#we get all these cool exploration mechanics

[sukunasweetheart]

Been having the time of my LIFE playing wuwa after its new update im so in love....

[a-little-monotonous]

mannnn I'm forever going to be disappointed they reused hyrule from botw instead of doing somewhere/something new

[squapejuice]

"Hyur are so boring, why would you play a human in a fantasy game?"

Fine. Whatever. You find the idea of playing a human boring. But I'm kind of getting sick of people saying this to me, a hyur enjoyer, sometimes even directly under my own screenshots of my OCs.

Hyur in FFXIV are a *wildly* fascinating take on the "humans in a fantasy setting" that we often see in video games. They're an almost complete subversion of "humans are the dominant culture that everyone assimilates into and also they did a colonialism at some point, which is why their language is The Common One".

Meanwhile, hyur in ffxiv? They're MIGRANTS.

They're NOT the dominant culture. Are they the most numerous population in a lot of places? Sure. Because they have kids out the wazoo, but I digress. Hyur in ffxiv are defined by their adaptability and willingness to assimilate. They're *so* defined by adaptability that there are at least three major historical events throughout the astral and umbral eras called "The Great Hyur Migration". Hyur only arrived in Ishgard after the dragonsong war had started and you'd be hard pressed to find any modern Hyur born and raised in Ishgard who would define themself as anything *other* than Ishgardian. Their names may be slightly different than Ishgardian elezen, but I would theorize that might just come down to class dynamics as while hyuran noble houses exist, they're not common. However in Hingashi they've completely assimilated into eastern Raen culture, as an example. I actually hesitate to find any place we know ingame to be completely dominated by hyur, because in Gridania despite the elementals picking hyur to be padjal the culture seems to be most influenced by wildwood elezen, and in ala mhigo while hyur are the most populous of demographics, the entire culture seems to be a marriage of hellsguard and miqo'te. Ul'dah is clearly highly influenced by lalafell above all, and limsa lominsa is heavily developed by the sea wolf roegadyn. Hyur just kind of fit themselves in and adapt to what everyone around them is doing.

So why is the language spoken by all the peoples in Eorzea the same? Isn't that the hyuran language? Nope! It's pretty explicitly said that the common language is a pidgin tongue that was deliberately developed by merchants and was adopted widespread out of convenience. They even say that Tural took inspiration from this in developing their own (and it's only coincidentally similar enough that your party can understand it with minimal language barrier, funnily enough. That's a hilarious way to handwave 'eh, game mechanics' tbh).

Anyway hyurs are really cool and I really want to see more people appreciating them for the interesting lore they do have and also exploring this concept more. Like making their hyurs naturally predisposed to learning multiple languages for example.

[wiptw]

Pokémon Stadium Series

Nintendo 64 - Nintendo - 2000 to 2001

You as a Pokémon fan are absolutely fucking spoiled these days. Aside from the mainline games you have spinoffs and fangames offering different experiences, you have entire websites dedicated to documenting everything down to the internal maths of the series, there's no end to the free content you can access with an internet connection between emulators and battle sites like 'Showdown!', and it's now socially acceptable in most circles to be older than 13 and have something with Pikachu's face plastered on it (especially if you're female presenting, especially if your friend group is also infected with the Pokémon hype). Back in my day™ you had almost none of this. You had the anime on Saturday mornings, you had the early run Pokémon licensed merch which WOULD get you called a baby if you continued buying past 10-12, and you had the games. Those sweet, sweet games that indoctrinated a generation of young people into being gamers and awoke a horde of JRPG addicts.

Literally Me

So remember this when I tell you that Pokémon Stadium, both one and two, aren't great games because they do something back then that you can't get today; they're great for what they did back then. So Pokemon Stadium 1&2 were a duology of games from 2000 and 2001 respectively that allowed players to battle Pokemon in 3D, with the addition of some side content such as minigames included to prevent the game from being 100% Pokemon battles. Because otherwise, the game is in fact navigating a series of menus and completing Pokémon battles with 3D models.

Whether it's taking on the gym gauntlets, the marathon of battles in the Pokémon cups, or just free battles with friends and loved ones, 98% of the experience is either selecting Pokémon from a roster of pre-built 'rentals' or transferring them from a saved game using the Transfer Pak, then fighting them in a series of 3D environments. An experience which you can definitely do today using web apps but as I said earlier, we didn't have that.

The peak of Pokémon battles in 2000

So if you're buying Pokémon Stadium (either version really) you're already probably a Pokémon fan right? So that means you have Red/Blue/Yellow/Gold/Silver/Crystal, so why not just play that game and get the full experience? The fun of exploring, talking to NPCs, discovering new and exotic locations? Simple, because in those games battles looked like this

While in Stadium, battles looked like this

If you grew up watching the anime while playing the Gameboy games, there was this special kind of dissonance where you might find yourself saying "Yeah, (for the time) these graphics are RADICAL but I wish I had something closer to these cool Pokémon Battles they had in the anime." As you hide under the covers with your Gameboy Color worm light, nestled in your Ash Ketchum pajamas while you attempt for the 100th time to capture a ditto. Pokémon Stadium was the answer to this dissonance, providing you with vibrant 3D graphics unlike anything you'd ever seen before; bringing Pokémon to life in a way that would be unmatched until Colosseum came out during the Gamecube era.

So, to actual mechanics, you play both games pretty similarly; by building a team of Pokémon (either on your handheld or by using the rental mons the game provides) and take part in a series of battles to become the ultimate battle master. To use your own Pokémon, you'd need to use the aforementioned 'Transfer Pak' to plug in a copy of Red/Blue/Yellow (for 1) or Gold/Silver/Crystal (for 2) with a game saved to the cartridge; otherwise the rental Pokémon covered all released Pokémon (except for some hidden ones) allowing you to build your dream team, sans a few caveats here and there.

Evolved Pokémon have better stats but worse moves, while weaker Pokémon tend to have better moves to compensate

In terms of WHERE you can battle, there's two choices: Either in the Gym Leader Castle, or the Tournaments held in the center of the map on either game. Either way, the game will then have you battle through a series of 3v3 matches versus a set number of trainers who will also select 3 random mons from their full team of six.

A bit bare bones, but there's some spice to how things are run. For one, the rental system was a huge thing for us younger players back in the day. Even if you had the games some Pokémon were hard to catch, had evolution requirements some players couldn't complete (like the trade-mons), or were locked to a version you didn't have. The rental mons give you a list of every Pokémon (some exceptions, but not many) and then lets you build your dream team. Sure, you can't set their moves, EVs, IVs, and it's the era before abilities and natures but I CAN HAVE A MEOWTH/PERSIAN ON MY TEAM. Do you know what I had to do as a child to have this Pokémon outside of Stadium? I had to find someone in the American South who also enjoyed Pokémon, hoped they had Blue instead of Red, hoped they had a link cable, then get them to agree to a trade despite both of us being children (and therefore, objectively terrible) which likely meant giving away a rare Pokémon in exchange for what amounted to common garbage in their game because it was Version fucking Exclusivity™ and everyone seemed to know that meant you'd do anything to get that one fucking Pokémon you wanted.

In the handheld games, if you wanted to build your dream team then likely you'd have to put in some more effort than other games of the time would've required of you. With Stadium, your dreams come true, and if you already have that dream team you can just import them to fight in glorious 3D. Circumventing the fact that rental Pokémon are kinda terrible overall.

Don't feel like building? The challenge cup mode that gives you randomized team comps that has it's own charm (for masochists)

Not to say all of them were bad but construct a normal distribution of 'Good' to 'Bad' picks then that graph is gonna skew left so hard you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just a straight line. To keep every choice 'viable' Pokémon rentals were balanced around stats and moves. More powerful evolved Pokémon and Pokémon with high Base Stat Totals (BST) were given weaker moves and first form and low BST Pokémon were given generally better moves. Charizard might have better stats than Charmeleon and Charmander but his only fire type move is going to be something like Fire Spin. Conversely, Charmander might have Fire Blast but his stats are gonna make him an easy target for the computer's pokemon, which are not bound to the same builds as the rental mons you're using.

Once your team is assembled, then you're off to battle trainer after trainer after trainer with beautifully scored (for the Nintendo 64) soundtracks giving you an unearned sense of importance every step of the way. Battles themselves are conducted with a weird, but functional control layout where A and B access sub menus you then check with the R button before finalizing with the c-buttons, which on original hardware or a USB N64 controller is fine but on emulation with a more modern controller like Logitech, can be a little nerve wracking as you worry about whether your 'up' input on the control stick was up enough for the game or if you accidentally drifted right or left using an unintended move.

fun fact: the name of imported Pokémon affects their coloration in Stadium

Battles are also largely regulated by (at the time) tournament standard rules. Little and Pokecup have level restrictions, and all three non-random cups include clauses for sleep, held items, and repeat Pokémon. Additionally, in any cup if you win the round with all 3 Pokémon still in tact, you're granted a continue; meaning you can retry the battle if you lose. Additionally, there is no 'draw' outcome in these games. Use a move like Explosion or Selfdestruct and the game will register it as your loss on your final Pokémon, regardless of whether you took down the opposing fighter with you or not.

You'll be doing a LOT of back-to-back fights here against trainers with varied team comps, but even with over 246 Pokémon in the available potential lineup you'll get tired fast of fighting. This is, however, slightly mitigated by the 3v3 nature of the matches but even so be ready to here the same Pokémon noises, watch the same effects play out, and wait for the same health bars to tick down over and over as you claw your way to the spot of Pokémon Master.

The art style of non-battle scenes like the main map and minigame plaza have that nice, 90's charm to them as well.

If you do get tired of battling it out, then Stadium 1 and 2 both offer minigames for players to partake in. Either in a tournament format or by using the free-play browser, players are able to take part in a multitude of different Mario Party-esque (without the hand burning) minigames featuring the Pokémon as stars. Minigames consist of stick twirling, button mashing, and point collecting all while controlling fan favorite Pokémon such as Togepi, Eevee, Scyther, and Pichu with no real rhyme or reason behind why these game exist aside from a amusement park theming the minigame zones have for their icons and menus.

You won't get a real explanation as to why you're racing Donphans, cutting logs as Scythers and Pinsirs, or playing Simon Says with a bunch of Clefairy, but you don't really need that either. The games are fun, the models are charming, and watching Clefairy get smacked in the head for each wrong input brings me a level of joy I should probably talk about with my therapist. You won't likely spend hours in this mode, but it's a nice breather from the onslaught of battles otherwise.

fun fact: I still won't talk to some people because of the outcomes to Rampage Rollout over two decades ago. You know who you are.

Additionally there's a quiz minigame separate from the main selection of minigames with easy/normal/hard difficulty selections. Players compete to see who can be the first to get a number of questions correct before anyone else based on facts about the Pokémon (typing, size, silhouette, etc) or facts about the game (where you can find things in the game, names of routes and towns, names of figures in the game).

It's not the most challenging on easy or normal, but playing on hard the game will try to screw you with trick questions so playing with others becomes a balance of "do I let the question play out, or attempt to steal it before someone else can answer correctly?"

Sometimes even playing the game won't prepare you for how out of pocket the questions can get

The real advantage of 2 over 1 is that, in addition to minigames, the game has the trainer academy; a kind of in-depth battle tutorial to teach players not only the basics of Pokémon fighting, but also some secrets as well

You can learn about held items, a feature new to the second generation, as well as participate in mock battles to demonstrate the materials you've been reading and quizzed on. Some of this information for the time too was obscure or hidden knowledge, like the fact that using Defense Curl before using Rollout would boost the damage significantly or that using Stomp on an opponent who used minimize would double the damage.

Some type matchups just make sense, like Ground v Electric.

Overall though what really makes this game is the presentation. The soundtrack does a great job selling the feeling Nintendo wants you to experience, climbing the ladder in a tournament or the Gym Leaders Castle makes you feel powerful, and the little details on top of it all just tie it together in a nice package.

The fights, for example, are also narrated by "The Announcer". A bombastic voice shouting over every detail of a fight. When you score a crit, when you apply a status effect, even using certain moves will get the announcer loudly narrating each detail like a Pokémon prize fight. Seeing the ground rip apart when you use Earthquake is only half the charm, the other half comes from that man yelling in your ears "A DEVESTATING EARTHQUAKE ATTACK!". Clearing gyms or clearing opponents in one of the cups grants you gym badges, a dream for any child growing up on the handheld classics or watching the anime who wished they too could earn shiny bits of metal that gave them an inflated sense of importance.

I would literally kill everyone I came across if it'd get me a real life Zephyr Badge.

Stadium 1 and 2 aren't evergreen classics. They're stuck in Gens 1 and 2 respectively, the roster of Pokémon while impressive is largely useless and makes collecting trophies way harder than it has to be, and the games were made before things like abilities and double battles were introduced, leading to the Pokémon battling game missing out on the generation of Pokémon that made battling more fun (Revolution doesn't count, Revolution is dead to me and disappoints me more than I disappoint myself.)

But for the time especially, it gave fans an opportunity to experience a form of Pokémon more advanced than what the handhelds could output. It was a window into a world of potential that wouldn't be truly fulfilled until arguably the 3DS era of Pokémon released, and gave fans a fun little romp handcrafted for them at every twist and turn. Whether you were a gamer or you enjoyed the anime, there was something here for you.

Overall: 7/10 Sound: 8/10 (for the time) Graphics: 9/10 (for the time) Memorable Moments: Stadium 1: Hearing about Mewtwo, thinking he was an urban legend, then finding out he wasn't Stadium 2: Finally beating the elite 4 using only rental mons.

[utilitycaster]

i am so curious what you think about fearne as a character, especially in the full context of this campaign, and how she ranks in terms of contributing good storytelling. she was consistently my least favorite (ie., lovely and entertaining to watch, but not personally interesting or dimensional in a way that made me care, and more often than not, frustratingly avoidant of plot or depth) and i'm wondering how much you'd relate to that. i'm interested in hearing an alternate perspective! this is an invitation for as much of your thoughts as you have them, because i love reading your posts and meta. have a great day <3

Hey anon, thank you!

I find myself in an awkward place here because I do like Fearne for a couple reasons, and I think a major one is because I think Ashley is one of the only people at the table who actually explored, in-character, that Fearne was an indecisive person who was terrified of making the wrong choices (notably during both the aftermath of the first Otohan fight, and during the whole course of Shardgate). Like, Fearne's disconnect at times from the world, and moments of self-centeredness, and indecision all felt very true to Ashley's original concept both in EXU Prime and the general concept of fey morality. I also think that in a campaign with a number of fraught familial relationships that were underserved, Fearne's was, while still not given the time I wish it had been, one of the strongest. Fearne deciding, after meeting her missing parents, that she wasn't sure if she liked them felt very earned and true, and it felt like she put in the work when she later spoke to them during the party's time resting in the Feywild.

I also give Fearne something of a pass because I think she was put in perhaps the least enviable spot of all this campaign, and that's saying something. While I think pretty much every character would have been much, much better had we focused more on their backstory and exploring and resolving that, Ashley's intended darker fairytale concept was just...abandoned. Like we got Ligament Manor and Morri, and they were great! But there was no plot for her in the feywild other than "your parents are caught up in this moon thing, and your birth father is also caught up in this moon thing". The first part came up very early and got quickly overshadowed by the rest of the whole Bassuras pile-up, and the second part came out right before the Ruidus scouting mission and was perhaps one of the worst victims of the late campaign breakneck pacing. Honestly, a lot of the feywild stuff felt oddly insubstantial - we know that breaking the fey key apparently did something, and that breaking up the meeting in Pravenier prevented Fey allies from attacking Vox Machina at the key in the end (though it's hard to say exactly what that would have entailed), but like...was the Seelie Court working in opposition? Were there any extraplanar allies in the Accord? Was the Feywild at risk here, as Ollie believed it to be? Because it never entered into Bells Hells' considerations! All the Feywild plot threads just went nowhere. Even their greatest fey ally, Ira, was far more motivated by his own dislike of Ludinus than any loyalty to Fearne; the party didn't really need to cultivate him as an ally, he just showed up.

And then, of course, there's the fact that Fearne was a Ruidusborn, but she wasn't THE Ruidusborn, she wasn't exaltant, that was Imogen - and the cool thing she did get, the spark of Rau'shan, was a great moment but was, like Ashton's titan abilities, mechanical and some cool scenes only but not relevant to Predathos in a meaningful way any more so than like, Chetney's ability to turn into a wolf was. I don't even think Ashley was being particularly indecisive, or rather, the Zathuda and Yu "should we kill them or no" scenes were excruciating in the lack of decision, but I feel that the problem was she was given absolutely nothing to fucking work with and that's not her fault. I think it's a testament to Ashley's ability as an actor that I do feel she had depth and even a little character development because she was essentially pushed into a thankless second fiddle role. When I think of the people who actually made an effort to do small solo scenes or seek other people out, Fearne praying to the Wildmother or Raven Queen and pickpocketing scenes stand out as bright spots.

So I think it's valid to be frustrated or not vibe, but I think it's entirely a DM-ing problem. This campaign was really not made to accommodate Fearne's concept.

[headspace-hotel]

i finished rain world as the survivor. really cool and beautiful game just wish there were more plants

my opinion of regions (i had the downpour DLC which I know pipeyard is exclusive to it):

outskirts: i like the landscape but it can be annoying to navigate, theres a few places where if you miss a jump you have to spend like 5 minutes circling back around. 6/10

industrial complex: this is actually one of my favorites, theres lots of different areas to explore and lots of variety of terrain. 9/10

shaded citadel: another one of my favorites to explore, visually interesting, the lantern mice are really fun and the darkness gimmick is also fun, trying to get to memory crypts is terrible though and memory crypts is also terrible. 8/10

garbage wastes: just a lot of garbage piles not very visually interesting. I didn't spend a lot of time here though. 4/10

shoreline: the swimming mechanic sucks so bad and its easy to get stuck in a dead end here. It's cool that you meet looks to the moon here but the region itself is meh. 5/10

chimney canopy: really visually similar to a lot of the previous regions, just has a lot more platforming and death pits. its fun though. The Gutter is best avoided entirely. 6/10

the exterior: I completely skipped over the leg and the underhang and climbed up the wall instead, so that's the only part I can speak to. It's hard but really fun. I first encountered the dropwigs here, i love how they leave bait for slugcat to lure them in, it's so funny. 8/10

five pebbles: again, I missed almost the whole entirety of this region because I went in via climbing the wall. I LOVED the murals with the karma symbols, it was cool to have that window into the lore, and the encounter with five pebbles itself was also really neat. 8/10 I guess from that tiny piece of it.

pipeyard: it's ass. like all the worst parts of the game combined into one region. i thought i was going to be trapped in the sump tunnel for eternity. 2/10 i guess it could have been worse

sky islands: i actually didn't make it here at all so N/A

farm arrays: I visited but did not go very far. very straight and linear with lots of pits full of tentacles. The one cool thing is that we get to see the rain deer which are a really cool terrestrial megafauna. 5/10

drainage system: i kinda hated this one, way too much drowning in narrow pipes. 3/10

subterranean: the upper parts of it are pretty basic, just a disorienting maze of pipes with packs of black lizards crawling around everywhere, but the depths subregion is PHENOMENAL. the design of the guardians is so interesting and the guttering torchlight and roving searchlight-like illumination gives it a unique atmosphere. 8/10 lots to enjoy

[machineheraldcommune]

I Mindreader - Viktor x f! Reader

Synopsis: It would be an understatement if I said I just had a little crush on Viktor. Daydreaming was a cool escape from the harsh realities of the undercity- even after the war. If I had known he could mindread, I would have been a bit more careful with my thoughts.

Words: 1,172

Warnings: f! reader x Viktor, 18+ light SMUT, LoL lore (sort’ve), Arcane season 2 spoilers

Author's Notes: I don’t write scenes like this very often, so bear with me 😭😭!! Also somewhat inspired by the Roswell TV show hehe.

I had been working for Dr. Raveck and Viktor ever since I was caught stealing mechanical equipment for personal projects. I had no means to support myself, which is why when Dr. Raveck offered, I couldn’t refuse. Luckily, a shimmer project wasn’t what he needed me for. He was too busy with other experiments to devote all of his time to Viktor after his second resurrection.

“Viktor-“ A clang sounded as I knocked on his metal lab door before entering.

“I brought the liquid and metal you asked me to get- I have to say, it was quite a challenge…” The room was dark, but I could make out his silhouette lounging on a chair on the far side of the room. The lab was messy, spare parts and miscellaneous papers and schematics in piles all over the floor. I start to set the canisters down next to the wall nearest to me, but I swiftly turn as I hear him rise from his chair. Suddenly, and rapidly, he was the closest he had ever been to me. I felt a blush spread across my face.

He had began to become more metallic in the last few months. His once luminous black skin now had a golden hue. A machine-like armor and mask sat in the corner for whenever he went out sparingly for whatever reason. His face was still human.

“Viktor, what are you…” He suddenly grasped my chin with his cold fingers and pulled my face towards his. He was so close I could feel his long black hair brush my neck, and his breath on my face. My hands came to rest on his chest.

“Human emotion is a volatile thing-“ He starts to say before his other hand touches the wall next to my head. I was frozen in place. He then leans his head to one side and positions so that his next words are reverberated as a whisper directly into my ear.

“You suppress your thoughts in my lab so that it not be revealed on your face- but your thoughts linger like a scintillating light from the back of your mind.” I quickly process what he means, and I can feel my heartbeat start to pound against my chest.

“I don’t know w-what you-“ I then feel his breath travel down to my neck.

“As soon as you entered this lab you had a failed attempt at scrubbing your mind of the thought of my lips on your skin.” I let out an audible gasp as I felt his lips graze my skin, and I uncontrollably imagined what I had been earlier in the day.

He repositions his face in front of mine and pulls my chin once more so that I’m looking directly into his iridescent eyes. I noticed his breath become slightly uneven.

“I-“ As soon as I started to speak he replaced his hand on my chin with his lips on my mouth, and tingles spread through my entire body. I felt as if I might melt onto the floor.

He broke the kiss after a few seconds, and glanced from my lips and into my eyes. “I haven’t healed you, so the question is- why can I feel your emotions as if they were my own?” Both of his hands then trail down from the wall to my sides. I was comfortable with Viktor and the others in the lab, so I was just wearing loungewear- a short-sleeved shirt and loose pants. I had never thought they may not be thick enough that I could feel Viktor’s hands directly on my skin through the cloth. I began to imagine where else his hands may explore before my thoughts were interrupted, by them sneaking under the hem of my shirt. They begin to wander, as his lips find its way back to mine once more. This time- his kisses felt more deep and urgent.

My mind was a mess- it felt scrambled like eggs. The more we kissed, the more I couldn’t believe this situation was even happening.

Slowly one of his hands trailed further down to the hem of my pants, and then my underwear, leaving small vibrations in its wake. He stopped a few inches below my belly-button when I released his kiss and started to speak.

“Viktor-“ I managed, before my imagination was let loose once more- I wanted him in any way possible.

“I must warn you that I might not be able to hold back-“ I thought quickly of what he meant by that, we couldn’t go much further than this could we? He didn’t have certain human organs anymore- but my mind agreed to his terms before my mouth.

His hand trailed further down, and as soon as he started to touch- my body felt as if it was ignited in flames. It was different than I had ever felt before with any other partner, and the feeling was instant.

I felt as if time was incoherent. Immediately I felt a release, and I couldn’t remember when we had began kissing again. I opened my eyes for a second to look into his, and I could’ve swore I saw them glowing for a second.

Soon, he slipped his hand from my pants and placed it near my hip. In an effort to catch his breath, we both sank to the floor, he laid his head to rest on my shoulder.

“It will be more enjoyable with the proper equipment next time.” He says after a few minutes. I didn’t know what that meant, but he was incredible.

“Next time?”

—

Eventually, I managed to find my way back to my room. Immediately I threw myself onto my bed and hid my face in a pillow. I still couldn’t believe all that had happened. After a few minutes, I decided that I should probably change clothes for bed.

I gathered my pajamas from my dresser, and caught a glimpse of my reflection in an old cracked mirror in the corner of my room. I looked like a disheveled mess. My hair was tangled somehow, and my clothes were in a disarray even though they never had been removed. I then caught a glimpse of something.

“What is-“ I peeled off the top layer of my clothes. I widened my eyes as I looked at where Viktor had touched.

He had left a subtle, slightly noticeable, glowing handprint.

[spearxwind]

i think every game that makes flying the focus (and theres veeery few of those) should have a map with a lot of verticality to it. Yes we all wanna fly a dragon over a vast landscape but when youre high up everything is indistinguishable, the sky is empty, and that gets boring real quick. A flying game should have verticality in a way that lets you explore heights that are really high and places on the map that are overlaid with each other would feel more alive and give you so much more space to work with. In a way, itd be like the inverse of the subnautica map. The original map was amazing because it made the ocean feel so huge. "What do you mean theres five biomes underneath the earth?? what do you mean theres just vast caves under here?" and everything felt super interconnected too. There should be more things in the sky than just you too. Enemies, prey, companions.... etc.

my fave flying game is called 'aer memories of old' and it doesnt really have that verticality but its a good flying game imo because its got a map thats so rewarding to explore, there is a PURPOSE to flying around just beyond what the game wants you to do. The lore of the world is out there for you to find and piece together, and the map is filled with life and details. And recently theres been an uptick in developers trying to make flying dragon games but none feel like flying has any purpose at all other than be really showy and yeah it looks awesome but without a purpose for flying its gonna get boring for the player!!

"This is the dragon game you've always wanted" and its another purposeless multiplayer mmorpg with an insanely huge completely empty map and they focus so much on the five fucking billion dragon cosmetics (and god forbid theyre all free btw) instead of making a game that is fun to play and just put the responsibility of having fun on the shoulders of the player. "omg u can make any dragon in this game the models look so cool!!" ok but what about the game. can you tell me if you game is fun? is there anything to do? oh, just material gathering shit and crafting? and an mmo where you have to play with others for there to be any semblance of life in the world? ok

idk im just sick of seeing games advertised as a dragon survival game where the only survival aspect is like. 'find food' 'find water' 'find a mate to have an egg' repeat. repeat. repeat. surely theres other things?? what about migration? territorial disputes? becoming the apex predator? being a local tyrant or a benevolent protector? there is so much that could be done with dragons but all every dev wants to dip their ass in is multiplayer nonsesne with the most basic hunger and thirst and a basic as fuck combat mechanic and call it survival so that people can choose to kill each other. its so lazy

[lintwriting]

I was here when mouthwashing was just a demo. here are some things I noticed.

I caught on to the fact that Curly was likely innocent and that Jimmy was an unreliable narrator based on the "Take Responsibility" word scramble and Jimmy's asshole behavior. Because of this, I also did not think there would be supernatural horror, I thought it’d be man-made and psychological, which I was right about.

What I did not expect was the subtle depiction of how workplaces fail victims of rape and misogyny.

What I did not expect was how backgrounded the late stage capitalism critique ended up being.

late stage capitalism: a red herring

From the Demo, you focus a lot on the corporation as the main antagonist, probably because Wrong Organ devs were hiding the villain protagonists.

Ominous posters, a Polle monster chasing you, those ominous TV commercials glorifying working for a corporation, the fact that all this horror was over fucking tooth-rotting mouthwash. Really paints the picture of a corporate horror or conspiracy a la “Time to Orbit: Unknown,” where every chapter unveils a new corporate conspiracy for money and power.

but instead, in mouthwashing, the capitalist aspects are merely plot devices to explore the horror surrounding mismanagement and its consequences.

A power tripping coworker and an enabling manager who got him the job. An eager-to-please kid and an established supervisor willing to take advantage. Flaws in how the hierarchy is decided, leading to the one person who shouldn’t have had power getting the power. Lack of sensitivity training (or whatever that’s called) surrounding things like Title IX concerns, such as the uneven gender dynamics or what to do in the event of a crime or the fact that the person doing the psych evals isn’t getting any evals.

Notice that none of these things are unique to capitalism, they’re issues you’d have to plan for in any workplace/organization, whether that be socialist or capitalist or whatever. The capitalism exacerbates the issues or catalyzes the consequences of them like a plot device, but the issues don’t originate from there.

For example: the lack of any woman other than Anya.

Yes, this was most likely exacerbated by late stage capitalism understaffing to cut corners, leading to skeleton crews, but that the crew we DO have is mostly male is more related to misogyny or gender roles.

Perhaps women don't want to work on these freighters because of the danger of being trapped in a confined space with men. Maybe the jobs required for these freighters, like mechanic or pilot, are male-dominated. Or maybe the hiring manager had a bias where they viewed men as more competent, etc. The fact of the matter is that the cause is the same when you dig down deep into it: misogyny.

Or the layoff. The laying off of the crew is its own form of evil, but its consequences aren’t the ones being explored within this story. Most of the crew die of the horrors within the ship before they ever have to face it. In fact, the horrors within the ship don't really even have anything to do with the layoff at all. It’s a bit of a red herring.

Rather, the actual cause of this game’s horror is the mismanaged fallout of Jimmy’s assault. Most obviously in that scene where we see Curly for the first time, wherein Curly doesn’t take Anya’s safety concerns seriously, even when Jimmy is actively threatening to make everyone disappear so neither of them have to face the consequences of the assault.

I initially misread that scene as Curly evilly conspiring to let Jimmy crash the ship so neither of them would take the fall, hence us finally seeing Curly's “true face.” Because I read what Jimmy said as inherently threatening and serious, I thought Curly had agreed to that awful plan and only got cold feet at the last minute.

It’s only from reading other comments that I realized Curly had most likely assumed Jimmy was blowing hot air and needed to cool down in that scene. Or that he was making an inappropriate joke akin to his 'sexually attracted to cartoon horses' thing and wasn't being serious. Curly didn’t realize Jimmy was actually talking about a real plan until it was too late stop it (makes me wonder if Jimmy was actually attracted to the horse, too).

Thus, it goes from a story about corner-cutting late stage capitalist megacorps to a story about cartoonishly evil, power-tripping men to a story about how we enable these men with failures in our system.

Much like how the beginning of the game, when Jimmy crashes the ship, a failure in the safety systems is what allows the crash to happen (Seriously? One pilfered key is all you need to send your ship into a crash?), a series of social safety nets had to have failed to let him into the cockpit in the first place. The true face is not Curly conspiring to crash the ship out of cowardice and greed, but his inability to face what his friend has done.

[withahappyrefrain]

For Bob or Natasha! Dealers choice! 🎲

“I had a dream about you last night. Woke up hard/wet. Wanna hear about it?”

Why not both?? 👀👀👀

Your bed was an entanglement of limbs. Natasha's breasts against yours, Bob's cock in-between your legs. Her lips on yours, his on your neck.

They felt so good, their hands exploring your body. The pleasure was building, increasing and increasing until-

The sound of your alarm was downright cruel. You sat up in your bed, feeling sweat on your skin.

Laying back down, you tried to gather your bearings. But that was really fucking difficult considering you just had a wet dream about your two coworkers.

Fuck.

Bob and Natasha were your coworkers. You shouldn't be having dreams about them, especially ones where they're fucking you at the same time.

After transferring to Miramar, you received a warm welcome from everyone in the dagger squad, particularly the pilot and WSO duo.

They had to just be friendly; Bob because he was raised to be a gentleman, Natasha because having another woman was such a rarity.

That had to be it.

That's why they always checked in on you. That's why their touch seemed to always linger. That's why they would look at you and then whisper to each other.

Any thoughts that maybe, just maybe, it was something beyond friendliness, you tried to push away. And you thought you had been pretty successful.

Until this morning.

At work, you simply waved to Bob and Natasha and quickly sat down, not stopping for your usual chit chat. You could feel their stares burning into your back. But there was no way you could face them without getting flustered. At least not for a few days.

Then things could go back to normal.

You didn't outright ignore the two, but your conversations with them were much shorter and with very little eye contact.

Thanks to being a mechanic, you were able to whisk yourself away from their eager eyes.

The dream still plagued your thoughts. It felt so real. You shouldn't be thinking about it, hell, you shouldn't be hoping for a sequel as you lied awake in bed at night.

"Hey angel," Natasha's voice was smooth, almost seductive. She had found you outside the Hard Deck. You left to get air (and maybe to avoid being sandwiched in between her and Bob in a booth).

But your attempt was in vain. Bob appeared, standing behind you. With Natasha inches away, you were trapped.

"Did we do something wrong angel?" Bob asked, his deep voice sending a shiver down your spine.

"Wha- no! What makes you think that?" Way to play it cool.

Nat's fingers skimmed the side of your shirt. You took a step back, only to bump into Bob. His large hands grabbed your hips, not only steadying you, but also forcing you to remain in your spot.

"It's just....feels like you've been avoiding us. And we really miss our favorite mechanic, don't we Bob?" There was a sweetness to her voice, one that was laced with mischievous.

Bob squeezed the plush flesh of your hips, "We do. Every time we've tried to talk to ya in the last few days has been cut short."

"We just wanted to make sure we hadn't done anything to hurt you," her fingers skimmed the side of your neck, stopping just before reaching your clothed breasts.

It took everything in you not to whine.

"You....you two have done nothing wrong. It's me, don't worry about it."

Bob chuckled, the sound vibrating against you, "We always worry about ya darlin'."

His words made you stop in your tracks, made you reevaluate every interaction you've had with the two.

"R-really?" You still asked, still needing that verbal confirmation to prove you weren't overthinking or misinterpreting.

Natasha smiled as she extended a hand to cup the side of your face, "'Course we do angel."

Bob gently squeezed your hips, as if to encourage you. After all, there was nothing 'friendly' about this.

You took a deep breath, "I uh .....I had a dream about you two the other night."

"What kinda dream?" Bob asked, his voice a near growl. Nat stepped forward, her body brushing against yours now.

"I...I woke up wet."

You don't know whose lips you felt first. Nat's lips were soft. As were Bob's, but his lips were thinner. Nat used more teeth, whereas Bob left open mouth kisses, his tongue tasting your skin.

Despite it being new territory, you were able to quickly distinguish between the pilot and the WSO.

"She's so soft Bob," Nat murmured, "Feel her tits, they're perfect."

His large hands moved up your body, cupping your breasts. Bob's fingers were swift and nimble, able to find your nipples despite the layers of clothing.

Just like up in the sky, they were a well oiled machine, able to alternate who would kiss you and where. Nat's hand wandered down, slipping past the waistband of your jeans.

You couldn't help but moan. Your body felt like it was on fire from being touched all over. Her fingers skimmed over your clothed core. Your hips greedily jerked upwards, trying to get more.

"Is she wet Phe?" Bob asked, in-between pressing a mixture of kisses and love bites to your neck.

Nat chuckled, obviously aware of how damp the center of your panties were, "She sure is. Tell us angel, what we were doing in that dream of yours?"

She withdrew her hand, allowing Bob to have a turn. You felt her fingers knead your breasts, as Bob was able to unbutton your jeans with just one hand.

"I....we were on my bed," you stammered, finding it difficult to focus with the way Bob was lazily drawing circles on your covered clit, "And I was...in between you two. K-kinda like this."

"You wanna make that happen? We can go somewhere private," Bob murmured.

"Can even go to your place if you'd like. Recreate that dream." Both their lips were covering your neck.

You nodded, unable to speak. All you wanted to do was focus on how good they felt.

"Well then, let's get going."

Fuck.

[no-psi-nan]

I'm not a fan of soulmates in romantic fiction because it's basically arranged marriage with extra supernatural noncon/dubcon elements.

However, in the Saiki universe, the soulmate connection seems to lack pretty much all of those problematic elements.

We have to do a little extrapolating from what we see in canon since this aspect of Aiura's powers is not covered in detail, but:

Soulmates do not seem to be guaranteed to ever meet, considering the fact that Aiura specifically looked up her soulmate and that one guy who was linked to someone in a remote African village that would almost certainly never cross paths with him.

Being with your soulmate is completely optional, otherwise Aiura wouldn't bother providing relationship scoring and just tell each person to go find their soulmate. This allows for a lot of narrative opportunities to explore why someone would consciously choose to not be with their soulmate, and also opens up the door for polyamory.

Soulmates do not instantly fall in love, and are not forced to stay in love by any supernatural powers. Aiura didn't think anything of Saiki until he flawlessly saved Yumehara's life like 10x in a row, and Saiki certainly didn't fall for Aiura right away either. They fought over their values strongly enough that it would've been a breakup if they'd ever been together.

Soulmate status just seems to indicate particularly good chemistry, and like the rest of Aiura's powers, is purely informational and not determinative. Presumably soulmates have the highest possible compatibility scores, and it's kinda cool that it seems guaranteed there's at least 1 person out there who will jive with you, but also plenty of other people you can connect with to various degrees.

With Saiki and Aiura specifically, it's shown that Saiki can change the future Aiura sees as soon as he hears about it. It may even be possible for him to change the soulmate determination, and he certainly could've used Time Leap to fool Aiura into thinking someone else was her soulmate if he was really opposed to the concept. She had scryed it recently, so the butterfly effect shouldn't be a challenge.

But they do work so smoothly together with their powers complementing each other, and Saiki is kind of a lonely romantic tsundere at heart, so it makes sense that he would let the soulmate thing play out and yet test the connection by pushing Aiura away as much as possible.

Actually, considering that Saiki can't control people's actions directly (and that he sucks at trying to control people indirectly), the strongest noncon/dubcon force in the Saikiverse shockingly appears to be Teruhashi's beauty.

The only male character that doesn't seem at all affected by Teruhashi's powers is Hairo, most likely because of his heavily implied homosexuality. Women attracted to other women are also impacted by her power, as seen with Aiura.

While Saiki says that married people aren't affected by Teruhashi, Kuniharu does actually show several signs of being affected by Teruhashi, and so does Kumagoro.

All affected people instantly fall in love with her on sight, no exceptions.

Critical thinking ability appears to drop precipitously when it comes to her, with her fans accepting that she had a secret child with Saiki despite being in school with her every day and that she can just choose not to poop for a week. More effective mind control than anything Saiki can do tbh.

The instant Saiki loses some of his powers, he starts being affected by Teruhashi's beauty.

The narrative supports Saiki's theory that Teruhashi is literally favored by God and can affect reality just by hoping for something. The implication that God is (physically??) attracted to Teruhashi and does whatever she wants is.... yikes on several levels. If she asks for someone to love her, do they get a choice in the matter??

Anyways, there are way more elements of noncon/dubcon with Teruhashi ships than there are with actual canon soulmate mechanics in the Saikiverse and that's just such a wild choice by the author lol.

Truly subverting tropes!

[gnomewithalaptop]

I'm still too distracted to write so here have a list of YJ-cast centric fics that make me froth at the mouth

Kon-centric recs:

I Want It That Way (1990s Tim/Kon) by WynterSky / @wynterstars -- A revamped, 90s-style Superboy origin story with added Lex Luthor AND a lil bit of 90s Robin for spice and flavor. Honestly, this whole series is so elite -- goes hard with the Superboy mythos + angst PLUS the third fic leans hard into the secret identity shenanigans in a way that'd make Miraculous Ladybug jealous. The first fic splits its attention between Tim and Kon, but the latter two are solidly Kon-centric

one plus one (easy math) by connerdrakewayne / @comphetkoncass -- Cassandra Cain and Kon go to a gala together. I'm always a sucker for a good Cass + Kon friendship. This one's very short and sweet, and it gets the job done -- 10/10 would read again

a timeline can be a haunted house by connerdrakewayne -- post-universal reset Kon angst + terrible coping mechanisms! This one goes so hard I read it three times. Tbh this author has an excellent handle on Kon as a character in general, so I honestly recommend just checking out their whole fic stash

Tim-centric recs:

Top 10 Secret Identity Fails by @havendance -- Tim's new English teacher is his on-again-off-again superhero teamup Helena Bertinelli (aka the Huntress). This one's just fun, okay -- the whole thing reads like it could be straight out of Tim's 1993 solo run, plus I love the dynamic between him and Helena. Overall just a very cool vibe

only the dead stay 17 forever by Sky_Dust (couldn't find their tumblr sorry) -- Listen, I've really been restraining myself here, because I realize my love for time-travel bullshit is not universal, but I genuinely couldn't not include this one. This bad boy is a Tim-centric time-loop featuring a seriously unhinged Tim -- definitely a darker tone, but I can't stop rereading it

Bart-centric recs:

reflections on respawning: a gamer's uncertainty by merils / @mamawasatesttube -- Bart has a hard conversation about his death and subsequent resurrection (feat. Kon) man, I just vibe with this one so hard. It's such a thoughtful take on Bart's more contemplative side, while still managing to keep his personality intact

the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun by @kermit-coded -- trans/gnc impulse my beloved <3 also we get some funky Max & Bart bonding, made much rawer and more real by the fact that it's the 90s and nobody knows what they're doing. Again, feels like it's straight out of Bart's solo series

Cassie-centric recs:

you and I, we are more than just this armor by @suzukiblu -- KonCassie bonding + gender feels. They're both so trans in this, and the author does a great job of really digging deep into their complicated feelings (both about gender and about each other)

(also PLEASE somebody give me more Cassie-centric fic recs I'm literally begging you)

Team recs

I'm all yours but you're all mine by suzukiblu -- Poly Core 4 Soulmates AU! Essentially, everybody gets their 'soulmark'/soulmate-identifier (not really, but the best word) right when Kon wakes up in his pod, and because Superboy hasn't really made his big splash yet, they misidentify their soulmate as Superman; this is an issue mainly because 1) they're all 14-15 and Superman is roughly 30-ish, and 2) by the time this fic takes place, Superman is pretty verifiably dead. Currently in-progress, but this is such an interesting and fun take on the usual soulmates trope. I pinky promise you won't regret reading it

Love, Not Loved series by @popsunner -- hoooomygod this series makes me cry literally every time I read it, it's genuinely one of the most realistic representations of grief I've seen on AO3. Basically explores the general fucked-up-edness of pretty much the whole YJ Core 4 Squad dying one by one, with each fic focusing on a different funeral (complete with survivor's guilt, regular guilt, and just plain old complicated feelings). We get Cassie feels, we get Tim feels, we get Bart + Kon feels -- it's the whole shebang. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending eventually, but you def gotta work for it. This series beat me up and stole my lunch money and I'd happily do it all over again

Lost the Last Piece of Me by InsaneTrollLogic / @last01standing -- YJ Core 4 Animorphs AU! I'm sad to say I've never read the original Animorphs series, but every single Animorphs AU I've ever read has been such high quality. Unsurprisingly (I love this author, okay), this fic is no exception to that rule. Solid alien-invasion plot, character driven, and the world-building is explained well enough that even a newbie like me can understand (feat. some TimKon, but it's not the main focus)

Ikonoclast by anantipodean (couldn't find a tumblr) -- Tim and Kon get sent to an alternate reality that's almost (but not quite) like their own. This one's just fun for me -- I love the TimBart buildup and the worldbuilding on the other Earth is a funky time. Also, the other universe's Tim is goth and absolutely cannot stand mainstream-reality Tim, and I find that extremely funny for some reason

[thestalkerbunny]

Stalky's Live Direct React

It's mainly regarding Pokemon Z-A cause that's all I DEEPLY AND CARNALLY CARE ABOUT but let's get French

New Trainer fits look cute; the male protag looks a LOT like Sycamore.

ALL THE CHIKORITA HATERS CAN FUCKING HUFF MY DUFF, MY GIRL IS BACK, NOBODY TOUCH ME, THIS FUNKY LITTLE MANDRAKE DINOSAUR IS HOME. EVERYONE SUCK IT HARD.

Why it look like he on an awkward lunch date?

Now a new game changing mechanic: PARKOUR AND FALL DAMAGE /j

Tf is you

TF is YOU?

Mega Evos are BACK Bay BEE

LOOK OUT ITS A WELL DRESSED FRENCH WHITE WOMAN (With insignia possible new team boss?)

I HAVE FOUND THE WEIRD OLD MAN I WILL BE HYPERFIXATING OVER, EVERYONE ELSE MAY LEAVE, ME AND THIS WEIRDO NEED TO BE ALONE.

Wait....Wait is that the fucking GIANT from the last game.....

Oh my God it fucking is, That's AZ.

Someone getcha dog off the damn roof.

Hottest take-I think the overall theme is going to be Progress Vs. Nature. Much like the Art movement of Art Deco Vs Art Nouveau; human design compared to natural design. As seen in the Z and A logo Straight rigid lines vs organic curves.

NOTHING LIKE CHATTING WITH YOUR HOLOGRAM SON.

Ah I love the scent of french trash in the air.

One of these things is not like the other-one of these things is ANCIENT.

Ah that's who you is.

GOD HE'S SO FREAKISHLY TALL-FUCKING CROTCH HEIGHT TO HIM. Also HIGHLY cool choice to show him with a knee brace and a cane because in recorded history and science-WE ARE NOT MEANT TO BE THAT TALL and people who do reach that height often need disability aids to help.

We gotta get her. She's a fucking CEO.

I love that he just....has a hotel now. He's got old classic hotel vibes. Honestly-I really like it because if there's one thing I DONT like in design is ultra modernism where it's minimal with no colors or patterns. It actually irks me the heck off-I get pissed off walking into an apple store.

Fucking gated communities.

Ah...I don't think we'll be exploring the rest of Kalos and be primarily centered within the city itself. A tad bit disappointing, I was looking forward to returning to Laverre City to see what happened to the charcoal remains I left when I went there in XY and BURNT EVERYTHING TO ASH

New game feature: YOU ARE NOW IN THE ATTACK RANGE, FUCKING BRACE YOURSELF IDIOT.

THIS. THIS IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT FUCKING COMPANIES WITH FUCKING MINIMALIST DESIGN AND LOGOS AND SHIT PISS ME THE HELL RIGHT OFF.

DETECTIVE? D--DETECTIVE?!??! -frantically climbs over chair- DETECTIVE??!?!?!?!?

GET YOUR CRINGE ASS WORM OFF THE ROOF

Ah I love when Pokemon comes out around my birthday. It makes me feel so SPECIAL like it's a unique little treat just for me.

I'm honestly rather excited, Having the entire game take place in a contained singular city is a new angle. We're very used to being thrown willy nilly out into the wild to rough it between god and sheer luck. But now it's Urban Exploration. Which I think can be a strong idea on how FAR Lumiose city has developed since we long last saw it.

[mocking-birdies]

Hypothetically, if Sonadow were to become cannon, which of the two do you think would be more likely to have caught feelings first?

For me? Hmm I think Shadow honestly. Is he happy that he's caught feelings? Of course not. Will he deny them? Absolutely, until it becomes impossible to do so. Shadow, at least how I interpret him, feels emotions very deeply - to the point emotions can be too strong and overpower him. Which is directly at odds with the image he wants to portray of himself. He wants to be the stoic guy, the "too cool for this" guy, the no-nonsense guy that's in control of himself always. But I've always seen it more as a mask than anything - a defense mechanism. Because we do constantly see the contrary - we see how deep and passionate his emotions can be, especially for the people he cares for. Obvious example being Maria. Normally, grieving people don't feel the need to destroy an entire planet in revenge but Shadow's a different story. Of course, there's Gerald's memory manipulations to consider in that argument too but it was very obvious how intensely Shadow was grieving... and how willing he was to go through with it until he remembered her true wish. His attachment, his familial love for Maria was so strong. Another case of how strongly Shadow feels emotions but is slightly more niche is Dark Beginnings. Specifically, the scene where he's alone in the shuttle flying up to the ARK and mourning what could have been. His exhausted, pained expression before almost working himself into a panic before he stops himself so he can focus on his mission. Again it's another case of how strongly Shadow feels. He lets himself feel in private when there's no one else to see it. No one that can exploit it - like many have tried to in the past. Maria said it herself - he has a big heart. It's absolutely true. And I think that would lend itself to any strong feeling of love he could form for Sonic. As much as he'd hate it, he'd be the one falling quicker and falling harder. It's the one race he can beat Sonic in. Sonic, on the other hand, is that chill of a guy. Of course, he deeply loves his friends and his planet but he is rarely ever controlled by those emotions. He's, ironically enough, got the emotional control Shadow wished he had. Sonic is comfortable in himself and how he feels about people. The only instance I can think of at the top of my head of Sonic actually letting his emotions win is Dark Sonic all the way back in X... but even Eggman is quick to snap Sonic out of it and tell him how out of character it is for him. So that begs the question... how can someone so comfortable with their emotions not realize their feelings first. And I think the answer simply lies in Sonic's priorities. He's never looking in that direction - not considering a long-term partner. We see it in his slightly avoidant nature to Amy's affections in canon. He loves her as a friend, but can't even begin to imagine himself in a commitment behind a white picket fence. He's just not that way inclined. He's not going to think about it until those emotions have been left to brew for so long that he physically can't ignore it. He'll keep trying to avoid it as long as he can, after all - he wants to keep his life as simple as friends, adventure, and chilidogs. Anything outside of that realm is where things get complicated and he's not a fan of it. So when he does recognise, eventually, that he's falling for someone, he's gonna lock it in a box and push it away from himself. It'll go eventually... right? Of course, that doesn't mean he can't learn to explore those deeper connections. He's just going to be slower about warming up to the idea. He needs to figure out what a partner is for him. He doesn't need to conform to a white picket fence life to enjoy a relationship with the people he loves deeply. Whether it's Shadow, Amy, or anyone you choose to ship him with.

Basically... he needs to learn QPRs are an option haha. Especially with Shadow because I don't imagine for one second those two would settle in a happy marriage with a kid - as cute as the fanart can be. Those two are not to be contained. Their love can't be defined - it is simply theirs. And one day, they'll figure out what works for them. This was a simple question that turned into a long ramble I'm so sorry LMAO. TL;DR: Shadow falls first imo 😭

[deesblanketfort]

My favorite regression games ☆´ˎ˗ ︶︶︶

Nintendo DS edition!

Videogames have always been one of my favorite regression activities. And I've always gravitated towards old and accessible videogames, since it's pretty easy to find emulators and ROMs for old consoles, I compiled a list of my favorite DS games to play when regressed!

This link has ROMs for all of the following games, but for easier access I'll put a direct download link in each title

🐾: Nintendogs: Best Friends (2005)

Nintendogs a classic virtual pet game, I could even say it's the virtual pet game for the DS. Here you adopt puppies and get to raise, train and play with them. One of my favorite mechanics is calling my puppy by its name and having it understand it and come to me!

Aside from being absolutely adorable theres so much to do with your puppies! From basic care like walking, brushing or bathing them to training them and participating in competitons, which can be a little difficult but add a lot of flavor to the game! Plus the dog competition elements are really cool as someone who likes dog competitions!!

👠: Style Savvy (2009)

Not gonna lie, I made this whole post to talk about this game. I love style savvy!!! We desperately need to end the conception that dress up games are only for little girls!

In Style Savvy, you run your own fashion boutique and help clients pick their outfits, in which all clients have their own styles. The game requires you to pay attention to your client's preferences and store a variety of outfits in your boutique.

Speaking! Of! Outfits!!! Style Savvy includes so many fashion subcultures from the 00's, like gyaru, gothic lolita, sweet lolita, decora, it's so fun and I never get bored of checking on my boutique daily.

🫧: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness (2008)

Mystery Dungeon is one of my favorite Pokemon spin-offs! It's a super fun roguelike RPG where you play as a pokemon and their team going through dungeons and fighting other pokemon, it's a perfect blend between mainline pokemon gameplay and unique mechanics, plus you get to play as a pokemon!!

And this game has such a charming story!! I'm always on my feet when I play this game, and just a warning, it can get a little emotional sometimes.

💚: MySims (2007)

MySims is a life simulator town creator from the likes of Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, and even though it's simpler than the aforementioned, it still lives in my heart rent free!

Here you do several tasks and minigames to raise the town level and with every level the town gets bigger, more tourists come visit it and more people move in. From all the minigames, the conversation one is my favorite, since it's so simple yet fun!

And the characters, oh, the characters! Although most of the iconic characters come from later instalments, this game doesn't lack memorable characters, specially the shopkeepers! My favorite is Olivia :3

🖌️: Kirby Canvas Curse (2005)

This game is usually overlooked for being very different from the usual Kirby games but it's so cool nonetheless!

It's not a traditional platformer where you control Kirby's movements, but instead you interact with the environment (tapping Kirby, enemies and objects) and draw lines that work as platforms, so, instead of playing as Kirby you play with the environment to help Kirby get through the levels.

This game was made specifically for the stylus, and although it can be played with a mouse just fine it works very well with a drawing tablet!

🍳: Cooking Mama (2006)

I love cooking and I love motherly figures, so Cooking Mama is right up my alley! This game makes me feel like a clumsy kid (who is trying their best) cooking with their mom.

Here you cook a variety of recipes and every step of the recipe is it's own self contained microgame. Plus, the controls translate well from stylus to mouse for the emulator, and if you have a drawing tablet it simulates the DS experience perfectly!

And although this is the first Cooking Mama game, it's timeless and a good introduction to the series.

🎮: Honorable Mentions!

Cookie Shop DS: I may be a sucker for resource management games but cookie shop is soooo fun and adorable! You get to befriend cute critters while running a dessert shop!

Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver: This one is a classic, and good for beginners due to the fewer pokemon and mechanics while still being a little challenging.

Kirby Squeak Squad: Although I recommend Canvas Curse more, Squeak Squad is more of a traditional Kirby game, and unlike Super Star Ultra, it's not awfully difficult nor cosmic horror themed.

Animal Crossing Wild World: Another classic, and even if later games from this franchise are more popular and have more features, sometimes less is more.

[timetravellibrarian]

Sanji x Reader

Sanji x reader

No gender mentioned. Reminiscing about years together. - Fluff

____________________________________

"Drink?" 

"Same as usual,darlin' ."

Your eyes went to the blonde cook as he unlocked the hundreds of locks  on the fridge. A mechanism to keep Luffy away.

His hair perfectly framed his face, eyes illuminated by the dim light that the curtains let through from outside. You were yet to feel their fluff to your touch once more. Look into those eyes that let you merely a glimpse into his world. Your world.

The Thousand Sunny swayed along with the waves as it was moved by the sea current. It was quiet. Too quiet. This was the second day the crew had docked onto an island. Everyone was out  exploring, shopping, some getting lost. Yet here you two were, guarding the ship. That's what you're telling yourselves anyway.

"Sanji."

"Mm?" He poured your drink into a glass, careful not to spill before placing it back on the counter as though expecting you to probably have a second helping.

"When did it all go wrong?" The feel of the cold beverages cooling down your insides from the days heat gave you a clearer mind. More in tune to every subtle change in his expression and his body language. "How is it still standing?"

"I don't know,my love..."

It felt like only yesterday, back when you had just met at the Baratie.  Laughing alongside Nami, Ussop and Zoro as we made fun of Luffy's unfortunate state. Laughs filling the space around you with a peaceful atmosphere.

The feel of eyes on you was intense, no longer just feeling like the passing glances other guests had done when there was a disruption. You turned,eyes meeting with a blue-eyed waiter with a curly eyebrows, standing in the distance and eyes turning into hearts at the sight of your smile.

The rest became a world of vivid, colourful adventures together.

Strangers.

Friends.

Lovers.

More.

Hands seeking to hold onto each other in large crowds and even just everywhere we went. Bodies flush against each other in the comfort of your bed as you slept. Limbs entangled together in a dance of love in a dimly lit room with flower petals and candlelight as lips as your actions showed more than what your words could convey.

Late nights talking under a blanket of stars. Stories told of lost childhoods and inconsolable tears. Hardships: fights, near death experiences, life itself.

When you thought you could finally have a break and enjoy your time with your beloved at Sabaody, you were more than just proved wrong when you found yourself separated from your crew. From the love of your life.

Two years.

Two whole years.

How could one not change? Adapt to the scraps that life has offered.

Now your eyes met with ones that had changed but somehow remained the same.

"...but I do know one thing." His hand gently lead you off the chair, the both of you standing in the middle of the galley with your head on his shoulder and his eyes staring hopefully at the ring that had promised more for the future. The same hand in his as you swayed around to the sound of everything and nothing.

"It all went wrong when I saw you at the Baratie. Do you remember,my love?" His lips brushed over the shell of your ear as you swayed to your heart's music.

You nodded, still taking him in. His presence, his voice, his scent. Committing everything to memory. So I don't lose my mind when you're gone.

"That was when I knew..." That was when I knew you were my eternity. Funnily enough, that old geezer knew before him.