#sometimes what you think is burnout is probably just the evil eye and sometimes what you think is the mati is depression

[walkman-cat]

markos, a year into a major depressive episode: someone must’ve given me the mati.

[sserpente]

A/N: Request from @wrenstrange! Put up the decorations, it’s finally time again! Enjoy, everyone!

Words: 1957 Warnings: pure fluff, blood sample/needle/syringe, soft!Loki, fatique, fainting

You dropped like a piece of wood right about when you were making yourself a cup of tea in the kitchen. Knees ceasing to support you any longer, vision darkening, stars dancing around you making you dizzy. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head and before you knew it, your body finally won and shut down.

Although if you could have chosen, you would not have fallen straight into Loki’s arms whose reflexes caught you, preventing you from hitting the hard floor beneath you. He cradled you with his brows furrowed, his blue gaze almost helpless as he looked at Thor and Stark for support.

Then, everything went black.

-

“Welcome back.” You blinked, the artificial lights above your head blinding you. A hand held you down when you attempted to sit up drowsily. Bruce was leaning against a metal table in Tony’s lab, hands crossed before his chest and with a concerned expression on his face. “You blacked out,��� he explained, “out of the blue.”

“How are you feeling?” Tony added.

You only realised then that it was Loki who had held you down. He was sitting on a chair right next to the makeshift bed they had carried into Tony’s lab and he was observing you with Argus eyes. Your heart sped up when you noticed. You usually tended to avoid the God of Mischief at all cost. There was a part of you that was afraid of him after watching him making an entire crowd kneel in Stuttgart, the other was hands down swooning over him. It had all started when he had rescued a cat from a tree, honouring a cliché he had not even been aware of. But someone who helped defenceless little kittens had to have a soft heart deep down, no?

Thor had brought him to Earth along with him after Asgard had been destroyed. He could not exactly be considered an Avenger but he had long surpassed the villain image… at least, to some extent. Well, you were no Avenger either. You used to be a SHIELD intern and then somehow ended up with the superheroes themselves. Apart from some basic fighting skills and the ability to use a gun, you had been trained to spend most of your time in front of a computer, often working twelve hours or even more a day. What did they say? Evil never sleeps.

“Any idea what might have caused this?” Bruce continued.

You shook your head. “No. But I’ve been having migraines and a persistent fatigue that just won’t go away.”

“I see… anything else?”

“Um…”

“You can talk to us, (Y/N).”

“Well, I… I’ve been dizzy a lot lately but that sometimes happens during my special week of the month so I didn’t think anything of it.” You took a deep breath but hesitated.

“And?”

“I’ve been sweating way more when working out. Like, a lot more. Instead of making progress… I feel like I’m getting weaker every day. It’s frustrating.”

“Uh-huh. I’m taking a blood sample. FRIDAY will run a couple of tests on you to figure out what’s wrong.”

“What? No! Nothing’s wrong! We don’t need a b-blood sample.”

“No one faints for no reason, (Y/N), especially not on Loki.” Loki rolled his eyes but did not leave your side, even when Bruce started fiddling around with some gear and apparently, a first-aid kit and then approached you with a syringe and a small clear vial.

“I’ve done this a million times before, I’ll be gentle.”

“No! No, no blood test, Bruce, please!” Almost hysterically, you moved back on the bed, your heart in your mouth.

“(Y/N),” Loki suddenly said calmly. You shivered when he spoke your name, his head tilted slightly. “Are you afraid of needles?”

“N-n-no…” You lied. Loki raised an eyebrow.

“Look at me.” He said. Hesitating only a little, you did as you were told. It wasn’t like his tone allowed any contradiction anyway. In fact, it reminded you a lot of his strict and bossy tone when he had caused chaos in Germany. “It has to be done. Hold my hand and do not take your eyes off of me.”

“Who are you and what you have done to Reindeer Games?” Tony tossed in, throwing the Trickster a suspicious glance. Loki rolled his eyes once more. As if he had any obligation to explain himself to Stark of all people.

In the meantime, you were panicking even more. Loki was being nice and considerate with you and Bruce was about to pierce your skin with a needle. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck… your breathing sped up.

“Look. At. Me.” Loki repeated. You obeyed this time, allowing him to take your hand and press it gently. Much to your surprise, it immediately calmed you down a little. You gaped at him unbelievingly. You didn’t even feel the needle going into your skin and drawing blood. Wait… was he casting a spell on you?

“There. All done.” You could not bring yourself to look where Bruce brought your blood sample but when both Tony and he stepped away and turned their backs on you, you swallowed.

“T-thank you…” You had to ask—not because you did not think he was not capable of offering his help without seeking a personal advantage and not because you didn’t think he was too evil to even think about being selfless… but because you were genuinely curious about his motivation. Loki did nothing without a reason, he was always one step ahead. “You put a spell on me, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “Why… why did you do that for me?”

“We are all afraid of something.” It was the only response he gave you. For a few moments, you merely sat there quietly, neither of you uttering a single word. Only when Bruce and Tony returned did you realise that Loki was still holding your hand.

“Okay… I’ve got the results from your blood test and FRIDAY couldn’t find anything suspicious.” Tony announced, scrolling on his tablet. Bruce adjusted his glasses to take a peek.

“You said you’ve been feeling tired? You sweat a lot, you get dizzy, and I’m presuming you barely have an appetite?”

“I don’t have time to eat a lot to be honest…” You confirmed.

“Any concentration problems?”

Pressing your lips together to a thin line, you thought about it for a moment. Now that he mentioned it… it had gotten obnoxiously hard to focus on your work lately. Eventually, you nodded.

“Sounds like severe exhaustion to me.” Bruce said. “Do you have issues with low blood pressure or diabetes or any other medical condition? No, FRIDAY would have found something like that. You know what I think? You overworked yourself.”

“Like… a burnout?” You probed.

“Most definitely.”

You grunted. Oh, that was just great. There you were, attempting to squeeze in regular workouts in this awesome training hall the Avengers called the HARM room after work to get stronger and hence, eventually gather up the courage to speak to Loki and now you looked exactly like what you did not want him to see you as—a weak and meagre human.

“The best medicine would be for you to quit work for a while and stop physical exercise altogether.”

“Banner is right,” Tony added. “Take a few weeks off and rest, sleep in, eat more and healthy… the whole program. I officially give you a holiday.”

“You’re not my boss, Tony, you can’t give me a holiday.” Your smile was weak. “But I don’t have time for this anyway! I can’t believe this is happening so soon before Christmas!” You whined. “I can’t stay in bed, I’ve got so much to do! I have to buy presents and decorate and bake biscuits and make gingerbread… Besides, I’m gonna fall behind on all the data.”

He shrugged. “I’ll take care of that. Let me talk to Fury. You let us know if you need anything. Can you take her to her room, Reindeer Games? And please, no funny business.” Beside you, Loki was just frowning, utterly ignoring the billionaire’s request.

“Why were you pushing yourself so hard?” He finally spoke when the two Avengers had left—whether it was genuine confusion or mere curiosity in his voice, you were not sure. “Why were you training for battle in the first place? I have never seen you out on a mission.”

You sighed. Time to let the cat out of the bag, it wasn’t like you were still going to make a good impression on him anymore now.

“I wanted to impress you, I guess…”

“Impress me?” Loki repeated incredulously.

“Yeah… catch your attention… in a way. I mean, part of me is still terrified of you, of course but… you have a good heart, Loki. I knew when I saw you rescuing that cat from the tree.”

The God of Mischief rolled his eyes. “I knew this was going to damage my reputation.” He responded with a sly smirk, making you grin. “It was an innocent kitten, what was I supposed to do?”

“See?”

Your heart skipped a beat when his blue eyes locked with yours. He appeared… uncertain; not used to dealing with affection. Loki swallowed.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m not sure…”

The God of Mischief sighed, his lips pressed together to a thin line. Without any hesitation, he snuck one of his arms under your knees and wrapped the other around your waist. He lifted you off the makeshift bed as if you weighed nothing—and to him, you probably didn’t.

Loki carried you to your room in utter silence and eventually lay you down in your bed. Your heart jumped when he sat down on the edge of the bed himself, with a peculiar interest in his hands so he would not have to look you in the eye.

“There is no need to impress me.” He suddenly said. Your head shot up. “I did not think anyone would even… never mind.”

Oh. It almost felt like you were finally getting to know each other, for real this time.

“Do you want to stay for a while? I was going to watch some Christmas movies if I’m not allowed to get out of bed.” You sighed. “I can’t even decorate. You have no idea how many decorations I have to put up. None of the others care to make it a little more festive here, especially not Fury.”

“Yes, I have seen the boxes.” Loki replied. “It’s a little… corny, wouldn’t you say?”

“Honestly, when living among superheroes who risk their lives every single day, you could use a little corny.”

“I see.” Loki simply waved his hand and before you knew it, your entire room was decorated. Green and red tinsel shimmered on your window sill, holiday lights were blinking above your door and fake—but incredibly real-looking—snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Many of your favourite decoration items were now sitting on your nightstand and your desk, including your tiny little Christmas tree. The rest of the decorations, so it seemed, Loki must have spread all over the Tower.

“Oh my Goodness… Loki, this is amazing!” The God of Mischief winked and when you looked down on yourself, you noticed you too were wearing a green and gold Christmas sweater. Heavens, you could kiss him. “Thank you so much! What did you… is the entire Tower…”

“Yes.” He confirmed. He didn’t have to. Tony did only a fraction of a second later.

“Thor! Can you tell me why my Ironman helmet just grew metal antlers? I swear to God, if Reindeer Games has something to do with this…” It was then you exploded with laughter despite your exhaustion.

-

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it so much if you considered supporting me on Kofi! It’s either for caffeine or red wine, I’ll take both. ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥

[baekuras]

Okay so first of all I'm sitting here. Fucking 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺ing so hard that I think I have legit tears in my eyes about these... These sweet goddamn tags. People don't usually go off in the tags like this on my posts so this made me briefly ascend to another plane of existence from the sheer EUPHORIA that someone actually gives a shit about this not-so-little-anymore story I'm frantically spinning as I go along about these two.

To answer your question: legit, when I first sat down and draft out ideas for all the prompt squares I got for the save a witcher bingo, I originally wanted Levi to show up for only one chapter and have the other squares unconnected to it because it was a one-off "we meet once and never think of it again" kind of meeting. He wasn't supposed to linger. He wasn't supposed to stick around fore more than one chapter. He was only there because I wanted someone to call Kiyan tadpole and because I had no ideas for the language prompt and the lad happens to know a lot of them. He. Wasn't. Meant. To. Stay.

And then I was working on chapters 2-3 (the angstTM) and I still had no clue how to get Kiyan out of this mess. At the same time, I was kind of playing around with different ideas of Levi and Kiyan interacting more (like a kid playing with barbies - I mean, that's what ocs are for; exploring the setting and canon characters as well as adding to it in their own way.)

And then um, I got attached. They started to genuinely work in a strange "cryptid4cryptid" kind of way while being... surprisingly wholesome? In a way? Kiyan is 100% serious and profesional and dedicated to being an emotionless witcher, whereas Levi is the kind to try to pet the enraged fiend first and swing his sword second, probably because a part of him considers himself closer to a monster than a human or elf. I'll get to their respective issues eventually in the story and I don't wanna infodump here because this ask is already long as hell.

So tl;dr hello, thank you for existing, please ramble in my tags as often as you want. I've been on an university-related writer's burnout for the past month and a half, so this was, well... It helped. A lot. Thank you.

Also I am STILL not over the tadpole thing. it's so CUTE that as soon as I first met the lad in-game I was already attached. That, and reading Ireneus's journal hurt me physically, so this writing event fell into my arms from the very heavens. By the way, expect the next chapter soon!

<33 glad you enjoyed my tag spewing

I know how good it can feel to just have someone yell in them but it's always nice to get, i guess feedback back that other people enjoy it just as much xD

i don't usually tag or comment much even though i know this buuuuut sometimes i get my brain to actually cooperate and get my good thoughts out because there is a lot i enjoy and hey your fic defintely belongs there

I do love how your thought process was...similar to mine when reading through 2&3 Just a case of „okay so, next chapter Levi will come back right?“ especially with the whole calming voice and special eyes deal which just felt made for dealing with everything Kiyan has going on

I also very much look forward to delving deeper into both their characters Kiyan being an obvious one because....kiyan But Levi also definitley interests me, what with a whole school you thought up which leaves more room for playing around, but also because he just...feels off in a good way? Not in a „he has some secret evil agenda/is a monster“ kinda way, but more in an „unused to people“ way (which ofc fits with what you mentioned about him considering himself more on the monster side of the scale than human/elves; and also talking to monsters...or supposed monsters which complicates the whole witcher deal of killing monsters but I mean, talking about a solution with them so that someone can be spared or smth is a good end as well-also puts the whole „humans can also be monsters“ thing on more even ground when everyone gets some sentience and i will stop that thought there before I let my brain go on a tangent on that random thing)

I am also glad me just blurting out some thoughts made you happy, Uni can be a lot (don't know it personally bc i dont need that burnout but i see it in my friends too) so i am glad I could put some energy back in

the tadpole thing is the best and always will be (even if the seas havent been kind to kiyan....which i guess fits for a cat)

and urgh every time i reread Ireneus's journal i just-nope i hate it I sometimes reread if i am unsure about details when they pop up in my mind again (like dates or who did what and when) but god-fuck that guy

also happy to hear the next chapter is coming soon :3

I shall await it with baited...patience really

the one good thing about a character so little written about like Kiyan is that there is no expectation of content so anything at any time is a miracle given by content creators (doesn't make me any less excited for it though~)

also regarding your tags on my latest art involving kiyan: if he ever does get a pre-ireneus art i will scream

it's not impossible, but its not likely I will however remain mad that all cats get to hang out and he is stuck in northern realms hell (and lets be honest, if ireneus ever got a card he'd go there too and that's just unecessary; although i would like a face i can picture punching...)

[summonerscenarios]

Hmmm,,, how about somethin fluffy,,,How about Shiro, Kengo, Ryota & Toji reaction hcs to Mc being causally physically affectionate w/friends. With the boys also being on the receiving end of this. Like hugs, head rubs, hand holding, general leaning/relaxing against em etc. I tend to think Mc is touch starved bc of their total lack of prior connections. So they just kinda see their friends and think "oh hell yeah my faves, time for love and appreciation"

IN THIS HOUSE LOVING THE BROS HOURS IS 24/7 365 DAYS A YEAR 👏👏👏 I too hc that the MC is touch starved so all friends are immediately on their affection list ON SIGHT. Kept this a lil short as I’m running on a bit of burnout but I do hope that you enjoy these fluffy love and appreciation hours 💖💖💖

-----

Shiro

Shiro’s used to Ryota usually being the openly affectionate one so he’s used to receiving hugs and general affectionate gestures from him, however getting that kind of affection from you is new and thus frankly leaves him quite flustered about it.

When you first swoop in for a friendly hug he lets out an embarrassingly loud yelp because you just about sweep him off of his feet as you pull him into your arms, squeezing him close just for good measure and laughing by the time you finally put him back down. His glasses are skewed and he’s trying to ignore his reaction as he clears his throat and warns you about being more careful next time you wanna hug him, but honestly it’s hard to take the sentiment seriously when his cheeks are turning red in embarrassment. 

Once he gets used to the casual affectionate gestures he really doesn’t mind that you’re so eager to coddle and cuddle up to your friends - he’s also the first of the Summoners to reason that this probably stems as a result of lack of connections prior to coming to Tokyo. So when you sidle up to rest your head against his shoulder to see what he’s doing or wrap your arms around him, Shiro finds himself glad that you guys are so close that you’re comfortable displaying affection and finds himself appreciating these little moments even if he’s more hesitant than you are to initiate them.

Shiro likes when you lay against his side, finding any tension rolling off of his shoulders feeling you relaxed and at ease next to him, and this is especially true whenever he’s reading or working on sorting out the guild’s affairs. Sometimes you’ll coax him to lay his head in your lap while he reads something out to you, giving you the chance to idly run your hands through his hair as he does so - it’s comforting to him and a great way to calm him down if you ever notice that he’s particularly stressed; just be prepared for Ryota and Agyo to slide right in asking for the same treatment the second that Shiro’s head leaves your lap.

Sometimes Shiro’s just not in the mood for affection and needs a little bit of space so when he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed you can be sure that his little D-evils are more than happy to waddle up for you to fuss to your heart's content. A handful drop right down into your lap reaching up to you eagerly awaiting head pats, others clutch your arms with bright eyes vying for your attention, and you’ve even got one perched atop your shoulders at one point to play with your hair. For anyone who loves affection these lil kiddos are always in need of some cuddle and affection! Though they of course want Shiro to get some attention too so the both of you end up getting swarmed.

Kengo

Kengo sees how openly affectionate you are with the Summoners and your other friends and he’s immediately like “Oh it’s loving the bros hours? Aight bet” and then proceeds to just about knock you right back onto your ass with how aggressively he goes in for some good ol’ affection. He’s really rather chill about dishing out affection and takes it in stride way more than Shiro does - plus why wouldn’t he wanna show his appreciation for you and the other Summoners! 

His hugs are just a liiiiittle bit too tight so whenever you pull him into one expect him to go all out, returning it with just as much vigor - they’re honestly the best but if you aren’t used to them they can easily knock the wind out of you. Sometimes you’ll have to give him a bit of a nudge to loosen his grip because wow are your poor ribs gonna feel sore by the time he lets you go. When on the receiving end of hugs the first time you pulled him into one he did admittedly freeze up a bit awkwardly, giving you a couple pats on the back until you’d filled your hug quota and let him go. Though Kengo’s a lot more prepared the next time you show his affection now that he knows that you’re cool with it.

His type of casual physical affection is slightly more rough and tumble than Ryota’s and Shiro’s, slinging often slinging an arm around you and ruffling your hair until it’s all kinds of mussed up under his fingers. He only laughs when you playfully try to swat him away but is quick to dive out of your hands’ line of fire when you attempt to pull the same thing on him. There’s plenty of small ways he expressed his affection to you too - high fives, resting his arm over your shoulder, giving you piggybacks (though he’ll outright refuse if you try to do that same to him and threatens to drop you whenever you tease him about it) are all part of the experience when it comes to affection from Kengo.

Most of his affection is saved for when it’s just you guys chilling - while he’s learned not to give a damn about what others think of his whole rough-n-tumble attitude he still gets a bit awkward when you go in for some affectionate gestures surrounded by people. He isn’t sure why but that’s just how it usually goes, but when he sees how happy you get when you’re able to keep physically close to your friends he’ll put his gripes aside and pull you close because of course he wants to see you happy about it.

Ryota

Ryota himself is also casually affectionate with all of his friends! He’s always giving others hugs, head pats and looping his arm with theirs and other equally sweet gestures because to him it’s just another way to show his friends how much he loves and appreciates them. The only reason that he was hesitant with you at first was because he worries just in case you aren’t comfortable with physical contact and the opportunity to ask you just never came up before. So once he knows that you’re okay with affection and that you’re just as open with expressing it he is absolutely HERE FOR IT. 

You guys hold hands all of the time - going between classes or out shopping he loves the casual intimacy which is also a plus so that neither of you get separated in big crowds. He always greets you with some kind of affectionate gesture but his go to is hugs - sometimes the two of you just spot each other when you’re back at the safehouse or leaving the school grounds and it’s a race between the two of you for who can pull the other into a hug first. This on more than one occasion has led to you both nearly toppling over (and actually a couple of times) but you guys are too busy being in absolute stitches about it to even really care. There’s something about hugging your friends and it being reciprocated with just as much enthusiasm that honestly just melts his heart into a puddle of happy feelings - serotonin to the MAX. 

TOUCHED STARVED BROS FOR LIFE.Like seriously I feel like sometimes Ryota get’s pretty starved for affection and he finds comfort in reaching out to others for said affection or just as a way to express his appreciation so when he can’t he can get pretty down about it. AND THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN. Both of you vibe off of each others desire for affectionate gestures so when the other’s lacking in the affection department it doesn’t take long before you gravitate to each other and one of the other Summoners finds Ryota draped across your lap with his head buried in your shoulder as you chat and play games. 9 times out of 10 you end up dragging said Summoner into a cuddle pile too - you two are affectionate forces to be reckoned with.

Ryota always wants to hold people’s hands in some way and it’s a pretty decent way to tell how he’s feeling based on how he holds your hand and how tight his grip is. Sometimes the two of you are walking together and his hand will just gravitate to hook his pinky finger with yours and it’s honestly the cutest thing ever. When he’s feeling more anxious or clingy he’ll interlock fingers and pull your hands right next to him so that you guys can stick close. And you’re not the only one who gets this treatment too - physically feeling that his friends are there is something that Ryota might not even realize keeps him grounded but he enjoys the openness that he can share with you all.

Toji

Toji’s arguably the most awkward in regards to receiving and giving affection. He sees you expressing it so openly with your friends and though he’ll complain that you’re too bold and uncouth he can see the appeal of sharing such a closeness with your allies. (he’s also a lowkey little jealous that you seriously aren’t afraid about being so open with those forms of expression)

The first time you are casually affectionate with him catches him off guard. The two of you were studying together, sat side by side when you put your book down with an exaggerated sigh and then proceeded to lean against him, resting your head atop his shoulder to look down at his own textbook. Toji immediately tensed and jolted so sharply that your head fell off his shoulder and you dropped sideways right into his lap, which only created more of an outburst as you just about keeled over laughing at the absolute shock on his face.

With some time and a couple of warnings however Toji begins gradually warming up to your affectionate gestures though he never quite gets used to how casual you are about pulling him and the other Summoners in for hugs and head pats. It’s gotten to the point where he’s beginning to learn to accept it and anticipate when you come in for the next round of ‘love and appreciation hours’. You know that B99 with the run and leap? Yeah that’s basically your friendship now - the amount of times that you’ve come full pelt at him while he’s busy or holding something probably breaks a record somewhere but you’re confident that he’ll always catch you and he does! The lecture and costs of some of the things you’ve accidentally broke in these endeavors is well worth it.

Don’t expect much from Toji in regards to initiating affection at first, he’s awkward and stiff about it to all hell so just take it a little bit at a time to show him that the occasional head pat or cuddle isn’t going to kill him. Speaking of head pats that’s the most common ones he gives you, it started off as just a quick pat before he turns back to whatever he was doing before but eventually he gets comfortable enough that whenever you’re lying next to/against him his hand will immediately gravitate towards your head, running his fingers through your hair and rubbing your head soft yet just firm enough that you could probably fall asleep if he keeps at it for long enough.

[libraryofrewrita]

Chapter 23: The Trials

Hey, everyone. Sorry for the super-late update. Don't worry, I haven't lost interest in writing this series. I just had a really bad case of writer's burnout while working on this chapter and I have been working on some other projects to help get my creative juices flowing again.

One of the projects I have been working on is called 'The Yo-kai Tactician's Retirement', which can be read on Archive of Our Own. (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17826341/chapters/42060143)

Oh, plus Yo-kai Watch: The Rewrite Series officially has a TV Tropes page now! You can view it at this link if you wish to check it out. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/YokaiWatchTheRewriteSeries)

With that said, please enjoy this chapter.

Sixty years in the past, the Wicked’s lair…

Not for the first time since his existence and especially during this latest scheme of trying to destroy the Yo-kai Watch, Unfairy wondered if he was being affected by his own powers as he walked into his room, his latest assignment tucked under his arm.

While he certainly didn’t mind the easy assignment of just spying on the group of kids and Yo-kai trying to stop Dame Dedtime’s plans and delaying any important progress they were making, he certainly didn’t like the implication that it was because the trio of Yo-kai that did originally took care of that, and failed repeatedly once Unfairy really thought about it, had been given a more important assignment rather than letting him take a break from spreading his own discord among the Bonies and Fleshies, which would have nearly made him pass out from exhaustion on multiple occasions if he didn’t have enough snacks on hand.

Speaking of which, he pulled out a box of Fruit Drops from his pockets, scowling when he opened it and saw the few candies left inside. He sighed in annoyance before popping one of the candies into his mouth, closing the box, and pocketing it again. He had planned to go to Galleria Boulevard to pick up more snacks through the not-so-legal manner of sneaking into the closed candy shop and swiping a few treats that probably wouldn’t have been missed from the storage area when he had been called back to the lair to take care of this assignment.

Of course, now the shop was probably open by now with people keeping an eye on the products being sold, not to mention that he didn’t want to risk making Dame Dedtime mad by shirking his duties, even if it would’ve only for a minute or so.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that he didn’t want it to be super obvious to the Bonies and Fleshies that he was responsible for spreading some of the discord among them, he would’ve been more than glad to use his Drain Attribute powers on them to keep himself from falling into total exhaustion.

Unfairy then proceeded to suck on the singular candy as he left the lair, hoping that luck would be on his side and he wouldn’t have to keep an eye on them for too long. After all, there was still a war, no matter how dumb the reason for it was, that the Wickeds planned to take advantage of.

*****

Same time period, Harrisville…

The kids waited at the secret base for Nathaniel and Kenny to return from setting up something that was supposed to help them with getting ready to take down the Wicked Yo-kai.

Nate and Katie nervously fiddled with their Yo-kai Watches, now officially at A rank after a quick stop at Timer’s and More in their time period, while Lucas once again made sure that they had enough supplies so that they didn’t need to possibly ditch this time period to pick up more stuff, along with the information they would need to think up and plan with Nathaniel and Kenny to keep the Wickeds from taking advantage of the war between the Bonies and Fleshies.

Their Yo-kai companions were hoping that they could pull this off and be able to get home to their time period safely, especially Whisper and Jibanyan. They had left Buchinyan with Shogunyan at present day Shoten Temple so that there wasn’t any risk of him getting lost or captured during all of this and while they were aware that this was the best decision, they missed him terribly.

At that moment, Nathaniel and Kenny came back with an elderly calico nekomata with purple flames on the ends of his twin tails wearing a green cloak and carrying a walking stick following behind them.

Kenny gestured to the elderly nekomata and said,

“This is Master Nyada. He helped us set up the three trials that will help you get ready to take down the Wicked Yo-kai.”

The elderly nekomata just gave a sad smile as he said,

“The trials were originally something the boys did for fun before all of this happened, but doing them will still help you out in the long run.”

Whisper looked at Nyada as if he was trying to remember something about him as the kids nodded and Nate said,

“Okay. What’s the first trial?”

*****

Nate asked as he drank from a bottle of water, resting from completing the first trial,

“How was he able to run so fast?”

The first trial, dubbed ‘The Trial of Courage’, involved trying to catch Master Nyada in under a minute. Before they did the trial, they did ask how catching him in under a minute was supposed to be connected to courage and the explanation they had received involved being able to quickly stop evil-doers and being able to quickly save someone.

While they weren’t quite sure how often that sort of thing would happen, Nate, Katie, and Lucas at least knew that with the kind of lifestyle they have, it was bound to come up sooner or later.

It did take them a few tries to actually catch Nyada, considering how crafty he was, but in the end, it took Nate 45 seconds, Katie 30 seconds, and Lucas 35 seconds to finally catch him.

The elderly nekomata, who was somehow not exhausted from basically doing the trial repeatedly, just gave a mischievous grin and explained,

“Oh, that’s a little secret I don’t plan to reveal anytime soon. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll move on to the next trial, The Trial of Love.”

*****

Well, that was certainly entertaining for the first couple minutes.

Unfairy thought as he watched the group with a pair of binoculars from the roof of one of the houses in Harrisville. To avoid setting off the Model Zeroes, he had to watch the group from a distance and while he hated that he wouldn’t be able to hear anything they were saying from where he currently was, it was better than getting caught because he wasn’t aware of how far the Model Zeroes could detect a Yo-kai.

He thankfully didn’t have to worry about anyone else seeing him up there due to all of the Yo-kai that lived in Harrisville having gone to Flatpot Plains or Springdale, so he didn’t have to waste his energy keeping himself invisible all the time.

Not that he was going to use up his energy to screw up something as minor as a bunch of kids just running around to see who was the fastest. It didn’t look important enough and he only had so many candies left. He would only use his energy to go full on invisible if the group was moving to somewhere that wasn’t within his current seeing range and had to follow them without tipping them off.

Though, he would be lying if he didn’t admit that some part of him kinda wanted to reveal himself to them early and force them to rush through everything just to have a shot at stopping the Wickeds, only to get sloppy and screw everything up.

He just didn’t bother to go through with it or even ask about doing it in the report he just sent because he didn’t want to hear whatever lecture Dame Dedtime would come up with to berate him for doing something that had no guarantee of success for the Wickeds and berate him even further.

For now, he would stay here and continue to watch them until something more important than seeing who can run the fastest came up that would be worth the risk of potentially getting caught and could delay the group, even if it was for a short while.

*****

The Trail of Love sounded simple enough when it was explained to them, head to a specific house and find five kittens that a friend of Nyada’s was willing to let him borrow for the trail in that area in under two minutes.

The first catch was they had to do the trail one at a time so that it wouldn’t appear that the work wasn’t being done equally among them. That was fair enough.

The second catch was that the kittens would sometimes move from their intended spots and two of them were rather mischievous if they saw that you could see them moving somewhere else. If they were caught, they would then purposely run faster than usual and hide in a spot that would make it difficult for the kids to just grab them.

Thankfully, Hovernyan had promised to keep the kittens from going towards the river, since that house happened to be located in a spot close to the river, though that was the only help the kids would be getting for this trail.

It was supposed to test their compassion for others, plus their patience in case things weren’t going as smoothly as they would like.

It had taken Nate one minute and 40 seconds to complete the trail because the two mischievous kittens decided to climb a tree after Nate had managed to find the first three in thirty seconds and it had taken him a minute and ten seconds altogether for him to climb up the tree and get the kittens down one at a time.

Katie had an easier time with her having only taken 40 seconds to get all of the kittens. When she had ran into the mischievous kittens, she had managed to win them over when they had hidden in a pile of gardening supplies by taking her hair ribbon off and placing it on the ground in front of them, slowly dragging the ribbon towards her and watching as they pounced on it until they got within reach and she scooped up both of them with no issues.

Lucas had the most trouble with him coming in at a minute and 50 seconds. As a Yo-kai, he could understand what the cats were saying and he knew that they could tell that he was part of a powerful line of Yo-kai. He took the longest because he was spending that time trying to convince the kittens that they didn’t have to be so skittish around him because of his aura. Ironically enough, the two mischievous kittens had been the easiest and quickest for him to convince with him only having to take twenty seconds each for both of them.

Nyada then sent the kittens back to their mother, who had been waiting outside of where the trail was taking place, and said to the group,

“Well, now that trail has been taken care of, let’s head to Mount Middleton for the final trail.”

*****

Unfairy so wished that he could leave his post. He had gotten bored of watching the kids gathering kittens after the first minute and it was only his fear of Dame Dedtime’s retribution that kept him rooted to this spot.

He envied his siblings for not having a huge fear of their mother’s retribution and he especially envied the group he was spying on.

If he hadn’t known that they were doing this because they were getting ready to deal with the Wicked Yo-kai, he would’ve just assumed that they were just having their own weird brand of fun.

The members of the group he was spying on appeared to be pretty close too. Another thing he envied.

He and his siblings had been close once upon a time, but after years upon years of being on separate missions to spread their personal discords among humans and Yo-kai around Japan and the world outside of it, sometimes being forced to go quiet for undetermined periods of time because of something out of their control, and barely being able to just meet up somewhere for old times sake rather than because all of them were needed by Dame Dedtime for something very important, it was hard to tell whether or not he was the only one of the Elite siblings that wished to know if they could ever be close as they had been before if they were given enough time to do so.

Unfairy sighed as he watched the group leave and turned invisible to follow after them. Wherever they were going, it would at least be a change of scenery.

*****

The fact that there was an A Rank Watch Lock door was the first hint that the final trail wasn’t going to be easy.

The second hint was that Nathaniel and Kenny said that this trail was called the Trail of Moxie, but only said that they had to defeat a powerful Yo-kai named Demuncher and said not to worry about how long it took them to finish this trail before they claimed to have to pick up something and would be back as soon as they could before leaving them.

The third and final hint was that when Nyada walked them to the trail, he had led them to a giant yellow Yo-kai just sleeping there, who had to be Demuncher, and picked up a rock.

Whisper eyed the rock in Nyada’s paw warily and asked,

“Umm…what are you planning to do with that rock?”

As his way of answering, Nyada causally threw the rock at the giant Yo-kai, told the group to have their Yo-kai out and ready to battle Demuncher, and fled as the giant Yo-kai was starting to wake up.

“OW! Who disturbed my sleep?!”

He looked to the group that happened to be within fighting range and yelled,

“I’ll show you what happens to people that enrage me!”

*****

The group just had enough time to pull out the six Yo-kai they had on hand before they found themselves battling Demuncher.

As usual, Jibanyan and the Komainu Brothers were in the front row and the back row contained Tattletell, Brushido, and Tongus. Jibanyan started off by barely dodging a punch from Demuncher, taking a small bit of damage that he paid back to Demuncher by burning his hand with one of his tail flames, dealing the same amount plus a little extra since he hadn’t missed his target.

Komajiro then sent a lightning attack at him, but when he noticed that it hadn’t done a lot of damage to Demuncher compared to Jibanyan burning his hand and when Demuncher had thrown a rock at him as payback for the lightning strike, he was able to alert the other fighters that Demuncher was an Earth Attribute Yo-kai. Komasan then threw some fireballs towards Demuncher as retribution for the rock thrown at his younger twin, which he was slow to dodge considering his large stature, resulting in a good amount of damage being dealt.

Jibanyan unleashed his Paws of Fury Soultimate to keep Demuncher distracted as the Komainu Brothers prepared to do a combo attack of their Spirit Dance and Wild Dance Soultimates. Demuncher flicked Jibanyan off once he was finished, but it was enough time for the two brothers to let off their combo attack before all three Yo-kai were damaged by Demuncher throwing some additional rocks at them.

The three Yo-kai in the front retreated to the back row, grateful for the healing from Tattletell and Tongus before the three Yo-kai that were now in front took their turns with dealing their own damage to Demuncher. Brushido used his broom to help Tattletell leap up towards Demuncher to land one of her slaps on him while he froze the large Yo-kai’s feet and waited until Tattletell had landed safely on Tongus before he swept his broom under Demuncher’s feet, breaking his ice and causing the giant Yo-kai to fall to the ground.

Both attacks did a good amount of damage and after the current attacking row had their fun with battling the giant Yo-kai, with Tongus even getting a few hits in in an attempt to stop him from using his Soultimate on her, the main three battlers were brought back to the front row and with a well-timed team attack, Jibanyan and the Komainu Brothers dealt the final blow and watched as Demuncher fell to his knees and admitted defeat.

*****

“Congratulations on completing all of the trails, you guys!”

The group saw Nathaniel, Kenny, and their grandfather’s group of Yo-kai friends coming up the mountain path to congratulate the group.

Demuncher then stood up, brushed the dirt off his cloth, and said to Nyada as he happened to show up,

“I have to hand it to you, sir. You really know how to pick them.”

Nyada made a cat smile as he said,

“Of course I do. I wouldn’t send just anyone up against my star pupil.”

There was a bit of silence from the group that had just battled Demuncher before Whisper finally broke the ice,

“We were never in any real danger?”

“Of course not. If I just told you outright that he was just acting, you wouldn’t have really put your heart and soul into the battle. The Trail of Moxie is to show that you’re willing to fight when you have no other options left.”

He then clasped his paws together and said seriously,

“And thus ends the Trails of Moximous Mask.”

It took Nate and Katie a moment to realize why he said that and facepalmed as they muttered,

“Of course they were called that.”

Nyada glanced at them and gestured to his friend group and said,

“My best friends are literally superhero enthusiasts. You honestly think I wasn’t going to do something that this to make their training more interesting?”

Before they could comment, Hovernyan said,

“Now, since you’ve completed the trails and our Yo-kai friend group is safely together again, we need to discuss stuff.”

Lucas perked up and asked,

“Like what we’re going to do about the Generals and preventing them from going to war?”

Hovernyan nodded,

“Exactly. You three have information from your future about the battle and when the Wickeds officially took advantage of it and when it was able to officially end. Now, your present is part of the ‘slightly perfect timeline’, so if we can just use the information you have, we can hopefully change things around and make your present part of the ‘truly perfect timeline!”

Kenny then presented Nate, Katie, Lucas, and the Yo-kai with them a bag with purple scarves, bandanas, and ribbons before explaining,

“Our best bet is to avoid picking between the Bonies and Fleshies if we want this to work, so we decided to form a third party. Wearing a red scarf, bandana, or ribbon identifies you as a Bony and wearing a blue scarf, bandanas, or ribbon identifies you as a Fleshy, so we decided to combine the two colors and have our third party wear purple scarves, bandanas, or ribbons as our way to identify ourselves as members of the currently unnamed third party.”

Nate and Lucas took a purple bandana each and Katie took a purple ribbon from the bag, then watched as the others made their decisions from the bag as well. Nate, Lucas, the Komainu Brothers, Faux Kappa, and Predictabul now wore a purple bandana, Jibanyan, Hovernyan, Master Nyada, Nathaniel, Kenny, and Gnomey were wearing purple scarves, and Katie, Whisper, Mermaiden, and Pallysol were wearing purple ribbons. When the others had putting on their new accessories, Katie took down her signature pink hair ribbon and replaced it with the purple ribbon so that it could be easily seen.

Katie then admitted as she was putting the pink ribbon into the bag for safe keeping,

“It’s weird not wearing this, but it’s for a good cause. We just need to pick someone to act as the general for our group. Maybe the Generals will be more willing to talk to whoever was in charge of us.”

Pallysol looked at Whisper and said,

“Technically, out of all of us here, you have experience in dealing with war before. You’re probably our best bet here.”

Whisper clarified with a stammer and faint pink blush,

“A-as a private tactician to a warlord, not a battler!”

Pallysol said with a bit of a blush,

“Well, you had to give your former boss ideas to work from, didn’t you? I’m just saying you might be able to work the same magic on our two warring generals and they might be willing to take you more seriously if you presented yourself as a general.”

Whisper looked around at the group and after some consideration, he said,

“I’ll only be the general for this group until we can deal with the Wickeds. After that, I’ll hand the position of the Psychics over to someone else that’s actually from this time period.”

Jibanyan looked at Whisper curiously and asked,

“Is the Psychics our official group name or…?”

Whisper shrugged,

“Unless someone has something better.”

The group started chanting the group name repeatedly, so it was safe to say it was a great name for them.

Whisper straightened up, feeling some pride in his chest as he said,

“Now, first order of business. Let’s get off this mountain and look over the information so that we can get enough of a head start to keep the Wickeds from gaining the advantage this time around!”

With that said, everyone started heading down the mountain, eager to put a stop to the Wickeds plans in one way or another.

*****

Unfairy had been too awestruck by the battle to do anything to make the battle unfair, even when there had been a few points during the battle where no one would’ve been to tell right away that he had gotten involved.

Not that he had mentioned it in the report he had sent during the middle of the battle. He may have fudged the report a bit and claimed that the kids were having more difficulty with battling him than what was actually happening and it would take a while for them to be finished.

Now as he watched the one group of humans and Yo-kai congratulate the other group that had been battling Demuncher, he couldn’t help but feel sad.

Could this have been the type of comradery that he could’ve had with the other Elites, if things had been different?

Unfairy got up from the tree branch that he had been sitting on. He was tired of this. He was tired of fretting about his place among the Wicked Elites and trying to gain respect from Dame Dedtime, who barely gave it to him as it is. He was tired of dwelling on whether things could really change for him or any of the Wickeds if they were successful.

He sighed as he leaned against the tree trunk. It wasn’t like he just bail out of the entire plan at this stage, not if he didn’t want to deal with fighting the other Elites and possibly Dame Dedtime for being a traitorous coward. He also couldn’t just walk up to the humans and Yo-kai fighting against the Wicked Yo-kai and offer his assistance. They would immediately suspect that he was trying to pull something on them.

He glanced at the almost empty Fruit Drops box in his hand just as another paper appeared in his hands. He glanced at the paper telling him to spread his discord around Galleria Boulevard, then to head to Flatpot Plains to keep the two generals and their teams busy long enough for the other Wicked Elites to get everything else set up.

He had originally planned to take advantage of the discord to slip into the candy shop and pick up some more candy and snacks, but if he held off on that and just used up the last of the Fruit Drops he had…

That would be just enough power for him to invisibly spread enough of his discord around Galleria Boulevard to keep the group from reaching Flatpot Plains right away, just to appease Dame Dedtime, then he would use up the rest of his energy to spread discord among the Bonies and Fleshies in Flatpot Plains, including the two generals.

He took one more glance to see that the groups were busy taking things out of a bag and with a mischievous smile on his face coming from him having no plans to tell Dame Dedtime that the group was finished battling Demuncher, Unfairy teleported away to do what he would consider his best work yet.

*****

As the group happily walked down the path to the train station after reviewing the information and being ready to set their plan of hopefully having a peaceful discussion with the Generals Arachnus and Toadal Dude in motion, they saw Smogmella on the path near the train station, she rushed over to the group.

“Everything has gone to absolute chaos! First, almost every Yo-kai on Galleria Boulevard is fighting with each other over every little thing that’s not even related to the main Bony and Fleshy debate, with the ones not involved in the excessive arguing already trying to flee the area to who knows where until everything has calmed down. Then when I went to the battlefield to get the generals to see what was happening, the battlefield was just as bad, if not worse! I couldn’t even keep track of the generals because of how busy they were on the battlefield, which would’ve made trying to talk to them a total waste of time!”

She then clasped Hovernyan’s paws as she continued,

“That’s when I remembered that you’re one of the few Yo-kai I know of that haven’t joined either side and I figured that the group I had seen you with must be on the same page as you, otherwise they would’ve spoken up about whether the Bonies or Fleshies side was better. Will all of you help me with dealing with this chaos?”

The group needed no further prompting as they nodded and Hovernyan said,

“You have my word as a member of the Psychics that we will get to the bottom of this and put an end to this chaos.”

“The Psychics? You’re your own group, then?”

“We’re built up of the Yo-kai and humans that have no desire to take part in any of the Bonies and Fleshies debates. We may like both things that they are debating about or we may prefer a third choice. Regardless, we just wish for things to not get super out of hand. You get that, right?”

Smogmella nodded and asked,

“May I join you, then? I’m tired of being pressured to join one group or the other.”

Hovernyan handed Smogmella a purple scarf she then wrapped around her neck as he said warmly,

“Welcome to the Psychics, Smogmella. We’re glad to have you aboard.”

With a new member in tow, everyone rushed down to the train station by foot, hoping that they could still find a way to put an end to the Wicked’s plan for good.

Previous Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/183172176579/chapter-22-into-the-eye-of-the-storm

Next Chapter: TBA

[invertedfate]

Random Ask Dump - Anniversary Edition (50+ REALLY OLD ASKS!)

Going through OLD AND CRUSTY ASKS to try and chip away at the inbox. HERE WE GOOOO...

That’s an interesting idea, and I could run it by Cake, but I think it would honestly be a LOT to track from a programming perspective. Especially ‘cause killing Sans is gonna result in a “bad ending,” so to speak.

An attempt was made by Undyne to have all three hang out at the same time. Papyrus was SUPER EAGER. ...but one thing led to another and there were many messy explosions of chemicals and lots of smoke. Alphys had to step in before things got out of hand. It was all very daunting for her. Pap and Undyne are VERY LOUD, VERY AMBITIOUS PEOPLE.

I actually have some ideas of some side comics I may do at some point! :o It’s just that right now there’s a lot going on.

I need to poke Carni about that at some point. He’s just been very busy with other projects!

Clearly he’s standing on the “out to lunch” sign.

I wanna say that it’s very possible in theory. :o It probably affects them differently since monsters’ emotional state affects their magic and their physical state.

I do like little easter eggs like that, though I’m not sure where I’d fit it in atm just ‘cause I already showed Pap’s room, haha.

I made the chase theme for Mad Dummy as well as Mad Mew Mew’s battle theme. @pinewsun​ made the battle theme for Mad Dummy, and @thomasthepencil​ made the Season Dude battle theme and MD’s overworld theme. :o

That’s a really fascinating conundrum! You’re absolutely right- if IF was a standalone game, then from a writing standpoint, having more subtle implications would make sense! The reason I chose a different approach for IF is because it’s set after Flowey’s already known to be evil and I like to give different POVs rather than stick to just Frisk’s.

That’s an interesting thing, actually- both fights lean heavily on the fourth wall. Both are treated as climaxes for their given routes. It’s funny because Asriel’s fight is a lot more straightforward and less meta by comparison.

I agree! The thing with Papyrus is that he’s extremely powerful- he just doesn’t want to kill. But it’s a deliberate choice not to kill- he’s able to force his attacks to do next to no damage. He’s also pretty darn crafty, as he made the Gauntlet himself. It really is just a case of Undyne’s personal biases and concern for him.

That was a deliberate choice. :O Papyrus is very influential toward Frisk. He is best skeleboi.

Papybot loves you, anon! He just wants to feed you WHOLESOME SPAGHETTI!!!

It is possible to whistle through teeth. ...alternatively, magic. As for the music, Undertale implies that the music is heard! Maybe it’s just... a thing that exists in this world. Or it’s just meant to be a silly meta joke. I try to keep it somewhat ambiguous other than occasional nods to it. Chara’s pants are lighter because I just... felt like it, I guess? Haha. I wanted their feet and pants to stand out more from each other, so they have khaki pants. As for the Undyne fight being animated, well, this ask is old by now, but Sparks was the one who was down for it.

Well, the teaser’s been out for a long time now, but that’s the idea! It’s also why this has been in production for so long. The Determinator has some really over the top attacks (that weren’t even shown in the teaser), and Sparks animated in Photoshop. That’s how hardcore he is.

Shhhhh. Don’t give me ideas. I’m already slacking on Tem Village. :P

Sometimes I do have slumps and burnouts (see Antipode’s lengthy hiatus), but breaks lead to me being refreshed and coming back with even more enthusiasm than before!

Oh, there are a lot of these throughout the comic. For instance...

Flowey appears in a few background shots in the Ruins!

When Sans says “or maybe...” he looks at the empty flower pot. This was one of the earliest bits of foreshadowing about who created Flowey, and nobody noticed it at the time!

The MTT vending machines initially look like this but have helpful items.

And then they look like this, with an angry face and pose- Mad Dummy has possessed them!

As of Part 38, it’s been revealed that he did first meet Asgore as “Santa.” As for whether or not he knows the truth, time will tell. :o

Oh, these are excellent suggestions for calls! I’ll try to keep these in mind.

So, I believe Glyde uses the Mysterious Door motif. Jerry uses the motif in its battle theme- I believe it’s a mix of original motif and Wrong Number song?

Sans is a master of power napping. He probably gets a decent amount of sleep, though.

There are a lot of ways to interpret Pap’s lack of sleep! In IF, he can get by without it, but he also has a lot of reasons to avoid sleeping. Some reasons include productivity but also due to a looooot of heavy baggage. More on that later.

I think sleep can definitely make monsters healthier. Rest = better mental health as well as physical health, and with how important mental and emotional help is for monsters, that’s very important!

They just really like socks. Socks are warm. Socks are slinky. And googly eyes are the best. So they took on the form of a really eccentric sock puppet and sock collector. Scandalous.

It also has Alphys’ motif, as the two are the leaders of the royal guard!

I would say the lack of Asgore as an influence has left Undyne slightly less grounded? Like, she had Toriel and Gerson in her life, but her relationship with Toriel is... definitely not quite as close? Like, Toriel by that point kept people at an arm’s length due to losing multiple children (including one from old age). So, while they were on friendly terms until the aftermath of the DT experiments and the tapes’ release, it was more like mutual respect and a sorta professional relationship with Undyne admiring Toriel and wanting to spare her from more heartache.

That is a really interesting idea. While that didn’t happen, I do need to maybe revisit the grumpy dog at some point or another. He’s still a lil’ salty.

I think in terms of layout it won’t change much, but there will be new/different content for sure. :O

Mad Dummy’s base design is mostly original, but she has a wig + headband from DIO from Jojo Part 3! Fun fact: While MTT has Kamina shades, Papyrus’ goggles are loosely based on Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in terms of color. :O

So basically, when Asriel defeated Frisk, he had the power over the timeline to reset it as he pleased- in theory. However, that power was overwhelming for him, and due his lack of understanding OF said power and one last ditch attempt at resisting from Chara, things went wrong.

There is a track that takes some inspiration from Rage Awakened. It’s not released, and it’s not exact, but it won’t be released for a WHILE. Like until the part comes out.

I think it’s just the fact that tacos are so random. Like, my biggest beef in that regard was that OG Underswap had a lot of arbitrary replacements for things in UT and not all of them made sense. Like, if Sans was to make a foreign food, ramen would’ve made more sense due to Alphys being weeb trash, haha.

Okay, so the rough timeline iiiis... Falling: - Cyan - Green - Orange - Blue - Purple - Yellow Dying: - Cyan - Orange - Blue - Purple - Yellow - Green

You know, it’s funny because this ask is super old, but that’s basically sorta what happened. :O It became a beach-themed resort.

Never forget MTT fangirl Temmie’s pool escapades.

I think Forgespring for me because I had to make the tileset myself (it took a few months, I think?), but Aquarius was definitely in the works for a while. But once I had the tileset from Fours, the rooms were very easy to design!

That woulda been pretty rad! Maybe I can find another spot for it one day, haha.

I think for Dohj, I’d have to check with Fours, but I’m certainly not opposed at some point? Right now, the following chars can take questions: - Frisk - Papyrus - Sans - Undyne - Alphys - Napstablook - Mettaton - Asgore - Chara - Flowey

Cyan appears in Part 45! :O No answer about orange for now, tho.

I do have vague ideas for Tem village. I just haven’t had time to go back and do it.

Stay tuned and you may find out! :O

Hmmmm... I had a lot of fun with MTT SPIRAL and the Determinator, tbh. They were both very time consuming, but I love how they came out! Also, buff Jerry.

Turnabout Storm. :)

It’s a really awesome fan crossover that works way better than it should. :P

None taken! We know that with headcanons, everyone is gonna have their own interpretations. These are just the voices we liked for Fireglobe Production, but everyone has their right to their favored interpretations!

Yeah, Knight Knight is one of the coolest CORE mercs in the original game. It was fun to repurpose them for Inverted Fate as royal guards. :o It made room for unique encounters in the CORE in the form of them robots- as Undyne would rather use machines than other monsters to do her work.

Personally, I see it as an Asriel motif, but I also acknowledge that at one point it WAS gonna be an Asgore motif. Toby has a habit of just using whatever music works for a scene (see sans. at the snail farm.)

I do have a few ideas, though I won’t say for what yet. :o

He’s likely made blueprints for that train. :P

It probably would just have different flavor text/progression!

So basically, I treat the starting motif for BAaTH/Power of NEO is just a “true hero” motif.

MTT is definitely major in IF! As for whether or not he’ll have a hangout, time will tell. There’s definitely more to resolve with him, though.

I’m gonna remake at least a few of the older tracks, including Regret. My goal is just to bring the OST to a similar standard of quality.

So, animated parts coming up: Part 47, Part 49, Part 50. There may be some other parts, but we’re gonna wanna scale things back for a little bit for the sake of all our sanities.

I go with both. ;)

Honestly, probably fairly similar to the bully fight in the Ruins- which is why I ultimately decided not to do one. Both fill similar archetypes, though I think if I did do a battle, I woulda still had Flowey interrupt at the end and scare them off.

It’s a very emotional scene. Far more tragic than her geno death, IMO.

Well, the main goal in that regard is the remasters (Part 9 is in progress). Otherwise, I do think these hiatuses are good for working ahead. I’ve still gotta do more work, though, because my buffer this time around is a lot smaller from the trial-hiatus buffer. Alas!

Honestly, the website is the best thing to happen to IF. It’s allowed us to do so much with the comic’s presentation that would be impossible with imgur. NORIX IS THE BEST...

[darrowsrising]

You know, I will just throw questions back at you if you don't mind because I can finally scream with people! Tell me about your favorite RR characters aswell, please? ♥

I never mind people asking me things about RR. I love this series with my heart and soul and everything in between. Also, stop apologizing to me about long posts regarding RR, I love them and I have lots of long rants to confirm that.(don’t search for them, they are full of spoilers…and my distaste for Dancer and Roque!) Also, I’ll try not to spoil the fun for you…

Darrow:

My absolute favourite. I love him to bits, he’s my precious, murderous baby! I’d start a #DarrowDefendingSquad or a #DarrowPreciousMurderousBabyBoy, but that’s not my style. Or his style for that matter. He can take care of himself, 75% of the time…the other 25% is not really up to him (it’s a combo of his friends and pure luck).

Jokes aside now, Darrow’s feelings and realness always got to me. When I started reading Red Rising I was 17 and I was recovering from a very bad…burnout (I went to see a psychologist and she told me that I was hurting emotionally from many bad things happening at once, but it wasn’t like…depression or anxiety per se). His feelings, whether it was rage or kindness or anything in between, were so valid to me. He reminded me that it’s perfectly alright to have confidence in yourself, to go after what you want, to be proud of yourself, to love again (friends, lovers, whatever) and many other things. I was at my lowest then and he showed me that ambition is not a dirty word, that confidence in yourself isn’t a bad thing and even if these things intimidate the people around you, they are valid and you shouldn’t be ashamed of despicting such things.

That made me relate to him a lot. I still find myself (whenever I revisit the books) being like “mood” or “same” or “that’s my boy” or “my pride and joy” or “Hail Reaper” at many of his thoughts, actions and one liners. I will always love him, although he is very thick headed sometimes and that’s annoying.

Mustang:

She is my favorite female character. I love the fact that despite growing up with Nero au Augustus as a father and Adrius as a twin, she is still kind. She is also fair, open-minded and highly intelligent. And strong in more ways than one. I love that she is multi-faceted (although haters think she is bland and 2D…Pixies, where? Did we read the same books?) and despite her family and the way she was brought up, she finds it hard to pretend and is mostly genuine (unless she has a plan). I love how she doesn’t give (to use Sevro’s terminology) two squirts of piss over the title of heir of House Augustus, although she’s more than capable to fill in the spot. But she’s more concerned with making the world a better place (she is a Reformist and although the story follows Darrow more, that is a big deal giving that she tried to make laws to help other Colors including the banning of the Board of Quality Control). I love how she is a logical person, yet she sacrifices a part of herself for her family, because she is human and bound to do illogical things. I love how, despite loving her family so much, she often goes against them, because it’s the right thing to do. I love how she is underestimated and she just spits (not literally) in their faces. I just love how she is a fighter, a politician, a leader, because we rarely see females like that. 

Sevro:

Sevro is a breath of fresh air. He is who he is without warning labels and apologies. He is a survivor, a loyal friend (very rare kind), a badarse. He is amazing. His existence is a defiance and I love it, although that resulted in a lonely childhood. I love him to bits tho, because he also shows how good it is to be yourself and like yourself despite everything. He is very sweet despite being a hard arse and his insults always leave me very impressed. It’s obvious that at the Institute, he just wanted to survive and get a modest job (like Fitchner - thing which Fitchner probably encouraged), but he started to see Darrow and his behavior with the others and he wanted to make friends. And when Darrow became his friend - his only real friend until then - it made him want more, dream for more. And I just love that. I love how Sevro evolved and how he protects his friends - Howlers included. The only thing I’m not a fan of is his hygene…and his pornographic collection of holoFilms.

Victra:

Victra is a warrior, an heiress and a business woman. She kicks arse, takes names and simply slays. I love that there is more to her than meets the eye (although I don’t trust NerdsTM to appreciate her like she deserves). I love how bad arse and loyal she is. I love how she enjoys life and all it entails. I love that she lets herself be vulnerable in public and it makes her courageous. I love how open she is about herself, yet she is still mysterious. I love the fact that she never lies and she loves jade jewelry and displaying her scars like jewelry and the smell of the air before the rain hits the ground. 

Fitchner:

I feel like Fitch is way too underrated. He was fairy chosen to be Rage Knight -  a position Lorn filled which only makes it legendary and harder to get. He beat Proctor Jupiter and Tactus’ eldest brother - which I hope is Tharsus, because Apollonius is in my graces atm. Not only that, he created the Sons of Ares, he lead them and infiltrated into the Society’s highest ranks to destroy it from the inside and build something better. It was his plan, his sacrifices, his dream. There would be no Rising without Fitchner. Not even Sevro, but hey, it’s not like the guy would say something like “The entire world should thank me for Sevro - he came from my sperm, ok, my swimmers made the little Goblin. You’re welcome!”…when we all know Sevro’s enemies would rather curse Fitchner’s balls for helping create their doom…

Getting back on track, Fitchner was the okay-est Proctor and one of the best characters.

Adrius: (no, it’ not an unpopular opinion, here we love Adrius)

I believe Adrius is the best villain hands down. There are no excuses for his actions, he is a genocidal maniac with daddy issues. He looks at people like they are objects, not human beings, he has no compassion and has no knowledge of empathy. And I love him. I give him sympathy, because he is a monster, but he was made that way. Although he displayed terrifying behavior from a young age, his fall towards evil could have been avoided if his father gave two (2) fucks about him. I love his relationship with Darrow and how they were rivals, then sort of allies, then…you’ll find out. I just love how Adrius was written. He is really great as a villain. I hate what he did to Darrow, tho. When he killed Nero I was happy for him, but no one touches Darrow, so that was his worst move ever. Like…Pixie, you just signed your death warrant, stay away from Mustang’s Bitc- Boo!

The Telemanuses: 

All of them are amazing! Much love to all of them! They deserve the world! I include Niobe, Thraxa and Xana, but that’s all I’m going to say, because you need to read for yourself to believe me.

Cassius: (long stoty, because i didn’t really like him at first)

You know what? I disliked Cassius as much as Darrow did first time he saw him…too annoyingly perfect. And after what Darrow endured it felt like a disgrace to see an entitled little Pixie dance his way on marble corridors at the expense of so many Colors. As the story progressed, Cassius’s entitled arse didn’t improved and the most annoying part was him bragging about the death he claimed. I know he did it to make people talk and find out who killed Julian, but that doesn’t make him right. The 49 other people killed in the Passage were just as innocent as Julian. He made the death of the person he killed sound cheap. Even Antonia had more respect towards that. And Titus made it worse, but that gets off tracks. I understand his pain. If someone would have killed my sister in the Passage, it would have sworn revenge too. But the painful thing is that Cassius saw only Julian’s death, Julian didn’t deserve to die. But that is also true for all the other people who got murdered in the Passage. They didn’t deserve to die either, but you don’t see anyone going at Mustang or Sevro with blood oaths to murder them. The whole system is fucked up and must be changed. Killing Darrow might be a thing of honour, but honour doesn’t bring back Julian.

The fact that he lied to everyone that Darrow was killed by Adrius to claim his spot as Primus of Mars wasn’t good publicity either. And then, he got to be even more of a Pixie in Golden Son. But it was Mustang who convinced me to give him a chance. Because she was the one who revealed that Cassius is conflicted, that he regrets losing not one brother, but two. That he suffers, but tries to do his duty to his family and honour them. Bit by bit, I was open to seeing Cassius from this perspective, so I gave him lots of benefits of the doubt. Until he killed Fitchner and all I wanted was to see his head on a spike turned ugly by gore and maggots. Then Morning Star happened and I went from: fuck Cassius (and not in a nice way) to Bloodydamn finally, Pixie, you made me so proud. Then, we got Iron Gold and man, if something happens to him I’ll kill all the Gold families of the Rim and then that bitch of a ward. 

I really love his character development. I can see that mine is an unpopular opinion everywhere in this fandom, given that even the author has a soft spot for Cassius (not that that stops him from making Cassius suffer even more), but yeah…that is the story of how I got late to the “We love Cassius” party. I’m being short on the good details, because I don’t want to spoil you, but I hope you understand.

Holiday and Orion:

They are amazing human beings and although they are side characters I love their contribution to the series. I love their personalities and talents and their overall no nonsense attitude. 

I’ll stop here, before we go off charts. Here are some honourable mentions in no particular order: Aja au Grimmus, Ragnar Volarus, Theodora, Matteo, Mickey, Tactus au Rath Valii, Lorn au Arcos, Apollonius au Valii Rath, Alexandar au Arcos, Rhonna of Lykos, Diomedes au Raa, Trigg ti Nakamura, Volga Fjordan.

[sp4c3-0ddity]

Soft and fluffy? Pidge is sitting at her laptop, tunnel vision focused and annoyed. Either a code isn’t going her way or a dead end to finding Dad. Her face says it all. Before she can react, Lance races in from across the Green Lion’s hanger, slides down on his knees and is stopped as he rams into Pidge and envelopes her in the tightest, most comforting hug. His cheeks are squished against the back of her head and he tells her he loves her and she is awesome and will break through.

perhaps not QUITE what you had in mind but i tried. ~1000 words. hope you like it

Pidge could feel it creeping over her, encroaching into her mind and interfering with her thought process. She could envision it, see mold growing over dendrites and cobwebs replacing glial cells. Rather than electrical impulses dancing along her nerves at peak speed, her thoughts slowed, sluggish, like they waded in a river against the current.

Her worst enemy, her greatest nemesis, worse than Emperor Zarkon himself, evil hellspawn born of failure, frustration, and exhaustion:

Burnout.

Pidge rubbed her eyes, trying to bring them back into focus. Her vision blurred and sharpened, then blurred again when she took off her glasses - her very real and necessary glasses that she’d been forced to get recently. The frames weighed heavy on her ears and added to her physical complaints, but even those - everything from her aching back, stiff from sitting up for so long, to her sore knee, banged up after their last mission but not badly enough to justify a varga spent in a healing pod - paled in comparison to the strain on her mind.

Pidge dropped her forehead and rested it against the cool metal surface of her desk, trying to soothe herself, however slightly. But her mind and body - her half-formed thoughts - still prompted her into action, still told her there was more she could be doing despite her burnout. So she sat up, put her glasses on, and pulled her computer back towards her, ready to analyze the complex Galra security protocol that would free another mining planet from captivity.

It made about as much sense to her tired, annoyed brain as it had earlier, which was to say none at all.

“Quiznak,” she hissed, burying her face in her arms while hot, frustrated tears pricked her eyes.

“Piiiiiiidge!” a familiar voice called from the Green Lion’s hangar entrance.

Pidge picked her head up, glancing in that direction. She used her sleeve to wipe her tears away, sniffing, and forcing a definitely unconvincing smile as Lance approached her.

He grinned, waving cheerfully at her when he drew closer, but when he caught sight of her face his lips turned down and he sped towards her. Before Pidge could muster her words, he tightly wrapped his arms around her from behind, body warm and snugly fitting against hers. He pressed his cheek against the back of her head.

Pidge would never admit it to anyone - except to Lance himself, maybe - but she liked it when he clung to her like this, or when she latched herself onto him. There was just something soothing about having another human body pressed against hers, a balm for the mind and a relaxant for the muscles.

Some of the tension trickled out of her as she leaned back into Lance, and his arms tightened around her, sensing her need.

“Guess what?” Lance said, voice soft and close to her ear.

“...did Coran get his hand stuck in something weird again?”

Lance rubbed his nose - scratching, probably - against the side of her head, then chuckled, the vibration reverberating from his chest into her back. “No,” he said. “Try again.”

“Hunk figured out a way to imitate peanut butter?”

“All right, you get one more guess before I tell you.”

Pidge rolled her eyes but said, “Did you finally find out how to swim in the upside down pool?”

“Oh, ha ha, very funny, Pidge,” Lance grumbled.

For some reason, that made her giggle, if only because the image of Lance’s last pitiful attempt to swim laps in the Castle’s pool cheered her.

“So...what?” Pidge said, turning her head slightly so that Lance could see her frown. Of course he would dangle a mystery in front of her without giving her a chance to solve it...

“I love you,” he said, pressing a doting kiss to her forehead.

Pidge’s face flushed, pleased and embarrassed all at the same time, her worries dissolving as easily as sugar in hot tea. “So?” she said, trying to show him how unaffected she was. “I love you too, so it’s not that special.”

“But you are, Pidge,” Lance said. He buried his face in her hair. “You’re special, and smart, and confident, and we wouldn’t be able to function without you. And anytime you’re faced with a challenge, it bows down to you, its queen - wait, no, it’s empress.”

Pidge laughed and rubbed her face. “Oh my God, Lance,” she said. “That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“But it’s true,” Lance insisted. “And I know for a fact you love being praised.”

“Well...”

Lance let go of her and moved away, and Pidge missed him instantly...at least until he knelt on the floor next to her, putting him at below eye level in relation to her. He cupped her face, gently, and made sure she met his eyes. “You’re amazing, Pidge, and when you crack this code, we’ll all sing your praises.”

Pidge rested her forehead against his, reaching behind him to bury her hands in his hair. “But especially you, right?”

He smirked. “I’ll be the loudest one.” 

Lance then kissed her, so softly it wasn’t much more than a warm brush of lips, and he pulled back before her eyes even closed. “Also,” he added, with a slow, sly smile, “it wouldn’t hurt to take a break, right?”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. “I could agree to kicking your ass in Killbot, if it’s what you want.”

Lance frowned at her. “I was actually thinking of something like--”

“Making out?”

“--a nap.”

“Oh.” Pidge pulled away from him a bit and coughed. “That sounds nice too.”

“All right then,” Lance said cheerfully. He stood up and took her hands in his, tugging her up after him. “And maybe on the way to my room, you can tell me what’s giving you so much trouble.”

“But you always complain that you don’t get it,” Pidge pointed out as he led them out of the hangar.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t like listening to you ramble sometimes,” Lance said, nudging her in the side. “Besides, you did tell me once that it sometimes helps to explain things out loud.”

“...yeah,” Pidge said, smiling at him. “That’s true.”

So she tried, and Lance listened attentively and asked questions - if rather simplistic ones that required some background information to explain properly - but it helped somewhat, and the problem didn’t seem quite as daunting and frustrating as it had before.

And some things just made more sense after she distanced herself from them for a little while.

[toralyzer]

apparently there was this series of personal writing prompts for autism acceptance month that i missed, but i decided to do them all now cause i like talking about myself. http://doingcollegedisabled.tumblr.com/post/159842938764/30-days-of-autism-acceptance

Day 1.     Make yourself known.

I’m Amanda I’m 19! I was professionally diagnosed at a young age but by the time they told me I already long since knew I was weird.

Day 2.     Talk about passing and/or being out.

I’d be open about it I think but it hasn’t come up many times. I guess I did work really hard growing up to be able to pass as allistic though. Oh... I’m not sure if that’s ever caused burnout!

Day 3.     Talk about relationships, both platonic and romantic. 

Yeah as a kid I had a hard time making friends but now I’m a lot better at being sociable - in the allistic way I guess. But now lots of my friends are proudly autistic anyway!

Day 4.     Talk about your family and support. 

I think my family was fine about it. Unless in fact my trauma comes from them dealing with my autism badly. It’s unknown.

Day 5.     Talk about employment and your career. 

Yeah I gotta get one of those...

Day 6.     Talk about music, art, writing, and other forms of creativity. 

Yeah I do that stuff! I’m really creative. Sometimes I think about autistic themes but I don’t think I know what they would be, I think I have too many bad depictions internalized. Sometime I wanna do something with the changeling comparison though...

Day 7.     Talk about community. 

I guess I’m really not out as autistic anywhere ‘cause I pass well. So idk. And I’m not in any communities of autistic people.

Day 8.     Talk about traditional media. 

I think as a kid, media depictions gave me this horrible sense of condescending superiority toward myself and added to my complexes of not listening to my feelings. It’s like, you get these books that put you outside the autistic kid to laugh at his misunderstanding things, and I think then I felt like any sincere expression of my own feelings and thoughts was an immature misunderstanding and worthy of shame.

Day 9.     Talk about Autism Speaks.

Ya, fuck them.

And/or  Talk about special interests.

Damn I’m not sure if I’ve had a special interest lately? I guess some things I’ve been constantly thinking about lately are, um, Sports Anime RPG and my Zimmy fanfic. Okay so Sports Anime RPG is a roleplaying game I’m making based on sports animes even though I haven’t actually seen many but I thought it was a cool idea. It’s split into two sections, one is for the sports games and you can swap out different rulesets for different sports, and in general it’s focused on strategy and mechanics, similar to traditional RPG battles. The other is more freeform roleplay for the story outside sports matches, with light skill checks that are mostly social-based. And there are friendship mechanics where you can build friendships with other characters and get friendship abilities that you can use in either mode! And then the Zimmy story is this fanfiction idea that I always come back to when I feel really fucked up in my head - the premise is basically to throw together all the most viscerally upsetting surreal gore and horror set pieces I can think of, in the context of Zimmy from Gunnerkrigg Court’s reality warping getting set off bad. I’m a little frustrated because I can’t figure out how to express how much I love Zimmy and want to save her but also address how abusive she is.

Day 10. Talk about a cure. 

It’s a divergence not an illness so it wouldn’t be a cure so much as just mental modification. And no that would be really evil for other people to be able to make us allistic

And/Or  Talk about stimming. 

Yeah I like stim toys sometimes. I have a bracelet of rainbow stars and a thing of rainbow blocks you can put in different shapes and a fidget cube. I think a bigger thing for me though is that if I’m listening to a podcast or so I need to play a video game that uses my hands but not my listening brain. When I do that it can be the most fulfilling and engaging activity ever. Watching video fills my attention too much to do a simultaneous activity but not enough to keep me from being distracted so it’s not as easy for me.

Day 11. Talk about sensory issues. 

When I was a kid I only wore shorts all the time. Now I’m hugely self-conscious about it and I’ll never wear male shorts again. Yeah, I guess there are various sensory things I have a problem with... It’s not too intrusive to my life though.

Day 12. Talk about ableism. 

I don’t think I’ve got any stories here. I’ve never been targeted directly.

Day 13. Talk about something funny. 

“Has anything humorous or ironic ever happened to you because you were autistic?“ Haha probably not anything I’d want to joke about!

Day 14. Talk about role models. 

Uhhhh I’m not sure I know any autistic role models. Sometimes there are tumblr users who are vocally autistic who seem cool. Role models in general? I was saying the other day, I used to have a list of people I wanted to be like, but several of them have since become my enemies, so. Yeah, I think every celebrity disappoints you eventually. The last person about whom I thought “well, at least so far, this person seems really good and kind and a cool artistic inspiration” was... Rebecca Sugar.

Day 15. Talk about identity. 

I was diagnosed with aspergers but later I learned that’s just a subset of autism now. I like autistic better.

Day 16. Talk about treatment. 

I haven’t done any that I can really remember. I should go to therapy though. Like in general.

Day 17. Talk about empathy. 

I guess usually I have more sympathy than empathy for people? But sometimes when my girlfriend does a kind of cutesy sad voice as a joke I get some kind of weird hyper empathy and get really sad.

Day 18. Talk about functioning labels. 

I hear those are bad. I would probably be on the higher functioning side but yeah, those seem like a bad idea because they describe how well society is ready to engage with us as if it was our own success or failure.

Day 19. Talk about your struggles and strengths. 

I don’t really know which of those are because of autism or not and I’m self-conscious about finding out because I spent so long trying to learn to be “normal”. On the other hand sometimes it feels like it’ll turn out that autistic traits just account for my whole personality.

Day 20. Talk about communication. 

I’m verbal, sometimes I like when I can communicate in other ways though, like when I can get something across with quick hand signs.

Day 21. Talk about comorbid conditions.

Well I’m not sure about any of those and I don’t think I’ll speculate here to make sure I don’t appropriate anything.

Day 22. Talk about autism parents. 

Wow fuck them! Yeah I was just reading about #BoycottToSiri. People who abuse their kids because they can’t fathom trying to interact and listen to them to understand what they really need and instead go to great lengths to train them like animals into simulating “normality” should die.

Day 23. Talk about your living situation. 

I have a roommate who I know enjoys being able to stay in their room without ever encountering a single allistic or cis person. ^u^

Day 24. Talk about the stereotypes and misconceptions that neurotypicals and allistics have. 

Luckily I haven’t encountered it much in person but I know people see us as a young boy with a slightly distant expression with a single savant skill but also enough tragic disconnection from the rest of humanity that they can safely feel intellectually superior. Wow now that I think about this it’s actually this really unique way of viewing a person where they feel that the stereotypical expression shows that this child doesn’t really exist outside of his mysterious, unknowable brain and therefore all of his personal space and bodily autonomy is up for grabs. It’s really unsettling how autistic bodies in media are dehumanized into dolls because the portrayer is so obsessed with emphasizing this perceived unbreachable distance between the subject and the human observers.

Day 25. Talk about meltdowns/shutdowns. 

Kinda had one earlier because academic research is so frustrating. I think work pressure like that is the usual cause, other than social overload.

Day 26. Talk about echolalia and scripting. 

Yeah I don’t use really specific scripts for most things now, but when it comes to formal things like phone calls I do really need to work out my full sentence before I start.

Day 27. Talk about eye-contact. 

I think I’m pretty okay with eye contact? I don’t think I give people the wrong signals? This always makes me self-conscious X(

Day 28. Talk about autism as a disability.

It’s not a disability ‘cause it’s just different, right? Or are there aspects that strictly make things harder? I don’t really know...

Day 29. Talk about executive functioning.

IT’S DEFINITELY AN ISSUE.

Day 30. Talk with pride. 

“Are you proud to be autistic?” Yeah definitely!!! “How do you show the world your pride?” Oh. Hm...

[entergamingxp]

DualShockers’ Favorite Games of 2019 — Rachael’s Top 10

December 31, 2019 4:00 PM EST

There were plenty of games of 2019 that I enjoyed immensely, but if I had to pick just 10, here were my favorites of the year.

As 2019 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2019 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2019 releases — can be considered.

Here we are again at the end of another great gaming year. Even though we didn’t see as many huge titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man, or God of War as seen in 2018, my year has been packed full of some amazing titles regardless. Thankfully, I didn’t have to solely rely on AAA games to have a great gaming experience, as this year we saw many fantastic indies that included Untitled Goose Game, Outer Wilds, Lost Ember, My Friend Pedro, to name a few. This only goes to prove how far independent studios have come along, and how they have firmly made their mark within the gaming industry.

As a gamer, I’m very open to what I will play – which is probably a good thing in this business. As you’ll tell from my diverse list, I’m not afraid to jump into whatever piques my interest. That may be from the adorable and cutesy, to the dark and twisted underbelly of the video games universe. As much as I love experiencing all areas of gaming, there’s one factor that always calls me home, and that’s immersive storytelling. I don’t think there’s a feeling in the world like sitting back and getting completely lost within a world interwoven in an amazingly captivating narrative. Since the start of time, humans have used storytelling as a way to connect to others, to bring people closer together and how the world is right now, there couldn’t be a more apt time to continue this tradition in the games we play.

As we slide into 2020, I’m excited to uncover what’s in store for me – especially with my most anticipated game mere months away, The Last of Us Part II. But until then, allow me to share with you what has been my Top 10 games of 2019. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy to narrow it down to just 10!

10. Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a beautifully crafted piece of kit. It oozes bags of appeal and a refreshing, upbeat soundtrack that accompanied the game’s style perfectly. Other than its eye-popping visuals, the underlying story of heartbreak made this short, heart-pumping title really stand out.

I played it all in one go from start to finish and since then, I’ve been recommending gamers to give this unique and worthwhile title a try. On a side note: Queen Latifah’s voice is the epitome of ASMR.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Sayonara Wild Hearts.

9. Divinity: Original Sin II

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to play this game when it first released back in 2017 but when I saw that it was releasing on the Nintendo Switch, I knew that I had to play it. Divinity: Original Sin II is acclaimed to be one of the best western-style RPGs ever made, with stellar writing, voice acting, and brilliantly crafted tactical combat, and I couldn’t agree more.

The Switch’s small screen in handheld mode is perfect to get up close and personal with the bucket loads of action and endless, compelling dialogue. Divinity: Original Sin II’s emotion-wrought fantasy world really does make it one of the finest RPG games of recent years.

Check out DualShockers‘ review forDivinity: Original Sin II on Nintendo Switch.

8. Mosaic

Over the past few years, I’ve seen a rise in talking about mental health in video games. I love that we are now more open and free to discuss these issues that affect so many of us, and that developers are willing to take this on and adapt it to their games.

Mosaic offers a painstakingly realistic look under the heavy covers of depression and burnout in the workplace. I applaud that Krillbite Studio made no apologizes as they dove head-on in tackling these difficult subjects in Mosaic. Its cruelly dark and, at times, hard to play because of how authentic the main character plays out his troubles. But this is, in my opinion, when you know you’ve made a great game; when the player feels what you’re portraying.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Mosaic (by me!).

7. Planet Zoo

When it comes to management sims, I tend to get a little overwhelmed with how much you have to do. You almost have to divide yourself into a million pieces to just stay afloat, but thankfully Planet Zoo offered much more manageable gameplay that I thoroughly enjoyed.

With its plentiful tutorials and smart UI, I spent hours taking care of all the zoo’s creatures, and who doesn’t want to care for a baby lion cub? Frontier Developments also tackled important educational and conservation topics throughout, which gave me bags of insight into each species. If you’re looking for a management sim that won’t take hours just to know what you’re supposed to be doing or kill every brain cell due to an overload of tasks, Planet Zoo may be the one for you.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Planet Zoo by me, again.

6. My Friend Pedro

My Friend Pedro made me feel like I was actually really good at games. It made me feel like Neo from The Matrix with its slow-motion gunplay and super crazy stunts that offered one hell of an adrenaline-filled ride.

From barrel riding to swinging off chains to achieve the ultimate stunt-shot, My Friend Pedro provided me hours of entertainment. I was a bad-ass ninja on a skateboard with a talking banana; what’s not to love?

Check out DualShockers’ review for My Friend Pedro.

5. Life is Strange 2

This tale of brotherly love between Sean and Daniel Diaz begins as they try and flee America to start a new life in Mexico, and it hooked me from the get-go. Sure, it was a little slow in the beginning but it soon picked up steam and turned into a goldmine of storytelling.

What I appreciated most about Life is Strange 2 is how deeply it resonated with me in how well it addressed a lot of the current political and social issues we see in America today. Dontnod Entertainment obviously went to great lengths to make the player feel and care about what happened to these brothers, and for that, they have my respect. I’m really looking forward to knowing more about their next game, Tell Me Why – my guess is that it will be another emotionally hard-hitting adventure, and I’m totally here for that.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for the first episode of Life is Strange 2.

4. Concrete Genie

What can I say about this wholesome and charming game? I feel like it would be better to take my heart out and let it tell you, because that’s where I’ve stored everything that has touched me from this beautiful title. Concrete Genie throws you into the shoes of Ash, a young sensitive boy you loves to paint. When his town gets consumed by a dark, negative force coupled with some bullies set to make his life harder, Ash goes on an adventure where he meets the most adorable genies and together, they right so many wrongs.

Just before playing this game, I was going through a rough patch in life, so jumping into this adorably endearing title made that period much more bearable – I honestly couldn’t stop smiling throughout my entire time playing it. If you’re looking for something that will lift your spirits throughout these winter months, consider Concrete Genie. I dare you not to fall in love with Luna.

3. Luigi’s Mansion 3

I sometimes tend to lean towards games that are pretty dark and sinister, but as you can start to tell from this list – I’m trying to change that. In freshening up my game playing habits more, I found myself wanting to give Luigi’s Mansion 3 on the Nintendo Switch a shot and boy, am I thankful that I gave this game a chance.

There’s so much to love in the third installment of the adventure series that lets Mario’s chicken-livered twin Luigi take control. The graphics in Luigi’s Mansion 3 are a kaleidoscope of beauty that pops straight from the beginning, and in my opinion, the best graphics currently on the Nintendo Switch. Coupled with impressive animation, fun levels, and acute attention to detail, this game was an absolute pleasure to play. I honestly have never had so much fun hoovering in all my life – just ask Chrissy Teigen.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Luigi’s Mansion 3.

2. A Plague Tale: Innocence

In case you didn’t know this about me, I love games where I must fight to stay alive, so here I am again getting sucked into a world where I have to go head-to-head with forces that wants me dead – sounds charming doesn’t it? This time I’m running from rats in this deeply somber tale of the evil that scurries in the dark, and it’s not just the rats, FYI.

What I loved most about A Plague Tale is the narrative between the two siblings, Amicia and Hugo de Rune, who are thrown into a dangerous world where all they have are each other to rely on. Amicia, who constantly has to reassure her little brother Hugo, and Hugo constantly asking a barrage of questions is so life-like that you almost forget you’re playing a video game due to how well Asobo Studio cultivated the relationship between them both. A Plague Tale: Innocence will propel you into a broken and terrifying world, but also remind you that beneath the cruelty of its environment, a deeply set unconditional love story between a brother and sister waits to be uncovered.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for A Plague Tale: Innocence by yours truly.

1. Days Gone

From its very first reveal at Sony’s E3 2016 panel, Days Gone had me hook, line and sinker. As I’ve already stated, there’s something immediately appealing to me about apocalyptic survival games, (hello, The Last of Us). Whether it’s a metaphor from my own internal struggles, I’m not sure, but what I do know is that trying to stay alive in a world that wants to swallow you whole captivates me on a whole other level.

Days Gone has a meaningful and varied narrative with just the right amount of pain, hope, and unexpected surprises to keep you glued to your seat the entire ride. Bend Studio crafted something personal and unique to them where they invited players to enter this world with an open heart and a little patience, where only then would your gaming experience really pay off in this stellar title.

The story is rich and meaty with a wide array of diverse characters you meet on your journey around Oregon’s beautiful landscapes, with countless areas you can interact with and explore. I’ve even found myself mindlessly riding my drifter bike for hours from one end of the map to the other, merely to soak in the scenery – the lakes, mountains, and forests are breathtakingly beautiful that I’ve already filled up a lot of space on my PS4 with the games built-in photo mode. Hats off to Bend Studio on this epic adventure; I can’t wait to experience what’s next from the studio.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Days Gone by – yep you’ve guessed it.

Before you leave, I’d like to share some Honorable Mentions that didn’t quite make my top 10:

Untitled Goose Game – What a cute little asshole.

Disco Elysium – I haven’t yet finished this game but so far, I’m finding it really enjoyable with a cracking narrative.

Hearthstone – I finally dove into this online digital collectible card game at the start of 2019 and in my opinion, it’s the best card game out there.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer: this is where I go to release some pent up frustration. There’s nothing quite like finding unique ways to kill strangers online.

Death Stranding – I’m still peeing and pooping my way around this strange world. It may or may not fall into my Top 10 in 2020, but as of right now, it’s unsettling and addictive for reasons that are beyond my comprehension at present.

Check out the rest of the DualShockers staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 23: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2019 December 25: Lou Contaldi, Editor-in-Chief // Logan Moore, Managing Editor December 26: Tomas Franzese, News Editor // Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor  December 27: Mike Long, Community Manager // Scott White, Staff Writer December 28: Chris Compendio, Contributor // Mario Rivera, Video Manager // Kris Cornelisse, Staff Writer December 29: Scott Meaney, Community Director // Allisa James, Senior Staff Writer // Ben Bayliss, Senior Staff Writer December 30: Cameron Hawkins, Staff Writer // David Gill, Senior Staff Writer // Portia Lightfoot, Contributor December 31: Iyane Agossah, Senior Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Senior Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Contributor January 1: Ricky Frech, Senior Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer

December 31, 2019 4:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-rachaels-top-10/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-rachaels-top-10

[life-coach-collins-blog]

Mashed Potatoes, Hand Mixers, and Burnout

This last Thanksgiving, my one and only task was to make the mashed potatoes. This may not sound like a big deal, but in my house, the mashed potatoes are highly coveted, and not just on Turkey Day, but also for leftover heaven the days following. The pressure was on. I boiled the potatoes, threw them in a bowl with what I assumed were the right ingredients of milk, salt and enough butter to choke a horse, got out my mother’s trusty Electrolux hand mixer, circa 1982, and plowed through the giant spheres of potato. It was a battle. I kept jamming the beaters into the bowl with a force that would make a serial killer nervous. Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. The mixer groaned as I forced it into submission. And then suddenly, a stream of thick black smoke poured out of the tiny little mixer as it came to a sudden halt. I had burned out the motor. I was now stuck with a big bowl of cold, butter-coated lumps, and the hateful death-stares of my family for the rest of the week.

The burnout of my mother’s poor hand mixer (RIP) is very similar to how we can burnout in real life. The funny thing is that for hardworking overachievers, burnout sometimes feels like a necessity, as if working oneself to a point of complete exhaustion is the only way to prove a strong work ethic. In fact, like my Electrolux, allowing yourself to get to that point actually does the exact opposite, as burnout typically renders one completely useless. Think about it, have you ever heard anyone say “You know, the most productive I’ve ever been in my life is that time I worked so hard that my brain shut off and I spent the whole day crying gibberish in the storage closet!”? Working your ass off is sometimes a necessary evil, and it can even feel downright amazing to push yourself hard to achieve something big. There is a fine line, however, between “kicking ass” and “getting your ass kicked” by your endeavors. Let’s dissect this metaphor to uncover strategies for avoiding this unproductive point of no-return. 

Here is where I went wrong with Mission: Mashed Potato: 

1. I had no game plan. When I started the task of making the mashed potatoes, I had done no research. I had no recipe. I didn’t even ask anyone how to make mashed potatoes. I just went in headfirst hoping for the best. If I had done just a little bit of research or downloaded a recipe from the Food Network, I may have learned, for example, that heating up the ingredients would made them easier to mix. Avoiding Burnout Tip #1: Take the time to do research to come up with the most efficient game plan for getting the job done.

2. I ignored the signs of impending burnout. When I was whipping the potatoes like an overzealous dominatrix, I could definitely feel the mixer starting to get hot. I could hear the motor groan as I relentlessly pounded the beaters into the bowl. If I had stopped myself at that point, allowed the motor to cool down, and come up with a better approach, then I could have prevented my mixer from completely crapping out. Avoiding Burnout Tip #2: Keep an eye out for early warning signs indicating that you are approaching the point of completely falling apart. Take a break. Take a breather. Regroup. Most importantly, be honest with yourself about what isn’t working and take a new approach.

3. I didn’t ask for help. My mother has made delicious mashed potatoes every Thanksgiving since I can remember. At some point it probably would have been wise to ask her for guidance, especially when things started to go terribly wrong. My ego got in the way, and I refused to ask for any help from anyone, even the expert in the room. Avoiding Burnout Tip #3: Get over yourself and ask for help. This isn’t a sign of weakness. In most instances, knowing when you’re in over your head and in need of help is seen as a sign of strength.  

4. I didn’t make anything easy on myself.  Most of you when reading my tale of woe above, probably thought “Why in the hell didn’t she cut the potatoes into smaller chunks first?” Okay, thanks Ina Garten! Where was this advice back in November? Yes, there were a lot of things I could have done to make the job easier, like cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces or using an appliance that wasn’t purchased before I was born. Avoiding Burnout Tip #4: Do what you can to make your life easier. Working hard doesn’t necessarily have to mean hard work.

Anytime you find that you’re pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion, remember my poor little hand mixer. All of the hard work in the world won’t bring that little sucker back to life. It has mixed its last cake. It has whipped its last meringue. It has beaten its last potato. Don’t let that happen to you. And, if you find yourself approaching the point of burning out, call a life coach. We’ll help you come up with an action plan that won’t leave you with smoke pouring out of your ears.