#the ratio will probably not be as funny on this version

[museaway]

it's been a few months since the original poll, so since staff just announced that the feature will be available in more countries starting next week, here is a new & improved version using the wonderful suggestions from the last poll!

[anominous-user]

is this something (2)

[seiwas]

₊˚⊹｡ i'll be good to you | nanami kento

wc: 1.5k

summary: nanami’s half-hoping you call a fourth time.

contains: implied f!reader but no mention of pronouns, exes, mentions of alcohol, swears, reader wears makeup and heels, drunk calls, a bit angsty and a bit hurt/no comfort but it isn’t all that sad i think

a/n: this ran away from me again! but this is a brainchild from me and @augustinewrites, with song inspos: you were good to me, tequila, bourbon, and already gone

part of the in's and out's new year/birthday event | request prompt: calling your ex drunk at two a.m. with feelings still stuck in your throat

you are here -> part 2

Nanami moves in numbers. 

It comes with his personality—practical and efficient, forward thinking. 

Predicting deals from 9-to-5 looks a lot different from dealing deaths by a ratio of 7:3, but the tactics remain the same, the stakes still high; every move is precise and calculated, analyzed to be accurate. 

So he’d known—the day he decided to pick up his blade again was the day he’d deal his final blow—at you, and the relationship you built together. 

A strategic takedown of something he deemed doomed from the start. 

That’s what he wants you to think, at least. 

When his phone rings three times—the first in the middle of lecturing Yuuji, the second while going overtime underground, and the third just moments ago, bleeding out on a bathroom counter, Nanami realizes that the probability of him ever speaking to you again, alive and breathing, is a number he can’t predict. 

So he waits, linen pants and a cotton shirt while sporting a drink by his kitchen counter. 

Strangely, he’s full of hope, half-good and half-bad—that you’ll call back; that you won’t. The line between the two blurs. 

It always has with you. 

A friendly face—that’s all you were supposed to be; his work neighbor a few cubicles down his. It started with polite nods, a few casual waves, maybe even small smiles on a good day. Your schedule was terrible, much like his—one of the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave. 

Then, you finally moved past just a friendly hello; something about bread, he recalls, an attempt to exchange recipes on sourdough. It started then, with you leaving a cup of coffee on his desk and he saving an ‘extra��� sub for you. 

(Except, it’s never an ‘extra’ with Nanami; he’d never do anything miscalculated.) 

Suddenly, you’re the first face he looks for in the morning, and he’s the last person you check on before clocking out at night. 

For a while, he didn’t know what to call you—a coworker? Friend? Someone he has dinner with at 12 midnight? 

You set it straight after the seventh ‘date’. 

Now, when his phone rings the fourth time, he picks up.

You’re cursing on the line, the sound of metal clinking on tile muffled in the background. 

He waits for you to talk, half-hopeful and half-nervous at hearing you speak. 

You always used to drop your keys by his door—your haphazard way of looking for his amongst five of yours. 

“Shit,” you grumble, the lock finally clicking open. 

He hears your footsteps, the sound of your heels landing as if they’ve been hastily kicked off. 

A party, perhaps? Or a night out? 

There’s a funny feeling that sits in his stomach when he thinks about you coming home from a date, one he knows he no longer has a right to. 

It should be good, he thinks, you’re moving on.  

He stares at his glass, liquor blurring into ice—brown edges fading into something lighter, near transparent. For a moment, he wonders if this was a mistake, if you hadn’t meant to call him at all. He’s considering putting the phone down to save you the embarrassment. 

But—

“Finally,” you spit out, clumsy and a little too honest. 

To anyone else, you’d sound normal, but Nanami’s known you for years, has loved you for just as much, and this sounds a lot like the version of you that’s lost track of how many you’ve had to drink—the same one he’s had to tuck in bed, with your arms clinging onto his neck while dragging him under the covers with you. 

He takes a sip. 

“Was starting t’think you died or sum’in.” 

It’s impossible for you to know the truth, he’s made sure of that—it’s why he let you go in the first place. 

“Someone offered to buy me a drink t’night,” you mumble, wood scraping against your floorboards. The exhaustion in your voice is palpable. 

He has no idea why you’re telling him this. 

“I asked f’r bourbon,” you breathe, shaky, “on the rocks, because—” 

That’s what he always got, what he introduced to you when you asked him why he likes it so much. 2 ounces of bourbon for a ball of ice, with time as an aid, mellowing its intensity to flavors of smoky caramel, vanilla, and a touch of spice. 

He gives a lowly hum, swirling the drink in front of him. 

“Was it good?” 

(The drink, the date. The potential new guy.) 

There’s silence on the other end of the line, too long to be considered thoughtless. His watch counts the seconds. 

“Not as,” you finally answer. 

Another bout of silence. 

He wonders what you look like, if you’re wearing that lipstick you know is his favorite; if you still smell like the closest thing he’s ever had to a home. Do you still keep an extra handkerchief in your purse? That obnoxious cow print he now uses to remind him of the life he used to know? 

You sniffle. 

“You fucked me up, Kento.” 

He knows. 

“How c’n you say this… is what’s best f’me when it hurts this much?” you hiccup, a sob caught in your throat. 

When Nanami ended things with you, he gave himself 30 minutes. Any less, he would have regretted it, and any more, he would have taken it all back. 

“Y’re so unfair,” you breathe out shakier than the last, broken more than anything, “din’t ev’n ask me what I wanted.”

He knows.

And he supposes he deserves this, aching at the way you fall apart on the line.

He takes another sip, longer and fuller, dragging out his gulp. 

“I still love you,” you weep, voice unsteady, “and I f’cking hate you for that, y’know?” 

Your words burn more than the alcohol down his throat. 

His eyes start to sting, brown glossing over. There was a time when your ‘I love you’s’ gave him reason to wake up in the morning; when they got him through the day and lulled him to sleep at night. 

But this one, this time, he knows, will haunt him for the rest of his life. 

(He’s never wanted anything more than to say it back to you, right now.)  

“I apologize.” the words come out stiff, squeezed out as he puts down his glass. 

“I know,” you scoff, managing a chuckle while sniffling, “like that’ll do ‘nythin though.” 

Nanami clenches his jaw, fingers tightening around his drink. You always were the perfect bite to his snark, acknowledging things straight up, as is. 

And you always had a hunch of how things would end up. 

You know that this call is pointless, that he won’t take you back by the end of it. You also know that each and every one of his decisions comes from a series of calculated predictions, that once he makes up his mind, there’s no changing it. You know how Nanami works, that he moves in numbers. 

Except, you never know his reasons—that the truth of all this is that he’s sworn to himself that he’ll be good to you. There’s no point being with an empty man, and dragging you into the dangers of sorcery would be cruel, even more unfair to you. 

The line is quiet for a while, filled only with your attempts at steadying your breathing. 

“Did you drink enough water?” he asks, a little out of nowhere but completely in place. 

You snort, pushing back your chair, “Shouldn’t say things like that,” your footsteps are picked up by the mic, “makes it sound like y’care.” 

He hears you gulp a glass down on the line, lips curling into a sad smile. 

“D’me a favor?” you slur, followed by a yawn. 

He hums. 

“Stay on ‘til I fall’sleep?” 

And for once, he doesn’t think so hard about it. This small thing can’t possibly skew the damage he’s already caused you. 

“Okay.” 

A creak sounds from your end, the sofa you both used to spend your weekends on; it’s been thoroughly broken in, love seeping through each crevice and dip. It’s selfish, but he hopes you still feel him through it—giving you a safe place to rest, soft and tender in keeping you close when he can’t. 

You shuffle, pillows muffling the microphone as you move around; then you mumble, sleep-laden, “Don’t forget to turn the lights off.” 

It shouldn’t affect him this much, but the reminder calls back every instance you’ve ever said it to him: whispers over his shoulder, while dragging your feet away from his home office; a peck to the tip of his ear before nuzzling his neck while he reads; a shout from your bed, for him to hear within the echoes of the bathroom walls. 

You both have terrible sleep from odd hours at the office, but nightmares have always persisted with him more. Turning off the lights was a reassurance, a quiet ‘I love you’—a reminder that it was okay to fall asleep, you’d be there when he wakes. 

His eyes zero in on the light switch to his right, humming his response. 

.

The call runs for 31 minutes.

a/n: other tidbits i wasn't able to include—reader is able to hold liquor well, and used to drink with nanami often but doesn't understand the appeal of his preferred drinks; reader is able to go head-to-head with nanami's personality but is also a lot more vibrant and loud; reader also doesn't know about the jujutsu world (in case it wasn't obvious). i also envision nanami becoming less himself towards the end of their relationship, which is also when he starts considering going back to sorcery.

thank you notes: big thank you to @augustinewrites for half-mothering this fic 🥺 what would i do without your sad ideas and songs to match!! and to @mysugu and @soumies for ofc!! listening to me talk abt this all the time lol

comments, tags, and reblogs are greatly appreciated ♡

[silkentine]

An anatomy and lighting practice that turned into Ichiji! 😊❤️🎇✨🔥 I’ve been really inspired by @dannymans66 lately so I’ve got #1 on the mind.

ALSO!!! I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN A FREE COMMISSION BELOW (Check it out and see if you can win!)

So I jokingly shared the lineart for this piece with my friend and said that it looked like a page from a coloring book and the idea humored me so much that I decided to hold a competition. I’ll give you all TWO WEEKS (ending June 4th 2024 at 23:59 EST) to color this picture of Ichiji using the blanks provided below and submit your illustrations here on tumblr with the tag #ichijirecolor (and it’s probably best if you @ me as well @silkentine). I’ll judge all the submissions (with the help of my unbiased mom) and the one that I like the best* will receive a free commission from yours truly :) anything you want!!! Feel free to color outside the lines, add stuff to the illustration, use the “wrong” colors, print it out and color it traditionally, whatever floats your snail-boat! 🐌 The only requirement is that my original illustration is included in some way (it doesn’t even have to look like Ichiji at the end, I suppose!)

*If my first place winner declines the prize or fails to respond with a week of the announcement, I’ll move on to the second place and so on and so forth.

Below the Read More, I’ve provided two versions of the lineart with and without the tattoo. Also, they are all 1526x2048 pngs either with a white background or no background at all. To color using a white background, place it as your top layer and set it to a Multiply blending mode, then you can add colors on a layer below without having to fuss with the lineart or delete the background. I’m not going to check if you keep the original size or ratio of the images; I like to work really big, so feel free to compress it if necessary. Feel free to move the watermark around, and it would delight me so if you added yours alongside mine!

Thanks in advance to all who decide to participate!!! I’m so excited to see what you can create!!!

Also here’s my version without any shading, you could use this too if you wanted to but isn’t it more fun to start blank? Idk I just think this is fun to look at.

If you made it this far and you’re still not sure if you want to participate or not, let me sweeten the pot and let you know that I’m a very small creator and I’m not expecting to get many submissions, so your chances of winning could be much higher than usual with these kinds of things!!! I’m not someone who judges on technical skill either, it’s purely my own taste that will decide the winner, so don’t let your skill level hold you back! I love funny things and getting to know people in the One Piece community!!! This is all my selfish attempt at making some new friends hahaha!! Thanks for reading all of this 😋🥰 you mean the world to me.

[drabblejester]

Dan Heng, Sampo, Gepard, Ratio and Mr Reca react that reader has a chaotic little sister like Klee from genshin impact

how VARIOUS HSR GUYS would react to your SUPER COOL BUT MILDLY INSANE LITTLE SISTER!!

requested by: gachaclubideas !!

pairings: dan heng, sampo, gepard, ratio, and mr reca & gn!reader and little sister :3

content warnings: none!!

comments: the first post after brief hiatus is chaotic.. as god intended<3

GEPARD:

ouuh he LOVES her!!! doesn’t like how crazy she is though. but still loves her

goes and pinches her cheeks like a grandma and gets scared because she growled at him (“whys she in timeout?” “because she growled at me” reference)

tells her some lovely stories about all of his cool adventures only to find out that she REALLY wants to go on those adventures too

you just kinda laugh it off until she comes back with a diy cardboard suit of armor just like gepards…. okay now youre debating on letting her go or not

gepard just sits her down and talks about it, telling her why she cant go on Death Expedition Number Three Thousand. she gets upset so he bakes her some cookies or fixes her a snack. hurray! peace restored <3

SAMPO:

and unlike gepard, he will HAPPILY treat her to crazy explorations and little ‘quests’ he makes up.

they’re either just a way to get your sister to do work for him OR genuinely for fun. no matter what, he makes sure that she’s safe and sound and tucked into bed at 9 pm

constantly talks to you about how GREAT of a fool she would grow up to be.. indoctrinating elation early. he’s good at it too… you’re a bit worried that she’s going to end up even crazier if she does wind up to be a fool

eeeeeh but she knocks out too early to do anything TOO crazy. nearly 99% of the time after sampo and her come back from their adventures, shes knocked out on his shoulder FAST asleep.

at least you can sleep at night knowing mr cold feet has your little sister in (somewhat) good hands, albeit probably a terrible influence on her.

DAN HENG:

he’s scared. he’s genuinely scared at first. it’s like having a miniature and even WORSE version of caelus or stelle in the express

and he’s vowed to never let her end up like those little trash-eating baseball-wielding raccoon dweebs… so the first thing he does is teach her some manners!

they have a LOT of tea parties, and he uses it as an excuse to teach her basic manners and polite words. and she does learn well!

sadly it comes at the cost of him coming out of the room in a pretty pink dress and makeup and so much glitter. he’s even got stickers on his tail that he can’t reach far enough to get off

you and march take SO many photos. damn the lessons, you just think its funny that he comes out as a new princess every time

DR. RATIO:

he also tries the approach that dan heng has, aka teaching her some manners and such. she learns well from him, but constantly calls him a cranky old man. much to your amusement

he gets annoyed and overwhelmed by her very very easily, so its hardly 10 minutes before he’s handing her off to you again.

don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t think that she’s a lost cause or anything. he just doesn’t do too well with hyper kids, and doesn’t really know how to fix that

he tries a new method, bribery! giving her a small piece of fruit every time she gets a question right. which goes very well! at first!

eventually your little sister is begging to go to ratio because he has yummy fruits, and ratio is begging you to NOT hand her over because she will terrorize him (you hand her over)

MR. RECA:

dear GOD he loves her. adores her so much. kisses her cheeks and pats her head so very much its like he was MADE to work with kids

his energy and her energy work surprisingly well together? much more than you expected. he’s frantically taking photos of her in cute little outfits and in the most insane voice hes like “yes.. YES.. MY LITTLE ACTRESS!! MY DARLING SUPERSTAR!!! YOU’LL CRUSH THE WORLD SOMEDAY!!!!”

it’s kinda concerning now that you think about it because they enable each other SO hard. they’re both hyper maniacs who love doing things! which is cute until you think about it for more than 3 seconds

she gets to feature in so so many productions (with your consent), even playing a major role as a super cool villain. she loves it so much that she refuses to get rid of the costume, which now sits proudly in her closet

after each film, he showers her with love and praise and treats her to a little bit of ice cream. you lecture reca about sugar, and he winds up going the veggie route. your baby sister now refuses to work with him </3

apolocheese for the absence my lieges

[zee-the-zebra]

Being "Gifted" and the Standards for Oneself: A Personal Analysis of Veritas Ratio

So this really isn’t a traditional analysis of a character. This is more just my extended thoughts on the character through a personal lens and through my personal experiences.

So I love Dr. Ratio. Not just because his design is wonderful, and I think he's funny. But I also relate to him on a deeply personal level. Which may seem strange at first, but when it comes to the subtext of his character it makes sense to me.

To start, everything about him screams former gifted kid. Which usually translates to "Neurodivergent child who wasn't diagnosed until years later". And like most former gifted kids, he was probably told he was going to great things. In his case, he was probably told he would be recognized by Nous and welcomed into the Genius Society. He had already proven himself to be a brilliant individual, so he believed it would only be a matter of time before he was invited.

But he never was.

Look at every single "genius". They are all selfishly motivated in some form or fashion. That's why he is never considered a genius. That is why he never gain the gaze of the Erudition. Because he wasn't willing to be selfish for the pursuit of knowledge.

And the thing is, he really doesn't need to be a genius. He's already completing his goals of trying to eliminate ignorance from the universe as is. He's already a brilliant man. He's already done so many amazing things already. Even with his somewhat pompous attitude, he genuinely desires to help everyone around him. He's a genuinely selfless person.

But it's not enough. It's not enough because he's selfless. To him, it's never enough. Because he doesn't, or rather can't follow the same path as the geniuses, he feels he isn't enough. That even with all his achievements and work, he's not enough. Because he isn't what he's supposed to be, what people expected him to be, he isn't enough.

That is what really resonates with me. It's that belief that you have to be "normal" or something else to be worth something. It's that belief in a standard set by a different version of you that makes you believe you're not enough. That you've only gotten worse as time goes on. That despite your best efforts you're never going to improve. That the only way to go is down. That because those standards aren't met, you're worthless.

And that's what makes him resonate so much with me as a character. Because I've been there. I had that spiral. I've felt like that I've only gotten stupider as the years go on because I couldn't reach those standards set by being "gifted". When in reality I simply just couldn't deal with my ADHD or Depression without help anymore. I wasn't getting worse, I just needed some help.

And it seems Veritas is already heading in that direction as well. He constantly speaks of following his own path, but perhaps he thinks it doesn't apply to him because of those standards. Perhaps he still believes he isn't enough.

After all, it takes a lot of time to unlearn that.

If you got this far thanks for reading. <3

[shutupineedtothink]

Revised Trial theory post Ep. 5

GodDAMN it yall.

This show just won't stop the twists and turns, so my brain's not stopping either.

I got another one for ya. Still going with my maiden, mother, crone framework, slightly revised.

Spoilers and potential spoilers below the cut!

So shout out to the Previewed boys for their YouTube reaction to this ep and getting my gears turning when Adam said, oh, they didn't change the aspect ratio for this trial. 👀👀👀 Meaning it’s not a real Trial. Man doesn't know what he got me into.

Okay here's the deal, I think this is a "false" trial created by the Seven to punish Agatha. That's what they want, right? It accounts for a lot of the stuff we saw in the trial not quite matching the previous trials, and where we left things as well. If this was a real Trial, and we’re going with the Road wants to help these women overcome their trauma, (as happened with Jen and Alice), then Agatha definitely didn’t get a true trial. There was no opportunity for her to overcome anything here, just pain and trauma. Her getting out of the trial depended completely on the mercy of others, not anything in her control, unlike the previous trials.

Narratively, it also means that Agatha, our main, gets essentially TWO trials to flesh out her character and backstory more. Probably one to address her OG coven and her mom, as we saw in ep 5, and one to address what happened with Nicky and Rio.

Here’s the breakdown:

We start the ep running away from the Seven. Everything through the broom chase is “real.” Then right before they get into the house, everyone flies through the bees/bugs Seven member, led by Agatha. This is when the false trial starts/everyone is trapped in an illusion designed to punish Agatha, created by the Seven. They all run into the house but the Seven don’t follow, because they’ve trapped them.

The house to me reads as probably a version of the one Agatha grew up in with her mom, covered in an 80s disguise. Why would the Seven match the 80s theme? Because it’s fun, don’t read into it too much. We move along.

Once everyone starts looking around, Agatha suddenly looks scared, and like she recognizes the space. Like it’s haunting her.

When Rio laughs and says it’s Agatha’s trial, and clocks the Blood moon, it’s not because of what Lilia explains after. She laughs because she knows they’re in a trap created by the Seven, as indicated by the Blood moon (so they are still on the Road technically, typically the trials have transported us “off” the road somehow), and possibly she recognizes the house as well. The Seven would trap Agatha in a version of her own childhood home, a home they all probably knew well, and Rio would find that funny. I think we have to remember that Rio always knows the truth of what’s going on. She knows the truth about Agatha, the truth about Teen, she even knows the Seven are coming before Lilia says anything. If she’s not omniscient she’s damn close to it.

(Side note here: it also bugged me that we didn’t have a scene at the door to the house like with the other trials, where they clock the moon phase and the element of the trial. I waved it off initially since they were running to get there and we didn’t have time, but now I think it’s another sign that points to a false trial. We need to see that door for it to be a true Trial.)

Lilia says her thing about the Blood moon, and Rio, basically as a joke, she’s pretending to be like a radio announcer when she says “And who better than someone who’s put so many in the grave.” She KNOWS. She’s referring to Agatha killing the Salem coven, and moderating this false trial like it’s a fucking tennis match between Agatha and the Seven. Also she’s taunting Agatha to confront this aspect of herself, that she believes she’s an evil monster just like the Seven do. But I digress.

We do the Mrs. Hart gag because let Kathryn Hahn cook! I thought that impression was pretty good too girl.

Now here’s where we get into it for real. They do the ouija for real, and the first thing it spells is DEATH. As I mentioned in my “we’re still in the trial” post, once they call upon death, and Rio laughs, everything after that is her game as well. It’s a trap from the Seven, but they’ve acknowledged that she’s in on the joke, and maybe even kind of on their side a bit. She wants to punish Agatha too, in some ways, and she’s definitely playing both sides. But that isn’t going to last. By the way, there is a .2 second shot where Agatha reproachfully glances at Rio before she laughs, just so you know that.

Okay so the Seven want to punish Agatha, we get the possession, some of the funniest delivery I’ve ever heard from Aubrey Plaza with the “woah! what’s she doin, where’s she goin” like it still makes me laugh, and Evanora appears. At first I thought Rio made this happen on some level, even though she hates ghosts, to literally make Agatha confront her past. But now I think this was a pull from the Seven, and this is the first time Rio is really not on board with how events are unfolding seeing as she yells, “yeah well her mother can’t have her,” and “NO, NO WAY” with her whole goddamn chest. I love it so much.

Anyway, we get what Evanora says to Agatha, and Rio’s dismayed reaction. She’s done with the fun now and pissed at everyone involved. Jen wants to leave Agatha behind, Teen doesn’t, Agatha gets possessed again, Alice tries to save her, Agatha steals her power and kills her, cut off just before Teen yells Nicholas Scratch and we hear the gut wrenching, mama, stop! Now this is interesting, because I think Nicholas’s spirit was NOT part of the Seven’s plan. He scurried through and tried to help his mom, but she was too far gone already. Eh, or maybe it was another move to torture Agatha, because it definitely works. And she still kills Alice.

Ok, Alice dead, Teen mad, Agatha runs away because the Seven’s torture is hella working. She’s wrecked, and her new coven hates her, when not one episode ago they seemed to be genuinely bonding. Rio stares after her in disappointment, because Agatha’s not fighting back. She’s not defending herself. She’s just accepting what she’s always seen as her fate (and what the Seven believe about her too): she’s evil.

Now we’re “back” on the Road. The color grading is SO off, again meaning not the real Road, we’re still trapped in the Seven’s spell. Agatha tries use her newly gained powers, and they just poof into dust. She’s still powerless, so she killed Alice for nothing. More punishment.

Teen comes out and goes after her. She’s vulnerable with him, tells him a huge Truth about her that she can’t control her power, and he denies her. Punishment again. You’re so much like your mother. Her evil persona comes out to defend her and emotionally attack Teen, and yet this one statement is also possibly the ultimate punishment: that boy isn’t hers, and she knows for sure because he said Nicky’s name, otherwise the sigil would have prevented it. Which means he’s the son of her sort-of arch nemesis, who trapped her in a hex for three years and still called herself a hero. (Until she wasn’t, obviously.) No shade on Wanda from me, but it’s what Agatha thinks. Mostly though, I think she’s just gutted that he isn’t Nicky.

Then the ultimate ultimate punishment. Teen, her not-son turned enemy’s son, attacks her, using her own coven to try to kill her (AGAIN) by throwing her in the mud.

Now… Teen killing Lilia and Jen… I’m not sure if that’s still part of the Seven’s trap. Has his power, even the illusion of his power, rapidly spun this out of control? Or did they want to kill Lilia and Jen too? Idk. It’s up in the air, for now.

And of course, during all of this, Rio is nowhere to be found. Maybe she’s dealing with the ghost… or maybe she ejected herself from the illusion already to go after the Seven. 👀 Remember, she knows what’s going on the whole time. Maybe after Alice’s death, and Agatha running away, she was finally like ok, playtime’s over, time to go knock some heads. 🤷‍♀️ I’d love to fucking see it. Can you imagine that as an opening scene? I want to see her WRECK them.

Where does this leave us at the top of ep 6? Well, if Rio has broken out of the illusion already, maybe we can assume that Agatha and then Lilia and Jen being thrown into the mud is actually Rio getting them out too. The Earth is her domain. So was that her getting them out of the Seven’s illusion, and they’ll emerge on the real road? Is Alice really dead? Will they have to save Teen/Billy?

However it happens, let’s say they all get out of the trap, deal with the Seven (so they’re off the playing field now and we don’t have to worry about them coming back), and progress to the next trial, which is Agatha’s REAL trial that has to do with what happened to Nicky. Again, the Mother phase in maiden mother crone.

In conclusion, it’s a twofer. Oh yes.

Penny for your thoughts in comments!

(My money is on: Rio wrecks house with the Seven. Alice is still dead but we’re gonna get her back in Agatha’s real trial. When Teen/Billy comes to, he freaks out about what he did in the illusion, but Agatha reassures him that it wasn’t real, and he’s not evil, supporting him in the way her mother never supported her. It was all to punish her, it wasn’t really him. Don’t let anyone else make you the villain. Only you can decide who you are. — nice parallel there to Wanda’s big line from WV “I don’t need you to tell me, who I am.” Also, subtle dig at Multiverse of Madness. You know, something like that. Please, Jac?)

[adhdo5]

Good evening everybody I just got reminded of the Let's Make A Color poll I did a while ago where each channel out of RGB got two options and the ratio of those two options would determine the value in that channel. After realizing too late that this would obviously result in roughly similar values in all channels and give us that mid color I said I should probably do an HSB version, and then I didn't, so let's do it now!

The fraction obtained by (the votes of the H/S/B option with less votes)/(its corresponding option) will determine the percentage that gets put in for that stat, tbc, so if there's a more dramatic difference between, say, the S options we will get something pastel (smaller number/significantly bigger number = smaller percentage) and if they're close it will be closer to neon (number/same number = percentage closer to 100%)

Feel free to campaign however u like or something maybe it will be funny

[laniusbignaturals]

What are your thoughts on Benny? I think he’s genuinely fascinating based on his characterization in All Roads as someone who can be both cruel and gentle when he needs to be (maybe his unofficial last name should be Chameleon instead of Gecko what with how he changes his behavior for any given situation). I appreciate the good bit of “sopping wet cat of a man with a foot fetish” jokes about him every now and then, but I feel like the fanbase neglects a lot of what his personality is like.

Interesting to me that he seems to be subjected to a phenomenon which I usually associate with female characters, where they’re the ratio between passionate interest and variations of “hmmm step on me mommy” is unevenly skewed towards the latter end. Although when people shower female characters near exclusively with uncomplicated erotic praise, we can generally call that sexist, whereas with Benny I’m like. Lmao. Sure, sometimes it seems like the tumblerized subsection of the fandom doesn’t give his character the credit it deserves, but that’s more of a frustration than an issue. Your average picrew icon doesn’t owe Benny of all characters more careful attention.

The way I see it, Benny really shines during his captivity at The Fort, which is a part of the game you only see if you decide to go against the grain and allow him to run off. Most players won’t make that decision, so, the side of Benny’s character on display in the Fort scenes - the vulnerable side - is turned into his primary characteristic by those players who do.

Benny as he appears in All Roads is certainly a far cry from the “pathetic wet cat” characterization you alluded to, but you can see fragments of that version of him. What defines him as pathetic in the comic is this weird rigidity which is out of place in his setting, Vegas. Paradoxically, Benny has hardline disdain for his community’s identity before they became a part of Vegas. He’s also vocally distrustful of chem users. At first, the reader is set up to see him as a xenophobic outsider of sorts. He’s Stringer Bell, right, the one who conforms, imperfectly but still, and enforces conformity on his whole group because he thinks it will benefit all of them. I know niggas just like that irl.

Buuuuuuuut Swank obviously thought Benny was willing to be challenged on this front. We did see him confront him about it, however sheepishly. So, Benny’s stubbornness on this front is probably a recent development. And, as we see in Benny’s later discussion with Chance, bathed in that beautifully rendered early morning glow, this isn’t just an ego trip for him, he’s emotional invested in his beliefs. Benny doesn’t insist on rejecting his tribe’s former identity because he hates it, or looks down on it. He’s just become enmeshed in a culture that makes him feel like there is no way for them to live on as they used to. To be forward-thinking is a good quality in a manager, so you can see why Swank and the others trust him. It’s just turned into a double edged sword by Benny’s overbearingness and pretension. The fact that, in the game, he’s canonically a cooze hound is funny when considered in this context. Gotta love a man who fucks for his self esteem!

This part’s just me spitballing: in his relationship with the Khans, Benny often seems to cast himself as the “rational, forward thinking one” in a way that reminds me of House, almost? They’re obviously not the same character or w/e, Benny still represents something very different than House, but it’s interesting how even after he’s rejected Robert, parts of the man’s leadership style still creep up in his own. The drama.

[theoldoor]

its ok fenrir is back now

rawdogged ts no color filter, 1 layer, no sketch, no reference, color pick by eyes and 45 minutes

IT WAS A RLLY FUN CHALLENGE EHUEHUEHU

OK BUT WITH EVERY DOODLE FROM THEOLDOOR COMES A STORY SO LETS GOGOOGOGOOOO

This is Post-Talia, when Aventurine still get his ass dragged back to the IPC (i need to think of a coherent lore for them im cooked but funny scenarios is funny scenarios… if u recognize my work u’d probably saw a Fenrir version :333

BUT HEREEE ——

Fenrir is studying for his PhD in the University of Veritas Prime, yk writing his dissertation. This research question is about the Avgin Sigonian language as a thank you gift for Aventurine. (imagine caring for bro so much you dedicate your dissertation to bro)

And he literally just finished his masters and everything in a year, barely after getting out of Talia so it was very stressful for Fenrir and everyone could see it, especially Aventurine as he is the subject of Fenrir’s research. He didn’t take care of himself well and so Aventurine, taking time when they have their little session to remind Fenrir about his health and routine, just a small reminder. :3

Fenrir would forget most of them, which lead to Aventurine dragging his ass to bed or to dinner. But he has to have a catch for Fenrir to go, right? So he only spoke in Avgin Sigonian during those sessions. Fenrir gets to study the language while he rest as well.

And yeah, he turned off his synesthesia beacon so that he would know the language by heart - not by some translation. He wanted to be fluent in Avgin Sigonian for Aventurine. (FUCKKK OOFFFF)

—-

He was invited by the Riddlers not so soon after, and they did wanted to mess up the remaining traces of Avgin Sigonian. Seeing this, Fenrir joined the path of Enigmata, despite being with Erudition, just for the initial sake he could prevent the Riddlers from touching Avgin Sigonian. However, upon joining the Riddlers, he realized there was so much more he could discover - thus using the Riddlers’ Project as his own research. Playing both sides, Enigmata AND Erudition for the fun of it.

“Sometimes I’m scared you forget that I care for you because I never say it. I might bicker and pester, which lead to me forgetting to remind you that I do think about you. You know I do, right?”

However, despite the Riddlers pestering, Fenrir refuse to let them touch Avgin Sigonian. Which the Riddlers understood - to a degree.

—-

Dr. Ratio wasn’t happy with Fenrir’s constant teasing of being with the Riddlers - thus often scolding him. Well, since when does Dr Ratio not scold him? As Veritas’ only student that went to all of his classes and endured all of the harsh words, Fenrir had grown used to the man bluntness. He knew Dr Ratio doesn’t mean it that harshly, his way of teaching is not the gentlest but his intentions are.

—-

Fenrir;s little ritual before every exam. He drags Aventurine along like its his goodluck charm lol

[mochinon-yah]

I just realized we all technically have the power to ask any questions on this site, and I never got to doing it. So....

[Points S.E.E.S evoker at you]

Who are the fictional characters you ship your mutuals to? Doesn't have to be necessarily their self-ship. I am deadass curious. Spill the tea, Imbibitor's lover—

We can lower that down, brynn- no need to get all aggressive now-

*cough* ANYWAY!

I'll list them down below, and if they're not accurate or you're actually gonna fight them rather than making out with the characters that i chose then yeah, that is probably my plan 😀 /silly

Oh and! I'll mostly be using genshin and hsr characters because yeah-

@beloved-brynn -> heizou and ratio. NGL, YOU + HEIZOU, OR YOU + RATIO, OR EVEN THE THREE OF YOU WOULD TOTALLY BE SO FUNNY AND CHAOTIC 😭☝️ they can counter your wild statements while also being the (somewhat) saner one but could also say smth wild as well. I could see you and one of em (possibly ratio) be like "oh yeah, the other day, i was eating my lunch while watching that gorey movie-" "what." "yeah, i was hungry at that time, so like why not yk-" (this is based on my real experience guys, guess which dialogue is me lmao)

@meimeimeirin -> hmmmm, koh zhongli maybe? Okay, let me tell you the reason why... it's simply because she NEEDS someone who can pamper her! I don't know where that conclusion came from, but yeah. Anyway, if we're talking about other characters, then i think welt, or even zayne from lnd could fit. Basically: "I need someone older, just a little bit colder." lmao (oh, mochi, did this conclusion came up because you know rin's the youngest in her family and now you ship her with men older (and more experienced) than her? whaatt... ofc not, haha-)

@leftdestiny-posts -> absolutely cannot see them with anyone other than dottore. Cute and kind but is secretly crazy "i want to watch the world burn" x The human version of the word 'crazy' "as you wish, my love" would be their dynamic, i suppose...? WAIT OH! I can actually see shiro with ayato or maybe sunday! I bet they would like such a cute, innocent-looking darling to control, but then they would get so surprised and maybe super interested into trying to control the darling despite how crazy the darling actually is- (shiro ily, if ur crazy then we can be crazy together 💐)

@navxry -> arlechinno, and maybe black swan. Yeah, that's it. No explanation needed.

@jessamine-rose -> hmmm, would it be weird if i say capitano? I don't know why or how did i get to that conclusion, but yeah. And maybe blade? IDK WHY I'M PARTNERING HER WITH CRAY CRAY MEN- SORRY JESS, I (subconsciously) THINK YOU CAN LIKE CALM THEM OR SMTH AJFIAWOF-

@stardust-for-your-soul -> funnily enough, i can see her with aventurine. They'll say sweet words that probably have a double meaning and also probably have a teeny tiny bit (maybe a lot lmao) of 'enemies to lovers' moment. (wow, cherry, your new bf is a gambler- /smack). But anyway, i could also see her be with march 7th who is so bubbly and sweet, and i'd think cherry would love to tease march hehe

@teabutmakeitazure -> ACTUALLY NGL DAN HENG????? He would listen to her ramblings and also help her write her fics. It just sounds so cute in my opinion lol. Other than dan heng (who is obviously the best choice), zuri would probably look into red flag charas, like... yeah, aventurine- but still tho, dan heng! But i get what zuri is thinking tho, red is such a sexy color- /smack

@harmonysanreads -> ngl alhaitham or kaeya would be cute if paired up with her! Idk where did kaeya come from, but when i thought about it, instantly "cute!". I think, harmony has this really 'weird' calming aura that could make those two charas just fell in love with how comfortamble she can make them feel. BUT LIKE IDK THO-

@fishanonishere -> Albedo...... i think? Fish, i know what you are- i mean like as in how chaotic and just how 'what in the world is this person thinking???' you are. With how calming and 'would jump into any interesting topic' he is, i think fish and him could be such a cute duo. Fish's ramblings and their drawings are some of the things that make him really interested in fish

[thatoneneuvichiliauthor]

So there’s something else that’s kinda funny about canon Aven and Ratio meeting the noodle au versions of them. You know the ‘would you still love me if I was a worm’ question? Well imagine they meet and canon Aven grins as he looks at Ratio and is like ‘Well, I don’t know about being a worm, but I guess now we know you’d still love me as a snake!’ And Ratio rolls his eyes at that but you can see he’s trying not to smile at the joke, and then maybe he’d turn it around and tell Aven that he loves him for who he is, not the shape his body takes. Canon Aven at that point is doing his best to fight off a flustered blush lol

Yes please, I love them being all soft and swooning over each other! Snake Aven and AU Ratio would probably feel like they are sort of third-wheeling in the most bizarre of ways once these two start flirting with each other. (both would also be taking notes of what makes canon Aven and Ratio flustered, just in case the same can be applied to Snake Aven/AU Ratio)

[figurativepieceoftrash]

Can I ask why you hate Vacation? Don't have to share if you don't want to, I'm just curious.

I wrote Vacation specifically to appeal to fandom trends and create something popular. I noticed that bnha readers tended to gravitate towards ridiculous, non-constructive, low-stakes crack fic with fandom humor, which I personally dislike reading/writing and find quite boring, and decided to attempt regardless bc my work never achieves the kind of engagement I want and I thought the dopamine hits would be fulfilling

Initially the insane stats were really nice! I got maybe thirty comments in the first day of posting (INSANE for my work) and a higher kudos to chapter ratio than I knew what to do with. Big fandom names who had never engaged with my work before were leaving stellar reviews, and I finally felt like something I'd written had a chance of going viral. The only issue was that I felt absolutely nothing for the story I was writing and in many cases outright despised the tropes I'd engaged with

I hate the badass Inko trope, the clueless, incompetent dfo trope, the genius Midoriya Izuku trope, fandomized dadmight, etc. etc. etc. the list goes on, but I'd realized that each of these tropes enable a fic to perform better despite how inherently reductive they tend to be. Which would be fine except that it led me to despise the way I'd portrayed characters I know I'm perfectly capable of liking in the right depictions and thus absolutely loathe writing them

Beyond this crack fic is. Just absolutely, monumentally, most definitely, infinitely and forever Not My Thing™️. Fandom humor relies on warping the characters involved in ways I feel are reductive and sticking them in situations they'd never realistically be in for the sake of a type of tongue in cheek "haha isn't [character a] so smart and wisecracking and [character b] so incompetent?" farce that just in no way appeals to me. Call me a fun killer, but I've always hated ooc comedy imagines and characterizations (the Izuku stealing a dead nighteye's merch/merch hoarding in general, Uraraka being a money-grubbing mizor, Aizawa loving cats/constantly adopting kids, Izuku is snappy and sarcastic and dfo doesn't impact him at all he says so what, etc. etc. I'm sure you can think of many more), incorrect quotes blogs, big bnha blog joke aus taken as canon, etc.

I tend to prefer comedies like Arrested Development, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Curb Your Enthusiasm where the humor arises naturally from the characters being the way they were designed to be in natural situations rather than like,,, warped funhouse mirror versions of characters losing or gaining a skull's worth of braincells to adhere to ooc characterizations the fandom collectively deems as funny on some arbitrary, indiscernible basis. I get fandom humor it just doesn't amuse me at all, and honestly I've blocked way too many bnha blogs for constantly shoving it in my face. No hate, it's preference, I just really prefer not to engage with it

Vacation was me shilling out my values and preferences to be popular and it didn't even perform as well as it could've to boot. Frankly writing it was really tiresome and unfun for me and I personally don't vibe with the brand of humor it has at all. It was a slog from start to finish and it was only two chapters long

I'm definitely not judging anyone who likes it, but it probably isn't something I'll ever revisit unless I'm in a REALLY bad place mentally and need writing validation lol

[banemmanan]

GFU Stats #2

Some fun statistics from the TV show The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

This is a revised, updated, more accurate version of this post.

This post is based on a series of posts by @commander-kiranerys where they compiled similar data for the series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (e.g. Season 3). All but one of the data categories that I collected can be found in those original posts along with some more that I didn't count.

Explanation #1: why the recount?

As mentioned in my original post, I counted that first set of statistics in just three days. How do you fit roughly ten epispdes into a day? Well, truth be told, I watched them at double speed. I had a whole bunch of assignments due at the time, but this idea had lodged itself into my brain and I had no self-control, so I did it as quickly as I could in order that I could focus on my uni work again. This time, everything was watched at regular speed and I will admit that there was a lot that I missed the first time around. After I watched it through the first time and recorded data, I then watched it through a second time, this time with my sister as an impartial second opinion, and we both recorded separate data. The results are an average of these three data sets and thus I feel that they are much more reliable this time around.

Explanation #2: what's 'S' and 'F'?

For the categories 'Escape' and 'Rescue' the S in brackets stands for Successful and the F for Failed. Escaping entails getting free under their own power and if someone not in the 'captured' scenario got them out then it was a rescue.

Disclaimer #1: objectivity of results

If comparing these results to the muncle stats, bear in mind that they have been compiled by two different people. We might have different ideas as to what qualifies as 'being captured' or 'an escape attempt', etc.

Disclaimer #2: additional data

Due to Mark Slate not appearing in the third episode (instead appearing in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode of that week), data was gathered for him from that episode (the Galatea Affair) instead. Thus, all results could still be divided by 29 in order to establish the average per episode. I do not know if commander-kiranerys did the same for Napoleon with regards to season 3. I did not record any data from the MFU episode, the Moonglow Affair.

Observations:

Captured: April seems to be a bit of a damsel in distress here when you look at the numbers, but in fairness to her, she manages to escape on her own slightly more often than she needs rescuing. Considering also that Mark gets himself captured 20 times over the season; he's not exactly got a stellar track record either. Though more than once per episode for April is pretty disappointing and I think probably reflects the attitudes of the time. You may notice that the escape/rescue number for together is higher than the capture together number. This is due to instances where they have been captured individually, but then brought together in captivity and thus are together when they escape.

Arrested: I included this one only because I find it very funny when they get arrested by the regular law enforcement rather than by THRUSH and then have to sheepishly call Mr. Waverly and ask to be bailed out... I did not count these instances as them being 'captured' though, as I feel that requires malicious intent rather than a will to uphold the law.

Knocked out: bashed on the head, tranquilized, and one instance of fainting (surprisingly that wasn't April). Mark alone surpasses even the highest of Napoleon and Illya's combined totals! Suffice it to say, these two probably have near constant concussions (and that honestly explains a lot).

Restrained/chained/tied up: again, April features here significantly more than Mark does. The ratio is pretty consistent with being captured, though. 'Restrained' is just a combination of the chained/tied up categories as that is how I had initially understood commander-kiranerys to have comiled it (I'm less sure about that now though). Retrospectively I think I should have used it as an 'other' category to mean anything not done using rope or chains e.g. leather straps or being physically held (or in one instance a plant). Either way, what I find interesting in these results is that April and Mark were never tied together at any point (though there is a promotional photo that features this).

Tortured: interestingly very even here, despite the writers' clear reluctance to let April get roughed up (unless by another woman). But then again, I think deciding what is and isn't torture might be quite subjective (which is why I left it out the first time around). There were actually a number of instances that were a grey area for me and I wonder now if I should have included them; I erred on the side of caution and actually these figures might be higher if I'm fully honest. It's too late for doubting now though I guess. Feel free to debate!

Drugged: the vast majority of these are knock-out gas/chloroform/sleep darts/etc. so these results overlap a lot with the 'knocked out' category, though there are a couple of instances of drugs with other effects on the body.

Shot: April was never shot in the entire series (very lucky! but also maybe very indicative of the show writing of the time - she can be in peril, but heaven forbid that she's roughed up!) Mark on the other hand was either shot 3 or 4 times. The uncertainty comes when after seemingly being shot during a scene, he is perfectly fine mere seconds later and doesn't comment on the fact at all. So I'm not sure if he was definitely shot. I included a gif in the original post to illustrate the initial incident, so if you want to make your mind up for yourself, you can go and take a look at that. Personally I think 4.

Wet: surpassed only by season 4 in terms of average, but in raw numbers they reign supreme. It's a good thing they can both swim... I guess they are the blorbos that come in 'soggy wet' variety...

The disclaimers and stuff became way longer than I'd expected, but I wanted to be transparent about everything (can you tell I'm on another university degree) anyway, I hope you find these useful or at least interesting! I would love to have any sort of discussion regarding these!

[according2thelore]

Love potion no. 9

1, 3, 4, 9(haha), and 11

Literally the 1st fic that introduced me to yall and probably my favorite!(though you have so many good ones, especially when combined with the art🤌🤌)

hi!! :) EEP thank you so much, i'm so glad you like it! i agree--charlotte's art immediately elevates anything it's accompanying into an S-tier item

here's the link to love potion no. 9 on ao3! (quick recap: it's the love potion one, lol)

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

i LOVE love potion fics, especially subversive love potion fics where they don't work how they're supposed to, or work in opposite ways. love potion fic (not sex pollen fics (which are also v fun but mostly don't deal w the icky gross guilty emotions of being in love w someone)) are pretty rare generally, but oooooh i eat them up when i find them.

in this case, i chose dean because a sam who found out he was bewitched would probably avoid dean as much as possible as to not make dean uncomfortable, and i think sam would have the most guilt about taking away/infringing upon someone else's autonomy/true wants. and i loveeee writing angsting winchester narration. it's delicious 2 me.

i also wanted it to feel kinda rom-commy? third act conflict, miscommunication, and all.

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

It’s exactly what he had thought it would be, when he still let himself think about it. He had shared this man’s toothbrush, had shared his bed, had shared his clothes. This isn’t anything foreign, this is Dean. It's the rush of the Impala’s wheels underneath him, the adrenaline of a fight, the spark of Roman candles, the salt of sweat and tang of blood and the depthless, endless night.

this one, i think! i think i have some really solid lines in this fic, but this one makes my chest fuzzy. or this one (also solid!):

Dean’s eyes are soft, and his mouth is pulled into a hesitant smile. He looks exhausted, suddenly. He looks…In his pajamas and bare feet and toast crumbs on his shirt, Sam doesn’t think he’s ever loved anything more. Sam’s throat closes. This is so unfair. This is so fucked.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

“Well, you went on that huge rant about those kudzu-eating goats last month and invasive species blah blah blah. So wildflowers. Y’know.” Dean trails off, and looks at Sam over his shoulder as he wads the empty paper bag into a ball. “They’re wild.”

i don't know! i think this one is fun bc it kinda captures the dean i'm going for in this fic: very purposefully blasé. he cares but he can't let you know, until it all bubbles over. he listens to sam's dorky rants, but cannot tell him that outright lol--what if sam finds out he cares?? no shot.

bonus: i don't know which one to count this as (dialogue or narration), but i like this line because dean's trying to do the math on the acceptable brother-to-woman ratio for sam to have sex with him, which i thought was pretty funny

Dean had been coming around by then, muttering “S’mmy? ‘f there’re two of ‘em…would you do it then? ‘ow many—how many do I have to get?” as Sam hauled him to his feet.

9 (lol): Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

originally (to the surprise of no one, lol) this fic was longer! i had a couple of scenes included in the "montage" in the middle, about an early kiss (in which dean decides to go for it and sam thinks he just assaulted his brother), and a couple other i forget now! i am terrible about wanting to do every single idea a have for a fic, even when they don't fit as well.

i also was originally going to have the potion work the entire time, but it plays out the exact same. dean doesn't feel any more in love w sam than he already is, bc he is already in love with him, and thinks the potion didn't work. he does all the shenanigans anyway, bc like hey why the fuck not? but then it became tricky when it came to how sam finds out that this is genuine emotion from dean and not the potion actually working.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

i think it's fun! besides the end, it's mostly ridiculous and fluffy, and i think i got sam's brain pretty okay! which is not my usual forté. i like the balance it strikes between being fluffy (the flowers, the bar, etc.) and agonizing (sam's running narration abt this being real). i was genuinely shocked that this is one of my more popular fics, but i'm so glad it is! it makes me happy! :)

(send me one of my fics and i'll answer some questions!)

[smash-64]

2023 Game of the Year Countdown

#3 Megaman Legacy Collection

Nintendo Switch, 2018 

So, it’s kind of misleading to say this game released in 2018, but that’s when it was released on Switch. The collection originally came out in 2015, and covers the first six Megaman games, all released for the NES between 1987 and 1993. 

The games are exactly as they were on the NES, even the screen flicker is still there. It looks and sounds just as good, now with neat little borders around the game to fill out what would be empty areas around the original 4:3 aspect ratio from the CRT days.

Additional features include lots of artwork and the manuals, but also a save feature to leave the (still present) old school passwords by the wayside. Passwords were neat at the time because games didn’t have save features, and it honestly feels kind of weird to play without them. I used to leave the master password with my copy of Megaman X at all times.

The major additional feature added to this version of the game would be the rewind option. At any time during a stage, you can hold the rewind button to reverse time for up to about a minute. Call me old school, but I think that this trivializes the experience of playing an old school game. New games like Celeste bring you back immediately after a death, but the stages are built around such an idea and can be much more punishing as a result since the player won’t have to suffer through distant checkpoints. Megaman games only have a couple of checkpoints per level, and none of the stages ever feel unfair or impossible. On top of that, the boss fights have a built-in checkpoint room, so you can always retry right away. And even if you get a game over at the boss, NES games did not have particularly long levels, so it’s a bit puzzling to me why they’d need to include the rewind option. Only the Yellow Devil from Megaman 1 is difficult enough to really warrant it in my mind.

Other than that, the games are untouched and look great in HD. It’s hard to make something that is already just 8-bit pixels look worse, I guess, and the colors look a bit more clear on a modern TV. It’s funny to see the progression from earlier NES games to later ones because the earlier ones often had less vibrant colors and nothing going on in the background. Megaman 1 looks fairly bland in most levels. While Megaman 6 looks excellent, with more colors and backgrounds.

I was finally able to beat the Yellow Devil, something that always escaped me on original hardware. Maybe it was those horrendously designed controllers (I hadn’t purchased my dogbone controller the last time I made a run on MM1), but I always struggled in that fight, even with the cheese cheating option of pausing repeatedly. MM1 was the only one of the six I hadn’t beaten before playing this collection.

MM2 is still my favorite, probably even close to a Top 10 all time game for me. I can’t say enough good about it aside from it’s something every gamer should play. Classic tunes, classic weapons, classic bosses…it’s a masterpiece on the NES.

MM5 has a really unique level for its time, where you flip from the floor to the ceiling and keep on going. They’ve done that in a number of other games since, but I wonder if it was the first time something like this was tried. 

In the end, it was really fun to replay all the classic Megaman games, my favorite platformer series, and one I think everyone should play. It goes on sale very often, so pick it up.