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powdermelonkeg · 3 years

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How about that mermaid from Link's Awakening?

Or hinoxes?

Or Pikango (he confuses me. He appears Sheikah but he said that he wasn't, if I remember correctly) ?

Zelda Merpeople

So, the mermaid from Link's Awakening is extremely cute, 10/10 would date her, but Link's Awakening's entire world is...a dream. There's Yoshi and Chain Chomps and things like that on the island. It makes it hard to worldbuild for.

Instead, though, we can decide where Link had HEARD of mermaids, and speculate what they would be like if they were a Hyrulean race.

So!

"The Legend of Zelda" is a popular tale among the Hyruleans, but it's FAR from the only one. Through milk bars and apple taverns alike, there are tales of grand sky cities, haunted undergrounds, falling moons, and just about anything travelers bring to the bard to tell the audiences.

One of those tales is of the Mermaid's Comb:

In the seas far from Hyrule, where the waters are clear and vibrant fish can be found anywhere you look, the Kingdom of Scales resides, full of people that are half fish, half Hylian. Some say they're a lost tribe of Zora cursed to need air, others say they're Hylians protected from the outside world by the intervention of the goddesses. These people are known as the Mers.

Among the Mers, a prince by the name of Ela lived, set to inherit the throne as soon as he wed. Suitors came from far and wide to ask his hand, yet, each and every one, he refused. His father implored him, begging him to consider at least one of the bachelors and bachelorettes who came knocking.

Finally, Prince Ela gave in. "Whoever can retrieve my comb," he said, "I will allow to court me." With that, he tucked a lovely comb, inlaid with pearls and bearing a flower carved of sapphire, behind his ear.

In the weeks that followed, everyone tried their hardest to get the comb. Pickpockets routinely tried to cross his path, spies kept track of his location, and some even went so far as to try breaking into the prince's room. With each transgression, more and more suitors were thrown out of the kingdom.

It just so happened that during this time, a wandering Zora named Nemony was visiting the kingdom to hawk his wares, weapons of finest silver. He had many customers, but one in particular always stuck around to chat with him; a young Mer who always wore an expensive-looking comb in his hair. Nemony enjoyed his company, and the two often took turns attempting to make each other laugh. Fish faces, jokes, overdramatically-recounted tales; they made a game of trying to be as stoic as possible, which only ever added to the competition.

During one such competition, an aggressive bachelorette from a neighboring city entered the weapons shop with a team of guards, attempting to snatch the comb away from Ela by force. Nemony dove into action, taking a silver claymore off of the wall and charging. In a matter of seconds, every one of the guards was defeated, and the suitor was held at blade's edge. "Get out," he growled through sharp teeth, "and never come back."

The bachelorette fled in terror, and Ela's eyes shone. As thanks, he pulled the comb from his hair and offered it to Nemony, who laughed. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked, gesturing to his fins. "Is this another of your jokes?"

"You'll have to see when you come to the palace," Ela replied, then swam away.

No one knows if the two did marry, as no one has been to the Kingdom of Scales since. But it's said that, ever since then, the Mer people of the Southern Seas forever offered combs as engagement gifts, and the Zora forever offered sapphires.

(Ask any Zora, though, and they'll roll their eyes. Sapphires mean so much more than a child's tale.)

Now then, if I were to put the mermaids in Hyrule, they'd likely live around Eventide. The waters are warm and tropical, and fish are in no short supply. Their colors would likely be less vibrant as they migrated further north, and they'd decorate themselves with armor made of silver crab shells and fabric spun out of sea grass. During the night, you'd be able to see the glow of their cities; it's led to rumors in Hateno and Lurelin that Eventide is haunted.

Hinox

Hinoxes are an interesting monster, and one of Ganon's creations. They're large, have a certain degree of intelligence comparable to Bokoblins, and are best defined by the singular eye they posses.

Hinoxes are EXTREMELY territorial. They fight each other for the best possible hunting ground, where they use whatever they have at their disposal to get the upper hand; bombs, fists, even trees as of late. They tend to be extremely destructive to the surrounding terrain as a result of this.

However, despite all this, if a pair of Hinoxes are forced to team up against a stronger opponent, they may share territory from then onward; Hinoxes in relationships like these are called "brothers," as they avoid interacting otherwise.

A Hinox's diet consists of both meat and fruit, occasionally including fish. Its stomach, rather than dissolving what it eats in acid, torches its contents until the food dissolves into ash, which is absorbed by their intestines. This organ is valuable in alchemy for its heat-resistent properties. The thick lining and natural heating matrix allows for elixirs to be forced to a more controlled temperature during brewing. Unfortunately, it smells like burned popcorn no matter what you do to it.

Hinox don't chew their food, and lack taste buds. Rather, they swallow it whole, and their teeth are used more like tusks; the larger the two primary teeth up front, the more aggressive the Hinox tends to be. Desperate travelers can often find seared meat and well-cooked fruit in a defeated hinox's stomach.

A Hinox's size is indicative of the health of its environment; the larger the Hinox, the more resources are available to it, and in turn, the better quality ingredients it produces. Its nails, for instance, are only valuable at their peak condition, but when that peak is hit, they can be powdered and used as a focusing agent, increasing the potency of an elixir significantly.

And, lastly, Hinoxes are attracted to shiny things, which they adorn themselves with as trophies; some theorize that they're used to attract mates, while others say they're a warning sign to other Hinoxes about what happens if their territory is invaded. Regardless of their purpose, it's best to wear dark clothing and drink a sneaky elixir before you go anywhere near one of them.

Pikango

Oh, Pikango is a Sheikah! He's just not from Kakariko: "Since I'm an outsider, I can't get anyone to tell me any more details than that. These villagers never leave the safety of their village, so travelers like me are treated with suspicion."

Ever since he was a little boy, his parents told him stories of the Great Faries that once blessed the world with their presence. From a young age, he's often wanted to paint such beautiful creatures; though, his attempts without references have gotten him some strange looks.

He got his start in traveling while searching for paints. The Kochi Dye Shop served him well for a little while, but there were hues that it just couldn't make, so he set out to find his own colors. And, during his travels, he heard that Kakariko Village held a Fairy Fountain, so he HAD to go see it himself.

#ask bee #headcanons #worldbuilding #botw #link's awakening #la is hard to do but i enjoy a challenge #also half my folk tales involve zora...maybe these people like sharp teeth #loz #zelda #hinox #pikango #mermaid #disclaimer: I could only type a few words at a time between calls so it might read clunky

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mimi-cee-hq · 4 years

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⭐️Hihihi!! I’m here for a matchup!! I’m 125 pounds, I’m 5’5 and a Leo! I have chest length hair and it’s wavy/curly! Personality wise I’m really anxious and shy when I meet new people but once I know them well enough I’ll start to open up to them. My friends consider me the dad of the group too as I’ll try and get them to go for their goals (I.e crushes, studying, sports) I care deeply for my friends and from what they’ve told me I’m funny and nice! I’m very passionate about video games (part 1)

⭐️(part 2) and I also have a cat! I’m carefree and just overall a very mellow person. Im never judgemental and I always try to understand the others perspective. I’m not in any sports this year but I’ve played basketball for 3 years straight, I also really like cooking and baking(when I have the time of course) for clothing I mostly wear comfy clothes (leggings, oversized hoodies, shorts) but I do know how to dress appropriately for special occasions.

So I switched from one-shot to headcanon format since I realized that I don’t have as much time to write like I wish I had. So this is still like what I’d do for a one-shot but in bullet notes. I hope you still like it.

(Sorry @rynn-lee that you’re match-up isn’t done yet D: It’s still going to take a while because it’s a one-shot.)

Match-up taglist: @nagichi-deku, @nxlx96

Practice Confessions - Kindaichi x Reader

Summary:

When you find out that Kindaichi likes someone, you encourage him to confess. So he practises on you.

During junior high, you first met Kindaichi at Kunimi’s house.

You knew Kunimi’s sister from basketball camp. Despite the age difference, you looked up to her and became close friends because she was very friendly and welcoming.

She also likes video games so when you found out that she had a GameCube, she invited you over to play.

Apparently, Kindaichi had the same idea since he didn’t have a GameCube either.

You two were both awkward at first. You wondered if he was secretly judging you, like how you looked or dressed or anything else that bubbled up in your brain.

But once you started playing video games against each other, both of your competitive sides would come out. You were both different people in that setting. When you started to get comfortable, you realized he had been just as shy and awkward around you.

The two of you played Super Smash Bros Melee one day. You tried to use Yoshi because you saw a competitive player use him even though he was considered a low tier character. Kindaichi used Marth because he liked sword characters.

The two of you lost touch afterwards when you had to stop visiting Kunimi’s house to concentrate on high school entrance exams.

But the two of you see each other again at the first day of high school. You were now classmates.

You found out he played volleyball and was actually pretty good at it. He was a first year and already had a starting position.

One day, while you and Kindaichi were walking down the school hallway together, Oikawa stood between the two of you with his arms around your shoulders. “Y/n-chan, did you know that Kindaichi likes someone?”

You gasped because you had no idea. When you asked Kindaichi about it, he just replied, “I’m not telling you!”

So you just encouraged him to go for it because you knew he’d make a pretty good boyfriend.

You had seen how he had interacted with other people. You knew that as long as he didn’t have anything against someone, he was a pretty sensitive guy.

When you found out that he still didn’t confess his feelings, you joked with him about it. “What do you need practice or something?”

This somehow led to him practising on you. “Y/n, I like you.”

“See, you don’t need practice. Do it just like that,” you replied with a sweet smile.

Another day the two of you were walking to school together. When there was a pause in your conversation, he casually said, “I like you.”

You just laughed and said, “Did you need more practice?”

He was a bit stunned, but then he just sweat-dropped and replied, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

There were a few more times where he practised, and you’d say he’d gotten better at it. “I don’t think I’m very good at this,” he responded.

“Why?” you asked.

“Because you’re not getting it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I like you, Y/n,” he told you. “And no, I’m not practising.”

You couldn’t believe it. You started to realize that you liked him when he kept confessing to you like that. You had wished that he didn’t have a girl he liked. But now, you could say you didn’t mind.

Extras

Your cat is jealous of him and attacks him whenever he comes to visit you.

When he sees how much effort to put into your clothing on your first date, he blushes knowing that you did it because you considered that day to be special. He had usually seen you in your comfy clothes back when you two were playing video games at Kunimi’s so he knew it was different.

You like giving him food and baked treats in front of his volleyball teammates to make them jealous. You wanted him and the rest of the team to know how special he was to you.

I hope you liked it.

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mysmashplaythroughs · 4 years

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Donkey Kong Playthrough

Fighter: Donkey Kong.

Game: Donkey Kong Country, Wii U Virtual Console (SNES). First released November 21st 1994.

Fighter Bio.

He’s the leader of the bunch, you know him well, he’s finally back, to kick some tail. Donkey Kong is a gorilla (although it might be more correct to say he’s of the Kong species which we’ll go into later) who lives on and is the leader of Donkey Kong Island. He is not the first Donkey Kong as the original DK was the one who fought Mario in the arcade game of the same name, however that Donkey Kong is now an elderly ape known as Cranky Kong. When it comes to the current Donkey Kong’s relation to Cranky Kong it has not always been entirely clear, with DK being called in the past Cranky Kong’s son and more commonly now his Grandson. Compounding this is that the original Donkey Kong had a son called Donkey Kong Jr, who initially was believed to be the current Donkey Kong, but now it’s said that the current DK is actually Jr’s son. As with most Nintendo characters, it’s not entirely important and the main point is that the Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong Country onward is the current DK.

Donkey Kong can be a hero, but more often than not is motivated by fairly simple means into action, one of the most common of which is his banana hoard being stolen and him going on a journey to take it back. He is more laid back than the original Donkey Kong, preferring to just laze about eating bananas, however he has inherited Cranky’s temper when it comes to people taking what he wants. In most cases this is justified such as when it comes to his banana hoard or having his Island taken over, but there have been some occasions where he has gone on a rampage for more selfish reasons, such as the new Mini Mario toy he wanted going out of stock, causing him to steal them from the factory. Despite this, he has often been shown to care about his friends and family, and help out others when he feels in the mood such as in various Mario series spin-off games.

He has great strength and despite not being the absolute strongest Kong, is also faster than the few who are more powerful than him such as Chunky Kong. One of his trademark skills is throwing barrels, something Cranky Kong did back during his rivalry with Mario, and something the current Donkey Kong does in various adventures he goes on when he can get his hands on them. Although his ‘nephew’ Diddy Kong and others are much faster, DK can still move pretty well both on land, jumping from platform to platform and swimming in the sea. He’s more intelligent than most animals being able to use tools such as a coconut gun and having his own treehouse, however there are other Kongs who are more industrious than him making him of fairly average intelligence in comparison. He has sometimes been shown able to speak, although it seems more often he can only communicate with other creatures from his island rather than humans such as Mario.

Friends: Donkey Kong’s best friend is Diddy Kong, who at times has been called DK’s nephew, although in other cases a “nephew-wannabe”. Another friend of his also considered his best friend besides Diddy is Funky Kong who despite the last name has no known relation to DK beyond being a friend. Kong seems to be more of a species of ape which the various characters on DK Island belong to than a family name. His implied love interest is Candy Kong although their true relationship remains a mystery. Cranky Kong as stated before is said to be Donkey Kong’s grandfather and as his name implies tends to be grouchy often going on about how much better games were back in his day before all these fancy graphics and gimmicks. Wrinkly Kong is DK’s grandmother who is married to Cranky Kong. She passed away following Donkey Kong Country 3, however she still returns as a ghost to help out the various Kongs from time to time. DK is mostly friendly with the other various Kongs in the series, however he has not often interacted as much with them, with often Diddy being more related to characters such as Swanky Kong. DK has teamed up with Diddy’s girlfriend Dixie Kong recently however, Dixie having saved Donkey Kong in the past when he had been kidnapped a couple of times.

DK also has various animal friends, often referred to as Animal Buddies who he can ride to help him through levels. The most famous and long running of these is Rambi the Rhino. Expresso the Ostrich, Winky the Frog and Enguarde the Swordfish have also let DK ride them in the past to help him in his adventure. Squawks the Parrot is unable to carry DK, but has helped him in other ways such as carrying a torch for him in dark places, delivering messages to him and helping DK spot rare collectables in a level. There are also the various Mario characters DK has interacted with in spin-off Mario games. These include characters such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and many others. DK has been shown to get along well with most of them, although he has a competitive spirit for many of the sports and other competitions he takes part in. He has also been a helpful character in games such as Mario Party often giving characters bonuses for landing on his spot on the board. Finally, it’s important to mention the character who the original Donkey Kong knew and kidnapped in his feud with Mario, Pauline. The current Donkey Kong has met Pauline a couple of times in the Mario vs Donkey Kong series, and often when he’s gotten upset he’s kidnapped her, however he often is calmed down by her and reconciles with her and Mario in the end, even working together one time to test Mario’s new Mini Mario toys.

Enemies/Rivals: DK’s main enemy is King K Rool, the leader of the Kremlings who has stolen his Banana Hoard multiple times. K Rool has also however managed to kidnap DK a couple of times, often by catching him off-guard, which makes him arguably the most dangerous villain he’s ever faced. Other enemies DK has faced over the years include the instrument themed Tiki Tak Tribe, the Viking Snowmads who took over his island and fairly rare run ins with Bowser in a couple of Mario Spin-off games where he’s playable. DK doesn’t have the same antagonistic relationship with Mario as Cranky Kong once did, however he has been at odds with him before, such as with the previously mentioned Mini Mario toy incident. Often this is due to DK’s temper however and afterwards he will calm down and reconcile with Mario. Finally, in one unusual case, Donkey Kong travelled to various Kingdoms fighting their kings in order to conquer their islands, which brought him into conflict with various Kongs and other large beasts, finally culminating with him battling the evil Cactus King. Following his defeat of the Cactus King he celebrated with the other Kongs which seemed to suggest they had become allies in the end. Personally I prefer to think of the somewhat unusual events of this game as actually being the original Donkey Kong as it would fit his more rage fuelled rampages than the current DK, but there’s no word really on it either way and the game’s too obscure for it to likely be clarified.

Crossovers with other Smash characters: Donkey Kong himself has had a few crossovers over the years with other Smash Bros characters. In Mario Kart 8, DK crossed over with Link (his Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild incarnations), Inklings, Isabelle and some human Animal Crossing Villagers. Samus herself didn’t appear in Tropical Freeze, however her gunship can be seen in the background of Busted Bayou seemingly crash landed in the vines. Metroids also make a cameo appearance underwater in Amiss Abyss, appearing in the background floating up to the surface. Mr Game & Watch similarly to Mario crossed over with DK in the Game & Watch Gallery series, however it seems this version of DK is actually the original aka Cranky Kong, as he was often accompanied in this game by DK Jr rather than Diddy Kong. Mr Game & Watch also appeared in Donkey Kong Country Returns as a cameo in the background of the stage Foggy Fumes hammering a pipe. DK appeared as part of the group in the NES version of Tetris playing instruments, this being the original version of DK also. He was playing the drum alongside Pit, Samus, Link and Mario. DK was in all but the original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, first appearing in the first Olympic Winter Games, as such crossing over with Sonic and many characters from his series, often interacting most with other power-based characters such as Knuckles and Vector the Crocodile.

Although I do not want to go into other media too often, Donkey Kong technically appeared in Captain N the Games Master cartoon. In this he was based on the original DK and more like King Kong being a giant angry antagonistic ape. Through this show, DK crossed over with Megaman, Simon Belmont and Pit once again. Perhaps the biggest crossover for DK was his appearance in Punch-out on the Wii as a secret boss. DK would sometimes appear in the audience for matches watching as Little Mac made his way to become the champ. During Little Mac’s Last Stand, a mode where Little Mac will retire from boxing after three losses, he decides to take on the champ himself in the ring, making him the final new opponent faced in the game. The original DK and DK Jr also appeared in the crowd in the arcade Punch-out games. DK appeared in all of the Mario Kart GP arcade games, crossing over with Pac-Man, interestingly their only game crossover despite both being famous for starting as arcade games. Finally, despite a lot of association between the series, DK himself never crossed over with Banjo and Kazooie, although in an early beta version of DK64 there was a shower stall with their faces on it in DK’s Treehouse which was later removed. Whether this would have involved a crossover with the games such as the Stop N Swap features planned for Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie is unknown at this point.

Why this game?

Donkey Kong is known best as a character who is typically one of the most powerful in the games he’s in, including Smash Bros. Over the years he has had various games where he’s been playable, with his own series, Donkey Kong Country. What’s interesting with this series is that in the original three games DK himself was only playable in the very first, having been kidnapped by K Rool in the second and third games. He returned to being playable in DK64 where he was the first of 5 characters that were unlockable in the game being second only to Chunky Kong in strength. After Rareware, the developers of the Donkey Kong Country games and DK64 were sold to Microsoft, Nintendo came out with a new game, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. In this game DK was probably the most violent and powerful he’d been shown in a platformer, with his moves often involving beating his enemies repeatedly with powerful attacks. After this and a long break, the Donkey Kong Country series finally returned in a game called fittingly Donkey Kong Country Returns, a new 2.5D platformer in which DK had to go across his island to reclaim his banana hoard again. This time however, he had to take it back from the Tiki Tak Tribe rather than the Kremlings as in the original series. This game managed to make DK feel more powerful as he did in Jungle Beat but also keep the same platforming style of the original games with one of the most notable features being how the environments DK would travel through would often change based on his actions, with him smashing his way through various locations.

So, with many of the later games focusing more on DK’s power, why did I choose Donkey Kong Country rather than the later games to represent DK? Well, simply put because those games all build off of the foundation Donkey Kong Country set down. Before Donkey Kong Country, DK had only appeared in games where he was an enemy of Mario or in one case a pest exterminator called Stanley. With a remake of the original arcade game on Gameboy having come out within the same year, only a few months before DKC, it’s easy to compare the two to see just how different the original DK was to the one who’s used today. Donkey Kong in this new game was made into a new character from the original, with the original now becoming Cranky Kong, a grouchy old ape past his prime. Donkey Kong Country introduced DK’s new home of DK Island, a new cast who helped him on his adventure along with a new set of enemies in the Kremlings and their leader King K Rool. DK’s design was also changed, one which has stuck pretty much to this day with the odd sort of hairstyle the fur on his head makes. It’s for this reason I feel when looking at DK’s origins, this game is the best place to start, as it was the game that essentially redefined DK into the form he has to this day.

My past with this game.

This game and series as a whole are very important to me and a huge part of my gaming history. This series along with Mario were the games I grew up with, with this and Super Mario Bros 3 I believe being probably the first videogames I ever played. As such, I admit to having a massive nostalgia bias to the series, however, I still to this day feel this is a fantastic game, amongst some of my personal favourite games of all time. This game specifically isn’t my favourite of the series. In comparison to the other two Donkey Kong Country games, this game was shorter with less secrets, such as the secret worlds and secret final bosses the other two games had to offer. However, I definitely wouldn’t pass it up in favour of the other two games and I have enjoyed replaying it many times over the years. One aspect I have fond memories of personally is that this was one of the few games my parents would play with me, with my Dad in particular being a big fan of it. It was probably one of the only games where I had the experience of starting off being far worse at the game than my Father but gradually getting better until finally, I could beat the game, something he’d not been able to do. As such I suppose I could consider this game as sort of a benchmark for me with regards to finally starting to actually finish games. I have other personal memories from my childhood relating to this game, such as only really being able to play when my parents would allow me to set up the SNES as I was around 4-5 years old and having my Cousins over to play the game with me, but I don’t feel going into that much more would really add a lot to this.

With regards to the gameplay itself etc, the game was fairly simple to the point I could play it as my first game, but even now there are definitely a fair few challenges later down the line, granted nothing on the level of other games around at the time and earlier that I’d never played such as Megaman and Castlevania, but definitely parts that I had to play a lot of times to get past. I remember one specific stage I had trouble with to the point that I actually asked my parents if I could phone the Nintendo Helpline. The level in question was Slipslide Ride, a level where there were ropes you would climb, with the purple ones constantly sliding you down and the blue ones constantly sliding you up. The part I got stuck on was where the only option to proceed was to climb up two purple ropes, however trying to climb up wouldn’t work due to the constant slipping with you only at best being able to stay in place. I remember when I managed to get through on the Nintendo Helpline the operator on the other end gave me the solution, which was to jump between the two purple ropes which would let you gradually get higher until you could jump off them onto the platform above. So what’s the moral of the story? Well, I’d say it’s that I’ve always been a stinky cheater even before looking up solutions on the internet was a thing. Although really, I’m only mentioning this because I find it sort of an interesting example of one of the possible ways to get help with games before you could just look up a walkthrough on the internet. Of course, I believe book guides and game magazines were probably around at the time that I could have used, but being a fairly young kid then and not really seeing many other kids beyond my Cousins sometimes meant that I wasn’t really aware of most of these options. I forget now if the Nintendo Helpline was meant to be one for people with actual issues with their systems or games etc or was advertised as a service for help with “game tips” also, either way I was probably one of those kids who would lead to Nintendo’s attempts to put help features into games down the line, i.e. a true hero.

Something not particularly good for the subject of this post, Donkey Kong himself is he tended to be shown up in this game by his new friend Diddy, with his only real advantage being he could defeat a specific enemy Diddy couldn’t. DK could defeat Krusha a muscle-bound Kremling, and could defeat two other enemies Diddy couldn’t as easily, being Klump a Kremling with a hardhat that Diddy had to cartwheel into, and Army an Armadillo who Diddy would have to jump on once to bring him out of his ball form and then jump on again to defeat. DK could defeat both of these enemies with just a single jump. Diddy on the other hand, would move faster and was nimbler with his jumps, although DK could still manage to jump as far as was needed in the game, everyone I knew who played the game would always prefer to keep Diddy in reserve when playing. This brings me onto another aspect that at the time and even now I quite liked about the game, how the Kongs would team up. Instead of playing through stages as either DK or Diddy alone, you would play as one of the Kongs with the other following you. When you got hit by an enemy, the Kong who was hit would run away and you’d take control of the Kong who was following. The Kong who was following you wouldn’t be able to do anything, being more of a ghost really in actual gameplay, just following you along not being affected by enemies or obstacles. This I feel really added to the atmosphere of the game as you didn’t feel as alone as in other games unless you’d lost one of the Kongs, and with DK and Diddy often being on-screen together it helped make them feel more of a duo than other game characters at the time such as Mario and Luigi, who in most of their games then would take turns going through levels on their own rather than together. The game also did a good job of avoiding the screen becoming too cluttered or confusing the Kong you were controlling for the one you weren’t by making the one following have a slightly more faded look, making it easier to focus on the character you were specifically controlling at the time. In order to bring back one of the Kongs you’d lost when you were down to just one you would have to find a DK barrel to break them out of, which you might recognise in Smash as being DK and Diddy’s entrance animation.

Atmosphere is probably why this game has always been so nostalgic to me. I’ve never cared overly much for graphics (although I definitely can appreciate when something looks good) and whilst this game at the time was fairly breath-taking graphically, the music and the art style were probably the bigger aspect of why I loved the game, with me often as a kid enjoying drawing all the different characters and enemies and reading the instruction manual to look at the various artwork in it. The series would get even better from here, but there are a lot of visual aspects unique to this game that stand out even now. Probably one of the most cited examples at the time was in the very first stage where just before you reached the end of it the sun would set and the place would turn from day to night. It’s hard really to describe atmosphere much more as it’s something you get just from playing or seeing the game itself, so I think it’s best to leave it at saying simply I’ve always liked it in this game.

My Smash Playthrough.

As I’ve stated before, this is a game I’ve played through a few times before, and I was looking forward to doing so again. Although this is the second post I’m making, at the time this was probably the fifth game I played roughly. The reason why is that I made this list before Smash Bros Ultimate was announced and gave an order to the fighters, so rather than having DK as fighter 2 I had the characters more often shown in various trailers, such as the first trailer for Smash Wii U with Mario, Link, Kirby and Pikachu as the first ones on my list. It was due to this therefore I was on a roll and moved pretty quickly onto this game seeing as the previous game I’d played for Kirby wasn’t very long or difficult. Replaying this game from what I remember I didn’t run into many problems and it was overall the same fun experience I’ve always found it to be replaying it.

So when it comes to remembering this run again as it was some time ago there aren’t many things that stick out in my mind. Stages I remember having issues with were mostly ones I’ve always found difficult, and I think most people do. One of them, Tanked up Trouble was a level I’d always found irritating as you are on a platform with five lights on it which gradually go out. You have to collect fuel barrels in order to bring the lights back on, and if the lights all go out the platform would fall with you on it. Of course, you also had to stay on the moving platform the whole time or else you would fall off the stage, and enemies would be waiting to block your way requiring you to either avoid them or jump on them if you could all while not losing track of and landing back on the platform. I believe overall I didn’t find this level as difficult as I had in the past, although I definitely had a couple of deaths on it. Probably the hardest level overall was Platform Perils, the final regular level in the game which has you jumping between various small moving platforms. The biggest issue on this stage however was the grey Krushas, exclusive to this stage. These variations of Krusha enemies were strong enough that even DK couldn’t beat them by jumping on them, requiring a barrel to be thrown at them as the only way of defeating them. Due to this, often the stage would require you to carry a barrel on small moving platforms and not drop or accidentally break it before you reached the Krusha who is on another small platform you need to get onto. If you lost the barrel there was no way to defeat the Krusha meaning you’d end up dying and having to try the level again. This level took me many attempts I remember and was probably the biggest challenge I had, but eventually I beat it, leading on to me beating the final bosses not too much longer after.

When replaying this game, I’ll admit there was one negative that stood out to me more now than I remember when playing it as a kid, which is objects in the foreground. I think this is more a problem I’ve found myself than one that many people commonly find, but I’d sometimes find myself getting irritated in stages where there would be decorations in the foreground that go past. I would not find them big enough to actually block the view of gameplay, but moving quickly through a stage and having them go by would on some occasions be something I’d find irritating to look at, with some examples being the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave levels that would appear in the foreground as you went along. Another irritating visual effect I’ve found is the blizzard effect in the snow stages. The point of it of course is to make it more difficult to see, however I would find it somewhat taxing on my eyes at times, and with the stages often requiring either precise jumping on platforms or timing when to blast from one barrel cannon to another it could get very irritating. One improvement I’d say in the virtual console release is the removal of a specific effect in the stage Torchlight Trouble. In this stage you are going through a dark cave and require Squawks the Parrot to follow you with a torchlight so you could see where you’re going. In the original version of the game, every time you’d turn Squawks would turn and shine the torchlight directly at the screen creating a bright flash for a fraction of a second. This would happen every time you turned and I remember finding it could be very irritating, so I was glad to see the Virtual Console release had gotten rid of the flash.

The bosses are fairly average when it comes down to it, and out of the three games in the series probably the least interesting. This isn’t helped by two of them being basically recoloured harder versions of earlier bosses later in the game, although this game was hardly the first to do this. This does get a funny reference in the GBA remake of this game where Cranky Kong will appear to talk with DK after each boss, and on the first recolour boss he appears to basically complain about how lazy the designers are just reusing an earlier boss. Probably one of the few aspects of the remakes I liked. Most of the bosses simply require you to jump on them when you get the chance, with the others requiring you either to simply avoid them and kill the enemies they spawn, or throw barrels at them when they’re not invincible. The bosses consist of larger versions of regular enemies such as the giant beaver Very Gnawty which is a bigger version of the regular Gnawty enemies. The final boss King K Rool however is easily the best boss in the game. He’s fairly challenging and has a lot of fun attacks. I don’t want to spoil too much of the boss fight against him as a lot of it relates to his portrayal in Smash so I will simply say he makes a great conclusion to the game.

The game’s ending isn’t particularly special, but of course personally it holds a lot of nostalgia for me, especially being one of the first ever endings I actually got to in a game. The music for it is a really nice ending track and it has a nice cast call with every character, enemy and boss in the game walking through DK’s Treehouse with their name being displayed below. I tend to like these endings in games as it’s a fun recap of what you’ve gone through in the game. I didn’t 100% (or as this is a Rareware game 101%) the game, mostly as the only real reward is Cranky Kong’s dialogue changes from saying ‘if I’d been playing I’d have found everything’ to congratulating you. Also, I tend to leave some things in the games I’ve been playing through so I have something that if I feel like coming back to the game later down the line I can still do. Overall, despite the few complaints I brought up, this is still an amazing game and one that will always be very important to me personally which I enjoyed playing through again.

Specific aspects about the game relating to Donkey Kong in Smash.

Donkey Kong is another character who doesn’t really have equipment he uses in the game, nor any really customisable aspects. Unlike Mario in Super Mario 64 however, he also doesn’t have a lot of moves he really draws from this game. The only moves he has in Smash Bros that come from this game specifically are his forward roll, which was added in his later Smash Bros appearances, and his Hand Slap move. This move involves DK slapping the ground with his hands, often defeating enemies who are right in front of him when he does it, producing a single banana when they’re defeated and being usable sometimes to find hidden items in the floor. It is fairly difficult to use on enemies not having a very far reach and is fairly slow making it not very useful, especially in comparison to just jumping on or rolling into enemies. Later games such as Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze would make this ability far more powerful and useful, but this is where it originated and as such is what the move in Smash Bros is based on. One final aspect from this game that DK uses in Smash Bros is his ability to lift barrels and move around with them. In Smash Bros DK was one of the only characters in the original game who could lift heavy objects such as barrels and walk around with them. Later games would have other big characters such as Bowser also be able to do this, however DK has another ability unique to him. When grabbing another character, DK can lift them similar to how he lifts heavy objects such as barrels and he can carry them around before throwing them or they escape from his grasp, which is most likely based on his carrying abilities with barrels in this game. The only other thing of note which I mentioned earlier is DK’s stage entrance involves him breaking out of a DK barrel, similarly to how he will be trapped in one when playing as Diddy alone in this game and will have to be broken out of it.

Credits.

Information such as release dates were found through Super Mario Wiki and Donkey Kong Wiki.

Screenshots taken by me using Miiverse.

#Donkey Kong #DK #Donkey Kong Country #Super Smash Bros #SNES #Wii U #Virtual Console #My Smash Playthrough #My Smash Playthroughs

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redqueenmiku · 5 years

Note

Why do you dislike Rosalina? Is it because of how she appears more often? If so, she has been a spin-off regular for quite some time now. I do think it was a bit odd for her to get into Smash and in a platformer before Daisy, but I like the character regardless. She is a unique and gorgeous addition to the cast. Before you ask, I adore all three of the Mario ladies equally!

Well, thankfully, I already had something typed up specifically for this occasion. It was going to be its own post, but I think an ask is a perfect segue into releasing this thing I’ve had lying around wondering whether I should post.

Now, DISCLAIMER: I’m not trying to tell anyone they shouldn’t like Rosalina. This is just the reason why I personally dislike the character. This is an opinion piece. Nothing more.

Also spoiler: I do dwell on her game appearances for a while, but that’s not the only thing I touch on.

If any of you read all that’s ahead, thank you so much for taking the time to hear me out and please excuse any pettiness I may display. Thank you.

Now, welcome to a rant I like to call…

DEATH BY OVER-HYPE: THE RISE AND FALL OF ROSALINA

Now, as we all know, Rosalina first appeared in 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy. In said game, she served as Mario’s guide, being the caretaker of the game’s spaceship hub world, the Comet Observatory, and its residents, the Lumas. She was regal, mysterious, and motherly with a stoic yet kind air to her. You really got the sense that she was unlike any character in the series beforehand. She was powerful and she was in a league of her own.

This same game also gave us Rosalina’s backstory in the form of her storybook. She was just a normal girl until she found a Luma and a broken spaceship. She helped the Luma repair the spaceship and set off into space with it to find its lost mother. Along the way, she took in more Lumas, who became her family as she traveled through space. There’s something about a dead mother in there that I thought was way better explained than it actually was and then the first Luma Rosalina met transformed into the Comet that became the Comet Observatory. It’s a touching story.

After that, Rosalina began appearing rather frequently. Of course, she regularly showed up in Mario Kart starting just a year after her debut, but she also stepped foot into Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Sports Superstars, the Mario and Sonic series, and even bit cameos like the Mario Mash-Up pack for Minecraft or as a sprite in the moon-themed areas of Super Mario Odyssey. I have no complaint about any of these appearances. They’re all either inevitable and open to all sorts of characters already or, in the case of Super Mario Odyssey, it fits her role.

Now allow me to complain about a select few appearances that really get on my nerves.

Now, games like Mario Kart and Mario Party and all that make sense. Those are games where all sorts of characters show up and it makes sense for the most distinct characters to make constant appearances. Rosalina was always going to be a regular for those.

What I can’t excuse is three very specific games.

The first is Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. Now, this might seem like a really weird game to be bringing up, but, when you really think about it, it’s really messed-up that Rosalina appears in this game. The only other non-enemy characters playable in this game are Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, and Peach. Rosalina has absolutely no reason to be in this game, yet here she is.

You know what other game Rosalina has absolutely no reason to be in? Super Mario 3D World.

Super Mario 3D World was Rosalina’s fifth appearance in the franchise and her very first playable appearance…in a game that takes place in another world, the Sprixie Kingdom, and whose only playable characters are franchise staples Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad in a throwback to the US version of Super Mario Bros 2. Rosalina has zero reason to be in this game, much less be a prominent playable character.

Then, there’s the biggest blow of them all, which came just one year after 3D World: Super Smash Bros.

If Rosalina hadn’t appeared in Super Mario 3D World, there would be absolutely zero merit to putting her in Smash Bros considering that, outside that single instance, she was made no more important than any other character in the Mario series and she had never done anything to merit a Smash appearance. Because Super Mario 3D World exists, though, she has to appear in Smash, right?

And then there’s a point that I’ve had yet to bring up: the existence of Baby Rosalina. Like, gee. Rosalina sure warrants a baby form that goes against her entire backstory, doesn’t she? Let’s just do that.

By now, my biggest problem with Rosalina should be readily apparent. Rosalina shot to favorite child status way too quickly and her most egregious appearances are nothing more than blatant fanservice.

There’s an old document I have where I try to talk about my distaste for Rosalina. The explanation was really poorly thought out and filled with a lot of salt that didn’t need to be there, but one particular section I can still get behind is one where I essentially compare Rosalina to Shadow the Hedgehog. I think the comparison is still rather relevant.

Once you really start thinking about it, Rosalina really has this kind of Shadow the Hedgehog syndrome, not in the personality itself, but in how her creators treat her. Both characters were created for a specific purpose in a specific game in already well-established franchises with a lot of characters already, but gained an explosion of popularity due to popular aspects in their characters along with their compelling backstories that shot them past the other characters into a place where they’re now used in just about every game including ones they have no place in and are touted by their fandoms as some of the best characters to ever exist.

One major difference between Shadow and Rosalina, though, is that Shadow is actually a really well-developed character that has developed even beyond where he first came from. This is the effect of being part of a largely story-driven franchise that has allowed Shadow to evolve and come into his own. He’s earned his place among the cast through meaningful interaction.

Rosalina is cursed with coming from a franchise that doesn’t even have well-established characters much less any kind of evolving story. Rosalina just…exists, meaning she can’t do anything to really make herself fit in being who she is. Her personality constantly fluctuates to the point where the most I can tell you about her personality is that “she’s nice”. The rest of the main characters in the franchise all come from the same world and regularly interact with each other. This has the negative effect of making Rosalina feel like an outsider. She doesn’t need to be there in any instance and any time she is it just feels like going out of her way to be there, which would be fine if Nintendo wasn’t trying to sell her as this mature, introverted character that’s supposed to contrast the rest of the cast. She’s constantly contradicting herself left and right and it doesn’t feel like Nintendo ever really knows what to do with her but shove her in everywhere they can because “she’s popular, right?”.

That would be the reason I don’t like Rosalina. She doesn’t fit in, but Nintendo keeps trying to shove her where she doesn’t belong. She doesn’t have a consistent identity outside of the one from Galaxy that she keeps contradicting all the time and she’s been in games she has absolutely no business being in for absolutely no justifiable reason.

Now, maybe I’m just being over-critical, but this is something I personally feel very strongly about. Rosalina is one of the most overrated characters in existence in my opinion and it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to see her anymore, even in places that she does belong. She’s been absolutely ruined for me by Nintendo’s practices concerning the Mario franchise and I can’t even stand her anymore.

Yes, it’s petty, but that’s just me.

At the end of the day, I know that this is just my opinion. I hope no one came to this rant expecting otherwise. I just wanted to make clear my emotions about this character. If you’ve made it to this point, thank you for hearing me out. Have a nice day.

(oh this is going to be sooooooo controversiallllll….)

#anon #Rosalina #rant #hoo boy i can smell the torches already #i'm so sorry

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darkmindsthinktwistedthoughts · 5 years

Text

Devil’s Temptation pt19

Warnings: Mob styling warlord, a reference to torture.Strong language

Masterlist

---

Chapter 19 – Personal Agenda

Main City Hospital – Private Recovery Suite

It was about midday when he had been released from his sleeping prison. The rooms he was now in resembled something a lot closer to a hotel than a standard hospital room. Everything was just that little more comfortable and warm feeling. The furniture was a simple design and easy to clean. There was a small seating area, private shower room and his bed was a comfortable small double rather than a single hospital bed.

One thing they don’t tell you when you are disconnected from your body like that is that when you wake up you suddenly feel everything hit you like a ton of bricks. You go from feeling like you are floating and weightless to being crushed under the weight of your own body. His throat was dry and hurt thanks to that tube they put in to allow him to breathe. Moving even just a little resulted in him feeling his chest tighten and constrict itself. It would have been unbearably painful if he was not on IV painkillers.

His mind was a torrent of ideas and fragments of memory. He could remember some things that were said in his room whilst he was unconscious but not all of it. He knew he remembered who had put him there and could guess at least part of the reason why. God, he was angry. He treated that ungrateful brat like a son, as his own family. He had entrusted his daughter to his care. Made all of the arrangements and everything was thrown back at him in one pull on a trigger.

– Knock, Knock –

The room door opened smoothly and a well-dressed old gentleman walked in. [Name]’s father relaxed visibly at the new arrival.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“That would make two of us.” The visitor drew a chair nearer the bedside and took a seat smiling calmly, waiting patiently.

“I’d like a favour.” [Name]’s father wasted no time with formalities and small talk. What he wanted to do couldn’t wait.

“Oh?�� The visitor said nothing more and then as if noticing something on his trouser leg he brushed at it with his hand. To an outsider, this interaction might seem as if the two men were having two different conversations. [Name]’s father knew differently, these two shared a history.

“The agreement is over.”

“Understood. I’ll make the arrangements.” Without saying any more the visitor stood and replaced his chair. He crossed the room to the door and just as he was reaching for the handle [Name]’s father called out once more.

“Just… don’t let them know it’s you.”

“No one ever looks for ghosts.”

---

Sasuke was sitting in a nest of wires and cables, several monitors had been set up down there for him along with two encryption keyboards. Yukimura had been called back by Shingen and there was also another business that required Mitsunari’s attention. It didn’t bother him, after all, there was nothing that anyone else could do right now. This was a matter of chasing code and watching to 0’s and 1’s to see what was what. One of the monitors changed and the code began to filter into one of Sasuke’s decoding algorithm programmes.

“How’s it going Sasuke?” Masa sauntered into the data room. He had a covered plate and cup flask with him. Sasuke felt like smiling if he could as he saw the Chef ignore the signs that prohibited food and drink.

“I have something I think.” Sasuke was clicking away on one of the keyboards the streams of code reflecting off his glasses. Masa placed the plate and flask down near him being careful in its placement so it didn’t cause a problem. “Oh! Thank you.”

“You can’t skip meals here. If Yoshi doesn’t catch you I will.” Masa joked. “So, you cracked it huh?” Masa didn’t really do a lot of things with computers like this. Well if he was completely honest, he was more at home playing games on them than all this movie plot hacker style stuff. He knew it was done just did not have a mind to do it personally.

“Yes… It was so obvious it’s almost too obvious.” Sasuke sighed a little frustrated. He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose, screwing his eyes shut. Am I missing something? This is the most basic of basic algorithms.

“Meaning?” Masa picked up the flask again and held it out to Sasuke after he replaced his glasses. Sasuke took it gratefully and began sipping the hot coffee.

“Meaning it would be rather like you being allowed to enter an amateur cooking competition and walking away with the winning prize and no one protesting… is this coffee with green tea?” Sasuke trailed off as the flavour of the drink registered as unusual on his pallet. It was always a pleasure visiting Azuchi Corp HQ if you could sample some of Date’s creations.

“Yep, I infused the drip coffee with some particularly good blend of Hojicha tea. I thought the flavour would hold up nice in a latte.” Masa cheerfully explained the drink

“It’s delicious.” Sasuke

“Right? Usually, I don’t get much in way of feedback. Yoshi tends to prefer tea, The Mitsus don’t notice and that just leaves Yasu who gives on word reviews that are as helpful as indigestion. So, what now?”

“Well, now I work on the next layer of this and see if anything changes.”

---

Mitsuhide had been thankful for a few things as he walked outside of that factory, feeling the fresh air fill his lungs. The largest one that topped that list was that Takada had used Mitsuhide’s car to bring them to this location.

Moving to the trunk of the vehicle he peeled back the lining and located a change of clothes. Each item was securely sealed in bags and taped to the inside of the car. He picked them up and returned to the factory’s bathroom. In the harsh fluorescent lighting of the run-down room, he chuckled at the sight of his own reflection in one of the mirrors. He had gotten carried away. His shirt was torn and strained heavily in so much blood it was difficult to tell what was his and what belonged to the man strapped to that old cutting platform. Might as well make myself presentable.

---

The shadows of the day were drawing longer and darker. On the road out of the city, there was a popular spot for sightseeing. After leaving the bridge you took a sharp turn and followed the road as it changed from asphalt to well warn compact dirt road. You could see the lights of the city reflected on the water on the other side of the main bridge. That all added to the feeling of being in a completely different world to that of the everyday humdrum urban life. It was also a location that graduating high school kids knew at night as a make-out point. In both cases, the reason for its sought-after beauty was its isolation. There was a single-track road that leads to this clearing, one way in and one way out.

Two men stood next to a small white transit van. The logo on the side marked it as a medical transport vehicle for a private hospital. One of the men was smoking on the driver’s side, blowing smoke rings up into the darkening sky watching them drift on the breeze. Compared to the other man, the one smoking was shorter, broader and looked like he would be totally at him in a boxing ring. His strong defined muscles on his arms and large hands all added to the feeling that this guy could crush you if he so desired.

“So how long we got to wait here Doc?”

“As long as it takes. When you receive a message from this one you learn the value of patience.” The one referred to as Doc answered as he walked slowly around. He was someone who’s appearance was not exactly a stand out in a crowd type of affair. He was if anything the most normal, average looking man you could find. He blended into situations easily like a social chameleon. What made this man stand out was the feeling he created around him, his natural aura seemed to drain you and keep you trapped at his mercy.

Headlights shone over the car park and a black saloon car drove up to them and stopped. Doc walked over to the passenger’s side as the window slowly opened.

“So nice to see you again. Mr Akechi.”

“Always a pleasure to see you as well.” Mitsuhide smiled from the driver’s seat. It had been an interesting afternoon. At some point on the road, he had finally come back from the edge of that euphoric high. His head had cleared and he could once again think clearly. That was when he decided to phone the good doctor.

“It’s been too long.” The Doc straightened up and took a step back from the car. As Mitsuhide turned off the engine and lights of his car. “And where is the… patient?”

“Straight to business I see.” Mitsuhide chuckled as he stepped out, moving to button his jacket back up.

“Well, I prefer to begin treatment and making appropriate arrangements as soon as possible in order to make the patient as… comfortable as possible.” To anyone looking at the well-dressed medical professional, they would have seen nothing more than man conducting himself completely within the parameters of his concern to provide adequate care for a patient.

Mitsuhide knew better. He was close enough to feel the hidden undercurrent of the words being said. He could see the gleeful dance of emotion running through the other man’s mind as all of the possibilities of what he might see when he got to look at the victim. Yes, the good doctor was a predator but one of a totally different variety. He didn’t hunt his prey. His prey were offerings, gifts and donations. His was a business that never seemed to run out of potential revenue and business was good.

“I am aware.” Mitsuhide opened the back door of the car revealing Shin sitting there still as a statue on top of protective plastic sheeting. “I wouldn’t concern yourself with comfort. He won’t be making any complaints.”

“Very nicely done. You have a steady hand.” The Doctor stared in admiration at the living sculpture of a man. He raised his hand to trace the fresh lines carved into the flesh that were very slightly exposed on the back of the neck. Shin’s eyes moved freely at the other man’s touch.

“You flatter me.” Mitsuhide watched the doctor fawning over his new patient. His face was expressionless to the point where even his trademark smile was gone.

“No, no I really don’t, I would have gladly taken you on at the facility. This skill is easily on a level with any one of my staff… you might even rival mine.” The smile on the doctor’s face was feral as he brushed his fingertip over the stitches that pulled neat and tight on the pale flesh of Shin. It as a wild look of a man close to starvation that had suddenly been handed a steak meal. He could feel his mouth water as he inspected Mitsuhide’s handiwork.

“Well, I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands recently.” Mitsuhide was not joking. In the four-year absence, he had been blessed with an overabundance of time.

Blessed… Well, that was how some would have seen it. For him, it had been torture. Endless hours where sleep did not find him, sitting alone thinking, reliving every small detail of everything from years before. Things he had done before taking over his own family, the people he had hunted down. Oh, and the play by play account in his mind of each one of the people he questioned. My toys… All that time and nothing really to do except allow his mind to wander down those twisted paths. The things he had never done in reality. How would he leave a warning to protect what was his? What could he do?

“Yes, I did hear you took a little trip. Good vacation?” The Doctor stood back up and turned to look at Mitsuhide.

“That is not what I would have called it. Let’s just say I’m happier to be home.”

“Mm, still this isn’t like you Mitsuhide. Leaving them in this condition…. You could have just…” The doctor frowned slightly. He was right this was not what Mitsuhide would usually do. He would have normally created some other end for the man currently sitting in the backseat of his car. But this was not a normal day. This was beyond the line Mitsuhide would usually allow himself to be pushed. He lost his chance once years ago to be able to protect someone he cared for. He would not let that happen a second time. He was more than willing to do whatever it took to make sure that his “message” was received loud and clear.

“No. This is how it must be. I want him to remain exactly as he is.” Mitsuhide noted the ice blue eyes of Shin roaming faster. Don’t worry Takada I will make sure you are well cared for.

“You’ll cover the expenses?” The doctors face fell slightly at the request. He would have enjoyed adding certain “treatments” to this one but that phrasing “I want him to remain exactly as he is.” from Mitsuhide meant that he would not be allowed to interfere. Such a pity, still there are other things that could be done.

“Naturally.”

“Very well.” Satisfied the Doctor turned to the younger man who was still playing at being a creative chimney by the van. “Jin! Get the chair and come and escort this patient to other transportation.” Jumping into action at the order, Jin pulled back the rolling door on the side of the transit, flicking his spent cigarette off into the night and retrieved a hospital chair with a blanket.

“I shall be waiting for your professional assessment report and invoice.” Mitsuhide watched as Shin was transferred from car to chair and pushed away. He pulled the sheet from the back seat bunching it up into a ball and throwing it into the trunk of the car with the rest of the tools to be cleaned or disposed of.

“You not wishing to stay to say goodbye?” The doctor smiled as if he was simply asking about the weather.

“Sorry I have something else I have to do.” Mitsuhide closed the doors on his car and got back in the driver’s side. As soon as his engine roared into life, he pulled a U-turn in his car and drove away without looking back.

The clearing was quiet once more. The doctor watched the lights of the leaving vehicle be swallowed by the shadows of the trees as it drifted further away.

“What the hell is up with that dude?” Jin had returned to his side. The lingering smell of his preferred blend of tobacco clinging to him like an aura.

“I have no idea. He would make a fantastic case study.” The doctor murmured.

“Err, Doc?”

“Yes?”

“What do I put on this admission form?” Jin was holding the clipboard with the admissions papers clipped on them. Most of it had been filled in except for the parts that required more detailed knowledge of exactly what they were taking on. He was looking up expectantly a biro in his hand waiting to be told what to write.

“Patient X. Suffering trauma-related pseudocoma.” The doctor tapped his finger on the page to show where Jin had to place that information.

“Ok… and what is it really?” Jin had been around long enough to know what you put down officially was not what they were really dealing with and asked out of curiosity.

“The most exquisite display piece I’ve seen in a very long time.”

---

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kierongillen · 6 years

Text

Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine 35

Spoilers, obv.

I suspect this may be shorter than usual. Or maybe not? When you've been working (and thinking) on something for a long time, you work past the need to talk about it. I've said it to myself so many times, I don't really need to externalise it. Whatever “it” is, is in the book.

I suspect this is going to grow as we progress across the final year. In a real way, we're at the point of the degree course when we're easing off. It's your project now. Make of it what thou wilt. Easy answers are a long way behind us. But there are answers, at least.

Jamie's Cover: with solicits going out earlier, we're always worried about putting something like this on a cover. Ideally, we'd want it to drop after Imperial Phase II dropped, so at least people would be suspicious of Minerva.

But it's a lovely image – I love what Matt's doing with the light, what Jamie's doing with the expression. Great stuff.

Yoshi Yoshitani: More great stuff. The playfulness of Persephone, the pose. It's just total joy.

Page 1-4

This looks familiar. Once more we return, again, right?

We were obviously planning this from the start, but by the time we've reached this point, Jamie's style has evolved to the point where the extra panels we need to add to the sequence would break the coherence entirely. So Jamie insisted on re-inking the whole sequence, and updating the Minerva panels (as she's seen in more panels later). I did say that if we were clever, we'd have drawn the whole thing back when we did issue 1. Jamie noted that he'd never have been happy printing four years old art in a book.

So yes.

I was originally thinking that this sequence would actually be the opening of Year 4, but when I did the tight plotting for this arc, I realised that you had to really start way back around 4000BC, to set certain themes in motion. I had the option to switch them until quite late though – they're similar lengths, and abstractly can be switched, with a few changes.

I didn't. It's the way to go. And it's a good way to make issue 2 hit hard, right?

It's an interesting thing to think about that those who are following this in singles will have read the 1923 special before this, so know exactly why everyone is here, while those following with trades will learn it in the NEXT trade.

Page 5

For those who follow the idea of page budgets, this counted as a half page.

When writing this first time I got the order the wrong way around, so Amaterasu survived rather than Susanoo. Always check this stuff.

It's another tour de force for Matt here, in terms of the intensity of effects going on. I feel terrible for all the people involved. Thinking through the psychology of this was always going to be the hard one. To pull the trigger, who had the hardest job?

Page 6

Yet again, just look at the reds. I've got an issue with a bunch of fire in, and this is really making me look forward to it. Susanoo is a sweet one. Poor fucker.

Minerva saying “Necessity” feels like a necessary beat, right?

Page 7

This counts as a ¾ page for page budget.

Was waiting for the “Minerva emerging from fire” money shot for 34 issues (plus specials) and Jamie doesn't let me down. Had me thinking of “Figure covered in fluids” being one of those recurring beats in Jamie and my work. Persephone in the fourth trade, America in issue 13 of YA, Emily in Phonogram and so on.

It's the billow of the skirt, innit? Nice, Jamie.

8-9-10-11

Oddly, lettering this so you could work out who was speaking and who to was trickier than you'd think.

Set still getting her digs in now is very set. And, yes, I'm sure people will have a theory on who the fourth head is by now. If not, don't worry, we'll get to it soon enough.

Getting a little quality time with Ananke/Minerva was one of the writing challenges here – this is a scene which is pretty much showing methodology. When the pages came in for this, Chrissy said “I've been trying to make sense of what you meant by this for four years, but now I get it.” So I hope it hits the core beats for most people.

I do love this push and pull between Ananke and Minerva though. It's quietly horrible.

Pop-art head death there, and a return of the flying eyeballs. Also, looking at the various expressions of the heads in the backgrounds on page 9 is pretty impressive. Set in the third panel!

10-11 is the ritual. Trying to work out how much space for this and what you actually needed to show was key. Plus the timing of it – there's an argument you could have taken this longer, or pushed it shorter. Two pages felt right.

Good eye-to-camera at the end, which allows us to...

PAGE 12

...Have an interstitial...

PAGE 13-14-15-16-17

...and segue to Minerva's eyes in the present day. Linking sequence between scenes.

Due to the repeated pages in the first half being “free” (They weren't – Jamie chose to kill himself) this means that the issue is considerably longer than usual. Even so, there are a lot of fish to fry. This is obviously the problem of the structure of this arc – yes, there will be past and present content in every issue. Balancing what we do in each is basically the key... but it also means we have to choose our scenes very carefully.

Anyway – Minerva and Woden, facing off. Just letting two characters push and pull against each other – and, for the first time, really being behind the curtain “with” Minerva. Previously Minerva has been presented as a supporting character, based on her interactions with others (1923 is an exception). Here, Minerva is protagonist, and we get to see her work.

Minerva! Love the dyed bangs. Strong look. Also, great thoughtful expression on the end of the last page... and her making her move on the next page.

Woden calling her “Sweetheart” seems to be a minor peak Woden move.

This sequence is making me think that Minerva would be great at playing the party game Resistance. Tricky thing in this sequence is actually signalling lies to readers. Lies are really hard in comics. Like irony (as in, characters saying things they don't believe) there's certain parts of the readership who have huge problems with it. Signalling what you want to do is paramount, and tricky. I'm not sure there's a right answer.

Last two panels of 15 are particularly good for Jamie and Matt – firstly, we get the time based upon the sun coming up, which gives it an odd atmosphere. Guns out in a room? You'd think nighttime. But no, it's something else.

Secondly, with the steady angle, with Minerva having her back to Woden, we get a chance to see her think about what lie to tell. That's an “Okay – Woden knows about the heads. How could he know about the heads?” think...

Then over the page, making the lie, expression hoping she gets away with it... and then relief when she's called it right. Great steady-angle work by Jamie and Matt, and the sort of performance you can get from them. I wouldn't write this for almost anyone else.

(Favourite detail – look at the shoulders. From Woden's perspective, she's not moving at all. She's only giving facial tells.)

This sequence was also particularly picked over with C, in a line by line way, in terms of what information is being imparted. Minerva and Woden are both absolutely drilling each other for all the information they can get, so what IS being implied.

I laugh at Minerva bundling over to the computer the second Woden is gone. Plus great final expression there by Minerva.

18-19

In an issue that's set half in the past, and the half the present day stuff is with Minerva, we're in danger of losing our lead – so I definitely try and write Persephone particularly present where she gets it. This is an advantage of the captions coming back in – we can slow sequences down and make them feel like they last longer.

It's fun to do Persephone captions. Well, “fun”. You get to hit certain things directly that normally I'd only ever approach obliquely.

The weirdest thing of rewriting was Jon's line about being trapped underground – which was originally “Buried alive.” The question was whether anyone would take that literally, as the lab hadn't 100% been established as being underground. (and the stairs from the giant machine that lead to the lab go upwards, even though the whole thing is all underground.)

In short: in a plot as dense as ours, it's important to not confuse in any area except where you have to.

20-22

After a scene earlier of lying to someone's face, using the modern communication to do something exploring the same sort of thing seemed interesting. Also, efficient. For those following Page Budgets, the repeating panels of the phone aren't quite “free” panels, but they're relatively low energy panels. Plus it gets a LOT of information exchanged in a direct, quick way. Instead, we spend the effort on the expression panels, to show the journey that's NOT on the screen.

It's not stuff I'd do constantly, but I do like that we do it.

Nice Verðandi-shoulder-touch silent panel too. Yay Jamie and Matt!

I believe I originally wrote this for two pages, but with no captions. Jamie felt it was unnecessary, and they'd get a similar effect in a single page. The reason why I did it with two pages is that I wanted to slow the reader down in the process of discovery – there was a little bit more akin to the Rorschach scene in Watchmen, with the procedural exploration of the environment and trying to find a way in too.

In the script I said I may add captions at lettering, but reduced to a page, that felt like a necessary thing. It slows the eye, and lets us join Persephone in her internality.

(I actually wrote most of this as the opening of the next issue, before realising it didn't fit, which was nicely timed, as I realised that with some edits, it fits perfectly here.)

The mural introduced in issue 4, as coloured by Nathan Fairbairn.

Laura's glimpse back on panel 4 is one of my favourite minor moments – Matt's magenta behind the image really adds to it.

24-26

Minerva, in an issue of deniable manipulative shit, this is your most deniable and manipulative thing. Astounded, and I wrote it.

Last two panels call back to Imperial Phase I, for reasons which will become obvious.

Due to the way the pages moved around, Jamie suggested moving the reveal of the skulls to the previous page – they were originally on the final one, but the angle was nearly impossible to pull off, and worked better brought forward. You always want BIG information to be revealed on a page turn, but in this case, the panels are small enough to not register unless you're actively looking at them, plus the REAL meaning of them is only really get-able by those who recall a scene from issue 4.

Hence the flashbacks, to ensure people do recall them. We don't do a lot of this kind of thing, but as this has been a long time back, we felt it was worth really laying out the key facts, step by step. Also, free panels, for the page budget purposes.

(Of course, not for Matt, who is doing a really cool treatment here – the reds and blacks in one timeline, and the pink and blue dots in the flashbacks. Astounding. Give that man another Eisner.)

The “...but everyone else should be” has been sitting in my hard drive all that time too. Odd to hit this stuff as well.

I think I've said that Baal is one of my favourite characters in the whole series. Obviously much more to come here, and probably down the line. He was a character who was always going to become more central the further we got into this – you know I talk about knowing the characters arcs, but not always when the plots come to the top of the mix? There's certainly a take on WicDiv where this is revealed near the climax of Imperial Phase II along with the rest of it. I suspect that would have overloaded it – it needs space, and I'd hate to leave more than a month between this reveal and the What's-Going-On.

It always surprised me that more close readers didn't jump on a “Baal is Baal Hammon” argument, as there's stuff which I considered considerably more obscure that people were all over. He cries fire in issue 12, for example – though a lot of people were noting that 1920s Baal wasn't much like 2013 Baal after the Special. This stuff is fascinating, from my perspective.

Yes, Baal's hot stuff in the final panel. For those who are wondering about his Inanna tattoo, alternate covers aren’t strictly speaking canon, and gods have all kind of miracles available to them.

Next issue is two weeks late. As well as being one of the hardest issues we've ever done, there's been several real life disasters. Sorry for the delay, but we'll see you next week.

#WicDiv #the wicked and the divine #writer notes

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darth-dre · 6 years

Text

Longing

Warnings: Fluff. Some Angst. Implied Lemons. Lol.

Word Count: 2425

A/N: Requested by nonnie.

Could you do a modern AU! Ben Solo x reader where they meet at a get together Rey set up and he sees her with Poe aggressive playing Mario Kart and he finds her cute. After talking and getting to know each other, they later in time become best friends and do things like hang out with couple Poe and Finn, go on drives while getting really silly and into songs like Pillow Talking (by lil Dicky) or Disney songs, and watch Law and Order SVU. One day reader laughs super hard at something cute and silly Ben did (you can come up with what it was) and he just attacks her with tickles until he stops and says “God I love you.” And they end up together with implied smut but mostly fluff? Pretty please? Reader is short and energetic and wears glasses ^^

I hope you like it! <3

Ben tapped his foot to the beat of the music; It was loud and he was grateful that everyone was off doing their own thing, if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure how to interact with people. Even people that he knew for years.

At the insistence of Rey, his cousin, he decided to show. He really didn’t want to though, all he wanted to do was stay home and read. Maybe watch some movies.

He took a sip of his beer, wishing he could just leave, but Rey would kill him. And he really didn’t want to feel her wrath, not tonight.

He was mildly startled by a shouting voice, he furrowed his brows when he heard Poe, Rey’s other friend shouting.

His curiosity got the best of him and he sauntered over to the living room, he smirked when he saw a girl, jumping up and down, a controller in her hand, “I won! I won!”

“Oh whatever, it was just luck,” Poe pouted, he actually pouted.

“Awww poor baby! Ok, I’ll give you another chance,” the girl said; Ben admired her as she kept jumping up and down. For someone of her stature, which was pretty short, she was extremely energetic. He watched as she dropped her glasses and pushed them back on her excited Y/E/C eyes.

“Fine, Y/N, but, I get Yoshi,” Poe said.

Y/N… nice name, Ben thought.

Her mouth fell open, “Yoshi… is mine.”

Poe stared at her, smugly, “Then I don’t want to play.”

“But that’s not fair! No one else will play with me!”

“Hey, you don’t make it easy, there’s only so much loss a guy’s ego can take, plus, you’re embarrassing me in front of my boyfriend,” Poe said, crossing his arms.

Finn, Rey’s best friend and Poe’s boyfriend, sauntered over and kissed him on the lips, “I still love you, though.”

“Will you play, Finn?”

“Uh, no, I don’t feel like losing either,” he said. His eyes met Ben’s, and he smiled, “Hey, Ben, why don’t you play? You like Mario Kart.”

Y/N’s head turned, and she smiled widely, “Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there,” she ran over to him and stuck her hand out, “I’m Y/N!”

Ben couldn’t help but smile at her as he shook her hand, “I’m Ben.”

“You like Mario Kart?”

“I play, or I used to,” Ben answered, quietly.

“Do you want to play?”

She smiled up at him, her eyes pleading. And for some reason, Ben couldn’t resist her, “Alright, I’ll play.”

“Yes!” She shouted, jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck. Ben was shocked, but let out a small laugh, “Oops, sorry.”

She grabbed his hand and led him to the front of the TV; Poe handed Ben his controller, “Watch out man, she’s pretty feisty.”

As they picked their characters, Ben stole a few glances at Y/N.

When the game finally started, he watched her from her peripherals, she had a look of intense concentration in her eyes. Ben was ahead of her, and he wondered if he should let her win… and as much as she was cute, he decided to take the win.

Her mouth dropped open in shock, “No one’s ever beaten me before.”

Y/N’s eyes met Ben’s, and he simply smiled, “There’s a first time for everything.”

Poe and Finn snickered behind them, “Are you going to ask for a rematch?”

Their gaze was still fixed on each other, and she smiled, “No, he won.”

“Wait, say that again, what?”

Y/N rolled her eyes, looking back at Poe, “I said, ‘he won’!”

She tossed a couch cushion at him and he simply laughed.

“Do you want to play again?” Ben asked her.

“Sure,” she answered, smiling, and scooting in next to him.

And this was how it went for the rest of the night; playing Mario Kart, getting to know each other while playing, and Ben smiled, thinking of how happy he was that he didn’t stay home instead.

Ben’s phone vibrated; he was in the middle of a very important paper that had to be turned in by the end of the week. He stared at the screen and smiled, “Hey Y/N.”

“Finn and Poe want to go to the drive in,” she said.

Ben chuckled, “You mean you want to go to the drive in.”

“I want to go to the drive in; Finn and Poe invited me,” Y/N admitted, he could hear the smile in her voice, “And I told them I would not go without you.”

“Aw,” he swooned.

“Come on bestie, don’t make me be the third wheel,” she pleaded. He could almost imagine the puppy dog look she was making.

“Please don’t tell me you’re making puppy eyes,” Ben said.

“I am making puppy eyes,” she said, “I just want to go to the first movie, I swear.”

He stared at his almost finished paper on his laptop. He sighed, loudly, “Y/N, you owe me for this one.”

“Yaaaay!”

Ben smiled, hearing her jump up and down in excitement, “Ok, come over to my place; Finn and Poe will be here so pick us up soon.”

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, ending the call.

He leaned back in his chair, pushing himself away from the desk. His eyes fell on the framed photo on his desk of Y/N and himself. He smiled when he stared at it; that was the day that she wanted to go on a road trip with him because he had never been out of state.

She implored that they go and do a cross country drive, and as much as he thought it was crazy, he warmed up to the idea of seeing the sights with her. And it was not boring at all, if there was one thing that he liked about Y/N, it was her energetic spirit. There was never a dull moment with her, and that road trip was what made it for him. That was all he needed to really care about her as more than a best friend.

Of course, he would never tell her that. When they met all those months ago, she had just gotten out of a relationship and he didn’t want to make it seem like he was spending time with her just to be with her.

He genuinely appreciated and enjoyed her company; she was the energy in his life that he lacked. And he was fine with being her best friend. With being her Benny Bear.

Ben quickly got dressed and headed out towards Y/N’s apartment. He knocked and she immediately opened the door, “Benny Bear!”

She jumped into his arms and he held her, not wanting to let her go. She closed the door behind her, locking it, “Finn and Poe just texted me that they’re around the corner.”

Y/N shoved a blanket in Ben’s arms, as she clutched a pillow, “Really?”

“I like to be comfortable,” she said.

Ben simply nodded, smirking to himself. He followed Y/N as she climbed into the car. Poe and Finn said their hello’s and Y/N immediately began to dance to the music in the car. Ben, not being able to resist, started dancing along with her.

Finn playfully rolled his eyes, “Oh no, they’re starting, I swear one of them is bad enough, but both of them?”

“This is some good music,” Poe said, dancing along.

“Please don’t,” Finn pleaded, playfully.

Ben couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as she danced like no one was watching; or they were watching, she just didn’t care.

Once they arrived at the drive in, Ben was winded, “I need to stop.”

“No, we’re not done!”

“I am,” he said, as Y/N shook him, trying to get him to dance.

They spoke for awhile before the movie began. Ben felt a tingling sensation when she snuggled up next to him, pulling the blanket over them. He swore he couldn’t breathe the whole time she was next to him. He tried to keep his cool and focus on the movie, but he couldn’t. His focus was on Y/N.

He wasn’t sure if he could make it through a whole movie; but finally, the film finished.

“I kind of want to watch the second one,” Y/N said.

Ben felt his breathing hitched, he barely made it through one movie, but another?

But he couldn’t say no to her, “We can stay”

She jumped up in excitement, and he smiled again.

Finn stretched, “I need snacks.”

“Let’s go,” Poe started, “Do you guys want anything?”

Ben pulled out a twenty and handed it to Poe, “Large Cherry Coke, popcorn and skittles.”

He nodded and held Finn’s hand as they walked off, “They’re cute together,” he admired.

“Are you trying to take Poe away from Finn?”

“Poe’s attractive,” Ben smiled, “But, I’m interested in someone else.”

Y/N’s eyes widened, “You didn’t tell me this! Who? Tell me! Is it a cute girl at your university?”

“She’s cute, yeah,” he answered, smirking. His eyes avoided hers, focusing on the people walking towards the now open concession.

She placed her face between her hands, waiting for him to answer. He chuckled at the sight, “I’m not going to tell you, Y/N.”

Y/N stuck her tongue out at him, “Fine, you funs—”

A small burp escaped her lips.

Ben eyed her and she covered her mouth in embarrassment. It was silent for a moment and Ben smiled, “Did you just burp?”

Her eyes widened, “No! It was a hiccup.”

“If it was a hiccup, you’d still be hiccupping right now,” he pointed.

She started faking hiccups and Ben laughed, “You’re faking them!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, faking another hiccup.

Ben suddenly jumped over to her side and started tickling her sides. She busted out in laughter, the blanket tangled up between them, “You have the hiccups huh? Maybe this will make them go away!”

“Ben! Ben!”

She was laughing uncontrollably now, “Ben! I can’t—”

Ben stopped tickling her, and her head fell back on his chest as she still laughed. Her smile was the most gorgeous smile he had ever seen, and he loved her laugh. He admired everything about her, smiling, and he didn’t mean to say it out loud, but it slipped, “God, I love you so much.”

He stiffened, and he felt her freeze in shock as well.

She turned to look at him, and Ben froze. They stared at each other, both of them trying to comprehend what was just said.

As he was about to say something, Finn and Poe arrived, “The lines in these concession stands are terrible!”

“You’re just mad because they didn’t have slushies,” Poe said.

“What kind of drive in doesn’t have slushies?!”

Poe rolled his eyes, as Finn turned to Ben and Y/N. His eyes scanned the both of them over, he furrowed his brows in confusion, “Did you guys get in a fight or something?”

Y/N seemed to snap out of her trance, “What?”

“What’s going on with you guys? You’re sitting there acting like you did something bad,” Finn said.

“No, we—”

“We were just talking about last night’s episode of Law and Order,” Ben chimed.

Finn and Poe exchanged a glance, and Y/N immediately composed herself, “Yeah, it was a really sad episode and you know how I get when I watch that show.”

Finn rolled his eyes, “Oh god, I know. Did I tell you the first time she tried to get me to watch that show the episode we saw made her cry?”

“It was a sad episode,” she smiled, defending herself.

Poe smiled and handed Y/N the snacks Ben bought for her, “I know they’re for you; Ben never orders anything unless it’s for you.”

Y/N furrowed her brows, taking the snacks, “Yeah—I, yeah.”

Poe and Finn turned and started to talk about the last movie. Ben sat in silence, staring out of the window. He couldn’t stare at her, and now he had to endure another movie before he could finally leave and flee to the safety of his apartment.

And it wasn’t any easier than the first film. No, if the thought the first film was heart wrenching, this was worse. She kept her distance, not even snuggled up next to him. He was too afraid to move; too afraid to steal a glance at her.

Please just get through this, he told himself.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the movie was over. Poe drove off; he and Finn went on about the movies and their plans for the weekend, not even noticing the silence in the backseat that Ben and Y/N shared.

He was able to breathe a little better when they reached Y/N’s apartment complex, “We’ll see you guys next week!”

Ben and Y/N waved at them, and they drove off.

Y/N’s eyes met Ben’s and he awkwardly started, “I should—I should probably get—”

He turned, walking towards his car.

“Ben,” Y/N called out. He turned and met her gaze.

“Yeah?”

“Did you mean it?”

Ben stayed silent, fighting with himself if he should tell her, “I shouldn’t—I don’t want to ruin our friendship, Y/N.”

She was serious now, a look that he had never seen on her. She was always happy and energetic, rarely was she serious. And she asked again, “Did you mean it?”

He groaned internally; and he knew he had to answer her.

Here goes the end of my friendship with her, he thought.

“I meant it,” he answered, placing his arms over his head nervously.

She took a few steps towards him, until she was only an arm’s length from him, “For how long?”

Ben sighed, staring up at the sky, and he closed his eyes, “Since we met.”

He opened his eyes; he could see her try to process what he said, “Look, I can go if you want. I understand if you never want to talk to me ag—”

Y/N’s lips were suddenly on his. He wasn’t sure how to react, or if it was really happening. And then, his arms slowly went to her waist, pulling her in.

Months of insatiable yearning couldn’t have prepared him for this; for her. He lifted her from her feet and carried her towards her apartment as she fumbled for her keys, trying to unlock the door, and once she did. He practically kicked down the door while she kissed him ravenously.

“Is this really happening?”

She nodded, clawing at his shirt, “Yes, now shut up and kiss me.”

Ben smirked, kissing her hard and deep.

I hope you all liked it! Its my first time doing a modern AU; so please be gentle. :p

@ justcallmecinammon @thehealthypancreas @kyloisspacedaddy @take-a-look-the-invisible-girl @kylo-ren-is-my-supreme-leader @inumorph @sleepylunarwolf @waywardimagination @stargazer1893

Want to be tagged? Let me know! :) Requests are still open if you want to send something in!

#ben solo #ben solo x reader #ben solo x you #ben solo fanfic #ben solo modern AU #ben solo AU #ben solo modern #ben solo one shot #ben solo angst #ben solo fluff #kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x you #kylo x you #kylo x reader #kylo ren AU

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attract-mode-collective · 6 years

Photo

Just Another Late Night At The Game Center

And just another massive dose of game culture, as originally shared on the Attract Mode Twitter account, (most of) everything that was shared in the latter half of February. The first half was covered here.

Before I forget: the above is courtesy of erickimphotography.com.

Again, given how short Feb is supposed to be, I figured this post would be too... and it's not. So am wonder if going weekly might best going forward?

Anyhow, where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah; Valentine's Day. And here’s Amy Rose, from the day after, reminding us all that, as great as love can be, it also hurts (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Check out this devastating big boot from Mario, one that would make the WWE's Undertaker or Kane proud (via suppermariobroth)...

You're no doubt familiar with Julie Bell's work, but are you aware of the close resemblance between her art & the artist herself? (via slbtumblng)...

Some nice, pixelated sukajans we have here (via kauzara)...

Look at these hipsters...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop in leggings based upon the interactive menu for the Super Famicom's satellite modem peripheral. (via minusworld.co.uk)...

Am legit thinking of getting this shirt covered with quotes from people trying to figure out which Metal Gear character is gay (via kotaku.com)...

Am rather fond of Data Weave, which has more than a passing resemblance to the Eliss scarf that helped put the Attract Mode shop on the map (via prostheticknowledge)...

When you go to bed, don't forget to never use your Dreamcast as a pillow (nor should you ever place it on a bucket filled with leafy greens either, but you probably already knew that one; via posthumanwanderings)...

Not sure which SNK 40th Anniversary shirt I like more (via miki800.com)...

It's just Hidetaka Suehiro, playing... I think The Last Blade? Criminally underrated Neo Geo game btw (via nintendu)...

And the late, great Robin Williams playing Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD (via celebgames)...

Plus the President of Turkey, circa 1990, playing Galaxy Force II for whatever reason (via historium)..

Pro-tip to any & all custom arcade cabinet sellers: if you're going to photograph someone playing a game on your thing, have said person actually play the thing (in this case, Robotron utilizes dual sticks and no buttons; via arcadephile)...

Today's recommended reading is a follow-up to another older post, one that's all about Willie Williams, who not only inspired Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild but also Tekken's Paul Phoenix (via lordmo)...

youtube

After seeing this gif of a young woman punching a dinosaur (or possibly a dragon) in the crotch, I may have to give Capcom Fighting Jam a second look (via kazucrash)...

Sticking with the subject of crotches for just one bit, everyone out there's familiar with PuLiRuLa, right? (via kazucrash)

Just a friendly reminder of how wacky commercials for the PlayStation 2 were back in the day (via kurhl)...

youtube

Back to the subject of dinosaurs... yet still sticking with fun under the sun (via sidestorygaiden)...

If I'm gonna share fan art of unofficial PlayStation 1 era mascots, then I have to pass along this rendering of Abe (via it8bit)...

Seen countless folk play music with a Game Boy or a NES... but a Dreamcast? @slowmagic is the very first, and with a Hello Kitty edition Dreamcast no less...

youtube

Does anyone know if these figures of Dorimukyasuko & friends were commercially produced or if they were just made for the Sega no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~I ad that the image comes from? (via vgprintads)...

We've gotten snowfall here in NYC over the past few weeks, once during during sunset, but alas it wasn't nearly as pretty as this (via kirokazepixel)...

It's been ages since I've posted any Game Culture Snapshots, despite countless promises that I'd fix that. Well, until that finally happens, here just one, from IndieCade East 2018. Which was an epic bust, but hey, at least I finally got to play that Bill Viola game I first encountered at GDC 2008...

PLEASE tell me that GBA Video carts are the new hot means of distributing bootleg Hollywood flicks (via @katribou)...

This part from The Thing always reminded me of Asteroids on the Atari 7800 (via pixpunk)...

I posted this on Twitter, not realizing that I had shared it on the blog once before. But since I can’t find that original post, and since it's so damn nice, plus totally worth looking at again (via humanoidhistory)...

I also need to re-share that Tron movie poster cuz it's the first lead up to this Blade Runner-related spread from Joystik Magazine (via mendelpalace)...

As someone who fetishizes old video game magazines, I'm legit ashamed that I didn't know about Joystik sooner (via here & here)...

Please enjoy a healthy helping of scans from Lovely Sweet Dream, the dream journal that would become the basis of LSD for the PlayStation 1 (via here & here)...

Sorry, but I still think the idea of a multi-billionaire sending his sports car into space just cuz he can to be kinda cringey, yet that doesn't mean I'd don't think this pixelated recreation is any less pleasant (via it8bit)...

I've never been to Beverly Hills, so I have no idea if this portrayal according to Super Chase: Criminal Termination is accurate or not; maybe it was when the game was produced? (via obscurevideogames)...

Meanwhile, closer to where I am (somewhat; am not all that far from Long Island) is Mario & Yoshi & the Book of Revelation (via greathaircut)...

Are you playing Mario? Or is Mario playing you? (via suppermariobroth)...

Game Boys. And Game Girls. Mostly Girls. (via contac)

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have a bigger/wallpaper appropriate-sized version of this super sexy image of a couple of Wiis (via klaus-laserdisc)...

I think I kinda need to do this to my PlayStation (via dreamcast.tokyo)...

... Which reminds of those fancy, souped up by audiophiles PSXs I mentioned a whiles ago...

I celebrated Cat Day in Japan by posting this fave official King of Fighters illustration (via videogamesdensetsu)....

... along with this Monster Hunter fan art (via kerriaitken)...

... plus this highlight of a fave WarioWare: Twisted micro game (via suppermariobroth)...

So yeah, Flash sucks, I get that, but as the platform fades away, so does the opportunity to play games like Fear Less! (via zombie-chaser)...

Thankfully, WORLD OF HORROR, "a love letter to the cosmic horror work of Junji Ito", is something that's much more accessible (for now at least)...

youtube

I don't know much about Dujanah, which has you assuming the role of a Muslim woman with grievances against a military force that's occupying her Islamic homeland, other than it looks extremely compelling...

Yet another game I need to check out is CONTINUUM, which is a shmup that combines time manipulation and Tetris? (via alpha-beta-gamer)...

It's a legit shame that Jetpack Squad has seemingly fallen off the map (via shmups)...

Another shmup that I really, really want to play (though it's starting to feel increasingly unlikely) is AEROBAT, which looks just as gorgeous (and insane) today as it did the first time I laid eye (via shmups)...

youtube

Yet another game that was never meant to be, and the only thing we have here is some incredible looking concept art; if it ended up happening & was any good, I wonder if I'd be a PC-FX owner? (via videogamesdensetsu)...

If a Tokyo Dark Souls was ever to happen, which artist's take do you prefer; this one (via visor-visual)...

... or this one? (via mendelpalace)

You know about celebrity roasts, right? Well, a comedy club in Long Island City had one for Mario, though I have no idea how it went; I had kung fu practice that night...

Me, when the coffee kicks in (via anthony10000000)...

I had no idea that Typing of the Space Harrier was even a thing (via posthumanwanderings)...

It's a bit unsettling how some of Dreamcast Magazine's advice on how to survive Y2K are still useful today, in particular their words of wisdom regarding Seaman (via posthumanwanderings)...

Megadora Man, a Tokusatsu-esque take on the Mega Drive, for Beep! Mega Drive; am assuming his foes are inspired by the Famicom and PC Engine (though am not totally sure which is which; via obscurevideogames)...

Question: how hard would it be for someone in the US to get the first three issues of Famitsu from the Japanese Kindle Store? (via miki800.com)

Been well over a decade since first laying eyes and I FINALLY know the identity of the artist behind a series of Mario illustrations that has long left me stupefied: his name is Ishihara Gōjin (via videogamesdensetsu)...

I woke up the other day with a sense of purpose, with the knowledge that I finally have a mission in life: to do whatever I can to make this dancing kid from Sega Splash Golf a viral sensation (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Though speaking of morning, been feeling run down as of late, though it's my own damn fault for not having breakfast. Which is why I can't wait for my Persona 3 toaster has yet to arrive (via gasp-theenemy)...

Had no idea that MAME can also emulate those crappy, Tiger handheld games; naturally there's not much to look at, since none of the background is part of the game's code (via lanceboyles)...

Eggman has a sense of humor (via voidirium)...

Eggman also has aesthetics (via posthumanwanderings)...

When you mess with the textures in Wind Waker for the sole purpose of making Vaporwave Link (via pmpkn)...

Man, I really wish each and every mech in Tech Romancer actually had its own anime (via ultrace)...

Before Mappy was a video game, it was a physical game involving real deal robots (via namcomuseum)...

And I swear, one of these days, we'll make available online Zac Gorman's print from Comics Vs Games 2...

In my time I've encountered lots & lots of BMO fan art, so much that it has become increasingly difficult to take notice and be impressed, yet this one managed to do so regardless (via it8bit)...

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the instruction manual for Cubivore, shall we (via skincoats)...

Cubivore's Japanese box art is also very nice (via gaygamer)...

An important message for all parents out there, concerning Minecraft (via reddit.com)...

When you can't afford the licensing fees for Miami Vice, Ghostbusters, Barbarella, I think... and maybe Logan's Run? (via mendelpalace)...

Given how Platoon ended up as a NES game, the idea of the Terminator on a Tiger handheld isn't totally far-fetched (via rewind01)...

And finally, PUT THAT CONTROLLER DOWN, NOW! (via fuzzyghost)

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enaasteria · 7 years

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Nightmare // Sehun

Mortal enemies accidentally showing up in matching costumes every fucking year.

// Halloween Prompt #1 // Slightly suggestive but not really

“You’re happier than usual,” Yumi shouts from behind her sheer ninja mask and over the fervent music playing in the club. A bloodthirsty vampire wearing a ragged, sleeveless dress shirt dances alongside her. He’s practically thirsting for something else as his plastic fangs glide against her neck with strong, veined arms curving around her waist. She welcomes his advances with her hand entwining into his bed of unruly hair. They’re in their own little world and my benevolence is in parallel to theirs. My body jumps and sways to the entrancing beats as I answer her with words conveying how happy I truly feel. “I am!” I exclaim. The cranberry vodka she shared with me earlier aids in fueling the adrenaline as the addictive drink trickles through my system.

She raises her brows at me, “Does it have to do with Sehun?”

“This time---yes, yes it does.”

My elation widens and she catches on quickly. I shrug my shoulders and inwardly smile, almost manically laughing to myself.

The reason being among the multitude of costumed individuals, many chose It as their outfit this year. Their faces are painted a cold white and their lips are stained red with crimson lines leading up through their eyes. Some pay tribute to the original 1990’s cult design with a frilled collar and puffed sleeves. Others chose a more seductive approach; they’re barely clothed and or wearing short dresses and ripped white stockings leaving little to the imagination.

But whereas the titular character defines the epitome of nightmares and bad dreams, the vindictive clowns surrounding me at present are my ultimate blessings. As Yumi stated, they’re why I can’t stop smiling and how I’m possibly the happiest person in the club. It’s because my outfit doesn’t mimic theirs---which also means my chosen attire won’t match Sehun’s.

He and I have an odd relationship. And it’s not because I like him or fawn after him. I won’t even lie about how I find him terribly easy on the eyes but my interactions with him have been less than pleasant (and that’s putting it mildly).

We’re not friends. At least from the way things have progressed between us, I don’t believe we’re friends. It seems more or less like his goal in life is being the single reason why my pathetic soul leaves my body once he appears in front of me at a Halloween party.

We somehow always manage matching costumes.

It’s never by my choice. It just happens as if the menacing man is imbued with nefarious black magic to turn up in an outfit accenting mine.

It’s a curse.

It’s a malediction of the acutest kind and I hate admitting how he consistently complements my costume for the better whether I like it or not.

If I showed up as the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, he’ll come in as TARDIS. If I’m Watson, then he’s Sherlock. Mario, Yoshi. If I’m Pikachu, then he’s the damn poké ball. It doesn’t matter if I go with a female outfit, male outfit, or if I dress up as the obscurest thing in the world---he somehow, in some evil warlock kind of way, knows exactly what I’ll be and wears an accompanying costume.

It’s a peculiarity I don’t understand. Even now, I can picture Sehun’s smug grin every time he arrives wearing something similar to my own. His half-moon eyes, the curl of his mouth, and his tongue flushing against his upper lip are engrained into my brain like a permanent burning scar.

I could never figure out how he copied me or why he did it in the first place. It seemed to bother me more so than it ever did for him---as if he liked or wanted it; as if my unraveled state was his ultimate pleasure and joy.

What I once thought was a rare coincidence now has me wondering if Sehun is doing this to purposely mess with me---or if in actuality it’s the universe and fate being the ones up to no good.

Either way, I made a change this year to defy all odds. I did something I never did before to change my circumstances for the better---

I asked him.

Channeling my true, intended Halloween theme as Kingsman: The Secret Service, I tried my hand at outsmarting the deviant boy at his own game. He was wary at the start but I told him if we were going to match regardless, we might as well tell each other what we’re going to be so we can have the best costume possible.

I didn’t think he would agree. I thought he was going to argue with me and say what I’m doing would subtract the element of surprise for him (a part of me honestly believes he revels in my sad misery) but he told me what I wanted to hear. He relayed his plans and I remember his answer verbatim.

‘I’m going as It this year.’

And he smirked.

He exhaled an amused short breath and that mischievous grin was the last thing I remember prancing along the sharp contours of his prim face.

I didn’t think much of his reaction then and I don’t think much of it now as I’m dressed in a high collar black sleeveless shirt under a gray double-breasted wool suit jacket and pants.

One word echoes throughout my mind as I move to the playing song and it’s the word It. Like the majority of the women and men in this club, Sehun will be just like them. He will match them and be dressed as the monstrous clown. The very thought causes my merriment to stretch further up to my pink cheeks.

Yumi shakes her head at my ridiculous behavior, clearly aware of my predicament with the problematic, aforementioned male. Although, I half blame her for my present issues because she was the one who introduced me to him all those years ago. It began with his name and his picture as if she tried to set me up with him. Little did she know Sehun and I would end up as a match in an entirely different manner.

She’s about to say something but it’s cut short as the nameless vampire nibbles on her neck. She falls into his trance and leans into his toned frame as they move in sync to the rhythm beating between their bodies.

I raise my brows at her before pulling on the high collar fabric around my neck, “Too hot.”

She laughs, completely under the vampire’s spell, “Isn’t he?” and he kisses down even harder on her flesh from hearing her reply. I don’t mull on whether she intentionally misconstrued my sentiments or not but motion to the upstairs balcony to let her know I’m going to drop off my suit jacket and get something to drink.

The cool air brushes over the cuff of my bare shoulders as I grab a water from the bartender. I lean over the balcony railing with cup in hand, surveying the eclectic number of inebriated individuals. I perch my chin on a bent wrist and my fingers tap along my cheek to the addictive beats of EDM while I scan over every person in the club.

“Looking for someone in particular?”

My ears barely make out his signature silvery tone and a smile stretches from one end of my face to the other. I straighten and turn to my left, “No, just a clo---” but I’m interrupted as I face Sehun and the happiness I once felt immediately dissipates as I take in Sehun’s presence.

He’s dressed immaculately well and that is where the very problem stems from. My brows furrow into a kneaded knot. It’s full of horror and confusion over why he’s not the frightening clown he said he would be.

There’s no white paint on his face. There’s no red nose or furry orange wig. There’s nothing clownish about his costume because he’s the dapper, glasses wearing, tailored gray suit Eggsy to my Roxy costume and I instantly want to fall to my knees and cry from dejection.

I stutter, “H---How---”

“How what?”

“How do you do it every year? How does this keep happening?”

“Does it matter how I do it?” There’s that vexing smirk again. He’s enjoying this. He’s lapping up this exchange as if I’m the light to his day.

My chest rises up and down with each breath but I’m noticing every time I breathe, Sehun inches closer and closer. He decreases our space but it’s different this year. He’s much more forward with his approaches and it’s causing a bewilderment I can’t quite grasp.

He finally stops in footing and cranes his neck, reading me far better than I can ever understand him. “Does it bother you that much when we’re in matching costumes?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Sehun’s grin is the work of demons as his gaze is transfixed on me with no chance of any spell breaking its connection.

“Because you said It.”

“And?”

I’m internally dying at this point. Perhaps it’s from anger or maybe it’s from my hatred of how irritatingly attractive he still looks in the suit with dyed blond hair (but annoyed nevertheless by how he managed to fool me again). “You said It, Sehun. You told me---letter for letter and I will quote you on October 1 at 6:14 PM, you said you were going to dress up as It this year. This is not It.”

“Who says I’m not?” he slyly refutes and I want to wipe away how his smile is messing with my every patience.

“You’re clearly not It. There’s no way this is a Pennywise costume.”

“Did I say I was going to be Pennywise this year?” Sehun pushes up his gold rimmed glasses before drawing his index under my chin. I don’t shy away from his touch and he takes it as an affirmation to lean down, angling his grand frame to mine. His thumb grazes over my bottom lip as his irises are completely narrowed into me. His face is a breath from my own and I listen to his vindictive words full of deadly magic and lore. “I said I would be It and that is exactly who I am—

I’m your worst nightmare, babe.”

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breadknight-likes-things · 4 years

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Bread’s Game Journal 06/12/20: It Means "A Fragile Step", I Looked It Up.

(I got Un Pas Fragile from the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality that’s currently available on itch.io If you haven’t looked at that bundle yet, not only is it packed full of incredible games like Celeste and Night in the Woods, but all proceeds are going to a very good cause. Donate what you can for some excellent games!) Un Pas Fragile is the second game I've played from from Bundle for Racial Justice And Equality, and it's one of the cutest, and shortest, games I've ever played. Given that it only takes about ten minutes to complete, this will likely be a short post, and I find it hard to imagine how I'll write about it without more or less spelling out the entire experience, so if you're at all interested in this little game about ballet dancing frog, it's probably not a bad idea to play it before you read this post on it. With that said, lets get into it!

I’m not sure i’d eat a box of ants personally, but, Camille is a frog.

Un Pas Fragile is an exceedingly simple story. We play as (well, sort of play as, i'll get to that) an adorable little frog named Camille, going about her days over period of about a month. We climb out of bed in the morning and eat breakfast, ride the bus to her ballet school, do some kind of dance practice, and walk home. These four events are repeated about three or so times, and each time they advance something new in this small plot and give us a better understanding of who Camille is as a person, and how she's growing and changing as she finds her confidence. Camille starts off obviously shy and afraid of what people think of her, and though the total playtime of this game is really only about ten minutes, you help Camille make a friend, turn a bully into another friend by showing them kindness where they showed you none, and practice her ballet to the point that she's ready, though scared, to deliver her recital to a crowd of people at the end of the month. All of this is presented in an absolutely gorgeous art style. All scenes and animations in this game have a Yoshi's Island esque drawing vibe. Camille and her friends and family are bold and in color, with large drawings and expressive animations making them easy to see and understand. The world around them, meanwhile, is presented in stark white with only a few details here and there. I interpreted some areas having more details than others as Camille never really being comfortable in places other than her home, but it is possible it's just an artistic choice to draw more attention to the characters. The artwork alone makes this game worth looking at, if only just to absorb some of the best visuals I've ever seen in the indie space, and maybe snag a few very good desktop backgrounds while you're at it!

The bus scenes are a personal highlight, well rendered, interesting and very cute.

Speaking of artistic choices, I mentioned this vaguely earlier, but I don't think you actually control Camille in this. The way you move her around as a character, is to essentially grab her by the hand and lead her to where she needs to go, as if you were her parent. As someone who grew up being made to do a lot of things that scared me as a pretty shy and anxious kid (though mine were usually more of the sports variety), this interaction with the character hit really close to home. I don't know if that's what the dev intended, but I felt lit lent a lot to the general vibe of the character of Camille as someone who's trying to find her confidence in a world she's mostly afraid of.

I would highly recommend checking out Un Pas Fragile in the Bundle For Racial Justice And Equality, it's short, exceedingly sweet, and just a nice little experience tucked away among the now over 1600 games included in said bundle. I would hate for it to be overlooked, because I think Camille has more than earned ten minutes of your attention.

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

The dream.

Stray Notes:

- I just realized "Un Pas Fragile" shortens down to....UPF.....

“Don’t you know the Dewey decimal system!”

- I finished my second playthrough of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, that game still rules! They nailed the light saber battles, I hope the eventual sequel has way more of them!

#video games #indie games #un pas fragile #cute #cute things #cute games #indie #art #indie art #itch.io #pc gaming #camille #cute character #cute animals #star wars #upf #indie game #itch.io game #bundle for racial justice and equality

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daemon-knight · 6 years

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Allen’s Rambling: Amazing Person Award

✨💛 This is the Amazing Person Award! Once you are given this award you are supposed to paste it in the ask of eight different people, who, in your opinion, deserve it. If you break the chain nothing will happen, but it is sweet to know someone thinks you're amazing inside and out 💛

So... I got this message from Aster awhile ago, and after (more or less) surviving the blunt of some scheduling issues at work I finally have some time to do this little chain letter. Of course, me being me, I figured instead of sending these out to people I’d make a Rambling out of it. Consider this a promo in a way, I feel it’s better to publicly let these people know how I feel than just send a chain letter.

Now, I didn’t have eight people to tag since... well, I’m a picky little bastard and all when it comes to who I write with, but yeah, let’s get started Allen’s Amazing Person Award/People Your Should Follow List... thing.

@waywcrdsouls

So I gotta’ start with the one that gave me the message in the first place, Aster. I have a lot of fun RPing with them. I’ll be honest, I was raising my eye at first when I first followed them since Alien OC blogs were real big at the time, but I’m impressed by not only how faithful they’ve stayed with their world and characters, but make them so enjoyable to both write with and read. I’m honestly surprised by the amount of thought Aster puts into developing Syn’s world, background, powers, and character development. I have no idea how they do it. I’m attempting to do world-building stuff in two stories I’m writing and it’s a pain for me to think up certain things. Aster has a talent for that sort of thing that I don’t possess.

And Syn’s a fun character to both interact with and read. We decided to make them rivals as a pre-established relationship thing and I’m so glad we did. It’s not everyday your greatest rival/crush is an alien from a far off galaxy. And they play a decent Reimu too. While I personally doubt I’ll go back to the Touhou RPC for personal reasons, I wouldn’t mind being Sanae back just to interact with Aster’s Reimu.

Oh, but fair warning before following Aster, they like spinach as a pizza topping. Yes, that is disgusting, but if you can get over their OBVIOUSLY INCORRECT preference of pizza toppings, then give this guy a follow.

@uncorruptedchampion

If you were to ask me which my favorite character relationship between all the people Claudia has interacted with was, I’d say Rei’s Nero without a second thought. I love the fact that Claudia actually has a mortal enemy she hates and I’m so thankful to Rei for giving me the dynamic of demon knight and holy woman I’ve wanted. Real talk, I love writing conflict and dramatic encounters, and Nero guarantees that. Claudia might hate Nero with a blinding passion, but I love it when these two cross each other. It really let’s me play up the demon part of Claudia’s moniker. Nero’s probably the only person Claudia will cuss out without a second thought and I can’t get enough of it. Maybe Allen’s a masochist or something?

Also, out of curiosity, I did try my hand at Corruption of Champions a few months back to see what it was about and get an idea of the world Nero came from, and... Lord...

Oh Dear Lord...

Oh Dear Lord Almighty in Heaven Above, that is a GAME right there.

Oh Sugar Honey Ice Tea, that’s a +18 game if I’ve ever played one. How the hell Nero kept her virginity in that world I’ll never know, nor do I want to. Yeah, Rei wasn’t kidding when they said that was a NSFW game. That... that was a new experience right there. I’ve been tempted to give Fallen London a peek too, but... C of C has kind of made me wary now. Rei, how you finished that game I will never know...

@kyushukishin

I honestly wish I knew Vick in real life, I really do. I think we could drink cola together in a soda bar somewhere on the countryside and probably have heavy discussions about writing and whatnot. While I’m not as vocal as they is, we do share a lot of opinions in terms of how RPing is done on tumblr. One of these days I’m gonna’ have to really pick their brain about a few things in terms of RPing and writing just to see how our thoughts align and differ.

And Hanako, man. Vick put in research I wish I put into my Japanese-esque characters back when I was RPing them. Seriously, this guy makes me wish I kept Amber as Kohaku and just bucked up and did my research on Japanese stuff. Honestly makes me want to redo my old Rambling on ethnicity. Admittedly, I know Vick more from my interactions with my delinquent character than Clauds here, but I recommend them all the same.

@soulwitch

You’d think given my hate-boner for OP characters and general bitching about power levels I’d hate writing with a character that was essential a universe-destroying witch. Well... I don’t blame you all for thinking such, but Jeanne is probably the one exception I’ll make, and maybe the only one too. I can’t really explain it myself, I just like how entertaining she is as a character. The charisma, the arrogance, it’s all good stuff to me. Taking an ‘all powerful airhead’ approach to an intimidating character isn’t knew, but it really works for Jeanne.

Admittedly, I haven’t RPed enough with Jeanne-mun for any real plot or conflict to happen, but I’m looking forward to plotting something. Maybe bringing back Titty War for real this time? Who knows, only time will tell.

@verfolgxr

YOOOOSHIIIIIII!!!!

Man, Chaser, it was a blast from the goddamn past seeing you on my dash again. When Aster gave that promo and I saw you’re blog I HAD to see how things were going. Haven’t seen you since I left the Falcon Knights blog.

Ah, but old partners aside, Chaser is probably one of the few people to actually intimidate me as a writer. Okay, intimidate isn’t the right word. Chaser makes me... question how I portray my characters, as since how seriously I take them. I make it no secret that I don’t tend to take my own (RP) characters too seriously. This is usually because I save the seriousness for when I do actual story-writing, and to keep myself from getting obsessively attach to my characters.

And... well, Allen is a shounen-obsessed action whore, so... y’know.

But anyway, with Chaser and reading some of their stuff for Yoshi, I... feel like I disrespecting their approach with my own. The thought put into Yoshi and all Chaser’s characters is something I can really feel the heart in, as dark as some of those developments get sometimes. Back when I was still active on the Falcon Knight blog I felt so bad for how serious Yoshi took her relationship with FK while the two members she was closest to didn’t act the same way. It was in character, but it honestly torn me up on the inside a little.

My misgivings aside, Chaser’s a great RPer and recommend all you guys follow them.

@solemnspear

I... honestly have nothing in depth to say about Imu-mun. While I’m personally not familiar with Legend of Mana, seeing Imu’s character makes me wanna’ try the game out somehow.

I think Imu and Claudia have a good dynamic, both warriors of high skill, both favoring a spear, both lesbians. I think Imu’s more abrasive and blunt nature would balance out Claudia’s friendly and polite nature... when she’s not in Demon Knight Mode anyway. And... y’know, another lesbian spear warrior is always welcomed. Allen’s also a yuri fanboy trash after all.

@cyansurvivor

Anyone willing to do this shit with me is a person that needs to be cherished, loved, and followed. That is all.

@lyccris

And last, but definitely not least, Glyph. Like with Chaser, I feel a bit intimidated by Glyph the same way I do with Chaser... well there’s a bit of a difference. While the heart behind Chaser’s writing intimidates me, the power behind Glyph way of writing Anima honestly makes me hesitate to plot with, despite having a whole AU based around their relationship of knight and empress...

Wait, calm down folks, Allen ain’t gonna’ bitch about power levels here, honest!

Jokes aside though, I specifically mean Anima’s position of power compared to Claudia’s intimidates me. Glyph’s writing aside, my intimidation here is for more mechanical reasons that just Allen being a shy guy. I researched a good deal about knights a few years ago, but I didn’t get much information on their direct interaction with royalty like Anima, so keeping Clauds in character around her is a bit of a challenge. Now I can obviously just do the research now, but... well, work’s been sucking my life away at the moment and poking as Aster, Rei, and Imu-mun with Claudia’s big spear is a bit easier than poking Glyph.

Anyway, I enjoy reading a lot of what Anima does, and seeing someone competently write someone of power always interests and impresses me. Go give this one a follow!

I know I’m technically missing one more person, but again, I’m picky with who I interact with, so... I’m a little high and dry in that regard. And... I have to admit, calling you all by your mun names feels really weird. Like, now I know why we use to call people [Muse]-mun a few years back. This feels like I’m being way too casually, and I’m the guy that’s purposely using Allen as an alias.

Anyway, give these lovely people a follow and tell ‘em Allen X sent ya’!

#.ramblings #sorry aster i cheated #also yes i'm still bitter about the spinach on pizza thing #i will one day actually for real fight you irl over this

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un-enfant-immature · 4 years

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Lego Super Mario is coming later this year

Toys are better now. There, I said it. Don’t get me wrong, I treasure the tub of action figures gathering decades of dust in my parents’ attic, but get a load of this Super Mario Lego play set. I would have happily used up all the nights of Hanukkah on the thing.

Caveats: I haven’t seen it in person. As of the positing of this, you’ve seen exactly as much of it as I have. There are still a ton of questions Lego couldn’t answer yet during our meeting, including important stuff life pricing and timing (beyond later this year). And yet, all the nostalgia receptors are firing at once, playing a familiar selection of chip tune hits.

youtube

What the company did tell me is that the product is the result of a four-year collaboration. In Lego’s words, “it turned out to be complex to create something simple.” The “simple” thing was the same code decades of IP partners have tried — and often failed — to crack: how to best bring Super Mario Bros. into the real world. Here, it means a play set that lets kids build and play their levels — essentially taking a page out of the successful Mario Maker franchise.

The key to the set is the Mario figure. Far and away the most sophisticated of the bunch, it features four built-in LEDs (two eyes, a mouth and a chest), designed to interact with the play set. There’s even a speaker that plays recordings from long-time Mario voice, Charles Martinet. The secret sauce here are color sensors built into the bottom of the plumber’s feet. Through these, the figure determines which blocks he’s hoping on and switches his displays accordingly, whether it’s a big smile or a pained grimace.

Speaking of switches, there’s no gameplay element to Nintendo’s latest console. That’s a little disappointing from an interactive standpoint, but good for parents who can feel comfortable buying a Lego set without having to shell out for a video game system. There may, at some point, be other connected elements. Smartphone/tablet functionality seems like a no-brainer, but Nintendo and Lego haven’t revealed any of those specifics yet.

Nor will they discuss if there are other sensors on board, like a gyroscope or accelerometer, so the system knows when Mario is on the move. There are on-board batteries to power Mario’s emotions, but we can’t say yet whether he’s rechargeable or they’re replaceable. More details as we get closer to release — whenever that might be.

There’s no specific on-board scoring system that I’m aware of, and while there’s a countdown clock to finish the levels you create, you’re on the honor system as far as playing them the right way. Unless, of course, you’re playing with a friend, in which case, they’ll likely be happy to keep you honest.

There are a number of familiar faces, including Shy Guys, a very cool Piranha Plant and, of course, Yoshi, but Mario is the one piece with sensors and a brain on-board. At least for now. One of the beauties of Lego kits is that they are, by their very nature, expandable. The kit will also work just fine with standard Lego pieces, as ever.

“I have always liked LEGO products and how they help children use their imagination to play,” Nintendo’s Executive Officer and Game Producer Takashi Tezuka said in a release tied to the announcement. “The new product we created together with the LEGO Group seeks to combine two different styles of play – one where you freely build the world of Mario and the other where you play with Mario in the very world that you have created.”

Again, more info to come, but I certainly know a lot of kids (and adults) who are going to be counting down the days on this one.

#TechCrunch

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gemturtle · 7 years

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The Ninja Turtles and the Louds (TMNT/TLH Crossover) - Summary and Ideas

Hello everyone, this is gemturtle here saying that what I'm planning to do here is a TMNT and Loud House crossover series called "The Ninja Turtles and the Louds". Here's the summary:

In this AU, the Loud Family have moved over from Michigan to New York about 3 months ago. Lincoln Loud, who is the only boy in a family of 10 sisters, is feeling very stressed and uneasy about his new life in Manhattan and having new friends like Clyde and April. But one day while being chased by purple dragons, he was saved by 4 weird strangers who turn out to be 4 giant talking mutated turtles who can do ninjitsu! With these new friends/brothers, Lincoln, his sisters, April and the turtles will embark on living with the difficulties of normal life and going on numerous adventures and battling against ninja, mutant, alien, and mystical threats, all while remembering the importance of family. This is a crossover series that shows the bonding between 2 unusual families.

Major TMNT Characters: Leo, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, April, Casey, Hamato Yoshi/Splinter, Shredder, Irma, Karai, Kimiko, Ice Cream Kitty, Tiger Claw, Hun, Leatherhead, Old Hob, Krang, Eric Sacks, Bebop, Rocksteady, etc.

Major TLH Characters: Lincoln, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Lily, Clyde, Lynn Sr., Rita, Howard, Harold, Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Mr. Grouse, Agnes Johnson, etc.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Coming-of-Age, Slice of Life, Friendship, Family.

Rating: T (For drama, dark violence, blood, etc.)

Pairings: Leo/Karai, Lincoln/Ronnie Anne, Lori/Bobby, Splinter/Tang Shen, Lucy/Rocky, Rita/Lynn Sr., Howard/Harold, onesided Lori/Clyde, onesided Lincoln/April etc.

Author's Notes:

- The idea to make this crossover series was influenced by MiniJen's Universe Falls story, which is a crossover series between Gravity Falls and Steven Universe. Just like her story, it also takes place in another universe where the 2 series co-exist with one another. I first thought of this idea when I saw the LH episode "One of the Boys" (Hated that episode btw) where the oldest brothers had the voices of the turtles and plus, they all love PIZZA! So I thought to myself, what if Lincoln and his sisters actually met the turtles? At first I wanted to be a simple one-time crossover, but I just wanted them to interact as much as possible and see how well they work off one another. I could picture Lincoln seeing the turtles as the coolest "brothers" with them being pretty much like superheroes, and they would most likely have the same interest (Reading comics, playing video games, watching cartoons, etc.), and I also picture the Loud sisters being jealous of the turtles for spending a lot of time with their only brother. But the more the sisters spend time with the turtles, the more they see that they're not so different. I want to see the Loud Siblings trying help out on the turtles' adventures in fighting evil while interacting with each other in various 'slice of life' situations, which it's a hard thing for the turtles since they have to remain in the shadows. So I thought about doing something similar to Universe Falls and came up with this idea. Plus they're both properties of NICKELODEON, so it's possible we might actually see a crossover with these 2 someday. But for now, I would like to create this series.

- I figured what's going o be different from this series between TMNT and the Loud House is that instead of Royal Woods in Michigan, the LH characters will all live in New York since it is a important setting for the TMNT characters.

- Just like Universe Falls, this series will be divided into arcs with about 10-12 stories each instead of being 26 episodes each per season like TMNT. I plan to adapt some stories from the Loud House into my series and actually re-write them so that way they would have more of an accurate continuity unlike the actual show and hope not to add so much "Lincoln Torture" since I want to make this less mean-spirited and more genuine, I also plan to reduce the amount of toilet-humor (I mostly dislike that trope). So there will be some I won't do that I mostly dislike (Such as Making the Case, The Green House, Brawl in the Family, No Such Luck, etc.). As for the TMNT side of things, what will be very interesting about this crossover I won't be using any previous TMNT incarnations (Mirage, 1987, 2003, 2012, etc.) but to make it a brand new incarnation, so I can create my own version of the TMNT characters to interact with TLH characters. Now I don't know how many arcs will be created, it all depends on how long the TLH show can go or how many TMNT stories I can adapt.

- I have a lot of ideas I want to use and some that I'm not sure of; for one, I asked a DeviantArt user LeaderinBlue84 if I could borrow some of his TMNT ideas to use for this series.

- Leo in this series will be more influenced by his 2012 counterpart, but he is also an extreme anime lover, mostly listens to classic music, creates fan art with his username LeaderInBlue84. He would kinda be like the "Star-Lord" of the TMNT series, so he and Luna would get along well. Also, he will also have a wonderful bromance with Lincoln, as he would likely look up to Leo as his personal hero and a genuine role model and Leo would look up to him for never giving up for a child his age.

- Mikey is also the same goofball prankster we all know and love, and will be the most open-minded character in the series. He would give names to new mutants and bad guys and collect stickers to put on his shell.

- Raph will be the same sarcastic hot-headed bad ass he's always been, but he does have a soft and friendlier side for Lincoln and April.

- Donnie would be the lovable nerd with a big brain. For him, I figured he would be a little smarter than Lisa but would more of a nervous wreck and a clean freak like Double D from Ed, Edd, n Eddy. I also think would could also have gynophobia (Fear of females) from a traumatic experience. While he will be used to April, it would give him a hard time with Lincoln's sisters.

- April would be a teenager like her 2012 counterpart as well, she will be at the age of 15. Unlike meeting them like in previous incarnations she would have met the turtles at the age of 10 and is an orphan girl that is taken in by Splinter. She would also have developed some training as a kunoichi. She would also have a pretty developed busty chest for her age amking her socially insecure and making some of the Loud sisters jealous, but she would still be friends with them. And instead of Cristina, I was thinking Lincoln would have a unrequited crush on April for the first few episodes, until he hooks up with Ronnie Anne.

- Casey for the beginning of the series will be a juvenile delinquent and working for the Purple Dragons like Danny from the 1990 movie, but will soon quit and become a vigilante against them.

- I'm still wondering whether to make Splinter Yoshi who was mutated into a rat or have Yoshi and his sons be reincarnated into turtles and a rat like in the IDW comics, as well as Shredder's origin. Splinter will also not just bring wisdom to the turtles, but also to Lincoln and his sisters.

- There will be some street violence, blood, and intense battles in this crossover.

- And just like most of the fandom, I hope to actually make Luna and Leni be Lincoln's closest sisters being more of motherly figures to him so it is said that they have the closest relationship.

- As the romance for this series will go, I really don't mind Anthro/Human relationships like Leo/Karai. As long as the relationship is developed like Goliath/Elisa from Gargoyles. I want to try taking a crack at having Raph/April in this series, and I figure that maybe she and Casey would date only for a while. I was also thinking of one of the turtles hook up with one of the Loud sisters, I won't say who but it might be the most ironic relationship.

- I will also have some loud siblings to have a close relationship with each turtle: Leonardo (Lincoln, Lori, Luna), Michelangelo (Luan, Lana, and Lily), Donatello (Leni and Lisa), and Raphael (Lynn, Lucy, and Lola).

- I was also thinking of having Lincoln and April keeping the turtles a secret from his sisters until the end of the first arc and the parents wouldn't find out until the second.

- I figured Lincoln would be trained by Splinter to become a ninja, and MAYBE some of his sisters, specifically Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lucy.

- Like I said before, there will be some stories I will adapt from TMNT; like I plan to do the Search for Splinter arc but differently. Instead, April and the turtles will live with the Louds until they find Splinter.

- I also want to do multiple crossovers in the future as well; such as Ghostbusters, Batman, Usagi Yojimbo, etc.

So that's basically it. What are your thoughts on this? Think this might be a good idea? How do you think the Loud siblings will react to meeting the turtles? How will they're interactions be? What TMNT characters would you like to see in this crossover? Could you see Splinter giving the Louds wisdom? How will Rita and Lynn Sr. react to the turtles? What kind of stories would you like to see? Let me know in the reviews.

#tmnt #tlh #the loud house #crossover #the ninja turtles and the louds #tntatl #teenage mutant ninja turtles #ninja turtles #theloudhouse #loudhouse

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