but she spikes my blood pressure." Matt slapped Arthur's back and let out a hearty guffaw. "Give it five more and you'll be in my office trying to avoid alimony."

"Don't. Say that." Arthur crinkled the can in his grip and glared up at him.

"Hey," Matt started, withdrawing even as he tried diplomacy. "It was just a joke. I didn't mean anything by it."

Flinching, pulling at the cuffs of his red sweater, Arthur fought the surge of anger in his veins. It wouldn't do to lose control and cause a scene. Of course Matt's comment about them splitting up was supposed to be a joke. But Arthur didn't find it one bit funny. Even with his complete faith in her and his firm belief that they were meant to be together, the possibility that she'd stop wanting him hurt. It didn't occur to him that the implication of the punchline could be that he'd get sick of Y/N.

With a muttered apology, Matt walked to the others in the kitchen. Arthur glanced over to see her laugh tipsily, until she grabbed her stomach and swatted Patricia's shoulder, a stark demonstration of how much he and Y/N differed. She always knew how to respond to people, the right comebacks. Appropriate timing and levels of interaction. It seemed she was in her natural element, the loveliest swan on a lake. Whereas after years of therapy and practice with her, he was still a fish out of water, flopping around on the shoreline in hopes some stranger would take pity on him and throw him back into the sea.

Maybe that was the real punchline. Eventually their contrasts would no longer complement each other and instead become a chore.

Scowling, he ambled towards the record player stationed before two double-hung windows. Increased the volume to drown out the intrusive notions. It didn't really work. He settled on a grounding technique he'd practiced, all the while lamenting that he couldn't handle a party without needing it. His attention went to the spinning LP, the needle following its grooves. The bright blue album cover, where Ol' Blue Eyes beckoned him, the scuff marks on the cardboard's corner edges. He acknowledged the spider plants sat on the windowsill, worried a papery leaf until it broke off. He stared out the window, taking in the whole of the city. Pinpricks of light dazzling in the darkness.

"Gotham's beautiful at night," Y/N said from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to watch her approach. Her cheeks glowed with alcohol and good cheer, the collar of her ivory blouse unbuttoned. "There's a life behind every light out there. Ten million of them. Here. Try this." She offered her hurricane glass, filled with an off-white slush.

He sipped the pina colada with cautious skepticism and grimaced as soon as it hit his tongue. The blend of pineapple and coconut tasted of cheap sunscreen and tropical imitations, the kind advertised in smudged brochures for bad cruises to islands with made up sounding names. "No, thanks."

Snorting, she shrugged and embraced his back at the waist. "How are we doing?" she asked, curling into his side. After a few seconds, she prodded him. "Had your fill of Matt?"

"He was just joking." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.  She set the drink next to the record player and brought her hand to his, trailed it over the inside of his wrist, up his forearm. She pecked his chin and nudged him until he turned to her. As soon as their gazes met, the concern in hers told him she'd continue to pepper him with questions. But he wasn't about to let his misplaced doubts spoil her evening. And he knew the perfect way to distract them both.

A new song started. An oldie that sang of Jupiter and Mars, playfulness among the stars. He cupped her cheek, thumb sweeping the corner of her mouth. "Dance with me," he said. Before accepting his proffered palm, she laid a sloppy kiss on him. With a flutter of her eyelashes, she grinned, and his smile grew to match her own. As he held her side, led her in a slow, swaying circle, he marveled at her. At her ability to soothe every molecule, every lingering ache. Self-assurance welled in him, chased away his earlier dejection. He cradled her to his lanky frame, trembled and felt himself blush. She was the only woman for him. That was as certain as his cigarette habit.

Despite Patricia's reassurances she was fine, that Robert working late wasn't unusual, Y/N insisted on staying until he got home. Though Arthur would have preferred they take their leave an hour earlier, being allowed to smoke inside blunted his grumbling. The disarming flirtations she bestowed on him also didn't hurt. She'd pour herself a drink (four in total, if he counted correctly), help Patricia make a plate of leftovers for her husband, then throw him a wink. Whisper and cackle while cleaning, then kiss his temple.

Around midnight, Patricia put her foot down. Ushered them out with a promise to call and a hug fierce enough to crush his ribs. She raised a brow at Y/N's unsteady gait, grasped Arthur's arm, and said with a wry, tired smile, "Make sure you put that woman straight to bed." His dark brows shot up and held. Had she intended a pun? Or had Y/N's spare caresses caused the interpretation? Either way, he liked being trusted to take care of her. And the hint of arousal that flared in his belly.

By the time they stumbled into their apartment, that arousal had reduced to a dull exhaustion. She kicked off her heels on the way to the bathroom, calling a slurred "night!" as she closed the door. Yawning, he put dish soap and hot water in the crockpot, scrubbed burned bits of sauce from its rim, turned it upside down on a towel to dry. Once he'd brushed his teeth for one minute rather than the recommended two, he tossed his sweater, trousers, briefs, and socks in the hamper, and went to the bedroom. He found his blue pajamas in their usual spot, the chair in the corner, and slid them up his skinny but toned legs. Tucked in next to her, he was carried to sleep on waves of fatigue and her quiet, wet snoring.

~~~~~

A tickle threatened to rouse him. Whispers along the waistband of his bottoms. Heat snuggled his back. Delightfully drowsy, he cuddled deeper into cozy, cream-color sheets, already returning to a pleasant, dreamless slumber. But a rumble of exhaust, likely from a bus that needed a new muffler, dragged him to consciousness. Arthur grumbled and tucked his arm under his pillow, not ready to transition to a world of overcrowding and concrete, commotion and bad jokes.

Yet, Y/N's insistent grazes continued, luring him with promises of placid pleasure. Her toes wiggled at his heel until he made space for her to slip her foot between his ankles. The corner of his mouth quirked. He was reminded of last night's playfulness, her endless teasing. The way he'd held the crockpot as a shield to fend off her advances on the train home, her forwardness to the point that he would've preferred having a laminated card to present on her behalf. Forgive my wife: she has a condition. It causes frequent and uncontrollable displays of affection.

Nimble fingers edged lower, loosened the tie of his pajamas before dipping beneath the loose elastic to lace through his dark brown curls, darker than the chestnut hair on his head. Her knuckles ran over him, lazy caresses full of intent. Up and down, up and down. Delicate. Deliberate. The blood racing to his groin, the pleasant swelling, made his abdomen twitch. Soon full and heavy, the sensitive tip straining the cotton seams, he pressed his lips together. When she skimmed the tender skin resting on his inner thigh, he flexed the muscle at the base of his erection. It bobbed and hit her wrist and she let loose a girlish giggle, more intoxicating than wine.

With her left leg draped over him at the knee, she undulated against his rear. Plush lips brushed the boney knobs of his spine, damp breath fanned the nape of his neck, labored, needy. Pebbled nipples grazed his back through the thin nylon of her nightgown, taunting and compelling. He made up his mind to throw an arm around her, to yank her on top of him. To eagerly take part in her seduction.

But she withdrew from his bottoms to palm his stomach and plant a gentle kiss to the shell of his ear, whispering, "Sleep tight." The mattress shifted and she rolled away from him. He furrowed his brows. She rarely relented this easily - other times he'd awakened, hard and aching, enveloped by the captivating wetness of her mouth. What was she up to?

Covers rustled. Her calf bumped his. And the opposite of what he'd assumed occurred. Instead of light footfalls leading out of the room, there was silence, silence that seemed to stretch on and on...

Until a hitched gasp gave her away.

Touching herself. She was touching herself. She'd just been all over him, acted like he was some sort of model on the cover of Vue magazine, and now she was touching herself. Right beside him! Ecstatic to have inspired such brazenness, he grinned and fisted the pillow. Her fleeting, stifled moans tangled him in knots, implored him to give her what they both burned for.

He flipped in her direction, his hand shooting under the sheet to grab hers. "Gotcha."

Eyes wide, she gaped at him in surprise. But adoration softened her expression as she entwined their fingers. "How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Long enough."

He stretched to rewind the shades, the diaphanous curtains staying in place. Sunlight diffused over them, wrapped around her face, lent her disheveled hair a warm luster. He twirled a feathered lock and pecked her eyelids. "Finishing what you started on the subway, hm?"

"Me?" Y/N brought his knuckles to her mouth.  "You're the one who came to bed without any underwear."

"Well, it was a late night." The pad of his thumb tugged at her bottom lip to reveal the pink tip of her tongue. He bent to claim it. "I was lucky to find my pajamas."

Chuckling, she broke their connection. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah. The cake was good. And the music. Everyone was nice."

"Patricia loved having you there. She thought you were very sweet." A pause as she mapped a dimple. "Matt said he'd upset you. Something stupid about breaking up?"

Vague shadows of discomfort flashed through Arthur, a frustration he'd mostly moved on from. He did his best to ignore it, waving her concern away. "Don't worry about it."

"He was just jealous, you know." Her nails ran along the small of his back. "He wants Laura to look at him the way I look at you."

Arthur had spent so much of his life yearning for change, to understand his purpose in the world and improve himself. The idea that a man with a good education, a successful career, and no disabilities could ever be jealous of him was, frankly, bizarre. But he didn't correct Y/N, instead locking her praise within his heart, preserving it for when he needed it most. He boosted himself on his forearm and fiddled with her V-neck, traced its button loops as he slipped the plastic knobs through them. "And how's that?'

A hint of scandal glimmered in her irises. She arched into him as he eased a strap down her upper arm to reveal her shapely breast, the lilac fabric momentarily catching on its taut peak. "Like I can't get enough of you."

He huffed at that, fondled her faintly before his lips met the velvety skin of her chest. A tonic comprised of the musk oil she'd dabbed on before the party and distinct sexual wanting wafted to his nostrils. He licked at her nipple, the bumps on her areola, and drew it between his teeth. She whined softly and lifted the bottom of her nightdress to her waist.

Hurriedly, he yanked on the waistband of her cotton panties, pushed them past her knees. She kicked them off while he knelt to lower his bottoms. Straddling her, he pumped himself back to hardness and opened the drawer of her nightstand. He searched haphazardly until he retrieved a small, glass bottle of lubricant. (She'd ordered it from a mail catalog, both of them a bit too bashful to walk into an adult shop, even together.)

She snagged it from him and poured half a teaspoon in her hand, then palmed herself. He moved between her legs and she grasped his length, coating him with the warm, slippery liquid. He pushed forward into her. Gradually, slowly, savoring every millimeter of her enticing heat. He noted the stretch of her mouth, the jut of her jaw, the lifting of her upper lip. "Mmm..." she breathed and begged him to keep going. When he did, her head tilted back into the pillow, eyelids falling shut. A smile cut across her cheeks as she purred her satisfaction. "Arthur, I love you."

His touch wandered down the curve of her thigh. At the sight of her subtle writhing beneath him, the sway of her slightly uneven breasts in time with his languid thrusts, he pushed her knee into the mattress, splayed her wider. He grunted lowly. "Look at me."

Their gazes met but didn't hold for long; hers dropped to where they were joined. She caressed right above his pubic bone. "I love seeing you like this." Her fingertips walked a line up his sternum to his chest. "And touching you like this." She wrapped her arms around his middle and drew him to her, locked their lips in a greedy kiss. "And making love like this."

He snorted. "I think this is the only reason you married me."

"Well, not the only reason. There's your good hair, too."

"I've been thinking about cutting it. Trying something new."

"Don't you dare." She tugged at his loose curls, wore her best pout. "What else would I hold onto when we're doing this?"

Laughing lightly, he bumped his nose to hers. Falling into her was like falling into his old fantasies, the ones that'd sustained him through years of isolation. Dates at diners, at comedy clubs, at donut shops, at home. Their shapes had changed as he'd matured, his role in them, his aspirations and infatuations. But they'd remained a warm comfort nonetheless, a place that felt like belonging. And now he belonged with her. Hunger filled him. Happiness. And love. So much love, more than he'd ever believed he'd carried in him. He bucked a little harder. "You feel so good," he murmured. "You make me feel so good."

A strained cry left her and her pelvis answered his steady rhythm with demands of its own. Her calves rose to squeeze him closer, encircle his narrow hips. They were pressed together so tightly; it felt like they were one flesh. He never wanted it to stop. But a dizzying euphoria had ignited, one that eclipsed the romantic yearnings of his heart, twisting his desire to last all morning into the desperate drive to possess her. Gasping, Arthur raised himself to his knees, delving deeper with each push. Their foreheads met and he grit his teeth at the scald of her, the texture of her walls. She fit as though she'd been made for him.

He supposed she was.

Pressure began in the base of him, building and building in terrific torment. The muscles of his inner thighs contracted inward. Tingling climbed his shaft, his tailbone, his spine. He wove his fingers into the sheet, his grip a vise that wrested its corner from the mattress. She kissed the spot where his jaw met his neck, all the while murmuring encouragements for him to let himself go.

Bliss shot through him, from the tips of his toes to the follicles on his scalp, and his back stiffened as he whimpered and poured into. Fever engulfed his frame, sublime in its frenzy, leaving him in a heady stupor. Aftershocks made him tremble. Once, twice. Until, sated and spent, he landed on top her. He closed his eyes, ribs rising and falling as he forced air into his lungs.

A minute later, he swallowed and looked down at her. "You didn't come."

She carded through his sweaty locks. "It's all righ-"

"Shh." He slid out of her and settled at her side, reached between her legs to swipe at her core. "I'm not done," he declared, tracing the edges of her entrance, slick and swollen. One of his favorite things about getting her off was demonstrating his prowess in bed, how well he'd learned with her. His thumb met her plump clitoral hood, and he felt her throb beneath his ministrations.

Nails biting his bicep, she rocked upwards. A bewitching blush crept up her breast, her neck, spread across her cheeks. Shallow pants hit his face, short puffs suffused with high-pitched whines, utterly irresistible. He circled her nub at a steady cadence, tapping when she'd shiver, and she clasped the back of his hand. He swirled his tongue around her nipple, sucked the pretty peak, and lowered the other strap of her nightgown to bare her completely. A hushed plea fell from her lips. "Please, please..."

Suddenly, her vulva grew white hot and she seized, her hips stuttering with each flutter of his touch to her folds. She thrusts her breasts towards him, a sharp moan caught in her throat. Liquid pooled against his fingers, proof of her rapture that made him wish, with mild amusement, that he could be an unmedicated young man again. He would've gladly taken her a second time.

Giggling and rubbing her temple, she released a long exhale and opened her eyes. He brushed her hair back and grinned, completely smitten, like the first time he'd heard a joke and understood the punchline. The light brown picture frame on his nightstand caught his attention, and he regarded the wallet size photo in it, one of the shots of Y/N from the booth at Amusement Mile. The last thing he looked at before turning in each night. He lay his head her shoulder and hummed, listened to the drum of her heart.

She smooched his hairline and wriggled out from beneath him to stand. Her nightie had been reduced to a crumpled stripe of lilac cinched about her waist. It felt tawdry and shameless and he wanted to see her in it for the rest of the weekend. But she peeled it down her legs, wrinkling her nose when it got stuck on her thighs, and stepped out of it one foot at a time. She dropped it on the floral bedspread and retrieved her bathrobe from the closet. "Meet you in the kitchen," she said, opening the door.

The sun had risen higher, its beams slanting across the covers. He basked in it, catlike, then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He pulled on his pajamas, got a new pair of socks from their dresser, and made his way to the kitchen. He washed off the remnants of Y/N's arousal from his fingers, popped open a prescription bottle and took a tablet. He poured water into the coffeemaker, grabbed the can of grounds from the second shelf, added three scoops to the paper filter. Their three-tone brown mugs sat in their spot next to the machine, waiting to be filled.

When the glass coffeepot was half full, Y/N emerged from the bathroom, chuckling to herself. She opened the breadbox on the opposite counter and took out a wax paper bag. "Do you have any idea how dull this morning would have been if we'd never met? I'd have read the Sunday paper, had a drink. Probably worked on a file." He handed her a couple dessert plates, watched her put a donut on each one. "I wonder where you'd be. What woman you'd have breakfast with, what jokes you'd be writing, what magic tricks you'd have learned."

"Um..." At first he wanted to ask where this speculation had come from, if Matt had let her in on exactly what he'd said. But the confident slant of her smirk told Arthur she was teasing. He tried to play along but winced. No matter how appealing, how extraordinary she found him, his gut told him there wouldn't have been another woman. There'd be no more stand-up routines, no more Carnival. He certainly wouldn't be taking care of Penny. He'd likely be locked up in the hospital, maybe even dead. Without an anchor, his life would have lost what little sense it had.

Y/N was one of his anchors now, hooked into the sand alongside his material, treatment, the ability to pay bills. He seized her hand and squeezed it tight, unaware he was squishing her fingers. "I don't wanna think about it," he said quietly.

She sidled up to him and pulled him to her side. Rubbed his flank soothingly and pecked the corner of his mouth. "Don't worry." She took his chin and guided him to look at her. The intimate comfort of her smile helped him believe her next words, even before she spoke them. "I'll always be here."

~~~~~

Tag list (Let me know if you want to be added!): @harmonioussolve @ithinkimaperson @sweet-nothings04 @stephieraptorr @rommies @fallenstarsabyss @gruffle1 @octopus-plasma @tsukiakarinobara @arthur-flecks-lovely-smile @another-day-in-chuckletown @hhandley80 @jokerownsmysoul @fakestreet​ @ralugraphics​​ @iartsometimes​

[dc41896]

Sick Day

Pairing: Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: None, all fluff💕!

“I can’t come?,” Bodie asks with little pink lips in a heart wrenching pout and doe-like golden brown eyes seemingly peering into his father’s soul.

“No bud, you have to stay in your class.”

“Why?”

“So you can learn new things, and play with your friends,” Chris explains squatting down to be at his eye level as the four-year-old peers down at his sneaker covered feet.

“Why?,” he mumbles clearly not happy with his answer.

“Because....”

Honestly, why did he have to stay in class? Everything they were doing he could do at home really. And with as many books and educational games he had, Chris began to wonder why he even had to go to pre-k at all?

“You know, I don’t have an answer for you Bo.”

His curls lightly bounce as he tilts his head waiting to hear what his father had to say next.

“What do you say we go have some fun?,” he asks picking up a now excited Bodie as he claps his hands with a short squeal.

“Now daddy?!”

“Mhm. First we gotta get your bag, but after we can do anything you want bubs.”

The toddler beamed and mind began to race with all the things he’d want to do. Comfortably lying his head on Chris’ shoulder as they eventually left his school, he thought maybe they could even go to Disney and see his favorite characters after doing everything they could in town.

———

“More please!”

“Shh,” he chuckles momentarily placing his index finger over his own lips before pouring a few more jellybeans in his hand from the bag they were sharing. “Okay no more after this. You still gotta eat dinner.”

Just as he said, the two did everything Bodie wanted. First they went to the zoo and saw all the animals, then they went to the park and played catch as well as swung and climbed on the jungle gym (with Chris’ help). They even had lunch at his favorite restaurant and caught the last bit of the Red Sox game.

Now all that was left was for the two to eat dinner and Bodie get a bath without you knowing about him skipping school. Easy.

“Hey boys,” you smile as they enter the kitchen, an excited “mommy!” leaving your son’s lips as he leans in to kiss your cheek before your husband meets your lips. “How was school?”

“Good!,” Chris quickly answers putting down the little boy so he could go play with Dodger, happy to have his buddy back. “He had a great day.”

“Really?”

“Yea, the teacher said he did really well with his reading. And his uh group time went well too.”

You have to stifle your grin listening to your husband trying his best to lie when both of you knew he couldn’t. From his neck up to his ears and face became tinted a light red as he nervously scratched his beard, making you look at him feigning concern.

“Babe you okay? You keep scratching and you’re red,” you state placing the back of your hand on his forehead.

“Y-Yea, I guess I’m just a little hot is all.”

“You sure? Hopefully you didn’t catch something at the zoo.”

“No I doubt-,” he starts before his blue eyes expand and mouth slightly goes agape as you nonchalantly go back to moving around the contents of the sizzling pan.

“Or maybe it was something you ate at Maddio’s?,” you suggest with a smirk. The only thing he can manage to do is release a shaky chuckle with fingers rapidly tapping the cool marble countertop.

“H-How..”

“Peter’s mom called me saying how she hoped Bo felt better after she heard he left school early because he was sick, and thus wouldn’t need to be picked up for his play date. I told her how that was news to me, but I’d call you to see what happened. As soon as I hung up with her, I got a notification from the bank on how a purchase was just made at the zoo, which was confusing until Maddio’s also popped up and then things came together.”

He really needed to remember to turn off those bank notifications on your phone when he got the chance.

“So sounds like you guys had fun today.”

“Alright you caught us,” he sighs wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder. “I didn’t get any time with him last night since I got in so late, or this morning because I was still asleep when you guys left, so I thought I could go and peek in on him in class really quick. Of course he saw me, so we played for a while and when I had to leave he looked so sad babe! I couldn’t just leave him like that.”

“Which then made you persuade our son to play hookie,” you giggle making him softly laugh.

“I’m sorry for being a bad influence,” he pouts as you turn in his arms to face him, lips meeting his soft, jutted bottom one.

“It’s okay, plus you haven’t been the only bad influence. When you first left I might’ve, sorta, let him stay home for a week,” you reveal shyly biting your bottom lip. Now was his turn to smirk before gently nudging your cheek with his nose and a low “well well well,” rolls off his tongue making you laugh.

“He was sad, I was sad, even Dodger wasn’t as upbeat as usual. So, I figured everyone deserved time at home with some much needed cuddles.”

Shaking his head, a lone strand of hair dangles perfectly in front of his forehead and tongue clicks as you playfully roll your eyes lying your head on his chest. “A whole week and I only took him one day.”

“Okay so maybe I was a little more sad and selfishly needed the extra cuddles, sue me. Plus what Bo does in class we can do here.”

“That’s exactly what I said! Even today he read the menu, ordered his own food, and we did math,” he smiles calling out to the giggling boy over his shoulder. “Bodie, how many innings are in a baseball game?”

“9!”

“And how many bases are there?”

“Um..3 daddy. And-and home is 4!,” he answers bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Good job bubs! See? Just call me Mr. Frizzle,” he winks, the both of you laughing as you held onto each other.

Eyes wandering to the living room, a soft smile graces yours and Chris’ faces watching your son show Dodger how the lion he got from the zoo matched his larger one. It was hard to believe that you two already had a four year old when it seemed like you were just walking around the house with both hands at the base of your growing belly.

Although you could do without the morning sickness, back pains, and the struggling to catch your breath parts of pregnancy, you did miss the overall experience of it. So much so that you’d been recently thinking maybe it was time Bodie had a sibling.

“Can we have another one?,” you ask not taking your gaze away from the adorable duo lying on their bellies on the floor. Chris slightly parts from you making sure he not only heard you correctly, but that your expression was truly as serious as your words.

“Really? You want another baby?”

“Well yeah. I mean we’ve talked about it before how we both wanted more than one, and lately with Bo growing up so fast I’ve missed having a baby in the house.”

“Not to mention you were very cute while pregnant,” Chris adds, leaning down to peck just below your jaw. There wasn’t a time while you were carrying Bodie that his eyes weren’t adoringly attached to you. Watching you do the simplest things, like watering the plants around the house, instantly made his heart swell and a bright smile form on his lips at your glowing skin and the fact that you were growing his child’s life within you.

“Then it’s settled..?”

“Mhm, and maybe when this one gets old enough we can have a joint family hookie day?,” he jokingly suggests causing you to giggle.

“As a responsible adult and parent I probably shouldn’t say it, but that’s actually not a bad idea.”

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[someguyiguess]

Tell us a story that aliens tell around their campfires about humans

oh okay you gonna make me do some storytelling huh?

Its rumored among the people of the purple planet that somewhere out there is another planet with sapient life on it.

They speculate and guess about what it might look like.

But the one thing they love to speculate about the most is their mouths.

At one camp, there is a longstanding tradition of eating the g'nares around the flame and telling stories.

Every summer the campers gather, just after dark, and guess. wondering what must be out there. sure, there is always one or two youths that think the notion of other life is foolish, but everyone else knows deep down that life is out there, and it's weird. there are three primary schools of thought, and they've all developed unique traditions and lore over the years at the camp, just like the storytellers of the ancient civilizations.

one group of theorists poses that the aliens have long, straw like mouths for drinking and eating from fruits. like the heroic Stevphen of the swampland planet. Stevphen leads his tribe through the swampy marshlands of their planet, always in search of one more tree that they can use to make just one more canoe for the little ones. the berries are found everywhere, and it's common knowledge that while their juice is highly nutritious, the skins are not. fortunately, their long mouths are filled with a fibrous filter of sorts, able to prevent them from swallowing the berry skins when they crush the berries to have their sustenance. Stevphen was the first to realize how much easier it was to crush up these delicious berries than to have to find the float melons for their people. this came in especially handy when a global plague wiped out nearly all the float melons, leaving only the berries to eat on much of their planet. the other tribes died out very quickly, but Stevphen's tribe persisted on, eventually populating the entire planet again.

the second group of theorists has long held that the mouths of those creatures aren't really mouths at all, but simply membranes to catch the bugs that surely must be abundant on their jungle planet. the wise Bronce was the first to pose that the bugs could be followed and managed rather than just hunted, and that saved his people from near total catastrophe. when the planet went through a draught, many areas ran out of bugs. the puddles and lakes which once supported their spawning dried up, and the peoples of those areas soon withered away with them. in other areas, the bugs survived the draught, but over hunting and gluttony crushed them, and their loss crushed the peoples of those regions. it was only Bronce and the peoples of their lands who made it through, by using the newly discovered science of tree fly husbandry. Bronce taught their people to observe the tree flies, and only consume what the populations could support unless the people were starving. Bronce led her people through the forests, educating the others, all the while becoming the most prosperous bug farmers of the planet, sharing their abundance with all the peoples they found.

then there was the third group. despite being followed by over 20% of the campers throughout history, and gaining traction each year, it was dismissed as lunacy by the other groups. the theory was, admittedly, kind of outlandish. after all, if terrestrial mouths were squishy, soft, and wide, why would other life be so different? but they believed it nonetheless. the theory was as follows: what if their mouths weren't specialized, like the other theories? what if their mouths weren't adapted just for fruit or just for catching bugs? what if their mouths weren't limited to dissolving the bark off of trees like the campers and their people? what if their mouths could handle everything? what if they could eat the berries or roots or even the flesh of other creatures? what if their mouths had both soft tissue and hard tusks? what if they could both cut and grind and sip? just like their leader Merroi? She and her people had been roaming the barren deserts of their arid planet for generations, but Merroi was the first one to realize just how many options they could take advantage of. for years the hardy ears of the spiny paddle plant had been all she had known the taste of, but one day she wondered what the other plants had to offer. she pulled up the leafy stalk of the pik prot bush, and saw it had thick juicy roots. she took a big bite, and chewed it for a little bit, and then another and another. this bush had some of the sweetest roots they had ever found, and the stalks could be used to make ropes out of. they then found themselves being attacked by one of the giant snakes of the desert, but managed to fend it off. Merroi had seen the rodents and birds gorging themselves on the meat of dead snakes before, so she suggested they try it themselves. they found that they were able to tear into it with great effectiveness. the people were then, over the next few generations, able to expand their menu ever further, drawing upon the spirit of Merroi and her adventurousness. they maintained balance of the populations of the plants and animals by being able to avoid a given species in favor of the others when they noticed the planet was suffering. soon they had become so abundant in food that they had time to devote to other pursuits, such as developing tools and architecture and written language and all manner of things.

but who really knows? perhaps Stevphen, the bold patriarch of the swamps was actually a hunter. perhaps Merroi, the matriarch of the desert, was actually a picky eater! and maybe, just maybe, Bronce, the ancestor of the Jungle peoples, was afraid of bugs the whole time.

[phoenotopia]

The Last Phoenotopia Blog Update

(Date 2021 MAR 01)

I debated how to open this blog post, but perhaps the main crux of this blog post is the best place to start. The blog is being retired.

The purpose of this blog was to be a "development" blog for Phoenotopia, and well, Phoenotopia's development is done. I'll still be doing bug fixes and maintenance on the PC and Switch versions, and playstation and xbox ports are underway (by a publisher). But I'm not going to be making any more major changes to the game. At some point, you put the paintbrush down and say it's done. Blemishes and all.

Recent Events

The game launched on Steam last month, and like any launch, it was hectic. Bugs Galore. This is our first commercial PC launch, so it was a real baptism by fire. Unlike Switch's one configuration, the PC has multiple configurations and factors to account for. The game needed to be able to handle multiple control schemes, screen resolutions, refresh rates, and more! I had a 60Hz monitor going into launch and didn't know anything about Hz (I do now). There was a troublesome stutter that some players were sensitive to that my whole team didn't notice since our eyes compensated it away. There were a few times where in fixing something at one party's behest, it introduced problems for another party. A few times, due to disorganization, I unwittingly rolled back a fix that was meant to be applied. For some, the game couldn't play at all (really glad Steam allows refunds).

It was messy. It was tiring. I.AM.BEAT.

I think the worst of it is over... I'll still be around to do the last updates and bug fixes, but I'm ultimately ready for what's next.

SO what is next?

What isn't next... is Phoenotopia 2. As you may have heard down the grapevine, the game couldn't be what you call successful. No one's earned even minimum wage on it.

Maybe there's hope in the game's long tail. A year or two down the line... maybe. I won't hold my breath though. At some point in the past few months, I finished processing (or grieving) and it's time to move on.

The game has at least earned enough for us to continue our modest operations. As long as we don't expand the team, and we don't take another monster six-year dev cycle like what Phoenotopia took, we can continue. We'll have to be smarter and faster. Perhaps the most valuable thing we gained from all this is experience.

The Experience

It is a dev blog. Here are some of the lessons I've accumulated from this game's development.

- Have a good menu design. Menus aren't just that in-between fluff before you get to the good stuff. Menus are KEY. Your menus need to be robust, expandable, and *understandable* (to you, the developer). Because once the game's out, you will invariably be asked to add more options. And if your menu design is bad, every time you have to add a new menu option, it becomes a whole new pain all over again. Support mouse from the get-go, etc.

- Focus on features that people will actually care about. For instance, I've never seen anyone praise the camera's zoom feature. In practice, people try that feature a few times and then never use it again. But that feature was a constant consideration factor for every level. Run through it multiple times to make sure the level didn't break, think about which zoom levels made sense, resize rooms because they worked at one zoom level but not the other, and so on.

- Don't do boxes that you can move around. Other 2D platformers avoid movable boxes because they're a huge headache to program and they really complicate the game space. Enemies need to respond to boxes you throw in their path and either navigate around or attack it. When you're moving the box, you have to worry about constantly changing your collision size and reconciling when the box gets snagged on the environment. The boxes were also a constant source of bugs because people can manipulate them to soft-lock themselves and more.

- More focused script. Phoenotopia's 100,000+ word script was panned more for being bloated than it was praised for being lengthy. Long scripts take a long time to write and make the game more unwieldy, increasing the costs of translation and upkeep. Every update we're addressing some textual error or mistranslation. There are some highly renowned games (e.g. Hyper Light Drifter) that do without a script at all!

- Be flashy! A bat and a lightsaber take the same amount of work to program, but the lightsaber will draw a lot more attention and interest.

- Slopes, surprisingly! Six years ago when I started, Unity was ill-equipped for 2D games. If you used the physics that Unity provided you'd have a really floaty character that wouldn't adhere to the slope when going downhill. There were a hundred different tutorials saying different things (use forces, use move position, use translation, etc). You can get rectangular collisions done in a day, but to do slopes took weeks. Meanwhile, games can actually get by fine without slopes. Most people won't even notice. Did you know the Phoenotopia flash game didn't have slopes? Neither does Hollow Knight or Rogue Legacy. You can save yourself a lot of work by avoiding slopes.

(big entities look weird on slopes. Bad slope!)

I could write enough little knowledge nuggets like this to fill a book! But I'd rather just make the next game. 

So… what IS next?

As mentioned previously, it's not Phoenotopia 2. Pirate and I are mostly just tossing some ideas back and forth right now. We'll go silent for a year (or two). Our next game's scope will be more modest in some ways, more ambitious in others. It will definitely be more smartly designed. (There will be a map!)

We'll announce it when it's ready for the public. It might be necessary for us to do a kickstarter. I've tried to avoid kickstarters having been burnt on quite a few myself and also because I worry that mismanaging a kickstarter would earn the ire of backers.

But I did keep this blog regularly updated for six years. So I've gained some confidence in my abilities to at least manage a kickstarter well.

Is it really the last Phoenotopia Blog update though?

Okay, not really. There is some news that I'll need to announce, and this blog is one of the game's main outreach channels. Here are the events that will cause me to update the blog:

Announcing the launch of the xbox/playstation ports when they're ready

If a physical edition of the game happens

If a new language is getting introduced into the game (Korean is a high possibility)

When we're ready to talk about our next game

If (BIG IF) we begin development on a Phoenotopia sequel. I do want to do a sequel one day if we have the means and the demand is there. 

Those updates will be more on a "when they happen" basis, rather than me reporting in every couple months.

Fan Art

As always, I'm very happy to see fanart of Phoenotopia. Major thanks again to Pimez for collecting all the artwork from the corners of the internet! Since this is the "last" blogpost, Sir Pimez can finally take a rest from collecting the fanart :P

ÆV made a series of pictures that tell a story. A Pooki is humanely sheared of its wool to create a hat. The Pooki is unharmed. Nice! Gotta love Gail’s expressions.

Amagoo Mazeru makes a stunning landscape shot of a full moon and shooting stars. It’s a sharp and clear vector art. I like the faint glow of the moon and the fire and the subtle gradient in the night sky. Very skillfully done!

Hah hah. I got a chuckle out of this one. I imagine this is how Gail's enemies see her by the end of the game. CaESar made this image based on TerminalMontage's famous youtube videos. Nailed it!

CrownStar drew two pictures of Gail. I'm a big player of JRPGs, so the first shot instantly reminded me of Persona 4's art style. (Hmmm... Phoeonotopia as a JRPG... there’s potential there...) Next, Birdy is shown carried off after her defeat. I really like Birdy's expression here - she just seems mildly uncomfortable.

There's a bit of a story behind the first image. As Firanka shares it, she wasn't able to defeat the Big Eye monster at the end of the flash game, so she believed a tall tale that what awaited after was a 6 armed Kobold boss. Hilarious! The second is a rendition of the lonely Anuri elder. A rare subject. The loneliness is portrayed well here. I feel lonely just looking at it!

Koo_chop draws the clash between Gail and Katash at the top of the towers. I really like this interpretation of the game's art style. It’s faithful to the in-game graphics. And the lighting, from the glow of Gail's bat, to Katash's sword, and the lightning in the background... Amazing!

Lime Hazard shows Gail with a salute pose. Very appropriate for this occasion. I also like how there's a slight tilt in the angle that Gail is portrayed. Those dynamic angles are always hard to get right, and Lime Hazard pulled it off very skillfully. See you next mission!

Lyoung0J with a digital painting of Gail posed sitting on a rock. I like how it almost seems like she was caught in a candid moment - she’s smiling, but also feeling self-conscious. Cute! The art style really pops, and I like how Gail is sporting what I call the old anime style nose. 

MyUesrNameIsSh*t with a sketch of Gail performing a skillful slingshot. I like how Gail is depicted with her tongue out in a mischievous manner, the way all mischievous people with slingshots do.

Niitsu Kentaro returns with a 2021 Happy New Year picture. That happened didn't it? A New Year... Gail's pose gave me a chuckle with how she seems to be waving the bat around as casually as one would wave hello. And "Phoenotopiyear"... Well said! One day we'll have our Phoenotopiyear...

Ochan Nu breaks all records with a stunning NINE pictures in one session :O

There's so many goodies here. My favorite would be the one with Gail staring intently at the screen - it's like she's looking directly at you. You almost feel uncomfortable.

Next, there's an Animal Crossing villager dressed as Gail and sporting her pink hair. It even looks like a house Gail would live in. Gail is a connoisseur of the arts and likes Mona Lisa. Yes :)

There are various comics of Gail pointing out Gail's weird food habits. A picture of Fran looking really cool, and even Gail rocking a bathing suit. (bathing suit image linked here in case NSFW). Wow!

Pimez didn't just collect the arts, he creates them as well! This one, which he aptly named 'The Year 175' is a depiction of when the dragons invaded the towers as told by an elderly Daean woman. Great pixeling skills! I got a good chuckle from the ice dragon leaving with its stuff slung over its shoulder.

Quo made a stunning picture of Gail playing the flute surrounded by the 5 musical notes and the Phoenix logo behind her. The theme seems to be "fire" and it works really well. Gail herself looks awesome depicted in her red suit - it's like she's leading a marching band!

Rai Asuha depicts Gail in the late game with her red suit, and night star bat, and holding a lamp. She looks ready for adventure! I really like the white outline here and Gail's poofy shoulders here - the art style feels reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Seri also draws Gail bearing her late game equipment. Unique to Seri's drawing is how all of Gail's equipment is accessible from a pocket on her shirt. I also like how Gail is depicted with her lucky earrings - that accessory is often forgotten.

Treedude depicts Gail with a bat and wearing a funny smirk. She looks like she's ready to hurt someone!

Warotar returns with everyone's favorite Great Drake, Bubbles! It seems so happy to be featured!

I'm really grateful for all the fanart this game has received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Closing Notes

Pirate drew a picture to mark the occasion. It shows Gail enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a pumpkin muffin. A rest well-earned...

Goodbye! Until next time!

[miloscat]

[Review] The Hobbit (GBA)

An unexpected... decent handheld companion game.

I compared Inevitable‘s console Hobbit game to Starfox Adventures, which itself is riffing on 3D Zelda. Appropriately enough when Saffire came to do a GBA edition, the result feels like a top-down Zelda. There’s combat and puzzles, plus a growing arsenal of tools including various ranged weapons of dubious use and two kinds of firework to get past obstacles. I will say that traversing the levels is more complex than any proper Zelda, with lots of narrow paths and clambering for complication. It actually makes the world feel more realistic, although I could do without the dead-ends some levels have.

Bilbo’s journey feels closer to the book than the console game did; indeed there’s more dialogue quoted verbatim from Tolkien’s work here, not to mention levels set around Rivendell, the Carrock/Beorn’s abode, and the desolation surrounding Erebor. Add to this more frequent conversational snippets and the quick pace, and it ends up feeling a breezy and enjoyable adaptation. Of course there are cuts as well; you barely interact with Smaug, and don’t even see his death! All the dwarves also share palette-swapped sprites and portraits save Thorin and Bombur, but I suppose most felt interchangeable in the book itself as well.

I liked how the console game expanded on the story with new characters; that doesn’t happen here so much, outside of minor incidental NPCs. There’s a lot more enemy types though with lots of angry animals of varying degrees of cartooniness. You have rodents of unusual size; various bats, birds, and bugs; evil squirrels, exploding slugs, Banjo-Kazooie style vines, trolls to pickpocket near Erebor, even ghosts in the tombs you explore in the ruins of Dale. Bosses include a gigantic wasp, octopus, and of course spiders, while the final confrontation is with a wolf-mounted goblin (perhaps Bolg?).

So combat is prevalent but there’s other kinds of gameplay. Some levels are peaceful and involve minigames or stealth, which is thankfully trivial with this game’s version of the magic ring. Exploration is rewarded with runes for upgrading your stats, coins for extra lives (a relatively merciful system, although it’s easy to instantly die from pits or water), or abundant food to stuff in your full pockets. The food system lets you refill your health at any time but requires opening the menu; considering I was often at full capacity I would have liked an auto-consumption mechanic but oh well.

So yes, it’s a decent enough little effort, and without many of the frustrations that characterised my playthrough of the console game. Like many GBA games of the era it has a pseudo-prerendered graphical style which has held up better than most thanks to its cartoony colourfulness, and little touches like the weather cycle in some levels were appreciated. It was just a nice chill time!